The Full Monty
Peter Cattaneo (director), Simon Beaufoy (writer)
Starring Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy
I love British films! Two middle-aged friends in a run-down factory town are out of work; one of them urgently needs to prove that he deserves visiting rights to his young son, while the other feels that he's not desirable anymore and his wife doesn't want him. Desperate and broke, they do the only thing they can think of: they decide to put on a strip show.
Hilarious, vulgar, and tender, as only the Brits can do. Highly recommended.
IMDB: The Full Monty
Showing posts with label recommended. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recommended. Show all posts
Friday, May 23, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Very Brief Film Reviews: Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Pan's Labyrinth / El Laberinto del Fauno (The Labyrinth of the Faun)
2006
Guillermo del Toro (director, writer)
Starring Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi Lopez
This film deserves every glory it won: it is beautiful, it is wildly imaginative, it is captivating, and it is ruthlessly painful.
It is physically brutal, set during the Spanish Civil War, and emotionally brutal; it is frightening in many different ways, but it gives as much as it takes, and it is unrelentingly brilliant. It has a vocabulary, visual and thematic, that encompasses nearly every major work of children's fantasy of the last century, and not just books: Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Narnia, the Labyrinth (of course), the Neverending Story, a dozen others. The cinematography and special effects are hauntingly beautiful and well-woven.
But this is not a children's movie. This is a dark and powerful film, and you should absolutely see it but know that it is not a pretty story.
In Spanish with subtitles. Rated R with good reason.
IMDB Link: Pan's Labyrinth
2006
Guillermo del Toro (director, writer)
Starring Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi Lopez
This film deserves every glory it won: it is beautiful, it is wildly imaginative, it is captivating, and it is ruthlessly painful.
It is physically brutal, set during the Spanish Civil War, and emotionally brutal; it is frightening in many different ways, but it gives as much as it takes, and it is unrelentingly brilliant. It has a vocabulary, visual and thematic, that encompasses nearly every major work of children's fantasy of the last century, and not just books: Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Narnia, the Labyrinth (of course), the Neverending Story, a dozen others. The cinematography and special effects are hauntingly beautiful and well-woven.
But this is not a children's movie. This is a dark and powerful film, and you should absolutely see it but know that it is not a pretty story.
In Spanish with subtitles. Rated R with good reason.
IMDB Link: Pan's Labyrinth
Monday, May 12, 2014
Very Brief Film Reviews: Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Moulin Rouge!
2001
Baz Luhrmann (director, writer), Craig Pearce (writer)
Starring Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo
It took me years to see this after it first came out, but when I did, I liked it, I really did. Occasionally I wanted to smack people, but I liked it, and the more times I've seen it since, the more I've fallen in love with it.
A young man goes to Paris at the turn of the 20th century to Be Part Of Art and falls madly in love with a dancer/prostitute who aspires to be a serious actress. Together they try to defy the odds and, in true bohemian fashion, have both Love and Art.
This is melodrama at its finest, and musicals at their finest, using well-known modern songs in new contexts. And it really is fun. Starring an anexoric Nicole Kidman and doe-eyed Ewan McGregor, both of whom are truly terrific singers and actors.
Definitely recommended.
IMDB Link: Moulin Rouge!
2001
Baz Luhrmann (director, writer), Craig Pearce (writer)
Starring Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo
It took me years to see this after it first came out, but when I did, I liked it, I really did. Occasionally I wanted to smack people, but I liked it, and the more times I've seen it since, the more I've fallen in love with it.
A young man goes to Paris at the turn of the 20th century to Be Part Of Art and falls madly in love with a dancer/prostitute who aspires to be a serious actress. Together they try to defy the odds and, in true bohemian fashion, have both Love and Art.
This is melodrama at its finest, and musicals at their finest, using well-known modern songs in new contexts. And it really is fun. Starring an anexoric Nicole Kidman and doe-eyed Ewan McGregor, both of whom are truly terrific singers and actors.
Definitely recommended.
IMDB Link: Moulin Rouge!
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Very Brief Film Reviews: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption
1994
Frank Darabont (screenplay, director), Stephen King (story)
Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman
This is one of my all-time favorite movies. A former banker is sent to the brutal Shawshank Prison for life for the murder of his wife and her lover. He insists on his innocence but no one, from jury to fellow inmates, believes him. Despite the atrocities being committed around him, and to him, he fights to survive and to maintain his sense of self.
Placed in Maine in the 1940s. This is a violent, painful movie, and not for the squeamish, but it is an incredibly beautiful story, tremendously well-written and well-acted. It was nominated for seven Oscars but for some reason won none.
Highly, highly recommended.
