The Ice Storm (1997) - Lee makes one of the year's great American films

♥♥♥♥♥

 

Elongated, eye-focused peaks at three of the film's stars make up most of this blue-toned poster for Ang Lee's The Ice Storm

The father in a nice-looking Connecticut family in the bold 1970s has an affair with the neighbor's wife, while their daughter fools around with two brothers from the same neighborhood, and their son goes to New York during an ice storm.

 

The Ice Storm is written by James Schamus (Indignation (2016)), adapting the same-titled 1994 novel by Rick Moody (Garden State (1992)), and directed by Taiwanese-American master filmmaker Ang Lee (Pushing Hands/Tui shou (1991)), whose 5th feature it is.

An intelligent, stealing meditation of family, sexual identity-making and the dangers in the modern world, The Ice Storm stands out as an excellent drama.

In the glorious cast, durable work is turned in by Kevin Kline (Ricki and the Flash (2015)), Joan Allen (Death Race (2008)), Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man 3 (2007)), Christina Ricci (Miranda (2002)), Sigourney Weaver (Madman (1978)) and Elijah Wood (The Good Son (1993)). The Ice Storm ends powerfully and is a beautiful drama.

 

Related posts:

Ang Lee: 2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]  
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date   

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 
Life of Pi (2012) - Lee's triumphant, stunning faith-builder 

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

The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Lust, Caution/色，戒/Sè, Jiè/Sik1Gaai3 (2007) - Lee's erotic spy thriller is an exquisite, complex masterpiece 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Brokeback Mountain (2005) or, That Place That Weren't Possible  

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

Hulk (2003) - Lee's fantastic comics adaptation drama 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 18 mil. $

Box office: Reportedly 16 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.88 times its cost)

[The Ice Storm premiered 12 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 113 minutes. Shooting took place from April - June 1996 in New York and Connecticut. The film opened #17 to a 75k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it grossed 8 mil. $ (50 % of the total gross). The foreign gross numbers are not made public, but it is ascertained at The-Numbers.com that the film made almost as much internationally, which would rank it as a huge flop. It won 1/2 BAFTA nominations, an award in Cannes, losing the Palme d'Or to Taste of Cherry, and was nominated for a Golden Globe, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Lee returned with Ride with the Devil (1999). Kline returned in In & Out (1997); Allen in Face/Off (1997); and Weaver in Alien: Resurrection (1997). The Ice Storm is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Ice Storm?

The Informers (2008) - Star-studded Ellis adaptation B.O. disaster

♥♥♥

 

A sensual sculptural reproduction of a woman's face makes up this star-studded poster for Gregor Jordan's The Informers

We follow a wealth of Los Angeles characters in the 1980s: A young group of friends following the death of one from their circle in a traffic accident. And issues of abuse, sex, infidelity, lies and superficiality.

The Informers is written by Nicholas Jarecki (The Outsider (2005)) and Bret Easton Ellis (The Arrangement (2019, short)), adapting Ellis' same-titled 1994 short story collection, and directed by Gregor Jordan (Two Hands (1999)).

We are in what is, - for the initiated, - familiar Ellis territory here, though what unifies these characters remains hazy. SPOILER The final beach-set, AIDS-themed scene doesn't really register according to plan, because the characters remain somewhat anonymous and one-sided.

The performances are good, with Chris Isaak (A Dirty Shame (2004)) and Kim Basinger (Cool World (1992)) worth highlighting. Ellis' panache and affection for the 80s also help make The Informers enjoyable.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 17-18 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 384k $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.02 times its cost)

[The Informers premiered in October (Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival) and runs 98 minutes. Jarecki was set to direct, but the producers replaced him and had extreme violence and vampire elements taken out of the script. Shooting took place from October - December 2007 in California, including in Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Argentina and in Uruguay. 25 year-old co-star Brad Renfro (The Jacket (2005)) died of an overdose before the film's release. The film opened #21 to a 300k $ (78.1 % of the total gross) first and only weekend in North America in 482 theaters. It was pulled after just 3 days and only saw tiny releases in 3 other markets, each netting just shy of 30k $: Portugal, the UK and Russia. Senator's US distribution company went bankrupt as a result of the film's failure. Ellis distanced himself from the film, saying that it didn't work but that it was not his fault. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Jordan returned with Unthinkable (2010). Billy Bob Thornton (Fargo (2014-17)) returned in The Smell of Success (2009); Basinger in Charlie St. Cloud (2010). The Informers is rotten at 12 % with a 3.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Informers?

