Finished watching the Goldeneye audio commentary with the man himself, the sincere and humble Pierce Brosnan. Heartwarming to hear him speak positively about the character and how appreciative he is for what the franchise brought to his life. He said Goldeneye is the favourite of his films, which I’m not surprised to hear. If you haven’t given his talkalong a watch, I’d recommend it.
3 Likes
Oh great - when was the commentary made?
Not sure how I managed to miss this one 2008 must been a busy year for me, but with all this pandemic isolation just saw it, and would say it’s good 7/10
1 Like
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES Howard Hawks (1953)–viewed on TCM
Sometimes I use television as background noise which was what I was doing last night with TCM. And as has happened before, a movie came on which I knew well and liked, so I decided to watch some of it and then go back to chores. And once again the chores were delayed for the duration of the entire film.
The films of Howard Hawks compel/baffle/seduce me in equal measure. They are as enticing as Hitchcock’s, but without being manipulative. I am sure Hawks had his obsessions as much as any artist, but his films do not lend themselves as readily to psychoanalysis as AH’s do. The critic and filmmaker Dan Sallitt once told me that Hawks’ movies are their own making-of documentary, and you can see that aspect in HATARI! and RIO LOBO where the narrative focus shifts from one female character to another as Hawks the director loses interest in his leading lady and switches his attention to the second female lead over the course of the production/film. And if you want to watch two people fall in love, you can do no better than TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT. Watch Steve/Bogart’s reaction after Slim/Bacall utters the famous line about whistling and leaves his room. The overlay of Bogart’s falling for Bacall on Steve’s growing love for Slim is dazzling; Hawks knows just how long to keep the camera on Bogart before moving on.
GENTLEMAN is an amazing film of female friendship which mirrors the actual mentoring of Marilyn Monroe by Jane Russell (who was the bigger star at the time). These women are not rivals (as women were often cast in films of that time), but sisters/supporters/rescuers. By the time of the film’s double marriage ending, we believe that these women are capable of accomplishing anything. Hawks’ final camera dolly in which neatly excises the grooms–placing Lorelei and Dorothy center screen–leaves no doubt about which marriage he believes to be the strongest.
Yet the mise en scene is so simple–the use and mastery of the plan americain (as the critics of Cahiers would dub it)–the crowded shots where actors continue to act even when silent and gesture reigns supreme. Hawks’ camera is deeply interested in what is going on in front of it at the very moment of filming–think of how little we ever learn about the pasts of any Hawks’ characters (in almost 40 films nary a flashback is to be found). For all the visual escapades now offered in movies, it was a pleasure to return to Hawks’ cinema of interest and gesture, and realize again how rich and involving simplicity can be when served by a master.
4 Likes
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
As with many older films, effects are cheapened when upgraded to HD (the makeup used to make the characters look sunburnt and dehydrated is painfully obvious). The other issue is that it is very long and somewhat slow, but other than that is still a great and entertaining film. Westerns seem to be a genre that has been lost to history and one that I would love to see make a proper return.
1 Like
They have! As superhero movies🙄
2 Likes
I watched The Club again last night, what a little gem of a movie I still find it crazy that Collingwood allowed the board to be represented as such bastards.
Superb script and I really enjoyed the scene where the players take down the photos of all the greats from the board room. Well worth a look
1 Like
The Rhythm Section
Terrible. Not going to do a full review on it because, frankly, life is too short to spend any more time on this.
Ooops. I was having high hopes for this. Care to at least give us a three sentence review?
Loses parents, goes emo, gets Stallone tough, kicks ass, leaves frame with sequel in mind…
I quite enjoyed it , particularly the camera work
3 Likes
I wanted an American classic in the form of Smokey & The Bandit last night for the first time. Love the imagery of that semi and Trans Am combo…
Also, Burt Reynolds’ laugh gets me. And Jackie Gleason is a riot.
Over the weekend I watched all the available episodes of Netflix’s THE LAST DANCE, which focuses on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dominating basketball in the 1990s. I’m not a huge fan of the game but I do admire the greats and the lessons/words of wisdom they impart. I found it addictive TV. Looking forward to the last two episodes being uploaded tomorrow.
Must have seen that movie 77 times as a kid. It was the first movie we had a VHS for on our new VCR. Everyday went home and watched it after school. Even bought a red Trans Am in my adult life (1993 model.) Revisited it a few times in the last decade and it’s still fun. Even bought the soundtrack last year after a sound engineer friend told me it was one of the worst albums ever recorded (the other two being Xanadu soundtrack and the Frampton/Bee Gees version of Sgt. Pepper–bought them both!)
Great one liners in that film and some good car chases. Sadly, all the leading cast has passed away.
1 Like
What? “Xanadu” is wonderful!
1 Like
Yes, the ELO half of the album is great. Jeff Lynne even played Xanadu on his last two tours. And some of the Olivia Newton John stuff, especially the title track, are good.
It was my friend’s opinion, not mine. Indeed, when he says an album is one of the worst recorded every, my reaction is to go out and buy it!
Though Xanadu by Rush is better.
It’s really just a mess. An over-reliance on closeups and flashbacks (the entire opening title sequence is exactly this) is very distracting and hurts the pacing of the story in the film (at times with these moments it can make it hard to decipher what is going on in the film). In all, this feels like a cheap imitation of a cheap imitation of Bourne film. It never once captured my attention and I found myself very early on in the film looking at the clock.
It’s also feels like an attempt on someone’s part to make Blake Lively “happen”. She’s a solid enough actress, but in supporting roles or smaller fare like The Shallows. Carrying her own spy franchise, which this is supposed to be kickstarting (although that’s obviously not happening now), though? I can’t see it, certainly not based on this rather one-note performance.
1 Like
Thank you. Disappointing to read this. After the scene with her in the car being chased, filmed in one take, I thought this is representative of the whole film: vibrant and involving.
Oh, well, I wait for it to appear on streaming then.
1 Like
The Eon connection will make fans like us watch it, but the most interesting thing will probably be the affect this has on Barbara Broccoli’s career. Will this convince her to stay with Bond and smaller fare like FIlms Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool, or will it make her want to try even harder next time? It’s a blow, certainly, to her reputation, so she may wish to consolidate it with producing only Bond. According to Wikipedia, it had “the worst wide opening weekend of all-time”, which must hurt.
Painful, too, for the author of the book it’s based on, who’s also the screenwriter, as producing a film from a book you’ve written is a dream for many of us (though that dream should always be kept in its place, as a book must work and matter on its own terms).
If it does discourage BB, it’ll be more likely to encourage her to stick to her, very acclaimed, theatre productions. Though theatre, as a whole, can’t even be thought about until next year at the earliest.
2 Likes
Well, the problems during production were widely publicized, so maybe the end result is the best outcome that could possibly achieved under these circumstances.
It could very well be that due to the long hiatus during filming all the production money was used up, so no time for re-shoots, resulting in a film that consists of the material that could be used, with tons of things not useable or even filmed.
EON is totally top notch, as we all know, but the bad luck they endured during filming of TRS (and post, too) probably let them cut their losses at some point.
And if EON is one thing, then resilient. They will go again with something else, I’m sure.
1 Like