100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 119: Tulip Fever

Director: Justin Chadwick
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Christoph Waltz, Dane DeHaan, Holiday Grainger, Tom Hollander, Jack O’Connell, Judi Dench, Zach Galifianakis, Matthew Morrison, Kevin McKidd, Cara Delevingne

Description: An artist (Dane DeHaan) falls for a young married woman (Alicia Vikander) while he's commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of 17th century Amsterdam.

Review: In the Golden Age, tulip fever drove everyone crazy in The Netherlands. Anyone with enough florins joined the trade. In shady bars the most exotic tulips were auctioned, sometimes even before seeing them. In “Tulip Fever” this sets the background of he story of a forbidden romance between a married woman and an artist. Together they scheme a plan to flee the life they are living now.
Cornelis Sandvoort marries the much younger Sophia. He want a beautiful portrait of them and he hires painter Jan van Loos. A decision he will later regret. Because Jan falls madly in love with Sophia and they start a passionate affair.
Cornelis is a old man, who someone you can never sympathize with. He is a cold man who only married Sophia for one reason: to get a son. His personal losses from a previous marriage make him not any more human. It’s not that strange that Sophia seeks the love of another man. But she doesn’t seem this unhappy with Cornelis either. The motives of the characters are so shallow and bland. Sad, because director Justin Chadwick managed to get so many fantastic actors.
Somehow Sophia feels the love for Jan right after the first portrait session and immediately wants to flee from her husband. The chemistry between Alicia Vikander and Dane DeHaan never really convinces. And they hardly pay any attention to Sophia’s conscience, only in the last couple of minutes of the film.
The film rushes, the ‘master plan’ feels a bit improbable and sometimes comes off as ridiculous. “Tulip Fever” lacks of subtlety and the characters are somewhat soulless.
I was so excited for this film, but man did this disappoint me! I hate when that happens.

Rating: 2/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (304)

Here are this week's trailer.

Tulip Fever
Director: Justin Chadwick
Description: An artist (Dane DeHaan) falls for a young married woman (Alicia Vikander) while he's commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of 17th century Amsterdam.
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Christoph Waltz, Holliday Grainger, Tom Hollander, Matthew Morrison, Kevin McKidd, Zach Galifianakis, Cara Delevingne
Trailer: Trailer "Tulip Fever"
Comment: I really can't wait to finally see this, this new trailer really heated things up!

Little Evil
Director: Eli Craig
Description: Gary who has just married Samantha the woman of his dreams, discovers that her six-year-old son may be the Antichrist.
Starring: ADam Scott, Evangeline Lilly, Clancy Brown, Donald Faison, Tyler Labine, Bridget Everett
Trailer: Trailer "Little Evil"
Comment: I'm so glad that I can see this on Netflix soon!

Last Flag Flying
Director: Richard Linklater
Description: Thirty years after they served together in Vietnam, a former Navy Corpsman Larry "Doc" Shepherd re-unites with his old buddies, former Marines Sal Nealon and Reverend Richard Mueller, to bury his son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War.
Starring: Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne
Trailer: Trailer "Last Flag Flying"
Comment: Three fantastic actors joined together. Looks good.

Rememory
Director: Mark Palansky
Description: The widow of a wise professor stumbles upon one of his inventions that's able to record and play a person's memory.
Starring: Peter Dinklage, Anton Yelchin, Henry Ian Cusick
Trailer: Trailer "Rememory"
Comment: Yay, Peter Dinklage!!!

Literally, Right Before Aaron
Director: Ryan Eggold
Description: A young man (Justin Long) attends the wedding of his ex-girlfriend (Cobie Smulders).
Starring: Justin Long, Cobie Smulders, Lea Thompson, Kristen Schaal, John Cho, Ryan Hansen, Luis Guzmân
Trailer: Trailer "Literally, Right Before Aaron"
Comment: I really love Cobie Smulders.

Movie Trailer Sunday (290)

Here are this week's trailers.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Description: When their headquarters are destroyed and the world is held hostage, the Kingsman's journey leads them to the discovery of an allied spy organization in the US. These two elite secret organizations must band together to defeat a common enemy.
Starring: Taran Edgerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Julianne Moore, Jeff Bridges, Channing Tatum, Pedro Pascal, Halle Berry, Sophie Cookson, Vinnie Jones
Trailer: Trailer "Kingsman: The Golden Circle"
Comment: The first film was a total surprise, I'm really looking forward to this.

