mainly dedicated to reviewing the newest movies out and some of my old favourites,along with a few tv series and book reviews chucked in when l feel like it
Is it better than the first…..hhhmmm maybe? Is it worth seeing in the cinemas you better
acca- believe it
Elizabeth Banks – in her first full length film directing debut
shows that she really does know her comedy – which we already know from her
acting.It shows she really has put her
heart in this. The film is extremely predictable but then most comedies are and
l was happy to just sit relax and have a laugh. The plot is slow to start but
the jokes are there right from the beginning and don’t stop. Some feel a little
forced at times but for the most part it works well
Our
very own Rebel Wilson gets more screen play in this instalment and produces the
easy laughs proving that she is acca-awesome, sometimes to the point or rib
hurting laughter (she also ads in an Aussie joke that was quite cute for us
Aussies but might be lost on a wider audience), but my favourites were John (John Michael Higgins) and Gail (Elizabeth
Banks) our commentators following the Barden Bellas on their journey to the World
A cappella championships. Their comedy is a lot more deadpan and at times l
found only a few people laughing at their zingers whereas l found them quite
hilarious
Keegan-Michael
Key has a cameo appearance and l squealed with joy when he came on as he is one
of my favourites, l love his sense of humour and was happy that, even though
his role is stated a cameo, he does have more than one scene and actually
manages to tell Bella Becca to step and try a bit harder.
Our
new Barden Bella played by Hailee
Steinfeld (True Grit) as the Bella legacy, Emily shows that bringing in new
characters is a good thing. She is just as quirky as the original Bella’s and
brings her own comedy to the mix
Brittany
Snow is of course great playing her character Chloe, she and Anna Kendrick’s
character Becca grow the most in this instalment – which was, l felt a bit
harder to show as their on screen time isn't as big as the first instalment.
The
new A cappella group in this one is Das Sound Machine from Germany and they are
our Bella’s rivals and while l loved their singing and thought they stole the
screen when preforming l felt a little confused as to how old they were meant
to be. I’m assuming they are all meant to be at college? It’s not really made
clear and if so they all looked a little old. If you loved the treble- makers you
maybe a little disappointed they are shown but only have 2 small singing parts
and for the most are part of the background.
There
is a lot more music in this one, it felt much more Glee-esque (is that even a
word.…well it is now!) and there was a wide range with even a small amount of
country music included. I swear at one point l expected Kurt and Rachel to walk
on screen and start singing with them, there is however a cameo by the group
Pentatonix (a fantastic A cappella group) that is quite quick so keep an eye
out for them, for the most part l enjoyed the songs chosen and the riff off
scene is acca-perfect although one song used had been used enough in Glee and
Rock of ages so felt they could have chosen another song but l can see it
pleasing the masses.
All in all Pitch Perfect 2 is going to have you singing and dancing in your seats, if you need a laugh and a chance to relax l can’t recommend this enough.
Joss Whedon described this film as "smaller. More personal. More painful. The next thing that should happen to these characters, and not just a rehash of what worked the first time. A theme that is completely fresh and organic to itself." - I couldn't agree with this more I walked into The Avengers Age of Ultron with extremely high expectations and it was safe say l was not disappointed in the slightest. It easily fulfilled all my expectations and then some. Ever since l first watched Doll House I have considered Joss Whedon a genius at what he does and in this film he struck the perfect balance between his sprawling and ever expanding cast and weaving a story that ends in a jaw dropping finale. Marvel's always done a great job of making its superhero movies about the title characters more than the villains. This movie actually tops the first in scope and drama and that's due, in no small part, to a superb villain and our amazing hero’s.
The first movie was all about
bringing The Avengers together whereas this instalment is about tearing that
team apart. The villain is Ultron (voiced by the superb James Spader) which
thanks to the writers (Joss Whedon and Co) becomes a Symbol of Irony. After all it is
Tony Stark, his A.I. Jarvis (voiced by Paul Bettany) and, somewhat, Bruce
Banner’s idea to create an A. I. to protect mankind, sending The Avengers into
early retirement. This is how Ultron is created and unfortunately he takes the
idea of making The Avengers obsolete literally and is determined to rid the
world of them. He believes the only way for mankind to survive is for it be
annihilated so it has the chance to evolve.