IMDB Link: The Shawshank Redemption
1994
Frank Darabont (screenplay, director), Stephen King (story)
Starring Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman
This is one of my all-time favorite movies. A former banker is sent to the brutal Shawshank Prison for life for the murder of his wife and her lover. He insists on his innocence but no one, from jury to fellow inmates, believes him. Despite the atrocities being committed around him, and to him, he fights to survive and to maintain his sense of self.
Placed in Maine in the 1940s. This is a violent, painful movie, and not for the squeamish, but it is an incredibly beautiful story, tremendously well-written and well-acted. It was nominated for seven Oscars but for some reason won none.
Highly, highly recommended.
IMDB Link: The Shawshank Redemption
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Very Brief Film Reviews: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship
The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship
Based on the Russian folk tale, adapted by John Hambley
1990
The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship: An animated short based on a Russian folktale, made for the show Long Ago and Far Away. The Tsar decrees that whoever brings him a flying ship shall marry his daughter; a naive young woodcutter sets out to find his good-for-nothing brothers and stumbles upon ship and a haphazard collection of very strange shipmates.
Stop-action claymation, absolutely gorgeously done; the story is a terrific folktale, the characters are kind and memorable, and it's wonderfully funny to boot. It used to be very hard to find but well-worth the search; now I think you can buy the DVD on Amazon. Highly recommended.
IMDB: Fool of the World
Based on the Russian folk tale, adapted by John Hambley
1990
The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship: An animated short based on a Russian folktale, made for the show Long Ago and Far Away. The Tsar decrees that whoever brings him a flying ship shall marry his daughter; a naive young woodcutter sets out to find his good-for-nothing brothers and stumbles upon ship and a haphazard collection of very strange shipmates.
Stop-action claymation, absolutely gorgeously done; the story is a terrific folktale, the characters are kind and memorable, and it's wonderfully funny to boot. It used to be very hard to find but well-worth the search; now I think you can buy the DVD on Amazon. Highly recommended.
IMDB: Fool of the World
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Very Brief Film Reviews: Labyrinth
Labyrinth
Jim Henson
1986
Labyrinth: Jim Henson's classic, and one of the great modern works of art of the fantastic. As with all of Henson's great works, the comedy and the cuteness and the slapstick are perfectly balanced with, and delicately undermined by, the grim and the gruesome and the truly terrifying, with the edge of the unearthly and very, very real that he and Brian Froud could tap into when they were at their height.
I first came to this movie as an adult (and wish I'd grown up with it as many did), but I love it deeply, and have watched it again and again over the years. I'm still not a fan of Jennifer Connelly's acting, sorry, but the puppetry of all forms is mind-blowing, and David Bowie really is terribly, hella sexy.
1986
IMDB: Labyrinth
Jim Henson
1986
Labyrinth: Jim Henson's classic, and one of the great modern works of art of the fantastic. As with all of Henson's great works, the comedy and the cuteness and the slapstick are perfectly balanced with, and delicately undermined by, the grim and the gruesome and the truly terrifying, with the edge of the unearthly and very, very real that he and Brian Froud could tap into when they were at their height.
I first came to this movie as an adult (and wish I'd grown up with it as many did), but I love it deeply, and have watched it again and again over the years. I'm still not a fan of Jennifer Connelly's acting, sorry, but the puppetry of all forms is mind-blowing, and David Bowie really is terribly, hella sexy.
1986
IMDB: Labyrinth
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Film review: Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin
2011
Based on the comics by Hergé, screenplay by Stephen Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish, directed by Steven Spielberg
This fantastic computer-animated adaptation of the Tintin books (specifically The Secret of the Unicorn) is not only incredibly well done animation-wise, but also, I felt, provided an excellent adaptation of the original. It hewed very, very closely to the original, both in terms of dialogue and visuals (frequently shot-for-shot), but it gave itself a little room to play, too.
2011
Based on the comics by Hergé, screenplay by Stephen Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish, directed by Steven Spielberg
This fantastic computer-animated adaptation of the Tintin books (specifically The Secret of the Unicorn) is not only incredibly well done animation-wise, but also, I felt, provided an excellent adaptation of the original. It hewed very, very closely to the original, both in terms of dialogue and visuals (frequently shot-for-shot), but it gave itself a little room to play, too.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Film review: Love and Other Disasters
Love and Other Disasters
2006
Written & directed by Alek Keshishian
This was so much fun. British romantic comedy, a bit of an "Emma" interpretation but not strictly.
2006
Written & directed by Alek Keshishian
This was so much fun. British romantic comedy, a bit of an "Emma" interpretation but not strictly.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Monkey Business: Cabernet Sauvignon
Monkey Business
Cabernet Sauvignon
Califonia, year unknown (prob. 2006)
Cabernet Sauvignon
Califonia, year unknown (prob. 2006)
Sunday, January 27, 2013
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