Calendar Girls DVD

Advantages: funny, warm, uplifting; even has a bit of suspense
Disadvantages: slightly slight?

Calendar Girls is one of those feel-good, gentle comedy movies which one can actually enjoy quite unashamedly as it doesn`t err to heavily on the side of simplification. Moreover, it is based on a true story (which received a lot of publicity in its time) which nicely deflects any complaints of providing a rose-tinted view of reality. The starting premise, albeit amusing in a one-off way, is not that terribly promising: a dissident faction of a ...
...the annual calendar by posing for it naked. No, excuse me, not naked: nude. What resulted, however, is an account that is well-scripted and well-played, funny, heart-warming, entertaining and even providing some mild food for thought. The story develops very briskly, and despite being largely charcter-driven, the film maintains a surprising amount of suspense. Even a viewer familiar (as it was with me) with the general outcome would often be, perhaps ... Read review

Advantages: Splendid story to tell and lovely acting.
Disadvantages: DVD extras aren't brilliant.

With an all-star British cast Calendar Girls was bound to be good even if it didn’t have a good story to tell! Julie Walters, the Queen of British Comedy/Drama, and Helen Mirren, the Briton who made it in America, were bound to give a boost to any comedy whatever it was like. Well this time they could have had any Tom, Dick or Harry and it would still be a marvellous films. It would still be comedy genius and one of the best things to come ...
...more than in American films. Calendar Girls is yet another British hit to add to the ever-growing list. It’ll be around in years to come and will be a favourite for all… I first intended to see Calendar Girls last October (2003) when it was first released. I’d read the reviews; I’d read about it for months before that, I even remembered reading in the paper about the real thing happening, so I was really looking forward to ... Read review

Advantages: A simple but moving story, told with sincerity and humour
Disadvantages: The American section of the plot seems somewhat contrived

...there's a difference you know) calendar for charity. Thus the two dissidents of decorum set about conscripting the help of their (mostly) reluctant WI friends, and before we know it we're in Annie's kitchen watching an emancipated, if somewhat abashed Celia (Celia Imrie) concealing her modesty behind an extremely amusing composition of iced buns. Before long the calendar turns from local commotion to national sensation, and eventually international, ...
...is only hinted at in the film, as are many of the more major issues which the story raises concerning the impact of the sudden and unexpected celebrity status of these otherwise respectable, and fairly normal women. Despite this however, the film remains immensely pleasing from start to finish, and succeeds because it does simply what it sets out to do; tell the story of a few otherwise ordinary women doing something quite remarkable for a cause ... Read review

Advantages: Ciao calender girls
Disadvantages: Ciao calendar boys

...imagine us stuffy Brits .’ Calendar Girls’ was that 2003 flick!. Unlike ‘Four Weddings’ and ‘Bridget Jones’, this is based on a true story as most of you will know, so avoided feeling like three tiresome Middle Class situation comedies stuck together with Tescos ‘super-grip’ glue like the above. Yes some English girls do have big bottoms and go to lots of weddings looking for suitors and Chardonnay, ...
...at best you know guys, Calendar Girls has genuine wholesome belly laughs!. # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # The Plot # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # Chrissie (Helen Mirren) and Annie (Julie Walters) slouch on the back seats of the local Napely W.I, bored with making jam and knitting tea cosies. Chrissies mission to liven up things with vodka tasting evenings and cutting very big corners in the national sponge finals are not everyone’s cup of ... Read review

Advantages: sweet characters, funny details, beautifully filmed
Disadvantages: a little short on plot, end half drags

...local WI prints a fund-raising calendar featuring innocuous photos such as churches and flowers that earns the group about 40 quid. Inspired by her teenage son’s pornographic magazine and a Page Three Girl calendar in the local auto body shop, Chris decides to create a sexy calendar featuring middle-aged women. The idea scares many of the women in the WI at first, but Chris assures them, “It’s not naked; it’s NUDE!” In addition to struggling to recruit ...
...the actual shooting of the calendar occurs fairly early on in this film. I guess director Nigel Cole figured that many people would be familiar with the story of the real life calendar girls (the film is based on a true story), so it would be pointless to try to make the movie suspenseful. So, for those of you looking for an action-filled movie, you’re looking in the wrong place. The conflicts are mainly interpersonal, as we know from the start that ... Read review