Netflix A-Z: Nanny McPhee (2005) & Nanny McPhee Returns (2010)

Heading into the second half of the alphabet now, we’re going with a little double feature.  I figured if Netflix offers us the chance to watch a series of movies, I might as well take advantage of it, especially if there is only two 😉  So here we are with Nanny McPhee and its sequel, Nanny McPhee Returns (otherwise called Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang).  I’ve been avoiding this one because it feels like a rip-off of Mary Poppins.  For most of you that know me, I’m a huge Disney fanatic and Mary Poppins is among one of my all-time favorites.  I can watch it over and over and over again, know all the words of all the songs and maybe even the dialogue. So, Nanny McPhee has quite the competition if its anything like that.  Honestly, I don’t know much and they are all assumptions but assuming is not a great thing and I’m trying to not do that.

By the way, its October!! Magical nannies…kind of works, right? I keep thinking Nanny McPhee might be a witch so I guess it works that way 😉

Let’s give this a go! 🙂

Nanny McPhee (2005)

Director: Kirk Jones

Cast: Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Kelly MacDonald, Angela Lansbury, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Eliza Bennett, Imelda Staunton

Cedric Brown has lost his loving wife and now has to make his living and take care of his seven young children.  However, his children are so misbehaved that they have already scared away 17 nannies ever since.  With his Aunt Adelaide who provides him with a monthly allowance to sustain him and his family’s living, she gives him an ultimatum that he either finds himself a wife by the end of the month or she will cut her support.  Its here that Nanny McPhee arrives at his doorstep.  Magically, she offers to teach 5 lessons and her rules are simple: she will stay as long as she is needed but not wanted but when she is wanted but not needed, she has to go.

I have to admit that Nanny McPhee is a little odd.  Except, it quickly turns into a charming little movie.  I guess you can’t call a movie little when it has a ton of talented cast from Emma Thompson playing Nanny McPhee to Colin Firth being Cedric Brown and Imelda Staunton being Cook.  Not to mention, Aunt Adelaide being played by Angela Lansbury.  All that talent for this movie with kids that are practically unknown.  Well, they were unknown back then.  Thomas Brodie-Sangster, now 10 years later is rather known especially because of The Maze Runner, Nowhere Boy and before that, it had to be Love Actually. With such a solid cast, Nanny McPhee can’t help but deliver strong performanced across the board.  Plus, Emma Thompson is also responsible for the screenplay.  I’m sure that gives her a little more attachment as the main character and adds a little spark to what she’s doing.

While Nanny McPhee does have certain features very similar to Mary Poppins plot-wise and at times, feels a little like the cross-over of The Sound of Music with all those children also, it has its own little magic.  It is obvious that this movie is meant for children to teenagers perhaps and the lessons it delivers is great in terms of a family comedy.  Its a ton of fun and reinforces that a family being together means learning together.  Nanny McPhee may seem like she is teaching the children but she is also teaching the father valuable lessons on taking extra care to how he treats his role.  It may seem silly the simple things like going to bed and getting up when told in the beginning but its about discipline and respect, listening and being honest and accepting consequences.  All very relevant to children and grown-ups alike.

Nanny McPhee Returns (2010)

Director: Susanna White

Cast: Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Asa Butterfield, Rhys Ifans, Lil Woods, Eros Vlahos, Rosie Taylor-Ritson, Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Ewan McGregor

Isabel is a young mother with three children living on a farm and trying to make ends meet while her husband is away at war.  Secretly having a massive debt at the casino, her brother in law wants to coax her into selling her half of the farm.  Except, she doesn’t want to despite the struggles.  When her sister sends over two cousins because of the war situation getting more serious in the big city, she ends up having to take care of two more children, and extremely spoiled rich brats on top of that.  It is at this moment that Nanny McPhee shows up and offers to help her with teaching 5 lessons (side note: not the same as last time).

