Anonymous, Bridesmaids, Contagion & Conviction

i LOVE the movies!

and in alphabetical order, i watched the period movie ‘anonymous’, the loud-out-loud comedy ‘bridesmaids’, the inspirational movie ‘conviction’, and a movie about a virus outbreak in ‘contagion’.

 

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william shakespeare is known to be the greatest writer in the history of english language and classical literature. the writer of many great plays like ‘romeo and juliet’, ‘julius caeser’ and ‘merchant of venice’. a poet of many wondrous sonnets and poems. history, romance, or comedy – he can pen them all in his masterpieces.

however :

• shakespeare wrote 37 plays and hundreds of sonnets and created thousands of new words in the english language BUT his parents cannot read nor write, and shakespeare’s daughters were illiterate too!
• for someone who is a great writer, in his will, shakespeare never left any books, or written manuscript
• NONE of the original manuscript written in shakespeare’s handwriting was EVER found. strange?
• his works were published SEVEN years after his death – why weren’t they published in his lifetime?
• half of his plays were set in italy, a place shakespeare never even visited!
• shakespeare was not a member of high society, yet he was able to write in great detail about life in court, nobility, of kings and queens

this is the conspiracy told through the movie ‘anonymous’. it claims that william shakespeare DID NOT WRITE any of his plays. instead, it was the secret work of a nobleman – the earl of oxford, who cannot put his own names on the written works because it’s inappropriate for aristocrats to write poems!

a highly controversial accusation, and was convincingly showcased in this beautiful movie. it dramatized the birth of great works like ‘romeo and juliet’ and ‘hamlet’ amidst fight for the throne of england in the 15th century. to make it worse, william shakespeare is potrayed in this movie as an obnoxious nobody who blackmails and a fraud. a downright jerk too.

as much as i was insulted in the shameful potrayal of the playwright master, i find this movie very entertaining. TOTALLY fictional, of course. but very dramatically entertaining. powerful performance by the actors (mostly unknown to me especially the guys), beautiful costumes, interesting references to shakespeare and his period. yes, i love period movie set during that era. a must-see for all english-language students especially.

william shakespeare remains to me, a creative genius!

 

  

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i haven’t laughed this hard watching a comedy for so long.

lillian is engaged and her bestfriend annie is appointed maid of honor thus responsible to plan the bachelorette party, accompany the bride to try out the wedding dress and everything else that comes before the wedding. too bad one of the bridesmaids decided to make it her mission to do everything better than annie – she’s richer, she’s gorgeous, she’s classy – leaving annie feeling left out, and total failure. trying harder only made it worse, with disastrous but ridiculously funny outcome!

the movie was nominated for two oscars – best screenplay and best supporting actress for melissa mccarthy who played the super funny loud-mouthed big-sized bridesmaid.

this is one of the best all-girl comedy ever. it will remind you of friendship, of best friends, of all the stupid fun girly stuff you did together, of being there for each other, and letting nothing come between.

 

 

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this movie reminds us to wash our hands as often as possible, because we never know.

yes, this movie is about a virus outbreak, people dying, people losing loved ones, people panicking, people wanting answers. the title of the movie says it all. the last great movie about this topic is of course ‘outbreak’ starring dustin hoffman. but i’m not much of a fan of virus outbreak. even in this movie, words like ‘pathogen’, ‘detox’ and ‘antidote’ got me lost. i just wasn’t into it. heck i don’t even like ER, chicago hope or even grey’s anatomy. *yawn*

but you guys might enjoy it. what more with a list of big names like award winners matt damon, gwyneth paltrow, kate winslet and marion cotillard (all three have won oscar for best actress) – in fact they are the only reason i’m even remotely interested to watch ‘contagion’.

also interesting there’s a character in this movie who is a blogger. correct me if i’m wrong, but this is the first movie that acknowledges a blogger’s influential role in today’s society. jude law plays a blogger who writes about current issues, and it puts the role of a blogger as important to tell a story, to uncover truths or to spin a story. bloggers’ words can be a powerful tool!

so, go watch the movie if you’re interested, and don’t forget to wash your hands as often as possible. coz you never know.

 

 

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how far would you sacrifice for your brothers or sisters? lend them your pocket money? cover for them when they wanna drive the car at night without mom’s knowledge? drive them all the way from johor to perlis? lose sleep babysitting their kids?

well, betty anne waters went to law school and became a lawyer just so that she could be the lawyer to try and set her brother free from a murder charge. yes, she enrols in law school when her brother was convicted of murder, and continues to pursue her law degree while he’s in prison, just so she could be the lawyer who help him be acquitted, and proved innocent.

this is the amazing true story of a sister’s love for her brother.

hillary swank is just one of those actors who can stir up your emotions in any character she plays. powerful acting by her and sam rockwell who played her brother. he should get an award already for his acting talent. i consider this a well-made movie with lots of emotions and the power of love and will.

 

 

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next!