‘Movie Corner’ Archives
Movie Corner: A Haunting in Venice
3.5/5 Stars 20th Century Studios 2023 Mystery/Drama/Thriller By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II First, Haris Zambarloukos’ cinematography of Venice is stunning. Second, Kenneth Branagh as detective Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie fashion, I think passes the test here. He has taken Christie’s characters in previous work such as the remakes of Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. Venice seems to draw one in from almost any point. It has ancient villas, grand cathedrals and narrow streets. It also has the sense of romance, intrigue and danger, (at least in the movies). A couple of films that may reflect these sensations are Eva (1962), directed by the late Joseph Losey, a drama/romance; and Don’t Look Now (1973), directed by the late Nicolas Roeg, a drama/horror/mystery. 20th Century Studios The year is 1947, the winds of World War II in the minds of the people. Detective Hercule Poirot has recently retired and moved to Venice. In [...]
Movie Corner: Oct ’23
Elemental Disney/Pixar, 2023 Animation/Adventure 3/5 stars By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II One can honestly say Pixar doesn’t make bad movies. One can also say - with conviction - since Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter left the company in 2018, the quality in the storytelling has noticeably diminished. Nonetheless, Pixar‘s animation is still fun. While animation/adventure like the Toy Story installments, Finding Nemo, Up, Monsters, Inc., Inside Out, Cars (well at least the first one) are all at stellar levels, Elemental, I think, falls into the “mediocre” category.Yet, there’s a cuteness to Elemental, and strangely enough, not much to laugh about. The theme of Elemental is fire, water, earth and air, all for life to subsist, can only be possible with God. Fire, the element that seems to be most discriminated against, is forced to live in Firetown, on the outskirts of Element City. The story begins with two immigrant Flames Bernie [...]
Movie Corner: Oppenheimer
5 Stars Universal Pictures 2023 Biography/History/Drama By HOWARD MCQUITTER II Howard McQuitter II To tell the story of Robert Oppenheimer in a book, in film or on stage is to tell the story of a very complicated man. Director Christopher Nolan gives the viewers more than just a caption of Oppenheimer in his new film. The man, J. Robert Oppenheimer, was a physicist, genius, doctorate, father of the atomic bomb, victim of the “Red Scare”. Indeed, I thank Nolan for making a film about a man whose atomic bomb (advanced into the hydrogen bomb, then to the nuclear bomb) changed the entire outlook of modern warfare since 1945.The film doesn’t start with Oppenheimer’s childhood years, but starts circa 1925 when Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) is at Harvard about to graduate with a physics degree. He then does his postgraduate work at Cambridge University only to become frustrated by his overbearing tutor Patrick Blackett (James D’Arcy) who insists that his student stick [...]
