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Chernobyl (2019)
An excellent television miniseries including historical drama, great performances and documentary precision.
The miniseries draws heavily on local memories of Pripyat, told by Nobel Prize winner Belarusian Svetlana Aleksievich in her book Voices from Chernobyl. Chernobyl dramatizes the story of the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster that occurred in April 1986 in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Soviet Union), telling the stories of the people who caused the disaster and those who responded to it. This is the story of that event, when the reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded and caught fire with subsequent terrible consequences, and how the true reasons for the incident were covered up and how one man fought to reveal them. Thus on April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, near Pripyat, Ukraine, experienced a malfunction that caused the core of reactor 4 to explode. This miniseries follows Valery Legasov (Jared Harris), the first-grade scientist who works to control the disaster, Boris Shcherbina (Stellan Skarsgård), a Soviet politician who represents the interests of the Soviet government during the disaster, and Ulana Khomyuk (Emily Watson), a nuclear physicist who works to discover the truth about what really happened in Chernobyl. This series addresses the problems that arise when the truth is ignored and hidden from the public. The worst nuclear crisis in human history: it changed the course of the Soviet Union and led to the inevitable fall of communism in Europe. This is the story of what happened on the front lines of the chaos, the cover-ups behind closed doors, and the civilians held prisoner by the circumstances of Earth's largest nuclear disaster. What is the cost of lies?
Chernobyl was magnificently created by Craig Mazin and competently directed by Johan Renck. The 5-episode series revolves around the April 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the unprecedented cleanup efforts that followed. The series deals with interesting themes such as personal sacrifice, the fight for truth, and the consequences of deception and state corruption. It has a great cast led by Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard and Emily Watson and other more supporting ones such as Paul Ritter, Robert Emms, Sam Troughton, Nagaitis, Donald Sumpter, Ralph Ineson and David Dencik as the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev. Chernobyl is a co-production between the HBO channels in the United States and Sky in the United Kingdom, it premiered in the United States on May 6, 2019 and in the United Kingdom the next day and the broadcast of the five-episode miniseries was a big hit. Deservedly achieved overwhelming successes from specialized critics and the public. At the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards it received nineteen nominations and won for Best Miniseries, Best Direction and Best Writing, while Harris, Skarsgård and Watson received nominations for their performances.
The miniseries also depicts some of the lesser-known stories of the disaster, including the efforts of firefighters who first arrived on the scene, volunteers, and teams of miners tasked with digging a critical tunnel beneath reactor 4. It perfectly tells the stories of the people who caused the disaster and those who responded to it. The miniseries deals with the subsequent trial of the three main workers accused of the disaster. This could have been due to the inexperience of some of the workers as well as the poor quality of the materials supplied by the Soviet government. With which there is finally a clear accusation of the ruling establishment and of course the KGB for their odious, undercover activities and illegal practices.
Martín (Hache) (1997)
A character studio of four people who present themselves as prisoners of their own actions.
19-year-old, Argentina-born Martin (Juan Diego Botto), nicknamed H, has a nearly fatal drug overdose. After that his mother sends him to Madrid, where his film director father (Federico Luppi), also called Martin, lives with his new much younger lover Alicia (Cecilia Roth) and bisexual actor friend Dante (Eusebio Poncela). Since no one knows for sure whether the incident was an accident or an attempted suicide, and since there is no place for Hache in his mother's life anyway, his father takes him to Madrid. The two try to bridge the obvious difficulties between father and son, and above all to fill Hache's life with new courage and cheerfulness.
The quartet of the great actors are wonderful: Juan Diego Botto as Hache, as those who know him call him, he is a young man who, after an almost fatal encounter, comes to Madrid to live with his father, stunningly played by Federico Luppi as a film director who has been in Spain for many years and who left Buenos Aires when he separated from his mother and does not want to return to his previous life or his country. His life is stable and without commitments with his lover Alicia, nicely acted by Cecilia Roth, and his best friend, the actor Dante, a splendid Eusebio Poncela. But his coexistence with his 19-year-old son will force him to face the problems that he had hidden behind a barrier of years. The film makes an introspective study of four characters, although throughout it we may seem somewhat pedantic, people who always have the word on point, philosophizing and giving opinions on everything and all around; however, finally we realize keep in mind that they are all imperfect people with their vital defects and failures in their actions. In such a way that as the film progresses it improves noticeably until reaching a sensitive and intelligent ending.
In "Martín (Hache)", the experienced filmmaker Adolfo Aristarain weaves a film whose plot unfolds above all through intelligently conducted, thought-provoking isssues and profound dialogues. The story focuses on the four protagonists, whose characterization becomes clearer and deeper as the plot progresses. Despite half-hearted attempts to break out of their current lives, they always return to the starting point remorseful. It is thanks to the outstanding acting performance of the actors that boredom does not arise at any moment. On the contrary, the dialogues captivate and fuel the tension until the decisive and unsettling finale. Many feelings are only hinted at, thus giving free rein to the audience's ability to interpret. "Martín (Hache)" has received numerous awards at international festivals, including the 1998 Goya Award for Best Female Actress for the terrific Cecilia Roth.
The motion picture was competently directed by Adolfo Aristaráin, At the same time, the director does not make the mistake of trying to describe everything down to the smallest detail in words. Adolfo has extensive experience as assistant director to Mario Camus, Sergio Leone, Lewis Gilbert and Melvin Frank, debuting as a director in ¨The Lion's Share¨ (1978) but that was a failure that led him to direct two bad films to survive: ¨The Beach of Love (1970)¨ and ¨ The nightclub of love¨. He returns to the detective genre with the attractive ¨Tiempo de revancha (1980) ¨and ¨Los ultimos Días De la Victima (1982) ¨giving a sordid portrait of Argentina during the military dictatorship. Later he made the TV series: ¨The Adventures of Pepe Carvalho¨ in Spain about the notorious detective written by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. He then films in English in co-production with USA three police irregulars: Deadly¨. The Stranfäger¨, and ¨Past Perfect¨. His best and most personal work is "A Place in the World" (1992), a heartfelt love story seen through the political prism with which he wins the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Festival. Later, he makes the irregular "La Ley de la Frontera¨ (1995), where he defends the cinema of love and adventure and the much more personal Martin (Hache) in which he narrates the tense relationships between a film director, his lover, his son and an actor. Rating: 6.5/10. Better than average.
Ji xian feng (2020)
This thrilling Chan movie is crammed of action-packed, overwhelming stunt-work and lots of special effects.
This action movie achieved success in China , but not outside of Asian countries. Concerns Guoli (Jackson Lou), a Chinese accountant based in Great Britain, he has been forcibly contracted by Maasym, leader of the terrorist organization Brothers of Vengeance, to finance his projects like selling oil or historical artifacts. Maasym wanted Qin to help him buy weapons of mass destruction). After Qin had tipped off Scotland Yard, Maasym was killed in a military operation by US forces, but his son Omar (Eyad Hourani) has survived and now wants to get his hands on his father's money, whose whereabouts are solely known to Qin. Omar has hired the mercenary gang Arctic Wolves, who kidnap Qin and his new wife Meiwei during London Chinatown's Chinese New Year festival. Vanguard, an international security company that carries out protection beyond frontiers is assigned to protect Qin, sends agents Zhang Kaixuan (Ai Lun), Lei Zhenyu (Yang Yang) and Mi Ya (Miya Muqi) to rescue him. After the operation's successful conclusion, Qin asks Vanguard's director Tang Huanting (Jackie Chan). Then Tang faces the most dangerous and feared gang on the planet to protect the daughter Fareeda (Xu Ruohan), who is currently in Africa. Protection beyond frontiers !.
Explosions, martial arts, noisy action ,shootouts, excessive and not perfect digital effects; everything is part of this typical Jackie Chan film. Dealing with the organization Vanguard, a Covert security company, it is the last hope of survival for an accountant after he is targeted by the world's deadliest mercenary organization. Written, produced and directed by Stanley Tong, this marks the sixth collaboration between Tong and the Asian star, who had previously worked in successful films such as Myth (2005) and Kuníg Fu yoga (2017), which cemented the fame of the most well-known Asian actor.
On this occasion, the king of oriental action cinema plays Tang, a security expert behind the murderous gang dubbed the Arctic Wolves. Jackie Chan is top notch as one army man fighting a group of heinous villains and as always he makes his own stunts. Chan is a hard-working actor and director throughout his long and varied career . However , Jackie Chan's failed at Box-office in his American debut ,¨Battle creek brawl¨ . Chan usually pays overt homage to two of his greatest influences as Charles Chaplin and Harold Lloyd . He went on playing ¨Cannoball¨ , ¨The protector¨ and "Rumble in the Bronx", until getting all American success with ¨Shangai Knights¨ , ¨The tuxedo¨ , ¨Around the world in 80 days¨ and ¨Rush hour¨ trilogy , and the recent ¨Karate kid¨. Of course , his biggest hits were ¨The Police story¨ series that won the Golden Horse Award, a Chinese version of the Oscar , the first was titled ¨Police story (1985)¨ directed by the same Chan , it was a perfect action film for enthusiastic of the genre ; the following was ¨Police story 2 (1988)¨ also pretty violent and with abundant humor touches . It's followed by ¨Supercop¨ or ¨Police story 3¨ and finally , ¨Police story IV : Crime story¨ . The picture was average but professionally directed by Stanley Tong and helped by Jackie Chan. Rating : Acceptable and passable , the picture has its spectacular moments here and there. It's a perfect action film for enthusiasts of the genre and especially for Jackie fans . Rating: 4.5/10.
La scimitarra del saraceno (1959)
Mediocre Italian adventure with intrepid pirates and exotic scenarios.
