Serge Gainsbourg -- 'Vie Héroïque'

My love for Serge Gainsbourg has been pretty well-documented on the internet so far; since 2006 it's pretty much been SergeSergeSerge all over, but I can't help but love and admire the man. I'd been waiting for Vie Héroïque since May 2008, and I was finally able to catch it this morning and it did not disappoint in the slightest.


Gainsbourg was a very complex figure and writer-director Joann Sfar did a great job of trying to bring all those nuances to the screen. Originally a comic book writer, Joann Sfar did quite an amazing job bringing all sorts of different media to the screen. Puppets, cartoons, they all help bring Gainsbourg's character to life in a way that few biopics do.


With all of his famous relationships with gorgeous women, Vie Héroïque could easily have turned into a complete raunchfest, but luckily it doesn't (Serge was rather "pudique", after all). Brigitte, Jane and Bambou are put on little pedestals, just like Serge put them on pedestals. As far as I could tell, the whole film was very much in Serge's spirit; the puppets and cartoons would have been misplaced in any other biopic, but since Gainsbourg often talked of himself (or parts of his personality) in third person (Gainsbarre was his mischievous alter ego), it only helps to accentuate his character.




Sfar did a good job on the script, going from Gainsbourg just before the Second World War started to Gainsbourg at the end of the 1980s, handling all the major events, but I found it contained a few too many "warnings"; whenever something big was going to happen (writing for France Gall, writing 'Je T'Aime..', meeting Jane) the scene before holds a few too many hints as to what's going to happen. Maybe it's less annoying when you're not a complete nut and haven't read all kinds of biographies on him, though.


Eric Elmosnino is otherworldly as Serge; give that man a César already! To play someone as a stumbling 20-something, to an artist at the top of his game, to a man completely ravaged by alcohol and cigarettes without it ever becoming a caricature, it's amazing. When you watch interviews with Gainsbourg, you immediately notice his little physical quirks; the way he holds his head and the particular gestures he makes with his hands -- Elmosnino incorporates it all into his performance without it coming off unnatural.

my top 26 of films made in the 2000s

So with the end of the year coming up, and the "end of the decade", there's all sorts of lists summing up the last ten years and I'm finding it a bit disconcerting! Until a week ago I hadn't even realised we were heading into a new decade, isn't that sad? It's depressing to think how much has changed in the last ten years; they were still making Home Alone-movies in 2002! A friend of mine posted an interesting list of The A.V. Club's top 20 films made in the past ten years and of course, this being the A.V. Club (aren't they affiliated with The Onion?) I didn't completely agree.. and, since my Photoshop is up and running again and I can never resist a good list, Here's my top 26 favourite films of the 2000s!

These are all movies that made an impression on me, especially after the first viewings. I'm not claiming they're the best movies ever made, but they hold a special place for me and I think they're some of the best films in their own genre. Yes, there are romantic comedies on this list! I am not ashamed! well, only a little.


25. The United States of Leland (2004)
This film is like the cinematical equivalent of a Douglas Coupland novel and I have a bit of a love-hate relationship both with Coupland and this film. On the one hand it's awfully self-pitying and it has Jena Malone in it, on the other it's very moving and Ryan Gosling shows amazing promise.


24. I Am Dina (2002)
Can you blame me, going by that picture? I've sat through some terrible films just to see my darling Hans Matheson, but I Am Dina was definitely worth it; amazing landscapes, a great unexpected story and Maria Bonnevie kicks ass and takes names as this film's off-beat heroine.


23. Lost in Translation (2003)
Watching this film now is so different to the way I felt when I first saw it; like Brokeback Mountain a lot of Lost In Translation's "cinematical language" has been endlessly copied. Still, Scarlett is breathtaking, so pure and inexperienced, and Bill Murray is so genuine and generous in his acting.


22. Moonlight Mile (2002)
I saw this film at 10 in the morning which is just the oddest way to experience a film like that. A lot has been said about Donnie Darko, but as far as Jake Gyllenhaal's career goes, I think this is a far more interesting role, as the fiance who goes to live with his parents-in-law in the aftermath of his fiancee's death. Sarandon and Hoffman are genius.


