Very Short Takes: Sci-fi and Rachel and Abs! (Oh My!)

Daniel Craig seems to be having the time of his life in Jon Favreau's Cowboys and Aliens an awkwardly titled nod to B movies, trashy sci-fi and the sexiness of the rugged male hero. Craig plays the lead opposite the aging, but still fantastically charming Harrison Ford (who plays a villain!). The movie lingers too much on character details that eventually make no difference - nobody came to this movie for John Ford melancholy - and by the time we get to the showdown between the title characters, our interest might've drifted elsewhere. Mostly meant for fans of the Western, the film takes too long to figure out exactly what it wants to be and other than Daniel Craig's ass in leather chaps, it offers nothing new, or exciting under the sun.
Grade: **

Out of all the comic book movies that have come out in recent years, none have been less spectacular, thrilling or fun than Green Lantern. Martin Campbell's film is an ode to how wrong CGI can go when used for the wrong reasons (a respectable superhero message if that's what he was truly going for). Ryan Reynolds tries to hold the movie together as the title superhero, even if the effects that make up his suit often make us think his head will move in the opposite direction of his body and you have to respect him for not relying on his abs so much this time around. Blake Lively gives rocks a run for their money in the dull department (all of her lines elicit laughter) and poor Peter Sarsgaard is relegated to playing a giant bugger. Then again, what can you expect of a movie that features a character who looks like a devil, is named Siniestro (Mark Strong) and still thinks we'll be shocked upon realizing he's a villain...
Grade: *

Rachel Weisz means business in The Whistleblower a real life story where she plays an American police officer who becomes part of a peace keeping committee in war ravaged Bosnia. Once there she realizes there's a huge human trafficking ring that involves UN members, army officers and even diplomats. Weisz remains a beacon of serenity and morality throughout the film and infuses her character with some rich ambiguities, reminding us of her brilliant portrayal in The Constant Gardener. The film however doesn't know what to do when she's not in the scene and makes a waste out of perfectly good actors like Vanessa Redgrave and David Strathairn. For a movie that tries to paint a time appropriate tale of corruption, the villains and heroes are too clearly divided most of the time and for those inclined to a good old fashioned social heroine tale, the lead never feels under actual danger, the cause in the end feeling like something she does out of an ulterior motive, in the very same way the movie feels made to get its leading lady some awards.
Grade: **½

If Alfred Hitchcock and Chris Marker decided to have a baby, it would be something like Source Code, this sci-fi thriller feels like a hybrid of Strangers on a Train and la Jetée. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a time traveling soldier sent to prevent a mission not even he's aware of. Revealing too much about this movie's plot is to deny the audience of the rich writing in Duncan Jones' sophomore feature. After the breathtaking Moon it's perhaps safe to say that the genre is in good hands with David Bowie's son. With moving performances, an unexpected climax and one of the most sincere romances portrayed in recent cinema, Source Code sends you away with a feeling of utter exhilaration. Like one of its major plot twists all you want to do is revisit it the minute it's over.

Grade: ***½

Style Sunday.

The British were coming at an event held by BAFTA last night in Los Angeles. His royal highness Prince William, who also happens to be President of BAFTA (as if being a future king wasn't cool enough...) attended with his wife, Kate Middleton. Of course, she looked stunning but I keep wondering, where the hell does she find all these wholesome looking Alexander McQueen gowns?

This lavender creation is of course the epitome of classiness but would it kill her to try something a little bit more aggressive and McQueen-ish? Those odd little hats don't count.

Mary Louise-Parker brought her relaxed hippie-ness to the royal table in this cherry Dolce & Gabbana gown. Considering it lacks some oomph for a royal shindig, it's lovely to see her preserve her quirkiness.

Excuse me for saying this but royals should be bowing down to her royal majesty of actressing Nicole Kidman. I love how with the years she's adjusting herself to more sober, but still terrific, looks and how lovely her smile has become with each passing year. This Ellie Saab gown isn't a scene-stealer but Nicole must know that at a royal party, you are not supposed to overshadow the future queen. This well thought dress and demure style make her even more majestic.

Ooh-la-la, god only knows why Blake Lively gets invited to all these amazing red carpets, or perhaps he does, and the reason is merely because she always looks fantastic. This flowy Marchesa gown goes against everything Blake has us used to. Oh no, no boobs or legs! But with the see through loveliness of the fabric and the very Marchesa embroidery she looks like a true goddess. Her simple, unkempt chignon completed a look that reminded me of a Renaissance nymph.

No words describe how magnificent this is and I won't even try.

So, there you go...

