Posted in Drama on January 16, 2015 by Mark Walker
Director: Robert Benton. Screenplay: Robert Benton. Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry, Jane Alexander, George Coe, Howard Duff, JoBeth Williams, Bill Moor, Howland Chamberlain, Jack Ramage, Jess Osuna.
“Who’s gonna read me my bedtime stories?”
The 1970’s has always been a decade of film that I’ve never withheld my appreciation for. I’d go as far to say that’s it’s been the best in terms of America’s productivity. It was the decade where we were introduced to some of the finest screen actors in Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson & Al Pacino. We had films of such high calibre as The Godfather’s, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, The Deer Hunter, Dog Day Afternoon. I could go on and on here but I mention this because Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep where another two of these marvellous performers and Kramer vs. Kramer one of the films that’s so often forgotten about.
Posted in Crime, Drama on January 14, 2015 by Mark Walker
Director: David Michôd. Screenplay: David Michôd. Starring: Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson, Scoot McNairy, David Field, Tawanda Manyimo, Gillian Jones, Jamie Fallon, Susan Prior, Anthony Hayes, Nash Edgerton, Richard Green, Ben Armer, Gerald Coulthard.
“You should never stop thinking about a life you’ve taken. That’s the price you pay for taking it”
After the surprise success of his Australian family crime drama Animal Kingdom, David Michôd became a highly anticipated new director overnight. It opened to rave reviews with Quentin Tarantino himself reportedly ranking it his third favourite movie of 2010. The most familiar face onboard was Guy Pearce but it also introduced many cinema goers to the fresh and vibrant talents of Joel Edgerton, Ben Mendelsohn and Jacki Weaver. Now four years later, Michôd’s back with a post-apocalyptic road movie working from a story he collaborated on with Edgerton and allows Pearce to add another solid role to his resumé.
Director: Jonathan Glazer. Screenplay: Jonathan Glazer, Walter Campbell. Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Paul Brannigan, Adam Pearson, Kryštof Hádek, Joe Szula, Michael Moreland, Jeremy McWilliams, Scott Dymond, Andrew Gorman, Jessica Mance.
“You’re not from here? Where are you from?”
Having been a fan of both Sexy Beast and the underrated Birth, I was happy to hear that Jonathan Glazer’s third directorial outing would be an adaptation of Michael Faber’s popular science fiction novel of the same name. Also (as a Glaswegian myself) I was even more intrigued to hear that this forthcoming story would be set primarily in Glasgow. I was interested in how the city and it’s inhabitants would be depicted and I have to admit that Glazer’s decision to do so, has paid dividends.
Posted in Crime, Drama on January 6, 2015 by Mark Walker
Director: Quentin Tarantino. Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary. Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Ving Rhames, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Christopher Walken, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Quentin Tarantino, Maria de Madieros, Frank Whaley, Phil LaMarr, Alexis Arquette, Burr Steers, Paul Calderon, Bronagh Gallagher, Angela Jones, Peter Greene, Duane Whitaker, Stephen Hibbert, Julia Sweeney, Robert Ruth, Lawrence Bender, Steve Buscemi.
“Oh man, I will never forgive your ass for this shit. This is some fucked up repugnant shit”
By the time that Quentin Tarantino’s sophomore effort reached us in 1994, he had already been heralded as the new wunderkind of American cinema. His debut Reservoir Dogs recaptured the magic of the heist thriller and his screenplay to the bold and brilliant True Romance opened up a real desire to see more of his fast-talking low life’s. Pulp Fiction is certainly no different and is now widely considered one of the best films ever made. It received 7 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director and one for each of it’s leading trio of actors in Travolta, Thurman and Jackson. It walked away with the Best Screenplay award and it won the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. On this evidence alone, it’s hard to argue that Tarantino not only delivered on, but surpassed, his early promise.
Posted in Uncategorized on January 3, 2015 by Mark Walker
Okay, considering my relative absence from the blogosphere in the last few months, I’m in no position to be posting self-congratulatory or self-masturbatory nonsense. However, I only make these posts once a year and I don’t make them to self-indulge.
