Hamlet

Hamlet, 1948
Directed by Laurence Olivier 
Nominated for 7 Oscars, Won 4
Wins Include: Best Picture, Best Lead Actor, Best Art Direction- Set Direction (Black and white) Best Costume Design (Black and White)

I'm going to put it out there that watching a classic Shakespeare movie on a day that you're staying home from work sick is not the brightest idea. Especially if you didn't even read Hamlet in high school. Yes, I decided, on my sick day, to watch Hamlet. It seemed the easiest to find online and one I didn't mind getting out of the way. However, my head was really stuffed up and cloudy that not much was processed. Especially since this was really my first exposure to Hamlet, as that was not one of the plays by Shakespeare I read in high school. 

So this review will be quite short. Laurence Olivier was obviously fabulous. He was kind of born to do Shakespeare, and the fact that he was mainly a stage actor reflects that. However, he outshone pretty much everyone around him. Olivier was great, but no one else really even felt like they were coming close. 

The story is interesting, and not unlike other Shakespeare plays I've read. However, having not ever read it or seen it performed before now, it was hard to pick up. Thankfully my husband was working from home that day, so was peering over shoulder and letting me know, occasionally, what was going on. Thank goodness for him and all his smarts. I also got the impression from him that this was more or less a straight reading from the text of Shakespeare and wasn't overly creative, which I got a little bit of a feeling that was happening anyway. 

That being said, however, the set pieces and costumes and sets were very well done. If nothing else, the film looked great and the costumes were great as well. Also did anyone notice how Hamlet's mom looked like not that much older than him? It's actually because she's almost 10 year younger... So not exactly the most accurate casting in this one... But Olivier can do what he wants because he's starring and directing, right? 

Anyway, the film was neither really bad not really good. It was simply a performance of Hamlet that was not done very creatively or excitingly. There didn't seem to be much changes and while the performances were good, it wasn't as gripping as it could've been. 


Acting- 8/10 

Directing- 7/10 
Screenplay- 7/10 

Visuals- 7/10 

Music- 6/10 

Emotional Connection- 5/10 

Entertainment- 6/10 

Rewatchability- 5/10 

Overall Enjoyment- 6/10 

Overall Package- 6/10       

Total: 63/100

My Favourite Films Starring Women

Okay, so sexism in Hollywood is not new, and Cate Blanchett called them out on Oscar Night, letting people know that films starring women aren't "niche" and actually do make money! The shock!

So I thought I'd make up a list of my favourite films that definitely star women. Whether or not they pass the Bechdel test (because Gravity doesn't and the fact that it "fails" as a feminist film is silly) is not coming into question here, but I thought I'd just highlight films that I love that star females. It's a range of films, some critically acclaimed, some not, but it's a list of films I personally enjoy, and I hope you like as well.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Okay, you all knew I was going to list this one. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite books and favourite films. Beautifully shot and starring a vastly female cast it's a story of first impressions and how wrong they can be. Elizabeth Bennett is a fantastic icon for women. She's strong and independent and knows she shouldn't just take the first guy to ask her to marry her. It's got a great cast and even has a fab role for Judi Dench being amazingly mean (which she's brilliant at). And while the movie is about romance and husbands and parties, it's still a film about a diverse range of women and one worth appreciating. There's room for strong female leads in a romantic film!

The Hunger Games & Catching Fire

The first and second The Hunger Games movies are also filled with great characters. Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss was great casting and these films really show that both men and women will enjoy a female lead action film. Catching Fire was one of the top grossing films of 2013, and nabbed a 89% on RottenTomatoes to boot. Katniss is another strong (but also vulnerable and scared) female lead, and while she does lean on Peeta and/or Gale for a lot of support, she ultimately follows her own heart and mind. 

All About Eve

An oldie here, but definitely a great female film. An aging star and a bright new star, and a satire on Hollywood. Bette Davis is fantastic (as always, really) as the older "mentor" star, and Anne Baxter is great as Eve, the young girl clamoring for fame and success. While these women do have male counterparts, they definitely don't need them to get where they are, and pick their battles between each other on their own. 

An Education

Carey Mulligan is perhaps my favourite thing about this movie, but this also says a lot about the importance of education and feminism. Jenny is doing everything she can to get accepted to Oxford, and has a fantastic shot at it. But then she meets David, a much older man who shows her the world outside of school, and even charms her parents. But she has to make choices, between her education and a life of wealth and marriage. It's a great little film and Carey Mulligan gives a great performances. It's also pretty cute and really pretty. 

Julie and Julia

Gotta have some Meryl Streep on here! Meryl has played such a range of women and I just love her in this. It's 2 contrasting stories. The first is of Julia Child, a woman recently moved to Paris and is trying to find her place in the world, knowing she loves food and takes up cooking. She bursts through the sexist barriers of the time and becomes a legend. In post-911 New York, Julie Powell has a terrible job, is now 30 and needs a hobby. She decides to cook through Julia Child's cookbook in 1 year. It's about marriage, and cooking and the power of food and a bond between two women who have never met. Amy Adam is also quite fun and it's overall a nice little film. 

