Later #56 a movie: 'J Edgar'

Saw the movie, ‘J Edgar,’ the story of John Edgar Hoover (DiCaprio) and his role in the creation in 1919 of what became known as the FBI. Hoover is portrayed as a man who seeks power in the name of patriotism but under delusion. This is highlighted when his long time companion, Clyde (Armie Hammer), gives his opinion on the manuscript of Hoover’s autobiography, the writing of which gives the structure of this movie as it moves from present to past. DiCaprio and Hammer draw you deeply into their largely unspoken but intimate relationship. Hoover, while fighting the bad guys and just as often the politicians on any given day (he served under 8 Presidents), is also fighting the omnipotent influence of his mother’s strict, conservative dogma. The story of ‘Daffy’ rings long after the movie’s end. The performances of DiCaprio, Hammer and Naomi Watts, who plays J Edgar’s personal assistant, are outstanding. You will feel this movie physically grip you. 8/10.

http://jedgarmovie.warnerbros.com/index.html#/home

Later #55 a movie: 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'

Saw the movie, ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,’ the Le Carre novel set in Britain in 1973 in the midst of the ‘spy-v-spy’ phony wars of intelligence, counter-intelligence and counter-counter-intelligence during the Cold War era. This is a complex plot in which a ‘misnomic’ George Smiley is assigned to unravel the identity of a mole located in the British secret service named The Circus. While the plot is difficult to follow, you will be amazed with the detail of the 1970s set, as our characters navigate the labyrinthine halls of the dim, grey, smoke-filled bureaucratic environs of the pre-computer age. This spying business is serious stuff and so are our characters, as they fight the modern war which no longer features trenches and battlefields. If you have time to pause afterwards to think about our heroes and anti-heroes, then you will be asking for a second viewing: a kind of slow envelopment that keeps flowing long after the ending. See this movie after sinking a coffee or two. 7/10.

http://www.tinker-tailor-soldier-spy.com/

Later #54 a movie: 'The Descendants'

Saw the movie, ‘The Descendants,’ about the unfolding of a life on the cusp of death and the profound impact this has on her family. A wife and mother, Elizabeth, is in a coma following an accident, leaving her husband (George Clooney) and 2 daughters to say ‘good bye.’ During the extended preparation for her death, the family has to deal with not just losing a wife and mother, but to make sense of Elizabeth’s secret life that would only now unfold.  

Later #53 a movie: 'Melancholia'

Saw the movie, ‘Melancholia.’ This story is set in a sumptuous English country estate at a time when the formerly hidden planet, Melancholia, is discovered and just may be on a trajectory to collide with planet Earth. Kirsten Dunst plays the newly wedded but deeply depressed Justine, sister of the Charlotte Gainsbourg character, Claire.

Later #52 a movie: 'Midnight in Paris'

Midnight in Paris explores the fantasy that an earlier time is always better than the present - the 'golden age' syndrome as one of the (obnoxious) characters, Paul (Michael Sheen) describes it to us. Gil (Owen Wilson) finds a way to test this out by finding a midnight gateway from 21st century to 1920s Paris, that golden age of literature, art, promiscuity and excess. Gil is given a moral out which enables him to explore a fantasy with one of the lovers of both Hemingway and Dali! Gil struggles between past and present and throughout the story he lives in both. The journeys towards resolution help us to believe that the universe is ultimately ruled by the need for equilibrium and the justice that karma delivers, in their own time. This is a fun movie, especially for lovers of French and American literature and art. Strange outcome for a Woody Allen film, I reckon. 7/10

Midnight in Paris

Later #51 a movie: 'The Tree of Life'

Saw the movie, ‘The Tree of Life.’ Just like ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ only poorly made and indulgent. This is the story of a tyrannical father (Pitt) in the 1950s who has a beautiful wife and three boys who bear the brunt of father’s brutal ideas of getting children ready for a tough world.

Later #50 a movie: 'Bridesmaids'

Saw the movie, ‘Bridesmaids.’ Yes, it’s a chick flick, but it may be a great insight for guys wanting to see the inner world of girlfriends and to give you a laugh at the same time. Bride Lillian appoints her chief bridesmaid and this starts a battle royal between competing ‘best friends,’ the hot Rose Byrne (Helen) who’s only been a friend for 8 months and the mad Kristen Wigg playing old school friend Annie. Sure there’s some extreme toilet humour and a mostly predictable ending, but along the way, you’ll wet your pants. I loved the scene where Annie gets herself prepped just before her and her f-buddy ‘wake up’ the next morning. The largish Melissa McCarthy is a scream, playing a female version of Tackleberry from Police Academy. Rebel Wilson will gross you out. And Matt Lucas (a Little Brit) will kill you with his understatement. This movie has a cast with extreme attributes and talents, but it all holds together very well. 7/10

http://www.bridesmaidsmovie.com/