Movie Review: Tolkien (2019)

Greetings dwarves, elfs, hobbits, and wizards!

Today I am reviewing a film about a very famous author. Someone who created worlds and languages now explored by many. If you haven't guessed from my salutation (or the title of this post. I always forget about that...), you soon will!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is spoiler free!


Tolkien (2019):

Based on: the life of author J. R. R. Tolkien.

"Men should be comrades wherever they come from."

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is in the middle of WWI. After receiving a letter from the worried mother of one of his friends, he begins a trek to find her son, though he himself is sick and feverish. While doing this he relives his past, all of the years he was growing up, and begins to find inspiration in the terrible war scenes. Accompanied by Private Hodges he walks accross abandoned battlefields in search of his comrade, will they be able to find him?

'"Now what do we do?"

"We change the world."

"Oh good, something simple."'

Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance.
Length: approx. 112 minutes.
Costumes: 9, very fitting for the time, plus there are some lovely dresses and whatnot.
Script: 10, no bad words or swearing, I believe!

"Things aren't beautiful because of how they sound. They're beautiful because of what they mean."

Crew: Directed by: Dome Karukoski. Written by: David Gleeson & Stephen Beresford.
Starring:
Nicholas Hoult as J.R.R. Tolkien.

Harry Gilby as young J.R.R. Tolkien.
Anthony Boyle as Geoffrey Smith.
Adam Bregman as young Geoffrey Smith.
Tom Glynn-Carney as Christopher Wiseman.
Ty Tennant as young Christopher Wiseman.
Patrick Gibson as Robert Gilson.
Albie Marber as young Robert Gilson.

"We are your brothers through everything."

Craig Roberts as Private Sam Hodges.
Lily Collins as Edith Bratt.

Mimi Keene as young Edith Bratt.
James MacCallum as Hilary Tolkien.
Guillermo Bedward as young Hilary Tolkien.
Laura Donnelly as Mabel Tolkien.
Derek Jacobi as Professor Wright.

Genevieve O'Reilly as Mrs. Smith.
Colm Meaney as Father Francis.
Pam Ferris as Mrs. Faulkner.
Owen Teale as Headmaster Gilson.
Mia Woods & Sienna Woods as Priscilla Tolkien.
Paul Gurcel Escudero as Michael Tolkien.
Harry Webster as John Tolkien Jr..
Jack Riley as Christopher Tolkien.
Kallum Tolkien as Second Soldier.
Cinematography: 10, there were a lot of elements woven in that made it pretty spectacular on a visual scale!
Cinematography by: Lasse Frank.

Music: 9, I've been listening to the score while writing this and I'd forgotten how pretty it is! Light and airy while being magical.
Music by: Thomas Newman.
Quotability: 6, I haven't found myself quoting this a lot since I watched it, but my sister has. I thought that this was a trifle amusing:

"The stick was a metaphor, drop the stick." (paraphrase)

Content: 6, there are many war scenes involving the aftermath of battles, death, sickness, blood, and people on fire. In addition to that there are sometimes when characters are a little intoxicated, and one or two suggestive comments. If you don't feel good about those war scenes, you might want to be ready to skip a tiny bit. It's not super bad, but it's present. You know, I've seen far worse.
Originality: 9, I hadn't heard about Tolkien's life, so I didn't know much besides his most famous trilogy. In fact, anything that I did know about him took place after the timeline of this film, so it was unique to look into his childhood and young adult years.

Good For: Lord of the Rings fans, anyone who has lost friends and needed to find them.
NOTE: I recommend this movie, but there are lots of spoilers for the Lord of the Rings books, so don't watch this until you read those, or see the movie adaptations.
Age Range: It is PG-13, but primarily for those gruesome scenes. Violence and that kind of thing doesn't bother me as much as other things, but as I always say, it depends on the person.
Overall Score: 8.5!
Worth watching?: Oh yes! Though I'm sure a few things were fictional to add suspense and the like, I really enjoyed this glimpse into his life. It was an all around enjoyable movie and I can't think of a part that I didn't like.

"Lock all of this in you heart, lock it tight, and it will be there forever. I promise."

Will I watch again?: It is one of my older sister's favorite movies, so yes, I imagine I'll be watching it with her in the future some more.
Bonus thoughts:

"Languages never steal. Influence."

