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CoffeeBeanCinema
Some of my Favorites....
Films:
Blade Runner (1982);
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014);
The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring (2001);
The Night of the Hunter (1955);
North By Northwest (1959);
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000);
Out of the Past (1947);
The Third Man (1949);
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948);
WALL-E (2008)....
Directors:
Wes Anderson;
Joel & Ethan Coen;
Clint Eastwood;
Howard Hawks;
Alfred Hitchcock;
John Huston;
Stanley Kubrick;
David Lean;
Quentin Tarantino;
Billy Wilder....
Actors:
Cate Blanchett;
Humphrey Bogart;
Michael Caine;
Robert Downey Jr.;
Paul Giamatti;
Cary Grant;
Samuel L. Jackson;
Robert Mitchum;
Liam Neeson;
Barbara Stanwyck....
Music:
Branford Marsalis;
Foo Fighters;
Joe Satriani;
Pat Metheny;
Peter Gabriel;
Philip Glass;
Pink Floyd;
Planxty;
Sting;
Yes....
When you see me rate a movie, here's how I designate a rating....
10/10 - Knocked me over, personally impacting and a near-annual re-watch
9/10 - Great, will stick with me a few days
8/10 - Really good, would certainly recommend it
7/10 - Good, I'd watch it again no problem
6/10 - Pretty good, at least enjoyable in some respect
5/10 - Not bad but definitely 'meh'
4/10 - Pretty bad, maybe a couple of redeeming qualities
3/10 - Bad, I'm not going to recommend this one
2/10 - Really bad, as in.... Yikes, someone spent time and money making this?
1/10 - Not only is it bad but I'm now angry that I've wasted a fraction of my life away watching this.
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The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
A Wilder Take on Sherlock Holmes
'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' (1970) is one of Billy Wilder's last and unfortunately least talked-about films that is easily in the running for one of the top three or so Sherlock Holmes films ever made.
The story told in 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' is an original and engaging one to be certain. Although it would be much more accurate to describe the film's story as a mash-up of two different stories (though the same threads can be seen from beginning to end), thought up by Wilder and his frequent co-collaborator I.A.L. Diamond. Holmes rarely encounters these types of cases throughout the character's history on the small or big screens; the narrative takes a closer and less romanticized (one might say... "private") look into Sherlock Holmes' life as a consulting detective. It would be criminal to give too much of the film's plot away - but the short of the long of it is that Holmes and Watson find themselves wrapped up in a strange set of events that leads them into the life of a young woman, international intrigue and perhaps even a monster of legend. However, this particular set of adventures play out much differently than Holmes feels Dr. Watson has famously recounted in the past.
As one may expect, legendary auteur director Billy Wilder ('Double Indemnity' (1944), 'The Apartment' (1960)) crafts a marvelous film in 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.' Wilder had originally envisioned - and even shot - this film as a three-hour epic with intermissions, more story lines, etc. as a part of the final cut. Unfortunately, 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' suffered from the age-old tale of intervention from the production studio. Still, even in its lasting taught form, the viewer experiences beautiful photography, a brilliant Miklós Rózsa score and wonderful performances from Colin Blakely as Dr. Watson & Christopher Lee as Mycroft Holmes throughout.
Robert Stephens, who had some practice playing the character on the stage before portraying the character in 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes,' is particularly fantastic in the lead role as Sherlock Holmes. As great as the modern-day portrayals from the likes of Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch are, it is difficult for me not to view Robert Stephens as the greatest screen Sherlock Holmes after seeing this film. The displays of intelligence, humor and fallible nature felt incredibly authentic - Stephens has sold the complexity and humanity of Holmes in a way that I do not think any other actor has yet topped.
As the most-portrayed character in movie history, the character of Sherlock Holmes can be seen in many different incarnations for the small and big screens. 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' definitely stands out among the masses as one of the finest screen productions to feature the character. Although the story is not based on anything original Holmes author Arthur Conan Doyle created, 'The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes' represents the character of Sherlock Holmes and world that Doyle created with a degree of quality that most screen incarnations have not been able to reach.