Ondine Film Review

I was really looking forward to seeing Ondine.  Finally a romantic film with Colin Farrell!    It played only in very limited release for about a minute, so I missed it on the big screen.  I discovered this weekend that's it's now available on Netflix Watch Instantly.

The film is written and directed by Neil Jordan (The Crying Game), which should have told me from the start that this would be no typical romantic film.  The tone is more wistful and dark, for an
"adult" fairy tale.  Fisherman Syracuse (Colin Farrell) discovers the lovely Polish Alicja Bachleda in his net.  She refuses to go to a doctor or the hospital and is fearful of being seen by anyone.  He lets her stay at his late mother's cottage.

Syracuse has a precocious daughter in a wheelchair, and while she's getting kidney dialysis, he tells her the story of a fisherman who finds what may be a selkie in his net.  The real romance to be honest is between Alicja's "selkie" and Syracuse's daughter, Annie.  I also love the relationship between Syracuse and the village priest played by Stephen Rea.  (Who would have thought early in Stephen Rea's career that he would end up playing so many priests?)

The cinematography is gorgeous as is the Irish coastal setting, which adds to the fairytale feel of most of the film.  The last part of the film suddenly lurches into harsh thriller realism.  It's jarring for the audience, and the characters in the film.

I have very mixed feelings about this film, partially because I had such high hopes for what it might be.  What it is, is a quiet sweet little indie film, but it's not quite the magical Colin Farrell romance film that I'd imagined it would be.  If I'd gone into it knowing nothing, and expecting nothing, maybe I would have a different take.

Definitely worth a view for Farrell fans, but I'm glad I didn't pay full freight to see it in the theater.  Two and a half stars.  I also wish I could have watched it with closed captioning as the Irish accents were very thick!

"Ondine" trailer

Oh, man. This looks awesome. Neil Jordan and Colin Farrell in a mermaid love story? Sign me up! Colin even gets to use his native Irish accent in a story of a fisherman who finds a woman in his nets that he believes is a selkie. No US release date as of yet.

Jeff Bridges may be nominated for Crazy Heart

For Best Actor this year, there's been talk about Colin Firth for A Single Man, Viggo for The Road, and George Clooney for Up in the Air.  Now we may have a new contender.  Just this week, there was a bunch of buzz about Jeff Bridges "career best" performance as a country western singer in the film Crazy Heart.  Here's what In Contention had to say:

Bridges fully embodies the broken but spirited Bad Blake, an alcoholic country singer touring the Southwest in his 1970-something Suburban, playing any dive that’ll have him.  He brings every inch of charisma and charm he has to a role that certainly doesn’t seem made for him on the surface, but somehow ends up entirely owned by the actor come film’s end.

Bridges haunts the stage behind a dark pair of aviator sunglasses, under a silvery, unshampooed mane, unmistakably conjuring the image of Hank Williams Jr. as he belts out a number of tunes from gig to gig.  He shares the screen with Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays Jean, a journalist and single-mother love interest.  Gyllenhaal holds her own and provides a complex, emotional core to the story that could also nail down a few kudos here and there.

Colin Farrell has something of a glorified cameo as Tommy Sweet, a famous modern country star who owes his career to Blake, while Robert Duvall (who also serves as one of the film’s producers, along with Burnett, in fact) offers a small but meaningful supporting turn as Blake’s confidante.

Colin Farrell and Jeff Bridges were filmed at a Toby Keith concert last year for the movie:

Colin Farrell as a country singer? Well, okay, I suppose he can sing, so I'll withhold judgment till I see the film.

New images from Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Trailer

@ Yahoo! Video

WOW, just wow! We get little glimpses of the other actors playing Tony, Heath Ledger's role: Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell. Release date is October 16th.

The tale of the Hot Handyman

Colin Farrell as a Keira's hot handyman? Could be fun!

Keira Knightley and Colin Farrell will star in the movie adaption of the Ken Bruen novel London Boulevard. According to Variety, "Farrell will play a South London criminal who, after release from prison, tries to give up the gangster life by becoming a handyman for a reclusive young actress."

[The] crime drama marks the directing debut of "The Departed" scribe William Monahan. Monahan adapted the Ken Bruen novel.

Hat tip: EW

Golden Globes Reaction

I was thrilled that Colin Farrell won for Best Actor Comedy for In Bruges. I adored that film, and thought he was possibly his best ever in it. He seemed genuinely surprised. It was a huge night for Slumdog Millionaire with 4 wins. Heath Ledger's posthumous win for The Dark Knight was expected, but Kate Winslet nabbing TWO statuettes was a stunner. She seemed totally shocked to win the second, the Best Actress for Revolutionary Road. I haven't seen either of her films yet, but they've just come to my local multi-plex. Still hoping The Wrestler will come out to the 'burbs, too, as Mickey Rourke won Best Actor, Drama.

