|
| REVIEW |
| THE
MOVIE |
| Entertainment
Weekly (April 30, 1999) |
| SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW |
 PFEIFFER
AND FLOCKHART -- who already have David E.Kelley in
their lives (as husband and Ally McBeal creator; respectively)
-- now have another famously prolific writer to call
their own. Both star in Fox Searchlight's opulent rendition
of the Bard's comedy about romance run amok in a magical
forest, with Pfeiffer playing fairy queen Titania and
Flockhart the waifish Helena. Made in Italy last summer;
it's the seveth Dream film adaptation -- the 1935 version
with James Cagney was nominated for a Best Picture
Oscar -- but its director promises some differences.
"The Cagney version wasn't interested in fully formed
characters," saya Hoffman (who lensed Pfeiffer's One
Fine Day). "It was more interested in the play's balletic
aspects. There won't be any ballet in mine." Accroding
to Pfeiffer, there won't be much clothing either. "My
performance is based on keeping my butt covered," she
says. "My custume is very transparent, so we had to
do all these tricks with my hair." Flockhart -- along
with Shakespeare's other wayward lovers, Bale, Friel,
and West also shows some skin for art's sake, though
Dream isn't her first pick of Will's work. "I love
his tragedies," she says. "I think they're very funny.
Like Romeo and Juliet --it could be hilarious if you
played it a certain way. All that miscommunication.
Very Funny." (May 7) |
| |
| Magazine
Review |
 Is there no period
or location in which the immortal words of Master Shakespeare
refuse to fly? Writer-director Michael Hoffman has set
this Midsummer in Tuscany at the end of the 19th century
-- a waking dream if ever there was one -- but the gleeful
machinations of playful Puck (Tucci) and mischievous
fairy king Oberon (Everett) are still pure moonshine.
And even though the sonsorous monologues of Shakespeare's
most fanciful creation ring somewhat hollow in twangy
American mouths, the cast us still wondrous strange.
Pfeiffer, divinely bewigged and spacey, is Oberon's
queen, Titania, who, when bewitched by Puck's potion,
becomes helplessly enamoured of Bottom the weaver (Kline,
in crackling comic form), who, courtesy of the Puckster,
has been miraculously transformedinto an ass.
Spindly Flockhart is shameless Helena, whose ursuit
of boorish Demetrius (Christain Bale) is finally rewarded
after -- let's be brutal -- Puck drugs him into submission.
And you thought Melrose was a muddle.
Hoffman has popped his stars onto bicycles and into
and enchanted forest so magically pretty you'll never
want the night to end. Of course, there are certain other
things you may not want as well, such as another visit
with the tortuously unfunny Pyramus and Thisbe. But fie!
I blather and digress. The midsummer madness continues
to endure -- as a bemused contemplation of the conflicts
and conundrums of love, and especially as a spot-on observation
of what fools we mortals cannot help but be. Or something
like that. (PG, 121 minutes) B+
|
| |
| THE
LOOK |
| Instyle
Magazine |
Hair To create Pfeiffer's cascade of ethereal locks, stylist
Carol Hemming pin-curled Pfeiffer's dry hair every night
for a flatter wave. She then threaded the tresses (embellished
with six feet of extensions!) with crystal beads to give
them a magical aura. |
 Makeup Artist
Ronnie Specter wanted Pfeiffer to be "a vision of moonlight"
as titania, Queen of the Fairies. For a surreal glow,
Specter applied Max Factor Pan-stik in ivory to Pfeiffer's
skin, then swept TIGI Shake-It Powder shimmer all over
her face. She used Max Factor Wild White shadow on the
insides of the eyes, finishing the outer eyes with Max
Factor 18k. For a sparkling effect, Specter brushed True
Colors Glitter Powder in gold, bronze and Opal on top
of the shadow. She then colored Pfeiffer's lips with
Magic Kiss lip stain and finished up with Stila lip gloss
in Gold Shine. |
| |
| Allure
Magazine (May 1999) |
Faerie
Queen |
 Poor
David Kelley. He's won a fistful of awards for The
Practice and Ally
Mcbeal, yet his most envied achievement is marrying
Michelle Pfeiffer. The Oscar-nominated, genetically blessed
actress has repeatedly tried to downplay her beauty on-screen,
but now she's back in fabulous form as Titania, the faerie
queen, in fox Searchlight's version of Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream. Inspired by French surrealist
paintings, hairdresser Carol Hemming created a Lady Godiva
look by fitting Pfeiffer's own pin-curled locks with
two three-foot extensions crafted from real Swedish hair
("Very hard to come by") and colored silk threads in
sea colors--festooned with glittering beads, sequins,
and pearls. Explains Hemming, "She slept in three feet
every morning." Max Factor makeup artist Ronnie Specter,
who also worked with Pfeiffer on The
Fabulous Baker Boys,
used Max Factor products (the company is launching a
film-inspired cosmetics line) to give her a luminous,
moonlit face. For eyes that literally sparkled, specter
first applied a blend of Wild White, Champagne, and 18
Karat eye shadows, then pressed on gold and silvery white
glitter. she dusted Petal Pink blush over Pfeiffer's
eyes and cheeks for a rosy finish. For softly stained
lips, Specter invented a goldish pink shade by mixing
gold glimmer and clear gloss. But don't think the makeup
process was any easier than the hair. "For some scenes,
Michelle was up in the air in this flower bower, which
was like a hanging plant the size of a car," saya Specter.
"I had to climb up scaffolding to reach her for touch-ups." |
| Suna
Chang |
| |
| Other
Magazine |
 TO
GET AN INSTANT GLOW THIS SUMMER, TRY THE NEW shimmer sticks
and powders that brighten your skin without leaving a
heavy, make-up look. Ronnie Specter, who created Michelle
Pfeiffer's sheer, dewy look for A
Midsummer Night's Dream,
saya, "I applied loose, shimmery powder to her eyes and
pressed it for the right effect. Just use a dab on your
finger." Specter also recommends a light swipe with a
shimmer stick to highlight the checkbones, the brow bone,
the bridge of the nose, the shoulders and even cleavage. |
|
|
