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On 28 August we were shown 'Strangers on a Train' -
starring Robert Walker (Bruno), Farley Granger (Guy), Ruth Roman (Anne) and
Kasey Rogers (Miriam) The film is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia
Highsmith, adapted as a film in 1951 by Director Alfred Hitchcock and again in 1969 by Robert Sparr. Two strangers meet on a train, one of them, Bruno, is a
psychopath, and tries to forcibly persuade a tennis star (Guy) to agree to his
theory that 2 strangers can get away with murder by submitting to his plan to
kill the other's most-hated person. This film is an 'edge of your seat' production with Alfred Hitchcock at his best and great performances from all the actors.
Anne hosted the group
meeting on 26 June. The
film she showed was 'The Good Liar'
a 2019 crime thriller, directed by Bill
Condon and starring Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen, Russell Tovey and Jim
Carter. In London in 2009 Roy
Courtnay (McKellen) an ageing con
artist , who along with his business partner Vincent (Jim Carter) uses
false
identities to deceive people into giving him access to their finances. His latest target is Betty McLeish, who he meets online. She is a former history Don at Oxford University who lost her husband a year ago and has savings in excess of £2 million. Feigning a bad knee Roy manipulates Betty into allowing him to stay at her house He steadily encourages her to open a joint off shore investment account with him, so that he can steal her money. Simultaneously, Roy and Vincent run an investment scam with their mark - Bryn and his associate by employing fake Russian investors. What begins as a simple plot turns into a complicated story - switching back and forth in time. The leading actors are excellent which makes for an entertaining film with a satisfactory ending.
The film group met on 27th
March at Nick’s house
and we watched “The remains of the Day”, a film of the book by Kazuo
Ishiguro,
directed by James Ivory in 1993, with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson
in the
lead roles of the butler (Stevens} and housekeeper (Miss Kenton) to
Earl Darlington,
who was a pre war supporter of Hitler and died in 1958, a broken man. Lewis, a USA congressman, who
had been present at Darlington
hall when a group of Fascist supporters of Hitler met there in the
1930s,
warning of disaster, bought the hall together with the butler Stevens
in 1958. Miss Kenton had left Darlington and married Mr Benn in the 1930s when it was clear that she could not have a personal relationship with Stevens due to his single minded attitude to his work position as butler . In 1958, Steven traces her to Clevedon to try and persuade her to return to Darlington as housekeeper but she wishes to stay with her daughter and estranged husband.  We met at Sally's on 31st
February where she showed the film
'Hope Gap' a 2019 drama written and directed by William Nicholson,
adapted from
his 1999 play 'The Retreat from Moscow' - very strange I thought as it
was
based in the gorgeous setting - the quaint, coastal town of Seaford,
England
with its scenic and severe white cliffs - nothing to do with Moscow !! It stars Annette Bening (Grace)
- a striking presence, but
she struggles with an inconsistent English accent;
Bill Nighy
(Edward) who portrays his character with much of his trademark subdued
awkwardness which works as he strains to explain his feelings and
justify his
decision to leave and seek affection and peace in the arms of the
mother of one
of his high school pupils. We are witnessing the collapse of
a love
affair and a family after nearly 3 decades. In between them
is Jamie
(Josh O'Connor) their stunted, twentysomething son, who lives in London
and
visits infrequently. Why these two people ever
married is a mystery, they live in
a beautiful large Tudor house, she with a chaotic desk (his very tidy)
and
their personalities are complete opposites. He wears dreary
clothes,
she wears flowery, flowing robes. He is quiet, she
is very wearing,
constantly badgering him for answers about nothing in
particular. She, to
me, was very annoying and not being able to understand why he wants to
part and
leave her for some peace was baffling. Very well acted by all concerned but not an enjoyable film.  November 2023.This month we met
at Ralph's where he showed 'The Phantom
Thread' In early 1950's London
Woodstock is the most sought after
dress designer among the rich and powerful He lives a
regimented, almost
monastic life, with his watchful sister Cyril (Manville) as his close
associate. Woodcock is afflicted by a severe case of OCD and
a confirmed
