#Victoria & Abdul

[mredlich21]

Upcoming Movies! Spyder and Victoria & Abdul and Tubelight

#Spyder will be CGI with heart #Victoria&Abdul is history w/o heart #Tubelight is all heart

This is thanks to two commentators, Filmilibrarian who reminded me about Victoria & Abdul, and Niki who sent me the Spyder teaser seconds after it dropped.  Oh, and then Salman Khan who tweeted the new Tubelight song this morning. (more…)

[poppaperblog]

Victoria and Abdul

FILM REVIEW Today I am reviewing the film, Victoria and Abdul. A Biography, Drama, History starring Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Tim Pigott-Smith, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar, Michael Gambon, Paul Higgins, Olivia Williams, Fenella Woolgar, Julian Wadham, Robin Soans, Ruth McCabe, Simon Callow, Sukh Ojla, Kemaal Deen-Ellis, and Simon Paisley Day. Victoria and Abdul Biography, Drama, History Universal…

[slfrench]

Victoria and Abdul

A few days ago I watched the 2017 release “Victoria and Abdul”.  It was OK.  It was watchable to me because I enjoy period, historical dramas and the British royal family is interesting to me.  The actors in the film did as good of a job as I think anyone could with the material they were given.  This film could have been a complete disaster in the hands of the wrong film makers.

If you plan on…

[yutethebeaute]

「がんばれイギリス」映画たち

名優ゲイリー・オールドマンがついにアカデミー主演男優賞を手にした映画「Darkest Hour」（邦題「ウィンストン・チャーチル/ヒトラーから世界を救った男」）が日本公開とのこと。私はこの映画はまだ未見なのですが、いやはや昨年、2017年のイギリス映画界は、私が個人的に「がんばれイギリス」映画と呼ぶ作品が目白押しでした。

オールドマンのチャーチルに先駆けて発表されたのが、題名そのままの「Churchill」。オールドマンとちがって、あまり特殊メイクしなくてもチャーチルに似ている渋い俳優ブライアン・コックスが、ノルマンディー上陸作戦を目前に逡巡・懊悩するチャーチルを演じていました。

話題になった作品では、第二次世界大戦の冒頭、怒涛のドイツ軍に責め立てられて北フ…

[paddylast]

Paddylast Inc's Oscars 2018 Predictions!

Paddylast Inc’s Oscars 2018 Predictions!

It’s the time of the year again to give out the film’s highest honors in Hollywood and I’ve a feeling that there’ll be a bit of a surprise in what most assumed are already “locked” categories. Best Picture: This is going to be an easy pick for me. As much as I’d love for The Shape of Water to win this award, I’ve to give it to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. On a technical perspective…

[thepeoplesmovies]

Win Victoria & Abdul On DVD

Queen Victoria finds an unexpected companionship with a humble servant from India in the heartwarming and uplifting story, Victoria & Abdul, out now on Digital  and Blu-ray™ and DVD and on 22nd January 2018, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Based on true events, Victoria & Abdul beautifully depicts an extraordinary friendship between the Queen and her servant in the later years of her…

[tlmmagazine]

#Buonanno con la Top 10 dei Migliori Film 2017, visti da #thelovingmemory

BLADE RUNNER 2049 di Denis Villeneuve

  LA TARTARUGA ROSSA di Michael Dudok De Wit

  L’INGANNO di Sofia Coppola

  ATOMICA BIONDAdi David Leitch…

[milliondollarbaby87]

The great thing about watching so many films is that every so often you will watch something that you are totally surprised with and really enjoyed it. Often when you were not expecting to like it at all! Somtimes these can really become hidden gems!

These are the films I watched at the cinema during 2017

  Get Out (Review) I wasn’t fully sure what to expect from this one when heading to the cinema to see it. The trailer didn’t really give a massive amount away and what you end up watching is something that will provoke many different thoughts about race and how people are accepted into communities, with plenty of strange twists and turns throughout.

Life (Review) This might just be a film that is pretty much Alien but I throughly found myself enjoying it. I wasn’t really expecting anything from it at all but it certainly had me on the edge of my seat and wondering which way the next person was going to-day, some might have been a little bit obvious but that didn’t really matter at all considering the tension was built up in a fantastic way with a very good cast as well.

Lady Macbeth (Review) This could easily have been one of those period dramas which turn out to be extremely boring and drag. But I didn’t feel that way with this one and I think it was due to the amazingly haunting performance from Florence Pugh as the young woman who was forced to marry.

Colossal (Review) I found this film to easily be the most original that I watched during 2017 and it was so much fun at the same time. Even though at times you were actually confused a little bit in the end that didn’t matter as the interesting plot unfolded with Anne Hathaway taking on the leading role in a great way.

The Big Sick (Review) This seemed to be marketed as a standard Rom-Com. It is far from that and I was totally loving what unfolded from the film. I had no idea that it was all based on a true story with the actual leading actor. I think that actually made me appreciate it even more that I didn’t know that before watching.

