This is about two Palastenian lads who are appointed suicide bombers when their turn comes up. The film follows their day to day routine in the run up, where they have to break across the border and into Israel. Oddly, the photography is so good and there's a real Bondian feel about it from the beginning. There's even a True Lies moment with the recording of the 'death to infidels' speech on the video camera.
The guy behind it all - the head organiser - appears fleetingly and is a real Dominic Greene character, except far more sinister with less given. In fact now I realise what made Greene a bit of a rubbish villain. He's given far too much to say in his first scenes, he loses authority. There's no menace. Most villains - or anyone who is a bit unnerving - hold back on you from the start. Golfinger got quite chatty later on but in the early scenes he's a wary presence.
The last 15 mins or so of the film taper off a bit and aren't very convincing, but I highly recommend it nonetheless.
I was not as impressed by this as I thought I was going to be. My wife on the other hand, loved it to pieces. I like epics and they usually get me all excited and emotional...but this one didn't do it for me. I did like all the actors and the over the top portrayals and the funny parts made me laugh. However, something about it didn't engage me as much as I thought it would. Another case of movie hype gone bad. My wife wants to buy it on DVD, so I will probably come to like it more over time.
On that note, I give it a 3.5/5, not a bad show, enjoyed the storyline and the baddies got it in the end (that's right). Good shots of Oz too.
Guess Ridley Scott had to find something to do after Nottingham fell through. Pity it was this. Long, boring and with lots of lines like "This is War." No, this is a bad episode of Spooks.
Wow, I really liked this film never seen it before. It had a very good plotline to it, Good cast, good acting, good soundtrack. The narrative was great, Nice twist to the end. Definetly time to update my top films. This is one of the masterpeices in the film industry.
Top On IMDB.COM 250 Films.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
edited February 2009
"Taken"
Starring Liam Neeson, and produced by Luc Besson (the name of the director escapes me). Benefitting from perhaps one of the most effective TV ad campaigns I've ever seen---the first thing I ever heard about this film was a full two-minute trailer, depicting a key scene (what we'd call 'Plot Point One' in a screenwriting workshop ) in the film where Neeson is the phone with his daughter, whilst she's in the process of being abducted in Paris---this picture was apparently something of a 'dud' when released in Europe (based upon what I've read here)...but it deserves to do better than that in the States, and I hope it will.
Neeson plays one of those great characters, admittedly ubiquitous in the modern action film era: a retired government employee with a shady past and a "very particular set of skills" which he's acquired during a life of globe-trotting and Preventing Bad Things From Happening B-) The first act, which for the most part is quite leisurely, and does an admirable job of laying a solid dramatic and character/relationship foundation for the piece, only gives us a hint of Neeson's background, via a scene with some former 'co-workers' and a quick part-time security gig he does for a bit of quick cash.
Divorced from a still-appealing Famke Janssen, who appears here in what essentially is an extended cameo (whose scenes basically book-end the main body of the film), Neeson struggles to maintain a relationship with their 17 year-old daughter, and thus reluctantly gives permission for the girl to travel to Paris with a friend.
There's been some talk here about how this gives Europe a bad image---full of kidnappers and pimps, etc., who snatch Americans as soon as their plane lands---but unfortunately this sort of thing happens (or can happen) anywhere: South America, Asia...and of course the United States. What I enjoyed was how it so adeptly depicts the worry, paranoia and protectiveness of a parent rendered helpless by circumstances. Thankfully, as this is an action-suspense thriller whose main character is a retired spy, this helplessness is only temporary -{
Once the story really takes off, this film is exhilarating. There are plot holes, and the requisite demands that disbelief be suspended, but thanks to the narrative's momentum---and the strength of Neeson's formidable screen presence---for my sons and I it all worked very well. Because of the forty trailers shown before the film, I have no idea what the running time was, but based on the time we exited the theatre, it couldn't have been much beyond 90 minutes.
Pretty good crowd in the cinema for a Saturday afternoon matinee. With the other big stuff coming out this week, I hope this picture does respectable business. IMRO, it deserves to.
Features a nifty little turn fron Anatole ('Elvis' in QoS) Taubman as one of the sleazy Albanian gangsters. Highly recommended for fans of action and suspense.
