Tag Archives: Movies

Classic Movie Watch — Patton (1970)

Among the greatest of war movies, 1970’s Patton features a mind-blowingly good performance by George C. Scott as the famously colorful WWII general that serves to catapult this epic far above the standard military biopic. The film is not only remarkable for the vivid on-screen portrait of a gifted but notoriously impolitic and ambitious American general helping to turn the tide of war in the United States’ favor but also for the off-screen context of being made at the height of rampant anti-war sentiment in the US and abroad due to the Vietnam War. You would have expected the film to be a hatchet job on an unrepentant warrior from the gung ho past and to reflect the anti-authoritarian zeitgeist of the time. You would also have expected a war-weary public to reject yet another nostalgic World War II movie released at the end of the 60s. Instead, it’s a straightforward yet nuanced portrayal of a seriously flawed but undoubtedly great military leader that earned popular and critical success from the get go with an unapologetically pro-US message. And through the movie we come to see that a man like Patton, a true lover of war who believed himself reincarnated from Roman Legionnaires and Napoleon’s soldiers, should probably be kept in a glass case that says “Break Open in Time of War”. But we also see that it’s surely good to have old soldiers like George S. Patton handy when the stuff hits the fan.

The famous opening sequence, a stylized and also sanitized version of Patton’s famously profane speech to the Third Army, remains one of the movies’ best “grabbers”, as well as one of the most iconic 6 minutes in the history of cinema. And despite Scott’s misgivings that starting with the speech would overwhelm subsequent scenes, that acts as a preamble and the movie gets better from there. It really starts with Patton’s arrival in North Africa to take command of a green and badly demoralized US II Corps after their mauling by Rommel’s Afrika Korps at Kasserine Pass, quickly whipping them into a cohesive fighting unit ready to take on the seasoned and highly accomplished German troops. By utilizing Rommel’s own tank tactics against him, we see the revitalized Americans fight back via impressive large scale armored tank battles thundering from the oversized 65mm widescreen print.

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Documentary view — The Last Gladiators

Since it’s that ultra-exciting time of year known as the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, it seems fitting that we take a look at Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney‘s 2011 documentary, The Last Gladiators. This compelling and viscerally satisfying examination of hockey’s most feared enforcers is also a paradox, serving as both cautionary tale and celebration of professional hockey’s unique culture of acceptable violence and the men who best practice it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y9i9RxX7Qw

With unprecedented access to the toughest men to play the game, Gladiators’ main focus eventually settles on Chris “Knuckles” Nilan, a hard-nosed kid from Boston whose NHL dream came true as a beloved character on the 1986 Stanley Cup-winning Montreal Canadiens, the NHL equivalent of the New York Yankees. With relentless bravado and aggression, Nilan stepped into the fray to defend his more skilled teammates from other teams’ taking liberties, the key function of the enforcer, and went toe-to-toe with the toughest guys of his era. Craving validation as more than just a goon, Nilan even scored 21 goals in his best season under legendary coach Jacques Lemaire. But as it does with many athletes, Nilan’s career slowly declined due to injuries and, after a decent stint with the New York Rangers, petered out unhappily with his hometown Boston Bruins, where the the former Canadien was viewed with deep ambivalence.

The fascinatingly complex star of the film’s many present day interviews and great historical clips, the older Nilan comes across as extremely intelligent, self-aware and still quite cocky. Continue reading →

Classic Movie Watch — To Catch a Thief (1955)

One of Alfred Hitchcock‘s more effervescent cinematic cocktails, 1955’s To Catch a Thief is a must-watch for any cinephile or aspiring bon vivant. A gentleman can learn many lessons from the impossibly stylish Cary Grant as reformed (or is he?) jewelry thief and hero of the French Resistance, John Robie, aka “The Cat”. Grant’s Robie comes under renewed suspsicion when a series of high profile, high value robberies plague the glitterati of the French Riviera. His old war buddies, with whom he escaped from a bombed out prison, soon turn on him for fear of having their paroles revoked, leading Robie to endeavor to find out who the new “Cat” is before the police pin it on him or his old mates do him in to save themselves. Added to the heady mix is the lucious Grace Kelly in her prime as prim but sexy nouveau riche debutante Frances Stevens, determined to share in the excitement of “The Cat’s” criminal exploits and capture the uniquely intriguing Robie for her own pleasure.

Filmed largely on location in Nice, Cannes and Monaco, To Catch a Thief looks as stunning today as it must have when it was released if not more so because the coast and the Principality had not yet been so frantically overdeveloped. The helicopter shots of high speed drives through Mediterranean hills and villages are breathtaking. And the teasing rapport between the ultra-tan, ultra-suave Grant and the golden, precocious Kelly is pure cinema magic. It’s no wonder that Grant, along with James Stewart, was one of Hitchcock’s favorite male leads. They did four remarkably good films together — Suspicion, Notorious, Thief and North by Northwest — and Hitch was always able to coax the dark shadows of Grant’s sometimes glib personality to the fore. For the Master of Suspense, he was willing to reveal his weakness and even his unattractive side and if you know only the smiling playboy caricature of Grant you’ll be in for a treat watching any of those classic collaborations. One of the unquestionable cinema greats, Grant’s body of work for Hitchcock alone would put him near the top of any list of all-time best movie actors.

