TWO SERVINGS OF PRIME CUT W/ LEE MARVIN & GENE HACKMAN

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mXFQ_1O-VnI/VluiFoUyPEI/AAAAAAAApvM/b4Bl2iZXnjQ/s1600/tumblr_n052pwxE5j1r6ivyno1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mXFQ_1O-VnI/VluiFoUyPEI/AAAAAAAApvM/b4Bl2iZXnjQ/s400/tumblr_n052pwxE5j1r6ivyno1_1280.jpg" width="275"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1972 Director: Michael Ritchie</td></tr> </tbody></table> 1970's crime flicks don't get this strange, although PRIME CUT is also pretty basic and simple, and it takes an eclectic powerhouse actor like Gene Hackman to pull off playing a flawed, in-debt character actually named Mary Ann, a Kansas City gangster turned cattle rancher dealing in young prostitutes, initially giving in quickly to leading man Lee Marvin as Chicago mob enforcer Nick Devlin who, with a group of hired thugs, travels from big city Chicago to rural Middle America where it's not easy to hide from the bullets: especially once they start flying. And that occurs during the third act, a wonderfully prolonged death hunt within a wheat field, extremely suspenseful despite such a wide open space.<br> <br> The best scenes occur after Marvin's Nick frees one of the more vulnerable girls from a literal barn auction of young, heroin-addled female flesh. Sissy Spacek's sweet-natured Poppy contrasts from Angel Tompkins as rich bitch Clarabelle, a sort of THIRD MAN character more spoken of/anticipated than actually seen in this Neo Noir meets gritty exploitation helmed by Michael Ritchie, who would go on to direct mostly comedies (though classic ones including THE BAD NEWS BEARS and FLETCH), keeping the pace at such a cool, even keel while every second matters. For this isn't just another nickel-plated Lee Marvin vehicle. It truly belongs to the rural location serving as a purgatory that makes Marvin's usual tough guy out of place and more interesting and desperate than ever. Meanwhile, Gregory Walcott, as Hackman's brother/partner-in-crime, catapults the movie in one of the best opening credit sequences ever, and in his own way, within this gritty, hopeless setting, seems more genuine than any actor on board.<br>

angel tompkins, crime, gene hackman, janit baldiwn, lee marvin, neo noir, seventies

TWO SERVINGS OF PRIME CUT W/ LEE MARVIN & GENE HACKMAN

year: 1972 Director: Michael Ritchie 1970's crime flicks don't get this strange, although PRIME CUT is also pretty basic and sim...

SAOIRSE RONAN IN BROOKLYN

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F-eGVVQRNjo/Vlk4Oibo0gI/AAAAAAAApuI/Sm7vAP5zDkk/s1600/banner-brooklyn-Brooklyn_Film_844x476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F-eGVVQRNjo/Vlk4Oibo0gI/AAAAAAAApuI/Sm7vAP5zDkk/s640/banner-brooklyn-Brooklyn_Film_844x476.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Domnhall Gleeson</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Ever see a movie or read a story that sets up a young female character on her own, and when she falls completely and hopelessly in love, you wish she had more pain and less... contentment? That happens in BROOKLYN after we begin with Saoirse Ronan's Ellis in her native Ireland, where life seems lovely enough, but she decides to travel to America. BROOKLYN to be exact.<br>

2015, domhnall gleeson, julie walters, romance, saoirse ronan

SAOIRSE RONAN IN BROOKLYN

year: 2015 cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Domnhall Gleeson Ever see a movie or read a story that sets u...

BRYAN CRANSTON IN TRUMBO

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4BjYJK6uLAQ/VlgU742R9CI/AAAAAAAAptw/arv_HD5uuPI/s1600/trumbo_nws.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4BjYJK6uLAQ/VlgU742R9CI/AAAAAAAAptw/arv_HD5uuPI/s640/trumbo_nws.png" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Louis CK, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Dean O'Gorman</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> During the first thirty minutes, it seems like Bryan Cranston's Dalton Trumbo utters the same exact lines; not a broken record, but a scratched one. Moving ahead, the best scenes occur in the middle as the Blacklisted scriptwriter keeps working in secret, using fake names or other people to take the credit while he gets a cut of the action, and surreptitiously wins Academy Awards. A closer, more suspenseful and pointed glimpse into that brilliant scheme during the 1950's, and less attention on making John Wayne look like a complete jerk or Helen Mirren's caricature villain, and there would actually be a story about people rather than a forced agenda involving human cliches. <br>

2015, biopic, bryan cranston

BRYAN CRANSTON IN TRUMBO

year: 2015 cast: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Louis CK, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Dean O'Gorman During the first thirty minutes, it...

