********************************************************************************************************************

*****************************************   TOM'S REVIEWS   ******** 07/30/04 *****************************

********************************************************************************************************************

FILMS VIEWED OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS:

********************************************************************************************************************

Ratings

* * * * * *   Must See, An Artistic Great Film. Most Highly Recommended

* * * * *     Well Worth Seeing, Good Film. Highly Recommended

* * * *      Worth the Effort, Good Film. Recommended

* * *          Entertaining, Recommended Rental

* *            For Personal Tastes Only

*              Not Worth You Time

   0             Run!

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

AT THE MOVIES NOW

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

THE CLEARING (2004) * * * * *

Directed by Pieter Jan Brugge; written by Justin Haythe, based on a story by Mr. Brugge and Mr. Haythe; director of photography, Denis Lenoir; edited by Kevin Tent; music by Craig Armstrong; production designer, Chris Gorak; produced by Mr. Brugge, Palmer West and Jonah Smith; released by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Running time: 91 minutes. This film is rated R.

WITH: Robert Redford (Wayne Hayes), Helen Mirren (Eileen Hayes), Willem Dafoe (Arnold Mack), Alessandro Nivola (Tim Hayes), Matt Craven (Agent Fuller), Melissa Sagemiller (Jill Hayes) and Wendy Crewson (Louise Miller).

Other films by Pieter Jan Brugge:  Clearing, The (2004)

From CINEBOOKS DB: Cool, restrained and steeped in tight-lipped WASP repression, producer Pieter Jan Brugge's directing debut tells two intimately connected stories simultaneously and unites them in a chilly fog of sadness. Having made a fortune in the car-rental business and cashed out, businessman Wayne Hayes (Robert Redford) is restless and unfulfilled. Their children grown, he and his wife, Eileen (Helen Mirren), build their dream home in Pittsburgh, but Wayne can't bring himself to stop working and Eileen submerges her restlessness in petty, make-work pastimes. Still, their relationship appears familiar and loving, if a little cool, and their lives ordinary, if more than usually privileged. Ordinary, at least, until the morning Wayne is efficiently abducted from the foot of his driveway. Eileen doesn't know he's gone until that evening, and assumes he's just late. But after an awkward evening of entertaining dinner guests around Wayne's absence, Eileen files a missing-person report. When Wayne's car turns up in an unfamiliar parking lot, the case is classified as a kidnapping. The story splits into two separate but parallel narratives, one following Wayne's efforts to negotiate with sad-sack abductor Arnold Mack (Willem Dafoe), and the other chronicling Eileen's crash course in doing nothing, buffeted by the dictates of FBI agents and the whims of her husband's captor or captors. Arnold confesses that he's not the mastermind behind Wayne's abduction; he's an errand boy who was hired to bring Wayne to the mountaintop cabin where the real kidnappers await. Eileen admits to Agent Fuller (Matt Craven) that Wayne once cheated on her; Fuller reveals that he kept in touch with his mistress (Wendy Crewson). Wayne draws out the admission that he and the disappointed, underemployed Arnold once crossed paths. The Hayes children, Tim (Alessandro Nivola) and Jill (Melissa Sagemiller), move back in and though they're ostensibly there to give their mother moral support, Eileen spends more time comforting them than the reverse. Although Brugge crosscuts between the two stories at roughly equal intervals, it gradually becomes clear that they're not unfolding in parallel time, and a frosty suspicion gathers around the edges of the story like cold around the heart. Like Mike Hodges' equally icy I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD (2004), this anti-thriller radiates dread rather than suspense; it delivers creeping apprehension rather than adrenaline-pumping kicks, and the uniformly strong and finely calibrated performances more than compensate for the absence of technical razzle-dazzle.  — Maitland McDonagh

TOM'S VIEW:  Give me Robert Redford AND Helen Mirren and even I could direct a good film!  While most reviews of THE CLEARING are luke warm, I found the film very good with good performances from Helen Mirren and Robert Redford.  Maybe its the ease with which both Mirren and Redford appear to play their characters that critics find "cool" or "remote".  Myself, I find that same ease amazing.  Rarely, if ever, can you detect that Redford is acting - rather he always seems to be his character

and his character seems to be him.  Fine work by the ever under-appreciated Willem Dafoe also.  Highly recommended.

I, ROBOT (2004) * * * *

Directed by Alex Proyas; written by Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman, based on a screen story by Mr. Vintar and suggested by the book by Isaac Asimov; director of photography, Simon Duggan; edited by Richard Learoyd, Armen Minasian and William Hoy; music by Marco Beltrami; production designer, Patrick Tatopoulos; produced by Laurence Mark, John Davis, Topher Dow and Wyck Godfrey; released by 20th Century Fox. Running time: 110 minutes. This film is rated PG-13.

WITH: Will Smith (Del Spooner), Bridget Moynahan (Susan Calvin), Bruce Greenwood (Lawrence Robertson), James Cromwell (Dr. Alfred Lanning), Chi McBride (Lt. John Bergin), Shia LaBeouf (Farber), Adrian L. Ricard (Granny) and Alan Tudyk (Sonny).

Other films by Alex Proyas:  I, Robot (2004), Garage Days (2002), Dark City (1998), Book of Dreams: 'Welcome to Crateland' (1994), Crow, The (1994),  Songlines (1989) (V) (video "Mysteries of Love"),  Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (1989), Spineless (1987), Strange Residues (1981), Groping (1980)

From CINEBOOKS DB: When is I, ROBOT not I, Robot? When it's a script called Hardwired conflated with elements of Isaac Asimov's seminal robot tales, including bits of the nine loosely connected short stories collected in 1950's I, Robot and snippets of the later robot novels, massaged to suit Will Smith's action-guy persona. There's so little Asimov in the mix that his contribution is relegated to a "suggested by" credit, and sci-fi savvy moviegoers will recognize the movie's debt to BLADE RUNNER (1982), ROBOCOP (1987) and 2001 (1968). The surprise: Derivativeness aside, it's an unexpectedly engaging futuristic mystery that hinges on the confounding possibility that a mechanical being may have murdered cutting-edge roboticist Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), even though standard robot programming should make such a crime impossible. All robots are hardwired with three laws: Harming a human being or letting one be hurt is forbidden; human orders must be obeyed, except when they contradict the first law; and self-preservation is required unless it conflicts with either of the first two directives. Chicago, 2035: Robots are everywhere, not just toiling in factories and low-level service jobs, but in people's homes, running errands, cooking, walking dogs and cleaning. US Robotics, the world's largest manufacturer of humanoid automata, is about to launch the new NS5 model, which CEO Lawrence Robertson (Bruce Greenwood) hopes will bring the corporate dream of a robot in every home one step closer to reality. Consumers, lulled by USR's assertion that their products are "three laws safe," seem ready to embrace the future. But robophobic police detective Del Spooner (Smith) is convinced that a machine will one day defy its allegedly foolproof programming and commit a heinous crime, and when he's called upon to investigate Dr. Lanning's apparent suicide, he immediately suspects the superadvanced robot Lanning called Sonny (Alan Tudyk). Sonny looks alike any other NS5, but is capable of disobedience, abstract thought and perhaps even emotions. Why would Lanning build such an abomination, and why is USR determined to thwart Spooner's investigation? The mystery is rudimentary, there's a numbing sameness to the inevitable high-stakes action sequences and transforming Asimov's Dr. Susan Carter (Bridget Moynahan) from an older woman to a buttoned-up babe is a blatant sop to the 18-to-24-year-old males who comprise a hefty slice of the sci-fi demographic. But some provocative ideas slip through the mayhem, and Tudyk's performance — although Sonny is computer generated, Tudyk supplied his voice and body language — provides the story's emotional core, an irony Asimov would surely have appreciated.  — Maitland McDonagh

TOM'S VIEW:  Yes, Sci-Fi purists will be outraged that Asimov's I, Robot has been hijacked.  Get over it, it's only a movie.  It certainly is a passable summer action flick.  Like Minority Report, most of the interesting science fiction takes place alongside the story line:  automated hiways, buildings with "brains" that run the building, a wide variety of personal computer enhancements, automated clean-up of wrecks on the automated hiways, etc.  Will, still sporting his enhanced physique developed for Ali, goes head to artifical head with the robots - thanks largely to some bionic enhancements of his own.  The most interesting characters are not human but artificial - Sonny, the robot not bound by Asimov's robotic laws, and Viki, representing an evolutionary robotic advance.  I liked it.

THE BOURNE SUPREMACY (2004) * * * * * *

Directed by Paul Greengrass; written by Tony Gilroy, based on the novel by Robert Ludlum; director of photography, Oliver Wood; edited by Christopher Rouse and Richard Pearson; music by John Powell; production designer, Dominic Watkins; produced by Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley and Paul L. Sandberg; executive producers, Doug Liman, Jeffrey M. Weiner and Henry Morrison; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 120 minutes. This film is rated PG-13.

WITH: Matt Damon (Jason Bourne), Franka Potente (Marie), Brian Cox (Ward Abbott), Julia Stiles (Nicky), Karl Urban (Kirill), Karel Roden (Gretkov), Gabriel Mann (Danny Zorn) and Joan Allen (Pamela Landy).

