“Hyde Park on Hudson” – movie review

           Am I the last person on earth to learn that Franklin Roosevelt had an affair with his cousin, Daisy? Call me naïve. Call me uninterested. Of all the things Roosevelt did during his presidential reign, this is the last bit of trivia that I’d be curious about knowing more. I guess he had numerous affairs with female staffers as well.

          “Hyde Park on Hudson” staring Bill Murray as FDR and Laura Linney as Daisy, his sixth cousin, highlights one weekend in June, 1939, when the President hosts the King and Queen of England at his country home in upstate New York.

          War with Germany was imminent for Great Britain and America’s support was desperately needed; thus this first ever visit by a reigning British monarch to Hyde Park on Hudson. The international situation was melded in and overshadowed by FDR’s relationships with Daisy, his mother and other mistresses. The uncomfortable interactions and lack of warmth of the royals was well depicted

          It wouldn’t occur to me to cast Bill Murray in this role but his performance was plausible. I really know little about FDR personally so my assessment isn’t necessarily credible. It seemed impressive that the slapstick comic could play such a far flung opposite sort of character. Sure, I liked the period scenery, costumes and props, and the flow of this weekend in focus was well staged and easy to follow.

          Bottom line for me, however, I’m not sure I wanted this view of FDR, the political titan, and I couldn’t judge the performances beyond this feeling.

Two out of possible five ticket stubs

"Hitchcock" - movie review

                                                                                        

          Seeing the latest Fox Searchlight Pictures production “Hitchcock” so close in time to viewing HBO’s production, “The Girl,” which spotlights Alfred Hitchcock’s obsessive relationships with many of his young actresses, may not have been such a great idea. Comparisons are unavoidable.

          “Hitchcock” also shines a light on Alfred’s strange almost maniacal involvement with many of his leading ladies, but it really is the story of his relationship with his wife, Alma, during the production of “Psycho,” the movie dubbed Hitch’s best.

          The movie is filled with heavy hitting actors: Anthony Hopkins, well made up to uncannily resemble Hitchcock, Helen Mirren, who will undoubtedly be nominated for an Oscar for her performance, as well as Scarlett Johansson, Toni Collette, Jessica Biel, aka Mrs. Justin Timberlake, and Michael Stuhlbarg who played Arnold Rothstein on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire.

          A behind the scenes look at the somewhat bizarre interaction between Alfred and Alma was fascinating; on the one hand a very mismatched ‘couple,’ but, on the other, two people made to tolerate and even admire each other. This film shows a touching almost dependent side of a marriage made up of two very creative and genius people. I am in awe they made it work as well as they did.

          This 1959 period piece is well staged with an impeccable attention to set and costume details – to me always worth the price of admission alone. I think a little of Hitchcock goes a long way, however, thus, on the heels of the HBO production, I can wait a long while before seeing more detailed information on the man.

          While I can recommend this movie, if you miss it in the theaters, watching it in a few months at home or on some other streaming device will suffice.

                                                                                           

                                                                                                                 Three out of possible five ticket stubs

 

"Anna Karenina" - movie review

Two out of five possible stubs.

Keira Knightly

Jude Law

Aaron Taylor-Johnson

 

 

 

          Are you wondering about the low ratings given by the ‘professional’ reviewers for this film? I was. Tolstoy’s powerful Russian saga about infidelity in 1874 has been told many times. How could it get messed up in the modernly styled adaptation with well-known and well-respected director, Joe Wright and screenplay by Tom Stoppard?

          It didn’t get messed up. The story was merely presented in a new format, and it’s a difficult format for me to describe here. Let’s say there’s someone in a bed, which is in the middle of a stage, and we’re in the audience. The camera moves in, the character gets up out of the bed and moves to the back of the stage which opens into a field in Russia. Or there’s a social gathering and one of the characters goes upstairs, which turns out to be the rafters of the theater. Or there is a train out in the snowy countryside, steam white against the freezing backdrop but as it gets closer a larger than life child appears just beyond it and the train is actually in the child’s playroom. I can see why this version is not getting great reviews.

          Anna Karenina, set sometimes in this production as a stage play, is distracting. Perhaps the producer thought we knew the story so well, a new component was needed to jazz it up. I didn’t need this component, but it didn’t ruin it for me either.

          I went to see Keira Knightly and the costumes, which I admit is truly a chick approach to movie viewing. And I was not disappointed. She is translucent, strong and defiant one minute and a victim of the circumstances of her poor choices the next. When she juts her chin in that aristocratic air that she does in all her period pieces we believe her. We believe she is so torn in love to do the unbelievable like desert her child to be with her lover. We believe she is utterly unable to do the ‘right’ thing. If she did the ‘right’ thing, of course, there’d be no novel that has stood the test of time for nearly 140 years when Tolstoy started writing it in 1873.

          Skilled film buffs are compiling verbose and complicated reasons for why this movie was made in this format. I’m not so concerned with the critical and psychological reasons, however, I’m sure it will be discussed in every film class that covers the period ad nauseam.

          I go to the movies to be entertained and I share my opinions here about whether they succeeded or not. My caveat, thus, is this:  If this is going to be your one and only exposure to Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, I’d not base the story on this style of presentation. It’s a love story, a story about love of spouse, illicit love for another, love for a child or lack thereof and self love, be it healthy or narcissistic.

          I thought it was just ok, but I’d wait for it to come out on DVD, even if you love Keira and costumes.

Elsewhere - book review

Three out of five possible bookmarks.

