Rock of Ages Delivers Anthemic Film Soundtrack
Features Hits of Iconic Rockers Def Leppard, Journey, Bon Jovi, Poison and Others Performed By Rock of Ages Cast Members Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mary J Blige, Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise, and More
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WaterTower Music has announced the release of the soundtrack album for the highly anticipated upcoming movie musical Rock of Ages on June 5, 2012. The ROCK OF AGES: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK boasts 20 rousing anthems that defined a generation—reinvigorated for the film by a stellar cast including Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Malin Akerman, Mary J. Blige, Alec Baldwin and Tom Cruise.
Directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray), New Line Cinema’s Rock of Ages is the film adaptation of the smash hit, five-time Tony® nominated Broadway musical which tells the story of small town girl Sherrie and city boy Drew, who meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Executive Music Producer Adam Anders (Glee) helps tell the rock ‘n’ roll romance through cast versions of heart-pounding hits of Def Leppard, Poison, Journey, Twisted Sister, Bon Jovi, Joan Jett, Foreigner, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Whitesnake, and more.
“Taking classic, beloved rock anthems and seeing them through the unique perspective of the characters in the film was such an exciting prospect for me in directing Rock of Ages,” said filmmaker Adam Shankman. “We had a phenomenal cast who performed these songs in such a powerful way—adding depth and meaningful imagery to the film. I was lucky to have a partner in Adam Anders who, better than anyone working today, understands how to take popular songs and seamlessly repurpose them to tell a story with unparalleled originality and success.”
“It’s an enormous thrill to introduce the soundtrack of Rock of Ages to the world,” said Executive Music Producer Adam Anders. “While re-imagining these songs for the film, it was important for me to present them in a way that would not only tell the story, but transcend generations by making these songs relevant for today’s audience. This soundtrack truly captures the incredible performances of a very talented cast who brilliantly reinterpreted these songs with us in the spirit of the film. I am really proud of this soundtrack as it is definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
As the larger-than-life, arena-rocking champ “Stacee Jaxx,” the Rock of Ages Soundtrack features Tom Cruise belting out Bon Jovi’s classic “Wanted Dead or Alive,” Def Leppard’s hit “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” and Guns ‘N Roses anthem “Paradise City.” Cruise also duets with Malin Akerman on Foreigner’s power ballad, “I Want To Know What Love Is,” and shares the mic with Julianne Hough on The Scorpions’ “Rock You Like A Hurricane.”
The album also features an extraordinary medley of Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian,” David Lee Roth’s “Just Like Paradise,” and Poison’s “Nothin’ But A Good Time,” which features Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin.
Also echoing through the soundtrack are mash-ups of songs that ruled the airwaves in the `80s, including Foreigner’s “Juke Box Hero” / Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock N Roll”; Extreme’s “More Than Words” / Warrant’s “Heaven”; Pat Benatar’s “Shadows Of The Night” / Quarterflash’s “Harden My Heart”; and Starship’s “We Built This City” woven into Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” all performed by the film’s cast.
The full track list for the album is as follows:
1. “Paradise City” - Tom Cruise
2. “Sister Christian” / “Just Like Paradise” / “Nothin’ But A Good Time” - Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin
3. “Juke Box Hero” / “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” - Diego Boneta, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Julianne Hough
4. “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” - Catherine Zeta-Jones
5. “Waiting For A Girl Like You” - Diego Boneta, Julianne Hough
6. “More Than Words” / “Heaven” - Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta
7. “Wanted Dead Or Alive” - Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough
8. “I Want To Know What Love Is” - Tom Cruise, Malin Akerman
9. “I Wanna Rock” - Diego Boneta
10. “Pour Some Sugar On Me” - Tom Cruise
11. “Harden My Heart” - Julianne Hough, Mary J. Blige
12. “Shadows of the Night” / “Harden My Heart” - Mary J. Blige, Julianne Hough
13. “Here I Go Again” - Diego Boneta, Paul Giamatti, Julianne Hough, Mary J. Blige, Tom Cruise,
14. “Can’t Fight This Feeling” - Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin
15. “Any Way You Want It” - Mary J. Blige, Constantine Maroulis, Julianne Hough
16. “Undercover Love” - Diego Boneta
17. “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” - Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Mary J. Blige
18. “Rock You Like A Hurricane” - Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise
19. “We Built This City” / “We’re Not Gonna Take It” - Russell Brand / Catherine Zeta-Jones
20. “Don’t Stop Believin’”- Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Mary J. Blige
New Line Cinema’s Rock of Ages comes to the big screen on June 15, 2012, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The movie musical stars Julianne Hough (Burlesque), with actor/singer Diego Boneta in his feature film debut, Russell Brand (Arthur), Oscar® nominee Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man), Academy Award® winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago), Malin Akerman (The Proposal), and R&B queen Mary J. Blige, with Oscar® nominees Alec Baldwin (The Cooler, TV’s 30 Rock) and Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Magnolia, Jerry Maguire).
