Photo Courtesy © Columbia Pictures

Stepbrothers

Directed by: Adam McKay

Written by: Adam McKay and Will Ferrell

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins, Adam Scott and Kathryn Hahn.

The good news is that Stepbrothers was directed, produced and written by the same crew that brought us the hilarious Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The bad news is that unlike those two films, both of which had some semblance of an actual storyline (although this one technically does as well), Stepbrothers is just one long often-hilarious skit. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially when you have the comic team of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly at the center. The two of them are hysterical as the titular stepbrothers who loathe each other at first and then become best friends. All of the gags that are featured in the trailer (including the “let’s turn our beds into bunk beds!” bit) are still surprisingly funny in the film, as are the small cameos by Seth Rogen and (surprise-surprise) Horatio Sanz, but that still doesn’t carry enough weight to make this film anywhere near as good as the Apatow-helmed 40-Year-Old-Virgin, Knocked Up or even Superbad, which he just produced. All of these films had characters and a story that you cared about and related to on some level making them instantly memorable and re-watchable; Stepbrothers however is just funny.

Lily@picturesandframesmagazine.com

Photo Courtesy © Universal Pictures

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Directed by: Guillermo Del Toro

Written by: Guillermo Del Toro and Mike Mignola

Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Anna Walton, Luke Goss, Seth MacFarlane and John Hurt.

It is no secret that I love Guillermo Del Toro—I love his passion, his intelligence, his dark sense of humor, and I especially love his ability to scare the shit out of me with horrific looking creatures. Having said all of this, the fact that I loved Hellboy II: The Golden Army so much more than the first Hellboy did come as a surprise considering how much I loved that film. From the very beginning of this film I was enthralled—by the way the story unfolded, by the growth of the characters, but most of all, by the incredible world that Del Toro envisions. The scene where Hellboy and the rest of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense gang go into the underground troll world reminded me of the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in Star Wars, except sooo much cooler and filled with even creepier and freakier creatures. Del Toro, with the help of “Hellboy” comic book creator Mike Mignola, tells the story of Hellboy with such care and attention to detail that it is truly awe-inspiring to watch. Add to the mix the perfect casting of Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor and, my personal favorite, Doug Jones as Abe Sapien (my heart flutters especially for him!) and you have yet another fantastic comic adaptation. Watching this film I couldn’t help but imagine the world that Del Toro will create for his upcoming Hobbit films. “Oh the places we’ll go…Oh the people we’ll see…”

Lily@picturesandframesmagazine.com

Photo Courtesy © Miramax Films

Brideshead Revisited

Directed by: Julian Jarrold

Written by: Jeremy Brock and Andrew Davies

Starring: Matthew Goode, Ben Whishaw, Hayley Atwell, Michael Gambon and Emma Thompson.

There is nothing like a great British costume drama to make you long for the days when Merchant and Ivory films where a semi-annual theatrical occurrence rather than just a novelty on PBS or BBC America. Directed by Julian Jarrold (Becoming Jane and Kinky Boots) and written by the writers of such films as The Last King of Scotland, Charlotte Gray, Mrs. Brown, Bridget Jones and the beloved “Pride and Prejudice,” the film adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited is exactly the kind of movie that would have been at home in the 80s and early 90s. These are the kinds of films that my father would rent frequently for us—where an English middle class bloke falls in love with a higher-class family only to find himself shamed—and I have to say that I have a soft spot for their melodrama still. (Yes, they are very melodramatic, but in a very enjoyable, delicious “lazy Sunday afternoon” sort of way.) What makes this particular adaptation so interesting is the high-caliber cast that it features. I never watched an episode of the original mini-series, which featured Jeremy Irons as Captain Charles Ryder, the middle class bloke, but Matthew Goode is certainly Irons equal in this adaptation. He is sexy and smart and smoldering, in equal parts, and his acting talent, apparent in films such as Matchpoint and The Lookout, is really on display here. Michael Gambon, Hayley Atwell and Ben Whishaw are also quite good in the film but the star of Brideshead is without a doubt this month’s Spotlight focus, Emma Thompson. Thompson is terrifying and, strangely enough, heartbreaking in every scene that she is in and it is her performance that made this good English costume drama truly great.

Lily@picturesandframesmagazine.com

DVD'S:

Stanley Kubrick – Warner Home Video Directors Series

Includes the films: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Shining (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

For fans of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, the Warner Brothers Director Series collection is an absolute must. Featuring five of his films, spanning thirty years of his legendary career, the titles in this edition show a good variety of Kubrick’s work. Because Kubrick made so few pictures in a career that lasted over forty-five years, this compilation represents almost half of his body of work.