21. Shelter (2007)
Gay and Lesbian cinema can be frightfully hit-and-miss. Because they're usually low budget independent productions, they can come off looking terribly shoddy and sometimes the actors aren't up to much either (Coffee Date was cringeworthy), but with Shelter everything comes together. An original storyline, great actors (how much do I love Tina Holmes?) and a refreshing setting. Trevor Wright and Brad Rowe give all they're worth and it pays off.


20. Love Actually (2003)
Cheesy as all hell but definitely one of the most satisfying romantic comedies of all time. I quite like that some of the romances don't work out. There are few things I enjoy more than a good romantic comedy, it just makes me feel fuzzy.


19. Control (2006)
Emotionally shattering, the way Anton Corbijn portrays Ian Curtis is just gorgeous, he takes him away from that ridiculous live-fast-die-young rockstar image and shows him as what he was, a troubled young father who didn't know how to do the right thing anymore.


18. Mean Girls (2004)
Wickedly, wickedly funny, one of the most quotable films ever made. Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert are little gems tucked away. Along with John Hughes' films, the only high school film you need.


17. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Again, a film I don't like as much as I used to, but still it deserved a spot in my list because when I loved it, I watched it so many times a week.. I kind of stopped caring about Wes Anderson after The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou came out, but I do still very much like the story of the dysfunctional family and even in it's stylised manner, it makes more of an (emotional) impact than, say, The Squid and the Whale.


16. Atonement (2007)
The first time I saw this, I blubbered on for about an hour afterwards, Vanessa Redgrave kills me. Watching this now, for the third and fourth time, I can definitely see it's flaws but I think that's more down to Ian McEwan and director Joe Wright than the actors, who all give amazing performances.


15. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Parminder Nagra is pretty much the sweetest thing in the whole world and she and Keira Knightley kick this movie's butt, along with Juliet Stevenson as Keira's mum. It feels very honestly made and personal, which always great in feel-good comedies, there's always that threat of being too cutesy-wutesy.


14. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
I watched this in a cinema in Amsterdam with six other people and I was the only person laughing until it hurt at all the pop culture references. A zombie romantic comedy with Bill Nighy being evil and jokes about the Stone Roses' second album? Genius!


13. Zodiac (2007)
See, I'm not a fan of thrillers or long movies, but David Fincher made Zodiac's two-and-a-half hours absolutely fly by for me, it was just incredible. Definitely edge-of-your-seat viewing. The film starts out with the idea of finding this man committing gruesome murders, but ends up with incredible psychological insight into all these characters' minds, why they couldn't let it go after so many years. I slept with the light on after watching.


12. Venus (2006)
Hanif Kureishi, you marvellous bastard, how do you do it? My Beautiful Laundrette, The Mother, Venus, 'the Buddha of Suburbia'.. you could give Alan Bennett a run for his money. Peter O'Toole breaks your heart and is so criminally funny, it's a once-in-a-lifetime role.


11. The Family Stone (2005)
This has Luke Wilson and Rachel McAdams playing brother and sister, and the lovely Elizabeth Reaser as their older sister, how great is that casting? Basically, this is the loveliest family "dramedy" I've seen in a long time and the fact that it plays out over Christmas is just a bonus. The house is so well-lived in, the whole film feels really cosy and like a real family Christmas.


10. Milk (2008)
I read about Harvey Milk when I first heard that Gus Van Sant was planning a movie on his life, and was immediately intrigued. After watching 'The Times of Harvey Milk' I was completely taken in and my God, Van Sant did right with this movie, I can't tell you. There's so much love in this film, so much appreciation, but it doesn't turn soppy. James Franco and Sean Penn really love each other as Scott and Harvey, which is more than you can say about Heath and Jake as Ennis and Jack.


09. Me Without You (2001)
It's probably a personal thing, but this film's depiction of friendship rang so true with me. It's like someone wrote a romance novel with an idealised version of me in the lead: the music, the love interest, the steamroller-right-over-me-personality.. sadly, I'd be more like Holly than Scarlett O'Hara.


08. The History Boys (2006)
At times the actors fall into a stage-y kind of acting but it's no surprise since they played their characters around the world for.. nearly five years? The kind of familiarity it brings to the characters for the actors is amazing though, and in that way this movie is truly one of a kind. The characters of all these young boys, all the smartypants remarks and cultural references; just play-/screenwriting at it's very best.


