Top 5 Thursday: Supporting Females in Drama Films

We always focus on the main man or woman in a film, but today I’m putting the supporting characters in the spotlight. Females in drama films to be exact.

5. Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”)
A very smart woman standing strong doing a man’s job. Joan Clarke believes in Alan Turing and his ideas, she holds the team together.

4. Pam (Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler”)
Pam is the highlight in Randy Robinson’s day. A mother by day, a stripper by night. But there is more to her than meets the eye.

3. Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams in “Spotlight”)
Sacha Pfeiffer was one of the people that revealed shocking news about the catholic church. She is working with men, faces people who share with her very disturbing stories. But Sacha stays strong and only wants one thing: to let people know what really happened.

2. Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o in “12 Years a Slave”)
Patsey is a brave woman. She has to go through so much and still manages to keep smiling. And she keeps doing her job as no other, better than the men doing the same job.

1. Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain in “The Help”)
Celia Foote is an outcast, but her enthusiasm, good heart, naïve look at the world and kind intentions should brighten everyone’s day. She is the only woman (besides Skeeter) that really appreciates the help she gets.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander in “The Danish Girl”), Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams in “The Fighter”), Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer in “The Help”), Iris (Jodie Foster in “Taxi Driver”), Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”), Lynn Margareth Bracken (Kim Basinger in “L.A. Confidential”)

Movie Battle: The Theory of Everything Vs. The Imitation Game

The two movies I choose this time, both depict well known British scientists. I saw both movies this year and they were nominated for Academy Awards. Let’s get them face to face: “The Theory of Everything” Vs. “The Imitation Game”.

 

 

ACTORS

The Theory of Everything: Eddie Redmayne plays Stephen Hawking and does that with great conviction. Especially the minimal facial expression are done very well. Felicity Jones, as Jane, shows us the path from optimistic girl to depressed woman. Very well acted by her.

The Imitation Game: Benedict Cumberbatch plays mathematician Alan Turing. He shows us why he is so hard to ignore these days. He is excellent as the British pioneer and almost just as brilliant in his role as the man himself. Keira Knightley, as Joan Clarke, shows us again that she can overshadow her co-stars. Not Cumberbatch, but all the other male performers don’t stand a chance.

STORY

The Theory of Everything: We follow the life of Stephen Hawking and the woman behind him, Jane Wilde. It’s more for the romance fans then for the scientists. It focusses more on Hawking’s personal life then his work.

The Imitation Game: During World War II, mathematician Alan Turing tries to crack the enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians. A story that I didn’t know about before seeing this movie, this made is interesting for me.

EFFECTS

The Theory of Everything: It feels like the movie is set in that period of time. The home video’s also make it feel like you are personally involved.

The Imitation Game: The color palet is perfect, it feels like the movie is set during World War II.

WINNER

For some reason “The Theory of Everything” didn’t give me what I hoped for and “The Imitation Game” did, so I’ll give it to Benedict Cumberbatch and company.

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 8: The Imitation Game

Director: Morten Tyldum

Genre: Drama/ Thriller

Runtime: 113 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Allen Leech, Matthew Beard, Charles Dance, Mark Strong

Description: During World War II, mathematician Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) tries to crack the enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians.

Review: During World War II, it looks like the Nazis take the upper hand, with their so called Enigma decoding machine. Mathematician Alan Turing is given the task to break that code and intercept messages. His genius is overshadowed by his social handicap. This makes it hard for his co-workers. The pressure to perform is growing and Alan’s secret is also not making it any easier.

Who has seen “A Beautiful Mind”, with Russell Crowe as John Nash, will certainly see some parallels. Both center a genius man who suffer social disabilities. In “The Imitation Game” we see three different time periods: 1927, during WO II and the fifties. This makes the buildup of the story interesting and you really get to know Alan Turing.

Benedict Cumberbatch is hard to ignore these days and in “The Imitation Game” he shows us why. He is excellent as the British pioneer and almost just as brilliant in his role as the man himself. Keira Knightley, one of my personal favorites, shows us again that she can overshadow her co-stars. Not Cumberbatch, but all the other male performers don’t stand a chance.

The décor, the great performances by Cumberbatch and Knightley and the wonderful story, make “The Imitation Game” worth your time.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (149)

Here are this weeks trailers.

The Imitation Game

Description: Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is the genius British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer scientist who led the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helped the Allies win WWII. Turing went on to assist with the development of computers at the University of Manchester after the war, but was prosecuted by the UK government in 1952 for homosexual acts which the country deemed illegal.

Director: Morten Tyldum

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Mark Strong, Rory Kinnear, Charles Dance, Allen Leech, Matthew Beard

Trailer: Trailer "The Imitation Game"

Comment: Benedict Cumberbatch can't do anything wrong.

Nightcrawler

Description: Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a driven young man desperate for work. He discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling -- where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Nina (Rene Russo), a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou thrives. In the breakneck, ceaseless search for footage, he becomes the star of his own story.

Director: Dan Gilroy

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmad

Trailer: Trailer "Nightcrawler"

Comment: Jake Gyllenhaal looks creepy.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Description: Literature student Anastasia Steele's (Dakota Johnson) life changes forever when she meets handsome, yet tormented, billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan).

Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson

Starring:Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson, Jennifer Ehle, Luke Grimes, Victor Rasuk, Eloise Mumford, Max Martini, Rita Ora, Marcia Gay Harden, Callum Keith Rennie

Trailer: Trailer "Fifty Shades of Grey"

Comment: Not a fan of the book, but I can't ignore the trailer. Jamie Dornan looks kinda sexy.

Horns

Description: Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe) is the number one suspect for the violent rape and murder of his girlfriend, Merrin (Juno Temple). Hungover from a night of hard drinking, Ig awakens one morning to find horns starting to grow from his own head and soon realizes their power drives people to confess their sins and give in to their most selfish and unspeakable impulses, an effective tool in his quest to discover the true circumstances of his late girlfriend's tragedy and for exacting revenge on her killer.

Director: Alexandre Aja

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe , Juno Temple, Joe Anderson, Kelli Garner, Max Minghella, James Remar

Trailer: Trailer "Horns"

Comment: Cool, want to see this.

Tusk

Description: Wallace (Justin Long) is a journalist on a mission. He finds the story of a lifetime in Mr. Howe (Michael Parks), a worldwide adventurer with amazing tales and a curious penchant for walruses.

Director: Kevin Smith

Starring: Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez

Trailer: Trailer "Tusk"

Comment: So if I got this right, that guy wants to turn Justin Long into a walrus. Okay, cool!