Il grande duello the grand duel

Il grande duello the grand duel

rating: 5 Okay, I admit it. I am no fan of the Harry Potter series. I did give a fairly positive review of the fifth film in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and I stand by that assessment of it as the best picture in the series, but its not a movie Ill ever watch again. Now, then, we turn to 2009s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth outing in the mega-popular franchise. I personally thought the first four Harry Potter movies wereunrelentingly boring and murderously awful. Given that, this sixth movie manages, if you can il grande duello the grand duel it, to be the worst one yet by the a wide margin. Its at this point that Id usually give you some broad strokes of a movies story, and therein lies our major problem. This picture has no story whatsoever. Now, you can get away with this in an arty kind of movie, one that deals with character or thematic exploration. But your Potter flicks are mass-audience, popcorn-chompin, effects-laden plot movies all the way. Luckily for all concerned, the Harry Potter fanbase is so slavishly devoted theyll overlook any number of flaws in their haste to put on rating: 2 Im no fan of Japanese horror movies, but if theres one Japanese director working today who could make one I do like, its Takashi Miike. He hasnt made one I like, but he probably could. Film criticism is of course always a subjective exercise but, despite my informal and personal style, I usually try to write a review based not just on my personal feelings while watching a picture but on my knowledge of cinema technique and history as well. Its hard for me to do that with Audition, because I think its probably not that bad but I very much didnt like it. At the same time, I almost liked it, and can see how I could have. The story is that of Mr. Aoyama, a widower Ryo Ishibashi who, when told by his son that he looks old and lonely, decides its time to remarry. But he is oldolder, at least, than his first time aroundand doesnt know if he has what it takes to jump back into dating, a young mans game. He wants to find his ideal woman, but on the other hand he doesnt particularly want to work at it. Whats interesting here is that rating: 4 The 1973 cult classic The Wicker Man is something of an oddity; even as youre watching it, youre not quite sure whether its stupid or grand. This is in contrast to the 2006 remake, where youre always sure what youre watching is awful. For example, when the goofy song Corn Rigs plays and plays, and plays, you think the movie leans more toward Mystery Science Theater 3000 territory. Its only after the film is over and you give it some thought and discussion that you can be certain youve just witnessed something extraordinary. Police sergeant Howie Edward Woodward arrives unwanted on the Scottish island of Summerisle, famous for its one-of-a-kind produce. Hes investigating the disappearance, brought to his attention by an anonymous letter, of a young girl named Rowan Morrison. None of the islands residents are at all helpful; at first they deny that any such person as Rowan ever existed, and when that is revealed as a lie they resort to other obfuscations or simple silence. A grave marked with Rowan Morrisons name is found, but no death certificate is on file and nobody has anything to say about the circumstances of her death. Even the girls mother rating: 5 Humphrey Bogart did the same thing in every movie, to different degrees, from thoroughly grizzled in The African Queen tofor Bogartdownright sentimental in Casablanca. The question, then, is when he did it best. Was Sam Spade the peak Bogart character? Or Philip Marlowe? Its nearly impossible to choose, but an argument can be mounted that Fred C. Dobbs in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is Bogarts greatest achievement. We first meet up with Dobbs in desperation and penury, homeless and begging on the streets of Tampico. All he wants is to get his head above water, to live comfortably without having to depend on handouts from rich American vacationers. Nothin fancy, just freedom from poverty. Even when he first hits on the idea of prospecting for gold, his ambitions remain modest. Howard Walter Huston, in one of the best-deserved Academy Award winning performances of all time, another drifter with some experience as a prospector, tells him what gold does to a man, the way getting a little only makes you hungry for a whole lot more. Dobbs insists that wont happen to a simple, reasonable man like him, that hell just collect his il grande duello the grand duel piece and go home. We know rating: 5 Has there ever been a Kris Kringle more spot-on than Edmund Gwenn, a little girl more bugs-earish than Natalie Wood, a Christmas movie more magical than 1947s Miracle on 34th Street? Dont be silly. Of course there hasnt. Though there are other excellent holiday movies that are indispensible for any merrymaking movie buff, none is more perfectly realized than this story of a little girl learning to believe. That little girl is Susan Natalie Wood, as adorable as anything youve ever seen but sadly lacking in the childlike sense of wonder department. Her mother Maureen OHara has raised her by the generally appropriate maxim of deal with the real world and dont go falling for a lot of dopey nonsense, but this has had one unfortunate consequence: Susan doesnt believe in Santa Claus! This cannot stand, so its rather fortuitous that a man claiming to be the one and only real Kris Kringle plops right into her lap. The kindly old man teaches Susan a thing or two about il grande duello the grand duel and manages to bring a little Christmas spirit to everyone he encounters, to boot. When working as a department store Santa at Macys, for example, he doesnt hesitate to send shoppers rating: 5 Since I was very, very young, A Christmas CarolDickens novel and its many different adaptationshas been one of my favorite stories.