REVIEW: "The Invisible Woman" (2013) Felicity Jones, Ralph Fiennes. Dir. Ralph Fiennes

Charles Dickens had an affair with a younger mistress by the name of Ellen Ternan that lasted thirteen years until his death in 1870. The affair was kept mostly secret, despite the rumors that abounded during his lifetime- he denied it even though he left his wife of 22 years for the young girl, who was 18 at the time they met. Not much is known about the woman herself, hence the title of the film The Invisible Woman, which documents the affair from their first meeting, and mostly from her point of view, as it begins with Ellen (known as Nellie) during her marriage to her husband after Dickens' death, and flashes back to her young adulthood. The film seems to be an attempt to shed light on the mysterious lover of the famed English novelist and increase the value of her own life as something other than Dickens' mistress. The problem is, even after this movie I wasn't really convinced she was anything else.

Felicity Jones plays Nellie and gives a good performance in the title role, bringing some intensity to the part of the conflicted and intellectually curious young girl, trying to show us what someone like Charles Dickens would have seen in her despite their nearly thirty year age difference. She's the youngest of three sisters who live together with their mother (Kristen Scott Thomas) and all are aspiring actresses. They move in the same London society circles as Dickens, and Nellie in particular is a devoted fan of the author, pouring over all of his works and keeping them close to her at all times in a collection under her bed. She idolizes the man and when they first meet as cast members in a production of one of his plays, there is an immediate sparks between them. Dickens is played by Ralph Fiennes (who also directs this movie) as a jolly, amusing, and worldly soul drawn to the unconventional, and seems to be attracted to Nellie in spite of himself. He's not shown as a leering, predatory older man- in fact he tries to distance himself from Nellie at first, but his marriage to his wife (played by Joanna Scanlon from The Thick of It) has deteriorated so badly that there is no longer much affection between them at all, and she hardly seems to mind when he sends her in person to deliver his birthday gift of a gold bracelet to Nellie after it was mistakenly delivered to her.

Fiennes directs the film with a sure hand, taking care to make the interior rooms dark and dreary as they would have been in the 1850's, and there is some beautiful cinematography in the outside settings especially. But no matter how many shots we get of an aged Nellie (who is never for one moment convincing as a fortysomething woman- she always looks like a teenager) taking long walks on the beach as she agonizes over her troubled past, I just could not find myself interested in her internal anguish. Fiennes is far more interesting as Dickens, who of course is one of the most fascinating figures of the 19th century, and I couldn't help but wish this movie had been about him instead. Nellie is shown to be a smart girl, but a terrible actress with no prospects in that regard. Her mother is a bit relieved when Dickens wants to take her on as his mistress and support her for the rest of her life, because she knows she'll be taken care of. Nellie feels slightly guilty at first, but soon comes to realizes she has no better options, and after all, he does love her and is willing to leave his wife for her. But there's not much else to the character. Despite Jones' attempt to inject some internal life behind her eyes, I couldn't ever see this woman as anything but a blank slate. There's no sense that she gave up a future of her own to be taken care of by Dickens, if anything it seems she might have gotten lucky.

On paper the story of Charles Dickens' secret 13-year affair seems like it would be a juicy, fascinating subject to tackle. But there hardly seems to be anything truly scandalous that took place over the course of these events, and with a nice but rather unremarkable girl inhabiting the other half of this pairing, there's just not a whole lot of story there to tell.

* *

TRAILER: "The Salvation"

This looks interesting. One of the international films playing at Cannes this year, it's a Danish western, but set in North America, and starring Mads Mikkelson of Hannibal fame, who seems to be something of a hot commodity these days. Eva Green and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (best known from Grey's Anatomy) are in this too, and it looks like it could be kinda cool. Westerns may be making a bit of a comeback this year with this and Tommy Lee jones's The Homesman. We'll see of course.

