BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Recently watched movies.

Ah-chie · March 5, 2015 9:53 pm

OK- when I first read your post I mistakenly thought you said "Benedict would have been excellent as everything: he could have played Karenina " And I almost passed my tea through my nose, but then I thought... well, maybe?!? And then of course I re-read what you had written.

I am still of the mind that a more deeply played Vronsky would have been better in this version (definitely not more romantic but presenting him in a more complicated nuanced manner would have worked for me). Some one who was a strong foil for the Anna character to play off of. He just seemed a bit of a mush for me at times. But it is small quibbles at best.

I saw another interesting film the other night - Mansfield Park by Patricia Rozema. I am especially well aquainted with Rozema because she was raised in the town I was born and raised in Sarnia (although she was born in Kingston Ontario, we like to think of her of one of our own and she considers Sarnia her "home town").

My husband Dan has friends that worked with her when she summered at the newspaper and all the media people were invited to a special screening of her first major movie I Heard the Mermaids Singing (which is another movie that is found in that book I mentioned earlier "Produced and Abandoned").

Anyway, Mansfield Park was really quite entertaining even though it differed from the source material quite a bit. I liked her version of it. I understand BC participated in a radio format of this Austen classic playing the part of Edmund. I can see him in that role without any trouble.

Tomorrow we are going to see The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - something I have been looking forward to for a while. I really loved the first movie and thought it could easily stand a sequel. With the cast it has (and seeing how much I loved the first one) I have high expectations for it. Hope to be pleased.

-Val

miriel68 · March 8, 2015 6:30 pm

Ah-chie wrote:
OK- when I first read your post I mistakenly thought you said "Benedict would have been excellent as everything: he could have played Karenina "

Oh, I am quite convinced Benedict would be a SUPERB Anna, lol. Just think of depths of her sould he could express!
Seriously, though, I think Karenin & Orlovsky could be a bit to similar to some characters he played before, namel duped or pathetic husbands. And Wronsky... I think it was delibarate: Anna's tragedy is very much due to the fact that Wronsky is not quite worthy of everything she sacrificed for him. It's not an "equal" love and relationship and had Wronsky been played by Benedict this fact could be less poignant, I suppose.
I remember watching "Small Island": I (the audience) was supposed to root for the female character, played by Ruth Wilson, instead I was all sympathetic to the rather repugnant (in theory) character played by Benedict!

Russell · March 10, 2015 6:53 am

Huh… never seen Anna Karenina, but heard about what a production it was… and just nodding at above comments about right casting, favorites aside! Holds true for my recent flicks too…

Finally crossed a couple more older ones off my list that had still been curious about - American Hustle, which also led to recalling also being curious how good I heard Silver Linings Playbook was, being the same director's first jaunt with three of the actors. And those guys are good! Hustle was really… really… strange, but made for an intriguing con film. How fun and confusing was it wondering who was going to get away with what? Many of you seen it already? Good, but still left me with a 'I'm not sure how to feel' sense with the endings they gave everyone.

And Silver Linings Playbook….. man that movie just made so happy with it's initially odd balance of football, dancing, family, and mental health, and how they all mixed together with great portrayals by everyone (minor faults aside). Well done with it's sweet openness about all of us having some kind of Thing to deal with, and family/getting better, and Cooper, Lawrence, and De Niro were fantastic. And shot in only 33 days! Anyone else like it?
Only qualms are, when I think a lot about it rather than simply taking away the surface feel-good-ness of it, is it seems simplification of Pat's bi-polar (if he is even that)? And happy ending with everything 'fixed' thanks to just letting go of past and having some sort of accomplishment (saying nothing of the twisted bet riding on said accomplishment/people), and co-dependent or toxic relationships. But I still like to come away from it with the thought that even people like them (or 'normals') all have different things working on and can be happy and wanted and do something crazy. We seem to love characters like that…. heck, we're all here because of a couple, right?