All the cast from the first
Avengers movie reprise their roles. Scarlett Johanson shines as the Black Widow
and was given a substantially bigger part, along with Mark Ruffalo’s character
the Hulk. Mark has always been my favourite actor for portraying the Hulk/Bruce
Banner and in this 2nd installment his acting pulls at the heartstrings. I will
admit there are a few places where my eyes welled up. Robert Downy Jr. playing
Tony Stark/ Iron Man is perfect, as always, showing his desire for scientific
knowledge and using it to somewhat play god.
Captain America is, as always,
a well-spoken and perfect
gentleman and does not agree with Stark’s plan for A.I. to protect our world
which shows throughout the film. I found Hawkeye’s character development was
the best of the group, Jeremy Renner portraying his struggle perfectly.
The high-profile additions are of
course Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen),
a pair of tightly-knit eastern European siblings with powers of speed and mind
control respectively. Besides
Ultron, the brother-and-sister pair become the
biggest threat to the Avengers. In particular Scarlet Witch’s psychic powers
which she uses on Captain America, Black Widow and Thor to trigger memories of
their past causing them to face their personal demons.
We also finally see Paul Bettany on the screen as becomes Vison, another A.I. made, once again by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner
using Jarvis, to help them defeat Ultron. Of all the new comers l found
Elizabeth Olsen was the most interesting to watch. She gave a powerful
performance, and surprisingly her accent didn't falter once - I will be
interested to see a lot more of her and character.
The Music by one of my
favourites, Danny Elfman, beautifully blends pieces of the original score
throughout the movie, using it in places where it makes the action scenes seem
larger than life. One battle scene in particular which has all the Avengers
fighting is shot brilliantly. The camera work is clear and each character is
given camera time. Add the music to this and it truly was a jaw dropping scene.
The action in this one has been dialed up but doesn't stretch on too long,
instead having breaks in between unlike the first film where l felt the action
scenes were a little too long in places.
All in all l walked out of this
movie with a great big smile on face. It’s not very often that the second Installment in a movie series out shines the first but Avengers Age of Utron
manages it on every level and l can’t wait to see it again! But then again this
is Marvel and they always seem to deliver the goods!
“I often
don't say things out loud, even when I should. I contain and compartmentalize
to a disturbing degree: In my belly-basement are hundreds of bottles of rage,
despair, fear, but you'd never guess from looking at me.”
― Gillian
Flynn, Gone Girl
When l
walked into the bookshop and walked out with 4 new books one of them was Gone
Girl – brought simply for the cover. l found it interesting that there we two
different covers to choose from both the same except one was black and one was
orange – l asked what the reason was for them and was told nothing but the more
l looked l thought there must be a reason and in the end l chose orange.
I didn’t
read it straight away. It sat on my book shelf for a while and l forgot about
it until l saw it was being made into a movie which made me want to start
reading it. I was already in the middle of a book and didn’t want to start
another one so for maybe the second time in my life l decided to give the Audio
book a go and after listening to the first 15 minutes l was hooked. l walked around with my earphones on 90% of the time and listened to it in my car
(19 and a half hours of listening in 3 days).
The book follows the story of Nick and Amy Dunne and is told by both of
them at different points throughout the story.
Nick Dunne comes home to find his wife Amy missing – the victim of a
possible abduction. After he calls the
police the search is on to find her with Nick swiftly becoming a possible
suspect in her ‘disappearance’.
The
Audiobook is read by Julia Whelan (Amy)and/or Kirby Heyborne (Nick) as we are hearing things from either
Nick’s or Amy’s differing perspectives and moving from past to present, and
having these voice’s in your head makes this fantastic story even better and
the characters all the more believable.
This has
been my favourite book for the year but that being said, if you like to connect
to your main characters this may not be the book for you as neither Nick nor
Amy are likeable characters. We learn a lot of their personal back story. Amy is the product of parents who used her as
a model for the heroine in a popular range of children’s books they write
called “Amazing Amy” which you learn more about as our story goes on. On Nick’s
side we have his brutal father & downtrodden mother and one of the few
likable characters in the book - his twin sister Go (short for Margot). There
are other characters throughout the book Desi (Amy’s ex-boyfriend who has a
story of his own) and Hilary Handy (a ‘best friend’ from Amy’s school days).
These 2 characters l found to be extremely interesting. Their parts may not be
large but they offer a lot of insight into the past of our main character.
There are of course other characters within the book but let’s not give too
much away here. Giliian Flynn weaves a story full of intrigue, doubt and
tension in a beautiful way. Her writing is not hard to read although her
subject matter is a little confronting at times (I will admit there was one
scene that l found hard to listen to) she uses diary entries to tell us past
events which makes our time jumps to the past extremely easy to follow and is
sometimes wanted when the present story is getting a little too heavy. l have read some people hated the ending –
personally l loved it and thought it
made the book even more enjoyable and even though l now know how it ends I
would read it again and again.
