Conspiracy on HBO. Great movie. Must see.
Me, too. TV in general has been pretty sad this last year.
20259. Erin R. - 5/24/2001 2:57:41 PM
We need better TV shows. I know I could have done a better job with Voyager's last season.
20260. Cellar Door - 5/24/2001 10:27:48 PM
I have been asked to be a judge at this year's San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Film festival.
Therefore I shall be in The City for a few days towards the end of June.
Ducastel & Martineau are coming as well with Adventures of Felix.
Much fun!
20261. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 1:22:39 AM
Conspiracy on HBO. Great movie. Must see.
20262. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 1:22:58 AM
20263. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 1:31:10 AM
This movie illustrates what Hannah Arendt meant by "the banality of evil." There are no mu-hwa-hawa laughs here (well, actually, there are a couple). But mainly these guys act like mid-level managers at a coporate training get-away.
What's weird is that I kept looking for a hero here. I know these guys are Nazis; but it's still a movie, and I was still looking for a "good guy." The guy who comes closest is Dr. Kitzinger, who argues against anhiliating the Jews. Purge them, separate them, deprive them of liberty-- yes! But kill them-- No. He's the film's "conscience." But, of course, even his "conscience" gives way once Heydrich (Kenneth Brannagh) threatens him a bit.
And then there's Colin Firth as the lawyer who crafted the Nuremburg race laws. He seems, at first, to be a Jewish sympathizer... but then we learn he despises Jews more than half of the people at the table. He just wants to purge them... "legally." Whatever that could mean in this context.
And then there's an SS captain who's uncomfortable with killing Jews, and doesn't want to do it.
So, there are the film's "heroes." Three guys who are uncomfortable, for one reason or another, at the thought of exterminating a race. But they all agree to do it anyway.
Kenneth Brannagh is great as Heydrich. No muu-hwa-haws from him. Everything is said with a polite smile.
A really, really terrific and disturbing film. Based, apparently, almost entirely on the exact word-for-word minutes of the meeting, so there's little Hollywoodization. (Although there are a few private discussions which, presumably, had to be written.)
20264. PelleNilsson - 5/25/2001 2:51:26 AM
20265. rubberducky - 5/25/2001 10:58:05 AM
the last episode of Star Trek: Voyager was pretty good (just watched the tape i made last night).
took too long to get to the action, but that is pretty normal. i liked the First Contact tie-in.
decent stuff, but they could have addressed what happened to the marquis members, but oh well.
20266. Fielding - 5/25/2001 11:06:11 AM
Cellar:
"I have been asked to be a judge at this year's San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Film festival."
That's great!
Just one question. How do you determine what qualifies as a "Gay & Lesbian" film?
20267. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 11:38:35 AM
They are entered in the festival? Might be a clue. :-)
20268. Fielding - 5/25/2001 11:47:28 AM
Yes, but would they accept anything that was submitted? For example, Eyes Wide Shut had Alan Cumming in a small role, and Tom Cruise . . . well, you get my point.
20269. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 11:52:53 AM
I'm sure Cellar will fill us in on the criteria...but a Tome Cruise movie ought to qualify since Tome Cruise is...well, you know the drill.
Did anyone see the newwsfilm of that floor collapsing at the hotel in...Israel?...where 24 people died? Home movies...it looked like special effects gone awry.
20270. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 11:55:20 AM
It was Jerusalem and 25 are dead, so far. It was a wedding reception so lots of video cameras were running...it was astonishing video.
20271. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 12:27:02 PM
Review of Pearl Harbor
The Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II has inspired a splendid movie, full of vivid performances and unforgettable scenes, a movie that uses the coming of war as a backdrop for individual stories of love, ambition, heroism and betrayal. The name of that movie is "From Here to Eternity."
"Pearl Harbor," the noisy, expensive and very long new blockbuster from Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay, steals an occasional glance in the direction of "Eternity," Fred Zinnemann's durable 1953 melodrama, adapted from James Jones's sprawling best seller.
Another review calls it "a film which will live in infamy".
20272. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 12:32:30 PM
The NYT observes the relevant historical paraphrase comes from Winston Churchill: Never before have so many spent so much on so little.
20273. LadyChaos - 5/25/2001 1:15:51 PM
Well, I'd gloat about the reviews that Pearl Harbor has received, but I think that most here would agree that those reviews were to be expected.
Having said that, I could even be tempted to see it, just for the sport of arguing with Ace over why Bay is a crappy director.
20274. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 1:19:07 PM
Bay apparently resorts to his typical abbatoir-style editing technique in even this film, which one would imagine could be edited in a more mature, less frenetically childish manner.
20275. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 1:21:45 PM
I mean, Pearl Harbor seems suitable for an audience beyond ADD-afflicted fourteen-year-old boys.
So Bay has made a concession to the potentially broader demographic... he no features very few one-third of a second cuts. Instead, he features half-second cuts.
20276. Fielding - 5/25/2001 1:26:09 PM
"I mean, Pearl Harbor seems suitable for an audience beyond ADD-afflicted fourteen-year-old boys.
So Bay has made a concession to the potentially broader demographic... he no features very few one-third of a second cuts. Instead, he features half-second cuts."
LOL!
20277. LadyChaos - 5/25/2001 3:44:22 PM
Ace,
Those "half-second cuts" are probably to acknowledge that PH is an "epic."
Btw, I am interested in seeing "Conspiracy," but don't get HBO. Do they release these things on rental video, eventually?
When I was living in Prague, I tried to help launch a project based on the assassination of Heydrich. One of the most difficult challenges, had the project gone forward, would have been casting Heydrich, who was a singular-looking fellow. I am interested in seeing Branagh's portrayal of him.
P.S. A rather bad version of the Heydrich assassination story was made in the mid-seventies, featuring Timothy Bottoms as one of the Czech parachutists. It had lots of awful WWII espionage cliches, including a beautiful young resistance fighter given to wearing dark berets and a beige trenchcoat.
20278. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 4:03:36 PM
Btw, I am interested in seeing "Conspiracy," but don't get HBO. Do they release these things on rental video, eventually?
Yes. Although I wouldn't count on seeing advertisements for its availability.
"I am interested in seeing Branagh's portrayal of him."
He played him like a mid-level corporate brand-recognition manager for The Olive Garden.
20279. CalGal - 5/25/2001 4:16:38 PM
Lady,
Yes, they do eventually come out on video. The conference was presented as having taken place in a very corporate way--we want to hear from everyone and make it unanimous, yes?
20280. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 4:20:57 PM
Oh bull...he was great in the role. And Stanley Tucci was great as Eichmann. I didn't sit there thinking, "Oh look...it's the guy from Big Night and Emma Thompsons ex-husband", in other words.
20281. LadyChaos - 5/25/2001 4:21:23 PM
CalGal,
Yes, I suppose there are only so many ways that you can portray a meeting.
20282. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 4:29:10 PM
LadyC:
I don't think you'd be disappointed in Branaghs performance.
20283. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 4:29:59 PM
JAH,
I said above that he was "great." My line about the Olive Garden is not meant as derogatory; it just means that he portrayed evil in a banal, friendly, scrub-faced-and-politely-smiling way.
20284. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 4:35:20 PM
I thought he was very, very good. I thought all the actors were great.
The one exception is Stanley Tucci. It's not that he wasn't good; it's just that he didn't say three words in the entire movie. I find it difficult to rate a performance as "great" if an actor is barely in the movie, and just takes notes or looks around when he is in the movie.
Some will call this "perfectly understated." I call it "the kind of role I could easily play." You want me to sit there and listen to people? In a Nazi SS uniform? I don't call this "acting"; I call it "Saturday night, out with the boys."
So, was he bad? No. But he had so little to do it's hard to say he was good or bad.
20285. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 4:36:33 PM
Oh, well then..I agree with you. I have such an aversion to Olive Garden that I may have misinterpreted your remark.
20286. CalGal - 5/25/2001 4:41:04 PM
Branagh did exceptionally well, I thought.
Tucci was very good in his one speech near the end. Other than that, it was more a matter of his physical presence--he didn't have much to do. But he used his presence well.
Firth was superb, as was the little guy playing Hoffman (the one who got ill near the end and said it was the cigar).
But then, all of the acting was top-notch--which is what you need for a movie about a meeting.
20287. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 4:41:13 PM
I think Tucci gave an understated performance, true, but he managed with his actions and eyes to convey his was very apprehensive about measuring up and also, when he was dealing with the staff, he became very self assured and pompous...his actions around the table and his reactions to the slightest thing Heydrich said were a picture of toadying and submissiveness to the stronger personality. I think he did very well...at least for me, he did.
20288. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 4:43:32 PM
Tucci did just fine. No complaints. I'm just saying -- it's like asking another writer to rewrite your script. He decides your script is okay and returns it without any changes.
Now, did he do a good "rewriting job"? He might have made the right decision and served his function, yes. But can we say he did a great job of rewriting?
Tucci was fine. But he just sat there in an SS uniform. Which, as I say, I do every Saturday night, and no one gives me a Peabody Award for it.
20289. CalGal - 5/25/2001 4:45:11 PM
his actions around the table and his reactions to the slightest thing Heydrich said were a picture of toadying and submissiveness to the stronger personality.
That's funny, it didn't strike me as "toadying" at all.
20290. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 4:48:26 PM
when he was dealing with the staff, he became very self assured and pompous...
Oh yeah. He slapped a soldier towards the end. I forgot about that.
Still, he was obviously not carrying the weight of the film. Brannagh, Firth, the SS officer from Riga, Klopfer, the little guy who got sick, the reddish-haired manager of the Polish ghettoes, and Dr. Kitzinger were the main players.
Tucci was a secretary. Which is fine -- that's what Eichman was. An adjutant; a lackey. But he wasn't involved in any of the conflicts.
20291. CalGal - 5/25/2001 4:53:12 PM
The scene outside with Branagh and Firth was wonderful.
"Look, this is going to happen. The SS is going to take over the running of it, and they are going to note who is enthusiastic and who isn't and you are going to have to make a choice just like everyone else. But are you going to make your choice and make it known now, just because some fat inconsequential prick is pissing you off?"
20292. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 5:05:27 PM
Vertical Limit -- Two and a half stars
Pretty much this is the script everyone wanted to write after they read the Everest-disaster book "Into Thin Air" (great book, by the way). But, instead of a disaster on Everest, it's a lost expedition on K2, a mountain which is an even tougher technical climb than Everest. Except this story has guys climbing up the mountain with some ridiculously unstable nitroglycerine in their backpacks.
If avalalanches and falls off a 26,000 ft tall mountain aren't enough, just throw in some nitroglycerine for some huge explosions.
That said, the film is decent; I'm tempted to give it three stars, because it doesn't suck, but not quite tempted enough.
THIS is how CGI should be done: CGI provides breathtaking backgrounds and incidental elements to the foreground action; you can't really tell it's CGI. It looks good. And, if you get the DVD, you get a huge number of featurettes on the special effects (and seeing them paint mountain landscapes over bluescreen is soooo cool) including a National Geographic documentary. The director (Martin Cambpell, Goldeneye) and producer provide audio-track commentary; while occasionally interesting, it's chiefly both men agreeing that each and every scene and performance is "great," "lovely," and/or "extraodinary" or some combination thereof.
20293. CalGal - 5/25/2001 5:07:18 PM
It was such a fun movie. I had a ball. My only complaint is that it cried out for Keanu Reeve and instead we were stuck with Chris O'Donnell.
20294. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 5:14:07 PM
The story: A Richard Branson type tycoon --except he's a brash Texan rather than a Brit -- pays Robin Tunney and a master-climber to take him to the top of K2 as a publicity stunt for his new airline.
Well, Robin Tunney (who, unfortunately, does not show her boobs in this picture) is the brother of Chris O'Donnell (only 75% as annoying as he usually is). And see, in the teaser, they're rockclimbing with Dad and... well, did you see Cliffhanger? Let's just say that when friends and family are rock-climbing in the beginning of the film, the sequence ain't gonna end with a picnic.
So, years later, Chris O'Donnel has given up climbing; Robin Tunney is even more determined to become a champion climber, and is in fact one of the best female climbers in the world. And she's so gung-ho to get to the top of K2 that she ignores the fact that a serious storm is coming... which is okay with billionare Paxton, because he doesn't care about the storm either.
The storm strikes. Paxton and Tunney are buried in a sort-of fake-looking ice cave. And now Chris O'Donnel and a team of five other climbers (including Scott Glen, playing the obligatory burnt-out, cynical, world-weary older expert) now have to carry lots and lots (and I mean LOTS) of nitroglycerine up the mountain to blow open the ice-cave Sis is trapped in.
Wait... didn't they get stuck in the cave because of an avalanche? Won't the nitroglycerine -- especially the industrial-sized tanks these boys are carrying -- cause even WORSE avalanches?
Not to worry. In true disaster picture style, there will be poignant deaths and noble sacrifices and even long-sought vengeance, but rest assured the youngest, and prettiest, people will survive.
20295. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 5:14:18 PM
The film is competent. It begins much, much better than its middle or end; in the beginning, you're ready for a really good movie. But while it's not really all that good, it's not terrible, either. So it's worth a rental, especially on DVD.
20296. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 5:28:52 PM
Dungeons and Dragons -- one half star
Make your saving roll against "Crap;" you need to roll a natural twenty to avoid being alternately bored by this film's insipid banality and angered by its incompetence and cut-and-paste swipes from better movies (all of which you've seen before, by the way... how come crappy movies have to steal from the same top twenty movies of all time, rather than from lesser-known films?)
Is there comic relief? IS THERE EVER!! You have a black guy shucking and jiving and whose eyes virtually bug out when he's scared with a cry of "Feets don't fails me now!" You've got a very ugly dwarf with a very fake-looking red beard whose dialogue you can't understand, although he sounds a bit like a seedy Popeye, and who eats like a pig.
And the special effects! Why, there are guys walking around with bright purple and bright green face masks; they're supposed to be... I dunno, aliens from the Star Wars cantina, perhaps. Who knows? And then you have lots of footage shot in Prague... supposedly. As far as I can tell, all city exteriors are CGI. Bad CGI. Bad videogame CGI.
20297. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 5:29:00 PM
And at the end some dragons fight each other. There are Red Dragons, controlled by the Evil Wizard's Rod of Red Dragon Control, which is also called the Rod of Seville, and there are Gold Dragons, controlled by the Good Empress' Rod of Gold Dragon Control, which I THOUGHT was ALSO called the "Rod of Seville," or something, and I can't quite figure out how both people can control dragons since the whole plot involved getting the one rod that could control dragons... but then, I don't understand the whole middle of the film (the tenth minute to the hundredth minute), because it really makes no sense at all.
It's not that it's complicated. It's just really inept.
Did I mention that Jeremy Irons plays the Evil Wizard? Yuhp. He's in the film for, oh... six or seven minutes. About five or six days on the set.
Is he good?
IS HE EVER!!!
20298. LadyChaos - 5/25/2001 5:29:09 PM
This paragraph from the Miami Herald's Review of Pearl Harbor probably sums up the problem with Michael Bay about as well as anything I have read:
The attack --which, along with its aftermath, consumes nearly an hour of screen time -- is the main lure for the millions who will be lining up to see Pearl Harbor this weekend. It's the irresistible hook of an otherwise mundane movie, but even this doesn't pay off the way it should. Men are shot, drowned, blasted to smithereens, and the havoc washes over you, entrancing the eye but never engaging the emotions. In Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg captured the visceral rush of combat and the inconceivable pain and terror felt by the soldiers. In Pearl Harbor, the destruction is dazzling, but you don't feel a thing. It's all smoke and fireballs, spectacle without any real punch.
20299. LadyChaos - 5/25/2001 5:50:49 PM
And this:
...was it too much to ask for a trace of intelligence, or maturity, or even insight? When Rafe and Danny board their planes and take off into the sky to do battle with the bad guys, they might as well be Luke Skywalker and Han Solo blasting tie fighters out of the sky.
20300. LadyChaos - 5/26/2001 11:28:41 AM
Sheesh, can I kill a thread, or what?
20301. LadyChaos - 5/26/2001 11:32:16 AM
Only Kevin Thomas of the LA Times seems to be on the Michael Bay payroll.
20302. Cellar Door - 5/26/2001 11:52:04 AM
And thereby hangs a tale. Kevin is the Will Rogers of film critics. He's never met a movie he didn't like. I have no doubt that all manner of brass-knuckle threats -- like denial of advertising -- was made by Disney to the L.A. Times to force them to have Kevin write the review.
I've linked Frank Rich's column on "Pearl Harbor" in "American Politics."
20303. JudithAtHome - 5/26/2001 12:25:08 PM
Our local paper is owned by the Disneyites and you could certainly tell it by the review written by our "critic"...he raved over the damned thing and this is so unlike his usual critical reviews. He has taken a hard line that I respect on movies that are mainstream "hits" and done some good film criticism...until yesterday. I'm disappointed in this guy because he has been very believable up to now.
20304. LadyChaos - 5/26/2001 4:10:27 PM
Judith,
It goes to show that even intelligent people can get swept up by the hype.
Butt-buddies Bay and Bruck'n'Hammer ain't gettin' a dime of my money, no way no how.
20305. JudithAtHome - 5/26/2001 6:36:10 PM
LC:
I'm not so sure he is caught up in the hype so much as trying to protect his ass...the paper is paring down and I read in the alternative weekly that many who work there are quaking in their boots that they wil get the ax. The paper is owned by the conglomerate who put out this drecky film.
20306. arkymalarky - 5/26/2001 7:05:48 PM
I tried to warn her. I tried to tell her all the stories I'd heard. I talked about the cost, the time not to be retrieved, the fact that it's ok to be different--just because "everyone else is doing it" is no reason to follow the herd.
But she did it anyway...
She went to see Pearl Harbor--
AND SHE LIKED IT!!
Where have I gone wrong? What kind of parent must I be? Oh, the shame.
20307. LadyChaos - 5/26/2001 7:10:51 PM
Oh, the humanity!
I didn't know that Disney had bought the LA Times.
Cellar,
I'm going to have about a week to myself at the end of July-beginning of August, and I'm considering a visit to LA-LA Land. Would you be up for a drink at the Formasa 'round then?
20308. Toenails - 5/26/2001 9:07:53 PM
If it's true that Disney owns the Times, then one would think that the reviewer for the L.A. Times would mention that little conflict in his review. Did he?
20309. AceofSpades - 5/26/2001 9:30:54 PM
From what I've read, the LAT has had an incestuous and overly-friendly, overly-protective relationship with Hollywood for quite some time.
LA is a company town.
20310. AceofSpades - 5/26/2001 9:34:25 PM
It also should be noted that many reviewers are loathe to give a bad review to a huge event film.
Ebert, for example, gave a fairly positive review to The Phantom Menace. Many reviewers gave Godzilla a fairly charitable review.
I think that when it comes to big popcorn movies, reviewers are victims of "learned futility." They've given so many negative reviews to popcorn pictures that end up making a lot of money they've decided that they're sort of clueless when it comes to evaluating such movies. So often they don't even try to really critique such films; they simply note that the film will satisfy its intended audience, or whatever. Which isn't really a critique or review.
20311. AceofSpades - 5/26/2001 9:39:12 PM
Most reviews of Die Hard, for example, were middling-to-slightly-positive. Time magazine's old-fart reviewer was particularly clueless, giving the film only the most grudging of credit for its script and direction. But few reviewers understood they were watching one of the most influential movies of the eighties and nineties.
Movie critics, by and large, are pretty stupid. Or perhaps "stupid" isn't the right word; let's just say that someone who watches 300-400 films per year (major releases, film festivals, revivals, research for film-mag critiques) has a different perspective on the movies from the average movie goer.
20312. AceofSpades - 5/26/2001 9:52:19 PM
One thing I find completely unfair is reviewers' constant sniping that Pearl Harbor is "timid" for portraying the Japanese so positively.
How ludicrous. This is a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation. Had Bay depicted the Japanese as ruthless Imperialists who had savaged China and Korea with barbaric rapes, the critics would have cried "jingoism" and "racism" and the like. Does ANYONE doubt this?
So, the filmmakers soft-pedal the Japanese's fairly warlike attitudes and the critics all bleat "timid" and "PC." "Why, the Japanese are painted as noble warriors forced into a war they didn't want," reviewers complain.
Well, what the fuck did you expect? After playing the roll of PC Police for twenty years, now you complain that the "criminals" aren't breaking the law anymore?
20313. Cellar Door - 5/26/2001 9:52:22 PM
I most surely would, Lady C!
20314. Cellar Door - 5/27/2001 9:20:35 AM
20315. JudithAtHome - 5/27/2001 10:11:49 AM
Ace:
I think the reasons for portraying the Japanese the way they did has nothing to do with PCism at all but rather with the bottom line...they soft-pedaled the take on them so the Japanese would flock to movie in droves and slap down their yen to see the damned thing.
It's like changing Gone With the Wind so the South won in order to lure all the patrons in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the theatres.
20316. Indiana Jones - 5/27/2001 10:45:05 AM
Saw Fargo. I'm by no means an authority on the Coen brothers, but it occurred to me that they may have a limited palette of characters after watching this film. Francis McDormand's sheriff reminded me of Ed, and the two kidnappers reminded me of Hi's prison buddies with a litte of the lone biker of the Apocalypse added in for the Gaear Grimsrud character. You have a kidnapping, and the father who endures his daughter's kidnapping is pretty much the same kind of guy as Nathan Arizona, who also had his daughter kidnapped--though this control-freak, ball-breaking father apparently has less humor to him.
The cinematography reminded me of Miller's Crossing.
The main reason I think the sense of repeated "ingredients" stood out was Fargo is an ingredients film. Lots of nice bits and bobs, but I'm not sure that it eventually hangs together. William Macy's character shows some promise, for example, but then goes nowhere. What's with the little Japanese rendevous that Frances McDormand has? For sure that should have been on the cutting room floor.
As a pastiche of Columbo, the film sort of works: the crooks are consistently inept bumblers, the witnesses unhelpful, and the sheriff eventually catches them by the sheer luck of driving by and seeing their car. Not that catching them really accomplishes much because they've all succeeded in screwing themselves over worse than the system ever could, while losing 92 percent of the ransom money.
Two and a half stars.
20317. JudithAtHome - 5/27/2001 11:07:19 AM
We watched Before Night Falls and I think Javier Bardem was robbed of an Oscar. The film was wonderful...beautifully and artistically shot and very well put together. The scene of Reinaldos taxi ride home from the hospital, with the intercuts of the streets of Havana, were very well done. I loved this movie and think it was a great effort, effectively done.
And if that was, indeed, Johnny Depps ass...all I can say is, now I understand what all the hoopla is about over his "beauty"!
20318. LadyChaos - 5/27/2001 2:47:57 PM
Indy,
It's clear that Fargo suffered from some severe editing, which is why the backstory of McDormand's rendezvous never quite makes sense. But all in all, I enjoyed the film as a pleasant black comedy.
I recommend Barton Fink, if you haven't seen it. It does a good job of putting you in the state of mind of a writer who's losing his mind.
20319. Indiana Jones - 5/27/2001 11:00:47 PM
It's clear that Fargo suffered from some severe editing, which is why the backstory of McDormand's rendezvous never quite makes sense.
LC: Yes, that's probably the explanation--which is kind of strange considering the film is only 98 minutes. I don't know what they took out, but I would have cut the rendezvous entirely and plumped the rest up with something to make it gel. Other loose ends: the teenage son, the serial numbers that were faxed (yeah, that's probably why the William Macy character is in trouble to start with, but still--exactly what is he blowing money on?), the American Indian who beats the crap out of one of the kidnappers, the father's sidekick/adviser. IMO it's almost all loose ends.
It also sort of bugged me that the wife survived falling down the stairs and the shootout when the highway patrolman pulls them over, and yet she is apparently shot off camera for "irritating" Gaear Grimsrud. Why not have her die at the start if you're going to be so cavalier about it later? That's just a quibble, but I have a lot of quibbles about this film.
20320. LadyChaos - 5/27/2001 11:22:17 PM
Indy,
There was apparently some backstory about MacDormand and her husband being in a marital crisis of some sort that was edited out. You get hints of it toward the end, when hubby mentions having sold a painting of his to the Postal service for use on a stamp. The former editor in me picked up on this immediately, and figured that they probably shot a good deal of material explaining this, but decided to cut it in favor of emphasizing the black comedy aspect. It was probably a good thing, but they left just enough loose ends dangling to make it annoying.
Otherwise, I didn't have a problem with the film at all.
20321. CalGal - 5/27/2001 11:31:37 PM
It is another in the list of movies where I simply can't really like anyone involved in the main plot. McDormand's character was as close as it got, and even she was annoying. Although I did like her police work at the beginning.
The main plot relied on everyone being like George in Seinfeld.
The murder scene at the beginning was incredibly powerful. I still get panicky when I think of it.
20322. Fielding - 5/27/2001 11:39:51 PM
Pearl Harbor made 38 million in its first two days, which is HUGE disappointment. The movie is officially a bomb. I wouldn't be surprised if Shrek outgrosses Pearl Harbor.
It won't be remembered as a bomb on the level of Ishtar, but it will be the biggest disappointment of the year, and will slow down Michael Bay's career.
20323. CalGal - 5/27/2001 11:42:17 PM
Yes, I read that it didn't do that well, but the weekend wasn't over. How wonderful!
20324. Cellar Door - 5/27/2001 11:50:22 PM
I passed by a multiplex yesterday afternoon where "Pearl Harbor" was playing. A huge crowd of kids was outside waiting in line.
They were all going to see "Shrek"
20325. CalGal - 5/27/2001 11:56:22 PM
Shrek is terrific.
20326. Fielding - 5/28/2001 12:21:32 AM
It's no Chicken Run.
20327. CalGal - 5/28/2001 12:27:45 AM
I liked Chicken Run a great deal, but I think I'd give the nod to Shrek. I'm looking forward to seeing it again.
20328. Fielding - 5/28/2001 10:49:15 AM
:-(~~~~~~
20329. JudithAtHome - 5/28/2001 12:26:37 PM
We or rather I, watched Urbania last night...husband fell asleep. It was intriguing; told in flashback and current time which took awhile to figure out. All the urban legends included in the story were portrayed rather naturally but the entire film was so much an urban legend in itself, you had to work to make sense of it. Cleverly done and a sadness afterward that sticks with you.
The main character, Charley, is aimlessly wandering around NYC and runs into many different people along the way. He is saddened by something and as the story progresses, we think we learn why. The theme of the entire experience is "Heard any good stories lately?" and we do, as urbam legends are played out in flashback while being related to Charley. With the end of the movie, all is revealed...surprisingly.
20330. LadyChaos - 5/28/2001 6:53:02 PM
Fielding,
You can't really compare weekend box office receipts between one movie that runs over three hours and another that runs under two, since a lot of it depends on how often exhibitors are able to turn the film in a day. More telling will be whether receipts hold steady over a period of weeks, or start to fall off as word of mouth gets around. Early reports seem to favor repeat business from -- get this -- teenage girls (who apparently liked the "love triangle" aspect).
This is not good.
20331. Cellar Door - 5/28/2001 9:44:48 PM
20332. Ms. No - 5/28/2001 10:30:52 PM
Oh, wow! How incredibly cool! I went to highschool with Peter Paige. I had to go and look him up to see if it was actually him but I'm thrilled to see he's doing so well AND that he finally came out of the closet. Right on!!!
Hmmm.....I wonder if he's going to the 15 year reunion?
20333. JudithAtHome - 5/28/2001 11:04:47 PM
Cellar:
Thanks for the picture and link for Jon Shear...I loved the movie! Did you?
20334. JudithAtHome - 5/28/2001 11:06:35 PM
MsNO:
15 year reunion? Neophyte!
20335. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 12:25:24 AM
It's a tough job but somebody's got to do it!
In fifteen minutes I leave to see Moulin Rouge. Can't wait!
20336. Wombat - 5/29/2001 10:29:43 AM
Saw "Pearl Harbor." Dear God. A love story broken up up by a lot of explosions and ships sinking. If you took out all the extraneous stuff it would be about 60 minutes long. "Tora, Tora, Tora" has it beat all hollow. The National Geographic documentary about Pearl Harbor on NBC on Sunday was excellent.
If I can bring myself to do so, I'll discuss the "historical" aspects of the film over in History. Those who want to start without me, please do so.
20337. Cellar Door - 5/29/2001 10:55:45 AM
I'm crazy about the movie, Judith. It manages to cover a lot of very interesting and complex ground gracefully. I especially loved the way the friendship between Dan Futterman and Alan Cumming was dealt with. It rang ever-so-true.
20338. Fielding - 5/29/2001 11:44:38 AM
Mea Culpa. While surely a box office disappointment, I got a bit carried away in calling Pearl Harbor a bomb. Even if it only breaks even domestically, which is still a possibility, it will make a lot of money overseas.
20339. Fielding - 5/29/2001 11:55:21 AM
Lady Chaos:
You can't really compare weekend box office receipts between one movie that runs over three hours and another that runs under two, since a lot of it depends on how often exhibitors are able to turn the film in a day. More telling will be whether receipts hold steady over a period of weeks, or start to fall off as word of mouth gets around. Early reports seem to favor repeat business from -- get this -- teenage girls (who apparently liked the "love triangle" aspect).
Actually, you can. The film producer community starts deciding whether a film is a hit or a miss by the opening Friday night. Hollywood knows the Box Office status of 90% of studio releases by the Saturday morning. Nonetheless, if your point is that jury is still out on Pearl Harbor, I agree with you.
Pearl Harbor was designed with teenage girls in mind. Indeed, it was teenage girls who made Titanic the huge hit it became, and Pearl Harbor intended to follow the Titanic formula. The majority of Titanic's repeat viewings were among teenage girls.
20340. rubberducky - 5/29/2001 11:59:32 AM
i have no idea why you are calling Pearl Harbor a bomb
The World War II epic "Pearl Harbor," one of the most heavily marketed films of the year, opened at No. 1 at the four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend box office with ticket sales of about $75.1 million, according to studio estimates issued on Monday.
The Walt Disney Co. film ranks second on the four-day list, between "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," which opened with $90.1 million during the Memorial Day holiday weekend in 1997, and "Mission: Impossible 2," with $70.8 million (Memorial Day 2000).
yes, it fell from some ridiclous 'predicitions' but it has made a little over half the production costs in the 1st 4 days. to think it will only break even domestically is silly imo.
20341. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 12:28:24 PM
Just saw some clips of that skinny kid from Freaks and Geeks playing James Dean in the TV movie of his life...he's got that gawky, quirky thing down pat and looks fantastically like James Dean. It's on August 5 on TNT.
20342. Fielding - 5/29/2001 12:34:25 PM
Ducks:
I already posted that my "bomb" reference was an overstatement.
Nonetheless, your post understates Pearl Harbor's costs. The production costs were $150 million (a record), but that does not include marketing. Also, the exhibitors keep a percentage of the film's gross revenues, and that percentage goes up after two weeks. Pearl Harbor will need to gross over $250 domestically to break even, which is less than 50% likely to occur.
As I said, it will make its money overseas.
20343. rubberducky - 5/29/2001 12:44:44 PM
as you say, we'll see.
if this dumb movie doesn't make $175 million i'll be surprised. but then, i'm constantly amazed by people's stupidity.
20344. CalGal - 5/29/2001 1:32:59 PM
In Fielding's defense, the first articles about its supposedly weak performance didn't mention that it was three hours long. It wasn't until yesterday that I read an analysis that said it actually did well. The best indicator would be attendance per viewing--EW usually reports on that, doesn't it?
20345. LadyChaos - 5/29/2001 1:42:19 PM
CalGal,
An attendance per viewing standard would be the most fair measure. If you have two films that are getting the same attendance, yet one can be show five to six times per day while the other can be shown only three to four times per day, you might be led to believe, based on gross box office receipts, that the shorter picture is doing better. And, in a sense, it is doing better in terms of its rate of return per screening day. But the longer film could easily end up making more money over the long term.
I heard several reports on Pearl Harbor this morning, all of them bad. But even some of those people continue to defend Michael Bay as being a good "technical" action director.
I worry that I might have to go see the film, just to arm myself for these debates. If so, it will only be while holding my nose.
20346. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 2:03:34 PM
I'm feeling considerably less than eloquent this morning due to lack of sleep but wanted to mention that I loved Moulin Rouge. It's beautiful and tragic and funny and sexy and I'm definitely going to see it again.
The sets and costumes are amazing but I missed a lot of the same kinds of things that I missed in Lurhmann's Romeo & Juliet simply because there is such an awful lot going on in so many of the scenes but it's fabulous eye-candy. I was pleasantly surprised by Ewan MacGregor's singing voice. I had no idea that he could sing. Not only that, but he sings very well! Nicole Kidman is beautifl and fascinating to watch and aquits herself well in the vocal department. It's difficult for me to say whether I think she's a particularly talented actess simply because she's so amazingly beautiful that I get sidetracked. She's good but that's pretty much all I can tell you. If I can see her be really good when the camera isn't quite so in love with her face I'll be better able to tell.
John Leguizamo (sp?) and Richard Roxburgh are the stand-out performances although I wasn't overly fond of the speech impediment that Leguizamo adopted for Lautrec. Both men brought moments of utterly naked humanity to roles that could easily have been mere stereotypes---The clown and the Evil Duke.
okay, brain fade. I can't think of anything else right now.
20347. Fielding - 5/29/2001 2:15:26 PM
I agree with Ms. No. I thought Moulin Rouge was brilliant. I hope to put together a fuller length review soon.
I also want to stress that anybody interested in seeing this movie should try to see it in a theater with good sound, preferably during a sold out show, preferably soon. There was more audience activity in viewing this film than any I've seen in 20 years.
20348. LadyChaos - 5/29/2001 2:17:24 PM
I've been avoiding Moulin Rouge because I'm not sure how I feel about the modern soundtrack. Was that an impediment?
20349. Fielding - 5/29/2001 2:23:14 PM
Not to me. The soundtrack was filled with songs that I would never choose to listen to before the movie, and that did not inhibit my enjoyment.
20350. CalGal - 5/29/2001 2:25:01 PM
Shrek
Imaginative, funny, and extremely eclectic, this story of a cranky troll and his sidekick donkey rescuing the truly beautiful princess does not require you haul a kid along to justify your attendance. The voice work is superb, with Murphy's donkey up there with Williams' genie in the pantheon of superlative comedy turns. The stream of visual gags is consistently funny as well, with the Disney digs coming fast and furious.
Special kudos for the female character: strong, funny, sexy, and perfectly capable of looking after herself. (I never thought I'd say this about a gorgeous blonde, but Diaz really is amazing--how'd she get all that in looks and still manage to acquire brains and a personality?)
There is, simply, nothing not to like about Shrek, including the cranky ogre himself. Let us all sing praise for a blockbuster that actually deserves its popularity.
Oh, and I'll bet a fair amount of virtual cash that the soundtrack will be a hit, too. Great tunes.
20351. christipeters - 5/29/2001 2:38:39 PM
Cal - "Shrek is terrific"
Told ya so!
20352. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 2:39:37 PM
LadyC,
The modern tunes were used very effectively. They were good for some laughs as well as underscoring the theme of the film. There were a few that I didn't recognize at all, but one of my favorite scenes is set to Sting's Roxanne. It's a song that I love anyway, but the rearrangement and the choreography were ......god, I can't think of anything to convey how strongly it affected me. Not from an intellectual standpoint--the song is very frank and the message it conveys in the film unsubtle but the shear power of it was ....shit! I'm still out of words for it.
Another of my favorite scenes is in the beginning when they're selling the idea of Spectacula Spectacula to the Duke. I can't remember the name of the piece but it's classical and you might most easily recognize it with a cartoon cat and mouse chasing one another and hitting each other over the head with frying pans etc.
good god. I've got to get some sleep. I make no sense and have no words. blegh!
At any rate, I laughed my ass off---as did the rest of the audience. Kidman does over-the-top campy incredibly well. Her total commitment to melodrama in the early scenes with MacGregor and Roxburgh are hysterical. Satine knows the power of her allure but at the same time she never takes herself seriously. I think it's that quality the Kidman has in common with the character she portays and it's what frees her to be completely balls out in her performance.
20353. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 2:47:24 PM
Of course "Cameron Diaz" is beautiful, sexy, intelligent, and all that...she is a CARTOON. I don't think she's all that brainy and intelligent in real life but possibly you are letting the fact she's a cartoon with all those attributes color your view of her.
20354. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 2:51:17 PM
Juditha,
From what I've heard she's pretty bright and down-to-earth in real life as well. She doesn't take her own beauty at all seriously and is something of a goofball. She's one of those girls that you'd love to hate but just can't seem somehow to manage it because she's so incredibly nice and fun to be around.
20355. CalGal - 5/29/2001 2:52:23 PM
Judith,
Do you really think it is conceivable that my comment was about Fiona, as opposed to Cameron Diaz? Mightn't you want to think for a second before you make such silly comments?
20356. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 2:57:58 PM
I just wonder how you can assume she is all the things you say from seeing her as a character in a cartoon...your segue in that post made it seem so.
Of course, when I say "silly things", I'm advised to stop and think before doing so...your remarks struck me as fairly silly, too.
20357. CalGal - 5/29/2001 3:02:35 PM
Judith--it was a parenthetical remark. But in any event, that you would think that anyone other than a five year old would confuse an animated character with a real actress suggests a basic problem in your assumption methodology.
20358. CalGal - 5/29/2001 3:04:04 PM
MsNo,
Yes, exactly. Usually beautiful blondes--in fact, most spectacularly beautiful people--are more than a bit lacking in the personality department. I wonder if Diaz had a miserable childhood? (g)
20359. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 3:09:12 PM
I think many of us have problems with assuming, Cal....
20360. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 4:12:36 PM
CG,
I dunno. I've heard that she has terrible problems with her skin...
Actually, I think some of it is just inborn personality and some of it is the way one is raised. If she wasn't raised as a "beautiful child" then there isn't much tendency to fall back onto that kind of attitude. I think a lot of it depends on what one is praised for and how one is encouraged to shine.
20361. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 4:14:02 PM
Off Topic: CG did you get my query about the conversations page? I just sent it this morning but didn't know if you had access to email.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread topic.
Anybody know anything about how bad I should expect "Witchblade" to be? Is it a rentable movie or only a TV thing?
20362. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 4:18:42 PM
I thought it was a series...
20363. CalGal - 5/29/2001 4:22:06 PM
yes, I did get it, but I can only receive inbound and have to go to my webaccount for outbound. I keep forgetting. Do you have instant messenger? I have it at work--for work, actually.
20364. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 4:29:42 PM
CG,
AOL instant messenger?
Yeah, I've still got that on this machine. I'm bridgeburner69 on AOL. I'm pretty much an ICQ person but some of my work contacts use AIM so I've got that too.
Judith,
Yeah, it looks like a series but I think there was a full length film/pilot that's showing tonight in place of Buffy the Vampire Slayer since that's moving to UPN.
20365. PelleNilsson - 5/29/2001 4:34:35 PM
If you want to see a great rant about stupid blondes, check Rustler's recent link in International.
20366. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 4:35:38 PM
Oh, I've only seen one ad for it when I was surfing channels...I don't get that Buffy cult stuff and am not into the fantasy based shows at all.
20367. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 4:48:31 PM
We're only cultish enough to make sure we see all the episodes. No paraphernalia or posters or long drawn-out coffee conversations about the shows. (yes we watch Angel too)
It's the only TV I really watch. I figure I can lose myself in escapist fantasy for two hours a week. Yippeee!!!!
20368. PelleNilsson - 5/29/2001 4:50:41 PM
20369. MsIvoryTower - 5/29/2001 6:00:15 PM
Just caught Shrek, and I see Calgal covered all the bases in her review above.
I'll just add that the Disney spoofs were some of the most imaginative, well-integrated, and hilarious moments of the film. And the soundtrack was a definite winner.
What a jewel of a film.
20370. CalGal - 5/29/2001 6:03:00 PM
Oh, they were hysterical. I just realized that I forgot to mention the Gingerbread man cameo. Truly the finest film performance ever turned in by a cookie.
Did you catch the Matrix nod?
20371. MsIvoryTower - 5/29/2001 6:09:34 PM
Yes.
The Matrix nod, the Scrooge nod, the Sleeping Beauty nod, and the B&B nod, among others.
The gingerbread nod was too funny, and it continued up to the closing scenes.
20372. CalGal - 5/29/2001 6:11:55 PM
hahahaha! I didn't think they could top the torture scene, but it was the perfect ending.
20373. Fielding - 5/30/2001 11:08:21 AM
Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall.
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood,
Cries out, "My God, they killed them all!"
Here comes the story of the Hurricane,
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin' that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.
Three bodies lyin' there does Patty see
And another man named Bello, movin' around mysteriously.
"I didn't do it," he says, and he throws up his hands
"I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand.
I saw them leavin'," he says, and he stops
"One of us had better call up the cops."
And so Patty calls the cops
And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin'
In the hot New Jersey night.
Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around.
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that.
In Paterson that's just the way things go.
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
'Less you wanna draw the heat.
20374. Fielding - 5/30/2001 11:09:20 AM
Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops.
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' around
He said, "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweights
They jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates."
And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head.
Cop said, "Wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead"
So they took him to the infirmary
And though this man could hardly see
They told him that he could identify the guilty men.
Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin in,
Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs.
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye
Says, "Wha'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy!"
Yes, here's the story of the Hurricane,
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin' that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.
Four months later, the ghettos are in flame,
Rubin's in South America, fightin' for his name
While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game
And the cops are puttin' the screws to him, lookin' for somebody to blame.
"Remember that murder that happened in a bar?"
"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
"You think you'd like to play ball with the law?"
"Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night?"
"Don't forget that you are white."
Arthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm really not sure."
Cops said, "A poor boy like you could use a break
We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend Bello
Now you don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow.
You'll be doin' society a favor.
That sonofabitch is brave and gettin' braver.
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He ain't no Gentleman Jim."
20375. Fielding - 5/30/2001 11:09:31 AM
Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much.
It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for pay
And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way
Up to some paradise
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
And ride a horse along a trail.
But then they took him to the jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse.
All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance.
The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger.
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger.
And though they could not produce the gun,
The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed
And the all-white jury agreed.
Rubin Carter was falsely tried.
The crime was murder "one," guess who testified?
Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied
And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride.
How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool's hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.
Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell
An innocent man in a living hell.
That's the story of the Hurricane,
But it won't be over till they clear his name
And give him back the time he's done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.
20376. rubberducky - 5/30/2001 11:17:07 AM
Fielding: what the hell are you doing?
20377. JudithAtHome - 5/30/2001 11:19:27 AM
I saw Dylan do this one live with the Rollin' Thunder Revue and tons of big names in music...Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, lots of people I can't recall but enjoyed at the time. Really great concert...Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys opened.
20378. Fielding - 5/30/2001 11:24:24 AM
RD:
Isn't it obvious?
I'm posting on-topic lyrics from Bob Dylan in different threads, in honor of his 60th Birthday.
20379. rubberducky - 5/30/2001 11:25:29 AM
oh...
well, please stop
20380. CalGal - 5/30/2001 11:26:09 AM
Stop that spam, Fielding.
20381. Fielding - 5/30/2001 11:31:22 AM
Its on topic, so it not spam. And I'm not going to argue with you about it.
20382. CalGal - 5/30/2001 11:35:15 AM
It's not on topic, and you're right, you won't be arguing about it since provided you don't spew it again there's nothing to discuss.
20383. CalGal - 5/30/2001 11:55:07 AM
Lord, those Conseco ads kill me.
"Oh, look! There she is!"
"Grandma!"
20384. LadyChaos - 5/30/2001 1:36:22 PM
The all time barf me out award winner for commercials is the recent spot for Phillip Morris where the cold, stern-looking professional white lady arrives from America with a planeload of Kraft foods to save the poor Kosovars. It raises cynicism to new heights, and makes me embarrassed to be an American.
20385. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 1:43:51 PM
Why?
Phillip Morris give bucketfuls of cash, goods and services to humanitarian causes (and the arts). In the past decade, it has contributed more than $1 billion in cash and food donations to charitable organizations. They want to say "Hey, we give you smokes, but we also do these nice things."
I have no issue with that, though I've never understood how advertisiements for corporations as good citizens will get me to buy more Oreos.
20386. LadyChaos - 5/30/2001 1:51:54 PM
Francis,
Have you seen the ad? I'm not talking about a corporation's right to blow its own horn, but about a matter of execution, which in this case was very ham-handed.
20387. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 1:55:44 PM
Lady
I have. They always are ham-handed when handing out hams. It is the nature of the medium of "Hey, look at me doing something good!"
20388. ButterfieldSwire - 5/30/2001 2:05:16 PM
Didnt Phillip Morris fund some Martin Luther King scholarships which they advertised during football halftimes until it was revealed they were spending $100 on adds for every $1 in scholarships.
[After they were caught, they made things right by cancelling the adds.]
20389. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 2:08:26 PM
(from the PM website)
The Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund
With long-time funding of outstanding organizations such as the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, Philip Morris has supported efforts that provide educational opportunities for all students, while reflecting the growing cultural diversity in our schools.
The Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, a merit scholarship program founded in 1987, provides four-year scholarships to students who attend historically black public colleges and universities. The Fund is a result of the work of the director of the Office for the Advancement of Public Black Colleges of the National Association of State University and Land Grant Colleges, and a representative of Miller Brewing Company. It was named after the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, who knew firsthand the importance of historically black public colleges in providing African-American students with academic challenges, as well as opportunities, for creative and intellectual growth.
The Fund has awarded scholarships totaling more than $6 million since its inception. More than 200 Thurgood Marshall scholars have already graduated, and 160 are currently receiving awards from the Fund. The 38 historically black public colleges and universities that participate in the Fund’s programs enroll more than 190,000 students engaged in studies spanning 400 fields. Over 70% of all students enrolled in historically black colleges and universities attend these institutions. Each year, these institutions educate more than 54% of the African-Americans who go on to graduate and professional schools.
20390. JudithAtHome - 5/30/2001 2:12:17 PM
I'd rather see them running ads about humanitarian deeds, ham-handed though they be in execution, than the print ads pushing how wonderfully sexy and independent it is to smoke slender ciggies if you are a "modern woman with a mind of her own".
20391. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 2:15:46 PM
I kind of miss those.
Because, like it or not, smoking is sophisticated.
20392. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 2:16:53 PM
Besides, anyone who is lured to the dark side of tobacco by a smiling girl with volleyball in one hand and a menthol 100 in the other deserves lung cancer.
20393. LadyChaos - 5/30/2001 2:22:47 PM
Judith,
I feel just the opposite. The ads are precisely what they purport to be -- entreaties to get you to buy a product.
The "charity ads," however, are simply P.R. wrapped up in the guise of charity. And to top it all off, it's really hard to say how much of it would be happening were it not for the structure of income tax deductions.
An advertising boss of mine in Europe used to say, regarding such ads, that they represented the absolute worst in corporate America, because the underlying message is: "If you'll be good to us, we'll be good to you."
But what I really hate about this recent P-M campaign is the way that it patronizes the Kosovars while sneaking in lots of branding shots for Kraft foods. This amounts to a double-whammy of unpardonable sins.
20394. LadyChaos - 5/30/2001 2:23:54 PM
I should clarify that by saying that the tobacco ads are just what they purport to be, and nothing more.
20395. JudithAtHome - 5/30/2001 2:44:49 PM
it's really hard to say how much of it would be happening were it not for the structure of income tax deductions.
But that is true of much that is charitable in this country....although the Republicans who believe Bush seem to think all charity springs from good hearts.
I agree that the ads are self-aggrandizing but this is hardly the only corporation doing it. Maybe the most irritating but not the only...
20396. Fielding - 5/30/2001 2:45:48 PM
Hurricane was a terrible movie.
20397. LadyChaos - 5/30/2001 2:56:14 PM
Judith,
I can tolerate corporate self-aggrandizement. But when a corporation portrays one of its New York corner-office dowagers as Mother Teresa, I want to hurl.
20398. JudithAtHome - 5/30/2001 2:59:42 PM
Well, I didn't get that from the ad but we all view things differently.
If I were in that situation and starving, I wouldn't care who brought the macaroni and cheese; I'd just be glad it arrived.
20399. glendajean - 5/30/2001 3:15:49 PM
Hurricane was a terrible movie.
I agree. But Denzel Washington's acting was superb.
20400. Fielding - 5/30/2001 3:26:34 PM
"Denzel Washington's acting was superb."
I couldn't agree more. He was brilliant.
20401. CalGal - 5/30/2001 4:36:49 PM
It is amusing that Francis decries real celebrations of heroism and sacrifice, such as the Vietnam Memorial, which he calls disgusting, but defends Philip Morris' right to tout its heroic charity.
20402. CalGal - 5/30/2001 4:43:08 PM
Because, like it or not, smoking is sophisticated.
Sophistication is, by definition, subjective. You are welcome to say "Like it or not, certain categories of morons think it's sophisticated". or "Some people like to smoke because a cigarette is one of the few things in life that is always going to be shorter than they are." But there is no absolute about it.
20403. AceofSpades - 5/30/2001 5:28:42 PM
Yeah, Francis. Didn't you know that was "just your opinion"?
Luckilly, CalGal was here to inform you of that.
I mean, she knows the difference between facts and opinions. What she says is a "fact"; what you say is "just an opinion."
20404. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 6:19:54 PM
I don't care what anyone says, a choco-mouth by-way-of decades of Pall Mall inhalation is sophisticated.
20405. JudithAtHome - 5/30/2001 6:22:47 PM
Not to mention the mummification of the skin on ones face that goes along with it.
20406. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 6:25:59 PM
Ooooooooooh . . . .
I forgot about that.
Sassy!
20407. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:17:38 AM
I saw three movies over the holiday weekend. "Best in Show" is a great film. Christopher Guest's mockumentary on dog show entrants is both sweet and harsh, and always hilarious. What makes it travel so well is that even as he shows folks engaging in what many might feel is an absurd practice, he leaves them dignity. Fred Willard, as a third rate Howard Cosell of the dog show circuit, is alone worth the rental. Grade -A.
"Vertical Limit" is an unmitigated piece of crap. Strictly for dumbasses, and not even justified by what were supposed to be awesome special effects/snow stuff. Grade D-.
"All The Pretty Horses" is just that - pretty. Otherwise, it is a jumbled mess, and interminable at that. Matt Damon is written as a Texas Confucious, and there is not a genuine moment in the picture, which is strange, because the scenery is certainly genuine. It sure looked like the Rio Grande. Grade F.
20408. Indiana Jones - 5/31/2001 10:19:42 AM
I was just about to rent "All the Pretty Horses." One last question: Any bare Penelope in it?
20409. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:21:29 AM
Indy
Not really. Though she is attractive, in a queer, Ellen Barkinesque way.
20410. Fielding - 5/31/2001 10:22:54 AM
Indy:
The film you want is Jamon, Jamon. Much nudity. Very little clothing. No dialogue in English.
20411. Indiana Jones - 5/31/2001 10:23:27 AM
Fielding: Seen it.
20412. Fielding - 5/31/2001 10:32:12 AM
Indy:
Then there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to sit through Pretty Horses.
20413. JudithAtHome - 5/31/2001 10:33:07 AM
FU:
We rented Best In Show this weekend, too. I loved Fred Willard...who was the guy with him? He was great at drawing attention away from Fred with sly little hand movements...
20414. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:35:55 AM
Juditha
I agree. I don't know who he was, but it seems as if he was a real announcer for dog shows, and he and Willard played very well off of each other. I was surprised by Best in Show, because I expected it to be satirical, but I did not expect it to be so engaging. I was rooting hard for these people.
As for Pretty Horses, it was directed by Billy Bob Thornton. He was clearly aiming for lyrical and zipped right past coherent.
20415. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:36:18 AM
Fred Willard's performance was a "dead-on" send-up of Joe Garigola's (sp?) hosting of the Westminister Dog Show on the USA Network each year. This is the biggest dog show in the country held at Madison Square Garden. I liked Best In Show, but it wasn't as good as Guest's masterpiece, Waiting for Guffman (using the same cast).
20416. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:37:14 AM
Fielding
From my knowledge of your like of Waking the Dead, you might be more favorably predisposed to All the Pretty Horses. They are definitely of the same stripe, so take my comments in that vein.
20417. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:38:57 AM
Glenda
I disagree about Guffman, which I liked, but I thought Guest had too many Parker Poseys in Guffman (i.e., too many people who you could more easily satirize than imbue with empathy).
20418. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:40:44 AM
Barbara Bush the Elder, aka Babs, is in Indy today to speak to the Junior League. Liberal Democrats are posted at all pubs and sports bars with cell phone in hand to dial the authorities in case the senior Barbara commits any violation of Indiana alcoholic beverage laws.
20419. CalGal - 5/31/2001 10:42:47 AM
not even justified by what were supposed to be awesome special effects/snow stuff.
Only for those who haven't figured out how to purchase a DVD player.
20420. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:43:08 AM
And I am posting in the wrong thread. Sorry.
As far as Guffman, the performances are wonderful, particularly Willard and O'Hara, and Eugene Levy.
Guffman is a sermon on years of American childraising where kids are told they can be anything they want to be. And the Posey's are overcome by Guest's performance as Corkie, the director. As silly as it was, it was also very sweet.
20421. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:47:41 AM
But Corkie, and most of the rest of Guffman, was so over-the-top, so maniacal or one-dimensional, that I was never really drawn into them, whereas (with the exception of Posey and husband in Show), I really learned to like something about every one of the entrants in Show. They seemed much more human, yet Guest was able to display the same satire. Show just struck me as a more mature work.
20422. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:50:13 AM
I saw Bridget Jones this weekend with friends.
Should be a definitional example for any dictionary entry of the phrase chick flick.
I didn't think Rene Z. was all that convincing or interesting. Hugh Grant was interesting because he played against his screen type. Colin Firth was handsome but mostly perplexed in how he got in such a movie.
20423. CalGal - 5/31/2001 10:52:28 AM
I don't understand how Firth gets so many leading man roles. I must be missing something about his basic appeal. I liked him in Conspiracy, though.
20424. Fielding - 5/31/2001 10:52:38 AM
FU:
I know lots of people who liked Waking The Dead. I don't know anyone who liked Pretty Horses. If you had actually liked Waking The Dead and told me it was similar to Pretty Horses, I would consider renting it.
Also, I will admit that hearing the words "I love you, Fielding" emanate from the mouth of naked Jennifer Connelly may have impaired my sobriety.
20425. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:53:29 AM
I find Guffman funny on repeated showings. What can I say? BTW, Eugene Levy's dental office was filmed in the place where I used to get my hair cut in Austin.
BIS is also not very far from the outrageousness of Westiminister Dog Show, a two night entertainment in February.
It's interesting that Guest is creating, at least for these two films, a repetory company of actors.
20426. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:54:02 AM
Fielding
Fair enough. I think that both films have the common trait of placing symbol and mystical import above linear progression.
20427. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:56:19 AM
I liked the young Firth in Another Country and in Apartment Zero.
He always appears tightly wound and angry, and on him, imo, this makes him sexy.
20428. christipeters - 5/31/2001 11:08:48 AM
LD and I watched Dungeons and Dragons on video last night. While it wasn't horrible, I'm certainly glad I didn't pay to see it at the theatre. The story was predictable, the acting mediocre, and the effects ok, but not good enough to make up for the rest.
20429. Fielding - 5/31/2001 11:16:58 AM
Waking The Dead is about a man who is conflicted between his idealistic side and his pragmatic side. He sees the idealistic for all of its beauty and seductiveness, yet is not willing to let go of his understanding of the real world. When the idealism disappears, he feels guilty and wonders if he has sold out, whether it was worth it to sacrifice the purity of the ideal for the effectiveness of the real.
I think about these issues all the time, so Waking The Dead worked really well for me. I can see how others would refuse to see the jennifer Connelly character as a viable choice, and how the movie wouldn't work as well for them.
The important thing is that Fielding did fall for her, he did love her, and even if he didn't choose her path to political action, he understood that deep down her values were good ones, that she wanted to help people just like he did, and was willing to die to help people just like he was willing. So even if it was a choice that many of us wouldn't even consider, we see that the choice was very real for him.
I personally believe that true love will cause people to consider doing things that they aren't really programmed to do. I guess to really like the movie, you have to accept either the viability of joining a left wing radical group or the view that a person in love will consider almost anything. Preferably, one would accept both premises.
20430. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 11:22:22 AM
Fielding
My biggest problem with Waking the Dead had less to do with what it was about than how it was presented. I don't think Keith Gordon is a competent director. Everyone one of his films (at least The Chocolate War and A Midnight Clear) feels like a first film, and he lacks the discipline to run a scene and keep his actors in check. He really left Crudup out on the line, and he also lapsed into film school technique on a regular basis.
I did like him in Stephen King's "Christine" and "Back to School."
20431. Cellar Door - 5/31/2001 11:25:53 AM
20432. Fielding - 5/31/2001 11:30:12 AM
FU:
I agree that a few of the scenes made me cringe, especially the lurches toward supernatural effects. I was able to overlook this problem, but maybe I shouldn't have. On the other hand, one can go overboard letting a flaw ruin a movie. For example, does the amateurish bookending of The Dish ruin the film? I say no.
20433. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 11:32:41 AM
I never saw The Dish. What is it?
20434. Fielding - 5/31/2001 11:38:03 AM
Its a very good little Australian film about the role of a few Australians and their satellite dish in the Apollo lunar landing in 1969.
You can choose any number of other examples. Did the "I should have done more" speech ruin Schindler's List? Of course not. Spielberg can't help himself, but he still made a fine movie. (And no, I am not arguing that Waking The Dead is anywhere near as good a movie as Schindler's List.
20435. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 11:59:40 AM
FU,
Strange, but our tastes in films seem completely divergent. I gave Vertical Limit two and half stars. I can't imagine giving the film a D-.
20436. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:07:23 PM
Ace
The "thing" was laughable (i.e., the sun on the liquid), the characters were thin, the acting was leaden (such is Chris O'Donnell), the tie-in of the mystical Scott Glenn was a hoot, the end was clear, and during the film, when we were marking time to the big finale, no one had anything to say that made them interesting or more than stock.
So, it was charmless. What suprised me was that an action picture could be so boring.
The best thing about Vertical Limit, like Cliffhnager before it, was the first scene.
20437. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:13:16 PM
It was a hybrid of a disaster film and an action film. When you say the characters were "thin," by what metric, precisely, are you measuring?
By the metric established in the Stallone opus Daylight?
The characters were very thin. Because they always are in disaster movies, for the simple reason that disaster /horror movies require many more "main characters" than other films, due to the fact that 85% of the cast is going to be killed.
20438. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:18:01 PM
Now, in a pure action film, you can get by with one or two main characters plus a romantic interest and plus a "sidekick" or "sympathetic older character" (who is going to die, of course).
But that's just one body. Disaster films require all of the above plus five or six Walking Corpses to die in the course of the film. The Walking Corpses are obviously not going to get more than superficial attention.
20439. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:21:33 PM
Oh -- of course, action pictures have a bunch of Walking Corpses, too, but they're the Villain's henchmen, and we don't expect them to be "characters."
20440. RosettaStone - 5/31/2001 12:42:09 PM
No wonder the 19-year-old twins drink
MamaB admits to a smoking habit in her youth, claims the Washington Post
Does Laura Bush sneak cigarettes?
The Washington Post's "Reliable Source" has heard that the first lady, who admits to a smoking habit in her youth, is said to take a puff out of public view. When we put the question to Mrs. Bush's press secretary, Noelia Rodriquez, she told us: "I'm not aware of that. I can't confirm or deny this."
Guilty, as charged.
20441. RosettaStone - 5/31/2001 12:43:04 PM
oops, wrong thread.
20442. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:44:11 PM
Ace
I agree that characters are necessarily thin in any disaster/action film. These characters were paper thin. And they were boringly portrayed.
Five examples of well-developed (but necessarily thin) characters in disaster/action pictures:
Gene Hackman (The Poseiden Adventure)
Clint Eastwood (In the Line of Fire)
Bruce Willis (Die Hard)
Peter Weller (Robocop)
Any of the three leads in Jaws
No character in Vertical Limit came within 40% of the thickness of these characters.
If you can tersely make characters thicker, instead of the stock dorks (mystical man, drunken brothers, Muslim guy, hot babe, young buck) in Vertical Limit, it carries you to a C no matter how cheezy the picture.
20443. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:48:06 PM
Ace
Even if you excuse Vertical Limit on the defense of "too many characters" (i.e., 6 rescuers), it still does not match up with The Magnificent Seven or The Dirty Dozen or The Great Escape.
That's because it is difficlut to write characters when lines are at a premium, as they are in disaster/action pictures. And portrayal is everything.
For example, James Coburn, who I'm pretty sure said "Yep" and "Nope" and "Yep" and that was it in The Magnificent Seven, established more of a character - and thus was much more interesting - than Chris O'Donnell in Vertical Limit, though he was given a bazillion lines.
Why?
Because his lines sucked, we'd heard them all - and I mean every one - before, and he is a shitty actor.
20444. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:51:21 PM
Look, I only gave the film two and a half stars. It's a C+/B-. Don't think I believe it's a good film.
But a D minus, when most movies aren't even watchable?
You can compare Vertical Limits to the all-time classics, if you like; but I think it's important to keep in mind you're comaring to Classics
20445. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:52:31 PM
Look, I only gave the film two and a half stars. It's a C+/B-. Don't think I believe it's a good film.
But a D minus, when most movies aren't even watchable?
You can compare Vertical Limits to the all-time classics, if you like; but I think it's important to keep in mind you're comaring to Classics, which are, by definition, exceptional.
Chris O'Donnel sucks. Yes. Quite frankly, so does Scott Glenn. But how much can you penalize a film for that fact alone?
20446. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:52:59 PM
Toys, and oops.
20447. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:53:33 PM
Ace
I agree, but I'm a tough grader, and you grade on a liberal pussy curve.
VERTICAL LIMIT
ACTING - F (everyone was awful)
ACTION - D (it was ho hum)
PACE - D (it dragged)
SCRIPT - F (not one clever line, and you know it)
20448. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:55:53 PM
Ace
I can penalize it 25% if EVERYONE who is turning in a performance blows. I have to watch these people for upwards of 110 minutes, and they ALL were godawful.
Here is another grading
THE SIXTH DAY
ACTING - C (Arnold was Arnold)
ACTION - C+ (derivative, but cool)
PACE - B (it moved)
SCRIPT - C+ (decent patter, a few yucks)
20449. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:56:16 PM
So, there is how it ranks with a non-classic.
20450. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:58:42 PM
SPECTACLE - A. good, seemless use of CGI; unless you watched the Making-Of featurettes, you probably aren't even sure which scenes were CGI and which were real. (Beyond the obvious, of course.)
PREMISE - B+. Good premise. I could have done without the nitroglycerin.
ROBIN TUNNEY'S TITS -- B. Perky and full as usual, but sadly hidden beneath Gortex.
BILL PAXTON FACTOR -- B. Always good to see Bill Paxton.
HEATHEN SAVAGES PRESENTED AS ENGLISH-ACCENTED, OXFORD-EDUCATED NORMAL PEOPLE -- A+. From this film you would imagine that Pakistanis were the sort of people you woudln't mind knowing, rather than the barbaric head-hunting cannibals they actually are.
DVD EXTRAS: A+. Loaded.
20451. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 1:00:55 PM
LACK OF HORRIBLE IRONY THAT PLAGUES 90% OF ACTION FILMS: A+. Not a single wink at the audience. Played completely straight.
20452. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 1:04:49 PM
SPECTACLE - C. The technical wizardry may have been there, but it seemed backyardish in many ways. Great, set 3 folks in a big hole and have Tunney cross a rickety ice bridge - lame. Blow up two guys while they hug - lame. The forever hopping off the copter. Lame. Final scene - totally boring - we are still the stupid hole.
Daddy's fall was good. The avalanche/hanging scene was fair.
PREMISE - D. The nitro was awful, and frankly, it was the premise.
ROBIN TUNNEY'S TITS -- F. See Gortex.
BILL PAXTON FACTOR -- B. It is always good to see Bill Paxton.
HEATHEN SAVAGES PRESENTED AS ENGLISH-ACCENTED, OXFORD-EDUCATED NORMAL PEOPLE -- A+. Agreed.
DVD EXTRAS: Not applicable.
But your grade is equivalent to the 10% you can get for "class participation."
20453. CalGal - 5/31/2001 1:18:30 PM
It's absurd to say that Vertical Limit is a D- movie, considering the shit that is out there. It is a marvellously cheesy B-movie that accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. The only problem was that the lead role cried out for Keanu.
The Dish is a wonderful little comedy about the moon landing that manages to be both suspenseful and touching.
20454. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 1:22:44 PM
FU,
Does a C to you mean "average"?
If so, are you really claiming that VL is far below average? That would suggest that there are a great many movies better than VL, and only a relative handfull of flims worse than it. I think that's an untenable proposition.
