I finally saw Mama Mia at the last chance theater and I enjoyed. It was a little long, but all in all it was a lot of fun. Brosnan's singing was not that bad, it was a little rough in his first number but after that it seemed to get better. Definitely worth seeing. I have got to say that even singing ABBA Brosnan looks more Bondian than Craig.;) Okay, maybe not at the end in full regalia but still even singing show tunes the guy has a certain aura of COOL about him.
"A blunt instrument wielded by a Government department. Hard, ruthless, sardonic, fatalistic. He likes gambling, golf, fast motor cars. All his movements are relaxed and economical". Ian Fleming
I rented this to see Mathew Amalric aka Dominic Greene in a movie to check him out. He plays the real-life editor of Elle who succumbed to a massive stroke that left his paralysed from the neck down and only able to communicate via blinking one eye. Fun stuff. Amalric is good but hardly in it in a way because it's filmed from his point of view, looking out at the world.
Judging from some responses, his helpless character inspires more hatred than his QoS villain, due to his philandering flashbacks to a happier life. "I totally think he got what was coming to him!" said one girl in my office. Charming!
Jason Stratham must be one of the hardest working men in movies; in the last year I've seen him in The Bank Job and Death Race and now this. Stratham made his name in Hollywood with The Transporter in which he plays delivery man Frank Martin, who lives in the south of France and transports often suspect packages in the boot of his gleaming black Audi. However, this second sequel sees Stratham idling in neutral, if not in reverse.
Good news first; this occupies the same universe as the first Transporter film, not the preposterous cartoon reality of the second. The plot owes something to Stratham's Crank this time; he must wear a bracelet that will set off a massive explosion if he is 50 metres away from this vehicle, which is reluctantly coerced into driving from Marseilles to Budapest. And actor Francois Berleand, who played the French inspector is back. Transporter's charm owed much to the sly rapport between Frank and the inspector, much like Claude Reins and Bogard in Casablanca.
The bad news? It's not a good movie. Say what you like about the latest Bond film, but at least the director had some ambition with his set pieces even if it didn't always come off. The worst aspect is that Frank is saddled with a sulky uncooperative East European girl, a freckley bobcut gingernut who is quite devoid of charisma and a very annoying character. It's sort of meant to be funny like Magda, the sulk home help in Brit sitcom Lead Balloon, but it doesn't work. Worst is when she humiliates Stratham by making him do a strip tease for her - this takes place on the edge of some deserted quarry in Eastern Europe under a grim, overcast sky. Bizarrely, it leads to a clinch between them.
Berléand is back but here is an ally of Frank, the sort of well meaning copper who the maverick hero can rely upon to get him out of scrapes or provide information at the drop of a hat.
The car stunts are nothing special and it's all based around the countdown to some politican (Jeroen Krabbé of The Living Daylights) signing a document. The main villain is a Dragon's Den Duncan Bannatyne lookalike - if they'd had the old bag from Dragon's Den they might be onto something.
The first Transporter scored points by occupying much the same world as Bond but doing it better - a guilty pleasure. This one is sub-Bond and not much fun; the worst of both worlds. A bit like the first xXx movie in fact. It's faintly embarrassing, with oodles of unintentional laughter.
Bolt - It has become something of a family tradition for the whole family (wife and three kids) to see a movie together the night before Thanksgiving. This year was a tough choice as everyone, but my daughter had seen QoS and she had seen Twilight, so we settled on Bolt.
The film has been released in two versions, 3-D and not 3-D. If you can't catch the 3-D version don't worry, the 3-D is only used effectively a few times, nothing will be missed by seeing the regular version.
Bolt, is a TV show dog that thinks he is a real superhero dog. He gets seperated from his owner and TV show co-star, forcing him to embark on a cross country trip to reunite with his owner. Along the way he picks up an alley cat, and a hamster to assist him in his mission. The cat being street wise discovers the dogs TV show identity and trys to convince him he has no superpowers. It takes a while, but he finally catches on, but continues his quest anyway. Their is a real cute part in the movie where the cat teaches Bolt how to do regular dog things like, stick his head out a car window, chase a stick, drink from a toilet bowl, etc.
Overall I would say Bolt is a good movie not a great movie, I enjoyed the 2nd half more than the first half. If you have some kids and are looking for a movie to take them to that may still keep your interest, I recommend Bolt.
Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day - A delightful little screwball comedy set in London just before the war. Frances McDormand plays Miss Pettigrew an unemployed governess who ends up working for an American actress played by Amy Adams. The movie takes place over one day as McDormand assists Adams in escaping some boyfriend overlaps and then understanding the importance of love.
I really enjoyed this film, Adams in a Marilyn Monroe type role is quite good and McDormand is wonderful as Miss Pettigrew. The film is smart, funny and insightful. Highly recommend.
I'm a huge fan of tap dancing, and so when someone bought this Gregory Hines/Sammy Davis Jr.-starrer, I was intrigued to say the least.
The script and quality of production leaves much to be desired here, but the film features a host of tap dancing legends such as Bunny Briggs, Jimmy Slyde, Steve Condos, Harold Nicholas, Arthur Duncan, Sandman Sims and Sammy Davis himself, all of whom come together for one incredible scene to face eachother in a challenge, where each of them show off their skills, despite their advanced ages. It really is a masterful sequence, but sadly there aren't enough of these and the film concentrates far too much on the cheesy, awful love story between Gregory Hines and Suzanne Douglas.
