Reviews

With full frontal soderberg's maturity and credentials to being the american godard and traufaut is complete. soderberg's mastery of the filmic and audio and visual image in the resurrection of the thematic structure and complete identity with those who would deconstruct the filmic to create the new brechtian imagery is akin to the new wave and altman. This film is amazing on so many levels. one is akin to compare it to traufaut's day for night but it's transcending of that film on so many levels does not do it credit. Tarintino for all his overblown rhetoric has not even come close to soderberg's transcending of the visual image, the use of the hand held camera, the use of over and under exposure as a reflextive measure to comment on film's semantic and thematic aura is unparelled in the modern era, the giddy jump cuts which sneak up on the audience is nowhere to be found in the tarintino filmography. soderberg truly is a band apart.

This is truly polanski's dark masterpiece that is rarely discussed. After the trauma of polanski's life - his parents dying in during the holocaust, the killing of sharon tate, polanski the artist contributes this fascinating adaption of shakespeare's play. out damned spot out....indeed. The blurry dreamy photography of a softly tinged filter is reminisent of Geoffry unsworth's photography on Boorman's Zardoz and both complement's the Macbeth's demented blurry nightmare state and it's set and symbolism. Truly a great film which is both sexy, scary and sensual.

The limey is truly one of the great poetic films of the modern cinema era. I am reminded of the great Christian Metz theories of film as walking through a dream while watching the film and the films of godard, bertolluci and tarintino.

The noble quest of Terrence Stamp to avenge the death of his daughter and come to terms with his own loss and vulnerability is at the heart of the film. The fake facade of the California dream as personified by Peter Fonda gives new meaning to the sun drenched sun scapes of the southern california of our film lexicon and sun drenched images of our common film memories. One is reminded of the poetic visions of films subconsious to resurrect the thematic meter of our consious association with film. The films of altman, nicolas ray, kubrick, trauffaut, and lynch come to mind.

Truly a great film. With characters beutifully constructed in any film of cassevettes. Imagery as brutal as that of peckanpah. Who would have thought that we'd be rooting for stamp to overcome Captain America.

Spies like us is truly one of the great comedies ever filmed a wonderous pleasure for film goers. The hijinks of chase and ackroyd is truly hilarious and bittersweet. We know they are pawns of the military industrial complex and the overt pressure of the military establishment and we idenify with both their vulnerability and the thankless task of their role as part of the economy subsidization of the u.s. military after ww2 for we also feel the thankless task of our role in the post ww2 build up and cold war hysteria. When we meet up with the Russians we also feel their vulnerabilty and thanklessness for their part in the total reduxtion of socialism to subsidize the military.

Spies like us truly ranks as one of the great black comedies of all time. It kind of reminded me of what Dr. strangelove would feel like if it we're a bob hope and bing crosby road movie in cinerama. One laments though that there isnt a big dance and song number, it attains a certain heft but doesnt shine as bright as it could this could have been one of the truly stinging satires of the 1980's trickle down economics of Ayn Rand theory you feel like they should be singing on the way through the adventures. One is reminded of the great Sean Connery singing scenes in Darby o'gill and the little people and on the fiddle. There are so many opprotunies missed but in the end the payoff is high and its one heck of a ride on the way to the ultimate subversion of the military.

This hour lengh drama focusing on the work of medical coroner Wojeck is one of the true great moments in Canadian Televisiion history. Wojeck's premiere in 1966 was both symbolic and a precurser to the strong federalist state and protector of it's people that Canadian's felt mirrored their self image and reflected the values of Canada. The tv show was a precurser to the election of Canada's own great civil right's crusader, Pierre Elliot Trudeau. A true tribute to the show's identification and symbolism of the Canadian values of the era to seek a truly Just Society for all. The values that we fought in war we're now being fought on the streets by a truly epic hero.

Wojeck's seemed to spend every episode not only fighting the injustices of the right wing police force in Toronto, but also the entrenched value systems of the justice system. Both a metaphor for the changes that all Canadian's sought in the 1960's as the country made her way from the imperial dominance of British Colonization to the independence of today. Seeped in this shroud of government metaphor lay the waste of those that society would forget if only not for Wojeck.

Every episode is layerd with the drama of not only those Wojeck is out to avenge but also the metaphor of the moments of family and husband that Wojeck gives up to avenge those less fortunate.

For those of us that look back fondly on this show there is also an underlying feeling of the lament of loss. This show marked one of the truly great period's of Canadian television drama not to be repeated again for over a decade and the loss of John Vernon who would go from Canadian Hero to American villian with his move to the united states. There's also the bittersweet memory that for all of this program's inventivness, it's truly documentary feeling in the French new wave style of the hand held camera and natural lighting fused with a street realism rarely portrayed on canadian television. There is also the sadness that for all this inventiveness the plot of the program was essentially the same as the later Quincy. But Quincy was no Wojeck, thats for sure.

One of the true classic moments for bond fans in the 1970's was this film. After years of let down's and missteps the bond makers came back with this film. One wonders why such easy wit, drawn out characterization and really sensual women and excellent action scenes we're missing from the previous bond efforts since thunderball with the exception of on her majesty's secret service. This film has a scale and feel to it that is truly epic. The film was shot by the nephew of the great French film director Jean Renoir who's family art ties return's to the impressionist era of the Renoir family. Truly a visual feast. The action in the film is believable and characters memorable with bond doing battle not only with a truly classic bond villian but also with a Russian Female agent that is his equal.