Tag: Movies

Movie reviews

“Wives and Daughters” (BBC – 1999)

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No character is one-dimensional in this miniseries (adapted from Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel) except the elegant and self-absorbed Mrs. Kirkpatrick (Francesca Annis).  A respectable and hard-working Scotsman, Dr. Gibson (Bill Paterson), marries the social-climbing former governess after living many years as a widower.  This surprises his devoted 17 y.o. daughter, Molly (Justine Waddell), and his friends/neighbors in their small southern English town.  Hyacinth Kirkpatrick has a daughter a bit older than Molly- Cynthia (Keeley Hawes). 

Though close in age, girl-next-door Molly is a total contrast to vivacious Cynthia.  When Cynthia arrives, “it’s as if Marilyn Monroe is has come to town,” comments Hawes on the special features of the DVD set.  Despite their obvious differences, the teen girls become good friends.  Cynthia and her mother don’t see eye-to-eye.   The new Mrs. Gibson doesn’ t want the girls to be “out” in society w/ those who are “course” to her eyes.       

Molly is upset by her step-mother’s snobbish behavior.  She’s very close to the Hamleys, an unpretentious/good-hearted family in the neighborhood.  Squire Hamley (Michael Gambon) doesn’t have posh manners; he’s a country farmer who speaks with a broad local accent.  His well-born wife, Mrs. Hamley (Penelope Wilton), is very kind to Molly.  Both ladies are avid readers.

The Hamleys have two sons in their 20s, poetry-writing Osborne (Tom Hollander) and scientific Roger (Anthony Howell).  Molly thinks Osborne sounds very interesting at first, but becomes good friends with Roger.  She even becomes interested in his research.  But when Roger spies Cynthia, his passionate side comes out!   

At the center of the story is the wonderful father-daughter relationship between the warm-hearted, yet protective, Dr. Gibson and Molly.  “I think she [Gaskell] got that right- the Scotsman,” comments Paterson (who is Scottish).  They have been on their own for so long, you can feel for Molly when a new woman enters the scene!  But the main reason Dr. Gibson remarried was to give Molly a mother.

Molly, like her father, is very concerned for her neighbors and speaks her mind.  Dr. Gibson rides off to see his patients at all hours; Molly checks in on the Hamleys when they’re having troubles. 

Though this is a Victorian story, there are dark undercurrents present.  The seemingly carefree Cynthia shares a secret with a handsome/mysterious land manager, Mr. Preston (Iain Glen).  Molly is puzzled by Cynthia’s strange reaction when he makes a social call at their house.  Her stepmother shares a past with Mr. Preston, some of the local gossips remark. 

Gaskell recognized that men and women (even in a quite conservative/corset-bound society) could become friends and share common interests.  Molly and Roger are both caring, observant, and intellectually curious individuals.  Out of such a friendship, a romance may develop.  These days, don’t many people hope to marry their best friend?

Two Reviews: “Broadcast News” & “Dr. Zhivago”

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Broadcast News (1987)

This is a twist on the rom-com/inside look into the fast-paced, stressful world of news reporters and producers.  It’s smart, funny, and sensitive- a must-see!  Jane (Holly Hunter) is an energetic and passionate news producer based in DC.  Her boss, the news director, sees Jane as a rising star.  She is best friends w/ her co-worker, Aaron (Albert Brooks), a man she respects and admires for his talent and integrity.  Even though he’s a great writer/ field reporter, Aaron is underappreciated by the higher-ups at the network.  He masks his disappointment with humor.

At a conference, Jane meets Tom (William Hurt), a handsome anchorman  who fears not living up to his position.  Tom used to report on sports, but was promoted to anchor before he was ready.   Tom looks to Jane for guidance, and she’s attracted to him.  However, they have VERY different views about how to report a story!              

Working closely with Jane, Tom realizes that he has a LOT to learn.  Sure, he can present himself well, but that isn’t ALL he needs.  He quickly grows to appreciate and respect Jane for her skills. 

Tom comes up with a GREAT story (on a highly sensitive topic) on his own, impressing the entire newsroom.  Aaron is surprised, and perhaps also a little jealous, when praise is heaped upon Tom.  When rumors of budget cut-backs and firings hit the newsroom, who will come out on top? 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092699/

 

Dr. Zhivago (BBC – 2002)

Even a revolution can’t keep two people apart, if they are destined to be together!  Like I wrote before, there is (usually) NOTHING better than a story about young love, IF it’s done well.  You may already be familiar with Dr. Zhivago (from the book and/or classic film); however, this BBC version is quite well done, too.  

Casting unknown actors is the right decision when remaking a classic; there is no baggage to get in the way.  Did you know Keira Knightley was only 17 y.o. when this was shot?  This is an impressive effort from her!  She expresses a LOT with just her eyes- determination, disappointment, resignation.  Hans Matheson (Tess of the D’Urbervilles; The Tudors) hits just the right notes as Yuri- an idealistic doctor/poet who yearns to do good.      

