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“Look, Dave, I can see you’re really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over.”

Paul Newman.

A great loss.

A women under the influence.

After watching The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas (a haunting yet captivating look at World War II’s Holocaust) I could not help but sing – or sob – the praises of a new cinematic face.

Supporting the somewhat iffy – yet impressive – child performers in TBITSP is Vera Farmiga (last seen in The Departed as the lover of Leonardo diCaprio and Matt Damon), the wife of a Nazi commander, mother to a 12-year old daughter smitten with Nazi ideals (thanks to a delicious officer) and an 8-year old son bewildered by the Nazi regime. As with all of the supporting roles, this character is underwritten (she is christened the name ‘Mother’) yet Farmiga manages to provide the integral link between the audience, and the film. This is a film about actions, not politics and Mother’s actions of supporting her family resonate with us all. As does her reaction to the full operations within her neighbouring concentration camp.

The characterisation is hardly original yet with Farmiga’s Mother the film, arguably, doubles its punch. Her struggle to thank her Jewish house worker, her shock at the burning furnaces, her sense of propriety at her anti-Nazi mother-in-law’s funeral, her loss of respect for her husband and life. These wonderful moments are indispensable, and so the films owes a large debt to Farmiga. One that would be deservedly be recognised via an Oscar nod. Unfortunately this film is unlikely to become a major awards magnet outside of BAFTAdom (it is a small British movie without much box-office success on its home turf)…but the silver-lining is that Farmiga has a juicey role in the much more Oscar-friendly Nothing But the Truth coming out in a few months. So here’s hoping they show her some love! Either way, Farmiga is destined to emerge as a cinematic darling. Of mine at least.

Gratuitous male lusting.1

Marlon Brando. The Streetcar days…yumyum. If only they lasted forever (lookswise at least).

Hairy. Mommy. Salma. Samali.

How do you top a celebrity filled musical number – inspired by a cheating girlfriend fucking Matt Damon – celebrating the fact that you are fucking Ben Affleck? (and if you have no idea what I am talking about, shame on you and run to youtube!).

You stage an interview with Salma Hayek, beg her to take her clothes off, tell her she’s no Penelope Cruz and then beg some more…

"I never wanted to be Away From Her".

From whelping fear and nesting lie,
Woods and their echoes ring:

“The desires of the heart are as crooked as corkscrews
Not to be born is the best for man
The second best is a formal order
The dance’s pattern, dance while you can.

Dance, dance, for the figure is easy
The tune is catching and will not stop
Dance till the stars come down with the rafters
Dance, dance, dance till you drop.”

-W.H. Auden, as spoken by the wonderful Gordon Pinsent, the lucky man who got to play husband to one of cinema’s greatest beauties – and actresses – then and now, Julie Christie, in Away From Her.

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“Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night!“

The Reel Geezers…

The thought of ‘Summer Movies’ (AKA a superhero movie/dumb comedy/big action sequel/counter-programmed ‘chick-flick’) has never truly got my pulse racing…unless, of course, it was one of the Star Wars prequels…enter: The Reel Geezers.

Marcia Nasatir and Lorenzo Semple are the old – with 80 years filmmaking experience between them – geezers in question (Marcia a agent/producer, Semple a screenwriter) and provide a wonderful desert to any cinematic experience. Including my own cinematic experience of Tropic Thunder last night. A film that has alot working for it (Tom Cruise’s movie mogul, Robert Downey Jr’s method actor, an evil Asian toddler) but has too much working against it (namely an underdeveloped character played by Jack Black) to be as good as it could have been. Marcia would concur, Lorenzo would ignore the two of us. That is one of the many wonderful things about this duo.

Just check this out…

And if you liked this check out their views on other cinematic offerings such as Iron Man, Sex And The City: The Movie (“…very disturbing”), Wall-E (“I’d say one of the better love stories between two robots I’ve seen this week), The Dark Knight (“…filled with all these random sophomoric comments they pass off as thought”), Pineapple Express, and many more…all on youtube.


Marcia – “…can there be a double truth in this?”

Lorenzo – “We won’t hear it from you.”

Trailer: Revolutionary Road

I usually am only partial to trailers for films I am eager to see (currently Australia, Synecdoche New York, among others). I was not eager to see this movie. In fact the thought of Mendes reteaming diCaprio and Winslet for his second foray into America’s suburbia left me cold. I presumed the best I could hope for was a good solid movie (in the same, uninspired yet accomplished vein as In The Bedroom) which may finally bag Winslet her overdue Oscar.

The trailer reveals first off that Winslet – as well as the movie in general – is most definitely in the running for award recognition (surprise, surprise!) and secondly that this may have much more to offer than your usual cinematic investigation into the American dream/domestic life/American suburbia/etc. Lets hope for Little Children rather than The Hours (one third of which, has a striking resemblence to the central plot in RR as Winslet’s modern woman is repressed under suburbian life as is Julianne Moore’s character). And so the trailer has left me hopeful. Granting modern cinema’s romantic idols a marriage, kids and a mortgage is in itself an interesting concept…

Or am I just getting desperate due to a lack of interesting movies coming our way?!?!

Regardless the trailer introduces us to one amazing track.. Nina Simone – The Wind Is Wild. Beautiful. And set to repeat on my ipod.

the introduction.

welcome to ticklepickleme…a fun filled blogspot to celebrate movies, musings and Miss Minogue (among other beloved creatures on this planet, and onscreen – here’s looking at you Wall-E!).

Prepare for an overload!