*#THANK YOU JANE CAMPION>=

I don't think I've been so moved and impressed by a film since The Assassination Of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford. As the credits roled passed just seconds after the closing scene I asked myself how a film could be this perfect and I thanked Jane Campion for having made this film. The last scene is the perfect ending shown from a perfect angle. It's something I only could dream of making. The person who was in charge of the photography knows me as if he has been looking right into my soul. I wouldn't have done it differently. Abbie Cornish is such a dream. She delivers her lines with such ease at times almost in whispers. She breathes into her scenes so restfully. She makes herself appear so young, so fresh and free spirited. Her naivety is endearing as well as her strong passion for Keats and belief in their love for each other. She's his biggest fan and admirer and she is willing to follow him to the end of the world. Ben Whishaw is so tender and warm that if I didn't know better I would have thought he really is Keats. Keats' gentleness and romantic nature fit him so well. Because it's mostly Brawne's view of Keats that we follow as spectators it's like we never really get through to Keats thoughts and emotions. It never feels as if he's trying to personally let us spectators know about his condition the way Brawne does. As a spectator you feel really close to Brawne as if she tells you her every thought and feeling, opening up her heart without holding anything back. Keats is somewhat kept a mystery even though Whishaw manages to show glimpses of his almost tortured soul it seems. He's so soft spoken and seems to truly belief a person's heart is not for anyone to read and cherishes all the secrets that it holds with great passion. I felt so captured by these two people. This film is so full of small gestures and I loved every image. I can't believe I was told this film is slow 'cause trust me, it's NOT. I've seen slow films and this is not one of them. When calling it slow it makes it seem as if it was boring, as if nothing happened, when so much is happening! Calling it slow is almost an insult. This film is a great study of two characters who fall deeply for each other. I loved every bit. It's one of the most fulfilling and satisfying film watching experiences I've had this year. It's a complete work, leaving nothing unfinished. It could not have been made any better. I'll remember this for a very long time. Thank you Jane Campion.

!:FINALLY, BRIGHT STAR"}

Tonight I'll finally be able to watch Jane Campion's Bright Star at the cinema!! I've been waiting a long time for this ever since I watched a wonderful clip of Abbie Cornish falling into this field of grass and purple flowers. It went like this:

We watch Cornish from behind the flowers, her side turned towards us...


...she then looks up briefly at the sky...


...while eventually letting herself fall into the flowers. I'd call this a perfect Kodak moment, even though I use Canon ;)


Ever since that clip I've been avoiding the trailer, looking away, only my ears being able to hear the lovely music and some lines of dialogue near the end :) This will be one of those movies I just want to take pictures of while it plays. I expect a lot of dreamy shots, a bit like Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. Just the thought of it already makes me melt and it's freezing outside. Plus I have heard it's a very slow film which in my opinion will only make it better. Gives me time to dwell and ponder :))

For some reason my ears have been craving for Animal Collective these last couple of days with the result that my Ipod has these kids on repeat!!!! Because I happen to listen to music A LOT I'm able to obsess over a new discovery like Dead Man's Bones while in the meantime still enjoying re-listens of Kings Of Convenience's Riot On An Empty Street and now getting addicted to Animal Collective. It's my first ever Animal Collective obsession, don't know what took me so long! I've always liked them because their music is like this big soundscape with so many sounds fighting to get my attention. And even though most people will probably call their latest Merriweather Post Pavilion a summer album, I've noticed I'm much more in the mood for it right now that it starts to get dark and very cold again. I just seem to connect to it way more. Apart from Merriweather I've been listening to Strawberry Jam a lot too which is the first AC album I listened to. Here's their video for Summertime Clothes:

*$CANNES SO FAR!{

So Le Festival De Cannes started last week and since then there has been a lot of buzz surrounding some films. There were early raves for Fish Tank, especially for its main actress who never acted before. Its director Andrea Arnold released a film called Red Road in 2006 which isn't very well known, but I stumbled upon it multiple times as it stars Natalie Press who, together with Emily Blunt, received some buzz for the film they were in together called My Summer Of Love. So far Blunt has come out as the most succesful of the two. Kind of the same thing happened with a film like Bend It Like Beckham which led to early success for Keira Knightly, but Parminder Nagra who was the real lead of the film ended up on TV's ER and well, we all know what happened to Knightley. Precious, a film by Lee Daniels, too has been received well, which features Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey in small roles and who are both apparently much better than expected. Daniels made another film called Shadowboxer, but that one was basically panned by critics. Then there's also Jane Campion's Bright Star which is said to be her best film since The Piano which won the Palme D'Or in 1993. Earlier she already won an award for a short film she made. Abbie Cornish who plays Fanny Brawne, the film's lead, is said to be very good and might win the award for best actress. Cornish received some great buzz for her role in the film Somersault which meant a breakthrough for both her and co-star Sam Worthington who can be seen in the next Terminator film as well as James's Cameron first film since Titanic called Avatar. In the meantime Lars Von Trier, not surprisingly, is the first who has caused a stir with his new film Antichrist which features a lot of violent scenes. Because of the violence and critics responding in shock it's hard to tell whether the film is actually any good. This morning Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (no typos) had its premiere and critics seemed to like it, but I'm not sure they really loved it. Pedro Almodóvar's new film Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces) which once again features Penélope Cruz seems to be amongst his darker type of films like 2004's La Mala Educación (Bad Education). It seems to be pretty good, although like Inglourious Basterds, it hasn't ignited the same buzz as Campion's Bright Star has. Could this mean a second Palme D'Or for Campion? Jacques Audiard's Un Prophète (A Prophet) is rated as the best film so far from what I have read so it might be another win for France after last year's Entre Les Murs (The Class). However, this time one of the world's best actresses and one of my favourites, Isabelle Huppert, is the head of the jury and only she knows what's going on in that mind of hers. I expect her and her fellow jury members to make a very good and thought through decision and choose a film that really does this year's festival justice.

Campion's Bright Star. This shot alone makes me want to see the film. There's just something about pretty girls in dresses sitting in a field of flowers. It's one of the main reasons why I love Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette so much.