We've had this on the shelf of not-yet-watched DVDs for a while; I don't remember why it went on my wishlist, but was given it just over a year ago for Christmas. I recently sorted the shelf alphabetically for want of a better method... and we decided to watch the one furthest to the left, which was 'Beaches'.
We had no idea what to expect. The film opens with a sound-check for CC Bloom (Bette Midler) singing on an outdoor stage. Then a text alerts her to something that shocks her, and she takes a taxi to the airport. There are no seats on any planes, so she starts to drive... we still don't know where she's going or why she is in such a hurry, but as she drives she thinks back to her childhood...
CC was a precociously talented 11-year-old, already street-wise, even smoking, when she met Hillary on the beach. Hillary had temporarily lost her parents and forgotten the name of her hotel. CC offered to escort her back, having determined that it was a top-class 'ritzy' place... and a strange, lifelong friendship is formed between these very different girls. For years they simply correspond by letters, but eventually meet and decide to share lodgings for a while.
The film is about their abiding friendship, despite their very different backgrounds and expectations, and also despite some rather heated arguments. They fall out over a man, and over their very different values... at times the dialogue seems cliched, but for the most part it's a very well-made film, extremely well acted, with believable people. It was made in 1988 although for some reason it feels older than that - possibly due to the childhood scenes, which were evidently meant to take place in the '60s.
The ending did feel rather predictable, the kind of thing that seems to happen a lot in films, but I felt that it was taken somewhat out of the ordinary by the delightful Victoria, played by Grace Johnston. She must have been only four years old at the time, but acted her part to perfection. There were some very moving moments.
All in all, we liked this film very much. It's rated 12 in the UK (PG-13 in the USA), which is probably due to one incident of a 'bad' swear word. The storyline probably wouldn't be of much interest to those under the age of about 12 or 13 anyway.
There were no extras on our copy of the DVD.
Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews
While I was browsing Amazon, as one does, this DVD was recommended to me, along with several others that were about Greek culture or people. I assume that this is because I had already rated 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' highly, and had 'Driving Aphrodite' on my wishlist. I had no idea that there were so many films featuring Greek people! I skimmed through the reviews, rejecting the ones that were unpopular, and put 'Never on Sunday' on my wishlist, as it seemed to be very highly regarded in both the UK and US.
I received it for Christmas, and we watched it last night.
Our first surprise was that it was as old as it is. I hadn't really taken in the details, so we had not noted that it was made in 1960, nor - stranger still - that it was black and white. I also hadn't expected that over half the film was in Greek, with English sub-titles (there are options for three or four other languages in the menu).
However, it seemed like an interesting story, if somewhat unusual. Ilya is the main character, brilliantly played by Melina Mercouri who is best known as one of the earliest women in Greek government. She is a lively, fun-loving 'lady of the night'. She goes swimming each morning to entertain sailors, and is said not to have a price... she chooses her men, depending on whether or not she likes them.
Homer (Jules Dassin) is an American philosopher visiting Greece, determined to find out what made the country descend from the great cultural icon of ancient times into the disorganised, light-hearted crazy culture he sees around him. We first come across him in a taverna, watching people getting drunk and dancing in typical Greek style. He makes a cultural error, and is embroiled in an angry fight when Ilya - who speaks pretty good English - arrives and manages to negotiate.
Homer is shocked when he discovers Ilya's profession, but sees her as an icon, a representation of all that he considers to be wrong with Greece. So he sets out to educate and enlighten her.. in a way that seemed, at first, to be along the lines of 'Pygmalion' (a story popularised in the films 'My Fair Lady' and 'Educating Rita').
We liked the story, once we got used to the regular subtitles, and the way the film was made. Ilya is quite a believable person, in a 1960s, never dishevelled kind of way, and the strangely named Homer is a cleverly satirical character, determined that his own country and culture are superior to the one he is visiting. Yet he does not object to some hypocritical wheeling and dealing on his own behalf.
What puzzled us is that the UK rating is only PG, and it's not rated at all in the USA. Admittedly there is no bad language, and there are no overt bedroom scenes or below-the-shoulders frontal nudity displayed; but there's a great deal of it implied. Indeed, the entire story has an 'adult' theme that should surely attract at least a '12' rating. There are many scenes of drunkenness and disorder, and some violence too, though nothing too gory. Not that it worried us - it just shows how ridiculous some of the ratings systems are.
I'm not sure I'd particularly recommend this film, but it was interesting to see - and probably all the more so since we ourselves live in a Greek-speaking country, so could catch at least some of the Greek dialogue, and certainly understood the reality (if a little caricatured) of the culture.
Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews
I don't think it would ever occur to us to have watched this film, but for the separate recommendations of both our sons. We are far from royalists, and would not have imagined that scenes in life of King George VI would have been remotely appealing, despite the excellent reviews and Oscars accorded this film. But we trust our sons' tastes, so it went on my wishlist, and I was given it for Christmas. Last night, we decided to watch it.
