Tag: Roald Dahl

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More (2023/2024) | REVIEW

Benedict Cumberbatch and Dev Patel in ‘Poison’ from THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR AND THREE MORE — PHOTO: NETFLIX (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Wes Anderson — Screenplay by Wes Anderson.

In 2023, Wes Anderson teamed up with Netflix to release four short films, all of which were based on the works of Roald Dahl, in September of that year. Eventually, one of these features — The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar — was the effort that finally earned Wes Anderson his first Oscar, though in the short film category, which I don’t think many would’ve seen coming just a few years ago. Then, in 2024, following the Oscar win, Netflix released an anthology film consisting of Wes Anderson’s four short films. All four shorts feature heavy but quirky narration and the heavy stylization that we’ve come to know and love Wes Anderson for, though with slight tweaks from short to short. In this review, I’ll share my initial reaction to each of the four shorts, as well as give a final score out of ten for the repackaged anthology feature.

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RETRO REVIEW: You Only Live Twice (1967)

James Bond (Sean Connery) watches a sumo wrestling match in Japan in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE — Photo: United Artists / Eon Productions.

Directed by Lewis Gilbert — Screenplay by Roald Dahl.

After having released a Bond-film for every year from 1962 to 1965, Eon Productions and United Artists took a year-off before the next film in the franchise was released. Filmed mostly in Japan, You Only Live Twice was the second-to-last official Sean Connery Bond-film (and his last Bond-film before George Lazenby took over for one film). This fifth official Bond-film was the first Bond-picture to be directed by Lewis Gilbert who was hot off the heels after having won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival the year before for his film Alfie. Interestingly, 1967 also marked the first time that an unofficial/Non-Eon Bond-film, the David Niven-led Casino Royale, was released. Niven’s film was released a few months prior to the release of You Only Live Twice, and it may have had a negative impact on the box office potential of Connery’s fifth Bond-film.

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