Gosford Park (Directed by Robert Altman)

Watched: March 1st

Starring: Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon , Kristin Scott Thomas, Kelly McDonald, Emily Watson, Clive Own, Charles Dance, Tom Hollander, Jeremy Northam, Laurence Fox, Ryan Phillippe, Stephen Fry, Eileen Atkins, Helen Mirren, Richard E. Grant

IMDB link

She said:

Gosford Park is one of those rare gems - a film I can watch over and over and never tire of. With a list of characters as long as your arm it takes about ten viewings to work out who is married to whose sister and whose valet corresponds to whose lady's maid and who comes under the kitchen staff and who the butler is.

Repeat viewings also allow you to fully appreciate the politics of the upstairs/downstairs dynamic and of the upper class economic situations. This might sound dry and boring but I can assure you this is a film full of wit and humour.

This clever wit is the charm of the film - all the characters are full of familiar dysfunction. The upstairs guests are all trying to be top dog with the most money and don't care which of their family members need manipulating to get it. Below stairs the staff are dutifully bound to people that they destest and despise. The outsiders such as the murder detective and Mr Wisemann (a Hollywood producer) are trying to be 'insiders'.

This film is essentially a murder mystery drama but the comedy is what stands out. I have seen it maybe 15 times and haven't stopped chuckling along yet. Watch it and fall in love equally with characters who are harmless and characters who are quite vile. I give this film <<<5 out of 5>>>

He said:
This film reminds me a lot of the Eighties film Clue (after the board-game with the same name, known as Cluedo in the UK) The mystery of who the murder or murderers actually are, is half of the fun. The Mr Wisemann character spends the majority of the film talking to Studio big wigs back in the states trying to green light a film dealing with the idea of British upper-class in the country for his Detective Charlie Chan films.

This is a fun film with so much going on in any single scene I can definitely see the appeal of multiple viewings. There are too many top notch British actors to list here but even the casual American viewer will know the majority of names listed during the opening credits. (I myself was only unfamiliar with one of the names listed)

I enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone looking for an unexpected laugh or a murder mystery. I give {{{4 out of 5}}}



They said:
A fun film worth watching more than once. you will not be disappointed.... we give it {{{{{9 out of a possible 10}}}}

In the Loop (Directed by Armando Iannuchi)

Watched: Feb 12th
Starring: Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Anna Chlumsky

She said:

This film is very clever in that it is clearly a social commentary of the lead up to the Iraq War but it does so under the veil of a fictional satire. It is laugh out loud funny, ridiculously offensive and scarily accurate in its comdeic portrayal of modern government.

With the Iraq Enquiry at the forefront of UK current affairs the idea of informants and influencers miscommunicating vital information is both funny and quite haunting. I am quite a fan of political comedy, which is why I asked that we review this film, and this really didn't disappoint.

For me the film was really a black comedy about spin-doctoring; the art of being deceptive and manipulative in order to win over public opinion. In a very 1984-like way we see politicians rewriting minutes of meetings and important documents in order for them to achieve their own agendas.

It was pretty clear who the characters were supposed to emmulate. Malcolm Tucker, the aggressive, almost satanic No. 10 spin doctor was obviously meant to be Alastair Campbell (the demon on Blair's shoulder). Simon Foster, a character caught up in both sides of the political arguement for and against war was reminiscent of the late David Kelly - a politician that committed suicide after 'sexing-up' the Iraq War dossier.

Overall I found this film very enjoyable. From the thousands of dramatisations about the Iraq War floating around this is the only one that is both accurate and funny, satirical and haunting. I give this film <<<4.5>>>

He said:
I am not one that normally enjoys anything remotely political, I lived a large section of my life being led (and misled) by people thousands of miles of way that never knew the extent of the circumstances they were remote-controlling.

I think I enjoyed this film as it was told primarily from a British point of view and therefore I was able to give it more a degree of separation than I might have had it centered itself on the American side of the argument.

The film is very amusing at times and I think fans of sitcoms like The Office and the Modern Family will very much enjoy the quasi-documentary style of film. It gives you the feel of being a fly on the wall. There are laugh out loud moments and I felt comfortable with the development of each of the characters.

While this is not the film for everyone it was a fun film to watch. I give it {{{3.5 out of 5}}}}

They said:
A political satire from the British perspective, at times hilarious and poignant. A film we would not be surprised to see shown in a civics class. Fun and definitely worth watching we give the film {{{8 out of 10}}}