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Network (1976)
8.2
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Acclaimed satirical comedy-drama concerning the state of the US and particularly its TV in the mid...
satire eerily prophetic
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Movie Watch
After struggling to establish himself, author Emile Zola (Paul Muni) wins success writing about the...
Jim Broadbent recommended The Wild Bunch (1969) in Movies (curated)
Bedtime Stories for Grown-Ups
Book
There are few more precious routines than that of the bedtime story. So why do we discard this...
Matthew Weiner recommended Sunset Boulevard (1950) in Movies (curated)
Andy K (10821 KP) rated The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) in Movies
Aug 26, 2018 (Updated Aug 26, 2018)
A masterpiece
After rewatching this David Lean masterpiece last night, it reaffirmed my view it is truly epic and one of the greatest films of all time.
When a British regiment is captures in 1943 and imprisoned in a Japanese labor camp, it is a battle of wills between the British commander and the Japanese camp tyrant. After a lengthy standoff, it is decided the British officer will be in charge of rebuilding the faulty bridge which had been begun earlier in a better location with a more stable foundation.
Meanwhile an American solider escapes, is rescued and ordered to return to the same camp to aide the British soldiers in destroying the bridge before it can be used.
The cinematography is glorious and the film never looked so beautiful on my 65" 4K TV. The colors were vivid and the atmospheres stunning, epic and mesmerizing.
Alec Guinness and William Holden are two of my favorites and these are the best roles of their career.
Take a moment (or 2 hours and 40 minutes) and give yourself the pleasure of watching this.
When a British regiment is captures in 1943 and imprisoned in a Japanese labor camp, it is a battle of wills between the British commander and the Japanese camp tyrant. After a lengthy standoff, it is decided the British officer will be in charge of rebuilding the faulty bridge which had been begun earlier in a better location with a more stable foundation.
Meanwhile an American solider escapes, is rescued and ordered to return to the same camp to aide the British soldiers in destroying the bridge before it can be used.
The cinematography is glorious and the film never looked so beautiful on my 65" 4K TV. The colors were vivid and the atmospheres stunning, epic and mesmerizing.
Alec Guinness and William Holden are two of my favorites and these are the best roles of their career.
Take a moment (or 2 hours and 40 minutes) and give yourself the pleasure of watching this.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
7.9
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Bill Preston and Ted Logan are two totally excellent dudes facing one most heinous history exam....
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated The Mist (2007) in Movies
Nov 30, 2020
"It appears we may have a problem of some magnitude."
The Mist is flat out fantastic for a handful of reasons.
Firstly, it has a ridiculously good cast - Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher, Tony Jones, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, William Sadler, Alexa Davalos, Sam Witwer...there isn't a weak link at all, and it's a damn good job - The Mist isn't a straight forward creature feature. Although it's does have it's fair share of monster moments, it's main focus is on the dangers of fanatacism, and the delusions of human beings, as a lot of regular Joes who are just scared of the events unfolding, start to blindly follow the words of Mrs. Carmody, someone who is truly unhinged, and truly believes what she preaches - it's a concept all too familiar in today's real world, and Marcia Gay Harden puts in a show stopping performance, and is one the easiest-to-hate horror antagonists ever put to screen.
The titular Mist is realised superbly, and also does a good job at hiding the CGI monsters effectively. What we do get shown is just enough for a decent payoff, and there are some breathtaking shots during the films climax. For the most part though, it's a masterclass in stimulating the audiences imagination, and is scary in what you don't actually see.
And the of course there is THAT ending. If you somehow haven't seen The Mist yet, then go in with as little knowledge as possible, and let that ending just destroy your very soul. Its propels what is a good horror, into an all timer, even if it is a straight up depression simulator.
Really worth a look for any fans of horror, sci-fi, monsters, or Stephen King, and seek out the black and white version for extra satisfaction!
The Mist is flat out fantastic for a handful of reasons.