Cutting to the chase, I make them to thank all you guys out there. As I’ve always said, this site wouldn’t be the same without you. Yes! It’s the third year for me and I’m astonished that I’m still here. Do you want to know why? The reason is because of you… How can any blog thrive or remain alive without anyone interested in reading or peeking in? This post is for you guys and I want to thank you all.
Granted, I took a back seat mid-year but that was due to my passion and campaigning for Scottish Independence (hence the titled photo – incase anyone missed the reference). 2014 was a historical year for Scotland and I, honestly, couldn’t commit to blogging when it meant the future of my beloved country. In hindsight, I wish I had done more (campaigning that is).
Needless to say… I’m gutted with the result. Scotland not only chose to shit themselves at the thought of freedom but the aftermath and choice to stay within the union has left many disheartened. A campaign that began with hope and positivity, unfortunately ended in hatred and disappointment.
I’m not one to say I told you so but even the NO voters are regretting their decision under one of the most ruthless and elitist governments we’ve ever had.
Anyway, enough about politics and more about films and blogging. I’ll, hopefully, start blogging again with the real enthusiasm that I once had and I can’t thank all of you enough for sticking by me throughout this difficult year. It really is heartwarming and (as my previous anniversary posts have done) I’d like to give a shout out to my top five commenters.
I hate to single people out (as I appreciate everyone’s involvement) but it always gives me the chance to link to the sites that have given me the most commitment. Please check them out, they will reward you as they’ve done me.
Onwards to the next year friends. Here’s hoping I can be as active as I once was. l’ve learned how to tie my shoelaces in the blogosphere but now I’d like to tie my shit together!
Many thanks to everyone, though. Blogging is hard work and requires a commitment that I’m certain you all understand. I, personally, not only hope to continue but I hope to see more from all of you as well. Go for it people. Take you’re future in your hands!
It’s hard to describe to those that didn’t experience the passion (and) disappointment for Scotland in this year but I hope this rising young Scottish lad can condense it…
Posted in Uncategorized on December 31, 2014 by Mark Walker
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
Madison Square Garden can seat 20,000 people for a concert. This blog was viewed about 69,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Madison Square Garden, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Posted in Drama with tags 2014 on December 1, 2014 by Mark Walker
Director: Richard Linklater. Screenplay: Richard Linklater. Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater, Libby Villari, Marco Perella, Steven Chester Prince, Charlie Sexton, Jamie Howard, Andrew Villarreal, Tom McTigue, Richard Robichaux.
“You know how everyone’s always saying seize the moment? I don’t know, I’m kind of thinking it’s the other way around, you know, like the moment seizes us”
For me, an overriding question often hangs over the work of Richard Linklater which is; how long will this fantastic director go on without awards recognition? He’s, quite simply, one of the truly great American filmmakers. His ideas are always highly original and the execution of them nothing short of pure brilliance. From his debut Slacker to the recent completion of his Before trilogy, Linklater has always shown the skill to match his hugely ambitious projects and after filming over a 12 year period, Boyhood may just be the most impressive feat he has ever undertaken. I wouldn’t be surprised if at least a nomination comes his way now.
Posted in Drama with tags 2001 on November 27, 2014 by Mark Walker
Director: Richard Linklater. Screenplay: Stephen Belber. Starring: Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, Uma Thurman.
“I’m not high and mighty. I’m too high to be high and mighty”
As a companion piece to the marvellous Waking Life, director Richard Linklater delivered this experimental and solid little adaptation of Stephen Belber’s stage play. Some may not have even heard of this one, let alone seen it, as it’s probably one of his most unseen works. As always with Linklater, though, it confirms his place as one of the most original and under appreciated of American filmmakers.
Posted in Uncategorized with tags 2014 on November 25, 2014 by Mark Walker
Welcome back to Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…
1: Before Tom Hanks made the character of “Forrest Gump” a household name, both John Travolta and Bill Murray were considered for the part. Travolta admits it was a mistake to turn down the role. However, the author of the story always pictured John Goodman as the ideal Forrest Gump.
Director: John Michael McDonagh. Screenplay: John Michael McDonagh. Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Kelly Reilly, Chris O’Dowd, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, Isaach De Bankole, M. Emmet Walsh, David Wilmot, Marie-Josee Croze, Domhnall Gleeson, Orla O’Rourke, Pat Shortt, Gary Lydon, Killian Scott, Owen Sharpe.
