Brian's Thoughts on Movies

John Grisham, a former attorney from Mississippi, became a popular writer in the early 1990s.  I think attorneys read a lot of cases during law school and then in practice come across different situations that lend themselves to good fiction.  During the 90s and early 2000s adaptations for the popular legal thrillers were fast tracked by studios as soon as they came out and often the screen versions appeared within a year or two of publication.  The books were page turners and the film versions often attracted A-list actors and directors.  Sadly although Grisham continues to write the books and they are well received there has not been a feature film since 2004, though there have been some television projects.  The characters became a little more complex and while a lot of the novels are terrific, especially The Broker, The Testament and The Partner, some of the stories did not have clear villains and may have been seen as less commercial.  Additionally whi...

 Gene Hackman’s death in February 2025 brought a spotlight back to one of the world’s greatest ever actors.   At some point I will write up a career review of some of his greatest films but since it will require me to revisit some films I have not seen in many years and also catch up on a couple of blind spots like Under Suspicion, The Royals Tenebaums, and Scarecrow, I am focusing here on his 1988 civil rights drama, Mississippi Burning. Spoilers below: Director Alan Parker, man known for intense films like Midnight Express and (in its own way) Evita, commits the audience to another immersive in this film.  The story is based on an incident that occurred in 1964 in Mississippi but changes the name of the town and of the characters.  Three civil rights workers (two white and one African American) are murdered by members of the Klu Klux Klan because they are trying to help African Americans register to vote.  Two FBI agents are sent to investigate.  The agen...

 In 2024 the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai debuted.  Netflix adopted a strategy similar to what they did with the final seasons of The Crown and Ozark and dropped the episodes in groups over a several month period.  My family and I watched the first group around September or so and then the last ten in February.   Fifteen episodes was too much of a good thing.  It is enjoyable seeing these characters interact and I appreciate the commitment of the creators and Netflix to give the fans a super sized season but there was not enough story to fill fifteen episodes.  In particular the last batch of episodes felt this way even though the final episode was a well made send off. Spoilers below: The first group of episodes sets up the new Cobra Kai students in South Korea and more importantly puts Kreese to work with the ruthless Da-eun.  Kreese focuses on Kwon, played by Brandon H. Lee (no relation to Bruce Lee) who is more talented but has a manipulativ...

 George Cukor’s 1964 adaptation of the 1956 stage musical which was itself an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion accomplishes one quality I always truly admire in a film.  A viewer watching the film for the first time could easily see it is an adaptation of a play, with the long scenes (most film scenes are only a couple of minutes long) and the literate dialogue.  In addition nearly the film was shot almost completely on soundstages.  After the big opening sequence outside the theatre in Convent Garden the scene shifts to Lisson Grove even though Eliza never seems to go anywhere (the two neighborhoods are about four miles apart) which is the kind of thing that would happen only in a play.  The film is also incredibly cinematic with a lot of scenes shot on 70 mm on a big scale with many extras, all of whom of are dressed uniquely and in expensive clothes.  The quality I admire is the film is successfully both theatrical and cinematic. ...

 Tom Hanks has had a leading man career since the 1980s and is keeping himself relevant by playing complex characters who are not always the dad types many people, rightly or wrongly, often associate Hanks with.   In recent years he has headlined a Western directed by Paul Greengrass (News of the World)  and left a strong impression as the grumpy retiree in A Man Called Otto.  When asked to describe the movie “Elvis” I answered stating “You will hate Tom Hanks in this movie.”  In the film “Here” Hanks reteams with director Robert Zemeckis which with his made the cultural landmark “Forrest Gump”,  as well as “Cast Away” (my favorite of their collaborations), Polar Express, and Pinocchio (which I have not seen-nor have many others based on the grosses).  Zemeckis has always been an innovative director and his films often defy easy characterization.  The Back to the Future films mix comedy and science fiction.  Death Becomes Her is a comedic hor...

Each February I try to have a post ready for a romantic themed movie and so for this year I have picked one of my wife’s favorite movies. The Notebook is based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks.  Sparks has written over twenty novels, which from what I can tell mainly focus on the romantic lives of people on either of the Carolina coasts.  I have not read any of his novels (apart from a few pages of The Notebook) but I have seen Dear John, Nights in Rodanthe, and pieces of Message in a Bottle.   Of these films only The Notebook had any impact on me, though I did like the song “I Could Not Ask For More” from Message in a Bottle.  It is a popular joke among men that their wives and girlfriends make them watch The Notebook as a form of torture.  It is true that it was my wife’s call to go see that film and she certainly shed more tears than I did while watching it but I enjoy a romantic themed film if it the characters and story are intriguing.  As such I found th...