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The Man Who Knew Too Much, a review by Dragonfire

The Man Who Knew Too Much - 1956 James Stewart and Doris Day give magnificent performances as Ben and Jo McKenna, an American couple vacationing in Morocco, whose son is kidnapped and taken to England.  Caught up in international espionage, the McKennas' lives hang in the balance as they race to save their son in the chilling, climactic showdown in London's famous Royal Albert Hall. My Thoughts This is the first time that I've seen all of this one.  I saw a little of it on television before.  I've also seen the earlier version.  The basic story is the same, though several things have been changed.  The pace is slower while everything is set up and introduced.  I wasn't bored by what was going on, though that did make a few scenes drag a bit.  The movie probably does move too slow for some people.  The slower pace does help to allow for the build up of tension that culminates in a wonderful sequence during the concert.  The ending does drag on a bit too long and is more anticlimactic, though it does resolve things.  I think the ending could have been handled better. There is a decent amount of mystery in the movie, most of it tied to Hank being taken.  I thought that Louis seemed a bit suspicious with how he dodged any personal questions.  Jo seemed to have some of those same feelings.  After Louis is murdered, things do pick up more, and the mystery starts building as well.  Like I mentioned, Jo is suspicious a few times, but she does do a few things that I didn't think were that smart.  She and Ben very quickly accepted Louis and a few other people.  They barely know Louis, yet they have him in their hotel room.  That just doesn't seem smart to me.  Of course, maybe people were more accepting when the movie was made.  For me, I would be way more cautious of strangers while traveling, especially if I had a child.  It did seem like Jo and Ben were a bit gullible once or twice, but that didn't really make me like the movie less.  Several scenes were shot on location in Morocco and some scenes in London.  With some of the scenes set in Morocco, I noticed that the backgrounds looked slightly off and I think they were probably done with projection or whatever it was called.  At one point, Ben and Jo are walking in an outdoor market.  For the beginning of the scene, it looks like they are on the real location.  Then the shot changes and the backgrounds look off again.  The scene changes again, and is back to footage shot on location.  Some kind of reshoot might have been needed for that sequence.  It is a bit different for music to be used so much in a Hitchcock movie.  The song that Jo sings with Hank does seem like a song a mother would sing with or to her child, but it still seems slightly out of place...even when it plays a more important part again later.  That doesn't mean that Doris Day doesn't sing beautifully.  The songs just seem a bit odd in this type of movie.  The characters are interesting and I think the cast does well with the parts.  I honestly can't remember having seen Doris Day in anything else.  She does really well in this one.  Jo does sort of flip out when she finds out about Hank being taken, but that seems like a natural reaction for a mother to have.  Jo and Ben seem to have a good marriage, though they have a few disagreements. This isn't one of Hitchcock's best, but it works as an entertaining movie.  It does deserve to be seen.  The slower pace will probably turn some people off.  I did get a review posted on Epinions if anyone would like to take a look. The Man Who Knew Too Much

(From Alfred Hitchcock Marathon on July 19th, 2010)

Guzaarish, a review by Tom

Guzaarish (2010/India) IMDb | Wikipedia ALIVE, Rapid Eye Movies (Germany) Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali Writing: Bhavanu Iyer (Screenwriter), Vibhu Puri (Screenwriter), Sanjay Leela Bhansall (Screenwriter) Length: 121 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35 Audio: German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Hindi: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: German

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Stars:
Hrithik Roshan as Ethan Mascarenhas
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as Sofia D'Souza
Shernaz Patel as Devyani Dutta
Aditya Roy Kapur as Omar Siddique
Nafisa Ali as Isabel Mascarenhas

Plot:
A paralyzed Magician-turned-Radio Jockey files a Petition in Court seeking permission to end his life.

Awards:
Nominated:

Filmfare Awards (2011)		Best Actor (Hrithik Roshan)
Filmfare Awards (2011)		Best Actress (Aishwarya Rai)
Filmfare Awards (2011)		Best Director (Sanjay Leela Bhansali)
Filmfare Awards (2011)		Best Playback Singer - Female ("Udi": Sunidhi Chauhan)

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Scene Access
• Trailers

Hrithik Roshan did a great job playing a paralized man. Usually he is a very physical actor. The story is very emotional with his wish to seek to get euthanasia approved from the court.
This movie is directed by the same man as "Black", another great movie.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on November 12th, 2011)

Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon, a review by Tom

01. Anne (1998-09-29)
Writer: Joss Whedon (Created By), Joss Whedon (Writer)
Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), David Boreanaz (Angel), Seth Green (Oz), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Julia Lee (Lily), Carlos Jacott (Ken), Mary-Pat Green (Blood Bank Nurse), Chad Todhunter (Rickie), Larry Bagby III (Larry), James Lurie (Teacher), Michael Leopard (Roughneck), Harley Zumbrum (Demon Guard), Barbara Pilavin (Old Woman), Harrison Young (Old Man), Alex Toma (Aaron), Dell Yount (Truck Guy)

For a season opener rather weak. It had its moments (like the long camera shot in the beginning on the first day of school). But I think Buffy's return to Sunnydale was not handled really well and came much too fast.

Rating:

(From Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon on February 22nd, 2009)