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And I also really like Notorious (1946). One of Hitchcock's best I think.
The hero's initial ambivalence towards the heroine and her inexperience are somewhat similar in both CR & the Hitchcock film, but I prefer that they both survive in Notorious.
The November Man
Christ, this movie shows so much promise. While many of the spy films I can recall coming out in the last couple of years outside of Bond and Mission: Impossible seem to be forgettable or not worth checking out, The November Man makes me hope that Pierce returns in a series of these films soon. It is well shot and choreographed in its action, but beyond looking "cool," it also carries messages, has fully formed characters and makes you question morality in interesting ways that others in its genre haven't for a long time.
Watching Pierce act in this made me so angry he didn't get to play this kind of spy in his Bond films, a man who often doesn't feel too far removed from Fleming's Bond post-OHMSS. His character is a spy who's been in the job for a long time and knows the rules of the game and what you do and don't do, but he's saddled by a young protege who doesn't seem to understand just what kind of hard business they're in and the responsibility they have to duty.
A complex and layered plot unfolds where Pierce's ex-spy is brought back into the center of a heavy conspiracy involving a Russian president to be and a group of innocent refugees cruelly stomped on by a nasty conflict the Ruskie had ties with. In the middle of all this, Pierce's character finds himself thrown into the mess not knowing its full scope just as his old protege and he clash over the way they feel their job should be done, resulting in a lot of tension and cross words between them.
Pierce gets to really play with the material here as a spy who has had his fair share of trouble in life and is just trying to get through his work to survive. He's a man who tells his operatives not to be connected, not to slip and get lost in romances that enemies could use against them, but there's a sense that he might not follow his own advice. He's a complicated and rich man, a blunt instrument who feigns coldness but realizes at the same time that you can't lose that vital appreciation for humanity and sentiment that makes you know your limits and where you draw the line, even as a trained killer. There's one scene in this movie that is possibly my favorite scene I've ever seen Pierce act where his character does something bad for a good, heavily layered reason, but I'll say no more so as not to spoil it (you'll know it when you see it).
The movie is really well produced, with cracking action, strong suspense and really clever mystery. Thinks about the plot are revealed to you subtly through the performances of the actors and the clues the story gives you, so that over time you can put the pieces together along with the characters and even sometimes before they do when you see things they can't. All of it leads to great moments of conflict that comes together to form a sharp and smart spy thriller with a surprising amount of humanity and meaning.
Pierce is wonderful, getting to do some absolutely nuts stunts and is given free reign to let out his inner bastard as he thinks twelve steps ahead to sabotage his enemies. His spy is a hard man, but he only acts against those who are truly depraved, never seeking to harm innocents. Olga Kurylenko is a delight, playing a layered and rich character that feels natural and fully formed. Luke Bracey stars as the protege of Pierce's spy character, and while he's one of the lesser parts of the film in comparison to the other performances, his slight weaknesses don't stall the film.
All in all it's a film I'd advise anyone to check out if you ever wake up at night wishing Pierce got to play Bond in more of the vein that Daniel Craig is playing him now. There's times where I watch this movie and am able to imagine Pierce's character as an aged, nearly out of the game James Bond who has tried to move on from MI6 to a quieter life. It's not a hard leap to make, as the film gives Pierce a lot of depth to work with.
He would have blown us all away in a Casino Royale adaption that suited him.
All the building jumping and running stuff doesn't make CR as great as it is.
QOS could have been a proper revenge film with a Brosnan on fire.
Anyway, I usually don't "regret" how things played out in this franchise.
But Brosnan should have been Bond up to the 50th Anniversary and then he could have resigned. We would have been spared that reboot nonsense.
A biological accident in a lab, turns a scientist into a hideously deformed, blood thirsty monster. The shambling, snarling monster takes to the streets and begins attacking anyone unfortunate enough to cross it's path. Thankfully a police detective, Captain Kirk (Warbeck), and scientist, Jane Blake (Janet Agren) are on hand to hunt the monster down. Warbeck and Agren work well together, which might explain how they were reunited 6 years later for the ultra trashy, Ratman.
