The Ultimate Sofia Coppola List

         
           It's Sofia Coppola's 41st birthday today. She is one of my most favourite directors, and definitely my favourite female director. Her films have this wonderfully romantic and lost aspect to them that make them endlessly dreamy. I just love it. The girls and women depicted in her films are exactly like that too, which is why I've always believed that no female can look prettier than in a Sofia Coppola movie.

            I was going to do a mini-reviews post on her films, but have now decided to do a sort of list with all of her directorial work, including short films, advertisements and music videos. This also makes it more interesting since a list with only the movies becomes redundant with a Favourite 100 Movies List like mine. I couldn't find her first short film Bed, Bath and Beyond anywhere. Also the music videos to "City Girl" by Kevin Shields and "Playground Love" by Air are basically just clips from the movies they were in- Lost in Translation and The Virgin Suicides respectively. The latter does include singing pieces of chewing gum, but yeah, I'm not considering that.

11) Shine by Walt Mink

This was all the way back in 1993. The video quality isn't very good, but one can see the theme of rich, bored, beautiful people that will be unique to her films later on. It was edited by her ex-husband Spike Jonze, who was apparently the basis for the Giovanni Ribisi's highly annoying character in Lost in Translation.

10) This Here Giraffe by The Flaming Lips

I'm not that well-acquainted with the music of The Flaming Lips, but I like the idea of these monochrome-clad rockstars visiting the zoo on a nice sunny day. Also the bed looks like it belongs to a very young girl. Also it has Leslie Hayman, who plays the Therese Lisbon in The Virgin Suicides- arguably the sister with the smallest role.

9) City of Light fragrance by Christian Dior, starring Natalie Portman

This has a kind of Audrey Hepburn-ish aura about it. Miss Portman looks gorgeous and I think Alden Ehrenreich is adorable, but still, the whole product ends up being a little bland.

8) Marni for H&M starring Imogene Poots

It is set in the beautiful Marrakesh, Morocco. I love the colours in this ad. Imogene Poots looks lovely.

7) Lick the Star

To explain this, I will use a set of quotes from another of Sofia's films- "What are you doing here, honey? You're not even old enough to know how bad life gets. - Obviously doctor, you've never been a thirteen year-old girl." While I've never experienced the "clique" system of an American high school, there are things even I find relatable in this short film. Also, I love the badassery of the lead character when we first see her. The second part is here.

6) I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself by the White Stripes

I'm not a Kate Moss fan, but even I can't deny the pure sexiness she exudes here. However it's not perverse... I think it's kind of sad. With the title of the song and how it is sung, it really feels like a lost soul trying to figure out her life in a most free sort of way. I really love it.

5) Somewhere

Many say this is the film that all of her other films were leading up to. As a star-child herself, Sofia's first-hand experience with all the loneliness and pointlessness that a Hollywood celebrity and their children face is an obvious basis for this film. It is a critical look at such a life, but her films ultimately look so gorgeous that it takes a while to get to that. Still, the malaise that her films are known for is most pronounced in this. I love Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning in it.

4) Lost in Translation

This is the most celebrated of all her films yet, and rightly so. I don't think the meeting of two kindred spirits has never been shown more beautifully than in this film. The performances by both the leads is excellent, though just the little subtleties in everything that Bill Murray does leave me speechless. He should have won that Oscar. Scarlett Johannson's Charlotte is the character most of us connect with the best. Also that inaudible whisper... sigh.

3) Miss Dior Chérie fragrance by Christian Dior, starring Maryna Linchuck

This is my most favourite commercial ever. I want to live in it, for real. It's so pretty and girly! I love the liveliness in it, and everything the enchanting Maryna Linchuck does.

2) The Virgin Suicides

Ugh the Lisbon sisters and their eternal mystery that will never cease to baffle and entice the narrators or us. It's a very ambiguous, dreamy film, but there is a certain magic to it. I wish I could make something like this. I also wish Sofia revisits this kind of a film, one that has a certain amount of enigma and cheekiness to it.