Other films by Paul Greengrass: Bourne Supremacy, The (2004), Bloody Sunday (2002), Murder of Stephen Lawrence, The (1999) (TV), Theory of Flight, The (1998),  

Fix, The (1997) (TV),  One That Got Away, The (1996) (TV), "Kavanagh QC" (1994) (TV Series), Open Fire (1994) (TV), Resurrected (1989)

From CINEBOOKS DB:  A refreshing alternative to the hypertrophied spy thrillers in which exaggerated action sequences, over-the-top super-villainy and high-tech gadgetry trump character and plot. Amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and his girlfriend, Marie (Franka Potente), have been in hiding since Bourne press-ganged her into helping him piece together a series of fragmentary clues about his very scary past. Still uncertain who he really is — he's got half a dozen passports, each more convincing than the one before — and tormented by nightmares, Bourne has used his covert skills to keep them off the radar just in case his former colleagues decide to come calling. But their current idyll in Goa comes to a violent end when Bourne spots a stranger (Karl Urban) whose demeanor fairly screams "contract killer," at least to someone like Bourne. In the ensuing melee, Bourne loses Marie and resolves to find out who ordered the hit and make them pay. Meanwhile, in Berlin, a covert operation managed by veteran CIA agent Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) goes very wrong, leaving two agents dead and several million in U.S. government funds missing. A single fingerprint found at the scene leads to a CIA database attached to a project called Treadstone. Landy's security clearance doesn't begin to warrant access to the Treadstone files, but she won't rest until she finds out what's in them. Landy's investigation involves the theft of some $20 million in CIA funds, and her team was pursuing a rumor that the culprit was a CIA insider and that Russian oil tycoon Gretkov (Karel Roden) was somehow involved. Treadstone, she learns, was a super-secret black op shut down after rogue Jason Bourne stopped following orders and started thinking for himself. The fingerprint is Bourne's, and soon an international game of cat and mouse is on. Landy recruits Bourne's old contact, Nicolette (Julia Stiles), and former Treadstone bigwig Ward Abbott (Brian Cox) to help her trap Bourne, who's after both the mysterious assassin and whoever's responsible for framing him. All roads eventually converge in Berlin. Tony Gilroy's screenplay bears scant resemblance to Robert Ludlum's 1986 novel, the second installment in his Bourne trilogy, which involves a plot to plunge China into calamitous civil war. Paul Greenglass, taking over for BOURNE IDENTITY (2002) director Doug Liman, keeps the action believable and the tone briskly paranoid — the Cold War may be over, but espionage is still a chilly business.  — Maitland McDonagh

TOM'S VIEW: Be sure to get some deep breaths before the movie starts, there are only a couple of other places to breathe during the movie.  The director is especially gifted at placing you in amidst the action whether it is a fight or a chase or car chase.  One sequence serves as an excellent "offensive driving" course!  Highly recommended! 

ZHOU YU'S TRAIN (2003) * * * * *

Directed by Sun Zhou; written (in Mandarin, with English subtitles) by Mr. Sun, Bei Cun and Zhang Mei; director of photography, Wang Yu; edited by William Chang; music by Shigeru Umebayashi; production designer, Sun Li; produced by Huang Jianxin, Mr. Sun and Bill Kong; released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 97 minutes. This film is rated PG-13.

WITH: Gong Li (Zhou Yu/Xiu), Tony Leung Ka Fai (Chen Qing) and Honglei Sun (Zhang Qiang).

Other films by Sun Zhou: Zhou Yu's Train (Zhou Yu de huo che) (2002), Breaking the Silence (Piao liang ma ma) (1999), True-Hearted, The (Xin xiang) (1993), Di xue huang hun (1989)

From CINEBOOKS DB: Based on an acclaimed Chinese novel and starring two of China's biggest movie stars, director Sun Zhou's curious love story is nevertheless more confounding than romantic. Painter Zhou Yu (Gong Li) uses her extraordinary talent to decorate vases and bowls for a ceramics factory in Sanming, a town in northwestern China. One afternoon while riding a train, Zhang Jiang (Sun Hong Lei), handsome young veterinarian, offers to buy the lovely vase Zhou Yu is bringing to her lover, Chen Ching (Tony Leung Ka-fai) as a gift. Zhou Yu refuses to sell, and when Zhang Jiang flirtatiously refuses to take no for an answer, she deliberately drops the delicate object onto the floor of the train, smashing it to pieces. This sudden, inexplicable act triggers a lengthy flashback to Zhou Yu's first meeting with the shy poet Chen Ching at a dance where he wrote her a short poem before disappearing. Luckily he accidentally left his bag behind, so Zhou Yu is later able to track him to the city of Chongyang where Chen Ching lives in an old library. Despite the considerable distance between their homes, they embark on a torrid affair. Each weekend, Zhou Yu takes the train from Sanming to Chongyang; between bouts of lovemaking, Chen Ching writes love poems to his newfound love. But even though Zhou Yu is devoted to seeing his work one day in print — she organizes a public reading and later uses her savings to help him self-publish his first collection, "Zhou Yu's Train" — she senses that she's become little more than an irritating distraction. When Chen Ching finally confronts her with his plans to take a teaching post in Tibet, Zhou Yu storms out. On the train back to Sanming, she meets Zhang Jiang, the veterinarian, who tends to farm animals far out in the countryside. But Zhou Yu resists his romantic overtures; though Chen Ching has given her the brush off and soon leaves for Tibet, Zhou Yu is still in love with his poems. Writer-director Sun Zhou (who previously directed Gong Li in the 1999 drama Breaking the Silence) toys with reality, diving deep into the romantic fantasy that what's real in the human heart trumps reality every time. But like Zhou Yu's shattered vases and chipped bowls, the film's fractured chronology resists efforts to reassemble it. And while the film's erotic symbolism is surprisingly obvious — all those trains and tunnels! — it's otherwise bafflingly vague.  — Ken Fox

TOM'S VIEW:  I actually saw this on DVD after having discovered an Asian DVD outlet that sells all region DVDs.  We usually have to wait a couple of years to get newer releases from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Japan.  Starring the beautiful Gong Li, this is an interesting story of yearning that investigates the nature of love and desire.  Highly recommended.

YOUNG ADAM (2004) * * * * *

Directed by David Mackenzie; written by Mr. Mackenzie, based on the novel by Alexander Trocchi; director of photography, Giles Nuttgens; edited by Colin Monie; music by David Byrne; production designer, Laurence Dorman; produced by Jeremy Thomas; released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 93 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Ewan McGregor (Joe), Tilda Swinton (Ella), Peter Mullan (Les), Emily Mortimer (Cathie), Jack McElhone (Jim), Therese Bradley (Gwen), Ewan Stewart (Daniel Gordon), Stuart McQuarrie (Bill), Pauline Turner (Connie), Alan Cooke (Bob M'bussi) and Rory McCann (Sam).

Other films by David Mackenzie: Young Adam (2003), Last Great Wilderness, The (2002), Darcie's Dowry (1999), Somersault (1999), California Sunshine (1997)

From CINEBOOKS DB: Scottish writer-director David Mackenzie's impressive feature debut is a cool and creepy adaptation of Glaswegian Beat writer Alexander Trocchi's 1957 novel about a disaffected young man who wrestles with his conscience only to discover that he may not have one at all. A white swan paddles across the screen and the livid, bloated corpse of a dead woman, dressed only in a slip, floats into frame. It's the 1950s, somewhere on the shore of the River Clyde, where bargemen like Joe (Ewan McGregor) and his grizzled boss, Les (Peter Mullan), make their living hauling coal up and down the canals that connect the capital city with Edinburgh. Joe spots the body, but Les drags it ashore. Les captains the cramped barge on which they both live with Les's wife, Ella (Tilda Swinton), a sour woman whose deep discontent leaves her susceptible to Joe's considerable charms, and Les and Ella's son, Jim (Jack McElhone). As Joe waits for the police to arrive, his behavior towards the corpse seems disconcertingly tender — his hand lingers briefly on her back, he winces when her leg slips from the police stretcher — and the series of flashbacks that intrudes on the present action makes it clear that Joe knew the drowned woman. Her name was Cathie (Emily Mortimer) and once upon a time, before Joe abandoned his attempts to create a bold new literary form and submerged his ambitions in the gloomy canals, she and Joe were lovers. That was a lifetime ago but their final meeting was actually only a few nights earlier, after an unexpected reunion on a city street. The corpse's state of undress leads the police to treat the matter as a possible homicide, but was it really? Could Joe be guilty of an even greater crime than murder? Trocchi published two different versions of his novel, one for general consumption and a second for readers whose tastes include explicit sex. Mackenzie seems to have relied on the racier edition for his screenplay: There's plenty of flesh on display — though not enough, really, to warrant an NC-17 rating — but the coupling is oddly passionless, desperate rather than erotic. Momentarily freed from the confines of STAR WARS-sized spectacles that only dwarf his talents, McGregor demonstrates just how far he's come as an actor. Swinton, meanwhile, adds another notch to a resume already crowded with good performances; she's perfect as an exhausted wife who seems uncomfortable with all but the most fleeting happiness.  — Ken Fox

TOM'S VIEW: Shades of L'Atalante (1934).  Good flick!

