Yes, it was basically Stallone´s Driven, only more expensive…
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A yearly re-watch of Home Alone (1990). One of the most unique things about this year’s re-watch is that I read one of John Hughes’ original screenplays for it. As many others in the media industry have said, many screenplays truly shape overtime. A lot of gags and characters are switched around in this script. Harry and Marv are a bit more sympathetic, actually. The word “sh*t” is used quite frequently. For some reason, Old Man Marley is called “Harley” for a few pages. All the traps are there and portrayed roughly the same as in the final movie. It was a truly unique way of looking at how different the movie could have turned out. If they released this screenplay version of the movie, it would have been rated PG-13, (in the US, at least). Overall, a great read of a screenplay, that it could have still been a great movie. Highly recommended reading.
As for the finished movie itself, like A Christmas Story, for me it’s a timeless classic from childhood. While growing up, I always looked forward to the booby trap scenes. As I got older, I got more of the humor throughout the movie. That’s a sign that it is aging well, for my generation. I think that it has a truly powerful third act, from the talk with Marley, the traps and the family finale. As for the acting, some great acting from the kids. It was a great character arc for Kevin, with Macaulay Culkin owning his part perfectly. As for Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as Harry and Marv, they prove one thing: They should be in bigger named projects, even though both are generally retired. Or that Pesci retired early, and Stern didn’t get a lot of bigger named projects, unfortunately. But, this is some of their best work. They can still make me laugh, all these years later. So, all in all, like A Christmas Story, Home Alone, is a timeless classic from childhood that I can watch year after year. It can make me laugh, almost tear up, and be more grateful for family and friends. Like its screenplay, it is worth a re-watch, it’s as great as a cheese pizza for yourself.
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It’s my Christmas vacation and like every year I’ve started my adventures movie cycle with The Court Jester starring Danny Kay. And like always it was fantastic again! “Life couldn’t better be…”
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Superb opening of vacation film choice.
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Casablanca
I have seen “Casablanca” before, many years ago. And, of course, it has been quoted ad infinitem by others films and reduced to “Play it, Sam”, “As time goes by”, “We´ll always have Paris” and “This seems to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship”.
But Michael Curtiz´ masterpiece is so much more than those parts. It is a perfect crowdpleaser, in which all elements come together so well. It is emotionally engaging, has a political message (and back then people could still easily agree that Nazis were the bad guys) and is constantly entertaining, while coming in at a brisk 102 minutes - something movies these days only very rarely manage.
One of the best films ever made.
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It’s my Christmas vacation and like every year I am watching my favorite old adventuremovies. I already watched The Court Jester, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Scaramouche, The Three Musketeers (with the dashing and beautiful Lana Turner), La Tulipe Noire, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Man In The Iron Mask (both with the great Richard Chamberlain), The Prisoner of Zenda and in a few minutes it will be The Crimson Pirate with Burt Lancaster. I love it!
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La grande illusion
Another classic movie I had not seen before (for fear of having a “homework”-assignment experience).
And, of course, it ended up being one of the greatest movies I have ever seen.
Jean Renoir crafted a film about war, barely showing battles, concentrating on the behavior of human beings and showing where humanity fails or can still survive even in the most dire circumstances. It´s a masterpiece of filmmaking, managing to be realistic and still light hearted at times, captivating the viewer with sadness and humor, all directed and photographed with the utmost care, evoking the impression of succeeding effortlessly.
Absolutely recommended.
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Put on Die Another Day. I’ve really softened on this film in the 23 years since it released. I now see it as a fun, if flawed adventure. Plus it’s got Rosamund Pike in it. So, bonus points.
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Wake up, dead man
The third Benoit Blanc is the best film produced in 2025 I have seen. Timely, poignant, laugh out loud funny, sad, like the previous Knives Out-movies this one is genre used to describe our times perfectly.
Craig is superb once again, the whole cast is excellent, but Josh O‘Connor is indeed the center of the film and deserving of every accolade he is getting.
Three films in a row and Rian Johnson always hits them out of the park. Wonderful.
And yet, masses flock to Avatar.
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How did you like the surprise yet somehow obvious cameo?
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It was all great fun, especially the
Summary
Hot sauce.
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Its hard to catch (intentionally) but fun
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To anyone else, the hot sauce is not the cameo im talking about. THIS forum will get it quick.
