|
 |
MOVIES
|
I didn’t see the first Sherlock Holmes movie, but I don’t think that made any difference to how I felt about this second in the series. I didn’t think I would like the movie, and I didn’t!
|
|
The movie had a good cast, and was the sort of movie that Eddie Murphy does so well. It had a good storyline and I laughed all the way through it. The ending was great – not everyone got off scot-free, but justice was served.
|
 |
The movie looks at historical events during the time William Shakespeare’s plays began appearing in theatres. It proposes that the Earl of Oxford was the true author of the plays and sonnets now credited to Shakespeare. The movie did more to promote the Earl as the author than to show why Shakespeare wasn’t the author. I had trouble keeping all the male characters straight, and I didn’t like the way it jumped back and forth in time.
|
|
This is an intense story about a young woman working for a security company, under the auspices of the UN, in Bosnia. She uncovers a series of bars that are using young women as sex slaves. Things heat up considerably when she finds out that many of her colleagues are involved in the human trafficking. Not a pleasant movie, but based on a true story.
|
|
I was expecting a comedy. Although there are some funny moments for the most part this is a serious movie. Oliver is reeling over the death of his father, who came out as a gay man after his wife died. Oliver meets a young woman who he thinks will be important in his life, but as their relationship develops Oliver flashes back to scenes from his childhood and his relationship with his parents.
|
|
It isn’t often that I enjoy a movie as much as, if not more than, the book. That’s the way I felt about this movie. There were a few things left out but nothing that ruined the story. The casting was perfect - everyone was just as I had imagined them.
|
 |
The movie tells the story of Carlos, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, who is struggling to provide for himself and his son Luis. Carlos worries about finding work and improving his finances and, at the same time, he needs to steer clear of the law and any immigration agents. Luis is also struggling to stay out of the reach of the many gangs operating in their neighbourhood. Not a depressing story, but it certainly is sad.
|
|
Catherine Deneuve is excellent in this story about a “trophy wife” who takes over the management of her father’s factory when her husband becomes ill. Although her family has little faith in her she not only handles the job, but she excels at it. When her husband and daughter force her out of the company, she runs for election as an MP because she can no longer see herself as “just a housewife”. Gerard Depardieu, as a former union leader and lover, was the only character that didn’t seem believable.
|
 |
In the 1960’s a team of three Mossad members are tasked with capturing a notorious death camp doctor and returning him to Israel to stand trial. The mission falls apart and the three agents promise never to reveal what happened. In the present day, circumstances force one of the agents to go back to finish the job.
|
|
Gil, a struggling writer, and Inez are engaged and visiting Paris with her parents. While Inez prefers to go shopping, visit the tourist sites, and go dancing Gil wants to walk the streets of Paris at night. Each night, at midnight, Gil is transported back into what he feels were Paris’ best years - the 1920’s. There he meets F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemmingway, Gertrude Stein and a whole cast of characters that lived and worked in Paris at the time. The movie has a great cast of characters playing famous characters from the past.
|
|
While I didn’t enjoy the book, the movie was well done. Anne Hathaway was excellent as Emma and Jim Sturgess played Dexter very well. The plot moved much more quickly in the movie than in the book, but it kept to the theme of catching up on Em and Dexter one day each year.
|
|
The movie has some funny moments as it looks at a couple in the midst of a separation although they really aren’t sure what went wrong with their twenty-five year marriage. There are some great twists to the story. Perhaps I should have seen them coming but I was completely surprised.
|
|
If you consider that alien spacecraft are possible in our times there is no reason to think they couldn’t have existed in the Wild West. This story has the cowboys, the outlaws and the natives banding together to get rid of aliens who are stealing their gold and kidnapping anyone they can whip into their spaceship when they attack. One cowboy managed to escape from the ship, and he leads this ragtag band back to the mother ship. But one of the cowboys isn’t what she seems!
|
|
Jim Carey is at his best in this film - hilarious but not over the top. The story is very predictable from beginning to end, but getting there was lots of fun.
