Movies -- A Recap -- Part IX

Handia (aka, The Giant) is a character study.  It's a bit slow and a bit odd, but sweet.  It's based on a true story, the tale of two brothers separated by a long-forgotten European war.  When the older brother returns home, he discovers that his little brother suffers from gigantism.  The elder brother hatches a plan to tour Europe, hoping to make money to support their family on the curiosity that is his little brother.  Note: subtitled, so not good for multi-tasking.

I forget why we watched Back to the Future.  It might have been because S hadn't seen it.  It might have been because neither of us had seen it in a while.  Either way, it is a classic.  Perhaps most especially, I love that scene near the beginning where Michael J. Fox is listening to The Power of Love on his Walkman and hitchhiking (in a manner of speaking) his way to school.  And of course, Johnny B. Goode!

I have liked Carey Mulligan for a long time.  When Suffragette came up on our list of movies, I was on board.  Overall, the movie was decent.  There were some very touching scenes between the women. The scenes between women and others (mainly men) were especially horrifying, just to see how women were treated.  Despite my love of Carey Mulligan, though, I am not entirely sure why she was the central character in the movie.  She adds some emotional weight, but when you get to the end (which I don't want to spoil), you may also wonder why the movie was about her and not someone else.

Attacking the Devil: The Last Nazi War Crime was picked out by S because he knew I would like it.  History, and a British guy.  What's not to like?  Other than the Nazis, of course.  The movie profiled an interesting little nugget that I didn't know much about.  At its heart, it is the story of an intrepid journalist who will not be put off his story by censure laws or social constraints or anything else.  I thought the call-out to the Nazis, actually, was a little bit of click-bait.  The movie is about the thalidomide babies -- why not give them the credit in the title?  Nevertheless, worth seeing, but difficult.

I don't usually see a movie before I read a book, but I did that with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  I think I even have the book, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.  The movie is cute, but entirely predictable.  Should I now bother with the book?