Thelma Adams: Novelist, Critic, Oscar Expert

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Critic’s Pick: ‘Frances Ha’

July 10, 2013 By Thelma Leave a Comment

While bromances flourish – doctors, racecar drivers and superheroes bond regularly — memorable movies about best girlfriends are a rare species. But in that environment, “Frances Ha,” the brilliant black-and-white comic collaboration between star-writer Greta Gerwig (“To Rome with Love”) and writer-director Noah Baumbach (“Greenberg”), is a game-changer.

Best friends since college, happy-go-lucky Frances (Gerwig) and roommate Sophie (Mickey Sumner), now in their late twenties, share the same bed and the same inside jokes. Frances quips that they are like an old lesbian couple without the sex. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Criticism, Movies & TV Tagged With: Frances Ha, Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Review, Yahoo! Movies

‘To Rome With Love’ star Greta Gerwig is wild about Woody Allen — just read her high school yearbook

July 21, 2012 By Thelma Leave a Comment

Photo by Sony Pictures Classics
Recently, “To Rome With Love” star Greta Gerwig returned home from Manhattan to Sacramento, California, where she picked up her high school yearbook and got a big surprise. When asked where she wanted to be in 10 years, she answered, “Living in New York and making a Woody Allen movie.” A decade later, the downtown darling with the off-kilter smile is doing just that. Gerwig (who was in “Arthur” and “Greenberg”) plays sweet-natured Sally opposite Jesse Eisenberg’s Jack, in Allen’s latest ensemble comedy about fame, fidelity, and amore. In one storyline, Sally’s starlet best friend, Monica (Ellen Page), visits the couple for her Roman holiday, and their comfy romance hits turbulence. Gerwig sat down with me last Tuesday and shared her thoughts about playing a supporting character in her own romantic subplot.

[Related: Adams on Reel Women: Director Lynn Shelton talks Emily Blunt, “Mad Men” and shooting in Seattle]

Thelma Adams: What did you make of your storyline about an American love triangle in the Eternal City?

Greta Gerwig: Woody Allen has characters that interest him. One is like my character: the person the romantic hero doesn’t end up with.. She’s the side girl. Woody Allen has these people that he comes back to again and again.

TA: So what is your side girl like in “To Rome With Love”?

GG: She’s a little like the inverse of Ellen Page’s character. It doesn’t break down exactly. Often, there are two women in Woody’s movies. In “Manhattan,” they balance each other out. As much as Ellen’s character is shifty and seductive and complicated and shiny, mine is grounded and bland and trusting and not dazzling. My performance came from what Ellen was doing, because what I was doing was playing in contrast. You can feed off of what they’re doing.

TA: How would you describe your character, Sally?

GG: This character is definitely more muted. She’s a bit of a bystander. She’s not the leading role in her own romance. Somebody else comes in and takes the leading role. Her emotions aren’t demonstrative. She’s much less sparkly.

TA: Does that make Page’s Monica the manic pixie dream girl?

GG: I hate that phrase; that idea, that it gets applied to people, that you have to avoid or deny it. It’s reductive. It’s a way of trying to find a connection where often one doesn’t exist. I was reading something about the screwball comedy “Bringing Up Baby,” and it called Katharine Hepburn the original manic pixie dream girl. Aren’t we reaching? I’m probably just annoyed by it, but it’s around. I’m no pixie. I’m 5 foot 9 and 140. When I go on set, they’re always surprised the first day. I’m a giant, and everybody is a mini person.

[Related: Ethan Hawke discusses ‘The Woman in the Fifth,’ ‘Gattaca,’ and lessons learned from Elvis]

TA: I know that for me, growing up a Jewish girl in the San Diego suburbs, watching Woody Allen was like getting thrown a cinematic life preserver. I knew that “somewhere, there’s a place for me.”

GG: I’m not Jewish. I’m the original shiksa. I went to a Catholic girls’ school in Sacramento. I wanted to be Annie Hall, to find a nice Jewish boy and bring him back to my goyish family. I adored Woody Allen movies. I felt less alone. I could project myself into a time where I would be less lonely and would be surrounded by people like me. Woody Allen also led me to other movies. He led me to “Cries and Whispers” by Ingmar Bergman. I didn’t grow up with arthouse movie theaters.. Allen was the first person that gave me a window into what was possible. I read all his stories. I loved “A Guide to Some of the Lesser Ballets.”

TA: Now that you live in New York, do you feel that you still see the city through Woody Allen’s eyes, even though he’s moved on to London, Paris, Barcelona — and Rome?

GG: New York is so full of places he’s photographed. When he was working with cinematographer Gordon Willis, my entire idea of New York was based on that lens — and I don’t know if I’ve ever taken that lens off!

Filed Under: Celebrity, Movies & TV Tagged With: Ellen Page, Ethan Hawke, Greta Gerwig, Interview, Midnight in Paris, To Rome with Love, Woody Allen, Yahoo! Movies

Need to Meet: Greta Gerwig

April 16, 2011 By Thelma Leave a Comment

Greta Gerwig,Indie Darling,Russell Brand,Greenberg,Whit Stillman,Helen Mirren,Jennifer Garner,comedy,Arthur

Gerwig: The American Kate Winslet

(Marie Claire, April 2011)

Downtown darling Greta Gerwig, 27, cements her status as the new It chick in the big-budget remake of Arthur. Here, she rocks the MC questionnaire.

MC: What’s your best feature?

GG: My smile. Not because it’s so beautiful, but because it’s genuine. I have trouble fake smiling.

MC: Best attribute?

GG: My ability to be in the moment — which is also my worst attribute. I have trouble making plans.

MC: What’s your hidden talent?

GG: I’m a really great bridge player. My dad taught all three of his kids.

MC: What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?

GG: I’m not, nor have I ever been, cool. That idea is out there because I’ve done so many indie films. But I’m much more of a musical-theater kid — I know every word to Starlight Express and Cats. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Celebrity Tagged With: Arthur, Berlin International Film Festival, bridge player, Cats, Delta Burke, Designing Women, Greenberg, Greta Gerwig, Helen Mirren, Indie Queen, Marie Claire, Poker, Russell Brand, Starlight Express

Movie Review: Arthur

April 6, 2011 By Thelma Leave a Comment

Us Rating: ***

Russell Brand plays Arthur, a lovable alcoholic heir in NYC best explained by his aging nanny (a tart Helen Mirren): “He’s merely shaped like an adult.” The spoiled billionaire gets a wake-up call when his chilly mother threatens to freeze his trust fund. Her ultimatum: Arthur must marry domineering social climber Susan (a deliciously deceitful Jennifer Garner) to keep the cash.

Arthur accepts the offer — but then immediately falls for a free-spirited tour guide (Greta Gerwig). The hugely talented Brand nails his witty one-liners, such as when he says Susan’s lips make her look “like a sexy clown.” Garner embraces her inner bitch as his comic foil, and Gerwig (Greenberg) has a refreshing honesty that suits her softhearted working girl.

When the plot goes bigger than Brand’s personality, the movie runs off-course (a scene in which Susan’s contractor dad threatens Arthur by shoving his face toward a table saw is just uncomfortable). But largely, this is a laugh-out-loud romp — and the funnyman’s best screen role to date

Filed Under: Criticism, Movies & TV Tagged With: Arthur, comedy, Dudley Moore, Greta Gerwig, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Liza Minelli, movie reviews, Remake, Russell Brand, Us Weekly

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