Were among some of the most anticipated films on my to-watch list. Some exceeded my expectations, and some really didn’t.
From great to not so good:
A Single Man
Has to be seen for Colin Firth’s outstanding understated performance. It is a very slow paced story but it looks fantastic and is very well acted. (Nick (About a Boy) Hoult is great too.) Absolutely recommended and that BAFTA was well deserved.
Crazy Heart
Talking of outstanding performances – Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart is also incredibly watchable as Bad Blake, a washed out country singer redeemed by a young journalist. Bonus points for Jeff Bridges for performing all the songs himself. Even more bonus points for this film not having the supersweet hollywood ending you expect. And hey – it also features Colin Farell with a pony tail! Great film which scored Jeff Bridges an Oscar. (He is also very fabulous in the Fabulous Baker Boys).
Alice in Wonderland
It has Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. It has Helena Bonham Carter with a very large head. It has the Cheshire Cat voiced by Stephen Fry. And a caterpillar voiced by Alan Rickman. And there are talking rabbits too. And all that is set in an incredibly visually fantastic Tim Burton universe. This should be a cracker but somehow it wasn’t. It looked great but the story was just not that great. Sorry Tim.
The Lovely Bones
I loved the book. I am not quite sure what Peter Jackson ate when he made this film, but he turned it into one long surreal trip. Too bad really as there are some great actors on board: Stanley Tucci is seriously creepy and Saoirse Ronan is great as Lucy Salmon. But those were about the only good things about the film.