Movie review - "A Cinderella Story" (2004) **1/2

 Absolutely fine. Made with life and some fun support performances. Though I'm not sure Cinderella is really poor here - she has a car. Pads out running time with straight geeky best friend. -I guess Ducky from Pretty in Pink was an influence though he doesn't seem into Hilary Duff. Male lead required by plot to be really stupid but Chad Michael Murray pulls it off. Regina King is in this, and Jennifer Coolidge, and Madeleine Zima and Simon Helberg.

Movie review - "Little Women" (2019) ****

 Bright version of the oft film tale. Benefits from strong production values and cast. Soraise Ronan is ideal as Jo, though the show is stolen by Florence Pugh as Amy, an under-rated role. Emma Watson is fine as Meg, though Meg is a terrible part (she's pretty and gets married). An Aussie played Beth. There's Laura Dern, Saul Goodman and Meryl Streep, and two floppy black haired guys who look like Noah Baumbach.

Script review - "The Yakuza" by Paul Schrader (warning: spoilers)

 Based on a novel by Leonard Schrader, says the cover page - I thought both were to work together. A great yarn. Interesting set up. Good star part for the old American soldier called back to Japan; flashy support roles for Dusty, the young Yank who goes with him, Tanner, the guy who calls in Tanner. Terrific co starring part for Tanaka Ken, the bass ass lone wolf who gets involved to his regret. 

There's a pace slump after the girl is rescued but it recovers. Lots of expositiony dialogue and interesting asides - easy to edit.

Movie review - "Our Time" (1974) **1/2

 A female go at Summer of 42 with Pamela Sue Martin and Betsy Slade as two friends in a 1950s boarding school hung up on sex. It was directed by Peter Hyams who wrote a woman's picture, TR Baskin but not this one - it was penned by Jane Stanton.  The gals really talk about sex a lot and are boy crazy. Parker Stevenson is Martin's bloke.

Martin's character actually has a pretty cruisy time - Stevenson loves her, they have nice sex. The bulk of the drama is carried by Slade, not pretty enough, who has impulsive sex, gets pregnant, has an abortion, dies. The best sequence is visiting the abortionist - it's scary, the helpers are mean, the abortionist turns out to be quite nice... but Slade still dies.

The film kind of vanished, I think in part because it has no love story (Martin and Stevenson come in as basically an established couple). But it is interesting.

Movie review - "The Musketeer" (2001) **1/2

 Look, not bad. It pulls back on the three musketeers to focus on D'artagnan - which mightn't be such an issue if Justin Chambers hadn't been such a Ken Doll. Mena Suvari is the love interest (not Constance) and she's quite ideal; they would've been better off casting Chris Klein - or to be honest Suvari (you could've had a female D'artagnan) - or a Hong Kong star.

Stephen Rea is Richeliu and Tim Roth is a made up villain who kills D'artagnan's parents. Roth is excellent,.Half way the plot becomes about the Queen, Catherine Denveuve, and she gets all this screen time.

Chambers is a real debit. So too are the undercast musketeers. When they all arrive at the end it should be rousing but it isn't. Still, fine villains and excellent Hong Kong style action sequences - not as good as Hong Kong films themselves but effective.

Movie review - "The Narrow Margin" (1952) **** (warning: spoilers)

 Excellent noir, beautifully shot and crisply written. Charles Macgraw has the role of a lifetime as the tough cop escorting gangster's wife Marie Windsor. Windsor is terrific. The main flaw of the film is she's so good you feel gypped that the last third shifts to this blander other actress - it's a neat twist that she's the actual wife and Windsor is a cop but I miss Macgraw-Windsor scenes and felt Windsor deserved more of an exit. Her death is shocking - I just wish she'd taken out at least one baddie. Very good baddies.

Book review - "Tell me how you love the picture : a Hollywood life" by Edward Feldman

 Entertaining memoir from Feldman, who had a strong Hollywood career, including Peter Weir's Witness. We hear of triumphs like that as well as humour detours making Hot Dog the Movie.

Some great stories: Michael Ritchie being lazy on The Golden Child, Alex Segal being fired from a TV movie for abusing the mothers of child actors, dealing with the ego of Joe Levine (who he had to publicise as much as Embassy's films), Mervyn Le Roy did uncredited directing on The Green Berets,

Feldman talks a lot about Aussies Peter Weir and Mel Gibson, though not so much about others he worked with - Louis Nowra on K19 for instance. There's a chapter on Ray Stark and one on Levine.