Ah-chie · March 10, 2015 2:25 pm

I'm not a big fan of Bradley Cooper so I didn't really like American Hustle (and I don't really like what I have seen of Jennifer Lawrence either) and I really disliked Silver Linings Playbook too. So obviously I am not the person to wax on about either movie. But I appreciate that some folks did like it.

We got to see Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel the other day and I did like it - almost as much as the first one (ehich was A LOT).

Maggie Smith was sublime. My favourite scene was before the titles right at the beginning of the movie when M. Smith (as Muriel Donnelly) was with Dev Patel (who played Sonny Kapoor) taking a meeting with investors in San Diego...

It just reminded me so much of Benedict emphatically explaining someone in a video interview about how to make proper tea!!
I laughed twice as hard at that scene as a result.

I recommend The Second Best Exoctic Marigold Hotel to anyone who loves the acting of Maggie Smith (I have been a fan of hers ever since 1969 since The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), Judi Dench, David Strathairn (although his part is small he is perfection), Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton (also of Downton Abbey).

-Val

miriel68 · March 11, 2015 8:05 am

Lol, so it makes us two: I really disliked Silver Lining as well, found it incredibly pretentious. But it is just my opinion.

I didn't like The America Hustler, either, or rather it left me indifferent and bored. I went to see it after having read all enthusiastic reviews and then I like very much Christian Bale and Amy Adams, but it was a big disappointment, all "showing off" with no substance to it. Give me "Sting" every day!

Looking forward to Marigold, watching Judi Dench and Maggie Smith is always a joy. BTW, Val, have you seen Quartet?

SolarSystem · March 11, 2015 9:22 am

Russell wrote:
Finally crossed a couple more older ones off my list that had still been curious about - American Hustle, which also led to recalling also being curious how good I heard Silver Linings Playbook was, being the same director's first jaunt with three of the actors.

I've seen them both, and while I didn't like "Silver Linings Playbook" all that much, Christian Bale brought me onto the verge of tears in "American Hustle". I liked the whole film very much, although it certainly isn't what I would call 'an important movie'. I think Bradley Cooper showed some capability for self-irony here (and I'm not just talking about his hair), and I enjoyed watching all the characters trying to achieve something, struggling to be successful and staying on top and how that went wrong for almost all of them. Bale's character of course was the one who almost made my heart bleed on several occasions.
And although it sometimes seemed to me that they were trying a bit too hard to make it all look as cool as possible, that's a film I had no trouble watching a second time.

Ah-chie · March 11, 2015 3:40 pm

miriel68 wrote:
Lol, so it makes us two: I really disliked Silver Lining as well, found it incredibly pretentious. But it is just my opinion.

I didn't like The America Hustler, either, or rather it left me indifferent and bored. I went to see it after having read all enthusiastic reviews and then I like very much Christian Bale and Amy Adams, but it was a big disappointment, all "showing off" with no substance to it. Give me "Sting" every day!

Looking forward to Marigold, watching Judi Dench and Maggie Smith is always a joy. BTW, Val, have you seen Quartet?

Yes! The Sting anytime over American Hustle. Or even Ocean's Eleven for me as well. Lots of fun (by one of my all-time favourite directors/producers Steven Soderbergh).

I haven't seen Quartet - yet. I plan to definitely. At first I thought you meant A Late Quartet, which I watched recently and loved. But now I remember Quartet - I think I saw previews of it in the theatre but it got away from us.

Last night we watched A Promise starring Alan Rickman, Rebecca Hall (who starred with BC in Parade's End) and someone I am not familiar with - Richard Madden.

It was interesting but really, really, r-e-a-l-l-y sloooooow.

At first it was hard for me to warm-up to Rebecca Hall's character (I still think of what she did to Christopher Tiejens) but she did the best job of all the actors in the film actually IMO. Rickman was good too but he didn't have as meaty of part. The young fellow was miscast I think. He wasn't all that bad but he didn't bring any emotional dynamic to the role I thought. The ending was - quite flat and I thought disjointed (I haven't read the book it was based on so this could have been the source of the problem but it really didn't work for me anyway). I really liked the setting for the movie - preWWI Germany... you don't see that too often.