 

Richard Russo
2012


          Elsewhere is a story about Richard Russo’s mother, who was a single parent to Richard. He grew up without a father around much but he had lots of cousins and maternal grandparents who were a part of everyday life. Richard’s mother is driven, stubborn and illogical as time went on, and he depicts her as afraid and vulnerable. It’s like Richard took copious notes in the kind of detail needed to successful tell this story.

          Much later in life when his own daughter Kate is diagnosed with OCD Richard more fully understands the unsettling events that his mother experienced. With treatment Kate would be fine, but those treatments weren’t known or available to his mother. People just thought she just asked irrational and “crazy.”

         I call Richard Russo the King of Patience. This memoir about his relationship with his mother is delightful, well told and complete.

          Richard Russo won the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls.

"Flight" - movie review

Two out of five possible stubs.

Denzel Washington
2012

 

 

         

          I wanted to like this movie. Who doesn’t love Denzel? But, by the end of it, I was exhausted.

          First, I think there was too much hype leading up to the release (I saw it opening day.). I’ve been disappointed before in movies that have received a lot of advertising. C’mon a plane flying upside down and its wing clips the steeple of a lone church in a field where parishioners are outside the sanctuary and get showered with debris? We’ve probably all seen that trailer. That might have been one of the only good scenes in the movie.

          I was exhausted by the end because it’s tiring to watch someone seriously in denial about drinking themselves to death. Coupled with a ton of smoking and I was hacking and felt like I had a hangover by the time it ended. The amount of alcohol Denzel consumed was unbelievable, but perhaps I’m just naïve that anyone could walk let alone fly a plane with that much drugs and alcohol in their system.

          I say save your $$$ and see it on DVD if you must.

"The Sessions" - movie review



Three out of five possible stubs.


Helen Hunt

John Hawkes

 

         
           I didn’t want this to be a true story because the guy dies in the end. If you don’t know yet how I get all weepy when someone dies you will eventually. But I’m getting way ahead of myself.

          This is the true story of a tender and likeable journalist/poet, Mark O’Brien, who encountered polio as a youngster and, as a result, lived nearly all of his 38 years in an iron lung. While that situation alone makes for a solitary existence, Mark did have a few supportive friends including a neighborhood priest (played by William H. Macy), a couple of kind care givers and another quadriplegic acquaintance.

          Mark is literally helpless to do for himself and is sometimes frustrated and embarrassed when his body responds automatically to touch of others while being bathed, etc. He is a virgin and in this movie begins a quest to have a sexual experience. Enter Helen Hunt as a sex therapist.

          Man, do I admire her willingness to tackle the level of nudity required for the basis of this story. The issue of sex is handled with maturity and that is partly because it’s Helen who is keeping it at a classy level.

          The movie is poignant and funny. Mark interviews people for an article he is doing on sex among disabled people. One of the interviewees said that, with regard to oral sex, he had done so much marijuana before having sex that his taste buds were completely shot so he could do it for a long time. The girls loved his stamina.

          Ultimately, Mark does have a girlfriend of sorts during the last five years of his life. I’ll bet he overcame a lot to have the kind of life he desired in spite of his limitations. One of the last scenes in the movie shows his orange tabby cat sitting atop the huge empty iron lung in his darkened room.

Gone Girl - book review

Four out of five possible bookmarks

Gillian Flynn                                 

2012

 

Antonia's Rating:
 

 

 

          It’s a mystery! I’m not sure why, but this surprised me, guess I was expecting something more like love’s lost and it either works out in the end or it doesn’t.

          This is Gillian Flynn’s third novel (see others listed below), and it is destined to be some kind of award winner like her other two books.

          Gone Girl is a spectacular murder mystery along the Scott Peterson lines. I’ll let other reviewers divulge more of the plot than I feel comfortable doing. Suffice it to say, the husband, Nick, is singled out as the killer of his wife, Amy, who might be pregnant.

          As a writer, I appreciate anyone who can write a clever novel with an opposite sex narrative. Ms. Flynn does an excellent job of getting into the mind of her male defendant. His voice sounds genuine.

          This intriguing story is about the power struggles within a marriage. Gone Girl plucks out that ugly core of most relationships and holds it up to the light of just how far husbands and wives may go to be the one on top.

          I like the book’s methodology with Nick and Amy taking turns tossing out myriad details and lots of twists and turns in alternating chapters. The writing is smart and entertaining and very straightforward and, always appreciated by me, easy to follow. Too much weirdness and I’m flipping to the end to see where a book winds up.

          Gone Girl makes me question whether we can really ever know a person … know a spouse. This is a great read, and I highly recommend it.

Other books by author:  Sharp Objects, Dark Places

"The Intouchables" - movie review

Five out of five possible ticket stubs

Antonia's Rating:

FRANCE'S FOREIGN FILM ENTRY

2013 ACADEMY AWARDS

 

          The Intouchables has become the highest grossing foreign language film in North America so far this year. It is the true story about two very different men (played by Omar Sy and Francois Cluzet). One is a wealthy quadriplegic and the other is a young man from the projects who ultimately signs on to care for the aristocrat.

          I wish I learned about this film before it was on its way out of theaters here. I only got to see it three times.

          Read my lips:

          THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE I’VE SEEN IN SEVERAL YEARS. Run, don’t walk to see it
if it’s still in your neighborhood. Amazon tells me the DVD is only currently available with Region 2 standards, which does not include viewing in the US. If you live in Europe, lucky you because that’s your region. Undoubtedly, it’ll be out on DVD sometime soon. I’ll keep you

posted.

P.S. Thanks to my friend Pat S. for bringing this movie to my attention.




Check out Antonia's Senior Moments