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From ZERO to 6 ♥s. 100% ad-free. Run on pure love for movies, documentaries and TV-series. December 2024: Updated lists of the best and worst of 2002, 2014 and 2016 - Now with 2,300+ reviews!
Eagerly anticipating this week ... (17-24)
Johnny Depp's Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness (2024)
+ Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Los Angeles Movie of the Year + Best Parody of the Year
Two of Hollywood's biggest comedy stars meet for the first time in what appears a simple con plot on this poster for Frank Oz's Bowfinger
Steve Martin (iThree Amigos! (1986)) plays Bowfinger, a man who desperately wants to make a Hollywood movie hit. With a persevering team of amateurs, one involuntary, unknowing major star, Kit Ramsay, and Ramsay's unknown, dim-witted brother, Bowfinger somehow succeeds in creating the action science fiction film, Chubby Rain.
Bowfinger is written by writer/co-star Steve Martin (L.A. Story (1991)) and directed by Frank Oz (The Dark Crystal (1982)).
While the film might be no major laugh fest, it works wonders as a major enjoyment for lovers of classic comedy and the Hollywood movie business, which it parodies gleefully. It is entertaining and very agreeable and a somewhat nostalgic trip to a way of making comedies that's not being done much anymore, (regrettably.) The pairing of Eddie Murphy (The Golden Child (1986)) and Martin, two of big screen comedy's biggest stars in the preceding decades, is a merry success. Bowfinger is a funny film with a slew of good supporting actors as well: Heather Graham (Wander (2020)), Christine Baranski (The Bravest Knight (2019, TV-series)), Adam Alexi-Malle (Hidalgo (2004)), Terence Stamp (Unfinished Song (2012)) and Robert Downey Jr. (Only You (1994)) are all very good. Related posts: Frank Oz: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) - Despite stale romance and Anakin, Episode II excites (voice actor)
Cost: 55 mil. $ Box office: 98.6 mil. $ = Big flop (returned 1.79 times its cost)
[Bowfinger was released 13 August (North America, Switzerland) and runs 97 minutes. The enormous cost is likely to be ballooned by sky-high fees for Murphy, Martin and Oz, but they are regrettably unreported. Shooting took place from June - September 1998 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #2, behind hold-over hit The Sixth Sense, to a an 18 mil. $ weekend in North America, where it spent another 4 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#4-#4-#5), grossing 66.3 mil. $ (67.2 % of the total gross. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Oz returned with The Score (2001). Murphy returned in Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000); Martin in The Venice Project (1999). Bowfinger is certified fresh at 81 % with a 7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
Epic proportions are teased on this magnificent poster for William Wyler's Ben-Hur
Judah Ben-Hur is a Jewish prince from Judea at the time of Christ, who gets deceived by his old friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd (The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964))), and is made a slave to the Roman galleys, while his mother and daughter are thrown in the slammer. But Ben-Hur has to go through much more in his life... Ben-Hur is written by Maxwell Anderson (Death Takes a Holiday (1934)), S.N. Behrman (Two-Faced Woman (1941)), Christopher Fry (Sister Dora (1977, miniseries)), Karl Tunberg (Taras Bulba (1962)) and Gore Vidal (I Accuse! (1958)), adapting Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880) by Lew Wallace (The Prince of India (1893)), and directed by German-born American master filmmaker William Wyler (Lazy Lightning (1926)), whose 40th feature it was. The novel was previously adapted as Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925).
