Tag: film review

Matilda Movie Review

When I was a child I remember hearing my infant teacher read the BFG to our class. She used different voices and was totally enthralling. Every year I heard another of Dahl’s stories and I began to read them myself. Soon I became a massive Roald Dahl fan. It is therefore no surprise that the new Matilda Movie has recently captured my imagination.

About ten years ago I went to see the Tim Minchin musical version of Matilda and it blew me away. So I had very high expectations when they announced that Netflix was making a film production of that very musical.

My Thoughts On Matilda

I remember Matilda being released as a book in 1988 and instantly loved it. In my job I regularly read this book and other wonderful stories aloud to a class and they always soak up the witty remarks and hilarious plots.

Emma Thompson as the Trunchbull has gone down really well. She has created a character who is terrifying, awkward and very amusing. Seeing her stomping around whilst singing clever and funny lyrics, dressed as a tall, staunch hammer thrower, makes this film perfect in my eyes.

Newbie child actor, Alisha Weir, is well cast as the lead role of Matilda and fits in well with an already stellar group of actors, including the kind and tuneful teacher, Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch). In keeping with the book, Matilda strikes up a friendship with her local librarian, who occupies a mobile library van in the film version.

Tiktok has gone crazy for one of the dance routines where the kids rampage down the corridors of their school, Crunchem Hall. As a musical, it is great, with a combination of sentimental, energetic and angry songs. Emma sings triumphantly in character and they all perform the lyrics live rather than miming to a prerecorded soundtrack.

In A Nutshell

Without giving too much away, the Matilda movie generally keeps to the original plot, with some additions to make it visually more stunning. The tiny details that Roald used are all there to be spotted and it even references several of his other stories at one point. Look out for a giraffe, a gypsy caravan (no doubt from Danny the Champion of the World) and a sweet nod to the BFG.

This musical is packed with fun, vibrant characters and incredible songs. I totally recommend checking it out at a cinema as it is just brilliant! Please follow my blog for similar future posts about books, films and the environment.

Where The Crawdads Sing – Movie Review

As a movie geek, I love any excuse to pop along to my local Showcase cinema and take in a good film. Having bought the book, ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ a while ago I still have it on my TBR but have read wonderful things about it. Nevertheless, the movie came out and I just couldn’t wait, especially after seeing such a great trailer and knowing that Reese Witherspoon produced it. So, here is my ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ movie review.

The Lowdown

A girl is left by her family as they run away (one-by-one) from her abusive father. Living in the marshlands of North Carolina, Kya is treated as an outcast when she attends school, hoping for a good school meal. ‘The Marsh Girl’ – they called her.

Set in the 1960s, the story follows a mysterious death, where a guy is found at the bottom of a fire tower. Was he pushed or did he jump? One thing they know is that he used to spend a lot of time with Kya.

A court case starts the movie off and we then go into extensive flashbacks of her upbringing and romantic past. Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People) is endearing as the Marsh girl and held my attention well throughout this two hours and five minutes picture.

My Thoughts

The rotten tomatoes critics’ score is low but the audience score is 96% and I agree with the viewers. This is a stunning film with talented actors and a believable timeline. Whether or not it is true to the book, I will have to tell you later, when I finally get round to reading it. In this case the critics were being too pompous.

I was totally engrossed in this narrative and felt that it was carefully written and well paced. The fact that ‘Hello Sunshine’ produced it gave it added credibility and Reese Witherspoon is well known for making great films out of best selling books. She did a brilliant job this time, for sure.

I was very happy with this beautiful movie and would totally recommend going to see it. Thank you for reading my ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ movie review. If you enjoyed it please consider following my little blog. Also drop a comment if you have read the book or seen the movie. I’d love to know what you thought. For another great movie, check out my recent write up of the Elvis Movie.

Reviewing the Elvis Movie

After seeing the trailer for the new ‘Elvis’ movie, I was really intrigued, despite knowing next to nothing about the unfortunate crooner. From that trailer alone, I could tell that the actor who played the man himself was a close match and that Tom Hanks’ character, Colonel Parker, was very interesting, especially as it was implied that he manipulated Elvis. Then, seeing Baz Luhrmann’s name appear as writer/director, I had every reason to believe this would be a film well worth seeing. Here is my brief review of the Elvis movie.

In a nutshell

Baz Luhrmann is legendary in my eyes because of his epic Romeo and Juliet movie and Moulin Rouge feature. I had been wondering what he’d been up to lately and was relieved to see that he had put together a biopic about Elvis’s career. During the pandemic I remember Tom Hanks catching Covid in Australia whilst filming an Elvis film and finally we now get to relish the finished product.

Although I hadn’t heard of Colonel Tom Parker before, Tom Hanks played this character fully, even wearing a fat suit and changing his face to match. The Colonel was the person who discovered and managed Elvis right to the end, even after the singer had tried to relinquish his controlling powers.

This script focuses on how their working relationship began happily and then became fairly sour. I won’t give away any spoilers but let’s say it was a very manipulative situation and I really felt sorry for Elvis and began to revere Hanks’ character.

Thoughts On The Movie

The thing that really stood out for me was the incredible, fast-paced editing by Luhrmann. As an avid moviegoer, I am fairly analytical and usually notice the way a film is edited. In this case, you would struggle to not acknowledge the incredible editing skills of this cinematic genius.

In one scene he cut back and forth between scenes in the past and present while the camera seemed to be bouncing along to the rhythm. It was almost as if the camera was dancing at one point when Elvis was perfecting his hip thrusts and gyration.

Overall

Not being an Elvis fan, I learned so much about this very talented performer. Austin Butler played the legend very well. His singing, movement and acting were all outstanding as was Tom Hanks. The 2 hours and 39 minutes absolutely flew by and I was totally immersed in this story. You MUST find time to go and see this epic blockbuster. It took my breath away.