Movie Review: In Bruges
In my days of movie reviewing, I’ve always found it quite easy to come up with content and material to describe how wonderful a movie is. This is one of those rare instances where I am at a loss. To get right to the point, In Bruges was such a shockingly decent movie that it was like a jab from a blind man, you don’t expect it, and neither of you see it coming.
Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are two hired killers hiding away in a safe house in Bruges, which is a medieval tourist town in Belgium. Farrell has comedic chops I was unaware of and hits his marks and lines like a surgeon. Just his expressions floored me every time, because he lets you know as soon as he steps off the train. . . He fucking hates Bruges. Brendan Gleeson graces us as the father- like figure setting up most of the wonderfully dark and seedy humor that Farrell unleashes. It’s as if he pitches them just for Farrell to slam out of the park. Gleeson is not a household name, but you know him as Hamish from Braveheart, Mad Eye Moody from Harry Potter, Gangs of New York, Kingdom of Heaven, his resume is impressively expansive but he’s not the bad boy of Hollywood Colin Farrell is. We also have Ralph Fiennes as the boss of both these men with a dangerous secret about Farrell. Now with all these characters and random encounters with a sexy heroine dealer, skinheads, a cocaine blowing dwarf, and asshole Americans, it is the witty banter and sad back story that is the driving force behind this movie. And I can’t say enough. I have marked out unexpectedly over this flick.
Now besides the fact that this is a character driven movie I can’t say much more plot wise without spoiling plot twists and, well, the whole end sequence. Farrell is nearly suicidal over his first hit gone terribly wrong and often breaks into sad but also hilarious bouts of crying. And that is the recipe for this movie. Hilarity mixed with a dark sadness that makes it both an incredibly poignant comedy and a kind of cool “Snatch” like action film. To see this movie you must invest in both the good and the bad of what you will receive. . . Expect bad things in a funny way and you will be well prepared.
Check the trailer out. If it was the end of the year already it would be on my list. Think Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Grosse Pointe Blank and it should give you the theme. This is the best movie out right now that you’ve never heard of. If it’s out near you, (Still in limited release) check it out. For the Negative Nancy’s out there all riled up over too good of a review, sometimes movies are made to fit a certain genre of person. And this was right up my alley; I hope more people get a chance to visit “fucking Bruges”.
Speed Racer Movie to be shot Almost Entirely on Green Screen?
It looks like the Wachowski Brothers’ big screen adaptation of Speed Racer may be shot entirely on green screen.
Apparently, John Mathieson (Gladiator, Matchstick Men, Kingdom of Heaven) turned down an offer from the Wachowski Brothers to be director of Photography on the film. The cinematographer told students that he would rather make a Kylie Minogue video than shoot something entirely green screen, according to AICN.
Joel Silver previously told Empire Magazine “I dont know if well even use any cars,” spawning rumors that the Wachowskis would rely largely on CG for the film.
Also, at Wondercon Joel Silver confirmed that it would be a family friendly movie. This project just keeps sounding worse and worse. And a studio is giving them big bucks to film this thing. Do they expect a big return on their investment?
Eva Green Biography
Eva Green (born July 5, 1980 in Paris) is a French actress and composer.
Green is the daughter of French actress Marlène Jobert and Walter Green, a Swedish dentist. She has one sibling, a fraternal twin (non-identical) sister, Joy. Eva studied in Paris and London and performed on stage before making her film debut as the female lead in the Bernardo Bertolucci’s 2003 NC-17-rated film The Dreamers with Michael Pitt and Louis Garrel. In addition to her acting, Green composed original music for the film. The Dreamers brought her some notoriety for her explicit, extensive full frontal nudity. While filming Dreamers, Green was said to have found Bertolucci manipulative, though in a creative way that wasn’t pushy. In comparison to her previous stage acting, she has said that acting in front of the camera makes you its “plaything.”
Described by Bertolucci as “so beautiful it’s indecent”, her performance brought her critical acclaim. In 2004 she co-starred alongside of Romain Duris and Kristin Scott Thomas in Arsène Lupin, directed by Jean-Paul Salomé. In 2005 she starred in her first Hollywood blockbuster as Sibylla of Jerusalem in the film Kingdom of Heaven with Orlando Bloom and Liam Neeson and directed by Ridley Scott. She has recently been cast as Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the upcoming James Bond film Casino Royale with new 007 actor Daniel Craig. Casino Royale will be released in theaters worldwide on November 17, 2006.
Green has been in a relationship with Yann Claasen since the late-1990s. The multi-lingual Green’s name in Swedish is pronounced “grain” and comes from the Swedish word gren, which means (tree) branch.
Halle Berry’s ‘Nefertiti’ Should be ‘Epic’!
When you achieve something special by using a certain method, you usually want to stick to that method and re-use it at some point. The ’something special’ was Halle Berry winning an Oscar for her performance in Monster’s Ball, and the ‘method’ was director Marc Foster. And repeating that method is what they intend to do. Since their success in 2001, Halle has completed the X-Men Trilogy and starred in a few misses, but hopefully her upcoming ‘Things We Lost In The Fire’ will be better. Foster on the other hand, has directed films such as Finding Neverland and is currently working on the next Bond film.
While on her promoting rounds, Halle spoke about a project that will reunite them both, Nefertiti. They have been trying to get the historical epic off the ground for years, but Halle said that it is still moving forward.
There’s battle scenes and love,” she said. “[It’s about] a woman coming into her own. So it should have that epic quality to it.” Berry exclaimed to MTV News,” adding that it will have “lots of action because it’s all about that era in time when Nerfititi was ruling her nation.”
I do not doubt Fosters directing for one second, and even though we have seen a few historical epics recently, (Troy, Alexander, The Kingdom of Heaven, King Arthur), I think one based on a woman, and especially one now after all of the ‘Women In Hollywood’ discussion, would be great viewing. Especially if Halle Berry gets to wear skimpy outfits, like in The Flintstones, we can just take her more seriously this time.