Defense Of The Realm on Blu-ray Disc. I hadn’t seen this in many years so when the Blu-ray became available for a good price I couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, while it has a great cast with some very good performances - it has the lovely Gretta Scacchi which helps, and Denholm Elliott playing, well, er.. Denholm Elliott - overall I think it hasn’t really dated terribly well. A good transfer to HD although that 80s softness to the film is another aspect that dates this one.
Does watching on a transatlantic flight count? If so,
I had read the book. The film simplifies the story and omits certain aspects that are not part of the main narrative. But Claire Foy is very good. She apparently learned falconry to take on the role. The goshawk ain’t bad either.
I found this charming little two parter on Amazon Prime. Originally a bbc production so get ready for clinically clean backdrops and polished vehicles.
It was originally a part of bbc queer week.
A wounded war artist and an upright banker who is trying to lead a ‘proper’ life get it horribly wrong.
Two generations on having been offered his grandmother’s cottage to renovate our hero fights his demons and settles down with the architect.
Wonderful work by Vanessa Redgrave portraying the wound up granny. A late appearance by Julian Sands before he went missing and of course Frances de La Tour.
Watched “I swear” tonight on Netflix. Brilliantly acted and truly moving. A true story which gives it the ultimate credibility; very emotional and humbling.
Johnathan Demme directed some wonderful movies before he passed far too early. Silence of the lambs,Miami Blues.
Something Wild.
This one I had missed. Melanie Griffith is out on the street looking for action and picks on a bemused Jeff Daniel…
And does she take him for a ride. Perhaps the ending (it’s Hollywood) doesn’t quite live upto the first wonderful hour. A very handsome and nastily viscous Ray Liotta does well.
Good action scenes but sadly too many plot holes and weak performances throughout made me wonder if this series had a director at all and whoever wrote this will certainly never win a prize for best script…
Absolutely Brilliant movie. 10/10
I think this is the first time I’ve seen Excalibur since I saw it at the cinema in 1981. A little bit dated but on the whole v enjoyable. The director, John Boorman, always had a good eye so it’s lovely to look at. Great turn by Helen Mirren obvs. The use of the best bits of Wagner’s Ring Cycle for the soundtrack is inspired. But the film really belongs to that superb actor, Nicol Williamson, as Merlin
Crime 101 watched it last night. From a novella by Don Winslow and filmed with more than a passing nod to Michael Mann. If you like Thief or Heat you’d enjoy this.
Decent,complicated story that is well told and and photographed.
Ruffalo and young Keoghan act well. Nick Nolte and two minutes of Jennifer Jason Leigh.
But why broadcast it in such a narrow aspect ratio, only about 2/3 rds of the screen used.
Well you shoot films in 2.35:1 as an artistic choice. Many of the greatest films of all time are in that aspect ratio or even wider.
So to crop them for a 16:9 television is just another form of “pan and scan” like we had before the millennium where films broadcast on television or for VHS rental were all artistically butchered to fit a standard 4:3 aspect ratio. A lot of people would complain back then about “funny black bars” if anything was presented in widescreen.
So the day I find out any streaming platform is cropping wide output to fit the current 16:9 standard is almost certainly the day I cancel my subscription.
I doubt it will happen though. People are used to the black bars now and on modern televisions, which are pretty massive by 25 year old standards, is mostly a non issue. Not to mention, it saves them bandwidth. The stream carries data for the picture area, not the screen area.
Yes I agree after further h’investigation that was the director’s choice of ratio and not some strange Prime anomaly. It just looked so extremely ‘Cinerama’ and a strange choice for a movie that was going to find its way out of cinemas and on to tvs very quickly. Bart was ever hopeful I suppose.
It’s actually the same for about 50% of all cinemas. About half have a 16:9 screen and when they screen movies in 2.35:1 or Cinemascope, a black curtain crop comes down after the trailers. The other half have crops that come into the side to make the screen wider.
I think with modern TVs getting to a point where anything smaller than 42" is actually hard to find and 55" and up being the standard, for most people, the bars are utterly unnoticeable at that size to a point where the DOP can just select whatever they want artistically regardless.
Quite a few TV shows are also now in 2.35:1. And then you get mix ratio content purely for artistic effect. Like Interstellar and Sinners both have scenes in 16:9 and 2.35:1 depending on the framing goal of the particular scene.
Sherlock Holmes
Working my way through the Jeremy Brett series.
Well acted, this may be my favourite version of the character.
Good production values and well cast.
M
A wonderful series if you like Art House Cinema.
The director retired after this series feeling he couldn’t better it.
Wonderful acting,photography and stories that leave you wondering just where you are being led.
Watched all three yesterday on MUBI but generally available to stream.
The Squeeze
Reviews compare it with The Long Good Friday and Get Carter.
Top cast with Stacy Keach, David Hemmings, Edward Fox, Carol While, Roy Marsden, Stephen Boyd and Freddie Starr.
Directed by Michael Apted.
I had to source this from the US.
Finally got around to watching All quiet on the western front last night with my missus. What a movie, so powerful and with a what’s going on in the Ukraine conflict carries quite an anti war message. Great acting too.
After an accident at his farm Hal Holbrook’s son Walton Goggins moves him under POA to an old peoples’ home. As he recovers he is unhappy and finds his way back to the farm. His son has rented it out to a low life with a wife and daughter.
Let battle commence to get back his farm.
The older you are the more you will understand the quandary in which the old man finds himself.
Independent production part funded by WG.
Not as sentimental as the advert and some fine acting support.
Another deep dive into Amazon Prime.
I recently revisited a couple of dvd’s after years of not watching them.
I had a couple of friends visiting from Australia who had never seen either of them and we laughed our socks off.
Secondhand Lions is an entertaining film
