If I recall, there's a scene where the hero is punched up in a chair by the villain's henchmen, while the camera pans away, like Bond in Dr No's lair after dinner.
And other stuff like "You disappoint me..." said with a flourish.
If I recall, there's a scene where the hero is punched up in a chair by the villain's henchmen, while the camera pans away, like Bond in Dr No's lair after dinner.
And other stuff like "You disappoint me..." said with a flourish.
True, however Farewell, My Lovely was filmed 18 years before DN.
"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
Awful high school movie with a screenplay that lumbers about like one of the living dead looking for brains. It's out of luck though because there aren't any brains in this movie. Quite why leading lady Amanda Seyfried is so horrified by the dead rising from the earth when on her last movie Mamma Mia she was forced to witness something far more terrible, Pierce Brosnan singing Abba, is beyond me. Face the Undead, or Pierce Brosnan doing karaoke? I know which one I'd choose.
Continuing on my Marilyn Monroe film fest, simple plot, three models, Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall rent an apartment and set out to marry millionaires. They all meet rich guys, although in every relationship a catch develops and what a drama there is comes from the will she or won't she department. The three actresses share top billing, but IMO Monroe is the star, she shows a nice comedic touch and vulnerability that really shines. Grable isn't given much t work with and Bacall comes across as rather cold. Not the greatest movie ever made, but worth a look.
Note - This movie had the strangest opening to a film I have ever seen, the first five minutes consists of a one camera shot of the 20th Century Fox Orchestra playing a jazz/swing number, nothing else, just the one camera as we watch the conductor and the orchestra, no credits, nothing. Seeing how the film lasts a little less than 90 minutes, my guess would be the song was added to provide some value to the cost of admission.
Note - This movie had the strangest opening to a film I have ever seen, the first five minutes consists of a one camera shot of the 20th Century Fox Orchestra playing a jazz/swing number, nothing else, just the one camera as we watch the conductor and the orchestra, no credits, nothing. Seeing how the film lasts a little less than 90 minutes, my guess would be the song was added to provide some value to the cost of admission.
It could have also been an attempt at adding a little pizzaz to the overture, which was usually played as the audience was getting seated in the movie theater in anticipation of the movie. Another old moviegoing tradition that fell by the wayside.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,993Quartermasters
"Public Enemies"
2nd viewing---this time on DVD (a Christmas gift). I enjoyed it the first time, and my appreciation is enhanced with a repeat experience. Of course, although my TV (a 42" LCD) is capable of Hi-Def, I still have a garden-variety DVD player, so the reported disadvantages of the digital format in which it was filmed are invisible to me...
A worthy addition to my crime picture shelf 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
Just back from seeing this highly touted film and I agree with the critics, the movie is very good. George Clooney stars as a man who lives his life in airplanes and hotels, and he likes it. He travels from town to town firing people in a manner that lessons the shock to the person being let go. While on a trip he meets fellow road warrior, Vera Farmiga and they strike up a romance of sorts, exchanging travel schedules and looking for days they might be in the same town. Clooney also has a recent college graduate, Anna Kendrick, accompany him on a trip where she learns the tricks of frequent travel from Clooney, while also questioning Clooney's life.
This is really a Clooney vehicle, as he is in just about every scene and he is very good, especially when he begins to question his priorities. Famiga provides a very sexy performance as a female version of Clooney, and Kendrick provides the contrasting life style, more concerned about family and home then frequent travel miles. However, in my mind the star of the film is the writers, they produced a very intelligent, funny and clever script. The dialogue is smart and believable. Through the cast of characters they allow the audience to ponder life, what is important and what isn't, they also question how we communicate in today's society, where atext message is used for even the most personal communications. I really enjoyed the film and highly recommend it.
Recently , I saw the Hangover , District 9 , A Christmas Story , National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation , and The Express.
The Hangover was excellent and very funny 4/5. District 9 was interesting and slow moving but worth the wait 3.5/5. A Christmas Story is a great classic story in itself 3.5/5. NLC vacation is one of the funniest if not the funniest Christmas movie ever 4.5/5. The Express is about Ernie Davis an african american football player who goes along some bumps along the road and does some incredible achievements and suddenly finds out he has Leukimia and soons dies after being drafted 4/5.
Okay - a trip to Vancouver, Canada - 10 hours, and flying Air Canada - gives you your own screen, and plenty of choice )
Quantum of Solace - yep, had to watch that one! Don't need to give a review....
