Thursday, March 30, 2006

Watched two films yesterday in a rare trip to town. Nanny Mcphee on an afternoon, with a crowd that is, as expected, half non-working, like me, and half mothers-and-kids. I watched this film for Emma Thompson, and Angela Lansbury. Emma Thompson was not in her usual exaggerated acting, this time in a very subdued, underplayed, measured role of pure weirdness and calm and authority. The big bonus is to see Aunt Adelaide, expertly performed by Angela Lansbury, the evergreen Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. She don't do much movies, I am still stuck at her being the voice of Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast ... Interestingly enough, her make up makes her look a little like Daniel Auteuil ...
Other notable mentions are: the director, Kirk Jones, who directed the really quirky Waking Ned Devine, so I know the movie is in "safe" hands; Thomas Sangster as Simon, the eldest son, who has improved since Love Actually; Kelly MacDonald as Evangeline, who was in Hitchhiker's Guide and Gosford Park; and very good supporting cast from Celia Imrie, Imelda Staunton, and Derek Jacobi. Also worth praising is the delightful fairy-tale like, and oh so psychedelic, houses of the Brown and Quickly family ... and a solid looking cane too. A good film for the family.


If Capote is all Philip Seymour Hoffman, then Transamerica is all Felicity Huffman. Better get those surnames correct ... Bree is really very well written, for she is a tragic figure, but yet oh so inspiring. From the husky voice, a little too fake posture, trying to walk on platforms, clutching her handbag to her chest with reserve and assurance, and the spot on, very pink and aunty costuming, trying to correct her make-up, all put in together a glaring but perfect image of a "woman". There are a lot of light and funny moments between the odd couple of "mother" and son, but the road trip is a tad predictable, with the following ingredients: bad hitchhiker, good person, camping outdoors, stopping by to parents & grandparents houses. The greatest pleasure would still be to watch Huffman deal with everything, from her denial of gender issues to trying to cope with her son, parents, strangers, etc, and generally be happy with the circumstances around her. The film does not over-indulge in portraying the plight of transsexuals, of those who had the courage to go under the knife, but it is more about getting by, of acceptance, of showing that underneath it all, we are all humans, that need a little love and support sometimes. This is a strange "woman" to route for at the movie. Go watch it!

♥ 12:11 pm