I suppose it’s excellent timing to post this, as the first trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 was released today. And oh my God how FANTASTIC does it look! But my excited squees will come later.

Put simply, Alexandre Desplat is my favourite film composer of all, followed by Dario Marianelli, Joe Hisaishi, Yann Tiersen and er, many others. But I know and love Desplat best; I’ve practically grown up with him. My first encounter with his music was in Girl with a Pearl Earring, the film adaptation of Tracy Chevalier’s novel starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth (two people with whom I was pretty infatuated at the time). The movie had my tick of approval, but it was the music in particular that struck out to me. I had never heard anything so exquisite, so heart-wrenchingly gorgeous to my ears; I scrambled to know who the composer was and where I could get the soundtrack. Back then I wasn’t so knowledgable about online avenues, but eventually while I was on a bookstore tour with the school librarian and other classmates, I found a CD in stock at Readings.

And so began my unequivocal relationship with Desplat’s music—and …

(I initally meant to post this on the 1st October. Go me.)

Brideshead Revisited

Up until this point I always assumed Evelyn Waugh was a woman, but this is the name, in fact, of a man. And I had no idea that the mini-series adaptation was held in such high regard. I got “free” tickets for an advanced screening at Nova, thanks to my delightful affiliation with the Monash Golden Key Society. Honestly, I paid $93 to join them; I should get the money back slowly but surely, no? In any case, I’m glad I didn’t technically pay for the film, because it was a bit of a disappointment. My appetite for visual candy was more than satisfied, however, probably to the point of gluttony. It is a sumptuous, seductive film for the senses. But for the mind? Maybe not so much. The protagonist, Charles Ryder, a modest painter is introduced to a world of decadence, wealth and opulence through his growing relationship with Sebastian Flyte at Oxford. He is swept away by the grandness of Sebastian’s home, Brideshead. What follows is a series of events that lead Charles into the closing, controlling grip of Brideshead itself, and the choices he makes …

Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Ed Sanders
Synopsis: Based on the hit Broadway musical. After hard years in exile for a crime he didn’t commit, Benjamin Barker now Sweeney Todd, returns to London to find his wife dead and his daughter in the hands of the evil Judge Turpin. In his anger, Sweeney goes on a murderous rampage on all London, with the help of Mrs. Lovett, he opens a barber shop in which he lures his victims in with a charming smile before casually ending their life with a flick of his razor across their neck. But not one man killed, nor ten thousands men can satisfy Sweeney’s lust for revenge on those who’ve caused his years of pain. [from IMDB]

Rating:

I have not seen the original nor read the book, so I went into the cinema with great excitement and anticipation. The tale is quiet simple. Benjamin Barker is wrongfully sentenced to exile so as to allow the evil Judge Turpin to lure and capture his beautiful wife. Barker returns years later as Sweeney Todd, his wife dead, his child under the claws of Turpin, and only he with …

Saw this a couple weeks back (but it feels like months)! Thank goodness for the internet, you know. I just wrote the longest review ever and it got swallowed up ’cause I still can’t effing use WordPress properly! WEEP!

Anyway, I just bought The Painted Veil off eBay, but I probably won’t get it ’til next week. Sigh.

Starring: Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Toby Jones, Liev Schreiber, Anthony Wong, Diana Rigg, Lu Yan, Xia Yu
Synopsis: Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil is a love story set in the 1920s that tells the story of a young English couple, Walter Fane (Edward Norton), a middle class doctor and Kitty (Naomi Watts), an upper-class woman, who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai, where she falls in love with someone else. When he uncovers her infidelity, in an act of vengeance, Walter accepts a job in a remote village in China ravaged by a deadly cholera epidemic, and takes her along. Their journey brings meaning to their relationship and gives them purpose in one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth. [from IMDB]

NB: This review contains spoilers.

Rating:

Starring: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Susan Sarandon
Synopsis: An animated fairy tale meets modern, live-action comedy. The beautiful princess Giselle is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn’t operate on a “happily ever after” basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid – even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home – she has to wonder: Can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world? [from IMDB]

NB: This review contains spoilers

Rating: