Made in Dagenham (2010)

Toilet Review: Who thought a story about workers in a auto factory would be so interesting?

This is one of those movies that I was putting off for ages. I’m not even sure why I was putting it off, but I remembering seeing it sitting on my desktop for weeks, and each time I was going to watch a movie, I would glance at it. feel guilty for not watching it, and then watch something else. But obviously, I did get around to watching it, and am I glad I did!

The story is set in the Ford factory in Dagenham, UK, in 1968. We meet Rita O Grady, a normal working mother of two, who works at the factory stitching interiors by hand. She and her female co-workers work in less then ideal conditions, but when they get wind that their work status is about to be downgraded from “skilled” to “non-skilled” (meaning they would get paid less), they decide to do something about. So, the women strike, and the story follows a rather reluctant Rita in her position as leader of the strike.

What I really like about this story is that it is a dramatisation of an actual event that happened in 1968 in Dagenham. At the end of the movie, we see snippets of interviews of women that were actually involved in the protests/strike. They talk about how hard it was and what the end goal was for. They talk about how the strike effected their family life and how they were often criticised for leaving their “men to do women’s work”.

This movie is an important movie. It shows how society viewed women at this moment in time, especially when it is supposed to be the decade of “free love” and “equality”. Doesn’t exactly translate that through this movie! Little gem of a movie, and it is the awesome Bob Hoskins in it. Definitely worth a watch.

Le Paysagiste (1976) [short]

Toilet Review: I should really stop watching shorts before bed, they give me all types of weird and weirder dreams.

“La Paysagiste” or “Mindcape” to give it it’s English title, is one of those little shorts that takes you on a journey that you didn’t think would be possibly in seven short minutes. You sit, watch and are transported to a completely different world in such a short space of time.

This is one of those movies.

it’s got such an unusual style to it. It looks like a black and white painting, but actually, what you see in every single frame is thousands of pins, which can be pulled and pushed in any direction to create shapes and depth. This movie has to have been a labour of love for all those involved because to chose such an unrelenting difficult medium in which to create must have caused some sleepless nights!

The story itself focuses on an artist who can create and manipulate fantastical scenes and scenery from inside their mind. We are taken on the journey with them as scenes play out and are formed right in front of us.

If you have ten minutes to spare, seriously check out this wonderful piece of art. It’s even on YouTube so you don’t even need to download it!

Dreamcatcher (2003)

Toilet Review: A bigger clusterfuck could not be thought of.

When I spoke about my desire to watch this movie, my husband Allan laughed and shook his head. He told me that it would be awful, and that he had seen it as a teenager in the cinema back when it first came out. I told him to not be so harsh and that time has most likely changed his view. He laughed again and told me to come back to him after I watched it.

And as much as I hate to admit it, he was right.

The movie focuses on four friends who go on a camping trip every year. This year, however, a blizzard occurs and they find a man wandering in the snow. They take him in, and of course, things fall apart from there. What the guys don’t know is that there is a secret alien living inside that man, who is only one of many aliens who have taken over the local town. Throw in some non-sensensical miltary claptrap and Morgan Freeman, and then you got the whole of this movie.

I can sort of see what the film-makers were going for with this; a male bonding experience shattered by outside influences. But honestly, there is just too much happening in this. Is it a horror? Is it a thriller? Is it a comedy? The film tries to appeal to everyone and thus loses it’s way entirely. It tries to be too much and falls flat more than once. About half way through the movie, I thought that it was actually finishing up, but then they stuck on a final act that just comes out of left field.

The movie seems to go on forever and the mess of a plot meanders all over the place. It’s too much for this movie. It should have been edited down to 90 minutes and I would imagine it would have been a much more cohesive story.

Cat City (1986)

Toilet Review: Not to be confused with the absolute train wreck of movie called “Cat City” from 2008. This is infinitely better, and it has cats!

I’ve discovered that I really like checking out animated films from other countries, and it’s only through the course of this blog that I have realised that. There’s just something so different about animated films that I just don’t see in any other genre of movie. There is just that little extra spark of madness that cannot be conveyed through conventional film. I love seeing how the styles differ from country to country and from what I watched as child. For so long, the only animated movies I watched were of the Disney variety and I am so happy that has changed.

“Macskafogó”, to give the movie it’s proper Hungarian title, is just so bizarre that it has to be seen to be believed. The movie focuses on a mysterious Planet X and it’s 80 AMM (After Mickey Mouse). The Cats are in charge and they are doing their best to find a way to get rid of the Mouse population once and for all. When a renowned scientist finds what may be weapon, secret agent, Nick Grabowsky, is tasked with locating it and bringing back the plans.

