The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe probably was greenlit the moment The Fellowship of the Rings proved to be a great success. The series of Narnia is after all the friendly companion to that series as they both come from the minds of scholars J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis with a love for the classical fantastical stories of old. This story is a different beast than LOTR, in that it technically skews closer to the Hobbit, in that it is more overtly a children's fantasy tale, and where Tolkien rejected allegory Lewis embraced it. This film follows up the greatest fantasy trilogy ever put on film so it probably wasn't going to quite match it, perhaps the source material did not even allow for it. This film though suggests this series as attempting a recreation of that success than fully embracing its own. The film lacks a visionary director at the helm. What they do is instead rely on the strength of the source material, and of its various artist on and off screen. There isn't that same cohesion in the work though individual aspects are strong, but not everything has the right type of consistency. Thankfully most of it does work, and the source is strong enough to make for a good film even if this is not an extraordinary adaptation. It's a more than decent one but only just that.
3.5/5 

Bram Stoker's Dracula

Bram Stoker's Dracula takes its crack as the oft told tale of the blood sucking count through delivering the most faithful adaptation of the source material as written, taking the more complex plot of the book, with the multiple suitors and multiple liaisons to Dracula, and actually making the only a major change an addition. The addition being trying to add some humanity to the villain by having Mina Harker (Winona Ryder) be the reincarnated long lost love of Dracula's whose death spurned him to embrace Satan and become a vampire in the first place. I will actually say that aspect of the film is a weaker of it, well except for Dracula's monster cry of sorrow over her at one point. This is perhaps because such a romance requires a bit of sincerity, and how this film thrives is Francis Ford Coppola's direction of the film. Coppola seems to know the material is absurd in some ways and plays into this brilliantly by playing up the camp by going through a broadly operatic tone. This fits the material actually quite well and enlivens through Coppola's mastery of the technical aspects of the film. The film looks amazing in every regard particularly its special effects and makeup, and he has the right type of fun in the madcap visuals that represent the story. Now the only thing Coppola doesn't take a strict control of in this regard are the performances where you can have fun picking out who understand the tone and who does not. Gary Oldman as Dracula gets it, Sadie Frost gets it, Anthony Hopkins gets it, Tom Waits really gets it, but Keanu Reeves doesn't nor does Winona Ryder. They seem to be in a different film however they really don't get in the way too much. Coppola's tone, which is perhaps his last great hurrah as a visionary, masters the material brilliantly by making the insanity of it wildly entertaining.
4.5/5

The Dresser

The Dresser is a stage adaptation about an actor and his troupe and crew, particularly his dresser attempting to put on a production of King Lear during World War II in England. The idea of the stage adaptation is always a bit tricky as it is easy enough to lose the power of even a great source material if mishandled or misjudged. Director Peter Yates not only captures the power of the original source material but he finds the needed effort in making it cinematic. There are perhaps a few additional moments there to make the film overtly so, but that's not the focus of what makes this film work. It is still most often in the theater. Yates is careful to add these touches in the right moments but perhaps most importantly realize the strength of the material that is already there. The material itself is filled with such rich difficulties through the strong personalities of the troupe particularly the central actor, but also finds something very special in the central relationship. The two of them are fascinating together, obviously amplified by the performances of Albert Finney and especially Tom Courtenay. The two are terrific in finding the way the two are separated yet find a common ground through the production, the way they speak yet never exactly seem on the same level. It is a brilliantly dynamic fully realized and made actually surprisingly moving by the end of the film. Yates allows the performances to thrive as they should yet he has a careful eye in never abusing his hand, yet giving every scene in the theater the right touches to enliven them. It is never just a scene of actors simply talking. This is memorable adaptation as it captures the strength of its source yet successfully delivers onscreen. I wouldn't say you can completely forget that it came from the stage, like say an Amadeus, but you can say "that's a great stage adaptation".
4.5/5

The Right Stuff

The Right Stuff was a box office failure upon its release, despite finding a fair amount of success with the Academy Awards, but I would not say it is a film that has found its place with a cult status. It is instead specifically beholden to those who see it, which isn't a cult in this case, it's just anyone who happens to see it. The failure of the film seems strange, but perhaps it is because the film itself does not pigeonhole itself in its genre whether it be as a historical epic, a character study, a satire, or specifically a special effects driven picture. It is all of these, but you cannot sell the film on a single one despite excelling in each. On one hand it is a picture that celebrates ambition, and pure Americana in a purest of sense. Granting it this invigorating mysticism particularly in the exploits of Sam Shepard's Chuck Yeager. It captures that achievement purely. It succeeds in being a character study of Yeager, but also so many of the Mercury seven realizing the different big personalities so brilliantly. It is a satire though in that it reveals the ridiculousness of the propaganda and subverts the American dream even after having given credence to it. It does both without failing at either nor losing the sense of its tone. On top of it all it is a visual masterpiece with visual effects which hold up to this day. I love this film because it successfully says that this story doesn't need to be about a single thing. It is about the thrill, and achievement through overall ambition. It is about the big personalities it requires to fulfill the ambition, it is about how all of that is even ridiculous in its own way too. It finds the complexities and revels in it. It's a great film.
5/5

