DEC. 2009 – JAN.

2010
 2 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter www.montepictures.net

CONTENTS

Six Christmas Films of All Time . . . . p. 3

Best Movies 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 7

Stars Remembered! (From Left:
Farrah Fawcett: 2 February 1947 – 25 EOTM: Emma Watson . . . . . . . . . . p. 21
June 2009; Natasha Richardson: 11
May 1963 – 18 March 2009; Brittany
Movie Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 22
Murphy: 10 November 1977 – 20
History December 2009)
EOTH: Vinessa Shaw . . . . . . . . . . . p. 30
Monte Pictures was originally founded by Javier Golden Globes Nominations . . . . . . p. 31
Serrano in 2007. Monte Pictures is the subject to
the founder’s passion: to establish a film company.
At this time, Monte Pictures runs independently
through monthly newsletters composed by the
founder and his editor-in-chief Julia Wieczorek.

Copyrights Contacts “This newsletter is

© 2009 Monte Pictures Newsletter. We
acknowledge all photography, images, and icons
JAVIER SERRANO, A.A.
Founder – MONTE PICTURES
dedicated to you,
are subjected to their original owners. Monte
Pictures was created to express, entertain and
Email: info@montepictures.net
Phone: (858) 568-2715
the reader.”
educate members of Monte Pictures the variety
of film selections available. We do not sell our JULIA WIECZOREK
newsletters nor accept donations of any kind; we Executive Editor – MONTE PICTURES
are neither a corporation nor non-profit Email: info@montepictures.net
organization.
 Six Christmas
Movies of
All Time