I would never have picked Nicholas Hoult to play Tolkien, but after watching it I can't think of anyone else. He is so earnest, you believe him in whatever he says and are interested to see where he goes. I'm not even that interested in languages and the structure and origin behind them, but when he talks about them I think, "Ah, this is so fascinating!". As for the other actors, Lily Collins was lovely and I was happily surprised to see Derek Jacobi (because, as you can see on my sidebar, he's one of my favorites).
I'm becoming more and more familiar with stories told in a broken timeline, and this one was ideal for it. Instead of dragging in places you are always wanting to know what will happen next. I loved looking for the references to his books, though I am sure that I missed many. I will fully recommend this to any and all Lord of the Rings fans, because even if it doesn't turn out to be your new favorite thing, it is a goregous way to spend a couple of hours.


And, as per usual I can't find half as many pictures as I want that do it justice, so you'll just have to watch for yourself!

Guess what? This is another entry in Hamlette's Tolkien Blog Party! I'm so happy to be joining with two posts this time around when I only had one in the four other years I did it. This is her eighth party, and here's to many more in the years to come! Check out all of the other entries HERE.

Thanks for reading! First, let me know if you've seen this, then tell me your favorite biographical film!

MovieCritic

Movie Review: Gosford Park (2001)

Hello, everyone!

My younger sister and I watched the series Downton Abbey (we started it in 2016 and just finished a few weeks ago. It takes us a long time.), which was written by Julian Fellows. Back in August my older sister and I decided to watch one of his first movies, which we've owned for a while. Definitely not one of my favorites, but it was fun to see so, so, so many actors that I recognized!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning.

Gosford Park (2001):

When a man invites family and friends over to go hunting, it seems to be a fun thing, but we find that everyone has a secret. Upstairs and downstairs clash and through it all we see all classes. The last night of the visit ends with an even bigger surprise: murder. Few people liked the murdered person, but did anyone have a strong enough motive?

Genre: Mystery, Period Drama.

Length: approx. 138 minutes.

Costumes: 6, there are some good outfits, but there are low things or people aren't wearing anything.

Script: 5, quite a few bad words.

'"You'll be providing a lot of entertainment for nothing."

"Morris, I'm used to it."'

Crew:

Directed by: Robert Altman.

Written by: Julian Fellows.

Starring: (Remember that I mentioned a lot of actors? Well, here comes the list.)
Maggie Smith as Constance, Countess of Trentham.
Michael Gambon as Sir William McCordle.
Kristin Scott Thomas as Lady Sylvia McCordle.
Camilla Rutherford as Isobel McCordle.
Charles Dance as Raymond, Lord Stockbridge.
Geraldine Somerville as Louisa, Lady Stockbridge.
Tom Hollander as Lt. Commander Anthony Meredith.
Natasha Wightman as Lady Lavinia Meredith.
James Wilby as Freddie Nesbitt.
Claudie Blakley as Mabel Nesbitt.
Jeremy Northam as Ivor Novello.
Bob Balaban as Morris Weissman.
Laurence Fox as Lord Rupert Standish.
Trent Ford as Jeremy Blond.
Kelly Macdonald as Mary Maceachran.
Clive Owen as Robert Parks.
Helen Mirren as Mrs Wilson.
Eileen Atkins as Mrs Croft.
Alan Bates as Mr Jennings.
Emily Watson as Elsie.
Derek Jacobi as Probert.
Ryan Phillippe as Henry Denton.
Richard E. Grant as George.
Jeremy Swift as Arthur.
Sophie Thompson as Dorothy.
Meg Wynn Owen as Lewis.
Adrian Scarborough as Barnes.
Stephen Fry as Inspector Thompson.

Ron Webster as Constable Dexter.

Cinematography: 7, there is a dark feel, but nothing really spectacular.

Cinematography by: Andrew Dunn.

Music: 8, I can't remember anything special for the score, so a neutral. BUT, the singing made me happy.

Music by: Patrick Doyle.

Quotes: 6, "I haven't a snobbish bone in my body."

Oscars won: 1: Best Original Screenplay. (It was nominated for Best Picture).

Storyline: 2, yikes. I believe this is the worst score I have given so far. There is a lot of smoking, drinking, and a lot of suggestive things, and that aren't just suggestive. If you are looking for a clean and fun mystery, don't watch this. (More later.)

Good For: Downton Abbey fans, mystery lovers.

Age Range: This movie is rated R. Definitely not for anyone under 16. 