“That’s great cocaine. Very moreish.”
The first collaboration between director John Michael McDonagh and Brendan Gleeson was 2011’s hugely original and hilarious Irish film “The Guard” which delivered one of Gleeson’s most memorable roles and showed that McDonagh shared a similar offbeat approach to his brother Martin’s “In Bruges“. Martin went on to make a misjudged step to the U.S. with “Seven Psychopaths“, meanwhile John wisely decided to remain in Ireland and produce the best film of them all.
Posted in Comedy, Drama with tags 2014 on November 18, 2014 by Mark Walker
Director: Lenny Abrahamson. Screenplay: Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan. Starring: Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy, Francois Civil, Carla Azar, Tess Harper.
“With all his issues, Frank is the 100% sanest cat I’ve ever met.”
With the exception of Matthew McConaughey and his outstandingly brave career choices of late, there are few actors who have been as consistent or interesting to watch as Michael Fassbender. After the much (and unfairly) maligned The Counselor and a thoroughly deserved Oscar nomination for 12 Years a Slave, Fassbender’s decision to pop on a papier-mâché head and remain unseen for almost the entirety of an independent, oddball comedy is certainly an interesting choice. However, it’s a good one and proves that his ability to spot a unique and worthwhile project is thoroughly intact.
Posted in Horror with tags 2014 on November 11, 2014 by Mark Walker
Director: Jennifer Kent. Screenplay: Jennifer Kent. Starring: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Tim Purcell, Barbara West, Hayley McElhinney, Tiffany Lyndall-Knight, Tiffany Adamek, Adam Morgan.
“If it’s in a word or it’s in a book, you can’t get rid of the Babadook”
By now, most people will be aware of the Kickstarter project where people raise funds to get their projects of the ground. There have already been some notable films that have reached their goal in Rob Thomas’ Veronica Mars movie and Jeremy Saulnier’s marvellous Blue Ruin. Well, director Jennifer Kent has managed to do it again by raising $30,000 to add to her modest budget and make a feature length film of her 2005 short Monster. Most of these funds were channeled towards the art department and with the evidence onscreen, it’s money well spent.
Posted in Crime, Drama with tags 1999 on November 6, 2014 by Mark Walker
Director: David Fincher. Screenplay: Jim Uhls. Starring: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier, David Andrews, George Maguire, Richmond Arquette, Eugenie Bondurant, Rachel Singer, Christina Cabot, Sydney Colston, Jared Leto.
“We are consumers. We’re the bi-products of a lifestyle obsession”
Despite showing confidence in his abilities, some unwanted studio interference with his feature debut Alien 3, left director David Fincher carrying the can for failing to fuel the franchise. It was critically panned and a massive failure but Fincher didn’t let that get him down. He got his angry head on and seemingly still had a point to prove. What followed were two of contemporary cinema’s most visceral works; the serial killer thriller Se7en shocked audiences to their core while Fight Club cemented Fincher’s reputation for being one of the most wildly inventive directors of his generation. With these films alone, it’s clear that Fincher does things his way now.
Director: David Fincher. Screenplay: Andrew Kevin Walker. Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, John C. McGinley, Richard Roundtree, Leland Orser, Mark Boone Junior, Richard Portnow, Richard Schiff, Charles S. Dutton, Kevin Spacey.
“He’s a nut-bag! Just because the fucker’s got a library card doesn’t make him Yoda”.
There have been many memorable serial-killer thrillers over the years ranging from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho to Michael Mann’s Manhunter, through Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs and even Fincher’s later investigative thriller Zodiac could include itself among the greats. Some of these titles mentioned might already strike you as the very best of the sub-genre but, for me, David Fincher’s dark and disturbing Se7en is the one to beat.
Posted in Uncategorized with tags 2014 on October 28, 2014 by Mark Walker
It has been some time my Trivia Tidbit enthusiasts but it’s a pleasure to welcome you back for more little movie facts. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related factoids that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…
1: When Richard Nixon was elected President he compiled an “Enemies List” – a list of potential political opponents, of which, actor Paul Newman found himself to be on it. He was #19 for his anti-Vietnam views. Newman said that being on Nixon’s enemies list was “…the highest single honour I’ve ever received. Who knows who’s listening to me now and what government list I’m on”.
