Over the weekend, Smithy and I had an 'accidental' Lee Pace mini film festival. That means that I picked out two movies, without realizing that he was in both of them. Lucky me!
Anyway, even though not all critics were kind, I highly recommend The Fall. Lee Pace (of TV's Pushing Daisies) is hospitalized in 1920's California after an accident. He befriends an immigrant girl who is also a patient at the hospital, and he weaves and elaborate story about 5 epic heroes for her. As often happens in movies, reality and fiction begin to blur - that's all I'll say.
Pace and the girl, a Romanian newcomer, both do a great job, but if nothing else appeals to you, see it for the visuals alone. They're amazing, and the location scenes were shot over a 4 year period in something like 18 different countries. For example, the Taj Majal and the Alhambra, and maybe Hagia Sofia were among just a few of the settings for the film. The following are just a few of the production photos from the movie.
Movie number two was Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, of which much has already been written. Frances McDormand plays the title character, and she is fantastic - funny and full of dignity at the same time. I rented the movie as much for the Art Deco scenery as for Miss McDormand. It was an added bonus that handsome Lee Pace has a smaller role as one of Amy Adams' suitors. Please see this one too, if you haven't already. Seriously, it has a fantastic Art Deco apartment and night club, beautiful 1930's outfits, Frances McDormand, Amy Adams as a perfectly delightful ditzy blond, Lee Pace in a tux and playing piano, and the craggy-but-handsome Ciaran Hinds (who will always be Ceasar from HBO's Rome to me.) Not a heavy hitter, but pure fun.
