Grab a Bowl of Popcorn~SAGE BOOK WHISPERER's Movie Review~

Let's Dig right in & start with the Juicy -stuff...
~Adore~
This movie started really slow....when it was all over,one might need a reality check.In a nutshell:
At 84 years old (at the time the book was written)_UK's Doris Lessing a 2007 Noble Prize Winner in Literature writes a book called "The Grandmothers"(2003). 

The movie is loosely based upon the book.. yet set in Australia where two schoolgirls/best friends end up as neighbours after they get married. The marriages crumble but their friendship keeps on. Both are infatuated with one another's son, to the boys' wives dismay.

OMG!the love scenes are HOT! Now what was Doris at 84 years old thinking about?...Be forewarned...it's about to get Hot! 

Next,please...
~Daphne~
Dame Daphne du Maurier, UK Novelist of "Rebecca"   which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1941,& the popular novel "The Birds"(Hitchcock movie)_ was later accused of  "plagiarism"for Rebecca and numerous other works.This movie is based on her secret life...her affair with Gertrude Lawrence and her attraction to Ellen Doubleday (wife of US Book Publisher).

Du Maurier explained to a trusted few her own unique slant on her sexuality: her personality, she explained, comprised two distinct people – the loving wife and mother (the side she showed to the world) and the lover (a decidedly male energy) hidden to virtually everyone and the power behind her artistic creativity. She believed the male energy fueled her creative life as a writer. ~ personal letters revealed after her death~  

Note: Elizabeth McGovern of Downton Abbey fame plays Ellen
Doubleday! Very good movie!

Up Next...
~A Royal Affair~
My goodness this was awesome if you like Period Pieces.

Scandalous,Juicy,the arranged marriage system of child brides,secret stairways,deceit,the dalliance of a dance & smile,"illegitimate child,letters from the past that haunt the next generation,etc....this movie did not disappoint! 

This 2012 Historical Drama Film is set in the 18th century, at the court of the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark,and focuses on the romance between his wife,Caroline Matilda of Great Britain and the royal physician,Johann Friedrich Struensee.

And...
~The Affair of the Necklace~
 A 2001 American historical drama film based on what became known as the "Affair of the Diamond Necklace",an incident that helped fuel the French populace's disillusionment with the Monarchy and, among other causes, eventually led to the French Revolution... Vive la Resistance! 

There were several differences between the movie & the _ACTUAL~affair_but to see Hillary Swank as the main character in this type setting was...different! The script's historical liberties_however_ did not take away from the drama about an orphaned child's determination to reclaim her royal title and the home taken from her family when she was a child. 

Of course...
~Lee Daniel's The Butler~

Personally, this was a better movie in 2013 than the Best Picture Academy Award Winner "12 Years a Slave"! The violence associated with 12 Years A Slave movie turned me off...completely. I watched ,but "never again".I read the book instead. 

A 2013 American historical drama film directed and produced by Lee Daniels & written by Danny Strong. Loosely based on the real life of Eugene Allen who is the eyewitness of notable events of the 20th century during his 34-year tenure serving as a White House Butler.

                            Mr.Eugene Allen (1919-2010) 

Perhaps it's because I grew up during periods of time of this movie...that I enjoyed it far better than 12 Years a Slave. The storyline was awesome,the attire,the acting....& the MUSIC was off the chain good! I got up several times to dance.

A HeartBreaker...
~Albert Nobbs~

Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close) is a woman living as a man in order to find work in the harsh environment of 19th-century Ireland. After living as a male for thirty years, Albert, working as a hotel waiter, is known for his extreme dedication to his job, as well as for a very introverted personality. Albert has been secretly saving all his earnings to buy a tobacco shop to gain some measure of freedom and independence.The ending is  ~heart-breaking~ !

Glenn Close...her performance was right up there with "Fatal 
Attraction~ Dangerous Liaisons~Jagged Edge,etc...Damn Good 
Actor...bar-none! 

Oh My,My...
~August:Osage County~

Meryl Streep,Julia Roberts,Ewan McGregor,Benedict Cumberbatch...it just doesn't get any better than that! Some of my favorites all piled in together for this 2013 black comedy drama film. The layers of this film were so stacked_not one human being viewing it couldn't say_"I know someone like that" ! And for those Critics that said this was a little toooooo dark... probably because it brings back memories!

This is not your After-Funeral regular Dinner or NOT..

              Or, The famous Norman Rockwell painting...

            Not your regular Mother/Daughter Table Talk....

             Or The After-Dinner Touch Football Game....

Some mighty powerful words and emotions in this movie. YOU 
CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH.... 

BTW...that a Damn good movie,might have to revisit that one...love ~Tell-It-Like-It-Is-Jack! 

Last But Not Least...
~Gentleman's Agreement~

Taboo topic_ at the time (1947)....reminds me of the plight of many people discriminated against_only because they are different...still today (2014).Imagine going "undercover" to live like another race of people.... 

Interestingly, most all of Hollywood Studios were owned by Jewish Executives.Zanuck decided to make a film version when he was refused membership at the Los Angeles Country Club_they assumed his last name was Jewish! Samuel Goldwyn and other Jewish film executives approached Darryl Zanuck,asked him not to make the film for fear of stirring up trouble! They also warned that Hays Code enforcer,Joseph Breen, might not allow the film to pass the censors, as he had been known to make disparaging remarks about Jews. There was also concern that Dorothy McGuire's character's being divorced would offend the National Legion of Decency...imagine that!  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_condemned_by_the_Legion_of_Decency

 Now imagine what the CODE ENFORCERS then_ would say about TODAY'S film...Bahahaha!

Anyway...this movie and other situations at that time_led to the "Communist" scare in the late 1940's & early 1950's.This lead to the "Black List of Hollywood Actors". AND...the "House Commitee on Un-American Activities",which was empowered to investigate purported communist infiltration in America.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee.aspx

This was just touching the minimum list of movies I've been watching lately! Love Netflix. Wanted to share some interesting ones that YOU may have never considered to watch. So until next_  "The Sage Movie Review"...