bachelor, used to taking in lovers and muses, discarding them when fed
up
without a backward glance, assisted by the equally icy,
spinster sister
Cyril. He has a magnetic personality, is overly
self-confident, obsessive,
a cruel bully and treats his girlfriends as chattels. Into
his life comes
Alma (Vicky Krieps) a young, strong-willed waitress who he takes on as
his
muse, model, lover, whatever he needs. Alma learns that she's
not the
first to fill this position in Reynolds' life, but she becomes
determined to be
the last. The watcher is drawn into the
single-minded obsessive
artistry and pursuit of perfection within his chosen
field. Alma
acts as an audience surrogate, unsure of this odd world led by the
often
inscrutable Woodcock and Cyril. Daniel Day-Lewis (Reynolds
Woodcock) In early 1950's London
Woodstock is the most sought after
dress designer among the rich and powerful He lives a
regimented, almost
monastic life, with his watchful sister Cyril (Manville) as his close
associate. Woodcock is afflicted by a severe case of OCD and
a confirmed
bachelor, used to taking in lovers and muses, discarding them when fed
up
without a backward glance, assisted by the equally icy,
spinster sister
Cyril. He has a magnetic personality, is overly
self-confident, obsessive,
a cruel bully and treats his girlfriends as chattels. Into
his life comes
Alma (Vicky Krieps) a young, strong-willed waitress who he takes on as
his
muse, model, lover, whatever he needs. Alma learns that she's
not the
first to fill this position in Reynolds' life, but she becomes
determined to be
the last. The watcher is drawn into the
single-minded obsessive
artistry and pursuit of perfection within his chosen
field. Alma
acts as an audience surrogate, unsure of this odd world led by the
often
inscrutable Woodcock and Cyril.  October 2023. This month we met
at Anne's house and watched 'Dream Horse' While there's nothing
remarkable or surprising about this
film from director Euros Lyn and screen writer Neil McKay, it's nearly
impossible to dislike. It is set in the depressed Welsh mining town of Cefn Fforest, and centres on Jan Vokes (Toni Collette) a woman holding down 2 jobs. She lives a boring life with her husband Brian (Owen Teale) retired due to ill health and who barely even listens to her anymore. Jan longs for something that will shake up her routine and infuse a bit of energy into her economically depressed community. An experienced breeder of whippets and racing pigeons, she decides to breed and train a champion stallion. She gets around the considerable expense by proposing a collective approach, the costs of buying, feeding and training the horse will be spread out amongst a dozen or so townspeople (everyone a gem of a character) contributing £10 a week. It's decided to call the champion 'Dream Alliance'. Jan's partner in the scheme is an accountant - Howard Davies (Damian Lewis). 'Dream' is raised on an
allotment owned by Jan and Brian and
they discover a new reason to start enjoying life. There are
setbacks and
upsetting reversals of fortune placed exactly where you'd expect them
to be, of
course the characters find ingenious and heartwarming ways to rise
above
whatever trouble they encounter. Very well acted by the whole cast.  James Norton (Gareth
Jones) Peter
Sarsgaard (Walter Duranty) The film watched was 'Mr.
Jones' directed by award
winning director - Agniezka Holland. This 2019
drama/thriller
is based on real people and real events and chronicles a Welsh
investigative
journalist as he travels deep into the Soviet Union to uncover the
truth about
the devastating famine in Ukraine in the early 1930's. It is a joint Polish, Ukrainian
and British production that
was premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2019 and
released in
the United States in April this year. At its centre is one man's struggle to get to the truth about Joseph Staloin's famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933, which the regime was hiding from the outside world on the eve of the diplomatic recognition of the Soviet Union by the United States.The movie's central character is Gareth Jones who travels to the Soviet Union in the early 1930's hoping to interview Stalin. Instead he ends up uncovering the dictator's big secret, the Ukrainian famine. Jones' principal antagonist is the Pulitzer Prize winning Moscow correspondent of the New York Times - Walter Duranty, who uses his considerable status to publicly attack jones and deny the existence of the famine resulting in the death of millions. The two leading actors James Norton (Jones) and Peter Sarsgaard (Duranty) brilliantly capture this struggle for truth during what was one of the darkest periods of European history.