20455. janjon - 5/31/2001 1:22:44 PM
Much of the dialogue in Best in Show, and therefore much of the flow of various scenes or situations (such as the hilarious scene where Parker Posey and whatever his name is reveal that their dog watchs them having sex, or the on-going "conversation" between the two commentators), was improvised.
The movie had a few flat spots, but on the whole it was quite a whoofer.
20456. don s. - 5/31/2001 3:26:00 PM
“The film you want is Jamon, Jamon. Much nudity.”
Ohhhh yeah. Made me a big fan of Javier Bardem. Some really nice frontal nudity (though not of Javier) when Bardem and his friend do some midnite naked bullfighting.
Sigh.
20457. glendajean - 5/31/2001 3:34:21 PM
I'd pay to watch that movie.
20458. JudithAtHome - 5/31/2001 4:15:00 PM
He wasn't too shabby in Before Night Falls clothed.
20459. don s. - 5/31/2001 5:18:33 PM
Yes, Before Night Falls had some nice Speedo action. But it couldn't compare with the shot of him clambering over a fence without a speedo.
20460. CalGal - 5/31/2001 11:45:22 PM
The Tao of Steve
Consistently amusing "little" movie, about a sloppy, fat, part-time kindergarten teacher who still manages to get laid whenever he wants--and the girl who finally lands this prize specimen.
Dex, a former overachieving college stud whose reasons for going to pot are never provided, believes in the Tao of Steve, a metaphor for the way life is lived by the coolest of the cool, the men who are Steve (Austin, Garreth, and McQueen). Of course, he only adopts that policy when it comes to getting laid--none of the Steves lived as he does, which is quintessentially Stu (the name of the uncool). His reasoning as to why the technique works and his explanations are the basis for the much of the comedy, which works very well.
And of course, he meets someone who he actually wants to be with and the entire strategy dissolves, just when he needs it most. But how to manage the affairs of the heart and still save face with his pals?
Donal Logue plays the rogue with a fat suit and some added weight (odd to think he was the AIDS poster boy in And The Band Played On) and the movie relies heavily on his charm, although all the performances are solid, with Kimo Wills standing out in the "junior roommate" role.
Like Free Enterprise, Tao is a pleasant change from the maudlin and moralizing relationship comedies of recent years--most notably High Fidelity, with its desperate snowjob on the desirability of settling for a dreary set of "shoulds", just because it's time. Lord knows a film's easier to take without an agenda.
20461. rubberducky - 6/1/2001 10:20:18 AM
interesting tidbit from infobeat:
How 'The Grinch' is still in the red
LOS ANGELES (Launch) - Despite closing 2000 as the year's top-grossing movie, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" has yet to make money - $123 million dollars of the film's $260 million domestic box office gross goes towards the original production budget. Thirty-four percent of the remaining $137 million then goes to director Ron Howard and star Jim Carrey as part of their backend participation deal, notes the Wall Street Journal. Throw in the 50% of the gross that studios typically split with exhibitors, and an estimated $40 million marketing and exhibit budget, and you've got Universal making no profit. The studio is also victim to "The Grinch's" disappointing foreign box office returns, which typically are the same or greater than the domestic gross. To date, "The Grinch" has grossed about $85 million overseas, just less than a third of its domestic take.
20462. rubberducky - 6/1/2001 10:24:09 AM
watched Space Cowboys last night. with lowered expectations, this is an enjoyable family movie. nothing in it you haven't seen before, so i won't pick it apart and tell you the plot-holes and such.
anyway, worth a rental if only to see some great actors with the occasional funny quip in an otherwise unremarkable movie.
3 out of 5 quacks
20463. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:21:09 AM
I read somewhere recently that studios also assign losses from stinkers to their big dollar grossing movies.
I saw Three Kings last night. Quirky war/western movie set in Iraq. Edited by the MTV school. I particularly liked the actor who played the Iraqi who tortured Mark Wahlburg's character, and Nora Dunn turned in a fine supporting role as a tough, bitchy network reporter. A group of Desert Storm soldiers go desert hunting after Kuwaiti bars of gold stolen by Sadaam Hussein that is rumored to be buried in desert bunkers.
Several surreal moments thrown in, including a vivid illustration of working internal body parts, a discussion of Michael Jackson's physical transformation, a cell phone call from the bunker torture chamber to the sweet wife back in the States, and luxury automobiles driving across the desert. George Clooney stars, using his tough but sweet guy shorthand that is reduced to grunts, stares and nods.
20464. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:24:35 AM
Oh, I forgot-- there are lots of lovely murals of Sadaam, in cap and gown, with children, as a military leader. Fun stuff, particularly if one has seen the South Park movie.
20465. Fielding - 6/1/2001 11:29:53 AM
"Despite closing 2000 as the year's top-grossing movie, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" has yet to make money - $123 million dollars of the film's $260 million domestic box office gross goes towards the original production budget.
This is why people are calling Pearl Harbor a Box Office disappointment.
20466. Fielding - 6/1/2001 11:35:20 AM
BTW, anybody interested in the Broadway run of Mamma Mia had better move fast. Center orchestra seats for matinees are already gone until next May.
If you want to see this, I recommend that you by your tickets today!
20467. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:37:01 AM
Yesterday we got Producer tickets for December.
20468. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 11:40:44 AM
This will sound so lame...yesterday I made reservations for I Love You; You're Perfect; Now Change for July 14...it opens this weekend and all weekends in June are sold out.
20469. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 11:41:34 AM
....not bad for a boring little city west of Dallas.
20470. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:43:15 AM
Judith, if it makes you feel any better, I think we got lousy seats and will probably only have the bragging right of saying we were in the room when Lane and Broderick were performingl
BTW, Tonys are on Sunday night.
20471. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 11:46:23 AM
Really? And here I was thinking Sunday nights would be boring after Tony and the crew left...I guess this week, we'll be getting a different type of Tony!
Will you be ready to dish on Monday about what everyone wore and who was robbed of recognition? I guess I'll tape Sex and the City and watch it after the Tonys...
20472. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:49:59 AM
Judith -- Lane has co-hosted the Tonys 2 times. In his first effort, he showed up on stage wearing only an apron (costume from Love, Valour, Compassion). So maybe it will be a question of what some are not wearing.
HBO's Six Feet Under also is debuting Sunday night along with the return of Sex.
20473. Fielding - 6/1/2001 11:51:59 AM
GJ:
What date are you going? I'm going in December too. Maybe I'll see you there.
20474. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:56:32 AM
Maybe the 13th? I'll check.
A good friend in Texas went last week and convinced my partner that we had to go. She of course had perfect orchestra seats.
Actually, I am pretty jazzed about seeing it. When we lived in DC, we used to drive up for theater weekends. Haven't done that in over a year.
20475. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:58:11 AM
Caryn James' review of Six Feet Under in today's New York Times
20476. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 12:00:18 PM
I envy all of you who are going in December or whenever, really...I would love to see a play, any play, in NYC. I want to see if the place makes any difference in the enjoyment...because I enjoy the hell out of the plays here. Provincial of me, I know, but I can live with it!
20477. Fielding - 6/1/2001 12:01:10 PM
I have Center Orchestra for December 18th, IIRC.
20478. glendajean - 6/1/2001 12:06:49 PM
Judith, we always bought tickets ahead of time for the one show we wanted to see, and then went to TKTS (usually the one in the World Trade Center) for additional half-price tickets. In 2 or 3 days you can see a lot of theater, blow a day in the Met Museum and do one or two other things as well. The feet hurt and there's no sleeping in, though.
20479. glendajean - 6/1/2001 12:07:46 PM
Let me try this again. Caryn James review in today's NY Times.
20480. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 12:08:04 PM
That review whets my appetite for the show...the girl playing the daughter was destined to be a star from the first time she appeared on Law&Order as a rape victim and mentally challenged teen.
20481. Fielding - 6/1/2001 12:08:09 PM
Judith:
If you saw the right play or musical in New York, you would love it. When everything hits perfectly, it is almost magical.
The Producers and Mamma Mia are hot tickets right now, but the next big hyped thing is the FREE, outdoor performance of Anton Checkov's The Seagull, adapted by Tom Stoppard, which stars John Goodman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Allison Janney, Kevin Kline, Debra Monk, Larry Pine, Natalie Portman, Stephen Spinella, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken. Oh, and its directed by Mike Nichols.
20482. glendajean - 6/1/2001 12:08:33 PM
God, I've lost my power to link.
review
20483. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 12:10:22 PM
Jeez, Fielding...when is THAT one due? I didn't realize there were that many roles in The Seagull .
20484. Fielding - 6/1/2001 12:15:21 PM
I think Tom Stoppard has broadened it a bit. With Stoppard, you often get flashbacks and reality tricks, so anything is possible.
Its part of Shakespeare in the Park, and it will run about 4 weeks from mid-July to mid-August.
20485. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 12:16:26 PM
Is this the same sort of thing Joseph Papp used to do in the park?
20486. Fielding - 6/1/2001 12:23:52 PM
Yes.
20487. glendajean - 6/1/2001 3:30:32 PM
Slate article by Jodi Kantor about HBO, sex and the Sunday night shows Sex in the City and Six Feet Under.
20488. glendajean - 6/1/2001 3:30:59 PM
There is a SPOILER warning at the beginning of the story.
20489. CalGal - 6/1/2001 3:41:03 PM
Nice article, although it really doesn't give much away. She's right that The Sopranos and Sex in the City center entirely on subjects that the networks are constricted by (violence and sex).
20490. Cellar Door - 6/1/2001 11:08:38 PM
At the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Sunday June 17 at 3:30 p.m.
Out of the Closet, Off the Screen: The Life & Times of William Haines, a new documentary by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, featuring Gavin Lambert and Cellar Door.
20491. Francis Urquhart - 6/2/2001 8:57:12 AM
Ace
Here is a late answer to your question of a few days ago.
A grade of "C" does mean "average" to me, but average only in regard to action/disaster films I actually see. "Vertical Limit" does not improve by the existence of Anna Nicole Smith's "Skyscraper" or Dolph Lundgren's "I Come in Peace."
Here are my grades for the last action/disaster pictures I can remember seeing:
Gladiator B
Enemy of the State B
The Matrix B
The Sixth Day C+
Pitch Black C
X-Men C
U-571 C-
Deep Blue Sea D
Vertical Limit D-
Mission Impossible 2 F
Gone in 60 Seconds F
20492. AceofSpades - 6/3/2001 12:11:16 AM
A grade of "C" does mean "average" to me, but average only in regard to action/disaster films I actually see. "Vertical Limit" does not improve by the existence of Anna Nicole Smith's "Skyscraper" or Dolph Lundgren's "I Come in Peace."
"I Come in Peace" actually -- seriously -- was pretty decent.
20493. Indiana Jones - 6/3/2001 9:02:59 AM
Rented Woman on Top and Crime and Punishment in Suburbia.
I've noticed lately an almost inevitable synchronicity whenever I rent more than one DVD or receive two at the same time from NetFlix. Sometimes it's much of the action of the film occurs in the same city (e.g., Las Vegas), a common character actor (Thomas Mitchell--but then considering how many films this man appears in, that's not that unusual at all), or an almost identical character, or characters with identical names. Weird.
The weird coincidence this week is that Francis mentioned up thread that Penelope Cruz was attractive in an Ellen Barkin sort of way, which I'm thinking maybe he meant as a joke because the two women don't look similar at all to me. Anyhow, the female lead in Woman on Top is Penelope Cruz, and who should show up in Crime and Punishment in Suburbia as the second female, but Ellen Barkin? Completely unintentional on my part.
(Ellen Barkin looks even less like Penelope Cruz in this film than previously as her face is getting pretty rough. I didn't even recognize her to tell the truth until I started listening to the director's commentary. She still has a nice chest, though, and has just the right looks for this part.)
20494. Indiana Jones - 6/3/2001 9:10:26 AM
(Toys--Should have previewed.)
Woman on Top starts out kind of promising, although the food = sex thing is getting a little shopworn lately. It had a foreign feel to it, and I watched it with the Spanish subtitles on so I could try to brush up on my Spanish at the same time.
It soon lost all interest and was amazingly tedious for such a short film (I think it was about 80 minutes or something). The basic plot is Cruz has severe motion sickness and needs to be in control of her movements at all time--including sex. She's one helluva cook though.
Her male partner puts up with her needing to be on top for a couple of years (they both love each other with a hot chili pepper kind of passion), but then gets caught screwing around. Exit Penelope to America (LA, IIRC). The rest of the film is about boyfriend trying to retrieve Penelope, who gets a cooking show that all the men are watching because of the way she slices and dices.
You can likely fill in the rest of the story and the outcome yourself. Will the TV show have a male producer who is also after Penelope? Will the two lovers be reunited and all be right with the world at the end? Will Penelope overcome her motion sickness, and/or will her lover come to appreciate her for who she is?
20495. Indiana Jones - 6/3/2001 9:17:17 AM
One last comment re Woman on Top: does anyone else see the following pattern in male-female foils?
A male foil (the buddy, or whatever) will usually be more normal and gray than the male lead. His head will be on better, but he'll also be kind of drab--grounded.
A female foil (the buddy, or whatever) will usually be whacked out more than the female lead. She'll have bizarre clothes or hairstyle or lifestyle. Aside from knowing how to advise the heroine, her own life will be in even worse shape.
In Woman on Top, Penelope Cruz's best friend/foil is a black transvestite. Based on movies and TV, I'm beginning to think all single women are advised by some combination of lesbian transvestite drug addict, who is usually black.
20496. Indiana Jones - 6/3/2001 9:29:54 AM
Crime and Punishment in Suburbia is sort of an American Beauty meets Fyodor Dostoyevsky with a contemporary soundtrack a la the Gwyneth Paltrow Great Expectations.
Most reviews appear to have pooh-poohed the Dostoyevsky connection (and sticking it in the title is hopelessly pretentious, which describes this film in general, but teenagers are a lot like this movie in that they often do see everything as overwhelmingly important and that which is not particularly original as unique to their experience). I do think the Dostoyevsky elements are there, though, albeit from other books besides the namesake.
In particular, Vincent reminded me of Prince Mishkin, and the overall plot was a little more reminiscent of Brothers Karamazov. Like Dostoyevsky, it reaches too far and as a result is hopelessly muddled.
I linked the Ebert review because it's so typically Ebert. I can just see him oozing in his chair with unnecessary, over-the-top earnestness about this movie. IMO, he's right about several things, but it's sure not good enough to warrant the level of praise he glops on it.
It's sort of okay because it does try to do more than just exploit teenagers. But it's uncomfortable, ugly film that flops generally and isn't particularly well made.
The Michael Ironside stepfather--while horrific--almost rises to the level of a Dostoyevskian character. The best touch is having him so incapable of physically defending himself, despite his menacing physicality.
20497. TabouliJones - 6/3/2001 1:39:23 PM
I went to see Moulin Rouge on Friday. For the most part I enjoyed it, although at times the movie was dragged down by the director's vaulting ambitions. My favourite critic, Rick Groen of the Globe and Mail, sums up the experience nicely:
"The musical is the most delicate of movie genres --the fragile magic either works or it doesn't. Although hardly perfect, Moulin Rouge is a must-see if only because Baz Luhrmann, drawing upon every directorial trick in his vast arsenal, goes to impressive lengths to reinvigorate the movie musical. And yet, when all is sung and done, the poor thing remains as fragile as ever. Here, the magic flickers on and off like alternating current, and the result is a film as giddily unpredictable as the love it celebrates --enervating one moment, thrilling the next."
Oddly enough, I went to see this movie with me ex-girlfriend. The last movie we saw on the big screen was Titanic, which turned out to be a miserable experience for the both of us, given the sinking ship and all.
20498. JudithAtHome - 6/3/2001 1:50:07 PM
This looks like a trend in the making:
The Reviewer Who Wasn't There
Sony resorts to some questionable marketing practices to promote new movies
What next? Fake popcorn?
20499. JudithAtHome - 6/3/2001 6:48:44 PM
Anthony Quinn....RIP
20500. stostosto - 6/3/2001 7:14:36 PM
What next? Fake popcorn?
Fake audience. The studio buys all the tickets.
20501. glendajean - 6/4/2001 12:26:07 PM
Imongen Coco and Anthony Quinn. Whose is the third?
20502. Cellar Door - 6/4/2001 12:37:07 PM
Arlene Francis.
20503. JudithAtHome - 6/4/2001 12:39:35 PM
Oh, that's right! Quinn was the third....
Cellar, I would love to have your insights about Alan Ball added to the discussion of Six Feet Under in the TV thread...
20504. glendajean - 6/4/2001 12:40:36 PM
When did she die? She always wore pearls in contrast to Dorothy Killgalin's I'm the smart one act" on "What's My Line."
If she just died, that would be 3.
20505. JudithAtHome - 6/4/2001 12:44:18 PM
GJ:
Thursday or Friday...
20506. Cellar Door - 6/4/2001 1:06:33 PM
I interviewed Ball the other day as I'm working on my annual Gays in Hollywood piece for "Daily Variety."
20507. ElliottRW - 6/4/2001 1:27:06 PM
Shrek Excellent movie. Just one note of caution: when the blue bird starts singing a duet with Fiona, don't let your sensitive, bird-loving five-year-old watch. It's an hilarious parody, so you'll want to watch; it's just not for small children.
20508. CalGal - 6/4/2001 3:57:32 PM
The immediate follow up to the bluebird scene is one of the best giggles in the movie.
20509. Toenails - 6/4/2001 6:06:55 PM
Cellar: You do an annual "gays in Hollywood" piece?
'Sounds an awful lot like a "dog bites man" story to me.
20510. rubberducky - 6/4/2001 10:13:42 PM
sigh
i have the best b/f in the world. one of my gifts for my upcoming b-day is the GI Joe Collector's Edition DVD with all 25 of the Joe 'public service' announcements! (that's where you see some kid get locked in a frig or start a fire and some Joe comes up and tells them no, now they know, and that's 'half the battle'.)
anyhoo, this particular edition is a rare find and i love it!
and to those of you who marvel at my geekdom: nyah, nyah, na-nyah-nyah
20511. CalGal - 6/4/2001 10:37:37 PM
Wow, that is very cool. Way to go, Ripley!
And happy day, Ducky!
20512. CalGal - 6/4/2001 10:42:16 PM
I have been pondering Anthony Quinn's resume, and for all the longevity, it appears that all of his best movies were made between 1952 and 1965, a period of less than 15 years.
He is one of those actors whose career was actually kicked off by an Oscar win, after nearly twenty years in B films with few notable movies (often he was the best thing in them). I believe that all his great movies were made between Viva Zapata (1952) through High Wind in Jamaica (1965). The rest of his sixties output is variable, and I don't believe he ever did anything decent after that, did he?
My favorite Quinn performances and films are Lawrence of Arabia, High Wind in Jamaica and The Guns of Navarone. He is excellent in Lust for Life and La Strada but they really aren't any fun to watch. I haven't seen Zorba the Greek and a few of his other famous roles, but I'd be surprised if any of them could outrank these on my favorites list, even if I might find them better (an unlikely enough prospect).
20513. Cellar Door - 6/5/2001 10:15:10 AM
Not really, Toenails. Each year it's a different man and a different dog.
And sometimes it's a "man bites dog" story.
I'm going to be interviewing Carol Leifer next week. She's writing Ellen's new show, and is a way cool writer and performer in her own right. Talkign to writers and directors is so much more fun than talking to performers.
I'm rather shocked that "La Strada" has so seldom been mentioned in press coverage of Quinn. It's an amazing film, and an amazing performance of a truly remarkable character. "Raging Bull" wouldn't have been unthinkable without the preceden "La Strada" provides. The last scene of him collapsing on the beach is incredibly moving.
20514. Francis Urquhart - 6/5/2001 10:30:33 AM
I saw Bridget Jones's Diary. It is below Notting Hill (significantly) and a little below Four Weddings and a Funeral. Still, it passes nicely, though it flirts with so debasing our heroine (Rene Zellwegger) that it gets harder and harder to root for her eventual romantic triumph. But Colin Firth and especially Hugh Grant, as the rake, are excellent as her suitors, and many of the gags play well (those that don't tend to fall flat because the film is overstuffed with gags). Grade: B-.
20515. rubberducky - 6/5/2001 11:28:26 AM
Ripley and i were both not feeling that great this weekend (thanks to intermittent rain and hot-no-cold-no-hot-really-cold-nah-hot weather the past couple of weeks in Ohio), so we rented some movies.
first up was Shadow of the Vampire which was an odd, but enjoyable movie. Willem Dafoe was just fantastic as the not-Dracula Dracula. superb. i can't say enough about him. the facial tics, the gestures - he was "Count Orlock". why he didn't win an award for this is beyond me. he has to have turned in one of the best performances for 2000. Malkovich was also great as the cruel and calculating (almost more inhuman than the vampire) director who wants authenticity at any cost.
the story centers on Malkovich's character, F.W. Murnau, who is making his 'masterpiece' Nosferatu, but really it's about the lengths that some people will go to in order to achieve their own desires as he offers up one of his own stars to the vampire as his reward for making his movie
the film had flaws, but they were minimal. the opening credits seemed to last a solid 5 minutes. there was a little overacting, but overall this is minimized by some excellent direction, wonderful sets and a smart and somewhat tight script.
i'd recommend this to anyone who likes a non-slapstick sometimes comedic sometimes horrific look at the monster that is within all of us.
4 and quacks out of 5.
20516. rubberducky - 6/5/2001 11:28:46 AM
oops remove that last 'and'
20517. rubberducky - 6/5/2001 11:34:42 AM
the other movie we rented was Bless the Child which was the seemingly inspired by End of Days religious 'thriller'.
the movie was just dumb. not much else to say. the villain (the hero from the much loved Dark City) was just a loser. Kim Basinger was an inept stooge throughout the entire thing.
it had a couple of good moments - Ricci's part (most particularly her head) were well used. other than that, this was nothing you haven't seen before. yet another kid who could be the next christ/prophet/bubba/saint and the evil dudes who wanna taint her. Yawn.
1 and 1/2 quacks out of 5.
20518. Webfeet - 6/5/2001 12:04:53 PM
Michel and I have been on an Eric Rohmer festival since december and are going to watch Ma Nuit Chez Maude tonight. We've seen them all, practically, except Marquise d'O.
Has Rohmer ever been discussed in this thread? I think his morality tales are among the most famous, especially Claire's Knee.
But there are many good ones out there tucked in the shelves of the foreign film section that could get easily overlooked. One is Boyfriends and Girlfriends which looks like a corny '80s love farce, which it almost is, except that the awkward way the two leads fall in love is genuinely poignant and you can't help but root for them in the end.
20519. CalGal - 6/5/2001 12:33:18 PM
I believe that Cellar loves Rohmer. I went through a period of trying to understand French film last year, but never got around to Rohmer. My Night at Maud's and Claire's Knee is on my queue at Netflix. I haven't ever heard of Boyfriends and Girlfriends.
20520. Cellar Door - 6/5/2001 3:22:15 PM
It's very good.
"An Autumn Tale" is excellent, but my favorite is "Summer" (aka "Le Rayon Vert")
I also like "The Aviator's Wife," and "Four Adventures of Reinette et Mirabelle."
"Claire's Knee" introduced Pascale Greggory -- who was later snapped up (personally as well as professionally) by Patrice Chereau.
20521. Cellar Door - 6/5/2001 3:23:09 PM
Somebody just posted this in "Datalounge":
NEW YORK: International mega star Tom Cruise has filed a $200 million law suit in the Suffolk County municipal court after learning the Julius Levin, a 24-year old assistant chef at Boticelli's in East Hampton, has been masturbating to his image for the past year. The Cruise lawsuit states: "Although Mr. Cruise is flattered by Levin's choice of sexual imagery and personal fantasies, he wants the press to understand that he shall never be an object of this gay man's fantasies, and does not even know Mr. Levin. Furthermore, Mr. Cruise has repeatedly stated that he can prove he is not gay and thathe is really, really 'str8' (his words)." Levin, whose penchant for the 38-year old actor was discussed as he was having brunch with two female friends, was reported to have stated that e had an 8X10 glossy of Mr. Cruise which he purchased from E-bay that he keeps under his bed. Mr. Levin could not be reached for comment, but a friend of the openly gay restauranteur who wished not to be identified stated: "This is totally f**ked up".
20522. Webfeet - 6/5/2001 3:35:07 PM
I warn you, Rohmer is addicting if you're inclined to that sort of philosophically discursive film that can either confirm all french stereotypes or make you appreciate the french character in a different light. What I appreciate most about his films is the way he forces you to see people in all of their dimensions, not just what they represent at one moment, in one context. The essence is you are more than the sum of how others define you and usually the character in question finds someone who will love them for what and who they really are. (they are usually rejected by others first)
By American standards, many of his characters would be labelled 'losers' and there is that awful tendency shaped in part by cultural expectations, to judge people by these trite little conventions, but he makes you see that the way we sometimes judge people is false and in doing so, exposes our own limitations.
Sometimes Rohmer introduces
20523. JudithAtHome - 6/5/2001 3:43:03 PM
Cellar:
That may be a joke but he did institute another lawsuit against someone claiming to have had sex with him...with tapes to prove it, allegedly.
20524. Webfeet - 6/5/2001 3:48:47 PM
I adore Reinette and Mirabelle but the lead in Le Rayon Vert sometimes got so hysterical with her vegetarianism, loneliness and need for lightness, that she began to kill me.
But in the end, she finds love, she just wasn't with the right people. that was a great scene with that little Swedish flirt on the terrace. I thought that the dialogue they shared with those two men must have been replicated in dozens of conversation in dozens of outdoor bars on the Mediterranean.
20525. Cellar Door - 6/5/2001 6:30:39 PM
That's what I like about him, Webby. He risks presenting us with a character that most people would reflexively dismiss as a pain in the ass and allows us to see her in a complex way. As a result we find we're rooting for her in the last reel.
20526. CalGal - 6/5/2001 6:47:34 PM
I just read that "What's The Worst That Could Happen" is based on a Westlake Dortmunder book. That's incredibly depressing, to ruin great source material. And it could have been excellent, with that cast.
Anyone looking for the true essence of Westlake is directed to The Hot Rock, which stars Redford at his most cool, Ron Liebman, and Zero Mostel. Not to be missed.
20527. Cellar Door - 6/5/2001 7:53:29 PM
Then there are Westlake's "Richard Stark" books. Two have been made into film classics: "Point Blank" and "Made in U.S.A."
20528. MaxMacks - 6/5/2001 8:13:24 PM
off the subject now but could not get my post in earlier to
say that I have seen Lawrence of Arabia" maybe
3or 4 times and have surprised some who did not know that Alec Guiness had principal part.
But you, Cal GAl, surprised me when you wrote
that A. Quinn was in that movie.
What was his part?
20529. CalGal - 6/5/2001 8:17:38 PM
Cellar,
I haven't read Westlake's Richard Stark books, I guess--although I really thought I had run through everything of his at the library a few years ago.
Max,
"Thy mother mated with a scorpion!"
20530. JudithAtHome - 6/5/2001 8:17:39 PM
He played Auda abu Tayi, whoever that is....
20531. CalGal - 6/5/2001 8:20:51 PM
He's the Bedouin chieftain that Lawrence has to convince to cross the desert to Aqaba.
20532. MaxMacks - 6/6/2001 2:51:35 PM
Was he the guy who shot at Lawrence/O'Toole
when Lawrence was using a well?
20533. MaxMacks - 6/6/2001 2:52:47 PM
how nice to get a post posted right away.
Hi Judith, amazing that you knew Auda abu Tayi!
20534. JudithAtHome - 6/6/2001 2:54:40 PM
Max...I just looked it up on the Internet Movie Database. It's listed in the yellow bar on the right of the screen near the top of the page. It's really handy for movie and even TV questions...
20535. CalGal - 6/6/2001 3:06:27 PM
Max,
No, that was Omar Sharif.
20536. CalGal - 6/6/2001 3:15:33 PM
Quinn is in the foreground, Sharif in the background.
20537. rubberducky - 6/6/2001 6:04:43 PM
has nobody commented on this from Today's Papers'?
USAT reefers news that Blockbuster, where more Americans get their videos than from any other source, has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit which claimed that the video pusher's late-return policy resulted in exorbitant fees. The dispute centered on Blockbuster's practice of charging customers a full rental fee for each day a tape was late (i.e. a five-day rental that cost a total of $2.99 would cost an additional $2.99 each day it was late.) Blockbuster -- which didn't admit to any wrongdoing -- agreed to issue customers up to $450 million in free coupons. Go get your slice of the pie (limited to a max of $18 per person).
20538. CalGal - 6/6/2001 6:53:42 PM
Anyone can get it? Cool. I did read it last night and meant to mention it.
It's funny--I was regularly reamed by their late fees and all this time I just figured it was me. I had no idea that they were that high. I quit Blockbuster, in part because of the late fees, back in March of 2000.
20539. rubberducky - 6/6/2001 6:56:00 PM
i rent from them only on impulse when Ripley and i are between netflix movies.
and, yeah, their fees are insane. it's one reason i was sooo happy to get into netflix.
20540. MaxMacks - 6/6/2001 8:06:03 PM
Judith AH , ya I knew you looked it up.
That is a great place for movie trivia info.
Cal Gal....so cool that you can not only find
a scene from a movie but then put it on here.
20541. Shannon - 6/6/2001 11:16:50 PM
Hubby went to Blockbuster last night. They're handing out legal notices with their receipts now. Too funny.
We have a Blockbuster about 5 minutes away, and the next closest place is 20 minutes, so we rent there when we're lazy. Like last night in the pouring rain when we needed kid amusement.
He also rented Best in Show, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
20542. Toenails - 6/6/2001 11:27:25 PM
OK, everybody warned me...the people on this thread, the critics, everybody, but I had to see Pearl Harbor for myself--just it case it wasn't quite as awful as they said it was.
Don't go, don't GO! It was perfectly awful...the worst piece of utter garbage I've seen since the last Sylvester Stallone feature.
The storyline is juvenile, derivative, unconvincing and trite. The dialogue sounds like something out of Harold Robbins.
The action sequences are technically unimpressive and mostly feature lots and lots (and LOTS) of big, fiery explosions.
The whole thing would make a great video game.
20543. MsIvoryTower - 6/6/2001 11:31:42 PM
I rented Finding Forester yesterday. I found the performances by Sean Connery and Brown(?) quite moving. I liked the closeness shown between Brown and his family, even though his father was no longer in the picture. I rarely see such normalcy portrayed about inner city black families.
The scene where F. Murray Abrams indirectly accuses Jamal of turning in plagerized work was also a killer for me. The assumptions he made were painful, but rang true. I did a similar thing to a young student during my year of student teaching, when I was fresh out of my teacher training program.
I will never forget the experience, the assumptions I made, and my guilt about it. I still think about the girl (she was a mediocre student, and I thought her a young blonde airhead), and the erroneous accusations I made about her work. Although I learned a very valuable lesson from the experience, I never got the chance to tell the girl that I had been wrong to make the assumptions I did.
Anyways, I really liked this movie. I've been thinking about it all day, which I always see as a barometer of a good movie.
20544. MaxMacks - 6/7/2001 12:05:25 AM
Toenails -20502. In a quite recent New Yorker magagine there was one of the funniest , scathing, movie reviews of Pearl Harbor that
I've read in some while.
20545. CalGal - 6/7/2001 12:08:09 AM
Ms,
I thought the story was terrible and hackneyed, but the performances were both solid, particularly Brown's. I can see why the plagiarism scene would resonate with you, but the problem is that the teacher wasn't anything more than a hack. The story would have been much more interesting had your experience been used, I think.
20546. CalGal - 6/7/2001 12:09:57 AM
I was flipping through the channels and came across LA Confidential, which really isn't seen at its best on TNT.
Still, I watched it for a bit, because the three leads are terrific. In retrospect, I think Spacey's performance comes off the best. At the time, Crowe and Pearse were the surprises whereas everyone had grown to expect it from Spacey. But when I watch it now, I watch it for his Jack Vincennes. Or maybe I just like quirky, funny, resigned, and cynical in a guy. Combined with cool clothes, of course.
20547. MsIvoryTower - 6/7/2001 8:35:36 AM
Cal
I liked the story. Abrams was a hack, I agree, but I thought a lot of the story was interesting.
It would have been better, though, had Abrams not made the multiple mistakes he did, I think most teachers in real life would not compound such an error once it's apparent they're wrong. Then they would have had to think of another way to get Connery to come to the boy's rescue (which was also a bit hackneyed).
20548. CalGal - 6/7/2001 8:40:22 AM
A bit? All it needed was Pacino. To say nothing of the fact that all the trailers showed the scene, so you knew it was coming.
I thought the basketball playing scene between the two charity kids was terrific.
20549. MsIvoryTower - 6/7/2001 8:42:49 AM
Well, I didn't see the trailers. I hate Pacino, and I've never seen Scent of a Woman, for which I'm grateful.
The basketball scene was excellent. So was the last sport scene where Paquin's father makes a deal with Jamal, and the boy loses the game (I think) deliberately.
20550. MsIvoryTower - 6/7/2001 8:46:12 AM
Actually, the way I was hoping Connery would reveal his relationship with Jamal was to offer to read his piece in the contest. The conversation they had about authors reading their work was very funny, I thought, and so true.
The story would have been better had the connection been revealed in a non-rescue event, but would have had just as much punch.
20551. glendajean - 6/7/2001 10:41:47 AM
I thought the kid deserved a nomination for best actor. He really handled the part well.
Funny about the Abram scene. When I was visiting friends a few weeks ago, they were telling John Silber stories. Silber was Dean of Arts and Sciences at UT-Austin back in the 60s. He was also something of a dictator/bully in his classes. He always claimed he was merely practicing the Socratic method, but he could be fairly brutal. Anyway, my friend talked about how he made some factual statement about a city in Europe and a female student raised her hand and corrected him. He screamed at her, stood over her chair, told her she was wrong and gave her an opportunity to recant her statement. She stood by her statement. As my friend retold the story, it reminded me of Abram's character in the movie.
20552. CalGal - 6/7/2001 10:44:15 AM
Didn't Silber move on to some other university, later on?
20553. Cellar Door - 6/7/2001 10:52:05 AM
Sacha Vierny died. He was 80 something. Unquestionably one of the greatest cinematographers in the history of the cinema: "Hiroshima Mon Amour," "Last Year at Mariendbad," and all of Peter Greenaway's features.
Sally Potter's "The Man Who Cried" is his last film.
20554. glendajean - 6/7/2001 10:52:13 AM
UT split arts and sciences into two colleges and Silber became president of Boston University.
20555. CalGal - 6/7/2001 10:54:25 AM
That was it--I thought it was BU, but Boston and Texas seemed so far away.
20556. arkymalarky - 6/7/2001 11:22:43 AM
My dad went to UT when Silber was there and has talked about him. He stands out in Dad's mind as quite a character.
20557. janjon - 6/7/2001 12:18:16 PM
Silber indeed became the President of Boston U. Did a great job in terms of improving its finances - they extract Harvard size tuition for what is a much different experience. Was known for being autocratic or "tough-minded", depending on your perspective. Had a lot of no nonsense educational theories which resonated with some.
Ran for public office (for Governor, as I recall.)
Got swamped.
He's probably making a lot of $$$$ (which he also did at B.U., having pushed the envelope in terms of what an university president should receive - with all the perks, he got more than $1 million a year. And that doesn't count his retirement/severance benefits.) doing consulting for some right wingish institute.
20558. janjon - 6/7/2001 12:19:23 PM
BTW - in case it wasn't clear, I can't stand the supercilious asshole.
20559. JudithAtHome - 6/7/2001 12:29:55 PM
I saw him in a 60 Minutes interview once...seemed like your adjectives fit, janjon.
20560. Francis Urquhart - 6/7/2001 2:31:04 PM
The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton's world of the idle rich in turn-of-the-century New York is claustrophobic, nuanced, and potentially fatal if one doesn't play all the angles. Gillian Anderson is one who does not play all the angles in her quest for a husband, which ends in her social demise.
The House of Mirth fails on two counts. First, it is solely about the ruination of Gillian Anderson. The film is one painful crucifixion followed by another, and each time, she stiffens her upper lip, and does the right thing, only to be dealt dirty again. Compelling drama can rarely be found in 2 hour plus of degrading one character, while all others inflict the degradation or meekly sympathize.
Second, the actors are not up to the material. Anderson is much too expressive, her facial reactions to slights are often over-the-top, and given the role of a person regularly abused, her bag of tricks is exhausted early. She settles for exhaustion. Others, like Anthony LaPaglia, Dan Ackroyd, Eric Stoltz, Terry Kinney, Elizabeth McGovern, and Laura Linney, fair no better in speaking Wharton's ambiguous tongue. They are blocky and wooden.
I am not unsympathetic to the hurdles of Wharton. But The House of Mirth is an unpleasant blend of bleakness, boredom and bad acting. I suggest Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence."
Grade: D-.
20561. Webfeet - 6/7/2001 2:34:39 PM
I agree completely. Saw it the other night.
The whole film was as impotent as Lawerence Selden.
20562. Francis Urquhart - 6/7/2001 2:41:51 PM
Web
Seldon was emblematic of why the entire film was a waste of time. Another wax, bemused figure, placed solely to torture Lily.
What The House of Mirth failed to do is give any context for why the indirect minuets were played New York society. Instead, you get Seldon and Lily groping and slipping some tongue, yet, moments later, unable to speak even remotely plain.
If you don't have context, the absurd terrain just seems absurd. For example, take Ms. Congeniality. There, the terrain is beauty pageants. But all the foilm did was take a bazillion easy, cheap shots at beauty pageants. It did not explain the terrain. So, the film suck (for that and several other reasons).
But take Best in Show. You can't get much more bizarre terrain that a dog show. But Guest took the time to give you various views of that terrain. Good film.
In the end, I hated Lily for her high-minded self-misery. I was happy to see her doomed.
20563. glendajean - 6/7/2001 2:52:50 PM
Francis, what is the context that you think is missing?
It's been years since I've read the book, but I remember it to be about a girl whose ambition is strong, but her pocketbook is limited, and her own greeds and desires trip up her march to society victory (a marriage to a rich man).
20564. JudithAtHome - 6/7/2001 3:33:35 PM
Anderson is much too expressive, her facial reactions to slights are often over-the-top
I'd pay money just to see this happen...I find her to be a rather wooden actress.
20565. Webfeet - 6/7/2001 3:41:09 PM
From what I was told by someone who read the book first and then saw the film, you would be really lost if you hadn't read it. I think what is lost is an understanding of why Selden, who appeared smitten by Lilly, would not rise to the role of Romantic Hero and save her from the cruelty of their class by marrying her. The social constraints are sort of broadly outlined in caricatures, but they don't explain why Selden is unable to act, especially when she is still at the peak of her powers and very desirable.
And, i agree, you have no sympathy for Lily in the end because she, like everyone else in the film, is so one-dimensional and her demise so predictable.
From the opening sequence in which she appears as a dark silhouette in Grand Central Station to her listless stupor at the end. Every action, every move announces her coming ruination with a heavy hand. In this sense, it reminded me of Theodore Drieser and 'Sister Carrie.'
The protagonists are not fully people but allegories.
20566. Francis Urquhart - 6/7/2001 4:59:53 PM
glenda
To take you into a world with unreasonable and stultifying customs, it is critical that the writer and director explain the reasons for the customs within the framework of the story. The House of mirth not only failed to provide that necessary context, but it often flitted in and out of the strictures of Wharton's society, making the actions of the characters even more incomprehensible.
20567. Cellar Door - 6/7/2001 5:06:20 PM
What The House of Mirth failed to do is give any context for why the indirect minuets were played New York society. Instead, you get Seldon and Lily groping and slipping some tongue, yet, moments later, unable to speak even remotely plain
You mean Andrew Sullivan actually talks to the guys he fucks?
20568. Francis Urquhart - 6/7/2001 5:09:43 PM
Cellar
Yes. He says, "I thought that I could manage my own life, but I have been foolish, foolish to the point of being compromised."
20569. Cellar Door - 6/8/2001 9:48:15 AM
(sadly there's no Edith Wharton equivalent for a rim shot.)
20570. Raskolnikov - 6/8/2001 2:04:01 PM
I have heard that half of blockbuster's revenues come from late fees. I can't verify it, but it sounds plausible.
20571. Raskolnikov - 6/8/2001 2:07:02 PM
However, I don't think I have rented from them for over 5 years, because of a late fee dispute. I dropped the tapes off a couple minutes before the store closed, but the clerks didn't process them as returned until the next morning, resulting in a late fee. I refused to pay, the Manager refused to drop the charges, and I walked out, with the manager threatening to destroy my credit rating. I haven't rented from them since.
20572. CalGal - 6/8/2001 2:15:05 PM
That is what one of the articles I read mentioned as well--I can't remember if it was half, but it was a lot. They changed it last year. I used to like them well enough, but the lines are obscene, the DVD selection was weak, and when I realized I was paying some $25 per rental session, it just became much easier to follow your advice.
20573. Raskolnikov - 6/8/2001 2:27:37 PM
By the way, rentmydvd.com has a similar pricing plan as Netflix, with an option for a traditional pay-per-rental plan. I recently rented a few films from them, so we will see how it goes.
There overall selection isn't as good as Netflix's, but they are doing a much better job with films new to DVD. For instance, Netflix doesn't have any of the Criterion Tati films in their inventory, whereas RMD has all three of them.
20574. Raskolnikov - 6/8/2001 2:32:59 PM
Netflix seems to be going downhill. They aren't maintaining their inventory remotely as well as they used to. I still am not close to running out of films to rent from them, but I am being forced to go elsewhere more often.
Also, I have rented quite a few films lately:
Best in Show: I liked this much better than Guffman, which I thought was over-rated. Highly recommended.
Vertical Limit: Decent mountain climbing film. It does a much better job creating the world of mountain climbers than it does of creating suspense, however.
Requiem for a Dream: Visually interesting, great performance by Burstyn, thematically coherent, but relatively unengaging, walking over well-trod territory.
Bedazzled: Light, modestly enjoyable, fluff.
20575. CalGal - 6/8/2001 3:04:26 PM
They aren't maintaining their inventory remotely as well as they used to.
I agree. What this has meant is that the films they send aren't high on my list of stuff I want to see and I end up postponing watching them. I probably only average 4 films a month now, and I've been pondering what to do about it. I tried being really alert to managing the queue (looking for movies temporarily available and putting them at the top) but it got to be a drag, especially when well over half my queue was unavailable.
So I'm paying $20 for half as many films, making me their ideal customer. I'm terribly lazy, but I need to make a call on this sometime soon.
20576. Raskolnikov - 6/8/2001 4:22:43 PM
Cal: If you are already running out of good films from Netflix, you might want to look into RMD. It has gotten great feedback at dvdtalk.com, I dvd discussion group I occasionally participate in.
20577. Raskolnikov - 6/8/2001 4:23:50 PM
20578. Webfeet - 6/8/2001 4:26:44 PM
Thanks for mentioning Requiem for a Dream, Raskolnikov. I had forgotten I wanted to see it.
Other than that, there is not a current movie I want to see. Zip. Nothing.
Has anyone seen Startup.com by chance? It's playing here at the Film Forum. I might want to see that.
20579. Raskolnikov - 6/8/2001 4:36:02 PM
There are several films out right now that I want to see. I do want to see Shrek (I know it is PG, but is the PG content stuff that a three year old would get? I was thinking of taking the Little Raskol) and Moulin Rouge. With a Friend like Harry recently showed up in town as well, and I have heard good things about that. I do have plans with my brother to see Tomb Raider next weekend.
I also have some interest in Pearl Harbor. I know it supposedly stinks, but I want to see the attack sequence on the big screen.
20580. CalGal - 6/8/2001 5:51:02 PM
Rask,
Thanks. I'll try and check it out, and add it to the bb bar.
Web,
Startup.com's appeal will depend on how hooked into the tech world (or startups) you are. If you know a lot about it it will probably be very old hat. I saw the trailer and thought it was a parody. But if you aren't very familiar with it, I think you'll find it pretty interesting.
Shrek is simply wonderful; I can't recommend it strongly enough. And Rask, you should block the little guy's eyes at the bluebird scene, but other than that he would probably love it.
20581. CalGal - 6/8/2001 5:53:58 PM
Spawn saw Pearl Harbor, expecting to be disappointed. Even with those low standards, he found it offensively bad. He was particularly upset because like you, Rask, he went for the actual attack sequence, figuring it'd be worth it if only for that. Not.
20582. Toenails - 6/8/2001 6:45:01 PM
I second the motion. Pearl Harbor shouldn't even get award nominations for technical effects.
It sucks at all levels.
20583. Cellar Door - 6/8/2001 8:45:35 PM
"With a Friend Like Harry" isn't bad.
20584. Toenails - 6/9/2001 6:57:35 AM
Will somebody who knows the movie biz explain to me why HBO and the other pay television services continuously show the poorest quality films in their collection, while rationing the decent ones...indecently?
I gather that rights fees must be based on the number of times a film is shown on television, and that the better movies have steeper fees?
If this isn't the explanation, then there IS no explanation, because the parade of tripe coming out of HBO is unending and disappointing.
20585. Toenails - 6/9/2001 7:43:41 PM
I'm a 12-hour thread-killer.
20586. AceofSpades - 6/9/2001 7:50:03 PM
Toe:
Most likely because they pay-per-play, and therefore it costs more money to run X-Men 50 times a month (like they used to do when I was a kid; that's why I know every line from Rocky 3).
So they only show X-Men ten times in a month, and fill the schedule up with Dolph Lundgren movies.
20587. Cellar Door - 6/10/2001 9:59:37 AM
20588. Jamie R - 6/10/2001 10:10:31 AM
Yup. Saw Flash Gordon 14 times one summer. I was too young to pick up on camp- to me it was just "cool, that alien's eyes are coming out."
And speaking of camp, I saw MI2 again the other night. It was better than I remembered, although Tom Cruise was worse than I remembered (and inexplicably I unfailingly like him.) But the thing about that movie that strikes me is how utterly unironic Woo is with his sort of mystical hyper machoism- glowing white doves in slow motion and all that. There is zero humor in the movie, no self-deprecation on the part of the hero, no in jokes, no too clever patter, no mockery at all. I find it kind of refreshing, but I think Woo would be horrified that his earnestness looks so much like camp. (Or maybe he does know, but I'd like to believe that's not the case.)
20589. Jamie R - 6/10/2001 10:21:18 AM
Almost Famous- the mother was the only interesting character in the movie.
Unfortunately Crowe evidently thought the Penny Lane character was worth most of our attention. Is there anyone who hasn't met in real life at least a dozen virtually identical hippy free spirit girls? Does anyone really find them interesting?
Granted we're supposed to be seeing all this through the eyes of a 15 year old boy, and I fully believed that he would fall hopelessly in love with her. But since he was a bit of a non-entity, she didn't catch much reflected light from him.
Put the mother back on the phone with the rock star, sez I.
20590. CalGal - 6/10/2001 10:23:11 AM
I like Cruise, too, for no good reason. I'm not a Woo fan, and while I didn't like MI2 at all, I didn't feel the same rage I felt at MI1, which was a desecration.
Saw Moulin Rouge. I may write more on it later, but I have a feeling this is a polarizing film about which it's hard to be ambivalent. I thought it was wonderful. A shame that teen girls can't go gaga over this one; it has all the elements.
20591. CalGal - 6/10/2001 10:29:40 AM
Jamie,
Oh, I totally agree. I can't remember if I've written about it yet, but it is no big shock to me that Crowe married a rock star, given that he is absolutely a groupie. The story may have been tangentially about writers and musicians, but its heart and soul was about the tragedy of being temporarily with the band, but never of it, and how all they really do is good deeds, selflessly for love of music.
Not for nothing did the groupies always say, "He's one of us." Hell, even the sex scene was "just between girls".
Frances McDormand was wonderful, as were the two lead musicians (Crudup and Lee).
20592. Jamie R - 6/10/2001 10:41:39 AM
Yes, I forgot to mention Jason Lee. I'm glad he's showing up in more stuff. I liked him in Chasing Amy.
And my daughter is sternly demanding that I let her read me a book, so I have to go.
20593. JudithAtHome - 6/10/2001 11:56:02 AM
Anyone seen this one?
The Anniversary Party
20594. arkymalarky - 6/10/2001 12:18:36 PM
Mose did "go gaga" over Moulin Rouge and wants to buy it as soon as it becomes available. She loves musicals anyway, but she really thought it was great.
20595. CalGal - 6/10/2001 12:21:46 PM
That's good to hear. Lord knows I think Affleck is a pretty lad, but MacGregor is gorgeous and, from what I remember of the teen years, more immediately appealing. The boy can sing, too.
20596. CalGal - 6/10/2001 12:23:11 PM
I don't often buy movie soundtracks, but in the past 6 months O Brother, Shrek, and now Moulin Rouge have put together remarkable collections.
20597. arkymalarky - 6/10/2001 12:28:43 PM
I wonder if the soundtrack to M/R is on sale yet.
20598. CalGal - 6/10/2001 12:31:33 PM
I haven't looked it up yet, but I would bet thousands in virtual cash that it is on sale.
20599. JudithAtHome - 6/10/2001 12:34:23 PM
MacGregor is gorgeous
I just don't see this...he seems very plain and ordinary looking to me. For someone to register as "gorgeous" to me, he or she has to be the sort that I would turn for a second look with mouth agape as they passed.
MacGregor may be appealing and very good at what he does but he's just a nice enough looking lad to me.
20600. CalGal - 6/10/2001 12:36:43 PM
Yes, Amazon seems to be down right now but there is a soundtrack.
20601. Indiana Jones - 6/10/2001 2:59:30 PM
Have been on a Rita Hayworth kick lately and so watched You Were Never Lovelier.
First, the good stuff. Rita, Rita, Rita...and Fred (Astaire, that is). Lordy, but the camera loved that woman, and in this film she just looks smashing. Her outfits show off her assets stunningly (most of the budget of the film must have gone for her wardrobe, rather than writers). She sings, she dances, but mostly she just makes you want to be an early 40s cameraman.
As for Fred, well personally I've always preferred Gene Kelly, except when it comes to sheer grace and style. Astaire does the usual sublime footwork here, and besides Hayworth, that's worth watching. (Though Rita's no slotch in the footwork department, either.)
In fact, I've decided Rita Hayworth had Marilyn Monroe beat hands down. I know Monroe is the icon, but there's that famous photo of Hayworth that all the GIs were supposed to have had in their footlockers during WWII, so maybe she was America's "face that launched a thousand ships." In any case, she did as fine a job of dressing up a movie set with sexuality, beauty, and class as any woman I've seen--period.
This film's plot OTOH was dated by 19th century standards and fairly tedious--especially by the last 30 minutes. It's worth renting, but not for watching start to finish. Just fast forward to the dance numbers and to see what get-up Hayworth is going to look like a million bucks in next.
Video Golden Retriever gives it 3 1/2 bones, but I'd give it 1 star for Hayworth and half a star for Astaire.
20602. Cellar Door - 6/10/2001 3:30:11 PM
No argument from me.
Rita's tops!
20603. Cellar Door - 6/10/2001 3:38:33 PM
Columbia was by and large a B studio until Capra got it on its feet artistically. But it was Rita who really made it work. She was The Star at Columbia. No other. And the fact is they didn't need another. She's unpseakably luscious at all times. She could dance beautifully. But as You Were Never Lovelier shows, all you need is a good song for a good singer to sing to her. Aim the camera at Rita and you've got gold!
Lately I've come to know a gentleman named Robert Board. He worked in various capacities in Hollywood as a publicist, an extra and even a bit player over the years. He was in publicity at Columbia pictures in the 1940's, slaving away in his office when he asked his bosses if it were possible to go and watch them shoot a movie. They said yes. So Bob walked onto a sound stage for the first time to see Rita and Gene Kelly dancing the "Long Ago and Far Away" number from Cover Girl.
As you can well imagine, its been downhill ever since.
20604. Indiana Jones - 6/10/2001 4:48:03 PM
She's unpseakably luscious at all times.
Unfortunately NetFlix doesn't have a lot with her in it...and since I've started watching DVDs videos seem so inferior.
20605. Uzmakk - 6/10/2001 6:12:40 PM
Yes. I am making a box for Darwin's The Descent of Man.
20606. Raskolnikov - 6/10/2001 9:27:16 PM
Indy: Gilda and Lady from Shanghai are in stock at Netflix, and are probably her two most enduring films.
20607. MsIvoryTower - 6/10/2001 11:54:33 PM
Well, I finally got to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon tonight. I must say, it was glorious in a way that is hard to describe, but I really didn't understand the ending. I suppose I'll watch it again to fill in the blanks.
20608. angel-five - 6/11/2001 12:01:24 AM
I saw The Ninth Gate and actually enjoyed it a good bit, especially the second time. The chick who plays 'the stranger' is the type that gets me every time and she did a good job too.
20609. angel-five - 6/11/2001 12:05:56 AM
And Depp was his usual excellent self. Good enough to make me forget Sleepy Hollow.
Top Ten Favorite Actors:
In no order
Robert De Niro
Val Kilmer
Colm Feore
Johnny Depp
Lawrence Fishburne
Eric Stoltz
John Cusack
Max von Sydow
Tim Roth
Robert Downey
20610. HollyW - 6/11/2001 12:10:07 AM
Explain Eric Stoltz to me, although I am with you otherwise. He bugs the everlovin shit out of me.
20611. Frankster - 6/11/2001 12:20:21 AM
Holly =swo-o-o-o-on
Along with 'net surfing, and doing the laundry, I am also currently watching the first Diehard on FX, and I still can't for the life of me see what some of the women in here see in the guy playing the head terrorist....What's his name again ?
Angel-Five
What, no Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman or Tom Cruise ?
20612. angel-five - 6/11/2001 12:26:30 AM
Dustin Hoffman might make the list in all seriousness, he rocks the house.
RE: Stoltz.
He's a good actor, is why he's up there. I could give a more detailed argument but it's kind of late. De gustibus non disputandum est, I suppose.
20613. angel-five - 6/11/2001 12:28:45 AM
There are older actors who are much more technically proficient than most of the younger names on my list, but I tend to like a little more fire and drive in an actor. And the thing about these lists is that they change for me from day to day. It's all in who I remember first.
20614. angel-five - 6/11/2001 12:29:50 AM
Finishing the thought -- Harrison Ford isn't a great actor, he's a decent one. And Tom Cruise never impressed me.
20615. Indiana Jones - 6/11/2001 8:14:18 AM
Rask: Have seen both of those. Think I reviewed "Lady from Shanghai" fairly recently. If not, I meant too.
Also did a little research into Hayworth's life. Why is it that so many of those early Hollywood bombshells had such dire life stories? Apparently Hayworth was sexually abused by her father, then the obligatory string of failed marriages, ending in slow death by Alzheimer's (which was misdiagnosed at the time as alcoholism).
Perhaps Yeats put it best:
May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,
Or hers before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,
Lose natural kindness and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend.
Helen being chosen found life flat and dull
And later had much trouble from a fool,
While that great Queen, that rose out of the spray,
Being fatherless could have her way
Yet chose a bandy-leggd smith for man.
It's certain that fine women eat
A crazy salad with their meat
Whereby the Horn of Plenty is undone.
--"A Prayer for My Daughter"
20616. Indiana Jones - 6/11/2001 8:19:41 AM
The pinup: 
Supposedly, this shot adorned the atomic bomb that was dropped on Bikini Atoll
20617. JudithAtHome - 6/11/2001 9:19:41 AM
Franque:
The terrorist in Diehard is Alan Rickman and he is very sexy indeed. He had one dynamite role in Truly Madly Deeply that will forever cement him in womens hearts as a deliciously romantic man...
And Harrison Ford is the equivalent of a ventriloquists dummy for me...very wooden.
20618. Raskolnikov - 6/11/2001 9:51:16 AM
MsIT: The ending of Crouching Tiger makes sense to me. (Spoilers) The central conflict in the film is within Jen, over what path she will take in life - the route of the evil Jade Fox or the good Li Mu Bai. After the death of both characters, Jen is told (by Michelle Yeoh) something to the affect that she will have to choose her path. Her leap was based on the legend that she will not die after such a leap if she has a pure heart. My take is that she jumped to test herself. If she lives, meaning her heart is pure, she will live and be with her lover. If her heart isn't pure, she will die. If the mysticism implicit in the first option bothers you, remember that her Wudan training allows her to float/glide. We haven't seen her tackle anything from that height before, but we do see her floating down very slowly.
I listened to the commentary track on my DVD last night. It is very informative about the conventions of Hong Kong cinema that the film was playing with (a lot of which I didn't know, despite having watched a hundred or so kung fu films). Ang Lee didn't really explain the ending, but he did comment that the producers liked the ending because it left open the possibility of a sequel.
20619. MsIvoryTower - 6/11/2001 10:20:10 AM
Rask
That does make sense, then. I was left wondering what would happen, would she survive or would she die, but hadn't tied it her position in the struggle between Jade Fox and Li Mu Bai.
A sequel? How hollywoodish.
20620. Raskolnikov - 6/11/2001 10:33:37 AM
Hong Kong films makes Hollywood look like pikers when it comes to sequels. As a merging of Hong Kong and Hollywood cinematic conventions, a sequel is almost inevitable.
Ang Lee had a fascinating comment on the DVD. He said that he never realized how difficult it was to make an action movie with some actual dramatic heft. According to him, just doing the fight scenes take most of the time and budget that would normally be allowed for the film. Working with the actors to create believable characterization and drama was akin to making another movie, requiring twice as much time and money to create the film.
It was an eye-opening comment, as far as I was concerned, doing a lot to explain why good action (or song and dance numbers in Hollywood musicals, which take similar effort) and good drama/characterization are so often dichotomous choices in making most films.
20621. rubberducky - 6/11/2001 1:38:55 PM
rented the newer edition of Aliens from NetFlix recently. i liked the new footage - it added a little dramatic heft to an already wonderful movie.
my favorite new stuff was seeing Newt's family and the attack that kills them. this, to me, makes you give more of a damn about her as opposed to her just popping up later in the movie screaming love me, protect me to Ripley.
anyway, worth a rental even if just to watch one of the best sci-fi/horror movies ever made one more time
5 of 5 quacks.
20622. Raskolnikov - 6/11/2001 2:12:50 PM
I had the exact opposite reaction, I disliked the early stuff with Newt. I thought the film worked better keeping the point of view with Ripley and the marines, and I don't like it that The Company's hand is tipped early, showing us that they ordered the exploration of the alien vessel.
20623. Raskolnikov - 6/11/2001 2:14:15 PM
But the DVD does rock, with crystal clear images, and great sound. It was one of the first films I tested out with my home theater system. And I do like the rest of the added scenes, particularly those involving Ripley and her daughter.
20624. rubberducky - 6/11/2001 2:19:07 PM
i agree with your second point (in 20622), Rask, but when Newt shows up without the extra footage, it looks just thrown in. someone to feel sorry for and someone, at random, for Ripley to protect instead of helping the damn Marines.
of course, the only thing i liked about Alien 3 was the fact she was killed off 3 minutes into it.
20625. Raskolnikov - 6/11/2001 2:28:45 PM
I don't think most people need to be introduced to a little girl early in a film in order to feel empathy for her later on.
And I hated that they killed her in pre-credit sequence of Alien3! It basically made all her efforts in Aliens pointless. I pretend that I never saw the film.
20626. rubberducky - 6/11/2001 2:36:43 PM
eh, i hated Newt. Ripley needed to do her damn job and not fuss over some little brat who did nothing other than distract from the point of the movie.
and, of course, saving Newt was pointless. it speaks to the pointlessness of life and how The Company will always win. somehow, life finds a way, but there are always consequences.
...
or, um, something like that.
20627. CalGal - 6/11/2001 4:22:47 PM
I'm agnostic on the added scenes, but killing off Newt, Hicks, and Bishop in the opening of Alien 3 was one of the great film crimes of all time.
20628. Jamie R - 6/11/2001 5:08:33 PM
Hear, hear. Alien Resurrection was unbelievably awful, but Alien 3 was flat out reprehensible.
20629. Raskolnikov - 6/11/2001 5:13:32 PM
Alien Resurrection was at least a complete visual mindfuck, to the point where you gave up on the narrative in favor of a visual experience. It was never boring to look at.
Alien3, however, was just ugly and inept. There are a handful of redeemable scenes, but the film is generally so slow-paced and uninteresting to look at that you have way too much time to think about how little sense the story makes.
20630. CalGal - 6/11/2001 5:16:06 PM
It's never to late to make it Bobby in the shower, Sigourney. C'mon, do it.
BTW, Rask, have you seen Moulin Rouge? Bizarre as this must sound, I went to it not knowing that it was a musical.
20631. Raskolnikov - 6/11/2001 5:20:10 PM
That must have been a trip. I haven't seen it yet. I might try to get to it this weekend, but I think I may be in too much karmic babysitting debt after this weekend, when I spent all day Saturday playing paintball and poker as part of a bachelor party.
20632. CalGal - 6/11/2001 5:25:46 PM
Ha. Don't they have babysitters in Minneapolis? Or is that where the karma comes in?
20633. Raskolnikov - 6/11/2001 5:37:29 PM
Different aspect of karma. My wife is in a wedding in a couple weeks, and our 4th anniversary is coming up, so we will need to call in lots of babysitters for those events. That means babysitting favors have to rationed.
We don't have any neighbor kids we can rely on (at least, not with a 4 month old), so we depend on adult friends and relatives.
20634. CalGal - 6/11/2001 5:42:29 PM
Ah. I'm not really one to talk; neither the ex or I ever used a babysitter, although occasionally he'd go spend the night at his grandma's.
Have you been taking the older one (about 3, yes?) to movies? I started taking Spawn to nighttime movies when he was about this age. When he was two plus, he went to Home Alone and The Little Mermaid; I'm sure there are others, but that's the only one I can remember. But when he turned three and I was single, I remember taking him to Beauty and the Beast and Star Trek VI (keeping in mind the kid was a serious Trekkie, even then) on "opening night", on the condition that he napped during the day. I told him all about using movie voices, which became my way of telling him to be hushed in any situation. ("remember, this is a movie voice place.")
20635. Raskolnikov - 6/11/2001 5:47:12 PM
I have taken him to a couple films (Toy Story 2 and the Grinch spring to mind. He didn't like the Grinch - I was very proud of him). Basically, there are very few 3yr old-appropriate films out I think he or I would enjoy, so not much has come up. But I am planning on taking him to see Shrek sometime this week.
20636. CalGal - 6/11/2001 5:51:11 PM
Yes, likewise I'm most proud of Spawn for sneering at Pearl Harbor. He'll love Shrek, I think.
20637. DanDillon - 6/11/2001 7:53:08 PM
Memento? Anyone?
20638. CalGal - 6/11/2001 9:02:22 PM
Yes. I was furious at it. I'll hunt up my comments; they're back a bit.
20639. DanDillon - 6/11/2001 9:24:03 PM
Furious? You must tell me why.
20640. CalGal - 6/11/2001 9:27:02 PM
BTW, I was just in Kansas City but everytime I thought of emailing you I couldn't hunt up your email address and you weren't around. But I'll be going back again, if you want to do lunch or something. (I'm doing a lot of work in the Lenexa/Oletha/Overland Park area).
My Memento review is here: Message # 19938 and then some other stuff starts here: Message # 20041.
20641. Jenerator - 6/11/2001 9:29:17 PM
I want to see Pearl Harbor for the special effects.
Having taught 150 students about the day of infamy, I have a great desire to see it on the big screen. A fair number of my students do too.
20642. CalGal - 6/11/2001 9:34:44 PM
If you want to see the day of infamy done well on the big screen, wait until From Here to Eternity hits the art houses again. Not even the effects appear to be worth it.
20643. DanDillon - 6/11/2001 9:37:40 PM
Wrt Memento
I figured it out 20 minutes in....
Figured what out? There's nothing to figure out.
My public e-mail quelquechz@hotmail.com
Jen,
Still waiting patiently for that e-mail with the attachment....
20644. CalGal - 6/11/2001 9:42:33 PM
You don't think there's anything to figure out?
What did you think of the movie?
I added the "e" at the end of your email. Drat.
20645. Jenerator - 6/11/2001 9:42:51 PM
dan,
You are a saint.
Then again, I wasn't sure if you were still alive.
20646. DanDillon - 6/11/2001 9:45:38 PM
...and kicking!
Spare me the saint stuff, will ya? It damages my rep. So let's have it, sweet dear lovely Jen.
You don't think there's anything to figure out?
No. You're not suggesting that the backwards structure was a code a break, are you? And certainly the rapist/murderer was revealed within minutes, so that can't be it either.
20647. DanDillon - 6/11/2001 9:46:46 PM
s/b a code to break
20648. CalGal - 6/11/2001 9:48:47 PM
No, he wasn't the rapist/murderer.
20649. DanDillon - 6/11/2001 9:49:38 PM
Eh?
20650. DanDillon - 6/11/2001 9:51:38 PM
Yes, I suppose she could have been diabetic, or it could have been a hallucination, or the film might not even exist all, or memroy may be so faulty that we really have no idea what we're even talking about.
And that's precisely the point.
