Fireflies in the Garden

 Fireflies in the Garden 2008

• Director: Dennis Lee
• Based on the novel: no, but a poem by Robert Frost
• Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Julia Roberts, Carrie-Ann Moss, Ioan Gruffud, Hayden Panettiere, Shannon Lucio, Cayden Boyd, George Newbern, Chase Ellison, Brooklynn Proulx
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Ryan Reynolds – Life, Woman in Gold, Life during Wartime
• Willem Dafoe – Murder on the Orient Express, John Wick, Mr Bean’s Holiday, Paris je t’aime, American Dreamz, Manderlay, The Aviator, Once upon a Time in Mexico, eXistenZ, Lulu on the Bridge, The English Patient, Wild at Heart, Cry-Baby, Born on the 4^th of July, Mississippi Burning, The Last Temptation of Christ, Platoon, Streets of Fire
• Emily Watson – Testament of Youth, The Theory of Everything, The Book Thief, The Politician’s Husband, Wah-Wah, Equilibrium, Punch-Drunk Love, Gosford Park, Cradle Will Rock, Hilary & Jackie, The Boxer, Breaking the Waves
• Julia Roberts – August Osage County, Closer, Mona Lisa’s Smile, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Full Frontal, Erin Brockovich, Runaway Bride, Notting Hill, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Michael Collins, Mary Reilly, The Pelican Brief, Sleeping with the Enemy, Pretty Woman, Steel Magnolias, Mystic Pizza
• Carrie-Ann Moss – Jessica Jones, Humans, Snow Cake, Matrix x 3, Chocolat
• Iaon Gruffudd – The Kid, Amazing Grace, King Arthur, Very Annie Mary, Titanic, Wilde,
• Cayden Boyd – The X-men Last Stand, Mystic River
• Why? Nice title, good cast.
• Seen: 29 August 2021.      

       Family gathering. Tragedy. Death. Old conflicts. Flashbacks of an abusive oppressive father.

       That’s it really. Children, parents, generations, memories, loss, friendship, enmity, old secrets. Standard ingredients. As family dramas go it’s… dramatic. Not my favourite genre but it’s well done and watchable. 

3* of 5.

 

 

 

Moonstruck

 Moonstruck 1987

• Director: Norman Jewison
• Seen by this director: In Country, And Justice for All, Jesus Christ Superstar, Fiddler on the Roof, In the Heat of the Night, The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming!
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Cher, Nicholas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Cher – Mama Mia Here We Go Again, Tea with Mussolini, Mermaids, Suspect, The Witches of Eastwick, Mask, Silkwood
• Nicholas Cage – The Weatherman, Bringing Out the Dead, Face/Off, Red Rock West, Wild at Heart, Raising Arizona, Peggy Sue Got Married, Rumble Fish, Fast Times in Ridgemont High
• Olympia Dukakis – Steel Magnolias, Working Girl
• Danny Aiello – Léon, Do the Right Thing, The January Man, The Godfather II
• Why? Cher.
• Seen: Once before. Now 28 August 2021.      

       Loretta (Cher), a 37-year-old widow, living with her parents, is proposed to by Johnny (Aiello) in an Italian restaurant with everyone watching. She says yes.

       But before the wedding he has to go to Sicily to his mother’s deathbed. He wants Loretta to call his brother Ronny (Cage) to invite him to the wedding. She goes to see Ronny. Things happen.

       Are Italian Americans really like they are in films? There’s simply too much family here and they all seem like movie stereotypes.

       I don’t like the story, most of the acting is exaggeratedly hammy and Cage is awful, the most unconvincing lover, not to mention opera lover, I’ve seen. But Dukakis as Cher’s mother is very good, and Cher is phenomenal. The two of them raise a mediocre film to 

3* of 5. Hal, who’s more romantic than me, gives it 4*.

 

Waterworld

 Waterworld 1995

• Director: Kevin Reynolds
• Seen by this director: One Eight Seven, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
• Based on the novel: no.
• Cast: Kevin Costner, Jeanne Trippelhorn, Dennis Hopper, Tina Majorino
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Kevin Costner – Molly’s Game, Man of Steel, Swing Vote, Rumour Has It, The Postman, A Perfect World, Bodyguard, JFK, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Dances with Wolves, Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, Silverado, Stacy’s Knight
• Jeanne Trippelhorn – Sliding Doors, Reality Bites
• Dennis Hopper – Swing Vote, Elegy, EDtv, Speed, True Romance, Red Rock West, The Indian Runner, Rumble Fish, Apocalypse Now, Easy Rider
• Tina Majorino – Veronica Mars, Napoleon Dynamite, Corrina Corrina
• Why? A classic of sorts
• Seen: 27 August 2021.      

       We just got back from a short cruise up the east coast of Sweden. After pleasant hours of gazing at the dramatic cliffs on one side and white-capped seas on the other, this film felt like an appropriate choice. Besides, a good friend just informed me that it’s one of his favourite films (hello, AA!)

       There is an unfortunate feeling of reality in the film as the climate change becomes more and more evident today.

       It’s a shark eat shark world where scavengers and pirates steal from each other on the endless ocean covering the planet after the ice caps and glaciers have melted. The Dryland is a myth.

       Mariner (Costner) brings an invaluable jar of dirt to a floating village and the story starts, developing into a chase for the Dryland. Mariner champions a little girl with a map tattooed on her back, Elena (Majorino) and the woman who raised her, Helen (Trippelhorn).

       OK. Here’s the problem. Everybody in Waterworld is understandably filthy, scruffy, dressed in tatters. But Helen is beautiful, fresh-complexioned, pink-lipsticked and clad in a low-cut bosomy shift. That’s really annoying. The bad guys, led by Dennis Hopper in frenzied Dennis Hopper mode, are caricatures. All the men have 5-day stubbles. Mariner is obnoxiously macho but of course he melts and turns human because Elena is a tough and likeable kid (well played by Veronica Mars’s friend the computer geek, just a few years younger).

       The film is deeply flawed.

       How can such a hugely flawed film be so hugely entertaining? I don’t know, but it is. It’s impressive, exciting and visual and the story is great. The technical effects are among the most innovative and enjoyable I’ve seen. It’s kind of like Mad Max on water instead of the desert and without the dreadful Mel Gibson. Costner is not the greatest actor in the world, but he does a good job here and he’s not a religious fanatic (that I know of).

       Anyway, I enjoy the film tremendously.

 

4 * of 5

 

 

Identity

Identity 2003

• Director: James Mangold
• Seen by this director: Logan, Walk the Line, Kate & Leopold, Girl Interrupted, Cop Land
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes, Alfred Molin, Clea Duvall, John C McGinley, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Rebecca De Mornay
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• John Cusack – The Butler, 2012, 1408, Serendipity, High Fidelity, Being John Malkovich, Cradle Will Rock, The Thin Red Line, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Grosse Point Blank, The Grifters
• Ray Liotta – Battle in Seattle, Cop Land, Corina Corina
• Amanda Peet – 2012, The X-Files I Want to Believe, Igby Goes Down, Jump, Ellen Foster
• John Hawkes – The Peanut Butter Falcon, Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri, Contagion, Winter Bone, The Miracle at St Ana, Taken, The Perfect Storm, A Slipping Down Life
• Alfred Molin – The Tempest, An Education, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Coffee & Cigarettes, Frida, Chocolat, Dead Man, Prick Up Your Ears, Letter to Brezhnev
• Clea Duvall – Zodiac, 21 Grams, Girl Interrupted, The Astronaut’s Wife, A Slipping Down Life, Life during Wartime, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• John C McGinley – Seven, Platoon
• Pruitt Taylor Vince – Beautiful Creatures, The Pianist, The X Files, JFK, Wild at Heart, I Know My First Name is Steven
• Rebecca De Mornay – Jessica Jones, The Trip to Bountiful
• Murray Hamilton – TV series
• Why? I don’t remember. John Cusack, probably.
• Seen: 22 August 2021.      

       A series if very bad luck in a heavy rainstorm brings a group of strangers together in an isolated motel. They’re all a bit shady and very suspicious of each other.

       It’s almost like a Stephen King story. Not completely credible. Far-fetched, you might say.

       But it’s quite exciting and the cast is good. I enjoyed it. 

3* of 5. Hal thought it was too confusing and gave it 1 ½*.

