The Music Man with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones: Independence Day movies. Numerous Hollywood musicals have attempted to capture that elusive, reality-averse quality known as “Americana-ness” – e.g., Yankee Doodle Dandy, Meet Me in St. Louis, In the Good Old Summertime, On Moonlight Bay, By…
-
-
John Paul Jones with Robert Stack: 4th of July movies. Although every sign indicates that 2019 is the new 1984, those in the U.S. shouldn’t fret: TCM’s 4th of July movies will transport viewers to the distant past, when there was no climate crisis (or…
-
Detroit movie street riot scene: The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow tackles the 1967 Detroit riots in “horribly real” and “deeply self-serving” 2017 release marketed as a “dramatic thriller.” Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘Detroit’ movie: Horribly real semidocumentary or self-serving Hollywood depiction of…
-
Ronald Colman: Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month in two major 1930s classics Updated: Turner Classic Movies’ July 2017 Star of the Month is Ronald Colman, one of the finest performers of the studio era. On Thursday night, TCM presented five Colman star vehicles…
-
The Great Wall movie with Matt Damon: Awkward-accented British mercenary fights the Taotie in costly Chinese-American collaboration. ‘The Great Wall’ movie: Zhang Yimou-Matt Damon collaboration evidence that – for better or for worse – countries can work together In this divisive age, when countries are…
-
Die Nibelungen: Siegfried: Paul Richter as the tragic dragon-slaying hero of medieval Germanic mythology – with a bit from Homer’s Iliad thrown in. ‘Die Nibelungen’: Enthralling silent classic despite complex plot and countless characters Based on the medieval epic poem Nibelungenlied, itself inspired by the…
-
‘Ben-Hur’ 2016 trailer with Jack Huston: Deadly chariot race in religious epic for the CGI-loving crowd. ‘Ben-Hur’ 2016 trailer: ‘Gladiator’ meets ‘Fast Seven’ meets ‘Star Wars’ meets… Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer have released the trailer for their Ben-Hur 2016 remake (or reboot or readaptation) –…
-
Johnny Depp family movie Finding Neverland. Directed by Marc Forster, and starring Johnny Depp as Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie and Kate Winslet as Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, the audience-friendly, truth-distorting period piece Finding Neverland was the National Board of Review Awards’ Best Film winner. Making…
-
‘The Fixer’ movie cast: Alan Bates, Dirk Bogarde and Ian Holm (background left) in political drama about the persecution of Jews in Czarist Russia. ‘The Fixer’ movie review: 1968 anti-Semitism political drama wrecked by cast, direction and its own good intentions In 1969, director John…
-
Being Julia movie: Annette Bening and Shaun Evans: ‘All About Eve’ with a London setting. ‘Being Julia’ movie review: Annette Bening showcase tells us a little about Avice Being Julia movie antecedents: In Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1950 Oscar-winning classic All About Eve, Bette Davis plays…
-
‘Downfall’ movie with Bruno Ganz: Iconic Adolf Hitler. ‘Downfall’ movie: Overlong and overwrought World War II drama lifted by several memorable performances Oliver Hirschbiegel’s German box office hit Downfall / Der Untergang is a generally engrossing psychological-historical drama whose emotional charge is diluted by excessive…
-
Nicholas and Alexandra movie with Janet Suzman and Michael Jayston. ‘Nicholas and Alexandra’ movie review: Opulent 1971 spectacle lacks emotional core Nicholas and Alexandra is surely one of the most sumptuous film productions ever made. Production designer John Box’s elaborate sets, Yvonne Blake’s equally elaborate…