Had we seen more tap dancing, and less of everything else which was comparably mediocre, the film might be better-remembered today.
Just for reference, here is that aforementioned 'masterful' scene, where the tap-masters challenge eachother;
Arty flick from Jonathan Demme. Kym, a long-time junkie, gets let out of her Manhattan rehab facility to attend her older sister Rachel's wedding in Connecticut. Old tensions are renewed, with Kym as the proverbial straw stirring a drink that is plenty dysfunctional even without her.
This is a really good movie, but you have to stick with it. Demme directs in a documentary fashion, several important scenes go on well longer than they would in more conventional directorial style, and there is no soundtrack music other than that provided by the minstrel-esque musicians that have gathered at the house for the weekend. Despite the bucolic WASP-y setting, the film is extremely multicultural without it feeling contrived.
At the heart of the movie are several great performances. As Kym, Anne Hathaway carries the film with an astonishingly good acting job that surely puts to rest any thoughts of her as a permanent member of the Disney stable. Kym is raw, caustic and deeply damaged, and Hathaway plays her to perfection. (Aside from Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, I can think of no more likely shoo-in for an Oscar nomination).
Excellent turns are also provided by Rosemarie Dewitt as Rachel, Bill Irwin as their emotive and occasionally fragile father, Anna Deavere Smith as his wife who somehow anchors much of the proceedings without really being a central character, and especially Debra Winger as Kym's and Rachel's mother who deals with horrible things by not dealing with them. There's a scene between Kym and her Mom that is as powerful as any I've seen in quite a while.
For sure, you will not leave the theater feeling uplifted, despite the warmth of much of the wedding-related festivities. You will, however, be reminded how interesting a film can be when the director isn't afraid to take some risks and trusts his actors. See it if you can.
1968 psychedelic curiosity which gave its name to the Noel Gallagher song. it has a soundtrack by Beatle George Harrison, Jane Birkin appears in a state of undress. Reading that, you want to rent it right now, don't you?
Well don't. For a start, its main star is this middle-aged absent-minded professor/scientist (He mixes up his colleague's names when he leaves the lab at the end of the day tee hee!). In his gloomy old attic apartment one evening examining something under a microscope he hears jarring Indian music (reminding you why Lennon and McCartney didn't allow George the keys to the studio too often). Then he spots a hole in the wall thru to the next apartment and espies Jane Birkin showing her bare legs and other groovy goings-on.
That's it really, though he drills more holes in the wall to allow his peeping tom activities full reign over the parties and phony groovy scene next door. He's a pathetic character, like a teen getting hold of a porn DVD for the first time. It goes on like this, occupying the same world as Bedazzled, but without the fun of Pete and Dud (not saying that film was a barrel of laughs, mind); English character actors Richard Wattis and Irene Handle pop up but rather than heightening the exoticism, they made me feel uncomfortably racist about the Indian music ("Ooh knock us up a curry love!")
True, a shot of Jane Birkin crossing her curvy legs in a laboratory, while puffing on a pipe almost made me spit my coffee out on my computer screen, to employ a euphanism, but that was a slim return for the previous hours of tedium.
Some of the later far out Harrison music is okay however, but you can see why the Beatles thought Magical Mystery Tour would be a smash if this sort of thing could be released.
A curio from 1966 inspired by a story suggested by Ian Fleming apparently, about drug smuggling that originates in Iran. It has an all-star cast - Trevor Howard, Omar Shariff, Yul Brynner, Kenneth Griffith, Jack Hawkins, Angie Dickinson, Anthony Quayle and apparently Princess Grace of Monaco as herself, who I didn't spot while watching it.
Lots of Bond touches - its directed by Terence Young, Harold 'Oddjob' Sakata pops up as a bookish intellectual who holds the key - okay, you got me - as the gangster's bodyguard, there's a geiger counter used to track radioactive opium, Trevor Howard is sort of the Bond character and gets to wear a tux later on, and prowls around the villain's yaght a la Thunderball.
Howard is the main protagonist - a drug investigator - but is generally palled up with his American Leiter like sidekick for reasons of comedy and exposition. Its ironic, given Howard's earlier role in The Third Man on similar lines regarding drug trafficking.
I rented this from lovefilm.com but the transfer quality is very poor, with hiss on the soundtrack and part of the picture obviously cut off, like it's a bootleg. Yet it has some Bondian sweep and scale lacking from Young's official Bonds; I'm thinking of the epic scenes of Iran which seem more authoritive than any Bond scenes of a similar nature in QoS or TLD.
Ultimately its downfall is that it should be The French Connection but is sunk by the Bond allusions crammed in, undermining its authority and message. Sadly, the message that drugs are bad for you is a bit square to carry a film by itself; the movie in fact opens with an intro by Angie Dickinson, looking like the Shrublands Thunderball masseur, warning of the evils of opium like those movies of the time carrying public health warnings about rock n roll. It reminded me of Adam West as Batman's moral lectures to Robin. (Edit: it's not Angie doing the intro but Princess Grace; didn't realise it was her). Angie is Ms Benson acting during the film.
