Epinions Recent Reviews for Redmaple

Why Not Today? James Bond Unfortunately Returns to "Die Another Day" (2002).

Tue, 24 Dec 2002 02:27:53 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Bond buffs, who could tell you the colour of Sean Connery's bathrobe

before coming on the set of Goldfinger when they shot such-and-such

scene, are legion. Unfortunately, as makers of new installments in

the James Bond series know...

Political History with the Politics Left Out: The End of General Gordon in "Khartoum" (1966)

Mon, 8 Jul 2002 18:37:20 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Textbook history may be limited in appropriateness to readers with only a fleeting or superficial interest in the subject, or a desire to appear more knowledgeable than they truly are. This type of history is only a beginning point as far as scholars are...

An Interview With David Manning (Wherein Shall Be Reviewed "A Knight's Tale")

Fri, 17 May 2002 00:55:50 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - A.P.: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. For those of you who are not with us at this moment and who will read the transcript of today's discussion somewhere on the web, let me explain, for completeness's sake, that it is here, in the convivial...

Auteur Edward D. Wood, Jr.'s "Plan 9 From Outer Space" Revisited.

Wed, 8 May 2002 21:25:01 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - "Plan 9 From Outer Space" (1958) is auteur Edward D. Wood, Jr.'s magnum opus.

Real talent and bold originality often go unrecognized. We are reminded of auteurs Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and Robert Altman's failure to win a...

The Dullest Story Ever Told: "Ben-Hur" (1959)

Sun, 28 Apr 2002 20:58:44 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - "Ben-Hur" (1959) is the closest Hollywood has come to creating a film now described as a biblical epic which is neither biblical nor epic. Extremely popular when first released, the film, based on a famous novel by Lew Wallace, won eleven Academy...

Indiana Holmes and the Pyramid of Doom.

Tue, 26 Mar 2002 22:17:18 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Once upon a time, in this land of tinsel called "Hollywood", someone had the wisdom of saying: "Hey, I have an idea. Let's make another Indiana Jones flick. Full of adventure with a pyramid and Egyptian stuff. You know how much money was made with the...

A Dark Lord: "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001)

Mon, 25 Mar 2002 21:59:56 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Some books, by their nature, are practically unfilmable, and "The Lord of the Rings", John Ronald Reuel Tolkien's epic "trilogy" (a word which Tolkien resented) set in an imaginary land called Middle-Earth and peopled by strange creatures inspired by...

Useless, outdated, and often dubious information on the advantages and perils of self-publishing.

Wed, 23 Jan 2002 22:45:11 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - David M. Brownstone and Irene M. Franck's "Complete Self-Publishing Handbook" is, despite its title, far from complete. Everything a self-published author needs to know can hardly be included in a book that contains only slightly above two hundred...

Throw This One To The Lions: "Gladiator" (2000)

Wed, 24 Oct 2001 00:44:14 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - By far the most famous awards in the film industry, the Oscars have fascinated the movie-going public ever since their creation in 1927. While in the first years the ceremonies were mere banquets, their appeal was increased across America through radio,...

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in "The Adventure of the Missing Footage".

Tue, 9 Oct 2001 08:21:26 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - While Edgar Allan Poe is credited with creating the detective story, and while the first detective novel is usually considered to be Wilkie Collins's "The Moonstone", there is probably no better-known detective in English-language detective fiction than...

"The legend has returned!": "The Mask of Zorro" (1998) - AGTTM W/O

Mon, 1 Oct 2001 00:37:56 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Foreword: When Curtis Edmonds invited me to his "America Goes To The Movies" Write-Off, I immediately accepted, and I started looking for an appropriate film to review. After eliminating suggestion after suggestion, I turned to "The Mask of Zorro", a...

"I have never found chivalry tedious... so far": "Camelot" (1967) (Medieval W/O)

Sun, 16 Sep 2001 12:19:22 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - What usually happens when a Hollywood studio buys the rights to a surefire hit, gives the production a gigantic budget, and hires a bunch of old pros to "do their stuff" in order to bring the project to life?

A financial disaster...

