Recent activity
All films
Recent reviews
More-
The Loved One 1965
A black comedy of the type that brought us Dr Strangelove the previous year, this 1965 film adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's book doesn't quite rise to the level of the Kubrick classic. Like me, you may have never heard of it. But a film by Tony Richardson with a British and American cast including Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters (two roles!), Robert Morley, James Coburn, John Gielgud, Roddy McDowell, Paul Williams, Rod Steiger and *Liberace*! Well, that at least deserves one…
-
The Grifters 1990
A gritty, noir film that seems older than it's 1990 date would have you believe. If you are familiar with the writing of Jim Thompson, this film will please you. Great screenplay by Donald Westlake. Very good performances by Huston and Bening, somewhat less so by Cusack. Might remind you of Blood Simple by the Coen brothers for the twists and turns.
-
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 2011
An amazingly bad film. The actors, especially Johnny Depp, mail in their performances and look thoroughly bored. This is a shame because I have always liked Johnny Depp films. The film cost $250 million, but grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes gave it 29%. I hope the "Pirates" franchise has set sail for the last time. We stopped watching half way through, which is very unusual for us, but we just couldn't be bothered to watch any more of it.
-
The Social Network 2010
A good film about modern society and how someone that doesn't seem to care about wealth or power uses it as sweet revenge. It is certainly hard to like Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook. It has been stated that the book and this screenplay play rough and fast with the truth. It was too long. I did not care for it as much as the critics. The $40 million budgeted movie grossed almost $97 million, so somebody certainly liked it.
