The Iron Lady
Year: 2011
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Stars: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment / The Weinstein Company
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 106 Mins.

After reviewing “My Week With Marlyn”, I thought Michelle Williams performance should have gotten her the Best Actress Oscar. That honor went to Meryl Streep for her performance in“The Iron Lady“, which I‘m going to talk about in a minute. I was still interested in checking out “The Iron Lady” and was wondering if Meryl Streep truly deserve that Oscar or was I right in saying that Michelle Williams should have one?

The film follows Margret Thatcher, who was one of the most controversial figures in British politics and became the first and only Prime Minister of Britain. An older Thatcher has trouble struggling with the death of her husband. As she is cleaning out his husbands old clothes, she begins to remembers the things that happened during her life. From her childhood to her rise to prime minister, she begins to recall some of those moments that‘s made her the person that she is.

“The Iron Lady” was one of those films, where it could have used a good screenplay. The direction was good. Director Phyllida Lloyd does a very good job capturing Margret Thatcher. She’s able to handle the production aspects very well. From the costume designs to the scenery, those things did a very good job capturing that time period. I also liked, how Lloyd handled the acting. The acting in this film was very good, considering that the screenplay felt flawed. She does a very good job in getting some good performances out of her cast. I thought, Streep and Jim Broadbent played there characters very well. They both tried to make the film’s story work, by making their characters interesting. That’s what made this film not become a complete failure.

Was Meryl Streep’s performance worthy of the Best Actress Oscar for this role. The answer would be a slightly no. Don’t get me wrong. Her performance in this film was good, but it isn’t as captivating enough that it would make an average film better. I like, how she gets the aspects of the Margret Thatcher down pat. Streep does her best to bring the historical figure to life. It’s the fact that she had a bad screenplay to deal with and it hurts the character a little bit.

What makes this film disappointing, the film’s screenplay. I didn’t like the approach that screenwriter Ari Morgan went with the film. The story felt more about Thatcher’s state of mind, then about herself. One of the reasons that I felt that way, it spend too much time in the present with her talking to her dead husband. It felt like the story was about Thatcher and the way she is coping with the death of her husband than a historical film on the person. It spends way too much time on that, which hurts the film and you don’t get a full historical presence on the person. The other problem that I had, the story jumped constantly from the present to the past. It made the story fall out of rhythm and made it look more like a character study than a historical film. The story jumps back and forth too much that it becomes distracting. I kept wanting to know more about her and the people around her. But sadly, that wasn’t the case. It would have made the film more interesting than leaving questions about the characters.

“The Iron Lady has a very good performance from Meryl Streep, but it’s the screenplay that ruins this film completely for me.

Review Rating: Two and a Half Stars

The 84th Oscars happened last night, with "The Artist" winning 5 Awards including Best Picture. Here's a complelete list of winners from last night's ceremonies.

Best Picture: "The Artist."
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, "The Artist."
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady."
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners."
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, "The Help."
Best Directing: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist."
Best Foreign Language Film: "A Separation," Iran.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, "The Descendants."
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris."
Best Animated Feature Film: "Rango."
Best Art Direction: "Hugo."
Best Cinematography: "Hugo."
Best Sound Mixing: "Hugo."
Best Sound Editing: "Hugo."
Best Original Score: "The Artist."
Best Original Song: "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets."
Best Costume Design: "The Artist."
Best Documentary Feature: "Undefeated."
Best Documentary Short: "Saving Face."
Best Film Editing: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."
Best Makeup: "The Iron Lady."
Best Animated Short Film: "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore."
Best Live Action Short Film: "The Shore."
Best Visual Effects: "Hugo."

{Source: Associated Press}

Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Company have also announced recently that the will be release "The Iron Lady", which will be hitting DVD and Blu-Ray combo pack on April 10th. The film starring two-time Academy Award® winner Meryl Streep, which she's also nominated for Best Actress at the upcoming Academy Awards.

DVD and Blu-Ray Features include a “The Making of The Iron Lady” featurette and four mini-featurettes, including “Recreating the Young Margaret Thatcher,” “Battle in the House of Commons,” “Costume Design: Pearls and Power Suits,” and “Denis: The Man Behind the Woman.

Press Release:

Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Company announced today the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD release of THE IRON LADY, starring two-time Academy Award® winner Meryl Streep (SOPHIE’S CHOICE, KRAMER VS. KRAMER) as former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher. Considered by many to be the greatest living film actress, Streep has received an astonishing 17 Oscar® nominations over the course of her career, including a 2012 Oscar® nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Thatcher in THE IRON LADY. Streep won a 2012 Golden Globe® award for this role, and received a 2012 Screen Actors Guild Award® nomination as well. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (MAMMA MIA!) from a screenplay by Abi Morgan (SHAME), THE IRON LADY heads to retail on April 10, 2012 for an SRP of $39.99 for the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and $29.98 for the DVD.

