I Love You to Death (1990) - Great ensemble fire up Kasdan's true-crime comedy

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Co-star Kevin Kline looks moronic in white pajama piece on this poster for Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death

Joey is a hard-working family man in New York, who keeps his steam up by cheating voraciously with different women. When his wife discovers this, she and her mother wish Joey dead!

 

I Love You to Death is written by John Kostmayer (Simon & Simon (1984, TV-series)) and directed by Lawrence Kasdan (Body Heat (1981)). It is based on a true story from Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Kevin Kline (Beauty and the Beast (2017)) has his skin darkened for the Italian-American role of the worry-free Joey, who thinks of the US as an Italian country, and who admits to 12 counts of infidelity in 14 days in the film's funny first scene. Once again, this film proves that Kline is simply a comedic talent to reckon with. Tracey Ullman (Howard's End (2017, miniseries)) is sweet as the wife, and Joan Plowright (Rock My World (2002)) is also funny as the quick-witted mother-in-law with double standards. River Phoenix (Little Nikita (1988)) is lovely as the new-age indeterminate Devo, and Keanu Reeves (The Devil's Advocate (1997)) and John Hurt (The Village (2004)) appear as authentic, hopeless drug addict assassins. 

The focus on a (very) unfaithful husband, who nevertheless still loves his family and is good with them, can inspire debate about marriage, monogamy and so forth. The steam doesn't last all the way through the picture, but there is plenty to laugh at and like about I Love You to Death.

 

Related posts:

Lawrence Kasdan: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) - Disney, Howard and Co. drive expensive stick through beloved franchise (co-writer)

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) - Abrams scores big time, makes beautiful space opera blockbuster (writer) 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Dreamcatcher (2003) - Kasdan's career-crippling King adaptation 

Continental Divide (1981) - Unpersuasive Belushi comedy (writer)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Spielberg reasserts himself with tremendous boyish adventure (co-writer)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Uncertain

Box office: In excess of 16.1 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain but likely a box office success (projected return of 2.81 times its cost)

[I Love You to Death was released 6 April (USA) and runs 97 minutes. Plowright was paid 250k $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from April - July 1989 in Washington. The film opened #6 to a 4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 16.1 mil. $. If we estimate an 8 mil. $ budget and a hesitant foreign reception a 22.5 mil. $ final gross could be projected, which would rank as a box office success. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Kasdan returned with Grand Canyon (1991). Kline returned in Soapdish (1991); Ullman in 6 TV and video titles prior to her theatrical return in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). I Love You to Death is rotten at 58 % with a 5.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Love You to Death?

In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - Howard and stars mostly lost at sea

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The dimensions of a man swimming behind a massive whale are astonishing on this poster for Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea

Herman Melville comes to Nantucket, New England in 1850 and pressures a local to relate to him the story of how the whaling ship the Essex suffered a cruel fate on a mission thirty years prior.

In the Heart of the Sea is written by Charles Leavitt (The Mighty (1998)), with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), both) contributing story elements, adapting the same-titled 1999 non-fiction book by Nathaniel Philbrick (Abram's Eyes (1998)), and co-produced and directed by great Oklahoman filmmaker Ron Howard (Grand Theft Auto (1977)).

Not an adaptation of Herman Melville's classic Moby Dick (1851), rather this is about the true-story genesis of his novel. In the Heart of the Sea attracts with its colorful seafaring adventure. Whaling, to most people, is about as exotic as it can get. The film succeeds rather well in portraying this fascinating activity, no doubt with enormous practical difficulties, not least because the activity is so hard to imagine doing.

But good maritime scenes cannot cover the many egregious choices made by the filmmakers: The film is about Melville, - but then not really. It is about first mate Owen Chase's (Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Ragnarok (2017))) marriage, - but then not really. And there's a fair argument to be made that Hemsworth is not enough of a dramatic actor to carry the part. It is about Chase's rivalry with the ship's stubborn captain, - but then not really. Finally the film is about the young Thomas, who sees everything through a big kid's eyes: SPOILER Tom Holland (Avengers: Endgame (2019)) is too cute for this part, and when as a grown man he has become Brendan Gleeson (The Village (2004)) it is impossible to see how and when the two could have possible morphed.

Maybe Howard was too unfocused during the making of the film, (he was tweeting and instagraming during shooting), or perhaps not personally invested enough. In any case, In the Heart of the Sea rumbles along hither and dither without much luck.

