I saw it to day Hedy made this film while in dispute with Louis b Mayer over parts, billing, and her wartime work-.as she was his highest paid star at 7500 a week he felt he owned her- as we now know she was highly intelligent and would not be shoved around.She had been set for Gaslight and Mayer decided to bill what was nearly has- been Boyer over her- she walked. Bergman never popular with film crew took over the camera man disappointed manages to make Bergman's nose look enormous . lord knows why she got an Oscar the best she does look is dazed- Angela Lansbury is the best thing in the picture.so hedy did experiment to prove she could have done as well and she does- this most sensual of actors manages to look innocent and confused. it might all be preposterous but she looks great and is as good as the much overrated Bergman who walks around like scrum half- terrorized by Charles Boyer come on. hedy never really got her due but as it turns out fame is an odd creature and now hedy is more famous than ever while Bergman in merely known for Casablanca. what was behind hedys passive stare disdain ,as she is now accepted as one the top physicists of the 20th c and affects all our lives through WiFi blue tooth even the shape of air craft wings- she might have lost temporarily the fame game but in the end fame has reclaimed her to place her among the immortals where beauty is perfectly balanced with intelligence
Reviews
11 Reviews
High Society
(1956)
not so hot
12 May 2018
First the good- Louis Armstrong-the grace Kelly and frank Sinatra your sensational number a convincing flirtation.grace Kelly was lot more attractive and less irritating than Katherine Hepburn in the 1940 film. the rest- Bing ludicrous as the ex suitor- looked old enough to be her grandpa. john lund twice as attractive made you wonder why she had a pensioner fixation Instead.Frank Sinatra with black hair looking like a left over from the munsters sang well enough but wasn't convincing. as a newspaper hack -then there was the always middle aged Celeste Holm in girly dresses looking like Sinatra's ma- finally there was father figure looking like serial killer, top that up with awful colour and ghastly sets- the garden was particularly awful.As it was Kelly's last film she looked as though she was already the true princess she became- .there was sense of her being above the whole dreary caper . all in all flat champagne with a plausible title change from high society to slumming it
Singin' in the Rain
(1952)
dancing is great
18 March 2018
Firstly the dancing is terrific Kelly's show stopper singing the rain but cyd charisse does it for most of men in e audience ,it catapulted her into top stardom-Donald o Connor is great too -Debbie is Debbie that being said the plot is very uncomfortable-40 year old man chasing a teenager while dumping his co-star is Kelly at his misogynistic worst. hes played this i 'm so irresistible guy in most of his movies stealing his best friends girls etc- women as chattels- the victim this time is Jean Hagen -Lina Lamont dim and exploited ,then humiliated well great- when i was kid i felt sorry for lina-I still do- the final calumny the beautiful girls number- jimmy Thompson not being given a credit -asked many years later why not Thompson said that is Gene for you and shrugged
Balalaika
(1939)
Massey was a star
16 July 2013
Why this wasn't more successful is a mystery. It had good tunes great sets, marvellous supporting cast so what was the problem. Nelson Eddy was in fine voice and wore the Russian costumes well, so we come to Illona Massey .It beggars belief that Massey didn't become a bigger star. It shows what glut of talent there was at Metro at the time.Also she wasn't Jeanete Macdonald the public wanted her and Eddy together his liasons with Massey seemed like adultery to the fans. However lets examine here case ,she was lot sexier that Macdonald- Hollywood has never been good at handling real sexiness ,it was falsified and made safe by Lana turner etc, Massey was womanly in its best sense she also looked like a man-eater and that alienated women and frightened men .To describe her as an opulent blonde is an understatement. Not only was she stunning to look at but could sing as well as