Easy A

Emma Stone is fantastic and the fact that she hasn't starred in more films as a lead is beyond me. Olive lies to her friend about what she did over the weekend and the rumors spread, labelling her a slut. Instead of correcting these rumors, she decides to play them up. A definite nod to the Scarlet Letter, Emma Stone is hilarious as Olive, and never needs a guy to get her out of her situation. 

The Help

I have a sort spot for the Help. I know it's not the most brave film about racism and definitely is a little glossy, but there are such fantastic female performances and the film has very few men (and even less of importance). It's a role about unlikely friendships and the barriers they break in the process. Octavia Spencer is a stand-out and Viola Davis is heartbreaking and Jessica Chastain is such a riot.

The Devil Wears Prada

I'm a sucker for this film. Meryl Streep is extremely fabulous and, like tumblr likes to say, Miranda Priestly is everyone's inner sass. It has such a fun range of women, from Meryl Streep as cold and fabulous, Anne Hathaway is just trying to fit in, and Emily Blunt as the self-obsessed Paris fashion fanatic (and I can't help but mention Stanley Tucci as he's awesome always). Even though this film is about fashion, the women are definitely not weak. 

Mean Girls

How could I not include this one? One of the most popular films ever stars a mainly female cast, most of which went on to make great careers for themselves to boot. I don't even think I need to say anything about Mean Girls. It shows how funny women can be. Also Amy Poehler makes an appearance which is kind of my favourite part 

Gravity

I love Gravity. And I love Alfonso Cuaron for saying no to the studio when they requested he make the lead a male, and when he said no to giving Sandra Bullock a love story and flashbacks. We see Ryan Stone exactly how she is at the moment and where she's going. Sandra Bullock is fabulous in this film and entirely carries the movie. It's beyond beautiful and immense and is an amazing cinematic experience, all of it resting on the shoulders of Sandy. 

So this concludes my personal list! There's probably tons more I could've added but these are the ones I love lately and the best ones I could think of. I'm sure I could've added a rom-com or two here, but whatever. Sound off in the comments on your favourite movies starring women!

The Deer Hunter

The Deer Hunter, 1978
Directed by Michael Cimino
Nominated for 9 Oscars, Won 5
Wins Include: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Chistopher Walken), Best Sound, Best Film Editing

The Deer Hunter is a 3 hour, 3 part film about a group of friends, Vietnam, and the affects of war on an individual and also a community. To try to explain this film without spoilers would be incredibly difficult, so I will try my best, but be warned.

We open to a small town in Pennsylvania. We have a large group of (male) friends who work in a mining factory. They work together, they go to the bar together, they go hunting together and spend just a lot of time together in general. However, this particular day will change them. Steve is getting married and the reception is doubling as a Farewell party to Michael, Steve and Nick, three of the buddies, who are leaving for Vietnam. While the opening sequence of the wedding and the last deer hunting trip that comes after is roughly an hour long, we get a grasp of this group of friends. Steve is somewhat naive but cheerful, he's marrying Angela who is pregnant with another man's child, but loves her all the same. Nick has a beautiful girlfriend named Linda, who is best friends with most of the guys. However, Michael, the macho man and leader of the gang, also seems to love Linda. We have others spattered in the group, but the movie goes on to mainly focus on Nick, Steve and Michael, as well as Linda in parts 1 and 3. But the beginning also puts into perspective the blind hopefulness and naivety about the war at hand. This is best instanced during the wedding when the guys see a soldier, in uniform, at the bar. They try to get him to tell them about Vietnam and what it's like over there. The soldier doesn't say much and obviously doesn't want to talk about it, but the guys (mainly drunk) push him. So the soldier raises his glasses and toasts to them "f**k it", several times before the guys leave. After the wedding, Michael and the guys love to hunt, but especially Mike. Mike believes in a "one shot" theory, saying you can only really properly kill the deer in one shot, anything more is unfair.

The second act has us abruptly opening on Vietnam. We have a Vietnamese man harshly shoot a young woman carrying a baby. Mike, who was asleep in some bushes near the village), uses the flame thrower on the shooter, killing him. Some helicopters land, and we see Nick and Steve, who are shocked to see Mike. We cut again to what is the most defining (and controversial) scene of the film. The three guys are now POW and are in the water under a bamboo hut while the Vietnamese soldiers are forcing the POW to play Russian Roulette, the Vietnamese betting on the outcome. It's utterly horrifying and grotesque. Steve is already suffering some sort of PTSD and can't stop crying when it's his turn to go up against Mike. Mike, solid as ever, urges him it will be okay. But when Steve shots, he's gotten the bullet, but tilts the gun, having the bullet just graze his scalp. For this, he is thrown into "the pit", which is a bamboo cage underwater with only a sliver of air at the top, filled with other dead bodies and rats. It's now just Nick and Mike left, and Nick is also starting to become unnerved. They decide to up the ante and get them to load the gun with three bullets instead of one. However, what the Vietnamese don't understand is Mike will use these three bullets to kill the guards, steal their machine guns, and kill their way out, rescuing Steve on the way. A helicopter comes to rescue the guys from the river, but only Nick manages to be rescued after Mike and Steve lose their grip trying to climb in. It's from here that the movie says a lot about the effects of war on individuals, communities and how we all deal with it.

