favorite movie #111 - holiday edition: love actually

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #111 - Love Actually (2003) - This movie is more than a bit of a mess. A strung-together bunch of inter-connected stories, it features a bunch of Londoners as they muddle through the holiday season. What makes it watchable is a wonderful cast and a fantastic performance by Emma Thompson as a wife who discovers that the romantic gift she thought her husband (Alan Rickman) was getting for her was actually intended for the floozy he works with. Also charming are Liam Neeson and Thomas Sangster as a step-father and son mourning the loss of their wife and mother, respectively. Hugh Grant can't help but be charming in the absurd casting of a British PM who has fallen for his adorable staff member, played by Martine McCutcheon. Topping it all off like the naughty angel on top of the tree is Bill Nighy as aging rock star Billy Mack, who is reluctantly coerced by his longtime manager and best friend (Gregor Fisher) into recording a Christmas single to revive his sagging career. Surrender to the movie, don't think too hard about the side plots that don't work, and enjoy yourself.

Billy Mack - Christmas is All Around (Love Actually) from Christmas is All around on Vimeo.

pirate radio

In yesterday's post I paid tribute to the career of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who tragically died last Sunday. He made so many great movies, playing heartbreaking and intriguing characters. Today I'd like to highlight one of his more comic turns, in a movie that many may have missed, Pirate Radio, a British film from 2009, also known as The Boat That Rocked.

The Count broadcasts

The crew rocks out on Radio Rock

Written and directed by Richard Curtis (The Vicar of Dibley, Mr. Bean, Love Actually) the film, set in the 1960s, chronicles a British pirate radio station that dares to play (gasp!) rock and roll. The radio station, dubbed Radio Rock's creative solution to broadcast restrictions is that it is a ship at sea, with a constantly changing location. The British government can't impose its rule of classical music only on the radio or shut it down, if they can't even find it. Hoffman plays an American DJ known as The Count, who bristles when another radio god, the popular British DJ Gavin (Rhys Ifans), joins the crew to boost ratings and challenge The Count's supremacy.

The Count, "You know, a few months ago, I made a terrible mistake. I realized something, and instead of crushing the thought the moment it came I ... I let it hang on, and now I know it to be true. And I'm afraid it's stuck in my head forever. These are the best days of our lives. It's a terrible thing to know, but I know it."

A virtual who's who of British comedians and actors make up the rest of the eclectic crew. Bill Nighy plays Quentin, who runs Radio Rock; DJs "Doctor" Dave (Nick Frost), "Simple" Simon Swafford (Chris O'Dowd); young Carl (Tom Sturridge), who's mother (Emma Thompson) has sent to spend time on the seas with his godfather Quentin. The only bum note in the film is Kenneth Branagh as Sir Alistair Dormandy, an unpleasant and uptight government minister who is bound and determined to shut down the rock and roll station. There isn't an ounce of humor in his performance, which is a shame, for both the audience and Jack Davenport who plays his assistant, Twatt. If only Curtis had called on Rowan Atkinson to play the role ...



Branagh aside, Pirate Radio is laid back and amusing, and also manages to capture the excitement and even dangerous quality of early rock and roll, and a time when it really seemed like music could and would change the world. Hoffman's character embodies that spirit of freedom completely and he emerges as the heart and soul of the film. It's really worth a look. And it has a great soundtrack, too of over 50 songs, including artists like The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Supremes, and The Hollies.

the best exotic marigold hotel

The brochures for the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in Jaipur, India may be a bit misleading — the hotel doesn't quite match up to the photoshopped advertising. But the previews for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel let the audience know exactly what they are in for — a charming, if predictable film featuring some of the best British actors out there. A lot of the film's joys are in its predictability. We want to see Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, and the others as fish out of water who are forced to re-imagine their golden years. Directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love, The Debt) the film follows its characters as they are forced to downsize their lives and find themselves in their new lives as ex-pats.

Evelyn (Judi Dench), Graham (Tom Wilkinson), and Douglas (Bill Nighy) stroll through the city.

Evelyn (Judi Dench), "Nothing here has worked out quite as I expected." 

Muriel (Maggie Smith), "Most things don't. But sometimes what happens instead is the good stuff."

Once the group gets to India the screen absolutely bursts with color and confusion, as the audience is immersed in the culture of Jaipur as abruptly as its main characters. When they reach their destination it's more than a little bit of a disappointment. Clearly not as advertised, the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is rundown, with no working phones, doubtful plumbing, and an overall ramshackle appearance. But its proprietor Sonny (Dev Patel) is so full of charm and enthusiasm that most of the group decide to make the best of their new surroundings. They soon begin to tentatively explore the area, each person finding a way to connect to the culture:

Evelyn (Judi Dench), a recent widow who has never held a job in her life, finds work at a call center and starts a blog about her new life in India. 