20651. Shannon - 6/11/2001 9:52:45 PM
I told him all about using movie voices, which became my way of telling him to be hushed in any situation. ("remember, this is a movie voice place.")
That's funny.
We're planning to get out to see Shrek soon as well. Maybe next weekend.
Rented Ghost Dog this weekend. Weird. We also rented Gladiator, which DH watched last night. He's very fond of the big epic things.
20652. CalGal - 6/11/2001 9:59:19 PM
Oh, they'll all love it, Shannon. Unless they're fussy about birds. If you're worried, make sure you cover their eyes when the bluebird sings.
Dan,
SPOILER:
He was a serial killer, basically, who was used by LA lowlifes to kill their anointed enemy. I think that could have been interesting. But the director squidged it all at the end, throwing all the rules out.
20653. DanDillon - 6/11/2001 10:04:18 PM
Explain.
20654. CalGal - 6/11/2001 10:16:25 PM
Did you see Message # 20044? It's the two messages of mine in white font. I run through the reason I come to that conclusion--tentatively.
20655. wabbit - 6/11/2001 10:26:08 PM
One of the drawbacks to being confined to bed for several hours a day is that you find yourself watching the most unbelievably bad movies. Usually they are bad enough that I just fall asleep, but some are so bad that they are spellbinding. One among the dreck on cable in the past month was Supreme Sanction, a movie with Kristy Swanson (and I am a big fan of the Buffy movie) as a US gov't assasin (just a tad more believable than the truly horrible Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist in the last Bond disaster). Michael Madsen and Ron Perlman were wasted in this one. Kristy looks great as a redhead, though. See for yourself, the trailer is available at IMDb.
But the absolute bottom of the barrel was Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, the "sequel" to the Poseidon Adventure. Did this one make the list of really bad Michael Caine movies?
20656. CalGal - 6/11/2001 10:32:05 PM
I am nearly sure it was one of the ones we mentioned that he made for money.
You need a DVD player and a changer.
20657. wabbit - 6/11/2001 10:38:14 PM
I'll break down and get a DVD player when I get a digital tv, which will be an incredible waste of money, since I don't usually watch more than a couple hours of tv a week. I have trouble watching movies all the way through on tv.
I live for commercials.
Hmmm, should this all have been in the tv thread?
20658. angel-five - 6/11/2001 10:54:11 PM
Denise Richards may be horrible, but. (smacking lips).
20659. wabbit - 6/11/2001 11:03:41 PM
I suppose I can understand the physical attraction, although I don't find her all that pretty, but then she speaks and the game is up.
And perhaps you are, too (sorry, couldn't help myself).
Who is the other one, pretty but braindead, who evidently played Audrey Hepburn in some movie? I remember hearing an interviewer ask how she felt about playing the fabulous Hepburn. This dipshit replied that she felt confident but that her breasts were bigger than Hepburn's.
20660. angel-five - 6/11/2001 11:07:43 PM
Well, I understand that, about not finding her pretty. I've generally non-standard ideas on female beauty and typical Hollywood beauty-queen types seem, well, typical to me. Denise Richards is one of the few abberations I allow myself in this regard.
20661. Raskolnikov - 6/11/2001 11:13:21 PM
Wabbit: That was Jennifer Love Hewitt.
20662. CalGal - 6/11/2001 11:22:10 PM
I have said before that Denise Richards has the goods on the kiddie porn fetishes of several major studio executives. Because there just isn't any other reason why she'd get work in a world with Jasmine Bleeth.
20663. DanDillon - 6/12/2001 10:26:30 AM
Best looking female actors currently working in the industry: 
Natalie Portman 
Claire Danes 
Katie Holmes 
Charlize Theron 
Nicole Kidman
You are at liberty to amend this list, certainly complementing it with male actors.
20664. arkymalarky - 6/12/2001 11:44:38 AM
A stupid look on anyone renders them instantly unattractive, and Denise Richards has the word plastered on her face, from what little I've seen. Otoh, an air of intelligence is very appealing. Granted, it can disappear like a wift of smoke in a breeze once someone opens his mouth--I have a friend who wrote a good song about that once. The whole song describes this vision of a man she noted in the audience while performing, then the last line: "But then what a big joke. You came up and spoke."
20665. don s. - 6/12/2001 4:05:20 PM
Luckyducky: “... as opposed to her just popping up later in the movie screaming love me, protect me to Ripley.”
Hits a little too close to home, doesn't it?
20666. milkmaid - 6/12/2001 5:03:27 PM
Anyone remember a 1988 movie called "Midnight Run"? I picked it up at Target for five bucks, remembering it to be somewhat amusing, but I'm surprised to see it rated R. I don't let the kiddies watch R-rated movies. Is this that bad or is 1988's R rating similar to a 2001 PG?
20667. CalGal - 6/12/2001 5:11:59 PM
It is good, and I think there is a discussion of it on Mote Movies (or maybe I haven't converted it yet). I don't remember anything violent--the language is pretty rough. Terrific performance by Grodin.
20668. milkmaid - 6/12/2001 5:18:43 PM
It's not on Mote Movies, but thanks for giving me another way to waste time looking through what is there.
And the profanity they are familiar with, unfortunately; as long as there's no real gore it should be okay.
20669. Raskolnikov - 6/12/2001 5:40:03 PM
Cal Gal's recollection is accurate. I think a few people get beat up, but the violence, as I recall, is PG level. It gets the R for its language. I don't think there is even any sex in it.
20670. CalGal - 6/12/2001 5:44:01 PM
I don't even remember any women in it, except the one scene with the exwife and daughter--which is a wonderful scene, not to be missed by adult or child.
20671. PsychProf - 6/12/2001 5:47:24 PM
Line from "Gus and Tillie", with WC Fields...
"Do you like children?"
WC..."only when they are well cooked"
20672. Cellar Door - 6/12/2001 8:03:48 PM
Caught "It's a Gift"last night on the TCM Fields block. Never ceases to amaze me that he got away with a film like that. It only improves with age. While the rest of Hollywood created fantasy, Fields gave us the stark, unvarnished truth about lower middle-class American life.
Better than Italian neo-realism any day of the week.
20673. PsychProf - 6/12/2001 8:57:27 PM
Cellar...we both were watching that.
20674. Raskolnikov - 6/12/2001 9:30:35 PM
Anyone else watching the AFI 100 thrills special? Some very nice clips, although I had to send my 3 yr old upstairs after he got spooked by the "scary silver man" (the T1000 from Terminator 2).
I am, however, preparing to be indignant, as evidently T2 is the only sequel on the list, meaning no Aliens or Empire Strikes Back.
20675. dusty - 6/12/2001 10:11:19 PM
milkmaid
I accidentally watched it one day. Just switching channels, watched for a bit, then kept watching. A very pleasnat surprise.
I later made a point of wathcing from the beginning.
I agree with what has been posted earlier—I can't recall anythong major in terms of an R rating, and there are definitely scenes worth watching.
20676. CalGal - 6/12/2001 10:21:27 PM
Rask,
What channel?
Incidentally, milk, Midnight Run is a very well-regarded movie, and Grodin got a lot of praise for going toe to toe with de Niro and coming out in a tie at worst.
20677. Toenails - 6/13/2001 7:16:00 AM
Great as De Niro is, he sometimes brings to mind the old Holden Caulfield observation to the effect that when you are thinking, in the middle of an actor's performance, what a great actor he is, maybe something's not quite right.
I'm also bemused by how many excellent actors who appear on interview shows and are being merely themselves turn out to be (apparently) Delta Minuses. Is there no correlation at all between acting ability and native intelligence?
20678. milkmaid - 6/13/2001 8:16:52 AM
So I guess for $4.99 it was a steal. We'll watch it tonight after work.
20679. JudithAtHome - 6/13/2001 8:22:22 AM
Is there no correlation at all between acting ability and native intelligence?
I would say no...
20680. rubberducky - 6/13/2001 11:51:11 AM
Hits a little too close to home, doesn't it?
thanks for the laugh Don S.
i thought you were losing your humor in your desperate attempts for petty swipes, but no, you still can make me laugh - just with much less frequency. i chalk it up to you getting older, fwiw.
20681. CalGal - 6/13/2001 12:45:58 PM
Toe,
I'd say there are different kinds of actors. De Niro has always seemed a tad dim. Cruise is another one who seems the Gary Cooper sort--the camera likes his face, but there's nothing much behind it.
Then there are the movie stars like Gibson, Hanks and Clooney, who seem to me to be smart, knowledgeable about their craft, savvy about their career, but not particularly intellectual or "creative" in the artistic sense.
Then there are the ones who really do seem to be bright--Cusack comes to mind immediately, as does Malkovich.
20682. rubberducky - 6/13/2001 1:45:23 PM
from InfoBeat:
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The mother of all slasher films, "Psycho," topped the American Film Institute list of 100 most thrilling movies, with "Jaws" and "The Exorcist" coming in second and third. "Psycho" director Alfred Hitchcock and "Jaws" director Steven Spielberg combined for 15 films on the list released Tuesday. Hitchcock placed nine movies on the list, with two others in the Top 10 - "North By Northwest" at No. 4 and "The Birds" at No. 7. Spielberg had six films, including "Raiders of the Lost Ark" at No. 10. The rest of the Top 10 were: No. 5, "The Silence of the Lambs"; No. 6, "Alien"; No. 8, "The French Connection"; and No. 9, "Rosemary's Baby." The rankings were announced in a special aired Tuesday night on CBS. The institute began issuing an annual list on different movie themes three years ago, with a roster of the Top 100 American films. The latest list was chosen by about 1,800 directors, actors, studio executives, critics and others in Hollywood, who voted from a field of 400 nominated movies.
20683. CalGal - 6/13/2001 1:54:17 PM
I thought the combo of thrilling and horror films was weak. Titanic really shouldn't have been on the list at all. I just saw the top 30 last night.
It was nice seeing Clockwork Orange up there; I thought maybe people had forgotten about it, in their rush to overpraise the TItanic.
20684. rubberducky - 6/13/2001 1:57:38 PM
agreed - Titanic should go in a Top 100 Weepy Movies list, but that's about it
20685. Raskolnikov - 6/13/2001 2:19:04 PM
I was very unimpressed. Not only was Aliens - the greatest action movie ever made - dissed, but so were Mark of Zorro, Gunga Din, Empire Strikes Back, Sea Hawk, Crimson Pirate, Black Pirate, and a host of others. With Robin Hood at #100, barely making the list?
In favor of Clockwork Orange, Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind, The Godfather, Casablanca, 2001, and ET?
These aren't action movies, horror films, or thrillers. They are dramas.
It sounds like Science Fiction films were just included as a genre, but if that is the case, where is Forbidden Planet, Empire Strikes Back, Brazil, and Them?
I actually liked a lot of the last two lists, but this one is pretty awful. The top five is about what I expected, however. I knew Psycho would be #1.
20686. Raskolnikov - 6/13/2001 2:21:55 PM
Not to mention mediocrities like Dial M, Poseidon Adventure, Speed, The Omen, and The Birds.
I should have thrown 12 Angry Men and Kwai on the above list of dramas that have no business being there.
20687. milkmaid - 6/13/2001 2:23:16 PM
If I could at all use html, I would write Redrum in large bleeding red letters right now.
20688. rubberducky - 6/13/2001 2:25:10 PM
i forgot to mention Aliens Rask - that alone invalidates the whole damn thing, imho.
not that the others in your list weren't 'thrilling', but Aliens was and is just so ... it.
20689. CalGal - 6/13/2001 2:26:43 PM
I like Clockwork Orange for horror, I was glad to see it there. But I hadn't even looked at the whole list. It's a mess.
Milk,
Check HTML Hints.
20690. rubberducky - 6/13/2001 2:26:57 PM
for mm:
Redrum
20691. milkmaid - 6/13/2001 2:28:29 PM
It's not bleeding, though.
Bye all, off to work.
20692. Toenails - 6/13/2001 5:47:19 PM
Alien -- the original, not the sequel, although it, too, was fine --has to be the scariest damned movie ever put together.
But Psycho isn't a bad choice for #1.
None of the Charleton Heston epics belonged on the list, although some of his NRA speeches would qualify.
20693. MsIvoryTower - 6/13/2001 6:39:05 PM
I think Ben-Hur was a great picture, certainly better than Titanic, or some of the others ahead of it.
I also think The Manchurian Candidate was underrated on the list, it should be closer to the top. It was one damn scary movie, in a creepy, no-they-can't-really-do-that-can-they kind of way.
20694. ScottLoar - 6/13/2001 6:45:49 PM
re Message # 20682: I understand "thrilling" here to narrowly mean the sort of action sequences that American movies do best - constant action and surprises like the Raiders of the Lost Ark genre - but still, no mention of The Other (1972) which was quietly horrific? The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a pacifier by comparison.
20695. ScottLoar - 6/13/2001 6:50:22 PM
Understatement is not appreciated by the ratings people.
20696. CalGal - 6/13/2001 8:11:22 PM
As has been mentioned before now, these lists are intended to drive rentals and movie sales. Look at it from that perspective and maybe some of the choices make more sense. Still, it's a stupid mix.
20697. Cellar Door - 6/13/2001 8:30:29 PM
Where's "The Haunting"? Where's "Peeping Tom"? Where's "Frankenstein Created Woman"?Where's "Scream and Scream Again"?
Really dumb list.
20698. Raskolnikov - 6/13/2001 8:46:10 PM
Never mind some of the other Universal pictures, like Invisible Man and The Mummy.
Or Showgirls (rim shot).
20699. Raskolnikov - 6/13/2001 8:49:22 PM
Haunting is a very nice catch. Uninvited would have been another good one.
Or the remake of The Fly and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The more I think about it, the worse the list gets. I think the problem is rooted in the 400 that the top 100 were chosen from. If you put Godfather and 2001 on a list of the 400 "greatest romantic comedies of all time" they are going to get a shitload of votes.
They should have done a better job of narrowing down the contenders.
20700. ScottLoar - 6/13/2001 10:11:12 PM
I resolve to disregard casual "best-of" lists from now on, particularly if publicly posted or offered in forums such as this.
20701. ScottLoar - 6/13/2001 10:14:13 PM
Personal "best-of" lists are not casually composed as they necessarily comprise some part of the compiler's experience and subjectivity and so I them an interesting comment on the person, but lists by committee or group or academy seem worthless to me.
20702. ScottLoar - 6/13/2001 10:14:49 PM
Corrigendum: I find them
20703. CalGal - 6/13/2001 10:20:37 PM
I like getting all het up about how bad they are. It's kind of fun to remember the good stuff again.
20704. ScottLoar - 6/13/2001 10:26:33 PM
You may be sure I will offer my best-of list on any subject should the mood rouse me.
20705. CalGal - 6/13/2001 10:30:53 PM
Oh, I don't think individual lists are bad--I either agree or disagree. But when it's a compilation done by so-called experts, I expect a reasonable result.
I think Rask is right about the list of contenders. No one's going to skip The Godfather, whether or not they think it's a thriller.
20706. Raskolnikov - 6/14/2001 12:06:44 AM
I often like group compendiums, as I have used them in the past to figure out what films I might want to watch. In my experience, I have a much greater chance of liking "canonical films" (films where there is a strong consenus of greatness among a wide variety of critics and film buffs) than I do of films that are only liked by a few. Exceptions abound, of course, but I have used "best of" lists to direct me toward a hell of a lot of great films.
Which is part of why bad lists like this AFI list annoy me. A lot of canonical horror films, action movies, and thrillers, have been ignored, in favor of some really mediocre films, or great dramas that have somehow infiltrated a list of thrillers. The movie going public is worse for it.
20707. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 5:44:34 AM
A strong consensus of popular opinion does not good taste make as testifies these "best of" lists again and again so why use them? They are an exercise in frustration. "Canonical films" number how many? Two dozen? Three? Which by now most everybody's seen and has fixed an opinion (no, I don't like Battleship Potemkin; yes, Wizard of Oz is a great movie much, much better than the book).
20708. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 5:49:13 AM
I solicit the opinion of reviewers or persons whose critical insight I respect and I'm seldom disappointed; popular nomination gives Chocolat which only holds my interest long enough to watch Johnny Dep's continuing slide and wonder why anyone thinks this guy has talent or appeal.
20709. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 6:21:02 AM
I'll answer that. It seems a movie star is made by "the look" which producers or directors in their unique wisdom find fetching, just as fashion models are chosen by the prevailing whim of a few fashion mavens. And so Johnny Dep continues on with a vacant stare that gets him into movie after movie; Julia Robert's smile appears again and again to be rewarded while Marilyn Streep, one of the few talented persons who can actually claim the title "actor" without embarrassment in my opinion has lost "the look". I find damned little talent behind most popular faces I see on screen, and almost none on television (Bob Sackett comes to mind as the very worst of tv).
20710. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 6:26:31 AM
I did not intend Louis Lamour's Sackett.
20712. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 7:14:45 AM
I do hope Johnny Dep gets a change of clean clothes for his next movie. He's always shambling around in stained shirt and trousers from Goodwill Industries.
20713. Cellar Door - 6/14/2001 10:02:28 AM
Johnny Depp is our finest working actor.
Your taste is in your mouth, Loar.
20714. milkmaid - 6/14/2001 10:10:46 AM
Is Marilyn Streep related to Meryl?
I just realized that this is a place where I can get some sympathy for spending the last fifteen years of my life with someone so completely wrong for me.
Recently dh and I were waiting to be seated at a restaurant, behind a frumpy middle-aged woman who was biting her husband's head off about getting a table. I turned to dh and said, "Don't you hate Perry's wife?"
And he said, "You know, I really don't waste brain space memorizing movie lines and trivia the way you do."
20715. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 10:11:16 AM
CellarDoor, I've noticed you always defend good-looking males and just around the same time pronounce them gay or closet gay. Now, is it libido which prompts your defense of Johnny Depp or can you explain why he's "our finest working actor"? And by "our" I suppose you intend Western Civilization?
20716. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 10:13:20 AM
re Message # 20714: Now that you say so, yes, it is Meryl Streep, and now you know I really don't waste brain space memorizing movie lines and trivia the way some do.
20717. milkmaid - 6/14/2001 10:13:52 AM
Or actor's names.
20718. CalGal - 6/14/2001 10:17:40 AM
Milk,
hahahahahah! I think I'd divorce a guy who didn't pick up on that one. Or at least be seriously depressed for a moment or two. Nice one.
20719. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 10:18:13 AM
Or actors' names, or forum monikers.
20720. AceofSpades - 6/14/2001 10:21:50 AM
I know most celebrities' names, and I consider that a fault. A decidedly un-masculine flaw.
A real man shouldn't know Meryl Streep's name. That fact that I know it is a constant source of pain to me.
20721. AceofSpades - 6/14/2001 10:23:14 AM
And Johnny Depp is a retard.
20722. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 10:24:12 AM
Ace probably has back copies of People Magazine wadded underneath his mattress.
20723. MsIvoryTower - 6/14/2001 10:29:13 AM
Depp is fabulous. I could watch him peel an orange and be happy.
Some other fabulous (as in great looking men who can also act) actors who immediately come to mind:
Sam Neill
Harrison Ford
Sean Connery
Sam Shepard
others ladies?
20724. milkmaid - 6/14/2001 10:35:57 AM
The afore-mentioned John Cusack. Okay, maybe not as studly, but brain cells turn me on.
20725. MsIvoryTower - 6/14/2001 10:42:13 AM
That's a definite yes on Cusack.
And I forgot Jeremy Irons.
20726. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 10:46:36 AM
I'm talkin' talent, not sex appeal like the Ms and CellarDoor searching that silver screen for a turn-on.
No, I don't think Meryl Streep "fabulous".
20727. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 10:47:43 AM
Jeremy Irons looks like he's got bad breath and suits needing dry cleaning.
20728. Jenerator - 6/14/2001 10:49:05 AM
My mom used to refer to Johnny Depp as her boyfriend, but he has since been replaced by a much, much better man...David Duchovny.
20729. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 10:49:13 AM
But, Jeremy Irons is very good acting as English gentry with psychological issues he's trying to deal with.
20730. Jenerator - 6/14/2001 10:50:53 AM
Jeremy Irons does indeed look dirty, but IMO, so does Willem Dafoe.
20731. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 10:52:31 AM
No, Defoe looks like he tortured small animals as a boy. His singular facial expression is baring and unbaring his teeth.
20732. MsIvoryTower - 6/14/2001 10:53:12 AM
Irons is not your typical beautiful male, that's true, but combined with the intelligence of his acting, he can be quite sexy.
20733. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 10:54:43 AM
Ms, your heart is an open book.
20734. MsIvoryTower - 6/14/2001 10:56:05 AM
hahahaha
Maybe.
20735. CalGal - 6/14/2001 11:00:43 AM
Sam Neill is very high on my list. Johnny Depp is beautiful, which is different. There was a great quote in the New York Times about him that I copied in a while back.
20736. Toenails - 6/14/2001 11:18:53 AM
I think Johnny Depp is trying, unsuccessfully, for James Dean. (But he doesn't fall all that short of his goal, in my view.)
Cusack's the best young actor going, but perhaps a lot of that has to do with the fact that he's had good luck on the parts he's gotten involved with. (Some of the other younger guys--for example, Whatshisface from Pearl Harbor, have made terrible choices of acting vehicles.)
20737. Toenails - 6/14/2001 11:23:15 AM
One of the most pleasant surprises I ever got in a movie was hearing Merle Streep sing at the end of "Postcards from the Edge." She was really good!
But I must be more masculine (even) than Ace, since I constantly confuse Merle with Whathername, the rabbit-cooking babe in the movie about Never Boff a Stranger.
20738. Jenerator - 6/14/2001 11:26:45 AM
I thought that Val Kilmer was *fine* in Batman, but I think it was in large part to wardrobe and make up.
Scott,
Th actor in My Left Foot (can't remember his name) always looks oily to me.
20739. Toenails - 6/14/2001 11:28:54 AM
Well, if you had to sit on the floor in a lower-class British rowhouse all the time, you'd be oily, too.
20740. Raskolnikov - 6/14/2001 11:31:53 AM
Scott:"A strong consensus of popular opinion does not good taste make as testifies these "best of" lists again and again so why use them?"
As I said, I think they are useful in presenting a list of films that a lot of people are quite likely to enjoy. To me, seeing The Godfather, Casablanca, Seven Samurai, The General, and Chinatown on almost every "best of" compilation list convinced me (as a young moviegoer) that I should probably watch them. Individual lists are too idiosyncratic for this purpose.
"They are an exercise in frustration. "Canonical films" number how many? Two dozen? Three?"
I would put it at a hundred or so. More, if you break it down into genres.
"Which by now most everybody's seen and has fixed an opinion (no, I don't like Battleship Potemkin; yes, Wizard of Oz is a great movie much, much better than the book)."
I think you vastly overestimate the number of people that have seen a film like Potemkin. I do agree that these lists aren't that useful for hard core film buffs, but I think they are useful for young people, or novices, who want to delve deeper into movies, and are looking for a place to start.
For instance, I was talking with several of my friends about the recent AFI list. Most had only seen 30-40 of the films (strongly skewed toward the 80s and 90s). For them, a list like this, that could potentially steer them toward Flynn's Robin Hood, or Night of the Hunter, could be useful.
Which is why it annoys me that it had so much clutter on it. I don't think the other two AFI lists were nearly as bad, and considered them rather accurate reflections of what the film "canon" was. Not so in this case.
20741. Raskolnikov - 6/14/2001 11:36:43 AM
Also, I am not merely objecting to the fact that I didn't like a lot of the films. I am not just saying that I didn't like the list. Instead, I am saying that it is a very inaccurate identification of canonical thrillers, horror and action films. For instance, while I don't like Vertigo much, I fully agree that it should be on the list.
20742. Toenails - 6/14/2001 11:51:44 AM
I've seen 68 of the 100. Did anyone else do a count?
20743. Raskolnikov - 6/14/2001 12:01:04 PM
97.
20744. Raskolnikov - 6/14/2001 12:02:05 PM
I haven't seen Picture of Dorian Gray, Phantom of the Opera, or Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. I can never find the first two, but I have no excuse for the last one. It just looks unpleasant.
20745. Raskolnikov - 6/14/2001 12:02:42 PM
I think I was 96 for 100 on the first AFI list, and 91 for 100 on the comedy list.
20746. Raskolnikov - 6/14/2001 12:05:42 PM
correction: 87 of 100 on the comedy list.
20747. Toenails - 6/14/2001 12:07:45 PM
Baby Jane just appeared (at the time of its release) as a means of exploiting two big-name-but-well-past-it actresses.
20748. CalGal - 6/14/2001 12:30:14 PM
One of the most pleasant surprises I ever got in a movie was hearing Merle Streep sing at the end of "Postcards from the Edge."
She sang twice in that movie--the Ray Charles song at the party, and the country song at the end. Both were great. Shirley's "I'm Still Here", the other number in the film, is the definitive rendition of that song, as far as I'm concerned.
The movie's only soso, but those three numbers are keepers.
20749. Toenails - 6/14/2001 12:34:19 PM
I liked the whole movie a lot. Carrie Fisher is a talented writer, and some of the dialogue in "Postcards" was, I thought, really far above the norm.
20750. CalGal - 6/14/2001 12:42:56 PM
Eh, there were some good oneliners, and it ended well. But I watch it for the music.
20751. ScottLoar - 6/14/2001 1:01:56 PM
I don't have the patience to count how many of the listed films I'd seen but Message # 20744 prompts me to note I have seen The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Phantom of the Opera, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (all were common to The Late Night Show in the early and mid-60's) which goes to prove how different we each are, and rightly so. These are all matters of opinion, and in my opinion of like and dislike I trust the collective opinion little if at all.
20752. Toenails - 6/14/2001 1:32:14 PM
Yes. I've said here before (probably too often) that occasionally movies that others regard as really, really bad have appealed to me, and continue to, however mawkish, badly performed, etc. they may actually be.
Among these are Grand Canyon, and Somewhere in Time, two films that got (at best) two reluctant stars from the typical critic.
Similarly, people who post here whose opinions I generally respect very frequently will sing the praises of some favorite of theirs that I regard as pure tripe.
Go figure.
20753. CalGal - 6/14/2001 1:34:33 PM
Oh, I wasn't dissing your variance from the canon, just saying what my opinion is. I don't hate it by any means.
If it's shameful confession time, I like "Guarding Tess".
20754. Toenails - 6/14/2001 1:40:24 PM
Cal: In the words of the old Black preacher,
"I don't think I'd have told that one."
20755. Toenails - 6/14/2001 1:47:42 PM
"Guarding Tess" reminds me that I saw Nicholas Cage the other day in a 1993 movie called "Deadfall" that should have been called "Dreadful" because it was (probably) worse than "Battlefield Earth".
Cage was screaming and overacting so incredibly that I had visions that someone must have been holding his wife and children and threatening their lives if he didn't go absolutely berzerk in this movie.
I always thought (still do) that Cage was a pretty good actor. What accounts for this anomaly?
20756. Cellar Door - 6/14/2001 8:56:09 PM
Drugs.
20757. DJ JOE INC - 6/15/2001 10:55:18 AM
A movie(I think it was probably made for HBO) that should make the thrillers list is Miracle Mile starring Anthony Edwards- the suspense is the ultimate cold war question- "on good authority I have heard that the Russkies have dropped the bomb- how do I react- Anthony Edwards has under an hour to make life and death desicions- the thing I love about the film is that you never know if the bomb is gonna drop or if it is some sort of crazy rumor run amok.
Just finished watching Tora Tora Tora- pretty cool film- still very turned off by the idea of a love story dominating the events of Dec. 7,1941- so I have yet to see Pearl Harbor.
While the Southern imbecile sterotypes that shape O Brother Where Art Thou can be a hinderance and I enjoyed George Clooney as the lawyer wannabe that can sing.I have enjoyed all 3 Clooney films that have centered around capers- Three Kings,Out of Sight and O Brother.He adds the right touch of criminal charisma to carry a caper film.
Ona totally different note- Something Wierd video is now relaesing DVD's-- the DVD's usually feature 2 classic B Movies and tons of extra's- I just picked up a Herschell Gordon Lewis set and another set featuring Monsters that kill Nudists-both are a lot of fun.
20758. CalGal - 6/15/2001 11:20:13 AM
I am a serious Clooney fan, and all three of the movies you mentioned made my top five list for that year.
I haven't seen Miracle Mile, although I've heard of it many times. The subject matter gets me stressed just reading about it.
Zulu was on AMC in letterbox again. If you haven't seen it, or haven't seen it in a while, look for it. Classic film. Every time I've run into it it has been 12 in the morning, but I imagine it must show up at civilized hours. I can't find a decent DVD of it, and for the life of me I can't figure out why.
20759. rubberducky - 6/15/2001 12:00:00 PM
Rask:
you should definitely see Whatever Happened to Baby Jane the two leads are fantastic and the movie itself is creepy and only a little dated.
worth a rental, though, no question.
20760. Zojak Quafeth - 6/15/2001 2:22:30 PM
OK, saw a sneak preview of Tomb Raider last night. Don't bother. The action scenes are fine, but there is little or no substance to it.
Angeline Jole walks or runs around in the entire movie with one eyebrow raised and an Elvis-like smirk on her face. It really is her only expression. No matter what's going on at the time.
Not only that, but I was told that Jolie was "augmented" from a C to a D through use a bra for the whole thing, so I knew that even through the bouncy running scenes that I was being defrauded.... Sheesh.
20761. CalGal - 6/15/2001 2:24:21 PM
Spawn is at the 11:30 showing right now. He knew I loathed Jolie and figured he had a better chance seeing it before I saw the reviews.
20762. sakonige - 6/15/2001 2:29:42 PM
One background note on that movie I thought was intriguing was that Angelina Jolie enjoyed working with her father John Voight in the movie, so much that at times she felt like crying. It made me want to see what they look like together.
20763. Raskolnikov - 6/15/2001 2:30:46 PM
Ducky: I know I need to see Baby Jane. My only excuse is that it looks unpleasant, and I flinch when I see the makeup on Davis' face. She looks worse than Mrs Bates in Psycho.
Cal: I keep missing Zulu. Netflix had it listed once as an upcoming release, but they pulled it. I figure the production deal must have fell through.
20764. CalGal - 6/15/2001 2:38:08 PM
Rask,
Yes, it was listed for release 12/31/00. But I can't find a decent version for sale or rent anywhere. AMC only shows the widescreen, and it is really first rate. You may want to check their site to see when it shows next.
On Baby Jane: it is rather spooky to realize that neither Crawford or Davis had attained the age of 50 yet. Women age a whole lot differently these days.
20765. CalGal - 6/15/2001 2:42:12 PM
Whoa, I'm thinking of a different movie. Sorry--both were over 50; I should look it up but I think Davis was 52 and Crawford in her mid-50s.
The point is the same, though, if you consider that Goldie Hawn is 56.
20766. Ms. No - 6/15/2001 2:55:35 PM
toenails,
Believe me, NOTHING is worse than Battlefield Earth.
DJ Joe,
Did you ever go back and rent Miracle Mile after seeing it in the theater? I would suggest holding fond memories of it but not revisiting it as it doesn't hold up well at all. I was terribly embarassed when I goaded some friends into renting it and we actually brought it home. It was not as I remembered.
The premise is excellent. There are some intriguing characters and situations. Additionally when I saw the film I actually worked in Miracle Mile so that was creepy as hell.
Unfortunately there are some horrible plot twists that rely solely on Mare Winningham's character thinking up the stupidest thing she could possibly do and then doing that.
20767. glendajean - 6/15/2001 2:59:20 PM
Wow, they were in their early 50s whey they made "Baby Jane?"
Hard living, I suppose.
20768. Ms. No - 6/15/2001 3:01:17 PM
More cigarettes, booze and sun exposure, less plastic surgery and fewer spa weekends.
I think it also doesn't hurt that 50 year old women are a more viable part of the world and work force these days.
Nobody really believes that a woman's life is over at 30 anymore.
20769. Ms. No - 6/15/2001 3:02:13 PM
IOW, the expectation to remain beautiful and sexy past the child-bearing years isn't a shock to anyone nowadays. Hell, the child-bearing years have been significantly increased.
20770. DJ JOE INC - 6/15/2001 3:15:44 PM
>The premise is excellent. There are some intriguing characters and situations.
I actually never saw the movie in the theater- I rented Miracle Mile and I loved it- I now own it on VHS- it does have some suspect acting and plot twists- but the premise hooked me.
20771. JudithAtHome - 6/15/2001 3:24:40 PM
Zulu was on AMC in letterbox again
I watched that...lord, Michael Caine was delicious in that one...
20772. Frankster - 6/15/2001 3:29:01 PM
Ms. No,
Believe me, NOTHING is worse than Battlefield Earth.
Oh, yeah ?! Did you see Lost in Space ?
Despite a semi all star cast, decent special effects, and a nostalgic segment of the baby boomer generation waiting to gobble it up, this movie was an extreme disappointment. What a dog. This thing had to potential to launch several follow-ups, and they blew it. What were these movie executives thinking when they let this bomb materialize as it did ?
The only thing that saved it for me was Mimi Rogers ( God, I'd love to come home to her ), and the original theme which closed with the credits.
20773. CalGal - 6/15/2001 3:29:55 PM
Yes, and it's still one of his best performances. Although he is so spectacularly beautiful he looks as if he's wearing makeup.
20774. Ms. No - 6/15/2001 3:30:12 PM
DJ Joe,
When I first saw it I had gone to the movies alone. When I left I went right to a friend's house and had an hysterical crying fit. Quite sophomoric and melodramatic of me, but real nonetheless.
SPOILER IN WHITE FONT
In the theater when the blast comes that's the end of the film. No outro, no credits, nothing. Just the white out of the blast and then a blank white screen. I don't know if it was done on purpose or if it was just a fortuitous coincidence but people were so stunned by it that no one got up to leave for a good two minutes. Nobody even spoke.
20775. CalGal - 6/15/2001 4:26:29 PM
Spawn reports from the theater: Tomb Raider sucks dead rat.
20776. Indiana Jones - 6/15/2001 4:29:34 PM
Crap.
20777. Raskolnikov - 6/15/2001 4:31:55 PM
Indy: you know you will see it anyway.
20778. paragate - 6/15/2001 4:35:18 PM
Enjoyed video last night: House of Mirth. Novel by Edith Wharton....terrific performance by Gillian Anderson(X files fame) in lead role. Very interesting look at turn of the century social class issues particularly as they relate to women in NYC.
20779. Indiana Jones - 6/15/2001 4:36:03 PM
Yes...but I was hoping it wouldn't be another The Shadow. One of my all-time disappointments.
20780. Raskolnikov - 6/15/2001 4:39:38 PM
The Shadow *was* a loser.
20781. Ms. No - 6/15/2001 4:42:08 PM
I've heard that the effects are quite good and if you like Jolie then you'll have a good time. It's short on plot and character development, but how much do you expect from a movie that is based on the life of a busty computer heroine who jumps around atheletically and shoots various things?
the room rolls it's eyes as Ms. No tries to psych herself up for Monday night's date which includes a viewing of Tomb Raider.
20782. DJ JOE INC - 6/15/2001 4:43:47 PM
Lost In Space was miserable-beyond camp redemption.
House of Mirth is a favorite- I also enjoyed Age of Innocence another Edith Wharton adaptation.House of Mirth is on my shortlist of movies to get on DVD.
20783. CalGal - 6/15/2001 4:48:06 PM
Spawn thought it was boring, and not like the video game at all. I didn't get many details. I believe he's in the target demographic--teenaged videogame junkie--and was surprised at his response, really.
20784. JudithAtHome - 6/15/2001 4:51:19 PM
You've corrupted his taste. :-)
20785. CalGal - 6/15/2001 4:54:56 PM
No, he is absolutely determined that won't happen. "I still want to enjoy 'my' stuff, Mom, so don't ruin it for me!"
20786. Toenails - 6/15/2001 5:16:40 PM
Maybe there will be true competition this year for the Ten Worse Movies List. We're certainly off to a fantastic start, and we haven't even considered the non-U.S. entries yet.
20787. CalGal - 6/15/2001 5:26:22 PM
On the upside, I've seen some really enjoyable movies this year, well more than average and certainly better than last year at this time.
Moulin Rouge
Shrek
Spy Kids
The Dish
Tailor of Panama
Memento
in roughly descending order of approval, have all been worth seeing (although Memento aggravated me no end).
20788. Ms. No - 6/15/2001 5:30:07 PM
Frank,
Battlefield Earth was worse. Much, much worse.
CG,
My grandmother and I were just talking about Memento the other day. She was hoping I could explain some things about it. I told her that she hadn't missed anything, but that the whole point was that you didn't have enough pieces to figure out the "truth". She said she suspected it might've been something like that but that she wanted to make sure it wasn't just senility.
For what it's worth, we both enjoyed Memento but were bugged as well.
20789. CalGal - 6/15/2001 5:35:31 PM
Did you read my rant about its flaws?
20790. Ms. No - 6/15/2001 5:40:33 PM
No, I didn't. Where is it?
20791. CalGal - 6/15/2001 5:48:51 PM
Christin,
Message # 19938 is my review and then see Message # 20044 for the spoiler on the problems.
20792. Ms. No - 6/15/2001 5:58:15 PM
Yes, all good points and I agree. What I can't figure out is why I liked the movie despite all of that. Weird, huh?
20793. CalGal - 6/15/2001 6:00:46 PM
I hated it, but then I figured out where it was going in the first 20 minutes or so. Pissed me off something fierce. And yet it could have been fascinating, had he thought it through a little better.
It reminds me a lot of Blair Witch Project.
20794. MsIvoryTower - 6/15/2001 6:56:52 PM
Atlantis
This is a somewhat different turn for Disney animated flicks of recent date: no singing, only one cute sidekick who's actually human, no animal creatures. In other words, just when you thought Disney had pushed their formula to the outer limits, they move on to new territory. All I can say is "thank goodness".
The characters in Atlantis are good, darker without being over the top, more like the old DC Comics characters, and drawn more starkly as well. The story has more of a sci-fi feel to it, and some of the later scenes are thrilling.
This is a cool film, different then Shrek, but equally as entertaining, imaginative and graphically interesting.
20795. CalGal - 6/17/2001 10:40:14 AM
Cellar,
I was driving through SF and came by the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival--looked for you to wave hi! (g)
The African American film festival--used to be Juneteenth, or something--is this week, too. Have you checked it out?
20796. Cellar Door - 6/17/2001 10:46:01 AM
I'll be in SF this coming Friday-Sunday.
20797. CalGal - 6/17/2001 10:51:08 AM
Well, I just made a post but it disappeared.
Good thing I didn't see you, then! Have you heard of the Juneteenth festival up here? I was watching the Northern California talking heads show and both festivals were mentioned.
20798. DJ JOE INC - 6/17/2001 11:09:09 AM
Just rented Jesus's Son- good little film- starring Billy Crudup as a drifter and featuring cameos by Dennis Hopper,Jack Black and Dennis Leary.If you enjoy black comedy with a little pathos then you should check out Jesus's Son.
20799. MsIvoryTower - 6/18/2001 9:23:22 AM
Okay, I saw Tomb Raider this weekend, and although it's not got the excitement of a Speilberg Indiana Jones film, it wasn't bad.
I was trying to figure out what was missing in the film because Jolie was very good as Croft, the other leads were also good in their characters, so it wasn't that. There were also some great action scenes in the tombs, and the visuals were excellent. But there was definitely something missing in this film.
I think it was the story itself: it was less than inspiring. Comparing it to an Indiana Jones film is helpful. In both the first and third films (the two best ones), the ultimate enemy was the Nazi's, something we could all clearly see was evil, and had to be stopped. In Tomb Raiders the enemy was some hidden society (that we don't ever learn enough about) and their goal was to control something equally esoteric (I won't spoil it for you). So the enemy and the quest remained somewhat remote, something we couldn't really get behind, and it ruined the excitement of the film, I think.
Had the scriptwriters come up with a better story, I think the film would have been great, it had all the other elements of a great action film, but it lacked heart.
However, I wasn't bored, and didn't consider it a waste of money or two-hours. Some might want to wait for the video, though, I expect if you have one of those big screen TV's the video experience will be just as good.
20800. Dusty - 6/18/2001 9:30:54 AM
MsIT
My apologies for this interruption, but Politics has an economic discussion in progress. I think you (sensibly) tend to avoid that thread, but I thought you'd be interested.
20801. rubberducky - 6/18/2001 10:50:46 AM
Rental Queue Update:
Rented Miss Congeniality and found it to be a somewhat amusing piece of fluff. Bullock plays a no nonsense gal in the FBI is a screw up and needs a chance to redeem herself. most surprisingly, she was hesitant to join a beauty pageant to catch some ill-defined killer, if you can believe that.
of course, things work out in the end, and Bullock saves the day. the best thing about this was the parts played by William Shatner & Candice Bergen (CBS's Murphy Brown). worst part had to be Benjamin Bratt trying to be sexy. you know when a man can't look good in a gratuitous pool shot, something is wrong - he proves that.
anyway, it was a nice diversion. 2 ½ quacks of 5.
20802. rubberducky - 6/18/2001 10:51:18 AM
Disney's The Emperor's New Groove was a fun movie to watch. i had boycotted all Disney flicks since the unwatchable Hercules, but Ripley wanted to see it.
a few genuine laughs to be found here if you like David Spade's brand of dry, biting humor. he fit the part of an uncaring Pharaoh, Kuzco, turned into a llama by his power hungry advisor Yzma, played by the fabulous Eartha Kitt. Patrick Warburton (Putty from Seinfeld) was great as her idiot sidekick.
loved the fact that there was one song by Spade and a couple by Tom Jones.
this is a funny cartoon that somewhat redeems Disney in my opinion. worth a rental.
3 out of 5 quacks.
20803. rubberducky - 6/18/2001 10:51:34 AM
also took in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and was underwhelmed. too much hype for a movie that looks like a cleaner version of the old dubbed martial action movies i watched on my local UHF station as a kid.
not that i didn't enjoy it, but christ, what a bunch of fantasy laden hooey. the fight scenes (which there were waaaaaay too few of) were fantastic when someone wasn't knocked the length of a football field only to easily fly up and away with nary a bruise.
no one had a bruise.
not one.
i scarcely remember a cut.
after days of fighting.
as i said, too much for too little plot and 'characterization'. i think if i had seen it when it came out and before the hype machine, i'd like it better - as it is, i was a little disappointed.
3½ quacks of 5.
20804. Jamie R - 6/18/2001 11:13:34 PM
Just saw Tomb Raider. It was certainly not bad in the way (say) Godzilla or Twister were bad, but I was surprised by how little the movie effected me. Call me simple, but smart gorgeous women kicking ass in slo-mo really works for me. That's an easy sell. I've seen The Long Kiss Goodnight umpteen times. But this movie left me mostly bored.
Part of the problem was the direction, which was pure MTV. It's very hard to be thrilled by an action sequence when you cannot tell what the hell is going on. In the first big sequence I got bored and started timing the length of the shots. I never got to even two seconds. Can we have an establishing shot please?
Also the characters seemed too cool for their own fantasy world. The wonder of it all never seemed to really register for them. There's one scene (no spoilers) where something wildly improbable happens, something utterly inexplicable by any of the known laws of physics, and without even pausing to register a "now that doesn't happen every day" Croft grabs a weapon and starts whacking away. Maybe she's as bored with CGI as I am.
20805. Jamie R - 6/18/2001 11:17:10 PM
I'm also not sure I agree that Jolie is so perfectly cast for the part. She's great fun to watch when she's being physical, and she has an amazingly expressive face when it's actually expressing. But the role requires her to spend most of her time in cool expressionless mode and that is not good for her. When Clint Eastwood does the cold stare of death I understand that there's barely restrained mayhem in the offing. When Angelina Jolie tried for the same thing I was honestly just thinking "my god, those are some big lips."
Nonetheless, on the very rare occasion when she was permitted a lifted eyebrow or half a smile, or heavens a laugh, she was immensely charming. I've resolved to try and catch her in something not involving Winona Ryder. Maybe my video store has Gia.
Oh, and I hope there's a special place in hell for these writers who feel the need to give every female hero a daddy-complex. Blech.
20806. CalGal - 6/18/2001 11:17:15 PM
It is making a gazillion magillion dollars, though.
I can just visualize that scene--don't know what it is or what happens, but I can see Jolie's limited reaction range as she just grabs a weapon and starts whacking. I'm sure she is bored, too.
But with Shrek out, why go to Tombraider?
20807. CalGal - 6/18/2001 11:19:35 PM
Call me simple, but smart gorgeous women kicking ass in slo-mo really works for me.
Oh. Never mind.
But even with the looks, I'm amazed more people don't get the blahs just looking at her. Surely there are enough gorgeous bimbos around that a distinctly creepy version wouldn't get much work?
20808. Jamie R - 6/18/2001 11:42:17 PM
I've seen Shrek, and I thought it was great. But I'll probably wait to see it again.
I saw Tomb Raider because it's been a long time since I spent a summer seeing goofy event movies in the theater, something I used to love doing. Problem is event movies have gotten much worse, or I've gotten much more jaded. Either way they tend to bore me. But I thought this summer I'd take a chance on more of them.
And I can't decide if she's creepy. She's very odd looking, for sure. And (IRL) she seems genuinely unbalanced. Maybe even nuts. But as I said, she's very expressive. I'm curious now as to whether she can really act.
20809. CalGal - 6/18/2001 11:48:22 PM
Event movies definitely have gotten much worse. The only recent year that has really delivered on good summer movies is 1999, I think, with Phantom Menace, Notting Hill, Tarzan, Austin Powers, Blair Witch Project, Sixth Sense, Dick, The Muse, Happy Texas, The Limey, Bowfinger, and I'm sure I'm missing quite a few.
This has been a decent year; as I mentioned earlier I certainly think it's better than last year at this time. But the big event movies have often been a letdown.
Have you seen Moulin Rouge? I loved it, but it is definitely a polarizer, so I can't be confident in a recommendation.
20810. Jamie R - 6/18/2001 11:49:39 PM
Surely there are enough gorgeous bimbos around
No, no. Notice smart came before gorgeous. (Although obviously in action movies intelligence is more often implied by general poise and omnicompetence than shown directly.) Bimbos are movie killers (comedies sometimes but not often excepted.)
20811. Jamie R - 6/18/2001 11:51:28 PM
I think I'm going to see Moulin Rouge. I can't even guess if I'll like it, but there's a potential that I'll really love it. I'm willing to chance really hating it.
20812. CalGal - 6/18/2001 11:52:36 PM
But we are talking about Angelina Jolie. "Smart" just isn't the word I'd use to describe someone who doesn't have enough sense to hide her open lust for her brother. Bleah.
20813. Jamie R - 6/18/2001 11:56:28 PM
Ha. How about "quirky"?
I don't remember when I saw her in an interview- it was before the whole brother love thing. She definitely seemed a little, um, off even then.
20814. MsIvoryTower - 6/18/2001 11:58:24 PM
Sorry Jamie R, I disagree with your take on Tomb Raider. I didn't find the movie boring so much as lacking heart and passion.
Given that the characters came from a video game, they were better then I expected. I also think Jolie was great in the role, even when she wasn't expressive. The problem was with the script, when the characters were being cool and calculating, they were being cool and calculating about something hard to be passionate about to begin with. Hence, not only Jolie, but her nemesis, played by Iian something, also came across as rather passionless and dead.
I think Jolie did a fine job portraying Croft as very intelligent and capable given the limited resources she had to work with. If there is one thing Croft is, it's dangerous and smart first, and sexy second. Jolie managed to convey this.
20815. MsIvoryTower - 6/19/2001 12:01:32 AM
Actually, the movie suffered from some of the same problems that The Phantom Menace suffered from. I think I enjoyed the latter slightly more, but that may have been because I was working from an established history for the story, and was able to interject more into the film then may have been there.
20816. CalGal - 6/19/2001 12:03:15 AM
A quiz, to keep in mind as context when you see Moulin Rouge:
Which of the following movie musicals used songs anywhere from 5 to 25 years old, rather than foot the bill for original music?
a) Singin' in the Rain
b) The Band Wagon
c) American in Paris
d) Easter Parade
e) Moulin Rouge
20817. MsIvoryTower - 6/19/2001 12:07:15 AM
Actually, I'm very iffy about seeing Moulin Rouge because of the out-of-context-and-time musical score. What I've seen of the movie clips on the music video channels has been less then inspiring.
20818. MsIvoryTower - 6/19/2001 12:10:25 AM
Actually, I'm very iffy about seeing Moulin Rouge because of the out-of-context-and-time musical score. What I've seen of the movie clips on the music video channels has been less then inspiring.
20819. Jamie R - 6/19/2001 12:10:55 AM
Sorry Jamie R, I disagree with your take on Tomb Raider.
And you think a simple apology is sufficient? This is totally unacceptable.
Actually, I agree completely with your assessment of the plot and the general lack of passion, suspense, drama, etc.. But there are lots of movies that are in essence "good guys bad guys fighting over who knows what." Those movies work regardless of the particular what if you fall for the characters. But rather than give Croft a distinctive character they went for a rather generic action movie cool.
Which is fine if the person has the right look and gravitas for it. (Think Chow Yun Fat.) This is where I found her looks really distracting.
That aside, if you're going to do generic action movie then the suspense has to come from the sense of the physical danger involved (since it doesn't come from caring about the outcome.) Tom Cruise hanging by one hand in MI2 worked. These action scenes were badly shot for that purpose. I rarely knew what the hell was going on. They worked okay as music video footage.
20820. Jamie R - 6/19/2001 12:15:21 AM
Calgal, if I may lower myself a few notches further in your esteem tonight, I'll have to confess to being fairly ignorant of musicals in general, movie or stage. I'm pretty sure I've seen Singing in the Rain (if that's the right one I thought it was wonderful) but don't recognize the others.
But I will draw on my finally honed SAT skills and guess "all of the above."
20821. MsIvoryTower - 6/19/2001 12:16:53 AM
Well, the only scene that I found somewhat confusing was the opening one, with the robot. I'd say that was a bad choice for an opening though, because it did set an odd tone.
The scene in the Tai temple was cool and pretty straightforward, I thought, as was the one at the Pole (I have no idea which one it was supposed to be). If there was confusion, it came from the poor setups to the action in the script.
The movie played like the video game. Not a lot of transition from one dangerous situation to another, and precious little explanation about why we should even care about Croft's quest.
20822. CalGal - 6/19/2001 12:17:59 AM
There are reasons to object to Moulin Rouge, but quite a few musicals use out of context and time musical scores. Camelot, Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, Hello Dolly, The Pirate, DuBarry was a Lady, every Ethel Merman musical ever made...the list goes on.
20823. MsIvoryTower - 6/19/2001 12:18:49 AM
But I agree that the sense of danger from the action scenes was missing, also due to poor writing, I think. I mean, we simply didn't much care about these people, or the quest. And while I liked the Croft character, I couldn't work up much concern for her, either. Again, I place this flaw in the hands of the writers.
20824. CalGal - 6/19/2001 12:19:16 AM
I'll have to confess to being fairly ignorant of musicals in general,
Heavens. That's almost as bad as thinking Jolie is hot.
Well, I just gave you an excellent list to start with.
20825. MsIvoryTower - 6/19/2001 12:20:42 AM
Cal
I agree that, in theory, out of context and time songs don't necessarily ruin a movie, but taking pop culture music and interjecting it into a time piece is jarring.
20826. Jamie R - 6/19/2001 12:26:22 AM
The one thing in the movie I really liked was a scene at the very end where Croft's making her escape from Certain Death. Just as I'm thinking her particular means of egress looks like it must be a lot of fun, Croft starts laughing. Although she is clearly in horrible danger, she is in fact having a lot of fun. It was a very unforced thing and it worked (and I hadn't already seen it a million times.) If they had taken the character farther in that direction I think the movie would have worked better for me.
20827. Jamie R - 6/19/2001 12:29:42 AM
Hm, in that vein, I guess the bungie cord sequence worked well too. That also looked like real fun. (Not the action part- that action part confused me as badly as the opening sequence.)
20828. CalGal - 6/19/2001 12:30:46 AM
Jamie--actually, I forgot that American in Paris was on the list. Scratch that. But the rest are good.
Ms,
All the movies in my pop quiz above used pop culture music of their day. The songs in Brigadoon and My Fair Lady had become standards by the time the film versions came out, so must have seemed exactly like pop culture music in period pieces.
As I said, I'm not trying to argue into liking it. But Moulin Rouge is far more in keeping with the Hollywood musical of the 50s than any musical made in 40 years.
Some people thought the cutting excessive; while this sort of thing can bother me, I thought it was actually kept well under control. I would warn people who go for the dancing that it is a singing musical, so keep your expectations in check.
20829. Jamie R - 6/19/2001 12:32:43 AM
Well, it's getting past my bedtime. Goodnight, all.
20830. CalGal - 6/19/2001 12:36:31 AM
Night, Jamie. Start with Singin In the Rain, because if you can't remember it well, you need to see it again. The most quotable musical ever, and not too shabbily ranked on the most quotable movies ever.
20831. Shannon - 6/19/2001 1:18:43 AM
I confess I share in Jamie's ignorance of musicals. And in general, I don't much care for them. Hubby loves them.
20832. CalGal - 6/19/2001 1:35:43 AM
I really need to get Mote Movies updated; there's a great conversation about musicals on there.
If you watch no other musical, go with Singin' in the Rain, and do a few chores during the Broadway Melody number. The kids will love it, too.
Spawn wore out our version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; after some 9000 viewings I finally had to bribe him to switch his affections to West Side Story (look, it's got Gideon in it!). Singin in the Rain is wonderful for the entire family, as is The Band Wagon.
Hey. Now that I think of it, if you just see the four musicals I mention in the above paragraph, you will have all the reference points you need. That's three of the finest original Hollywood musicals and arguably the best stage to screen translation. If you like any of those, you will know what to check out next. If you can't stand any of them, then the genre probably isn't for you.
I don't think Hollywood musicals are given enough consideration by parents as great entertainments for kids. Don't know why, really, since they all love the Disney musicals.
20833. Shannon - 6/19/2001 1:40:37 AM
Yeah, the kids would probably like them. I've always told Mike that I just can't suspend my disbelief enough--people just don't break into song. And every time our kids do that, he comments on it now.
20834. CalGal - 6/19/2001 2:04:37 AM
hahahahaha. That'll show you.
I think the problem is that you really shouldn't believe in musicals to start with. Then you won't have anything to suspend--and if something does grab you emotionally by surprise (the ending of West Side Story, for example), so much the better.
The reason to watch musicals is for the joy of the performers, who in the best musicals are working their asses off and having a ball.
There's this one so-so musical called Royal Wedding, known as the one where Fred Dances On The Ceiling, but that's an ordinary number. The best dance in the movie, and one of my favorite ever, is How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life? (Clearly, some people are better at suspending disbelief than, say, you.)
Anyway, it's a comic song, stylized, funny in an overemphatic way. But the dance break in the middle is absolutely terrific--lots of footwork and all done in a very fast tap. Now, Jane Powell is not a real dancer, although all the ingenues had to have a basic ability to learn ordinary stuff. But this was quite difficult and, to top it off, she had to do the whole break with a very blase, bored, too cool for school expression on her face--while dancing at a breakneck speed some tough steps.
So at the end of one really tough section, where you can see (on rewatching) that it's all downhill after that, she breaks character with this huge grin--you get the impression that they'd practiced this some 50,000 times and she knew that this was it, she'd nailed it--and Fred goes "Hey!", which all his costars cite as the ultimate praise that they lived for, his spontaneous compliment.
That glee may not always be literally expressed, but all the best and many of the average Hollywood musicals of the 40s and 50s have that fundamental happiness at their core. You know, like the mouse said, "Look at me, I'm dancing!"
20835. CalGal - 6/19/2001 2:05:08 AM
(of course, if you don't know about musicals, you totally missed the reference. Sigh.)
20836. Shannon - 6/19/2001 2:09:28 AM
Well, I did miss the reference. But you made me laugh with: Clearly, some people are better at suspending disbelief than, say, you.
20837. CalGal - 6/19/2001 2:15:52 AM
Well, as I was writing out the title I was laughing at the coincidence.
The reference: Gene Kelly, in Anchors Aweigh, danced with Jerry (of Tom n Jerry). If it wasn't the first time ever that live action combined with cartoon, I believe it was the first outside of Disney. It's also a nifty little dance.
Mickey Mouse had been asked to make a guest appearance, but Walt Disney refused to let his greatest star slum in an MGM picture.
20838. MsIvoryTower - 6/19/2001 6:16:10 PM
All the movies in my pop quiz above used pop culture music of their day. The songs in Brigadoon and My Fair Lady had become standards by the time the film versions came out, so must have seemed exactly like pop culture music in period pieces.
I don't know what films you included in your pop quiz, but most of the musicals I know of had original scores, either as films or from the plays. Granted that the music may have become familiar to the public out of context of the play or film, but the music itself was written with the story (play, film) in mind.
My understanding of Moulin Rouge is that it grabbed pop chart hits and incorporated them into the film. To me, this is a different beast from the musicals of the 40's and 50's, and brings a much greater commercial exploitation element to it then those others.
However, if I'm wrong, I'd like to know what musicals of the past took pop chart songs and used them as opposed to creating pop chart hits.
20839. MsIvoryTower - 6/19/2001 6:20:17 PM
And, I should qualify my comments further: I'm not talking about one song taken from the pop charts and folded into a movie musical, I'm talking about an entire score (or almost the entire score) being taken from the pop charts.
I've heard raves about the movie, btw, but I can't get past the quick and dirty musical score, and the fact that I'm supposed to get behind Nicole Kidman (whose acting I've decided sucks) and MacGregor singing their way around turn-of-the-century Paris. Maybe it's just the fact that Kidman plays the lead that bothers me the most.
20840. MsIvoryTower - 6/19/2001 6:24:18 PM
Jamie R
I agree the unexpected joy on Jolie's face while dog sleding away from the exploding cave was a real treat, as was her total exhilaration while bungie jumping. But then, I thought she was great in the film, so I enjoyed a lot of her scenes.
20841. Raskolnikov - 6/19/2001 6:31:23 PM
The dance on the ceiling number is ordinary? Talk about heresy. Royal Wedding itself is nothing special, but the ceiling number is well worth the price of admission.
The "how could you believe me" number falls apart simply because Astaire is trying to play a tough guy.
20842. CalGal - 6/19/2001 6:38:52 PM
Ms,
In the case of Hollywood musicals, I listed several: Singin in the Rain, The Bandwagon, Easter Parade, American in Paris. All of them used well-known songs that had been recorded prior to their use in the movie.
"Our Love is Here to Stay", for example, charted for the first time in the 30s--and I know that Nat King Cole made it a hit before the movie came out. "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan" was a Rudy Vallee hit some 20 years before The Band Wagon came out. Singin in the Rain was used in several movies, and Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney (among others) first sang "Good Morning" in an Andy Hardy movie (and I believe it charted at least once). "You Were Meant for Me" was another classic long before Singin' came out. The movie Easter Parade was titled as such in order to take advantage of the big hit the song had been the year before.
Many, if not most, of the major Hollywood musicals (as opposed to the ones that came out immediately after Broadway hits) were original stories using well known pop songs of the past 20 years.
20843. CalGal - 6/19/2001 6:40:27 PM
Talk about heresy.
It's not heresy at all, actually. It's not even that unusual an opinion.
Well, of course Fred isn't a tough guy. The scripted dialog there is just silly. But the song is cute and the dancing is the best in the film.
20844. CalGal - 6/19/2001 6:46:06 PM
In case I'm not clear:
My understanding of Moulin Rouge is that it grabbed pop chart hits and incorporated them into the film. To me, this is a different beast from the musicals of the 40's and 50's, and brings a much greater commercial exploitation element to it then those others.
It is exactly the same beast, and many of the finest Hollywood musicals of the 40s and 50s did just that.
What's really ironic is that in at least one case I can think of where original music was used, it was used in a stage to screen conversion. In On the Town, most of the original Broadway score was dumped and new tunes were written--none of them classics, either.
20845. Ms. No - 6/19/2001 6:59:39 PM
MsIT,
Re: Moulin Rouge
The modern music wasn't chosen because they were being lazy about scoring the film. The songs are specifically chosen for their meanings and to underline the themes of the film. Lurhmann could certainly have had original works produced, but it would have been an entirely different film. Music is one of the most widely shared ways in which modern man expresses his ideas about love----most people don't read poetry anymore but everyone listens to music. Lurhmann had something to say about pop music and the way we experience it and what it means to our lives and he managed to say that in symbiotic way with the theme of his film.
I think maybe the more we talk about this the more resistance you're going to develop to seeing Moulin Rouge. I certainly don't want to badger you about it, but the film grows out of the music as much as the music is chosen to support the film. It provides a lot of "in" jokes and points to very specific ideas. You can hate the film or the music, but don't talk yourself out of seeing the film just because you suspect someone was being lazy.
20846. christipeters - 6/19/2001 7:14:19 PM
I loved Royal Wedding.
Heck, I just plain love musicals.
I think I'll go see Moulin Rouge
20847. christipeters - 6/19/2001 7:14:51 PM
that is Royal Wedding
20848. christipeters - 6/19/2001 7:15:16 PM
(consistency consistency, hogoblins everywhere)
20849. CalGal - 6/19/2001 7:18:02 PM
Well, I did say it was a so-so musical. It's certainly not terrible, but the love interest is disastrously awful. Powell and Astaire work better together than one would have thought. You do know it is roughly (very roughly) based on Fred and Adele Astaire? She fell in love with an English lord of some sort, I think.
MsNo,
I take it you're a bit over the moon over Moulin Rouge, too?
20850. MsIvoryTower - 6/19/2001 7:55:21 PM
Okay, I guess other musicals used pop hits of their time. Fortunately, however, I was not born then, so the music and films have always gone together in my mind. So I'm not used to thinking about musicals that steal from the pop charts for their scores.
MsNo
It could simply be resistance to the leads, and the thought of them singing through Paris. I may give the film a try, but from the beginning of the press releases, I've had a lukewarm feeling about the movie.
Rask is right, the dance on the ceiling is one of the more memorable things about the rather mediocre Royal Wedding. Oh, yes, and I think in this film there was the dance with the coat rack as well, which was spectacular. On the boat over? Maybe it was in another one of his.
20851. joezan - 6/19/2001 9:14:18 PM
A few weeks ago I received a letter at work from some outfit claiming to offer licensing services to organizations that present copyrighted movies to groups of people.
The gist of the letter was, It has come to our attention that your facility has for some time been presenting copyrighted movies to "inmates"... most people are just as ignorant of the laws regulating public showing of movies on tape, disk, whatever, as you are, joezan. You may be under the impression that just because yours is a correctional facility and you don't charge, that you are not subject to these laws. Nothing could be further from the truth. But if you pay us a fee (which amount we're not gonna let on till we've got you good and scared), we'll make sure that everything is cool. We'll get you the proper licenses, etc....
I chuckled at the audacity, but let the county's risk management guy know about it. He advised that I ignore the letter, as well as any subsequent correspondence.
Needless to say, I received another letter, last week. This one was a bit more ominous and included for my enlightenment some examples of payouts other "correctional facilities" have had to pay under similar circumstances. I passed that one on, too.
Then today I got an even more ominous message on my voice mail, which hinted that further action would be taken if I did not respond ASAP.
Anyone ever heard of anything like this, or of a company named (I swear) "Swank" something-or-another - "...Enterprises", maybe?
20852. joezan - 6/19/2001 9:41:37 PM
Ahhhh...so this is what it's about. Bastards...
20853. CalGal - 6/19/2001 9:45:36 PM
I don't see the connection; what am I missing?
20854. joezan - 6/19/2001 9:54:47 PM
In their correspondences, they present themselves as "representatives of major motion picture studios" - iow, you are left thinking that it is these "major motion picture studios" you will be messing with if you don't sign up with Swank.
Moreover, none of their correspondence mentioned the fact that they just happen to rent movies to institutions such as mine.
I think I'm gonna string 'em along awhile - let them think I'm scared.
20855. CalGal - 6/19/2001 10:01:34 PM
Oh! I hadn't seen the fact that they rent. I was picking up on the "edited" bit.
20856. joezan - 6/19/2001 10:11:31 PM
The other thing is how they got my name.
We used to have a deal with a local video rental place. But that went out of business when Blockbuster moved in. BB was too expensive to rent from, so we decided to go with a movie library bought from BB's pre-viewed rack (which really was perfect for our needs). I initially bought about $600 worth on my county charge account, and have gone back a couple of times since for probably the same amount.
So, they had to have gotten the info from Blockbuster.
Sweet, huh?
20857. Ms. No - 6/19/2001 11:14:41 PM
Joezan,
I'd report them to the Better Business Bureau. Extorting business with thinly veiled threats is probably a bit of a no-no in somebody's book somewhere.
Marketing ploys like that really piss me off.
We've been getting a lot of them lately through the mail that look like Invoices and claim to be past due or owing even though you've never purchased the product/service. If you turn it over you find out that actually paying the thing is acceptance of their sales contract.
20858. joezan - 6/19/2001 11:20:51 PM
MsNO:
I have emailed the risk management guy that website's url.
