Thursday, October 13, 2022
L. A. Confidential - WB 20 Film Collection Thrillers
- Commentary: Bravo on this one. I've actually checked this one out of the library a couple of times just to watch it again. Just a stellar movie, in so many ways. Thanks for including this one, WB.
Roger Ebert gave this movie a stunning "regular review", then turned around and reviewed it again as one of his Great Movies. Then, Gerardo Valero reviewed the movie for the site again in 2013, as "a movie about movies." Taking into consideration the almost constant narration provided by Danny DeVito's character Sid Hudgens, I'd say that's accurate.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Russell Crowe Wendell White Guy Pearce Edmund Exley Kevin Spacey Jack Vincennes James Cromwell Capt. Dudley Smith Kim Basinger Lynn Bracken Danny DeVito Sid Hudgens David Strathairn Pierce Morehouse Patchett Ron Rifkin D. A. Ellis Loew
Originally published in this journal on 081416.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1997
Directed by Curtis Hanson.
Labels: david-strathairn, guy-pearce, journalism, neo-noirD
Thursday, June 09, 2022
The Bourne Classified Collection
- Commentary: Go ahead. Make fun of me. I don't care. I love this series of movies for just pure action thriller enthrallment. I even like the one without Matt Damon. I was introduced to these movies through a friend of mine who you wouldn't expect would like them, since she's not ordinarily a fan of spy action-thrillers. She nagged me, though, until I finally started checking them out of the library, one by one. It is these movies that hooked me on action-thrillers. I don't know why I developed a taste for them late in life but, well, I did, and I'm enjoying the hell out of the flavor.
They are all personal guilty pleasures. Not much more to say about these movies that hasn't already been said, except I understand there's another in the theaters and I can't wait until it hits DVD. Well, I can wait until the price drops. There is even a slot in the collection's case for that DVD. You can bet I'll be filling it.
Update 6/2/2022: This post was originally published on 8/14/16 but disappeared from public view. I am now reinstating it.
The movies in this collection are:
The Bourne Identity
Did you know there is a 1988 version of this film (same name), a TV Mini Series starring Richard Chamberlain and Jaclyn Smith? Although IMDb rated it a bit lower than this one, it wasn't a ratings slouch. If you read the comments, you'll notice that almost everyone liked to loved it; some even preferring it to the Matt Damon/Jeremy Renner franchise.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Matt Damon Jason Bourne/David Webb Franka Potente Marie Kreutz Chris Cooper Alexander Conklin Clive Owen The Professor Brian Cox Ward Abbott Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Nykwana Wombosi Gabriel Mann Danny Zorn Julia Stiles Nicolette Parsons
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2002
Directed by Doug Liman.
The Bourne Supremacy
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Matt Damon Jason Bourne Joan Allen Pamela Landy Brian Cox Ward Abbott Franka Potente Marie Kreutz Julia Stiles Nicolette Parsons Karl Urban Kirill Marton Csokas Jarda Oksana Akinshina Irena Neski
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2004
Directed Paul Greengrass.
→ joan-allen
The Bourne Ultimatum
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Matt Damon Jason Bourne Julia Stiles Nicolette Parsons David Strathairn Noah Vosen Scott Glenn Ezra Kramer Paddy Considine Simon Ross Édgar Ramírez Paz Albert Finney Dr. Albert Hirsch Joan Allen Pamela Landy
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2007
Directed by Paul Greengrass.
→ joan-allen, david-straithairn
The Bourne Legacy
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Jeremy Renner Kenneth James Kitsom/Aaron Cross Rachel Weisz Dr. Marta Shearing Edward Norton Col. Eric Byer Stacey Keach Mark Turso Dennis Boutsikaris Terrence Ward Oscar Isaac Outcome #3 Joan Allen Pamela Landy Albert Finney Dr. Albert Hirsch David Strathairn Noah Vosen Donna Murphy Dita Mandy Željko Ivanek Dr. Donald Foite Shane Jacobson Mackie
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2012
Directed Tony Gilroy.
→ joan-allen, željko-ivanek, david-straithairn
Jason Bourne
Update 2/5/2018: Yes, I purchased the fifth installment to fill the fifth slot in this collection, Jason Bourne, which surprised me. I actually expected it to be, well, more of the same. It was, but different. Interesting. Yes, I enjoy it as much as the first four. Yes, the purchase included a DVD copy, as well as a Blu-Ray copy. I may, later, pass the DVD copy off to someone who wants it.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Matt Damon Jason Bourne Tommy Lee Jones Robert Dewey Julia Stiles Nicolette Parsons Alicia Vikander Heather Lee Vincent Cassel The Asset Ato Essandoh Craig Jeffers Riz Ahmed Aaron Kalloor Scott Shepherd Edwin Russell
→ tommy-lee-jones
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2016
Directed Paul Greengrass.
