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My Old Addiction

Movie Reviews By Bil Antoniou

Douglas McGrath

Born: February 2, 1958, New York City, New York.

1996: Emma

2000: Company Man

2002: Nicholas Nickleby

2006: Infamous

2011: I Don’t Know How She Does It

2016: Becoming Mike Nichols

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102 Dalmatians
101 Dalmatians (1996)
25th Hour (2002)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Che: Part Two (2008)
Veronika Voss (Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss)
The Tamarind Seed (1974)
Clear And Present Danger
One Sings, The Other Doesn't (L'une chante, l'autre pas) (1977)
Happy End (2017)

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BEST ACTRESS 1992: As a fourteen year-old whose life as a film watcher was completely changed by seeing HOWARDS END in a movie theatre (on a whim, I might add, before this my favourite all-time film was Dick Tracy), the one acclaimed element of Merchant Ivory's best film that surprised me was that every Best Actress award was being given to EMMA THOMPSON. Not that I minded, my love affair with her began with that film and will never end, but I thought Helena Bonham Carter had the showier role, it didn't even occur to me that Thompson was actually acting; her instinctive delivery of dialogue and, even more impressive, her reactions to people (just look at the face she makes at her future husband Anthony Hopkins when his rudeness inspires his snotty son to leave the room) all just seemed like they were really HER (as one of my best friends put it, even the clothes seem like they're hers) and it's only with the passage of time and my increased understanding of acting that I realize that Thompson, who always manages to be both cerebral and emotional at the same time, is actually working very hard and making it look very easy. The character of Margaret Schlegel is a chatty old maid who is admirably intelligent but also blind to her loved ones' faults when it counts most, and keeping the audience on her side requires not just Thompson's witty brilliance but her warmth as well (otherwise she'll be Maggie Smith's indelible portrayal of a darker version of the character in A Room With A View), and it's rare that watching someone walk the well-intention-paved road to hell has been so relatable.

Today's review on MyOldAddiction.com, The Tamarind Seed by #BlakeEdwards starring #JulieAndrews and #OmarSharif, "the glamour of the stars leaves a good impression"

"If everything that's written about me was true, I'd have about ten kids and I'd be married five times, one of them with some actor named Chris Evans, whose name I heard for the first time two hours ago." - Gisele Bündchen, born July 20, 1980. #GiseleBündchen

"Acting allows me to present a different kind of truth, to bring some light back into the stories of our history." - Tantoo Cardinal, born July 20, 1950. #TantooCardinal

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RT @filmfest_ca: It's one of the truly soul destroying things about this critic "career" that those that fail spectacularly get more attent… 17 hours ago
"If everything that's written about me was true, I'd have about ten kids and I'd be married five times, one of them… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 23 hours ago
"Acting allows me to present a different kind of truth, to bring some light back into the stories of our history."… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 23 hours ago
"I rather like that transformation in the morning from "I don't want to look in the mirror"; then you start pulling… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 23 hours ago
RT @rosstmiller: All I'm saying is be prepared for a critic quote to be plastered all over the posters for Cats that says, "It's purrrrrrrr… 1 day ago
RT @robbiereviews: "Same" – Tom Hooper twitter.com/NetflixFilm/st… 1 day ago
The #catsmovie looks amazing, and Brando is in it? I'm sold ! https://t.co/6TkRiUuiSl 1 day ago
RT @hamrahrama: This October @Criterion releases John Sayles's great 1987 pro-labor drama about the Mingo County massacre in 1920 - I wrote… 1 day ago
"Cumberbatch - it sounds like a fart in a bath, doesn't it? What a fluffy old name. I can never say it on a Monday… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 day ago

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