"JOHNNY TREMAIN" (1957) Photo Gallery

  

Below are screencap images from "JOHNNY TREMAIN", the 1956 Disney adaptation of Esther Forbes' 1944 children's novel. Directed by Robert Stevenson, the movie starred Hal Stalmaster, Luana Patten, Richard Beymer, Jeff York and Sebastian Cabot:

"JOHNNY TREMAIN" (1957) Screencaps Gallery

"FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE" (1963) Review

 

"FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE" (1963) Review

Have you ever heard the song, "What a Difference a Day Makes"? Well, the song's title kept going through my head, while viewing 1963’s "FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE", which was based upon Ian Flemnig's 1957 novel. It seemed such a difference from the very inferior "DR. NO" (and would prove to be quite a difference in my eyes to 1964’s "GOLDFINGER").

Not only do I consider "FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE" to be one of the finest Bond films in the franchise, but I also view it as Connery’s best. In fact, as with 1965’s "THUNDERBALL", his acting was superb in this film. James Bond not only seemed mature, but . . . [gasp] human. All one has to do is examine his interactions with leading lady Daniela Bianchi to notice this. Connery has never been so human as he was in this movie. And sadly, he was never this human again.

Connery was supported by a first-class supporting cast. Italian-born actress Daniela Bianchi portrayed the Soviet cipher clerk assigned to seduce him, Tatiana Romanova. What started as an assignment for Tania, ended up as full-blown love affair. Although, Bianchi had her dialogue dubbed by Zena Marshall (from "DR. NO"), she did an excellent job in projecting Tania’s wide range of emotions – including her disgust at ex-Soviet turned SPECTRE agent, Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya).

Speaking of Lenya . . . my goodness, I am speechless! What can I say? The woman was superb! I found her creepy in her scenes with Bianchi and Walter Gotell, yet fearful in the scenes featuring SPECTRE’s leader, Ernst Stavos Blofeld. In fact, she gave one of the best performances by any actor or actress portraying a Bond villain/villainess. And I must say the same for the highly revered Robert Shaw. Not only did his Donovan Grant turned out to be the template for many Bond henchmen to come (with only Andreas Wisniewski from "THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS" coming close), Shaw and Connery provided one of the best dramatic moments and fight sequences in the entire franchise.

Hollywood character actor, Pedro Armendariz, portrayed Bond’s Turkish contact, Kerim Bey. Sadly, the role of Bey would prove to be Armendariz’s last one. After finishing his scenes, he committed suicide, rather than suffer any longer from cancer. But fortunately for many Bond fans, Kerim Bey would prove to be his greatest role. Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell were competent as usual. And the movie would serve as the debut of Desmond Llewellyn as MI-6’s Quartermaster.

The plot for "FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE" centered around SPECTRE’s scheme to lure James Bond into stealing a valuable Soviet decoding machine, and unknowingly deliver it into their hands. In the process, Agent 007 is to suffer a disgraceful death, in revenge for the death of Dr. No. The movie not only had the good luck to be based upon one of Ian Fleming’s few well-written novels, the screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Johanna Harwood, did an excellent job of translating it to the screen. Rich with atmosphere and mystery, "FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE" almost seemed like the perfect spy thriller – a far cry from the schizophrenic and inferior "DR. NO". A few changes had been made, but overall, they seemed to serve the story very well.

Did I find "FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE" perfect? No. I have a few complaints. One of my complaints happened to be the Bond-Grant confrontation aboard the westbound Orient Express. From a dramatic viewpoint, it gave Connery and Shaw to exercise their acting chops. From a storytelling viewpoint, it made no sense. It just did not make any sense to me that Grant would take his time preparing to kill Bond, once he got the drop on the British agent. While Grant was busy searching through the unconscious Bond’s jacket and putting on his gloves, I found myself screaming at my TV screen – "What in the hell are you waiting for? Kill him!" I also found the two action sequences that preceded Bond and Tania’s arrival in Venice a bit too much. I had the feeling that the writers added an extra action sequence in order to fill in the movie’s running time. I could have done with either the helicopter sequence or the Adriatic Sea boat chase.

But you know what? Not even these flaws could deter my love for "FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE". It is one of the few James Bond films that do not adhere to the franchise's rather silly formula. The movie also possessed a first-rate espionage thriller seeped in Cold War politics. And it featured excellent direction from Terence Young, memorable performances from a talented supporting cast and Sean Connery's best performance as James Bond.