Paradise: Love/Paradies: Liebe (2012) - Woman's love safari proves fertile ground for Seidl drama

♥♥♥♥♥

 

European women enjoy drinks, the ocean and local male attention on this poster for Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Love

Our plus-sized, love-starved heroine leaves her teenage daughter back in their home in Austria to go on a solo vacation to Africa, where the local men simply adore the middle-aged European woman "as they are!" - Or do they now also...?

 

Paradise: Love is written by Veronika Franz (Import Export (2007)) and great Austrian filmmaker, co-writer/producer/director Ulrich Seidl (Models (1999)). It it the first film in his Paradise trilogy, also comprised by Paradise: Faith/Paradies: Glaube (2012) and Paradise: Hope/Paradies: Hoffnung (2013). The title is a literal translation of the original German title.

Seidl's film about female sex tourism ultimately becomes a reflection of the fundamentally unjust layout of the world, - both as it has become arranged by man but also how it is handed to each one of us from God's or nature's hands. Watching Paradise: Love, I also couldn't help but wonder what might have been different if the film had looked into male sex tourism instead of female. 

Margarete Tiesel (Sargnagel - Der Film (2021)) is without vanity and fear in her lead performance, and Seidl (and cinematographers Edward Lachman (Carol (2015)) and Wolfgang Thaler (Toulouse (2018, TV movie))) capture a lot of absurd comedy with their visual mastering and eye for images, so that the film in periods is also pretty funny. It is also tender, sad, though-provoking and remarkably empathetic. If any of the individuals in the story are to be judged, that job is obviously left up to us.

Paradise: Love is an outstanding film with a couple of scenes that last a really long time, but which in doing so reveal something about the relations between the people involved, which is only possible due to their length. Something about the flux of exploitation in unnatural romantic relations.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 3.6 mil. €, approximately 3.8 mil. $

Box office: 1.7 mil. $

= Mega-flop (returned 0.44 times its cost)

[Paradise: Love premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 120 minutes. Shooting took place from October 2009 - September 2010 in Austria and Kenya, back-to-back with the other two films in the trilogy. They were initially planned to be one film but the length and other factors made Seidl realize that they should be released as three films. The film opened #84 to a 6k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #78 and in 4 theaters, grossing 24k $ (1.4 % of the total gross). The film's 3 biggest markets were Germany with 698k $ (41.1 %), Austria with 448k $ (26.4 %) and Spain with 165k $ (9.7 %). The film lost the Palme d'Or to Amour. It was also nominated for a European Film award, among other honors. Seidl returned with Paradise: Faith/Paradies: Glaube (2012). Tiesel returned in 2 TV and a short credit prior to her theatrical return in Das Pferd auf dem Balkon (2012). Paradise: Love is certified fresh at 78 % with a 6.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Paradise: Love?

Chasing Amy (1997) or, How to Lay the Hot Lesbian

♥♥

 

+ Best $ Return of the Year: 60.4 times the cost

 

Attractive blond Joey Lauren Adams is used to sell on this poster for Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy

Two young male friends, who make comic books together for a living, have their friendship tested, when one of them falls for a lesbian blond.

 

Chasing Amy is written and directed by Kevin Smith (Clerks (1994)).

The 1990s are ugly in a foul way; self-centered and overly talkative in this 100 % sexually fixated flick, a film that has a lot of fun with itself. It had me amused one time, I think , but annoyed me for most of the time. For instance, the titular Amy, (played by Smith's real-life girlfriend at the time and inspiration for the film, Joey Lauren Adams (Trucker (2008))), is also a comic book artist, and the protagonist processes their whole history together as a couple by immortalizing it in a comic book... But the worst thing is that Smith wants Chasing Amy to be an open-minded and frank sex romcom, while actually it is clumsy as it bumps around as essentially a very simple young hetero male's fantasy more than anything else. (The hot lesbian is suddenly not a lesbian anymore and so on and so on.)

Ben Affleck (200 Cigarettes (1999)) is good and is invested in Chasing Amy, and Dwight Ewell (On the Run (1999)), who plays a black friend that's (also) a comic book artist, is funny and charming. But Chasing Amy is still a fairly horrible film. 

