herbiehancock

No 259 - Groundhog Day Director - Harold Ramis Let me begin by saying MAN I LOVE BILL MURRAY! I don't think I can state that enough. He is someone who is so intensely brilliant in just about everything he does. He lifts the energy of a scene into something that bubbles and zings with comedy, whilst he himself can remain droll and deadpan throughout. This is a man who's minorest cameo can move a film from being pretty good, to being properly chucklesome . I'm aware I've said this a lot....but he is great. It is however, necessary for the lead to be as charismatic and as joyous to watch as Murray, because he is up against the very energy sapping nothingness that is Andie McDowell.... a women so dull she makes Hugh Grant look exciting in 4 Weddings... So, it is to Murray's credit that he manages to keep the film going along, but also make McDowell's character seem less of a wet blanket than she makes herself look... But, onwards to the film. Let me begin by sayi...

No 168 - Tootsie Director - Sydney Pollack I had never seen this film - and my initial thought was that it was going to be something that I'd already seen before..... Well.... I was wrong and a half! So, the marvellous and utterly superb Dustin Hoffman plays Michael Dorsey - an actor who gets into drag so to help him get a part as a female character in a soap, because no one will hire him as himself. "Aha!" You all say "I know where this is going!" And.... Whilst Dorothy Michaels is closer to Josephine and Daphne than she is to Mrs Doubtfire , and whilst there are some parallels (the male character falls in lover with a female coworker who only knows him as his female counterpart) Tootsie tells a very different and very interesting story. For all the farce. For all the camp. For all the comedy genius (it has Bill Murray in it - it must be comedy genius) the film tackles a pretty serious issue. It is a film essentially about feminism. About equality in the wor...

Just saw this pop up on Rotten Tomatoes. Color me interested. LOVE me some Duvall and Bill Murray too of course and Spacek is always solid This could rule Get Low Trailer

No 128 - Lost in Translation Director - Sofia Coppola Bill Murray has had this amazing comeback playing the wistful , distant, gloomy comedy. He is playing up to his haggard hound dog look and where once he was all wise cracking and sarcastic, now he is a sombre and sober type of comedy. You see it in Broken Flowers , you see it in Wes Anderson's back catalogue (who is probably responsible for this new direction) and you see it in this film. Bill Murray's incredible charisma and screen presence pulls you through this film. Even though he does spend most of it moping around. Bill Murray is important because Scarlett Johansson isn't the most charismatic character in this film, she does however benefit from the presence of Murray. The scenes they share together show a massive improvement in performance. However, Scarlett Johansson does benefit from the more quiet performances. I will rate her performance in this and in Ghost World other any of the more mainstream perform...

No 175 - Rushmore Director - Wes Anderson I love Wes Anderson, I have already spoken about my love for him in my rambly blog entry on The Royal Tenenbaums ., which is my favourite film. Rushmore, however, is the favourite film of quite a few people I respect and admire such as Phil, my former housemate and the excellent comedian Miss Josie Long . This is reason enough for me to explore it. Wes Anderson has a very distinctive style, both visually and thematically, so it is always comfortable to slip into one of his films. The big change in this film is the focus of the protagonist. The most common theme for his films are that a father figure is stubborn and self involved and needs to come to terms with the outside world. Here instead of a father we have a 15 year old boy. Max Fischer is rude and insular, delusional and petulant. He has these ideas that he is sophisticated and adult, yet he still throws massive petty sulks when he doesn't get his own way. He is not an immediately...

No 189 - Ghostbusters Director - Ivan Reitman Ah nostalgia! It is a truly beautiful thing. The G hostbusters were a big thing when I was a kid. I admit that I didn't have much experience of the actual film, but the cartoons were fabulous and the toys were pretty much the coolest (non Lego ) toys I had. You could squeeze their arms and their head would change expression . Genius. Incidentally.... why is Egon blonde in the 'Real Ghostbusters ' cartoon and toy franchise? What a strange thing to change.... The problem about nostalgia is it makes everything seem better than it was. However, Ghostbusters is not a victim of nostalgia at all - it is brilliant. The film is really well made, mixing slapstick comedy with witty banter and moment that are genuinely creepy. It also introduces the character of Peter Venkman - I don't care how much I loved the cartoons, there is no way that cartoon Peter could ever challenge the mighty Bill Murray. Murray is one of the best sarcast...