The cornerstone of the collection is the 2-Disc edition of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Of all the titles in the set, 2001 gets the most attention by way of supplemental materials. Featuring five featurettes, covering every aspect of the film, and two segments on Kubrick, it is nearly impossible not to learn everything you ever wanted to know about the sci-fi classic and how it was made. The highlight of the special features for 2001 is the in-depth documentary produced by UK Channel 4.

The next title in the collection is A Clockwork Orange, featuring a documentary on the making of the film, as well as a retrospective on its impact, including discussions on why the film was pulled out of circulation in England by Kubrick himself. Also in this edition is a retrospective on the work of the film’s enigmatic star, Malcolm McDowell.

Perhaps the movie that also gets extensive treatment second only to 2001, is 1980s thriller The Shining. Including a wonderful documentary “The Making of The Shining,” which was available on previous releases of the film, this edition also includes new featurettes. The documentary “The Visions of Stanley Kubrick” veers away from The Shining a little, to look at Kubrick’s career from an artistic and visual perspective.

The film that is given the slightest treatment is Full Metal Jacket, however, which is a shame because it is an extraordinary and unrelenting piece of work. The only single disc title in the collection, Full Metal Jacket only includes a brief documentary. The collection is rounded out by Eyes Wide Shut, which includes features that seem to be more about Kubrick’s career and sudden passing. All five films include commentary by various cast members and crew persons.

The real prize of the set is in the companion film Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures. Well over two hours in length, the documentary is incredibly in-depth, discussing Kubrick’s childhood, early career as a freelance photographer and his first films shot in New York in the early 1950s.

Then of course, you have the films themselves. I must admit, I’ve never been one who could honestly call myself a “Stanley Kubrick fan.” Many of his pictures are not always, as they say, my cup of tea. As one who makes films, I have never really counted Kubrick as one of my influences yet revisiting these films, I found myself more drawn to Kubrick. I found myself, again, endlessly fascinated by The Shining. I found I could not ignore the power and social commentary of A Clockwork Orange. I found myself in a numbing daze, hypnotized by the incomprehensible dream that is Eyes Wide Shut. But mostly I found myself glued to the screen, unable to deny the intrigue presented by each masterfully painted frame of film on Stanley Kubrick’s cinematic canvas.

David@picturesandframesmagazine.com

“Spaced: The Complete Series”

Okay, so for some reason Simon Pegg reminds me of a boss I once had the most gigantic crush on. That and the fact that Shaun of the Dead cracked me up is what made me jump online after that movie and find out everything I could about him. I read about his sitcom, “Spaced,” and saw a few clips courtesy of YouTube. I was sold. I forked out some money and ordered a copy of the series from Amazon UK, handily armed with my region-free DVD player. I was treated to the story of a couple of strangers (Pegg and Jessica Stevenson—now Hynes), Tim and Daisy, who met and decided to pretend to be a couple to get a great apartment.

The show was chock-a-block with pop culture references, sight gags and fantastically funny dialogue, written by the two stars and directed by Pegg’s Shaun and Hot Fuzz collaborator, Edgar Wright. Tim’s gun-obsessed friend Mike (Nick Frost) and Daisy’s bubble-headed friend Twist (Katy Carmichael) were entertaining, but possibly not as wonderfully hysterical as Julia Deakin (as the landlady, Marsha) and the superb Mark Heap as Brian, the artist in the basement.

Over the span of 14 episodes, Spaced brilliantly sent up performance artists, clubbers, Robot Wars, paintball, and in several instances during the second series, The Phantom Menace. Without exaggeration, I can honestly say that it is: ahem, One Of The Best Sitcoms Ever! (Right up there with Arrested Development, it’s very difficult to choose. But definitely one of those.) Along with the BBC mini-series, “State of Play,” several of us at Pictures & Frames have long worshipped at the altar of “Spaced” and bemoaned it’s lack of availability here in the US. Much like “State of Play,” you can now finally see “Spaced” for yourself! Available in all its glory on a 3-disc set from BBC Video, you even get special features that exceed the original UK release. Namely, several commentaries from fans of the show like directors Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, Matt Stone of “South Park” fame, comedians Patton Oswalt and SNL’s Bill Hader and pop culture diva du joir, Diablo Cody. You also get a retrospective of the series that is not only worth watching, but features a really special tidbit at the very end.

