The Bicycle Thief (Flick’s Review)
Posted on | August 30, 2011 | 3 Comments
Rating 4.4 out of 5.0
The Bicycle Thief is an Italian film that we chose to watch with English subtitles. The acting is good especially by Lamberto Maggiorani who plays Antonio Ricci. The film looks old in its quality, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad film. In fact it’s a great film. The film isn’t too long or too short however the story is a little too simple. If there were some more main characters the film would have been almost flawless.
The Bicycle Thief is about Antonio Ricci. Antonio gets a job putting up posters in the city of Rome. He goes to a pawn shop and gets his old bicycle back because he needs it for his job. Soon after he gets a job his bicycle is stolen by a young man. Antonio goes with his son, Bruno to look for it.
My favorite character is Antonio because he is interesting but not simple. I like that he keeps looking for his bicycle and he does not stop.
My favorite scene is when Antonio and Bruno go to the church to talk to the homeless man who was talking to the bicycle thief. It is well written and the actors are convincing.
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Writers: Luigi Bartolini (novel), Cesare Zavattini
Lamberto Maggiorani: Antonio Ricci
Enzo Staiola: Bruno Ricci
Lianella Carell: Maria Ricci
Gino Saltamerenda: Baiocco
Vittorio Antonucci: The Thief
Giulio Chiari: The Beggar
King Kong (Flick’s Review)
Posted on | August 21, 2011 | 4 Comments
Rating 3.3 stars/reels out of 5.0 stars/reels
I didn’t like the King Kong (1976) remake as much as the 1933 classic, because of the acting, the way Kong looks, the pacing, and more. The story should have been more like the original. I wish they kept the part of the story where they are making a movie. It is confusing that the characters names are not the same as in the original. Some of the characters are not even in the film, including Carl Denham. Jeff Bridges is good as Jack Prescott although the Jack Prescott character doesn’t always make sense especially at the very beginning of the film when he seems drunk and then smarter than the crew. Jessica Lange is good for the most part except when she seems more like a fashion model than an actress (it’s her first film). I wish there were more dinosaur battles with Kong, because there is only one battle in this one and it’s with a snake. John Barry’s score for the film is good, although sometimes it doesn’t add excitement to the moment. Kong looks more real than in the original however I don’t think Kong should look entirely real because he is a monster. The sets are good (the natives island and the boat are great).The main problem of the film is it’s too long. The scenes with Kong and Dwan go on too long and there are too many of them. The film has its moments but it could’ve been better.
King Kong is about Jack Prescott, Fred Wilson, Captain Ross, and a crew of people who go on a mission looking for oil. While on their journey they find a mysterious lifeboat with a woman named Dwan. Then they find an island inhabited by natives who worship a monster called Kong. The natives kidnap Dwan and give her to Kong who takes her into the jungle. Jack, Fred, Capt. Ross and the crew going looking for her. You’ll have to watch the movie to find out what happens.
My favorite character is Jack Prescott because he knows what he’s doing.
My favorite scene is when Kong is on the Twin Towers and the helicopters are flying around him because everything looked real and the action was exciting and suspenseful. I wish Kong was on the Empire State Building instead of the Twin Towers and planes were flying around him instead of helicopters like in the original.
King Kong is rated PG and I agree.
Directed by John Guillermin
Produced by Dino De Laurentiis
executive producer Federico De Laurentiis
executive producer Christian Ferry
Writing credits: Merian C. Cooper (idea) and Edgar Wallace (idea)
James Ashmore Creelman (1933 screenplay) (as James Creelman) and Ruth Rose (1933 screenplay)
Lorenzo Semple Jr. (screenplay)
Jeff Bridges: Jack Prescott
Charles Grodin: Fred Wilson
Jessica Lange: Dwan
John Randolph: Captain Ross
Rene Auberjonois: Roy Bagley
See more about this film on IMDB.
Superman 2 (Flack’s Review)
Posted on | August 21, 2011 | 3 Comments
This is the sequel to the 1978 blockbuster that starred Christopher Reeve as the title character. It is about Superman/Clark Kent. Three villains including the evil General Zod travel from Krypton to Earth to destroy everything. Meanwhile Superman’s romance with Lois Lane gets complicated as he must decide whether to reveal to her that he is Clark Kent.
This film is not nearly as good as the five-star original classic, Superman. Most of it is too silly to be taken seriously unlike the original that had a few jokes that fit in into the movie’s plot and tone. In fact, this film is more like the 1966 Batman movie (based on the TV show) than its predecessor. The best part of the film is the battle at the end. The action is stunning and awesome and is not too silly.
My favorite character is Superman. At least Christopher Reeve still does a good job and is in fact better than in the original because the chemistry with Margot Kidder (who plays Lois Lane) is good and the parts with him deciding what to tell her are very well performed.
I give this film 3 stars. The only good things are the wonderful performances from Gene Hackman as Lex Luther (although he is not as good as in the original mainly because he is sillier like most of the other characters) to Margot Kidder as Lois Lane. The director, Richard Lesters other films are very good. He has directed both Help! and A Hard Day’s Night as well the 1973 Three Musketeers that starred Richard Chamberlin and Michael York. Maybe they should have kept Richard Donner from the original Superman film because Lester is too silly for this movie even though for his other movies his humorous touch worked very well. The special effects are surprisingly not as good as the original.
If there had been a better story, less silliness, and more of a focus on Superman/Clark Kent instead of General Zod just throwing things around and his helpers being goofy than maybe this film could have been better. Most of the reviews I had read thought it was as good if not better than the original but I am not sure what they were talking about.
Henry Cavill (above) will play Superman
Superman News: A new Superman is being made and I am pretty sure this one will not be so silly. It is going to be produced by Christopher Nolan who directed The Dark Knight and Batman Begins. Both of those films were well reviewed and I wonder if this one will be. It is going to be directed by Zach Snyder (director of 300 and Watchmen). It will star the mostly unknown actor, Henry Cavill, as the Man of Steel. Amy Adams will play Lois Lane, Russell Crowe will play Superman’s father Jor-el,and Kevin Costner and Diane Lane will play Superman’s adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent. Laurence Fishburne is rumored to play Perry White, the head of the Daily Planet. As the villain, Michael Shannon will play General Zod and hopefully do a better job than the actor in Superman 2. No one is sure if Lex Luther will make an appearance in the film but if he does I wonder if the actor will be as good as Gene Hackman or Kevin Spacey were when the played the role. It was originally scheduled to be released in December 2012 but Warner Brothers did not want it to compete with its other big release, The Hobbitt Part 1 that Christmas. It is now going to be released June 14, 2013. I would like to see this movie but if it is as dark as Christopher Nolan’s Batman films I probably won’t be allowed to.
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