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Posted: |
May 21, 2024 - 2:57 PM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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That's Entertainment! (1974) ... 6/10
I bought the DVD triple pack for my mother more than 15 years ago and have been intending to watch the films for many years ... so, finally, #1. It's a strange film to review because it is simply a compilation of numerous sequences from MGM musicals ... it's unlikely the viewer will like all the clips, be it the singing, dancing or production.
And, yes, for me there were more than a few sequences which did not make me think I'd like to see the films from which they had been taken. Also, he's never been one of my screen favourites but he gets a significant amount of screen time: Gene Kelly.
Most of the sequences are shown in excellent picture and sound, no faults there ... but what lets it down for me are the linking clips of a range of stars talking about the films, lauding praise on their fellow stars. It soon becomes too syrupy-sweet. The talented music writers - composers, lyricists, arrangers, orchestrators, conductors - are finally mentioned in end title lists. I think their contributions should have been more prominent.
Whilst most of the music heard is that from the original productions, there is new music arranged/scored by Henry Mancini in his typical style.
How long before I try #2?
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Posted: |
May 22, 2024 - 1:32 PM
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By: |
MusicMad
(Member)
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Fury (2014) ... 5-/10
Great, realistic (at least, to my eye) battle sequences fill out the standard oft-told story of the seasoned guy teaching the young recruit and in so doing learning something about himself. The plot could have been written in ten minutes so the film needed the action and a whole lot of characterisation. In this it was lacking, not helped by almost indecipherable dialogue ... the only words I could hear clearly were the four-letter ones (again: a simple script ... copy line after line) - these rarely included fury.
The ending bloodbath sequence is simply stupid and robs the film of one mark.
Brad Pitt and a couple of other faces I recognised (my fault, watching so few new films), otherwise a cast of unknowns but then most of the support cast were there to be shot, blown-up or otherwise killed.
I listened for the score which was mostly very low key but when it was more prominent, such as towards the end, it was okay, very much in the modern style. I've known the name of composer Steven Price but think I've seen only one other film scored by him (Heart of Stone (2023)).
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Posted: |
May 23, 2024 - 7:40 AM
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By: |
eriknelson
(Member)
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That's Entertainment! (1974) ... 6/10
I bought the DVD triple pack for my mother more than 15 years ago and have been intending to watch the films for many years ... so, finally, #1. It's a strange film to review because it is simply a compilation of numerous sequences from MGM musicals ... it's unlikely the viewer will like all the clips, be it the singing, dancing or production.
And, yes, for me there were more than a few sequences which did not make me think I'd like to see the films from which they had been taken. Also, he's never been one of my screen favourites but he gets a significant amount of screen time: Gene Kelly.
Most of the sequences are shown in excellent picture and sound, no faults there ... but what lets it down for me are the linking clips of a range of stars talking about the films, lauding praise on their fellow stars. It soon becomes too syrupy-sweet. The talented music writers - composers, lyricists, arrangers, orchestrators, conductors - are finally mentioned in end title lists. I think their contributions should have been more prominent.
Whilst most of the music heard is that from the original productions, there is new music arranged/scored by Henry Mancini in his typical style.
How long before I try #2?
THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! was an immense hit and was produced in part to take advantage of the nostalgia fad at the time. 1974 was 20 years before movie channels like TCM were launched, so these musicals were largely unknown by audiences at the time. I saw it during its first run at the sadly departed Cooper theatre in Denver with its 100 ft screen. It became apparent that many of those musicals would be too costly to produce today. MGM's production capabilities during the Golden Age were amazing. That alone makes the film worth watching.
I remember when exiting the theatre a little girl behind me asked her mother "Why don't they make movies like that anymore?"
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The Devil's Messenger(1962) 2/10
With Lon Chaney
I haven't watched a film in a while and I picked this crap.
Three limp tales held together by Lon playing Satan. He looks like he enjoyed himself I what little he did - sending a woman back topside to bring deserving souls below. And yet you don't see her ( or did I miss it) up above. Most of the cast were so wooden that I expected the doors to start talking. Pooh. Still better than some star wars and marvel though.
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The Duchess (2008) ... 4/10
A wonderful score by Rachel Portman.
Otherwise: sickening.
Do tell…
I looked at the Parents Guide at the imdb and couldn't see anything that would offend the vicar. "Wine is drunk with most meals." Sounds like a recommendation!
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Furiosa - A Mad Max Saga - (2024) 9/10
As the world fell, a young Furiosa is snatched from that Green Place and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance begins, Furiosa who is now grown up must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home. Gloriously epic, beautifully photographed, exciting action, like Fury Road this score is rad, great cast!
I need say no more! Furiastic Excellence!
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KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2024) – 8/10
This film is a sequel that takes place about 300 years after the events depicted in 2017’s WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, which ended with the death of the ape “Caesar.” The new film follows “Noa” (Owen Teague), a young chimpanzee from a falconry-practicing clan, who sees his father killed and his mother “Dar” (Sara Wiseman) and girlfriend “Soona” (Lydia Peckham) abducted by a group of ape raiders, serving their self-proclaimed king, “Proximus Caesar” (Kevin Durand). On the way to the raider’s village, Noa is joined by “Raka” (Peter Macon), a wise and virtuous Bornean orangutan, and by a human who is later revealed to be “Mae” (Freya Allan). Initially, Noa and Raka name the supposedly mute woman “Nova,” a reference to the character of the same name from WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES. KINGDOM says that “Nova” has since become an ape name for trusted humans. The name is also a reference to the original 1968 film.