The finale picks things up and there's an unexpected twist on the gangster's yaght in Nice. The hoodlum's meeting maybe puts the Quantum organisation's opera gig in the shade, being held
in the carriage of an overnight train
but overall Operation Opium is a bit of a mess. Much of it reminds one of the worthy exposition scenes you get in a Bond film; played out for the duration, or a filmed version of Fleming's Thrilling Cities journalism. For the first hour we don't meet anyone evil enough to inflame our interest so it's just detective work mostly.
Wretched adaptation of the video game. Olga Whatshertits turns up briefly as a nightclub temptress, but there's nothing else of note here. Play the games instead. They're a lot more fun. It's a pity they didn't have Wahlberg narrating the hilariously bad film-noir type voice-over used in the games though.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
"Help!"
Starring the Beatles. It was my great pleasure to show this to Loeff Jr (age 13) and Loeff III (age 11) for the first time, as part of my ongoing campaign to offset the influence of T-Pain, 50 Cent, et al., in their cultural awareness.
They loved it. I hadn't seen it for over 20 years; it was as nonsensical and unapologetically silly as I remembered it---something of a train wreck, really, in all senses except that it's one hell of a lot of fun watching these four guys having one hell of a lot of fun. Leo McKern seems to be having a blast mugging his way through it as the baddie. The remastered soundtrack sounded GREAT.
Nearing the end of the (supposed) innocence for those four boys, in 1965...and it makes for a brisk and refreshing respite from everything that's wrong with today.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
...as part of my ongoing campaign to offset the influence of T-Pain, 50 Cent, et al., ...
Keep fighting the good fight, Loeff! {[]
Anyway, a couple of real classics -- one truly bona fide, and one in Hilly's mind:
Citizen Kane -- Ran on TCM the other night, and it had been many years since I saw it last. Not much really to say...generally acknowledged as one of the top two movies of all time (Casablanca being the other). Orson Welles was a true genius when he got himself organized, and it's staggering to think he made this film when he was only 26 years old. The story is still riveting. The directorial style was truly groundbreaking in 1941, and remains compelling to this day. The one part I had forgotten about was this music, courtesy of the incomparable Bernard Herrmann.
The Right Stuff -- One of my all-time favorites, adapted from Tom Wolfe's book. A long, meandering look at the birth of the US space program, told through the eyes of the original Mercury astronauts. A panoply of young acting talent who would prove to have staying power -- Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris, Fred Ward, Jeff Goldblum, Harry Shearer, Scott Glenn, Veronica Cartwright, Sam Shepherd, Barbara Hershey. What I had forgetten about this one was the heavy comedic elements -- there's a lot of pure slapstick in the film. Yes, the film could be shorter, but it's telling an epic tale of a part of history that has largely been forgotten. In many ways, America was so forward-looking back then -- it's hard not to be nostalgic.
King Rat (1965), based on James Clavell's novel of British and American POWs trying to preserve their sanity and sense of order on a Japanese island. Sort of a cross between Stalag 17 and Bridge over the River Kwai, with excellent performances and a fascinating storyline. And there are Bond connections: John Barry's score anticipates his work on You Only Live Twice, and that film's Mr. Osato, Teru Shimada, shows up as the Japanese commandant. Good show well done.
Get Smart. Aha! The old "take-a-classic-TV-show-and-reimagine-it-as-a-movie" trick! It's a cinematic masterpiece sure to gain Oscar nominations in every major category! Oh, you don't believe me? Would you believe it's a comedy classic that delivers guaranteed laughs at every turn? No? How 'bout a mediocre squib that generates enough chuckles to keep it from thoroughly sucking?
Really, I don't begrudge the movie for altering the characters to avoid a lot of direct comparisons to the beloved TV show. In fact, given the iconicity of Don Adams and co., it was probably a smart thing to do. But did the story have to be so long, forgettable, and downright dull? The show was all about silly schemes, Borscht belt humor, and elaborate wordplay; couldn't the filmmakers have tried to emulate those original qualities, if not the original characters? Oh, Max, you missed it by THAT much!
well i am on holiday and the last film i watched was EVAN ALMIGHTY. It was so funny ,and those who have not watched it ,you should
it was a must see , And Steve Carell is a good actor . and as for Hardy Boy he watched Get Smart .i cant wait to see GS .and as for EVAN ALMIGHTY a great film from my side-AWTD
Classic black and white Western from 1962. Except it's not a Western exactly, being mostly set on a cattle ranch and lacking Native Americans and stagecoaches, etc. Not lacking a big theme, however, as it's clear the traditional ways are on the slide and the oil barons ready to move in.
Newman is Hud, the reckless, womanising, selfish cattle owner's son - shades of East Of Eden here. Great ensemble playing from the four actors, however and terrific black and white photography. Very evocative, in the same way as The Last Picture Show, another movie dealing with loss.
(A very nasty finale however. Can't really hint at it without giving it away.) The plot is very simple but unlike other recent rentals, I found it so easy and lovely to watch that I wasn't really looking at my watch at all. I didn't realise Newman did so many unsympathetic roles.
