Cars 3 (Fee, 2017) - A decent enough end to a polarising trilogy Logan (Mangold, 2017) (The black & white “Logan Noir” version) - An interesting take on the material but nowhere near as essential as the black & white versions of either The Mist or Mad Max: Fury Road The Return of Count Yorga (Kelljan, 1971) - Had a horrid seventies “Made for TV” feel about it. Like an episode of Murder, She Wrote but with a portly, crap, disinterested vampire Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Columbus, 2001) - I’ve never seen the Harry Potter movies in their entirety so I’ve committed to watching one every Sunday until I’ve seen them all. I really don’t think they’re for me, though. I was bored throughout The Bad Batch (Amirpour, 2016) - Pretty disappointing post-apocalyptic dystopia silliness from the writer/director of the magnificent A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Columbus, 2002) - Round two of the Potter franchise and this one was duller than the first one. Introduced the character of Dobby, who I fcking detested instantly Bonejangles (DeJager, 2017) - weak-as-piss horror/"comedy" Throne of Blood (Kurosawa, 1957) - I’d never seen this before. So good, I watched it again as soon as I’d finished watching it the first time. Outstanding Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954) - Bloody long, but well worth the time Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD (Goodwin, 2014) - Fantastic insight into my childhood comic of choice Mothra (Honda, 1961) - Well, it’s Mothra. It’s a big fcking moth smashing buildings to pieces and whatnot. What’s not to like? Yojimbo (Kurosawa, 1961) - Another top-drawer picture from Kurosawa Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Cuarón, 2004) - Third Potter film; I’m still not engaged at all but this one was easily the best so far Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (Anno, 2007) - Loud, fast giant mecha vs giant monster smashy-smashy anime action Sicario (Villeneuve, 2015) - Superior drug war picture centered around the US/Mexico border The Ice Cream Truck (Freels Johnston, 2017) - Suburban horror which doesn’t quite get there but shows promise for the future. Written/directed by Elmore Leonard’s granddaughter
This was on TV couple of nights ago, and since I am a big admirer of John Le Carre’s novels and since it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a movie with Sean Connery and since one of my first crushes on actresses was on Michelle Pfeifer…
I haven’t read this book, but all Le Carre’s stories have his signature feel, so I can say that movie nailed the atmosphere, the dialogue and the wit of the characters pretty close.
I suspected that too happy ending was not from the book - Le Carre usually leaves us with bitter or ambiguous at best end. It does feel pasted on, but it can be easily ignored and what you’re left is intelligent spy movie with great characters played by great actors (Roy Scheider, J.T. Walsh, John Mahoney and James Fox who is great in the role of Ned), beautifully captured locations and gentle love story.
The Adjustment Bureau, with Matt Damon, 2011… Had a compelling leadup to Damon’s first encounter with The Bureau, but the film basically disintegrates from there. All of a sudden he coincidentally discovers The Bureau is arranging lives and events?
The offworlders, or whatever they are, have been controlling Damon’s life and now seem determined to prevent him from starting a romantic relationship with a ballerina he just met. You can guess the film’s message… Love conquers all. -Especially conquering the buffoons and blunderers that comprise The Bureau. It’s not a comedy, but it may as well be.
If you wear one of The Bureau’s hats, you can open special dimension-doors. And of course, one of The Bureau-members develops sympathy for Damon and gives him a hat. Which leads to some preposterously confusing chase-sequences. Terence Stamp threatens to steal the movie, as a supposedly ruthless Bureau-leader, but turns-into an empty, posturing buffoon as well.
File this film in the Phillip K. Dick was a genius and we’ll prove it to you category. 4-out-10.
The film is listed as a French-German co-production, but the director, most of the actors*, setting and language are all Kurdish. So maybe we’d better call it a Kurdish movie made under a European umbrella.