I'm not going to try to get too much into the philosophy of this film. I was born long after the events of the film, and long after the film itself was released. I'm not American, so know extremely little (actually, pretty much nothing at all) about the Vietnam War. So much of this flew over me a little bit. However, The Deer Hunter is an extremely metaphorical film. The film itself is not actually about the events of Vietnam and this is what makes it still so powerful. But Mike, Nick and Steve deal with the events they experience in Vietnam very differently. While Russian Roulette never happened during the Vietnam war, it's what the game symbolizes that says a lot. It's like war and life itself, it's such a gamble but ultimately you still have fate in your own hands. You're making the choices that will kill you or keep you alive, but you often don't know what each decision will bring. As well, all three men reacted differently to the roulette itself. Steve was already suffering, and was reduced to quivering each time he heard the gun go off. He couldn't even give himself a clean "one shot". Nick, on the other hand starts strong but slowly starts to lose his cool with the increasing pressure of the game and slowly succumbs to something even more terrible later on. However Mike is stoic and calm, trying to help his friends get through, and focusing on survival, whereas both Nick and Steve are focused on the fact that they will probably die. This says a lot about their behaviors after the war has ended.

The film itself raised a lot of questions about the effects of war, the idea of "macho manliness", sacrifice for others and killing as a game. All the guys who go hunting, they all view hunting as a game. Some differently than others, but it's a game. And maybe the three who went off to war viewed it as a bit of a game too. This is especially shown when they are trying to talk to the soldier at the wedding but receive only a "f**k it" from him and don't understand. But they eventually do get to play a game and they realize what exactly is at stake. Nick, who is the only one to escape via helicopter thinks Mike and Steve are dead. However, he is now suffering extremely from his time in the field, but especially from the roulette sequence. Nick stays behind and starts playing roulette underground and is undefeated for several years. However, no one knows where he is. He has never come home. And (spoiler) he never does. Whereas Mike is still all about survival and looking out for his friends. He's wounded emotionally from the war but is not physically worse for the wear, but does not seem too proud of what he's done and spends a lot of time trying to deal with coming home and what exactly that means. And then there's poor Steve, who, after dropping from the helicopter, becomes a double amputee and is refusing to leave the Vet's hospital, leaving his wife practically comatose. And I think these are 3 of the various stages that takes people during the war. You either come home emotionally scarred, physically scarred, or you don't come home at all. And while these are pretty strong anti-war messages, they are definitely powerful to think about, especially considering the places the guys, especially Mike (who now can't take the "one shot" and kill anymore). The messages of the film are extremely strong, and it's what makes the movie as powerful as it is. The film doesn't spend anytime trying to explain the war or even tell you it's views and whether America should've been involved. And while the Vietnamese people seemed a little demonized, it's a film just to show, whether the war is worth it or not, everyone is effected.

As well, we have some incredibly fantastic performances. Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage and Meryl Streep are our stars. All four give out incredible performances. Meryl Streep, one of her earliest roles, gives a quiet, nuanced performance that was worth recognition and helped launch her career. John Savage was extremely under-appreciated in this film, and gave some incredible work in the Roulette scenes. How he was overlooked is beyond me. However, both Walken and De Niro give fantastic performances that solidly root the film. They are like brothers and are constantly looking out for each other. This is some of the best talent working together and it made the film much more life than it wouldn't have had otherwise. The film does some of it's best work by making this large group of friends seem real. It always felt real and like something you would actually do with your friends while out for a beer or at a wedding. The chemistry was great between everyone and this was one of the strongest parts of the film for me.

The roulette scene is indeed fantastic and really is the best part of the film. All the scenes are shot with master class and even the dull hunting scenes are given a grand background and are framed to perfection.

However, I mentioned this film is 3 hours long. While it definitely need to be a long film, much could've been cut. We have some gratuitously long shots that could easily be cut shorter. Things like characters walking, or getting a meal ready etc. Some trimming would've made the film a little bit more compact, but it still would've packed the punch it did. I won't lie and say I didn't get a little bored at points, but the questions it raises are worth the watch. Not a film for everyone, especially a stickler for historical accuracy (aka my husband!), but it's a film definitely worth seeing, and a film that portrays war and its effects so well.

