Florence Foster Jenkins - Movie Review

Almost forgot, but while away on vacation, I saw the film Florence Foster Jenkins by Stephen Frears, starring Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, and the guy who plays Howard on the Big Bang Theory. (Took me a while to place him, but halfway through the movie, I thought - Howard on Big Bang Theory.)
The movie is worth it just for Howard's facial expressions. He plays Florence's accompanist.

The film is based on a true story - about a wealthy ailing woman, during the 1940s, who desperately wanted to be an opera singer. Unfortunately, she can't carry a tune and is tone death. But, she doesn't let that stop her. And her husband, St. Clair Bayfield does his utmost to aid her in her dream. As a result, she unintentionally becomes amongst the greatest comic opera singers ever -- to such an extent, that her archived taped performance at Carnegie Hall is amongst the most requested. And her Melotone records sold more than any others during that time period and beyond.

The film is an amusing, and ultimately uplifting character study of two people, Florence Foster Jenkins and her husband St. Clair Bayfield. Who both adore music and unintentionally bring laughter to the troops.

It did, however, have a few off moments. I'm not sure black soliders would be sitting with white soliders in the orchestra seats of Carnegie Hall during the 1940s. We still had segregation back then. But other than that...it worked. And Hugh Grant held his own as St. Clair Bayfield.

Here's the trailer:

Watch on YouTube

PSA

Inspired by others, I tinkered with my flist a bit. Defriended people who have not posted or responded to my posts for over two years, and I've never met. (Also a couple I did meet in person, but haven't posted in forever, and I think are long gone from lj.) Added a few that had been responding to my posts frequently.

If you feel that I defriended you by mistake, please advise and I'll amend.

I don't think you'll notice, since most of my posts are public anyhow. The only one's that aren't are the personal stuff - which I tend to keep to a minimum, if I can.

Movie Meme

swiped from beer_good_foamy

This is the BBC's 100 best film list, selected by film critics. (Considering I think films are a matter of subjective taste and it's impossible to select best films, this is just for kicks.)

And it's a good list, too. So the usual bit: Italics for the ones I've seen, bold for the ones I've loved (which isn't necessarily to say I didn't like the ones I don't bold, there are only a few I actively disliked, but there's a whole grey area between "Yeah, that was a really good movie" and "HOLY SHIT YOU LIVE IN MY SOUL").

So, how about you?