Picked up the new double-disc The Day The Earth Stood Still. One good thing about Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves. We get remastered editions of thought provoking films to coincide with their multi-million dollar special effects. And this 1951 release from Fox is one of the most thought-out films ever made in my view.
The picture quality is very sharp compared to the 2003 release, and we get a 5.1 bump for Bernard Hermann's amazing score. There's a host of great supplements which I haven't even finished yet, including some guy playing the original theremin for you.
Should be a blu-ray soon, which I'm sure fellow-fan Tony will be happy to hear. And yes, bro, the dvd gives you the option of skipping the '08 trailer. (I read your mind!!)
One good thing about Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves. We get remastered editions of thought provoking films to coincide with their multi-million dollar special effects.
Now that you mention it, I guess we do have Will Smith to thank for that remastered Omega Man release earlier this year.
Should be a blu-ray soon, which I'm sure fellow-fan Tony will be happy to hear. And yes, bro, the dvd gives you the option of skipping the '08 trailer. (I read your mind!!)
) I have a special boxed edition from a couple of years ago, which is pretty much identical to what you got minus the trailer to the '08 version. I've read a few reviews and a plot synopsis of the new version, BTW. The less said, the better. Suffice to say, I won't be going to see it.
As to the original, its an undisputed sci-fi classic, though for a film of that vintage I really think BluRay is overkill...at least until it becomes available at a fairly discounted price.
Klaatu Barada Nikto!
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
edited December 2008
It was 70s action night for me and the kid so we watched:
THE SEVEN-UPS
Great cop action flick with arguably one of the best car chase scenes in cinema ever. Roy Scheider makes for an underrated action star excluding JAWS of course.
MR. MAJESTYK
Bronson at his best. Who would've thought that a film involving mobsters and watermelons would become so classic. Al Lettieri just cracks me up as mobster Frank Renda; he has some classic lines in this. )
ENTER THE DRAGON
I don't care what anyone says, this is the BEST martial arts film ever. Bruce Lee's finest achievement that has yet to be rivaled after 35 years. Screw Chuck Norris, Lee is still the man. B-)
"Man, you come right out of a comic book!" One of the best lines ever. Jim Kelly's awesome. ) ) )
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Was the Omega Man really a step up, Tony? I thought it was simply an identical transfer ported from the prior release, except for new art and a jewel case to replace the old cardboard snapper. (They rode I Am Legend the same way with Last Man On Earth)
Three of my favorites, Rogue. I read an interesting article on Lettieri's off-screen shenanigans. Like singing to Bronson, "Won't you be my Melon-Charlie baby?"
Was the Omega Man really a step up, Tony? I thought it was simply an identical transfer ported from the prior release, except for new art and a jewel case to replace the old cardboard snapper. (They rode I Am Legend the same way with Last Man On Earth)
In the case of the Omega Man, the BluRay was on sale for $15 so I picked that up. It was a visible though hardly dramatic improvement over the old standard def DVD. I'm pretty sure that you're right about the standard def versions as Amazon lists them both as being widescreen anamorphic.
Was the Omega Man really a step up, Tony? I thought it was simply an identical transfer ported from the prior release, except for new art and a jewel case to replace the old cardboard snapper. (They rode I Am Legend the same way with Last Man On Earth)
In the case of the Omega Man, the BluRay was on sale for $15 so I picked that up. It was a visible though hardly dramatic improvement over the old standard def DVD. I'm pretty sure that you're right about the standard def versions as Amazon lists them both as being widescreen anamorphic.
Was thinking of regular format, sorry.
One of these days I'll have to get a blu-ray player. And, of course, a vintage theremin.
With Ralph Little and the rather enchanting Ann Marie Duff.
A rather off beat film, based on two people who 'chance' meet at a train station waiting room, and the look then behind each of these characters lives....loves...and dissapointments. The premise that these two people are perfectly suited is set up within the first couple of scenes, and it's then the look behind their rather unsatisfactory lives that make up this rather charming and played in almost 'real time' movie.
This meeting then makes the protagonists look at their lives, and really see what it is that is missing, as both of them are in rather dissilusioned relationships.
Although not my usual type of movie, I really enjoyed it, and the ending makes me believe that fate is perhaps not to be ignored, it teaches you to listen, and above all trust.
She's worth whatever chaos she brings to the table and you know it. ~ Mark Anthony
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
Three of my favorites, Rogue. I read an interesting article on Lettieri's off-screen shenanigans. Like singing to Bronson, "Won't you be my Melon-Charlie baby?"
) Lettieri made the movie for me. Classic lines from him.
"Lets go to Mexico and get some broads!"
I don't know why that cracks me up but it does. ) )
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
yesterday i went to watch Madagascar 2 and i brought NARNIA prince caspian on DVD so a cool day for me
Madagascar , i really liked it very very funny . and some new cast so that is cool i would think shrek lovers would like this more , a very good film , one of the best animated movie this year
NARNIA-a great film to watch on a cold night by a fire , i love the cast ,great locations and as good as the first film or better , one of the best fantasy films of our time ,great great , must see
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
"Closer"
Fascinating film starring Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Natalie Portman and Jude Law as four miserable people who can't stop screwing each other (over), directed by veteran Oscar-winning director Mike Nichols.