07. Bobby (2006)
I should add that I'm judging this movie by feelings after I first watched it. I was blown away by it, of course it's a "who's who" of acting, with first-time director Emilio Estevez bringing in a lot of his old pals, but once you see past that, there's some amazing performances. The scene between Demi Moore and Sharon Stone is some of the best material I've ever seen both of them handle, and Laurence Fisburne is a powerhouse.


06. The Edge of Love (2008)
Maybe it's unfair to compare this film to Atonement, but this film is so much more about the characters, or even real people, with their flaws and quirks and insecurities. Vera and Caitlin were nowhere near as attractive as Keira and Sienna, but they nail it. It's not about getting people to look alike but to give the most sincere performances and Sienna Miller is beyond amazing. There's a look she gives Vera/Keira and it's heartbreak in one-two-three small steps.


05. An Education (2009)
Usually I only judge films after I've seen them at least twice, but I saw An Education in the cinema and I was just blown away by it. The odd thing was I didn't actually really care for Jenny, the lead character, because all the supporting characters were so strong. Her strict father, disappointed mother, disillusioned teacher and a new friend who's learnt that men will never be interested in her brains, just her looks. They were all far more interesting than Jenny and David, although their dynamic obviously was interesting enough to care enough about all these other people that somehow were involved.


04. 8 Femmes (2002)
There's two Francois Ozon films in my top five, he's my absolute favourite director of this decade. The detail to the costumes, the little references to other films (Sirk's All That Heaven Allows in this case), the over-the-top camp mixed in with really tender moments.. and eight of France's best actresses, this is a real treat.


03. The Mother (2003)
Again, Hanif Kureishi! Hanif Kureishi and Roger Michell made the Mother and Venus together, and the way the roles were written (and played) are unlike any other films I've ever seen. Really interesting character studies in both cases, but this film did more for me, maybe because I'm a woman? I wouldn't mind having Daniel Craig in my bed once I'm 60..


02. This Is England (2006)
To take on such a heavy subject, the skinhead National Front-type youth cultures in the early 80s, and show such different sides to it, was fantastically done. It starts out with little Shaun being "adopted" by a group of skinheads and it starts out as more of a fashion statement, hanging out in greasy spoons with Doc Martens and jeans rolled up. But then when Combo comes out of prison -- there's this one scene where the whole balance of the movie shifts and it's so superbly acted, it's immense.


01. Le Temps Qui Reste (2005)
Another Francois Ozon. I come off as a pretentious twat with two French films as my favourite, I don't know what happened. These two films are two of my absolute favourites, though, and Le Temps Qui Reste is refreshing in the way it handles death, disease and homosexuality. Only Ozon could make this film, so unapologetic and honest. Melvil Poupaud shines in this film, he's unbelievably good.

Ultimate favourite film of the 00s

Les Chansons d'Amour (2007)
Okay, so it's a top 25 with a seperate number one, so it's more like a top 26? I narrowed it down to 26 and then couldn't bear to take any of the movies off, so. When I watched this, I was expecting a fun musical about a young threesome-couple in modern day Paris; it started out that way but after about 20 minutes it turns into something completely unexpected. I don't want to spoil any of the film for anyone because it's great to just be taken on such a rollercoaster ride, but the actors are amazing, the songs are fantastic and the whole look of the film is just beyond beautiful.

Autumn = Rock Hudson, Rock Hudson = Autumn

Autumn is by far my favourite season. While I love Christmas, that moment when the leaves start changing colours is without a doubt my favourite time of the year. As soon as it gets cold enough, I like to pile on the blankets and bury myself underneath them and watch endless Rock Hudson movies.

Though I have a long list of mandatory autumn viewing, my boxset of Douglas Sirk's movies is at the top of that list. His searing scores, post-war kitchen design and see-it-coming-from-afar plot "twists" just make my heart swell up. A cup of tea, my cat Elliot purring along and Rock Hudson's beautiful booming voice.. it's heaven.

Even though I do enjoy his films with Doris Day (how can you not?!), and he had a natural charm to him that most movie stars of today can only envy, to me Hudson was at his most appealing in All That Heaven Allows. Possibly the most gentle-hearted character ever to appear on screen -- a bit dull but you can't help thinking and hoping he was really like that.

