Anna Karenina (2012) / appreciation for Aaron Taylor-Johnson's mustache

"You can't ask why about love."

I'm being very honest with the title there. I really am not going to talk about the movie Anna Karenina that much. I'm just mostly going to talk about Aaron Taylor-Johnson's mustache. I wish I was kidding.

Anna Karenina was very much what I expected it to be. It was quite pleasant to watch, not just because of the certain mustache, but also because of the beautiful sets and the cinematography and the costumes. Joe Wright has directed many films that I have enjoyed watching, first and foremost Atonement, which is one of my favorite films of all time, and which also made me fall irrevocably in love with James McAvoy. And which I haven't seen in a few years, actually! Gee, I need to fix that. And see if it's still favorite material.

I am one of those people who have always liked Keira Knightley. Admittedly, most of my positive sentiments for her derive from Atonement (and that gorgeous green dress!), but I've enjoyed her other performances, too. If nothing else, she can definitely pull of a sophisticated, 18th/19th century aristocrat lady.  By the way, the make-up department should get an Oscar for making Jude Law look so unattractive. That takes some skill, yo!

I find it amusing that Matthew Macfayden has been demoted from being Keira Knightley's love interest to being her brother. Ouch! The years have not been as kind to Mr. Darcy as they have been to Elizabeth Bennet. (Macfayden is eleven years Knightley's senior, though, so it's only fair that he retires from romantic leading roles earlier than her.) I liked his character, though. Comic relief is always likable.

The film was a tad too long, and at times felt very aimless. I'm not sure about the necessity of some of the subplots. Like I'm not sure whether I liked the way they used the stage as a device in telling the story. It felt strange, and confusing in the beginning.

The romance of Anna Karenina and Count Vronsky is the heart of the story, so I guess it is the thing that has to be blamed for the film leaving my mind un-blown. I mean, of course I find the premise completely believable: Bring me Aaron Taylor-Johnson wearing that mustache and the hair and the uniform, and have him shoot a few of those seductive glances at me, and I'll leave my imaginary husband before you can say, "It's ironic that Jude Law plays the decent, saint-like husband who gets cheated on by his wife who falls for someone young and good-looking".

Anyway. What I most enjoyed about the film was the beginning: when they brought in Aaron T-J (damn you, dude, for getting married and changing your last name into something so long and troublesome to type) and painted the picture about what a charmer and a heart-breaker he is, and then had him and Keira exchange some of those lingering looks loaded with sexual tension, and showed him kissing hands in intense and intimate close-ups. Ooooh. Yeah, after that no member of the audience can blame Anna Karenina for ruining her life for this young hunk of a man.

Let's review:

The best things about Anna Karenina, pt. 1: The smoking hot glances full of pure sex and seduction.

The best things about Anna Karenina, pt. 2: The super hot close-ups of kissing of hands.

Unfortunately, after the hand-kissing and the sex-glancing have worked their magic, and Anna and Vronsky fall in love so swiftly and randomly during one dance that you think you're watching a Disney animation, my interest and hopes for the film drop significantly, not to to be raised again.

Not even letting us witness the two of them kissing, more passionately and more up close than any of us in the audience feel comfortable watching, could revive the excited feelings I felt in the beginning. Because, in the end, I felt we didn't get to see enough layers in the characters. We see they are both very attractive, but we don't really get why that attraction turned into love. But, well, you can't ask why about love, you know. Still, I wanted to go a little deeper. I didn't end up caring about the characters too much.

What I did care about, however, was Aaron Taylor-Johnson's mustache. It's weird. One should not look good in a mustache. Who really wears a mustache? Except for Charlie Chaplin and Hitler, and only one of them looks good wearing it. A mustache and a head full of fake blond curls is not the easiest combination to rock, especially if you are obligated to charm all of Earth's female population while doing it. So, two thumbs up for Aaron T-J for showing that mustache can be the new sexy. We can only hope he'll adapt that look to the Kick-Ass sequel, too. Really, honestly, seriously: Not many young men could pull of that look.

The best things about Anna Karenina, pt. 3: The mustache.

I went to see Anna Karenina in the cinema of my childhood and teenage years, which was so nice, because it had been ages since the last time I went there. The audience consisted mostly of high school kids, who had come to see the film as a class assignment. Me and and my friend felt old, and oddly envious of the lucky 16-year-olds, for having such simple lives, and just hanging out at school, only dreaming about their future, instead of having to live it. Anyway, the teenagers giggled at certain parts that made them feel uncomfortable, and that made me feel uncomfortable. At times I didn't have an idea why they were bursting out laughing. Oh well. Perhaps you can't ask why about unintentional comedy, either.

