The King's Speech

            I-I-I-I-I r-r-r-e-eally enjoyed this movie. Now all stammering and poor (and perhaps tasteless) attempts of humor aside, there is a reason that this movie led this year's Academy Awards with 12 nominations. It's a great freaking movie from beginning to the end. It's funny how sometimes the best movies put out there are the ones that get by all of the big shots in Hollywood and were made on relatively small budgets and are independently produced. Just look at Slumdog Milionaire a couple of years ago and Black Swan this year as well. Both were produced by 20th Century Fox's offspring for independent films, Fox Searchlight, and The King's Speech went down a similar road of independent producing.
            But sometimes I believe the best things need to be those diamonds in the rough as it gives them that extra little appeal. The King's Speech centers around the true story of King George VI (played by Colin Firth) as he goes from being the Duke of York, and second in line to the throne, to being tossed into being King despite his reservations against it, at the outbreak of WWII. Oh and did I mention that during all of this he has a terrible stammer, which is really unfortunate to have when you're a part of the English monarchy and must constantly make public speeches.
            Now the movie spans over a good decade before WWII, as King George VI tries to deal with his speech problem. The King decides, with the pushing of his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), to see speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) about his problem. The film follows brilliantly the ups and downs over the years of Logue and the King's work together, thanks in part to the great script written by David Seidler, who used his own experiences of having a stammer and actual journals from Logue to make the film as real and historically accurate as possible.
             As with a lot of British films the cast was stellar even down to the bit players. Michael Gambon (Dumbledore in Harry Potter) did a great job as King George V and Guy Pearce (LA Confidential) did a stand up job as King Edward VIII who forced the throne on his brother after resigning. Colin Firth is absolutely excellent in his portrayal as I can't imagine how hard it must be to act as if you have a stammer, and he won the Oscar for Best Actor quite deservingly so. Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter each deserved the Oscar noms for supporting actors as well. David Seidler won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and it was deserved, but I don't believe director Tom Hooper should've won the Best Director Oscar, though he definitely deserved the nomination. That's a debate for another time however.
             All in all I'm glad this movie won the Best Picture Oscar as it had my vote for it, if I had one that counted anyway. But in the end if you enjoy good acting and a good story then you should enjoy this movie. I give it a thumbs up and 4 stars out of 4! Go see this movie if you haven't already!

If you have any suggestions for my next review feel free to comment

A Single Man

           Today's review is coming in a bit late, but it's here so that's all that matters. I had the pleasure of viewing "A Single Man" the other night. I had heard plenty of good review going in, but didn't really know what it was about. Well first off, the reviews were correct because the movie is quite good. The movie stars Colin Firth (The King's Speech) as George, an English professor who is still trying to cope with the sudden death of his partner one year after it happened. Julianne Moore (The Kids Are Alright) costars as his longtime friend and neighbor, Charley, from England.
            Like I said I wasn't sure what to expect going into this movie at all and was quite surprised what the plot ended up being, but in a good way. The plot not only circled with a man losing the love of his life and him trying to deal with it, but with a situation that you rarely see addressed in those times. That is of course homosexuality. Now granted I was no where near alive in the 60s, but it's quite common knowledge that being openly gay back then was not very common or as openly accepted as it is today. Many people I believe either denied it or led secret lives. The movie deals with this aspect of the story very well as it gives the viewers, what I believe to be, a very honest look into how lives for homosexual couples back then must have been and felt like.
             The story guides you through a couple days of George's life and in doing so flashes back to various stages of George's relationship with his partner Jim, a much younger man, played by Matthew Goode (The Watchmen). The couple are in a sense are quite open about their relationship as they live in the LA suburbs in a house together. As George tries to deal with the agony of his loss, he finds himself questioning why things happen the way they do, and along the way ends up making an unlikely connection with one of his students named Kenny, played by Nicholas Hoult (About A Boy). This connection helps guide George through the troubles in his life and hopefully, in time, back to a place where he can find happiness once again.
             All around the acting in this film is quite good. Colin Firth does a superb job portraying his character George and rightfully earned himself an Oscar nomination last year for Best Actor.  I thought Julianne Moore did a good job at making herself a believable English woman, as well as a woman who is just as lost as George, in the limited screen time that she does have. Matthew Goode is excellent portraying the younger partner that seems to be more open and loose about their relationship. And Nicholas Hoult plays his character well as the somewhat odd student trying to find some of his own guidance.
             Overall, this movie was in my opinion excellent. The plot was unique, original, and very honest and real. I definitely give it a thumbs up and three and a half stars out of four. It was snubbed for a Best Picture nomination in my opinion. So go see it!