I can't say I would recommend it but if you don't mind the glacial pace and want to see something more than a bit different then you might want to check this one out. If I had to grade it - maybe a 4 out of 10 but maybe a 5??

-Val

Russell · March 12, 2015 3:07 am

Huh… really? How so? I heard a lot of mixed reviews for a while for Silver Linings, but been wanting to see for self anyway, looking like a sweet story. I do totally get feeling like it was simplified or a little pretentious, but for some reason brain still anyway enjoyed the 'basics' of it I mentioned in first post. Hustle, though, came away with a sense of intrigued entertainment from it, but brain with that one was mostly 'uh, what?' at the end, not sure if completely liked, other than the performances and some twists. Much prefer my favorite Ocean's Eleven series for a con film, like someone else said, and some others can't think of now (besides 'The Prestige'). Haven't seen 'The Sting'… sounds classic!

Ah-chie · March 12, 2015 3:25 am

Everyone's different Russell - not a problem. Personal preference. Sometimes despite all the well-thought out reasons of others, you just like something and that's what it is! That's what makes the world go round.

I love almost anything Steven Soderbergh has made, so Ocean's Eleven is a given.

Catch Me If You Can is another con-artist film I could watch over and over again (and I have). Another couple of gems are A Fish Called Wanda (hilarious!!!) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (both the 1988 version and the original "Bedtime Story" 1964 version).

The Grifters is another con-artist film that is exceptional. The Hustler made in 1961 starring Paul Newman is really, really good and I even liked the sequel The Colour of Money (with Newman, Tom Cruise and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio).

If you haven't seen The Sting you are in for a real treat. Hope you get to see it someday.

-Val

miriel68 · March 12, 2015 10:25 am

Oh, Sting is perfect! A delightful mix of humour, intrigue and top notch performances.

Val, I've seen A Promise and was rather disappointed. It is really sad the great talent of Rebecca Hall being wasted in such a way. She has a great potential and given an opportunity - like in Parade's End - she is able to give an electrifying performance, yet she keeps getting mainly roles beneath her talent. Yet another proof how difficult it is for actresses to find really interesting parts.
Quartet is a nice film - not a great one, though - with a wonderful performance by Maggie Smith - you are for a treat!

Ah-chie · March 12, 2015 3:26 pm

Well, I always know that a movie is in trouble with me when my mind starts to wander during it and you end up thinking "Boy, oh boy, it was raining a lot in that film!" - which is exactly what happened in A Promise.

I think observations like this are best if they are made after the 3rd or 4th time you have viewed something you absolutely love - not if that is what happens during your first viewing!

The other thing I noticed about A Promise was it isn't even a character study. I can take a slow film that is a deep character study (like God's Pocket or A Most Wanted Man) but I can't say A Promise let me into the characters enough to enjoy the psychological underpinnings of their personalities. Perhaps they wanted to do that - but it just wasn't successfully done for me.

-Val

Russell · March 12, 2015 7:18 pm

Oh, of course Val, I know! Was just wondering!

*headslap* Yes! Those were two on the tip of my brain with just musing fun con films in general, before just writing 'Prestige' (which really is something else), and wrapping up the post. I loved Catch Me, and Scoundrels! Now You See Me was pretty fun, too. And have kept hearing A Fish Called Wanda mentioned over the years but never picked up yet… oi, thanks, two more films for the list, then!

You like Ocean's Eleven, with the mixed group of skills and wisecracks and marks getting twisted… Do you enjoy that kind of thing in a 'light' long-running format of a tv show? I loved 'Leverage' while it was still running, and would recommend… great cast and motley group of the "bad guys" turning things around to help the underdog good guys.

miriel68 · March 13, 2015 6:33 am

Oh, I think the premise of the Promise was quite good and then I used to enjoy Stefan Zweig prose very much: he is a very perceptive observer of the human nature. Alas, they truly didn't seem to have a clue how to go beyond some eee... smelling action and longing glances? A film can be slow and still work well, if it has a psychological depth - a lot of Russian films are like this: you just sit down and let you being driven by their slow torrent.