Email: info@montepictures.net Phone: (858) 568-2715 Web: www.montepictures.net

From the 2003 film Love, Actually

 4 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter
6 5
Elf
Dir. Jon Favreau; 2003
Starring: Will Farrell, Zooey
Deschanel
Before 2003, Will Ferrell was just another funny guy with
forgettable comedies. He’s got the talent and qualities to
become a good actor. However, films like Old School and A
Night at the Roxbury and Zoolander where he played oafs,
which he mastered perfectly, simply could not perfect the
context where the audience could relate to him. Then
comes the 2003 film Elf. Ferrell plays Buddy, a human
raised by elves at the North Pole. Buddy thinks and acts just
like every other elf, but at the age of 30 his sheer size and
lack of toy-making ability show that he’s not fit to being an
elf. With the encouragement of his adopted father, played
by Bob Newhart, and Santa, played by Ed Asner, Buddy
makes his way to New York to find his biological father.
From here Elf becomes like a Tarzan story with the strange
outsider taking to the New York City setting. It’s all very
light and fluffy, but at the same time, it’s hilarious. Ferrell
deserves the majority of recognition from his performance.
Home Alone
Dir. Chris Columbus; 1990
Starring: Macaulay Culkin,
Joe Pesci
It’s very unfortunate for Macaulay Culkin to be only
recognized for his performance in Home Alone. Although,
there is no comparison to any critical acclaim performances he
has ever given, if you exclude his supporting role in the 1991
film My Girl. Home Alone was the little film that could in
1990. The reason Home Alone was such a box-office hit and
critically acclaimed was the fact that it was pure honest. The
film tells the story of young Kevin McCallister, played by
Culkin, a nine-year-old boy whose family accidentally left him
at home when they left in a rush for a vocation in Paris,
France. While his mother, played by the great actress
Catherine O’Hara, frantically tries to get home to be with
him. Kevin must defend his home from two bumbling
burglars, played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. There are few
movies that can be described as never having a dull moment
and Home Alone fits perfectly in every category. This is a
perfect family holiday film.
 5 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter
4 3
White Christmas
Dir. Michael Curtiz; 1954
Starring: Bing Crosby,
Danny Kaye, Rosemary
Clooney
White Christmas is a classic. To be honest, this darling of a
musical with its memorable performances from Bing
Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney and the
unforgettable songs and lyrics by Irving Berlin, is a film you
must see. What makes this film so unique and successful is
that it’s also a love story, a Christmas fable, and there is
singing and dancing that illuminates gorgeously on film.
Bob Wallace, played by Bing Crosby, and Phil Davis, played
by Danny Kaye, meet during the Second World War and
become firm friends. After the historic VE-Day of 1945,
they team up to become a sensational duo ripping up the
nightspots in America. After five years of rolling success
they take a holiday and accompany Betty, played by
Rosemary Clooney and Vera, played by Vera-Ellen Haynes
to Pine Tree, Vermont. The film is sensational in every
possible way from performances, music, setting, color. You
name it!
Miracle on 34th Street
Dir. George Seaton; 1947
Starring: Maureen O Natalie,
Natalie Wood
Miracle on 34th Street may be the greatest Christmas film of all
time. However, popularity wise, it seems it’s either a second
or third best by the American public. The story begins when
the annual Macy’s Santa Claus parade is ready to begin in
New York City. A not-so jolly man accosts parade organizer
Doris Walker, played by Maureen O’Hara, and points out the
star of the parade, Santa, is intoxicated. With one Santa
fired, Doris jumps at the opportunity to hire the Samaritan
who turned in the intoxicated Santa, played by Edmund
Gwen, the performance that garnered him an Academy
Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, who claims to be
Kris Kringle – Santa Claus’ true identity. This is a delightful
story of dreams turned into reality and the power of
believing, which supports the moral of the story: Do you
believe Santa Claus exists?
 6 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter
2 1
It’s a Wonderful Life
Dir. Frank Capra; 1946
Starring: Donna Reed,
James Stewart
Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life is not only a holiday
classic, but a classic amongst all American film history. This
film received critical recognition for its human spirit and
genuine kindness that deserves one viewing per year, of
course December would be preferable. The story begins with
George Bailey, played by James Stewart, who is a noble and
honest man. An adventure to say the least, with a kind heart,
though we get to know George by watching crucial moments
in his life through the eyes of Clarence, played by Henry
Travers, his guardian angel. George perseveres in Bedford
Falls, starting a family with Mary, played by Donna Reed,
winning friends, helping the poor families get homes, and
avoiding the cruel Mr. Potter’s, played by Lionel Barrymore,
greedy plans to take over the town. Clarence is George’s
guide on a journey makes us realize how every life has great
influence on all others it touches. It’s a Wonderful Life is a
perfect film celebrating the old-fashioned values of home and
family.
A Christmas Story
Dir. Bob Clark; 1984
Starring: Peter Billingsley,
Darren McGavin
A Christmas Story ranks in America as the best holiday movie
ever made, even out ranking popular classics like It’s a
Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. The story is set
in the period of the 1940s, telling numerous series of
scenarios about a young 9-year-old boy in the weeks leading
up to Christmas. Ralphie Parker, played by Peter Billingsley
in his first and last leading role, faces down bullies,
witnesses a dare match over whether a tongue will stick to a
frozen metal pole, gets his mouth washed out with soap, and
sees the holiday turkey devoured by the neighbors’ dogs.
What makes this film a critical success? Perhaps it’s the feel-
good sense of the holiday spirit when anything that could go
wrong does. Witty, humorous at times, and deeply
entertaining, A Christmas Story is a timeless classic.
BEST
MOVIES
2009
 8 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter The Lovely Bones

Visually stunning, thoughtful, life affirmations and full of dark mystery, The Lovely Bones is directed by Peter Jackson. With its limited release in the United
States, actually release in January 15, 2010, in order to make the award seasons for the up-coming year. The entire film is told by a young 14-year-old girl named
Susie Salmon, played by the unforgettable Saoirse Ronan, who after being brutally raped and murdered, looks down from her heaven and tries to help her
family catch her killer.
 9 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter A Prophet

Legendary French filmmaker Jacques Audiard directs A Prophet. The film is gripping, claustrophobic, and terrifying prison drama about a young French-Arab
named Malik, played by the extraordinary talent Tahar Rahim, who is convicted and enters a tough French jail and finds himself with even less freedom than
he bargained for.
 10 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter The Hurt Locker

Kathryn Bigelow directs The Hurt Locker, a film that depicts the hardcore and modern realization of war in Iraq. This film is so good expect Kathryn Bigelow to
win an Oscar nomination for Best Director at the 2010 Academy Awards, and if she possibly wins, will make her the first woman to win an Oscar for Best
Director.
 11 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Avatar

Already been hailed as “the costliest film ever made” and front-runner to possibly every award that could be give, James Cameron’s Avatar could be compared to
Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. Filmed in mind-blowing IMAX 3-D, the story is entertaining and the movie experience is unforgettable.
 12 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Big, bold and darker, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth installment to the critically acclaimed and multi-billion franchise. The series of “Harry
Potter” has greatly improved in one regard: the stories feel more epic, the tension is real and the special-effects suitable for all ages.
 13 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter The White Ribbon