 

Related posts:

 

Ron Howard: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) - Disney, Howard and Co. drive expensive stick through beloved franchise 

Inferno (2016) - Howard's third Langdon adventure is among the year's worst films 

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011) - Stapleton's Corman doc. is among the year's best films (interview subject)

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

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
Frost/Nixon (2008) - Howard's political drama is gripping, superiorly acted 
The Da Vinci Code (2006) - Howard's first Brown adaptation is a popcorn thriller hoot  

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
A Beautiful Mind (2001) - John Nash given the Epic Treatment  
EDtv (1999) - Phenomenal cast shine in Howard's witty mega-flop

Far and Away (1992) - Howard, Hollywood's sweethearts visit the old West with dull result (co-writer/director) 
Backdraft (1991) - Howard's giant, stupid Chicago-set firefighter movie 

Grand Theft Auto (1977) or, Crash Bam Boom! 
American Graffiti (1973) or, Cruisin' Modesto '62 (actor)   

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 100 mil. $

Box office: 94.3 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.94 times its cost)

[In the Heart of the Sea premiered 2 December (London) and runs 122 minutes. 10 companies cooperated in the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from September 2013 in Spain and England, including in London. The film opened #2, behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, to an 11 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 25 mil. $ (26.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Mexico with 6.3 mil. $ (6.7 %) and South Korea with 5.7 mil. $ (6 %). The film made an estimated 8.6 mil. $ additionally on the domestic home video market. Howard returned with The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years (2016, documentary) and theatrically with Inferno (2016). Hemsworth returned in The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016). In the Heart of the Sea is rotten at 42 % with a 5.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In the Heart of the Sea?

I Vitelloni (1953) - Fellini's layabout portrait breakthrough

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A pretty young woman passing creates big smiles on this wonderfully painted and colored poster for Federico Fellini's I Vitelloni

In an Italian small town a group of young men spend their days very comfortably without much in the way of means or purposes, as one of them gets pressured into marrying a local beauty, whom he has impregnated.

 

I Vitelloni is written by Ennio Flaiano (The 10th Victim/La Decima Vittima (1965)) and Italian master filmmaker, co-writer/director Federico Fellini (Variety Lights/Luci del Varietà (1950)), whose 3rd feature it was. Tullio Pinelli (Ginger & Fred/Ginger e Fred (1986)) contributed story elements. The title is an Italian slang word for a bullock or a calf, which is used to describe a layabout or slacker, a young male who revels in doing little and being unproductive.

Beginning with a beauty contest, this celebration of a young drifting lifestyle with few worries snails its way comfortably onward, rife with scenes of eagerly rambling Italians. The finest aspect of the film, Fellini's international breakthrough, is its portrait of a man, who becomes sincerely miserable when he hurts his wife, but who can nevertheless still not curtail his penchant for chasing other women. 

Reportedly semi-autobiographical, I Vitelloni may not be among the master's greatest, but it is a good film that makes for a superb watch on a lazy afternoon. 

 

Related posts:

Federico Fellini: Fellini Satyricon (1969) - Fellini's horny, ancient baccanale

Top 10: Best films about filmmaking 

Top 10: The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
8½ (1963) or, Vive la Cinema!
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
La Dolce Vita (1960) - Fellini's immortal masterpiece
Nights of Cabiria/Le Notti di Cabiria (1957) - Fellini serves private infatuation as incredible masterpiece 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain but reportedly a hit

[I Vitelloni premiered 26 August (Venice Film Festival) and runs 108 minutes. Though pressured, Fellini refused to change the title or add a bankable star to the film. Shooting took place from December 1952 - May 1953 in Italy, including in Rome, reportedly on a 'shoestring' budget. The film was a commercial and critical hit in Italy, France, sold 'huge' in Argentina, and did 'reasonable' box office in the UK and North America. The numbers are regrettably not available. It continued to live in new markets and get re-releases for decades, and has made at least 148k $ on re-releases post-2000. The film was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, lost to George Wells for Designing Woman. Fellini returned with a segment in Love in the City/L'amore in Città (1953) and with a proper feature with La Strada (1954). Alberto Sordi (L'Avaro (1990)) returned in Cavalcade of Song/Canzoni, Canzoni, Canzoni (1953); Franco Interlenghi (Don Matteo (2004, TV-series)) in I Vinti (1953). I Vitelloni is fresh at 100 % with an 8.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Vitelloni?