The film we watched at Sally's
this month was 'Lion'
directed by Garth Davies and starring: Dev Patel (Saroo
Brierley)
Nicole Kidman (Sue Brierley)
 The film shown this month was
'Colette' a 2018
biographical film drama directed by Wash Westmoreland and is based upon
the
life of the French novelist Sidonie Gabrielle Colette. It
stars Keira
Knightley (Colette) Dominic West (Willy), Eleanor Tomlinson (Georgie
Raoul-Duval), Denise Gough (Missy) and Fiona Shaw (Sido). Countrygirl Colette falls for
Willy who marries her and
sweeps her away to live in Paris. He is a 'larger than life' figure and
very
popular in high society. He is attributed to having written many books
but he
comes up with the ideas and the hard work is all done by ghost writers
-
treating them badly and rarely paying them. He
complains constantly
of having no money whilst attending casinos and spending a fortune on
entertaining. Colette agrees to be his one and only ghost
writer and
great success follows her semi-autobiographical novels all under
Willy's name
although everyone knows she is the author. Willy is desperate
for money,
always overspending and secretely sells the rights to Colette's novels. The success of her
writing soon inspires Colette to
fight for creative ownership and overcome the social constraints of the
early
20th century. She leaves Willy when she finds out that he has betrayed her and forges a very successful future for herself, writing a great number of books .
The film this month was 'The
Duke' starring Jim
Broadbent (Kempton Bunton)Helen Mirren (Dorothy Bunton) Fionn Whitehead
(Jackie) and Matthew Goode (Jeremy Hutchinson, Barrister) In 1961, Kempton Bunton,
a 60 year old self educated
working class taxi driver, stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of
Wellington from
the National Gallery in London. It was the first and remains
the only
theft in the Gallery's history. Kempton sent ransom notes
saying that he
would return the painting on condition that the government invested
more in
care for the elderly - he had long campaigned for pensioners to receive
free
television. What happened next became the stuff of
legend. Only 50
years later did the full story emerge. He was a good man,
determined to
change the world and save his marriage - his daughter had died and both
he and
his wife were unable to cope with this situation. How and why
he used the
Duke to achieve that is a wonderfully uplifting tale. The February meeting was held
at Sally's house. The
film shown was 'The Scapegoat'. It
is a British film adaptation of
Daphne de Maurier's 1957 novel of the same name. It was
broadcast on ITV
in September 2012 and was written and directed by Charles Sturridge. Cast: Matthew Rhys (John and
Johnny) Alice Orr-Ewing
(Francis)
Eileen Atkins (Lady Spence) Andrew Scott (Paul)
Johdi May
(Blanche) Sheridan Smith (Nina) Set in 1952, as Britain
prepares for the coronation, The
Scapegoat tells the provocative story of two very different men who
have one
thing in common - a face. John Standing an unemployed
teacher, meets his
doppelganger Johnny Spence and, after a drunken night, is manoeuvred
into
swapping lives with him. Standing is suddenly responsible for
a beautiful
young wife, two mistresses, a drug abusing mother, a precocious
daughter, a
crumbling stately home and a bankrupt business. Despite his
efforts to
escape, John finds himself irresistibly drawn into Johnny's life - with
fatal
consequences. The Scapegoat is a morally complex, darkly comic and suspenseful movie, and featuring compelling performances from the film's cast.
____________________________________________________________________________ The group met at Ralph's home
on Wednesday 25 January.
The film shown was 'Rear Window' directed by Alfred Hitchcock and
starred his
favourites - James Stewart and Grace Kelly. This was the 1954
original -
there have been a few remakes, though in my opinion, not as successful
as the
first. Cast: James Stewart
(Jeff)
Grace Kelly (Lisa) Thelma Ritter
(Stella)
Raymond Burr
(Thorwold) Wendell Corey (Det. Lt. Thomas) Stewart plays a professional
news photographer, confined to
his flat, in a wheelchair with a broken leg after being injured whilst
reporting from a racetrack. He passes the time recuperating
by observing his neighbours
through his rear window which looks out onto the backs of a block of
flats. Because of the sweltering heat everyone has their
windows open and
their blinds drawn back. He gives most of the neighbours
names Miss Lonely Hearts,
the Newly Weds, Miss Torso - a ballet teacher, the Songwriter who plays
the
same tune over and over again and a Travelling Salesman and his wife
who is
confined to bed with the couple constantly bickering. Stewart sees what he believes
to be a murder and decides to
solve the crime himself. With the help of his nurse (Ritter)
and his
girlfriend (Kelly) he tries to catch the murderer without
being killed
himself. He reports his findings to his friend Det. Lt.
