The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) - Dench crowns Parker's fine Wilde adaptation

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A cheeky blend of game stars and an eye-catching question mark graphic makes up this poster for Oliver Parker's The Importance of Being Earnest

In 1890's finer English circles in London, two chums deceit maidens in different ways; both assuming the sympathetic name 'Earnest', which gives rise to problems.

 

The Importance of Being Earnest is written and directed by Oliver Parker (Othello (1995)), adapting the same-titled 1895 play by Oscar Wilde (Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)).

Wonderful Wildeian satire comes out light and well cast here, if a bit dialog heavy in this text loyal adaptation. Rupert Everett (Napoleon (2023)) and Colin Firth (Supernova (2020)) bask in the luxurious material, and everyone do well here; not least Anna Massey (Oliver Twist (2007, miniseries)) as a sympathetic nitwit, and in particular Judi Dench (Cats (2019)) as the honor-focused mother-in-law to be, arguably the crown jewel of the film.

Good-looking costumes and plenty of jolly fun. And Reese Witherspoon (Home Again (2017)) acquits herself well in fitting into the language and landscapes of Britain.

Related posts:

 

Oliver Parker: Johnny English Reborn/Johnny English Returns (2011) - Atkinson will make you laugh till your belly aches

Othello (1995) - Parker's fascinating Shakespeare adaptation debut 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 18 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.2 times its cost)

[The Importance of Being Earnest was released 21 June (USA) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place from April - June 2001 in England, including in London. The film opened #18 to a 500k $ first weekend in 38 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #12 and grossed 8.3 mil. $ (44.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 4.7 mil. $ (26.1 %) and Australia with 1.4 mil. $ (7.8 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Parker returned with The Private Life of Samuel Pepys (2003, TV movie) and theatrically with Fade to Black (2006). Everett returned in Unconditional Love (2002); Firth in Hope Springs (2003); and Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama (2002). The Importance of Being Earnest is rotten at 57 % with a 6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Importance of Being Earnest?

Henry V (1989) - Conviction hits home in Branagh's Shakespearean debut

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Several men celebrate their king before a fiery inferno on this poster for Kenneth Branagh's Henry V

In the days of King Henry V, a disdainful letter is received from the king of France, and soon the grand European powers are at the cusp of war.

 

Henry V is written and directed by Irish master filmmaker, debuting Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet (1996)), who also co-stars in it as the titular king. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1599 play by William Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595/96)).

Henry V is not among the bard's best in my book; the king is a sleek and pompous guy, and the story is so overly dense with words. Branagh nevertheless overcomes this with enthusiasm and magnetic conviction.

So despite there being no real wisdom to be gained from Henry V, which is a chronicle of war and hardly more, there are dashing scenes, - especially during and after the battle, - and belief in the film.

 

Related posts:

Kenneth Branagh: Belfast (2021) - Fond childhood memories become a fabulous film

Tenet (2020) - Nolan blows smoke up your ass (actor)

Murder on the Orient Express (2017) - Branagh's star-studded Christie match is auspicious (director/co-star)

2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Dunkirk (2017) - Nolan champions cinema with masterful war movie (actor)
My Week with Marilyn (2011) or, The Prince, the Showgirl and Me (actor)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) - Potter and Co. return for handsome if overlong first sequel (co-star)
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York (actor) 

 

 

Branagh gives a longer interview about the making of the film here

 

Cost: 9 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 10.9 mil. $ (North America and the UK only); projected 15-20 mil. $ world gross

= Uncertain but likely a big flop or a flop (projected return of 1.66 - 2.22 times its cost)

[Henry V premiered 6 October (London) and runs 137 minutes. Shooting took place from October - December 1988 in England. The film opened #19 to a 64k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it grossed 10.1 mil. $. It reportedly made 652k £, approximately 812k $, in the UK, but numbers from its many other markets are regrettably not public online. A final gross in the area of 15-20 mil. $, (which is likely setting it high), would rank the film as either a 'big flop' or a 'flop' with a return of 1.66-2.22 times its cost. The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning 1, for Best Costumes. It lost Best Director to Oliver Stone for Born of the Fourth of July and Actor (also Branagh) to Daniel Day-Lewis for My Left Foot. It also won 1/6 BAFTA nominations, won 2 European Film awards and 2 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Branagh returned with Dead Again (1991) as a director and in Look Back in Anger (1989, TV movie) first as an actor, before also co-starring in Dead Again. Henry V is certified fresh at 100 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Henry V?

