Hollywood Movie Reviews......... Options

[Reeth]

Please review and express your feelings about the Hollywood movies old and new ,that you have watched,liked & would recommend to the other members ......

I start off with an all time favourite film of my entire family....i have lost count of the number of times
i have watched this since the time.....

The Ten Commandments (1956)






It is one of the Greatest movies ever made in the history of World Cinema...
The film covers the life of Moses from his discovery in a basket floating on the Nile as a baby by
Bithiah, a childless young widow and daughter of the then-Pharaoh, Rameses I, to his eventual
departure from Israel in the wake of God's judgment that he not be allowed to enter the Promised
Land. In between, the film depicts the early adulthood of Moses as a beloved foster son of
Pharaoh Seti I (successor of Rameses I and brother of Bithiah) and general of his armies, his
romance with Throne Princess Nefertari and rivalry with the Pharaoh's own son,
Prince RamesesII.

Critics have argued that considerable liberties were taken with the Biblical story, affecting the film's
claim to authenticity, but this has had little effect on its popularity.....

Aside from winning the Academy Award for Best Effects, Special Effects, it was also nominated for
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color, Best Cinematography, Color, Best Costume Design,
Color (Edith Head, Ralph Jester, John Jensen, Dorothy Jeakins and Arnold Friberg), Best Film Editing,
Best Picture and Best Sound, Recording







Cecil B DeMille’s swan song is a movie for the ages. At 75 the legendary director was at the
peak of his fame, his name a house-hold word and his voice recognized by millions. He probably
knew The Ten Commandments would be his last film it almost killed him. He certainly knew it
would be his most important.

Shot in widescreen Technicolor, The Ten Commandments remains the standard by which
Biblical epics -- and many epics in general -- are measured
When Moses turns his staff into a snake and back again, the effect is seamless. His turning of the Nile
into blood is an impressive camera trick, but his parting of the Red Sea is one of Hollywood's most
famous stunts. It's worth sitting through the 220 minutes of movie for this alone....

MAIN CAST

#Charlton Heston as Moses
# Yul Brynner as Pharaoh Rameses II
# Anne Baxter as Nefertari
# Edward G. Robinson as Dathan
# Yvonne De Carlo as Sephora
# Debra Paget as Lilia
# John Derek as Joshua
# Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Pharaoh Seti I

But the Ten Commandments isn’t about God alone.... It’s about a woman, Neferteri the beauty of
Egypt, and whom she marries will become Pharoe and rule the Earth...she prefers Moses who races
chariots and saves old women from being crushed under the monumental obilisk he is raising in honor
of Neferteri’s father — and helped by the fact he’s played by manly-man Charlton Heston who looks
great,She does not want Ramses, the delicious Yul Brenner who wants Neferteri because of the
wealth and power that comes with her.
Moses is banished and Neferteri is forced to marry Ramses instead.
History might know about Moses and Ramses, but DeMille knew about
scorned women.....




It remains one of the five most successful films of all time.It is Cecil B. DeMille’s last and arguably
greatest film.....Definitely worth watching....

[mmuk2004]

I know Reeth will not mind my posting a French Film Review in his Hollywood thread. Wonder what happened to him...

Les Enfants du Paradis (1945)

One of the movies recommended by Faraaj. Elaborate, complex and very rewarding. It is the kind of movie one has to watch at least one more time, to get all the stuff you are sure you missed the first time around. It is so richly layered, you simply cannot get all of it at one time... the elaborate sets and the amazing details of its production, the dialoges, witty and philosophical, the complex characters and their complex relationships.

What fascinated me was the myriad forms of theatre and mime shown in the film and how they reflected upon the characters. At the heart of the story is Garance, who is loved by at least four important characters in the movie. The setting is the Boulevard of Crime, in early 19th Century Paris. It is a place of entertainment, all forms of entertainment, where the rich and the poor might rub shoulders, it is brimming with life, crime, passion, art and the struggle for survival. Two actors, each excelling in their own field fall in love with Garance, a young mime named Baptiste(Jean Louis Barrault) who is shy and a young actor named Lemaitre( Pierre Brasseur) who is charming and brash.

The production details of the film are as fantastic as the film. It was made during the Nazi occupation of Paris, and the cast has people from the resistance as well as the collaborators, amongst the extras. On the edge of starvation, many times they stole the food off the sets, even before they were filmed. One can go on and on about the almost impossible constraints under which the film was made. These have been documented in various commentaries.

The title of the film, refers to the high balcony seats (colloquially called paradis), which seated the "commoners" the poor folk, who came in hordes, (there are many shots of the audience hanging from the balconies), appreciated or booed the actors enthusiastically and were the the makers and breakers of "star" actors. It is to this "rude"(in the Shakespearean sense) audience that the actors perform, not just the gentry sitting in their boxed seats.

The characters are wonderfully tailored to their roles... Baptiste, the silent lover, is a mime... he comes alive on the stage powerfully emoting tender love, comedy, cruelty... and all somehow seem linked to his muse...Garance. Barrrault, who loves Shakespeare, moves away from mime and becomes a famous star in the theatre...one of the scenes is incredible where tired of the inflated and banal tragedies he is required to play, he intervenes in the action and turns it into a witty, self-reflexive farce... But he feels he cannot really reach the heights of his profession as he cannot enact jealousy...he has achieved fame on a smooth track because of his flair and passion for acting, but the high point of his career comes when Garance, who he has loved and who left him, comes back and he realises that she loves Baptiste. Then he plays Othello, with passion and jealousy...once again the performance is linked to Garance... And then there is the ruthless and bitter criminal (cannot remember his name) who loves Garance (the only woman, according to him who he does not despise), who believes that all tragedy could easily turn to farce...except that he writes failed farces but it is his action that brings about the climax in the film...And in the middle of it all Garance, enigmatic, beautiful, their muse and audience and the central actor... Just wonderful, I thouroughly enjoyed the self-reflexiveness of it all... very exhilarating...

This post has been edited by mmuk2004: Jun 6 2009, 12:22 AM

[Faraaj73]

I know Reeth will not mind my posting a French Film Review in his Hollywood thread. Wonder what happened to him...

Les Enfants du Paradis (1945)

One of the movies recommended by Faraaj. Elaborate, complex and very rewarding. It is the kind of movie one has to watch at least one more time, to get all the stuff you are sure you missed the first time around. It is so richly layered, you simply cannot get all of it at one time... the elaborate sets and the amazing details of its production, the dialoges, witty and philosophical, the complex characters and their complex relationships.

Madhavi

Love your review....as I do everything about this film! Trust me, each viewing will enhance your appreciation of this rich film and be that much more enjoyable. An important point to note is that the four main influences on noir were: American pulp novels (Chandler, Hammett, Cain etc.); Italian neorealism; German Expressionism; and French romantic fatalism. This film is probably the greatest example - written or filmed of french romantic realism/fatalism....which brings to mind the famous line (and countless others from the noir genre):

I killed him for money - and a woman - and I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman. Pretty, isn't it?