Category: Romance

Cat Ballou: Lee Marvin runs riot in an Oscar winning duel role in this whimsical Western

Cat Ballou (1965), starring Jane Fonda in the title role and Lee Marvin in a duel role is a whimsical Western that at once parodies Western tropes as well as manages to become a classic Western in its own right. The best actor Oscar is more often than not given to very serious performances; performances … Continue reading Cat Ballou: Lee Marvin runs riot in an Oscar winning duel role in this whimsical Western →

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The Spy Who Loved Me: In the year of ‘Star Wars,’ James Bond kept the ‘British end up’ with the best Roger Moore Bond film

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) was the third film to feature Roger Moore as Ian Fleming's James Bond. With the massive success of this film, directed by Lewis Gilbert, James Bond made a grand comeback after a tumultuous decade that saw diminishing box office returns and three different actors embodying Bond. The year 1977 … Continue reading The Spy Who Loved Me: In the year of ‘Star Wars,’ James Bond kept the ‘British end up’ with the best Roger Moore Bond film →

Play Misty for Me: Clint Eastwood made a confident debut as director with this proto-‘Fatal Attraction’ romantic thriller

Play Misty for Me (1971) was the first film directed by Clint Eastwood. Clint also starred alongside Jessica Walter in this romantic thriller set in and around Clint's hometown, Carmel. 1971 was a big year for Clint Eastwood. He had three releases that year- Two of which was directed by his pal & mentor, Don … Continue reading Play Misty for Me: Clint Eastwood made a confident debut as director with this proto-‘Fatal Attraction’ romantic thriller →

The Way We Were: At the height of gritty ’70s cinema, Sydney Pollack brought Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand together for this glossy old-fashioned romantic drama

The Way We Were (1973) is a lush romantic drama directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford in lead roles. This film, released at the height of the gritty, experimental 'New-Hollywood cinema' period, was a throwback to the glossy, star-driven romantic melodramas from golden-age Hollywood. Hubbell Gardiner: People are more important … Continue reading The Way We Were: At the height of gritty ’70s cinema, Sydney Pollack brought Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand together for this glossy old-fashioned romantic drama →

Ryan’s Daughter: David Lean’s unfairly maligned masterpiece finds the great British director returning to his roots to create his most personal and ambitious epic

Ryan's Daughter (1970) is considered to be the great British director David Lean's lone artistic misfire. But this film, an epic romance set on the wild west coast of Ireland and starring such stalwarts like Robert Mitchum, Trevor Howard, John Mills and Sarah Miles, is one of Lean's most personal and ambitious films. In a … Continue reading Ryan’s Daughter: David Lean’s unfairly maligned masterpiece finds the great British director returning to his roots to create his most personal and ambitious epic →

Casablanca: This Bogart-Bergman classic mixes varied themes & genres to create a heady cocktail of classical Hollywood entertainment

Casablanca(1942) is undoubtedly the most beloved American motion picture ever made. With a dream cast top lined by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and a crew led by eminent director Michael Curtiz and producer Hal B. Wallis and an endlessly quotable script designed by more than five writers, the movie’s genius lay in its ability … Continue reading Casablanca: This Bogart-Bergman classic mixes varied themes & genres to create a heady cocktail of classical Hollywood entertainment →

Barry Lyndon: Stanley Kubrick’s ice-cold exercise in pure cinema is also his most emotionally rich and perfect movie

Barry Lyndon(1975), adapted for the screen by Stanley Kubrick from William Thackeray's novel, is perhaps Kubrick's greatest film. The film, starring Ryan O'Neal and Marisa Berenson, charts the rise and fall of its amoral hero, Redmond Barry, in the backdrop of the tumultuous events in Eighteenth-century Europe. I find Stanley Kubrick to be a bundle … Continue reading Barry Lyndon: Stanley Kubrick’s ice-cold exercise in pure cinema is also his most emotionally rich and perfect movie →

From Noon till Three: Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland bring their endearing real-life chemistry to this delightful rom-com Western

From Noon till Three (1976) is an amusing romantic comedy set in the old-west. The film, directed by Frank D. Gilroy from his own novel, stars the real-life husband & wife team of Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland. Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland met for the first time in 1963 when Bronson was filming "The … Continue reading From Noon till Three: Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland bring their endearing real-life chemistry to this delightful rom-com Western →

El Cid: Charlton Heston embodies the legendary Spanish folk hero in all his nobility in Anthony Mann’s magnificent medieval epic

El Cid(1961), produced by Samuel Bronston and directed by Anthony Mann, depicting the life of legendary Eleventh-century Spanish hero, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar is one of the greatest screen epics ever made. Charlton Heston plays Rodrigo aka El Cid in one of his most popular film portrayals and Sophia Loren plays his wife Doña Ximena. Don … Continue reading El Cid: Charlton Heston embodies the legendary Spanish folk hero in all his nobility in Anthony Mann’s magnificent medieval epic →

Two Mules for Sister Sara: Clint Eastwood co-stars with Shirley MacLaine in Don Siegel’s amusing blend of Spaghetti Western and romantic-comedy