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

OUT ON DVD/VHS

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

COMES A HORSEMAN (1980) * * * * * *

Director: Alan J. Pakula; Producer: Gene Kirkwood, Dan Paulson; Writer: Dennis Lynton Clark; Editor: Marion Rothman; Musical Composer: Michael Small; Production Designer: George Jenkins; Cinematographer: Gordon Willis; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: UA; Released By: UA; MPAA Rating: PG; Running Time: 118 minutes

WITH: James Caan (Frank), Jane Fonda (Ella), Jason Robards (Ewing), George Grizzard (Neil Atkinson), Richard Farnsworth (Dodger), Jim Davis (Julie Blocker), Mark Harmon (Billy Joe Meynert), Macon McCalman (Hoverton), Basil Hoffman (George Bascomb), James Kline (Ralph Cole), James Keach (Kroegh), Cliff Pellow (Cattle Buyer)

Academy Award Nomination:

Best Supporting Actor - Richard Farnsworth</DD< DD>

Other films by Alan J. Pakula: Devil's Own, The (1997), Pelican Brief, The (1993), Consenting Adults (1992), Presumed Innocent (1990), See You in the Morning (1989), Orphans (1987), Dream Lover (1986), Sophie's Choice (1982), Rollover (1981), Starting Over (1979), Comes a Horseman (1978), All the President's Men (1976), Parallax View, The (1974), Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973), Klute (1971), Sterile Cuckoo, The (1969)

FROM CINEBOOKS DB:  An unusual staging of the American West. Alan J. Pakula, master of paranoia (KLUTE, THE PARALLAX VIEW, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN), directed this offbeat film noir western set after WWII with James Caan as a cowhand, Jane Fonda as a ranch owner, and Jason Robards as the evil oil tycoon. The real star of the film is unbilled: a stretch of lush green land in Colorado known as the Wet Mountain Valley. Ace cinematographer Gordon Willis (ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, THE GODFATHER films, MANHATTAN) photographs this location with so much affection and awe that the talk by oil explorers about ripping it up for profit truly moves and horrifies the viewer.

Fonda is a rancher fighting to retain her independence from local mogul Robards, who is attempting to carve out an empire in this post-WWII world out west. Fonda and Robards slept together before she was old enough to know better, and she hates him for that and for a host of other reasons. Caan, also independent and newly returned from the service, teams with Fonda when his partner is killed (probably on Robards's mandate). While Fonda and Caan are resisting Robards, Robards is resisting the pleas of an oil company that wants to come in and drill. A throwback to the ranchers of the old days, when such landholders were almost kings, Robards yearns for those times. Fonda wishes Robards would leave her alone so that she could just run her ranch with a bit of time off to fall in love with Caan, who is trying to forget the horrors of war. Farnsworth, as Dodger, Fonda's aging hand, received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

TOM'S VIEW: This is one of my favorite films.  It has underappreciated James Caan and underappreciated and not well known Richard Farnsworth.  You cannot even imagine that Jane Fonda would be cast in this role much less that she would be absolutely great in it.  Highly recommended!</DD< DD>

KLUTE (1971) * * * * * *

Director: Alan J. Pakula; Producer: David Lang, Alan J. Pakula; Writer: Dave Lewis, Andy Lewis; Editor: Carl Lerner; Musical Composer: Michael Small; Art Director: George Jenkins; Cinematographer: Gordon Willis; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: Warner Bros.; Released By: Warner Bros.; MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 114 minutes

WITH: Jane Fonda (Bree Daniels), Donald Sutherland (John Klute), Charles Cioffi (Peter Cable), Roy Scheider (Frank Ligourin), Dorothy Tristan (Arlyn Page), Rita Gam (Trina), Vivian Nathan (Psychiatrist), Nathan George (Lt. Trask), Morris Strassberg (Mr. Goldfarb), Jean Stapleton (Goldfarb's Secretary), Barry Snider (Berger)

Other films by Alan J. Pakula: Devil's Own, The (1997), Pelican Brief, The (1993), Consenting Adults (1992), Presumed Innocent (1990), See You in the Morning (1989), Orphans (1987), Dream Lover (1986), Sophie's Choice (1982), Rollover (1981), Starting Over (1979), Comes a Horseman (1978), All the President's Men (1976), Parallax View, The (1974), Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973), Klute (1971), Sterile Cuckoo, The (1969)

From CINEBOOKS DB: Along with BARBARELLA and THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?, one of the best things the highly variable Jane Fonda has ever done.

When a research scientist turns up missing, his best friend, John Klute (Sutherland), a small-town police detective, goes to New York City in search of Bree Daniels (Fonda), a prostitute to whom the missing man had written letters. Bree, who is trying to switch professions, tells Klute that she has been getting threatening phone calls from a violent former client who she also thinks has been following her. In the process of his investigation, Klute falls for Bree, though she has difficulty returning his affection. After another prostitute who had contact with the sadistic caller is murdered, Bree finds herself alone in a dark warehouse in the exciting finale.

The film's predictable plotting is not its strong point, nor is Pakula's uneven direction. The strictly thriller aspects of the film vary from the artfully constructed to the showy but shallow. It's as if Pakula feels compelled to indulge all the conventions of the genre, but without quite knowing why. On the other hand, he does ably highlight some of the more provocative and complex aspects of Andy and Dave Lewis's often fine screenplay. We see Bree calmly look at her watch while simulating passionate sex, and she develops a sentimental attachment to the lonely old man who simply likes to look at her nude. Bree can, with perfect professionalism, explain that certain sex acts will cost clients more, but she also cowers from an awareness of her own vulnerability and realizes the painful contradictions in her life.

Sutherland is either an excellent sounding board for this nuanced portrait or he's a big zero, probably both. Fonda, however, transcends her limitations, making the most of her often forced quality as an actress. Bree emerges as likably strong yet dangerously weak, refreshingly intelligent yet searching and confused.

TOM'S VIEW: Despite the review above, this film was the first of some great performances by both Sutherland and Fonda.  Neither had really gave us any inkling of the depth of their talent until their collaboration yielded this fine film.  The film was also the first of mant great films by Alan Pakula.  Highly recomended.

RIPLEY’S GAME (IL GIOCO DI RIPLEY) (2001) * * * *

Director: Liliana Cavani; Producer: Simon Bosanquet, Ileen Maisel, Riccardo Tozzi; Writer: Liliana Cavani, Charles McKeown (based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith); Editor: Jon Harris; Musical Composer: Ennio Morricone; Production Designer: Francesco Frigeri; Cinematographer: Alfio Contini; Country of Origin: Italy; U.K.; Color; Production Co(s).: Baby Films; Cattleya; Dogstar Films; Mr. Mudd; Released By: New Line Home Entertainment; MPAA Rating: R; Running time: 110 minutes

WITH: John Malkovich (Tom Ripley), Ray Winstone (Reeves), Uwe Mansshardt (Terry), Hanns Zischler (Art Dealer), Paolo Paoloni (Franco), Maurizio Luca (Franco's Assistant), Dougray Scott (Jonathan Trevanny), Evelina Meghnagi (Maria), Chiara Caselli (Louisa Harari), Lena Heady (Sarah Trevanny)

Other films by Liliana Cavani: Ripley's Game (Gioco di Ripley, Il) (2000), Manon Lescaut (1999) (TV), Cavalleria rusticana (1996) (TV), Where Are You? I'm Here (Dove siete? Io sono qui) (1993), Traviata, La (1992/I) (TV), St. Francis of Assisi (Francesco) (1989), Berlin Affair, The (Interno berlinese) (1986), Beyond the Door (Oltre la porta) (1982), Skin, The (Pelle, La) (1981), Beyond Good and Evil (Al di là del bene e del male) (1977), Milarepa (1974), Night Porter, The (Portiere di notte, Il) (1974), Guest, The (Ospite, L') (1972), Cannibals, The (Cannibali, I) (1970), Galileo (1969), Francis of Assisi (Francesco d'Assisi) (1966), Primo Piano: Philippe Pétain processo a Vichy (1965)

From CINEBOOKS DB: Chronologically the third of Patricia Highsmith's five Ripley novels, Liliana Cavani's film transplants the novel's action from France to Italy. Now middle aged and hugely wealthy by virtue of his canny dealings in forged and stolen paintings, Tom Ripley (John Malkovich) is married to pianist Louisa (Chiara Caselli) and has nearly finished renovating a vast country mansion. Invited to a party by local frame maker Jonathan Trevanny (Dougray Scott), who's done some work for him, Ripley overhears Trevanny mocking his nouveau riche taste in interior design. Outwardly unruffled, the seething Ripley awaits a chance to make Trevanny pay, perhaps by exploiting the fact that Trevanny has incurable leukemia and has no means of providing for his widow-to-be, Sarah (Lena Heady), and their small son, Matthew (the singularly charmless Sam Blitz). Ripley's opportunity comes in the form of Reeves (Ray Winstone), an old criminal associate whom Ripley once cheated. Now a Berlin-based club owner, Reeves needs someone to kill a Russian gangster and wants Ripley to do the job; Ripley instead suggests Trevanny, telling Reeves exactly how to manipulate his knowledge of Trevanny's failing health and fear of leaving Sarah and Matthew impoverished. Once Trevanny has become a killer, Reeves bullies him into agreeing to a second murder for hire. But the mercurial Ripley is over the fit of pique that prompted to torment Trevanny, allies himself with his former victim and angles for a way to get Reeves into hot water. The whole sordid situation culminates in a STRAW DOGS (1971) style siege from which only the ever-slippery Ripley emerges unscathed. Though more faithful to the letter of Highsmith's novel than Wim Wenders' THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977), this is a far less successful film. Highsmith's novel is set some 20 years after Talented Mr. Ripley, and while Malkovich is somewhat older than her Ripley, his silky manner, petulant voice and vaguely reptilian gaze make him ideal casting for the charming sociopath in middle age. Unfortunately, he's mired in a film whose tone is consistently off: The supporting performances are pitched all over the scale — Scott is truly terrible — the pacing is sluggish and at least one key sequence, which involves a series of murders aboard a moving train, plays like a demented comedy sketch. Made in the wake of the success of Anthony Minghella's THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (1999), Caviani's film was acquired by Fine Line Features for US theatrical distribution but eventually debuted on cable television in December 2003 and went to video a few months later.  — Maitland McDonagh

TOM'S VIEW: Malkovich is born to play Ripley.  Entertaining.

TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US (2002) * * * * *

Director: Michael Petroni; Producer: Dean Murphy, Mathias Emcke, Shana Levine, Nigel Odell, Thomas Augsberger, David Redman; Writer: Michael Petroni; Editor: Bill Murphy; Musical Composer: Dale Cornelius, Amotz Plessner; Production Designer: Ralph Moser; Art Director: Adele Flere; Cinematographer: Roger Lanser; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: Australian Film Finance Corporation; Instinct Entertainment; Key Entertainment; Released By: Paramount Classics; MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 97 minutes

WITH: Guy Pearce (Dr. Sam Franks), Helena Bonham Carter (Ruby), Frank Gallacher (Maurie Lewis), Lindley Joyner (Young Sam Franks), Brooke Harman (Silvy Lewis), Peter Curtin (Dr. David Franks), Margot Knight (Dorothy Lewis), Anthony Martin (Russ), Dawn Klingberg (Mrs. Sacks), David Ravenswood (Lawyer), Stewart Faichney (Reverend Mortenbury), Diana Greentree (Mrs. Pickford)

Other films by Michael Petroni: Till Human Voices Wake Us (2002), Trespasses (1999)

From CINEBOOKS DB: Taking its title from the final haunting verse of T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," screenwriter Michael Petroni's directing debut is like a well-crafted ghost story: It's smart, subtle and deeply romantic. Successful Melbourne psychiatrist Sam Franks (Guy Pearce) makes an unexpected journey into the past when he learns that his late father's last wish was to be buried in Genoa, the sleepy, rural Australian town where Sam grew up. Dr. David Franks (Peter Curtin, in flashbacks) was a cold, distant widower who cared deeply for his late wife but little else. Sam, it seems, has grown up to be a lot like his father and only reluctantly agrees to escort his father's coffin back home. After falling asleep on the train to Genoa, Sam awakes to find himself sharing his compartment with a dark-haired stranger who introduces herself as Ruby (Helena Bonham Carter). Sam is soon after called away by the conductor, and when he returns, Ruby is gone. That night, as he's driving through Genoa's rainy back roads of Genoa, Sam sees her again; this time she's perched on the edge of a train trestle. As an oncoming train whizzes past, she plunges into the water below. Sam jumps in after her and pulls her to shore, but when she awakes the following morning safe in Dr. Frank's old house, Ruby is suffering from total amnesia: She doesn't even remember her own name. The circumstances of Ruby's sudden reappearance in Sam's life further stimulates memories already stirred by Sam's trip home, memories of someone he didn't save: Sam's childhood sweetheart, Silvy (Brooke Harmon), a young disabled woman whose tragic end has haunted Sam through adulthood. The things Ruby says, the word games she likes to play, even the snatches of verse that spring into her mind — lines from "Prufrock" — are uncannily familiar to Sam. It's almost as though Ruby's slowly returning memories once belonged to Silvy. Australian-born Petroni, whose screenplay for THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS beautifully captured the power of adolescent love and loss, deftly balances the probability that Ruby is simply a blank slate onto which Sam is projecting long repressed feelings of guilt and regret with the growing possibility that she's something else entirely. His film obviously owes a debt to Hitchcock's VERTIGO (1958), but it's far from a slavish copy: In Genoa, Australia, Petroni has created an enchanted forest all his own, a dream world in which anything is possible.  — Ken Fox

TOM'S VIEW:  Strange but entertaining!

THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1969) * * * * *

Director: Martin Ritt; Producer: Martin Ritt; Writer: Guy Trosper (based on the novel by John Le Carre), Paul Dehn; Editor: Anthony Harvey; Musical Composer: Sol Kaplan; Production Designer: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen; Art Director: Edward Marshall; Cinematographer: Oswald Morris; Country of Origin: U.K.; B & W; Production Co(s).: Salem; Released By: Paramount; MPAA Rating: NR; Running Time: 112 minutes

WITH: Richard Burton (Alec Leamas), Claire Bloom (Nan Perry), Oskar Werner (Fiedler), Peter Van Eyck (Hans-Dieter Mundt), Sam Wanamaker (Peters), George Voskovec (East German Defense Attorney), Rupert Davies (Smiley), Cyril Cusack (Control), Michael Hordern (Ashe), Robert Hardy (Carlton), Bernard Lee (Patmore)

Other films by Martin Ritt: Stanley & Iris (1990), Nuts (1987), Murphy's Romance (1985), Cross Creek (1983), Back Roads (1981), Norma Rae (1979), Casey's Shadow (1978), Front, The (1976), Conrack (1974), Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), Sounder (1972), Great White Hope, The (1970), Molly Maguires, The (1970), Brotherhood, The (1969), Hombre (1967), Spy Who Came In from the Cold, The (1965), Outrage, The (1964), Hud (1963), Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962),  Paris Blues (1961), 5 Branded Women (1960), Sound and the Fury, The (1959), Black Orchid, The (1958), Long, Hot Summer, The (1958), No Down Payment (1957), Edge of the City (1957), 

Academy Award Nomination:

Best Actor - Richard Burton

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (B/W) - Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen, Edward Marshall, Josie MacAvin

From CINEBOOKS DB: Gripping grit, with a perfect performance from Burton, before Liz and alcohol robbed him of his center.

Spying is a grim, desperate business that is at once boring and exciting, with dirty work behind the scenes and hardly any derring-do. This superb adaptation of John Le Carre's novel artfully conveys that sense. Audiences must have preferred the more glamorous spies like James Bond because this film, which was one of the best ever made on the subject, failed to gather much interest at the box office. Produced and directed by Martin Ritt in Ireland and England, with some second-unit lensing in Europe, the film stars Richard Burton as a burnt-out case, a man who is looking forward to getting out of the spy game and retiring from British Intelligence. Just before he is to leave, Burton is called back to London and put on the carpet. It seems that several of his sub-agents have been caught by Van Eyck, who is Burton's counterpart on the East Berlin side. Van Eyck is a former Nazi who has taken over as chief of operations for the Communists, and his handiwork is putting a crimp in the British operations. Since it is well known that Burton is tired of what he's doing, Burton's boss, Cusack, gives him his final assignment. He is to masquerade as a drunk who wants to defect to the East Germans. If it works and Burton gets inside the Communist operations, he can find out if there is a "mole" in their own organization as well as get the goods on what's happening inside the East German operation.

There are no gimmicks, no fast cars that turn into airplanes, no weapons that fire lasers, just a tense battle of wits shot in stark black and white. The title refers to the time when an outside spy has to "come in from the cold" and take a sedentary job as another spy's control or even some menial desk assignment until the mandatory age limit forces retirement. Only Graham Greene has come close to Le Carre in detailing the emotional drudgery of the espionage world.

TOM'S VIEW:  It's not Bourne in terms of action, but the atmosphere and emotional content makes up for that.  Was it really such a Cold War?  Entertaining!

THE LADY EVE (1941) * * * * * *

Director: Preston Sturges; Producer: Paul Jones; Writer: Preston Sturges (based on the story "The Faithful Heart" by Monckton Hoffe); Editor: Stuart Gilmore; Music Director: Sigmund Krumgold; Art Director: Ernst Fegte, Hans Dreier; Cinematographer: Victor Milner; Country of Origin: U.S.; B & W; Production Co(s).: Paramount; Released By: Paramount; MPAA Rating: NR; Running Time: 97 minutes

WITH: Barbara Stanwyck (Jean Harrington), Henry Fonda (Charles Pike), Charles Coburn ("Colonel" Harry Harrington), Eugene Pallette (Mr. Pike), William Demarest (Muggsy-Ambrose Murgatroyd), Eric Blore (Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith), Melville Cooper (Gerald), Martha O'Driscoll (Martha), Janet Beecher (Mrs. Pike), Robert Greig (Burrows), Dora Clement (Gertrude)

Other films by Preston Sturges: French, They Are a Funny Race, The (Carnets du Major Thompson, Les) (1955), Vendetta (1950), Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, The (1949), Unfaithfully Yours (1948), Sin of Harold Diddlebock, The (1947), Great Moment, The (1944), Hail the Conquering Hero (1944), Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The (1944), Palm Beach Story, The (1942), Sullivan's Travels (1941), Lady Eve, The (1941), Christmas in July (1940), Great McGinty, The (1940)

From CINEBOOKS DB: Sturges's chic, sly little masterpiece of comic seduction. Fonda, who is the son of a wealthy brewer (Pallette, whose slogan is "Pike's Pale, the Ale That Won for Yale"), is a rather shy and backward young man whose main interest is in snakes. As the film opens, he has just spent a year with a scientific expedition on the Amazon, looking for undiscovered species of reptiles. He and his bodyguard, Demarest, board a ship in the Atlantic which will take them back to New York. Of course, Fonda, being young, handsome, and the heir to a vast fortune, attracts the attention of virtually every female on the ship, but he shows no interest in the opposite sex.

Also on board is a team of card sharps, father and daughter Stanwyck and Coburn, and Cooper, posing as their butler. They figure Fonda would make an excellent pigeon, and Stanwyck conspires to gain his trust, which she does. Fonda is quickly smitten with her, and sits down to play some cards with her and her father. He considers himself to be quite the card player, but is embarrassed when he wins $600 from these nice people. Of course, he's only being set up to lose, but before the cons can reel in their prey, they hit a snag. Stanwyck has genuinely fallen in love with the man, much to the disgust of her associates.

