WARREN BEATTY & SUSANNAH YORK SHUFFLE 'KALEIDOSCOPE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/a/AVvXsEjUUz5Z59W0QxWAhnwC5Z9bqJdSy5k7rcBpai37vXsnrl0G4HOx8Xgp9UYWxeClOXKEQ-UqOgbt7ttfXbdaOcbREh1-XwIVr4YdZxMeacbqtjps4o6BXvMy9sM4esg35cdVRDDraxkcncwpmq4mBWpKp0xvOeeNYDZ2py_RIlW1u9mfU1RiPvsYOBzp9g=s717" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="717" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUUz5Z59W0QxWAhnwC5Z9bqJdSy5k7rcBpai37vXsnrl0G4HOx8Xgp9UYWxeClOXKEQ-UqOgbt7ttfXbdaOcbREh1-XwIVr4YdZxMeacbqtjps4o6BXvMy9sM4esg35cdVRDDraxkcncwpmq4mBWpKp0xvOeeNYDZ2py_RIlW1u9mfU1RiPvsYOBzp9g=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The famous scene in THUNDERBALL, the first James Bond feature featuring supervillain Bloefeld, has his associates seated around a table, wondering which one of them will be found out as a traitor... for then to die in front of everyone... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And the same thing happens here with jovially sinister, talky antagonist Eric Porter as Dominion, more like Le Chiffre from CASINO ROYALE since American import cat burglar Warren Beatty is sent by British police to break the bank with a single night's poker match on the baddie's home turf, a castle with groovy interior befitting the rest of the cheerfully dated late-60's aesthetic... </p><p><span></span></p>

british, clive revill, eric porter, gambling, romantic comedy, sixties, spy, susannah york, thriller, warner archives, warren beatty

WARREN BEATTY & SUSANNAH YORK SHUFFLE 'KALEIDOSCOPE'

Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2 The famous scene in THUNDERBALL, the first James Bond feature featuring supervillain Bloefeld, has his associates ...

DUSTIN HOFFMAN & WARREN BEATTY WANDER THROUGH 'ISHTAR'

<p></p><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/AVvXsEh7OR4Z-2Qa8VkV_B0jR52Ffzb91HfMmwH9TkGNl4bdffiuQEBpj6kj3dWX1oV6ocDVAVuf8WcS5I0fvZCd60V31hUNeGwcFI-QaIdQJpxbsuRxGUjmMvs0zpO9Ce02caDe3Js0cP0uScwz4D7AX6CZxNy3drrwxTgdSFoDLq1_YedglNOSdC51kQmw1s-a/s2126/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-11%20at%2010.04.27%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="2126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7OR4Z-2Qa8VkV_B0jR52Ffzb91HfMmwH9TkGNl4bdffiuQEBpj6kj3dWX1oV6ocDVAVuf8WcS5I0fvZCd60V31hUNeGwcFI-QaIdQJpxbsuRxGUjmMvs0zpO9Ce02caDe3Js0cP0uScwz4D7AX6CZxNy3drrwxTgdSFoDLq1_YedglNOSdC51kQmw1s-a/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-11%20at%2010.04.27%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dustin Hoffman in ISHTAR Year: 1987 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In one scene from the famously infamous 1987 mega-flop ISHTAR, a shy and introverted Warren Beatty admits that, in order to get women, he wished he looked more like Dustin Hoffman: which is funnier than anything else in the movie... <br> </p><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p> Both are straight men without comic relief (Beatty's sweet and stupid while Hoffman's stupidly confident), and there isn't a touch of humor to be found: Especially not in the muddled screenplay written by director Elaine May and centering on two awful lounge singers, Lyle Rogers and Chuck Clark, who don’t seem realistic enough to be genuine failures... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, buddy, charles grodin, comedy, desert, dustin hoffman, eighties, elaine may, espionage, isabelle adjani, jack weston, warren beatty

DUSTIN HOFFMAN & WARREN BEATTY WANDER THROUGH 'ISHTAR'

Dustin Hoffman in ISHTAR Year: 1987 Rating: ** In one scene from the famously infamous 1987 mega-flop ISHTAR, a shy and introverted Warren...