In his review for the New York Post, film critic Kyle Smith wrote, THE IRON LADY is “Superb! One of the best movies of the year!” Added New York Magazine’s David Edelstein, “Meryl Streep is too marvelous to resist!” Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers also praised Streep, calling her “Incontestably great!,” while TIME Magazine’s Richard Corliss hailed Streep “The best actress of the year!” Added The New York Times’ Charles McGrath, “Meryl Streep does that miraculous thing she does.”

THE IRON LADY also stars Academy Award® winner Jim Broadbent (IRIS), Olivia Colman (TYRANNOSAUR), Alexandra Roach, Harry Lloyd (“GAME OF THRONES”), and Richard E. Grant (DRACULA). In addition to Streep’s 2012 Academy Award® nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the film also received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Makeup (Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland).

The most celebrated actress of our time stars as the most powerful woman of her time. Oscar® winning Meryl Streep, the most nominated performer in Academy Award® history, delivers the definitive portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, the enigmatic, highly controversial figure who became the first and only female Prime Minister of England. Much more than a biographical epic, THE IRON LADY is also the surprisingly intimate journey of a “common” grocer’s daughter whose social ambition and steel will —along with the love of her husband and confidant, Denis (Academy Award® winner Jim Broadbent) — propelled her to unprecedented power in a world dominated by men.

Combining fact, fiction and poetic flight of imagination into a new breed of biopic, director Phyllida Lloyd (MAMMA MIA) creates a piercing portrait which reveals the many faces of Margaret Thatcher: the hard-nosed conservative; the woman who demolished the barriers of gender and class in a male-dominated world; the spirited wife and mother who longed to change her country for the better. Exposing the private life behind the headlines, THE IRON LADY is a moving journey into the heart of an extraordinary, complex woman.

The THE IRON LADY Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD special features include a “The Making of The Iron Lady” featurette and four mini-featurettes, including “Recreating the Young Margaret Thatcher,” “Battle in the House of Commons,” “Costume Design: Pearls and Power Suits,” and “Denis: The Man Behind the Woman.” Note: Special features are subject to change.

Learn more about THE IRON LADY at: http://weinsteinco.com/sites/iron-lady/

After watching “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” I am convinced that Wes Anderson should make as many stop motion animated movies as he possibly can. Nothing against his live action movies, but this form of animation seems really suited to Anderson’s rather unique blend of comedy and dysfunction. While his last film “The Darjeeling Limited” was very good, it started to seem like Wes had been dealing with the same themes once too often. But with the brilliantly made “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” it gives his material a freshness that for a moment seemed to be ready to leave him. I wasn’t sure what to expect when going into the theater, but this turned out to be one of the most enjoyable movies that I saw in 2009. Any frustration I had over not being able to see “Avatar” (it was a family outing, and it didn’t seem right for my 5 year old niece) was completely forgotten.

The movie is based on a children’s novel written by Roald Dahl whom Wes Anderson considers one of his personal heroes. Dahl is the same man who wrote “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “James and the Giant Peach” among other stories, and his work is characterized by a lack of sentimentality and dark humor. Judging from “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums” with their strong black humor, it’s no wonder Wes digs this guy!

The Mr. Fox of the story is a cool and exceedingly clever animal, and we first see him with his wife sneaking into a farm to steal food. However, they are caught in a trap which has his wife saying that they should choose a safer form of work. Oh yeah, she also tells him that she’s pregnant, and that changes the dynamics of any relationship in a heartbeat. We catch up with these two a couple of years later as they have found a home within a hole in the ground. Mr. Fox is now a newspaper columnist, and he and his wife are parents to a son, the sullen Ash who constantly feels unappreciated in all he does. Mr. Fox however does not like where the family lives and promises to do better by them. Despite the warnings of his lawyer Badger, he ends up buying a new home in the base of a tree. Their new lodgings are also coincidently right near the gigantic farms owned by three ugly looking farmers, Walter Boggis, Nathan Bunce, and Franklin Bean. So of course, this gets Mr. Fox all excited and back to his usual tricks of stealing food and drink while the rest of the family remains unaware. To quote another fox from a vastly different 2009 movie, “chaos reigns!”

