Effie Gray (2014)

A dramatization of the love triangle between John Ruskin, his wife Effie Gray and the painter John Everett Millais.

'Effie Gray' is a biographical film, with the usual poetic license applied that presents an interesting episode in the life of names that belong to history. The facts seem of a crude nature, usually associated with gossip, but the interactions and the period in which they take place, offer an interesting angle on an unusual situation.

Director:  Richard Laxton    

With: Dakota Fanning, Greg Wise, Tom Sturridge, Emma Thompson

Rating: 8/10

Men in Black: International (2019)

The most efficient Man in Black and the latest recruit team up in order to discover the identity of a double agent.

A reboot of the Men in Black series with new and popular faces of recent years. I didn't pay that much attention to parts 2 and 3 of the old version, but even if Emma Thompson and Liam Neeson appear in the modern version, it almost seems blasphemous not to see Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones again as the main figures. This film has nothing special, nothing at all, but it can be used as a time filler and very young kids will still love it.

Director:  F. Gary Gray   

With: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani, Rebecca Ferguson

Rating: 6/10

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

Daca ai afla ca cineva ti-a hotarat moartea, te-ai decide sa iti schimbi viata renuntand la rutina plictisitoare auto-impusa si auto-cauzatoare de nefericire si frustrare? Cu un raspuns evident, filmul exact pentru asta militeaza, subliniind intr-un mod induiosator si foarte original nevoia unei interventii pentru unii (toti?) oameni, care lasa viata sa treaca pe langa ei, renuntand la lucrurile care ii fac fericiti si la vise in schimbul unei inselatoare paturi de comoditate si lipsa de risc si pasiune. Totodata arata si goliciunea unui gest de a pune valoarea individului sub pretul asa-numitului the greater good sau mai degraba a unei valori universale, inanimate, dar care ar reprezenta un castig snob (aici parerile ar fi impartite, dar as asemui cu o situatie de genul povestii Anei mesterului Manole) pentru generatiile viitoare si pentru umanitate, tot mai plina de sine de-a lungul timpului si foarte "uituca" cu sacrificiile treptate, asa-zisele rele necesare.

Nu sunt un fan Will Ferrell, ba chiar adesea prezenta lui intr-un cast ma face sa intorc spatele unor productii, si totusi in filmul acesta reuseste sa para natural, firesc, stangaci si demn de compasiune chiar si in monotonia personajului sau, atingand anumite corzi sensibile lucru de care nu il credeam in stare iar Emma Thompson reuseste sa portretizeze adorabil dar cumva incomplet o autoare pustnica plina de imaginatie.

Regie:Marc Forster
Scenariu:Zach Helm
Cu:Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman