Members
Stats
Users Online Users: 0Guests: 49Total: 49 |
|
May 14, 2024, 03:13:04 AM| The Reader (2008) Written by: David Hare, based on the novel by Bernhard Schlink Directed by: Stephen Daldry Starring: Kate Winslet, David Cross, Ralph Fiennes DVD: R1-US Weinstein/Genius (Apr 14, 2009) My rating:  - |
Cover blurb:
The Reader isn't as bad as I feared it to be, but it isn't a good movie either. Why did I buy it, despite my low expectations? Well, I happen to like Kate Winslet and she did win an Oscar for her role here - btw, as predicted by herself in that Extras episode three or four years ago.
But while the Best Picture nomination was a joke, Winslet's nomination at least seems to be warranted. I can't say if she deserved to win, since I haven't seen all of the other nominees, and I slightly suspect the combination of Holocaust theme, being nude and handicap acting was in her favor.
Still, especially in the early and middle parts of the movie Winslet is great, while David Kross as her young lover is pretty solid. Ralph Fiennes on the other hand hasn't much to do except looking thoughtful and torn.
The movie itself unfortunately hasn't much to say. It dutyfully poses the "big moral questions" and then slaps easy (non)answers on them in a painfully obvious way. And if that isn't annoying enough, the movie also hedges the small bets it makes with a closing statement from one of the survivors.
Somewhere in all of this are glimpses of a good movie. One cannot help but think that, without the Holocaust backdrop, it could have been more honest and meaningful.
(From goodguy's Watch Log on June 3rd, 2009)
Member's Reviews
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a review by Antares
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Year: 1948
Film Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures, First National Pictures
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Length: 126 Min.
Director
John Huston (1906)
Writing
John Huston (1906)...Screenplay
B. Traven (1882)...Novel
Producer
Henry Blanke (1901)
Jack L. Warner (1892)
Cinematographer
Ted D. McCord (1900)
Music
Max Steiner (1888)...Music By
StarsReview
The film Casablanca may have made Humphrey Bogart a star but to me his role as Fred C. Dobbs, the down on his luck drifter who agrees to go in search of gold in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, is his greatest performance. In this one role we get to witness the versatility of his acting prowess as he portrays Dobbs as a troubled individual with a chameleon personality whose mood and mannerisms change like the wind. One moment he is in good cheer as he recounts for his partners how finding gold will not change him personally and the next he is a rambling, quivering mass of paranoia as he believes everyone is out to rob him blind. Bogart walks this fine line with the agility of a skilled tightrope walker, never going so far as to make his character appear a caricature.
This would be the second time that Bogart worked with director John Huston, and the arrangement must have suited Bogart well as they would make two more classic films together with Key Largo & The African QueenThe African Queen. Yet, one upshot of his role in this film would be the laying of groundwork for his portrayal of another paranoid and delusional character in The Caine Mutiny, Captain Queeg.
If you are un-familiar with the film history of Humphrey Bogart, most people will tell you start by watching Casablanca, but The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is all that and more. It could arguably be placed in the top ten films of all time.
Ratings Criterion
5 Stars - The pinnacle of film perfection and excellence.
(From The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) on December 17th, 2009)
Member's TV Reviews
Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom
 | (1976/Germany) IMDb
|
Loriot
1.01 Loriot 1
(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 7th, 2012)