100 movies: Beginners

comments 28
100 movies of 2012

Every year I set myself a target, usually of about 100, of films to watch. These are new films. Not new, new films. But films that are new to me. Any time I’ve seen a new one, I post a bit of a brain dump of my thoughts on the film here. Enjoy!

BeginnersBeginners (26/05/12)

A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer, and that he has a young male lover.

First thing’s first – Arthur – just the cutest Jack Russell I have ever seen on-screen. I’m not a fan of little dogs, but now I want a Jack Russell. If only to have meaningful conversations about life with!

Beginners is a lovely little film. The characters are rich and realistic. The relationship between father and son is truly adorable. All the performances in the film are excellent. Except for Goran Visnjic’s hair – what was up with that monstrosity? Christopher Plummer stole the show. As I was expecting him to do, what with all the praise he was getting throughout the last awards season.

There is a heck of a lot that goes on in the film, including a look back at Oliver’s childhood, his current life, his love life, his father’s battle with cancer (and death) and Hal’s coming out as gay. The backwards and forwards in Oliver’s timeline is handled really well. Never at any point was there confusion.

I loved watching Oliver and Anna’s relationship begin, end and hopefully begin again. The heartbreaking moments were played with such a quiet tone, they felt even more heartbreaking.

In a way, this is an uplifting little film. Really enjoyed it.
Rating: 4/5

Read on to see all the films watched this year…

40 Films so far this year

  1. The Tourist 1/5 (02/01/12)
  2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5/5 (03/01/12)
  3. World’s Greatest Dad 2/5 (14/01/12)
  4. Haywire 3/5 (19/01/12)
  5. Dead Snow 3/5 (20/01/12)
  6. The Artist 5/5 (21/01/12)
  7. Priest 2/5 (05/02/12)
  8. The Muppets 5/5 (15/02/12)
  9. Faster 4/5 (19/02/12)
  10. Chronicle 4/5 (22/02/12)
  11. Safe House 4/5 (24/02/12)
  12. Reservoir Dogs 4/5 (25/02/12)
  13. This Means War 4/5 (02/03/12)
  14. The Royal Tenenbaums 3/5 (03/03/12)
  15. Reign of Fire 3/5 (04/03/12)
  16. Dear John 2/5 (04/03/12)
  17. Road to Perdition 5/5 (05/03/12)
  18. The Three Musketeers 3/5 (06/03/12)
  19. The Eagle 2/5 (10/03/12)
  20. Everybody’s Fine 2/5 (14/03/12)
  21. Frankenstein 4/5 (15/03/12)
  22. Love and Other Drugs 2/5 (15/03/12)
  23. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 2/5 (17/03/12)
  24. The Big Lebowski 5/5 (18/03/12)
  25. The Hunger Games 3/5 (23/03/12)
  26. Headhunters 4/5 (07/04/12)
  27. Super 1/5 (07/04/12)
  28. The Cabin in the Woods 5/5 (13/04/12)
  29. Watchmen 4/5 (14/04/12)
  30. The Hurt Locker 3/5 (21/04/12)
  31. Avengers Assemble 5/5 (26/04/12)
  32. 22 Bullets 2/5 (28/04/12)
  33. Bad Teacher 1/5 (29/04/12)
  34. Red Riding Hood 1/5 (04/05/12)
  35. A Perfect Getaway 4/5 (05/05/12)
  36. Ca$h 1/5 (13/05/12)
  37. Kung Fu Panda 2 3/5 (14/05/12)
  38. Everything Must Go 2/5 (24/05/12)
  39. New York, I Love You 2/5 (25/05/12)
  40. Beginners 4/5 (26/05/12)

28 Comments

  1. I saws this on the planner the otherday and smiled. I really enjoyed this film, stunning performances all around, plus I have a MASSIVE soft spot for Laurent. She is lovely!!!

  2. It’s a movie that really grows on you. The only little complaint I had was Mills’ editing of the movie which made it slightly confusing at times. Glad you finally got to see it Jaina ๐Ÿ˜€

    • I can agree with that. Sometimes it just wasn’t abundantly clear when exactly we were looking at.

  3. So Cap. Von Trapp got an Oscar for playing a gay man ๐Ÿ™‚ I do think he’s overdue for this award so I’m glad he finally got it.

  4. I have not seen it yet but my brother said it was great and did a review on it. I hope to check it out at some point. Damn you have seen a lot of films this year ๐Ÿ™‚

    • A lot, but looking on the list, the quality’s been slipping recently! Need to fix that soon. Also, as we’re half way through the year I should be up to 50! Woops!

  5. I really love this movie as well. The dog was adorable. Nice to know you love this movie too.

  6. I really liked Plummer’s work, editing and the dog but the movie didn’t impress me too much. It was quite a lovely romance, though.

  7. This movie was such a delight to watch. I didn’t love it as much as so many other peeps did, but I can at least give a lot of credit to Plummer, McGregor, and especially Laurent, for their incredible work here. Great review Jaina. Glad to see Plummer won that Oscar.

  8. I think this was my favourite film last year, I really enjoyed it. I loved the way that it could be hilarious one moment and heartbreaking the next. Yes Arthur was ace (as good as the dog in The Artist?), but Melanie Laurent is gorgeous! Plummer was fantastic, but it was the relationship between Ewan and Melanie that really made the film for me.

    • That’s what I really enjoyed in this film. I was crying one minute and laughing the next. Talk about rollercoaster!

      Hmm.. Arthur vs. the dog from The Artist… I just can’t decide! Arthur’s conversations just cracked me up!

  9. Great choice, Jaina! This was one of last year’s better movies, and it had terrific performances all around. It was nice to see Plummer get some recognition for this.

  10. Unlike most of my fellow bloggers, it seems that I’m alone on this one. I didn’t quite like Beginners very much.
    First, I didn’t connect with the romantic relationships and though I found Plummer’s performance really good, I actually wish he’d had gotten his first Oscar for something else.
    There are moments in Beginners that are quite touching, but overall, I found the script to lack life, the pace was frustrating and the editing of time unnecessarily ever-changing.
    I’ve found this more and more true in the last few years: films resort to time-line editing shifts to add some interest to an otherwise unremarkable story. Sometimes editing time is a valid resource that adds a lot, the perfect example being Pulp Fiction, but in this case, it was just a device used to add some depth to a story with little.

    My rating of this one and other films will be up either today or tomorrow in my summary of May films.

    • I’ll keep an eye out for your rating on this one. Interesting to read other people’s views and even more when it’s something different to your own.

      I can definitely see where you’re coming from, I think I just got really into the relationships and characters to not care too much about the less that conventional editing.

  11. Whenever I see a Jack Russell Terrier, I can’t help but to think of Wishbone!

    I’m pleased you reviewed something on the list you could give four stars too, I’d love to see this happen more often :D.

    • My god, Wishbone! I was just a little bit addicted to that show!

      Definitely been a while since a 4/5 and longer since a 5!

  12. I adored Beginners. Such a special little film. If you haven’t already returned it, I’d recommend watching Special Features. Loved seeing stuff about the director. The acting was brilliant, and who doesn’t want a Russell Terrier after that? Glad you enjoyed it, Jaina!

  13. this was a pleasant review to read about Beginners. Short and to the point. yet direct and descriptive. I haven’t seen this one yet, but I’m glad to know that you saw it worthy of the attention it was getting during the awards season. Esp for Plummer.

    • Cheers T. Definitely recommend this film. It’s one of those films that’s fairly easy to watch. But at the same time, can hit you where it hurts!

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