A huge night for HBO, too, with multiple wins for John Adams, Laura Dern for Recount (yeah!), Gabriel Byrne for In Treatment (double yeah!) and shocker Anna Paquin for True Blood! Squee! Fun night!

In Bruges and Hunger lead British Independent Film Awards

Reuters UK reports:

IRA prison drama "Hunger" and crime comedy "In Bruges" will go head to head at the British Independent Film Awards with seven nominations apiece, more than any other 2008 picture.

"Hunger," starring Michael Fassbender as IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands and directed by British artist Steve McQueen in his film-making debut, has been shortlisted in the best British independent film category along with "In Bruges."

Both "Hunger" and "In Bruges" have also been nominated for best debut director, best screenplay, best actor, best supporting actor and best technical achievement.

McQueen is also on the shortlist for best director, while "In Bruges" actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are up against each other in the best actor category.

Ralph Fiennes was nominated twice in the best supporting actor category -- once for "The Duchess" and one for "In Bruges."

I hope this will get more attention to In Bruges, which was my favorite film from Sundance last January. It didn't get much attention in the States, but hopefully, this will jog people to get it from Netflix and see it! Also, great to see Hunger and Michael Fassbender continue to get kudos from what appears to be an amazing film. Read my review of In Bruges and view the trailer here.

Colin Farrell on Alexander disaster

Still hate the hair.

Colin Farrell was in Rome promoting Pride and Glory and spoke about Alexander (from Huffington Post):

Alexander hurt, you know -- and again people are going to say 'Get over it, you were well paid' and all that. But Alexander hurt," Farrell told reporters.


"The response that it got was really painful and all of us got a really hard time, and I didn't come across too well either in the majority of reviews and even with the audiences -- people did not respond to it.

"It was a film that was made to be seen by many people. Not many people saw it and they weren't particularly fond of it, and that was s----, it was really s----," he said...

Farrell, along with co-stars Angelina Jolie and Val Kilmer, was nominated for worst actor for his portrayal of the ancient Greek military leader at the 2005 Razzies...

"I took it to heart. I felt like I had let a lot of people down, I felt like I had disappointed a lot of people ... And it took a while to get over that," Farrell said.

Orlando Bloom called...

Perez posted this pic with the caption:

Uhmmm…..

Orlando Bloom called, sweetie.

He wants his Lord of the Rings hair back!

Too funny!

All for Matlida

When I read this on Perez, this just made me go Awwwww!

According to the UK's The Sun, the three Hollywood stars who completed Heath Ledger's final film role have donated their pay to his two-year-old daughter, Matilda.

Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell were worried for Matilda’s future as Heath left an old will which did not include the little one.

Heath's dad, Kim Ledger, is in control of Heath's estate. Family members have said they're concerned that daddy will mismanage the actor's money.

The three played versions of Heath's character, Tim, in fantasy epic The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

Film director Terry Gilliam said, “They didn’t take money — it goes to Heath’s daughter. That’s extraordinary! And wonderful . . . and when you’re part of that, you think, ‘Ah, this is maybe why I went into the movies in the beginning. I thought it would be full of wonderful people. And we’ve got a movie full of wonderful people who did extraordinary things to help.”

Johnny Depp is a father of two, Jude Law has four and Colin Farrel has a son.

DVD Tuesday - In Bruges

It's Tuesday, which means it's DVD new release day. There haven't been many notable new releases lately, but today is a banner day.

Number one on my list of DVD's you need to add to your Netflix queue is In Bruges. I was lucky enough to see its world premiere at Sundance in January. It opened this spring in theaters but didn't seem to make much of a splash. I thought in Bruges was fantastic and it was my favorite film of the festival. Very funny, very violent and sometimes shockingly gory. Great dialog and interesting script by Oscar winning (short film) director Martin McDonagh, who is known for his award winning plays in Ireland. Colin Farrell was brilliant in the film. He was very funny, cries several times and then is shockingly violent and explosive showing an extensive range in the film. I thought the role fit him very well, one of his best in years, and really showcased him. Ralph Fiennes cracked me up because he usually plays so highbrow, and this role was with a low class accent and kind of a thug character. Brendan Gleeson was his usual wonderful character actor self. My husband and I still quote dialog from this film to each other. Our favorite exchange between Brendan and Colin:

Ken: Ray, you are about the worst tourist in the whole world.
Ray: Ken, I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't.

It's in the trailer here:


Persepolis, the amazing Oscar nominated animated film is also out today, and Definitely, Maybe with adorable Abigail Breslin and Ryan Reynolds is worth a rental.

Ack! Colin Farrell loses tons of weight for role

Perez says:

Yes, that really is Colin Farrell!

The Irish actor embraced his inner manorexic for his latest role.

Colin has dropped the pounds to play a war photographer in the movie Triage.