curated cinema: the wit and wisdom of Maggie Smith (and her friends)
2018’s Tea with the Dames (aka Nothing Like a Dame) is on Kanopy in the US, BBC iPlayer in the UK.
Roger Michell
Blackbird movie review: the bell tolls, ever so tastefully
The to-die-for cast can’t quite save this melodrama from its trite obviousness, in which rage and grief are matters of tasteful, upscale lifestyle. But they at least make it passingly watchable.
Tea with the Dames (aka Nothing Like a Dame) documentary review: legends speak
Come sit next to Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright, and Eileen Atkins and eavesdrop on their witty banter, amiable swearing, and grand tales of their stage and film careers.
Le Week-end review: la vie et le bonheur
A marvelous little unpacking of the meaning of happiness, precisely what constitutes it, and how to know whether you’ve found it.
Hyde Park on Hudson (London Film Festival review)
Two separate tales of FDR that are certainly worthy of in-depth explorations on their own are mashed together in a way that is ridiculous and which gives both of them a short shift that neither deserves.
