Apr. 11, 2003 - 6:06 pm
it was nominated for an insane amount of awards over the past year. i never was able to go see it at the theater though, so i decided to just go ahead and buy it when it came out. this is the first time i've ever done that to my knowledge. but Greg was telling me how awesome it was, and i love the last couple of Douglas Sirk movies that i've watched, so i knew i'd really enjoy this one. it is Todd Haynes' tribute to the films of Douglas Sirk and has a lot of characters, plot, and cinematic style that are torn directly from the pages of Sirk. really quite well done. it's got a bit more of a twist to it with the whole homosexuality and race mixing thrown in i would say, but then i haven't seen all of Sirk's films yet.
it's a family melodrama starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, and Dennis Haysbert. Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid appear to be the perfect 1950s family on the surface, but it soon becomes apparent that Mr. Whitaker has a drinking problem. not only that, but he's a closet homosexual. he's tried to keep it under wraps for years, but it's about to start interfering with his marriage. and Mrs. Whitaker begins to need a calming presence in her life, which she finds in her gardner. the bad thing is that the people around her can't deal with the fact that he's colored. a married white woman and a black man are not supposed to be spending time together and meeting each other in public, no matter what the circumstances. gossip begins to run rampant. this is not a happy tale, but it's a powerful criticism and examination of 1950s American society.
so yeah, i really enjoyed it. i'd definitely say that Julianne Moore is one of the best actresses on the screen today. it's just a matter of time until she wins Best Actress. my prediction is that she'll get it this next year. so that's two predictions i have at this point. Cold Mountain for Best Picture and Julianne Moore for Best Actress. more to come as the weeks progress...
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