Winner of the Palm d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, The White Ribbon is a film that is soaked in anguish, sexual humiliation, animal cruelty and death.
Shot in black and white and set in a small village in northern Germany before the First World War. This film is truly a masterpiece and will haunt you for days!
 14 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter The Hangover

The Hangover is an outrageous, entertaining, and laugh-out-loud film from beginning to end. We all know what Las Vegas is known for: the casinos, quick
weddings, strippers, bachelor parties, and of course, Wayne Newton. So what happens when you all these elements into one film? You get one film to
remember.
 15 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Star Trek

Surprisingly entertaining, Star Trek offered incredible dialogue, action, thrills, and the impressive state-of-the-art special effects that will leave audience speechless. A
journey filled with action, comedy, and cosmic peril, the new recruits must find a way to stop an evil being whose mission of vengeance threatens all of mankind.
 16 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Up In The Air

George Clooney strikes gold yet again in Jason Reitman’s (most notably for directing 2007, Juno) Up In The Air. Clooney and Vera Farmiga have a sizzling
chemistry that makes you root for their characters to become a permanent pairing. This crowd-pleaser is currently the frontrunner to win the Oscar for best film
of 2009.
17 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Paranormal Activity

Can you believe it? A $15,000 budget film scared the hell out of us! It seems silence and waiting can be more entertaining than frantic. What made
Paranormal Activity so successful? Perhaps it was the realism that got everyone talking about it and asked: Is the film real? With our help Paranormal Activity
is the highest grossing independent film of all time reaching a near $150 million at the box-office.
 18 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter District 9

A must see film! It seems science fiction and politics should be intertwined we should thank George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars franchise, for that. With
District 9, writer/director Neill Blomkamp establishes himself as new voice in cinema. While his first feature fits in the sci-fi genre, he is reminiscent of a young
Ridley Scott, who eventually branched out into other genres and has built a significant name for himself.
Where the Wild Things Are is visually stunning with beautiful imagination from the classic children's book. It is the reflection of family life and structure told
through the eyes of a child. The young Max, played by Max Records, and the actors inside the Wild Things give amazing performances that allow the viewer to
feel pure and true emotion.
 20 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Precious

This low –budgeted film Precious is this year’s Juno. Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe stars as Claireece “Precious” Jones, a plus-size teen whose several months pregnant
with her second child – raped by her biological father. Precious is struggling to pay attention in her class, sympathized by a motherly figure, school teacher Blu
Raine, played by Paula Patton. However, Precious’ verbally and physically abusive mother, played by Mo’Nique, a shoe in for Best Supporting Actress Oscar for
2010, would prefer her daughter stay at home and remain obedient to her.
21 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Emma Watson

Entertainer of the Month Forget Harry Potter: Hello Emma!

Emma Watson made her acting debut in

2001’s box-office smash Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone, bringing to life Hermione
Granger, friend to the famous protagonist
Harry Potter. Born in Paris, where she lived for
the first five years of her life, Watson acted
only in school plays before breaking into
Hollywood with this film. She has since
appeared in all subsequent Harry Potter films:
Chamber of Secrets (2002), Prisoner of Azkaban
(2004), Goblet of Fire (2005), Order of the Phoenix
(2007), and Half-Blood Prince (2009).

