For Best Lead Actor this year, no doubt that it will come down to just 2 names. Because Morgan Freeman, George Clooney and especially Jeremy Renner will only feel grateful that they’d even get to invited to the party. The ultimate match is between Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart and Colin Firth for A Single Man.. Read the rest of this entry »
My goodness, I never took Colin Firth for a great actor until A SINGLE MAN came along. There are 2 winners in this film, Firth’s towering performance and Edward Grau’s masterful cinematography. American fashion Designer turned director Tom Ford has crafted a much calmer, more hypnotic Brokeback Mountain of his own with this heartbreaking adaptation.
Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, “A Single Man” is the story of George Falconer, a 52 year old British college professor (Colin Firth) who is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his long time partner, Jim (Matthew Goode). George dwells on the past and cannot see his future as we follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters, ultimately leads him to decide if there is a meaning to life after Jim. George is consoled by his closest friend Charley (Julianne Moore), a 48 year old beauty who is wrestling with her own questions about the future. A young student of George’s, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), who is coming to terms with his true nature, stalks George as he feels in him a kindred spirit. “A Single Man” is a romantic tale of love interrupted, the isolation that is an inherent part of the human condition, and ultimately the importance of the seemingly smaller moments in life.
The shots taken for this film are absolutely incredible and I don’t necessarily mean it breathtaking as it is about giving a sense of solitude and beauty and art. A SINGLE MAN successfully captures the loss of a loved one unlike anything that has been stereotyped on the big screen before because not only does it deal with a lover’s death but in the case of Julianne Moore’s character, it also deals with her losing and not being able to reclaim the only man she’s ever had eyes for.
I can’t say enough, A SINGLE MAN is Colin Firth’s finest hour. This is his Raging Bull and The Wrestler at the same time, the once in a lifetime achievement that deserves recognition. Firth is daring and comical, he’s emotional, fierce and vulnerable. The Brit thesp has found his gem. As George, he tries to live a day with the thought of maybe, just maybe he can go through it one last time before he pulls the trigger, not even Charley’s attempt can convince him otherwise, not even the idea of a possible new lover can convince him otherwise. I see this movie as an excellent character study, how a man finds it hard to get back from such a loss, how it takes a while for any of us to get over that one significant other, how a replacement doesn’t come that easy, especially when the story is set in a time when such a lifestyle may have been looked down upon.
A SINGLE MAN is going to go down as one of the most under-appreciated films ever made, starring one of the most appreciated, well-deserved performances you’ll ever see.
* Place the cursor on the image below to check my grade for this film
The American Film Institute has announced their 10 Best movies of the year and 10 outstanding TV shows as well, two of which are my favorite, Modern Family and True Blood, it’s a shame that Dexter didn’t make it in the list. But since this is a movie blog, thought you might wanna check out their selection for the 10 movies, most of them obviously drama but they mention The Hangover, which I don’t mind, I think it’s everybody’s favorite movie of the year. I’d be more shocked if this culminates in The Hangover being nominated for Oscar’s Best Picture category. But look, AVATAR is not here, THE ROAD and MOON are not in either… in the words of Ed Helm’s character in The Hangover… “What is going on here!”
Check out the list after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve previously seen the promo trailer for A SINGLE MAN, a movie that premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival and now TWC has released the theatrical trailer which contains quotes from critics praising Colin Firth’s performance. Firth to me has always been one of those underrated actors who sadly got typecast, most of his characters either in Bridges Jones Diary, What A Girl Wants, Accidental Husband, he was always the uptight upstanding Brit citizen. Of course I can’t picture him as James Bond either but then I saw And When Did You Last See Your Father? that’s when I realized that Firth is a better actor that Hollywood gave him credit for. His moment has finally arrived with A SINGLE MAN directed by Tom Ford. Check out this absolutely beautiful trailer, the cinematography itself deserves to get nominated.
One thing worries me though, this means the Oscar for Best Lead Actor is not guaranteed for Sam Rockwell (Moon) to win.
A SINGLE MAN opens on a tough weekend, the same weekend as Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones and Clint Eastwood’s Invictus
Watch the trailer after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »
If the Coens have A SERIOUS MAN, then director Tom Ford has A SINGLE MAN and the trailer has hit the web. It was the closing movie at Venice Film Festival ‘09 and Colin Firth won Best Actor. Collider called this trailer one of the best trailers of 2009.. somehow it gives me that Requiem For A Dream vibe an it’s just as stunning as Confucius trailer but the best trailer of 2009 in my opinion goes to Black Dynamite trailer, feel me jive?!
A SINGLE MAN Co-stars an actress not ashamed of her sexuality, Julianne Moore (Savage Grace) and the man not ashamed of kissing Firth, Matthew Goode (Watchmen)
A Single Man is the story of George Falconer, a British college professor who is struggling to find meaning in his life after the death of his long-time partner, Jim . He is consoled by his closest friend Charley, a 48-year-old beauty, and is stalked by one of his students, Kenny.
