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Comments
Kurylenko was pretty good.
I loved the waiter scene.
The villain was a bit bland. Not too much though.
Indeed they are!
Haven't seen The Spy Who Dumped Me. Might do so eventually.
1. The Pink Panther Strikes Again
2. A Shot in the Dark
3. The Pink Panther
4. Revenge of the Pink Panther
5. Trail of the Pink Panther
6. The Return of the Pink Panther
I must admit, I enjoyed all of these films. I have seen the 2006 reboot and its sequel and didn’t like them. Never seen the three others not starring Sellers, though I’m willing to give Curse of the Pink Panther a shot since it has Roger Moore and David Niven in it.
I would rank Return as one of the best ones, why so low?
Sellers is marvellous, Richard Williams great title sequence and has a thrilling opening robbery set piece!
1. The Return of the Pink Panther
2. Revenge of the Pink Panther
3. The Pink Panther / A Shot in the Dark
4. The Pink Panther Strikes Again
Haven't seen Trail.
I like them all but Strikes Again is a bit dull to me. A bit unsubstantial and Clouseau is by himself for too much of the running time. It does have some brilliant comedic moments, though. The Oktoberfest sequence, Clouseau trying to break into the castle. And a clever Omar Sharif cameo.
The Pink Panther is very different film from those that followed but it's very good. Everybody is solid in the film but the MVP might just be Robert Wagner.
A Shot in the Dark is just as good. George Sanders is a highlight. Perfect straight man to Sellers. (I only recently realized his brother was actor Tom Conway, who also died in somewhat tragic circumstances.)
Revenge is just great fun. I like the villain, Dyan Cannon and the fact Cato has a larger role this time around. Ed Parker is in two of the film's best scenes (love the ending of the office fight scene).
Return is my favorite. Clouseau antics perfectly balanced with the Plummer/Schell plot, which is just as compelling. Everybody is terrific in this film. Plummer is suave, Schell is mischevious (and endearing in how she laughs at Clouseau), Lom is manic, Sellers is Sellers. Favorite moments: the two karate kicks that bookend the film, the bathtub water gag.
Speaking of Niven, I think his absence is the main reason why Return ends up lower for me. Even though I like the film, I miss Niven as The Phantom and I never really warm to Christopher Plummer. Not a bad performance by any means but he does feel a bit too serious for the role, lacking the self-aware and gracious charm of someone like David Niven. Furthermore Return feels visually different from the others. I feel it lacks the style of the rest of the franchise.
Nevertheless, I like every entry featuring Sellers. Just watched Curse of the Pink Panther and even though Herbert Lom, David Niven and Roger Moore deliver fine work, the film is pretty substandard on all other accounts.
Yes, just Star Wars, as it was known for many years when I was growing up. I was born in 1978 and never got to experience the awe of seeing this phenomenon in the theaters. Just about everyone I know who did has this as their favorite Star Wars movie and that was something that always made me take notice. I watched it over and over again on HBO in the early 80's and it never once got old. Watching it today made me think of The Wizard Of Oz, comparisons of Chewbacca to the Cowardly Lion notwithstanding, but mainly as a timeless classic that you can't help but to get swept up into despite some dated effects, naturally.
This was the 2011 blu-ray by the way, but I just ignored the pointless additions that Lucas shoehorned in. Greedo never fired and Jabba is not in this film and that's all I will ever acknowledge. If I'm pressed, I admit that I don't mind the touch ups to the lightsabers, explosions and spaceships but readily admit that this opens Pandora's box. Some changes we accept and others we loathe and we'll never agree on a definitive version. It's clear however that a 4K release of the original 1977 theatrical version is overdue and historically significant. I personally believe that this won't happen until Lucas passes away as no one wants to disrespect the Creator's tinkering.
Anyway, onto the film itself. Everyone and their mother has commented about the opening, but that yellow script climbing up the screen combined with William's music is extraordinary and it's easy to see why they can't get away from it in every subsequent entry. The tiny Rebellion craft vs. the Mighty Empire's Ultra Mega Deluxe Emporium Platinum Edition Starship Version 7.2 is all you need to understand in the first few seconds. It was a brilliant decision to begin the story following the droids. There is something authentic about C-3PO here that unfortunately doesn't resonate in future installments. They tend to get a little too cute with him moving forward. Here his armor is tarnished and it somehow translates to a more human relatability. R2-D2 is perfect as the scrappy counterpart.
