Dr No

I have started a collection of the Bond series on Blueray. Being a stickler for that sort of thing I am buying and watching them in strict chronology. Dr No was the first, released in 1962, starring the then 32 year old Sean Connery. It must have had quite an impact. Few movies at the time could match its production values. My Dad can remember seeing his first Bond movie From Russia With Love at the old Playhouse cinema in Durban. He remembers the impact of the vividly colourful locations and the action scenes. Dr No has one of the most fondly remembered Bond girls, Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder. Who can forget that scene where she emerges from the water as Bond watched from the beach? The villain of the title, Dr No, played by Joseph Wiseman has very little screen time and is only around long enough to be unceremoniously dumped by Bond into the boiling water surrounding his nuclear reactor. His clumsy artificial hands claw helplessly at the metal structure as he tries in vain to escape, his somewhat vague plan of spoiling American rocket launches foiled. It’s a pleasure watching these old Bonds. They look stunning on Blueray – impossibly crisp and clear for a nearly 50 year old film.

Greenberg

Greenberg is a slightly tedious movie about an extremely tedious man, played with frightening conviction by Ben Stiller. Greenberg is man who hates the world only a little bit less than he hates himself. Having just checked out of a mental institution following a nervous breakdown, he is coming from New York, where he lives and works as a carpenter, to LA to live in his brother's large house for six weeks. His brother and family will be away, leaving Greenberg with Florence, the family's personal assistant. Apparently families have personal assistants in LA. Florence is as warm and likeable as Greenberg is not. Inexplicably, she seems to like him and the two start a sort of halting affair. The compelling part (the only compelling part) of this movie is watching Greenberg try to get beyond himself to reach out and be decent to Florence, who would be the best thing that ever happened to him, if he would just give her a chance. By the end there are tentative signs that he may manage, but by then we have ceased to care, even if Florence hasn't. This movie has a theme reminiscent of the far superior As Good As It Gets. That movie is always a pleasure to watch. The Nicholson character, while being as self centred as they come, was someone you could imagine caring about. Greenberg is not. The movie is not hugely enjoyable and a tad pointless. Great performances from Stiller and Greta Gerwig as Florence.

Has anyone seen Marty?

Today is the day that Marty McFly arrived in the future after hitting 88mph in a pimped out Delorean in 1985.

Ellie Parker

If your daughter, or your son for that matter, tell you that he or she wants to be an actor and make it big in the movies, force them to watch Ellie Parker. It is a very bleak comedy of a few days in the life of an aspiring young actress as she charges around Los Angeles auditioning for minor roles in crappy movies. The grimness of her so called professional life, is perfectly matched by a hopeless and empty private life. She lives with her boyfriend who is introduced to us is a brilliant wordless scene that cries "LOSER!" more eloquently than a thousand words could. Ellie bemoans her relationship with him in a hilarious scene with her therapist. In parts this movie is excruciating to watch, no more so than the auditions and in particular the last one where the director and producers are all falling-down drunk. There are some very funny moments too. My favourite being when Ellie and her friend pause for a rest during a walk in the Hollywood hills. Her friend looks out at the view and says "My God, that is so beautiful". The camera swivels on to a hazy, colourless view of LA, the buildings barely visible through the smog. A great parody on the Hollywood movie industry and I suspect very close to the truth. Naomi Watts is excellent.

Toy Story 3

Isn't it wonderful (and so rare) when a franchise gets better with each sequel? Toy Story and Toy Story 2 were excellent. Ground breaking work for Pixar and literally a new frontier in animation. Toy Story 3 does not push the envelope in term of technical prowess. We have now grown accustomed to breathtaking, razor sharp, images in 3D. What Toy Story 3 does is use the technology so well that we forget about it. The story is engaging, suspenseful (sometimes quite scary), moving and in a sense miraculous, in that you end up really caring about these toy characters. They have had many adventures and faced great uncertainty together. We admire their courage and determination to stick together no matter what. When Andy says that the most important thing about Woody is that "he will never, ever give up on you, no matter what", we nod in agreement. Woody has demonstrated his loyalty throughout the series. I suspect that sadly this may be the last we see of these toys. The story reaches a natural and very satisfying ending. The Toy Story franchise is immensely enjoyable cinema of the highest quality. More than any of the other excellent movies they have made, it has cemented Pixar's reputation as the leaders in the now hugely important animation genre. It deserves its status as a classic and will stand up to many repeat viewings in the years to come. I'm off to get the Bluerays.

Dan In Real Life

A lovely, comforting, sweet comedy with Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche. Dan is a widower raising three daughters on his own. He is a newspaper columnist writing a column about parenting. Ironically he is a bit clingy in his own parenting. Most of the story takes place at his parent's beach house on Rhode Island. He meets and connects with Marie, who turns out to be his brother's new girlfriend and off we go. There are some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments and some very touching moments. I enjoyed seeing John Mahoney (Marty Crane in Frasier) again who plays Dan's dad.