This movie is just a visual feast. There is so much going on that I haven’t even begun to outline in the brief little synopsis above. There are Mexican bats, an inept band of assassins, secret weapons, bad guys with eye patches, prisoners of war, the mouse equivalent of James Bond, and a giant party where everyone gets murdered! It’s a visual treat, and it’s on YouTube.

I would recommend checking it out if you want to see something a little different. It’s not going to win any Oscars any time soon, but I sure as hell had a good time watching it.

The Expendables (2010)

Toilet Review: Another by the books action movie, with more than one action movie star.

That description there? The one you just read? That’s the movie. There is nothing more to it than that. I tried to find more meaning, a deeper way of looking at it, but nope. It’s exactly what I described. Throw in some 1970’s old school action violence, some 1980’s action stars and some 1990’s plot lines and you get “The Expendables”.

Sylvester Stallone directs and stars in this movie as head of a mercenary group that is hired by the mysterious Mr. Church to investigate a military dictatorship on the fictional island of Vilena. Of course, the mission is not straight forward and soon the boys find themselves in a whole heap of trouble.

In saying that, this movie is infinitely better than anything I have seen from Michael Bay, the current King of Action movies. The main characters were a little bit fleshed out and we got to see relationships, such as Lee’s relationship with his girlfriend and how this is effected by the work he does. Sure it’s a brief snippet, but hey, it’s more than we have seen from any of the Michael Bay movies.

This is the sort of movie that will be the day after Christmas, when everyone is too stuffed to change the channel. It’l be the 9.00 pm movie and will be played year after year after year until people are sick of it. As my husband says, you gotta think with your lower brain, not your higher one, to really enjoy this movie.

The Killer (1989)

Toilet Review: Holy crap, this ain’t like any action movie you’ve ever seen. You wanna watch a bad ass action movie with some heart? Watch this one.

Hong Kong sure does know how to rock the gangster/action movie. There isn’t a single thing about this movie that I didn’t like. The story is great, the action is just top notch and I absolutely adore Chow Yun Fat. There is just so much to sink your teeth into.

The story focuses on Ah Jong, a disillusioned assassin, who takes on one last job. However, he ends up blinding an innocent lounge singer. He feels awful about it, and decides to take care of her. Slowly they start to begin a relationship as friends and Ah Jong does what he can for Jennie. There is also the police investigation into the shooting and the intrepid Inspector Li Ying is soon on the case. Things slowly fall apart as Ah Jong realises that he has been set up by someone he trusts implicitly and Li Ying realises that not all “bad guys” are bad.

This movie is just RIFE with symbolism. It’s practically dripping with Catholic imagery. White doves, stained glass windows, hundreds of candles inside a church. It’s beautiful and so very typical of a John Woo movie.

This movie was rather excellent, I have to say. I really enjoyed it. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Just be a bit wary, it’s terribly violent. Now I enjoy violence in movies if it’s warranted/part of the genre, which this is. But I know that my sister cannot bear it, and more than once had to look away from the screen when we watched it. Just a heads up, as it were!

Good Morning Vietnam (1987)

Toilet Review: Robin Williams being utterly fantastic.

The world lost someone this week. Someone who had made it his life’s work to make us laugh, smile, think and just keep going. Robin Williams was the star of many movies, some of which will always hold a special place in our hearts because we saw them when we were little, we saw them on date nights, we saw them at Christmas time and they just remind us of family. There isn’t a single person who could say that they hated his movies. He was such a versatile actor. Whilst being universally loved for his comedic roles in “Aladdin” and “Mrs Doubtfire”, he showed us his serious acting abilities in such movies as “One Hour Photo” and “Insomnia”.

The world is just a little darker without him in, and I sincerely hope that his soul has finally achieved what ever peace so alluded it in life.

In his honour this week, I watched several of his movies, all of which I will no doubt review here. First up, “Good Morning Vietnam”.

If you’ve been living anywhere but under a rock for last quarter of a century, you have heard someone, somewhere, scream Adrian Cronauer’s immortal line “GOOOOOODDD MORNING VIETNAM!”. It has been parodied numerous times in all sorts of places, but no one does it quite like Robin Williams.

The movie focuses on a military dj being brought to Vietnam in 1965, just before the US really upped it’s army presence there and suddenly, an intervention became a war. Adrian Cronauer’s style does not sit well with the higher ups, his immediate superiors anyway, and we see the crisis in Vietnam played around the comedic timings of an early morning dj.

Soon, Adrian is involved with what could be a suspected terrorist, and when he is involved in a bombing of a local bar, Adrian cannot help but feel like he is being pulled in ways that he really doesn’t want to be.

