adamjohns-42575
Joined Apr 2020
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Anne Of The Thousand Days (1969) -
In other versions of this story it has been shown that Anne (Geneviève Bujold) was the one that did the chasing of Henry VIII (Richard Burton) but in this one I couldn't work out why Henry had any interest in Anne at all because she was horrible and definitely didn't want him. He wasn't very nice either. Even as the film progressed the hatred between them was far too obvious. Perhaps it was a reflection of the animosity that Dick felt towards Gen whilst recording it and I know that Love and Hate are supposedly two sides of the same sword, but it only made me wonder if Henry had ever loved any of his wives or just thought that they were pretty and wanted to wet his whistle, so to speak, in anything that moved. If this film was factually accurate Anne Boleyn must have been a beauty in real life for him to pursue her so and the King a very superficial man with no interest in compatibility or personality.
I have to say though that the production itself felt very much that it was an appropriate representation of the events in most of its depiction. The costumes were good, the sets were apt and the actors did their jobs well, but I didn't find anything in particular to shout about one way or another.
With that said I did think that John Collicos was very good as Thomas Cromwell. It was interesting to see the actor as something other than a Klingon* and able to flex his acting chops in a role a bit more complex.
Having recently been a part of the TV series 'Wolf Hall' (2015 - 24) I had found a new interest in Cromwell, especially Mark Rylance's interpretation, so perhaps that made me more keen to look out for the character. They both did a great job with their clever enigmatic portrayals, although Mark blew my mind as an actor.
Anthony Quayle as Cardinal Wolsey was enjoyable too, he played his part of the man who worked so hard but was still betrayed by his King very well. Richard Burton was obviously good too, but John and Tony stood out here.
I can't imagine that many people would turn up to watch this film without some idea of the story, but as a small recap I will just say that Henry's desperate need to have a wife bear him a male heir lead him to dispose of his first wife Catherine who had only born a girl (Mary Tudor/Queen Of Scot's) and to chase down Miss Boleyn at all costs. But would Anne be safe from his fits of temper or would she have to beware of her own pregnancy and its potential repercussions.
As a way of telling the Royal history of England I would say that the film did a good enough job, although without bias I did prefer 'Wolf Hall'. This tells it in just a few hours however.
It wasn't a bad film, but the battle between the leads made it a bit tough to understand their connection/romance, which essentially should have been the whole point of it.
639.43/1000.
*Star Trek (1966 - 69) & Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993 - 1999)
In other versions of this story it has been shown that Anne (Geneviève Bujold) was the one that did the chasing of Henry VIII (Richard Burton) but in this one I couldn't work out why Henry had any interest in Anne at all because she was horrible and definitely didn't want him. He wasn't very nice either. Even as the film progressed the hatred between them was far too obvious. Perhaps it was a reflection of the animosity that Dick felt towards Gen whilst recording it and I know that Love and Hate are supposedly two sides of the same sword, but it only made me wonder if Henry had ever loved any of his wives or just thought that they were pretty and wanted to wet his whistle, so to speak, in anything that moved. If this film was factually accurate Anne Boleyn must have been a beauty in real life for him to pursue her so and the King a very superficial man with no interest in compatibility or personality.
I have to say though that the production itself felt very much that it was an appropriate representation of the events in most of its depiction. The costumes were good, the sets were apt and the actors did their jobs well, but I didn't find anything in particular to shout about one way or another.
With that said I did think that John Collicos was very good as Thomas Cromwell. It was interesting to see the actor as something other than a Klingon* and able to flex his acting chops in a role a bit more complex.
Having recently been a part of the TV series 'Wolf Hall' (2015 - 24) I had found a new interest in Cromwell, especially Mark Rylance's interpretation, so perhaps that made me more keen to look out for the character. They both did a great job with their clever enigmatic portrayals, although Mark blew my mind as an actor.
Anthony Quayle as Cardinal Wolsey was enjoyable too, he played his part of the man who worked so hard but was still betrayed by his King very well. Richard Burton was obviously good too, but John and Tony stood out here.
I can't imagine that many people would turn up to watch this film without some idea of the story, but as a small recap I will just say that Henry's desperate need to have a wife bear him a male heir lead him to dispose of his first wife Catherine who had only born a girl (Mary Tudor/Queen Of Scot's) and to chase down Miss Boleyn at all costs. But would Anne be safe from his fits of temper or would she have to beware of her own pregnancy and its potential repercussions.
As a way of telling the Royal history of England I would say that the film did a good enough job, although without bias I did prefer 'Wolf Hall'. This tells it in just a few hours however.
It wasn't a bad film, but the battle between the leads made it a bit tough to understand their connection/romance, which essentially should have been the whole point of it.
639.43/1000.
*Star Trek (1966 - 69) & Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993 - 1999)
Logan (2017) -
Aside from his role in 'Jeffrey' (1995) this might just have been Patrick Stewart's greatest performance ever as he reprised his character of Professor (X) Charles Xavier. Hugh Jackman in the titular casting of Logan (Wolverine) was superb too, but Pat was very close to stealing the show.
I also liked Stephen Merchant's version of Caliban. Having never been a fan of him, especially his comedy, I was surprised by his ability to fit right in with the Marvel world. The previous Caliban in 'X-Men Apocalypse' (2016) was fine but obviously had less exposure than in this film where the character was quite an integral part.
And Dafne Keen delivered her role of X-23/Laura fantastically. For one so young at the time she really nailed it.