Maria Bello was all kinds of lovely in this metallic Donna Karan gown. Gotta love how her tan doesn't make the already shiny fabric look vulgar.

J. Lo probably didn't get the memo that this was a BAFTA event with Prince William and not the Grammys with will.i.am, so she showed up like she always does, flaunting her best assets.

This Emilio Pucci gown will make most women alive envy Lopez's stunning curves but is this the best she could do when she was going to be near the future Queen of England?

How do you even bow before her in this without ripping the fabric and showing Kate your luscious ass?

The Brits weren't the only place for fab fashion this week though...

Anne Hathaway was the fairy tale princess at this year's White Fairy Tale Love Ball, where she opted for a gorgeous Valentino Couture dress. The little details in this dress are best appreciated when you see it in movement, Annie looked like she was hovering while distilling pixie dust. Gotta love her bold red lipstick and romantic hairstyle. Only she can pull off sexy risque and then melt our hearts with this kind of look.

Armani Privé + Cate Blanchett = fashiongasm.

How the hell did she avoid looking like she was part of the red carpet?

This asymmetrical Chanel gown makes the lovely Diane Kruger look like she won best dressed at the 1986 Academy Awards. Make of this what you wish.

Phew, lots of looks this week huh? Can you pick a fave?

Meet Me at the Met.

Guess who's back in da motherfuckin' house!

Exactly one week ago I had a date at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Much to my disappointment the Met was closed (I later found out it's always closed Mondays but still...) however to my surprise, that day they were setting up the red carpet for the Costume Institute Gala: my second favorite red carpet event in the world.

This year the festivities were dedicated to the memory of the late genius Alexander McQueen as the Costume Institute set up an exhibition of his work appropriately called Savage Beauty. People in New York, do yourselves a favor and go see this show. It was one of the most breathtaking art exhibits I've seen in my entire life and since this blog isn't about my life, but about movies, I'll review the red carpet and seam it into a travelogue sort of thing.

The fantastic Stella McCartney wore a design by well, herself and rocked the asymmetrical leg with Alasdhair Willis.

Salma Hayek, as many others, went with a McQueen design which gave her an ethereal aura that neutralized her overcoming erotic sense of fashion. She looked elegant and simple. Notice how she's even subduing the boobs! Well done Hayek!

The statuesque Giselle Bundchen opted for a simple McQueen (if there is such a thing in the designer's oeuvre) that highlighted her height and gave her a regal look.

Madonna, fresh off the time machine, rocked this Stella McCartney that paid homage to great screen sirens like Ava Gardner and Joan Fontaine. the color is absolutely perfect and her Jean Harlow-esque hair is perfect.

Only Beyonce can grab Emilio Pucci and make him seem like he's an understudent at the House of Dereon. This all too tight dress highlights B's gorgeous body in all the wrong ways. She needs to lay off the black and gold for a while.

Even if I'm not a fan of this Alexander McQueen, props should always be given to SJP, who time after time pushes fashion forward.

Blake Lively, who I never ran into despite my best efforts, is a vision in this Chanel Haute Couture. The nude and print paired with the chiffon make her look like a Greek goddess out of a modern orgy.

If something works for you, keep it up, no? Gwyneth Paltrow's state of mind seems to be that since column dresses with sexy high slits have worked for her recently, now's not the time to stop. I would've loved to see her try something new but this Stella McCartney truly defies criticism.

J. Lo chose a McQueen inspired Gucci that highlighted her curves while adding a sense of purely dramatic flair. This reminds me of getting lost on the 6 train (true story).

I, for one, am glad that Taylor Swift gave up her "angelic girl" look for this event. Sure, this J. Mendel dress and severe hairdo make her look like Carolina Herrera but hey, it's about time she embraced womanhood, no?

Oh Diane Kruger. When will this perfection let us down? Your Jason Wu dress is nothing if not simple, yet you wear it with such grace and add this strange sexiness to it that Veronica lake herself would come from the grave to ask for your fashion advice.

Michelle Williams finally smiles for the cameras and looks stunning in this Miu Miu with golden patterns. Speaking of which, I think I finally saw what others see in her acting-wise. She was phenomenal in Meek's Cutoff (that's what I ended up doing after my failed Met date...review coming soon!)

Pé rocks my world, as you all know, but she's been lacking a little something after her pregnancy. This Oscar de la Renta is efficient but looks too much like what she wore for last year's Golden Globes.

Emma Roberts owns Scream 4 and she also gives this Michael Kors design a youthful sexiness not anyone would've achieved.

The awesome Jennifer Hudson highlights her best assets in this lovely Vera Wang dress. The big skirt and see through chocolaty cover make her look good enough to eat.

