Tuesday Night is Film Night rolls up to the end of February, with a look at a fairly obscure film and one that may intrigue or disappoint, we shall see which it will be, when we watch;
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding
First off, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, is a period drama, albeit with a soupçon of comedy thrown in. Set 1932 it portrays the wedding day of Dolly Thatcham (Felicity Jones), who decides to hide in her bedroom and contemplate her past and her future.
The film relies on flashbacks to revisit her previous romantic entanglement, with Joseph Patten (Luke Treadaway), who just so happens to turn up for the wedding, just to throw the day into further turmoil.
The film is reminiscent of Brideshead Revisited in it's style and quality, or any decent period drama for that matter. The location, the sets and the costume are just right, some may say visually stunning. However, although the setting is idyllic, the supporting cast sublime, with a few well known faces thrown in, the story is weak. There is very little plot, it is moreover the study of human emotions, when confronted with the finalisation of various romantic liaisons. An old flame being extinguished and a new future being forged through marriage. Seeing, as we do, Dolly's frustrations, as she sifts through her memories.
That is about the long and the short of it. Some points to note, these are the good points. Elizabeth McGovern, of Downton Abbey fame, plays Dolly's mother, a rather scatty character I found, but one which McGovern plays so very well.
Barbara Flynn is excellent as Aunt Bella. MacKenzie Crook. (you know, him from The Office) is really quite good as David Dakin and it's him along with his son Jimmy that provide some much needed comedic moments.
And we mustn't forget Zoë Tapper as Evelyn Graham, a friend of Dolly's. You may have seen Zoë Tapper playing Ellen Love in the current ITV drama Mr Selfridge.
And that really is about it. The film plods through 93 minutes of drama-less drama, with the occasional laugh. As I say, the setting is exquisite, if you are a fan of period drama's then you will probably tolerate the weak ramblings of Cheerful Weather for the Wedding. If not, you may want to give it a miss.
As to our rating for the film, it struggles to hit 5 out of 10.
Tuesday 26 February 2013
Tuesday 19 February 2013
My Sister's Keeper - 19th February 2013
Tuesday Night is Film Night swaps genres again tonight and this time there will be tears, as we find out about;
My Sister's Keeper
A definite tear jerker this week. Nick Cassavetes directs this adaptation of the novel by Jodi Picoult.
Abigail Breslin portrays superbly, Anna Fitzgerald a 13-year-old girl who was conceived by IVF in order to be a genetic match for her older sister, Kate.
Kate is played by Sofia Vassilieva, who is totally outstanding and mesmerising as the suffering sibling, who has battled leukaemia since early childhood.
Despite being a normal, healthy child, Anna has undergone countless surgical procedures, transfusions and injections to aid her sister. Now, at the age of 13, she decides enough is enough and although she should donate a kidney to her sister, who has gone into renal failure, Anna starts proceedings to sue her parents (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) for medical emancipation.
As you watch the opening sequences, you pick up the story, discovering the history, hardship and heartache the whole family have been through, but the unique twist of Anna serving her parents with a writ to take control of her own body, is a bit of a surprise, leading one to think; which direction will the story take?
Anna finds Campbell Alexander, (Alec Baldwin), an attorney who is willing to take on the case and fight Anna's parents through the court, to allow her the right to protect her body. Whilst her mother Sara Fitzgerald (Diaz), who just happens to be a lawyer, protests that she is too young to make such a decision.
Throughout the film, we see flashbacks to earlier parts of the family's lives, filling in detail, to keep you up to speed with the plot. The use of flashbacks in films, can sometimes be confusing, but in My Sister's Keeper, it is done really well and a provides the back stories to some of the current storylines.
It is extremely difficult to write down here what happens in the film, beyond the basic facts, you need to see the film, to feel the emotions that it portrays. The subject matter is sad, there's no question, but it's not just the subject of cancer that is so sad, it's the way that this family, which has been so close, can be pulled apart, whilst trying so hard to stay together.
It is certainly a film to tug at the heart-strings. More-so due to the outstanding performances by the child stars. Cameron Diaz puts in a glowing performance as well, so not just there for her beauty. Kudos must also go to Joan Kusack, who plays the judge presiding over the trial, which provides a pivotal moment in the story.
All in all a really good film, great acting, fantastic story and emotions a-plenty.
As to the score, we're giving it 9 out of 10.
My Sister's Keeper
A definite tear jerker this week. Nick Cassavetes directs this adaptation of the novel by Jodi Picoult.
Abigail Breslin portrays superbly, Anna Fitzgerald a 13-year-old girl who was conceived by IVF in order to be a genetic match for her older sister, Kate.