 

  

The Omen

 

The Omen 1976

• Director: Richard Donner
• Seen by this director: Lethal Weapon, TV series episodes
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens, Billie Whitelaw, David Warner, Patrick Troughton
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Gregory Peck – To Kill a Mockingbird, The Guns of Navarone, On the Beach, Moby Dick, David and Bathsheba, Spellbound
• Lee Remick – Jennie, Experiment in Terror
• Billie Whitelaw – Hot Fuzz, An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
• David Warner – Wallander, Before I Sleep, Doctor Who, Ladies in Lavender, Titanic, Star Trek the Undiscovered Country, Twin Peaks, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Holocaust, Tom Jones
• Patrick Troughton – A Family at War, Richard III, Hamlet
• Why? A classic. Gregory Peck.
• Seen: 21 August 2021.      

       Robert (Peck) knows his wife Kathy (Remick) will go mad with grief over the death of their new-born son, so he adopts a baby born on the same day in the same monastery. The secret is kept and five years pass. Robert is appointed US ambassador to Great Britain, and they move to London.

       The nanny hangs herself, a new nanny (Whitelaw) shows up out of the blue, a mad priest (Troughton) hounds Robert and the little boy Damien gets hysterical at the sight of a church.

       Goodness gracious me. Damien is the son of Satan and he’s definitely up to no good.

       Maybe it was sensational in the 70s but it seems silly to me. A load of religious claptrap. It’s nowhere near as scary as it’s reported to be despite the violent ending.

       Not even Gregory Peck, Billie Whitelaw or the second Doctor Who (Troughton) in Blu-Ray can lift this classical clunker. 

2* of 5 (Hal liked it and give it 4 ½ *).

 

Wonderstruck

 

Wonderstruck 2017

• Director: Todd Haynes
• Seen by this director: I’m Not There, Far from Heaven, Velvet Goldmine
• Based on the novel by Brian Selznick
• Cast: Oakes Fegley, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Millicent Simmonds, Corey Michael Smith, Jaden Michael
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Julianne Moore – The Hunger Games Mockingjay, The Kids Are All Right, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, I’m Not There, Children of Men, The Hours, Far from Heaven, The Shipping News, A Map of the World, The Big Lebowski, The fugitive, Benny and Joon UngerH
• Michelle Williams – The Greatest Showman, Manchester by the Sea, My Week with Marilyn, Shutter Island, I’m Not There, Brokeback Mountain, The Station Agent, The United States of Leland, A Thousand Acres
• Corey Michael Smith – First Man
• Why? It sounded interesting.
• Seen: 20 August 2021.      

       Gunflint, Minnesota. 1977. Ben (Fegley), twelve, wants to know about his dad but his mother (Williams) refuses to talk about it. When she dies in a car crash, he moves in with his aunts and cousins.

       Hoboken, New Jersey. 1927. Rose (Simmonds) lives with her severe and unloving father. She is deaf and idolises the silent film star Lilian Mayhew (Moore).

       The stories intertwine. Ben and Rose both run away from home and unknowingly approach each other across the decades and miles.

       It’s quiet, dreamy, bittersweet and eventually, predictably it ties together. A bit too tidily perhaps but it makes a charming fairy tale. The model of NYC is impressive. And there is that Minnesota connection. 

4* of 5

 

 

Luftslottet som sprängdes (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest)

 

Luftslottet som sprängdes (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) 2009

• Director: Daniel Alfredsson
• Seen by this director: Flickan som lekte med elden
• Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson
• Cast: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Annika Hallin
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Michael Nyqvist (1960-2017) – John Wick, Män som hatar kvinnor, Flickan som lekte med elden, Den bästa av mödrar, Grabben i graven bredvid, Reuter & Skoog, Tillsammans
• Noomi Rapace – Stockholm, Unlocked, Rupture, Prometheus, Sherlock Holmes Game of Shadows, Svinalängorna, Män som hatar kvinnor, Flickan som lekte med elden, Tusenbröder
• Lena Endre – Män som hatar kvinnor, Flickan som lekte med elden
• Mikael Spreitz - Flickan som lekte med elden
• Tanja Lorentzon - Flickan som lekte med elden
• Why? The books and films
• Seen: Once before. Now 10 August 2021      

       Lisbeth Salander (Rapace) is recovering from a bullet wound in her head. Mikael Blomqvist (Nyqvist) and Millenium use all their resources to prove her innocence of all the crimes she’s been accused of and to expose the conspiracy against her by a sect within the secret police. Mikael smuggles a hand computer to her and as she recovers, she researches the criminals.

