The Majestic (2001) - Soaring sentiments and production values in Darabont's under-appreciated Movie

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A glorious, cinematic kiss stretched across the night sky over an amazing-looking cinema on the poster for Frank Darabont's The Majestic

An upcoming Hollywood screenwriter, who is targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee of the 1950s, has an accident in which he hits his head. He wakes up in an ideal small town community, Lawson, California, where he is wrongfully recognized as a lost World War II soldier.

The Majestic is written by Michael Sloane (Hollywood Boulevard II (1990)) and directed by French-American master filmmaker Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption (1994)), whose 3rd feature it is.
Jim Carrey (Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)) and Laurie Holden (Dead Man's Gun (1997, TV-series)) are fine in Darabont's exceptionally handsome production, a film that feels like it could just as well have been made in 1960 with James Stewart in the lead. Bob Balaban (No Reservations (2007)) makes a good villain; David Ogden Stiers (Lilo & Stitch (2002)) makes a good doctor, - but it is Martin Landau (Delta Fever (1987)) as Carrey's 'father', who stands out and activates our tear canals more than once in an awards-worthy turn.
The fine story here, which keeps one guessing, is told in a pace that is too leisurely at times. But it is a joy to watch a film done with style, panache and craftsmanship, obviously made without the (in major studio fare especially) normalized consideration that major sequences be accomplished during post production. It can be seen as well as felt.
Landau's speech in favor of the title-named theater over smaller screens is eminent. The Majestic is a Movie (capital letter very much intended) that develops in such a way that one almost can't imagine that it will end 'well'. - And yet it does, SPOILER with a court room scene that just about rewrites J. Edgar Hoover's communist witch-hunt, or at least strikes it back by Hollywood, in the guise of Carrey, counterfactually. Regrettably the ending still gets botched a bit, as the filmmakers inhale even more wind into The Majestic's already ballooned construction by having Carrey return to an exaggerated, somewhat absurd salutation in Lawson.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 72 mil. $
Box office: 37.3 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.51 times its cost)
[The Majestic premiered 11 December (USA) and runs 152 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from March - June 2001. The film opened #8 to a 4.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it did not peak higher in subsequent weekends and grossed 27.8 mil. $ (74.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were, with some uncertainty, Japan with 5.3 mil. $ (14.2 %) and Spain with 444k $ (1.9 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Darabont returned with Raines (2007, TV-series), The Shield (2007, TV-series) and theatrically with The Mist (2007). Carrey returned in Bruce Almighty (2003). The Majestic is rotten at 42 % with a 4.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Majestic?

Memento (2000) - Nolan's overrated amnesia mindfuck

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Polaroids of polaroids of polaroids of pola ... on this iconic poster for Christopher Nolan's Memento

A man with 'anterograde amnesia', a condition that lets him remember only fifteen minutes at a time, attempts to avenge his murdered wife through an elaborate system involving Polaroids and tattoos.

Memento is written and directed by English master filmmaker Christopher Nolan (Following (1998)), from a story developed by his brother Jonathan Nolan (Westworld (2016-21)).
Memento is a much hyped psychological drama-thriller that's best the first time around, as its highly mystifying structure impresses considerably. (It is made up of chronologically B/W sequences and chronologically backwards revolving color sequences.)
Guy Pearce (In Her Skin (2009)) is not really that good in Memento, disastrous for a film that also has rather weak first and last half hours, leaving about 50 minutes of a good film in the middle.
Memento delights in its own cognitive veils and invites many interpretations. The unique condition of the protagonist, his tattoos and the editing ploys are what make the film worthwhile.

