Veruschka Movies
Actor Daniel Craig assumes the role formerly occupied by such screen greats as Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Timothy Dalton to set out on the character's very first 007 mission. James Bond has earned his "00" status by masterfully executing a pair of death-defying professional assassinations. Now assigned the task of traveling to Madagascar to spy on notorious terrorist Mollaka (Sebastien Foucan) for his maiden voyage as a 007 agent, Bond boldly goes against MI6 policy to launch an independent investigation that finds him traversing the Bahamas in search of Mollaka's notoriously elusive terror cell. Subsequently led into the company of the mysterious Dimitrios (Simon Abkarian) and his exotic girlfriend, Solange (Caterina Murino), Bond soon realizes that he is closer than ever to locating well-guarded terrorist financier Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), the man who has personally bankrolled some of the most prevalent terrorist organizations on the planet. When Bond learns that Le Chiffre is planning to partake in an upcoming high-stakes poker game to be played at Montenegro's Le Casino Royale and use the winnings to establish his financial grip on the globe, M (Judi Dench) assigns beguiling agent Vesper (Eva Green) the task of watching over the fledgling agent as he plays against Le Chiffre in a covert attempt to destroy the nefarious gambler's well-established monetary stronghold in the underworld once and for all. Bond will need more than his legendary gambling skills in order to win this dangerous game, though, and after allying himself with local MI6 field agent Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini) and CIA operative Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), the endlessly suave super-spy puts on his poker face for a high-stakes game of cards in which the stakes are not measured in dollars, but human lives. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Craig, Eva Green, (more)
In this update of James Whale's classic The Bride of Frankenstein, pop star Sting furthers his burgeoning film career by portraying cinema's signature mad scientist. Disgusted by his dim-witted and ugly original creation (Clancy Brown), Dr. Frankenstein sets out to animate an improved version. Though lovely on the outside, Eva (Jennifer Beals) begins her new life as little more than an animal. With the help of his trusty housekeeper (Geraldine Page), however, Frankenstein soon grooms the beautiful zombie into a reasonable facsimile of an upper-class debutante. He's unprepared, however, when his ward displays a mind -- and sexual urges -- of her own. Meanwhile, the good doctor's discarded original creation assumes the name of Viktor and takes to the road. Befriended by an enterprising dwarf named Rinaldo (David Rappaport), Viktor becomes a circus performer but continues to pine after his bride. Connected to her psychically, he soon makes his way back to the scene of their mutual creation. There, he finds the girl embroiled in a love triangle between a callow suitor (Cary Elwes) and Frankenstein himself. In addition to its iconic '80s leads, The Bride boasts a famous supporting cast that includes gay memoirist Quentin Crisp and '60s model Veruschka. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sting, Jennifer Beals, (more)
- 1972
This experimental film by the maverick Italian director Carmelo Bene is a free adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play Salome and is even more irreverent than the original. In this film, Bene carries the New Testament story beyond the incident with Herod, and pictures Christ nailing himself to the cross, unable (of course) to finish the task. This film uses many musical and filmic special effects and includes at least one pornographic sequence and a number of sadistic ones. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni's first English-language production was also his only box office hit, widely considered one of the seminal films of the 1960s. Thomas (David Hemmings) is a nihilistic, wealthy fashion photographer in mod "Swinging London." Filled with ennui, bored with his "fab" but oddly-lifeless existence of casual sex and drug use, Thomas comes alive when he wanders through a park, stops to take pictures of a couple embracing, and upon developing the images, believes that he has photographed a murder. Pursued by Jane (Vanessa Redgrave), the woman who is in the photos, Thomas pretends to give her the pictures, but in reality, he passes off a different roll of film to her. Thomas returns to the park and discovers that there is, indeed, a dead body lying in the shrubbery: the gray-haired man who was embracing Jane. Has she murdered him, or does Thomas' photo reveal a man with a gun hiding nearby? Antonioni's thriller is a puzzling, existential, adroitly-assembled masterpiece. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, (more)