Labels: §4, action1, adventure1, chris-cooper, david-strathairn, drama5, edward-norton, joan-allen, neo-noirB, oscar-isaac, political2, rachel-weisz, spy, super-hero2, thriller2, tommy-lee-jones, violence2, željko-ivanek
Friday, September 13, 2019
Dolores Claiborne
- Commentary: Did you know that the material in this movie is not only a book written by Stephen King, but inspired an opera, as well? I'm not surprised. The themes are sturdy, well-portrayed with a lack of sentimentality and an abundance of complication and so incredibly well acted and ever-inspiring: mother vs daughter, employee vs employer, wife vs abusive husband, community vs stalwart, self-protective woman. I swear, someday, when you and I are long dead, Stephen King will be considered the Shakespeare of our age.
This movie has had a hold on me for years. I purchased it because I've checked it out of our library system so many times I believe I am partly responsible for the fact that at least one copy is always being "mended" by the staff. That's why I own it, now.
There is only one aspect of the story with which I quibble: Dolores inheriting Vera's estate. On the one hand, she certainly deserves it, the inheritance places Vera in a kinder light, and Dolores' character certainly isn't changed by the news of the inheritance, although I suspect her circumstances are. On the other hand, you know, every time I watch this movie, I imagine Dolores not inheriting and realize, yet again, it wouldn't matter to the overall effect of the movie and the story. At any rate, it's a tiny quibble I have. Doesn't change my undying love for this movie, this character and the character of Vera.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Kathy Bates Dolores Claiborne Jennifer Jason Leigh Selena St. George Judy Parfitt Vera Donovan Christopher Plummer Det. John Mackey David Strathairn Joe St. George Eric Bogosian Peter John C. Reilly Cons. Frank Stamshaw Bob Gunton Mr. Pease
The Wikipedia write-up for this movie (not the opera, that's earlier in this post) is here.
Release Date: 1995
Directed by Taylor Hackford.
Labels: bob-gunton, christopher-plummer, david-strathairn, drama3, haunting1, jennifer-jason-leigh, journalism, period1, psychological1, taylor-hackford, tragedy1, women's-movie1
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Fracture
- Who's watched: Watched and bought this movie AMD
- Mentions: none
- Commentary: It seems that this movie was released a good year before Mom died, but I didn't hear of it or see it until a few years after she died. Aside from the fact that the story is a nail-biter no matter how many times I see it, it is pure pleasure for me to watch the astonishing, perfect chemistry between Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling, over and over and over and over ...
I'm sorry my mother never saw this. Despite being a "pure soul", she loved a good murder mystery, which explains her addiction to Murder, She Wrote, the twistier the better. I also like a good murder mystery, but Murder, She Wrote wasn't twisty enough for me. This movie is.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Anthony Hopkins Theodore Crawford Ryan Gosling William Beachum David Strathairn DA Joe Lobruto Rosamund Pike Nikki Gardner Embeth Davidtz Jennifer Crawford Billy Burke Lt. Rob Nunally Fiona Shaw Judge Robinson Bob Gunton Judge Frank Gardner
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2007
Directed by Gregory Hoblit.
Labels: anthony-hopkins, bob-gunton, david-strathairn, drama6, me-favorite2, mystery1, rosamund-pike, suspense2
Monday, February 07, 2005
Sneakers
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: None
- Commentary: Although it has a lot of high-recognition actors playing parts in it (check out the Actor/Role table, below), this movie was one of those that was better in the remembering than in the re-viewing of it. Even my mother thought so, and she's only seen it once.
It strikes me as a vanity project, which is why I passed it on to our local library. I haven't had the urge to check it out since I gleaned it from my collection. The wikipedia article on this film, linked below, records some pretty surprising dissension among critics, and, yet, apparently audiences liked it. Well, not this audience.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Robert Redford Bishop/Bruce Ben Kingsley Cosmo Sidney Poitier Donald Crease David Strathairn Irwin Emery Dan Aykroyd Darren Roskow River Phoenix Carl Arbogast Mary McDonnell Liz Ogilvy James Earl Jones Bernard Abbott
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1992
Directed by Phil Alden Robinson.
Labels: ben-kingsley, david-strathairn, mystery2, period5, robert-redford, thriller2
