"Titanic" 2012 TV Mini-Series Review

"Titanic" movie poster.

"Follows the lives of the ship's passengers, from all walks of life, as they travel on the maiden voyage of the ill-fated Titanic. From the wealthy family of the Earl of Manton, the designers of the ship, to the stokers in the engine room - who will make it onto the lifeboats?" Written by Anonymous (Link below.)

Glen Blackhall (L) and
Jenna-Louise Coleman.

Meant to appear on the anniversary of the fateful ship's sinking (it did show, I just didn't see it until now), produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark (Warriors, The Way We Live Now), written by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park, Vanity Fair, The Young Victoria), "it sets out to paint a portrait of a whole society, telling the stories of a wide range of characters, both real and imagined, from every social level. Their narratives are developed and gradually interwoven over the first three episodes, each of which ends in a cliffhanger as the ship begins to founder. The fourth and final episode draws all of the different stories together and reveals to the audience who survives." (Link below.)

Maria Doyle Kennedy (L) and Toby Jones.

The cast was pretty amazing: Linus Roache, Geraldine Somerville, Perdita Weeks, Toby Jones, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Peter McDonald, Steven Waddington, Glen Blackhall, Antonio Magro, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Noah Reid, David Calder, Sophie Winkleman, and Dragos Bucur (who has the coolest name ever and appeared nude in a movie so expect that review soon. ;D)

Perdita Weeks -
look at that beautiful hat!

I thought the pacing was good. Each episode ended with a cliffhanger, so you had to keep watching. It was interesting how they showed certain people's perspective. Even though the cast is quite large, it felt like the ship wasn't really that big. There was so much focus on certain people that you forgot how many people were on it, so it was not as dramatic a catastrophe as I think the tragedy actually was. I did cry a lot though, so maybe it is more of a hindsight thing. They could've added more people and made it a longer series. I would've watched the whole thing, it was beautifully done.

Dragos Bucur.

The clothes were very good. I loved the hats and the dresses Perdita Weeks character, Lady Georgiana Gregs, wore. They were beautiful.

I think the person in charge of the music may have had a harder time than most trying not to sound too dramatic because it would definitely have reminded me of the James Cameron flick. Even still, they probably could've made it a bit more rousing and tense.

I can't compare this to other TV series because I don't watch TV, but I might start watching that Downton Abbey and The Borgias. The only thing I have watched to compare this to is the Cameron movie. It isn't as stirring as that movie and it had a claustrophobic feel to it, but it was still good. 

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1869152/plotsummary, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanic_(2012_TV_miniseries), and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1869152/.

Peter McDonald.

"Albert Nobbs" Movie Review

"Albert Nobbs" movie poster.

Glenn Close as Albert Nobbs.

"In 19th century Dublin, Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close), an eccentric man in the latter part of middle age, works as a waiter in Morrison's Hotel run by the stingy and controlling Marge Baker (Pauline Collins). Albert is hard working and saves his money so that one day he will be able to eke out a better life for himself by owning his own business rather than work at the hotel. Beyond his work colleagues, he is all alone in the world. One day, a man named Hubert Page (Maria Doyle Kennedy) is hired by Mrs. Baker to paint one of the rooms in the hotel. She forces Hubert to share Albert's bed for the one night he is required to stay to complete the work, much to Albert's horror. Hubert discovers the reason Albert did not want to share a room with him. But rather than the issue being a problem, Hubert shows Albert that he can follow a slightly different life path than the one he envisioned for himself - one closer to the life that Hubert leads with his wife Cathleen (Bronagh Gallagher) - which includes getting married and having a wife to support him emotionally. Albert's choice as a bride is his younger flirtatious co-worker Helen Dawes (Mia Wasikowska), who, unknown to Albert, is already in a sexual relationship with the brusque and sly Joe Mackins (Aaron Johnson), another co-worker recently arrived to Morrison's. As Albert, Helen and Joe play their respective games of courtship, Albert may find that what seemed to come naturally to Hubert may be more difficult for him." (Link below.)

"Albert Nobbs"
movie poster.

This film has quite a cast! Even Jonathan Rhys Meyers shows up for two minutes. I was delighted when I saw Mr. Weasley, I mean, Mark Williams and Mad-Eye Moody, I mean, Brandon Gleeson. (I'm a Harry Potter freak.....)

I also had no idea that Glenn Close was one of the main screenwriters for this movie. I totally thought she deserved the Oscar nomination for her role in this. She was very convincing as a man. If I had not already known about that before watching the movie, I think I would've been very surprised. 

Maria Doyle Kennedy
as Hubert Page.

I thought the story was compelling, I mean I certainly felt for the character, especially with times like the ones in which we are living where work is hard to find and the pay is not that great. The costumes were great and, in particular, the makeup was astounding. It was a very good film. It was bit quiet but the drama was huge. Not only was this based on a short story by George Moore, it was more or less based on actual happenings involving real women hiding their identities so they could get a job and live. I'd love to read the short story one of these days.

I give this movie 4.5 stars.

Script available here: http://albertnobbs-themovie.com/AlbertNobbs.pdf.

Mia Wasikowska (L) and Glenn Close.

Favorite Lines:

Dr. Holloran: Why aren't you in fancy dress? 

Albert Nobbs: I'm a waiter. 

Dr. Holloran: Well I'm a doctor. We are both disguised as ourselves.

Helen: You are the strangest man I have ever met.

Dr. Holloran: Dear Jesus, I don't know what makes people live such miserable lives.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1602098/synopsis.