Fellow Movie Lovers

Fellow Movie Lovers

Questions asked and hopefully answered:

Sequence of reviews. I review them as I view them: there is no hierarchy.

I will address the sensitive issues in An Education.

AMELIA

Amelia Earhart was born in 1897 as the Victorian Age was waning and she vanished in 1937 days before her fortieth birthday. She was a crusader a visionary and a feminist before the word was coined. She rebelled against a male dominated world; she could not vote until she was twenty-three because the nineteenth amendment, giving women the right to vote was not passed until 1920. She lived through the rise of Gandhi, Mao, Hitler and the Empire State Building. But it was the Wright Brothers and their glider (airplane) that touched her soul and inspired her passion for flying; flying for freedom and fun. She never deviated or was deterred from her quest.

Mira Nair (The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding) portrays this icon of aviation with a keen eye and the sensitivity Amelia so richly deserves.

Hilary Swank, two time Academy Award winner (Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby) climbs into the mind, heart and imagination of Amelia and creates one of the greatest screen biographies of this century. Her physical resemblance to Amelia is uncanny; she captures her voice (Amelia’s gifted prose), mannerisms and ambition without sinking into the sentimental or sensational. It is a performance worthy of the highest accolades.

Richard Gere as George Putnam, Amelia’s publicist, lover and eventual husband is credible, but lacking the strength and depth required of the role. Fortunately the camera still loves this aging charismatic star.

The music, especially Cole Porter’s You Do Something to Me and the luscious cinematography tug at one’s heartstrings and tear ducts, adds an audio and visual dimension to this beautiful film.

Amelia Earhart, thanks to the talents of Mira Nair and Hilary Swank, will forever inspire both women and men to fight for and actualize their visions and dreams!

Four Stars!

AN EDUCATION

Based on the real life memoir of British journalist Lynn Barber and written for the screen by Nick Hornby (About a Boy) is brilliantly acted and crafted.

Peter Sarsgaard (Dead Man Walking) is David Goldman the deliciously charming con man who woos his way into the life and family of sixteen year old Jenny; it is magical to watch him accomplish his mission. He is the proverbial snake oil salesman; he can and does sell and steal at whim. He is amoral to the core, and Sarsgaard’s portrayal is riveting.

But Carey Mulligan as Jenny is the star; she, like the mythical goddess Athena, springs fully grown and magically wonderful on the wide screen. She plays the gifted and bored, Jenny sharing with her father the dream of “reading” English at Oxford.

This is 1961 and no matter her intellectual skills she is emotionally incapable of withstanding the onslaught of David’s campaign for her affections. She “dresses up” and laps up the titillating nightlife of London; drinking, smoking and joking with David and his friends Danny (Dominic Cooper, History Boys) and Helen (Rosamund Pike). She is experiencing a world and its vicissitudes well beyond her maturity level. Hence, an education.

Alfred Molina gives a deft and poignant performance as her father.

The disturbing factor was the movies depiction of David as a Jew and the headmistress’ ignorance in denying that Jesus Christ was Jewish. After much contemplation I felt that David was a feckless cad, who happened to be Jewish; not a Jew who was a cad.

The headmistress (played by Emma Thompson) typified many who shared her erroneous theory. But Jenny never considered David’s religious background and at seventeen loved unequivocally and with her entire being.

The movie belongs to Carey Mulligan and we anxiously await her continued meteoric ascent.

Four Stars!

MICHAEL JACKSON THIS IS IT

A compilation of over one hundred hours of taped rehearsals for Michael’s come back concert that never occurred. Kenny Ortega creates a homage that should be seen by all.

Michael Jackson’s elasticity, liquidity, and luminosity flirts with the sublime; he is truly the epitome of “poetry in motion” and we in the audience had to be bolted to our seats for the entire two hours; we still thirsted for more.

Michael Jackson, part of the Jackson Five, was denied a childhood by achieved fame and sought forever answers to questions that others discover in the growing up process. He was a genius but failed to find his true essence.

Nonetheless he will rank with the greatest of the great: Nijinsky, Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, in defying gravity and touching the celestial.

The ultimate tragedy is that his spiritualism and love of God and man could not conquer his demons.

So sad that This Was It.

Four &1/2 Stars!

LONDON DREAMS

This is almost as good as it gets in a typical Bollywood film; comprised of all the ingredients demanded by an Indian audience: rags to riches heros; loves won and lost; conflict and redemption all cloaked in glorious songs, dances, gorgeous stars and scenery.

Two powerful players in the Bollywood scene star, at their best, in this movie.

Ajay Devgan (Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Raincoat, Omkara) plays Arjun, whose devotion to music pushes him beyond reason and Salman Khan (Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and my favorite Maine Pyar Kiya) as Manu, his sycophant and more talented best friend. Similar to the American film Amadeus. Arjun is Salieri to Manu’s

Mozart.

London Dreams is the name of the band Arjun forms in London. Eventually bringing from Punjab his closest, and most irresponsible buddy, Manu. As their reputation takes flight and Arjun’s jealousy intensifies the plot reaches its pinnacle, culminating with a major catharsis for all involved.

The enchanting and leggy Asin (Ghajini) is the love interest and definitely a talent worth watching.

The concert scenes are magnificent (worthy of an Andreas Gursky photograph ); the energy palatable, and anyone would be hard pressed to choose a favorite.

Devgan and Khan have shared the screen in the past, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam; this collaboration really works and hopefully holds another pairing in the future.

Three &1/2 Stars!