Thomas, who believes
he has a fertile imagination and doesn't take Stewart's suspicions
seriously. The film is well acted, it has suspense and humour and the tension slowly builds until the last chilling final ten minutes, it takes a while to get there, but there is literally never a dull moment.
___________________________________________________________________________ The last meeting was held on 30
November at Anne's
home. The film watched was the story of Noah and the ark
taken from the
Book of Genesis. Russell Crowe
Jennifer Connelly Noah is a 2014 spectacular and
intense drama directed by
Darren Aronotsky who co-wrote the screenplay with Ari Handel. When God decides that mankind
has become too sinful and must
be wiped off the Earth, he chooses Noah (R.Crowe) , a pious
man,
for a monumental mission - to build an ark large enough to
carry his wife
(J. Connelly), adopted daughter (E.Watson) who he rescued from a
burning
village where all had been murdered, sons (L.Larman) (Douglas Booth)
(Leo
McHugh Carroll) and their wives - plus breeding pairs of all
animals.When the
task is completed, Noah and his family witness God's wrath in the form
of an
apocalyptic flood. Unfortunately, with his wife
past child-bearing age, only
one son has a wife, the adopted daughter and because of the injuries
she
received when her village was attacked she is barren. The
other 2 sons
have no wives. Anthony Hopkins has a cameo part as Noah's
grandfather - a
bit of a wizard - and he blesses the young girl and she becomes able to
become
pregnant. She and her husband are then
expected to populate the
world!! The special effects are tremendous and even though many liberties are taken with the original story from the Bible, it moves along at a fast pace and if you can stand a certain degree of violence and wizardry and can make out what is happening in the gloom - of which there is a lot - it is an interesting film.
The October showing was 'THE
GOOD NURSE' Cast: Jessica
Chastain
Eddie Redmayne This is a thriller based on the
true-crime case of Charles
Cullen, the New Jersey nurse who in 2003 was finally arrested after
apparently
killing hundreds of patients over 7 years and 9 hospitals by covertly
administering lethal, intravenous overdoses. Eddie Redmayne is the
insidiously personable and caring
Cullen and Jessica Chastain plays his co-worker, an overworked fellow
nurse
called Amy a real-life figure who really did befriend Cullen, suspect
the worst
and work with the police to get him caught. Single mum Amy is under
terrible strain at work and secretly
prone to faintness but she still needs more months in the job before
she is eligible
for health benefits. Her new best friend Charlie offers to
help her, look
after her daughter when she's working late, cover up her cardiac
condition and
even show her how to steal meds from the hospital supply - so Amy
becomes
unknowingly complicit in his dysfunction and a quasi-patient figure for
Charlie, someone that he wants to make dependent on him and a queasy
hint of
his larger compulsion. The hospital authorities themselves
are uneasily
aware of unexplained deaths but do not want to admit it, like all
Cullen's
previous employers, and so conspire to obstruct the investigation from
the two
dogged cops - Detectives Danny Baldwin and Tim Braun. A creepily watchable drama!! The film shown in September was
'The Trick' Philip Jones the world-renowned
Professor and Director of
climate change at the University of East Anglia finds himself in the
eye of an
international media storm and the victim of cyberterrorism. This true conspiracy thriller
and cautionary tale tells the
story of the 2009 climategate scandal which undermined confidence in
the
science of climate change.for Professor Jones and his team.They find
themselves
in the middle of a major investigation with their 30 years of research
work
being questioned in the first 'fake news' attack. In the end, their names are
cleared but Professor
Jones' mental health suffers during the investigation and he
is very
close to suicide on several occasions. The investigation team come to the conclusion, privately, that all the false evidence pointed to the power companies on the east coast of America.
___________________________________________________________________________ The last meeting was at Anne's
house on 27 July. The
film shown was 'Going in Style' - a 2017 American heist comedy . Joe, Al and Willie are 3 senior
citizens, their previous
employers - a huge Steel Company, decide to move their works to Asia
and to
stop paying all pensions. Joe visits his bank for a talk with
its manager
regarding rent arrears as he is soon to lose his house.Whilst there, a
robbery
takes place, quickly and smoothly with no violence. This
gives Joe and
idea and together with his two friends, plans to rob the local bank of
just
enough money to cover them for the rest of their lives. The robbery does not go
smoothly as Willie briefly
collapses (he is in desperate need of a kidney transplant).
They hide
the stolen money whilst the FBI agent (Matt Dillon) tries
desperately to prove their guilt.
