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Hello and welcome back to Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where you share three movies to fit the theme of the week each Thursday.
It's prodigy/genius week, a category of people I'm sadly not part of. But I guess if I were a prodigy, I wouldn't have had time for movies, and if I were a genius, I wouldn't spend my time watching movies. I guess I'm lucky after all. Anyway, I'm going with three real life geniuses.
The Imitation Game (2014)
It follows Alan Turing and his team trying to break the Nazi's Enigma code during World War II. This was one of my favourite movies of 2014 as well as one of my favourite biographies ever and that's basically because of Benedict Cumberbatch. He portrayed the complex figure of Turing so beautifully and with such a sensitivity... words are just not enough to describe it.
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
It tells the story of John Forbes Nash Jr., a mathematician who made an astonishing discovery and that is later diagnosed with schizophrenia. This is another great biography and a non-boring film about math, with Russell Crowe delivering the portrayed of mental illness to perfection.
The Theory of Everything (2014)
It tells the story of Stephen Hawking, one of the world's greatest living mind, focusing on his illness and what that meant to his marriage. This is a heartbreaking and delicate drama, with, guess what, an extraordinary performance from its lead, Eddie Redmayne. I still can't stand him though.
I love all three of your picks and I went with Imitation and Theory myself.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike!
DeleteEveryone seems to be much more fond of Theory of Everything than I was, I found it a challenge to get through. I much preferred The Imitation Game from that year's crop of Oscar contenders, both Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley were excellent. Russell Crowe might be a difficult man off screen but he is a tremendous actor and A Beautiful Mind is another great portrait in his gallery.
ReplyDeleteI did a theme within the theme in that all mine are films about musical prodigies, one of them starring one of the biggest prodigies of the modern age.
The Legend of 1900 (1998)-In the year 1900 Danny Boodmann, a stoker (Bill Nunn) on an American ship discovers an abandoned baby left on board. Taking him in to raise as his own he gives him a long unwieldy name eventually shortened to 1900 as the pair live their life at sea. As 1900 grows his musical genius becomes apparent and he becomes the ship’s mascot. After a tragedy befalls Danny 1900 remains on board growing to manhood (where he is played by Tim Roth) never touching dry land but continuing to hone his skill (including a fantastic sequence where he plays a waltz during a storm at sea). In time he befriends Max, a trumpeter in the ship orchestra (Taylor Pruitt Vince) and it is through his reverie we learn 1900’s story.
Poor Little Rich Girl (1936)-Starring Shirley Temple, one of Hollywood’s premier musical prodigies (in terms of dollars & cents THE musical prodigy) as the rich girl of the title. Barbara (that would be Shirl) on her way to boarding school is left to her own devices when her nanny is killed in an accident. Barbara unaware of this but not wanting to go to the school wanders the city until she becomes acquainted with and is taken in by a pair of down on their luck performers Jimmy & Jerry Dolan (Jack Oakie & Alice Faye). Thinking she’s an orphan and realizing that she’s a musical prodigy they put Barbara in their act as their daughter. Soon they hit the big time with their own radio show overseen by ad exec Margaret Allen (Gloria Stuart of Titanic fame) where they’re heard by Barbara’s widowed father who has been searching for her frantically. One of the better Temple vehicles with a first rate supporting cast, both Oakie and Alice Faye get several chances to strut their stuff, and no matter how you feel about her Shirley was a bundle of talent.
Amadeus (1984)-Multi Oscar winning story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) and Antonio Salieri (an Oscar winning F. Murray Abraham) and how Salieri’s jealousy of Mozart’s genius lead to great tragedy for both. Amazing music, performances, set design and direction. An essential film.
I also liked The Imitation Game more than The Theory of Everything. Nice call on Amadeus, that's an outstanding film for an outstanding man. I need to rewatch it though.
DeleteThe Imitation Game is my favourite of the 3 here because Of Cumberbatch. It also tells the story of a man I had no idea about and now feel bad that I was ignorant of who he was. I am a Russell Crowe fan and he was excellent in his portrayal of Nash. It is a rich film and I, too, was not bored even though it involved math:) The Theory of everything-I agree with Joel, I didn't really get all the hoopla over this film and Redmayne kept reminding me of the young Austin Powers when he was in college. Redmayne is insufferable isn't he
ReplyDeleteI already knew part of Turing's story and I was really impressed with the film. Also I love Cumberbatch so of course I was going to love it. Cannot say the same about Redmayne. I frankly doubt there's a single person who likes him.
DeleteI thought everyone liked Eddie Redmayne, which was why he probably got the Fantastic Beast role. I don't have an opinion, haven't seen him in much.
DeleteI know right. He is so hated I can't believe he got the role.
DeleteI've seen all of these picks and I loved them all! I even go with A Beautiful Mind myself. The subject in A Beautiful Mind is so poignant and literally beautiful at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it took me a second view to fully appreciate A Beautiful Mind though. Actually the first time I didn't even finish it.
DeleteHate to be that guy, but I didn't care much for The Imitation Game nor The Theory of Everything. Both felt flat to me. That said, I do really like A Beautiful Mind.
ReplyDeleteI can understand The Theory of Everything, but The Imitation Game, seriously? My heart aches at the thought somebody didn't like it.
DeleteI need to see The Imitation Game , I had never heard of it before, but I noticed several had it on their list for this. I love the other 2 films.
ReplyDeleteYou need to watch it asap! Cumberbatch is fantastic in it, just like the rest of the movie.
DeleteSonia, I am delighted to play along with TMP crowd. I'm finding some interesting movies to watch. Ones, I normally wouldn't think to check out. The only I'm familiar with here is A Beautiful Mind. I haven't seen any of these flix. "The Imagination Game" is available for streaming on Netflix. It's now in my Watch cue. The last two, I can watch on YouTube. "The Theory of Everything" is quite compelling and I'm eager to see it. Most of the movies picked in this category the geniuses seem to have something wrong with them. Maybe it's good thing I'm not a genius. :) Thanks for sharing and for visiting. Have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteHahaha there's definitely always something wrong with geniuses!
DeletePopular picks today - but I've not seen A Beautiful Mind or Theory of Everything.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was expecting those to be popular.
Delete