Acting- 9/10 

Directing- 8.5/10 
Screenplay- 8/10 

Visuals- 9/10 

Music- 8/10 

Emotional Connection- 7.5/10 

Entertainment- 7.5/10 

Rewatchability- 6.5/10 

Overall Enjoyment- 8/10 

Overall Package- 8/10       

Total: 80/100

Favourite Movie Scenes Blogathon

So I've definitely seen lots of blogathons that different bloggers I follow, but I've never actually participated in one myself. And since my blog consists pretty much entirely of just movie reviews, I thought I'd do something different. Hitchcock's World is hosting this one, and it's "Favourite Movie Scenes". This was an easy, but really fun, one to start with. I'm still making my way through watching all sorts of classic films, so my choices may not be the most "critically acclaimed" as I do kind of have an odd (and often slightly cliche) taste, it was fun to come up with a few for this list. So here goes!

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

This version of Pride and Prejudice is one of my absolute most favourite movies ever. I love the book, and this film was absoutely beautiful. A scene that always stands out to me is a scene right near the end. Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley have come back again, unexpected by the Bennett women. They quickly leave again, but you can see the chemistry between Jane and Bingley, whom haven't seen each other in a long time. After this, Darcy and Bingley go out by the river and you can see Bingley practicing proposing to Jane, trying to figure out his words. The shot is beautiful with such a gorgeous landscape. The setting is perfect. The music is also happy and great and we get just a low enough dialogue volume to roughly hear what Bingley is saying, but not entirely. You know what's going to happen, and you see him fretting over exactly how he'll word it. At one point we see him address Darcy as "Jane" and Darcy gives a little bow. It's always been a scene I loved in this film, as it's just simply adorable.

Singin' In the Rain

 Another favourite film of mine, this is right at the beginning. Don Lockwood, absolute movie star, is told to recount his past and rise to fame. However, I often feel most people I watch this with miss out on the straight lines that Don tells about his past. Saying he and Cosmo went to the best academies and had an easy ride to fame. However, it is the absolute opposite that happens, and I feel like hardly anyone picks up on this. However, you get lots of great shots of child Don tap dancing in a bar, sneaking into the cinema and then wearing fantastic checked suits, tap dancing and playing the violins to lots of booing. It's a great scene to set up the humor of the movie ahead and you get a glimpse into who exactly Don Lockwood is (aka not who he often says he is)

The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker was a movie I never expected to enjoy as much as I did. However, I found the film completely compelling and such an interesting story. The scene that stands out to me is a pretty obvious one. So obvious it's classic shot makes various posters for the film. Will James is the new team leader of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit in Iraq. Considered reckless, he goes out, nearly blind to his watch-guys to dispose of some explosives on an Iraqi street. But he discovers there's not just one bomb, but an attached 7, which he pulls up out of the sand. The moment when Will pulls them out of the sand, and we see him surrounded, is chilling. While it's not exactly the most realistic, it has an incredible effect and is a wow moment from the film. And for a flicker, you see some vulnerability within reckless Will. But he then gets down to business, cause this is what he does. 

21 Jump Street

A film I've watch twice within about 2 months, 21 Jump Street is a pretty hilarious film. I'm not usually into raunchy R-rated comedies, but I love this one. One of the bizarrest and funniest scenes in the film comes after Jenko and Schmidt, undercover at a local high school to do a drug bust, were forced to take the drug, instead of just purchasing it and reporting back who the seller is. The various stages of the drug, and the fact they have to go through the effects while during class is fantastic. It's all highly ridiculous, and includes a scene where the gym teachers head is turned into an ice cream cone and Channing Tatum filling an entire school white board with 4's in chem class is by far my favourite moment. The scene was crazy and had me in complete stitches. It was never too much, but at the same time it completely was, in a good way. Channing Tatum's creepy laugh during "The Gigz" phase of the drug is fantastic. 

I'm sure I could've thought of more, just these are 4 films that I really enjoy, and they had some stand out scenes in them. I definitely could've included the opening sequence of the Dark Knight, but that felt just a tad cliche. 

Cimarron

Cimarron, 1931
Directed by Wesley Ruggles
Nominated for 7 Oscars, Won 3

Set at the end of the 19th Century, the government has opened up the Oklahoma territory for settlement and men (and women) from all over the country have come to try and claim Oklahoma land. Yancy Cravat, after losing his territory he meant to claim to a young woman, he moves his family (his wife and son) there anyway. Settling in Osage, he becomes a leading citizen, as well as the newspaper editor. The film spans many years as we see how the world is changing and seeing the growth of Osage.

Cimarron is a movie that has not aged well at all. There's a lot of racism, anti-Semitism, and, obviously, sexism. The film is constantly stopping and starting in terms of story, and never really seems to know what it wants to do, plot-wise.