It's based on a stage play, which is apparent based on the strength of the dialogue, and the way in which the dramatic beats are allowed to play themselves out. What I found particularly fascinating is that how these people are compulsively honest with each other about their dishonesty and infidelity---causing the dominoes of love and trust to fall every which way.
I thought the performances were great all around. I become more and more convinced that Clive Owen could have been a great James Bond. Julia Roberts is especially weird and flawed in this one. Natalie Portman is luminous in her quirky, hyper-dependent portrayal of a self-described 'waif.' Jude Law (of whom I've never really been a big fan) is completely believable as a romantic whose sociopathic machinations ultimately catch up with him.
This one earns its 'R' by its frank discussion of sex, body parts, language, etc. Recommended.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Got round to seeing this one on telly, about what I expected though Tony Cox as the black midget/dwarf what have you was a happy addition. He provides much of the comedy in fact. Otherwise, Billy Bob Thornton is fine as the drunken disreputable St Nick, though you can't really believe he'd last two minutes in a department store. I'd have like the direction to have a more comic touch, along the lines of Trading Places - I guess the memory of a drunk down and out Dan Akroyd dressed as Santa put me in mind of that.
Known as Corridors Of Blood in America, this film from Anglo-Amalgamated tells the story of a certain esteemed surgeon in 1840. Weary of patients writhing in agony from then cutting-edge 19th century procedures. (Sawing diseased limbs from strapped down and very conscious patients), he dreams of a method to seperate pain from the knife. (anesthesia not being invented and all)
His experiments with opium and other gases leaves him a very nasty addiction and after a disreputable discharge from the hospital finds himself in the seven dials slums to proccur materials.
A great cast of British actors highlights this noirish horror, with Boris Karloff playing the doctor and Christopher Lee as a Burke & Hare influenced Cockney murderer named Resurrection Joe. Nigel Green as the police inpsector, Francis Matthews as Karloff's son, and even Desmond Llewelyn as one of the hospital staff.
Recommended to 50s horror buffs and superb performances from Karloff and Lee.
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1932), Fritz Lang's genuinely weird mixture of gangster story, supernatural thriller, romantic melodrama, and farcical comedy. The central character's desire to create an "Empire of Crime" solely to dominate the inferior classes got this banned by the Nazis, which is reason enough to recommend it. Also worth noting is the sinister-voiced villain issuing orders from behind a curtain (an influence on the presentation of Blofeld in Thunderball?) and the fact nearly 30 years later Lang would make a sequel with Gert Frobe as the detective on the trail of the evil Doctor.
Comments
I rented this to see Mathew Amalric aka Dominic Greene in a movie to check him out. He plays the real-life editor of Elle who succumbed to a massive stroke that left his paralysed from the neck down and only able to communicate via blinking one eye. Fun stuff. Amalric is good but hardly in it in a way because it's filmed from his point of view, looking out at the world.
Judging from some responses, his helpless character inspires more hatred than his QoS villain, due to his philandering flashbacks to a happier life. "I totally think he got what was coming to him!" said one girl in my office. Charming!
Max Von Sydow very very good as his ageing dad.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Jason Stratham must be one of the hardest working men in movies; in the last year I've seen him in The Bank Job and Death Race and now this. Stratham made his name in Hollywood with The Transporter in which he plays delivery man Frank Martin, who lives in the south of France and transports often suspect packages in the boot of his gleaming black Audi. However, this second sequel sees Stratham idling in neutral, if not in reverse.
Good news first; this occupies the same universe as the first Transporter film, not the preposterous cartoon reality of the second. The plot owes something to Stratham's Crank this time; he must wear a bracelet that will set off a massive explosion if he is 50 metres away from this vehicle, which is reluctantly coerced into driving from Marseilles to Budapest. And actor Francois Berleand, who played the French inspector is back. Transporter's charm owed much to the sly rapport between Frank and the inspector, much like Claude Reins and Bogard in Casablanca.
The bad news? It's not a good movie. Say what you like about the latest Bond film, but at least the director had some ambition with his set pieces even if it didn't always come off. The worst aspect is that Frank is saddled with a sulky uncooperative East European girl, a freckley bobcut gingernut who is quite devoid of charisma and a very annoying character. It's sort of meant to be funny like Magda, the sulk home help in Brit sitcom Lead Balloon, but it doesn't work. Worst is when she humiliates Stratham by making him do a strip tease for her - this takes place on the edge of some deserted quarry in Eastern Europe under a grim, overcast sky. Bizarrely, it leads to a clinch between them.
Berléand is back but here is an ally of Frank, the sort of well meaning copper who the maverick hero can rely upon to get him out of scrapes or provide information at the drop of a hat.
The car stunts are nothing special and it's all based around the countdown to some politican (Jeroen Krabbé of The Living Daylights) signing a document. The main villain is a Dragon's Den Duncan Bannatyne lookalike - if they'd had the old bag from Dragon's Den they might be onto something.
The first Transporter scored points by occupying much the same world as Bond but doing it better - a guilty pleasure. This one is sub-Bond and not much fun; the worst of both worlds. A bit like the first xXx movie in fact. It's faintly embarrassing, with oodles of unintentional laughter.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
The film has been released in two versions, 3-D and not 3-D. If you can't catch the 3-D version don't worry, the 3-D is only used effectively a few times, nothing will be missed by seeing the regular version.
