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An imagination-fueling poster for Walter Hill's Hard Times that effectively sets us in a specific place and time
A fortune-hunting boxing promoter finds his new bare-knuckle sensation in an unimpressed man, who can punch so that even the heaviest adversaries see stars. But the promoter will have to borrow a big amount to get his new fighter going.
Hard Times is written by Bryan Gindoff (The Candy Snatchers (1973)), Bruce Henstell (The Candy Snatchers, assistant director) and debuting co-writer/director, Californian master filmmaker Walter Hill (48 Hrs. (1982)).
An enormously simple story gets presented in the most beautiful way in Hill's period boxing drama; handsome sets, beautiful image compositions (cinematography by Philip H. Lathrop (Class Reunion (1982))) and an iconic performance by Charles Bronson (Murphy's Law (1986)). Some of the nuances here lie in the fact that one senses the inherent degradation in having to fight until blood spurts in order to survive; SPOILER along with the ending's implicit point about protecting and helping those you have fought along with, even if you don't care much for them.
James Coburn (Intrepid (2000)) is strong as the promoter, a man caught between a rock and a hard place. The scene in which Bronson sets things right in Louisiana is fantastic. The film's final fight, (despite the fact that the camera doesn't linger much on the impact of the punches), is the fight of the decade.
Hard Times is a phenomenal, inconspicuous song of a hero, a gift for men - and probably Bronson's best starring picture.
[Hard Times was released 13 August (France) and runs 93 minutes. AIP producer Lawrence Gordon gave Hill the chance to direct after he had been successful with a number of action screenplays. Bronson was paid "almost 1 mil. $" for his performance. Shooting took place around September 1974 in Texas, Arizona, Los Angeles, California, and in New Orleans, Louisiana. The film's box office numbers are not easy to dig up; the-numbers.com allege that it made 5 mil. $ in North America, relatively little compared to the 26.5 mil. $ total gross listed elsewhere, and the fact that Hill in 2009 said that he still received profits from the film. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Hill returned with The Driver (1978). Bronson returned in Breakheart Pass (1975); Coburn in Skyriders (1976). Hard Times is fresh at 92 % with a 7.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
Co-star Kevin Spacey sits bloody-handed in the ultimate throne of power on this poster for season 1 of Beau Willimon's House of Cards
House of Cards - season 1 is created by Beau Willimon (The Ides of March (2011)), based on the BBC miniseries of the same name from 1990, which in turn was based on the same-titled 1989 novel by Michael Dobbs (Winston's War (2002)).
The following season summary contains SPOILERS:
Frank Underwood, South Carolina Democratic congressman and House Whip, kills his neighbors' suffering dog in the series' first scene. A long-time politician, he is married to cool businesswoman Claire Underwood when his candidate wins the presidency, - while Underwood is brushed away from the State Secretary position he was eyeing in favor of another, to instead work on the new government's first big reform, on education. Raging and vengeful, Frank finds a young reporter, Zoe Barnes, to whom he leaks the bill's first draft.
Frank also leaks damaging old information to Barnes about the soon to be appointed State Secretary, forcing him to resign early. Mrs. Underwood proves no less ruthless than her husband, as she asks her right hand woman to fire 18 employees after which she fires said employee herself. Frank has younger forces work on the educational reform after having pushed another leader veteran out of his post over his initial, way too liberal (and leaked) draft.
The first 100 days of the new administration have almost passed, and Frank ought to negotiate reform details with party heads, when the fatal accident of a 17 year-old girl in his SC hometown forces him back to put a lid on it in record time. Meanwhile Carrie hijacks her former philanthropist partner Gillian into joining her new endeavor. Zoey positions herself at work and in relation to her new high-profile source Frank, whom she flirts with over text messages.
