'LAST NIGHT' FILM REVIEW

Last Night -- Film Review

"Last Night" is a sex tease, but that makes it sound more exciting than it ever becomes. The tease is simply this: A fairly happily married Manhattan couple -- good-looking, well off and aggressively trendy -- spend a night apart in separate cities with a most attractive member of the opposite sex. Will either spouse betray the other? Unless you're intimately acquainted with the couple, and the movie never manages that intimacy, your investment in the answer to that question is very light.

While Oscar Wilde once had a character assert that he could resist anything other than temptation, the temptations here are highly resistible -- at least from a spectator's point of view. Despite a glamorous cast, this debut film from writer-director Massy Tadjedin falls flat.British actors Keira Knightley and Sam Worthington play the young couple. They inhabit one of those impossibly luxurious and large Manhattan flats that occasionally turn up in movies. Never mind how could they afford it; where did they find it?

One night, they attend a cocktail party for Michael's work. Joanna takes one look at her husband's stunning new colleague, Laura (Eva Mendes), and her mind runs riot with suspicions. Why hasn't he ever mentioned her beauty? Weren't they on a trip out to L.A. together?
Joanna picks a dozy of a fight over Laura when they return home. The following night Michael is at a business meeting in Philadelphia -- and, of course, he's with Laura. But, to her shock, Joanna's old French boyfriend, Alex (Guillaume Canet), turns up in New York. The two wind up out on the town, and clearly, the flame she carries for Alex has never gone out.Tadjedin contrives to keep her two couples in cozy situations all night with plenty of booze around to lessen everyone's resistance. One such contrivance has Joanna suddenly remember she has to walk a friend's dog, so they dash over to another ridiculously large apartment only to get locked out with the dog.Griffin Dunne turns up as a friend of Alex's who parties into the night with this couple wavering over betrayal. Unfortunately, the actor only serves to remind a viewer he once played a man who had a really wild New York night in Martin Scorsese's "After Hours." If that experience was a 10, this one goes only to three.

The actors give more credibility and depth to these characters than they deserve. Strangely, the two potential adultery partners come off more sympathetically than the married couple. Alex's longing for his former lover and Laura's loneliness are touching, while nothing really motivates the couple's contemplation of infidelity.So the movie talks itself to death while running in circles. About the only thing that keeps you involved is that initial question: Who will cheat?Although the real question, is who cares?
Venue: Toronto International Film FestivalProduction companies: Gaumont, Nick Wechsler Prods.Cast: Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Eva Mendes, Guillaume Canet, Griffin Dunne, Anson Mount, Scott AdsitDirector-screenwriter: Massy TadjedinProducers: Sidonie Dumas, Nick Wechsler, Massy TadjedinExecutive producers: Buddy Enright, Christophe RiandeeDirector of photography: Peter DemingProduction designer: Tim GrimesMusic: Clint MansellCostume designer: Ann RothEditor: Susan E. MorseSales: GaumontNo rating, 92 minutes

TWO LOVERS FILM REVIEW

James Gray's powerfully emotional dramas have such a distinctive, deliberate quality; Gray has always been a craftsman working with heavy materials, very different from Hollywood's lightweight alloy. This, his third feature, is set once again in the Russian-Jewish communities of Brooklyn. Like his other films, The Yards and We Own the Night, it is unafraid of the grand gesture, but this often looks oddly like an adapted stage-play - Two Lovers takes Gray closer to the idiom of Arthur Miller or Tennessee Williams.

1. Two Lovers
2. Production year: 2008
3. Country: USA
4. Cert (UK): 15
5. Runtime: 110 mins
6. Directors: James Gray
7. Cast: Elias Koteas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, Joaquin Phoenix, Moni Moshonov, Vinessa Shaw
8. More on this film

Joaquin Phoenix plays a sensitive young guy who has moved back into the Brooklyn apartment of his parents (Isabella Rossellini and Moni Moshonov) following a breakdown. They try to set him up with Sandra (Vinessa Shaw) the beautiful daughter of a business colleague, but instead he falls deeply in love with the ditsy, beautiful neighbour Michelle, played by Gwyneth Paltrow.
Everything about Leonard's Jackie-v-Marilyn dilemma is socked over with Gray's trademark sincerity, but I found it difficult to credit, and his situation, though viewed through the smoked glass of gloomy realism, is an indulgent fantasy. The basic problem is not merely that Shaw's Sandra is sexier and more interesting than Paltrow's blonde siren - a subjective judgment, to be sure - but that pursuing the simple, delicately arranged love-match between Sandra and Leonard might have been more dramatically engaging, as well as marginally more credible. Two Lovers surges inexorably towards an awful betrayal, before doing a handbrake turn into a happy ending. There are good, heartfelt performances here, but the credibility gap was too wide to be bridged.


