PETER SELLERS ENDS WITH 'THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU'

<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xppi-8GlXFVspZLVI4UBhcmuRRCO2QFt35IDkf45x_ZlQTDhfWk2hlrl0fpzJv644v-owt_zVrSZyhNAPDoR6YkAWg9CyfDU4QXtRnt6Ol4p4R7nXL5kBwWFJEStC6p1gXWHjlOYjVwVoNuQXrC5d9Iigxnt61KSKeSIXLJ3oEWyfDruez9bTMozxvAs/s400/01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="400" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xppi-8GlXFVspZLVI4UBhcmuRRCO2QFt35IDkf45x_ZlQTDhfWk2hlrl0fpzJv644v-owt_zVrSZyhNAPDoR6YkAWg9CyfDU4QXtRnt6Ol4p4R7nXL5kBwWFJEStC6p1gXWHjlOYjVwVoNuQXrC5d9Iigxnt61KSKeSIXLJ3oEWyfDruez9bTMozxvAs/s320/01.jpeg" width="320"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1980 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table>What Peter Sellers' final motion picture, THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU, has in common with his most popular franchise, THE PINK PANTHER, is that both parody James Bond: Especially 1976's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/04/StrikesAgain.html">PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN</a>, so over-the-top similar to the Roger Moore outings that MANCHU feels like a homage of a homage. But there's also the Christopher Lee MANCHU b-flicks and before that, Boris Karloff...<br> <br> Sellers was obviously a fan of both as this was he and trophy wife Lynne Frederick's labor-of-love going through several directors, which shows since many overlong scenes lack any direction at all wherein, as usual, Sellers plays several roles, particularly pulp author Sax Rohmer's Tong-lord supervillain and his dogged Scotland Yard investigator Nayland Smith. In both parts, Sellers, who died not long after production wrapped, seems too old and tired to not only pull off genuinely humorous performances but to move along an already convoluted and sometimes downright confusing story (one particular scheme involving an obese guard of a British diamond is a time-wasting mess)...<br>

comedy, david tomlinson, eighties, helen mirren, lynne frederick, parody, peter sellers, sid caesar, steve franken

PETER SELLERS ENDS WITH 'THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU'

Year: 1980 Rating: **1/2 What Peter Sellers' final motion picture, THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU, has in common with his most popul...

MALCOLM MCDOWELL ROAMS LINDSAY ANDERSON'S 'O LUCKY MAN!'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3uoG3Hvp5SBEWxDM6NpAyIJJp7Af5tHbFItH4t_XvmIduIZ_JDCrY9EJtIKxaKn6hIcfj1X0XaVenJh6qSOx43sw5fNUynxbaQa0DWSwE4Euw5YE9S3M-VjF6_m2qNvlxzsRiUZv57XzfkBFmWsIg3-uXZ69-vn5IAgjFYIlVUJw1FO3lAz6o1_yyrGT/s1600/33.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3uoG3Hvp5SBEWxDM6NpAyIJJp7Af5tHbFItH4t_XvmIduIZ_JDCrY9EJtIKxaKn6hIcfj1X0XaVenJh6qSOx43sw5fNUynxbaQa0DWSwE4Euw5YE9S3M-VjF6_m2qNvlxzsRiUZv57XzfkBFmWsIg3-uXZ69-vn5IAgjFYIlVUJw1FO3lAz6o1_yyrGT/s16000/33.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Malcolm McDowell as the resilient Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson's bizarre cult epic O LUCKY MAN! Year: 1973 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Typecast as an offbeat lunatic, Malcolm McDowell is the Anthony Perkins of England, and O LUCKY MAN is to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE what Orson Welles' THE TRIAL is to PSYCHO... as McDowell's more breezy, earthy and naïve Mick Travis tours England in a road movie dotted with just about every quirky/dreamlike bulwark imaginable... <br> <br> Ranging from bearing witness to a lethal auto accident to a nuclear power plant's time-ticking emergency meltdown to a rural hospital using humans as lab rats (or pig-sheep), McDowell is, once again, the perfect cinematic pawn... <br> </p><p></p>

cult, dark comedy, drama, ensemble, helen mirren, james bolam, jeremy bulloch, lindsay anderson, malcolm mcdowell, music, politics, road movie, seventies, thriller

MALCOLM MCDOWELL ROAMS LINDSAY ANDERSON'S 'O LUCKY MAN!'