Robin Williams ad libbed every single second of his “on-air” time as Adrian Cronauer. The speed of which he speaks, the hilarity of what he is saying, and the giggles and laughter of all around him can only be genuine. I loved watching him like this. He is clearly in his element, and the whole movie is better for it.

It’s not a “comedic” movie however. The undertones are quite dark and the rising tensions between the local population and the US armed forces is something that is seen time and time again throughout the movie.

Definitely worth a watch at any stage, but I think now would be a good time to sit back, curl up, grab some tea, and let this movie wash all over you.

The Station Agent (2003)

Toilet Review: Just a lovely breath of fresh air.

Every so often, I end up watching a movie that doesn’t really do much. It doesn’t have a big budget. There aren’t awesome special effects. There isn’t an awkward love triangle. There isn’t a coming of age story. There aren’t good guys and bad guys. This movie is none of those things. This is a sweet little movie about a man who moves to the countryside and tries to deal with the world around him.

Finbar McBride is man with a few passions, one of which is trains. He works in a store with his only friend and co-worker. When he dies suddenly, Finbar has to move on with his life. He ends up moving to the middle of nowhere in rural New Jersey. He just wants to be on his own, but he slowly gets drawn in by the local hot dog seller, who loves a good chin-wag, and a woman who’s personal tragedy overwhelms her. Can Finbar make a life for himself when everything he knows is pulled out from under him?

Peter Dinklage is just awesome as Finbar McBride. His dwarfism comes up time and time again in the story and the struggles that he has, trying to fit in when he just wants to be left alone. He slowly becomes friends with the irrepressible Joe Oramas (played by Bobby Cannavale) who tries to draw Finbar out of his shell.

I have to say, I really rather enjoyed this movie. It’s a sweet little thing that just draws you in a little at a time, and suddenly, you’re wrapped up in this gorgeous story.

Ai no Kawaki (1967)

Toilet Review: This is one of those movies that I didn’t really have much hope for at the beginning, but my word, did I get interested quickly!

There isn’t much information on this movie on IMDB.com and it doesn’t even show up on Rotten Tomatoes, so imagine my slight reluctance when sitting down to watch this.

But, I was wrong, so delightfully and awfully delighted. I loved it. I loved every second of this movie. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The story focuses on the young widow Etsuko, who is living with her father in law’s family. She ends up sleeping with him, in equal parts loneliness and desperation. Her life is slowly drifting along and she hates it. When the gardener, Saburo, catches her eye, Etsuko becomes obsessed with him. She covers for him when he makes mistakes, and often cannot sleep because of her obsession. If only she left it at that! When Etsuko discovers that her maid, Miyo, is pregnant by Saburo, it sends her into a tailspin and causes her to act in ways that she would not normally do. There isn’t any happy ending here. There is tears and hurt and death, but no happy ending.

Man alive, I loved watching this movie. It kept me interested all the way through and caused me to forgo social commitments because I wanted to see it. I loved this movie. It was awesome. A little something that I don’t normally watch but it was completely worth it. Check it out. Do it.

Flowers in the Attic (1987)

Toilet Review: Slightly depressing, more than slightly depressing. Saddening. Now I’m sad. Good job, movie!

After I watched this movie, I got into an argument with my husband. He decided that this movie was a horror movie, whilst I disagreed entirely. This is more a thriller movie in my opinion. We clashed about it, and spent hours debating both sides. I concede that this movie certainly does have horror “elements” in it, I would state that a horror movie is a movie in which the entire premise of it is that it is designed to scare the audience. This movie doesn’t do that. This movie merely presents its argument and let’s you make up your own mind about what happened.

The movie is told from Cathy’s point of view. She is the eldest of four children. Her brother, Chris is almost the same age as her, and her two younger siblings, Cory and Carrie are much younger than her. She is a teenager, whilst they are about 4 or 5. They appear to be the all American loving family, but when Cathy’s father passes away unexpectedly, her mother moves the family back to her childhood home, which she left in disgrace. Her father is now gravely ill, and Cathy’s mother wants to get into his will, and will do anything to make up for her disgrace. Her mother does not want the children in the house, so locks them into a room. There they find access to the attic, and live their days out. They have periodic visits from their mother, but soon it becomes clear that she does not want to see them and that they are merely a hindrance. Can they survive or will they perish in the dark?

This is one of those movies that nearly always seems to be on television at some point. I know that my mother in law loves it and has seen it numerous times on random tv channels. I believe that there is a remake in the works as well, no doubt it will be much more violent and heart wrenching than this one.

Maybe watch this one rainy Tuesday evening when you are ill and are too tired to reach for the remote.