jgcorrea

There are obviously other movies that delve into the extremely intricate and rich lore of phantasy, but here we arrive at last at the final entry of the LOTR trilogy. It is a bittersweet farewell to a classic story. "Return of the King" definitely has an epic, grand, and climactic feel to it. There are massive battles between Good and Evil. Everything comes to a head, and Frodo finally arrives at Mordor. It's hard not to get excited at all this frenzy. I do dislike how Aragorn is "too perfect," though. He's not made any less perfect (if anything, just more perfect, majestic, and kingly), but it is nice learning about certain aspects of his character, like his mercy, his generosity, his ability to set pretty much the entire realm of Middle-Earth right, etc. I did get feel-good emotions. Just like in the 2 previous entries of this trilogy, the pacing isn't that great. And how different the iconic trilogy could have been if director Peter Jackson had gone with his first choice and hadn't fired Irish actor Stuart Townsend from the role of Aragorn just one day before filming was due to commence.

Fine TV series bringing together Nelson Rodrigues' short stories originally published in newspapers. With acidity and sarcasm , it focuses on Rio de Janeiro's urban life of his time, and exposes its hypocrisies and futility. In the newspaper form, 'Life as It Is' premiered in 1950 and was soon a popular success because, like fine journalism, it was spoken directly to the public; like sophisticated literature, it made your convictions shake. It was a radio program in the 1960s, narrated by Procópio Ferreira, and an LP album, released by Odeon. It was turned into a photonovela. It gave rise BTW to one of the great commercial successes of Brazilian cinema, the lousy, obscene 'A dama do lotação' (The Minivan's Lady)

This made-for-tv medium-length feature consists of the story of Paulo Honório, a simple but ambitious man who ends up transforming himself into a large farmer in the backlands of Alagoas, North-eastern Brazil. He marries Madalena to get an heir. Unable to understand the humanitarian way in which the woman sees the world, he tries to nullify her with his authoritarianism. Originally São Bernardo, is a novel written by Graciliano Ramos, published in 1934 and set in the second stage of Brazilian modernist style. It is with this novel that Ramos acquires critical recognition, and matures a drier style than that of his previous book, Angústia, (his masterpiece) which had given him more popularity.

Opening Night written by Ngaio Marsh was published in 1951. Its name in the United states was Night at the Vulcan. It is the sixteenth book in Marsh's Inspector Roderick Alleyn series. I'm fondest of mysteries where the characters are complex and their interactions more interesting than just trying to guess whodunit. This thriller delivers a rich set of theater people and some interesting looks at the theater behind the scenes.

An actor is found dead in the actor's dressing room at the end of a play. It appears to be suicide by gas asphyxiation, but clues point to murder by someone in the company. About half the story builds up to the murder, and about half involves the investigation. I enjoyed the claustrophobic atmosphere of the theatre One of the actors rapes his wife, and the teenage protagonist deflects the sexual overtures of the night watchman at the theatre. All of this is described obliquely or ambiguously, but no intelligent viewer could miss it.

The official motto of the Brazilian flag is ¨Order and Progress¨. The unofficial motto, however, is ¨Carnival, Soccer and Telenovela¨. Brazilian soaps are seen even across borders. This one has around 50 chapters and is inspired by the greatest novel in Portuguese literature, Os Maias. Sometimes film critics are right. Other times, it's the audiences who are right. Like in this case. Maias was a huge public failure. Personally, I wasn't surprised. I know that Brazilians don't really like reading (especially classics). Despite dealing with sensational themes such as adultery and incest, its focus is poor, its cinematography is too dark.

The US Gov & the CIA consistently tried to disrupt or influence elections or overthrow foreign governments. They helped Fidel Castro to fund the 26th of July Movement that overthrew Batista. In VietNam Ngô Dình Diem in was assassinated during a CIA-backed coup d'état. As to Castro, CIA really tried to get him assassinated and (BOY!!!) did they fail big time shorty... Leaked Lyndon B. Johnson emails revealed that Castro had over 600 assassination attempts by CIA in 15 years.

The same group of sicarios working for and with the CIA, who were involved in trying to kill Castro after they put him in power and who eventually killed Ernesto Guevara even though they had trained him, were the same ones that assassinated Martin Luther King, JFK and Robert FK. Shall we spell out their names?