WARREN BEATTY STALKED IN ALAN J. PAKULA'S 'THE PARALLAX VIEW'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEi4sm5h-GPlE0t_sfYFbrfVfYB-rLdO0ZklpZTFLcUHJOeLKzDLIlvqQ4pHgAI0vp2y-TLSdPRHukfjucTes9KgX5HCENBmpgsJ5ElkDg2txSiQDr1brTyAxvq4EflffLhGdIvkXHUrREuTgDgKST-g1sykbJm7oAKA1YLqSWFTieO3QnbOAIsa86m7Fg/s1207/61+NMp8RTuL._SL1500_.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="1207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4sm5h-GPlE0t_sfYFbrfVfYB-rLdO0ZklpZTFLcUHJOeLKzDLIlvqQ4pHgAI0vp2y-TLSdPRHukfjucTes9KgX5HCENBmpgsJ5ElkDg2txSiQDr1brTyAxvq4EflffLhGdIvkXHUrREuTgDgKST-g1sykbJm7oAKA1YLqSWFTieO3QnbOAIsa86m7Fg/s16000/61+NMp8RTuL._SL1500_.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Critically beloved TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD director Alan J. Pakula's political thriller before ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN titled THE PARALLAX VIEW opens with a doomed would-be senator taking Seattle's Sky Needle elevator to what will become his final speech... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A candidate described as being too independent for his own good, here's a political thriller that attempts pleasing both sides of the aisle, which is surely and sadly a thing of the past...  <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEja8JK4pmvIBevaMOB2nQsOnFG3lMRO2SbXBu2TTTdJ5Dh6cEQzbUJimrqCZDrIVR1QQDyDTqtqbQJ6aMTbIW9dsARyf3EQbcE98_Vr_S3GBnDyWhP7ANNback0PxQ7_CMvud2_HVLHl0Ms4IrcqOKD4d7t-JdyewiSeDagaTiCLMHvPl4-a9q9VIibSQ/s1698/AVvXsEg4-5_l3x_nncUpbKVYyBFZseB59cknSq49KgzqF4fz0Y9ZiZoQkNROt7u1cjOF8t3hOrA-UgjpPbb-TbLcLNEPhkPfFnG4pAl9H5YZhuqSvmqWrFfXeIfHxNqzJ5TRPaBcrPrJeYrIxHMX4V7HzE-fHnP9nTTxcrkl9hG3-cI4ZRn0MVWvUqS7AsqLvQ=s16000%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="1698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja8JK4pmvIBevaMOB2nQsOnFG3lMRO2SbXBu2TTTdJ5Dh6cEQzbUJimrqCZDrIVR1QQDyDTqtqbQJ6aMTbIW9dsARyf3EQbcE98_Vr_S3GBnDyWhP7ANNback0PxQ7_CMvud2_HVLHl0Ms4IrcqOKD4d7t-JdyewiSeDagaTiCLMHvPl4-a9q9VIibSQ/s16000/AVvXsEg4-5_l3x_nncUpbKVYyBFZseB59cknSq49KgzqF4fz0Y9ZiZoQkNROt7u1cjOF8t3hOrA-UgjpPbb-TbLcLNEPhkPfFnG4pAl9H5YZhuqSvmqWrFfXeIfHxNqzJ5TRPaBcrPrJeYrIxHMX4V7HzE-fHnP9nTTxcrkl9hG3-cI4ZRn0MVWvUqS7AsqLvQ=s16000%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With mainstream action from a bar fight to a car chase to an exploding boat, maverick reporter Warren Beatty investigates the continual witness deaths by (most likely) the rudimentary assassination...