Ah-chie · March 14, 2015 5:41 pm

Watched a really good slow film last night - En kongelig affære.
It starred Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander and Mikkel Følsgaard (a Danish movie made in 2012 and a winner of Silver Bears at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.

Where A Promise failed terribly at getting into the characters, this one to me succeed wonderfully. Especially with the performance of Mikkel Følsgaard. He was stunning in a mostly unlikeable role but I really felt for him in the end.

This production was so lush and beautifully photographed that it almost made me weep after it was done.

It was subtitled so you could hear the inflection of the natural actors' voices (I hate when they dub something like this).

Highly recommend this one - historic, sweeping, intimate and intoxicating.

-Val

miriel68 · March 14, 2015 8:38 pm

This one has been on my have-to-see list for a quite a long time. Well, Scandinavian movies tend to be slow, but they are just like Wagner - you have to relax and and accept their pace and they will give you something worthy back.

Have you seen "Italian for the beginners"? One of my all-times favourites.

Liberty · March 15, 2015 3:36 pm

I saw "X plus Y" yesterday. A great choice of film for Pi day! (3.1415 - it only really works if you write it the American way. And miss out the dot before the year. But still.).

If you've seen the documentary "Beautiful Young Minds" by the same director, you'll be familiar with a lot of the film. It's a fictionalised version of Daniel Lightwing's story.   Although it's fiction and some major details were changed for the story (especially Daniel's father!), some of it is very close to the documentary, even including direct quotes and scenes (such as the chess game with cups) lifted straight from the doc.

If you haven't seen either, the documentary was about teenagers competing for prestiguous places at the IMO (International Mathematical Olympiad), and seemed to have a focus on those with autistic spectrum characteristics. I saw the documentary first and you might want to do that first (it's on youtube), but you don't need to see it to enjoy the film (although it might be fun to watch it afterwards).

If the subject matter interests you at all, then definitely see this film. I loved it and found there was lots I wanted to discuss afterwards. Although it's partly about maths, genius, competition and ASD, it's also about love and relationships.    Bring tissues, particularly if you're a mother.

Ah-chie · March 16, 2015 2:02 am

miriel68 wrote:
Have you seen "Italian for the beginners"? One of my all-times favourites.

Haven't seen it but I will keep my eye open for it now that you have recommended it to me. Thanks!

-Val

Davina · March 16, 2015 4:57 pm

Steven Soderbergh has made some great films but Haywire is one that generally stank (apart from Michael Fassbender, of course. This is despite me being a big Ewan McGregor fan).

Ah-chie · March 16, 2015 7:19 pm

I agree Davina - Soderbergh has made some really great films.

What I love the most about SS is that you can't really pin him down on his "type" of film. He is just as at home doing art-house films as he is doing big budget movies. He has done sci-fi, historical dramas, con-artist heist comedies, psychological thrillers, a two part sweeping saga, biopics, comedy-dramas and even a bildungsroman.

I love his version of Solaris even more than Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 adaptation of Lem's novel. Sex, Lies and Videotape is still one of my all time favourites. And I love Full Frontal as well.

Che is a masterpiece of storytelling IMO.

Sure there are flops - every auteur has a few duds. But his wonderful, brave, interesting films greatly outweight the few that didn't work out so nicely. Out of the almost 40 works credited to SS the stinkers could probably be counted on one hand I would think. And that's just as a director - as a producer he also has a very impressive list of projects, including his most recent - Oscar winning documentary Citzenfour in which he was one of the executive producers.listed.

-Val

miriel68 · March 21, 2015 9:15 am

Just finished watching "The Knick" series - made by Soderbergh and it shows. Excellent, even if not for squeamish audience.

Yes, I lked his Solaris, although it had, unavoidable, to simplify the original novel. Tarkovsky's version is a masterpiece, of course, but you need a lot of resistance to last to the end, lol.