Matthew Macfadyen

Operation Mincemeat

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Operation Mincemeat
  • IMDb: link

The more outrageous the lie, the more likely it is to be believed. Operation Mincemeat offers us a look at the 1943 deception operation instrumental to getting the Allies back in the fight. The group led by Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen) was tasked with convincing Germany the Allies would invade Greece instead of the more logical location of Sicily. Their lie involved the creation of a solider who didn’t exist, a dead body, fake papers, and a lot of luck.

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The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
  • IMDb: link

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms movie reviewAdapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann‘s short story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” The Nutcracker and the Four Realms offers big budget Disney family entertainment filled to the brim with special effects and lessons about believing in yourself and sticking by family in tough times. While it incorporates much of the ballet’s music into its score (and adds a couple of notable ballet sequence as well), The Nutcracker and the Four Realms goes for a more straightforward Wizard of Oz-style tale with a young female protagonist lost in a magical world.

Mackenzie Foy stars as Clara Stahlbaum. Still grieving over her mother’s (Anna Madeley) recent death, and struggling to get along with her father (Matthew Macfadyen) and siblings (Tom Sweet and Ellie Bamber), Clara discovers a magical world her mother created which is divided into Four Realms (Flower, Snowflake, Sweet, and a rebelling realm which is no longer mentioned). Traveling to the new world by way of her godfather (Morgan Freeman), Clara goes in search of a key which has the power to change the world and literally open the last secret left to Clara by her mother.

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From A to Z – The Top Ten Movies of 2012

/ / Top Tens & Lists

2012 turned out to be a pretty darn good year at the movies. There were two films which I gave perfect scores to this year, one of which the majority of the country won’t be seeing until early next year. I’m breaking my own rule of including it on the list, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Between these two films, which naturally open and close the list (as it’s presented alphabetically), are eight other films rounding out the class of 2012.

Cutting down my list to ten means I need to speak for a moment on films that barely missed the cut. John Carter was the year’s most under-appreciated film, The Cabin in the Woods turned the horror genre on its ear, Ang Lee delivered an amazing journey with Life of Pi, Wreck-It Ralph was this year’s best animated feature, Safety Not Guaranteed was a terrific little sci-fi flick almost no one saw, and Moonrise Kingdom was director Wes Anderson‘s best film since The Royal Tenenbaums.

Enough with what didn’t make the list, let’s get down to discussing what did:

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Anna Karenina

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Anna Karenina
  • IMDB: link

“Sin has a price, you can be sure of that.”

anna-karenina-posterAttempting another historical adaptation of classic literature, while re-teaming with leading lady Keira Knightley (with whom he collaborated on both Pride & Prejudice and Atonement), director Joe Wright delivers the unexpected with an evocative and dazzling adaptation of Leo Tolstoy‘s legendary novel Anna Karenina.

Limited by budgetary considerations and an unwillingness to repurpose locations other adaptations of Tolstoy’s work, or those used by various recent historical dramas, Wright hit upon an extraordinary idea to breathe new life in the staid genre by staging a setting that transforms around its characters. The result is a game changer in how movies like Anna Karenina are told and a serious contender for the best film of 2012.

Set in Russia during the late 19th Century our story concerns rich socialite Anna Karenina (Knightley), her marriage to an honorable but bland government official (Jude Law), and her temptation and eventual affair with the far more dashing Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

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Anna Karenina unveils poster and trailer

/ / Film News & Trailers
  • Title: Anna Karenina
  • IMDB: link

anna-karenina-poster

Anna Karena, the latest adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel which reunites Keira Knightley and director Joe Wright has released a new poster for the film as well as its first trailer. In the movie Knightley stars as a Russian aristocrat who has an affair with the affluent Count Vronsky (Aaron Johnson). Jude Law, Kelly Macdonald, Matthew Macfadyen, Emily Watson, Michelle Dockery, and Olivia Williams also star. The film opens in limited release in select cities on November 9th.

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