The Limehouse Golem (Review) Obviously I go and watch anything with Bill Nighy in it and this was such a nice surprise, pretty graphic at times but that is something you would expect when the plot is all about trying to find a serial killer. It had a good amount of suspense and was impressive from start to finish. Nighy took over this film from the late Alan Rickman which I think made it even more special. A true hidden gem of 2017 for me!

Victoria & Abdul (Review) I just felt that this film was lovely from start to finish, the performances were very engaging and it was an interesting part of history that I had no idea about before watching this one. Hence the lovely surprise and it making it onto this list. Judi Dench is outstanding as Victoria.

What films surprised you in 2017? 

7 Films that surprised me in 2017 The great thing about watching so many films is that every so often you will watch something that you are totally surprised with and really enjoyed it.

[vimooz]

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, LADY BIRD and THREE BILLBOARDS Lead 7th AACTA International Awards Nominations

LADY BIRD CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, LADY BIRD and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI lead the way with five nominations each for the 7th AACTA International Awards (more…)

[oppaiokudasai]

Here Are The Semi-Finalists For The Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar! The big shock?  The inclusion of Netflix's Bright.  Over on AwardsWatch, Erik Anderson speculates this could mean that the Academy is warming up to Netflix. 

[matiuadexmovies]

'Victoria & Abdul' Movie Review: Abdul Was Selfish In The Movie, Do You Agree?

‘Victoria & Abdul’ Movie Review: Abdul Was Selfish In The Movie, Do You Agree?

‘Victoria & Abdul’ Movie Review: Abdul Was Selfish In The Movie, Do You Agree? 

Victoria and Abdul is a true life story that centers on Abdulkareem, who arrives in England from India to participate in Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, and was fortunate to find favor with the queen. Soon, the two became friends, which the household and inner circle try to destroy. As their friendship deepens, the…

[spryfilm]

“Victoria & Abdul” (2017)

Drama

Running Time: 112 minutes

Written by: Lee Hall

Directed by: Stephen Frears

Featuring:  Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Michael Gambon, Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigott-Smith and Adeel Akhtar

Queen Victoria: “Everyone I love has died and I just go on and on. What is the point?”

Abdul Karim: “Service, Your Majesty. We are here for a greater purpose.”

Twenty years after Judi Dench received her very first Oscar nomination for playing Queen Victoria in “Mrs. Brown” (1998) comes a spiritual sequel in the Stephen Frears directed “Victoria & Abdul” (2017). As you would expect this film is built around the powerhouse performance of Judi Dench who shows no signs of slowing down, even rumors of another Oscar nomination for this role seem to be reliable. Although this film has at its core Dench, the supporting cast is nothing short of excellent, starting with relative newcomer Ali Fazal, a Bollywood star who announces his arrival as the Queen’s confidant, the titular Abdul. As you would expect Fazal’s character is marginalised by almost everyone he comes across, in fact he is ultimately a tragic figure.

There are many reasons that this is a film to search out, it illustrates not only the archaic way in which the upper class treated perceived lower classes, how England treated not only India but also their colonies, the waning power of the England itself, the treatment of foreigners, possibly the origins of Brexit, how a Queen in her 90s could be more forward thinking than any of her underlings as well as power , and how true power can be isolating as well as being a prison that few people can understand or relate to. This is actually a true story that was unknown until relatively recently but it is a welcome one that assists in the understanding of issues we still face today.

The film is centred around Abdul Karim, a young prison clerk from Agra, India, is instructed to travel to England for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887 (four years after the death of John Brown in Mrs Brown) to present her with a mohur, which has been minted as a token of appreciation from British-ruled India.

The Queen, who is lonely and tired of her fawning courtiers, develops an interest in and later a friendship with Abdul. She spends time with him alone, and promotes him to become her Munshi as his guardian. She asks him to teach her Urdu and the Qur’an. When Victoria discovers that he is married, she invites his wife and mother-in-law to join him to England.

While Victoria treats Abdul as a son, his preferment is resented by her household and inner circle, including her son Bertie and the Prime Minister. The household plots to undermine their relationship, hoping that Abdul will be sent home. When Victoria embarrasses herself by recounting to the court the one-sided account of the Indian Mutiny that Abdul had told her, Victoria’s faith and trust in him are shaken and she decides he must go home. But the following day she changes her mind and asks him to stay.

Needless to say that from here the animosity between the rest of the staff and Abdul inflates to new heights, not only that but Bertie the Queens eldest son (as well as future King) seems to be terrified of the relationship between the Queen and Abdul to such an extent that is frankly frightening. This animosity from someone who is at the height of power in the late 1800s illustrates the way one person can have a detrimental effect on those around him. I will not spoil the film but it is amazing the lengths that some of the characters are willing to go to rid themselves of Abdul, as well as revealing their own inadequacies and prejudices.