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
Wanted. (Can you tell all the big summer movies have been delivered to me by Netflix?) This is one goofy movie: assassinations ordered by a loom of fate; sharpshooters who can bend a bullet's arc; pools of ice water that allow you to heal; exploding rats. . .but, y'know, goofy isn't always a bad thing. I was entertained, even though throughout the whole movie I knew it was dumb and bordered on vile and cavalier toward life. And good ol' Danny Elfman puts out a cool score and performs a title song so nifty he should be given consideration for Bond 23.
Guess Ridley Scott had to find something to do after Nottingham fell through. Pity it was this. Long, boring and with lots of lines like "This is War." No, this is a bad episode of Spooks.
It seems we finally agree on something. I wasn't very impressed with this film, which says alot considering I love Scott and Crowe, but also I don't remember it at all. I don't think I could tell someone what the central premise was, which says everything since my cinematic memory is amazing (I have a selective memory which is great for some things, terrible for other things.) In fact, until I read this post, I had forgotten that I had even seen it. )
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Barmy epic from Baz Lhurmann. I was surprised at how camp it was, although I should have expected it coming from the director of Strictly Ballroom. It's best viewed as an attempt to turn Hollywood princess Nicole Kidman back into the rough and tumble BMX Bandit she used to be before the aliens came to take her away. For that Lhurmann should be commended. But this wasn't to my taste at all.
Just back from Frost/Nixon. Good stuff, enjoyed it a lot at the time and it looks good, with the same 1970s style photography as films like The Last King of Scotland. It entertained me all the way but felt they were blowing it out of all preportion really, and it's not like Frost really landed much of a punch on Nixon, plus aspects of it were fictionalised. Sheen allowed some of his Blair mannerisms to creep in, plus a bit of Austin Powers too. I think Steve Coogan might have been better in the role but I suppose his lack of international status and the similarity to his Alan Partridge character might have scuppered it.
The Wild Geese. Rewatched this from a video recording made over Christmas, a few cut throats not in the DVD handed out with the Mail on Sunday some years ago.
Most of you will know this as a fine Boys Own Adventure, Boys Only Adventure really as women only have a peripheral role (much like Frost Nixon really, as they have some leggy brunette drafted into give 'comfort' to Mr Frost - perhaps that's why he was on the ropes so often, she f***** his brains out!) Anyway... the late Patrick McGoohan pops up briefly. Despite his aversion to Bond's wicked ways, he has no problems with a role in which he's called upon to approve the gassing to death of sleeping soldiers. That's unfair though, cos Bond is meant to be a role model and the character here isn't.
With McGoohan's passing, that only leaves our very own Sir Rog as the surviving member of the cast out of the late Richards Burton and Harris, Harvey Keitel, Stewart Granger, Kenneth Griffiths, Ronald Fraser, Barry Foster, if I'm not mistaken.
Edit: Much of the above is drivel. It's Patrick Allen, he of the imminent nuclear strike warning, in the MacGoohan role! And I meant Hardy Kruger, not Harvey Keitel, and Kruger is very much alive according to imdb. As is Julius Limgani, the African Nelson Mandela type they're trying to rescue.
Is Paris Burning
Not a documdrama about Ms Hilton with an STD but a 1966 film about the liberation of Paris from the Nazis. Very much in the same vein as The Longest Day, with excellent black and white photography showing the city at its best and in unfamiliar light - deserted with some old cars rushing around during the occupation.
It picks up right after the current Valkeyie (sp? ?:) ) as a German general visits the Fuhrer and sees the remnants of a failed assasination. That general is played by our old mate Gert Frobe, and Goldfinger is soon given control of Paris, with strict orders to burn it down should the Allies advance. Hitler is in his mad ranting Downfall mode.
It's a good-ish film, not seen it all yet. However, it fails a bit because it can't be a war movie like The Longest Day in structure and films about the Resistance work best if only from their point of view, imo. Sadly, the head of the Red Cross (played by Orson Welles) and even the German general himself are easier to relate too. And if anything, it appears the efforts of the Resistance make it more likely the Germans will react and set alight to 1000 years of art and architecture. I must admit I had to pause the DVD to allow my mind to wander a bit.
A period piece starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes as the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The Duchess is a little bit before her time, with a flair for fashion and high living while the Duke is an unfeeling pretentious bore. The Duke isn't happy because the Duchess hasn't bore him a son, perhaps not knowing that the male is responsible for the sex of the child. He takes in another lover and the Duchess goes off with Charles Grey the future Prime Minister. All good stuff and fairly entertaining. If the movie is historically correct their relationship must have been quite the scandel for the day. Knightley is very good as the Duchess, while Fiennes spends most of the movie with a scowl, but perhaps that was the way the Duke was. The film has Oscar nominations for Art Direction and Costume Design, both deserved. The film is worth a DVD viewing.