Top 10: Best historical titles

 

1. 55 Days at Peking (1963) - Guy Green, Andrew Marton, Nicholas Ray

 

 

2. My Enemy's Enemy (2007, documentary) - Kevin Macdonald 

 

 

3. The Last King of Scotland (2006) - Kevin Macdonald

 

 

4. Elizabeth (1998) - Shekhar Kapur 

 

 

5. Gandhi (1982) - Richard Attenborough

 

6. The Look of Silence (2014, documentary) - Joshua Oppenheimer

 

 

7. Oppenheimer (2023) - Christopher Nolan  

8. Farewell My Concubine/霸王別姬/Bàwáng Bié Jī (1993) - Chen Kaige

 

 

9. Deadwood - season 1 (2004) - David Milch

 

10. Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - Clint Eastwood

Selected from 51 titles labeled 'historical', 'historical drama' or 'history'

Previous Top 10 lists:

Best action movies
Best adapted movies
Best adventure movies
Best 'big flop' movies
Best B/W movies
Best true story movies
Best 'big hit' movies
Best biopic movies
Best 'box office success' movies
Best car chases in movies
Best comedies
Best cop movies       
Best crime movies 
Best debut movies   
Best Danish movies
Best Disney movies 
Best documentaries 
Best dramas
Best drama-thrillers
Best dramedies

Best drug-themed movies

Best UK movies

Best epic movies

Best erotic movies

Best family movies

Best fantasy movies

Best films about filmmaking 

Best first-of-franchise movies 

Best 'flop' rank movies

Best Twentieth Century Fox titles 

Best French movies

Best franchise movies 

Best future-set movies 

Best gangster movies

Best gay-themed titles

Best German movies 

Best ghost horror movies 

Best gore movies

Top 10: Best HBO titles

Best heist movies

Best high school titles 

What do you think of the list?
Which historical titles would make your personal Top 10?

I, Frankenstein (2014) - Monster nonsense, thick and bland

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A doom-ish landscape invites on this poster for Stuart Beattie's I, Frankenstein

Frankenstein's monster has survived for more than 200 years up until today, where the scientists around an old man get near to mastering the resurrection technology again, and thus a battle between creatures breaks out.

 

I, Frankenstein is written and directed by Stuart Beattie (Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010)), adapting the digital-only graphic novel I, Frankenstein Genesis (2013) by Kevin Grevioux (Wetworks Mutations (2010)). 

Fantasy fiction as a genre is open to being far out, - but it can also be compelling, if the presented universe is persuasive. I, Frankenstein is regrettably only utterly ridiculous nonsense, and the only thing it has in common with Mary Shelley's 1818 masterpiece Frankenstein is her title character, which it steals without crediting her.

Aaron Eckhart (Midway (2019)) looks resolute in the title part, but that he is supposedly 200+ years old and made of various severed body parts is only revealed through a scar on his face, - which carries through down his pumped up, muscly chest and abdomen... The modern, blond scientist woman (Yvonne Strahovski (The Tomorrow War (2021))) refers to Dr. Frankenstein as if he was a recently passed colleague; while Bill Nighy (Living (2022)) as the film's villain attempts to find new ways of spewing dialog in vicious manners, reminding us of his work in other fantasy films, among them the related Underworld series (2003; 2006; 2009; 2012; 2016), also co-created by Grevioux. Miranda Otto (Downhill (2020)) is a gargoyle queen with attractive male gargoyles Jai Courtney (Jolt (2021)), Chris Pang (Charlie's Angels (2019)) and others, (regrettably none of them take their clothes off.)

The plot also includes blasphemous baloney such as that Satan comes from heaven, and that there is an eternal and holy war between demons and gargoyles. 

This is tiring, very dark and self-congratulatory junk, however in short moments amusing junk, and if you are able to switch your brain very thoroughly off, some of the animated, made-for-3D fight scenes are mildly entertaining. But taken as a film, I, Frankenstein is another example of how comics-based offal litters the silver screens. 

And, by the way, what city are we in in I, Frankenstein? It is filled with ancient buildings, many of them Gothic, including one enormous, Gothic church? Melbourne, Australia? That's where it was shot :-D

 

Related posts:

 

Stuart Beattie: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) - Sommers tries to fire up Hasbro's second, less interesting movie venture (co-writer)

Derailed (2005) - Håfström's pointless romance thriller (writer) 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 65 mil. $

Box office: 76.8 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.18 times its cost)

[I, Frankenstein premiered 20 January (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and runs 92 minutes. Shooting took place in Argentina and Melbourne, Australia. The film opened #6 to an 8.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 19 mil. $ (24.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 11.3 mil. $ (14.7 %) and China with 7.5 mil. $ (9.8 %). Beattie has not returned as a director since the film; instead he has turned to producing and especially writing. Eckhart returned in My All-American (2015). I, Frankenstein is rotten at 5 % with a 3.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of I, Frankenstein?

The Innocent/L'Innocente (1976) - A cinematic farewell from a true master

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An impeccably dressed couple by a fireplace are elegantly inserted into this classy poster for Luchino Visconti's The Innocent

 

In the Italian aristocracy of the 1890s, Tullio admits to his wife that he now loves his mistress more than he has ever loved anyone else in his life, - but where does this confession leave their marriage?