As I have said with many of the high quality British movies released each year the casting is nothing short of absolutely superb, starting with Judi Dench as Queen Victoria, reprising a role she was so successful in twenty years ago. There is nothing new to say about Dench as it has already been said so well by others for the majority of her distinguished career. Dench is as prolific an actor as there has ever been, she is in high demand, you can see why in her faultless performance in “Victoria & Abdul”, not only that but you can see she makes others better around her by letting them have their tine in the sun. The supporting cast led by Ali Fazal as Abdul is nothing short of incredible, as a character you must side with him from the off, thanks to his innate charm and personality that is not a problem. It is no mean feat then that Bertie played by Eddie Izzard, is a great antagonist (as he was in the this years underrated “Whiskey Galore” (2017)) who shines throughout, but it is in the closing minutes of the film that you see his real hatred of not only Abdul but the lower classes as well. The rest of the cast including the always-fantastic Adeel Akhtar (already scene stealing in “The Big Sick” (2017), but always memorable from “Four Lions” (2010)), the glorious Tim Pigott-Smith and Paul Higgins are all admirable supporting players. The only other actors to really highlight are Olivia Williams and Fenella Woolgar as Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting who steal scenes they are in, particularly a portion of the film where they re-enact (along with Abdul) a period of India’s history in front of an audience – just hilarious.

It is no coincidence that this is the fifth film that Dench has made with veteran director Stephen Frears who is a master of his domain. Frears who has made a career out of making stories that reflect some inner truth that exists within people or situations here is at his best. He has revelaed some of the worst as well as best parts of humanity in both his television work as well as his much-lauded film work as well. Not only that, but Frears has done something few directors of his age has done, that is to remain a vital as well as relevant director that is also extremely prolific. You can see in recent years his output from 2000 when he had the triple of “Fail Safe”, “Liam” and the now classic “High Fidelity” to now with “Victoria & Abdul” he has directed fifteen movies – many of them real classics. What Frears has accomplished with this new movie is to further demystify Royalty as well as the Crown itself, which is something that has been happening not only in film (with Frears own excellent “The Queen” (2005)) but also on television with the likes of “The Crown” (2016 – ) as well as “Victoria” (2016 – ). Of course the director as well as writer, Lee Hall, are also concerned with the decline of the English Empire in the face of growing resistance from their colonies (in this case the growing independence of India) as well as the growing independence of England’s own politics becoming more independent of the Crown. The resistance to all of this is of course Queen Victoria’s own son Bertie, who is fighting wars on multiple fronts, slowly losing which is one reason he was only King for a short amount of time – stress as well as living in the past will do that to a person.

“Victoria & Abdul” is simply an excellent film that embodies some of the greatest as well as worst traits of English society of the time. I thought it was excellent to see an elderly Queen admitting to many foibles but still willing to reach out to someone she did not know. as well as embracing an entirely foreign culture, not to appropriate it or minimize it but to attempt to understand it. This is something that many world leaders could learn from today as well as try to emulate – far too many times people try and dominate or win at culture wars. One of the many lessons in this film is that it is possible to have actual relations with foreigners as well as have mutual beneficial agreements, and tolerance for differences.

If it were up to the people that hated the idea of a relationship that exists in this movie then it would not exist, in fact it is only since 2010 that this story was even known by the general public which is a sad indictment of the times that it occurred in. It is with that knowledge that I recommend this movie highly, and would not be surprised if like Frears others films it features in next years Oscar race.

“Victoria & Abdul” is out now in cinemas.

      Film review: “Victoria & Abdul” (2017) “Victoria & Abdul” (2017) Drama Running Time: 112 minutes Written by: Lee Hall Directed by: Stephen Frears…

[rigdonml]

3 Films in 3 Days

3 Films in 3 Days

  Ok, I admit it. I’m a movie junkie. There’s very little that I don’t like when it comes to films. I wish I could watch horror flicks, but the chicken-factor in me is off the chart in a darkened room. Out in the light or in real life, not so much. In real-time, it takes a lot to shake me up. This means I miss out on a lot of good stuff. Years after Jawscame out, I got up the courage to watch it…

[northamptonfandom-blog]

Victoria & Abdul: Based On True Story... Mostly

Victoria & Abdul: Based On True Story… Mostly

Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal) arrives in England from India to participate in Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee by presenting a ceremonial coin. The young Indian clerk is shocked that Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) has taken a liking to him. As her majesty examines the can and cannots of her reigning over Britain and its territories, she and…

[andersonvision]

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: THE SEA WOLF, WILLY WONKA, CHASING TITLES, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, THE LOVE TRIALS, JACK WHITEHALL, ALL I SEE IS YOU, SPIRITED AWAY, VICTORIA & ABDUL

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: THE SEA WOLF, WILLY WONKA, CHASING TITLES, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, THE LOVE TRIALS, JACK WHITEHALL, ALL I SEE IS YOU, SPIRITED AWAY, VICTORIA & ABDUL

Newly Restored Classic THE SEA WOLF Debuts on Blu-ray October 10 The Sea Wolf — one of the great Warner Bros. classics which has existed only in truncated form for 70 years — has been restored to its original length as first released in 1941, with 14 minutes of long-missing footage, remastered from a 4K scan. The Warner Archive Collection (WAC) will debut the film simultaneously on Blu-ray and…

[jmunneytumbler]

This Is a Movie Review: Victoria & Abdul I give Victoria & Abdul 4.5 out of 5 Carpets: