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Author Topic: Like A Pleasant British Travelogue  (Read 822 times)

safieajk7812

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Like A Pleasant British Travelogue
« on: February 24, 2013, 01:40:00 PM »


Watch A Good Day To Die Hard Online : WHAT IT'S ABOUT Based on William Boyd's 2006 World War II espionage thriller of the same name, "Restless" is about Eva Delectorskaya (Hayley Atwell), who's recruited by the British Secret Service to work in a supersecret propaganda arm, British Security Coordination, to sow lies about British war aims in the media. Then, one day, her handler, Lucas Romer (Rufus Sewell), ships her off to the United States. One particular mission, in New Mexico, seems easy enough, until something goes terribly wrong. Meanwhile, the story has a modern-day parallel track, in which Eva (now played by Charlotte Rampling) confides to her daughter, Ruth (Michelle Dockery, "Downton Abbey"), about her wartime past.

Watch Warm Bodies Online : She wants Ruth to locate Lucas (Michael Gambon). There's a good reason why. MY SAY Settle in for a long ride here because inaptly named "Restless" takes its languorous time getting to where it wants to go. Also keep in mind that this is a novelization of a deeply researched novel by a distinguished author, who also wrote the screenplay. Boyd seems to want to leave nothing out, including most commas and periods, which is his right, of course, but as a viewer it is also your right to poke the screen now and then with a cattle prod. All that aside, "Restless" is very good.

Watch Beautiful Creatures Online : Atwell does a fine job of selling Delectorskaya as the reluctant Mata Hari with a romantic core who -- nonetheless -- kills effortlessly and (almost) remorselessly. Rampling is her perfect counterpart in old age: Still beautiful, still cold as ice. This whole improbable tale begins to unfold almost as a shaggy dog story, with Dockery's Ruth as surrogate for the viewer. You (and she) aren't entirely certain whether to laugh, or recoil, although in time, the story becomes real enough, and so does the intrigue. Why does Delectorskaya need to find Romer 35 years after the fact (It's set in 1976)? Therein lies the key to a four-plus hour miniseries.

Watch Bless Me Ultima Online : Having already scored with its two scripted ventures -- Carlos and Appropriate Adult -- Sundance Channel keeps its streak going with Restless, a superb two-part miniseries about British spies in the early 1940s before America's entry into World War II. With an excellent cast and a stirring story (it frays a bit near the end, though not enough to do any damage), Restless is based on the book by British novelist William Boyd (who also wrote the teleplay) and has enough intrigue, deceit, twists and lingering suspicions to lure you into its web.

Watch Warm Bodies Online : The miniseries stars Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Rufus Sewell (The Pillars of the Earth) and the dynamic acting duo of Charlotte Rampling and Michael Gambon. It’s executive produced by Hilary Bevan Jones (State of Play). That’s a lot of?talent. Restless begins in 1976, with Ruth Gilmartin (Dockery) racing down a country road with her son to see her mother, Sally (Rampling). Ruth, now studying for her Ph.D., has been a free spirit without much contact with her mother, getting pregnant out of wedlock in Germany and keeping that little secret from Sally for years. Turns out everybody in Restless has a pretty big secret, but none more than Sally.

Watch A Good Day To Die Hard Online : At her country house, Sally keeps using binoculars and a telescope to look into the trees and lush green countryside that surround her house. People are watching her, she says. Ruth, of course, thinks her mother is imagining things. But on a whim she picks up the telescope and looks into the woods when her mother is away and sees the shadow of a man. That haunting sense of being followed -- even hunted -- is the fuel that drives Restless. As Ruth tries to reassure her mother that it’s nothing, Sally drops a bomb: Her real name is Eva Delectorskaya, and she was one of the top spies in the British Secret Service and instrumental in the war effort.