Macdonald and was streets ahead of the over sweet shrillness of Kathryn Grayson and Jane Powell. MGM kept Massey on long leash in case Macdonald became troublesome. Massey resurfaced gloriously in holiday in Mexico making Walter Pidgeon smoulder in way he he never did with Greer.Massey finally achieved some sort of immortality in Love Happy as the uber voluptuous madam Engelich delivering the first recorded whammy to an overwhelmed Harpo Marx .Something she was also delivering to the men in the audience who wisely didn't let their wives find out.Massey was as delicious as a box of glacé fruits shame on Hollywood for being stingy with such a mouth watering treat
Immortals
(2011)
ghastly
16 November 2011
the film i saw was the musketeers a masterpiece by comparison marvellous effects etc .immortals hasn't a scrap of originality, the sets were awful, no wonder the gods were fed up, Olympus looked like a garden centre. The acting was terrible, Henry Cavill was hopeless, musclebound and brainless, Freda pinto looked plain acted like a zombie- what happened to the beautiful vibrant latika .This was bad in every department, awful colour, hokey effects a ghastly acronistic script, the fact that this movie has had some success in north America makes you question American taste buds yet again - don't waste your money on this tosh
The Three Musketeers
(2011)
loved it
16 October 2011
went expecting little , but it rattled along no dull moments or pauses the interiors and costumes stunning. Orlando Bloom needs a medal for being able to wear outrageous costumes with such panache. the air ship crash on notre dame show stopping , the final sequence a knockout. more fun than the last pirates, the cast looked fresh seemed to be enjoying themselves- loved this take on the three musketeers, hope there's a sequel Buckingham's revenge perhaps. this never set out to please the critics, 'im sick of Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan being shoved at us. we go the movies to be taken out of ourselves in troubled times and this does it . for once the colour is strong and vibrant for a change, a feast for the eyes if not the intellect, but who cares sit back and enjoy.
Saratoga Trunk
(1945)
i'm a non believer
4 January 2011
this film is full of grotesques with nothing more demeaning ever than flora Robson's blacking up ,what was that all about. Ingrid Bergman is one of those actresses your supposed to like no matter what she does .well i just don't buy her creole seductress.in the black wig the over rouged mouth she gives good impression of what Hedy lamarr might have looked like if shed been cast which she was but mayer wouldn't lend her . Hedy had smoulder Ingrid was always too sanitised . Gary copper acting style has dated his underplaying now looks like a familiar set of mannerisms .there's something rancid about this movie. it wasn't released for two years and didn't do as well as was expected .Bergman's penchant to grab everything, play everything ,is exposed in this movie for what it is -an actress of high ambition out of her depths .Bergman was good but mainly when she played Ingrid Bergman- endless repetitions of intermezzo scream at me if you like i'm a non believer and this film is a dud
Angels & Demons
(2009)
awful casting
16 May 2010
not only is the story absurd the performances matched it in every way. tom hanks looks nothing like professor the wussy voice the blank expression, the nonsense where the clues are left until the final denouement is a test of tolerance if not intelligence .like the DA vinci code the plot is ridiculous full of holes Agatha Christie managed it better. then we come to Ewan MacGregor. why does this one note actor get so many movies ,increasigly un-photogenic, stuck with a toneless voice he was totally useless as the priest. if the film stood any chance at all it vanished once MacGregor was cast. hes now brought his baleful presence to the ghost writer. i just don't get why directors want to use him for if he was pretty boy there'd be an excuse. the best part of the film was the tour of rome and the reconstruction of the Vatican interiors rightly the church authorities refused to co -operate. badly acted an insult to crediblity i wish i'd saved my cash.