Firstly, it has a ridiculously good cast - Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Andre Braugher, Tony Jones, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, William Sadler, Alexa Davalos, Sam Witwer...there isn't a weak link at all, and it's a damn good job - The Mist isn't a straight forward creature feature. Although it's does have it's fair share of monster moments, it's main focus is on the dangers of fanatacism, and the delusions of human beings, as a lot of regular Joes who are just scared of the events unfolding, start to blindly follow the words of Mrs. Carmody, someone who is truly unhinged, and truly believes what she preaches - it's a concept all too familiar in today's real world, and Marcia Gay Harden puts in a show stopping performance, and is one the easiest-to-hate horror antagonists ever put to screen.
The titular Mist is realised superbly, and also does a good job at hiding the CGI monsters effectively. What we do get shown is just enough for a decent payoff, and there are some breathtaking shots during the films climax. For the most part though, it's a masterclass in stimulating the audiences imagination, and is scary in what you don't actually see.
And the of course there is THAT ending. If you somehow haven't seen The Mist yet, then go in with as little knowledge as possible, and let that ending just destroy your very soul. Its propels what is a good horror, into an all timer, even if it is a straight up depression simulator.
Really worth a look for any fans of horror, sci-fi, monsters, or Stephen King, and seek out the black and white version for extra satisfaction!
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Licorice Pizza (2021) in Movies
Mar 9, 2022
Disjointed
The films of Director Paul Thomas Anderson is a bit of an “acquired taste”, moviegoers generally fall into one of 2 camps. (1) those that LOVE what he does (and thinks he is one of the greatest Directors of All Time) and (2) those that don’t.
I thought I fell into the 2nd camp, but upon reviewing his portfolio of work for this review (HARD EIGHT, BOOGIE NIGHTS, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE and THERE WILL BE BLOOD), I realized that I pretty much liked whatever he had done, but with his last few films (THE MASTER, INHERENT VICE, THE PHANTOM THREAD) I am finding that “PTA” (as his fans call him) is becoming just a little too “artsy” and pretentious for my tastes. He has fallen too in love with his material - and artistic style - to objectively look at a film and realize that it needs to move along at a brisker pace.
Such is the case with his latest film, LICORICE PIZZA.
A memory of his youth, LICORICE PIZZA follows the relationship of a pair of mismatched young adults as they work their way through the early 1970’s in search of themselves and love.
This film is a series of scenes stitched together to tell a story and the problem with it is that it made this film seem disjointed. The central “get together already” love story of the main 2 characters is supposed to be the through-line of the film, but when this through-line breaks (as it often does here) it is detrimental to the flow of the story.
Based, loosely, on the real-life exploits of PTA’s friend, Producer Gary Goetzman, LICORICE PIZZA stars Cooper Hoffman (son of Phillip Seymour Hoffman) as Gary Valentine and Alana Haim (of the Sister Act Musical Group HAIM) as Alana as they have an on-again/off-again friendship that SHOULD BE a romance, but isn’t (kind of like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY). They circumnavigate circa 1973 Los Angeles running into fictionalized portrayals of famous people like Producer Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper) and Film Actor Jack Holden (Sean Penn) an amalgamation of William Holden and Steve McQueen.
The central performances of Hoffman and Haim are competent enough, but never rises to anything more than that, which pulls this film down for one or the other of them is in every scene . The various actors doing extended cameos (like Cooper and Penn) seem to be having fun chewing up the scenery, but they are acting in a completely different style of film than Hoffman and Haim are and our 2 leads don’t stand a chance of standing out compared to these over-the-top performances.
Blame for all of this needs to be laid on Anderson (Oscar Nominated for his Direction in this film). He tried to give us a “slice of life” nostalgia piece like AMERICAN GRAFFITI or ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, but he just doesn’t pull it off.
An Oscar Nominee for Best Picture, LICORICE PIZZA seems to be riding the wave of nostalgia both for the times depicted - and the artist who put this film on the screen - but it just isn’t that good of a film.