E Howard Hunt Frank Sturgis Bernard Barker,

all members of the CIA assasination team tasked w/killing Fidel Castro, were in Dallas the day JFK was assassinated.

A man with amnesia is accused of not being who he says he is. An absolutely impossible but credible plot thanks to Asquith and an ambivalent Dirk Bogarde. After years as a matinee idol in comedies and romances, Bogarde - often dubbed the British Rock Hudson or Robert Wagner - demonstrated his dramatic chops in LIBEL ('59), which is a puzzle: you can see it in the flashbacks from being a prisoner of war to later escaping. Although Bogarde has a truly unmistakable face (for example, with a forehead crease bent down in the middle) and an equally distinctive, soft but expressive voice, he masters the dual role brilliantly. On the one hand, Frank and Mark are of very different natures, and on the other hand, the film plays with the potential not only of confusion, but also of targeted imitation that opens up a further, psychological reading alongside the actually unquestioned assumption that Mark and Frank are two people, And BTW the flashbacks with two Bogardes in a small space are also very well implemented film-wise for that time (1950s). There is neither a shot-countershot technique nor an "invisible vertical border in the middle of the picture."

Sellers as a quiet Edinburgh accountant with murder on his mind when faced with radical change in his life. Plus great old Edinburgh shots. It's sometimes beautifully shot by Freddie Francis, but it's also a sad reminder of how much better Peter Sellers was than most of the films he appeared in. Great comedy pedigree in a cast including Robert Morley with Charles Crichton directing, but , while it's perfectly solid, it just lacks a little bit of something. BTW My top 3 Sellers movies are: Dr Strangelove Being There The Party (underrated slapstick but Sellers is as funny as peak Chaplin) Loved others like I'm Alright Jack, the present Battle of the Sexes , The Mouse that Roared and of course the Clouseau classics.

Incalculable nuisance was made by "Motorcycle Diaries" by romanticizing Guevara Guevara in that way. Perhaps it is partly the fault of this film that many young people believe that Guevara Guevara was a naive average boy, with the face of a good samaritan and an extremely kind mind. This movie wallows in ridiculous sentimentality. As if Guevara had walked across the river and cured the lepers with his bare hands. Yet in his diaries Guevara portrays himself much less impressively - he basically comes across as a self-important prig with grandiose dreams but little in the way of guts. This makes him at least a far more honest man than these film makers. How did such a bright and idealist young man turn into such a flawed homicidal leftist? The clues are in the diaries, but you'd never know it from this idealised and idolised portrayal. This is the Guevara bedsit poster for silly buffs, not Guevara the anti-man man.

"I think the worst that can happen in filmmaking is if you're working with a storyboard. That kills all intuition, all fantasy, all creativity"- Werner Herzog. I totally disagree with Herr Herzog. Storyboards aren't the enemy of talent. Many people know of this Herzog film "Aguirre, Wrath of God", where Klaus Kinski plays the title role as an insane and villainous conquistador. But the true story of the Basque wanderer Lope de Aguirre far exceeds in horror and villainy what could be shown on screen. Absurdist theatre that is staged in the jungle with Klaus Kinski starring in the lead role as Don Lope de Aguirre, a Spanish conquistador on a crazed mission to discover El Dorado.

It is my firm belief that a film has to be enjoyable. A film can be both enjoyable and functionally slow, but it shouldn't ignite a feeling of wanting it to be over. This is where some films (like Dielman) soar, and other films (main ones for me being the Antonionis) falter. In 2022 the #1 spot in the Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time Critics' Poll replaced Hitchcock's Vertigo with Jeanne Dielman, which previously hadn't appeared in the top 10 in any previous decade and which apparently nobody had heard of until a few years ago. The circumstance only shows that the S&S magazine compromises the respect for its constituents and proves the ultimate uselessness of such referenda.

This 1935 version of C&P directed by Josef von Sternberg makes some wrenching changes to the original, not just in terms of plot details, but even to the thematic spirit of the original, but what does come through successfully is a kind of gestalt rumination on the original novel. If Dostoevsky's novel was an exquisitely perfect, ambitious symphony, this film was a jazz rhapsody on the very theme: it borrowed and rearranged motifs and created a new song, nothing like the original, but a worthwhile tune on its own merits. Not among Sternberg's masterpieces (Last Command, Blue Angel, Scarlet Empress) but good.