Frank arranges a devious coup against the House Speaker, who was opposed to his reform, - and changes sides in the 11th hour. Carrie ends an old affair with a photographer she had called to Washington DC herself. Zoey is nonchalant about a promotion and is fired, - celebrating by laying herself sexually at Frank's feet. Frank's younger 'apprentice', congressman Peter Russo of Pennsylvania drinks himself to obliteration after having taken a painful bullet for Frank (and having lost his girlfriend in the process.)
Zoey lets Frank take nude pictures of her and sees if she fits in at a modern online media workplace, while her ex-boss at the Washington Herald gets fired. Frank and teacher's union leader Spinella cross swords, and the man arranges problems at Carrie's charity gala, but power couple Frank & Carrie prevail and raise 750k $. Russo is upset that his supporting the closing of a major ship factory in his district is causing death threats, but Frank entices him with support as a coming governor of Pennsylvania.
A teacher's strike is taking place, and Frank stumbles rhetorically in a debate with Spinella on CNN and has to fight an order from the president, (which seems a bit odd.) The strike ends when Frank provokes Spinella into hitting him and then blackmails the man into giving in. Frank also forces Russo to attend AA meetings in order to support his future governor's campaign.
Russo is on the fence about this future, confronted with his own sinful past, but Frank wins him over by getting his ex back to him and his new campaign. Frank's right hand man, Chief of Staff Doug Stamper has an outspoken prostitute move into a female colleague's home, - like the Peter Russo storyline this is another one that seems a ticking bomb. Zoey wants her Herald competition hired at her new workplace and she continues her sleazy relation to Frank, who in turn offers her philosophical insights before performing cunnilingus!
Russo visits his hospital-bound, sad mother and confronts the wrath of the shipyard workers with his on-again girlfriend and with his older friend's support he wins their cautious support. Meanwhile Frank is home in SC to open 'his' library, and Claire is courted by their former press chief Remy. Frank parties with an old cadet friend, whom he used to have a secret gay relationship with that's still tender.
Russo is on a campaign trip accompanied by the vice president, who needs a ticking-off to step aside. Zoe wants to end her sexual relation to Frank but goes on when she understands that it would end their secret confidence. Frank doesn't help his wife with a professional issue, and she returns the favor by serving him a shocking defeat.
When Frank understands the connection, and that his wife is also cheating on him, it is unclear what he can or should do about it. 'Ticking bomb' Peter Russo gives a drunken interview and disappears!
Frank and Zoe agree to 'simplify' their relation, and Claire leaves her photographer affair, as Russo is found dead in a garage of an apparent suicide. Frank arranged for the 'suicide' and is busy getting the vice president interested in Russo's now open campaign seat as governor of Philadelphia, - which in turn would open the vice president's seat for himself.
Zoe learns from her new (old) colleague that Russo was forced to close the shipyard and that Underwood's hands are all over it. Meanwhile Frank is visiting a billionaire friend of the president, whom he suspects is also eyeing the vice presidency, (but is actually vetting Underwood.)
Claire ends up in a toxic legal situation, as Frank gains support as future vice president, and Zoey and colleagues gather dirt against him.
Kevin Spacey (The Life of David Gale (2003)) is electric as Frank Underwood from the get-go, obviously acutely aware of the opportunities the character affords him as a solid vessel for human deceit and manipulations. His narration, ultra-cynical, nihilistically toned and David Fincher-reminiscent (Fincher (The Social Network (2010)) is among the show's executive producers), takes a little getting used to but then turns out often witty and most always instructive in illuminating his lines of thought.
House of Cards soon reveals itself as very high quality TV drama and prime entertainment, a study in power and its execution more than anything else. Watching the 'sausage factory' that is big US politics at work from the inside is fascinating, and not just a bit unappetizing. The tone is often shrill and unbecoming, - which is the case in politics.