Notes on a Scandal (2006) - Great performances in Eyre's layered drama-thriller

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+ Best Drama-Thriller of the Year + Best Erotic Movie of the Year + Best London Movie of the Year + Best UK Movie of the Year 

 

Gold and shadow-filled red is used on the stars' faces of this poster for Richard Eyre's Notes on a Scandal

A younger woman, Sheba, begins teaching at an ordinary London school, where she attracts a clingy friend in the aging spinster Barbara.

 

Notes on a Scandal is written by Patrick Marber (Asylum (2005)), adapting the same-titled 2003 novel by Zoë Heller (The Believers (2008)), and directed by great English filmmaker Richard Eyre (The Ploughman's Lunch (1983)).

Judi Dench (Four in the Morning (1965)) is formidable as the dried-up, scheming, selfish older woman, and Cate Blanchett (The Aviator (2004)) is just as perfect as the younger Sheba, who lets her life take a free-fall. Their acting in the same dramatic minefield issued by Sheba's affair with an underage student is the film's great attraction. Bill Nighy (Guest House Paradiso (1999)) is also outstanding as Sheba's cuckolded husband, and Eyre gets seductive scenes out of the young Andrew Simpson (Road Games (2015)).

Notes on a Scandal is an intriguing, a bit literary but nevertheless excellent film about the gossipy and self-serving in us all.

 

Related posts:

 

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 49.8 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.32 times its cost)

[Notes on a Scandal was released 25 December (USA) and runs 91 minutes. Shooting took place from August - October 2005 in England, including in London. The film opened #66 to a 6k $ first weekend in 1 theater in North America, where it peaked at #13 and in 682 theaters (different weeks), grossing 17.5 mil. $ (35.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 11.5 mil. $ (23.1 %) and Australia with 4.9 mil. $ (9.8 %). The film was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Actress (Dench) to Helen Mirren in The Queen, Supporting Actress (Blanchett) to Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls, Adapted Screenplay to William Monahan for The Departed, and Score (Philip Glass (Elena (2011)) to Gustavo Santaolalla for Babel. It was also nominated for 3 BAFTAs, won 2/4 British Independent Film awards, was nominated for a David di Donatello award, 3 Golden Globes and won a National Board of Review award, among many other honors. Eyre returned with The Other Man (2008). Dench returned in Quantum of Solace (2008); and Blanchett in Hot Fuzz (2007) for an uncredited cameo and as a starring actor in I'm Not There (2007). Notes on a Scandal is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Notes on a Scandal?

Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) or, Wartime Swinging London

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Kelly Reilly steals the gaze on this festive poster for Stephen Frears' Mrs Henderson Presents with a cheaky tag-line top-right

 

The distinguished Mrs Henderson becomes a widow in 1937, and she decides to purchase a London theatre, which she succeeds in making a popular venue with variety shows featuring nudity.

 

Mrs Henderson Presents is written by Martin Sherman (Alive and Kicking (1996)), based on an idea by Kathy and David Rose (The Kid, TV-series (1986, producer), both), and directed by English master filmmaker Stephen Frears (Gumshoe (1971)). It is based on the true story of Laura Henderson's Windmill Theatre in London.

It is a cheerful and life-affirming story about hanging onto life during WWII, which especially lives on Judi Dench (Nine (2009)) and Bob Hoskins' (Don Quioxote (2000, TV movie)) infectious performances. Will Young (Highland Park (2013)), Kelly Reilly (Joe's Palace (2007, TV movie)) and Christopher Guest (Heartbeeps (1981)) are also good and well cast.

Mrs Henderson Presents is a sporadically funny, sporadically moving film with a natural relationship to bodies and nudity.