The story is probably well-known, based as it is on history. It begins when George VI (known to his family as 'Bertie), who is brilliantly portrayed by Colin Firth, attempts to make a speech on the newly-popular 'wireless'. He has a bad stammer, made worse when he is nervous, and the speech is a disaster.
Bertie has a supportive wife - the future Queen Elizabeth whom I knew of only as the Queen Mother - also very well cast as Helena Bonham Carter. She is determined that somehow her husband's stammer must be curable. However he has been to many speech therapists already, and tried both orthodox and unorthodox methods. Finally she comes across Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) who says that, yes, he can cure her husband but only on his own terms...
The film is set firmly in historical context, with snippets of actual speeches made by royalty and also by Hitler in the period preceding the Second World War. While, undoubtedly, many liberties were taken with reality, the underlying story gives a very moving tale of a shy man who suffered from a strict father and bullying brother, forced into situations he hated. Bertie suffers from explosive anger at times, and it's clear that the stammer is psychological in origin; it becomes markedly worse under times of stress.
I was absolutely gripped by this film, from beginning to end. There's humour here and there, there's pathos, there's a depth of understanding of the loneliness that can come with positions of authority. The royal family come across as real, believable people who are who they are by an accident of birth, often deeply distressed by the responsibilities they must carry.
Very highly recommended indeed. It's rated 12 in the UK, which slightly surprised me. Although there are no violent or sexual scenes, there is quite a string of extreme bad language used more than once in (as the back of the box states) 'a speech therapy context'. However, most 12-year-olds would be well aware of these words, and there is certainly nothing in the film that is unsuitable, content-wise. In America, however, where 'strong language' is evidently considered more of a problem, the film is rated 'R'.
Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews
I'm not entirely sure how this particular film ended up on my wishlist. Probably Amazon recommended it to me based on the genre (light romantic comedy); I don't think it can have been related to the actors or actresses, as I hadn't come across any of them before.
Whatever the reason, I was happy to be given 'The Truth about Cats and Dogs' for Christmas, and watched it with my husband and son a few days later.
It's the story of Abby (Janeane Garofalo) who is a vet, and hosts a radio show. Listeners with pet problems call in, and she explains what they should do. She is well-liked, but for some reason - possibly the fact that she is short - has terrible self-esteem. One day she gets a call from a man called Brian (Ben Chaplin) in an unusual and amusing situation.. and after she helps him, he asks to meet her.
Abby considers herself unattractive, and - somewhat by accident - sets him up with her tall, blonde neighbour Noelle (Uma Thurman). A case of mistaken identity ensues when Brian assumes that Noelle is Abby, and nobody lets him know the truth.. leading to a the humour that can easily go with this rather cliched situation, although Noelle is slightly irritating as a somewhat gormless dumb blonde stereotype.
Eventually all is resolved satisfactorily, and I would have liked the film very much had it not been for the added parts that pushed the rating up to 15 in the UK - a few unnecessary swear words, and a bizarre, equally unnecessary pseudo-sex scene via the phone. The US rating of PG-13 seems surprisingly low.
Still, overall we thought it an enjoyable film, if a little dated (it was made in 1996). It has a good message about the importance of personality above looks... although that was a little puzzling since Abby came across as considerably more attractive than the tall blonde Noelle.
Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews
Sometimes I browse through Amazon, and check reviews for the various DVDs that it recommends to me, based on what I've already rated. It seems to have gathered that I generally enjoy light romantic comedies; it will also frequently suggest films starring actors or actresses whose films I have previously enjoyed.
So, a few months ago, I put 'Driving Aphrodite' on my wishlist; apparently the title of this movie is 'My life in ruins', in America. The star is Nia Vardalos, who became well-known for 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' about ten years ago. An added draw was that it also features Richard Dreyfuss, star of what is possibly my all-time favourite film, 'Mr Holland's Opus'.
I was pleased to be given this DVD for Christmas, and at the end of a busy day we decided to sit down and watch it, hoping for something light and undemanding.
We were not disappointed. While it doesn't have the brilliant one-liners and satire of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', this is a likeable film, with some humour that we appreciated all the more having lived in a Greek culture for the past fourteen years.
Georgia (Nia Vardalos) is an American tour guide. She doesn't really want to be; she came to Athens to lecture in Ancient history, but that didn't work out. Unfortunately her style is to try and teach holidaymakers about the history of all the ruins and artefacts visited on their coach tours around the city. But most of them are not particularly interested...
Georgia's co-worker (Alistair McGowan) would like to see her fired, so he and the boss arrange for her to have a difficult and motley crew in her coach, with non-working air-conditioning and a boorish driver (Alexis Georgoulis). The first day goes badly and she decides to quit; but an irritating elderly 'wise guy' on her bus (Richard Dreyfuss)turns out to be a fount of good advice, with match-making skills too..
