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cimoreneNatalie Portman is my favorite actress. Oddly enough this doesn't mean that I want to have sex with her or anything - it's more that I want to be her. Or just think she's very cool, and want to be a lot of her characters, one might say.
My favorite two roles of hers are Alice in Closer and Molly in Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Regardless of whether Closer is a meticulously-constructed gem or pretentious bullshit (which I think is open to legitimate debate), I love her character and how she plays it - bohemian and whimsical, cheerful, and a combination of passionate investment and a curious emotional detachment that makes her even stronger.
And as to Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium - it's not a better-known role, from a smallish movie that took forever to actually get released. This is probably because the movie, while it has its compelling moments, isn't that well written. I mean, it's presented as a children's movie, but the story is about Natalie's Molly dealing with the death of her mentor and father-figure (the magical toy-creator Mr Magorium, played by Dustin Hoffman). I mean, come on. Even though I saw this movie a couple of years ago, by the time I got around to buying it I had actually forgotten that, and innocently walked into... well, fathers and mentors dying is my #1 guaranteed tear jerker (#2 is dogs dying). So magical toystore aside - which works on the allegory level, not so much on the surface level because the silliness is very much pastede on yey in spots - the story is actually a rather adult coming-of-age tale about negotiating the transition to adulthood, taking up the mantle from one's parent/mentor and/or living up to them, as well as becoming truly independent over the force of an internal reluctance to do so. One of the brightest points is the three-way friendships between the narrator, Zach Mills's Eric (a socially awkward little boy who narrates in the first person), Natalie's Molly, and Jason Bateman's Henry; I read a sexual tension between Henry and Molly that's never explicitly touched on - one of the few points where the director/writer, Zach Helm, actually does show a light touch. But, on the other hand - just to make that less attractive - in addition to Magorium being, you know, a dude, Molly can't step into her role as heir apparent (and unlock her own magic) until encouraged both by Eric, a little boy, and Henry, an accountant who starts by not even believing in magic, but Solves It All and Mansplains The Problem Away after a prophetic dream allows him to suddenly be wiser in the ways of magic than Molly is. So - that's a major fail on the ending.
I also really love the visual design and Natalie's styling in both of these films which is also quite important to me, haha. So here is a screencapture-picspam. Or two, actually. Because I really felt like it.
My favorite two roles of hers are Alice in Closer and Molly in Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Regardless of whether Closer is a meticulously-constructed gem or pretentious bullshit (which I think is open to legitimate debate), I love her character and how she plays it - bohemian and whimsical, cheerful, and a combination of passionate investment and a curious emotional detachment that makes her even stronger.
And as to Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium - it's not a better-known role, from a smallish movie that took forever to actually get released. This is probably because the movie, while it has its compelling moments, isn't that well written. I mean, it's presented as a children's movie, but the story is about Natalie's Molly dealing with the death of her mentor and father-figure (the magical toy-creator Mr Magorium, played by Dustin Hoffman). I mean, come on. Even though I saw this movie a couple of years ago, by the time I got around to buying it I had actually forgotten that, and innocently walked into... well, fathers and mentors dying is my #1 guaranteed tear jerker (#2 is dogs dying). So magical toystore aside - which works on the allegory level, not so much on the surface level because the silliness is very much pastede on yey in spots - the story is actually a rather adult coming-of-age tale about negotiating the transition to adulthood, taking up the mantle from one's parent/mentor and/or living up to them, as well as becoming truly independent over the force of an internal reluctance to do so. One of the brightest points is the three-way friendships between the narrator, Zach Mills's Eric (a socially awkward little boy who narrates in the first person), Natalie's Molly, and Jason Bateman's Henry; I read a sexual tension between Henry and Molly that's never explicitly touched on - one of the few points where the director/writer, Zach Helm, actually does show a light touch. But, on the other hand - just to make that less attractive - in addition to Magorium being, you know, a dude, Molly can't step into her role as heir apparent (and unlock her own magic) until encouraged both by Eric, a little boy, and Henry, an accountant who starts by not even believing in magic, but Solves It All and Mansplains The Problem Away after a prophetic dream allows him to suddenly be wiser in the ways of magic than Molly is. So - that's a major fail on the ending.
I also really love the visual design and Natalie's styling in both of these films which is also quite important to me, haha. So here is a screencapture-picspam. Or two, actually. Because I really felt like it.
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Date: 5 Aug 2009 05:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 5 Aug 2009 07:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 5 Aug 2009 07:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 5 Aug 2009 10:01 pm (UTC)