Related posts:

Stephen Frears:   Top 10: Best dramedies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) - Streep, Frears and Co. drop us a delightful present 

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

Philomena (2013) - Dench astounds in Frears' powerful true-story drama

Dirty Pretty Things (2002) - Good performances anchor Frears' flawed, overrated illegal immigrant drama 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 20 mil. $

Box office: 27.8 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.39 times its cost)

[Mrs Henderson Presents premiered 9 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 103 minutes. Shooting took place from October 2004 - ? in France and England, including in London. It opened #41 to a 55k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #17 and in 522 theaters (different weeks), grossing 11 mil. $ (39.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7.1 mil. $ (25.5 %) and Australia with 4.3 mil. $ (15.5 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Actress (Dench), lost to Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line, and Costumes, lost to Memoirs of a Geisha. It was also nominated for 4 BAFTAs, 8 British Independent Film awards, a David di Donatello award, 3 Golden Globes, and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Frears returned with Le Court des Grands (2005, video documentary) and theatrically with The Queen (2006). Dench returned in with 4 voice and TV series credits prior to her theatrical return in Casino Royale (2006); Hoskins in Stay (2005). Mrs Henderson Presents is fresh at 67 % with a 6.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Mrs Henderson Presents?

Murder on the Orient Express (2017) - Branagh's star-studded Christie match is auspicious

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+ Best Detective Movie of the Year

A beautifully crafted poster for Kenneth Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express that pitches bloody scarlet-red locomotive smoke against the title's neon blue to fine effect

Murder on the Orient Express is a new adaptation of Agatha Christie's (Endless Night (1967)) same-titled 1934 'whodunit' classic crime novel, written by Michael Green (Green Lantern (2011)) and directed by Kenneth Branagh (Thor (2011)).

Belgian master detective Hercule Poirot is in Istanbul with the intent to take some vacation, beginning with a travel on the famous Orient Express. But as a mysterious murder takes place on the train, he is forced to utilize all of his detective's skills to find the perp.

This is the second ambitious big-screen adaptation of the novel, following Sidney Lumet's underwhelming 1974 film of the same title. While Albert Finney came off as a didactic Poirot in a rather sleep-inducing film that build up to a hard-to-believe climax in the for some reason better regarded 1970s movie, Branagh's version of Poirot here, whom he plays while also directing the piece, is easier to take. The character is dead sure of himself, and his detective's abilities are almost too good to be true at times, but he is also a likable and a bit odd man in Branagh's lively rendition, wearing what must be this year's movie mustache. SPOILER The crux of the story here, in character terms, forces Poirot to recognize that in the pursuit of justice, there does exist a grey area between the light that is right and the darkness that is wrong.
This film is a lavish production and an indulgence, whether searched out for its train-bound plot, Christie material, new presentation of a beloved leading character or surplus of stars. I have no particular fondness for the British crime tradition and no relationship with Christie's authorship, - but I do love trains in films, and movie stars.
How much of the film here has an actual train in it is hard to say, - much is crafted with capable CGI, - but there certainly is a marvelously designed interior set of the sumptuous express, which is in itself quite fantastical. 
The adaptation and literarily minded Branagh the filmmaker is a great match with Poirot, and he attacks the part and film with enthusiastic verve and intricate, long camera flights; perhaps realizing the great opportunity this is for him, his first real, both leading and directing possible franchise.
Several in the starry cast douse their competent magic on Murder on the Orient Express: Judi Dench (J. Edgar (2011)) is as delightful as ever, Derek Jacobi (Hereafter (2010)) brings a subtle integrity to his part; Penélope Cruz (Nine (2009)), Willem Dafoe (The Dust of Time (2008)) and Johnny Depp (The Libertine (2004)) are all enjoyable veterans, and among the fresher faces, Josh Gad (Crossing Over (2009)) and Daisy Ridley (Scrawl (2015)) esteem themselves here.
If this thoroughly handsome and highly entertaining murder mystery resorts a bit to speechifying towards the end, it is forgivable: Branagh's Murder on the Orient Express is a winner.

Related posts:

