Monthly Archives: May 2013
The Dark Corner (1946)
The Dark Corner (1946)
The Dark Corner is a black and white film about a private detective (Mark Stevens) who becomes entangled in a web of deceit and murder. His secretary (Lucille Ball) goes outside of the boundaries of her job description to fight to try to help him survive.
This movie was much better than I anticipated. Even though the film is 67 years old, it can still pack a punch. It was all beautifully filmed. The story had some creative twists and turns and was told at a reasonable pace. I was thrilled at how exciting this movie was. It’s classic storytelling at its best. It was a little slower at times, but just enough to build up the suspense and keep your attention.
The characters were thoroughly developed which made them super fun to watch. But what made the characters even better were the actors playing them.
It’s my favorite Lucille Ball performance that I have seen so far. Obviously she isn’t making any more movies, but there are still plenty of her films that I have yet to see. She brought a level of class to her character that most women are not capable of. It was one of the stronger performances that I have seen from an actress in a classic film in a long time.
Mark Stevens and William Bendix both played their parts well, but Clifton Webb went above and beyond. He carried himself with a great deal of charm and energy. His words were not only heard, but felt. The powerful force that he brought to the film made it that much more enjoyable.
The movie was directed by Henry Hathaway and also starred Kurt Kreuger, Cathy Downs, Reed Hadley, Constance Collier, and Ellen Corby.
If you are looking for a classic film noir picture to watch, look no further than The Dark Corner. If you like older movies, this one should not disappoint.
I rate this movie a 9 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
Happy Birthday to Pierce Brosnan
Happy Birthday to Pierce Brosnan! The actor formerly known as James Bond will be celebrating a major milestone today, he turns 60 years old.
Of course Brosnan is most known for his suave portrayal of the iconic Bond character. He did walk in those shoes 4 times: Goldeneye (1995) (my favorite Pierce Brosnan Bond), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2002).
He is almost exactly 7 months older than my father and I remember my dad taking me to see all four of his James Bond movies in the theatre over the years. At the time I always thought it was pretty cool to think that James Bond was the same age as my dad.
I remember hating Pierce Brosnan’s character in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) because he played his part so well. After seeing him as Bond, I thought Pierce was pretty awesome. After re-watching Mrs. Doubtfire, I liked him even more.
Brosnan was a superstar for a while in the 90’s and early 2000’s, but then his career began to fade.
The Matador (2005) was a sort of comeback movie for him. In it he plays an aging hit man who is beginning to lose his edge. It’s a dark comedy that also featured Greg Kinnear. The role seemed so out of character for Pierce, but his performance was priceless. The movie could have been better, but his part was great.
He has continued making many movies, but the only one worth mentioning in more recent years is The Greatest (2009).
Somewhere along the way he lost his status and has not been able to be a part of big films. Of course, I guess that is what comes with age. I’m still a fan though. Cheers to you Mr. Bond!
Happy Birthday to Chazz Palminteri
Happy Birthday to Chazz Palminteri! He turns 61 years old today.
Chazz was born Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri. It’s a good thing he goes by Chazz because I don’t think anybody could become famous with a name like Calogero.
Palminteri is known for his gangster/crime dramas. He usually plays the tough-guy gangster in charge.
My favorite Palminteri movie is the Robert De Niro directed A Bronx Tale (1993). De Niro also had a big part in the film.
The two also acted opposite each other in the gangster movie satire comedy Analyze This (1999).
Chazz was on the right side of the law in The Usual Suspects (1995).
He didn’t seem to know which side he was on in Running Scared (2006).
His performances are usually pretty explosive, so it should be amusing so see him in videogame form. Tomorrow you will be able to play the new Uprising add-on for Sony Playstation 3’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II. This add-on has already been available for Xbox 360 gamers for about a month. As part of the map pack there is a new Zombies experience called ‘Mob of the Dead.’ Chazz contributes his voice to the character Salvatore ‘Sal’ DeLuca. He joins the likes of Ray Liotta, Michael Madsen, and Joe Pantoliano who are all most known for their roles in gangster movies. Famous gangster movie icons killing zombies, let me just grab my controller.
Happy Birthday to Tim Roth
Happy Birthday to Tim Roth! The highly talented actor turns 52 today.
What a strange coincidence that Mr. Orange from Reservoir Dogs (1992) was born a day after his co-star Mr. White (Harvey Keitel). Well, 22 years and one day to be exact. Another coincidence is that both actors are probably most popular for the same 2 movies, Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994). They both played their own part in helping to make Quentin Tarantino famous and in return he helped to boost their careers.