Movie of the Day: "Like Water For Chocolate" (1992)

The Movie of the Day series will be back on Wednesday with Mother's Day movies for the rest of the week, but here's a quick one for Cinco de Mayo. This is a holiday that's often mistaken for Mexico's Independence Day, which it is not, and frankly, this holiday is celebrated more in the U.S. than in Mexico, but for a film recommendation, I point you towards Like Water For Chocolate, one of the most popular Mexican films of all time. This is a dizzyingly romantic and magical movie, that combines love of cooking with the magic realism genre so celebrated in Latin America. Based on the novel by Laura Esquivel, it became one of the biggest foreign language hits in America ever at the time of its release, and it's one of those movies I really can't imagine anyone not liking.

I couldn't find a subtitled trailer for this one, so here's a clip from the beginning of the movie instead:

Happy Birthday Audrey Hepburn

A great star was born today and though she died far too young at the age of 63, her image continues to be a ubiquitous presence in our culture (sometimes unfortunately so, as the recent Kim Kardashian photo shoot abomination can attest to). But, not even a Kardashian can sully her image, much as she may try. So on this, Audrey Hepburn's 85th birthday, we look back at the screen legend and style icon's most indelible movies, the ones that really solidified her ongoing legacy (and the best fashion moments from them):

1. Roman Holiday (1953)

Of course, her first starring role as the runaway princess made her an overnight sensation, and she was so beloved in this movie that she won a Best Actress Oscar for her first time out. Also the first time she donned that trademark tiara, and even though she gets an adorable boyish haircut here and her daytime ensemble is super cute, the best fashion moment is Princess Ann in full regalia at the end, where she's silently confronted with the truth of her escort's (Gregory Peck) real identity as a reporter.

2. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

I think Holly Golightly is her most iconic role, along with maybe her most iconic wardrobe. Nearly everything she wears in this movie is identifiably her decades later (I even had a collector's item doll of her in one of her many outfits from this- the pink jacket and dress). But I gotta go with the classic- the opening credits of Holly in the black evening dress, gloves, pearls and swirled up beehive. If ever there was a lasting image of Audrey Hepburn it's this one.

3. Sabrina (1954)

One of the aims of this movie seems to be to show Audrey off in as many different designer costumes as possible- the legendary Hollywood costume designer Edith Head won one of her eight Oscars for this film, and very likely mostly for Audrey's attire. But Hepburn herself had a big interest in what she wore, and chose personally from the options she was given. My favorite is a tie between the ball gown she wears on the night she meets up with Humphrey Bogart for some late night champagne on the tennis courts (see below), and the European look she's transformed into when she makes her grand re-entrance into society- but then again, that seriously nutty hat she's sporting in the finale also garners points for making a bold statement. Sigh- it's too hard to choose from this one.

4. Funny Face (1957)

Well, this is a movie where she' s actually playing a runway model for a fashion magazine, and that's mostly so they can show off all the different outfits. But in spite of that fact, the most memorable moment is the beatnick inspired all black leggings and turtleneck plus ponytail ensemble. Yep, this is the dance number in the bar they grabbed and turned into a Gap commercial (and was the basis for the ghastly Kardashian photo shoot). But that red dress with the flowing cape is pretty stunning too.

5. My Fair Lady (1964)

You know, aside from the songs (which, much to Audrey's frustration, she was dubbed for- see her rendition of "Moon River" above in Breakfast at Tiffany's to hear what she really sounds like), this movie in my opinion, really doesn't hold up that well. But it can still be entertaining, again, just to see Eliza Doolittle dressed to the nines in various Edwardian-era getups. Most people probably think of the black and white one with the gigantic hat full of flowers, but I like the sparkling white ball gown with all the jeweled accessories (can you spot another tiara there?)

BOX OFFICE 5/02-5/04: 'Spider-Man' Crushes the Competition

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 debuted with a solid $92 million this weekend despite the mixed reviews, and landed a decent "B+" Cinemascore from the crowds. It wasn't the biggest opening of the year (Captain America holds on to that honor with $95 million) but with an even better "A-" from the under 25 set, the majority of whom were the audience for this one, it can probably be expected to hold well. It's already made $277 million overseas, so this is definitely a hit.