Two Mules of sister Sara(1970) is a quirky Western directed by Don Siegel, and starring Shirley MacLaine and Clint Eastwood in lead roles. The film mixes the aesthetics of a Sergio Leone Western with the romantic-comedy elements from John Huston's African-Adventure, The African Queen, to arrive at a highly enjoyable romantic-comic Western adventure. The quirky … Continue reading Two Mules for Sister Sara: Clint Eastwood co-stars with Shirley MacLaine in Don Siegel’s amusing blend of Spaghetti Western and romantic-comedy →

Open Range: Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner created a lush love letter to the traditional Western genre

Open Range(2003), starring Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall and Annette Benning, and directed by Kevin Costner, is the last of the great traditional Westerns. Apart from delivering all the ingredients that one expects from a Western, the film also features one of the greatest climactic gunfights in Western film history. I don't think i have ever … Continue reading Open Range: Robert Duvall and Kevin Costner created a lush love letter to the traditional Western genre →

North to Alaska: John Wayne at his romantic-comic best in this rollicking Western adventure

North to Alaska(1960), directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne, Stewart Granger and Capucine in lead roles, is a highly enjoyable comic-Western set in turn-of -the-century Alaska, and showcases Wayne's talents for comedy and romance to the fullest. Big Sam left Seattle in the year of ninety-twoWith George Pratt his partner and brother Billy … Continue reading North to Alaska: John Wayne at his romantic-comic best in this rollicking Western adventure →

The Electric Horseman: Robert Redford is supercool as the modern-day cowboy who sets himself and a horse free in this enjoyable Romance-Western

Robert Redford and Director Sydney Pollack teamed up for the fifth time for this very entertaining modern-day, Romance-Western that features Jane Fonda, John Saxon and Willie Nielsen in major roles. “For me it was a chance to demonstrate my own particular affinity for horses, but the film is also about a way of life out … Continue reading The Electric Horseman: Robert Redford is supercool as the modern-day cowboy who sets himself and a horse free in this enjoyable Romance-Western →

Rio Grande: John Ford brought John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara together for the first time in this final film in his ‘Cavalry’ trilogy

“Wayne’s greatest achievement may have been creating John Wayne. The character he played, the character he invented, was the American persona of the man who is hard and believes in doing right and will do it against all the odds.”Charlton Heston on John Wayne Rio Grande (1950), the third and final film in John Ford's … Continue reading Rio Grande: John Ford brought John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara together for the first time in this final film in his ‘Cavalry’ trilogy →

Monte Walsh: Lee Marvin and Jack Palance at their melancholic best in this elegiac Western

Monte Walsh(1970), Starring Lee Marvin, Jack Palance and Jeanne Moreau and directed by renowned cinematographer, William A. Fraker, is an elegiac tribute to the death of the old-west. "Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever"Chet Rollins tells friend, Monte Walsh as their 'cowboy' way of life is coming to an end Set during turn of the … Continue reading Monte Walsh: Lee Marvin and Jack Palance at their melancholic best in this elegiac Western →

The African Queen: John Huston brings together Bogart, Hepburn and the wild African landscape to create the ultimate romantic adventure

The African Queen(1951), starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, was director John Huston's adaption of C.S.Forester's 1935 novel of the same name. The film had one of the most difficult shoots in movie history, but it resulted in one of the most endearing romantic adventure films of all time, with Bogart winning an Oscar for … Continue reading The African Queen: John Huston brings together Bogart, Hepburn and the wild African landscape to create the ultimate romantic adventure →

The Beguiled: This overheated, Gothic melodrama is the strangest and the most ambitious Clint Eastwood film ever

Based on Thomas Cullinan’s 1966 novel, originally published as ‘A Painted Devil’,and directed by Don Siegel, The Beguiled(1971), is Clint Eastwood's strangest, boldest and most surprising film as an actor Take warning by me, don’t go for a soldier, don’t join no army For the dove she will leave you, the raven will come And … Continue reading The Beguiled: This overheated, Gothic melodrama is the strangest and the most ambitious Clint Eastwood film ever →

Ennai Noki Paayum Thota: A letter to Gautam Vasudev Menon from a dejected fan

Dear Gautham Vasudev Menon, Being a fan of your cinema, i was very excited, going into Ennai Noki Paayum Thota(ENPT). I know that you had to go through a lot to get this film released and i want this film to succeed desperately, so that we can get more films of your brand of class … Continue reading Ennai Noki Paayum Thota: A letter to Gautam Vasudev Menon from a dejected fan →

Gunaa : Kamal Haasan’s idiosyncratic amalgam of Rainman, Rambo and Devdas makes for compelling cinema

This piece on Gunaa(1991) is my new addition to  60 years of Kamal Haasan series. Gunaa is a truly unique and idiosyncratic film, that was a flop at the time of it's release, but has gone on to acquire a cult following since then. The film is also, perhaps , the great collaboration between Kamal and music director Ilayaraja, who … Continue reading Gunaa : Kamal Haasan’s idiosyncratic amalgam of Rainman, Rambo and Devdas makes for compelling cinema →

The Bridges of Madison County: Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep creates an unforgettable portrait of Romance and Renunciation

The 1995 romantic drama, The Bridges of Madison County, brought two screen Legends, Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep, together for the first and only time . Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep; two of the most durable, popular and honored Star\actors in movie history. Between them, they have seven Oscar wins and more than thirty Oscar … Continue reading The Bridges of Madison County: Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep creates an unforgettable portrait of Romance and Renunciation →