Marie Antoinette (2006)

Let them eat cake! The most famous words of queen Marie Antoinette come alive in the motion picture Marie Antoinette. Directed by Sofia Coppola, the stunning shots and lavish imagery are reminiscent of candy and cake photographs of David La Chapelle.  Marie Antoinette is a period drama starring a pale skinned Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette, and boyish Jason Swartzman as Louis XVI. The story is of Marie (an Austrian princess) who weds the dauphin of France (Jason Swartzman) for the two countries to become allies. There are problems consummating the marriage, and of producing a new heir to the thrown. The consequences of an un consummated marriage hang over Marie as she tries to inspire the dauphin. As a viewer you cant help but love her honest efforts.   Marie has a habit of gambling, constant parties, and a bad choice of friends. She is a rebel and the viewer falls in love with the character, even though at one time she was the most hated person in France.  She is awkwardly learning the rules of being a queen, and breaking all of them. Dunst did an amazing job portraying this beautiful young woman. The movie is a little slow, and the story is not very gushy however, the movies new age twist will hook you. There is gossip, champagne and sweets galore, things that are very hard not to like. But the best quality of this film is the things that set this period drama aside from every other period drama ever produced. The royal lives are set to post punk music, with only a dash of Vavaldi, and the sets are just absolutely magnificent. 

It is set in 1768 in France and mostly takes place at the beautiful palace of Versailles. The crew was given access to the palace, and most of the filming was actually in the palace its self. Only the real thing can give life to a drama like this, the only worry one would assume is getting frosting from all of the cupcakes and macaroons in the movie on the historic walls of the castle. The patterns and designs of the wallpaper and the intricate detail of the moldings, is truly only fit for royalty. The beautiful landscapes and the picture perfect timing of all of the shots bring up memories of vacations and good times. The clothing is something that Coco Chanel would die for. The dresses are beautiful hoop skirts made out of vibrant velvets and satins made to match perfectly with the colorful sets and the pale skin of the actresses. The shoes are insane! Colorful heels, crystals, feathers and plushy comfy insoles are to die for. Any shoeholic would go crazy watching this film, considering Manolo Blahnik designed the shoes himself. The hair is absolutely outrageous. Pin curled stacked a foot tall on top of these ladies heads, it must have taken hours in hair and makeup to get the complete period look. The detail that was created in this movie is incredible, Pink and blue are the color scheme through out the entire film, contrasting well with the period making this movie something like no other period drama ever produced. The clash between the colors and the time, and the soundtrack of our century overlapping the 18^th century really make an amazing combination.

The music is so fitting for this film, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with the time in which the movie is set.  Dramatic films often are set to serious dramatic orchestras. Although Vavaldi can be herd a few times in the film, the audience doesn’t turn into a period drone. The incorporation of the new age music in the old time setting breaths new life into the cold dramatic film category, it gives the movie a very youth like feel to it. There are instances through out the film where the music completely energizes the feeling one should have while watching a film like this. For instance, while at a masked ball the music played over the court dancing is “Hong Kong Garden” by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Clearly the song was not around during Marie Antoinette’s reign of France, the only connection that could be made could possibly be the updo’s of the actresses, and of course Siousxie Sous hair sprayed goth fro.  Hearing the tune really makes the audience connect with the actresses, it seems as though it is a real party, one that we would attend today. It creates a modern, human connection one can achieve best with music that one can relate to. Another instance is during her 16^th birthday party when The Cure is playing in the back round while drunken royalty stays up all night partying until sunrise. This song, herd at many parties strums up memories of good times had at parties with friends, and the audience realizes that these people are actually real, and not just names and history.

Marie Antoinette is such a great film. There is so much creativity in every aspect of the film, the clothing, the towers of hair, the jewels and even the masterpieces that are made out of frosting and chocolate are stunning. The velvet, hoop skirts and the corsets are so vibrant, just like the film. The historic palace of Versailles and the landscapes of old France mixed with new wave and post punk is one of the most creative ideas a filmmaker has ever created. With this recipe for a movie it can’t leave a bad taste in your mouth.  You will desperately seek sweets during this film, so eat your cake and fall in love with Marie Antoinette.