This is an entertaining swashbuckling, full of action, naval battles, desert fights, thrills , romance, and of course , a lot of sword-play. Bianca (Graciella Granata) , the beautiful daughter of Rhodes military governor, travels in the San Luca from the Venice Republic to her home in Rhodes, and without her knowledge, the ship also brings secret orders for her father to attack the Mediterranean ports dominated by the Sultan Selim. Roberto Diego (Massimo Serato) is going in the trial by spent a night with a married woman. When a ship carrying the daughter of Rhodes' governor and secret documents is captured by Mediterranean pirate Dragut (Lex Barker) , the governor tasks captain Diego with their recovery before they can be sold to Sultan Selim. The sad knews reach the Governor of Rhodes when he was expelling Diego, and free the girl. Without alternatives, the Governor accepts, and Diego enlists as a pirate under the service of Dragut. In his devious mind, once he gets his hands on the plans, he will sell them for good price to Suliman, whom he knows to pay in gold, rather than a polite thank you, as the Governor would do. After a number of adventures, escaping the wooing of beautiful and mean Arab Princess Miriam (Chelo Alonso) who falls for Diego, they are captured. He Took By Force... what he could have had for love!
The film is a nice pirate-adventure movie , being produced in limited budget. The picture contains rousing action, romantic adventure , mayhem and a fine cast doing a fine job. Lex Barker is cool as Dragut, the terrific Mediterranean pirate hero who attacks and conquers the Sun Luca and encounters dangerous situations along the way. This is one of Lex Barker's many Italian adventures, after his exile from the United States to Europe where he starred in all kinds of genres, excelling in Westerns such as the Karl May films: The highbrow Lex Barker played the most part of series : ¨Apache gold (1963)¨ by Harald Reinl , ¨Apaches last Battle (1964)¨ by Hugo Fregonese, ¨Last of renegades (1964)¨, ¨The desperate trail¨, ¨Old Surehand¨ (1965) directed by Alfred Vohrer, ¨Old Shatterland(1966)¨ by Harald Philipp , ¨In the valley of death (1968)¨ by Harald Reinl . And being the starring of adventure films, such as: ¨Robin Hood and the Pirates¨, ¨The Secret of the Blue Men¨, ¨The Executioner of Venice¨, ¨Tales of the Vikings¨, ¨El capitán Fuego¨, ¨La scimitarra del saraceno¨, ¨Il figlio del corsaro rosso¨. Barker married 5 times, his fifth wife, Carmen Cervera, (who later married Baron Tyssen), a former Miss Spain. Barker was very known for his role as Tarzan, normally quite hairy-chested, Barker was forced to submit to a full body wax in order to play the buffed version of Tarzan demanded by the producers. This entertaining adventure film has Lex Barker as its absolute protagonist. However, the real protagonist turns out to be Massimo Serato, since the latter spends more time on the screen, he plays an unscrupulous captain, who immediately offers his services to retake the ship, to recover his daughter and the message in exchange of his release. This classic story of romantic adventure come to life enriched by Technicolor cinematography in charge of cameraman Augusto Tiezzi adapted magnificently to screen .Therea are battle ships and sword-play and full of villainy , romance , swashbuckler, heroism and a decisive sword duel to the death. Usual dancing scenes in charge of a gorgeous and always erotic Chelo Alonso. And accompanying some secondaries usuals in B-Italian films , such as: Daniele Vargas, Gianni Rizzo, Luigi Tosi, Michele Malaspina and Graziella Granata's film debut.
The motion picture was middlingly but professionally directed by Piero Pierotti . He was an artisan who wrote and directed a lot of adventure movies , Peplum and Historical films , such as : The Black Archer ,Marco Polo , Fury of the Vikings , Rome versus Rome , Pedro El Cruel, Hercules against Corsaire Noir , Hercules versus Rome, Robin Hood , Maciste in Hell , Hercules and the Masked Rider .
The Mask (1994)
Entertaining and funny fantasy/comedy film with cartoonist roles based on Tex Avery animation.
This is a special effects-driven comedy based on Dark Horse comic books series. It deals with a bank employee , Jim Carrey, who becomes involved with a beautiful singer, Cameron Díaz, and a group of thieves led by Peter Greene. Things go wrong, when Carrey finds a fantastic mask with supernatural powers. This mask provides godlike faculties, that's why the baddies willing to get it at whatever cost.
This is a rip-roaring and fun action fantasy movie that got smash hit at the boxoffice. It packs exaggerated humor, frantic action, excessive jokes, and hilarious set pieces with nice moments here and there . Pitched at hectic pace, lots of cartoonist FX , Tex Avery-alike, and with ominous camera angles to create genuine area de aprehension. The movie is studded with fun scenes but also some embarrassing and overblown frames. The film results to be a stunning vehicle for the great comical Jim Carrey at his best period, his rubber faces are an incredible asset , magnified by the breathtaking special effects, courtesy of Industrial Light Magic. And Cameron Díaz is very likeable and more beautiful than ever. And accompanied by a good secondary cast, such as : Peter Riegert, Peter Greene, Amy Yasbeck, Richard Jeni, Johnny Williams, among others.
It contains a colorful and brilliant cinematography by John R Leonetti . Likewise, a lively and catching musical score by Randy Edelman . The motion picture was well directed by Chuck Russell, providing a megablast of mayhem with occassional original touches, even if whole central setup fails to convince at all. Chuck is a notorios producer, writer and director, an expert on action, terror and violent films that has directed the following: his first big hit: The Blob, Nightmare on Elm Street 3 , The Scorpion King, Eraser, Junglee, I am wrath, Paradise City. Russell is co-creator of Darabont-Fried-Russell Productions and he has only made a comedy film: The Mask (1994). Followed by an inferior and failed sequel: Son of the Mask 2005 by Laurence Guterman with Jamie Kennedy, Alan Cumming, Bob Hoskins.
CHIPS (2017)
Below average and silly film adaptation of a popular 1970s TV series.
"CHiPs," which stood for California Highway Patrol, follows the daily beats of two state motorcycle patrolmen as they patrolled the freeway system in and around Los Angeles. At the beginning, at the training center for the California Highway Patrol, an older rookie motorcycle officer named Jon Baker (Dax Shepard) is being allowed to graduate on a probationary basis. He is a former freestyle motocross racer beginning a new career after his body has been left damaged by his sport. The FBI agent, now undercover as Frank (Ponch) Poncherello (Michael Peña), is sent to the CHP after an armored car robbery, which makes it apparent that there are corrupt cops working in the department. Both report to their superiors, who gave out assignments and advice in handling the cases. The corrupt officers are seen being led by Lt. Ray Kurtz (Vincent D'Onofrio), who is stealing the money from armored cars to get his heroin-addicted son out of Los Angeles.
This comic-book stuff dealing with the adventures of two California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers contains humor, irony, suspense, thrills, noisy action-packed, crossfire and lots of violence with multiple deaths. There are compilation of incidents, ranging from the humorous to criminal investigations such as robbery, tragic incidents and chases. A stupid adaptation without much sense in which there is continuous action, bad words, foul-mouthed characters and some motorcycle pursuits. It is an inferior film without much sense that disgraced the classic television series of the seventies by introducing continuous sexual references, profanity, swearing and nudism. While in the classic series starring Erik Strada and Larry Ward, a pleasant relationship is developed between the two protagonists, in this case CHIPS(2017) the relationship is limited to bad taste, jokes, coarseness and sleazeness. Here officer Jon Baker/Dax Sheppard is the straight, serious officer, an inexperienced rookie who's teamed up with a hardened pro at the California Highway Patrol, and Frank "Ponch" Poncherello/Michael Peña is the more free- wheeling member of the duo and often provided the lighter moments. Dax Shepard did most of his own stunts, including the stoppie during the training test. There are many familiar faces in the supporting cast giving functional performances, such as: Vincent D'Onofrio, Rosa Salazar, Kristen Bell, Jessica McNamee, Adam Brody, Isiah Whitlock Jr. Richard T. Jones, Justin Chatwill, Jane Kaczmarek, Ed Begley Jr., David Koechner, among others
The motion picture was lousily acted/produced and directed by Dax Shepard. Screenwriter and star Dax Shepard specifically wrote the role of his wife Karen for his real-life wife, and mother of his two daughters, Kristen Bell. He previously made a made TV films and movies, such as: About a Boy, Parenthood, Hit and run and Brother's Justice. And played a lot of films , such as: Zathura: A Space Adventure, Employee of the month, Cheaper by the docen, Without a Paddle; Sledge: the untold story, among others. Rating: 3.5/10.
Cleopatra (1934)
A spectacular and sumptuous show in Cecil DeMille peculiar style.
Cleopatra 1934 by Cecil B. DeMille boasts a great cast with Claudette Colbert, Henry Wilconson, Warren William, C Aubrey Smith. A hockey and extravagant retelling of the infamous Queen who becomes infatuated with Caesar and Marc Anthony. The film is one of Cecil B. DeMille's most lavish productions, where he once again demonstrates, as he had already done in 'The 10 Commandments' and 'Kings of Kings' , his great sense of spectacle, his ability for mass scenes and his sense of the rhythm. Set 44 BC later Julius Caesar (Warren William) is murdered by Brutus and Casius , governing the second triumvirate formed by Lepido who runs Africa, Octavius Augustus ruling over Hispania and Marc Anthony over Egypt and Orient. Then the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra (Claudette Colbert), wants to rule Egypt by defeating her brother Ptolomeo and sister Arsinoe but she needs the power of Rome to make things happen , as well as continue the sucession on her child Cesarion, the out-of-wedlock son of Cleopatra and Caesar. When Caesar's possible successor Marc Anthony (Henry Wilconson), one of the highest ranking Roman generals, comes to Egypt along with his army, she seduces the conqueror in order to gain the kingdom again. Cleopatra transfers her affections to Marc Antony and dazzles him on a barge, but things do not turn out as well. As there starts a tragic love story with fateful consequences. And finally they fight in Actium against Octavius Augustus (Ian Keith).
High budget trashy version of the famous Queen of Egypt and Roman lovers, as her lust for Marc Anthony after Caesar's death. Although the best-known version of the story was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz , DeMille's version, which over the years, benefits from the prominence of the French-born hollywood star Claudette Colbert, one of the great female stars of the 1930s and 1940s, thanks to films like ¨Cecil B DeMille's The sign of the cross¨ and ¨Frank Capra's It Happened One Night¨. A glamorous spectacle, especially the scenes aboard Cleopatra's barge, dwarfs everything else, which has the considerable advantage of being less than half the length of the overlong Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton/Rex Harrison epic of almost 30 years later.