To celebrate the momentous release, I asked a couple of P&F staff members to write a little about why they love “Spaced”:

“Spaced” Memories by Dave Sayre:

How can one sum up their feelings about “Spaced?” “Brilliance” is a word that comes to mind. Not just the clever references: “I’ll see you at the beach!” “You are on my back, you know? I can feel you sitting there, laughing like Jabba’s little mate!” “My stepdad was a nice guy…” (cut to: The Shining maze re-enactment)

The great lines: “Skip to the end!” “We’re like chums/Get off me!” “Dance for me little Colin, dance!”

The funny stuff you don’t understand until you watch it with the Homage-o-meter: “Just me and my dawg. You remember that Kiora advert. It’s too orangey for crows.”

Because you love Tim and Daisy. Because Brian is terrific. Because Marsha weirds you out when she says “Hallowww.” Because you understand the uselessness of The Phantom Menace, the benefits of stealing a tank, the need to sometimes just drown Lara Croft on Tomb Raider over and over again, and the importance of knowing when to react in a faux gun fight.

“Spaced” Memories by Lily Percy:

Daisy: (opens letter)“It’s from the magazine. Maybe they did like me! Maybe they liked my kookiness! I could be like the cute one in the office, you know, the ditzy one who always gets it wrong. The office clown.

It’s a no.”

Tim: “Oh, never mind. Who needs them anyway, Daisy? What do they know? They’re just jealous.”

Daisy: “Of what?”

Tim: “Your tits.”

Daisy: “It’s not about my tits anymore, Tim.”

Only by watching this HILARIOUS series will you ever truly understand what you’ve been missing all of these years by not having a region-free DVD player. The chemistry between the cast, particularly Tim and Daisy, is just one of the show’s major assets, along with a wit and sincere understanding of pop-culture and fandom that is unparallel (except maybe by “The Simpsons”). The show is best when the gang is just hanging out and talking, in the same vein of every popular American TV sitcom but far less annoying or saccharine. My favorite episode will always be the “Jar-Jar rage episode” where Tim experiences a sense of loss so great (and utterly relatable) after seeing Phantom Menace that he burns all of his Star Ware memorabilia. “Jar Jar makes Ewoks look like fucking Shaft.” Truer words have never been spoken.

Rick@picturesandframesmagazine.com

Honeydripper

Set in 1950s Alabama, John Sayles’ latest movie, Honeydripper, centers on a lounge owner whose business is about to go under. His last chance at staying afloat is to pack the crowds in and his plan to do so is by bringing in legendary, traveling musician Guitar Sam. Sayles’ picture is, in many ways, an opus to the blues music that filled the South in the era between big band jazz and rock and roll. But like most of his movies, it is far more complicated and interesting than that, exploring many different layers. It is also about history, life in the South for black people when, though there wasn’t slavery, there was still servitude. Honeydripper is very much about the time it covers, when juke joints were the places to spend your Saturday nights and the church would preach of the evils of music not sung for the Lord. Mostly it’s about how times change, and how music and life both go on.

Honeydripper is a wonderful film that reminds me of what I feel is Sayles’ best work (Lonestar, Matewan, Sunshine State). The uniqueness of his voice is more than evident, bringing with it that quality in his work that I most enjoy: Truths of the human soul in rural America; Aristophanes by way of John Steinbeck, and all in my favorite of mediums, the motion picture.

The movie has many terrific performances, mainly Charles S. Dutton and Lisa Gay Hamilton, and an endearing, delightful turn by blues artist Keb’ Mo’. The piece is well written and masterfully edited by the multi-talented Sayles, and beautifully shot by cinematographer Dick Pope. As far as the DVD itself, it includes several special features, highlighted by a behind-the-scenes featurette and commentary by John Sayles. The featurette is particularly wonderful as it goes into the history of real juke joints that once populated the region and includes interviews with the musicians and townspeople that helped make the picture authentic. In addition, Sayles’ DVD commentary is interesting, as it is on most of his other titles, providing insight into the process of filmmaking and the historical reference of the story.

Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Best Independent Film and one of The National Board of Reviews Top 10 Independent Films of the year, Honeydripper is a movie well worth experiencing several times over. Unless you pre-ordered the DVD like I did, it’s time to update your queue or head out to the store and find out just why the music goes on.

David@picturesandframesmagazine.com

MUSIC:

Sugarland – Love on the Inside

I think I love Sugarland. It took me a while to get here, despite the fact that I’ve been listening to them even before they shot to fame with their debut Twice the Speed of Life and the singles “Something more” and “Baby girl.” The thing is, lead singer and songwriter Jennifer Nettles is something of a genius. She has been ever since she and fellow singer/songwriter Cory Jones formed the Athens-band Soul Miner’s Daughter. They released two albums, Sacred & Profane and Hallelujah independently, both a mix of songs written separately and performed together. However, it was Nettles that kept me listening.

