Movie/s of the week/fortnight
Weird mixed bag this week.
I took the kids along to the movies to see Return to Nim’s Island. Now, the plot was tired and weak, but the kids liked it. Bindi Irwin, despite everything, is one of the loveliest young girls out there, a real role model for other young girls around the world, and I just can’t help but like her. She’s not a bad little actress, this her second movie following Free Willy 3, which is a particular favourite of my children’s. I also liked picking where they’d filmed certain scenes (Natural Arch on the Gold Coast was quite obvious and elicited memories of childhood picnics!). The aerial views of the island were filmed not far from me (Hinchinbrook Island), but I believe the actual filming was all done on the Gold Coast this time, unlike the original that stayed on Hinchinbrook and Cardwell (the mainland). That whole area was wiped out by Cyclone Yasi, however, so this might have been one of the reasons they shifted the location. It was still pretty. The idea of bilbies being on a tropical island was baffling, but I guess if there wasn’t a conservationist message there, Bindi wouldn’t have made it. The other baffling thing was the accents. Bindi’s character Nim is supposedly American, so I guess there’s a point to that one, but one of my fav Aussie actors, John Waters, doing an English cockney accent was very odd and not quite necessary to the plot! Most of the co-stars are well known Aussie actors, in fact, and... well... it all gave them a bit of money in their bank account anyway. So, my kids gave it 5/5. They loved it. Me, er... 1 for Bindi, and 1 for the locations, 1 on for hot John Waters, 1 off for his stupid accent, 1 off for stupid plot, 1 for keeping kids entertained for 90 mins. 2/5
The second thing I watched was a television production of Rebecca. I got it out at the library and it said it was a telemovie, but seeing it went for so long and was in two parts, I would class it as a miniseries. It was... odd. Emilie Fox was the second Mrs Dewinter, and she was not too bad in the role. Charles Dance was Maxim, and as much as I’ve liked him and his performances over the years, he was... not Laurence Olivier. Dianna Rigg was Mrs Danvers. Interesting way they portrayed her. Instead of being very scary like I always think of that character, she came across as just a sad old woman (and of course, being not made in the 30s they were able to insinuate more forcefully that she and Rebecca were lesbian lovers and that just made her even sadder still). Alas, without Hitchcock directing, pretty much all the darkness and atmosphere of the story was lost. And also, alas, I think without that horror/gothic aspect, all the romance was lost too. Don’t bother unless you too can get it free from the library. 2/5
Last thing I saw this week was Ironman 3. My son and I went to see it on Mother’s Day. He insisted on 3D, but I don’t think it was necessary. The special effects are great, especially some of the ‘house’ scenes, but I’m not convinced I needed to see them in 3D. Robert Downey Jr has played Ironman four times now, and happily you can tell he quite likes the character. He still seems fresh in the role and, excuse me for being fangirly for a moment, HOT. But even though he’s hot as hell, it’s his continual smart remarks that make Tony/Ironman so gorg. I just laugh at everything. I would have liked to have seen more Gwyneth, because I ship Pepper/Tony so bad, and love their sexy banter. The scenes she had were great though. Guy Pearce was a baddie. :( I love Guy so much, ever since he was that charming Mike in Neighbours... Anyway, he was good still. Love me a good baddie. There’s also a cute kid. Tony’s interaction with him is just hilarious. But the whole movie was stolen by Sir Ben Kingsley. He was FAB. FAB, FAB, FAB. I can’t say too much about his character without giving anything away, but let me assure you he’s just FAB. (My word for the week, *snort*) And there’s a Downton Abbey connection! I laughed like a loon at the DA scenes; the other people in the theatre probably thought I was a little mad. (“It’s not that funny...”) I would advise you to see at least Ironman 2 and the Avengers before watching this. There are quite a few references to those two movies that wouldn’t make any sense if you just saw this one. But I highly recommend it. But then again, I am unashamedly an Ironman fan. 5/5
