I loved Mr. Holmes. In it, Sherlock Holmes is elderly, retired, living in the country and keeping bees. He's having problems with his memory, and it bothers him. He struggles to remember his last case. As he struggles to remember, snippets of memory swim into his consciousness, and as they do so, he grieves the past anew. Milo Parker (who will remind you of Thomas Brodie-Sangster from Love Actually) plays the son of Holmes' housekeeper, who is, increasingly, the old man's friend. The plot is clever, and the acting is wonderful.
I put off watching Woman in Gold, and put it off, and put it off some more because I think I thought it would be dreary. As I imagined, Helen Mirren was wonderfully charismatic and charming. As a creature of my time and place, I felt pained by the "underdog" story -- we all know you can't fight City Hall - but in this case, unassuming people did win. It's lovely, sad and instructive all at the same time.
Star Wars was a lot of fun. I think a pulse of electricity rolled through the audience as the first battle sequence began. Daisy Ridley seemed like a revelation. It will be so interesting to see how her career unfolds.
I really enjoyed Spectre, and especially loved the opening scenes in Mexico City. I thought it spectacular and entirely engaging. I thought that Christoph Waltz was miscast. I think villains are somewhat boring but I feel that Waltz' acting reveals his intelligence and this interferes with projecting evil menace. I had read reviews which complained that the plot was somewhat muddled, and I felt in retrospect that that may have been a fair criticism, but it didn't occur to me while I was watching it, and it didn't interfere in any way with my enjoyment.
Spotlight was very well written, well paced, well acted, and quite enjoyable. It deals with a difficult subject that not everyone will want to view. I think everyone in the cast wore khakis except for Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo's hair cut was awful, just awful, which I believe we are to understand is the kind of haircut that journalists sport. I'm making fun, and I was surprised, but I appreciate the seriousness of the plot and the costumes.
She's Funny That Way is a film I saw on video; I'm not sure how I found it. It was directed by Peter Bogdanovich. It's a "quirky" comedy that reminds me very much of a sixties comedy starring Barbra Streisand I saw on the TV the other day (For Pete's Sake, actually not from the sixties), which reminds me that this material is meant not just to be funny but to be funny in a comforting way. It's a movie for movie buffs. Obviously, no one thinks that this movie is a masterpiece but I realize that I admire it. It's entertaining, escapist, and ends happily. Imogen Poots plays the title character; at the end of the film she rues her debut play closing in a week, saying, "Long Island housewives just want to escape." I think a lot of people just want to escape and this movie offers that. Somehow this reminds me of Sullivan's Travels, and I want to say that Veronica Lake and Barbra Streisand were wonderful comic actresses. I think Imogen Potts carried on the tradition in this film, and I think that's quite nice.
Brooklyn, starring Saoirse Ronan, was a film I felt I had to see because I had read the novel. I'd found the novel very troubling. I wasn't sure if Eilis was really happy with her choice. Had she really chosen freely? Or, had she allowed herself to be persuaded to do something that she wasn't really ready to make a commitment to do? The movie suggests that she did choose what she really wanted and that she was happy with her choice.
The movie is so beautiful. It's really true to the action of the book. Saoirse Ronan is so beautiful; the costumes are spectacular and so are the scenes shot in Ireland. The movie is set in the '50s. It's the story of an immigrant, and the pain of immigration - not wanting to leave, but being forced by a complete lack of opportunity.
I'd never read anything by Colm Toibin at that time; I found out about the novel because the Chicago Public Library chose it for their "One City, One Book" program.
I put off watching Woman in Gold, and put it off, and put it off some more because I think I thought it would be dreary. As I imagined, Helen Mirren was wonderfully charismatic and charming. As a creature of my time and place, I felt pained by the "underdog" story -- we all know you can't fight City Hall - but in this case, unassuming people did win. It's lovely, sad and instructive all at the same time.
Star Wars was a lot of fun. I think a pulse of electricity rolled through the audience as the first battle sequence began. Daisy Ridley seemed like a revelation. It will be so interesting to see how her career unfolds.
I really enjoyed Spectre, and especially loved the opening scenes in Mexico City. I thought it spectacular and entirely engaging. I thought that Christoph Waltz was miscast. I think villains are somewhat boring but I feel that Waltz' acting reveals his intelligence and this interferes with projecting evil menace. I had read reviews which complained that the plot was somewhat muddled, and I felt in retrospect that that may have been a fair criticism, but it didn't occur to me while I was watching it, and it didn't interfere in any way with my enjoyment.
Spotlight was very well written, well paced, well acted, and quite enjoyable. It deals with a difficult subject that not everyone will want to view. I think everyone in the cast wore khakis except for Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo's hair cut was awful, just awful, which I believe we are to understand is the kind of haircut that journalists sport. I'm making fun, and I was surprised, but I appreciate the seriousness of the plot and the costumes.
She's Funny That Way is a film I saw on video; I'm not sure how I found it. It was directed by Peter Bogdanovich. It's a "quirky" comedy that reminds me very much of a sixties comedy starring Barbra Streisand I saw on the TV the other day (For Pete's Sake, actually not from the sixties), which reminds me that this material is meant not just to be funny but to be funny in a comforting way. It's a movie for movie buffs. Obviously, no one thinks that this movie is a masterpiece but I realize that I admire it. It's entertaining, escapist, and ends happily. Imogen Poots plays the title character; at the end of the film she rues her debut play closing in a week, saying, "Long Island housewives just want to escape." I think a lot of people just want to escape and this movie offers that. Somehow this reminds me of Sullivan's Travels, and I want to say that Veronica Lake and Barbra Streisand were wonderful comic actresses. I think Imogen Potts carried on the tradition in this film, and I think that's quite nice.
Brooklyn, starring Saoirse Ronan, was a film I felt I had to see because I had read the novel. I'd found the novel very troubling. I wasn't sure if Eilis was really happy with her choice. Had she really chosen freely? Or, had she allowed herself to be persuaded to do something that she wasn't really ready to make a commitment to do? The movie suggests that she did choose what she really wanted and that she was happy with her choice.
The movie is so beautiful. It's really true to the action of the book. Saoirse Ronan is so beautiful; the costumes are spectacular and so are the scenes shot in Ireland. The movie is set in the '50s. It's the story of an immigrant, and the pain of immigration - not wanting to leave, but being forced by a complete lack of opportunity.
I'd never read anything by Colm Toibin at that time; I found out about the novel because the Chicago Public Library chose it for their "One City, One Book" program.
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