Nisha Ganatra (The High Note) tries a formula that’s been tried and true with a slightly different spin in Late Night. The Emma Thompson (Howard’s End, Sense and Sensibility) dramedy focuses on her career as an acclaimed late-night talk show host who might be on the tail end of her career after plummeting ratings in recent months/years. Flanked by an all-white male staff of writers, Katherine Newberry’s (Thompson) material has become predictably stale.
Category Archives: Emma Thompson
An Education (2009)
Set in 1961 England, Carey Mulligan’s (Shame, Drive) breakout performance in Lone Scherfig (One Day, Their Finest) is a movie that resonates in a way that is completely independent of its time frame as well as location. Does this mean it’s a timeless classic? Well, when I think of timeless classics, I think of very different films than An Education. This beautiful film was on pace to be a timeless classic, one where everything is fine and dandy and one that I probably would not have enjoyed as much if not for a late twist. The setting of 1960s Europe doesn’t exactly perk my interest. If, as I write this in 2018, in my early 40’s when I am much more into the independents than I am the big blockbusters, the synopsis for this film doesn’t attract, I can only imagine what I thought going into it back in 2009. I honestly have no idea what piqued my interest in this movie or what even got me past the first 15 minutes. Sure, a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes will have some positive effect, but even that can only carry me so far. Whatever it was that encouraged me to continue with this movie even, when I suspect that I thought I was getting into some variation of Pride and Prejudice, Atonement, or one of the many other Keira Knightley movies, I am grateful. I want to say that this movie had a lasting impact on me because it did. However, upon watching it for a second time, with an eight-year gap between viewings, I can unequivocally say that how I thought I remembered this movie was considerably different than what actually happened. I think I like it the same, though I feel differently about it, especially how I view the final act.
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A Walk in the Woods (2015)
A Walk in the Woods, the 2015 comedy-drama that I thought would be a throwaway movie that I originally only watched so that I could add it to my list, turned out to be one of the biggest surprises of the year. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’d be a fool to think that a year from now that I’d remember anything from this movie or that I’ll ever watch this movie again. But for two hours on a Tuesday night in the middle of April, it was a very refreshing escape from reality, and a movie had me grinning from ear to ear from the first scene until the last. Also, if Robert Redford (The Horse Whisperer, All is Lost) or Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides, Warrior) called it a career today, and this was either of their last movies, I think that would be okay. Each has had a solid career. While not his number one fan, I find it absolutely criminal that Redford has only been nominated for one Oscar for acting in his entire career (way back in 1974 for The Sting). Nolte has had more success as an actor in terms of awards (three Oscar nominations). And while these two actors are household names who each have more than a dozen movies that you could rattle off the top of your heads, their careers have followed very different careers. Controversies in his personal life have marred Nolte’s career, whereas Redford has sort of been the poster boy of how an A-list actor can live his life while staying out of the tabloids. The two don’t seem like much of a match for a movie like this so late in their careers. But the movie worked perfectly for each man. You’ll leave your viewing knowing that each gave an admirable performance even though it’s light-hearted and certainly not one of their most memorable ones.
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Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Emma Thompson (Howard’s End, Remains of the Day) got hosed out of an Oscar nomination! I had made it a goal to see all the nominees in all major Academy Award categories. Still, I didn’t see the snubs or the next in lines for Best Actor, Best Actress, etc., unless their movie received a nomination in one of the other major categories. It’s been a while since I reviewed all of the really good films of 2013. I’m sure I had already replaced Amy Adams (American Hustle) with a more deserving candidate. I don’t remember who I replaced her with at the moment, and I don’t feel like going back and looking. I’m pretty sure I did this, though. I believe I replaced the Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for this movie because I didn’t feel like any of them deserved it. I think I did keep Jennifer Lawrence as a nominee because the nominees in the Supporting Actress category in 2013 were not overly impressive. But this review isn’t about the underwhelming American Hustle. It is about the under-appreciated Saving Mr. Banks, a movie I had written off as a lame little kids’ movie after a single trailer. It was one of those movies that I told myself I would eventually see because it had so much hype surrounding it, and I have yet to talk to someone who didn’t, at least, like it.
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