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The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (2025)
I’ve never seen the original film, so I can’t compare this one to it and say whether it’s better or not. Really all you’re getting from this new, updated version are the performances by the leads. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Maika Monroe are both very good, helping the audience care about what is going on to some degree since the “story”, as much as there is one, feels quite flimsy at times. There’s a decent little “twist” towards the end, which turns the way the dynamics between the characters are presented on its head a little bit, as, given that this is an update of an early-90s thriller, you generally have a feeling as to how this is going to turn out. Even still, it’s not enough to really elevate what’s here beyond mid-rate streaming fare (which to be fair, is exactly what this is) that is somewhat elevated by two good lead performances.
Ballerina: From the World of John Wick (2025)
No doubt due to Len Wiseman’s direction, but this film feels like it was dug out of a time capsule from the mid-to-late 2000s, an overly slick action film in the vein of Underworld that would have felt right at home sitting on the shelves of a Best Buy in the middle of the HDDVD vs. Blu-ray home media war. The film is what it is, a long parade of action sequences held together by a plot we’ve seen an untold number of times before. What you’re really here for is Ana de Armas, who is, as usual, awesome. Someone really should give her a spy franchise to lead. Heck, since we’re making the Bond franchise into something led by Q and Moneypenny, let her be the new lead of that franchise. As it stands, if we don’t get another Bond film before 2028, she will have been the best thing we’ve seen in a Bond film in the past two decades, by a wide margin.
Here, she spends the entire film dispatching an army of henchmen in often times over-the-top ways. When this is what the film is doing, it’s a fun watch. When it’s not, it’s something that you’ve literally seen a hundred times before.
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Phone Booth, 2002 Joel Schumacher film starring Colin Farrell, with a great supporting turn by Forest Whitaker as a police captain. I always consider it a remarkable feat when an actor can make an extremely unlikable character sympathetic, but that’s what Farrell manages to do. We see his character, Stu Shepard, transform before our eyes. He dissolves from a shallow, lying narcissist into a shattered soul.
What achieves this transformation is a stalker who has been following Stu’s lies to his wife, Kelly, and the object of his desires, Pam. Stu goes into a phone booth, takes off his wedding ring and calls Pam, hoping to keep his planned affair a secret from Kelly. He is approached by a man delivering pizza, whom Stu scorns and dismisses with a $5 bill. After the man walks away, Stu gets a call on the public phone. It’s from his stalker, a sniper who threatens to kill him and others if he doesn’t do exactly as he says.
I don’t want to give away too much, in case someone hasn’t seen it and wants to. But the caller is the one who makes this movie. If we in the audience weren’t properly creeped out by his voice, then the movie wouldn’t work. But he is extremely effective, and it’s through his psychological manipulation that Stu goes from being a total jerk, unworthy of anyone’s affection, to a human being reduced to confronting his most basic insecurities and transgressions.
Side-note: It’s disconcerting to see where cellphone technology was in 2002. The fact that most of this movie is set in a still-functioning public phone booth in Times Square dates it.
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A staple of cable tv movie channels growing up. Love Phone Booth, a taut, amusing, well directed thriller.
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OTOH, last night we watched Voyagers, a 2021 “sci-fi thriller” also starring Colin Farrell and a cast of (seemingly) thousands of young actors. It showed promise, but fell apart when it turned into an overly long hybrid of Lord of the Flies and Friday the 13th … in space. That’s two hours of our lives we’ll never get back.
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The Maltese Falcon
In my attempt to watch classics I have never seen before (SHAME!) John Huston‘s detective thriller starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade has been a complete joy. Beautifully photographed, magnificently acted and poignantly written, this film really towers over all the wanna be detective stories in the last two decades.
And Bogart… man, what a genius, what a perfect alignment of subtle acting and charisma.
„When you’re slapped you’ll take it and you‘ll like it!“
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You realy never saw this classic before??
Since I was a teenager this movie was shown several times on at least German and Belgium television. I love it. Especially with the end they all still are after the falcon, the chase will never stop. You have Bogart, you have Lorre, Greenstreet, they all are perfect in their parts. I am for months now in doubt if I will buy this movie on 4K, I am not sure a black and white movie is realy better on 4K then on blu ray.
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It is supposed to be a stellar transfer, so I am putting it on my wishlist.
And yes, I had seen bits and pieces but never the whole film.
I was an idiot. (Some say I still am.)
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