 

The Innocent is written by Suso Cecchi D'Amico (Panni Sporchi (1999)), Enrico Medioli (Tosca e Altre Due (2003)) and co-writer/director, Italian master filmmaker Luchino Visconti (Ossessione (1943)). It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1892 novel by Gabriele D'Annunzio (The Child of Pleasure/Il Piacere (1889)). The title is a literal translation of the original Italian one.

Delectable and uniquely Viscontian, The Innocent is a film you need a restored version of if you are a lover of cinema; because it is a visionary near masterpiece. 

Giancarlo Giannini (Buon Lavoro (2018)) and Laura Antonelli (Rimini Rimini (1987)) are magnificent in the lead roles, and the film also spoils us with strikingly beautiful costumes and sets, along with subtly cinematic photography (cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis (Rigoletto (1987))), SPOILER which culminates in dramatic close-ups following the film's shocking conclusion: Giannini's shamelessly self-obsessed atheist finally reveals himself as a true monster.

The nature of love, infidelity and the creation of life, - but also the power games in a marriage, - these are central themes in this sensual, fantastic, fabulously scored (by Franco Mannino (The Ghost/Lo Spettro (1963))) farewell from the master.

 

Related posts:

Luchino Visconti: Death in Venice/Morte a Venezia (1971) - Bogarde shines in Visconti's adaptation masterpiece 

Top 10: Best epic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Top 10: Best dramas reviewed by Film Excess to date 

Top 10: Best 'box office success' movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

The Leopard/Il Gattopardo (1963) - The greatest film ever made? 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: In excess of 5.9 mil. $

= Uncertain but likely a box office success (projected return of 2.95 times its cost)

[The Innocent premiered 15 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 125 minutes. Visconti did not get the stars he wanted initially; among others Alain Delon passed, reportedly due to being uncomfortable that the master's state was diminished following a stroke. Shooting took place around September 1975 in Italy, including in Rome. The release has an incomplete list of grosses at Box Office Mojo, which indicates that the film was met with small crowds, including in Italy, and that most of its gross came from France (5.5 mil. $), - the film is an Italian-French co-production. With a projected cost of 2 mil. $, the film would rank as a box office success. It won a David di Donatello award. Visconti passed away from a stroke prior to its release. Giannini returned in A Night Full of Rain/La fine del Mondo nel nostro Solito Letto in una Notte Piena di Pioggia (1978); Antonelli in Wifemistress/Mogliamante (1977). The Innocent is fresh at 79 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Innocent?

In a Lonely Place (1950) - Ray and Bogart's dark, Hollywood-set noir

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Humphrey Bogart is prime real estate on this poster for Nicholas Ray's In a Lonely Place, which also highlights that the film has a 'surprise finish'

An experienced Hollywood screenwriter gets insight into a book by a reception girl, who is later brutally slain. At the same time as he begins a relationship with his neighbor, he is investigated in the murder case.

 

In a Lonely Place is written by Andrew Solt (The Lusty Men (1952)), based on Edmund H. North's (The Fiercest Heart (1961)) adaptation of Dorothy B. Hughes' (The Delicate Ape (1944)) same-titled 1947 novel, and directed by great Wisconsinite filmmaker Nicholas Ray (They Live by Night (1948)).

To start out this is an enjoyable exposé of Tinseltown, but its tone changes with the murder. Humphrey Bogart's (To Have and Have Not (1944)) character's enormous iciness and unfeeling cynicism is very unsympathetic, so much so that one wonders what ever sexy Gloria Grahame (The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)) sees in him here?

Well shot (by cinematographer Burnett Guffey (The Split (1968))) and elegantly written, the film changes its focus to the shadowy parts of the movie business: Jealousy, hatred, loathing and other negative feelings abound here. The score (by avant garde composer George Antheil (The Plainsman (1936))) is excessive and too abrasive. But the acting is good. Not surprisingly, In a Lonely Place ends up being underlining its being a sad companion.

Related posts:

Nicholas Ray: Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
55 Days at Peking (1963) or, Peking anno 1900

 Flying Leathernecks (1951) - Ray's gung ho, Technicolor aviation spectacle 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: In excess of 3.43 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain but likely at least a big hit

[In a Lonely Place premiered 17 May (New York) and runs 94 minutes. Shooting took place from October - December 1949 in California, including in Los Angeles. Ray's marriage to Grahame fell apart during filming. The film was listed in Variety January 1951 with a 1.375 mil. $ rental, coming to an approximately 3.43 mil. $ domestic gross. A cautious international total of 5 mil. $ is projected. Ray returned with Born to Be Bad (1950). Bogart returned in The Enforcer (1951). In a Lonely Place is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of In a Lonely Place?