Another fun fact – this is the only Bond movie referred to (and at that, obliquely) in one of Ian Fleming’s novels. In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service they see Ursula Andress skiing in Switzerland on the same mountain that Blofeld’s Secret Lab is on. They remark that she has a respectable suntan, which is, of course, because she’s been making a film in the Caribbean.
Over the weekend I re-watched Thirteen Ghosts. Not the 2001 movie, but the 1960 William Castle original. The DVD version I watched has the whole Illusion-O gimmick properly built in (although they didn’t supply the necessary Spook Viewer. I had to use a pair of anaglyphic 3D movie glasses and close one eye).
The clever idea is that ghosts appear in certain scenes. If you look through the red filter you see the ghosts, and if you look through the blue filter, they’re invisible. (At the same time, the characters on the screen are using a special pair of “Ghost Viewer” glasses that make the spirits visible. I’ll bet the folks at Ghost Hunters would love to have those among their Paranormal Detector collection.)
They achieve this effect by printing the “normal” scene in blue, while the “ghost” scenes are in red. It really does help to use the Ghost Viewer because it heightens the contrast , and you can see the ghosts more clearly when the blue is suppressed.
It’s more clever than most of Castle’s other gimmicks (like “Emergo” – a skeleton flying out over the audience on a wire, used in The House on Haunted Hill), and it works better, but the story isn’t really p to it, and some of the ghosts are just kinda dumb (a “ghost” lion, and a ghost Lion Tamer who’s missing his head because his act was sticking it in the lion’s mouth, with implication that he died by having it bitten off.)
It’s still fun to watch. I’d hoped to show it among a crop of 3D movies at Arisia this year, but they axed the movie schedule altogether.
I watched it this summer. It’s pretty fun, still. The sequel was lame. I know there is a third one, but I won’t bother.
Sadly, of course, Fleming only got to see two completed films. I think he died before Goldfinger was released.
One of my favorite sports films, and favorite comedies, of all time. Vaughn coming out of the bullpen actually gives me chills; it really captures the electricity of a high-stakes game in front of a huge, enthusiastic crowd.
However: it is vastly improved (and considerably shortened) if you just fast-forward through every scene with Renee Russo. You miss nothing.
Lordy is this true. Her scenes signaled time to go for snacks.
Is Russo good in anything? I’m not saying she isn’t, but she is only adequate in Lethal Weapon movies as well. Thor, maybe?
I debated whether to ask this here or in the old threads on Dune.
I just watched Dune parts 1 and 2, and liked them a lot. I like the look of Villeneuve films, and am glad he had the direction of these films.
However, I have a couple of questions:
(1) Why didn’t they expand on the role of Navigators? After all, they’re the ones who make space travel possible, based on their spice consumption. Without spice, there are no Navigators, and without them, there’s no empire. The first movie barely mentioned them. I wanted to see a mutated Navigator!
(2) Where did the Harkonnens and all their tribe and hangers-on go when they vacated Arrakis? I assume they went to another planet, but as far as I could see, nothing was discussed about this.
I liked her in Tin Cup. That’s the only one I can think of.
To be fair they’re a very important but largely background presence in the original book as well.
Giedi Prime was the original Harkonnen homeworld, much like Caladan was for the Atreides family. That was apparently the reversion after Arrakis was handed over to the Atreides.
But yeah, the background was not much explored.
Villeneuve, as I pointed out in our earlier discussion about Dune, appears to have been fixated upon making the films look as realistic as possible. So he cuts down on fantastic elements quite a bit in relation to the first film and the Syfy series. There’s a lot less space travel in his version, and the Harkonnens don’t have the high-tech digs of the film or the flashiness of the series. Eliminating any sight of the Guild Navigators is perfectly consistent with this philosophy. The weird mutated bodies of the Navigators were a showpiece in the Lynch version, and was an odd sight in the Syfy series. Putting them in there explains in a graphic way why the Spice is important, but it’s not necessary.
And, as Tamerlane points out, they’re a background thing in the first book. They don’t even show up “on stage”, in fact, until Dune Messiah
I recall liking her in The Thomas Crowne Affair (remake.)
The bad guy in this is Charles Dance (also played Tywin Lannister), one of the most threatening, scenery-chewing baddies ever. Saw him play a good guy once, and didn’t buy it… all because of this movie.
She was really good in Nightcrawler, got a lot of award nominations. I also liked her in Get Shorty.
Yeah. It’s not that she’s bad in Major League…it’s that Major League is a mediocre rom-com (her parts) but the perfect sports-com. So just skip the romance parts and get a perfect movie.
Ghost Writer 2010 Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall director Roman Polanski
Ewan McGregor plays a writer hired to complete the autobiography of a former British Prime Minister. The first ghost writer washed up on a beach. Great job opportunity, huh?
It’s an interesting thriller with complicated characters. There’s a feeling of extreme danger that grows more and more intense.
It is slow paced. Anyone that patiently watches will agree it’s a great story and well directed. Polanski won the Silver Bear for best director at the 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival.
Olivia Williams is a nice surprise. I’d never seen her work before.
It’s on Peacock
The film reminds me of Hitchcock films like The Wrong Man or The 39 Steps. Where a normal person finds themselves in a strange, paranoid and dangerous world.
Olivia Williams is great. I first remember seeing her as the object of unpleasant obsession in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, then also as the mom in Hanna. She often pops up in interesting things.
And there’s The Sixth Sense, of course.
A couple of nights ago, I watched “Becky” again. Though a movie no one would consider special or even like, the main character really resonates with me, and I relate very closely to her grief and anger, and to the craziness it causes in her. I’m thinking most people have movies that are special to them and maybe no one else in particular.