What's on in the pictures?

Ariadne, WH probably saved my degree! One of my papers in the finals was on the Victorian novel and we should have had at least four authors up our sleeves for the exam. Oh dear! about three weeks before the day, I realised that I had specialised in three writers. So - how to find an author who had written just one book? Easy! Emily Bronte. Mugged up WH and wrote an erudite (?) answer on it. Lucky or what? Now I have a hard time remembering what it was all about because I haven't read it since.

angst on the moors I think about sums it up

Saw My Week With Marilyn last night. It was lovely [needed something sweet and unchallenging after the films I've seen recently]. Most unusual is the fact that I could happily watch it again; no matter how much I enjoy a film I rarely want to see it for a second time, with the exception of old classics. Michelle Williams was brilliant [Oscar on it's way I think], and I now understand why the actor who played Colin Clark was given the role of Angel Clare in the TV adaptation of Tess.

I agree crimson Marilyn was a sweet lovely film very evocative of that era, she deserves an oscar, I also thought Kenneth Branagh was brilliant as Laurence Olivier. I would also watch it again.

Have just seen Sherlock Holmes film with Robert Downey Jr & Jude Law. It was very clever & quite fast moving. A little unbelievable in parts, but in a funny kind of way. No bad language either and horrible violence, which made a nice change. I now want to see Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady, the trailer looked very good.

Missed the Marilyn. Promised DH we would go to SH.... Things I do

Going to take DH to The Lady tomorrow as part of our Christmas to New Year hol. Lots of sitting by the fire, roasting chestnuts and reading books, bliss. Back to work next week. Think it will be good but sad. Will report back.

I managed to resist the temptation to go to Alvin and the Chipmunks with the GC before Christmas (whew!) but fell for the 3D animation, Puss in Boots, a spin-off of the Shrek series and, although I fell asleep for a short time, I must confess I enjoyed it. The animation was excellent, the action fast moving and it was worth seeing it in 3D. If you have to take the GC to the cinema you could do worse.

I'm looking forward to War Horse - out on 13th January I think. Having seen the stage pruduction 2x it'll be interesting to see it on film - completely different with 'real' horses even though I was convinced that the stage ones were real!

I took my grandson to see Alvin and the Chipmunks a week or so before Christmas and fell asleep half way through it - it was long and not very exciting. He didn't mind it too much, but wouldn't recommend it.

Mixed reviews about War Horse, but I'm certainly going to see it. I want my daughter to come with us, but she prefers to wait and see the stage show which, with being back at work and having two small children, I don't think will happen. Will be interesting to compare it to the stage show, although there is no chance on earth of anything being better. One thing is for certain, and that is that I shall cry throughout the film just as I did throughout the show!

How was The Lady Ganja - I'm a bit worried that it might be just a love story?

We saw his 'Adele Blanc Sec' the other year and really enjoyed it.

I go to the cinema often as we have a good Picture House (Independent Cinema) here where I live.

Went to see "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" last night. It was excellent. I have read the trilogy and really enjoyed the Swedish films of the books so went to see this American version ready to be disappointed but to no avail, it is a really good version of the first book with excellent production values.

I also belong to LoveFilm and pay a monthly subscription. There are many "free" films you can download onto your computer and represent excellent value. Many of the foreign language films with 4/5 stars are really worth watching as they are the creme de la creme of arthouse films and as Butternut has said, watching French and Spanish films are good for your language skills if you try to "ignore" the subtitles!!!!

This is a good time for excellent films - all the "Oscar" nominations are out in the next few weeks and I love to see them before the Oscar night and make my own judgement beforehand, then wait and see if I am correct in my picks!

JessM We loved The Lady. DH, who is pure marshmallow under a rather fierce exterior, said it was the most moving film he had ever seen, and would even like to see it again one day, which is unheard of for him. Yes, it is a tragic love story rather than a political polemic, but very well done and the acting is superb. Do go.

Have now seen The Iron Lady. There is no doubt that Meryl Streep gives an amazing performance, but I agree with all the people who say it should not be shown while Mrs T is still alive. In fact I'd go further and say it should not have been made. It seems tasteless in the extreme to use the sad facts of someone's terminal illness to make into an entertainment to make money.

I really wanted to dislike the American 'Girl With...' but it was very good. Still prefer Noomi as Lisbeth, though. The second and third parts of the Swedish version were disappointing, which is why I wanted to see the remake. My partner doesn't really want to see the film about Mrs Thatcher, but we may go go just to see Meryl Streep's performance. However, if the film ignores all of the bad things she did, it might just be the first film we walk out of.

I didn't want to see the American version of Girl with Dragon Tattoo, but liked it better than the Swedish ones, which reallly surprised me.
Am off tonight to see The Iron Lady will let you know what I thought. Ganja I have the same reservations, but am still curious.

Ditto crimson.
I thought The Girl With was surprisingly good, although there was one plot alteration that had me confused (Australia became London - and a rather different character)
Mostly British cast.
I kindly consented to go to see the Sherlock H, which was darn boring. Fight after fight really. Just a fighting movie.

I liked the way Daniel Craig used his glasses to 'become' an investigative reporter rather than James Bond. Just a small minor detail, but rather a clever one, I thought. Rooney Mara was a bit too wholesome looking, but more vulnerable than Noomi.

So glad there is to be a dedicated film thread. I love the cinema and try to go regularly but my last 2 outings to our local arts cinema were a total disaster. No. 1 "The WellDiggers Daughter" (French with Daniel Autieul) they couldn't find the key to the box(?) so we all got a refund. No.2 "Jack Goes Boating" (Indi with Philip Seymour Hoffman) turned out to be a baby club (screaming screen) session and they wouldn't let us in as we hadn't brought a baby! Now getting withdrawal symptoms as our last successful trips were "Midnight in Paris" and "Ides of March" before Christmas both of which I loved. One of the really good things about retirement is going in the early afternoon and coming out in time to do a bit of shopping on the way home!

JessM...I thoroughly enjoyed the film ( altho I did want to kill one of the characters, not too difficult to guess which one!)
I 'm glad you mentioned the plot 'change' as I thought I'd spotted that too.
I've already decided to give 'Sherlock' a miss, you have convinced me that it is the right decision!
I've posted a new thread about 'War Horse' a trailer for which was shown.

So many films I want to see - but anything worth watching is "through" Milton Keynes like greased lightning so I may not get there in time -The Lady, The Iron Lady, My Week with Marilyn, The Artist are my films of choice- I have read poor reviews of "Sherlock" (and without Benedict Cumberbatch no point) and my memory of the stage production of "Warhorse" was so good, I don't want it overlaid by the film.

Yes we are not exactly in the forefront of arthouse cinema here are we gracesmum or even interesting independent cinema

Snort , snort!!
I remember once seeing "Cyrano de Bergerac" IN FRENCH at The Point - that lasted about half a week and "Lives of Others" at the Xscape one Sunday afternoon, when the lights came up we were 2 out of a total of 7 people in the cinema.
Never going to win European Centre of the Arts award are we?