The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) ★★★½ Quote:
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When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner’s clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover.
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A solid and occasionally stylish horror movie with some fairly intense scenes, but one which is mostly forgettable. It's a film with some promise and an engaging storyline, a very good performance from Virginia Madsen, and is very watchable, though never reaches the heights of genre classics like The Haunting (1963), The Innocents (1963) and The Shining (1980).
Suffragette 2015 ★★★★ Quote:
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Based on true events about the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement who were forced underground to evade the State.
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Using a composite character (Carey Mulligan) as the cipher through which the story is told, Suffragette cleverly shows the sociopolitical conditions which led many women to carry out criminal acts, from criminal damage to arson and the toll this took on their bodies, minds, and families.
When I saw it at the cinema, I was extremely impressed by the writing, the direction, the period design and the performances from the cast led by Carey Mulligan, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Wishaw, Brendan Gleeson, and a very well judged cameo from Meryl Streep as Emmeline Pankhurst.
It struck me as an important story of female suffrage and one which seemed topical in light of the Saudi Arabian decision to allow some women to vote, albeit with men driving them to the polling station, and it still seems like a very well judged story and relatable film about a turbulent and influential period of British history.