The structure

What i found in this review was, like other reviews, it had a similar structure. the first paragraph usually is used to lurr the readers interest into the film, not by describing the plots, scenes or story, the characters etc. but by simply setting the mood of the film, creating an excitement and desire to view the film. this reviewer focuses on creating a high status for this film, and suggests this film is of great quality and he actually compares this film to other popular people like play writer tennessee williams.

PROPS - Cookie Fortunes

During our film their is an important part where we have the Chinese fortune cookie which is broken at the verge of Delilah getting found out and all 3 characters confronting each other. we came up with many fortunes that could come out the cookie. the fortune being in the film is vital as it prepares us for the break up and works up from the start to this big plot point. it is essential we choose the fortune wisely as it is a silent film and so any words in the film will have a big impact and set an impression.

We came up with these;

• You hold the string that breaks

i liked this fortune because i felt it was effective becuase the fortune was directly aimed at the person 'you' making the audience prepare for a change to happen to Delilah and the audience can also link this to the red strings of fate, the theme that runs through out, this will make our audience completely understand the story comming together and reach her fate.

• the price of greed is loneliness

i personally thought this quote was more of a saying then something that reads a fortune, although what is says has meaning to the film i thought it needed to be more linked to the story and the theme. Also when asking for feedback from students outside our class they said it reminded them of greed for money and that it did not tie in with the film too well.

• The strings of love will break

• binded hands will break
• the strings of love will be cut
  
  

Assessment For Director Role

I was given the job as the director.
in that i will be assessed for certain things;
- The way i speak and communicate to cast & crew
- how i direct cast and crew, for exmample physically demonstrating shots to cast
- How i organise the shot
- My accurate vision of Mise en scene and the shot and the satisfaction of the shots
- giving orders and certifying the setting, props, position, composition is right
- working closely with the camera person to ensure the camera person captures the vision as clear as mine

This research and planning is vital to the making of my film as these elements in which i am assigned to consider as part of my role, will determaine the outlook of my film, the proffessionalism, the preciseness, accuracy and the link between how i (and other group members) see the film in mind and the outcome of the final product.

My role as the Director

Rehersal - 4/11/10 Photo-Storyboard (Abstract)

This shot i approved of because i felt the high angle was good in communicating how the relationship is meant to be equal, as we see the couple at an equal level sharing an equal third of the shot. this fits David and Jamess' view of thier relationship being at the same level, having the same feelings and being in love. whereas in Deliliahs worlds their is hidden deciet and the deciet of this shot will make the break up become a more effective plot point in the film.

This shot i also liked as it makes is look like David has some control in the relationship but really what he is not in control of is the fate of it and what Delilah has done to it. So again the idea of her deciet is shown subtley through angling.

This shot i felt seemed passionate, and we understand the passion in the relationship. the close up was chosen because it shows how David is so caught up in love with Delilah, as it is just them two in the relationship you would think they are all each other has. But when James gets involved in the shots we understand their world will be disrupted.

i didn't like this shot really, i personally do not see much of what is does except progress from an establishing shot of the couple and then to a close up, although this is part of the switch between the characters James and David, i think other previous shots are more interesting in terms of the body language of actors and the angle. this is simply a birds eye of James staring. I do think this shot is not as interesting as it could be, i as the director plan to still take this shot but in a variety of angles.

