Monika’s Pensieve

I’m ditching my film spotting rating. It adds complexity rather than clarity. What I do want to stay with though is the practice of listing films that I’m in two minds about seeing (or in other words I’d probably see the film if a friend wanted to and/or if there was nothing else interesting on, but otherwise probably not).
There are also some small changes relating to me embracing the TMDb API. I’m going to keep linking to IMDb’s film pages (just click on the IMDb logo next to every film title), but all the other links are now to TMDb rather than IMDb. I’m also ditching the listing of Production Companies. I don’t think they added much information anyway and at present I find them rather bothersome - I’m never sure whether TMDb’s listings are complete and therefore end up manually checking them against IMDb and I’m too lazy to keep doing that in the long term.

{FILM SPOTTING}

Eat, Pray, Love (USA, 2010)

Release Date (Poland): 1st October 2010
Release Date (worldwide): 13th August 2010
Director: Ryan Murphy
Cast: Julia Roberts, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup, Viola Davis
Plot: (from TMDb)

Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having - a husband, a house, a successful career - yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali. Based upon the bestselling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Trailer

General Feelings
This is getting bad reviews and I’m not expecting that much from it… but I’m sort of inclined to go see it because of the male cast and Viola Davis. And having part of the action take place in India is also a good thing ;)

Dorian Gray (UK, 2009)

Release Date (Poland): 1st October 2010
Release Date (worldwide): 9th September 2009
Director: Oliver Parker
Cast: Colin Firth, Ben Barnes, Rebecca Hall, Emilia Fox, Ben Chaplin, Fiona Shaw
Plot: (from TMDb)

A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty eternally, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.

Trailer

General Feelings
Well, er, already seen this one… But I wanted to see it because of Colin Firth (duh!), plus I like those kinds of stories. I was also keen on seeing Ben Barnes for the first time. I like to be up to date on all the teen movie idols (I’m waiting for Zac Effron to finally make a film I’d like to watch ;)).

The Social Network (USA, 2010)

Release Date (Poland): 15th October 2010
Release Date (worldwide): 24th September 2010
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara
Plot: (from TMDb)

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history… but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

Trailer

General Feelings
Again, already seen this one… It was the combination of David Fincher and the subject matter that did it. Was slightly curious about Trent Reznor scoring it as well. And Andrew Garfield (who I’m really getting into - looking forward to see his Spiderman *grin*) was a great bonus.

Essential Killing (Poland/Norway/Hungary/Ireland, 2010)

Release Date (Poland): 22nd October 2010
Release Date (worldwide): I think Poland is the first country to have a general release in fact…
Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Cast: Vincent Gallo, Emmanuelle Seigner
Plot: (from TMDb)

Captured by the US military in Afghanistan, Mohammed is transferred to a secret black site in Eastern Europe for interrogation, where he manages to escape.

Trailer

General Feelings
I’m pretty sure I’m going to hate this. I didn’t like Skolimowski’s last film either. I’m already cringing at the little I do know about the film. There’s a Taliban fighter captured in Afghanistan named Mohammed (I assume Muslims do not use any other names) played by Vincent Gallo who AFAIK is an American of Italian decent (obviously, there are no South Asian actors who could have essayed such a part). And the film’s languages are English and Arabic (The two main languages of the region are Pashto and Dari. Arabic is not commonly spoken in Afghanistan, so unless this Mohammed person is a foreign fighter, he would be a little unlikely to speak Arabic - not saying this is impossible… but I sure hope the film explains his background if that is indeed the language he uses…).
So why do I want to see this? Like really, WHY??? Well, I can’t stomach not seeing a film produced in Poland with an international cast on this particular subject (i.e. CIA secret prisons in Eastern Europe). Just cannot, I have to see it ;) And hey, as much as I think not casting a South Asian actor for this sucks, I do kind of like Vincent Gallo and he’s been getting good reviews for this, so I hope he saves me from boredom and at least some of the annoyances.

Other Films for Consideration

• Boy (New Zealand, 2010)
• Le fil (France/Belgium/Tunesia, 2009)
• Mary and Max (Australia, 2009)
• RED (Canada/USA, 2010)
• Vincere (France/Italy, 2009)
• Furry Vengeance (USA/UAE, 2010)