Overall Score: 4.5.

Bonus thoughts:
I know that this movie won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (good for them!), but if you watch enough of one person's films or read enough of their books, you start to understand how their mind works. Some people like Agatha Christie, you think that you understand her system, but then she completely surprises you! As I said, I have watched all of Downton Abbey (well, not the new movie), and because of that I completely guessed the mystery. Sometimes I can guess the correct person but not the motive, but I had both this time. My older sister hasn't watched Downton Abbey and she was thoroughly surprised, though. It was fun to watch it with her and to see all of the famous people in it. The absolute best thing about this movie was hearing Jeremy Northam sing, it was worth watching it just for that!

I watched this back in August for Pure Entertainment Preservation Society's (PEPS) #AMonthWithoutTheCode65!. This weekend they have been hosting their Third Annual Great Breening Blogathon, and I thought this would be the perfect time to review it! I have seen them host this the last two years, but I couldn't come up with anything to do, so I am very excited to participate in this for the first time.

I actually reviewed this for their last blogathon!

PEPS specializes in all things about the Motion Picture Production Code that was in place from 1934-1954. The purpose of the Code was to make decent movies that anyone could watch. To learn more about the Code, click HERE! But, what is "Breening"? Joseph Breen was the man who put the Code into place, and PEPS will "breen" movies, which means that they will take a movie and say what would have needed to be taken out to have it acceptable under Mr. Breen's admistration. (Here is a list of movies that the writers at PEPS have "breened").

For this blogathon, they invited anyone to join them by "breening" a movie. With that all explained, I will now attempt to breen Gosford Park! One observation first: As I said, the Code was in place from 1934-1954, and Hollywood is infamous for the fact that the movies before the Code were scandalous and risque. This film is set in 1932, so in that time period. Would things have been better if it was set in a different year, or in was filmed in the Code Era? Let's find out!

SPOILER ALERT! From now on I will be going into a lot of details from the movie, so if you want to watch this movie and be surprised by the mystery, don't read any further!

I did a bit of research on this movie to see what the main theme/point of this movie is (it wasn't obvious to me!) to make sure that I kept that intact. What I found was how dependant the upper classes were on servants.

A big thing is consequences. A crime was committed, but what are the consequences? Through out the movie we see different things taking place. At first I thought that there were no consequences, but while  I was writing this, my older sister and I talked about it and I actually realized that there are some.
The mystery is this: Sir William McCordle was stabbed by Mr. Parks, who was his illegitimate son that he didn't know he had. It is found out later that by lack of blood, Sir William was already dead when he was stabbed. It turns out that Mrs. Wilson, who was Mr. Park's mother that he didn't know, realizing that he was her son and knowing his motive, she poisoned Sir William.
In this movie the case goes unsolved and no one is ever arrested for murder.

Doesn't sound like there are consequences, right? But, through out the film we see Mr. Parks growing to love Mary, maid to Countess of Trentham, and then she was the one who found out that he was the murderer. Mr. Parks, as a consequence, never gets to be with her. Well, this isn't really touched upon in the movie, but I think that for breening purposes we would highlight it more.

What about Mrs. Wilson? She poisoned Sir William to save Mr. Parks from being arrested, but she also saved Sir William from being brutally and painfully killed by his son. I think that in our breened version Mrs. Wilson would turn herself in with a feeling of remorse. When Mr. Parks learns this, he vows to make his life better.

As I said in my review there are a ton of suggestive, and more than suggestive things. In order for this to have been a Code movie, we are going to have to take out most of this. Sadly, most of it is related to the storyline.
The easiest one to take out is an affair between a maid and one of the guests. No need for it at all.
The biggest thing that needs to be removed is the interaction between Lady Sylvia and Henry Denton. Mr. Denton is valet to Morris Weissman, and is (as I say) a horrible person and (as my sister says) an ectothermal invertebrate [cold blooded and spineless]. We learn at the end of the movie that he is really an actor who was doing what he calls "research" for a movie, which is probably the most vulgar thing I've ever heard. He tries to get every girl in the house to love him and even forcibly tries to kiss some of them. This is part of the story to show that some like Lady Sylvia are easily fooled and taken advantage of, while others, like Mary and Elsie, are smart and have nothing to do with him. To breen this, I would say that it would be better to just mildly suggest these things, instead of showing us. I know that people usually say "Show, don't tell", but in these cases we would all be much happier if they would just tell, not show.
One of the guests is trying to get Lady Isobel to give him money, and threatens to blackmail her. It is very suggestive and could be taken out.
Sir William's past is more than suggestive. The consequence was that he was murdered, but we understand that that is wrong because no one deserves to die. Besides the basic storyline (which is kind of impossible to breen) anything else suggestive should be removed.

