Night Ambush/Ill Met by Moonlight (1957) - Powell & Pressburger's Crete-set war thriller breakup movie

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Scenic locales and muscular action is promised on this poster for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's Night Ambush

 
British soldiers kidnap a German general on the Greek island Crete during World War II and transport him with the help of locals across the rugged isle towards a ship due South, pursued by Germans!

 

Night Ambush is written, produced and directed by master partner filmmakers, English Michael Powell (Rynox (1931)) and Hungarian-born English Emeric Pressburger (One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1941)). It is based on the 1950 non-fiction book Ill Met by Moonlight by W. Stanley Moss (A War of Shadows (1952)), which details his own experiences in the harrowing kidnap mission. Night Ambush is the US title while the original title is Ill Met by Moonlight, which is a quote from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595/96).

Some of Crete's beauty is poorly represented due to the film being in black and white, (but, to be fair, it was also not shot on Crete), but the cinematography (by Christopher Challis (The Nightingale (1981))) is otherwise solid. The film builds a basic and boyish suspense, in which the interesting parts are as much the meetings of the different cultures in Crete as anything else. 

Night Ambush is well-made without rising to excellence for any of the involved. The relation between the English and the general, which can be best described as respectful and chummy, after a while becomes a bit hard to take, and on an end-note this points to the odd-titled film's lack of some nerve.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 212k £

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain but reportedly a hit

[Night Ambush premiered 31 January (London) and runs 104 minutes/US version only 93 minutes. Pressburger had bought the book rights in 1950. Shooting took place in France, Italy and France. The production was marred by disagreements and became the last made by Powell/Pressburger's The Archers company. Powell remained dissatisfied with it for decades after. It was reportedly the 7th highest-grossing at the UK box office in 1957 but the numbers and foreign numbers are regrettably not available to verify its success. Following the rift between Powell and Pressburger during the film, Pressburger turned to writing and producing, never directing again. Powell returned with Honeymoon (1959). Dirk Bogarde (Justine (1969)) returned with an uncredited cameo in Time Without Pity (1957) and in a credited role in Doctor at Large (1957). 2.1k+ IMDb users have given Night Ambush a 6.5/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Night Ambush? 

The Guns of Navarone (1961) - Thompson's wonderful war-adventure classic

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The starry cast encased in striking Greek columns make up this exciting poster for J. Lee Thompson's The Guns of Navarone

WWII: 2,000 British prisoners of war are set to be executed, after they have been captured by Axis powers on a Greek island, if the Navy fail to break them free; but the Nazis have two enormous cannons, which hinder the rescue operation.

 

The Guns of Navarone is written by writer/producer Carl Foreman (Young Man with a Horn (1950)), adapting the same-titled 1957 bestseller by Alistair McLean (South by Java Head (1958)), and directed by great British filmmaker J. Lee Thompson (Murder Without Crime (1950)).

The film is a rare, wonderful war adventure. Gregory Peck (Yellow Sky (1948)) as Captain Mallory get the 'impossible mission', and he and David Niven (Goodyear Theatre (1957-58)) as a pedantically philosophizing chaplain have some really good scenes together, especially when Peck, - who has one of his career's best heroic parts here, - puts Niven in his place. Anthony Quayle (Jarrett (1973, TV movie)) with gangrene, and a bitter Anthony Quinn (The Message (1976)) are also terrific in the fine cast.

The Guns of Navarone is grand, a beautiful production with a great Dimitri Tiomkin (Blowing Wild (1953)) score. Technically there are shots in the film that are lacking a bit in quality. But this is a very minor note to a really wonderful film.

Related posts:

J. Lee Thompson: Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) or, The Final Ape!
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) or, The Ape Uprising

Cape Fear (1962) - Great suspense in effective home invasion thriller 

 Writer-producer Foreman discusses the film in a 2-minute clip here

 

Cost: 6 mil. $

Box office: 25 mil. $ (worldwide rentals); likely gross of 55.5 mil. $

= Mega-hit (likely returned around 9.25 times its cost)