Julie and Julia - based on a true story about a newly married woman who starts a blog about cooking all 526 (or so) recipes from Julia Child’s best selling cookery book. We then get slices of Julia Childs rise to fame as a cook, in post war France, where she was stationed with her husband - and then finally her recipe book being published. Sounds dull? Well it was actually very well written, beautifully acted - Meryl Streep was superb, and really captured Julia Child's slight awkwardness and brashness - and being a keen cook, I was salivating at all the sumptuous dishes that Julie reproduced. A brilliant movie, and really enjoyed it
Twilight - Don't normally do Vampire movies, but wanted to know what all the fuss was about. It was slow, tortured and dark. Well it is a Vampire movie.....but the dialogue was distractingly slow - but with 10 hours to kill, I kept with it. This first installment sees us with a new girl in town starting a high school - and falling for one of the 'dark and strange' kids turns out his whole family are Vampires - and she is let in on the secret. However, these are not 'human' Vampires (who have to drink human blood - they live down the road)....these are 'good' Vampires, who only drink animal's blood.....anyway, there are also hints of werewolf’s too.....won't be queuing up to see the next one, but, well - I was on my third bloody Mary, so it I'm sure that helped it along )
Journey home:
All About Steve - Sandra Bullock's latest comedy, which was actually very funny. She plays a quirky (there's a surprise ) crossword maker, who gets set up on a blind date (Steve) who she finds incredibly attractive - and literally 'jumps' on him - he thinks she is way too kooky, but somehow invites her to follow him on his 'camera man' outings - which she takes seriously, and after getting fired, follows him on his next 3 assignments. Very 'romantic comedy' - and it delivers the message of 'don't change who you are' - even though they actually don't fall in love at the end..... oops, sorry, was that a spoiler )
Post Grad - another romantic comedy - and very sweet. Far to chick flick to really give a review, as most of you will not even give a toss )
Love Happens - mmmmm, is there a theme going on here? Jennifer Anniston saves a self help guru, who has made it big on his best selling novel of dealing with grief (his wife died 3 years previously) Although he actually hasn't dealt with his wife's death - and she pushes him too. This is actually a touching film, and not all fluff and nonsense - Aaron Echert portrays a deeply broken man, but his 'catapult' to self help fame takes over, and he is quick to learn how to act in control, and A-OK (his catch phrase) to his many followers, as he is on the seminar circuit - teaching people how to move forward in grief. Surprisingly good (and no, no bloody Mary's this time )
She's worth whatever chaos she brings to the table and you know it. ~ Mark Anthony
I really enjoyed this, perfect get-out-of-the-house on Boxing Day fare. Great lavish recreations of Victorian England, all gothic and gloomy, some wonderful location shots of how it would have been with a dash of CGI but not unimpressive. Downey and Law have fine chemistry and I enjoyed the pairing more than most incarnations. I bought into it totally in spite of it being ludicrous that this Holmes should be a bare knuckle fighter, it worked. Nice nifty dialogue too, though not always easily audible thanks to the surround sound system many 'presige' movies get saddled with.
Other snag was a geographical impossibilty in relation to Parliament and Tower Bridge near the end, also it was never really eerie or quiet.
It seems that Clint Eastwood just gets better with age. I really enjoyed this film. I thought it had a nice story line , and some humour. You really have to stop and think that this 78 year old man can produce , direct , and act in the same film. I've always been a fan of Clint , his westerns are classics and the Dirty Harry's are very enjoyable. I look forward to seeing his new one Invictus.
Meryl Streep stars as the divorced mother of three, who begins having an affair with her married ex-husband played by Alec Baldwin. To complicate matters she meets and starts to enjoy the company of an architect played by Steve Martin. Baldwin ponders leaving his attractive younger wife, who he left Streep for, while Streep can't decide between Martin and Baldwin.
The movie has plenty of laughs and John Krasinski (from The Office) delivers a nice performance in a supporting role. I enjoyed the movie, but it at times seemed a little unrealistic as everything in Streep's life seemed too perfect. Her house is gorgeous, her business is very successful, her kids are well mannered and on their way to being successful. So the fact that two successful men are interested just seemed a little too convenient.
Despite that I enjoyed the movie and would give it a recommendation.
Anatomy of a Murder
Otto Preminger directed 1959 film starring Jimmy Stewart as a defense lawyer defending an Army Officer accused of killing a bar owner who may or may not have raped his wife. Stewart heads up a great cast that includes George C. Scott, Ben Gazzarra and a young Lee Remick that all deliver great performances. What I liked about this film is that nothing is obvious, Gazzarra who is accused of the murder is a hot head, who seems capable of murder, Remick is Gazzarra's young wife and the rape victim, but she also a drinker, flirt and very aware of her sexuality who may have been willing to fool around on the side.
Stewart uses temporary insanity as a defense and he engages Scott, a top lawyer from the Attorney General’s Office, in a great court room duel, as each lawyer uses every trick in the book to sway the jury. Joseph Welsh plays Judge Weaver who seems determined to deliver a fair trial. The court room battle is well written as each side gains an advantage only to lose it a little later as the other attorney gains the upper hand.