Robin Wright (Room 10 (2006, short)) is steely and daunting as Claire Underwood, the wife in Frank's very negotiation-minded, exchange-like version of the modern marriage. Her relation to her right-hand woman Gillian turns dark, ripe with evil loathing, - savage and dangerous. The death of Corey Stoll's (Midnight in Paris (2011)) Peter Russo shocks, and shows us new heights (or lows it could be argued) to the lengths Frank is willing to go with his manipulations for his own gain. Kata Mara's (Fantastic Four (2015)) Zoey and fellow journalists may be onto Underwood's insidious schemes, but will they be able to make a difference?
House of Cards season 1 is enormously good TV, presenting characters and a power play that one only wants to see play out further by the season's end.
Best episodes:
Episode 3: Chapter 3: Written byKeith Huff (Mad Men (2010, TV-series),Sam Forman (Hand of God (2015, TV-series), Kate Barnow (Shooter (2017, TV-series), Willimon; directed by James Foley (Reel Talent (2007))
Everyone positions themselves for their own benefit, including Frank who jumps upon a tragic death accident to promote himself in his home base.
Episode 5: Chapter 5: Written by Sarah Treem (In Treatment (2008-10)), Forman, Barnow, Willimon; directed by Joel Schumacher (Bad Company (2002))
As Zoey uses her body as leverage with Frank, and Russo receives death threats for axing a big workplace in his home district, Frank is facing a volatile confrontation with a union leader and needs his wife's support.
Episode 11: Chapter 11: Written by Huff, Barnow, Forman, Willimon; directed by Carl Franklin (Vinyl (2016, TV-series))
Affairs are gotten in order, as Peter Russo turns up dead. SPOILER Frank's involvement is shocking, and he and Claire's repulsive, effective announcement of it (during the end credit roll) could have made an excellent end of the first season.
[House of Cards - season 1 was released in full on 1 February on Netflix and runs approximately 663 minutes (13 episodes of around 51 minutes each). Shooting took place in Maryland, including in Baltimore, and in South Carolina. The series' cost reportedly started at 4.5 mil. $ per episode and later grew. Netflix regrettably do not report viewership numbers. The season won 3 out of 9 Emmy nominations, becoming the first web/VoD TV-series to get nominated and win, and won 1/4 Golden Globe nominations, among other honors. IMDb's users have rated the TV-series in at #108 on the site's TV Top 250, sitting between Friday Night Lights (2006) and Berserk (1997). House of Cards returned with season 2 in 2014, also Willimon's return as writer/producer. In 2013 Spacey also narrated At the Top (2013, video); Wright also starred in Adore and The Congress that year. House of Cards - season 1 is the show's highest rated at Rotten Tomatoes; certified fresh at 87 % with an 8.10/10 critical average.]
A fearsome bunch of gun-carrying characters appear to be headed towards the same cabin through a blizzard on this exciting poster for Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight
A bounty hunter with a wanted woman in his wagon runs upon an old acquaintance in a blizzard en route to Wyoming and brings him along with them; but soon the little company meet trouble at Minnie's Haberdashery.
The Hateful Eight is written and directed by Tennessean master filmmaker Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs (1992)), whose 10th feature it is.
Tarantino's second western, The Hateful Eight takes place in the same somewhat unreal Tarantino world as the preceding Django Unchained (2012). (The feeling is only enforced by Tarantino narrating the film himself.) Robert Richardson's (Breathe (2017)) exceptional 65 mm images and Ennio Morricone's (Days of Heaven (1978)) wily score make this tale of hoodlums easy to take.
In the cast Walton Goggins (The Crow: Salvation (2000)) stands out along with Jennifer Jason Leigh (The First Time (1982, TV movie)), the latter throwing herself head-first into a both frightening and pitiful character. The basic idea is to take a group of diverse, villainous characters and let them fight out their grievances in a cabin during a storm. A lot of sulfurous dialog and blood splatters predictably result, but without the shadow of a hero, it is hard not to feel that The Hateful Eight is somewhat overlong. We recognize some of Tarantino's tricks from past films, and curiously enough for this major wide format revival, he keeps his The Hateful Eight almost entirely indoors.
