Tag: movie

The Barbie Movie Is Cleverer Than You Think!

Going to watch the Barbie movie on Saturday, I wasn’t bothered by the hype or anyone else’s views. I knew I would like it because Margot Robbie always makes good choices and Greta Gerwig is a genius director.

But I still wondered if it might be too childish even for me?

Now I can reflect on the movie which has generated over a billion dollars in just a fortnight. It has nearly made twice the money of The Little Mermaid and has initiated many eye-opening conversations.

Challenging Attitudes

I suppose I half expected Barbie to challenge stereotypes. There was no way this film was ever going to be a straightforward celebration of cheesiness.

Although don’t get me wrong… There was plenty of cheese. More than enough to spread on 1000 pieces of toast.

But YES – Greta did good! She made the film fascinating. She drew parallels between Barbieland and The Real World. In Barbieland women ruled – they had a female president and women doctors, lawyers and law makers. Back in The Real World, men were in charge, as Barbie and Ken discovered when they travelled there (in the most hilarious way – by jet ski, rocket, camper van and roller blades).

Don’t Forget Ken

Poor old Ken is always just a sidekick. Played by Ryan Gosling (famous for LaLaLand), he is superficial (Ken, not Ryan), not very intelligent and depends on the gaze of Barbie to maintain a purpose and satisfaction.

When he follows Barbie to find the real girl who is playing with Barbie in distress, he recognises the toxic masculinity that involves men running companies, pumping iron and acting selfishly. Let’s not pretend it doesn’t happen BUT not all of us men are like that. Anyway, he likes what he sees and takes those traits back to Barbieland and the rest would involve spoilers.

Margot deserves an Oscar for this performance. It is nuanced, comedic and full of emotion.

There… I said it… I think her acting is up there with Cate Blanchett in this movie. She is also the producer of this and used her company – LuckyChap – to create this cheeky but thought-provoking narrative.

And Finally…

I may be biased as I have loved Margot ever since she played Donna Freedman in my favourite soap opera ‘Neighbours’. Even at the height of her fame she was happy to appear in the final episode of Neighbours last July. Thankfully Neighbours is coming back care of Amazon Freevie and Margot will always stay close to this show – her brother was recently in Neighbours as well.

With intriguing cameos and a fantastic cast which includes three members of Sex Education (Netflix), this is a fabulous movie which I would rate five stars.

Another great contribution comes from the cheeky narrator, played by Helen Mirren, by the way.

Barbie started off as cliche but ended up beating the living daylights out of stereotypes. I loved the way Barbie was able to talk to her creator and discuss her purpose which was to inspire young people. Not to be a bimbo!

I would totally recommend swallowing your pride and popping along to the cinema to watch this brilliant masterpiece.

If you want to find out my thoughts about the other big movie out right now, check out my review of Oppenheimer. Please also consider following my blog for similar future content.

Oppenheimer Was Petrifying But Excellent!

Popping along to my local Showcase Cinema yesterday to see the much hyped new Christopher Nolan film – Oppenheimer, I was concerned about the three hour duration. Would I be able to keep my eyes open in a dark room for this long? Well, I definitely remained fully awake as this film was nothing less than an eye-opener.

In A Nutshell

Robert Oppenheimer studied in Cambridge (near me) and went on to be a leading light in Quantum Physics. He was asked to set up a research project that would ultimately develop an atomic bomb which would be actually used towards the end of the Second World War.

Seeing such enthusiasm for making this bomb really made me feel awkward. The fact that it was a race and they seemed to treat it like a game was a difficult aspect to handle.

However, the acting was magnificent and the story was thoroughly explored. Great actors were brought in to play people such as Truman (Gary Oldman) and Einstein (Tom Conti). Matt Damon came in as the guy in charge of the Manhattan Project and worked side by side with Oppenheimer. His acting was also to a high standard.

I was a little let down by the casting of Robert Downey Junior – Iron Man – in this as Lewis Strauss. He was his usual wooden self and this role would have been acted better by someone like Leo DiCaprio or even Ben Affleck.

Bright Lights

The last time I saw Cillian Murphy was in ‘A Quiet Place 2’ with Emily Blunt. It was great to see them reuniting under Christopher’s direction. I thought Cillian gave a stable and well rounded performance as Oppenheimer. He stayed consistently in role as a convincing scientist with a complicated situation playing on his mind.

Emily Blunt was Kitty, his wife, and showed up at key moments during the narrative. She was a league above the rest in this film. In my opinion her acting was gritty, sarcastic and utterly convincing. She is not quite up to Kate Winslet’s and Cate Blanchett’s level of chameleon transformations but she did incredibly well.

For me, Christopher needs a Best Director Oscar and Cillian a Best Actor nod. Emily should at very least pick up a Best Supporting Actress as she was limited by the fact her character was only in about half an hour of the film.

Squirming In My Seat

The moment they tested the bomb I winced. The idea that they went ahead and blew up something – even though they didn’t know if it would set the atmosphere alight and destroy the whole world – startles me. I cowered in my seat when the painfully bright light shone across New Mexico and was later followed up by an ear-splitting bang.

The subject matter was very sad in that this development in history led to the awful destruction of two Japanese cities. It also led to the Cold War. Was it necessary?

Despite the subject being very gritty, the Oppenheimer movie itself was cleverly written, expertly directed and powerfully acted. Go see this magnificent film now!

Check out my previous write-up of The Little Mermaid and perhaps consider following my little blog for future similar content.

The Lost Daughter – Book Review

Now that it is summer and I have finally finished writing school reports, it is time to get back to reading. Last week I finished a short book that I started a while ago about a woman with a difficult relationship with herself and her daughters. Here is my ‘The Lost Daughter’ book review.

I will be honest, the thing that attracted me to this book was a picture of Olivia Colman on the front page. She has apparently been in a film version of this and I thought it would be fun to check out the novella before watching her movie.

What’s it all about?

Elena Ferrante is the author of this lovely story, which has been translated from Italian into English. The main character, Leda, is a middle aged woman whose children have gone to live with their father in Canada. Leda teaches English and writes academic papers. Feeling freed up a bit she goes on holiday to Southern Italy for some ME time.

A fascination with a Neopolotan family who are often laughing or rowing by the beach, leads to some friction. Leda finds herself reflecting on her own motherhood, including a period where she ran away from her husband and daughters. She has a mixed bag of feelings towards motherhood and it is interesting to read about her tortured soul.

Strengths

– Incredibly well written in short chapters. Easy to pick up and put down.

– Set near a beach, it is the perfect holiday companion.

– It really makes you think about not taking people for granted. Who knows what is going on in someone else’s head?

In A Nutshell

This story is clever and insightful but there is little action. It is more of a drama, with the internal monologue of Leda driving the story brilliantly.

I was really engaged in the book and love the way it meanders, with a comforting ebb and flow. I can totally recommend reading this wonderful book and now cannot wait to watch the film.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my ‘The Lost Daughter’ book review. For another of my recommendations check out my thoughts on Frazzled by Ruby Wax. Perhaps you might also consider following my little blog for more book and TV reviews alongside environmental articles about global warming.