Highly recommend, great film
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,993Quartermasters
edited January 2010
A New Year's tradition in the Loeffelholz household is that we always watch a classic Marx Brothers film at midnight---after we've had our champagne and played "Birthday" by the Beatles*...and the dawn of 2010 was no exception:
"A Night At The Opera"
From 1935, co-starring Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones...and the omnipresent Margaret Dumont as the 'straight lady' foil ) Great stuff; if you haven't experienced Groucho, Harpo and Chico, do yourselves a favour.
As a side note, there are only two degrees of separation between myself and the Marx Brothers: my brother, Another Loeffelholz, did a play out in LA a few years ago that had been written by Moss Hart, who had been married to none other than Kitty Carlisle. My brother and the rest of the cast went out and had a few drinks with Miss Carlisle-Hart, then in her nineties. A real sweetheart, she had lots of stories about Harpo Marx, Joan Crawford, Jimmy Stewart and many others from Hollywood's Golden Age...she stayed out with them until one in the morning...
*...A tradition between Mrs. Loeffelholz and I that goes back to the Eighties---we decided that 'Old Lang Syne' is too sentimental, so we've always opted for something more celebratory that sounds great played loudly 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
j.bladesCurrently? You must be joking?Posts: 530MI6 Agent
actually as of this moment the last film that i have seen is the worlds not enough, first time seeing it in blu-ray, i really enjoyed the movie personally. out of brosnans four, it is definitely second only to goldeneye. cheers, -{
"I take a ridiculous pleasure in what I eat and drink."
In the last two days I have watched for the first time, two completely different films, both of which I enjoyed hugely.
On New Year's Eve, I watched Arthur 2: On the Rocks, an hilarious film starring the brilliant Dudley Moore and Liza Minelli.
This evening I watched RocknRolla starring Gerard Butler and Idris Elba and found it to be hugely entertaining from start to finish.
I would strongly reccommend these two to anyone, and I now intend on enjoying District 9 when possible.
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves.” - Carl Jung
I caught Hancock and Fred Claus on HBO. I'd avoided both movies where they were in the theaters because they both looked moronic. But wow! Both great! -{
It seems that Clint Eastwood just gets better with age. I really enjoyed this film. I thought it had a nice story line , and some humour. You really have to stop and think that this 78 year old man can produce , direct , and act in the same film. I've always been a fan of Clint , his westerns are classics and the Dirty Harry's are very enjoyable. I look forward to seeing his new one Invictus.
Music to my ears. -{
"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
A damp squib weekend after a not very enjoyable Christmas.
Showed my sister Total Recall and then watched Anchorman. She liked TR but couldn't get past the fact that she thought it was all a dream anyway from the moment of his implant. Well, it's meant to be ambiguous, true, but if you really think that there's no point watching it or getting involved.
Anchorman a lot less funny this time round, quite embarrassing.
Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express over the Christmas hols. MOOE is more quality, real period detail but for me Finney is the Dalton of Poirots, true to the original but with no charisma or fun. Also, there's only one murder which is unusual for Christie, you need a few more murders to break things up a bit and wrongfoot you as your main suspect is done away with. Murder doesn't move things forward much as the whole film is Poirot's investigation, and he didn't have a sidekick like Niven in the follow-up to lighten things up, he is really just a bore. I didn't find the outcome exactly credible either. Nile has its flaws, it's local rep theatre but it has funny moments. (And a couple of Bond touches with the snake and the falling Egyptian pillar). It's far less starchy.
Of course, having films where peope are cooped up together and a murder committed does seem somehow appropriate when stuck with the family over Christmas and the weather is too drizzly to get out.
For some reason, despite the hype, I wasn't overly keen on seeing this at all. My brother persuaded me to go along with him.
What can I say?
The script isn't going to win any oscars and the story has been recycled dozens of times.
But...
I LOVED IT , what a film. Despite it's short comings I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish. The film looks stunning and the plot zips along at a great pace, it certainly didn't feel 2 and a half hours plus.
I've never seen a film in 3D before and found it really immersive, when I read it was in 3D I had visions of random objects flying out of the screen trying to scare the audience. I thought it was really well done and not gimmicky as I feared it would be.
I want to see this a couple of times at the cinema as I feel it could lose some of it's impact on a smaller screen.
I would recommend it highly.
1- On Her Majesty's Secret Service 2- Casino Royale 3- Licence To Kill 4- Goldeneye 5- From Russia With Love
Notorious was a chore to sit thru.......dunno , not much of a Hitch fan from what I've seen.
