Movies

GREAT BASEBALL MOVIES.

4 GREAT BASEBALL MOVIES.

February 4, 2021 Alan Royle 2

  It would be fair to say that I am not a fan of sporting biopics as a rule, probably because most actors (and actresses) are not very athletic and their lack of coordination and natural ability is usually instantly evident and annoying, a legacy no doubt of them treading […]

GREAT MOVIE DIALOGUE – The Last Valley.

GREAT MOVIE DIALOGUE – The Last Valley.

January 31, 2021 Alan Royle 3

THE LAST VALLEY (1971) This greatly under-rated movie is a fictional piece set in the Thirty Years War which began in 1618. A former teacher named Vogel (Omar Sharif) stumbles upon a village in the mountains that is untouched by the war or the Great Plague, a village rich in […]

‘THE RIGHT STUFF’ (1983)

‘THE RIGHT STUFF’ (1983)

January 19, 2021 Alan Royle 4

  THE RIGHT STUFF (1983)            From a historical perspective, this is a reasonably accurate account of the recruitment, training and deployment of the seven Mercury Astronauts chosen for America’s first space program back in the 1960s. It mostly looks at the astronauts although, refreshingly, it gives more than a passing […]

LONESOME DOVE – A Mini-Series Masterpiece.

LONESOME DOVE – A Mini-Series Masterpiece.

January 10, 2021 Alan Royle 2

LONESOME DOVE (1989) – A Mini-Series masterpiece. Larry McMurtry wrote Lonesome Dove in 1971 as a movie script. His intention was for John Wayne to play Woodrow Call, James Stewart to portray Gus McCrae, and Henry Fonda to hold down the Jake Spoon role. Hot director Peter Bogdanovich was to […]

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT19.

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT19.

December 23, 2020 Alan Royle 2

  ONCE UPON A TIME IN…HOLLYWOOD (2019) This Quentin Tarantino film can best be described as a revisionist-fictional tale of a created Hollywood star and his best friend/stuntman/ gopher; a tale that culminates in a thoroughly preposterous, concocted climax that takes place right next door to a residence that, in […]

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT18.

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT18.

December 5, 2020 Alan Royle 2

CADDYSHACK (1980) This golfing comedy has acquired quite a cult following since its release in 1980, due mainly to the performances of Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight and (to a lesser extent) Bill Murray. Murray shot all his scenes in six days (including one with Chevy Chase). Despite genuine concerns to […]

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT17.

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT17.

November 2, 2020 Alan Royle 0

THE COMPETITION (1980)                      This romantic drama might have been a good picture. Unfortunately, it is only ordinary. Evidently, the idea was to present a man and a woman in love, but in direct competition with each other in their chosen field of expertise. Both Heidi (Amy Irving) and Paul (Richard […]

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT16.

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT16.

October 18, 2020 Alan Royle 8

  FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL (1994)                                          The enormously popular Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) was the first British film since A Fish Called Wanda (1988) to top the American box-office charts. It was to star Jeanne Tripplehorn as Carrie, but the sudden death of her mother just […]

Let’s Go To the Movies – PT 15.

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT15.

September 27, 2020 Alan Royle 0

37 DAYS (2014) – Mini-series                                   This superb British drama mini-series, broadcast by the BBC in March 2014, covers the 37 days leading up to the outbreak of World War One, from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on June 28, 1914, to the United Kingdom declaring war on […]

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT14.

LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES – PT14.

September 12, 2020 Alan Royle 2

  G.I. BLUES (1960)                                        668 Elvis Presley made a total of thirty-one movies between 1956 and 1969, most of which are quite difficult to sit through. In fact, the man himself had little time for them either. He wanted to progress as an actor by playing meaningful roles, but his […]