[The Guns of Navarone premiered 27 April (London) and runs 158 minutes. MacLean's novel was inspired by the Battle of Leros during WWII. Head of Columbia Pictures Mike Frankovich had read the novel and passed it excitedly on to Foreman to adapt. Alexander Mackendrick was set to direct but was fired a week prior to shooting over 'creative differences'. Shooting took place in Senegal, Greece, England, Mexico and in Los Angeles from February - July 1960. Niven got seriously ill and nearly died after filming in the pool of water beneath the cave elevator and was hospitalized for weeks, as production continued but under great uncertainty. He finally recovered and was able to complete his scenes. Peck's German was dubbed. Several members of the Greek royal family visited the set and were used as extras in the Mandrakos café scene. The film stays close to the novel; the island of Navarone is fictional. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attended the London premiere. The film was a great success, grossing 28.9 mil. $ in North America, with rentals of 13 mil. $. With worldwide rentals of 25 mil. $, if multiplied accordingly, the world gross would be 55.5 mil. $. The film was the year's 2nd highest-grossing of all, after West Side Story. It was nominated for 7 Oscars; it won the Best Special Effects Oscar, and lost Best Director to Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story, Editing to West Side Story, Drama/Comedy Score to Henry Mancini for Breakfast at Tiffany's, Picture to West Side Story, Sound to West Side Story and Adapted Screenplay to Abby Mann for Judgment at Nuremberg. It also won 2/3 Golden Globe nominations, and was nominated for a BAFTA and a Grammy among other honors. MacLean's 1968 sequel novel (the only sequel he ever wrote) was adapted as the same-titled Force 10 from Navarone (1978), without any of the talent of the original film involved; it was unsuccessful. Thompson returned with Cape Fear (1962). Peck returned in that film; Niven in The Best of Enemies (1961); Quinn in Barabbas (1961). The Guns of Navarone is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.93/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Guns of Navarone?

Mamma Mia! (2008) - Lloyd's preposterous, up-beat pop snare

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+ Best $ Return of the Year: 11.72

Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried, obviously styled to be mother and daughter, in a heavily manipulated Greek landscape on a poster for Phyllida Lloyd's Mamma Mia!

A beautiful young woman who has never known her father is getting married and invites the three men, who all may be her father, to come to her wedding in her mother's decrepit hotel on a Greek island.

Mamma Mia! is written by Catherine Johnson (Love Hurts (1993-94)), based on her own 1999 same-titled hit stage musical, built around the hits of Swedish pop quartet ABBA, and directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Gloriana (2000, TV movie)), whose theatrical debut it is.
The inevitable film version of the colossally popular London and Broadway smash 'jukebox musical' hit is a cheerful, energetic film that especially rouses joy in its lively musical numbers. - And as a consequence of the lovely cast, of whom Meryl Streep (The River Wild (1994)), Julie Walters (Billy Elliott (2000)) and Christine Baranski (Relative Strangers (2006)) are best.
Dominic Cooper (My Week with Marilyn (2011)) is miscast and looks like an only cute but not very bright or genuine husband-to-be. And below the colorful shenanigans the film wears on the nerves with its story: In part its gender-based, cliche-heavy stringency, - men and women who seem to come from different planets the whole way through, - and in part the problems with Streep's character: Though she seems like an intelligent woman, it is not until the end, - in a wedding scene that in a bizarre way is suddenly no longer the daughter's but instead her mother's, - that she realizes that it was her father-seeking daughter who had invited the three 'ghosts' of her romantic past to the island, (of course.) It is also hard to reconcile that this same charming, attractive mother character has spent her entire adult life on a Greek island without developing any meaningful relationships there, (all the locals are extras only.) To put it mildly; preposterous.

Related post:

Phyllida Lloyd: The Iron Lady (2011) - Meryl Streep's global triumph as Lady Thatcher

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]  

Cost: 52 mil. $
Box office: 609.9 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 11.72 times its cost)
[Mamma Mia! premiered 30 June (London) and runs 108 minutes. Shooting took place in Marrakech, Morocco, Greece, the UK and in California. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release The Dark Knight, to a 27.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another two weeks in the top 5 (#3-#4) and grossed 144.1 mil. $ (23.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 94.3 mil. $ (15.5 %) and Germany with 39 mil. $ (6.4 %). It was the highest-grossing live-action musical until Beauty and the Beast (2017), the highest-grossing film directed by a woman until Wonder Woman (2017), and the 5th highest-grossing film of the year, (3rd highest-grossing 'internationally', that is without North America.) It was nominated for 2 Golden Globes, 3 BAFTAs, a Grammy and some other awards. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch harder than this review. The film became the fastest-selling DVD release ever in the UK, selling 1.6 mil. units in its first day, ending with more than 5 mil. sales there. It fared similarly in Sweden, where ABBA are from, both in cinemas and on DVD. The-Numbers estimate the home video sales at more than 147.3 mil. $. The stars returned for Ol Parker's sequel Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (2018), which was successful if not a mega-hit as its predecessor. Lloyd returned with The Iron Lady (2011), again with Streep. Streep returned first in Doubt (2008); Pierce Brosnan (Seraphim Falls (2006)) with a voice performance in Thomas & Friends: The Great Discovery - The Movie (2008) and physically in The Greatest (2009). Mamma Mia! is rotten at 54 % with a 5.53/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Mamma Mia!?