This known history about the famous Queen , the popular Egypt temptress's who pins her hopes on rash Marc Anthony results to be an extravaganza in huge budget. It is a multifaceted sleeping tablet with historical characters giving plain and simple recreation . It contains abundant matte painting, carton/stone settings, well-staged battles, some opulent grotesque interiors and a few actors hopelessly wooden and full of Cecil B. DeMillean splendor.
This big budget motion picture was competently directed by Cecil B DeMille following his particular style. The film was Acade Award nominated for best picture. DeMille was a great professional who made various epic , historical and Colossal films, such as : "The Ten Commandments 1923" , "King of Kings" , "Cleopatra" , "The Plainsman" ," The Crusades" , "Union Pacific" , "Uncomquered" , "Samson and Dalilah" and "The Ten Commandments version 1956" . Rating 6.5/10 . Above average.
Others films concerning this historic figure Cleopatra are as follows : Silent version starred by Theda Bara. Serpent of the Nile (1953) by William Castle with Rhonda Fleming, William Lundigan, Raymond Burr. Two nights with Cleopatra 1954 by Mario Mattioli with Sofia Loren, Alberto Sordi, Paul Muller. Cleopatra's legion 1959 by Vittorio Cottafavi with Linda Cristal, Ettore Manni, Georges Marchal, Conrado San Martin. A Queen for Caesar 1962 by Piero Pierotti with Pascale Petit, George Ardisson, Akin Tamiroff, Gordon Scott, Corrado Pani . Cleopatra 1963 by Joseph L Mankiewicz with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Martin Landau, Roddy McDowall, Hume Cronyn, Andrew Keir. Cleopatra miniseries 1999 by Franc Roddan with Leonor Varela, Timothy Dalton, Billy Zane, Patrick Stewart.
Dead of Night (1945)
Early 'anthology movie¨with astonishing performances of the greatest British actors at the time.
Mysterious and intriguing 'omnibus' film, blending various horror tales providing entertainment enough. Architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) is summoned down to a house called Pilgrim's Farm by a prospective client whom he does not know. On arrival, he experiences strongly the feeling that he has been to the place before. He is taken into the house and introduced by his host to a group of people. He is welcomed by the owner, Eliot Foley (Roland Culver). Foley introduces him to psychiatrist Dr. Van Straaten (Frederick Valk), his friend Joan Cortland (Googie Withers), his young neighbor Sally O'Hara (Sally Ann Howes), among others. These also are familiar, though none of them appear to know him. After somewhat constrained greetings, he tells them that he has met them all, and the house, and the situation is a recurring dream. Craig tells he has a sensation of déjà vu, he explains how this dream always starts quietly and pleasantly, at the present moment, but after a certain small incident invariably starts to darken into a ghastly nightmare, culminating in horror. There are several histories: an undertaker (Miles Malleson) may have saved his life, young Sally (Sally Ann Howes) may have encountered a sad young ghost and Mrs. Courtland (Googie Withers) buys an antique mirror, in it , her husband, but only her husband, could see a room from the previous century. Even greater than "Seventh Veil"!. The unexpected Unexpected, The Tragic, The Comic, The Romantic, The Dramatic.....Like Nothing!. In This World You've Ever Thrilled To Before !.
A classic terror film financed by Ealing Studios with a great British cast and formed by several segments full of creepy events , chills, thrills, suspense and surprises. A must for chiller addicts and still revered as one of the biggest pieces of ghost-story telling ever to come from the British cinema. The film goes back to the original group for an ending that has influenced several antology movies since, specially from the Brit companies: 'Hammer', 'Amicus' , 'Tigon' and US production: 'American International Pictures' from James H Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff. The best part is , of course, the final story, in which Michael Redgrave unnervingly plays a ventriloquist who appears to be exchanging personalities with his demonic dummy, Hugo, who supposedly has a mind of its own, and that the mind is evil. And the worst one is the whimsical tale of two golfing friends who play a round of golf to see who win the hand of the girl they both love. But the final scene, in its disturbing and and surrealist way, is most frightening than any of the tales told to Mervyn Johns by the inhabitants of the dark old cottage.
Various thrilling episodes reach shattering climaxes thanks to knife-edge direction by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden , though the tale directed by Charles Crichton, intented as comic relief, is somewhat less successful. A vintage film which is really worthy of that adjective, will have little appeal for younger children, but older kids who are open-minded enough to attempt something both old and British will be well rewarded.
Well produced by Michael Balcon, Director and Head of Production at Ealing Studios from 1937-59. Including a tense and thrilling musical score by classic composer Georges Auric. The motion picture was professionally directed by the best British filmmakers: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Charles Crichton who had long cinematic careers. Rating: 7/10. Above average. Worthwhile watching.
Along Came a Spider (2001)
Good and moving film plenty of mystery, intrigue, frantic action and surprises .
¨Along Came a Spider¨ (2001) by Lee Tamahori boasts a good cast with Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, accompanied by a large number of secondary acquaintances giving acceptable interpretations tailored to his roles. This notable mystery thriller results to be the second entry on Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman), a Washington D. C. cop and forensic psychologist. This time Detective Cross must join forces with Secret Service agent Jezzie Flannigan (Monica Potter), in order to catch a dangerous criminal, Gay Soneji (Michael Wincott), who seeks notoriety in his crimes. He wants his crimes to be considered the most important and difficult to solve and to achieve this he weaves a cunning plot. The trap is comparable to the web that spiders create to trap their victims and their pursuers. It all begins with the disappearance of a senator's daughter (Mika Boorem). A tangled web of danger and deceit...!.The game is far from over !. Two cops on the trail of a brutal killer !. They must see as one, they must act as one, they must think as one, before the next victim falls !.
Veteran Freeman (Slevin Case, Batman Begins) reprises his role as forensic detective Alex, which he played before in ¨Kiss the girls¨. On this occasion he shares the spotlight with the young Monica Potter (Saw, 5 Men for Lucy). A thrilling film with big name cast and full of action, tension, entertainment, twists and turns. Morgan Freeman lends his authorative presence to the central role as Washington, D. C. detective and forensic psychologist Alex Cross who's assigned the case of an abducted little girl and he'll stop at nothing to free her. Following a fascinating first 15 minutes the movie loses impetus as the writer struggles to spin it out towards almost two-hour length. Gripping, dark, and tense movie is packed with intrigue from the beginning to the end. In this thrilling, grim and suspenseful film, developing a game of cat and mouse between a creepy murderer and Alex Cross. It isn't too hard to figure what follows from this contrived scenario: lots of gruesome slayings to be picked over, moody set-pieces where Freeman has to creep around in the dark wondering if the maniac is going to leap out. The material is well known and clichéd at times, no doubt, but all concerned give it top class treatment. This is a modern and impressive thriller that meets all the requirements of the genre, belonging to the new generation of intrigue films from the late 90s and early 2000s. Director Tamahori already had experience in mystery stories and demonstrates it efficiently. On this occasion we once again have a stellar couple of actors leading the cast. On the one hand, the Afro-American actor Morgan Freeman is a guarantee at the box office by playing a police hunting for a serial kidnapper. Next to him appears the actress Monica Potter, somewhat unknown at that time, she is terrific as the stubborn agent. The great duo of protagonists are well accompanied by a wonderful supporting cast, such as: Michael Wincott, Dylan Baker, Mika Boorem, Anton Yelchin, Kim Hawthorne, Jay O. Sanders, Billy Burke, Michael Moriarty, Penelope Ann Miller, Anna Maria Horsford, among others.
Adapted from the novel by James Patterson and a triloy is made: the first is ¨Kiss the girls¨ (1997) by Gary Fleder with Freeman, Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, Alex McArthur, Tony Goldwyn, Jay O. Sanders, Bill Nunn, Brian Cox, Richard T. Jones, Roma Maffia, Jeremy Piven, Gina Ravera, William Converse-Roberts. ¨Along Came a Spider¨(2001) and ¨Alex Cross¨ (2012) by Rob Cohen in which Freeman is replaced by Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Edward Burns .
Filmmaker Lee Tamahori is enough of a technician to make sure the movie pushes the right intrigue buttons, and the art direction at the crime scenes is so hideous that isn't apt for squeamish. This mysterious and interesting motion picture was compellingly directed by Lee Tamahori, he skillfully orchestrates a cool film plenty of suspense, action, thrilling moments and plot twists. The flick works pretty well and is paced along admirably but also packs some brief flawed scenes.
It displays a pulsing and suspenseful musical score by the great veteran Jerry Goldsmith, a musician expert on mysterious and tense enviroments. Likewise , a brilliant and colorful cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti. The motion picture was compellingly directed by Lee Tamahori. But he borrows heavily from ¨Seven¨, ¨Silence of the lambs¨, and others films of the genre, and this psycho-killer thriller at times falls far short. Lee Tamahori is a craftsman (Once Were Warriors, The edge, Mullholand Falls, XXX: State of Union, The Convert, Along came a spider) who has directed successful action movies and made it much better in James Bond series (Die another day). Rating: 6.5/10. Above average.
Stonehearst Asylum (2014)
Astounding film with good performances, suspense, tension, shocks and plot twists.
USA, 1899. Stars Edward Newgate (Jim Sturgess), a promising young doctor in search of experience who has recently graduated from Oxford. In hope of becoming a resident the young doctor Edward arrives at the Snoonehearts detention center for the mentally ill to complete his training as a psychiatrist. However, right from the start, it is quite clear that the superintendent Dr. Silas Lamb's (Ben Kingsley) unorthodox methods of treatment seem to have no positive effect on the patients, furthermore, there is a strange feeling that there is more to the asylum than meets the eye. In the asylum there are a number of inmates (Kate Beckinsale, Christopher Fulford, David Thewlis, Sophie Kennedy Clark) , usually from the highest social classes. The center's director, Doctor Lamb, shows him his revolutionary and unorthodox procedures. Dr. Newgate begins to make shocking and frightening discoveries that show him that nothing is what it seems behind the walls of Stonehearst. Then weird happenings lead a madness spiral and killing. No one is what they seem !.