Malcolm McDowell as the resilient Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson's bizarre cult epic O LUCKY MAN! Year: 1973 Rating: **** Typecast as a...

HELEN MIRRIN & JASON CLARKE STARRING IN 'WINCHESTER'

<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7X71IyQLsWp0fypyEXPQ1nHOpURWC2dg_mtsqVnpTlvwFwRnWlJ4-Hw1ybvkrn4UEUmetBRiv2Fy7Fg0lDnBfF11C0mgOt6XAuRaifesitXwJeTlv_GVHwBsYkDZXNDQ7jD7I1Ch_wPMP/s1600/winchester-t-poster-fb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="656" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7X71IyQLsWp0fypyEXPQ1nHOpURWC2dg_mtsqVnpTlvwFwRnWlJ4-Hw1ybvkrn4UEUmetBRiv2Fy7Fg0lDnBfF11C0mgOt6XAuRaifesitXwJeTlv_GVHwBsYkDZXNDQ7jD7I1Ch_wPMP/s400/winchester-t-poster-fb.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Winchester Mansion rendering YEAR RELEASED: 2018</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> One of those "Based on a True Story" movies that's really based on a real person whose story, taking place in turn-of-the-century San Jose, California, was never proven...<br> <br> In this case, Sarah Winchester, an old clad-in-dark-veiled lady who's the heir of the Winchester Repeating Rifle fortune, has construction workers building and rebuilding her mansion to allow ghosts that... oh you know... have <i>unsettled business</i>, a device that, at this point, is tremendously cliché. Although as a standard-spooky horror flick it's not entirely awful, but it goes far overboard on the <i>sudden face appearing at the screen jolt</i> that's very commonplace nowadays...<br>

2018, biopic, helen mirren, horror, jason clarke, new, suspense

HELEN MIRRIN & JASON CLARKE STARRING IN 'WINCHESTER'

The Winchester Mansion rendering YEAR RELEASED: 2018 One of those "Based on a True Story" movies that's really based on a ...

HELEN MIRREN & RYAN REYNOLDS IN WOMAN IN GOLD

<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLUY-57Qn7Pe28WrBhI0ysh9OOFwfz9zH6PlcLYWLT3PXTXS9YJ5xL8prbzgFClkmE44sVv0EsJtMZa2TsgNGfszyzgEBP4XMPszgb6ylNmRnsMOOXbNJAzk7PZfBDb-1M-62aEbvASM/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLUY-57Qn7Pe28WrBhI0ysh9OOFwfz9zH6PlcLYWLT3PXTXS9YJ5xL8prbzgFClkmE44sVv0EsJtMZa2TsgNGfszyzgEBP4XMPszgb6ylNmRnsMOOXbNJAzk7PZfBDb-1M-62aEbvASM/s320/Picture+1.png" width="198" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Based on a true story, WOMAN IN GOLD is named after a family-owned painting taken by the Nazis right at the goose-stomping heels of World War II, and in Adolf Hitler’s origin country, Austria…<br /> <br /> The piece itself looks somewhat tacky. What’s universal is the concept of a historic yet personal right being wronged, something GOLD handles with breezy precision despite trying too hard to make both leads a bickering odd couple that eventually, and predictably, connect.<br /> <br /> <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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckKa7SqBwFpGNwWT5ScaAa27nL4fvIBxzKhU_eVMiSyd4QRwMXACxdn0qtuMPlkR-tMk4TXAwfCyatBHM94EPCDTmC4ebcZ4nnMJaLi9kI5E7pkTjpcb3kUaTGjoHjrqoQENjbkVYlQI/s1600/Picture+2.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckKa7SqBwFpGNwWT5ScaAa27nL4fvIBxzKhU_eVMiSyd4QRwMXACxdn0qtuMPlkR-tMk4TXAwfCyatBHM94EPCDTmC4ebcZ4nnMJaLi9kI5E7pkTjpcb3kUaTGjoHjrqoQENjbkVYlQI/s320/Picture+2.png" width="161" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Titular Artwork</td></tr> </tbody></table> Helen Mirren’s Maria Altmann, a surviving Jew whose aunt was the painting's subject, and Ryan Reynolds as young American lawyer Randol Schoenberg, struggle to get along during filler moments bridging a globe-spanning court battle ending up in Washington DC. Meanwhile, flashbacks showing the young Maria, played by a fitfully vulnerable yet equally determined Tatiana Maslany, provide a few suspenseful scenes: one in particular involving a foot chase throughout the overtaken city, where, years later, Mirren's Altmann feels very uneasy, and for good reason. <br /> <br /> Sometimes too catered for mainstream audience reactions, other times genuinely thoughtful and always lightly entertaining, GOLD shines more in the past than present. Which doesn’t mean our two leads aren’t capable. Mirren is always good, and wields an endearingly stubborn persona to ultimately counter-balance a more subtle Reynolds, ultimately proving himself worthy in a role that takes the entire film to deliver.

