Behind the Scenes: The Help

A week ago, I saw The Help and really loved it. The film was a well-balanced mix of comedy and heart. A lot of this comes from the screenplay adaptation of the book, and a lot comes from the stellar cast. 

Unlike most films that get cast in two or three months, The Help took almost a year! The Hollywood Reporter recently contained an article that addressed this fact. You can read it here. For a slideshow featuring blurbs on how each actress or actor was cast, click here. 

Some fun facts:

• Octavia Spencer, who plays Minny Jackson in the film, was the first to be cast. In fact, she was inspiration for the book's character. So of course, she was to be cast in the film!
• Although we all know Emma Stone, who plays Skeeter, as a now-famous actress, Stone was actually cast before the success of Easy A. Casting occurred in spring of 2010, but Easy A wasn't released until that year's fall. 
• Ahna O' Reilly (playing Elizabeth Leefolt in the movie) auditioned and elicited a 'Thank God, finally, a real Southerner in our film!' from film execs, but in reality she's a California girl! Turns out Spencer trained O' Reilly to speak with a Southern accent just for the audition. Looks like it worked!

Interview: Anna Faris

Anna Faris' new movie, What's Your Number?, looks like it's going to be a lot of fun (it got a lot of laughs out of me during previews!).


Recently, Anna Faris interviewed with The Vulture, and some laughs will be had. You can read the full interview here. 

Fun fact: Faris' husband Chris Pratt (of Parks & Recreation and Everwood fame--that second one counts, doesn't it?) also stars in the film.

Vulture: 50 Fall Movies

This little slideshow is awesome. It'll get you up to the quick about what's coming to theatres this fall. Click here to read it! Things I'm looking forward to:

• Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen in a Freud/Jung movie
• Colin Firth in...anything!
• Joseph Gordon Levitt and Seth Rogen's comedic pairing in a cancer 'dramedy'
• A The Fighter-esque family/sports drama
• Seeing (and judging) the adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
• Owen Wilson and Steve Martin (and...I guess..Jack Black, we'll let you in too) in a bird watching movie! (the enthusiasm is directed at the first part of the sentence, not the second)
• Johnny Depp in a probably Oscar-attention-grabbing biopic

So excited! I can't wait to read about all of these in The Hollywood Reporter during awards season coverage. 

Movie: Taipei Exchanges

This movie wins on clever presentation (I speak only in reference to the film's first half. The second half deserves a 'meh'). The film's resolution isn't that strong, but like I said, the memorable first half made the weaker second half forgivable.

Plot: Doris and her sister Josie have a coffee shop, which evolves into an 'exchange' shop. At the film's beginning, a misunderstanding leaves Doris with dozens of lilies, which she gives to her friends in exchange for whatever they'd like at her shop's opening party. Rather than throw out all the junk, Josie convinces Doris to set up this 'exchange' system where customers can take anything in the store if they switch it for something of their own. The result introduces them to lots of new characters, and obviously, a potential love interest.

The film is fun, and there're lots of beautiful shots of Taipei. The film also contains an interactive element. The movie is interspersed with interviews of Taipei residents; they're asked what they would if placed in a situation similar to Doris', and their responses are a lot of fun.

Movie: Ice Kacang and Puppy Love

I've recently been attending my very own Asian film festival. Every day, I watch a film or two. People say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but that's not true at all. I judge these DVDs by their cover, and 80% of the time my prediction is correct.

So far, 'Ice Kacang and Puppy Love' has won the top prize for best film in my eyes. Don't sniff at the title (I know, it's weird sounding). The story takes place in a Malaysian town, and there's a host of famous Chinese singers that act in this film (a fact I was nicely surprised by after watching the high quality acting). The main character is a tough girl nicknamed Fighting Fish who has everyone shaking in their boots except for Botak, who is sincerely in love with her (hence the 'puppy love' part of the title). Ah niu, who plays Botak, handles the role perfectly--and although his character is mostly silent (besides the voiced over narration), he deftly communications the feelings behind a first love.  The movie plays out village life and the angst brewing within--we are introduced to a caricature of supporting actors. Their traits are exaggerated enough to make us laugh but not so much that it comes across as gauche. There are multiple story lines, but the quality of each is not sacrificed.

Fun fact: Ah-niu, the actor who plays Botak, also directed and wrote the film. Triple threat!!!!

If you manage to get your hands on this film, I strongly recommend watching it. I don't have anything bad to say about it. The acting is great, but you can't deny the power of a well-done screenplay. There are moments of hilarity as well as one that showcase trying family times.

Post: Moments

I found this video after reading Britanick's About page. The original reference made to this video is as follows:

"[Nick Kocher] thinks that if you don’t love this [video], there is probably something wrong with your soul."




This video is nice. It is a collage of moments, and it dwells just enough on each of life's details. If you like the vibe of this video, I would recommend watching these films. I've watched some foreign films (Japanese, French, Spanish, and Chinese), and my favorite without a doubt are the Japanese ones. Of the five Japanese films that I've seen, four I've like liked a lot. They are: Kabei (Our Mother), Ototo (My brother), Departures, and Shall We Dance. To me, Japanese directors exercise great skill and restraint in their scenes. The scenes often have minimal amounts of music or scoring. These films don't need a soundtrack based in hit records or music albums because they use the soundtrack of life. The pauses in conversation, the sounds of a quiet room on a hot day, the music of a kitchen--none of it is drowned out by overlaid music. Your attention is drawn to it, and the director hopes that you too will celebrate these little moments. The same treatment is given to interactions between characters--both verbal and nonverbal. 


And amidst all of this, these movies all have their moments of comedy. It's humor the way most of experience it. It isn't the scripted jokes of our blockbuster films or Thursday night line-ups. The audience's smiles come from the delightful realization that these on-screen moments resemble our own. Similarly, any tears to be shed result from the parallel between on- and off-screen tragedies.


You can watch the trailers using the links below:
Departures
Kabei
Ototo (no subtitles, sorry!)
Shall we dance? (the only true comedy of the bunch. Also, no subs. If you really desire subs, there's one on IMDB but the voiceover is ghastly and just destroy the delicacy of the film. I would prefer that you not watch it. And as you might guess, my opinion about the American remake is not so high...)