It took a little while to get into this; in the earlier part of the film, the generalisations were a bit too obvious, and we wondered if it was going to be even slightly amusing... but as it progressed, we started to like the people concerned, and there were some quite funny moments alongside some deeper, more moving scenes.
All in all, we enjoyed it. Particularly recommended to anyone who has lived in Greece, Cyprus, or any of the Greek islands, and so is familiar with the culture that is somewhat satirised in this film.
Rated 12 in the UK (PG-13 in the USA), presumably because of one or two instances of bad language, and some mild sexual references.
Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews
As one who watched Doctor Who from behind the sofa as a child in the 1960s, the 'real' Doctor has to be Patrick Troughton. I accepted Jon Pertwee as his replacement in the early 1970s, and quite liked the long-scarfed Tom Baker in the late '70s. Not that I was a devotee by an means, but I watched now and again, and kept up with the series.
However, when Peter Davison became the fifth Doctor Who in 1981, I gave up entirely. I could not think of him as anyone other than Tristan Farnon, in the 'All Creatures Great and Small' series. Besides, I found it altogether too traumatic watching episode with cybermen and daleks (shudder) and felt nothing but relief when I gave up on Doctor Who.
I gather that the series gradually petered out... and was then re-established in 2005 with a 'new' series, taking advantage of modern computer technology for special effects, and, I was told, much more interesting storylines. But we don't live in the UK, and no matter how much my friends raved about Doctor Who, I was Not Interested.
However, my adult sons both, independently, became fans of the new series. And somehow they managed to convince us to buy the first 'new' series on DVD. They assured us that the modern Doctor Who was more in the vein of 'Quantum Leap' than the old alien-defeating superman kind of theme.
It was with much trepidation that I started watching the series, but I have to admit that they were right. The plots have much more of a human touch than I can remember from the previous series. Christopher Eccleston makes an excellent Doctor. While Billie Piper as his assistant Rose is a bit irritating at times, we got used to her, and quite liked her by the end. We definitely felt sorry for her frustrated well-meaning boyfriend, so often given second place to time travel.
I wasn't happy when daleks made their appearance - they can still incite terror in my heart. My relief at, apparently, the last one being wiped out forever was short-lived. However I loved the episode with Simon Callow as Charles Dickens. There's a fascinating episode which theorises on the terrible consequences of making changes in time travel - rather different from the happy endings of Quantum Leap - which was very thought-provoking.
It took us about six months to watch all thirteen episodes, as life was busy, but we enjoyed them all. They are not as directly frightening as some of the earlier series seemed to me as a child, even if I did hide my face a few times. There's a little humour, some pathos, and some excellent storylines.
The final episode was slightly disappointing; the Doctor seemed to be at his wits' end, and the climax was rather too much 'deus ex machina' for my liking. Perhaps it had to be like that to pave the way for the re-generation of the Doctor into his tenth incarnation...
All in all, well worth watching. We look forward to beginning Series 2 in the new year.
Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews
I don't entirely remember why 'Fried Green Tomatoes in the Whistle Stop Café' (just 'Fried Green Tomatoes' in the USA) was on our shelves; probably it was recommended to me by Amazon some time ago, based on my preferences, and I put it on my wishlist. Whatever the reason, we decided to watch it a couple of nights ago. The back cover promised us a 'warm, touching and greatly amusing tale about the importance of love and friendship'.
To start with, we meet Evelyn (Kathy Bates), an overweight and rather depressed woman in a marriage which has lost all hint of sparkle. She has tried all kinds of classes to help her become more assertive, to eat less, or to make her husband interested in her, but none of them has helped. Then she meets Ninny (Jessica Tandy), an elderly - but lively - lady in a nursing home.
Ninny starts to tell Evelyn about events in her family's past, beginning back in Alabama in the 1920 when a terrible tragedy marred the life of young Idgie. In classic film style, we see the events of the past as if they were happening in a parallel world - and this continues throughout the film, interspersing Evelyn's growing friendship with Ninny, with anecdotes about Idgie, now grown up, and her close friend Ruth.
The theme is indeed about the importance of love and friendship, with subplot showing a bit of social history, as we see just how bad racial intolerance was in part of the US, less than a hundred years ago. There is a crime mystery too, the horrors of an abusive marriage, and some poignancy as the aging Ninny hopes to go back to her own home...
I would not have called this film 'greatly amusing', although there are certainly some humorous moments in the 1990s scenarios with Evelyn as she tries various methods to make her husband interested in her, and then later as she begins to become more assertive.
The rating of 12 (UK) or PG-13 (USA) seem appropriate, since there is some bad language and violence, and a great deal of other implied violence too. However, we both thought it was extremely well done, with excellent casting for all characters, and quite moving in places. The ending was somewhat open, but satisfying nonetheless.
Recommended.
Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews
