The King's Speech (and I'm Still Smiling!)

It's been 24+ hours since I watched The King's Speech, and I am still smiling whenever I think about it. What a tremendous movie! Funny, touching, inspirational, richly acted, soul stirring...you name it, and any positive adjective you can think of would apply to The King's Speech.



This movie is so much more than just the chronicle of the speech impediment of King George VI. Beginning before he ever thought about assuming the throne, Bertie (as his family called him) struggled mightily from childhood with a stammer that kept him on edge at all times. His beloved wife Elizabeth finds one more possible therapist, a Lionel Logue, whose methods are unconventional and who insists from the word go that Bertie will do things his way if he expects to see results. And there are results indeed, but a major setback strikes when Bertie's older brother David abdicates the throne. Not only must Bertie take over, he must now live his life very much in the public eye, and all this in the shadow of an increasingly volatile Hitler.


Colin Firth has long been a favorite of mine, and he absolutely shines as the shy Bertie. His is an Oscar so well deserved, but there is not a performance in The King's Speech that is sub-par. Helena Bonham Carter is superb as the loving Elizabeth; Michael Gambon is both regal and imposing as King George V; and Geoffrey Rush is so wonderfully perfect as Lionel Logue that words simply fail me. Rush can convey with a simple look so very much and his chemistry with the stammering Firth is both touching and hilarious.


Filled with awkward and funny moments, this movie is beyond wonderful. Even the soundtrack is perfect,with the stunning denouement both rousing and ominous. I simply cannot recommend it highly enough.


As an aside, it is helpful if you know a little about British history, including the relationship between Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, but it is not crucial to the enjoyment of the film. I just felt that it helped me to flesh out the relationships among the royals, but I would still have enjoyed this glorious movie nonetheless.

~taminator40

Saw Twilight Last Night...

...and I loved it! I have to admit to being a little worried that it wouldn't live up to the book, and that fear was only heightened when two of Hannah's friends came out of the theatre as we were waiting to go in and said it was pretty cheesy. But once the film started to roll, I got caught up almost immediately.

The film is very well cast. Robert Pattinson is perfectly cast as Edward. He's got the intense stare that sends chills up your spine, and the scenes where he saves Bella keep you on the edge of your seat. In fact, all the characters are perfect---if only Bella didn't blink 5000 times a minute, I'd probably have no gripes whatsoever. The girls and I agreed that Emmett is our next favorite, with Jasper being almost hilarious with his new "vegetarianism". I found the scene where the Cullens are trying to cook in their kitchen for the first time just for Bella so touching as well as funny, and that can be laid at the feet of the terrific cast. Charlie, Bella's dad, is wonderful and believable. And James...hot, hot, hot. Evil, but hot. Not a bad combination, actually.

The scenery is gorgeous and the action is great. Our favorite scenes (the subject of much debate on the ride home) included the ones where Edward first saves Bella from the van, Edward saves Bella from the gang, and Edward and Bella arrive at school together for the first time. Oh, and the first kiss between Bella and Edward? Worth the price of admission alone.

There is some cheesy dialogue, though honestly it's mostly the dialogue that is lifted straight from the book. I personally dislike Carlisle's hair--it looks like a helmet--even if I loved Carlisle. The scene where Edward is sucking the venom from Bella's arm gives him a very weird facial expression--that certainly could've been done better. And the girls didn't like the initial reaction of Edward having to sit next to Bella in the lab--they felt that was done for too much comic effect. I liked it, though. And while Edward does indeed glitter, somehow it wasn't quite as I'd pictured it, though it's not bad.

The music adds quite a bit to the overall effect of the film, and the action and special effects are well done. We're set up for a sequel at the end, but of course we knew that going in.

My unbiased opinion, then? Go see it. In a theatre full of teenaged girls and their moms (and one truly heroic dad, who stood in line ahead of us for over an hour, holding places for his wife and daughter), you could've heard a pin drop 95% of the time. While of course Twilight had a built-in audience going in, I can easily say that it lives up to its potential and I was more than pleasantly surprised. I'm going to go again. That's a pretty big recommendation, in my book.

~taminator40