Seeing them perform at Atlanta’s Midtown Music Festival was positively exhilarating but still nothing as amazing as a couple of years later when she led the newly formed Jennifer Nettles Band at yet another music festival. It was with this band that she released two brilliant albums, The Story of My Bones and Gravity: Drag Me Down, as well as an album of newly recorded versions of her SMD songs, Rewind. Her performance in Athens was utterly magnetic. You could not believe the amount of charisma that surrounded her, the talent inherit in her work and in fact, the love that beamed off of that stage into an audience that shook their asses on a night that was “as hot as Atlanta burnin’.”

Her songs explored the romance and the rocky sides of relationships as well as the record business. Both her work with SMD and as the Jennifer Nettles Band was filled with Southern rock, that gorgeous bluesy voice, her brassy attitude and yes, a flavor of country that could make you think of your Granny’s biscuits and gravy. So her decision to enter the arena of country music wasn’t a complete shock. It was after all, there in her music all along. In 2002, Nettles joined another couple of Atlanta music heroes, acclaimed singer/songwriter Kristen Hall and Kristian Bush of the band Billy Pilgrim, and decided that the best genre for singer/songwriters was country. They recorded an album called Premium Quality Tunes and sold it independently. Two years later, several songs from that album ended up on their big-label debut, Twice the Speed of Life, which became a giant hit. My Granny even talked about Sugarland.

As a big supporter of Nettles, I had gotten both albums. I liked some of what I heard, but it was also disappointing to feel that she wasn’t living up to her potential. There was such an edge to her earlier music; it could be so astounding and so beautifully dark—would she be able to explore these themes in the realm of country music?

In 2006, Enjoy the Ride was released and the band (no longer including Hall) seemed to have perfected that great anthemic country sound found in “Something More,” this time with the great single, “Settlin’.” It was clear that they had found their niche and were sticking to it. I have to admit, I still missed the Jennifer Nettles I had grown to love. However, I also liked this new stuff. And then I heard “Stay.” It’s a ballad about a cheating man. Only it’s sung from the perspective of the other woman. It’s simply a gorgeous, amazing song. In fact, it won country music’s CMA award for the best song of the year making Nettles the second female songwriter to win that award on her own.

Now, two years later (right on schedule!) there’s Love on the Inside. This time, the first anthemic single is “All I Want to Do,” and I have to say it’s the catchiest song you’re bound to hear all summer. It’s one of a couple of songs that feel like they could be hit sing-alongs, along with “Take Me As I Am” and “We Run.” But a few songs down you’ll hear “Joey,” a surprisingly moving song that actually made me think of a song of the same name by rock band Concrete Blonde. (It’s followed by the great “Love,” which for some reason also made me think of another Concrete Blonde track, “I Call it Love.” Odd.) The best song on the album has to be the finale, “The Very Last Country Song.” Not only is it a sweet ballad, but it manages to capture exactly what country music can mean to so many people, listening to some old song while looking through a box of family photos…

“If life stayed the way it was/And lovers never fell out of love/If memories didn’t last so long/If nobody did nobody wrong/If we knew what we had before it was gone/If every road led back home/This would be/The very last country song.”

I think this is when I realized that the talented firebrand who knocked me off of my feet ten years ago is still making music worth listening to. She’s just exploring different territory. I can’t wait to see what else she can do well.

(NOTE: There is a special fan version of the album available that includes extra tracks. If at all possible, you should give a listen to the live cover of the 80s classic, “Life in a Northern Town” as well as one of Matt Nathanson’s “Come On Get Higher.”)

Rick@picturesandframesmagazine.com

Bajofondo – Mar Dulce

Formally know as Bajofondo Tango Club, Bajofondo recently decided to shorten their name to make a statement: They wanted the world to know that they have more to offer than just electrotango. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, electrotango is part of a movement know as “nuevo tango,” a fusion of various genres with traditional Argentine Tango. Electrotango mixes the elements of French house, trip-hop, chill out, drum and bass and tango. The father of nuevo tango is Ástor Piazzolla, who revolutionized tango by combining his Jazz and classical influences, creating a brand new genre that sounds like nothing you have ever heard before. Piazzolla is one of my favorite composers/performers of all time; his music is innovative, passionate and stunningly beautiful. His work was the beginning of nuevo tango, a movement that has shown endless musical possibilities.