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And from the edgy beginning to a frantic finale, Beatty wields his usual laidback style around the more animated likes of Hume Cronyn as his stern yet likeable, working-class editor; veteran baddie Kelly Thordsen as a crooked small town sheriff; William Daniels as this film's possible Deep Throat... </p><p></p><p></p><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/a/AVvXsEj880nxDVXc5x7b_rvV_hWItcqLl12wchhsgsE0ScrGiYQfALLq35EH1A1k-1XX666V3dcfTkmM3qu0pGNVZ8dX08h9cPFPGxz-NQcbLexKSwHxTbAlylQ2q-rE26WJ2xJkuzHYt4RbzT8h9bkNqVznY6ueV9r3jI9_J-tnRPmWEPpQhwnoY3gsG_LcRw=s2298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="855" data-original-width="2298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj880nxDVXc5x7b_rvV_hWItcqLl12wchhsgsE0ScrGiYQfALLq35EH1A1k-1XX666V3dcfTkmM3qu0pGNVZ8dX08h9cPFPGxz-NQcbLexKSwHxTbAlylQ2q-rE26WJ2xJkuzHYt4RbzT8h9bkNqVznY6ueV9r3jI9_J-tnRPmWEPpQhwnoY3gsG_LcRw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>From the famously weird montage in THE PARALLAX VIEW</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>And last but not least, a shady Walter McGinn (whose final role would be Al Pacino's brother in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/06/BDeerfield.html">JOHNNY DEERFIELD</a>), introducing Beatty into the PARALLAX Corporation... </p><p></p><p></p><p>Along with a bizarre montage ranging from The Great Depression to Hitler to concentration camps whilst ironically shifting back and forth to happy hippies... this is meant for hypnotic indoctrination, a kind of icebreaker for what's basically a School for Assassins... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEj41rohJCJdNlDSqadFiB5UyCjcrAsdX9TE2LGntPDwnMMMcInV5m4rcSeWMAk-LTDSjvmwZA7VfsW4wr78yeoA_ypnJc6KWZoh7e7tRMC7wwbRQm1-rPqMI4xKZh-1AAnBWnjsMwMAHUIcsxIaOS-eJ5mGPAOQcLq9GjZMwkPtj45m-m5z8GiytHi7QQ/s2286/AVvXsEjePck4LAlfW_I4K7trZl55JL8GtCj0968BItcbz1pW1EE0qi9fYFSlKe_QLqBro-esKkww3ecLxE8ddf-QG61CtUny1uU4Nfo6I1SRbXFjJuF3qqRU-1lcdj0cdIcprdzboqYbyTV017iEuvosfJ3y6VV7_XstYUEIWHztvy2yhX1DCzcmsfjQMIQj5g=s16000.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="2286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj41rohJCJdNlDSqadFiB5UyCjcrAsdX9TE2LGntPDwnMMMcInV5m4rcSeWMAk-LTDSjvmwZA7VfsW4wr78yeoA_ypnJc6KWZoh7e7tRMC7wwbRQm1-rPqMI4xKZh-1AAnBWnjsMwMAHUIcsxIaOS-eJ5mGPAOQcLq9GjZMwkPtj45m-m5z8GiytHi7QQ/s16000/AVvXsEjePck4LAlfW_I4K7trZl55JL8GtCj0968BItcbz1pW1EE0qi9fYFSlKe_QLqBro-esKkww3ecLxE8ddf-QG61CtUny1uU4Nfo6I1SRbXFjJuF3qqRU-1lcdj0cdIcprdzboqYbyTV017iEuvosfJ3y6VV7_XstYUEIWHztvy2yhX1DCzcmsfjQMIQj5g=s16000.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bill McKinney strolls with mild villainy in THE PARALLAX VIEW</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>And right when our timid hero goes undercover as one of the students, about to embark upon the first mission, he keeps getting distracted, following "real killer" Bill McKinney around liken to a standard detective flick...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile director Pakula tells a nice tight story with big sets and gorgeous widescreen cinematography as the camera remains an impartial observer (or spy) and yet, in the process, with all the running around, he ultimately lets the more intriguing premise get away.  </p><p><span></span></p>

