Drama > Broadbent, Jim Drama

How many stars does it take to do Dickens?

Advantages: A beautifully fresh presentation
Disadvantages: Some poor "English" accents

...A brief plot outline Nicholas Nickleby is dead. (This seems to be a theme of how Dickens starts his novels!) But we are not concrned with that Nicholas Nickleby, it is his son ... young Nicholas Nickleby who is the hero of our tale. After his father's suden death leaving his family with little money the young Nicholas goes to his uncle in town for advice. As you can imagine the uncle is loaded but does not help the Nickelby's at all. He manages ...
...Hall. Now Nicholas is warned that this school is not pleasant by an old friend of his fathers but he goes none the less. When he arrives at Dotheboys he is greated by malnourished, down trodden young boys who seem closer to death than receiving a good education. In particular the young boy Smike is the Headmaster's servant boy and often beaten. As you can imagine Nicholas is there to become the boy's saviour and helps Smike to escape. He then beats ...

nkemp_99 03.02.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Nicholas Nickleby (DVD)

The Gathering Storm - Finney's finest hour

Advantages: Amazing acting, strong story
Disadvantages: None to speak of

The Gathering Storm charts the course of events from Winston Churchill's Wilderness Years during Baldwin's National Government in the mid-to-late 1930s, until his return to office as First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of the Second World War. = PLOT SUMMARY = Winston Churchill has become a backbencher, increasingly ridiculed as yesterday's man, a man of no-judgement and a war-monger. It is the mid-1930s, and no-one seems to have ...
...Churchill desperately seeks solace during his Black Dog moods at Chartwell, writing prolifically to pay the bills, while casting around for ways to draw the public's attention to the very real danger he senses. This film charts Churchill's struggles through these dark times, where he gets assistance from well-placed people inside the civil service in Whitehall. It shows how Ralph Wigram (a foreign office official) struggles with his conscience and ...

lobourse 13.12.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Gathering Storm (DVD)

Sailing into darkness

Advantages: A moving and very human portrayal of Iris Murdoch's battle with Alzheimers
Disadvantages: A few unanswered questions

...reading anything about, or by Iris Murdoch. Of course, I remember hearing about the film 'Iris' when it came out in 2001, but the only reason it sparked my interest was down to the fact that the main character was portrayed at different stages of her life by both Judi Dench and Kate Winslet, who happen to be two of my favourite actresses. Given that I had also worked in a Nursing Home for Alzheimers sufferers, I must admit to being ever so slightly ...
...need to know anything about Iris Murdoch in order to appreciate it, as it is less about her life as a writer and more of a husband and wife story based on the memoirs of John Bayley (Iris's main carer and husband of fifty years) beginning with the time when she began to lose the battle to Alzheimers. Having said that, those who do know a little about her background, or who have read her novels may well find it insightful. In some ways, I think knowing ...

Tadders 11.02.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Iris (DVD)

Leigh's most accessible film to date

Advantages: superb acting, strong subject, faithful recreation of post-war Britain
Disadvantages: none

...Imelda Staunton's impressive performance as Vera Drake that holds the film together and ultimately makes us care about what happens to her after sentencing, long after the film credits have rolled. Staunton's ability to create a character who is both a saint and a criminal (for 1950 England) and gain our sympathy in the process should have earned her a well deserved Oscar, that is without context. The subject itself- illegal abortions in post-war ...
...though the introductory scenes show Vera singing while going about her various activities (working as a cleaning lady, helping the ill, cooking or mending for her husband and children) she does so in a low singsong. There is even a scene where she is polishing the fireplace at one of her employers' and the lady of the house almost acts as if Vera was not there, almost stepping on her, as if she was invisible. Vera Drake is a quiet busy bee with a ...

gijoe1974 14.03.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Vera Drake (DVD)

★TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR ★

Advantages: A FILM NOT TO BE MISSED!
Disadvantages: I cant think of any.

★ ♦♦ Little Voice ♦♦ ★ ♦♦ Set in a shabby seaside town this rare gem of a film stars Ewan McGregor, Jane Horrocks, Michael Caine and Brenda Blethyn. Directed by Mark Herman And released in 1998.The Genre is Comedy/Drama/Romance ~Taken from the play by Jim Cartwright 'The rise and fall of Little Voice'. Which was written as a vehicle for Jane Horrocks to showcase her amazing ability to impersonate great ...
...Little voice (Jane Horrocks) is the name of the main character, well it's actually Laura, but that fact is only mentioned once by Little Voice herself in a fit of anger to her Mother in the later stages of the film . She appears to be around age twenty though this is never confirmed. Little voice is a painfully shy and quiet girl, rarely leaving the confines of her bedroom, and never leaving the safety of her house. When she does talk, which is rarely, ...

Morning_Becomes_Electra 13.10.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Little Voice (DVD)