nimbleland Reviews

The Sea Hawk (1924)

Original Sabatini

[8/10 · 15 November 2013]

All right, I want to add a few things. First of all there are 2 films, not 2 film versions. The 1924 silent version adheres to the book, which I bought and read many years ago. I see that some battles scenes were lifted from this version. For a silent film it is very good. The 1940 version is very good as well. It's political sea drama between England and Spain. There is a galley and escape scene. There are sea battles with sound (which would not be hard updating the silent film.

I believe that Raphael Sabatini's version deserves to be remade. If you read Captain Blood, it reads like a film. The book The Seahawk is a great read. Check it out for yourself.

The Concert (2009)

North American Dub Version

[27 July 2011]

I ordered this DVD version from Amazon not realizing that it was dubbed. Amazon has taken steps to update the site. The Distribution for North America is completely dubbed in English and not a good dub at that. I did order from the UK the Original Russian/French version with English subtitles, Amazon thought my DVD Player would handle it, but the DVD Player alerted me that my TV was too old to play PAL. I did get it to play on my computer, but that defeats the whole purpose.

I saw the Original at SIFF, took my Brother and his wife to see it. We were all crying at the end. The Original is a 10, and I am also aware this is related to Orchestra from Japan. Still I rate the Original a 10, the English Dubbing a 6.

Find Me Guilty (2006)

Vin's best

[8/10 · 14 March 2006]

I just saw this last night in Seattle. What drew me in was Sidney Lumet and when it started saying that all courtroom dialog was direct from transcripts of this trial, I sat forward.

This turns out to be a classic New York Lumet film with all the trimmings. Vin does some of his best work to date (and I actually like some of his other films. This is not the all in the head of the writer trick - the transcript is the real heart of the film and so the key is truly bring to life the real words. That's not a simple thing. Lumet has the right balance to make it all work.

For those that would ignore or wait for the DVD, take a chance and see with an audience. You do not get this kind of film from a great director of Lumet's caliber every day.