REVIEW OF VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w-jiWjezCrY/VlavOd-At9I/AAAAAAAAptU/swsRHlIz-zY/s1600/Victor-Frankenstein-2015-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="334" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w-jiWjezCrY/VlavOd-At9I/AAAAAAAAptU/swsRHlIz-zY/s640/Victor-Frankenstein-2015-Poster.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 cast: James McAvoy, Daniel Radcliffe, Andrew Scott, Jessica Brown Findlay</td></tr> </tbody></table> At first, the famous monster movie hunchback is like someone straight out of AMERICAN HORROR STORY FREAKSHOW as the prologue is bizarre and confounding, but then we meet our title character and he's got more than a cure for an abused circus clown who, after a MATRIX style action-packed suspense fight/escape, is re-named Igor and becomes more than an assistant to VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, an eccentric young man with ambitions just beyond his reach, which is where the surprisingly brilliant Igor comes in...<br>

2015, daniel radcliffe, horror, james mcavoy, max landis, reboot

REVIEW OF VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN

year: 2015 cast: James McAvoy, Daniel Radcliffe, Andrew Scott, Jessica Brown Findlay At first, the famous monster movie hunchback is lik...

REVIEW OF CREED AKA ROCKY 7

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IfwoQzLepVQ/VlVW_uAbOMI/AAAAAAAAps0/GIK4xEZc1hE/s1600/2C52AC2D00000578-3234739-image-m-50_1442286798474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IfwoQzLepVQ/VlVW_uAbOMI/AAAAAAAAps0/GIK4xEZc1hE/s640/2C52AC2D00000578-3234739-image-m-50_1442286798474.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson Director: Ryan Coogler</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> We catch sporadic stock footage of Carl Weathers' former champ Apollo CREED while his bastard son, attempting to follow father's footsteps but not quite as muscular and confident, strategically ventures from the City of Angels to Rocky Balboa's Philly dive bar, where the Italian Stallion, at first, is reluctant to train the kid but then, very quickly, and without a lot of suspense or creativity, the real story begins...<br>

boxing, franchise, sequel, sport, sylvester stallone

REVIEW OF CREED AKA ROCKY 7

year: 2015 cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson Director: Ryan Coogler We catch sporadic stock footage of Carl We...

CONNERY BOND ONE: DR. NO

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LZTyGVmXlQE/VlJVTQRPViI/AAAAAAAApsE/MVpaiWnw5qo/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="488" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LZTyGVmXlQE/VlJVTQRPViI/AAAAAAAApsE/MVpaiWnw5qo/s640/1.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1962 cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Jack Lord, John Kitzmiller Director: Terence Young</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> Couple things to begin. We first learn that Sean Connery's secret agent James Bond likes his Martini "<i>Mixed </i>not Stirred" as opposed to "Shaken." A very bland individual, never to appear again, plays Q and provides 007 a new gun and no gadgets. Bernard Lee is introduced as M while Lois Maxwell's young-enough Moneypenny is worth more than goading flirtation, and the opening credit sequence doesn't have its own song with lyrics or without, but rather, just as we're setting up the Scottish actor in the lead role, the (soon to be iconic) Bond theme is established from the start...<br>

007, espionage, james bond, joseph wiseman, sean connery, sixties

CONNERY BOND ONE: DR. NO

year: 1962 cast: Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Jack Lord, John Kitzmiller Director: Terence Young Couple things to begin. We first lea...

REVIEWS OF ROOM & SECRET IN THEIR EYES

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GJ0R1lEwgcE/VlFum-3pvtI/AAAAAAAApr0/Rn-AXZ59qaA/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GJ0R1lEwgcE/VlFum-3pvtI/AAAAAAAApr0/Rn-AXZ59qaA/s320/3.png" width="258"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>ROOM: </b>This is an intriguing indie film that really takes its time to figure things out, headlined by the intensity of a young girl simply called Ma, played by Brie Larson, raising her son, Jack... who looks very much like a long-haired little girl... in a "room" that has only a sun-roof window and other necessities, resembling a tiny white trash studio apartment.<br> <br> The harsh reality that slowly unveils means everything, and yet, what's really important is the kind of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL theme of a parent allowing her child to become fully accustomed to a nightmarish situation without a clue that anything is wrong. This is how half the movie plays out, and it's a neatly timed, often intense ride. And yet, since the kidnapper resembles a passive bearded accountant, mother and son never seem in that much danger whenever the suspense mounts. Perhaps this is intentional to make their situation feel mundane, and thus, even more creepy and ironic. And to mention too much about the last half would be a spoiler, but it involves our two main characters struggling to accustom themselves to something quite different than what they, and the audience, experienced, and in that aspect, ROOM, no matter where the location, keeps us closely in touch with the people that matter without too many distractions.<br>

2015, dean norris, julia roberts, nicole kidman, thriller

REVIEWS OF ROOM & SECRET IN THEIR EYES

year: 2015 ROOM: This is an intriguing indie film that really takes its time to figure things out, headlined by the intensity of a young...

