Saturday, May 7, 2016
First Lines: Steve Martin - Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
I did stand-up comedy for eighteen years.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)
Three decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, a new threat arises as the First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a ragtag group of heroes can stop them, along with the help of the Resistance.
Successful rejuvenation of the Star Wars saga marrying its original antics with a modern view and a great, likable cast of new young heroes.
Friday, May 6, 2016
Maid in Manhattan (2002)
A senatorial candidate falls for a hotel maid, thinking she is a socialite when he sees her trying on a wealthy woman's dress.
Despite a star cast and a well-versed director this attempt to recreate a classic sreball comedy is lacklustre and hardly ever manages to produce any excitement - or laughs.
Halliwell (no star): "Trite, sickly, Cinderella romance with a miscast Fiennes, who, like his co-star, shows little talent for comedy."
Maltin***: "...a frothy, old-fashioned Cinderella story...Formulaic to be sure, but Fiennes' charm and Lopez's believability as a hardworking make it an enjoyable romantic fantasy."
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
First Lines: Katharine Hepburn - Me. Stories of My Life
I have a freind who keeps asking me why I am writing this book.
The Exorcist (1973)
When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.
It's effective as a horror movie (although it takes an hour to build up the thrills) and counts as a classic of the genre, but the idea is still as silly as it was in the 70s; unfortunately, it inspired a whole series of likewise irrational movies loosely based on Christian themes.
Halliwell*: "Spectacularly ludicrous mishmash with unconfortable attention to physical detail and no talent for narrative or verisimilitude. Its sensational aspects, together with a sudden worldwide need for the supernatural, assured its enormous commercial success."
Maltin***1/2: "Intense, well-mounted adaptation of William Peter Blatty's best-seller, calculated to keep your stomach in knots from start to finish."
La malédiction d'Edgar (2013)
The FBI director's battle to retain power from the Kennedy clan.
Successfully informative and entertaining docudrama that centers its historic view on the complex relationship between J. Edgar Hoover and the Kennedy family.
Welcome to New York (2014)
A powerful French politician goes on trial for sexually assaulting a chambermaid in his Manhattan hotel room.
A sulphurous and unshrouded attack at the French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn irrespective of good taste; the movie is quite effective in what it wants to achieve.