1) Marie Antoinette

My very unique opinion, but I can't help it. With all the grandeur and the anachronistic pop tunes and American accents and everything that is oh so pretty, I absolutely adore this film. Kirsten Dunst embodies the lavishness and the confusion of the young and doomed monarch. People say it is too shallow- it can be, but only because it was expected of someone like the titular character. Also one of my most favourite endings ever. I think every director does one film like this- plain ambitious and well, selfish in a way. This is Sofia Coppola's and I love every minute of it.

So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed it. 
Also, A Very Happy Birthday to Sofia Coppola. 
Can't wait for Bling Ring!

The Extraterrestrial Blogathon

Sam Fragoso at Duke & The Movies has come up with an excellent blogathon, whose premise is-

"Extraterrestrial forces land on Earth. Unknowing of our planet and society, you can pick five films from the history of cinema that represent humanity. What titles would you choose and why?"

I thought a lot about this. Listed and crossed out many a celebrated title. I was originally going for a much more rounded approach, but then I decided to go the Doctor Who way, because I do hope the aliens are as awesome as David Tennant and Matt Smith make them out to be. When I meet them, I would like to show them what for me represents the best of humanity. Here's hoping that they don't turn out to be Daleks and facehuggers.

Honourable Mentions: Citizen Kane, Juno, The Great Escape, My Dinner with Andre and all the Lord of the Rings movies (how I wish it was just one big film).

My five films:

Pan's Labyrinth (Dir: Guillermo Del Toro)

A bit of the light and dark in humans. In most certainly the bleakest times that our species have ever faced, the pure imagination of a young girl and the courage of a few independent people flourish. It shows our ability to create fantastical places in our mind, the beauty of childhood, and the ultimate good that comes to all those who are brave and kind.

Ratatouille (Dir: Brad Bird)

Because hellooo, human food is amazing! I have always thought this Pixar masterpiece is the simplest and most ambitious of the lot. A rat who wants to cook. We as a species can come up with a concept like that- weird but just to show our undying ability to believe in dreams. Yes some of us can be haughty and egotistical, but simple things can tap into us and make us happy and forget all that.

Moulin Rouge! (Dir: Baz Luhrmann)

To show how art defines us. We as a species love stories and music and theatre... "All the world's a stage" and all that. Also since the aliens are landing now, what better way to introduce them to the many things that are part of our culture- from pop tunes to musicals (even Bollywood!) to our eternal fixation with the story of doomed love. Romanticising things, including tragedy, is part of our psyche, and it's never been more eccentric and ecstatic than this.

2001: A Space Odyssey (Dir: Stanley Kubrick)

For our ambition and curiosity and daring. I have only seen this once properly, but I don't think any film will ever aspire to broaden our ideas of well, everything, like this one has. I still don't know what it is about exactly and I'm pretty sure I never will, but I can understand, and so will the aliens, that this shows the zeal of humans to question things- of our origin and our future, of our true nature and what it may become, and a whole mixed bag of other stupendous stuff. It's just epic.

The Breakfast Club (Dir: John Hughes)

The undauntable spirit of youth. This was the first film I thought of for this blogathon, and to explain, I'll use a rather long quote from one of my most favourite books (educating the aliens even more) 'When adults say, "Teenagers think they are invincible" with that sly, stupid smile on their faces, they don't know how right they are. We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken. We think that we are invincible because we are. We cannot be born, and we cannot die. Like all energy, we can only change shapes and sizes and manifestations. They forget that when they get old. They get scared of losing and failing. But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail.'

Just that, and how the future really is the future. Also this film is about however different our personalities and backgrounds are, we're all made of the same stuff inside.

When I told my friend about this whole concept and my choice of films, she sort of reprimanded me on being so positive. I really am not; in fact I'm quite the pessimist in most cases. But when it comes to films, they are the one truly great and wonderful medium, at least for me, that bring out the best in things. I mean even the worst of scenarios and settings and characters are shown beautifully, so the lighter side of things look so much more brighter. It makes me endlessly joyous. Therefore I would obviously like to show the aliens just that- the best, of the best. Then we just have to hope and pray that we don't get exterminated.