Bajofondo takes the best elements of electrotango and adds the traditional nuevo tango feel combining pop, rock, hip hop, electronica, jazz, classical and tango in a creative and seemingly flawless manner. Headed by two-time Oscar and eleven-time Grammy winner Gustavo Santaolalla, along with seven other incredibly talented musicians, Bajofondo is both a culturally and musically diverse band of artists from Argentina and Uruguay. Their first album Bajofondo Tango Club won a Latin Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Six years later Bajofondo brings us their second studio album titled Mar Dulce, which features performances by Elvis Costello, Nelly Furtado, Julieta Venegas, Gustavo Cerati, Ryota Komatsu, La Mala Rodriguez, Santullo, Juan Subira and the final recorded performance of the legendary Uruguayan tango diva Lagrima Rios. To use the phrase “larger than life” is an understatement; press play and you will be transported to a chic nightclub in downtown Buenos Aires. Listen while the sultry vocals, a sensuous bandoneón, flying string lines and sampled drum beats romance the dance floor. So order your favorite drink, get comfortable and enjoy the tango of our generation.

Juanmarcos@picturesandframesmagazine.com

Duffy - Rockferry

Duffy (a.k.a Aimee Anne Duffy) is a 24-year-old Welsh singer-songwriter and a shining representative of an alive and fierce female British brigade of retro revivalists/neo-soul wave makers in pop music. With comparisons often made to Amy Winehouse and bunched with new hit makers "Chasing Pavements" Adele and "American Boy" Estelle, Duffy has composed a particularly romantic, free-flowing and beautiful time-transportive escape in Rockferry. While fun, sultry first cut, "Mercy," has rocked radio airwaves at number one, Duffy's sound seems more naturally ripe, assured, charming, and smooth jazz-like than her counterparts. (It doesn't hurt that she might also be the prettiest.)

Definitely a positive, pure voice to insert deliciously into your play lists this summer, Duffy is perfect for the bliss of lazy, warm saunters, breezy jet setting and certainly all kinds of magical daydreaming, sentimental reminiscing and empowering reflection. All threaded with love, of course.

“Even when you see me frown/my heart won't let me down/because I know there's better things to come (whoa yeah)/And when life gets tough/I feel I've had enough/I hold on to a distant star.

I'm thinking about/all the things/I'd like to do in my life... /I'm a dreamer/A distant dreamer/dreaming for hope from today.”

"Distant Dreamer," from Rockferry

Jehan@picturesandframesmagazine.com

BOOKS:

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland

In a conversation added at the end of her 2007 New York Times bestseller Luncheon of the Boating Party, author Susan Vreeland writes, "Each time we enter imaginatively into the life of another, it's a small step upward in the elevation of the human race. When there is no imagination of others' lives, there is no human connection, and therefore no compassion. Without compassion, then community, commitment, loving kindness, human understanding and peace—all shrivel. Individuals become isolated, the isolated can turn cruel, and the tragic hovers. Art—and literature—are antidotes to that." In and of itself, the philosophical tidbit is fodder for in-depth discussion, for painstaking contemplation, for the solitude of thought that endless refilled cups of coffee cannot even begin to touch. It is a statement of some hopefulness when merely applied to the impracticality of thought alone. When applied, however, to the reality of a creation, it serves some greater purpose in the divine. It's also precisely what Vreeland achieves with her historical fiction following the life of impressionist painter Pierre-August Renoir.

A weaving of poetry, precision of fact and element of fantasy, Luncheon of the Boating Party studies an inspired although sometimes doubting Renoir as he prepares to paint his masterwork of the book's title. As he debates the political situation of the impressionist movement, Renoir gives voice to the still modern dilemmas of an artist: Who is there to impress? What happens when friends stray in their styles? Is there a need for validation by the big academic institutions and government entities? How does an artist survive with so little money, and even less time to chase a dream? There's an easiness of connection the reader immediately feels with Renoir, as if he is not an infallible icon and innovator of history but a man much more intimately flawed. His falters lend the book a great strength.

The artist, however, is not the sole spotlight throughout the novel. With her exhaustive research, Vreeland also gives life to the fourteen models of the painting, showing through each the social climate of France as it recovered from the Franco-Prussian War. Women of the street, actresses, mimes, Russian bankers, writers, bohemians, and loafers: the mix of the group provides a backdrop for varied conversations and explorations. The voice of a chapter's speaker flows seamlessly from one to another to yet another, each highlighting a fact of the many competing cultures of the time.

At times, however, Vreeland finds herself victim to just a bit too much lyricism. As if to compete with the sensuality of the painting, the writer lords over words with a stream of conscious heaviness that doesn't always read as sincere. It's almost as if one is seeing a painting with too many flourishes, as if minimalism cannot afford the rent of Vreeland's ambition. As an only complaint, then, it can be said the book is too much, but were it less, its story, the characters, and the history it imparts would not be quite complete.      