Intriguing film contains drama, thrills, chills, suspense , twists and turns , and results to be quite entertaining. The atmosphere and perverse intrigue enhance as well as the relationship between starring Jim Sturgess and Ben Kingsley develops. A psychological thriller directed by specialist Brad Anderson, being a loose adaptation of one of Edgar Allan Poe's stories,as the movie is based on short story written in 1844 titled "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether", adapted by the screenwriter of ¨Wind Chill¨, ¨Fear Itself¨ or ¨Blackway¨ Joe Gangemi. The film, far from the black comedy of the original story, forms a plot of suspense and terror supported by an intriguing premise: "Do not believe anything you hear and only half of what you see."
The English actor Jim Sturgess gives a good performance as the young psychiatrist who soon falls in love with one of the patients at the center who warns him of the danger he faces in that place, she's nicely performed by Kate Beckinsale. While Ben Kingsley brings to life perfectly in his usual style a suspicious doctor.
The cast of this feature film is completed by prestigious supporting characters such as: David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Caine, Jason Flemyng, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Christopher Fulfold, Sinéad Cusack, among others.
It displays a tense and full of intrigue score John Debney. Likewise, an evocative and dark cinematography by Thomas Yatsko. The motion picture was well directed by Brad Anderson . He is a good filmmaker who has directed thought-provoking and thrilling films such as ¨Happy accidents¨ , ¨Transsiberian¨. ¨Session 9¨ , ¨The machinist¨ , and ¨The call¨ his last film starring Halle Berry. Rating: 6.5/10. Good and above average, it's one the highest earning suspense picture of the last years ; it is an above average film with tense, suspenseful, and violence .
Act of Valor (2012)
A look into the secretive world of a team of SEALs, inspired by true events.
A realistic and almost documentary film, including moving images with a camera on the shoulders. As the valiant men of Bandito Platoon race to stop a coordinated attack that could kill and wound thousands of American civilians, they must balance their commitment to country, team and their families back home. Each time they accomplish their mission, a new piece of intelligence reveals another shocking twist to the deadly terror plot, which stretches from Chechnya to the Philippines and from Ukraine to Somalia. When the rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative leads to the discovery of a deadly terrorist plot against the U. S., a team of SEALs is dispatched on a worldwide manhunt. The widening operation sends the SEALs across the globe as they track the terrorist ring to the U. S.-Mexico border, where they engage in an epic firefight with an outcome that has potentially unimaginable consequences for the future of America. At the beginning the elite team of Navy SEALs embark on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent: Roselyn Sanchez. The only easy day was yesterday !.
A motion picture starring active duty Navy Seals, it mingles action-packed , pursuits, thrills , drama, fights, suspense , a little bit of violence and spectacular sequences though won't mean much on little screen TV. An unprecedented blend of real-life heroism and original filmmaking, Act of Valor stars a group of active-duty Navy SEALs in a powerful story of contemporary global anti-terrorism and their fights the hardest and bloodiest of the world wars. The film follows various members of the army unit who fought to free kidnapped people, to defend population, take down islamists and other dangerous assigned missions. The cast is mostly unknown, made up of beginner actors, in fact the movie stars actual, active-duty US Navy SEALs and SWCC; according to conditions set by the U. S. Government, their real names and identity are not revealed; although there are some moderately known performers, such as: Roselyn Sanchez, Emilio Rivera and Nestor Serrano. The film combines stunning combat sequences, up-to-the minute battlefield technology and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate action adventure. Act of Valor takes audiences deep into the secretive world of the most elite, highly trained group of warriors in the modern world.
The motion picture was professonally made by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh, though with no originality. Waugh is sibling of Ric Roman Waugh , another nice director. Scott Waugh is a good artisan who has directed a few films , most of them spectacular and successful action movies , such as : Expend4bles (2023), Hidden Strike (2023) , 6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain (2017), Need to speed (2014), and Act of Valor(2012) . Rating : 5.5/10. Well worth watching for the warlike films fans.
Identity Thief (2013)
Action comedy with thrills, car chases, emotion, and anything else .
Sandy (Jason Bateman) is a loving and devoted family man,. A Denver family man who's always been responsible with his personal finances, he is shocked to learn that his credit score is in shambles. As he becomes the victim of a fraud designed by a compulsive shopper who steals his identity and uses his money: Diana (Melissa McCarthy). When the police refuse to offer any help, Sandy realizes that his only choice is to catch the impostor himself and bring her back to Denver to face justice. Being merilessly chased by a grizzled skip tracer (Robert Patrick) and a pair of vicious gangsters (Génesis Rodríguez and T. I.) determined to get the fake Sandy first, every step along the way will be a struggle. Is this the face of a thief?.Is this the face of a sucker?. She's having the time of his life
Comedians Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy star in this crazy comedy about fraud, mistakes and people on the verge of collapse. It is an action comedy that follows the style of a 'Road movie', and for which a series of confrontations, chases, and car crashes take place, when our well-known protagonists are relentlessly pursued by both the police, a bounty hunter and two mafia hitmen.
Director Seth Green handles the action and comedy with enthusiasm and the enjoyable chemical between Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy produces genuine comic sparkles. The friction between two leads Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy is fun to watch, while the action and comic moments are agreeable . The prestigious screenwriter Craig Mazin, writer of the different Scary Movie sequels, Hangover, and especially Chernobil and The last of us series writes this fun comedy focused on the relationship between a scammer and the person she has scammed. Duo of protagonists is really good; Melissa McCarthy is very nice as the unrepentant Florida fraudster who steals identities causing a lot of mayhem and messes, while Jason Bateman is the straight-laced, kind, and happily married family man who finds himself inexplicably involved in many twisted problems. Completing the main cast is the versatile John Favreau (Spiderman saga, and director of the remake The Lion King), Amanda Peet as the beloved wife, the rapper T. I. P. Génesis Rodriguez, Morris Chestnut, John Cho, Robert Patrick, Eric Stonestreet and Jonathan Banks.
The motion picture was well directed by Seth Gordon. He is a good director who has worked in both television and film. In TV he has made series as Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, Marry me, The Office, Community, The Night Agent, The Goldberg, Breaking in, Modern family, The Good doctor. Gordon has producted/directed feature films as : The lost city (2022), Pixels (2015) y Cry Wolf (2005), Baywatch, Horrible Bosses , Di Di Hollywood, among others. Rating: 6/10.
Bellas Artes (2024)
An enjoyable and slight comedy with great performance by Oscar Martinez.
Antonio Dumas (Oscar Martínez), a prestigious art historian and cultural manager, cultured and sophisticated, although quite cynical and conceited, is appointed director of an important contemporary art museum in Madrid, after emerging victorious in a competition for that position. In the first episode our protagonist must compete with two other candidates for the position of the museum, he takes it with indifference and a bit of superiority, due to the conditions that the jury demands for the square. Later in other episodes, the now director has confrontations with a presumptuous elderly painter (José Sacristán) and against the minister of culture (Ana Wagener). Once he has assumed his new position, and helped by Marisa (Aixa Villagrán) , the director's assistant, he will have to face, in the midst of the unusual fauna of the art world, a range of disparate circumstances and conflicts: from union problems and political pressures, to crazy situations in relation to exhibitions and artists. Furthermore, a collective exhibition causes a great sensation by placing a dead marine animal to denounce the lack of ecological conscience.
Bellas Artes is a comedy by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn written by Andrés Duprat. With multiple international awards, the three creators have addressed themes relating to art and culture throughout their filmography with sorification and their unique touch of acid humor. Among their latest movies are: ¨Official Competition¨, ¨The Man Next Door¨, ¨My masterpiece¨or ¨The Illustrious Citizen¨. As in their previous films , the pair of directors addresses in this film issues such as limits in the world of art, hypocrisy, ego, envy, and the prejudices that some artists have against others, the somewhat ridiculous modern art, issues that on this occasion revolve around the film process. It is easy to fall into the commonplaces of satire about how contemporary artistic representations can be interpreted, and in that sense the episode in which Antonio Dumas is forced to take care of his teenage grandson by taking him to the museum is interesting, which he takes advantage of to explain the meaning of some works. The boy is especially interested in two paintings that are, in fact, works by the artist Alejandro Cohn, brother of Mariano Cohn. In fact, a good part of the installations that appear in the museum have been created by Andrés Duprat and Gastón Duprat. Sometimes it seems that Bellas Artes tries so hard to craft its message that it forgets to develop its characters, so that satire is superimposed on the creation of a story that acquires a solid narrative meaning. But at the same time avoid being too cruel to that hypocritical, egocentric, bureaucratic and sometimes fraudulent world that art has become from an institutional perspective. What makes the series a diversion that prefers to remain in the comfortable playful aspect, rather than being truly incisive. It is particularly laconic in its humorous approach, avoiding overly long comedy sequences, preferring to rely on the phrase or concise comment without too much histrionics. Even usually exaggerated actors like Dani Rovira, who plays Josep, the protagonist's son, is especially restrained and serious.
Oscar Martinez is very good as the appointed director of an important contemporary art museum in Madrid faces a range of disparate conflicts and twisted circumstances. He is accompanied by the following: Aisa Villagrán (¨Vida perfecta¨, ¨La chica de la nieve¨), Ana Wagener (¨Contratiempo¨, ¨El Reino¨), Dani Rovira (¨Mediteraneo¨, ¨8 apellidos Vascos¨), Adelfa Cavo (¨La Isla Minima¨), among others, they are part of the spectacular cast. In addition, the special participation, among others, of José Sacristán (¨13 exorcismos¨), Melina Matthews (¨Negociador¨) and Ángela Molina (¨Ese oscuro objeto de deseo¨)
The series was competently directed by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, they formerly made some decent films. As they have directed a dozen movies, with which they obtained more than thirty international awards, among which stand out The Artist (2008) , The Man Next Door (2009), The Distinguished Citizen (2016), My Masterpiece (2018) and Official Competition (2020). Their big hit was ¨El ciudadano ilustre¨ (2016) , it was No. 1 at the box office Argentine comedy of the year , getting submission of Argentina for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 89th Academy Awards in 2017 and won several prizes and nominations , such as : Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina 2016 Winner Award of the Argentinean Academy Best Actor Oscar Martínez , Best Supporting Actor Dady Brieva , Best Screenplay Original Andrés Duprat . Bellas Artes (12 epidodes 2024-2024) rating: 7/10.