Monroe :
Niagara
GPB , bit overrated but songs are great
RONR , weak western
SYI
Bus Stop
HTMAM
Prince & Showgirl......never seen
SLIH
LML
Misfits :x-{
SGTG......what could've been
Just back from seeing this highly touted film and I agree with the critics, the movie is very good. George Clooney stars as a man who lives his life in airplanes and hotels, and he likes it. He travels from town to town firing people in a manner that lessons the shock to the person being let go. While on a trip he meets fellow road warrior, Vera Farmiga and they strike up a romance of sorts, exchanging travel schedules and looking for days they might be in the same town. Clooney also has a recent college graduate, Anna Kendrick, accompany him on a trip where she learns the tricks of frequent travel from Clooney, while also questioning Clooney's life.
This is really a Clooney vehicle, as he is in just about every scene and he is very good, especially when he begins to question his priorities. Famiga provides a very sexy performance as a female version of Clooney, and Kendrick provides the contrasting life style, more concerned about family and home then frequent travel miles. However, in my mind the star of the film is the writers, they produced a very intelligent, funny and clever script. The dialogue is smart and believable. Through the cast of characters they allow the audience to ponder life, what is important and what isn't, they also question how we communicate in today's society, where atext message is used for even the most personal communications. I really enjoyed the film and highly recommend it.
Think we saw this on the same day, Barry! {[]
I echo Barry's assessment -- this one is well worth the couple of hours. Clooney is wonderful -- suave and debonair (not hard for him) but also very vulnerable at times, as he was in Michael Clayton. There are some early scenes with him and Farmiga that almost have a Cary Grant - Katherine Hepburn feel too them, with rapid-fire dialogue and witty entendres. The movie is very much perfectly timed, with its overarching feel of joblessness and displacement. Many of the fired employees are actually real non-actors who have recently lost their jobs, and this shows in the almost documentary style of many of the interviews. There's a so-called "surprise twist" near the end which is pretty well-telegraphed if you're paying close attention, but it totally fits the mood of the film.
With Thank You For Smoking, Juno, and now Up In The Air, Jason Reitman's directorial career is off to...ahem...a flying start.
Also...Invictus
Another one well worth the time. Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela, newly elected President of South Africa in 1994 and looking for ways to help the country begin to heal itself. He seizes upon the Springboks, the national rugby team and a huge symbol of black-white division in South Africa. Reaching out to their captain Francois Pienaar (played well by the admittedly too short Matt Damon), Mandela sets them a target of winning the 1995 World Cup held in South Africa. You can pretty much guess the rest. This is not director Clint Eastwood at his best, but his ability to be very straightforward serves him well here. No twists, not really even that much tension, but a wonderful story to watch play itself out. Of course, Freeman is brilliant, to the point that I really forgot I wasn't watching the real Mandela. I walked out of the theater feeling very emotional. Perhaps that's because I consider Nelson Mandela to be among the greatest human beings walking the planet today, but it's also a credit to how this story was told. Don't expect a tour de force with this one, but see it nonetheless.
American Gangster (2007): Denzel Washington gives another usual powerhouse performance, this time as Harlem drug kingpin, Frank Lucas. Based on a true story and told from two sides, it tells of Lucas's rise, starting out as a driver and protege for Harlem black Mafia boss, Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson before making his gradual rise to Heroin dealing, buying his dope direct from Vietnam, via his contact who helps it come back either by crooked pilots, soldiers or MP's who are involved in the Vietnam War. The second side is the investigation from the narcotics squad headed by Richie Roberts, played by Russell Crowe. Determined to break the drug epidemic, Roberts goes head to head against Lucas and his Syndicate, as well as the likes of the Italian Lucchese crime family and crooked cops. Finally, Lucas and Roberts are combined after the arrests are made and a startling action from Lucas confirms that the old ways of the underworld and everything he was taught by Bumpy is thrown out of the window. One of the best mob movies since the year 2000. 8/10.
But Mr Same, the smile may be wiped from your face when you read my real review. I won't be surprised to wake up with a horse's head in my bed... did I enjoy The Godfather Part II? Neigh, neigh and thrice neigh!!
It lost me from hello. The opener against a Sicilian landscape, with a funeral procession. The script on screen says we're dealing with the death of The Godfather's dad, around 1900. ie Brando's Dad. It tells how Vito (Brando) stays with his mum while his brother Paolo flees for the country. Okay, I think, this is going to be about the two sons and their different attitudes. One stays loyal to his mother and is law-abiding, the other turns criminal, but Vito gradually starts to see that you need more than virtue in life, and later turns to the bad or something... Not saying I conciously thought all this, but this seems to be the set-up. Leaving aside the sub-editor in me that's annoyed at hypenating mur-der in the opening scroll... But then
shots ring out and a cry goes up: Paolo has been shot! I have to rewind it... I thought Paolo had fled to the country. What's he doing there? Did he just show up for the funeral? Or did they kill him and drag him out there? Why bother mentioning his whereabouts if he's gonna get offed in the first scene?