A quick look at the IMDB page shows that I enjoyed this film more than most. But i'd chalk that up to Warbeck's rugged action man image, making the film more watchable that it might've been otherwise.
The Protector (2005)
One of the most brutal and badass action films I can think of. Tony Jaa is a force to be reckoned with, and just for the single-shot restaurant fight, the ware-house fight and the bone crushing sequence, this film is worth seeing again and again. This and Ong-Bak are some of the best examples that Asia is totally destroying Hollywood in terms of action films.
Saltzman's spy movie venture on his own, and a pretty enjoyable counterpoint to the Bond movies. Michael Caine and Nigel Green are brilliant in their parts, and we have an awesome John Barry score, Peter Hunt editing (and directing?) and Ken Adam at his most minimalistic. But the thing I enjoyed the most is that outstanding and eerie camera work by Otto Heller, using a cold and faded colour palette like he did on Ladykillers and Peeping Tom. Very satisfying.
I miss the cynical end of the novel, though. The movie ends too abruptly IMHO.
Tonight I continued my viewing of the classics. Shamefully, I have not seen this famous film before, and I realize now what a mistake that was. This truly is an outstanding effort, and fully deserves its 97% RT rating. It's impressive not only due to its sheer simplicity, but also due to the incredible performances from its lead actors and for the heartbreaking, doomed romance at the centre of it. I now finally know the source of some well known cultural phrases as well as a famous song, & also fully understand why Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart are considered icons. This is the third film I've seen Ms. Bergman in over the past 3 days, starting with the most recent Indiscreet, then moving onto the earlier Notorious and now finishing with the earliest of the three. This is easily the best of the bunch. I found it quite difficult to keep my eyes off her here and longed for every moment she was on screen during the film just so I could gaze at her and marvel at her acting. She really was something. She has said that she didn't think too highly of her performance as Ilsa Lund in this film in comparison to other efforts, but she was wrong in my view. Bogey does a splendid job showing us the sorrow that eats away at Rick Laine's wretched heart, but also his nobility. There are great supporting turns by Paul Henreid as Ilsa's husband Viktor Laslo and Claude Rains as Captain Louis Renault. The film is surprisingly relevant today, given the hordes of refugees fleeing war torn Syria and Africa for Europe. Now instead of overpaying in Casablanca for 'letters of transit' to get them to the promised land, they pay smugglers to take them on overcrowded boats across the Aegean, sometimes to their death. I think one of this film's great achievements is that it doesn't make the romance underlying the film cheesy or schmaltzy. Rather, it remains an emotionally resonant element in a highly intriguing story of courage and resilience.
PS: Fellow Swede Rebecca Ferguson said that she channeled elements of Ingrid Bergman (most notably her gracefulness) for her character (perhaps not coincidentally also named Ilsa) in 2015's superb MI-RN. I can see the similarities.
It warms my heart you love Tony Jaa.
Tom yum goong (Protector) I find even more amazing than Ong-Bak.
Ong-Bak II was ok as well, III just disappointing.
Overall I had so much hope in Jaa becoming a total legend. Sadly he made all the wrong choices later.
Have you seen Tom yum goong 2 by any chance? I haven't, another disappointment would kill me, so I'll be interested to know if it's ok-ish like Ong-Bak II or if it's just bad.
Amazingly thoughtful review! Spot-on! =D>
Very seldom has a movie ever been as equal in wit, passion, romance, suspense, grace and sacrifice as this one. It's so many genres rolled into one film, with some of the most memorable moments in cinema coming in what feels like every scene. For a film whose script was still being worked on right before pivotal scenes, it's shocking how much of a classic came out of it. There's moments in it that will always get tears rolling for me, and the performances are just grand and so layered with honesty. It was the film that began my love affair with Humphrey Bogart, and Ingrid Bergman is the very definition of grace. I also defy anyone to find a better lovable rogue than Claude Rains' Renault; good luck.