La muerte ronda a Mónica (1977)
Spanish giallo with suspense, screams, tension, plot twists and turns.
Monica (Nadiuska) is supposedly a rich woman who lives happily with her husband, Federico (Jean Sorel). Thanks to a friend of hers she finds out that he is cheating on her with another woman named Eva (Bárbara Rey). Things go from bad to worse when the company appears to be in trouble and former board members reappear. However, everything seems even more complicated with the appearance of Diego (Damián Velasco), a former adventure partner of Federico who has spent the last few years in prison due to a robbery and who also wants to get hold of the couple's assets, trying to get cold hard cash. The wealthy woman is then implicated in a series of murders. Other partners in this venture include the middle-aged bachelor Arturo (in his usual role as elegant playboy Arturo Fernández), who has a string of lovers throughout the city and used to date Monica herself, and the usually fur-clad glamorous Elena De Fuentes (Karin Schubert), who is a close friend of Mónica. At least that's what she thinks. Trusted friends are also few in the Giallo genre.
In 1976, Giallo was still influencing some directors, as in this Spanish thriller, whose intricate plot does not imply any development, nor due tension, nor an original outcome; however it does contain a few attractive elements. In short, the approach with which the director tries to drive one of the characters to madness is partially interesting. The film offers little more than gratuitous nudity, with a lesbian scene included, something very typical in the era of the "Destape" (ordinary nudist exposure of Spanish actresses in the seventies and eighties). As a trivia, we should add that the film received complaints at the time from certain viewers who had to be assisted in the same theaters due to the shock caused by some violent sequences. This film has a lot of dialogue and is somewhat slow, although it begins in an entertaining way and develops little by little, repetitively, spurred by a ridiculous ending, and not being filmed or directed with much style, but rather with a television aesthetic. Although it's called Giallo, it reminded me much more of a similar film, 'Diabolique'. The only thing you might not find in a television production is that there is a generous helping of female nudity here. All the actresses involved like Nadiuska, Karin Schubert, and Bárbara Rey, the latter more than once, as well as other women in smaller roles like Sandra Alberti, and Jenny Llada act to undress and then disappear. However, it's also worth noting that the scenes themselves are far from erotic. There is no sex here; just a lot of nudist scenes when the girls are showering, or making love, or coming out of the bathroom when the phone rings, or upstairs when they're in bed with their partners. Even a lesbian act in a nightclub is boring when filmed from afar.
I'll give him some credit for generating a bit of intrigue at the end and some well-executed scares, although it's pretty obvious that he's not very skilled at this particular genre. Some of the posters advertised this as an Agatha Christie adaptation, but it is not. The cast also includes the regulars of horror and European Giallo, such as the french Jean Sorel who played as a leading man in many films, standing out in the Italian Giallos, starring Nadiuska , famous as mother of 'John Milius's Conan' and in 'Último deseo' (The People Who Own the Dark,1979), Yelena Samarina and Luis Barboo as Monica's servants, the latter participated in a lot of horror/Western films, Bárbara Rey from 'The Cursed Ship' (or The ghost galleon), Sandra Alberti, who starred in the Spanish exploitation gem 'Satan's Blood' (1978). There has never been an official release for this title, although several outlets offered a faded, albeit widescreen print. The film was mediocrely directed by Ramón Fernández, although it has many deficiencies, cracks and gaps. This was the only Giallo genre film by this director, who made mainly comedies. Ramón was a prolific craftsman who directed all types of genres (but with a penchant for comedy), such as Thrillers: ¨Rueda de sospechosos¨, ¨7 minutos para morir¨; Westerns: ¨Las mujeres de Jeremías¨; Musical: ¨Las aventuras de Enrique y Ana¨, ¨A Tope¨. Being expert on Spanish comedies, such as: ¨Aquí están las vicetiples¨, ¨Cateto a babor¨, ¨Ahí va otro recluta¨, ¨Simón contamos contigo¨, ¨Sor YeYe¨ , ¨Margarita se llama mi amor¨, ¨ Los novios de mujer¨, ¨El adultero¨, ¨El donante¨, ¨Cuando los maridos iban a la guerra¨, ¨Doctor me gustan las mujeres es grave¨, ¨Matrimonio al desnudo¨, ¨El señorito y las seductoras¨, ¨El gran mogollón¨, ¨Aquí el que no corre vuela¨ and he made ¨No desearas al vecino del quinto¨ considered to be the Spanish's most boxoffice at the time. Rating: 6/10. Average but passable .
Hammett (1982)
Win Wenders's first American movie, decently achieved story about the art and the mystique of creation fiction.
By 1928, Hammett (Frederic Forrest) is a retired Pinkerton agent, aridly glossing the exploits of his old sidekick Jimmy Ryan as raw material for his magazine stories. But when the real Jimmy Ryan (Peter Boyle) turns up in San Francisco to plunge Hammett into a Chinatown cunundrum of underage hookers, gunsel punk, stag movies, blackmail, murders , he uncovers at first hand outlandish events. As Ryan shows up at Hammett's San Francisco digs searching for a mysterious Chinese girl, Crystal Ling (Lydia Lei) . And Sam ends up enlisting the help of his neighbor, librarian Kit Conger (Marilu Henner), though things go wrong. The mystery writer who lived his own stories ! He Created 'The Maltese Falcon," "Sam Spade" and "The Thin Man". But He Didn't Write This Mystery-Thriller...He Lived It. He Not Only Wrote the Greatest Detective Stories he lived them!
It's 1928 San Francisco, a fictional story centered around real life Dashiell Hammett, here as a Pinkerton agent turned famed noir fiction writer, being mediocrely told in fits and starts. Here Hammett delves into the underworld of San Francisco, as he uncovers the canvas and roles for such subsequent triumphs as The Maltese Falcon, and discovers within himself the seeds of Sam Spade. After many directors and script rewrites, Wenders was assigned by Francis Ford Coppola to this arch neo-noir with atmospheric scenario. Depicting Dashiell solving a complex criminal himself, an experience he uses in his novels. Interesting, but ultimately botched studio exercice, like many others from executive producer Coppola, who is said to have reshot much of the movie. Recently deceased Frederic Forrest incarnates the writer as a rumpled but uncreased Bogart, Boyle is the archetypal Archer-type loser, while the whole cast plays just one beat away from the genre staples their roles would become in print and the films. Big cast with iconic actors and veterans, such as: Elisha Cook, Jr. Roy Kinnear, R. G. Armstrong, Richard Bradford, Sylvia Sidney, David Patrick Kelly, Jack Nance, Royal Dano, Hank Worden and Samuel Fuller.
Adding colorful cinematography by Joseph Biroc, almost entirely studio-shot with evocative production design by Dean Tavoularis and hauntingly scored by John Barry. The motion picture was professional but unevenly directed by Wim Wenders . This great German director Wim Wenders has made thoughtful and thought-provoking films , and he has a peculiar fascination with rare and outlandish roles . He has made various prestigious documentaries , and notorious fiction movies and he even worked in Hollywood . As Francis Ford Coppola, as producer , gave Wenders the chance to direct in America : Hammett (1982) that was a critical and commercial failure . However , his American-made Paris, Texas (1984) (1984) received critical hosannas, wining three awards at Cannes, including the Palme d'Or, and Wenders won a BAFTA for best director. "Paris, Texas" was a prelude to his greatest success , "Wings of Desire"(1987) , which he made back in Germany . The film brought him the best director award at Cannes and was a solid hit, even spawning an egregious Hollywood remake and later on , Wenders himself directed a second part : ¨Faraway, So Close!¨(1993) that won the Grand Prize of the Jury at Cannes . Wenders followed it up with a critical and commercial flop "Until the End of the World"(1991) . Since the mid-1990s, Wenders has distinguished himself as a non-fiction filmmaker, directing several highly acclaimed documentaries , most notably ¨Buena Vista Social Club¨ (1999) and ¨Pina¨ (2011), both of which brought him Oscar nominations , as well as this The Salt of the Earth (2014). Rating : 6/10 , decent and agreeable film, though slow-moving at times. The flick will appeal to Wim Wenders followers and completists.
Ocho apellidos marroquís (2023)
A mediocre sequel with no relation to the previous two, including confusion, messes and silly laughter.
Pretty hilarious , enjoyable, entertaining, but average Spanish comedy with likable main and support cast. This is the second sequel to the all-time local hit 'Spanish Affair', was the top grossing film of 2015, taking $34.7. Third installment of the saga ¨8 apelllidos¨, once again turns the most common topics and prejudices that some carry into comedy, in this case at the expense of Cantabrians and Moroccans. It belongs to highest-grossing comedies of Spanish cinema, here with new characters and protagonists, this third begins at the funeral of José Maria (Antonio Resines, he's really wasted because has only a bit role) : beloved husband of Carmen (Elena Irureta), beloved father of Begoña (Michelle Jenner) and illustrious Cantabrian businessman, Jose Maria has left a video with his last wishes: the family has to recover the ¨Sardinete¨, the boat with which his fishing fleet began and which is now anchored and rusting in a Moroccan port. Thus, Carmen and Begoña, two very patriotic Cantabrians, rich and full of prejudices, travel to Morocco accompanied by Begoña's ex-boyfriend, Guillermo (Julián López) a posh man willing to conquer his girl again, going to a country where more than one surprise awaits them.
