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Posted: |
Dec 5, 2020 - 9:36 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession aka Ivan Vasilyevich: Back to the Future (1973) * 8/10 From IMDb: “An ordinary Soviet building manager, living in the 20th century, is extremely similar to Tsar of All Rus' - Ivan IV the Terrible (1530 - 1584). He would never have known about this, but one day his neighbor created a time machine.” Love the MidMod Moscow flat where the hapless Shurik (Aleksandr Demyanenko) aka “The Soviet Jerry Lewis” lives, as well as the needlessly complicated-looking time machine he has there; it looks like a cross between the time machine in Time After Time (1979) and the moonshine still on M*A*S*H. Shurik is married to the super- adorable but shallow Zinaida (Natalya Seleznyova) who is an early ‘70s fashion plate. Zinaida sings a dopey but incredibly catchy Europop song composed by the film’s composer, my “new discovery”, Alexandr Zatsepin. Small-time thief George Miloslavsky (Leonid Kuravlyov) is hilarious both in his dialogue as well as with simple comedic gestures; the character steals the film. Yuriy Yakovlev plays the title character and Tsar Ivan the Terrible and is excellent in the two roles. Ivan Vasilyevich is a send up of petty Soviet officials, making that character all the more amusing. The 1500s Russia scenes are less interesting, though often quite funny, than those of Ivan the Terrible in 1970s Moscow. The scenes in 1500s Russia are less interesting than those of Ivan the Terrible in 1970s Moscow. This film is recommended for those interested in the early ‘70s “Mod” or “Persuaders” look, as the film is a fun time capsule—all the more for being a Soviet production! *Title altered to piggyback onto the Marty McFly film! https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070233/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast
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Posted: |
Dec 5, 2020 - 11:02 AM
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By: |
Thomas
(Member)
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Baldwin, along with Kevin Costner, quickly went downhill after having shown so much GREAT potential early in his career. I still like both in certain roles, but I largely gave up on them decades ago. At the Cheers Zoom, Thomas of Norn Iron asked me why I’d gone off of Costner. Sorry for not answering then—I feel the weight of everyone else’s boredom easily. My simple answer would be: Look at the films he did after Dances with Wolves. Performances were still mostly good, but I won’t be murdering time to watch The Postman anytime soon; a friend of mine was obsessed with that film! You were probably right Jim, not much point us boring everyone else with that particular topic. I think he has made some decent movies since Dances With Wolves, I really like his Wyatt Earp though I know not many others do! I have a theory about The Postman that it is just far too long, and that if Costner had cut the runtime and his ego, there might have been a decent move there.
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Posted: |
Dec 5, 2020 - 2:43 PM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) ... 5-/10 Never say never ... I last watched this, #10 in the franchise, when I viewed all 22 films in sequence, prior to the release of Skyfall (2012) ... so, perhaps late 2011, early 2012. And at the time I told myself never again but years go by, I now have the collection on BluRay ... As a life-long JB007 fan I eagerly awaited this film in the summer of 1977 and was so disappointed with it that it went straight to the top of my list ... my least favourite and there it stayed until challenged by Quantum of Solace (2008) but I now think I prefer that later film. Of course, its place at the top of that list has since been taken by the last two films. Whilst Roger Moore is good to watch and, at this third outing, looks comfortable in the role almost everything else about the film is weak ~ poor with co-star Barbara Bach taking best acting honours ... as a manequin. A dreadful script, some nice but not outstanding locations (Sardinia looked nice), less than satisfactory special effects/sets*, weak acting from many of the cast (but still superior to that of Ms. Bach) and a score which is so weak that I find myself wishing they'd called upon Monty Norman. * yes, the tanker set was huge but .. so what. Apart from lots of extras running around firing guns, etc. it was of little use. Now I've seen it on BluRay I can say ... Never again Mitch
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* yes, the tanker set was huge but .. so what. Apart from lots of extras running around firing guns, etc. it was of little use. Not sure what you expect a set to do. The missile silo in a volcano in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE also did very little acting.