THE LADY EVE is one of Sturges' best romantic comedies, with just the right blend of satire and slapstick, the laughs coming mostly from his clever, often inspired comedic lines. His direction is flawless, and the cast, from stars to stock players, performs beautifully. Stanwyck, is particular, is an effortless comedienne. She pitches much of her performance into a kind of hushed, urgent, intimate whisper. When she talks to Fonda, she's constantly toying with him, touching him like a fetish, and she's always in his face, often looking at his lips. Then out snakes a sexy leg--a very sexy leg--and over he topples. There's an unparalleled moment early on, when she narrates his movements, taking his part and every woman's who attempts to trap him in conversation, while watching the action backwards in her compact mirror. It's a daring, roguish display of her talent; one can't imagine any comedienne--even Colbert or Russell--bringing it off as she does. Sturges, who began as a contract scriptwriter for Paramount, promised Stanwyck that he would write a great comedy for her some day, and she got it.

TOM'S VIEW:  Henry Fonda as straight man for Barbara Stanwyck - two very much under-rated actors!  Highly recommended

RUSHMORE (1998) * * * * *

Director: Wes Anderson; Producer: Paul Schiff, Barry Mendel; Writer: Owen Wilson, Wes Anderson; Editor: David Moritz; Musical Composer: Mark Mothersbaugh; Production Designer: David Wasco; Art Director: Andrew Laws; Cinematographer: Robert Yeoman; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: American Empirical; Touchstone Pictures; Released By: Buena Vista; MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 95 minutes

WITH: Bill Murray (Mr. Blume), Olivia Williams (Miss Cross), Jason Schwartzman (Max Fischer), Brian Cox (Dr. Guggenheim), Seymour Cassel (Bert Fischer), Mason Gamble (Dirk Calloway), Sara Tanaka (Margaret Yang), Stephen McCole (Magnus Buchan), Luke Wilson (Dr. Peter Flynn), Deepak Pallana (Mr. Adams), Andrew Wilson (Coach Beck), Marietta Marich (Mrs. Guggenheim), Ronnie McCawley (Ronny Blume), Keith McCawley (Donny Blume)

Other films by Wes Anderson: Royal Tenenbaums, The (2001), Rushmore (1998), Bottle Rocket (1996), Bottle Rocket (1994)

From CINEBOOKS DB: Another quirky, hard-to-put-your-finger-on delight from the boys who brought us BOTTLE ROCKET. Geeky 15-year-old Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) has cornered the market on extracurricular activities at snooty Rushmore Academy, though he's flunking out academically. And he's got a crush on first-grade teacher Miss Cross (Olivia Williams), whom he pursues with predictable relentlessness. The consummate multi-tasker, Max embraces, ingests, condescends, comprehends and fails to comprehend with incredible ardor. Yet despite the scattered, frantic quality to Max's pursuit of everything -- courting Miss Cross; writing plays based on seminal '70s films like SERPICO, THE DEERHUNTER and APOCALYPSE NOW; engaging in endless activities, from kite-flying to chess club -- he's irresistible. He hasn't lived through his first heartbreak, hasn't suffered adult disappointment and doesn't know the meaning of passivity: He's bursting with a deep enthusiasm for life. Max schemes to impress Miss Cross by building her an elaborate aquarium, but he needs steel tycoon/school patron Mr. Blume (Bill Murray) to pay for it. Blume, tired of his family, his job and life itself, needs someone like Max around and lets the youngster go to town. And Max happily plans activities that bring together his two favorite people, never dreaming that Cross and Blume will begin a relationship. Without being slavish, Owen Wilson and director Wes Anderson's subtle and witty script echoes the themes (and sometimes the look) of Hal Ashby's best films, including HAROLD AND MAUDE and BEING THERE. And Anderson's mise en scene -- heavy on the '70s influences and bolstered by the combination of Mark Mothersbaugh's excellent score and the British Invasion soundtrack -- captures the wistful nature of Max's teenage tumult and outsider's ebullience. A rare comedy that keeps you thinking long after its plot machinations have played themselves out, this film is the product of artists working at the peak of their powers: Let's hope they keep it up.  — Sandra Contreras

TOM'S VIEW:  Wes Anderson may be an acquired taste.  If you liked Bottle Rocket or The Royal Tenebaums then you'll like this.

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS (1999) * * * * * *

Director: Anthony Harvey; Producer: John Foreman, Paul Newman (uncredited); Writer: James Goldman (based on his play); Editor: Jerry Greenberg; Musical Composer: John Barry; Production Designer: John Robert Lloyd; Cinematographer: Victor J. Kemper; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: Universal; Released By: Universal; MPAA Rating: G; Running Time: 91 minutes

WITH: George C. Scott (Justin Playfair/Sherlock Holmes), Jack Gilford (Wilbur Peabody), Lester Rawlins (Blevins Playfair), Rue McClanahan (Daisy), Ron Weyand (Dr. Strauss), Kitty Winn (Grace), Peter Fredericks(Her Boy Friend), Sudie Bond (Maud), Jenny Egan (Miss Finch), Theresa Merritt (Peggy)

Other films by Anthony Harvey: This Can't Be Love (1994) (TV), Grace Quigley (1984), Svengali (1983) (TV), Patricia Neal Story, The (1981) (TV), Richard's Things (1980), Eagle's Wing (1979), Players (1979), Disappearance of Aimee, The (1976) (TV), Abdication, The (1974), Glass Menagerie, The (1973) (TV), They Might Be Giants (1971), Lion in Winter, The (1968), Dutchman (1966)

From CINEBOOKS DB: A strange movie that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Sentimental, biting, satirical, whimsical, and self-righteous, it begins with a romp at high speed, then goes straight into a hole from which it never emerges. Scott is an aging, recently widowed judge who has gone off the deep end. He believes that he is Sherlock Holmes, so he dresses, speaks, and comports himself like Doyle's famed detective. His brother is Rawlins, a cad who is being blackmailed and would like to see Scott placed in an institution so he can get his hands on the money in Scott's estate. Scott is taken to a clinic and meets Woodward, whose name just happens to be "Watson." When Scott uses Holmesian logic to correctly assess the problems of one of her patients, she is impressed. Clark is a short, fat man who thinks he is Rudolph Valentino but is unable to speak. Scott reckons that Clark won't talk because Valentino was, after all, a star of silent pictures. Clark is thrilled that someone understands, and as he leaves, Scott tells him to pass on regards to Vilma Banky. Woodward plays along with Scott, aiding him in his "work" just as her fictional namesake helped Sherlock. Scott's brother has left a blackmail note lying around which mentions "twenty grand," and Scott feels that it's a clue which will help him trap his long-time enemy, the heinous Professor Moriarty. He takes the note literally, and he and Woodward go downtown to No. 20 Grand Street. That begins a chase that is missing only the wild geese. They travel through Manhattan, visit an aged couple (Miner and Fuller) who have not come out of their home since before WW II, sneak into a telephone company switchboard office, visit a library and meet Gilford, an aged keeper of the books who dreams of being "The Scarlet Pimpernel," then on to a movie house on 42nd Street, where Scott engages in conversation with the flotsam who make the theater their home. Rawlins' blackmailer tracks Scott all the while, hoping to get enough on him to have him committed once and for all. Scott keeps telling Woodward that he can darn near smell Moriarty and that they are getting closer. While Woodward makes dinner for Scott at her place, shots ring out and Scott is nearly killed. Late in the movie Scott and Woodward are joined by all the nuts they've met earlier, and they form a hardy band. It seems that the whole group shares a paranoia, and each has another identity. They all march into a huge supermarket, and Scott takes the manager's microphone and announces outlandish prices on items, setting off a chaotic scene. By this time, instead of curing Scott, Woodward has entered into Scott's world and is just as crazy as he is. The two stand in Central Park at night and walk toward a tunnel. They hear the clop of horses' hooves in the tunnel, and Scott is convinced that Moriarty approaches, but before anything is completed, the screen fades to white and this ponderous statement appears: "the human heart can see what is hidden to the eyes, and the heart knows things that the mind does not begin to understand."

TOM'S VIEW:  One of my favorite little know gems!  George C Scott is absolutely great in comedy (remember him in Dr. Strangelove?)  Despite the CINEBOOKS review, highly recommended!

THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (1975) * * * * * *

Director: John Huston; Producer: John Foreman; Writer: Gladys Hill (based on the story by Rudyard Kipling), John Huston; Editor: Russell Lloyd; Musical Composer: Maurice Jarre; Production Designer: Alexander Trauner; Art Director: Tony Inglis; Cinematographer: Oswald Morris; Country of Origin: U.K.; Color; Production Co(s).: Allied Artists; MPAA Rating: PG; Running Time: 129 minutes

WITH: Sean Connery (Daniel Dravot), Michael Caine (Peachy Carnehan), Christopher Plummer (Rudyard Kipling), Saeed Jaffrey (Billy Fish), Karroum Ben Bouih (Kafu-Selim), Jack May (District Commissioner), Doghmi Larbi (Ootah), Shakira Caine (Roxanne), Mohammed Shamsi (Babu)

Academy Award Nomination:

Best Adapted Screenplay - John Huston, Gladys Hill

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - Alexander Trauner, Tony Inglis, Peter James

Best Costume Design - Edith Head

Best Film Editing - Russell Lloyd

Other films by John Huston: Dead, The (1987), Prizzi's Honor (1985), Under the Volcano (1984), Annie (1982), Victory (1981), Phobia (1980), Wise Blood (1979), Love and Bullets (1979) (uncredited), Independence (1976), Man Who Would Be King, The (1975), Mackintosh Man, The (1973), Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, The (1972), Fat City (1972), Last Run, The (1971) (uncredited), Kremlin Letter, The (1970), Walk with Love and Death, A (1969), Sinful Davey (1969), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), Casino Royale (1967), Bible, The (Bibbia, La) (1966), Night of the Iguana, The (1964), List of Adrian Messenger, The (1963), Freud (1962), Misfits, The (1961), Unforgiven, The (1960), Roots of Heaven, The (1958), Barbarian and the Geisha, The (1958), Farewell to Arms, A (1957) (uncredited), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Moby Dick (1956), Beat the Devil (1953), Moulin Rouge (1952), African Queen, The (1951), Red Badge of Courage, The (1951), Asphalt Jungle, The (1950), We Were Strangers (1949), Key Largo (1948), Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948), Let There Be Light (1946), San Pietro (1945) (uncredited), Tunisian Victory (1944) (replacement scenes), Report from the Aleutians (1943) (uncredited), Across the Pacific (1942), In This Our Life (1942), Maltese Falcon, The (1941)

From CINEBOOKS DB: This was writer-director John Huston's dream project for decades. He originally wanted to film the Rudyard Kipling short story in the 1940s with Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart. Later he envisioned Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole. However the long wait paid off: Michael Caine, Sean Connery, and Christopher Plummer deliver outstanding performances in a classic adventure that delivers thrills even as it meditates on issues of power and imperialism.

