It seems like drag queen movies came up back-to-back on my queue, so Zach went in and shuffled things up a bit. He tries to get a mix of 'my movies' and 'his movies' on the queue, but since I had the account a good 3 years before we were actually in the same household... my movies outweigh his a good bit :)
Anyhoo, the movie this week is: Kinky Boots.
This is a fun movie. It's not gripping drama, is on the predictable side, and has a few over-the-top moments (like the finale at the catwalk in Milan) but is very entertaining nonetheless. It's simply a fun, feel-good sort of distraction, and we all need those from time to time.
The acting is solid, but nothing exceptional, except for one part. The whole movie is really held together by Lola, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. What a great actor! I recognized him from Love Actually (he's Peter, Kierra Knightley's husband) and from Serenity (he's the Operative). Zach recognized him from Four Brothers (he was Victor Sweet, a rather sadistic drug lord). Interestingly, Four Brothers, Serenity, and Kinky Boots were all released the same year - quite a range!! He does a great job here of making Lola believable, more than just a stereotype, not just an over-the-top persona which it could have easily been. And, he does his own singing :) Told you it was a good soundtrack!
The costumes are pretty fun. Well, most are pretty ordinary clothes, so it's all about the shoes, right? The first sample model Lola designs are thigh-high, bright red, and have a holster for a whip on the side!! The shoes at Milan are fun too, showing a wider range of the Kinky Boots line - some are really cute shoes, honestly!
Also to be mentioned about this movie: great soundtrack! Check out samples here at Amazon. Not something that you hear about a lot from me, but this one has just some fun songs. One of my favorite songs ever appeared on it, a little-known gem called "In these shoes" by Kirsty MacColl. Anne and I each had heard it once or twice on the radio (back when 93.7 was the Coast, not Bob FM, all those ages ago, for you Hampton Roads folk) and could never find who it was by! One of those times that a song is played in the middle of a set, and the announcer doesn't tell you who it's by of the name of the song. So frustrating. Anyhoo, this song was right in the middle of the film in the background, and then over the ending credits! Woohoo! I was so excited, I actually called Anne in the middle of the night (her time - sorry, hon!) And yes, have since downloaded the song for myself :)
Overall: 4.5 of 5. Not classic, but lots of fun. Worth at least one viewing, if you like feel-good British comedies (I do). Can definitely see this one on the shelf.
Anyhoo, the movie this week is: Kinky Boots.
The story: A young man inherits the family shoe factory. Generations of manufacturing sensible shoes, and struggling to get by, since everything is now mass-marketed and cheaply produced. In order to reinvent the brand, and keep everyone employed in the meantime, they look for a niche market and find it in the drag queen community: making "kinky boots" designed to handle a man's weight. And, to make it more fun, actually based on a real story!
This is a fun movie. It's not gripping drama, is on the predictable side, and has a few over-the-top moments (like the finale at the catwalk in Milan) but is very entertaining nonetheless. It's simply a fun, feel-good sort of distraction, and we all need those from time to time.
The acting is solid, but nothing exceptional, except for one part. The whole movie is really held together by Lola, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. What a great actor! I recognized him from Love Actually (he's Peter, Kierra Knightley's husband) and from Serenity (he's the Operative). Zach recognized him from Four Brothers (he was Victor Sweet, a rather sadistic drug lord). Interestingly, Four Brothers, Serenity, and Kinky Boots were all released the same year - quite a range!! He does a great job here of making Lola believable, more than just a stereotype, not just an over-the-top persona which it could have easily been. And, he does his own singing :) Told you it was a good soundtrack!
The costumes are pretty fun. Well, most are pretty ordinary clothes, so it's all about the shoes, right? The first sample model Lola designs are thigh-high, bright red, and have a holster for a whip on the side!! The shoes at Milan are fun too, showing a wider range of the Kinky Boots line - some are really cute shoes, honestly!
Also to be mentioned about this movie: great soundtrack! Check out samples here at Amazon. Not something that you hear about a lot from me, but this one has just some fun songs. One of my favorite songs ever appeared on it, a little-known gem called "In these shoes" by Kirsty MacColl. Anne and I each had heard it once or twice on the radio (back when 93.7 was the Coast, not Bob FM, all those ages ago, for you Hampton Roads folk) and could never find who it was by! One of those times that a song is played in the middle of a set, and the announcer doesn't tell you who it's by of the name of the song. So frustrating. Anyhoo, this song was right in the middle of the film in the background, and then over the ending credits! Woohoo! I was so excited, I actually called Anne in the middle of the night (her time - sorry, hon!) And yes, have since downloaded the song for myself :)
Overall: 4.5 of 5. Not classic, but lots of fun. Worth at least one viewing, if you like feel-good British comedies (I do). Can definitely see this one on the shelf.
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