I Lovefilm

I couldn't finish Brodeuses/A Common Thread. The film is about Claire Moutiers, 5 months pregnant and 17 years old. Claire is going to give the baby up for adoption, but she must hide her expanding tummy from her family and the people of her small town. She quits her supermarket job and starts a trial assistantship with a couture embroiderer, Madame Melikian. Melikian's son has just died in a motorcycle accident, leaving her fragile and guarded. The relationship between the two women could be interesting, but I found it boring and predictable.

At the time, I was ill and irritable so maybe that had something to do with it. I found the main character super unlikeable. Not in a "Oh man, I hope they reform and have a happy ending" kind of way...I really didn't care about her ending. And that's impressive - not caring about a pregnant teenager.

Even the embroidery was uninteresting, despite being very elaborate.

The Edge of Love on the other hand, was really impressive. Looks like I might finally have to stop hating Keira Knightley.

Matthew Rhys stars as Dylan Thomas, the Welsh poet. During WW2, Thomas is, by chance, reunited with his first love, Vera Philips (Knightley), in London. Shortly after, Caitlin Thomas (né MacNamara and played by Sienna Miller), the poet's wife and mother of his child also re-appears in London. Around the same time William Killick (Cillian Murphy) falls for Vera and they soon get married.

The film chronicles the self destructive relationships between the two women and the poet they love despite their best intentions. The love they feel for each other is so intense and so damaging.

My two favourite things in this film (aside from Matthew Rhys and Keira Knightley) were the editing and the costumes. The editing (and even some "special effects") gives the film a touch of surrealism that really compliments the downward spiral of the characters' mental states.

Everything Knightley and Miller wear is wonderful, but I'm sure I'll find a reason to talk about that another time.

I'm almost certain I don't like Sienna Miller. She wasn't very good in The Edge of Love (thankfully she also manages, somehow, to be in it a relatively small amount), but for some reason the effect she has on me inspires some kind of anticipation. I'm always anticipating something better from her, something brilliant actually. I wonder if she'll ever deliver...

Probably not.

In 2005 I saw her perform as Celia in As You Like It in London. That was pretty good actually. The director set it in 1940's France, which also made for some swoonworthy costumes. And! AND McNulty was in it! Wait, I mean Dominic West. Well, watch The Wire and he will forever be Jimmy McNulty (exhibit A). I find it hard to disassociate television from reality...

Anastasia and I watched this together and talked most of the time. In a way, that's one of the best things you can say about Charlie Bartlett (and there are a lot of good things I could say about this film). Despite some of its eccentricities, the film is easy to relate to. Not at all in a condescending way either. Anton Yelchin and Robert Downey Jr. make me happy. I probably could have placed that statement better, but, well...I really do like those two.

Did anyone else watch Raising Dad? It was no good. And I had really low standards as a kid. Like, watched-all-seven-seasons-of-Sabrina The Teenage Witch low. Anyway, the reason for the reminiscing is Kat Denning's starring roles in both Charlie Bartlett and Raising Dad. I will never be able to stop associating her with that show (exhibit B). And despite that, she was pretty impressive. I'm looking forward to seeing Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist.
Burn After Reading is a little difficult to talk about because the plot is so twisted. I pressed 'play' knowing very little about the story and I think it was even more enjoyable because of this. So, partly for that reason and partly because I'm super lazy I'm just gonna leave this at a few assorted comments:

I have a buttload of newfound respect for Brad Pitt and George Clooney's comedic skills.

Tilda Swinton has finally proven herself to me. Yeah, T-Swintz can rest easy now. You see, I always knew she was awesome. And yet...found her super annoying. Usually I think she over-acts, but I really enjoyed her performance.

I think I'll watch this film again some time. It's the kind of film that I can imagine would reveal new, hilarious aspects of itself every time you watch it. Mostly due to the stellar cast.