I can’t think of a single film I’ve seen her in, aside from Leon, where I haven’t been disappointed - not least the recent My Blueberry Nights.
Posted in Disappointments | Tags: Natalie Portman
I can’t think of a single film I’ve seen her in, aside from Leon, where I haven’t been disappointed - not least the recent My Blueberry Nights.
Posted in Disappointments | Tags: Natalie Portman
Simon Pegg as a top cop transferred to a Gloucestershire village for making his colleagues in the Met look as though they are under performing.
Posted in comedy
An engrossing film about the last years of the GDR and the power of the Stasi to control and destroy the lives of the people.
One of the Stasi’s top interrogators, Wiesler is imprisoned within his own belief in the ideology of socialism until he starts to carry out surveillance on two artists - a playwright and his girlfriend, a famous actress in East Berlin. He begins to cover up what he discovers about the writer and in doing so sets off a train of events leading to the death of the actress and the curtailment of his own career.
Posted in German film | Tags: GDR, Stasi
Saw this last night with Kate. We were both blown away by Ellen Page’s performance as the 16-year old who surrenders her virginity to her orange TicTac addicted boyfriend only to find herself pregnant.
Kate’s verdict? “Sad” - because she gave up her baby for adoption.
Posted in coming-of-age | Tags: coming-of-age, pregnancy, teenagers
OK, it was released in 1981, and it’s a cosy little film about teenagers growing up in a Scottish new town. But who cares? It’s brilliantly acted by a largely unknown cast.
John Gordon (or was it Gordon John at that time?) Sinclair was perfectly cast as the gauche, gangly adolescent, totally infatuated with Dorothy, but totally clueless about girls.
Claire Grogan is perfect as Susan, who fancies Gregory and sets out to win him with a little help from her friends (”we help each other out”).
And the music is great, too.
Posted in Scottish film, comedy, coming-of-age | Tags: Bill Forsyth, Claire Grogan, coming-of-age, John Gordon Sinclair, Scotland, teenagers
Directed by Pedro Almodovar and starring Penélope Cruz and Carmen Maura. In Spanish ‘volver’ means ‘to go back’ or ‘to return’. For Penélope Cruz this was very much a return, to acting in Spanish, in a film by her favourite director.
Posted in Spanish film | Tags: Pedro Almodovar, Penélope Cruz, Volver