Watch Beautiful Creatures Online : (There aren't a lot of laughs in the tense Restless, but Dockery gets one while also being completely believable as she looks incredulously at Sally and says, “So I’m half-Russian?”) The film then flashes back to Sally’s early years where, as Eva, she’s played by Atwell, who is really the primary star of Restless, along with Sewell, who plays Lucas Romer, the spy who recruits her. The premiere is the stronger of the two episodes, but all of Restless is excellent. The first part sparkles as Eva, at first wide-eyed, blossoms with her training. She’s a natural. Atwell gives her an earnestness that’s fresh for a spy story, but she’s also able to convince the audience that Eva’s cunning and determination are what separate her from the pack -- not some badass attitude.

Watch Identity Thief Online : Besides, Eva is in a part of the agency that disseminates information to manipulate the press -- and thus the Germans and Russians, so it’s not like she’s Jason Bourne. Under Romer’s tutelage, Eva’s role increases and focuses on getting the Americans into the war to help the Brits. Restless deftly switches between the early '40s and 1976, and much of that has to do with Rampling’s superb performance as Sally. Once the veil of country widower is lifted and we know she’s a former spy, Rampling only hammers home the fact that she was a damned good one and -- for reasons viewers must wait on -- is still in danger at her advanced age. Dockery also is impressive in her convincing portrayal of a woman whose world is turned upside down.

Watch Side Effects Online : It takes awhile for her to believe her mother, and she slowly begins to assist her. Of course, the spy work that Sally/Eva did in the war years ends up being the most compelling dramatic aspect and the bulk of the story. Restless does a sterling job of ramping up the intrigue and also showing the real risks of spy work as Eva’s youthful enthusiasm turns to paranoia. Sewell also is quite effective as one of the high-ranking British intelligence players who starts falling for Eva even when he has to put her in harm’s way. Shot in the U.K. and parts of South Africa, Restless deftly switches between the pastoral 1976 back to wartime London, the United States and other locations. It’s lushly shot and directed by Edward Hall.

Watch Die Hard 5 Online : STORY: Sundance Channel's 'Restless' Miniseries Sets Premiere Date. Where Restless hits a minor bump is in the latter part of the second installment, where there’s a little too much coincidence (or luck) in how events pan out. But it never flags in pace, and all the performances, even the smaller ones (like Gambon’s), are enthralling. There’s also an elliptical closing scene that at first hints at some of the minor problems of Restless -- that it makes even the most mundane act seem like it’s going to end in terror, thanks to the music or editing -- and then beautifully shifts to a shot that speaks to the heart and even the title of the story. It you’d lost any trace of faith as the frantic end rushed up, that small scene restores it.

Watch Breaking Dawn Part 2 Online : At this time last year Sundance premiered the terrific dramatic movie "Appropriate Adult." The cable network is now two-for-two with another strong drama entry, the four-hour miniseries "Restless" (9 p.m. Friday and Dec. 14). Based on the novel by William Boyd, this period piece jumps back and forth in time between the 1970s and 1940s. In the 1970s, Ruth Gilmartin (Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary on "Downton Abbey") learns her mother, Sally (Charlotte Rampling, "Melancholia"), has been living a double life. Sally was born in Russia as Eva Delectorskaya and became a spy for the British Secret Service in 1939. Flashbacks show Eva (Hayley Attwell, "Captain America") in spy mode, working for boss Lucas Romer (Rufus Sewell, "Pillars of the Earth") alongside a cadre of colleagues, including Morris Devereux (Adrian Scarborough), who cautions Eva, "When it looks like a Grade A, incontestable, unmistakable suicide, it probably isn't." The first half of the miniseries spends much of its time setting up the mystery and introducing the characters -- in the past and the future -- while part two features exciting spy games. Neither installment would work without the other but the flashbacks benefit from a stronger dramatic tug. In the 1970s, Sally believes she's being watched, possibly stalked by those who would have her killed. Is she to be believed? Or is she a delusional old woman, re-living the spy games of her youth when she was known as Eva? In the 1940s, viewers see Eva learning the tricks of the spy trade and possibly falling in love with one of her superiors.
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