Dreamy Dates
Movies are all about dreams, happy, sad, fulfilled or shattered. It’s one thing we humans have in common – we’re always dreaming about something, even if it’s only a bit of peace.
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (1998)
When dreams comes true. John Madden’s glorious romantic comedy collected seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Gwyneth Paltrow is on sparkling form as Viola, a young woman who yearns to be an actor – but the conventions of the day dictate that only men are allowed on stage.
Her luck changes when she meets young Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes), who is suffering from writer’s block. When Viola and Will meet, the chemistry is instant and so begins a passionate affair, with Viola disguising herself as a man to achieve her dreams and Will using their affair as the inspiration for his latest play, Romeo & Ethel: The Pirate’s Daughter. Written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, Shakespeare in Love is awash with clever literary references and a keen sense of humour that is impossible to resist.
LONG SHOT (2019)
When dreams are too good to be true. Back when he was 13, journalist Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) fell hopelessly under the spell of his 16-year-old babysitter. Decades later, the girl of his hormone-addled dreams, Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron), is Secretary of State for the United States, who has just been endorsed by President Chambers (Bob Odenkirk) as his successor. Luckily for Fred, Charlotte needs an idealist to add verbal firepower to Dream on Seth Perchance to dream her speeches and she asks him to join her on the long and winding road to the White House. Directed by Jonathan Levine, Long Shot is a crowd-pleasing comedy of burning political ambitions and shameless media intrusion. Gender parity and climate change are easy targets for scriptwriters Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah and they land punchlines with forcible precision.
TO DIE FOR (1995)
Don’t tread on my dreams. After a string of Hollywood roles that failed to make the most of her talents, Nicole Kidman made the critics sit up and take notice with her terrific performance in director Gus Van Sant’s dark, satirical comedy. She plays Suzanne Stone, who plans to escape her small town and become a famous TV presenter. A job as a weather girl on a local station seems like the first step to world domination, but when her husband (Matt Dillon) announces he wants them to start a family, it seems like her dreams are going to be put on hold. So, she sets about persuading her teenage lover (another rising star, Joaquin Phoenix) and his friends (Casey Affleck and Alison Folland) to murder him.
RULES DON’T APPLY (2016)
When dreams prove empty. Baptist beauty queen Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins) arrives in late 1950s Hollywood accompanied by her mother Lucy (Annette Bening) as the latest signing of RKO film studios run by the elusive Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty). The Mabreys’ private chauffeur, Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich), is instantly smitten with Marla, but fellow driver Levar Mathis (Matthew Broderick) reiterates strict rules against fraternising with the talent.
Frank struggles to contain his desire while sweetly innocent Marla makes a firm impression on her employer. As the philanthropist’s mental state deteriorates and he fires long-time friend Noah Dietrich (Martin Sheen) as CEO of his father’s company, Frank is ushered into Hughes’ inner circle.
THE DRESSMAKER (2015)
Dark dreams are often the funniest. Based on the bestseller by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker is a 1950s-set comedy drama threaded with lustrous strands of revenge, redemption and mother-daughter bonding. At the tender age of 10, Myrtle ‘Tilly’ Dunnage (Kate Winslet) is implicated in the death of a schoolboy. The girl is banished from her sleepy, close-knit (fictional) hometown of Dungatar, Australia, and finds her calling as a seamstress in Paris. When her single mother Molly (Judy Davis) falls ill, Tilly returns to Dungatar laden with her trusty Singer sewing machine and a fierce desire to exact delicious revenge on the people who labelled her a murderer. Her return piques the interest of Sergeant Farrat (Hugo Weaving) and footballer Teddy McSwiney (Liam Hemsworth), whose family has been keeping an eye on Molly.
MAPS TO THE STARS (2014)
A world without dreams. Thirteen-year-old Benjie Weiss (Evan Bird) is the pre-pubescent prince of Hollywood, whose upward trajectory is carefully managed by his mother Christina (Olivia Williams). Back at home, Benjie’s father, self-help guru Dr Stafford Weiss (John Cusack), realigns the chakras of wealthy clientele including fame-hungry actress Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore), who is pinning her resurgence on a remake of the film that made her mother a star.
While Havana awaits news on the role, she employs a new personal assistant called Agatha (Mia Wasikowska), whose sardonic take on Hollywood attracts handsome limo driver Jerome Fontana (Robert Pattinson). Maps to the Stars is a relentlessly grim satire of ambition, greed and dark familial secrets anchored by Moore’s fearless and emotionally raw performance.