The movie, based on a play by an English playwright, Wilson Barrett, is strikingly similar to another Roman epic, made almost 20 years later, Quo Vadis (1951). Both films present the 1st-century Rome, in particular, spreading Christianity in the cruel times of Nero; both show the conversion of a Roman soldier who loves a Christian girl; both remind us of the secret Christian meetings within catacombs; both focus on lustful Poppea demanding revenge on Christians because of jealousy. Both show Poppea's handsome leopards! DeMille, however, presented much more gore in 1932 than MGM in 1951. It is brutal to see lions eating people, elephants crushing them, alligators ripping them apart, gladiators being speared, stabbed, torn up. Surely there were outcries after this film was released. Eventually a Morals' Code (the Will Hays Code) was instituted a couple of years later.

Liam O'Flaherty wrote a kinda literary masterpiece, a character study and an allegory of Judas Iscariotes' biblical role, and John Ford directed it masterfully. Victor McLaglen plays an IRA man down on his luck looking to find passage to a new life in the USA for himself and his girlfriend. The only way he can do this is to rat out his friend, an IRA man on the run. The reward money spirals his descend. Gypo Nolan is a brute of a man, more brawn than brains. Money does not sit well with him and ultimately causes his downfall. He is such a pathetic figure that you hardly feel any sympathy for him, especially as he betrays a good friend. It's a spirited tale and of course looks dated.

C. S. Lewis was always one of the greatest and most well-known Christian apologists, theologians and fiction writers of all times. But this film is mainly a love story, the love he felt toward his American wife. It's a touching story, period, and if it doesn't get your eyes moistened at least once, check your pulse. Nice films like this are unusual and should be treasured, as Lewis and his works are by so many people, Christian or non-Christian.

Lewis, who is actually is known as one of the most influential Christian thinkers of the 20th century, thought systematic theology to be boring. I think systematic narrratives to be boring.

A mystic seeks, via contemplation and self-surrender, to obtain unity with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute. He or she believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect. It matters that his or her conscience guides his or her words and actions. A conviction well expressed by J. R. R. Tolkien: "Living by faith includes the call to something greater than cowardly self-preservation." JoN's strong message echoes the arguments in the Scriptures. The film is compassionate towards the Jews, and thus helps to undo some of the ethnic hatred for which Christianity is by and large renowned. Certainly powerful and enlightening, commendable to anyone of any religion and faith, both as entertainment and inspiration. None of the other versions of Jesus' life story is comparable.

A relief from much of the pap that passes as religious film these days. The depiction of Francis and his followers makes the practice of Christianity seem almost Kosher-like. Spirituality consists in being totally involved in whatever one is doing, rather than talking, at the moment. Flowers of St. Francis presents an idealized version of a "pure" form of Christianity and promotes love, humility, and compassion for the poor. While the film is a welcome antidote to current cynicism and despair, it ultimately leaves us to decide whether or not excessive missionary zeal practiced by those who are convinced they alone have true faith has been a positive or negative force throughout history.

Full of atmosphere and a Slavonic, expressionistic fatalism, it is in many ways much more 'Russian' than German. Although there is a slight narrative overlap between Dostoyevsky's Karamazovs and Tolstoy's Resurrection, this does at least provide the ending of the film with a slight quantum of solace, or modicum of hope. Set within baroque interiors, the inner and outer worlds of human experience are constantly juxtaposed and shown to be in perpetual conflict. As befits Dostoyevsky, a wild anarchic spirit animates the characters as they act out their fatalistic drama, (l'amour fou, which director Fedor Otsep was later to explore in his version of Stefan Zweig's 'Amok'). All through, there is a fearful, pervading melancholy, a sense of impending doom. These are what we would today call dysfunctional characters, but they are imprisoned in the manners and mores of their time, trying to claw some small space in which they can be free, but in their innermost heart of hearts knowing that it is unlikely to be so.

Detective Dalziel is busy being sick in a bucket. Raising his head, he sees a movement in a neighbour's window and could swear he is witnessing a murder. Is it the string of double whiskys playing games with his eyes, or is it for real and if so, who is the murderer and who is the victim? Reginald Hill's first novel, A Clubbable Woman, published in 1970, also became a TV hit. Hill wrote over 50 books that range from historical novels to science fiction. He received the 1990 Golden Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year for Bones and Silence and the 1995 Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for lifetime achievement.