Graham (Tom Wilkinson), who grew up in India, has returned to find an old love and seek forgiveness. 

Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) react to their new home in decidedly different ways, Douglas immersing himself in the food and culture and visiting local temples, while Jean won't even leave the confines of the hotel and dreams of returning to England at the first opportunity. Their marriage is far from healthy, as Jean lets him know, "When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you." Wilton (Downton Abbey) seems to be the go-to actress when you want someone uptight, rigid and annoying.

Madge (Celia Imrie) and Norman (Ronald Pickup) have both come to India looking for love — but not with each other. 

Muriel (Maggie Smith), has come to India for a hip operation. She is at first not just resistant to the culture, but decidedly racist. Her connection to a young maid at the hotel has a positive effect on her.

Muriel (Maggie Smith) is at first doubtful of her surroundings.

Sonny's vision of a home for the "elderly and beautiful," so wonderful that they will “refuse to die” is infectious for most of his residents, but doesn't impress his no-nonsense mother, who wants her third favorite son to give up his dream, sell the hotel, move back to Delhi, and settle into a marriage she has arranged for him. Never mind that Sonny loves the beautiful Sunaina (Tena Desae), who works at the same call center as Evelyn. Sonny's idea of "outsourcing old age" is an interesting one, and many issues of aging and clashes of culture come up in subtle ways throughout the film, as each member of the group acclimates to Jaipur.

Sonny, "Everything will be all right in the end . . . if it's not all right, then it's not the end."

What could be a better metaphor for aging than Sonny's catchphrase, which he says a few times in the film? The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is not only entertaining, but a depiction of hope for the future. There are many more dreams to be dreamed, adventures to have, and goals to be reached, even after one has reached "a certain age."

arthur christmas is a treat

Animated movies have been so popular over the past few years that Hollywood is churning them out with greater frequency. But a little bit of computer animation goes a long way (at least for me.) So many seem to just be capitalizing on children's love of bright colors and the inevitable fast food kid's meal tie-in (Happy Feet 2). I have been resisting them, preferring to take the kid to live-action family fare. But I'm not a Grinch, so last week we went to see Arthur Christmas, which was actually quite good.

Arthur composes a letter from Santa

Director Sarah Smith has assembled some great vocal talent:

James McAvoy as Arthur, Santa's younger son, who is clumsy and sweet and deemed to be not much good at anything. His job is reading and answering children's letters to Santa. He loves everything about Christmas.

Hugh Laurie as his brother Steve, who hopes to succeed their father, Santa, and soon. Santa's hyper-efficient older son, he has streamlined and updated Santa's Christmas Eve operation, replacing his sleigh with a spaceship, and coordinating thousands of elves delivering presents from his control center at the North Pole.

Arthur and Steve at mission control

Bill Nighy as Grandsanta, who isn't happy about being put out to pasture

Jim Broadbent as an out-of-touch Santa, who leaves everything to Steve

Imelda Staunton as his wise wife, Mrs. Santa

Ashley Jensen as Bryony, a gift-wrapping elf extraordinaire

Bryony can wrap anything, even a bicycle

Michael Palin, Robbie Coltrane, and Joan Cusack all voice elves, too

What was really fun about Arthur Christmas was the quirky characters and Wallace and Gromit style of animation that I've come to know and love (Aardman Animations upcoming The Pirates! Band of Misfits also looks great). The plot is simple, as it should be in a kids' movie. A little girl  has been overlooked in the massive operation helmed by Steve and figure-headed by Santa — the delivering of a Christmas present to every child all over the world on Christmas Eve. Arthur, who reads and answers all the letters to Santa, remembers the little girl's letter and her request for a pink bicycle. He is very upset — even one child should not be missed, and he tries to convince his family to deliver her gift before Christmas Day.

Grandsanta takes Arthur out in Santa's sleigh

Steve and Santa are willing to write it all off as a good percentage of error, but that doesn't work for Arthur. He, Grandsanta, and Bryony set out to deliver the present — in Santa's old sleigh, with real reindeer, who have all been living in the barn since being replaced by Steve's spaceship. A series of amusing misadventures ensue.

Not only do we get that age-old question answered — how can Santa manage to deliver all of those presents in one night — but we are introduced to the multigenerational Santas, a supremely dysfunctional family. That's three very good kids' movies we've seen this holiday season: The Muppets, Hugo, and Arthur Christmas, which is sweet and silly and highly original.