Jacques Demy's musical/kitchen sink drama. It looks beautiful, like a Vincent Minelli movie, but the storyline is harsh. A young couple are separated when he goes to fight in the Algerian War. She's Keith Cheggers (for the benefit of non-British readers this means with child) and finds herself being courted by a rich suitor who doesn't mind. They get married. Her lover returns. Nobody gets what they want, and every line of dialogue is sung. It is quite bizarre, but also brilliant. There's an excellent documentary about Demy in which archive footage of a young Harrison Ford testing for his movie Model Shop, years before he went into space with George Lucas. Demy wanted Ford, but the studio said, as Ford dryly notes, “this guy lacks star quality.”
Quirky little Coen Brothers caper -- a bit of Fargo, a bit of Raising Arizona, a bit of The Big Lebowski, and not a shred of No Country For Old Men. An angry alcoholic ex-CIA man, a serial philanderer, a middle-aged woman wanting multiple plastic surgeries, and an airhead fitness instructor somehow all become entwined in a plot to profit from sensitive US government intelligence information. John Malkovich, George Clooney and Frances MacDormand all shine, but it's Brad Pitt who steals the show as the goofy fitness instructor. He really is quite a good comic actor. The film's only 90 minutes long, and is an enjoyable diversion.
I've seen quite a few films recently including Gran Torino. I'm going to leave Gran Torino aside for now as I think it deserves a proper review (yes, I think it's a masterpiece. ) I would like to talk about the other films, however I will be short.
Doubt
I think it's okay. I wasn't particularly impressed by Meryl Streep's performance and I found the film a little too stagey for my liking. I imagine the original stage play would have been better, although most of the other performances impressed me. (With due respect to Meryl, I don't think she was given much to work with.)
The Class
I loved this film. Waltzing With Bashir will probably win the Foreign Film Oscar, and deservedly so, but The Class is arguably among the finest films of the year and would also be a worthy winner. It tackles a cliched topic (teacher in a tough/poor/disadvantaged school) but does so in a fresh and riveting way. What makes it so extraordinary IMO are the performances by a collection of young non-actors. It is a bit long towards the end, and I actually do think that Waltzing With Bashir is better, but The Class is really wonderful. One major complaint; the film utilises pale white subtitles that, on white surfaces, are impossible to see. When will filmmakers realise that the point of subtitles is to be able to read them?
Frost/Nixon
A wonderful film IMO which I recently saw for a second time. The direction was superb (Ron Howard shows that he is actually pretty good), but for me, the joy was the performances. There was not one performance which IMO didn't fit. Sam Rockwell was terrific, Oliver Platt showed why IMO he remains so underrated, Kevin Bacon was fine as usual (arguably among the very best actors never to have been Oscar-nominated), Michael Sheen was great (although NP is probably right that he brought some of his Blairisms into the role, however I still think he was very good) but Frank Langella was for me the standout.
The first time I saw the film I was stunned by Langella's performance. The second time confirmed my belief that, Eastwood in Gran Torino aside, Langella's performance was the best of all the films I saw within the past year. I think that Langella gave the best performance of all the lead actor Oscar nominees, and I really hope that he wins. What made it so wonderful was that IMO he wasn't impersonating Nixon. Jamie Foxx's perfomance in Ray didn't impress me all that much as I felt it was an impersonation. Foxx does a fine Ray Charles, but I would rather the real thing. Langella, on the other hand, didn't really attempt to impersonate Nixon beyond the obvious mannerisms and instead IMO delivered a fully textured portrayal of a three dimensional human being. His performance was magnificent but it also IMO featured one of the most stunning moments (from an acting point of view) of any film released in the past year.
What else? I also loved the score by Hans Zimmer. NP questioned whether the filmmakers were blowing what happened out of preportion; without wanting to get into politics, I will simply say that the script (which was admittedly cliched but was still fine IMO), the direction and the music were geared towards the audience wanting Frost to get the scoop, and I was with him all the way.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Little known Russ Meyer venture from 1974 in which soft porn star Vicki Frost grapples with the pneumatic charms of Meyer favourite Vixen. Vixen dominates for most of it, then Frost's innate cunning sees her turn the tables.
Little known Russ Meyer venture from 1974 in which soft porn star Vicki Frost grapples with the pneumatic charms of Meyer favourite Vixen. Vixen dominates for most of it, then Frost's innate cunning sees her turn the tables.
Quintet (1979), Robert Altman's stab at science fiction. It's set in the future, when the earth is on the verge of freezing over (fact: when this movie was made the alarming theory was global COOLING) and to pass the time everyone plays the titular board game and for some reason dresses like it's early Renaissance Italy. It's all very existential and ultimately not very good, even if you're a fan of Altman, Paul Newman, Jean-Paul Sartre, or Vaseline used on the edges of the camera lens.
Vox clamantis in deserto
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,707MI6 Agent
Unforgiven Bought this movie some time back and forgot about it. I don't know why I waited so long to watch this. Pretty good movie, seemed a little slow in some parts, but Richard Harris' Character English Bob held my interest along with Little Bills treatment of him. Really loved the last 20 minutes. True Eastwood. 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
edited February 2009
"Moby Dick"
The classic novel by Herman Melville, brought to the screen in 1956 by the great John Huston, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ray Bradbury (!). The boys had never seen this one, so I dusted it off and showed it to them. This is still a great film, weak use of miniatures (mostly in Act 3) notwithstanding.*
The definitive study of self-destructive obsession, which in this case draws others into the maelstrom it creates, receives a fine treatment here. Gregory Peck's performance as Ahab is one of his best ever, and Richard Basehart seems many decades away from being Admiral Nelson in the endearingly silly 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea' TV show...but in fact he's only one
A nifty little cameo from Orson Welles as Father Mapple, preaching about Jonah and the whale from a pulpit shaped like the bow of a ship...this film is a treasured memory from my childhood. My father did the best impression of Peck's Ahab in the world, and it scared the crap out of me )
* Ironically, one of the main reasons I wanted to watch this is because I'm beginning to dabble in wooden model ship building, as a way to get away from my writing when it is indispensable to do so, and I'm pondering building a scale replica of the Pequod, Ahab's ship. I'd be very happy if I could approximate what the modelmakers did here...so this was research B-)
Highy recommended...naturally.
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
That's one of my favorites, Loeff. Still have the VHS. Don't forget Leo Genn as Starbuck, he puts a great turn as well. This is a great example of properly translating novel to screen and proves that it can be done.
Nothing wrong with the miniatures though, you use imagination and pretend you're a member of 1956 audiences. If anything, they add charm and showcase the ingenuity of the old school filmmakers. (Something a bloated mega-production CGI laden remake, would, more often then not, fail to do) :v
About twenty years ago Ray Bradbury did a talk at my university, and he said he wrote the entire screenplay to Moby-Dick himself and was shocked to find John Huston had given himself co-screenplay credit. What? Huston had an ego? Color me surprised!
Anyway, last night I watched Traitor. I didn't know much about this movie and it turned out to be a rewarding find. The always-good Don Cheadle plays a Somali-born, American-reared Muslim who becomes drawn into a terrorist cell; while FBI agent Guy Pearce is trying to pin down Cheadle's moves. This is a good thriller, but it also takes a thoughtful approach to the topic of religious fanaticism. Another shock is to find a screenplay credit for Steve Martin!
Vox clamantis in deserto
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
Nothing wrong with the miniatures though, you use imagination and pretend you're a member of 1956 audiences. If anything, they add charm and showcase the ingenuity of the old school filmmakers. (Something a bloated mega-production CGI laden remake, would, more often then not, fail to do) :v
Yeah, that's true enough...but the footage of the small whaleboats (and their model-men inhabitants) nettles a bit. But I do dearly love this film. A couple of my favourite bits of dialogue (which were obviously memorable enough to be 'borrowed' by the writer of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ):
Starbuck asks, "Was it not Moby Dick took off thy leg?"
Ahab solemnly nods, and replies, "Aye. It was Moby Dick. And I'll hunt him down around the Horn, around the Norway Maelstrom, and around Perdition's Flame...before I give him up!"
And, at the end:
"From hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee! Oh, damn thee, whale!"
Thanks, man, I'll need it It's down the road for me, though, as I intend to sharpen my skills on some less demanding kits first. Ultimately, I intend to attempt a scratch-built Bonhomme Richard, the frigate commanded by John Paul Jones in the Revolutionary War B-)
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
Written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, adapted from his stage play. I agree with Dan Same that the movie feels a little too much like a play that was being recorded, as opposed to a real film. I think in the hands of a different director, this could have been avoided.