All of the cast is perfect actually, which is what you'd expect from one of the greatest films of all time. Hamill's youthful enthusiasm (even if the acting doesn't always match up) really shines through and makes us totally buy into his character as a dreamer. Who could ever forget Luke staring into the twin sunsets amidst Williams' powerful score? Lucas was wise to cast both veteran actors Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing. Their presence carries the film on many occasions. Obi Wan really is akin to Merlin, a truly mysterious wizard before we knew anything about the Force. Tarkin is pitch black and menacing. He is the only one to order Vader around and we totally buy into it.
And then there's Harrison Ford in his breakout role. Who else could have so effortlessly portrayed a shady smuggler with a heart of gold? The chemistry between him and Fisher (and Hamill) is excellent. Solo provides a cynical outsider's look of the Jedi religion that the audience can relate to, which is something that was sorely lacking in the Prequels. You can't help but get caught up in the swashbuckling adventure of rescuing the Princess, even if it does border on the absurd. Could two guys and a wookie really break her out of the universe's most heavily guarded prison? It's still fun though. Plus, Kenobi's sacrifice is quite moving.
I must admit that the dogfight at the end drags a bit for me. However, once Luke gets into the final trench run with Vader chasing and the music blaring, it's remarkable. "Use the Force, Luke." Han Solo's last minute change of heart and Luke's determination and focus give the underdog rebels their biggest and most surprising victory. The celebration at the end is well deserved. Best watch I've had of this film in a long time. TESB has traditionally been my favorite but dare I say that this might challenge it. Embarking on a Star Wars marathon before I tackle my TLJ review and I wanted to do a definitive ranking of them all. Until next time.
To say this film is terrible and insulting is an understatement.
True. Plummer is more serious but unlike in the original Pink Panther, there is a subtly sinister tone, and a sense of danger, to some of his scenes in Return, and he fits into it very well. He is charming and suave but not without humor, and there is a hint of ruthlessness in him which I like. It's Bondian. He acts in that style very well. I haven't seen him in many films from the sixties and seventies, but I hope he got to act in that same style in other films around that era. It would be a shame if he hadn't, in my opinion.
It's certinly a different style from the lighthearted caper of the original film.
7/10?
I like Plummer as an actor and I thought he did fine, but I am a big Niven fan. It’s nice though that the franchise also offers a more sinister entry like Return for the sake of variety.
7/100 ;)
I love Niven as well. I miss his acting style and relaxed, charming persona in films today. But he was not just that, he was a very good actor. He was terrific in his scenes with Gregory Peck in The Guns of Navarone, for example. And he was very good indeed in The Pink Panther.
My favorite Indian actor.
I’m in the process of trying to see a few Oscar nominated films. I generally don’t get to all of them in any given year, because some just don’t interest me, irrespective of how good they may be. Occasionally something may catch my eye, and this was one of those films. While I’m not a big ‘period piece’ fan, I was curious to see it because director Yorgos Lanthimos’s last film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, made an impression on me even though I found it very disturbing. Olivia Coleman is getting most of the buzz for this one as hapless British monarch Queen Anne, but in my opinion both Rachel Weisz (as concubine & confidante Sarah Churchill) & Emma Stone (as Churchill’s wily cousin Abigail, a newcomer to the palace skilled in flattery, who ultimately usurps Sarah as the Queen’s ‘favourite’) are equally as good. Frankly I can’t understand why Coleman received a ‘best actor’ nomination while the other two are classed as ‘supporting’, as they all seem to have equal screen time here. The highlights of the film for me are the aforementioned performances, the wonderful cinematography by Robbie Ryan and the beautiful production design by Fiona Crombie. Ryan in particular does a fantastic job of showcasing Crombie’s majestic interiors, making them almost come alive with a moving camera and unusual angle shots which accentuate their scale. Truth be told, I wasn’t all that impressed with the film itself however. Sure it’s entertaining and witty in places, but for me there’s no getting away from the fact that it's essentially about cruel people trying to curry sexual and political favour, one up the other or benefit from their station. Are there reasons for such behavior? Absolutely, and the film takes care to put the nastiness & insecurity in context with character history. In a way, the aristocratic setting naturally lends itself to snootiness and backstabbing too. The film also has an underlying fashionable feminist tinge combined with a concurrent (and similarly fashionable) almost disdainful dismissal of white male privilege. All of this is perfectly fine - whatever floats your (and the Oscar voter’s) boat. However to my mind it is on the technical level where the film really shines and potentially stands above its competition this year (at least based on what I've seen of contenders to date).