       It’s so exciting and well done. I will miss Salander and Blomquist. But I’ll no doubt read the books and see the films again one day. 

4 ½ * of 5 

PS Don’t tell me to read Lagerkrantz’s books. I’m not going to. Blomquist and Salander belong to Stieg Larsson. No one else. 

Lisbeth Salander (Rapace) ligger på intensiven efter att ha blivit skjuten i huvudet. Mikael Blomqvist (Nyqvist) och Millenium använder sina resurser att bevisa att hon är oskyldig till alla brott hon anklagas för och för att avslöja konspirationen mot henne av en sekt inom SÄPO. Mikael smugglar in en handdator till henne. Meden hon blir bättre gräver hon fram info om bovarna.

Den är spännande och mycket väl gjord. Jag kommer att sakna Blomquist och Salander och jag kommer säkert att läsa om böckerna och se om filmerna så småningom.

PS Säg inte att jag ska läsa Lagerkrantz. Det tänker jag inte göra. Blomquist och Salander tillhör Stieg Larsson, ingen annan.

Ghost in the Shell

 

Ghost in the Shell 2017

• Director: Rupert Sanders
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Pilou Asbäck, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche, Michael Pitt
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Scarlett Johannson – Jojo Rabbit, Hail Caesar, Lucy, Avengers, He’s Just Not That into You, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Prestige, The Island, In Good Company, A Love Song for Bobby Long, Girl with Pearl Earring, Lost in Translation, Manny and Lo
• Pilou Asbäck – Lucy
• Takeshi Kitano – Johnny Mnemomic
• Juliet Binoche – High Life, The 33, Dan in Real Life, Breaking and Entering, Paris je t’aime, Caché, Chocolat, The English Patient, Trois Couleurs, Wuthering Heights, Les amants du Pont-Neuf
• Why? Scarlett Johannson. Sci fi.
• Seen: 8 August 2021.      

       Mira (Johansson) is a human brain in a robot body, the first and only of her kind. She’s having a hard time connecting to her human memories.

       Someone or something is out to kill her creators. She starts to learn the truth.

       It looks like the original Blade Runner which is a point in its favour. It takes the robot-human thing a step or two deeper. I like Scarlett Johansson much more than Harrison Ford. The story and characters are more developed. The visuals are even more stunning.

       Evidently most viewers hated this film because it’s a poor remake of a Japanese original. I have not seen the original and despite the over-abundance of shooting, I like this version. 

3 * of 5

 

 

South Pacific

 

South Pacific 1958

• Director: Joshua Logan
• Seen by this director: Camelot, Bus Stop
• Based on the stories by James Michener
• Cast: Mitzi Gaynor, Rossano Brazzi, John Kerr, Ray Walston, Juanita Hall, France Nuyen, Russ Brown
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• John Kerr – TV series
• Ray Walston – Swing Vote, Of Mice and Men, I Know My First Name Is Steven, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Sting, My Favourite Martian, Damn Yankees
• France Nuyen – The Battle of the Planet of the Apes, TV series
• Russ Brown – Damn Yankees
• Why? Nostalgia
• Seen: Two or three times before. Now 7 August 2021      

       My parents had the Broadway soundtrack on LP and I played it endlessly along with their other musicals. It’s not my favourite but it has its merits.

       Nellie (Gaynor) is an officer in the army nursing corps. Emile (Brazzi) is a plantation-owner on an island in the South Pacific occupied by American troops. The time: WWII.

       Nurses, sailors, Tonkinese natives, singing, dancing, romance, racial tension, war. The story is OK. The characters are flat, though, the dialog is feeble, and the acting is hammy. Mitzi Gaynor is simply awful. Fortunately, the singing is quite good, some of the songs are clever, and the anti-racism message lifts it.     

3 * of 5

Jaws

 

Jaws 1975

• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Seen by this director: Ready Player One, BFG, War of the Worlds, Catch Me If You Can, AI, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, Hook, The Colour Purple, E.T., Indiana Jones, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Sugarland Express, The Duel
• Based on the novel by Peter Benchley
• Cast: Rory Schneider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Rory Schneider – Romeo Is Bleeding, All That Jazz, Klute
• Richard Dreyfuss – What about Bob?, Postcards from the Edge, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Good-bye Girl, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, American Graffiti, TV series from the 60s
• Robert Shaw – Robin and Marion, The Sting
• Lorraine Gary – TV series
• Murray Hamilton – TV series
• Why? Encouragement from my FB film groups.
• Seen: Once before. Now 6 August 2021.      