Now we skip
forward 4 months and it’s the day after l have watched Gone Girl starring Ben
Affleck as Nick Dunne, Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne and directed by David
Fincher. My first instinct when a
favourite book of mine is turned into a movie is to anticipate all the ways
that Hollywood will get it wrong.
Thankfully that doesn’t happen to this one. Our screenplay for the movie
was written by the author Gillian Flynn and this shows straight away. Some
lines are simply word for word from the book and you can tell she has spent
countless hours crafting the characters and events for her novel, so she knows
intimately by the time the screen play is ready.
David’s
directing is noticeable from the start and anyone familiar with his work knows
he is a master behind the camera and brings the best out in his actors (Fight
Club, Se7en and Zodiac). The movie is visually stunning to watch and uses the
subject matter to mirror its background showing a town in the middle or a
recession – half empty and with high rates of unemployment. We then come to our characters whose marriage
of 5 years has turned somewhat toxic - all in all everything looks a little downtrodden
and this works. Nick’s despair grows once the media gets involved in the mystery taking place, descending like a pack of
vultures feeding on a carcase (this being Nick Dunne). This is all shown in a
bleak but rather beautiful way, the colours on screen are quite muted at times
and everything, down to our actors, feels convincingly real. The themes are familiar to Fincher, and he
assembles them in a brilliant fashion, showing that he was the perfect choice
to direct. We then have the remarkable score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
With its pulse pounding moments the score is what gives some scenes a whole new
level of horror, reminiscent of the brilliant score for The Shining. l would
like them to at least be acknowledged when Oscar time comes around. This movie
is not the easiest subject matter to add music to but this pair accomplishes it
masterfully.
The star of
this movie was Rosamund Pike playing our “Amazing Amy”.She demands the screen, playing with the
audience's mind, making you begin to question everything you hear and see and
for those who have read the book have no fear - Rosamund has taken the
character of Amy and played her to a T. Even though it’s too early for the
Oscar buzz l think it will be hard to beat Rosamund’s acting here, she does not
falter once.
Ben Affleck
plays Nick Dunne and if anybody still questions his acting abilities – sit
down and watch this movie.Ben takes on
the role and plays the part extremely, well showing Nick’s callowness.I think you never know quite how you feel
about him. Apart from the two leads, the film also benefits from an intriguing
supporting cast and hasseveral actors
who show a side of themselves that l wasn’t sure was possible especially Tyler
Perry and Neil Patrick-Harris. Two other actors unknown to me but definitely worth a
mention are Carrie Coon as Nick’s sister Go whose feisty outgoing nature is
welcome in what is a very jaw clenching and tense film and Kim Dickens as
Detective Rhoda Boney,another of the
few really likeable characters in the film.
I really
can’t say much more here without giving away any major plot lines, but l urge
you see this movie (better yet read the book too) it’s definitely in my top 5
for this year movies and for those who have read the book after seeing this
don’t be surprised if you come out of the cinema with a somewhat sickly smile
on your face.
Everyone
keeps comparing this to The Hunger Games and apart from both books having a
strong female lead there are no more similarities – so please stop!
This review
is probably going be on both the movie and the book as well as the soundtrack
so let’s just call it an overall review of Divergent in general.
Set in a
futuristic Chicago, our community is enclosed behind an electric fence. Due to the war years of the past, to keep the
peace, our community is set into 5 different factions (factions are thicker
than family) our factions are as follows:
·Erudite
– who are intelligent and crave knowledge more than anything else
·Candor - honest to the up-most as in no matter who
they hurt they always speak the truth,
·Amity
– they are known as the peaceful – they look after agriculture, refuse to pick
sides and don’t have a leader as such
·Dauntless
– the brave, they keep the peace, patrol the fence and to others are known as the dare devils
·Abnegation
– they are selfless always helping others, they don’t own mirrors as that shows
vanity and eat very plain food and because of their selflessness they run the
government.
On your 16th
birthday, teenagers undergo a test to see which faction they fit into. Up till
then they are in the same one as their parents but regardless of what they are
told, they can choose which faction they want to be in at the choosing
ceremony.