Thoughts about the Lammys

Due to some really stupid coincidence, this is the second time when the Lammys are here and I am without my computer. This was the reason why I had no idea what was happening last year and couldn't take part in anything. I'm marginally better off this year (with a friend's laptop). Still I wasn't very sure if my blog is good enough for the many categories, simply because I don't blog much, and review even less.

However, I've decided to put a sock in my self-deprecation and rally for my blog, Being Norma Jeane, in three Lammy categories.

Best Blog- 'Cuz why the hell not? You know the whole "How ever it is, it is MINE and I lurve it" concept. 

Funniest Writer- Oh um... A hamburger and a french fry walk into a bar. The bartender says, "I'm sorry we don't serve food here." 

Is that what they want?? I think I can be really unintentionally funny sometimes, and intentionally unfunny other times. Please vote for the former :)

Best Design- Okay so it's off a Blogger template as computer code scares the bejeezus out of me, but I really like the way it looks. I like the colours and the pictures of my favourite things on the sidebar and the rotating banners and the music. If you like it too, please vote.

So there you have it. Have fun voting!

"I'm sorry Ken but you can't kill a kid and expect to get away with it."

*SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN IN BRUGES YET*

As everyone should know by now, In Bruges is one of my most favourite films. Among the three main characters, I usually love Colin Farrell's Ray the most. But this scene for me is all about the one and only Ralph Fiennes. I mean yes his character Harry Waters is most famous for the magnificent insult "You are an inanimate fucking object!" But in this scene we see how the vicious hitman first starts to fight for his survival, but then when it is evident that for that to happen he will have to kill his friend Ken, this reluctance seeps into his eyes. But he knows he has to do it, and so does Ken, played by the wonderful Brendan Gleeson. Their unspoken acceptance and sadness of this action, I feel even more so for Harry, makes it a very poignant scene. He has to stick to his principles, but he realises at what cost. 

That's what so amazing about this film and the characters- giving such apparently bad men a heart. Ray and Ken have the whole film to establish that. Harry has a few seconds, but we know how he feels. Bravo, Mr. Fiennes!

This has been a Ralph Fiennes appreciation post.

Thoughts

          I had a dream about writing this post. Isn't that super creepy? And super sad? I should be dreaming about buildings tumbling over and Matt Smith and Loki and shite. Blogging's taking over my life, AND I DON'T EVEN BLOG MUCH!! Anyways, here are my thoughts.

1) So District 9's Sharlto Copley is the man on everybody's mind right now. He is going to be the villain in the American remake of Oldboy and also star alongside Angelina Jolie in Maleficient. Now Ji-tae Yu as Woo-jin has become one of my most favourite villains ever. I love them diabolical like that. So he has big shoes to fill. But he seems like a very interesting choice. Josh Brolin of course will be the protagonist, called Joe Douchette in this version, directed by Spike Lee. In Maleficient, he'll be King Stefan who I'm guessing will be Sleeping Beauty's father. If he is the one who battles, per se, Jolie's Maleficient, it will be a much smarter option than giving such duties to some "teenage" actor who will definitely be overshadowed in every way. Having said that, I'm still rooting for Logan Lerman to get this part.

2) DJANGO UNCHAINED!!! These pictures were released at some point last week and OHMIGOD, I cannot wait!! Leo will be playing a man called Calvin Candie (another magnificent name by QT). He's holding a hammer. Looking at just the recent cinematic usage of hammers, we have Dae-su in Oldboy and the Driver in Drive. There will be beautiful ultraviolence my friends :D Also Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz as Django and Dr. King Schutlz(!!) respectively, look pretty cool. I love the look and the costumes. I'm guessing and hoping that the film will be a serious awards contender.