       The first time we saw this I was scared to death. But I’m brave and I’m ready.

       You know the story, so I won’t recap it.

       Scared to death? Why? Of course, there were a few yelps and squeals this time too when the shark attacked but this time, I knew what was coming and actually found it boring at times. It ended up being two films: the first half with the townsfolk and the second half with the three men on a boat. Three alpha males, ho hum.

       The first time I saw this I hadn’t read Moby Dick or seen the film. Now I have and comparisons are inevitable. This one doesn’t stand up too good. But the scenery is pretty, Schneider and Dreyfuss are likeable, and it’s entertaining. 

3 * of 5

 

Terminus

 Terminus 2015

• Director: Marc Furmie
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Jai Koutrae, Todd Lacance, Kendra Appleton, Katherine Hicks, Bren Foster, William Emmons, Vincent Andriano
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• None of them
• Why? Possibly interesting
• Seen: 1 August 2021      

       What an odd mix of aliens from outer space, social realism in the form of poverty, unemployment and despair, political statements about waging war as the global economy collapses, vets protesting the war and being spat on and arrested, and the threat of nuclear war. There’s a touch of Scully and Mulder too, in the form of Men in Black agents (without the humour).

       It almost has the feel of a B film, or a debut by director as well as actors. Too much is crammed into a 90-minute film. However, all of them have done other films so it can’t be that.

       For some reason, I like it anyway. I like the characters, unemployed recently widowed mechanic David (Koutrae), his daughter Annie (Appleton) and amputee vet Zach (Lancance) even though they teeter on the edge of stereotype and aren’t really very well-developed. And I like the class aspect. Working class hero and all that. Therefore 

3* of 5

 

 

 

Hamlet (Branagh) update

 

Updated 31 July 2021

 

27 May 2013

In this 2021 update, additions will be written in bold italics.

Hamlet (Branagh 1996)

• Director: Kenneth Branagh
• Seen by this director: All Is True, Murder on the Orient Express, Cinderella, Thor, Sleuth, The Magic Flute, As You Like It, Love’s Labour’s Lost, In the Bleak Midwinter, Frankenstein, Much Ado about Nothing, Peter’s Friends, Dead Again, Henry V
• Based on play: Shakespeare.
• Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet, Michael Maloney, Nicholas Farrell, Brian Blessed, Timothy Spall, Rufus Sewell and just about everyone else in the world
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Kenneth Branagh – Tenet, All Is True, Murder on the Orient Express, Dunkirk, My Week with Marilyn, Warm Springs, Wild Wild West, Frankenstein, Henry V, Valkyrie, Wallander, Swing Kids, The Boat That Rocked, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Rabbit Proof Fence, Shackleton, How to Kill Your Neighbour’s Dog, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, Fortunes of War
• Julie Christie – Glorious 39, Doctor Zhivago, Darling, Far From the Madding Crowd, The Go Between, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Finding Neverland, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Fahrenheit 451, Heaven Can Wait, Petulia, Don’t Look Now, Heat and Dust, Afterglow
• Derek Jacobi – Last Tango in Halifax, Tomb Raider, Murder on the Orient Express, Vicious, Cinderella, My Week with Marilyn, The King’s Speech, The Golden Compass, Doctor Who, I Claudius, Henry V, Hamlet (BBC 1980), Gladiator, The King’s Speech, Gosford Park, Dead Again
• Kate Winslet – The Mountain Between Us, Contagion, Holiday, Extras, Romance & Cigarettes, Jude, Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Reader, Little Children, Finding Neverland, Hideous Kinky, Sense and Sensibility
• Michael Maloney – River, Summer in February, Bonekickers, Babel, The Young Victoria, Babel, In the Bleak Midwinter, Othello, Hamlet (Zefferelli), Henry V
• Nicholas Farrell – Legend, Mortdecai, Robot Overlords, Testament of Youth, Summer in February, Amazing Grace, In the Bleak Midwinter, Twelfth Night, Sex Chips and Rock’n’Roll, Driving Lessons
• Brian Blessed – As You Like It, I Claudius
• Timothy Spall – The Party, Mr Turner, The Love Punch, Ginger & Rosa, From Time to Time, Gothic, Harry Potter, Sweeney Todd, Secrets and Lies, The King’s Speech, Alice in Wonderland, Love’s Labour’s Lost, All or Nothing, Our Mutual Friend
• Rufus Sewell – The Tourist, A Knight’s Tale, Taming of the Shrew (Retold), The Holiday, Paris je t’aime, Middlemarch
• Why bought: Hamlet
• Seen: at least 4 times. This time: March 3, 2013. Now 31 July 2021 

