PHILOMENA
PHILOMENA
#1PHILOMENA
Posted: 12/22/13 at 1:18pmI'm surprised there isn't a thread on this movie already. Has anyone seen it? It's a real life story that stars Judi Dench, who gives yet another great turn, as a woman looking for the son that was stolen from her. The script by Steve Coogan--who costars with Dench and has lots of chemistry with her--is surprising and sharp. The character of Philomena is always reacting to things in the most unexpected and interesting ways. The story really packs a punch and it develops in ways you wouldn't imagine. I loved every second of it.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
NYadgal
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/04
#2PHILOMENA
Posted: 12/22/13 at 2:06pm
Hmmm... I thought I started one. (Maybe it was just on Facebook?) Glad to have this one to celebrate the movie some more!
I also loved every second of it. Everything about it, really.
Brilliant performances. Powerful story.
I hope everyone has the chance to see it.
"Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. . ."
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#4PHILOMENA
Posted: 12/23/13 at 1:00am
I also enjoyed it much more than I expected to, though I saw it a couple days after DALLAS BUYERS CLUB and I liked PHILOMENA a lot better--then again, I pretty much hated DALLAS BUYERS CLUB.
Honestly, when I went in I thought it might be a very typical Judi Dench performance (in the style of THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL), but she plays a very different role than I've seen her play before and she revels in it. The layers she finds within that character bring out a very complex take on what could have been a TV movie of the week in the hands of a different actress and script. ****MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD*** Her reaction, or rather her non reaction, when the woman tells her about her son being gay is a moment of perfect acting. I can't think of anyone else who'd have played that moment with such subtlety while being able to say so much about the character and the story. Beautiful *****END OF SPOILER****
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
ArtMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/10/08
#5PHILOMENA
Posted: 12/23/13 at 7:50amI liked it a lot also. I saw it on a double bill with Blue Jasmine, which I didn't love as much as everyone else. I had little expectations of Philomena, so the story and acting blew me away. Been recommending to everyone. Ray-andallthatjazz86, you hated Dallas Buyer's Club? It actually has been my favorite this awards season. I'm waiting for Gravity to come back with 3d, so I can't include that. Will be seeing American Hustle and Saving Mr Banks this week. I thought August started on Christmas day, but I don't think it is playing where I live.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#6PHILOMENA
Posted: 12/23/13 at 9:59am
While I enjoyed the acting, I wish the story had taken a different turn. Judi Dench was robbed.
***spoiler alert***
I really wanted her to meet the son and see a well acted Judi Dench Oscar winning moment.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
junglered
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#9PHILOMENA
Posted: 12/24/13 at 12:20am
***SPOILERS THROUGHOUT***
IMO, Judi Dench had plenty of Oscar moments (and really, does there need to be a single Oscar moment? I appreciate more a performance that's nuanced throughout), but a big one was her expression when she finds out her son has died. It's a shattering moment that she (like the moment I mentioned earlier) plays surprisingly well without hamming it up the way other actresses might have. Thematically, I think it was important for her son to be dead, given the critique of the nuns that the film is trying to establish, not to mention the fact that this actually happened to Philomena Lee, whom the film is based on.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#10PHILOMENA
Posted: 12/24/13 at 11:14amI went to see the film to escape the cold-knowing nothing. I expected a small diversion with Dench in her usual fine form. I was engrossed and Judy was at her best. Coogan is wonderfully understated. The story is marvelous and heartbreaking. Dench blew me away. I laughed and cried. A perfect film.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
eatlasagna
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#11PHILOMENA
Posted: 12/24/13 at 11:18am
saw this yesterday without knowing too much about it only the controversy regarding the rating...
this is a beautiful movie! everything about it was just beautiful and i have been recommending it to everyone... loved the performance from Judi Dench and Steve Coogan... and i agree that this movie could have completely fallen into melodrama but the direction and the screenplay were brilliant that it focused the movie... a wonderfully beautiful gem of a movie...
Updated On: 12/24/13 at 11:18 AM
#12PHILOMENA
Posted: 12/24/13 at 12:18pmIf any of you were interested about the women in Philomena Lee's situation, I would suggest seeing Peter Mullan's devastating The Magdalene Sisters. For all the feathers ruffled about this film's stance on Catholicism, TMS is a pretty up-close devastating portrait of how the women were treated.
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#13PHILOMENA
Posted: 12/25/13 at 2:14am
"While I enjoyed the acting, I wish the story had taken a different turn. Judi Dench was robbed.
***spoiler alert***
I really wanted her to meet the son and see a well acted Judi Dench Oscar winning moment."
Except for the fact that it's based on real experiences and real people and would have been completely out of place.
MrMidwest
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/05
#16PHILOMENA
Posted: 1/4/14 at 7:11am
Love Steve Coogan.
come come mister bond
"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter
#18PHILOMENA
Posted: 1/4/14 at 1:59pm
I LOVED this movie. In fact, it's in my top three of the year (though I still need to see THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, HER, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY and NEBRASKA).
Dench and Coogan were terrific. I was totally engrossed in the story and shouted at the screen when we learn of the son.
Rack up another Oscar nod for Dame Judi Dench, please.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
--Aristotle
#20PHILOMENA
Posted: 2/8/14 at 4:18pmSaw this the other day and am in love with this movie. I went in with little knowledge of the story and was moved throughout. I think it's Dench's most subtle, complex performance on screen. It goes in directions I didn't expect, throughout. A pleasant surprise.
"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"
NYadgal
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/04
#21PHILOMENA
Posted: 2/8/14 at 5:24pm
I've seen it twice now.
Seeing it the second time - knowing where the story would lead - allowed me to really focus on the perfomances and some of the parts I didn't notice the first time.
I loved it even more with a second viewing.
Just beautiful film and brilliant, nuanced, performances.
"Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. . ."
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