Personal Effects

I just finished watching Personal Effects. It came out last year and is based on a short story by Rick Moody (the Ice Storm) called Mansion on the Hill. I really enjoyed it.

The film follows Linda. She is a single mother of a deaf-mute boy named Clay. Her husband was shot and killed by his friend. She meets Walter and a courthouse. His sister was brutally raped and killed. Walter and Clay are each unsure of how to deal with their anger. Things become more complicated as Linda and Walter develop an intimate relationship while both waiting for justice after their loved ones' murders.

The performances in this film were amazing. Michelle Pfeiffer (Linda), Spencer Hudson (Clay), and Kathy Bates (Gloria, Walter's mother) were amazing, but I was especially impressed with Ashton Kutcher (Walter). Over the years, I have becomes more and more impressed with him as an actor, but this performance really blew all other performances of his away!

I would definitely recommend this film. It is definitely a must-see!

Cheri

I recently saw Cheri. It is based on the novels by Colette. Colette published Cheri in 1920 and The Last Cheri in 1926 (two decades before she published Gigi). Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Lea de Lonval, a Parisian courtesan. Rupert Friend stars as her lover, Cheri. It is thought by some that the character of Cheri is based on Colette's 18 year old step-son, Bertrand de Jouvenel.

I really enjoyed this film. The costumes were really wonderful and the cast was really good. Kathy Bates (Madame Peloux) was especially marvelous. She completely took over every scene that she was in. I would really recommend this film to anyone. It takes place over a period of several years, but didn't seem too long or drawn out. I feel like the writer did an amazing job of knowing what to put in and what not to. This is definitely a must-see.

Dream Cast Thursday! All About Eve

For the second edition of "Dream Cast Thursday," I will be casting a remake of All About Eve. The film came out in 1950. It stars from left to right, Gary Merill (as Bill Simpson), Bette Davis (as Margo), George Sanders (as Addison DeWitt), Anne Baxter (as Eve), Hugh Marlowe (as Lloyd Richards), and Celeste Holm (as Karen).

It was really hard to recast this film, because it was cast so wonderfully to begin with. I had to not only find people that were perfect for the characters, but also people that were perfect together and were in the proper age ranges.

I chose Michelle Pfeiffer as Eve and Clive Owen as Bill. The original actors were 42 and 35 respectively at the time of filming. Pfeiffer and Owen are now 51 and 47 respectively.

I chose Rachel McAdams as Eve. The original actress was 27. Adams is now 31.

I chose Diane Lane to play Karen and Liev Schreiber to play Lloyd. The original actors were 33 and 39 respectively. Lane and Schreiber are now 44 and 42 respectively.

I made all of the actors that I recast slightly older. I felt that younger actors would not really fit in with the original story. Some of the other casting ideas that I considered before making my final decision included George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon. So what do you all think of my casting? How would you all cast it? Put your ideas in the comments.