Search
Search results

Meryl Streep: Anatomy of an Actor
Book
One of the most talented actresses of her generation, Meryl Streep provides a high benchmark by...

LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Spider-Man (2002) in Movies
Sep 19, 2020
The first major blockbuster Spider-Man movie hasn't aged particularly well, but it's overflowing with charm and a great cast.
Watching this as an adult is still as much fun as it was back in 2002 (when I was a fresh faced 13 year old). Tobey Maguire, Willem Defoe, James Franco, Kirsten Dunst, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons - all of them are really well cast and bring their comic book counterparts to life in a way that captured the imaginations of comic fans everywhere, all backed up by a fantastic score by Danny Elfman.
It's faults are few, but mainly in line with the first X-Men film - it's just doesn't quite stand up compared to comic films today and suffers from sub standard CGI and an early 2000s time stamp - I must say though - I have a special kind of love for the borderline Power Rangers villain costume that Green Goblin gets to wear...
Spider-Man is an important milestone in bringing comic books to the big screen, and will surely be enjoyed for years to come.
Watching this as an adult is still as much fun as it was back in 2002 (when I was a fresh faced 13 year old). Tobey Maguire, Willem Defoe, James Franco, Kirsten Dunst, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons - all of them are really well cast and bring their comic book counterparts to life in a way that captured the imaginations of comic fans everywhere, all backed up by a fantastic score by Danny Elfman.
It's faults are few, but mainly in line with the first X-Men film - it's just doesn't quite stand up compared to comic films today and suffers from sub standard CGI and an early 2000s time stamp - I must say though - I have a special kind of love for the borderline Power Rangers villain costume that Green Goblin gets to wear...
Spider-Man is an important milestone in bringing comic books to the big screen, and will surely be enjoyed for years to come.

Awix (3310 KP) rated Downton Abbey (2019) in Movies
Sep 28, 2019 (Updated Sep 28, 2019)
Big-screen version of the popular costume soap feels like a long episode of a TV costume soap that's ended up in a movie theatre by accident (there's a shock). Daily life at Downton is thrown into uproar by the royal visit; this is mainly just a pretext to hang various low-stakes storylines onto, none of which are especially gripping.
The heritage view of the country is pervasive and unquestioned; the plot mostly concerns a bunch of people utterly determined to be as servile and deferent as they can, no matter the obstacles in their way. You either accept this is normal behaviour and buy into the film's picture-book idea of English life, or you don't, in which case this is not the film for you. Fine performers get very little to do; not much happens overall, to be honest. But if you watched the TV show and have affection for these characters I expect there will be much here you will enjoy. To me it just seemed like a load of under-powered smug monarchist piffle.
The heritage view of the country is pervasive and unquestioned; the plot mostly concerns a bunch of people utterly determined to be as servile and deferent as they can, no matter the obstacles in their way. You either accept this is normal behaviour and buy into the film's picture-book idea of English life, or you don't, in which case this is not the film for you. Fine performers get very little to do; not much happens overall, to be honest. But if you watched the TV show and have affection for these characters I expect there will be much here you will enjoy. To me it just seemed like a load of under-powered smug monarchist piffle.

David McK (3562 KP) rated The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in Books
May 18, 2025
I read the original Hunger Games trilogy back in the early to mid 2010s, before I saw any of the movies.
I watched the movie of this one first, before reading the book.
And, I have to say, that a prequel for President Snow - as portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the movies - was not my first thought on how Suzanne Collins could expand her world.
But that's pretty much who this centres on, with one whole section of the 3-part novel also set during the 10th annual Hunger Games which, here, are still relatively new and with large parts of the novel concerning how said Games could be made more 'entertaining' for the viewers in the Capitol.
Note I said 'for viewers in the Capitol', as their children are never selected in The Reaping to take place in said Games ...
Personally, I found Cornelius Snow (and Lucy Gray Baird, who he is chosen to mentor) to not be as strong or engaging a protagonist as Katniss Everdeen was. YMMV, of course.
I watched the movie of this one first, before reading the book.
And, I have to say, that a prequel for President Snow - as portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the movies - was not my first thought on how Suzanne Collins could expand her world.
But that's pretty much who this centres on, with one whole section of the 3-part novel also set during the 10th annual Hunger Games which, here, are still relatively new and with large parts of the novel concerning how said Games could be made more 'entertaining' for the viewers in the Capitol.
Note I said 'for viewers in the Capitol', as their children are never selected in The Reaping to take place in said Games ...
Personally, I found Cornelius Snow (and Lucy Gray Baird, who he is chosen to mentor) to not be as strong or engaging a protagonist as Katniss Everdeen was. YMMV, of course.

Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Last Letter from Your Lover (2021) in Movies
Aug 9, 2021
Engaging love story (at least, the one in the 60's) (2 more)
Lush production values, especially production design and cinematography
Great cast - especially Shailene Woodley and Ben Cross
A proper old-fashioned love story that older viewers will appreciate.
Is "chick flick" a phrase that you can use these days? I guess not, since it infers that a movie is only of interest to a particular gender. Perhaps "Sunday afternoon film" is a better phrase. And "The Last Letter From Your Lover" is a real SAF.
Positives:
- "They don't make them like this any more" the saying goes. This is a love story cum melodrama that is well told by director Augustine Frizzell, in only her second feature. The film zips backwards and forwards between different time periods, trusting the audience to keep up with where we are. The dialogue is suitably soupy for a film of this type, based on a Jojo Moyes book (who wrote "Me Before You", also well-filmed). I've seen a critic review in "The Times" where they mocked the sentimentality of the love letters: but part of me would love to say "OK - let's hear what you would have written"!
- The story ticks all the boxes to keep you engaged. Although never moved to tears, a scene towards the end of the movie certainly generated a lump in the throat.
- All the leads are great. Shailene Woodley has been a personal favourite actress since her amazing turn in "The Descendants". And she certainly doesn't disappoint here.
- The production design is lush, particularly with the 60's scenes of London and the Riviera (reminiscent for me of the recent remake of "Rebecca"). This is nicely brought out by the cinematography (by George Steel), with some of the scenes being 'hang on the wall' beautiful to look at.
- It's wonderful to see the late Ben Cross in the movie, and he gives an excellent and touching performance. Cross died of cancer in August 2020 at the age of just 72. This is probably not his last movie, since he was in another - "The Devil's Light" - currently in post-production. Such a sad loss to the industry.
Negatives:
- The movie tries to construct a love story in the 60's and one in the present day 2020's, contrasting the different rules and values at play. The 60's one works; the 20's one really didn't for me. Ellie comes across as a very unlikeable person. The contrast between the lack of communications in the 60's (waiting at a station, not sure if someone will turn up or not) and today's chat/SMS rich 'always on' world could perhaps have been brought out more. With my Dr Bob directorial hat on, I would have ditched the present-day love story entirely and focused in on two professional detectives uncovering the past together: not everything needs to involve love and sex.
- The film has a couple of rain sequences that are highly unconvincing. One Riviera in-car scene particularly made me chuckle. "TURN FIRE HOSE ON!" You can almost see the blue sky and people cavorting on the beach behind them!
Summary Thoughts on "The Last Letter from Your Lover": There are actually few films around these days that feature love stories outside the teenage years. This is an 'old-fashioned' film that will appeal to an older age group, looking for style, romance and escapism. It reminded me in turns of movies like "The Two Faces of January" and "The Age of Adeline" in its mood and presentation. I'm probably not the target audience for this movie and I really enjoyed it. But the illustrious Mrs Movie Man probably is. And she declared that she absolutely loved it!
Ignore the sniffy newspaper and ex-newspaper critics. I'd declare this to be a "recommended".
(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies on the web, Facebook or Tiktok. Thanks.)
Positives:
- "They don't make them like this any more" the saying goes. This is a love story cum melodrama that is well told by director Augustine Frizzell, in only her second feature. The film zips backwards and forwards between different time periods, trusting the audience to keep up with where we are. The dialogue is suitably soupy for a film of this type, based on a Jojo Moyes book (who wrote "Me Before You", also well-filmed). I've seen a critic review in "The Times" where they mocked the sentimentality of the love letters: but part of me would love to say "OK - let's hear what you would have written"!
- The story ticks all the boxes to keep you engaged. Although never moved to tears, a scene towards the end of the movie certainly generated a lump in the throat.
- All the leads are great. Shailene Woodley has been a personal favourite actress since her amazing turn in "The Descendants". And she certainly doesn't disappoint here.
- The production design is lush, particularly with the 60's scenes of London and the Riviera (reminiscent for me of the recent remake of "Rebecca"). This is nicely brought out by the cinematography (by George Steel), with some of the scenes being 'hang on the wall' beautiful to look at.
- It's wonderful to see the late Ben Cross in the movie, and he gives an excellent and touching performance. Cross died of cancer in August 2020 at the age of just 72. This is probably not his last movie, since he was in another - "The Devil's Light" - currently in post-production. Such a sad loss to the industry.
Negatives:
- The movie tries to construct a love story in the 60's and one in the present day 2020's, contrasting the different rules and values at play. The 60's one works; the 20's one really didn't for me. Ellie comes across as a very unlikeable person. The contrast between the lack of communications in the 60's (waiting at a station, not sure if someone will turn up or not) and today's chat/SMS rich 'always on' world could perhaps have been brought out more. With my Dr Bob directorial hat on, I would have ditched the present-day love story entirely and focused in on two professional detectives uncovering the past together: not everything needs to involve love and sex.
- The film has a couple of rain sequences that are highly unconvincing. One Riviera in-car scene particularly made me chuckle. "TURN FIRE HOSE ON!" You can almost see the blue sky and people cavorting on the beach behind them!
Summary Thoughts on "The Last Letter from Your Lover": There are actually few films around these days that feature love stories outside the teenage years. This is an 'old-fashioned' film that will appeal to an older age group, looking for style, romance and escapism. It reminded me in turns of movies like "The Two Faces of January" and "The Age of Adeline" in its mood and presentation. I'm probably not the target audience for this movie and I really enjoyed it. But the illustrious Mrs Movie Man probably is. And she declared that she absolutely loved it!
Ignore the sniffy newspaper and ex-newspaper critics. I'd declare this to be a "recommended".
(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies on the web, Facebook or Tiktok. Thanks.)