Kipling (Plummer) is working in his office in Lahore, India when an aged beggar enters and begins to spin an amazing tale that fascinates the writer. We flashback to Kipling's office many years earlier when a young, vibrant, if somewhat boorish Peachy Carnehan (Caine) and his dashing friend Daniel Dravot (Connery) ask the writer to witness some "official" document. Stationed in India, these British army officers have been supplementing their salaries with various scams. Down on their luck after squandering their money on vice, they have concocted a new scheme: they will sojourn into the hills of Kafiristan (a province in eastern Afghanistan now called Nuristan) where they will set themselves up as rulers. Intrigued by these brazen soldiers-of-fortune, Kipling secures them an appointment with the District Commissioner (May). However the official sees their true colors and sends them packing. Dravot and Carnehan endure assorted hardships as they trek through the storied Khyber Pass, and although Dravot gets mistaken for a god at one point, things don't quite work out as planned.

This is a grand adventure tale that does not stint on characterization. Connery and Caine join the ranks of Huston's classic overachievers, most notably Bogart's Fred C. Dobbs in THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE. Caine may have gone a wee bit over-the-top but that helped the audience distinguish between the the natures of the two men. The film was shot on location in Morocco because of the costs and dangers of working in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the score by the celebrated Jarre (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA) failed to match the evocative power of the setting. However these are minor flaws in a delightful and memorable film.

TOM'S VIEW: Connery and Caine in their prime in a Rudyard Kipling tale directed by John Huston.  Need I say more?  Highly recommended

ENTER THE DRAGON (1973) * * * * *

Director: Robert Clouse; Producer: Jerry Weintraub, Paul M. Heller, Raymond Chow; Writer: Michael Allin; Editor: George Watters, Kurt Hirschler; Musical Composer: Lalo Schifrin; Art Director: James Wong Sun; Stunts: Bruce Lee (fights); Cinematographer: Gilbert Hubbs; Country of Origin: U.S.; B & W; Production Co(s).: Concord Productions Inc.; Warner Bros.; Released By: Warner Bros.; MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 99 minutes

WITH: Bruce Lee (Lee), John Saxon (Roper), Jim Kelly (Williams), Shih Kien (Han), Bob Wall (OHara), Anna Capri (Tania), Angela Mao Ying (Su Lin), Betty Chung (Mei Ling), Geoffrey Weeks (Braithwaite), Bolo Yeung (Bolo), Peter Archer (Parsons), Ho Lee Wan (Old Man), Marlene Clark (Secretary)

Other films by Robert Clouse: Ironheart (1992), China O'Brien II (1991), China O'Brien (1990), Gymkata (1985), Master Ninja I (1984), Deadly Eyes (1982), Force: Five (1981), Big Brawl, The (1980), London Connection, The (1979), Game of Death (1978), Pack, The (1977), Amsterdam Kill, The (1977), Ultimate Warrior, The (1975), Black Belt Jones (1974), Golden Needles (1974), Enter the Dragon (1973), Dreams of Glass (1970), Darker Than Amber (1970), Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes, The (1964), Cadillac, The (1962)

From CINEBOOKS DB: If you have a yen for spectacular chopsocky action, this is as good a flick to start with as any. The legendary Bruce Lee is showcased in his most lavish adventure--though, as this was made in Hong Kong after all, it still feels like a low-rent James Bond thriller crossed with Fu Manchu.

The plot barely rates relating but here goes: Lee (Bruce Lee) is recruited by a government agent, Braithwaite (Weeks), to enter a martial arts contest on the island fortress of Han (Shih), a particularly vicious chap with a nasty iron claw who is believed to be involved in drug smuggling and prostitution. Lee agrees because he knows that Han's right-hand man, Oharra (Wall), is responsible for his sister's death (she committed suicide rather than be raped by him).

On the island he meets Roper (Saxon) and Williams (Kelly), ex-army buddies from the US, on the run, respectively, from the mob and the law. Lee tries to infiltrate Han's underground chamber but fails, beating up a number of guards in the process. The next morning Han orders the men who let the intruder escape to fight Bolo (Sze), who kills them all easily. But enough plot... let it suffice to say that the only compelling reason to sit through this film is to see the greatest martial arts star of all time.

Lee proves why he is still the dominant legend in the genre more than a decade after his death. During one fight scene, Lee performed a flying kick so fast it couldn't be captured on film at 24 frames a second. The cameraman had to film the sequence in slow motion to get it to look like it wasn't faked. Nobody shows much evidence of acting ability, and the script is full of holes. Nonstop action is what these films are about, and that's what you get here.

TOM'S VIEW:  A cult classic.   If you liked the kung fu action in Kill Bill then you must see one of the original masters.

HUMAN NATURE (2001) * * * * *

Director: Michel Gondry; Producer: Spike Jonze, Ted Hope, Anthony Bregman, Charlie Kaufman; Writer: Charlie Kaufman; Editor: Russel Icke; Musical Composer: Graeme Revell; Production Designer: K.K. Barrett; Art Director: Peter Andrus; Cinematographer: Tim Maurice Jones; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: Beverly Detroit; Good Machine Productions; Partizan; Studio Canal +; Released By: Fine Line Features; MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 96 minutes

WITH : Tim Robbins (Nathan Bronfman), Patricia Arquette (Lila Jute), Rhys Ifans (Puff), Miranda Otto (Gabrielle), Rosie Perez (Louise), Robert Forster (Nathan's Father), Mary Kay Place (Nathan's Mother), Ken Magee (Police Detective), Sy Richardson (Police Detective), David Warsohofsky (Police Detective), Hilary Duff (Young Lila), Stanley Desantis (Doctor), Peter Dinklage (Frank)

Other films by Michel Gondry: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), I've Been Twelve Forever (2003) (V), Pecan Pie (2003), Work of Director Michel Gondry, The (2003) (V), Chemical Brothers: Singles 93-03, The (2003) (V), Massive Attack: Eleven Promos (2001) (V), One Day... (2001), Human Nature (2001), Clip Cult Vol. 1: Exploding Cinema (1999) (video "Sugar Water"), Björk: Volumen (1998) (V) (videos "Human Behaviour", "Army of Me", "Isobel", "Hyperballad", "Jóga", "Bachelorette"), Letter, The (Lettre, La) (1998), Vingt p'tites tours (1989)

From CINEBOOKS DB: A fabulous furry nature writer, a repressed behavioral scientist, an adult wild child and a beautiful schemer comprise a bizarre romantic quadrangle in this strenuously quirky comedy about civilization, basic instincts and the games lovers play. Taunted because of her hirsutism (think JoJo the dog-faced boy), 12-year-old Lila Jute retreated into the woods and filled her hours by recording her thoughts. The adult Lila's (Patricia Arquette) scribbling eventually makes her a best-selling author (popular with those who prefer nature at second hand) and she decides to reenter the domesticated world, driven by a hunger for the company of men. A little rusty in the dating skills department, Lila allows her electrologist, Louise (Rosie Perez) — a hairy girl's best friend is always her electrologist — to fix her up with emotionally crippled behaviorist Nathan Bronfman (Tim Robbins), who's dedicated his career to teaching lab mice to eat with forks. Tormented by genital underendowment and a childhood defined by harsh lessons about appropriate cutlery, Nathan has never noticed the come-hither looks cast his way by comely French lab assistant Gabrielle (Miranda Otto) and takes to the carefully shaved Lila with the heedless fervor of the pathologically insecure. While on a nature hike, the couple discovers a feral fellow (Rhys Ifans) — he was raised by a loony father who thought himself an ape — and Nathan resolves to transform this naked, grunting, filthy brute into the epitome of a gentleman. Diapered, caged, wired with electrodes and dubbed Puff (because Gabrielle once "'ad a sweet leetle mongrel doggie named Puff"), the ape-man's transformation begins. That the great experiment ends badly is a given: The story is told in a series of flashbacks, and of the three narrators, Puff is addressing a government committee, Lila is in a prison-issue jumpsuit and Nathan is seated in an all-white room, a small hole leaking blood onto his pale forehead. Written by Charlie Kaufman (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH), this superficially surreal film is in fact a surprisingly straightforward fable. Director Michel Gondry is known for his music videos for Björk and others, and his trademark whimsical style is evident in sequences like Lila's musical interlude in an artificial woodland set. But overall the film feels forced and awkward, as though it's trying too hard to be weird, culty and profound: Nathan's prescription for civilized behavior — "When in doubt, don't ever do what you really want to do" — is among the more subtle bits of dialogue.  — Maitland McDonagh

TOM'S VIEW:  Gondry and Kayfman's first joint effort.  Just as off the wall as Being John Malkovich.  Recommended.