Shortly after the fall of Sadam Hussein, Baran, a war hero, accepts the job of sheriff in a remote village near the Turkish border. He immediately falls in love with the new teacher (guess why) who’s running away from her brothers who want her to marry a much older man. Not everybody is happy with the newcomers: the villagers don’t like their children to be educated and the corrupt tribal chief is afraid that Baran will try to stop his lucrative smuggling activities. And then there’s also a small group of Kurdish freedom fighters from Turkey, all women, who have crossed the border and are not welcomed by the locals …
My Sweet Pepper Land was called a western here and there and it indeed reminded me a little of that other recent pseudo western, the Austrian Das Finstere Tal (The Dark Valley, 2014), which was set in the Alps. The director sure knows his Leone and Ford and he must have watched George Stevens’ Shane once or twice, but in spite of all this (and unlike the Austrian film), his movie doesn’t really play like a western, more like a romantic drama with some western influences. Some will find it slow, but My Sweet Pepper Land is beautifully made and the actress Golshifteh Farahani sure is a cuty and a beauty
Was there any need for a new version of the story of Judah Ben Hur and Messala? Probably not, but I wanted to see it with my own eyes after reading all those devastating reactions to it. The new version is not entirely hopeless, but it’s not good either. Instead of taking his time, the director rushes through the story of the two friends who eventually become foes and meet each other face tot face, chariot to chariot, in the a Roman Circus.
The action sequences aren’t too bad, but they can’t hold a candle to the corresponding sequences in the 1959 version. Some changes were made to the original story line (apparently to make things more relevant to contemporary viewers) and the character of Jesus gets a lot of extra screen-time. If I remember well, he was only seen from the rear in the 1959 version; in this new version he becomes a quite active - and chatty - character. To make him more relevant to contemporary viewers as well? Who knows. Haven’t we all become a bit chatty lately?
Maybe the film-makers thought that they should get back to basics, with having the Lord Jesus Christ be the central figure.
After all, the original novel was titled ’ Ben Hur - A Tale of the Christ’, and the central theme was the Saviour, with a sea battle, and chariot race thrown in for good measure.
By the way, the author, Lew Wallace, was an interesting man.
As governor of New Mexico Territory in 1879 he offered a pardon to notorious outlaw William H. Bonney (aka Billy the Kid), but subsequently withdrew the offer when Bonney failed to apply for it. Bonney was later shot to death by a sheriff, Pat Garrett, who had been hunting him. (IMDB).
As for the chariot sequences…would anything, in today’s CGI world, ever hope to emulate the magnificent stunt work carried out by Yakima Canutt, in the 1959 version?
I read the book as a boy, but don’t remember much of it, so for me the reference point was th 1959 movie. I’m not a believer, so I don’t know what true christians thought of this ‘chatty’ Christ (would be interesting to know). Personally he made me think of - I know this will sound odd - Monty Python’s Life of Brian, so I expected him to make a joke sooner or later.
Was it by the xay really Yakima Canutt who carried out the stunts in the 1959 version? I thought it was Alfio Caltabiano (but I might have mixed up a few things)
(Set in central France, the film follows French resistance fighters who press the battle on the Germans. Along the way, they break into a prison and release some German prisoners, but discover there may be a spy deliberately planted to flush them all out.)
Finally, got around to watch this Costa-Gavras war film.
Really exciting film that had me intrigued thru out, mainly due to the resistance characters. The action for the most part was pretty good too, with plenty combat scenes and explosions. Glad I watched this Gem of a film.
EL BAR (Alex de la Iglesia).
If you like his movies, you’ll fuckin’ love this batshit crazy flick. It more than makes up for that horrible Witches movie
Charlize Theron is quiet good as a kick-ass bisexual super-spy on a mission in this adequate cold war espionage film. At times a little confusing with all the shady characters, but it moves along in a good clip and the action is great. There is a lesbian scene which surprised me, but it was brief and done in good taste. All and all this was a fun watch with good music.
