“B” Is for ‘The Beaver’

Mel Gibson. The name alone brings thoughts of controversy and megalomaniacal egocentric meltdowns. And I’m a Mel Gibson fan. Let me clarify that. I am a fan of the man’s work, not the man whose personal life imploded in the media not so long ago.

“The Beaver” is the latest effort Mel has put out. The premise involves a depressed man with a puppet of a beaver. With the movie’s title and that snippet of information, I was expecting a comedy. This is one is being billed as a drama and further into I delve, the more interesting it begins to sound.

Walter Black was once a successful toy company CEO and a happily married, family man. Depression took over and now Walter can’t seem to do anything right. That is until the puppet enters the picture.

Work holds no appeal; he can’t connect with his wife, played by Jodie Foster, who also directs, or his kids. Then one evening he finds the puppet and it becomes the voice he has lost. It allows him to say the things he needs to with the psychological buffer the beaver provides. Through this coping device, Walter begins to reshape his life and his relationships.

It sounds a bit contrived but when you watch the trailer, you’ll see that it really seems to work. I also saw a spark of the Mel Gibson I came to love in films like “Man without a Face,” ”Conspiracy Theory” and “Forever Young.”

Gibson’s only made four films since 2006 and 2 of them haven’t released yet. This outing reunites Gibson with Foster who worked on “Maverick” together in 1994. It looks as if the long wait may have been worth it.

The film is scheduled to open May 6, 2011. I definitely plan to see it, do you?

“A” Is for Angelina Jolie as “Cleopatra”

I am engaging in a writing challenge that kicks off today known as the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge, which you can sign up for here. So today’s blog post is about Angelina Jolie.

People magazine announced on its website March 30^th that the one and only Angelina Jolie has been cast to portray Cleopatra in a film set to release in 2013. There is much speculation about who will play Marc Antony, the Roman general whose love affair with her was downfall of each of them. Personally I would like to see Russell Crowe in the role. He has the maturity, the temperament and looks pretty good in the garb of the day (think along the lines of “Gladiator”).

This film version claims to focus more on her shrewd business and political sense than her prowess at seducing men. Whether the role calls for the seductress or the powerful-woman-in-charge, Jolie can handle the demands of the character. No doubt the costuming and make up will make the most of her world renowned beauty but she is more than capable of carrying off the tough-as-nails, leader of the ancient world bit.

I have always loved the Elizabeth Taylor version of the film and now that she’s gone, it seems more appropriate to remake one of her signature roles. Taylor used her looks to convince the world a queen could get whatever she wanted. I think Jolie’s adaptation will show us there more to the woman. Liz’s version will always hold a place in my heart but I’m anxious to see what Angelina does with the part.

Angelina has quite a filmography behind her. With nearly 40 films to her credit, it would be difficult to narrow it down to a list of 5 but I gave it a valiant effort. You can see my picks here. I’m sure the list will change and grow as her career unfolds.