A fine cast is assembled for this dramatisation of the 2015 Hatton Garden robbery. The film itself was ok, but the cast (Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Ray Winstone, Tom Courtney, Michael Gambon and Paul Whitehouse) is the real draw.
The Servant (1963)
Unsettling psychological drama. James Fox's young playboy, Tony, takes in a servant, Barrett, played by Dirk Borgarde. At first, Barrett appears to be the perfect servant, but gradually starts to exhibit a hidden agenda.
Second time watching this film, based on the novel Puppet on a Chain by Alistair MacLean. Swedish actor Sven-Bertil Taube – as known for his music career as his acting career here in Scandinavia, plays U.S special agent Paul Sherman, who travels to Amsterdam to investigate a heroin smuggling ring. It's a low budget affair this, but the film still manages to entertain me on a second viewing. The highlight of the film is no doubt the speed-boat chase, which might have inspired a certain boat chase a couple years later!
It took a few years to finally catch up with it as it was a AA certificate in the UK despite the topless nudity being cut from the movie. Of course, you're right about it prefiguring the long boat chase in LALD, and the latter was clearly influenced by it. I can't exactly remember when I eventually saw it, maybe 3 or 4 years after its theatrical release, but I do remember thinking it looked terribly low-budget. Great speed boat chase, though.
Don Sharp is indeed credited for the boat chase and the additional footage; his name is quite prominently featured in the end credits. Producer Kurt Unger must have done the right call re. the boat chase, as it's wonderfully shot. No denying it looks low-budget, but it didn't bother me really. In a way, it suited the overall gritty tone of the film and story.
I still don't own a copy of the film; both times I've watched it on Youtube (link below). On Amazon UK you can buy a foreign BR copy which is a bit expensive, and the DVD edition you can buy online from a company here in Norway, looks to be in a different format (4:3). Don't know which one to get, really. I think I read somewhere that the Scandinavian edition features the topless nudity that was cut from other releases.
I love The Guns of Navarone! You’re right, that kind of actor/actress has gone extinct I’m afraid. Niven’s scene in Trail of the Pink Panther is not only a tribune to Clouseau/Sellers but in a way it can be seen as a tribute to classy old-school acting in general. That’s the way I saw it anyway, it made me a little sad to be honest.
One of David Niven's sons said that Roger Moore (a good friend of the family) was Niven's successor. The last of the gentlemen actors.
M. Night Shyamalan Ranking:
1. The Sixth Sense
2. Wide Awake
3. Praying with Anger
Wide Awake was interesting and decent. Praying with Anger was also somewhat interesting but very rough around the edges.
Shock-humour, insulting, and grotesque, Polar was directed by an off-beat Swedish filmmaker more known for his relationship with music than narrative films.
The music for the film was composed by the band deadmou5...
Over all, this was a crazy trip that felt like it stepped out of the Z-film world, circa 1995...
Just finished watching that myself, @peter
It's an absolutely mental film.
I know! I felt hungover when I finished watching it (this morning as well); it was shot in Toronto, so I wanted to see how it looked-- I know Hartley Gorenstein, one of the producers on it; they did a good job with this city.
Fascinating film; a compilation of intriguing shots combined with a great score. Like adding another dimension to Argento's original, this film puts the "three mothers" mystery in an updated format with excellent performances.
I can easily see, however, why it's not a film for everyone. There's an artistically pretentious vibe that permeates all but a minor few scenes. The oblique narrative of the film tends to get "weird" in an aggressive way. Only David Lynch could have made things more confounding.
But I like it. ;-)