Thursday, March 7, 2024

My Movie of the Week- Poor Things

💥My Short Review:

Poor Things
Theatrical release poster
Directed byYorgos Lanthimos
Screenplay byTony McNamara
Based onPoor Things
by Alasdair Gray
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRobbie Ryan
Edited byYorgos Mavropsaridis
Music byJerskin Fendrix
Production
companies
Distributed bySearchlight Pictures
Release dates
  • September 1, 2023(Venice)
  • December 8, 2023 (United States)
  • January 12, 2024 (Ireland and United Kingdom)
Running time
142 minutes
Countries
  • Ireland
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$35 million
Box office$104.8 million

From Wikipedia: 

Poor Things is a 2023 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Tony McNamara, based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray. Starring Emma StoneMark RuffaloWillem DafoeRamy YoussefChristopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael,[5] the plot centers on Bella Baxter, a young woman in Victorian London who is resurrected through a brain transplant and embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery. Critics identified multiple genres, with elements of black comedyand steampunk.

Poor Things premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2023, where it won the Golden Lion. It was released theatrically in the United States on December 8, 2023, and in Ireland and the United Kingdom on January 12, 2024, by Searchlight Pictures. The film was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute and has grossed over $104 million worldwide. It received five wins at the 77th British Academy Film Awards, and was nominated in 11 categories at the 96th Academy Awards, including Best PicturePoor Things also won two Golden Globe AwardsBest Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Stone.

Here are some reviews that I agree 100%.Gorgeous sets and costumes, remarkable performances by Stone, Defoe and a scene-stealing Ruffalo cannot quite save this self-aware oddity of a movie. The story tips it hat to Frankenstein, with the story of a damaged yet brilliant doctor, Godwin Baxter (played by a superb Willem Defoe) performing a radical, life-resurrecting procedure on the body of a girl who had thrown herself from London Bridge. Child-like (hint) and with no memories from her previous life, the girl, now named Bella Baxter (Stone) is carefully tutored until the day comes she wishes to see the outside world for herself and leaves under the dubious ‘care’ of a noted bounder, Duncan, played wonderfully by Mark Ruffalo. The Lisbon scenes are breathtaking and Bella’s naive embrace of new experiences are skillfully juxtaposed against the unexpected obsession for Bella that the cad Duncan is beginning to be tortured by. The second stanza onboard ‘The Ship’ was similarly captivating; Bella’s growing intellect and charm earning new new friends, however these relationships barely have time to develop before Duncan and Bella are unceremoniously dumped in France due to a lack of funds to pay passage. It is here that the story overreaches its ambitions. The Paris story is an uncomfortable mess of fetishized pornography and a thin plot that really detract from the earlier story, leaving me squirming a little in my seat and wondering why this was all necessary to move the story forward. The Paris sojourn inevitably culminates with Bella’s return to London to be reunited with her creator and the man to whom she was betrothed before her adventures began, the charming yet feckless Max (Rammy Yussef). Yet Bella’s past catches up with her for one more twist before she realises the truth of who she is and what her future should be. 
💥I saw the Movie "Poor Things"  the other day at Our Cinema Here at THD. I love it, however a few THD residents got out after 5 minutes at the beginning of the show.  Eric our movie Coordinator warned us that movie is R rated and there are scenes that the Prudes may object  or get offended. I am not a Prude and have seen numerous R rated movies in my life.    So I stayed and enjoyed the movie very much. 
I vote for Emma Stone, the Best Actress Award in the Oscars. Her acting as the "horny" Bella deserves an award. I really enjoyed the ending of the movie, when Bella's husband returned and he was turned into a goat!

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