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Sagewhoknowsheronions
I love many kinds of music, from sixties pop, folk and world music, through jazz and musicals to opera and ballet.
My favourite directors are Woody Allen, Lasse Hallstrom, Ang Lee, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Francois Truffaut, George Cukor, Frank Capra, Ingmar Bergman, John Madden, Jean Renoir, Jean Luc Godard, Louis Bunuel, Claude Berri, Francois Ozon, Andre Techine, Tim Burton, Alfonso Cuaron, Lewis Gilbert, Vincent Minelli, William Wyler, John Schlesinger, Alan J. Pakula, Joseph L. Mankiewicz and more.
My favourite actors and actresses are too many to name and apart from John Nettles, can be judged from my favourite films.
Favourite films, videos and DVDs;
Pride and Prejudice(1995), About a Boy, Sense and Sensibility, Annie Hall, Pocket Money, Wild Strawberries, Amelie, Fever Pitch, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, The Shipping News, Maurice, Bridget Jones's Diary, A Month in the Country, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Hero, Jean de Florette, Manon des Sources, Everybody Says They Love You, Play it Again, Sam, Deconstructing Harry, All The President's Men, Shakespeare in Love, Cider House Rules, A Month in the Country, Chocolat, The Man Who Loved Women, Two Weeks Notice, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Catch 22, The Remains of the Day, A Room with a View,Ordinary People, Emma, Howards End, M.A.S.H., A River Runs Through It, The Odd Couple, The Apartment, Philadelpia Story, Arsenic and Old Lace, Jules, et Jim, Silent Running, Dark Star, Bladerunner TDC, Spellbound, Casablanca, The Big Sleep, Notorious, Impromptu, Girl With a Pearl Earring, Geoff Hamilton's Paradise Gardens, A Midsummer Nights Sex Comedy, Smiles of a Summer Night, Through the Glass Darkly, The Secret Laughter of Women, Notting Hill, Wings of Fame, Hannah and Her Sisters, Manhattan, Another Woman, Pretty Woman, and loads more. I also watch a lot of things that were children's favourites, like The Secret Garden, The Little Princess, the Brambly Hedge series The Snowman and The Polar Bear. Laugh at your peril after all I'm supposed to be scary!
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My vote history can be read at http://us.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=8268806
They are listed with the highest ranking first.
My favourite books are:
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen, About a Boy - Nick Hornby, Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen, Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding, Under The Greenwood Tree - ThomasHardy, A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens, David Copperfield - Charles Dickens, Heidi Grows Up - Johanna Spyri,
What Katy Did...............)
What Katy Did at School) - Susan Coolidge
What Katy Did Next.......)
The Secet Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett, White Boots - Noel Streatfield, Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfield, Emma - Jane Austen, Eucalyptus - Murray Ball, Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier, White Boots - Noel Streatfield, Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfield, Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason -Helen Fielding, Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maude Montgomery, Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens, High Fidelity - Nick Hornby, Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen, Cranford - Mrs Gaskell, The Portrait of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde.
M. [wave]
A policy of continuing change, innovation and improvement is maintained for the betterment of your enjoyment.
Reviews
The Magic Roundabout (2005)
Charming, for children of all ages!
I was part of the 40% adult demographic that was was addicted to the Eric Thompson version, that went out on TV in the UK years ago, and I have a DVD of the Nigel Planer ones too. I was therefore looking forward to this for another fix, especially Tom Baker's Zeebad and Bill Nighy's Dylan.
It is visually delightful, the main part of the story where the Zebadee rules over a wintry ice kingdom is even prettier than the summery scenes at the beginning and end! The characters are more animated and better able to sustain your attention for the length of a feature film though I was surprised initially at the changes, not having seen any trailers beforehand. The plot is fairly simple but they always were, and so beautifully depicted that I can't see it matters. The love interest is as unexpected as it is sweet! The dialogue is as funny as you would expect from previous versions and the characters are as we always knew them. I loved Dylan's sudden concern when it was pointed out that grass was under threat!
I had forgotten how I had to get used to Nigel Planer's voice after being used to Eric Thompson's and this happened again. Once I had adjusted though it was delightful. The songs are nothing special and not as catchy or charming as the original tune but they fitted in just fine. I LOVED Ermintrude's opera singing! I had forgotten that attribute of her character!
Probably one I will enjoy more on dark winter nights when I need cheering up, accompanied by a mug of hot chocolate, sugar almonds and marrons glacés rather than popcorn, much more than than in warm weather. A film you can happily watch with children too. Just keep die hards and cynics at bay!
The DVD is excellent with a lot of extras and a an interactive two level quiz for youngsters when they have seen the film a few times and want a bit more involvement.
All in all, I recommend this to children of all ages.
Je vous aime (1980)
Very understated, sadly underrated.
I have only seen this film about three times and that was years ago but somehow it has stayed with me. The plot is inconsequential; the synopsis tells you most of it, the film just dots the Is and crosses the Ts, but it is copperplate not shorthand. Almost everyone concerned with it had great artistic and commercial success after making it, the director, for instance, Claude Berri, who also wrote it, went on to do Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources; it has therefore been overshadowed in all the careers it helped to shape.
The acting, locations, cinematography and editing by Etienne Becker and Arlette Langmann respectively, are a delight to behold and the film matches it's star in beauty, intelligence and style; I am surprised in many ways that it is not more appreciated than it is. There is a winter scene of them arriving at her home in the country for the New Year's Dinner at the crux of the story that makes me want to sell up and move there, and I don't like snowy winters!
The casting is perfect for a story of a woman who has had her share of interesting lovers - Catherine Deneuve and Gerald Depardieu coming into their prime, Serge Gainsbourg, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Christian Marquand already at home there. The reason for the number of lovers is Alice's elegant inability to cope with the boredom of long term relationships and her sophisticated ability to handle the break-ups and, of course, the fact that her beauty and personality will always attract someone new while the discarded ones hang on as friends.
Part of the interest is to see the traditional male attitude embodied in such indisputable femininity. This is no ladette copying the men, or a strident feminist getting her own back on the offending sex. She simply lives her life on her own terms without rancour or regret.
This film should be more widely seen, it is sad that even in France it is only available on video, not DVD and does not seem to be available elsewhere at all.