Movies Archives - Charly Dwyer

The Heat… is on….

August 6, 2013 by Charly Leetham Leave a Comment

I love Sandra Bullock – I think she’s an awesome actress. I also loved her in Miss Congeniality where she places the “tough” FBI agent turned “beauty pageant queen”… I relate to her. I loved her in Blind Side.

The Heat is her latest movie and she teams up with the one and only Melissa McCarthy (who I know and love as Sookie St James from the Gilmore Girls). McCarthy plays tough Boston Detective, Shannon Mullins – foul mouthed, quick tempered but she gets the job done. Bullock plays the smart, savvy but socially naive FBI agent, Sarah Ashburn. These ladies ROCK THIS MOVIE.

“The Heat” follows the typical Hollywood “buddy-cop” formula – high strung or high performing officer teamed with a seeming deadbeat. Despite their differences, the two officers go after and beat the “bad guy” and become friends. What’s different, is that the two cops are female and they don’t spend the entire movie talking about their men or their love lives… According to Women’s Agenda, this movie crushes the Bechdel Test (a “gender bias” test that asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man).

I found it interesting that both women were confronted by the typical “stereotypes” that most women are. Ashburn (Bullock) is a smart, savvy investigator who takes profiling to the next level – and is reviled by her male counterparts for it. OK, OK, maybe she’s a little cocky about it – but it doesn’t change that if a bloke behaved as she did, he would probably be congratulated for it… not so for Ashburn, so snide comments made by the males on a crime scene about “imagine being married to that” or similar. For Mullins (McCarthy), she has terrorised her Captain into compliance but that doesn’t stop the rude and debasing comments from others in the precinct… For me, it hit home – as a woman you have to be twice as good to be considered half as good. The way the movie addresses this, is very very good.

Overall, it’s a good movie. In the audience tonight, there were titters; guffaws and outright belly laughs…. from all ages. Just the right mix of humour and action and a decent level of predictability where the scene is carried off well.

I’m still amazed at what a physical actress Sandra Bullock is – she uses physical stunts in such a great comedic way.

Well worth the watch – and one for all young women to see… it’s cool to be tough and you definitely do not need a man to help you ‘make it’.

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It’s Much Ado About Nothing This Weekend

July 28, 2013 by Charly Leetham Leave a Comment

Rhi’s been in China just over a week and we’ve heard from her a couple of times – it sounds like she’s been super busy and engaged at the leadership congress and we can’t wait to hear about her experiences.

It’s been a busy week business wise, but more surprisingly socially for us – almost like a break in a drought really. This week I went to an office opening, a trivia night and a 50th Birthday party…

Oh yeah, Morgan is really getting into this LARPing thing (Live Action Role Playing) and has been working on a new part to his costume which, thanks to our friend Kim, he got done on Friday night. I had a bit of fun with a photo we snapped that evening.

Speaking of LARPing, check out the photo’s from the “Wolf’s Howl”, a Hundred Swords game held at Weston Park in Canberra on Saturday.

The Wolfs Howl - The Hundred Swords — The Wolfs Howl – The Hundred Swords
Photo courtesy of The Hundred Swords
Click here to see the whole album

Today, we got to see the new Joss Whedon movie, “Much Ado About Nothing”. It’s no secret, we’re huge Joss Whedon fans in our home and when we heard that he was doing Much Ado with Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof and Sean Maher we just knew we had to see it on the big screen.

What’s surprising is that the movie is only showing at Dendy – not in the other cinemas’. We would have thought that more would have picked it up – but there you have it.

Anyway, it was fabulous. I loved the 1993 version directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Emma Thompson – but this version is just awesome.

Marry Shakespeare with Joss Whedon and what would you expect?

In the other versions of Much Ado I’ve seen, the dialogue is normally delivered quite quickly (underscoring the combativeness between Beatrice and Benedick) – the actors in the Whedon version managed to slow the delivery down but maintained the appropriate cadence… it meant that I was able to “interact” with the dialogue on a completely different level.

I certainly came away with an even bigger appreciation of the acting talents of the cast. Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof do a fantastic job – and there are many parts where you just have to giggle or even laugh out loud. Of course, Nathan Fillion as Dogberry is a not to be forgotten performance (far better than Michael Keatons’ in the 1993 version)….

The music has been written by Jed Whedon (of course) and performed by Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen – those Whedon’s are incredibly talented.

What I find most amazing is that the movie was prepared in 1 month and shot in just 12 days at Joss’s house. The timing is astounding, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from Joss, the Whedons and the actors he works with… the house though – is amazing. There is one scene where you see the view from the back verandah (or perhaps they call it a deck?) and it is breathtaking.

If you can get to see the movie at the cinema – you absolutely should – if not, when you can grab a copy you should.

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Of course, you can find out more on the Much Ado About Nothing Movie Facebook page or website