Five Favourite Movies Your Mother Would Like

• Ladies in Lavender

This quirky little known british drama, directed by Charles Dance, knwon to younger viewers as Tywin Lannister, stars Judy Dench and Maggie Smith, both incredible actresses, this film does little to stretch their dramatic chops, and in spite of it's simpering, the film is really rather good, Dench and Smith star as two sisters who find a young man on the beach, and manage to bring him back to health. The film is a fantastic vehicle for two magnificent actresses, both in their prime, and is a soothing and comforting watch.

• Calendar Girls

This is one of my favorites, starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, and based on the true story of a group of womens institute members in Yorkshire, who decide to create a nude calendar to raise money for the cancer wing of their local hospital, and are met with much opposition. Julie Walters is one of my favorite comic actresses, her performance in this film is great and she is hysterical, the film is also a great showcase for the comic talents of Helen Mirren, who is not usually known as a comic, but who shines in this film, there is a twee provincialism to this film, and a comfort also present, the film is joyous and funny, and it's lead actresses are superb.

• Quartet

The directorial debut of actor Dustin Hoffman is a surprisingly british affair, the story of four musicians living in a nursing home in the english countryside, who were previously in relationships, and who have all given up their music, reunite for one magnificent performance. The film stars Maggie Smith, Billy Connoly, Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay and Pauline Collins, the film, like most of the others on this list, is a perfect vehicle for it's stars, and despite the story being a little pedestrian, the chemistry and connections between the four leads is palpable and mesmerizing.

• Mamma Mia

The fact that this is a musical based upon the songs of ABBA makes Mamma Mia a perfect addition to this list. the music is fun and energetic, and the film overall has a great sense of energy and joy. Meryl Streep leads a superb cast of thespians, and the film does a fantastic job of adapting the show to the big screen.

• Pride and Prejudice

The 2005 version of this film, whilst not perhaps as beloved as the television serial starring Colin Firth, is still pretty fantastic, Kiera Knightley is by far the best Elizabeth Bennett seen on film, and the fest of the cast is just as excellent. Donald Sutherland stars as her father, and Judi Dench as Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Pride and Prejudice is a sumptuous and beautiful adaptation, that faithfully captures the romanticism and beauty of Jane Austen's superb novel.

Finding Our Breakfast on Pluto

During the mid 70's a young trans-woman named Patrick "Kitten" Brady journeys from Ireland to London to find her long lost mother who was swallowed up by the  greatest city in the world. Played by Cillian Murphy, Kitten ends up working as a magician's assistant, a prostitute, a womble and a in a peepshow, the offspring of a priest, Kitten grows up in revolutionary Ireland, close to the border on Northern Ireland raised by his adoptive mother an environment from which he eventually escapes living rough for a few years.

This beautifully quirky dark comedy uses over thirty short chapters to explain the story of Kitten, a young transwoman, despite Kitten being trans, the film never judges her for her coices or for the hard decisions she has to make, and Kitten becomes a prostitute, and impersonates a BT saleswoman in order to find his mother. Cillian Murphy is astounding in the lead role, and he takes on not just the look of a woman, but also the mannerisms and posture. The character of Patrick is so much more than just a trans character, and throughout most of the film, inhabits a space somewhere between the hetero-normative binary system of male and female.

Kitten is essentially neither male nor female, although he starts the show biologically male, he spend the vast majority of the film inhabiting the space in between, Kitten's gender is a reference point for his emotions as he goes through his journey, he starts the film as Patrick, a young boy being raised near the Irish border by a woman he believes to be his mother, after he discovers his adoption, he begins to experiment with his appearance, taking on a more feminine or effeminate appearance.

Not knowing who his mother is, he spends the rest of the film in a sort of limbo, not knowing where he comes from, or who gave birth to him, and thus his external gender is also in a sense of limbo, he retains the names Kitten and Patrick, and works in a typically female industry with male clients, he also dates men and solicits work from male clients as a prostitutes. Towards the end of the film, when Patrick goes to see her mother, her appearance is drastically different, loosing the male aspects of her style and becoming a true physical woman.

Intentionally this happens before she even sees her mother, showing that the turning point of the film is not Kitten finding her mother, and discovering where she came from, but discovering who she is as a person and who she wants to be, she realizes that finding a sense of self will not come from finding her mother, but from finding herself. Cillian Murphy provides one of cinemas greatest performances in Breakfast On Pluto, a delightfully quirky dark comedy that remains one of the most sensitive and realistic portrayal of a trans character to date. Rating: A

Patrick "Kitten" Braden: Not many people can take the tale of Patrick Braden, aka St. Kitten, who strutted the catwalks, face lit by a halo of flashbulbs as "oh!" she shrieks, "I told you, from my best side darlings."

A Summer In Osage County

August Osage County is a 2013 American black comedy film directed by John Wells and adapted by Tracy Letts from his own play which premiered in 2008. The film features an ensemble cast starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in leading roles. The film was nominated for two Oscars, Julia Roberts for Best Supporting Actress and Meryl Streep for Best Actress

The film follows a few weeks at the home of family matriarch Violet Weston as she attempts to deal with the disappearance and later death of her husband, whilst her family convenes at her home in Osage County Oklahoma. Over the course of the film the relationships between various family members are uncovered, analyzed and eventually destroyed.The film was adapted from Lett's Pulitzer winning 2008 play of the same name. Letts adapted the film from the play himself, and the film remains reasonably faithful to the plot of the source material.

I was more impressed with this film than i intended to be, i will admit that i went into this film with a largely preformed opinion, something i may not be proud of but oh well, i always try to be as open minded as possible going into these films but i had heard rather a lot about this movie before going in, and not much of it was good. But is has surprised by how thought provoking, subtle and interesting this film was. The film features some pretty fantastic performances, however the film can feel a little heavy handed at times, the sheer quantity of acting happening is so great that it occasionally reaches a crescendo for the audience to somehow come out unscathed.

Despite the power of the performances, the film suffers from a slight touch of overacting. This is most likely due to the inexperience of the director. This is only John Wells second picture, and working with such juggernauts is difficult and the director needs to learn how to tone down their performances. Meryl Streep gives a powerful performance as Violet Weston, the family's cruel and vindictive matriarch. She is very good in her performance, however she doses occasionally veer into Mommie Dearest territory, becoming so cruel and tyrannical that it becomes slightly comical, and on more than one occasion did i find myself bursting out with laughter, thankfully none was sat near me at the movie theater.

This films MVP is really Julie Roberts, she gives a stunning performance as a young woman who has become callous, bitter and jilted. Roberts surprises with her ability to be so nasty and cruel, and i give her huge credit for managing to maintain a sense of dignity and allowing her character not to become two dimensional or camp, in some ways she succeeds better that Meryl Streep, which is no mean feat, and her character is more real, has more gravitas, and is less two dimensional. After seeing this film, i feel that Julia Roberts is actually the most deserving of all the Best Supporting Actress nominees, she doesn't have a high hope in hell of winning, but she has by far the most screen time of all the nominees, and has almost as much screen time as Meryl Streep.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film, and i found it to be thought provoking and interesting, and it raised some interesting questions about family, relationships and taboos. The film questions why we stay in relationships with people that we have no real connection with, and in many cases whom we don't even like. The characters in this story are vile, and they seem to hate each other intensely, yet they keep coming back for more, and this film dares to question why, are they simply masochists, as one of my favorite Sex And The City episodes asked, do they truly love each other, or are they just addicted to the pain? Rating: B+

Barbara Weston: Eat the fucking fish! 
Violet Weston: I'm not hungry! 
Barbara Weston: Eat the fish, Bitch!