No cinema but a few cracking films in the month....
Love a bit of Clint. Not a massive fan of Shirley. She was alright in this though. I might have seen this one way way back. Still I enjoyed it.
From Google...
When gunslinger Hogan (Clint Eastwood) discovers a group of men attempting to rape a young nun, Sara (Shirley MacLaine), he shoots them dead and rescues the woman. The two escape to a nearby camp of Mexican revolutionaries, who have hired Hogan to help fight the invading French army. En route, Sara turns out to be surprisingly crude for a nun, drinking, smoking and using curse words. When she also proves to be handy with a gun, Hogan begins wondering if she is telling him the whole truth.
Game Night (2018) - Film
Enjoyed.
From Google....
When Max and Annie play a harmless murder mystery game with Max's brother Brooks and some friends, things begin to take surprising twists and turns as not all is what it seems to be.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015) - Film
Not as funny as the original. Not many comedy sequels are. An okay watch. A bit lame.
From IMDB....
After six years of keeping our malls safe, Paul Blart has earned a well-deserved vacation. He heads to Las Vegas with his teenage daughter before she heads off to college. But safety never takes a holiday and when duty calls, Blart answers.
Hidden Figures (2016) - Film
Interesting, educational, entertaining. Very, very good.
From Google....
Three female African-American mathematicians play a pivotal role in astronaut John Glenn's launch into orbit. Meanwhile, they also have to deal with racial and gender discrimination at work.
Lupin (2021) - TV Drama Series (Netflix)
A five part series on Netflix. The first four watched and enjoyed. I liked it, though I haven't been tempted to chase down any books. Thanks to Nigel Bird for the tip-off.
From Google ...
A retelling of the classic French story about Arsène Lupin, the world-famous gentleman thief and master of disguise.
Quite enjoyed it. Has the feel of a documentary in places. Very tense scene concerning the countdown to the start of the race.
From Wikipedia...
Le Mans is a 1971 film depicting a fictional 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race starring Steve McQueen and directed by Lee H. Katzin. It features actual footage captured during the 1970 race held the previous June.
*Spoiler alert
Plot
Top flight Le Mans racing driver Michael Delaney (Steve McQueen) spots former rival Piero Belgetti's widow Lisa (Elga Andersen) buying flowers in the days before the race; he then drives to the scene of the accident which killed her husband the previous year. He has a flashback of Belgetti losing control of his Ferrari, forcing him to crash as well.
Like many others, Lisa appears to feel Delaney was responsible, at least in part, for the accident. At the race she is understandably downcast while working through her emotions. In an awkward scene, Delaney looks for a place to sit in a nearly full track commissary, only to ask Lisa if he may join her. There is obvious tension between them, but also respect and a hint of mutual attraction.
After 13 hours of racing, Erich Stahler (Siegfried Rauch) spins his Ferrari 512 at Indianapolis Corner, causing teammate Claude Aurac (Luc Merenda) to veer off the track in a major accident. Momentarily distracted by the flames of Aurac's car, Delaney reacts too late to safely avoid a slower car, striking the guardrail and then bouncing several times across the road, striking the guardrails on each side of the road multiple times, totaling his Porsche 917. Both survive, but Aurac's injuries are extensive and he is medevaced to a hospital by helicopter. Lisa appears at the track clinic where Delaney is briefly treated. She is distraught at his crash, which stirs up emotions from Piero's passing she had been seeking to put in the past. Delaney consoles her and rescues her from a horde of reporters. After he puts her in a waiting car, a journalist asks Delaney whether his and Aurac's accident can be compared to the one with Belgetti in the previous year's race. Delaney merely stares him down.
Porsche driver Johann Ritter senses that his wife, Anna, would like for him to quit racing. He suggests it, thinking she will be overjoyed. She demurs and says she would like it only if he likes it. He chides her a bit about not being entirely honest. Later the decision is taken out of his hands when team manager David Townsend (Ronald Leigh-Hunt) replaces him for not being quick enough on the track. Anna tries to comfort him, reminding him that he was planning to quit anyway.
Lisa goes to Delaney's trailer to talk with him. After his brush with death she is even more drawn to him and despairs that he may meet the same fate as her husband, but Delaney finds the thrill too addictive to quit. Townsend enters and asks him to take over driving Ritter's car. After a moment's unspoken communion with Lisa, he follows Townsend who tells him "Michael, I want you to drive flat out. I want Porsche to win Le Mans."
