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Anne Frank – The Whole Story

admin — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:12:49 +0000

Ben Kingsley, Brenda Blethyn, and Hannah Taylor Gordon star in the stirring tale of one of the most influential young women of the 20th century. Based on Melissa Muller’s critically acclaimed book, ANNE FRANK goes beyond the story you already know and paints the true portrait of Anne both before and after she went into hiding. Get to know the high-spirited and popular girl before the war, and experience the challenges of the brave people who risked their lives trying to keep her safe. ANNE FRANK also explores the enduring mystery of who betrayed the Frank family and reveals what happened next.Anne Frank: The Whole Story delivers exactly what it promises: the incredibly moving complete story of Anne Frank, going beyond what the Jewish teenage girl wrote in her widely read diary. Anne, along with her family and friends of her family, hid in a secret annex behind her father’s office in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation of Holland. She dutifully kept a diary, which became a worldwide bestseller when her father published it in the 1950s. The story has been adapted for television and movies before, but this version, which played on ABC television, moves beyond what Anne wrote, meeting up with the Frank family before Anne receives her diary, and following her past the diary’s last entries into Auschwitz and Birkenau. Hannah Taylor Gordon is a superb Anne, bringing to life the multifaceted girl, in turns intelligent, dreamy, creative, spoiled, and bratty, a girl like any other except that Anne is a Jew in Nazi-occupied Holland. The only one who outshines Gordon is Ben Kingsley as Anne’s father, Otto Frank. His quiet performance is extraordinarily powerful; as he watches his family slip away, it is impossible not to feel his grief. This brave film is difficult in parts to watch–the concentration camp scenes are brutal–but this is a remarkable adaptation of Anne’s life, and it is a film to be shared and discussed and remembered. –Jenny Brown

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Frank Herbert’s Dune

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 04:50:24 +0000

Studio: Lions Gate Home Ent. Release Date: 07/08/2005It’s a mixed blessing, but Frank Herbert’s Dune goes a long way toward satisfying science fiction purists who scoffed at David Lynch’s previous attempt to adapt Herbert’s epic narrative. Ironically, director John Harrison’s 288-minute TV miniseries (broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel in December 2000) offers its own share of strengths and weaknesses, which, in retrospect, emphasize the quality of Lynch’s film while treating Herbert’s novel with more comprehensive authority. Debate will continue as to which film is better; Lynch’s extensive use of internal monologue now seems like a challenge well met, and Harrison’s more conventional approach is better equipped to convey the epic scope of Herbert’s interplanetary political intrigue.

This much is certain: this Dune is a sumptuous treat for the eyes, with sets and costumes that were conceived with no apparent limits of budget or creativity. In terms of architecture alone, this is one of the most impressive films in science fiction history. And although the special effects fall short of feature-film quality, writer-director Harrison (who rose from an extensive background in TV) admirably tames the sprawling narrative that pits the opposing houses of Atreides and Harkonnen in a struggle to control the lucrative market for the spice melange. This is as accurate as any Dune adaptation is likely to get (i.e., there’s no need for another attempt), and even then, it can be tricky to keep track of who’s doing what to whom. Unfortunately, the film’s biggest flaws are the casting of a nearly comatose William Hurt as Duke Leto, and a wooden Alec Newman as the messiah-to-be, Paul Atreides. These are regrettable shortcomings, but this Dune remains altogether respectable. That Frank Herbert would be impressed is perhaps the biggest compliment one can pay. –Jeff Shannon

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The Diary of Anne Frank

admin — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 19:12:57 +0000

Genre: Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 16-JUN-2009
Media Type: DVDGeorge Stevens (Giant) directed this 1959 film adaptation of the hit play based on the writings of Anne Frank, the Jewish girl from Amsterdam who hid in an attic with her family and others during the Nazi occupation. As Anne, Millie Perkins is something of a milky eyed enigma and–in retrospect–too old for the part; but she is surrounded by an outstanding cast, including Joseph Schildkraut as Anne’s patient father, Ed Wynn as a cranky dentist who moves into Anne’s “room,” and Shelley Winters as the loud Mrs. Van Daan. Stevens turns the many overlapping dramas of the caged characters into the foundation of Anne’s growth as a young woman, ready for life and love just at the moment the dream comes to an end. Beautifully shot by cinematographer William C. Mellor, and written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett from their stage production. –Tom Keogh

