Posts Tagged ‘Marathon’

note:  I’ve decided to go back to doing individual reviews for each film in my marathons.  Please continue to enjoy.

Having decided to marry, Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer), Karin (Meryl Streep) migrates to Africa to do so and run a farm while she’s there.  Eventually she finds that she meets Denys (Robert Redford) and falls madly in love with him after discovering that this marriage she wanted turned out to be nothing like she expected.  The film chronicles Karin’s time in Africa. (more…)

It’s been two week since my last update on my Kurosawa watchings and I’m here to report that I have since then completed my planned marathon.  I did finish a month later than planned, but really who cares?  In the last two weeks I’ve watched High and Low (1963), Stray Dog (1949) and Seven Samurai (1954).  Here are my thoughts on each. (more…)

After Taketori Washizu [Toshiro Mifune] and Yoshiaki Miki [Minoru Chiaki], Commanders of the First and Second Fortress respectively, help suppress a surprise attack from Inui they have been called to meet with the Great Lord.  On the way to the Spider Web Castle they become lost in the maze of a forest that surrounds the castle.  In this forest they meet a spirit [Chieno Naniwa] that tells them of their future and this leads them on a path of betrayal and murder to reach these goals that were foretold for them. (more…)

Lord Hidetora Ichimonji [Tatsuya Nakadai] after many years of battle and eventually becoming the ruler of his vast lands has decided that he has done enough and would like to retire from his life.  He decides to bequeath his kingdom to his three sons: Taro [Akira Terao], Jiro [Jinpachi Nezu] and Saburo [Daisuke Ryu].  After his third son, Saburo, speaks up frankly his father takes offense and decides to disown Saburo and banish him from his lands.  Tango [Masayuki Yui], Lord Hidetora’s assistant, defends Saburo and receives the same treatment as Saburo.  Shortly after Lord Taro and Jiro takes power of the land Lord Hidetora finds himself quickly being shunned out of his world by his sons due to their inability to put up with his ways anymore now that they no longer need to answer to him. (more…)

So this December I started and completed my goal of my Yule Tide Marathon.  The films reviewed were all first time watches for me and they spanned from the 40s right up to 2003.  Here are a list of the films reviewed: (more…)

After being a performer for so long and being fed up with his hectic schedule Jim Hardy [Bing Crosby] decides to retire and live the rest of his life on a farm.  After that fails to live up to his expectations he decides to turn it into a special kind of club, The Holiday Inn, where people can come on each public holiday and enjoy a special song and dance show he put on with all his guests. (more…)

So what if one Christmas Eve as Santa [Edward Asner] is doing his thing an orphan climbs into his sack and gets carried back to the North Pole and ends up being adopted by an elf and being raised as an elf while actually being a human?  Well this is what happened to Buddy [Will Ferrell] and eventually he kind of comes across the information that he isn’t an elf and that his biological father, Walter [James Caan], is on teh naughty list and wants to meet him.  So Buddy goes on a long journey to New York City and meets the family that could’ve been while sharing his Christmas cheer with the entire city. (more…)

Less than a couple of months ago I headed out to the theatre to catch Robert Zemeckis’ straight up remake of this classic Charles Dickens’ story and I said in my review how banal the story had become.  However, with the use of some simple narration through the characters of Charles Dickens [Gonzo] and his audience [Rizzo the Rat] as well as making the story into somewhat of a musical Jim Henson made ease of making the film less about hitting all of the already well known plot points and more about entertainment and allowing its audience to enjoy the film. (more…)

Kris Kringle [Edmund Gwenn] exists and he works at Macy’s.  Kris Kringle, better known as Santa Claus, is real and after chastising Mrs. Walker [Maureen O’Hara] for having a drunken Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is given the job.  Soon enough we find out that he actually believes he is the one and true Santa Claus.  He is eventually sent to a mental institution and put on trial as to if he is really Santa Claus. (more…)

After the war is over Bob Wallace [Bing Crosby] and Phil Davis [Danny Kaye] team up to become one of the biggest show men and producers in the show business, and on this Christmas Phil decides to follow the Haynes sisters, Betty [Rosemary Clooney] and Judy [Vera-Ellen], to Vermont where they are booked for a show.  When they arrive in Vermont they find out that their old General Waverly [Dean Jagger] is the owner of the inn and having a tough time with business.  The boys then decide to throw on a show to cheer up the General and try and boost his business. (more…)