Posted in Actors, Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Movies, Notes on a Scandal on May 19th, 2007 No Comments »
While the movie itself is a good, if middling, kind of potboiler, Notes on a Scandal becomes much more fascinating with its two key performances, that of Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett.
Between the two of them they turn a film about a sex scandal into a compelling study of isolation and loneliness. In fact, the [...]
Posted in Actors, DVD, James Bond, Movies, Roger Moore on May 18th, 2007 No Comments »
I’ve come to a conclusion that surprises me. My favourite James Bond is Roger Moore. And there is really no contest.
This surprises me because I find many people, sometimes even myself, have a tendency to dismiss Moore as Bond. Too frivolous. Too … 70’s. Too 80’s. Until recently, that’s how I felt. But …
I have [...]
Posted in Actors, DVD, Directors, Movies on May 15th, 2007 No Comments »
I took a few moments to repost a couple of reviews I did a few years ago:
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Anastasia (1956)
The first one, The Long Goodbye, is the Altman film with the sleepy and slovenly Elliot Gould. As I mention in the review, it’s the kind of movie you love and hate at the same [...]
Posted in Actors, DVD, Man in the Middle, Movies, Robert Mitchum on May 11th, 2007 No Comments »
It’s hard not to be drawn in by a film that stars Robert Mitchum. In the case of Man in the Middle, however, you’re drawn in well before Mitchum’s initial appearance with a riveting opening scene.
Keenan Wynn, as Lt. Charles Winton, deliberately and coldly walks across a military compound into a barracks where he blandly [...]
Posted in Actors, James Bond, Movies on March 26th, 2007 No Comments »
I finally have a copy and have watched the only James Bond film I’ve ever really been interested in: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The one and only time I had seen it previously was way back when it came out. That would have been late 1969, early 1970. (It was released mid to late [...]
Posted in Actors, Baby Face, Barbara Stanwyck, DVD, Movies on February 20th, 2007 No Comments »
I noticed today that IMDb has had something of a facelift. I haven’t explored it to any great extent but it does seem an improvement. At least visually it seems a bit more contemporary. But that’s a very superficial impression. I simply haven’t used it enough to judge.
I caught the new design when I was [...]
Posted in Actors, DVD, Movies, Norma Shearer on February 10th, 2007 1 Comment »
Let’s cut to the chase: dull, dull, dull. Throughout the entirety of Marie Antoinette (1938), all I could think was, “When does this damn thing end?”
Which is not to say it doesn’t have its merits. Really.
To begin with, the movie was a showcase for Norma Shearer, wife of big wig studio guy Irving Thalberg. And [...]
Posted in Actors, Ava Gardner, Clark Gable, DVD, Movies on February 9th, 2007 No Comments »
Apparently I can’t trust anything I claim I’ll do. I said I was going to watch Marie Antoinette (and I still intend to), but last night I watched Mogambo (1953) instead.
I found it a bit slow and certainly anachronistic at the start. There was a little too much of that period (early 1950’s) machismo.
You know, [...]
Posted in Actors, Ava Gardner, DVD, Directors, Movies on February 4th, 2007 No Comments »
I’ve fallen way behind in my movie watching since moving but I may be getting back ino gear as I’m starting to feel settled now, at least a bit. Last night I finally got around to watching Little Miss Sunshine and I loved it.
There’s nothing fancy about this movie, it’s just a really good story [...]
Posted in Actors, Movies, Theatres on January 4th, 2007 No Comments »
Yes, it’s hard to believe but for the first time in ages I went to a theatre to see a movie (as opposed to watching it on DVD). I saw The Good Shepherd, starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie, directed by Robert De Niro. (And a lot of other very good actors appear in this [...]
