Bright Star

So I've seen previews, and I've seen that it's by Jane Campion and it was a love story and I was like, "Oh, geez, you know they're showing the 2 minutes of the movie that isn't a horrendously explicit and kind of gross sex scene," but then it's rated... PG (I think. Maybe PG-13. Certainly not R.). Seeing how this movie is getting raves and I did love The Piano, I definitely want to see it now. Hmm.

The Piano

Disclaimer: I cannot write reviews for shit, especially after weeks of writing essays for school. Ugh. This is more just an amalgamation of my thoughts as opposed to a real review.
I was actually shocked at how much I liked this movie. Shocked. It's certainly not the best film ever like I've heard some people say. Likewise, it's not the best film of the '90s. Hell, it's not even the best film of 1993 (Schindler's List, whether you think it's a masterpiece or manipulative trash, just worked for me, okay?), but it is really freaking excellent. For one thing, I thought it was going to be something different; based on what I've heard about it and the stills I've seen, I thought it was going to be one of those films that's easy to admire but hard to love with, you know, Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin just staring at each other on a beach for two hours. Yawn. But, not at all. This film is alive. It is vibrant (gotta love Australia), and even, at times, pretty darn funny. Holly Hunter is simply... incredible, to put it simply. She never says anything, but her performance is completely absorbing and you always know exactly what she is thinking and feeling. Amazing. One of the most deserved Oscars ever. Anna Paquin's fantastic too, and makes me wonder why she's so mediocre in everything she's been in since this movie. Harvey Keitel gives one of his very best performances (but did we really need to see his dick again?), and I just loved Kerry Walker (she bought a lot of the aforementioned humor). No, the movie's not perfect (there were a few too many shots of Hunter just kinda sitting there playing the piano [which is what I thought the movie would be like, actually, heh], and that scene where Keitel sticks his head under Hunter's dress and the dog starts licking Sam Neill's hand? Aaack), but it is pretty freaking spectacular. A- (A?)

And, of course, happy birthday to the person who may be my favorite director, Woody Allen. :D Recommendations of the day: Scoop (underrated, quite funny and I enjoyed it a lot more than Match Point) and Angels in America (for AIDS day. Then again, if you haven't seen this movie already, don't talk to me!).