http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:31:10 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A favourite of mine since childhood, Michael Crichton's The First Great Train Robbery is a wonderfully entertaining caper movie that really ought to be better known that it seems to be. Taking as his basis the real-life robbery of a gold shipment from the London to Folkestone passenger train in 1855, Crichton fictionalised the ... http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner/2008/04/20/70/ It's a barren time for TV fans in general, with the Writers Guild of America strike now over a month old, no sign of fresh negotiations, let alone a deal, and hopes of salvaging anything resembling a full season for most shows fading fast. For Battlestar Galactica fans, the barren landscape is ... http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner/2007/12/13/war-is-our-imperitive/ Robert B. Parker is a fixture of American crime writing, most famous for his long-running Spenser series, now some 35 novels strong. In recent years, however, he's also turned to a couple of new central characters: female Boston P.I. Sunny Randall (originally designed as a movie vehicle for Helen Hunt) and the troubled anti-hero Jesse Stone. A depressed, functioning alcoholic fired from the LA ... http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner/2007/11/06/massachusetts-noir-tom-selleck-as-jesse-stone/ ^ That was the tagline in 1988, on a giant billboard over Sunset Boulevard that otherwise featured only Sly Stallone, facing away from camera, and the title Rambo III. In his book Sly Moves, Stallone relates how he focused particularly on building a wide back for the film, handling so much weight on lat pulldowns that he had to be ... http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner/2007/10/20/rambos-back/ I first came across Jean Peters in Henry Hathaway's Niagara a few years ago. It was among the films in my Marilyn Monroe: The Diamond Collection boxset, and looked like a decent little thriller. Before long, though, I'd forgotten all about Ms Monroe; the dark-haired, green-eyed second female lead had caught me eye. Who the hell is that and why haven't I ... http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner/2007/10/16/jean-peters-biography-of-a-forgotten-leading-lady/ I grew up on the Bond films. No film series brings back more fond or happy memories for me than 007's adventures. That fondness extends to the actors involved, and to this day I couldn't tell you who my favourite Bond is. Connery was the best, Dalton the guy I picture when reading Fleming's ... http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner/2007/10/14/sir-roger-moore-at-80/ One thing I can't help but notice at these events: hanging on the wall in the speaking chamber at Oxford is a painting, probably extremely old, of a very elegant, distinguished lady ... who looks just like Cordelia Chase. It's the funniest thing. Well, maybe it isn't actually the funniest thing, but it always amuses me for about three seconds. And if you don't know who ... http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner/2007/10/08/christopher-lee-at-the-oxford-student-union/   A story has been floating around news sites for a few months now: namely that NBC-Universal TV have a script, Columbo's Last Case, which is envisaged as a series finale and fond farewell to the character who first appeared on screens (as played by Peter Falk, anyway) in 1968's Prescription: Murder. The studio are keen, ... http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner/2007/09/06/will-peter-falk-get-back-in-the-raincoat-one-last-time/ ... thus opens Leonard Maltin's review of Shack Out on 101, and it's a concise summation of the main reason to watch. Shack is one of a kind: a trashy, tongue-in-cheek thriller, utterly loopy, incredibly fun, and as clear an example of 'cult classic' as you'll ever find. Born out of the McCarthy era, Shack sits at ... http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner/2007/08/24/lee-marvin-is-slob/   I've been watching Mission: Impossible again from the start in recent months, Paramount having finally begun to release the original 60s show on DVD (the first two seasons are out now; the third is coming in November). I remember the show fondly from my childhood; even then it was a quarter century old, repeated on Channel ... http://filmjournal.net/jackalsfilmcorner/2007/08/14/good-morning-mr-briggs/