2015, helen mirren, ryan reynolds

HELEN MIRREN & RYAN REYNOLDS IN WOMAN IN GOLD

year: 2015 rating: *** Based on a true story, WOMAN IN GOLD is named after a family-owned painting taken by the Nazis right at the goose...

REVIEW OF THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY

<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIPUPghfeCgxIIOISzAaApGPUPew_DAhECTINIor3xWZAIthgdzToo6QYnDtE9a0rOEcV5JR7812co7b83evCr2ER-8OhD_DQtft3zIjwmsUvM1cNL-7mcrH0-CY4jY1X9R6R9ER30w8/s1600/om-puri-in-the-hundred-foot-journey-movie-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIPUPghfeCgxIIOISzAaApGPUPew_DAhECTINIor3xWZAIthgdzToo6QYnDtE9a0rOEcV5JR7812co7b83evCr2ER-8OhD_DQtft3zIjwmsUvM1cNL-7mcrH0-CY4jY1X9R6R9ER30w8/s1600/om-puri-in-the-hundred-foot-journey-movie-4.jpg" width="195" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Food porn version of THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, only here a family from India moves to Europe and finds their own little paradise… and not without a few roadblocks…<br /> <br /> Enter our leading lady who is really the main antagonist... Although Helen Mirren plays French restaurant owner Madame Mallory with such hateful precision you know she’s bound to melt. Thankfully it’s not a contrived transition as the Indian family, headlined by an optimistic yet stubbornly grouchy patriarch, Papa, played by scene-stealer Om Puri, and his talented son Hassan, the head cook for the makeshift restaurant opened right across the street from the Madam's elegant small town mainstay, become her new competition... <br /> <br /> So the most fun is had during scenes where Mallory and Papa wage war, playing dirty tricks to mess up each other’s business: his from growing and hers’ from remaining the most popular. This story, highlighted by Puri’s subtle yet hilarious performance trumping Mirren's limited stonewall, narrows down into young Hassan’s venture from smalltime cook to a hopeful master chef.  <br /> <br /> While American-born Manish Dayal is likeable enough as the buried lead, you might cringe as he annoyingly sideswipes Papa’s humor with constant whining, and the budding romance with Mallory’s head chef is unrealistic – French actress Charlotte Le Bon is much too pretty for the role, and the chemistry is just not there. But the main problem with Hassan’s story is it just doesn’t know when to end, making this HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY about twenty minutes too long.<br />   <br /> The humorous dialogue and picturesque locations aside, what really works is what's left out: that being political or religious banter, excessive swearing or anything polarizing. It’s a universally appealing family film, for the most part, although mostly recommended for parents and grandparents who enjoy an old fashion cinematic meal with style and class... and plenty of lightweight sarcasm.  

2014, food, helen mirren, india, om puri

REVIEW OF THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY

year: 2014 rating: *** Food porn version of THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, only here a family from India moves to Europe and finds thei...

