cult film freak: gwyneth paltrow

Written by James M. Tate / 2/28/2025 / No comments / angelica huston , article , bill murray , danny glover , dark comedy , gene hackman , gwyneth paltrow , luke wilson , memorial , owen wilson , wes anderson , zeroes

GENE HACKMAN MAKING AND BREAKING 'THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS'

<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/AVvXsEgVF1SaAknZPbsMooda_vzqbkObuK6hhAWqKl2gHeG8WaSKRUyAaUFLKO9_t_7xW1xnHTJBLCTZslGNhlRHFPNGBbjvrGemgGfBkdxHE2tBwqONeU08AzuyfrNLW_b81uoPw_iYctS2TA8qrtu7d4MCkj-oxKIsf2ii44mxQZiQERXeDmCEpj0Q7FH5sopA/s1918/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-03%20at%203.57.31%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1918" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVF1SaAknZPbsMooda_vzqbkObuK6hhAWqKl2gHeG8WaSKRUyAaUFLKO9_t_7xW1xnHTJBLCTZslGNhlRHFPNGBbjvrGemgGfBkdxHE2tBwqONeU08AzuyfrNLW_b81uoPw_iYctS2TA8qrtu7d4MCkj-oxKIsf2ii44mxQZiQERXeDmCEpj0Q7FH5sopA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-03%20at%203.57.31%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Hackman in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS Year: 2001 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's not so ironic that Gene Hackman was extremely (infamously) difficult to director Wes Anderson working on THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS because his character, the tremendously flawed patriarch of an eccentric New York City family, is the one person who brings the deliberately offbeat movie down to a relatably grounded level... <br><br>In Anderson's breakout indie RUSHMORE, Bill Murray did the same thing, sort of... but not so most of the characters couldn't stand him, and spend almost the entire story battling his vices that, in Hackman's case as Royal Tenenbaum, led to the family breaking up early on... opening with child prodigy's setting the stage, creatively coddled by newly single mother Angelica Huston as Etheline...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

angelica huston, article, bill murray, danny glover, dark comedy, gene hackman, gwyneth paltrow, luke wilson, memorial, owen wilson, wes anderson, zeroes

GENE HACKMAN MAKING AND BREAKING 'THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS'

Gene Hackman in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS Year: 2001 Rating: ****1/2 It's not so ironic that Gene Hackman was extremely (infamously) difficul...

Written by James M. Tate / 12/04/2017 / No comments / anthony mingbella , gwyneth paltrow , jazz-score , jude law , matt damon , neo noir , nineties

MATT DAMON & JUDE LAW IN 'THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Vintage cover of the Patricia Highsmitch novel</u></td></tr>
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It's rare that a "modern" American remake of a New Wave French film would be ten times superior. Then again, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY from 1999 and 1960's  PLEIN SOLEIL (PURPLE NOON) are really two variations of Patricia Highsmith's novel that the American version's named after...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="font-size: 12.8px;">Alain Delone's Tom's too upfront</u></td></tr>
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In PURPLE NOON everything is presented through dialogue, including what Ripley, played by then-newcomer Alain Delon, intends to do to the older, more experienced mentor he was hired to bring back to his frustrated rich daddy. Any and all suspense is lost in this colorfully playful version compared to the dark yet spry and jazzy Anthony Minghella Neo Noir starring Matt Damon in the TALENTED title role, and the perfect young man in Jude Law's Dickie Greenleaf, a sort of shallow, frolicking, womanizing beatnik in stylish clothes (with a sax instead of bongos), bedding a local girl while engaged to the sweet-natured Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge, his cheated-on soulmate (who makes him wear a ring i.e. what ends up the film's "McGuffin").<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Unlike the original, Dickie's goading is very effective</u></td></tr>
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We'll name a few more folks but some writeups dealing with a handful of characters tend to read like a phonebook. But one thing's clear — there's nothing better than a motion picture with two stories in one: for example, PSYCHO with Janet Leigh first leading the story and then being covered up... And here, Judd Law's spoiled rich kid —acting like he owns life itself in an endless party of jazz and drink — steals the show as if Damon's Tom Ripley is aware of just that: Despite being a bonafide sex symbol, Matt Damon never had the perfect looks of an actor who got by on his appearance alone, making him a sublime, mild-mannered sociopath to realistically covet the life of a seemingly flawless guy while providing enough homo-erotic tension... a catapult for the senses and storyline both... to make every proverbial page-turning moment more and more intriguingly addictive...<br>

anthony mingbella, gwyneth paltrow, jazz-score, jude law, matt damon, neo noir, nineties

MATT DAMON & JUDE LAW IN 'THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY'

Vintage cover of the Patricia Highsmitch novel It's rare that a "modern" American remake of a New Wave French film would b...

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)ROBBERY 3)HELL IS A CITY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)HOT CARS 7)VIOLENT SATURDAY 8)THE BREAK 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)CALCULATED RISK 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)JUNGLE STREET 17)WHITE HEAT 18)FALLEN ANGEL 19)A PRIZE OF ARMS 20)THE BIG HEAT 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE MARKED ONES 23)THE DRIVER 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)JOURNEY INTO FEAR 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)PAYROLL 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6)CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)SAM PECKINPAH 10)MICHAEL WINNER