Noralil@picturesandframesmagazine.com

FICTION:

The End

Sad to say

but our union has come to a pass

At a point we were linked like no other

Joined, one

But something seemingly cosmic

changed the feeling

We lost our rhythm

Fell out of sync

Danced to entirely different beats

Some otherworldly thing

changed our space, our time

Though the love remains

All that should hold it together

unraveled

And we began to diverge....

Me

Left feeling the cold

While you were embraced with warmth

Emotions expressed

You say you do

But your actions fail to show that

you understand or know

Where I reside is a place

you can't seem to get to

I've given you directions

but you still end up lost

The sad part is that

you fail to see it

Maybe when you do

A great shift in thought, feeling,

perspective - a realization

will occur

And at that point

You will see not

only where I went wrong

But where you went wrong

where we both went wrong

And you should be able to move on

Hopefully wiser

Having learned a great lesson

about how to love

© 2008 Markell D. Williams

Markell@picturesandframesmagazine.com

Lost In You

An unknown

A stranger

A new being

that I didn't recognize

something you wished you'd left on the shelf

instead of bringing home with you

This foreigner came in and

changed everything

What I used to be

What I used to do

was usurped

forgotten

discarded

The old me became this new being

And I thought nothing of it in the

beginning

I made excuses for you and your

behavior, the things you said, and

the things you did

It was okay

I thought it was me

I was so lost in you

that I lost me

I eventually saw you, me, us

the situation for all that it

was worth (and not worth)

And I, eventually, grew

tired

I was exhausted from giving so much

And nothing being rightfully reciprocated

I was disgusted

Because I bent over backwards

Was hanging out on a limb

Living on the edge

And it seemed you didn't appreciate it

So the good thoughts began to lessen

I dreaded your calls

I was disgusted with you

But I was more so disgusted

with myself for allowing

this to fester

I was so lost in you

That I forgot who I was

So I had to reclaim what

was rightfully mine

to get back to me

I had to let go

I had to embark on a new personal

journey

to find me again

I had to end it with you

So that I could

start anew with me

© 2008 Markell D. Williams

Markell@picturesandframesmagazine.com

SPOTLIGHT:

Emma Thompson

April 15, 1959 -

I adore Emma Thompson. In fact, I’ve recently learned that several people in my circle of friends seem to have an incredibly strong admiration and respect for her. When discussing what celebrities would have us completely weak in the knees were we to run into them, she is often the one woman we all agree on. Why is she so unsung? She’s a two-time Oscar winner. In fact, to date, she is the only person who has won Academy Awards as both an actor and a writer. She is as adept at comedy as she is at drama. At 49 years old she remains a natural beauty. In fact, she’s so worthy of worship that even Kevin Smith thinks she’s God. (Or at least, he had wanted her to play God in his film Dogma, before she had to back out due to her pregnancy.) Oh yes, and as a woman in show business? It can be agreed upon that she simply kicks ass. Here’s the story my friends and I shared one night that served only to raise our esteem for Emma Thompson: To prepare for the filming of her latest film, a new adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, Thompson made dinners for her on-screen family at her London home. One night, she noticed that co-star Hayley Atwell wasn’t eating much. Atwell revealed that the studio had instructed her to lose some weight. (Which, if you’ve seen Atwell, you will realize is preposterous!) Thompson was so angry that she threatened to quit the project unless the producers at Miramax dropped the issue. She also infamously told Kate Winslet, “If you ever lose weight, I will never fucking talk to you again.” This is a woman with the right priorities, talent and a general aura of goodness about her. I simply had to devote a few weeks to watching her film career unfold before me.

Once I had gathered all of my Emma movies together, it seemed a bit intimidating. There was a stack next to my television and a few movies added to the rental queue to boot. I started with something unexpected, a movie I never thought I’d watch despite my humongous crush on Colin (Mister Darcy!) Firth: 2005’s fantasy/comedy/family film, Nanny McPhee. In addition to adapting the screenplay from Christianna Brand’s books, Thompson plays the titular character, covered with warts, a long snaggletooth and a bulbous nose. She appears magically, like Mary Poppins, to help out a widower (Colin Firth) and his seven unruly children. It’s a cute film with charming moments that lead to a truly wondrous finale. Consider it an appetizer.