Comical as well as romantic comedy is loaded with irony , humor with tongue-in-cheek , jokes and fun . Álvaro Fernández Armero 's broad comedy is the follow-up to Emilio Martinez-Lazaro's Ocho apellidos Vascos or Spanish Affair and Ocho Apellidos Catalanes or Spanish Affair 2 . Follows the Díaz-Aguirre family, whose perfect universe turns upside down after the death of the patriarch, who in his will asks his wife to recover an ancient fishing boat. This film follows the classic timeline of a past lover attempting to reclaim the person he lost before. Throughout there are humorous moments, especially among Julián López, Elena Irureta, Michelle Jenner attempting to live in a place where they find themselves totally misplaced without knowing the language, customs and even taking part in a traditional Moroccan wedding. And adding the beautiful bride, María Ramos Mouhoub who steal the show as the attractive and resourceful Moroccan girl willing to do anything to go to Spain and follow her father's will . This is an extremely funny film with entertaining events , giggles , emotion , craziness, twists and intimate love stories. The film moves in fits and starts most of which would be desirable , with more traps the viewer resists any kind , and some moments of enjoyment and others quite a few embarrassing . This disconcerting film packs amusement , comical situations , tongue-in-cheek , politic critique , surrealist comedy , adding conventional pitfalls and many other things. Close comedy regarding crazy roles , mayhem , antics , frolics , and a moving romances ; including enjoyable interpretations with outcast roles ,though they were mediocrely developed. A typical subsidized Spanish comedy of the 2020s with the usual ingredients such as wild humor topped with a little bit of original touches here and there and the tone of the film is light-hearted. However , there's nothing new in this story because of it turns out a simple retread of situations and incidents that we have already seen many times
Nothing new, and slightly humorous, but with many forced comic situations. The movie title addresses about Ocho apellidos vascos (2014) and Ocho apellidos catalanes (2015), as if it would be a third part. However, the roles are different and they nothing to do with the Emilio Martínez Lázaro movies. It contains colorful and appropriate cinematography by Sergi Gallardo shot on location in San Vicente de la Barquera, Cantabria, and Morocco . Evocative as well as adequate musical score by Vanessa Garde Roque Baños . Being skillfully proceeded by director Álvaro Fernández Armero and turned out to one of the most box office movies of 2019 and certainly one of the most amusing . This director Alvaro Armero was born in 1969 in Madrid, location where he often shoots his flicks . He is a good director and writer, expert on comedies and especially known for ¨Todo es Mentira¨ (1994), ¨Salir Pitando¨ , ¨El Juego De Verdad¨ , ¨Nada en la Nevera¨, ¨Brujas¨ , ¨Si yo fuera rico¨, though also shot a successful 'slasher' titled ¨El Arte De Morir¨. Rating : Regular but passable at times: 4.5/10 . The film will appeal to very enthusiastic and not demanding fans of Spanish comedy.
Todos lo saben (2018)
Asghar Farhadi's dramatic thriller with a very good cast of the best Spanish performers.
Laura (Penélope Cruz) returns to Spain, along with her two children, to attend her sister's wedding (Inma Cuesta). Her husband , an Argentinian (Ricardo Darín) who is very loved in the town of Laura, stays in Buenos Aires for the money he had donated for different works, including the church. After dancing with Felipe at the wedding reception, Irene complains that she does not feel well and goes upstairs to sleep. Later that night, Laura goes to check on Irene only to find she is missing. She receives a text message from kidnappers urging the family to pay a large sum or they will kill her. A homecoming. A celebration. A mystery. Who knows your fears; who knows the truth !. Someone kidnapped her !. Who did it? Who did it? A family. A kidnapping. A mystery.
Penelopé Cruz and javier Bardem star in this drama with some touches of thriller and intrigue. The film explores the inevitable complications that arise via class, gender, and social differences in the context of a family microcosm by doling out narrative information, piece by piece. Asghar Farhadi shows his deceptively subtle cinematic style, an astute psychological realism and a knack of making ordinary life feel like a suspense thriller. Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem play Laura and her old boyfriend, Paco, whose reunion during Laura's sister's wedding will be marked by a painful event that will drastically change the course of their lives. This one results to be the fifth collaboration between real life partners Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem after "Jamón, jamón" (1992), "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (2008), "The counselor" (2013) and "Loving Pablo" (2017). Well directed by Irani Asghar Farhadi (The salesman, Nader and Simin) who provides his usual trademarks and sense of style. Along with the two greatest international and Hollywood actors Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz (marriage in real life) this film also has great interpretations of Ricardo Darín, Eduard Fernández, Bárbara Lennie, Inma Cuesta, Elvira Mínguez, Ramón Barea, Sara Sálamo, Roger Casamajor and José Ángel Egido.
It contains a colorful and evocative cinematography shot on location in Torrelaguna, a small town north of Madrid. The motion picture was competently directed by Asghar Farhadi. This great director Irani has has made notable films, such as: ¨The Salesman¨, ¨Darbareye Elly¨, ¨Fireworks Wednesday, ¨Dancing in the Dust¨, ¨Le Passé¨, ¨Beautiful City¨ and his film ¨Nader y Simin, a separation¨ (2011) is the first Iranian movie to win an Oscar. All of them including his style marks: An elegant freneticism that's intensified by the tight, seemingly omnipresent editing; turning domestic crises into a prismatic array of motives and perspectives; a tonal and emotional friction that's simultaneously tragic and transcendent; a character-rich, milieu-specific filmmaking; aiming for a middle ground between intimacy and detachment, and intimate-in-scope-narratives that are consistently reaching for a universal truth. ¨Everyone Knows¨ opened the 2018 Cannes Film Festival with big business. It obtained 8 Goya nominations, including best film, director, screenplay, original, actor (Javier Bardem), actress (Penélope Cruz) and supporting actor (Eduard Fernández). Rating: 7/10. Better than average.
Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
Horror movie depicting an eerie tale plenty of demons, craziness and killings.
A creepy film filled with mystery, suspense , terror , grisly killings , twisted events and horrible happenings . It belongs to "Tales from the Crypt" series that was a 1989 horror story anthology series based on the gruesome E. C. comic books of the 1950s presented by the legendary "Crypt Keeper", a sinister, grisly ghoul obsessed with gallows humor and horrific puns. The series was originally envisioned as a trilogy story feature film. This was changed to a television program, because the producers feared it would bomb as a movie, as trilogy-style horror movies rarely had success at the box-office. Brayker (William Sadler) is the guardian subject to ghastly events and menaced by psycho. Bayker cares of an ancient key that keeps the forces of darkness from overwhelming mankind, a key desired by the charismatic Collector (Billy Zane), who unleashes a disgusting mix of demons against the house's inhabitants. So various demons and warriors attempt to obtain a key containing the blood of Christ. The key is guarded by immortal warriors called Demon Knights. Ready for your deadtime story? Dead-On Humor and Horror !. Two Scary!
A nineties horror film with a great cast and full of ghastly events, chills , thrills, gore and guts. Gruesomely garish big-screen version of TV series that was inspired by the lurid 1950s E. C. Comics. Horrormeister Crypt Keeper offers his usual pun-filled introduction to a pale set in a seedy Boarding House. Curious hybrid of spoof/splatter that doesn't quite work in either genre. There's a star-studded cast that results to be pretty good with a plethora of known actors, such as : Jada Pinkett Smith, William Sadler, John Larroquette, Brenda Bakke, CCH Pounder, Dick Miller, Thomas Haden Curch , Gary Farmer, John Schuck, Charles Fleischer. And Billy Zane who steals the show by giving a sympatic and ironical acting. And John Kassir came up with the trademark voice of the Crypt Keeper. When Kassir auditioned for the part, the producers loved it so much, they almost immediately chose him. John Kassir, voice of the Crypt Keeper, often had to swallow lemon juice and honey to sooth his throat after doing his lines. It took six puppeteers to operate the Crypt Keeper during his scenes, four puppeteers alone just for his facial expressions. Crypt Keeper designer Kevin Yagher incorporated the eyes of ¨Chucky¨ (1988), another creation he designed, into the Crypt Keeper.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Ernest R. Dickerson (Bones, Juice, Never Die Alone, Bulletproof, Surviving the Game). It follows in the wake of Horror Anthology movies of the Sixties and Seventies made by British ¨Hammer Films¨ and ¨Amicus¨ from producers Max Rosemberg and Milton Subotsky , in which a skeleton or a sinister Crypt Keeper acting as hosts and usually based on stories previously appeared in American comic books as Tales of Crypt from EC comics , such as : ¨Dr. Terror's House of Horrors¨ 1965 by Freddie Francis , ¨Torture Garden¨ 1967 by Freddie Francis , ¨Asylum¨ 1972 by Roy Wad Baker , ¨Tales from the Crypt¨ 1972 by Freddie Francis, ¨The Uncanny¨ 1977 by Dennis Heroux , among others . Rating: 6/10.
The Outpost (2019)
Based on facts, about about an American army unit besieged in Afghanistan by a heavily armed group of Taliban.
Spectacular and noisy film set in Afghanistan. This is a 2019 American wartime action-thriller film directed and produced by Boaz Davidson/Avi Lerner/Yarid Lerner/ Samuel Hadida/Victor Hadida and written by Paul Tamasy/Eric Johnson, based on the book of the same name by Jake Tapper: "The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor". In 2006, the USA army set up several outposts in northern Afghanistan to prevent the entry of Taliban weapons and troops from Pakistan. One of them is located near the town of Kamdesh, at the foot of the Hindukush mountains. A place so difficult to defend that one analyst stated that it could well be called 'Camp Custer' since all the soldiers stationed there seemed condemned to die.
