Liam

 

Liam 2000

• Director: Stephen Frears
• Seen by this director: Victoria & Abdul, Philomena, Tamara Drewe, The Queen, Mrs Henderson Presents, Dirty Pretty Things, High Fidelity, The Van, Mary Reilly, The Snapper, The Grifters, Prick Up Your Ears, My Beautiful Laundromat
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Anthony Borrows, Ian Hart, Claire Hackett, David Hart, Megan Burns, Anne Reid, Russell Dixon, Jane Gurnett
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in
• Ian Hart – Mary Queen of Scots, Escape from Pretoria, Breakfast on Pluto, Tristram Shandy, Finding Neverland, Harry Potter, Born Romantic, AberdeenLongitude, Michael Collins
• Claire Hackett – Line of Duty
• Anne Reid – many
• Jane Gurnett – The Other Boleyn Girl
• Why? I remember it as good
• Seen: Once before. Now 5 September 2024 

Little Liam (Borrows) is the youngest in a Catholic working class family in Liverpool during the Depression. Unemployment, pawn shops, socialism, fascism, hell and damnation religion are all viewed through this child’s eyes.

Grim, complex and very well acted. 

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tell No One

 

Tell No One 2006

• Director: Guillaume Canet
• Based on the novel by Harlan Corben
• Cast: Francois Cluzet, Marie-Jossé Croze, Jean Rochefort
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in
• Francois Cluzet – Intouchables
• Jean Rochet – Mr Bean’s Holiday, Le chateau de ma mère
• Why? Good reviews
• Seen: 2 September 2024   

Eight years ago Margot (Croze), Alex’s (Cluzet) wife was murdered. Now the cops suspect him. He gets an anonymous video of her, showing that she’s alive.

A thriller but boring, contrived and convoluted. Cluzet looks so much like Dustin Hoffman that it’s weird to hear him speaking French.

Most viewers seem to love this film, but not me. 

2* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

Captain Fantastic

 

Captain Fantastic 2016

• Director: Matt Ross
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Viggo Mortensen, George McKay, Frank Langella, Ann Dowd
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in
• Viggo Mortensen – Green Book, Far from Men, The Road, Hidalgo, Lord of the Rings etc, Hidstory of Violence, 28 Days, A Perfect Murder, Carlito’s Way, The Indian Runner, Witness
• George McKay – 1917, Pride, How I Live Now, Sunshine on Leith, Birdsong, Resistance
• Frank Langella – many
• Ann Dowd – Hereditary, The Leftovers,
• Why? Viggo Mortensen
• Seen: 2 September 2024   

Ben (Mortensen) lives in the wilderness with his six children. He teaches them survival, literature, music, socialism, love, honesty and life. His wife Leslie, their mother, has been hospitalised for more than two years for severe bipolarity. They all long to have her back. Then they learn that she has killed herself.

Her father (Langella) forbids them to come to the funeral but they refuse to obey. Off they go to the funeral.

I really don’t want to live in the wilderness and I love junk food but we could learn a lot from Ben and his kids while enjoying the film, which is close to a masterpiece. Good old Viggo, again. 

4 ½ * of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wings of the Dove

 

The Wings of the Dove 1997

• Director: Iain Softley  
• Based on the novel by Henry James
• Cast: Helena Bonham-Carter, Linus Roach, Alex Jennings, Charlotte Rampling, Elizabeth McGovern, Alison Elliot
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in
• Helena Bonham-Carter – many
• Linus Roach – Yonkers Joe, Batman Begins, The Chronicles of Riddick, Seaforth
• Alex Jennings – The Crown, The Lady in the Van, Being Human, The Queen
• Charlotte Rampling – many
• Elizabeth McGovern – many
• Alison Elliot – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
• Why? The cast
• Seen: 4 September 2024  

Henry James is not an author I read voluntarily (had to, at Uni) and I don’t generally like love stories even when they involve class conflict. Here Kate (Bonham-Carter) is the penniless ward of wealthy Maud (Rampling). Kate loves Merton (Roach), a radical journalist but Maud will make her penniless if she continues to see him.

Etc.

This is 1910 so the hats are impressive. The whole film is visually pleasing. The story is typical James, i.e. unpleasant with unpleasant characters. Such a pity that the good cast is wasted. I had hoped they would make a James adaption worth watching, but alas. 

2* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pianist

The Pianist 2002

• Director: Roman Polanski
• Seen by this director: The Carnage, The Ghost Writer, The Ninth Gate, Death and the Maiden, Tess, Chinatown, Macbeth, Rosemary’s Baby
• Based on the book by Wladyslav Szpilman
• Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschman, Frank Finlay, Emilia Fox, Maureen Lipman
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in
• Adrien Brody – Detachment, Wrecked, Cadillac Records, Darjeeling Limited, King Kong, The Village, Bread and Roses
• Thomas Kretschman – Young Victoria, Valkyria, Wanted, King Kong
• Frank Finlay – Merlin, Longitude
• Emilia Fox – Merlin, Keeping Mum
• Maureen Lipman - Doctor Who, Love’ Labour’s Lost, Educating Rita
• Good film
• Seen: Several times. Now 1 September 2024   

Warsaw. Renmowned pianist Szpilman (Brody) and his family are forced to move into the ghetto with thousands of other Jews. They survive. Then they are rounded up and forced to the trains, only Wladek is rescued against his will as his family are sent off to Treblinka. He survives, day by day, year by year, going into hiding towards the end of the war, with the help of friends, and enemies.

Based on Szpilman’ book.

The film won a Bafta for best film. Brody won an Oscar for best actor. They’re worth it. 

5* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Reminiscence

 

Reminiscence 2021

• Director: Lisa Joy
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton, Cliff Curtis
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in
• Hugh Jackman – The Greatest Showman, Wolverine etc, Les Misérables, Chappie, Australia, The Fountain, Kate & Leopold
• Rebecca Ferguson – Dune, Doctor Sleep, The Greatest Showman, Snömannen, The Girl on the Train
• Thandiwe Newton – Line of Duty, 2012, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People Crash, The Chronicles of Riddick, Beloved, Gridlock’d, Interview with a Vampire
• Cliff Curtis – Doctor Sleep, Sunshine, The Fountain, Whale Rider, Once Were Soldiers, The Piano
• Why? Hugh Jackman
• Seen: 30 August 2024  

Miami. The future. The streets and some of the buildings are under water. The war is over. The rich have won and stolen almost everything from everyone else. The survivors struggle.

Partners Nick Bannister (Jackman) and Emily Watts (Newton), have a clinic and use new techniques for recreating clients’ memories. They also work for the police to search victims’ and culprits’ memories to get convictions.

Nick falls in love with a client, Mae, (Ferguson) but after a few months she disappears. After living in his memories of her to the point of becoming addicted, he starts searching for her.

The film has flaws but it’s also odd and compelling with great visuals and good acting. It could become a favourtite with more viewings. 

4* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's Just Not That Into You

 

He’s Just Not That Into You 2009

• Director: Ken Kwapis
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Bradley Cooper, Scarlett Johansson, Justin Long, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in
• Sorry, there’s too many and I can’t be bothered. You probably know them all anyway.
• Why? I seem to remember liking it and some of the cast.
• Seen: Once before. Now 29 August 2024  

Married, not married, want to be married, don’t want to be married, calling back too often, not calling back at all. Men. Women.

Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson and Bradley Cooper are good as always. Otherwise, I don’t know what I liked about this the first time. I suppose because it sort of makes fun of the whole dating thing. It’s sad really. And irritating. Even offensive at times.

Nope. This time I don’t like it. 

2* of 5