The story follows a ship that broadcasts Rock and Roll into the UK.  It’s called Pirate Radio, because apparently the government didn’t allow land-based stations to play that sort of music?  I don’t know.  It wasn’t clearly explained.  The ship is full of DJs that each have a show, and a few extraneous crew members there to fulfill flat character types (the lesbian, the fatherless youth looking for a family).  They listen to good music, do drugs, and bring women on board to have sex with, but they’re only allowed once a week (and they’re not allowed to live on the boat unless they play for the other team).  It’s all ‘based on a true story.’  But it seems mostly that the characters and even the boat itself (named Pirate Radio) are all really composites of several rouge radio stations and DJ personalities from the sixties on up to the early nineties).

Despite being a little overly familiar, the movie does have times when it really shines (I’ll admit that I laughed aloud a few times).  This is due to, of course, the outstanding cast, which features Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Emma Thompson (just to name a few).  They were helped out by the script, penned by Curtis, which, despite devolving into something melodramatic and mediocre, starts out with some really witty stuff.  Bill Nighy’s comedic timing is damn near perfect, and Rhys Ifans is always a pleasure to watch.  There’s some great classic music showcased here, and occassionally you’ll be carried away by the film.  But you will only be rudely awaken when the film loses it’s quippy pace.  The whole thing ends with an homage of album covers that includes bands like The Black Eyed Peas, and Eminem.  Yes, I was just as confused as you probably are.

2.5 out of 4 stars

Wit is directed by Mike Nichols, who also directed Closer and Charlie Wilson’s War. It’s based on an award winning play written by Margaret Edson. Emma Thompson and Nichols co-wrote the screenplay, and it’s really fantastic. Vivian Bearing (Emma Thompson) is the preeminent scholar on the fifteenth century poet John Dunn. She’s spent her life focusing on the cryptic poet who chose to write mostly about ‘salvation anxiety’ (the fact most people know they’re sinners and are apprehensive about meeting their maker since they realize they’re sinners). In the very first scene of the movie, Vivian is diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. There is no stage five. Her doctors Kelekian (Christopher Loyd) and Jason, a former student of hers (played by Jonathan Woodward) recommend an aggressive treatment of chemo.

The film is a hard one to watch, but a beautiful one at that. Through the course of her hospitalization, Vivian frequently addresses the camera and audience, reliving moments throughout her life. She’s disparaged by all the memories of her denying her students human kindness, an ironic fact now that’s all she seeks, but is denied by her doctors who see her as merely a research subject, not a human. These flashbacks are brilliantly filmed, sometimes she’s her bald, cancer-ridden self as she remembers lecturing her students. Occasionally, the people she recalls show up in her hospital rooms and the memory is re-enacted there. Nichols makes a brilliant contrast between her past, healthy life, full of colors where she denies herself to feel, to be human, and the sterile, white hospital rooms where she’s finally evolving emotionally. It’s a profound tragedy with the highest rewards ready for those who are willing to commit to watching a brilliant, and regretful woman slowly dying.

3.5 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 78% – Cream of the Crop: Not enough reviews for a score

A trailer was difficult to find, here’s a clip.

The first third of the film was incestuously and erotically charged (a la The Dreamers by Bernardo Bertolucci).  The story follows Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode) as he begins his studies at Oxford.  While there, he becomes friends with the flaming homosexual Sebastian (played ever so creepily by Ben Whishaw), who happens to be royalty, and the son of Lady Marchmain (the wickedly talented Emma Thompson who may have, with this performance, joined the ranks of royal British actresses like Judi Dench and Helen Mirren).    Sebastian has a sister, Julia (Hayley Atwell).  Between the two siblings is something odd, and disturbing.  While Ryder experiments with Sebastian, he also becomes involved with Julia.  And it’s really really weird.

Then the movie quickly changes pace (don’t take this to mean the pacing is quick, it’s not, it’s very very slow).  It’s as if Evelyn Waugh decided to stop writing about homoerotic skinny dipping in the estate’s pond, and decides to pontificate on her feelings about the church…  You see, Ryder is an atheist (no, not agnostic, atheist) who is living in sin with a man, but wants to marry Julia, which Lady Marchmain, the extremely pious and self-righteous Catholic simply can’t put up with.

As the rest of the plot unfolds, the piousness of Lady Marchmain and her children’s fear of disappointing her ruin life after life, and there’s sub-plot after sub-plot that just sort of loses the viewer.  Is this about sex (can it really be about sex with a PG-13 rating)?  Is it about the evils of the Church of England and Catholicism?  Is it about something deeper?  I can’t tell!

It’s not that the movie isn’t beautiful.  Filming locations are remarkable, giving it such a grandiose, and beautiful feel, that you can’t help but be transported back into that time.  The real pride of the film is in the acting.  Emma Thompson (as mentioned before) steals the show and every scene she’s in.  The younger actors shine as well.  Matthew Goode, who has shown us his talents in bigger films like Woody Allen’s Match Point, and lesser known indies like The Lookout, proves he can carry a film as the leading man.

While this movie isn’t fantastic, I’d suggest a viewing, given the fact the pickin’s are kind of slim right now.  Maybe Waugh fans will catch lots of meaning that I managed to miss.  Do watch the trailer though, it’s great!

2 out of 4 stars

Rottentomatoes: 68% – Cream of the Crop: 69%