Letter Grade B- (for Cooper’s and Penn’s scenes in this)
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take this to the Bank(ofMarquis)
I thought I fell into the 2nd camp, but upon reviewing his portfolio of work for this review (HARD EIGHT, BOOGIE NIGHTS, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE and THERE WILL BE BLOOD), I realized that I pretty much liked whatever he had done, but with his last few films (THE MASTER, INHERENT VICE, THE PHANTOM THREAD) I am finding that “PTA” (as his fans call him) is becoming just a little too “artsy” and pretentious for my tastes. He has fallen too in love with his material - and artistic style - to objectively look at a film and realize that it needs to move along at a brisker pace.
Such is the case with his latest film, LICORICE PIZZA.
A memory of his youth, LICORICE PIZZA follows the relationship of a pair of mismatched young adults as they work their way through the early 1970’s in search of themselves and love.
This film is a series of scenes stitched together to tell a story and the problem with it is that it made this film seem disjointed. The central “get together already” love story of the main 2 characters is supposed to be the through-line of the film, but when this through-line breaks (as it often does here) it is detrimental to the flow of the story.
Based, loosely, on the real-life exploits of PTA’s friend, Producer Gary Goetzman, LICORICE PIZZA stars Cooper Hoffman (son of Phillip Seymour Hoffman) as Gary Valentine and Alana Haim (of the Sister Act Musical Group HAIM) as Alana as they have an on-again/off-again friendship that SHOULD BE a romance, but isn’t (kind of like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY). They circumnavigate circa 1973 Los Angeles running into fictionalized portrayals of famous people like Producer Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper) and Film Actor Jack Holden (Sean Penn) an amalgamation of William Holden and Steve McQueen.
The central performances of Hoffman and Haim are competent enough, but never rises to anything more than that, which pulls this film down for one or the other of them is in every scene . The various actors doing extended cameos (like Cooper and Penn) seem to be having fun chewing up the scenery, but they are acting in a completely different style of film than Hoffman and Haim are and our 2 leads don’t stand a chance of standing out compared to these over-the-top performances.
Blame for all of this needs to be laid on Anderson (Oscar Nominated for his Direction in this film). He tried to give us a “slice of life” nostalgia piece like AMERICAN GRAFFITI or ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, but he just doesn’t pull it off.
An Oscar Nominee for Best Picture, LICORICE PIZZA seems to be riding the wave of nostalgia both for the times depicted - and the artist who put this film on the screen - but it just isn’t that good of a film.
Letter Grade B- (for Cooper’s and Penn’s scenes in this)
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take this to the Bank(ofMarquis)
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Mister Roberts (1955) in Movies
Apr 10, 2020
Well Acted
A staple of Old Hollywood under the Studio System was to adapt to the film Broadway shows that were a big hit. One such hit was the 1948 WWII play MISTER ROBERTS starring Henry Fonda (who would win a Tony Award for his performance).
In 1955, Paramount Studios mounted a film production of MISTER ROBERTS starring Fonda, James Cagney (in his last film role for Paramount - who he had been under contract to for 25 years), William Powell (in his last film role) and a young "up-and-comer" by the name of Jack Lemon.
Set in the waning days of World War II aboard a "cargo vessel", MISTER ROBERTS tells the tale of...well...Mister Roberts, the cargo officer who is keeping the ship afloat - serving as a buffer between the crew and the tyrannical Captain. Roberts longs for one thing - to join the war on a battleship, but the Captain knows his success is dependent on Roberts.
Paramount considered Fonda too old for the role, so they sought out younger stars like Marlon Brando and William Holden, but Director John Ford insisted on Fonda - and a wise choice it was. Fonda's easy-going natural personality - tinged with anger and regret - is perfectly suited for this role. He is just as at home joking around with the sailors as he is going mano-a-mano with the Captain. Also perfectly cast is the great James Cagney as the Captain who is only concerned about 1 thing - how he is perceived by the higher ups in the Navy. The conflict between Cagney and Fonda is dynamite and it is worth the price of admission just to watch these 2 Hollywood heavyweights go at it.