Shankman directed Rock of Ages from a screenplay by Justin Theroux and Chris D’Arienzo and Allan Loeb, based on D’Arienzo’s musical of the same name. Adam Anders and Peer Astrom composed the original score and produced the songs featured in the film. Rock of Ages is produced by Matthew Weaver, Scott Prisand, Carl Levin, Tobey Maguire, Garrett Grant and Jennifer Gibgot, with Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Michael Disco, Samuel J. Brown, Hillary Butorac Weaver, Janet Billig Rich, Shankman and D’Arienzo serving as executive producers.
To learn more about the film and soundtrack visit http://www.rockofagesmovie.com/
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Review: The Rock Tries Hard in "The Game Plan" (Happy B'day, Dwayne Johnson)
The Game Plan (2007)
Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some mild thematic elements
DIRECTOR: Andy Fickman
WRITERS: Nichole Millard and Kathryn Price; from a story by Nichole Millard and Kathryn Price and Audrey Well
PRODUCERS: Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Greg Gardiner (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Michael Jablow
COMEDY/SPORTS/FAMILY
Starring: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Madison Pettis, Kyra Sedgwick, Roselyn Sanchez, Morris Chestnut, Hayes MacArthur, Brian J. White, Jamal Duff, Kate Nauta, Jackie Flynn, and Paige Turco
Dwayne Johnson’s movie career began with a small role in 2001 in The Mummy Returns, but before that he was a wildly popular professional wrestler known as “The Rock,” a name that has stuck with him throughout the first seven years of his movie career. Johnson claims that his Fall 2007 film, The Game Plan, is the last time he’ll be credited in a film as “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.” Good for him because this tolerable kids movie turns out to be the perfect time to jettison his WWF moniker.
Boston Rebels quarterback Joe Kingman (Dwayne Johnson) is the toast of Boston, and boy, does he know it. Self-centered and egotistical, Joe has the respect of teammates, but he doesn’t really trust them. When the game is on the line, Joe calls his own number to make the big plays, but after nearly a decade, this superb physical specimen and all-around great player doesn’t have a professional football championship.
A confirmed bachelor, Joe lives in a lavish bachelor pad decorated with the latest personal electronic gadgets and numerous trophies for his personal (not team) achievements. Then, one day an 8-year-old girl named Peyton Kelly (Madison Pettis) shows up at Joe’s door claiming to be his daughter from a short-lived marriage. She expects to stay with him while her mother is out of the country, Peyton says. This isn’t what Joe needs just as he’s making what may look like his last best chance to win a professional football championship. Still, while Joe warms to Peyton, his ruthless, high-powered agent, Stella Peck (Kyra Sedgwick) doesn’t. And Peyton hasn’t been entirely truthful…
The Game Plan is an innocuous family film that will appeal to children who are too young to have seen this formula story countless times as many adult viewers have. Still, there is some appeal to these stories of wayward men who struggle with, then gallantly grasp the reigns of fatherhood. The truth is that the first hour and twenty minutes of The Game Plan is lousy. It isn’t until the last half hour that The Game Plan picks up real dramatic weight and suddenly the transformation of Joe Kingman from overgrown man-child to responsible dad becomes a stirring, gripping story.
As for the acting, everyone is bad, especially Madison Pettis as Peyton and Kyra Sedgwick as the meanie agent. Johnson, however, works at this movie with such gusto; he almost fools you into believing that this could be an Oscar-worthy flick. The Game Plan is strictly for diehards fans of “The Rock” (me – at least as an actor) and children.
5 of 10
C+
Monday, April 07, 2008
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Free "Star Wars" Comic Book on Free Comic Book Day 2012
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On May 5th, over two thousand comic book shops across North America and around the world will share the magic of comic books with their communities when they give out over 3.5 million comic books—free of charge—during Free Comic Book Day, which marks its eleventh anniversary this year.
There’s literally a free comic book available for everyone’s taste, including such favorites as The Avengers, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Transformers…there’s even a comic book on Animal Planet’s The World’s Most Dangerous Animals.