RED 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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQ_bkEbT-SUstgZz5dsjLgDsfnzduoE-KUuLXTitMg3ZvHMoG6egpdOJzLzCfAT6G5uGhaUnRrZ_ixhFTzUbyEnblm6k-NuQcOlR-3qid3X508HRGlDAPBBuaMOqDba_sEdyaebQeOpy2/s1600/red2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQ_bkEbT-SUstgZz5dsjLgDsfnzduoE-KUuLXTitMg3ZvHMoG6egpdOJzLzCfAT6G5uGhaUnRrZ_ixhFTzUbyEnblm6k-NuQcOlR-3qid3X508HRGlDAPBBuaMOqDba_sEdyaebQeOpy2/s640/red2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Brian Cox rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> If someone had the task of counting all the bullets fired in RED 2, the location-hopping follow-up to the DC COMICS graphic novel turned veteran actor ensemble, they’d have an easier time figuring how many grains of sand make up the Sahara Desert. Okay, that’s an exaggeration… And exaggeration is exactly what makes this movie so fun to watch.<br /> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> Bruce Willis, as retired agent Frank Moses, is the man everything centers around. His very normal small town girl Sarah, played by Mary-Louise Parker, is along for the ride and, much like the original, can’t believe she’s part of the bloodshed. Thankfully this time she isn't so befuddled, and really wants to learn how to, along with John Malkovich’s crazy Marvin and Helen Mirren’s gun-toting Victoria, take down the bad guys and find a missing nuclear reactor. So once again we’re thrust back into a modern day Cold War: The Russians are present but not as villains – Catherine-Zeta Jones plays Frank’s former lover, a sexy Soviet agent bringing jealousy out of Sarah’s character, who uses her sexuality to help the group weave in and out of painted corners.</div> <div class="MsoNormal"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal"> The entire film goes from one gun-blasting situation to the next, each with a new European location and obstacles around every turn. Anthony Hopkins plays a highly regarded bomb expert who flipped his lid after spending thirty years in prison; he makes an awful secondary comic relief but there's more here than meets the eye. And in the token youth department Byung-hun Lee as Han, out to kill Frank at all costs, provides a few good karate kicks along the way. And with an overkill of perpetual violence, diminishing what could have been more creative espionage, this is all about the characters. Despite the fact that Malkovich isn't as crazy or humorous, he’s not trying so hard to be the quirky "Murdoch" (A-TEAM) and plays a relatively mellow second fiddle to Willis, who, at this point, can sleepwalk though action sequences and it wouldn’t make any difference… He and his pals are having a blast despite the bombarding cliches. </div> <!--EndFragment-->

2013, action, bruce willis, ensemble, helen mirren, john malkovich, sequel

RED 2

year: 2013 cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Brian Cox rating: *** If someone had the task of counting ...

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuI39O1_i2RpdArgBEJSZIZ4SqLm1XgC2yOI6eq3Rk4C0-sjGBAptUHWF5LxvYR4tNGeoWLs-Rsqu7DVgnXOeszuu0Dknk6h66xMI1Oz5JHr8OHlvJeDkcPRq7i6sOwziwmZwCiaIsx4p/s1600/Monsters-University.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuI39O1_i2RpdArgBEJSZIZ4SqLm1XgC2yOI6eq3Rk4C0-sjGBAptUHWF5LxvYR4tNGeoWLs-Rsqu7DVgnXOeszuu0Dknk6h66xMI1Oz5JHr8OHlvJeDkcPRq7i6sOwziwmZwCiaIsx4p/s640/Monsters-University.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 voices: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi rating: *</td></tr> </tbody></table> Chalk this up as a completely worthless, meaningless, pointless prequel to the hit children’s movie MONSTERS INC that, with a creative plot and terrific voice-overs, was just as entertaining for adults... But why waste your chalk on such pitiful nonsense? (Added to that, the audience must first sit through a tedious short film dealing with two lustful umbrellas!) Here we follow the exploits of underdog monsters Mike and Sully; Mike, from a very young age, always looked at those nightmare-educing beasts in the grandiose fashion a human child views a professional athlete or fireman. During a field trip his excitement grows for these intrepid scaremongers… Fully intent on attending Monster’s University, as a teen he finally gets his wish.<br /> <br /> The place itself is giant and magical, and looks vividly awesome in 3D. Too bad, once inside, there are only rushed montage sequences of every college movie cliché, mostly taken from REVENGE OF THE NERDS... Mike, resembling a Mad Ball with legs and relying on books instead of gut instinct, and Sully, the big furry lovable beast with a roar like a thousand enraged lions, wind up part of a loser fraternity and compete in "Scare Games" to become recognized. There’s also a dash of HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE with a medieval style multilevel competition that, held before a crowd of screaming students, includes “sports” that a live audience would have difficulty keeping up with.<br /> <br /> The main problem is there's hardly any human children on board, so what’s the point of monsters trying to – or in this case, learning to – scare the wits out of them? The monsters themselves rate each other on how frightening they are; imagine only uptight women judging a bikini contest! The team of geeks banded with Mike and Sully are downright annoying, and there’s simply no plot nor any urgency for the team to accomplish their ultimate goal. If they win they’re well thought of… Big whoop! Having viewed this in a theater replete with children, all poised and ready to laugh their little heads off, it was apparent that, halfway through, even the crickets didn’t know how to react during this exercise in futility.

