Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) Film Review

 

Franklin D Roosevelt was the US President from 1933-1945. This film takes place at his mother’s property(where Roosevelt was based when he was not working out of Washington) during the years leading up to the Second World War. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth came for a visit to court US support should war break out.

After recently watching The King’s Speech, it was very interesting to see another representation of King George VI and his wife. In fact, it was the scene with these two on their own which were, by far, the most amusing. The rest of the film was totally boring. I wanted to like it. The general plot was interesting, and the cast was led by one of my favourites, Bill Murray. But I was so bored. What a huge disappointment.

Hyde Park on Hudson was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Bill Murray).

Venus (2006) Film Review

Peter O’Toole and Leslie Phillips play a couple of elderly actors, Maurice and Ian, living in London, dealing with failing health and loss of independence. Ian’s niece sends her daughter, Jessie (Jodie Whittaker) to town to take care of him, but he is distressed with her lack of compassion and total selfishness. Maurice is enamored of this young lady, with her anger toward the world, and they form an unlikely friendship.

Whittaker plays Jessie perfectly. Annoying, selfish, rude yet strangely naïve. Overall, it is quite a depressing and honest look at old age and all that it entails, from illness and difficulty getting around through to attitudes towards the elderly. It’s very good; bordering on sadtacular, but very good.

Morning Glory (2010) – Film Review

This film is an unexpected delight. It looks awful – a romantic comedy set in the world of morning television with a young, bright-eyed producer Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) attempting to get grumpy newscaster Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) to be a cheerful breakfast hot alongside bitter and resentful Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton). There are a few fairly awful moments in it, but generally, I really enjoyed it. It was fast-paced, funny, stupid but also annoyingly heartwarming. A really good and fun lightweight comedy.