This shot was one of my favourites. the composition of characters was exactly how i imagined it from the time the storyboard was produced to the actual rehersal. The shot is a mid shot of Delilah who is in the foreground, we also get a Mid to Long shot of the two characters who stand for James and David, who also look symmetrical in the shot. This interested me a lot becuase i thought it actually reflected how Delilah has equally treated them wrong, and how the two men have equally been destroyed, how the relationship has been destroyed the same way and how they have lost her. However this shot is taken when Delilah alludes that she is in control, and where they are yet to discover the truth, the men being in the background with their backs turn, show how Delilah is decieving them by doing wrong behind their backs and also symbolising the men being in the dark (unaware) and not being exposed to the light (the truth).

i thought the angle in this which we experimented with was good as it conveyed the caos unleashed in Delilahs world how it is being turned upside down and she has lost control of the stability of it.

I liked the way this shot conveyed the stugle of Delilah trying to regain her power and control , however what would be more convenient is if both men where in the shot, because it seems to look unpresentable and messy where the other character is cut off when they should be part of this moment in particular. I think the camera shots need to be framed more accuratley by the camera person as faults like these could occur and we could be stuck with incorrect shots like these when editing.

There are many shots of the same angle, i am going to suggest a more vairity of angles to merge together instead of the same angled shots one after another, this is to create a more confused and caotic effect, and convey her loss of control and power by using more high angle shots, maybe birds eye, or even fast panning.

This was one shot I suggested to the group during the rehersal as I thought we kept taking similar shots and should experient with the way in which we frame our shots. I told the camera person to shoot through the string to create a more interesting framing, something unique.

This shot is good as it shows the string in the foreground being the element that drew all these characters to the same fate. However, the problem with this shot is that the ceiling was exposed and it made it look like the characters were in a different location all of a sudden. this would distrupt continuity and therefore we have to consider maybe other angles that are as effective and continued.

This I found was an excellent shot in showing Delilahs loss of power and entanglement with the red string of fate. the framing has allowed us to only see the top of her head and her hair and not her face which conveys her shamefull fate she has brought herself too.

I think this shot is appropriate to use but would work more if it was shot as a long shot showing her ending up in a lonely state.

Rehersal - 04/11/10

As i was prescribed my job of directing the rehersal and organising the rehersal i had many responsibilities.

• i had to focus on issues with the cast, script and/or storyboard
• acting - does it fit the character, is the chosen cast suitable for the role fully
• does it look how you imagined
• what have you learnt from this experience, what needs to be changed, state any strengths/weaknesses

After the rehersal.

• Script was well written and understood.
• Storyboard was clear to read and was good in itself in demonstrating the shots
• Most of the time consistent communication with crew members, Cast members were majority of the time responsive to requests, they did communicate effectively with the crew and the job did in all get done

Problems;

• not organised enough, we need to plan and prepare effectively the shots, the mise en scene of them and how we plan to set it up correctly but under certain time limits.
• lack of communication, some members were doing other peoples jobs then their own, i myself was doing my directing job, i was watching over the shots and checking the shots, the cameraa person was taking the shots and after i would suggest other angles i wanted to document in out photostoryboard etc. however the job did become shared and other crew members were getting too involved in my area rather than their own. We all ended up doing a bit of everything, i even helped set up the shot and place props into position as did other crew members. The problem here was not that we didn't give enough input to the production rehersal but we focused less on our areas. This may of been the reason why the rehersal took longer than we planned and therefore time was wasted which we cannot afford to risk on the day of filming.
• The cast - one of our cast members was good at acting but became eaily distracted and laughed during the rehersal. The immaturity of cast was a problem as it pro-longed us from making progress and being able to move on swifty. At times we had to stop and start and expain and demonstarte shots several times and re-take them as cast was either not still enough of kept changing facial expressions. this only happened very few times and after to solve the problem, I and Esma did confront the cast and pointed out a few disruptions we found in the rehersal and made sure a more serious attitude will be delivered on the filming day.
• Timing - as i mentioned before we need to prepare out shots before hand so we are ready to swiftly move on and shoot the next shot without disruption. This is to give us enough time to shoot different angles and takes of the same shots so we take a variety back incase planned shots do not come out as expected and we have a back up to use, and also because things like location and props in the shot take alot of time to get it perfectly right, so timing is very important and that factor needs to be in the minds of cast and crew.
• It did look how i imagined the abstract scene in particular as we used the red string and we made sure the character had her nails painted red. however, we realised we would need to buy our own fabric for the abstract scene so little elements of the abstract seen were not as complete as it should have been (as in the use of correct background fabric for the location)