“Esteemate” your qualities,
Fancies and frivolities;
Gleam with a new fortitude,
Resonating gratitude
For each and every new day’s chance
To liven up and be enhanced.
Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem
Share your smile
All the while
A gloom-cloud is covering your heart.
Face your fears
With your peers
And let bloom each flowering day’s start.
Written by Alexandra Taylor
for AgeEsteem
Older
When you wake up and find that you’re older,
Put a Big “B” in mind and Be Bolder
With more sage in your age
And more miles to your smiles,
Like the sun, you’ll just feel much more golder!
Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem
AU CINEMA February 2011
Very Good *** Good**
You will note several foreign films among these. Watching them in their original language will stimulate your brain neurons, good for your age esteem.
Another Year ***1/2 Mike Leigh of England makes films about ordinary people and here he depicts a very happy, loving couple surrounded by an array of miserable mortals who just can’t get it right. It could have been dreary, but it is a perfect example of great drama based on simple observation. And how, sadly for the losers, one’s character ultimately defines one’s life.
Angèle et Tony *** (vo French) By artist and first-time director Alix Delaporte, this is somewhat the French version of the above, with a bit more hope and sensuality thrown in – naturellement! It’s a sort of modern Taming of the Shrew: an incongruous couple meet and slowly discover each other, due to Tony’s basic goodness and patience, and despite Angèle’s rough, desperate character. It’s fresh and moving in its treatment of simple people, making them shiny and special.
Last Night *** A yuppie couple have a tiff after a party when the wife detects a definite attraction between her husband and his sexy colleague. He denies all, she forgives, but the seeds of doubt have been sown. This is a smart, elegant take on modern relationships and fidelity, moments of temptation and the Venus and Mars differences between women and men. It’s an excellent beginning for Iranian/American director and screenwriter Massy Tadjedin, who has managed to rope into her film such stars as Keira Knightley, Eva Mendes and Guillaume Canet.
Honeymoons *** (vo Serb) The terrible difficulty and injustice of emigration and being a refugee is treated here within two hopeful love stories, one of an Albanian couple and the other Serbian. They go from their dysfunctional families and weddings to the hell of trying to enter fortress Europe, even with the correct documents. It’s gripping, revealing and brilliantly directed by Goran Paskaljevic.
Africa United *** This colorful road movie, about a handful of African kids crazy about football, covers a lot of ground – not only the seven countries it traverses, from Rwanda down to South Africa, but such topics as class, prostitution, child-soldiers, AIDS and of course friendship and solidarity. The destination of the World Cup down in South Africa is the vehicle for this exuberant journey of fun and mishaps, which mixes in some charming cartoon footage that’s the fairy tale which carries the children through this improbable voyage. Sweet, naive and hopeful, it’s the work of British director, Debs Gardner-Paterson, who knows Africa well.
La Petite chambre *** (vo French) A stubbornly grouchy old man (the grand Michel Bouquet) resents his aloof son and wants to be left alone. A caretaker for the elderly, who has her own heartbreak, manages to bring him out of his shell. Touching and well directed by Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond, both from Lausanne, it was the Swiss entry to the Oscars.
In the Beginning there was Light (Am Anfang war das Licht) **1/2 (vo German) Apparently there are certain people who can subsist on air and light, without eating or drinking for long periods of time. Are they liars and charlatans or deeper spirits than the rest of us? And why would they not want to eat? The Austrian P.A. Straubinger sets out to find out who, how and why in this engrossing and well-researched documentary. He leads us through the scientific facts, but there is also the Eastern idea of higher consciousness that cannot always be explained. He goes to all corners of the world, from Australia to the US, India, China and Europe, and takes us from scepticism to considering spirituality and the importance of mind-over-matter. This is well-balanced, eye-opening reportage.
Toi, moi et les autres **1/2 (vo French) A bit of Romeo and Juliette and a modernized offshoot of Les parapluies de Cherbourg, here’s a socially-conscious musical by Audrey Estrougo that’s young, touching and aesthetically filmed, set between a wealthy family and an immigrant section of Paris. It has some lovely songs and a delicate Leila Bekhti as the heroine, but is too lethargic in its pacing.
Rien à declarer **1/2 (vo French) After the colossal success of Bienvenu chez les Ch’tis, France’s Dany Boon has been looking for his next big comedy. This one, about two opposing border guards (Boon and Benoît Poelvoorde) on the French and Belgium sides, is an amusing take on their differences and prejudices at the time when European borders were being eradicated. A good premise and quirky characters make for many laughs – the café-owners and the bumbling drug-transporter are hilarious.
