My Week with Marylin (2011)

Another film that is based on a book. It seems that awful lot of period films are based on a book. There isn't that much of plot in this movie, the title pretty much tells it all. Our main character is the youngest (if I remember well) son and also the black sheep of a wealthy British family. His dream is to become a famous director (if I remember well, to be honest it was quite a long time ago that I saw this, as part of the challenge I failed miserably...). He manages to get a job as the second director-assistant or something like that in Marylin Monroe's next movie (one of the last ones) that she happens to shoot in England. She grows to like him, and, I think needless to say, he totally falls in love with her. They spend a week together and pretty much this is what the movie is about. It  focuses on Marylin's growing addiction and her constant need for attention.

Now I must say that first I was kind of disappointed in Michelle Williams' acting but then I thought about it and realised that in each and every movie I'd seen with or about Marylin Monroe she behaved like that. So I think Michelle Williams did a great job with the role after all. I found the character a little bit annoying but it's not her fault. As I saw this quite a while ago, I don't really remember what kind of feelings it evoked but I think it wasn't a bad movie. There were some parts I skipped but then again, there are a really few movies which I can watch without any skipping so that doesn't mean that I didn't like it. I remember liking the music a lot.

(Excuse the style, I didn't really know what to write about this but didn't want to leave out either. Here's this kind of half-assed post as a result.)

Agatha Christie: Nemesis

It is the continuation of A Caribbean Mystery, an earlier Miss Marple-story but, despite the quite frequent references back to some events in that story, it is not necessary to know the whole plot of the earlier book to enjoy this one. I liked this, it didn't feel like you were missing something just because you weren't familiar with the events that happened in the Caribbean. It was enough to know that an elderly millionaire had taken part in that journey, just like Miss Marple, and they had solved a murder case together.

Nemesis starts with the same millionaire passing away and leaving a mysterious letter to Miss Marple. He's asking her to solve a case but doesn't give any clues as to which case or even what kind of case the old lady is supposed to solve. So she finds herself in a rather odd situation, she would start investigating but has no idea where to start from. But, as we know, she is a really clever lady and soon enough she finds traces she can follow and eventually unveils the murderer.

I must confess that I could finish this book only for the second try. The first time I started reading it I found it incredibly boring, but then I realised that it was only the first chapter that was boring and after that it became more and more exciting. I think this is the case with all the Miss Marple-stories, the first chapters with her being at home and reading her newspaper or looking at her garden are absolutely boring, but after struggling through those pages you reach the part where something actually happens and you just can't put the book down.

Mozart's Sister (Nannerl la soeur de Mozart) (2010)

As the title suggests, the movie centres around the character of Mozart's sister. It shows approximately a year from the life of the Mozart family as they are travelling through Europe with their two musically talented children who give concerts mainly for the members of the aristocracy. The whole film takes place in France and shows the events from Nannerl's point of view. We see how she develops friendships with some members of the royal family and also how she is suffering from her father's (and society's) preference of her brother over her. She is also a talented musician but as a woman, she is not allowed to play the same instruments as her brother, or to take the same lessons (or lessons at all).

I wasn't familiar with her story. In  fact, I didn't even know that Mozart had a talented older sister. I think this is exactly the  message of the movie: had she lived in another time, or been born a boy, there is quite a chance that her character would be known world-wide today.

Since I knew nothing about her figure I expected a completely different movie. A much lighter one. I wouldn't say that this film is a particularly heavy one, but it is not a light comedy either. It is quite slow-paced, I actually found myself skipping some parts, I confess, and well, I think if I say that it's very French I said everything. It wasn't bad though. I'm not really familiar with famous composers' lives (shame or not) so it was interesting and informative for me. On the other hand, though, I must say that I was not amazed by some of the actors' work. If you look at the cast and crew list, the name Féret appears quite a few times. In some cases, especially one, it was obvious that the person was casted not exactly for their talent but because of their name.

