I am a confessed anglophile. I love things British. So, even though I am not a big fan of award shows on the whole, I had to tune into the British Academy Awards last night for about 40 minutes, just to see what the “more intelligent” English speakers think is really good entertainment. Not surprisingly, several of the films that won awards in Britain were the ones that have won awards here. But after my brief viewing of the show, I had added the following films to my must-see list for this year:
Girl With A Pearl Earring (I read the book, so I already wanted to see this one.)
Cold Mountain ( I tried to read the book, but couldn’t get into it. So the movie is the next best thing.)
Lost in Translation (The premise is fascinating, and Bill Murray is always good.)
Has anybody who reads this seen any of these? Let me know your thoughts.
I was really hoping to see Cold Mountain because I love period pieces and the previews had looked very interesting to me. However, some close friends of ours (who are not at all picky in general about the movies they see) who saw said movie in the theater said it was just absolutely awful as far as the evil and cruelty displayed and the manner in which it was portrayed. I know it’s a war flick but they felt it just went over the top even so. Given the extreme respect Jay and I hold for these folks, we’ve followed their advice thus far; we haven’t rented the movie. If anyone has seen Cold Mountain and can vouch for it otherwise, I’d love to know.
I don’t like the gruesome stuff in movies, either. But I really like Rene Zellwegger (sp?) as an actress, so I am curious. I received an informative offer on some sort of Christian version of movies where they clean up Hollywood movies. I deleted the info, but it came from a friend I could ask about it. I wonder if this service also cleans up the violence, not just language, nudity, etc.
Jon and I saw “Lost in Translation” at the theater in early January. I thought that it was good. Bill Murray really might win an Oscar — it would be well deserved. Definitely an interesting movie. It does have some nudity, though, and some bad language, I think. My memories of it are not quite as clear as they usually would be because I saw it three days before I had Eli and was pretty uncomfortable through the whole thing. I’ll have to rent it, I guess.
One more thing I just discovered . . . Vermeer in Girl with a Pearl Earring is played by Colin Firth (notable star of A&E’s Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones’s Diary). One more good reason to see this movie.
I saw Cold Mountain and I hated it. First of all, I must confess, I always dislike movies that do not have happy endings. I think it is because life is hard and isn’t always easy and I want a happy escape when I go to the show! This movie does not have a happy ending. Secondly, it has two scenes with nudity, both of which are very graphic and in my opinion could be classified as soft porn. Renee Z was good although a little over the top I thought.
Just a new thought . . . I saw bits of the Oscars the other night and heard a couple of the songs from Cold Mountain. They were really good. Has anyone picked up the soundtrack, even if you don’t like the movie?
I was the one who sent the link for edited films. The website is http://www.cleanfilms.com if anyone wants to visit. I thought it was great for the kids, Joey was able to watch agent Cody Banks without the scary stuff or rude language. I am morbidly curious by nature though and I wanted to know what was edited. I don’t think I would be satisfied by the adult movies editing but that is just me.
We rented Lost in Translation and my initial reaction was “what was all the buzz about?” But then Joe and I talked about it and discussed things we liked, and disliked and put ourselves in the positions of the characters and we both began to like it more. I think I would see it again now. It is definitley a “film” though. But after thinking about it, and it does make you think, I really liked it.
I love reading your blog!!! I hope family life is going well we are beginnning to plan to think about having a 4th baby. I will keep you posted!! We will homeschool Joey for K and Bridget will do Preschool 3 days a week, so I am always interested to see how things are going for you!!!
Lindy
I was the one who sent the link for edited films. The website is http://www.cleanfilms.com if anyone wants to visit. I thought it was great for the kids, Joey was able to watch agent Cody Banks without the scary stuff or rude language. I am morbidly curious by nature though and I wanted to know what was edited. I don’t think I would be satisfied by the adult movies editing but that is just me.
We rented Lost in Translation and my initial reaction was “what was all the buzz about?” But then Joe and I talked about it and discussed things we liked, and disliked and put ourselves in the positions of the characters and we both began to like it more. I think I would see it again now. It is definitley a “film” though. But after thinking about it, and it does make you think, I really liked it.
I love reading your blog!!! I hope family life is going well we are beginnning to plan to think about having a 4th baby. I will keep you posted!! We will homeschool Joey for K and Bridget will do Preschool 3 days a week, so I am always interested to see how things are going for you!!!
Lindy