Posts Tagged ‘Marion Cotillard’

Short Take: Exceedingly enchanting. Woody Allen at his feel-good best.

Director: Woody Allen

Screenwriter: Woody Allen

Cast: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody

Length: 1h 40m

Synopsis: Gil (Wilson) and his fiancé Inez (McAdams) are vacationing in Paris, France, soaking up the atmosphere and taking in all of the beautiful art that surrounds them. Gil is a Hollywood screenwriter trying to take another crack at writing novels, and his latest work about relishing the past has gotten some much-needed inspiration from the city of love. While Inez spends her time enjoying luxurious spa days and get-togethers with friends Gil wishes to experience all of the charm the city has to offer, and he finds all he can handle when he stumbles upon a way to travel back in time to the 1920s. Every night at midnight he visits iconic artists like F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston), Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), and Salvador Dali (Brody), chatting away with them about love, life, and women. And speaking of women, one night Gil can’t help but be enchanted by an art aficionada named Adrianna (Cotillard), who is equally enchanted by him. The stress of the present and magic of the past combine to create an awkward but exciting situation for Gil, one which he will find his way out of only if he follows his heart.

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Short Take: An absolutely mind-blowing experience - One of the most creative films in years

Director: Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige)

Screenwriter: Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento, The Prestige)

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island), Ken Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima), Marion Cotillard (Nine), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer), Ellen Page (Whip It), Cillian Murphy (Sunshine), Tom Berenger (Sinners and Saints), Tom Hardy (RocknRolla), Michael Caine (Harry Brown), Dileep Rao (Drag Me to Hell)

Length: 2h 28m

Synopsis: Neuroscientists Cobb (DiCaprio) and Arthur (Gordon-Levitt) have a unique job, which is to enter the dreams of others and navigate them in order to find out important information – mainly secrets (this is called Extraction). The invention that they use to perform such a task allows for several people to share another person’s dream, which they can more or less construct to their liking. While working within dreams may sound (pardon me) like a dream, the procedure can in fact be very dangerous. Many things can go wrong that can leave the individuals inside a dream with severe psychological problems, not the least of which is the inability to ever be sure if you’re dreaming or not. Cobb and Arthur’s newest assignment asks them to not just steal information from someone’s brain, but plant an idea in it as well (this is called Inception). The mission demands that they recruit a team and delve deeper into someone’s mind than they’ve ever gone before, and the deeper they go the less chance they have of ever waking back up. Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: Complex and subtle, yet intuitive and readily understood. It could not be more inspired

Director: Rob Marshall (Chicago)

Screenwriters: Michael Tolkin and Anthony Minghella; Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston (American Broadway musical); Mario Fratti (Italian musical)

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Marion Cotillard (Public Enemies), Penéope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal), Nicole Kidman (Cold Mountain, Moulin Rouge), Kate Hudson (Bride Wars), Sophia Loren (La ciociara), Fergie (Planet Terror)

Length: 1h 50m

Synopsis: Guido Contini (Day-Lewis) is a famous Italian film director who is having tremendous trouble making his newest movie. Suffering from writer’s block and feeling pressure from everyone around him to make this next picture something incredible, Guido looks to escape in any way that he can. Try as he might to find it, inspiration remains elusive for him even though he is continually reminded that said inspiration has often come from the many women in his life. Read the rest of this entry »