Sex and the (Amsterdam) City 2

As every girl on Earth certainly knows already, this week is the global debut of Sex and the City 2 - and here in Amsterdam you can feel it on the streets.

Yesterday I spent all day outdoors and wherever I looked I could see at least one beauuuutiful Mercedez-Benz driven by the most handsome men. 

Apart from that, at one point I actually stumbled upon two camels. I didn't have my camera in hands by then, but I took it as fast as I could and walked after the camels so that I could post a picture here. Unfortunately they were already going home...

Here are two pictures from the film that link to these marketing stunts, which I loved by the way (of course I would) :)

Sex and the City 2 - You really got me now

I HATED the first trailer, thought the film would be totally meaningless - just one of those awful continuations of a story that hasn't got anything else to tell. But this trailer here just changed it all... Carrie meeting Aidan in Abu Dhabi in a girls' trip after marrying Big? That's something I REALLY wanna see.  And yes, I am in fact a very silly girl :)

Remember Me

Today I watched Robert Pattinson's 'Remember Me'. It made me cry.

Off with their heads! - Alice in Wonderland

I know it's a little late to write about Alice in Wonderland, but the movie still isn't showing in Brazil - where most os my readers live - so it's not THAT late. To those who haven't watched it yet, I promise no spoilers :)

I had huge expectations on this film and it was totally disappointing for me. I don't want to dissuade anyone from watching it, au contraire! I think everybody should have their own opinion. But if my advice is worth something, I would tell you to lower your expectations and you'll have higher chances of leaving the movies feeling fulfilled. 

So here are my ups and the downs on Tim Burton's Alice:

THUMBS UP:

- All the aesthetics and effects are amazing, specially in 3D - Tim Burton is all about it, so I'm glad he didn't disappoint in that. I read some reviews saying the 3D was awful but I really don't know what they were talking about as I haven't found a single flaw.

- The costumes by Academy Award winner Colleen Atwood are great, specially in the Kingdom of Hearts. There's one specific dress that I loved which resembled a lot of Alexander McQueen's creations. I didn't find a real image of it, but here's the sketch by Atwood:

- The makeups are stunning as well, in all characters. 

- The soundtrack is SO Tim Burton, I loved it! Specially when Alice falls in the hole.

- Helena Bonham Carter. She is the best, always. 

THUMBS DOWN:

- I found the plot awful. Lot's of things happen but they don't go deep in any of them; Ii's a flat movie.

- All the marketing around it make our expectations higher and higher and the movie doesn't give all the emotion it promises. That's the worst thing that can happen in cinema, in my opinion. The word of mouth is what makes a movie and if people watch it with their expectations too high and it's not that great the reviews tend to be terrible. 

- The characters don't have soul, they lack in depth being totally superfluous to the story. At the end, I didn't care care what happened to any of them, and that's a serious problem. I think it's crucial to sympathize with at least one character to find a film interesting.

- Talking about characters, all the marketing was based on the Mad Hatter (see picture below) so I expected him to be crucial in the story and Johnny Depp to be perfect in that role. None of these happened.

- It ends with a song by Avril Lavigne. Period.

- There are some embarassing scenes. But I won't say more because I promised no spoilers.

- Mia Wasikowska makes a boring Alice lacking a big dose of emotion.

- Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. She looks amazing, but the character is just nothing.

So many films to write about!

I have also watched the following movies this month and I intend to write about them anytime soon:

Alice in Wonderland (disappointing)

Invictus (inspiring)

Wolfman (terrible)

The Lovely Bones (weird)

Some nice movies

These are the movies I saw the past month and enjoyed at least a bit (no spoilers, I swear!):

Nine - Pretty good singing and dancing, and I loved the main character, a fun, charming, crazy artist with no inspiration (Daniel Day-Lewis as Guido Contini). But it's a musical and you have to be into it to enjoy it. From the director of Chicago, it shares some similarities with the former film, like the sexy acts, the celebs (all beautiful high scale actresses) and the role music and dance plays in the story. Good, but not great. Surprisingly, Fergie's performance was the best one in my opinion among a great female cast: including Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Kate Hudson, Penélope Cruz, Judy Dench and even Sofia Loren.