Related posts:

Christopher Nolan: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2017 in films - according to Film Excess 
Dunkirk (2017) - Nolan champions cinema with masterful war movie  
Interstellar (2014) - Nolan heads to space in opulent, exciting epic
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) or, Batman and the Storm, Darkness, Anarchy, Evil, Depression
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  
Inception (2010) - Nolan's best is a grand piece of action sci-fi, perfectly awesome nonsense  
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
The Dark Knight (2008) - Nolan's best Batman  
Batman Begins (2005) or, Modern, Dark, Smooth Batman    
Following (1998) - Nolan's ineffectual debut 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 9 mil. $
Box office: 39.7 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.41 times its cost)
[Memento premiered 5 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 113 minutes. Jonathan Nolan's story idea also turned into his short story Memento Mori (2001). Christopher Nolan was given an initial budget of 4.5 mil. $. Brad Pitt was initially slated to play the protagonist. Shooting took 25 days from September - October 1999 in California, including Los Angeles, and in Las Vegas, Nevada. American distributors were reluctant to bet on the film, despite festival raves, but as production company Newmarket distributed it themselves and found that they had a hit, Miramax's Harvey Weinstein attempted to buy the film away from them, without luck. The film opened #27 to a 235k $ first weekend in 11 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #8 and in 531 theaters, grossing 25.5 mil. $ (64.2 % of the total gross). The foreign market sheet for the film on Box Office Mojo is regrettably incomplete. The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: It lost Best Original Screenplay to Julian Fellowes for Gosford Park and Editing to Black Hawk Down. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won 1/3 AFI award nominations, 4/5 Independent Spirit award nominations, a National Board of Review award, an award in Sundance and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #55 on the site's Top 250, sitting between Apocalypse Now (1979) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Nolan returned with Insomnia (2002). Pearce returned in The Count of Monte Cristo (2002); Carrie-Anne Moss (Snow Cake (2006)) in Red Planet (2000); and Joe Pantoliano (Waterfront (2006, TV-series)) in A Better Way to Die (2000). Memento is certified fresh at 93 % with an 8.29/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Memento?

Before I Go to Sleep (2014) - No one wins with Joffe's lacklustre amnesia thriller

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The film's three stars cut through by vertical lines on the simple poster for Rowan Joffe's Before I Go to Sleep

Our protagonist is a middle-aged woman, whose amnesia dictates that she every night forgets the day that went before. - But why does she suffer from this condition, and is she really living with her husband?

A suspenseful trailer doesn't naturally make for a good film, as Before I Go to Sleep proves.
Nicole Kidman's (Dogville (2003)) intense, uneasy eyes tell us for much of the film that something isn't right and, in fact, is wrong in a dangerous way. But the characters are too thinly sketched, and the plot too basic to make us react with much more than slightly diverted yawns.
No one distinguishes themselves well or unwell here, and the production seems thin, a little cheep and without too many chords to play on.
Before I Go to Sleep is written and directed by Rowan Joffe (Brighton Rock (2010)), based on the same-titled 2011 bestseller by S.J. Watson (Second Life (2015)). It is hard to get involved in and easily forgotten.

Related posts:

Rowan Joffe:  2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
The American (2010) - Corbijn and Clooney's paper-thin, boring, pretentious hitman outing (screenplay) 
28 Weeks Later (2007) or, Fast Zombies in England 2 (co-writer)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 22 mil. $
Box office: 17.6 mil. $
= Huge flop
[Before I Go to Sleep premiered 4 September (New Zealand) and runs 92 minutes. Ridley Scott bought the film rights for Watson's novel and hired Joffe for adapting and directing the film. Shooting took place in England, including London, from February 2013 - ?. The film opened #15 to a weak 1.8 mil. $ first weekend in 1,902 cinemas in North America, where it only played 2 more weeks and grossed a measly 3.2 mil. $ (18.2 % of the total gross). The biggest market was the UK with 5.3 mil. $ (30.1 %). North America was the 2nd biggest market, and the 3rd biggest was Russia with 1.3 mil. $ (7.4 %). Joffe returned with executive producing, writing for and directing an episode of Tin Star (2017, TV-series), and is set to write Disney's The Graveyard Book. Before I Go to Sleep is rotten at 36 % with a 5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Before I Go to Sleep?

Hercules Unchained/Ercole e la Regina di Lidia (1959) - Spaghetti decadence never fades

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Look! Someone once offered you to see Pietro Francisci's Hercules Unchained in a cinema for just 10 cents! ... boy, those must have been the days!