Amy Adams should stop trying to pull off L'Wrenn Scott. It just doesn't go with her! While the idea of this dress is rather nice, the execution looks cheap and plain dull. It doesn't help that she tried to do her hair in a manner that resembled the gown's pattern.

Wednesday Addams is back! Christina Ricci rocks this strange Zac Posen in a way Helena Bonham Carter only dreams of! The odd skirt and weird patterns are pure runway Posen but the Gothic romantic feel is all Ricci.

The adorable Hailee Steinfeld gives the Fanning sisters (who wore Valentino) a run for their money in the "freaking cute" department. Unlike them however, Hailee is always age appropriate. This Stella McCartney has the edge of the knee length but balances it with a graceful neckline.

Kristen Stewart, really? Let's concentrate on how dreamy the Proenza Schouler guys are instead.

Stella McCartney seems to have been the designer of the night, with apologies to Lee. Kate Hudson looks positively gorgeous in this gold and crystal appliqués design.

Now, out of all the people who donned Alexander McQueen, I think Coco Rocha pulled it off best. Not only did she go with a Lee that's actually wearable in the real world, she also gave it an edge by accessorizing with the dress and not against it.

Kate Winslet was astonishing in this Stella McCartney. People in NYC you must head out to The Museum of Moving Image and see some of the Mildred Pierce costumes they're currently exhibiting. One of my biggest disappointments in coming back home was that I was unable to attend a screening of the entire miniseries at the museum. Can you imagine how awesome that would've been?

Anyway, how have all of you been doing?

Style Sunday.

This Marchesa isn't Blake Lively's best look (it broadens her upper body too much) but as an example of forward looking couture it's a truly remarkable piece of work and further proof that there's nothing Blake wouldn't wear.

The luscious Abbie Cornish shines in this romantically creamy Alberta Ferretti.

The cut is perfect old Hollywood and her simple hair and makeup recall classic starlets.

Speaking of fashion forward femmes, Diane Kruger is a vision in this simple Jason Wu cocktail dress. The ample skirt with the revealing white is sexy in a can-can meets 50s housewife way and the golden shoes are a perfect detail.

The Town ***

Director: Ben Affleck
Cast: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall
Blake Lively, Chris Cooper, Titus Welliver, Slaine, Pete Postlethwaite

Who would've guessed that in his directing Ben Affleck would manifest all the straightforwardness he fails to present in his redundant work as a thespian? The Town is barely his second directorial effort and already he's developing what could be called a style. Of course Affleck's style is highly influenced, if not directly extracted, from the work of Clint Eastwood (the cinematography and sense of in-justice) and Martin Scorsese (the seductiveness of crime as a lifestyle) but with this and Gone Baby Gone he seems to have mastered what it takes to deliver a no-bullshit film in what can be referred to as a "classic style".
His film is straight out of this universe where crime is the only kind of life and the one everyone's trying to escape. Affleck plays Doug MacRay, a career criminal who falls in love with Claire (Hall), the bank manager he takes hostage after one of his gang's heists gets threatening.
In Claire, Doug sees the perfect way to atone for his sins while giving himself a second chance. Of course this threatens the stability of his gang as his friend James (Renner) begins to resent Doug for wanting to leave and they also end at the mercy of the local kingpin (Postlethwaite).
The Town has all the makings of a movie we've seen countless times, or at least to come from the same place where these movies have come from. There's also an FBI agent, keen on catching the criminals and even a femme fatale, in the shape of Lively's Krista, a woman who had an affair with Doug and is reluctant to see him move on.
It seems that every element and every character in the film are trying to drag Doug down with them and in a way it's fascinating to see how Affleck manages to make us sympathize with this character who is unarguably guilty of several crimes. Yet we find ourselves rooting for him to succeed in his relationship with Claire for example and in the bloody climax we still have an idea of him as some sort of hero.
The film boasts an impressive cast and all of them deliver efficient work. The seriously underrated Hall gives Claire the complexity needed to empathize with her even when she makes strange choices, Hamm is superb, even if nothing is really demanded of him other than to look heroic and use the hell out of his Superman looks and Cooper is fantastic in a single scene.
Renner gives the film's best performance as he creates a character that's as real as he's cinematic. James is one part Method acting, two parts hybrid between James Cagney and Richard Widmark. He's electrifying!
In the biggest setpieces he seems to be fueling the energy from within his body and you can not take your eyes off him even as he commits the most gruesome acts of violence.
It has to be said that Affleck is a master at action sequences, there isn't a single action scene in this movie that feels lacking or unnecessary. They are executed with such precision and stamina that you believe they are recreations of things we might've seen on the news.
If he fails a bit with the most intimate scenes, it only means that he's still finding his niche (there are several red herrings that feel more like plot holes than Hitchcockian techniques) but for all that matters, The Town is nothing if not promising.