 

Related posts:
 

Kevin Smith: Tusk (2014) - Smith goes all-out wack
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Red State (2011) or, End of Days II 
Cop Out (2010) or, A Couple of Dicks   

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 250k $

Box office: 15.1 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 60.4 times its cost)

[Chasing Amy premiered 23 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 113 minutes. Affleck was paid 7k $ for his performance. Shooting took place in New Jersey and New York. The film opened #21 to a 53k $ opening weekend in 3 theaters, peaking at #10 and in 553 theaters, grossing 12 mil. $ (79.5 % of the total gross) in North America. Regrettably gross numbers for the film's long list of international release markets are not made public online. The film won 2/3 Independent Spirit award nominations, was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. Smith returned with Dogma (1999). Affleck returned in Good Will Hunting (1997); Adams in Oddville, MTV (1997, TV-series) and theatrically in A Cool, Dry Place (1998); and Jason Lee (Columbus Circle (2012)) in Weapons of Mass Destruction (1997, TV movie), Perversions of Science (1997, TV-series) and theatrically in A Better Place (1997). Chasing Amy is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Chasing Amy? 

Heavy Petting (1989, documentary) - 1950s youth sex experiences revisited

♥♥♥

 

Decent youth fare is made conspicuous by adding anonymity bars on this colorful and humorous poster for Obie Benz and Joshua Waletzky's Heavy Petting

Heavy Petting is a talking heads documentary, which mixes old 1950s footage concerning sex and dating with new interviews with a series of celebrities that elaborate on the subjects.

 

Heavy Petting is written by Pierce Rafferty (The Atomic Cafe (1982, documentary), producer/director) and directed by Obie Benz (Americas in Transition (1982, documentary short)) and Joshua Waletzky (Image Before My Eyes (1981, documentary)).

Several of the interview subjects are good characters with vivid and/or original stories and thoughts to contribute with, and the archive footage is well found. In one of these, disease-carrying promiscuity is identified as the aggressive blonde girl, and it is thought-provoking how it is the woman who is destroyed by sexuality which is deemed premature or promiscuous, and not the men. But Heavy Petting fails to point forwards - or backwards - to especially problematic cultural traits, for instance, and it only implicitly raises the problems of the era it sheds light on. This makes it fairly toothless as innocent celebrity anecdote entertainment first and foremost. A small further qualm is the annoying lack of title cards for the subjects up until the credit roll.

 

Some of Talking Heads frontman David Byrne's testimony from the film can be seen in a clip here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 272k $ (North America only)

= Uncertain

[Heavy Petting was released 7 September (Australia) and runs 74 minutes. The film opened #16 to a 69k $ first weekend in 10 theaters in North America, where it grossed 272k $. It was also released in Australia, Sweden (at a festival) and in the Netherlands. Roger Ebert gave it a 1/4 star review, translating to 3 notches under this one. Benz returned with The History of Rock 'n' Roll (1995, documentary series, 1 episode); Waletzky with Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann (1992, documentary). 308 IMDb users have given Heavy Petting a 6.1/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Heavy Petting?

The Man Who Loved Women/L'Homme qui Aimait les Femmes (1977) - Truffaut's great thoughts on love and desire

♥♥♥♥♥

 

Star Charles Denner is impelled to look back after a stunning pair of lady legs on this poster for François Truffaut's The Man Who Loved Women

Bertrand Morane is a man in his prime, who is writing an autobiographical novel in the town Montpellier, while he engages in relations with a dizzying number of women.

The Man Who Loved Women is co-written and directed by French master filmmaker François Truffaut (The 400 Blows/Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959)), whose 17th feature it is. He co-wrote the script with Michel Fermaud (La Surmenés (1958, short)) and Suzanne Schiffman (Merry-Go-Round (1980, dialog)).

Charles Denner (A Gorgeous Girl Like Me/Une Belle Fille Comme Moi (1972)) is credible as the Don Juan-like protagonist. Néstor Almendros (Goin' South (1978)) has photographed surely and splendidly.

The Man Who Loved Women is full of lovely dames, anecdotes and world-class dialog. The film perfectly balances the obsession with love and love-making with the sadness that inevitably accompanies it.

 

Related posts:

François Truffaut: The Bride Wore Black (1968) - Truffaut lets Moreau serve ice-cold revenge

Stolen Kisses/Baisers Volés (1968) - Minor nouvelle vague Antoine Doinel-romcom 
Antoine et Colette (1962) - Unrequited love in Truffaut's Paris

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Reportedly 7.2 mil. $

= Uncertain - but probably a huge hit (projected 7.2 time cost return)

[The Man Who Loved Women premiered 27 April (France) and runs 120 minutes. Truffaut started writing the script while shooting his part in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Shooting took place in France. The film sold 955k admissions in France, and likely sold well in other countries as well. If made on a possibly too highly set 1 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a huge hit. The film was nominated for 3 César awards and won an AFI award. It was remade in America with the same title by Blake Edwards with Burt Reynolds in 1983. Truffaut returned with The Green Room/La Chambre Verte (1978). Denner returned in Kakemono Hôtel (1978, TV movie) and theatrically in Robert et Robert (1978). The Man Who Loved Women is fresh at 82 % with a 7.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Man Who Loved Women?