I'm sure that's the first thing he'll do if they continue with the threats.
20859. Cellar Door - 6/20/2001 9:50:17 AM
Andrew Sarris REALLY likes "A.I."
20860. glendajean - 6/20/2001 10:50:14 AM
From Cellar's link:
All I can say is that I like and admire A.I. enormously despite the fact that I have never been unduly reverent toward either Mr. Spielberg or Kubrick, and I have never particularly liked or enjoyed science fiction even at its best. That is what surprises me about A.I.: It is so good it has made me abandon my most cherished prejudices.
20861. MaxMacks - 6/21/2001 6:46:31 PM
Anybody remember movie THE HUSTLER
with Paul Newman ,
Did Jackie Gleason play the part of the real
Minnesota Fats....(champion pool player)?
20862. AceofSpades - 6/21/2001 7:47:14 PM
The Detroit News
January 19, 1996
Minnesota Fats finally tells 'St. Peter to rack 'em up'
By Jim Patterson / Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Minnesota Fats, the pool shark who blustered his way out of smoky barrooms to become the most famous player ever to pick up a cue stick, died Thursday.
Fats died of congestive heart failure.
His wife, Theresa Bell Wanderone, said simply, "He was the world's greatest. Now he's finally in heaven shooting it out again with (Willie) Mosconi."
Mosconi, Minnesota Fats' legendary rival, died in 1993 at age 80.
Theresa Wanderone said she had his epitaph ready: "Beat everybody living on Earth. Now, St. Peter, rack 'em up."
Various accounts have listed Fats as anywhere from 82 to 95 years old, but as he boasted in a 1988 interview, "No one on this Earth knows how old I am."
Born Rudolf Wanderone Jr., he was known as New York Fats early in his career.
Jackie Gleason's character in the 1961 Paul Newman movie The Hustler, based on Wanderone, was called Minnesota Fats. So Wanderone started calling himself Minnesota Fats, and his fame and fortune began to rise.
Although he borrowed the name of Gleason's character, Wanderone said in the 1988 interview that the original movie "didn't mean nothin' to me."
"I'm known clean around the Earth," he said. "It meant something to Gleason and them people. Gleason used to rack balls for me when he was a kid in Brooklyn and in Long Island."
He didn't think much of Newman's pool skills.
"Paul Newman is not a very good pool player. But he can make it look good. Now Gleason can play. Gleason can hustle. He could play pool for a living and make a living because he's plenty smart."
20863. AceofSpades - 6/21/2001 7:52:26 PM
I always wondered that myself. I guess I heard the answer before but forgot it, because I had a vague notion that the "Minnesota Fats" character WAS based on Minnesota Fats, but that Minnesota Fats wasn't called Minnesota Fats until after the movie.
Anyway, that was a two second search on Google, and it was the first hit that popped up.
20864. AceofSpades - 6/21/2001 8:03:14 PM
Half Assed Reviews:
Billy Elliot: This movie is worth watching. It's hardly the revelation the critics claimed it to be; critics seem to go positively ga-ga over any gay movie. I wonder why...?
But the film is pretty good. I've got some quibbles, but it was fun. The film has a very strong sense of place and time (some depressed Third World-esque British mining town under Thatcher) and the family stuff is all very compelling.
The Ninth Gate: Another movie that swipes the whole idea behind the "Cthulhu" stories. Or behind the Cthulhu role-playing game. Take your pick.
I only half-watched this movie, but, from what I saw, it wasn't too bad. The plot has Johnny Depp tracking down three copies of a Satanic text, some or all of which might be forgeries. It turns out that ALL of the copies are forgeries too some degree-- but that parts of the REAL Satanic text -- coauthored by the Prince of Darkness himself -- are included in each of the three forgeries; find the real parts of each and put them together and... well, nothing good, one imagines.
I really liked the book-detective-work in this film. Without explaining the details, I'll just say that it's creepy and cool watching Depp figure out which elements of the texts are the real Satanic manifesto.
20865. AceofSpades - 6/21/2001 8:09:52 PM
What Planet are You From?: Gary Shandling is an Alien named HG99J-6 (or something) from a planet of men without sex organs... and he's come to Earth to pick up chicks.
Constant giggles in this one. The first half of the film is much funnier than the latter half -- Shandling's rapid-fire-and-inept pick-up lines are very funny (to every woman he meets: "Your footwear is very stylish... Would you like to have sex?") -- but the movie never quite runs out of steam. It threatens to run out of steam, but never quite does. Recommended.
20866. AceofSpades - 6/21/2001 8:17:20 PM
Slap Shot: Yeah, this is the OLD (1977) Paul Newman hockey movie. I rented it because it's new on DVD.
Still a great film. What surprised me, watching it again, is how little actual hockey is in the film. You probably remember from this movie are the Hanson brothers and you THINK the movie is half about them. In fact, they're barely in it in terms of screen time (of course, when they're there, they make an impact).
Most of the film is a darkly realistic and cynical look of male-female relationships. Hockey only occasionally intrudes. But it's still a great movie.
Note: I was surprised to find that a woman wrote this movie. The foulest, most violent sports movie ever made... written by a woman. Who knew?
Small Time Crooks: Just-barely-worth-watching Woody Allen schlock exploring his typical themes of infedility, temptation, reconcilliation, and recyclying the same Gerswhin-dominated soundtrack he's used on the last fifty movies.
You expect a movie about crime. SPOILERS IN WHITE
It isn't. The first ten minutes are about a bank robbery; then all of a sudden Allen and his wife become mega-millionaires through a subplot. The rest of the film isn't about crime, but about the couple's differing attitudes towards their newfound wealth: She (predictably) wants to become a cultured "patron of the arts"; he (predictably) wants to remain a working-class schlub and drink beer from the bottle and watch the Knicks.
Overall, a pretty lame effort. It has a very first-draft, "oh let's just shoot what we've written so far" feel. It's not terrible, it's not actually offensive; it's just lame and forgettable as an episode of Blossom.
20867. AceofSpades - 6/21/2001 8:22:21 PM
Oh, I forgot to mention the time-warp factor of Slap Shot.
1) they use the word "faggit" like they're being paid $10.00 per mention.
2) The clothes... the clothes! Every woman wears camel-toe stretch pants; every dude wears tight stretch pants too, plus big-ass Pimpin' high-heeled shoes and leather coats with fur collars.
3) The song! Everytime the team goes on a road trip, they play the disco-era sing-along "Get Right Back where We Started From" (I think; I can't remember the song now).
What a time-trip. From the conventions of film-making ("tough," dark material) to the clothes... man, it's like looking back on ancient Athens.
20868. ScottLoar - 6/21/2001 10:14:50 PM
Message # 20862, I remember Minnesota Fats on the Tonight Show shooting pool and asked by Carson how many trophies he'd won.
"Trophies? If I need a trophy I'll buy one."
20869. MaxMacks - 6/22/2001 1:05:58 AM
Hey Ace, you sure did answer my question.!
I dont have VCR . so I just have to depend on my memories ; so really appreciated your fulsome
answers/posts/replies.
20870. rubberducky - 6/22/2001 12:59:43 PM
while not a bomb, Pearl Harbor was certainly overrated
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The stars weren't famous enough. The running time was too long. The hype too great. The reviews devastating.
There are many explanations offered for why Disney's "Pearl Harbor" has fallen short of expectations since its star-spangled premiere on the deck of a Navy aircraft carrier a month ago.
...
Nobody's saying "Pearl Harbor" is a box-office bomb. But when a film costs $140 million to make, and almost as much to market worldwide, expectations do run high.
...
It looks like Disney's most successful live-action film will remain the 1999 supernatural thriller "The Sixth Sense," which earned $660 million worldwide.
"Pearl Harbor" opened with $75.1 million, putting it behind 1997's "The Lost World" ($92.7 million) as the second best Memorial Day weekend opener.
Then the audience dropped 50 percent in the film's second and third weekends.
Meanwhile, "Pearl Harbor's " domestic ticket sales have yet to catch up with DreamWorks' animated hit "Shrek" ($188 million) and
Universal's "The Mummy Returns" ($191 million), both of which have been in release only a few weeks longer.
Disney officials predict "Pearl Harbor" will earn about $200 million domestically and at least $250 million internationally.
20871. Toenails - 6/22/2001 1:10:39 PM
It's really hard for me to believe that professional moviemakers, looking at their end product before its general release, couldn't have seen for themselves that "Pearl Harbor" was an inferior production.
My guess is that they simply calculated (probably correctly) that despite its high cost it would still drag in enough income to result in a substantial profit, and so, the public be damned, let it fly.
20872. janjon - 6/22/2001 2:07:54 PM
Slap Shot remains one of the most satisfying movies I've ever seen.
It has been a while. Time to rent it again.
20873. CalGal - 6/22/2001 2:09:33 PM
You know, I don't ever remember seeing it, although I must have. I'll be checking it out, too.
20874. ElliottRW - 6/23/2001 11:11:24 PM
Well my kids are out of town so, for the first time in, well, years, I watched a movie geared towards grownups during prime time.
The movie, Twelve Monkies turned out to be a complete waste of time.
20875. CalGal - 6/24/2001 12:15:14 AM
Blockbusters is still open. There's still time. Quick, run out and rent something!
20876. ElliottRW - 6/24/2001 7:36:30 PM
Tonight's choice is either Just Cause, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, or Absolute Power.
I couldn't find any of these movies on the review page so if you've seen any of them, please speak up in the next 25 minutes to help me make my decision.
20877. CalGal - 6/24/2001 7:44:32 PM
Both Cats and Dogs and Absolute Power are mildly enjoyable--good rentals, with a fair amount of flaws. I particuarly liked Clint in Absolute Power--he plays amiable and old quite well. Cats and Dogs works mainly because of Janeane Garafalo, but is a passable little comedy.
I didn't see Just Cause, but I remember it being roundly panned. That's the one of the three I'd avoid.
20878. CalGal - 6/24/2001 7:46:04 PM
In thinking a bit more about it, I should warn you that you have to overlook an annoying Judy Davis and Gene Hackman in Absolute Power--the bad guy plot is pretty weak. It works to the extent it does because of Clint and Ed Harris, the cop.
So if those three are your only options, I'd go with Cats and Dogs. I don't suppose you can run out and rent the DVD of The Third Man?
20879. MaxMacks - 6/24/2001 7:48:21 PM
Duck---You would enjoy the scathing and very funny review in the New Yorker mag.
a few weeks ago of the movie PEARL HARBOR.
20880. ElliottRW - 6/24/2001 7:57:22 PM
Thanks, Cal. Truth it is.
20881. CalGal - 6/24/2001 8:11:32 PM
Elliot--don't forget to use the IMDB at times like this. It is always your friend.
20882. ElliottRW - 6/24/2001 8:39:01 PM
IMDB did a good job of narrowing my choices down to 3. Cause (6.1), Power (6.4), and Truth (6.6) were, sadly, my best choices.
20883. CalGal - 6/24/2001 9:04:09 PM
Well, they have reviews on the site. The Maltin blurb is reasonably reliable.
20884. ElliottRW - 6/24/2001 10:04:09 PM
Well, Truth was fun. A pleasant way to while away two hours before watching Scarface (the 1932 ver).
Thanks again, and goodnight.
20885. Toenails - 6/25/2001 11:27:22 AM
Would someone please post a prompt to the review of Pearl Harbor that appeared in The New Yorker?
I've been to the magazine's website a couple of times but can't figure out how to maneuver around there to find anything earlier than the contents of the current issue.
20886. JudithAtHome - 6/25/2001 11:31:02 AM
If it's like my local newspaper, the article may be archived and you'll have to pay a small fee to read it. Don't know if this is true with that magazine but it would make sense if they want to make a little money they might lose through subscriptions being dropped due to free on-line content.
20887. CalGal - 6/25/2001 11:37:07 AM
You can't find anything earlier than the current issue--and until recently the New Yorker wasn't even as online as it is now. They stopped sending me it, even though I renewed my subscription back in November. Very annoying.
20888. rubberducky - 6/25/2001 11:41:01 AM
went to see a matinee showing of Tomb Raider and was profoundly disappointed.
plot holes, inconsistencies, weak special effects, zero characterization, and no good villains are just some of the problems this movie has.
the main gripe i have is this could have been the franchise movie. it so should have been the next Indiana Jones - instead it was just dumb.
not horrible or a slap to the intelligence of the viewer (the was the occasional good scene), but just dumb.
avoid.
rent down the line only if all the good movies are rented.
20889. PelleNilsson - 6/25/2001 1:00:47 PM
Pearl Harbour has been premiered in Tokyo
IHT article. Excerpt:
From editing to marketing, Buena Vista International, the Disney division that is distributing the film in Japan, appears to have gone to great lengths to try to soften "Pearl Harbor" and dodge historical polemics with the lucrative Japanese market in mind.
20890. racehorse - 6/25/2001 9:41:33 PM
Finally saw Oh brother, where art thou? but cannot induce husband to view same. He believes George Clooney is way too handsome and needs no further encouragement.
20891. arkymalarky - 6/25/2001 10:37:02 PM
My parents have been trying to rent it so we can watch it, but all the copies have been gone. Maybe in a week or two it will be available. They bought the album, though, and love it.
20892. Åse - 6/25/2001 11:16:27 PM
We saw it last week in the theatre. Only 2 bucks per person. The little girl nursed and slept thru all of it. First time I've been to a big-screen movie since her birth.
20893. Toenails - 6/26/2001 8:03:30 AM
I've read one good and one bad review of A.I. and for no good reason I've developed a curious sense of proprietorship or loyalty or some such, about this movie.
I want it to be not just good, but great, and I hate the reviewer who didn't like it, even though, for all I know, he/she may be correct on all counts.
Am I unique in developing these self-created false loyalties, or do other people similarly find themselves rooting for particular movies, books, etc. despite their having no connection or investment in the work or in its creators?
20894. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 8:13:30 AM
Am I unique in developing these self-created false loyalties, or do other people similarly find themselves rooting for particular movies, books, etc. despite their having no connection or investment in the work or in its creators?
No. I rooted for Sixth Sense and I kept tabs on its box office take. Ditto for Something About Mary.
I know for a fact I've shared you annoyance for critics who panned a film I hadn't yet seen but expected/hoped would be good. Can't think of what movies I felt that way about now, but I know I've done it.
Half-Assed Review
X-Men (now on Cinemax)
I've seen this movie about ten times now, in whole or part, and it remains the best superhero movie since Superman II, and might be better than even that great movie.
The first half is conspicuously better than the second, but it's still a great ride.
Why is it so damn good? Simple: Director Bryan Singer (and the writer/producer, whose name escapes me) took the idea of the X-Men seriously rather than as the opportunity for a 120 minute self-spoof and Burger King novelty toy tie-in.
And Hugh Jackman may be the biggest new star in the last thirty years. This guy's the real deal, and I just can't wait until I cast him as Blondie in my shot-for-shot remake of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
20895. Toenails - 6/26/2001 8:22:37 AM
So, Ace, do you think someone who had never even heard of the X-Men before the movie came out would still enjoy it, or does it require a certain amount of inside baseball to appreciate?
20896. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 8:34:30 AM
TN,
Well, they have to introduce the premise that "all of sudden there are lots of mutations" and then introduce 11 major mutated characters, each with unique powers, in a breif period of time, so they don't have a lot of time for exposition.
As the director pointed out, Superman (the movie) had only to explain and introduce ONE fantastical character. X-Men has to introduce ELEVEN.
That said, they do a reasonable job of introducing people quickly. Just don't expect a lot of backstory for each character.
The only thing they didn't really explain was Cyclops' power. Just so you know, Cyclops projects some sort of red-laser energy beams from his eyes. But he projects these beams *constantly,* not just when he wants to. That's why he always has to wear ruby-colored eyeglasses/a ruby-colored visor. The visor prevents his eyebeams from destroying everything in sight; he opens the visor up when he *wants* to destroy something.
This wasn't really explained at all, so it might cause you to wonder why Cyclops is suddenly powerless when someone swipes his visor. He's powerless because he has to keep his eyes shut tight or else begin vaporizing whatever he looks at.
That's pretty much the only thing you have to know going into the movie.* Everything else is reasonably well explained.
*Actually, you probably don't NEED to know that, either. My girlfriend, who didn't know much about the X-Men, wasn't troubled by not knowing this. She just figured Cyclops needed his visor to operate his power.
20897. Francis Urquhart - 6/26/2001 9:44:38 AM
Blow
Rent it. Johnny Depp is effective as drug dealer George Jung, but George Jung's life, even as he amasses $60 million in cocaine profits and pals around with Pablo Escobar, is boring. In the last fourth of the film, Depp is outfitted with a paunch. It looks fake and it is distracting. Grade: C.
20898. Francis Urquhart - 6/26/2001 9:55:00 AM
Atlantis
I thought this was a good Disney movie. A different style of animation, a little darker, tons of violence, with deaths in the hundreds (and a funeral to boot), and more than a little sex appeal (The female baddie was a stacked, statuesque, butch blond). It dragged a little, but picked up quickly, and my only real complaint is that Michael J. Fox's gee-willickers voice is grating. Grade: B.
20899. rubberducky - 6/26/2001 10:07:59 AM
Ace:
there is no frickin' way X-Men was a better comic book movie than Blade
sorry, can't do it
20900. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 10:09:43 AM
Blade was an inept and boring movie.
20901. Francis Urquhart - 6/26/2001 10:10:13 AM
From my vantage point (I know nothing about either comic), both films were similar: competent, sometimes engaging, sometimes dragging action fare.
20902. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 10:11:39 AM
FU spent his youth reading Archie Comix.
20903. Francis Urquhart - 6/26/2001 10:13:08 AM
Goofus and Gallant, ass face.
20904. rubberducky - 6/26/2001 10:25:04 AM
'boring'? you are insane.
besides, Snipes nailed his character.
true, Stewart & McKellen did as well, but they were overshadowed by the needlessly distracting and gross looking Toad and the oh-so-sexy-ain't-she Mystique.
i completely hated Rouge and Storm. Halle Berry was as useless in X-Men as she is in real-life.
anyway, as comic book movies go, Blade had a lot better grip on the subject matter and was truer to the characters (wellllll, except for Stephen Dorff being so young, but it is a minor point)
20905. Francis Urquhart - 6/26/2001 10:26:18 AM
Hey.
Easy on Halle Berry, cupcake.
20906. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 10:30:38 AM
RD,
I never read Blade. I never even knew he was a Marvel character until the movie publicity blitz.
I don't read comics about schwartzas.
20907. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 10:31:14 AM
Well, unless they're an overshadowed sidekick, like Falcon was to Captain America.
20908. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 10:32:02 AM
Oh, or unless they wear pimp-fashions and hang around with more-interesting-white-partners, like Luke Cage/Power Man.
20909. glendajean - 6/26/2001 10:36:32 AM
Got dragged along to see the hated Pearl Harbor movie this past weekend. Pretty much a cartoon. The writers strip-mined numerous World War II "B" movies and possibly everything John Wayne ever said in film to make up the dialogue. The love triangle was predictable.
Too bad, really. PH was one of those "where were you moments" for my parents' generation. The whole Dolittle raid on Tokyo that followed could have been quite compelling. The story instead was focused on the love triangle, where all the young fighters looked like they escaped from Abercrombie and Fitch advertising ads (who knew WWII was so "hunky"?) and their nurse lovers could have been pedalling Victoria's Secret wares.
The battle scene was impressive and unlike the dialogue looked different than most WWII movies. OTH, it could have easily been a Star Wars sequel.
Worst acting? Ben Afleck, hands down. Easiest on the eyes? Josh Harnett. Phony acting but appears as if he is enjoying himself as the host of SNL? Alec Baldwin.
20910. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 10:36:37 AM
Sounds like RD didn't like the X-Men because there were women in it. And he found a naked-except-for-blue-latex Rebecca Romijn-Stamos an "unnecessary distraction."
Go figure.
20911. rubberducky - 6/26/2001 10:36:42 AM
Ace:
well, when he came out in the '70s, he had a 'fro. does that count?
Fran:
well, she was useless in that movie and you know it.
20912. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 10:37:10 AM
Were it Hugh Jackman wearing the blue latex, RD would be gushing.
20913. Francis Urquhart - 6/26/2001 10:38:25 AM
RD
But useless in real life?
You're acting like an ex-smoker.
20914. rubberducky - 6/26/2001 10:39:07 AM
Ace:
not really. i thought Cyclops was hot, he just needed more screen time, heh.
20915. Francis Urquhart - 6/26/2001 10:39:37 AM
Ace
RD wasn't the one gushing over Jackman earlier. That was you, Eton boy.
"Oh Hugh, pray we'll be mates forever."
20916. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 10:40:29 AM
Hey, Hugh Jackman is hot. You don't have to be gay to see that.
20917. AceofSpades - 6/26/2001 10:42:37 AM
Cyclops needed a little more screen time, but then, so did everybody else. There were six fricking main characters/heroes.
I'd've liked more screentime for Cyclops, but I thought he was well-used in his limited role. I thought that having him in it so little, despite the fact that he's obviously the team's leader and superstar, made him more interesting that he might have been had we seen him more.
20918. rubberducky - 6/26/2001 10:43:24 AM
well, Fran, she's useful in jacking up the hit-and-run statistics in CA & flashing her tits in horrible looking John Travolta movies, how's that?
Ace: Hugh did nuttin fer me
20919. rubberducky - 6/26/2001 10:44:42 AM
Ace must be more the 'bear' type than i am...
20920. Cellar Door - 6/26/2001 11:23:34 AM
"No such thing as too hairy" Ace?
20921. Cellar Door - 6/27/2001 10:58:28 AM
"A.I." is very strange. I was consistently interested but never really involved. Not a film for children at all. Very much about robots -- but beaten on this score by "Blade Runner."
Spielberg's visual proficiency continues to astonish, but his emotionalism is odder than ever. This is far from a disaster like "The Color Purple." It's closer to an interesting failure on the order of "Empire of the Sun" (which my date, Jordon Nardino, is really crazy about. He didn't like "A.I." much at all. Jordon's in his 20's.)
The most incredible thing in the movie, however, is Haley Joel Osment.
There has never been a child actor like this.
That's about it -- save of course for Jude Law.
I want one for Christmas!
(More when more people have seen it.)
20922. Jamie R - 6/27/2001 10:59:17 AM
I saw Moulin Rouge last night, drove across the street to buy the soundtrack, then saw it again.
If this movie doesn't work for you it is going to seem like the dumbest thing ever made, and I wouldn't want to have to argue the point. It's not a movie that needs to inspire a host of immitators, but it's also not like anything else I've seen.
Of course, there's a lot I haven't seen, so the people cursing it for having shoplifted so many other movies may have a legitimate bitch. In this case I'm happy to be so ignorant.
20923. marshame - 6/27/2001 11:04:27 AM
I adored Moulin Rouge. It is definitely unique. Admittedly, the story line is a cliche, but the visual effects are stunning!! I have never seen anything like it. And I thought it was quite clever how the previews lead you to believe it is a drama, when it is actually an hilarious musical.
20924. marshame - 6/27/2001 11:05:28 AM
Okay, make that an hilarious musical with a tragic end (if that's possible.) I heard a lady behind me boohooing in the end, so it is clear that some were caught up in the story line, but I just loved watching it.
20925. DJ JOE INC - 6/27/2001 11:08:49 AM
>Hey, Hugh Jackman is hot. You don't have to be gay to see that.
yes- he is well sculpted
Finally saw Moulin rouge - last night- very good- will end up getting it on DVD.
20926. marshame - 6/27/2001 11:12:13 AM
I wish I were not so out of it in the contemporary music scene, but I understand that at the last minute they had to re-do one of the numbers written by Kurt Colbain because Marilyn Manson had performed it for the movie Moulin Rouge and when Courtney Love found out she pitched a fit, so they had to get some unknown band to re-record it at the last minute.
I know the gossip - I just don't know the music.
20927. Jamie R - 6/27/2001 11:16:01 AM
I was also very caught up at the end, marshame (and I recognize that the story line was a little, um, tired.) For the most part, if the actors are sold on an emotion then I'm going along with them. I thought Kidman and McGreggor (sp?) were fantastic in that regard. Someone at TT pointed out that if anyone had held back in their performance then nothing would have worked.
20928. christipeters - 6/27/2001 11:29:18 AM
We rented and watched Unbreakable last night.
First off, let me say that I had a hard time getting into it because I have a personal dislike of dark murky scenes. I realize it is a deliberately chosen style here and there is nothing wrong with this technique, but I just hate it. I hate dimly lit or dark rooms irl and I hate dark murky movies.
LD found it really boring and commented that she was glad we never got around to seeing it at the theatre as she didn't think it was worth the cost.
I found it to move slowly, but it intrigued me enough that I couldn't just turn it off. I wanted to see where it was going. I loved the interaction between the Dad and the son. I also found the scenes between husband and wife well done. They picked up the tone of a marriage in trouble but not yet completely broken very well. The scene between the 13 yr old Glass and his Mom, reflected in the TV set was also well-done, imo. However, that was the point at which LD exasperately exclaimed "why is everything being shown in reflections!?"
So, I guess I'd say I'm glad I rented it, but agree with LD about it not being worth the price of an outing to the theatre and it's not on my list of movies to re-watch.
20929. CalGal - 6/27/2001 4:54:35 PM
I saw Moulin Rouge last night, drove across the street to buy the soundtrack, then saw it again.
Ha. I saw it twice before I remembered to get the soundtrack, and I don't think it's left my player since. It is the movie that Evita tried to be and failed miserably. I think it is the best musical since Cabaret--primarily through lack of competition (although 0 Brother was very good).
I completely agree with your review: you will love it or hate it. I don't think it's possible to be neutral about it. At times I found myself just smiling--not at the comedy, but just at the sheer joy of watching an original musical that honestly achieved some of the MGM magic.
It's not perfect--but then, even Singin in the Rain has the interminable Broadway Melody piece. It takes risks, and quite a few of them work.
Favorite moments:
20930. CalGal - 6/27/2001 4:55:30 PM
Christi,
It was rather bizarre, upon reflection, to realize that the kid was extremely disturbed.
20931. CalGal - 6/27/2001 4:57:00 PM
There was no shoplifting. Sure, it was derivative, but all musicals are short on story--one reason why Singin' and West Side Story are so noteworthy is that they are an exception to this rule. It certainly didn't rip anything off. I had a conversation with the Ms a while ago about how they used current songs--but so did many Hollywood musicals, including some of the very best.
I would recommend it with caution, but anyone who likes it will almost certainly rank it as one of the top films of the year.
20932. racehorse - 6/27/2001 5:13:41 PM
Which kid was extremely disturbed? The kid in Unbreakable? Wow, I didn't get that at all.
I loved that movie.
20933. CalGal - 6/27/2001 5:23:23 PM
He sure seemed that way to me. He was way, way too hung up on his dad. And the scene with the gun, while terrifying and well done, is an indication of a seriously fucked up kid. In fact, that's where the power of the scene derived, I thought.
20934. racehorse - 6/27/2001 5:33:26 PM
Really? I didn't take it that way at all--I thought the kid's desperation and father-worship had more to do with sensing the tension between the parents and knowing he had no control over it.
20935. CalGal - 6/27/2001 5:42:20 PM
Oh, I thought so too. And a kid sufficiently desperate to do what he did is seriously disturbed.
20936. racehorse - 6/27/2001 5:46:10 PM
An interesting perspective. I like it when art is open to so many subtly different interpretations. I especially like it when it's unlike a lot of Hollywood movies, which seem to assume the moviegoer is stupid and can't handle moral ambiguity.
20937. christipeters - 6/27/2001 6:48:28 PM
CalGal - What's the story like, what little there is that is? I don't want a total run-down on the plot. I don't want to be 'spoiled', but I haven't read anything about it that goes beyond the costumes and songs. I'm trying to decide whether to go see it this coming weekend, taking LD, or to wait 'til the following weekend when she's out of town ans go see it by myself.
20938. christipeters - 6/27/2001 6:48:43 PM
ans = and
20939. ScottLoar - 6/27/2001 10:12:58 PM
I was told Moulin Rouge is the 1890's meeting MTV and the result isn't worth seeing.
20940. CalGal - 6/27/2001 10:18:19 PM
Well, it's not a movie you can take someone else's word for. If you don't care for musicals, I suspect you wouldn't like it.
Christi--with the exception of one humorous risque scene near the beginning, there is little sex and no violence. The hero is gorgeous in a way that undoubtedly appeals to teens. It's very ro-man-tic. Decent chance LD will like it.
It's a love story, nothing particularly original--but not objectionable, either.
20941. ScottLoar - 6/27/2001 10:27:01 PM
I like musicals. Johnny Depp guarantees the movie is bad. And I can take someone else's word for it - they are discriminating and critical.
Hell, this whole thread is mostly "someone else's word for" movies.
20942. JudithAtHome - 6/27/2001 10:33:10 PM
I just can't see how the Ewan MacGregor I see on interviews is somehow transformed into a romantic lead who is gorgeous...he looks like a clerk in a shoe store to me. A second tier shoe store. Tom McAns or something....
20943. CalGal - 6/27/2001 10:49:56 PM
Johnny Depp guarantees the movie is bad.
Johhny Depp isn't in it, or did I misunderstand?
Hell, this whole thread is mostly "someone else's word for" movies.
I rarely take other people's word about movies, myself--I look for their reasons for whatever opinion they have, and go from there. I suspect that's what most people do.
I also suspect that you would not like Moulin Rouge, and even though I loved it I would advise that you not go, after giving you some criteria to make up your own mind. But knowing that someone else disliked it is insufficient, in this case. That's all I meant.
20944. CalGal - 6/27/2001 10:52:11 PM
Judith,
I just can't see how you've reached your apparently advanced age and still live life thinking that the only standard for attractiveness is your rather astonishingly limited personal one. Fortunately, I don't find the answer worth pursuing.
20945. JudithAtHome - 6/27/2001 10:58:49 PM
Then why bother mentioning it? I've a right to think skinny English lads are asexual, just as you've a right to think think they are "all that". That doesn't make either one of us wrong; we just thing differently.
And as to my advanced age, you're getting there so don't knock it til you arrive...which I've no doubt you will be kicking and screaming when you do.
20946. JudithAtHome - 6/27/2001 10:59:16 PM
thing=think
20947. JudithAtHome - 6/27/2001 11:02:03 PM
You're welcome to all the Leos and Ewans and whatevers....there's enough for all of us, luckily. After all, if we all thought alike, wouldn't it be a bore?
20948. CalGal - 6/27/2001 11:02:28 PM
All of us are "getting there". I meant no slur; you always mention your age.
You have a right to think anything you like. "Ewan McGregor is dog ugly and looks like a Thom McAns poster boy" would go unobserved, or with argument to the contrary. Idiotic musings about why it is that everyone else doesn't think he looks like a shoe ad are also fine, if you don't mind sarcastic rejoinders. Feel free to do as you choose.
20949. JudithAtHome - 6/27/2001 11:05:13 PM
I think I do feel free to do as I choose; it just doesn't seem to agree with you when I do.
20950. CalGal - 6/27/2001 11:05:45 PM
After all, if we all thought alike, wouldn't it be a bore?
Your world, and welcome to it.
You haven't been paying attention. You were the one demanding groupthink, not me.
Now, cease and desist this prattle or I'll have to move the whole spew (including my posts wasting time in response to your banalities) to the Inferno. Up to now, it's been marginally topical. But I sense a whine coming on.
No, no. Don't speak.
(what movie is that from?)
20951. JudithAtHome - 6/27/2001 11:07:22 PM
Who gives a shit? I don't memorize movies, Cal...move all of it, I don't give a great god damn.
20952. CalGal - 6/27/2001 11:12:56 PM
Well, gosh, I was trying to get back on topic. If you don't know, just be polite and let someone else take their turn. Shush, now.
Not that it's terribly difficult. I was just enjoying being all Wiestlike, even if no one could actually see it.
20953. JudithAtHome - 6/27/2001 11:29:06 PM
My favorite Wiest moment was in Independence Day when she struck the match in the gas filled kitchen.
20954. Jenerator - 6/27/2001 11:38:36 PM
Most English men are complete hounds Judith.
You're not alone in thinking this.
20955. Jenerator - 6/27/2001 11:39:58 PM
In fact, when I lived in Canterbury, I was able to truthfully reassure my then boyfriend/now hubby that if ever there was a safe country to send a single woman, England was it.
Woof!
20956. CalGal - 6/27/2001 11:40:05 PM
I saw Anniversary Party the other night, a worthy entry in the "camera observes a gathering" genre. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cummings wrote and directed, calling in all their friends: Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates (and their brood), John C. Reilly, Jennifer Beals, Gywneth Paltrow, and Jane Adams, who I enjoy so much that I watched Father of the Bride II just to see her play the calm obstetrician.
Leigh and Cumings also star in their effort, as a dueling show-biz couple--she's the world's Meg Ryan, he's a popular author who has just been given his first directing gig--who have decided to throw a party in celebration of their sixth year of marriage (minus a 6 month separation). Friends, ex-lovers, co-workers, mega movie stars, and even neighbors half a step away from a lawsuit come over to spend the day drinking pink champagne and play charades. And that's about it.
Movies like this succeed or fail on whether or not they make the audience enjoy their lot as voyeurs, and whether or not the actors convince you that they really don't know you're looking. Anniversary Party scores very well on both curves--there are no great moments of truth or closure, but damn it's fun seeing what Hollywood suburbans live like. The actors, all in parts written with an eye not only to their strengths, but their history, return the favor en masse; the ensemble cast works effortlessly together in a variety of combinations.
The only downside is that the movie goes on for three endings too many; thankfully, the story avoids any Moments of Truth or Deep Dark Secrets. I suppose one could argue that this, too, was part of the point: the film, like the party, went on just a little bit too long? Naw.
It doesn't require a big screen and can easily WTDVD, but it's a nice change from blockbusters, so keep it in mind.
20957. MsIvoryTower - 6/27/2001 11:43:19 PM
Johnny Depp is hot.
Ewan McGreggor is also hot, I just can't see him singing around Paris with Kidman. However, I'm going to see Moulin Rouge. I owe it to myself given my long love of musicals, and I'm going to try not to view it with a jaundiced eye.
20958. Jenerator - 6/27/2001 11:45:05 PM
MsIT,
Marshame *LOVES* Johnny Depp.
20959. CalGal - 6/27/2001 11:47:51 PM
I, too, think Johnny Depp is hot. But the only movie of his I've ever enjoyed is What's Eating Gilbert Grape--and that's not a movie I would recommend freely. So I can sympathize with Scott's observation and still think he's gorgeous.
MacGregor I make no apologies for--hell, I thought he and Neeson were the best visual effects in Phantom Menace.
20960. MsIvoryTower - 6/27/2001 11:50:02 PM
Cal
My guilty confession is that any movie Depp is in is worth seeing, and I've liked them all. Inexplicable, really, but there it is.
20961. MsIvoryTower - 6/27/2001 11:52:29 PM
Well, actually, it is explicable, it's just not rational....
20962. Jenerator - 6/27/2001 11:52:49 PM
I thought that What's Eating Gilbert Grape was very good. My mother thinks that Depp was extremely sexy in Nightmare on Elm Street, Cry Baby, 21 Jump Street, and most everything else, EXCEPT Edward Scissor Hands and the overdose in LA movie.
20963. Åse - 6/27/2001 11:53:44 PM
Ewan McGregor mmmmmmm
20964. CalGal - 6/27/2001 11:53:45 PM
I did like him in Sleepy Hollow, although the movie sucked. And while I wasn't fond of Ed Wood, he was great.
In fact, he's usually terrific in his movies. I just never like the movie.
20965. Åse - 6/27/2001 11:55:06 PM
Hmmm. Maybe I just like Johnny Depp movies because Johnny Depp's in them. I didn't know I was that shallow.
20966. MsIvoryTower - 6/27/2001 11:56:20 PM
Yes, Ase, it's a terrible truth to face, isn't it?
I don't much care however. Bring him on....
20967. CalGal - 6/27/2001 11:57:18 PM
I've always thought MacGregor was hot, but I just looked at his entire resume and the first movie I ever saw him in was Phantom Menace. This is the second. I think I saw him in that ER episode, but it wasn't very good.
20968. HollyW - 6/28/2001
I liked Edward Scissorhands when it came out, but I was more Angsty then. I have no desire to see it now.
Gilbert Grape is just wonderful, and is the only thing I've enjoyed Leo DiCaprio in.
20969. Åse - 6/28/2001 12:01:51 AM
He was in Little Bird (and, he plays a shy everyday guy, and I didn't quite recognize him and yet I did and ...) He's also in Velvet Goldmine playing the Iggy Pop part. He was in something else that I never saw because my movie-fiend pal and Star-Wars geek was musing about what a great choice Ewan McGregor was for the part. Hmmmm.
20970. MsIvoryTower - 6/28/2001 12:02:40 AM
Cal
I first saw him in some god awful film that was lauded by the critics, I think it was Trainspotting? Anyway, it was about a group of Scottish youths who lived meaningless lives and became drug addicts. MacGregor (sorry about the misspelling, I can't ever remember how to spell such names) was very good, but looked totally different then when he surfaced in Phantom Menace in which I found him quite gorgeous.
20971. MsIvoryTower - 6/28/2001 12:03:34 AM
Ah yes, I also saw him in Velvet Goldmine, another bizarre movie.
20972. Åse - 6/28/2001 12:04:46 AM
I thought DiCaprio was good in "this boys story" (or whatever it was), which was the first I saw him in. Second Gilbert grape, where I thought he was fantastic. So I liked him, and later got sorely disappointed.
I have an irrational hatred for "Titanic".
20973. Åse - 6/28/2001 12:05:49 AM
Trainspotting.
That's it.
Everybody I know raves about it. I've never seen it.
20974. CalGal - 6/28/2001 12:06:06 AM
Gilbert Grape is just wonderful, and is the only thing I've enjoyed Leo DiCaprio in.
Yes. Arky and I were discussing this movie earlier. It's on the top ten list of movies about dysfunctional families, and it's the only movie I like DiCaprio in, too.
Ms,
Trainspotting was the movie that launched him--it also had the guy who went on to do the male strippers movie that went on to be a well-received Broadway musical with many Tony nominations (and where is my brain tonight, that I can't pull up the name?). He was also in Shallow Grave, another movie I heard a lot about and didn't see, and Little Voice.
20975. CalGal - 6/28/2001 12:07:21 AM
Oh, yes, he was in Velvet Goldmine, too. All movies I tend to avoid until I'm working at home and desperate to listen to anything on TV.
20976. CalGal - 6/28/2001 12:08:44 AM
Dammit, what's the name of that movie? The song at the end is "Keep (or leave) Your Hat On".
It has Tom Wilkinson in it. Arggggghhh.
20977. HollyW - 6/28/2001 12:09:14 AM
I could never, never sit through Trainspotting again. Although it is one of the few movies in the world that doesn't romanticize drug addiction, in my book.
Unlike that Basketball Diaries piece of crap (thus, neatly tying in Leo to Ewan...)
20978. HollyW - 6/28/2001 12:10:03 AM
The Full Monty? Really? Who?
20979. Åse - 6/28/2001 12:11:00 AM
Full Monty
20980. HollyW - 6/28/2001 12:11:05 AM
Did the lead in The Full Monty play the guy in Trainspotting who smashed a glass in someone's face?
20981. CalGal - 6/28/2001 12:11:21 AM
Oh, that's right, he reached into the toilet. Bleah.
20982. Shannon - 6/28/2001 12:12:22 AM
Shallow Grave was creepy. Hubby didn't like it much. I did, but I don't think I'd want to see it again. Even for Ewan MacGregor.
20983. CalGal - 6/28/2001 12:12:43 AM
Fuck. How the hell did I forget that, dammit? And you just slip it in, too. No "I know, I know!" No, you remind me that anyone with a brain would know it.
Robert somebody. Well, I'll have to break down and stop reading reviews in the IMDB and look it up.
20984. Åse - 6/28/2001 12:13:52 AM
Something Carlyle? Also in Angelas Ashes
20985. CalGal - 6/28/2001 12:14:03 AM
Carlyle. Ha. Didn't have to look it up after all. He was also in that dregs of a James Bond movie.
I got the bleahs just reading the reviews of Shallow Grave.
20986. CalGal - 6/28/2001 12:15:11 AM
Yeah, well, then Ase beats me to it. I'm being humiliated this evening.
Speaking of eye candy, Gentleman's Agreement was on AMC the other day. Gregory Peck. Yum.
20987. HollyW - 6/28/2001 12:18:42 AM
Ewan reached into the toilet, actually.
20988. MsIvoryTower - 6/28/2001 12:19:44 AM
Double digits yum.
Last scene of Roman Holiday. Peck walking down the aisle in that long legged panther stride of his....
Still brings goose bumps to me when I watch.
Was there ever anyone to equal him???
20989. CalGal - 6/28/2001 12:20:19 AM
Yes, I know. My "oh, that's right" was in response to your comment on the realities of drug use. "
20990. CalGal - 6/28/2001 12:23:03 AM
He really does look good with that walk. I have often wondered if the director had a crush on him.
But I prefer Gentleman's Agreement, even if it is an outdated issue film. Celeste Holm is the best "career woman" in movie history. Kicks Kate and Roz all over the room.
20991. MsIvoryTower - 6/28/2001 12:54:40 AM
That shot has got to be one of the most fabulous, sexy shots of a man in a movie I've ever had the pleasure to see.
However, my alltime favorite Peck character is Atticus Finch. I really adore all his films however. I am totally indiscriminate when it comes to Peck films.
20992. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 6/28/2001 12:56:07 AM
"Roz" came from my hometown, where I worked at a liquor store on extended breaks during my college years.
"Miss Russell" would call every Christmas to send her alcoholic brother a case of Bells "12" scotch whisky. One year the owner wasn't around to take the order, so I had to.
She sensed my fluster and was charming.
20993. CalGal - 6/28/2001 1:04:14 AM
I like Roz--and Kate. But Celeste had more of the truth of it.
Neat story.
Ms,
To Kill a Mockingbird is on the CalGal as Blasphemer list. Never liked it, as we've discussed before.
20994. MsIvoryTower - 6/28/2001 1:06:23 AM
philistine.
20995. Shannon - 6/28/2001 1:07:51 AM
That's just wrong CalGal.
It's on my very short list of movies that are maybe as good as the book.
20996. CalGal - 6/28/2001 1:08:31 AM
Of course, the movie would be much improved if they got rid of Scout. Little twerp.
(ducks)
20997. Shannon - 6/28/2001 1:08:54 AM
Bite me.
20998. Shannon - 6/28/2001 1:09:10 AM
Just for that....
20999. Shannon - 6/28/2001 1:09:24 AM
I deserve....
21000. Shannon - 6/28/2001 1:09:39 AM
This.
21001. Shannon - 6/28/2001 1:10:05 AM
Now, I really am Old Guard. Arky's right.
21002. CalGal - 6/28/2001 1:10:06 AM
And Atticus is a lousy lawyer. Righteously lecturing the jury instead of trying to save his client.
(exits the room hastily before the Ms decides I'm a rabid dog)
Shannon--I hated the book, too.
21003. CalGal - 6/28/2001 1:10:31 AM
Oh, that's not fair. I wanted this one.
21004. Shannon - 6/28/2001 1:10:32 AM
Oh, you're just weird, then.
21005. CalGal - 6/28/2001 1:11:00 AM
Am not. I'm just not Southern.
21006. CalGal - 6/28/2001 1:11:26 AM
Wait, that's not true. I am weird. It's just not why I don't like that damn book.
21007. Shannon - 6/28/2001 1:11:38 AM
Oh, that's not fair. I wanted this one.
Yes, but you don't DESERVE it, because you are, in fact, a philistine.
I think this is my first one.
21008. MsIvoryTower - 6/28/2001 1:12:15 AM
Calgal
You should run from those blasphemous comments.
Finch knew Tom wasn't going to get a fair trial. He lectured the jury because he knew what they were going to do.
Man, I love that film.
21009. Shannon - 6/28/2001 1:12:46 AM
Well, you're most assuredly not Southern, I'll grant you that. Now you'll go saying you didn't like Steel Magnolias or something.
21010. Shannon - 6/28/2001 1:17:30 AM
I saw an excellent stage version of it a few months ago. To Kill a Mockingbird, I mean. Not Steel Magnolias.
21011. Åse - 6/28/2001 1:18:15 AM
(I have never seen that movie. Even if it has Gregory Peck. I like him in "Spellbound". The psychology in it makes me giggle though).
21012. CalGal - 6/28/2001 1:24:30 AM
Hey, the Dali stuff rocked in Spellbound. But Peck and Bergman weren't all that good together. Who'da thunk?
Ms,
Naw. A good lawyer would have connived them into letting him live.
Shannon,
I hated Steel Magnolias, too.
21013. Toenails - 6/28/2001 7:39:12 AM
Jeez, Cal, if Mockingbird is too mawkish for you, exactly what dramatic film can you cite that passes muster?
'Just heard that Jack Lemmon died.
21014. CalGal - 6/28/2001 9:48:27 AM
Yes, I heard that too. I'll miss him--although he really hasn't been the same since his plastic surgery back.
I like lots of mawkish movies, Toe--just don't care for that one.
21015. CalGal - 6/28/2001 9:58:54 AM
21016. CalGal - 6/28/2001 10:01:43 AM
Favorite Lemmon performances:
Some Like It Hot
The Apartment
China Syndrome
Missing
And I never miss The Great Race.
21017. Wombat - 6/28/2001 10:05:53 AM
Some Like It Hot
Mr. Roberts
The Fortune Cookie
The Odd Couple
Prisoner of 2nd Avenue
Saving the Tiger
21018. CalGal - 6/28/2001 10:09:57 AM
I like Mr. Roberts, too, but it's too stylized. Still, it's a great debut. Never liked The Fortune Cookie, or any of the stuff he did with Walter.
I haven't seen Prisoner and Saving The Tiger in years; didn't care for them when I saw them. I imagine I'll have a chance to see them again.
Oh, I also thought Lemmon was terrific in GGR; but it's just not a movie I like watching.
21019. Francis Urquhart - 6/28/2001 10:14:43 AM
Proof of Life
Fails for so many reasons it is worth the watch. Here are a few:
1) The action is on par with something you might see on the A Team.
2) Taylor Hackford tries to reprise the simmering steaminess he got from Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward and Richard Gere and Debra Winger. Here, he is forced to work with a guy who say "mate" incessantly and the perky popsicle that is Meg Ryan.
3) The script is lame and sometimes inexplicable.
4) David Caruso and David Morse are fine supporting actors, but Caruso runs like a girl. When he runs around, rewind it several times. It is hilarious.
21020. Toenails - 6/28/2001 10:19:00 AM
Saving Private Ryan.
Save the Tiger.
21021. CalGal - 6/28/2001 10:22:16 AM
Yes, thanks.
21022. ScottLoar - 6/28/2001 10:24:06 AM
Jack Lemmon had some few good films which I'll leave you all to thrash and hash about but he was a simpleton, believing Stone's Kennedy fact and other simple absurdities, proof that talent is unhinged from intelligence and often bereft of common sense.
21023. ScottLoar - 6/28/2001 10:25:33 AM
He seemed easiest and most natural in Bell, Book and Candle; fitting I'd say.
21024. Francis Urquhart - 6/28/2001 10:26:14 AM
Scott
"Simpleton" and "long-time Hollywood actor" are synonymous. Like athletes, they generally know what they know, and have the money to know as little else as possible.
21025. Francis Urquhart - 6/28/2001 10:26:45 AM
Save the Tiger is a harrowing performance.
21026. ScottLoar - 6/28/2001 10:28:02 AM
I don't agree that money always buys sloth, but your point is well taken.
21027. Toenails - 6/28/2001 10:28:34 AM
I always thought the performance in "Mr. Roberts" was half-assed, not to say half-witted.
'Lucky he had Fonda there to save his bacon.
Still, he got really good as time went on. "Save the Tiger" was a mediocre screenplay, to be charitable, but Jack made the thing sing, all by himself.
21028. JudithAtHome - 6/28/2001 10:30:22 AM
I loved him in Prisoner of Second Avenue and The Out of Towners ....two very similar roles but both funny.
21029. JudithAtHome - 6/28/2001 10:31:27 AM
Don't forget Days of Wine and Roses , another in the harrowing vein...
21030. Indiana Jones - 6/28/2001 10:38:58 AM
We had a recent discussion re Lemmon. I remember that Judith disliked him.
Saw A Simple Plan. If you like films in which everything is a predictable rehash of bits you've seen before told in a pretentious way featuring characters who never, ever make an intelligent decision but instead get across the movie's MESSAGE--here, "greed is bad"--then this is right up your alley. Perhaps that's too simple; the message is actually the never-before-expounded "even good people can be corrupted by the prospect of riches."
Laughed a couple of times at just how clumsy this effort was and it was suspenseful for about five minutes somewhat near the end, but otherwise D-.
That's probably harsh, because as Ace says, most films are bad, and I wasn't totally bored with A Simple Plan--which is the worst sin. But I was still surprised at just how awful it was, especially since Billy Bob Thornton received an Oscar nomination. His performance is woeful, regardless, a Hollywood version of what that kind of character is like and never the least bit authentic to me. Think Lenny in Of Mice and Men.
21031. CalGal - 6/28/2001 10:42:02 AM
I never got the impression that he was stupid--never saw any quotes on Kennedy.
I would say his greatest flaw as an actor was also his strength: he was instantly likeable, and was never completely willing to risk that--although he came the closest, as memory serves, in Save the Tiger.
But if he didn't take risks in performances, he certainly did in the movies he chose. He acted for scale at least once in movies he cared about. Though his politics were standard Hollywood liberal, I don't think he ever let the movie quality suffer for a polemic. Hence The China Syndrome works extremely well as a taut thriller with Lemmon's heartbreak the key emotional component, Missing as a story about a parent's grief.
If he tended to stay within his range, he also didn't fade or fall back on easy mannerisms as he aged, continually looking for new projects that interested and excited him.
He was one of the first actors I was able to identify when I started life as a movie buff at the age of 9, and I'll miss him.
21032. JudithAtHome - 6/28/2001 10:47:21 AM
Indy:
I remember that Judith disliked him.
I did but when he was funny or good in a role, I could recognize and admit it.
21033. ScottLoar - 6/28/2001 10:48:21 AM
Jack Lemmon was interviewed live and said to the effect that Stone's Kennedy was true and he (Lemmon) pitied you if you couldn't believe so.
21034. Toenails - 6/28/2001 10:49:42 AM
HBO is running the 1994 Linda Fiorentino flick, "The Last Seduction" -- the one that Leonard Maltin says "makes Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity look like Snow White."
[Spoiler below]:
There were some pretty improbable bits in here, but I liked it because (a) everybody was a bad guy, (b) the Fiorentino character was the baddest of them all, and, deliciously, (c) bad, bad Linda gets away with it!
Sexy and diverting. Recommended.
21035. glendajean - 6/28/2001 11:12:12 AM
I watched The Perfect Storm last night on DVD. Very workman like storm thriller, but all the effort was on the effects. There were characters, and the actors gave compelling enough performances to suggest that their stories were interesting enough and strong enough to carry a movie. But it was mostly stripped down to huge waves.
21036. CalGal - 6/28/2001 2:12:11 PM
A friend just reminded me of my favorite Jack Lemmon line.
"Farewell, you good Leslie you! I hope you win I hope you win!"
21037. glendajean - 6/28/2001 2:46:31 PM
Does Vin Rhymes get the award back?
21038. CalGal - 6/28/2001 2:49:05 PM
hahahahaha!
21039. Cellar Door - 6/28/2001 3:42:50 PM
I interviewed Lemmon once back when I was working for the "Herald-Examiner." It was at his office in Beverly Hills. Just the two of us -- no handlers. A very, very nice man.
21040. Cellar Door - 6/28/2001 3:45:45 PM
My favorite Lemmon perfs: "It Should Happen to You" (his first), "Bell Book and Candle" (more gay subtext than you can shake a stick at), "Some Like it Hot" ("Security"!),"The Apartment" (when he looks at his new hat in Shirley MacLaine's cracked mirror), "The Great Race," "Missing" and the equally underrated "That's Life."
And "Short Cuts."
21041. CalGal - 6/28/2001 3:58:31 PM
I'm glad I'm not the only Great Race fan.
I'd forgotten about BBC, because I can't stand Novak. I haven't seen it in a while; I'll have to look it up.
21042. Cellar Door - 6/28/2001 5:50:30 PM
John Van Druten (Major queen) wrote it. The witches and warlocks living in the Greenwich Village that it depicts are clearly meant to be read as gay.
I saw "The Great Race" when it opened at Radio City. The last shot is one of the most hilarious sight-gags every devised.
I adore Lemmon's character in it,"Professor Fate."
There's a lovely shot of him and his assistant, Peter Falk, riding across the sky in a pedal-powered baloon with the word "Fate" painted acorss it in giant letters.
21043. CalGal - 6/28/2001 5:57:42 PM
Yes, Fate is wonderful--but his alter-ego in the Zenda sendoff is even feyer.
21044. MsIvoryTower - 6/28/2001 6:14:51 PM
Oh my, The Great Race is really one of my all-time favorite comedies. Not only was Lemmon in top form, but Falk, Curtis and Wood turned in fabulous performances as well.
I have the thing on tape, and we watch it several times a year. I'd rank it as possibly the best spoof comedy ever made.
21045. CalGal - 6/28/2001 6:24:10 PM
"Rum! More pie, more pie!"
Splat.
"Brandy! No, I never mix my pies!"
The sword fight between Curtis and Wood is fun.
21046. CalGal - 6/28/2001 11:15:14 PM
Julia and Ben have split up. Bummer.
21047. CalGal - 6/28/2001 11:36:28 PM
I was making dinner while Spawn queued up "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" on the DVD player. All of a sudden he stormed into the kitchen, snarling at the remote control.
"Mom, they're speaking English How the heck do I get it switched to Chinese and subtitles?"
I was most proud.
21048. DanDillon - 6/29/2001 9:15:31 AM
Anne and I are planning on renting a few flicks tonight. Quiet evening at home sorta thing. I need suggestions. What to rent? (I'm open to anything except really scary stuff. Anne gets mad when we watch those.)
21049. glendajean - 6/29/2001 10:21:06 AM
I overheard a promo on TV this morning touting a showing of Animal House. I had forgotten about We'll put them on secret double probation. Maybe that would work for the Mote.
21050. glendajean - 6/29/2001 10:22:19 AM
Dan, have you ever seen The Sweet Hereafter? Very thoughtful movie based on the novel by Russell Banks, about the effects of a school bus wreck upon a small northern town.
21051. glendajean - 6/29/2001 10:28:49 AM
If you are looking for lighter fare, and haven't seen it yet, Billy Elliot is out on rental now as well as Best in Show, Christopher Guest's send-up of the Westminister Dog Show.
21052. ScottLoar - 6/29/2001 10:35:25 AM
See Waterloo Bridge, 1940, with Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor for a good, crying time. And if you don't then rent a similar 30's tearjerker.
21053. glendajean - 6/29/2001 12:49:52 PM
I enjoyed reading this New York Times review of Francis Veber's The Closet, a French movie about a straight man who discovers that being perceived gay might help him in the work force. Daniel Autuil plays the straight guy. The Closet also co-stars Gérard Depardieu.
21054. CalGal - 6/29/2001 1:12:34 PM
Dan,
I like all of GJ's recommendations--particularly The Sweet Hereafter, which is a brilliant but painful film.
If you haven't seen O Brother Where Art Thou, add it to the list of possibilities.
Do you have DVD? I just watched Beauty and the Beast--the 1946 version. A bit odd, but well worth a look if you can get the Criterion version.
21055. DanDillon - 6/29/2001 1:46:40 PM
Thank you, good people, for the recommendations. As it happens, my DSL went down right after my post and I couldn't get back on until just now. I went out in the meantime and picked up Traffic. I'll surely keep The Sweet Hereafter in mind.
21056. CalGal - 6/29/2001 5:01:59 PM
Ebert on Lemmon
Did anyone read Ebert's "Great Movies" review of Schindler's List? I don't remember him misreading it so completely in his first review. He is now suggesting that Schindler went into business originally with the intent of losing all his money.
21057. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 5:05:52 PM
Quick Reviews:
Best in Show: Disappointing comedy, even given the rather steep fall-off from Spinal Tap to Waiting for Guffman. Best in Show starts well enough, but the last half of the film abandons the characters we've met in the first half in favor of a pure dog-show mock documentary. In the second half, we see almost nothing except the dog show, plus Fred Willard as a clueless announcer making rather lame, and overbroad, jokes that do not match the comedic style of the rest of the film.
Fred Willard is a mystery to me. Apparently some very funny people think he is funny; but he is not. He turned in the least-plausible, most over-the-top and broad performance in Spinal Tap (as the Air Force Base Commander); he turns in a similar performance here, except it runs for 30 minutes rather than two.
Christopher Guest's performance disappoints greatly. He does a funny voice, and he seems a plausible character, but he doesn't say or do anything funny. His dog, a big bloodhound, is adorable, and I like the dog a lot, but shouldn't there be some jokes here, too?
The only funny stuff in the movie comes from the pairings of Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara -- he's a dweeb, she's his hot wife who's had "hundreds" of boyfriends, and she runs into half of them in the movie -- and Michael McKean and a guy who I think is named John Michael Higgins, playing a gay couple (McKean's the "Will," Higgins is the "Jack" and ergo the funny one).
Oh-- and Larry Miller shows up, as an ex-beau of O'Hara's, to again become the funniest thing in the whole frickin' movie. This guy is FUNNY. If he read a phone book, I would laugh.
But he's only in it for five minutes, and Levy and O'Hara and McKean and Higgins aren't in it for very much longer, and the movie is sporadically funny in the beginning and then only very sporadically funny in the second half.
21058. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 5:11:13 PM
Did I like it? It wasn't terrible. I like dogs and I didn't mind seeing a lot of cute dogs and learning about dog-shows. I sort of liked some of the characters. But then, I sort of expect a comedy to be funny, and this film just isn't terribly funny.
Just a note for Spinal Tap/Waiting for Guffman fans: Although ST is perhaps the best comedy in the last twenty years, it inexplicably includes a lot of bad jokes which diminish the film's overall genius. For example, ST and WFG featured a lot of really bad puns. Well, not a LOT, but they were real groaners. "Mime is money"? Not funny.
The trouble with BIS is that a lot of the jokes are easily recognizable as in the same mold as ST's jokes... or, rather, ST's bad jokes. BIS copies ST's unfunny jokes, while apparently unable to duplicate the brilliant stuff.
There is a character, for example, who literally has two left feet.
Mime is money.
21059. Cellar Door - 6/29/2001 5:12:44 PM
I agree, pretty much. I do find Fred Willard funny , but I can't understand the raves he got for this performance. I think the problem is that dog shows are so inherently strange that it's hard to make them a satirical target. It's much too mild a film, given the performers that are involved.
21060. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 5:26:02 PM
Unbreakable:
Unwatchable.
Well, that's going too far.
Bruce Willis is like Harrison Ford in that, when both actors want to do "serious acting," they turn in painfully wooden and flat and depressive performances. Bruce Willis cracks a smile only ONCE in the whole film, near the end, and when he does you almost jump out of your seat. "Wow! A smile! For once, a different facial expression!"
The director, Shymalan, overestimates his audience's patience on numerous occasions. I bow to none in my hatred of MTV style cuisinart editing, but here Shymalan goes to the opposite extreme. There's a long conversation between Willis & Wife in a restaurant; Shymalan photographs them from across the room, in dim light, fifty feet away, in a single visually-dismal shot that seems to go on forever. For god's sake, give me something to look at. This is a motion picture, emphasis on both motion and picture. It's not a radio play.
And a lot of shots are utterly dark. When darkness is contrasted with light, it's pretty cool. When darkness is contrasted with more darkness, it's just difficult to fucking see. Again: This is not supposed to be a radio play.
21061. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 5:26:15 PM
The story: Well, as you know, it's about a man who might actually be a superhero. I like the basic idea -- I like superheros, and I find it interesting to try a "real" movie about superheroes -- and I have to admit that I enjoyed the basic premise.
In a cartoon superhero movie, it's always the best part of the movie when the superhero discovers his powers; unfortunately, such scenes only last for two or three minutes. Here, it lasts for more than an hour, and that's not necessarily bad: Again, that's the best part of every superhero story, so why not extend it as much as possible?
Still, the film is ultimately pretty boring and pointless. And, not to give away a SPOILER, but the director tacks on a fairly gratuitous "surprise ending." No doubt he felt compelled to do this after the wild success of the Sixth Sense. But here, the "surprise ending" feels tacked on. It seems to violate the tenor of the movie that went before it. There are no "clues" to it; it just comes, all at once. You either accept it or you don't: You probably won't.
I would suggest renting this film. I think ultimately it's a failure and a misfire, but I have to concede it is at least an interesting and slightly-daring failure.
Or maybe I just like superheroes. Your mileage may vary.
21062. CalGal - 6/29/2001 5:32:08 PM
I agree with that review. I watched it twice in the theaters (wanted to see what I noticed the second time round). It's certainly shooting for something different.
I still think it's odd that the kid was plainly a loony tune and they let that pass without comment. Weren't we supposed to notice?
21063. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 5:32:12 PM
I think the problem is that dog shows are so inherently strange that it's hard to make them a satirical target.
I think the problem is that Fred Willard used a very-obvious and done-to-death comic trope: the guy who says socially inappropriate things and makes bad jokes. The bad jokes are supposed to be funny because they're so painfully unfunny.
It's not that this isn't a valid trope; it can be very funny. But much of what Willard says is so wildly over-the-top that it isn't funny.
It's funny when someone says something very socially inappropriate, so long as it is plausible that the character would say that. This sort of joke relies upon credibility. We must believe the character COULD say such a ludicrous thing.
But when you don't have that credibility, you just have a guy saying silly things. You don't have the disconnect between the character's boorish behavior and what is expected and proper.
When the character crosses the line -- as Willard does here -- you understand immediately that social-norms have been chucked out the window. Without the tension created by still-operating social norms, crude, boorish, and stupid behavior isn't really funny.
21064. CalGal - 6/29/2001 5:34:10 PM
Opening this week:
AI is getting good to great reviews, with Osment cementing his status as greatest kid actor of the generation.
John Singleton's new movie, Baby Boy, looks interesting.
Songcatcher seems to be one of those movies made by a 70s feminist--but the music is supposed to be great.
Anyone seen Sexy Beast yet?
21065. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 5:35:38 PM
Here's an analogy:
The word "Piss" is only funny when you're not allowed to say it.
David Letterman got a lot of laughs by saying "piss," because he was (we thought) not allowed to say it. He explained he could say "pissed OFF" but not "pissed ON" (the latter bleeped), because the latter was literal and not allowed. Still, he seemed to be getting one past the censors, and that made it funny.
The word "piss" isn't funny when Chris Rock says it on HBO -- because we know he's ALLOWED to say it.
In Best in Show, Willard is too over-the-top for us to ever believe he shouldn't be saying these things. He crosses the line. He goes from David Letterman, with censors, to Chris Rock, without censors. Since he is obviously cracking jokes without real social boundaries and/or censors, we don't get the laughs from flouting the social boundaries and/or censors: There are none.
21066. glendajean - 6/29/2001 5:37:30 PM
Willard's performance in BIS is an almost dead-on capture of Joe Gargiola's (sp) annual tv hosting of the Westminister Dog Show.
Westminister on its own is interesting, funny and over the top. BIS didn't have much room to expand.
I don't think it was as funny as WFG, but I did like seeing his repertory acting together. I hope that they do something else.
21067. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 5:38:15 PM
John Singleton's new movie, Baby Boy, looks interesting.
No it doesn't. Why do people feel compelled to claim that Singleton's movies "look interesting"?
He's black. So what. He makes crappy movies that no one is particularly interested in.
21068. CalGal - 6/29/2001 5:41:12 PM
Why do people feel compelled to claim that Singleton's movies "look interesting"?
I'm only speaking of the reviews I've read. I don't bother with most of his movies; the only one I've seen is Boyz N the Hood, which I thought decent but unremarkable.
21069. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 5:45:14 PM
GJ:
Surely Joe Garagiola doesn't make crude sexual references and tell tales of nailing waitresses every other minute.
The problem isn't with the notion; it's with the execution. He just went too far for me to believe he was anything other than what he was, i.e., and improvisational comedian doing a spoof.
21070. glendajean - 6/29/2001 5:49:15 PM
Garagiola sounds like he fell off another planet and doesn't have a the first clue about dogs. Almost all his references and reactions cause the other commentator, a dog show person, to pause as if he really didn't say that. That JG has hosted this show for several years makes it even more odd. I thought Willard caught that perfectly.
I think I've only watched the entire dog show (it's shown on USA Network over two nights in February) maybe once. But I try to catch snippets of it and the best-in-show round if I can.
21071. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 5:53:44 PM
I didn't mind the general cluelessness. I found that stuff the closest to being funny. It was almost funny because I thought it was sort-of plausible.