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3wGPQc8uZp4/Vk7TtcqOV0I/AAAAAAAApq4/ZE0_g8-v_pY/s1600/Hunger-Games.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3wGPQc8uZp4/Vk7TtcqOV0I/AAAAAAAApq4/ZE0_g8-v_pY/s640/Hunger-Games.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> The first MOCKINGJAY was a bonafide war film while this is more or less the end of the beginning of war as response to what were the RUNNING MAN style games provided in the first two ventures, and now we have a cross between war and games...<br>

jennifer lawrence, science fiction, sequel, teen

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2

year: 2015 cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore The first MOCKINGJAY was a bonafide war film wh...

CONNERY BOND TWO: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuMPSHbqgIk/Vk7GIqT3QUI/AAAAAAAApqQ/1dG0D7W-di8/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="482" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XuMPSHbqgIk/Vk7GIqT3QUI/AAAAAAAApqQ/1dG0D7W-di8/s640/1.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1963 cast: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Daniela Bianchi Director: Terence Young </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Considered by many as the best Bond film ever made, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is indeed an extremely fine production with a surprisingly subtle opening credit sequence without any corny lyrics (which began with GOLDFINGER), but the prologue opening the film, involving a guy wearing a perfect Sean Connery Bond mask, is perhaps the weakest catapult in the series. Human masks are always such a banal reach, especially when they're taken off. And yet, what follows is a surprisingly basic story involving Bond hooking up with a Russian beauty to get an important device from the evil SPECTRE, led by a facially-unseen Bloefeld, introduced for the first time in the franchise.<br>

espionage, franchise, james bond, sean connery, sixties, spy

CONNERY BOND TWO: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

year: 1963 cast: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw, Lotte Lenya, Daniela Bianchi Director: Terence Young  Considered by many as the best Bond fi...

ROGER MOORE STARRING IN OCTOPUSSY

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--5J3notn1fs/VkVsDNDht5I/AAAAAAAApp4/4a_iwaEsTd8/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="506" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--5J3notn1fs/VkVsDNDht5I/AAAAAAAApp4/4a_iwaEsTd8/s640/1.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1983 cast: Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan, Steven Berkoff director: John Glen</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In the 1970's it took directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas to make science-fiction matter again, cinematically, bigger and better than ever with CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and STAR WARS, thus morphing a cold war espionage novel by Ian Fleming into a spacey venture jumping on the lunar bandwagon with <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2015/11/MOONRaker.html">MOONRAKER</a>. And then, in 1983, the Bond franchise borrowed from a Lucas/Spielberg collective, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, since OCTOPUSSY is more or less a modern day pulpy adventure vehicle that, whether in crowded Arabian streets (involving a familiar "basket chase"), flamboyant Russian circuses, formidable trains, or behind the scenes where the philosophizing heavies meet in technological war rooms, there's a vintage, primal aura throughout what should have been Moore's final bow in the series.<br>

adventure, eighties, espionage, james bond, louis jourdan, maud adams, roger moore, steven berkoff

ROGER MOORE STARRING IN OCTOPUSSY

year: 1983 cast: Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan, Steven Berkoff director: John Glen In the 1970's it took directors Steven S...

MOORE BOND FIVE: FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qO7Wjv13Gpo/VkEC5KmKQ3I/AAAAAAAApoQ/mp_3mVl4PQg/s1600/e1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="402" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qO7Wjv13Gpo/VkEC5KmKQ3I/AAAAAAAApoQ/mp_3mVl4PQg/s640/e1.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1981 cast: Roger Moore, Julian Glover, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Carole Bouquet director: John Glen </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Something about ski chase scenes brings out the corniest disco music. This was the early eighties so the previous decade's cheesy groove still resinated. But that doesn't ruin what was probably created to aptly re-stir what the far-fetched MOONRAKER shook after the wonderful SPY WHO LOVED ME genuinely rebooted the franchise's new mug. In fact, in many ways, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY embodies Roger Moore's sarcastically dapper style better than any other 007 vehicle; even the action sequences fit like his stiff suit that never gets ruffled. Sort of a fancy classy yacht of the series... but with a powerful speedboat engine, on occassion. <br>

eighties, franchise, roger moore, spy

MOORE BOND FIVE: FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

year: 1981 cast: Roger Moore, Julian Glover, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Carole Bouquet director: John Glen  Something about ski chase scenes br...