My journey continued with a couple of films in which she appears very briefly. In the first, Henry V, she plays Katherine. She appears only twice—and most of her dialogue is in French. It is one of the earliest collaborations between her and actor/director Kenneth Branagh, to whom she was married until 1995. The couple would come to fame in America together, but Thompson’s career had actually begun years earlier, as a comedienne. After graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in English Literature and then starring in a revival of the show “Me and My Girl,” she ended up doing sketch comedy in her very own show, “Thompson.” This led her to the 1987’s BBC mini-series, “Tutti Frutti,” co-starring Robbie Coltrane. The same year, she gave her BAFTA Best Actress award-winning performance in another BBC mini, “Fortunes of War.” “Fortunes” would be the first collaboration with Branagh, with whom she later starred in the Judi Dench directed play “Look Back in Anger” before working again on a series of films which Branagh directed. “Fortunes” is clearly late 80s BBC from the opening moments all the way through the seventh and final episode. Which is to say, it isn’t the best looking thing you’ll see and the score is sort of dreadful and off-putting, but it’s filled with great performances and an interesting story. Thompson and Branagh play a couple of Brits in Romania near the beginning of World War II. It’s an interesting glimpse of the pair before Branagh’s films rocketed them into fame.

In one of her early non-Branagh films, Thompson manages to steal every scene in the first half of frequent Stephen Sondheim collaborator James Lapine’s Impromptu. It’s the story of writer George Sands (played by the staggeringly talented Judy Davis) and her romantic pursuit of the composer Chopin (as played by Hugh Grant). As wonderful as this story is, the film’s supporting characters offer the most entertainment: Mandy Patinkin as a jealous lover of Sands’, Bernadette Peters as another woman with her eye on Chopin and of course, Thompson. She plays the Duchess D’Antan, a wealthy woman who invites some of the most talented writers, painters and composers in Paris to her provincial estate for a fortnight. The Duchess is a woman who aspires to surround herself with artists who all believe her to be insufferable and silly. The role gave Thompson ample room to show off her comedic skills, especially when delivering the unlikely catch-phrase, “Stupid, stupid rain!” Although the artists find much to mock, the audience is likely to find the Duchess immensely likeable.

The next film I watched is probably the one that introduced me (and most of America) to Thompson: the suspenseful mystery Dead Again. The movie begins with Thompson silent and suffering from amnesia, while private detective Mike Church (Branagh) is hired to find out who she is. She’s haunted by mysterious dreams and memories of another life—one that ended in murder 40 years ago. Scott Frank’s story is perfectly put together and it is the sort of film that repays you with every single viewing. As amnesiac Grace, Thompson effortlessly glides from lost to found to frightened. Her chemistry with Branagh is undeniable here and even has the feel of a 1940s film noir couple, but a year later she would give a performance that announced to the world that Emma Thompson was a force to be reckoned with on her own.

Howards End was based on the novel by E.M. Forster and was brought to film by the same team who had previously adapted his books gloriously in A Room with a View and Maurice—producer Ismael Merchant and director James Ivory. In Howards End, Thompson plays Margaret Schlegel, eldest of three siblings whose lives intersect with the inhabitants of the titular home, Howards End. Thompson absolutely shimmers in the role, the picture of delight and all that is good as a woman trying to provide for herself and her siblings. She manages to stand toe to toe with Sir Anthony Hopkins and a breathtaking performance from Vanessa Redgrave. As far as I’m concerned, it is her best work ever. The Academy agreed and awarded Thompson it’s Best Actress Oscar. The next year, she would be nominated twice more: for Supporting Actress opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in the true story In the Name of the Father and for Best Actress in her second collaboration with Merchant & Ivory (and Hopkins), The Remains of the Day.

However, before that she would appear in two more films by Branagh. The first is the delightful comedy, Peter’s Friends, which was co-written by comedienne Rita Rudner, who also appears in the film. This film shows us the reunion of a group of friends a decade after their time at university. Thompson plays the shy bookworm of the bunch, who secretly loves the titular Peter (played by Stephen Fry). I’m sure that there have been endless comparisons and references to this as “a British Big Chill” and while I see the point, I must confess I like Peter’s Friends much more. Alongside frequent collaborators Hugh Laurie and Imelda Staunton, Thompson gets to shine along with the rest of the sparkling ensemble, appearing in some of the films most touching moments.

Her last film with Branagh is his fantastic adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. As Beatrice opposite Branagh’s Benedick, Thompson is like Rosalind Russell’s His Girl Friday character, transported through time to Tuscany and firing off Shakespearean dialogue. The couple manages to steal the entire show. (It would be their last performance as a married couple, although both actors will appear in writer/director Richard Curtis’s upcoming film, The Boat That Rocked.) It was just as I had finished Much Ado that one of Thompson and Branagh’s earlier collaborations arrived in my mailbox. The film was the televised play, “Look Back in Anger.” Known as one of the “kitchen sink dramas,” it features the pair as a couple of working class Brits in a struggling marriage. Thompson may begin the film as a quiet shadow in the background, but it doesn’t take long for her to step into the spotlight with a delicate and soulful performance, the most naturalistic work in the production.

