Archive for May 29, 2006

Starstruck Bond

Because Daniel Craig was on the cover of Caesars Player, my mom saved the issue for me (I didn’t even know she was in Vegas!).

The article was mostly same-old, same-old, but there was a nice bit in the interview about how Craig felt being an actor:

Craig doesn’t hesitate to admit his own awe of Hollywood luminaries. “I think when I did Road to Perdition and was sort of confronted by Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, it was half an hour before I managed to get out of the rabbit-in-the-headlights thing and go, ‘Hey, you’ve got a job to do here, better get on with it.’…I’ll quite happily admit that I am star-struck. That’s why I’m in the game. As I said, I wanted to be an actor.

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Monday Movie Review: Girl With a Pearl Earring

Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003) 9/10
Griet (Scarlett Johansson) comes to work as a maid in the home of painter Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth) in 17th Century Holland.

Girl With a Pearl Earring” is a haunting and mysterious painting. It has been called “the Dutch Mona Lisa” because of the opaque, captivating expression on the face of its unknown model. Indeed, little is known of the life of Vermeer, offering a blank canvas, first for the novelist Tracy Chevalier, and then for this very faithful adaptation.

The movie itself is a canvas. Water reflects deep colors that shimmer. Floor tiles contrast fabrics which pick up light from windows, reflected on brassware. Composition of every scene is as perfect as a painting.

Many reviewers complain that there is no narrative substance to the movie; it’s just a pretty picture. I disagree. As Griet, Johansson shows us the inner turmoil of a girl between worlds. She cannot express herself except by the look in her enormous eyes, but if you pay attention, you can come to know her. » Read more..