R.I.P. John Hughes

Talk about creepy timing. On Tuesday I received a parcel from my great friend Katie which included this wonderful book and then about thirty minutes ago, during one of my many daily visits to the Internet Movie Database, I found out John Hughes died today. While it doesn't stir up as many immediate emotions as Heath Ledger's death or Michael Jackson's does, it does feel like the end of an era.

Even though I was born in 1986, by which time most of Hughes' films had come out already, his films (the ones he either directed or wrote) were a big part of my teenage years. From the age of 13 onwards, I submerged myself in 1980s pop culture. Duran Duran records, 80s teen films, suicide sodas and endless episodes of 'The Wonder Years' (okay, that doesn't really count as it started in 1989). It felt like double escapism, not only was I escaping my daily life through movies, I was travelling in time -- two for the price of one.

Deciding on what is my favourite John Hughes movie is near impossible. His sensitivity, excellent choice of soundtrack, great dialogue and inspired casting choices made his films unparalleled. I still don't know what caused him to pretty much vanish off the face of the earth after 'Uncle Buck', but John Hughes is immortal to anyone who loves 1980s films.. come to think of it, I'd go as far as to say that John Hughes is immortal to anyone who didn't really enjoy being a teenager.

While his sentimentality got the best of him at times, there was always this sense of victory for the underdog characters; Samantha got to kiss Jake, Brian and Allison realised they were better off without the pressures of popularity and Andie and Blane ("that's a major appliance, that's not a name!") got together.. and Duckie got his Duckette in the form of Kristy Swanson. It was win-win all 'round.

While there are worse things on earth than being a teenager, John Hughes' message that things could only get better as you got older (or as you got past being a teenager!) definitely rang true for me. For this great life lesson, I salute you, dear John Hughes.




Edit: Many great tributes have been posted in the last 24 hours, here are links to some of my favourites:

20 Reasons Why John Hughes Rocked the 80s
Ben Stein ("something-d-o-o economics") remembers John Hughes
John Hughes: the Soundtrack to a Generation
Video Retrospective: Top 10 Movie Moments
A tribute to John Hughes From the Desk of a Neo-Maxi-Zoom-Dweebie

Now I gotta cut loose..

In life, there are different types of frustration, and different ways to deal with them. After ten years of loving the film, it only occured to me this weekend to get myself the Footloose-soundtrack and I was once again reminded that sometimes, life just gets frustrating in that Footloose-kind of way, and all you can do is dance. In a deserted warehouse. While wearing white tennis shoes.


And then there's this genius parody//homage from Andy Samberg's Hot Rod:


Kevin Bacon should dance more. And Lori Singer should still have a career, even if she couldn't act worth a dime.


Oh, fun fact from the film's IMDb page: Daryl Hannah turned down the offer to play Ariel in order to play Madison in Splash (1984). Elizabeth McGovern turned down the role of Ariel in order to play Deborah Gelly in Once Upon a Time in America (1984). Melanie Griffith, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rosanna Arquette, Meg Tilly, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Heather Locklear, Meg Ryan, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jodie Foster, Phoebe Cates, Tatum O'Neal, Bridget Fonda, Lori Loughlin, Diane Lane and Brooke Shields were all offered the role of Ariel, but turned it down.

Happy Birthday, Max von Sydow

A great scene from one of the best-ever spy thrillers (contains spoilers, duh), Three Days of the Condor, to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of the scariest (and exquisitely European) men on the planet -- Max von Sydow. You give me nightmares, Max, but still, any excuse to post some Scott Walker-related videos, eh? Here's to many more.

Empire mash-ups

For someone with a love of bad puns, Empire Magazine's online poster mash-up competitions are a dream come true. My favourites from the sweets and shoe mash-ups:




And one last one because of this post:

Knotted, polka-dotted, twisted, beaded, braided

Once again turning this blog into one about celebrity death, one thing that made sit up and notice this week was the death of Tom O'Horgan, the director of the original Broadway run of the musical 'Hair'.

Sometimes I jokingly say my life is like an episode of 'the Simpsons', with too many pop culture references packed in, but I'm afraid that's true in part. When I look back on years past, one of my ways of telling one year from another, is to think of what bands or films I liked during that time.


