Coco Before Chanel

What was Coco Chanel like before she became the name behind an empire? Was she always interested in fashion? Did she grow up wearing haute couture? Does she know how to sew or is she just the visionary behind the clothing empire? Well, all of these questions, plus many more, will be answered after watching this engaging movie. Coco, born Gabrielle, was abandoned at a young age by her father to an orphanage. From that rocky start, in adulthood, she found herself working as a cabaret dancer at a less-than-respectable bar. There, she meets a man who will change her life...taking her into his life and his home. But, even after her life switches from poverty to affluence, it is not an easy road. The major problem I had with this film is that it moves from her opening a modest but elegant millenary shop (Coco's start was in making hats for herself and friends, one of whom was well-known stage actress) in Paris to models wearing her designs parading down the runaway. I know that the point of this film must have been her pre-success life, but how she went from hats to evening gowns still mystifies me. That aside, this is a wonderful film that really captures the early essence of this remarkable woman.

Adam

Adam is a strong film that is tough to watch. I continuously felt sorry for the main character, Adam, who has Asperger's Syndrome. But, feeling sorry for Adam is part of the story...the script is written so that we do feel bad for him. The film opens with his father passing away and he now lives alone, which is new territory for Adam. Asperger's, which is a form of autism, prevents him from living a so-called normal life...he has few, if any, friends and he lives his life through habits he knows. When he meets a new neighbor, Beth, his insulated world threatens to either unravel or expand to include her. A touching, sweet film, Adam is part love story and part drama, but no matter which part you prefer, you will admire the strong performances here by both Hugh Dancy, who plays Adam and Rose Byrne as Beth. Dancy's Adam has more of an edge than other mentally challenged characters of late (Sean Penn in I Am Sam and Cuba Gooding Jr. in Radio). Adam is a hard person to get to know, be involved with, and especially to love and I feel Dancy conveys that difficulty to the audience through his stellar performance. Over-all, it is worth all of the uncomfortability for this one...it's a great film.

Serious and Single Men

Two very different stories, but both main characters have similar existential questions.... "Why did this happen to me?"

Leading men Colin Firth and Michael Stuhlbarg are excellent in their respective roles. Firth, known for his rather "fluffy" roles (Bridget Jones, Mama Mia) is riveting in this dark and melancholy film. Stuhlbarg, with a handful of minor film roles to his credit, plays a bemused and believable character.

Both men are in the teaching profession. George (Firth) , a university professor in 1962, is a single homosexual whose lover of 18 years died eight months prior in a car accident. A still grieving George who now sees his life as meaningless, makes plans to end this day with suicide. Firth displays very little emotion throughout the movie. He has had to hold many secrets "close to the chest" during his lifetime. He is good at it. However, there are scenes that subtly display, through the look in his eyes, the absolute disintegration of his soul and the question, "Why is this happening to me?" Because of George's quite demeanor and bravado, the film and it's ending left me deeply moved.

Stuhlbarg's character, Larry, is also a university professor in 1967. In an unhappy Midwestern Jewish family, Larry, a physics professor is awaiting the decision on his receiving tenure. In the meantime, his wife is leaving him for his so-called best friend and his kids "raid" his wallet daily. His daughter is saving up for a nose job, and his son is paying money to the neighborhood brute to ward off being beaten up on his walk home from school. His crazy brother-in-law has taken up residence on the living room sofa, and one of Larry's students gives him a cash bribe to assure a passing grade in his class. You're waiting for Larry to say "oy vey". However, Stahlbarg plays Larry not as a whiner, but as a hopeful man wondering, "Why is this happening to me?" and "What else can go wrong?" He visits three rabbis from his synagogue in hopes of finding an answer. Each visit ending with some humorous parable, but no answers. The ending is wryly true to the Coen brothers spirit of the malevolent.

Classic Love Stories and Romantic Comedies for Valentine's Day

Adam’s Rib
Affair to Remember, An
All That Heaven Allows
Annie Hall
Apartment, The
Awful Truth, The
Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer, The
Barefoot in the Park
Born Yesterday
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Bride Came C.O.D., The
Brief Encounter
Bringing Up Baby
Casablanca
Come September
Desire Under the Elms
Desk Set
Doctor Zhivago
From Here to Eternity
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Gilda
Glass Bottom Boat, The
Gone With the Wind
Graduate, The
His Girl Friday
Holiday (1938)
Houseboat
How to Marry a Millionaire
Indiscreet
Intermezzo
It Happened One Night
It’s a Wonderful Life
Lady Eve, The
Last Time I Saw Paris
Love in the Afternoon
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing
Love Story
Lover Come Back
Magnificent Obsession
Manhattan
Meet John Doe
Move Over, Darling
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
My Favorite Wife
My Man Godfrey
Ninotchka
Notorious
Now, Voyager
Pat and Mike
Philadelphia Story, The
Pillow Talk
Place in the Sun, A
Random Harvest
Robin and Marion
Roman Holiday
Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Sabrina (1954)
Same Time, Next Year
Sandpiper, The
Send Me No Flowers
Shop Around the Corner, The
Summer Place, A
Talk of the Town
Teacher's Pet
That Touch of Mink
Three Coins in the Fountain
Thrill of It All, The
To Catch a Thief
To Have and Have Not
Touch of Class, A
Two for the Road
Way We Were, The
Wife vs. Secretary
With Six You Get Eggroll
Women in Love
Young at Heart