3) Speaking of Leo, I had started watching Romeo + Juliet last night (which I will finish after posting this), and his introduction as Romeo has to be one of the best character intros ever. Accompanied by, what is in my opinion the sexiest Radiohead song ever, "Talk Show Host", the beautiful and broody Leo speaks in old Shakespearean terms, and oh what bliss! I think, well no I'm pretty sure that whatever age I may be, I will still fall in love with him then and there. My most favourite intro of all time is of course Josh Hartnett as Trip Fontaine in The Virgin Suicides, with Heart's "Magic Man" playing in the background. Only Juliet had Romeo, but all girls have had a Trip Fontaine at some point in their lives. And they always will, making him timeless and magical.

4) Trailers- Remember the time when there was only one trailer per film? Me too, because that was TWO YEARS AGO. Gah. I refuse to watch any and all featurettes. Including those of the much anticipated Prometheus, which has another trailer out. It gives us a little more clues to what we are to expect and also a look into Charlize Theron's character. I'm already pumped about it, so the trailer is a tad unnecessary for me. Next we have Beasts of the Southern Wild, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year. It looks absolutely beautiful, and in a way reminds me of Pan's Labyrinth because they're both about children escaping the problems of their surroundings by creating and entering magical realms of their own. Next we have the "sort-of sequel to Knocked Up" This is 40. As much as I love the cast, especially Paul Rudd, I really don't want to watch it. I think there are some secret life-lessons involved, most probably about forty-year-olds, but I will start worrying about them in spite of not being even twenty yet. Then there is the really weird trailer of 2 Days in New York, which follows the idea of 2 Days in Paris, both made by the wonderful Julie Delpy. It just looks like a clip, but I liked the first film, so I'll watch it. The forgotten superhero movie of the summer, The Amazing Spiderman has another and slightly painful trailer out. I will watch this because of Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone and maybe the humour, but poor Spidey. Then we have the slightly crazy A Fantastic Fear of Everything starring Simon Pegg. All I can say is, get Nick Frost and all will be made right :) Lastly, the king of the trailers is obviously The Dark Knight Rises. It just looks bloody incredible and I want to watch it right now and I love destruction of planes and bridges and so much JGL and Catwoman is awesome and Bane is scary and GAHHHH! MIND FRIGGIN' BLOWN!!!

5) Poster-wise, everyone needs to see and worship and somehow send me a copy of Charlize Theron's Snow White and the Huntsmen poster. Just look at it!!!!! Marvelous.

6) Finally, I started Game of Thrones last week and am now up to date with it. For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you will know of my overwhelming and kind of irrational hatred towards one character in particular-

Off with your head, Joffrey!!!

Bronn knows best. Bye.

The Month that was- April

          As I had predicted, after returning to India, my film-watching has reduced enormously. Not only because of the erratic DVD player that still refuses to play my beautiful and overpriced The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo DVD, or the reduced internet speed because of which I take two days to watch an 80 minute film on Youtube, but also due to the heat that just makes me not want to watch films. And then I feel wretched. I still managed to watch 30 films in all, keeping an average of one film per day. Let's hope this continues...


Firsts:

1) Oldboy- Oh so violent! The final twist, even if one predicts it, can literally get the wind knocked out of them. One of my favourite villains in recent times.

2) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day- Isn't Amy Adams just adorable? I thought it was a delightful film. Also Lee Pace's singing voice :O

3) The Piano Teacher- A film I did not expect to like at all, but I daresay it might have become one of my favourites. Phenomenal performance by Isabelle Huppert.

4) Doubt- I love bitchy Meryl Streep. Her face becomes just so toxic. It was an interesting film. Viola Davis was a total scene stealer.

5) Battle Royale- Amazed that I only just heard about it, considering what a huge Kill Bill and Shaun of the Dead fan I am. Still, it was quite extraordinary and really entertaining. So glad I am out of school though! I wouldn't have lasted very long at all.

6) Shame- Oh Fassy Fassy Fassy- how much more amazing can you get? Such a harrowing performance... a beautiful yet very difficult film.