Dogtooth/Κυνόδοντας (Kynodontas) (2009) - Lanthimos establishes himself internationally with an unsettling family portrait

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+ Best Greek Movie of the Year

Life presented clinically, as a scale that moves in directions of + and -, on the poster for Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth

QUICK REVIEW:

A parenting couple have their three grown children living in their home. They have taught them an alternative vocabulary; that they can't go out in the world before they lose their dogtooth, and several other similarly grotesque things.

Greek Dogtooth is an incredibly strange film with a very consistent photographic language, (cinematography by Thimios Bakatakis (Blind (2014))), a whole lot of very mechanical, unsexy and just plain 'wrong' sex scenes and some actors' performances that transgress what is normally expected. The film is fraught with an absurd, dark humor, as we get to know this deeply messed-up family, without any story per se unfolding. And yet the film moves slowly and unpleasantly forward.
It is especially the questions, discussions and thoughts that follow watching it that make Dogtooth exciting. It is the third feature by Athenian Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster (2015)), which he co-wrote with Efthymis Filippou (Alps (2011)).

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch the great trailer for the film with English subtitles here

Cost: 0.25 mil. € (0.32 mil. $)
Box office: 0.38 mil. $
= Big flop
[Yet Dogtooth is considered one of the most successful Greek films in recent history: The film was given 0.2 mil. € from The Greek Film Center, and was achieved on its very low budget with the help of volunteers. It premiered in Cannes, where it won the Prix Un Certain Regard and the Prix de la Jeunesse. It was unanimously chosen by the Greek Film Committee to represent the country at the Oscars, where it was nominated as Best Foreign Film in 2011, but lost to the Danish In a Better World/Hævnen (2010). The film grossed 110k $ in North America (28.6 % of the total gross) on a maximum of just 5 screens. Its biggest market was Spain (163k $/42.4 %), and 3rd biggest was native Greece (49k $/12.8 %). Dogtooth is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.7 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Dogtooth?
Also, please, report your opinion of other Lanthimos films, if you've seen any

Hercules (2014) - Ratner and Johnson's forgettable noisemaker

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Dwayne Johnson allegedly trained for something like 8 months for his portrayal of Brett Ratner's Hercules

Hercules, Zeus' half-human/half-God son, has lost his own family, but he fails to remember how. With his band of mercenaries, he fights for Thrace and an answer.

This is as close to a plot summary as I can come after watching this unvisionary revival of the Greek myth figure and movie hero by great Florida-born filmmaker Brett Ratner (Red Dragon (2002)). It is an adaptation of Steve Moore's (Red Fang (2000)) graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars (2008) by Ryan Condal (Colony (2015-), TV-series) and Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008), video).
Hercules is a visually polished, uninspired presentation of general ruckus without a single scene that stands out after it is over.
The cast is not too shabby at all: Dwayne Johnson (Faster (2010)) is dedicated in the title lead, Reece Ritchie (The Lovely Bones (2009)) is a snack to behold; (so why doesn't Ratner gratuitize him more than he does, (this is a sword-and-sandal movie, dammit!)), and John Hurt (The Elephant Man (1980)) and Ian McShane (Coraline (2009)) light up some, although they all deserve better direction and a better script than what they're given here.
Hercules, at least (?), is committed to being silly, as it provides ludicrous lines such as; "Fucking centaurs!"

Related posts:

Brett Ratner: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Tower Heist (2011) - Ratner's so-so financial crisis comedy

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 100 mil. $
Box office: 243.3 mil. $
= Minor flop
[Moore, who died a few months before the film's release, apparently didn't receive any payment for his graphic novel's use for the film. Hercules came out in a year in which Hollywood (by chance) released two major Hercules titles: The Kellan Lutz-starring The Legend of Hercules (2014) came out earlier in the year and bombed, (it is apparently a lot worse than Ratner's film!) Hercules opened #2 domestically to 29 mil. $, behind Lucy (2014), to reasonable reviews, based often on benevolence towards Johnson. The film grossed 72.6 mil. $ (29.8 % of the total gross) in North America. It opened #1 in countries like Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Singapore. 6 mil. $ (2.5 %) of the gross came from IMAX. The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia (22.2 mil. $/9%) and Brazil (14.2 mil. $/5.8 %). Hercules is fresh at 60 % with a 5.4 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hercules?