But when he turns to the upper-crust British co-host and asks him about "banging a waitress"... ummmm, no, I don't believe that.
21072. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 5:57:01 PM
I mean, some of his stuff was amusing, like when he asks "Now, these dogs, do they know they're in a competition? Do they feel the competition?"
And the British guy says something like, "Uh, um, well I can't really speak for the dogs. They definitely realize they're being trotted around in a circle, though."
I also admit another joke was funny, but it was only funny because of the British guy's reaction. Willard told a very bad joke about his proctologist "probing his rectum," and how he then told his proctologist, "How about taking me out to dinner first?"
The British guy, annoyed and aghast but refusing to show it, says dryly, "Yes, I remember you telling that story last year."
21073. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 6:05:51 PM
Oh: And another bit of funny cluelessness. Willard asks, "Wouldn't it be a great idea if they dressed that bloodhound up in a Sherlock Holmes hat and pipe? Maybe they could get the pipe to puff out smoke somehow. I think the audience would really love that. It would bring them to their feet. Do they ever dress up the dogs in costumes like that?"
And the British guy just replies, "Uhh, they don't really seem to go in for all that here."
But Willard is undeterred, and he again states what a great idea it would be to dress up a bloodhound like Sherlock Holmes.
I can believe that, sort of. So it's funny. His stupidity is semi-plausible and gets a big chuckle.
But the main problem is that there's just too much Willard, and you barely get to see the main characters for forty minutes. Aside from them running around the ring with their dogs.
21074. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 6:08:40 PM
So Willard had at least three funny jokes, I admit. But he had twenty unfunny ones, and I really thought the film went off the wheels and became an entirely different movie when he came on screen.
21075. glendajean - 6/29/2001 6:16:59 PM
Ace -- you remember more of the jokes than I do. It's been a while since I saw it.
I read somewhere that Guest had his actors improvise lots of scenes. That may have sounded like a good idea at the time, but didn't pan out in the execution of it.
I usually don't like Fred Willard, going back to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman days. But I liked him in WFG and thought he got crazy JG about right in BIS.
21076. Indiana Jones - 6/29/2001 6:18:34 PM
Ace: Haven't seen the movie, but maybe the idea came from Roger & Me. If you recall, Bob Eubanks (who used to host The Newly Wed Game) was emceeing some kind of local beauty contest (like Miss Michigan or Miss Flint). And when Michael Moore talks to Eubanks the latter makes some really crude and unfunny remarks like Nixon's "done any fornicating lately"?
But what *was* funny about that (if funny is the right word) was that it was a documentary, not a script and Eubanks was a minor "celebrity" demonstrating what a mediocre horse's ass he really was. I doubt it would play the same way in a work of fiction.
21077. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 6:34:05 PM
I read somewhere that Guest had his actors improvise lots of scenes. That may have sounded like a good idea at the time, but didn't pan out in the execution of it.
I agree. Spinal Tap wasn't really "improvised." There weren't any specific lines written down, but everyone knew what the jokes were supposed to be. The scummy, frightening libertine bassist wasn't really improvising when he said, were he not in a rock n' roll band, he'd want to "work with children." He knew he was going to say that and so did the director/Rob Reiner.
So, the lines may have been improvised, but everyone knew where the jokes were.
(If you doubt this, rent the Spinal Tap collector's edition. You'll see a 40 minute demo movie which contains many of the best scenes from the ultimate, "real" movie. So, these guys had done all these jokes before.)
But Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, I think Guest is literally asking his actors to improvise with no more guidance than "Okay, you suspect your wife had an affair with this man and there's some tension. GO!"
Obviously, neither film works nearly as well as Spinal Tap. Spinal Tap had the best-of-both-worlds: Well scripted and thought out jokes but with improvised execution that had the illusion of reality and spontaneity. WFG and BIS have the illusion of reality and spontaneity, but few good jokes.
Haven't seen the movie, but maybe the idea came from Roger & Me.
The idea is older than that. Half of all Saturday Night Live sketches feature the joke of a character saying inappropriate or stupid or boorish things. And of course it goes much further back than that, too: It's just a staple of comedy. It was old back in the days of commedia dell'arte.
21078. AceofSpades - 6/29/2001 6:42:41 PM
I assumed that Christopher Guest was the true genius behind Spinal Tap.
But after WFG and BiS, I now doubt this. He's a terrific performer, but I just can't believe any longer that he was the main guy behind Tap. Left to his own devices, he either crafts ridiculous "jokes" ("I literally have two left feet") or no jokes at all.
21079. don s. - 6/29/2001 9:42:52 PM
I think the problem is that Fred Willard used a very-obvious and done-to-death comic trope: the guy who says socially inappropriate things and makes bad jokes. ...
When the character crosses the line -- as Willard does here -- you understand immediately that social-norms have been chucked out the window. Without the tension created by still-operating social norms, crude, boorish, and stupid behavior isn't really funny.
Ace wrote that.
21080. pogie - 6/30/2001 3:44:01 AM
AI would have been better if kubrick had done it. I was already saying 'too obvious' about three times in the first 20 mins of the movie. It had several beautiful little moments, but certain issues with the nature of the ai-boy and a couple of other majorish plot details were either ignored or glossed over or sidestepped, ticking me off. It was a movie that had the potential to be dark and unsettling and beautiful, but spielberg skated past a lot of the most unsettling and interesting bits (damn surprising considering the two plus hours the movie is.) The ending is just bad, analogous to unbreakable's ending in some ways. To kind of spoil this a little, AI brought up some cool stuff dealing with the dark perverse side of even innocent love and then pretty much ignored how all the characters dealt with that love (the ending a case in point.) AI's humans and machines basically were portrayed as being real because of love. The more I think about this movie, the more bummed I am that kubrick or even someone like burton didn't get to do it. Argh.
21081. ElliottRW - 6/30/2001 8:31:16 AM
don s. Message # 21079.
Amazing, isn't it?
21082. MaxMacks - 6/30/2001 3:57:39 PM
anyone seen "Moulin Rogue"?--I hear its about an hour too long.
21083. CalGal - 6/30/2001 4:19:03 PM
There are several discussions about it; page back a bit and you'll find them.
21084. MaxMacks - 7/1/2001 3:23:02 PM
Thanks CG - often I get here after the topic of conversation has changed.
Be nice to have index woodenit?
21085. arkymalarky - 7/1/2001 3:26:15 PM
Mom and Dad rented O Brother Where Art Thou? and loved it. They'd already bought the soundtrack. I'm going over tonight to watch it with the fam.
21086. arkymalarky - 7/2/2001 10:30:51 AM
Well, I really enjoyed O Brother. Don't have time to post at length on it, but it was nice watching it with my parents because there were some neat things in it that they connected to--the governor with the radio show was actually a Texas governor who got popular enough to be governor because of his show and writing "You Are My Sunshine," (I think I have that right) and Mom and Dad remembered the show well, including the flour commercial jingle, which Dad sang for us.
The music was wonderful and very familiar, since my brother and my parents have been into folk music since my brother picked up a banjo in 5th grade, so it was really neat for them to see people they've listened to for years featured in a popular movie.
The casting was great and it was fun figuring the Odyssey references. It's the first major film I've seen George Clooney in and I thought he was wonderful. I like the idea of Ulysses as a verbose, half-intellectual/half-snakeoil salesman, 100% Podunk Southerner as Ulysses. Clooney played it beautifully.
I liked the setting, too. It may have been Mississippi, but a lot of it was similar to familiar parts of TX and AR.
All in all it was very funny with some great scenes, and sillier than I expected, but it also lent a certain mystique to some of the folk music, especially that Alison Krauss/choir (sp) song with the baptism/lotus eaters. I loved that scene. The KKK scene was wonderful too, and though it was funny, the song "Death" (a favorite of my parents') was really haunting.
Thanks for the recommendation, Cal.
21087. glendajean - 7/2/2001 10:40:03 AM
Moulin Rouge
In Director Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom, he tells the story of a dancer who defies all conventions to give life to the artform of ballroom dancing. While MR is supposedly about bohemians in fin de siecle Paris, desparate in their search for beauty, love and truth, it really appears to be about Luhrmann's need to change the conventions of movie-making, and more specifically, musical movies.
So he takes a traditional story -- in play (Camille), opera (La Traviata and/or La Boheme), or the more recent musical, Rent -- and uses pop music to tell it and move it along. And a couple of times, he tries to use it to heighten the story as if this were an operatic experience.
Filmed on a set Tim Burton would admire, MR at times feels more like PeeWee Herman's Playhouse, particularly an early (and overly long) scene set in the entertainer Satine's elephant-like dressing room, complete with double-takes and vaudvillian knocks and whirls. That was my take on it. It reminded my partner of The Monkees tv show.
To let us know that this was a movie about love, most of the dialogue, which wasn't that much, and the singing were all set to pop music love songs not known for their resonance (unless Elton John and Bernie T's songs mean something to you).
As others have reported, Ewan McGregor can sing, and in fact sings well enough that I wish he would do a real musical.
I did find John Leguizamo's performance as painter Toulouse Lautrec fun, but his character was a clown and not much more.
Nicole Kidman's Satine was the courtesan and nightclub entertainer with a consumptive cough. She does ice and fire quite well.
Jim Broadbent, a British actor seen in Topsy-Turvy, played the nightclub owner. He is spectacular.
21088. CalGal - 7/2/2001 10:43:08 AM
that I wish he would do a real musical.
Hey. It was a real musical. And Singin in the Rain used pop music to move things along, too.
I think there was only one John/Taupin song.
21089. Shannon - 7/2/2001 11:04:55 AM
the governor with the radio show was actually a Texas governor who got popular enough to be governor because of his show and writing "You Are My Sunshine," (I think I have that right)
Close. It was Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis.
21090. CalGal - 7/2/2001 11:10:29 AM
Arky, if your parents like the song Death, you may want to get them the soundtrack. I read somewhere that it's the only way you can get that particular artist's version, although I only read that claim, never checked it out.
21091. Adrianne - 7/2/2001 11:10:33 AM
We rented Quills, O Brother, and Traffic this weekend.
My review: Joachim Phoenix is cute but boy, is he a crappy actor. Actually, the same can be said of George Cloony. Benecio Del Toro, on the other hand, is cute and NOT a crappy actor. Catherine Zeta-Jones-Douglas is pretty but, yes, a crappy actress. Geoffrey Rush is not cute, and not a crappy actor. John Turturro is not cute and a really really not-crappy actor.
Unfortunately, I couldn't watch most of Traffic because of the drug scenes.
21092. glendajean - 7/2/2001 11:10:39 AM
21093. glendajean - 7/2/2001 11:11:14 AM AI continued 21094. CalGal - 7/2/2001 11:13:21 AM Actually, the same can be said of George Cloony. 21095. glendajean - 7/2/2001 11:15:13 AM The children's story Pinnochio (sp)) is used a lot in this movie as a plot structure, and once others have seen it, I'd like to have conversation about the ending (very 2001 Space Odessy kind of ending). 21096. glendajean - 7/2/2001 11:17:28 AM No, there is nothing too violent or creepy. It is the creepiness or violence of Kubrick/Spielburg's vision about life that may be unsettling. Definitely not for little kids, but for anybody over 12 or 13. This is a philosophical movie that is at times quite lyrical. 21097. Adrianne - 7/2/2001 11:17:59 AM 21098. glendajean - 7/2/2001 11:22:16 AM Adrianne, I would have described it as a "pouty, tortured soul" kind of crappy. But I didn't think it was his acting more than it was the script and direction. Silly movie. 21099. CalGal - 7/2/2001 11:31:25 AM He's just crappy in a kinda Tom Sellecky, hail-fellow-well-met kinda way. 21100. glendajean - 7/2/2001 11:34:00 AM There were moments in Perfect Storm where I thought Clooney was doing his best acting and moments when I had to laugh. 21101. CalGal - 7/2/2001 11:34:49 AM As I read somewhere else, he doesn't get much traction with his characters 21102. Adrianne - 7/2/2001 11:35:30 AM 21103. CalGal - 7/2/2001 11:40:42 AM Ad, 21104. glendajean - 7/2/2001 11:41:52 AM He was in "facts of life," the one about the girls who lived with their dorm mother. 21105. glendajean - 7/2/2001 11:43:22 AM A movie musical that gives characters traction.... hmmm, that's an interesting question. 21106. CalGal - 7/2/2001 11:43:31 AM Yeah, but that's what he did before ER. He was unknown before ER--I think he'd stirred a bit of attention as someone's cute extramarital boyfriend in that stupid show about Sisters the year before. 21107. Adrianne - 7/2/2001 11:43:51 AM 21108. glendajean - 7/2/2001 11:44:22 AM Roxane=Roseanne 21109. CalGal - 7/2/2001 11:50:49 AM A movie musical that gives characters traction.... hmmm, that's an interesting question. 21110. CalGal - 7/2/2001 11:52:31 AM Ad, 21111. Adrianne - 7/2/2001 11:54:33 AM 21112. glendajean - 7/2/2001 11:54:43 AM Well, personally, I can hum "Singing in the Rain." 21113. arkymalarky - 7/2/2001 11:56:15 AM Cal, 21114. arkymalarky - 7/2/2001 11:58:08 AM Shannon, 21115. CalGal - 7/2/2001 11:59:05 AM I did think it was an HBO show like WestWing or something like that. 21116. glendajean - 7/2/2001 12:00:35 PM The real Pappy O'Daniel was a Texas governor during the Depression. His band was called the Doughboys and they hawked flour on their radio show. 21117. glendajean - 7/2/2001 12:01:21 PM for a Texas inauguration... 21118. glendajean - 7/2/2001 12:02:35 PM The first time Lyndon Johnson ran for US Senate, he was defeated by Pappy O'Daniels (btw). 21119. Adrianne - 7/2/2001 12:02:40 PM 21120. arkymalarky - 7/2/2001 12:03:51 PM I've never thought Clooney was my type of good looking, but I did in O Brother. Must've been the dirt and/or that amazing pomade. 21121. arkymalarky - 7/2/2001 12:04:37 PM Right, GJ! I couldn't remember the details. 21122. CalGal - 7/2/2001 12:06:53 PM The early stuff, I found boring. In fact, I had to fight falling asleep. 21123. arkymalarky - 7/2/2001 12:07:24 PM Ralph Stanley sang "Death." Sometimes it's a good thing when your parents are a local phone call--don't know that it makes up for the hundreds of times when it's not. ;-) 21124. CalGal - 7/2/2001 12:11:25 PM OK, Sopranos, that one's cable, yes? 21125. CalGal - 7/2/2001 12:12:03 PM (relatively easier, of course) 21126. glendajean - 7/2/2001 12:13:05 PM The only other distinction I would make about MR over other movie musicals is that the songs weren't original to this story and when I think of a musical, I think of the collection of songs that go with it. 21127. CalGal - 7/2/2001 12:13:51 PM It also doesn't include Garner, who is in a class by himself--someone who effortlessly mastered both mediums early on and moved back and forth as he chose. He had no cutover risk because he already had standing in both communities. 21128. glendajean - 7/2/2001 12:14:25 PM The movie musicals that do what MR did, take old songs, are those like the one with Gig Young, Doris Day and Frank Sinatra. 21129. Adrianne - 7/2/2001 12:17:48 PM Huh. 21130. arkymalarky - 7/2/2001 12:21:56 PM A tv soulmate. 21131. CalGal - 7/2/2001 12:24:31 PM MR borrowed heavily, lifting existing music and reusing it in a whole new context. Was there an original song in this movie? 21132. CalGal - 7/2/2001 12:25:24 PM The movie musicals that do what MR did, take old songs, are those like the one with Gig Young, Doris Day and Frank Sinatra. 21133. glendajean - 7/2/2001 12:29:04 PM Cal, you're much more passionate about this than me, so in that case, you are a better gay man than me. 21134. CalGal - 7/2/2001 12:49:00 PM hahahah. 21135. glendajean - 7/2/2001 12:56:33 PM Well, I didn't think Gene Kelly wrote SIR (I probably always thought it was Hal Arlen, and I'm pretty sure that is wrong, too). 21136. CalGal - 7/2/2001 1:12:14 PM True. I have often marvelled at the strong character traction found in Ado Annie and Skye Masterson. 21137. glendajean - 7/2/2001 2:39:06 PM Ado Annie does have strong charactization, cartoonish as it is. Strong enough that she is so vivid. But I rather see a stage actress do it than see it on the screen. That's my personal bias. 21138. TabouliJones - 7/2/2001 3:01:20 PM Calgal, 21139. TabouliJones - 7/2/2001 3:03:53 PM Actually, as I was watching MR, I though of you a number of times. It seems that someone with a broader appreciation of movie musicals would be bound to really get a hoot out of Moulin Rouge. I read back to see you coments on Moulin Rouge and it seems that my insticts were right. 21140. TabouliJones - 7/2/2001 3:08:09 PM 21141. CalGal - 7/2/2001 3:09:15 PM The first time I saw it, with my father, it was in Kansas City--not even a full house. But it was a great audience that got all the references, laughed in all the right places. The second time, in San Francisco, the audience was nearly silent. 21142. CalGal - 7/2/2001 3:13:15 PM It seems that someone with a broader appreciation of movie musicals would be bound to really get a hoot out of Moulin Rouge. 21143. CalGal - 7/2/2001 3:14:14 PM The reviews I have read have all been in the fascinating-but-flawed-with-the-occasional-touch-of-magic mould. 21144. TabouliJones - 7/2/2001 3:16:02 PM I saw a horrible biopic about the wife of Gustav Mahler. It was just ghastly. Ebert gave it half a star, I think. Can't remember the name of the movie. It has some pretentious title, which should have been fair warning of the drivel to come. Only went to see it, because my ambiguous other wanted to see it. 21145. TabouliJones - 7/2/2001 3:17:46 PM Sorry for all of the typos. Is it just me, or does the i-Mac keyboard destroy one's typing skills. 21146. glendajean - 7/2/2001 3:17:57 PM My only regret about AI reviews is that they seem compelled to give all the story away, and it is one movie that would be more enjoyable as an unknown ride. 21147. CalGal - 7/2/2001 3:20:40 PM Has anyone seen The Golden Ball, I think it was called, with Nick Nolte and Jeremy Northam? 21148. TabouliJones - 7/2/2001 3:23:27 PM I read one surly review of AI, which said that Kubrick managed to pull off one of the most astonishing special effects of all time: he managed to bring down a movie from his grave. 21149. glendajean - 7/2/2001 3:30:01 PM Tobouli, I'd like to discuss it with you once you see it. I wrote about it up a littler earlier this morning. 21150. CalGal - 7/2/2001 3:33:18 PM It's kind of interesting that Kubrick got stalled on it and took it to Spielberg, saying, "This is your kind of movie." 21151. TabouliJones - 7/2/2001 3:38:10 PM Well I like a little pessimism in my movies. I have read that one of the strains caused by the putative Spielberg/Kubrick collaboration is that Kubrick tends to see machines as a sinister force, whereas Spielberg sees them as something to project fairy tales and fantasies. Of course, I have not seen AI, so i am not really qualified to comment. Hopefully, i will be able to see it soon and offer a more intelligent commentary. 21152. CalGal - 7/2/2001 3:40:20 PM At least it won't be the cutesy film I was expecting. 21153. Ms. No - 7/2/2001 3:44:54 PM I haven't seen A.I. yet and am not reading much about it for fear of spoilers. 21154. TabouliJones - 7/2/2001 3:47:02 PM 21155. TabouliJones - 7/2/2001 3:49:34 PM Ms. No, 21156. JudithAtHome - 7/2/2001 3:51:04 PM MsNo: 21157. CalGal - 7/2/2001 3:55:37 PM I hated City Hall. 21158. TabouliJones - 7/2/2001 4:00:28 PM Yeah, City Hall does suck, and I knew that it would going in. But, I just needed to see it and it put me in a good mood. Actually, I was surprised to see Paul Schraeder and Nicholas Pileggi received writing credits (along with two or three others). Too many cooks ruined what could have been a pretty good stew I guess. 21159. CalGal - 7/2/2001 4:03:11 PM I saw Days of Wine and Roses last night as part of an ongoing Jack Lemmon film festival. It occurs to me that Mancini: Blake Edwards as John Williams: Spielberg. 21160. glendajean - 7/2/2001 4:11:31 PM I read when Kubrick died that he was obsessed with A.I. (I think it was an essay by his collaborator on the script). He tinkered and toiled over it. 21161. Francis Urquhart - 7/2/2001 4:29:36 PM I saw Unbreakable. It wasn't unwatchable, but Ace's previous comments are accurate. M. Night Shymalan (sp) overrelies on mood and crafts scenes that should take little time into long, extended portraits. Bruce Willis (our hero) is not depressed or somber. He's borderline catatonic, which makes the time spent with him a hard row. 21162. LimeGirl - 7/2/2001 4:42:38 PM I really want to see Crazy/Beautiful. Because my husband made me go see AI, he has to go see C/B with me! 21163. glendajean - 7/2/2001 5:19:22 PM Cal -- in reference to your question about The Closet, here's an excerpt from an AP story today: 21164. CalGal - 7/2/2001 5:22:42 PM It's here in the City? I'll have to call up one of my friends. 21165. glendajean - 7/2/2001 5:27:50 PM I must have a heart of stone. Based on what I had read about the movie, I thought it was going to be very dark and pessimistic. 21166. LimeGirl - 7/2/2001 5:45:48 PM I didn't necessarily think it was dark and pessimistic -- as far as impact on society. I just felt like I was watching people make stupid decision after stupid decision. 21167. glendajean - 7/2/2001 6:03:54 PM Kubrick in his movies often made people full of crude and stupid behaviors. Does Spielburg? Some of his movies pit the scared little boy or the innocent against a harsh society, particularly ET. "Close Encounters" pits spirited everybodies against a sceptical world. His movie about the kid (Christian Bale) in Singapore during WWII separated from his family by the Japanese (Empire of the Sun? which I haven't seen and everybody is now calling "underrated). 21168. glendajean - 7/2/2001 6:08:51 PM In some ways, this movie harks to an eschatalogical (end times) theology that says our flesh (our bodies) are vile and diseased, and we must be liberated from them in the last days. What was Calvin's term, depraved? 21169. LimeGirl - 7/2/2001 6:22:53 PM That's what my husband said too, gj, that Kubrick tended to have people making bad decisions. One thing that did strike me about the movie was that none of the robots were whole people -- the nanny robot at the flesh fair just wanted to take care of David, David just wanted to be loved by his mother, Joe just wanted to sleep with women! 21170. Cellar Door - 7/2/2001 7:48:15 PM Are the creatures at the end of the movie "mechas"? I thought they were beings from another galaxy. 21171. ScottLoar - 7/2/2001 8:36:09 PM Message # 21167 There are moments in Empire of the Sun that are truly exhilirating (towards the end of the movie this boy who yearns the freedom of flight suddenly sees an American fighter plane come in low and hard across the P.O.W. camp after a bombing run, so close the boy can see the pilot, so close we can see the details of that plane rip across the years spent as a prisoner and the boy yells out with all his heart "P-51 Mustang! Cadillac of the skies!" and the plane rolls and speeds by and this boy will never be the same) and so touching (he sees what he thinks is the soul passing into heaven)and so true (the schemes of these prisoners, their pettiness, their calculated cruelty and their semblance of dignity and some few's faith in a civil life still remembered are never dramatized to incredibility) making this movie memorable. I say few movies are memorable. 21172. ScottLoar - 7/2/2001 8:42:38 PM The boy was separated from his parents in Hong Kong, not Singapore. I've read true accounts similar to some of the scenes from that movie, as when the boy climbs into the truck full of prisoners to point and scream the way, anything than to be left behind, and as when he returns lost to his parent's home, confused by the stillness of what he sees - naked footprints in the spilled face powder, the messed bed, the casual destruction throughout. 21173. Shannon - 7/2/2001 10:48:54 PM I guess one fat Southern politician in a white hat and coat looks like another to me. 21174. CalGal - 7/2/2001 10:52:36 PM Ha. 21175. Shannon - 7/2/2001 11:02:59 PM Yes, I think it was. He was Sela Ward's boyfriend. Possibly husband? 21176. CalGal - 7/2/2001 11:07:01 PM I remember a whiff of impropriety about it. But I never watched the show; the only fifteen minutes I ever saw was when I stopped flipping channels long enough to wonder who that really cute guy was. 21177. glendajean - 7/3/2001 10:43:15 AM Shannon, he also wrote "I've got a Mansion," a gospel song that was popular many years ago. 21178. JudithAtHome - 7/3/2001 10:47:09 AM You won't regret renting it, GJ...fantastic movie. 21179. ScottLoar - 7/3/2001 11:38:51 AM Glendajean, I'm glad Message # 21171 wasn't wasted. You be the judge of whether or not I'm accurate; I'd be interested in your opinion. 21180. glendajean - 7/3/2001 12:10:13 PM Your message wasn't wasted at all and in fact confirmed that I want to see the film. 21181. arkymalarky - 7/3/2001 12:46:47 PM Evidently I got two governor stories mixed up. 21182. RosettaStone - 7/3/2001 12:48:58 PM Evidently 21183. webfeet - 7/3/2001 1:49:34 PM I am dying to see The Closet, if only for Thierry Larmite, who also starred in Diner des Cons (The DInner Game) another french film that did really well in the US. 21184. ButterfieldSwire - 7/3/2001 2:09:51 PM CalGal- 21185. glendajean - 7/3/2001 2:21:18 PM I want to see the The Closet, too, but it will be awhile before it makes its way to the hinterlands. 21186. CalGal - 7/3/2001 3:25:40 PM Buttersfield, 21187. ScottLoar - 7/3/2001 3:35:48 PM Hank's partner in that highly-rated TV show did not jump to film even though by his talent as shown on that show was equal or superior to Hanks. I always thought him better than Hanks. 21188. CalGal - 7/3/2001 3:39:03 PM Peter Scolari. I liked him a lot, too. He went on to Newhart--in fact, he became a TV star again about the same time Hanks made Splash. He works pretty steadily, but has never been as well known as he was throughout the 80s. 21189. glendajean - 7/3/2001 3:40:46 PM Peter Scolari? He was wonderful in Newhart but have seen little of him since. He was certainly a better comedian than Hanks. What little I remember of Busom Buddies was that he was the better of the two. 21190. glendajean - 7/3/2001 3:40:53 PM Peter Scolari? He was wonderful in Newhart but have seen little of him since. He was certainly a better comedian than Hanks. What little I remember of Busom Buddies was that he was the better of the two. 21191. glendajean - 7/3/2001 3:41:26 PM oops --double x-post on my part 21192. JudithAtHome - 7/3/2001 3:42:51 PM But Hanks timing was better in that show... 21193. JudithAtHome - 7/3/2001 3:43:26 PM HA! Speaking of timing! 21194. Ms. No - 7/3/2001 3:43:53 PM Scott, 21195. glendajean - 7/3/2001 3:55:47 PM Some actors career goes in the opposite direction. David Hyde Pearce had bit roles in movies, had a role in a short-lived series that starred John Forsyth as a Senator (was it Forsyth?), and then made his mark in Frasier. He certainly deserves credit for the success of the show, and is particularly adept at physical comedy (think of the parrot scene with the parrot attached to his head who digs his claws everytime the doorbell rings). 21196. Ms. No - 7/3/2001 3:59:34 PM DHP is getting good reviews in Six Dancing Lessons in Six Days right now, isn't he? 21197. glendajean - 7/3/2001 4:10:20 PM I haven't heard of that movie/play? 21198. Cellar Door - 7/3/2001 4:15:12 PM It's a play that he's doing with Uta Hagen. 21199. glendajean - 7/3/2001 4:18:04 PM Ah, a stretch. 21200. CalGal - 7/3/2001 4:18:13 PM David Hyde Pierce, like Mahoney, is someone who moves back and forth between both mediums pretty effortlessly. Holland Taylor, Wendy Malick, and practically the entire West Wing cast (save Sheen and Lowe) are much the same. 21201. Cellar Door - 7/3/2001 6:38:52 PM And except for Sheen and Lowe, all the people you've mentioned are gay! 21202. LadyChaos - 7/3/2001 11:19:08 PM I went out and saw "A.I.", today. Has there already been a discussion of it? Haley Joe Osment carries this film on his back, without a doubt. It struck me that the film would have worked much better as a claustrophobic drama between David and the family -- more "The Shining" than "2001" or "E.T." If Spielberg had had the guts to keep the story focused on the family scenario throughout, rather than breaking away into episodic wanderings and ponderances, it might have developed into something more poignant. But that's just me talking. The film is troubling as it is, and perhaps that's the point. If we could pack a time capsule with one, pure and simple human emotion to send to beings in the future (or the outer cosmos?), it would probably be the deep longing of a child for his/her parents' love. That a robot could be the bearer of this message is a deeply ambiguous and difficult problem to resolve in one's mind. And for that reason, maybe the film isn't the failure that the critics are making it out to be. 21203. CalGal - 7/4/2001 2:51:07 PM If you haven't seen 1776 yet, the next five days offers you the opportunity. The Sherman Edwards play is converted in whole (save one song) to film, with most of the Broadway stars along for the ride. 21204. glendajean - 7/5/2001 11:06:04 AM I liked that movie. I have the CD for the fairly recent Broadway revival. 21205. CalGal - 7/5/2001 12:49:20 PM Really? Who was in the revival? 21206. glendajean - 7/5/2001 2:41:27 PM Here's a cast link for the original musical production, the movie and the 1997 Broadway revival. 21207. CalGal - 7/5/2001 3:17:03 PM Brent Spiner! Awesome. Is he any good? 21208. glendajean - 7/5/2001 3:56:42 PM I think the CD is awfully good, very similar sounding to my memory of the movie. 1776 (the revival) was nominated for a very few Tonys, but lost out to Cabaret (the revival). 21209. CalGal - 7/5/2001 4:32:16 PM I'll have to check out the CD. 21210. christipeters - 7/5/2001 5:22:38 PM I wanted to take LD and her friends to see MR last weekend, but they were all dead set against it (mostly, I think because they hadn't seen trailers for it). So we saw Evolution which was sorta cute, but predictable. 21211. glendajean - 7/5/2001 5:27:39 PM The Indianapolis audience was very quiet when I saw it, but there were only 6 of us in the theater. 21212. CalGal - 7/5/2001 5:30:11 PM Christi, let me know what you think of it. But remember that using pop songs is what all Hollywood musicals did. (g) Also, it's not a dancing musical, but a singing one. 21213. christipeters - 7/5/2001 5:38:47 PM CalGal - yeah, but I already knew that. I didn't pipe up during the discussion because what I would have said was already being said. If I like MR, it probably won't break my heart to see it again with LD. &:o) 21214. glendajean - 7/5/2001 5:42:35 PM Cal -- Yes, I think having an appreciative, large audience enhances watching movies. OTH, I prefer to watch them in empty theaters. No lines, I can sit far enough from yackers, hummers and snorers. Easy in and out. Get them over and still ahve time to run errands, fix a meal or garden. 21215. CalGal - 7/5/2001 5:46:17 PM yeah, but I already knew that. I didn't pipe up during the discussion because what I would have 21216. glendajean - 7/5/2001 5:51:08 PM Next up on the movie list: Cats and Dogs and Legally Blonde. 21217. christipeters - 7/5/2001 6:03:03 PM Oh YEAH! LD and I both want to see Cats and Dogs. 21218. Jamie R - 7/5/2001 6:08:43 PM Glendajean, I think we may have seen the same showing of MR. 21219. glendajean - 7/5/2001 6:13:56 PM The only reason that I want to see Legally Blonde is because Reese Witherspoon is in it. I was smitten by her in Election, one of my favorite movies. 21220. glendajean - 7/5/2001 6:14:26 PM Jamie R -- do you live in Indy? 21221. CalGal - 7/5/2001 6:54:33 PM Yes, don't you remember? He was one of the people I was looking forward to meeting when I got to Indy: you, Ase, and Jamie. 21222. JudithAtHome - 7/5/2001 7:59:24 PM Keoni and I like early shows because we've had bad experiences with audiences...people in theatres here are rude and talk, heckle, act like idiots. Keoni has this "official voice" and doesn't hesitate to use it when people are talking loudly during a movie. He once was applauded by all the people around us when he told these 2 teenagers to be quiet. 21223. Jamie R - 7/6/2001 10:06:46 AM I do think audience reaction adds to some movies, but it's always a risky proposition for me. If the audience is full of rude idiots it's very hard for me to tune them out. 21224. Jamie R - 7/6/2001 10:07:27 AM Whoops, sorry 'bout all that white space. 21225. CalGal - 7/6/2001 10:28:10 AM I had to get up and move it was so excruciating. 21226. christipeters - 7/6/2001 1:04:24 PM While I was visiting at Judith and Keoni's place, The Godfather was showing on TV. I didn't see the beginning, but was intrigued by what parts I did see. 21227. JudithAtHome - 7/6/2001 1:16:32 PM Keoni managed to convert me enough that I am going to go out and rent the 3 Godfather movies, 21228. christipeters - 7/6/2001 1:23:09 PM chuckle 21229. christipeters - 7/6/2001 1:30:25 PM I'm conflicted on my weekend movie plans. I had wanted to go to my favorite $2 theatre to see Moulin Rouge and A.I.. However, it is not showing MR. 21230. Frankster - 7/6/2001 7:04:50 PM There is an awful lot of director-speak that goes on in here frequently when rating movies, so here's a site that might interest some of you "directors" who are temporarily making a living in other fields. I saw it this morning on the KTLA Morning News and immediately thought of you guys in here. Hey, Spike Lee even gave the site a rave review. 21231. LimeGirl - 7/6/2001 10:28:31 PM We took the girls to see Cats and Dogs today. Neither of us were impressed. The girls seemed to like it though. Husband said that it was the worst movie he'd seen ever. I wouldn't go that far, but it just didn't seem like it ever went anywhere, and I kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing really did. 21232. Jamie R - 7/7/2001 8:47:47 AM I hope I disagree. I'll be very sad if Jeff Goldblum becomes an Officer Ugh sticker for movies. After Lost World and Independence Day I'm starting to wonder. 21233. joezan - 7/7/2001 9:56:01 AM Jeff Goldblum's one-dimensional character - which he totes around from film-to-film like a goiter is old, old, old. 21234. Francis Urquhart - 7/7/2001 10:23:29 AM Billy Elliot 21235. CalGal - 7/7/2001 11:10:48 AM The kid was really amazing in that movie. I thought the story sold Julie Walters character short in the end, which was too bad. 21236. Francis Urquhart - 7/7/2001 11:13:44 AM Cal 21237. Jamie R - 7/7/2001 6:24:38 PM Jeff Goldblum did a good turn as the devil in Mr. Frost. That wasn't quite to his now familliar type. I can't remember if Hideaway was because the movie was a totally unmemorable piece of crap. 21238. Francis Urquhart - 7/7/2001 6:41:34 PM I saw Sexy Beast. I'll write more on it later (I am off to dinner shortly), but if you haven't made up you mind about a film for the evening, go see this one. Best film of the year. I liken it, so you can get a quick sense, to Steven Soderbergh's The Limey. 21239. CalGal - 7/7/2001 6:42:15 PM I can't even remember many things that he's been in, apart from his three turns on the money maker list (unadjusted for inflation). 21240. Jean B. - 7/8/2001 12:01:51 AM May I interrupt for a quick question? We were watching CSpan today; there was an interview with Tom Brokaw & Clint Eastwood. Eastwood mentioned that one of his earlier movies was an English adaptation of Yojimbo. We've seen very few Eastwood movies, but are curious -- is "Hang 'em High" the Yojimbo takeoff? If not, which is it? We'd like to see it. 21241. AceofSpades - 7/8/2001 12:05:00 AM 21242. JudithAtHome - 7/8/2001 12:07:07 AM A Fistful Of Dollars is the spaghetti western you are looking for... 21243. JudithAtHome - 7/8/2001 12:07:33 AM x-post.... 21244. AceofSpades - 7/8/2001 12:07:45 AM 21245. Jean B. - 7/8/2001 12:46:58 AM Many Many Thanks! We'll rent it soon. 21246. AceofSpades - 7/8/2001 12:49:11 AM Adaptations 21247. AceofSpades - 7/8/2001 12:50:05 AM Hammett's Continental Op was not merely the spiritual father of Phillip Marlowe, Mike Hammer, and so many other hard-boiled gumshoes. The ever-anonymous Operative is the protagonist of Hammett's novel Red Harvest which, as the inspiration for Akira Kurosawa's film Yojimbo and its Western remake A Fist Full of Dollars, makes him the original "Man Without A Name." --GS 21248. AceofSpades - 7/8/2001 12:51:38 AM Trans-Cultural Influence At Its Best 21249. Jamie R - 7/8/2001 12:55:17 AM I just finished doing some work on the computer with The Piano on in the background. I confess I wasn't paying too much attention to it, just looking up now and then to see what all the noise was about. So it may be a very good movie in its own right. But... 21250. Jean B. - 7/8/2001 2:21:52 AM Ace, I am impressed! 21251. CalGal - 7/8/2001 2:13:53 PM Jamie, 21252. Toenails - 7/8/2001 10:58:45 PM 21253. christipeters - 7/9/2001 1:16:05 PM Well, I decided to go to the big luxurious multiplex, see both Moulin Rouge and A.I. and just skip the snacks as a bare nod to my budget. 21254. rubberducky - 7/9/2001 1:57:19 PM went to see A.I. yesterday. what can i say that hasn't been said here? 21255. CalGal - 7/9/2001 4:08:45 PM Both films--Moulin Rouge and AI--have been getting very extreme responses. 21256. LimeGirl - 7/9/2001 4:29:47 PM Joe Gigolo was my favorite part of AI! My problem with the plot was mostly that there were so many illogical decisions that could have been easily avoided. Like the mother leaving the boy in the woods -- why on earth would she do that, if she wants to save his feelings, being abandoned by her is the absolutely worst thing she can do. Could have been fixed by taking him back to the company and then letting him escape, if they wanted to see what he could do, and there were many things like that, that seem like they just weren't thought through. 21257. CalGal - 7/9/2001 4:36:41 PM I hear Bruce Davison is good, and I've always loved him. (he's the dad) 21258. Ms. No - 7/9/2001 5:09:37 PM LimeGirl, 21259. glendajean - 7/9/2001 6:53:01 PM Humans are flawed, destined for extinction. Their few redeeming qualities will have to live on in machines. 21260. Ms. No - 7/9/2001 7:12:12 PM A.I. 21261. Ms. No - 7/9/2001 7:13:03 PM A.I. cont. 21262. JudithAtHome - 7/9/2001 7:18:37 PM Nice job in reviewing, MsNO... 21263. CalGal - 7/9/2001 7:37:32 PM I wonder if we could keep tabs quickly on current films--I need to get Mote Movies updated, but for now, let's try Yea, Nay, or Eh (leave off if you haven't seen). 21264. CalGal - 7/9/2001 7:39:30 PM My takes thus far: 21265. MaxMacks - 7/9/2001 7:44:21 PM Cal G...most of those films I have not even heard of and I live in movie buff big time town. 21266. LimeGirl - 7/9/2001 8:00:29 PM A.I. Eh 21267. MaxMacks - 7/9/2001 8:12:58 PM Thanks for tip LG....My best flick recently was 21268. LimeGirl - 7/9/2001 8:32:04 PM I have heard other people say that they loved Cats & Dogs, but for me, it seemed long and boring. 21269. Toenails - 7/9/2001 8:45:45 PM 21270. Ms. No - 7/10/2001 12:04:51 AM A.I. - BIG YAY! 21271. rubberducky - 7/10/2001 8:56:20 AM A.I. - BIG NAY! 21272. glendajean - 7/10/2001 10:34:23 AM A.I. Yay 21273. christipeters - 7/10/2001 11:30:13 AM A.I. - YAY! 21274. rubberducky - 7/10/2001 11:45:42 AM Shrek is on my rental list. 21275. christipeters - 7/10/2001 12:06:14 PM I, too, am looking forward to Final Fantasy but I think I'll leave LD at home. I'm the sci-fi buff in the house. Like many girls in their early teens, LD is into relationship movies (which mostly bore me). I'm also looking forward to the effects on Final Fantasy. 21276. JudithAtHome - 7/10/2001 12:12:52 PM Pootie Tang stars Chris Rock.... 21277. christipeters - 7/10/2001 12:24:40 PM Thanks Judith. 21278. JudithAtHome - 7/10/2001 12:29:22 PM Sorry to be so redundant about the rating.... 21279. LimeGirl - 7/10/2001 12:49:21 PM It is PG-13. I was trying to decide if it was too much for the girls, or if I could spare my husband seeing it by taking them with me. Let me know what LD thinks of it! 21280. christipeters - 7/10/2001 12:53:18 PM Sure thing, Lime Girl. I'll be watching it on Saturday with three 13-yr-olds and one 14-yr-old, all girls, in tow. I will poll them for opinions. 21281. christipeters - 7/10/2001 4:46:42 PM Lime Girl - I won't be able to give you reactions to Legally Blonde for awhile yet, after all. 21282. Uzmakk - 7/11/2001 7:21:56 PM Saw Laura Croft. I have no time for that shit. 21283. Cellar Door - 7/12/2001 8:52:35 AM Cellar Door gos to Outfest 2001 21284. christipeters - 7/12/2001 2:09:55 PM Lime Girl - OK, I just checked the same damn online site for the same damn theater for the same damn day I did earlier this week. LD and friends decided they'd like to see Cats and Dogs, which I remembered was showing there and I needed times. Now it says that Legally Blonde IS showing this Saturday. 21285. LimeGirl - 7/12/2001 3:27:11 PM I had that issue with Cats and Dogs -- when I checked the listings a few days before it was opening, for opening day, it was playing almost nowhere, then a couple of days later, the listing showed it playing everywhere! Very annoying. 21286. Jamie R - 7/13/2001 9:30:52 AM Final Fantasy- eh. 21287. mgleason - 7/13/2001 9:39:58 AM It doesn't sound as though they simulated any of those things at all, Jamie, more like they recreated them - sort of like inventing synthetic B.O. 21288. rubberducky - 7/13/2001 10:01:58 AM that stinks. Ripley heard much of the same, so we've downgraded Final Fantasy to 'matinee' status. 21289. Jamie R - 7/13/2001 10:02:01 AM Hm, seguences = sequences. 21290. CalGal - 7/13/2001 2:01:19 PM Jamie, 21291. CalGal - 7/13/2001 2:02:58 PM I've read three good reviews for The Score; anyone seen a negative one? From what I understand, it is a good heist film. Reviews for Legally Blonde appear to be solid--it seems to be a screwball comedy of sorts? 21292. LimeGirl - 7/13/2001 2:22:09 PM My husband liked seeing the graphics in Final Fantasy. He was impressed with the hair, and the scenes where characters touched each other, especially a kiss, I think he said. I don't think the story made much of an impact on him. 21293. Jamie R - 7/13/2001 2:25:07 PM Calgal, I loved Moulin Rouge. I saw it twice the first night I saw it, and a third time later that same week. I'm hoping to see it at least one more time before it disappears, but it's only running in matinees in Indy now. 21294. CalGal - 7/13/2001 2:43:35 PM Oh, good, another fan(atic). I wonder what it is that draws some people in and leaves others out. I'm figuring it must be something at an emotional level (as well as the music, obviously). What did you think of the performances, music, and so on? 21295. CalGal - 7/13/2001 2:44:14 PM Did you do the summer movie checklist, Jamie? 21296. christipeters - 7/13/2001 2:58:34 PM CalGal - As someone who didn't like Moulin Rouge, I think it is that I didn't find anything to like about the characters in addition to finding the frenetic cutting annoying. 21297. CalGal - 7/13/2001 3:04:44 PM Christi, 21298. CalGal - 7/13/2001 3:05:27 PM LaV is just outstandingly gruesome and funny at the same time. The waiters just flat out kill me any time I stop laughing at the Duke and Harold. 21299. christipeters - 7/13/2001 3:17:04 PM CalGal - I am NOT holding MR to a different standard. I am a fan of musicals. By musical standards, I couldn't find anything to like about any of the characters in MR. 21300. CalGal - 7/13/2001 3:23:40 PM By musical standards, I couldn't find anything to like about any of the characters in MR. 21301. Laura C - 7/13/2001 3:30:15 PM Lena Lamont is appealing? 21302. CalGal - 7/13/2001 3:33:00 PM There really aren't that many great musical characters, particularly when you move outside of Broadway. 21303. Jamie R - 7/13/2001 3:34:51 PM Primarily it was the look of the movie that got to me. I loved the music in the theater (connected to all the visuals) but just like it OK on the CD. 21304. CalGal - 7/13/2001 3:40:14 PM It's totally ridiculous until he hits the opening of My Song (or whatever it's called.) It completely cuts through her act and she looks up very startled and completely defenseless. That expression just kills me, every time. 21305. CalGal - 7/13/2001 3:41:52 PM Especially at the end when the Duke is stalking the guy on the table and making those little pawing gestures at the air. 21306. christipeters - 7/13/2001 3:42:30 PM CalGal - Yeah but I wasn't referring to whether or not they were well-defined. Frankly, I don't expect musical characters to be well-defined. I didn't like them. Couldn't work up much sympathy or interest in their lives at all. So, that leaves me with - did I like the costumes, music, sets, the look of the movie, because I am willing to settle for a visual feast and there the frenetic cutting interfered too much for me to truly enjoy that. Still, like I said, I didn't hate the movie, as there were sections without the frantic cutting that let my eyes enjoy the color, and there were some really cute bits like the LaV one. 21307. CalGal - 7/13/2001 3:50:04 PM Christi, 21308. christipeters - 7/13/2001 5:42:08 PM CalGal - Well, (she says grumpily) I agree with you on what was the heart of the movie and I liked that scene. 21309. Francis Urquhart - 7/15/2001 10:16:01 AM The Score 21310. Francis Urquhart - 7/15/2001 10:41:07 AM Memorandum 21311. CalGal - 7/15/2001 1:18:37 PM I liked it more than that, although it's definitely a movie that plays better when you see it with popcorn and an audience. I agree that Costner is terrible and skews the movie. Greenwood is more than decent, though, and I don't see Culp's Bobby as borderline stupid. 21312. Erinys - 7/15/2001 3:58:13 PM I had hoped Moulin Rouge was playing at our local theatre last night, but my husband and I saw Dangerously Blonde instead. We were there, it was the only one starting that looked good - and it was! Very funny! I really liked Reese Witherspoon in Election, and it was another prissy role like that. 21313. christipeters - 7/16/2001 9:52:44 AM Lime Girl - The girls and I saw Legally Blonde on Saturday. They loved it and, in spite of not expecting to, I liked it, too. It is not great cinema, but it IS a well-done little movie. It sent the "don't judge by appearances" and "guys like that aren't worth keeping" messages quite well and was fun to watch, too. 21314. rubberducky - 7/16/2001 11:08:40 AM took in Final Fantasy over the weekend. it was simply stunning to look at. 21315. CalGal - 7/16/2001 12:05:10 PM Legally Blonde won the weekend, surprising everyone who expected Final Fantasy to kick ass. The Score was in second place, doing much better than their producers had hoped (19 instead of 18 mill). 21316. rubberducky - 7/16/2001 12:19:17 PM i think the reviews for Final Fantasy are the reason. 21317. vw - 7/16/2001 12:29:43 PM When Andrew Lloyd Weber’s 1973 movie release of the controversial rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar hit the movie theaters I was in heaven. I had already seen the Broadway production (which prior to Cats! held the record for longest running show) and was eager to see if the film managed to upset my generations “Pharisees” as thoroughly as the stage production had. 21318. vw - 7/16/2001 12:30:09 PM Based on the 1998 London production, director Gale Edwards attempts to freshen and up-date the story. Instead all she managed to do was introduce a whining angst ridden tone, similar to everything I hated about Rent, that is so popular with the Gen X viewer. 21319. vw - 7/16/2001 12:30:16 PM Maya Days sings the part of Mary Magdalene with a graceful conviction; it is unfortunate that the role is not meatier. Carter does a passable job at singing Christ, but he comes no where close to being able to produce the unearthly anguish demonstrated by Neely’s original performance. Instead Carter tries to make up for it by twisted facial expressions, which often left me wondering if Jesus had a bad case of stomach cramps. 21320. CalGal - 7/16/2001 12:33:11 PM That's the third good review I've read of JCSS revival here (indy and Christi were the other two), and again reminds me that the original is surprisingly solid, given that it's such a 70s movie. 21321. vw - 7/16/2001 12:34:02 PM good review? I thought it sucked!!! 21322. CalGal - 7/16/2001 12:35:45 PM Well written review. 21323. vw - 7/16/2001 12:40:53 PM Oh (duh) here you are telling me I did a good job and I go and misunderstnad you. Opps! and Thanks! 21324. CalGal - 7/16/2001 5:09:04 PM I Don't Get Ben Affleck 21325. OhioSTOPAS - 7/16/2001 5:27:10 PM It's hard to believe a woman would not find Ben Affleck handsome. He looks like a pretty good-looking guy to me. 21326. CalGal - 7/16/2001 5:52:40 PM Still meandering through Time online, I found this nice little nugget in an Emmy wrapup: 21327. glendajean - 7/17/2001 10:37:29 AM I saw the last half of Conspiracy and agree. It was incredibly compelling, and scarily believable in showing how a bureaucratic meeting determined the fate of millions of people. 21328. CalGal - 7/17/2001 10:43:48 AM GJ, 21329. glendajean - 7/17/2001 10:45:31 AM I saw the DVD for Topsy-Turvey. I may have to have it just for the 21330. CalGal - 7/17/2001 10:49:47 AM Did you notice that the "Short Sharp Shock" rehearsal is one uninterrupted take? No cuts, no closeups, just the four guys playing, singing, and talking. I'd buy the DVD for that scene alone. 21331. CalGal - 7/17/2001 10:50:18 AM 21332. glendajean - 7/17/2001 10:51:52 AM Sorry about the toys. 21333. Toenails - 7/18/2001 9:08:39 AM Conspiracy depicted a phenomenon of human relations that I've witnessed in a frighteningly similar context in the 50's and 60's, in the Southern U.S. -- the tendency to go with the flow when the Crazies are spouting their racist, hate-filled venom. 21334. CalGal - 7/18/2001 11:24:50 AM There are few things more difficult to do than stand up to what at least seems to be the dominant, almost-universally held viewpoint of one's peers. 21335. Indiana Jones - 7/18/2001 12:49:54 PM Saw Jules and Jim and have to say this is one of the "biggies" that I just don't get. Many French films seem to fall into this category: highly rated but unappreciated by moi. 21336. CalGal - 7/18/2001 12:58:00 PM It is probably an overstatement to say that most French films suck. But the disconnect between my tastes and "great" French films spans a galaxy or two. 21337. Indiana Jones - 7/18/2001 1:04:15 PM I liked Diabolique too. Haven't seen the other two--or I may have seen Beauty and the Beast a long time ago and just don't remember it. 21338. CalGal - 7/18/2001 1:09:20 PM It's true, you can't predict what will happen in French films. It is also true that in most cases I don't give enough of a damn to bother trying. 21339. Jenerator - 7/18/2001 1:15:01 PM I enjoy French films. I watched Tout Les Matins Du Monde the other day starring Webfeet's honey Gerard Depardieu. 21340. DanDillon - 7/18/2001 1:17:06 PM Jen said penis. 21341. CalGal - 7/18/2001 1:19:21 PM Oh, I'm just enjoying playing ugly American. There are other good French films. But the sensibilities of the French are so alien that it's safe to assume I will dislike it. Then if I enjoy it, so much the better. 21342. Jamie R - 7/18/2001 1:40:26 PM Beauty and the Beast, the black and white Cocteau movie? I liked that very much. I also like Betty Blue. Otherwise if something can be classified as either an art movie or an "intellectual" movie it's 9 - 1 I'm going to hate hate hate it, and I'm guessing that's mostly the kind of foreign film that ends up on the rental shelves. 21343. Ms. No - 7/18/2001 1:40:52 PM Favorite French Films off the top of my head: 21344. Indiana Jones - 7/18/2001 1:43:17 PM I also like Betty Blue. 21345. CalGal - 7/18/2001 1:44:57 PM Jamie, 21346. Indiana Jones - 7/18/2001 1:47:48 PM Good Betty Blue link, says 1986 21347. Ms. No - 7/18/2001 1:50:04 PM Jamie, 21348. JudithAtHome - 7/18/2001 1:53:54 PM I probably like more French film than I dislike...I liked: 21349. CalGal - 7/18/2001 2:03:32 PM Judith's list incorporates almost all of the films that encapsulates why I hate French movies. 21350. Jamie R - 7/18/2001 2:04:07 PM But hey, all the more reason to get a DVD. 21351. JudithAtHome - 7/18/2001 2:05:51 PM Cal, have you seen Bolero? 21352. CalGal - 7/18/2001 2:06:10 PM Jamie, 21353. Jamie R - 7/18/2001 2:10:10 PM Does The City of Lost Children count as a French film? (I seem to recall subtitles.) That was by the guy who went on to do Alien resurrection, right? (And doesn't he wish that one could quietly slip off of his resume.) 21354. CalGal - 7/18/2001 2:11:02 PM Judith, 21355. JudithAtHome - 7/18/2001 2:12:22 PM Ha...might as well include The 400 Blows! 21356. Ms. No - 7/18/2001 2:13:36 PM I loved the City of Lost Children and it's certainly listed as a French film. I didn't immediately think of it because visually it brings to mind Terry Gilliam and I can rarely think of him without thinking of Monty Python. 21357. JudithAtHome - 7/18/2001 2:16:34 PM I liked that one, too....and Dark City, which should have been French. 21358. glendajean - 7/18/2001 2:18:16 PM The only French movie that I hated was the Delicatessen. I think Webfoot recently spoke in favor of it. It's about a world where there isn't much meat and this one shop sells human meat. 21359. CalGal - 7/18/2001 2:20:24 PM Judith, 21360. JudithAtHome - 7/18/2001 2:23:25 PM I loved Diva! And the other one you mentioned, GJ... 21361. ElliottRW - 7/18/2001 10:06:10 PM The 400 Blows 21362. OhioSTOPAS - 7/18/2001 10:26:27 PM Just saw Jurassic Park III. Liked it. The dinosaurs were great - more realistic than ever - and I was disappointed when it ended. 21363. vw - 7/18/2001 10:29:09 PM That's good news because I was ready to swear off anything that started with Jurassic after the atrocity that was movie #2. 21364. OhioSTOPAS - 7/18/2001 10:31:36 PM I've only read one review so far, in today's Columbus Dispatch. The reviewer was negative, complaining the movie consisted too much of flesh-eating reptiles chasing humans. 21365. vw - 7/18/2001 10:34:04 PM (snerk) At the very least it generated some cool new Dino programs on Discovery Channel ... I'm an addict. 21366. CalGal - 7/19/2001 12:43:03 AM Spawn loved it. Anthony Lane wrote a very amusing review that you shouldn't miss, and Ebert spoke well of it, too. 21367. Shannon - 7/19/2001 9:12:04 AM I finally got to see O Brother, Where Art Thou. Very good. I was impressed with Clooney's performance--come to think of it, I don't think I've seen him in any movies before this. 21368. Cellar Door - 7/19/2001 9:20:16 AM French films arethe greatest: 21369. Cellar Door - 7/19/2001 7:22:05 PM 21370. Jamie R - 7/20/2001 10:05:50 AM Jurassic Park 3- This is a movie that wants to get the job done and then get you back home in time to catch Will and Grace. It delivers. 21371. ScottLoar - 7/20/2001 10:22:52 AM I saw Himalaya last night at a theatre specializing in arts-fartsy films and Himalaya surely qualifies. The movie begins as the body of the next-to-be chieftain is brought in on yak's back, followed by the beautiful widown grieving, the clever young son now lost and looking for a father figure, and the patriarch well past retirement of the chieftancy acccusing his son's best friend of the death. Hm, hm, hm. Big problem. The villagers need go down the mountain to trade their salt carried on yaks' backs for the food they'll need to get through the winter, but who's to lead the caravan? The rising new star (dead man's best friend) or the old man and his proven ways? So a reluctant protagonist is set against the old antagonist and two caravans make their way down the mountain on yaks' backs. I'll let y'all figure out the story. 21372. ScottLoar - 7/20/2001 10:23:34 AM Yes, the dialogue is Tibetan but relieved by subtitles. 21373. rubberducky - 7/20/2001 11:16:38 AM i also got in a viewing of Jurassic Park III last night. 21374. Jamie R - 7/20/2001 11:50:45 AM Sorry, my post didn't make it clear that this is indeed an incredibly stupid movie. Rubberducky is dead on right about that. 21375. LimeGirl - 7/20/2001 11:53:48 AM Thanks Christi! I think we're going to go see it this afternoon. 21376. rubberducky - 7/20/2001 12:01:37 PM *** J Park III spoilers*** 21377. Jamie R - 7/20/2001 12:17:37 PM I really can't disagree with most of that. Maybe I'll have to ponder a bit more why I left this movie feeling kinda bouncy and left Lost World vastly irritated. Somehow I found the awfulness of this movie endearing. 21378. rubberducky - 7/20/2001 12:20:18 PM Maybe I'll have to ponder a bit more why I left this movie feeling kinda bouncy... 21379. JudithAtHome - 7/20/2001 12:41:50 PM Wasn't there a time in history when parents who could not shut their children up actually removed them from the scene, rather than inflicting said noisiness on everyone else? 21380. CalGal - 7/20/2001 2:46:07 PM If you think kiddie movie matinees weren't loud and rambunctious 25 years ago you weren't going. 21381. Jamie R - 7/20/2001 3:03:04 PM Kiddie matinees are of course a whole different world in terms of expectations of behavior. 21382. rubberducky - 7/20/2001 3:16:56 PM imo, people in general are ruder, so i don't see it difficult to think that cinema behavior also has become ruder as well. 21383. janjon - 7/20/2001 3:19:45 PM rd has a point. Going to a movie in Manhattan can be a trying experience. Especially in the "arty" theaters and when the audience is more middle aged or even elderly than not. In addition to the normal types of rude behavior such as talking, you get many people getting up several times during a movie (bathroom trips I suppose). You also get more than one case of snoring. 21384. CalGal - 7/20/2001 3:27:32 PM I think there are certain populations of moviegoers who have increased, becoming a larger percentage of the whole. 21385. CalGal - 7/20/2001 3:33:35 PM Kevin Smith on Man For all Seasons 21386. JudithAtHome - 7/20/2001 3:35:30 PM I've been going to movies since I was 12 and I think Jamie is correct about people being more used to talking over videos as contributing to rudeness in theaters; it's a different dynamic than talking while TV is on. Lots of people wait for ads to come on during TV programs whereas with a video, you can always run it back if you just have to talk during it. 21387. CalGal - 7/20/2001 3:38:02 PM Are you saying that every single movie you go to now has a noisy, rude audience? 21388. rubberducky - 7/20/2001 3:40:11 PM CG: 21389. CalGal - 7/20/2001 3:41:33 PM Ducky--yeah, but it's free. 21390. glendajean - 7/20/2001 3:44:11 PM I agree with Judith, which is one reason why I stick to early, barely attended matinees. 21391. JudithAtHome - 7/20/2001 3:47:28 PM No, I'm not saying that because I usually go to fairly empty theaters. But the FEW crowded, crammed theaters I've been to have been relatively full of people who think nothing of talking to their friends in a normal tone of voice or who bring children to inappropiate films and let them run wild or bring infants and let them cry throughout the film til someone like my friend Jamie yelled out "Lose the kid!" during Titanic and the audience broke into applause... 21392. rubberducky - 7/20/2001 3:50:07 PM oh yeah... 21393. CalGal - 7/20/2001 3:59:13 PM Judith, 21394. OhioSTOPAS - 7/20/2001 3:59:54 PM A dissent: Maybe I'm oblivious, but I haven't experienced a lot of rude behavior in movies. And that's even though most of the movies I go to have a relatively young audience (because when I go to the movies it's usually with one or more of my kids). Maybe it's because the volume of the lowbrow movies I see is turned up so high I couldn't hear someone talking anyway, but I'm rarely disturbed by someone talking in the movies. 21395. CalGal - 7/20/2001 4:01:55 PM Ohio, 21396. janjon - 7/20/2001 4:05:37 PM Leaving aside the movies where I attend with one or the other kid (actually, the daughter is at the stage where she "prefers" not to go to movies with either me or my wife), I would have to say that the movie audiences I encounter, even the mature know-it-all-New-Yorker-type-of-patron "artsy" ones referred to above, aren't much worse in the noise or other rude behavior categories than the usual theater crowd - where people are paying a lot more than the (nevertheless exhorbitant) price to go to a movie. 21397. OhioSTOPAS - 7/20/2001 4:05:57 PM You'd think cell phones would be going off during movies (since there's no place free of that annoyance), but I can't recall ever hearing one in a movie. 21398. JudithAtHome - 7/20/2001 4:08:43 PM I'm sure my experiences are not representational at all because we prefer going to early shows after the movie has run for awhile for precisely that reason...to avoid crowds. And I never said we sat there suffering in silence; Keoni has no qualms about turning and telling people to keep it down. However, I don't like to have to resort to that in order to enjoy a movie. 21399. mgleason - 7/20/2001 4:11:25 PM My experience in the movie theaters around here is that there is a buzz of conversation during the previews which dies down right away when the movie begins. We don't see many movies where little kids are a significant part of the audience, but there are always lots of teens. 21400. PsychProf - 7/20/2001 4:12:07 PM Judith...are they shooting their guns, bringing horses along, allowing grazing cows inside...what's the story? 21401. mgleason - 7/20/2001 4:15:10 PM It's a Tom Mix crowd, Prof; they're under the impression that the term 'talkies' refers to preferred audience behavior. 21402. JudithAtHome - 7/20/2001 4:15:34 PM That's about it, PP...and spitting tobacco and hurling lassoes at the finer looking fillies in the audience... 21403. PsychProf - 7/20/2001 4:16:34 PM Sounds like my kinda people... 21404. CalGal - 7/20/2001 4:21:12 PM Every so often I'll go to a movie where teens are disruptive, but the ushers are on their ass in a heartbeat. And even then it's only at the theater complexes that skew towards teens. 21405. racehorse - 7/20/2001 4:40:23 PM It's a cultural thing, though I do not talk at the screen. 21406. mgleason - 7/20/2001 4:45:50 PM We talk to the screen all the time while watching videos, as in, 'What, are you nuts?' and 'That's right, go down to the basement by yourself!' 21407. PsychProf - 7/20/2001 4:47:54 PM The TV is like a talking member of our family... 21408. janjon - 7/20/2001 4:48:00 PM Do you ever rewind a bit, just to have the chance to say it to them a second time to make sure they got the message? 21409. mgleason - 7/20/2001 4:49:20 PM I'll be very careful not to suggest that to my husband, Janjon, or we'll never get through another video again! 21410. PsychProf - 7/20/2001 4:50:24 PM JanJon...that or pause it so they can't get away...tell them to know themselves in a biblical way and, indeed , also the horse they rode in on. 21411. PsychProf - 7/20/2001 4:52:56 PM I wanna watch a video with Mr Ed. 21412. mgleason - 7/20/2001 4:57:27 PM You would have been in heaven, Prof, watching The Comfort of Strangers with him. Would that Rupert Everett had listened to all his sage advice! 21413. Ms. No - 7/20/2001 5:04:30 PM My roommate and I have some wildly divergent views on which are the best theaters to see movies at here in LA. We're agreed that our absolute favorite is the Mann Village in Westwood. It's a vintage theater that's been beautifully maintained but it also has a gigantic screen, excellent sound, cheap, easy parking and it's not too far from home. 21414. janjon - 7/20/2001 5:06:58 PM I thought that all movie theaters in LaLa Land had valet parking. 21415. janjon - 7/20/2001 5:07:27 PM The Mann Village is a terrific theater, I agree. 21416. Ms. No - 7/20/2001 5:08:28 PM Maria, 21417. mgleason - 7/20/2001 5:12:14 PM I have a lot of time for Pinter, Ms. That film has provided much fodder for conversation. 21418. Ms. No - 7/20/2001 5:13:41 PM Janjon, 21419. JudithAtHome - 7/20/2001 5:15:53 PM The dread in that movie is surpassed only by The Sheltering Sky...I was creeped by both enormously. 