Good things in Vancouver

スペインの巨匠、Pedro Almodavarが2002年に監督したHable con ella (Talk to her)はとても好きな映画の一つである。今回、彼が2006年に監督したVolver （邦題：帰郷）を観た。主演は Penelope Cruz。彼女が出演したハリウッド映画は冴えないものばっかりだったけど、この映画で彼女はとても魅力的に見えた。映画ではスペイン、ラ・マンチャ地方の暮らしが映し出され、その美しさに憧れた。女性がたくさん出てくる映画で、女友達、姉妹、母娘、色々な形の女性の絆が見れた映画だった。日本語字幕付トレイラーはこちら。

Hable con ella (“Talk to her” in English) is one of my favorite films which was directed by a great Spanish director, Pedro Almodavar in 2002. We watched his work called Volver (“To return” in English) which was directed in 2006. The main actor is Penelope Cruz. Many of Hollywood films she acted for were not great but she looked very attractive in this flim. This film showed the life of La Mancha in Spain and I adored its beauty. There are lots of women appear in this film and I saw various forms of female relationships such as amongst friends, sisters, mother and daughters. The trailer is here.

My rating: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆（８！）
IMDB: 7.8

映画館に行ってイギリスのコメディ、Hot Fuzzを観た。ストーリーはロンドンで最優秀逮捕率を持つ超エリート警官がイギリスの田舎町に転勤させられる。そこで起こる事件に田舎者警官のパートナーと解決に挑む。アメリカのアクション映画でよく見る銃撃戦がイギリスの平和な片田舎で起こるのが笑えた。だいたいイギリスでは警官は銃持ってなくて、こん棒しか持ってない。Timothy Daltonなどイギリスのベテラン俳優達が脇役でたくさん出ているのも楽しかった。主演のSimon Peggは脚本も監督のEdger Wrightと一緒に書いている。彼らはゾンビコメディ映画 Shaun of the Dead やコメディドラマ Spacedも書いている。プロデューサーのNira ParkはEdger Wrightのこれらの作品や私のお気に入りコメディBlack Booksなどをプロデュースした。彼女は歌手Lily Allenのお母さんでもある。すげえ、かっこいいお母さん。トレイラーはこちら。あ～この映画笑った。

We watched a British comedy called Hot Fuzz in a cinema. The story is about a super elite police man in London who has the best arresting rate and he is reassigned to a tiny town in a country side. He tries to solve cases which occur in the town with a countryman partner. It was funny to see a gun fight which you normally see in American action films happen in the peaceful town in England. British policemen don’t have guns. They only have truncheons. It was entertaining to see lots of veteran actors like Timothy Dalton were in the film doing supporting roles. The main actor, Simon Pegg also wrote the screen play with the director, Edger Wright. They also co-written a Zombie comedy film, Shaun of the Dead and a comedy drama, Spaced. The producer, Nira Park produced not only these Edger Wright’s works but also my favorite comedy, Black Books. She is also a mother of a singer, Lily Allen. Cool mum. You can watch the trailer here. This film made us laugh a lot.

My rating: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆（８！）
IMDB: 8.2

Will Ferrell 主演の 「Stranger Than Fiction」を観た。これ面白かった。Emma Thompsonが扮する小説家は自分が書いている人物、Harold (Will Ferrel) が実在するとは知らなかった。Haroldは政府の税金監査で勤め、分刻みに正確な毎日を送っていた。しかしある日、頭の中で誰かが自分の行動についてナレーションしていることに気づく。そしてこのナレーションが自分の運命を決めていることにも気づいていく。Haroldはこの頭の声の主を探すことを始め、声の主がこの小説家だということを突き止める。さて、彼の運命はどうなるのか。

Saturday Night Liveに出ていたWill Ferrellは大好きなんだけど、彼のコメディ映画は全部終わってたと思う。真面目な映画、例えばWoody Allen監督の「Melinda Melinda」やこの映画では役者としてとても好演していた。Will Farrell がインタビューされているところを一度見た事があるけど、とっても真面目そうな人だった。この映画には他に、Emma Thompson、Dustin Hoffman、Maggie Gyllenhaalなどの素晴らしい役者達も出演している。IMDBに書いてたんだけど、ビートルズを暗喩しているところが多々あった。緑のりんご、アビーロードのアルバムカバーそっくりの道、ハロルドはタックスマン、カレンはペーパーバックライターなどなど。

鑑賞した後、自分の人生をちょっと考えてみちゃう映画。トレイラーはこちら。

We watched “Stranger Than Fiction” which Will Ferrell was in. It was very good. A novel writer acted by Emma Thompson didn’t realize her novel’s character, Harold (Will Ferrell) actually existed. Harold was working as a tax man and he was spending every minutes of his life promptly as scheduled. But one day he heard somebody was narrating his behavior in his head and realized this narration was becoming his fate. He started to look for the person of this voice and found the novel writer was the one. Then what happens to his fate?