And as is well documented, Hitchcock was enraptured by Kelly as his ultimate cool blond with hot blood. After making three terrific films for Hitch in quick succession — Dial M for Murder, Rear Window and Thief — Kelly married Prince Ranier in 1956 and retired from movies to be the Princess Consort of Monaco. While the great director quipped that he was “very happy that Grace has found herself such a good part” he was in fact bereft and struggled in vain to find a new version of her in subsequent films. Hence he has Kim Novak with Stewart in Vertigo, Eva Marie Saint with Grant in North by Northwest, Janet Leigh in Psycho and Tippi Hedren in The Birds and Marnie. While all those actresses did admirable work in their own way, especially the very touching and tragic Kim Novak in Vertigo, it’s no doubt that Hitchcock would have preferred Grace Kelly in all of those roles. After watching her take Grant on a white knuckle ride through the hills of Monaco before stopping to picnic and slyly offering him the choice of a leg or a breast, it’s easy to see why. The fact that Princess Grace was killed in a car accident in 1982 at the age of 52 in those very same cliffs just adds a layer of poignancy to the near-perfection of To Catch a Thief.

Gorgeous Lady of the Week — Naomie Harris

After a long period of establishing herself as a versatile and talented actress in big movies, Naomie Harris rocketed to worldwide fame with a bullet. Literally. As James Bond’s support agent in the field, she is responsible for taking the shot on M’s orders to stop a terrorist entangled with Bond on a speeding train. Instead she hits Bond and derails his life sending the world’s favorite secret agent into injury-induced existential crisis. Such is the beginning of 2012’s dark and biographical 007 blockbuster Skyfall. And only at the end of the film do we discover that Ms. Harris’ sexy and capable character is, in fact, Eve Moneypenny, now quitting the field and destined for a lifetime of desk work and double entendres. Now that is how you become a big time movie star.

The daughter of Caribbean immigrants in London, Naomie’s mother was a scriptwriter for the long-running BBC soap EastEnders and she caught the acting bug quite young, where she had success as a child actress. Her big break came in Danny Boyle’s excellent 2002 post-apocalyptic thriller 28 Days Later as Selena, one of the harried survivors of a horrible pandemic. After good roles alongside Colin Firth in Trauma and former Bond Pierce Brosnan in After the Sunset, Ms. Harris was tapped to play the mysterious and supernatural Tia Dalma for the 2nd and 3rd movies of the mega-budget Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End.

Then came her revelatory work in Skyfall, memorably making amends with Daniel Craig’s Bond in Macao but never succumbing to his legendary charms. And then, as if to prove that she was more than just a lithe and beautiful starlet, Ms. Harris did awards-worthy work as Winnie Mandela alongside Idris Elba in the respectful biopic, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

It’s readily apparent from her now-long and accomplished resume that the 37-year-old beauty can not only act alongside today’s hottest leading men — from Depp to Craig — but can also deftly hold her own with them under any circumstances. In a movie world often dominated by blond bombshells, the dark and lovely Naomi Harris stands out with playful sex appeal, acting chops and a sharp-edged sense of humor. She’s an unconventional original and a major talent and that’s something we absolutely can’t resist. In short, she’s an MFL kind of gal and she’s one of the many reasons we’re keenly anticipating Bond #24 and all her other future work still to come.

A little Monday comedy — Bowfinger (1999)

It’s hard to believe that the sly and uproarious Hollywood satire Bowfinger is 15 years old. The Frank Oz directed film from a Steve Martin-penned script tells the tale of a band of show biz hangers-on struggling to make a grade Z sci-fi flick via a highly dubious workaround to the whole lead actors-knowing-they’re-shooting-a-movie thing. It still slays with its dead-on take of what makes LA the company town it is: unkillable dreams of fame, beautiful starlets with “felxible” morals and weirdo movie stars in need of cult control. Best of all, the unlikely comedy dream team of Martin as the titular never-was “producer/director” Bobby Bowfinger and Eddie Murphy, in priceless dual roles as paranoid exhibitionist action star Kit Ramsey and his mega-dorky brother Jiff Jiffrenson (a Steve Martin character name if ever there was one), create gold when they share the screen together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZUU563eAaM

And for laugh-out-loud, funny-as-hell scenes there really aren’t that many as good this one short of primo Mel Brooks:

Oh, for that complex Starbucks order! Definitely worth renting again or even buying the DVD if you haven’t seen it in a while. It’s that good and after all these years, it holds up hysterically well. Welcome to Mindhead and Keep It Together!

Gorgeous Lady of the Week — Abbie Cornish

Hailing from a country that produces more than its fair share of good looking people, draw droppingly beautiful Australian Abbie Cornish combines natural sex appeal with plenty of talent. After success at home as a model and budding star actress, Abbie made the seamless transition to Hollywood ingenue. The usually blond, hazel-eyed 31-year-old vegetarian broke through in 2007, looking ravishing in historical finery in the big budget sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age, where she held her own alongside such heavyweights as Kate Blanchett as the Queen and Clive Owen as her lover, Sir Walter Raleigh.