The film is an exuberant retelling of the Christian messages; to love one's enemy, to stand fast and turn the other cheek and to take the punishment and the pain, and to forgive and be forgiven; and it is an excellent and deeply moving film unlike any other. - Additionally it is probably the great Charlton Heston's (Planet of the Apes (1968)) best role and the greatest epic film ever made. Heston is phenomenal as the man, SPOILER who finally after so many trials gets his vindictiveness turned and finds faith and sees a miracle happen for his loved ones. The photography in Ben-Hur, - by the phenomenal Robert Surtees (The Last Picture Show (1971)), - is spectacular in all its full, vivid details and unparalleled grandeur. The film was the biggest in terms of sets and the most expensive film ever made at its time. It was so big that it was a make-or-break effort for its studio, MGM. Had it not triumphed, for instance, who knows if the world had met James Bond on the silver screen? Especially two major scenes in Ben-Hur are always highlighted as truly unforgettable: The violent galley scene and the legendary, extraordinary chariot race scene, an eight-minute scene that took 5 weeks to shoot in the biggest set ever built, outside of Rome at Cinecittá Studio, a chariot stadium so grand that one damns the fact that it is not left for cinephiles to peruse to this day. The scene is so influential and amazing that it stands alone in cinema history and is surrounded by myths: Its number of extras going upwards of 15,000; the number of horses that died from the effort ranging from none, (and that the horses were treated with the utmost respect to boot, as you can read in the IMDb trivia page), to as many as 100, as is the number given in The Hollywood Reporter's new Animals Were Harmed-special. Whichever is the actual truth, the scene is made and should be treasured for all the wonders that it contain. But there are many other fantastic, unforgettable scenes that are less mythologized: The beautiful opening with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem; Ben-Hur's meeting with Jesus, who gives him water, when he is thirsting in chains, - a remarkable and moving scene, - and Ben-Hur's terrible discovery that his kin have become lepers.
A tragic fact, though, is that the film's producer Sam Zimbalist (Quo Vadis (1951)), perhaps understandably in light of the intense stress he must have been under every day for months, had a heart attack and died on set, two months before production ended, at age 57. His wife subsequently took home the Best Picture Oscar in his place. Ben-Hur has an epic span of nearly 4 hours, which nevertheless doesn't detract from its impact, which is that of an unmissable masterpiece, a gift to humanity, - a truly great film.
See some glimpses of the grandeur in this not-so-humble original trailer for Ben-Hur
Cost: 15.175 mil. $ Box office: 146.9 mil. $ (initial release only) = Blockbuster (returned 9.79 times its cost)
[Ben-Hur premiered 18 November (New York) and runs 212 minutes, excluding overture, intermission and entr'acte. The film was developed as a direct attempt to save MGM with a religious epic that would rival Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956), also starring Heston. The writing was a contested process with several chefs that ended in a WGA lawsuit over credit. Wyler was hired with a historic fee of 350k $ plus 3 % of the net profits, a deal that allegedly netted him 1.1 mil. $ over time. Heston was paid 250k $ for 30 weeks, plus traveling expenses paid for his family as well. Shooting took place from May 1958 - January 1959 in Italy, including in Rome, California and in Mexico. The budget ballooned from 7 mil. to 15.175 mil. $ due to the lavish, larger-than-life production solutions chosen: 70 mm lenses, 6 of them, at 100k $ each, shipped to Rome. 15k sketches. 1 mil. props. 200 camels. 2,500 horses. 300 sets. 10k extras. 40 miniature ships and two 175-foot seaworthy Roman galleys. The 18 acre chariot set, the biggest ever built, using, among other elements, 36k tons of sand from the Mediterranean, - the scene reportedly cost 1 mil. $ to produce. A 125k $ set dismantlement cost. More than 1.1 mil feet of costly film used for a film of ultimately 19k feet. A 100 piece orchestra score. 3k rioting poor Italians who were not hired as extras one day. Costumes, backdrops, friezes and wigs in colossal numbers. The film was backed up with a massive 14.7 mil. $ marketing campaign and merchandising to the hilts. It was #1 in North America for a reported 6 months, grossing 74.7 mil. $ (50.9 % of the total gross). It was the year's highest-grossing and at the time the 2nd highest-grossing of all time, only beaten by Gone with the Wind (1939). It saved MGM and reportedly accrued 20.4 mil. $ in profits in its original release and another 10.1 mil. $ on its 1969 re-release. It was nominated for 12 Oscars, winning an unprecedented 11, only losing Best Adapted Screenplay to Neil Paterson for Room at the Top. It won Best Actor (Heston), Supporting Actor (Hugh Griffiths (Luther (1974)), Art Direction/Set Decoration - Color, Cinematography - Color, Costume Design - Color, Director, Special Effects, Editing, Score - Drama/Comedy (Miklós Rózsa (The Jungle Book (1942))), Picture and Sound. It also won a BAFTA, 2 David di Donatello awards, 4/5 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a Grammy, won 3 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #183 on the site's Top 250, sitting between 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Blade Runner (1982). The novel has been adapted several times since. The film's 1971 TV premiere became one of the top-rated of all time with 85.82 mil. viewers. Wyler returned with The Children's Hour (1961). Heston returned in Alcoa Premiere (1961, TV-series) and theatrically in El Cid (1961); Jack Hawkins (Jane Eyre (1970, TV movie)) in The League of Gentlemen (1960). Ben-Hur is certified fresh at 85 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
An epic-teasing and quite delectable poster for George Lucas' Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
10 years have gone by since the events in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), and Padawan apprentice Anakin is now a young adult. Obi-Wan Kenobi has taught him the arts of the Jedi, but Skywalker is rebellious and arrogant. Queen Amidala is now Senator, and assassins try to kill her. Anakin moves her to safety, while Obi-Wan follows the mysterious leads that soon reveal a clone army.
