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miércoles, 25 de abril de 2012

1001. Atonement (2007)

Posted on 22:32 by Unknown

Running Time: 123 minutes
Directed By: Joe Wright
Written By: Christopher Hampton
Main Cast: James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave
Click here to view the trailer

BOOK END

Oh, how I used to dream of the day when I'd be writing this review. Of course, those were the days when I was moving through the book chronologically and when writing this review would have signified the end of my journey. In hindsight, I'm kind of glad I started moving through the book randomly, because this would not have been a good note to end on.

Our film is set in England and focuses in on the Tallis Family, particularly 13-year-old Briony Tallis (Ronan) and her older sister Cecilia (Knightley). Briony is an aspiring writer and spends her days clacking away at the typewriter, letting her imagination spin tales. The Tallis Family is quite wealthy and employs many servants. One of the servants has a son named Robbie (McAvoy), a man of Cecilia's age, who spends his free time lusting after Cecilia, although she doesn't know it and at first, doesn't seem to share his feelings. However, that all changes when the two have an awkward, yet sexually tense encounter near a fountain. Briony witnesses the encounter and is confused by what she sees - her sister Cecilia climbing out of the fountain in her slip, exposing her bare, wet body to Robbie. Later, Robbie writes a letter to Cecilia, apologizing for the awkward encounter, but also slips in a bit of his fantasies, using a particular word (if you'd like to know what the word is, then I'll Catch U Next Tuesday). He hands the letter of to Briony to deliver to Cecilia and of course, she reads it, seeing the word and having her entire opinion of Robbie, a boy whom she did have a crush on, go south. Later, Briony witnesses Cecilia and Robbie having intercourse and coupled with the dreaded word she saw, ends up fingering Robbie in the rape of her 15-year-old cousin, despite the fact that it isn't true. Robbie is sent to prison and later, to war.


SPOILER ALERT!

So, to clarify, no, this would not have been a good film to end my journey with, but is it terrible? Not at all. Is it hard to see why "No Country for Old Men" beat it to capture the Best Picture Oscar back in 2007? Not at all. In fact, I'd even say that "Juno", which was also nominated that year, was better than this. But I'm straying away from my original point, which is, "Atonement" is not a particularly bad film. It's just something that doesn't necessarily appeal to yours truly. "Atonement" reminded me of a glorified Lifetime movie or something you'd picture Nicholas Sparks penning. It had high points, but ultimately it was the same old love story we've seen a million times, a story about a love that isn't allowed to flourish, about a love that is kept separated. The whole "I'll wait for you while you go to war" scenario has been done to death and even though "Atonement" put a more clever spin on it, it was still the same present, wrapped in shinier paper.


But, man was that paper shiny! What I'm getting at is that "Atonement" looked brilliant. That image of a ferris wheel spinning at Dunkirk beach, while soldiers lie dying was something I won't soon forget. Many images in "Atonement" deserved to be captured and framed and gawked at forever: Robbie in full soldier regalia walking through a field of pink flowers, Briony power walking through an archway constructed of greenery, Keira Knightley and her green dress...need I say more? On top of the photography, I also love the ending. I loved how it was both sad and happy and how it gave the viewer the choice to leave the film believing the real story or the story that Briony wrote. The film ends with Robbie and Cecilia walking on a beach, clearly in love. In reality, we know that Cecilia and Robbie never reunited because they both perished before that could happen. It was actually a brilliant ending to an average film.


Throughout the film, we see themes of jealousy (did Briony finger Robbie because of what she read and saw or because she was jealous of Cecilia and didn't want to see Robbie love another woman?) and the difference that perspective makes. From Briony's window, she had no idea why Cecilia suddenly jumped into the fountain; all she knew was that Cecilia had exposed herself to a young boy. Also, from Briony's perspective, she saw her sister being ravaged by this boy, however, she could not see the pure love that existed between the two, during their moment of passion. The film also speaks about the way we see things from different ages and how at different points in our lives we begin to see right and wrong more clearly. But, the underlying fact is that it came off to me as just another, sappy love story...clever, but cliche.

RATING: 7/10  Okay, so I talked myself into rating it higher than I intended, as I only intended to give it a '6.5'. I'll let it stew for a few more days and we'll discuss it again at recap time, next week.

