Henry V: Branagh and the Bard
Photo: Renaissance Films When I was a teenager, my class was treated to a performance of Shakespeare’s ”Hamlet”. It was not a bad production; the young leading actors later became…
Murder on the Orient Express
In 1934, famous detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh) finds himself on the Orient Express where a notorious businessman (Johnny Depp) is murdered. Another star-studded version of Agatha Christie’s most famous…
Spectre
As James Bond (Daniel Craig) chases a particularly powerful villain (and shadows from his past), the British intelligence community is about to change in a way that deeply worries M…
Skyfall: Mommie Dearest
Daniel Craig. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing It was at a party thrown by Hugh Jackman in 2010 that Daniel Craig ran into Sam Mendes after downing a few cocktails. Mendes…
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
On a quest to find the fountain of youth, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) contends with an old enemy (Geoffrey Rush), an old lover (Penélope Cruz)... and the fearsome Blackbeard…
Quantum of Solace
James Bond (Daniel Craig) goes on a personal vendetta after the death of the woman he loved and realizes that she was blackmailed by a powerful organization. Bond film nr.…
GoldenEye
James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) must stop his former colleague and friend (Sean Bean) from getting his greedy hands on a dangerous satellite system. The 17th entry in this series came…
Casino Royale: Bond Begins
Daniel Craig. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing The departure of Pierce Brosnan and the introduction of Daniel Craig made it possible to begin anew. This film was based on Ian Fleming’s…
Shakespeare in Love: Bringing the Bard to Life
Gwyneth Paltrow. Photo: Miramax Let’s say William Shakespeare knew how to time travel. Let’s say he came to 1998, went to the movies and saw John Madden’s film Shakespeare in…
Tomorrow Never Dies
The story in this 18th James Bond flick, about a media tycoon’s (Jonathan Pryce) attempt to jump-start a war between Britain and China, shows the dangerous potential of powerful media…