We'll Take Manhattan (2012)

In my own time I study many things. I study film history, art history, fashion history, and the history of photography. If you cannot tell my passions in life have to deal with the arts yet I am not very artistic myself. I wish I was though. All of my favorite subjects to study all meld together, especially fashion and photography. I am in no way an expert on fashion or photography (or any of the other subjects for that matter) I just enjoy learning about those subjects immensely. I was never truly into fashion either wearing the latest things or looking at fashion magazines. That all changed when I saw an exhibit on Edward Steichen’s fashion photography at the International Center of Photography in New York City a few years ago. I was supposed to be there to see this weird exhibit on modern photography for a modern art class but that did not catch my attention at all. At the time I was just really getting into Classic Hollywood and I was always interested in old things. Steichen’s photography caught my attention because a handful of them famous actors and actresses from Old Hollywood. Some of them I knew and some of them I did not. I also liked his photography because it was gorgeous. The light and the composition of his work is so beautiful. After that I became passionate about the history of photography particularly fashion photography. I cannot get enough of fashion photography from the 1920s to the 1960s. I love how the focus was on clothes and the designers and not so much the models. (Two models I love learning about and see photographs of are Lee Miller and Marion Moorehouse. They were Steichen’s muses in the late 1920s/early1930s and were unbelievably beautiful yet they enhanced whatever they were modeling)

            Since that exhibit I saw a few more exhibitions at the ICP including one on fashion photographer Richard Avedon. Avedon was a photographer from the 1950s and 1960s who photographed many famous models for Vogue. He also famously photographed Audrey Hepburn. One of the models Avedon repeatedly used was British born Jean Shrimpton. Shrimpton’s face graces the cover of the exhibition catalogue. I obsessed over Avedon’s photographs for weeks after the exhibition. Several of my favorite photographs from it were of Shrimpton.

Jean Shrimpton by Richard Avedon

            My admiration for movies and fashion history collided when I became a fan of the lovely and awesomely talented Karen Gillan (Yes, I am DIE HARD Amy Pond fan. Eleven is the best Doctor!). Like any new fan gullibly lead into a new cult I had to see what else Gillan was in and go find every single movie or show she had made. One of her movies is called We’ll Take Manhattan where she plays Jean Shrimpton. My brain connected Shrimpton to Richard Avedon and then connected them both to photography and fashion. Of course I had to see We’ll Take Manhattan!

            In 1962 David Bailey is working as a photographer’s assistant. He is fed up with his job and quits right on the spot telling the photographer he is going to open up his own studio and do his own thing. In another part of England a young woman named Jean Shrimpton (Gillan) is brought to a modeling agency by her parents where she will learn how to be a model and be sent out on jobs. One of her first modeling jobs does not go very well but she manages to catch the eye of David Bailey.

            David soon gets a small contract to work for Vogue magazine. He wants to take the job but only if he can use Jean as his model for the photographs. David sees something in Jean that with some dedication and hard work he can make her well known as a model. The job he is assigned is sending them to New York City along with the magazine editor Lady Clare Rendlesham. Lady Clare and David clash like cats and dogs. She wants him to photograph Jean in the traditional way where the model and the clothes are the sole focus. She also thinks Jean is a terrible model and not very pretty. David sees more than just Jean and the clothes he sees the streets, the buildings, and people surrounding her. Lady Clare keeps on complaining to Vogue back in the UK that they need to fire him and that his photographs are terrible. Unfortunately for Lady Clare and very fortunately for David and Jean the editors back in the UK think David is a visionary and Jean is beautiful.

            The real David Bailey is credited as having revolutionized modern fashion photography and the real Jean Shrimpton became one of the world’s first supermodels.

            I liked We’ll Take Manhattan. I know Jean Shrimpton’s name, I know her images, but I never researched her to know her story. I am sure the story of her and David Bailey as told in the movie is not one hundred percent accurate but it did pique my interest in learning more about Shrimpton as a model and researching David Bailey. Karen Gillan was fabulous she is such a good actress. We’ll Take Manhattan is a little difficult to find but if you can find it on your own definitely give it a watch. 

Oculus (2013)

“I've met my demons and they are many. I've seen the devil, and he is me.”

            I have written before that I am not a big horror movie fan and yet I have watched I have watched a handful. Some of have been classic horror movies like silent ones or from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Some have been cult classics like Amityville Horror (original and remake) and Halloween. Most of them I have liked and really enjoyed. I watched Insidious and almost shit my pants. That movie was insane and it was good because the story was good and things came at you fast. Not all horror movies can be good unfortunately and I think their lack of a good story is what turns me away from really watching them. I feel a lot of “horror” movies today are just slasher porn and their stories are just an excuse to have a mad man running around gruesomely murdering people. I am not against gore. I am not an eighty-year old grandma! To me there are just no good stories to go along with all the killing.

            If I think horror movies today are total crap why on earth did I even bother watching Oculus? Karen Gillan. The movies I will watch for actors and actresses I like.