There are also a lot of bad words, and some low costumes.

This is my first time trying this, so I am sure that I have missed a lot of the smaller details, but I have covered all of the important plot lines. Breening is really hard. I am very impressed by the Brannans who do this almost every week!

Sorry for the lack of photos, I am exhausted from typing, but I'll put some in when I have the time.

Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you like about this movie if you've seen it.

MovieCritic

Older vs. Newer Review: Cinderella

Hello!
Today, February 26th, is National Fairy Tale Day! And, it is still February, so Cordy's Lovely Blog Party is still in full swing!

If you have read this blog for awhile, you know how I am with doing things "in the spirit of" an event, so I have found the perfect thing to celebrate both! (Hint: look at the button or the title of this post)

Also, when I started this blog, one of the big ideas that I had that I was going to do a lot was my Older vs. Newer reviews. My current streak is one a year, so let's remedy that.

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning.


Cinderella (1951):

Based on: The story by the brothers Grimm, and Cinderella - by Charles Perrault.
(Do I really have to put the plot? I think pretty much everyone knows it.)
After a girl's father dies, she has to be a servant to her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. The king announces that there will be a royal ball, and at that ball his son, the prince, will choose a bride. Even though everyone is invited, the girl's stepmother, Lady Tremaine, won't let her go. The girl, Cinderella, receives help from a place that she never would have looked for it.

Genre(s): Fantasy, Family, Romance, Animated.
Length: approx. 74 minutes.
Costumes: 7. My sisters and I joke about how we always thought that Cinderella's head band were earmuffs.

Script: 8, there is not a lot of talking, but what is there it is all good.
Crew:
Directed by: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, & Wilfred Jackson.
Written by: Ken Anderson, Perce Pearce, Homer Brightman, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, & Ted Sears.
Starring the voices of:
Ilene Woods as Cinderella.

Eleanor Audley as Lady Tremaine.

Verna Felton as Fairy Godmother.

Lucille Bliss as Anastasia Tremaine.
Rhoda Williams as Drizella Tremaine.
Jimmy McDonald as Jaq and Gus.
Luis van Rooten as The King and the Grand Duke.

William Phipps as Prince Charming.
Mike Douglas as Prince Charming (singing).
June Foray as Lucifer (just cat noises).

Pinto Colvig as Bruno (just dog noises).

Betty Lou Gerson as the Narrator.
Animation: 9, this is just so classic! I love it! They say that it is in this movie was Walt Disney's favorite piece of animation. If you have seen it, you know which part I'm talking about.

Don't tell me that you didn't love this.

Music: 9! The song "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" is one of my favorite Disney songs.
Music by: Oliver Wallace & Paul J. Smith.
Quotes: 8, "Well, there's one thing. They can't order me to stop dreaming."
Storyline: 9, there is some smoking, but I think that's it!
Good For: All Disney fans!

Overall Score: 8.5!
Bonus thoughts: Considering what it is, if I saw it for the first time now I don't think I would really like it, but it is so nostalgic for me, I love it!


VS.


Cinderella (2015):

Based on: The story by the brothers Grimm, Cinderella - by Charles Perrault, and the 1950 version.
"Once upon a time, there was a girl named Ella."
This girl named Ella lives in a happy world. After tragedy, her father marries again and she has a cruel stepmother and stepsisters. More tragedy strikes, but Ella fights on, looking for good. One day, she meets a young man who is unlike any other, and only wishes to see him again. She hopes to do that at the royal ball, but her stepmother won't allow her to go. Ella learns to always believe, but will it be enough?
'"I believe in everything."
"Then I believe in everything, too."'

Genre(s): Romance, Fantasy, Family.
Length: approx. 105 minutes.
Costumes: 10! Costumes don't often get a full rating here, but these are outstanding!
Costumes by: Sandy Powell.
My favorite: Everyone ever!!