The Black Swan ** Here’s a bit of the classic Red Shoes, lots of melodrama, some quite fearful scenes set in a New York ballet company and a sublime Natalie Portman as the tortured, paranoid, perfectionist ballerina. Darren Aronofsky’s surrealistic film is somewhat over-the-top, but Portman is fragile and convincing, meriting her Golden Globe.
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen, film critic
AU CINEMA February 2011
Good **
Largo Winch 2 **1/2 (vo French and English) The James Bond franchise should wish to be as smooth, cool and smart as the Largo Winch films. There are super chases, financial intrigues and political treachery, a serious love affair, a sweet kid and gorgeous locations, especially in the Far East. Jérôme Salle (who wrote and directed the French film, Anthony Zimmer, which inspired The Tourist) directs it all with respect for our intelligence, and Tomer Sisley (a stand-up comedian from TV with an Israeli/German/French background) is perfect as Winch, the reluctant billionaire. The violence of the fight scenes could be toned down.
Hereafter (Au-delà) ** Matt Damon can hear and see spirits, but does not want to. Cécile de France comes back from death after a tsunami accident, and a shy English boy loses his closest soul mate. In this Clint Eastwood yarn, all these people converge somehow and there is a connection and a raison d’être. Ok, he knows his audience well, but it nevertheless feels concocted, like an overly-intricate puzzle.
Narnia 3 – Voyage of the Dawn Treader **1/2 This is a great one for the kids – inspiring, adventurous and especially fun due to a really nasty cousin paired with a talking monkey on the high seas. Good to have clean thrills for our kids and some moral lessons in this hazardous world.
The Next 3 Days (Les trois prochains jours) ** A happy couple is torn apart when the wife is accused of murder and jailed for life. When her desperate husband finds no legal recourse, he decides to get her out any way he can. Russell Crowe is intense as usual, but the convoluted scenario and Elizabeth Banks as the wife are too weak to be as convincing as the French original, Pour Elle, despite the fine director Paul Haggis, of the award-winning Crash and In the Valley of Elah.
Tron – the Legacy ** For adolescents and the testosterone crowd, this is a clever futuristic and back-to-the-future action blockbuster that is fun to watch, especially a young Jeff Bridges created by computer graphics, vying against the real Bridges of today. This is quality popcorn stuff.
Burlesque ** GREAT musical numbers, like going to a Broadway show, but the script and acting are so banal that it’s embarrassing, especially for dear old Cher, who is looking mummified. Christina Aguilera sure can move and belt out those numbers, especially the blues!
The Tourist *1/2 It’s like a party – you can have all the right ingredients – best food, guests, locale, but it still falls flat. Same here: there’s top director Florian Henkel von Donnersmarck, from the German Oscar-winning The Life of Others, and Johnny Depp plus Angelina Jolie as protagonists in an international heist film – but it’s boring and lacks chemistry. And it’s so obviously trying to be ultra cool, but doesn’t make the mark. Too bad. Depp is smooth and above-it-all, though Angelina should put some meat on her bones and lay off the heavy make-up and that lip thing…it’s distracting.
Somewhere *1/2 Here’s another dud. And so empty, though that’s what it’s about – the empty life of a movie star in a cult hotel in Hollywood. The usually brilliant director Sofia Coppola is too minimalist here, but the star’s teenage daughter, played by a radiant Elle Fanning, gives the film its moments of grace.
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen, film critic
AU CINEMA February 2011
Superb ****
Films are not just entertaining. They are also thought-provoking, stimulate conversations and keep our minds alive. – All of which is good for our age esteem.
The King’s Speech **** This superb film tells the story of the stuttering that plagued King George VI of England (father to Queen Elizabeth II), and the man who helped him overcome it. Each historical figure, from the spunky young Queen Mother (Helena Bonham-Carter) to the abdicating Duke of Windsor (Guy Pierce) and Colin Firth as the central figure, Bertie, shines in this evocative, tightly-wound yet very moving account of the man who did not want to be king, but took the mantle with responsibility and old-fashioned British resolve. Brilliantly directed by Tom Hooper, Firth brings out an amazing array of emotions as the shy king, while Jeffrey Rush is masterful as his speech teacher. Firth fully deserves his Golden Globe (and Oscar?) for best actor.
