Showing posts with label Colin Farrell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colin Farrell. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Winter's Tale movie review



Movie Title:   Winter's Tale
PG-13, 2 hours 9 minutes

Grade:  B-


In a Nutshell:   Not to be confused with Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale , this time-traveling tale is filled with a wonderfully talented cast: Colin Farrell (Total Recall ), Jessica Brown Findlay (“Downton Abbey”), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind ), William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman ), Eva Marie Saint (On The Waterfront ), Russell Crowe (Gladiator ), and Matt Bomer (White Collar: The Complete First Season).  Will Smith surprises in an evil role as Lucifer.

This chick flick has a little touch of Somewhere in Time romantic magic, but with even more fantastical whimsy that requires a suspension of belief to enjoy and sometimes to understand.  The cinematography is visually stunning, but the film is a bit of a slushy mess, like a New York winter.  Still, there are some profound moments of truth in a film that tries very hard to inspire and dream.

Uplifting theme:   We are told at the beginning of the movie “What if the stars are not what we think?  What if the light from afar doesn’t come from the rays of distant suns, but from our wings as we turn into angels?  Destiny calls to each of us and there is a world behind the worlds where we are all connected, all part of a great and moving plan. Magic is everywhere around us.  You just have to look.  Look, look closely.  For even time and distance are not what they appear to be.”

One of the demons says to Lucifer “No matter how far we tip the scales our way, no matter how many of them we turn dark, nothing seems to break their capacity for hope.  They pass it back and forth like the flu at a pre-school fair.  We’re losing, Lucifer.”

Things I liked:
  • I love movies about hope.  Hope is a powerful thing.
  • I love movies with twists.
  • Absolutely beautiful movie score by Hans Zimmer and Rupert Gregson-Williams.

Things I didn’t like:
  • The film is written, produced and directed by one person: Akiva Goldsman.  Perhaps a few more perspectives could have helped the movie flow better and clean up the plot holes and narrative problems.
  • I felt like I was missing something by not having read the book first.
  • The idea that we go through life with all of its hardships, pains and sorrows only to become a star in the end seemed unsatisfying when what you really want is for the star-crossed lovers to be reunited.

Inspiring lines:
  •  “Is this why we love at all, to save?”  - Peter Lake
  • “What if we are all unique and the universe loves us equally, so much so that it bends over backwards across the centuries for each and every one of us and sometimes we are just lucky enough to see it?”  - Beverly Penn
  • “No life is more important than another and nothing has been without purpose.  Nothing. What if we are all part of a great pattern that we may some day understand?  And one day, when we have done what we, alone, are capable of doing, we get to rise up and reunite with those we have loved the most forever embraced?”  - Beverly Penn

Tips for parents:   Premarital relations, fight scenes, a few scary demon moments.

Monday, December 30, 2013

Saving Mr. Banks movie review


Movie Title:  Saving Mr. Banks

Grade: A-

In a Nutshell:  This is an absolutely lovely film that wraps a perfect Disney bow around your heart.  It’s the untold back-story of how the beloved movie Mary Poppins came to be.  Walt Disney is vividly brought to life by two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks.  Until now, very few fans knew that Disney spent 20 years trying to convince the curmudgeonly author of the Mary Poppins books to allow him to turn her stories into the iconic film that we all adore today.  The fantastic Emma Thompson, also a two-time Oscar winner perfectly portrays P.L. Travers, the author who struggles with her hidden fears and the ghosts of her past and who is the one who ultimately saves Mr. Banks in the end.  Hopefully, this should be Emma Thompson’s third well-deserved Academy win…

Uplifting theme:  This spoonful of sugar touched a sensitive spot on aging Baby Boomers in the audience who cried like babies in the end. (weak grin)  While P.L. Travers reviews in her mind the tormented life of her charming father’s addictions, she too is caged by her personal demons.  SPOILER ALERT: It wasn’t until Walt Disney and P.L. Travers chose to change their painful childhood memories, focusing on the good and allowing the anger to melt away, that Mr. Banks was saved. We would be wise to do the same.

Things I liked:  While her prickly personality battles against the Disney machine during the day, she cuddles with the soft mouse at night in her hotel room.  I loved the moment when a giant Mickie Mouse offers to escort a hesitant P.L. Travers into the debut screening of the movie.  An underused gem, I loved Bradley Whitford in “The West Wing” and “The Good Guys”, so it was great to see him again.  The handsome Colin Farrell and talented character actor Paul Giamatti added nicely to the star-studded cast.

Things I didn’t like:  The medicine that was spoon-fed included a dose of Disney branding that was a bit self-serving on the eve of the half-century anniversary of Mary Poppins 50th Anniversary Edition , albeit clever marketing.  I was surprised to learn that P.L. Travers didn’t want actor Dick Van Dyke in the Mary Poppins movie…I LOVE him and thought he was truly magical in the film!

Funny line: Walt Disney says to P.L. Travers who sits awkwardly on a carousel “I had a wager I couldn’t get you on a ride.  I just won twenty bucks!”  The author of a children’s book about a flying nanny ironically questions Disney by asking “Where is the gravitas?”


Insightful quotes:
“Live a life that isn’t dictated by the past.”   - Disney
“We restore order with imagination.”  - Disney
“A leisurely stroll is a gift.”  Ralph
“A mouse is family.”  - Disney
“This world is just an illusion.”  - Robert Goff Travers

Things to look for:  
* Notice who says “Don’t leave me”, “Never.  I promise” and how it is fulfilled.
* Apparently, Walt Disney smoked like a chimney and was rarely seen without a cigarette.  It was decided in this movie to remove that portrayal, but there is one quick mention of it when Walt, himself, stamps out a cigarette to protect the children’s sensitive eyes. 

Tips for parents: Saving Mr. Banks is a bit slow-moving for children, without big action scenes to make up for it.  While it is about Walt Disney’s magical world, the film is more about character development and the magic of creating one’s future, rather than dwelling on the past.  

Interesting books to read on the subject:
How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life

The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney

Mary Poppins - The Complete Collection