MOVIES WATCHED: 432
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 569


April 25, 2012  10:32pm

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lunes, 23 de abril de 2012

973. OLDBOY (2003)

Posted on 22:32 by Unknown

Running Time: 120 minutes
Directed By: Park Chan-wook
Written By: Jo-yun Hwang, Chun-hyeong Lim, Joon-hyung Lim, Chan-wook Park, Garon Tsuchiya
Main Cast: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong, Ji Dae-han, Kim Byeong
Click here to view the trailer

"LAUGH AND THE WORLD LAUGHS WITH YOU. WEEP AND YOU WEEP ALONE"

 To those of you with the ability to stream content from Netflix, I'd advise you to skip "Oldboy", a film that is offered through their service. Not because of the quality of the film - it's a great film - but because the version they offer is dubbed in English and it really takes away from the experience. Go with subtitles or go home.

Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is in a phone booth, talking to his daughter on the night of her birthday. When his best friend, Joo-hwan (Ji Dae-han) interrupts him so that he can say a few words, Dae-su steps out of the booth and relinquishes the phone to his friend. In the very next second Dae-su has vanished without a trace, save for the birthday present, intended for his daughter, lying on the street. In the next scene, we see Dae-su locked in a type of prison, a large steel door separating him from humanity. He doesn't know why he's being held captive and although people bring him meals everyday, no one ever speaks to him or answers his questions. Fast forward fifteen years. Dae-su lie in the same room, still being held captive, relying on the television to tell him what time it is and to be his companion and sometimes his lover. By watching the news, Dae-su learns that his wife has been murdered and that he is the prime suspect. After fifteen years a hypnotist walks into his room, puts him into a trance and when he awakes, he finds himself released. Now Dae-su is hell bent on revenge, but he soon learns that he will have to act fast, because his captor is still playing games with him and he only has five days to find out why he spent fifteen years locked up.

SPOILER ALERT!

So, yeah, I watched this film dubbed in English, which I wouldn't normally do, but I had seen it before in the way that it was intended to be seen - with subtitles. "Oldboy" is right up my alley. It's a puzzle, it's dark, it's gritty, it has twists and turns and ones that actually make sense and not just twists and turns for the sake of twisting and turning. Perhaps most importantly, it has a bad ass main character, that you actually sympathize with and want to see get his revenge.

"Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live?"

Of course, the clever aspect of "Oldboy" is that Dae-su really never gets his revenge. Furthermore, it's actually the character of Woo-jin that represents the vengeance aspect of director Park Chan-wook's second installment of the "Vengeance Trilogy". Even after fifteen years of being locked up, when Dae-su is finally released, all he's doing is putting into motion the second installment of Woo-jin's master plan. If you were to show this film to someone who had never seen it, stop it halfway through and tell them that by the end, Dae-su would be barking like a dog and licking the shoes of his captor, they'd probably rip your hand off looking for the "PLAY" button, so that they could see why. Like I said, the twists and turns aren't for nothing, as everything within the film actually makes sense. How about that modern Hollywood? A plot without holes! Even more, an intricate plot without holes! Nothing is contrived, nothing is put in place to make something else make sense, it all flows like clockwork and makes for a highly enjoyable movie going experience, as long as you don't mind a little hammer bludgeoning with your cinema.


Actually, let me just speak about the one inaccuracy that I was able to spot. It involved Mi-do, Dae-su's lover/daughter. Was there a point in the film where they spoke about Woo-jin changing her name? Because I don't remember anything like that and wouldn't Dae-su remember that his daughter's name was also Mi-do and that, perhaps, she resembled his baby girl? They mention that Woo-jin raised her as his own, so that explains why she never really knew Dae-su and obviously at only four years old when Dae-su was imprisoned, she probably wouldn't remember him enough to catch a resemblance, but wouldn't he kind of notice her? Perhaps that's why the bit at the beginning, that suggests he's a drunk was put in. Perhaps he was always too concerned with alcohol to really pay attention to his child.

We can easily root for and sympathize with this character because he's an everyman who realistically turns into a bad ass, fighting machine. He's pent up for fifteen years with nothing to do but think of the day he gets out and think of the horrible things that he plans to do to the people that have held him. He has no companionship and his only solace is knowing that someday he will get out and someday he will get his vengeance. We sympathize with him because he admits that he's not perfect and because he keeps journals that detail all the wrongs he's done. Even if we don't like him, it doesn't matter, because he doesn't like himself.

"Even though he's no more than a monster - doesn't he, too, have the right to live?"

