The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
- Journey continues
- Kevin Spacey is good at being bad
- Kate Moss inspired to wed by 'Gypsy Weddings' show
| Posted: 11 Aug 2011 01:43 AM PDT Once in a while, along comes a movie that celebrates women's changing perception of themselves. THERE are few movies targeted at women that do not cater to the frilly exploits of finding, dating or marrying a man. Most pander to that easily commercialised and highly exploitable bubble in the collective female brain which constantly craves Cinderella stories. When a female-centric movie with a colour spectrum outside the usual palette of fairy-dust pink manages to achieve commercial success, it is, therefore, a cause for much celebration and introspection. This year, that movie is Bridesmaids. Bridesmaids is a painfully revealing look at how the inroads that women have made have also led to a whole new world of confusion and guilt. It is also a funny and moving film that has obviously struck a chord, not only with critics, but also with moviegoers, if box-office takings are anything to go by. It is the highest grossing film produced by Judd Apatow. The last time a women's movie pleased both critics and the box office was Thelma & Louise, which, coincidentally, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. In between, there was, of course, Sex And The City, a powerful celluloid mirror which reflected women's changing perceptions of themselves as liberated beings in the boardroom and the bedroom. Sex And The City was, in effect, the transformative bridge between Thelma & Louise and Bridesmaids. So what has happened to feminism in the 20 years between Thelma & Louise and Bridesmaids? A lot. And then some. When Thelma & Louise hit the screens in 1991, it blasted perceptions by taking the male trope of the road movie and applying it to a female setting. The story of two female friends whose innocent road trip ends up as a journey of life and death, was one in which the enemy was an abusive, male-centric and sexist society. In Thelma & Louise, the two female friends had few choices. Hence, the controversial ending where they drive their car off the cliff. Those who decried the nihilistic ending missed the point of the movie as a cathartic liberating fantasy for women who also do not normally shoot up oil tankers, rob convenience stores or pick up men who look like Brad Pitt. More importantly, Thelma & Louise was probably the last intelligent woman's movie where the women did not fight over a man or go shopping. Since then, the last 20 years have been notable for the positive evolution of the male gender. For example, men today play a more active role in parenting, and are generally more aware and respectful of women's rights. Women have also evolved, but in more diffused and confusing directions as they savour and assess the fruit of emancipation. Is it as sweet as they thought it would be? There are now more women in positions of power and playing the role of the breadwinner in their relationships. Women have become more powerful, while still maintaining the residual pre-feminist vestiges of also wanting to be a good wife and mother. In the 60s and 70s, and even in Thelma & Louise, marriage was largely regarded with disdain and suspicion, a dead-end to be avoided. In Bridesmaids, however, marriage is the raison d'etre of the movie, as one woman prepares to get married while her best friend remains single. While the other picture-perfect bridesmaids in the party eventually reveal that they are in less-than-happy marriages, there is no talk of divorce, almost as if there is a tacit acceptance that marriage is like pizza – even when it's bad, it's pretty good. While Thelma & Louise celebrated female bonding by fighting the male establishment, Bridesmaids shows instead, that some women are their own worst enemies, fighting among themselves. In the movie, the single protagonist Annie finds herself with women who do not compete with men, but with one another, in a race to see who has the prettiest face, the most exclusive designer dress, the richest husband or, even, who can be the best friend. Most devastatingly, Annie, stuck in a friends-with-benefits relationship with a self-absorbed man and licking the wounds of her failed cake business, is in a battle with her self-confidence as a woman. It is the existential war of the post-feminist woman paralysed and exhausted by the many choices before her. Yet, Bridesmaids is not a rejection of feminist values, but a brutal reassessment of how they are changing, along with the times and with evolving gender roles. Emancipation liberates, but it also comes with serious responsibilities. At the end of the movie, Annie's redemption comes in the form of a new man, as well as another single bridesmaid in the party, who reminds her that success comes only with hard