Kate is played by Sofia Vassilieva, who is totally outstanding and mesmerising as the suffering sibling, who has battled leukaemia since early childhood.
Despite being a normal, healthy child, Anna has undergone countless surgical procedures, transfusions and injections to aid her sister. Now, at the age of 13, she decides enough is enough and although she should donate a kidney to her sister, who has gone into renal failure, Anna starts proceedings to sue her parents (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) for medical emancipation.
As you watch the opening sequences, you pick up the story, discovering the history, hardship and heartache the whole family have been through, but the unique twist of Anna serving her parents with a writ to take control of her own body, is a bit of a surprise, leading one to think; which direction will the story take?
Anna finds Campbell Alexander, (Alec Baldwin), an attorney who is willing to take on the case and fight Anna's parents through the court, to allow her the right to protect her body. Whilst her mother Sara Fitzgerald (Diaz), who just happens to be a lawyer, protests that she is too young to make such a decision.
Throughout the film, we see flashbacks to earlier parts of the family's lives, filling in detail, to keep you up to speed with the plot. The use of flashbacks in films, can sometimes be confusing, but in My Sister's Keeper, it is done really well and a provides the back stories to some of the current storylines.
It is extremely difficult to write down here what happens in the film, beyond the basic facts, you need to see the film, to feel the emotions that it portrays. The subject matter is sad, there's no question, but it's not just the subject of cancer that is so sad, it's the way that this family, which has been so close, can be pulled apart, whilst trying so hard to stay together.
It is certainly a film to tug at the heart-strings. More-so due to the outstanding performances by the child stars. Cameron Diaz puts in a glowing performance as well, so not just there for her beauty. Kudos must also go to Joan Kusack, who plays the judge presiding over the trial, which provides a pivotal moment in the story.
All in all a really good film, great acting, fantastic story and emotions a-plenty.
As to the score, we're giving it 9 out of 10.
Tuesday 12 February 2013
Taken 2 - 12th February 2013
After two old black and white films, we jump back to the present day for this week's Tuesday Night is Film Night film, as we discover the story behind;
Taken 2
So Taken 2 is a sequel to Taken, well no surprise there! And the action is pretty much the same, although the story is different.
Just.
This time it is Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) who is taken, along with his ex wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), in a revenge kidnapping, by the father of the man that Mills killed in the first Taken movie.
Make sense?
This time the Mills' daughter Kim is spared the kidnapping and is therefore free to assist in breaking Bryan out from his captors.
As an action thriller, it is thrilling and there's action, but it seems to be a repeat of the first movie. Neeson playing the gritty, rough and craggy Mills, manages to defy the laws of luck and physics by pulling every known trick to evade his kidnappers. Kidnappers, who spend more time napping, than learning to shoot straight, as Neeson ploughs through yet another room full of gun toting goons and emerges the other side, without a scratch, whilst leaving a room full of corpses.
Yes, it is far fetched. Even the alternate ending was not that alternate.
If you haven't seen Taken, then Taken 2 will be bearable. If you enjoyed Taken, then Taken 2 maybe disappointing.
Action films are allowed some poetic licence to be far fetched, but when that fetchness is too far, then it becomes laughable. Sorry Taken 2, you've taken too much of a liberty with your storyline.
I may be alone is this summation, as the other members of the household scored it higher than I did. Taken 2 manages a fairly respectable 7.5 out of 10. (Not as good as the first one though!)
Taken 2
So Taken 2 is a sequel to Taken, well no surprise there! And the action is pretty much the same, although the story is different.
Just.
This time it is Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) who is taken, along with his ex wife Lenore (Famke Janssen), in a revenge kidnapping, by the father of the man that Mills killed in the first Taken movie.
Make sense?
This time the Mills' daughter Kim is spared the kidnapping and is therefore free to assist in breaking Bryan out from his captors.
As an action thriller, it is thrilling and there's action, but it seems to be a repeat of the first movie. Neeson playing the gritty, rough and craggy Mills, manages to defy the laws of luck and physics by pulling every known trick to evade his kidnappers. Kidnappers, who spend more time napping, than learning to shoot straight, as Neeson ploughs through yet another room full of gun toting goons and emerges the other side, without a scratch, whilst leaving a room full of corpses.
Yes, it is far fetched. Even the alternate ending was not that alternate.
If you haven't seen Taken, then Taken 2 will be bearable. If you enjoyed Taken, then Taken 2 maybe disappointing.
Action films are allowed some poetic licence to be far fetched, but when that fetchness is too far, then it becomes laughable. Sorry Taken 2, you've taken too much of a liberty with your storyline.
