|
|
Post by mikef6 on Jul 1, 2019 17:29:03 GMT
I will just start off by putting in my usual oar that there is a difference between a remake and another film of the same source material as a former film or films. But I really don't know what the distinction is here since Hitchcock's 1940 Oscar winner looms so large.
I think the whole cast is pretty lightweight, more as you would have in a TV version of a classic film. Not looking forward to it.
|
|
|
|
Post by louise on Jul 1, 2019 20:19:40 GMT
 Milton Hall apparently influenced Du Maurier when she came to describe Manderley, she had visited Milton Hall as a child. |
|
|
|
Post by Vits on Dec 1, 2020 6:15:21 GMT
REBECCA 1940 starts off as a romantic comedy where our unnamed protagonist meets an aristocrat named Maxim de Winter. They keep their relationship as a secret from her employer, Edythe Van Hopper. It's quite engaging. I can't wait to see--Oh, wait. That movie is over, because he proposes and there's a time jump. Now, it's a drama about the pressure of being a widower's second wife as well as a thriller about arriving at a new place and being the only one kept in the dark due to so much secrecy. Why did we need that beginning at all? If the movie had started at Maxim's mansion, would the plot have been any different? This wouldn't bother me so much if this second part hadn't been so badly-paced and repetitive. Luckily, Joan Fontaine's performance is good. 4/10 None of the actors in REBECCA 2020 do a bad job, but no one truly stands out either. The beginning lacks its predecessor's witty banter that made me laugh out loud, but this version of Mrs. Van Hopper was written better. Therefore, despite not being that relevant to the movie when looking at the big picture, she still leaves an impression. The imagery during the nightmare sequences is creative and it's a relief that this adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel includes the elements that were removed from the first adaptation (mainly due to the Hays Code). Unfortunately, it's the same plot (flaws and all), so it's still a chore to sit through. Both installments conclude with Mrs. Danvers (the evil housekeeper) setting the mansion on fire. The original concentrated on showing that more than wrapping the story up. This remake is less abrupt, because the focus is on the characters (which is less intense yet more meaningful) and because there's an epilogue where the de Winters get ready to leave the past behind and start a new life. However, a "clean slate" ending only works when the characters reflect on what they've been through up until that point. Here, it comes off as if they're ignoring their experiences. It eliminates the weight of all the drama. 4/10 ------------------------------------- You can read comments of other movies in my blog. |
|
|
|
Post by london777 on Dec 1, 2020 19:28:05 GMT
Lily ... is too established a star to be a natural fit like Fontaine ... audiences like Lily. It seems it is her ... who is poised to be the next big Brit GLOBAL star - I'm talking Liz or Audrey* or Julie Christie or Deborah Kerr level international stardom. Really? I have never heard of her. Anybody else here heard of her? Checking her filmography now, if she aims to be a big star she needs to start picking a few decent scripts, not trivia and remakes. I had never heard of her although she grew up in the next village to mine, though I had been deported before her career got going. I envy you being on first-name terms with all these famous actresses (Lily, Liz, Audrey, Keira, Carey, etc.)
|
|
|
|
Post by timshelboy on Dec 3, 2020 22:20:06 GMT
Lily ... is too established a star to be a natural fit like Fontaine ... audiences like Lily. It seems it is her ... who is poised to be the next big Brit GLOBAL star - I'm talking Liz or Audrey* or Julie Christie or Deborah Kerr level international stardom. Really? I have never heard of her. Anybody else here heard of her? Checking her filmography now, if she aims to be a big star she needs to start picking a few decent scripts, not trivia and remakes. I had never heard of her although she grew up in the next village to mine, though I had been deported before her career got going. I envy you being on first-name terms with all these famous actresses (Lily, Liz, Audrey, Keira, Carey, etc.) |
|
|
|
Post by timshelboy on Dec 3, 2020 22:20:38 GMT
Lily ... is too established a star to be a natural fit like Fontaine ... audiences like Lily. It seems it is her ... who is poised to be the next big Brit GLOBAL star - I'm talking Liz or Audrey* or Julie Christie or Deborah Kerr level international stardom. Really? I have never heard of her. Anybody else here heard of her? Checking her filmography now, if she aims to be a big star she needs to start picking a few decent scripts, not trivia and remakes. I had never heard of her although she grew up in the next village to mine, though I had been deported before her career got going. I envy you being on first-name terms with all these famous actresses (Lily, Liz, Audrey, Keira, Carey, etc.) She was a big hit in a live action Cinderella a few years back, followed it with a high profile turn in TVs downtown abbey, played Churchill's secretary in darkest hour and the female lead in yesterday, the hit Beatles jukebox movie. Next up is the lead in anew version of love in a cold climate, and the Brit tabloids are aquiver at her cosying up to her screen uncle Dominic west in real life ....... She's bigger than that virus we keep hearing about.you heard it here first🙄😎 |
|
|
|
Post by timshelboy on Dec 3, 2020 22:35:42 GMT
Well I enjoyed the remake well enough, but I was in the mood for something cosy with high travelogue value and lots of heritage porn, and it delivered. Lily was charming, armie dashingly romantic and Kristin had fun as Danny. Only real disappointment was how little of Wheatley's usualdistinct dark tone seeped in - you'd never peg it as one of his. Aside from the more faithful ending the only surprise was our sight of Rebecca's boudoir - a real ice palace.6/10.