This is
where we come in. We follow Beatrice (Tris) who has grown up in
Abnegation. After her test Tris is told she
will is Divergent - they are considered dangerous as they can relate to all factions
and don’t follow the mold as such. She is told by Tori (Maggie Q) who is a
Dauntless to keep it quiet and choose a faction herself. She chooses Dauntless
leaving her mother, father and brother (who also changed choosing Erudit) behind. We soon see the Factions are beginning to falter
and what it truly means to be a Divergent. While movies are rarely better than
or even as good as the book, Divergent comes close. Sure some things are
changed for the movie but for the most part, it works.
Shailene
Woodly plays Tris and she nailed the character. She was exactly how l imagined
her in the book. She takes the role on
and makes it her own, from her starting off as an Abnegation and becoming a
Dauntless you believe all her struggles
and are glued to the screen in all her scenes.
Theo James plays Four (already a Dauntless) and while he wasn’t exactly
what l pictured when reading the book, by the end of the movie you believe him
as Four. Added bonus here girls: The man
could not be any hotter if he tried, and thanks to me saying something along
the lines of “finally” when he takes his top off, my friend ended up snorting
tea through her nose! Theo and Shailene
have enough chemistry on screen that you believe in the characters and what
they are feeling (which isn’t always easy).
We have the
always beautiful and immensely watchable Kate Winslet playing Jeanine. A truly
horrible character that smiles at you while thinking of ways to get rid of you
- Jeanine is not seen as much in the book - more talked of – but the script
writers for movie have chosen to give her a bigger role and while it makes for
quite a different ending to the book it works for the movie and doesn't ultimately
change anything. It’s not very often
Kate plays a “baddie” but as always she is fantastic in her role and as much as
l despise her character l was always excited when she came on screen.
There were
two characters in the book that l felt did not transfer as well onto the screen.
Edward is apparently present throughout the first half (I didn't realize it was
even him) and then just disappears – l felt this character should have been
used more. He has quite a big scene in
the book which also shows us how horrible Peter (played by Miles Teller) can
be, this is shown in the movie but l feel it could have been driven home a bit
more with this scene being added (that said the scene in question is a bit gory
so it may not have been allowed in a PG13 film). Al is the other character and while he is there
in the film it took me a while to realize it. If anything, out of the two
characters, l would have thought Al’s story line would have been too heavy to
feature in the film. It was put in but l got the feeling it was possibly a last
minute decision and not developed enough for us to actually care about it –
whereas in the book l will admit to tears. While l am disappointed these characters
weren’t as involved l can understand why. Divergent has a large cast and among others, some
of the characters whose roles were great are Eric from Dauntless, Caleb (Tris’
brother) and Christina (Tris’ friend) who all get decent screen time.
The movie
really is brought to life by the Director Neil Burger. I feel this is a gripping, intelligent and well-paced
film which is often not the case with book to movie adaptations and you are
drawn in from the beginning with the first scenes of futuristic Chicago. All this is helped by a fantastic soundtrack. With contributions from Ellie Goulding , M83 and
Zedd it’s very mixed but It works and gives you the futuristic feel the movie
needs, its strong enough to actually make you remember scenes in the movie when
you are simply listening to it on your I-pod.
All in all
l loved this film. It had adventure, drama, some kick-ass fight scenes and some
brilliantly touching scenes with a young cast who hold their own. The movie is worth seeing and if you have read
the book go in with an open mind and you will be fine. If you haven’t l am sure
by the end of the movie you will want to learn more about Tris and her life as
a Divergent.
Critics and some wannabe critics lashed out at this movie
and nearly every review l read gave it a bad write up and l guess part of them
is the reason l have for liking it. l went in still intrigued but not expecting
too much. I was pleasantly surprised with it, it kept my attention and it made
me think and l like movies that do that. l knew l really liked it when, by the
time l was home, l was still questioning parts of the movie and its characters.
Johnny Depp plays our lead Will Castor, an artificial
intelligence researcher who aims to build a self-aware sentient machine with
all the knowledge in the world along with a full range of emotions aka PINN (we
never find out what this stands for but l came up with Personal Intelligence
Neural Network….works for me!). Things start to go wrong when RIFT, an
anti-technology organization shoots him – the shot doesn’t kill him but the
bullet is laced with radiation poisoning and inevitably he dies thus bringing
us to his wife and friend connecting him to PINN in attempt to save him mind
and memories.
There’s no shortage of A.I movies – PINN to a degree
reminded me of the A.I. in I, Robot - V.I.K.I there was also just recently the
more sensitive movie “Her” and Shodan from System Shock – who we know had evil
intentions. While l enjoyed these movies
l think Transcendence itself was more thought provoking questioning how far
technology has already come and what is ahead of us in the future.
