You could be forgiven for assuming that we spend half our lives at the cinema (indeed the Curzon Bloomsbury) if you simply look at the recent posts on this blog. Four of the last five things we have done being visits to movies at that place.
In reality, we haven’t tended to go to the movies all that much, but over the festive season we usually go at least a couple of times. Not least, to catch up on the handful of art house films to our taste that come out over the autumn which we don’t get around to seeing until Christmastime.
The difference this year is that the new Curzon Bloomsbury really is specialising in such films and is very convenient for us to visit at holiday time.
This movie, Meet The Patels, is well documented on IMDb (and indeed elsewhere) so really doesn’t need our two-penneth. Suffice it to say that you learn more about ethnic arranged marriages/parental pressures and the like in 90 minutes than most people in the west get to experience in a lifetime. It is a heart-warming and genuinely funny movie. Just what Janie and I needed towards the end of another traumatic “mother in hospital over the festive season” variety.
Could next year be a hat trick of those for us? Who knows, but for 90 minutes we could laugh and cry with the young Patel siblings and their parentally-challenged search for love. Highly recommended.
Coincidentally, I had to choose between ‘Meet the Patels’ and the more recent offering from Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig, ‘Mistress America’, for some post Christmas entertainment. I opted for the latter. Purely on the basis of ‘Frances Ha’ (2013) and Gerwig’s refreshing acting and co-writing talents (outstanding, I thought, in FH).
In this latest offering she is ably supported in a compelling short relationship between two soon-to-be stepsisters, by Lola Kirke (father Simon once of ‘Free’ and ‘Bad Company’, before settling in NY to produce extremely talented offspring). It felt to be an inspired selection. My film-reviewing to date has rarely extended beyond, “watch it” or “don’t bother”. Watch it is my firm advice, if at all engaged by strong female characters dreaming, living and skidding through high-octane funny, slightly screwball, dialogue. Now I’m off to watch Ian’s recommendation.
Cheers Nigel. Nice to hear from you. I’ll be very interested to know what you think of Meet The Patels.
We’ll try to check out Mistress America on your recommendation.
Finally got to see Mistress America yesterday and I concur with Nigel’s wise words. It was a very charming, witty and enjoyable movie.
Did you ever get around to checking out Meet the Patels, Nigel?