However, the real nugget here isn't cinematography or style -- it's acting. The four major adult players -- Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis -- are very good, and all four are nominated for Academy Awards. Streep is fabulous as always; much of the time, I completely forgot it was her, so deeply did she immerse herself in the character. Hoffman is his usual strong self, with a performance that has him raising his voice more than I can remember him doing in other roles. Adams is fine; her character serves as an audience to the primary conflict between Streep and Hoffman, and she's effective in that role, although I find it hard to believe there wasn't someone more deserving of a Supporting Actress nomination.
As to Viola Davis...well, let's just say I find it hard to believe anyone could be more deserving of a Supporting Actress nomination. If you want to see someone steal an entire film in a single scene, check her out here. She's on film for no more than 10 minutes, all at once, but she left by far the most indelible imprint on me. Her performance is visceral acting at it's best -- I was blown away. I haven't seen all of the Supporting Actress nomineees, but I will be very disappointed if she doesn't win. That's how good she is.
All in all, this is a good film, not a great one. That said, if you want to enjoy a well-made play, and don't have money for the theatre (who does these days?) then pop Doubt into the DVD player for a couple of hours and watch some excellent actors in top form.
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This is about two Palastenian lads who are appointed suicide bombers when their turn comes up. The film follows their day to day routine in the run up, where they have to break across the border and into Israel. Oddly, the photography is so good and there's a real Bondian feel about it from the beginning. There's even a True Lies moment with the recording of the 'death to infidels' speech on the video camera.
The guy behind it all - the head organiser - appears fleetingly and is a real Dominic Greene character, except far more sinister with less given. In fact now I realise what made Greene a bit of a rubbish villain. He's given far too much to say in his first scenes, he loses authority. There's no menace. Most villains - or anyone who is a bit unnerving - hold back on you from the start. Golfinger got quite chatty later on but in the early scenes he's a wary presence.
The last 15 mins or so of the film taper off a bit and aren't very convincing, but I highly recommend it nonetheless.
<A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058150/">Goldfinger</A>;
Roger Moore 1927-2017
X-(
Roger Moore 1927-2017
See here
http://ajb007.co.uk/index.php?topic=31874
not the website code
A url with a title
Paradise Now
Bondaholic, you're a star! And thanks SiCo for the original post.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I was not as impressed by this as I thought I was going to be. My wife on the other hand, loved it to pieces. I like epics and they usually get me all excited and emotional...but this one didn't do it for me. I did like all the actors and the over the top portrayals and the funny parts made me laugh. However, something about it didn't engage me as much as I thought it would. Another case of movie hype gone bad. My wife wants to buy it on DVD, so I will probably come to like it more over time.
On that note, I give it a 3.5/5, not a bad show, enjoyed the storyline and the baddies got it in the end (that's right). Good shots of Oz too.
Guess Ridley Scott had to find something to do after Nottingham fell through. Pity it was this. Long, boring and with lots of lines like "This is War." No, this is a bad episode of Spooks.
9.7 / 10
Wow, I really liked this film never seen it before. It had a very good plotline to it, Good cast, good acting, good soundtrack. The narrative was great, Nice twist to the end. Definetly time to update my top films. This is one of the masterpeices in the film industry.
Top On IMDB.COM 250 Films.
Starring Liam Neeson, and produced by Luc Besson (the name of the director escapes me). Benefitting from perhaps one of the most effective TV ad campaigns I've ever seen---the first thing I ever heard about this film was a full two-minute trailer, depicting a key scene (what we'd call 'Plot Point One' in a screenwriting workshop
Neeson plays one of those great characters, admittedly ubiquitous in the modern action film era: a retired government employee with a shady past and a "very particular set of skills" which he's acquired during a life of globe-trotting and Preventing Bad Things From Happening B-) The first act, which for the most part is quite leisurely, and does an admirable job of laying a solid dramatic and character/relationship foundation for the piece, only gives us a hint of Neeson's background, via a scene with some former 'co-workers' and a quick part-time security gig he does for a bit of quick cash.
Divorced from a still-appealing Famke Janssen, who appears here in what essentially is an extended cameo (whose scenes basically book-end the main body of the film), Neeson struggles to maintain a relationship with their 17 year-old daughter, and thus reluctantly gives permission for the girl to travel to Paris with a friend.
