Monday, December 21, 2009

NINE! (2009)

NINE! there are definitely more than nine reasons why i love NINE, but here it goes.

9 reasons why i loved nine:

1) this is the product of the endless inspiration federico fellini's 8 1/2 brought. lets go back in time and chronicle how nine was created. first fellini's 8 1/2. then inspired an italian play by mario fratti. which inspired the tony award-winning musical called nine based on arthur kopit's book. which inspired michael tolkin and the late anthony minghella to write a screenplay. and voila! thus rob marshall creating NINE!!

2) the story-line was switched around from the original 8 1/2 but it was done in such a creative way that even a fellini fanatic like myself cannot be mad about. although, keep in mind that nothing. let me say NOTHING will or ever top the original.

3) uhh... the cast! it consists of mostly academy award winners like dd-lewis, nicole kidman, judi dench, marion cotillard, penelope cruz and sophia loren! academy award nominee and golden globe winner kate hudson and grammy winner fergie is also in it. and uhhhh, when will they ever get the most beautiful and talented women and the greatest actor of our generation together in one huge screen ever again?!!

4) the wardrobe! god, d-lewis looked soooo good in that simple and classic white shirt and skinny black tie look. every outfit revealed something different about each character whether it was from cruz's red dressed matched up with a red fur coat or cotillard's simple yet stern little black dress. the two time oscar winner for costume design, colleen atwood returns back from her second win for chicago to dress the stars in nine. she won her first oscar for best wardrobe for memoirs of a geisha.

5) i want to be italian. it made me want to get more in touch with my italian side. i just took a italian cinema course and all their films are entirely relatable and heartbreaking. it makes you realize the importance of one's life. and i wanted to go to france this summer but now im thinking i should just go to italy. but sad as it is, i probably will go to france instead. but picking up some italian on the side doesnt sound so bad either. i think im going to start answering my phone in italian now. pronto?

6) the songs in nine. i honestly expected the songs to be a little better but the ones i liked, i LOVED. i shouldnt underestimate the power of fergie's voice cause she really can belt it out. fergie's be italian and kate hudson's cinema italiano are my two favorite songs from the film. with their instantly catchy lyrics and italian references, i couldnt help but feel like dancing along with them as they pranced around in their frilly underwear.

7) daniel day lewis. duh. if i had a man like dday right here, id probably be all over him like glue. its no wonder why all the women in the film love him, he is simply irresistible. i cant imagine anyone else playing guido contini. he brings out the selfish, arrogant, and the lost soul completely reminiscent of the original contini. this is the first film ive ever seen dday in where he is a womanizer and in a vulnerable state. the first time i saw him kiss a woman on screen was in the ballad of jack and rose. and let me tell you, his romantic scene with catherine keener was just so uncomfortable to watch. it was like watching a twelve year old kiss their crush in the 'ten minutes of heaven' closet for the first time. bland and awkward. but ill let that go considering that he is freaking daniel day lewis. *sigh.

8) it lets the world know more and more about the work of federico fellini. even though 8 1/2 is autobiographical, it is not entirely a full representation of who he is. its a film within a film about a film. and as soon as you think you know who fellini really was, he turns the table around and shows you that its all a fabrication. please do check out his work, theres so much truth in the world he creates.

9) my expectations for the film were really waaaaay to high that when i watched it, it couldnt really meet up. but nonetheless, it was a great film to watch. like they say in the movie, show them what we want. and thats exactly what we got. we got music, beautiful actors, designer wardrobe, and a fantastic story to go along with it. you honestly cant ask for more. B+