7) The Hurt Locker- It was alright. Nothing special except the fact that Kathryn Bigelow is awesome.

8) if...- The film that got Malcolm McDowell the part of Alex DeLarge. It is quite a good film and would make an interesting double feature with The Hurt Locker as both are about men who like violence.

9) A Trip to the Moon- Saw it properly, outside of Hugo. It is just fantastic to think that films took us to the moon nearly 70 years before science could.

10) Barry Lyndon- So very long. I am such an impatient person and this film really tested that. It is definitely very beautiful and a good enough tale, but it went on and on and on!

11) The Guard- I love the McDonagh brothers and what they seem to do with Brendan Gleeson. This was really amusing. Also Mark Strong as the baddie (yet again)! 

12) The Secret of the Kells- Such beautiful animation. Even though I fell the film ended too quickly, just the look made up for any of the shortcomings.

13) Talk to Her- Almodóvar just keeps on impressing me. His films are almost fantastical, but they have a really serious message hidden behind it all. This was no different.

14) Animal House- So friggin' hilarious! I loved every second of it. And I am completely addicted to "Shout" by Otis Day and the Knights.

15) Wild Strawberries- My first Ingmar Bergman film and it already has such an impression on me. It was so  sad, yet so lovely.

16) The White Ribbon- Er... I did not like this at all. Black and white has never been gloomier. Nothing seems to happen- really tested my patience.

17) All the President's Men- Really fantastic investigative journalism tale, obviously based on the true story of the Watergate scandal. The ending was a bit of a letdown though.

18) Persona- I don't think I got all of it, but something tells me that it's not one of those films where you need to fully understand it in order to love it. It's absolutely stunning and two excellent female performances.

19) The Fly- Started my crazy Cronenberg films list with this horror classic. While I didn't find it that scary, I thought it was very entertaining and a great story on the whole. Also dynamic performance by Jeff Goldblum.

20) A Place in the Sun- Wow this film made me feel ugly. I mean Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor... together... in black and white! Too much human perfection. It was a very tragic film though.

21) My Dinner with Andre- This film just blew me away. I found out that I absolutely love the sound of two people just talking. And they talk about everything. It was so different and incredible.

22) The Avengers- SMASHING!!! If this film was a person, I'd marry him.

23) Sweet Smell of Success- Pretty darn amazing. I especially loved the depiction of New York in it. It's so snappy and fast and cool.

Rewatched:

1) In Bruges- This film is just so bloody brilliant. Keep falling more and more in love with it. Also Ralph Fiennes is a god.

2) Notting Hill- I was craving Hugh Grant. It's just what I do.

3) The Artist- In-flight movie. The plane in Geoger Valentin's film took off right when my plane did. Perfection :D

4) Carnage- I think this film was kind of awesome. It's really entertaining too. Christoph Waltz should play the Devil at some point.

5) Die Hard- Hans Gruber is so bloody sexy. I mean as much as I love John McClane, I wanted Hans to win.

6) Somewhere- Even though it's my least favourite Sofia Coppola film, I think it is gorgeous. The film that gave the world Elle Fanning.

7) Drop Dead Gorgeous- In honour of Kirsten Dunst's 30th birthday. So funny! "The swan ate my baby!!"

TV shows:

1) Both the seasons of Pushing Daisies- This show was so fantabulous- it should have gone on forever! I hadn't seen a few episodes of the second season, so I watched all of it. I love Ned the piemaker. So effin' much!

2) First season of Game of Thrones- It's really good, but this show frustrates me for whatever reason. Poor Sean Bean.

Books:

1) Submarine by Joe Dunthorne- Surprisingly, not as good as the film. The book is far more cynical and the Oliver Tate is more messed up. The perfect sweetness of the film isn't present so much.

2) Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger- Fantastic. Love it. Just what I needed at this point in my life.

Final tally:

                                         Firsts- 114          Rewatched- 52          Shorts- 3

                                                                      Total- 169