Comic book publishing heavyweights Dark Horse Comics, DC Entertainment, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics are among the many sponsors creating special titles for Free Comic Book Day 2012. The free books are designed to appeal to a broad range of tastes, including action-packed super-hero stories featuring Superman and Spider-Man; sci-fi adventures set in the universes of Star Wars and Transformers; classic tales starring Charles Schulz’s Peanuts and Walt Disney’s Donald Duck; and great kids comics for younger fans featuring The Smurfs, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Owly.
“Free Comic Book Day is a perfect occasion for customers to discover comic books,” said FCBD spokesperson Leslie Bowser, “especially if they’re new to the wide variety of titles that are being published today. On May 5th, we encourage new and current readers to use Free Comic Book Day as an opportunity to learn about the great comic books and pop-culture merchandise to be found at their local comic book shop. Hopefully, they’ll walk away with free comics they can't wait to read, then keep coming back to their local shop for more!”
Along with free comics, many comic book shops will feature events during the day including creator signings, appearances of favorite super-heroes or cosplayers and great deals on exclusives and sale items.
Customers can check out the full list of available titles on the Free Comic Book Day website, http://www.freecomicbookday.com/, and use the FCBD Store Locator to find a participating comic book shop in their area.
Look for more FCBD news and updates on the FCBD website, www.freecomicbookday.com; become a fan at Facebook (www.facebook.com/freecomicbook); and follow us on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/freecomicbook.
ABOUT FREE COMIC BOOK DAY— Celebrating its eleventh year, Free Comic Book Day is an annual event where participating comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops. The event is held the first Saturday in May and is the perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family to the many worlds of wonder available at local comic book shops. From super-heroes to slice of life to action/adventure and beyond, Free Comic Book Day has a comic book for everyone!
© 2012 Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. and Free Comic Book Day, Inc. All rights reserved.
Review: Everything About "The Royal Tenenbaums" is Wonderful (Happy B'day, Wes Anderson)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R for some language, sexuality/nudity and drug content
DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson
WRITERS: Owen Wilson and Wes Anderson
PRODUCERS: Wes Anderson, Barry Mendel, and Scott Rudin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Yeoman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Dylan Tichenor
COMPOSER: Mark Mothersbaugh
Academy Award nominee
COMEDY/DRAMA
Starring: Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Danny Glover, Bill Murray, Alec Baldwin, Seymour Cassel, Kumar Pallana, Grant Rosenmeyer, and Jonah Meyerson
The subject of this movie review is The Royal Tenenbaums, the 2001 Oscar-nominated comedy and drama from director, Wes Anderson. The film follows siblings whose early success was mitigated by their eccentric father’s behavior. I love this film and…
Apparently, Rushmore was not a fluke.
When Royal O’Reilly Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) announces that he is dying, his family slowly, painfully reunites. His wife Etheline “Ethel” Tenenbaum (Anjelica Huston) removed her philandering husband from the home over a decade prior to the beginning of the movie. Their three children are business whiz Chas (Ben Stiller), playwright Margot Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is actually adopted, and Richie “Baumer” (Luke Wilson), who grew up to become a professional tennis champion. Family friend and unofficial fourth Tenenbaum child is Elijah “Eli” Cash (Owen Wilson), a novelist and a drug addict, who is also in love with Margot.
Royal would like to get in good with his family, again, but he left so many open wounds when Ethel exiled him. The Tenenbaum children were celebrated prodigies who have fallen on bad times. Chas, a single father of two boys and who lost his wife the previous year in a plane crash, despises his father. Margot is a playwright in limbo, and Richie’s suffered a meltdown during his last championship tennis match. Royal is also disturbed by his wife’s engagement to her accountant Henry Sherman (Danny Glover), and he wants desperately to connect with Chas’s sons, his grandsons. What unfolds is a touching, but unusual family drama/comedy.
Directed by Wes Anderson of the aforementioned Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums is a film with a conventional story, the family drama, filled with the usual comedy, familial intrigue, and requisite feuds. What makes this film so different from other family dramas is Anderson’s conviction and determination not to be like other filmmakers or not to deliver something that is nothing more than film industry product. His vision is unique, and his storytelling technique demands not only one’s attention but that one also engage the film.
Anderson is a visual stylist, but in a quite manner. His cinematographer, Robert D. Yeoman has worked on Anderson’s other films and contributes a peculiar color palette that resembles Technicolor, but is merged with clean, earth tones. Tenenbaums has a dreamlike quality with a slight breath of realism. It’s eye candy, but doesn’t distract from the story; in fact, it keeps one attentive to what the camera reveals. Unlike many directors who are visually sharp by way of quick cuts and editing, Anderson doesn’t mind allowing his camera to linger on and to follow his characters.