alan j. pakula, bill mckinney, earl hindman, hume cronyn, jo ann harris, kelly thordsen, paula prentiss, political, seventies, thriller, walter mcginn, warren beatty, william daniels

WARREN BEATTY STALKED IN ALAN J. PAKULA'S 'THE PARALLAX VIEW'

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2 Critically beloved TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD director Alan J. Pakula's politica...

PRODIGAL WARREN BEATTY RETURNS IN RULES DON'T APPLY

<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/AVvXsEiI0LcA-Kq7xZlW1uW3J3DLgdZvlMJUvPC4cFeqLbopPVD3p4z2oyKSFHqjQSngQfhtG-sEZy5iywU_pB0I4w4ooqmddsrRPxlAZcVXHMUeApKEEPl7mey3HZYG1HQhFeIkckNsyFJe2HFV/s1600/81ckBXplzaL._SL1500_.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="995" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0LcA-Kq7xZlW1uW3J3DLgdZvlMJUvPC4cFeqLbopPVD3p4z2oyKSFHqjQSngQfhtG-sEZy5iywU_pB0I4w4ooqmddsrRPxlAZcVXHMUeApKEEPl7mey3HZYG1HQhFeIkckNsyFJe2HFV/s400/81ckBXplzaL._SL1500_.jpg" width="305"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 2016 Rating: **</u></td></tr> </tbody></table><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">RULES DON'T APPLY stars and is directed by Warren Beatty, who left Hollywood over ten years ago after his comedy disaster TOWN & COUNTRY was chopped on the editing block, not by the studio but the man himself: guilty for his own massive failure... </span><br> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><br></span> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So this is a return for not only Beatty the filmmaker but the actor, whose subtle touch is usually effective yet rarely extraordinary, although he doesn't sell himself as the lead herein: </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Upon first glance, it seems like the film's starlet, Lily Collins as Maria, is a very, very young small town girl up for a part in a Howard Hughes picture... Beatty's Hughes speaks in a purposeful monotone since the real life billionaire's well-known insanity gives any actor a sky's-the-limit opportunity to chew the scenery. In that, he plays it strange yet extremely grounded, and by the time it's realized that Collins is slightly older than she initially appeared, a creepy scene occurs, ruining what had been building up in an effectively mysterious fashion: simply put, it seems that Warren, the famous womanizer, now married and old, gave himself a chance for a love scene with a schoolgirl that a dirty old man could conjure up in his fantasies: liken to an aging action star who'd cast a younger badass to fight, and defeat, so goes the short-lived March/December romance for the aging, mummified Playboy...</span><br>

2016, alden ehrenreich, bio, lily collins, warren beatty

PRODIGAL WARREN BEATTY RETURNS IN RULES DON'T APPLY

Year: 2016 Rating: ** RULES DON'T APPLY stars and is directed by Warren Beatty, who left Hollywood over ten years ago after his come...

ELIZABETH TAYLOR 'THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN' WARREN BEATTY

<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/AVvXsEioxLeEktExtUUn8AW-D1bLYKLDcV3SrfA1lQa7bcIIo0erGYnkcivj9Jvmf6zzUuIyo1XzCr0eXho8ovsT6-yZMBCnJlaAL5_5EJ8w-M25WRmAEbUjIwEG_rRh0im50VVMPXi3finfrSU/s1600/14292479_184244575338060_6694133989640089132_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxLeEktExtUUn8AW-D1bLYKLDcV3SrfA1lQa7bcIIo0erGYnkcivj9Jvmf6zzUuIyo1XzCr0eXho8ovsT6-yZMBCnJlaAL5_5EJ8w-M25WRmAEbUjIwEG_rRh0im50VVMPXi3finfrSU/s400/14292479_184244575338060_6694133989640089132_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren Beatty & Elizabeth Taylor on wide poster</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Director George Stevens was great at telling a relatively simple story in an epic, grandiose fashion, burying the hidden lead till the conclusion without it being a letdown, or the audience feeling like they've been taken for a long, misleading ride...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <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/AVvXsEgSi6_2b1azayIPYM3ap2f3OJvJQOB6aDkd3tDB6gtT14UHWwRNqctojD-dCx4-CBWx2L5bPzcHLKX5101GG2lTTaHlwVO8wxchZjq8w_UoPeAlpyWegq8yxaJgx8rBaLcakPu4SES53oE6/s1600/51c92bbcfa4fe7493997f3b222878513.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="153" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSi6_2b1azayIPYM3ap2f3OJvJQOB6aDkd3tDB6gtT14UHWwRNqctojD-dCx4-CBWx2L5bPzcHLKX5101GG2lTTaHlwVO8wxchZjq8w_UoPeAlpyWegq8yxaJgx8rBaLcakPu4SES53oE6/s320/51c92bbcfa4fe7493997f3b222878513.jpeg" width="141"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Portion of Movie Poster</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> His famous films with Taylor are A PLACE IN THE SUN with Monty Clift and a giant GIANT with Rock Hudon, which fits its title in scope, but the Texas saga with all the wide sets and dusty milieu, ends with a quick fist fight in a small cafe, and is actually an underline morality tale on Whites towards Mexican racism... <br> <br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> And it's arguably Stevens's greatest achievement, starred one of the loveliest ingenues at that time who, in 1956, was a much better suited to be a showgirl, like in the director's final film fourteen years later, THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN... And while what happens in Las Vegas stays there, what happens when someone takes a picture only showing their best features as Taylor's top-half is shown, twice during a fifteen second segment of a musical number on an immense Casino stage, inserted in a contrived, phony and downright hilarious fashion...<br>

charles braswell, elizabeth taylor, exploitation, gambling, george stevens, jazz-score, las vegas, romance, seventies, warren beatty

