Movie: Gosford Park
Mar 13, 2010 Movies
So I’m in one of those moments where the next deadline is a little while away so I have a bit of space and what do I do? I watch a movie *thud* I recently filled out an Oscars meme and realised there were a few movies I’ve been meaning to get around to but haven’t; Gosford Park is one of them.
The film is set in 1932 at an English country house. A party of wealthy Britons and Americans accompanied by their servants gather at the home of Sir William McCordle for a shooting weekend. A murder occurs in the middle of the night, the film presenting the murder from both the servants’ and the guests’ perspective. But rather than a simple mystery to be solved, the film uses the whodunit format to create a drama showcasing the tensions of the British class system. Many intertwining subplots detail the complex relationships among the characters, both above stairs (the wealthy guests) and below (the servants).
Major Spoilers Ahead!
Tags: movies: review
Movie: Bright Star
Feb 6, 2010 Movies
So I at long last finally got to watch this movie. Bright Star has been on my “to-watch” list ever since I heard that such a movie was being made.
Based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats’ untimely death at age 25.
Major Spoilers Ahead!
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Tags: movies: review
Movie: The Fall
Jan 11, 2010 Movies
Okay, I was supposed to be working on discussion papers for two of my classes yesterday and OMG, I could not focus on writing them. Like I knew roughly what I wanted to write about but I really just couldn’t bring myself to write them. In my frustration, I ended up watching The Fall, an indie movie that came out around 2006 (I’m getting 2006 and 2008 so I don’t know entirely) starring Lee Pace (don’t know how I decided on The Fall in particular…hmm).
In Los Angeles, circa 1920′s, a little immigrant girl finds herself in a hospital recovering from a fall. She strikes up a friendship with a bedridden man who captivates her with a whimsical story that removes her far from the hospital doldrums into the exotic landscapes of her imagination. Making sure he keeps the girl interested in the story he interweaves her family and people she likes from the hospital into his tale.
- source
Major Spoilers Ahead!
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Tags: movies: review
Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Book & Movie)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
By: Stieg Larsson
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared off the secluded island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger family. There was no corpse, no witnesses, no evidence. But her uncle, Henrik, is convinced that she was murdered by someone from her own deeply dysfunctional family. Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist is hired to investigate, but he quickly finds himself in over his head. He hires a competent assistant: the gifted and conscience-free computer specialist Lisbeth Salander, and the two unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.
I’ve been hearing about this book throughout all of last summer and lots of recommendations for this book came from GoodReads and the bookstores and so forth. So when I noticed that it was out in paperback, I decided to check it out.
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Movies: Star Trek (2009)
May 14, 2009 Movies
Okay, ever since I heard that J.J. Abrams was attached to a new Star Trek movie, I had been on the lookout for it. And when it came out and everyone—from my friends list on LJ to Twitter to pretty much the entire population on the Web—was raving how amazing it was, the inner Trekkie in me (I have been a fan since I was 6) has been flailing to see it. And I finally did. And I loved it to bit. Spoilers ahead!
Tags: movies: review
Movie: Atonement
Jun 28, 2008 Movies
And now the following is my review of the 2007 adaptation starring James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave and directed by Joe Wright. Seeing the trailer for this movie was actually what got me to check out the book in the first place but I didn’t get to watch it until I got my hands on the DVD back in March. So the following review will be tied in with the book review I made in the previous post. Spoilers ahead!
Tags: movies: review
Movie: The Bourne Ultimatum
Aug 12, 2007 Movies
I always try to make a note of reading the books before seeing the movies when it comes to book-to-movie adaptations; I always like to understand where these adaptations come from. Plus, it’s fun to nitpick about what was kept and what was chucked in the movie adaptations (unless the adaptations are like LOTR and Pride & Prejudice where I really loved the adaptations enough to overlook much of the chucking and reduxing). Anyways, I understand that the Bourne movie trilogy is completely way off the mark when it comes to faithfulness to the plot of the novels. After all, the books were based in the time when the threat was really about the Cold War and the politics surrounding it. Vietnam was still a hardcore issue at the time, affecting some of the inner politics and decision-making made by pioliticians. Espionage was fueled by the Cold War. The movies merely reflect the times in which they are made–essentially, now. Anyways, watched the movie today with my family and from the three, this is easily my favourite one of the lot. As always, spoilers follow…
Tags: movies: review