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935) * * * * *

Director: Frank Lloyd; Producer: Irving Thalberg; Writer: Jules Furthman, Talbot Jennings, Carey Wilson (based on the novels Mutiny On The Bounty and Men Against the Sea by Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall); Editor: Margaret Booth; Musical Composer: Herbert Stothart; Art Director: Cedric Gibbons, Arnold Gillespie; Cinematographer: Arthur Edeson; Country of Origin: U.S.; B & W; Production Co(s).: MGM; Released By: MGM; MPAA Rating: NR; Running Time: 132 minutes

WITH: Charles Laughton (Capt. William Bligh), Clark Gable (1st Mate Fletcher Christian), Franchot Tone (Roger Byam), Herbert Mundin (Smith), Eddie Quillan (Ellison), Dudley Digges (Bacchus), Donald Crisp (Burkitt), Henry Stephenson (Sir Joseph Banks), Francis Lister (Capt. Nelson), Spring Byington (Mrs. Byam)

Academy Award:

Best Picture

Academy Award Nomination:

Best Actor - Charles Laughton

Best Actor - Clark Gable

Best Actor - Franchot Tone

Best Director - Frank Lloyd

Best Film Editing - Margaret Booth

Best Score - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Music Department, Nat W. Finston (Dept. Head)

Best Screenplay - Jules Furthman, Talbot Jennings, Carey Wilson

Other films by Frank Lloyd: Last Command, The (1955), Shanghai Story, The (1954), Last Bomb, The (1945), Blood on the Sun (1945), Air Pattern - Pacific (1944), Forever and a Day (1943), Lady from Cheyenne, The (1941), This Woman Is Mine (1941), Howards of Virginia, The (1940),  Rulers of the Sea (1939), If I Were King (1938), Wells Fargo (1937), Maid of Salem (1937), Under Two Flags (1936), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), Servants' Entrance (1934), Hoopla (1933), Berkeley Square (1933), Cavalcade (1933), Passport to Hell, A (1932), Age for Love, The (1931), Right of Way, The (1931), East Lynne (1931), Lash, The (1930), Way of All Men, The (1930), Son of the Gods (1930), Young Nowheres (1929), Dark Streets (1929), Drag (1929), Divine Lady, The (1929), Weary River (1929), Adoration (1928), Children of Divorce (1927), Eagle of the Sea, The (1926), Wise Guy, The (1926), Splendid Road, The (1925), Winds of Chance (1925), Her Husband's Secret (1925), Black Oxen (1924), Silent Watcher, The (1924), Sea Hawk, The (1924), Ashes of Vengeance (1923), Within the Law (1923), Voice from the Minaret, The (1923),  Sin Flood, The (1922), Oliver Twist (1922), Eternal Flame, The (1922), Roads of Destiny (1921), Man From Lost River, The (1921), Grim Comedian, The (1921), Invisible Power, The (1921), Voice in the Dark, A (1921), Tale of Two Worlds, A (1921), Great Lover, The (1920), Woman in Room 13, The (1920), Madame X (1920), Silver Horde, The (1920), Loves of Letty, The (1919),  World and Its Woman, The (1919), Pitfalls of a Big City (1919), Man Hunter, The (1919), Untitled Liberty Loan Film, An (1918), For Freedom (1918), Rainbow Trail, The (1918), Riders of the Purple Sage (1918), True Blue (1918), Blindness of Divorce, The (1918), Kingdom of Love, The (1917), Heart of a Lion, The (1917), Misérables, Les (1917), When a Man Sees Red (1917),  Making of Maddalena, The (1917), American Methods (1917), Tale of Two Cities, A (1917), Price of Silence, The (1917), Sins of Her Parent (1916), Intrigue, The (1916), Stronger Love, The (1916), International Marriage, An (1916), David Garrick (1916), Code of Marcia Gray, The (1916), Madame la Presidente (1916), Call of the Cumberlands, The (1916), Tongues of Men, The (1916), 10,000 Dollars (1915), Dr. Mason's Temptation (1915), Eleven to One (1915), Fate's Alibi (1915), From the Shadows (1915), His Captive (1915), His Last Serenade (1915), His Last Trick (1915), His Superior's Honor (1915), In the Grasp of the Law (1915), Life's Furrow (1915), Little Girl of the Attic, The (1915), Little Mr. Fixer (1915), Martin Lowe, Fixer (1915), Nature's Triumph (1915), Paternal Love (1915), Prophet of the Hills, The (1915), Toll of the Youth, The (1915), To Redeem an Oath (1915), To Redeem a Value (1915), Trickery (1915), When the Spider Tore Loose (1915), Reform Candidate, The (1915), Jane (1915), Gentleman from Indiana, The (1915), Double Deal in Pork, A (1915), Source of Happiness, The (1915), According to Value (1915), Billie's Baby (1915), Their Golden Wedding (1915), $100,000 (1915), Cure of the Mountains, The (1915), Pinch, The (1915), Bay of Seven Isles, The (1915), Arrangement with Fate, An (1915), Wolves of Society (1915), Temptation of Edwin Shayne, The (1915), Pawns of Fate (1915), Page from Life, A (1914), Traffic in Babies (1914), Chorus Girl's Thanksgiving, The (1914), Link That Binds, The (1914), Vagabond, The (1914), As the Wind Blows (1914), Prince of Bavaria, A (1914), Mexican's Last Raid (1914)

From CINEBOOKS DB: A bounty for viewers. Few adventures can approach MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY for its action-filled dramatization of good vs. evil. 1935's top grosser, the film confirmed Gable as Hollywood's biggest male star and gave Laughton the most famous role of his career. The film's basis in fact only adds sweep to this bracing saga of a 1788 ship mutiny.

The film opens as the Bounty gracefully sets sail from Portsmouth, England to Tahiti to gather breadfruit trees. Shipboard life, though, soon hits rough seas as conflicts arise between the vicious, bullying Capt. Bligh (Laughton) and his courageous first mate, Fletcher Christian (Gable), with idealistic midshipman Roger Byam (Tone) caught in the middle. The stay in Tahiti proves to be a momentary respite, even though Bligh seethes over Christian's romance with the island chief's daughter (Movita Castaneda). On the homeward voyage, Bligh becomes even more barbaric, and it's only a matter of time before Christian takes action.

Expertly crafted and brilliantly acted, MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY is one of the most durable and engrossing adventure films ever made. For the first and only time in motion-picture history, three actors from the same film--Gable, Laughton, and Tone--were nominated for Oscars in the Best Actor division. Lloyd's rich direction captures the exotic South Sea island of Tahiti and the rigors of the hardscrabble voyage and gives the cast its full head (Digges is especially good). Gable, in splendid form, was originally afraid of wearing breeches and a small ponytail, and he also thought his American accent would stand out too much. (If anything, it works by contributing to a certain xenophobia in his struggles against the unhandsome and genuinely British Laughton.) His Christian is full of integrity and courage, and is even surprisingly tender in the oddly bisexual edge of the film's Tahiti scenes. The superb Laughton, meanwhile, relishing his self-righteous villainy, gave impersonators a lifetime of work uttering "Mr. Christian, come here!". Tone, an underrated actor, is also sturdy, and gets to strut his stuff in the courtroom finale. Although the production of the film was dogged by backstage sniping, scripting problems, expensive location footage ruined by tropical humidity, and the loss of $50K worth of equipment, you'd never know it to look at the result.

The film was remade under the same title in 1962. Trevor Howard was a compelling Bligh, but Marlon Brando's weird attempt to turn Christian into an effeminate fop could have made the film a camp classic if only he weren't so serious about it. As it is, his grand experiment entirely sabotages the film. 1984, meanwhile, brought us THE BOUNTY. Anthony Hopkins aimed for a more complex Bligh, but Mel Gibson was extremely bland and the undertaking entirely lacked the epic scope that made the 1935 version so bracing.

TOM'S VIEW: The original, the film that set the stereotypes for Bligh and Christian.  Quite a feat for a 1935 film.  Highly recommended.

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1962) * * * *

Director: Lewis Milestone: Producer: Aaron Rosenberg; Writer: Charles Lederer (uncredited: Eric Ambler, William L. Driscoll, Borden Chase, John Gay, Ben Hecht. Based on the novel by Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall): Editor: John McSweeney Jr.; Musical Composer: Bronislau Kaper; Art Director: Joseph MacMillan Johnson, George W. Davis; Cinematographer: Robert Surtees; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: Arcola; Released By: MGM; MPAA Rating: NR; Running Time: 179 minutes

WITH: Marlon Brando (Fletcher Christian), Trevor Howard (Capt. William Bligh), Richard Harris (John Mills), Hugh Griffith (Alexander Smith), Richard Haydn (William Brown), Tarita (Maimiti), Tim Seely (Edward Young), Percy Herbert (Matthew Quintal), Gordon Jackson (Edward Birkett), Noel Purcell (William McCoy), Duncan Lamont (John Williams), Chips Rafferty (Michael Byrne), Ashley Cowan (Samuel Mack), Eddie Byrne (John Fryer)

Academy Award Nomination:

Best Picture

Best Special Effects - A. Arnold Gillespie (Visual), Milo Lory (Audible)

Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - George W. Davis (Art Direction), Joseph McMillan Johnson (Art Direction), Henry Grace (Set Decoration), Hugh Hunt (Set Decoration)

Best Color Cinematography - Robert L Surtees

Best Film Editing - John McSweeney, Jr.