Bolt, is a TV show dog that thinks he is a real superhero dog. He gets seperated from his owner and TV show co-star, forcing him to embark on a cross country trip to reunite with his owner. Along the way he picks up an alley cat, and a hamster to assist him in his mission. The cat being street wise discovers the dogs TV show identity and trys to convince him he has no superpowers. It takes a while, but he finally catches on, but continues his quest anyway. Their is a real cute part in the movie where the cat teaches Bolt how to do regular dog things like, stick his head out a car window, chase a stick, drink from a toilet bowl, etc.
Overall I would say Bolt is a good movie not a great movie, I enjoyed the 2nd half more than the first half. If you have some kids and are looking for a movie to take them to that may still keep your interest, I recommend Bolt.
I really enjoyed this film, Adams in a Marilyn Monroe type role is quite good and McDormand is wonderful as Miss Pettigrew. The film is smart, funny and insightful. Highly recommend.
Dir: Nick Castle
I'm a huge fan of tap dancing, and so when someone bought this Gregory Hines/Sammy Davis Jr.-starrer, I was intrigued to say the least.
The script and quality of production leaves much to be desired here, but the film features a host of tap dancing legends such as Bunny Briggs, Jimmy Slyde, Steve Condos, Harold Nicholas, Arthur Duncan, Sandman Sims and Sammy Davis himself, all of whom come together for one incredible scene to face eachother in a challenge, where each of them show off their skills, despite their advanced ages. It really is a masterful sequence, but sadly there aren't enough of these and the film concentrates far too much on the cheesy, awful love story between Gregory Hines and Suzanne Douglas.
Had we seen more tap dancing, and less of everything else which was comparably mediocre, the film might be better-remembered today.
Just for reference, here is that aforementioned 'masterful' scene, where the tap-masters challenge eachother;
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AjXl5tkmvIo
Arty flick from Jonathan Demme. Kym, a long-time junkie, gets let out of her Manhattan rehab facility to attend her older sister Rachel's wedding in Connecticut. Old tensions are renewed, with Kym as the proverbial straw stirring a drink that is plenty dysfunctional even without her.
This is a really good movie, but you have to stick with it. Demme directs in a documentary fashion, several important scenes go on well longer than they would in more conventional directorial style, and there is no soundtrack music other than that provided by the minstrel-esque musicians that have gathered at the house for the weekend. Despite the bucolic WASP-y setting, the film is extremely multicultural without it feeling contrived.
At the heart of the movie are several great performances. As Kym, Anne Hathaway carries the film with an astonishingly good acting job that surely puts to rest any thoughts of her as a permanent member of the Disney stable. Kym is raw, caustic and deeply damaged, and Hathaway plays her to perfection. (Aside from Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, I can think of no more likely shoo-in for an Oscar nomination).
Excellent turns are also provided by Rosemarie Dewitt as Rachel, Bill Irwin as their emotive and occasionally fragile father, Anna Deavere Smith as his wife who somehow anchors much of the proceedings without really being a central character, and especially Debra Winger as Kym's and Rachel's mother who deals with horrible things by not dealing with them. There's a scene between Kym and her Mom that is as powerful as any I've seen in quite a while.
For sure, you will not leave the theater feeling uplifted, despite the warmth of much of the wedding-related festivities. You will, however, be reminded how interesting a film can be when the director isn't afraid to take some risks and trusts his actors. See it if you can.
1968 psychedelic curiosity which gave its name to the Noel Gallagher song. it has a soundtrack by Beatle George Harrison, Jane Birkin appears in a state of undress. Reading that, you want to rent it right now, don't you?
Well don't. For a start, its main star is this middle-aged absent-minded professor/scientist (He mixes up his colleague's names when he leaves the lab at the end of the day tee hee!). In his gloomy old attic apartment one evening examining something under a microscope he hears jarring Indian music (reminding you why Lennon and McCartney didn't allow George the keys to the studio too often). Then he spots a hole in the wall thru to the next apartment and espies Jane Birkin showing her bare legs and other groovy goings-on.
That's it really, though he drills more holes in the wall to allow his peeping tom activities full reign over the parties and phony groovy scene next door. He's a pathetic character, like a teen getting hold of a porn DVD for the first time. It goes on like this, occupying the same world as Bedazzled, but without the fun of Pete and Dud (not saying that film was a barrel of laughs, mind); English character actors Richard Wattis and Irene Handle pop up but rather than heightening the exoticism, they made me feel uncomfortably racist about the Indian music ("Ooh knock us up a curry love!")
True, a shot of Jane Birkin crossing her curvy legs in a laboratory, while puffing on a pipe almost made me spit my coffee out on my computer screen, to employ a euphanism, but that was a slim return for the previous hours of tedium.
Some of the later far out Harrison music is okay however, but you can see why the Beatles thought Magical Mystery Tour would be a smash if this sort of thing could be released.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
A curio from 1966 inspired by a story suggested by Ian Fleming apparently, about drug smuggling that originates in Iran. It has an all-star cast - Trevor Howard, Omar Shariff, Yul Brynner, Kenneth Griffith, Jack Hawkins, Angie Dickinson, Anthony Quayle and apparently Princess Grace of Monaco as herself, who I didn't spot while watching it.
