I've notice that Steve Coogan is making the rounds and getting his face out there and plugs for Philomena at every event and place he can! No one has seen this one yet?
Latest Movie That You Watched!
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I haven't seen the movie, but I read the book. It was sad, but I liked the ending.
Journalist Martin Sixsmith, at a loose end after losing his job, reluctantly (at first) takes on the human interest story of Philomena Lee. As a "Magdalene Laundry" unmarried teen mother in 1960s Ireland, the nuns who provided room and board (and hard work for sinful young girls) sold her small son into adoption in the US, and Sixsmith joins her in her quest to find him.
This film is gripping stuff - while one accepts that there is some dramatic license, the overall thrust of the narrative is true, and the heartlessness with which these young mothers were treated (for there are too many similar accounts to believe that this sort of thing did not happen) is gut-wrenching. The story goes in some unexpected directions, and the two key characters, played with brilliance by both Dench and Coogan, have an uncomfortable chemistry: neither is wholly likable, but both are very human and easy to identify with, and their growing relationship is one of the strengths of the film.
Kudos also to Coogan for co-scripting and co-producing. I have long admired his facility for creating characters, but without actually liking any of them, and he has successfully established a career in movies without setting the world alight. So it is really good to see him not only deliver a performance of maturity and sympathy which owes nothing to his career so far, but also to have such a strong hand in creating this film.
This is an excellent film.
Thank you for such a nice write-up. I want to see this one.
I have recorded two movies I'd like to watch: Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Silver Linings Playbook. Anyone watched these? Are they worth staying awake for? Which one is better?
I've watched BEst Exotic and thought it was great. i love ensemble casts with the older actors.
COCKNEYS VS. ZOMBIES 
It was HI-larious!
It was HI-larious!
They are both worth staying awake for, and neither is better. Marigold is perhaps a gentler movie.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
We are introduced to a number of people:
Evelyn (Judi Dench) has lost her husband after 40 years and is struggling to cope with the debts he left;
Recently retired civil servant Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton), penniless due to investing in their daughter's unsuccessful business, are appalled at the prospect of a retirement flat in an old folks' compound;
Madge (Celia Imrie) may be faded, but isn't ready to call it a day yet;
Muriel (Maggie Smith), embittered after a lifetime in service and the disappearance of her country behind faces she doesn't recognise, finds her much-needed hip replacement outsourced to a cheaper provider;
Graham (Tom Wilkinson) retires as a judge and decides he must try to find something he lost in his youth; and
Ageing old goat Norman decides to pursue the hunt somewhere new.
These 7 people, for their different reasons, find themselves in Jaipur, the first residents of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (for the Old and Beautiful), an establishment which does not quite reach the photoshopped standards of its brochure, and which is run with more enthusiasm than acumen by Sonny (Dev Patel).
Yes, folks, it's another movie about old people. But it has a classy cast, a sparkling script, some genuinely affecting character arcs (Sunny, too has things going on), and the sights and sounds of India.
I saw this in a cinema full of people who, like myself, are no longer in the full flush of youth, and there was a strong sense of identification. But that's not the end of it, because the film is much stronger than that. There was a lot of laughter - much of this film is very funny, and there are some terrific one liners - and an appreciation of the performances. Of course, with a cast of this calibre, one expects no less than first rate, but they all deliver at least to that expected standard. I particularly liked Penelope Wilton's brittle Jean, let down and angry, but always putting the very British cheery public face over the top of her deep unhappiness, and Bill Nighy as husband Douglas, kind, positive, faithful and loyal and, perhaps, capable of being provoked beyond the point where he can bear it any more. Yet all are excellent.
This film is warm, witty, funny, touching, and deep but without being preachy. Even though it is only February, 2012 will have to come up with something special to produce a better film this year.
Silver Linings Playbook
Pat (Bradley Cooper) comes home to find his teacher wife having a shower with another teacher, who Pat promptly beats to a pulp. Eight months later, Pat is discharged from mental hospital - complete with restraining order - into the care of his mother, having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the meantime. All is clearly not well with him, however: there is clear evidence that his grip on reality and reason is not always all that it could be, because he remains tightly focused on being reunited with the wife who has the restraining order on him (we also see that Pat's OCD father (Robert De Niro) may well be the source of some of Pat's problems). Into his life comes Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a young woman recently widowed and with obvious issues of her own in terms of dealing with the depression caused by her grief. A quid pro quo develops: Tiffany will act as a mailbox for letters between Pat and wife, and Pat will be a dancing partner for Tiffany for a contest she has entered as therapy.