The movie focuses on Yancy and his wife Sabra after their move to Osage. Sabra is unsure of moving here because she's left her entire family back in Wichita, and they're not exactly fans of the outspoken and liberal Yancy that she married. However, Sabra is willing to come with him. As mentioned, the film spans something like 50 years. The first half of the film is more of less stable, not flipping ahead in time. However, not a lot happens. And with every time-flip we seem to get a new "story" that isn't really connected to the part of film before it.

In ways, I can forgive this movie for a lot of its follies. This was made over  80 years ago, so I can forgive the overacting. The over-acting, especially from Richard Dix, got a little much, and was very tiring through the 2 hour run time. Irene Dunne, as well, was a little painful to witness, but she was much better than Dix.

As well, I can forgive things such as not-entirely convincing set pieces. This film was filmed in the depression, and while it did have a large budget for the time, is obviously not quite what we're used to seeing in films. Although the opening scene with the race to claim Oklahoma land was quite good, but it was pretty much the only interesting thing about this film.

Similar to winners like Cavalcade, this film fails because it tries to skip time too much and we never really get attached to any character, because we don't seem to know them for too long before we've fast-forwarded 10 years or so. So this film fails on many, many levels, however I feel some of it is forgivable given the time period. However, the year before's winner, All Quiet on the Western Front, was much more of a success than this, and was able to give drama and decent acting and visuals. So this is still not a film that can really be enjoyed very much in 2014, and probably hasn't been enjoyment for much longer before this.

Acting- 6.5/10 

Directing- 6/10 
Screenplay- 5.5/10 

Visuals- 7/10 

Music- 7/10 

Emotional Connection- 4/10 

Entertainment- 4/10 

Rewatchability- 0/10 

Overall Enjoyment- 4/10 

Overall Package- 5/10       

Total: 49/100

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Directed by Bryan Singer

I've always loved the X-Men movies. I didn't get to see any in theaters until X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but they've always been so fun, and some of my favourite "superhero" films. The newest was being heralded as the best since X2, which I found hard to believe (the trailers and time travel concept had me skeptical) but the film completely works and is indeed one of the best X-Men film to be released.

So since you probably already know what this film is about, I'll give you the quickie explanation. It's 2023 and the world is coming to an end. Sentinels (shape-shifter robots) are destroying mutants and hardly anyone (human or mutant) is left). But it turns out Kitty Pryde can send people's consciousnesses back in time and Professor X, Magento, Wolverine and Storm approach the young group of mutants that Kitty is a part of with the idea to send someone back in time to stop the Sentinels and this ending of the world. 1973 Mystique assassinates Boliver Trask (creator of the Sentinels) hoping to stop the program, but the program is pushed forward even further because of Mystique's violence. But they also steal some DNA from her to make the Sentinels the powerful shape-shifters they are. So they decide Wolverine is the only one who can make the extensive trip and is sent to enlist young Charles (who swapped his powers for use of his legs) and Erik (imprisoned in the Pentagon). Basically, stop Mystique.

As confusing as the premise sounds, this film was an incredible amount of fun. Between this film and First Class, I think these have been some of the best "Marvel films" to come out in a while. They walk the line between serious plot and premise and having fun and making jokes perfectly. The humor never seems out of place and seems realistic to the situation. The casting is so great (Fassbender and McAvoy especially!) and just everything is done well (we'll just forget about the continuity issues). As well, this film did their action sequences incredibly well. Action sequences don't generally stand out to me (Whether good or bad), but these ones really did. From Mystique battling out the troops in Vietnam to Quicksilver and his "time in a bottle" scene (which I can't talk about enough!) everything was pitch perfect and done on such a big scale. But never too big. And the music they had to back it up was always perfect and really set the tone.

I'm not really sure what else to say about this film. I find blockbusters extremely hard to review since I'm not going into it with the purpose of reviewing it. I was completely immersed in the film and don't really know what to say. Despite some (a lot) of continuity errors, I feel Bryan Singer was the perfect person to direct this addition. I feel like only he could really get away with everything he did since he was the person to originally set up this series. And Singer really brought his A-game here, bringing everyone together, but also making a completely enthralling new addition to the series. Singer perfectly balances the action and the drama/politics of the film and this is what makes the film so great. The action never takes the center of the film for too long, but the drama of the film never gets too overwhelming before some action swoops in. And I think this is Days of Future Past's strongest points. It walks the line and gets a perfect balance of everything.

McAvoy is an actor I've always felt has been sorely under-appreciated. While Fassbender is a fantastic actor, pretty much everyone knows it and the world cheered when he finally received his first Oscar nomination this past January. However, McAvoy, again, brings great work here, really making us feel so much for Charles, but also we feel a little complicated towards him. He's really a tender-hearted and extremely caring guy, but he tries so hard to conform people to his ways. Even though his ways are right, he doesn't always go about it the best way. He is a man who has lost so much and is trying to find his way back again. McAvoy really makes us feel for Charles and his cause. We both simultaneously sympathize towards him, but are also slightly frustrated when he does things in the wrong way. Fassbender and Lawrence also bring some great work here too, of course. Fassbender was slightly more underused in this film, but his on screen bad-guy presence is something to really be reckoned with. Fassbender was pitch perfect casting and he really does get into the role. Lawrence as well has a much more interesting job this time around and, again, we feel so conflicted about her too. It's great to see Lawrence without the humor, as I feel this is something she is really strong at, when she wants to be.