The last meeting was held on
29th June at Nick's home.
The Film shown was 'Atonement' - a 2007 romantic war drama.
Keira Knightly
(Cecilia) James McAvoy (Robbie) Saoirse Ronan
(Briony) May's film was 'The Shawshank
Redemption' The main characters:-: Morgan
Freenman as 'Red'; Tim Robbins
as Andy Dufresne and Bob Gunton as Warden Norton. This 1994 oscar nominated film
is an American drama written
and directed by Frank Darabont, based on a Stephen King novella. Andy Dufresne, a successful
banker, is wrongfully arrested
for the murder of his wife and her lover and is sentenced to life
imprisonment
at the maximum security Shawshank prison where he becomes the most
unconventional prisoner. He spends 19 years in prison in
1950's Maine and
shows the other inmates perseverance and provides a sense of hope and
optimism
in the bleakest of places and under the most difficult
circumstances. The gritty world of Shawshank
prison is populated with
sadistic guards, a corrupt warden and predatory fellow
inmates. Prison
rape, while not graphically shown, is very strongly implied.
Guards beat
and kill an inmate and a prisoner is shot and killed. There
is also
frequent profanity. However, the film also shows inmates forming a
loving
community of friends and support despite oppressive conditions and a
sense of
maintaining perseverance and hope in the darkest of hours. Robbins
brings about
reform and great change during his 19 years - he escapes so this very
intense
film has a happy ending!! The last meeting was on
Wednesday 26 May at Anne's
house. The film shown was 'Green Book'. Viggo Mortensen This is a deftly scripted film
with a message about
overcoming prejudice. Anchored by two outstanding
performances, this true
story of an unlikely friendship centres on a goofy, lovable
white
Italian-American from the Bronx who learns to be less racist after
spending
time with a cultured black man who he is hired to drive and
protect on a concert tour through
the deep South. It's often funny, with some poignant moments. Yet the Green Book itself
doesn't play much of a role in the
film. Mortensen's character Tony, takes it on the trip
and leafs
through it several times. Early on he briefly explains its
purpse to his
wife Delores : to provide black travellers with information about
'safe' places
to stay and eat while they travel. He'll need to refer to it
to do his
job, getting Shirley from gig to gig safely throughout the musician's 8
week
tour. He has to get Shirley out of a tight spot on many
occasions. But
after that, the book is not mentioned by name , even as the pair
encounter the
full gamut of racism during the trip - ranging from casual remarks to
'genteel'
discrimination to violent hostility from civilians, bar patrons and
police. Indeed, we typically see it only when Tony quietly
picks it up to
find motels in which Shirley can safely stay. We enjoyed the film very much
but needed the lighter moments
to counteract the dark racism which threaded its way throughout.
We last met at Nick's house on
Wednesday 23 February Cast: In 1939 Suffolk, landowner and
widow Edith Pretty hires
local self-taught archaeologist-excavator Basil Brown to investigate
the large
burial mounds at her rural estate in Sutton Hoo near
Woodbridge. Brown's
former employers from the Ipswich Museum try unsuccessfully to persuade
him to
work on a Roman villa they deem more important. They ignore
Brown, who
left school aged 12, when he suggests the mounds could be Anglo-Saxon
rather
then the more common Viking era. We met this month at Anne's
house in Tregynon to watch the
heart warming 2009 film 'Invictus' directed by Clint
Eastwood, starring
Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge and Adjoa Andoh. It tells the inspiring true
story of how Nelson Mandela
(Morgan Freeman) recently elected President of South Africa,
joined
forces with the captain - Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) of
South Africa's
rugby team to help unite their country. Mandela knows his nation
remains racially and
economically divided in the wake of apartheid.
Believing he can
bring his people together through the universal language
of sport,
Mandela rallies S.A's underdog rugby team - the
Springboks and
they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup's championship match -
they win
and for one day at least, 43 million South Africans are united. A very inspiring film with
wonderful performances especially
by Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as Pienaar. The last meeting was on 27
October at Nick's house. 4
members attended. The
film shown was 'The Devil Wears Prada' - a 2006 American
comedy/drama directed by David Frankel. The main characters
were played
by Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. 29 September we last met at Ralph's for the showing of 'Witness for the Prosecution', written by Agatha Christie - not previously known for her courtroom dramas, but the film has since become one of her most adapted and best known. It was directed by Billy Wilder in 1957 in black and white and was nominated for 6 oscars. The main characters were played by Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich and Elsa Lanchester. Eminent barrister Sir Wilfred Robarts (Laughton) returning to his Chambers after illness, with strict instructions from his doctor not to take on any strenuous criminal cases cannot resist the prospect of defending the affable Leonard Vole (Powers) who is being tried for the murder of a wealthy widow. The film twists this way and that and contains many surprises, especially towards the end. An interesting and enjoyable film with fine performances from all the cast.