The Other Woman took second with $14 million, a steady hold from last week, as the movie seems to be the perfect female targeted counter-programming on the market, while the third place Heaven is Real also had just a small drop from last weekend and has become 2014's biggest faith-based hit, having now earned $65 million. Captain America came in fourth, bringing its domestic total to $237 million and its worldwide gross to a massive $679 million, meaning it's set to be the highest grossing superhero movie of the year, given that the X-Men franchise has never pulled in numbers like that and The Avengers 2 isn't due until next year. And Rio 2 touched down in fifth place, crossing $100 million but at this point still lagging a bit behind the original Rio.

Top 5:

The Amazing Spider-Man 2- $92 million
The Other Woman- $14.2 million
Heaven is for Real- $8.7 million
Captain America: The Winter Soldier- $7.8 million
Rio 2- $7.6 million

Nothing made a big splash this weekend on the arthouse scene, in particular with Elizabeth Banks' attempt at a star vehicle, Walk of Shame, bombing at the box office and with critics. Next week it's a blockbuster free weekend, but the big release is the comedy Neighbors, with Seth Rogen, and the Jon Favreau directed dramedy Chef. Check back in then to see if either of them can make a splash on Mother's Day weekend before Godzilla comes roaring in to take on Spider-Man. Until then!

'Amazing Spider-Man 2' Not So Amazing

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has the distinction, at 54% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (38% Top Critics) of being the worst reviewed Spider-Man movie ever. I say it's about time (although I can hardly believe it's worse than Spider-Man 3). Even the positive reviews seem to be bending over backwards to give it a pass. The first Amazing Spider-Man was one of the blandest, most mediocre and unnecessary movies I've ever seen- whoever thought that re-booting a barely ten year old franchise and doing more or less the exact same thing with it screamed of a cynical business decision on the part of Sony to use their property or lose the rights for it. But now it seems people are finally catching on (although I'm sure it'll be a big hit anyway). Here's a sampling of some of the responses:

"The successes of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are human, the failures are typical of superhero CGI adaptations. In a world where the incredible is routine, the 'amazing' is mundane." (Globe and Mail)

"How bad is this one...? Amazingly so. Villainy abounds, but the villains are strident contrivances. Spider-Man flies, but does so dutifully, without joy." (Wall Street Journal)

"The fifth Spidey movie in 12 years, is overlong, underwhelming, unnecessary and sure to be a hot ticket." (Rolling Stone)

"The project as a whole conveys a drab sense of bureaucratic necessity, a 'let's get this over with' wheeziness." (Slate)

"I'm still not convinced we needed a new Spider-Man series, but at least this installment is interestingly mediocre instead of actively bad." (Boston Globe)

That last comment is my favorite. "Interestingly mediocre instead of actively bad." Boy, what an endorsement. Whatever chemistry real life couple Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone have onscreen is not enough to carry an entire action movie- it just makes you wish they could have been the ones cast in the original films instead of Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

Happy May Day

Happy May Day everyone! This means of course, that the May movies have arrived in all their glory, this time celebrating another "In Commemoration" month, in honor of Memorial Day. This means war and wartime movies set 100 years ago or more, as look we back on the war time years leading all the way up to World War I. This includes some great films from many different decades, but many more older classics this time, including the one above, famously set during the Civil War, as we all know. My favorites on this list include Paths of Glory, A Very Long Engagement and Grand Illusion, but head on over to the Movies For Every Month page and the May movie page yourself to check out these ten great wartime films. Happy movie watching!

Emma Stone Battles Jimmy Fallon

Emma Stone shows why she's such a good sport, lip sync battling Jimmy Fallon to total victory on The Tonight Show the other day:

TRAILER #2: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

This second action-packed trailer for the new Ninja Turtles movie shows some of the movie's villain in William Fichtner, who's going to be Shredder. But I mostly can't get over how ugly these turtles are up close. Seriously, they're the stuff of kids' nightmares by the looks of this. Ick. It's coming out August 8th, but i'll probably be avoiding it.