            Tim Russell has been released from a psychiatric facility that has been living in for years. He has worked on overcoming demons from an event that took place in his family’s home years before. Tim’s sister Kaylie (Gillan) is there to pick him up. She tells him that he can come stay with her and her fiancé but first they are heading back to their old home.

            For some time Kaylie was working for an auction house. With some help from her fiancé she was able to purchase an antique mirror. She brought the mirror back to the old home. After relentlessly researching the mirror’s history Kaylie believes the mirror is the entire reason for what happened in the house years before. She finds that throughout its history its owners have met horrible untimely ends. Their deaths were due to insanity or murder or suicide. Kaylie is convinced that the reason their parents are dead is definitely from the evil powers of the mirror.

            Tim thinks otherwise. When Kaylie shows him her whole system of cameras and clocks and computer monitors to get the proof the mirror is evil, he tells her she is the one who needs help. As their time in the house goes on, brother and sister begin to see and experience things. They see memories from their childhood play out before them in the rooms. They see the progression of their parents spiral into insanity and evilness that was caused by the mirror. Their father started to become angry and mean towards them. Their mother became insecure beyond reason after she had looked into the mirror when the father was not home. All their anger and insecurities lead to the father killing the mother by shooting her.

            Kaylie and Tim had gone to smash the mirror but the thing had a mind of its own and when they got a hold of themselves they had only put holes in the wall. The father came into the office where the mirror was placed. He started to choke Kaylie. Tim got a hold of his father’s gun. The father got down on his knees so Tim could shoot him. Tim was not going to but the father made him pull the trigger.

            The ending actually surprised me so I will not give it away.

            The characters were all boring so I am not going to blame the actors for their performances. Karen Gillan was totally wasted in this movie. At the moment I am going nuts having a good time watching Gillan as Amy Pond on Dr. Who (raging fan girl is how I would really describe my feelings about Amy Pond/Karen Gillan. She is the best companion after Rose Tyler/Billie Piper. DO NOT TRY TO TELL ME OTHERWISE!!). I have seen Gillan in other movies and other shows. The girl is super talented and that makes it a shame how wasted her talent was in the movie. Rory Cohrane and Katee Sackhoff played the parents. I could not get over how odd they appeared together as a couple and as parents. That may possibly be down to the fact that I can never picture them in a role as parents. Their pairing was just weird. I do not know why but I found it humorous that there was no attempt at hiding a tattoo Sackhoff has on her arm.  

            Oculus seemed to have had potential but it just never really took off. There is a superstition and belief that mirrors can hold souls and be haunted. I think that superstition/belief in fascinating. They make us see things we may or may not want to see. That was the whole point of Oculus and that point fell flat. Oculus also seems like it was geared towards a tween/teen audience so unless you are in that age range or you are just a massive Karen Gillan fan do not even bother to see this. 

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

“I am going to die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the galaxy.”

            I live in a house full of boys. I have three younger brothers who mercilessly love to torture and pick on me. My one brother is such a nice boy, last year he turned twenty I told him that I felt worse I was turning twenty-six and then he proceeded to say that he would kill himself. Yeah, nice brother, I know. At least you do not have to live with him!

            Anyway, that brother and our youngest brother are obsessed with superhero movies. Both of them have had a deep rooted love for superhero movies since they were small. I am very familiar with the worlds of Batman and Superman and all the Marvel heroes. I have not sat through many of those movies which I feel ashamed to admit. Give me a damn break I have a lot of movies I want to watch and the superhero ones are not high on my list! I did today just watch a superhero movie I have wanted to see since it came out in theaters and I never got a chance to (this should be the story of my life with newer movies, I swear). I am very happy and proud to announce that I sat through Guardians of the Galaxy.

            Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) watched his mother die from an illness when he was boy. His mother was all he had in the world. The night she died Peter ran outside furious and sad over his mother dying. He ran outside, fell onto the grass and just cried. All of a sudden a space craft shines its light on Peter and they beam him up.

            Twenty-six years later, Peter has been taken in by a ruthless guy who goes around “recovering” things for people to collect money. Peter is sent to recover an orb. With his headphones on his ears and a Walkman playing a mix tape his mother made for him, Peter dances his way into a crumbling building and into the room where the orb is kept under security. His job could not have been completely easy. As soon as Peter has the orb in his hand a few men barge in and demand the orb from him. Peter fights his way out and barely makes it out of the planet he is on.

            The team that came for Peter had been  sent by an evil Kree named Ronan (Lee Pace). Since the job was not done he sends his assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana) to kill Peter and take the orb.

            Peter goes rogue from the people he works for and takes the orb to the planet Xandar to sell it. The guy who rescued him is pissed so he puts a bounty out on Peter. When Peter takes the orb to be sold at a shop the owner becomes nervous and orders him out. After he comes out into the open again a highly enhanced raccoon named Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and his tree friend/bodyguard Groot start coming after Peter. Rocket is a bounty hunter and is determined to get the money for capturing Peter. As this fight is happening, Gamora comes in. Now Peter is fighting two fights. All four manage to get themselves thrown in prison.