Recently, Emma was named the “Highest-

Grossing Actress of the Decade” by The
Guinness Book of World Records, surpassing
big names like Julia Roberts, Reese
Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock. Her film
work in the past decade has grossed $5.4
billion in global box office. What’s next for
Emma! She is currently an Ivy League student
at Brown University where she is majoring in
Literature.
 23 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter
In the Bedroom
Dir. Todd Field; 2001
Starring: Sissy Spacek,
Tom Wilkinson, Marisa
Tomei
In the Bedroom evokes such raw and ragged emotions that it is
at once painful to watch and impossible to turn away from,
becoming a thing of terrible and irresistible attractiveness. It is
as perfect a piece of filmmaking as one will likely to find any
year. The story begins with the Fowlers, Matt and Ruth, played
by Tom Wilkerson and Sissy Spacek, whose son Matt has fallen
in love with Natalie, played by Marisa Tomei, a tough yet
vulnerable woman whose life is on a brink of a divorce, having
two kids and an unstable husband. Todd Field, in his
directorial debut captures the nuances by letting the silences
between words carry the story. The performances from the
ensemble cast are brilliant. Sissy Spacek is phenomenal, but it is
Tom Wilkinson, with the tougher job of playing the grieving
father burying his emotions, that takes pride of place. It is a
work of great intelligence, exquisite sensitivity, and wrenching
honesty. Though, Spacek weeps, she screams, she goes through
all the paces with a depth of despair tempered with a steely
anger that is truly as frightening as it is heartbreaking.
MovieReviews
Far From Heaven
Dir. Todd Hayes; 2003
Starring: Julianne
Moore
The film is set in 1950s. Julianne Moore stars as Cathy
Whittaker, a mother and housewife who discovers that her
all-American husband, played by Dennis Quaid, has a dark
secret. She seeks solace in a friendship with her black
gardener Raymond Deagan, played by Dennis Haysbert,
but talks within the neighborhood soon start wagging and
she finds herself on the verge of becoming a social outcast.
Julianne Moore gives a magnificent, note-perfect
performance that is both complex and extremely moving –
you sense her frustration at the social conventions that
prevent her from doing what she knows is right. Similarly,
Dennis Quaid gives a career-best performance as the
outwardly respectable husband crumbling under the weight
of his guilty secret.
24 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter
Leaving Las Vegas
Dir. Mike Figgis; 1995
Starring: Nicholas Cage,
Elisabeth Shue
Leaving Las Vegas takes a different attitude toward the city's
personification of anxiety and aggression. In 1995, the buzz
surrounding the film that Nicolas Cage gave a tremendous
performance as an alcoholic who arrives in town intention on
drinking himself to death. Playing an alcoholic is traditionally
a route to critical acclaim, and Cage delivers it beautifully on
screen. The story as it folds: Ben travels from Los Angeles to
Las Vegas, an appropriately grim journey where he meets a
prostitute, Sera, played by Elisabeth Shue. When they move in
together, she agrees to all his terms, most importantly that she
won't try to make him stop drinking. Director Mike Figgis
knows how to capture emotional power. The performances by
Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue are central to the film's
success. Cage turns in the best acting of his career. Shue is
perhaps the biggest surprise of the film. However, Cage won
his first and only Best Actor Oscar for his captivating
performance.
MovieReviews
You Can Count on Me
Dir. Kenneth Lonergan; 2000
Starring: Laura Linney, Mark
Ruffalo
Ken Lonergan wrote and directed You Can Count on Me about
a brother, played Mark Ruffalo, and sister, played by Laura
Linney, who have friction due to the different paths they
chose in life. The film opens with their parents dying in an
automobile accident, but the film's not about mourning in
fact the parents' death is barely mentioned again throughout
the film. This suggests that the death should be an
undercurrent in examining the sibling's problems, but it
doesn't really mesh for me. Linney's character lives at home
in the upstate New York with her 8-year-old son played by
Rory Culkin, and works at a bank where a new manager,
played by Matthew Broderick, has just begun working. Her
life is turned on end when her brother sends a letter
announcing his visit. The film shows the events that happen
during this visit, as the brother and son develop their
relationship, Linney sorts out her love life, and tries to put
her brother back on track.
25 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Rachel Getting Married
Dir. Jonathan Demme
Starring: Anne Hathaway,
Rosemarie DeWitt, Debra
Winger

“Anne Hathaway delivers a

profound, emotional, and
courageous performance as a
drug-addict who leaves rehab
to attend her sister’s wedding.”
 26 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Revolutionary Road

Dir. Sam Mendes; Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet

“DiCaprio and Winslet are simply stunning on screen as husband

and wife with high ambitions in this melodramatic American film.”
27 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Australia

Dir. Baz Luhrmann; Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman

“Luhrmann directs Kidman and Jackman in this ravishing and

impeccable production about a couple struggling with their cattle
herding before the Bombing of Darwin, Australia in 1942.”
28 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter 88 Minutes

Dir. Jon Avnet; Starring: Al Pacino, Leelee Sobieski

“This is not Al Pacino best role compared to ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ or ‘Scent of a Woman,’ though, his
performance is exceptional as a forensic professor who has 88 minutes to find a killer.”
29 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Non ti Muovere (Don’t Move)