|
|
The story revolves around three friends who each have "the boss from hell". The three "good guys" play off each other all the time, and the "horrible bosses" have their own unique charms. This was a very different role for Jennifer Aniston. It was laugh out loud funny in so many places. Make sure you stick around for the outtakes at the end.
|
|
We heard an interview with Eric Bana and that sparked our interest in the movie. Hanna and her father are living “off the grid” and her father is teaching her some very serious survival skills. As the movie unfolds we learn more about why they have chosen this lifestyle. The real action starts though when Hanna makes the decision that it is time to return to civilization. The movie has a great cast – Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, and Saoirse Ronan (who we saw earlier this year in The Way Back).
|
|
I wasn’t expecting to like the movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book was so good, but I didn’t see Reese Witherspoon in the part and I thought that might spoil it. To my surprise, the casting was just perfect. The movie follows the book very closely, although a few scenes were altered and, as Regan noticed, at least one character was missing.
|
|
I’m not a fan of Matthew McConaughey but this was a good story. McConaughey plays the part of a criminal lawyer who takes on some less than desirable clients. When he is hired to defend a rich, white boy his life takes a few dramatic twists.
|
|
The movie opens with Cindy trying to get herself and her daughter, Frankie, out the door in the morning in spite of the antics of Dean, her husband. Frankie has discovered their dog is missing from his pen and later that day Cindy finds the dog dead at the side of the road. This incident seems to be a catalyst for Cindy to take a look at what her marriage has become over the past few years. We see in flashbacks how the couple met and the love they shared at the beginning of their relationship. But will it be enough to keep them together? Good performances by both Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. |
|
This movie is worth seeing just for the quality of the animation. Sylvain Chomet directs the film. He made The Triplets of Belleville, which is also wonderful. For the most part, the story is told without words. An aging magician is making the rounds performing his show in front of smaller and smaller audiences. A young girl follows him from a performance in Scotland and they become friends. The relationship ends when the girl loses her belief in the magic.
|
|
The movie is based on a true story about seven men who escape from a Siberian work camp during a winter blizzard. They plan to walk to China to escape the Communist rule, but when they finally get there it is also under a Communist government. They then undertake a grueling journey across the Himalayas into India. The story was well told and the acting was good, but I couldn't see Colin Farrell as anything but Irish. Ed Harris plays the lone American in the group.
|
|
There are lots of familiar faces in this movie – Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Chris Cooper, and Craig T. Nelson. The story portrays the lives of a few of the men and women who are caught on both sides of the fence when a large company begins to downsize. In the first round of cuts we see how guilt plays out for those who are left working, and how life has to change for those who were cut. When the second set of cuts come many lose all hope of ever finding employment in their chosen fields. Through their network of unemployed friends, some of the men and women take matters into their own hands in order to regain their lost lives.
|
|
I wasn’t expecting to like the movie but was pleasantly surprised. The plot is based on a true story and at the end of the movie there are some clips with the two brothers the story is based on. The dysfunctional but loving family is very real. Although they didn’t have a big part in the movie, the sisters were great. The acting is excellent – Melissa Leo and Christian Bale deserved their Oscars.
|
|
This is a delightful movie showing a year in the life of an English couple. The movie is divided into four segments, each corresponding with a season, and each section begins with the work Tom and Gerri are doing in their garden. We meet some of their friends and family throughout the space of a year. This is more of a "slice-of-life" movie than an story.
|
|
This is a beautiful movie about the early life of Coco Chanel, the fashion designer who influenced the look of women’s fashions for many years. She was raised in an orphanage and knew first-hand the struggles of the lower class. Although she was the mistress of two very wealthy men, she felt very imprisoned by her circumstances and was probably one of the earliest feminists. Audrey Tautou was excellent in the lead role.
|
|
I was expecting this documentary to be more about the Acadian people in general, but it was about a very successful Acadian novelist and playwright, Antoinine Maillet. She spoke about her methods of writing, her inspirations, and her successes.