While there were continuity errors abound, and an essential rewriting of a lot of different things, the film completely worked. While it felt very much like the classic middle movie, second of a trilogy, it did well to stand on it's own extremely well. Enough time had past from the events of First Class, but it's not so far away and out of our minds that it's completely ignored. The film was really great and extremely fun. It's been hurting my head a little ever since viewing on Saturday afternoon, but I got to give the makers credit. They've got me asking a million questions and have got me dying to see the next installment so that questions may be answered. And that was the best thing they could've done for this film.

8/10

Gandhi

Gandhi, 1982
Directed by Richard Attenborough
Nominated for 11 Oscars, Won 8
Wins Include: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Writing (Screenplay), Best Cinematography, Best Art-Set Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing

I don't really need to give much of a summary of this movie. The title sort of explains what the film is going to be about. It's about Gandhi, a man we've all pretty much heard of. However, I must confess, I knew extremely little about Gandhi before watching this film. So maybe I will give a little summary, for those readers who are slightly ignorant of who exactly Gandhi was (like me).

In 1893, a young lawyer named Gandhi is thrown off a train in South Africa for being an Indian, and traveling in first class. Upon further looking into the laws of the country, Gandhi sees how much prejudice is against his people, and starts a completely non-violent protest for the rights of Indians in South Africa. While his first campaign is not completely successful (not many people came out when he was telling people that 1000 people would come). However, word begins to spread via his several arrests and complete peacefulness and non-violence of his many protests, South Africa relents by recognizing Indians in South Africa. Afterward, he returns to India, where he is now considered a national hero. But it seems India is not in peace either. India wants independence from the British Empire, and the Brits are fighting hard to keep India in it's control. Gandhi takes it upon himself to lead another peaceful revolution, one he couldn't imagine the scale that it reaches.

While I don't know much about Gandhi, I could see the way he was very memorialized in this film. Not much was shown of his flaws or really of his personality besides that he was passionate and peaceful. The film never really allows us to get to know Gandhi the person, only Gandhi the figure. Though I must give extensive credit to Ben Kingsley, who played Gandhi to perfection. While the film had a very idealistic approach to who Gandhi was, Kingsley was able to tap into the figure and play him so effortlessly. Kingsley was the absolute perfect casting choice, and I really don't know if they could've got someone better.

However, this seems to be about the only really great thing about the film (though I would credit the costumes, art direction and music to be quite lovely as well). The story was overlong and could've been much more trimmed to be a slightly more compact movie. I'm not asking for an hour and a half film, but trimming it to under 3 hours could've definitely been possible. But most of my problems were with the fact that, as mentioned above, we never really got to know who Gandhi really was inside. We had small glimpses and peeks into how we felt during various seasons, but we were never exposed to his true emotions and feelings towards what was going on around him.

But, nearing the end, the film didn't completely cop out, and showed that, even though Gandhi did eventually accomplish his goal of Independence from the British Empire, it wasn't 100% perfect. Their freedom caused a lot of fighting and violence between the people of India, and saw the country split into other countries, and also saw people of different religions fighting each other. This takes time to overcome, and freedom doesn't come without consequences.

Overall, the film dragged in several places and was informative for sure, but it was far from a perfect movie. Ben Kingsley is the star of the entire production and would not be nearly as good without his fantastic performance.

Acting- 9/10 

Directing- 7/10 
Screenplay- 6.5/10 

Visuals- 8/10 

Music- 8/10 

Emotional Connection- 6/10 

Entertainment- 6/10 

Rewatchability- 5/10 

Overall Enjoyment- 6/10 

Overall Package- 7/10       

Total: 68.5/100

Unforgiven

Unforgiven, 1992
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Nominated for 9 Oscars, Won 4
Wins Include: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing

William Munny used to be the toughest, coldest gunslinger in the west. Famed for his kills, he is now retired, a widow, a father and sober. He's working on a pig farm, and still mourning the death of the wife he loved. When a young man who calls himself the Schofield Kid comes by, he knows who Will is, and hopes to hire him on for a job. A prostitute was cut up by two men, and are let off too easy by the town sherriff. The rest of the prostitutes put a bounty on the two cowboys. And the Schofield Kid hopes to hire Will so they can claim it. Initially turning him down, he changes his mind a few days later. He catches up to the Kid, but also brings along his old partner (who is also now married and retired). However, the job is a little harder than expected.