Jack Lemon won his first Oscar (as Best Supporting Actor) for portraying Mr. Roberts bunkmate, Ensign Pulver. It is a perfect match of character and actor and you can see where the greatness that is Jack Lemon (an under-rated actor) stems from. The surprise to me at this viewing was the strong work of William Powell (THE THIN MAN movie series) as Doc, the best friend of Mr. Roberts aboard the ship. He has an ease and rapport with Fonda and when Fonda, Powell and Lemon share the screen together the film sparkles.
And that's the best part - and the worst part - of this great film. It looks like a filmed stage play. Veteran Director John Ford looks like he was "mailing it in" on this one, in that he would just put his camera in one stationary position and let his actors play the scenes like they were in a play. This is either laziness - or genius - at the hands of Ford (I would argue probably a little of each). He was wise enough to know he had some incredible talent (Fonda, Cagney, Powell and Lemon) - and a strong script by Frank S. Nugent and Joshua Logan (based on the stage play by Logan and Thomas Hagen...based on Hagen's book), so he stayed out of the way as much as possible.
Consequently, the first part of this film is a bit talky and stagey looking and drags just a bit, but once the film catches it's steam - and these 4 stars light up the screen - this film is well worth watching.
Letter Grade: A
9 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
P.S.: I caught Mister Roberts on the great cable channel TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES - but (as far as I can tell) it's not scheduled to be re-run there anytime soon (and is not streamable on the Watch TCM app), so you'll need to rent it at all the "normal" places (YouTube, GoogePLay, iTunes and Vudu)
In 1955, Paramount Studios mounted a film production of MISTER ROBERTS starring Fonda, James Cagney (in his last film role for Paramount - who he had been under contract to for 25 years), William Powell (in his last film role) and a young "up-and-comer" by the name of Jack Lemon.
Set in the waning days of World War II aboard a "cargo vessel", MISTER ROBERTS tells the tale of...well...Mister Roberts, the cargo officer who is keeping the ship afloat - serving as a buffer between the crew and the tyrannical Captain. Roberts longs for one thing - to join the war on a battleship, but the Captain knows his success is dependent on Roberts.
Paramount considered Fonda too old for the role, so they sought out younger stars like Marlon Brando and William Holden, but Director John Ford insisted on Fonda - and a wise choice it was. Fonda's easy-going natural personality - tinged with anger and regret - is perfectly suited for this role. He is just as at home joking around with the sailors as he is going mano-a-mano with the Captain. Also perfectly cast is the great James Cagney as the Captain who is only concerned about 1 thing - how he is perceived by the higher ups in the Navy. The conflict between Cagney and Fonda is dynamite and it is worth the price of admission just to watch these 2 Hollywood heavyweights go at it.
Jack Lemon won his first Oscar (as Best Supporting Actor) for portraying Mr. Roberts bunkmate, Ensign Pulver. It is a perfect match of character and actor and you can see where the greatness that is Jack Lemon (an under-rated actor) stems from. The surprise to me at this viewing was the strong work of William Powell (THE THIN MAN movie series) as Doc, the best friend of Mr. Roberts aboard the ship. He has an ease and rapport with Fonda and when Fonda, Powell and Lemon share the screen together the film sparkles.
And that's the best part - and the worst part - of this great film. It looks like a filmed stage play. Veteran Director John Ford looks like he was "mailing it in" on this one, in that he would just put his camera in one stationary position and let his actors play the scenes like they were in a play. This is either laziness - or genius - at the hands of Ford (I would argue probably a little of each). He was wise enough to know he had some incredible talent (Fonda, Cagney, Powell and Lemon) - and a strong script by Frank S. Nugent and Joshua Logan (based on the stage play by Logan and Thomas Hagen...based on Hagen's book), so he stayed out of the way as much as possible.
Consequently, the first part of this film is a bit talky and stagey looking and drags just a bit, but once the film catches it's steam - and these 4 stars light up the screen - this film is well worth watching.
Letter Grade: A
9 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
P.S.: I caught Mister Roberts on the great cable channel TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES - but (as far as I can tell) it's not scheduled to be re-run there anytime soon (and is not streamable on the Watch TCM app), so you'll need to rent it at all the "normal" places (YouTube, GoogePLay, iTunes and Vudu)