Kenneth Branagh: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Dunkirk (2017) - Nolan champions cinema with masterful war movie (actor)
My Week with Marilyn (2011) or, The Prince, the Showgirl and Me (actor)
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York (actor)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 55 mil. $
Box office: 274.6 mil. $ and counting
= Uncertainty - but already a big hit
[Murder on the Orient Express premiered 3 November (UK and Ireland) and runs 114 minutes. Fox announced the project in December 2013 with Branagh entering development in June 2015. Filming took place on 65 mm film, - a rare choice today, which Branagh had witnessed used recently in Christopher Nolan's masterpiece Dunkirk, which he had a role in, - from November 2016 - May 2017 in Italy, Malta, New Zealand, England, including in London, in France, Switzerland and in Istanbul, Turkey. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Thor: Ragnarok and fellow new release Daddy's Home 2, to a 28.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent its second week at #5 before leaving the top 5 and has grossed 92.7 mil. $ to date. It has so far also hauled home 34.3 mil. $ from China and 28.7 mil. $ from the UK. Its last big opening as far as the schedule looks at the moment is in France today 12/13. The sequel teased in the film' end, Murder on the Nile, is likely to materialize, since the film is such a hit, - however, the 55 mil. $ budget seems quite cheap considering the international, multi-star, luxurious production, and it may have actually been higher. Branagh is set to return as director-star with Murder on the Nile and as director on YA adaptation Artemis Fowl (2019) for Disney. Murder on the Orient Express is rotten at 58 % with a 6.1 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Murder on the Orient Express?

Philomena (2013) - Dench astounds in Frears' powerful true-story drama

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+ Best True-Story Movie of the Year

+ Best English Movie of the Year

 

The posters for Stephen Frears' Philomena didn't catch my interest, as they seem rather bland and certainly don't relate the actual power of the film, in my opinion

 

Martin has been fired from his political job and looks for a story for a book, when one happens to fall into his lap: Ageing Philomena had her bastard child taken from her by nuns 50 years ago.

As noted above, the Philomena posters don't relate the film's narrative power, which is clear all the way through Jeff Pope (The Place of the Dead (1997, TVM) and Steve Coogan's (The Parole Officer (2001)) Oscar-nominated, excellent adapted script, based on Coogan's character Martin Sixsmith's (Putin's Oil (2010)) 2009 book, The Lost Child of Philomena Lee. The film is directed by English master filmmaker Stephen Frears (Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)) in exemplary fashion; it plays our emotional chords as a violin with great command throughout.

Philomena is technically astute, with an outstanding score by Alexandre Desplat (Reality (2012)). Coogan and Judi Dench (The World Is Not Enough (1999)) illuminate the screen as few can and both stand out as completely real characters while also often being downright hilarious. Dench has never been better than here and is really something of a miracle. All the secondary characters are ideally cast.

Philomena is among the year's best, a rare gem that I can't recommend enough.

 

Related posts:

 

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

2013 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED VI] 

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 12 mil. $

Box office: 100.1 mil. $

= Huge hit

[Philomena premiered August 31 (Venice International Film Festival) and runs 98 minutes. Filming took place in Maryland, Washington D.C., England and Northern Ireland from October 2012 - January 2013. The film only takes minor artistic licenses in its relation of the true story. It opened #28 in 4 theaters with 128k $ and peaked at #8 in 835 theaters in North America, where it grossed 37.7 mil. $ (37.6 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 18.4 mil. $ (18.4 %) and Australia with 10.1 mil. $ (10.1 %). The film was nominated for 4 Oscars: For Best Picture (lost to 12 Years a Slave), Actress (Dench) (lost to Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine), Adapted Screenplay (lost to 12 Years a Slave) and Score (lost to Gravity). It was also nominated for 3 Golden Globes and 4 BAFTAs. Philomena is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.8 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Philomena?

My Week with Marilyn (2011) or, The Prince, the Showgirl and Me

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1 Time Film Excess Nominee:


Best Actress: Michelle Williams (lost to Bérénice Bejo for The Artist)

+ Best Period Movie of the Year

Michelle Williams really looks a lot like her character on the poster for Simon Curtis' My Week with Marilyn

We follow a young, well-off movie dreamer Colin Clark, who gets a job as 3rd assistant director on Laurence Olivier's light comedy The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) and falls for the film's American star, Marilyn Monroe.

Michelle Williams (Take This Waltz (2011)) is simply wonderful as Monroe, giving a truly Oscar-worthy performance, (she was nominated, but Meryl Streep won the award as The Iron Lady.) Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything (2014)) is sweet as Colin; Oscar-nominated Kenneth Branagh (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)) is solid as Olivier, who is played as something of a cold prick here; and Judi Dench (Philomena (2013)) and Dominic Cooper (Dead Man Down (2013)) give warm supporting performances.
My Week is a very beautiful film; both the romance, Monroe's profound loneliness and unhappiness and the intimidating aspect of performing are captured well in the film, which is written by Adrian Hodges (The Go-Between (2015)), based on two books by the real Colin Clark, and directed by Londoner Simon Curtis (Born in the USA (2007)) as his first theatrical feature.
The casting of Emma Watson (The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)) as tiresome second banana, who doesn't exactly inspire our sympathy, is not exactly inspired, and the color use in the film, - especially in the scenes in the Prince and the Showgirl sets, - are not wild and rich enough in my opinion.
Still, these are minor detractors for a film that is both funny, sad and beautiful. - Recommended!
Curtis is currently out with his Woman in Gold (2015), in which Helen Mirren plays a Jew who lost a prestigious family painting in WWII.