Cannes Film Festival 2014 Lineup

The most prestigious film festival in the world will kick off in just a couple of weeks, running this year from May 14-25, and they officially have their film and jury lineup set. This year's jury is led by one of my favorite directors, Jane Campion (right) and is composed of a group of people from a very diverse, international background- although I don't think that ever necessarily dictates that they'll have a certain kind of taste. The members are Campion, French actress Carole Bouquet, Sofia Coppola, Iranian actress Leila Hatami, South Korean actress Jeon Do-yeon, Willem Dafoe, Gael Garcia Bernal, Jia Zhangke and Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (who made Drive).

As for the lineup, most are disappointed that some of the biggest, most anticipated films of the year have been pulled from the festival supposedly because they're not ready yet- in particular, Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice and Alejandro Innaritu's Birdman, both slated to come out in the fall. So for me that leaves these as the selections I'm most curious about:

FOXCATCHER (Channing Tatum, Steve Carell. Dir. Bennett Miller)- Bennett Miller's last two movies, Capote and Moneyball, were big Oscar contenders, so everyone's expecting this one, which was supposed to come out last year but was held all the way over into Cannes, to be a major player. Especially for its two stars, who are trying to break into serious dramatic roles with this material (Steve Carell is playing a murderer, believe it or not).
MAPS TO THE STARS (Mia Wasikowska, Julianne Moore. Dir. David Cronenberg)- I'm always interested in anything from Cronenberg, even if his taste isn't usually for everyone.
MR. TURNER (Timothy Spall. Dir. Mike Leigh)- Same goes for Mike Leigh. I've pretty much loved everything he's ever done, and this biography about British artist J.M.W Turner is his first period film since 1999's Topsy-Turvy.
COMING HOME (Dir. Zhang Yimou)- And you can apply that to Zhang Yimou as well. He hasn't had a critical or commercial hit in a while but he's still one of the great filmmakers and capable of knocking one out of the park at any time.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (Dir. Dean Deblois)- This is showing out of competition but it'll be the first screening of the movie anywhere, so I'm excited to hear how it turned out.
THE ROVER (Dir. David Michou)- I'm curious about this one mostly because I love both Michod's last movie Animal Kingdom and Guy Pearce, who stars in this one too.

And that's pretty much it, actually. I tend to choose films from directors I know to keep track of, but I'll be keeping up with reports on how all of these are received, plus any other films that break out at Cannes. There are plenty of international films that I know nothing about on the list of course, but if there are any breakout sensations from any country I'll be posting about them, so stay tuned.

FEATURETTE: "How to Train Your Dragon 2"

Continuing promotion for what I'm betting will be the biggest animated film of the year, and which recently has been announced to be premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, of all places. I'd say they have some confidence in it, don't you? The new cast additions this time include Cate Blanchett as Hiccup's long lost mom, but this video just catches up with the old gang, all of whose original voice actors are back.

Bob Hoskins 1942-2014

Sad news this morning, as British actor Bob Hoskins has died at the age of 71. A mainstay in character roles in film, theater and television for more than three decades, some of his best known performances were in movies such as The Long Good Friday (1980), Mona Lisa (1986) (for which he was Oscar-nominated for Best Actor), Brazil (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Mermaids (1990), Hook (1991), Nixon (1995) and Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005). His final film appearance was in 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman before retiring from acting due to Parkinson's disease, but he was always a notable addition to any ensemble he was a part of, and according to his agent, he passed away from pneumonia last night after struggling with Parkinson's since 2011.

Here's the trailer for 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, maybe his best known role as a leading man:

And this is a guilty pleasure at best, but for me he's kind of inseparable from his part as Smee in Hook, where I was first introduced to him as a kid (a movie that I watched way too many times, but still). Here he is preventing Captain Hook's suicide: