Sam’s Place

This Is England (2006)

Sam: ***

• A cautionary tale about nationalism, I think, set in the North of England in 1983. A good, menacing, performance by Stephen Graham, & had it’s compelling moments otherwise, but mostly an amateurish failure. Good soundtrack, though.

Emma: **

• Good photography but it seemed like a slightly-more-sophisticated version of Suburbia (coincidentally released in 1983, the year in which This Is England is set). Probably would have liked it more if I’d seen it as a teenager. Could have done more with the soundtrack, too.

Atonement (2007)

Sam: ****

• That’s what I’m talking about: a movie made by a director knows he’s making a movie. Every shot is a series of photographs. Not everything is immediately explained & linear. The story isn’t much & I didn’t like the ending but the direction, music & acting made it my favorite of the recent bunch. Keira Knightley was good too, which surprised me.

Emma: ****

• Excellent cinematography, & Keira Knightley wasn’t as annoying as usual (she was probably cast in a Knightley-like role), & James McAvoy is always good, & child actress Saoirse Ronan did a good job. The 1st half of the movie was a lot stronger than the 2nd, though.

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The Namesake (2006)

Sam: ***

• An Indian immigrant family in the USA. Good job by the parents, but Kal Penn, despite good comic timing, didn’t carry the movie, as he needed to to make this work.

Emma: ***

• I liked that they filmed much of the movie in India, instead of just in the US, with people talking about India.

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Michael Clayton (2007)

Sam: ***

• George Clooney plays George Clooney in this evil-corporation flick.

Emma: ***

• Good job by Tilda Swinton & Tom Wilkinson, as usual, but we’ve seen this story — more or less — before.

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Hoax (2006)

Sam: ***

• Richard Gere doing a good job portraying fraudster Clifford Irving — I think that’s called “acting.” Between this & Keira Knightley (above), I might start thinking stars can act. Orson Welles covered this same subject in his irritating but more interesting F for Fake.

Emma: ***

• Interesting subject matter but the movie dragged.

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Black Books: Series 3 (2004)

Sam: ****

• A low budget British comedy filmed in front of a live audience. Three people talking in a bookstore, mostly, so some of the gags aren’t going to work but these 3 people (Dylan Moran, Tamsin Greig, and Bill Bailey) are really funny.

Emma: *****

• Funny stuff. High points this season include the attempt to write a children’s book, and the dance sequence.

The Sopranos (1999-2007)

Sam: ****

• Good acting (especially by James Gandolfini), black comedy, complex plots, willingness to take chances but… Not much in the way of attractive characters. The bad guys always win. The show got bleaker after 9/11, especially the final season. The US is depicted as thoroughly corrupt, and it’s implied that a deadlier terrorist attack is likely. There’s an undercurrent of nostalgia, yet descriptions of the past (such as Tony Soprano’s childhood) are also bleak.

Emma: ****

• The first season was best: mob boss Tony Soprano has a psychological crisis and seeks help. Once it becomes clear that he won’t really change, the series becomes less interesting. But still good, if you can stand the violence.