I saw August: Osage County because I see most Meryl Streep films. She's the ultimate movie star/great actress in the Bette Davis vein and was good but I felt underwhelmed by the film. I liked the older Karen Silkwood-esque accent and that she seemed to base her voice on Margo Martindale. The resemblance achieved between the two actresses via makeup and physicality was stunning. Julia Roberts was competent.
I also saw Saving Mr. Banks (technically released 2013 but I saw it 1.14) because Mary Poppins means a lot to me...and Emma Thompson is goddess :) I was almost lost from the beginning because of the flashbacks to the author's childhood. It seemed contrived but the editing and Thompson's fabulous acting were wonderful in the scene where the Sherman brothers are playing Fidelity Fiduciary Bank for the first time and are cut with her flashbacks to the father drunkenly rambling at an outback county fair. Then I realized Colin Farrell was playing Travers Goff and my mind was further blown. Tom Hanks was Walt Disney if Disney made the film...wait. I felt there was probably a great deal omitted from the final release because of the uneven pace. The scenes with PL Travers interacting with 60s Hollywood are the best in the film.
The only other thing I cared to take the time to see was the Stritch doc which was as awkward and brilliant as I expected!
I think there are a few blockbusters I may take in this summer - possibly a bad horror flick on a whim - but this has indeed been a most paltry movie season so far.
"...ah, gays and their wit. Hell must be a laugh a minute!"
-Evie Harris
