Posts Tagged Carey Mulligan
STEELE PICKS: Best Films of 2015
Posted by Amy Steele in Film on December 30, 2015
I’m not a film critic although when I worked at Harvard Business School I was the film critic for The Harbus and it was great fun going to screenings and interviewing actors such as Claire Danes, Rose Byrne, Donnie Wahlberg, Rose McGowan, Aidan Quinn, Andie MacDowell and David Cronenberg.
I’m a music critic and a book critic. That’s my focus. I can’t do everything. Yes, I cover the occasional television program.
I love film. I love indie film. I try to see a new film in the theater each week and my Netflix account [both streaming and DVD] remains quite active. I saw about 200 films this year. I don’t always pick the award winners but I pick what truly moved me. 5/20 of these films directed by women. 9/20 written or co-written by women. Many strong, intriguing female protagonists in these films.
Far from the Madding Crowd
directed by: Thomas Vinterberg
screenplay by: David Nicholls
starring: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen
Brooklyn
directed by: John Crowley
screenplay by: Nick Hornby
starring: Saorsie Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson
Carol
directed by: Todd Haynes
screenplay by: Phyllis Nagy
starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
directed by: Marielle Heller
screenplay by: Marielle Heller
starring: Bel Powley, Kristen Wiig, Alexander Skarsgaard
Spotlight
directed by: Tom McCarthy
screenplay by: Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer
starring: Mark Ruffalo, John Slattery, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton
Tangerine
directed by: Sean Baker
screenplay by: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch
starring: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian
Suffragette
directed by: Sarah Gavron
screenplay by: Abi Morgan
starring: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep
Room
directed by: Lenny Abrahamson
written by: Emma Donoghue
starring: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers
While We’re Young
directed by: Noah Baumbach
screenplay by: Noah Baumbach
starring: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Driver
Love and Mercy
directed by: Bill Pohlad
screenplay by: Oren Moverman, Michael A. Lerner
starring: Paul Dano, John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks
Grandma
directed by: Paul Weitz
screenplay by: Paul Weitz
starring: Lily Tomlin, Sam Shepard, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden
Sicario
directed by: Denis Villeneuve
screenplay by: Taylor Sheridan
starring: Emily Blunt, Benecio Del Toro, Josh Brolin
Mistress America
directed by: Noah Baumbach
screenplay by: Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
starring: Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke
Steve Jobs
directed by: Danny Boyle
screenplay by: Aaron Sorkin
starring: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen
Infinitely Polar Bear
directed by: Maya Forbes
written by: Maya Forbes
starring: Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Imogene Wolodarsky
McFarland, USA
directed by: Niki Caro
screenplay by: Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois, Grant Thompson
starring: Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratts , Johnny Ortiz
The Age of Adaline
directed by: Lee Toland Krieger
screenplay by: J. Mills Goodloe and Salvador Paskowitz
starring: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford
Advantageous
directed by: Jennifer Phang
screenplay by: Jacqueline Kim, Jennifer Phang
starring: Jacqueline Kim, James Urbaniak, Freya Adams
Digging for Fire
directed by: Joe Swanberg
written by: Jake Johnson, Joe Swanberg
starring: Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Brie Larson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Sam Rockwell, Orlando Bloom
I Smile Back
directed by: Adam Salky
written by: Paige Dylan
starring: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles
Chi-Raq
directed by: Spike Lee
written by: Spike Lee
starring: Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack
notable performances: Bryan Cranston in Trumbo; Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road; Will Smith in Concussion; Amy Schumer in Trainwreck
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The Greatest: DVD review
Posted by Amy Steele in DVD on April 16, 2011
If it’s his, I’m not going to be happy about it. I don’t want people to think we’re blessed.
The Greatest effectively and touchingly explores denial, anger and fear through the father, mother and younger brother of a deceased teenager [Aaron Johnson] when his pregnant 18-year-old paramour Rose [Carey Mulligan] shows up at their home. Rose and Bennett Brewer, seemingly opposites, admired each other from afar until the final day of school. Surprise. The Barnard-bound Rose finds herself pregnant from their one time together. She’s intelligent enough to earn entry into the Seven Sisters school but not savvy enough to avoid an unplanned pregnancy. The teens loved each other as much as teenagers can. The Brewer family must come together to understand both the loss of their son and the addition of their son’s child. At times it feels redundant and very Ordinary People decades later but with Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan it works for the most part.
purchase at Amazon: The Greatest
Written and directed by: Shana Feste
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan
Rated: R
Running time: 100 min.
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An Education: mini-review
Posted by Amy Steele in Film on October 10, 2009
I saw a screening of An Education several months ago –before THA in Boston decided I did not “deserve” the “privilege” of being on the press screening list.
That’s the point of an Oxford education isn’t it Dad? It’s the expensive equivalent to a dinner dance.
–Jenny
An Education has several things going for it:
–Nick Hornby [About a Boy, High Fidelity], proving he can write about young women as deftly as he can write about young men, penned the screenplay.
–The story is based on the memoir of well-known British journalist Lynn Barber.
–Female director Lone Scherfig.
–Relative newcomer Carey Mulligan [Pride and Prejudice, Bleak House] plays the radiant, book-smart Jenny and indie favorite Peter Sarsgaard plays the older man.
In An Education, Jenny is an extremely focused, brilliant 16-year-old girl who wants to study at Oxford University. She’s sweet and innocent but also intensely inquisitive. Jenny is mature beyond her years due to her intelligence and goals. She wants to remain a virgin until she’s 17. She’s growing up in the 60s, a volatile time throughout the world. She meets David [Sarsgaard], a charming older man [of questionable reputation] who even wins over her parents. When Jenny starts to question the point of women getting degrees [to be stuck in careers that only make them unhappy– she has a bit of a point] and makes a decision that I completely disagreed with, I lost interest in her story. An Education is an affecting film about first love and scholastic goals coming into conflict with each other and ending rather tragically for young eyes. During the entire film I wasn’t sure that I saw the appeal in David but I definitely saw the appeal in Jenny. And for that Mulligan deserves special recognition and praise. Carey Mulligan turns in a remarkable, illuminating performance.
[PS. Who decided that coming of age stories mean that one lose one’s virginity? That means I did not “come of age” or grow up until I was 23-years-old!]
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About Me
covering mostly music and books. focus on alternative/indie and women in music, literature and the arts. feminist. vegan. mostly alternative, a bit bohemian. Masters in journalism from Boston University. BA from Simmons College.
Entertainment Realm by Amy Steele is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at entertainmentrealm.comCopyright © 2009. All writing, unless otherwise noted, by Amy Steele.
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