The Reader (2008) Film Review - Kate Winslet

Plot Summary - Well done drama about a teenager who has an affair with an older woman with a dark secret and the life-long effects this affair has the man's psyche. In 1958 Germany, fifteen-year old Michael (David Kross) is ill on the streets where he is helped by a thirty-something woman named Hanna (Kate Winslet). Struck by her, he recovers and seeks her out - and so begins an affair despite their twenty-year age difference and seemingly different social and educational levels. Rushing to see her after school, their affair is driven not just by sex and baths but by her desire to be read to by him - all the classic novels. One day she has disappeared and he doesn't see her again - until SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT: forward to 1966 where Michael is a young law student who is taking a special seminar and attends a trial in which - surprise - Hanna, once an SS guard during the Holocaust, is being prosecuted for war crimes!

Review - I found this film an intriguing watch, quite romantic and passionate in the first half, and leading into the Holocaust part of the story which comes as somewhat of a surprise (at least if you know nothing of the film's plot, which is what I try to do by keeping away from film reviews and clips until after I've seen the movie). I did question a couple of things that these characters do in this film (SPOILER SPOILER: 1. why he doesn't speak up about her illiteracy during the trial, 2. why she "gives up" on herself at the end of the film), which came across as unrealistic to me. But, in any case, I did really enjoy this and found it to be an excellent and memorable film. Kate Winslet is great, as usual, as is Ralph Fiennes who appears as the grown-up man version of Michael - but I must say, actor David Kross, who plays young Michael is fantastic in this, why no Oscar nod?! Rating - 10/10 stars

In Bruges (2008) Film Review - Colin Farrell

Plot Summary - Thriller about two Irish hit men, Ray and Ken (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson), who are holed up in Bruges, Belgium for two weeks awaiting orders from their boss (Ralph Fiennes). Ken enjoys the beauty of medieval Bruges but Ray would rather be in the Bahamas - he hates Bruges. When the order finally comes, Ken is secretly assigned to kill his pal Ray because of a botched hit in which Ray accidentally killed a small boy. But Ray has other problems as well, as he becomes tormented and suicidal about the boy's death. While in Bruges Ray also has encounters with a pretty blond drug dealer and an American dwarf who is in Bruges filming a movie.

Review - This is a really good film, with engaging conversations between the two main characters. The interaction between these men seems to take over the film above the actual crimes they are committing - the two have almost a comical, odd couple relationship. The setting in Bruges is gorgeous - now there's a city I need to add to my "to visit one day" list - wow, what a neat looking place. Rating - 9/10 stars

The Duchess (2008) Film Review - Keira Knightley

Plot Summary - Period film from the UK, based on the true story of Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire. The story begins in 1774 when Lady Geogiana (Keira Knightley) becomes engaged and married to the Duke of Devonshire (Ralph Fiennes). Now a duchess and very important figure in England, she enters into a life with a husband who ends up being aloof and incompatible, yet forceful in the bedroom in his demands for her to give him a son. A bad marriage and years to come with only daughters, Georgiana seems to spend her time hosting drinking/gambling parties, and becomes known as a major fashion plate, with hair piled high on her head Marie Antoinette style. She befriends Lady Elizabeth "Bess" Foster, a woman with her own bad marriage and husband who has left her and taken her three sons away for good - Georgiana then invites her new friend to live at their house, an affair follows between the Duke and Bess. When Georgiana falls in love with handsome political man Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper), the Duke stands in the way of a blossoming, and potentially scandalous affair.

Review - This is an extremely lavish period production, the costumes are *stunningly* gorgeous, the art direction and on-location scenery and luxurious castle settings are fabulous to see. I love Keira Knightley and I think Ralph Fiennes did a great job as the indifferent husband. The people in this story certainly lead lives that could rival most nighttime soap operas. Wow! Rating - 10/10 stars