There's been some talk here about how this gives Europe a bad image---full of kidnappers and pimps, etc., who snatch Americans as soon as their plane lands---but unfortunately this sort of thing happens (or can happen) anywhere: South America, Asia...and of course the United States. What I enjoyed was how it so adeptly depicts the worry, paranoia and protectiveness of a parent rendered helpless by circumstances. Thankfully, as this is an action-suspense thriller whose main character is a retired spy, this helplessness is only temporary -{
Once the story really takes off, this film is exhilarating. There are plot holes, and the requisite demands that disbelief be suspended, but thanks to the narrative's momentum---and the strength of Neeson's formidable screen presence---for my sons and I it all worked very well. Because of the forty trailers shown before the film, I have no idea what the running time was, but based on the time we exited the theatre, it couldn't have been much beyond 90 minutes.
Pretty good crowd in the cinema for a Saturday afternoon matinee. With the other big stuff coming out this week, I hope this picture does respectable business. IMRO, it deserves to.
Features a nifty little turn fron Anatole ('Elvis' in QoS) Taubman as one of the sleazy Albanian gangsters. Highly recommended for fans of action and suspense.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Barmy epic from Baz Lhurmann. I was surprised at how camp it was, although I should have expected it coming from the director of Strictly Ballroom. It's best viewed as an attempt to turn Hollywood princess Nicole Kidman back into the rough and tumble BMX Bandit she used to be before the aliens came to take her away. For that Lhurmann should be commended. But this wasn't to my taste at all.
Just back from Frost/Nixon. Good stuff, enjoyed it a lot at the time and it looks good, with the same 1970s style photography as films like The Last King of Scotland. It entertained me all the way but felt they were blowing it out of all preportion really, and it's not like Frost really landed much of a punch on Nixon, plus aspects of it were fictionalised. Sheen allowed some of his Blair mannerisms to creep in, plus a bit of Austin Powers too. I think Steve Coogan might have been better in the role but I suppose his lack of international status and the similarity to his Alan Partridge character might have scuppered it.
The Wild Geese. Rewatched this from a video recording made over Christmas, a few cut throats not in the DVD handed out with the Mail on Sunday some years ago.
Most of you will know this as a fine Boys Own Adventure, Boys Only Adventure really as women only have a peripheral role (much like Frost Nixon really, as they have some leggy brunette drafted into give 'comfort' to Mr Frost - perhaps that's why he was on the ropes so often, she f***** his brains out!) Anyway... the late Patrick McGoohan pops up briefly. Despite his aversion to Bond's wicked ways, he has no problems with a role in which he's called upon to approve the gassing to death of sleeping soldiers. That's unfair though, cos Bond is meant to be a role model and the character here isn't.
With McGoohan's passing, that only leaves our very own Sir Rog as the surviving member of the cast out of the late Richards Burton and Harris, Harvey Keitel, Stewart Granger, Kenneth Griffiths, Ronald Fraser, Barry Foster, if I'm not mistaken.
Edit: Much of the above is drivel. It's Patrick Allen, he of the imminent nuclear strike warning, in the MacGoohan role! And I meant Hardy Kruger, not Harvey Keitel, and Kruger is very much alive according to imdb. As is Julius Limgani, the African Nelson Mandela type they're trying to rescue.
Is Paris Burning
Not a documdrama about Ms Hilton with an STD but a 1966 film about the liberation of Paris from the Nazis. Very much in the same vein as The Longest Day, with excellent black and white photography showing the city at its best and in unfamiliar light - deserted with some old cars rushing around during the occupation.
It picks up right after the current Valkeyie (sp? ?:) ) as a German general visits the Fuhrer and sees the remnants of a failed assasination. That general is played by our old mate Gert Frobe, and Goldfinger is soon given control of Paris, with strict orders to burn it down should the Allies advance. Hitler is in his mad ranting Downfall mode.