The movie is directed by Wally Pfister who is
Christopher Nolan’s favourite cinematographer
(with good reason) and at times l could see a bit of Nolan’s directing but
maybe that was just me. The movie looked good at all times, there are some
beautiful visuals throughout the movie thanks to the cinematographer Jess hall
who uses some truly beautiful shots of nature while still giving us that
futuristic feel. The only issue l had with the movie in general was at times it
felt a little disjointed and slow in places, that being said this is the first
script we have seen from Jack Paglen and as first time writer it’s not bad as
such, just a little unevenly paced in places.
Johnny Depp as always gives a great performance
(although it was slightly odd not seeing him in the usual make up normally
required for his chosen roles). He plays the part Castor convincingly which wasn’t
as easy as you might think. Rebecca Hall plays Evelyn Castor (Will’s wife) and
has most of the screen time, she plays her character extremely well and holds
her own against Depp and Freeman.
Morgan Freeman and Paul Bettany also have roles in the movie both of who
play them well, although l would have liked to have seen more of Morgan
Freeman. Cillian Murphy plays our FBI agent and at times I found he fell a bit
flat that being said he has little screen time and it doesn't affect the movie.
I can understand people not liking this movie it’s not
for everyone. l would put is as a
scif-fi thriller and if you not interested in technology and what it is possibly
capable of in the future you’re probably going to get bored with it, there are
a few action scenes but not enough for those simply looking for an action
flick. There also isn’t a clear person or side to root for as such. There are
no “good guy’s vs bad guys”. In this respect it is very nebulous, which is what
leaves you with your questions, would you be part of RIFT or would be working
alongside Will Castor? A few reviews l
read felt that Will Castor was in fact the villain of the movie, l personally
didn’t see that, he was the first A.I. with emotion – and being inside a
computer that never turns off is going to give you a lot of power and a lot of
time to think of new ideas. So – how far
do you go and do some of your positives for mankind eventually turn around and
become negatives? What happens when these ideas become a reality?
This movie tells the story of Jordan Belfort, a young Wall
Street broker that gets involved in drugs, money, sex and even more drugs
during the 90's. In his tenure trading (and stealing), Jordan marries,
divorces, does drugs, marries again, does even more drugs, makes solid friendships,
and does a lot more drugs. Scorsese puts
together an all-star cast to inhabit these beings that includes Leonardo DiCaprio,
Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Jon Bernthal, and Kyle
Chandler. All of whom seem to be having the time of their lives.
Martin Scorsese does a wonderful job keeping this movie on
a high at all times. Never once does this movie lose its energy or sense of
humour much like the drug induced characters. There are a lot of quick cuts and
edits to keep the movie feeling as If you are on drugs as well as playing high
energy music in some of the more serious situations. (Having Gloria by Italian singer Umberto Tozzistart up in the middle of a more serious situation
is pure genius you go from worry to laughter in a split second).
The serious drama and opposing vibrant comedy blend
perfectly, while still holding focus. And the directing of the movie
complements the writing to the point where the momentum of the film just never
stops. The writing works fantastically with the actors as they sell every word
they speak as if they're selling you a stock share. The Wolf of Wall Street
really sucks you in and shows you the lifestyle of these characters, sparing
nothing as it displays the great successes, the bizarre occurrences, and the
dire consequences.
A lot of the credit of the film's overall success has to
be awarded to Leonardo DiCaprio. In his breaking of the fourth wall, to his
long but completely engaging monologues about life, money, and greed, it's the
most assured and compelling work by the actor to date. I will admit you put Leo
in a movie and l will watch it. The man is a brilliant actor always giving it
his all and this was no different. You truly believed you were watching the
real John Belfort on the screen. A sequence of DiCaprio crawling on the floor
will probably be the scene of the year. (This scene was done in one take as
Leo, according to Martin ended up straining his back). For those who have seen
this movie you will know the scene I’m referring to and l will gladly admit l
had tears of laughter streaming down my face watching it. This is one
DiCaprio’s crowning achievements and will be one that will stand out in his
list of movies, if he does not receive an Oscar for it l will be disappointed
(not surprised through, as we all know Leo has deserved the Oscar before but
has yet to receive one).