The script by Anderson and Tenenbaum co-star Owen Wilson is filled with idiosyncrasies, but is, nevertheless, a story about a family and the damage family members do to one another. We’ve seen it before, but unlike American Beauty, Tenenbaums really manages to tell a familiar story in a unique and special way.
The performances are subtle and nuanced even as the characters appear to be over the top. We know that Gene Hackman is good, but he has a knack for giving range to familiar character types. His performances nearly always hint at characters that have lived long lives before their respective movies begin. Royal is like a book, and Hackman makes the mental exercise that it takes to figure out Royal worth it.
Gwyneth Paltrow continues to reveal the scope of her abilities. She is a classic film pretty face, but with the acting chops of serious thespian. Owen Wilson is his usual wacky self; he manages to be self-confident and endearing even when playing a not too bright character. However, the surprise here is his brother Luke Wilson. Even through dark glasses, he makes his eyes the windows to the soul of his troubled character. He is the film’s mystery man, and he is the sum of his family’s troubles. Wilson doesn’t miss a beat while carrying this burden.
The Royal Tenenbaums is filled with wonderful acting, directing, story telling. Too make such an offbeat clan and their associates so lovable, charming, and fun to follow is no minor feat. Anderson takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary. Truly, he does it like few before him. Bravo!
We get all this and a wonderful voiceover narration by Alec Baldwin.
9 of 10
A+
NOTES:
2002 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson)
2002 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Screenplay – Original” (Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson)
2002 Golden Globes, USA: 1 win: “Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Gene Hackman)
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May Your May Days Be Negromancer Days
May Day! May Day! Negromancer wants more visitors. Welcome to Negromancer, the rebirth of my former movie review website as a movie review and movie news blog. I’m Leroy Douresseaux, and I also blog at http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/ and write for the Comic Book Bin (which has smart phones apps and comics).
All images and text appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademark their respective owners.
All images and text appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademark their respective owners.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Review: Cronenberg Plays it a Little Safe in "A Dangerous Method"
A Dangerous Method (2011)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada (with Germany, Switzerland, UK)
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – R for sexual content and brief language
DIRECTOR: David Cronenberg
WRITER: Christopher Hampton (based upon his play, The Talking Cure, and also on the book, A Most Dangerous Method: The story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein, by John Kerr)
PRODUCER: Jeremy Thomas
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Suschitzky (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Ronald Sanders
COMPOSER: Howard Shore
Golden Globe nominee
DRAMA/HISTORICAL/ROMANCE
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, and Sarah Gordon
A Dangerous Method is a 2011 Canadian historical drama from director David Cronenberg. This film’s screenplay is by Christopher Hampton and is based on his play, The Talking Cure.
Another source for A Dangerous Method is the book by John Kerr, A Most Dangerous Method: The story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein, which was also the basis for Hampton’s play. The film is a fictional account of the real-life turbulent relationships between Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology; Sigmund Freud, the founder of the discipline of psychoanalysis; and Sabina Spielrein, who was a patient of Jung before she later became a physician and one of the first female psychoanalysts.
The film opens in the first decade of the 1900s. Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), a young woman suffering from hysteria, arrives at the Burghölzli Clinic, the preeminent psychiatric hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. The young Swiss doctor, Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), begins to treat Sabina using word association and dream interpretation as part of his approach to psychoanalysis, a radical new science devised by Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen).
Jung and Freud begin to correspond, and Freud adopts Jung as his heir apparent and also as his Aryan (or non-Jewish) ally against the European medical establishment, which is anti-Semitic. Jung finds in Sabina a kindred spirit, and soon they begin a sexual relationship. However, Jung and Freud’s relationship begins to fray, and Jung’s relationship with Sabina becomes more complicated than Jung anticipated.
A Dangerous Method’s movie poster may suggest that the film is about a love triangle. The film is really about Jung’s relationship with two people, with more of the focus on the Jung-Spielrein relationship. As Jung and Spielrein, Michael Fassbender and Keira Knightley, respectively, give strong performances by conveying the passion between the two people who must often remain restrained and repressed as a matter of societal conventions. Neither actor comes across as delivering the typical too-aloof performance that actors sometimes give when appearing in costume or historical dramas. Knightley plays Sabina as coiled and imprisoned, waiting to explode to the freedom that will allow her to be herself. Fassbender makes Jung fervent with the desire to investigate and explore that cannot be put out by the coolness of discovery. Viggo Mortensen gives the kind of tart and showy performance that can make a supporting actor a scene stealer, and he does indeed steal every scene in which he appears. Honestly, I never imagined Freud to be as Mortensen depicts him – cool and sexy.
