About Time- A Sentimental Journey

I got to see the latest Richard Curtis film About Time last weekend and can absolutely recommend it. If you haven't already heard it is about a time travelling father and son team (Domhnall Gleeson and Bill Nighy) and the son's search for love (Rachel McAdams in her third time travel film). And yes it is a bit sappy, par for the course with Mr. Curtis. But it is also wonderful!

In a nutshell, it seems like Richard Curtis was feeling very sentimental about family (the father son relationship especially) and he has also apparently been mulling over the fact that we could all be happier by smelling the roses more instead of getting stressed out over life, as most of us do.

So suspend your disbelief (only adult men in this particular family can time travel, and to do it they have to go into a dark place while they close their eyes and clench their fists) and just go with it.

Tim (Domhnall Gleeson pronounced Dough-nal) is the new Hugh Grant/ awkward Brit character who falls in love instantly with Mary (Rachel McAdams) without seeing her at first (too complicated to explain) and uses his time travel ability to go back and "re-do" the cringe-inducing moments we are used to in a Curtis film.

Let me just add that the cast is superb among them Tom Hollander as...well...again, hard to explain his relationship with the main characters but his role is hilarious perfection! And Lindsay Duncan is understated and simply lovely as the mother/wife of the time travelers.

The supporting cast of young unknowns is also wonderful and the scenery of Cornwall is out of this world. So yes, if you enjoyed Love Actually, Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral you will adore this one too. If those films didn't turn your crank then you probably have drastically different taste in film than I do!

Enjoy this one friends!!!

Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes

Guy Ritchie (Madonna's ex) has done a fabulous job with one of the most adapted literary characters EVER! Apparently Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes first hit celluloid in 1900 in a 30 second long novelty film called Sherlock Holmes Baffled. 260 odd titles later, we have our most recent endeavors, including Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law (and modern day versions Sherlock and Elementary discussed elsewhere on my blog).

Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows

I admit I am a sucker for Robert Downey Jr. He is just so darn likeable as Holmes and you have to love an American actor who can nail an English accent like that. Mmmmmm. And adding just the right amount of comedy to an action film is his specialty no matter which century he lands in. Well done!

Jude Law is great too as second fiddle Watson. He is the voice of reason, when reason seems unlikely and does a fine job of being perennially exasperated. The dog Gladstone is also one of my favourite characters, the poor thing, always being drugged or something. Odd that I would put the dog and Jude Law in the same paragraph, but there you are!

Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Watson

Both of these films are a wonderful updating of Sherlock Holmes for the new millennium.  Making the streets of Victorian London sufficiently grubby is a lovely change from some of the overly rosy sets we have seen in the past. And adding action sequences, slowed down for maximum effectiveness and pointing out clues at just the right time for those of us who need the signposts is brilliant.

Lovely sets but dirty enough for believability.

I saw the first SH in the theatre but waited to rent the second one until recently as I thought it couldn't possibly be as entertaining as the first. I am so glad to say that I was wrong and that I was pleasantly surprised by the sequel. "Two teacups up" for both of these films. I don't usually go for action flicks but set in Victorian London, and done this well, it was a treat. And I think my hubby, The Squire, was grateful to finally get a whiff of testosterone amongst my film choices!

Sherlock Holmes: [voice-over] Head cocked to the left, partial deafness in ear: first point of attack. Two: throat; paralyze vocal chords, stop scream. Three: got to be a heavy drinker, floating rib to the liver. Four: finally, drag in left leg, fist to patella. Summary prognosis: unconscious in ninety seconds, martial efficacy quarter of an hour at best. Full faculty recovery: unlikely.

Mark Strong as Lord Blackwood

Mark Strong plays the villain Lord Blackwood in the first outing. I love that they added some "hubba hubba" for those of us who still think of Mr. Knightley when we see Mark Strong. It's a pity he is the baddie, but still adorable!

Jared Harris as Moriarty

The villain in the sequel is played by Jared Harris as a truly creepy Moriarty. Good acting but not even remotely as appealing as Mark Strong. Sorry Jared.

Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler

Rachel McAdams does a creditable job as Irene Adler, part love interest, part...well...pain in the ass? Well done. A very realistic portrayal of many couple's relationships. Although the real couple are of course Holmes and Watson who are an old married couple, merrily bickering away. Makes you wonder how Guy Ritchie has such insight into marital squabbling doesn't it? Lots of fun and never a dull moment.

Dr. John Watson: Oh, how I've missed you, Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes: Have you? Why? I've barely noticed your absence.

Go ahead and watch these if you haven't already. Great for an evening of light entertainment. And your men will thank you for the nice change!

I may watch them both again in the near future. Cheers!

Midnight in Paris- Time travel in the City of Light

Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen (poster inspired by The Starry Night by Van Gogh)

I am still jet-lagged from a whirlwind trip to Paris and Amsterdam with my husband (The Squire) and our two teen boys. "Wow" is about all I can say. Although impressed with both cities, my thoughts keep returning to Paris. I watched Midnight in Paris twice earlier in the summer in anticipation of my first trip to Paris. Loved it both times and now I feel like watching it again to feel that Parisian glow again...

Owen Wilson and Marion Cotillard in Midnight in Paris

I adored this film, although I am not normally a Woody Allen fan. Apparently I now have to see Purple Rose of Cairo as well however, as it seems to be the absolute fave of the die hard Allen fans. Midnight in Paris has nostalgia (for better or worse), time travel and an absolute feast for the senses. The music, the scenery...well I don't want to build it up too much, just go and enjoy.

Rachael McAdams as the slightly obnoxious American fiancee of Owen Wilson

Owen Wilson plays a successful but insecure Hollywood screenplay writer (aka the Woody Allen type) who accompanies his  fiancée and her family to Paris and becomes painfully aware of the differences in their interests and goals after some magical midnight walks.

Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald from one of the "Midnight in Paris" journeys back to the 1920s

This film will make you want to bone up on your history of art/literature/music of the 1920s (and of the Belle Époque) after Woody Allen crams in as many allusions to the past as he can manage in one film.

The Pont Alexandre III in the rain

Even rain in Paris is glorified as seen above in the final scene on the gorgeous Pont Alexandre III. We had a spot of rain in this area of Paris followed by a double rainbow over the Seine, so I cannot argue with the magic there! We were also befriended by a lovely 75 year old Parisian a few days later and invited to his apartment for wine, cheese, seafood and conversation so truly, anything can happen in Paris. Sigh.......

The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh (found at MOMA in NYC-not in Paris)

P.S. Thanks to my Big Sister for the great guest post while I was away. Merci bien!

P.P.S. Kudos to Michael Sheen as a hilarious pseudo-intellectual and to Adrian Brody and Kathy Bates for their very entertaining Salvador Dalí and Gertrude Stein. 



Here are a few other films with a French influence which you might enjoy...