Meryl Streep – cinemescope

100 Word Review – Suffragette (2015)

October 9, 2015April 15, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Action, F-RatedTagged Abi Morgan, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson, Carey Mulligan, Emily Davison, female, feminist, Helena Bonham Carter, Maud Watts, Meryl Streep, Pankhurst, Romola Garai, Sarah Gavron, suffragetteLeave a comment

A fantastic feat of female filmmaking.

Following the actions of a small group of women fighting for the right to vote in 1912.

Focusing on Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan), it is based in history and does a wonderful job at documenting a time, a struggle and a political movement that changed the world.

Co-starring Helena Bonham-Carter, Brendan Gleeson, Romola Garai, Ben Whishaw and Meryl Streep (among others), it was written by Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) and directed by Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady).

Deliberately visually unsteady and dirty, it delivers a glimpse of the past that moved me to tears.

100 Word Review – Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

April 6, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., FantasyTagged adaptation, animals, animation, Bill Murray, Darjeeling Limited, Fantasy, George Clooney, Grand Budapest Hotel, Jason Schwartzman, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Roald Dahl, Stop Motion, Wes Anderson3 Comments

Based on Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story, with an all-star cast (George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Darjeeling Limited) chose stop-motion animation to adapt this to the big screen.

And he made the right choice. The combination of quirky animation, eccentric characters and utterly delightful use of language make you feel as though you are living the book.

There are some unfortunate Hollywood stereotypes that sneak into it. All the evil farmers are British and the animals are all American. However, it still captures the charm of the original story.