work, plus a lot of support from friends, regardless of whether one is a bride or a bridesmaid. Annie does not drive off a cliff at the end of the movie. But she does not drive off into the sunset, either. Her journey continues, as does that of all women. – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Kevin Spacey is good at being bad Posted: 11 Aug 2011 01:22 AM PDT Kevin Spacey loves being mean and manipulative in the dark comedy Horrible Bosses. BAD guys do not come as good or have as much fun as Kevin Spacey. The actor, whose illustrious career includes a stunning turn as the mysterious underworld figure Keyser Soze in Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects (1995), plays a mean and incorrigible manager in the new comedy Horrible Bosses. He says: "I had a blast. Being a bad guy in a fun comedy is very different from being a bad guy in a sick comedy." In what can only be described as bromance-meets-revenge-flick, three long-suffering buddies in untenable work situations (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis) plot to finish off their evil superiors. While the first two bosses are played by the unlikely Jennifer Aniston (an oversexed dentist) and Colin Farrell (a junkie with a – gasp! – combover), the title of big horrible boss of the day goes to Spacey's Dave Harken. The master manipulator messes with the minds of his underlings in not so much cardboard fashion as gloriously over-the-top manner, including murder via mobile phone. "We had an incredible time shooting – it was not easy to pull off the script, which becomes more outrageous as it goes," Spacey says. "Harken's a scumbag – it's not that complicated. He's narcissistic and debilitating to our heroes. He thinks his wife is busy screwing everyone else and he's probably right." But will filmgoers be piling into theatres to see the 52-year-old actor as his iconic self, or as his larger-than-life screen character? "Ah, an argument can be made on each side of the question. I put myself into the characters I play, but audiences don't know me that well as a person. It's just fun being a horrible boss." If truth be told – or as Spacey would have you believe – the man is actually a really nice boss himself. When not zipping in between studios taking on major roles (Se7en, 1995; American Beauty, 1999; The Men Who Stare At Goats, 2009), the son of a data consultant and secretary is artistic director of The Old Vic theatre in London. In fact, this telephone interview is taking place in between rehearsals for Shakespeare's Richard III, which will be coming to Singapore at the Esplanade Theatre in November. Spacey says: "I'm incredibly lucky to have remarkable staff. If you surround yourself with remarkable individuals and trust them to do what they do, you can focus on different things at different times and create something extraordinary. "I absolutely appreciate what they do and tell them that it is important to recognise thaoppppt. We work together as a team." It helps, of course, for him to have experienced a bit of hardship on the other side of the employer/employee divide. Before making his career in the film industry, the actor gamely counts building condominiums in Valencia among the highlights of his CV. "That was dirty, c**p work. I'm never installing an oven again," he says. "There are jobs that some people do ever so skilfully but you recognise you don't have a talent for." For the moment, however, he is happy to work his tail off on behalf of Horrible Bosses' studio owners, who are allegedly already talking to him and the team about a sequel. As all happy employees would agree, Spacey affirms, tongue almost firmly in cheek: "I'll do it, if I get paid a lot more money!" – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network Horrible Bosses opens in cinemas today. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Kate Moss inspired to wed by 'Gypsy Weddings' show Posted: 10 Aug 2011 10:30 PM PDT NEW YORK (AP): Kate Moss felt inspired to get married by watching the British reality show "Big Fat Gypsy Weddings" which follows real-life gypsy women planning to get married. The September issue of Vogue magazine goes inside the supermodel's July wedding to musician Jamie Hince. Moss says she was charmed by the extravagance of gypsy weddings with wedding gowns that are like "blinging butterflies times ten." The 37-year-old's nuptials were also no small affair. She had 16 bridesmaids and flower girls, a carnival tent and tepees for children, specialty cocktails called Kate 76 made with vodka, champagne, crushed ice and sugar and a gown designed by John Galliano. Moss admits in the article that planning the wedding made her "mental." The September issue of Vogue magazine goes on sale Aug. 23. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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