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Frank Lloyd Wright: A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick

admin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:01:37 +0000

Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 09/23/2005 Director: Ken BurnsThe beauty of Frank Lloyd Wright is that aside from telling a long and often melodramatic story lucidly, it deals with issues of art and architecture in ways that are approachable but not simplistic. (It’s also surprisingly scandalous, although this is seen as part of his art.) Wright was first and foremost a rebel who took his cues from nature, though, as one commentator points out, this is not to say his approach was natural. What he was rebelling against was the clutter and claustrophobia of Victorian architecture. The rooms he designed opened up on each other, and his exteriors seemed to grow laterally out of the landscape. All of these ideas are neatly illustrated–although it perhaps could have been explained how Wright’s later, whimsical designs related to his earlier, earthbound ones–with some marvelous footage of a Wright lily pad column supporting a load of sandbags and quiet Steadicam shots of Wright interiors that give the viewer a feeling for his sense of light and harmony. The filmmakers have wisely kept the technical talk to a minimum, but they are also not afraid to step back and let the experts ruminate on the nature of his genius, even when these experts are at a loss for words. Burns has made stars of some of his commentators in previous films, and in this one the late critic Brendan Gill shines. Wright himself comes across as a man who never doubted himself, a lousy father, and self-consciously Byronic. His vitality and larger-than-life persona seemed to belong to the 19th century, making him–and this is perhaps a mixed blessing–the last of his kind. –John Clark

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Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:19:34 +0000

The spectacular epic that began in the Emmy Award-winning Frank Herbert’s Dune mini-series continues in this dazzling new journey into sweeping interstellar intrigue and visionary sci-fi adventure! On the desert planet of Dune, the ancient prophecy has been fulfilled: the rule of the legendary Muad’dib has triggered a miraculous transformation of the arid wastelands. But as always, the Great Houses of the Empire are alive with rumors of conspiracy, plotting and betrayal. And when Muad’dib no longer wields absolute power as the Emperor, his young son Leto Atreides and daughter Ghanima face the prospect of a disastrous civil war on Arrakis – and chaos on a galactic scale. Now, with the future of the vital Spice trade in the balance, the destiny of humanity itself will depend on the courage, strength and otherworldly wisdom of The Children of Dune! Conspiracies abound in Children of Dune, Sci-Fi Channel’s praiseworthy miniseries sequel to Frank Herbert’s Dune, loyally adapted from the Herbert novels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune by John Harrison, who passed directorial duties (due to a scheduling conflict) to Greg Yaitanes, a 31-year-old TV director and Dune neophyte tackling his biggest assignment to date. Uninitiated viewers face a disadvantage; it’s best to read Herbert’s books and/or see the first miniseries before plunging into this remarkably coherent tangle of political intrigue, unfolding 12 years after the events of Dune.

To his horror, Maud’Dib–Arrakis emperor Paul Atreides (Alec Newman, reprising his Dune role)–has become the unintended figurehead of a violent dictatorship, and his enemies are multiplying. Vanishing into the desert, he waits as destiny shapes his twin heirs Leto II (James McAvoy) and Ghanima (Jessica Brooks), who must contend with their scheming aunt Alia (Daniela Amavia) while Princess Wensicia (Susan Sarandon), of the enemy House Corrino, plots her own attack on Maud’Dib’s familial empire. Exiled Atreides matriarch Lady Jessica (Alice Krige, giving the film’s finest performance) returns to Arrakis, where the enormous, desert-dwelling sandworms face an uncertain future. As always, the spice must flow, and the universe’s most coveted commodity remains at the center of this richly detailed and physically impressive production. Special effects range from awesome (fly-over shots of the capital city, Arakeen) to awful (the saber-tooth tigers look like Jumanji rejects), and Dune devotees will endlessly debate the miniseries’ strengths and weaknesses. Some may desire more action to punctuate the film’s inherent verbosity, but consensus will surely conclude that this is Dune done right, with monumental effort and obvious devotion from everyone involved. –Jeff Shannon

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