It's lush, cool and oddly moving, A woman robs her employers and changes her identity. When her next boss catches her, he forces her to marry him. Marnie is even better than ¨Fortune is a woman,¨ the other thriller written by Winston Graham that had hit successfully the silver screen. The mise-en-scene contains the classic Hitch Touch. Theme and technique meet on a high level. Psychology resonates, the visuals transcendent the ordinary. Tippi Hedron's central performance steals the show, a fascinating study of a sexual relationship , a sour vision of male-female interaction just like Vertigo, though far less bleak and universal in its implications.

Moreau is very well as the dancer-turned-German secret agent in a wartime Paris seething with secrets and betrayal. With the world at war, love was her weapon. The only men she couldn' t seduce were the 12 in the firing squad that ended her life. In 1964 this movie was among the best, just below Dr. Strangelove, My Fair Lady, Hamlet, Il vangelo secondo Matteo, Marnie, The Night of the Iguana, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, Gertrud, Seven Days in May, La peau douce, Fail-Safe, Goldfinger O ibaba, The Best Man, Three outlaw samurai (Sanbiki no samurai), A Hard Day's Night, Zulu, The Train. Il deserto rosso, Charulata, Sedotta e abbandonata.

This excellent thriller is made up of strong passions, brutal emotions and conflicted dangerous people in a story that could never have a happy ending. The mid winter weather of snow, the rain and the storms surround the two main characters as fate, bad luck and betrayal land them in a cold semi-derelict house trying to plan their escape and beat the odds. It was certainly among the best productions of 1959, aside with Rio Bravo , North by Northwest , Hiroshima Mon Amour, Buddenbrooks , Der Tiger von Eschnapur + Das indische Grabmal, Anatomy of a Murder, On the Beach, Room at the top, O mundo de Apu (Apur Sansar) and Les quatre cents coups,

As you'll probably guess, pal, I hate this group. Yet , as incredible as it seems, dude, fans & critics love them. Music is highly unoriginal, man! It's rather a pop rehash whose Scottish front man has as much charisma as any face in the rock crowd. I do recommend, however, the following six rockumentaries: (i) Whats Happening, The Beatles in the United States; (ii) The T. A. M. I. Show; (iii) Get Back; (iv) The Kids Are Alright; (v) Gimme Shelter; (vi) Woodstock. As to director Demme, can he be the same man who directed The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia , Rachel Getting Married (2008) and The Manchurian Candidate (2004)?

Franchisewise, Terminator II is of course a bridge between I and III. Entertainmentwise, it is merely a bridge from humdrum to nowhere. BTW Every other release is now a movie that is either a sequel or part of a major franchise. People complain a lot about the industry being nothing but reboots, rehashes, remakes, and sequels, but, as the box office shows, people are indeed pretty happy heading out to them. Why is that? I'm not happy. It is a taste thing (I hated Terminator II), but actually much more of a big picture thing. Franchises changed the Industry: Avengers, Infinity War, Black Panther, Captain America, Black Widow, Walt Disney Studios. Hollywood studios have always been a business, but it's in the last few years, where they have become part of big conglomerates, that have shareholders and must answer to Wall Street, that the studios have become risk averse to the point of only putting money behind big films. Nowadays, the studios only do award-baiting, artsy films, or 200 million dollar blockbusters. Most studios only look for blockbusters that can make more than 200 million at the box office, while there are no middle-cost productions, where new directors and actors can tell different, unique stories. In a nutshell, it is Money Over Art.

A man robs a bank. To get rich? No. Why then? In order to get inside the walls of a high security prison. Really, why does he do this? In order to break out but then together with his innocent brother. How on earth could he be able to do this? Well, you aren't going to guess: he helped designing the prison. Furthermore, he got all the blueprints tattooed on his body! In terms of the plot, this synopsis serves as a real warning. What kind of series could succeed starting from such an abstruse anecdotal premise? I presume I'm not an idiot. I'm therefore annoyed when I see supposedly smart people making idiotic, untimely decisions. Sorry, I just couldn't suspend my defaulting disbelief.