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones is written by Jonathan Hales (The Scorpion King (2002)) and great Californian filmmaker, co-writer/director George Lucas (THX 1138 (1971)). It is the 5th film in the Star Wars franchise.
Up to this point it was alsothe longest Star Wars film (at 142 minutes) and probably the least liked generally, but for me it is a satisfying space adventure; Episode III (2005) is the weakest in the original 6-film saga, with Episode I and Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as the strongest. The biggest hurdles in Episode II and III are Lucas' questionable ability to write romance, and Hayden Christensen (Takers (2010)), the uncharismatic, dull and dubiously talented new actor employed for the pivotal part of Anakin Skywalker. Lucas has a much better actress in Natalie Portman (Black Swan (2010)) as Senator Amidala, but still the two mostly fail in bringing feelings of real romance into their calculated scenes, set in excessively picturesque settings to lure the viewer's attention away from the stony dialog and interaction. I have problems connecting the dots between the overly smart, cute boy Anakin of Episode I with the brooding, dumb Anakin of Episode II. Something has somehow gone terribly wrong in the ten year span that we are left unaware of: The young man talks continuously about his mother and unfairness committed against him; he is almost entirely in his emotions' control. Even the death of his mother (played by Pernilla August (Young Royals (2021-24)) only inspires him to be an enormous idiot. The character, which I loved in Episode I, is now the dumbest Jedi apprentice ever, in Episode II. Fortunately, Episode II has many better things to offer, which counter-weigh the issues with Anakin and his stale romance: Ewan McGregor (The Impossible (2012)) is a great Obi-Wan, and I enjoyed his almost detective-like adventure to Kamino and beyond a lot. Samuel L. Jackson (Django Unchained (2012)) is good as Master Windu, and Christopher Lee (Dracula (1958)) is always a great villain, here as Count Dooku. Behind him, Ian McDiarmid (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)), still lurks around in the villains' wardrobe as the imposing Chancellor Palpatine. All of his scenes are amazing. For levity, Jar Jar Binks, who was not treated mildly by many audiences of Episode I, has been minimized as a character in lieu of more of our old pals R2D2 and C3PO. By theatrical chronology, (Episodes IV,V,VI,I,II,III), I think I have sometimes had enough of the latter at this stage, but at least he loses his head in this film. (That happens in the droid factory scene, which I quite enjoyed.)
