CINEMA NUT
REEL THOUGHTS
We've been in the dark and eating popcorn with some fervor.
UNKNOWN, ANOTHER YEAR and THE ILLUSIONIST in last couple of days. They provide us 3 lenses on films, movies and the art.
Lesley Manville as troubled Mary is superb. Her pathos is extraordinary. Jim Broadbent at Tom Hepple is magical with his wry manner played subtly. So is Ruth Sheen as Gerri Hepple, her compasion and warmth and then later disdain flys from the screen.
All of the supporting roles are well played. The film is warm, human, captivating, a bit sad but sweet.
The story is delightful, the music is sweet and the animation is enchanting. The art is terrific.
I fell in love with the movies when my brother and I would pay 25 cents to enter the old Windsor, Strand, or Grand theatre on a Saturday mid day to watch serials, shorts, newsreels, cartoons and then a feature. We were out of the house most of the day, giving Mom a break and giving us a world of adventure. Film or movie, and I'll argue there are differences, are a passion. Even Lana enjoyed spending the better part of a day and half in the theater, munching popcorn and being entertained.
UNKNOWN
A thrill ride. Action Thriller is the genre and they are corrrect. Liam Neeson plays this role well and has before. Diane Kruger and January Jones fill the screen nicely. Kruger is convincing. Aidn Quinn makes you want to punch him. Frank Langella visits with a role that should have been fleshed out. Bruno Ganz as the old Stasi spy was a scene grabber. You get a visual and cultural immersion into winter in Berlin as treated by Jaume Collet-Serra who directs music videos and TV commercials. Plausibility issues-but the film is only a ride and the popcorn is decent.
ANOTHER YEAR
This is a film. A British drama based on an academy award nominated original screenplay by Mike Leigh, who also directed. It is a craft piece to be sure. Cinematographer Dick Pope did magic in capturing seasons in a garden, and gave the actors a powerful canvas to excel at that kind of acting that comes in the eyes, or an expression while demonstrating degrees of nuance.
Lesley Manville as troubled Mary is superb. Her pathos is extraordinary. Jim Broadbent at Tom Hepple is magical with his wry manner played subtly. So is Ruth Sheen as Gerri Hepple, her compasion and warmth and then later disdain flys from the screen.
All of the supporting roles are well played. The film is warm, human, captivating, a bit sad but sweet.
THE ILLUSIONIST
An animated tour de force by Frenchman Sylvain Chomet, who directed, adapted the wonderful screenplay by Jacques Tait and even composed the original music. Art Director Bjarne Hansen and character designer Pierre-Henri Laporterie plus the visual effects and animation artists combined to create a brilliant and charming world for the Tait and Chomet story to play out. A French Illusionist finds that television and the movies eclipse his live performance so he takes a small job in Scotland where he meets a young woman. Both of their lives are changed.
The story is delightful, the music is sweet and the animation is enchanting. The art is terrific.
I fell in love with the movies when my brother and I would pay 25 cents to enter the old Windsor, Strand, or Grand theatre on a Saturday mid day to watch serials, shorts, newsreels, cartoons and then a feature. We were out of the house most of the day, giving Mom a break and giving us a world of adventure. Film or movie, and I'll argue there are differences, are a passion. Even Lana enjoyed spending the better part of a day and half in the theater, munching popcorn and being entertained.
The movie posters aren't appearing on my computer screen and there's a big gap at the end.
ReplyDeletesome times they appear, and other times they don't. the way of the web I guess.
ReplyDelete