something pretty.

[falulatonks]

Just finished watching Shakespeare in Love. All the movies I watch nowadays are ones I get on a whim, instead of being the movies I plan for for a few days and then decide I'm never in the mood for it. I was in the mood for this, so maybe that's why I liked it so much?

1. I am so frustrated by people who are brats about comedies winning Best Picture. The dissent I'd seen for this movie in general was what kept me so uninterested in this movie for so long.


2. It's not just funny, though - it's actually intelligent and heartbreaking, and I was wrapped up in it completely. Sometimes when I watch movies I pull up a window of Tetris right next to the movie, on my laptop, but I quit the application about fifteen minutes in.


3. Acting! Fantastic all around. I always have appreciation for actors who pull off this language, and everyone here did it not just passably but so well. There's always a little bit of melodrama mixed in with the comedy with Shakespeare, and I'd like to believe that it takes some skill to pull that off..


4. Gwyneth Paltrow is actually great here. Maybe I've just been watching her in the wrong movies? Because clearly she's good if she's given the chance to be. I liked her a lot in Iron Man (obviously) and I was surprised by that then, too, because I expected her to be lousy.


5. THE WRITING. This is hands-down my favourite part of the movie, oh my god. I can't imagine people not appreciating the screenplay, even if they don't like the movie. It's not just smart and hilarious and raunchy and heartbreaking, but it's so loving of language that as soon as I was done all I wanted to do was to write, for hours and hours.
   
   The writers (Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman) are really so smart about the way they handle Shakespeare and his language - of course these words already existed when the screenplay for this was written, but it must be written so it feels like he did come up with these words, that they were created to be said to these people, in these situations, with these feelings (I hope that made sense) - they do this masterfully. And it helps that they push it forward even further by twisting it a bit, giving the scenes something extra, which I can't explain properly, but it's fantastic.


6. Romeo & Juliet annoyed me when I studied it, because Romeo's a fool, Juliet is a little silly, and the parents are morons. The final scene, when they both die, makes me want to shake them both. But this movie made me want to wail when that scene finally happened, so. Well done, Hollywood.


7. It also made me want to punch Colin Firth in the face. THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE!

I watched a Tamil movie today - Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya - and liked it a lot. Simple, smart, sweet, a little different, and also? Absolutely gorgeous! There are two or three really amazing cinematographers in Indian cinema these days, apparently, because I can think of a couple of movies lately that have been beautiful, beautiful. This was definitely one of them.

This movie's also had A.R. Rahman music that's pretty much one of his best albums of all time, I'll say it right now. The best part of it is that it's also got enough Western influences to make it easier to get into. Basically I would like to recommend all of you to it (here). Start with Hosanna, put the rest on repeat, and eventually you'll realise you've fallen in love with it! :P

It's late, and that was meant to be a little shorter. :P TV-things tomorrow!

-- rachu

Comments

[cold-campbells.livejournal.com]

I love Shakespeare in Love but I think it's mostly because it makes it easy for me to have a crush on Shakespeare when/if I ever feel the need because I'm imagining him to be ridiculous amounts of hot. We watched it in one of my college classes and I sat a back row full of girls and we literally spent the whole movie swooning like crazy women.

[moirariordan.livejournal.com]

Maybe this says something important about my personality, but every time I watch that movie, the only thing I can think about is how much hotter it'd be if Paltrow's character had actually BEEN a boy.



...no judging!

[zombie_boogie.livejournal.com]

I get pretty frustrated when people act like Shakespeare in Love winning over Saving Private Ryan was a huge upset or a travesty. This wasn't Crash winning over Brokeback Mountain (or anything else in the Best Picture category that year). They were both really excellent films for very different reasons. The gritty, historical war drama doesn't always have to win, and honestly other than the really excellent and harrowing opening sequence I can't remember much else about Saving Private Ryan. It's a great movie, but so is Shakespeare in Love so I think either of them would have made worthy winners. Shakespeare in Love is incredibly smart and clever with superb acting from everyone (I still would have given the Best Actress trophy to Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth that year, but this was by far Gwyneth's best performance). It's seriously one of the best screenplays ever, I'm not even exaggerating.