This blog covers Movies, TV, and other Geeky things...... Movie Reviews (over 3,400 movies rated so far) Countdowns of my top movies by year.... and much more.
This film was actually the second film of 8 Saint Movies that ran from 1938-1943. It was the first to star George Sanders as the title character. Looking back at a bunch of older films starring George Sanders, he is starting to become one of my favorite actors of the 1930's and 1940's. With starring roles in a series of Saint films and also the Falcon series (which I will start doing mini reviews for as well) he has a nice resume. Disney fans will recognize his voice as Shere Khan from The Jungle Book. If James Bond had existed in the 1940's he would be the actor that I would have picked for the role. Which is ironic since Roger Moore got his start as The Saint on tv in the early 60's before he became Bond. Sanders just has a style and elegance about him. He exudes a confidence with every line.
In the Saint Strikes back Simon Templar (AKA The Saint) solves a mystery of a disgraced San Francisco cop. The Saint uses his skills as an ex thief to help figure out the mystery of who actually framed the disgraced cop. A solid little fast paced mystery
The Whistler was a film noir movies series consisting of 8 films in total from 1944-1948 that were released by Columbia Pictures. Each film begins with a mysterious character known as the
Whistler seen as a shadow on the wall serves as a shadowy narrator
of the tales that focus on crime stories. It was originally a radio drama in the 1930's and 1940's. Actor Richard Dix played the
main character in the first 7 movies in which he played a different character
in each film. I was wondering why he
wasn’t in the final filmso I looked up him
up on IMDB and noticed that he had about 100 credits to his name. He died at age 56 shortly after retiring. The 8th film in the series starred Michael Duane as the main character taking over for Dix. When watching some of these old movie series it feels like watching a TV Show, especially with the short running times of barely over an hour.
1. The first film in the series The Whistler from 1944 was directed by William Castle of gimmicky horror movie fame. It features Richard Dix as an Industrialist whose wife was lost at sea that is so filled with guilt that ends up hiring a hit man to kill him. He then finds out his wife is still alive --but is unable to call off the hit because the person he hired the killer from has passed away. He diguises himself as a bum to try and hide from his killer. The movie is basically a cat and mouse tale with Dix character in a panic not knowing who is trying to kill him. Richard Dix plays paranoid well. It was an enjoyable little mystery film- but not one of the best of this series.
You know when you are watching a bunch of cool shows and keep seeing the same actor or actresses over and over again. I decided to start a series for the blog about those actors and actresses. They usually aren't the stars --but you recognize them just the same. I recently watched the cool direct to Netflix series Altered Carbon and one of the main actresses on that series is one of those performers that seems to be in a ton of cool shows in the Sci-Fi genre. After completing Altered Carbon I went back to watching another Sci-Fi show that a co-host of the podcast had recommended The 100. Guess who shows up about half way through the season. Dichen Lachman is developing quite the geek cred resume that when she ever stops acting will keep her busy on the autograph circuit at Cons. Not only was she in Altered Carbons and The 100 -- but also played Skye's mom on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. one of my favorite current network shows. She also appeared previously on another Whedon show, the excellent short lived The Dollhouse which starred Eliza Dushku. She has also appeared on Supergirl for a couple of episodes, The Last Ship for an 8 episode run and Being Human. So the Actor or Actress of the Month with Geek Cred goes to Dichen Lachman.
Murder on the Orient Express is based on the classic novel by Agatha Christie and features the famous detective Hercule Poirot. Kenneth Branagh directs and stars in this remake that also includes the likes of William Dafoe, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Josh Gad, Daisy Ridley and Johnny Depp to name a few of this films all star cast.
The story follows the famous detective aboard the Orient Express when the train runs into an avalanche. One character is killed during the night and the detective must solve the case before the train track is cleared up. The film is excellent in many ways. Kenneth Branagh does a great job as Agatha Christie's famous detective as he interrogates the passengers trying to solve the murder. The cast as mentioned above it stellar. All the actors do a great job. The movie is beautifully shot and does a great job of capturing the look of the 1930's look and style. The scenes of train making its way through the countryside are eye catching. The train itself is gorgeous work of art.
