ww1red_baron Reviews

Vertigo (1958)

Truly Hitchcock's greatest masterpiece

[10/10 · 15 May 2006]

Vertigo reflects a landmark achievement in direction and cinematography.Besides being an excellent film it provides you with a free tour of San Fransisco 's sight seeing. Scenes have been shot with great camera angles and the credit of tailoring the entire plot with some great views must go to Mr Hitchcock. The story is John "Scottie" Freguson( James Stewart )is hired by his friend to trail his wife Madeliene(Kim Novak)whose suicidal tendencies are foiled by Scottie and he falls in love with her.The rest is for the viewer s to watch .The thin line separating suspense and romance is very well maintained and till the very end a complete thrill and a great story of romance is assured. A gripping plot along with great direction makes it one of the greatest films ever made .So go ahead and watch it it is worth every single penny.

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

A brilliant portrayal of a tragic destiny. A masterpiece indeed!

[10/10 · 6 December 2005]

Director Billy Wilder brilliant portrayal of the tragic destiny of NormaDesmond(Gloria Swanson ),an aging silent film queen remains a classic masterpiece and one the best movies ever made. Celebrated masterful performances by William Holden(Joe Gills) ,Erich Von Stroihem(Max)and Nancy Olson(Betty) makes Sunset Boulevard a timeless classic.

Norma Desmond is an aging silent film queen who is neglected for over two decades by the directors and forgotten by her fans. Joe Gills is a struggling script writer and accidentally stumbles across Norma's palatial mansion. His fortunes change for good though he hates his new life and wants to get back to his work.This unfolds a tragic destiny .

William Holden's performance is truly commendable and together with Norma Desmond ,Joe Gills make up the screen's greatest characters ever. Erich Von Stroihem as Norma's discoverer,ex-husband turned her butler is a very important character who shows his faithfulness till the very end and will go to any extreme to ease Norma's pain.Betty(Nancy Olson) reader and a prospective script writer comes up with a poignant performance.Truly a timeless masterpiece indeed.

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

An all star cast team up to provide an excellent ,moving performance

[10/10 · 18 October 2005]

Judgement at Nuremberg is one of the best ,and my favorite, courtroom movies ever made.The courtroom scenes were electrifying.The all star cast have teamed up very well to put a powerful performance.Hats off for Maxmillan Schell !!He was amazing and was duly rewarded with an Academy Award.I felt Schell was at his best when he prosecutes Mr Peterson(Montgomery Clift) justifying the judgment to sterilize him.Hans Rolfe(Schell) is the leading defense attorney with great respect for Dr. Ernst Janning(Burt Lancaster) whom he considered to be his role model,defends and upholds the judgments made by the judges.These judgments were according to the laws of the land during Nazi rule and hence the judges were innocent.Burt Lancaster who spoke very little except for a patriotic harangue was at his best and i felt he deserved at least an Oscar nomination.

Spencer Tracy( Judge Dan Haywood)had a very important and tough role to play though he makes it look very simple.Marlene Dietrich(Mrs. Bertholt) and Montgomery Clift(Rudolf Peterson)pitch in with short but important and brilliant performances.Overall great acting,great dialogs,great script,great direction combine to provide the right ingredients for a prefect movie.

The African Queen (1951)

Great performance by Humphrey Bogart & Co under grueling circumstances

[9/10 · 23 September 2005]

African Queen is a classic movie and truly deserves its 17 th position in AFI's 100 years 100 movies list.Shooting of this film was done under testing conditions in the African continent and full credit to the stars,the director and the crew for coming up with such a great show.The film's storyline is survival in a hostile environment and is very well depicted. Some great scenery to go with it.Charles Alnut(Humphrey Bogart) and Rose Sayer (Katherine Hepburn) have the energy and the spirit of not only to take on mother nature but also enough patriotism to take on the Germans.

Humphrey Bogart was absolutely amazing in his portrayal of Charles Alnut a man who would do anything to survive.For Alnut survival is primary mannerisms are next.Humorous dialogues had been a specialty of Bogart and he lives upto his reputation in this movie. He truly deserved his Oscar for best actor.Katherine Hepburn was also excellent as Rose Sayer a pious lady ready to mend Alnut's ways and makes Alnut bend to her whims and fancies every single time.Credit must also be given to director John Huston for bringing out the best from the cast.

Mrs. Brown (1997)

Bill Conolly is terrific!!

[8/10 · 21 September 2005]

Mrs Brown is a good movie with a good storyline ,excellent performances by Bill Conolly ,Judi Dench and Antony Sher. Antony Sher(Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli)adds some humor to the the movie .It was a delight visiting the beautiful Scottish Highlands thanks to some marvelous photography and a very good recreation of the Victorian age. The real show stealer I felt was Bill Conolly(John Brown).He is portrayed as a loyal,charismatic,fun loving Scottish highlander who can dare to defy the Queen's orders .The scenes involving Victoria and Brown are electrifying.It surprises me that a talented actor like Bill Connoly Does not get many good roles.I would definitely love to see more of this talented actor.

Patton (1970)

Hats off for George C.Scott!!

[10/10 · 20 September 2005]

This is an amazing movie while viewing which one feels as if the director and the cameraman just videotaped General Patton's life during the world war and presented it before the audience.Hats off to GeorgeC.Scott for delivering a mesmerizing performance.Only Patton himself could have done the role better,though the Patton portrayed by Scott used far less profane verses than General Patton.Another major difference is that Patton wasn't as good a public speaker as is suggested in the movie.Karl Marlden was excellent as General Omar Bradley.Viewer's shouldn't see the film with a fixed mindset that it will contain as much action that was depicted in A Bridge too Far or The Longest Day .This is a war movie with a difference.

Amadeus (1984)

Excellent!! But far from depiction of truth

[10/10 · 20 September 2005]

Amadeus is an excellent movie in every sense of the word.Recreation of Mozart's heavenly music ,great acting performances by F.Murray Abraham & Tom Hulce,excellent costumes...& the list goes on.Viewer's should not be swayed away by the depictions in the movie.Mozart was well versed with compositions of every leading composer of Europe & was not God to create music out of his mind.Depiction of Mozart as an alchol addict and promiscuous are not correct.Moreover Mozart knew how to behave in front of the aristocracy.Antonio Saleiri was a great composer and never actually tried to destroy Mozart.In fact his attempt to suicide was not due to any guilt conscience but possibly due to the shock he received when he heard the news of one of his favorite disciple's untimely demise.However the movie would have been drab and boring if Mozart's biography was depicted.The plot is good and enjoyable.

Cinderella Man (2005)

Awesome!! Sueshot Oscar winner.

[10/10 · 19 September 2005]

This is a truly awesome movie.Rusell Crowe and Ron Howard have teamed up to deliver a truly knockout punch. By all standards this is the best movie of this year I have seen so far.Paul Giamatti is at his best.Despite the negative portrayal of Max Baer Cinderella Man will be one of the top contenders for the Academy Awards.The screenplay is amazing. If you liked Million Dollar Baby you will just love Cinderella Man. Audiences may find some similarities with Ron Howard's Oscar winning movie " The Beautiful Mind" because of the same director ,lead actor & scriptwriter only Cinderella Man is much better in every aspect.