A realistic and almost documentary film, including moving images with a camera on the shoulders. The film follows various members of an army unit who fought to defend the American compound and whose main mission was survival. Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean, Lod of the Rings), the young Scott Eastwood (Pacific Rim: uprising, Diablo), son of Clint Eastwood, and Caleb Landry Jones (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri ) star in this frenetic war drama that tells of the battle of Kamdesh, one of the hardest and bloodiest of the Afghan war. In which, In 2009, a few American soldiers (plus a Latvian, and some Afghans) had to face hundreds of Taliban. The film is based on the book by the war reporter, Jake Tapper: Outpost, An untold story of American Valor and also features the interpretations of other young actors such as Milo Gibson (All the Devil's Men), Jacob Scipio (Bad Boys for Life)
Situated in an isolated area of Afghanistan, Combat Outpost Keating is manned by a small force of US Army soldiers. Years later of sporadic, light attacks, in October 2009 the Taliban attack in force. An investigation into the battle of Kamdesh faulted army leadersip for failing to improve the camp's defenses. The investigation also recommended that all obviously indefendible outposts are closed. For their bravery on October 3, 2009, Bravo Troop 3-61 Cavalry became the most decorated unit of the Afghanistan War. The Bronze Star for Valor was awarded to Daniel Rodriguez, The distinguised Service Cross was awarded to Andrew Bundermnann. The battle of outpost Keating was the first in 50 years the Medal of honor was given to two living servicemen.
Rod Lurie helped immeasurably by superb cameraman Lorenzo Senatore and an excellent creative team have created the ultimate vision of war as hell on earth, a nightmarish firefight. Stirring and emotion of the film is aided by an exciting musical score by Larry Groupé. Conventional elements in the screenplay as heroism, comradeship, are based on a story devoid of sentimentality and balanced by a genuinely complex examination of courage in the field. It is overpowered by one of the most relentlessly and realistic harrowing war action.
Received many mixed reviews from critics. While the film was praised for its acting performances, action sequences, and dark tone, the script was criticized for some historical liberties. Rod Lurie's direction (Nothing But the Truth, The Contender) also received a mixed response, with many criticizing his emphasis on over-the-top action, but some also noting it as one of his most mature and grounded films. Rod is a talented film critic-turned-director who burst onto the scene in late 2000 with his hotly debated political thriller ¨The contender¨. After writing some scripts , Lurie was already hard at work at his next film, working with his acting hero Robert Redford. The result was the 2001 action/drama ¨The last castle ¨ (2001). It centered on an imprisoned military general, forced to go up against a tyrannical prison warden . He subsequently directed ¨Resurrecting the champ¨ and ¨Nothing but the truth¨, both of them were commercial failures despite some favorable reviews as well as ¨Straw Dogs¨. The outpost (2019) rating: 6.5/10. Better than average.
Manhattan (1979)
Assured and endearing comedy, with gorgeous cinematography and sensitive musical score. .
Woody Allen's New Comedy Hit in which he's a successful television writer , Isaac Davis, who wants to do something more worthwhile. Isaac yearns to be a serious writer, that's why he struggles through a series of ill-fated romances, including one with high school senior (Mariel Hemingway), and another with Mary (his then-sweetheart Diane Keaton), who's also having an on-again, off-again with Yale (Michael Murphy), Isaac's best friend. But Isaac feels guilty about his relationship with teenage girl Mariel. And his ex-wife , Jill (Meryl Streep) is a lesbian, while he is hesintant with the affair with Keaton.
Acclaimed coming-of-cinematic-age movie for Allen is based in part on his own life with the theme of the main role living in New York. ¨Manhattan¨shows a comic view and scathingly serious of modern relationships in urban America and of the modern intellectual neurosis. His love affair with Mariel Hemingway and Diane Keaton is chronicled as a wistful, episodic comedy commenting on love, family, loneliness, communicating, maturity, city life, careers and various other topics. It is a brilliant combination of the best American comedy tradition with the most accurate diagnosis of relationship problems. Considered to be one of his most autobiographical films (something that Allen has always denied) and one of the best of his long career. Director, writer and starring Allen himself alongside his then muse and girlfriend Diane Keaton, both of whom giving stunning interpretations. Being the fifth collaboration between Allen and Keaton. Meryl Streep does very well with her character of Jill, Isaac's ex-wife, who's come out as a lesbian and is writing a withering and successful account of their marriage. Considered by many Woody Allen fans to be his best film, it is more thoughtful and less obviously fun than the similiar but Academy Award-laden 'Annie Hall'.
It all sounds more complicated than it is and Allen's notable storyline and deceptively simple direction make 'Manhattan' a joy to watch. The fact that it is filmed in black and white entirely on location in Allen's home town adds to its quirky appeal. In ¨Manhattan¨ excels the black and white cinematography by cameraman Gordon Willis, Allen's usual cameraman, shot to capture the mood of N. Y. streets and mated with an excellent George Gershwin soundtrack.
The motion picture was well directed by Woody Allen, although it is excessively talky, and is somewhat boring for those who are already tired of Allen's peculiar personal world. In the beginning Woody made usually hilarious films with hardly any personal comments about his own life in which he used to act, such as : ¨What's Up, Tiger Lily?¨, ¨Take the money and run¨, ¨Pussycat, Pussycat I Love You¨, ¨Sleeper¨, ¨Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask¨, among others . Subsequently he made several masterpieces. Including a series of movies in which he provided nice direction, investing care enough, wit and warmth, such as : ¨Crimes and misdemeanors¨, ¨New York stories¨, ¨September¨, ¨Radio Days¨, ¨Hanna and her sisters¨, ¨Broadway Danny Rose¨, ¨Zelig¨, ¨Stardust memories¨, ¨A midsummer Night's Sex Comedy¨, ¨Interiors¨, ¨Purple rose of Cairo¨, ¨Manhattan¨,¨Melinda Melinda¨and many others . And ¨Annie Hall¨, Allen's most awarded film, the Oscars voters were impressed and awarded various statuettes, winner among many other awards, of the Oscar for Best film, Direction, Script and Lead Actress. Rating Manhattan 6.5/10 . Better than average. The movie will appeal to Woody Allen and Diane Keaton enthusiasts.
The November Man (2014)
A spy movie with full of non-stop action, thrills, violence, twists and turns
A gripping story of spies, betrayal, vengeance, justice and retribution. An ex-C. I. A. Operative Peter Deveraux (Pierce Brosnan) is brought back by his chief Hanley (Bill Smitrovich) in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil (Luke Bracey) in a deadly game involving high-level C. I. A. Officials and the Russian President-elect (Lazar Ristovski). Peter Deveraux heads to Belgrade, where he saves the social worker Alice Fournier (Olga Kurylenko). A spy is never out of the game !. The Spy is Back !. Pierce Brosnan the spy is back !. Follow the target !.
A twisted thriller with intrigue, action-packed , suspense, car pursuits, violence and high body count. Brosnan's outing with overwhelming action and spectacular scenarios, and being accompanied by the beautiful Olga Kurylenko and the brave Luke Bracey as a merciless young hitman. Director Roger Donaldson (The Recruit) directs this thriller with plenty of noisy action, murders and intrigue starring the icy agent Peter Deveraux, the main character in the saga of 13 novels that the American writer Bill Granger published between 1979 and 1933. The film is based on the book ¨ There are not spies¨, but this work is set in the Cold War. To update the backdrop, the scriptwriters looked for a modern problem with the same tension, so they placed the story in the conflict between Chechen nationalists and Islamists opposed to the Russian state.
Starring the now quite veteran and somewhat old Pierce Brosnan, he delivers a stoic performance as he relentlessly confronts his enemies who mercilessly try to corner him and the always beautiful Olga, both of them have a great experience in the world of spies and in action movies. Brosnan played James Bond up to four times ('Golden Eye' the first, Tomorrow Never Dies, World is not enough, Die Another Day), while the Russian actress Olga Kurylenko was a Bond girl in 'Quantum of Solace'. Well accompanied by other secondaries as Bill Smitrovich, Eliza Taylor, Amila Terzimehic, Lazar Ristovski , Mediha Musliovic, Caterina Scorsone and Will Patton.
It features atmospheric and evocative cinematography by Romain Lacourbas. And a soundtrack full of tension and suspense by Marco Beltrani. This film which was originally titled ¨November Man" or ¨Spy Legend¨ or ¨La conspiración de noviembre¨ was professionally directed by Roger Donaldson, although it has some flaws. Donaldson's first film was Sleeping Dogs (1977), which was the first made in his native New Zealand in 15 years and also the first to be shown in American cinemas. Roger is a good director and producer, known for The Bounty (1984), Dead End (1987), Burt Munro (2005), Species (1995) and Cocktail (1988), among others. Rating: 6/10. This film is exactly aimed for Pierce Brosnan fans.
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Over-the-top and very spectacular James Bond movie in which he confronts Spectra in Japan.
007 (Sean Connery) goes Japan to take on arch-nemesis Blofeld (Donald Pleasence) who has been capturing Russian an American spacecrafts in order to cause the WWIII. To investigate, MI6 operative James Bond is sent by M (Bernard Lee), the head of MI6, to Tokyo, after faking his own death in Hong Kong and being buried at sea from HMS Tenby. Upon his arrival, Bond attends a sumo match where he is approached by Japanese secret service agent Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi), who takes him to meet local MI6 operative Dikko Henderson (Charles Gray). Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond !. This Man IS James Bond, Sean Connery is James Bond. You Only Live Twice...and "Twice" is the only way to live!.
A very good entry in James Bond series with implausible plot but very amusing script. Here Bond is again the efficient, relentless agent trying to chase obstinately the criminals, traveling around the world as always, as this time is mostly set in Japan. Bond to achieve his aims, along the way uses violent means, pulling off brutal killings against enemies who wreak all sorts of havoc. This time Bond goes East, traveling to Japan to take on arch-nemesis Blofeld who attempts to start a new world war, and anticipating future Karate film trends: six years after with ¨Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon¨, martial arts thrillers would be all the rage. This solid , slick thriller with magic mix of action-packed, dazzling stunts, gadgetry, romance and flirts provided by sexy company as Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Karin Dor, Tsai Chin and the indispensble secretary Miss Moneypenny, Lois Maxwell. As always Bond will use "state of the art" and fantastic gadgets provided by ¨Q¨: Desmond Llewelyn. They include a deadly rocket that uses a cigarette as its firing tube, and a speedy one-seat autogiro in which 007 does battle with a fleet of Spectre helicopters. The most fun item though, is a helicopter equipped with an electromagnet for removing unwanted cars from the motorway. Being shot in Japan, there're a lot of Oriental actors providing adequate acting, such as: Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Tetsurô Tanba, Teru Shimada, Tsai Chin, Michael Chow and Burt Kwouk.
