Wednesday, December 12, 2007

"We heard Richard Nixon say, welcome to the USA. The common sense I sometimes lack has opened up a seismic crack. We've fallen in and I can't pull back, and I guess we'll have to stay." ~elton john

I just got home from an advance screening of the movie Frost/Nixon. It was a very advanced screening; the movie doesn't open until some time next year. It was a workprint, which means it wasn't finalized. We had to fill out surveys afterwards that they may use to make changes. I saw Ron Howard (the director) there, which was pretty cool. I'm not a huge fan of his, but he's still obviously a very important figure in the film industry.
The movie was very good (that's the option I checked on the survey for my overall opinion, 'very good'). I wanted to see the movie because it's based on the stage play. The play got great reviews and multiple awards, but I never got the chance to see it, so I wanted to see at least some version of it. Frank Langella (who won a Tony for his performance in the play) and Michael Sheen reprised their stage roles. They were fabulous. The acting made the movie for me. I'd imagine that their characters have become ingrained in them by now after doing so many live performances; they truly embodied the characters. Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, and Matthew Macfayden made up a strong supporting cast. The movie is about post-Watergate interviews that David Frost conducted with Richard Nixon. It was interesting, well-directed, and well-paced. I recommend it.

Tomorrow there's a Sweeney Todd screening that I'll try to get into. I don't think I have to tell you how freakishly excited I am to see it. It's the most anticipated movie of the year for me. Actually, it's probably the most anticipated movie ever for me. I'm seriously crazy about Sweeney Todd. And supposedly Tim Burton & co. did a pretty good job with it. I cannot wait. There are song clips on the website and they're pretty good. I'm not crazy about the orchestrations, but I'm relieved to say that the singing is surprisingly strong. If I get in tomorrow, of course I'll post a review.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How was the actor Matthew Macfadyen who played John Birt? He had a scene that was particluarly interesting...can you tell us more?

Claire said...

I really enjoyed Matthew Macfadyen's performance. In fact, as I was watching it I wished he was in more scenes. He's so dry; to me he added a good deal of humor to the movie. His appearance is quite different from anything I've seen him in before (Death at a Funeral, Pride and Prejudice). I'm not sure which scene you're referring to, so if you give me more details I can comment on it. Overall I loved him, I just wished he had been given more to do.

Claire said...

Oh, wait, I just had a thought about what scene you might be talking about! Are you referring to his nude scene?? It's a shot of him running into the ocean naked. It's shot from behind, so you can see the entire rear of his body. Unfortunately it only lasts a few seconds. You see him run into the ocean, fall in the waves, and that's it. There is enough time, however, to catch a good glimpse of his rear end (which is very, very pale)!

Dotty said...

........and I suspect a DVD zoom might reveal some freckles! Ah, those Scottish genes........

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts......

Matthieu said...

Habemus Gluteum Maximum... Alleluia!