28 Oct

The Brothers Bloom Got Lost

Posted By: JMom  //  Category: Movies

On the way back to Netflix, the Brothers Bloom got lost…

Brothers BloomThe Brothers Bloom
(2008)

The Brothers Bloom made a name for themselves as the world’s best con men. Now, the younger (Adrien Brody) is ready to retire on the millions the pair has swindled. But when his brother (Mark Ruffalo) lures him into one last job, he reluctantly agrees. What he hasn’t counted on, though, is falling for their mark, an adventure-seeking heiress (Rachel Weisz). Robbie Coltrane and Babel’s Rinko Kikuchi co-star.
Starring: Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo
Director: Rian Johnson
Genre: Comedy
Format: DVD and Blu-ray
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH …

We watched this movie over the weekend and I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t heard of this movie before, my daughter was the one who put it on the Netflix queue.

Speaking of which, I totally love Netflix! For $10 a month, we can choose one movie at a time and we can keep it for as long as we want without any late fees. You exchange videos over the mail, but they make it a point to have a center near you so you can get your next movie the following day after they receive your previous DVD. Isn’t that cool? If you work it right, you can end up getting a movie every three days or so!

We’ve had the service a couple of months now and everything has been seamless up until now. I just received notice that Netflix received an empty envelope from me. This DVD has magically disappeared between my mailbox and theirs. It’s always a good thing when companies have excellent POS systems. Because after I told Netflix that I did return the DVD in the envelope, they simply said, “OK, it happens!”

I like their kind of thinking! I was expecting them to charge me for the movie and I was ready for an argument!

So wherever The Brothers Bloom have gotten to, I hope the thief gets what he deserves.

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06 Jan

Mansfield Park on DVD

Posted By: JMom  //  Category: Jane Austen, Movies

We rented a bunch of movies to watch over the holidays and one of them is the movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. I’m trying to see all the movie versions of all the Jane Austen novels I’ve been reading lately.

Jade and I enjoyed watching this movie as we have with the other Jane Austen movies. She hadn’t read the book yet so she couldn’t really compare. I, on the other hand, almost preferred this movie version to the book. I liked the book because of the details and insights added by the narrative and we all know of Ms. Austen’s tendency for verbosity.

I think the movie did a great job choosing the settings just as Ms. Austen describes them in the book. Mansfield Park is definitely grandiose and Portsmouth is downright depressing after the expanse of the park. The movie version exercised its artistic license and played up the abolitionist tone more so than the book. I think Ms. Austen was a bit cautious in advocating abolitionism in the book whereas the movie highlights it.

The fact that Fanny and Edward being first cousins is still disturbing in my mind, but I think the chemistry between them is easier to see in the movie than in the movie than in the book. Henry Crawford, you almost fall for just like Fanny came close to, but you just knew his sister Mary is up to no good. A credit to the actors who portrayed those roles.

Coincidentally, the on the same night after watching this movie, I turned to the PBS station on TV and found they were showing the Masterpiece Theatre version of Mansfield Park! So I snuggled down to watch it too, but alas, I was too sleepy to finish it. So I guess I’ll have to get the DVD too so I can get a proper comparison.

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