This 'Eh? You what?' attitude prevailed throughout the film. Part of it is given over to Vito's rise to become the Godfather, most of it is his son Mikey's continuing quest to be the shark in his family, but we saw much of that in the last film. This narrative trick tends to occur when its needed to conceal that neither plot lines are actually very interesting. It even happened in GoldenEye when it flits between Bond and Natalya's escape.
The early scenes with Vito are sort of interesting but not emotionally gripping. It all seems quite simplistic, his rise, and almost comic. The scene where he gets lured into stealing a carpet is almost Harold Lloyd. Shouldn't he be annoyed at getting talked into that? And then he wipes out the local kingpin, (spot an early cameo from E.T. )*:
You think, well, if that's all it takes to be the main guy, it can't be too hard. DeNiro looks a bit like the young Godfather might be, but he's not Brando. DeNiro looks like a hard nut from the start, but Brando's character had a bear-like charm, a charisma. It's like Brando's man got backed into being a bad guy through circumstance, almost like Connery's Bond in that he's up against even worse people than him. DeNiro's Vito looks like he's mostly there already.
As for Mikey's part of the tale, well, he's looking for the traitor in his midst but I couldn't really care less as they're all such unsympathetic characters. I didn't get it, was it the Jewish guy Roth? If so, why? Just cos he's not Italian? There's a nasty senator who has it in for them but
when he's obviously fitted up with a dead prossie, he turns to the Family and doesn't seem to suspect; next scene he's their bestest mate with nary a sign of resentment or suspicion
Keaton's Kay gets an underwritten part, she's mainly in a huff but when it later transpires
that she's had an abortion, it seems odd because we haven't seen her reach rock bottom in her attitude to the Family. And shouldn't Mikey have it in for Tom (Duvall) for lying about her miscarriage or even arranging the abortion? We don't know - he doesn't even confront him about it!
Mikey goes to Havana - and I quite enjoyed these scenes, in fact all the crowd scenes - but surmises that the rebels will win after watching one incident involving a suicide attacker. Perhaps that Senator had it right about Italians lack of moral fibre, that kind of attitude would be no good in Afganhistan! ) Still, Italian tanks have one forward gear and three in reverse and all that...
It goes on and on. People get forgiven, then wiped out to provide some kind of finale. Most of all I missed the effortless period depiction of, say, 1950s streets and cars going by. There's none of that at all, and no great set piece killings, save Vito gaining his 00 badge early on. And why did the fat Italian suddenly drop his testimony because his brother shows up from Sicily? Does his brother have an account of all the porn films they used to watch as a kid? ) It's just too pat and unexplained.
Pacino ages well, and looks bulky, but at times resembles his character from Dick Tracy!
The Godfather Too would have been more fun! There you go Dan, the stables are that way....
* E.T.'s training in the circus as a fire-eater came into its own in this scene, and he was spotted by Spielberg who was looking to remake the 1930s classic Freaks, before finding the perfect role for him: as Gandhi. Sadly, Dickie Attenborough was already making the film, so Spielberg opted instead for E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial, a big hit to be sure, but it did lead to the alien actor being typecast and later dogged by rumours about occurrences at Michael Jackson's Neverland...
Well, Nape. I done gone and done it. I picked up the gauntlet you threw down on the Bond23 thread and read your Godfather Part 2 review. And -- much like Casino Royale -- you appear to have trouble following what are pretty simple plot points. Paolo did flee to the country, swearing to avenge his father's murder, from the town of Corleone, which as a travel writer (If I recall correctly) you surely know is a very real, walled city in Sicily. In other words, he headed for the hills (to use a common enough expression) to hide and plot his revenge against his father's killers. However, it doesn't take a cultural anthropologist to know that no firstborn Sicilian son, especially at the end of the 19th century, would dream of disrespecting his father by not attending his funeral (even if only from afar) under any circumstances -- as the men who ambushed him and killed him undoubtedly knew.
I guess you were distracted by that hyphen. I've been an editor, too, so I know how that goes. But it's a three-hour movie. If I explain the rest to you, I'll be here until Christmas.
You're lucky I came back. Your movie-going experience should improve markedly
damn...I love this movie. SO much. saw it in the theater with two of my good friends when it first came out, and I HAD it on DVD, but my father lost it along with most of my other movies...and then, I bought it on itunes with a Christmas gift and watched it again. :x
Comments
If I recall, there's a scene where the hero is punched up in a chair by the villain's henchmen, while the camera pans away, like Bond in Dr No's lair after dinner.
