Julianne Moore: The Sanest Star?

[Sylph]

[Bright Eyes]

She probably is. Her and Michelle Pfieffer are my absolute favorites of the current actresses out there. What I love about Julianne Moore's films, is that, much in the same vein Jennifer Connolly chooses her films, they all are against the cliche vein of storytelling. They push boundaries, go against the grain. That makes them interesting.

[Sylph]

I agree, she probably is. She doesn't fit in the crazy environment of Holywood stars and "stars". Even if it turns out to be a bad movie, or just something I'm not really into, I always make sure to watch whatever she does.

I haven't yet seen A Single Man, though.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Isn't her main residence in New York? Could be why....

[Sylph]

West Village.

You can always rely on Alvin for a little sarcasm.

[detroitpiston]

I'll never forgive her for butchering Clarice in Hannibal.

[EricMontreal22]

I still hate Ford's glam star take on her character in the movie (just cuzit's not remotely true to the novel) but loved her in it. She's probably my fave female star in her league.

[Sylph]

This does look glammed up (BTW, your thoughts on the film? Art direction, photography, script?):

[Sylph]

Butchered it? Hmm... Hm...

[Y&RWorldTurner]

When you follow Jodie Foster's tour de force performance, you're almost guaranteed to fail.

[Sylph]

But she didn't (follow).

She said it very clearly: I'm going to turn left. It was something like "This will be a very different Clarice."

[Y&RWorldTurner]

I don't mean in terms of approach, I meant in terms of playing the role after Foster's grand award winning performance.

The comparisons were going to be inevitable, and sorry to say, she doesn't stack up to Foster as an actress, though I love her too.

[EricMontreal22]

I thought I posted a short review in another thread back in Dec, but now can't find it. I've seen it twice so far (not just cuz I did like it but cuz both my mom and then the bf wanted to go lol)... Overall, I loved it. I have a big bias in that I've been obsessed with the Isherwood novel since I was a teen (Cabaret got me into Isherwood but I think A Single Man is his best piece of writing, in fact I think it should be considered a 20th century American classicalong the levels of Gatsby--hopefully this movie will allow it the recognition it deserves). The novel is basically a long running monologue--so Ford had his work cutout for him. I do think his visual symbolism, while often a bit too obvious, helped with this along with the uses of different filters, etc. Usually I try to completely seperate a movie from its source material, but I've read thenovella probably 6 or more times, so in this case it's hard to.

I do think everyone looks too ridiculously perfect--but Ford's a designer. I mean in the book they make the point severaltimes that the student character would be conventionally handsome if he didn't have an awkward nose (something I don't think anyone would complain of Hoult having!). Yet, I can kinda get past and accept this again as sorta a stylization of what's happening in George's mind. This isn't a spoiler as it's shown from the start,but the movie adds the major plot device of George carrying a gun with him contemplating suicide--completely missing in the novel. I assume they felt this was needed to give the plot more drive (in the novel it's just basically "a day in the life"). When I first saw the film I found thsi unecesary, but less so thesecond time.

Certainly the movie would be all style if it didn't have the amazing perfromances from Firth and Moore. As it is I think it's very very good, and I think it's a movie, cuz Ilove the novel so much, I'm especially hard on. If that makes sense (the score, which is half by Shigeru Umebayashi, whose work I knew from Wong Kar-Wai's films, and half by Abel Korzeniowski who I didn't know--is *perfect*.)

[Sylph]

I have read the book. I'm actually not really interested in how it has been told, I'm more about the look. I couldn't help but notice how Julianne's pink nails match her pink cigars in that photo above I posted. That is fabulous!

The book was adapted by your fellow Canadian, a Vancouver lawyer, who I think has a thing for the book just like you, but then Ford re-wrote parts of it so they share an and credit (and not a &). Scearce, the screenwriter, says Isherwood gave the story, he the structure and Ford the style.

I know who Umebayashi is, and he was just credites as an additional composer. That is because Ford wanted him to compose all of the music, but there were some distance troubles so he only did one stand-alone piece. You can read more in this interview with the Polish composer, who I also haven't heard about up unti now. He talks about how he is considered for Twiligh, but obviously he did not get it (Howard Shore did, who replaces Desplat, and Desplat goes on to score Harry Potter).

[EricMontreal22]

I admit I'm not very good at describing how the film looked... In a word, it looks amazing--I do think in some instances TOO amazing (Charlie/Moore's house is like *wow*--in the novel it's meant to be unique, but hardly what the film shows). I saw Ford interviewed on Charlie Rose and he admitted that some details, like when we see George get dressed each one of his shirts is individually folded and "done up" in his drawer, come from his own life, which I suppose makes sense. What I found most striking was the change in style for the flashback and fantasy sequences, which I felt were perfect. I'm more mixed on the constant use of eyes as a metaphor--it felt obvious to me, yet there are a couple of cases where it's very effective. But yeah every single aspect of the look of the film, looks perfect and striking (maybe almost too much? I know the negative reviews I've read feel that it's all style over substance, but I think a case coul dbe made for the style being the substance and, again, a way of telling in visual terms what was done as interior dialogue in the novel)

Yeah there was a good interview with Scearce about his dream to adapt the novel, and talking with Isherwood's widow (is that the right word when it's a gay relationship? widower? lol ) to get certain parts right. I found that interesting, because on apple.com's movie trailer site there's a neat 15 minute quicktime film about the movie where they give Ford full credit for script, repeatedly, which, fom all I've read didn't seem to be remotely true--so thanks forpointing out the change in credit.

Also thanks for clearing up the composer situation--on the soundtrack CD Umebayashi has three sequences, I believe, but they all are interelated (although spread out throughout the film)--no matter, in the film you certainly would think ti was all the same composer.