I may be alone is this summation, as the other members of the household scored it higher than I did. Taken 2 manages a fairly respectable 7.5 out of 10. (Not as good as the first one though!)
Wednesday 6 February 2013
An Inspector Calls - 6th February 2013
First things first, the more astute amongst you will notice that the date for tonight's film, is not a Tuesday, we are a day behind this week. Matters not.
We continue with our retrospective type season, with another black and white film, this time dating back to 1954. Tonight we see what happens when;
An Inspector Calls
As I say, a 1954 classic, based on the stage play of the same name by J.B. Priestly, An Inspector Calls is a drawing room drama, set in 1912, centred on the rich Birling family of Brumley. Sitting down to dinner one night, celebrating the engagement of their daughter Sheila, Inspector Poole pays them a visit and to impart the news, that a young girl has died, a young girl it seems that has touched the lives of each family member, unbeknown to each other.
Inspector Poole, calmly, carefully and in a laid back manner, cross examines each family member in turn, delving into their past and their involvement with the girl. Establishing the facts and making out each person to be, in some way responsible for the girls death.
The story is gripping, riveting even. And the fact that it is set, apart from the story establishing flashbacks, in almost one room, is most impressive. Obviously, plays of this ilk maintain the one location, but to do so well, rely on a marvellous story to keep the viewer enthralled and hanging on their every word and action.
Inspector Poole is played by the incomparable Alastair Sim, who is totally and utterly sublime in this role, holding court as he does, as he questions the Birling family in turn.
Obviously kudos must also go to J.B. Priestly for the marvellous story, which maintains it's hold on the viewer, right until the end, introducing twists and turns, all the way. I confess that the ending is slightly disappointing, as it leaves a few things unanswered, but then it wouldn't be the gripping classic that it is, without leaving certain elements open to interpretation by us, the humble viewer.
Look out for a young George Cole as the tram conductor. Also a young Norman Bird, a well known character actor who seems to have been in everything, pops up as the factory foreman.
Others to note are, Bryan Forbes (husband to Nanette Newman and father of Emma Forbes), plays the always squiffy Eric Birling and does it rather well too. And Brian Worth plays Gerald Croft, the business man getting engaged to young Sheila Berling. Worth has acted with Alastair Sim previously, playing his nephew Fred, in the classic A Christmas Carol, just 3 years previously, in 1951.
All in all An Inspector Calls is a must see piece of theatre. I think we should do more of these films on a Tuesday night or Wednesday for that matter.
And to the scores. An Inspector Calls ranks 8 out of 10.
We continue with our retrospective type season, with another black and white film, this time dating back to 1954. Tonight we see what happens when;
An Inspector Calls
As I say, a 1954 classic, based on the stage play of the same name by J.B. Priestly, An Inspector Calls is a drawing room drama, set in 1912, centred on the rich Birling family of Brumley. Sitting down to dinner one night, celebrating the engagement of their daughter Sheila, Inspector Poole pays them a visit and to impart the news, that a young girl has died, a young girl it seems that has touched the lives of each family member, unbeknown to each other.
Inspector Poole, calmly, carefully and in a laid back manner, cross examines each family member in turn, delving into their past and their involvement with the girl. Establishing the facts and making out each person to be, in some way responsible for the girls death.
The story is gripping, riveting even. And the fact that it is set, apart from the story establishing flashbacks, in almost one room, is most impressive. Obviously, plays of this ilk maintain the one location, but to do so well, rely on a marvellous story to keep the viewer enthralled and hanging on their every word and action.
Inspector Poole is played by the incomparable Alastair Sim, who is totally and utterly sublime in this role, holding court as he does, as he questions the Birling family in turn.
Obviously kudos must also go to J.B. Priestly for the marvellous story, which maintains it's hold on the viewer, right until the end, introducing twists and turns, all the way. I confess that the ending is slightly disappointing, as it leaves a few things unanswered, but then it wouldn't be the gripping classic that it is, without leaving certain elements open to interpretation by us, the humble viewer.
Look out for a young George Cole as the tram conductor. Also a young Norman Bird, a well known character actor who seems to have been in everything, pops up as the factory foreman.
Others to note are, Bryan Forbes (husband to Nanette Newman and father of Emma Forbes), plays the always squiffy Eric Birling and does it rather well too. And Brian Worth plays Gerald Croft, the business man getting engaged to young Sheila Berling. Worth has acted with Alastair Sim previously, playing his nephew Fred, in the classic A Christmas Carol, just 3 years previously, in 1951.
All in all An Inspector Calls is a must see piece of theatre. I think we should do more of these films on a Tuesday night or Wednesday for that matter.
And to the scores. An Inspector Calls ranks 8 out of 10.
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