Worth Watching: Picnic At Hanging Rock

I've been wanting to see this for years, and I finally have! This Australian school-girl mystery from the 70s will probably have you thinking about it after it's over.

Set in the early 20th century, "Picnic" is about the baffling disappearance of three school girls and a teacher, who vanish without a trace while picniking at Hanging Rock. Did someone kill them? Did they run away? Why did they behave so oddly all of a sudden? We never find out what really happened to them, but it's safe to assume they died. It drastically changes life at the school, for some more than others.

It is a bit frustrating not knowing, but it achieves the right effect. Perhaps it's better being left to wonder. It's more romantic that way, and finding out what happened might be disappointing, and make these human girls seem, well...human. Miranda especially is painted as an etheral sort of girl, the sort of person everyone likes and looks up to, and in at least one case, loves. She's portrayed this way both leading up to the tragedy, as well as the even more tragic aftermath.

It's a fairly captivating watch.. One of the best movies I've seen in awhile.

My grade: A

Comments

Movie Review: Serial Mom

*may be spoilers* I feel as if I should have seen this before, but it somehow managed to escape my notice. But hey, I found it! Great premise, too: Kathleen Turner as a picture-perfect wife and mother, living in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. She's also insane and likes to kill people over the smallest matters. She has a talent for murder, but not, sadly, for covering her tracks. The thought of wearing gloves or wiping fingerprints doesn't even cross her mind. The first half of this is the strongest. After she gets arrested, it loses some of its humor and charm, though it doesn't completely fall flat. Good ending, as well. Ricki Lake plays her daughter, Misty. It's easy to forget about her acting days, especially when you haven't seen her in anything...like me. I liked her in this, and may I say that it was refreshing to have a chubby young actress instead of a typical, thin, dime-a-dozen actress? Overall, not a bad comedy, but not a masterpiece.

Inspector Lewis: Wild Justice

You know, I was excited last night. Why? Because, after weeks of no Inspector Lewis, they were finally airing two new episodes back to back! Yay! PBS has been a bit backed up, what with all of their pledge programming and favorites. There are four new episodes in total, and two, I believe, were supposed to air in September. Only one did. Naturally, I was looking forward to the 9-midnight Lewis-athon. And you know what ticked me off? They didn't play two new episodes back to back. They repeated the first one and then played a new one. So I had to wait until 10:30 to get my fix. Because of course everyone wants to re-watch the first one, right? Wrong! Mamma not happy! But we did get one new episode, so I'll be content with that. They should be playing the other two next week, since a new series is supposed to start soon. This one is called "Wild Justice". Lewis and Hathaway are investigating the death of a female Bishop. She flew across the pond from the USA for

Restless Tonight -Reviews and Rants

Search This Blog