Marley (2012, documentary) - Macdonald's great work of the truly inspirational musician

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Dressed in the colors of the Jamaican flag, the instantly recognizable face of Bob Marley makes up the poster for Kevin Macdonald's Marley

An outsider at home due to his mulatto skin from a mixed-race parentage, Bob Marley of Trenchtown, Jamaica nevertheless became beloved by people all over the world due to his fantastic reggae songs.

 

Marley is a biographical documentary by great Scottish filmmaker Kevin Macdonald (Chaplin's Goliath (1996, documentary)).

It is an intense and fantastically comprehensive documentary of perhaps one of the most convincing, prophet-like figures of the 20th centuries. It is full of rich testimony from those closest to the icon, as his music and goodness inspires persuasively.

Macdonald has his focus set on the universal, spiritual heights in Marley's life, which he reflects with beautiful fly-over images from fertile mountain ranges (possibly from Jamaica's Blue Mountains.) Marley is a long but outstanding bio-documentary, which moves deeply.

 

Related post:

 

Kevin Macdonald: The Last King of Scotland (2006) - Macdonald's Idi Amin thriller debut is an electric accomplishment

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 5.3 mil. $

= Uncertain

[Marley premiered 12 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 145 minutes. It opened #19 to a 262k $ first weekend in 42 theaters in North America, where it peaked in 73 theaters and grossed 1.4 mil. $ (26.4 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was the UK with 1.4 mil. $ (26.4 %), North America 2nd biggest and 3rd biggest was Italy with 283k $ (5.3 %). The film was nominated for a BAFTA, a British Independent Film award and a Grammy, among other honors. The-Numbers.com further estimate that it made 6.4 mil. $ on the video market. Macdonald returned with How I Live Now (2013). Marley is certified fresh at 95 % with a 7.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Marley?

Dr. No (1962) - Bond # 1 is one attractive package

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Sean Connery strikes an unusual pose on this poster for Terence Young's Dr. No

QUICK REVIEW:

Dr. No is the first James Bond movie ever, based on Ian Fleming's 7th Bond novel of the same name.

Agent 007 is sent to Jamaica, because one of his colleagues in the British intelligence service is reported missing there. The clues lead him to the island Crab Keyes, where the evil genius Dr. No has a lab that makes something unspecified which produces nuclear radiation. SPOILER - Bond blows that up!

The concept for the following 22 Bond movies to date, (movie # 24, Spectre (2015), will be released later this year) is impressively determined already here from the solid get-go, and Dr. No is an instant pleasure as the slightly chauvinistic male agent fantasy that the Bond character and universe is.
Sean Connery (Time Bandits (1981)) is perfect and very dashing as the suave gentleman hero without any ties, except for his employer, and Ursula Andress (Clash of the Titans (1981)) is beautiful and perfectly lovely as Honey Ryder, one of the series' most memorable Bond babes. Canadian New York-actor Joseph Wiseman (The Valachi Papers (1972)) is the titular, ice-cold villain, whose gimmick, - often a physical defect, which most of the Bond villains have, - is his crab-like steel hands. He isn't among the series' most exciting, and there are parts of Dr. No that draw out a bit.
Ken Adam's (Barry Lyndon (1975)) spectacular sets are a main attraction already from the first film here, and John Barry's (Howard the Duck (1986)) legendary theme also gets imprinted forever in our audial memory in Dr. No.
Much has happened for James Bond since the film: In Dr. No, 007's mission really gets hairy as he arrives to the island of Dr. No in the dead of night. - And lies down to sleep!
The film is written by Richard Maibaum (Thunderball (1965)), Johanna Harwood (Call Me Bwana (1963)) and Berkely Mather (The Long Ships (1964)) and directed by British, Shanghai-born master filmmaker Terence Young (The Valachi Papers), who would later direct two more of the franchise's best films, From Russia with Love (1963, # 2) and Thunderball (1965, # 4).

Watch the original, corny-fun trailer for the glitzy Technicolor movie here

Cost: 1.1 mil. $
Box office: 59.5 mil. $
= Mega-hit
[Dr. No was given its relatively low budget by United Artists, who were not certain what kind of an animal they would have on their hands and therefore rolled the film out without great confidence in North America, at first on double-bills and on a limited number of screens. The film would go on to gross 16 mil. $ (27 % of the total gross) in North America, from a reported 19 mil. admissions. The film was pushed by an elaborate PR campaign that included tie-ins to various products. Dr. No is also infamous for booming the sales of bikinis, through its scenes of exotic Swiss beauty Andress in the two-piece.]

What do you think of Dr. No?

Cocktail (1988) - Cruise an iconic stand-out in Donaldson's masterful drama

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Young, clean-shaven Tom Cruise, ready to serve your drink of choice, for Roger Donaldson's Cocktail

Brian Flanagan has returned home from the military full of ambition to pursue his dreams, which lead him to bartending in New York City. But he must face complications in life as well as realizing that despite his tremendous drive, the millionaire life he dreams of doesn't come as he'd hoped.

Tom Cruise (Born on the Fourth of July (1989)) is Oscar-worthy in his best part yet here; Flanagan reflects dreams of greatness and the frustration of making mistakes and meeting obstacles that most will be able to relate to. Cocktail tells a universal story of dreams, believing in them and keeping them alive, and of finding something greater on the way to achieving them: Love. There is more than meets the eye to Cocktail, which is in fact an example of hugely focused storytelling at its best and most charming. The film features a young Gina Gershon (Bound (1996)), Bryan Brown (Gods of Egypt (2016)) is terrific as Flanagan's condescending business partner-friend, and Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas (1995)) plays Flanagan's love interest with grace, charm and intellect. The two have real chemistry, and the film also benefits from a wealth of great songs and elegant photography by Dean Semler (Appaloosa (2008)).
Cocktail is written by Heywood Gould (Fort Apache the Brown (1981)) and directed by Australian master filmmaker Roger Donaldson (Thirteen Days (2000)). It is funny, romantic, dramatic and uplifting, with great lines and no rough patches; a film that can be seen again and again, first-class storytelling.

Related review:

Roger Donaldson: Thirteen Days (2000) - Electrifying Cuban Missile Crisis thriller

The Cocktail trailer simply gives away nearly the whole movie, so here, instead, is a great scene from the film, for your viewing pleasure

Cost: 11 mil. $
Box office: 171.1 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Cruise was a lifestyle phenomenon and a teenage idol by the late 80's, (especially catapulted by the success of Top Gun (1986)), and Cocktail is a vehicle that exploits this status to great effect. It was a huge hit in the US, where it made 78.2 mil. $ (46% of the total gross), as well as internationally. It was Globe-nominated for Best Song and (in a ridiculous stunt of simply trashing what's popular) Raspberry-nominated for Worst Actor (Cruise) and Worst Director (Donaldson), winning for Worst Picture (producers Ted Field and Robert W. Cort) and Worst Screenplay (Gould).]

What do you think of Cocktail? 
Do you think it deserved any of the Razzie statuettes and nominations it received?