Stage Beauty (DVD)

...of her desire on the stage is finally given its outlet when one theatre takes the risk of putting a woman, Maria herself, on stage, in nothing less than the prized role of Desdemona. Enter a variety of characters from famed diarist Samuel Pepys (Hugh Bonneville) to Charles II (Rupert Everett) himself and his unstoppably coarse mistress, Nell Gwynn (Zoe Tapper) and Kynaston’s life and work are turned upside down as his star is quickly eclipsed ...
...Eyre’s simple direction. An esteemed stage director he draws the best from the stage-bound scenes but keeps to unobtrusive and visually compelling direction throughout. He moves quite seamlessly between gentle, misty landscape shots and speedy, almost documentary movement, switching then to unflinching close ups of a body undergoing the wracking spasms of agony. Finally, George Fenton’s score is unassumingly complementary, and much like ...

ruth_cole 19.12.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Stage Beauty (DVD)

...beautiful woman on the London stage is played by a man. Ned Kynaston is the most feted “actress” in the country, dazzling everyone as Desdemona in “Othello”. But when Charles II bans men from playing women, Ned is out of a job and has to watch as his lovelorn dresser Maria takes to the stage. How will he cope? And can his acting talents stretch to playing men as well as women? Director Richard Eyre is best known as an award-winning theatre director, ...
...Jeffrey Hatcher (adapting his own stage play) interweave fact and fiction. Ned Kynaston was a Restoration-era star and Margaret (Maria) Hughes was the first woman on the stage. Hatcher’s script is well-written, witty, poignant and intelligent and will frequently be compared to the Oscar-nabbing “Shakespeare in Love” because it touches on the same themes of acting, identity and romance. However, this is a far cry from Gwynnie’s romantic comedy that ...

afy9mab 17.09.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Stage Beauty (DVD)

--------Introduction-------- The film is from Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke). This film won the Oscar for 'Best Animated Film' 2003 as well as the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2002. Spirited Away (originally in Japan is called Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) follows the story of a young, modern 10 year old Chihiro in this fantasy adventure. We will be reviewing the PAL DVD Region 2 edition which comes on 2 discs. --------Storyline-------- The ...
...her parents going to their new house in the suburbs. She is upset over this and liked her old place and friends. Her dad gets lost taking a wrong turn and is stopped by a statute in front of a rather mysterious tunnel. The family walk through to find what they see as a lonely town/old theme park. Upon Chihiro's parents eating food and being rather greedy over this, they are turned into pigs when nightfall occurs. It turns out this place is a ghostly ...

MrTink12 03.09.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Stage Beauty (DVD)

...of the whole film. The stage performance between Billy Crudup and Claire Danes is just riveting, I stunning performance. Honestly, I can't stress enough how amazing this scene is. The soundtrack is ideal and keeps with the mood of the film, setting a jangly and contemporary theme. I found myself enjoying the music just as much as the storyline. Overall, this is a superb film, that has not received quite as much recognition as it deserves. Probably ...

absurd_luck 17.03.2006 (21.05.2006) · Read full review
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Review of Stage Beauty (DVD)

The first anime I ever watched was the now famous Akira and I was amazed. Now, this little beauty is miles away from Akira, but I love it even more. Miyazaki’s first breakthrough on our continent was Princess Mononoke and as I loved it, I couldn’t wait to see his next masterpiece. Spirited away is the story of Chihiro, a little girl who is moving with her parents and is not too happy about it. On the way to their new house, Dad decides to find a ...
...abandoned theme park of some sort. Clever Chihiro already senses something is fishy but her father is more attracted by the lovely smell of the local delicatessen. As soon as her parents find the source of the mouth-watering smell, they start stuffing their faces, under the worried looks of Chihiro who decides to have a little look around. She discovers a mysterious train and bath house and meets Haku, a young boy who will prove very helpful. As ...

kaybe 05.06.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Stage Beauty (DVD)

I am a pretty avid lover of anime and it's arre it turns up on our cinema screens, so i was pretty excited about this one, especially since it is by the director of princess mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki. It tells the story of a 10 year old girl, Chirhiro, who finds herself at a health resort for spirits and gods after getting lost in a starnge forest whilst moving house. After her parents run into "some problems" her adventure starts as she tries to ...
...starts work at the bath house for the evil queen Yubaba after meeting a strange boy named Haku. The film follows her adventure in this strange world, showing perfectly the little girls' persistant nature as you see her struggle through difficult chores and makes new (slightly odd) friends. If you do not know a great deal about japanese folk lore and culture, some of the film will confuse you a little as some of the characters are similar to those ...

Claire_Ciac 30.04.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Stage Beauty (DVD)

I have not watched much anime before but the combination of the humor and darkness in this movie really appealed to me. The main character Chihiro/Sen is voiced by Daveigh Chase and really brings the character to life. The whole story in short focuses around Chihiro after her mum and dad are turned to pigs, she starts a mission to save them by working at a sauna for spirits. The story progresses from there introducing many diverse characters (some ...
...very high level If there was one thing about this movie that disappointed me is that some of it did not really make sense to me the first time round like the baby but after watching it a few more times you come to accept that this type of weirdness is what makes the movie so good ...

Vagabond 10.02.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Stage Beauty (DVD)

Set in modern Japan, the main character is a 10-yr-old girl, a "disaffected youth", moving to a new town. A wrong turn on the way to their new home (and her parents' appetite) leave her stranded in a place of magic, basically a hotsprings for the spirit world! With her parents enchanted into pigs, she is helped a young prince who gets her work in the bathhouse so she may discover a way home. This is an education of experience unlike any other. As ...
...of the interaction of environment with humans, but the main theme (to me) is learning to appreciate not only the world about you, but also yourself. P.S.- If you get a chance to see "My Neighbor Totorro", you will note at least one species of this films small spirits! ...

cowtown 05.03.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Stage Beauty (DVD)