The Exception
Director: David Leveaux
Description: A German soldier (Jai Courntey) tries to determine if the Dutch resistance has planted a spy to infiltrate the home of Kaiser Wilhelm in Holland during the onset of World War II, but falls for a young Jewish Dutch woman (Lily James) during his investigation.
Starring: Lily James, Jai Courtney, Christopher Plummer, Eddie Marsan
Trailer: Trailer "The Exception"
Comment: Meh...

Tulip Fever
Director: Justin Chadwick
Description: An artist (Dane DeHaan) falls for a young married woman (Alicia Vikander) while he's commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of 17th century Amsterdam.
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Christoph Waltz, Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Zach Galafianakis, Matthew Morisson, Tom Hollander, Holliday Grainger, Kevin McKidd, Jack O'Connell, Judi Dench
Trailer: Trailer "Tulip Fever"

Once Upon a Time in Venice
Director: Mark Cullen, Robb Cullen
Description: A Los Angeles detective (Bruce Willis) seeks out the ruthless gang that stole his dog
Starring: Bruce Willis, Jason Momoa, Famke Janssen, John Goodman, Elisabeth Röhm, Adam Goldberg
Trailer: Trailer "Once Upon a Time in Vencie"
Comment: I think this is an action flick that you shouldn't take too seriously.

47 Meters Down
Director: Johannes Roberts
Description: Two sisters (Claire Holt, Mandy Moore), vacationing in Mexico, are trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean, with less than an hour of oxygen left and great white sharks circling nearby.
Starring: Mandy Moore, Claire Holt, Matthew Modine,
Trailer: Trailer "47 Meters Down"
Comment: Lame

Top 5 Thursday: Books I Need to Read, Before Their Movies are Released in 2017

Books are the greatest inspiration for movies. This list shows you some of the books I really need to read, before their movies come out next year. And no, I don’t mean “Fifty Shades Darker”.

5. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae star in this movie based on the non-fiction novel by Margot Lee Shetterly. It follows black female mathematicians at NASA in the 1960s.

4. Live By Night by Dennis Lehane
Ben Affleck wrote, directed and stars in the movie version of this gangster story written by author Dennis Lehane.

3. Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach
The story is about a young woman who has an affair with an artist commissioned to paint her portrait in the Netherlands in the 1600s. It’s set in my country and the movie stars Alicia Vikander, one of my favorites of the moment.

2. The Circle by David Eggers
A young woman gets a job at an internet company. It’s a cyber thriller and the movie stars Emma Watson and Tom Hanks.

1. The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
The true story of Antonina Żabińska, whose husband ran the Warsaw Zoo in Poland during WWII. The zoo was used to help Jewish people hide from the Nazis. The movie stars Jessica Chastain and Daniel Brühl.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

Movie Trailer Sunday (237)

Here are this week's trailers.

Bad Moms
Director: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
Description: When three overworked and under-appreciated moms are pushed beyond their limits, they ditch their conventional responsibilities for a jolt of long overdue freedom, fun, and comedic self-indulgence.
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Christina Applegate, Jaa Pinkett Smith
Trailer: Trailer "Bad Moms"
Comment: I like all the actresses, so why not!

The Shallows
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Description: When Nancy (Blake Lively) is attacked by a great white shark while surfing alone, she is stranded just a short distance from shore. Though she is only 200 yards from her survival, getting there proves the ultimate contest of wills.
Starring: Blake Lively
Trailer: Trailer "The Shallows"
Comment: This second trailer makes me even more excited! Although I think it's probably not going to be great.

Tulip Fever
Director: Justin Chadwick
Description: An artist (Dane DeHaan) falls for a young married woman (Alicia Vikander) while he's commissioned to paint her portrait during the tulip mania of 17th century Amsterdam.
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Christoph Waltz, Cara Delevingne, Zach Galifianakis, Judi Dench, Matthew Morrison, Jack O'Connell, Tom Hollander, Holliday Grainger, Kevin McKidd
Trailer: Trailer "Tulip Fever"
Comment: Can't wait to see this!

The Girl in the Cornfield
Director: Ryan Callaway
Description: Three young women traveling along a dark country road encounter a mysterious girl in a white dress who turns out to be far more than she seems.
Starring: Briana Aceti, Madeline Lupi, Tina Duong
Trailer: Trailer "The Girl in the Cornfield"
Comment: Okay, creepy....

No Stranger Than Love
Director: Nick Wernham
Description: What is stranger than the big hole that opens up in Lucy Sherrington's living room floor? As it turns out, love.
Starring: Alison Brie, Justin Chatwin, Colin Hanks
Trailer: Trailer "No Stranger Than Love"
Comment: This looks like a lot of fun!!!