I know my sister looked it up on imdb and mentioned some inaccuracies, but they were all quite small. Of course, we don’t know exactly what everyone said in private, but, to my knowledge, it’s more accurate than most historical films.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I saw this movie when it was first released and in the mid-1960s on network TV. It’s no classic but I’ve always remembered it as pretty good and a lot of fun. I’d love to see it again.
Irwin Allen gave his movies credibility by hiring good actors who were past their prime as movie stars but still had marquee value. This one starred Claude Raines, Michael Rennie, Fernando Lamas and David Hedison, with Jill St. John for cheesecake value. The dinosaurs were played by iguanas, monitor lizards and various other real-life creatures photographically blown up to gargantuan size. Lame special effects by today’s standards but they looked pretty cool in 1960.
And 20th Century-Fox gave it Cinemascope and Color by DeLuxe, so it doesn’t look like they skimped on the budget.
One thing they do is elevate the participation of Thaddeus Stevens, who barely appears in Goodwin’s book, and then seemingly explain(?) his radicalism by his (historically rumored) relationship with his black housekeeper. Or maybe not explain, but I guess humanize? Which in my mind is a little reductive. But maybe that’s just me.
Yeah.
I googled it this morning, and there’s no historical proof that there was anything more than a boss/housekeeper relationship.
So they left out all the vampire slaying?
I was so disappointed.
Elvis. I really liked it a lot. Surprisingly the least favorite thing about it was Tom Hanks’ performance as Col. Tom Parker; but Austin Butler kills it in the title role.
Baz Luhrman’s over-the-top style is perfect for the subject matter. I’m sure he plays fast-and-loose with history, but it doesn’t matter; just let it wash over you.
Of all the musical biopics lately – Bohemian Rhapsody, Judy, Rocket Man, Respect – this was my favorite.
Last night we watched The Mouse on the Moon, from 1963, a sequel to the Peter Sellers movie The Mouse That Roared. This one didn’t have Sellers, but it had Terry Thomas. Mildly funny and cute.
“No Time to Die,” Daniel Craig’s swan song as 007.
I hadn’t paid attention or read anything about it when it was released. It just wasn’t on my radar, so I knew nothing about this movie.
At 163 minutes, a bit too long for my tastes, but as Bond adventures go, it was pretty good. The theme song by Billie Eilish was a let-down. Not memorable at all. Overall, though, a fine au revoir for Mr. Craig. If you like the Bond franchise, you’ll be satisfied.
If you haven’t yet seen this movie, read no further!
I was totally blindsided by that ending. I really didn’t expect it. And yes, I’ll admit to wiping away a tear or two.
At the very end of the credits, it said “James Bond will return.” I jokingly said to my wife that they’ll probably hire JJ Abrams to direct the next one, and he’ll simply reboot the franchise, like he did with Star Trek, and proceed as if anything that came before simply never happened.
We shall see.
Wasn’t the James Bond franchise rebooted every time the role was recast? So doing so again would hardly be new.
To some degree, yes, but up until Daniel Craig, they always included a little something to tie them together. His films really were a departure, but to go any further will take a major reworking even beyond that.
Deep Blue Sea. Yes, I had bad dreams that night.
“Wild Card”, Netflix, Jason Statham. I like Statham, but this was a clunker.
Hustle (2022) - another Adam Sandler meets basketball vehicle. In this he’s a scout itching to be an assistant coach but he’s stymied by the owner’s son, as the owner - a kindly old man who loves Sandler’s character - dies just as he’s about to promote Sandler. You see where this goes. There’s a bit of an up and down to the story arc but bascially, Sugerman (Sandler) bets his entire career on this kid he find in Spain who nobody knows or has ever heard of, but who’s a natural … you can see where this goes.
It’s pretty good even though completely predictable. Sandler plays a lower key version of Howard Ratner from Uncut Gems, so … he plays himself. The basketball action is pretty cool and there are a lot of cameos and out and out starring roles from basketballs stars old and young, Julius Irving, Dirk NowayIcanspellhisname, Boban Marjanovic playing “The Big Serbian” - the lead guy is played by Juancho Hernangomez, who I’ve never heard of, but I’m told he’s a member in fine standing with the National Basketball Association.
Entirely concur (except I thought Hanks was very good as Parker). I did feel that the picture dragged somewhat about two-thirds of the way through, but I stayed the course and found the overall experience very satisfying.
Baz Luhrmann can always be counted on to gild every lily in an epic musical drama, but then, so could Wagner. I’m fine with that.
Likewise concur. I thought the title sequence was very good, but the Daniel Kleinman title sequences are my favorite part of Bond movies in general.
Am I the first to mention the new Pixar movie Lightyear?
Somehow I had a really hard time getting engaged with it owing to the temporal-discontinuities plot point at the beginning. ISTM that it contained a lot of good pieces of a movie? but seemed weirdly disconnected from its environment, both physically and chronologically. I got somewhat more into it as the movie progressed, though.
On this note, my favorite James Bond title sequence of all time wasn’t a James Bond title sequence.
From 1966, What Did You Do In the War, Daddy?
Amusing, great cast (Harry Morgan, James Coburn, Dick Shawn), but I felt like it could have been half as long.
Written by William Peter Blatty?!?
I’ve always enjoyed James Coburn movies. I’m not sure if he was ever at any point considered the best actor of his day but he certainly was one of the coolest.