Margot Robbie makes quite an entrance and gives a solid
performance here. She's a formidable beauty with lots of ambition and an
overpowering stare that will let you see that she is not afraid to seek
ambition. She demands the screen and you find yourself watching her more than
the rest of the actors. Most of Margot’s scenes are quite demanding and she
pulls them off well. The woman has no fear showing her body and let’s face it
with a figure like that why would you, her full frontal scene appears quite
early on and originally,
Martin Scorsese had her appear wearing
a bathrobe during the scene between her and Leonardo DiCaprio. She refused and
insisted doing the scene fully-nude; the first in her career. Margot is quoted
as saying: "The whole point of Naomi is that her body is her only form of
currency in this world...she has to be naked. She's laying her cards on the
table." She had three shots of tequila in succession before shooting the
scene to relax.
Personally I enjoyed the film as a dark comedy delivered
with energy and excess and while the film has little to no moral core -
basically sending the message "it's all screwed so who cares” - I don’t
mind this. It doesn’t hide what it is. We know we’re watching people committing
fraud so we also know their morals are going to be somewhat loose. For anyone
who has seen and loved Goodfellas and are a fan of Scorsese's style of film
making it's a must see. All this being said l can see people hating this movie,
with more than a few sex scenes (most of which fall on the funny side), a lot
of drug use and every second word being a swear word this movie won’t be one
for everyone to watch.
Based on a
play by Tracy Letts, August Osage County was transformed for the big screen
staring some fantastic screen legends one of which is none other than the
beautiful Meryl Streep; although in this she was anything but! This movie isn’t for everyone: it’s depressing in places, it’s exhausting and
it’s full of truly despicable people, but this being said the acting is top
notch the roles are strong and the directing was superb.
This is the
story of the Weston Family: Violet, a drug-addicted cancer
patient (Meryl Streep); her husband Beverley, a well-known poet (Sam Shepard)
& their daughters Barbara (Julia Roberts), Karen (Juliette Lewis), and Ivy
(Julianne Nicholson); Violet's sister Minnie Fae Aiken (Margo Martindale), her husband
Charles (Chris Cooper) and their son, known as Little Charles (Benedict
Cumberbatch). And what happens to this family when they are bought together
after the death of Violet’s husband Beverly.
Julia Roberts shines in this movie, she portrays Barbara
and she nailed it, her character is tired (she looks it too, grey roots
showing, bags under the eyes and baggy clothes make Julia look drab, something
l didn’t think possible), cynical, passive aggressive but through this is
trying to hold herself and her daughter, who is 14 going on 22 (play by Abigail
Breslin) together while going through a
divorce to her husband (played by Ewan McGregor) something she chooses not tell
the family, instead bringing the husband along for the ride. Julia makes you
feel for her character you ache for her at times and it isn’t till the end that
you feel a little relief for her. Up
until now my favourite performance by Julia was Erin Brockovich but this one
surpasses it, showing that Julia is without doubt, an A list actress.
We then have Meryl playing Violet, Meryl has given us
plenty of character over the years but l think this may be the biggest monster
of them all, playing a character with mouth cancer (still smokes like a
chimney), addicted to pills, arrogant and all together unpleasant you can’t
help but be riveted to the screen when Meryl is on it, her acting is brilliant.
From her slurred speech to her spaced out moments she never falters. It’s hard
to pick who to watch when you have Meryl and Julia on the same screen (watch
out for the “eat your fish b*!ch” scene it’s brilliant and shows just how
talented these women are) they both deserve Oscars for their work in this.
An actor who stands out in this is Benedict Cumberbatch
(playing “Little Charles”), he is one of the few characters you like and even
though you know he is doing something terribly wrong you feel nothing but
sadness for him especially when you see his mother Minnie Fae Aiken (Margo
Martindale) has next to no feelings towards him. His father Charles (Chris Cooper) is a quiet
character one who likes to keep the peace, when he finally does snap it’s not a
scene to miss. Chris Cooper gives a fantastic performance.
There is not much of a soundtrack to this but Eric
Clapton’s song Lay Down Sally is prominent throughout the movie, and used whenever
Violet is about to go into a spin it’s used well and is a good cue to know when
things are about to go from bad to worse.
The cinematography is beautifully done and used throughout the film
representing the people themselves (a scene shows that Violet and Beverly have
taped the blinds closed and the curtains are never open, showing how much they
live in their own separate worlds unaware of time passing).
I have seen a lot of movies throughout the year and have a
group of movies that stayed in my head and shone through. This is definitely
one of them, one l hope to watch again very soon even if it does make me feel
like l need a drink afterwards.