Movie – Circle of Friends (1995)

At the time I first saw Circle of Friends back when it came to video in the mid 1990s I didn’t realize that I was seeing a cast that would go on to do many more things.  All I knew was that Chris O’Donnell from Scent of a Woman (1992) was playing an Irishman in a movie where a bunch of people in their mid to late 20s were cast as college freshmen.  This was the first film in which I saw Minnie Driver, Saffron Burrows, Alan Cumming, and Aiden Gillen (aka Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish on Game of Thrones).  The movie also has early appearances from Colin Firth and Ciaran Hinds (aka “King Beyond the Wall” Mance Rayder on Game of Thrones).  He plays a professor.

Movie – Tonight You’re Mine (aka You Instead) (2011)

This film is known as “Tonight You’re Mine” in the U.S., but its original title in the U.K. was “You Instead”.  I’m not sure why the title was changed; both of them are pretty generic.  It was shot over only five days at the 2010 T in the Park music festival in Scotland.  It’s not a documentary, though, but a film with actors and actresses in it. Because of the guerilla style of filmmaking and the constant need to react to their surroundings, the music being performed onstage, etc., the movie has a real “you are there” feel to it.  I liked it quite a bit.

Movie – Casanova (2005)

The film Casanova is not a biography of the real man; it is a fictional story that uses him as the main character, much like Shakespeare in Love did with William Shakespeare.  In fact, the plot of Casanova the film could have come from something Shakespeare wrote himself, what with the mistaken identities, people masquerading as others, a woman pretending to be a man, naughty humor for the groundlings, and higher concepts for those who appreciate it.  It also has a very good performance from Heath Ledger as Casanova.

Movie – Head-On (2004)

Head-On is a German film, but it’s about the second generation of Turkish immigrants to that country and how they are caught between the older traditions and the new lives available to them as German citizens.  The focus is on two such people – Cahit (Birol Unel) and Sibel (Sibel Kekilli) – who are husband and wife…sort of.  This film probably contains the best illustration I have ever seen of the phrase “Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.”

Movie – The Station Agent (2003)

The Station Agent is a great little film that I first saw when it came to video/DVD over ten years ago.  At the time I thought to myself, “That guy playing the lead character did a great job.  It’s too bad his height will keep him from getting many other parts.”  This just shows what I know.  “That guy” was Peter Dinklage and he’s now on this TV show you may have heard of – Game of Thrones.  In fact, because of the fame and acclaim he has gained from the show people are seeking out other things he has worked on and that includes this film.  I’m glad more people are getting a chance to experience it.

Movie – Death at a Funeral (2007)

First things first, this review is for the original 2007 U.K version of the film directed by Frank Oz, which had a primarily white British cast, not the 2010 U.S. version directed by Neil Labute which had a primarily black American cast.  The 2010 movie is a remake of the 2007 one.  While the later film kept a lot of the same jokes, I feel the original is funnier.  I will explain why further down.  For now, I want to say that this is a hilarious film.  I laughed my ass off at it.  I’ve given very few pure comedies five stars, but this is one of them.

The Top Ten Lesser-Known Films from Game of Thrones Actors

Note: there are no spoilers in this post for Game of Thrones, regardless of how little of the show you may have seen.

As I write this the fifth season of the TV show Game of Thrones has one episode left to air.  Once again several new characters were introduced.  It was the addition of two of the performers – Keisha Castle-Hughes and Jonathan Pryce – that got me thinking about a couple of great movies they did.  I then started mentally wandering through other cast members and I soon realized that there were quite a few good movies out there that the actors and actresses on the TV show had been involved in.  I decided to build a Top Ten list.