Hollow Man (2000) - Superb effects in Verhoeven's miss

♥♥

 

An eerie contour makes up this poster for Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man

Dr. Sebastian Caine is a molecular biologist of an unusually self-assured breed (and an uncontrolled libido), who with a new piece of technology is now able to make himself invisible - and vent his rage!

 

Hollow Man is written by Andrew W. Marlone (End of Days (1999)), with Gary Scott Thompson (Man of War (2021)) contributing story elements, inspired by H.G. Wells' (When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)) 1897 novel The Invisible Man, and directed by Dutch master filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Diary of a Hooker/Wat zien ik (1971)). It is his 13th feature.

The plot of the movie is incredibly simple, unrefined, predictable, and yet nonsensical. Because what exactly is it that makes Kevin Bacon's (Trapped (2002)) scientist protagonist a bloodthirsty monster, when he becomes invisible?

Elisabeth Shue (Deconstructing Harry (1997)) and Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men (2007)) attempt their best but are essentially earth-bound in this sub-par Verhoeven effort. The special effects are most impressive, - the film, not so much.

 

Related posts:

Paul Verhoeven: Top 10: Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Basic Instinct (1992) or, Irresistable Desire!  

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

The Fourth Man/De Vierde Man (1983) - Verhoeven's amazing Dutch sex thriller nightmare 

 

 

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 95 mil. $

Box office: 190.2 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.00 times its cost)

[Hollow Man premiered 2 August (Los Angeles) and runs 112 minutes. Reportedly 50 mil. $ of the budget was used on VFX. Shooting took place from April - June 1999 and from August 1999 - February 2000 in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. The film opened #1 to a 26.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend at #1 and then left the top 5, grossing 73.2 mil. $ (38.5 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for the Best Effects Oscar, lost to Gladiator. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Verhoeven said in a 2013 interview that he was 'depressed' after the film's release; that he thought that '20 directors in Hollywood could have done that' and that 'it really is not me anymore'. Verhoeven returned with Le Court des Grands (2006, video documentary), Sarah Brightman: I Lost My Hear to a Starship Trooper (2006, music video) and theatrically with Black Book (2006). Bacon returned in Novocaine (2001); Shue in Amy & Isabelle (2001, TV movie) and theatrically in Tuck Everlasting (2002). Hollow Man is rotten at 26 % with a 4.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Hollow Man? 

Gestapo's Last Orgy/L'ultima Orgia del III Reich (1977) - The ultimate Nazisploitation trash

ZERO

 

Several lascivious scenes from the film are teased on this Italian poster for Cesari Canevari's Gestapo's Last Orgy

 

A WWII Nazi concentration camp leader runs a camp, where Jewish women are broken down, abused and killed, is astonished at the prisoner Lisa, who is seemingly impossible to illicit a reaction from. Their S&M relationship develops fatally.

 

Gestapo's Last Orgy is written by Antonio Lucarella (The Nude Princess/La Principessa Nuda (1976)) and co-writer/director Cesari Canevari (Per un Dollaro a Tucson si Muore (1964)).

It is a film that left me completely cold. It seems impossible to be aroused by this Nazi exploitation horror in any way, and certainly impossible to care for. The most depraved about it actually isn't that it uses the Nazi era as a pretense to launch several more or less sensational agony and death scenes, - this, of course, was the staple in the Nazi exploitation sub-genre, - but that it stages the concentration camp life with a horny enthusiasm as a piquant sexual experiment, which wasn't all that terrible for the Jewish women. - At least they seem fairly passive in many of the scenes, such as the orgy scene, which, like the rest of the film, is unsensational in a dull way.

Gestapo's Last Orgy doesn't embrace its own inherent lowness, as for instance the much superior Ilse: She Wolf of the SS (1975), but it attempts quite a lot and appears to actually consider itself respectable to some degree. - Which only makes it worse.
 

 

Hear the main theme from the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[Gestapo's Last Orgy premiered 31 January (Italy) and runs 92 minutes. Hardcore sex scenes were reportedly shot but subsequently cut out. The cost and theatrical performance of the film is regrettably not recorded online. The film was labeled as a 'video nasty' in the UK and has never been officially released there: It received its most recent denial of a DVD certificate by the British censorship organ the BBFC in January 2021. Canavari returned with Killing of the Flesh/Delitto Carnale (1983). 1,183 IMDb users have given Gestapo's Last Orgy a 4.3/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Gestapo's Last Orgy?

