The Princess Bride (1987)
DIRECTOR: Rob Reiner
CAST: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, Christopher Guest, Andre the Giant, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Peter Falk, Fred Savage
REVIEW:
The Princess Bride has a few things about it that make it such a unique and beloved film. Firstly, it is that rare “family movie” that appeals equally to children and adults. Secondly, it is possible to enjoy it both as a traditional fairy tale and a tongue-in-cheek parody thereof. Continue reading
Inside The Third Reich (1982)
DIRECTOR: Marvin J. Chomsky
CAST:
Rutger Hauer, Blythe Danner, Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Ian Holm, Maria Schell, Trevor Howard, Elke Sommer, Stephen Collins, Renée Soutendijk, Randy Quaid, Robert Vaughn, Michael Gough, Maurice Roëves, Derek Newark, David Shawyer, George Murcell, Viveca Lindfors, Zoë Wanamaker
REVIEW:
Inside The Third Reich, a lengthy, critically acclaimed TV miniseries from two-time Emmy winner Marvin J. Chomsky, is a film adaptation of the same-named memoirs by Albert Speer, a bright, cultured German architect who became Adolf Hitler’s personal designer and later Minister of Armaments and War Production, ultimately spending twenty years in Spandau Prison for his use of slave labor to keep the German war effort going, during which time he ostensibly reflected on his errors in judgment and began to write his memoirs. Although forbidden to do so in prison, Speer smuggled them out through a sympathetic guard and formed them into an autobiography upon his release. As one of the few surviving individuals to have had such intimate contact with Hitler, Speer lived well off of book sales until his death shortly before its film adaptation. While many believe Speer to have downplayed his own role in the Third Reich, and criticize the miniseries for not questioning his account, its historical value is undeniable. Inside The Third Reich was filmed on a low budget over a few months of winter in Munich, which is made apparent by the presence of snow in nearly every outdoors scene throughout the miniseries. While the vast scope and detail of Speer’s writings require numerous events to be skipped over, it serves to give the viewer the basics of the workings of the Third Reich. Continue reading
Marathon Man (1976)
DIRECTOR: John Schlesinger
CAST:
Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, Marthe Keller, William Devane, Fritz Weaver, Richard Bright, Marc Lawrence
REVIEW:
‘Is it safe?‘ No one who has viewed John Schlesinger’s gritty thriller Marathon Man will soon forget those three simple words, or look at dentists the same way again. Continue reading
The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
DIRECTOR: John Sturges
CAST:
Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall, Jenny Agutter, Donald Pleasence, Larry Hagman, Treat Williams, Jean Marsh, Anthony Quayle, John Standing, Sven Bertil-Taube, Siegfried Rauch, Michael Byrne, Joachim Hansen, Maurice Roeves, Wolf Kahler
REVIEW:
The Eagle Has Landed is not your typical war movie. Those looking for a more serious meditation on the costs of war should look elsewhere. Based on the book by espionage and international intrigue writer Jack Higgins, The Eagle Has Landed is intended as suspense-thriller escapism, but, while mildly entertaining in a goofy sort of way and with some bright spots, isn’t quite the twisty-turny potboiler it aspires to be. Continue reading
The Godfather Part II (1974)
DIRECTOR: Francis Ford Coppola
CAST: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Lee Strasberg
REVIEW:
A companion piece in the true sense of the word and regarded as arguably the best sequel ever made, The Godfather Part II (which was greenlit before the first movie was even released) only further deepens and enrichens the characters and themes from its predecessor while Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo weave an even more ambitious web. Like The Lord of the Rings, The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are less a film series than one combined continuous story rightfully taken as a whole.
Continue readingThe Odessa File (1974)
DIRECTOR: Ronald Neame
CAST: Jon Voight, Maximilian Schell, Mary Tamm, Maria Schell, Derek Jacobi
REVIEW:
The Odessa File follows 1973’s The Day of the Jackal as another adaptation of one of Frederick Forsyth’s international thrillers (like the previous film, The Odessa File is based on Forsyth’s best-selling novel of the same name), and while it’s not up to its predecessor’s level when it comes to potboiler intrigue (though really neither was its source material), it’s a sporadically effective little 1970s thriller that occasionally feels a little dated and silly but also features some effective moments and some interesting underlying themes.
Continue readingThe Day of The Jackal (1973)
DIRECTOR: Fred Zinnemann
CAST: Edward Fox, Michael Lonsdale, Tony Britton, Derek Jacobi, Cyril Cusack, Ronald Pickup
REVIEW:
Fred Zinnemann’s The Day of The Jackal, adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel of the same name, is a masterfully executed piece of filmmaking methodically setting all its many pieces in motion like a fine watch. Its dry, almost documentary style and slow burn pace might not be appreciated by modern viewers demanding something flashier and more action-oriented (while this is considered a suspense thriller, it’s not an action movie and those who go in expecting such may be disappointed and bored), but for those to whom this kind of movie appeals, it’s hard to imagine this material being more masterfully executed, or an assassination plot and the investigation opposing it being written with more meticulous logic.
Continue readingThe Godfather (1972)
DIRECTOR: Francis Ford Coppola
CAST: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, John Cazale
REVIEW:
Has any other motion picture defined a genre the way The Godfather did for the gangster film? Since its release in 1972 (receiving ten Oscar nominations and winning Best Picture), it has represented the gold standard to which all other mob movies are held. Yet The Godfather, adapted by Francis Ford Coppola from the novel by Mario Puzo (who also wrote the screenplay), is no mere gangland shoot-em-up (in fact, violence comes in short, jarring bursts, few and far between). What really grants the film its distinction is the core themes of family, an underlying character arc that ultimately resembles a Shakespearean tragedy, the careful technical accomplishment of the entire production, and the richness of Puzo’s script carefully weaving myriad subplots into a cohesive whole. Non-fans of the gangster movie genre might not be enthralled, and the nearly three hour runtime and slow burn pace represents a sizable commitment of time and attention, but for mob movie aficionados, this is as good as it gets, and skillful cinematic craftsmanship by any objective standard.
Continue readingSpartacus (1960)
DIRECTOR: Stanley Kubrick
CAST: Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis, Peter Ustinov, Charles Laughton, John Gavin
REVIEW:
Rightfully regarded as one of the best of the old sword and sandals Roman and/or Biblical epics that were in vogue in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s (see also the likes of The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, etc), Spartacus exists in the same vein as the likes of Braveheart or Gladiator, blending epic spectacle on the kind of lavish grandiose scale seldom mounted, and a surprising amount of intellectual weight. Some elements are dated, but the core aspects retain their strength.
Continue readingThe Enemy Below (1957)
DIRECTOR: Dick Powell
CAST: Robert Mitchum, Curt Jurgens, Theodore Bikel, David Hedison, Frank Albertson, Russell Collins, Kurt Kreuger
REVIEW:
From actor-turned-director Dick Powell, adapted by Wendell Mayes from the 1956 novel of the same name by Denys Rayner, comes this fairly small-scale but entertaining cat-and-mouse game between two men—-the captain of an American destroyer, and the captain of a German U-Boat—-in the South Atlantic during WWII.
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