{"id":9042,"date":"2024-12-06T11:24:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T11:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/?p=9042"},"modified":"2024-12-06T12:12:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T12:12:44","slug":"review-of-the-year-part-1-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/review-of-the-year-part-1-films\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of the year – Part 1 – Films"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hello everyone<\/p>\n

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It’s December and, oh my word, it is so near to Christmas, and the end of 2024! \u00a0Which has been quite mixed I have to say. Many good things have happened but there have been a few (only a few) negative happenings too. I believe that’s called LIFE!<\/p>\n

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So, over this month, I am going to review the year and look at several things like books of the year, films of the year, television, art exhibitions, and so on, not forgetting clothes and the bargains of the year! I will definitely also mention a few political happenings: wars, climate change etc. I mean, you know me by now, so you know I am a political bod who is both fascinated and appalled at the state of the world – and this as you also know is not just a fashion blog! So there will be a mention of a few things of a political nature, plus (inevitably, all things considering) there will be a review of my health, my ageing body and sprinkled into that a diatribe about ageism!<\/p>\n

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Consequently, there will be several reviews!<\/p>\n

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Films first<\/strong>: for a variety of reasons we haven’t been to the cinema as often as we used to but I’ve just booked two tickets to see the film of the Robert Harris book Conclave<\/strong>, which is all about intrigue and skullduggery within the Vatican, and includes an impressive array of actors including Stanley Tucci, Ralph Fiennes and John Lithgow. It’s been given 5* by the Guardian reviewer – hope I feel the same after I’ve seen it.<\/p>\n

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I have two films of the year, both excellent with one slightly better than the other, and one that nearly made the list, so you could say I have 3 best films with this one coming 3rd.<\/p>\n

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But before I begin on those, and name them, here are some turkeys. Dune, Part 2,<\/strong> which I found seriously disappointing, say my notes (I write down every film I’ve seen and review it with a few words and *s). I see I gave the film 2* and in fact I can barely remember it, so that’s one film that went in one eye and out the other!<\/p>\n

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Now what about Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon?<\/strong> There’s an incredibly important story to tell about the shocking murderous events surrounding the Orsage tribe, but for me that film was so self-indulgent and far too long. Really Scorsese? It would have been better made as a long television series, as the story should be told, and we could have stayed with it longer, yes, longer. But to make a film 3 and half hours long – sorry, it’s not fair on a cinema audience for starters! We watched it over 2 days on the television. It was quite good.<\/p>\n

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A film that had a lot of hype in the UK – did it elsewhere? – was Saltburn.<\/strong> Yikes, a weird and nasty tale about a working class lad who (spoiler here) murders his way into an upper class family and its fortune – no thanks.<\/p>\n

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One film that doesn’t make the final 3 best films, but was surprisingly good, was Poor Things<\/strong>. I can’t even begin to summarise the plot – what plot! Basically it was barking, but kind of wonderful at the same time. I do like films that make you sit up and think, oh, interesting and oh, wow!<\/p>\n

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Now the 3 best films:<\/strong> the one that comes in at #3 was the Alex Garland film, Civil War,<\/strong> <\/a>starring Kirsten Dunst. It was surprisingly cerebral. This wasn’t about the American Civil War 1861-65, but about a present-day American civil war. Btw, this was not a totally bang-crash-shoot-em-up type film. Yes, it showed war scenes, but it was really more about journalism and what gets reported and what doesn’t, and how journalists behave in arenas of war. Despite this film being set in a dystopian future I thought it a really absorbing morality tale.<\/p>\n

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The 2nd best film of the year is The Dead Don’t Hurt<\/strong><\/a> a ‘sort-of’ Western starred, written, directed, and produced by Vigor Mortensen. I thought it the most brilliant film as, first of all, it treats you as an adult. You really have to work at understanding the out-of-sequence plot line; I promise you it all becomes clear by the end. The cinematography is luscious and the entire film is a harsh and sad, but beautiful love story between the two protagonists played by Mortensen and Vicky Krieps. To give you just a teensy flavour of the richly layered story arc; you think you are seeing a Western and then, lo and behold, a knight in shining armour on horseback comes riding through the landscape. See it. You won’t regret it.<\/p>\n

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And my film of the year is The Zone of Interest<\/strong><\/a>. Where to start with this one? You probably know that this is about the family that lived the other side of Auschwitz. The father was the Commandant of Auschwitz so they weren’t any old family. The mother made a beautiful garden with flowers growing up the wall that separated their home from the concentration camp. \u00a0I have already written about this film, and the wall that separates us all from the terrible events that are happening here and now in the present day in My Other Blog.<\/p>\n

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So. Were they monsters? The film is subtle – too subtle for many. It doesn’t depict this family living a beautiful bucolic existence as horrific people. And yet, it does, in small ways…. until you build up a picture of their indifference and othering of the inmates of Auschwitz. Btw, you do not see anything of Auschwitz, there are no horrific scenes (like there are in Lee, the biopic of Lee Miller) but you do think, now what was that sound I just heard? There were 5 Oscar wins for this film including the Best Sound. The film left a profound impression on me and I will never forget it, ever. Moreover, I think it should be compulsory viewing for all of us, and especially those who have certain views about immigrants, and religions.<\/p>\n

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On that note, yes, that last one was my best film of the year, but if you want a film that is cheerful and sunny and fun to watch, and also has a message can I remind you of the 2023 film – Barbie<\/strong>. If you feel a bit gloomy after reading about my ‘best film’ go stream Barbie and sit back, relax – and enjoy! I just do not understand why it didn’t get a single Oscar. If there was one for a fun watch (and don’t forget the message) that is the film. Moreover please don’t think this film is for children or just about a pink doll – this is a film with so many layers. Yes, it could be enjoyed by small children but sooo much of it will go over their heads – Mr F really enjoyed this film too.<\/p>\n

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Finally I will end this review (and after all the reviews) with a look at one item of clothing or event that sticks in my mind as a lovely reminder that all is well, and will be well.<\/p>\n

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Here I am in Spain staying with good friends and wearing a bargain buy dress (bought in Spain) that is sitting in my wardrobe waiting to be worn again at some point very soon. But if I wear it now, there will be thick tights, more layers and boots! It is a reminder of good times.<\/p>\n

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That’s really all for now. \u00a0Thank you for reading about my choice of films. Do tell me of any films you have watched as I do like getting recommendations \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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With love, Penny, the Frugalfashionshopper<\/em><\/p>\n

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P.S. I acknowledge with thanks that the icons in the banner come from Freepik – thanks also to Mr F who designed the banner.<\/p>\n

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  Hello everyone   It’s December and, oh my word, it is so near to Christmas, and the end of 2024! \u00a0Which has been quite mixed I have to say. Many good things have happened but there have been a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[161,1],"tags":[70,134,75],"class_list":["post-9042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-films-books","category-uncategorized","tag-fashion","tag-films","tag-frugal-fashion-shopper"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9042"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9083,"href":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9042\/revisions\/9083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frugalfashionshopper.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}