_________________________________________________________________________ We met yesterday 26th February
at Sally's home, battling
through the flood water! The film was 'The Children Act'
written by Ian
McEwan, based on his 2014 novel of the same name. It stars
Emma Thompson,
Stanley Tucci and Fionn Whitehead. Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) is
an eminent high court judge in
London presiding with wisdom and compassion over ethically complex
cases of
family law. But she has paid a heavy personal price for her
work-load and
her marriage to American professor Jack (Stanley Tucci) is at breaking
point. In this moment of personal
crisis, Fiona is asked to rule on
the case of Adam (Fionn Whitehead) a brilliant boy who is
refusing(for religious reasons) a blood transfusion
which will save
his life. Adam is three months from his 18th birthday and
still legally a child. Should Fiona force him to
live? Fiona
visits Adam in hospital and their meeting has a profound
impact on them
both, stirring strong new emotions in the boy and long-buried longings
in her. The whole cast give wonderful
performances but Emma Thompson
carries the whole film. A must see!! 
________________________________________________________________________ We
met
twice in January as Christmas got in the way in
December! 8
January
- we met at Nick's home to watch 'Mrs Lowry and
Son' starring Timothy
Spall and Vanessa Redgrave and hardly anyone
else. It is a biographical drama set in Pendlebury, Greater
Manchester
chronicling the life of the renowned artist L.S.Lowry and considers the
relationship between him and his overbearing, bed-ridden and bitter
mother
Elizabeth who has reservations over her son's career in
painting.
She
tries to dissuade him from pursuing his passion whilst never failing to
voice
her opinion at her disappointment in him. The two leads gave
a
masterclass in acting but on the whole it was an inert and dismal film
and
considering the life he endured, it was surprising how Lowry produced
the work
he did.
29
January - We met at Anne's home to watch 'The Monuments
Men' This was directed by George Clooney and written and produced by
Clooney
and Grant Heslov. The film has many star actors
including
George
Clooney - Matt
Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob
Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett. It is a fact-based World War 11 drama about a platoon who are sent to Germany in order to rescue creative masterpieces - including statues and paintings from Nazi thieves and return them to their legal owners. The film makes a profound point in a subtle way - that the Fuhrer's ambition if left unchecked would have been world-altering, in the most unsettling of ways. The hunting down of the treasures mostly hidden in mines was exciting and fast-moving but we were reminded of the atrocities of war by the huge containers filled with gold fillings from the teeth of prisoners. Many treasures were recovered, but many destroyed by the retreating Germans. There was a very short time-slot for recovery as the Russians were advancing and they too wanted the globally important cultural artifacts.
The
last meeting was on Wednesday 27th November at Ralph's
home. He chose the film 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'. The last meeting took place at 2 pm. on Wednesday 25 September at Anne's house. The film was 'Hampstead' starring Diane Keaton and Brendan Gleeson as the main characters but also starred James Norton, Lesley Manville, Phil Davis and Simon Callow. It was listed as being 'funny, uplifting and full of heart' although all of us agreed that it lacked comedy. Inspired by true events, Hampstead tells the story of an American widow who, one day when exploring the gorgeous area surrounding her home in Hampstead Village, meets a man who lives off-grid in his own private paradise on the Heath and the two strike up an unexpected romance. However, when unscrupulous property developers threaten to uproot the man, destroy his home and build luxury flats in its place, the widow is determined to fight back to defend the Heath as well as the man she loves.