Even though Roth never really reached superstar status, he has still had a pretty successful career. Besides the 2 films that I mentioned, my other favorite Tim Roth films are
The Legend of 1900 (1998),
Deceiver (1997), and
Gridlock’d (1997).
What is your favorite Tim Roth movie?
Note: Random movie connection: Chris Penn played Nice Guy Eddie in Reservoir Dogs and he was also in Deceiver with Tim Roth. It’s interesting to me how often actors work together in multiple different movies or work with the same directors on different films.
Happy Birthday to Harvey Keitel
Happy Birthday to Harvey Keitel! The actor who is probably most famously known for playing Mr. White in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992) turns 74 today. Mr. White has got to be my favorite Keitel character, although he has had a number of other very solid roles. My other favorite Harvey Keitel Characters are:
Winston ‘The Wolf’ Wolfe in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994)
Ray Donlan in Cop Land (1997)
Dad in Little Nicky (2000)
Roy Egan in City of Industry (1997)
Jack Crawford in Red Dragon (2002)
Hal in Thelma & Louise (1991)
I could not stand Keitel as The Lieutenant in Bad Lieutenant (1992). At the time that I watched that movie, it was so bad that I turned it off and didn’t finish it. I never went back and gave it another chance. It was so awful that I don’t think I will ever feel the need to revisit it.
Which of Harvey Keitel’s characters do you like the best and which do you like the worst?
Happy Birthday to Katharine Hepburn
Happy Birthday to Katharine Hepburn! She would have turned 106 years old today. She passed away when she was 96.
My favorite Hepburn movies were those that she made with Cary Grant. They made 4 films together (Bringing up Baby (1938), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Holiday (1938), and Sylvia Scarlett (1935).)
A Haunted House (2013)
A Haunted House (2013)
I did not expect much from A Haunted House. I decided to skip seeing the movie in the theatre. I knew that it was not going to be the greatest, although I thought it might be at least good for a few laughs. I was wrong, dead wrong.
I figured the movie would be like Scary Movie (2000) or any of its 4 sequels. Why shouldn’t it be? It is a spoof movie like those movies. It was written by Marlon Wayans who also wrote all of those movies. He also stars in those movies. It is bound to be at least kind of funny like those movies, right? I thought it would be and that is why I watched it. I was sorely mistaken. I can honestly say that A Haunted House was one of the worst movies that I have ever seen. Not the worst, but certainly one of them. That is saying a lot, because I have literally seen thousands of movies.
The film is a spoof on Paranormal Activity (2007) and several other horror movies. Malcolm (Marlon Wayans) asks his girlfriend (Essence Atkins) to move in with him. As soon as she arrives, bad things start happening. Paranormal events occur and the couple eventually starts to think that their house is haunted.
I am not lying when I tell you that I did not laugh once during the entire movie. I knew that the movie would be raunchy and stupid, but it went way beyond that. Instead of being raunchy humor and stupid humor, it was just stupid and sick. Moments that were on the verge of being funny, fell flat because they were extremely unoriginal.
The movie was written my Marlon Wayans and Rick Alvarez. It was directed by Michael Tiddes. The cast also includes Marlene Forte, David Koechner, Dave Sheridan, Nick Swardson, Andrew Daly, Cedric the Entertainer, Affion Crockett, and J.B. Smoove.
A Haunted House is a comedy without the laughs. The movie is a complete waste of time and money. My only hope is that I am able to spare you the torture of viewing this rancid piece of excrement.
I rate this movie a 1 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? RUN! And don’t look back.
Trailer for Captain Phillips (2013)
Captain Phillips (2013)
This film is based on the true story of when an American cargo ship was hijacked by Somali pirates in 2009. This was the first time that this had happened to an American cargo ship in 200 years.
Does anybody remember how America responded to this hijacking? Do you remember Captain Phillips?
It’s hard to believe that happened about 4 years ago.
If this movie follows the truth closely, I think that it might have the potential to be a quality film and an Oscar contender.
The film is directed by Paul Greengrass. Billy Ray wrote the screenplay, but Richard Phillips wrote the book “A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea” that it is all based off of.
The cast includes Tom Hanks, Catherine Keener, Max Martini, John Magaro, Chris Mulkey, Corey Johnson, David Warshofsky, Yul Vasquez, and Michael Chernus.
Hanks has not had a great part for a while. Could this be the movie that puts him back into the spotlight? I will have to be there when it releases to find out.
The film is set to release on 10/11/13.





































































