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billpollock183
Reviews
Marple: The Body in the Library (2004)
A good version, not the same as the earlier, but still good
I enjoyed it. A different murderer but still a good yarn. Joan Hickson has been the best Marple but her "Body" was only a few years old when this film was done. Changes needed to be made so as to differentiate between the two versions. I do have to say that Hickson's were generally better except for "A Pocketful of Rye" where Geraldine's was far superior. Changes needed to be made because who would watch the same story, same dialogue only with different actors. It must have set the tongues a wagging with the book in killing off a schoolgirl. Such things just weren't done. A lady before her time in many ways, our Agatha. I think she would have liked the murderers in this presentation. Like Hickson, Geraldine looks the part. They both have the set to the eyes when solving the problem.
Dolly is great and is just as good as in the earlier film. I felt all the supporting actors worked well with the script.
From the Earth to the Moon (1958)
Not as bad as all that
I feel tvholic's views are a bit harsh. It mustn't be forgotten that Verne wrote this in 1865 some thirty years before Wells wrote 'War of the Worlds". It must also be remembered that RKO was going broke at the time so special effects were not what they should have been. Stars Joseph Cotten and George Sanders did well with the script they had. Where this will not go down as a great sci fi movie, it is still an interesting one if for no other reason than the interplay between Cotten and Sanders.
Stories like War of the Worlds, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Around the World in 80 Days have lent themselves to the use of special effects and unfortunately for this film, the film production company did not have the wherewithal to have effects in the same class as the aforementioned three.
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
The subtlety of humour
In response to planktonrules, your comment that this was one of Hitchcock's failures is wide of the mark. It was a wonderful black comedy, nearly an old fashioned French farce. To say it was a failure in the USA is one thing (it was) but internationally it didn't do too badly. As was mentioned earlier in the site, this film went fairly well in the UK, Italy and France. This could be seen that subtle humour is more appreciated outside of the USA than inside. Hitch's problem was that the humour in the film was not the "in your face" type that was typical of comedy films of this era whereas overseas movies like "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and "The Ladykillers" (the original) had that subtle, understated humour similar to TTWH.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Sorcerer's Stone??
Great movie from quite a reasonable book, but why on earth did they have to change the title from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" to the Sorcerer's Stone. Surely it couldn't be that they felt those in the good old US of A couldn't understand what the correct title meant and had to change the title so it could be understood. It should be noted that there is a fair bit of a difference between a sorcerer and a philosopher so in using the correct title there should not have been any confusion about the meaning of the title. The changing of the title is somewhat akin to the in of putting subtitles in the Crocodile Dundee movie.
The Final Countdown (1980)
A Great "What If" movie
It was so good to see all these "closet" sci fi fans extollong the virtues of this film. I thought it was absolutely great. Good acting (not quite great), nice taught script, novel plot line with a tinge of "The Philadelphia Experiment", marvellous sets and locales and a fine sound track. I suppose what made my enjoyment more was that the actors all looked like they were enjoying themselves. How many good movies have we all seen which are spoiled because the cast look as they would prefer to be somewhere else.
Overall for sheer enjoyment, you would have to give this flick an 8 out of 10.
Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
Great British war time drama
The comment from Mike Stollov regarding the Bismark not being the world beater the English made her out to be has merit. But it must be remembered that the purpose of the Nazi capitol ships was to primarily wage war against the allied merchant ships. History has shown that the Graf Spee, Tirpitz and other capitol ships were used to promote fear into the convoy system and to also pick up stragglers from the convoys. Regarding the Bismark being cleaned up by inferior warships, remember she had no steering so was reasonably helpless to a large force, inferior or not.
Kenneth More continued to show what a fine actor he is in these types of roles such as "North West Frontier" and "ANight to Remember".
Show Boat (1936)
A great movie from times past
Ah, they don't make movies make this anymore. If you have only seen the Howard Keel, Kathrine Grayson version you do not know what you are missing. Irene Dunne is a wonderful Magnolia and Helen Morgan is a truly great Julie. When Julie sings "Bill", how much of that is Julie and how much Helen. This movie covers so much more than the 50's version with Joe and his wife having so much more involvement in the story rather than just "Old Man River" and a verse or so of "Can't Help Loving That Man". This version is closer to the book with Nolly and Gaylord getting back together but at a performance of an adult Kim. Perhaps Agnes Norehead would have been better at Parthy but she would be the only change. Paul Robeson as Joe is magnificent. Definitely an 8 out of 10 here.
The Long Ships (1964)
A good yarn from "Boys Own"
A good yarn not to be taken too seriously. Some good fight scenes, especially the battle on the beach after the shipwreck. I felt Richard Widmark did not take his character too seriously, likewise Sydney Poitier, Oskar Homolka and Russ Tamblyn, Thr big plus for the movie was a great soundtrack. It is still with me even though I saw it on its first release in Sydney. The landscape for the fiords was magnificent. One aspect still standing out was when the king's captain brought the longship in to the jetty at full pace then reversed oars to stop it at the landing. I always wanted to do this and actually got a chance when coxing a racing eight back to its jetty.
The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
sub titles
The Movie Man, I bet you needed subtitles for "Crocodile Dundee" too. With actors like Robert Duval, Donald Sutherland, Jean Marsh, Jenny Agutter, how could you not understand them. Apart from Sutherland's Irish accent, which wasn't broad, the rest of the cast spoke straight English. Unless of course you were referring to Larry Hagman or Treat Williams but I found them both quite understandable and no problems with their accents.
Still, it was a good movie, a bit light in parts from the book, like the landing of Devlin in Ireland and the planning for the assault; that is the parachutes, the plane and what happened to the plane.