I did feel that it was a shame that they didn't continue with the story that could easily have followed on from this. These companies just don't seem to have the faith in their franchises that they should and must stop paying fan service. If fans don't like the first film, prove them wrong with the second. Although I can't think that anyone should have had a problem with this one. It really was a great piece of film and a fantastic superhero story.
As a worn out Logan lived out the end of his days, caring for an ailing Charles with the help of Caliban and with the hopes of just taking it easy on a boat he was sent one final superhero problem to solve in the form of Laura and thus a chase ensued and the tired out "Old Man Logan" had to do what he could against his better judgement and an army of bad guys.
It was a fitting way to wrap up the X-Men series and had all the action, heart and comedy that the franchise had provided all the way through, but it was also so much more than just another superhero film, there was a class and artistry to the way it was made and it was clear that a lot of thought had gone into making it something special.
960.11/1000.
Aside from his role in 'Jeffrey' (1995) this might just have been Patrick Stewart's greatest performance ever as he reprised his character of Professor (X) Charles Xavier. Hugh Jackman in the titular casting of Logan (Wolverine) was superb too, but Pat was very close to stealing the show.
I also liked Stephen Merchant's version of Caliban. Having never been a fan of him, especially his comedy, I was surprised by his ability to fit right in with the Marvel world. The previous Caliban in 'X-Men Apocalypse' (2016) was fine but obviously had less exposure than in this film where the character was quite an integral part.
And Dafne Keen delivered her role of X-23/Laura fantastically. For one so young at the time she really nailed it.
I did feel that it was a shame that they didn't continue with the story that could easily have followed on from this. These companies just don't seem to have the faith in their franchises that they should and must stop paying fan service. If fans don't like the first film, prove them wrong with the second. Although I can't think that anyone should have had a problem with this one. It really was a great piece of film and a fantastic superhero story.
As a worn out Logan lived out the end of his days, caring for an ailing Charles with the help of Caliban and with the hopes of just taking it easy on a boat he was sent one final superhero problem to solve in the form of Laura and thus a chase ensued and the tired out "Old Man Logan" had to do what he could against his better judgement and an army of bad guys.
It was a fitting way to wrap up the X-Men series and had all the action, heart and comedy that the franchise had provided all the way through, but it was also so much more than just another superhero film, there was a class and artistry to the way it was made and it was clear that a lot of thought had gone into making it something special.
960.11/1000.
Sherlock Jr. (1924) -
This film really resonated with me. Perhaps I could understand the feeling of being a misunderstood underdog or perhaps Buster Keaton as The Projectionist just knew how to make me empathise with him. His movements and behaviours were just so cute. Everything he did made me smile and it was all so cleverly done. Such wit and comic timing, most of which was farcical and wouldn't normally be my thing, but for some reason he delivered it so well. And at times his face made me laugh without even doing anything, there was so much expression in just a hinted movement of his eyebrow or something.
His representation of the downtrodden and his simplicity made me want to look after him and as such I really felt for the character.
Maybe my only recent foray in to watching silent films that therefore means I'm seeing something comparatively new to me has made me enjoy this one more than I might have done had I seen it more often previously or before seeing so many others more recent efforts, but I think that the proof is in the watching that if it really wasn't that good it wouldn't have stood the test of time and wouldn't still make me laugh. So many others that I've seen had gone stale.
As Buster's cinema worker fell asleep at his work he dreamed of how things might have turned out with his girl if he'd been a successful detective and not just a struggling projectionist. What followed was slapstick joy and jokes that had real heart and soul.
The only thing that didn't make sense to me was why the film within a film kept changing scenes. It didn't fit with the narrative of that story, although I suppose it was a dream.
Other than that I noted that the music was perfect.
It really has been such a pleasure to dip in to these great moments of film history as part of my own filmic journey and pursuit to watch the films that appear on so many lists of ones to watch. Both Buster and Chaplin have really made my day at times and I would definitely put a record on any more of their works that pop up on my TV Guide.
768.33/1000.
This film really resonated with me. Perhaps I could understand the feeling of being a misunderstood underdog or perhaps Buster Keaton as The Projectionist just knew how to make me empathise with him. His movements and behaviours were just so cute. Everything he did made me smile and it was all so cleverly done. Such wit and comic timing, most of which was farcical and wouldn't normally be my thing, but for some reason he delivered it so well. And at times his face made me laugh without even doing anything, there was so much expression in just a hinted movement of his eyebrow or something.
His representation of the downtrodden and his simplicity made me want to look after him and as such I really felt for the character.
Maybe my only recent foray in to watching silent films that therefore means I'm seeing something comparatively new to me has made me enjoy this one more than I might have done had I seen it more often previously or before seeing so many others more recent efforts, but I think that the proof is in the watching that if it really wasn't that good it wouldn't have stood the test of time and wouldn't still make me laugh. So many others that I've seen had gone stale.
As Buster's cinema worker fell asleep at his work he dreamed of how things might have turned out with his girl if he'd been a successful detective and not just a struggling projectionist. What followed was slapstick joy and jokes that had real heart and soul.
The only thing that didn't make sense to me was why the film within a film kept changing scenes. It didn't fit with the narrative of that story, although I suppose it was a dream.
Other than that I noted that the music was perfect.
It really has been such a pleasure to dip in to these great moments of film history as part of my own filmic journey and pursuit to watch the films that appear on so many lists of ones to watch. Both Buster and Chaplin have really made my day at times and I would definitely put a record on any more of their works that pop up on my TV Guide.
768.33/1000.