"KING KONG" (2005) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from Peter Jackson's 2005 movie, "KING KONG". Starring Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody; the movie is the second remake of the original 1933 film:

"KING KONG" (2005) Photo Gallery

Five Favorite Episodes of "STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE" Season Two (1993-1994)

 

Below is a list of my five favorite episodes from Season Two of "STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE". Created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller; the series starred Avery Brooks as Commander Benjamin Siesko:



FIVE FAVORITE EPISODES OF "STAR TREK DEEP SPACE NINE" SEASON TWO (1993-1994)



1. (2.23) "Crossover" - First Officer Major Kira Nerys and Dr. Julian Bashir accidentally cross into an alternate world known as the Mirror Universe, where a Klingon-Cardassian alliance rules over the quadrant's former rulers, Terrans (Humans), who are now the enslaved.

2. (2.24) "The Collaborator" - When a Bajoran collaborator named Kubus Oak announces his intentions to return home from exile and is denied passage by Kira Nerys; he contacts Vedek Winn, who is engaged in a power play to become Kai against Vedek Bareil, with evidence that the latter may have been partially responsible for a Cardassian massacre during the latter's occupation of Bajor.

3. (2.10) "Sanctuary" - The Skrreea, displaced humanoid farmers and political refugees from the Gamma Quadrant, seek to make Bajor their new home, despite opposition from the Bajoran government.

4. (2.22) "The Wire" - Dr. Bashir fights to save the life of former Cardassian spy-turned-tailor when a device implanted in the latter's brain, designed to alleviate pain in the event of torture, begins to malfunction and slowly kill him.

5. (2.08) "Necessary Evil" - When Deep Space Nine's local bar owner Quark is shot, the station's constable Odo relives memories of a five-year-old investigation when he served under the Cardassians.

"THE BOURNE IDENTITY" (2002) Review

 

"THE BOURNE IDENTITY" (2002) Review

Forty-two years ago saw the release of "The Bourne Identity", Robert Ludlum's first novel about the amnesiac government agent called Jason Bourne. The novel became a best-seller and spawned two sequels written by Ludlum. Then in 1988, ABC aired a two-part miniseries adaptation of Ludlum's novel, which starred Richard Chamberlain and Jacyln Smith. The miniseries turned out to be a big ratings hit. But it did not stop there. Over fourteen years later, Universal Pictures released its own adaptation of the novel, starring Matt Damon as the amnesiac Jason Bourne.

Directed by Doug Liman, the beginning of "THE BOURNE IDENTITY" more or less followed Ludlum's novel. Italian fishermen (instead of French) rescue an unconscious man floating adrift with two gunshot wounds in his back. The boat's medic finds a display of a safe deposit number surgically implanted under the unknown man's skin. The man wakes up and discovers he is suffering from extreme memory loss. Over the next few days, the man finds he is fluent in several languages and has unusual skills. But he cannot remember anything about himself or why he was in the sea. When the ship docks, the doctor sends him off to Zurich with some money to investigate the mystery of the safe deposit box. In Zurich, the man discovers money, a pistol and passports with his photograph. One of the photographs identify him as an American named Jason Bourne with an address in Paris.

Here, "THE BOURNE IDENTITY" begins to veer from both Ludlum's novel and the 1988 miniseries. Instead of alerting the forces of terrorist Carlos the Jackal, Bourne's trip to the bank alerted the CIA black ops program Treadstone to his whereabouts. And instead of coercing French-Canadian Marie St. Jacques to drive him to safety and using her as a hostage, Damon's Bourne offered money to a German-born Marie Kreutz to drive him to Paris. Before they can part, a Treadstone assassin attack Bourne at his Paris apartment. Due to the attack, Bourne is forced to kill the assassin and keep Marie by his side for her protection. And with her help, he sets out to discover his true identity and the truth that led to his wounded state in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. At the same time, Treadstone - led by the cankerous Alexander Conklin and the anxious Deputy Director Ward Abbott - continues sending assassins to kill Bourne and prevent him from revealing the organization's desire to kill a volatile exiled African dictator named Nykwana Wombosi.

I might as well put my cards on the table. "THE BOURNE IDENTITY" is a terrific movie. Director Doug Liman, along with screenwriters Tony Gilory and William Blake Herron, did a first-rate job of transferring . . . well, their vision of Ludlum's novel. Although the movie is not as faithful to the novel as the miniseries, I believe it is just as good. Liman, Gilroy and Herron decided to reject a good deal of Ludlum's novel in order to reflect the current political climate and to conform to Liman's opinions regarding American foreign policy. In the movie, Bourne is a CIA assassin who works for a black ops group called Treadstone that carries out unofficial hits on those they consider threats to the American government. He lost his memory after a failed attempt on the exiled Nykwana Wombosi. The movie is more of a criticism or indictment (depending on how one would view it) on U.S. foreign policy than Ludlum's novel. But the director and the two screenwriters made sure that they retained the novel's central theme - a CIA agent who loses his memory on the heels of a failed mission. Does this mean I believe Liman, Gilroy and Herron's changes are superior to Ludlum's original story? Not really. Ludlum's tale and the 1988 adaptation were reflections of the times they hit both the bookstores and television screens. By the time "THE BOURNE IDENTITY" was in production, the political scene had change. The real Carlos the Jackal had been in prison for about seven to eight years by the time the movie went into production. And in my opinion, Liman and the two screenwriters wisely reflected this change.