Cabaret

Cabaret may be to many the film that nearly beat the Godfather for best picture, after all the film won more Oscars overall including best director for Bob Fosse. This film though is not some simple musical adaptation from the stage as Fosse, who despite coming from the stage himself as a choreographer and director, strives to adapt the stage musical into a truly cinematic work. Well for this non-fan of musicals, I will say this is quite a success. Fosse cuts the flab, often a problem in the adaptation, by limiting songs to only where they make sense. Those scenes tend to have an even greater impact as the songs never feel there for the sake of it, but relate far more directly to themes also realized outside the club. There is only a single song we see outside of the club, where singing comes naturally in performances, and that is the anthem "Tomorrow Belongs to Me". That scene stands as one of the most single brilliant pieces of direction in the 70's as it leads into the song of seeming of just beauty and pride, to reveal it to be this fervent anthem for Nazism. The film excels in keeping that underlying current of dread as related to the Nazis even as it reveals purposefully in the excess of our main characters. What it carefully does though is never becomes caricature giving life to everyone even granting sympathy to Liza Minelli's Sally Bowles, partially because of her striking performance, but also because Fosse never demonizes the character despite her nature. He instead captures this sense of the people on the edge some hopeful, yet tragically so, in the pure relationship of the Jewish couple, then the more lustful examination of the writer, the count, and Sally who seem to shy away when any substance seems to be found in their relationships. It's a great film and it is interesting that a man who came from the stage knew so clearly that a dynamic adaptations needs liberties, and changes to become truly cinematic.
5/5

The People V O.J. Simpson

The People V O.J. Simpson obviously follows what was dubbed by some to be "trial of the century", that being football star O.J. Simpson being tried for the murder of his wife. This series could almost be described as a train wreck waiting to happen, yet to its credit it never does happen. Now to be sure there are times where the train starts sparking near the tracks, and losing traction, but it never falls off completely. Those moments are mostly found in the depiction of the man himself particularly in his most personal situations where the show veers heavily towards camp, this also is not helped by Cuba Gooding Jr who wildly overacts in the role as well as just is a poor fit for him to begin with. The bits we get of the "juice"'s personal life seemed purposefully skewed towards the melodramatic. The show shines however when we get into the courtroom where the show successfully reveals the circus, but also the intense complications involved that unfortunately are made to go beyond the man's guilt. Inside the courtroom the big personalities work for the defense, except for John Travolta who just goes a bit too far even for his role. The series though successfully though unveils the curtains on those personalities, or at least has some fun with their egos and presence. On the prosecution side though the show is perhaps at its best in revealing the unique struggles of the two attorneys who aren't quite ready for what the circus of the trial, the media, but each have their very personal investment within the case. There is where the most potent material is found, and it successfully bridges sort of the spectacle of the trial, with a real emotional connection realized. When the series is succeeds it is often quite great particularly in recreating those most intense interactions in the courtroom, when it's off it is more than a little odd. In the end the series seems to give you both the tabloids and the real journalism approach to the story. This creates not the most consistent tone, however the series is on point most of the time, which is certainly more than enough to create a compelling story.
4.5/5

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Mini Series

It is in many ways true that television is better than it has ever been, and it now where many of what will be seen as the classics of television may be created. I write this because that sort of "list" doesn't yet exist, in say the way we have a Sight and Sound poll for the greatest films of all time. Although there are series that still are treated with affection from the earlier period they are few and far between. There were earlier indications of change though with a rise in mini-series of note beginning around when this Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy premiered in the late 70's, and adaptation of John Le Carré's novel of the same name. Although it must be noted that some of technical and budgetary elements due date it as a television production of the time. Thankfully the same cannot be said for the storytelling which brilliantly captures the world found within the novel, a world of dark twists and turns, of a specifically glamorized spy world. This actually further reflected in that low key production in many ways, as the offices of the spies could be of any old office, they just are living in a normal world just like anyone else, on the surface anyway. That lack of veneer plays directly into the idea of this spy world though which is entirely without glamour or glitz found in a James Bond. These are just tired older men doing a job, although that job is one of duplicity and mercilessness. The series is brilliant in crafting this world and realizing through the various characters headlined of course by Alec Guinness's outstanding turn by George Smiley, that apparently influenced the way Le Carré wrote the character in future installments. The series is about low key yet powerful moments that capitalize on the incisive nature of the writing and the strength of the performances. It might not have the production value of a film, but it does have excellence in storytelling, perhaps even more so as the series is an early example of making use of what television has to offer that film does not.
5/5