The first thing that people will notice about this movie is its “star studded” (what does that mean anyway?) cast of actors. Voicing the main character of Mr. Fox is the most debonair of movie stars right now, George Clooney. With this, “The Men Who Stare At Goats” and “Up In The Air,” I can’t help but wonder where Clooney gets the time to sleep. At this moment, he’s everywhere it seems, and his constant presence would be ever so annoying if he weren’t as good an actor as he is. George perfectly captures Fox’s confidence without iever becoming overly smug, and he exudes the cleverness Mr. Fox has in getting back at the three farmers.

Meryl Streep who also has had a busy year with this, “Julie & Julia” and “It’s Complicated,” voices Mrs. Fox. I actually wonder how she gets sleep as well doing all this great work and different accents. Meryl is the perfect contrast to Clooney’s charmingly reckless nature, and she serves as the conscience that Mr. Fox needs to hear out more often. Meryl doesn’t do anything incredibly different with her voice like she did for Julia Childs, but the warmth of it is quite seductive at times.

Wes Anderson has also employed many of his regulars for “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” as well. Jason Schwartzman who was featured quite prominently in “Rushmore” and “The Darjeeling Limited” voices Mr. Fox’s son, Ash. Jason perfectly captures the angst Ash feels at never fully winning his dad’s approval and you feel his desperation as he goes to dangerous lengths to get it. Owen Wilson, who co-wrote “The Royal Tenenbaums” with Anderson, has a cameo voicing Ash’s athletic coach Skip. You can tell its Owen right away, and he gives Skip a wonderfully dry voice that gets a good amount of laughs whenever he appears on script. Even Bill Murray, who has had a part in just about all of Wes’ movies, voices Mr. Fox’s lawyer Clive Badger, and he always seems to fit in perfectly in this writer/director’s cinematic universe. Wallace Wolodarsky voices the confidence challenged Kylie Sven Opossum who somehow gets sucked into Mr. Fox’s schemes against his better judgment.

Other voices to be found are Michael Gambon (the current Dumbledore of the “Harry Potter” movies) who voices one of the farmers hell bent on eliminating the thieving Mr. Fox, Franklin Bean. Eric Chase Anderson, who is responsible for doing those illustrations of Wes’ movies when they are released in the Criterion Collection editions, voices Mrs. Fox’s nephew Kristofferson who is perfect in every way Ash is not. But the most surprising voice in the film is from the actor who voices Rat, Bean's security guard. Rat was a French character, so I assumed that the actor voicing him was French. Turns out that it was actually Willem Dafoe! That’s right, the same guy who was in that other delightful movie with a fox in 2009, “Antichrist.”

With just about all of animated movies being released today done with computers and digital effects, it’s refreshing to see other filmmakers go a little retro with the stop motion animation. The work here is brilliantly done, and I was surprised at how lifelike everything looked. Movies like this must require an exceeding amount of patience to make because they must take years to produce. It also fits right in with Anderson’s quirky sense of humor which remains intact a good ten years or so after “Rushmore.”

And of course, the story fits in with Anderson’s common cinematic themes of dysfunctional families (anyone have a non-dysfunctional family?) and unique individuals who don’t always get the attention they think they deserve. Mr. Fox’s son Ash seems the biggest victim of all that goes on as he constantly struggles to win the attention of his father who holds his nephew Kristofferson in higher regard. Then again, how many foxes do you know of that practice meditation on a regular basis? Give Kristofferson some credit; he doesn’t waste time disemboweling himself like that wolf in “Antichrist” (sorry, I can’t stop mentioning that movie).

I also really dug the soundtrack that Wes chose for this movie. Each of his movies has had a great selection of music that veers from classic British rock songs to American rock among other genres. With “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Wes includes some songs from the Beach Boys and Burt Ives which fuel the movie with an undeniable sense of innocence and adventure. It has also made me an instant fan of The Bobby Fuller Four whose “Let Her Dance” plays during one of the most joyful moments of the film. Composing the score for “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” is Alexandre Desplat who has composed music for movies like “Firewall” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” I love how Alexandre captures the infectious spirit of the proceedings that take place here. Even as things get increasingly bleak for Mr. Fox and company, he helps to keep things constantly upbeat.

Is this a kid appropriate movie? I think so. It did get a PG rating which seems appropriate to me. There are many bottles of alcoholic apple cider and some smoked chickens that may give you the wrong impression of the goings on being displayed, but I really think that the movie is harmless. Compare this to the recently released sequel to “Alvin and the Chipmunks” which has not so subtle references to classics like “Taxi Driver” and “Silence of the Lambs” among others. This is a film aimed at kids, and they are going in droves to see it when they could be seeing something far more invigoratingly creative like this.

