A Man For All Seasons

A Man For All Seasons is a triumph of an adaptation of play. It takes just enough without adding too much nor trying to over compensate for the material. It certainly has some visual splendor in the visuals particularly in the costumes. It however is well aware of the strength of the material itself allowing the words to have their places front and center, most well realized by Paul Scofield's brilliant performance, though the rest of the cast uniformly strong particularly John Hurt as the duplicitous Richard Rich. The writing itself is terrific in realizing the complexity of the story while still following through in the technically more straight forward element of one man refusing to compromise his beliefs. It creates the right cinematic feel through the right flourishes, I particularly like when everyone can here King Henry's bluster In his private conversation with Thomas. It finds just the right blend in that all the power of the play is retained, yet properly amplified by what is offered by the medium of film.
5/5

Django

Django is a great example to be used to show just what makes Sergio Leone's westerns so special and honestly what made Clint Eastwood such a good lead. It tackles very similair subject matter, like Fistful of Dollars its also an adaptation of Yojimbo, but just does not do in a nearly as entertaining or artful of a fashion. Nero's better here than when he tries English on for size, but he's still does not make for a great western hero. I don't think the film's bad though, its a good Spaghetti western, not a great one. I do love the song though.
3.5/5