From Russia with Love (1963) - Several remarkable elements make Young's 2nd Bond an enduring classic

♥♥♥♥♥

James Bond returns to action, combat, stylish garbs and sexy women on this fabulous painted poster for Terence Young's From Russia with Love

When the evil organization SPECTRE lures MI6 agent James Bond to Istanbul with a Russian beauty and the chance to procure a Soviet cryptographic devise, 007 is launched on a perilous journey for the Lektor machine, his life and the life of the lovely Tatiana.

From Russia with Love is the first Bond sequel, following Dr. No (1962). It is written by Richard Maibaum (Diamonds Are Forever (1971)) and Johanna Harwood (Call Me Bwana (1963)), based on Ian Fleming's (Dr. No (1958)) novel From Russia, with Love (1957), and directed by returning Chinese-born, British master filmmaker Terence Young (The Secret Agents (1965)).
It is filled with Sean Connery's (The Man Who Would Be King (1975)) Bond brand of sexist one-liners, spy setups, the later heavily parodied SPECTRE organization, gadgets, cool locations such as the memorable lethal spy nest of Cold War Istanbul and the gypsy camp that sees alluring belly-dancing turn into a wild cat-fight, - and the Orient Express.
Add to this Connery, the ultimate Bond, who is in his prime as the suave character here; Pedro Armendáriz (The Uprooted (1960)) in his final part as Turkish gentleman Kerim Bey, beautiful Daniela Bianchi (Special Mission Lady Chaplin (1966)) as the main Bond girl, who just can't get enough James, and Robert Shaw (A Man for All Seasons (1966)) as the blond goon, Grant. - And Lotte Lenya (The Appointment (1969)) as the iconic, lesbian, shoe-knifing villain, Rosa Klebb.
From Russia with Love is more scruffy, suspenseful, colorful and handsome than Dr. No; it relies more on espionage elements than lushly exotic locales and is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece North by Northwest (1959). It is a spectacle of the rarest order, one that reeks of sex. - And it is certainly one of the top 3 Bond movies of all time.

Related posts:

Terence Young: Top 10: Best franchise movies

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

Dr. No (1962) - Bond # 1 is one attractive package
Other films in the Bond franchise: Spectre (2015) - Mendes' second Bond delivers Skyfall (2012) - The overly celebrated third pout from Daniel Craig as Bond in slick production
A View to a Kill (1985) or, Once a Gentleman, Always a Gentleman!  Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery's last Bond adventure is a colorful romp
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (spoof comedy - not an official part of the franchise)

Cost: 3 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 78.9 mil. $
= Mega-hit
[From Russia with Love premiered 10 October (London) and runs 116 minutes. Connery was paid 54k $ and a 100k $ bonus for his performance in the film. The elaborate chess set cost a huge 150k $ to construct. Shooting took place from April - August 1963 in Turkey, including Istanbul, Italy, England, including London, Scotland and - the shots of rats - in Madrid, Spain. The production was rushed to completion just the year after the first Bond film, and several remarkable problems occurred: Armendáriz was diagnosed with inoperable cancer during production: He completed almost all of his scenes without delay, in pain, and took his own life when he could no longer act. Young crashed into the ocean in a helicopter with the art director and a cameraman in Scotland, but was rescued and completed the day's shooting. Days later, Bianchi's driver fell asleep during their commute, and the actress' face was bruised in the accident, barring her from shooting for two weeks. A boat rented by the production sunk in Turkey's Bosphorus strait, and the final explosion got out of control, burning one person's eyelids and seriously injuring 3 stunt men. The film went over schedule and budget: Its original budget of 2 mil. $ seems to have ended up vastly over its limit, if the 3 mil. $ final cost is accurate. The original international gross is listed as 12.5 mil. $, double Dr. No's take, becoming the most popular movie at the British box office of 1963. With many later re-releases, the film's North American gross has risen to 24.7 mil. $ (31.3 % of the reported international gross of 78.9 mil. $). Original reviews were a mix of praise and ridicule. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a BAFTA, among other honors. Young returned with The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965). Connery returned in Woman of Straw (1964). The next Bond movie was Goldfinger (1964), with Connery, directed by Guy Hamilton. Young directed one more Bond movie; Thunderball (1965).  From Russia with Love is certified fresh at 96 % with an 8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of From Russia with Love?