Probably like you, I looked at this “Snow White” project and thought “this is going to be lame.” But other than some cheesy-looking indoor sets that are supposed to portray outdoor wintry snow settings and a few action sequences that look badly staged, MM proves to be lots of fun. Leave your preconceptions at home … Read more
While on the way to see The Hunger Games I was listening to Miklos Rozsa’s incredible Oscar-winning score for Ben Hur. I had not read any of the books. THG is based on and generally ignored the previews for the film. The last theme on the CD player before I switched it off and entered … Read more
First off, and before you even consider seeing CDMP, you must keep in mind this film is shot in Spanish and is subtitled. First the bad news. Since the film is made to be visually funny, the fact that you have to keep an eye on the bottom of the screen reading, reading, reading means … Read more
Made for about 250 million bucks plus (reputed to take the U.S. Government no more than 5 minutes to print and spend), John Carter is exactly the sort of project they would waste our money on and call it a success. In this case it’s money wasted by the Walt Disney Studios and anyone with … Read more
In December of 1964, I saw one of my favorite films for the first time. I have written previously about The Prize with Paul Newman, Elke Somner and Edward G. Robinson. It featured a superb, sophisticated score full of adventure and romance, reflecting the talent of Jerry Goldsmith early in his film career. Based on … Read more
Act of Valor was made for a paltry 15 million bucks. Most big time actors wouldn’t participate in the filming even if they received 100% of the budget. As it turns out they are not needed. Act of Valor was made using real life, active duty Navy Seals. They are great in the movie except … Read more
Filmed in 1988 and released in 4 parts February of 1989, Lonesome Dove is the greatest mini-series, and best program ever brought to the small screen. Originally created as a screen scenario in the early 70s by Larry McMurtry (with John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda in the main roles) this project was placed … Read more
George Clooney plays the part of an attorney who is in charge of a family trust which owns a really big, valuable piece of land in Hawaii. While not originally from Hawaii, his family has been there for 150+ years and doing well. He has two daughters, ages 12 and 17. His somewhat estranged wife, … Read more
Ninety-nine percent of The Artist is silent. While there are some sounds heard for dramatic purpose, silence is what this movie is about, along with the end of the silent film era from 1927 to the early ‘30s. This is one brilliant piece of film making. Beautifully crafted in small screen format and shot in … Read more
Filmed once before in 1979, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the new version of the John LeCarre (note there should be a little mark over the last e but I don’t know how to do it on my keyboard) novel. It is a Cold War espionage story about the British Intelligence Service AKA The Circus … Read more