Dir. Sergio Castellitto; Starring: Sergio Castellitto, Penelope Cruz

“Don’t Move has a quality of its very own that no American director has
yet to accomplish on film: emotional suffering. Cruz learned Italian for
this role as a woman who has fallen in love with her rapist.”
30 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Vinessa Shaw

Entertainer
of the Month
To the public eye Vinessa Shaw is the ordinary
American woman. However, for a woman who has
little public recognition she has two decades of
acting experience in several successful and
acclaimed feature films. Vinessa got her first taste
of acting recognition in the low-budget film 1992,
Ladybugs. The following year she was cast in the
highly critical and commercial success film 1993,
Hocus Pocus, as of today is considered a cult-film
and its popularity in the month of October.

She nabbed her first leading role in 1996, Coyote Summer, where she
plays a troubled teen spending the summer at her aunt’s horse estate.
In 1999, the renowned and legendary film director Stanley Kubrick
chose Vinessa specifically as a HIV-positive prostitute in Wide Eyes
Shut, who lures her co-star Tom Cruise into a state of frenzy. With
critical and Hollywood recognition from Wide Eyes Shut, Vinessa
would star in several independent films 2000, The Weight of Water;
2001, Corky Romano; 2002 and 40 Days and 40 Nights. In 2006,
Vinessa would get her opportunity for international recognition and
box-office success when she was picked for the leading role in the
remake of The Hills Have Eyes. Vinessa is by far too exceptional to be
unnoticed for her performances like 2007, 3:10 to Yuma and 2008,
Two Lovers.
From Left:1999, Wide Eyes Shut; 2006, The Hills Have Eyes
31 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter

Golden Globes 2010 Awards

Air Date: Sunday, January 17
32 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Golden Globes 2010 Awards Air Date: Sunday, January 17

The Hurt
Best Motion Picture Locker
Avatar Dir. Kathryn Bigelow;
Starring Jeremy Renner
Dir. James Cameron;
Starring Sam Worthington “Without doubt to win Best
and Zoe Saldana. Picture at the Golden Globes
and Academy Awards.”
“Extraordinary piece of
filmmaking. Avatar will go
down in history for its Up in the Air
achievements in special
effects. Dir. Jason Reitman;
Starring George Clooney

Inglorious “Surprisingly well acted by

Clooney. If there is one
Basterds film that could upset ‘The
Hurt Locker’ its this film.”

Dir. Quentin Tarantino;

Starring Brad Pitt and Eli
Roth.
Precious
Dir. Lee Daniels; Starring
“A humorous satire of Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique
World War II with no
conventional of nabbing “What a small budget film
Best Picture in this can do! Good performances
category. “
but not Best Picture worthy.”
33 MONTE PICTURES© Newsletter Golden Globes 2010 Awards Air Date: Sunday, January 17
Best Director - Motion Picture
The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow was approached by
her ex-husband James Cameron to
direct ‘The Hurt Locker.’ Could she
make Oscar history and become the
first woman to win Best Director
Oscar? Yes, most definitely.
Inglorious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino never attended film
school. However, his only film
education was his employment at the
Video Archives, a video rental store in
Los Angeles. Nearly two decades,
Tarantino has written and directed cult-
films like 1996, Pulp Fiction. With
Inglorious Basterds, a critical hit, expect
only a nomination to be his win.
Invictus
Without a doubt, Clint Eastwood is
becoming a much better film director
as his age progresses. Eastwood won
a Golden Globe for Best Director
four years ago when he took home
the trophy for “Million Dollar Baby.”
Although, “Invictus” portrays great
performances from Matt Damon and
Morgan Freeman, I don’t think it’s a
strong enough direction for a win this
year.
Up in the Air
Jason Reitman has not received the
recognition he deserves. Two years
ago, he had a shot for Oscar glory
when he was nominated for Best
Director for “Juno.” He lost to the
Coen Brothers for “No Country for
Old Men.” Reitman should be
grateful for a Golden Globe
nomination.
Avatar
The last time James Cameron
directed a feature film was in 1997
when “Titanic” garnered 11 Oscars,
including Best Picture and Best
Director. Avatar is a cinematic
achievement, but will the critics
honor him with Best Director? Or is
the billion dollar franchise be
enough?