Then I came to think that had they made the Star Wars prequels ten years later, Aaron Johnson (or Taylor-Johnson, whatever) could have been the perfect Anakin Skywalker that Hayden Christensen was never quite able to be. He actually might have made some of the awkward romance scenes work, too, with a few of those Glances of Seduction. Might have. Just something I hope to have a detailed, vivid, lengthy dream about tonight.

Hmm.

I start writing these things, thinking I have hardly anything to say, because the film didn't have much of an impact on me, but then I end up writing a post, comparable to a Tolstoy classic in length. Oh, the power of a good mustache. I'll finish by quoting the actual novel, and maybe thus fool you into thinking that this has been a very intelligent and sophisticated post, indeed.

He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.

~ Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Trailer for Hanna

I've been looking forward to Hanna since I heard about it, and by the looks of it I haven't been waiting for nothing. Saoirse Ronan is most probably one of future's big names; she's already snatched an Oscar nomination for Atonement, so deservingly. Now she rejoins forces with the Atonement director Joe Wright, and there's two good enough reasons to look forward to something. There's Cate Blanchett, too! And don't we all just love child assassins?

As a bonus, the story is partly set in Finland, which is of course cool for a humble little folk like us. Sure, it was actually shot in Germany, but anyway. Do you think they're actually trying to speak in a Finnish accent there, or just in some undefinable, random accent? I guess they're not Finnish, just living in Finland...? Anyway, Finnish accent must be terribly hard to acquire. It takes talent to sound so ugly, haha.

2011 looks gooooood.

"I only really dance sitting down." - James McAvoy

(The title is from a YouTube video, an Unscripted interview with James and Keira Knightley. He gives a demonstration of his best moves as he tells about the song he likes to dance to the most. Aww, isn't he adorable...)

James Andrew McAvoy was born in 21 April 1979, in Port Glasgow, Scotland. Before inspired to go into acting, he thought about becoming a missionary or joining the Navy. He worked his way through gueststarring in TV shows and little roles in little films, into leading roles and the hearts of audiences. For his role in the 2007 film Atonement he was nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA. He's established a small-ish, yet loyal fanbase, which I'm proud to be a part of.

Like many others, I first became acquainted with James McAvoy around Christmas in 2005, when I saw him in the first Narnia film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in which he played the faun, Mr. Tumnus. Though the role is not that big, he caught my attention. I walked around in my red, hand-knitted scarf a lot that winter... (It's actually still my favourite scarf. I'm almost happy it's getting colder, because now I get to use it again!)

Next I saw him in The Last King of Scotland. I took a film course in English in high school (or whatever I should call the Finnish 'lukio'. I never really got the hang of these terms...) and we got to choose which film we wanted to see in cinema. I voted for this one, because "it has Mr. Tumnus in it!" and fortunately we ended up seeing it, instead of Nic Cage's Ghost Rider.... Gee. The movie is very very good, and James is very very good in it. Everyone always talks about Forest Whitaker and his Oscar-worthy performance as the dictator Idi Amin (don't get me wrong, I know he's phenomenal), but James' performance as the young Scottish doctor, who becomes Amin's personal advisor, shouldn't be overlooked.

What did it for me for good, however, was Atonement. Robbie Turner, a housekeeper's son, who falls in love with Keira Knigthley's rich girl Cecilia - and who then are ripped apart by a terrible lie - is a great, multidimensional character, whom James plays just beautifully, in his journey from the easygoing, goodhearted, lovesick gardener boy to the sick and tired, mentally unstable soldier. He's brilliant and funnily enough, James has been my favourite actor ever since. He was also a major contributor in the process that made Atonement possibly my favourite film of all time. Or at least one of the Ultimate Favourites.

After James established his position at the top of my Most Wanted list, I began to hunt down as many of his films as I could, determined to like them, no matter what. Not very surprisingly, I've liked every one of his films I've seen so far, more or less. I even like him in Wimbledon, as the idiotic cyclist brother of Paul Bettany! Not very unbiasedly, I admit.

Inside I'm dancing, or Rory O'Shea Was Here as it's called in US (I like the UK title so much more, I think it's brilliant and and one of my favourite movie titles ever), is one of James' earlier films. He plays Rory O'Shea, a young disabled man, who arrives at a residental home and turns things upside down by his sarcastic, foul-mouthed, rebellious attitude. Inside I'm Dancing is a genuinely funny and touching little film and it's nice to see James in a slightly less traditional role.

Becoming Jane is a light, harmless, a bit dramatized story of how a young woman named Jane Austen became the great, famous Jane Austen we know today. James plays her love interest Tom Lefroy, who charms Jane with her arrogance and that city-boy-ish recklessness. It's a romcom, really, set in the late 18th century! And James is as drool-excreting (yep, just coined a new word...) as ever, ah! That library scene (James handles himself very well in libraries, just think of Atonement...) is wonderfully electric and of course the dance scene - hearts skip beats everywhere as he emerges out of nowhere (happens at 1:10, approximately, if you're impatient), and that smile, oh man...