Lots of Bond touches - its directed by Terence Young, Harold 'Oddjob' Sakata pops up as a bookish intellectual who holds the key - okay, you got me - as the gangster's bodyguard, there's a geiger counter used to track radioactive opium, Trevor Howard is sort of the Bond character and gets to wear a tux later on, and prowls around the villain's yaght a la Thunderball.
Howard is the main protagonist - a drug investigator - but is generally palled up with his American Leiter like sidekick for reasons of comedy and exposition. Its ironic, given Howard's earlier role in The Third Man on similar lines regarding drug trafficking.
I rented this from lovefilm.com but the transfer quality is very poor, with hiss on the soundtrack and part of the picture obviously cut off, like it's a bootleg. Yet it has some Bondian sweep and scale lacking from Young's official Bonds; I'm thinking of the epic scenes of Iran which seem more authoritive than any Bond scenes of a similar nature in QoS or TLD.
Ultimately its downfall is that it should be The French Connection but is sunk by the Bond allusions crammed in, undermining its authority and message. Sadly, the message that drugs are bad for you is a bit square to carry a film by itself; the movie in fact opens with an intro by Angie Dickinson, looking like the Shrublands Thunderball masseur, warning of the evils of opium like those movies of the time carrying public health warnings about rock n roll. It reminded me of Adam West as Batman's moral lectures to Robin. (Edit: it's not Angie doing the intro but Princess Grace; didn't realise it was her). Angie is Ms Benson acting during the film.
The finale picks things up and there's an unexpected twist on the gangster's yaght in Nice. The hoodlum's meeting maybe puts the Quantum organisation's opera gig in the shade, being held
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Wretched adaptation of the video game. Olga Whatshertits turns up briefly as a nightclub temptress, but there's nothing else of note here. Play the games instead. They're a lot more fun. It's a pity they didn't have Wahlberg narrating the hilariously bad film-noir type voice-over used in the games though.
Starring the Beatles. It was my great pleasure to show this to Loeff Jr (age 13) and Loeff III (age 11) for the first time, as part of my ongoing campaign to offset the influence of T-Pain, 50 Cent, et al., in their cultural awareness.
They loved it. I hadn't seen it for over 20 years; it was as nonsensical and unapologetically silly as I remembered it---something of a train wreck, really, in all senses except that it's one hell of a lot of fun watching these four guys having one hell of a lot of fun. Leo McKern seems to be having a blast mugging his way through it as the baddie. The remastered soundtrack sounded GREAT.
Nearing the end of the (supposed) innocence for those four boys, in 1965...and it makes for a brisk and refreshing respite from everything that's wrong with today.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Anyway, a couple of real classics -- one truly bona fide, and one in Hilly's mind:
Citizen Kane -- Ran on TCM the other night, and it had been many years since I saw it last. Not much really to say...generally acknowledged as one of the top two movies of all time (Casablanca being the other). Orson Welles was a true genius when he got himself organized, and it's staggering to think he made this film when he was only 26 years old. The story is still riveting. The directorial style was truly groundbreaking in 1941, and remains compelling to this day. The one part I had forgotten about was this music, courtesy of the incomparable Bernard Herrmann.
The Right Stuff -- One of my all-time favorites, adapted from Tom Wolfe's book. A long, meandering look at the birth of the US space program, told through the eyes of the original Mercury astronauts. A panoply of young acting talent who would prove to have staying power -- Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris, Fred Ward, Jeff Goldblum, Harry Shearer, Scott Glenn, Veronica Cartwright, Sam Shepherd, Barbara Hershey. What I had forgetten about this one was the heavy comedic elements -- there's a lot of pure slapstick in the film. Yes, the film could be shorter, but it's telling an epic tale of a part of history that has largely been forgotten. In many ways, America was so forward-looking back then -- it's hard not to be nostalgic.
Really, I don't begrudge the movie for altering the characters to avoid a lot of direct comparisons to the beloved TV show. In fact, given the iconicity of Don Adams and co., it was probably a smart thing to do. But did the story have to be so long, forgettable, and downright dull? The show was all about silly schemes, Borscht belt humor, and elaborate wordplay; couldn't the filmmakers have tried to emulate those original qualities, if not the original characters? Oh, Max, you missed it by THAT much!
it was a must see , And Steve Carell is a good actor . and as for Hardy Boy he watched Get Smart .i cant wait to see GS .and as for EVAN ALMIGHTY a great film from my side-AWTD
Classic black and white Western from 1962. Except it's not a Western exactly, being mostly set on a cattle ranch and lacking Native Americans and stagecoaches, etc. Not lacking a big theme, however, as it's clear the traditional ways are on the slide and the oil barons ready to move in.
Newman is Hud, the reckless, womanising, selfish cattle owner's son - shades of East Of Eden here. Great ensemble playing from the four actors, however and terrific black and white photography. Very evocative, in the same way as The Last Picture Show, another movie dealing with loss.