And other stuff like "You disappoint me..." said with a flourish.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Awful high school movie with a screenplay that lumbers about like one of the living dead looking for brains. It's out of luck though because there aren't any brains in this movie. Quite why leading lady Amanda Seyfried is so horrified by the dead rising from the earth when on her last movie Mamma Mia she was forced to witness something far more terrible, Pierce Brosnan singing Abba, is beyond me. Face the Undead, or Pierce Brosnan doing karaoke? I know which one I'd choose.
ooo. option A, please.
got DISTRICT 9 from my folks today...such a beautiful movie. so glad I caught it in theaters and now own it
mountainburdphotography.wordpress.com
Continuing on my Marilyn Monroe film fest, simple plot, three models, Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall rent an apartment and set out to marry millionaires. They all meet rich guys, although in every relationship a catch develops and what a drama there is comes from the will she or won't she department. The three actresses share top billing, but IMO Monroe is the star, she shows a nice comedic touch and vulnerability that really shines. Grable isn't given much t work with and Bacall comes across as rather cold. Not the greatest movie ever made, but worth a look.
Note - This movie had the strangest opening to a film I have ever seen, the first five minutes consists of a one camera shot of the 20th Century Fox Orchestra playing a jazz/swing number, nothing else, just the one camera as we watch the conductor and the orchestra, no credits, nothing. Seeing how the film lasts a little less than 90 minutes, my guess would be the song was added to provide some value to the cost of admission.
It could have also been an attempt at adding a little pizzaz to the overture, which was usually played as the audience was getting seated in the movie theater in anticipation of the movie. Another old moviegoing tradition that fell by the wayside.
2nd viewing---this time on DVD (a Christmas gift). I enjoyed it the first time, and my appreciation is enhanced with a repeat experience. Of course, although my TV (a 42" LCD) is capable of Hi-Def, I still have a garden-variety DVD player, so the reported disadvantages of the digital format in which it was filmed are invisible to me...
A worthy addition to my crime picture shelf B-)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
mountainburdphotography.wordpress.com
Just back from seeing this highly touted film and I agree with the critics, the movie is very good. George Clooney stars as a man who lives his life in airplanes and hotels, and he likes it. He travels from town to town firing people in a manner that lessons the shock to the person being let go. While on a trip he meets fellow road warrior, Vera Farmiga and they strike up a romance of sorts, exchanging travel schedules and looking for days they might be in the same town. Clooney also has a recent college graduate, Anna Kendrick, accompany him on a trip where she learns the tricks of frequent travel from Clooney, while also questioning Clooney's life.
This is really a Clooney vehicle, as he is in just about every scene and he is very good, especially when he begins to question his priorities. Famiga provides a very sexy performance as a female version of Clooney, and Kendrick provides the contrasting life style, more concerned about family and home then frequent travel miles. However, in my mind the star of the film is the writers, they produced a very intelligent, funny and clever script. The dialogue is smart and believable. Through the cast of characters they allow the audience to ponder life, what is important and what isn't, they also question how we communicate in today's society, where atext message is used for even the most personal communications. I really enjoyed the film and highly recommend it.
3rd viewing, still the best looking middle-life man crisis.
I know there are some here who don't particularly care for Bo Derek.
Thankfully, I'm not one of them. Because she's hotter then the sun.
The Hangover was excellent and very funny 4/5. District 9 was interesting and slow moving but worth the wait 3.5/5. A Christmas Story is a great classic story in itself 3.5/5. NLC vacation is one of the funniest if not the funniest Christmas movie ever 4.5/5. The Express is about Ernie Davis an african american football player who goes along some bumps along the road and does some incredible achievements and suddenly finds out he has Leukimia and soons dies after being drafted 4/5.
Quantum of Solace - yep, had to watch that one! Don't need to give a review....
Julie and Julia - based on a true story about a newly married woman who starts a blog about cooking all 526 (or so) recipes from Julia Child’s best selling cookery book. We then get slices of Julia Childs rise to fame as a cook, in post war France, where she was stationed with her husband - and then finally her recipe book being published. Sounds dull? Well it was actually very well written, beautifully acted - Meryl Streep was superb, and really captured Julia Child's slight awkwardness and brashness - and being a keen cook, I was salivating at all the sumptuous dishes that Julie reproduced. A brilliant movie, and really enjoyed it
Twilight - Don't normally do Vampire movies, but wanted to know what all the fuss was about. It was slow, tortured and dark. Well it is a Vampire movie.....but the dialogue was distractingly slow - but with 10 hours to kill, I kept with it. This first installment sees us with a new girl in town starting a high school - and falling for one of the 'dark and strange' kids turns out his whole family are Vampires - and she is let in on the secret. However, these are not 'human' Vampires (who have to drink human blood - they live down the road)....these are 'good' Vampires, who only drink animal's blood.....anyway, there are also hints of werewolf’s too.....won't be queuing up to see the next one, but, well - I was on my third bloody Mary, so it I'm sure that helped it along
Journey home:
All About Steve - Sandra Bullock's latest comedy, which was actually very funny. She plays a quirky (there's a surprise
Post Grad - another romantic comedy - and very sweet. Far to chick flick to really give a review, as most of you will not even give a toss
Love Happens - mmmmm, is there a theme going on here?