Anyway, it's a great film. It would probably play out even better sandwiched in between "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance" and "Lady Vengeance", although I've never seen the latter, so I don't know about that one. However, "Sympathy..." is really good and I'd recommend that one, as well. I think I've said all that needs to be said on this one.

RATING: 9/10  I can't go the full monty, just because, but it's good - trust me. This is shaping up to be an EPIC 100. Just look at the front-runners so far for the next TOP 20: "Oldboy", "Memento", "The Lord of the Rings", "Kill Bill Vol. 1", "Winter Light", "Magnolia" and several of the films that you'll read about next week as part of Seven Shadows. Man, this is gonna' be a tough one to make, I can feel it already and we're not even halfway in.

MOVIES WATCHED: 431
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH:
570

April 23, 2012  10:32pm

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domingo, 22 de abril de 2012

222. On the Town (1949)

Posted on 21:36 by Unknown

Running Time: 98 minutes
Directed By: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
Written By: Adolph Green & Betty Comden, from their play
Main Cast: Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Jules Munshin, Ann Miller, Betty Garrett
Click here to view the trailer

SINGIN' SAILORS

Who doesn't love to watch Gene Kelly dance and hear Frank Sinatra sing? I know I do! However, this film fell short of my expectations and I'd much rather watch Gene Kelly splash through the rain than see him donning a sailor suit and singing songs about the Big Apple.

Gabey (Kelly), Chip (Sinatra) and Ozzie (Munshin) are three sailors who have been granted a 24-hour leave and plan to spend it scouring New York City, taking in the sights and picking up dates. Gabey sets his eyes on a local girl named Ivy Smith (Garrett), whose face he spots on a poster in the subway, as she is the current Ms. Turnstiles for the month of June. Gabey has been shot by cupid's arrow and plans to search the city until he tracks her down. Along the way, Gabey's buddies meet gals of their own, with Chip being chased by a female cab driver named Hildy and Ozzie being seduced by anthropologist Claire (Miller). These five split up to track down Ms. Turnstiles so that they can triple date the night away in NYC and eventually Gabey finds her and the two make a date to meet atop the Empire State Building. However, Ivy feels she must admit to Gabey that she really isn't the hotshot that the posters made her out to be and really, she's just an everyday girl, who happens to hail from the same small town that Gabey does. When she can't admit her true identity to Gabey, she runs away and the chase to find her resumes.


Before I rip this film apart, let me just say that "On the Town" IS a whole lot of fun - there's no doubting that. If you don't smile at least a handful of times while watching this, then obviously you're incapable of being entertained. I was able to have fun with this movie, allow myself to be entertained and come out thoroughly enjoying it, but still having to admit that it was just a little too perky for my tastes. I've seen dozens of better musicals than this, musicals with better music and a better story. There were really only a few songs that I found myself really enjoying, such as: "Prehistoric Man", "You're Awful" and "Count On Me", while the rest just weren't catchy enough, especially the title song, "New York, New York". The story itself wasn't that great either, but I can say the the choreography was quite good, especially the "Miss Turnstiles Ballet" scene and the "A Day in New York" piece. The film also gave me a chance to gander at a new find, as I found Ann Miller to be very enjoyable, very talented and very good looking.

RATING: 5.5/10  Am I short changing you guys with these short reviews? I just don't want to ramble, that's all. Anyway, I've seen a lot of memorable musicals on my quest through THE BOOK, but "On the Town" isn't one of them. Aside from Ann Miller and a few numbers, this film was quite forgettable...fun while it lasted, but forgettable.


MOVIES WATCHED: 430
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 571

April 22, 2012  9:36pm

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sábado, 21 de abril de 2012

961. No Man's Land (2001)

Posted on 18:52 by Unknown
Running Time: 98 minutes
Directed By: Danis Tanovic
Written By: Danis Tanovic
Main Cast: Branko Duric, Rene Bitorajac, Filip Sovagovic, Georges Siatidis, Katrin Cartlidge
Click here to view the trailer

 IT ALL WENT SOUTH WHEN WE LEFT THE TRENCH

There are currently eleven movies streaming on Netflix that I have scheduled to watch during this chunk of 100 films; this is one of them. I figured I'd better get cracking on some of them, before Netflix starts yanking them and I end up having to have them delivered to the house.