In the closing minutes of the race the two Porsches and their rival Ferraris vie for the win, with Delaney in the #21 car and teammate Larry Wilson in #22. The Ferrari leading the race retires due to a flat tire, leaving Wilson in the lead and only Delaney's archrival, Stahler, to contend with. The faster pair quickly catches Wilson. Delaney passes Stahler for second place.
Slower traffic in his lane forces Delaney to brake, allowing Stahler to overtake on the left. Delaney drafts the German, then both move alongside Wilson. Delaney then takes actions that seem intended to guarantee a 1–2 Porsche win rather than going for first himself. Rather than try to pass Wilson, then possibly Stahler, Delaney switches to the right lane and drafts Wilson allowing both to pull up with Stahler. Then for good measure he bumps Stahler twice. When Stahler tries to pass again Delaney steers toward him, looking likely to bump Stahler again and send him into the guard rail, forcing him to throttle back and brake to avoid that outcome thus ensuring the desired 1–2 win for Porsche.
Bridgerton (2020) - TV Drama Series (Netflix)
Not usually a massive fan of the historic, costume drama of the 'who stole my tankard' ilk and I probably only had three quarters of an eye on this one. I suppose what I found odd was the lack of racism on screen. Would the black characters not have been subjected to it? We supposedly live in more enlightened times and it's still prevalent today unfortunately. Maybe it was there and I missed it.
From Google....
During the Regency era in England, eight close-knit siblings of the powerful Bridgerton family attempt to find love.
Another hit of Clint
From Wikipedia ....
A Fistful of Dollars (Italian: Per un pugno di dollari, lit. 'For a Fistful of Dollars' titled on-screen as Fistful of Dollars) is a 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role, alongside John Wells, Marianne Koch, W. Lukschy, S. Rupp, Jose Calvo, Antonio Prieto, and Joe Edger. The film, an international co-production between Italy, West Germany, and Spain, was filmed on a low budget (reported to be $200,000), and Eastwood was paid $15,000 for his role.
Released in Italy in 1964 and then in the United States in 1967, it initiated the popularity of the Spaghetti Western genre. It was followed by For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, also starring Eastwood. Collectively, the films are known as the "Dollars Trilogy", or the "Man with No Name Trilogy" after the United Artists publicity campaign referred to Eastwood's character in all three films as the "Man with No Name". All three films were later released in sequence in the United States in 1967, catapulting Eastwood into stardom. The film has been identified as an unofficial remake of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo (1961), which resulted in a successful lawsuit by Toho, Yojimbo's production company.
As few Spaghetti Westerns had yet been released in the United States, many of the European cast and crew took on American-sounding stage names. These included Leone himself ("Bob Robertson"), Gian Maria Volonté ("Johnny Wels"), and composer Ennio Morricone ("Dan Savio"). A Fistful of Dollars was shot in Spain, mostly near Hoyo de Manzanares close to Madrid, but also (like its two sequels) in the Tabernas Desert and in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, both in the province of Almería.
Road House (1989) - Film
An enjoyable re-watch with my daughters 30 years after seeing it first time. Plenty of action, a few laughs. What's not to like?
From Google....
A legendary bouncer comes to restore order at a notorious bar but runs afoul of a ruthless crime boss who controls the town. The stage is set for an action-packed showdown.
I LOVE Roadhouse. 'Pain don't hurt.' Top supporting cast, too. I really liked Lupin. Omar Sy is super cool.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Looking forward to a second series of Lupin.
DeleteSo glad you enjoyed Hidden Figures, Col. I thought that was an excellent film, too, and very well-acted. I have to admit, I'm not the Eastwood fan you are (although I did like him in Space Cowboys, and a few other things. Glad you had a few good views.
ReplyDeleteHidden Figures was excellent Margot. Hmm... off to look up Sapce Cowboys, I've missed that one.
DeleteWe have seen A Fistful of Dollars and liked. Also saw Two Mules for Sister Sara, and I think we liked it OK. Both of those were a good while back.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind seeing Hidden Figures for many reasons, but one is that my major in college was mathematics (theoretical even) but I was nowhere near their level, ever.
I think you would enjoy Hidden Figures, Tracy.
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