Nanny McPhee Returns is a great addition to this series.  The cast still retains to be incredibly strong.  Emma Thompson comes back as Nanny McPhee and she just does it so perfectly.  Then we have an even younger Asa Butterfield (because he’s still pretty young right now) in the lead boy among the children.  Along with that, mom is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and there’s ever a small role for Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes and Ewan McGregor.  Nanny McPhee definitely returns with the same charm but this time, it adds a lot more goof.  At times, it felt a little ridiculous but for the most part, I was able to not mind it too much.

The best part, other than the fun characters, is really that learning the 5 lessons the Nanny McPhee has to teach never feels strained.  If anything, this time, the lessons were more straightforward and even more relevant than the last time.  We in the land of courage, bravery, imagination, taking leaps of faith, and more.  Like I said, relevant with what they are dealing with and with a contrast of children from different backgrounds, the learning is even more substantial.

Nanny McPhee Returns is a very fun sequel.  With lots of lovable characters and an outstanding cast even to its supporting and cameo characters.  Its magical and adventurous even between some of the unnecessary goofiness that they add in this time around.

Its a pity that Nanny McPhee only has two movies in this series. It would be a fun one to keep going.  You can always argue that Mary Poppins is better and she is in fact irreplaceable but Nanny McPhee has her own little charm and its just so relevant no matter when you watch it.  Its a ton of family fun and very much worth your time. 🙂

Have you seen either of these Nanny McPhee movies? Any thoughts?

Netflix A-Z heads into a week of Horror before stepping aside for the Halloween Marathon.  
What O horror takes the spot? Any guesses?

Valentine Marathon: Sense and Sensibility (1995)

We’ve come to the final movie of the Valentine’s Marathon. My schedule has been sporadic and I even skipped a fun post yesterday but I’m taking this as a Valentine’s weekend of sorts so I might have a morphed up mash-up post later on today.  The problem is that I have a million ideas and I can’t do it without bombarding you with posts and I don’t like to do that. Regardless, lets get this last one done!

I had to make some serious decisions about this one.  On one hand, I wanted to see a few Netflix choices but I also received my package of Amazon a few days ago.  I finished Sense and Sensibility (the book) a few days ago and I just had to get the movie and it came in a timely fashion.  I also ordered another movie recommended to me for this marathon which I promise to watch soon but I just couldn’t resist the urge to wrap up this marathon with Sense and Sensibility.

Let’s check it out! 🙂

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995)

Director: Ang Lee

Cast: Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, Alan Rickman, Imelda Staunton, Hugh Laurie

When their rich father Mr. Dashwood dies, he leaves his fortune to his son while making him promise to treat his three half-sister in his second marriage well and help in whatever way they could.  However, under his wife’s influence, he ends up leaving them with close to nothing.  The two eldest daughters, Elinor and Marianne, are at the age of marriage and its then despite the opposite personality, one emotionally reserved ruled by sense while the other full of romantic sensibility respectively, they find their love and fall into similar fates.

Sense and Sensibility is a wonderful adaptation of the novel.  If anything, because I didn’t enjoy Sense and Sensibility as much as Jane Austen’s later novels (that I’ve read), I may actually have enjoyed the movie more.  There is no shame in admitting that especially when its full of a talented cast.  Last year, on Valentine’s Day, in a mish-mash post, I confessed that I have a massive girl crush on Kate Winslet and she is extremely darling in this one.  I watch a little less of Emma Thompson normally but I love everything that she does.  She fully immerses herself in a role and just owns it every single time.  Both of them as Marianne and Elinor respectively are fantastic.  What I really do love most about these movies is the music: so elegant, beautiful, sweet.  And I don’t even think it has to do with the fact that I love piano music because thats the instrument I play 🙂

You know how sometimes adaptation have this really ridiculous casting choices and you can’t even picture that person you read on those beautiful pages as this person on the big screen? Its not the case here. I agreed with the choice of Marianne and Elinor, as I mentioned above.  The moment Greg Wise (who I know nothing about) popped on the screen as Willoughby, I was completely convinced. This guy who bashes in Marianne’s affection and attention but shows no restraint to his emotions even if he can’t really be the one.  He is charming and handsome and his character is kind of sad in the end.  Although they cut out the scene I thought was pretty important between Willoughby and Elinor, they did a fabulous job of putting to life is character.

