Revenge of the Baby-Sat
I realize, after going over old entries to tag them (I'm now back to early 2006), that I have neglected my film capsule (or sometimes longer) reviews. Here are a couple from recent viewings, for the heck of it (I now post capsule reviews on Facebook/Flixster).
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I also realize my readership is way down from where it used to be. Granted, my life was at one point much steamier, sexier, even funnier, than it is now. I promise to bring that back very soon. I can feel the old urges and the new me coming, in ways I haven't since, well, 2006, really.
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Alexandre Dumas (or as I call him, Alexander Dumbass), like Victor Hugo, produced incredibly cinematic if not extremely readable literature, and the 2002 film The Count of Monte Cristo is a good example of how a good story can be well shot and well told on the big screen with minimal effects other than natural beauty and fine performances, especially from Richard Harris, in one of his last roles. I'm not too familiar with the book, but the film misses a chance to show the ugly side of revenge, as noted in a spoof episode of The Simpsons. Jim Caveizel is a stirring actor, even if I feel he jumped the shark by starring in Mel Gibson's project d'ego The Passion of the Christ, and of course Guy Pearce is one of the fine batch of Aussie imports that so often grace our screens nowadays, even if his role in this film is a bit stunted.
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I somehow gathered the notion that Hitchcock was a master of horror, not suspense, until I took the fabulous and famous Hitchcock symposium in college. One of the only Hitchcock films we did not watch in that course was To Catch a Thief. On a recent viewing with my parents and yes, even Emma, I found it one of Hitch's funniest, with a great and steamy script, fun acting, and heist appeal. Grace Kelly was just so cruelly gorgeous, and Cary Grant was certainly up for a bit of fun, and it shows. I found it had a bit of a lackluster denoument and was mysteriously devoid of suspense, especially since my parents (who hadn't seen it but were guessing) gave away the ending!
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The Count of Monte Cristo: B+
To Catch a Thief: A-
.
I also realize my readership is way down from where it used to be. Granted, my life was at one point much steamier, sexier, even funnier, than it is now. I promise to bring that back very soon. I can feel the old urges and the new me coming, in ways I haven't since, well, 2006, really.
.
Alexandre Dumas (or as I call him, Alexander Dumbass), like Victor Hugo, produced incredibly cinematic if not extremely readable literature, and the 2002 film The Count of Monte Cristo is a good example of how a good story can be well shot and well told on the big screen with minimal effects other than natural beauty and fine performances, especially from Richard Harris, in one of his last roles. I'm not too familiar with the book, but the film misses a chance to show the ugly side of revenge, as noted in a spoof episode of The Simpsons. Jim Caveizel is a stirring actor, even if I feel he jumped the shark by starring in Mel Gibson's project d'ego The Passion of the Christ, and of course Guy Pearce is one of the fine batch of Aussie imports that so often grace our screens nowadays, even if his role in this film is a bit stunted.
.
I somehow gathered the notion that Hitchcock was a master of horror, not suspense, until I took the fabulous and famous Hitchcock symposium in college. One of the only Hitchcock films we did not watch in that course was To Catch a Thief. On a recent viewing with my parents and yes, even Emma, I found it one of Hitch's funniest, with a great and steamy script, fun acting, and heist appeal. Grace Kelly was just so cruelly gorgeous, and Cary Grant was certainly up for a bit of fun, and it shows. I found it had a bit of a lackluster denoument and was mysteriously devoid of suspense, especially since my parents (who hadn't seen it but were guessing) gave away the ending!
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The Count of Monte Cristo: B+
To Catch a Thief: A-