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Reviews
Maid in Manhattan (2002)
Great speech by Lionel
This easy flow, easy to watch film has captivated me ever since I bought the DVD years ago. Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes make excellent chemistry together, and the story is a typical Cinderella-type one. However, for me, a surprising highpoint is the little speech Lionel Bloch (Bob Hoskins) gives when he and Marissa (Lopez) leave the hotel after Marissa has been sacked. The speech is delightful and goes like this; ''To serve others does not define who we are Miss Ventura. It takes dignity to serve. Whilst we may serve them we are not their servants. What defines us Miss Ventura is how well we rise after we have fallen. I think you will make an excellent manager one day, and it has been my pleasure to work with you''. Absolutely excellent and memorable, and represents a high point in Bob Hoskins' output.
Come Before Winter (2017)
An interesting and intriguing film
This documentary film, with re-enactments, educated me in an episode of WW2 I didn't realise existed. We learn about a black propaganda radio operation based in England that broadcasts deliberately confusing messages to German soldiers containing anti-Hitler sentiments, coded messages via music tracks, and the participation of a German speaking actress Agnes Bernelle who provides a key voice in the broadcasts, and future James Bond writer Ian Fleming as part of the broadcast team. German theologian Deitrich Bonhoeffer features as a Pastor who is a known anti-Nazi sympathiser who goes to his death in a German camp. It is a worthwhile piece that is educational and a useful tool for teaching history.
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
A Classic before its time
This film is perfect in every way. It captures the magic of the story, has brilliant technical and colourful aspects, and its music is outstanding and memorable. Both composer and lyricist have created some brilliantly conceived melodies, delivered with brilliance by the cast. Emily Blunt is such a skilful and wonderful actor, and has shown herself to be in the upper class of musical singers and performers. The orchestrations are magically rich, and put this film in the top echelons of film scoring. The character of Jack is charming, witty and endearing. Emily Blunt's Poppins continues to be practically perfect in every way. Julie Walters and Emily Mortimer put in stoical supporting performances, whilst Colin Firth showed his versatility as the evil banker. All together a first class film experience.
At the Midnight Hour (1995)
A lovely romantic movie
This is a really feel good movie with Patsy Kensit as a very warm, human and feminine nanny. who looks after a sensitive, studious boy in a cold, eerie house. Her appeal to the father of the boy brings the two of them close together, and they eventually marry. With an attempted murder in the plot, and the revelation that the father's brother's muse had killed the boy's mother years earlier, the movie sees the father develop from a cold hearted individual into a normal human being again. Patsy Kensit holds the entire film in her hands, with a brilliant, warm hearted performance.