We really adore Will Ferrell in Saturday Night Live but find his comedy films are really bad. He acts well in serious films like Woody Allen’s “Melinda and Melinda”or in this film. I saw him being interviewed one time and he looked very serious person. There are other wonderful actors in this film – Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Maggie Gyllenhaal. I read in IMDB that there are many parts in this film that refers to The Beatles - Green Apple, Will Ferrell crosses the street a la the Abbey Road album cover, he’s a Taxman, Karen Eiffel is a writer (paperback writer), etc.

This is a film which makes you reconsider about your own life after watching the film. You can watch the trailer here.

My rating: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆（９！）
IMDB: 7.8

Will Ferrell

この映画夫が以前から見たいと言っていたが、香港映画＝カンフー映画と思っていたので、Veto権を発していた。アカデミー賞で最優秀映画賞に選ばれたThe Departedはこの香港映画 Infernal Affairsのリメイク版である。カンフー映画でないことが分かるや否や、レンタル屋に借りに行った。舞台は香港、マフィアと警察の抗争が続き、警官Chanは覆面警官としてあるマフィア一家に送り込まれる。一方、そのマフィア一家からはLauが警察学校に送られ、数年後マフィア捜査官として働くようになる。この覆面警官とマフィアスパイの存在が分かり、二人は、お互いを見つけ出す使命を言い渡される。バイオレントなシーンはほとんどなく、プロットが面白かった。あと、Andy Lauがハンサムだった。トレイラーはこちら。リメイク版のThe Departedがどんな洋風の脚本になっているのか楽しみだ。

My husband had wanted to watch this film before but I vetoed since I thought Hong Kongnees’ films are all Kung Fu films. The Departed which won the Best Motion Pictures in the Academy awards is the remake of this Hong Kongnees’ film, Infernal Affairs. As soon as I realized it wasn’t a Kung Fu film, I went out to rent the film. The film is situated in Hong Kong and a confliction between police and mafia had been worse. A detective, Chan was sent to a mafia family as a undercover cop, whilst a mole, Lau was sent to a police school from the mafia family, then he became a detective in charge of mafias. After a while, each party realized the existence of these individuals, and these individuals are ordered to find each other. There weren’t many violent scenes and the plot was excellent. Plus, Andy Lau was handsome. You can see the trailer here. I am looking forward to watching the remake, The Departed, to see the western version of the screen play.

My Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆　（8！）
IMDB: 8.1

Andy Lau♡

Michael Gondry監督の最新作、The Science of Sleepを観た。ストーリーはメキシコ人のステファンが母を訪ねてパリに来る。そこで隣人のステファニーに出会う。彼は夢遊病の癖があり、見る夢が現実と交差し、混乱する。ステファン役は Y tu mama tambien や The Motorcycle Diariesに出ていた、Gael Garcia Bernal。この映画で初めて英語を話しているのを見たけど、イギリス英語のアクセントで話す彼の英語はキュート♡ステファニー役は以前彼女の音楽を紹介した、Charlotte Gainsbourg。この二人の演技はとても良かったし、映像もとてもユニークだったけど、脚本が抽象的すぎて、終わった時、何が言いたいのか分からない映画だと感じた。以前の監督作品、Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mindは最高に良かった。脚本はBeing John Malkovitchで有名なCharlie Kaufmanと共同で書いたからだろうか。また二人で映画作ってくれないかな〜。トレイラーはこちら。

We watched The Science of Sleep, the new film of a director, Michael Gondry. The story is Mexican guy, Stephan visit his mum in Paris. Then he meets her neighbor, Stephanie. He has a habit of sleepwalking. His dreams gets mixed with the reality and he gets confused. Stephan was played Gael Garcia Bernal who was in Y tu mama tambien and The Motorcycle diaries. I saw him speaking English for the first time. His English with British accent was cute♡ Stephanie was played by Charlotte Gainsbourg who I introduced her music recently. Both actors played very well and the images of the film were unique, but the script was rather abstract. When the film was finished I couldn’t get what the film wanted to say. His previous directed film, Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind was brilliant. Maybe it was because the script was in collaboration with Charlie Kaufman who is famous for writing Being John Malkovitch. I wonder if they can collaborate together to make another film. The trailer is here.

My rating:☆☆☆☆☆（５！）
IMDB: 7.7

Gael Garcia Bernal♡