Li'l Duce's Reviews Palace

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The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) A well-made flick, with good narrative rhythm and very good special effects by Harryhausen. 7\10

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The Avengers (1998) Yawny at the beginning, when based more on humor, it gets better with special effects taking the helm. I wasn't a fan of the series but I have the impression that it was much better than this, especially as Fiennes is anonymous. Thurman anticipates her Kill Bill role.  6\10

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King Rat (1965) A more "serious" approach to a Stalag 17 kinda story which ends up being not half as good, quite boring in the first half, actually.  Segal is obviously miscast in a sob role, Courtenay plays his usual role of obtuse officer; Fox might be an excuse to argue the existence of a gay subtext. 5\10

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King Rat (1965) A more "serious" approach to a Stalag 17 kinda story which ends up being not half as good, quite boring in the first half, actually.  Segal is obviously miscast in a sob role, Courtenay plays his usual role of obtuse officer; Fox might be an excuse to argue the existence of a gay subtext. 5\10

I didn't like this one much either.

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Baron Prásil (The Fabulous Baron Munchausen)(1961) I gave to the wartime german movie a 8\10 waiting to see again this one after 40 years. I can say that this is great entertainment and humor. Still, in view of the different production values, I raise to 9\10 the vote given to the Albers flick and give the 8\10 to this one.

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Ukradená vzducholod (1966) Not the best Zeman, though it has its merits. But there are some parts (like those of the children dealing with the pirates) which are quite boring and long. 6\10

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Na komete (On the Comet) (1970) One of Zeman's masterpieces. I'm not totally convinced by the chromatic decisions. More colour would have benefited the images. 8\10

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S*P*Y*S (1974)This comedy made me laugh more than 99% of american comedies are able to do. Nostalgia? Maybe. I like so much the underdog duo Gould-Sutherland and Paris as locale. It took me back in time. I see that at IMDB reviewers are divided, as for Wild Bunch.  8\10

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The Living Daylights (1987) A good contender for worst Bond ever. 007 offers this time an entertainment for kids only, there's little (if any) violence and sex. The plot is boring, the action scenes uninventive, the villains unimpressive and the girl (D'Abo) is just a pretty face (that's the only naked part, with the hands, she shows of her body)0. The new Miss Moneypenny isn't pretty and can't act: how did she get the part? 4\10 only because is a Bond.   

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Licence to Kill (1989) Aware that the emasculated Bond of the previous movie had no future they went for the opposite route this time and, for almost half movie, the succeeded. The torture scene of Leiter and the shark comes unexpected in a 007 movie. The intrudoctury scene and the following one of Bond attacking Zerbe's ship are among the best ever of the series. Unfortunately from then on the movie loses momentum and makes it hard to get to the end. 6\10

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Casque d'or (1952) I'd give  9\10 were it not for two elements: the absence of colour (any movie set in late 1900 Paris  must be in colour: one associates it too readily with the painters of the age) and the protagonists. Signoret is said unanimously to be at the height of her beauty in this movie: which makes me wonder all the more what poor Montand found in her heavy-jowled, puffy face. Reggianoi, I don't know: he always looked to me like a walking zombie, who found his real dimension after he turned 50: he surely doesn't look like somebody experienced like casque d'or might fall for.  But otherwise the movie is perfect. 8\10

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I compagni (The Organizer) (The Strikers) (1963) I remembered it as good, but it's better than that. It wasn't a hit in Italy (and probably elsewhere) because I presume it was supposed to be a comedy while it's not. I think that more comedy in the dialogues would have been profitable.   8\10 

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Hellzapoppin' (1941) This is the very first movie I saw in english, early '70's. I had gone to the cineclub to see another movie (can't remember which one) but they had changed program as the reels hadn't arrived. I couldn't understand a line of dialogue except that of Mischa Auer "What a woman" which I anticipated yesterday, 40 years later (talk about memory...). I liked most of the musical numbers (notably the famous boogie ballet) and for me it is still the best "demential" comedy ever made. And Martha Raye got swell legs. 9\10

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An excellent collection of Scorsese's first 3 shorts (I had seen before only The Big Shave, but the other two are, not surprisingly, much better) and 2 documentaries. 8\10