I don’t ordinarily feature films in the ‘De Profil’ section on THM, but I figured this is a grand exception.  As I walked past the Aneglika today in Manhattan, I saw a film poster for “The Concert” starring a wonderful French actress named Melanie Laurent. I decided to check it out, and was blown away by this amazing, little film that came out of nowhere!

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Read the rest of De Profil: ‘Le Concert’ (115 words)

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Post tags: le concert, Melanie Laurent

It was great to see the crowd for this film at my local cinema last night. Yes, the reviews for this look like they are all over the map. But let it be said that without this fantastic casting (Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried-a powerful erotic, sexual trio), the glorious cinematography and the wildly gorgeous sound track, it might be all of what these uninspired critics are writing.  The film stays true to the original plot: a doctor thinks her husband is cheating so she hires a young beautiful prostitute named Chloe (a surprisingly excellent Amanda Seyfried) to seduce him, with an outcome that will make your mind spin, in pure Hitchcock form.

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Read the rest of Review of ‘Chloe’ (281 words)

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Post tags: Amanda Seyfried, Brooklyn Heights cinema, Chloe, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, Nathalie

Once upon a time, in Nazi occupied France…

is the tag line of Quentin Tarantino’s latest masterpiece, which debuted last year at the 62nd Annual Cannes Film Festival. The film goes by the name “Inglourious Basterds” and its title addresses the many cast of characters in this film who are out for some good Jewish revenge – the main reoccuring theme of this film.

It is no secret that this film was, by far, my favorite film of 2009 and that I am rooting for it to sweep up every Academy Award it’s nominated for this year, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Best Original Screenplay.

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Read the rest of ‘Inglourious Basterds’ A Tarantino Masterpiece (986 words)

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Post tags: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds, Melanie Laurent, Oscars, Tarantino

Brosnan and McGregor

“The Ghost Writer” is the latest film by Polish-French genius director Roman Polanski. It is a sleek, stylish, and smart political thriller that has channeled Hitchcock in ways that no one has done, since…well-Hitchcock himself. Like the master, Polanski sets his tone through ominous music, and bases this on a central character-an innocent who struggles to find truth, and gain control of a living nightmare.

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Read the rest of “The Ghost Writer” Is A Sleek Homage To Hitchcock (483 words)

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Post tags: Roman Polanski, The Ghost Writer

“I gave God a chance to kill me…”

The White Ribbon is the latest film by Austrian born director Michael Haneke. Those who are familiar with Haneke know that he is a fan of long, detailed shots (Cache), and violence (Funny Games) to express and communicate to his audience. But his latest film Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) which is nominated this year for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars steers us in a ultimately different direction: to that of a pre-World War 1 black and white Germany … stimulating a breeding ground for hate, fascism, and events to come later in this country.
But the true theme of The White Ribbon is simply evil. A brilliantly put together careful and cautious analysis of pure evil.

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Read the rest of ‘Das Weisse Band’- A Film You Won’t Soon Forget (Best Foreign Film Nominee 2010) (368 words)

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Post tags: Best Foreign Film nominee, Das Weisse Band, Michael Haneke, Oscars, Palme d'Or, The White Ribbon

Poster Officiel

So, it was announced as of April 2009, that Guillaume Canet’s incredible French thriller “Ne le dis à Personne” (or, Tell No One, en anglais) will receive the ultimate Hollywood retouch … an English language remake.  Not much was heard after that announcement, but now according to Variety magazine  Miramax and Focus Features will be taking this on.

Tell No One was an excellent film, and a HUGE success in its native France. Coming from the hands and mind of its director -French actor turned director Guillaume Canet- it was well received, reviewed, and loved by audiences across France … including myself.

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Read the rest of “Tell No One” Gets An American Makeover (164 words)

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Post tags: french, Guillaume Canet, Tell No One

Tea, Anyone? (Photo courtesy of Screenrant.com)

I’m very excited about Tim Burton’s new take on Alice In Wonderland. I honestly can’t think of anyone else who could bring the tale to the screen and give it that surreal (read: trippy) quality that it properly deserves. The cast is amazing and includes Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Mia Wasikowska, Stephen Fry, Crispin Glover, Anne Hathaway,  Christopher Lee, Matt Lucas, Alan Rickman, and Michael Sheen. I’m about as excited to see Rickman as the Caterpillar as I am Depp as The Mad Hatter! (”Whoooo Are Yooooou?” lol)

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Read the rest of Book/Movie Tie-Ins: Alice In Wonderland (367 words)

© Diánna Martin for The Happiest Medium, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: alan rickman, Alice In Wonderland, barnes & noble, BookMovie Tie-Ins, dianna martin, Helena Bonham-Carter, Johnny Depp, Screenrant.com, Tim Burton

New York City in the summer can be brutal … hotter than hot and crammed full of people. While a lot of people spend their time doing the “Yay! Summer” chant, I spend June through September finding ways to avoid the whole thing.

These last few weeks have been in the high 80s, the low 90s, I can’t remember exactly — the heat runs it all together for me. So what better way to forget your troubles than in a darkened movie theatre?

While I’ve always been okay with science fiction, fantasy, and graphic novels turned into movies, it was more of a take it or leave it thing before meeting Stephen. Had it not been for him, I’d never have seen a movie like GhostRider or Fantastic 4 or X-Men. Some I’ve liked more than I expected to, some I’ve suffered through, but all have lead to good conversations afterwards since Stephen is such a fan of the dark vs. light concept.

On Friday night after work we were able to catch Hellboy 2 which was a movie I was definitely looking forward to, having been such a fan of the first Hellboy.

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Read the rest of Science Fiction, Double Feature (766 words)

© Karen Tortora-Lee for The Happiest Medium, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Guillermo del Toro, Hancock, Hellboy 2, Ron Perlman, Science Fiction, The Return of Captain Invincible

There’s an episode of Will & Grace where Jack tries to ignore Patti LuPone as she chatters, crawls around on the floor, and just generally makes herself un-ingnorable. At one point he screams “Shut up Patti LuPone! Shut your brassy, magnificent trap!!!”

She turns around and deadpans … “They either love me or they hate me.” I laughed. I laughed because I … hate her. Those are HER WORDS …

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Read the rest of Dueling Evitas ~OR~ Shut up, Patti LuPone! (973 words)

© Karen Tortora-Lee for The Happiest Medium, 2007. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Elaine Paige, Evita, George Hearn, madonna, Mandy Patinkin, Neil Patrick Harris, Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd, Will & Grace

Of all the things I never thought I’d be interesting in (vacations on the beach, camping in some nature preserve, going vegan, studying mathematical theory) well, Irish folky type bands top that list. I grew up in Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish, where every March the Catholic grammar school went Green (back when that meant something else entirely) and all the halls were plastered with posters of 4 men dressed as leprechauns and smiling gleefully over their respective instruments. This was my introduction to Irish bands.

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Read the rest of I’ve Been FRAME’d! (244 words)

© Karen Tortora-Lee for The Happiest Medium, 2007. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Falling Slowly, Once, Sinead O'Connor, The Frames, When Your Mind's Made Up