Tag Archives: Jennifer Ehle

Vox Lux (2018)

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Vox Lux
Director: Brady Corbet
Writer: Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
Cast: Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Stacy Martin, Jennifer Ehle, Raffey Cassidy, Christopher Abbott, Willem Dafoe
Part of: Viennale
Seen on: 3.11.2018
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Plot:
When teenager Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) sings at a memorial, her career as a pop star takes off. She finds a manager (Jude Law) and a publicist (Jennifer Ehle) and rises to fame, always accompanied by her sister Eleanor (Stacy Martin) who writes her songs. 18 years later, Celeste (Natalie Portman) is still a star, but she also struggles. Especially her relationship with her sister and her daughter Albertine (Raffey Cassidy) is strained, but there are other issues as well. As she prepares for the tour of her new album, tensions rise everywhere.

Vox Lux is a well-made film with an excellent cast that appears to be saying more than it actually does. I failed to really connect with it.

The film poster showing Celeste (Natalie Portman) in full stage make-up singing.
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The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)

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The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Director: Desiree Akhavan
Writer: Desiree Akhavan, Cecilia Frugiuele
Based on: Emily M. Danforth‘s novel
Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, Emily Skeggs, Owen Campbell, Steven Hauck, Quinn Shephard, Kerry Butler, Dalton Harrod, McCabe Slye, Dale Soules, Melanie Ehrlich, John Gallagher Jr., Jennifer Ehle
Seen on: 15.8.2018

Content Note: homomisia, conversion “therapy”

Plot:
Cameron (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a teenager in love and things could be just fine if she wasn’t in love with a girl, Coley (Quinn Shephard). Because when her Aunt Ruth (Kerry Butler) finds out, she reacts quickly and Cameron finds herself in a conversion camp, led by Reverend Rick (John Gallagher Jr.) and Dr. Lydia Marsh (Jennifer Ehle). They set to work immediately on her. Work that has already shown a lot of effect on Cameron’s roommate Erin (Emily Skeggs). But maybe Cameron will find a bit of resistance at the camp or inside herself.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a wonderful film and a wonderful sophomore feature for Akhavan that was absolutely worth waiting for.

The film poster showing Chloe Grace Moretz' face in close-up, shaded in yellows and greens.
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A Quiet Passion (2016)

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A Quiet Passion
Director: Terence Davies
Writer: Terence Davies
Cast: Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle, Duncan Duff, Catherine Bailey, Jodhi May, Emma Bell, Rose Williams, Benjamin Wainwright, Keith Carradine
Part of: Viennale
Seen on: 21.10.2016

Plot:
Emily Dickinson (Emma Bell, Cynthia Nixon) grows up and lives rather remotely but in close contact with her sister Vinnie (Rose Williams, Jennifer Ehle) and her brother Austin (Benjamin Wainwright, Duncan Duff). She devotes her life to writing poetry, exploring her inner life instead of the world, always hoping for recognition of her art.

A Quiet passion is a beautifully filmed and well-acted movie that moves at a slow pace. I am sure it won’t be everybody’s cup of tea and I do feel conflicted about it myself, but it is worth to give it a try.

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A Little Chaos (2014)

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A Little Chaos
Director: Alan Rickman
Writer: Alan Rickman, Alison Deegan, Jeremy Brock
Cast: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Helen McCrory, Alan Rickman, Jennifer Ehle, Stanley Tucci, Rupert Penry-Jones, Steven Waddington, Pauline Moran
Seen on: 05.05.2015

Plot:
Sabine de Barra (Kate Winslet) is a well-established gardener who gets invited to present her plans for a piece of the Versaille gardens to André le Nôtre (Matthias Schoenaerts). Le Nôtre is irritated by Sabine’s lack of order, but decides to work with her anyway, even though his esteem in King Louis XIV‘s (Alan Rickman) eyes and his general reputation depend on the success of the gardens. The tension between Sabine and André soon spills from a professional to a more personal level, much to the disdain of André’s wife (Helen McCrory).

A Little Chaos is a film that would proabbly be classically considered a women’s film (not that there isn’t something for the guys there as well) and it’s a beautiful entry in that (if you will) genre, even though it’s a little heavyhanded sometimes.

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RoboCop (2014)

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RoboCop
Director: José Padilha
Writer: Joshua Zetumer
Remake of: RoboCop
Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael K. Williams, Jennifer Ehle, Jay Baruchel, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Samuel L. Jackson

Plot:
OmniCorp are a robotics company who have been trying to get their robots on the ground in the USA as well. But people there don’t trust the judgement of robots. So when police officer Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is critically injured by a bomb that was attached to his car, OmniCorp jumps at the opportunity. They ask Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman), to take the parts of Alex that are still functional and build a half-human, half-robot police officer with it. But that combination isn’t easily pulled off and even after it is, there are still problems to be encountered.

