Change Your Image
faraaj73
Reviews
Il postino (1994)
Italian Cinema at its best
Il Postino is a simple but beautifully told tale of an illiterate postman - the excellent Massimo Troisi's - friendship with exiled Chilean poet Nablo Neruda. This is one of the finest examples of Italian and International cinema in the tradition of Amarcord and Cinema Paradiso.
The simplicity and beauty of the story, the realistic acting, the lush settings of the village and island and the lovely score sum up to make a moving cinematic experience which one can revisit repeatedly and gain something new from.
There is much humor in Troisi's wooing of village beauty Beatrice Russo and the pacing of the film, while leisurely, is never stagnant.
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Classic noir that made a bankable star of Bogart
"...along these mean streets walks a man who is not mean himself, neither tarnished nor afraid...." Thus spoke Dashiell Hammett of his hero Sam Spade, the private eye introduced at the outset of John Huston's brilliant masterpiece The Maltese Falcon.
Bogart carries the film with his genre defining personality, shades of which were later to be seen in other classics such as The Big Sleep. He is the not-so-aggrieved member of the partnership Spade and Archer. A crime is committed at the outset and the only clue is a lady Brigid O'Shaughnessy, played by an appropriately tricky Myrna Loy.
Other characters are the effeminate Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre) and the FatMan (played by legendary stage actor Sydney Greenstreet in a real tour de force). Huston showed excellent judgement in using the dialogue in the novel verbatim without any significant changes. This is one of the strengths of the movie as is the excellent black & white photography.
Altogether a cinematic masterpiece that defined a new and cherished genres that influenced movies as recent as L.A. Confidential and Memento.
Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman (1917)
The Great Profile at his best
The Great Profile - John Barrymore - appears in this semi-noirish silent crime meller. While the picture may be dated (as silent movies go), Barrymore is simply spellbinding.
This was before drink destroyed his looks and concentration, and he looks simply magnificent - certainly the most handsome silent movie star at a time when a chocolate face was the preeminent criteria for movie stardom.
Barrymore is a the only reason viewers may have for seeing this film, but it is reason enough.