Mulholland Drive (2001) Film Review - David Lynch directed

Plot Summary - A psychological thriller, set in Los Angeles - written and directed by David Lynch. A woman (Laura Harring) - just about to be executed at gunpoint by two bad guys - is in a car wreck on Mulholland Drive, then finds herself amnesia-bound, with no memory of who she is as she sneaks from the accident scene and into a nearby apartment. Actress Betty (Naomi Watts) comes to L.A. seeking stardom, and arrives the same day to stay in the apartment while her aunt, who owns it, is out of town. Oddly befriending the woman who is found camping in the apartment, the two join forces to solve the mystery of who this woman is. Meanwhile, a separate story involves a director who is being "coaxed" by some mafia types into hiring a certain actress for his new film. How these, and other - seemingly unrelated stories - piece together is the mystery of it - really the mystery!!

Review - Okay, this film is an odd one - and being written and directed by David Lynch, that's no surprise (hmm, the most bizarre film I've ever seen in my life, Eraserhead (1977), was his creation). I found the film confusing in a way - but thought-inspiring and, well, what I might call "creepy cool". The style of the film is interesting, tense, sort of mesmerizingly weird - with lots of facial close-ups, odd camera movements, and typical David Lynch background music and assortment of odd characters. Rating - 9/10 stars

Another Life (2001) Film Review - Ioan Gruffudd

Plot Summary - Crime and adultery in early 1920s England, based on a true story. Beginning in 1913, we meet a British family the main focus being twentyish daughter Edith aka Edie and her slightly younger sis Avis. Edie, the star here, is a modern girl with a career as a bookkeeper in a millinery shop and a boring boyfriend named Percy, just about to head off for War. Edie is a free spirit who lives in a sort of fairy tale world and loves to use her imagination - she sees Percy as some sort of great male Knight-in-Shining-Armor in the making, a character from some book. They get married, the War ends, and their dull life in a completely lovely and charming house in Ilford (see, told ya I was an anglophile) begins. Enter Avis' new boyfriend, a devilishly handsome playboy sailor/younger man named Freddy (played by the oh so handsome Ioan Gruffudd). Edie and Freddy fall in love/passionate lust and so begins an affair. When hubby won't let her out of their now horrible marriage, she begins to fantasize with Freddy about ways to murder the husband.

Review - This film really recreates a time and place with art direction, period set design, and costuming that is, well, rather glorious. What lovely outfits - and oh all those hats! I particularly enjoyed the earlier 1913 setting, the clothes, the girl's room with all the Victorian scrap on the walls, the kitchen, how cool (oh time machine - where are you, I love 1913)! Two silent film posters shown on the walls during a train station scene, set in 1921/22 - Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid" and Valentino's "Blood and Sand". The acting in this is excellent by the way - the actress who plays Edie, Natasha Little, is quite memorable. And one reason I did want to see this was to see heartthrob Ioan Gruffudd, gorgeous as usual here - very swoon-worthy. I really liked this, especially interesting since it was a true story that I was unfamiliar with (and kudos for them telling us it's a true story at the beginning - I hate it when I'm not sure, or they don't tell you until the end - since I go into a film cold, without knowing anything about what the plot is, I sometimes don't know). Good one. Rating - 9/10 stars