When God Couldn't Save the King, the Queen Turned to Someone Who Could

 The Kings Speech is a fantastic piece of British film-making. A true story of George VI who after many attempts failed to overcome his stutter. Helena Bonham Carter, his Queen, turned to Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) not a doctor but an Australian whose methods are rather unusual. Not only does Logue become the Kings saviour but also his friend. HBC is fantastic in this film although I think Rush and Colin Firth deserve Oscars it is doubtful with such strong competition.
Colin Firth has give a mind-blowing performance and has portrayed our Queen's father with dignity and grace, it must have been incredibly hard to prepare for a role like this and he has not let us down. Rush as well is superb, he is funny and quick, his treatment to the Royals appears to be no different to treating his children, which I really like about this character. I think like the film The Queen, everyone should see this film, it is a piece of our history, a fight against fear and a struggle to hold together a country and that didn't believe in him.

One of my favourite quotes of this film comes from Firth; 'If I am King, where is my power? Can I declare war? Form a government? Levy a tax? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority because they think that when I speak, I speak for them.' The truth of how his voice will unite a nation, yet he cannot find his voice until someone with no qualifications gives him the courage to speak.

HBC is one of my favorite actresses, from Bellatrix (Harry Potter) to Queen Elizabeth, she is versatile and brings such grace to this role. Her lines are delivered perfectly with comic value and statue. I think she, teamed with Rush and Firth make this film exactly what it is, a masterpiece.

Your Love Is My Drug

Anne Hathaway for me was a promising actress, with films Rachel Getting Married and Brokeback Mountain but now I feel she has done too much too soon. With silly films like Get Smart and Princess Diaries its all too much and now she just comes across as annoying on screen. Love and Other Drugs follows the relationship between two people who each refuse to be tied down. Jake Gyllenhall is very funny and sweet in this film and gives a loving performance yet Hathaway who plays a character of  twenty six years old with Parkinson's. Gyllenhall, a salesman, finds it hard to say good-bye to her so instead they both enter into a relationship. This film holds more sex than Sex and the City. What is it with rom-coms at the moment, Friends with Benefits, No Strings Attached and then this film, they all hold so much sex, which can take away from the depth of the character, yet here I think it was done carefully and do you understand the emotional strain on both characters. One very poignant element of the film was when Jamie (Gyllenhall) goes on the hunt for a cure for Maggie (Hathaway) and after countless meetings with doctors all over America, Maggie comes to the conclusion that he can only really love her if she is cured. That is extremely sad as nothing in this life will ever be perfect and sometimes the imperfection in things can make them see so much more desirable.

I really enjoyed this film, it was very funny and very moving at the same time, Hathaway wasn't her best in this film but Gyllenhall really stepped up to the plate and gave a brilliant performance, his deliverance of comedic lines was right on target. I would definitely watch this again, however both of them got nominated for Golden Globes for their performances, I wouldn't go that far...

'Sometimes the things you want the most don't happen and what you least expect happens. I don't know - you meet thousands of people and none of them really touch you. And then you meet that one person and your life is changed.'

Acceptable In The 80s

80s films are one of a kind and I have discovered a love for them!! First I was introduced to Flashdance which I found brilliant and didn't think it could get any better; welcome Footloose!!!
Kevin Bacon plays Ren; a troubled teenager who fights for a school dance to be allowed in a town where music is banned. Its a little cheesy but isn't that what we want - it's the 80s. It is a brilliant film, with a great soundtrack and some great dance scenes! Definitely one for a girls night in!! Think Grease but ten times better.

Dead Sex Appeal

When you hear the names Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie you immediately think about how attractive they both are. Depp is a man who never seems to age whereas Jolie is your sex-bomb and they are very respectful actors. I admire both of their works so you would think, that putting the two sirens together would create a mind blowing blockbuster. However, The Tourist, was dead. There was not an ounce of chemistry between the two of them, nothing! Jolie seemed cold and distant whereas Depp seemed needy. This is no Mr and Mrs Smith. The film is a little dead too. With no action, no thrill, no suspense. Jolie, known for her ass-kicking stunt sequences didn't so much as pick up a gun in this film. Depp who played a maths teacher mending a broken heart seemed more daring than her, he was running across roof tops in his pyjamas - yet it was not a heart pounding scene. Although the wardrobe of the film was superb, with neat pencil skirts and caramel duffel coats which made Jolie look like a Lady, especially when she stepped out in floor length dresses, she really did look magnificent. The setting is perfect; Venice, the city of Love - there was no love between these two, no action, nothing. I will give the film this though, it has an unexpected twist at the end, so clearly the writers have imagination, their creative juices didn't get going till the last page though!

