Movie Screening(s) Here I Come

This past Saturday I had the chance to see the indie hit and potential Oscar contender movie An Education with some friends. This movie is a coming-of-age story set in 1960’s England centered around Jenny Miller (Carey Mulligan, Pride and Prejudice), a very bright 16-year-old girl attending secondary school, trying to get admittance to Oxford University.

NOTE: Spoilers ahead.

Jenny soon finds herself in a whirlwind romance with the much older David (Peter Sarsgaard, Orphan) whose lifestyle is very different from anything she has ever been exposed to and he is able to take her to fancy restaurants, grown-up parties, dog races and even a weekend trip to Paris. Jenny quickly becomes hooked on this man, quits school and forgets all about Oxford.

The fairytale comes to an abrupt end, however, when she discovers he is married, has children and has had many other dalliances with impressionable young girls such as her. She goes from being a bright eyed school girl to sophisticated young lady and back again; and nearly ruins her life before it can fully start.

Thankfully, she ends the relationship with David, finds assistance in a caring teacher (Olivia Williams, Dollhouse) and is able to take her A-levels [i.e. college admittance test], which she missed because of quitting school and is accepted to “read English” at Oxford.

The movie also stars Rosamund Pike (Pride and Prejudice and Surrogates), Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia!), Academy Award winner Emma Thompson and Alfred Molina. An Education won the Audience Choice Award and the Cinematography Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, was directed by Lone Scherfig from the script (and based on the autobiographical memoir) of British journalist Lynn Barber and screenplay by Nick Hornby.

My friends and I really enjoyed the movie, finding it quite touching, romantic and heartbreaking. The costuming was exceptional and the scenery was pitch-perfect going from the grandeur of Paris to the muted undertones of Jenny’s England home. It is a movie worth seeing, as Carey Mulligan will assuredly be nominated for an Oscar for her performance or at the very least she SHOULD be.

You can learn more about An Education at: http://www.sonyclassics.com/aneducation/.

While at the Arclight Theatre in Sherman Oaks, my friends and I ran into two different movie screening recruiters and I ended up getting admittance tickets for the advanced screenings of the musical Nine and the romantic drama Remember Me.

Last night I was supposed to see Nine, which is the film version of the Broadway production that is based on Mario Fratti’s adaptation of Federico Fellini‘s autobiographical film 8½. Nine is focused on the world famous film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), who confronts an epic mid-life crisis with both creative and personal problems.

The nine signifies the many women in his life, including his wife played by Academy Award winner Marion Cottillard, his mistress played by Penelope Cruz, his film star muse played by Nicole Kidman, his confidant and costume designer played by Dame Judi Dench, an American journalist played by Kate Hudson, the “whore” from his youth played by pop singer Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson (of the Black Eyed Peas) and his mother played by the legendary Sophia Loren.

I had every intention of talking briefly, without being too spoilerish, about the movie; but as you can probably surmise from my “was supposed to see” stated above, the screening was unexpectedly canceled. I received the call during lunch hour yesterday and while I understand it’s still a bit disappointing.

But, thankfully (or rather hopefully) on Thursday, I will attend the screening of Remember Me, a romantic drama starring Robert Pattinson (the Twilight franchise) as Tyler, a rebellious young man in New York City who has a strained relationship with his father (Pierce Brosnan) ever since tragedy separated the family. Tyler doesn’t think anyone can possibly understand what he has been going through until he meets Ally (played by Emilie de Ravin) through an unusual twist of fate. Love was the last thing on his mind, but as her spirit unexpectedly heals and inspires him, he begins to fall for her. Through their love, he begins to find happiness and meaning in his life. But soon, hidden secrets are revealed, and the circumstances that brought them together slowly threaten to tear them apart. The movie also co-stars Academy Award winner Chris Cooper (Adaptation) and Academy Award nominee Lena Olin (Chocolat).

I can only hope that unlike the Nine movie screening, Thursday’s screening actually happens. Either way I’m not out any money, but it would have been great to see either or both of these movies ahead of time. These kinds of screenings allow you to state your opinion, typically via a survey that is handed out to all attendees and SOMETIMES the powers that be actually (well, sort of) listen.

Nine is expected to open on December 18 in New York and Los Angeles and then open to the rest of the country on Christmas Day. Remember Me is expected to be released to theatres on March 12, 2010.