100. Toni Erdmann (Maren Ade, 2016)
100. Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky, 2000) -- haunting but not a film one necessarily falls in love with. Also was uneven in places. Not sure I'd have put it on the list.
100. Carlos (Olivier Assayas, 2010)
99. The Gleaners and I (Agnès Varda, 2000)
98. Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002)
97. White Material (Claire Denis, 2009)
96. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton, 2003) -- interesting choice.
95. Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson, 2012) - meh, not sure why people love this so much. I think Wes Anderson might be an acquired taste. I also know about his orgins...he was mentored by Kit Carson and Cindy Carson, who decided to mentor him over my brother and sisinlaw.
94. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008) - Amongst the best vampire films that I've seen and I didn't see the remake.
93. Ratatouille (Brad Bird, 2007) -- one of the better and more unique animated flicks
92. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007) - fell asleep during it, which never bodes well.
91. The Secret in Their Eyes (Juan José Campanella, 2009)
90. The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
89. The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, 2008)
88. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015) - Loved, amongst the best procedural films made.
87. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) - sweet film but forgot most of it.
86. Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002) -- mixed feelings, better than most, wasn't in love with.
85. A Prophet (Jacques Audiard, 2009)
84. Her (Spike Jonze, 2013)
83. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001) --- I think I am one of the few people who actually loved this film. It still haunts me and is amongst Spielberg's best - he took over the project from Stanley Kubrick - whose footage is intermixed with it.
82. A Serious Man (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009) -- interesting film, and amongst the better Coen films
81. Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
80. The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2003)
79. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000) - okay, meandered.
78. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013)
77. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007) - Love, love, love. Everyone should see this beautiful film. It's about a journalist who is completely paralyzed and proceeds to write a book by pushing letters with a pencil like morris code. He can barely speak. It's life-affirming in so many ways and beautifully filmed.
76. Dogville (Lars von Trier, 2003)
75. Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)
74. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine, 2012)
73. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
72. Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)
71. Tabu (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
70. Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley, 2012)
69. Carol (Todd Haynes, 2015) -- Todd Haynes like Wes Anderson is not to my taste. Very atmospheric with strong visuals, but I often feel detached and like I'm watching impressionist paintings.
68. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001) - one of the few Anderson films that I liked, but it also made me feel detached.
67. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008) - one of the best war movies about Iraq filmed.
66. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003)
65. Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009)
64. The Great Beauty (Paolo Sorrentino, 2013)
63. The Turin Horse (Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky, 2011)
62. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009) - over the top, but quite funny.
61. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)
60. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006)
59. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005) -- Loved this film, amongst the best Cronenberg has done. Cronenberg unlike Anderson and Haynes pulls you into the human body and has a physicality to his films, a raw energy.
58. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène, 2004)
57. Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, 2012) - controversial but gripping, and quite haunting - shows how revenge can shatter the soul.
56. Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, director; Ágnes Hranitzky, co-director, 2000)
55. Ida (Paweł Pawlikowski, 2013)
54. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011)
53. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001) -- watching this film felt a bit like being stuck in an elevator with a marachi band. A very loud marachi band.
52. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004)
51. Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) - Tricky film, but I liked his earlier works better, such as Memento.
50. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015)
49. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)
48. Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015) - disappointing, didn't quite work for me. But what didn't work for me was also in the book, so hardly the filmmaker's fault.
47. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014)
46. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010)
45. Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013)
44. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013)
43. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011)
42. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012)
41. Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015) -- charming, not quite as good as Ratatouille from an animation perspective. But I did enjoy it quite a bit.
40. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005) - Love.
39. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) - saw can't remember.
38. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002) - saw but can't remember.
37. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010)
36. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014)
35. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) -- Love, love, it was so beautiful, and featured female fighters - they were the stars.
34. Son of Saul (László Nemes, 2015)
33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008) -- possibly amongst the best superhero films ever made, and most likely my favorite Batman film -- it captured the true ambiguity of the character and his world.
32. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006) -- - saw but can barely remember it. Had to look it up. This is the problem with seeing as many films as I've seen, they blur together after a while.
31. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)
30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)
29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008) - Charming.
28. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002) -- fascinating film about mothers and sons.
27. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010) -- I like Steve Jobs better, but it's an interesting film. And had it's moments.
26. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
25. ​Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000) - Love this film. Fascinating film about memory and how it effects us.
24. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
23. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
22. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)-- the appeal of this film continues to be completely lost on me. I kept falling asleep during it.
21. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) - I liked Moonrise Kingdom better. I need to stop seeing Wes Anderson films, not really to my taste.
20. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008) -- I had to look it up, but I saw it. And enjoyed it, not one of Kaufman's best though.
19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015) - Liked Mad Max - Road Warrior better, Mel Gibson was a bit more riveting in the role. But Charlize Theron was admittedly amazing and good visuals.
18. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
17. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006) - brilliant film, still remember it vividly. Sort of a twisted Alice Through the Looking Glass and a good allegory on war.
16. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
15. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
14. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012)
13. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006) - a good film, but dark and didn't quite work for me in places.
12. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007) -- barely remember this one. I like Fincher a lot, but his films don't stand out to me.
11. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013)
10. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007) - my favorite Coen brothers film next to Fargo (which should be on this list and isn't).
9. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
8. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000)
7. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011) -- possibly best of Malick's films, but feels very male, and male focused.
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004) Adore this film, and it is by far my favorite Jim Carrey film.
5. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014) -- I felt this was overrated. Although it did help me understand my brother a bit, the main character reminded me a great deal of my brother.
4. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001) -- Loved this film. Favorite animated film.
3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) - okay, not memorable except for the lead performance.
2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000) - this sounds familiar, but I'm not sure if I saw it or not.
1. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001) - one of Lynch's best, mainly because it was amongst his most coherent.