ELIZABETH TAYLOR 'THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN' WARREN BEATTY

Warren Beatty & Elizabeth Taylor on wide poster Director George Stevens was great at telling a relatively simple story in an epic, g...

DUDLEY MOORE IN 'BEST DEFENSE' FEATURING EDDIE MURPHY

<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/AVvXsEir2vQqK3s0Eb6ymFn8PAvNO9WIG75qQmvAfs7Sas8BcA0Bycft2kevi4LbPwI5csEbnQuY9JtOzTnuvmWR0ottAVU9hqgD05VIbQKZ5EzkLdON11MM1Tds3jImEr88nyQedc-_O4Yu8fk/s1600/photo-119.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/AVvXsEir2vQqK3s0Eb6ymFn8PAvNO9WIG75qQmvAfs7Sas8BcA0Bycft2kevi4LbPwI5csEbnQuY9JtOzTnuvmWR0ottAVU9hqgD05VIbQKZ5EzkLdON11MM1Tds3jImEr88nyQedc-_O4Yu8fk/s1600/photo-119.JPG" width="194" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Great Book, actually... SCORE: **</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Starting with 48 HRS and following up with TRADING PLACES and then peaking with BEVERLY HILLS COP, Eddie Murphy was not only the man of the hour, he was the hour… A standout hero of the second incarnation of Saturday Night Live, the initial “Eddie Cinema Trilogy” covered a lot of ground, making the edgy black comic downright unbreakable... But that’s only if you forget about his “Strategic Guest Star” turn in a movie that’s not even his own…<br /> <br /> BEST DEFENSE was a Dudley Moore vehicle directed and co-written by Willard Huyck and wife Gloria Katz, who attempted romantic magic abroad with FRENCH POSTCARDS after collaborating with George Lucas in the timelessly brilliant AMERICAN GRAFFITI, as well as the disappointing but highly successful INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM followed by the abysmal career-killing HOWARD THE DUCK. <br /> And here, their DEFENSE has an obscure literary origin, based on the novel EASY AND HARD WAYS OUT, written by Robert Grossbach, which, in this reviewers' opinion, surpasses even Richard Hooker’s MASH...<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/AVvXsEi6G-RwE3mnbt91nzZLcDF7dBar-z-691M56IvVfm2gCiYhIRs9vNOHSRRTPF_se_HVonD_QRovzbJEgxAPsbhza0OCTrCH4DHGpFserAkF_nX9T2NfR1Bx45SRXCkiyEzcGzYm5qLkUgQ/s1600/51717GCM3SL._SY300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6G-RwE3mnbt91nzZLcDF7dBar-z-691M56IvVfm2gCiYhIRs9vNOHSRRTPF_se_HVonD_QRovzbJEgxAPsbhza0OCTrCH4DHGpFserAkF_nX9T2NfR1Bx45SRXCkiyEzcGzYm5qLkUgQ/s1600/51717GCM3SL._SY300_.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1984</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In the book, Eddie Murphy’s character was a jet fighter pilot in Vietnam, and here he’s a tank driver in, of all places, the desert of Kuwait… in 1984! His part takes place two years after the mainline, in which Dudley Moore’s unoriginal tech inventor Wylie Cooper works in a fledgling laboratory base in Seal Beach, California. He has to perfect a “gyro” targeting system that will guide the tank that Murphy’s Lt. Landry uses in the b-story…<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <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/AVvXsEigcpn1KaOhihoHSG0e3IS9CXCN_c4fVl4TGkxHAQgC3joH2V-560z7RjQFKEjSvto5vPKEgbFQaFyA43GqN3oqEccU79izWEPVe0d_dTJL60IzVXNij2m6vqiCf11N1Ng6f9KqbnQ4m1g/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-09-19+at+11.26.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigcpn1KaOhihoHSG0e3IS9CXCN_c4fVl4TGkxHAQgC3joH2V-560z7RjQFKEjSvto5vPKEgbFQaFyA43GqN3oqEccU79izWEPVe0d_dTJL60IzVXNij2m6vqiCf11N1Ng6f9KqbnQ4m1g/s200/Screen+Shot+2016-09-19+at+11.26.34+PM.png" width="145" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Eddie between funny films</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Basically, if Moore can't get the gyro to work, then Murphy, rolling into hostile enemy territory, won't have a prayer. While Eddie's the comic relief, scenes where he and two Israeli klutzes goof off in the tank are painfully unfunny. And Moore tries his frantic "best," running around in a prolonged hotel/convention sequence, avoiding both a lethal assassin and the flirtatious advances of workmate Helen Shaver. Plus he’s got his hands on a secret “McGuffin” device that he’s taken credit for, and the bad guys want it... at all costs. <br /> <br /> Sounds confusing; and it is, somewhat. But worst of all, DEFENSE is a sloppy uneven mess that runs around in circles – attempting political satire and lightweight comedy while sloppily juggling a tacked-on Cold War sideline… And completely failing on all counts.