I took the kids along to the movies to see Return to Nim’s Island. Now, the plot was tired and weak, but the kids liked it. Bindi Irwin, despite everything, is one of the loveliest young girls out there, a real role model for other young girls around the world, and I just can’t help but like her. She’s not a bad little actress, this her second movie following Free Willy 3, which is a particular favourite of my children’s. I also liked picking where they’d filmed certain scenes (Natural Arch on the Gold Coast was quite obvious and elicited memories of childhood picnics!). The aerial views of the island were filmed not far from me (Hinchinbrook Island), but I believe the actual filming was all done on the Gold Coast this time, unlike the original that stayed on Hinchinbrook and Cardwell (the mainland). That whole area was wiped out by Cyclone Yasi, however, so this might have been one of the reasons they shifted the location. It was still pretty. The idea of bilbies being on a tropical island was baffling, but I guess if there wasn’t a conservationist message there, Bindi wouldn’t have made it. The other baffling thing was the accents. Bindi’s character Nim is supposedly American, so I guess there’s a point to that one, but one of my fav Aussie actors, John Waters, doing an English cockney accent was very odd and not quite necessary to the plot! Most of the co-stars are well known Aussie actors, in fact, and... well... it all gave them a bit of money in their bank account anyway. So, my kids gave it 5/5. They loved it. Me, er... 1 for Bindi, and 1 for the locations, 1 on for hot John Waters, 1 off for his stupid accent, 1 off for stupid plot, 1 for keeping kids entertained for 90 mins. 2/5
The second thing I watched was a television production of Rebecca. I got it out at the library and it said it was a telemovie, but seeing it went for so long and was in two parts, I would class it as a miniseries. It was... odd. Emilie Fox was the second Mrs Dewinter, and she was not too bad in the role. Charles Dance was Maxim, and as much as I’ve liked him and his performances over the years, he was... not Laurence Olivier. Dianna Rigg was Mrs Danvers. Interesting way they portrayed her. Instead of being very scary like I always think of that character, she came across as just a sad old woman (and of course, being not made in the 30s they were able to insinuate more forcefully that she and Rebecca were lesbian lovers and that just made her even sadder still). Alas, without Hitchcock directing, pretty much all the darkness and atmosphere of the story was lost. And also, alas, I think without that horror/gothic aspect, all the romance was lost too. Don’t bother unless you too can get it free from the library. 2/5
Last thing I saw this week was Ironman 3. My son and I went to see it on Mother’s Day. He insisted on 3D, but I don’t think it was necessary. The special effects are great, especially some of the ‘house’ scenes, but I’m not convinced I needed to see them in 3D. Robert Downey Jr has played Ironman four times now, and happily you can tell he quite likes the character. He still seems fresh in the role and, excuse me for being fangirly for a moment, HOT. But even though he’s hot as hell, it’s his continual smart remarks that make Tony/Ironman so gorg. I just laugh at everything. I would have liked to have seen more Gwyneth, because I ship Pepper/Tony so bad, and love their sexy banter. The scenes she had were great though. Guy Pearce was a baddie. :( I love Guy so much, ever since he was that charming Mike in Neighbours... Anyway, he was good still. Love me a good baddie. There’s also a cute kid. Tony’s interaction with him is just hilarious. But the whole movie was stolen by Sir Ben Kingsley. He was FAB. FAB, FAB, FAB. I can’t say too much about his character without giving anything away, but let me assure you he’s just FAB. (My word for the week, *snort*) And there’s a Downton Abbey connection! I laughed like a loon at the DA scenes; the other people in the theatre probably thought I was a little mad. (“It’s not that funny...”) I would advise you to see at least Ironman 2 and the Avengers before watching this. There are quite a few references to those two movies that wouldn’t make any sense if you just saw this one. But I highly recommend it. But then again, I am unashamedly an Ironman fan. 5/5