CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

sol ***SPOILERS*** Artsy smartzy Igmar Bergman like British film that takes place in the dead of winter in a small Scottish town involving some half dozen persons who live there.There's mother and daughter Elspeth & Frances played by Phylida Law & Emma Thompson, who are mother and daughter in real life, who have trouble communicating with each other. Frances a professional photographer is sick and tired of living in the town since her husband suddenly passed away and is seriously thinking of resettling in far off and warm Australia. There's also Frances' teenage son Alex, Garry Hollywood, who's haunted by his father's ghost and is so into himself and his problems that he doesn't see tomboy Nita, Arlne Cockburn, is crazy about him and wants Alex to be her boyfriend every time he passes her riding his bike by the local bus stop.There's also spinsters Lily & Chloe, Sheila Reid & Sandra Voe, who find solace in their boring lives attending funerals for people that they don't know just to put some meaning and excitement into their lives. And finally there's Tom & Sam, Sean Bggerstaff & Dougas Murphy, who just happen to be playing hooky from school who, Tom that is, ends up meeting Elspeth by the shore and unconsciously brings both her and her estranged daughter Frances back together by having her photograph them. The two boys also find two kittens abandoned in a sea cave to their frozen fate and end up adopting them. Which in fact makes them skipping school worthwhile in saving the kittens lives.***SPOILERS*** By the time the film is over you get the impression that everything was fine between all those involved in it with Elspeth & Frances together again and Alex & Nita now boyfriend and girlfriend. There's also Lily & Chole finally finding, after checking out all the newspapers obituaries, a funeral to attend and someone, the guest of honor, to morn for. The most confusing thing in the movie was what exactly happened to both Tom & Sam together with their kittens? They just seemed to have happily walked off the edge of the earth, into the frozen Arctic Sea, by the time the movie ended?

jwalzer5 What a wonderful film this was. Quiet, thoughtful, beautiful performances. The children and young adults were particularly fine. When it was over, I wanted to see it again. Can one pay greater tribute to a film? Emma Thompson's character was beautifully realized and the subplot of two women arguing as they prepare to attend a funeral was very well done. The Scottish "brogue" spoken by the two boys was a little hard on this American's ears at first, but I quickly adapted - and those two boys proved to be the most compelling characters in the film. This was one of those films that "sneaks" up on you. I started watching it, expecting nothing much, but was drawn into it. I highly recommend it.

s82110 First I wanna mention the music of TWG by Michael Kamen. I was shocked to find that he had passed away in 2003 from the Academy Awards "In Memoriam". He poetically and gracefully used the simple piano music in TWD, which led the audience go into the alienated world with warm spirit.I have to admit that I bought this film because I'm a Rickman fan. I was just curious about his first & only film directing. It's adapted from the play by Sharman Macdonald, who also worked on the film script with Alan. In 1997's Chicago Film Festival,TWD even "beat" talented Ming-liang Tsai's "The River", awarded with the Golden Hugo.In my opinion, there's no such thing as "win " or "lose" in a film festival. But this fact also pushed me to see TWD.I can't say there's nothing awkward in TWD. The way they edited the film, say, is not smooth enough; it just kept on reminding me that it's adapted from a play. But also, the off-screen voice was well-used in a few scenes. For instance, Alex told the girl Nita about the love between his Mom & Dad(after he found the house seemed to be "haunted"), overlapped with her mom Frances'(Emma Thompson) breakdown on the mountain. They also perfecly made the opening scene of Mom & Daughter. Mom is walking and cleaning the house; the Daughter stays in the bathroom to keep herself away from Mom's nagging. They dialogued in this way. We can clearly see how they get along. Not too friendly, but caring for each other. You can find Frances grieve over sth, in her private space. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey("The Hours", "The Wit") was so great that he captured some dignity or beauty of life in his long take. I particularly like the scene when Frances held her mother's hand to climb up the hill. Suddenly her mother revealed some part of her fragility. The wall that she supported with also rubbed her hand, along with her nagging and France's silence, this long-take would be such a memorable moment for this film. The high-angle shot of the bus in the field, what can I say, just tells what I mean of "dignity of life". Two old women took the bus to attend a funeral. You never knew where life is going to take you.It's a story of "4 pairs of people". It's important to emphasize on this form the scriptwriters took. While too many films talked about the loneliness of modern people, TWD walked the other way to present life itself. People in TWD may not really be able to understand each other; at least they have a company to walk on the slippery road.Being as a actor-turned-director(especially a British actor), Rickman gave lots of space for the cast. I hope he can direct more. Some places need to be improved, but still Bravo for Mr. Rickman's heart-warming debut.

Mal Walker This 'Day in the life of' film seems to have drawn more pretentious gobbledegook comments since 'Citizen Kane'. 'The Winter Guest' is a quiet little film that weaves a group of ordinary people's lives through a cold wintry atmosphere. The acting is as to be expected from this type of British Film, in other words, good. It is to be enjoyed as a diversion from reality, not as some hidden, cryptic wonderland as some would put forward. Films are for entertainment, let us stop trying to make some sort of scientific religion out of every film that is not purely a vehicle for sex or violence.