Greed is Good

The name Gekko. Is recognized is by many. Gordon Gekko was the character made famous by Michael Doughlas in the 1980s. Oliver Stone's Wall Street is one of the best film I have seen. Charlie Sheen plays Budd Foxx who gets pushed into a world of fast money, fast cars and fast girls. The price. LIES and trading insider information about Bluestarr Airlines so that Gekko can buy the company at a low price and then tear it to shreads making himself a cool $60 million. Quite a nice profit you may think. However Gekko has more friends than meets the eye and Buddy gets himself stuck when it comes to Darian (Daryl Hannah's character.) Hannah refused to ever watch the film saying it was one of her worst experiences of her life. Being the only female you can see that when working on an all male film can be quite of a challenge. However her performance was rather pathetic in this film - to this day I still think Splash! was her one and only triumph!
A very good drama about insider trading in Wall Street and the greed of one man against the honesty of another. I don't like Sheen as an actor anyway so Foxx for me was a slimey runt of a man however Doughlas stripped down the fame of acting to its real glory - the pure development of a character. I though Gekko was smart, savvy and sophisticated and that Doughlas did really deserve that Acadamy Award. He really gave Gekko his all, a fantastic masterpiece!!

The Grass Is Always Greener

What I love most about films is the way that writers observe how relationships and lifestyles work around different people. They look at a situation and it can change due to the type of people involved. Like players in a game. Take love at first sight - if you see a beautiful angelic woman with fiery red hair this, if you are male, must make your heart stop; because she catches your eye. Whether its her hair or her face but she's caught you. However when watching this on screen, Jude Law's character Dan believed that Alice (Natalie Portman) had captured his heart. Dan loves women however the problem is her loves all women. Alice is a stripper from New York who has come to London to change her life around in doing so falls straight in love with Dan.
The movie CLOSER is a tale of relationships and jumps very quickly through time. A year later Dan - a failed novelist - meets Anna (Julia Roberts) and believe once again that this is love at first sight. However on finding Dan is taken, Anna refuses to enter into an adulterous relationship. Dan, bitter and twisted, logs onto a sex chat room site and meets Larry (Clive Owen) and in pretending to be Anna agrees to meet up with Larry. Ironically Larry does run into the real Anna and marries her four months later although by this time Anna and Dan have begun and ended an affair. Are you lost yet? Try watching the film its a jumble of lost time.
Anna is a depressive, refusing to let herself be happy which is why she messes up her marriage with Larry and agrees to run off with Dan. Dan in all fairness does love Anna and tells Alice that their two year relationship is over. So here we have it two years down the line with Anna and Larry getting divorced, Anna and Dan together and Alice going back to stripping to get by under the name of Plain Jane Jones.

A lot of controversy surrounds this film over the language used by the characters, they are foul mouthed and I am not just talking about the F word. Larry is derogatory and vile in speaking to Anna about her relationship with Dan and he is again as rude and violent with his language with talking to Alice in the strip club where she works. However I think that the language gives the film edge. It makes you cringe and does make you feel quite sick after a while however there are men like that out there, who like to talk to women in such a way that it makes them feel better about themselves. What I like most about this film is the way it makes you sympathise with every character at different points. At the beginning who would have thought I would feel sorry for wet fish Dan by the end. And nice guy Larry to be the foul mouthed manipulator of Love. Alice is quite a lot smarter than a stripper should be and Anna well she is more destructive than we would think.
It makes you wonder doesn't it, if the grass really is greener on the other side? That is what Dan believes, Alice is described as an angel throughout the majority of the movie by Dan. She is beautiful and sweet and caring and loves Dan more than anything. However on meeting Anna, Dan believes that this woman is the one for him and pursues her instead although goes back to Alice after Anna sleeps with Larry. Whether men like Dan like the chase or the excitement beats me. Although in the end when Alice asks if Dan is leaving her because Anna is more successful, Dan replies with 'It's because she doesn't need me.' This is very true, women become wanted when they are independent and become abandoned when needy. Dan becomes the needy one, longing for Anna however she is self-sufficient and in truth does not need him, making her un-reachable. Larry on the other hand loves Anna and will do anything to get her back - however if you go after someone so much does the ideal of them becomes so much more perfect than the reality.
Love is an Accident waiting to happen.
Desire is a Stranger you think you know.
Intimacy is a lie we Tell Ourselves.

Truth is a Game you play to Win.

If you believe in Love at First Sight. You Never Stop Looking.

In The Land Of Women

Isn't it wonderful when you pick a film which you have never heard of before, and it turns out to be uplifting and beautifully written?! In The Land Of Women stars a young Kristen Stewart as a troublesome teenager and her mother Meg Ryan as a woman going through personal and marital problems along with Adam Brody, who without realising it helps change the life of these women around whilst sorting out his own problems! It is such a brilliant story with Brody becoming friends with Ryan as well as her beautiful daughter Stewart. Originally I thought the romance was between Stewart and Brody, however Stewart plays a sixteen year old in this film and Brody is actually 26! Quite a difference, however it is such a loving tale of friendships and trust in life's little surprises! And talking of surprises, this film half-way through turns out to be extremely emotional; how a family deal with problems which instead of tearing them apart bring them closer together!

This is the film before Stewart became globally known as Bella Swann and some of her acting traits are carried through to Twilight as there is not much difference between the way Stewart portrays the two characters, however I do like her performance and the way she expresses her anger through art!!
If you ever spot this film, I would recommend to watch it! It is brilliant! I mean not Academy Award worthy but really good for a snowy afternoon like today!