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I know what you mean. But the electronic score for the film was very impressive and distinctive when the picture came out in 1956. The composers used electronic machinery that they constructed themselves. Their score predated the Moog by a number of years.

I loved that film, and it left a lasting impression on me. Some of the set designs and the special effects were galvanizing for their time.
Yeah, I'm not saying delete the synthesizer entirely - but the whole soundtrack is synthesizer!
There's not a note of music (outside of Moog-type noise) to set the scenes or enhance the mood.

The movie is so good that a little John Williams style music would really help enhance the tension, romance, humor, tragedy and excitement of various scenes.

The lack of music in the film really makes me realize how important background music is to films.



Sheridan is very adept at moving a story along towards what are usually strong denouements and this is no exception. I don't know if Jolie was the right person to cast as Hannah but she does okay because it's the supporting cast who does most of the heavy lifting. Little, Bernthal and especially Senghore are the ones who end up selling this. And at the very least Sheridan is making progress with his female leads. Hannah ultimately takes care of business with no patriarchal figure looking over her shoulder.

80/100
I quite liked it as well. As you say, the supporting cast are really great. I really liked how all of the characters we're rooting for are given a moment to step up in their own way, even if it doesn't always end well for them. I thought that the action flowed really well and, like you said, led up to a strong finish.



Speaking of Sheridan, is Yellowstone any good?
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I forgot the opening line.

By May be found at the following website: IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13992331

Charlie Wilson's War - (2007)

Gust Avrakotos: There's a little boy and on his 14th birthday he gets a horse... and everybody in the village says, "how wonderful. The boy got a horse" And the Zen master says, "we'll see." Two years later, the boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg, and everyone in the village says, "How terrible." And the Zen master says, "We'll see." Then, a war breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight... except the boy can't cause his legs all messed up. and everybody in the village says, "How wonderful."

Charlie Wilson: Now the Zen master says, "We'll see."
The United States was just in the "how wonderful" phase of everything. The mujahideen had just ejected the Soviets from Afghanistan - but only after Congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) sees the benefit in helping the Afghans do this. He ups the covert budget from $5 million to $1 billion, sends weapons capable of destroying Soviet planes, helicopters and tanks, and basks in the glory of helping America win the Cold War. Of course, later on down the track, the United States would get to the "how terrible" phase of Middle East involvement and history. Philip Seymour Hoffman (I miss him more than any other departed actor) is fantastic as rogue CIA man Gust Avrakotos. I don't know why I'd never gotten around to watching this Mike Nichols film before - but I'm glad I did. It's a top rate movie and I loved it.

8/10
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Latest Review : Le Circle Rouge (1970)



I know what you mean. But the electronic score for the film was very impressive and distinctive when the picture came out in 1956. The composers used electronic machinery that they constructed themselves. Their score predated the Moog by a number of years.

I loved that film, and it left a lasting impression on me. Some of the set designs and the special effects were galvanizing for their time.
Forbidden Planet was a pretty good movie, I just feel that its take on Science-Fiction can't help but feel rather dated, particularly in how much hand-holdy exposition there was; I mean, the sequence where they're exploring the bowels of the planet is literally nothing but fifteen minutes of Dr. Morbius demonstrating and explaining each piece of Krell technology to us, when I think witnessing Nielsen explore it at least a little bit for himself first would've added so much more wonder to that part of the movie.



Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

I've always disliked the Ouija board as a trope in horror, and the only reason I watched this was Mike Flanagan. It looks and plays like a TV movie, and it's a mess wasting a decent cast. I sort of liked the last scene (not the one after the credits, which was totally unnecessary, but the last real scene of the film) and there's maybe a half-a-star for that alone. Yeah, it's a pretty bad film.