The pioneer efforts on the film's digital photography and visual effects end are considerable, and the achievements in this area are deeply impressive. Not least the entirely CG monsters and the giant benevolent lizard are terrific entertainment. What many fans will remember as the best of Episode II
is undoubtedly Yoda's fight scene. It is highly satisfying and thrilling to
finally see him in action, also a technical milestone. There's also a really good scene earlier
in the film, where Yoda is teaching young Jedi Padawans. So while Episode II has its issues, it is also rife with amazing scenes and adventure, and it made me nuts to see the saga-finalizing Episode III in its day, I remember vividly. Finally, the Star Wars films are also so exciting because of their masterful sound design and the music, composed and conducted by John Williams (The Post (2017)), and performed by the London Voices and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Cost: 115 mil. $ Box office: 653.7 mil. $ = Huge hit (returned 5.68 times its cost)
[Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones premiered 12 May (Los Angeles) and runs 142 minutes. Shooting took place from June - September 2000, with reshoots in March 2001, in Australia, London, England, Tunesia, Spain and Italy. It was allegedly the 3rd film to be shot fully in digital HD. The film opened #1 to an 80 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then another 3 in the top 5 (#2-#3-#5), grossing 302.1 mil. $ (46.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 78.1 mil. $ (11-9 %) and the UK with 58.7 mil. $ (9 %). The film was the year's 3rd highest-grossing in North America, behind Spider-Man and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and 4th highest-grossing globally, a first time a Star Wars film was not #1 over-all. The film was nominated for the Best Visual Effects Oscar, lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. The Star Wars franchise returned with Lucas' Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), also Lucas' return as a director. Christensen returned first in Shattered Glass (2003); Portman in Cold Mountain (2003); and McGregor in Solid Geometry (2002, TV movie) and theatrically in Down with Love (2003). Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones is fresh at 65 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones?
Co-star Alex Guinness looks paranoid while holding a riffle in front of his precious bridge on this evocative poster for David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai
A large group of British prisoners of war in Japanese-occupied Burma in 1942 get as forced assignment to build a bridge for the railway. The mentally deteriorating British Colonel Nicholson in charge puts all of his pride into the project, which is to symbolize the unparalleled craftsmanship and unbreakable will of the British, he announces, while other allies are sent on a deadly sabotage mission through the hostile jungle towards the self same bridge.
The Bridge on the River Kwai is written by Carl Foreman (The Key (1958)) and Michael Wilson (Salt of the Earth (1954)), adapting the same-titled 1952 novel by Pierre Boulle (La Planète des singes/Planet of the Apes (1963)), and directed by English master filmmaker David Lean (This Happy Breed (1944)), whose 11th feature it was. Kwai is an unequaled masterpiece in the suspense-based war movie genre. It is inspired by facts, but is for the most part fiction, as the real life parallel, the Japanese-led construction of the Burma-Siam railway, was actually much more terrible and deadly than the events depicted in the film. (13,000 war prisoners and between 80,000-100,000 civilians died as a result of the project; Nicholson is also entirely fictional.) The film has some of the most exciting suspense scenes in all of cinema, and yet most of this epic relies on unforgettable, insightful character studies: There's the pragmatist doctor, who sees only pointlessness in the trials of the war; the zealous major, who makes it a matter of personal spite and principal to prove the Japanese inferior to the British. And there's the Japanese colonel Saito, who buds heads with the Brit and follows his own culture's specific codes of conduct. Alec Guinness (Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)) portrays Major Nicholson brilliantly, a character whose rigid mind and jungle fever takes him to the blinded edge of sanity. Sessue Hayakawa (The Geisha Boy (1958)) is also supreme as Saito. The scenes between the two are some of the film's best. Highly sophisticated, intense and alive.
In other supporting roles, Jack Hawkins (To Bury Caesar (1963)) and William Holden (The Towering Inferno (1974)) are enjoyable. The film is also unusual in that it is almost entirely bereft of women. The Bridge on the River Kwai is one of the best war films of all time, an eminent epic, and it has been restored beautifully. It is a must watch for every movie-lover out there, and especially so for the war-interested ones.
