I had the good fortune to meet Nadine Labaki, the director and star of the Lebanese film, Caramel at Sundance last year. She was named one of Variety's 10 women directors to watch. Finally, I watched her debut film today as it had bubbled up on my Netflix queue. (And yes, she's just as gorgeous and delightful in person.)
When you think Lebanese film, you probably are picturing some war-torn landscape and a dramatic film filled with religious and political strife. Nadine Labaki's Caramel is none of that. It's a romantic comedy set in modern Beirut about 5 women who work or visit a beauty shop. The Caramel of the title is what is used for waxing in the Middle East. The opening shot of the film is the caramel being made, sugar, lemon and water cooked to a paste, that you can't help tasting. It's a metaphor for the women's lives as well, something bittersweet, and used for removing things they don't like about themselves.
I thoroughly enjoyed this look into another world. These women live modern lives, and yet there is that tension between East and West, and tradition. One woman is a lesbian, one is having an affair with a married man, and another worries that her fiance will find out she isn't a virgin on their wedding night. The problems of love are universal, but some of their challenges unique. Nadine's character Layale tries to book a hotel room for her and her lover, and is asked over an over for an ID card to prove she is married. The woman who is about to be married, looks to getting surgery to restore her "virginity" for her wedding night. But all through there is plenty of comedy. Another amazing thing about this film is that all but two of the actors had no acting experience, and you'd never know it!
It's just a delightful film, and so refreshing to see these stories told through a woman's eyes. This isn't the formulaic rom coms we're used to. Three and a half stars, and I look forward to seeing what Nadine Labaki gives us next! Caramel was a darling of the festival circuit and has an incredible 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Watch the trailer below to get a bit of the flavor of Caramel:
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Caramel - Mini-review
Hugh Jackman and Robert Pattinson have a karaoke night
At around 10PM on Wednesday (February 26), Rob joined Australia star Hugh Jackman, director Baz Luhrmann and producer John Palermo at a karaoke bar near their hotel, as first reported by E!. Here’s the connection: On Sunday, Rob presented at the Oscars, Hugh ably hosted the swank event, John created the flashy opening number, Baz choreographed the “Musicals Are Back!” number and everyone wound up taking the same flight to Japan together. A Tokyo journalist confirms to JustJared.com that the foursome (plus friends) sang for a few hours before Rob’s costars Kristen and Taylor joined in on the fun.
Michael Fassbender speaks about Inglourious Basterds
The Times has a great interview with Michael Fassbender, fresh off his success at the BAFTAS for Hunger. Hunger comes out on DVD in the UK this month, and will be released at the end of March in the US.
Hunger, he says, as we slip into a nearby café, has “changed things hugely. Now I can get into rooms early when projects are starting up”. In recent months he has been mentioned as Heathcliffe in a new film of Wuthering Heights and in the Dennis Waterman role, opposite Ray Winstone, in a movie version of The Sweeney. But the most exciting is Inglourious Basterds (sic), Tarantino’s Second World War tale of a suicide squad sent to kill as many Nazis as they can.
Filming ended in December and Fassbender had a blast playing a British commando who teams up with Brad Pitt’s homicidal Yanks. His character, Lt Archie Hicox, was based, Tarantino told him, on a young George Sanders. “So I got out all the original Saints and Sanders films. It’s a very particular way of speaking, affected accent and mannerisms. I just really went to town and found quite a lot of humour in it, I hope.” Pitt certainly thought so. “In our first scene together I started doing my character and he started laughing.” He smiles. “He was very supportive.”
Read the rest here.
The name George Sanders didn't immediately bring a voice to mind, but we've all heard him -- he was Shere Kahn the tiger in Jungle Book. I thought Michael might be one of the Germans, which his background, but I'm relieved he'll have a hopefully bigger part as the British commander. Can't wait to see what "going to town with it" means! Here's another example of George Sanders on Youtube.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Jamie Foxx Ft. T-Pain - Blame It (HQ)
Now I have officially seen everything. Quincy Jones, Forest Whitaker and Samuel Jackson, okay, but Ron Howard?!! Jake Gyllenhaal?!! WTF?!
Trailer for Hunger
This is Michael Fassbender's amazing film Hunger, which has gotten raves on the festival circuit and will finally get released in the U.S. in March. It opens limited on March 20th, and should have a wider release on March 27th. Michael plays Bobby Sands, and lost an incredible amount of weight to show the hunger strike.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Kenneth the Page responds to Jindal Comparisons
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
A Slumdog Happy Ending
“Azharuddin and Rubina pose with Slumdog director Danny Boyle at the Oscars”
Two of the children in Slumdog Millionaire were cast from the slums of Mumbai. Here are two pictures of their living conditions:
Read the whole article at the Daily Mail.
Boyle and producer Christian Colson told the Daily Mail that Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali and their families will be moved to apartments worth £20,000 each in the coming months. But in an astonishing turn of events, officials from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority - a Mumbai housing association - have now also said they want to gift the children a new flat each. (The Daily Mail)
Producers said they would work with an NGO to find a suitable social worker to liaise with the families to ensure the children’s wellbeing over the next few years.
Boyle said: ‘It is not about throwing cash at the problem – that doesn’t work. It is about investing in the long term. The key thing is to make sure they stay in school.
‘We want the kids to have more than wealth, we want them to have the skills that will set them up for life.’
Colson and Boyle told the Daily Mail the children and their families are looking at new apartments on the edge of the area where they live.
Boyle told the Daily Mail: ‘These are bricks and mortar flats. They will have electricity, running water and good sanitation. They will still be close to their friends and extended family. Their community is very important to them, and they don’t want to move too far away from them.
‘They have looked at a number of places but like anyone choosing a home, it is taking some time for them to agree on a final one.’
The film company has also agreed to pay for a rickshaw driver to take the children to and from school every day for the next eight years – to ensure they attend.
Hat tip: Awards Daily
Cate Blanchett is Maid Marian
Russell Crowe has found a worthy match. The film Nottingham, which is now evidently getting a title change to the more traditional Robin Hood, originally had Sienna Miller attached to play Maid Marian. There were rumors the stick thin Sienna Miller made the presently portly Russell Crowe look even wider and older. I'm not sure Cate Blanchett is any less thin, but she's certainly a better acting match for Russell Crowe, and a stronger personality. Variety has the skinny:
Cate Blanchett will play Maid Marian alongside Russell Crowe's Robin Hood in the Ridley Scott-directed drama for Universal Pictures.
The picture, which had been called "Nottingham" but is undergoing a title change, begins production in early April.
Crowe plays Robin of Loxley in an origin story of Robin Hood that hews close to historical facts of the period. Abandoned as a child, he finds community with the common people of Nottingham. Robin's abandonment and trust issues hamper his ability to fall in love. He meets his match in Marian, a strong, independent woman.
Jon Stewart - The George W. Bush of Oscar Hosts
That Hugh Jackman, he's amazing! LOL!
Oliver went on to eviscerate Stewart for laying "two massive turds on that stage" and praise Jackman as: "...charisma stuffed inside a Greek god coated in raw talent, and garnished with what I can only imagine is a spectacular Australian c**k."