She also had key roles in the 2008 Iraq War drama Stop-Loss with Ryan Philippe (with whom she had a relationship), the 2009 Keats biopic Bright Star and alongside Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro in 2011’s Limitless. That year she also appeared in the preposterous Zach Snyder flop Sucker Punch — she was her usual sexy self weilding swords and guns amidst the mayhem but looked even hotter without the S&M accoutrement.

Ms. Cornish has had better material to work with recently in the 2012 black comedy Seven Psychopaths and this year’s action blockbuster reboot, Robocop, as the hero’s steadfast wife. She was also co-lead in the Discovery Channel’s first scripted programming, the historical gold rush miniseries Klondike.

With her best years ahead of her and a face that only seems to get more lovely with time, we’re sure that Abbie Cornish is destined for much more success. Some actresses will always be in demand and a looker like Abbie is definitely on our much-watch list.

A little Friday comedy — The Trip (2011)

Just cannot get these funny bits from 2011’s Steve Coogan/Rob Brydon mockumentary, The Trip, out of my head. This movie is so damn funny in such subtle but uprorious ways, I could watch it once a month. Or maybe more like once a week — it’s that obsession-worthy.

Two Bonds for the price of one as a game of one-upsmanship between world class impressionists? So much win. And let’s not forget dueling Michael Caines.

The Trip is not only hilarious but also at times touchingly melancholy and always feels grounded in the real and complicated relationship between these two guys. Throw in some fancy food, lovely ladies and stunning North England scenery and it makes for a fantastic comedy. And don’t even get me started on the insanely long DVD outtakes for “Gentlemen, to bed!”…

Classic Movies We’re Watching — Seven Days in May

When it comes to paranoid film thrillers, the 1960s and 70s were the golden age. And John Frankenheimer’s 1964 classic Seven Days in May was perhaps the grandaddy of them all. Now, you can argue that Frankenheimer’s undisputed masterpiece The Manchurian Candidate, released two years earlier, was actually the prototype for the cinema’s soon-to-be omnipresent conspiracy-minded neurosis. But while Candidate does involve a horrifying plan to bring down the US government, the key difference is that in Seven Days in May that threat is coming from inside the country.

Burt Lancaster as General James Mattoon Scott & Kirk Douglas as Colonel Martin “Jiggs” Casey

Spoilers below the fold…

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Gorgeous Lady of the Week — Malin Akerman

What is it about Swedish beauties that stirs the, um, soul? Take the lovely Malin Ackerman. She made an indelible impression in Zach Snyder’s remarkably faithful (with one major exception to the deus ex machina) 2009 film adaptation of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons’ paranoid 1980s graphic novel masterpiece, Watchmen. Dressed up in a kinky bumblebee-colored latex costume and sporting a brunette wig, Malin’s Silk Spectre was the kind of sexy superheroine dreams are made of (though not it you’re a bad guy — then you just get your ass kicked).

While she’ll never be confused with greats like Ingrid Bergman or Liv Ullman in the acting department, Ms. Akerman does tend to light up the screen whenever she’s on it with her classic Scandinavian good looks and playful charm.

Swedish by birth, Malin grew up primarily in Canada. After acting and modeling success there, she made the transition to Hollywood with a good supporting role in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle followed by starring parts in the Farrelly Brothers’ remake of The Heartbreak Kid alongside Ben Stiller, the formula rom-com 27 Dresses and her breakthrough in the eye-popping anti-superhero movie Watchmen.

She’s also a rock chick, yet another turn-on, and was lead singer for the Petalstones where she met her now ex-husband, the drummer (of course — but, hey, I said “Ex” at least), with whom the 35-year-old stunner has a son. And while she left the group to focus on acting, that experience undoubtedly helped her accomplished and sexy duet with Tom Cruise singing Foreigner’s “I Wanna Know What Love Is” in 2012’s big budget classic rock musical, Rock of Ages, where both stars do the singing for real.

Malin can currently be seen showing off her comedic chops in ABC’s Trophy Wife alongside Macia Gay Harden and Bradley Whitford. While we’re certainly happy for her success on that funny sitcom, we can’t help but wish it were on a more risque channel like HBO or Cinemax. Because the more we see of Malin, the more we like.

Remembering Philip Seymour Hoffman with laughter

It’s easy to forget between the sadness of his untimely passing and the accolades for his “heavier” work that Philip Seymour Hoffman was damn funny in comedic roles. In particular, his scenes in 1998’s The Big Lebowski stand out as masterful comic miniatures. He doesn’t have a lot of screen time in the movie but he wrings maximum hilarity out of his uptight sycophant character, Brandt. And his interactions with Jeff Bridges are pretty much priceless.

Notice how many quirky, funny tics and mannerisms he packs into that 2-minute scene. We’ll put another scene where he introduces The Dude to Bunny Lebowski poolside below the fold because it is definitely NSFW. Continue reading →

Man's Fine Life

The Return of the Well-Rounded Gentleman