Related posts:
 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Watch the delightful trailer for the film here

Cost: 10 mil. $
Box office: 35 mil. $
= Big hit
[My Week, a UK/US co-production, succeeded in America with a 14.5 mil. $ gross (41 % of the total gross) and 3.1 mil. £ (around 14 %) in the UK. Williams won a Golden Globe for her performance. The DVD sale opened #6 in the US, making 2.5 mil. $.]

What do you think of My Week with Marilyn?

J. Edgar (2011) - Eastwood, Black and DiCaprio's great, intense biopic

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1 Time Film Excess Award Winner:

Best Make-up and Hair: Alessandro Bertolazzi, Kathryn Blondell, Sian Grigg, Duncan Jarman, Tania McComas, Carol A. O'Connell

3 Time Film Excess Nominee:


Best Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black (lost to Rory Stewart Kinnear, Lynne Ramsay for We Need to Talk About Kevin)
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (lost to Jack Black for Bernie)
Best Make-up and Hair: Alessandro Bertolazzi, Kathryn Blondell, Sian Grigg, Duncan Jarman, Tania McComas, Carol A. O'Connell (won)

+ Best Biopic of the Year

Leonardo DiCaprio as the titular intelligence hawk, Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar

QUICK REVIEW:

Presented with jumps in time of several decades, some of the most important cases and periods that define FBI founder and chief through 48 years, J. Edgar Hoover is portrayed.

Contrary to the unbalanced opinions of many, regular audiences and critics alike, (perhaps due to the politically controversial figure that is the subject here), J. Edgar is actually a mighty fine film, master filmmaker Clint Eastwood's best since Gran Torino (2008).
Dustin Lance Black's (Milk (2008)) sensitive script covers the Lindbergh-baby kidnapping, the G-Men PR of the 1930s, Hoover during Roosevelt's presidency and his de facto power over them through various extortions, through to Nixon and Martin Luther King, - and to Hoover's life-long confidant - and secret love of his life - Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer (The Lone Ranger (2013))). It is all presented in superiorly controlled fashion, soberly, and phenomenally played by Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)) in the imposing title role.
J. Edgar is both moving and an important piece of historical drama about one of the most powerful men of the 20th century.

Related posts:
 
Clint Eastwood: American Sniper (2014) - Eastwood conveys an American man and myth in electric masterpiece
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess   
The Changeling (2008) or, The Christine Collins Story
The Dead Pool (1988) - The highly entertaining last Dirty Harry movie (actor)
City Heat (1984) - Eastwood and Reynolds wrestle dispassionately in Benjamin's messy period affair (actor)
Tightrope (1984) - An undervalued Clint Eastwood sex killer thriller (actor)
Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business! (actor)
The Beguiled (1971) - Intense, erotic Civil War kammerspiel thriller (actor)
Dirty Harry (1971) - Eastwood's great, signature renegade cop character comes to life (actor)
Coogan's Bluff (1968) or, Dopes and Hippies, Beat It! (actor)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or, Killer in a Poncho (actor) 

Leonardo DiCaprio, impressively, also remains believable as Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar in his latter years

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 35 mil. $
Box office: 84.6 mil. $
= Minor flop
[J. Edgar nearly made the financial cut theatrically, and probably earned a small profit with video and TV exploitation. DiCaprio was Globe-nominated for his acting in it. It opened with a 11.2 mil. $ opening weekend and grossed 37.3 mil. $ (44 % of the total gross) in North America. Though derided by several dubious critics, J. Edgar also has other fans besides Film Excess: Like Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter, David Denby of The New Yorker and Roger Ebert, who gave it 3½ stars out of four (equal to my 5 hearts.)]

What do you think of J. Edgar?