Cost: 3 mil. $ Box office: 30.6 mil. $ = Mega-hit (returned 10.6 times its cost)
[The Bridge on the River Kwai premiered 2 October (London) and runs 161 minutes. The film's American writers wrote the screenplay in British exile due to being on the McCarthy blacklist, and this also prompted non-English speaking Boulle to become credited with its writing. Foreman was paid 17k $ for the job. Guinness was paid 150k $; Holden 250-300k $ (different reports) plus 10% of the worldwide gross. Shooting took place from November 1956 - May 1957 in Sri Lanka. Lean had serious disagreements with Guinness during filming and also at one point nearly drowned in the river. A scene with a woman was shot solely to appease US studio Columbia. The film earned 17.1 mil. $ (55.9 % of the total gross) in North America: It was Columbia's highest-grossing at the time and the global top-grosser of the year, as well as the highest-grossing of the year in North America and the UK. It was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 7: For Best Picture, Actor (Guinness), Cinematography (Jack Hildyard (Emily (1976))), Director, Editing, Score (Malcolm Arnold (Hard Times (1977, miniseries))) and Adapted Screenplay; losing Supporting Actor (Hayakawa) for Red Buttons in Sayonara. It also won 4 BAFTAs, a David di Donatello award, 3/4 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a Grammy, won 5 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. The first TV screening of the film was in 1962 on ABC, with a record result of 72 mil. viewers. Warren Buffett has said that it is his favorite film. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #171 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between Trainspotting (1996) and Klaus (2019, VoD). Lean returned with Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Holden returned in The Key (1958); Guinness in All at Sea (1957); and Hawkins in Terror! Theatre (1957, TV-series), The World Our Stage (1958, TV-series) and theatrically in Gideon of Scotland Yard (1958). The Bridge on the River Kwai is certified fresh at 96 % with a 9.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Bridge on the River Kwai?
A wealth of characters and situations are crammed into a colorful star on this fine poster for Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights
Dirk Diggler is a young man in 1970s America with a heavy quality between his legs that makes him spiral to stardom in Los Angeles' blooming porn industry. But success comes with at a prize.
Boogie Nights is written, co-produced and directed by Californian master filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight (1996)), based on his mockumentary short film, The Dirk Diggler Story (1988). It is his 2nd feature.
The film is roughly to porn what Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995) is to Vegas: A glitzy semi-fact-based chronicle. A simultaneously glamorous and sober recap of porn's explosion from low-rent smut into major dollars. Mark Wahlberg (Three Kings (1999)) has one of his career's best parts here and gives a splendid performance in his breakthrough role as donkey dick with limited brains, Dirk Diggler/Eddie Adams (based on real-life porn legend John Holmes). The rest of the cast is so star-studded that you just have to keep watching, especially as many of them deliver outstanding supporting performances: Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda (2004)) is priceless; and so is Burt Reynolds (Deliverance (1972)) as a porn director. Julianne Moore (The Hours (2002)) is heartbreaking as a porn actress who is also a neglectful mother; and finally Heather Graham (From Hell (2001)) is sugar-sweet as Rollergirl. Philip Baker Hall (Hard Eight), John C. Reilly (Step Brothers (2008)), William H. Macy (The Sessions (2012)), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote (2005)), Thomas Jane (The Mist (2007)) and Alfred Molina (Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)) also have enjoyable minor parts. Photography-wise, Boogie Nights is a study in long, complicated travelings and hard contrast cuts. Fine work by cinematographer Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood (2007)). Boogie Nights is a decadent, sexy, incredibly cast, eclectic film. A tour de force in cinematic skill and great period music. It booms with great scenes and wonderful performances, though it is arguably overlong.
Cost: 15 mil. $ Box office: 43.1 mil. $ = Box office success (returned 2.88 times its cost)
[Boogie Nights premiered 11 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 155 minutes. Shooting took place from July - October 1996 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #19 to a 50k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #4 and in 1,003 theaters (different weeks), grossing 26.4 mil. $ (61.3 % of the total gross). It was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Supporting Actor (Reynolds) to Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting, Supporting Actress (Moore) to Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential and Original Screenplay to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTAs, a European Film Award, won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations and a National Board of Review award, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Anderson returned with 4 videos prior to his theatrical return with Magnolia (1999). Wahlberg returned in The Big Hit (1998); Reynolds in Big City Blues (1997); and Moore in Chicago Cab (1997). Boogie Nights is certified fresh at 93 % with an 8.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