Script: 10, there is some name calling, but it is shown as bad.
"Names have power, like magic spells."
Crew:
Directed by: Kenneth Brannagh.
Written by: Chris Weitz.
"Kindness is free, love is free."
Starring:
Lily James as Cinderella. "Mystery princess? What a charming notion."

Cate Blanchett as Lady Tremaine. "My story would appear to be ended."
Richard Madden as Prince Kit.
Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother.
Nonso Anozie as the Captain.
Stellan Skarsgård as the Grand Duke.
Holliday Grainger as Anastasia.
"Such dear, affectionate girls."
Sophie McShera as Drisella.
Derek Jacobi as the King.
Ben Chaplin as Ella's father.
Hayley Atwell as Ella's mother.

Eloise Webb as a young Ella.
Jana Perez as Princess Celina of Zaragosa.
Alex Macqueen as the Royal Crier.
Rob Brydon as Master Phineus.
Cinematography: 10! It is so beautiful! I'm not a fan of CGI, but it is all amazing here.

Cinematography by: Haris Zambarloukos.
Music: 10!! Oh. My. Word. This music is so amazing! I love the theme of "Lavender's Blue".
Music by: Patrick Doyle.

Quotes: 10!

'"Why are you crying?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Nothing...nothing...what is a bowl of milk? Nothing, but kindness makes it everything."'

Storyline: 10!!
Good For: All Disney fans, all fairytale lovers.

'"Oh, I do love a happy ending, don't you?"

"They are quite my favorite kind."'

Overall Score: 10!
Bonus thoughts: This movie is so beautiful. Very few movies have such a huge effect on my life.
"Have courage and be kind."


Character comparison:

Cinderella:

1950: Do you know what is amazing? I never really liked her, but the 2015 has made me appreciate her more!
2015: Lily James does such a perfect job, no one else could have been better.


Prince Charming/Kit:

1950: We never hear a name, and this guy really has no personality.

2015: Ahhh!!! Richard Madden does such a great job! The best character ever. No buts about it.

Lady Tremaine:

1950: So evil, and that works in the 1950 version.

2015: Cate Blanchett doesn't usually play the villain, but she is amazing at it. I love the back story!

Anastasia and Drizella:

1950: Is is weird that I always liked Anastasia better? I don't know. Both are pretty cruel.

2015: Holliday Granger and Sophie McShea are two of my favorites. They were perfect for these roles.

Fairy Godmother:

1950: The classic! Whenever someone says "Fairy Godmother" this is who you picture!

2015: I am so used to seeing Helena Bonham Carter as the villain, that I was really surprised that she was cast in this part! She does a good job, though. The only thing I would remove is all the dark eye make-up. It's just a little weird.

The King:

1950: My sister tells me that he was her favorite character, which, I think, is relatable for a lot of kids.

2015: Yes!! I love Derek Jacobi as the king! So wise.

The Grand Duke:

1950: He is very funny! When I was little he was always my favorite.

2015: They completely changed his character, but I love it! Stellan Skarsgård does such a good job.

Comparing Outfits:

Well, it is only one outfit, but we have to have pictures of the classic dresses!

1950: This, this is so pretty! I loved it when I was really young (up to 6) then when I got a little older I didn't (7-13), but I don't know why! I love this!!
2015: That skirt has 12 layers. Wow! Blue is my favorite color ever, so to me this is so gorgeous!


The winner: Based on the scores, the newer one should win, but I can't choose. Tell me what you think!


Spoiler Alert! From here on there will be spoilers, but I don't know who hasn't seen this...

For the blogathon:

Cinderella and the Prince (1950):

You know, I am really not a big fan of the "love at first sight" trope. And I remember from an early age being exasperated by this. If we ignore that, then it is very sweet. The main point is that no matter where you come from, you are beautiful and you can be loved. I do love all of the animation here!


Ella and Kit (2015):

Ah!! This just makes me so, so, so, so, so happy!! Disney took what I didn't like about the original, and fixed it. I just love this so much I can't think to type anything out.
I love:
How Kit says:

"She isn't just a pretty girl! I mean, she is a pretty girl, but there is so much more."

That during the ballroom scene his eyes never leave her face.
The secret garden.
That she gives up her happiness to save him.
When Kit says: "I just have to see her again."


Also, this goes with my current header, because Ella and Kit are the bottom center!

I am so sorry that this is so scattered. Please tell me what you think!

Thanks for reading! And be sure to check out Cordy's Lovely Blog Party!

MovieCritic