Katherine 

Vice.com/picture-perfect is an awesome website that features documentary webisodes of different photographers. The episodes are about 20 minutes long with only one 15 second commercial in the beginning that you can choose to skip over. Webisodes are nice because there is no rating so they can literally show anything on them. In one particular webisode they feature Donald Webber, A famed Australian photographer. He goes to Fukushima to photograph the after effects of the earthquake, tsunami and also the after life of the nuclear zone where everyone was evacuated. It was a lot realer than watching a documentary on television, some of the content would never be featured on TV. It’s nice because it’s a different medium to show the things that have never been made before. Picture-perfect is great because it has all of the videos ready to watch, unlike other sites like hulu where you have to wait to see all of your favorite television episodes. Just click on the bottom of the screen and there are 20 more videos to choose from. The ad space is around the webisode, no interrupting the show just advertising on the sides that can be removed just by clicking full screen. It is nice to have a television with a remote to switch back and forth through stations some times, but picture perfect is so cool that you want to watch the entire episode without even thinking of moving the mouse. Another great thing about webisodes is that there are thousands of them, and anybody at all can make them. If you want to find a webisode about weirdoes doing a show in the middle of a street, you can find it and watch it. Try doing that on cable. 

The Killing

AMC is going to make a killing with their new show “The Killing’. It is one of the most creative dramas on television at this time. It’s an old idea, the crime scene investigation type drama without the corny characters and banter. The pilot starts with a woman running in the eerie woods screaming. The filming reminds the viewer of the mothman prophecies or even the movie the ring with the dark colors and murky lighting. Another woman is going on a jog in the woods during a split scene and comes across a dead bear, reminiscent of the X files. The beginning 2 minutes of the pilot let the viewer know that they are in for a journey with a Twin Peaks type of style. The pilot takes place in a very rainy Seattle with a woman named Sarah Linden who is lead detective in the Seattle homicide department. As she is called in to take a glimpse of a crime scene she is bombarded by a going away party for her. She is planning on moving to Sonoma California in about 12 hours, but is called on one last minute case to figure out the whereabouts of a person that belongs to a bloody sweatshirt found in the woods. When the opening credits start and they are almost exactly like the 6 feet under credits, obviously this series is going to be bleak, but in an awesome and interesting way. You meet the characters after the credits. Detective Linden is working on the new case all the way to her flight that leaves at 9:30. Its really great to see a strong female lead in television today, considering all the television shows out now that just degrade women. She is Smart, and strong and is willing to always be there to do her job, only later in the season we will see if that is actually a downfall. Having the lead role, and such a confident women, with a great job, should be inspirational to girls these days. Although it is not a recommended television show for children.  The entire show is mysterious, when it is dark outside, whether it is nighttime or just storming the show is very creepy. There are great film and sound tricks made throughout the show to make the viewer wait with anticipation and jump at the right time. Grab somebody to cuddle with because it is a really shocking show. When the sun is shining in the episode you feel that everything is ok, and then something happens. When it gets dark, grab your blanket because it gets really creepy and scary. The show leads the viewer into thinking many conclusions and leaves you feeling really smart, until they throw a twist at you and you realize that you had no idea in the first place. The other characters that you meet in the pilot are also really great, the partner Stephen Holder is new to the homicide department, but he doesn’t look or act it but only because he looks like a junky, he’s a dirt bag with poor grammar that acts as though he has been arrested many times. Detective Holders creep side really makes him an interesting character in the mix, a character that the crime scene investigation shows have never had before. It's going to be exciting watching the development of his character. You meet a few other characters during the episode but it is unclear whether or not they are going to be a crucial part of the rest of the season. The ending leaves many questions for the audience. Will Sara move to California? Will there be many cases to be solved throughout the entire season, or is the one they are working on in the pilot the case that will be studied throughout the entire season. The only thing that the viewer knows is that Detective Linden has a plane to catch at 9:30 is she going to catch it? Or is she going to continue on solving this great murder mystery. “The killing” is the show to watch this season, or you may be next.

Katherine