For Now……………….Peneflix

Fellow Movie Lovers

Questions asked and hopefully answered:

Sequence of reviews. I review them as I view them: there is no hierarchy.

I will address the sensitive issues in An Education.

AMELIA

Amelia Earhart was born in 1897 as the Victorian Age was waning and she vanished in 1937 days before her fortieth birthday. She was a crusader a visionary and a feminist before the word was coined. She rebelled against a male dominated world; she could not vote until she was twenty-three because the nineteenth amendment, giving women the right to vote was not passed until 1920. She lived through the rise of Gandhi, Mao, Hitler and the Empire State Building. But it was the Wright Brothers and their glider (airplane) that touched her soul and inspired her passion for flying; flying for freedom and fun. She never deviated or was deterred from her quest.

Mira Nair (The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding) portrays this icon of aviation with a keen eye and the sensitivity Amelia so richly deserves.

Hilary Swank, two time Academy Award winner (Boys Don’t Cry and Million Dollar Baby) climbs into the mind, heart and imagination of Amelia and creates one of the greatest screen biographies of this century. Her physical resemblance to Amelia is uncanny; she captures her voice (Amelia’s gifted prose), mannerisms and ambition without sinking into the sentimental or sensational. It is a performance worthy of the highest accolades.

Richard Gere as George Putnam, Amelia’s publicist, lover and eventual husband is credible, but lacking the strength and depth required of the role. Fortunately the camera still loves this aging charismatic star.

The music, especially Cole Porter’s You Do Something to Me and the luscious cinematography tug at one’s heartstrings and tear ducts, adds an audio and visual dimension to this beautiful film.

Amelia Earhart, thanks to the talents of Mira Nair and Hilary Swank, will forever inspire both women and men to fight for and actualize their visions and dreams!

Four Stars!

AN EDUCATION

Based on the real life memoir of British journalist Lynn Barber and written for the screen by Nick Hornby (About a Boy) is brilliantly acted and crafted.

Peter Sarsgaard (Dead Man Walking) is David Goldman the deliciously charming con man who woos his way into the life and family of sixteen year old Jenny; it is magical to watch him accomplish his mission. He is the proverbial snake oil salesman; he can and does sell and steal at whim. He is amoral to the core, and Sarsgaard’s portrayal is riveting.

But Carey Mulligan as Jenny is the star; she, like the mythical goddess Athena, springs fully grown and magically wonderful on the wide screen. She plays the gifted and bored, Jenny sharing with her father the dream of “reading” English at Oxford.

This is 1961 and no matter her intellectual skills she is emotionally incapable of withstanding the onslaught of David’s campaign for her affections. She “dresses up” and laps up the titillating nightlife of London; drinking, smoking and joking with David and his friends Danny (Dominic Cooper, History Boys) and Helen (Rosamund Pike). She is experiencing a world and its vicissitudes well beyond her maturity level. Hence, an education.

Alfred Molina gives a deft and poignant performance as her father.

The disturbing factor was the movies depiction of David as a Jew and the headmistress’ ignorance in denying that Jesus Christ was Jewish. After much contemplation I felt that David was a feckless cad, who happened to be Jewish; not a Jew who was a cad.

The headmistress (played by Emma Thompson) typified many who shared her erroneous theory. But Jenny never considered David’s religious background and at seventeen loved unequivocally and with her entire being.

The movie belongs to Carey Mulligan and we anxiously await her continued meteoric ascent.

Four Stars!

MICHAEL JACKSON THIS IS IT

A compilation of over one hundred hours of taped rehearsals for Michael’s come back concert that never occurred. Kenny Ortega creates a homage that should be seen by all.

Michael Jackson’s elasticity, liquidity, and luminosity flirts with the sublime; he is truly the epitome of “poetry in motion” and we in the audience had to be bolted to our seats for the entire two hours; we still thirsted for more.

Michael Jackson, part of the Jackson Five, was denied a childhood by achieved fame and sought forever answers to questions that others discover in the growing up process. He was a genius but failed to find his true essence.

Nonetheless he will rank with the greatest of the great: Nijinsky, Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, in defying gravity and touching the celestial.

The ultimate tragedy is that his spiritualism and love of God and man could not conquer his demons.

So sad that This Was It.

Four &1/2 Stars!

LONDON DREAMS

This is almost as good as it gets in a typical Bollywood film; comprised of all the ingredients demanded by an Indian audience: rags to riches heros; loves won and lost; conflict and redemption all cloaked in glorious songs, dances, gorgeous stars and scenery.

Two powerful players in the Bollywood scene star, at their best, in this movie.

Ajay Devgan (Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Raincoat, Omkara) plays Arjun, whose devotion to music pushes him beyond reason and Salman Khan (Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, and my favorite Maine Pyar Kiya) as Manu, his sycophant and more talented best friend. Similar to the American film Amadeus. Arjun is Salieri to Manu’s Mozart.

London Dreams is the name of the band Arjun forms in London. Eventually bringing from Punjab his closest, and most irresponsible buddy, Manu. As their reputation takes flight and Arjun’s jealousy intensifies the plot reaches its pinnacle, culminating with a major catharsis for all involved.

The enchanting and leggy Asin (Ghajini) is the love interest and definitely a talent worth watching.

The concert scenes are magnificent (worthy of an Andreas Gursky photograph ); the energy palatable, and anyone would be hard pressed to choose a favorite.

Devgan and Khan have shared the screen in the past, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam; this collaboration really works and hopefully holds another pairing in the future.

Three &1/2 Stars!

For Now……………….Peneflix