The Way Back (Les chemins de la liberté) ***1/2 A Peter Weir film is always superlative – Gallipoli, Witness, Dead Poets’ Society, Master and Commander. This latest one, with a strong character-actor cast (including Ed Harris and Colin Farrell), is about the long, harrowing journey on foot to freedom – from Russia to India – of a desperate group that escapes from a Siberian gulag. Fine acting and pacing make this true story a heroic odyssey.
True Grit ***1/2 The Coen brothers are back, once again at the summit of their craft, with a bold and entertaining remake of the 1969 John Wayne classic of the same name. And who else but the versatile Jeff Bridges to fill the Duke’s boots, with no apologies and a huge amount of grimy charm. The other wonder of this film is Hailee Steinfeld, a 14 year-old rising star playing the feisty girl who hires Bridges to find her father’s murderer. And Matt Damon makes a fine third wheel. The cinematography is perfect in its rich tones, both indoors and out, the dialogue is melodious, if one dares call it Shakespearean, while the mood is outrageously campy and tongue-in-cheek. Even if you’re not a fan of Westerns, you’ll be bowled over.
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen, film critic
New Beginnings
Let us toast to the New Year’s Beginnings,
Let us boast our new powers of forgiving,
Let us host and become more engaging,
Let us most of all fear NOT old-aging.
Written by Alexandra Taylor for AgeEsteem
Lessons of Autumn
Do you remember rolling in the Autumn leaves? Most of us who grew up in areas of the globe where Fall is synonymous with Autumn leaves spent happy moments of our childhood jumping into piles of leaves and scattering them with zest.
The other day as I was walking through the park I noticed several people watching me with looks of amusement. When I began to wonder why, I realized that I was gleefully kicking leaves as I shuffled through them enjoying the swishy sound that they made and the crisp feel around my ankles. Is there supposed to be an age limit for such pleasures? Surely not, I decided as I alternated with kicking a chestnut ahead of me on the path.
We need to let our inner child loose more often. There is no age for feeling happy and connecting with your inner child. Play and laughter are among the healthy keys to age esteem, to feeling good about yourself at the age you are today, every day. Play and laugh in the autumn leaves.
Note: If anyone stops you in the midst of your play and laughter, tell them that you are practicing an Age Esteem inner child technique.
Bonnie Fatio
AT YOUR OWN RISK
Les Petits ruisseaux *1/2 (vo French) A film about an oldie discovering life after his buddy dies and leaves a collection of funky nude paintings. Pleasant but quickly forgotten.
L’Age de raison *1/2 (vo French) A career woman’s childhood comes back to haunt her in letters arriving from herself as a child. Go figure. If the film were as good as Sophie Marceau, we would have one gorgeous movie.
L’Italien *1/2 (vo French) Kad Merad is everywhere these days, but is he really that talented or attractive? This repetitive tale of double identity is neither as deep nor as amusing as it wants to be, nor is Merad charismatic enough to carry it.
Insoupçonnable * (vo French) Two rich brothers; a new girl and her “brother” enter their life; they all live the high life in Geneva. This is supposed to be an elegant thriller; it’s unfortunately only an embarrassing film noir caricature. What is the fine actor, Charles Berling doing here?
Film socialisme – (vo French) This is just a collage of badly-filmed banalities masquerading as art and intellect, for Jean-Luc Godard has been riding on his association with the Nouvelle Vague all these years with very little talent. He did have a few novelties in the early 60s (A Bout de Souffle), but few new ideas or emotions since then. Heresy! – I know, but it’s a case of the emperor’s new clothes…
Enter the Void – If you’re into drugs, psychedelic nightmares or 60s-style abandon, this is your cup of tea. The title says it all – you’ll be entering empty, boring, vulgar garbage. And it’s directed by Gaspar Noé, the man responsible for the ultraviolent, indigestible Irrévérsible. Forget it.
Neptune Ingwersen
Why not?
Tournée (On Tour) ** (vo French and English) Desperately trying for a comeback, a failed entrepreneur (Mathieu Amalric – actor and director) brings a troupe of buxom, feminist showgirls from the U.S. over to France. Going from one sleazy joint to another, they begin to get to know each other better. It’s at times touching and gritty, at other times merely depressing and degrading. Shades of Cassavetes.
The Karate Kid ** This franchised film is simplistically obvious and too long and slow, but Jacky Chan is a cutie and Will Smith’s son, Jaden Smith, is a true and striking talent as the new kid on the block – watch him rise.
Crime d’amour *1/2 (vo French) With Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier overacting to the hilt, this crime thriller à la All About Eve is entertaining but a bit too slick to be convincing.
Neptune Ingwersen
