The Living Daylights (1987)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

John Glen

Country

UK

Cast

Timothy Dalton, Maryam d'Abo, Joe Don Baker, John Rhys-Davies, Art Malik, Jeroen Krabbé, Andreas Wisniewski, Thomas Wheatley, Robert Brown, Desmond Llewelyn, Geoffrey Keen, Caroline Bliss, John Terry, Walter Gotell, Virginia Hey, Julie T. Wallace, Nadim Sawalha

Storyline

James Bond (Timothy Dalton) is living on the edge to stop an evil arms dealer (Jeroen Krabbé) from starting another world war.

Opinion

For some mysterious reason I was looking forward to see Timothy Dalton's James Bond. I don't know why, I'm not even a fan of his, or anything. That day finally arrived, and it brought something new to the table. Besides Dalton.

I could say "The Living Daylights" is the rebirth of the franchise, and it's not an exaggeration to say that because this film is miles away from most of his predecessors starring Roger Moore. 

Like I mentioned before, there's finally something new, fresh in this film: the story. Finally, I don't know how long I've waited to say this, the film does not follow, step by step, the plot structure of previous movies. Actually it turns away from it, becoming less predictable, and therefore gives more power to the twist that in the past often didn't have any impact because of the predictability of the story.

Maybe this new James Bond falls in love too easily, he also shows a little too much sensitivity for the sweet Bond girl, and his obedience to his superiors begins to wobble a little, but overall the story is good. However, the villains are not that good, maybe because they are not given enough screen time.

Anyway, there is more action - this time it does not include the same sequences seen over and over again - but the plot isn't suffocated by it. Q's gadgets are back as well, from the spectacular Aston Martin everyone would like to have, to a special keychain.

Timothy Dalton does a very good job considering it's his first time as James Bond, and played the character wonderfully. He lacks that something that both Connery and Moore had but he makes up for that with a lot of sympathy.

Thursday Movie Picks: Fish Out of Water Movies

Hello there, and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, a weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where you share three movies to fit the theme of the week each Thursday.

This week's topic, Fish Out of Water, was surprisingly easy for me. Chances are some of my picks won't fit the theme completely because, you know, like in math, if it's easy you're doing it wrong. But I don't really care, because I love this three films, so without further ado, here's my picks for the week:

Sleeper (1973)

Woody Allen is cryogenically frozen, and awakened 200 years in the future, in a world that is not like he would have expected, and finds himself, alone, in the middle of a rebellion. This is one of the earlier funny stuff Allen made, it has both slapstick humour and sophisticated satire, and it’s plenty of memorable moments – like when Allen dresses up as a robot.

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Top cop Nicholas Angels is so good at his job that makes his fellow officers look like slackers by comparison and is transferred in a sleepy village, where nobody seem to care for the law, not even his new, witless partner, and he soon start suspecting a sinister conspiracy is afoot. The film has the perfect balance of splatter and British humour, features a wonderful Simon Pegg paired once again with Nick Frost. A suggestion? Watch it for the greater good!

Pretty Woman (1990)

Feisty, good-hearted hooker Vivian Ward is hired for a week by a wealthy, ruthless businessman, Edward Lewis, to serve as his escort at several business related social events. Needless to say, the relationship just doesn’t stay ‘just business’ for long. Yeah, I know, it’s a rom-com, and I don’t like rom-coms but this one is a quite funny, enjoyable, (cheesy) modern Cinderella story starring an adorable Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, that make one of the most attractive pairs in cinema. 

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Genre

Drama

Director

Robert Mulligan

Country

USA

Cast

Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, John Megna, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Ruth White, Brock Peters, Estelle Evans, Paul Fix, Collin Wilcox, James Anderson, Alice Ghostley, Robert Duvall, William Windom, Crahan Denton, Richard Hale

Storyline

Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck), a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man (Brock Peters) against an undeserved rape charge, and his kids against prejudice.

