Brave is a 2012 American 3D computer-animated fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman, and co-directed by Steve Purcell. The story is by Chapman, with the screenplay by Andrews, Purcell, Chapman and Irene Mecchi.

Chapman became Pixar’s first female director of a feature-length film. The film was produced by Katherine Sarafian, with John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter as executive producers.

• Kelly Macdonald as Merida, a Scottish princess
  • Peigi Barker as Young Merida
• Emma Thompson as Queen Elinor, Dunbroch’s queen and Merida’s mother.
• Billy Connolly as King Fergus, Dunbroch’s king and Merida’s father
• Julie Walters as The Witch
• Robbie Coltrane as Lord Dingwall
• Kevin McKidd as Lord MacGuffin and Young MacGuffin, whose lines were spoken in Doric
• Craig Ferguson as Lord Macintosh
• Steve Purcell as The Crow
• Patrick Doyle as Martin, the guard
• John Ratzenberger as Gordon, the guard

Review.

I have heard some rather average reviews of this film. However I loved it and think it’s one of the best of the Pixar films. Given that it’s a story about the relationship between a mother and daughter; I’m not the target audience for this film. However it gets everything right. There is great comedy, from slapstick to character moments. Then in the second half when things turn dark and dramatic there is some really engaging and emotional scenes.

It’s a great film.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a 2014 comedy film written and directed by Wes Anderson, from a story by Anderson and Hugo Guinness, inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig. It stars Ralph Fiennes as a concierge who teams up with one of his employees (Tony Revolori) to prove his innocence after he is framed for murder. The narrative takes the form of a story within a story within a story within a story.

The film is an American-German-British co-production that was financed by German financial companies and film-funding organizations. It was filmed in Germany. The Grand Budapest Hotel was released to widespread acclaim from film critics, and many included it in their year-end top 10 lists. The film led the BAFTA nominations, with 11 nominations, more than any other film, including Best Film and Best Director for Anderson, and Best Actor for Fiennes. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and garnered three more Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Director for Anderson. It also garnered nine Academy Award nominations, the joint most (with Birdman) for the ceremony, including Best Picture and Best Director. It won the Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design and Best Original Score.

A very strange and stylish historical comedy. Not as funny as promised , but a good ripping yarn in the British style. Ralph Fiennes is great as the main character and there a surprising number of well-known actors in minor roles, including:

F. Murray Abraham
Adrien Brody
Willem Dafoe
Jeff Goldblum
Harvey Keitel
Jude Law
Bill Murray
Edward Norton
Jason Schwartzman
Tilda Swinton
Tom Wilkinson
Owen Wilson

(3/5)

Made in Dagenham is a 2010 British film directed by Nigel Cole. The film stars Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike, Andrea Riseborough, Jaime Winstone, Daniel Mays and Richard Schiff. It dramatises the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 that aimed for equal pay for women. The film’s theme song, with lyrics by Billy Bragg, is performed by Sandie Shaw, herself a native of the area and a former Ford Dagenham clerk.
A stage musical version of the film opened at London’s Adelphi theatre in 2014.

A straight forward telling of the story of the strike. Not much in the way of the unexpected, and it comes to a predictable conclusion.
(3/5)

Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013 period drama film directed by John Lee Hancock from a screenplay written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Centered on the development of the 1964 film Mary Poppins, the film stars Emma Thompson as author P. L. Travers and Tom Hanks as filmmaker Walt Disney, with supporting performances by Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford, and Colin Farrell.
Named after the father in Travers’ story, Saving Mr. Banks depicts the author’s fortnight-long meetings during 1961 in Los Angeles, during which Disney attempts to obtain the screen rights to her novels.

The film merges two narratives. One showing Travers’ childhood in Australia and her relationship with her alcoholic father. The other covers the negotiations  and development of the songs and story for Mary Poppins.

Emma Thompson is great and Tom Hanks captures the essence of Walt Disney. After seeing the stage production by the Court Theatre last year, the film changes the focus of the story, showing that Mr Banks is the central character of the story, not Mary Poppins.