Sunday, February 14, 2021

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Strap yourselves in. The Bourne Identity is an edge-of-your-seat thriller. This riveting Univeral release from director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) is based on a novel by American writer Robert Ludlum. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) has amnesia after a fishing trawler picks him up. "I don't know who I am," he tells Marie (Franka Potente), a woman who agrees to help him. Hint - he's a hitman tied in with the American government. Others want him dead, including Conkin (Chris Cooper), after his failed assassination attempt of a former African government leader. Bourne slowly starts to put the pieces together of his past while dodging the efforts of others to take him out - permanently. Great popcorn movie with a solid cast. RATING: 8/10 FUN FACTS: Franka Potente starred in Run Lola Run.

Monday, February 1, 2021

Patton (1970)

Watch, Patton. That's an order. Career-defining performance by George C. Scott as the brilliant American general who was a genius on the battlefield, but kept stepping on landmines with his superiors when he opened his mouth. Watch for fine support work from Karl Malden as General Omar Bradley, Patton's mostly-patient peer. Patton scooped up seven Oscars, including best picture, actor (Scott) and director (Franklin J. Schaffner). Francis Ford Coppola co-wrote the screenplay shortly before his masterpiece, The Godfather, came out in 1972. Schaffner helmed this very fine film after directing Wow, the early 1970s boasted some very fine films. RATING: 8/10 FUN FACTS: Bill Hickman is Patton's driver. Audiences might not recognize his face, but Hickman as behind the wheel for two of cinema's most famous car chases - Bullett and The French Connection. Michael Strong appears as Brigadier General Hobart Carver. The native of the Big Apple did a lot of television work, including multiple appearances on Hawaii Five-O and The Streets of San Francisco.