Saturday, 14 March 2020

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011 Stephen Daldry)

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Max Von Sydow died March 8, aged 90. A terrific actor, he helps fill the screen when Hanks is gone, giving a performance of warmth and intel...
Friday, 13 March 2020

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005 Shane Black & scr)

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A terrific screenplay (loosely based on the 1941 novel 'Bodies Are Where You Find Them' by Brett Halliday) delivered with some panac...

After the Thin Man (1936 W.S. Van Dyke)

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More of the same relationship fun from Goodrich & Hackett, thus the night scrambled egg scene. Plus the first of two films in the day wh...
Thursday, 12 March 2020

Home (2020 Writer Rufus Jones)

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Jones: "I went crazy earlier, took off all my clothes and waved a Yukka around my boss's office." Pendergast (son): "Wha...

Succession (2018 Creator Jesse Armstrong)

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A horrible family squabble and machinate over power (they may be based on the Murdochs?) They are Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong ( The Big Short, ...

The Thin Man (1934 W.S. Van Dyck)

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Husband-and wife writing team Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett were called in to write a screenplay from Dashiell Hammett's novel; wh...
Wednesday, 11 March 2020

Shadow of the Thin Man (1941 W.S. Van Dyke)

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Most entertaining fourth installment, written by Irving Brecher, and Harry Kurnitz, who contributed to an interesting batch of screenplays: ...
Sunday, 8 March 2020

Home Again (2017 Hallie Myers-Shyer & scr)

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Wasn't quite convinced by the trio of Nat Wolff, Pico Alexander and John Rudnitsky this time but the film is undeniably enjoyable. ...

Down With Love (2003 Peyton Reed)

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That opening duet - well we know Renée can sing, didn't realise Ewan MacGregor can too. Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake's screenplay o...

Two Weeks In Another Town (1962 Vincente Minnelli)

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Washed up actor Kirk Douglas arrives at Cinecitta, in Cinemascope and Metrocolor, at the invitation of Edward G. Robinson, who asks him to s...

Blow Up (1966 Michaelangelo Antonioni & co-scr)

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A determinedly sixties bunch loon around The Economist Plaza and St James' Street, where Rolls Royce convertible driving photographer Da...
Saturday, 7 March 2020

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001 Wes Anderson & co-scr)

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He and Owen Wilson wrote this story of a dysfunctional family coming back together. Gene Hackman is the manipulative head of household, with...

Shock Corridor (1963 Samuel Fuller & scr, prod)

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Like its sinister sister, The Naked Kiss , this is another febrile nightmare made in the same vivid style - if anything, it's even more ...

Holy Matrimony (1943 John M. Stahl)

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A slightly clunky story, from an Arnold Bennett novel, about an artist who - for unclear reasons - adopts the identity of his dead valet, le...

Cela S'Appelle L'Aurore (1956 Luis Bunuel & co-scr)

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Unexpectedly gripping and moving tragic drama, told completely straight, set in Corsica. Good (and married) doctor Georges Marchal falls for...
Friday, 6 March 2020

The Wild Life (1984 Art Linson)

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Photographed by James Glennon (yes, he is Bert's son). Eric Stoltz leaves home, rashly shares new flat with party animal Chris Penn; h...

The Naked Kiss (1964 Sam Fuller & scr, prod)

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An extraordinary opening - to good jazz, Constance Towers assaults a drunken man, who rips off her wig, revealing her to be bald - she beats...
Thursday, 5 March 2020

Temple (2019 Writer Mark O'Rowe)

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A tall story, an unlikely premise... but if you waive aside plausibility you find some nice black comic touches to bonkers tale, featuring t...

The Prestige (2006 Christopher Nolan & co-scr)

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Screenplay written by Chris and Jonathan Nolan from Christopher Priest's novel about the rivalry between two magicians in Victorian Lond...

Whirlpool (1949 Otto Preminger)

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Gene Tierney and David Raksin reunited from Laura, neither making as much impact. Gene's a kleptomaniac who is helped out by dodgy analy...