|
|
Phillipe, a postmaster, has been trying to get a transfer to the south of France in order to keep his wife happy. He finally manages a transfer to the Riviera by pretending he is handicapped. When his lie is revealed he is moved North, way North, as punishment and his wife refuses to move. The folks in Bergues have their own language and customs and, although it takes awhile, Phillipe comes to love his new life, but pretends to his wife that it is a terrible place to be. When his wife takes pity on him and decides to join him, the laughs kick into high gear.
|
|
This is a delightful film about a class of grade eight students who, under the direction of their teacher, embark on a yearlong project to improve their world. The students determine areas of their community that could be improved. From that list they picked one area, vandalism, and broke that problem down into steps that highlighted where the problems existed and what the solutions might be. Their next step was to carry out their plan. I laughed at times and, at other times, I had tears in my eyes.
|
 |
This documentary deals with the financial crisis that hit the US, and subsequently affected economies around the world. It outlined a bit about how the collapse came about, and the people and regulations that allowed it all to happen. Perhaps the most frightening information in the film is that most of the folks responsible for the collapse are serving in, or newly appointed to, the current administration. Not a very exciting film and a bit long.
|
This movie looks at the lives of a young couple after the accidental death of their four-year-old son. It has been eight months since his death, but Becca and Howie seem to be drifting further and further apart. The movie wasn’t as sad as I had expected it to be and I loved the dialogue in one particular spot. Becca and Jason (the driver of the vehicle that killed their son) are discussing parallel universes and the idea that there are many of you’s and me’s somewhere in space and time. Becca makes the comment that this was just the sad version and somewhere there was a happier version of her life. It was nice to Sandra Oh and Dianne Wiest in the movie.
|
|
 |
I wanted to see the movie because I heard Gwyneth Paltrow did all her own singing. I remember her singing in the film Duets, but this appears to be her first role where she is the lead singer. The film revolves around Kelly Canter (played by Paltrow) and her husband James (played by Tim McGraw). Kelly is pressured by her husband to resume her tour, and he takes her out of rehab a month early. The story is predictable, but there is a lot of good music so I didn’t worry about that too much. The opening acts on the fictional tour (played by Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester) are just starting their music careers, and they provide the romantic intrigue in the film. I found it interesting that of the four main stars only one (Tim McGraw) is known for his singing, and he didn’t sing a note in the film.
|
|
This film is based on the true story of the women in the Dagenham Ford plant who, in 1968, went on strike demanding equal pay for women. The women, who stitched the seat covers for the vehicles, were more or less bullied not only by Ford management, but also by their own union. Once the backlog of seat covers ran out, the men in the plant were laid off and that put added pressure on the families. Their strike led to the Equal Pay Act of 1970 in the United Kingdom, which prompted similar legislation in countries around the world. |
How wonderful to see a film shot in and about our beautiful Powell River. The documentary explores how persons from different cultures have been accepted in the town. Some experiences were good and some were not so good. Perhaps the worst treatment was aimed at the Sliammon First Nations when the first settlers arrived. All of those interviewed seem hopeful that things are improving and they remain positive about their places in the community. |
|
|
This documentary incorporates some of David Suzuki’s 2009 Legacy Lecture, given at the Chan Centre at UBC. Interspersed with the speech are photos and conversations with Suzuki as he reflects on his childhood, both before and after his internment during World War II, and the various people and places that influenced his life and work.
|
This documentary is about an artist, Vik Muniz, who travels to the largest landfill in the world in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There he meets several catadores who earn their livelihood by removing recycling material that arrives by the truck load, day and night. The artist takes portraits of some of these workers, blows the portrait up to a larger-than-life size and then he and the workers recreate the portrait using the recycling material they have picked from the dump. When the recreation is complete, another photo is taken. It is these photos that are then sold through auctions and museums. Although these are very proud workers, the process of creating the artwork enables them to see themselves in a different light. The proceeds from the sale of the artwork go back into the workers’ community. |
|
|
This is the second movie in a trilogy. I saw the first, Mothers & Daughters, at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2008. This second film looks at the relationships between four fathers (one of which is dead) and their sons. Each relationship is very different and crosses a mix of cultures, the end result in each case is a humorous coming-to-terms with each other. The movie is unscripted and what you see on the screen is the impovised dialogue each of the actors came up with during the filming.