Somehow despite everything that I loved about the film it somehow still feel a little flat. Part of my problem may be a subconscious knowledge of the story (I'm sure I've seen a previous version of the story before or something that was inspired by it). As a result of my knowledge of the basic story --the twist in this murder mystery wasn't a surprise and therefore that portion of the mystery. Not that a murder mystery can't be incredible without a twist (See any Columbo as an example where you know the murder at the beginning of the story). Maybe the fact that there have been so many good murder mysteries that you can see on a weekly basis on TV throughout the years that make a big screen adaptation of an old story less intriguing. Especially when shows like BBC's Sherlock Holmes starring Benedict Cumberbatch can seem as good a films. Maybe the old school Murder Mysteries are more suited to TV these days. I'm currently watching a bunch of old Murder Mysteries I recorded awhile back from the 1940's and I'm enjoying these old films --yet somehow these series feel like watching a TV show.
I would definitely say this is worth a rental. It may be more fun for someone that hasn't heard of seen this tale before.
I finally got around to seeing Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman was a quality comic book film. A much better effort than DC's Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad. It did suffer to a certain extent from being an origin story. I've railed against stuff like this before when a studio spends too much time telling the origin of a character that is pretty much common knowledge at this point. We were already introduced to the character in Batman vs Superman and for some reason DC still felt the need to tell the origins of the character which slowed the film down. We have to wait about an hour and 15 minutes before we actually get to see Wonder Woman being Wonder Woman. When that moment finally arrives in the trenches of World War II she kicks ass and pretty much kicks ass for the rest of the movie.
Gal Gadot does a good job as Wonder Woman, but doesn't really fit the origin of a character with Amazon origins. Her mother and all the other woman from her homeland seemed to better fit the Amazonian warrior look. Chris Pine does a much better job in his role a spy during the war than he does in the role of Captain Kirk in the new Trek films. The two have a job chemistry which is on display early in the film. Wonder Woman arrives to 1940's London and seems more Ariel from the Little Mermaid than Wonder Woman at first until we get to see her in action.
The reason this film works better than the other two DC effort mentioned above is that the script is much stronger. The film has a good mix of comedy and action and the plot isn't a mess like the other DC films. I just wish we could have got to the real action a lot faster .... it almost took too long.
This sequel started off with a bang. The opening action sequence was over the top, exciting, thrilling and super fun to watch. The Kingsman series sits somewhere between Austin Powers and In Like Flynt and Max Helm in tone. It is like a James Bond parody with more extreme cartoon violence. Unlike my podcast co-host who disliked this sequel I enjoyed it. I didn't think it was as good as the first one mainly because the middle section of the film dragged a little and the main plot wasn't as interesting. The Stateman U.S. version was a good concept, but Channing Tatum who was basically a cameo instead of a new main character. If the film could have sustained some of the momentum that it began with it could have been much better.
The over the top action sequences are the best part of these films. The opening car chase was incredible and included a small tribute to the classic Raiders truck scene. The ending sequence that included a showdown in the drug dealer's 1950's town hidden in a Cambodian ruin was totally fun and silly at the same time. There was a giant rolling Donut that they used for cover a la Temple of Doom with the gong. Elton John in a feather outfit in a bowling alley protecting one of the Kingsman from a robot dog. I enjoy the series and would definitely tune in for a third round. Hopefully the third film will have a stronger storyline than this film did. Because this crazy action with the right story could be incredible.
If you enjoyed the original you will probably enjoy this one as well and yet may feel like you were expecting something a little bit more.
