Film Reviews by EG

What a film - the most unusual, funny and intriguing I have seen in a long time.  The serious theme is sweetened by a wonderful, fearless heroine, a tiny pop-up ‘chamber orchestra’, a trio of Icelandic singing ladies and a stunning and demanding landscape.  If this all sounds too bizarre, it’s not - watch it!  I absolutely loved it and will watch it again with delight.

Disjointed scenes make it almost impossible to follow whatever plot there may be..  Wooden acting.  Boring.  Didn’t get further than about thirty minutes into the film before giving up.

I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but I preferred the film to the book!  I loved this film.  Beautifully cast and acted, it tells the story of Ove, of why he became a grumpy, unapproachable, rude man, and of how the ice within him is softened.  I watched it twice and It made me laugh and cry both times. It really touched my heart.

I was mesmerised by this film. SO unlike the usual American fare of loud, foul-mouthed tough men, or dippy women with perfect teeth, who can only act with extensive hand waving. Leave No Trace is quiet, gentle and thoroughly heart-breaking, beautifully acted by the two main characters. The main theme revolves around the clash between people living perfectly harmless ‘alternative’ lives, and the authorities, to whom such people pose an apparently sinister threat. This is a film I should like to own, despite knowing that it would reduce me to tears each time I watched it.

What a joyous film! I spent an indulgent 104 minutes watching it, on my own, laughing frequently and loudly, and filled with delight. The setting of the Browns’ area of London may be opulent and unattainable in reality, but how easy it is to sneer at this and to forget one thing - this is fantasy, a fairy-tale, designed to lift us out of reality into a world of magic and imagination. How wonderful.

I am not qualified to write a review as I only watched one and a half episodes of Disc 1. I've heard nothing but good about this series, but I found it too gruesome and bleak to persevere. I probably should have done, as I expect I've missed out on a really thrilling (and chilling) experience.

Having watched the the first episode I stayed up far too late to watch two more, straight away! Betrayal by, and the duplicity of, apparently loving spouses, friends and colleagues are dominant themes throughout, forcing the betrayed into the actions she takes. I should not have liked to have been a patient at her surgery!