Monday, Jan 19, 2009

Monday’s Movie: The Reader

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I invite everybody to participate in the weekly MEME and write about any movies, television or big screen, that you’ve seen over the past week and write about it. Please feel free to use the above logo photo in your post and/or link back to the site. I’m hoping that there are other movie buffs out there who will enjoy the MEME as much as I’m hoping to! The only small request that I have is that you rate the movie out of 5 bags of popcorn (so, 1 bag out of 5, 2 bags out of 5, and so on).

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Movie: The Reader

Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross

Genre: Drama, Romance & Adaptation

Runtime: 2 Hours 2 Minutes

MPAA Rating: R

Directed By: Stephen Daldry

My Book Review Post: CLICK HERE

Here I go again with LOVING something. I’m wondering if I’m an extremist… loving books and movies or really not liking them at all. Nah! I just have been picking well lately. Yes, that’s it. Well, the Critic’s Choice and Golden Globes folks, it appears, agree with me. This movie has been nominated for Best Film of the Year. There are a myriad of other nominations including directing, cinematography, actress, etc. And, yes…. KATE deserved her win. I wonder, however, why it was in the category of Supporting Actress. It seems to me that she was a Best Actress in this film. Maybe somebody can leave me a comment and explain that one to me.

So, I’m a stickler for facts that don’t tie with the movie. There were some pretty big differences in between the movie and the book. Mainly, the Easter vacation trip and the end of the court hearings. I also thought that he had TB or hepatitis, not scarlet fever….. I’ll have to go back and look. In any event, even though I could spot all of the differences between the two, it DID NOT hinder my love for the picture. In fact, the movie brought me to tears in a way that the book did not. However, reading the book gave me tremendous insight into what Michael was feeling and why his marriage didn’t work out and how he felt during the trial.

The scenes at Auchwitz were an unbelievable site for me. I’m, regretfully, not much of a history lover and the Holocaust is one topic that has always been a hard one for me to tackle. My sensitivity just really prevents me from watching too much about it. I break down every time. I told my twins about it tonight in the car on the way home from the movie. Both of my children cried. It’s a horrible, horrific part of human history and it’s so very difficult to imagine yourself being in the place of the Jewish people who were slaughtered. It’s just an unbearable thought for me.

What also brought me to tears in the movie was the handwritten notes that Hanna sent to Michael. There was something about it on screen that just blew me away. And, seeing her long for Michael when he visits her in jail is painful to watch. Whereas, in the book, I felt more separated from the scene. The sex and nudity scenes were tastefully done. Again, it was good that I read the book first because I understood what was going on in Michael’s mind as their relationship grew. And, Winslet was just so brave in showing herself exactly as she is… stretch marks and all. The cast of supporting characters did a fantastic job, as well. For the theatrical preview, click here.

Was the book better than the movie? Perhaps. But, the movie was excellent. I’m just hoping that the book Atonement will be as good as the movie! I highly recommend this movie. Out of 5 bags of popcorn, genre drama… I give this:

The movie website has some amazing trailers, information, and fantastic casting goodies.

 Other movie reviews from the week for review… please add the name of the movie and then your name and blogsite name  in the “name” section of Mr. Linky below. For the URL, input the actual URL of the post with the movie review. If you get stuck, email me the information and I’ll link it up for you. I know that I am missing a couple of links… I can’t remember who had the other couple of movie reviews… PLEASE enter in your information for me and sorry…  If Mr. Linky is down, please send me the goodies and I’ll ensure you get loaded up! Thanks for participating in Monday’s Movie.

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