Stars and Cars
Book
Steve McQueen. A Ford Mustang. And San Francisco. The ten-minute pursuit in Bullitt has remained the...

Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Deep Blue Sea (1999) in Movies
May 12, 2018
Deep Blue Sea will always have a special place in my heart. At the time of its release, I was eight years old and it’s one of the few horror movies (if you can call it that) that I was allowed to watch. With that said, it’s a guilty pleasure and finding it on Netflix the other night was pretty amazing.
They say the path to Hell is paved with good intentions and Deep Blue Sea reminds us exactly how such proverbs can come true. Dr. Susan McAlester’s unhealthy obsession with finding a cure for Alzheimer’s guides her to costly extremes – and no price is too high in her book. It’s a classic example of sacrificing the few to aid the many, and it is, admittedly, a little overdone.
That said, this movie has some pretty awesome, if dated, death scenes – which I won’t go into detail about in case you haven’t seen it. What I can say is that this is actually a movie where Samuel L. Jackson doesn’t say “motherfucking.” (Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall hearing it at all, which was a shocker.)
Naturally, Deep Blue Sea isn’t something that’s breathtakingly amazing. It’s got its moments though, and it is a fun jaunt through what goes wrong when you mess with things you don’t know about. Seriously, it’s worth a watch for some of its silly little comedic moments, at that. Pretty solid three out of five.
They say the path to Hell is paved with good intentions and Deep Blue Sea reminds us exactly how such proverbs can come true. Dr. Susan McAlester’s unhealthy obsession with finding a cure for Alzheimer’s guides her to costly extremes – and no price is too high in her book. It’s a classic example of sacrificing the few to aid the many, and it is, admittedly, a little overdone.
That said, this movie has some pretty awesome, if dated, death scenes – which I won’t go into detail about in case you haven’t seen it. What I can say is that this is actually a movie where Samuel L. Jackson doesn’t say “motherfucking.” (Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall hearing it at all, which was a shocker.)
Naturally, Deep Blue Sea isn’t something that’s breathtakingly amazing. It’s got its moments though, and it is a fun jaunt through what goes wrong when you mess with things you don’t know about. Seriously, it’s worth a watch for some of its silly little comedic moments, at that. Pretty solid three out of five.

Young Jean Lee recommended Contempt (1963) in Movies (curated)

David McK (3562 KP) rated Live and Let Die (James Bond, #2) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
"When you were young, and your heart was an open book,
You used to say live and let live
(you know you did you know you die you know you did)
But in this ever changing world in which we live in
Makes you give in and cry ...
Live and let die ..."
(cue guitar riff)
With that out of the way - Paul McCartney and Wings, later covered by Guns 'N Roses - Live and Let Die is the second James Bond book by Ian Fleming, but the eighth film in the series, and the first to star Roger Moore in the lead role.
And reading it with contemporary eyes, boy has it aged. Quite different than the movie - although the key elements (vodoo, Baron Samedi, Solitaire, American southwest setting) are intact, it can also be quite uncomfortable reading this with modern sensibilities, particularly in how Flemings (and Bond) treats the female characters, and in how the Harlem culture and denizens are portrayed.
Allowances must be made, I suppose, for the time period in which it was written ...
You used to say live and let live
(you know you did you know you die you know you did)
But in this ever changing world in which we live in
Makes you give in and cry ...
Live and let die ..."
(cue guitar riff)
With that out of the way - Paul McCartney and Wings, later covered by Guns 'N Roses - Live and Let Die is the second James Bond book by Ian Fleming, but the eighth film in the series, and the first to star Roger Moore in the lead role.
And reading it with contemporary eyes, boy has it aged. Quite different than the movie - although the key elements (vodoo, Baron Samedi, Solitaire, American southwest setting) are intact, it can also be quite uncomfortable reading this with modern sensibilities, particularly in how Flemings (and Bond) treats the female characters, and in how the Harlem culture and denizens are portrayed.
Allowances must be made, I suppose, for the time period in which it was written ...

The Breakfast at Tiffany's Companion: The Official 50th Anniversary Companion
Book
Holly Golightly was undoubtedly the role that made Audrey Hepburn a movie icon. Dressed by Hubert de...