Some of Tarantino's trademark speechifying is just filler, - and I think it a shame that we don't get more wingspan to the film location-wise. SPOILER - What is one to think of the master filmmaker's career now, as the film ends with two men hanging a woman in a cabin to their great mirthful laughter, whereupon it ends? It feels a bit sad. For a newcomer I'd instead advice to watch Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Jackie Brown (1997).
= Box office success or a big hit (returned somewhere between 2.51-3.54 times its cost)
[The Hateful Eight premiered 7 December (Los Angeles) and runs 168 minutes (long roadshow version runs 187 minutes.) Originally thought as a Django sequel, Tarantino changed it up for his first draft, which leaked online in 2014, upsetting Tarantino to the point of naming the few trusted colleagues he had apparently shared it with and scrapping actually filming it. He instead held a reading with many of the stars present in 2014 and finally deciding to go ahead and film it anyway. Shooting took place from December 2014 - April 2015 in Colorado and Los Angeles, California. The state of Colorado contributed 5 mil. $ to the production. Kurt Russell (Touchback (2011)) accidentally smashed an antic 1870s Martin guitar during shooting, resulting in the Martin Guitar Museum no longer lending guitars out as props in movies anymore. The film was shot on 3 types of 65 mm cameras and transferred to 70 mm film, the widest 70 mm release since Far and Away (1992). The film opened #3, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Daddy's Home, to a 15.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America after getting released as a longer roadshow version for its first week in only 70 mm equipped theaters, making 4.6 mil. $ for a final gross of 54.1 mil. $ (33.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 13.2 mil. $ (8.2 %) and France with 12.3 mil. $ (7.6 %). The film's Box Office Mojo site is flawed, listing the film's 5.4 mil. $ Australian gross twice, both in 2015 and in 2021. The film was nominated for 3 Oscars, winning for Best Score (Morricone's first and only Oscar). It lost Best Supporting Actress (Leigh) to Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl and Cinematography to Emmanuel Lubezki for The Revenant. It also won 1/3 BAFTA nominations, 1/3 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for 2 Grammys and won 3 National Board of Review awards, among many other honors. Tarantino returned with Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood (2019). Samuel L. Jackson (Common Grounds (1990, miniseries)) returned in Cell (2016); Russell in Deepwater Horizon (2016); and Leigh in Morgan (2016). The Hateful Eight is certified fresh at 74 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
Note on qualifications: Only sequels/spin-offs/remakes/reboots. First franchise entries were listed in the Top 10: Best first-of-franchise movies. Something is considered a franchise after more than 3 films; 3 films make a trilogy, not yet truly a franchise. Auxiliary products such as novels and video games do not help qualify. Character-specific films within a larger fictional universe do not qualify (such as Black Panther, Dr. Strange, Aquaman etc.) before there are more than 3 films primarily related to the specific character.
A fabulous old-timey poster made with superb craftsmanship for Fred Zinnemann's High Noon
Newly-wed, soon-retiring sheriff Will Kane of the small town of Hadleyville in New Mexico Territory gets himself an unwelcome piece of news, when it becomes clear that a murderer that he put behind bars and who swore him dead has been released and is presently returning to town on the noon train!
High Noon is written by Carl Foreman (The Key (1958)), partly based on the short story The Tin Star (1947) by John W. Cunningham (Warhorse (1956)), and directed by Austrian-Hungarian/American master filmmaker Fred Zinnemann (Redes (1936)).
