amberdreams: (Bum)
2014-09-24 02:51 pm

Pride

Just got back from watching Pride, a British film "in the tradition of the Full Monty" and wanted to hop on and say - if you get a chance, go see it. Even if you know nothing about the 1980s because you weren't born then, even if you are completely unaware of the Miners' Strike in the UK and the terrible times they went through, and the strangely primitive world we lived in back then. It's also a scary reminder of how terrible AIDS was back then and how we shouldn't be forgetting about it now.

it's got a stellar cast (Imelda Staunton, Andrew Scott, the ubiquitous Bill Nighy, George MacKay who was in the lovely Sunshine on Leith,), it's well written, it's got humour, good music, real characters and a story that is uplifting, tragic, inspiring and fucking true. I'm still crying now - fuck, so emotional with your happy/sad endings, damn you. And Billy Bragg to sing us out.
amberdreams: (dog!dean)
2014-01-21 05:40 pm

Mandela

I just got home from seeing the film and goddamit I'm still in tears and I don't even really know why. It wasn't over sentimental, it didn't try and make him some sort of unrealistic glorified hero, it treated Winnie Mandela with a lot of sympathy and even a kind of tenderness, even while showing quite clearly the results of her anger and the violence she helped along.

Maybe it was because I remember so much of this - I remember those school kids getting massacred (I was at school myself at the time which made it resonate even more), I remember boycotting South African food, singing Free Nelson Mandela, crying when they released him. I don't know. It did feel a bit strange and somehow a bit wrong to be watching a film about something that touched my life, however remotely. Stupid for a middle class white girl to feel involved in a black vs white struggle hundreds of miles away, but that was where Mandela's power lay - in making the whole world want to get involved.

It probably wasn't even a great film but fuck it. Idris Elba totally made me forget he wasn't really Nelson Mandela, and now I think I'm extra sad because the real person is dead and I know this will sound really stupid, but I miss him. Where are the world leaders with that kind of integrity but who are willing to put on a rugby shirt and dance when their team wins the World Cup?

I'm going away now to try and get a grip.
amberdreams: (coyote)
2013-02-13 09:48 pm

Lincoln

Went to see Lincoln this afternoon with my cousin and I can't recommend it highly enough.  Honestly, I was sitting there all the way through thinking this is SUCH a good film!  The dialogue must have been a script-writer's dream.  Apart from the great speeches that must be a matter of record, the exchanges in the more private scenes were all superb.  Such a rich and varied vocabulary, it was a joy to listen to.

Someone had told me that the film was slow, and I suppose you could say that - in that there wasn't a huge amount of action scenes in it, but it was packed full of tension, and the scenes in congress were really entertaining.  There was one scene in particular that I really felt merited a round of applause. 

As for Daniel Day Lewis' Lincoln?  Well.  I was totally convinced that he was the man himself.  He had such a presence, commanded every scene he was in, even when he was just a silhouette, or a profile, or a quiet figure sitting in his chair.  That light tenor voice shouldn't have had so much impact, but somehow it was compelling.  DDL made me love this man - with his humour, and his joy in telling stories, his pain, and his driving passion.  I loved how tactile he was, the way he grasped random people's hands, gripped shoulders, made physical connections.

The whole cast as an ensemble were totally brilliant - I shall certainly buy the DVD because I could watch this over and over.

One minor niggle (and this is my old anti-American prejudice talking here) - the whole premise of the film is the heroic and totally worthy abolition of slavery, which is fine and dandy, but because the focus is so tightly on the USA throughout the film, you could easily go away with the impression that America was the first/only country in the world to think about abolition.  Just a heads up, we'd got rid of it over here in 1772, and across the British Empire by 1833...and even that was late compared to some other countries.  Just sayin'... *wink*

Anyhow, if you haven't been to see it yet, go

amberdreams: (Default)
2011-01-18 06:13 pm

Micmacs - film rec

My brother in law lent us this French film I'd never heard of and it was so good I have to recommend it here.
Here's a promo from IMDB
It is beautifully filmed in a world that is a strange mix of modern and steam punk, in gold and green; the characters are quirky and funny and sympathetically portrayed and the story ir utterly charming.  Go find the DVD!
amberdreams: (Default)
2011-01-18 06:13 pm

Micmacs - film rec

My brother in law lent us this French film I'd never heard of and it was so good I have to recommend it here.
Here's a promo from IMDB
It is beautifully filmed in a world that is a strange mix of modern and steam punk, in gold and green; the characters are quirky and funny and sympathetically portrayed and the story ir utterly charming.  Go find the DVD!