The Last Station - A film about Leo Tolstoy's last years and his marital struggle caused by conflictive points of view - while the writer works in the Tolstoyan Movement and thinkis about the Russian people, his wife, Sofya Andreevna, feels he is not keeping in mind that he also has a family to look after. I thought this would be an historic film showing a lot of the Russian context by that time, but it isn't. It's actually a really interesting film, but more about love than anything else. Instead of being a portrait of Russia in the early 1900s and Tolstoy's role in it, it's really a film about relationships that shows Tolstoy not as a leader, but as a husband. and a human being. It's beautiful, and Sofya Andreevna's character is so strong it's impossible not being sympathetic with her. And it's played by Helen Mirren, always perfect.

Avatar - Not a big fan of sci-fi, but I thought this was a nice one. Nice, but not spectacular as so many people are saying. I enjoyed all the aesthetics, specially the colours, and it tells a beautiful, utopic story - basically Americans satirizing themselves as a nation and playing a mea-culpa on other land's merciless exploitation. You can clearly distinguish Democrats from Republicans on that film as the characters are really ludicrous. It is very predictable in my opinion, but I really wasn't expecting to be surprised.

The Secret In Their Eyes

This Argentinian film originally called "El Secreto de Sus Ojos" just got the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and it's easily the best film I've seen latey. It's real food-for-thought: a very well-written plot involving crime, investigation, justice, politics, psychology, obsession, and of course, love and passion. The characters are really complex and count with great actors such as Ricardo Darin, who wows everytime. It's definitely a must-see.

I found this trailer with unnofficial English subtitles (yet perfectly understandable) on YouTube:

Oscar's nominees and winners

I'm never too happy with the Academy's choices, but this time I haven't watched most of the nominated movies, so I'll just keep my unfounded opinions to myself.

Just one tiny comment: Sandra Bullock?! I haven't seen her performance as a leading actress in "The Blind Side", but having her ever winning an Oscar is REALLY surprising.

 Here is a list with all the cathegories' nominees and winners:

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon in “Invictus”
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Animated Feature Film

• “Coraline” Henry Selick
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
• “Up” Pete Docter

Art Direction

• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography

• “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
• “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
• “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
• “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Costume Design

• “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Directing

• “Avatar” James Cameron
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
• “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Documentary (Feature)

• “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
• “The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
• “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
• “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• “Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing

• “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• “District 9” Julian Clarke
• “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film

• “Ajami” Israel
• “The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)” Peru
• “A Prophet (Un Prophète)” France
• “The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina
• “The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)” Germany

Makeup

• “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (Original Score)

• “Avatar” James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
• “Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)

• “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture

• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• “The Blind Side” Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

• “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
• “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
• “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)

• “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
• “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
• “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
• “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
• “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
• “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
• “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects

• “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Unlimited cinema, yayyy!

Nice thing that's been going on lately: I'm completely up-to-date on all the movies showing on the cinema, since I have an unlimited access card - yessss, best thing ever! So lately I've been going to the cinema at least 3 times a week, and I'm just loving it. So chances are I start writing A LOT about movies!

These are some brief comments on some of the films I've watched lately:

Valentine's Day - Really AWFUL. Not even the great casting could save such a bad, predictable and meaningless plot. Unless you are a female looking for visual delight - then maybe it could work for you, as you'll have almost two hours of Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy), Eric Dane (McSteamy), Taylor Lautner (cute werewolf from New Moon - Twilight saga), Ashton Kutcher (needless to say anything), Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx... but that's it. 

Up in the air - I would highly recommend this one. George Clooney is amazing playing the main role as a fun, unnatached character which has the most interesting actions and reactions I've seen lately. It is a very good plot, a complex movie with lots of content, though it's not heavy to watch. It's actually really fun and entertaining but can be really insightful at the same time, making you feel lots of things, even melancolly. It looks like a romantic comedy if you watch the trailer, but it's not. The only thing I really hated was the HUGE amount of merchandising, as they spend a lot of time showing American Airline's and Hilton's logos. That's a bit annoying, but that's it, that's the only downer.