I really enjoyed this, perfect get-out-of-the-house on Boxing Day fare. Great lavish recreations of Victorian England, all gothic and gloomy, some wonderful location shots of how it would have been with a dash of CGI but not unimpressive. Downey and Law have fine chemistry and I enjoyed the pairing more than most incarnations. I bought into it totally in spite of it being ludicrous that this Holmes should be a bare knuckle fighter, it worked. Nice nifty dialogue too, though not always easily audible thanks to the surround sound system many 'presige' movies get saddled with.
Other snag was a geographical impossibilty in relation to Parliament and Tower Bridge near the end, also it was never really eerie or quiet.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
It seems that Clint Eastwood just gets better with age. I really enjoyed this film. I thought it had a nice story line , and some humour. You really have to stop and think that this 78 year old man can produce , direct , and act in the same film. I've always been a fan of Clint , his westerns are classics and the Dirty Harry's are very enjoyable. I look forward to seeing his new one Invictus.
It's Complicated
Meryl Streep stars as the divorced mother of three, who begins having an affair with her married ex-husband played by Alec Baldwin. To complicate matters she meets and starts to enjoy the company of an architect played by Steve Martin. Baldwin ponders leaving his attractive younger wife, who he left Streep for, while Streep can't decide between Martin and Baldwin.
The movie has plenty of laughs and John Krasinski (from The Office) delivers a nice performance in a supporting role. I enjoyed the movie, but it at times seemed a little unrealistic as everything in Streep's life seemed too perfect. Her house is gorgeous, her business is very successful, her kids are well mannered and on their way to being successful. So the fact that two successful men are interested just seemed a little too convenient.
Despite that I enjoyed the movie and would give it a recommendation.
Anatomy of a Murder
Otto Preminger directed 1959 film starring Jimmy Stewart as a defense lawyer defending an Army Officer accused of killing a bar owner who may or may not have raped his wife. Stewart heads up a great cast that includes George C. Scott, Ben Gazzarra and a young Lee Remick that all deliver great performances. What I liked about this film is that nothing is obvious, Gazzarra who is accused of the murder is a hot head, who seems capable of murder, Remick is Gazzarra's young wife and the rape victim, but she also a drinker, flirt and very aware of her sexuality who may have been willing to fool around on the side.
Stewart uses temporary insanity as a defense and he engages Scott, a top lawyer from the Attorney General’s Office, in a great court room duel, as each lawyer uses every trick in the book to sway the jury. Joseph Welsh plays Judge Weaver who seems determined to deliver a fair trial. The court room battle is well written as each side gains an advantage only to lose it a little later as the other attorney gains the upper hand.
Highly recommend, great film
"A Night At The Opera"
From 1935, co-starring Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones...and the omnipresent Margaret Dumont as the 'straight lady' foil
As a side note, there are only two degrees of separation between myself and the Marx Brothers: my brother, Another Loeffelholz, did a play out in LA a few years ago that had been written by Moss Hart, who had been married to none other than Kitty Carlisle. My brother and the rest of the cast went out and had a few drinks with Miss Carlisle-Hart, then in her nineties. A real sweetheart, she had lots of stories about Harpo Marx, Joan Crawford, Jimmy Stewart and many others from Hollywood's Golden Age...she stayed out with them until one in the morning...
*...A tradition between Mrs. Loeffelholz and I that goes back to the Eighties---we decided that 'Old Lang Syne' is too sentimental, so we've always opted for something more celebratory that sounds great played loudly B-)
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
~ Casino Royale, Ian Fleming
On New Year's Eve, I watched Arthur 2: On the Rocks, an hilarious film starring the brilliant Dudley Moore and Liza Minelli.
This evening I watched RocknRolla starring Gerard Butler and Idris Elba and found it to be hugely entertaining from start to finish.
I would strongly reccommend these two to anyone, and I now intend on enjoying District 9 when possible.
Well, it was quite an exiting ride...
Showed my sister Total Recall and then watched Anchorman. She liked TR but couldn't get past the fact that she thought it was all a dream anyway from the moment of his implant. Well, it's meant to be ambiguous, true, but if you really think that there's no point watching it or getting involved.
