After a long drought there are a few choices this weekend especially for those folks in the NY area. The widest release this weekend is My Life in Ruins, Nia Vardalos’ return to Greece and the big screen after a long absence. Vardalos has been everywhere trying to sell this movie. Vardalos is clearly the best part of the film. She tries hard and has a great personality but the script lets her down. She plays an academic without a gig stuck doing bus tours of Greece. The scenery is spectacular. It was so bright and blue that at times I wanted to take out my sunglasses. So for those of you who will be taking a staycation this summer instead of a vacation, this might be the film for you. It’s a light romantic comedy. You get the picture. Here’s an interview with Vardalos from the LA Times. I am also looking forward to her directing debut in a couple of weeks which reunites her with John Corbett from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Opening in limited release (NY and LA) is Seraphine a bio pic about French artist Seraphine de Senlis.
Seraphine tells the story of virtually unknown painter Seraphine de Senlis a woman who spent her days as a maid and her nights holed up in her room painting some extraordinary works. She was lucky enough to be cleaning the flat of collector Willem Uhde and when he randomly discovered her work he encouraged her to keep painting. His encouragement kept her going for many years even while he was out of her life until he returned and became her patron.
Yolande Moreau, gives one of those intense and career making performances as the gruff artist who would rather buy paint supplies than eat. She did not live an easy life, and as she aged she lost her capacity to keep her severe mental illness at bay. Sadly, she spent her last decades in an institution not painting.
Seraphine never received a one woman show in her lifetime but after her death one was held in 1941. This film has revived interest in her art and another retrospective was mounted in Paris. Sadly, most of her paintings were destroyed because her work was not valued at the time.
This story is a reminder of how many creative women’s works have been lost and erased because they were not valued mostly because they were done by women, and the importance of making sure that doesn’t happen anymore.
Lastly, but not least is Away We Go the new film by Sam Mendes. This film is the flip side of Mendes’ last one Revolutionary Road. It’s about a happy couple Verona and Burt (Maya Rudolph and John Krasinski) on a journey to find a “home” as they await the birth of their first child.
What I loved about this film is that Verona and Burt are partners and that is so rare in films today. A female role written as well as a male role. She is not the sidekick, girlfriend or eye candy. She’s his partner and every word in this witty, funny and moving script by married writers Vendela Vida and Dave Eggers rings true. This film would never have worked without the amazing chemistry between Rudolph and Krasinski. They really come off as a couple who have been together a long time.
The film is a series of encounters with their friends and family as they try and figure out where to make their lives. (It helps that they both work from home so they have a ton of flexibility as to where to live.) At each stop the supporting cast they meet up with is stellar including : Allison Janney, Catherine O’Hara, Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Melanie Lynskey among others. Each encounter builds on the on the other. Some are hilarious (Janney), others are moving (Lynskey). This movie felt very different to me. It reminded me of what I felt when I saw Juno. Smart and different.
(Film opens in limited release today and will roll out over the country over the next few weeks.)
Check out my interviews with writer Vendela Vida, Allison Janney and Maya Rudolph.
I’m seeing My Life in Ruins, since that one is playing in my area.
My parents are Greek, so it is mandatory that I see Vardolos’ film. And yes, Greece does actually look like that. It is a paradise filled with really sweet and generous people, full of a zest for life, who eat and love really well.
Seraphim
One of my top 10, fave films ever, is Camille Claudelle. It’s about a woman artist. The kind of artist I can relate to (she says looking at the stack of bills next to the empty fridge after making a short film). So this one is worth checking out.
Can’t wait to see Away We Go because of the commercial with Janney in it. It made me spit my tea- now that is worth 12 bucks.