Then there's Starter for 10, a silly little romcom about a nerdy college kid and a trap of two girls. It's quite funny, actually, but if James wasn't in it, I probably never would have watched it in the first place, let alone bought it on DVD. Haha. Favourite actors make us do crazy things.

In Penelope James plays the love interest of Christina Ricci, a girl under a curse. You know, she has a nose of a pig, and so on. I know it sounds horrible, but Penelope is quite charming and sweet, really, a modern fairytale, one could say. James' character is a young man with a serious gambling problem, and he rocks that awesome straight, messy, long-ish hair. Great hairdo, okay film.

Before seeing Wanted I wasn't entirely sure wheter he would be able to pull it off or not. Let's face it - when you think of an actionhero, James McAvoy is the last thing that comes to your mind. At least before Wanted. James plays Wesley Gibson, who's just so thoroughly bored with his life, he doesn't even bother doing anything about it. Then he's trained to be an assassin and he kicks ass and bends bullets and kisses Angelina Jolie. And, what do you know, he turned out to be a totally believable badass! The film is just ridiculously absurd but highly entertaining and that one action scene towards the end kind of made me drool as I worshipfully stared at the screen. Damn, my little James was all grown up.

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I lived in England, near London, for seven months in 2008-09. During one of my numerous trips to the wonderful, lovely, awesome capital of UK, I walked past a poster in the subway. I only had spotted the name 'James McAvoy' on it, before the flow of people forced me to move on. That was enough, though. I soon found out he was performing in a play called Three Days of Rain. This was obviously far too good an opportunity to be missed - I probably never would've forgiven myself if I had. 

So, I bought the ticket for a price that almost made me grimace (but only almost!), and the last week before returning to Finland, I sat down in an uncomfortable seat in row 12 (too far from the stage for my taste - I wanted to see every pore and every drop of perspiration!) in Apollo Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue. Minutes before the play started I began to sweat and my pulse raced, as I was suddenly certain James had become ill and I'd be forced to watch an understudy do his role. Luckily, my worries were all in vain.
 

The play was... okay. I blame the damn language barrier for the fact that I didn't enjoy it too much - there was a lot of talk, rapid talk, and the language was quite difficult. I mean, I knew what was going on, but not understanding all of the dialogue deprived me of the biggest possible indulgence, damn it. But it was quite a good play, and interesting acting-wise - act one was set in the present, and the second act in the past, so, for example, in act two James played the father of his other character. And guess what? I thought he was amazing. There were only three actors, so he really had a chance to shine. Also, there actually rained on the stage for a couple of times, which was cool. There was fire, too!

Afterwards, I went to the stagedoor with a bunch of other people (mostly young-ish females... go figure) and got his autograph. It was so weird. I condenced all my feelings of awe and years of admiration into one highly clever and witty sentence: "I hope my pen works." Plus I muttered it so quietly I doubt he even heard me. Then I walked away, stopped after a while and thought about going back because the whole thing had happened so quickly - I'd hardly had a good look at him - but I kept going in the end and sent my friend a message saying that my hand had just been an inch away from James McAvoy's. Damn, it still feels so surreal... I have the autograph hanging on my wall, and every now and then I stop to look at it and just think "oh MAN".

Next James lents his voice to a cartoon Gnomeo and Juliet. It's Romeo and Juliet... with garden gnomes....... It sound very, eh, tired, but the trailer looks actually kind of fun. Then there's two big-budget sequels (or the other one is a prequel), Wanted 2 (haha. Okay. Bet it'll be twice as ridiculous) and X-Men: First Class (so I guess I have to do some magic and become interested in X-Men, then...). Last year he starred in The Last Station, which I haven't yet got my hands on. But anyway. Life looks quite good.

Wrap-up, then. Now I should explain why I really like him so much. These things don't really follow any rational pattern, not in my case at least. I'm sure there are many actors with as much or more talent, better looks and more successful careers, so why on Earth is some random little Scot my favourite actor? Maybe because of this or this. Because he's so funny and charming and genuine, and he has a lovely lovely accent and lovely lovely blue eyes and a messy hair, and he seems so amazingly down-to-earth (I'm a sucker for down-to-earth), and when I briefly met him, he seemed - though quite relaxed, polite and kind - a bit awkward, as if it'd felt as odd to him as it suddenly felt to me, that I was asking this totally normal guy to write his name on a piece of paper. I like normal. Normal rocks. Therefore I like James McAvoy. And James McAvoy indeed does rock.

I finish with some quotes and my favourite picture of my favourite actor. Oh, how I adore him.