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Posted: |
Dec 5, 2020 - 3:08 PM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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Under Suspicion (1991) ... (8) 6/10 There's so much to like about this film that a rating of 6 is unfair and I'm tempted to go higher. Set at the turn of 1959/60 the period feel is excellent, the cast are superb (I don't think I've seen Liam Neeson more commanding of attention) and the story is a mystery to compare with the best of the film noirs of decades prior. A disgraced policeman, Tony, earns a living as a private detective specialising in faking evidence for divorce cases only to find himself caught up in a double murder ... one of the victims being his wife whom he uses to fake the evidence for his desperate clients. So far so good and it gets so much better with numerous twists as he seeks to keep ahead of the police. He is supported by his best friend, his former colleague, who risks his job, etc. to keep Tony from the hangman's noose, whilst he complicates matters by getting involved with the other victim's widow. A few red herrings keep things moving and even though the last act leading to that long drop is far too melodramatic it keeps the tension high ... this is a modern film and we can't expect everything to work out nicely. An usual role for Laura San Giacomo, shortly after Pretty Woman and Quigley Down Under, and a cast of many well-known British actors, with Kenneth Cranham having a major role and being perfect as the friend. A very good score by Christopher Gunning adds to the atmosphere though lacks a strong memorable theme. But ... as good as it is, there's a twist which ruins the story. I'd forgotten a lot of the film (I saw it on release) including one major character's involvement, but watched it this time knowing who the killer is ... and the story doesn't work. Hence the big reduction in rating - a great shame. Mitch
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THE MEDALLION 2003 Silly Jackie Chan action film - clearly for kids - made even sillier by the terrible Lee Evans (whos 1 man comedy has never transferred to movies). 1 line made me smile, the rest was cack. Shite music too. 3 out of 10. I saw Chan's Forbidden Kingdom 2008 the night before and that was much better. Jet Li too. Decently choereographed fights albeit too much wire work but was watchable and a 6 out of 10.
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Posted: |
Dec 6, 2020 - 10:50 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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SCHOOL TIES (1992) – 7/10 In 1955, Jewish teenager “David Greene” (Brendan Fraser) leaves his Scranton PA home and sets out for St. Matthew’s, an elite preparatory school in Cabot, Massachusetts, that has recruited the high school senior to play football. David believes that if he succeeds in his senior year at such a prestigious school, he is likely to get accepted into Harvard. Upon arrival at St. Matthew’s, however, David finds his WASPish classmates almost uniformly anti-Semitic. When David asks fellow student “Charlie Dillon” (Matt Damon) how he would know if someone were Jewish, and Charlie replies that it is “hard to miss a Hebe,” David decides to keep his Jewish heritage a secret. All goes well for a while, with David even managing to win over a beautiful blonde named “Sally Wheeler” (Amy Locane), a girl whom Charlie has known since childhood. But after David scores the winning touchdown in the game against bitter rival St. Luke’s, Charlie overhears a St. Luke’s alumnus joking that their football team would never accept David because he is a Jew. You can guess what happens next. Like CARBON COPY (see my post above of 12/3/20), SCHOOL TIES is about the prejudices of the upper classes. But where CARBON COPY seems very dated, this film does not, for two reasons. First, even in 1992, SCHOOL TIES was presented as a period drama and remains so today, whereas CARBON COPY was presented as a contemporary film. Second, it seems that anti-Semitism never dies, and can be found in all classes of people at all times, with the upper classes definitely still included. The film features a good young cast, with Fraser, Damon, and Chris O'Donnell as David’s roommate. There is excellent location shooting at various Massachusetts schools and other locales in the state. For this film, Maurice Jarre does a more orchestral riff on his 1989 DEAD POETS’ SOCIETY score. Big Screen Records released the music.
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Ill MET BY MOONLIGHT (Also known as Night Ambush) 1957 As ive mentioned, i do love a 50s b/w war film, and tonight i was helping commando Dirk Bogarde kidnap a German general on Crete and smuggle him across the island with the help of Andarte guerillas to be picked up by motor boat. It was cat and mouse over the Heraklion mountains with German search parties and it was touch and go at times, chaps, i can tell you. Marius Goring plays the general and Christopher Lee shows up as a German soldier asking Dirk for his "Ausweis" while he's in a dentist chair but Dirk has a sneaky pistol on him the whole time under the apron. Music was appropriately by Mikis Theodorakis although i wasnt aware he had done scores that far back. 7.4 out of 10.
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