Opinion

A few months ago I read Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the first time. It was before she died, by the way. I absolutely loved the novel, and I was a hundred percent positive this film, although it's a classic, would have disappointed me, because you know, hardly movies are as good as novels are. I couldn't have been more wrong, because Mulligan's "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a remarkable, utterly moving drama that really does justice to one of the best books ever written.

For those of you who are not familiar with it, the story is told through the eyes of Jean Louise Finch. It is about her father, Atticus Finch, and her family, and it takes place over several months of many years earlier. It is a beautiful psychological insight on childhood, about kids fantasies and the reality that surrounds them. But most important, it is a wonderful, and powerful story about racism and prejudice in our society, not only in the 1930's, but sadly today as well.

The moral of the book - man is scared of the unknown, and fear and ignorance can lead a man to do horrible things - is delivered to perfection thanks to Horton Foote's brilliant screenplay.

Robert Mulligan's direction manages to make the film both sentimental and powerful, as anyone who has read the novel would have wanted it to be, and it is has infinite sensitivity: in every single scene there are the sincere, innocents eyes of the young protagonists. 

Gregory Peck gives an excellent performance as Atticus Finch, a man who believes in the integrity of justice, yet recognizes the failings of the justice system. He brings to the screen the exact same character Harper Lee put on paper. Brock Peters is terrific as Tom Robinson, the black man falsely accused of raping a white girl. The trio of kids also does a great job, and in his screen debut Robert Duvall brings to life Boo Radley, the mysterious neighbor, and conveys great emotions with no dialogue at all.

Everyone should watch this film, because it really makes you understand what life is like when you live in a society that rejects you and discriminates against you all the time without a valid reason.

Mention-Worthy Quotes

Atticus Finch: If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

Genre

Comedy | Romance

Director

Judd Apatow

Country

USA

Cast

Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen, Jane Lynch, Elizabeth Banks, Leslie Mann, Kat Dennings, Gerry Bednob, Jordan Masterson, Shelley Malil, Jonah Hill, Marisa Guterman, Marika Dominczyk, Mindy Kaling, Mo Collins, Kimberly Page

Storyline

40-year-old Andy (Steve Carell) has a nice life complete with an action figure collection and a cushy job at an electronics store, still he hasn't had sex. After accidentally revealing it to his colleagues, they help him get laid. But along the way Andy meets a nice mom, Trish (Catherine Keener), and they fall in love for each other.

Opinion

I remember seeing the trailer on TV a decade ago, but I was too young to watch the film. When I was old enough, I didn't care much for it. Now I didn't have many expectations, and maybe it's because my expectations were so low that I've enjoyed the film so much.

"The 40-Year-Old Virgin" is a crude, nasty and often ridiculously funny comedy that somehow manages to be a notch above most of the other sex comedies.

The plot is quite simple - a man is forty and a virgin, and his co-workers try to get him laid -, it sure is one of the most childish ideas ever and the filmmakers do nothing to conceal its nature, yet the film somehow manages to tell a quite complex story, that is funny and gives a lesson at the same time.

The film could easily have turned out a lot differently. It could have been an endless sequence of sex gags and jokes. Sure, there are sex jokes, a lot of them, but along with the crude, vulgar humour, the film shows the real life struggles of people like Andy in his working environment, and everyone should learn something from that.

I had a few problems with the film though. First, the film is much longer than it needs to be. I was never bored, but two hours are a lot of time for this kind of film. There are too many scenes that are neither funny nor contribute to either the plot or character development. Also I didn't want the typical happy ending Hollywood-style, the film should have ended after the chase scene. And the racial banter wasn't needed. 

But Steve Carell is terrific as Andy, and really has the change to shine as a comedian - which was denied to him in "Bruce Almighty" -, and everything he does is cute, adorable and hilarious. Catherine Keener gives a great performance as Trish and her chemistry with Carell is great. Good support also comes from Romany Mancoy, Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen. 

If you're one of those people easily offended you might want to way far away from this one though.