|
|
|
|
Post by london777 on Dec 4, 2020 5:43:49 GMT
Really? I have never heard of her. Anybody else here heard of her? Checking her filmography now, if she aims to be a big star she needs to start picking a few decent scripts, not trivia and remakes. I had never heard of her although she grew up in the next village to mine, though I had been deported before her career got going. I envy you being on first-name terms with all these famous actresses (Lily, Liz, Audrey, Keira, Carey, etc.) She was a big hit in a live action Cinderella a few years back, followed it with a high profile turn in TVs downtown abbey, played Churchill's secretary in darkest hour and the female lead in yesterday, the hit Beatles jukebox movie. Next up is the lead in anew version of love in a cold climate, and the Brit tabloids are aquiver at her cosying up to her screen uncle Dominic west in real life ....... She's bigger than that virus we keep hearing about.you heard it here first🙄😎 Yes, I checked her filmography before posting, but this is all lightweight stuff, and while the "global superstars" cited always did plenty of that too, they did not achieve stardom that way. They all acted well in a few serious movies as well. I watched "Darkest Hour" and made no particular note of Churchill's secretary. Often I will pause a DVD and check the cast-list on IMDb if an actor unknown to me catches my attention. Not in her case. And if you are swayed by what "Brit tabloids" recommend, then may Freddie Starr eat your hamster.
|
|
|
|
Post by timshelboy on Dec 4, 2020 10:57:52 GMT
She was a big hit in a live action Cinderella a few years back, followed it with a high profile turn in TVs downtown abbey, played Churchill's secretary in darkest hour and the female lead in yesterday, the hit Beatles jukebox movie. Next up is the lead in anew version of love in a cold climate, and the Brit tabloids are aquiver at her cosying up to her screen uncle Dominic west in real life ....... She's bigger than that virus we keep hearing about.you heard it here first🙄😎 Yes, I checked her filmography before posting, but this is all lightweight stuff, and while the "global superstars" cited always did plenty of that too, they did not achieve stardom that way. They all acted well in a few serious movies as well. I watched "Darkest Hour" and made no particular note of Churchill's secretary. Often I will pause a DVD and check the cast-list on IMDb if an actor unknown to me catches my attention. Not in her case. And if you are swayed by what "Brit tabloids" recommend, then may Freddie Starr eat your hamster. I forgot MAMMA MIA 2 lightweight for sure but a global smash. I mentioned DARKEST HOUR - hardly a "lightweight" movie - her part was modest ...."Cast someone those under 30 will have heard of!" you can hear the marketing bods cry! - but tactically a sound move - and note in the intervening 3 years she has gone from supporting KST in DARKEST HOUR to being top billed over her (IN REBECCA). Aside from the Mitford for TV (guaranteed to be a hit I'd say) her next two are with Ralph Fiennes and Emma Thompson... again hardly "lightweight" co-stars. Here she is in a tabloid shot in all her global megastar household name glory gettng up close and personal with "dirty Dom" as he will almost certainly be known as...  
|
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🎄😷🎄 on Dec 13, 2020 11:51:03 GMT
My review at the time...  I know each movie should be reviewed based on its own merits, but the ghost of Hitchcock looms large over this one. I mean, was there ever a more suitable pairing of author and director than Daphne Du Maurier and Alfred Hitchcock? Both relished romping in the more macabre corners of storytelling. However, this new version is so by the book, and not Du Maurier's book, I mean the cliché.]Where Hitchcock's version was so mysterious and dark, this version is bright and nowhere near as dark. Take Mrs. Danvers, for example. Dame Judith Anderson created one of the all time great Hitchcock villainesses, imposing and scary. In this version, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, she's a snooty, bitchy housekeeper, but not intimidating on the same level.Kristin Scott Thomas is a real bright spot, however. She plays the role differently but quite well. Also liked Sam Riley as Jack Favell. Lily James is okay too. Armie Hammer, I kept asking why he was cast. He has the looks but he's not English and his accent was an odd mixture of American and English. He can be a good actor, but he came off pretty bland here.What I did like was the production design and the beautiful scenes in Monaco and the French Riviera. It's not a horrendous adaptation by any means, just a wildly adequate and not very exciting version of a beloved movie. It would be like if The CW did a mini-series of Citizen Kane starring the cast of Riverdale. Pretty, but lacking a lot of depth.I suppose these things keep getting updated because some folks won't watch older movies, even ones directed by Alfred Hitchcock, go figure. They want a more modern sensibility.  |
|
|
|
Post by timshelboy on Jan 1, 2021 21:33:42 GMT
Lily update
Caught The Dig ok she gets featured billing and her character does not appear until midway but then becomes focus of film. Ralph Fiennes vg still can't warm to Carey Mulligan
Love in a cold climate is being trumpeted as one of the new years big TV offerings.
And she has just been cast as Pamela Anderson in TV movie about Pam & Tommy's sex tape scandal. I can't decide whether that heavyweight or lightweight 😁🙄😎
|
|