21420. Ms. No - 7/20/2001 5:16:58 PM Maria, 21421. Cellar Door - 7/20/2001 5:38:08 PM Pure Surrealism -- and Not For the Faint of Heart. 21422. CalGal - 7/20/2001 5:51:42 PM Race, 21423. racehorse - 7/20/2001 5:55:34 PM I don't know that it is at all income-related. 21424. Ms. No - 7/20/2001 6:28:01 PM The theater closest to my house----the Mann Culver----has a large black and latino patronage. I've found them to be less vocal in this neighborhood than in other cities although it does depend somewhat on the film and which showing I attend. My neighborhood is pretty mixed, a lot of renters but also a lot of home owners as well as businesses----very close to Sony Studios and the municipal bldgs of Culver City. There are plenty of both blue and white collar workers as well as retirees and service industry employees. At least three elementary schools and two highschools within three miles. 21425. Frankster - 7/20/2001 7:03:25 PM This gem of a movie was my first and most memorable "interactive" experience at a movie theatre ever! 21426. JudithAtHome - 7/20/2001 7:17:01 PM And now you can enjoy her every week in That 70s Show. 21427. Frankster - 7/20/2001 7:22:14 PM Yeah, but is she in loin cloth ? 21428. Shannon - 7/20/2001 11:02:42 PM I've only heard a cell phone once in a movie, I think. Of course, I don't get out much. 21429. joezan - 7/22/2001 10:56:18 AM Brought our older (9) daughter to see Jurassic Park III yesterday. It was 95ºF with 100% humidity outside, so there was no better place to be. So much for my motivation for seeing this movie. (Although I did really like JP-1). 21430. joezan - 7/22/2001 11:03:37 AM OH! - and the crowd... 21431. mgleason - 7/22/2001 2:07:54 PM Two oldies but goodies on deck for tonight: Hope and Glory (Thank you, Adolf!) and Sleuth. 21432. JudithAtHome - 7/22/2001 2:10:16 PM If you want to see him at his most beautiful get Zulu and look at his face...eyelashes and that myopic stare...yum. 21433. mgleason - 7/22/2001 2:13:41 PM I haven't seen Zulu in a dog's age, Judith! Thanks for the reminder. 21434. CalGal - 7/22/2001 2:38:56 PM AMC shows Zulu at the oddest hours of the day in night--in letterbox. To the best of my knowledge, they've got the only good print. The DVD quality is poor, from what I've read. I wonder if they are planning on a theatrical release? 21435. Toenails - 7/23/2001 6:40:05 AM 21436. CalGal - 7/23/2001 7:34:28 AM Irony alert. 21437. CalGal - 7/23/2001 7:37:31 AM 21438. CalGal - 7/23/2001 7:41:24 AM For all its fame and readily acknowledged influence, Rififi has been almost completely unavailable for most of the 45 years since its release. Rialto has performed another rescue, and they released the results last fall. I caught the movie in a second-run art house; look for it in your neighborhood. The DVD contains a 1998 interview with Dassin who participated in the restoration and helped rewrite the subtitles. 21439. ElliottRW - 7/23/2001 9:16:44 AM Almost makes me want to see the film, CalGal. 21440. glendajean - 7/23/2001 11:36:51 AM Because it was ungodly hot and humid, because I like John Cusack and Billy Crystal, because it was there ... I saw America's Sweethearts yesterday. 21441. CalGal - 7/24/2001 1:35:07 AM I've always wondered what really happened at Rorke's Drift; just now I found a site that describes the history, what happened to all the VC winners, and mentions the various inaccuracies in Zulu. Fun reading; I can't swear as to its accuracy. 21442. JudithAtHome - 7/24/2001 10:19:27 AM In the program we watched last week they said the Martini-Henry rifles could've overheated and jammed plus the ammo boxes were shut with a long screw; in the heat of battle, they had to bash the boxes open and this was proved by finding several crooked screws and re-creating how the butts of the rifles hitting the tops of the wooden boxes bent the screws. 21443. Francis Urquhart - 7/24/2001 10:53:52 AM The Gift 21444. Francis Urquhart - 7/24/2001 11:18:45 AM Dude, Where's My Car 21445. janjon - 7/24/2001 11:22:21 AM Dude, Where's My Car and Saving Silverman? Were you hosting an 11 year old nephew or something? 21446. Francis Urquhart - 7/24/2001 11:23:34 AM Janjon 21447. janjon - 7/24/2001 11:27:04 AM funny, I would have guessed at least a couple years more. Maturity-wise, that is. 21448. Francis Urquhart - 7/24/2001 11:29:10 AM Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude! 21449. janjon - 7/24/2001 11:30:12 AM but, I obviously was wrong. 21450. Ms. No - 7/24/2001 11:42:30 AM Francis, 21451. Francis Urquhart - 7/24/2001 11:46:54 AM Ms. No 21452. arkymalarky - 7/24/2001 11:51:26 AM Oooh, isn't that the truth. It's why I can't stand Jessica Lange. Just seeing a tiny excerpt and hearing her drawl in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" was enough. And it really grates on a Southerner to hear that. We get enough of it irl to make our teeth hurt. 21453. CalGal - 7/24/2001 11:51:28 AM I think it's best to consider Boys Don't Cry an anomaly. Swinton's TV work is much more indicative of her speed. 21454. Cellar Door - 7/24/2001 12:13:38 PM You mean Swank, not Swinton. 21455. Ms. No - 7/24/2001 12:16:22 PM CG, 21456. CalGal - 7/24/2001 12:24:01 PM I meant Swank, sorry. I don't care for Swinton, either, but that's a different issue. 21457. rubberducky - 7/24/2001 12:54:59 PM rented O Brother, Where Art Thou? and i enjoyed it. could've been funnier - a lot gags just didn't pan out. it's not the fault of the 3 leads, though, as they were fantastic. 21458. CalGal - 7/24/2001 1:01:28 PM Singing or speaking? Clooney didn't do his own singing--he tried, but it wasn't good enough. The other two are singing. His speaking voice is fabulous, though. 21459. rubberducky - 7/24/2001 1:03:10 PM singing voice, CG. good catch. well, whoever sang was pretty good. the other two did a good job in the singing department. especially the yodel! very funny. 21460. CalGal - 7/24/2001 1:07:27 PM The yodel was hysterical. You do know that the soundtrack is still a bestseller? It's very good, and includes every song from the film. 21461. racehorse - 7/24/2001 1:08:47 PM The singing scenes were great. I saw Clooney recently in "The Perfect Storm." I never really noticed how dark his complexion is--it was an interesting aspect of OBWAT. 21462. Ms. No - 7/24/2001 1:10:15 PM "We thou-ought yooo wuz uh toad." 21463. Francis Urquhart - 7/24/2001 1:15:06 PM Cal 21464. Jamie R - 7/24/2001 1:19:00 PM Nobody has mentioned Swank's ground breaking work in The Next Karate Kid. 21465. CalGal - 7/24/2001 1:23:47 PM There are two versions of "I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow" on the CD. One is performed by the singer who dubbed for Clooney and his band. The other is done by the Soggy Bottom Boys, and I believe that one is the dubber and the two actors. I'll see if I can find the articles again. 21466. ElliottRW - 7/24/2001 1:44:15 PM I saw the first 30 minutes of Zulu last night before I went to bed. It was not quite good enough to keep me awake, but certainly interesting enough to make me wish I had a blank VCR tape. Guess I'll watch the rest next month. 21467. CalGal - 7/24/2001 1:46:51 PM The one on last night wasn't letterboxed, which it has been every other time I've seen it. If you're going to tape it wait for the letterbox--I think they must alternate. 21468. JudithAtHome - 7/24/2001 1:49:17 PM There are two versions of "I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow" on the CD. 21469. racehorse - 7/24/2001 1:58:09 PM Zulu is a fantastic movie. Do tape it, if you get a chance. 21470. ElliottRW - 7/24/2001 4:49:09 PM One of the things I found interesting about Zulu was the variety of viewpoints: the preacher, an anonymous observer at the site of the massacre, the engineer at the bridge, the thief in the infirmary, the leiutenant shooting ineffectually at a leopard, the whiny cook crying over his soup, etc. No one character seems to own the story; it's quite apparently about all of them and their shared fate. 21471. rubberducky - 7/27/2001 9:14:06 AM more evidence that the borg-like companies can't / won't understand the 21st century marketplace: 21472. ElliottRW - 7/27/2001 9:28:28 AM ducky, 21473. rubberducky - 7/27/2001 9:42:38 AM i don't think Buena Vista (aka Disney-borg) gets that they will only hurt their sales if they try to be the sole focal point of sales of their product. why else allow these people to show the trailers in a store, but not online? they are pissed that the don't have a bigger presence in the online sales market. this is, imo, bad PR if it gets out in the press as looks it looks like a big company picking on smaller ones (remember Microsoft and the Australian kids charity?) 21474. Jenerator - 7/27/2001 2:42:21 PM I love watching the Independent Film Channel (IFC) to see obscure movies, but last night was pretty bad. For some reason, I awoke at 3 am sharp. Not sure what to do, I flipped on the television. The movie "Kissed" just started. It was by and large one of the worst movies I have ever seen! 21475. Jenerator - 7/27/2001 2:45:44 PM More in a minute... 21476. Absensia - 7/27/2001 3:00:47 PM Hey Jen, 21477. Jenerator - 7/27/2001 3:32:56 PM Absensia, 21478. Jenerator - 7/27/2001 3:40:58 PM Movie Critique Continued. 21479. Absensia - 7/27/2001 3:53:21 PM Jen, 21480. PelleNilsson - 7/27/2001 4:07:43 PM Jen 21481. marshame - 7/27/2001 4:09:06 PM Thanks Jen. I was planning a trip to Blockbusters right after work, and now, you've made my trip easier. Hope all the copies haven't been checked out, though! 21482. glendajean - 7/27/2001 4:10:23 PM Actually, according to the HBO dramatic series Six Feet Under, the bodies of men can get erections after death. Evidently, undertakers have a term for it, angel lust, or something like that. 21483. marshame - 7/27/2001 4:12:06 PM I don't get HBO - what's Six Feet Under about? 21484. PsychProf - 7/27/2001 4:13:03 PM According to latest stats, over 20% of men under 35 can't get consistent erections when alive. 21485. seadate - 7/27/2001 4:14:52 PM Ugh ... marshame was telling the truth. 21486. marshame - 7/27/2001 4:16:09 PM C'mon Seadate, surely such a wordly wise person as yourself has something to contribute. Perhaps a "body" in every port?? 21487. marshame - 7/27/2001 4:17:29 PM "over 20% of men under 35 can't get 21488. PsychProf - 7/27/2001 4:19:01 PM Marshame...good to see you posting. 21489. Jenerator - 7/27/2001 4:19:55 PM How do I word this a polite way? 21490. PelleNilsson - 7/27/2001 4:21:48 PM glenda 21491. PelleNilsson - 7/27/2001 4:22:50 PM Hi marshame! Long time. 21492. greg smith - 7/27/2001 4:23:39 PM I think I'll go to bed with a sheet covering me...maybe my wife will investigate... 21493. Frankster - 7/27/2001 4:24:44 PM I wonder what the stats for the over 35 crowd is. 21494. PelleNilsson - 7/27/2001 4:25:55 PM Jen 21495. seadate - 7/27/2001 4:30:51 PM I expect I'll be dead before I sit out an entire artistic European movie. I wonder if some freaky chick will take advantage of me. 21496. marshame - 7/27/2001 4:36:22 PM Hi PP, Hi Pelle. Having a very busy summer. Barely time to post. But so glad I popped in today to hear about this "must see" movie!! 21497. Jenerator - 7/27/2001 4:37:21 PM Pelle, 21498. marshame - 7/27/2001 4:37:53 PM Jenerator 21499. Jenerator - 7/27/2001 4:40:54 PM Hmmmmmm. 21500. marshame - 7/27/2001 4:42:36 PM I think the secret to understanding the obviously esoteric existential meaning of this film is in what Jenerator described as "her only look -- the glooming forlorn stare into the camera." 21501. Jenerator - 7/27/2001 4:44:47 PM Marsha, 21502. marshame - 7/27/2001 4:45:46 PM And we dare not overlook the medical student. Not only does he have time to become obsessed with this girl's necrophilia, but he also keeps two-inch in diameter rope around his conveniently raftered apartment, and he just so happens to be an expert in knot tying, particularly the hangman's knot!! Very suspicious, I'd say. 21503. Jenerator - 7/27/2001 4:48:13 PM Yeah, but how do you explain the symbolic imagery of the dead bird and its burial? 21504. Jenerator - 7/27/2001 4:54:27 PM Pelle, 21505. PelleNilsson - 7/27/2001 4:56:07 PM seadate 21506. CalGal - 7/27/2001 5:10:44 PM I love that piece. It is still in my files awaiting the construction of "serendipity" on MoteMovies, but y'all keep me so busy with straight reviews that I never get the time. 21507. Cellar Door - 7/28/2001 12:12:19 AM Just in from a screening of "The Deep End" -- a truly excellent remake of Ophuls "The Reckless Moment." The big change is instead of Geraldine Brooks as the rather unsympathetic daughter who accidentally kills her gangster boyfriend it's a quite sympathetic son (Jonathan Tucker)whose fight with his sleazy disco-owner boyfriend (Josh Lucas) leads to the later's death. Directors Scott McGehee & Savid Siegel (whose "Suture" I have yet to see) do a splendid job of updating late 40's noir to the present -- without any self-conscious effects or "style." They are of course helped in more ways that it's possible to imagine by their star, the luminous Tilda Swinton 21508. CalGal - 7/28/2001 4:24:31 AM AMC is running a 2-hour documentary on the original Planet of the Apes series, originally filmed for the 30 year anniversary. Narrated by Roddy McDowell and including interviews from all surviving major cast and crew, it is both entertaining and informative, even when it is covering the sequels--the producer wisely focused most of the time on the original and Escape, the second sequel, generally considered the strongest. 21509. racehorse - 7/28/2001 8:55:38 AM I saw that documentary a couple years ago. Chris Sarandon was in the TV series, which I vaguely remember from my childhood. 21510. CalGal - 7/28/2001 1:38:41 PM Was it Chris Sarandon? I remember Joe Naughton, or Jerry Naughton, or something. There was a cartoon series, too. 21511. JudithAtHome - 7/28/2001 1:41:15 PM David Naughton maybe? The Dr. Pepper Kid... 21512. CalGal - 7/28/2001 1:46:14 PM That's it, James. 21513. racehorse - 7/28/2001 2:01:14 PM Oh, then I'm confused. 21514. mgleason - 7/29/2001 9:00:18 PM I've just ordered all the Saints with George Sanders in them, five in all. He was never happy with these films, but I think he was the best Simon Templar of all. 21515. mgleason - 7/29/2001 9:43:48 PM And speaking of George Sanders, I started re-reading The Midwich Cuckoos, upon which Village of the Damned was based. I ordered that, too, as well as Children of the Damned, not a real sequel, but lots of campy fun. 21516. AceofSpades - 7/29/2001 10:27:32 PM 21517. AceofSpades - 7/29/2001 10:36:40 PM 21518. CalGal - 7/29/2001 10:40:36 PM I like The Midwich Cuckoos--after The Kraken Wakes and Day of the Triffids it's my favorite Wyndham. The movie is pretty good, too. 21519. AceofSpades - 7/29/2001 10:41:05 PM 21520. AceofSpades - 7/29/2001 10:42:31 PM 21521. AceofSpades - 7/29/2001 10:52:15 PM 21522. Cellar Door - 7/29/2001 11:21:44 PM Don't miss "The Adventures of Felix," Ace. You'll love it! 21523. rubberducky - 7/30/2001 10:23:18 AM i took in the 're-imagined' Planet of the Apes this weekend and was disappointed. 21524. mgleason - 7/30/2001 10:34:31 AM Thanks, Ace. Is The Fourth Protocol the one with Pierce Brosnan? I can happily watch Michael Caine in almost anything, and the young Brosnan was very good at portraying a sullen Irish tough, probably because he was playing himself. 21525. mgleason - 7/30/2001 10:35:54 AM RD, will you tell me in white font how it ends? I'm curious. 21526. christipeters - 7/30/2001 10:42:08 AM I had a lazy fun Friday and Saturday watching movies on TV. LD and I watched Long Walk Home together. It was about the bus boycott in Atlanta (?) with Whoopie Goldberg and Cissy Spacek. It was very well done and sparked some good discussion between LD and I. 21527. Frankster - 7/30/2001 10:43:54 AM 21528. rubberducky - 7/30/2001 10:50:36 AM MG: 21529. mgleason - 7/30/2001 10:52:47 AM You're a prince! And that ending is lame. 21530. AceofSpades - 7/31/2001 12:09:38 PM 21531. AceofSpades - 7/31/2001 12:11:21 PM 21532. Cellar Door - 7/31/2001 6:26:38 PM A reporter for the Chicago Tribune called me today for a story they're doing on John Cameron Mitchell and "Hedwig." I told them his casual outness was the wave of the future. 21533. CalGal - 8/1/2001 5:32:14 AM M 21534. ScottLoar - 8/1/2001 8:54:28 AM How is M "intended as an indictment of Nazism"? I divined no such intent. The theme of M seems to me that of a morality play, not as a philosophical platform for the advancement of Nationalist Socialism, and like any good morality play the heinous nature of one benighted man is contrasted against the goodness of humanity and without any surprise at all good thoroughly triumphs over evil. But an indictment of Nationalist Socialism? What audience in the '30s would think so? 21535. ScottLoar - 8/1/2001 9:59:59 AM Note my comments refer to content and not cinematography for which M is justly acclaimed. 21536. Jenerator - 8/1/2001 10:04:06 AM [David, any *REALE evidence Cruise is gay? Going to Madonna's concert with her gay brother doesn't prove anything to me. I'm heterosexual, and I'd attend KD Lang's concert with Melissa Ethridge, so what!] 21537. Cellar Door - 8/1/2001 10:43:53 AM Oh lighten up, Jen. 21538. Jenerator - 8/1/2001 11:45:10 AM Cellar, 21539. Cellar Door - 8/1/2001 1:11:09 PM Actually finding him dead in a gutter with his throat slashed would really make me happy. 21540. CalGal - 8/2/2001 1:14:37 PM Scott, 21541. AceofSpades - 8/2/2001 1:16:43 PM 21542. CalGal - 8/2/2001 1:17:01 PM The police are brutally repressive in their attempts to find the murder, the society is compliant with this priority, the criminals are presented as repulsive, the public is dangerous and ready to gang up in groups to do that which they can't do as individuals--Most of the shots are brilliantly claustrophobic, but everything is in shadow--he didn't appear to have a very admiring view of Berlin. 21543. Cellar Door - 8/2/2001 1:51:56 PM The extent of Von Harbou's influence on Lang can be argued over from here to the moon. I can see it in "Metropolis" and some of their other films, but not so much in "M." In many ways it recalls "The Threepenny Opera." Here the "lowlifes" rise up to track down a murderer because he's giving their business a bad name. 21544. Cellar Door - 8/2/2001 1:53:30 PM "I'm pretty sick of Queeney's constant death-threats." 21545. Francis Urquhart - 8/2/2001 2:03:37 PM Cal 21546. rubberducky - 8/2/2001 2:14:38 PM William H. Macy is good, but he almost always is, so it is no recommendation. 21547. AceofSpades - 8/2/2001 2:15:00 PM 21548. AceofSpades - 8/2/2001 2:15:44 PM 21549. rubberducky - 8/2/2001 2:21:41 PM AoS: 21550. AceofSpades - 8/2/2001 2:25:07 PM 21551. Francis Urquhart - 8/2/2001 2:28:10 PM I like Macy. He does everyman well, but he is soulful and his timing is always right, be it for Mamet or others. 21552. CalGal - 8/2/2001 2:46:56 PM I'm not sure how "Nazi" German society was in 1931. To the extent M is critical of then-German society, it may be a paen to then-growing National Socialism. 21553. glendajean - 8/2/2001 2:48:50 PM Hitler didn't become Chancellor until 1933. 21554. CalGal - 8/2/2001 2:50:22 PM Have you read Siegfried Krakauer's "From Caligari to Hitler"? 21555. CalGal - 8/2/2001 2:53:46 PM GJ, 21556. glendajean - 8/2/2001 3:12:57 PM My grasp of Weimar Republic Germany is fuzzy (including the spelling of Weimar, although I once saw the founding president's grave outside of Heidelburg). But I believe Hitler wasn't taken all that seriously or was just once of a few competing noisy factions prior to his party getting 34% or such in an election. The country was fractured, powers that be thought Hitler could be manipulated and controlled and used, and pushed him on President Hindenburg. It wasn't until Hitler was in power that he controlled the culture and would have had the effect being either threatening or overpowering in a cultural sense. 21557. AceofSpades - 8/2/2001 3:20:44 PM 21558. CalGal - 8/2/2001 3:38:43 PM I was only asking if Hitler was around, if he was someone Lang knew. He certainly was acquainted with Goebbels (sp). Also, the Nazis had some power, at least, since he was forced to change the title of the film--it was originally entitled "Murderers Among Us" and the Nazis took it personally. 21559. Cellar Door - 8/2/2001 3:41:12 PM Read Lotte Eisner on Lang. 21560. Cellar Door - 8/3/2001 11:46:18 AM Well I saw it last night and quite enjoyed it. 21561. CalGal - 8/3/2001 11:51:55 AM Am I missing context? What movie are you talking about? 21562. Cellar Door - 8/3/2001 11:54:58 AM "Apocalypse Now Redux" 21563. CalGal - 8/3/2001 4:20:55 PM Oh, I remember reading it was coming out. I was just thinking of it last night--was watching Tender Mercies on AMC and thinking about Duvall. 21564. iiibbb - 8/3/2001 4:35:16 PM AI 21565. CalGal - 8/3/2001 4:36:33 PM Yeah, I read about the ending and decided I could wait til DVD. Bleah. 21566. ElliottRW - 8/3/2001 5:05:14 PM Earlier this week, "Mutiny on the Bounty" came on at 9:00 -- too late for a 3-hour movie -- so I scrounged up a tape, set the speed to long-play, and popped it in. So last night I'm watching the movie and shortly after the part where the mutiny takes place the tape starts having glitches..strange zipping sounds and split second fast forward action. I take the tape out and put it in my older VCR and play back the same sequence; this time, instead of zipping sounds, I get brief moments of silence. So, is the movie worth renting, or should I save my money for a new VCR tape and tape it again next month? 21567. CalGal - 8/3/2001 5:10:32 PM Which Mutiny was it? 30s, 60s, or 80s? Or put another way, who played Christian--Gable, Brando, or Gibson? 21568. CalGal - 8/3/2001 5:14:50 PM Oh, you say a 3 hour movie. That suggests the Brando version. Reviews on that one are mixed; I myself turned it off the one time I came across it because Brando just bugged me no end. But I'd probably watch it now just to see Trevor Howard, who I like a lot. 21569. ElliottRW - 8/3/2001 5:24:44 PM Yeah, it's the Brando version. You should stick with it, Brando get's less annoying. As it turns out, they have both versions at my public library. I'll find an excuse to go there this weekend and check it out. 21570. ElliottRW - 8/3/2001 5:30:42 PM Oh, yeah, Howard is terrific as Captain Bligh (except for two bad scenes in Tahiti--not the actor's fault). 21571. CalGal - 8/3/2001 5:54:12 PM That movie is well-known for being the first one where Brando went beserker with his ego. Carol Reed was the first director and finally quit--he couldn't cope with Brando's demands for a "man's inhumanity to man" message, or something like that. 21572. Cellar Door - 8/4/2001 1:12:30 AM Somebody just posted this in "Datalounge": 21573. ElliottRW - 8/4/2001 2:59:30 PM Last night my wife and I watched The Land that Time Forgot--a movie that you should forget about. 21574. CalGal - 8/4/2001 3:24:50 PM I actually saw that movie in the theaters one summer. It is hysterically bad. I can't believe you watched it. 21575. Toenails - 8/4/2001 6:26:24 PM 21576. Toenails - 8/4/2001 6:26:58 PM Crossing Guard ** 1/2 21577. CalGal - 8/4/2001 7:27:45 PM I cannot bring myself to watch Breaking the Waves or any film directed by Sean Penn. I enjoyed State & Main. 21578. ElliottRW - 8/4/2001 11:23:20 PM I can't believe you watched it. 21579. Toenails - 8/5/2001 4:33:31 PM "I love the smell of napalm in the morning...." 21580. Cellar Door - 8/5/2001 4:41:17 PM I'm going to be on KPFK FM tomorrow morning sometime between 8and 9 a.m. talking about movies. 21581. CalGal - 8/5/2001 4:49:06 PM Toe, 21582. Cellar Door - 8/5/2001 5:13:42 PM Yeah, that's the L.A. station -- but I think the Berkeley one carries it too. 21583. CalGal - 8/5/2001 5:26:16 PM You mean KPFA? 21584. Cellar Door - 8/5/2001 5:35:44 PM Yep. 21585. Francis Urquhart - 8/6/2001 10:30:34 AM Legally Blonde 21586. Francis Urquhart - 8/6/2001 10:31:22 AM Never a dull moment either. 21587. CalGal - 8/6/2001 10:38:47 AM Well, of course. There is only one sort of "funny", after all. 21588. Jenerator - 8/6/2001 10:41:43 AM Message # 21579 21589. Cellar Door - 8/6/2001 10:55:15 AM Well I LOVED it. I wrote a "Film Comment" cover story about it. 21590. Francis Urquhart - 8/6/2001 11:04:58 AM Coppola as the most overrated director is a tough argument to make. I have seen the following (which is a good chunk of his career) and grade accordingly. 21591. rubberducky - 8/6/2001 11:06:02 AM speaking of which, here is a recent horror rental flick update: 21592. Francis Urquhart - 8/6/2001 11:08:45 AM duck 21593. rubberducky - 8/6/2001 11:11:09 AM what little she was on screen, yeah. 21594. CalGal - 8/6/2001 11:13:23 AM Francis--if you say that Coppola made four or five of the best films of all time, how come you gave one of them only a B+? 21595. Francis Urquhart - 8/6/2001 11:16:18 AM Cal 21596. CalGal - 8/6/2001 11:19:58 AM I don't care for The Conversation either--in fact, I almost quit watching 70s films as a project because I found it so unlikeable. I just wondered at your grade, given that The Conversation is regularly rated higher than Apolcalypse Now. 21597. Indiana Jones - 8/6/2001 11:22:08 AM I thought "One from the Heart" was a bomb and that was the critical consensus as well. 21598. Francis Urquhart - 8/6/2001 11:23:55 AM I dunno. I haven't seen the re-release, but when I first saw Apocalypse Now, I was overwhelmed at its strength, technical, visual and thematic. I knew little to nothing about what Coppola was trying to do, so I just took it on its own terms. I still believe that it is one of the more beautiful films ever made. 21599. Indiana Jones - 8/6/2001 11:25:25 AM IMO one masterpiece is enough to make a director memorable. Two masterpieces is approaching greatness, and three really good films likely equal one masterpiece. 21600. Francis Urquhart - 8/6/2001 11:25:34 AM Godfather II is a superior film to Godfather, which is saying something, and it is clearly his best work. But Coppola is gifted and I wouldn't count him out. Even with lesser material like Tucker and The Rainmaker, he brings something to the table that most people cannot. 21601. CalGal - 8/6/2001 11:27:10 AM Godfather I and II, though, are enough to carry anyone's career. Apocalypse Now is flawed, but without a doubt a major film. 21602. CalGal - 8/6/2001 11:32:05 AM Addition to my last post--not only doesn't have have depth, but he clearly peaked and then never returned to that glory. 21603. CalGal - 8/6/2001 11:37:52 AM Jurassic Park III 21604. rubberducky - 8/6/2001 11:58:16 AM CG: 21605. CalGal - 8/6/2001 12:10:40 PM Yeah, I know he was only the producer. But it surely can't be coincidence. 21606. rubberducky - 8/6/2001 12:20:10 PM coincidence - could be, i dunno. it had too much of his influence, i think that is unquestionable. 21607. Cellar Door - 8/6/2001 12:33:23 PM I'm part of the smaller group of afficiandos that find "One From the Heart" to be a classic. A cracked classic, but a classic nonetheless. 21608. glendajean - 8/6/2001 2:28:53 PM I saw a couple of gay related movies on tv this weekend. 21609. Cellar Door - 8/6/2001 4:16:50 PM That's PLENTY to reccomend in my book! 21610. Absensia - 8/6/2001 4:35:10 PM Cellar, 21611. CalGal - 8/6/2001 4:57:04 PM First recommendation: get a DVD player! 21612. Absensia - 8/6/2001 5:12:48 PM Cal, 21613. CalGal - 8/6/2001 5:18:12 PM I am egregiously overdue on updating Mote Movies because I have some other projects that keep interfering. 21614. Absensia - 8/6/2001 5:31:07 PM Thanks!!! 21615. Cellar Door - 8/6/2001 7:34:16 PM A DVD player is a MUST! 21616. Cellar Door - 8/6/2001 7:38:34 PM GREAT NEWS: TLA Releasing and First Run features have acquired The Fluffer. for U.S. release. It's going to premiere in Toronto in September. 21617. JudithAtHome - 8/6/2001 7:40:52 PM Rumble Fish is one of my very favorite movies...the photography is outstanding. It's a beautifully shot film; a joy to watch. 21618. Absensia - 8/6/2001 7:44:56 PM Thanks!!! 21619. iiibbb - 8/6/2001 10:40:53 PM Title for the Next Star Wars Film Revealed 21620. SnowOwl - 8/7/2001 4:13:47 AM Geesh Cal, Brassed Off! It will be artsy fartsy furrin films with subtitles next. Seriously though, I loved it too. I could never imagine bawling my eyes out during a movie about a colliery brass band, but I needed almost a whole box of tissues, even during the second viewing of that one. 21621. CalGal - 8/7/2001 4:40:46 AM That one almost needed subtitles, what with the accents. 21622. rubberducky - 8/7/2001 8:06:16 AM Attack of the Clones ???? 21623. iiibbb - 8/7/2001 1:26:51 PM from memepool 21624. PsychProf - 8/7/2001 1:34:55 PM Confession. Ms PP and I went to see Legally Blond(don't ask, I have no explanation for my behavior). Neither an interesting or funny display of "moving picures". Thanks for the catharsis of posting. 21625. CalGal - 8/7/2001 1:40:59 PM iiibbb--ha, that's cool. 21626. PsychProf - 8/7/2001 1:47:36 PM Calgal...sorry I didn't read back posts, but I am posting from a library with students peeking at every chance...I thought the movie was humorless,and so did the audience(even teens)...people left early, and very few lol...it is a bummer living with myself, I have to agree with that. 21627. JudithAtHome - 8/7/2001 1:53:46 PM Oh, I think some might argue that point, PP. 21628. Absensia - 8/7/2001 2:00:10 PM iiibbb, 21629. PsychProf - 8/7/2001 2:02:52 PM But Judith...I was the one who suggested we see that film...half way thru my wife looks at me and starts to laugh...and it was our anniversary...she calls me by my last name a lot...as in "not good *****...do you think it's a bad sign when yer wife calls you by yer last name?...and, quite frankly, she HAS pointed out to me that living with me is not all it's cracked up to be, at least some of the time. Marriage can be funny at times no...and a hell of a lot funnier than Legally Blond. 21630. JudithAtHome - 8/7/2001 2:08:35 PM and a hell of a lot funnier than Legally Blond. 21631. CalGal - 8/7/2001 2:08:46 PM Well, you shudda taken her to Moulin Rouge. Now there's romance for ya. 21632. Cellar Door - 8/7/2001 3:12:33 PM Haven't we already had "Parts: The Clonus Horror"? 21633. CalGal - 8/7/2001 10:21:53 PM Am I the only person who didn't know the entire sordid tale of Bonny and Robert Blake? 21634. Toenails - 8/8/2001 8:03:26 AM 21635. JudithAtHome - 8/8/2001 10:33:12 AM That's what's happening in this country...the entertainment business is taking over newspapers, magazines, etc. and it's becoming "all the news that's show biz news" rather than "all the news that's fit to print". 21636. Cellar Door - 8/8/2001 11:58:22 AM Show Business is Politics by other means. 21637. glendajean - 8/8/2001 12:08:59 PM Or as Mel Brooks writes in the musical The Producers, "its all show business." 21638. JudithAtHome - 8/8/2001 12:22:44 PM Oh, just wait for the American remake with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. It will be killer! 21639. JudithAtHome - 8/8/2001 12:23:56 PM Directed by Billy Crystal with Lane and Broderick and Robert DiNiro in the Depardieu role. 21640. CalGal - 8/8/2001 12:48:44 PM Actually, in French terms, it had a pretty major cast. From Ebert's review: 21641. LimeGirl - 8/8/2001 12:57:54 PM I loved Legally Blonde. 21642. PsychProf - 8/8/2001 1:02:21 PM Lime...tell me some good stuff about the movie so I can defend myself at home. 21643. LimeGirl - 8/8/2001 1:09:47 PM The best part was the way the snotty guy who thought he was so amazing got shown just how un-amazing he was. Abby says that the best part was when the two girls became best friends and the guy got dumped. 21644. Cellar Door - 8/8/2001 1:41:34 PM Gerard Depardieu "macho"? 21645. Webfeet - 8/8/2001 2:19:00 PM Glenda, it wasn't as funny as I'd expected, but for us it was still a light little summer comedy, mildly entertaining. More than I could say for "America's Sweethearts" which we walked out on. I can't even be bothered to give a critique, it was so flat out bad. 21646. glendajean - 8/8/2001 2:23:17 PM Cal -- Jean Rochefort played the factory boss. He's one that I recognized but didn't know his name. 21647. glendajean - 8/8/2001 2:25:34 PM Cal -- Jean Rochefort played the factory boss. He's one that I recognized but didn't know his name. 21648. glendajean - 8/8/2001 2:29:39 PM Cal -- sorry for the double post. 21649. CalGal - 8/8/2001 2:32:17 PM I didn't like that movie where he ended up with the secretary (Too Beautiful for You). I was expecting to, too. I think the secretary was the same lady who was in French Twist, another movie that I watched thinking, man, what the fuck? 21650. Webfeet - 8/8/2001 2:38:51 PM Agreed, it was a little lazy. The one moment I really liked, as silly as it was, was when Depardieu, sitting in the cafeteria waiting forlornly for Pignon to arrive, looks distracted and agitated (calling to mind his performances in other, moreserious dramatic roles in which that sort of obsessive intensity was his trademark) while Thierry LHermite explains to him that he was the butt of the joke. 21651. Webfeet - 8/8/2001 2:41:59 PM That must be Too Beautiful for You. I didn't see the last post. 21652. Toenails - 8/8/2001 3:19:45 PM Legally Blonde reminds me of a (true) law school story: An error in assigning code numbers to first-year students resulted in posted grades for two people in our class with the same number. 21653. CalGal - 8/8/2001 3:21:26 PM hahahahah. 21654. Absensia - 8/8/2001 3:40:09 PM Very funny....lol...I remember those days. 21655. christipeters - 8/8/2001 3:41:35 PM LD and I both liked Legally Blonde. 21656. Toenails - 8/8/2001 3:57:58 PM 'Finally saw "The Tao of Steve" on tape. 21657. Toenails - 8/8/2001 3:58:16 PM 'Wasn't badly constructed, either. 21658. CalGal - 8/8/2001 4:04:55 PM It was either me or Francis. It is a good movie, very honest. The character of Dex is based on a real life guy; he has a website now that started because of the movie. 21659. Toenails - 8/8/2001 4:17:53 PM Did you notice the credits at the end of Tao? 21660. CalGal - 8/8/2001 4:20:46 PM Oh lord, I forgot about that. Sorry. Also, the female lead was a co-writer. 21661. Cellar Door - 8/8/2001 4:25:56 PM Depardieu's best films are "Barocco," "Tenue de Soiree" (aka. "Menage"), "Mon Oncle D'Amerique," "Nathalie Granger," and "Le Camion." 21662. Francis Urquhart - 8/8/2001 5:38:04 PM Hollywood's disdain for the common man is best delivered not by the excesses of a Zsa Zsa Gabor or a Barbra Streisand, but rather, by films that attempt to depict the elusive common man. To Hollywood, you can tell he's common because he is both pitiful and noble, he always looks borderline retarded, and he digs flannel. Sean Penn's "The Pledge" proves the rule. Penn's idea of being true to the Miller High Life drinkers is flaunting his wife, Robin Wright Penn, as a barmaid with a gnarled front tooth. Naturally, her redemption, in the form of ex-cop Jack Nicholson, is not in his coming to love both her and her daughter. Because prior to that point, Penn finds it necessary to have her tooth fixed. I mean, let's not take this common man thing too far. We can't expect Jack to fuck a babe with a gnarled tooth. 21663. Cellar Door - 8/8/2001 7:17:28 PM Francis, you've been reading Manny Farber! 21664. Francis Urquhart - 8/9/2001 8:35:00 AM Cellar 21665. Webfeet - 8/9/2001 8:50:36 AM frannie, you make me laugh. 21666. Indiana Jones - 8/9/2001 8:50:59 AM Damn, Francis, you're ruling out several films that have sounded interesting to me. Chocolat = F? 21667. Francis Urquhart - 8/9/2001 8:53:17 AM Indiana 21668. Francis Urquhart - 8/9/2001 8:56:10 AM Indy 21669. Indiana Jones - 8/9/2001 9:06:46 AM Francis: I just finished the Sopranos first season on DVD and would probably be pretty snobby about any movies right now anyway. 21670. Francis Urquhart - 8/9/2001 9:23:35 AM Indiana 21671. Indiana Jones - 8/9/2001 9:26:04 AM Oh yeah, I want to see Moulin Rouge too. And Legally Blonde. So it'll be one of those or Sexy Beast. 21672. Toenails - 8/9/2001 10:05:28 AM 21673. Francis Urquhart - 8/9/2001 10:14:43 AM Toenails 21674. rubberducky - 8/9/2001 10:17:38 AM Fran: 21675. Francis Urquhart - 8/9/2001 10:20:53 AM duck 21676. Francis Urquhart - 8/9/2001 10:22:16 AM These are the films of 2000 I liked. 21677. rubberducky - 8/9/2001 10:22:53 AM oh yeah, and the back-to-the-well Kevin Smith flick Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back i'll catch too. 21678. rubberducky - 8/9/2001 10:26:50 AM i saw 9 of those, Fran. of those i liked about half. 21679. Francis Urquhart - 8/9/2001 10:27:39 AM Other decent 2000 films, which some people liked more than I 21680. Cellar Door - 8/9/2001 11:01:02 AM Indy -- the Jolie/Banderas film is an adaptation of "Waltzes in Darkness" by Cornell Woolrich -- which was filmed once before in 1969 by Francois Truffaut as La Sirene du Mississipi with Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Paul Belmondo. 21681. JudithAtHome - 8/9/2001 11:03:11 AM I'll bet that was a beauty! I never heard of that one, Cellar...thought I was pretty up on Truffaut but I guess not. 21682. Cellar Door - 8/9/2001 11:06:33 AM It's his maddest film.It was made at the height of his affair with Deneuve. The finale takes place in the same cabin in the woods that he used as the finale for Shoot the Piano Player. 21683. CalGal - 8/9/2001 11:07:03 AM 2001 is far worse than 2000, although both years were depressing after the glories of 1999. 21684. Cellar Door - 8/9/2001 11:17:30 AM Went to a special screening of All That Jazz last night at the Italian Cultural Institute. It was a tribute to cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, who was in attendance. And it was a new print. Hadn't seen it in years and MAN does it more than "hold up." 21685. Indiana Jones - 8/9/2001 11:50:16 AM Well, you know how I like that film (All that Jazz). Have probably watched it more than any other movie with the possible exception of The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wondeful Life. 21686. Indiana Jones - 8/9/2001 11:50:54 AM "exceptions" and "Wonderful" 21687. Cellar Door - 8/9/2001 12:06:07 PM It's truly an amazing piece of cinematography -- especially in that it's a color film whose primary colors are black and white. 21688. rubberducky - 8/9/2001 2:30:26 PM here's my Y2K film wrap up (props, of course to IMDB): 21689. Francis Urquhart - 8/9/2001 2:57:38 PM Duck 21690. CalGal - 8/9/2001 3:01:41 PM Yeah, you'll like Almost Famous, ducks. It's about a boy who is a devout lesbian. 21691. CalGal - 8/9/2001 3:06:54 PM Best movies in 2000: 21692. AceofSpades - 8/9/2001 3:08:52 PM 21693. AceofSpades - 8/9/2001 3:09:56 PM 21694. AceofSpades - 8/9/2001 3:10:35 PM 21695. rubberducky - 8/9/2001 3:27:23 PM High Fidelity just holds no attraction for me. but then, John Cusack just gets on my last nerve most of the time. 21696. concerned - 8/9/2001 3:31:37 PM Should the last line in this thread's header be changed to: 21697. CalGal - 8/9/2001 3:32:05 PM Oh, if you don't like Cusack then you'll just love watching him convince himself he's in love with a blah little bimbo lawyer because after all, it's time for him to settle down 'cause he's a grown man. 21698. AceofSpades - 8/9/2001 3:32:58 PM 21699. concerned - 8/9/2001 3:34:55 PM ..encouraged... 21700. CalGal - 8/9/2001 3:36:12 PM I can't even remember when I first saw Cusack, but it wasn't in Say Anything. I loved him in Grosse Pointe Blank. 21701. Cellar Door - 8/9/2001 3:37:50 PM Some short reviews of new films -- mostly by me. 21702. janjon - 8/9/2001 3:39:19 PM I urge everyone to go see The Dead End, although I gather that it is not opening in many places yet. 21703. Webfeet - 8/9/2001 3:40:11 PM Frannie, even though we differ politically, we have identical 'taste' in films. I was never supposed to use that word after being upbraided by the evil one, formerly known as seguine, but aesthetic preference sounded too phoney. 21704. AceofSpades - 8/9/2001 3:41:23 PM 21705. Webfeet - 8/9/2001 3:42:09 PM rubberduck, State and Main was hilarious. David Mamet wrote it, if that boosts its credentials. If you're happier to stay ignorant, be my guest. But you should get beyond the name. 21706. CalGal - 8/9/2001 3:43:26 PM I liked Say Anything, but that's another morality play. The Grifters is good but I would never watch it again--unpleasant people, nasty ending. 21707. Webfeet - 8/9/2001 3:45:09 PM janjon, it's called The Deep End. And I definetely want to see it. 21708. CalGal - 8/9/2001 3:45:24 PM Web, 21709. Webfeet - 8/9/2001 3:48:43 PM yeah, I know it it was technically good in all the right places, but I think it was so hyped up by the time I saw it that I lost interest. 21710. rubberducky - 8/9/2001 3:51:21 PM Ace: 21711. janjon - 8/9/2001 4:04:30 PM oh Lord. It is hot today, very, and it was hot last night before we went in to see the screening. 21712. rubberducky - 8/9/2001 4:08:13 PM ah .. The Deep End shows up 21713. janjon - 8/9/2001 5:41:09 PM another comment or two about The DEEP End. One of the characters is the young (say about eight) son of the main character. Other than to be used in several instances to show how competent a mother she is and how much time and energy mothering takes, he really isn't much of a character. However, even with this somewhat of a throwaway, the movie adds levels of interest that you just don't see in many films these days. Case in point - in various ways the film shows that this boy has a fixation on fish. His character gets more dimension than needed but it helps the film's complexity. 21714. Cellar Door - 8/9/2001 8:04:48 PM The co-directors are gay, and very cute -- but not a couple. 21715. Cellar Door - 8/9/2001 8:14:34 PM I've worshiped Tilda Swinton for 15 years. 21716. Toenails - 8/10/2001 9:56:55 AM Ace: I thought "Say Anything" was semi-fantastic. 21717. Cellar Door - 8/10/2001 9:58:25 AM That's one of the great endings. 21718. Cellar Door - 8/10/2001 10:00:07 AM Cameron Crowe is far from untalented, but it really annoys me the way this town treats him as The Annointed One. The public didn't show up for Almost Fomous for good reason. 21719. Toenails - 8/10/2001 10:02:06 AM 21720. rubberducky - 8/10/2001 10:20:41 AM um, you mean Backdraft? 21721. CalGal - 8/10/2001 11:13:52 AM Yeah, the ending is beautiful. I wasn't all that thrilled with the monologue, although it was well written. I could have done without the many descriptions of how wonderful Cusack was from his admiring girl chorus. 21722. Toenails - 8/10/2001 11:26:11 AM 21723. CalGal - 8/10/2001 12:20:44 PM More than one of Crowe's movies have to do with the value of a caregiver on someone who is talented and ambitious--how they can center them, show them what is truly important, blah blah. Groupies for rock stars, Zellwegger for Cruise and Cusack for Skye. The role reversal in the last necessitated a lecture or two on how Cusack was still a "real man". 21724. Jenerator - 8/10/2001 12:27:14 PM I liked him in The Grifters and Sixteen Candles. 21725. CalGal - 8/10/2001 1:21:25 PM Woody Allen Watches Shane 21726. CalGal - 8/10/2001 3:35:59 PM The Deep End seems to be getting good reviews. 21727. janjon - 8/10/2001 3:44:30 PM I would be quite surprised if The Deep End gets any bad reviews, or even tepid ones. 21728. JudithAtHome - 8/10/2001 3:58:37 PM That sounds like an interesting movie, Janjon...I'll keep an eye out for it. I loved the actress in Orlando. 21729. janjon - 8/10/2001 4:03:56 PM She is just terrific in this movie. You can see all the wheels turning but they aren't just revolving in front of your eyes. The actor (Jonathan Tucker as I recall, whomever he is) who plays her older son also has a pivotal role and he too is terrific. 21730. JudithAtHome - 8/10/2001 4:09:57 PM Those are the types I like the most... 21731. Cellar Door - 8/10/2001 4:56:34 PM 21732. glendajean - 8/10/2001 5:00:01 PM Cellar, not that it matters, but are they just partners or are they partners? 21733. LimeGirl - 8/10/2001 5:05:03 PM Oh, I can't even stand to watch the preview for Osmosis Jones. All the live action stuff is so disgusting. 21734. Cellar Door - 8/10/2001 5:05:46 PM They're just partners profesionally -- though they're both gay. 21735. glendajean - 8/10/2001 5:20:59 PM Ever since I heard about Ivory and Merchant, I've been so confused. Thanks. 21736. janjon - 8/10/2001 5:36:31 PM Interesting article, cellar. And, indeed, the scene where the mother first sees her son after having seen the video is riveting. Understated but so powerful. Mother's love over all. Plus, as she had already made clear (again in one of those fleeting build-up moments of characterization that this film does so well), she clearly was going to be able to accept the fact that her son was gay. (Although, it also seems clear, the import of what that might mean didn't sink in until she endured the video.) 21737. Cellar Door - 8/10/2001 5:37:49 PM Well Merchant-Ivory are a couple -- though both have had boys on the side. 21738. Cellar Door - 8/10/2001 5:41:31 PM That's a very good point, janjon. Thematerial could easily be sensationalized, but it isn't. 21739. janjon - 8/10/2001 5:41:43 PM yes - action tied to character development rings the bell. 21740. janjon - 8/10/2001 5:51:00 PM another comment and then I'll call it quits for a while. 21741. CalGal - 8/10/2001 5:52:54 PM Lime, 21742. Cellar Door - 8/10/2001 6:15:12 PM I think he asks for Mr. Hall because it's assumed that the man controls the money. 21743. Webfeet - 8/10/2001 6:30:26 PM Jumping back to Say Anything for a moment--we actually rented it 2 weeks ago so I could show it to my husband. 21744. Cellar Door - 8/10/2001 6:47:14 PM I stand corrected! David Chute just e-mailed me that only McGeehee is gay. He and Siegel met when the latter was dating McGeehee's sister. 21745. CalGal - 8/10/2001 6:56:57 PM I don't remember a scream. 21746. Erinys - 8/10/2001 8:29:31 PM janjon, If I find myself thinking about a movie more than a day or so after having seen it, I deem it to have been a REALLY GOOD one. 21747. HollyW - 8/10/2001 11:17:30 PM I did not like The Grifters, but I mention it because the book is definately worth a read. It's a pulp fictionish kind of thing from, I believe, the fifties. 21748. Toenails - 8/10/2001 11:24:32 PM 21749. Absensia - 8/11/2001 9:50:42 PM Cal, 21750. CalGal - 8/11/2001 10:42:27 PM Who is Trib Bissel? I've never heard that the story was based on anything, and I couldn't find anything on the guy. I believe (but am not sure) this movie was made before the spate of missing 60s radicals turned themselves in. My memory says that happened in the early 90s. 21751. CalGal - 8/11/2001 10:44:25 PM I could never decide if Orlando was riveting or the most boring film of all time. 21752. Absensia - 8/11/2001 10:59:46 PM My child...Trig Bissel, heir apparent of the bissel rug shampooers, was a 60s radical who bombed something and had to go into hiding, just like in this movie...I call you my child, because I am so old. He did turn himself in, but I'm not sure exactly when, but he's doing time. I'll see if I can find anything...looked for a couple of minutes, to no avail but he was big news in this area. Unless the kid was already in demand by the big leagues no way would they have parted. The scene with the daughter and father was supurb. 21753. CalGal - 8/11/2001 11:08:08 PM Wow, not much on it and nothing under Trig Bissel. But a search on "bissel fugitive" revealed this: 21754. Absensia - 8/11/2001 11:15:44 PM Re Panic, yes, Macy is the son. 21755. Cellar Door - 8/12/2001 10:52:24 AM 21756. Absensia - 8/12/2001 11:09:17 AM Cal, I missed your Bissel post. I didn't think of fugitive. Good for you. I was talking to one of the people who knew him in the "old days"...they say part of the agreement he had with the feds when he turned himself in, around 5-10 yrs ago, was that he say nothing about the agreement or the facts surrounding the bombings for about 35 yrs. 21757. Cellar Door - 8/12/2001 11:16:42 AM Ed White's review of the book on which Barbet Schroeder's new (and excellent) movie is based. 21758. Absensia - 8/13/2001 2:13:13 AM Cal...a little more on Mr. Bissel..it took some digging and checking out the then feared Weathermen. His real first name is Silas...he's out of prison..worked a deal. And more than you wanted to know, no doubt. Days of Yore 21759. CalGal - 8/13/2001 2:46:17 AM Wow, I found another link (assuming it's accurate) and he only served for 18 months after hiding out for 17 years. Some deal. 21760. Absensia - 8/13/2001 2:50:53 AM The Weathermen and some other radical groups scared the shit out of the government in those days. 21761. CalGal - 8/13/2001 2:59:55 AM The little kid in Tender Mercies is a doll; I don't think he did much else. Duvall is simply wonderful; odd that after so many justifiably famous showy roles he got the Oscar for such a quiet performance. 21762. Absensia - 8/13/2001 3:03:21 AM Yes, thought about that with Duvall. Surprised the kid didn't resurface. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out now. Tomorrow I need to check out some other video stores...the one I use doesn't have a lot of the ones I want to see. I won't use Blockbuster or Hollywood video unless I have to. Grrrrr. 21763. MaxMacks - 8/13/2001 12:41:17 PM Any way to know which movies have been discussed here? 21764. CalGal - 8/13/2001 12:45:08 PM You can either read back, or read regularly--I'm not sure what other "way to know" you'd want. Were you looking for an email alert? In any event, why not just ask your questions and see what happens? But if they give away plot elements, please use white font. 21765. MaxMacks - 8/13/2001 4:29:09 PM Hi Gal...I just did. 21766. MaxMacks - 8/13/2001 4:31:06 PM One of the really sparking gems in SEXY BEAST 21767. JudithAtHome - 8/13/2001 5:14:47 PM Max: 21768. glendajean - 8/13/2001 5:20:04 PM I saw Legally Blonde this weekend. 21769. CalGal - 8/13/2001 5:50:33 PM Max, 21770. glendajean - 8/13/2001 5:54:18 PM I am anxious to see The Deep End, but I don't think it is here yet. 21771. CalGal - 8/13/2001 5:56:22 PM Read a review of Ratrace and can't think where now--but it is getting raves from preview and test audiences. This is the one with Cleese made by the Airplane! folks. 21772. rubberducky - 8/14/2001 9:08:45 AM i was going to mention that, CG. Ripley and i will probably catch it this weekend. 21773. Laura C - 8/14/2001 9:10:37 AM Which is being remade, I believe. 21774. rubberducky - 8/14/2001 9:15:23 AM i don't think so, although i did see something along the lines of there being a 'real' (or close approximation) of the Cannonball Run concept being done for either a straight contest or some 'reality' show. 21775. Laura C - 8/14/2001 9:17:18 AM I swear I read something gossipy about Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley being cast oh-so-creatively as bickering Brits in a remake. But I just checked on IMDB and couldn't find it. So maybe I'm just conflating it with the reality show. 21776. Indiana Jones - 8/14/2001 10:12:08 AM I watched Requiem for a Dream on DVD--or watched parts of it. The DVD itself starts out promising enough; they have it set up like the layout of one of those mail order commercials at the end, and for just a minute it was confusing. That is, they show a commercial--right down to the tiniest bit of interference on your screen--and then go to the menu, which looks like the instructions for ordering the product. Effective. 21777. MaxMacks - 8/14/2001 1:50:17 PM Any of you movie buffs know if it is possible and if so how to get a copy of a screen play? 21778. CalGal - 8/14/2001 4:54:17 PM You can look it up in the IMDB to determine if it was original or an adaptation. 21779. Absensia - 8/15/2001 8:35:12 AM Okay..been doing some checking...what should I buy? Plain dvd? Dvd with vcr? Dvd/cd and mp3 capabilities, etc.? Money IS an object and I have a relatively new vcr and am not a bells and whistles kind of girl. 21780. rubberducky - 8/15/2001 8:50:19 AM go with just a DVD player that plays CDs, Abs. i have both a VCR & DVD. if you have the room on your entertainment center, there is zero reason to toss a recently purchased VCR. 21781. Absensia - 8/15/2001 8:55:49 AM Thanks...I didn't want to do that, and I think I can just put the dvd on top of the vcr. I found one dvd online that also plays cds, mp3s, netc. for about $125....is that a good price? 21782. DJ JOE INC - 8/15/2001 9:01:45 AM VCR's are good to have- especially if you shop for PVT's- VHS tapes are selling for next to nothing and you can find great titles - also it is a money saver- since some DVD transfers have no extras- why spend 19$ to 34$ when you can spend 2-10$. 21783. rubberducky - 8/15/2001 9:05:41 AM $125 isn't bad, but beware of shipping and 'handling' charges. i always find the best i can online and then shop and brick and mortar stores to see if i can beat it. 21784. Absensia - 8/15/2001 10:03:26 AM Good plan...you are right...I hate the last part, but has to be done. Thanks. 21785. seadate - 8/15/2001 11:17:00 AM Watched Chocolat on DVD last weekend. 21786. JudithAtHome - 8/15/2001 11:28:18 AM I'm impressed...watched with company, I presume? 21787. seadate - 8/15/2001 11:30:13 AM YES! 21788. MaxMacks - 8/15/2001 1:22:05 PM Repeat Q...is it possible to buy/find/ a screen play of a movie?? 21789. JudithAtHome - 8/15/2001 1:35:11 PM Where you live, Max, it probably is...go to a used book store and ask if they have any. 21790. CalGal - 8/15/2001 3:12:04 PM If you read back Ace has linked in places that provide screenplays. 21791. MaxMacks - 8/15/2001 3:34:03 PM Sure would like to find the Ace post 21792. CalGal - 8/15/2001 3:57:49 PM Well, you can read back. Set your posts per page to 1000 and look for the word "screenplay". 21793. AceofSpades - 8/15/2001 6:18:30 PM 21794. MaxMacks - 8/15/2001 6:24:32 PM Ace , you are a Prince among men or maybe a Princess. 21795. jexster - 8/15/2001 7:39:09 PM Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Drill Instructor, with the Words of Life: 21796. mgleason - 8/15/2001 11:28:05 PM I saw a truly terrible movie tonight: 15 Minutes. Let me say that I have what amounts to a masochist's tolerance for schlock, so believe me when I say that this film had no redeeming qualities. I rooted for the bad guys to kill everyone, especially the insufferable Ed Burns, but alas, the carnage was minimal. It is to weep; I am almost driven into the arms of Steven Seagal, but I must maintain my record of never having seen him in anything. Instead, I think I'll rent a bad movie that's awful in all the right ways: I Come in Peace, with Dolph Lundgren. 21797. Jenerator - 8/15/2001 11:30:18 PM We'll double date Maria. You can have Seagal and I'll take Lundgren, 21798. mgleason - 8/15/2001 11:32:32 PM Deal; I'm sure we'll pick up a wealth of acting tips. 21799. Jenerator - 8/15/2001 11:32:42 PM Maria, 21800. CalGal - 8/15/2001 11:37:05 PM Was that the one with De Niro? 21801. mgleason - 8/15/2001 11:38:20 PM WOW, Jen! This I have to see. 15 Minutes was just terribly pedestrian, a supposedly edgy film that fell flat. 21802. mgleason - 8/15/2001 11:39:45 PM Yep, poor Bobby. My husband claims that after this fiasco, I have no room to trash Seagal. 21803. Absensia - 8/15/2001 11:41:07 PM Saw The Comfort of Strangers today. Hadn't even heard of it before you mentioned it, MG. I'm working through Cal's list...Saw Good Will Hunting and others I mentioned. Hi Fidelity next! 21804. Jenerator - 8/15/2001 11:43:09 PM Is Under Siege the one when the girl jumps out of the cake and Seagal is the 25th degree'd blackbelt chef? 21805. mgleason - 8/15/2001 11:43:41 PM What did you think of it, Absensia? I found it uneven, but affecting. 21806. CalGal - 8/15/2001 11:43:52 PM Yes, the realism is one of its strong points. 21807. Absensia - 8/15/2001 11:47:50 PM It was uneven, and a bit hard to follow..I had to rewind a bit a couple of times...It was affecting, and unpredictable and I liked that. 21808. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 2:05:51 PM The last time I saw a movie in the theater was New Years. This is only August. But nothing recently has motivated me to actually go out and buy even a matinee ticket. 21809. rubberducky - 8/16/2001 2:11:02 PM um, you didn't say if you liked Quills 21810. JudithAtHome - 8/16/2001 2:14:33 PM Quills , the play, was excellent...I can only imagine how much better it will be with Geoffrey Rush. 21811. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 2:22:28 PM "Quills"----hmmmmmmmmm 21812. Cellar Door - 8/16/2001 2:39:39 PM Mark Ruffalo -- Hubba-hubba! 21813. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 2:43:38 PM p.s., rd: I am an old old poster. Older than dirt and twice as pretty. 21814. JudithAtHome - 8/16/2001 2:45:28 PM Cellar: 21815. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 2:51:39 PM Hey, there Celler. How's it hanging? I was just talking to Chuck Hazelhurst not too long ago. I was telling him the only thing I missed about TableTalk was him and YOU. I am going to try to convince Chuck to join us here. He would thrive very well in this environment. 21816. Cellar Door - 8/16/2001 2:57:09 PM Chuck is over in World Crossing with all the other TT Refugees. 21817. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 3:00:04 PM Hell, I'd settle for a Bad Tadzio. 21818. glendajean - 8/16/2001 3:11:16 PM Welcome back Phoenix. I've missed your musings on the rear of Ryan Phillipe. 21819. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 3:20:18 PM Thanks, glenda. I have missed musing about La Derriere Phillippe also. Things just aren't the same since he became Mr. Reece Witherspoon. 21820. JudithAtHome - 8/16/2001 3:22:26 PM I'm so sick of Penelope Cruz...when will her 15 minutes be up? 21821. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 3:28:19 PM My my. Such strong opinions you have, Judith. But I agree. It think Tommyboy should bitch slap Penelope like yesterday. And I mean a big old girly girly bitch slap too. 21822. JudithAtHome - 8/16/2001 3:30:27 PM I have strong opinions...just sublimate some of them. 21823. CalGal - 8/16/2001 3:53:24 PM Hey, Phoenix. The list wasn't a list per se--Absensia had just asked for a list of movies anyone had seen lately (more than two years old). I gave her a list, she then worked through it. 21824. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 4:30:52 PM Well, I do hope that "Billy Elliot" and "Almost Famous" were on that list. 21825. CalGal - 8/16/2001 4:34:31 PM No, because they aren't more than two years old. 21826. Ms. No - 8/16/2001 4:37:05 PM Phoenix, 21827. Ms. No - 8/16/2001 4:38:15 PM Oh, also, I think the link to "What Summer Movies Have You Seen" is still up on the front page on the left-hand side in the news links. 21828. Ms. No - 8/16/2001 4:39:14 PM Please disregard that last post of mine as I think it has nothing to do with the list Absensia was talking about. 21829. JudithAtHome - 8/16/2001 4:41:06 PM I once sat through not only Heavens Gate but Ishtar just to see how truly bad they were. 21830. glendajean - 8/16/2001 4:46:19 PM Judith -- I am surprised nobody has done a marketing campaign on selling the truly awful, embracing its awfulness. 21831. JudithAtHome - 8/16/2001 4:47:44 PM Oh, I thought they had...doesn't Adam Sandler still make movies? 21832. Ms. No - 8/16/2001 4:47:45 PM GJ, 21833. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 4:47:54 PM Ooops. Sorry, Gal. I misread. My list of movies worth seeing that are older than two years is way way too long to list here. "Chinatown" would be at the top of that list. The most perfect movie ever made. Ever. "Network" also. And "Querelle" but that is going into terra esoterica. 21834. CalGal - 8/16/2001 4:51:18 PM Phoenix, 21835. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 4:51:55 PM Actually, Adam Sandler makes a decent movie once in awhile. I highly recommend "Big Daddy". 21836. Ms. No - 8/16/2001 4:54:47 PM Okay, just wanted to make sure you hadn't taken leave of your senses entirely, Phoenix. 21837. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 4:57:26 PM Where is dear old Taboo? Still godless in Canada? "Network" has been running in fairly heavy rotation lately on my dozens and dozens of movie channels. Hmmmmm a list of things older than 2 years that I have seen lately.... 21838. CalGal - 8/16/2001 5:01:07 PM I liked First Contact, for a ST movie. Don't know if you saw my question--did you see Free Enterprise? 21839. glendajean - 8/16/2001 5:02:07 PM Cal -- I was thinking about Frayfest recently. Maybe we should a Mote version of it. 21840. glendajean - 8/16/2001 5:02:25 PM ..should do... 21841. Absensia - 8/16/2001 5:10:55 PM Thanks all...and all recommendations gladly accepted, even if thefilms aretwo years old or less. 21842. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 5:12:24 PM Nope, haven't seen Free Enterprise. 21843. CalGal - 8/16/2001 5:16:06 PM Well, if you enjoy Trek at all, you may want to check out Free Enterprise. I'm assuming that's why you enjoyed Galaxy Quest. 21844. CalGal - 8/16/2001 5:16:47 PM GJ, 21845. glendajean - 8/16/2001 5:20:21 PM Cal -- Mrs. Baldwin gave up a lot of her hairs for that movie. The bleach job probably made her bald. 21846. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 5:21:40 PM Kim Bassinger was the worst part of that movie and she got the Oscar. Disgusting. 21847. Ms. No - 8/16/2001 5:21:59 PM How did it get set up the first time? People's favorites or critical recommendations? 21848. CalGal - 8/16/2001 5:24:58 PM PR, 21849. Ms. No - 8/16/2001 5:28:17 PM Phoenix, 21850. mgleason - 8/16/2001 5:34:57 PM Absensia, 21851. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 5:35:56 PM Well, aren't we agreeable. But then dismissing "Almost Famous" as nothing more than a paean to groupies so misses the mark that I am dumbfounded at your ignorance. 21852. Phoenix Rising - 8/16/2001 5:36:15 PM Well, aren't we agreeable. But then dismissing "Almost Famous" as nothing more than a paean to groupies so misses the mark that I am dumbfounded at your ignorance. 21853. CalGal - 8/16/2001 5:40:32 PM I had originally planned on writing more in that post but got called away so just hit "post". It does seem suspiciously agreeable all by itself. 21854. Absensia - 8/16/2001 5:41:02 PM Thanks Maria, some I've seen but many I haven't. 21855. mgleason - 8/16/2001 5:46:48 PM We've also been working our way through all the Hitchcocks, in no particular order, the old Saints, tons of war movies, mostly WWII, and old horror flicks. Sometimes we go on a binge with a certain actor, like Rupert Everett, Michael Caine, Katharine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole - that's always a lot of fun, because you can see them develop and grow. 21856. JudithAtHome - 8/16/2001 5:48:09 PM Abs: 21857. Absensia - 8/16/2001 5:50:01 PM Great ideas, Maria..it's been a while since I've done that. 21858. mgleason - 8/16/2001 5:50:37 PM Absensia, 21859. mgleason - 8/16/2001 5:53:13 PM The End of the Affair was wonderful; I even bought the soundtrack. Julianne Moore is one of my favorite actresses, and was just as good in An Ideal Husband. 21860. Absensia - 8/16/2001 5:58:34 PM Will check the site out, but all of your recommendations are also helpful, as well. 21861. Uzmakk - 8/16/2001 6:00:11 PM I very much liked Almost Famous. Who says otherwise? 21862. CalGal - 8/16/2001 6:04:02 PM Me and I think Jamie R didn't care for it. I don't recall any other negative reviews. 21863. mgleason - 8/16/2001 6:08:57 PM Hahahaha! I love Reefer Madness and Harold and Maude! 21864. Ms. No - 8/16/2001 6:10:12 PM Kate Hudson's character was based on Bebe Buell, yes? 21865. Absensia - 8/16/2001 6:12:55 PM Err, Reefer Madness...hahah, I'm always a bit off, (on names.) Have copes of them both. 21866. Absensia - 8/16/2001 6:15:05 PM Ms. No, Soon, preferably while they are watching something else, flip it in, turn it up loud and watch it. Laugh a lot, use the last of THEIR microwave popcorn....well you get the idea. 21867. Ms. No - 8/16/2001 6:19:14 PM A very good plan, 'sensia! 21868. Absensia - 8/16/2001 6:22:40 PM : - ) Are those wedding bells I hear? 21869. MaxMacks - 8/16/2001 6:31:00 PM wow !! just read thru two lists of 15 or 20 movies 21870. Ms. No - 8/16/2001 6:36:09 PM Max, 21871. Jamie R - 8/16/2001 6:43:07 PM Yes, I was mostly bored by Almost Famous. The best part of the movie was when the mother got on the phone with the rock star. If the movie had been about their relationship it would've been interesting. 21872. jexster - 8/16/2001 10:49:18 PM Gangs of NY got heavy air time on ET 21873. Shannon - 8/16/2001 10:52:15 PM Hub picked up The Red Balloon from the library. The kids were quite taken with it. 21874. CalGal - 8/16/2001 11:03:39 PM The Red Balloon? I'm getting clogged up on The Red Shoes and can't get beyond that. 21875. Shannon - 8/16/2001 11:24:23 PM Clogged up on red shoes? That sounds unpleasant. 21876. CalGal - 8/16/2001 11:34:57 PM Snerk. I mean that I read the movie title and can't think past The Red Shoes. But I just looked it up and went oh yeah, the French one. 21877. Shannon - 8/16/2001 11:40:56 PM I snerk back. 21878. CalGal - 8/16/2001 11:44:28 PM Cable is great. Go digital. 21879. Phoenix Rising - 8/17/2001 8:05:56 AM Actually, go satellite. I had nothing but problems with digital cable. 21880. Phoenix Rising - 8/17/2001 8:06:47 AM I guess finally, I liked this movie because I am rapidly approaching 50 and it is increasingly hard for me to understand why kids who are in their early teens do what they do. This film in some ways helps me to remember and, therefore, to understand. While I may still not like Britney Spears and that particular ilk of today's scene, or whatever is today's scene as I am increasingly out of that scene, I can at least understand it on some level. 