Great location cinematography by classic cameraman Freddie Young, breathtaking production design by Ken Adam, unforgettable musical score by John Barry, and catching theme sung by Nancy Sinatra enhance the attractivenes of the film. Lewis Gilbert directs the plentiful action in nice style, it is definitely the mechanical marvels that hold sway in this overwhelming thriller/adventure. The motion picture was competently directed by Lewis Gilbert who was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to the film industry. Lewis has directed four actors to Oscar nominations: Michael Caine (Best Actor, Alfie,1966); Best Actor, Educating Rita (1983), Vivien Merchant (Best Supporting Actress, Alfie , 1966), Julie Walters (Best Actress, Educating Rita (1983), and Pauline Collins (Best Actress, Shirley Valentine (1989). He was a successful producer and directo , getting some hits , such as : ¨Alfie¨ , ¨Operation: Daybreak¨, ¨Shirley Valentine¨, ¨H. M. S. Defiant¨, ¨The 7th Dawn¨ , ¨Light up the sky !¨, ¨Sink the Bismarck !¨ , among others . And directing three notable James Bond films : ¨The Spy Who Loved Me¨, ¨Moonraker¨ , ¨You Only Live Twice¨. Rating : 7.5/10. Above average. Well worth seeing .
Steele Justice (1987)
A typical eighties action film with sloppy action, a lot of shooting, fights and synth music.
Martin Kove vehicle in which our starring called John Steele decides to deal out justice in his own hands against maniacal killers. Steele (Martin Kove) is ex-cop and Vietnam vet who is determined to bring down Kwan, former South Vietnamese general. Steele suspects Kwan is involved with Lee's (Robert Kim) death but unfortunately Kwan's (Soon-Tek Oh) now respected and wealthy member of the community, but he's actually a powerful drug lord. Then, a massacre takes place. John cares vital witness (Jan Gan Boyd) and then has to protect her from the efforts of the bad guys. Former boss Bennett (Ronni Cox) is not in a rush to find the killers cause investigation reveals that Lee may have been dirty which Steele knows is not true. When the police needed someone to stop the Vietnamese Mafia, there was only one choice...Only law is the Black Tiger's !. The only justice is John Steele's !. You don't recruit John Steele !. You unleash him!.
This comic-book stuff contains suspense, thrills, chills, noisy action-packed, gun-play and lots of violence. Here Martin Kove is a lone-wolf ex-cop who with his usual stoic acting displays amount of weapons arsenal, track down and exterminates nasty psycho killers. The villiains are encouraged to overact, which they carry out without much flair. This was the highlight of Kove, being an usual secondary actor who first appeared in bit parts in films like ¨Karate Kid¨ saga and ¨Rambo: First Blood Part II¨ . Trying to make a new action hero imitating to ¨Commando's Arnold Schwarzenegger¨, ¨Invasion USA's Chuck Norris¨, ¨Cobra's Sylvester Stallone¨; however, this project failed at the boxoffice, continuing a second-class career in B films and in increasingly insignificant roles. In Steel Justice , the long list of secondary characters that have long and well-known careers in cinema stands out, such as: Sela Ward, Ronny Cox, Bernie Casey, Joseph Campanella, Sarah Douglas, Shannon Tweed, Kevin Gage and oriental actors as Soon-Tek Oh, Jan Gan Boyd , Eric Lee, Peter Kwong of 'Big trouble in Little China' and the prolific secondary that even has a cult status, Al Leong, featured by long wavy black hair and Fu Manchu mustache, who frequently plays mercenaries who are killed by Hollywood's biggest stars.
The motion picture was mediocrely directed by Rober Boris. He is an artisan who has written, produced or directed a few films with not much success, such as: ¨Backyard dogs, Marilyn and Me, Extreme Justice, Buy & Cell, Frank and Jessie, and Oxford Blues¨ with Rob Lowe. Rating: 4.5/10, only for hardcore action movie lovers .
El Diablo (1990)
This wacky western is packed with crossfire, mayhem, and great entertainment and fun.
Funny though unknown TV Western with noisy action, brawls , humor, mirth, shootouts and amusement. This Western comedy deals with the young man, Billy Ray (Anthony Edwards), a gentle children's school teacher who must fight against a nasty enemy to free his kidnapped student Nettie Tuleen (Sarah Trigger's film debut). Firstly, Billy Ray enlists the aid of unscrupulous gunman (recently deceased and unforgettable Louis Gossett Jr). His mentors are some sympathetic crooks. The cocky dandy Billy Ray wearing elegant clothes but he changes his garments to a ridiculous cowboy style with pants made of animal skin. Billy Ray Smith creates a 'posse' made up of the most eccentric gunslingers: The Preacher (John Glover), the writer Kid Durango (Joe Pantoliano) Zamudio (Miguel Sandoval), Bebe (M. C. Gainey) and Indian Dancing Bear (Branscombe Richmond). The veteran partners teach him the West manners and training him for shooting. Along the way, the bunch confronts the deadly outlaw nicknamed "The Devil" (Robert Beltran). When a young man can't ride or shoot he needs help real bad and here's help that's real bad!.
Anything is possible in this comical-serious Western movie. This film contains Western action , shootouts, fist-play, high body-count, humor with tongue-in-cheek and results to be pretty bemusing. A good Western with lots of silly laughters in which the notorious outlaw El Diablo kidnaps a schoolgirl, her teacher, an Easterner named Billy Ray, decides to rescue her. It's an entertaining film with enjoyable comedy in which Anthony Edwards plays a young man who teaches at a school and promises to rescue a girl kidnapped by a bandit, incompetent to track her alone, he joins a team of gunfighters. And the leader results to be Louis Gossett Jr who steals the show as the shameless and ambitious ex-Union soldier, along with a notable plethora of secondaries, such as: John Glover, Joe Pantoliano, Robert Beltran, M. C. Gainey, Miguel Sandoval, Sarah Trigger, Jim Beaver and Branscombe Richmond.
The comical formula deals to enhance the hilarious observations of the western originated on the decade of the Sixties, including the following filmmakers : Andrew McLagen with ¨McLintock!¨, ¨The rare breed¨, Something Big¨ and Burt Kennedy with ¨Support your local gunfighter (one of his better spoof Western)¨ , ¨Support your local sheriff¨ (his highpoint) , ¨Dirty Dingus Mcgee¨ , ¨War Wagon¨ and ¨ The Good guys and bad guys¨, ¨Texas Across the River¨ by Michael Gordon and a bit later on, Mel Brooks directed the indispensable ¨Blazing saddles¨ and after ta-hat, Hugh Wilson made ¨Rustlers' Rhapsody¨.
The motion picture well directed by Peter Markle. And John Carpenter was the film's executive producer and writer. Peter Markle is an expert on all kind of genres as comedy as ¨Hot dog , the movie¨, ¨Wagon East¨ the last film of John Candy¨ ; Sci-Fi as ¨White dwarf¨; Sports as ¨Youngblood¨ ; ¨Drama¨ as ¨Personals¨, ¨Nightbreaker¨, and suspense as ¨Through the eyes of a killer¨ and ¨Last days of Frankie the Fly¨ , and Wartime genre as ¨Bat 21¨. Rating : 6,5 . Worthwhile seeing, better than average humorous western.
The Good Liar (2019)
A solid film with superb interpretation from Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren, along with enjoyable support cast.
This first feature film collaboration for British stage and screen legends Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren is set in London 2009. Estelle and Brian, two elderly widowers, connect on a dating website. On the first date, both confess that they have not given their real names. Ian McKellen and Mirren, two British legends of acting, star in this dramatic thriller in which Roy Courtnay, an accomplished swindler, targets the wealthy woman and recently widowed Betty McLeish. So, career con artist Roy Courtnay (Sir Ian McKellen) can hardly believe his luck when he meets well-to-do widow Betty McLeish (Dame Helen Mirren) on-line. As Betty opens her home and life to him, Roy is surprised to find himself caring about her, turning what should be a cut-and-dry swindle into the most treacherous tightrope walk of his life. In gaining Betty's confidence, Roy believes he has one thing going against him and one thing going for him. The former is Betty's suspicious grandson, graduate student Stephen (Russell Tovey), who is writing his dissertation on Albert Speer and who seems to be looking out for his grandmother in not trusting Roy on any little thing. Read between the lies !.
A good thriller with suspense, tension, intrigue, twists and turns. What starts out as a simple scam becomes more and more complicated becoming a dangerous cat and mouse game with the ultimate stakes. Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen star together for the first time in a movie and both of whom give sensational performances. Cleverly written by screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher who previously wrote Mr. Holmes (2015). The director and screenwriter Bill Condon had already directed McKellen in 'Gods and Monsters' (with which he won the Oscar for best screenplay) and 'Mr Holmes' and he is the director and adapter of this rendition of the bestseller "The Good Liar" by Nicholas Searle. The great duo of protagonists are well accompanied by a competent supporting cast, such as: Russell Tovey, Jim Carter, Mark Lewis Jones, Jóhannes Jóhannesson, among others.
The motion picture was well directed by Bill Condon. He is good writer and filmmaker who has achieved some successes. Directed two films where Ian McKellen played with two actresses he had previously co-starred in different stage productions of August Strindberg's "Dance of Death", both of them directed by Sean Mathias: Mr. Holmes (2015) with Frances de la Tour and The Good Liar (2019) with Mirren. Bill Condon has directed notable films, such as: Mr. Holmes (2015) , Dreamgirls (2006) , Gods and monsters (1998) , Kinsey (2004) and Beauty and the Beast (2017). This God Liar (2019) marks the fourth collaboration between writer and director Bill Condon and Sir Ian McKellen, after Gods and Monsters (1998), Mr. Holmes (2015), and Beauty and the beast (2017). Rating: 6.5/10. Better than average. Not a complicated movie , but clever , enjoyable and warm.