Contemporary ROMANTIC COMEDIES for Valentines's Day

10 Things I Hate About You
American President, An
Away We Go
Best Man, The
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Brown Sugar
Bull Durham
Chasing Liberty
Chocolat (2000)
Continental Divide
Daddy’s Little Girls
Dave
Definitely, Maybe
Doc Hollywood
Down with Love
Failure to Launch
Family Man, The
Fever Pitch (2005)
Four Weddings and a Funeral
French Kiss
Good Year, A
Groundhog Day
Hitch
Holiday, The (2006)
Honeymoon in Vegas
How to Deal
How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days
Intolerable Cruelty
It Could Happen to You
Jerry Maguire
Jersey Girl
Just Like Heaven
Just Married
Kate and Leopold
Keeping the Faith
Kissing Jessica Stein
Laws of Attraction
Leap Year
License to Wed
Little Black Book
Lot Like Love, A
Love Actually
Made of Honor
Maid in Manhattan
Mickey Blue Eyes
Moonstruck
Music and Lyrics
My Best Friend’s Wedding
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Mystic Pizza
Never Been Kissed
New in Town
No Reservations
Notting Hill
One Fine Day
Only the Lonely
Phat Girlz
Pretty Woman
Proposal, The
Return to Me
Roxanne
Runaway Bride, The
Serendipity
Shakespeare in Love
Sleepless in Seattle
Someone Like You
Something New
Something’s Gotta Give
Sweet Home Alabama
There’s Something About Mary
Tin Cup
Two Weeks Notice
Valentine's Day
Wedding Date, The
Wedding Planner, The
Wedding Singer, The
What Women Want
When Harry Met Sally
When in Rome
While You Were Sleeping
Wimbledon
Working Girl
You’ve Got Mail

Comtemporary ROMANCES for Valentine's Day

(500) Days of Summer
Against All Odds
Age of Innocence, The
All the Pretty Horses
As Good as it Gets
At First Sight
Atonement
Autumn in New York
Bed of Roses
Before Sunrise
Before the Rains
Bridges of Madison County, The
Brokeback Mountain
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Cold Mountain
Crossing Delency
Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The
Days of Heaven
Dead Again
Dear John
Dirty Dancing
English Patient, The
Ever After
Falling in Love
Far from Heaven
Frankie and Johnny
French Lieutenant’s Woman, The
Frida
Ghost
Hope Floats
Legends of the Fall
Message in a Bottle
Mirror has Two Faces, The
Nights in Rodanthe
Notebook, The
Officer and a Gentleman, An
Possession
Remains of the Day, The
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Save the Last Dance
Say Anything
Slumdog Millionaire
Somewhere in Time
Sweet November
Titanic (1997)
Walk in the Clouds, A
Walk to Remember, A
Witness

Little Dorrit

An excellent Charles Dickens adaptation, given the full BBC treatment in mini-series form. Well acted, well shot and well written, this comes close to, if not surpasses, the wonderful Bleak House adaptation BBC did in 2005. The set designers, art directors, and costumers did such a good job that I really did feel as if I was transported to 1800s London. The story revolves around a young girl, nicknamed “Little” Dorrit since she is her family’s youngest, who holds the key to her family’s hidden potential. Nominated for a plethora of awards (Emmys, Golden Globes, etc.), this adaptation lives up to the long standard the BBC has set in filming famed classics for the small screen. A must!

Cranford and Return to Cranford

Both of these films are masterpieces in historical dramas. Even though produced by BBC both films play as well…over even better…than most historical dramas put on the big screen. Starring Judi Dench as the main matriarchal member of a small Cheshire, England market town that has been slow (if at all) to progress with the times. Dench’s Matty is a spinster who lives with her sister and they, with their friends, control the town more than any mayor or politician could do. What they want, goes. What they say, goes. Over the course of these two great series, the ladies…especially Matty…change. Some die, some get ill, some suffer, some alter their believes about progress. But, all in all, the town of Cranford would not continue to survive and thrive without the ladies of Cranford.