While you might be more likely to see this movie on DVD or Blu-Ray (or VHS if it’s still available), “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” really is a fantastic movie that deserves a big audience. Wes Anderson, along with co-writer Noah Baumbach (“The Squid & The Whale” and “Margot at the Wedding”) have managed to take their fascination with families that are less than perfect and put it in a context that will not scar your kids for life. It was also cool to see George Clooney play a character that (unlike in “The Men Who Stare At Goats”) was not afraid to dance.

Was it worth not going to see “Avatar” that day and waiting longer to see it? I hate to say it but yeah.

**** out of ****

“Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty. When you are lost, you are not alone.”
-Opening dialogue from “Doubt”

“They say in this town, you’re innocent until you’re investigated.”
-Christopher Plummer in “Syriana”

“Doubt,” based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play written by John Patrick Shanley, is a story where the answers to a tense situation are nowhere as important as the questions it brings up. Like all great plays, it is a thought provoking exercise in what we believe versus what actually happens. Many may come out of it frustrated because it is not your typical Hollywood movie where everything is tidy and neat at its conclusion, but hopefully more will be enthralled by what they make of all that has gone on before them. It’s a story which forces you to consider how you would have acted under similar circumstances in this situation. I can see why the play won the Pulitzer Prize back in 2005, and now it has been made into a superb movie by the playwright himself.

“Doubt” follows the goings on at the St. Nicholas Catholic school in the Bronx back in 1964. Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) becomes concerned that Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) may have developed an unhealthy relationship with the school’s sole black student, Donald Muller (Joseph Foster). This is brought to her attention when Sister James (Amy Adams) notices Donald acting strangely after he has been in the private company of Father Flynn, and she also mentions that she smelled alcohol on Donald’s breath. Sister Aloysius is convinced of Father Flynn’s guilt even though she has no real proof, but he denies any wrongdoing on his part. From thereon out, it becomes a battle between Aloysius and Flynn, and the battle involves not just the accusations, but the state of the school and its students as well.

The fascinating thing about “Doubt” is that the story itself is simple, but the characters and the situations they get caught up in are very complex. As the fight goes on between the characters played by Streep and Hoffman, you start to wonder if the conflict doesn’t involve any specific student as it does the direction things are going in, and the threat of change that frightens people into defending what they believe to be their domain. Sister Aloysius represents the old guard and of the way things have always been. Father Flynn, on the other hand, represents the big shakeup of change that many resist. When he suggests to Sister Aloysius that they need to be nicer to the students, she takes it as some kind of insult. You can’t help but wonder if the fight between these two is motivated more by a power struggle then by what actually happened between the priest and the altar boy.

To watch Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman face off with each other is to watch a master class in acting, let alone film acting. God only knows how hard these parts were to play for the both of them, but being that these are some of the very best actors working today; you come into this movie knowing that they are more than up to the challenge. It’s not just the delivery of Shanley’s dialogue that they have to work at; it’s also what they show in their eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul, but we are never quite sure what to make of the state of these two people and their souls. I’m sure that these two actors have thought their roles out in this production through and through, and they do seem to have history for their characters that they do not fully reveal to the audience. This is not to say that they should, but it makes their journey all the more enthralling as we are not sure to make of who they really are.

Meryl Streep has given us an immense volume of great performances in which she has created characters so memorable that they forever themselves into your consciousness. Sister Aloysius Beauvier is another character she can rack up with the rest of her brilliant performances. Her character’s introduction in the movie is brilliant as we see her from the back of her head as she gets the young children to pay full attention to Father Flynn’s sermon. Without even seeing her face right away, she quickly makes an impact as a strong and frightening authority figure to both the students and the nuns who are under her tutelage. Meryl’s performance will quickly bring back memories of all those awful teachers you had and which you hate to this very day. She’s the kind of teacher where everything she says is right, and everything the students say is wrong. I hated teachers like that! Hated them!

Most people would never want to come across as serious or as cold as Sister Aloysius, but some do find a power in it. Sister Aloysius knows that she is feared more than she is loved, and she revels in that fact because it makes everyone heed to her when needs be. There are instances where she does not need to say a word in order to be heard or obeyed to. Just watch the scene where Sister James takes a piece of meat out of her that she can’t quite chew. Streep’s stern glare makes her rethink what she just did. As the movie goes on, it’s almost like she is furiously trying to maintain the fear mongering power she has more than anything else.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, as always, is brilliant here and every bit the match of Ms. Streep. We keep waiting to see if there will be a slip where all will be revealed, but Hoffman keeps his cards very close to his chest. His explanations for the private meeting between him and Donald are not implausible, but Sister Aloysius remains unconvinced. Hoffman is great at how just the simple feeling of doubt can easily destroy a person to where it doesn’t matter if he is innocent or guilty. His fight to prove his innocence threatens to bring the worst out of him, and it’s like he continues to sink deeper into a hole that he is desperately trying to climb out of. His character also represents a wave of change in that he feels that the priests and nuns need to be nicer to the children they teach, and to make their parents see them as part of their family.

