- Solveig Dommartin, longtime romantic and creative partner of Wim Wenders, passed away in January at the age of 45. I'll remember Dommartin fondly for her performance and work on the screenplay of the vastly underrated Until the End of the World (will we ever see the director's cut on DVD in the US?), Marion, the lonely trapeze artist who becomes the object of an angel's affections in Wings of Desire. In a 1995 interview with Richard Reitinger, Dommartin had this to say about the meaning of her character's unforgettable final monologue:
"It's really our story today. Who has become the woman, who has become the man, and the way that love depends today for its construction as much on the woman as on the man. This is, after all, a fairly recent development. And for me, that's what it's about. A description of something new, belonging to our century, or even to the end of this millennium, where all of a sudden the woman can make a declaration of love. The woman can say: "There, it's you. I have recognized you." Fifty years ago, this would have been unthinkable. I find it very encouraging that this new possibility exists."
- I enjoy following the Oscars, but ultimately, they're a game. So while it'd be nice if their choices reflected my own for the best of 2006 (come on, couldn't The Fountain at least gotten Sound Editing or something?), I'm just happy to see some strong choices in there. I'll be rooting for Children of Men, The Departed and Pan's Labyrinth on the 25th, as well as hoping that Babel isn't this year's Crash. There are smart nominations and baffling ones (Leo for "bling bang" and not The Departed?), but I'm just looking forward to popping some popcorn, enjoying the Ennio Morricone tribute, and applauding Martin Scorsese's long-overdue and inevitable victory (right? right?).
- The North Adams Movieplex 8 opened this past weekend - five of its eight screens were up and running, anyway. There are still some kinks that need ironing out - the screen was new enough to have some creases, and there was some distortion on the low end of the sound system - but the projection was excellent, the seating was comfortable, and best of all, it's an honest-to-goodness multiplex. I may never see another movie at the mall, and that's a beautiful thing.
- Walter Chaw calls Diane Keaton a vagina dentata.
- Finally, the trailer for Across the Universe, Julie Taymor's Beatles musical, has hit the web. My friend Kate was a background actor in this, and she said it looked to be an incredible film. This trailer, which I've watched three times, promises the same - it's like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, only good!
"It's really our story today. Who has become the woman, who has become the man, and the way that love depends today for its construction as much on the woman as on the man. This is, after all, a fairly recent development. And for me, that's what it's about. A description of something new, belonging to our century, or even to the end of this millennium, where all of a sudden the woman can make a declaration of love. The woman can say: "There, it's you. I have recognized you." Fifty years ago, this would have been unthinkable. I find it very encouraging that this new possibility exists."
- I enjoy following the Oscars, but ultimately, they're a game. So while it'd be nice if their choices reflected my own for the best of 2006 (come on, couldn't The Fountain at least gotten Sound Editing or something?), I'm just happy to see some strong choices in there. I'll be rooting for Children of Men, The Departed and Pan's Labyrinth on the 25th, as well as hoping that Babel isn't this year's Crash. There are smart nominations and baffling ones (Leo for "bling bang" and not The Departed?), but I'm just looking forward to popping some popcorn, enjoying the Ennio Morricone tribute, and applauding Martin Scorsese's long-overdue and inevitable victory (right? right?).
- The North Adams Movieplex 8 opened this past weekend - five of its eight screens were up and running, anyway. There are still some kinks that need ironing out - the screen was new enough to have some creases, and there was some distortion on the low end of the sound system - but the projection was excellent, the seating was comfortable, and best of all, it's an honest-to-goodness multiplex. I may never see another movie at the mall, and that's a beautiful thing.
- Walter Chaw calls Diane Keaton a vagina dentata.
- Finally, the trailer for Across the Universe, Julie Taymor's Beatles musical, has hit the web. My friend Kate was a background actor in this, and she said it looked to be an incredible film. This trailer, which I've watched three times, promises the same - it's like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, only good!
3 comments:
Hey Andy!
You know, I spent so much time trying to find that derned trailer on the web...I shoulda just checked here earlier. I can't wait to see this film...though I will say, the trailer seems a triffle dishonest to me...a little singing in the beginning, then the bulk of it looks more like a conventional movie, and then packing a whole bunch of pyschadelic craziness at the end...you'd be hard pressed to get a true understanding of what this film is like based on that snippet. I will say, though, I'm glad they didn't give too much of the visual spectacle away, I'm looking forward to being surprised by it the way I was when I first saw the dailies. I've heard they've done a lot of cutting and recutting, trying to trim down the number of characters...and spending more than a year in post, working on visual fx...I can't wait to see what they've done with it!!
love to you & jess,
kate
If I remember correctly, they did the same with the marketing of Moulin Rouge - emphasize the stars and generic teen appeal, hide the songs and visual spectacle (David Fincher said that the marketing departments always think they have to "save" a movie). In any case, I can't wait to see it - awesome that you got to see dailies, too! Love to you and James.
PS...on a totally unrelated note...I've got an imdb page now, which I think is pretty cool :-)
(actually, I have three separate pages. under three different versions of my name. I'm sure at least 2 of them will be combined soon, though...)
btw...can't wait to meet Luna Violet. ;-)
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