Saturday, April 30, 2016
Obsession (1976)
A wealthy New Orleans businessman becomes obsessed with a young woman who resembles his deceased wife.
Masterful exercise in Hitchcock style clearly referencing Vertigo; atmosphere and tension are well are finely recreated, and the plot has some slight twists without being too complex.
Halliwell*: "Hitchcockian adventure with a few unwise attempts at seriousness, a la Don't Look Now. Generally entertaining, skilled and quite rewarding."
Maltin**1/2: "Viwers who don't remember VERTIGO might enjoy this rehash...Holds up until denouement."
Friday, April 29, 2016
The Jungle Book (2016)
The man-cub Mowgli flees the jungle after a threat from the tiger Shere Khan and, guided by Bagheera the panther and the bear Baloo, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery, though he also meets creatures who don't have his best interests at heart.
Highly entertaining updated version of Kipling's classic, mixing excellent CGI animation with a real (good) actor playing Mowgli, resulting in more realistic and in parts dark and upsetting sequences for a child audience.
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.
The classic Victorian detective downgraded to contemporary cinema blockbuster standards; the sets are quite spectacular, though.
On second view: I still stay with my initial evaluation and must add the movie is quite boring despite all the spectacle.
On renewed viewing: still not thrilled about it, bit it's watchable.
Maltin**: "Murky, noisy, overproduced claptrap ...Annoying in the extreme - and unintelligible at times - the film gets better in the second half as an actual story emerges, but the overuse of Ritchie-branded editing and CGI effects is deadening."
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