            In prison, Gamora is not a very well liked person. She is connected to Ronan and his family who have killed hundreds of people mercilessly. Gamora explains to Peter that she is no longer loyal to Ronan she hates him and wants to take the orb to someone who can give them a ton of money. Rocket devises a break out from prison. They all go to the man Gamora wants to sell the orb to. The man shows them that the orb is extremely powerful and in the wrong hands can wipe out galaxies.

            Peter, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and a guy named Drax the Destroyer team up to stop Ronan from using the orb for evil.

            Alright, so my explanation sucks, I know. But you should want to see this movie because it looks awesome not because of my poor summary.

            The cast, the direction, and the dialogue were perfect. The reason for the perfection is because of James Gunn. Gunn has a crazy sense of humor which comes out in his screenplay and direction. He makes all the characters have heart and fantastic personalities. Rocket was my favorite because he was so snarky and pissed and Bradley Cooper knows how to create great attitude with his characters. If Rocket had been a human I could imagine Cooper acting him out. Chris Pratt deserves all the praise in the world for making an amazing Peter Quill/Star-Lord. No one could have been better. As hot as he got no other actor could have looked a little goofy and pulled off some of the lines believably like Pratt did. Lee Pace as a bad guy was stunning. I love and adore him. I have to give a big mention to Karen Gillan who played Nebula. Nebula was not a very nice character. I am used to Gillan from Dr. Who and Selfie where she is sweet and adorable. As Nebula she was an evil bad ass and she nailed it. Fun fact: Gillan actually shaved her head for the role. The dialogue was hysterical. It was entertaining and really kept you paying attention so you do not miss anything the characters say.

            Guardians of the Galaxy was amazing. I had such a great time watching it. I am seriously considering buying myself a copy and I never do that with superhero movies. It is entertaining and the action and comedy do not let up for a moment.

 

Not Another Happy Ending (2013)

I think everyone in their life would like to write a book. When it comes to writing a story I have heard the saying “write what you know.” That is basically what all authors do anyway. We all think what we know, what we are interested in, would interest and attract readers. My interests are movies and museums and art. All of those have been done a million times in fiction. Highly doubt there would be an interest in the kind of books I would like to write. And, to be very honest and open about it, I have no love life and never really have to be able to write a soppy chick book. Why would I even want to write a soppy chick novel? Who still reads those and enjoys those? (Look up my review of The Vow where I go on a massive rant of chick movies. Chick story anything makes me want to barf). Maybe one day when my life is a little more settled I will write a book based off what I know.  It will most likely just be for me, I doubt there will be a market for what I want to write about. With museums and art everyone wants the next Da Vinci Code. The book and the movie were fucking brilliant, there is no toping either.

            Anyway, this is about a movie not about me wanting to write a book. This is, however, a review of a movie called Not Another Happy Ending and it is about a young girl named Jean Lockhart (Karen Gillan) who has written a book based on her father who had left her when she was very young. All of the big publishing companies reject. A small publishing company run by a single man named Tom Duval has taken a liking to her story. He is a grumpy guy at first but as he and Jean work together making corrections and rewrites to her book, they kind of fall for each other.

            Jean get super pissed with Tom when she sees he has changed the title of her book. She cannot even stand talking or being in the same room with her. Despite the title change, her book becomes a huge hit. It manages to save Tom’s company from bankruptcy.

            The contract Jean signed is for two books. She has no problem writing the book until she comes to the very last chapter. Tom sees what her problem is now: when she wrote her first books she was full of angst and not very happy. Since writing her first book Jean has reconnect with her father and is now living with her boyfriend, Roddy, who is a screenwriter adapting her book for the movies. Tom sets out to try to make her miserable by sabotaging a few things.

            There are a few details thrown in the middle that I will not harp on. Just know that Jean starts seeing her book character as if she was real, Roddy is a jerk and changes the ending of the story for the movie, and, of course, Jean and Tom see that they love each other and she winds up signing on for another book deal with his company.

            Not Another Happy Ending was kind of typical. I say kind of because this was made in Scotland far away from the awful Hollywood rut. I usually find European movies, yes, even rom-coms, better than the ones made in America. I knew from the moment Jean and Tom met that they were going to be together at the end. One of the best differences I noticed between this rom-com and American ones is that the girl does not have her head in clouds. She is smart and gets nicely pissed off when Tom changes her book title and Roddy changes the ending. She does not have a girly hissy fit she got pissed at Tom and threw his award at him, with Roddy she kicked him out. No one really lost their shit and I liked that a lot. Karen Gillan was fabulous. I have yet to see her on Dr. Who, I do know her from the show Selfie (which I actually really liked and I am kind of ashamed to admit that) and she was totally adorable in that. The actor who played Tom was very good as well. He was very handsome. Not Another Happy Ending was good. It is not a movie I would recommend to everyone but if you can find it give it a go.