Kingdom of Heaven
(2005)
kingdom real heaven
18 December 2006
Kingdom Of Heaven has to be the most underrated of 2005 the sets, the costumes and the acting were perfect in evoking the 12th century and its theme of redemption.yet no Oscars for art direction or anything else. the evocation of Jerusalem was a breathtaking vision of what you hoped might have been ,the clothes and interiors and oriental artists dream. yet the box office was only moderate in north America though elsewhere strong. this affected the Oscar out come though the lack of nominations was a disgrace. Orlando Blooms performance as an ordinary man adjusting to his new found role as a knight and aristocrat was perfectly judged. the hard time he had from critics was to expect a preposterous Russell Crowe display in a part that required reflection and subtlety.Bloom is a highly under appreciated actor who in habits his role becomes them without tricks and artifice, his command of his role as Balian is first rate when compared to Colin Farrel and Clive Owen in similar roles Bloom also looks the part when others don't the connection between Bloom and Eva Green was electric yet understated, their eating together scene the most erotic of the year. the story one of redemption rather than revenge is a lot harder to pull off but the movie is multi layered compared to a gladiator .the bombardment of Jerusalem is of such quality that i think we will not see its like again .if there are quibbles it is the length of the movie and the score which failed to deliver when Balian makes his big speech.also as piece if history it is flawed Balian was aristocratic from birth and much more noble than Saladin in real life. the restored version of this movie incidentally despite poor box office in the U S it had robust DVD sales, is a masterpiece as good as Spartacus and better than any of its rivals Bloom deserves some belated credit for this making it his movie when he might have been swamped and wasn't by Irons and Neesome his performance was judged best of the year in Berlin film awards so it wasn't entirely in vain. i hope critics will take look at this again appreciate its visual magic and the performance of Bloom at its heart. the problem probably lies in a Blooms flawless good looks but then when did Male actor in his prime ever win an Oscar
Sebastiane
(1976)
sebastiane
6 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
as a piece of homo erotica ,it has never been surpassed simply because of its restraint , like all things the unspoken is stronger than the graphic,had Sebastian been raped everything would have been lost ,it is an examination of unrequited love and having the willpower to resist yet the Sebastian character ,leonardo treviglio perfectly cast for his sumptuous body ,seems to invite his fate by flaunting himself naked in front of the lust struck commander. The beautiful body of Sebastian in fact is the engine for this whole tragedy. the camera lingers over every detail of his form in a way that is almost a caress If he resists his would be lovers he does not resist their gaze or the cameras ,Sebastian from the outset separates himself from the rest of the garrison he bathes alone, he is bearded and does not shave his body or conceal his luxuriant pubic hair ,symbolically he is at one with nature and the god he worships.Pain worship is a route to his god that allows him to accept being spreadeagled whipped and sexually assaulted with a combination of pleasure and passivity.the exasperation of all concerned with his sullen separateness leads to his execution ,the execution scene where he is revealed completely naked,his substantantial genitals exposed as he is tied to a stake his arms above his head. This invites the callousness of his fellow soldiers. who take it in turns to injure him firing arrows into his vulnerable nakedness at close range rather than remain anonymous in a single line up,stand back to admire their handiwork as they contemplate the aroows piercing his body before deciding where to aim next Sebastian's response is a combination of passive and erotic posing, as the arrows pierce him his back arches in a sensuous curve, was there ever a more curvaceous male butt than treviglios and shown off in spectacular fashion as his buttocks thrust back against the stake he is bound to, the sensual pleasure he is receiving via his own demise revealed as Sebastian's penis becomes semi tumescent, jarman apparently would have liked this to have been a full erection to show sebatiane's sado masochistic
fulfilment in his own bloody death but the actor was suffering from heat stroke and needed medical attention, the message here is Sebastian got the painful orgasmic end he lusted for the rest of the garrison realising they have put this object of desire of reach stand aghast at what they have done .as a study of the destructive power of love and religion its never been bettered
fulfilment in his own bloody death but the actor was suffering from heat stroke and needed medical attention, the message here is Sebastian got the painful orgasmic end he lusted for the rest of the garrison realising they have put this object of desire of reach stand aghast at what they have done .as a study of the destructive power of love and religion its never been bettered
dead mans chest
19 July 2006
johnny Depp has pulled a fast one ,well jack sparrow would woudn't he having less screen time than his co-stars he comes on does his jack thing then saunters off again leaving Orlando, Keira and Bill Nighy working their butts off to deliver the narrative thread, in fact Orlando is a lot better in this one than the last , the new Tyrone Power maybe, but does he get a favourable mention , not likely , big mistake too at the end the Johhny ,Keira kiss which blew the whole subplot about star cossed lover from child hood, turning elizabeth swan in to a fickle hussy , will turner should cut his losses and head back to voodoo woman pronto, now there's a thought
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