"THE BOURNE IDENTITY" also reflected some first-rate action sequences, thanks to Liman's direction, Oliver Wood's photography and especially Saar Klein's editing. My favorite sequences include Bourne's escape from the U.S. Embassy in Zurich, a car chase sequence through the streets of Paris, Bourne's final encounter with Conklin and two of the latter's flunkies inside Treadstone's Parisian safe house and especially the fight sequence between Bourne and another Treadstone assassin named Castel. I also enjoyed John Powell's atmospheric score for the film, which I believe more or less served as the basis for his work on the second and third BOURNE movies. And speaking of music, one could hardly discuss any BOURNE film without mentioning Moby's 2002 hit song, "Extreme Ways". The lyrics to Moby's song, supported by a very entertaining score, literally captured the nuance of the franchise's main characters . . . especially Bourne. Is it any wonder that it has become the franchise's theme song? Also, I have to commend Liman's insistence upon filming "THE BOURNE IDENTITY" in Paris, especially since executives at Universal Studios wanted him to use Montreal or Prague as substitutes for the City of Lights. Mind you, both Montreal and Prague are beautiful cities. But even I would have guessed they were not really Paris in the film.

I read somewhere that Liman had considered a wide range of actors like Russell Crowe and Sylvester Stallone for the role of David Webb aka Jason Bourne. Mind you, I think Crowe could have pulled it off. But I am not so sure about Stallone. Then again, he could have done so a decade earlier. However, Liman eventually settled for Matt Damon and the rest, as they say, is history. Damon not only gave a superb performance as the introverted and haunted Bourne, he also handled some of the action scenes very well, considering this was his first time in such a physically demanding role. He also had superb chemistry with his leading lady, Franka Potente. The latter was excellent as the free-spirited Marie Kreutz, who finds herself drawn to the mysterious Bourne . . . almost against her will. Other first-rate performances include Chris Cooper as the intense and hot-tempered Alexander Conklin; Brian Cox, who performance as the cautious Ward Abbott almost strikes me as insidious; and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, whose performance as the arrogant and verbose Nykwana Wombosi pretty much lit up the screen. The movie also featured first-rate performances from two cast members who said very little. Julia Stiles did an excellent job in conveying both the professionalism and wariness of Treadstone logistics technician Nicky Parsons with very little dialogue. Clive Owen had even less to say as Treadstone assassin "The Professor" and yet, he perfectly projected an intense and intimidating presence as a government killer.

"THE BOURNE IDENTITY" is probably my second favorite movie in the franchise. Yet, it is not perfect. One of the problems I had featured the death of Treadstone assassin Castel, who jumped out of the window and killed himself, following his fight with Bourne inside the latter's Parisian apartment. Marie asked Bourne why he did it. And honestly, I wondered why he did it myself. But Gilroy and Herron's screenplay failed to explain Castel's suicide. And to this day, I am still wondering why the guy jumped. Ward Abbott made the decision to shut down Treadstone, following its failure to kill Bourne. But instead of having everyone connected to Treadstone killed - something that Edward Norton's character in "THE BOURNE LEGACY" attempted to do - Abbott only had one person bumped off. And I could not help but wondering if his efforts were half-assed. I also had a problem with the CIA's reaction to Nykwana Wombosi's death. Following Bourne's failed attempt to kill him, the CIA Director had a fit over the unauthorized attempted hit on the former dictator. But when "The Professor" finally killed Wombossi, no one made a fuss or worried over the possibility that the dictator's death might attract more attention from the media. I thought this was rather sloppy on Gilroy and Herron's part. Finally, the movie's second half was in danger of losing my attention, due to Liman's slow pacing. If it were not for the sequence featuring Bourne and Marie's visit to her friend (or stepbrother) Eaumon's French farmhouse, I would have fallen asleep and missed Bourne's final confrontation with Conklin.

What else is there to say about "THE BOURNE IDENTITY"? Like I said, it is my second favorite of the four movies in the BOURNE franchise. In its own way, it is just as good (but not better) than the 1988 miniseries that starred Richard Chamberlain. Not only did the movie featured a first-rate, if flawed screenplay by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron; it also featured fine direction by Doug Liman, along with a superb cast led by Matt Damon who proved to be an excellent Jason Bourne.