"I always believed that I never wanted to be an actor. I only did it because I was allowed to do it and I had to do something."

"We're in a horrible, repugnant place now where kids are told it's their right and due to be hugely famous. Not good at their job, not good at anything, just hugely famous. This is not sane. Little girls think they'll be famous if they have vast breast implants and might as well die if they don't."

"The minute you start to strategize too much, the more you start to think you're in control of your own fate. And you're not, really."




 (So that was 'the big  secret', haha. Hope it was worth the epic wait... Also, if you made it this far... I salute you, mate! This was a pretty, eh, lenghty post. It had to be.)

My TOP 5 favorite movie couples

I'm a sucker for a good movie romance. Here are my favorite movie couples of all time!



5. Cecilia & Robbie (Atonement)

If I had to name my favorite movie - strictly just one - I would probably refuse to do that because it's quite impossible, but if I absolutely HAD TO, I think I would say Atonement. It is a very beautiful film, both visually and story-wise. It's one of those films I just need to watch regularly. (The book is excellent, too.) Oh, and it really fired up my love for James McAvoy, who's been my favorite actor ever since. The story of Robbie and Cecilia is not the happiest one, quite the opposite, but they are granted their moments: the library scene (just smoldering hot), their hands secretly touching each other in the dinner table, when they meet after a long time in the cafeteria and Cecelia puts her hand in Robbie's cheek... Oh yes. I really want to watch it again, it's been too long!

"Robbie."
"Cecilia."
"I love you."
"I love you."


4. Jack & Ennis (Brokeback Mountain)

First, how awesome are Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger? Answer: very. Movies this slow usually mostly bore me, but this one I can watch again and again. It's really so much more than a "gay cowboy movie", ugh, I hate that term. It has a lot of beautiful moments, which Gyllenhaal/Ledger act just perfectly. When they meet for the first time after four years and just jump on each other... I could watch that scene a million times.

"You know, it could be like this, just like this, always."

3. Celine & Jesse (Before Sunrise/Before Sunset)

This couple stands out, as their story is less epic and dramatic than the rest - they are actually the only ones on this list, who stand a chance to live happily ever after. Sometimes realism rocks! I ADORE these two little movies. They always make me want to pack my bags and go wander around Europe alone. The chemistry between Celine and Jesse is SO REAL, their story feels SO REAL. This is the kind of thing I want to experience myself! They just click! They are not without their problems of course - there wouldn't be a movie if there weren't problems - but it feels REAL (hi, my name is Broken Record, nice to meet you!) and like it could actually happen in real life. YES. It's awesome. They have talked about making a third one, but only when everyone's stopped waiting for it. There was a gap of nine years between the first two, so I wouldn't hold my breath, but... I like where we were left in the end of the second one.

"Maybe we're only good at brief encounters, walking around in European cities in warm climate."


2. Satine & Christian (Moulin Rouge!)

I might be talking rubbish, but I dare say that Moulin Rouge! was the first movie I really fell in love with. It's also, no doubt, the movie I've watched the most times - I can't give you a number, I lost count a long time ago. This is earth-shattering, life-altering, larger-than-life love... and of course it ends in tears. Maybe that's what makes it so powerful. After all, that's what the whole movie is about - Christian telling their story that ended too soon. Ewan McGregor is just dreamy in this film. He's even better as this romantic, poor, sensitive young writer than he is as Obi-Wan Kenobi (and that's saying something!). His singing is just... aah! I just melt away everytime he starts singing Your Song. Or anything, really. Oh, where's that soundtrack, I feel like melting!

"Come what may, I will love you, until my dying day."


1. Rose & Jack (Titanic)

There's really no other option here. Number one has to be the most epic, the most heartbreaking, the most legendary love story of all. (Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler don't stand a chance here, for my opinion they were never meant for each other.) Titanic is just... well, it's Titanic! I don't think I need to explain myself. There won't probably ever be anything quite like Titanic, for me at least. I was just glancing through some of the lines, and almost got shivers just doing that. Jack and Rose just are Jack and Rose, and you can't really beat that. (I feel like saying something nasty about the main couple of Avatar - see, I can't even remember their names! - but I won't, because it would imply that I'm bitter because of the huge success of a film that relies only on special effects and boys and their toys and the greed of JC and because Titanic should always be Cameron's most successful film and it isn't anymore and it's stupid . And I'm not bitter. Eh... Am not! Much.) Titanic is a very special film for me, and 'epic love story' is practically just another way of saying Jack and Rose. Amen. (And Kate Winslet is my second favorite actor, right after Mr. McAvoy. Leo's not terrible either.)

"When the ship docks, I'm getting off with you."
"This is crazy."
"I know. It doesn't make any sense. That's why I trust it."