We last met on Wednesday 28 August at Nick's home. The film we watched was 'About Schmidt' starring Jack Nicholson. It was a winner of 2 Golden Globe Awards and whilst it was entertaining it was one of those slowwww films. He was a completely joyless man who had arrived at several of life's crossroads all at the same time. To begin with, he retired from a lifetime of service with an Insurance Company and he felt utterly adrift. His wife of 42 years dies suddenly and he is lost without her unable to do anything for himself. He then discovers his ex boss and wife had an affair many years ago. Schmidt feels that his soon to be married daughter (who lives some distance away) could do better. He sets out on a journey of self-discovery, exploring his roots across Nebraska in the 35-foot motor home in which he had planned to drive around the country with his late wife. Nothing much interests him along the way. He spends the night before the wedding at his future son-in-law's house, whose mother is a happy free spirit who gives him some medication for an aching neck - this results in Schmidt spending the wedding day in a doped haze. He then returns to an empty home. On retiring, Schmidt decided to send 22$ a month to Africa to adopt a little orphaned 6 year old boy to help with his upbringing. He would write to him at regular intervals telling him how mad he was at everyone, how his wife and daughter were annoying him and anything he could think of at the time of writing - really unburdening himself and saying how he had not made a difference to anyone in his life. The little boy's letter was the first he had received and was written by a nun who said she read all Schmidt's letters to his foster son as he was unable to read or write. The little boy had sent a drawing of 2 figures, one tall, one short, holding hands. Schmidt burst into tears - he HAD made a difference to someone. 
_________________________________________________________________________ The
last meeting was on Wednesday 31st at Sally's home. The film
shown was
'The Aviator'. The film was a 2004 American epic biographical film
directed by
Martin Scorsese. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes,
Kate Blanchett
as Katharine Hepburn and Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner. Billionaire
Howard Hughes is a successful public figure, a director of big budget
films, a
passionate lover of Hollywood leading ladies and an aviation pioneer
who helps
build TWA into a major airline. But, in private, he remains
tormented
suffering from paralysing phobias and depression. The
film is 10 minutes short of 3 hours and on the whole we did not enjoy
the first
3/4 of the story - it almost became a farce - the setting was 1920's
and 1930's
with a great many parties with very loud music and people shouting at
each
other in a attempt to be heard above the entertainment. In
fact
everyone
shouted throughout the film. The last quarter of the
film was
more
bearable but sad as the health of Hughes deteriorated and he became
more
obsessed with his phobias. There is no doubt that he was a
brilliant
aviator but that couldn't save the film as far as we were concerned!
We
met
on Wednesday 26 June at Ralph's home in Berriew. The
film was 'The Descendants' starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley,
Amara
Miller and Nick Crause.
________________________________________________________________________ The
last meeting
was on
Wednesday 29th May at Anne's house in Tregynon.The film shown was a
Merchant
Ivory film 'Before The Rains', a bold, intensely beautiful tale of
romance torn
between two worlds. Southern India in the 1930's: against the tumultuous backdrop of growing national unrest an idealistic young man T.K. finds himself torn between his ambitions for the future and his loyalty to the past when people in his village learn of an affair between his British boss Moores (Linus Roache) and local village girl Sanjani. As he struggles with the new found freedom that revolution threatens to bring to a culture steeped in tradition, loyalty and honour, T.K.witnesses first-hand the tragedy, betrayal and intense passion which are ignited in a country teetering on the brink of history.
______________________________________________________________________ The
last meeting took place at Nick's home in Abermule on Wednesday 24
April. The film shown was 'Memoirs of a Geisha' Winner of 3
Oscars in 2006
and starring Suzuka Ohgo and Togo Igawa.
________________________________________________________________________ The
last meeting was on Wednesday 27th March at Sally's home near
Shrewsbury.The film 'LOVING' starred Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga. In
1958
in the state of Virginia, the idea of interracial marriage was not only
considered to be immoral to many, it was also illegal. When
Richard and
Mildred fall in love, they are aware of the eyes staring at them and
the words
said behind their backs. It is when they get married,
however,
that words
and looks become actions, and the two are arrested. The
couple
decide to
take their case all the way to the Supreme Court in order to fight for
their
love . New
laws were passed and they won their case. If you want action and a fast-moving film - this is not for you, but it is a true story of just an ordinary couple who wanted to live together as husband and wife. It was interesting to see how accepted Joel was by the black community and how unacceptable Mildred was to the white community. Shame on us!
|
We
meet on the last Wednesday in
the month at each
members' house. The films chosen are those that do NOT regularly appear on the various television channels and which have a decent story and/or have an innovative content. A number of films are chosen by the host, the one shown is selected by the attendees. |
| Links: Welshpool U3A The Virtual U3A (vU3a) | |
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