We get involved with the journey of Noa, Raka, and Mae to the ape village, and things really pick up when we finally meet the smart and dynamic Proximus Caesar. His seaside village is built around an old human vault, embedded into a mountainside, which Caesar desperately wants to crack. He’s aided in this by “Trevathan” (William H. Macy), an opportunistic human who styles himself as Proximus Caesar's chief advisor and teaches him human history.
It's good that this film is not another reboot of the series, and instead continues the storyline from the last film. Seven years between series entries is a long time, but this film can stand on its own without a detailed knowledge of the prior three films in the current cycle.
As with most series films, this one suffers from “sequel bloat,” in which each succeeding film is longer than the one before it. RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2011) ran a crisp 105 minutes, DAWN (2014) ran 130 minutes, WAR ran 140 minutes, and now KINGDOM clocks in at 145 minutes, a full 40 minutes longer than the first film. The film drags in a few spots, and the not-unseen-before special effects do little to take up the slack.
Still, the film has good performances, particularly by Durand, and the script has a few surprises, setting us up for the next entry. John Paesano’s score, recorded in Australia, is a good one, with echoes of Goldsmith’s original in some of its orchestrations and tonalities. The $160 million production has been a reasonable success, grossing $337 million to date. But it still has a way to go to reach the box office returns of the first three entries.
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Posted: |
Jun 4, 2024 - 10:33 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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IF (2024) – 7/10
Twelve-year-old “Bea” (Cailey Fleming) moves into her grandmother’s apartment in New York while her father (John Krasinski) waits for heart surgery in the same hospital where her mother died of cancer years earlier. She chafes against his playful antics, insisting she can handle the situation with maturity. One night, Bea goes out to buy a charger for her mother's old camcorder and sees an unfamiliar creature, following it back to her grandmother's building. The next day, she sees the creature again, accompanied by a man. Bea follows them to a nearby house where the man, “Cal” (Ryan Reynolds), meets a large furry creature named Blue. She also meets the first creature, a butterfly-like being named Blossom, and faints. She awakens in Cal's apartment, where she learns that he has been working with imaginary friends, nicknamed IFs, to place them with new children as their original children have grown up and forgotten them. Initially reluctant, Bea eventually decides to help Cal.
IF is a cute enough film, although it’s neither as funny nor as touching as it wants to be. The fact that the basic plot seems like a TOY STORY derivative—about how toys feel when their children grow up and move on from playing with toys—doesn’t help.
Most of the humor and emotion in the film comes from Michael Giacchino’s insistent score. The score occasionally overpowers what’s on screen, but by and large it’s one of the best scores for pure listening that I’ve heard in a film for a long time.
Director John Krasinski was able to corral nearly 20 top stars to lend their voices to the various imaginary friends, many of whom have only “walk on” parts. The late Louis Gossett, Jr., however, has a major role as “Lewis,” an elderly teddy bear who runs the Memory Lane Retirement Home, a retirement community for IFs housed underneath a ride in Coney Island. The picture is dedicated to his memory.
The $110 million production had already been released in most of the world before its 17 May opening in the U.S., so its worldwide gross of $138 million to date has to be seen as a disappointment.
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Posted: |
Jun 5, 2024 - 11:23 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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RIO LOBO (1970) – 7/10
Although he holds no ill-will towards two Confederates against whom he fought ("Capt. Pierre Cordona” (Jorge Rivero) and “Tuscarora” (Chris Mitchum)), after the Civil War, “Col. Cord McNally” (John Wayne) searches for the two Union traitors whose treachery caused the loss of a close friend. McNally learns from Tuscarora that the traitors have taken over the town of Rio Lobo. When McNally rides into town, he finds out that town boss “Ketcham” (Victor French) and “Sheriff Tom Hendricks” (Mike Henry) have confiscated land from the people.
Howard Hawks directed this film, his last. It was his fifth collaboration with Wayne. Like most of Hawks’ films, the picture celebrates friendship and professionalism. And like most of Wayne’s films from TRUE GRIT (1969) on, it plays off Wayne’s advancing age. The picture is “comfortable,” an appellation applied to Wayne by “Shasta” (Jennifer O’Neill), a young woman whose medicine show partner has been murdered by a sheriff's deputy from Rio Lobo.
If RIO LOBO had not been so derivative of Hawks’ own RIO BRAVO (1959) and EL DORADO (1967), and had it not been released in an era when standard westerns were quickly giving way to revisionist ones, the film would have been better received. But looking back from 50 years on, we can appreciate it as being completely in the Hawks tradition.
Jerry Goldsmith's score was last released by La-La Land in 2012. The $5 million production finished just out of the top 30 films of the year, with a $12.9 million gross.
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