(A very nasty finale however. Can't really hint at it without giving it away.) The plot is very simple but unlike other recent rentals, I found it so easy and lovely to watch that I wasn't really looking at my watch at all. I didn't realise Newman did so many unsympathetic roles.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
The picture quality is very sharp compared to the 2003 release, and we get a 5.1 bump for Bernard Hermann's amazing score. There's a host of great supplements which I haven't even finished yet, including some guy playing the original theremin for you.
Should be a blu-ray soon, which I'm sure fellow-fan Tony will be happy to hear. And yes, bro, the dvd gives you the option of skipping the '08 trailer. (I read your mind!!)
Now that you mention it, I guess we do have Will Smith to thank for that remastered Omega Man release earlier this year.
As to the original, its an undisputed sci-fi classic, though for a film of that vintage I really think BluRay is overkill...at least until it becomes available at a fairly discounted price.
Klaatu Barada Nikto!
THE SEVEN-UPS
Great cop action flick with arguably one of the best car chase scenes in cinema ever. Roy Scheider makes for an underrated action star excluding JAWS of course.
MR. MAJESTYK
Bronson at his best. Who would've thought that a film involving mobsters and watermelons would become so classic. Al Lettieri just cracks me up as mobster Frank Renda; he has some classic lines in this.
ENTER THE DRAGON
I don't care what anyone says, this is the BEST martial arts film ever. Bruce Lee's finest achievement that has yet to be rivaled after 35 years. Screw Chuck Norris, Lee is still the man. B-)
"Man, you come right out of a comic book!" One of the best lines ever. Jim Kelly's awesome.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Three of my favorites, Rogue. I read an interesting article on Lettieri's off-screen shenanigans. Like singing to Bronson, "Won't you be my Melon-Charlie baby?"
In the case of the Omega Man, the BluRay was on sale for $15 so I picked that up. It was a visible though hardly dramatic improvement over the old standard def DVD. I'm pretty sure that you're right about the standard def versions as Amazon lists them both as being widescreen anamorphic.
One of these days I'll have to get a blu-ray player. And, of course, a vintage theremin.
With Ralph Little and the rather enchanting Ann Marie Duff.
A rather off beat film, based on two people who 'chance' meet at a train station waiting room, and the look then behind each of these characters lives....loves...and dissapointments. The premise that these two people are perfectly suited is set up within the first couple of scenes, and it's then the look behind their rather unsatisfactory lives that make up this rather charming and played in almost 'real time' movie.
This meeting then makes the protagonists look at their lives, and really see what it is that is missing, as both of them are in rather dissilusioned relationships.
Although not my usual type of movie, I really enjoyed it, and the ending makes me believe that fate is perhaps not to be ignored, it teaches you to listen, and above all trust.
"Lets go to Mexico and get some broads!"
I don't know why that cracks me up but it does.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Madagascar , i really liked it very very funny . and some new cast so that is cool i would think shrek lovers would like this more , a very good film , one of the best animated movie this year
NARNIA-a great film to watch on a cold night by a fire , i love the cast ,great locations and as good as the first film or better , one of the best fantasy films of our time ,great great , must see
Fascinating film starring Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Natalie Portman and Jude Law as four miserable people who can't stop screwing each other (over), directed by veteran Oscar-winning director Mike Nichols.
It's based on a stage play, which is apparent based on the strength of the dialogue, and the way in which the dramatic beats are allowed to play themselves out. What I found particularly fascinating is that how these people are compulsively honest with each other about their dishonesty and infidelity---causing the dominoes of love and trust to fall every which way.
I thought the performances were great all around. I become more and more convinced that Clive Owen could have been a great James Bond. Julia Roberts is especially weird and flawed in this one. Natalie Portman is luminous in her quirky, hyper-dependent portrayal of a self-described 'waif.' Jude Law (of whom I've never really been a big fan) is completely believable as a romantic whose sociopathic machinations ultimately catch up with him.
This one earns its 'R' by its frank discussion of sex, body parts, language, etc. Recommended.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Got round to seeing this one on telly, about what I expected though Tony Cox as the black midget/dwarf what have you was a happy addition. He provides much of the comedy in fact. Otherwise, Billy Bob Thornton is fine as the drunken disreputable St Nick, though you can't really believe he'd last two minutes in a department store. I'd have like the direction to have a more comic touch, along the lines of Trading Places - I guess the memory of a drunk down and out Dan Akroyd dressed as Santa put me in mind of that.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Known as Corridors Of Blood in America, this film from Anglo-Amalgamated tells the story of a certain esteemed surgeon in 1840. Weary of patients writhing in agony from then cutting-edge 19th century procedures. (Sawing diseased limbs from strapped down and very conscious patients), he dreams of a method to seperate pain from the knife. (anesthesia not being invented and all)
His experiments with opium and other gases leaves him a very nasty addiction and after a disreputable discharge from the hospital finds himself in the seven dials slums to proccur materials.
A great cast of British actors highlights this noirish horror, with Boris Karloff playing the doctor and Christopher Lee as a Burke & Hare influenced Cockney murderer named Resurrection Joe. Nigel Green as the police inpsector, Francis Matthews as Karloff's son, and even Desmond Llewelyn as one of the hospital staff.
Recommended to 50s horror buffs and superb performances from Karloff and Lee.
Can you spot Q?