Film Reviews by CW

I raced through the first two episodes & look forward to my next disc. Good writing, directing, casting, costumes and props. Usually I find watching Nicole Kidman rather dull ( emotional range of a porcelain sink) but she is v believable here. Vicious ruthless and yet fragile women. Well done. I want more.

Shocking, tragic, hilarious, beautifully done. It felt as though the entire cast loved playing their roles. Benedict Cumberbatch gets to alternate between elegant, sophisticated, witty and totally out of control drug and alcohol fuelled addict. More graphic than scenes in Trainspotting. The acting, directing and camera work make you feel as though you were experiencing the highs, the crashes, the withdrawal. Heartbreaking scenes of a tortured young boy, Patrick as a child. Drug addiction not glamorised, but rather portrayed in all its horror. Based on true stories by author. Compelling. I raced through the episodes.

At first I thought that it was slow moving and a bit tired. Mostly I liked watching Jane Fonda, as beautiful and exciting as always. I think she nailed the role. ( if you haven’t seen her in Klute, do yourself the favour of watching that chilling brilliant movie) Then I started paying attention to aspects of the series that made it important to me. The stars are older women and men. The list of producers includes several women inc Fonda & Tomlin. There are women and men of various races and sizes. No big deal is made of this, they are just people, not token roles. The lead men are gay and their families come to accept this. So what initially seemed to me as just a silly light comedy now has importance in the diversity of the cast and crew.

Dated and flat until Shirley MacLaine is in a scene. She definitely makes it worth watching. She is absolutely lovely and nails her role as a somewhat simple sexy woman who is crazy mad in love with the character played by Frank Sinatra. She won the Academy Award for her part.

I wanted to see this for another opportunity to watch Barack Obama in action. Actually it was much more than that. It was a fascinating behind the scenes study of the phenomenal women and men who worked with him to achieve as much as he could. They were all idealistic and yet pragmatic. You see Samantha Power, Ben Rhodes, John Kerry and others. You watch all of them work tirelessly in their missions for honest government and to bring peace between nations and equality for all. Climate change was one of their most important issues. You see their hearts break when they watch with disbelief Trump elected as president. As we know, Trump has gone on to negate as much of Obama’s work as he has been able to. I learned that Laos was the most bombed nation on earth and people there are still being maimed and killed by mines. I doubt that the US ever had or will have again a man and administration as fine and noble as that of Obama’s.

Unlike other reviewers, I really did like this movie. I was glad afterwards to watch the interesting special features explaining how the movie was made. Having not read the book I cannot compare the two but did see that the author worked with the script writer. To me, the chemistry of the 2 actors worked. I found it believable. There were omg moments gasping at the danger they were in trying to survive in the snow, freezing temperatures, running out of food. Yes, the dog looked healthy and frisky for one starving but we would have all been furious if an emaciated dog had been used. I liked that for the most part the actors did their own stunts and the movie was filmed on location. For me his was a most entertaining adventure/ survival story. I don’t know about ending in book but though sentimental, I think the ending worked well.

Poor little girl forced to be labelled a witch. The one bright spot is that she is given to a group of women also forced to live as witches. They are kind to her. They are slave labourers on a farm and kept on leashes. They are made to perform for tourists who stare at them and take photos. The little girl is not permitted to go to school though the other women want her to have an education. All of the women in the movie are good, all of the men are bad. All except for one policewoman, all of the women are slaves. No hope. Throughly depressing.

An absolute must see. Shocking, terrifying, heartbreaking to watch the undeniable examples of our rapid climate change and how it affects countries, atmosphere and oceans around the world. Al Gore and his team work tirelessly giving lectures and slide shows to government leaders, climate conferences, universities and other groups. Like evangelists they train people to spread the facts and offer advice on what can be done. You see what a brilliant noble man he is. We gasped watching news footage of massive floods and storms and rapid melting of icebergs. I cannot put into words the power of this excellent documentary. Earth is our home. Shame on Trump.

This is a sweet movie ( that sounds insipid but it is not) & I am glad to have seen it. I like that is based on a true story. The script was written by Kumail & his wife Emily. Kumail plays himself in the film. Kumail, Emily, the director & several of the other actors met while doing stand up comedy. I liked seeing a Muslim family from Pakistan. They are not terrotists, victims or survivors. They are just a family. Good seeing the extra features also.

I chose this movie because So Yong Kim directed For Ellen where she produced a wrenching painful exceptional performance from the actor Paul Dano. Treeless Mountain is the story of two young girls who are left by their mother in the care of an aunt who is pretty clueless about how to deal with children.The mother has gone to find her husband, the girls’ father. The aunt does her best but the girls are left pretty much on their own and the older girl Jin is not able to continue going to school where she was the smartest student. Before leaving the mother gave Jin and younger sister Din a piggy bank and said when it was full she would return to them. The girls do all they can to get coins. The mother writes that she is not returning. The aunt takes them to their grandparents’ farm. The grandfather doesn’t want them but the grandmother adores them, teaches them and makes them feel loved. There is no Hollywood wrap it all up happy ending. We just know that for now the girls are safe. Fabulous acting, like real life from the two child actors.

This was an interesting story, based on actual events. Unfortunately the two main roles, played by Robert Duvall and Robert De Niro, could have been played by “lesser” actors. Two of the finest American actors were pretty much wasted in the roles. I couldn’t understand why they were cast.

I now totally understand and agree with the rave reviews. This is a lovely story. That sounds schmaltzy but it is not. The casting and acting perfect. The simple outline is an old grouch who is bombarded with acceptance and friendship by his new neighbors and they change his life. That sounds like a yawn but is is anything but. The movie gently reveals the back stories that made Ove behave so gruffly. I gasped at some of the scenes. At times it is heartbreaking and at times laugh out loud funny. I highly recommend A Man Called Ove. I have read that Tom Hanks will be producing a US version of this movie but I would think there is no way to improve on this version.

Colin Farrell and Alicia Bachleda are good looking and scenery is lovely. Story flat. Hard to find what to say to reach 100 words. I would suggest seeing Colin Farrell in In Bruges.

I knew this documentary would be interesting but had no idea it would be so spellbinding. The documentary has interviews with Margot Fonteyn’s fellow dancers, partners, assistants, teachers, directors and family. You see childhood photos and films of her performances - solo and with partners. Even watching the film I literally gasped seeing how long she was able to stay en pointe unaided. I could have cried watching her dance and rehearse with Nureyev. I knew little about her vile husband Tito Arias and his scheming family. She was forced to dance at times to support them and they changed her will so that they would inherit all. She was first buried ina pauper’s grave. This is one of the most thrilling dance documentaries I have ever seen. I would say it is a must see for all who love ballet.

The difficulty with this movie was that the main characters were throughly unlikeable. Hard to find 100 words to say about it.