Posts filed under 'Drama'
SILENT SOULS- 2011. Premise by Netflix. “Paul Hanganu (Mimi Branescu) is in love with two women: Adriana (Mirela Oprisor), his wife of 10 years, and Raluca (Maria Popistasu), his mistress of the past several months. Now, at a crossroads, Paul is forced to choose between them in this drama from Romanian director Radu Muntean. Combining careful staging and emotionally intense dialogue, the film presents an unblinking profile of a man in crisis and the women whose lives he’s ensnared.” Very good reviews. TRDB.
Tags: drama, Foreign
September 25th, 2010
THE CONSPIRATOR- 2011. Premise by Netflix. “Robert Redford directs this gripping historical drama that follows the efforts of young lawyer Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) as he defends Mary Surratt (Robin Wright Penn), a Confederate sympathizer accused of conspiring to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Realizing that Surratt may in fact be innocent, Aiken defies public opinion and risks everything to get her acquitted. The stellar cast also includes Tom Wilkinson, Kevin Kline and Alexis Bledel.” Very good audience reviews. TRDB.
8/23/11- An OK history lesson but I found the movie overly dramatic and fairly predictable most of the time. Might have been better as a documentary. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: drama
September 11th, 2010
IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE- 2010. Premise by Netflix. “Just days before his scheduled release from a reformatory, teenage delinquent Silviu (George Pistereanu) takes a pretty social worker (Ada Condeescu) hostage and threatens to kill her unless his estranged mother (Clara Voda) promises not to separate him from his younger brother. Will Silviu’s desperate act to protect his sibling cost him his freedom? Marian Bratu also stars in this engrossing drama from director Florin Serban.” Fair reviews on average but including a few very good ones. TRDB.
4/11- Very slow Romanian drama that I thought was just OK. TRDB. Comcast On-Demand.
Tags: drama, Foreign
September 8th, 2010
A SCREAMING MAN- 2010. Premise by Netflix. “Adam (Youssouf Djaoro) was a security guard at a posh Chad hotel until its new owners replaced him with his son (Dioucounda Koma). In this nation torn apart by civil war, citizens are called upon to help. But Adam only has one thing to give, forcing him to make a devastating choice. Emile Abossolo M’bo and Djénéba Koné co-star in this powerful drama, winner of the Jury Prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.” Great professional reviews and average audience reviews. TRDB.
8/3/11- A very slow but very moving drama about the effects of war on one family in particular. Definitely recommended. TRDB. Netflix Streaming and available on DVD very soon.
Tags: drama, Foreign
September 8th, 2010
ETIENNE!- 2009. Premise by Netflix. “Learning his only true friend and kindred soul — his dwarf hamster, Etienne — is dying of cancer, shy hotel worker Richard (Richard Vallejos) decides to show Etienne the world before he goes. Soon, the two are tooling along the California coast on Richard’s bicycle. As they travel, man and hamster meet a variety of quirky individuals, make many new friends and realize some important life lessons in this charming indie comedy.” Good review in NY Times 9/3/10.
8/7/11- After a slow, weird beginning the movie got better and I actually enjoyed it. TRDB. Netflix Streaming.
Tags: drama
September 3rd, 2010
THE WAITING ROOM- 2007. Premise by Netflix. “Single mom Anna (Anne-Marie Duff) breaks off a self-destructive affair with her friend’s husband (Rupert Graves) when she meets the man of her dreams — Stephen (Ralf Little), a handsome nursing home orderly — in a chance encounter at a train station. The feeling is mutual for Stephen, who loses interest in his tepid relationship with Fiona (Christine Bottomley) when Anna comes into the picture. Roger Goldby directs this romance set in London.”
Very good reviews. TRDB.
10/24/12- I saw this by mistake when, at first, I thought I was watching the new documentary with the same name but fortunately I did enjoy it. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: drama, Foreign
August 31st, 2010
HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE- 2010. Synopsis by Netflix. “On the way to meet a publisher, aspiring novelist Sam (Josh Radnor) encounters 6-year-old Rasheen (Michael Algieri) alone on the subway. While struggling to decide whether to send him back to foster care, Sam looks after Rasheen and learns a few important life lessons. Meanwhile, Sam’s friends deal with various romantic tribulations. Radnor wrote and directed this coming-of-age comedy, which won the Best Drama Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.” Just OK reviews, slightly more positive than negative. Awful review in NY Times on 3/4/11.
6/30/11- I agree with the Times– the worst and I turned it off very quickly. TRDB.
Tags: Comedy, drama
August 22nd, 2010
THE WAITING CITY- 2009. Premise by Netflix. “Radha Mitchell and Joel Edgerton star as adoptive parents-to-be, en route from Australia to Calcutta to pick up their new baby, in this unconventional love story infused with the exotic charms of India from director Claire McCarthy. To foreigners who have never been on Indian soil, the city is at once intoxicating and overwhelming. But it also has the power to pull the couple’s already fragile marriage apart at the seams.” Reviewers were OK with this one but audience reaction was poor. TRDB.
6/4/11- I enjoyed this movie that was clearly as much about India as it was about the principal characters. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: drama
July 31st, 2010
FAREWELL- 2009. Premise by Netflix. “In this thinking man’s spy thriller, KGB agent Sergei Grigoriev (Emir Kusturica) plans to hand over hard evidence that proves the depth of his agency’s penetration of U.S. intelligence, in a one-man crusade to bring down the Soviet empire. French engineer Pierre Froment (Guillaume Canet) is drawn into this web of espionage against his will, but proves a surprisingly resourceful operative in the process.” Mostly good reviews.
5/16/11- A fairly good spy thriller. TRDB. Netflix.
Tags: Foreign, Mystery
July 24th, 2010
THE CONCERT- 2009. Synopsis by Netflix. “The winner of two César Awards, this uplifting comedy focuses on Andrei Filipov (Aleksei Guskov), a Russian conductor whose music career was cut short by politics. Now an alcoholic janitor, Filipov seizes a chance to reunite his orchestra and reclaim his life. Using a purloined invitation to a Parisian festival as incentive, Filipov gathers his rag-tag musicians and a French violinist (Mélanie Laurent) to realize his long-cherished dream.” A few very positive reactions but more fairly negative ones. The story sounds interesting and I’ll give it a try. TRDB.
6/24/11- A ridiculous farce and I turned it off fairly quickly. TRDB.
Tags: drama, Foreign
July 16th, 2010
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