How can I possibly write something about this movie?  It has overwhelmed me since the first time I saw it.

I was almost afraid to watch it this time, having read the play again, written an analysis and watched six other film versions, two of which I hadn’t seen previously, several of which are extremely good.

Would this hold up in comparison, in repetition, in analysis?

Yes.

I see the flaws, I see the things I would do differently. Branagh shows scenes that Shakespeare didn’t include on stage but only through the actors’ telling.  This does not add depth.  Gertrude wouldn’t have worn a white bridal dress. She was a widow for heaven’s sake. Compared to the beautifully minimalist sets of Brook and Kline this production seems gaudy at times.  And although Kate Winslet is good as Ophelia she isn’t as convincing as Helena Bonham-Carter or Diane Venora.

But, oh, everything else. Julie Christie, though there is still more she could have done with the interpretation, is superb as Gertrude. Derek Jacobi is the best Claudius I’ve seen.  Michael Maloney and Nicholas Farrell bring more life to Laertes and Horation than any other actors.

And Hamlet?  Kenneth Branagh doesn’t play Hamlet.  He is Hamlet.  He isn’t speaking lines. He’s speaking from the heart. Every word.  As Branagh says in his intro to the DVD, Hamlet is playing him.  His scene with Ophelia after the To Be or Not to Be soliloquy is possibly the most powerful performance in film history. It is utterly deeply real.

“Natural” is the key word for the whole production. The entire cast makes Shakespeare sound like the way we all talk every day.

I’m not going to go on and on but here are a few more things I like about it: the snow, the four-hour length, the ghost’s incredible blue eyes, gorgeous mean Fortinbras (Rufus Sewell), the little train, the third word in “Words, words, words.”

10 * out of 10 aren’t enough so what can I give this? 100* of 100? No, I gave that to Henry V. How much better is this? Impossible.  This is simply in a class of its own.  I can’t be rational about it. I’m addicted to it. So, let’s just say 

495* of 500.

Update 31 July 2021 – there’s really nothing to add. I still feel the same.

Tenet

 

Tenet 2020

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Seen by this director: Dunkirk, Interstellar, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, The Prestige, Batman Begins, Insomnia
• Based on the novel: no
• Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Clémence Poésy, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• John David Washington – BlacKkKlansman
• Robert Pattinson – High Life, Queen of the Desert, Twilight, Remember Me, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Clémence Poésy – The Hollow Crown, Harry Potter, 127 Hours, In Bruges
• Michael Caine - Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Harry Brown, Flawless, The Prestige, Children of Men, The Weatherman, Last Orders, Get Carter, The Cider House Rules, Little Voice, Mona Lisa, Educating Rita, Sleuth (both versions), Alfie
• Elizabeth Dibecki – The Night Watchman, Macbeth, The Great Gatsby
• Kenneth Branagh – All Is True, Murder on the Orient Express, Dunkirk, My Week with Marilyn, Warm Springs, Wild Wild West, Frankenstein, Henry V, Valkyrie, Wallander, Swing Kids, The Boat That Rocked, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Rabbit Proof Fence, Shackleton, How to Kill Your Neighbour’s Dog, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, Fortunes of War
• Why? Good cast and director
• Seen: 30 July 2021.      

       The Protagonist (Washington) and his sort of partner Neil (Pattinson) are caught up in international espionage that turns out to be a sort of time travel thing – the threat is from the future.

       It’s confusing but I expected that, so I let the film flow through me. It makes Mission Impossible and James Bond look like simple kids’ films.

       Potentially interesting, with Branagh doing well as the villain, it is, though exciting once in a while, kind of boring. I keep waiting for it to come to the point, but there doesn’t seem to be one.

       What a disappointment. 

2 * of 5