I must admit, I was very tired while watching this movie. I get up every work day at 5am. This doesn't often affect me on Saturday nights, but I was definitely getting real tired the last half of this movie. In this I admit I didn't quite absorb everything as well as I could have. It's not that the movie was boring or anything, I was just tired at 10pm. That being said, I'll do my best to review this movie.

I admit, I've never really seen a movie with Clint Eastwood in his prime. I'm much more used to seeing him how he is now. So it was a bit interesting to see Clint do something at least a little different from what I'm used to. Granted, he was still a little cranky, but I did get a glimpse of a younger Clint. While I haven't been overly impressed with his more recent performances, and even though this one is still similar (cranky and retired, but having someone young pull him out of it), I was still impressed with what I saw.

The story itself had an extremely promising premise. Whether it completely fulfilled my wishes, I think I can say yes on that. While at times it was a little cheesy (including the Schofield Kid saying he was going to hunt down "some no good cowboys"), it was definitely a solid story to tell, even if we've heard similar before, and is probably not too original for the Western Genre.

As well, Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman gave some solid performances. Though, I admit, Hackman's role gets more interesting as the film goes on, so I didn't pick up on everything in his performance, but Freeman is always great and he lays down a solid performance, though not extremely awards-worthy or anything.

The cinematography was indeed quite lovely. While the mid West is not somewhere I'd really ever want to live, it is extremely beautiful in films like this, and it was captured extremely well.

While I can't really say too much more than that at this time, I will tell you the film was enjoyable, and I will endeavor to watch this again soon to be able to fully appreciate it.

Acting- 8/10 

Directing- 8/10 
Screenplay- 7.5/10 

Visuals- 8.5/10 

Music- 7.5/10 

Emotional Connection- 7.5/10 

Entertainment- 7.5/10 

Rewatchability- 7/10 

Overall Enjoyment- 7.5/10 

Overall Package- 7/10       

Total: 76/100

The Apartment

The Apartment, 1960
Directed by Billy Wilder
Nominated for 10 Oscars, Won 5

The Apartment tells the story of mid-level employee at an insurance company. C.C. Baxter (more often known as Bud), is a hard worker, stays at the office long past his punch-out time, and is quickly ascending the work ladder. But not really for the reasons you first assume. Baxter loans out his apartment to various company executives so they can have somewhere private for their affairs, in exchange for them putting in a good word to their boss, Mr Sheldrake. Baxter has four regular customers for his apartment and when he finally does have a meeting with Mr. Sheldrake for a promotion, he learns that Sheldrake wants in on the deal. Baxter quickly agrees, but doesn't realize that exactly this entails. The girl Baxter has a crush on, the smart and witty elevator girl named Fran, turns out to be Mr Sheldrake's mistress! That is, if Sheldrake can convince her to give him another chance, saying he will divorce his wife. More havoc ensues as Sheldrake and Fran continue to use Baxter's apartment, but after one Christmas Eve disaster, leaving Fran to be taken care of by Baxter, Baxter tries to show Fran that there's more to life than people using you, and that maybe he can be the one she needs. Also, just a warning, that there are spoilers ahead.

While I did roughly know the premise of the story before I watched this, this film was much more explicit than I had expected! No, no, it's not at all explicit now in 2014. No nudity, no swearing, no any kind of "scenes". I more just meant the direct allusions to sex and infidelity. There is no kicking around about why most people want to use Baxter's apartment, and the comments from the neighbours don't leave a ton to the imagination, as far as a 1960's film goes! However, I found this slightly refreshing, that we're vaguely clear about what the apartment is used for. What I also liked about this story, was that it was something not too far a stretch to imagine going on in a large company.

Jack Lemmon gives a great performance as Baxter, and Shirley MacLaine is lovely and witty as Fran. Indeed, these two are by far the stand outs here. Having just come off of the success and brilliance of Some Like it Hot, Billy Wilder wanted to do another film with Jack Lemmon (who also earned an Acting nomination for both films). While they weren't able to do quite the film they wanted because of the Hays Code, the film was still brilliant and hilarious.

While the film is definitely some sort of mash of comedy and drama, the comedy leads the first half of the film, with the irony of Baxter asking Fran out (to a show he received tickets to from Sheldrake, only so that he can use his apartment later), only to have Fran say she's busy meeting someone for dinner, but may be able to come after. Of course, Fran is going to see Sheldrake, and Sheldrake plans to take Fran to Baxter's apartment, all the while the three not really realizing all that happens, especially when Fran then stands Baxter up later in the evening. However, the film gets a lot darker than I expected this to get. While not overly dark, it is a more sobering look at relationships and infidelity, and the price that mistress's pay for being in the situation they're in.

Fran attempts to commit suicide after Sheldrake reveals yet again he won't ask his wife for a divorce, and one of Sheldrake's old mistresses tells her about everyone else he's been with, and all the lines he spewed for them, he's currently spewing for Fran. She lingers at Baxter's apartment after Sheldrake leaves (it's Christmas Eve), and steals too many sleeping pills, and Baxter finds her unconscious and not waking up, on his bed. While the film didn't stay too heavy during this time (there are scenes of Baxter making spaghetti and straining it using a tennis racket, playing gin rummy together, etc), it was a little darker than I had thought it would go. I feel Wilder was able to find a good balance between the heavy and the light and really make it a relatable and accessible story, without becoming too depressing.