Willoughby would not be as charming if we didn’t have the contrast of Colonel Brandon, same as Marianne to Elinor.  Alan Rickman is the perfect perfect person to play this role.  He can pull off that really unromantic person with hidden emotions but still kind of show his intentions in this quiet subtle way.  Thats the power of Alan Rickman because he is just so talented.  Honestly, Colonel Brandon is one of those characters who I love a lot in Sense and Sensibility.  He just deserves everything he desires because he’s such an honorable man, probably the most honorable in the story.

I kind of feel bad that I only took one paragraph to talk about the ladies while taking three to talk about the men.  Hugh Grant takes on Edward Ferrars, which is a role with rather little on screen time but has such an important role.  He literally has 3 actual phases in the story and its the same as the book in that sense.  Sure he’s sprinkled and we hear about whats going on.  There is no doubt that Hugh Grant was a great choice for Edward Ferrars and he really does a good job.  I mean, that ending scene with Marianne really defines his character a lot.  I read the book so I know what he does.

I love this adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.  I actually think reading Austen before I watch it, made me appreciate this more even if I believe I ended up enjoying my movie experience a little more.  Still, because it was so fresh in my mind, the dialogue is really true to the book and thats also something I appreciate.  With an incredible cast, Sense and Sensibility is a brilliant watch bringing Jane Austen’s characters to life one by one.  That is no small feat but Ang Lee does it and the cast themselves as well 🙂 I highly recommend this one!

Have you seen or read Sense and Sensibility? What are your thoughts?

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!

Remember, I have a finale post coming up later today (or tonight since I’m out of town for a day trip)!

Freedom Writers (2007)

Freedom Writers is a movie I bought a few years ago out of the blue and it is one of the best finds I’ve ever had.  It goes perfect for a day where I need extra motivation to finish up some leftover work on Sunday.

Director: Richard Lagreveneuse

Cast: Hilary Swank, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey, April Hernandez, Mario, Scott Glenn, Jaclyn Ngan, Kristin Herrera, Jason Finn

A while back, I had written a post about 5 Movies That Influenced Me The Most (you can read it HERE) and this one is one of them. Based on a true story and book, Freedom Writers’ Diaries, of the voluntary integration of the school system and how one teacher , Erin Gruwell (Hilary Swank) chose to not leave her class to chance.  She took the time to use non-traditional teaching methods and gave them a chance to learn to express themselves through their own words and in turn learn that they can defeat their destiny and escape from gang violence from race prejudices and misconceptions of protecting their own.  She taught them that they can achieve more and inspire change in their lives if they wished to.  She showed them through past Holocaust issues how Hitler was compared to the current day gang and how racial issues was more than they could see.

I love this movie.  Its not only a true story but it touches my heart every time.  I like the concept of someone being courageous enough to inspire change and overcome personal obstacles and the norms because they learn that its doing the right thing.  I always get a bit misty watching this because its full of just pure awesome moments that tugs at our heartstrings.  It works just so much better because its the reality.  I know that it can happen if one can take matters into their own hands.

They craft this movie to look at also different backgrounds and their characters and the family values that they lead.  They also use parallels between the two that Erin Gruwell eventually employs of showing how no matter Hispanic or Asian, they both listen to the same music, have had the same incidents happen to them, but they also wear similar styles and act the same way.  I think that was pretty neat.  The young actors they use were brilliant.  They really owned their roles, reflecting the conflicts they had and the lives they  lived.  The fears they had to conquer deep inside and the will to change.

Hilary Swank definitely gets a perfect on this role.  She captured the interpretation of Erin Gruwell very well.  She was convincing to the max.  In the beginning when she finally realized the intense situation that she was in for the voluntary integration was more than she had expected and her character showed doubt.  When she hit the turning point of how these kids didn’t really understand the big picture, she showed anger but determination afterwards to let them see the light at the end of the tunnel and how their actions were not as worthy as they had thought it to be.  And in the end, she gave up a lot of her own personal life and challenged authorities to stick with these kids who needed her.