Along for the morally complex ride is “Enchanted’s” Amy Adams who plays Sister James, and her character is essentially stuck in the middle between these two warring factions. I wonder if there is another actress today who can exude the amount of genuine kindness and sincerity than Amy Adams right now. She shows the love her character has for her job as a history teacher at the school ever so perfectly, and Adams also shows the desperation her character exudes in search of absolutely certainty. Her character is the first to suspect that Father Flynn is up to no good when she sees him put an undershirt worn by Donald in his locker, but she knows that it does not prove anything. At times, Sister James seems rather naïve when it comes to how people act around each other, but in many ways she is the most morally grounded of the three main characters. She never loses her sense of right and wrong, while Streep and Hoffman’s characters threaten to in pursuit of wrongdoing.

There is also a fantastic supporting performance from Viola Davis who plays Donald’s mother. She shares a tense scene with Meryl Streep as she walks Viola to her job and talks with her about her suspicions. Mrs. Miller likes the fact that Father Flynn has been so nice to her son because she reveals that his father beats him severely when he misbehaves. When Sister Aloysius confides her suspicions to Mrs. Miller, it doesn’t change the level of worry for her son’s welfare as it is already extremely high. She fears more about what Donald’s father will do to him if this proves to be true than she does of what Father Flynn might be doing if the allegations prove to be true. With only ten to twenty minutes of screen time, Viola does a brilliant job of making you feel her character’s heartbreaking dilemma, and of how she has been with left little choice over how to resolve this potentially unhealthy situation that she has just been made aware of even though no real proof is presented. It’s one thing for an actor to show what their character is going through, but it is quite another for them to make you feel what their character is going through.

It’s a surprise to see that this is the first movie John Patrick Shanley has directed since “Joe Versus The Volcano,” and that was made back in 1990. His direction is simplistic in that he does not get overly technical with the camera. He does throw in a few Dutch angles to show the imbalance of the situation and of where the power between the characters is shifting. Other than that, his direction is pretty basic, and that’s fine because this is a piece that needs someone who understands acting. This is a film where acting really needs to win out over everything else because with a great script like this, it won’t succeed if not given the attention it needs. Shanley, along with cinematographer Roger Deakins, does a great job of capturing the beauty of the Bronx as it approaches wintertime, and he expertly captures the time period in which the movie takes place.

I have not seen the play version of “Doubt,” but I feel pretty certain that is a very faithful adaptation of the play to the big screen. My parents have had the opportunity to see this on stage in New York, and they cannot stop raving about Cherry Jones who had Streep’s part in its Broadway run. Suffice to say, it is a compelling story in either format. Like David Mamet’s “Oleanna,” it provokes a lot of discussion and has thinking about it endlessly (granted, the discussions over “Oleanna” were a hell of a lot more heated). I like movies like this that really make you think and the fact that it makes a large portion of its audience uncomfortable. Many movies released today are like your typical fast food meal that goes in and out with little residue. They don’t stay in the mind for very long after you have watched them. How nice it is to see that “Doubt” is not one of those movies.

What makes the story of “Doubt” so compelling is the nature of doubt itself. The law that a man is innocent until proven guilty gets more and more meaningless with the passage of time. We make sport of presuming a person’s guilt or innocent as soon as we get word of what has transpired, and escaping that doubt seems to be all the more impossible. An accusation can be everlasting long after the case has long been closed, and the accused may end up living with that cloud of doubt over the heads for the rest of their existence. It can be a stigma that can change your life for the worst in an instant. But at the same time, what this all say about those who are doing the accusing? Surely they are not free of sin like anybody else.

With “Doubt,” Shanley brilliantly shows how the state of doubt affects everyone equally. No one comes out of this the same whether they stay or leave the church. There are no clear answers here, and what we are left with is an unsettling feeling of how unsure we are. Everyone is harmed deeply by doubt here, and it binds the main characters here as strongly as it tears them apart. You have to feel for those caught in its ugly wake because they end up having to live with something that they did not necessarily bring on themselves. It’s a brilliant play that has been made into a great movie filled with outstanding performances. There will be nominations for some of the performances here, and of that I have no doubt.

**** out of ****