There were some things that I liked about the film but in fact the most entertaining thing about it was standing around with my friends for an hour afterwards and bitching about all its failures. And there were plenty of those.

robocop

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Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

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Zero Dark Thirty
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Ehle, Harold Perrineau, Scott Adkins, Mark Strong, Édgar Ramírez, Mark Duplass, James Gandolfini, Stephen Dillane, John Barrowman, Joel Edgerton, Chris Pratt, Taylor Kinney

Plot:
Maya (Jessica Chastain) works for the CIA and has just been sent to Pakistan. Her mission is to find out where Osama bin Laden is hiding. A mission that takes her from torturing prisoners under the the tutelage of colleauge Dan (Jason Clarke) to plain old research. When she stumbles across the name of a guy she believes is a close collaborator of bin Laden, she becomes obsessed with finding him as the most direct way to bin Laden himself.

I really did my best to be interested in this film. Admittedly, the topic is not so much my cup of tea, but it is important. Unfortunately the movie is so very boring that, with the best of motivation, it was impossible to keep up the interest. I mean, I know they searched for this guy a very long time – but was it really necessary that the audience feels every minute of that 10-year-search? At some point I just gave up and fell asleep for a little while – just to get away from the boredom of it all for a bit.

zero-dark-thirty

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Contagion (2011)

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Contagion
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Writer: Scott Z. Burns
Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, John Hawkes, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Ehle, Elliott Gould, Bryan Cranston, Josie Ho

Plot:
Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) travels home from a business trip in Hong Kong. But almost as soon as she reaches her husband (Matt Damon) and son, the cold she brought from Hong Kong turns out to be much worse and is, in fact, the beginning of a worldwide epidemic. While people around them start dying the CDC sends an agent (Kate Winslet) to Boston, while the WHO sends one of their people (Marion Cotillard) to Hong Kong in a desperate attempt to find a cure – and quickly.

In Contagion, Soderbergh dodges most of the classic movie conventions on how to tell his story. Instead he makes a film that feels so utterly realistic that you can almost believe it to be a documentary. That is not only impressive per se, it also makes for an excellent film.

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The Ides of March (2011)

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The Ides of March
Director: George Clooney
Writer: George Clooney
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, George Clooney, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella, Jennifer Ehle
Part of: Viennale

Plot:
Stephen (Ryan Gosling) is one of the PR guys for Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) who is running for president. Even though Stephen is young, he is rather experienced and his career is definitely on the rise, while at the same time he managed to retain some idealism. He honestly believes in Mike. Mike’s campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is the experienced, jaded counterpoint to his idealism. But even though they make a very good team, things in politics are never easy and only get trickier.

I was a bit worried since I’m usually quickly bored by these politics plots. I’m just not that interested. But the cast is an absolute dream come true, and Clooney really is a very talented director, so I still had hope. And my hopes were completely justified. It’s a brilliant film.

[That poster kinda freaks me out.]

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The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

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The Adjustment Bureau is George Nolfi‘s directorial debut, an adaptation of Philip K. Dick‘s story, starring Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Terence Stamp and in a cameo Jennifer Ehle.

Plot:
David Norris (Matt Damon) is a very promising young politician. He meets Elise (Emily Blunt) and they’re immediately attracted to each other. But something seems to be keeping them apart. As David is soon to find out, it’s not just fate: There’s a whole organisation – The Adjustment Bureau – that makes sure that things happen according to plan. And David’s plan has him without Elise. But David can’t accept that.

The Adjustment Bureau is well-paced and well-acted but the religious overtones of the story just got a little too much for me. Still, it’s very enjoyable.

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The King’s Speech (2010)

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The King’s Speech is Tom Hooper‘s newest film, starring Colin Firth, Helena Bonham-Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Derek Jacobi, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon, Guy Pearce, Eve Best and Timothy Spall.

Plot:
Prince Albert (Colin Firth) has a stutter. His wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham-Carter) is very supportive and together they’ve tried almost every doctor. Finally, Elizabeth turns up Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), a failed actor who tries unconventional methods. Albert is hesitant about the whole thing but since his father King George V (Michael Gambon) grows older and weaker and his brother David (Guy Pearce) is unreliable and uninterested, he decides to go for it anyway.

The King’s Speech is an excellent film, with an amazing cast and a very good script (by David Seidler). The set and costume design was brilliant, too. I just didn’t like the camerawork very much.

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