2013, alfred molina, billy crystal, children, computer animated, helen mirren, john goodman, steve buscemi

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

year: 2013 voices: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi rating: * Chalk this up as a completely worthless, meaningle...

HITCHCOCK

<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0pVB4UHm9cLaNyKr0hRfuwv2OdrZcFzZDp4VSR-S3AHNomNwMfycN7D6VYBZw6QgZaGESaBuHSm_29Eog50nRL7Q9kC_1E7oGphL0HW8Hup0oyEny5aLUXIUWcAZwrfygJPIBTTC0_8/s1600/hitchcock+movie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0pVB4UHm9cLaNyKr0hRfuwv2OdrZcFzZDp4VSR-S3AHNomNwMfycN7D6VYBZw6QgZaGESaBuHSm_29Eog50nRL7Q9kC_1E7oGphL0HW8Hup0oyEny5aLUXIUWcAZwrfygJPIBTTC0_8/s640/hitchcock+movie.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year:</b> 2012 <b>cast:</b> Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren <b>rating:</b> ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Although it's about a sixty year old Alfred Hitchcock who, after the release of NORTH BY NORTHWEST, was an established, revered veteran film director, this is really a story of humble beginnings... Having done everything of the suspense genre, he decides to take on something entirely new: a project that could have been a schlocky b-picture with a less capable auteur. <br /> <br /> The best aspects have Hitchcock fighting to get PSYCHO made – and then fighting to make it good. Problems arise sporadically but are handled quickly: the opening love scene between leading lady Janet Leigh and "wooden" John Gavin didn’t have the essential sparks, and a risque shower sequence might not pass rating board muster. <br /> <br /> While we learn about the making of the classic film, most of the time is spent on Hitchcock pining away for his wife Alma, played with assertive confidence by Helen Mirren. Possibly having an affair with a mediocre screenwriter, her daily absence drives Alfred to put more darkness into the risky venture he financed himself. One scene where he takes over for Anthony Perkins's stunt double during the knife-slashing shower scene – to get a better performance from Leigh – is intense yet borders on ridiculous. <br /> <br /> Certain aspects of this "biopic" seem bent on stretching or playing with the truth, especially scenes with Hitchcock all alone. And then there are dreamlike sequences where he converses with serial killer/mama’s boy Ed Gein, the inspiration of Norman Bates. These teach us little about Hitchcock’s fascination with the serial killer but attempt to delve into his own psychosis: hinted at without being fully materialized. <br /> <br /> Bordering on a <i>behind the scenes biopic</i> and stylistic soap opera, Anthony Hopkins makes everything work ala subtle prosthetic makeup and a down-to-earth charm, giving the familiar icon his own person... without seeming like an imitation. 

2012, alfred hitchcock, anthony hopkins, biopic, helen mirren, scarlett johansson

HITCHCOCK

year: 2012 cast: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren rating: *** Although it's about a sixty year old Alfred Hitchcock who, after the r...