comedy, dudley moore, dustin hoffman, eddie murphy, eighties, warren beatty

DUDLEY MOORE IN 'BEST DEFENSE' FEATURING EDDIE MURPHY

Great Book, actually... SCORE: ** Starting with 48 HRS and following up with TRADING PLACES and then peaking with BEVERLY HILLS COP, Edd...

WARREN BEATTY IS BUGSY

<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/AVvXsEjvMjcHNYgNoTD6FH4Bzb0l31VpXZdXxwBFQfzat1MmUaUeWZ2mj-RUzV_2V4wstzD7fMY7vGeMnagm2uNuaTJtSvNyOzZTbemoae1rUPti0Y9dmODLHPPkB43OyNcyD1USEbxsa_FPud-SZhF5fPPnhfx5eHGMhX8BxPhqKX7-j4Tx32Db7TxoFGGESjMn/s2178/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-11%20at%2011.36.36%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1206" data-original-width="2178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvMjcHNYgNoTD6FH4Bzb0l31VpXZdXxwBFQfzat1MmUaUeWZ2mj-RUzV_2V4wstzD7fMY7vGeMnagm2uNuaTJtSvNyOzZTbemoae1rUPti0Y9dmODLHPPkB43OyNcyD1USEbxsa_FPud-SZhF5fPPnhfx5eHGMhX8BxPhqKX7-j4Tx32Db7TxoFGGESjMn/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-11%20at%2011.36.36%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1991 cast: Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, Elliott Gould rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Warren Beatty likes to surround himself with great actors, and with Ben Kingsly as Meyer Lansky and Harvey Keitel as Mickey Cohen he gets his wish: but Beatty’s Bugsy Siegel not only steals this particular show but completely owns it...<br /> <br /> At least for the first half – the better part of an entertaining gangster biopic directed by Barry Levinson with lavish production, taking us back to the 1940’s when Siegel traveled from New York to Hollywood. The best scenes have Bugsy (but never call him that) taking over tinsel town with bullheaded gusto, buying a mansion and car like shopping at a yard sale – and then meeting actress Virginia Hill who soon becomes his moll, then Achilles’ heel.<br /> <br /> The future Mrs. Beatty does a good job as the temperamental moll, but scenes where Bugsy thinks she’s sleeping (or has slept) with every man around borrows too heavily from RAGING BULL and gets in the way of the real story: Siegel’s vision of a giant casino in the middle of the Nevada desert, in a town called Las Vegas, as he spends too much mafia money on a<i> gamble</i> that might not work. Beatty plays the role with delightful energy yet he’s surprisingly formidable too... especially when dealing with people that owe. It's a shame the searing romantic melodrama gets in the way of the rough stuff. Then again, the one thing Warren prefers to movies is... or, are... the dames. <br /></p>

biopic, gangster, harvey keitel, nineties, warren beatty

WARREN BEATTY IS BUGSY

year: 1991 cast: Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, Elliott Gould rating: ***1/2 Warren Beatty likes to surround h...