I love this movie...in fact, I love all the Margaret Rutherford Marple movies. They were on continuous play when I was young--when there was still a "Late, Late Show" and a "Sunday Morning Movie". The story does swerve mightily from the book, but it is no less entertaining for that. Rutherford's expressions are a delight as she marches through Ackenthorp Manor as a very nosy and bossy maid (she was in her seventies I believe). Her Miss Marple is the Auntie most of us would love to have had. Curmudgeon-like and yet kind and funny, and very, very wise.
Reviews
7 Reviews
Into the Woods
(2014)
Not a good movie
24 March 2017
Great Broadway, perhaps. But not a good movie. My ears were bleeding. Silly story. I never should have bought a ticket. Had I some self-respect, I would have walked out after 10 minutes of mind-numbing, deafening painful noise. I prefer a dialogue movie I guess. Some songs--it was a musical after all...but hardly a word spoken that wasn't sung at the top of someone's lungs. A couple stars only for the two Princes. They were funny at least.
A guilty pleasure
17 June 2006
I have always loved this movie. I have it on tape and have almost worn it out. Time to look for a DVD. THe performances are top notch. Even though Pat Boone falls in and out of his accent he does a creditable job as a Scot. Looks very dashing in the Glendarroch tartan! Jenny sounds like she's from America. They needed a scene where someone explains that Jenny is Uncle Oliver's niece from Kansas.
Arlene Dahl was always a favorite in the 50s and 60s as a strong woman. James Mason is excellent as always. Loved the duck, Gertrude! When I saw this movie as a child, I wanted a duck for a pet. My mother was smart enough to refuse.
Arlene Dahl was always a favorite in the 50s and 60s as a strong woman. James Mason is excellent as always. Loved the duck, Gertrude! When I saw this movie as a child, I wanted a duck for a pet. My mother was smart enough to refuse.
Pride and Prejudice
(1940)
Not Austen, but good fun
2 December 2004
The costumes are 30 years later, more the Bronte era, but almost a clownish parody. Oh to have seen it in color!
I'm a BIG Greer Garson fan and all in all I really love this film. It's true, if you're looking for a faithful adapation, look elsewhere, but this film is totally charming in it's own right. Witty, animated and altogether enchanting. Edna May Oliver is a delight to watch, despite the changed ending. But there was a war on, as Garson said later, and sneering at England's class system was not deemed polite, so they made Lady Catherine a lovable old broad instead of a snobbish guttersnipe.
So! Who's up for Bollywood's "Bride and Prejudice" coming soon to a theatre near you? I never tire of the story!
I'm a BIG Greer Garson fan and all in all I really love this film. It's true, if you're looking for a faithful adapation, look elsewhere, but this film is totally charming in it's own right. Witty, animated and altogether enchanting. Edna May Oliver is a delight to watch, despite the changed ending. But there was a war on, as Garson said later, and sneering at England's class system was not deemed polite, so they made Lady Catherine a lovable old broad instead of a snobbish guttersnipe.
So! Who's up for Bollywood's "Bride and Prejudice" coming soon to a theatre near you? I never tire of the story!
Contrived plotting
1 December 2004
The actors give it their best shot, and there are a few places where the genius of the original comes through, but actors and a few brief moments cannot hold up a heavy-handed plot. And I don't think it gives away anything to say someone who works in television NEVER sees a hairdresser? At some point you wonder if Bridget ever COMBS or even washes it.
I saw plot twists coming a mile away. I remember laughing...some of it is genuinely funny, but more like Laurel and Hardy slapstick rather than the original comedy of manners we saw in the first one. They did a parody of Pride & Prejudice in the first...I thought I saw brief moments of "Persuasion" in the second, but then again, that might have been wishful thinking on my part.
I had high hopes for this. Disappointing.
Tell you what though--the trailer for "Bride and Prejudice" (Bollywood's answer to the Jane Austin favourite) looked hilarious. I can't wait to see it!
I saw plot twists coming a mile away. I remember laughing...some of it is genuinely funny, but more like Laurel and Hardy slapstick rather than the original comedy of manners we saw in the first one. They did a parody of Pride & Prejudice in the first...I thought I saw brief moments of "Persuasion" in the second, but then again, that might have been wishful thinking on my part.
I had high hopes for this. Disappointing.
Tell you what though--the trailer for "Bride and Prejudice" (Bollywood's answer to the Jane Austin favourite) looked hilarious. I can't wait to see it!
Touching the Void
(2003)
Saw this last night
22 November 2004
I don't usually go in for this kind of thing, and there was something else on I wanted to watch. But I was riveted to my TV for the WHOLE movie. I TRIED to turn the channel to my other show, but couldn't!
By cutting the rope, Simon saves both their lives. If he had not, they both would have died. Of course, that is simply how it came out...Simon wouldn't know he'd save BOTH of them by (to him) dooming Joe.
As a Canadian student, I studied a poem by Earle Birney called "David". Most schools teach this poem at one grade or another. Usually high school, as it's pretty strong stuff for elementary school.
The short story of the poem is that while the speaker and his friend David are mountain climbing, David has an accident. He falls down a cliff onto a narrow ledge and breaks his neck. He is totally paralyzed. The story teller must then decide what to do. He knows that the days it will take him to climb out and then days more to climb back with help...David will certainly die a horrible, slow death. David begs his friend to push him over the edge...to end it quickly. I was both horrified and fascinated by the situation and the dilemma. I seem to recall it was up to the reader to decide what the speaker had finally done. Did he kill David, or was he going for help?
I was equally enthralled by this movie documentary. On the edge of my chair through the whole thing. Even though I knew he would be rescued (obviously) the suspense damn near killed me.
I've rarely been so taken up by a film.
By cutting the rope, Simon saves both their lives. If he had not, they both would have died. Of course, that is simply how it came out...Simon wouldn't know he'd save BOTH of them by (to him) dooming Joe.
As a Canadian student, I studied a poem by Earle Birney called "David". Most schools teach this poem at one grade or another. Usually high school, as it's pretty strong stuff for elementary school.
The short story of the poem is that while the speaker and his friend David are mountain climbing, David has an accident. He falls down a cliff onto a narrow ledge and breaks his neck. He is totally paralyzed. The story teller must then decide what to do. He knows that the days it will take him to climb out and then days more to climb back with help...David will certainly die a horrible, slow death. David begs his friend to push him over the edge...to end it quickly. I was both horrified and fascinated by the situation and the dilemma. I seem to recall it was up to the reader to decide what the speaker had finally done. Did he kill David, or was he going for help?
I was equally enthralled by this movie documentary. On the edge of my chair through the whole thing. Even though I knew he would be rescued (obviously) the suspense damn near killed me.
I've rarely been so taken up by a film.
The Glass Bottom Boat
(1966)
The BEST of the DD films of the 60s!
12 August 2004
Simply the best of the Doris Day comedies of the 60s. Rod Taylor is handsome and romantic, Paul Lynde and Dom DeLuise are riotously funny as spies gone goofy. Lynde is especially effective in "in satin". Doris Day is, well, on top of her game as the charming, virtuous, innocent and freckle-faced heroine--but lookout when she gets her revenge! The finale is hilarious and even more risqué than was usual for the sex farces of the sixties.
Probably my favourite DD movie! I know the pairing with Rock Hudson is better known from the period, (Pillow Talk) but this one with Rod Taylor as her leading man has an extra edge of spoofy comedy that makes it stand out among the rest.
Probably my favourite DD movie! I know the pairing with Rock Hudson is better known from the period, (Pillow Talk) but this one with Rod Taylor as her leading man has an extra edge of spoofy comedy that makes it stand out among the rest.
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