Before Midnight (2013) - Linklater, Hawke and Delpy's Before trilogy comes to a tender, incisive and chilling end

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Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy by the Mediterranean Sea on the poster for Richard Linklater's Before Midnight

QUICK REVIEW:

Jesse and Celine of the two previous films in the Before trilogy, (Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004)), are now a married couple with two lovely twin daughters, who have just spend their summer together on the Greek Peloponnese peninsula. But as Jesse is sending his teenage son back on a plane to his ex-wife in the States, he feels that perhaps it is time that they should move with him over there.

The last Before film so far, (for who knows for sure that this will end as a trilogy?), starts marvelously in an airport and with a long car talking scene. A later dinner scene is perhaps a little long and over-populated with the extremely articulate Before types that Jesse and Celine seem to attract everywhere. - But it ends on a moving note.
SPOILER As the fight between the two breaks out, it is depressing because it is so real and such an accurate depiction of the way couples tend to behave in a midlife crisis situation.
Ethan Hawke (Training Day (2001)) is phenomenal, and so is Julie Delpy (Broken Flowers (2005)), although Celine definitely comes off as the most antagonistic. SPOILER The fight is steered back into romance in the end, but the way the married couple wear down each other's emotional blades, - which is really well captured here, - is still so disheartening that, for me, Before Midnight, though unmistakably great, is the least enjoyable in the trilogy.
In online forums others have attacked co-writer-director Richard Linklater, (who has written the films with Hawke and Delpy), for "trashing" the characters that have moved people profoundly since the first film. But these critics fail to accept that these characters and their relationship merely evolve and change in each 9 year span to some degree, just as real people do. That this change is heartbreaking in some sense is not something the artists are responsible for. This is just the way life turns out for many if not all people.

Related reviews:
 
2014 in films - according to Film Excess 2011 in films - according to Film Excess 
Richard Linklater: Boyhood (2014) or, Colored Mirror
Bernie (2011) - Linklater, Black and Hollandsworth's incredible true-crime dramedy
A Scanner Darkly (2006) - Dick and Linklater's drug-infested vision of the future 

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil $
Box office: 23.3 mil. $
=  Huge hit
[Before Midnight was shot in the summer of 2012 in 15 days in and around Messenia, Greece. The film premiered at Sundance, played at Berlin International Film Festival and opened widest (897 theaters) in America on June 14th. It made 8.1 mil. $ (35 % of the total gross) domestically and was Oscar-nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, (adapted since its based on existing characters.) It became the 2nd best reviewed film of the year according to Rotten Tomatoes, only bested by Gravity (2013). It also appeared on a long row of critic's top 10 lists of 2013 and was nominated for and won a slew of awards.]

What do you think of Before Midnight?

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) - A sincere romcom favorite with infectious gusto

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+ Best Dollar Return of the Year: 73.74 Times + Best Romcom of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actress of the Year: Nia Vardalos

The inspired poster for Joel Zwick's My Big Fat Greek Wedding

My Big Fat Greek Wedding is the romcom sensation of 2002. Its Oscar-nominated script by star Nia Vardalos (I Hate Valentine's Day (2009), writer-director-star) was based on her one-woman Los Angeles play about her own Greek family and marriage to a non-Greek, which inspired producer-couple Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks (with their company Playtone) to make a movie out of it. - It turned out Vardalos already had a script!

Our heroine Toula is the depressed, still unmarried daughter of age 30, who hides around the family restaurant, as she meets a charming man, and they immediately fall in love. The only problem: He's not Greek!

Some have termed Greek Wedding a feel-GREAT movie, and it's not far from the truth: Its plot is rather breezy, and you're never in doubt that the two lovers will eventually have each other and that everything will work out. - Which is nice for a change, especially in such an engaging, lively and funny dish as this.
The production is immaculate, and the direction, (although one early meeting-scene should have had more of a context), is solid. The director is TV-specialist Joel Zwick (Full House (1987-95)).
Some critics have complained that the film is predictable and sitcom-ish, both of which are labels I didn't find really apply to the film, which is inspired, boisterous and up-beat, in its conclusion both a celebration of love, traditions and, not least, family.

