Michael Sheen played Tony Blair in "The Queen" and David Frost in Nixon-Frost. He did a good job in both roles. He seemed to have the first call for the part of famous middle-aged Englishman.
This is a movie about the first interviews conducted by David Frost of former President Richard Nixon in 1977. The movie suggest that Frost did them to revive a sagging career. Others have suggest that Frost's career was not sagging. Nixon was not able recover from his disgrace although the sitting President Clinton did come to his funeral. The acting and writing are very good.
The Tudors is a series now in its third season mainly about Henry the VIII. Henry VIII broke with Rome and was the person most responsible for England becoming Protestant. One point to be made was that the break with Rome did not lead to more freedom for the English people. The Church provided a counterweight to the power of the King. The series is well written and the acting is good.
CSI has had several very good episodes. William Peterson leaving has not affected the quality of the scripts. The episode that ran April 23 was excellent with a good performance by the Katherine Willow's character. The show has gone through some case changes but still looks very good.
I would like to make a small defense of drunken sailors. It is has been said that the Federal government like a drunken sailor. This is not true. Drunken sailors when they run out of money stop spending and they don't print up new money. The Federal government has continued to spend and printed money.
In a panel discussing Hollywood, Michael Burns, the president of Lionsgate, said he thought TV more than movies had more libertarian themes. I have talked about "The Wire". I have also mentioned at two episodes of CSI Miami. I would like to hear of more.
The film does not talk about the trial of White. He should have clearly been convicted of first degree murder. He had entered City Hall through a window so avoid the metal detector at the entrances. He shot Mayor Moscone and Milk several times to make sure they were dead. My comments about AIDS is slightly wrong. One of the people depicted in the movie died of it.
Milk is the new movie that won Sean Penn his second Oscar. Harvey Milk was San Francisco County Supervisor who along with Mayor Moscone was assassinated by a former Supervisor Dan White. Milk was the first openly gay man elected to public office. He came into around the time of Anita Bryant's fight against anti-gay discrimination law in Miami, Florida. Sean Penn is very good and deserves his Oscar. The supporting cast is also good with Josh Brolin doing a very good job as Dan White. There
He died of cancer yesterday(March 15th). He was a very fine actor After 9-11 he spoke out against Islamic Fascism which hurt in his chosen. As we all know the Left is open to those who disagree with their ideas and would never blacklist anyone. NOT! He will of course be missed.
The Music Man by Meredith Wilson is one of the great musical to come out of the 1950ths. It starred Robert Preston and Barbara Cook on Broadway. A big movie also with Robert Preston but with Shirley Jones doing Marian was produced. This was in 2003 and stars Matthew Broderick. That's the problem. Matthew Broderick looks like a kid. Harold Hill should be played by an older man. I must add the production is good. River City looks good. The townspeople are well done. The supporting roles a
He died today.(March 4) He was 92. His most famous work was the screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird. The movie starred Gregory Peck and won Peck his only Oscar. His screenplay Tender Mercies won Robert Duvall his only Oscar. His screenplay for A Trip to Bountiful won Geraldine Page her only Oscar. Doing a Horton Foote screenplay was a good career move for an actor.
Paul Harvey died yesterday. (2-28) He never retired from broadcasting although with the death of his wife he had stopped broadcasting. One of the obits about him noted that he opposed the war in Cambodia and may have been responsible for Nixon pulling out.
Yesterday (Feb 26) was Johnny Cash's birthday. He was one of best singers of his generation. He had one of the great show business romances. He was a true cross over singer bridging both country and pop. '
I finished the last episode of the first season. This is such a well done show. It is also very depressing. Most of the actors are not known to me although since I have watched the show I am seeing some of them in movies and on other shows.
This is a TV show about an Arkansas family with eighteen children. They are Christian fundamentalist. This and the number of children would have some people reaching for firearms. Even the children are well behaved but not "Stepford" kids. The Duggers have strong values which they believe in and act on. There are a lot worst thing in this world.
I've seen only one of the winners, Heath Ledger for "The Dark Knight". Has anyone seen Slumdog Millionaire? It sounds like a nice movie.Years ago I made a point to see all the Oscar nominees before the broadcast but I haven't done that since "Titanic" won.
I just finished this movie. It is a very interesting story. The best moment was when the police captain said that the Joline character wasn't thrown into the insane asylum but escorted.
Let me begin by saying that "The Wire" is not for everyone. There is a lot of cussing, sex, and gratuitous violence. If you offended by these things don't watch. The show was an HBO mini-series that ran for four years set in Baltimore. It shows the inter-action between the police and drug dealers. More to come.
This morning I was listening to a writer for the New Yorker on a news show. The reporter was opposed to tax cuts for the rich. He seemed to be against tax cuts for the rich because the rich won't spend while middle class and poor people will. I think his view is rich people all have bank vaults like Scrooge McDuck had in the Donald Duck comic books and swim in their cash and coins. I hope some day this writer learns that rich people buy things and even hire people to do things for them.
This is the first police procedural film. It is the ancestor of the Law & Order's and CSI. People did not know they were being filmed because a hidden camera. It's a very good story. Worth Seeing!
February 3rd, 1959 is the day Buddy Holly, J P Richardson and Ritchie Valens died in a single engine plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa. This event was one of the early tragedies in Rock& Roll history. At least two movies have been made about the event. The song American Pie is of course probably the most memorable thing about the event.
This movie based about some MIT students who counted cards in Vegas. Counting cards is not illegal but is extremely frowned upon. Good performances by all the major and unknowns doing a good job as the students. Don't plan to count cards.