|
I don’t really follow the drumming community, but apparently everyone in this documentary is the best in their field. The film is shot during a drumming camp in Northern Ontario, and you can see the awe on the faces of the inspiring drummers. The film features performances and interviews by the various instructors. I think the best way to describe it is an 85-minute drum solo. The film was very entertaining, and surprisingly melodic. |
|
|
This documentary is about a young man who suffered severe brain damage after a vicious beating. He had to relearn everything – including how to walk, talk and write. He took responsibility for his own therapy when his government funding ran out. Mark most wanted to regain his imagination, so he built a scale model of a fictional town during the war (including a bar, a church and a store), where he is the town hero. The people in his imaginary town are plastic dolls (the Barbie and Ken variety) based on real people he knows. Each doll is dressed appropriately to the story he is telling. After the dolls and props are posed properly he photographs them. The settings were absolutely amazing and, at the end of the movie, he is photographing a scale model of himself photographing a smaller scale model of his town.
|
This documentary explores the art of storytelling among the Nuxalk First Nations in Bella Coola. There are fewer and fewer people left who speak their native language, and many people fear their stories will be lost. Although some of the stories have been captured on tape, the filmmaker wonders if this newer form of storytelling is a valid as their oral tradition. |
|
|
The First Nations people welcomed the earliest Chinese settlers and offered them homes on their traditional lands. The documentary focuses on four people of Native and Chinese descent, and how their mixed heritage has affected their lives.
|
A filmmaker who grew up in Belfast during the secular violence remembers only the beauty of the land. He wondered if that vision would be true of all children growing up in an area where war has come and gone. He and his film crew spent three weeks with the children of Goptapa in Iraq. In many scenes the children are similar to children everywhere, playing with balloons and laughing at fart jokes. But these children also play with the guns that were left behind, and they remember the many people who died in the attack. |
|
|
Paul Giamatti won a Golden Globe for his performance as Barney Panofsky. I thought Minnie Driver was a great choice for Barney’s second wife, and Dustin Hoffman as Barney’s Dad was perfect. Rosamund Pike played Miriam, Barney’s third wife and the love of his life. In the movie, Barney is recalling the milestones of his life as he succumbs to Alzheimer’s. I heard a reviewer say that this is basically a love story, and I see that more through the movie than I did through the book. The movie follows the book very closely, but I think it is easier to get into the lives of the characters through the movie.
|
 |
I enjoyed this third and final movie in the series that follows the books by Stieg Larsson. There were a few changes to the story line, but the movie follows the book quite closely. There are a lot of new characters added as the conspiracy against Lisbeth Salander is revealed, and I think a viewer might be a bit confused if they hadn’t read the book. The book goes much deeper into the investigation, and the intrigue doesn’t come across as well in the movie.
|
 |
I wasn’t keen on seeing this movie, but it is one of the nominees for Best Picture. Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter are all nominated as well. The story is based on the fact that King George VI, played by Colin Firth, suffered from a speech impediment. The stuttering obviously caused problems for the King in his public engagements even prior to his assuming the throne when his brother abdicated. Geoffrey Rush plays the part of the speech therapist; Helena Bonham Carter plays the part of Queen Elizabeth I (who most of us know as the Queen Mother). Apparently the Queen has seen the movie and approves (King George VI was her father). |
|
This Coen brother’s movie is a remake of the 1969 version starring John Wayne. The story follows a young girl’s journey to track down Chaney, the man who killed her father. She hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to help, but insists on joining him in the search. A Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) joins them on their search, although he and Rooster don’t get along very well and he abandons and rejoins the partnership several times. There are some beautiful shots in the movie and the story is good. |
|
|
Screening Room
Click on the links below to see other movies
|
|