Style Sunday.

Anne Hathaway truly is pushing the early sixties look lately. This Erdem watercolored sheath and pumps are straight out of a nuclear-scare era cocktail party.
As always that smile is more effective than diamonds.


Blake Lively is one of the most interesting dressers in the planet. Period.
This textured, complex Elie Saab dress is proof of that. With tulle, lace and even patterns, it makes one wonder how the hell did she pull it off with see through shoes.
This is one of the best looks she's ever had.

How do you feel about these? Are you watching the new season of Gossip Girl? If you ask me the way they're pushing fashion can only be compared to Sex and the City!
Fashiogasms abound!

J'adore Blair Waldorf.

"Blair, come and meet Lou Doillon"

"Maybe you can ask Lou Doi-LLON to be your new best friend, because I'm done."


Why the hell is the brilliant work of Leighton Meester in Gossip Girl snubbed for all awards?

Sheet-y Saturday.

Where we take a look at posters for upcoming features.


Ben Affleck sure got himself an amazing ensemble for his second directorial effort (Look it's Hall! Look it's Renner! OMG Serena van der Woodsen!) and it makes sense he would want to show them off-hence the weird little squares with their pretty faces on them-but the poster would've been more effective with just that shot of the creepy, masked nuns.


Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis are beautiful and even if I have no idea what this French film is about, I'm getting a sense of it by the fact that the poster is a sad ripoff of this.

Dying to see any of these movies?

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee **1/2

Director: Rebecca Miller
Cast: Robin Wright Penn, Alan Arkin
Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Julianne Moore, Monica Bellucci
Ryan McDonald, Zoe Kazan, Mike Binder, Maria Bello
Robin Weigert, Shirley Knight

How do you engage an audience and make them become interested in a character? First you have them believe said character has qualities we want to discover.
Pippa Lee (Wright Penn) is "a mystery, an enigma..." says one of her friends (Binder) minutes into the film.
So check, we have something to unravel.
Then you go and try to solve said mystery by putting together pieces of a puzzle. Therefore we go back in time as Pippa narrates her life to make us understand where she is now.
And since we don't really know what it is exactly we're trying to discover we let the characters engage us.
We learn how Pippa (played by Lively as a younger version) ran away from home, escaping her lunatic mom (Bello) and passive dad (Tim Guinee). She ends up living with her lesbian aunt (Weigert) and her girlfriend (Moore) only to end up becoming addicted to pills and falling in love with-and marrying-a publishing editor (Arkin) who's thirty years her senior.
And this is where we first meet her, she's just moved in with her husband to a retirement community trying to find something new to do, while learning that she might be going insane.
Written and directed by Miller (who also wrote the book the film is based on) "The Lives of Pippa Lee" is obviously its creator's lovechild and as such Miller has trouble knowing what to tell, what to conceal and she doesn't want to give us a bad impression about the people she so devotedly wrote, re-wrote and directed.
Therefore the characters are actually very interesting, even if sometimes they're stuck with ridiculous dialogues and selfconscious quips, but there is absolutely no real plot to follow.
She just keeps inserting new elements (even if they're old because they're Dickensian flashbacks) to make her heroine more appealing.
One of those elements includes new neighbor Chris (Reeves) who more than not turns out to be an excuse for Miller to pull all her deus ex machina moves.
But even with all her tricks and stylistic juxtapositions Miller can never really justify what she's doing and the "many" lives of Pippa Lee are reduced to her being single and then married.
Working with Wright Penn as top accomplice ("to be perfectly honest I've had enough of being an enigma" she teases) they make an event out of what turns out to be a not quite fascinating life.
The actress is at her best, she's tender and loving with Arkin, she's motherhood personified with the actors who play her kids (Kazan and McDonald) and she does her best Marcia Cross when she has to share scenes with her neurotic friend (Ryder).
Underneath her undeniable sexiness and appeal Wright Penn is above all bewitching. Try to take your eyes away from her and you won't be able to.
If only the movie had something else to say (we often wonder why do we need to know about this woman's life) instead of settling for facile resolutions and awkward quirk, then we would have been in for a real treat.
Because as it is, the movie comes, goes and Pippa is still as much of a mystery to us when the movie ends. "I feel like this is just the beginning" she says in the last scene, but perhaps only Miller is willing to go on this journey with her.