Brian's Thoughts on Movies

In 2015 in anticipation of Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation I wrote a post reviewing the other films in the Mission Impossible series.  As I discussed I am only familiar with the movies so although I know the premise of the series I am not one to judge how true the films are to it.  However I understand that in the show the Syndicate was a recurring threat to the main characters, much as SPECTRE is in the James Bond films. As always I discuss spoilers so please watch the film first and then read the below. Rogue Nation pits Ethan’s IMF team against the Syndicate, an organization that first started as a secret within MI6, until the Syndicate leader, Solomon Lane, went rogue and started conducting terrorist attacks.  The Syndicate and the IMF team are both after a piece of data which turns out to contain money that the Syndicate can use to fund future attacks.  IMF is absorbed into the CIA, headed by Alec Baldwin as a new character, Alan Hunley, making Ethan a fugitive for in

Thunderball and Never Say Never Again are unique pair of films.  The latter is a remake of the former and both star the same actor, Sean Connery.  It is not uncommon for a remake to feature an original cast member in a different role (a la Michael Caine in Sleuth in which he played one of the two leads in the  first film version and then the other one in the -far inferior- second one).  The remake of Cape Fear, which I like more than the original, features the original stars Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum in small but crucial roles.  In my post for Vanilla Sky I discussed that Penelope Cruz played the same role in both the Spanish language original and the English language remake a few years later, but she was the second lead.   Generally remakes cast different leads either because they are made many years apart or in a different language.  Never Say Never Again curiously takes the original James Bond, pairs him with different behind the scenes talent and retells one of his stories

Superman The Movie was one of my first movie going experiences and then as now I ate it up.  As I have mentioned before I do not read many comic books, (though I did read “The Death of Superman” when it came out in 1992), so my exposure to Superman has mostly been on the big and small screens.  Unsurprisingly Christopher Reeve is my favorite Superman but my affinity for the Bond films has prepared me well for casting changes.  The other actors all have found their own approach to the role in their respective mediums. In anticipation of my discussion of Batman v. Superman; Dawn of Justice film, I want to take a brief look back the other Superman films.  I was pretty mixed on Man of Steel, liking Henry Cavill’s portrayal and the alien discovery elements of the story,  but did not appreciate the excess of destruction and some of the horrible dialogue.  I have never rewatched it in full through I have seen a few moments on cable once or twice.  As always, this comes with a full s

“Spectre (is) a particular treat for 007 nerds and a businesslike blast for everyone else” (Variety, November 2015) SPECTRE was the criminal organization that served as the primary antagonist in the 60s Bond films (and three of the Fleming books), and was headed by Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who became James Bond’s archenemy.   Despite several casting changes (in the Eon films four different Blofelds faced off with three different Bonds) Blofeld still had the greatest impact.   Blofeld’s offscreen performances in from Russia With Love and Thunderball (in which viewers did not see his face) were the most terrifying.   Of his onscreen performances I thought Telly Savalas (in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) was the best. After the title was announced in December 2014, I expected the return of Blofeld since the Eon producers recently recovered the rights to the character and Spectre after several decades (I am not sure they ever really lost them but Kevin McClory sure seemed to