Best Original Score - Bronislau Kaper (Music)

Best Song - "Love Song from Mutiny on the Bounty"; Bronislau Kaper (Song), Paul Francis Webster (Lyrics)

Other films by Lewis Milestone: "Arrest and Trial" (1963) (TV Series), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), Ocean's Eleven (1960), Pork Chop Hill (1959), "Have Gun - Will Travel" (1957) (TV Series), Widow, The (Vedova X, La) (1954), They Who Dare (1953), Melba (1953), Miserables, Les (1952), Kangaroo (1952), Halls of Montezuma (1951), Red Pony, The (1949), No Minor Vices (1948), Arch of Triumph (1948), Strange Love of Martha Ivers, The (1946), Walk in the Sun, A (1945), Guest in the House (1944) (uncredited), Purple Heart, The (1944), North Star, The (1943), Edge of Darkness (1943), Know for Sure (1941) (uncredited), My Life with Caroline (1941), Lucky Partners (1940), Of Mice and Men (1939), Night of Nights, The (1939), General Died at Dawn, The (1936), Anything Goes (1936), Paris in Spring (1935), Captain Hates the Sea, The (1934), Hallelujah I'm a Bum (1933), Rain (1932), Front Page, The (1931), All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), New York Nights (1929), Betrayal (1929), Racket, The (1928), Tempest (1928)(uncredited), Garden of Eden, The (1928), Two Arabian Knights (1927), Kid Brother, The (1927) (uncredited), Fine Manners (1926) (uncredited), New Klondike, The (1926), Caveman, The (1926), Seven Sinners (1925), Fit to Win (1919), Positive (1918), Posture (1918), Toothbrush, The (1918)

From CINEBOOKS DB: The old Hollywood credo of "if a film's a hit once it'll be a hit again" does not work here (and rarely does, but try to tell that to most road-rutted producers). Though the production values are excellent, the story, the acting, and the editing of this colossal and expensive remake all fall miserably short of Frank Lloyd's 1935 film classic. Again viewers can sail with the Bounty to Tahiti and watch Howard as Bligh beat and mistreat his crew members for 14,000 miles, while Brando hides out in his cabin trying on new uniforms replete with frills, lace, and immaculate knee-high stockings. The ship docks at the island paradise, and crew members gather breadfruit and sexually promiscuous native girls. Then it's back to civilization and more torture at the hands of Howard, with a mutiny thrown in to break up the tedium. Howard is set adrift, and Brando takes the stolen ship to Pitcairn Island where mutineer Harris burns it, against Brando's wishes, so that none of the crew can ever return to England again. Brando, in a clumsy attempt to put out the fire on the sinking ship, is fatally charred and dies with the flaming masts of the famous ship burning behind the final credits.

Brando is simply awful as Fletcher Christian, playing this real-life knuckle-breaker as a light-footed fop with no more concern for crew members than he would have for a breadfruit-bearing Tahitian native. He lisps ludicrously, sways obscenely, and postures like a female ingenue at a garden party--he's dreadful, even repugnant, and wholly out of character. It's obvious that director Milestone could not control Brando for a moment and that the famous, sometimes brilliant actor directed himself. His is one of the most impossible performances in screen history, infecting Harris, who plays a sort of seagoing Iago and is equally hammy and unbelievable. Howard tries to bring some sanity and reason to the part of Bligh and makes a mistake in doing so; the real Bligh, as Charles Laughton so aptly played him in 1935, was a psychopathic beast with no humanity whatsoever. This film version goes historically beyond the Lloyd version, ending at Pitcairn Island but wrongly showing the death of Christian, who lived for some time after the mutineers settled on the island. The second film did not portray Midshipman Roger Byam (enacted by Franchot Tone in 1935) and took many more liberties, mostly nonsensical. Howard, for instance, does not confine Brando to the ship after reaching Tahiti but actually orders him to go ashore and copiously copulate with the chief's daughter to establish good relationships with the natives. The mutiny in the 1962 version is almost a whim of Brando. Howard kicks a water ladle out of his first mate's hand when Brando is about to give a sick crew member a drink. This so incenses Brando that he instantly mutinies with others. Though this version got seven Oscar nominations, it rightly received none. They were for Best Picture (lost to LAWRENCE OF ARABIA), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Song, Best Music Score, Best Film Editing and Best Special Effects. Movita Castenada, who had played Tone's native lover in the 1935 version, married Brando while he was doing the 1962 remake, but they were later divorced. Brando, who cost an estimated $6 million, later complained that "it was the worst experience of my acting career." (He reportedly stuffed himself and put on 40 pounds in the course of shooting.) Director Milestone said, "This picture should have been called `The Mutiny of Marlon Brando,"' and Harris chimed in, "The whole picture was just a large, dreadful nightmare to me." None of these gentlemen, however, had the good grace to quit the production and save MGM from near ruin, which almost came about when the studio only recouped $9,800,000 in its initial release.

MY VIEW: How dare they try to remake a classic!  And what is Brando doing?  Doesn't he know how Chistian is SUPPOSED to be?   A worthwhile effort and a different take on the Bounty story.

THE BOUNTY (1984) * * * * * *

Director: Roger Donaldson; Producer: Bernard Williams; Writer: Robert Bolt (based on the novel Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian by Richard Hough); Editor: Tony Lawson; Musical Composer: Vangelis; Production Designer: John Graysmark; Art Director: Tony Reading; Cinematographer: Arthur Ibbetson; Country of Origin: U.K.; Color ; Production Co(s).: Bounty; Released By: Orion; MPAA Rating: PG; Running Time: 132 minutes

WITH: Mel Gibson (Fletcher Christian), Anthony Hopkins (Lt. William Bligh), Laurence Olivier (Adm. Hood), Edward Fox (Capt. Greetham), Daniel Day-Lewis (Fryer), Bernard Hill (Cole), Philip Davis (Young), Liam Neeson (Churchill), Wi Kuki Kaa (King Tynah), Tevaite Vernette (Mauatua), Philip Martin Brown (Adams), Simon Chandler (Nelson), Malcolm Terris (Dr. Huggan), Simon Adams (Heywood), John Sessions (Smith)

Other films by Roger Donaldson: Recruit, The (2003), Thirteen Days (2000), Dante's Peak (1997), Species (1995), Getaway, The (1994), White Sands (1992), Cadillac Man (1990), Cocktail (1988), No Way Out (1987), Marie (1985), Bounty, The (1984), Smash Palace (1981), Nutcase (1980), Sleeping Dogs (1977)

From CINEBOOKS DB: This is at least the fourth film version of the notorious mutiny of 1789, when sailors of the British Royal Navy seized control of their ship, the Bounty, from Captain Bligh and set him and a few loyal crewmen adrift in an open boat. The mutineers eventually stumbled across the obscure Pitcairn Island where they built a settlement that was not discovered for many years and remains inhabited to this day by the descendants of those mutineers and their Polynesian mates. The film opens as Bligh (played by Hopkins) appears before a naval board in London, chaired by Admiral Hood (Olivier). As the story unrolls in flashback, Bligh and first mate Fletcher Christian (Gibson) set off for the South Seas to bring back breadfruit. They finally reach Tahiti after a long and harrowing voyage. Consequently the crew is in no hurry to leave. Christian has fallen in love with a beautiful native girl and offers no assistance in whipping the crew back into shape. Bligh grows increasingly harsh in his attempts to restore discipline. This is the first time that a reasonably balanced version of this story has reached the screen, portraying Bligh as a competent sailor and commander whose personality flaws make the conflict between him and his crew inevitable.

Anthony Hopkins gets to give his vocal cords a good workout but the normally charismatic Gibson is surprisingly bland and wishy-washy. The closeup-heavy direction seems haphazard and the film never achieves the epic sweep it seems to desire. The script is condensed from David Lean collaborator (screenwriter on LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, DOCTOR ZHIZAGO, RYAN'S DAUGHTER) Robert Bolt's scripts for two aborted mutiny-on-the-Bounty projects. The production design and values are excellent.

MY VIEW:  I have to disagree with the CINEBOOKS reviews on the Mutiny films.  I personally find this Bounty to be the most satisfying of the four made (A version made with Errol Flynn in 1933 is routinely dismissed as not a very good film. The other three Clark Gable in 1935, Marlon Brando in 1962, and Mel Gibson in 1984 are all fine films.)  Bligh and Christain are played as human rather than the caricatures in the 35 and 62 versions.  As humans they each have their faults and their admirable traits.  It is this internal struggle that each makes with his values and society's expectations that is portrayed.  I thought each actor did an admirable job of showing us this.  This is the best Bounty. Further, this film appears to be the most historically accurate of the three.  Highly recommended!

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

ANY COMMENTS?   SEND THEM TO ME

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

COMING ATTRACTIONS IN 2004

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Spiderman 2 - July 2nd   http://spiderman.sonypictures.com/

King Arthur - July 7th   http://kingarthur.movies.go.com/main.html

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

CURRENTLY AND COMING TO THE FLICKS in Boise

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Currently:

Farenheit 9/11 

The Notebook 

Napoleon Dynamite  

Young Adam 

The Clearing

Coming:

The Mother  7/30

Before Sunset  7/30

Valentin  8/6

The Door in the Floor  8/13

The Return  8/20

Intimate Strangers  8/20

Garden State  8/27

Riding Giants  8/27

Friendship Village  8/31

Boise Showtimes:

Regular Theaters    

http://boise.citysearch.com/search?type=theater&flavor_id=1&sorted=dist&histoindex_left=cw1&context=movies&cslink=cs_movies_movie_theaters_all

Flicks                     http://www.theflicksboise.com/

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

PRIMARY FILM LINKS

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Internet Movie Database       http://www.imdb.com/

Movie Review Query Engine  http://www.mrqe.com/

New York Times Reviews     http://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/currentmovies.html

Roger Ebert                         http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebertser.html

Coming Soon                      http://www.comingsoon.net/

Foreign Films                      http://www.foreignfilms.com/

Cinebooks Database            http://www.tvguide.com/movies/database/

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************