It is an iconic American film with Gary Cooper (Dallas (1950)) as the man who must do the right thing in a town that's not worth much. Grace Kelly (Fourteen Hours (1951)) is wonderful as his Quaker wife; Katy Jurado (Evita Peron (1982, TV movie)) is good as the Mexican beauty Helen Ramírez that's between Cooper and Lloyd Bridges (Cross of Fire (1989, TV movie)) on the brink of madness. With a very disillusioned Lon Chaney Jr. (Apache Uprising (1965)) and a kinkily scowling Lee Van Cleef (Arena (1953)) in his screen debut, the film also has wonderful, clear images (cinematography by Floyd Crosby (Tales of Terror (1962))) and a strikingly composed, strong score by Dimitri Tiomkin (The Unforgiven (1960)).
High Noon at times may seem so iconic as to feel distant to me, but it is certainly a formidable western.
[High Noon premiered 1 May (London) and runs 85 minutes. Reportedly Foreman had made a 4-page outline that was similar to Cunningham's story, so that he purchased the rights to it before writing the script. Meanwhile he was questioned at the HUAC (House Un-American Comittee) in Washington over past membership of the Communist Party. Failure to name names designated him an 'uncooperative witness', and Foreman consequently left the US, as this landed him on the Hollywood blacklist. Cooper was paid 60k $ and an unspecified percentage of the film's profits for his performance. Shooting took place from September - October 1951 in California. The film made reportedly 3.4 mil. $ at the North-American box office in 1952. Howard Hawks and John Wayne were vocally opposed to the film and its alleged un-American values and made Rio Bravo (1959) in response. It was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 4: Best Actor, Editing, Song (High Noon (Don't Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin') by Tiomkin and Ned Washington) and Score - Drama/Comedy. It lost Best Director to John Ford for The Quiet Man, Picture to The Greatest Show on Earth and Screenplay to Charles Schnee for The Bad and the Beautiful. It also won 4/7 Golden Globe nominations and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Zinnemann returned with The Member of the Wedding (1952). Cooper returned in Springfield Rifle (1952). High Noon is certified fresh at 94 % with an 8.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
Something horrible and ghoulish is teased on this effective poster for Robert Wise's The Haunting
A professor wants to find evidence of a parallel world of spirits and therefore invites a pair of relevant women to join him and the owner at the allegedly haunted Hill House manor.
The Haunting is written by Nelson Gidding (Lisa (1962)), adapting The Haunting of Hill House (1959)) by Shirley Jackson (The Sundial (1958)), and directed by great Indianan filmmaker Robert Wise (The Curse of the Cat People (1944)).
Julie Harris (Hamlet (1964)) as our afflicted, independence-seeking protagonist is outstanding, and the film is as much a ghost story as a creepy journey into the mind of a person who is getting near to a psychosis.
The remarkable photography (by Davis Boulton (Children of the Damned (1964))) manipulates with perspectives, distances and more, and the set design is excellent. There's a spiral staircase scene that demonstrates how long a suspense scene can be held. And Lois Maxwell (Lost and Found (1979)) is good in the supporting part as Grace Markway, the investigating doctor's cynical wife.
The Haunting is a study in withheld and insinuated horror that piques the subconscious with its eeriness.
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 1.05 mil. $
Box office: In excess of 1.02 mil. $ (North-American rentals in 1963 only)
= Uncertain but most likely a flop
[The Haunting opened 21 August (USA) and runs 114 minutes. Shooting took place around October 1962 in England, including in London. Harris suffered from depression at the time of shooting, affecting her performance and interaction (and lack thereof) with the cast and crew. With only a 1963 North-American rental figure, (which is unimpressive), the film's theatrical status is impossible to ascertain, - but it seems likely that The Haunting was a flop. It was nominated for a Golden Globe. It was remade as The Haunting (1999), and has inspired Rose Red (2002, miniseries) and The Haunting of Hill House (2018, miniseries VOD). Wise returned with The Sound of Music (1965). Harris returned in Little Moon of Alban (1964, TV movie), Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964, TV-series) and theatrically in Hamlet (1964); Claire Bloom (The King's Speech (2010)) in Il Maestro di Vigevano (1963). The Haunting is certified fresh at 87 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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