Volume 04, Number 21
Movies
Movie News
By Bill Hersey
Catherine Zeta-Jones is not only gorgeous and super chic, she's smart, outgoing and really knows how to promote herself and her work. Her recent visit to Japan was to promote her latest film No Reservations for Warner Brothers. “I loved working on the film” she told the press, adding, “it was a new character, something completely different from what I've done, and I'm proud of the way it turned out. I really hope you enjoy it.”
In the film Catherine plays a master chef who's a real perfectionist, and the changes she goes through as a result of new people in her life—an opera singing sous chef, played by Aaron Eckhart, and her recently orphaned nine year old niece Zoe (played by Abigail Breslin).
Catherine said she really didn't cook much before, but has retained some of the cooking skills she has learned for the film. “That makes my husband (actor Michael Douglas) and our children happy which, of course makes me happy.” She told the media she loved the opera soundtrack mentioning she came from a musical background (so good in Chicago), actually did an opera “street scene” on the London stage, and worked with her husband on a Luciano Pavorotti charity event in Italy.
She played down her beauty saying, “I like myself, and feel you have to have beauty within yourself. Peace and tranquility are so important”. I can tell you, it's sure worked for her.
She looked like she was ready for a fashion show runway at both press conference and premiere. She gave her hairstylist and makeup artist credit for much of this. I also really liked her attitude with her many fans at the premiere. She worked hard to shake as many hands and sign as many autographs as possible. Catherine was also a special guest on the Veteran pop group SMAP's TV show. I've known some celebs who were embarrassed by questions and situations on the show, (Japanese TV humor can sometimes be difficult) but from all reports, she came across like she looks—beautiful.
Movie Review - Stardust
Stardust is a swashbuckling fantasy adventure; exciting, romantic, a real crash, bang, wallop, of a picture. Imagine the wise cracking, caffeine-fuelled love child of The Princess Bride and you're getting close.
Set in a town called Wall that separates, ironically with a wall, England from a fantasyland called Stormhold. Young Tristan (Charlie Cox) has his heart set on Victoria (Sienna Miller). As proof of his love for her, Tristan promises to retrieve a star that has fallen into Stormhold.
Once there he discovers that the star, Yvaine, has taken a human form (Claire Danes). Unfortunately Yvaine is very much wanted by the King and his sons, and by Lamia, a witch who wants to tear out Yvaine's heart in a quest for eternal life. Yvaine's avoidance, with Tristan's help, of her pursuers is the films main thrust, though there is much, much more to enjoy.
In fact, surrounded by a stellar supporting cast that includes Rupert Everet, Jason Flemyng, Mark Strong, Ricky Gervais, Kate Magowan and the great Peter O'Toole (as the King), the two leads don't dominate the action. Best of all is Michelle Pfeiffer as Lamia, who exhibits a knack for comic timing, and whilst playing a role that is not her most flattering character.
The film based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, is well directed by Matthew Vaughn and the computer-generated effects for once, don't swamp the excellent cast. Although very much an adult fantasy, and very funny, children from about 10-years-old should enjoy it.
Finally, although De Niro's exuberant turn as the cross-dressing, lightening catching, Captain Shakespeare (who acts as Tristan's mentor), is perhaps just a tad over the top, the sight of this fine actor dancing a can-can, fan dance on the deck of his flying pirate ship is wellworth the admission price alone.
East/West Double Bill
by M. Halliday
For being photographed smiling with the Vietcong during the Vietnam War Jane Fonda, the finest screen actress of her generation, earned the nickname Hanoi Jane and the wrath of many Vietnam veterans. In Hal Ashby’s 1978 film Coming Home, set during that war, she plays Sally Hyde a well-meaning officers wife who helps out at the local Vets hospital. There she meets Luke Martin, superbly played by Jon Voight, a Vietnam veteran paralyzed from the waist down. Despite his hostility (She is for the war; he very much against) they form a bond that blossoms into something much deeper. Both Fonda and Voight won deserved Oscars for their performances, although the ever under rated Bruce Dern, as Fonda’s husband, unluckily missed out. Coming Home is a deeply moving film about the lasting damage of combat and the difficulty combatants face trying to re-assimilate into society and seems more pertinent than ever today.
Pat O’Connor’s 1987 film A Month in the Country, based on the novel by JL Carr, is set in Yorkshire in the summer of 1919 (and therefore considers the effects of the 1st World War rather than Vietnam) covers, in a very different but equally effective way, some of the same ground as Coming Home. Housewive’s favorite Colin Firth plays Tom Birkin a recovering war veteran commissioned to restore a partially hidden mural on a wall in a village church in the heart of the Yorkshire Countryside. Also in the area is land surveyor James Moon, played by Kenneth Branagh, an even more badly damaged survivor of the war. Their friendship and Birkin’s exquisitely mannered relationship with Alice Keach played by Natasha Richardson, wife of the church’s Vicar, is the centre of the films narrative. Beautifully acted and shot, understated in every way, this is a gently paced, thoughtful film that will haunt the viewer long after its finished.