The Directors: William Wyler

He was a truly exceptional director.  I may have written about many before him but most all of those and also those to come could have sat at his feet and taken lessons. Most directors are scolded somewhat if they don't seem to have a distinct style... Ford for his westerns or Hitchcock and his mystery-thrillers, for example.  I look at William Wyler and consider how he did it.  In my best stab at brevity, let's say he included the audience in the proceedings. We'll chat about this more.

REVIEW: Free State of Jones

Directed by Gary Ross
2016 Biographical Drama
2 hours, 19 minutes
From STX Entertainment

Starring
Matthew McConaughey
Gugu Mabatha-Raw
Mahershala Ali
Keri Russell

Good 40s Films: The Best Years of Our Lives

1946 Drama
From Goldwyn Studios
Directed by William Wyler

Starring
Myrna Loy
Fredric March
Dana Andrews
Teresa Wright
Virginia Mayo
Harold Russell
Cathy O'Donnell
Hoagy Carmichael
Ray Collins
Steve Cochran

REVIEW: Genius

Directed by Michael Grandage
2016 Biographical Drama
1 hour 44 minutes
From Lionsgate

Starring
Colin Firth
Jude Law
Nicole Kidman
Laura Linney
Guy Pearce
Dominic West

Kate's 10 Best

Those 10 best lists have the potential of being kind of pesky because there's always one or two picks that will cause someone to say... what...?!?!  How'd that make the list or why wasn't such and such included? Unavoidable.  It's not difficult to come up with 10 great Katharine Hepburn films.  What was difficult was leaving off some of them.  Particularly illuminating is the fact that her film career spanned seven decades... not many can say that... and she was a star from start to finish.  I have included three films from the long-ago 1930s, only one from the 40s (boy, this was tough), two from the 50s, three from the 60s and one from the 80s.  So far she is the only actor to win four Oscars for lead roles and I have included three of those performances in this listing.  Let's get going.

Almost Famous I

They rubbed up against some fame... yes, they surely did. I'm going to start a new series about them.  For each we'll find some times that they certainly felt famous, desired, fawned over. The hopes and dreams were there once.  But for whatever reasons some dreams just don't come true. For some of the ladies I have lined up, they found a higher calling, usually marriage and motherhood. Some wanted the acclaim more than anything but it just didn't work out. It was almost in their grasp.  Let's meet some of them.

Guy Madison

The days have come and gone since he was here, prowling the hills of Hollywood, tanning at his agent's pool, looking for work, sometimes hustling for work, sometimes for other things. In his early life it had never seriously occurred to him to be an actor although he heard it enough.  You're good-looking enough to be a movie star. He knew his face and body had opened many a door and maybe this actor stuff might be another.

REVIEW: Me Before You

Directed by Thea Sharrock
2016 Romance Drama
1 hour 50 minutes
From MGM and New Line Cinema

Starring
Emilia Clarke
Sam Claflin
Janet McTeer
Charles Dance
Brendan Coyle
Jenna Coleman
Stephen Peacocke
Matthew Lewis
Samantha Spiro

Good 40s Films: The Killers

1946 Film Noir
From Universal Pictures
Directed by Robert Siodmak

Starring
Burt Lancaster
Ava Gardner
Edmond O'Brien
Albert Dekker
Sam Levene
Jack Lambert
Charles McGraw
William Conrad
Virginia Christine
Jeff Corey
Phil Brown