2012: Week 21: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Genre: Drama, Comedy

Main Players: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup, Dev Patel

General Gist:  7 British retirees travel to India to retire in an advertised newly remodeled hotel.  The story follows their lives in this new environment.

Deb's Take: 
There is something to be said for seasoned actors.  I know Hollywood is all about youth, adventure, and all that jazz. I think they have it wrong, it should be about acting, and experience and talent.  This movie had just that, experienced acting, talent, beauty in age and the genuine art of life.  As much as I love romance, star crossed lovers, and that whole hub-bub, I have to say, I have come to realize my true passion in movies is a good lesson.  I like the lessons, I want to learn from others' lives.  This all probably evolved from my work, I am around "seasoned" people all day long, I see where we all are headed, and I am determined to learn from my elders.

This movie had such a wonderful group of actors.  Although I didn't like Penelope Wilton's character (who really could..she didn't even like herself) I loved all of the roles and they were played brilliantly.  Each actor seemed so comfortable and did an amazing job.  I believed they actually "were" their characters.  The story wasn't anything tremendously out of control, but rather just a chronicle of life and changes that can happen at a certain age.  Changes that so many people overlook and take for granted, but the real lesson to me....Life doesn't ever end until it really ends.  (so chew on that one for a while.)

I told my mom she should get all my aunts together and go see this movie.  I don't know how much a "younger" crowd would appreciate the message, but I guess I am not so young anymore, so I did love it.  I also want to give kudos to Dev Patel and his role.  He did a great job as well, he was right up there with all those more experienced actors. 

Deb's Rate:  Opening Night

Tiff's Take:
I love it when a movie like this comes along.  One with not a lot of hype but ends up knocking your socks off.  Such an unexpected treat!  It reminds me of last year's The Way.  I remember seeing the preview for this a while ago but then forgot about it since it didn't really hit the mainstream movie world.  My in-laws actually went and saw it before I did and thought it was great.  So I had to go to see what it was all about.  I will say that this ended up being one of the best movies we've seen so far this year. 

The story was really interesting because this group of retirees goes on this adventure that you would never think people that age would do.  They throw themselves in this foreign world at a vulnerable time in their lives and for the most part thrive.  It's an inspiration really.  What an amazing thing to go out of your comfort zone so completely.  And the actors of course were phenomenal.  You really can't go wrong with a cast like this.  Also, I really enjoyed seeing Dev Patel in a less serious role then his role in Slumdog Millionaire.  (Which I loved by the way.)

Although I think this movie is more relatable to people over the age of 50, it was still enjoyable for this 30 something year old. 

Tiff's Rate: Opening Night definitely.

Preview: Looks like from some of the previews we may have some good ones coming.

Week 37: The Debt

We were all set to see Moneyball last weekend for a free screening but they were having "loading" issues so we couldn't see it.  I won't even pretend to know what that means.  As we were hanging our heads in disappointment we realized that we could still see another one.  Even if it wasn't free.  So that's just what we did.  We were able to boogie into The Debt minutes before it started.  Talk about preparing yourself to see one kind of movie then ending up seeing something completely opposite. 

The Debt was a spy thriller that goes between the past and present of three characters.  As Deb said, the main characters were played by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas and Sam Worthington as the younger characters and Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciaran Hinds as their older counterparts.  All did an exceptional job especially Helen Mirren.  She was fantastic.  Actually, Jessica Chastain did a pretty good job too.  And I just looked her up and she was the one who played Celia in The Help.  Wow.  I would have never guessed it was the same person.  I guess that means she's doing her job.  The men were good but I felt they were in more supporting roles.  That's a change.

Even though this was a spy thriller I would say it was more thriller than spy to me.  In spy movies you tend to have a lot of action and gadgets.  And there was but it had a little more suspense aspect to it.  There were at least two or three times where I had to squint my eyes to avoid seeing something full on that I knew would make me jump.  I'm such a wimp.

Although I'm sure this movie was a lot more intense than Moneyball would have been I'm glad we saw it.  Very well done.

To Sum it up:  Interesting plot, well acted and a few jump in your seat moments.

Week 37: The Debt

This week were were planning to attend a prescreening of "Moneyball", however due to some technical difficulties the screening was cancelled, so we just went to a movie that fit in with the time frame, since we were at the theatre and all. When we walked into the movie we didn't remember what the it was about and hadn't prepared ourselves for the type of movie we were going to see. After the first scene I remembered the previews and settled in.

This movie was about 3 Israel Mossad agents who are sent on a mission to track down a Nazi war criminal. The movie flashes back and forth between the present and the past, so in essence there are 3 main characters, played by 6 actors. I was a little concerned at first that the jumping back and forth would make the characters seem disconnected, however, it didn't at all. I was actually really impressed with how easily the roles blended together, and each character really did seem like only one actor.

Rachel, played by Helen Mirren and Jessica Chastain, was my favorite. She is really the "main" character of the film as the story centers mostly around her life. I was impressed with both of the female actresses. Helem Mirren is quite amazing!

Stephan is played by Tom Wilkinson and Marton Csokas. Again, a great job by both characters. I wasn't as "convinced" they were the same character, and sometimes had to remind myself, but overall they pulled it off.

David, played by Ciaran Hinds and Sam Worthington wasn't as played in the present as the past. I liked the job Sam Worthington did with this character, and really bought into his role.

Overall the movie was extremely entertaining, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it as much as I did. It was a good "spy", thriller and I liked how the past and the present played on each other.

My husband went with us and he agreed it was a good movie. Overall a good movie for men and women a like! Definately worth the money and a great substitute.

See you next week