Director David Cronenberg is known for the coolness and aloofness evident in even his most daring, unusual, and controversial films. Sometimes, there is a clinical attitude in his movies that restrains the narrative, its ideas and characters. A Dangerous Method would seem to be the perfect film in which Cronenberg would be correctly detached, even distant; however, the relationships explored in this film dare the storyteller to be objective, though I will give Cronenberg and his primary actors credit for giving this film a humorous undercurrent, especially in the first half. A Dangerous Method is a very good film, but, although it is about doctors and science, the emotions, sensations, and passions needed to be given more freedom than they are here. A Dangerous Method is a tad dangerously distant.
7 of 10
A-
NOTES:
2012 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Viggo Mortensen)
Friday, April 27, 2012
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Saturday, April 28, 2012
Review: Women Make Almodavor's "VOLVER" Spin (Happy B'day, Penelope Cruz)
Volver (2006)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Spain
Running time: 121 minutes (2 hour, 1 minutes)
MPAA – R for sexual content and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Pedro Almodóvar
PRODUCER: Esther GarcÃa
CINEMATOGRAPHER: José Luis Alcaine (director of photography)
EDITOR: José Salcedo
2007 Academy Award nominee
DRAMA with elements of comedy and fantasy
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, and Chus Lampreave
In his new film, Volver, two-time Academy Award winner Pedro Almodóvar (All About my Mother, Talk to Her) gives us three generations of women living in a world where the living and dead coexist. In this film, it is natural for the people of the La Mancha region of Spain, with its ever-present east wind, to practice a culture of death in which the deceased remain present in the lives of their living relatives. Also, José Luis Alcaine’s cinematograph for Volver is easily among the year’s best.
Abuela Irene (Carmen Maura), who died in a fire four years ago, is apparently revisiting her hometown in La Mancha. Irene wants to resolve the problems she didn’t or couldn’t during her lifetime, especially her relationship with her estranged daughter Raimunda (Penélope Cruz), who has her own problems. Raimunda has to surreptitiously bury her husband, Paco (Antonio de la Torre), after their daughter, Paula (Yohana Cobo who plays her part with such naturalness), kills him when he tries to rape his own daughter. After appearing first to her sister, the elderly Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave), Irene also visits her daughter Sole (Lola Dueñas), who makes a living as an illegal, home-based hairdresser. Meanwhile, fellow villager, Agustina (Blanca Portillo), is seeking out Irene for help with her own family issues.
If there are men who were born to make movies, Pedro Almodóvar is undoubtedly one of them. That’s evident in his beautiful films filled with vibrant colors, narratives, and people; in fact, José Luis Alcaine’s vivid cinematograph for Volver is easily among the year’s best.
Almodóvar also understands women. Here, in Volver (which mean “coming back”) his female characters make it through life by lying when necessary – either to protect themselves or the feelings of their loved ones. These women also survive the troubles of life because they have persistent vitality and a treasure trove of goodness in them. That’s how Almodóvar makes you root for them. These are good, simple, plain folks who, if possible, won’t let their complex interior selves bring harm to their loved ones, but they’re still capable of making bold moves to enrich their lives.
To play such funny, spontaneous, and intrepid women, Almodóvar guides a cast capable of deep, genuine emotion and of playing characters that sometimes take the hilarious path out of trouble. You’ll never look at Penélope Cruz the same way again after seeing her in this movie. Her Raimunda is a painterly performance, full of subtle color and audacious, but gentle strokes. Cruz is layered and flavored like a buffet of earthy dishes, and I was sad whenever her Raimunda left the screen.
The same can be said for the rest of cast: from Blanca Portillo as the troubled, gentle soul, Agustina to Carmen Maura as Irene, back-from-the-dead and looking to heal wounds and bandage hurts. Almodóvar’s Volver is why I like foreign cinema. It doesn’t mind telling stories that are as rich and as complex as literary fiction. But Almodóvar does the telling in a purely visual style that makes one appreciate storytelling shown on the screen.
9 of 10
A+
NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for “Best performance by an actress in a leading role” (Penélope Cruz)
2007 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Penélope Cruz) and “Best Film not in the English Language” (AgustÃn Almodóvar and Pedro Almodóvar)
2007 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Foreign Language Film” and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Penélope Cruz)
2007 Image Awards: 2 nominations: “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Penélope Cruz) and “Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film”
2006 Cannes Film Festival: 2 wins: “Best Actress” (Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, and Chus Lampreave to the female ensemble cast) and “Best Screenplay” (Pedro Almodóvar); 1 nomination: “Palme d'Or” (Pedro Almodóvar)
Saturday, April 14, 2007
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