It's a good-ish film, not seen it all yet. However, it fails a bit because it can't be a war movie like The Longest Day in structure and films about the Resistance work best if only from their point of view, imo. Sadly, the head of the Red Cross (played by Orson Welles) and even the German general himself are easier to relate too. And if anything, it appears the efforts of the Resistance make it more likely the Germans will react and set alight to 1000 years of art and architecture. I must admit I had to pause the DVD to allow my mind to wander a bit.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
A period piece starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes as the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The Duchess is a little bit before her time, with a flair for fashion and high living while the Duke is an unfeeling pretentious bore. The Duke isn't happy because the Duchess hasn't bore him a son, perhaps not knowing that the male is responsible for the sex of the child. He takes in another lover and the Duchess goes off with Charles Grey the future Prime Minister. All good stuff and fairly entertaining. If the movie is historically correct their relationship must have been quite the scandel for the day. Knightley is very good as the Duchess, while Fiennes spends most of the movie with a scowl, but perhaps that was the way the Duke was. The film has Oscar nominations for Art Direction and Costume Design, both deserved. The film is worth a DVD viewing.
Jacques Demy's musical/kitchen sink drama. It looks beautiful, like a Vincent Minelli movie, but the storyline is harsh. A young couple are separated when he goes to fight in the Algerian War. She's Keith Cheggers (for the benefit of non-British readers this means with child) and finds herself being courted by a rich suitor who doesn't mind. They get married. Her lover returns. Nobody gets what they want, and every line of dialogue is sung. It is quite bizarre, but also brilliant. There's an excellent documentary about Demy in which archive footage of a young Harrison Ford testing for his movie Model Shop, years before he went into space with George Lucas. Demy wanted Ford, but the studio said, as Ford dryly notes, “this guy lacks star quality.”
Both great films and superb performances from the leading guys...Rourke and Pitt.
Quirky little Coen Brothers caper -- a bit of Fargo, a bit of Raising Arizona, a bit of The Big Lebowski, and not a shred of No Country For Old Men. An angry alcoholic ex-CIA man, a serial philanderer, a middle-aged woman wanting multiple plastic surgeries, and an airhead fitness instructor somehow all become entwined in a plot to profit from sensitive US government intelligence information. John Malkovich, George Clooney and Frances MacDormand all shine, but it's Brad Pitt who steals the show as the goofy fitness instructor. He really is quite a good comic actor. The film's only 90 minutes long, and is an enjoyable diversion.
Doubt
I think it's okay. I wasn't particularly impressed by Meryl Streep's performance and I found the film a little too stagey for my liking. I imagine the original stage play would have been better, although most of the other performances impressed me. (With due respect to Meryl, I don't think she was given much to work with.)
The Class
I loved this film. Waltzing With Bashir will probably win the Foreign Film Oscar, and deservedly so, but The Class is arguably among the finest films of the year and would also be a worthy winner. It tackles a cliched topic (teacher in a tough/poor/disadvantaged school) but does so in a fresh and riveting way. What makes it so extraordinary IMO are the performances by a collection of young non-actors. It is a bit long towards the end, and I actually do think that Waltzing With Bashir is better, but The Class is really wonderful. One major complaint; the film utilises pale white subtitles that, on white surfaces, are impossible to see. When will filmmakers realise that the point of subtitles is to be able to read them?
Frost/Nixon
A wonderful film IMO which I recently saw for a second time. The direction was superb (Ron Howard shows that he is actually pretty good), but for me, the joy was the performances. There was not one performance which IMO didn't fit. Sam Rockwell was terrific, Oliver Platt showed why IMO he remains so underrated, Kevin Bacon was fine as usual (arguably among the very best actors never to have been Oscar-nominated), Michael Sheen was great (although NP is probably right that he brought some of his Blairisms into the role, however I still think he was very good) but Frank Langella was for me the standout.
The first time I saw the film I was stunned by Langella's performance. The second time confirmed my belief that, Eastwood in Gran Torino aside, Langella's performance was the best of all the films I saw within the past year. I think that Langella gave the best performance of all the lead actor Oscar nominees, and I really hope that he wins. What made it so wonderful was that IMO he wasn't impersonating Nixon. Jamie Foxx's perfomance in Ray didn't impress me all that much as I felt it was an impersonation. Foxx does a fine Ray Charles, but I would rather the real thing. Langella, on the other hand, didn't really attempt to impersonate Nixon beyond the obvious mannerisms and instead IMO delivered a fully textured portrayal of a three dimensional human being. His performance was magnificent but it also IMO featured one of the most stunning moments (from an acting point of view) of any film released in the past year.
What else? I also loved the score by Hans Zimmer. NP questioned whether the filmmakers were blowing what happened out of preportion; without wanting to get into politics, I will simply say that the script (which was admittedly cliched but was still fine IMO), the direction and the music were geared towards the audience wanting Frost to get the scoop, and I was with him all the way.
Intrusive drama, well-directed by Michael Winterbottom.
Little known Russ Meyer venture from 1974 in which soft porn star Vicki Frost grapples with the pneumatic charms of Meyer favourite Vixen. Vixen dominates for most of it, then Frost's innate cunning sees her turn the tables.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Got a little time on our hands, do we Nap?
8.9 / 10
Great Tom Hanks film, great plot, I am not normally one for films like this but this one was good, By the same director as The Shawshank Redeption.
The classic novel by Herman Melville, brought to the screen in 1956 by the great John Huston, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ray Bradbury (!). The boys had never seen this one, so I dusted it off and showed it to them. This is still a great film, weak use of miniatures (mostly in Act 3) notwithstanding.*
The definitive study of self-destructive obsession, which in this case draws others into the maelstrom it creates, receives a fine treatment here. Gregory Peck's performance as Ahab is one of his best ever, and Richard Basehart seems many decades away from being Admiral Nelson in the endearingly silly 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea' TV show...but in fact he's only one
A nifty little cameo from Orson Welles as Father Mapple, preaching about Jonah and the whale from a pulpit shaped like the bow of a ship...this film is a treasured memory from my childhood. My father did the best impression of Peck's Ahab in the world, and it scared the crap out of me
* Ironically, one of the main reasons I wanted to watch this is because I'm beginning to dabble in wooden model ship building, as a way to get away from my writing when it is indispensable to do so, and I'm pondering building a scale replica of the Pequod, Ahab's ship. I'd be very happy if I could approximate what the modelmakers did here...so this was research B-)
Highy recommended...naturally.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Nothing wrong with the miniatures though, you use imagination and pretend you're a member of 1956 audiences. If anything, they add charm and showcase the ingenuity of the old school filmmakers. (Something a bloated mega-production CGI laden remake, would, more often then not, fail to do) :v
PS: Good luck with the model bro.
Anyway, last night I watched Traitor. I didn't know much about this movie and it turned out to be a rewarding find. The always-good Don Cheadle plays a Somali-born, American-reared Muslim who becomes drawn into a terrorist cell; while FBI agent Guy Pearce is trying to pin down Cheadle's moves. This is a good thriller, but it also takes a thoughtful approach to the topic of religious fanaticism. Another shock is to find a screenplay credit for Steve Martin!
Yeah, that's true enough...but the footage of the small whaleboats (and their model-men inhabitants) nettles a bit. But I do dearly love this film. A couple of my favourite bits of dialogue (which were obviously memorable enough to be 'borrowed' by the writer of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Starbuck asks, "Was it not Moby Dick took off thy leg?"
Ahab solemnly nods, and replies, "Aye. It was Moby Dick. And I'll hunt him down around the Horn, around the Norway Maelstrom, and around Perdition's Flame...before I give him up!"
And, at the end:
"From hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee! Oh, damn thee, whale!"
Thanks, man, I'll need it
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, adapted from his stage play. I agree with Dan Same that the movie feels a little too much like a play that was being recorded, as opposed to a real film. I think in the hands of a different director, this could have been avoided.
However, the real nugget here isn't cinematography or style -- it's acting. The four major adult players -- Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis -- are very good, and all four are nominated for Academy Awards. Streep is fabulous as always; much of the time, I completely forgot it was her, so deeply did she immerse herself in the character. Hoffman is his usual strong self, with a performance that has him raising his voice more than I can remember him doing in other roles. Adams is fine; her character serves as an audience to the primary conflict between Streep and Hoffman, and she's effective in that role, although I find it hard to believe there wasn't someone more deserving of a Supporting Actress nomination.
As to Viola Davis...well, let's just say I find it hard to believe anyone could be more deserving of a Supporting Actress nomination. If you want to see someone steal an entire film in a single scene, check her out here. She's on film for no more than 10 minutes, all at once, but she left by far the most indelible imprint on me. Her performance is visceral acting at it's best -- I was blown away. I haven't seen all of the Supporting Actress nomineees, but I will be very disappointed if she doesn't win. That's how good she is.
All in all, this is a good film, not a great one. That said, if you want to enjoy a well-made play, and don't have money for the theatre (who does these days?) then pop Doubt into the DVD player for a couple of hours and watch some excellent actors in top form.
8.1 / 10
One of the fine peices to a superb series of films
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