Posts from the ‘biography’ Category

Apr 5

The King’s Speech

The act of speaking to a large crowd is terrifying for many people. On most lists of common fears, in fact, public speaking ranks almost always near the top. It’s a wonder more horror movies haven’t been made about it, come to think of it. In The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper’s brilliant and beautiful film, the horror of public speaking is compounded by a stammer and by the sheer importance of the content of the speech.

The 2010 Academy Award winner for Best Picture explores the stammer of King George VI and the reactions of those around him. What can be done about such a powerful man who must, by the nature of his placement in life, speak to large groups of people? Worse still, the king must be the people; he must vocalize their wishes and speak on their behalf. What’s to be done if the king cannot speak?

Feb 16

Cleopatra

The monstrosity that is Cleopatra is still regarded as one of the most expensive movies ever made. The 1963 film was supposed to be an enormous hit for 20th Century Fox but it would up nearly bankrupting the studio, clocking it at a massive $44 million after being originally tagged with a $2 million budget. The notoriously ungainly production featured a host of problems that included a very ill star, countless production delays and a healthy dose of moral outrage.

The original cut of Cleopatra presented to the studio by its director Joseph L. Mankiewicz was six hours in length. It was chopped to about four hours for an initial release, but Fox demanded further cuts and it was brought down even more to the dismay of the filmmaker. Mankiewicz wanted it split in two parts to preserve the impact, but that idea was tossed by the studio. Apparently testing the already annoyed Fox on such matters was a mistake.

Dec 2

The Social Network

When a movie about Facebook was announced, tongues were set wagging about the possibilities. My own feelings were mixed. As I find myself spending an awful lot of time on the site, I was kind of curious about the story behind it. On the other hand, I wondered just how exciting or interesting such a story could be. Alas, when David Fincher was announced behind the lens, my interest picked up considerably.

And so it is. The Social Network is a fascinating motion picture that has dazzling and perceptive writing thanks to Aaron Sorkin and a slew of compelling performances. It isn’t a movie about Facebook, really, or even a movie about Mark Zuckerberg. It is a movie about betrayal, friendship and a good idea. The Social Network of the title isn’t just a website or a cluster of websites; it’s life itself, the very breath that we share a species and how connected we are – or aren’t.

Sep 23

The Motorcycle Diaries

The Motorcycle Diaries is a movie about a journey to self-discovery. Directed by Walter Salles and based on books by Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Alberto Granado, the film tells the story of transformation but leaves off right when the transformation is set to occur. It is maybe a movie about beginning transformations, then? I’m not overly sure, but I still found myself captivated and interested in what was going on.

Now naturally the historical figure of Che Guevara has become somewhat of a marketing mechanism, with all manner of T-shirts bearing his likeness and a veritable cottage industry springing up around his philosophy. Whether or not those consumers have read into his philosophies or ideas is another story, but they seem to have no trouble buying Che shirts that were in all likelihood put together by the “evil capitalist machine.”

Dec 19

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The Blind Side

I’ve yet to really be captured by a movie that fits in the sports/inspirational class and 2009’s The Blind Side didn’t change that. Based on the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis, this John Lee Hancock film does little to escape the formulaic nature of the genre and doesn’t particularly give anything of depth or interest.

The Blind Side never tries to do too much, which is its downfall. It tells the story of Michael Oher and the wealthy white Christian family that took him in and saved him from certain disaster in the ghetto. However offensive or stereotypical one might find the story, it is based on true events and the characters are based on real people.

"Always make the audience suffer as much as possible." – Alfred Hitchcock

Posts from the ‘biography’ Category

The King’s Speech

Cleopatra

The Motorcycle Diaries

The Blind Side

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