Henry V: I've heard parts of this play quoted but I've never seen or read it before. I like a lot of the play, there are great speeches and some great morals, however in the end I couldn't get behind it. I was reminded of a quote from M*A*S*H "War isn't Hell, war is war and hell is hell and of the two war is a lot worse, there are no innocent bystanders in Hell." As always, Kenneth Branagh does a wonderful job. It was fun to see Judi Dench and a young Christian Bale in small parts.

Land Before Time: I realize there's great disparity between these two movies, I watched this while babysitting...three times. Land Before Time is not a cinematic masterpiece, but it's okay. I realized that LBT and Ice Age are the same story, they're different movies but it's basically the same story. Also, I was embarrassed for Spielberg and Lucas when I saw their names in the credits.

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: I really loved the first movie and this was still a fun movie but here's my problem with sequels: you get everyone all squared away in the first movie and then to create a plot for the second movie, we're back having the same problems we had in the first movie, it's frustrating to see characters regress liked that. Also they added Richard Gere to this movie and I can't stand him. An okay movie but not up to the original, however the original cast (except for the character who died) are back.

Steamboat Bill Jr.: This is a fantastic Buster Keaton movie, the plot is not wonderful but that's not really what one watches a Keaton movie for and his work is amazing in this movie, including what I've heard called the most dangerous stunt he ever did. It is an amazing monument to the man's art and very funny.

Chocolate: I don't think I've written about this before, though I have seen it before. It's a good movie that perhaps falls in the 'foreign film' category. Judi Dench is in it and of course she's wonderful, there's a great ensemble cast, which I always love. The movie is thought provoking on many subjects, chief among those is what is or makes someone good? It's a good movie, sad and serious with light moments and a happy ending.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: I have been waiting to see this movie for a while, it just got to the dollar theater near me. I had high expectations because it's got tons of wonderful actors like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. I was a little worried that it couldn't live up to my expectations but it was wonderful, I loved it, one of the best movies I've seen in a while. Several senior citizens, through various circumstances, end up in India at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a hotel designed for seniors. The hotel doesn't turn out to be quite like anyone had hoped, it's trying to start up again from a former life and it's not really like anyone was expecting. Mostly the movie is about life and people as friendships form between the hotel's residents.

I Have Found It/ Kandukondain Kandukondain: This movie is Bollywood, or maybe a cousin to Bollywood? It's an adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, I guess I was expecting it to be more like Bride and Prejudice but I can see now that that was a lot more westernized. It wasn't a bad movie but it may be the first true Bollywood movie I've ever seen and Bollywood is pretty drastically different from western movies. I feel like there's a lot that I might have missed by not being familiar with Indian and Bollywood culture.

Return To Cranford: While this movie was still quite enjoyable with Judi Dench and all the other wonderful actors, and while there was a lovely happy ending, I was rather disappointed with this movie. If you liked Cranford you will probably still enjoy this one but I almost wish that I'd just stopped at Cranford and not seen this movie. Most of the stories from this one come from the Cranford novel and I believe a great deal of them have been made up to create more drama.

Only Angles Have Wings: This movie is a bit more black than a lot of movies but it's still fairly comedic and perhaps even sappy. I really enjoy this movie though, Carey Grant and Jean Arthur are great.

The Princess and the Frog: This movie was good, better than a lot of Disney (excluding pixar) movies have been the last few years. Was it amazing? no, was it a good enjoyable movie? yes, would it scare me if I were still a little kid? yes. I've heard that the firefly is hilarious if you know New Orleans, however I am completely unfamiliar with it so he was only amusing.

Cranford: This is a mini serise based off a book by Elizabeth Gaskill by the same name. Read the book! It's so wonderful and charming. Back to the mini serise, I very much enjoyed it, Judi Dench was wonderful as always. I don't like the serise quite as much as I love the book, the serise has some events and characters added to highten the drama and romance but it was still very enjoyable. I can't wait to see Return to Cranford.

Meet The Robinsons: This is a fun movie, one of the better Disney movies of the last few years. I like the positive message but more than that I love how funny it is!

Quantum of Solace: I was a bit dissapointed with this movie, Casino Royal was such a good movie and this one was a little lacking. I am willing to cut it a little slack since the story wasn't actually a by Ian Flemming. Flemming's Quantum of Solace has nothing that would constitute a Bond movie, it's just an ambassador or someone like that, telling Bond a story. I also might not have gotten the whole effect of the movie because I was working on something while I was watching it. I do love Judi Dench as M though.

I Confess: This isn't a movie that I watched recently, it's one that was on the original movie blog that got deleted on accident. For whatever reason I remembered it today and decided to add it on here. I confess is a Hitchcock movie, but not my favorite. The plot is intriguing though, Montgomery Clift is a priest who hears a murder's confession. Suspicions fall on him and his vows don't allow him to clear himself, he has to try and find a way to clear his name.

Friday, May 22

The Importance of Being Earnest: I love this movie, which is also a play by Oscar Wilde. I love Wild's works they are so wonderfully witty and satirical. I think this movie is excellent and has a wonderful cast: Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon. It is a very funny movie.
North and South: This movie is a mini series based off of Elizabeth Gaskill's book by the same title. I haven't read the book but I hope to soon. I like this movie, it's a bit like Pride and Prejudice in plot but I think it goes deeper into both pride and prejudice. The North and South are those of England around the beginning of the industrial revolution. It made me think about people and different points of view. I very much liked it.
The Charge of The Light Brigade: This is an old movie with Errol Flynn, and typical of his movies. This movie is about a historical event, one about England's glorious days of being an empire, which I'm not terribly familiar. This movie is about military actions in India and that general area. I have to say that I did not love this movie, I thought is was well made etc. but I disagree strongly with the events that took place and about revenge. I don't know how to tell this without giving away crucial plot so be warned. There was a massacre of mostly women and children and to avenge that 600 men, the Light Brigade, went into almost certian death to kill the man responsible. It made me sick to think of it, of course it was horrible what happened, but 600 men for one man hardly seems worth it, it just seems to me like more needless death.
Sargent York: This is another war movie, but where I hated Charge of the Light Brigade, I loved this one. I like this movie because it was not really a glorification of war, the main character didn't want to go to the war, but once he made his decision to go, he did the best he could and in doing so he found himself a hero.
Lost Horizion: I loved this movie, it was based off a book by the same title and I now want to read it. In this movie a group of people find themselves in Shangri-La and begin to adjust to how different things are there. I highly recommend it. An interesting point about the movie, apparently over the years it was cut down and the version I got was a restoration, they found the whole soundtrack of the movie and all but 7 minutes of the film. Because of this though there are some parts that are just stills with sound, others high quality and still others are fairly low quality.
Gunga Din: I haven't read the famous poem but I quite liked this movie. I loved the friendship between the three Sargent. I decided that the resemblance between Douglass Fairbanks Jr. and Carey Ewles is uncanny and that this is one of my favorite roles I've seen Carey Grant in. Carey Grant was wonderful at comedy and this movie proves it to a T. I think this role also works because it's not the typical Grant role of someone suave and debonair, I think it's more like the background that Archie Leach had before he became Carey Grant.