The Playlist is reporting that British actor Matthew Goode has auditioned for the role of Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Goode’s young career has been up and down to say the least. In 2009, he was awkwardly cast as Adrian Veidt in Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, although he was more than impressive in another tricky role as Colin Firth’s deceased lover in A Single Man. So far this year, he starred alongside Amy Adams in Leap Year, a critical and commercial bomb. Read the full story

The Weinstein Company | USA | 99 min

Warning: This review includes major spoilers.

A Single Man is a brilliant, beautiful and moving debut from fashion mogul Tom Ford, who both wrote and directed this small gem. It’s a look inside a grieving man’s final day. This is a deeply profound message on death, relationships and identity. It also happens to be Colin Firth’s best performance yet.

It’s 1962 and George Falconer (Colin Firth) is living the last day of his life. He’s a prolific English professor whose life has become empty ever since his boyfriend Joe (Matthew Goode) tragically died in a car accident. George is at a loss and is having trouble coping. The only one he has to comfort him is the oblivious Charley (Julianne Moore). She’s in love with him, but he doesn’t love her. George finally finds beauty and a sense of happiness in Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), a student who is now courting him.

This isn’t exactly a plot-driven film, but rather a character study that revolves around grief, death and love. George is an educated man who’s lost without someone to love. He’s lost and looking for beauty and people to connect with. When he gazes and gets lost in the eyes of others, he is looking to connect with someone, anyone. Which is purely understandable since he is an outsider. When he wakes up in the morning and puts on his clothes, he’s doing what people expect George to do and be. He stands out, but tries to blend in. Without Jim it’s as if a part of him has died. His friend Charley doesn’t understand him; no one does except Kenny.

The relationship formed between Kenny and George could have been creepy and off-putting in the wrong hands, but Ford handles the relationship with care. Kenny, in many ways, is a guardian for George. He’s the only one who recognizes George for what he is: different, hurt and downright wonderful. The same goes for George’s outlook on Kenny. Kenny stands out to him for the same reasons. The second half of the film develops this relationship further. It never enters the realm of romance or pure sexual tension, but it’s more so a view on the understanding they have for each other.

As for the ending, it couldn’t have left on a more heartfelt and saddening note. In the final moments George has an epiphany. The whole film death has been shown as nothing but a horrific event that leads to a long line of grief. This changes when Ford reveals the true beautiful part of death. When George is laying on the floor coming to terms of his forthcoming death, Jim appears. This of course is showing how death leads to beauty. Jim returns to George; you’re reuniting with your loved ones after passing.

Ford delivers a harrowing debut with every frame coming off as a eye-popping photograph. There are shots and sequences fantastically composed to match George’s emotions. To do this, Ford contrasts light and dark colors against Abel Korzeniowski’s wonderful score. When George is able to connect with someone bright colors flourish and a upbeat brisk score kicks in. When times become depressing a mundane and saturated look develops. It’s not exactly subtle, but it never comes across as heavy handed.

Firth’s performance stands on its own merit. All one needs to know is that he’s as grand as everyone has been claiming and that he is the true heart of A Single Man. The same goes for the rest of the cast, who couldn’t have been any better. The only gripe to be found is a nitpick: at times the film feels episodic. Other than that, this still remains a truly excellent film and one of the year’s best.

9.5 out of 10

What did you think of A Single Man?

The trailer for Tom Ford’s directorial debut, A Single Man, has premiered on MySpace. The film has got quite a lot of Oscar buzz, especially regarded to a Best Actor nod for Colin Firth. The film also stars Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode. Check out the stylistic trailer below. Read the full story

Zack Snyder’s anti-superhero epic was released back in March and was met with a rather mixed response. While many seemed unimpressed by Snyder’s ambitious and faithful adaptation, the director’s cut improves on many aspects, adding to an already excellent film that did the same thing the graphic novel did for its medium. Watchmen is an entertaining and ambitious film that delivers on almost every level. The original cut did have it’s flaws, mostly narrative wise, this cut makes most of those issues perish.

The story follows practically the exact same narrative as the graphic novel and it works. Most of the events and character arcs are still the same, except Dr. Manhattan. It still opens with The Comedian’s murder which leads to Rorschach who starts investigating. He sets out to spread the warning, first going to his old partner Nite Owl aka Dan Drieberg. Dan lives an isolated life now and is left without a sense of purpose. Adrian Veidt, former superhero Ozymandius, is now the world’s smartest man and one of the richest. He doesn’t believe in the masked killer theory and is more worried about the world problems to come. The only one with real super powers is Dr. Manhattan who is continually drifting away from humanity. His only connection comes from his relationship with Laurie Jupiter aka Silk Spectre II. Laurie feels as if she is living a lie considering she was forced into this profession of vigilatism due to pressure from her mother.

Read the rest of the review below >>

By Dan Mecca

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been watching these clips Warner Bros. have been putting out, and the whole thing’s just not registering with me. Having read the graphic novel (very recently), I am still reeling from the effects caused by what Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons offer the reader throughout the entire narrative, up to and most definitely including the brilliant finale. By book’s end, there is so much to consider and think about; so much to discuss with your friends.

And why? Because the picture the novel paints, literally (and psychologically), is so vivid and real that it forces the reader to take Watchmen seriously.

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