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jcy992003
Reviews
The Chaperone (2018)
Excellent adaptation of book
A well-paced and excellent adaptation of the Laura Moriarty novel. The film captures the symmetry between the differences in 1920's Kansas and NYC, as well as the differences between the two main characters, Norma and Louise. Both highly intelligent, Norma is a reflection of the still-Victorian culture of 1922 Kansas while Louise has a near-feral need to burst out of the culture's restrictions. The journey to NYC results in both learning valuable life lessons.
Norma, the title character, is the central point of the film. While Louise becomes the famous one, this movie is not her biography. Her role is one that feeds the Norma character and propels her through the story. Prohibition, post-WWI dynamics and the tossed salad of the 1920's NYC atmosphere provide a fascinating historic framework.
While not for everyone, I highly recommend this film to anyone interested in 20th century US history, and good film making in general.
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Magical Movie
I found this movie to be simply magical and worthy of all awards. A modern day fable taking place in India, the movie pulls in a US audience with its basis in the TV show, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire". Only somebody with a complete lack of imagination will not relate to the rags to riches story of Jamal. His answers to the questions on the TV show trigger vignettes of how he came to learn them, virtually all the hard way, in what amounts to an epic story of survival and love. Could something like this happen in real life? No, not hardly, but neither could the Wizard of Oz - another movie fable at the same all-time great level. The soundtrack, the cinematography, the screenplay and directing were all worthy of the Oscar wins. I recommend this movie to all, and rave about it to my friends and family. This is the finest movie made so far in the 21st century.