One of my first popular culture obsessions was Hair, the film. I was a bit of a musical-nut when I was little -- I have no idea why. It probably started with watching the Sound of Music and West Side Story on telly with my Mum, and grew from there. I loved the music from Singin' in the Rain (I still hum 'Good Morning' when I'm feeling particularly perky in the morning). This love for musicals, combined with the fact that my oldest brother played a lot of sixties stuff at home, led me to watch Hair as a eight or nine-year-old.

I feel a bit embarrassed to admit this now, but when I was smaller, all I wanted to be was a hippie. I loved the music and the clothes and the fun they all seemed to have. I think I must have rented Hair numerous times, I absolutely loved it. I had the soundtrack of the musical (with Diane Keaton singing!) and pretty much cried every time 'The Flesh Failures/Let the Sun Shine In' came on, thinking of poor Berger.


Reading up on Wikipedia while watching the movie last night, it struck me that the writers of the musical didn't approve of the film, saying that Milos Forman completely missed the plot. I've never been to see the musical (or any musical, period) but apparently there's a lot of differences between the film and musical; obviously I can't judge properly, but this scene alone makes it unfair to dismiss the film like James Rado and Gerome Ragni did:


A bit heavy on the symbolism, eh? It's always struck me as really odd that 'Let the Sun Shine In' is used for commercials and crap techno remixes these days; I always associate it with the ending of the film, where 'Let the Sun Shine In' is prefaced by 'The Flesh Failures', one of the most sucker-punchiest of musical songs:


I didn't realise until Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet came out that the song uses Romeo's farewell speech as a backing choir. The Vietnam war took place long before I was born, but somehow, just because of 'The Flesh Failures', those marching soldiers (and the 'Wonder Years' television series) have always made that war feel the closest to home. It's strange what power film, television and music have in that way.


Anyways, rest assured, my dreams of becoming a hippie are long gone; these days when I watch Woodstock, I can only notice the bandwagon-y nature of the whole subculture and the role drugs played in it all. Sitting in a field while having drugged-out, partially-clad people crowd surf all over you (like in Gimme Shelter)? No thanks, I think I'll pass.


Finally, two more of my favourite songs:
· Black Boys / White Boys.
· Cheryl Barnes' beautiful rendition of Easy to Be Hard.

Mickey Rourke's Golden Globe

While I didn't get to see the Golden Globe-award ceremony on telly last night, two things excited me very much when I woke up to the news on my radio alarm clock this morning: Kate Winslet's first two Golden Globe wins (finally!) for The Reader and Revolutionary Road, and Mickey Rourke winning 'Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama' for The Wrestler.


Even though I haven't seen the film yet, and I'm secretly rooting for Sean Penn to win an Oscar for Milk, Mickey Rourke's award excites me so much because he plays one of my all-time favourite characters on screen, The Motorcycle Boy in Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish.


Based on S.E. Hinton's young adult novel novel, Rumble Fish focuses on Rusty James (played by Matt Dillon), who wants nothing more than to follow his brother's example in a world of youth gangs. However, his brother whom everyone calls The Motorcycle Boy, is heavily traumatised by his years as a gang leader, and as a result, is colour-blind and partially deaf. The Motorcycle Boy tries to warn Rusty James away from the gang world, telling him about Rumble Fish: Siamese fighting fish who will attack any other fish they encounter, even battling their own reflection to the death.


As you can tell, it's all very heavy on symbolism, but with a great cast (also including a stunning Diane Lane, Nicholas Cage, Tom Waits and Dennis Hopper as the brothers' Dad), it's a beautifully-made film. Coppola shot the film in black and white, only showing the Rumble Fish in colour and although at times the combination of the style of the film and the symbolism threaten to turn it into a self-important arthouse flick, Mickey Rourke's amazing performance saves it from becoming a charicature. To hear that strange, disembodied voice of his describe the way he sees the world ("it's like black and white tv with the sound turned low") is as good as it gets in cinema.

My good friend Katie runs a great website on both the book and the film Rumble Fish: The Wrong Side of the River, and she recently got the opportunity to attend a screening of The Wrestler followed by a Q&A with Mickey Rourke. She took some great clips of the Q&A; it's inspiring to hear him talk about his acting at such a leisurely pace - TV interviews are normally so rushed. You can see several clips on her YouTube-channel, my favourite clip (not least because I got a special dedication!) is of Mickey talking about how he got Bruce Springsteen to participate on the soundtrack.


It's a world of difference, looking at Mickey Rourke in 1983 and now, but it's really exciting to finally see him get such recognition for his acting, while a lot of people had written him off several years ago.

Wuthering, wuthering, wuthering heights

If William Wyler's 1939 production of Wuthering Heights had been in colour, it probably would have looked a bit like this.

Heather Little Moor, originally uploaded by grahamramsden52.

, originally uploaded by marcinéma.

Heather , originally uploaded by grahamramsden52.

Covered, originally uploaded by erik.drost.

IMDb claims the producers had real heather imported from England to make the California landscape used in the film make more like authentic "Brontëesque" moors. I don't know if it's true, but it does sound like one of those romantically outlandish Old Hollywood-tidbits of information.

In a departure from the novel, there is an afterlife scene in which we see Heathcliff and Cathy walking hand in hand, visiting their favorite place, Penistone Crag. Wyler hated the scene and didn't want to do it but Samuel Goldwyn vetoed him on that score. Goldwyn subsequently claimed, "I made "Wuthering Heights", Wyler only directed it."

Cathy: Heathcliff, make the world stop right here. Make everything stop and stand still and never move again. Make the moors never change and you and I never change.
Heathcliff: The moors and I will never change. Don't you, Cathy.
Cathy: I can't. I can't. No matter what I ever do or say, Heathcliff, this is me now; standing on this hill with you. This is me forever.

The Edge Of Love (2008, John Maybury)

Well, I certainly didn't mean to disappear from this blog for over a month. Sorry about that, I started a new job and rather got carried away in all the excitement, heh.

--

Last week, rather unexpectedly, I read about Richey James Edwards being officially declared dead after having been missing for nearly fourteen years. I should say the timing was unexpected, because ever since becoming a fan of the Manic Street Preachers in 1999, I didn't think there was much of a chance of Richey still being alive.


While it wasn't surprising, it did still make me feel rather uncomfortable. Whenever I think about the Manics, I think about that terrible quote from Nick Hornby's 'High Fidelity': "what came first, the music or the misery?". Let's not dwell on the misery-bit, there, but it's a strange thing to think about my personality would have been had I not become a fan of the Manics. They influenced me very much when I was a 12-year-old, and I'm happy that they did because without them, I wouldn't have known about Abraham Zapruder, S.E. Hinton and Harold Pinter when I did.

Coming from Wales, the Manic Street Preachers also introduced me to a whole range of Welsh literary heroes I'd never heard about, one of them being Dylan Thomas, most famous for writing the play for voices, 'Under Milk Wood'.


It was strange to hear about Richey James when I did, because the weekend before I had just seen The Edge of Love, a Dylan Thomas-biopic of sorts that focuses on his life during and shortly after the Second World War, when he lived with his wife, his childhood sweetheart and her soldier husband in Wales. Starring Matthew Rhys as Thomas, Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley fight for his affections as Caitlin MacNamara and Vera Phillips, Thomas' real-life wife and ex-lover.


It's very tempting to compare The Edge of Love to Atonement, since both are very British films, set in the 1940s and star Keira Knightley, but that would be an unfair comparison. While I did very much enjoy Atonement, The Edge of Love is more human and it's about the relationship between four people instead of Atonement's good versus evil; sensationalism aside, the viewer gets more emotionally involved with The Edge of Love. This film is about flawed people instead of angelic Robbie Turner, and it stays with you because of the great performances and beautiful locations.

Keira Knightley already won me over with her performance in Bend It Like Beckham and Atonement, but as the opening credit rolled, I felt unsure about Sienna Miller. To be honest, I always considered Sienna Miller to be one of those actresses who become famous by pretty much playing themselves in a few films that are released in the same year, launching them to flavour-of-the-month-fame. Steve Buscemi's take on Theo van Gogh's Interview already garnered Sienna Miller good reviews, but since I disliked the original, I found the film unbearable watch.

Not to give away too much, Miller gives an amazing performance, out-shining everyone else on the screen. Those last moments between Catty and Vera are just heart-wrenching; a great moment in 2008 cinema.