Posted in Mystery, thriller with tags 2014 on October 23, 2014 by Mark Walker
Director: Hossein Amini. Screenplay: Hossein Amini. Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst, David Warshofsky, Daisy Bevan, James Sobol Kelly.
“I’m sorry I disappointed you”
Whether or not you have read any of the psychological thrillers of novelist Patricia Highsmith is neither here nor there but as film fans you will no doubt be familiar with the adaptations of her work. The most notable being Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers On A Train, René Clément’s Plein Soleil or Anthony Minghella’s American remake of the same story in The Talented Mr. Ripley. A knowledge of these films will give you an idea of the suspense contained within her prose. However, Drive screenwriter Hossein Amini has unearthed a lesser known gem in The Two Faces Of January and his translation from page to screen delivers one of the best and most accomplished thrillers of the year.
Director: Jim Mickle. Screenplay: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle. Starring: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don Johnson, Vinessa Shaw, Nick Damici, Wyatt Russell, Bill Sage, Brogan Hall, Kristin Griffith, Ken Holmes.
“Well, boys, it’s Howdy Doody Time”
Jim Mickle is not a director who’s name you might instantly recognise but he’s one that’s been chipping away at career for himself. Along with writing partner Nick Damici, they’ve delivered some relatively successful, low-budget horror films over the last few years with Mulberry St, Stake Land and a remake of the Spanish film We Are What We Are. With Cold In July, they’ve delved into a different genre altogether but, again, the results are quite impressive.
Directors: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller. Screenplay: Frank Miller. Starring: Mickey Rourke, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green, Jessica Alba, Powers Boothe, Dennis Haysbert, Ray Liotta, Rosario Dawson, Christopher Lloyd, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, Jamie King, Juno Temple, Stacy Keach, Marton Csokas, Jamie Chung, Lady Gaga, Bruce Willis.
“No one’s ever really guessed what hell is. It’s watching the ones you love…in pain”
After a nine year gap, director Robert Rodriguez finally returns to the dark graphic novel’s of Frank Miller’s Sin City and it’s pugnacious inhabitants. Fans of the original (myself included) had been waiting with bated breath for more of the same but sadly this doesn’t deliver as well as it could and feels somewhat flat in comparison.
Posted in Crime, Drama with tags 1992 on October 7, 2014 by Mark Walker
Director: Quentin Tarantino. Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino. Starring: Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Lawrence Tierney, Randy Brooks, Kirk Baltz, Eddie Bunker, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Wright.
“Somebody’s stickin’ a red hot poker up our asses and I wanna know who’s name’s on the handle”
Before becoming a cinematic sensation, a young Quentin Tarantino worked in the film rental store Video Archives in Manhattan Beach, and would often recommend little-known titles to customers. On one occasion, he suggested Louis Malle’s Au Revoir Les Enfants, to which the customer mockingly replied, “I don’t want to see no Reservoir Dogs.” And so the title of Tarantino’s blistering debut film was born. It was originally planned as a $30,000 personal film with his friends, before Harvey Keitel showed an interest in the script and came onboard as the star and co-producer which helped hike the budget up to $1.5 million. The rest, as they say, is history. Tarantino had finally made his mark on the movie map and has since become one of the most highly praised directors of his, or any other, generation.
Posted in Uncategorized with tags 2014 on August 13, 2014 by Mark Walker
It’s with a heavy heart that I’ve cut short my recent blogging hiatus to come back and offer up some special Trivia Tidbits after the sad passing of Robin Williams. Suffering from depression for most of his life it just shows how such an illness can overcome a person. Sadly at age 63 he took his own life. As it’s 2014, here’s 14 ways of shedding some light on a great talent from both ends of the dramatic and comedic scale.
1: Early in his career, Williams told a reporter that he was born in Scotland. His original press releases indeed listed Scotland as his place of birth. He admitted that he was “under the influence” at the time of saying this. He was really born in Chicago.
MARKED MOVIES 