An Ideal Husband (1999)

The film is the adaptation of Oscar Wild's play with the same title. From some aspects it resembles to "The Importance of Being Earnest" but, I must say, it's nowhere as entertaining. It has a similar main character as "Earnest", a young(ish) gentleman with significant wealth who does not care about anything else but parties, ladies and idling around whole day. About the plot I don't want to write anything as it would spoil it for everyone.

I usually like Oscar Wild's works, his style, humour and wittiness, so I thought I would really like this film. I was wrong. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. The wittiness of the dialogues was there but the plot, well, was kind of lacking. It wasn't bad but it was uneventful. Maybe my expectations were too high.

I liked it, though, that there were a few references to Wild himself and his works, mainly "The Importance of Being Earnest." There was a scene that took place in a theatre while that play was performed, and there was also a character named Bunbury.

Bottom line: it wasn't bad but I expected more.

Ballet Shoes (2007)

The film is based on Noel Steatfield's novel with the same title. Its story begins in the 1910s when a whimsical paleontologist is presented with an orphaned great-granddaughter whom he is more or less forced to adopt. Years pass by and he returns from each and every of his lengthy journeys with an orphaned baby girl. This is how the family of Sylvia (the great-granddaughter), her Nanny and the three girls, Pauline, Petrova and Posy is put together. The film focuses on the three girls' training in a dance acadamy and their struggles to reach their dreams. I guess it's the dance acadamy part where the somewhat misleading title comes from.

This film was rather easy to watch. It didn't have any serious message to convey or anything but I quite liked it. It was entertaining and cute. A good choice if you just want to have a little bit of distraction. It didn't really had roles that required amazing acting talents. Luckily for Emma Watson. But I will leave evaluating the actors' performances at that.

Miss Potter (2006)

The film is based on the life of Beatrix Potter, the writer and illustrator of the most successful children books of all time. It begins with her, after a long search, finding a publisher at last, and shows the years of her life during which she became a well-known author with occasional flasbacks to her childhood.

I'm a fan of Renée Zellweger so I had been meaning to watch this movie for a long time. Ever since it came out, actually, and I'm glad that I eventually got around to doing so, as I loved it to bits and bites. I think it goes without saying that Reneé Zellweger was absolutely brilliant. Also, it was a pleasant surprise that Ewan McGregor had a role in it, he's one of my favourite actors, too. So I think we can say that the cast was very fortunately chosen.

The story was sweet, even with the sadder moments, and had the cutest love story. I don't usually find love stories cute but I can't describe this one otherwise. Another thing that must be mentioned is the scenery. Parts of the story take place in the countryside and the scenery is simply breathtakingly beautiful. The visual effects with her drawings were pretty cool, too. They were simple and cute.

This movie is absolutely worth a watch. It is one of those stories that put a smile on your face that stays there for quite a while.

(On a side note, I don't like the poster at all. It is way too cold and makes it seem like the movie is about a witch or something. I get that the clouds and the shimmer refer to her imagination but still, I would have chosen green as a ruling colour.)

Agatha Christie: Death Comes As the End

I think this book is unique among Angatha Christie's detective novels. It isn't a Poirot-story but it's not a Miss Marple-story either. There isn't an actual detective in it but there are two characters that serve as casi-detectives. They are very observant and eventually are able to figure out who the murderer is.

The story takes place 4000 years ago in the Ancient Egypt. This isn't usual either. It is basically about a wealthier family, their everyday lives, their relationship to one another, their fights and, of course, the tragic deaths that occur among them. It is more or less told from the point of view of the daughter who, after becoming a widow, moves back to her father's house and is determined to behave as if those eight years she had spent away never would have happened, and as if nothing would have changed since then. She has to realise, though that in reality many things did change.

I really liked this book. This is one of those better Agatha Christie novels where at the beginning you are kind of sure who the murderer is but as you progress in the story you are less and less sure and eventually end up suspecting every single character. Even the obviously innocent ones. I also liked that it was set in the distant past. It is obvious that she did a thorough research before writing the book. At least for me everything seemed credible.