Ben Stiller directed the ultimate Hollywood satire with Tropic Thunder. He developed the story with Justin Theroux, and the pair wrote a script with Ethan Cohen. It’s sharp, pointed, and under its endlessly quotable dialogue and performances is a skewering look at Tinsel Town. Everything seems to be a lie, from promotions to images to…
Tag: oscar nomination
The Sniper (1952) – Edward Dmytryk
I do enjoy a good film noir, and The Sniper is one I had never heard of, and quite happily dug into, contained as it was in a Film Noir Collection I had been gifted one holiday season. Despite some very sexist trappings, it was the 50s after all, there’s a really fascinating story here….
Silverado (1985) – Lawrence Kasdan
Occasionally a film comes along and revitalises the genre. Eastwood would return to the western trough countless times before he revitalised it with his own take on it, Unforgiven, but in the mid-80s, that shake-up was left to Lawrence Kasdan and his brother Mark. Lawrence had his fingers in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and…
A Few Good Men (1992) – Rob Reiner
Aaron Sorkin pens the screenplay for Rob Reiner’s A Few Good Men from his stageplay of the same name, and like the best of Sorkin’s writing, the film draws an amazing wealth of talent. When a Marine dies during an off the book disciplinary action while serving at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the JAG corp…
Little Shop of Horrors (1986) – Frank Oz
Howard Ashman and Alan Menken bring their bring science fiction b-movie musical to the big screen, ably directed by Frank Oz, in this 1986 adaptation that is the next stop in the Monstrous Aliens section of DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies. Rick Moranis plays Seymour, a bit of a schlub with an affectation for…
This Sporting Life (1963) – Lindsay Anderson
Richard Harris headlines the next film in the What Else to Watch list featured in DK Canada’s The Movie Book, following the recommendation of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Harris stars as Frank Machin, a miner who eventually finds success on the rugby field, something he’s wanted for a long time. He lodges in the…
Irma la Douce (1963) – Billy Wilder
Today, I continue with the What Else to Watch list in DK Canada’s The Movie Book following the recommendation of Some Like It Hot. So I dug into another Billy Wilder film that I had often heard of, but never seen Irma la Douce. Starring Shirley MacLaine in the titular role and the hilarious Jack…
Grease (1978) – Randal Kleiser
The joyous, infectious, and iconic screen adaptation of the classic stage musical is the next stop in the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film as I return to the musical chapter of the book. Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Jaws, Star Wars, these and a few select other films were staples of the 1970s. You…
Pillow Talk (1959) – Michael Gordon
Pillow Talk, the flirty, fun comedy starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The key element to the film is something a lot of people won’t understand these days, the shared party line. Long before…
The Mind Reels 