Again, the performances were also spot on, with Jack Lemmon doing his awesome thing, being able to balance the comic, goofy sides and really empathizing with Fran and caring for her. As well, I haven't seen much of Shirley MacLaine's work (aside from Terms of Endearment), but she was fantastic as Fran, really giving such a range of emotions, all while keeping it believable.

Overall, I found this film quite enjoyable, especially compared to the last few Best Picture winners I've watched. This movie is definitely a gem and Billy Wilder is a talented guy, having written and directed one other BP Winner, and having won a total of 6 Oscars for his work.

Acting- 8.5/10 

Directing- 8.5/10 
Screenplay- 8.5/10 

Visuals- 7.5/10 

Music- 7/10 

Emotional Connection- 8/10 

Entertainment- 8.5/10 

Rewatchability- 7.5/10 

Overall Enjoyment- 8/10 

Overall Package- 8/10       

Total: 80/100

Mrs Miniver

Mrs Miniver, 1942
Directed by William Wyler
Nominated for 12 Oscars, Won 6
Wins Include: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress (Teresa Wright), Best Writing (Screenplay), Best Cinematography (Black-and-white)

Sorry about the little hiatus there. It's been a bit of a busy few weeks for me, including the fact that my husband and I took a week long trip to Portugal at the end of April. But I'm back now, and I'll be posting a little more frequently from now on as I'm down to less than 15 films left to watch, and I'm hoping to catch a few movies in theatres this summer. But now, moving on to my review

Mrs. Miniver is mother and wife in a middle class family in England. Her oldest son, Vin, is home from university now, and begins to court Carol, Lady Beldon's granddaughter. Though WWII soon enters the picture, making a turn for this middle class family. Vin has enlisted in the air force, and her husband does some boating patrol, and even participates in rescuing British soldiers from Dunkirk. Mrs Miniver fights her own battles as well as she is trying to protect her two younger children, and even gets a scare when she finds an injured German soldier in her backyard, who then holds her at gunpoint for food and a jacket. But she also has been named after a rose, a rose in which is being entered in a flower competition against Lady Beldon's rose.

This movie, I found to be extremely mediocre. The story, for the most part, was very run of the mill WWII story. The most interesting parts of the film were 2 different scenes. The 1st being the German Soldier holding Mrs Miniver at gunpoint for food and a jacket after being discovered in her backyard. This was something that differed from films on this topic from more or less this time period of filmmaking. It was an interesting scene that really showed a lot of character from Mrs Miniver, but was also just something very different to show within a film of this kind. The second scene worth mentioning is one of the worst air raids the Miniver family experiences. They are in their bomb shelter in the backyard, the two youngest children sleeping, while Mr and Mrs Miniver talk, and make a few jokes before the onslaught ensues. The bombs get so close to them that they are rattled around and the children thrown from their beds. Later, we see that the bombs destroyed large portions of their house. This really showed the devestation so many families lived through, and how close they were to being killed. Especially since seconds earlier, Mr Miniver was standing outside the bomb shelter having a smoke.

But besides these few scenes, the movie didn't have too much of a story, and when it did attempt to have one, it became rushed and didn't expand on itself. The acting performances were quite good, seeing as there were 5 nominations, one in each category, and 2 winners. Indeed, the ladies of this film stole the show, which was kind of a nice change up from some of the other WWII films out there.

As well, it's always interesting to have films being made about the current war. This film was released in 1942, only about halfway through the war that is shown and discussed in the film. While I understand making films about current wars, it is interesting that it is also based on a book, and was put into production only a year into the war. The ever changing war makes for an interesting filming process, as you don't want your film to be completely out of date by the time it's released, but, as far as I can tell, the film did a good job of staying in the present, even if some changes had to be made throughout.

The decision to tell the story almost only from Mrs Miniver's point of view seems to make the film a little limiting. Had the film been more focused on Vin and Carol, the young courtship that starts at the beginning of the war and sees them married during it, could've been extremely interesting, especially given how the film ends. But as well, the film also wasn't solely based on Mrs Miniver either, and didn't really show her as a strong woman holding her family together, so I even question the fact of it being called Mrs Miniver. Had the film been spread wider and extended beyond the stories it told, the film could've been much more interesting.

Acting- 8/10 

Directing- 7.5/10 
Screenplay- 6.5/10 

Visuals- 7.5/10 

Music- 7.5/10 

Emotional Connection- 6/10 

Entertainment- 6.5/10 

Rewatchability- 6/10 

Overall Enjoyment- 6.5/10 

Overall Package- 7/10       

Total: 69/100