Here's a movie for you:

Hercules goes on a diplomatic adventure with his pal Ulysses and wife Iole and quickly lands in deep trouble, as he drinks from a well of forgetfulness and therefore forgets everything the mission and himself are all about!

Director Pietro Francisci (Hercules/La Fatiche de Ercole (1958)) has a long list of tall adventure films to his name, and he is probably a good exponent for the kind of filmmaker that Italian cinema's prominent newcomers at the time, like Luchino Visconti and Roberto Rosselini, rebelled against in their neo-realist films of the 40s and early 50s. Those films are generally better than this kind, just to make that clear. But here we are, still, with good old Hercules, undoubtedly the silver screen's favorite Greek god. This is the second of 19 (!) Italian Hercules movies made from 1958-65, which are part of the Italian peplum tradition. - The genre, also known as the swords-and-sandal movie, derives its name from the scant tunic-style Greek/Roman garment often worn by the heroes of the films.
Hercules Unchained is good fun, if you have an interest in film history and/or can enjoy a big costume adventure film that obviously doesn't compare to what is possible in the genre today in terms of scope or effects.
There is in its very beginning a very bizarre song sung by Hercules' wife Iole, (Sylva Koscina (The House of Exorcism (1975))), who obviously just lip-syncs some other singer with a much deeper voice's recording. It looks bizarre, and Koscina's mouthing is very off.
The script, by Ennio De Concini (Taras Bulba, il Cosacco (1963)) and Francisci, based on two old-Greek plays based on Greek myths and Francisci's story idea, and tone of the film has the flexibility and predictability of a wood log, but Hercules Unchained still manages to stay entertaining; through its many oiled bodies, (Steve Reeves (War of the Trojans/La Leggenda di Enea (1962)) playing Hercules is in quite spectacular shape himself), homo-erotic scenes of massaging, long dances and fights, - even a few quite well-made ones with live tigers, - and also simply due to the pompous scale of it all. The costumes, make-up and hair of Unchained are all very over-the-top and, in effect, very Italian.
If you can handle lines like, "By the way, what is my name?" (coming, of course, from the amnesia-stricken title hero), and you generally lust for myths and corny adventure, Hercules Unchained will not disappoint you.
The film's cinematography, some effects and second unit directing work was done by Mario Bava (Black Sabbath/I Tre Volti Della Paura (1963), director), who soon after became the 'Baron of Blood' and one of the great Italian horror filmmakers of all time.
The Eastman colors of Unchained look vibrant and alive. - Unfortunately, the version I saw was not restored, and I am not sure that a better version even exists.
In probably the film's best fight scene, Hercules battles Anteo the giant played by Primo Carnera (Mighty Joe Young (1949)), the real life heavy weight boxing champ, in his last of 21 short, TV and film acting credits.
Reeves has later told of his experience with director Francisci that in one instance, where Reeves refused to swing the apparently real chains (!) hard enough over his enemies so as not to hurt them, Francisi had said; "If they don't get hurt, they don't get paid!" - Not surprisingly, hunky Reeves didn't do any more Hercules films after this one.

In lieu of a proper trailer, which isn't currently on Youtube, watch a wonderful excerpt from the movie here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 2.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Uncertain (but likely a big or huge hit)
[Hercules Unchained was released 14 February (Italy) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place at the Titanus Appia Studios in Rome, Italy. The film was almost certainly a big hit. Besides its substantial American run, Unchained was also the third biggest film at the British box office in 1960. Film critic Howard Hughes, who has chronicled Italian cinema in his book Cinema Italiano - The Complete Guide From Classics to Cult (2011), has stated that this film is better than Francisci's predecessor from the year before, because it has a better script, "punchier action" and more convincing acting. Francisci returned with Siege of Syracuse/L'Assedio di Siracusa (1960). Reeves returned in The White Warrior/Agi Murad il Diavolo Bianco (1959). Hercules Unchained has a 2.6/5 audience score, based on 1,737 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.]

Greek myths in movies, - what is your favorite?
What do you think of Hercules Unchained?
If you locate a restored version of Hercules Unchained, shoot me a comment with a link to it, - thanks!