A coming-of-age story set in the middle of a civil war, Kenneth Branagh’s (Hamlet, Cinderella) Belfast tells the incredibly personal account of nine-year-old Buddy (newcomer Jude Hill) who, during the summer of 1969, witnesses the violent clash of his Protestant neighbors trying to eradicate his neighboring Catholic families in the middle of the streets in Belfast, Northern Ireland home.
Category Archives: Judi Dench
Chocolat (2000)
Lasse Hallstrom’s (The Cider House Rules, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) brings a fresh taste to a small, mythical French village in 1959 in his new film Chocolat. This fictitious fable delivers a gentle, kind, and uniquely original message. Its peculiar characters, everyone-knows-everyone small-town vibe, new neighbor intrigue, and sympathetic humor mix together more sweetly than the many chocolate recipes created by the film’s protagonist, Vianne (Juliette Binoche – The English Patient, Dan in Real Life).
Philomena (2013)
Philomena is a fine little movie that has somehow been classified as a great movie worthy of Best Picture and Best Actress (Judy Dench – Notes on a Scandal, Shakespeare In Love) nominations. In my opinion, neither are deserving. This movie, though only 1 hour 38 minutes, never felt super slow, but it still did feel long. I think that had to do with the story not winning me over. In a year where there were many decent movies but not many great ones, Philomena will not be remembered. I think when people go back and remember 2013, the list isn’t very deep. People will remember 12 Years A Slave, Gravity, and possibly Frozen (I’m not an animated movie type of guy, so I won’t see this movie, but I understand how great others think it is).
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