Tomorrow night I'll be watching the Academy Awards. Well, I'll certainly be watching the red carpet part anyway so I can "vote" on best and worst dressed. Usually try to see all the major films that get Oscar attention, but this year I'm a bit behind. Still especially want to see "Silver Linings Playbook" to support local girl Jennifer Lawrence, "Amour" and "Quartet" on the big screen. The rest of 2012 films will be fine on Netflix.
Here's my very brief review of the ones I've seen and a favorite quote:
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - favorite, best ensemble of great character actors off on a culture shock of an adventure in India
Sonny Kapoor, young Indian innkeeper: "Everything will be all right in the end, and if it's not all right, then it's not the end."
Les Miserables - brave anthem to love, forgiveness and freedom; live singing a risk that was worth taking, adding freshness and power to much loved music
Marius, Cosette's young lover: "A heart full of love."
Skyfall 007 - great fun and Daniel Craig such an elegant James Bond
Bond, in his trick car with M (Judi Dench as his boss): "Are you gonna complain the whole way?"
M: "Go on then. Eject me. See if I care."
Lincoln - the theater audience stood and applauded at the end, a primer of effective politics; a multi-faceted study of Lincoln the man and President
Lincoln, on amendment to free slaves: "Shall we stop this bleeding?"
Anna Karenina - irritating staging like comic opera, insipid characters that I couldn't care about, least favorite.
Anna Karenina, begging to be freed from her marriage: "I'd die for my son. But I can't live for him like this."
Argo - on the edge of your seat tension, heart attack inducing action, parallels to current events, great comic lines
Tony Mendez, an infiltration expert meeting with State Department on rescuing six Americans from the Canadian embassy during the Iranian hostage taking in 1979. Proposal by State Department that they bike to the Iranian border and there be picked up by military: "Or you could just send in training wheels and meet them at the border with Gatorade."
The Royal Affair - sometimes being a princess sucks. Young English noblewoman is sent to Denmark to marry its insane young king. She is humiliated, isolated and unloved until a German doctor and scholar joins the court to care for the king. They form an attachment, at first based on books and concern for the welfare of the Danish people, that soon becomes an ill-fated love affair. Much, much better than Anna Karenina if you can deal with English subtitles.
Queen Caroline Mathilda: "You recognized me.
Johann Friedrich Struensee: "I would recognize you blindfolded."
Well, that's my year in movie going. What about you? Any that you loved? hated? disappointed?
I Loved Argo n silver Linnings.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be a fun evening and I will be watching.
ReplyDeleteGlad you posted this. I am so disgusted with the movie industry, and most actors, but I have been a moviephyle my entire life, and we are faithful Netflix subscribers--so I am always conflicted about the Oscars, etc. First of all, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was wonderful! We have Argo and Skyfall ready to receive from Netflix as soon as they are available so will be watching those soon. I have been wanting to see Les Mis and Lincoln and Anna Karenina....we saw Les Mis on stage (the BEST!) in NY, and I love Vivien Leigh is the older version of Anna Karenina, so I'm not sure how I will feel about this new one (it's also been done other times). I read the book....no film can compare with the book. As for Lincoln I wonder how much of it is convenient propaganda, though I wouldn't mind seeing it for the portrayals by two of my fave actors. Recently saw Killing Lincoln on TV, based on the book by Bill O'Reilly, and it was a good portrayal of the events of Lincoln's death, plus Daniel Day Lewis was excellent.
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