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....

[simplefable]

Madhavi..thanks for your review on "Les Enfants du Paradis "..will look out for that.
It is as usual, very interesting to read your reviews..
Faraaj...now, you say it so beautifully.." America America " ...will be on my lookout too..

Since we are on french films, just wanted to say a few words about a couple of films...actually one is sequel to another, which touched me...very deep. Thanks to a real film buff who impressed on me that i should watch the films, i had an experience of a life time.
The film am talking about is....." Jean De Florette" directed by Claude Berri.
Since am not that well versed with credentials of directors and actors..i mostly rely on reviews. but this started as a favorite of mine, as it starred Gerard Depardieu...( Green Card, Bogus..) and he doesnt disappoint either.

The film story is simple...
It is about quest of Water....as old as life on this planet. Still this quest continues, as no one is able to satiate the insatiable human race.
In rural france, an ex-service man returns with a lucrative idea of growing roses on his land..but he comes to know that there is no good water resource in his plot...where as the adjoining plot is endowed with a spring which is always flowing..So the man gets an idea to knock away the land of the adjoining owner. The owner happens to be a lady who is on death bed..and she bequeaths the land to his niece..and her husband.. Jean. Now, Jean is an amicable and simple person...who has his plans to cultivate the land to the maximum extent..and get rich. he has his own plans..which consists of his wife and daughter and music..and peace and love.
The Ex-service man along with his uncle plug the water spring..and watch the neighbour sink...shrink..and get sick.. Nothing is on their conscience except the spring that is going to be theirs soon...
the climax is one of the heart rending ones i have seen... Dont miss it.

Now, the sequel .."Manon Des Sources"...is a beautiful sequel. We seldom see any sequel which can equal the first part in content and consistency. This one stands out that way...Watch this back to back with the first one...and i promise you will be glad and euphoric.

[Faraaj73]

The film am talking about is....." Jean De Florette" directed by Claude Berri.
Since am not that well versed with credentials of directors and actors..i mostly rely on reviews. but this started as a favorite of mine, as it starred Gerard Depardieu...( Green Card, Bogus..) and he doesnt disappoint either.

Hi SF

I've been thinking of introducing Jean de Florette/Manon de Sources on the film thread for a few days now because I love both films. I had been on the lookout for the Marcel Pagnol novel The Water of the Hills for a long time and recently got ahold of it. The story was so epic in scale that like Coppola breaking The Godfather down into two parts, Berri decided to break Water of the Hills into two parts knowing the first would contain the most interesting bits and that the punch-line and most emotional moment would not come until the very end of Part 2. I really view them as one film, as I do The Godfather and its great stuff.

And this may surprise you - Jean de Florette is not Depardieu's finest achievement! He may look odd but he's a truly great actor and he has appeared in a number of fine movies. But, as I always say, all of them on one side and his Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) on the other. A beautiful, poetic film, Depardieu plays a larger than life character to the hilt. Apart from the wonderful period sets and photography, the colours are so lush, like technicolor films of the 30s. This is another of my top 20!!! The three greatest french films for me are Les Enfants, Cyrano and Le Salaire de la Peur - more on which later....