Every once in awhile there will be a movie that you just overlooked and when you finally stumble across it is a complete and utter delightful surprise. Birdman was one of those films. I knew that it was supposed to be great, but the subject matter didn't send me running to the theaters or even to put it at the top of my Netflix queue when it came out on DVD. I saw that it was starting on a film channel on TV as I was flipping through channels and set the DVR to record and was very glad that I did. It now sits at near the top of my 2014 movie list which includes films like John Wick and Guardians of the Galaxy.
The movie features a washed up actor that once played an iconic superhero known as Birdman trying to regain his career by directing and starring in a Broadway play The fact that they got Michael Keaton to play the role was brilliant and Keaton absolutely nailed the role. It is likely the best work of his career. The entire cast that includes Edward Norton, Zach Galifanakis, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts was excellent.
The film seems so fresh and original. The film basically roles out as if the whole thing was done in one shot. It follows characters from dressing rooms..... to the hallways backstage....to the stage itself..... and then backstage again.....then out onto the streets of New York and into a bar next door. The film jumped forward in time from the same shot and yet it felt seemless. The cinematography was brilliant. The soundtrack was excellent as well. A drum beat that is both background and then occasionally a part of the actual story as they pass the drummer on the street playing the soundtrack that has been following the characters backstage. I see why this film got so much attention at the Oscars in 2014 - because it was an incredible work out art. I graduated with a degree in film and television, but my movie tastes tend to be in popcorn escapism. This film tapped into my love of the film making process. It was so well crafted that not only did I enjoy what I was seeing --but I also recognized what went into making this film and admired it on that level.
If you overlooked this film like I did I would recommend correcting that and seeing it. It is a work of art.
Bright is basically an Alien Nation remake with an Orc cop instead of an alien. It stars Will Smith in what sounds like a really silly concept. Instead the movie takes itself a lot more serious than one would expect. It is more a serious buddy cop film in which the two cops uncover a dangerous plot by rogue elves to gather up some magic wands in order to bring the dark lord back. It was an interesting concept and is actually a decent film--- but it really would benefited from a lighter and more comic tone. One would it expect it to be in tone similar to Will Smith's Men in Black or at least between that and the TV series G Vs E.
The action scenes in the movie were good and the story was actually interesting. The lack of humor and fun that the film had with it's story is just kind of bewildering. It could have been a lot more fun if just a little bit of humor was injected into the film. It is definitely and odd movie --but probably worth watching if you can buy into the world and embrace the seriousness of a film that one would expect to be lighter in tone.
The trailer for Mute looked interesting. I'd just watched Altered Carbon a Netflix tv show that heavily used the visual style of BladeRunner and for the most part enjoyed it and it's visual look. Mute looked like a movie that would be interesting. The story of a Mute Bartender that seeks out what happened to his girlfriend after she disappears sounds intriguing. It featured Alexander Skarsgard, Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux so it had a good cast.
I was so wrong, I literally had to endure Mute to get to the end. Unfortunately the movie was a just a strange mess. Just because you have flying cars, neon and rain --that doesn't make you Bladerunner.
The murder mystery aspect of the story was incredible dull. A Mute man wandering around a sexually deviant underworld trying to ask questions without being able to talk didn't work. Paul Rudd and Justin Theroux's characters were just odd and at first their scenes just seem like they were put there just to try and have some type of interesting dialogue. They seem to have nothing to do with the main plot at first. It quickly becomes clear early on that somehow they are involved in the disappearance of the Mute bartenders girlfriend. If they aren't the killers then there is no reason for their characters to exist in the story at all. This takes any sense of mystery out of the story. It is apparent from early in the story that the angry Mute (ex amish) bartender is going to have a showdown with them at some point. I also I found the subject matter in this seedy underworld obnoxious. I literally thought about giving up on the movie about an hour into it. I struggled to get to the end.
Apparently it took 16 years for the director Duncan Jones to get this movie made. Maybe there was a reason that it was so difficult to get this movie made, because it was just a difficult watch. I definitely wouldn't recommend this film. So far it is the worst movie I've watched in 2018 (of course the bad shark movies of the summer on Sci-fi haven't come out yet).
