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captainsblogQuick movie reviews from the long weekend. Nuthin' new- other than Harry Potter and a few rare chosen others, we don't go out to the cinema all that much- but these were all things that, for one reason or another, escaped our radar when they were new.
Starting the festival was an HBO Films piece called Bernard and Doris, directed by Gosford Park (and many other good things) performer Bob Balaban, with Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon in the title roles. Doris, you've heard of- probably today, if you listened to NPR, as she was the Doris Duke of the various charitable foundations that still support much of public broadcasting and many other good causes in this country. Ralph plays her longtime butler and, eventually, nonsexual soulmate and, even later, executor of all her billions (he died a few years after she did and donated a good chunk of her own outright bequest to him right back to her causes). Beautifully filmed and performed.
Last night, Voldy was back more to form, in an even more recent voyage off the HP set: In Bruges, a very dark yet funny crime piece about two murderous lunks in the Harry Voldemort crime family- yes, Fiennes' bad-guy character is named Harry. Colin Farrell and Brendan "Mad Eye" Gleeson play the aforementioned lunks, being sent to lay low in Bruges, Belgium following a botched job. Several others from the Potter franchise make their way into significant roles, and it's full of surprises, tension, laughs and tears.
In between, we watched one I'd randomly picked, looking for something else in the library late last week. Brooklyn Lobster is the mostly-true story of a second-generation Italian fishmonger/restraunteur fighting for his business, his honor and his family- although some of his fighting moves, especially towards his wife, seem just a little weird. Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin are the only Really Big Names in the cast, and they do marvelous jobs, as do, pretty much, all the rest of them, many of whom were connected IRL to the family of the writer/director's real Brooklyn restaurant on which the story was based. (And, it's still there in Sheepshead Bay, with a second location in Nassau- I shall have to stop someday.)
Those, some great holiday om noms, decent weather,.... and back at it downtown in 45 minutes.
Starting the festival was an HBO Films piece called Bernard and Doris, directed by Gosford Park (and many other good things) performer Bob Balaban, with Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon in the title roles. Doris, you've heard of- probably today, if you listened to NPR, as she was the Doris Duke of the various charitable foundations that still support much of public broadcasting and many other good causes in this country. Ralph plays her longtime butler and, eventually, nonsexual soulmate and, even later, executor of all her billions (he died a few years after she did and donated a good chunk of her own outright bequest to him right back to her causes). Beautifully filmed and performed.
Last night, Voldy was back more to form, in an even more recent voyage off the HP set: In Bruges, a very dark yet funny crime piece about two murderous lunks in the Harry Voldemort crime family- yes, Fiennes' bad-guy character is named Harry. Colin Farrell and Brendan "Mad Eye" Gleeson play the aforementioned lunks, being sent to lay low in Bruges, Belgium following a botched job. Several others from the Potter franchise make their way into significant roles, and it's full of surprises, tension, laughs and tears.
In between, we watched one I'd randomly picked, looking for something else in the library late last week. Brooklyn Lobster is the mostly-true story of a second-generation Italian fishmonger/restraunteur fighting for his business, his honor and his family- although some of his fighting moves, especially towards his wife, seem just a little weird. Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin are the only Really Big Names in the cast, and they do marvelous jobs, as do, pretty much, all the rest of them, many of whom were connected IRL to the family of the writer/director's real Brooklyn restaurant on which the story was based. (And, it's still there in Sheepshead Bay, with a second location in Nassau- I shall have to stop someday.)
Those, some great holiday om noms, decent weather,.... and back at it downtown in 45 minutes.