The Iron Lady (2011)

Genre

Biography | Drama | History

Director

Phyllida Lloyd

Country

France | United Kingdom

Cast

Meryl Streep, Alexandra Roach, Jim Broadbent, Iain Glen, Olivia Colman, Anthony Head, Nicholas Farrell, Richard E. Grant, Susan Brown, Martin Wimbush, Paul Bentley, Robin Kermode, John Sessions, Roger Allam, David Westhead, Michael Pennington, Angus Wright, Julian Wadham, Nick Dunning, Pip Torrens, Ronald Reagan, Reginald Green

Plot

An elderly and prisoner in her own home Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), Britain's first woman Prime Minister, talks to the imagined presence of her recently deceased husband (Jim Broadbent) as she struggles to come to terms with his death while scenes from her past life, from girlhood to British Prime Minister, intervene.

Opinion

The Iron Lady is not as good as I thought. The storytelling is a huge misfire. Boring at first, enhances a bit, and it gets boring again. This film is mostly about an elder and mentally unbalanced Margaret Thatcher, which remember her life through flashbacks. I would have liked a deeper insight into how she run the country.
Meryl Streep is outstanding and mesmerising as always, but she slightly uplifts the film.

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Quotes

Margaret Thatcher: Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. What we think, we become. My father always said that. And I think I am fine.

Airey Neave: If you want to change this party, lead it. If you want to change the country, lead it.

Rating

6.0/10

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Genre

Action | Crime

Director

Quentin Tarantino

Country

United States

Cast

Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Julie Dreyfus, Sonny Chiba, Chiaki Kuriyama, Gordon Liu, Michael Parks, Michael Bowen, Jun Kunimura, Kenji Ohba, James Parks, Jonathan Loughran, Yuki Kazamatsuri, Sakichi Sato, Ambrosia Kelley

Plot

The Bride (Uma Thurman) wakens from a four-year coma and seeks revenge on an assassination squad led by Bill (David Carradine) after they try to kill her and her unborn child. 

Opinion

Like all of Tarantino's film, you  love it or you hate it. Presented as a bizarre action film, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 is fascinating, unforgettable and definitely not a movie for children.
In this film comes to attentions Tarantino's love for Oriental culture: martial arts, katanas and tributes to Japanese directors - the Bride's costume reminds Bruce Lee's in Game of Death.
The score, by The RZA, is overwhelming. The fighting sequences are spectacular, loved the last one.
The performance from Uma Thurman is brilliant. Lucy Liu manages to give a decent performance, and probably Tarantino has the merit for it. 

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Quotes

Hattori Hanzo: Revenge is never a straight line. It's a forest, And like a forest it's easy to lose your way... To get lost... To forget where you came in.

Title Card: "Revenge is a dish best served cold" - Old Klingon proverb

Rating

8.2/10

Thor (2011)

Genre

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Director

Kenneth Branagh

Country

United States

Cast

Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Colm Feore, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo, Anthony Hopkins, Tadanobu Asano, Joshua Dallas, Jaimie Alexander, Clark Gregg, Adriana Barraza, Maximiliano Hernández, Joseph Gatt, Joshua Cox, Douglas Tait, Stan Lee, Michael Straczynski, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner

Plot

Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a powerful but arrogant warrior son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), prepares to ascend to the throne of Asgard, but is interrupted when Frost Giants attempt to retrieve the Casket.
Against Odin's order, Thor travels to Jotunheim to confront Laufey (Colm Feore), accompanied by his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), childhood friend Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and the Warriors Three: Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Fandral (Joshua Dallas), and Hogun (Tadanobu Asano). A battle ensues until Odin intervenes to save the Asgardians, destroying the fragile truce between the two races.
As a result, Thor is banished to Earth where he is forced to live among humans. When Loki sends its darkest forces to invade Earth, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero.

Opinion

Thor is good adaptation of Marvel's comic book. There is lack of depth in some characters, especially in Loki, but the story is good and there is no lack of action.
The contrast between right and wrong is the main theme of the film, even though in the heart of the characters there is always a glimmer of goodness.
The special effects are well used; the photography is wonderful.
Chris Hemsworth gives Thor everything he needs and Tom Hiddleston as his villainous brother, Loki, shows off his acting ability. 

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Quotes

Loki: I never wanted the throne, I only ever wanted to be your equal!

Rating

7.5/10

La dolce vita (1960)

Genre

Comedy | Drama

Director

Federico Fellini

Country

Italy | France

Cast

Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Alain Cuny, Yvonne Furneaux, Walter Santesso, Enzo Cerusico, Giulio Paradisi, Carlo Di Maggio, Lex Barker, Giò Stajano, Alain Dijon, Renée Longarini, Valeria Ciangottini, Annibale Ninchi, Magali Noël, Christa Päffgen, Ida Galli, Riccardo Garrone, Nadia Gray, Audrey McDonald, Gloria Jones, Adriano Celentano

Plot

Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni) is a journalist in Rome during the late 1950s who covers tabloid news of movie stars, religious visions and the aristocracy while searching for his place in the world.

Opinion

La dolce vita is the alienation of the individual from reality, for a brief joys and passionless, exactly like the protagonists behave. Hopes and dreams are gone, and facing this sad reality we can only fit in it, as Marcello (Mastroianni) does , or die, as Steiner (Alain Cuny) does. Fellini also shows us the poor, ignorant and superstitious Italy.
The performance from Marcello Mastroianni is superlative.

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Quotes

Steiner: Don't be like me. Salvation doesn't lie within four walls. I'm too serious to be a dilettante and too much a dabbler to be a professional. Even the most miserable life is better than a sheltered existence in an organized society where everything is calculated and perfected.

Rating

8.5/10