SBIFF: Chloe and 8 - Day One Recap

CHLOE

The first movie we (Denny, Sarah and I) saw was CHLOE, starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried as Chloe. Getting in was hectic, we had a great spot in line, but when we got in it was already near full. We saw the movie from the third row - it just made it that much more gnar.

CHLOE is a sexual thriller. Think FATAL ATTRACTION - but hotter, so much hotter. Amanda Seyfried stars as a high class call girl whose yet to make a human connection. Julianne Moore plays a wife who suspects her distant husband is cheating on her and hires Chloe to find out. Chloe reports back to Moore, unexpectedly causing Moore to feel closer to her husband. Scared by the closeness, Moore tries to end things with terrifying results.

Well- that's what the movie would like you to believe. It is good, don't get me wrong - but leaves very little to the imagination (both sexually and in plot).

Subtlety is dead in CHLOE, hitting the audience in the face with clues (a.k.a. close-ups that the filmmakers are afraid you'd miss otherwise). Beats happen quickly, speeding through moments that should be slower, moments that need more tension, more build up, and more exploration.

Moments could have been pulled from a porn, just a warning.

The consensus among us was that we wanted to see certain moments explored more.

It's intense though, and the ending is wonderfully satisfying. Moore is gorgeous, and Seyfried has yet another versatile role. She's electrifying and proves, yet again, that she can act. Both have great dramatic moments, but I wanted more!

Should you go? Yeah. Worth seeing.

8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION

A documentary about Mormon involvement in the passing of Proposition 8. It was introduced by husbands who snuck in before prop 8 passed. Lucky them.

I went in thinking I wouldn't learn anything I didn't know. I went in thinking that it would recap everything I knew, but be great for those who are less informed about the current civil rights issue.

I was wrong. This movie went deep- tapped into a ton of shit I didn't know. It's wonderfully informative (skewed, of course - but every point made if valid.) I don't want to reveal anything, because I want you all to see it (the film got distribution) but I'll give you this fact: 22 million dollars came from the Mormons. Mostly from Utah (to pass a California Prop).

8 isn't the best made documentary- don't get me wrong, but everyone should see it to understand how the fuck prop 8 passed.

See it for the facts. Remember it for the emotion. It's strength is in the quality of information presented, and the connection it forces you to have with the victims of Prop. 8.

At the end of my day, the better film. I'm a little bit passionate about this issue, so a blog about that will come soon.

Happy Festivaling! More tomorrow...

The Forgotten starring Julianne Moore

It happens every year. Someone is snubbed.

This is more than that.

Julianne Moore is one of the greatest actresses ever. Period. Nominated 4 time. 0 wins.

Sure, she has some minor issue choosing projects (Blindness, The Forgotten, Next)
or ends up in great projects that no one sees (Savage Grace, Far From Heaven) but-
Try and deny that she didn't stand her own in Jodie Foster's shadow in Hannibal.
Try and tell me you weren't captivated by her and Clive Owen's relationship in Children of Men. Try and argue that she didn't steal every scene she was in with Colin Firth.

As Charley, the alcoholic ex-lover to Colin Firth's single gay man - Julianne Moore triumphed. She was a mess. An absolute mess of a person, with more depth than ever hit the screen. She knew Charley. No one else could have played that role. Julianne Moore stepped into Charley's mod, sophisticated, lush of a life and never stepped away.

So where, please tell, is her nomination?

Take it away from Anna Kendrick and give it to someone who deserves it.



(In other Moore news, I'm going to see her in Chloe at the SBIFF - so stoked, and am eagerly anticipating her brilliance in the newly acquired The Kids Are Alright, opposite Annette Bening)

A Single Frame

I promise this won't turn into a blog of JUST movie reviews- but I just saw Single Man and feel the need to encourage anyone who gets a chance to witness Tom Ford's brilliance to do so. Don't do it for the story. Don't do it for the actors. Hell, don't even do it for me- do it for the part of you that loves to flip through magazines at the check stand of the grocery store and look at all the hyper-stylized fashion photographs.

Every single frame of this movie could be paused, printed and put in a fashion magazine. It's beautiful. The costume, the lighting, the placement of every detail. Ford's use of color is exactly how color should be. Colin Firth's life is muted. He's invisible, until he's passionate about something. Characters faces and outfits come alive with bursts of color when Firth comes alive. I want to live in this hyper stylized world that Tom Ford has created.

Okay, maybe I don't.

This movie is heart wrenching. Colin Firth is haunted by the past. Julianne Moore's future is living in it. I don't want to give too much away, but it's tough.



The depiction of the era is perfect. Colin Firth stepped in front of a Psycho poster wearing a skinny tie. I was sold.



And I lied. Totally see it for the story and the actors. Julianne Moore is terrifyingly good. No one does train wreck like her. Colin Firth is phenomenal. Old favorite Matthew Goode, new favorite Nicholas Hoult, and all time favorite Lee Pace (in too little screen time) all help model Tom Ford's latest spread.



Do yourself a favor and see it. Then go home and hug the ones you love.

Or go skinny dipping.