Monday, March 8, 2010

The Boat That Rocked (2009)

 

IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
Runtime: 135 mins
Language: English
Country: UK | Germany | USA | France
Color: Color
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1131729/

Director: Richard Curtis
Cast:
Michael Hadley ... Mr. Roberts
Charlie Rowe ... James
Lucy Fleming ... Mrs. Roberts
Philip Seymour Hoffman ... The Count
Tom Sturridge ... Little Carl
Ian Mercer ... Transfer Boatman
Bill Nighy ... Quentin
Will Adamsdale ... News John
Tom Brooke ... Thick Kevin
Rhys Darby ... Angus Nutsford
Nick Frost ... Doctor Dave
Katherine Parkinson ... Felicity
Chris O'Dowd ... Simple Simon
Ike Hamilton ... Harold
Stephen Moore ... Prime Minister
Kenneth Branagh ... Sir Alistair Dormandy
Michael Thomas ... Sandford
Bohdan Poraj ... Fredericks (as Bo Poraj)
Sinead Matthews ... Miss C
Tom Wisdom ... Mark
Gemma Arterton ... Desiree
Jack Davenport ... Dominic Twatt
Ralph Brown ... Bob Silver
Rhys Ifans ... Gavin Canavagh
Talulah Riley ... Marianne

Before beginning to tell you my thoughts on this one let me give thanks to my friend Sudish Kamath who is does for real what I attempt to do here. I love the way he writes but I what I love more is the kinship I feel with him though I've known him for just a few weeks now.
Why thank him you ask? I shall tell you.
Firstly it was because of him that I started this blog...but more importantly, MUCH more importantly because he introduced me to this movie.
Sudish, thank you so very much for this brilliant movie! :)


This is possibly a dream movie of sorts for me. If there was one movie that I would have loved to acted in...it would be this one.
Why? ... This movie encapsulates perfectly what I love about music, about radio and ... about great movies.
The movie tells you the story of Pirate Radio (no no...not Miss Malini's radio show. ;) )The real Pirate Radio. What was it? Find out by seeing this movie.

It was pioneering stuff. It was a revolution. It was rock n roll.
And God!! I wish I could have been a part of it. I so wish I could have been a part of it.
But like all great movies, this one allows YOU and me...to be a part of that awesome time...for a couple of hours.

All the actors are stunning. The casting for this movie is so awesome, words fail to do it justice.
The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Gavin Canavagh (Rhys Ifans) are two characters that are so cool you know that if they had a real radio show you would be hooked for life, Midnight Mark (Tom Wisdom) is someone you'd love to be and Simple Simon (Chris O'Dow) is someone you can't help but fall in love with. These are just some of the characters who reach out to you and grab your heart in this beautiful film.

If none of this appeals to you so far (yeah I know...no big names in the movie so far right) then I know what will.
The SOUNDTRACK!! Holy Crap On A Cracker!!
What a bloody brilliant soundtrack!!!
The Who, Cream, Procol Harum, The Kinks, The Beach Boys, Jeff Beck, Otis Redding, Cat Stevens, Dusty Springfield, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, The Grateful Dead and a whole lot more!
God damn!!
What a song list this movie has. I promise you...I'll do an episode of The MJ Show on just this movie's soundtrack!

Right then. So did I get everything to you?
a)Great story - check
b)Great actors - check
c)Great sound track - check
and oh yeah...to top it all...it was about Radio! :)

And you know how much I loved that. For over 5 years of my life I was doing for real what these gentlemen in this movie were portraying. I miss being on radio and I totally GOT the ending of the movie. I won't lie...I cried a  bit too. It really is just that kind of an ending you know. If you love anything as much as those guys loved what they did or how much I love what I did and do, you'll cry a bit too. Don't feel shy. Go ahead and shed that tear if you must.
I won't tell you what the story was...I just won't spoil it for you folks.
I want you to watch it. I mean it. For the love of God, movies and rock n roll...don't miss this one!

Right ho then!

The Moviemania Rating: 10/10
So yeah. I like it that much. :) You don't agree with my rating...that's perfectly all right with me :)
I LOVED IT! :) And for this here site, that's all that matters :)

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Invictus (2009)

IMDB Rating: 7.5/10
Runtime: 133 mins
Language: English
Country: USA
Color: Color
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1057500/

Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast:
Morgan Freeman ... Nelson Mandela
Matt Damon ... François Pienaar

The magic of cinema, of movies is that it helps us escape our world and allows us feel things and experience moments that we may not ordinarily do in our day to day lives. I think whilst doing all this, the primary goal of a film or a filmmaker is that the movie should entertain an audience.
While that is happening, the entertaining bit I mean, if the filmmaker is able to throw in something more...a cause, a deeper meaning, something inspiring and uplifting it just makes the film a whole lot better. But do remember that the first thing he/she needs to do, is, to make the movie entertaining. Once that is achieved they can add in anything they want and people will love it.

I think Invictus manages that brilliantly. It is a story about a nation just getting to terms with change and one man's dream to make his nation accept that change and prosper with it. It is the story of a rugby team and how they adapt to changes in their world and their dreams to make it to the top of the world.
And incredibly it is a tale of how the two dreams meet together and get realized on a rugby pitch.

I think the movie was BRILLIANT! I've always said, I'm a simple guy and it's quite easy to please me but this is beyond that. It's not just a good movie. It's a great movie!
It's the kind of movie that comes along every now and then and gives you goosebumps and makes you cry a bit for someone who has absolutely no connection to you. It did all that for me and it made me feel really good about being a movie lover...about being positive and optimistic...about being alive.

I won't tell you much about the story in itself. I would really urge you to see it...but I will tell you that it has Morgan Freeman playing the great Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon playing the captain of the South African rugby team and they are both positively brilliant in the movie.
What I didn't know until now (and I don't know how I hadn't heard about it) was that the movie was directed by Clint Eastwood. I discovered that only after the movie was over and I got down to writing this.
In a way however, I'm glad that I didn't know that fact. I LOVE Clint Eastwood as an actor and as a director too. Had I known that it was his movie, I might have seen the movie, already knowing that it would be awesome. But not knowing that fact and just seeing it for what it was...and then discovering that it was made by one of my favourite heroes (and I mean that word beyond the cinematic sense) was absolutely delightful.

What a brilliant way to spend a couple of hours! Go watch it now!

Oh and this is for you poetry buffs and movie trivia buffs. The poem that Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) recited to himself when he was in prison and this is the poem that he passes on to François (Matt Damon) before the South African team are about to play the Rugby World Cup finals.

Invictus
by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

The Moviemania Rating: 9/10
What can I say. I loved the movie and these are my ratings right? :)

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