MOORE BOND FOUR: MOONRAKER

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1nXSJ4lYfkw/Vj7jU_ViQvI/AAAAAAAApnk/gbdqhD-3rQ0/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="444" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1nXSJ4lYfkw/Vj7jU_ViQvI/AAAAAAAApnk/gbdqhD-3rQ0/s640/1.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1979 cast: Roger Moore, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Lois Chiles Director: Lewis Gilbert</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> What's more ironic than the science-fiction James Bond MOONRAKER spending an entire 90-minutes, the length of an average motion picture, on land... from England to California to Italy to Rio to Brazil... before living up to its galactic promise, is that Lois Chiles' progressive, politically-correct ingenue demands respect for being a doctor... and her name is Goodhead.<br>

espionage, james bond, roger moore, science-fiction, spy

MOORE BOND FOUR: MOONRAKER

year: 1979 cast: Roger Moore, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Lois Chiles Director: Lewis Gilbert What's more ironic than the scienc...

MOORE BOND THREE: THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZvhSSSshOgw/Vj3eATuEqDI/AAAAAAAApmw/wJwJfVCsIlI/s1600/s2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="440" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZvhSSSshOgw/Vj3eATuEqDI/AAAAAAAApmw/wJwJfVCsIlI/s640/s2.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1977 cast: Roger Moore, Curd Jürgens, Barbara Bach, Richard Kiel Director: Guy Hamilton</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Years before Quentin Tarantino used the funky TRUCK TURNER theme as part of his own KILL BILL as if, beyond homage, it was made for that story without having been actually created for something beforehand, the windswept theme of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA brings Roger Moore's James Bond from one desert location to another, and that's just the beginning... Actually, the middle... The middle of the beginning of a motion picture that takes us all over the place...<br>

espionage, franchise, james bond, richard kiel, roger moore, seventies, spy

MOORE BOND THREE: THE SPY WHO LOVED ME

year: 1977 cast: Roger Moore, Curd Jürgens, Barbara Bach, Richard Kiel Director: Guy Hamilton Years before Quentin Tarantino used the fu...

MOORE BOND TWO: THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5xAOTtvLjWs/Vj3bMYn6jcI/AAAAAAAApmU/8mUaNeGeJE4/s1600/g0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="436" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5xAOTtvLjWs/Vj3bMYn6jcI/AAAAAAAApmU/8mUaNeGeJE4/s640/g0.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1974 cast: Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams Director: Guy Hamilton</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Gary Oldman's guilt-ridden character in the latest James Bond, SPECTRE, describes 007 as a kite in a thunderstorm. Which doesn't fit the bull-doggish Daniel Craig, the headstrong Sean Connery, or underrated tough guy Timothy Dalton... That kind of vulnerability is what Roger Moore brought to the franchise... A freewheeling dapper suit who bobbed around, depending on the proverbial weather i.e. villains, henchman, good girls, bad girls, and whatever else got thrown in his direction: he always seemed along for the ride, second-fiddle to the creative gadgets and perpetual mayhem...<br>

britt ekland, christopher lee, franchise, james bond, maud adams, roger moore, seventies, spy

MOORE BOND TWO: THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

year: 1974 cast: Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams Director: Guy Hamilton Gary Oldman's guilt-ridden character ...

CRAIG BOND FOUR: SPECTRE

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FbOTf8qA07c/VjxVgnijQpI/AAAAAAAApmE/AnZuELIz-ls/s1600/craig.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FbOTf8qA07c/VjxVgnijQpI/AAAAAAAApmE/AnZuELIz-ls/s640/craig.png" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux director: Sam Mendes</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The biggest promotion for SPECTRE, the fourth overall Daniel Craig James Bond film and the second collaboration with director Sam Mendes, was the casting of Quentin Tarantino stock exposition-spouting Christoph Waltz... Going back further, it was QT who wanted to remake Ian Fleming's first book, CASINO ROYALE, into a genuine, high-octane adaptation starring the last Bond actor now seeming long, long gone... For our "New Bond" Daniel Craig has really taken over at this point, and the older he gets, the smoother he glides from scene to scene, without having to continuously narrow his blue eyes, purse his lips, jut his muscular chest, and try making up for not being, you know, typical-pretty. By now he's an old, calloused leather shoe that really fits, and is still relatively young.<br>

daniel craig, franchise, spy

CRAIG BOND FOUR: SPECTRE

year: 2015 cast: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux director: Sam Mendes The biggest promotion for SPECTRE, the fourth overall D...

