Theater Whore: Fading Gigolo

Fading Gigolo 10/10

Last night Cam and I caught a double feature. The first film we saw was Fading Gigolo starring John Turturro and Woody Allen. Also in this were Liev Schreiber, Sharon Stone, Vanessa Paradis, and Sofia Vergara. Going into this I wasn't exactly sure what to expect and by god was I surprised at how much I loved this movie. Turturro wrote starred in, and directed this. I thought from what little I'd heard that this was about a guy who used to be a lady's man who was older and trying to get back into it. That isn't what this is about.

Turturro is Fioravante. He's a handyman, florist, and just an all around quiet, nice guy. He works with Allen who is named Murray. They have been friends for years and as Murray's book store is closing he proposes the idea of sleeping with a lady he knows for money. At first Fioravante is against it saying that he isn't a hoe. After finding out how much he'll get he decides to give it a shot. It is a test drive for a planned three-way between Dr. Parker and Selima (Stone, Vergara). He does it and everything goes smoothly. So smoothly that they start a business from it. Eventually Murray finds a client who is a widow with six children named Avigal (Paradis). A patrolman of the small Jewish neighborhood named Dovi (Schreiber) who has a thing for her tails her to Fioravante's “office” where he plans on giving her a massage. It goes horribly wrong. I now that Murray had good intentions but she ends up crying though not for the reasons I expected.

Theater Whore: Blue Jasmine

This is the other movie I saw with Cam. I didn't know much about Blue Jasmine except that Alec Baldwin and Louis CK were in it. No idea what it was about, when it took place, or anything. I am so happy to say that this ended up being a really good film with another perfect cast and directed by Woody Allen. Say what you want about the guy, his pervy strange ass makes some really good movies.

Cate Blanchett stars as Jasmine, a woman we all know. I actually got chills at certain points watching this as she reminded me of women I have come across in my life. I'll explain shortly. Jasmine arrives in San Francisco to stay with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) because Jasmine's life has fallen apart. Her husband is gone, her son left her, and she is having breakdowns. Like for real's breakdowns. She and her sister were each adopted which comes up constantly and they are nothing alike.