THE DEBT

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ffxpmGdGEG8cRlNivWd-4maOh5XS32KXLaO9WLVfGGM3LIToK8s3S_qjrfGY8CdZf9d4zCflNp8zmaGG6tGb7Rj_WMWdowBRR0tR2DTGaWhfNBhxOaRtkRW-i-8lwOvO91_KkYQ_0Rsg/s1600/2011_the_debt_022.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651346137925616898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ffxpmGdGEG8cRlNivWd-4maOh5XS32KXLaO9WLVfGGM3LIToK8s3S_qjrfGY8CdZf9d4zCflNp8zmaGG6tGb7Rj_WMWdowBRR0tR2DTGaWhfNBhxOaRtkRW-i-8lwOvO91_KkYQ_0Rsg/s200/2011_the_debt_022.jpg" style="float: right; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 173px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> THE DEBT<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***1/2<br /> <br /> An entertaining thriller dealing with the past and present (although the<span style="font-style: italic;"> present</span> is 1997, but you get the idea) delivers the goods, mostly when it centers in 1965: where three Mossad Secret Agents plan to kidnap a former Nazi doctor and bring him to Israel to stand trial.<br /> <br /> The chemistry between Jessica Chastain as Rachel, Sam Worthington as David, and Marton Csokas as Stephen... holing up for a<span style="font-style: italic;"> human heist... </span>are some of the best moments, really putting you inside the bleak, contained atmosphere of an East Germany tenement.<br /> <br /> The agent’s personalities: the gorgeous Rachel can kick ass, David is brooding and calculating, and Stephen's an artistic charmer, give each a color and style of their own. And although they fail at delivering the kidnapped Doctor to a departing train, they decide to keep him around till another possible chance.<br /> <br /> Here’s where things get personal, as the tied-up heavy, played with goading villainy by Jesper Christenson, gets into the agent’s heads: all having lost relatives in the War. This pivotal mainline is successful enough to make one forget it’s merely a flashback... returning to Helen Mirren as the older Rachel, whose daughter has written a book about their supposed slaying of the infamous Nazi.<br /> <br /> The second half fails to deliver like the back-story. The characters, being older, have lost their intensity and, in dealing with a burdensome guilt, do nothing but sulk towards a conclusion. But once our aged protagonist gets one last assignment, all envelopes into a worthy thriller far surpassing the dull title.

drama, espionage, helen mirren, jessica chastain, nazi, sam worthington, tens

THE DEBT

title: THE DEBT year: 2011 cast: Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain rating: ***1/2 An entertaining thriller dealing with the past and p...

RED

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKld6ELgE2KPsnk18Cu3zjaFBcecACN14zLY8fFbtvsdLcZXkli1QV66bRwktTXiu_94F2XSYqrXrm_u_ugaU20q-OpwT8X14FC-SBix8GEZbQ4UQ9hFFZzO1NsFf6LYDhAz4TqvC9pfY/s1600/RED.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568435304820374290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKld6ELgE2KPsnk18Cu3zjaFBcecACN14zLY8fFbtvsdLcZXkli1QV66bRwktTXiu_94F2XSYqrXrm_u_ugaU20q-OpwT8X14FC-SBix8GEZbQ4UQ9hFFZzO1NsFf6LYDhAz4TqvC9pfY/s200/RED.jpg" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 122px; float: right; height: 200px;" /></a><strong>title:</strong> RED<br /><strong>year:</strong> 2010<br /><strong>cast:</strong> Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren<br /><strong>rating:</strong> ***<br /><br />For anyone who says there's too much over-the-top, unrealistic action involving characters more like superheroes than humans, another can say, "But this is a comedy satirizing bombastic action films." And for those who say it isn't very funny, a response could be, "But it kicks ass." Well it does kick ass, but the characters are introduced as if we already know them: giving the feel of an anticipated sequel with people who already earned their stature, so there's not much development. Bruce Willis is good doing his usual, but he's hindered by love interest Mary-Louise Parker, playing the reluctant "I can't believe I'm in this situation" love-interest to an exasperatingly annoying level. John Malkovich, channeling Murdoch from THE A-TEAM, tries too hard as the comic relief; Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren are way too endearing; Karl Urban makes a fine antagonist, but an old pudgy Richard Dreyfuss is misplaced as the main villain. And although there are terrific moments within, the entirety doesn't always gel: feeling like a spectacular highlights show of a big game... Yet the <em>plays </em>that work, do work well.

action, blockbuster, bruce willis, helen mirren, john malkovich, morgan freeman, tens

RED

title: RED year: 2010 cast: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren rating: *** For anyone who says there's too m...