BRADLEY COOPER IN STARRING IN BURNT

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_FyY0-eX4eM/Vjuk2LhG7zI/AAAAAAAAplo/Lsa-iyDuIE0/s1600/JONES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_FyY0-eX4eM/Vjuk2LhG7zI/AAAAAAAAplo/Lsa-iyDuIE0/s400/JONES.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015</td></tr> </tbody></table> Originally titled CHEF, there was an indie film with the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/05/chef.html">same title</a> that refused to be changed, so a promo poster with Bradley Cooper adorning the entire frame was simply called ADAM JONES. Doesn't say much about the story; just a first and last name. Easy as pie, and the A-list star could sell just about anything...<br /> <br /> Well it turns out, what became BURNT centers on a complicated guy who happens to be not only a chef/cook, but he's secretly, for those in the know, the best in the world. He has his share of quirks and neurosis, and can't get along with anyone, despite winding up way-too-easily owning an English restaurant to gain a Three Star rating... slightly less than this vehicle deserves... which could be retitled SILVER LININGS COOKBOOK for Cooper's usual spontaneous aura, at times guided by a documentary-style camera: But without a real plot, an engaging ingenue/romance, and a reason for the talented star to be involved in the first place, Cooper's built-in, natural intensity is all but wasted as he deals with fellow chefs, mafia goons, and worst yet, himself, messing things up as they start getting <i>just right,</i> and things never really do... both in his life and the movie itself: simmering without ever sizzling.<br /> <br /> RATING: **1/2

2015, bradley cooper, drama, food

BRADLEY COOPER IN STARRING IN BURNT

year: 2015 Originally titled CHEF, there was an indie film with the same title that refused to be changed, so a promo poster with Bradl...

ROAMING THROUGH THE ORIGINAL HALLOWEEN II

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yLxscD2n8aM/VFJ4kG6kJ5I/AAAAAAAAkXk/PVMa1dRbzs8/s1600/halloween-2-the-nightmare-isnt-over-movie-poster-1981-1020144238.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yLxscD2n8aM/VFJ4kG6kJ5I/AAAAAAAAkXk/PVMa1dRbzs8/s400/halloween-2-the-nightmare-isnt-over-movie-poster-1981-1020144238.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1981 rating: ****</td></tr> </tbody></table> For the neurotic, paranoid, panic-attacked among us, hospitals are the place to be: The cool white walls, the medicine, the wise doctors and those lovely nurses – it’s a sublime safe haven where hearts can beat comfortably.<br /> <br /> So when Jamie Lee Curtis... reprising her role as sole surviving ingénue Laurie Strode on the same night, Halloween... awakes in a hospital room, she has nothing to worry about, right? <br /> <br /> Well that’s what really works with HALLOWEEN II…The hospital setting is ominous, creepy and best of all, contained as The Shape, Michael Myers, haunts an assortment of expendable characters, practically begging to violently flatline: Two ambulance drivers: one an obnoxious womanizer, the other a nice young sap… The latter, played by future LAST STARFIGHTER Lance Guest, warms up to a recovering Laurie while Leo Rossi has both leering eyes on Pamela Susan Shoop… Their sizzling "jacuzzi" scene is tops in the body count horror canon.<br /> <br /> While Curtis lays around till the scorching 11th hour climax, the “heroic” stature goes to Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis… Along with several oblivious police officers, Loomis, in a Noir fashion, is on Myer's trial through the dark Halloween streets: he alone knows the story behind the mysterious suburban killer, and no one else is buying it.  <br /> <br /> With the return of camera-gliding cinematographer Dean Cundey, produced, co-written (with Debra Hill) and scored by John Carpenter and directed by Rick Rosenthal, HALLOWEEN II is a clean slate for the viewing audience and a chance for Michael Myers to be even more present and menacing: covering the ground he broke in the original.   

charles cyphers, donald pleasence, eighties, franchise, horror, jamie lee curtis, john carpenter, john zenda, lance guest, leo rossi, pamela susan shoop, sequel

ROAMING THROUGH THE ORIGINAL HALLOWEEN II

year: 1981 rating: **** For the neurotic, paranoid, panic-attacked among us, hospitals are the place to be: The cool white walls, the m...