The details:

What perhaps distinguishes Greek Wedding more than anything else, is that the sincerity behind it can be felt: Sure some elements are exaggerated for comic effect, but its core is real and personal, and that comes across and connects us to the story and its characters.
What also solidifies the film is its several auspicious and game cast members: Vardalos is great as her own alter ego, and she can really deliver lines and give a resonating performance; Michael Constantine (The Hustler (1961)) and Lainie Kazan (Bigfoot and the Hendersons (1987)) as her parents are indispensable; Andrea Martin (Wag the Dog (1997)) is fun as her aunt, and Louis Mandylor (The Set Up (1995)) is sincere and good as her brother. John Corbett (The Burning Plain (2008)) as the lover-husband feels a bit slight, probably because the character is a bit slim. But his parents, played by Bruce Gray (Water for Elephants (2011)) and Fiona Reid  (The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)) are fun as his stiff WASP parents.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a happy time you shouldn't deprive yourself of. It has a sequel in development, also spearheaded by Vardalos.

 

Related post:

 

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

A still of Michael Constantine, Lainie Kazan and the unknown actress that plays the grandmother from Joel Zwick's My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Watch the trailer here

Cost: 5 mil. $
Box office: 368.7 mil. $
= Huge hit
[The film was a highly surprising sleeper hit, as it has no real stars and might be expected to mostly play to Greeks: It spent 17 weeks in top 10 in America and racked up 241.1 mil. $ (65 % of the total gross) in North America, making it the 5th highest grossing film of the year there and one of the most profitable romcoms ever made. - And the highest grossing film ever in North America to never make the # 1 spot. It was also a big hit abroad, especially in Europe.]

What do you think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding?
Are any of Nia Vardalos' other works worth checking out?

The Two Faces of January (2014) - Amini's debut is a delicious but slight Greek period adaptation

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The movie star-loving, lovely Italian poster for Hossein Amini's The Two Faces of January

QUICK REVIEW:

An American and his wife get in trouble in post-WWII Athens, when he accidentally kills a man who has unfinished business with him. With a younger, American guide, they then seek refuge on a Greek island.

This mysteriously titled drama-thriller film (the title is never explained) is very neat, but not exactly beautiful. It spins a decent suspense yarn over the relationship between its three main characters.
The well-playing, appealing actors, Viggo Mortensen (The Appaloosa (2008)), Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man 2 (2004)) and Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)), weigh up for a somewhat slight outing.
January is the feature debut of Iranian-American screenwriter Hossein Amini (Drive (2011)), who has adapted it from a 1960 same-titled book by Patricia Highsmith.

Viggo Mortensen looks anxious in a neat 1960's suit in Hossein Amini's The Two Faces of January

Watch the trailer here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 8.8 mil. $
= Unknown
[- But most likely a flop. In the US, distributor Magnolia Pictures first sent January out on VOD [video on demand] on August 28 and then started its theatrical run more than a month later, on October 3rd.]

What do you think of Hossein Amini's directorial debut, The Two Faces of January?
If you have read Highsmith's novel, how does it read compared to the film?

Blood Tide/Bloodtide/Demon Island/The Red Tide (1982) - Dubious island monster flick with James Earl Jones

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Scary, disfigured water-woman on the poster for Richard Jefferies' Blood Tide

QUICK REVIEW:

To a little, Greek island arrives a boat with a couple with bopped hair, who are looking for a missing, crazy sister. - But are virgin sacrifices being performed on the island? In any case, women go missing there on a large scale.
The scenes in which the girls are attacked by the sea monster are true horror, and the island also holds an uncomfortable atmosphere; in particular in the grotto scenes, in which a rambling James Earl Jones (Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)) fiddles with whisky and explosives.
The monster, however, is terribly ugly, in a bad sense that is, and the primary title of the film is pointless, (what blood tide?) Also, the young cast members 'act' more in the sense of merely being in the film with their bodies, and the British Blood Tide also doesn't steer clear of boring for considerable lengths of its playtime.
Its director Richard Jefferies has only directed one other film, the TV movie Living Hell (2008), but has written scripts for numerous films like Scarecrows (1988), Man of the House (1995) and Cold Creek Manor (2003).

James Earl Jones in Richard Jefferies' Blood Tide. - Is he really drunk? Really?

Watch a clip from this undistinguished movie here

Budget: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown

What do you think of Blood Tide?
Have you seen other films with James Earl Jones that you think count as low-points in the man's in any case impressive career?