Movie Time!

[gilda_elise]

Another month filled with lots of movies. I keep thinking that I'll catch up, that there won't still be dozens of movies I want to check out from the library. Hasn't happened yet. Maybe I should quit watching the previews. *g*




Feb 4 - Pawn Sacrifice (2015)
Set during the Cold War, American chess prodigy Bobby Fischer finds himself caught between two superpowers and his own struggles as he challenges the Soviet Empire.
Director: Edward Zwick
Stars: Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard

Maguire does a fantastic job of recreating Bobby Fischer’s mental problems. The film itself is an interesting look at the times, as well as the man.


Feb 5 - Our Brand is Crisis (2015)
A battle-hardened American political consultant is sent to help re-elect a controversial president in Bolivia, where she must compete with a long-term rival working for another candidate.
Director: David Gordon Green
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie

Funny in places, kind of odd in others. Bullock’s character is unlikable a lot of times, yet you can’t help rooting for her.


Feb 7 - 5 Flights Up (2014)
A long-time married couple who've spent their lives together in the same New York apartment become overwhelmed by personal and real estate-related issues when they plan to move away.
Director: Richard Loncraine
Stars: Diane Keaton, Morgan Freeman, Cynthia Nixon

A sweet slice of life, as a couple tries to sell their house. Keaton and Freeman are perfect together.

Feb 11 - Maggie (2015)
A teenage girl in the Midwest becomes infected by an outbreak of a disease that slowly turns the infected into cannibalistic zombies. During her transformation, her loving father stays by her side.
Director: Henry Hobson
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson

An odd choice for Schwarzenegger, but he does a solid job of playing a father who is slowly losing his daughter to a deadly disease.


Feb 12 - A Separation (2011)
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Stars: Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat

Ultimately, a separation is all that is achieved. Just as in The Past, the film is more about the journey, rather than the destination.

Feb 13 - Hysteria (2011)
The truth of how Mortimer Granville devised the invention of the first vibrator in the name of medical science.
Director: Tanya Wexler
Stars: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce

Wide humor mixed with deadly seriousness as the infancy of women’s rights is explored. A sweet movie, though not a very clever one.

Feb 20 - Grandma (2015)
A teenager facing an unplanned pregnancy seeks help from her acerbic grandmother, a woman who is long estranged from her daughter.
Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden

Tomlin’s character wasn’t very likable at first, but she grew on me. It was so weird, though, seeing how much hasn’t seemed to change. It’s hard to imagine that someone wouldn’t know about the proper use of birth control.

Feb 24 - Freeheld (2015)
New Jersey police lieutenant, Laurel Hester, and her registered domestic partner, Stacie Andree, both battle to secure Hester's pension benefits when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Director: Peter Sollett
Stars: Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Steve Carell

Moore, and usual, is fantastic. It’s a good solid movie, with moments of both joy and tragedy. And you see what gay couples had to do in order to get where they are now.


Feb 24 - Infinitely Polar Bear (2015)
A manic-depressive mess of a father tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who don't make the overwhelming task any easier.
Director: Maya Forbes
Stars: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky

An excellent movie. Buffalo is great in showing the quirks, the ups, the downs, of manic depression, and how it effects all who are around.

Feb 25 - In the Land of Blood and Honey (2012-Netherlands)
During the Bosnian War, Danijel, a soldier fighting for the Serbs, re-encounters Ajla, a Bosnian who's now a captive in his camp he oversees. Their once promising connection has become ambiguous as their motives have changed.
Director: Angelina Jolie
Stars: Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic, Rade Serbedzija

An engrossing, tragic movie. It’s hard to watch in places, but I think it’s something we all should see, how war can often create an enemy of anyone.

Feb 26 - Darling Companion (2012)
The story of a woman who loves her dog more than her husband. And then her husband loses the dog.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Stars: Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline, Dianne Wiest

A sweet movie that’s about all the different kinds of love. Of course, there’s a dog, which is an automatic plus for me, but Keaton and Kline are great together.

Feb 27 - Truth (2015)
Newsroom drama detailing the 2004 CBS 60 Minutes report investigating then-President George W. Bush's military service, and the subsequent firestorm of criticism that cost anchor Dan Rather and producer Mary Mapes their careers.
Director: James Vanderbilt
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Dennis Quaid

An eye-opener, in that we get to see exactly what happened, and how facts don’t always count for anything. An issue that’s just as relevant now as it was then.

Comments

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

I may have to go find Truth. Being a journalist, I know how easy it is to manipulate the facts so that you aren't lying, but you aren't really telling the truth either. Stats are great for that.

Sounds like a busy month!

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Not to give too much away, but it wasn't the journalist who were lying. At least, that's the way I saw it. Anyway, I think you'll enjoy the movie. :-)

[hsv-fangirl.livejournal.com]

That's a lot of movies! lol xx

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

It is, isn't it? *g*

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool, thanks for listing these! I've heard of many of them, but not all...and forgot that I was interested at the time and never followed up! Now I can actually have a list to remind myself. *g*

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Glad it'll come in handy. :-) I keep a list, myself, adding a movies to it as they come out because the chances of me seeing them at the theatre is slim to none. That way, once the library acquires a copy, I know I'll get to see it. It can take awhile, but that's okay.

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

Please don't quit! These sound fascinating, especially the combination of Keaton and Freeman and then Keaton and dog. I wouldn't mind seeing In the Land of Blood and Honey, either, though I'd had to be in a strong frame of mind as it does sound pretty harrowing and not the usual escapist stuff I can easily wallow in.

Cheers for this.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I didn't even know Keaton had made all these movies, but I'm so glad that I found them. She's quickly becoming a favorite.

And, yes, you'll have to gird yourself before seeing In the Land of Blood and Honey. It's a good movie, and it's message is more pertinent than ever, but very hard to watch in spots.

Glad you're enjoying the lists!

[tinny]

Now I want to watch so many of those, too! :D

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

There are some really good movies on the February list. You should look them up! :-)