First reviews of 2010
Jan. 4th, 2010 03:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThe Misanthrope
Sold to me as the opportunity to spend an evening in the same room as Keira Knightley, this turned out to be so much more. I've already read two much more eloquent and erudite reviews, so I won't try to compete.
Damian Lewis was excellent, by far the best performance, and the only actor who never struggled with the rhyming dialogue. The latter was mostly very clever, but let down a little by the other actors over-emphasising it in places, rather than just reading the lines as they would be spoken normally.
Keira's long hair and bland American accent detracted somewhat from her usual appeal, but it was still pleasurable to see her in the flesh.
Overall, it was an intelligent play, largely performed well, but perhaps just a little too pleased with itself in places.
Nine
Fantastic cast, beautifully put together and affecting in places, but not really my style of film or music. The ubiquitous Italian accents bothered me for some reason, and not all of the singing was as good as I'd hoped. However, Nicole Kidman's voice has really developed since Moulin Rouge (partly, I think, because they gave her a song that was much more in her range), and Kate Hudson provided both the best song and the most entertaining performance. As the critics have been saying, Marion Cotillard was excellent as the neglected wife, and her song - "My Husband Makes Movies" was the most emotive scene.
Not sure I ever want to see Judi Dench doing burlesque again, though...
Where The Wild Things Are
This was as thoughtful and understated as I'd expected, and I particularly liked the simplicity of the ending, which could easily have been overdone. I'm never keen when characters destroy things they've put a lot of love and effort into, and it always hits a little close to home when people are criticised for childish tantrums, but the premise was maintained well over the running time, and a lot of it was very nicely done.
Misfits
This has been the surprise successful recommendation of the year so far - brilliantly devised, extremely entertaining, and unexpectedly compelling. I liked all the characters (against my better judgement in some cases) and the last episode in particular was both dramatic and hilarious. It leaves me with the burning question - will there be any more???
Sold to me as the opportunity to spend an evening in the same room as Keira Knightley, this turned out to be so much more. I've already read two much more eloquent and erudite reviews, so I won't try to compete.
Damian Lewis was excellent, by far the best performance, and the only actor who never struggled with the rhyming dialogue. The latter was mostly very clever, but let down a little by the other actors over-emphasising it in places, rather than just reading the lines as they would be spoken normally.
Keira's long hair and bland American accent detracted somewhat from her usual appeal, but it was still pleasurable to see her in the flesh.
Overall, it was an intelligent play, largely performed well, but perhaps just a little too pleased with itself in places.
Nine
Fantastic cast, beautifully put together and affecting in places, but not really my style of film or music. The ubiquitous Italian accents bothered me for some reason, and not all of the singing was as good as I'd hoped. However, Nicole Kidman's voice has really developed since Moulin Rouge (partly, I think, because they gave her a song that was much more in her range), and Kate Hudson provided both the best song and the most entertaining performance. As the critics have been saying, Marion Cotillard was excellent as the neglected wife, and her song - "My Husband Makes Movies" was the most emotive scene.
Not sure I ever want to see Judi Dench doing burlesque again, though...
Where The Wild Things Are
This was as thoughtful and understated as I'd expected, and I particularly liked the simplicity of the ending, which could easily have been overdone. I'm never keen when characters destroy things they've put a lot of love and effort into, and it always hits a little close to home when people are criticised for childish tantrums, but the premise was maintained well over the running time, and a lot of it was very nicely done.
Misfits
This has been the surprise successful recommendation of the year so far - brilliantly devised, extremely entertaining, and unexpectedly compelling. I liked all the characters (against my better judgement in some cases) and the last episode in particular was both dramatic and hilarious. It leaves me with the burning question - will there be any more???
