At the flicks

Hi everyone - I have returned with 3 movies I have seen, since the school holidays - as I avoid cinemas at those times as best I can!
1. Black Swan - confronting and tormented. I liked it by the time it was finished but told my daughter and her friend it's not the type of movie to let their daughters, 10 & 15 respectively, see just because they are aspiring ballerinas.
2. Burlesque - just pure fun with a bit of Cher mixed in. That woman looks so good considering she's now mid 60's - and, yes, I know lighting and make-up assist greatly. CA was better than I expected.
3. The King's Speech - loved it, especially CF and GR and also HBC. It was a joy to watch and fun to pick all the well-knowns in the ensemble cast.

I also meant to mention Natalie Portman in Black Swan. I thought she was superb in a role that must have been difficult to say the least. She deserves all the gongs she is getting and I hope she wins the Oscar.
I've liked her since I saw her in a film about a young pregnant runaway who hides out and eventually delivers her baby in a Walmart store. Can't remember the name of the film but she impressed me then. Anybody remember it? I should Google, I suppose.

Okay - I googled - it's called 'Where the heart is'

Hey CynB, thanx for popping in...the more the merrier . My daughter saw BS and said the scratching scene was excruciating...not for me...cluck, cluck, cluck!
TKS was great, wasn't it?....did you recognise Anthony Andrews? I read that HRH saw the film and 'was moved'. My Mum said CF , though not looking like him, caught the spirit of Bertie very well.

Mary - Oh yes, I recognised Anthony Andrews - certainly not the hunk he was when younger. There was a smattering of HP people in it Dumbledore as George V and the fellow who played Churchill - not great casting, I expected him to turn into the snivelling rat at any moment. Jennifer Ehle was hardly recognisable as Lionel's wife either.
My Mum, who now has Alzheimers, would have loved that film. I remember her telling me the story of the abdication and Bertie's stuttering from when I was a child.

Hi CynB, you mean 'Elizabeth Bennett' was that nondescript wife???? I certainly didn't pick that! My Mum grew up in England at that time and she said the issue was so vitally important to everyone. I think they did it very well.
PS I think the only prerequisit for playing C is the size of one's jowls!

Yes, Mary, the very same Elizabeth Bennett from the television series in the '90's. Took me a while to recognise her. And there was her Mr Darcy now playing the King of England!!

AAhhhhh, the frilly wet shirt.......

Hello Cyn and Mary - I've never been on these pages before, not that I can remember anyway, and I don't know why I popped in now as I didn't know anyone came in here. I was actually looking for the old book review page. Probably doesn't exist anymore.
I thought that CF and GR played brilliant parts in The King's Speech. Even Guy Pearce did a good job. I thought it was him so waited for the credits just to make sure.
A movie certainly well worth watching.
Bye!

Hey Anne, lovely to hear from you. If you watch movies THIS is THE place to be. The book review page is Arts for Old Pharts...PLEASE contribute to that too if you can....the more the merrier!
Glad you enjoyed TKS.

It's a shame more people don't come to this forum (says I, who sometimes takes weeks/months to come back). I often check in here if I'm undecided about a movie to see if there's an opinion or two on it to help in my decision.
Maybe we should remind them on Easy that this forum is here.

(Re reminding them)Heck yes. Not as fun without Billie, but we do our best.
Re TKS, can't wait to see it.
Re Natalie Portman, Where the Heart Is is one of my top 2 chick flicks. I've seen it at least 5 times. Ashley Judd is heart breaking as the mom whose kids are abused by a jerk she thinks she has to settle for. When she decides to fall in love for "nice" .... I married for nice, nearly 30 years ago, so WTHI is exalted, not merely elevated, in my pantheon.

Sorry. In previous post I should have said "SPOILER."

Terry - I married for nice nearly 23 years ago after realising that the 'love of my life nasty' wasn't worth wasting another second on and I've never regretted a minute of it. Glad you loved WTHI too. I'm not a huge chick flick person but that one got me!

Oh and since I've got the avatar there and since we're talking lovely hubbys - Happy Valentine's day!

awww, group hug everyone... Since you have the Valentine atavar CynB, I'll tell you that my eldest daughter got engaged last night after a romantic Valentine's Day picnic by the Swan and he got down on bended knee, and gave her the ring she had been not-so-secretly pining over.

Aaawww. Big hug backatcha, Mary, and congrats. I know it's over there now, but Happy V Day to you, too, ChynB.

Awwww! And bigger group hug! Mary, congratulations to your daughter and her fiance. How romantic to get engaged on Valentines Day.
And, it's so nice that he took notice of what she liked in engagement rings. Good Luck to them!

Maybe this avatar is what they're looking for in a honeymoon destination?

Oh, and Cyn B., didn't realize the jerk I had just dumped before I met the Good Guy moved to Australia, because sounds like you crossed paths with him.

Thank you everyone..I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy...hope you all are too!

Back to the flix, who is the biggest louse in the movies? I say AE in The Company of Men. Although I love AE, I thought his acting too good and I refused to sit through it.

AE does louse very well. Also does adorable and vulnerable well. Didn't see TCOM, and I'll need some time to come up with a nominee. The challenge is to avoid the 2-dimensional sort. Like Dr. Chilton in Silence of the Lambs. When you're rooting for them to be next to have their faces bitten off, too obvious.

Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator.

Ok..enough about lice. Who is the character who 'does it for you','pushes your buttons'? I think Gary Cooper in High Noon. Such an honourable man...nice to his core, and, incidently, not bad to look at....

Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. Don't remember if I wanted him to be my daddy or wait for me to grow up and marry him. But I fell IN LOVE.

Love Actually was pretty trite, but who could help but fall in love with Colin Firth's character in any language?

Tommy Lee Jones in Lonesome Dove.

That last may seem out there, but I love Taciturn Good Guy, and wanted to be the woman who could make that character smile.

And Russell Crowe may count among the lice in real life, but he does it for me in most of his work. Gladiator? OMG.

Unfortunately, Mel Gibson's liciness factor has exceeded all Bounds of Decency, so I can't stomach watching him anymore, but I looved [sic] his character in Man Without a Face.

Tom Cruise may be nearly impossible for me to watch now, but he had me at "Hello."

I like this. Lice-in-life who gave us characters to love.

Along that vein, do we care why Christian Bale was a jerk on the set of fill-in-the-blank?

And I will forgive Robert Downey, Jr. ALL his sins.

Johnny Depp went through an acting out I-Am-a-Misunderstood-Artiste stage. Happy to forgive him. Joaquin Phoenix wants to play the same card? Be my guest. I'll be waiting.

I had already thought of Atticus, I have a 'thang' for honourable men...who couldn't help fall in love with CF, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, ANY MOVIE...

Lice-in-life...don't we all love the bad boys... RD jr could leave his stetson by my door anyday...

Taciturn Good Guy? Oh yeah...I'm a tad shy to admit a crush on Heath Barklay in Big Valley...strong, (mercifully) silent, handsome....also Jack Lord in Hawaii 5-0, again s(m)sh...sorry ladies...just a brief pause here to...reflect...

OMG how could I forget Po'T in Lord Jim...and LoA...those beautiful blue eyes, tortured soul....