A Disgrace to the Swashbuckler Genre: "The Musketeer" (2001)

Sat, 8 Sep 2001 01:21:59 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - When Alexandre Dumas (Sr.) published his novel "The Three Musketeers" in 1844, he was already an established playwright. But "The Three Musketeers" was of such popularity among his contemporaries that Dumas, to keep up with the demand for new...

"To defeat the defeatless": "Zorro, the Gay Blade" (1981) (Zorro Series Part 3/4)

Sun, 2 Sep 2001 01:45:40 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Johnston McCulley, a crime reporter, created the character of Zorro in his story The Curse of Capistrano, published in five parts in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly, in August and September 1919. In the story, the apparently foppish Don...

"Swordplay is such a violent business": "The Mark of Zorro" (1940) (Zorro Series Part 2/4)

Thu, 16 Aug 2001 16:02:10 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Johnston McCulley created the character of Zorro, the Spanish word for “fox”, in the story The Curse of Capistrano, published in five parts in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly in late August and early September 1919. It attracted the...

"That Carver of Z's": "The Mark of Zorro" (1920) (Zorro Series Part 1/4)

Tue, 14 Aug 2001 16:59:24 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - In the late summer of 1919, readers of the All-Story Weekly, a popular pulp magazine of the time, may have come across a five-part story taking place in late Spanish California, The Curse of Capistrano, written by an Illinois-born crime...

When a school rebellion is supposed to have a social message: "If..." (1968)

Mon, 30 Jul 2001 18:42:06 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Foreword: As some of you might know, my computer crashed a few days ago, and I am unable to go through my usual reading/rating routine. I apologize for this. I am publishing this piece from an Internet Cafe computer. I hope you enjoy it. If you see...

"Of course he's beneath us, he's an actor": "My Favorite Year" (1982).

Mon, 30 Jul 2001 18:28:43 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Actor Errol Flynn's off-screen personality was notoriously legendary. Flynn was often depicted as a drunkard with an extremely active sex life (with accusations that ranged from homosexuality to statutory rape), who was consciously destructing himself...

"It wasn't lies, it was acting": "The Rocketeer" (1991)

Sun, 15 Jul 2001 05:40:02 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Foreword: This review is rather peculiar in comparison with my other writings, as I intended this one to be written in the manner of MrsNormanMaine, one of the wittiest film reviewers on this site, to whom I dedicate this attempt at "the most sincere...

You Can Only Go So Far With a Spoof: (The Sequel Sucked Write-Off.)

Tue, 3 Jul 2001 04:41:18 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - James Bond films, often based on the novels by Ian Fleming, have experienced unrivalled popularity over the years, because of their usual elements, including lovely women, an evil nemesis, loads of action, futuristic equipment, and exotic locations...

"Chivalry is chivalry, you know": "The Court Jester" (1955).

Tue, 26 Jun 2001 01:53:49 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Danny Kaye's career is generally considered an to be an uneven one, as the comedian, in the right situations, could become extremely funny, while if miscast or left to himself, he could become dreadfully boring. One would rather try to forget the star's...

The Singing Mountie Gets His Man, Hollywood Gets an F in Geography: "Rose-Marie" (1936).

Sun, 24 Jun 2001 01:38:10 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Stage successes, either plays or musicals, were always close to the top of the list of major studios' next film plans, as their success had already been proved, and they often required very little rewriting and adaptation to be successful on the screen...

A German in the Backyard, Air Raids, and Other Wartime Thrills: "Mrs. Miniver" (1942)

Mon, 18 Jun 2001 02:29:04 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - The legendary British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, once said that the American film "Mrs. Miniver" (1942), based on a novel by Jan Struther and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, had been more vital to the war effort than an entire fleet of...

"Welcome me home again": W.S. Van Dyke's "San Francisco" (1936).

Fri, 15 Jun 2001 02:43:50 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - As a general rule, musicals are constructed in order to be light-hearted, to provide a source of escapism and fun. Traditionally, choreography and catchy tunes had the priority over the plot, and to enhance box-office results, drama and tragedy were...

The Scenery, the Music, and Little Else: "Captain from Castile" (1947)

Thu, 14 Jun 2001 05:50:21 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Redmaple - Before the 1950's, films in colour were scarce because of the additional costs associated with the three-strip Technicolor process, by far the most widespread in the film industry. Although the colours were extremely bright and vivid, and not entirely...