Anchorman a lot less funny this time round, quite embarrassing.
Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express over the Christmas hols. MOOE is more quality, real period detail but for me Finney is the Dalton of Poirots, true to the original but with no charisma or fun. Also, there's only one murder which is unusual for Christie, you need a few more murders to break things up a bit and wrongfoot you as your main suspect is done away with. Murder doesn't move things forward much as the whole film is Poirot's investigation, and he didn't have a sidekick like Niven in the follow-up to lighten things up, he is really just a bore. I didn't find the outcome exactly credible either. Nile has its flaws, it's local rep theatre but it has funny moments. (And a couple of Bond touches with the snake and the falling Egyptian pillar). It's far less starchy.
Of course, having films where peope are cooped up together and a murder committed does seem somehow appropriate when stuck with the family over Christmas and the weather is too drizzly to get out.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
For some reason, despite the hype, I wasn't overly keen on seeing this at all. My brother persuaded me to go along with him.
What can I say?
The script isn't going to win any oscars and the story has been recycled dozens of times.
But...
I LOVED IT , what a film. Despite it's short comings I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish. The film looks stunning and the plot zips along at a great pace, it certainly didn't feel 2 and a half hours plus.
I've never seen a film in 3D before and found it really immersive, when I read it was in 3D I had visions of random objects flying out of the screen trying to scare the audience. I thought it was really well done and not gimmicky as I feared it would be.
I want to see this a couple of times at the cinema as I feel it could lose some of it's impact on a smaller screen.
I would recommend it highly.
Monroe :
Niagara
GPB , bit overrated but songs are great
RONR , weak western
SYI
Bus Stop
HTMAM
Prince & Showgirl......never seen
SLIH
LML
Misfits
SGTG......what could've been
Think we saw this on the same day, Barry! {[]
I echo Barry's assessment -- this one is well worth the couple of hours. Clooney is wonderful -- suave and debonair (not hard for him) but also very vulnerable at times, as he was in Michael Clayton. There are some early scenes with him and Farmiga that almost have a Cary Grant - Katherine Hepburn feel too them, with rapid-fire dialogue and witty entendres. The movie is very much perfectly timed, with its overarching feel of joblessness and displacement. Many of the fired employees are actually real non-actors who have recently lost their jobs, and this shows in the almost documentary style of many of the interviews. There's a so-called "surprise twist" near the end which is pretty well-telegraphed if you're paying close attention, but it totally fits the mood of the film.
With Thank You For Smoking, Juno, and now Up In The Air, Jason Reitman's directorial career is off to...ahem...a flying start.
Also...Invictus
Another one well worth the time. Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela, newly elected President of South Africa in 1994 and looking for ways to help the country begin to heal itself. He seizes upon the Springboks, the national rugby team and a huge symbol of black-white division in South Africa. Reaching out to their captain Francois Pienaar (played well by the admittedly too short Matt Damon), Mandela sets them a target of winning the 1995 World Cup held in South Africa. You can pretty much guess the rest. This is not director Clint Eastwood at his best, but his ability to be very straightforward serves him well here. No twists, not really even that much tension, but a wonderful story to watch play itself out. Of course, Freeman is brilliant, to the point that I really forgot I wasn't watching the real Mandela. I walked out of the theater feeling very emotional. Perhaps that's because I consider Nelson Mandela to be among the greatest human beings walking the planet today, but it's also a credit to how this story was told. Don't expect a tour de force with this one, but see it nonetheless.
Am I right?
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Well, Nape. I done gone and done it. I picked up the gauntlet you threw down on the Bond23 thread and read your Godfather Part 2 review. And -- much like Casino Royale -- you appear to have trouble following what are pretty simple plot points. Paolo did flee to the country, swearing to avenge his father's murder, from the town of Corleone, which as a travel writer (If I recall correctly) you surely know is a very real, walled city in Sicily. In other words, he headed for the hills (to use a common enough expression) to hide and plot his revenge against his father's killers. However, it doesn't take a cultural anthropologist to know that no firstborn Sicilian son, especially at the end of the 19th century, would dream of disrespecting his father by not attending his funeral (even if only from afar) under any circumstances -- as the men who ambushed him and killed him undoubtedly knew.
I guess you were distracted by that hyphen. I've been an editor, too, so I know how that goes. But it's a three-hour movie. If I explain the rest to you, I'll be here until Christmas.
You're lucky I came back. Your movie-going experience should improve markedly
Let the games begin ...
damn...I love this movie. SO much. saw it in the theater with two of my good friends when it first came out, and I HAD it on DVD, but my father lost it along with most of my other movies...and then, I bought it on itunes with a Christmas gift and watched it again. :x
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