Skyfall

I daresay Skyfall is the best Bond movie.  Not that I've seen a lot of Bond movies.  But it helps that Daniel Craig is 007, and  Sam Mendes is at the helm.  This is James Bond at his darkest.  Surprisingly, this appears to be his origin story.  But it is also his future.  In keeping with the times, cyber crime and security is the threat in this one.  Can old intelligence techniques counter this new world of cyber-terrorism?  Is he getting too old to still be doing this?

The film begins with a typical action-packed chase scene in Istanbul; at stake is a hard drive carrying highly classified information.  M (Judi Dench) is forced to make a crucial decision for field operative Eve (Naomie Harris), with seemingly deadly consequences for our hero.  He eventually returns as MI6 itself becomes the target and M's job is imperiled.  The lady spymaster's computer gets hacked, and she gets mysterious messages from somebody who knows too much about her and the spy world.  What is the motivation?  "The sins of the father (or in this case, the mother) shall be visited upon the son" seems to fit the bill. 

Bond's mission takes him to Shanghai, where he meets  Severine (Berenice Marlohe), who leads him to our creepy villain.  Most of the action is London-centric, but the film's climax occurs in the beautiful Scottish Highlands.  This has to be one of the most gorgeously photographed 007 film ever.  Fans of the franchise will also recognize and enjoy the little references to other movies.

Other characters include Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), a bureaucrat who wants M to retire.  Ben Whishaw is the young, minimalistic techie Q, emphasizing the out-with-the-old-in-with-the- new theme.  Without giving too much away, we finally find out what Skyfall means. (Side note: I wonder if his parachute jump with the Queen for the Olympics was a planned promo for the film.) We meet Albert Finney's character. Shades of Bruce Wayne's Alfred.  I know I watch a lot of movies and television shows, and I almost always figure out plot twists and turns now.  I'm happy to tell you that this one kept me guessing. I didn't see it coming.  Like perhaps, the sky falling one day.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

As soon as I saw the trailer of this movie, I knew I wanted to see it. How could you not when you have Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench in one film? Plus the premise of the film was just charming.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a film about retirees trying to find their place in the world after  society relegates them to the wayside. Douglas and Jean Ainsle (played by Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton) is a couple whose life savings were lost having invested it with their daughter’s firm. Muriel Donnelly (Maggie Smith) devoted her life to a family as a house keeper only to be replaced. Evelyn Greenslade (Judi Dench) had relied on her husband and now finds herself lost when he passed away. Graham Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson) tries to find someone he’s lost when he was younger. Madge Hardcastle (Celia Imrie) wants her own life back after being the perennial baby sitter to her grand children and Norman Cousins (Ronald Pickup) is trying to reconnect with his inner Casanova. These characters come together in Jaipur to retire at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful run by Sunny Kapoor (Dev Patel). Sunny dreams of reviving the hotel (a dream of his father) and provide a home for the elderly. When they arrive however, they come to find that the hotel is now only a shell of it’s former self but their shared experience in an exotic land all the more gives them a second chance in life and love.

John Madden directs this well written film by Ol Parker based on the book by Deborah Moggach. It's a very charming film filled with surprising laugh out loud moments particularly when Maggie Smith is concerned. But it also has an emotional pull that touches the audience.  I think I may just get a copy of the dvd when it comes out!

All About Marilyn

My Week with Marilyn is based on Colin Clark's The Prince, The Showgirl, and Me: Six Months on the Set with Marilyn and Olivier.  As a twenty-something production assistant, Mr. Clark (played by Eddie Redmayne) claims to have had a special connection with the iconic movie star during filming. Watching this movie was a peculiar experience because I found the major characters to be unsympathetic. The smitten Clark ditches wardrobe girl Lucy (Emma Watson) for the famous star.  Although Michelle Williams is appropriately little-girl-lost as Marilyn, and I wanted to like Ms. Monroe, I couldn't.  We all know about her drug habit, perpetual tardiness or absences, forgetting lines, troubled childhood.  Despite the unprofessional behavior, she was still being doted on by her entourage that included Paula Strasberg (Zoe Wanamaker), Arthur Jacobs (Toby Jones), and Milton Greene (Dominic Cooper). Why wouldn't they?  They get paid to do so.  But even Arthur Miller (an unrecognizable Dougray Scott), Marilyn's new husband at the time, had to bail. Maybe she was just a true artist, disturbed and destined to be tragic.

Kenneth Branagh is perfectly cast as a peeved and frustrated Lawrence Olivier.  Why would an actor of his caliber put up with the petulant, insecure, and unreliable Ms. Monroe? He achingly sums it all up in a truthful piece of dialogue that every working actor could probably relate to at some point in their career. Only Julia Ormond as a perceptive and pragmatic Vivien Leigh, and Dame Judi Dench as the kind Lady Sybil Thorndike come off as likable.
(photo from Imp Awards)

Happy International Women's Day

Food for thought on this 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.

A True Delight!

Having enjoyed Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters, I was excited that Masterpiece Theatre was presenting another of her novels, Cranford. Well, last night was the last of a three part episode. It has an amazing cast of the who's who of British acting, Judi Dench and Eileen Atkins as the Jenkyns sisters Matilda and Deborah, Imelda Staunton as the nosey neighbor Ms. Pole, Michael Gambon as Mr. Holbrook, Francesca Annis as Lady Ludlow and Julia McKenzie as Mrs. Forrester just to name a few.

It's a story about a typical English town in the 19th century and the lives and relationship of it's townsfolk. Being that it is a three part episode, you can tell that the story is intricate. New neighbors arrive and changes the lives and dynamics of the town. In addition, modernisation in the country blooms and start to threaten the Cranford community. With all these, the plot becomes very engaging and pulls the audience into the story. I found myself really involved with the story and the lives of the community. But what I loved most of all was the dialogue. It was so clever and incredibly funny. There were a lot of dry humor that only Brits can deliver. I was excessively diverted!

If you missed it, all the episodes can be seen online at Masterpiece Theatre. The dvd is now also available at Amazon.com or Netflix.

(photo fr. Amazon.com)