Monday, July 18, 2011

Monday Movie Meme - Favorite Movie 2011 Year to Date

A couple of months ago, I was throwing out suggestions for Monday Movie Meme topics to the Bumbles, and one of my ideas was to talk about our favorite movie to date.  This is an easy one.  One that doesn't require too much thinking, one that probably will not have too many duplicates among the participants, and one that will provide some great additions to our Netflix Queue.

But I had an ulterior motive.  At the time of my suggestion, I had just watched a movie that I had loved, and I wanted to talk about it.  One that had been completely off my radar.  Was it even in the theaters?  Who knows.  In hindsight, this movie had all the characteristics of a Nawrot favorite, so how it escaped my attention until now I'll never know.  


  

The Way Back (2010) -  In 1941, a Polish man was wrongly accused of being a spy against the Soviets, and was sentenced to a Siberian gulag.  Certain he will die in such conditions, he and five other men (and a 17 year-old girl they pick up along the way) escape with their eye on freedom...India.  Which was 4,000 miles away.  Three of the men actually survive the journey, 11 months later, having braved the Siberian winter, the Himalayas, the Gobi Desert, starvation, and mosquitoes.

Incredibly, this movie is based on a true story, documented in the book "The Long Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz.  There has been some controversy over the validity of the story, and only recently has there been some proof the tale does not belong to Rawicz but Witold Glinski, who came forward in 2009.  Whatever.  I don't want to hear the fussing.

For this being such an underrated movie, the director and cast are outstanding.  With director Peter Weir at the helm (Master and Commander, The Truman Show, The Dead Poet Society, Witness) the film is in good hands.  Add Ed Harris, Colin Farrell (I know he is a jerk IRL but he is one amazing actor), Saoirse Ronan (Atonement, Hanna, The Lovely Bones), and Jim Sturgess (soon to star in the upcoming One Day), it just doesn't get any better.

You too can watch this incredible film with a click on your Netflix Account.



        

19 comments:

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I don't remember this at all! Where have I been?!!!

sdk_2010 said...

Never heard of this one either. Mustve been a straight to DVD job I think.

Ana S. said...

Wondering the same as Jill and SDK! And also slightly relieved I'm not the only one living under a rock ;) Sounds like an amazing film.

Martha@Hey, I want to read that said...

Wow, what a great cast and director. I've never heard of this before but I'm going to add it to my Netflix queue.

Unknown said...

We've only been to one movie this year. I know. So it's our favorite. We say The Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3-D which is the only way to see it. We loved it.

kayerj said...

It looks and sounds like a good film. Great topic you picked for the day. Kaye—the road goes ever ever on

The Gal Herself said...

This sounds like an awesome movie -- one of those that we'd never even hear of if it wasn't for the blogosphere. Thank you. Ronan is a young actress of great depth and flexibility.

Heather G. said...

Never even heard of this movie but looks like some quality actors! Just added it to my queue! Thanks!

Teacher/Learner said...

Never heard of this one, either. My all-time favourite movie is The Shawshank Redemption, which is probably cliched as so many people claim the same thing, but it's true :) My favourite movie from the past year has been Inception.

Kwizgiver said...

How have I missed this one?? I've added it to my queue! Thanks for including the trailer.

bermudaonion said...

I don't remember this movie either! I rarely watch movies at home, though - I'm too fidgety.

Unknown said...

I'm not familiar with this movie but it sounds good and has a great cast.

I agree with you about Colin Farrell, too. I recently saw him in a Britisj Indie, can't remember the name right now, but he was great in it.

Thanks for a movie for my list!

Nicole said...

Ooooh, I never knew of this movie. Thanks for highlighting it on your blog, for the meme. I am going to add it to one of my rental queues (I'm trying out different services right now, since the selections vary by company) and watch it ASAP.

Your description has this movie reminding me of something along the lines of "Midnight Express".

I would read the book but I just don't have that kind of time right now. The book may be more meaty and in depth than the film, I think. Isn't it usually like that, lol.

Anyway, I cannot believe this movie has been under the radar. It's probably better than Salt.

I like Colin and I loved Ronan in "Hannah," so the casting has me at "hello," lol!

I'm adding this movie within the next five minutes, oh yea indeed.

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Zibilee said...

I have never even heard of this movie, Sandy, and it's got some big names in it! It sounds wonderful, and you are right, it's just one click away from my mailbox! Thanks for sharing this hidden gem with us!

The Bumbles said...

Seems like you should be on the production's promotion payroll based on the responses you received! I too have added to the queue.

Alyce said...

I knew of this movie, but don't remember it being in the theaters either. I recently checked out the book and then ran out of time to read it. I had no idea about the authorship controversy though - I hate it when that happens!

My favorite that I watched this year was The King's Speech. My favorites of all time tend to be comfort movies (Anne of Green Gables, An Affair to Remember, Forget Paris, etc.). They're the ones I watch over and over again.

Chronicles of Illusions said...

I haven't heard of this but it sounds like something I want to see. :)

Darlene said...

I've not heard of this one before but is sounds great. I'm with everyone else wondering how I'd not seen it before. One of my faves remains Gone With the Wind. Not the most exciting choice but I love that movie.

Nicole said...

I'm just getting around to letting you know that after placing "The Way Back" in my rental queue when you wrote this post, I have now watched it (well, during the summer, but the "when" doesn't really matter, right? lol) and thought it was a great movie.

Thanks for listing it as your favorite 2011 Year to Date movie!

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