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jherbert-5
Reviews
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
..."We'd be talking face to face..."
I have to say it's been a while since I walked out of a theater wanting to tell everyone how enthused I was about the film I'd just seen. In the case of "The Bourne Ultimatum", I would especially mention the ultimately satisfying ending, so subtle, yet so satisfying, that Greengrass could accomplish so much in an action film with a simple Mona Lisa-like smile and a limp, submerged body suddenly coming to life. And there are some classic scenes. For me, the scene where Bourne calls Noah Vosen in his car, and the exchange goes something like "Where are you now?" "I'm in my office." Etc, etc...Priceless. I would also mention the scene in Victoria Station, with the planted cell phone. I thought at times that Noah was almost too evil (did he have a loving wife? Kids? A dog?), and I felt sorry at first for Joan Allen, a superbly talented actress who looked like she was about to become the cold, calculating operative I remember from "Identity". (Some posts here may suggest I got that wrong.) Anyway, there's nothing like redemption. And she gets hers, big time. Frankly, it's made me want to watch "Identity" again. Not even "The Godfather, Part III" accomplished that.
The Quiet Man (1952)
They don't write like that any more...
It's astounding to read the posts, and have so many people play back so many lines. Were there any lines in the movie that weren't great? Seems unlikely. Along with "Casablanca", it's bursting with great dialog. As for Maureen O'Hara, it's difficult to think anyone else could have played her part. Hope Lindsay Louhan doesn't decide to remake this one. There are several movies which seem to defy any negative criticism (for me, Godfather I, Paths of Glory, Shawshank Redemption), and this film, which we all see regularly on cable, is certainly in that class. Kudos to John Ford, who seemed like a curmudgeon but was able to turn out touching scenes, none more so than in this classic. I went to Cong last year, and saw a number of places trading on the "Danaher" name, which is very understandable. Was surprised to read the shoot in the area only lasted two weeks, because there weren't enough rooms (What-- they couldn't put them all up in Ashford?
Sweet Tornado: Margo Jones and the American Theater (2006)
"Sweet Tornado" brings Margo Jones to life.
"Sweet Tornado" is an invaluable documentary not just because of its creative virtues -- namely, combining archival footage with scenes re-created from actual letters and transcriptions. The film also virtually resurrected the persona of Margo Jones, the highly-charged producer/director who might otherwise have slipped into obscurity (did anyone know, for instance, that she was the first to stage "Inherit the Wind" in Dallas, of all places, where instead of railroading her out of town sanctimoniously, she was wildly embraced). Obviously, her contributions to the emergency of Tennessee Williams are more well-known and certainly salutary. So Kay Cattarulla and her crew have pulled off a very impressive and important work.