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Reviews
The Karen Carpenter Story (1989)
Probably as close to the truth as we will ever know
This film was made soon enough after Karen's passing that perhaps Richard Carpenter and the people closest to Karen were feeling a little guilty as to how they may have contributed to her health problems. As the years have passed (almost 25 to be exact) it must have gotten easier to deny any complicity. Richard has spent the years after Karen's death endlessly remixing and recompiling the recordings he made with her. He married his cousin, Mary, and from what I have read, it looks like he may be planning a next generation Carpenters with his children. He seems to have regretted making this film,and that may very well be why it is unavailable in any form. It seemed to me to be a fairly honest assessment of the tragically short life and incredible talent that was Karen Carpenter.
Never Say Never Again (1983)
This remake was made simply because it could be made
I disagree with those who make ridiculous claims this is a bad Bond film. It has a good cast and director, and I found it entertaining. It was a remake of Thunderball for a very good reason. The original novel of Thunderball was supposed to have been the first James Bond film in 1962, but Ian Fleming was sued by Kevin McClory for having allegedly stolen some of his original ideas and plot lines from an original screenplay commissioned by Fleming. Fleming dismissed McClory and allegedly used much of his work in the resulting Thunderball novel. If you look at the credits for Thunderball (film #4), you'll notice it is the only one of the "official" Bond films to feature McClory's name rather prominently. There was a deal with McClory to have a ten year period from after Thunderball before a remake could be done. As it turned out, Connery was not on good terms with the official Bond franchise due to royalties or some financial disagreement. McClory approached Connery at the right time and that is one of the reasons the film was titled Never Say Never Again. (Connery had said after Diamonds Are Forever that he would never play Bond again). As corporate mergers would have it, this film is now part of the MGM catalog, but will never be given status as an official Bond film. I guess it will always be seen as the bastard of the franchise. None of the official Bond team would work on the film and that is why the familiar theme doesn't appear, the titles, etc, are different. It was also in direct competition with Octopussy which turned out to be a blockbuster. This is no Octopussy, but those who carry on like it was some kind of atrocity take the whole Bond thing too seriously. It's always fun to see Connery as Bond.