Carey Mulligan

The Ballad of Wallis Island

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Ballad of Wallis Island
  • IMDb: link

Tom Basden (who wrote the songs used in the film and co-wrote the screenplay with Tim Key) stars as famous, if floundering, musician Herb McGwyer who arrives on a remote island for a private concert to a pair of surprises. First, the reclusive millionaire Charles (Tom Key) who has hired Herb is the only audience member for the concert on the near-deserted island. And, second, he has also invited Herb’s former partner Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) who he hasn’t spoken to in almost a decade.

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Maestro

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Maestro
  • IMDb: link

Maestro

This study of the relationship between Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper, who also directs) and actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan), gives us a peek at the woman behind America’s first great conductor, all the while keeping the Maestro firmly in the spotlight. The film’s first hour or so, much of it set in black and white, is often delightful with its playful and bawdy tone. Moving into middle age and the later years the film turns a bit mean and messy and eventually contemplative, focused on the hard realities of a complicated and  compromised relationship between the pair that was, nevertheless, built on a foundation of love.

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The Top Ten Movies of 2020

/ / Top Tens & Lists

The Top Ten Movies of 2020

2020 was a hard year, and an unusual one for the movie business at large. In the void of many larger films being rescheduled and pulled from theaters due to COVID, the vacancies left room for many smaller films to garner more attention than normal. While the year may not have given us all that we wanted, and left several movie houses on the verge of bankruptcy, the quality of the movies did not diminish. The list includes all films released up until this date (so it does not include 2020 releases which won’t be available to the public until February or later). Here’s a look back the best films of 2020.

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