madonnapics

Legendary police detective Dick Tracy (Warren Beatty) is the only man tough enough to take on gangster boss Big Boy Caprice and his band of menacing mobsters. Dedicated to his work but also devoted to his loyal girlfriend, Tess, Tracy's torn between love and duty. Things get even stickier when Tracy's saddled with an engaging orphan and meets seductive and sultry torch singer Breathless Mahoney (Madonna).

Matt
Rating: 8 out of 10

When people talk about great comic book movies, Dick Tracy is never in the conversation. But it should be.

I plucked this from the deep library on Netflix, and I'm glad I did. I really liked this movie as a kid but, as an adult, I like it even more. Beatty directed this visually intriguing film. It's a noir world full of pastel colors. It is a dark place, full of criminals that are disfigured and warped. Tracy is ice-cold, not unlike Batman. This film has a similar feel to the world of Batman with the art deco buildings, neon lights and a camera watching from the shadows.

This comic book film is lighter in feel than most, however dark the characters are. Al Pacino is Big Boy Caprice, and he plays him to monstrous levels only he's capable of. The film has a ridiculous cast, too. I'd argue the best of any comic book movie. Aside from Pacino and Beatty, the cast includes Dustin Hoffman, Dick Van Dyke, Paul Sorvino, Madonna, James Caan, Kathy Bates, Mandy Patinkin and Seymour Cassel.

This movie was made with a great deal of forethought and love for the source material. It's an original take with a visually stunning style, great performances, and a fun story. This is a film that should be in the conversation of great comic book movies.

Dick Tracy

I caught this recently and it is still a blast. I don't always like "Chick Flicks" - especially if they involve Julia Roberts and/or someone young dying, but this is fun, and the women are neither angels nor demons.

Desperately Seeking Susan on IMDb and Wikipedia.

I came across a clip of this doccie last week and had to watch the film. Found it on YouTube today.
It's called Truth or Dare or In Bed with Madonna (she hates the latter) and documents her controversial Blonde Ambition Tour of 1990. It was released in 1991 and did exceptionally well becoming the highest grossing doccie ever. Today it is the 8th highest grossing doccie.

Here it is all neatly chopped up and ready for online consumption. Madonna - Like you've never seen her before…

There's more… I'll put it up later ♥

Title: Evita (1996)
Director: Alan Parker
Genre: Musical, Biography
Lead Actor(s): Madonna, Antonio Banderas
Rating: PG
135 minutes

This movie probably has some of the smallest amount of actual dialogue of any musical I have ever seen. According to imdb, Madonna only speaks 140 words and Antonio Banderas only 85. The movie tells the rise and fall of Eva Peron (Madonna), first lady of Argentina. Banderas plays a narrator of sorts. There are a few shots of Eva's childhood but the majority of the film consists of the time between when she was 15 to her death.

Madonna campaigned heavily for the role. I would think she saw some comparisons between herself and the character. Both rose from the lower class. Both rose to such a position as to be both adored and reviled. It is a good thing that the majority of Madonna's screen time is her singing. She can emote much better when singing than when straight acting. I would argue that Madonna is better as the young, hungry, reaching Eva than the politician's wife Eva.

Banderas is supposed to be an everyman named Che. He tries to ground the ambitious Eva. There is not a lot of characterization for Che as can be expected given his role. This is both helpful and hurtful. There are times where his presence is needed and enjoyable, but there are also times that he is distracting and annoying.

This an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, but it is not as ornate as Phantom or Cats. There is, of course, an insane amount of theatricality, but it is much more realistic than those two. Since Parker did not have the constraints of the stage, I would have liked to see some more inventive angles and manipulations of the camera. It is not the best or most inventive or most entertaining movie adaption of a musical, but Evita has an interesting story behind it all. Eva Peron is a unique person in history.

****** 5/10Evita

A League of their Own is based on the first women's baseball league in America in the 1940s. While the men were at war, somebody had the bright idea of establishing a women's baseball league. Dotti (Geena Davis) and Kit (Lori Petty) are sisters living in rural Oregon. Dotti's husband (Bill Pullman) is fighting overseas. Dotti is the beautiful one of the family, and younger sister Kit always feels inferior. This feeling extends to baseball; when the league is scouting women, Dotti is the one they want. She encourages them to take on her sister. From here they make their way to Chicago where they try out for the teams. Here they meet some other women and future teammates. Their team is the Peaches, and they play alongside flirty Meg (Madonna), loudmouth Doris (Rosie O'Donnell), and plain Marla (Megan Cavanagh), among others. They are a melting pot of personalities that share a love of baseball. The team is assigned Jimmy (Tom Hanks) as a coach. He is a washed-up star that has spent the past 5 years drinking. He is rude and he can't believe that he has to be with the women's team.

This film was directed by Penny Marshall, and her husband has a small role as the head of the baseball league. The cast are well-suited, even Madonna. It's surprising to see her in a film because she has such an enigmatic identity, but she is actually good as May (though it's probably not too far from her real personality). Tom Hanks has the best part here. His character is angry and moody, so a lot of the laughs come from his over-the-top anger. Some fine comedy work from him here; actually, the movie just generally elicits some good laughs in addition to the more sentimental moments.

Even though this is a sports movie it also has a strong narrative. I think it struck a good balance between the games, the characters, the humour and the drama. It has a lot of spirit and Marshall is obviously very enamoured by the idea of these strong women in the 40s. The ending is really nice, and the older versions of the characters look impressively similar to their younger counterparts. I may or may not have felt a bit teary at the end (it seems like I've been crying in films a fair bit lately), but this has been handled really well. It's not too sentimental but just has a hint of nostalgia. There is so much to enjoy in this film. The baseball sequences are great and it's interesting to see the characters' relationships develop.

This is a great one for women of all ages (I remember liking it when I saw it as a child) but I think men will enjoy it too. It's not too sentimental, and the women are really tough! Nice to see a woman directing this film also.

My rating: