The King's Speech movie review (2010)

The King's Speech (2010)

Brief review: British filmmaker Tom Hooper brings this simple, yet brilliantly-written and cleverly conceived story, about the unusual friendship between a future king and his speech therapist, which is not only historically accurate, but also hugely engrossing and truly heartfelt. The uneven, yet beautiful relationship between the two key characters is certainly the driving force of this film. Colin Firth delivers the performance of his career as the unconfident soon-to-be-king Albert, struggling to overcome a stammer, and yet, Geoffrey Rush is somewhat the more interesting and likable of the two. His performance is nothing short of fascinating, and although Firth gets all the credit for his difficult role as King George VI, Rush is equally as good, if not better, as the speech therapist, Lionel, who possess an incredibly uplifting spirit and a great charisma. Bonham Carter also gives a bravura performance as the supportive wife of "Bertie". From a technical standpoint, "The King's Speech" is no less impressive. Hooper's elegant camera work and smooth narrative are often mesmerizing, as is Danny Cohen's murky, yet splendid cinematography, and Eve Stewart's sophisticated production design captures the late 30's era to perfection.

Overall summary: Filmed with subtlety, care and utter smoothness, "The King's Speech" is a profoundly gripping, if slightly monotonous historical drama, driven by the exceptional, award-worthy performances of its superb cast, Geoffrey Rush in particular.

The Changeling movie review

The Changeling (1980)

"The Changeling" is a spooky story about a haunted house, that sounds a bit ordinary, as a premise, but is actually more complex than the average ghost story. This movie is kind of a hybrid of an old-fashioned ghost story and a crime story. The elements mix together pretty well as the movie has a few haunting moments along with quite a bit of mystery. Sure, there are the usual horror clichés but they're all done very effectively and keep you watching and wondering what the haunting is all about. It has a slow, suspenseful pace and interesting characters. George does a fair job, and he does carry the entire film almost single-handedly, and the leads are each given one fleeting emotive moment to heighten our engagement. The most terrifying moment occurs through Trish Van Devere's character, Claire Norman. Her expression of genuine fear is terrifying and very believable. The cinematography of the film is good - the sets are moody and perfectly fit the tone and atmosphere of the story. However, it doesn't have a particularly individual stamp on it. Lots of steady-cam tracking shots are employed by the minimalist Peter Medak, and they're rather effective here. This film manages to be spooky without descending into camp, and suspenseful without overdoing it. "The Changeling" is simple, yet effective and wonderfully subtle horror film, though it feels a bit dated for today's standards, and while spooky, it's not scary at all.

• My Rating: 7.00/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 79% (7.3/10)
• IMDb: 7.3/10

I Don't Know How She Does It movie review (2011)

I Don't Know How She Does It (2011)

QuickRating: For better or worse, "I Don't Know How She Does It" is a chick-flick all the way, and definitely not as terrible as most people claim it is, however, its subject matter feels dated, the script lacks wit, and its characters are mostly stereotypical. Sarah Jessica Parker is as alluring and engaging as always, and the rest of the cast does an adequate job, but the movie itself is neither as romantic, nor as funny, nor as inspirational as think it is.