2011 Golden Year for Films

There is no real explanation for my recent lack of updates to Mensa Classic Films. No, I did not take the Grand Tour of Europe, take a World Tour that included Victoria, British Columbia, the Falkland Islands, Easter Island or other such world wide locales. I was not seriously ill at any time except for a broken wrist. In fact my failure could only be blamed on laziness. But I'm amending that now to note that this past year has produced more films that I want to see than any other recent year.

This will not be a full review but rather a touch on titles and a short comment on why I want to see them. I will note, that so far I have seen "THE HELP" which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have liked Viola Davis in the few films I've seen her in and this film is no exception.

I should note one caveat on why I haven't seen more. My hearing problems which I apparently inherited from my mother's father have grown much worse in recent years so that I really can't go to the theatre for a film. If it ain't got sub-titles/close captions, I don't know what they are talking about. So that means, watching on TV when I can put the words on the bottom of the screen. It has one bad feature in that I am so busy reading that I'm not always seeing the action. Certainly a disadvantage. Anyhow, I'll provide a short list and commentary on everything I'm looking forward to seeing and principally in order of my desire to see them.

THE ARTIST - First on my list. Actually my wife says I could see it in the theatre without sub-titles and probably not miss anything. I will note that the ads I have seen have been very enticing. Both the two French leads seem to be charming and attractive. The lead gentleman, and I apologize for not giving his or for that matter her name reminds me a lot of John Gilbert who had a similar problem when talkie's came in, though in his case I am under the impression that his voice was sabotaged when he spoke by some faulty equipment. At least I have read that.

HUGO - This picture seems to be particularly delightful from the interesting setting of a Paris train station. It also deals to a certain extent with an earlier period in the life of the movies and with the added advantage of dealing with trains.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS - I have long been a fan of Woody Allen films from his earliest days. Do you recall his first film, "What's up Fortune Cookie" or something like that where he dubbed English on to a Japanese cloak and dagger film of not necessarily high quality and made a very funny vehicle out of it. The Midnight in Paris film also has a nostalgia ring to it and is set in Paris, neither of which is bad in my book.

THE DESCENDANTS - I have long been a fan of George Clooney and this film shows him in good though not typical form. He's one of those actors who seemingly can do almost any genre with ease. The story has it's twists and turns which makes it more interesting at least in my analysis of various reviews and short cuts I've seen on the tube.

TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY - This story was outstanding in it's original novel form as written by John Le Carre and in a four part serious on PBS. The film's lead at that time starred Alec Guinness as master spy George Smiley and included a really top set of supporting players. Oldman who carries the Smiley role in this shorter film version apparently has all the skills demonstrated by Guinness in his performance of the original.

EXTREMELY LOUD AND TERRIBLY CLOSE - This film features two of my favorite artists, Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Hanks seems to have the singular ability to play almost any kind of role without seeming to go out of character. Sandra Bullock has perfected her screen image so well that you know what you can expect but because she does it so well you're not disappointed. This film is mostly about a boy and elderly man. The latter is up for an Academy Award as a supporting actor, Christopher Plumber.

There are a number of other films of interest to me including the foreign film entry from Iran, "A SEPARATION." "SHAME," a film with a strong sexual emphasis. "THE TREE OF A LIFE" a complicated film that stars Brad Pitt. "MELANCHOLIA" a downer starring Dirst. "MARTHA, MARCEY, MAY MARLENE," another downer and the final film of the "HARRY POTTER" series "THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS - PART 2" with the last gathering of Radcliffe and his friends. And there's a World War I film "THE WAR HORSE" which essentially stars a horse. Tilda Swinton in her usual good form in "WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN" a world class downer if there ever was one and two outstanding actresses, Glenn Close and Janet McTeer in a story about a woman called NOBBS who is living as a man. And lastly the almost always reliable Paul Giamatti in a sports film called "WIN WIN."

All in all it is truly an outstanding years. I'm sure that those of you who are really into films will find that several of these will take more than a couple viewings to really digest what they have to say.