Dream CAst Thursday! Love in the Afternoon

 

This week's Dream Cast Thursday is Love in the Afternoon. The film originally came out in 1957. It was written and directed by Billy Wilder.

The first character that I recast was Ariane Chevasse. She was originally played by Audrey Hepburn. For my remake, I cast Marion Cotillard.

The second character that I recast was Claude Chevasse. He was originally played by Maurice Chevalier. For my remake, I cast Daniel Auteuil.

The last character that I recast was Frank Flannagan. He was originally played by Gary Cooper. For my remake, I cast George Clooney.

So what do you all think? Have you seen the original? Who would be in your remake?

Dream Cast Thursday! An Affair to Remember

This week's dream cast Thursday is An Affair to Remember. When I started looking up information about it, I was really surprised to find out the it was actually a remake. The films that I looked at were Love Affair (1939), An Affair to Remember (1957), and Love Affair (1994).

The first character that I recast was Terry Mckay. She has been played by Irene Dunne, Deborah Kerr, and Annette Bening. For my remake, I chose Cate Blanchett.

The second character that I recast was Nickie Ferrante/Mike Gambril. He has been played by Charles Boyer, Cary Grant, and Warren Beatty. For my remake, I cast George Clooney.

So what do you all think? Which adaptations have you seen? Who would you cast in your remake?

The Men Who Stare at Goats

Last night I saw the Men Who Stare at Goats with my roommate, Sarah. I absolutely loved it! I was a little worried at first. I have been eagerly anticipating this film since I first saw the trailer a few months ago. More recently trailers have been frequenting television. I was worried that all the hype would ruin the actual viewing. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE! I don't want to hype up the film too much, and give people ridiculous expectations. That said, it was probably the funniest film that I have see all year.

The concept for the film was hilarious, but there is not doubt in my mind that the ensemble cast is a large part behind the success of the film. George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, and Jeff Bridges were all brilliant. The film was wonderfully directed by Grant Heslov. The flashbacks (which make up quite a large part of the film) are integrated seamlessly. The film was also really well written. The dialogue was absolutely hilarious. Peter Straughan wrote the screenplay based on the novel by Jon Ronson.

Vincere

The Chicago International Film Festival is now over. It was really good this year. A lot of the films looked really good (although I did not get to see nearly as many as I wanted because of my class schedule). I am hoping to catch more of them when they come out on dvd. This year was really cool. I actually got to volunteer. I met some great people and even saw Jacqueline Bisset. There was one film in particular that I got to see that I want to mention and definitely recommend to anyone that is interesting in international cinema.

The closely guarded story of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's secret lover and son is revealed in fittingly operatic proportions is this electrifying tour de force. Thunderstruck by the young Mussolini's charisms, Ida Dalser gives up everything to help champion his revolutionary ideas. When he disappears during World War I and later resurfaces with a new wife, the scorned Dasler and her son are locked away in separate asylums for more than a decade. But Ida will not disappear without a fight...

Vincere was written and directed by Marco Bellocchio. It stars Giovanna Messogiorno as Ida Dalser. She did an absolutely amazing job. International audiences may recognize her from her role in Love in the Time of Cholera. I also saw her earlier this year at the Chicago Cultural Center in Notturno Bus (also definitely worth checking out...click here to see my review). It also stars Filippo Timi as Benito Mussolini and Benito Albino. He also did an amazing job. I really look forward to seeing him again this coming year in The American with George Clooney.

The synopsis above mentions that the film is very operatic. This is a perfect adjective to describe it. I had to sit in the front row, because I had rush tickets. I didn't mind. The film was visually spectacular, and the subtitles were really large. I also really liked that the film was interlaced with actual, historical footage. It is the perfect film for someone interested in history or this time period or even someone that doesn't know that much about this period of time.

If anyone sees it, let me know what you think.