Aside from being a compelling romance, Dr. Zhivago is also about the loss of innocence.  The teenage Lara is seduced by the same powerful and wealthy man (played by Sam Neill) who spent time with her mother.  When Yuri meets Lara for the first time, she senses that he wants to protect her.  But she forlornly tells him “you are too late.”  Yet they are somehow bound, then torn apart, by forces beyond their control.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0324937/

“Design for Living” (1933)

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I saw this sly, funny, and and maybe a BIT naughty (for its time) comic film recently on TCM.  It stars Gary Cooper (a TOTAL hottie as a young man- check it out), Fredric March, and Miriam Hopkins.  Two lifelong pals, a painter named George (Cooper) and a playwright named Tom (March), meet a pretty, charming blonde named Gilda (Hopkins) on a streetcar in Paris.  The buddies are BOTH instantly attracted to and intrigued by Gilda, who has a free-spirited and lively air. 

George and Tom separately get dates with Gilda, who lives in a spacious apartment and wears cute/stylish clothes.  It turns out that her former boss, the wealthy owner of an ad agency named Mr. Plunkett, is noticeably jealous of these guys.  After their respective dates, he lectures the wooers sternly.

Immorality may be fun, but it isn’t fun enough to take the place of one hundred percent virtue and three square meals a day.

Mr. Plunkett plays the role of Gilda’s “concerned friend and kind of protector,” but he’s just waiting (and spending his cash) hoping to win her himself.

George (the quick-tempered one) and Tom (the brainy one) quickly realize that they are BOTH in love with Gilda, putting their friendship at risk.  Can they just ingore her?  They try, but it DOES NOT work!   

Gilda comes over to their humble attic flat and admits that she likes them BOTH!  She can’t imagine one without the other being there, too.   

A thing happened to me that usually happens to men. You see, a man can meet two, three or four women and fall in love with all of them, and then, by a process of interesting elimination, he is able to decide which he prefers. But a woman must decide purely on instinct, guesswork, if she wants to be considered nice.

Gilda proposes a solution- they’ll live together platonically.  She can advise them about their work; she’s an art lover.  Comedy ensues out of this (unusual) relationship!

Recent views and more…

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Films I’ve watched recently:

Leave Her To Heaven (1945)

This drama about obsessive love (starring one of Hollywood’s most beautiful leading ladies, Gene Tierney) was considered controversial for its time.  Novelist Richard meets a socialite (daughter of a famous chemist) on the train to New Mexico.  He is instantly struck by her beauty.  Ellen (Tierney) is in New Mexico to meet-up w/ her mother and sister, then scatter the ashes of her beloved father.  Her family invites the well-mannered/charming Richard to spend time on their spacious vacation home. 

Ellen, a strong-willed/mysterious young woman, doesn’t hide her keen interest in Richard.  In the span of a few days, they fall deeply in love.  One night, her  former fiance (Vincent Price) drops in.  Russell is a self-assured prosecutor with his eye on politics; Ellen is very cold towards him.  Her family is surprised when Ellen suddenly proposes to Richard! 

 

The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)

This drama, focusing on the joys and sorrows of marriage and sudden wealth, stars Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, Walter Pidgeon, and Donna Reed.  In the exciting aftermath of WWII, a likeable/optimistic Midwestern GI named Charles (Johnson) shares a passionate kiss with a gorgeous young woman in a Paris crowd.  At a cafe, he meets a sophisticated woman, an American named Marion (Donna Reed).  It turns out that Marion is dating one of Charles’ old friends, a Frenchman named Claude.  Marion, who’s obviously interested in Charles, invites him to her house for a party.  

At the party, Charles is happily surprised to see the woman he kissed, Marion’s fun-loving younger sister, Helen (Taylor).  Though they seem like opposites, he’s down-to-earth while she lives for parties, they quickly fall in love.  The only problem is money; Helen’s father lives above his means and Charles is merely a struggling journalist/aspiring novelist.                 

I’m currently watching:

Equal Justice

This is an early ’90s courtroom drama deaing w/ ambitious/young Pittsburgh ADAs.  You can see it on Hulu; it ran for two seasons.  The cast includes a young Sarah Jessica Parker (then just 25 y.o.), former model Debrah Farentino, and several fine character actors: Jane Kaczmarek, Jon Tenney, and Joe Morton. 

The Tudors (Season 3)

I have watched the first two episodes so far.  Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) has started his married life (again) w/ Jane Seymour (Annabelle Wallis), a beautiful noblewoman who seems beyond reproach at first (b/c of her virginity, good breeding, and and mild personality).  Jane surprises and angers Henry when she speaks up for the banished Princess Mary (Sarah Bolger).  Jane quietly seeks to help women, who are “often put upon in this world.” 

There is unrest in the North (Yorkshire; Lincolnshire) as abbeys and churches (Catholic) continue to be looted and destroyed.  The clergy are disrespected and beaten, in many cases.  A group of “commons” (farmers, laborers, etc.) organize to voice their discontent.  A few nobles take on the cause.  Henry goes off on Cromwell (James Frain) when he realizes just how big the group has become.  These “pilgrims” starts marching to London, gathering more and more of supporters along the way. 

I’m currently reading:

How Starbucks Saved My Life – Michael Gates Gill

Fired after 25 yrs at one of NYC’s biggest ad agencies, the author (then in his early 60s) wonders what to do w/ his life while sitting at a Starbucks (78th & Lexington) near his childhood home.  He’s in dire need of health insurance.  Suddenly, a confident young black woman named Crystal, the manager of another Starbucks store (96th & Broadway) offers him a job.  With no other option at hand, he agrees! 

 

Tony Curtis (1925-2010)

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The street kid who became an “American prince”

I could have been a politician or a brain surgeon.  But I didn’t have an education, so there wasn’t anything I could do but get into the movies. And, boy, did I ever.  To burst into the movies like I did…  Isn’t that neat?

Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz) was one of Hollywood’s ultimate outsider-insiders.  His parents were immigrants from Hungary who settled in the Bronx.  (The actor never completely lost his Bronx accent.)  Tony didn’t speak English until he went to school at age six.  His father was a tailor; the family lived in the back of his shop.  Tony and his brothers suffered at the hands of their abusive and schizophrenic mother.  He even spent time in an orphanage when money got TOO tight for the family!  

As a kid, he was beaten up for being BOTH Jewish and good-looking.  During these fights, he took care to protect his face, feeling that ONE day it could be the making of him.  At 11, Tony joined the Boy Scouts and eventually began acting in school plays at 16 at Seward Park High School.  (To this day, this public school on the Lower East Side of Manhattan is attended by many young immigrants to the US.)  Reaching 18, he joined the Navy; this was right after Pearl Harbor. 

Because some like it VERY hot…

I was the best-looking kid in town.  It’s not what you have but what you do with it that counts.

At 23, Tony reached Hollywood and got roles in fluffly comedic films.  This was a period of learning for him.  However, he STILL faced anti-Semitism, as Jews weren’t yet fully accepted in the Hollywood studio system.  But Tony made his mark; later on, his duck-tail hairstyle would be copied by another ladies’ man- Elvis Presley.  Very cool!

Roles in some GREAT films, including his Oscar-nominated performance in The Defiant Ones (w/ Sidney Poitier) came in the late ’50s.  Hollywood took a few years to realize that Tony was more than a pretty (err, insanely gorgeous) face.   He broke a Hollywood taboo by insisting that Poitier have co-starring billing next to him.

Jack Lemmon and I always had a great time together; even though we were from different backgrounds – he was Harvard-educated, very intelligent and urbane.  We balanced each other out.

Tony acted w/ Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon in the comic hit Some Like It Hot.  Tony’s lovestruck character copied Cary Grant’s posh accent to win over Marilyn’s character. 

Jerry: What are you trying to do to that poor girl, putting on a millionaire act?  And, where did you get that phony accent?  Nobody “talks loike thet!”

Aiming high… & scoring BIG

Another former NYC street kid, Burt Lancaster, recognized Tony’s talent, charisma, and ambition.  They were co-stars in two films- Trapeze and Sweet Smell of Success.  In Sweet Smell of Success, both actors transcended their looks to interpret amoral, ruthless strivers (a press agent and a popular newspaper columnist) in the Big Apple.          

J.J. to Sidney: I’d hate to take a bite outta you. You’re a cookie full of arsenic.

Swords, Sandals, & Shirtless Scenes

In the photo above, Tony jokes around w/ his Spartacus co-stars Kirk Douglas and Jean Simmons.  In the epic historical drama, Tony played Antoninus, innocent young slave of power-hungry ex-gladiator, Crassus (Laurence Olivier).  After Crassus  hits on Antoninus (during a bath in a NOT so subtle manner), he runs away to join Spartacus.

Idols United

In Operation Petticoat, Tony acted alongside Cary Grant, one of his long-time idols.   Tony played a tennis pro/playboy Navy officer who needs to be kept in line by Grant’s character- his captain.  It was a dream come true for Tony!    

Early on, I decided I didn’t want to be known as a mere actor.  I wanted to feel like a star.  I wanted to get my footprints in Hollywood on the sidewalk, which I got.  I wanted to be on the cover of all the magazines and go to parties in a limousine with a beautiful girl.  I did all of that – and more.  And I appreciate it.