Just got back from seeing Milk...



Seriously one of the best movies I've seen this past year. I wish I could be more coherent about specifics but I can say that Sean Penn continues to be phenomenal and I was really impressed with the entire supporting cast (James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Josh Brolin). Also someone who stood out? Fellow Torontonian Alison Pill in one of her first big roles - others might remember her as the oldest daughter in Dan in Real Life. Gus Van Sant did a fantastic job with the film and paid tribute to a significant person (and piece) of history in an extremely powerful way. It's not a preachy film at all but obviously it does present a specific point of view (I think a lot of that is thanks to a fantastic script by first-timer Dustin Lance Black)...either way, when I got out of the film I wanted to protest against all human rights injustices (which says something about both the movie and myself - since I've been known to get involved in a cause of two).

Seriously - if you haven't seen it? Go now.

Okay, before I get to the movie review itself...I need to first have a small moment to excitedly share the actors I managed to catch a glimpse of last night (some at my movie, some not): Viggo Mortenson, Jason Isaacs, Mark Strong, Tommy Chong (awesome), Colin Firth, Jessica Biel and Ben Barnes. A little squee-worthy, no? If nothing else, it helped soften the blow of having to go back to work after the movie and then having to work until 1 am.

Those last three actors I mentioned were in (and at!) the movie I went to see last night, Easy Virtue:



And let me start my review with 4 words I never thought I'd type...Jessica Biel was fantastic. I know...I wouldn't believe me either but it's true! She plays Larita Huntington in the film - based on the Noel Coward play (of the same name) - which centers around her American character meeting her new in-laws after tying the knot with a young Englishman (Ben Barnes) on the spur of the moment in France. Colin Firth appears as the groom’s father and Kristin Scott Thomas as the formidable family matriarch. It's directed by Stephan Elliott...which is not a name most people are familiar with, but if I say he directed Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, it might ring a bell.

Elliott, Firth, Biel and Barnes were all there to introduce the movie - and the audience was let it on a secret. Not only was the screening a world premiere...even the actors hadn't seen the finished product (cue nervous glances and giggles from the actors). Elliott said that Colin in particular was nervous as he's never not seen a film before viewing at a premiere (except for his very first film...which I'm guessing was probably a reference to Another Country)...so the director promised to have an ambulance handy to whisk Colin to the hospital if he couldn't take it. The actors took their seats (about 6 rows in front of me...I took a picture but my shitty camera phone has no zoom) and the lights dimmed...

( Did I seize the opportunity of the darkened room to abscond with Mr. Firth...or did I stay and watch the film? Decisions, decisions... )