This film does not tidily fit into a category: it is essentially a drama, though with romantic and comedic elements. And it has a couple of fairly severe flaws. The bet which fuels the third act is pretty obviously no more than a dramatic device to raise the stakes in the dance contest and has a distinct whiff of improbability about it, and the ending appears inconsistent with the attitudes of the protagonists. These are both fairly serious criticisms to level at a film which takes itself seriously, nowithstanding its comedic elements.
And I didn't care. I liked this film very much indeed. It plays fair with the mental problems suffered by Pat and Tiffany: while drawing humour from them, they are never the butt of insensitive jokes. Bradley Cooper makes Pat believable, and Jennifer Lawrence is heart-achingly poignant as Tiffany (she is also sizzlingly sexy, particularly in the final dance, but that's merely a bonus). You always want these two damaged people to find, in each other, the means to achieve a measure of happiness, and you are never 100% sure whether the film will take you there by the end or not.
And if the film leaves you pondering the relative merits of consistency versus satisfaction, well so what?
@Neil W Thanks for all that! I wish I could leave work right now and hop back into my jammies and watch those two movies right now!!
I have a pass to our local multiplex, and most weeks I see 3 current movies, following which I post something like the above to the Internet Movie DataBase. I'm always happy to cut and paste here if you are happy to read my thoughts on something you are thinking about watching.
Watched Rock And Rolla last night. Directed by Guy Ritchie (ex Mr. Madonna). Had to see it because it has Tom Hardy in it. He was good. Funny movie. Abit strange tho.
12 Years A Slave - very worthwhile, well acted, often very disturbing
I, Frankenstein - Aaron Eckhart fails to rise above CGI in Underworld/Buffy hybrid drivel
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - workmanlike action/thriller
I, Frankenstein - Aaron Eckhart fails to rise above CGI in Underworld/Buffy hybrid drivel
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - workmanlike action/thriller
Thanks to my sickness, I spent the last 3 days watching TV
1. Ju-on (the original Japanese version of The Grudge). Once again understood that I like American versions better, Japanese movies lack somethings... It was supposed to be scary, but it was just funny for me.
2. Orphan. It was the third time I've seen the movie, it's really good, though not so much interesting when you know the ending.
3. 1408. No comments
4. Thor: The Dark World. Finally rewatched it in English, great movie. And there is Loki!!
1. Ju-on (the original Japanese version of The Grudge). Once again understood that I like American versions better, Japanese movies lack somethings... It was supposed to be scary, but it was just funny for me.
2. Orphan. It was the third time I've seen the movie, it's really good, though not so much interesting when you know the ending.
3. 1408. No comments
4. Thor: The Dark World. Finally rewatched it in English, great movie. And there is Loki!!
I watched Silver Linings Playbook last night - why have I not watched this before? I loved it. There was craziness and sadness and humor and dancing - and I found a new hunk, Bradley Cooper. And Jennifer Lawrence was gorgeous and talented. One of my recent favorites for sure.
I watched the new version of Carrie. It was good but cannot come close to the original with Sissy Spacek. Chloe Grace Moretz is just too pretty to play Carrie (not saying Spacek isn't pretty, but she was able to lose that prettiness when she was Carrie). Julianne Moore was good but she was alittle too quiet and soft for my taste. Piper Laurie was the ultimate Margaret White - she was terrifying! The rest of the cast was forgettable. The gal that played Sue Snell needs to eat! Her legs were as thin as a toothpick. Special effects were good- it was kind of cool to see Carrie blow up the town!
I just watched A History of Violence, a movie I have been meaning to get to for quite some time. What a wonderfully disturbing experience. I'm really a little freaked out right now, in a good way.
Viggo Mortensen is one talented and fearless actor.
I never gave much thought to who would be good to play Roland in a DT film but after seeing Viggo in this and Eastern Promises, I have to say I could see him doing Roland some justice.
Viggo Mortensen is one talented and fearless actor.
I never gave much thought to who would be good to play Roland in a DT film but after seeing Viggo in this and Eastern Promises, I have to say I could see him doing Roland some justice.
Really? I just watched this last night and I loved it.
It ends on a positive note and made me feel good.