The film takes place in the middle of the Bosnian War, between the Republic of Bosnia and Bosnian Serb's. During a foggy night, a group of Bosnian soldiers get lost while traveling through enemy territory. When sunrise comes, the following morning, they are quickly spotted and attacked by the Serbian Front - all are thought dead. However, Ciki (Duric) has received only a bullet wound in his left shoulder. When he regains consciousness, he finds himself in a trench, his gun intact and his best friend, Cera (Sovagovic), seemingly dead. Meanwhile, at the Serbian Front, decisions are made to send in two soldiers to investigate the trench and make sure all is well. A veteran soldier is chosen, along with a new recruit. Upon arrival, Ciki hides to avoid being noticed. While there, the two Serb's activate a bouncing mine (a land mine that doesn't go off when stepped on, but rather when the weight is removed) and place the body of Cera on top of it. Now, if Cera's allies try to remove his body, they will all be blown to bits. Eventually Ciki ducks out and fires at both of them, killing the veteran and wounding the newbie, Nino (Bitorajac). With both sides keeping eyes peeled on the trench, the two enemies are now trapped together. To make things more interesting, Cera wakes up, revealing that he isn't dead, but unable to move due to the mine.


This one had all the potential in the world, but for some reason, I just didn't take to it as well as I thought I would've. In fact, I'll tell you where it went downhill. It all went south when we left the trench! I realize that when Danis Tanovic accepted his Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, he dedicated it to his country, so obviously he had something to say with this film and good for him for getting to say it and say it with such acceptance. However, if this had been treated like a stage play, with the three characters (two members of the Republic of Bosnia's Armed Forces and one Bosnian Serb) verbally duking it out in the trenches, it would have been gold for this viewer. When we started pulling characters from the U.N. into it and the media, it slowly started to fall down my ratings scale. Most of you know that I don't take politics with my films, so it's no surprise that that's the point where I started caring less about this movie.

SPOILER ALERT!

I can't say that it was awful though. For the most part, we did keep the action in the trench and the actors more than pulled their weight, carrying the ball and turning in fine performances. The cinematography wasn't anything to write home about, but remember, I just got done seeing "Yi Yi", so pretty much everything was going to look pale in comparison. Also, this film has ONE OF the most heart wrenching final scenes in recent memory, as a shot of Cera, still lying on the mine, informed that he cannot be moved, takes us to the credits, as we pan away from him, from above. It's a shot that I'll never forget and probably the one shot that I'll remember this film for.

RATING: 6.5/10  We'll keep it short again for this one. It's one that I can't fully recommend, but one that is worth a look, especially if you like war and politics with your films. I, for one, don't care for either.

MOVIES WATCHED: 429
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 572

April 21, 2012  6:52pm

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950. Yi Yi/A One and a Two (2000)

Posted on 12:52 by Unknown

Running Time: 173 minutes
Directed By: Edward Yang
Written By: Edward Yang
Main Cast: Nien-Jen Wu, Kelly Lee, Jonathan Chang, Elaine Jin, Hsi-Sheng Chen
Click here to view the trailer

NOTE: So Blogger is now forcing everyone to use their new template and that doesn't sit well with me, because I really prefer the old one. However, if I have to, I have to. Be aware that the posters that appear at the top of each post will now be MASSIVE, as there doesn't seem to be a way to resize your images anymore. Everything else still looks fairly normal, so I guess I'll get used to it eventually. 

TAIWAN NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD

Although I hate to do so, it took me three sit-downs to watch "Yi Yi". It wasn't the films fault though; it's just that every night when I'd sit down to watch it, I'd get too tired to give it my full attention and would have to stop or risk disliking it based on my sleepy state.

To layout the plot of "Yi Yi" in detail would take entirely too long, as it clocks in at nearly three hours and follows several different characters with several different plot lines. The main character is NJ (Wu), a father and business man, who works for a computer gaming company. Throughout the film his company falls under a crisis where they need to develop new technology and NJ is assigned the task of schmoozing with a high profile game creator, in hopes of partnering with him. The two hit it off, having intellectual and heart to heart conversations, often veering away from business talk. NJ also meets up with an old flame and tries to right a wrong he committed as a teenager. NJ's mother-in-law has fallen into a coma and as a result, his wife (Jin) has a nervous breakdown and leaves him to go live at a Buddhist temple. NJ's son is curious, asking a questions that are more advanced for a child of his age. NJ's daughter (Lee) is a shy teenager, who makes friends with their new neighbor, another teenage girl and gets involved with her boyfriend, Fatty. The other main character is A-Di (Chen), NJ's business partner who is recently married and in debt. The film takes a look at the life of this family and their perils.

