Frustration... Films in Limited Release

When it comes to going to the movies, I wish I lived in a place like New York City. I haven't seen a lot of movies this year, and lately I feel like everything I'm interested in seeing is not available in a theatre in my area. At least there's always the potential for a wider release, especially if Academy Awards nominations are in the future for these films. And of course, there is the promise of a DVD release!

The first film I've been very interested in seeing in The King's Speech, based on the experiences of England's King George VI.

This is a synopsis of the film from its official film site:

"After the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon) and the scandalous abdication of King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), Bertie (Colin Firth) who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall), the King will overcome his stammer and deliver a radio-address that inspires his people and unites them in battle."

"Based on the true story of King George VI, The King's Speech, follows the Royal Monarch's quest to find his voice."

You can read more about the film, the life of King George, and hear the real address he made to the people of Great Britain here.

The other film I'd love to see is The Illusionist, which is an animated feature directed by Slyvain Chomet and based on a never produced script by French director and actor, Jacques Tati, had penned in 1956.

Pathe UK provides this synopsis of the film:

"The Illusionist is one of a dying breed of stage entertainers. With emerging rock stars stealing his thunder, he is forced to accept increasingly obscure assignments in fringe theatres, at garden parties and in bars and cafés. However, whilst performing in a village pub off the west coast of Scotland, he encounters Alice, an innocent young girl, who will change his life forever."

"Watching his performance to the excited villagers who are celebrating the arrival of electricity to their remote island, Alice becomes awestruck by our hero and believes his tricks are real magic. Following him to Edinburgh, she keeps his home while he goes to work in a small local theatre. Enchanted by her enthusiasm for his act, he rewards her with increasingly lavish gifts he has 'conjured' into existence. Desperate not to disappoint her, he cannot bring himself to reveal that magic does not exist and that buying these gifts is driving him to ruin."

"But as Alice comes of age, she finds love and moves on. The Illusionist no longer has to pretend and, untangled from his own web of deceit, resumes his life as a travelling entertainer, a much wiser man."



That's all I've got on my mind this morning other than working on beating this damn cold I'm suffering from at present. I've got a day off to be alone and quiet and hopefully this will aid me in recovering my voice. It'd be so nice to be able to speak audibly on Monday morning.

Frustration... Being Sick and Unable to Sleep

I haven't visited this blog in quite some time, but a fairly severe chest/sinus cold has robbed me of my voice, left me with a rather nasty cough tonight and an inability to sleep. So in order not to be sucked into a book or a movie which will keep me up even longer, I thought I'd attempt a bit of old fashioned blogging tonight. This desire may be the side effect of being quieted by this cold. I spoke a fair amount today in this rasp of a whisper I now call a voice, but in comparison to how much I usually go on about in a day, I have hours of worth of conversation still pent up inside of me!

So what fascinations, infatuates, or distracts me these days... hmmm... well... let's see.

Christmas is a mere 21 days away now, so that's been on the mind a lot! I am quite proud to report I nearly have all of my shopping done and took sincere and full advantage of many recent holiday related sales and coupons and such!

As I was out searching on Black Friday for stuff for my family, I did make quite a deal for myself finding the new book, Audrey 100, which I was able to score for nearly 90% off thanks to a combination of a weekend sale price, extra discount, and a coupon! It's a beautiful book, of course, but the price allowed me the purchase!

Another such deal lured me into making my first film purchases from the Warner Archive! I took advantage of their "Build a Bundle" deal and got a movie for my dad for Christmas, and a few goodies for me! I am very excited to see what the quality of these "Made On Demand" DVDs are like and since they shipped today it shouldn't be long before I know firsthand. I ordered a variety of films: Green Mansions with Audrey Hepburn and Anthony Perkins, None But the Lonely Hearts with Cary Grant and Ethel Barrymore, Golden Arrow with Bette Davis, and the silent classic, Love, with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert. I've been on a huge silent film kick recently so I am extremely excited to watch that one!

My silent film mania was brought on in November thanks to the Moguls and Movie Stars series on TCM. Part six airs this coming Monday and I am sad that there's only one more episode left after that part. I have read a lot about the early days of the movie industry and covered that ground in a film history course on college, but I still find that looking back on those early pioneering days of the industry to be completely captivating and always fascinating. I think part of what I find very interesting about the movies is how the art form developes essentially alongside the industrial revolution and a whole host of industrial practices and values become a huge factor in the way in which films themselves were then made.

Gore Vidal has had a few spots throughout TCM's Moguls and Movie Stars lending his usual wit and wisdom to this look back at Hollywood's Golden Age, and seeing him got me looking at his work again. I picked up his books Hollywood and Empire and added them to my perpetual stack of reading material. On Tuesday, I finished reading Graham Greene's prose for screenplays of The Third Man and The Fallen Idol. It was an Orson Welles film kick that became a Carol Reed film kick that got me to reading Graham Greene again. I find that I have so many sincere interests in things that the cycle of my interests always leads me back to an artist, or author, or director, etc if my original interest was satisfied by their work and the work came to mean a lot to me on some artistic, emotional, or intellectual level. I am not one to boast or revel in one's self but I do like that I continue to stay curious as a person, that I wish to continue to learn and expand the base of knowledge which I possess in this life. I suppose it does no more than to entertain my mind and and keep me content, but that kind of personal joy cannot be taken lightly.

The other good read I finished this week was Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library Volume 20, which was an incredible edition, focused on the life story of one, Jordan Wellington Lint. I found Lint's life story to be heartbreaking, frustrating, pathetic and loathsome as he moves through his life beginning to end. I don't think I have ever read a character who had my heart go out to him so completely in the beginning but then completely earned my full sense of digust by the end on the book. As always Volume 20, "Lint", was presented in Ware's signature mode of brilliantly designed panels and plot, as he uses the unique manner in which one can tell a story with this particular medium to its fullest and most realised form. This is a unique work of comic art!
Well, off to bed I think. Much to do in the morning and then work until 7PM. I am looking forward to being off Sunday so that I may rest and possibly best this cold for good! Reading and watching movies will be the order of the day!