 

Touching, inspiring, uplifting are the words I’d describe it.  I know its the words on the DVD cover but this movie really is amazing and awesome! I’d recommend it for sure.  I tugged on my heart strings and moved me 🙂 I really don’t know how to describe it but its really an incredible movie and an amazing story.  So amazing that I went and bought the book right after the first time I saw the movie back in 2009 or 2010. Check out the movie if you haven’t already! Thats essentially what I’m saying!

If you have already, tell me what you thought about it.

I haven’t met a lot of people who have seen this, so it would be nice to not have people giving me weird faces or replies…

The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)

I tell you I’m in an animation phase…but I’ve acknowledged it so I’ll be heading into the next real life actor movies soon.  I have been watching movies a lot so I have a few reviews lined up to be written over the next few days. I wasn’t too sure about this one though.  I’ve never been one to be in love with the whole clay animation concept (is that how you call it?).  However, this one did get an Oscars nomination for best animation of 2012 so when I could do the Bluray DVD exchange, I jumped at the chance.  I mean, Oscars are the coming Sunday night and I plan to have get to see at least part of it.  I had no idea what to expect for this one though, I’ve seen some good reviews and some bad ones.

Director: Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt

Cast: Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jeremy Piven, Salma Hayek

Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) with his odd crew has been trying to win the Pirate of the Year Award for the past years.  This award looks at the pirate that has gotten the most booty and this is usually comparable to the wanted level that the pirate in question has.  The value of his reward if he were to be caught.  When he gets made fun of by Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek), Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Peg Leg Hastings, who are his main rivals in the race for the award, he sets out to sea to find the booty.  After several failed attempts, he lands on the ship of Charles Darwin (David Tennant) who was on an expedition to bring back a discovery worthy of making a reputation for himself at the Science Convention in London and to impress Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton).  When Charles Darwin sees Pirate Captain, he notices that the parrot he owns is actually not a parrot but one that could bring them untold riches.  With that, they all set off for London despite the dangers that it holds, especially with the hatred of pirates from the Queen Victoria herself.

This animation is an adventure that is filled with smart jokes and a good dose of silliness.  The characters itself is a whole lot of fun to watch. The plot has its up and downs and climaxes.  I haven’t seen any of the other Oscar nominees for best animation, but I’d say this one is definitely creative and witty enough to be part of it.  However, if this is the surprise pick (was it for those who did see all or most of the nominations), then the rest are quite promising! I’m looking forward to picking up a whole bunch of new animations in 2013.

The Pirate Captain isn’t worth too much, eh?

Everything was really good in this one.  It had a crazy amount of funny moments and to me, those are important especially in animations.  The character designs are really cool.  Hugh Grant did a fantastic job at being Pirate Captain.  I think this is his first effort in the voice work domain and he shines.  But then, I personally love Hugh Grant’s voice so this really works for me.  Just the appearance and reactions matched with the enthusiasm in the voice just makes you love watching the Pirate Captain in action.  His crew make possibly the best animated oddball crew ever.  They are an array of different character personalities and they just complement each other so well.

One of the best parts of this is the villain.  Queen Victoria is utterly evil. She looks and sounds the part. Imelda Staunton usually does a great job at these mean people/villainous roles, like when she did Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter with her sharp and snobbish voice, but it fits so well here.

Another one was the addition of Charles Darwin, young and smitten with Queen Victoria, he becomes a man who experiments the weirdest things.  This leads us to the hilarious addition of his experiment called a “man-panzee” turn butler, Mister BoBo.  There is no voice for him as he only talks with cue cards, but his character was possibly one of the wittiest ones in the Band of Misfits.  The idea of using that was extremely creative.

Fun and entertaining, quirky and smart are all how I would describe it.  From the first moment to the last, it really takes you on an adventure.  Definitely a pleasant surprise for me.