SPOILER ALERT!

You know, it's kind of funny that the last film I watched was "Spring in a Small Town" - another film of Eastern Asia - which I cited as having a really strong plot, but lacking in other departments, like photography and music. In "Yi Yi" it's the exact opposite problem, as I'd call the photography and music pretty much flawless and it was the plot that fell short of capturing my attention. "Yi Yi" just seemed to be shooting in too many different directions and lacked the structure that would have normally allowed me to identify with characters and take a vested interest in what was happening and what was going to happen. I cared most for NJ, but really was never able to connect with any of the other characters, as the plot was just too "wonky". Possibly there were too many characters and too many unnecessary storylines going on at once. Each character was involved in different plots of their own. For example, you had A-Di, who was a newlywed with a baby on the way, had a bitter ex-girlfriend, was having the same business struggles as NJ and was facing debt. That's, at least, two too many plot lines for one character, in a film where there were several main characters. Also, what was the point of continually teasing that characters were dying? It struck me as extremely odd that Yang had the characters of A-Di and Yang-Yang fall into situations where it looked as though they perished, only to have them show up in the next frame, unscathed. There had to be reasoning behind that, but I can't decipher it for the life of me. Otherwise, why include it?


Despite all that, I have a feeling that the cinematography alone will have me remembering this film fondly. It was absolutely gorgeous. In fact, I wish I understood Mandarin so that I didn't have to constantly look away from the beauty to read the subtitles. Every frame captivated you, dazzling you with sights from the city, using reflections in windows to provide a unique shot or using long shots to establish perspective and allow the atmosphere to envelope the characters. There was also a soft, piano score that provided the perfect background for this family and helped in allowing me to get closer to the characters.

RATING: 7/10  The plot isn't entirely as bad as I made it out to be, like I said, it's just too much and not as well organized as I'd have liked it to be. To everything else, including performances, I give an A+.

MOVIES WATCHED: 428
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH:
573


COMING SOON:
La Vie en rose (2007 - Olivier Dahan)
Atonement (2007 - Joe Wright)
On the Town (1949 - Kelly, Donen)
Fires Were Started (1943 - Humphrey Jennings)

April 21, 2012  12:52pm

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jueves, 19 de abril de 2012

SEVEN SHADOWS - April 30th through May 7th

Posted on 17:33 by Unknown

By now you've noticed that glaring picture of Robert Mitchum in the upper right hand corner of my blog, as he points a gun at you every time you try to read my newest post. You've seen the hype for a week called Seven Shadows and now, you'd probably like to know what all the hoopla is about. Well, I've come to fill you all in.

Seven Shadows is a week-long, crossover event that will come to two blogs near you beginning on April 30th and will spotlight seven of the best pieces of film noir that "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" has to offer. For the first time in my nearly three year history of being a blogger, I've finally convinced somebody to share the spotlight with me and that somebody is Karen Burroughs Hannsberry. Karen is the author of two books on the subject of film noir (Femme Noir: Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir) and also has her own blog, Shadows and Satin. On selected days, my reviews will be appearing on Shadows and Satin and in their absence, here at 1001 Movies I (Apparently) Must See Before I Die, you'll be treated to some, sure to be riveting, articles about that day's feature.

And hey, we didn't forget about you guys either. Thanks to Karen, we'll also be doing a book giveaway during the week. I'll be giving away Blackout: World War II and the Origins of Film Noir by Sheri Chinen Biesen and Karen will offer Film Noir: The Dark Side of the Screen by Foster Hirsch. To enter my giveaway, you MUST have a Twitter (I know, everything is always MUST around here). Each and everyday I'll post a link to the day's review (or article) on Twitter, followed by instructions to retweet the tweet. Retweet the tweet and your name will be entered for a chance to win my offered book. Retweet all seven tweets and your name goes in the hat seven times. It's as simple as that. So if you're a follower of mine and you don't have a Twitter account, you may flirt with the idea of creating one, just for the shot at winning the giveaway.

The following is the schedule of events for Seven Shadows Week. Both blogs will feature offerings on the day's movie.

