MR. HOLMES STARRING IAN MCKELLEN

<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/AVvXsEjnBknWZgMJsRtkYvf4A9-x2LnfDM5XpmZUrzyhFb__7UsG_-D1jOfaBTxX8i3CYb_gJCAaM5t1QDQY-Za2UvrNetsM3hpTae995PQiOyuz9fK29Cf8CD7jZLl-shOOcEeDnY79fpSmwM4/s1600/MV5BMTg5MjE0Njk0MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTgwMjQ4NTE%2540._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBknWZgMJsRtkYvf4A9-x2LnfDM5XpmZUrzyhFb__7UsG_-D1jOfaBTxX8i3CYb_gJCAaM5t1QDQY-Za2UvrNetsM3hpTae995PQiOyuz9fK29Cf8CD7jZLl-shOOcEeDnY79fpSmwM4/s400/MV5BMTg5MjE0Njk0MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTgwMjQ4NTE%2540._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Well it's not like God's name is used in vain here; SHERLOCK HOLMES creator/author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle isn't mentioned once in MR. HOLMES... For we're to believe that Watson actually <i>did</i> write all those books in his first-person perspective, and now the real guy... not Peter Cushing nor Robert Downey Jr... needs to get some things clear.<br /> <br /> With the exception that he didn't wear that signature hat or smoke a pipe, the mystique of the crime-solving genius fully exists within an aged Ian McKellen who, despite a good performance, often seems too old for even the various flashbacks occurring before the mainline/present time: Holmes bonding with a serious little boy, the son of Laura Linney's put-upon maid who should really be a nurse given the her boss's waning health, retired at a rural farm with a penchant for beekeeping. And he's still got some fire in him. The last case involving a missing wife years earlier combines with a closer-to-the-present backstory about a trip to Japan, which is the least centered-on and not very interesting. At times you'll want to stick around longer with the slightly younger-older Holmes as he solves the dark, Noirish case on Baker Street but scenes with the boy trump everything. Meanwhile, despite the talent of Laura Linney to transform into her workaday English character, she remains peripheral throughout.<br /> <br /> But it's how the movie is constructed that really works. Directed by Bill Condon, the scenes flow together in an arthouse, non-linear daydream as the talented actors glide along within the mellow cadence.

2015, ian mckellen, laura linney, mystery

MR. HOLMES STARRING IAN MCKELLEN

2015 rating: *** Well it's not like God's name is used in vain here; SHERLOCK HOLMES creator/author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle isn...

BILL MURRAY IN HYDE PARK ON HUDSON

<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/AVvXsEiU4hJKCn6v-unH9aaiMa5vtm6hSRXNjyPvxS6nvDbedy9haKj_kP1lR7uxg73JwssSilxVUvvFiwsETMPJd4Px3tkubupZIrW2ZgcksEKgakp-yRcxzAHOJFqtQZ708DTQ3BnlAqRo-as/s1600/Hyde-Park-on-Hudson-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU4hJKCn6v-unH9aaiMa5vtm6hSRXNjyPvxS6nvDbedy9haKj_kP1lR7uxg73JwssSilxVUvvFiwsETMPJd4Px3tkubupZIrW2ZgcksEKgakp-yRcxzAHOJFqtQZ708DTQ3BnlAqRo-as/s640/Hyde-Park-on-Hudson-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2012 cast: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Samuel Wes, Elizabeth Marvel rating: *</td></tr> </tbody></table> In this so-called “biopic” about one of America's most important Presidents, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and his affair with his cousin Daisy, Bill Murray does a nice job as the down to earth FDR, a man who, despite a suffering country looking to him for answers during the Depression, enjoys collecting stamps and… women. <br /> <br /> There’s one worthy scene as FDR meets the stuttering King of England. Although Roosevelt can’t use his legs he moves across the room, table to table, with use of his arms to prove a point: the people you lead aren’t hindered by your shortcomings. Other than that, the visit of the King and Queen centers on the couple holed up in their room, stressing out that FDR plans on serving hotdogs during an upcoming picnic. The romance between FDR and Daisy, which is how the film is promoted and described, is but a periphrial distraction. Their relationship during the first fifteen minutes consists of driving down flowery roads in the location of Hyde Park, New York.<br /> <br /> Laura Linney is an otherwise good actress but her doe-eyed performance lacks compassion and overall purpose. Her fascination with the President is never quite clear. Meanwhile, the director seems more interested in fancy shots and lovely location than telling a coherent story, historical or otherwise... The characters all seem part of a bland stage play – and there isn't a plot in sight for miles, in any direction. Bill Murray, on the other hand, does accomplish the feat of vanishing into the role. Too bad there’s nothing backing him up along the way.

2012, bill murray, biopic, laura linney

BILL MURRAY IN HYDE PARK ON HUDSON

year: 2012 cast: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Samuel Wes, Elizabeth Marvel rating: * In this so-called “biopic” about one of America's...

THE HORRIBLE CAMP THAT IS CONGO

<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/AVvXsEgdXeyUfqSEcej4g8nuQxTBAt5DR6rN0r4x5-fFwfCtSz5uWSfGMJFhbLwOXunVZSbPJjEl9zrntNLHGdUNoMySsSzkoRtE4kjfyWMOQiyDDr22txBparyMN8E3uHiImAx-aS0kYbRfj4cw/s1600/congo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXeyUfqSEcej4g8nuQxTBAt5DR6rN0r4x5-fFwfCtSz5uWSfGMJFhbLwOXunVZSbPJjEl9zrntNLHGdUNoMySsSzkoRtE4kjfyWMOQiyDDr22txBparyMN8E3uHiImAx-aS0kYbRfj4cw/s320/congo2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1995 rating: *</td></tr> </tbody></table> The worst Michael Crichton adaptation ever; this makes the abysmal SPHERE seem like JURASSIC PARK.<br /> <br /> We begin with a failed expedition to find... something mysterious in Africa. A corporation sends Laura Linney to discover where the missing team went. She's joined by an ape researcher and his, through a technical back strap, talking gorilla Amy. Tim Curry, as a Romanian capitalist with greed pouring through his veins, joins the group. And Ernie Hudson tries his best as the adventurous guide as they go from one limp peril to the next: from a plane ride tailed by heat seeking missiles to a nighttime hippo attack resembling Disneyland's Jungle Cruise – and not even that exciting. As the plodding trek leads to a city built around a diamond mine, protected by killer albino apes that not only seem like men leaping around in gorilla suits, but <i>are </i>men leaping around in gorilla suits. Yet Amy actually looks realistic, but her forced sentimentality to manipulate audience adoration makes one yearn to throw a banana-grenade in her path, and hopefully her annoyingly idealistic trainer, played by a dull Dylan Walsh, is beside her. Director Frank Marshall was on a roll after ALIVE and ARACHNOPHOBIA, but he overshot here and failed miserably.

ernie hudson, frank marshall, joe don baker, laura linney, michael crichton, nineties, science-fiction

THE HORRIBLE CAMP THAT IS CONGO

year: 1995 rating: * The worst Michael Crichton adaptation ever; this makes the abysmal SPHERE seem like JURASSIC PARK. We begin with ...