The King's Speech' ****stars

a story of friendship and trust. two men from two different classes come together and damn what a bond is formed. the evolving friendship is told and directed so well by tom hooper that we are just swept along through it's ups and downs and we are never let down.

colin firth is brilliant as the stammering king george vi his king is brilliantly supported by geoffrey rush as the non royal friend and teacher lionel logue. the bond they form is at first trying but grows for the lifetime of both men in real life. a wonderful helena bonham carter returns to a 'quieter' role as the king's wife later to be known as the queen mum when daughter elizabeth becomes queen. jennifer ehle radiates as the wife of logue.

the rest of the supporting cast truly support with wonderful performances each. no one misses a beat.

colin firth deserves the oscar this year as he did last year ('a single man") and perhaps this year the academy will hand it to him. he is quite amazing and has grown so much over the past few years. well the reality is it's the parts he's getting. they are better and he makes them better still.

i see a definite oscar nom for rush and quite possibly another for bonham carter. picture, director and screenplay are a lock.

go see 'the king's speech' as it may well win the oscar for best picture. my vote is heading in it's direction fast and furiously.

All Good Things' ***stars

a love story, a crime story, the tale of a madman. good production values and better acting raise it above what might have been a lifetime movie of the week. it keep me engrossed and that's enough for me.

two thoughts: i can understand why ryan gosling's star is on the ascendant but can't understand why kirstens dunst's star has dimmed. she is beautiful, talented and charming. it's time for her to be noticed again.

lily rabe, daughter of jill clayburgh, in a supporting role is a scene stealer but no jill clayburgh.

If It's Christmas It's 'Love Actually'

spend another holiday season with 'love actually'

'The Social Network': ***stars

a likeable cast lifts lifts a story of mostly dislikable characters. and with all his whimsy and childish charm jesse eisenberg can't make facebook founder, well more like facebook thief, mark zuckerberg, any less despicable than he actually is/was.

still aaron sorkin authors an amazingly involving screenplay, brilliantly directed by david fincher and deftly edited by kirk baxter and angus wall. but this does not a 'best picture' make. well not for me at any rate.

the real kudos for me go to andrew garfield as the blindsided and betrayed eduardo saverin and armie hammer in the dual role of the less than shall i say intelligent winklevoss brothers, tyler and cameron, who are more brawn than brain. i actually thought real life twins were playing these real life twins. this is the best dual role play since hayley mills in 'the parent trap'. quite a feat mr. hammer.

okay the bottom line is this: if you are an oscarbater go see it. it will be nominated for multiple awards unless the next two and a half months bring multiple surprises which i doubt. but who knows? for me it's a nominee not a winner.  but then again 'the english patient', 'out of africa' and 'the hurt locker' were winners. so all bets off.

also ask yourself this: do you really really care enough about the history of facebook. truly i don't.

Remembering Claudette on Her Birthday

claudette colbert....france's greatest export to the states. claudette personifies what a film legend is. she spanned all of the movie experience. from silent films she easily and gracefully moved to talkies. from black and white she became more enchanting with the move to color. and from the big screen to the small screen she rounded out her career with the mini series 'the two mrs. grenvilles'. oh yeah there were the broadway triumphs too. claudette is gone to her peace but lives forever on celluloid. she won one oscar ('it happened one night') but deserved at least two ('since you went away').  i was first introduced to her work via 'since you went away' on television. it remains in my top ten of all time favorites. heck it also introduced me to the wonderful jennifer jones, joseph cotton, robert walker and guy madison. what's not to love!

her well deserved oscar was for 'it happened one night' and at 74 years old it is still one of the best comedies ever made. it defines classic film.

her 'cleopatra' still makes elizabeth taylor's look like a high school performance by an understudy.

'the sign of the cross' is still a risque romp filmed and released before hollywood had a 'standards and practice' rule.

'midnight' is another classic comedy. a wonderful romp really.

there are soooo many more but i'll single out 'the palm beach story', 'imitation of life' and 'three came home' also among my favorites.

so here they all are together. i'm rating them ****stars apiece as they all withstand the test of time. they need to be judged by the era in which they were filmed. they are classics all.

so thank you claudette for your grace, your charm and you forever enduring performances.

R.I.P.

'Playing for Time' ****stars

one of the best tv movies (1980) has been released this month. the extraordinary talents of vanessa redgrave and jane alexander raise this holocaust drama above most holocaust films. it is a gift that someone finally saw fit to give it a dvd release.