‘ENCHANTED’ (2007) – a whole lotta magic.
I wonder if Disney realized back in 1988 that their hybrid feature Who Framed Roger Rabbit, released that year, would be their last live action/animated picture for almost twenty years. It would […]
Movies
‘CHINATOWN’ (1974) – Polanski’s masterpiece.
It pains me to say anything positive about a low-life like Roman Polanski, but he probably should have won his nomination for Best Director for […]
How ‘Cleopatra’ (1963) almost sunk 20th Century Fox
Cleopatra is not a bad movie per se. It is just a bad movie for the amount of money spent making it. We hear differing amounts relating to the production and distribution outlay, but it appears to have cost in the vicinity of 44 million 1963 dollars, the equivalent […]
‘FUNNY PEOPLE’ (2009) – typical Sandler garbage.
I cannot stomach Adam Sandler’s brand of so-called humor. In my opinion he is utterly talentless, crude, and incapable of getting any kind of laugh without the use of smut at every turn. Just like a plethora of other non-talents, he got his big break by being selected for […]
BEST AND WORST PT 2
BEST ‘CAPER’ FILM: The Sting (1973) This selection was a ‘no-brainer’. If Lawrence of Arabia was near-perfect, The Sting is probably a touch better. Quite simply, it is a seamless, brilliant piece of movie-making. Great writing, an ideal cast on the top of their game, and a […]
THE BEST AND WORST PT 1.
I was recently asked to name ONE movie in each of a number of genres and categories as my favourite, and ONE in each that I considered to be grossly over-rated. Almost an impossible task, but I promised to take a crack at it. Here are my choices, randomly […]
‘THE LONG SHIPS’ (1964) – what a stupid, stupid movie!
The Long Ships was a somewhat lame British-Yugoslavian joint venture, shot around Belgrade over six months in 1963-4. Initially, Robert Taylor was lined up to play Rolfe, the Norse leader of a gaggle of seafarers bent on […]
‘THE VIKINGS’ (1958)
The Vikings was shot in the summer of 1957 when its star, Kirk Douglas, was already 40 years old. Einar, the character he was playing, was supposed to be in his twenties. Well, […]
‘THE LAST VALLEY’ (1971) – a hidden gem.
The Last Valley (1971) was panned almost universally, probably because it echoed writer/director James Clavell’s well-known atheism. Churches hate that kind of thing and they had enough clout back then to strongly influence many critics in their reviews. Personally, I thought the script was brilliant, the acting excellent, and John […]
Casting Blunders Pt 1.
I often watch movies over and over again, just for the pleasure of re-visiting an extraordinary performance. Occasionally, as for instance with Double Indemnity (1944), it is not only an individual performance, but a combination of strong acting from more than one player, a fabulous script, seamless directing, and a […]