winonaforever2

There is very little originality in this film. I was attracted to it because of Isabelle Huppert, one of France's most iconic actresses, who doesn't do a lot of work in English. I guess she just wanted to have some fun with this one, or maybe it was the paycheck and the chance to shoot in New York. As I said, nothing original about this movie, just another stalker movie with all the predictable plot twists and wacky situations. Maybe I am getting older and I do not put up as well with bad writing as I used to. Maybe I expect more realistic story development and I am hard to please? Am I though? Neil Jordan directed this? Neil Jordan from The crying game and Interview with the vampire? In this story a naive well-intentioned girl finds a friend in this strange European older woman after returning a bag she left in the subway. But once she accidentally finds some disturbing stuff at the woman's house she decides to end the friendship, sending the older woman into an obsessive craze. From then on, the protagonist realises this woman is a crazy psychopath and not easy to get rid of. Things then conveniently work for the 'stalker', I am not going to go into details because I would have to spoil the plot. But it's so unrealistic. The main character's decisions are so unbelievable and illogical, any normal person would sort this out much sooner. I know it's a movie and it's supposed to be a thriller and fiction, but the audience are not stupid. Things need to make sense. Luckily I didn't have to pay to watch this as it came in a streaming service. Avoid this movie, it's bad.

After so may years waiting to see this I finally managed to get hold of a copy and finally watched it. This documentary is a nostalgia trip told from the point of view of the organizers and people working at the San Sebastian film festival in Spain in 1989, when Bette Davis was being honored, in what happened to be her last public appearance before she died. Until now, not a lot has been said about Bette's visit or her last days, but the documentary is so detailed it quickly fills that void. There are lots of interesting anecdotes and stories from journalists, make up artists, photographers, event organisers and people who were there dealing with Bette for one reason or another, all of them in awe of the legendary star, some of which say they will never forget meeting her. A special guest is Kathryn Sermark, Bette's assistant and friend at the time, who travelled with her to the festival and gives a first account of the events from the time they were first contacted by the festival, until the end when Bette's health was so bad she was not going to make it back to America. I found this documentary very entertaining and moving at the same time. Ms Davis' health was so deteriorated by that time it's almost incredible she made it to the festival. She looks so frail it was almost painful to see her that way. In true classic star fashion though, she was a professional until the end, always being polite and despite her poor health (she could barely walk without holding on to something), she gave whichever time was necessary to photographers and journalists that were waiting for her. This is a must if you are a fan of Bette Davis. This is strictly an account of the events of the festival so it doesn't actually delve into Bette's career or personal life. This documentary is mostly in Spanish so you will need to understand the language if there are no subtitles available.

I managed to watch this rare film after it came out on DVD in Australia not so long ago. I was curious since it was Nicole Kidman's first acting credit (she's also on the DVD cover even though her role is quite small). The story takes place in the fashion industry in Sydney where a successful business woman in charge of a modeling agency juggles her personal life and her career aspirations at the same time. She is in love again but one of her rivals, another woman, wants to bring her down by spoiling a dark secret from her past. The film is shot like a soap opera, not sure if it is because they did not have the budget to get better cameras or if it was intentional. This can be slightly off-putting during the first few minutes although you get used to it after a while. It's a very 80s film, think big hairstyles, shoulder pads, lots of make up. It is interesting to see how people sounded slightly different than today, even the acting is different and you get to see Sydney in the 80s. Although the film looks cheap (sometimes it borders on cheesy) most of the acting is good, and the story is surprisingly better than what it sounds. Nicole Kidman makes her acting debut in this film (At least it's the first one listed in her filmography). She is only in about 3 scenes. She plays a teenage girl aspiring to be a model. It's not a central character in the story although something that happens to her has consequences for one of the main characters ad it affects the course of the story although Nicole herself is only on the screen for about 5-10 minutes. Worth watching if you have an interest in old Australian films or rare old TV stuff, or if you want to see Nicole's first role.