It's funny you mention Rebecca Ferguson being inspired by Bergman, as they are both Stockholm born artists. I'm sure that Rebecca spent her whole life hearing about Ingrid and grew up watching her films, inspired by what she saw from a woman who "made it" coming out of the very place she was then living in.
If you liked Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon is required watching for you next, if you haven't seen it. Some of those who appear in this movie are in it, including Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in some of the greatest character roles in cinema history as they share some truly explosion dialogues. It's the end-all-be-all film noir, the movie that kicked off the genre that we now know by the name. Like Casablanca it's just one of those films that carried ripples after it came out, and is now the very definition of classic with many famous lines and scenes to its name.
@0BradyM0Bondfanatic7, I've not watched Citizen Kane. It's on my list to get to as I know it's normally considered the best film of all, but like you I don't see it surpassing my experience of Casablanca. I will definitely seek out The Maltese Falcon. I have heard of it, but haven't seen it.
@Birdleson, I will try to get a copy of Autumn Sonata. I have already ordered Spellbound to get more of young Bergman in my favourite genre.
Ex Machina (2015)
Having just watched one Swedish female Oscar winner in action, I decided to see another, and so put in this recently purchased sci-fi thriller, starring Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaacs, Domhnall Gleeson & Sonoya Mizuno. Made on a reported shoestring budget of $15m, it has a very stylish, high tech and sophisticated look. Vikander plays Ava, a stunning AI android, created by reclusive & eccentric billionaire Nathan Bateman (played by Isaac), CEO of BlueBook, an internet search giant. Gleeson plays Caleb Smith, a young programmer working for BlueBook, who wins an employee lottery to perform a sort of 'Turing test' on Ava, to determine if she is in fact 'intelligent'. He is whisked away to Bateman's hideaway residence. During their one on one interactions, Ava throws the geeky Caleb off balance several times, and at times seems to be effectively flirting with and seducing him. Is this by design? What's her eventual goal? The film raises some interesting & topical questions regarding AI (given how prevalent it is about to become in our society), about possible future objectification of androids, and also about their effect on humans personally. It's quite talky and philosophical at times, but very clinically stylish. Vikander is in top form as the vulnerable but intensely canny Ava, as is Isaac as the slightly off kilter & somewhat sociopathic multi-billionaire.
The Third Man can't even be described properly, it's just beyond words. I watched it last Autumn or Summer and was totally sucked in the film. Also the HD transfer is outta this world...
My favorite of those is Citizen Kane (1941), which I absolutely love. I like Casablanca (1942). I actually wasn't as crazy about The Maltese Falcon (1941) as I expected to be. Might give it a rewatch.
I would put Howard Hawks The Big Sleep amongst those classics.
The Thing 2011
Sudden Impact
I have got a boxset with all the movies from this series and some are lesser, but they are so much fun due to the chemistry between Hope & Crosby.
Speak for yourself.
I've only seen Ong-Bak 1, The Protector 1 and Furious 7 from Tony Jaa's filmography. But I am going to see xXx: Return of Xander Cage with him, Donnie Yen and Vin Diesel in 10 days.
Silly but entertaining, with a great turn from Blake Lively as a surfer trapped on a rock 200 yards from safety by a huge Shark.
Strains the credibility factor as it goes along but it's never boring and lively really does look good in a bikini!
The CG shark looks exactly like a CG shark most of the time except in some of the overhead shots of it circling the rock.
The Shark in Jaws may have looked fake some of the time but at least it was there. I never get the feeling with most CGI creations that it's anything more than animated pixels. Not seeing the Shark at all would have been preferable.
Still worth a look though.
A great movie. Loved every bit of it, from the references used to the characters (even if they seemed to step out from a RPG module) to the final action sequence to Michael Giacchino's music that complemented them so well (get this guy for Bond 25 !). And the very last scene brought a tear to my eye. Will definitely buy the Blu-Ray