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Don't Breathe (2016)

Another crappy horror in a row. For some unknown reason, this one has lots of good reviews, but in reality, it's just another clone of the robbery/home invasion gone wrong. Despite all the efforts to convince the viewer otherwise, I was rooting for the blind man all the way to the end. Surprisingly long 88 minutes.
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Boldly going.
Venom Let There Be Carnage
7/10.
I liked this sequel better than the original. The best part is the hilarious banter (and even physicality) between the odd couple of Brock and Venom. I thought Woody Harrelson did a pretty good job as the psychopath Carnage. However, If they do a third movie, I hope they do something other than symbiotes fighting each other.



Hell Or High Water 2016*

Nice movie, well executed, Chris Pine is beautiful in this... and memorable.. he should rough it up more often. Foster and Bridges are predictably as terrific as ever. Love the scene where Foster takes on the entire townsfolk mob .. hilarious and loved the ending.



Victim of The Night
Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)

I've always disliked the Ouija board as a trope in horror, and the only reason I watched this was Mike Flanagan. It looks and plays like a TV movie, and it's a mess wasting a decent cast. I sort of liked the last scene (not the one after the credits, which was totally unnecessary, but the last real scene of the film) and there's maybe a half-a-star for that alone. Yeah, it's a pretty bad film.
I didn't necessarily feel like it was "bad" per se but this is the one that everyone told me was actually good in that series and, after watching it, I could not fathom why they would say that. It seemed a by-the-numbers contemporary Creepy-Kid Movie and I found it more dislikable than likable. I don't think it was incompetent or anything just kinda lame.



Wait, the new Ghostbusters doesn't suck?



Wait, the new Ghostbusters doesn't suck?
Nope. Thoroughly charming and heartfelt love letter to the original, Amblin films, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman.

With the occasional intrusive studio note to force an “I remember that!”




No Time to Die (2021)

This is an unfortunate semi-sluggish whale of a film, with periods of finger-drumming indifference from the viewer, separated by some impressive chase and special effects scenes. The overall tone of the story felt like an inept requiem for Daniel Craig’s Bond. The picture was overly long, with 30 minutes that could have easily been cut out without any loss to the story.

It can be said that most of the production elements were first rate, with excellent cinematography by Linus Sandgren, keen editing by Tom Cross and Elliot Graham, and a competent music score by Hans Zimmer. As usual, most of the settings were exotic and appealing.

The acting was also good, but for the glaring miscasting of Lashana Lynch as 007’s temporary replacement. Rami Malek added star power to the film, yet his Mr. Robot ogling and cheesy vitiligo face make-up were not enough to exude wanton depravity. Previous Bond villains were far more threatening. Lea Seydoux was workmanlike in her performance, but did not show the allure she exhibited in Spectre. In fact the chemistry between she and Craig was semi superficial and inferior to their attraction in the earlier film.

It was the writing that was shockingly mediocre. It’s a toss up whether it was the story or the melodramatic dialogue which was worse. The story itself wasn’t too far off in style from some of the earlier Bond films, and might have been palatable were it not for the hammy dialogue, especially in the love scenes, which bordered on camp. Some reviewers have rhapsodized about Bond’s scenes of tenderness and introspection, but in my view his occasional histrionics --although well acted-- felt phony, artificial, and self-serving to a script that was designed to build emotion for the inevitable ending.

Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Director Cary Fukunaga were credited as story writers, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge added to the screenplay, writing along with the others. Purvis and Wade have been the writers on the past six Bond films, so they ought to be a reliable team. Whether it was the input from the other two that weakened the writing, or whether it was the case of too many opinions and re-writes involved remains to be seen. Reportedly Danny Boyle was originally hired to direct and co-write but left due to creative differences. One wonders if the script and filming would have been tighter with Boyle at the helm. Evidently Fukunaga was hired quickly in order to meet contractual arrangements. He became the first American director in an Eon Productions Bond film. Sam Mendes did not want to direct a third Bond film.

Since shifting the nature of the 007 films to the more serious and determined Bond of Daniel Craig, most of the high jinx, humor and campiness of the earlier pictures were cast aside to favor more dramatic stories rising above all the razzmatazz, chases, and shoot outs. But once the stories enter the realm of drama, there is a much higher bar in terms of acceptance and believability. In the case of the Bond franchise they’re treading perilously close to being pulled away from their decades highly popular stylish format toward overly wrought boy/girl entanglements, political correctness, and melodramatic sensitivity.


