Thursday, June 15, 2017
First Lines: Jacques Cousteau - The Silent World
One morning June 1943 in Bandol on the French Riviera, I went to the train station and picked up a little box that arrived via express delivery from Paris.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Prometheus (2012)
A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe.
All the ingredients are there, and certainly this has been made by an intelligent craftsman and a great cast, but the plot doesn't add this all up and has too many open ends.
On renewed viewing: I still agree with my first assessment: the script is muddled, but the movie does deliver some of the goods.
Maltin ***: "Companion piece to Scott's ALIEN offers echos of that film in both good and not-so-good ways: it's thoughtful and intelligent, with two strong female characters, and masterfully crafted, but gives way to icky, gross-out moments...right up to the end. Fassbender is a standout as a sly, watchful robot who's one step ahead of everyone else."
Spaceballs (1987)
Planet Spaceballs' President Skroob sends Lord Dark Helmet to steal planet Druidia's abundant supply of air to replenish their own, and only Lone Starr can stop them.
Hit-and-miss sci-fi spoof is for the most time simply silly, the more successful sequences are the ones directly parodying popular sci-fi movie scenes.
Halliwell (no star): "Flabby spoof of Star Wars, without any funny ideas."
Maltin**1/2: "Likably silly parody of STAR WARS (years after the fact) is basically a collection of jokes, both verbal and visual. Enough of them are funny to make for pleasant, if not hilarious, fun. Surprisingly innocuous for Brooks and Co..."
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
First Lines: Freya Stark - The Valleys of the Assassins
In the wastes of civilization, Luristan is still an enchanted name.
The Fall (2006)
In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story of five mythical heroes.
Visually beautiful and mesmerizing the movie has an interesting premise, but somewhere along the line the tale loses its hold on one's interest, so that the ending is not as touching as it was intended.
Maltin**1/2: "Visual opus...is alternately whimsical and ponderous, but location filming in more than 20 countries provides a panorama of stunning locations for his [Tarsem Singh's] showy, often imaginatively staged sequences."
Manchester by the Sea (2016)
A depressed uncle is asked to take care of his teenage nephew after the boy's father dies.
Meticuluosly performed and produced slice-of-life drama, at times heart-wrenching, but also a bit drab, espacially as the plot keeps piling up the blows of fate.
Monday, June 12, 2017
New York
New York, 1908. Hudson Terminal Buildings at 30-50 Church Street showing cemetery and construction of elevated railway. Irving Underhill
First Lines: Alexander Mackenzie - Journal of the Voyage to the Pacific
The fur trade, from the earliest settlement of Canada, was considered of the first importance to that colony.
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