April 30 - Introduction to Seven Shadows
May 1 - Murder, My Sweet (1944 - Edward Dmytryk)
May 2 - Mildred Pierce (1945 - Michael Curtiz)
May 3 - The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 - Tay Garnett)
May 4 - The Killers (1946 - Robert Siodmak)
May 5 - Out of the Past (1947 - Jacques Tourneur)
May 6 - Gun Crazy (1949 - Joseph H. Lewis)
May 7 - The Asphalt Jungle (1950 - John Huston)

Also, as an extra, added Twitter bonus, I'll be shooting out random factoids and such across my Twitter for whatever the day's offering may be, so another good reason to follow me on Twitter: @adduvall1984 Also please take the extra time to follow Karen @TheDarkPages - you won't regret it! She will also be offering the same type of Twitter book giveaway that I am, so there's something in it for you if you follow her.

Join us in less than two weeks as Karen and I lurk on the dark side, mingle with the criminals & vicious dames and salute film noir!

April 19, 2012 5:33pm

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miércoles, 18 de abril de 2012

205. Xiao cheng zhi chun/Spring in a Small Town (1948)

Posted on 18:00 by Unknown
Running Time: 93 minutes
Directed By: Fei Mu
Written By: Li Tianji
Main Cast: Wei Wei, Shi Yu, Li Wei, Cui Chaoming, Zhang Hongmei

DID THEY REALLY PLAY DRINKING GAMES IN CHINA BACK THEN?

Continuing on with a 100 that will be (and has been) thick with films from the 1940s and 2000s, we come to a lesser known piece of Chinese cinema from 1948 - "Spring in a Small Town". I had no expectations for this one going in and came out with a varied opinion. A very average film, to say the least.

The film follows the lives of a married couple, living in post-WWII China. On a completely unrelated note, I wonder how many films in THE BOOK take place during, just before or just after World War II. My guess is a lot! Anyway, Yuwen (Wei Wei) is facing a sort of depression. She is loyal to her husband, but knows that their marriage is worn out. They don't speak and she feels that perhaps it's "words that separate them". The husband, Liyan (Yu), spends his days sitting in the garden and kicking back medicine at different daily intervals, as he is ill. The couple also live with Liyan's sister, Xiu (Hongmei); she's sixteen and spends her days at school. One day, unexpectedly, Liyan receives a visit from his old friend Zhang Zhichen (Li Wei), now a doctor. It also turns out that Yuwen and Zhang are former lovers. Liyan invites Zhang to stay with them for a while. He accepts and while there, looks after Liyan and his heart condition. Meanwhile, Yuwen and Zhang tiptoe around, trying not to spill the beans about their lost love.

I was all set to come in here and advocate for this film to be remade, but apparently it's already been done with "Springtime in a Small Town", back in '02. I'd really like to see that and see if they were able to improve on some of the things this film was lacking. For example, a more powerful score for this one would have done a world of difference in excelling this film to the next level and really hammering home some of the emotions that were swirling in the picture. Also, I realize that "Spring in a Small Town" is from 1948, but the copy that I watched was very grainy and the cinematography just wasn't poignant enough. If you'd had a guy like Sven Nykvist (a name off the top of my head) to work with the story here, you could've capitalized on the story and really set a better mood, just with some crisper camera shots and a more somber atmosphere.

I'm actually really surprised that Hollywood hasn't remade this, as it seems like the perfect story that they usually bait their hook with to nab an Oscar. Of course, the story (loveless marriage, an old flame returning) has been done to death. It's a story we've seen a million times, but this one was from 1948, at a time when nothing had really been done to death and had they had the aforementioned elements in place, this really would have been a must see. As it is, I'm not really sure why it was included in THE BOOK. I read something about this film being banned in it's home country for years, due to the risque subject matter, so maybe that's why THE BOOK felt the need to include it...I don't know.

RATING: 6/10 To avoid the risk of rambling, we'll keep it short today. Like "The Best Years of Our Lives", this isn't terrible and perhaps with a second viewing (someday) I'll appreciate it more.

MOVIES WATCHED: 427
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 574

April 18, 2012 6:00pm

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    Running Time: 97 minutes Directed By: Stephen Frears Written By: Peter Morgan Main Cast: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Hel...
  • 290. The Ladykillers (1955)
    Running Time: 97 minutes Directed By: Alexander Mackendrick Written By: William Rose Main Cast: Alec Guinness, Katie Johnson, Cecil Park...

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