Daniel Craig has been a dynamic force as 007. Yet despite his excellent physical conditioning he has gotten a little long in the tooth, so he was smart to bow out on top. There will certainly be more Bond films. We hope that they’ll right the ship and add more classic quality 007 spy action yarns to the series.

Doc’s rating: 5/10



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”
Wait, the new Ghostbusters doesn't suck?
Nope. Thoroughly charming and heartfelt love letter to the original, Amblin films, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman.

With the occasional intrusive studio note to force an “I remember that!”
🙄



Nope. Thoroughly charming and heartfelt love letter to the original, Amblin films, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman.

With the occasional intrusive studio note to force an “I remember that!”

Was one of those moments in reference to


WARNING: spoilers below
Dan Aykroyd's ghost beej?



Was one of those moments in reference to


WARNING: spoilers below
Dan Aykroyd's ghost beej?
I said studio notes. Not MKS notes.



I said studio notes. Not MKS notes.

Was there at least a creepy Dan Aykroyd wink when Ray Parker Jr. sings the line "Bustin' makes me feel good"?


You know, for the fans.






Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) - Second Jean Cocteau film I've watched after Orpheus. He does a surprisingly effective job of interpreting the fantastical aspects of the 1757 fairy tale. Surprising because this was shortly after WWII ended (1946) and there were myriad obstacles to overcome including a scarcity of film stock and frequent power outages. Fabric was in such short supply that when the film crew arrived at the film set each morning they'd often find out that someone had stolen the set's sheets and curtains. But Cocteau not only persevered he also improvised to great effect the Beast's enchanted castle with it's disembodied candelabra and living statuary and carvings.

Belle (Josette Day) lives with her father (Marcel André), her two avaricious sisters, Félicie (Mila Parély) and Adélaïde (Nane Germon) and her well meaning but still-a-lunkhead brother Ludovic (Michel Auclair). Ludovic's wastrel friend Avenant (Jean Marais) hangs around and tries to woo Belle to no great effect. The family fortune has disappeared along with her father's ships, which were lost at sea. One day he receives news that one of his ships has been found and has arrived at the port but unbeknowst to him his son Ludovic has signed a contract with a usurer that allows the moneylender to sue his father for damages if he cannot repay the loan. His father travels to the port but additional creditors have already seized his goods. Before he left he had asked his daughters what he could bring them when he returned and Belle had asked for a single rose.

On the way home the father gets lost in the dark woods but stumbles on the Beast's enchanted castle. The gates and doors open of their own accord and the floating candelabras and fully laden dining table welcome the tired man but the host is nowhere to be found. Upon waking in the morning he flees the castle but, remembering his promise to Belle, he stops to pluck a single rose. The Beast (also played by Jean Marais) appears out of nowhere and informs him that, even though he was welcome to anything in his home, the only things he was forbidden to touch were his roses. And that the penalty for this transgression was death. He tells the man he can go if one of his daughters takes his place, then offers him his white horse Magnificent, telling him to use a special phrase and the horse will take him wherever he wants to go.

After arriving home and relating the fantastical tale Rose blames herself and volunteers to take his place. He won't hear of it so she sneaks away in the middle of the night on Magnificent. Thus begins the the peculiar but effective courtship between the hirsute suitor (hirsuitor?) and the unassuming young woman. And that's how hundreds (if not thousands) of erotic fan fictions came to be. But with two greedy and conniving sisters, a dimbulb brother and a jilted suitor still at home there is of course remaining treachery afoot and it's handled with aplomb by Cocteau and cast. I did however find the recognizable ending strangely unsatisfying and borderline farcical which, as it turns out, was part of Cocteau's plan all along. So for once my intrinsic cynicism was in line with a directors intent.

90/100