Seldon's Blog

Here are images from "THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO", the 2011 adaptation of Stieg Larsson's posthumous 2005 novel. Directed by David Fincher, the movie starred Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara: ( Read more... )

Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of "CASINO ROYALE" Daniel Craig's debut as James Bond aka 007. Based upon Ian Fleming's 1953 novel, the movie was directed by Martin Campbell: ( Read more... )

"SYLVIA" (2003) Review

I finally watched "SYLVIA", the 2003 biography on poet Sylvia Plath, on DVD. After all I have heard about the movie, I had expected to be disappointed by it. To be truthful, I found it quite interesting biopic that was especially enhanced by the leads' performances. But . . . "SYLVIA" was not a perfect film. ( Read more... )

Below is a list of my ten favorite spy thrillers from the past 80 years in chronological. By the way, there are no James Bond, Derek Flint, Jason Bourne or Tom Clancy films on this list: ( Read more... )

"STAR WARS: EPISODE VII - THE FORCE AWAKENS" (2015) Review

During the fall of 2012, the media and many film fans were stunned by news of filmmaker George Lucas' sale of his production company, Lucasfilm, to the Walt Disney Company. I was flabbergasted. However, this sale led to Disney's plans to continue Lucas' "STAR WARS" movie saga with future releases, television shows, novels and comic stories. ( Read more... )

"SPECTRE" (2015) Review

Following the release of the 2012 movie, "SKYFALL", my interest in the James Bond movie franchise had somewhat dropped. This was due to my negative reaction to the movie. In other words, I disliked it. When I learned that Sam Mendes, who had directed "SKYFALL", would return to direct the franchise's 24th movie, I did not receive the news very well and paid as little attention to the production of this new movie as possible. But . . . my family has never been able to resist the release of a new James Bond movie. So, we did not hesitate to rush to the theaters when "SPECTRE" hit the movie screens. ( Read more... )

"DEFIANCE" (2008) Review

After watching Edward Zwick’s 2008 World War II film, "DEFIANCE", I finally began to realize that it does not pay to make assumptions about a movie, based upon a theater trailer. I had made this mistake several times throughout my life and it irks me that I am still capable of making it. I certainly made this mistake when I saw the trailer for "DEFIANCE", a World War II drama that told the story of the war experiences of four Polish-Jewish brothers who ended up forming a partisan resistance group against the occupying Nazis between 1941 and 1942. ( Read more... )

"HIS DARK MATERIALS: THE GOLDEN COMPASS" (2007) Review"

I might as well make one thing clear . . . I had never read Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy, "His Dark Materials" before the release of "HIS DARK MATERIAL: THE GOLDEN COMPASS", the movie adaptation of his first novel. But this did not deter my interest in seeing the movie when it finally hit the theaters. And quite frankly, I am glad that I had seen it. ( Read more... )

Below are images from the 2007 fantasy film, "HIS DARK MATERIALS: THE GOLDEN COMPASS". Based upon Philip Pullman's 1995 novel and directed by Chris Weitz, the movie starred Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman, Ian McKellen and Daniel Craig: ( Read more... )

"ROAD TO PERDITION" (2002) Review

Back in 1998, DC Comics published a graphic novel about a Depression-era criminal enforcer who is betrayed by his employers and forced to hit the roads of the American Midwest with his young son on a quest for revenge. Written by Max Allan Collins, the novel caught the attention of producers Richard and Dean Zanuck and was adapted into film directed by Sam Mendes. ( Read more... )