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bwoodin08
Disappointed and disgruntled with American rehashes of action/thriller/killer films. Have seen but 2-3 decent films in US this YEAR, mostly all British or Brit actors - "Woman in Gold", "Far from the Madding Crowd", can't think of 1 American film that's memorable.
Looking for "movies for grown ups" - and NOT just OPs (over 60+ crowd). A GOOD film will spill over boundaries and demographics.
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Alarm (2008)
Suspense Thriller - Oh for F**k Sake ending!
Molly (Ruth Bradley) leaves city of Dlin for a more quiet suburban area following the horrific death of her father. She buys a home and that's when things start falling apart. Her close friends, an older couple, Jessica and Frank, with whom she's been living, want her to stay with them, but she feels the need to be on her own.
After ahousewarming party with Dublin friends, she meets Mal (the eminently sexy and watchable Aidan Turner) who offers to paint and decorate her new home so she can meet work deadlines.
They quickly fall into bed, he moves in with her, but not before her new house is broken into and strafed by an unknown burglar. The police aren't much help, but the local hardware store owner insists she should have an alarm system put in. Still the break-ins continue.
Mal gives her a guard dog, Scruffy - a cute mixed breed who is protective of her, and warns off anyone who tries to get in. Under unexplained circumstances, Scruffy gets loose, runs away, and then Molly begins to suspect everyone she knows of being the burglar,and trying to drive her mad. Mal, Jessica, Frank, her psychiatrist, the hardware store owner and his twin who installed the alarm system - she trusts none of them. By the end of the film - by the way with NO resolution - it's unclear if anyone she suspects is guilty, or if she indeed is having a mental breakdown. My reaction at the end - oh, for F**k sake!!
Nudity, intense love scenes (with Aidan Turner there are bound to be!), intense drama or melodrama - a "keep you on the edge of your chair" film that keeps you riveted to the end - a "who dunnit" that doesn't resolve "who dunnit". Love films like this, many won't or don't, but it is a very good film, well paced, good characters, I give it 5 stars, regardless of the unresolved ending.
Le silence des églises (2013)
The story of another child sexually abused by the Catholic Church
This well-made French film is not shy about showing all the shame and degradation of the victim, with the sanctioned cover-up for the priest, the bishop, and the whole hierarchy of the Catholic Church in its complicity of this horrific scandal in France. Too bad the only revelations on American TV are from programs like Frontline and news stories, which really don't tell the whole story in a narrative form with its obvious outcome. The only American film I'm aware of with an allusion to sexual abuse is "Doubt" and then it's peripheral.
Despite the new Pope's apology, and Benedict's lame one, (too little too late), the Church continues to cover up priests ghastly behavior in the U.S. The problem is world-wide, and yet even here in America we get apologists for the Church, instead of shame for its behavior, and little or no attention paid to victims, who are now getting "paid" for years of secrecy and their own sad and undeserved shame.
A very well done film, and Robinson Stevenin as Gabriel sees it through to a conclusion, and demands recognition by the Church at the highest level. Finally, he gets it, but long after suffering psychological damage that will never be healed by money or apologies.
A Single Man (2009)
Colin Firth - "A Single Man" was a must-see after "The King's Speech"
I don't know how he does it, but Colin Firth's performance(s) in these 2 films is just awesome! In "A Single Man" he tells the story through minimal words, but his face, his emotions, expressions just say it all! I was mesmerized just watching the emotions he portrayed in this film. While I wouldn't give it a "10" overall, the acting - his, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult were so well done they captured the film for me. It's a bit disjointed to follow w/flashbacks, etc. but a well done film, and Firth's acting certainly deserved more awards. Let's hope he nabs a bunch for "The King's Speech" - best film of the year to my mind!!
Black Swan (2010)
Bizarre and Painful Film
I cannot understand all the rave reviews for this tortured and tortuous dark and brooding film. It is painful to see a young vibrant dancer turn into a demonized pathetic wretch, with plenty of help from her cunning unscrupulous director, a rival dancer who plays mind games and sexual games with her at a drug and alcohol fueled nightclub. Not to mention a harridan of a mother who alternately smothers her into childish submission and praises her ability to win the title role in "Swan Lake". An ambitious film, it just goes off in too many directions. Nina has emotional, physical and mental problems that send her spinning out of control. She self-mutilates, indulges in sexual dalliances, fears she can't handle the role, but wills herself to play the menacing "Black Swan" by going deep into a place she cannot control. If it's a movie about lack of control of one's life, Darren Aronofsky got that right, but it's not up there on my list of must see films - in fact, I'd forgo it and see a film that didn't leave me feeling like I needed a hot shower to cleanse my spirit! The movie is soulless and surreal, utterly devoid of any humanity.
The King's Speech (2010)
Splendid, just splendid
The best film since "The Queen"...in fact, I hope QEII sees this touching drama about her father! I would love to know how accurate a portrayal it is of her childhood with a father who appears to be warm and loving, the total opposite of his own father, King George V. An overwhelmingly great drama with a terrific cast of well known Brits. Colin Firth gives an Oscar-worthy performance of King George VI struggling to overcome his tormenting stammer. With the help of Geoffrey Rush as the speech therapist Lionel Logue there is a battle royal between the self-conscious, self-doubting man who "would not be King" and the speech therapist who helps him overcome psychological and abusive childhood traumas which impact his adult life. In addition, Helena Bonham Carter as his loving, kind, patient and understanding wife believes he can overcome his terrifying fear of public speaking to become a very public King (and Queen)who bravely stay in London during WWII when they could easily have escaped to the safer countryside. An amazing, superbly moving and intimate character study that moves along briskly, this film deserves top awards for the performances of Firth, Rush and Carter, director Tom Hooper and a well crafted script. The film puts a very human face on the British monarchy, a portrait of a warm and close family. I hope it wins "Best Film of 2010" in the major awards coming up - certainly deserves it. I want to see it again, it's that well done!
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
Ready to beat feet from The Street!
Everyone knows the storyline by now, so I won't bore you with another plot summary - suffice it to say that the movie left me depressed, ready to take my $$ out of my retirement accounts and put it under my mattress! Because I don't see that anything has changed on "the Street". The ending, with Jacob and Winnie throwing a 4-5 figure 1st birthday party for their child reinforces that. I thought Stone would do a harsher depiction of WS today - maybe he too is in bed with the money guys who invested in his film! The parts showing individual investment firms and the greedy Bastards who are still running them are scary - only Frank Langella has a moral compass, and he dies early on. There are no good guys in this film, nothing has changed, yet it wrapped up neatly at the end with a love-fest among the families. I guess I expected an indictment of Wall Street and its Fat Cats from Stone but didn't get it. Is that what I'm supposed to take away from the film? That it's BAU - maybe he should have titled it "Wall Street - Some Things Never Change".