It is this quiet power that is on display in her second Oscar nominated performance, The Remains of the Day, in which she plays a housekeeper grown close to the butler (Anthony Hopkins). They both keep these feelings restrained, so much that it keeps them apart. Quite the opposite from her character Carrington, who becomes involved in an unlikely romance with gay author Lytton Strachey (Jonathan Pryce). Carrington was quite unrestrained, living in an open marriage and having several love affairs before a tragic ending.

Thompson would win her next Oscar not as an actor, but as a writer, for her adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. Approached by producer Lindsay Doran, who had seen evidence of Thompson’s writing talents in episodes of “Thompson,” Thompson spent several years working on drafts of the adaptation. In fact, she writes in her production diary about how odd it was to have finished actually filming the movie:
          “Suddenly realized that for five years, every time I’ve finished a job I’ve gone back to rewrite this script. This will be the first time I can actually stop. Take it all in.”

Her diaries (available along with the published screenplay) are just as witty and delightful as the film itself. Her performance matches the elegance and grace of her writing. It is definitely, along with Howards End, what I would call “Essential Emma.” Impeccably cast, wonderfully directed by Ang Lee and of course bearing the Jane Austen pedigree, it’s hard to imagine a lovelier costume drama, or a better adaptation of an Austen novel. (As well as the screenplay diaries, I fully suggest the DVD. Not just because you’ll have a perfect film to enjoy over and over again, but for the sparkling commentary by Thompson and Doran, which is almost as entertaining as the movie itself.)

Another novel to film adaptation was her first collaboration with director Mike Nichols, Primary Colors. The book had caused quite a stir when it was anonymously written and published in the mid-90s, telling the story of a very Bill and Hillary Clinton-like couple on the Presidential election campaign trail. While John Travolta sticks to a Bill impression, Thompson shines through as Susan, the woman behind the rather unfocused candidate. Three years later, Thompson would work with Mike Nichols again in the HBO film, “Wit.” Aside from starring in the film, Thompson adapted the play by Margaret Edson. “Wit” is the harrowing story of a woman undergoing chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer. What makes it so special is the tour-de-force performance by Thompson that is filled with as many sharply comedic moments as heart-rending dramatic ones. She would work with Mike Nichols once more, again for HBO, in the astounding mini-series, “Angels in America.” Based on Tony Kushner’s highly praised play, “Angels” features Thompson (along with other cast members) playing multiple roles: from a nurse to a schizophrenic bum to one of the titular angels.

Over the last few years, Emma has appeared in several supporting roles, including that of Hogwarts Professor of Divination, Sybill Trelawney in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as well as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She also played the author narrating Will Ferrell’s life in Stranger Than Fiction for director Marc Forster in 2006. However, of these smaller roles, the one that truly qualifies as “Essential Emma” viewing is her work in Richard Curtis’s ultimate romantic comedy, Love Actually. Although she spends much of the movie blithely supporting others (as Liam Neeson’s friend, Hugh Grant’s sister and Alan Rickman’s wife) and getting laughs, there is an amazing moment to be found involving her character and a Joni Mitchell song.

This month brings Emma Thompson back to screens in the breathtaking adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. I kept trying to figure out what seemed so different, so odd about her in this film when I finally realized that it’s the first time she’s tackled a character who is not entirely sympathetic. Her character is the devoted Catholic mother of Sebastian (Ben Whishaw) and Julia (Hayley Attwell), both of whom young artist Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) is drawn to. Thompson and her character command the screen every time she appears, but in the end it is Whishaw and Goode who walk away with your adoration.

With three more films in the can and rumors of a screenplay adaptation of My Fair Lady swirling, Emma Thompson shows no sign of stopping. Which is fine by me. What is clear to me after spending a fortnight watching her films is that she only gets better with age and will never go out of style.

Rick@picturesandframesmagazine.com

SELECT EMMA THOMPSON FILMOGRAPHY

Brideshead Revisited (2008)

I Am Legend (2007)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Nanny McPhee (2005)

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

"Angels in America" (6 episodes, 2003)

Love Actually (2003)

“Wit” (2001)

Primary Colors (1998)

The Winter Guest (1997)

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Carrington (1995)

Junior (1994)

In the Name of the Father (1993)

The Remains of the Day (1993)

Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

Peter's Friends (1992)

Howards End (1992)

Dead Again (1991)

Henry V (1989)