Marcio Cuzziol

This French version of the famous story should have been much more faithful to Alexandre Dumas' text... I'm hugely disappointed. Milady Winter could not be just a bad girl, that was too easy. She had to be Demon-possessed!!! I'm not kidding, she does sign a covenant with the Devil in this film!!! It happens in the woods just after Athos try to kill her... And the young boy D'Artagnan witnesses the whole mess... Years later D'Artagnan would be the only one who could beat her... Why the writers have invented it? Was it really necessary? Certainly the writers, or the producers, decided the original story was not good enough to attract audience. There are also some Matrix-like fighting scenes. This had already been done much better in Peter Hyams' The Musketeer (2001) which was not a serious film.

The rest of the film is not that bad. Good cast, good production values. But why they had to include the Devil in this???

Italian production of Jack London's well-known, often filmed tale. Gentleman is forced to work in a seal-hunt ship ruled by a tyrannical captain. Violence rules but soon he learns to interact with the captain, just to find a thinking (and ill) man. More violent than the other versions with an incoherent soundtrack from Guido and Maurizio De Angelis. But the story is strong and the film does offer some good moments, holding the interest along. Badman Chuck Connors does well in the title role although it was a too hard task: none could be better in Wolf Larsen's role than Edward G. Robinson who starred the 1941 Hollywoodian version, directed by Michael Curtiz.

Average Italian thriller. After 25 years a woman returns to Italy to attend her father's funeral. She doesn't believe when Police says he has committed suicide. She starts to investigate by herself and soon finds some evidences of murder. Why would someone want to kill her father? Well, he and some friends, who had been prisoners of the Nazis during the second war, did something bad exactly 25 years ago. How could she be so good in investigation? Well, she doesn't like to talk about her past... Mostly set in Venice and co-starred by Giancarlo Giannini which always help a lot. The problem is, although the film is well-made, the story is too predictable, offering no surprises. Anyway, it still worths a look. Title - "last target" - makes no much sense.

Typical British drama based on a novel by Thomas Hardy, the author of "Jude the Obscure", "Tess of the d'Urbevilles" and "Far from the Madding Crowd". As usual in Hardy's stories, it is set on British countryside and focuses on the ordinary lives of its local people. As usual in this kind of movie, it is really well-made and extremely well-acted, but also bureaucratically directed.

Hardy's characters are quite human, they are always looking for happiness in the wrong places, making bad choices, missing the best opportunities. Here is not different. Marty loves Giles who loves Grace who loves him no more. She is unsure about her feelings since she returned from a period of studies in the town. The small village where she grew up doesn't look much attractive now, neither Giles does. She dreams about going abroad with Mrs. Charmond, the rich landowner widow, while she flirts with the newcomer young doctor - he also came from the town. Soon all of them will be facing the unavoidable fate.

The woodworker Giles (Rufus Sewell) reminds me the shepherd Gabriel from "Far from the Madding Crowd": both are honest, hard-working, heartbroken men. Emily Woof is just perfect as Grace; she looks like Cate Blanchett and she can even play like her. Unfortunately Jodhi May has just a small role as Marty the poor girl who sells her beautiful long hair to survive, a very sympathetic character. Tony Haygarth is also excellent as Grace's father, a well-intentioned man who wishes only the best for his daughter, but practically manipulates her life. I usually see Haygarth playing weird roles, like Renfield in "Dracula" (1979) or the Mad Hatter from Alice's Wonderland in "Dreamchild", so it is refreshing to see him playing normal types. Good film, good story, but not recommended for people looking for something light.

Ordinary political thriller. Swedish representative is sent to an imaginary country in South America where a revolution is erupting. His assignment: to organize and mediate a conference between the government and the revolutionaries. Reading it doesn't seem bad, but watching... things just don't work, it is boring most time. Non-charismatic Thomas Hellberg plays an unsympathetic role, a "perfect" match for the hero. And the good supporting cast can't help. A Swedish production, oddly shot in Portugal, aiming the international market.

Sounds like something you can't miss: a pirate movie starring Errol Flynn, Maureen O'Hara and Anthony Quinn... Well, not really. You can miss it, no problem at all. Flynn plays a British Navy officer who could be living on the edge since he is spying a pirate community in Madagascar. But he looks like someone who is having a good time, his heart divided between pirate O'Hara and a foolish Indian princess. Action sequences are unconvincing, even fencing is weak. Only the final duel between Flynn and Quinn holds some interest. The same story was remade as "The King's Pirate" in 1967, a B-movie less pretentious but funnier than the original.

Better-than-average Italian epic, considering that the average doesn't mean too much in this case. Rebel Germans, so-called barbarians, fight against the Roman Empire. Their leader, played by American actor Cameron Mitchell, is a former member of the Roman army. The film, also known as "Massacre in the Black Forest", has two long, violent battle sequences which are not bad (although you can see the same scenes repeatedly) and a surprisingly introspective, maybe shakespearean scene with Caesar pondering over power and glory, the meaning of life, or something like that. Another advantage: as the story is set in the winter, you don't have to see Roman warriors fighting in mini-skirts. Here they wear pants and it helps a lot...

Good, well-made vampire movie with a focus in politics. In the late 19th century, Argentine representative goes to Valachia in a diplomatic assignment. There he finds a girl. But what could be a beautiful love story becomes a nightmare when he finds out that a) she is a vampire, b) she has already bitten his neck... Back to Buenos Aires, to protect himself, he decides to sleep for a long time. 100 years later he wakes up in a very different world. Not exactly a horror film, this "To live kills" adds some new and interesting ideas to the vampire tradition. Not a great movie but good enough to attract fans of different genres. Cast includes Argentine star Cecilia Roth (from Pedro Almodovar's "All About My Mother").

Good swashbuckler set in France by the time King Louis XIII was just a teenager. It seems that nobody wants to see him sitting on the throne, including his lovely mother. But there is a loyal nobleman who will fight bravely to put things in order. Legendary French actor Jean Marais is a bit too old to play the hero but he tries hard and really does a good job. As the comic relief, comedian Bourvil plays the street artist who helps Marais in his mission. Fencing and action sequences don't look as great as in Errol Flynn's classics but the old castles are real and "Le Capitan" provides a good fun for its audience. By the way, English title "Captain Blood" makes no sense; this captain has no relation neither to 1935 Hollywood classic nor to Rafael Sabatini's novel (this one is based on Michel Zevaco's histories).

Adventure movie which has some good moments but it's absurd most times. Alan Ladd and Lloyd Nolan are two rival dealers, trying to sell guns for rebels who fight against the Spanish domain in Cuba. Of course, between them there is a girl, a rebel leader played by Italian actress Rossana Podesta. That's she who has the movie's most brilliant line. Ladd sees a group of rebels dancing the conga (or some kind of dance identified as conga) and ask Rossana how could they be happy in such situation. She says something like "because the hatred is in their souls but not in their hearts" !!! And she also has an annoying kid brother. Sorry but I can't recommend this movie.