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Xavier Dolan recommended Forbidden Games (Jeux interdits) (1952) in Movies (curated)

 
Forbidden Games (Jeux interdits) (1952)
Forbidden Games (Jeux interdits) (1952)
1952 | International, Classics, Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"In my top three love stories. Narciso Yepes’s legendary score gives this juvenile romance its fame and contributes to its magic, but the movie is an entity of perfection. The artistic direction is meticulous and inspired; there’s a vanguard oneiric look to the film. Brigitte Fossey delivers an endearing and incredibly mature performance, and looks the epitome of femininity despite her—gulp—six years of age. Great opening sequence depicting the 1940s French exodus from Nazi occupation. Genuine and sensible study of youthful mores; creative representation of the children’s universe. Stunning grace and poetry. Heartbreaking departure scene. I love that film. It makes me want to be a pretentious critic."

Source
  
    The Street

    The Street

    Ann Petry

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Book

    New York City, 1940s. In a crumbling tenement in Harlem, Lutie Johnson is determined to build a new...

40x40

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Big Lies in a Small Town in Books

Mar 19, 2020  
Big Lies in a Small Town
Big Lies in a Small Town
Diane Chamberlain | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Morgan Christopher is shocked when she's plucked from prison and told she will be released early, as long as she perform a certain task: restore an old mural from the 1940s. Morgan, an art school dropout, has no restoration skills, but she is desperate to leave prison, where she is imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit. Once released, she finds herself captivated by the mural and what she finds underneath the layers of grime. Meanwhile, in 1940, young Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey wins a contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. She travels there to learn more about the town that she needs to capture. But once there, Anna is confronted both by kindness and deep-set prejudice.

I've never read a book by Diane Chamberlain before, and I really enjoyed this one. It's oddly captivating for centering on a painting from the 1940s. The point-of-view switches between Morgan and Anna and each are compelling narrators in their own right. This was one of those books where I found myself desperately wishing I could read faster, as I wanted to find out what happened to Anna (we're told early on she "went crazy").

I applaud Chamberlain for her original plot. It's odd, but not in a bad way, as it had me interested the entire time. She does a wonderful job of creating two completely different worlds: Anna's in the 40s and Morgan's in near present-day. She deftly weaves in art aspects; Morgan's drunk driving conviction and her past in prison; Anna's possible mental illness; and Morgan's benefactor, so to speak, Lisa, who springs her out of prison to fulfill the wishes of her late father, Jesse, a famous artist.

While this novel is mainly fiction, there are some great twists and turns, especially as we learn what happened to Anna. Chamberlain delves into race relations, as Anna confronts the prejudices of the south in the 1940s. Her writing style is easy, making you want to keep reading, and overall, I quite enjoyed this one. 4 stars.
  
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David McK (3562 KP) rated Dumbo (2019) in Movies

May 7, 2020  
Dumbo (2019)
Dumbo (2019)
2019 | Animation, Family, Fantasy
5
6.5 (81 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Disney's continuing plundering of their back catalogue (see also: Beauty and the beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Cinderella …) continues with this latest attempt to turn their 1940s cartoon original into a live action movie.

It doesn't really work.

Starring, for once, a pretty 'armless (sorry not sorry) Colin Farrell, this crams the story of Dumbo (circus elephant, learns how to fly, lives happily ever after …) into roughly the first 30 minutes or so, before going off on its own tangent (for that, at least, it needs lauded), and introducing both Michael Keaton's circus businessman alongside Eva Green's aerial trapeze artist.

Ironically, however, I found the movie never really takes off at all!