21881. Phoenix Rising - 8/17/2001 8:48:10 AM The Marquis de Sade was a complex man who lived in interesting times. Normally this would make for some excellent drama. However, there is so much baggage that is attributed to this man and his writings that he is rarely viewed with a clear mind. Baggage usually put there by people who have not actually read him. 21882. Phoenix Rising - 8/17/2001 8:48:26 AM "Quills" has flashes of brilliance but overall, it was a very unsuccessful film. Telling the story of de Sade as almost a madcap love triangle somehow feels cheap and trite. The baudy play performed for the Michael Caine character was filmed marvellously but was placed in a really melodramatic context where the villian was cartoonish. The only thing missing was a handlebar mustache on Michael Caine. 21883. Phoenix Rising - 8/17/2001 8:54:17 AM It was just easier to say that "Quills" would have been a lot better film if Joaquin Phoenix had been more naked. 21884. rubberducky - 8/17/2001 9:05:36 AM hmm, odd timing. i watched Almost Famous last night for the first time. while i liked the characters and really wanted to enjoy it, i couldn't sit through it. i was bored stiff. 21885. Phoenix Rising - 8/17/2001 9:30:17 AM Now there was a whipping that de Sade would have approved of. 21886. JudithAtHome - 8/17/2001 11:13:23 AM Our local paper has changed its web site to one of those one-size-fits-all "RealCities Network" pages and has exactly ziltch to offer. It gives maybe 3 movie reviews out of 10 or more and the one that sounded like the best release this week with 4 1/2 stars out of 5 isn't even on the damned site. 21887. Cellar Door - 8/17/2001 11:23:00 AM Gus Van Sant has expressed interest in filming"At Home with the Marquis de Sade" as a Ryan Philippe vehicle. 21888. rubberducky - 8/17/2001 3:48:47 PM i, for one, hope Burton is better at keeping his word than he is 're-imaginationing' movies: 21889. don s. - 8/18/2001 3:02:26 AM Phoenix New Times this week is carrying a review of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” by some L.A. writer. 21890. Cellar Door - 8/18/2001 10:41:17 AM You don't mean to tell me you don't have Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train, don. 21891. Cellar Door - 8/18/2001 10:44:11 AM For those of you looking for a REAL "Inside Hollywood" story, they don't come any better than this ! 21892. Cellar Door - 8/18/2001 1:09:02 PM Here's the latest on Bartgate! 21893. Toenails - 8/18/2001 6:56:13 PM 21894. CalGal - 8/18/2001 6:58:40 PM Oh, is that the Variety editor that got canned? I swear, I went years without hearing of Variety and there have been two or three stories on them just this year. 21895. Shannon - 8/18/2001 7:57:59 PM Watched State and Main last night. As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed William H. Macy. Philip Seymour Hoffman was the surprise for me; I thought he was great. Lots of great lines (also no surprise). Fun movie. 21896. CalGal - 8/18/2001 8:03:30 PM Which one, the remake or the original? Both of them dissolve me at the end, when you're waiting for the old guy. (sniff) 21897. Absensia - 8/18/2001 8:30:17 PM MG, 21898. CalGal - 8/18/2001 8:38:27 PM Phoenix, 21899. Shannon - 8/18/2001 9:53:47 PM The original, CalGal. I've never seen the remake. Definite sniff material. 21900. DanDillon - 8/18/2001 10:55:57 PM King Lear + The Sheltering Sky + "Gilligan's Island" + Waiting for Godot = The King Is Alive 21901. CalGal - 8/19/2001 6:42:30 AM I remember a recent discussion of Woody Allen's films in this thread, but I can't remember what I said about Bullets Over Broadway. Whatever I said, I don't think I was complimentary enough. I'd forgotten how terrific it was. 21902. glendajean - 8/20/2001 11:28:42 AM Allen's latest movie got a good plug from the reviewer on CBS Sunday Morning. John Simon? 21903. Phoenix Rising - 8/20/2001 2:56:17 PM Well, no more argument on "Almost Famous". Like I said, I generally hate sweetness or anything that goes anywhere near sentimentality. The only "sweet" movie I have really liked in the last 5 years is "Beautiful Thing". And my fondness for that one is inexplicable even to me. 21904. Webfeet - 8/20/2001 4:01:36 PM What would happen if a family from a J.Crew catalog were suddenly involved in a seedy murder mystery with gay swindlers and blackmailers with foreign accents? 21905. janjon - 8/20/2001 4:06:37 PM I didn't realize it was supposed to be a thriller. Which, among other reasons, is perhaps why I wasn't disappointed in it. 21906. PsychProf - 8/20/2001 4:16:31 PM The pic cracks me up... 21907. JudithAtHome - 8/21/2001 1:29:11 PM Kim Stanley...RIP 21908. Toenails - 8/21/2001 4:06:49 PM Belatedly saw the VCR of "Best in Show" this weekend. 21909. CalGal - 8/21/2001 5:14:35 PM GJ loves watching the dog shows and he really enjoyed it, I think. 21910. JudithAtHome - 8/21/2001 5:29:12 PM My fave with her was The Goddess . Sterling Hayden was in it, too. 21911. Cellar Door - 8/21/2001 7:36:04 PM Kim Hunter was in Planet of the Apes and she's still around. 21912. Cellar Door - 8/21/2001 7:37:32 PM You're confusing Sterling Hayden with Lloyd Bridges, Judith. 21913. Toenails - 8/22/2001 7:13:01 AM 21914. Phoenix Rising - 8/22/2001 9:03:39 AM Still alive. 21915. Phoenix Rising - 8/22/2001 9:06:15 AM Ooops, also forgot to mention the Matt Keeslar connection between Guffman and Psycho Beach. 21916. JudithAtHome - 8/22/2001 9:30:17 AM Cellar: 21917. Cellar Door - 8/22/2001 11:13:32 AM And that in turn immediately brings to mind Huell Hauser. 21918. rubberducky - 8/22/2001 12:57:50 PM rented The Yards mainly because of Wahlberg. 21919. Cellar Door - 8/23/2001 11:58:55 AM Scroll down for my two cents on "Come Undone" 21920. Cellar Door - 8/23/2001 4:57:41 PM Regreats, I've had a few. . . 21921. Francis Urquhart - 8/26/2001 12:33:32 PM Enemy at the Gates 21922. CalGal - 8/26/2001 1:15:09 PM Ghost World is well done, but I really thought the story fell apart in the last third, as did the guy I saw it with. I was surprised at all the positive reviews; they must have seen a resolution that I didn't. The cast is good. It's not something that screams for a theater viewing. 21923. MaxMacks - 8/26/2001 1:16:58 PM Tastes do differ. 21924. MaxMacks - 8/26/2001 1:19:06 PM Just this morning I counted the movie reviews of 21925. JudithAtHome - 8/26/2001 1:32:13 PM We watched videos all day yesterday.... 21926. Cellar Door - 8/26/2001 2:43:40 PM Yep. 21927. CalGal - 8/26/2001 2:47:09 PM She bugs me, too. I listened to the commentary on The Winslowe Boy (which I liked a lot) and she made my palms itch. 21928. Jamie R - 8/26/2001 9:09:13 PM I just saw Philadelphia Story for the first time. It was a bit of a revelation. I didn't know it was possible for Jimmy Stewart to fail to charm. And I'm not sure there are words to describe the indecency of having Katherine Hepburn be berated first by her ex, for refusing to tolerate his drunkenness, and then by her dad, for failing to forgive his infidelities, watching the whole time as she slowly succumbs to guilt and self-doubt and the realization that she lacks "the most important part of a woman, a forgiving heart." 21929. CalGal - 8/26/2001 9:23:31 PM I can't watch that movie, even though I love Jimmy Stewart's phone order and "this is the Voice of Dooooooom." First time I saw it was in a revival theater and the audience actually booed. 21930. Cellar Door - 8/26/2001 10:07:25 PM "I've got it -- The Duelling Mammy!" 21931. CalGal - 8/26/2001 10:14:25 PM hahahaha. 21932. Jamie R - 8/26/2001 10:41:24 PM "I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you..." 21933. Jamie R - 8/26/2001 10:44:10 PM everyone = each one 21934. CalGal - 8/26/2001 11:01:47 PM "If we bring a little joy into your humdrum lives, it makes us feel as if our hard work ain't been in vain for nothing." 21935. CalGal - 8/26/2001 11:07:57 PM Since you followed my advice so faithfully on that, remember that my other suggestions to start with were: West Side Story, Band Wagon, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Don't expect any of them to have anywhere near the script of Singin, which is the only musical that works purely as a comedy. But the dancing in all three is spectacular. 21936. Jamie R - 8/26/2001 11:21:54 PM I've seen West Side Story, but just once and that was probably close to ten years ago. That'd be a good one to see again soon. And I'm sure I can remember to see Seven Brides. I've never heard of Band Wagon at all. When was that one made? 21937. CalGal - 8/27/2001 12:01:46 AM The Band Wagon 21938. CalGal - 8/27/2001 12:26:09 AM Well, the best pic I could only find in black and white, but I imagine you get the idea. 21939. Cellar Door - 8/27/2001 10:26:12 AM Rita Moreno, who won an Oscar for "West Side Story," Played Zelda in "Singin' in the Rain." 21940. CalGal - 8/27/2001 12:36:11 PM Yeah, I meant to mention Rita. 21941. Cellar Door - 8/27/2001 2:12:14 PM Howard Hughes. 21942. Francis Urquhart - 8/28/2001 2:59:05 PM I was watching TNT last night, Movies for Guys Who Like Movies, and "Midway" was on. Midway is not a very good film, but it holds special mention for me because I saw it in the theater as a kid, and it was in SENSURROUND, so when the Japanese kamikazed into the Yorktown, your movie seat shook. 21943. glendajean - 8/28/2001 3:13:17 PM When he was running CNN, he also banned the use of the word "foreign." 21944. JudithAtHome - 8/28/2001 3:21:34 PM AOL will probably insert smiley faces over profanity and unPC remarks... 21945. Absensia - 8/28/2001 3:24:32 PM Oh gawd. 21946. Francis Urquhart - 8/28/2001 3:45:11 PM Patton 21947. Francis Urquhart - 8/28/2001 3:46:04 PM The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them, spill their blood, shoot them in the belly. When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do. Now there's another thing I want you to remember. I don't want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We're not holding anything. Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and we're not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy. We're going to hold onto him by the nose and we're gonna kick him in the ass. We're going to kick the hell out of him all the time and we're gonna go through him like crap through a goose. Now, there's one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home, and you may thank god for it. Thirty years from now when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you: 'What did you do in the Great World War II?', you won't have to say: 'Well, I shoveled s--t in Louisiana.' All right, now you sons-of-bitches, you know how I feel and I will be proud to lead you wonderful guys into battle anytime, anywhere. That's all." 21948. rubberducky - 8/28/2001 3:50:04 PM why is 'bitches' ok to spell out, but 'shit' isn't? 21949. CalGal - 8/28/2001 3:51:34 PM I count several hells and a few asses, too. 21950. Francis Urquhart - 8/28/2001 3:55:55 PM I think George Carlin addressed your query, but I cut and pasted from some site. 21951. rubberducky - 8/28/2001 3:56:21 PM true, CG, but 'bitches' stood out to me due to it being just a scant half dozen words away from the censored dirty word 21952. Ms. No - 8/28/2001 4:35:56 PM Because technically "bitch" is a female dog so it's not really a bad word even though only dog breeders use the term bitch to refer to actual canines. 21953. Absensia - 8/28/2001 4:39:03 PM Merde, "poo" sounds so, so effete. 21954. Indiana Jones - 8/28/2001 4:52:38 PM 21955. Cellar Door - 8/28/2001 7:19:33 PM I knew Stuart. He was a realpiece of work. 21956. Cellar Door - 8/29/2001 3:35:27 PM Saw the new Rivette, Va Savoir last night. Excellent! It's going to open the New York Film Festival. This time the play-within-the-film is "As You Desire Me" by Pirandello. It's the first time Rivette has used a Pirandello play after years of making Pirandelloesque movies. 21957. CalGal - 8/29/2001 11:35:55 PM I like that quiz, Indy. 21958. Francis Urquhart - 8/30/2001 10:00:08 AM I am pleased to report that while TNT has excised "Jap" from "Midway", "Kraut" is still alive and untouched in "The Battle of the Bulge." 21959. glendajean - 8/30/2001 10:09:55 AM Not Dirty Kraut? 21960. Francis Urquhart - 8/30/2001 10:10:38 AM All Krauts are dirty, glenda. The Japs - they're fastidious, but sneaky. 21961. glendajean - 8/30/2001 10:11:31 AM Or Stinking Nazi (KNAT-ZEE)? 21962. glendajean - 8/30/2001 10:13:51 AM There is a truly awful movie that was filmed at Texas A&M during the war, involving Japs stealing secret government documents and I think the A&M Cadets come to the rescue. I saw it there one summer in high school during a journalism camp. Very funny. 21963. Francis Urquhart - 8/30/2001 10:15:32 AM To be a Jap in the WWII sense meant you had to be Jerry Lewis? 21964. glendajean - 8/30/2001 10:17:43 AM Yeah, that's about right. 21965. Cellar Door - 8/30/2001 11:17:54 AM You mean Jerry's a Jewish American Princess? 21966. Francis Urquhart - 8/30/2001 11:18:34 AM Yeah, that's about right. 21967. Indiana Jones - 8/30/2001 12:23:58 PM Watched Rebel without a Cause on DVD. The DVD itself is pretty interesting, containing screen tests, etc., but I was disappointed in the film itself. The first part was good, up until Buzz Gunderson's death, then it started to drag unmercifully. 21968. CalGal - 8/30/2001 1:21:23 PM Daisy Kenyon 21969. JudithAtHome - 8/30/2001 1:29:23 PM IJ: 21970. Cellar Door - 8/30/2001 5:24:56 PM Not at all,Indy. Rebelis an interesting but unsatisfactoryfilm. Ray should have been paying more attentio to the screenplay than Sal Mineo's ass (lovely as it was.) 21971. CalGal - 8/31/2001 1:14:28 PM Funny Girl is rereleased this weekend; I'm going to see it at the Castro on Sunday. 21972. wonkers2 - 8/31/2001 9:34:43 PM The Deep End is a taut little noire movie, better than many of Hitchcock's. It will hold your attention, guaranteed. 21973. CalGal - 8/31/2001 9:52:34 PM Hey, Wonkers! Nice to see you again. 21974. CalGal - 9/1/2001 3:00:33 PM The DVD for Out of Africa has an excellent documentary and great commentary by Sidney Pollack. I was surprised at how close they hewed to the actual story. Farad was indeed very close to Blixen, and the kid with the leg injury who goes on to be a cook is not only a real person, he was still alive in 1985 and appears in the documentary. 21975. JudithAtHome - 9/1/2001 3:08:00 PM We're going to see Hedwig tomorrow afternoon... 21976. racehorse - 9/1/2001 3:27:59 PM We're going to see Jeepers Creepers today. 21977. wonkers2 - 9/1/2001 4:20:05 PM Thanks, Cal. Yeah, Ghost World kind of trailed off at the end. But I still liked the movie. 21978. wonkers2 - 9/1/2001 4:35:06 PM Did anybody else see the long interview (monolog?) with Woody Allen in the Sunday NYT a few weeks ago? He said his favorite American movie is Shane and went on at length with a bunch of observations on the subleties in the movie, mostly in the interrelationship between Shane and the farmer and his wife and their son with whom Shane was living and helping battle the ranchers. 21979. Cellar Door - 9/1/2001 4:53:32 PM Authenticiy has never interested me in this genre -- which is a hiostoricla fantasy to begin with. 21980. Francis Urquhart - 9/1/2001 5:22:02 PM Briefly, as I pop in -- 21981. CalGal - 9/1/2001 7:14:14 PM Wonkers, 21982. Cellar Door - 9/2/2001 2:45:59 PM 21983. Absensia - 9/2/2001 3:49:48 PM 21984. Francis Urquhart - 9/3/2001 10:07:28 AM The Others 21985. ScottLoar - 9/3/2001 10:21:43 AM The Changeling (as I've noted here before - the paralyzed mother's expression as she realizes what her son will do is that of horror) and The Uninvited are good, very good horror films. 21986. racehorse - 9/3/2001 10:35:49 AM Jeepers Creepers review: skip it. 21987. Cellar Door - 9/3/2001 12:59:28 PM 21988. CalGal - 9/3/2001 7:28:38 PM Pauline Kael: RIP 21989. CalGal - 9/3/2001 8:00:59 PM Funny Girl 21990. Cellar Door - 9/3/2001 8:56:00 PM The End of An Era. 21991. CalGal - 9/3/2001 9:01:02 PM I enjoyed reading her but I thought she was generally dead wrong in her opinions. 21992. JudithAtHome - 9/3/2001 9:05:10 PM We loved Hedwig and the Angry Inch...it was like a cross between Rocky Horror Picture Show and Tommy. 21993. wonkers2 - 9/3/2001 9:56:43 PM Yeah, Tommy is about the closest movie I can think of to Hedwig. They both were spectacular and off beat, a far cry from Oklahoma or South Pacific! 21994. Webfeet - 9/3/2001 10:31:09 PM Frannie, I'll reconsider seeing 'The Others' based on your recommendation. If it's even half as good as The Uninvited, then it's worth it. Although-- few scenes could compare to the terrifying climax when marymeredith descends the stairs in a ghostly, malevolent whirl of mimosa perfume...god, that was frightening. 21995. JudithAtHome - 9/4/2001 10:39:22 AM wonkers: 21996. Francis Urquhart - 9/4/2001 1:03:21 PM Web, Scott 21997. CalGal - 9/4/2001 1:13:47 PM Lady in White is a good little film but it suffers muchly if you know anything about the Law of the Economy of Characters. It is so blazingly obvious it detracts from the quality. 21998. Ms. No - 9/4/2001 1:17:19 PM The Lady in White is one of my faves. I was just talking about it last night with my brother after seeing The Others---which we both enjoyed very much. 21999. JudithAtHome - 9/4/2001 1:23:22 PM Thanks for bringing up Session 9 ; I've been trying to remember the number of the session all weekend! 22000. JudithAtHome - 9/4/2001 1:23:52 PM Hey! 22001. Francis Urquhart - 9/4/2001 1:26:07 PM The Others is a great addition to the very, very elite niche that is "the Ghost Story." Other than my five, passable ones are few and far between. The Haunting (ages poorly), What Lies Beneath (solid), Ghost Story (very mediocre) .. . 22002. CalGal - 9/4/2001 1:30:53 PM Most of the great spooky scary moments I can think of showed up in comedies. But I can't remember any of them now; this is most annoying. 22003. Francis Urquhart - 9/4/2001 1:32:21 PM Abbott and Costello Meet The Mummy scared the crap out of me. 22004. CalGal - 9/4/2001 1:35:43 PM You'll laugh, but that's one of the ones that came to mind--or maybe it was the one where they meet Frankenstein. But I was about 9 or 10 when I saw it--all I remember is the laughing. 22005. ronski - 9/4/2001 2:10:25 PM Did anyone note the passing of the extremely funny Kathleen Freeman? 22006. CalGal - 9/4/2001 2:19:29 PM Goodness, I figured the voice instructor in Singin would have died long ago. She must have been younger than she looked. "I caaaaaahn't staaaaaand him." I caehhhhhhn't staehhhhhnd him." 22007. Jamie R - 9/4/2001 5:20:47 PM The Legend of Hell House is a straightforward haunted house flick with some very creepy moments. 22008. Ms. No - 9/4/2001 5:28:36 PM My problem with many older horror movies---even the good ones---is that the film is too dark and the sound quality is incredibly bad. 22009. Cellar Door - 9/6/2001 10:01:36 AM 22010. Phoenix Rising - 9/6/2001 1:31:33 PM I read about "Our Lady of the Assassins" in last Sunday's New York Times. Evidently the director and the star of the film were both threatened with death during the making of the film. They frequently had to hide out in safe houses. Also The director had to resort to deception by setting up elaborate fake shoots to distract the locals from the real filming that took place near by. He also had to deceive many into thinking he was making a documentary. 22011. Francis Urquhart - 9/12/2001 2:27:27 PM The Deep End 22012. glendajean - 9/12/2001 3:12:31 PM Thanks for the Deep End review. Janjon liked it too. I am looking forward to seeing it. 22013. Cellar Door - 9/13/2001 10:57:59 AM I'll have a new picture of Tilda (with short hair), along with Goran Visnjic and the two (very cute) directors (one's gay the other isn't) up shortly in "Ehrensteinland." 22014. Francis Urquhart - 9/14/2001 10:24:39 AM *61 22015. CalGal - 9/14/2001 1:42:19 PM It was definitely 30 minutes too long, but I think Maris had every right to be bitter. The guy was booed regularly for a long time, and the pressure was intense. I don't think an athlete owes his fans gracious humility in the face of a thousand fuck yous, although I suppose it's easy to snipe from the cheap seats. 22016. Francis Urquhart - 9/14/2001 1:45:01 PM As Mantle said, "if you can't have fun playing baseball . . ." maris was too busy chain-smoking, kvetching, boo-hooing and losing his hair to get hep to the Mick. 22017. CalGal - 9/14/2001 2:44:00 PM Maris was also too busy being a loving father and husband, too busy being someone who didn't compromise his playing ability by boozing all night, too busy babysitting Mantle to make sure that he could actually play--because in fact, Mantle quite often didn't play baseball, he was just having fun and fucking up on thefield because of it. (Something that Mantle himself has acknowledged.) 22018. CalGal - 9/16/2001 1:02:13 AM Boomerang 22019. Phoenix Rising - 9/21/2001 11:19:18 AM Sometime last weekend, I was watching random bits of T.V....channel surfing to take a break from CNN etc. 22020. glendajean - 9/21/2001 11:59:32 AM B. The World Trade Center played prominent roles in "Escape From New York" and in "AI." 22021. Indiana Jones - 9/21/2001 12:22:44 PM The remake of King Kong. 22022. Raskolnikov - 9/21/2001 12:23:37 PM "Manhattan" is filled with skyline shots. I also can't even count the number of films that open with an establishing shot of the Manhattan skyline. Meet the Parents is just the most recent example I can think of. 22023. Raskolnikov - 9/21/2001 12:24:57 PM Oh yeah. Kong. He jumps from one tower to the other at one point. 22024. glendajean - 9/21/2001 12:26:37 PM Ed Burns has a movie paen dedicated to New York City coming out, and the studio decided to keep the WTC in the movie. 22025. Raskolnikov - 9/21/2001 12:29:19 PM I haven't seen Manhattan for years, but I could have sworn there were some wide skyline shots taken from the harbor. 22026. glendajean - 9/21/2001 12:31:39 PM Rask -- I'm sure you have a better memory than mine. 22027. don s. - 9/21/2001 4:29:48 PM Is the WTC pictured in the scene of Melanie Griffith on the Staten Island Ferry in "Working Girl"? 22028. judithathome - 9/21/2001 4:31:26 PM To answer that, you'd have to admit to seeing the movie... 22029. don s. - 9/21/2001 4:33:37 PM I like that movie. 22030. Jenerator - 9/21/2001 4:37:48 PM I liked Harrison Ford in that movie. 22031. judithathome - 9/21/2001 4:40:18 PM I didn't like either...but I'm sure that's no surprise to anyone. 22032. judithathome - 9/21/2001 4:40:51 PM I didn't like either...but I'm sure that's no surprise to anyone. 22033. don s. - 9/21/2001 4:42:45 PM Regardless. It might be another source of a WTC movie appearance for Phoenix Rising. 22034. judithathome - 9/21/2001 4:43:59 PM That's true...sorry for the double post. 22035. Phoenix Rising - 9/21/2001 5:20:48 PM I have rewatched the ending of X-Men. Although my point was valid, my facts were wrong. 22036. Phoenix Rising - 9/21/2001 5:26:51 PM I can't tell you how angry it makes me if indeed the WTC is being digitally erased from upcoming movies. 22037. Absensia - 9/21/2001 6:51:31 PM Right up there with the colorization of black and white films, as well. 22038. don s. - 9/21/2001 8:10:13 PM Meanwhile, try to watch the end of Fight Club without getting a little creeped out. 22039. glendajean - 9/25/2001 11:18:12 AM "AI" is being released in Britain. Here's a review from a political columnist of the Times. 22040. Toenails - 9/26/2001 8:37:48 AM ...every time I hear Gershwin's "Rhapsady in Blue", I think of the fireworks exploding over the Manhattan skyline. 22041. don s. - 9/27/2001 1:57:55 AM ...every time I hear Gershwin's "Rhapsady in Blue", I think of the fireworks exploding over the Manhattan skyline. 22042. Phoenix Rising - 10/2/2001 11:18:11 AM Violence and gun battles and computer generated special effects are really not necessary to a good story. 22043. Jenerator - 10/2/2001 11:26:09 AM Phoenix Rising, 22044. Phoenix Rising - 10/2/2001 11:29:33 AM Of course, I am talking about the 1932 version. Rachel Weisz has nothing on Zita Johann who was smart and sexy. The snappy comebacks flowed effortlessly from her tongue. 22045. Phoenix Rising - 10/2/2001 11:34:23 AM No, I haven't seen it, Jen. I will wait until a Sunday afternoon when the weather is miserable and nothing else is on TV. Then maybe I will watch the most recent installment. Or read a book. 22046. judithathome - 10/2/2001 11:40:42 AM I loved the Karloff Mummy ...saw it once on a Halloween midnight movie and it was indeed spooky and frightening...screams galore from the audience full of preteens and others in costume and dragging our pillowcases full of treats along for the show. At one point, a REAL mummy came straggling across the stage in front of the screen and we all shrieked in fear...he turned and threatened the audience with growls and our hearts froze. 22047. Jenerator - 10/2/2001 11:41:34 AM That's the perfect situation to see it. I took my 10 yr old step-daughter this summer to see it, and even she didn't like it. 22048. Phoenix Rising - 10/2/2001 12:02:57 PM Continuing my thesis.... 22049. Ms. No - 10/2/2001 12:19:13 PM I'm curious if our recent overdose of reality will diminish the popularity of so-called "reality" television. 22050. judithathome - 10/2/2001 12:24:26 PM I've long been bored by Hollywoods tendency to overplay violence and sex both...I'm from the "less is more" school for both. Implied sex is much sexier than the blatant schlock they throw in your face and I would put violence in that equation, too. 22051. Ms. No - 10/2/2001 12:50:40 PM I think I may have mentioned this before, but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ---long touted as the goriest film of all time--- makes excellent use of the power of suggestion. It really isn't gorey at all. You know what's going on, but you never actually see what's going on. 22052. Absensia - 10/2/2001 12:52:26 PM This is a great site...you think of a tv show or movie and the site tries to guess the one you've chosen. Check it out 22053. judithathome - 10/2/2001 12:54:12 PM I like the movie Suddenly, Last Summer and once could've sworn there were scenes of birds swooping down on helpless baby turtles scurring to the sea after being hatched under the sand...but it was only Kathrine Hepburns dramatic description of that event, not the actual scene, I was recalling... 22054. Toenails - 10/6/2001 4:17:01 PM Just saw Serendipity. It ain't high art--more like cotton candy, but if you're a John Cusack fan you'll like it, as I did. 22055. RustlerPike - 10/7/2001 6:39:21 AM Gladiator sucks. 22056. RustlerPike - 10/7/2001 6:40:52 AM Your mind is a much better FX creator. 22057. Toenails - 10/7/2001 7:26:56 AM If a man bites a dog, that's news. 22058. RustlerPike - 10/7/2001 7:42:38 AM OK. Now, here is what I have really wanted to ask, and I know I'm not the first, but... 22059. RustlerPike - 10/7/2001 7:44:16 AM As for Gladiator - those interminable dialogs that a third grader could have written... oy vey. 22060. Toenails - 10/7/2001 8:31:06 AM Who ever said Bruce Willis is a top actor? 22061. judithathome - 10/7/2001 9:44:41 AM that Kate Beckensale is some fine lookin' woman. Oh, my goodness! 22062. Toenails - 10/7/2001 12:15:01 PM 22063. judithathome - 10/7/2001 12:34:34 PM Ha!! 22064. arkymalarky - 10/7/2001 1:19:49 PM Haha. I've got to see that woman. 22065. RustlerPike - 10/7/2001 1:26:41 PM Movie star is to actor 22066. arkymalarky - 10/7/2001 1:31:34 PM I think I would, too, but I don't want to see all the bloody parts, and from what the kids tell me, it's mostly bloody parts. 22067. RustlerPike - 10/7/2001 1:37:52 PM arky: 22068. Toenails - 10/7/2001 2:32:00 PM Braveheart is like a Wiley Coyote cartoon. At least three times, the Mel Gibson character is sliced, diced and ground to powder, only to rise up in the next scene ready to fight again. 22069. arkymalarky - 10/7/2001 2:44:49 PM And Mel Gibson is way better looking than the over-rated whatshisface. 22070. RustlerPike - 10/9/2001 1:50:12 AM He's called... 22071. arkymalarky - 10/9/2001 6:49:39 PM Something Crowe. 22072. judithathome - 10/9/2001 6:51:18 PM Ursella 22073. Property of Jesus - 10/9/2001 8:50:39 PM Speaking of Mel Gibson. 22074. Webfeet - 10/11/2001 2:16:10 PM Too bad cellar isn't around. 22075. Property of Jesus - 10/11/2001 2:24:28 PM But what did you think about "Josie & the Pussycats"? 22076. Webfeet - 10/11/2001 2:53:34 PM I think it was sadly overlooked by the film festival. 22077. judithathome - 10/11/2001 2:57:23 PM Can't imagine why... 22078. Property of Jesus - 10/11/2001 2:57:37 PM Well, I highly recommend it. It's the "Brady Bunch" of our times. 22079. don s. - 10/11/2001 3:58:54 PM Rosetta Stone tries irony. And fails. 22080. janjon - 10/11/2001 4:09:43 PM What else is new. (and I don't mean pussycat). 22081. Property of Jesus - 10/11/2001 4:35:24 PM Well, we're going to rent (maybe even buy) the DVD of the Month, (according to Mojo magazine--"The Harder They Come." 22082. Ms. No - 10/11/2001 4:49:15 PM I saw Training Day last night and really liked it. It gets very, very tense in several places, but it's good. Denzel is fascinating in this role---possibly more interesting than I've ever seen him be and I generally find him an interesting and multi-layered actor. 22083. Francis Urquhart - 10/13/2001 12:28:07 PM One Night At McCool's 22084. Francis Urquhart - 10/13/2001 12:42:38 PM The Family Man 22085. Cellar Door - 10/13/2001 6:19:10 PM Andrew Sarris liked the Rohmer too. 22086. Absensia - 10/13/2001 6:28:34 PM CD, thanks. And it's very nice to see your name. 22087. arkymalarky - 10/13/2001 6:50:00 PM Hey CD! Since I got satellite I get "E!" and think of the possibility of seeing you on TV sometime. 22088. Cellar Door - 10/13/2001 7:01:16 PM Only in re-runs, arky. But I've been in touch with "Biography" as they're doing one of River Phoenix. 22089. ronski - 10/13/2001 7:03:02 PM I find Marianne Faithful always superb. An interesting life, hers. 22090. arkymalarky - 10/13/2001 7:04:29 PM Oh neat! Keep me posted! 22091. rubberducky - 10/13/2001 7:43:10 PM HEY WOMAN! This isnt Rubberducky! THis is Ripley - I forgot my password! I cant help it, i am blonde! (but that works for me! ) Anywho, i want to know when we are going to discuss some true, I mean TRUE LORD OF THE RINGS topics. Just let me know- i am your man! Take it easy or take it any way you can! Love ya-Ripley!!!!! 22092. arkymalarky - 10/13/2001 7:57:03 PM When is it coming out? 22093. judithathome - 10/13/2001 11:56:32 PM All this time I thought those people in Lord of the Rings were little trolls and such...now I see they are supposed to be full grown people and it is a huge disappointment to me. 22094. Property of Jesus - 10/14/2001 1:22:11 PM I'm in heaven. As a birthday present, my daughter got from a friend the DVD of BRING IT ON. 22095. CalGal - 10/14/2001 1:34:23 PM Rip--it runs in my mind that Rivendell is a major Rings fan. Maybe he'd be the person to discuss the films with. And if you forgot your id, have you emailed the gatekeeper? 22096. Property of Jesus - 10/14/2001 1:36:25 PM ...emailed the gatekeeper? 22097. Cellar Door - 10/14/2001 3:02:27 PM "I am the gatekeeper!" 22098. Property of Jesus - 10/15/2001 11:37:40 AM If Hannibal Lecter had played Andre in MY DINNER WITH ANDRE, the movie would have been over in four minutes. 22099. Toenails - 10/15/2001 11:40:55 AM PJ's been reading the Washington Post Style Section. 22100. Toenails - 10/15/2001 11:45:10 AM If O.J. Simpson had played the defendant in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” poof!...no Oscar for Gregory Peck. 22101. rubberducky - 10/15/2001 11:52:44 AM arky: 22102. Ms. No - 10/15/2001 3:00:14 PM Ripley, 22103. Property of Jesus - 10/15/2001 4:14:30 PM Life is good. 22104. rubberducky - 10/15/2001 4:20:24 PM watched Joy Ride last night. horrible movie. not even the hottie starring in it and showing his cute little ass was worth sitting thru this dreck. Ripley had to wake me up at one point - pretty much a buzz kill for a 'suspense' flick. 22105. CalGal - 10/15/2001 4:21:26 PM Really? It's getting very solid reviews, and Zahn is supposed to be excellent. 22106. rubberducky - 10/15/2001 4:23:36 PM it was pitiful. i can't think of a single nice thing to say other than the boy was hot and he has a cute bubble butt (hmm - am i obsessing?) 22107. Ms. No - 10/15/2001 4:32:29 PM Ducks, 22108. rubberducky - 10/15/2001 4:33:42 PM no - he hasn't been back on the computer since the weekend, but i'll tell him to when he gets a minute 22109. glendajean - 10/15/2001 4:43:46 PM I haven't been to the movies since August or early September. 22110. rubberducky - 10/15/2001 4:46:23 PM this was the first movie i've been to in about the same time, GJ. nothing, and i mean nothing, has even been looking remotely worth the time and money of going to a movie 22111. CalGal - 10/15/2001 4:47:46 PM I haven't been since Ghost World; it has been a dreary landscape for film. And because of the move and other stuff, I really haven't even watched movies at home, either. I can't remember the last time I really enjoyed a film even. 22112. CalGal - 10/15/2001 4:49:22 PM A number of good DVDs just came out: Godfather and Citizen Kane, finally, and the Phantom Menace might be worth getting for the sword fight and those great visual effects Neeson and MacGregor. Some others, too, that I can't remember right now. 22113. janjon - 10/15/2001 5:02:30 PM Well, The Deep End might still be around. It is worth plunking down a few bucks. 22114. rubberducky - 10/16/2001 9:51:14 AM i've heard good things about the Snow White DVD. i hate 99% of what Disney comes out with, but this might be worth a purchase. 22115. CalGal - 10/16/2001 1:35:06 PM I hate the movie Snow White something fierce, although I might get the DVD. I'd like to see them make a good DVD out of Mary Poppins while the leads are still alive. 22116. Cellar Door - 10/16/2001 6:10:10 PM I just got an advance screener casette of Hedwig ! 22117. Property of Jesus - 10/16/2001 7:50:13 PM We just used a coupon to get another free rental of "JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS" from Blockbusters. 22118. arkymalarky - 10/16/2001 8:22:59 PM What's so freaky to me now about Snow White (though I didn't even like it as a kid) is that the woman who played her was interviewed as a fairly old woman and she was nutty as a fruitcake, still talking in that helium voice. I can't get that out of my head when I see snippets of the movie. 22119. Cellar Door - 10/16/2001 8:41:21 PM No, she wasn't doing it as a joke. That's the way she is. 22120. Phoenix Rising - 10/17/2001 9:32:22 AM Hey, Celler. Atlanta's queer film festival is occuring a month later this year. Nov. 7-11th. Schedule at 22121. Phoenix Rising - 10/17/2001 9:32:59 AM http://www.outonfilm.com 22122. Cellar Door - 10/17/2001 11:34:08 AM Hey Phoenix! 22123. rubberducky - 10/17/2001 1:22:33 PM Altman says put me in the news -- please! 22124. Ms. No - 10/17/2001 1:29:36 PM Ducky, 22125. rubberducky - 10/17/2001 1:31:36 PM good idea. CG, please move it if you are so inclined 22126. Ms. No - 10/17/2001 1:36:20 PM Ducks, 22127. Cellar Door - 10/17/2001 1:58:14 PM Actually Altman has a point, but he's expressing it poorly. 22128. Cellar Door - 10/17/2001 5:37:35 PM 22129. Cellar Door - 10/17/2001 5:40:03 PM 22130. Toenails - 10/18/2001 11:20:58 PM 22131. CalGal - 10/18/2001 11:23:57 PM Will there ever be a good movie released again? 22132. don s. - 10/19/2001 12:03:58 AM No. Of course not. 22133. amax - 10/19/2001 12:09:22 AM Rented 13 days last night on the recommendation of a motie. Can't say I was too impressed. Didn't really reflect what essence of decision was all about after all. 22134. Phoenix Rising - 10/19/2001 7:45:52 AM It's been all downhill since 1939. 22135. Toenails - 10/19/2001 8:06:54 AM 22136. Diogenes - 10/19/2001 8:37:17 AM My own list of favorites includes several Preston Sturges gems from the 1940's, and my all time favorite is East of Eden. There are still good and talented people making movies, but nothing has bowled me over completely lately. Having seen some 10,000 movies in my life, I often get that deja vu feeling in modern movies. Movies from the past may seem better because there are so many of them to pick from. 22137. Phoenix Rising - 10/19/2001 8:45:33 AM I think both don s. and I were being facetious. Well, I was anyway. 22138. rubberducky - 10/19/2001 8:51:42 AM that it is, PR 22139. rubberducky - 10/19/2001 8:54:47 AM Jet Li that is 22140. Toenails - 10/19/2001 8:55:46 AM Lots of people (hell, most people, prefer the (better of the) oldies. 22141. Phoenix Rising - 10/19/2001 8:57:24 AM I think I will go see From Hell. Johnny Depp is just making some facinating choices in his career lately. 22142. rubberducky - 10/19/2001 8:57:28 AM i couldn't agree more with Toenails 22143. Francis Urquhart - 10/19/2001 10:22:33 AM Usually, by mid-October, I have a lot to choose from, but this year, my early scorecard on nominees is very weak. 22144. Phoenix Rising - 10/19/2001 10:24:59 AM Good Lord, people! 22145. Toenails - 10/19/2001 10:35:46 AM 22146. judithathome - 10/19/2001 10:39:35 AM I wonder how the truly BAD movies of that period would stack up in numbers when compared to the bad ones of after? It seems to me there are far more bad movies made today than good ones...I realize there were fewer movies made back then but I think, seeing some of the dreck out there today, there should be far fewer made today. 22147. Phoenix Rising - 10/19/2001 10:56:25 AM Judith, do you mean bad like Electricity in the Service of Man 22148. Cellar Door - 10/19/2001 11:02:12 AM Morning all. Went to a screening of a newly-struck print of 8 1/2 at the Academy last night. Barbara Steele was supposed to be there, but at the last moment she got cold feet and didn't show. 22149. CalGal - 10/19/2001 11:03:47 AM I've agreed with Toe's point before; that you have to watch older movies with a "filter" of sorts. There are movies that are completely timeless, but not very many. There are lots of movies worth saving, but almost none of them are on the list PR put together. Roughly speaking, ick. There's about four on the list I'd agree with, with a quick scan. And I'm not talking timeless, just worth saving. 22150. judithathome - 10/19/2001 11:04:52 AM Or bad like The Phantom Menace? 22151. Cellar Door - 10/19/2001 11:25:29 AM The Best Movies of the year (so far) are In the Mood For Love, Adventures of Felix, Va Savoir, Intimacy, Our Lady of the Assassins, The Perfect Son, The Fluffer, The Deep End, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, A.I., Confusion of Genders, Beaver Trilogy, Plata Quemada (Burnt Money) and Circuit. 22152. glendajean - 10/19/2001 11:32:14 AM Deep End probably has a better shot at an Oscar nomination than Legally Blonde. 22153. CalGal - 10/19/2001 12:51:36 PM Riding in Cars with Boys 22154. CalGal - 10/19/2001 12:57:47 PM Well, I just read the Times review which agrees with Ebert, and both say that Zahn is brilliant. 22155. Cellar Door - 10/19/2001 2:29:10 PM The newly-struck print of 8 1/2 that I saw last night at the Academy was quite lovely. But there was one very strange thing about it -- a music cue has been altered. If you're familiar with the film you'll remember that there's a cue for "Blue Moon" used over the sequence when Luisa (Anouk Aimee) arrives at the spa and is walking around at night through the shops. Guido (Marcello) notices her and follows for a bit. This same "Blue Moon" cue is used when Guido leaves the projection room with Claudia and has her drive to that courtyard. 22156. judithathome - 10/19/2001 2:34:24 PM Sounds weird...Blue Moon fits so much better. 22157. Cellar Door - 10/19/2001 4:01:22 PM 22158. judithathome - 10/19/2001 4:09:27 PM Thanks... 22159. wonkers2 - 10/19/2001 4:55:34 PM Anybody seen Mulholland Drive, David Lynch's latest? It's the critics choice this weekend in my neighborhood. 22160. don s. - 10/19/2001 5:01:00 PM cellar, is this the version that Criterion in releasing on DVD? 22161. Cellar Door - 10/19/2001 5:22:07 PM I would think they're relasing the version they already released on laserdisc, which I have. 22162. don s. - 10/19/2001 6:05:33 PM ... replete with "Blue Moon." 22163. Cellar Door - 10/19/2001 7:19:52 PM "Blue Moon" works SO much better. 22164. wonkers2 - 10/19/2001 9:14:46 PM Just saw a wonderful little Italian slice-of-life comedy, Bread and Tulips, starring Licia Maglietti and Bruno Ganz and directed by Silvio Soldini, none of whom I have heard of before. Licia Maglietti reminds me of an Italian Helen Mirren and Bruno Ganz reminds me of no one I've seen before except perhaps Boris Karloff. This movie won a bunch of prizes in Europe and is as good and possibly better than Il Postino and the famous Italian movie about the old movie theater. 22165. Francis Urquhart - 10/21/2001 4:50:24 PM From Hell 22166. Francis Urquhart - 10/21/2001 4:52:39 PM 22167. CalGal - 10/21/2001 5:01:36 PM I love Christopher Plummer movies. 22168. Francis Urquhart - 10/21/2001 5:03:39 PM Tastes vary. But you have my warning. It is a massive suckbomb, foul in inception and tailored for the dim and the corrupt. 22169. CalGal - 10/21/2001 7:15:41 PM I appreciate the warning. Copied your review in an email and said "Maybe we should reconsider?" 22170. Cellar Door - 10/21/2001 10:37:06 PM Actually Francis might do quite well in "The Clint Eastwood Story" if he were a ta taller. 22171. wonkers2 - 10/21/2001 10:50:58 PM Saw David Lynch's Mulholland Drive tonight. It truly is David Lynch's film: he wrote the script, directed it and composed some of the music. This film was well directed, photographed and acted, especially by Ann Miller, the female lead or co-female lead, whose fresh, ingenue character provided a sharp contrast to the corrupt and sinister Hollywood natives. Miller was outstanding, but all the actors were excellent. 22172. judithathome - 10/22/2001 12:19:41 PM Bruno Ganz is a German actor and appeared in several films you might like, Wonkers. He was in, amongst others, Wings of Desire and in one of my faves, The American Friend which also starred Dennis Hopper. 22173. rubberducky - 10/22/2001 1:30:20 PM CG: 22174. Phoenix Rising - 10/22/2001 1:38:17 PM The American Friend is based on the Patricia Highsmith novel, Ripley's Game with Dennis Hopper playing Ripley. 22175. judithathome - 10/22/2001 1:44:30 PM Yes, Phoenix, I know...I think we've enthused over this one before, right? I really loved that movie! 22176. Phoenix Rising - 10/22/2001 1:57:28 PM It was a good movie, but now ranks third in adaptations of Highsmith's Ripley series, after Plein Soleil and The Talented Mr. Ripley 22177. judithathome - 10/22/2001 1:59:54 PM I agree with your assessment of the Ripleys. 22178. Phoenix Rising - 10/22/2001 2:12:02 PM I wish they would make films of the other Ripley novels, especially Ripley Underground where Ripley demonstrates just how damned difficult it is to dispose of a corpse and Ripley Under Water where Ripley meets his match and experiences the frustrating problems we all experience at one time or the other with "the neighbors". 22179. Cellar Door - 10/22/2001 2:49:34 PM Actually parts of Ripley Underground were used for The American Friend. 22180. Phoenix Rising - 10/22/2001 3:06:11 PM It's been over a year since I read the series and a couple of years since I have seen "American Friend". Now that you mention it, the art forger (the fake Derwatt) was prominently featured in "American Friend". But the main plot focused on Ripley bribing the dying man to commit the murder of the mobsters. 22181. Phoenix Rising - 10/22/2001 3:07:55 PM John Malkovich? 22182. CalGal - 10/22/2001 5:08:27 PM Ducky, 22183. wonkers2 - 10/22/2001 5:39:28 PM judith, Thanks. Ganz did a nice job in Bread and Tulips. His character was a bit strange but quite sympathetic. He played the male lead, a Dane living in Venice, after "doing time" for a crime of passion, and working as a waiter in a small restaurant. He was actually quite funny in a wierd, sad way. 22184. Ms. No - 10/22/2001 5:46:20 PM CG, 22185. CalGal - 10/22/2001 6:00:45 PM What I fear is that the protagonists will do dumb things in order to endanger themselves and keep the movie suspenseful. 22186. Ms. No - 10/22/2001 6:06:26 PM Okay, that pretty much takes care of my worries about JoyRide. I guess we'll pick by coin toss. 22187. CalGal - 10/22/2001 6:11:28 PM One other clue: check the reviews. The reviews of From Hell all say much the same as Francis' review--except critics all like exercises in style, so they are positive. The reviews on Joy Ride are all very good, and they would not be if it were a teen horror pic, even one as relatively effective as Final Destination. 22188. Ms. No - 10/22/2001 6:28:50 PM CG, 22189. Ms. No - 10/22/2001 6:40:12 PM Hey, I just found a huge review site--- 22190. judithathome - 10/22/2001 6:50:19 PM Anyone interested in Mullholland Drive? If I were going to the movies anytime soon, that would be the one for me. 22191. wonkers2 - 10/22/2001 9:01:51 PM Saw it Sunday night. See above #22171. It's worth seeing. Ever since I saw Eraser Head 25 years ago, I've been a David Lynch fan. 22192. Ms. No - 10/23/2001 1:50:39 PM Okay, Joy Ride was actually pretty good. There were a couple of things about it that I had to just forget, but they weren't huge issues so it wasn't difficult to overlook them. 22193. rubberducky - 10/23/2001 2:13:42 PM CG: 22194. CalGal - 10/23/2001 2:16:43 PM It explains why the pretty boy was cast, that's for sure. Yum. 22195. CalGal - 10/23/2001 2:42:30 PM Wow, there just might be a god after all! 22196. Cellar Door - 10/28/2001 10:40:13 AM Well my life is complete. At the screening of the new print of La Dolce Vita at the L.A. County Museum last night, Barbara Steele rushed up to me and said "Thank you so much for that article!" 22197. judithathome - 10/28/2001 11:07:15 AM Wow! We just this minute finished watching Unbreakable and we were blown away by the ending...loved this movie! 22198. Ms. No - 10/28/2001 11:19:13 AM CG, 22199. Ms. No - 10/28/2001 11:21:28 AM Judith, 22200. Absensia - 10/28/2001 11:24:13 AM I watched Heartbreakers last night. The premise seemed fun for about 10 minutes, then the entire film seemed tedious. However, also watched Bridget Jones' Diaries and loved it! Hugh Grant played Hugh Grant and got his! And yeah, it was a chick flick with a teary happy ending, but I loved it. Must have been my mood. Usually I prefer things with an edge and a little horror thrown in. 22201. CalGal - 10/28/2001 12:07:23 PM I enjoyed Unbreakable in the theaters, even though it was dark, depressing, and took far too long to get to the point. I found it troublesome that the kid was seriously deranged and this was considered peachy keen. 22202. Absensia - 10/28/2001 1:04:00 PM Unbreakable was good seen at home. It was dark and depressing but I liked it. 22203. judithathome - 10/28/2001 1:19:22 PM I didn't think the kid was all that seriously deranged or that it really mattered after the incident in the kitchen passed; everyone gets hinky once in awhile. Besides, if you start picking movies apart too closely, like what was up with the kid being off his rocker or why were those people breaking into song in the middle of a dramatic moment, you lose the "magic" of what movies are about. 22204. CalGal - 10/28/2001 1:33:22 PM that it really mattered after the incident in the kitchen passed 22205. judithathome - 10/28/2001 1:43:24 PM Look, we watch movies for different reasons...I can appreciate your interest and intensity but I just don't delve that deeply into many movies. 22206. Toenails - 10/28/2001 3:07:52 PM I'm just the opposite--I was absorbed in the movie until the ending, which I thought was an absurdity and a cop-out. 22207. judithathome - 10/28/2001 3:14:45 PM It could've ended anytime after he returned home and went up the stairs but I liked the ending just as it was. Weird and surprising. 22208. christipeters - 10/28/2001 9:10:32 PM LD and I saw K Pax yeaterday afternoon and found it delightful. We had very different interpretations, which made for neat discussion. I can't tell you more without spoiling, but I recommend the flick. It was fun. 22209. rubberducky - 10/29/2001 9:34:48 AM Video Round up 22210. glendajean - 10/29/2001 9:56:40 AM I finally ventured out to a movie theater this weekend and saw My First Mister, a movie starring Albert Brooks and a young actress named LeeLee S (I can't remember her last name). She, btw, could do a mean impersonation of Helen Hunt. She has her voice nailed. 22211. KuligintheHooligan - 10/29/2001 10:36:20 AM Ah, the thrill of living in Namibia. We only have one cinema with three screens. Unfortunately, the entire place has gone under renovations for the last several weeks and the way things go here, what was supposed to take 5 weeks will probably take 10 or more. I haven't even seen Rush Hour 2 yet. 22212. KuligintheHooligan - 10/29/2001 10:37:00 AM movie 'scene' that is 22213. CalGal - 10/29/2001 12:27:49 PM GJ, 22214. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 2:09:21 PM Movie Update: 22215. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 2:26:43 PM Movie Update Part 2: 22216. rubberducky - 10/29/2001 3:04:16 PM Made is one i really want to catch, but will most likely have to wait until video. 22217. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:09:16 PM I have been dying to see Made a second time, but unfortunately it was only in theatres for two or three weeks. Ditto Bully. Hopefully, both will get a video/DVD release in the next couple of months. 22218. Cellar Door - 10/29/2001 3:11:49 PM Try Intimacy. 22219. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:12:01 PM Actually, I am really looking forward to Scorcese's The Gangs of New York, which is to be release some time soon. Scorcese doing a period piece about street gangs in New York just has to be amazing. 22220. Cellar Door - 10/29/2001 3:12:58 PM They seem to have put it off until next summer. Miramax wants Marty to cut it down from its present 3 hours. 22221. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:13:15 PM Intimacy? I haven't heard about it, but will check into it. What is the skinny on it? 22222. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:14:32 PM Thanks for the update re: Gangs of New York, although that is disappointing news. 22223. CalGal - 10/29/2001 3:18:21 PM TJ, 22224. Cellar Door - 10/29/2001 3:19:59 PM It's patrice Chereau's new film, his first in english. It's based on a novella (called Intimacy) and a short story (called "Night Light") by Hanif Kureshi. But it's as far from My Beautiful Laundrette or Sammy and Rosie Get Laid as you could imagine. 22225. rubberducky - 10/29/2001 3:20:42 PM well, i'm sure you'll be wowed by DiCaprio's performance. 22226. rubberducky - 10/29/2001 3:21:34 PM um, my 22225 was to TabouliJones's Message # 22219 22227. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:22:19 PM CalGal, 22228. Jenerator - 10/29/2001 3:24:39 PM I liked him Reality Bites and Happy, TX. 22229. Cellar Door - 10/29/2001 3:27:49 PM I agree. Zahn's a reallyreliable performer who reminds me of old Warner Bros. contract players like the great Frank McHugh. I'm always glad to see him whenever he turns up on screen. 22230. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:28:14 PM Rubberducky, 22231. CalGal - 10/29/2001 3:29:49 PM I won't be able to see it because I am afraid I would have to hunt down the author of the book and kill her for being such a selfish cow. (I take things personally that way). But Ebert, the Times, and the Post all said good things about it to varying degrees. They were unanimous on Zahn. 22232. Cellar Door - 10/29/2001 3:30:50 PM I loved Sobieski (and her nipples) in the grossly underrated Eyes Wide Shut (or "Why Tom and Nicole's Marriage is Going South") 22233. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:31:43 PM The premier example of Zahn's presence is his small role in The Objective of My Affection. He does this hilarious thing with his eyes that elevates an otherwise mundane role to bust a gut characterization. He is also great in Out of Sight and Suburbia. 22234. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:35:39 PM 22235. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:40:04 PM Oh Calgal, 22236. CalGal - 10/29/2001 3:40:37 PM TJ, 22237. CalGal - 10/29/2001 3:41:54 PM Hey! Great news. 22238. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:47:12 PM I will keep you posted on my Hitchcock eduation. My best friend is a huge fan and insisted that I get over my reluctance to watch Hitchcock. I think Rear Window is his favourite. 22239. Phoenix Rising - 10/29/2001 3:49:25 PM The Birds is a good Hitchcock to start with. It was my first one and scared the bejeezus out of me. (I think I was about 15 at the time) 22240. Phoenix Rising - 10/29/2001 3:50:12 PM The Birds is a good Hitchcock to start with. It was my first one and scared the bejeezus out of me. (I think I was about 15 at the time) 22241. Phoenix Rising - 10/29/2001 3:51:16 PM So scary, I had to say it twice. 22242. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 3:53:24 PM Part of my problem going in was the fact that the Birds has been parodied so often that the oddity of the premise -- Birds = scariness -- always dissuaded me from seeing the movie. It is a testament to Hitchcock's skill, that my bias was handily one over. For days afterwards, I was creeped out by the sight of birds -even fucking pigeons seemed scarey in my head for awhile there. 22243. janjon - 10/29/2001 3:54:36 PM Tippi Hedron smoking that cigarette on the bench near the school as the birds gather, one by one, on the telephone wires and jungle gym behind her. 22244. Ms. No - 10/29/2001 3:54:59 PM Every time somebody mentions Suburbia I think of the 1984 movie about throw-away kids living in an abandoned housing development. Lousy acting, not a great script but still a punk-rock staple with a couple of great scenes. A realistic look at Generation X before anybody really knew what it was. 22245. Jenerator - 10/29/2001 3:57:43 PM Rear Window is a great movie. My husband became a Grace Kelly fan after seeing it. 22246. CalGal - 10/29/2001 4:00:44 PM With good reason. Not only is she beautiful and her wardrobe one of the finest in film history, but it's one of the best female action roles ever. 22247. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:03:02 PM Ms. No, 22248. Jenerator - 10/29/2001 4:07:13 PM CG, 22249. Phoenix Rising - 10/29/2001 4:08:07 PM I haven't seen Rear Window in several years. Time to rent it again. Vertigo was restored a couple of years ago and would also be an excellent choice. Make sure you rent the restored version. It is a stunningly beautiful movie. North by Northwest would be a great choice too. 22250. CalGal - 10/29/2001 4:12:13 PM I hate Vertigo. I used to be polite and put it on my top ten list because all the critics like it, but I really really hate it. Booooooooooooring. 22251. CalGal - 10/29/2001 4:13:20 PM Oh, and TJ, if you can catch Rear Window in a theater, do so. Great flick with an audience. Do you have DVD? It's got some good stuff on it. 22252. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:13:30 PM Come to think of it. About six months ago I rented the Perfect Murder with Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow, which was quite well done. Apparently it was based on a Hitchcock movie. Any of you Hitchcock fans see the Douglas/Paltrow vehicle or the Hitchcock original? 22253. CalGal - 10/29/2001 4:15:08 PM Dial M for Murder. I never much cared for it. 22254. Jenerator - 10/29/2001 4:15:16 PM Ahem, CalGal. 22255. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:15:31 PM My laptop at work has a DVD, but I haven't yet bought one for home. I don't know if I am ready to watch movies on my laptop, though I imagine certain DVDs would be good just for the commentary. 22256. CalGal - 10/29/2001 4:17:00 PM DVD players aren't all that expensive. I think you can also hook up your laptop to a tv. Not sure about that, but I seem to recall seeing it in a manual somewhere. 22257. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:17:38 PM Dial M for Murder, that is the one. Thanks. Isn't there a Hitchcock movie where the murder weapon turns out to be a cooked turkey? 22258. Phoenix Rising - 10/29/2001 4:21:08 PM If there is, you should see it as a double feature with Serial Mom where a leg of lamb was the murder weapon. 22259. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:22:53 PM That's right. Serial Mom is freaking hilarious, imo. Didn't much like Waters' last movie, Cecil B. DeMented, though Melanie Griffith was mildly amusing. 22260. CalGal - 10/29/2001 4:24:58 PM There is a Hitchcock TV episode where the woman kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, cooks it up and serves it to the cops who are discussing the difficulty they are having in finding the murder weapon. 22261. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:25:37 PM Hitchcock would also make a good double bill with various De Palma movies --Dressed to Kill with Psycho, perhaps, or Rear Window with Body Double. 22262. Jenerator - 10/29/2001 4:27:30 PM I take it that's a no. That's your choice. 22263. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:28:24 PM Calgal, 22264. CalGal - 10/29/2001 4:30:32 PM Jen, 22265. Phoenix Rising - 10/29/2001 4:30:50 PM Waters best recent movie remains Pecker but there were parts of DeMented that were pretty funny. "Call Jack Valenti!" 22266. CalGal - 10/29/2001 4:31:02 PM TJ, 22267. Raskolnikov - 10/29/2001 4:33:32 PM I saw both Dial M and the remake with Douglas. Neither is very good, but Hitch's version at least has Grace Kelly. I recently gave Dial M another shot when a 3D print showed up in town, and the film was the worst possible Hitchcock choice for 3D, given how stagey and actionless it is. 22268. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:36:44 PM Pecker is excellent. I actually saw Waters introduce it at the Toronto Film Festival, at a 9:00 a.m (yes a.m.) Saturday screening. Waters was very charming. Afterwards he left on his own, without an entourage and kibbitzed with the hoi polloi. He struck me as an eminently likeable fellow. 22269. Cellar Door - 10/29/2001 4:37:06 PM Under Capricorn is more than worht a look. It doesn't realy work, but it's very beautiful. This was the Hitchcock that the Cahiers du Cinema gang loved themost before Vertigo came along. 22270. don s. - 10/29/2001 4:37:27 PM Rebuffed by CalGal. How will she ever live it down? 22271. Cellar Door - 10/29/2001 4:37:55 PM I just got Pink Flaingoes andFemale Trouble on DVD. 22272. Phoenix Rising - 10/29/2001 4:39:14 PM That is too bad about Torn Curtain. Paul Newman just seemed to be a perfect Hitchcock leading man and the Cold War seems a perfect backdrop. 22273. CalGal - 10/29/2001 4:39:49 PM I completely agree with Rask's list. 22274. Raskolnikov - 10/29/2001 4:40:26 PM I'll take Capricorn under consideration. Thanks. That is the first nice thing I have heard about it. 22275. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:40:44 PM Rask, 22276. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:41:12 PM Make that . . . "remake of Psycho." 22277. Jenerator - 10/29/2001 4:42:03 PM Don, I was just trying to do the right thing. Oh well. 22278. Raskolnikov - 10/29/2001 4:43:53 PM Phoenix: Newman is miscast. He plays some sort of brilliant rocket scientist. Newman would have been perfect as your typical Hitchcockian "man on the run from a crime he didn't commit". 22279. Ms. No - 10/29/2001 4:50:14 PM TabouliJ, 22280. Raskolnikov - 10/29/2001 4:50:34 PM TJ: The remake deviates significantly from the original, and they have very different flaws. 22281. ScottLoar - 10/29/2001 4:50:46 PM The acting is terrible as well. See Paul Newman as a rocket scientist, defecting to the USSR, and on his first meeting with The Brain from whom he's trying to tease out a mathematical formula Newman steps to a blackboard and writes down theorems he knows are false. The Brain, impatient, tells him to stand back and in a few strokes reveals The Secret. Paul Newman takes it all in with mouth agape, eyes rolling. 22282. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:52:26 PM Jenerator, 22283. Raskolnikov - 10/29/2001 4:52:38 PM I do like Steve Zahn, but I hated Linklater's Suburbia. It shows a certain penchant for adle-pated philosophizing that makes me dread seeing Waking Life. 22284. Phoenix Rising - 10/29/2001 4:52:55 PM Agree completely, Rask. What I meant was that the conceptual elements of Newman, Hitchcock, a stunning blond and the Cold War would seem to be the perfect ingredients to have been at the top of Hitchcock's body of work. It wasn't for the reasons you so eloquently stated. 22285. Raskolnikov - 10/29/2001 4:53:52 PM Yeah, the math formula scene makes the film almost worth seeing just for the unintentional comedy. Hitchcock was usually a pro at not wasting too much time on the Maguffin. 22286. Jenerator - 10/29/2001 4:55:42 PM Tabouli, 22287. Raskolnikov - 10/29/2001 4:56:54 PM "And Julie Andrews. For one thing, she is not a blond." 22288. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 4:59:00 PM Rask, 22289. janjon - 10/29/2001 5:01:49 PM the frozen lamb chop reminds me of all that wonderful barbeque in Fried Green Tomatoes. 22290. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 5:07:58 PM Ms. No, 22291. Ms. No - 10/29/2001 5:08:14 PM Tabouli, 22292. TabouliJones - 10/29/2001 5:11:38 PM One more: 22293. CalGal - 10/29/2001 5:17:57 PM It's great having you back, TJ. 22294. Raskolnikov - 10/29/2001 5:24:07 PM I have liked Paltrow in Flesh and Bone, Emma, Shakespeare in Love (particularly), Sliding Doors, Talented Mr Ripley, and Bounce. I have said before that I think she is the only modern actress who has the combination of looks and talent remotely comparable to the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, or Ingrid Bergman. 22295. Raskolnikov - 10/29/2001 5:25:36 PM Flesh and Bone, by the way, is on my list of one of the most underappreciated films of the nineties. 22296. janjon - 10/29/2001 6:32:23 PM I would say that, in addition to Paltrow, Cate Blanchett has a chance to end up someday being considered as comparable in many ways to Hepburn, Kelly or Bergman. 22297. CalGal - 10/29/2001 6:55:19 PM Bleah, to Cate Blanchett. Besides, I get tired of saying actresses will "someday be comparable" to Bergman and Hepburn, both of whom were stars at a very young age. 22298. wonkers2 - 10/29/2001 8:08:48 PM You missed the best one of the current crop--Meryl Streep. 22299. Raskolnikov - 10/29/2001 8:50:44 PM jan: Paltrow will soon be appearring in "Shallow Hal", a comedy by the Farrely Brothers. who didso much for Cameron Diaz in Something About Mary. 22300. ScottLoar - 10/29/2001 8:59:54 PM I cannot understand why anyone finds Julia Roberts pretty or desirable or talented or any remote variation of any of those adjectives. The woman is painful to watch on screen and even by Hollywood standards hopelessly mediocre in interviews. The woman has no class, no depth, nothing remarkable about her save Hollywood fame. 22301. ScottLoar - 10/29/2001 9:02:14 PM Gwyneth Paltrow's saving grace is she is untypically Hollywood - fair, English, slight, seemingly demure and you get the impression when she sits down in a short skirt she knows enough to cross her legs. 22302. ScottLoar - 10/29/2001 9:04:01 PM Cameron Diaz can wipe cum off her hair with a smile and a giggle, an act which does seem out of character for Gwyneth Paltrow. 22303. wonkers2 - 10/29/2001 9:43:17 PM If I'm not mistaken, Gwyneth Paltrow is American, not English. At least she went to boarding school and college in the U.S. 22304. wonkers2 - 10/29/2001 9:49:28 PM And you are in the minority on Julia Roberts. She's a competent actress but not the greatest. But nearly everybody I know finds her likeable and attractive, if not their favorite actress. Personally I prefer Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter and Juliette Binoche. but I agree Cameron Diaz was great in Something About Mary. 22305. CalGal - 10/29/2001 9:56:59 PM Meryl Streep is not "the current crop". She's not even last year's crop. 22306. wonkers2 - 10/29/2001 10:01:23 PM Streep isn't exactly a teeny bopper, but she's currently acting, as opposed to Hepburn or Bergman, who are two of my all time favorites, especially Bergman. 22307. CalGal - 10/29/2001 10:02:44 PM Oh, and to say that Roberts has "nothing remarkable about her" is to ignore 5 100 million dollar films. It requires popularity well outside of just Hollywood. 22308. CalGal - 10/29/2001 10:08:10 PM Bergman and Hepburn (Audrey) are dead. And no, Streep isn't as old as they are, but she is certainly not in the same crop as Roberts and Paltrow. Ryan is actually a few years older than the group under discussion as well, but she became famous at about the same time as Roberts. 22309. wonkers2 - 10/29/2001 10:11:12 PM I'm with Cal on Roberts. And I find it hard to see how anybody could dislike her. She strikes me as good looking and warm and a bit vulnerable, e.g., Sleeping With the Enemy and Pretty Woman. 22310. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 12:31:43 AM Cal: You missed my point about about my comparison of Paltrow with Kelly et al. It isn't that Roberts isn't a star. Of course she is. But she isn't *regal*. That was a quality Kelly, Hepburn, and Bergman had (along with a few others, such as Garbo). They weren't just stars, they were stars who were elegant. This is something the screen has largely been missing since their day. I have missed it, and one of the reasons why I like Paltrow is that she is one of the few actresses who can pull it off. 22311. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 12:36:54 AM And Paltrow is indeed not English. I don't think she ever even lived there. Her hollywood parents are both American as well. 22312. CalGal - 10/30/2001 12:42:22 AM I was actually responding to janjon talking of Blanchett. I disagree, though, about Paltrow and elegance. And I certainly disagree that Roberts is a Pickford. (Actually, I would probably say that she's a Julie Andrews.) 22313. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 12:43:39 AM And Roberts is now on her 7th $100 million starring role (America's Sweethearts didn't quite make it). She is far and away the most bankable actress in Hollywood, and the only male actors who rival her are Cruise, Gibson, and Carrey. 22314. angel-five - 10/30/2001 3:26:35 AM I'm with Loar on Julia Roberts. I loathe her. I can't imagine why anyone thinks she's a good actress, because, to me, she seems nearly the same in every flick I've bothered to see her in. 22315. zojak quafeth - 10/30/2001 7:53:10 AM Has anyone seen "Iron Monkey"? 22316. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 9:10:20 AM Message # 22305: Calgal, do get on! I made no comment about which of your candidates should ascend the Hollywood movie actress throne and frankly don't give a damn about such nonsense. My comments about Julia Roberts are independent of her popularity with the general public or success in landing movie roles. 22317. TabouliJones - 10/30/2001 9:13:04 AM Regarding contemporary leading ladies: 22318. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 9:13:15 AM Comparing Julia Roberts to Mary Pickford? In what respect? Popularity, talent, looks? Have any of you actually seen any of Mary Pickford's movies? 22319. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 10:04:04 AM Angel:"Rask: It's news to me that Cruise and Carrey are still bankable actors." 22320. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 10:10:10 AM One of the best kung-fu films I saw was made in Taiwan in the '70s and released as (I think) A Touch of Zen and won (I think) first place at Cannes for cinematography. The film begins with a close-up of a dewey spider's web. One very short scene had assassins chasing the protagonist through a bamboo grove, and we see the expanse of the bamboo grove from a height, the chase shown by bamboo falling as they are being cut down. 22321. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 10:14:48 AM Scott:"Comparing Julia Roberts to Mary Pickford? In what respect?" 22322. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 10:17:14 AM 70s Kung Fu films are not well represented on DVD and video, except for bad prints of Bruce Lee and early Jackie Chan films. I hope this will be corrected soon, as there are supposed to be a lot of great ones. 22323. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 10:24:01 AM TJ: Winona Ryder *never* commanded box office attention. She had a small but loyal following that never lead to a hit film. Her few successful films (Dracula, Beetlejuice) were not successful because of her. Partly this is a matter of career choice - Ryder likes challenging roles in independent films, but her few forays into mainstream leading lady roles (Reality Bites, Alien: resurrection) were box office failures. 22324. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 11:23:25 AM I confess my prejudice so great that I cannot picture Julia Roberts as the "sweetheart" that Mary Pickford was and which still shows through in her films. Just looking at Julia Roberts walk, graceless and bovine, makes me wince and wonder why, why why is this thing popular? But, we are arguing a matter of taste and preference and I will allow for bad taste and poor preference. 22325. Phoenix Rising - 10/30/2001 11:30:09 AM The time in which we live is not amenable to regal female movie stars like Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelley or Greta Garbo. Or even a Liz Taylor. 22326. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 11:30:49 AM A lot of actors have built very long and successful careers out of mostly one persona: John Wayne, Cary Grant, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood, etc. But Ryder doesn't want to go this route. She keeps pushing herself as a serious actress, with decidedly mixed success. A young Meryl Streep she is not. 22327. TabouliJones - 10/30/2001 11:34:17 AM Scott and Rask, 22328. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 11:37:25 AM Yes, those you mention trump criticism by the strength of that single persona (save, perhaps, Schwarzenneger [I am grateful for the spelling]) contrasted to the myriad of failures (look most recently to the stars of Sixteen Candles whose names I can't immediately recall), but Ryder clearly doesn't have the broad support needed to continue a persona. And, you're right, she's not a young Meryl Streep whose abilities were among the best I'd seen in the last 50 years. 22329. Phoenix Rising - 10/30/2001 11:37:39 AM Christina Ricci has a lot more range than Winona Ryder. I even liked her in Buffalo 66 and I Hated that movie with a passion. 22330. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 11:39:47 AM TabouliJones, yes, and in fact I am for some obscure reason very sympathetic to Ryder but she continues to disappoint. She'll soon be of interest only to scandal magazines until that too fades. 22331. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 11:40:41 AM I meant gossip magazines: I couldn't immediately find the right word. 22332. Phoenix Rising - 10/30/2001 11:42:25 AM For one thing, Winona Ryder does not do comedy well. Or at all. 22333. TabouliJones - 10/30/2001 11:47:59 AM I like Ricci in Buffalo 66, but she stank in Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow is to Ricci what Age of Innocence and Coppola's Dracula are to Ryder: evidence of their lack of range as actresses. 22334. CalGal - 10/30/2001 11:49:04 AM Scott, 22335. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 11:49:57 AM Let's be charitable (which implies hope for improvement) and say Ryder needs to mature. Gracefully and skillfully one hopes. 22336. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 11:53:16 AM Julia Roberts is a one trick pony actress. She is the same character in every one of her movies except for Mystic Pizza. Now, I liked Notting Hill, but she was the exact same person in Pretty Woman, Sleeping With The Enemy, Runaway Bride, I Love Trouble, Erin Brockovich, etc. 22337. CalGal - 10/30/2001 11:53:24 AM I can't stand Ryder; the only film I could tolerate her in was Little Women and I am convinced that is due to my affection for the source material. 22338. CalGal - 10/30/2001 11:55:12 AM Jenerator, 22339. stostosto - 10/30/2001 11:55:18 AM Winona is a delicious piece of ass. 22340. stostosto - 10/30/2001 11:53:49 AM Winona is a delicious piece of ass. 22341. CalGal - 10/30/2001 11:57:06 AM And I still think that Julie Andrews is a better analogy for Roberts than (gack) Mary Pickford. Andrews is another woman whose appeal was always sneered at while she trotted merrily to the bank. I am thinking primarily of the 60s, although I think the 70s was her only weak decade. 22342. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 11:57:17 AM I believe that ANY actress would have had their "break through" performance in Pretty Woman because of the nature of the film and the costar. It was a total feel-good-hit-of-the-summer/chick flick. 22343. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 11:57:38 AM Calgal, I don't know what it takes to be a major motion picture star but acting talent sure ain't one of 'em and often it seems just having strong patrons carries one through. Julia Roberts as a prostitute in love somehow appealed to moviegoers - hell, I can't explain why - and audiences continue to pay to see her. Perhaps they like her projection of youth and good looks. 22344. Phoenix Rising - 10/30/2001 11:57:54 AM Other than scream, run, hide, fall down go boom, not much was really required of Ricci in Sleepy Hollow. So maybe that is why she paled in comparison to Miranda Richardson. 22345. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 11:58:39 AM Sto, you'd doubtless pant over barnyard animals. 22346. rubberducky - 10/30/2001 11:59:13 AM eh, Roberts does look and act the same every time i've bothered to watch her. and, she is hardly attractive. with those horse teeth distracting attention from every possible good feature there is about her, i find it hard to believe most people would find her so sexy if she were walking down the street with hair and make up she did herself. 22347. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:04:09 PM I can see why people say the same about Tom Hanks. I think that both he and Julia choose good movies (they have that luxury) but they tend to act the same in all of them. 22348. CalGal - 10/30/2001 12:04:52 PM I believe that ANY actress would have had their "break through" performance in Pretty Woman because of the nature of the film and the costar. 22349. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:06:15 PM Sto, you'd doubtless pant over barnyard animals. 22350. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 12:06:51 PM "I think that Phoenix might be right that there is no value for elegant movie stars and hasn't been since teen boys became the major box office demographic back in the 70s." 22351. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:07:40 PM I positively hate Meg Ryan. Mein Gott, she's annoying! 22352. CalGal - 10/30/2001 12:08:19 PM Say, Calgal, do you know why? 22353. Phoenix Rising - 10/30/2001 12:08:39 PM Jenerator is a Big Pervert. Sitting around imagining what Angelina and Billy Bob are up to in their bedroom. Sick sick sick. 22354. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:09:32 PM Any "charming and pretty" new actress could have been in Pretty Woman. Simply insert an actress that seems to have chemistry with Gere and voila. Her longevity is mostly due to her choosing and getting good parts in films. 22355. CalGal - 10/30/2001 12:10:54 PM As far as Meg Ryan goes--I generally agree that she's an annoyance and I don't know if she will age well. That said, she is a good five years older than anyone else we've discussed and apart from Roberts, no one has had a longer career. 22356. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:10:55 PM Julia Roberts is hugely talented, but people won't recognise it because she is so bloody good-looking and charming and sexy and delicious, and people don't think that can co-exist with talent, but it does in Julia. 22357. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:11:14 PM Phoenix, 22358. CalGal - 10/30/2001 12:12:08 PM Has Julia Roberts made anything since My Best Friend's Wedding? 22359. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:13:03 PM Erin Brockovich. 22360. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 12:13:08 PM You, Calgal, subscribe Julia Roberts' continuing success in Hollywood to "talent". Okay. I think not. To assume my difference of opinion (for I really dislike this woman whom I think has no acting talent) denies the supposed reality of Julia Roberts talent leaves me breathless. 22361. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:14:05 PM I've never seen any deep roles with Roberts. Imagine her doing Paltrow's role in Shakespeare in Love. It would have been a hit because she would have been in it, but it would have sucked! Or how about Roberts in Sophie's Choice? 22362. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:14:33 PM To assume my difference of opinion (for I really dislike this woman whom I think has no acting talent) denies the supposed reality of Julia Roberts talent leaves me breathless. 22363. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 12:14:46 PM Sto3, my earnest loathing of Julia Roberts cannot trump your randy enthusiasm. 22364. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:16:05 PM how about Roberts in Sophie's Choice? 22365. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:16:20 PM the word "randy" reminds me of Austin Powers! 22366. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:17:02 PM Sto3, my earnest loathing of Julia Roberts cannot trump your randy enthusiasm 22367. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:18:41 PM stostosto, 22368. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 12:19:09 PM There's too much ScottLoar in your reply there, Sto3. 22369. CalGal - 10/30/2001 12:20:26 PM Scott, 22370. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:21:08 PM Jennie, 22371. Phoenix Rising - 10/30/2001 12:21:38 PM You mean, apart from the enormous hit Notting Hill and that pic she won the Oscar for? 22372. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:23:21 PM CalGal, 22373. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:25:19 PM Phoneix, 22374. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:28:09 PM Sto, 22375. TabouliJones - 10/30/2001 12:29:28 PM Roberts was one of the only good things in Altman's Pret a Porter and was impressive her supporting role in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You. 22376. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:34:08 PM Man, did I envy Woody Allen that part. 22377. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:34:25 PM Roberts was quintessential Roberts in Hook. 22378. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:34:50 PM (shit, I am positively teenage-like about Julia Roberts, I can't seem to help it). 22379. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:35:46 PM Hook was hugely over-stuffed Spielberg drivel. 22380. TabouliJones - 10/30/2001 12:36:00 PM You gotta hand it to Woody -- casting all himself as the love interest for numerous hotties. Another examaple in that regard: Elizabeth Shue as Allen's girlfriend in Deconstructing Harry. 22381. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:37:40 PM Oh, yes, Shue! Yummie! Is she hot or what. Now I gotta get a grip of myself. (No, not like that). 22382. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:39:16 PM For Sto: 22383. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:41:28 PM Awww, Jennie! 22384. TabouliJones - 10/30/2001 12:43:02 PM What the hell happenned to Shue anyway? After Leaving Las Vegas her career seemed to lose all forward momentum. Hillary Swank is another example of an actress who was unable to capitalize on a much touted dramatic performance. Evidence, maybe, that there really is a dearth of decent parts for women -- or, perhaps, for serious actors of any gender in general. 22385. CalGal - 10/30/2001 12:45:08 PM Phoenix, 22386. CalGal - 10/30/2001 12:48:10 PM TJ, 22387. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 12:51:45 PM Shue took a break to have children. 22388. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:52:02 PM eye candy is needed to keep the menfolk happy 22389. stostosto - 10/30/2001 12:52:52 PM Jen: Woody Allen doesn't make blockbusters. 22390. Phoenix Rising - 10/30/2001 1:36:03 PM But he generally always makes money. 22391. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 2:17:05 PM Roberts has talent, and has a broader acting range that she is being given credit for. Erin Brockovich, Notting Hill, Steel Magnolias, and Pretty Woman are not "playing the same part over and over again". 22392. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 2:18:17 PM Woody Allen doesn't make blockbusters. 22393. don s. - 10/30/2001 2:36:38 PM I think it is pretty presumptuous to play armchair casting director unless you have an excellent understanding of both the movie industry and economics and movie patron demographics. And even then I wouldn't envy the real quarterback. 22394. don s. - 10/30/2001 2:38:21 PM Notting Hill is … an excellent romantic comedy. You might not like it. But it was extremely popular with men--as I recall both Ace and Francis spoke well of it. 22395. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 2:58:59 PM "I think it is pretty presumptuous to play armchair casting director unless you have an excellent understanding of both the movie industry and economics and movie patron demographics. And even then I wouldn't envy the real quarterback." 22396. Cellar Door - 10/30/2001 3:35:54 PM Well I enjoyed Notting Hill" and I like Julia Roberts. 22397. Cellar Door - 10/30/2001 3:36:22 PM toys 22398. Ms. No - 10/30/2001 3:52:23 PM Swank followed Boys Don't Cry with an extremely average performance in a supporting role in The Gift which starred Cate Blanchet. 22399. Ms. No - 10/30/2001 3:53:52 PM cont. 22400. Ms. No - 10/30/2001 3:54:21 PM cont. 22401. Phoenix Rising - 10/30/2001 3:56:20 PM Elizabeth Shue may have taken a break to have babies. Unfortunately that did not prevent her from continuing to make two movies a year since Leaving Las Vegas. Unfortunately based on the movies she made, I predict fair to partly cloudy with an occassional shower and a continued downhill slide in her career. 22402. Phoenix Rising - 10/30/2001 4:07:04 PM Thanks for the term paper, No. You get an A minus. A few minor corrections: 22403. Ms. No - 10/30/2001 4:15:23 PM Thank you, Professor Rising. I stayed up all night to write that one. 22404. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 4:32:26 PM Nonetheless she (Julia Roberts) radiates charm and an earthiness that allows people to imagine themselves knowing her as girl next door, daughter, girlfriend, best friend, sister, self. 22405. Phoenix Rising - 10/30/2001 4:33:01 PM Again, a minor quibble. 22406. CalGal - 10/30/2001 5:00:56 PM Nice essay, MsNo. I agree with Phoenix that Sheedy has done some indie work that puts her in a different class than Shue. 22407. janjon - 10/30/2001 5:05:07 PM Weaver is also still extraordinarily attractive. 22408. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 5:08:08 PM Streep beats Weaver for both longevity (Weaver's first break was Alien in 1979, whereas Streep's was Deerhunter in 1978), and versatility. But I agree that Weaver is underappreciated. 22409. janjon - 10/30/2001 5:14:50 PM I would make it a triumverate - Streep, Weaver and Sarandon - in terms of longevity and versatility (although Sarandon's roles have been more the same than those of the others, I guess.) 22410. Ms. No - 10/30/2001 5:17:25 PM ScottLoar, 22411. janjon - 10/30/2001 5:20:44 PM Cage was terrific in the-movie-whose-name-I-can-never-remember-but-Lara Flynn Boyle and J.T. Walsh and Dennis Hopper-were-also-in-it and it is something like Red Rock West. 22412. CalGal - 10/30/2001 5:24:25 PM Streep isn't in Weaver's weight class--although Weaver is in Streep's. I don't think Streep has been in a major league A-list film in a long time. She hasn't been cast with one of the big name men in forever--not since Out of Africa, Ironweed, and Heartburn. She hasn't had a hit in forever and her Oscar nominations are almost habit. Or worse, pity. Yes, she's still acting, but she hasn't been on top in forever--and that's why she's out of the longevity race. 22413. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 5:25:29 PM It is called "Red Rock West". 22414. janjon - 10/30/2001 5:28:25 PM Hard to feel that someone who works as consistently as Streep and garners as many Oscar nominations as she is someone who should have done something better with her time in the past 15 years. 22415. CalGal - 10/30/2001 5:28:58 PM Sarandon actually got her start two years prior to both Streep and Weaver. Longevity in the purest sense, she certainly wins. But she wasn't a major star for her first ten years, and really was only on top from Bull Durham through Dead Man Walking. Once she got the Oscar, her career seemed to have collapsed--she hasn't done a damn thing since anywhere near the caliber. If anything, and despite her age, she is more in the Star For Six Years And Then You're Out category than anything else, with her prior years in film and her marriage to a director keeping her career going. 22416. janjon - 10/30/2001 5:29:46 PM Michelle Pfeiffer is, what, about 10 years younger than they? She might make it as a romantic lead for quite a while longer. 22417. janjon - 10/30/2001 5:31:29 PM Sarandon's marriage to a director keeping her going? She's been in a relationship with Tim Robbins for years. Certainly good as married, but married not. 22418. CalGal - 10/30/2001 5:37:52 PM What women her age, including Weaver for that matter, get cast as romantic leads against the Big Names. Streep as she has gotten older probably has done better than anyone since Katherine Hepburn on that score. 22419. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 5:39:46 PM Whattaya mean Streep hasn't had a hit or acted opposite a big name man in forever? Bridges of Madison County made 80 million, and she starred opposite Clint Eastwood. Weaver hasn't starred in a film that grossed higher than that since Aliens in 1986. 22420. CalGal - 10/30/2001 5:40:02 PM Pfeiffer is definitely out of the running, another in the five years and thanks, toots. 22421. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 5:43:53 PM But is Weaver "bankable"? Except in an Alien film, I don't think she brings much more to the box office than Streep. They could have cast anyone in Galaxy Quest or Heartbreakers and gotten similar grosses. 22422. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 5:45:43 PM Well, five more years for Pfeiffer gives her the same longevity that Streep and Weaver have now. I wouldn't count her out, considering she is 9 years younger than them. 22423. janjon - 10/30/2001 5:46:05 PM Well, dunno. My impression is that Sarandon's career has had a lot more lustre than Robbins, especially over the past 10 years. 22424. CalGal - 10/30/2001 5:48:13 PM Weaver's most recent leading men: Gene Hackman, Tim Allen, Kevin Kline (going back to Dave in 1993). 22425. janjon - 10/30/2001 5:50:38 PM I think it can be said that they each kick ass. 22426. CalGal - 10/30/2001 5:51:35 PM Rask, 22427. janjon - 10/30/2001 5:52:22 PM Annette Bening will age well too. I suspect that for a lot of reasons she won't make a lot of movies, though. 22428. CalGal - 10/30/2001 5:54:24 PM Annette Bening is good stuff. And she does age well. And yes, you're right about Anjelica. 22429. CalGal - 10/30/2001 5:58:38 PM I should say, janjon, that you are right about adding Sarandon to the list of actresses that have been around a long time. I like Sarandon and Streep a great deal and don't mean to denigrate either of them. My point is rather that Weaver's track record--using the other two's very impressive achievements as comparison--are pretty damn amazing and she is overlooked in that regard. 22430. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 5:59:26 PM "No, I meant that Pfeiffer had five years at the top. She's over. Fork went in years ago. " 22431. CalGal - 10/30/2001 6:05:22 PM Rask--I had forgotten about What Lies Beneath, and that means she might have just been in a slump. I will say I don't remember much buzz about her performance, though, which doesn't bode well. I agree about her looks and I think she's underappreciated as well. I just thought her recent string of movies demonstrated she was out of contention. 22432. CalGal - 10/30/2001 6:08:07 PM I don't think she really entered "time at the top" until Ladyhawke, but even then I was too short at five years. 22433. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 6:14:29 PM But for what its worth, there is no money in women's weepers, unless they star Julia Roberts. All of Pfeiffer's recent efforts in this regard have been flops. 22434. CalGal - 10/30/2001 6:20:52 PM I loathe Jolie. Please may it not be so. I'd give odds to Portman of that group. I dunno about Paltrow, she's been around as long as Diaz and despite critical adoration she hasn't done as much. The Oscar was more of a crowning. I agree about Barrymore, though, and certainly Paltrow is supposed to be in the running. 22435. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 6:22:31 PM Pfeiffer did a string of instrospective dramas, probably in search of her elusive Oscar: Thousand Acres, Deep End of the Ocean, and Story of Us. 22436. CalGal - 10/30/2001 6:27:04 PM I agree about not counting her out; I forgot about WLB. That said, while Dangerous Minds and One Fine Day might have been modest successes, they were certainly not top shelf flicks--I don't think either of them were mentioned again once they disappeared from the theaters (I'll take your word that they made money). So that makes it five that I was counting as lackluster films. 22437. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 6:31:24 PM Cal: Paltrow is going to be in Shallow Hal, opposite Jack Black, and directed by the Farrelly brothers. I'll bet money that it will be a big hit. Paltrow looks to be one of those actresses who switches between art house (SiL, Bounce, Emma) and popular (Perfect Murder, Seven, Shallow Hal) films. 22438. Raskolnikov - 10/30/2001 6:39:48 PM Dangerous Minds wasn't lackluster at all. It was a bona fide hit. It made 85 million. One Fine Day was much more modest. It opened poorly but ended up with 45 million or so (which is a modest success for any romantic comedy that doesn't have to pay a garganuan salary to Roberts to Bullock), but it grossed more than Weaver's most recent effort (Heartbreakers), which was also deemed a modest success. 22439. CalGal - 10/30/2001 6:41:00 PM I disagree about Jolie's acting talent; she has never struck me as anything special. Body is not in dispute. But she is one I loathed on sight. I loathed her before I knew that I despised her, for heavens' sake. She did have a big hit. I will say, though, that I don't think anyone as utterly bizarre as she is can stay on top. 22440. CalGal - 10/30/2001 6:50:31 PM Rask, 22441. Ms. No - 10/30/2001 7:02:21 PM Has everyone just completely forgotten about Kidman? 22442. CalGal - 10/30/2001 7:04:32 PM I mentioned Kidman a while back--she's Hollywood popular, but a big star? She's never seemed top league to me despite being gorgeous. She should do more comedy. 22443. ScottLoar - 10/30/2001 7:48:37 PM Message # 22410: And to continue, Ms. No, unicorns would come to feed in our garden... 22444. Cellar Door - 10/30/2001 9:01:42 PM Jodie is too chilly for the art houses, much less Joe Six-pack. She doesn't draw you in at all. In fact I'd say she deliberately pushes audiences away with her sniffy noli me tangare air. 22445. Jenerator - 10/30/2001 9:45:42 PM An excellent bad guy: 22446. Raskolnikov - 10/31/2001 6:06:37 AM Cal:"There is no comparison between Galaxy Quest and any of the Pfeiffer films mentioned. Box office barely comes into it, especially considering that GQ was released in December and was overlooked and still did well. I thought it did in the 60 or 70 million range? And didn't Dave make quite a bit of money? Copycat did well in comparison to its budget too, I thought." 22447. Raskolnikov - 10/31/2001 6:18:31 AM Cellar: "Jodie is too chilly for the art houses, much less Joe Six-pack. She doesn't draw you in at all. In fact I'd say she deliberately pushes audiences away with her sniffy noli me tangare air." 22448. Phoenix Rising - 10/31/2001 11:13:27 AM Jamie Lee Curtis has had a film career that dates to 1978 and TV before that. Although mostly forgettable films, she has shown herself to be adept at Action, Comedy and Drama. She may have staying power. And with very unconventional looks. Although as she gets older, I think she resembles her mother more and more. 22449. Jenerator - 10/31/2001 11:16:54 AM Geoffrey Rush won me over in Shine. He deserved more than a Golden Globe for that role. 22450. Jenerator - 10/31/2001 11:39:45 AM MSN listed the following as the 10 scariest movies of all time: 22451. rubberducky - 10/31/2001 11:46:09 AM The Evil Dead was fantastic for what it was, but i don't think it 'scary' much at all 22452. CalGal - 10/31/2001 11:49:55 AM Rask, 22453. Jamie R - 10/31/2001 11:57:04 AM Suspiria was a nasty little movie. Stylish, I suppose. 22454. janjon - 10/31/2001 11:58:24 AM Jamie Lee Curtis. aaahhh. May she thrive. Something just terrific about her. 22455. CalGal - 10/31/2001 12:08:08 PM I don't like something about Reese Witherspoon, and yet she makes some excellent movies and seems to be involved in producing them as well. Legally Blonde was one of the few legit sleeper hits this summer, I think. 22456. rubberducky - 10/31/2001 12:11:56 PM the best thing about Reese Witherspoon, while i do like her, is her hubby Ryan Phillippe 22457. Raskolnikov - 10/31/2001 12:12:14 PM Curtis has never really been a star. She is a workhorse. 22458. CalGal - 10/31/2001 12:16:04 PM Witherspoon has been around a while, too. The first thing I remember her in was Man in the Moon, although I didn't notice her again until Pleasantville. 22459. ScottLoar - 10/31/2001 12:22:30 PM Jamie Lee Curtis had one good movie, A Fish Called Wanda, a great role that even a person of her limited talents could carry. Most of the time Jamie Lee Curtis appears in short, ass-hugging miniskirts and the males are supposed to pant, the audience that is. 22460. Ms. No - 10/31/2001 1:42:53 PM ScottLoar, 22461. ScottLoar - 10/31/2001 1:45:41 PM No, you completely misunderstood my original post as serious and this has nothing to do with irony. 22462. Ms. No - 10/31/2001 2:02:17 PM See, it's stuff like that there that keep me from ever imagining that you're cracking a joke. 22463. janjon - 10/31/2001 2:58:05 PM Jamie Lee, bless every bit of those legs, was quite fetching and good in Trading Places, too. 22464. ScottLoar - 10/31/2001 3:04:59 PM Janjon, many thought and some wished I would become a good, professional stage player but I couldn't put up with the neurotics that plague the theatre. I know, appreciate and can deliver a good line, even now. 22465. wonkers2 - 10/31/2001 3:16:15 PM Yeah, but Jamie Lee looks like she was kicked in the face by a mule. And she has no lips. And her breasts are bovine. 22466. janjon - 10/31/2001 3:18:33 PM that is harsh, wonkers. truly harsh. 22467. Raskolnikov - 10/31/2001 3:33:22 PM It is immoral to dicuss jamie Lee curtis movies, particularly on this day, and not mention Halloween. 22468. Phoenix Rising - 10/31/2001 3:37:16 PM Well, I am sure the wonkster is so fabulously handsome that Jamie Lee must just be devastated that he doesn't find her attractive. 22469. glendajean - 10/31/2001 3:38:12 PM Harden won the Oscar. 22470. Phoenix Rising - 10/31/2001 3:42:37 PM I have never seen one of the "Halloween" movies. Or any of the "Friday 13th" ones. 22471. rubberducky - 10/31/2001 3:45:20 PM no, just culturally unaware 22472. Phoenix Rising - 10/31/2001 3:51:09 PM I don't know. I liked all three of the "Scream" movies, have a rudimentary understanding of Jackson Pollock's contribution to Western Civilization, and increasingly appreciate supple young flesh (so much that I am seriously considering becoming a sugar-daddy). 22473. rubberducky - 10/31/2001 3:55:38 PM you're right, i should've just said 'no, just culturally less aware' 22474. Ms. No - 10/31/2001 4:06:09 PM Phoenix, 22475. Ms. No - 10/31/2001 4:08:05 PM I tried to watch Dawn of the Dead the other night and just couldn't get through it. Too much stupidity. It doesn't come close to the original of the series. Night of the Living Dead 22476. Ms. No - 10/31/2001 4:08:38 PM 22477. Phoenix Rising - 10/31/2001 4:27:33 PM Thanks, No, but.... 22478. wonkers2 - 10/31/2001 5:06:36 PM Who said I don't find Jamie Lee attractive? I just find lots of others more attractive. 22479. janjon - 10/31/2001 5:13:44 PM you said it. Well, at least it is difficult how anyone with the features you described would be considered to be attractive. 22480. wonkers2 - 10/31/2001 5:15:33 PM Pal, as Cap'n Dirty sez, "They only go from good ter excellent!" 22481. Raskolnikov - 10/31/2001 6:25:02 PM Halloween is worth seeing. It plays the material pretty straight, unlike the Friday the 13th series, and is an effective horror movie. A lot of moments of great tension, such as when a girl puzzles how the door to car became unlocked while the audience suddenly realizes that it means Michael Myers is in the back seat of her car. Carpenter didn't use gore as a crutch, unlike many slasher film directors. Halloween isn't very gorey. 22482. CalGal - 10/31/2001 6:32:57 PM That's a good list of great flicks, although I don't find most of them scary. Qualifier: haven't seen The Vanishing, Night of Living Dead or House on Haunted Hill. Of the list I like Halloween, Diabolique, Alien, The Haunting, and Psycho as scary films and they'd make my top. 22483. CalGal - 10/31/2001 6:33:18 PM Shouldn't have said "most", since I haven't seen three. Just "some". 22484. Cellar Door - 10/31/2001 8:33:28 PM My Top Scary Movies (no particular order) 22485. arkymalarky - 10/31/2001 9:02:00 PM Oooh, I saw you on TV, CD, in the Robert Reed segment. Man, you are nice looking, if you don't mind my saying so. 22486. Raskolnikov - 10/31/2001 9:41:45 PM Cellar: decent list. I have never been able to find Eyes Without a Face, and the Suspiria DVD isn't stocked by any rental company (I inquired, and was told Criterion films are regularly backordered - I have the same problem with Wicker Man). 22487. CalGal - 10/31/2001 10:03:14 PM Wow. I could have sworn I saw both on the list. (Of course, if Aliens isn't on your list, how come Them! is? hyuk) 22488. CalGal - 10/31/2001 10:04:52 PM I like Night of the Hunter, that's a good pick. Gosh, if I can't remember any I'll just have to scrounge off the ones others can remember. 22489. Toenails - 11/1/2001 7:22:32 AM 22490. stostosto - 11/1/2001 7:41:19 AM A Julia Roberts film called Something to Talk About is on local TV on Sunday. I don't think I've seen that one before. Is it any good? 22491. wonkers2 - 11/1/2001 8:27:24 AM Last night on PBS I caught the last half of Sweeney Todd done in San Francisco with an orchestra and singers without scenery. A great Halloween show--with lots of good humor. The video of the original Broadway musical is spectacular. It's one of Sondheim's greatest shows. 22492. TabouliJones - 11/1/2001 9:06:13 AM Phoenix, 22493. Phoenix Rising - 11/1/2001 9:18:12 AM Of course you said it better than I. I have to say that the movie was somewhat educational for me. Believe it or not, I had no idea who Peggy Guggenheim was or what she did before I saw this movie. That hole in my education has now been plugged. 22494. Phoenix Rising - 11/1/2001 9:26:01 AM Here's a much better movie about a tortured artist. 22495. TabouliJones - 11/1/2001 9:37:14 AM Phoenix 22496. TabouliJones - 11/1/2001 9:39:10 AM er, make that "if you can call . . . by a tragic . . . ENTERTAINING." 22497. Phoenix Rising - 11/1/2001 9:43:47 AM 22498. TabouliJones - 11/1/2001 9:58:38 AM Thanks for the link. I have a weakness for abstract expressionism, especially Mark Rothko. Krasner seems pretty good within that tradition. At least that is my humble opinion, based solely on what I just viewed online. 22499. Phoenix Rising - 11/1/2001 10:23:49 AM That is actually an excellent website for general art education. Not only can you seek information by artist, you can find the website of almost any art museum in the world. 22500. Cellar Door - 11/1/2001 10:31:10 AM Well The Garden is a bit difficult, as is The Last of England (my favorite), But Edward II and The Tempest are required viewing. 22501. Phoenix Rising - 11/1/2001 11:09:32 AM Here is a so-so film about an artist. 22502. janjon - 11/1/2001 11:17:40 AM Lust of Life? Lust for Life? 22503. janjon - 11/1/2001 11:19:54 AM I saw the original The Thing at a Halloween party in a college dining room, so the screen was big enough. 22504. TabouliJones - 11/1/2001 11:22:31 AM Can't remember if I liked I Shot Andy Warhol on the whole, but I recall Lili Taylor giving a convincing and sympathetic performance as the mentally unbalanced protagonist. Taylor was also pretty good in an otherwise horrible movie called Girls Town. And her performance in Say Anything still stands as a classic portrayal of dim witted teen angst. 22505. Phoenix Rising - 11/1/2001 11:32:01 AM Yes, Lust for Life. Thanks, janjon. 22506. CalGal - 11/1/2001 11:59:36 AM Yes, it was James Arness. Sto, Something to Talk About got weak reviews, and it didn't sound very good. It was made during Roberts' slump period, I think. 22507. Cellar Door - 11/1/2001 12:10:27 PM One of the best films I've ever seen about an artist is A Bigger Spash. 22508. Phoenix Rising - 11/1/2001 12:18:10 PM Well I did like the cute naked boys splashing about. For the understanding of the relationship between the artist and his subject matter, mind you. 22509. CalGal - 11/1/2001 12:22:47 PM I thought that was Bacon. 22510. stostosto - 11/1/2001 12:29:10 PM Thanks, Cellar. 22511. Cellar Door - 11/1/2001 12:43:51 PM The Bacon movie is Love is the Devil by John Maybury 22512. Phoenix Rising - 11/1/2001 1:44:05 PM Bacon it is. 22513. Jamie R - 11/2/2001 1:11:11 AM 13 Ghosts has a one very creepy scene and some great sets, but is in the main just incredibly assaulting. This movie beats you up with unpleasant sights and sounds, emphasis on the sounds. It is really truly unbelievably loud. 22514. CalGal - 11/2/2001 1:15:11 AM Wow. Who is in it? I haven't read anything about it. 22515. Phoenix Rising - 11/2/2001 10:42:02 AM For sto3: Julia 22516. Jamie R - 11/2/2001 12:09:26 PM It has the stoner engineer from Galaxy Quest and Shannon Elizabeth from American Pie. She disappears for about half the movie and doesn't really have much to do when she's there. 22517. CalGal - 11/2/2001 12:14:02 PM Tony Shalhoub is great. I would periodically watch Wings and think "that cab driver is gonna be famous some day." 22518. don s. - 11/2/2001 1:00:35 PM Hey, phoenix, imdb does have an entry for Basquiat. Those rascals tripped you up by listing under the correct spelling. 22519. Raskolnikov - 11/2/2001 2:49:24 PM With a nod back to the earlier Hitchcock discussion, I finally saw Family Plot last night. 22520. CalGal - 11/2/2001 3:18:42 PM I don't remember anything about it except the end, which amused me. I like Barbara Harris a great deal. 22521. KuligintheHooligan - 11/3/2001 12:50:39 PM Perhaps someone could help me with a song, sung originally by Stevie Wonder, but used in two relatively recent movies. "The Kid" had the song at least used in its trailer, but I can't find the song's title on any soundtrack listing. Then there was "Wild Wild West" and the title track by Wil Smith where he adapted the tune from Wonder. 22522. wonkers2 - 11/4/2001 8:07:52 AM Anybody seen Innocence? It's an Australian movie about a couple in their 70s who become reacquainted, to renew a brief romance they had had 45 years earlier. Andreas is widowed, but the situation is complicated by Claire's husband of 40 years, John. It's a gentle movie that explores love, marriage and family in a thoughtful way reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman. A refreshing respite from Hollywood fare. 22523. Francis Urquhart - 11/4/2001 10:15:41 AM Here is a very good recent rental, and a good film to come out of this year -- 22524. CalGal - 11/4/2001 10:30:57 AM Don't know about Wild Wild West, but the Stevie Wonder song on The Kid is Your Love Is Lifting Me Higher. Well, he didn't write it but I think he was the first to sing it. 22525. wonkers2 - 11/4/2001 10:35:50 AM Oz comes up with about one good movie a year--Priscilla, Strictly Ballroom, The Coca Cola Kid, etc. 22526. Cellar Door - 11/4/2001 10:38:11 AM It's really quite good. Moll captures a lot of the desperation and dissatisfaction of middle-class life, particularly in the ramshackle house that the leading character and his family are staying in for a "vacaion" that's more like an unwelcome chore than anything else. There's an almost palpable sense of squalor: heat, boredom, bratty small children, and a marriage right on the edge of going stale. When Harry walks into this as Mr. Fixit -- offering a swell air-conditioned SUV, and treating the protagonist as if he were some sort of literary royalty -- the whole thing takes off. 22527. ElliottRW - 11/4/2001 12:30:44 PM Monsters, Inc. 22528. CalGal - 11/4/2001 1:03:47 PM Elliot! Nice to see you. I almost went to see Monsters last night, but opted for The Others instead. 22529. joezan - 11/4/2001 7:00:12 PM Wow. 22530. CalGal - 11/5/2001 2:33:52 AM The Others 22531. glendajean - 11/5/2001 9:12:25 AM I saw Monster, Inc. at a matinee yesterday afternoon. John Goodman and Billy Crystal create funny, likable character voices. The computer animation is still "different," but less of a scene stealer from the story than the previous Pixar flicks. Steve Buscemi plays the bad guy. He's very low-key for an evil character, and only there because there has to be a bad guy. Most of the fun is found in the Goodman-Crystal interaction. 22532. rubberducky - 11/5/2001 9:44:37 AM made the mistake of buying the Shrek DVD before i had seen the movie. i was really disappointed in this movie, it just didn't deliver like i thought it would. 22533. joezan - 11/5/2001 10:46:06 PM Awww, I liked Shrek. 22534. CalGal - 11/5/2001 10:59:27 PM I thought Shrek was excellent. One of the best flicks this year. Very tightly plotted, as most animated films are these days. 22535. joezan - 11/5/2001 11:13:46 PM I even liked Eddie Murphy. Hated him in Mulan - his jive-talking little dragon just did not mesh with the mood of that movie. 22536. joezan - 11/5/2001 11:15:31 PM ...of course, I am a sucker for a well-turned fart joke. 22537. rubberducky - 11/7/2001 10:57:46 AM i really wanted to like it and really tried, but god it stunk when the movie had to concentrate on any of the four main characters. when they interacted with someone/thing else, it was okay and occasionally incredibly funny. 22538. Phoenix Rising - 11/8/2001 9:22:41 AM The 14th annual Atlanta Lesbian and Gay Film Festival opened last night with All Over The Guy. 22539. Phoenix Rising - 11/8/2001 9:42:07 AM As for the film, it was a romantic comedy. It was much better (better writing, acting and directing) than last year's festival opener, the romantic comedy The Broken Hearts Club. 22540. glendajean - 11/8/2001 9:47:38 AM The actor who played the blond queen in Broken Hearts Club is the star on the TV series Scrub. 22541. Cellar Door - 11/8/2001 9:51:48 AM If you're wondering why so many cast members from The Opposite of Sex showed up in All Ove the Guy it's because Dan Bukatinsky is Don Roos' boyfriend. 22542. glendajean - 11/8/2001 10:00:58 AM She deserved the Emmy for Raymond, I thought. 22543. Phoenix Rising - 11/9/2001 10:51:42 AM Day 2 of the Atlanta gay film fest: 22544. glendajean - 11/9/2001 11:02:16 AM I think Cellar was quite high on The Adventures of Felix earlier this year. 22545. Phoenix Rising - 11/9/2001 11:35:20 AM Well, that, and I also blame the "gay press". The size of the festival is greatly diminished. Although the opening night was a sell-out, last night's attendance was dismal, of which Bush was only partly responsible. 22546. Cellar Door - 11/10/2001 1:04:23 AM Not just Felix, but the guys who made it. 22547. Francis Urquhart - 11/10/2001 7:52:46 AM Swordfish 22548. Francis Urquhart - 11/10/2001 8:01:57 AM The Dish 22549. Cellar Door - 11/11/2001 12:59:29 PM 22550. Jamie R - 11/12/2001 11:22:30 AM Re: Swordfish 22551. christipeters - 11/12/2001 2:49:03 PM I got a kick out of Till the Clouds Roll By on TV the other night. It is the story of Jerome Kern, released in 1947, with lots of cameos by various stars. It was fun playing "who's that?!" in the musical sequences. 22552. CalGal - 11/12/2001 3:10:28 PM Isn't that the one where Judy sings Look for the Silver Lining with an artful smudge on her face while she is doing the dishes, or something? 22553. Cellar Door - 11/12/2001 3:20:00 PM Yep. 22554. christipeters - 11/12/2001 4:44:16 PM That's the one! 22555. rubberducky - 11/13/2001 9:15:01 AM rented Romeo Must Die and found it to be a fun action flick that's not very demanding on the brain. as long as you kick back and let it work on its own merits, it succeds wonderfully. some cool scenes and sequences to be had. 3 ½ quacks. 22556. Cellar Door - 11/13/2001 9:43:22 AM Harry Potter is not at all bad. Easily the most massive children's film ever made, it manages to hold interest (Steve Kloves did the script)for 2 1/2 hours without flagging. The three kid leads are sensational (director Chis Columbus resists temptaion to make them cuter than they are), and while the effects are as good as you'd expect at these prices, the real kudos go to the set and costume designers. While the story nominally takes place in the present, the world Harry inhabits for most of the film is Dickensian/Medieval in design. Lots of good supporting work from Richard Harris, Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman (who really knows how to curl an eyebrow), but if the film belongs to anyone it's Robbie Coltrane. Children -- especially little girls --will love it. 22557. glendajean - 11/13/2001 11:01:11 AM I am looking forward to Harry Potter and have taken to ignoring all the clips that are being shown on the Today show. I hate seeing huge parts of a movie before I've seen the movie. 22558. judithathome - 11/13/2001 11:15:40 AM Keoni is counting the days til he sees it...he read all the books and had long, detailed discussions with the kids next door. He asks all the kids he sees if they've read the books and loves dishing with them about Harry and Co. 22559. Raskolnikov - 11/13/2001 5:23:34 PM I hope it does spectacularly (and I mean *spectacularly*). I have a good deal of real money lying on it. 22560. Francis Urquhart - 11/14/2001 9:37:33 AM Baby Boy 22561. Francis Urquhart - 11/14/2001 9:37:48 AM Then, Jody's mother begins to date Ving Rhames, an ex-con who adores her, wrestles earnestly with his own violent tendencies, runs his own business, and impedes on Jody's idyllic world. Simultaneously, Jody's girlfriend is imposed upon by just-out-of-prison Snoop Dogg. Jody is forced by these twin pressures to become a man, a traditional, Fred MacMurray type man. He must accept Rhames, leave the crib, defend and save the mother of his child, and accept his responsibilities. 22562. Cellar Door - 11/14/2001 9:16:07 PM Tuesday, November 13, 2001 at 09:30 JST 22563. Cellar Door - 11/15/2001 9:34:45 AM 22564. LadyChaos - 11/15/2001 6:20:09 PM Harry Potter got a downright curmudgeonly review in the New York Times. 22565. Cellar Door - 11/15/2001 6:30:03 PM Oh that's just Elvis trying to be a Contrarian. 22566. Jenerator - 11/15/2001 6:34:09 PM LC, 22567. Phoenix Rising - 11/16/2001 9:13:19 AM Day 3 of the Atlanta gay film fest was a week ago today. I have been busy and lazy. 22568. Phoenix Rising - 11/16/2001 9:18:55 AM This was followed by Queen of the Whole Wide World which is a documentary about an AIDS fundraiser in LA. The fundraiser is a drag version of a beauty pageant and is done for laughs. There were many laughs in the film, however, I would rather have attended the actual event. 22569. Phoenix Rising - 11/16/2001 9:21:21 AM I should add that the guy who was Miss Mexico (Kay Sedia) is not credited in that IMDb entry. He should have been. He was 1st runner up and had a prominent part in the film. 22570. rubberducky - 11/16/2001 2:28:42 PM news from the weird update: 22571. CalGal - 11/16/2001 2:30:43 PM Kay Sedia 22572. CalGal - 11/16/2001 2:32:01 PM Harry Potter is getting from good to excellent reviews. The cast is getting uniform raves. 22573. Phoenix Rising - 11/16/2001 2:40:07 PM Kay Sedia was indeed cute. She made two dramatic entrances, one as a pinata and the other in a donkey drawn cart. 22574. taboulijones - 11/16/2001 2:48:56 PM 22575. janjon - 11/16/2001 2:53:55 PM The Potter movie was damned if it did, damned if it didn't in many ways. It either would adhere too closely to the book (booooooo from many) or it would take liberties (booooooo from many). It adhered very closely to the book. Ergo, the mildish potshots it has taken from sources like the NYT and NPR. 22576. rubberducky - 11/16/2001 2:57:30 PM any bets as to which fantasy movie will rake in the more $$? 22577. Erin R. - 11/16/2001 2:59:10 PM How bizarre about virtual Bruce Lee! 22578. Raskolnikov - 11/16/2001 3:00:05 PM Cal: I need it to do better than 222 million in its first 4 weeks. For each million it does over that, I win ~$30. For each million under, I lose 30. I think my money is pretty safe, and I wouldn't be surprised if I win around a thousand. Most estimates I respect are predicting a 80-90 million opening weekend, which would shatter several box office records. 22579. janjon - 11/16/2001 3:02:02 PM quite a parlor game bet there, rask. 22580. Raskolnikov - 11/16/2001 3:04:35 PM ducky: I know a couple places you can make that very bet with regard to opening weekend and 4 week gross. Potter is a sure winner for opening weekend, for several reasons, but I wouldn't want to touch a total box office bet or a four week bet. 22581. Raskolnikov - 11/16/2001 3:06:36 PM Jan: I have been making movie bets since summer. It isn't parlor betting - I placed my bet through a friend in England, where movie spread bets are a new business of Cantorindex. 22582. rubberducky - 11/16/2001 3:08:45 PM i dunno, Rask. i bet the takes will be fairly close for the 2 opening weekends. 22583. Raskolnikov - 11/16/2001 3:15:11 PM ducky: There is a place that will give you about 2 to 1 odds if you want to bet that Lord of the Rings will have a better opening weekend. I personally think that is tightfisted, as it is a real long shot. (choice of weekend and the fact that LOTR opens on a Wednesday are the main reasons). 22584. CalGal - 11/16/2001 3:17:19 PM Rask, I have a friend who wants to open one of those online betting places. I'm like dude, you think it's easy or something? 22585. Raskolnikov - 11/16/2001 3:20:24 PM Setting the line is the real hard part, as I understand it. Cantor bought HSX, and is spending lots of money on them, just to come up with a line that is pretty close to what bettors think the film will do. If they get the line wrong, they can lose their shirts. 22586. Raskolnikov - 11/16/2001 3:21:46 PM But movie betting is fairly new. Most online bookies specialize in sports, of course. Lines for sports games are easy to come by, but you also have lots of established competition. 22587. CalGal - 11/16/2001 3:30:39 PM These also exist for the stock market, right? 22588. glendajean - 11/16/2001 3:32:40 PM Movie betting would make for an interesting episode of The Sopranos. 22589. Raskolnikov - 11/16/2001 3:34:49 PM In the stock market it is called investing in derivitives. 22590. Raskolnikov - 11/16/2001 3:35:06 PM In the stock market it is called investing in derivAtives. 22591. Raskolnikov - 11/16/2001 3:36:31 PM Imagine Tony blackmailing Tom Cruise with his sexual secrets in order to get him to "take a fall" in Vanilla Sky. 22592. glendajean - 11/16/2001 3:41:43 PM Eisner thinks he is going to open against ____? I don't think so. Tell him Mickey is going stay in Florida that weekend. 22593. Raskolnikov - 11/16/2001 3:43:22 PM Actually, that sounds an awfully lot like a Dreamworks board meeting. 22594. CalGal - 11/16/2001 3:50:17 PM hahahahahaha. 22595. Cellar Door - 11/16/2001 4:30:27 PM In the Bedroom is wonderful. You couldn't guess it was directed by an actor (Todd Field -- the piano player in Eyes Wide Shut)or that it's his first feature. 22596. joezan - 11/17/2001 8:44:25 AM Brought the older daughter to see Harry Potter last night - had to settle on a 9:45pm showing, because although it was playing on 3 screens at both local multiplexes (multiplices?), all earlier shows were sold out. Amazing, when you consider that just 6 miles from the place we went, the town of Zeeland banned Harry from its schools. 22597. judithathome - 11/17/2001 8:50:21 AM Joe, I just relayed the info in your review to Keoni, who read all the books and is taking off work one day next week so he can go see the movie. He asked me to tell your daughter thanks...he was glad to hear it was exactly as she had imagined it! 22598. joezan - 11/17/2001 9:00:01 AM Anytime, Judith/Keoni! 22599. judithathome - 11/17/2001 9:02:14 AM We'll get good practice today...we're going to a matinee performance of a play that lasts 2 hours and 50 minutes, not counting the 15 minute intermission... 22600. joezan - 11/17/2001 9:13:58 AM Oh - one thing I forgot to mention: The Quiddich match... 22601. Property of Jesus - 11/17/2001 12:05:49 PM Two words. 22602. Cellar Door - 11/17/2001 1:20:16 PM Harry's Here! Harry's Queer! Get Used to it! 22603. CalGal - 11/17/2001 2:05:13 PM Rask, 22604. CalGal - 11/17/2001 2:18:52 PM I am still behind on Mote Movies, although I have all the reviews collected. I'm just out of room on my website and need to decide if I'm going to get DSL and start my own website, or what. 22605. Raskolnikov - 11/17/2001 2:53:15 PM Cal: funny story. 22606. mgleason - 11/17/2001 3:30:21 PM I loved Harry Potter! Not only did the film-makers take great pains to be faithful to the characters and sights of Rowling's book, but the story is told with the same sweetness and old-fashioned belief in the power of good. The actors are fantastic, especially Rupert Grint (Ron) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), and the sets are truly magical. 22607. judithathome - 11/17/2001 3:37:55 PM I heard him say in an interview that he burst into tears when he learned he got the part...for some reason, the fact he did this and then admitted he'd done it endeared him to me. And I haven't even read the books! 22608. mgleason - 11/17/2001 3:41:19 PM Oh, Judith, read them. They're a constant source of warm fuzzies - ask your husband. 22609. mgleason - 11/17/2001 3:56:34 PM While waiting for the show to begin, I fell into conversation with a woman who was standing next to me, and who'd asked me what we came to see. When I told her, visibly excited, she said that she was waiting for some of her friends to arrive to begin picketing, because she was 'opposed to the theme' in Harry Potter. Because I didn't want to get into an argument, I said that Lord of the Rings would soon steal Harry's thunder, not realizing until the words were out of my mouth that it, too, has a suspect 'theme.' Eager to remove my foot from my mouth, I began to wax nostalgic about movies I'd loved as a child, beginning with Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Aaaaarrrrrrgggggghhhhh!!!!!! 22610. mgleason - 11/17/2001 3:56:59 PM Sorry! 22611. arkymalarky - 11/17/2001 4:21:14 PM Dadgum, Maria. It'd have been less effort to just go ahead and have it out with her! ;-) 22612. Snowowl - 11/17/2001 4:23:27 PM What on earth was she objecting to? Magic? Does she believe the books and movie are going to drag kids into fascination with the occult? 22613. arkymalarky - 11/17/2001 4:28:28 PM Does she believe the books and movie are going to drag kids into fascination with the occult? 22614. Snowowl - 11/17/2001 4:33:12 PM Weird. I'm not a big fan of the books really, but I can't get my head around people who believe that fantastic stories such as those are likely to corrupt the morals of any minors. 22615. mgleason - 11/17/2001 4:34:33 PM Yep. The protesters think that the books and movies glamorize the occult. They make my head hurt. 22616. arkymalarky - 11/17/2001 4:43:52 PM These same folks gobble up "true" stories that are far more voyeuristic and flirty with ideas they're supposedly opposed to than harmless fantasy books. It's easier to just avoid talking with them, because they can't be reasoned with. 22617. joezan - 11/17/2001 5:14:10 PM No protests here - and as I mentioned, a local town even banned Harry from its schools. 22618. LadyChaos - 11/17/2001 8:09:29 PM Just got back from seeing Harry Potter with daughter and two neighborhood friends. They loved it, and the audience of youngsters cheered at several points. 22619. joezan - 11/17/2001 10:44:34 PM LC: 22620. Raskolnikov - 11/18/2001 1:28:34 PM Just because this seems to be on topic, Harry Potter is estimated to do 93.5 million over the weekend. This sets records for: 22621. Cellar Door - 11/18/2001 1:35:12 PM Well I've neer read a Harry Potter book and I enjoyed it. 22622. CalGal - 11/19/2001 5:14:08 AM Considering how bad Harry Potter could have been, it is a magnificent film. 22623. CalGal - 11/19/2001 5:19:38 AM It was all more than a tad forced. I understand why, of course. They had two overarching priorities: devotion to the canon and visual effects that would meet and exceed the imaginations of the devotees. It is the knowledge of the near impossible task it would be to create a glowing, enchanting film that tells the tale without hindrance from these priorities that keeps me from cavilling too loudly at its failures. 22624. joezan - 11/19/2001 7:30:05 AM That's all true, but those are all adult observations. It worked better than that on a child's level, imo. 22625. stostosto - 11/19/2001 7:56:55 AM Cal, that's an extremely competent and delightful review, thank you. You obviously have a keen knowledge and sense of Harry Potter. 22626. glendajean - 11/19/2001 9:49:56 AM Sto -- are you reading English version or Danish translation? 22627. stostosto - 11/19/2001 9:57:32 AM glenda, 22628. glendajean - 11/19/2001 10:07:55 AM In addition to the books, I have the compact disc recordings of the book. They are read by a British actor who does a fantastic job. We've listened to them in the car on long road trips. I am afraid I have this man's voice in my head for all of the characters. 22629. CalGal - 11/19/2001 10:17:12 AM It worked better than that on a child's level, imo. 22630. stostosto - 11/19/2001 10:23:57 AM I wonder, have you seen 22631. Phoenix Rising - 11/19/2001 11:19:33 AM Ha Ha. Would that Harry Potter did buy Microsoft. He could magically turn it into a company that was able to produce user friendly products. 22632. Phoenix Rising - 11/19/2001 11:29:49 AM Day 4 of the Atlanta gay film festival was mainly dismal. It started with Bombay Eunuch a documentary that I mostly slept through. It was that boring. So, what was it about? I think the NY Times captured it pretty well in its review. 22633. Phoenix Rising - 11/19/2001 11:47:36 AM Next up was Kevin's Room about a group of black men with various problems who all end up attending a counseling/support group lead by Kevin. The group meets in the titular room. 22634. CalGal - 11/19/2001 6:24:50 PM Denzel Washington views Ordinary People 22635. CalGal - 11/19/2001 6:33:02 PM Just read Elvis Mitchell's review of Harry Potter. He's a bit tougher than I am, but he mentioned two points I had observed as well: 22636. Cellar Door - 11/19/2001 6:50:13 PM Yes well there's nothing like minority objecting to the representation of minorities in a fantasy film. 22637. CalGal - 11/19/2001 6:54:08 PM Yes, I know you're mad at him. 22638. Cellar Door - 11/19/2001 7:21:36 PM Well we'll just have to wait for the sequel(s). 22639. wonkers2 - 11/19/2001 7:51:48 PM Nice movie on Bravo today if you can tolerate the commercial interruptions: Winter Guest starring Emma Thompson and her mother Phyllidia law playing Emma's mother in the movie. I believe it was filmed in a small Irish (or Scottish) coastal town. It's about relationships--between recently widowed Thompson and her elderly Mother; between Thompson and her teen son; between her son and his sexual initiation by a young girl; between two young boys; and between two excentric elderly laides who amused themselves by attending funerals. Worth watching as an antidote to Hollywood. 22640. CalGal - 11/19/2001 7:57:31 PM Actually, one of the kids in Harry Potter is in Winter Guest. Can't remember who at the moment--think it's the kid who played Oliver Wood, though. Isn't Rickman in it as well? 22641. wonkers2 - 11/19/2001 7:58:54 PM I think the movie was directed by Rickman?? I'll check my trusty movie guide. (It's downstairs.) 22642. wonkers2 - 11/19/2001 8:04:33 PM Winter Guest: D: Alan Rickman. Phyllida Law, Emma Thompson, Gary Hollywood, Arlene Cockburn, Sheila Reid, Sandra Voe, Douglas Murlphy, Sean Biggerstaff. 22643. CalGal - 11/19/2001 8:22:17 PM That sounds right. I know he's involved somehow. 22644. LadyChaos - 11/19/2001 9:05:32 PM I seem to remember that one of the girls on the Gryffindor Quidditch team had an Indian name, like Parvati Patil, or some such. I didn't catch whether they tried to portray her, but then again most of the minor characters were a blur. 22645. CalGal - 11/19/2001 9:23:10 PM Yes, I remember that name too. 22646. joezan - 11/19/2001 9:31:42 PM Parvati was not formally introduced in this movie. But if you recall the girl the two Slytherin boys ran into the grandstand in the quidditch match, I'll bet that's her in part II. 22647. joezan - 11/19/2001 9:34:03 PM ...come to think of it, did that happen in the book? And if so, was it Parvati? I can't remember, and don't want to wake my daughter looking for the book. 22648. joezan - 11/19/2001 9:59:40 PM Has anyone read the Forbes piece about how the HP boxoffice phenomenon is a fraud? 22649. joezan - 11/19/2001 10:21:12 PM Er, replace movies with screens where appropriate. I suck at acting like I know what I'm talking about when it comes to movies (and a few other things, probably). 22650. CalGal - 11/19/2001 10:54:36 PM I don't know about you guys, but here it's exactly the same price, $6, as it was in '97 22651. joezan - 11/19/2001 11:03:54 PM Yes - but number of screens is really meaningless. It's number of showings that matters. And HP's length means only 2/3 the number of showings per screen. 22652. CalGal - 11/19/2001 11:09:49 PM Number of screens isn't meaningless when it breaks down into amount per screen, which I am reasonably sure that HP won as well. 22653. joezan - 11/19/2001 11:16:48 PM Oy.... 22654. joezan - 11/19/2001 11:21:31 PM ...the implicit point of the Forbes piece, I should've said. 22655. CalGal - 11/20/2001 2:01:37 AM Well, if there was that kind of latent demand, TLW should have higher grosses in the coming weeks. 22656. Raskolnikov - 11/20/2001 10:38:33 AM I read the Forbes piece. A few points: 22657. CalGal - 11/20/2001 10:52:12 AM What is usually reported as per screen average is really per *theater* average. 22658. marjoribanks - 11/20/2001 10:52:24 AM Rask, 22659. marjoribanks - 11/20/2001 10:55:22 AM I noticed one interesting thing about Hindi films yesterday. You never (or rarely) see men cry in Hollywood movies. They're always the tough guys, if they do cry it's manfully, mostly silently, a tear trickling down kind of thing. 22660. marjoribanks - 11/20/2001 11:08:29 AM Here's the Guardian's review: 22661. marjoribanks - 11/20/2001 11:16:18 AM Also, this rather funny, revealing, diary kept by the lead British actress while shooting Lagaan. 22662. CalGal - 11/20/2001 11:16:36 AM Interesting little cultural difference. 22663. Raskolnikov - 11/20/2001 11:33:46 AM Marj: I will give it a look. The only Bollywood film I have seen (still) is Sholay (which I liked, although it seemed to suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder), although Bombay is working is way up my DVD rental queue. 22664. Raskolnikov - 11/20/2001 11:39:04 AM Marj: I note the cultural difference. It sounds similar to the whole "weeping, gnashing of teeth, and tearing out of hair" you read about in old Mediterranean texts like the Bible, Greek plays, and the Arabian Nights. I used to think it was just dramatic exaggeration, until a professor said, "no, they really did that, and still do, in many cultures". As I was raised to be a typical stoic American male, this was a surprise to me. 22665. glendajean - 11/20/2001 11:39:57 AM Men don't weep in Minnesota? 22666. Raskolnikov - 11/20/2001 12:00:20 PM Not in public, and they don't admit it if they do it private. The exception is that they are allowed a solitary tear at a funeral for an immediate family member. But they must stoically stare straight ahead at the time, and pretend the tear isn't there. 22667. marjoribanks - 11/20/2001 12:18:37 PM Dude, I'm talking wailing, crying pitifully, almost incosolably, loudly and messily. 22668. Phoenix Rising - 11/20/2001 12:24:26 PM See Tom Cruise cry like a baby in Eyes Wide Shut. Mommmmmmy! 22669. Raskolnikov - 11/20/2001 1:00:25 PM "local Indian grocery". 22670. marjoribanks - 11/20/2001 1:18:24 PM Dude, want to bet that I can find an Indian grocery within 20 miles from you? Tell me the nearest town. 22671. marjoribanks - 11/20/2001 1:23:56 PM 22672. Raskolnikov - 11/20/2001 2:11:48 PM 20 miles isn't really local in this metro area. Almost all those grocery stores are in North Minneapolis. I used to live about 5 miles from there and would usually rent from video stores that were only a few blocks away. The area has really boomed as a South Asian community in the past few years. Which is weird. North Minneapolis is generally regarded as the worst part of town, with the highest crime and murder rates. But recently, because of the availability of decent ethnic food, it is becoming a nascent trendoid area, with a revival movie theater, arts and crafts stores, and a couple gay bars. 22673. marjoribanks - 11/20/2001 3:46:20 PM Rask, 22674. Raskolnikov - 11/20/2001 4:58:02 PM In Minneapolis, I think they tend to, at least that has been the trend over the past few years. When you say "Indian" in this neck of the woods, everyone will assume you are talking about an Ojibway or a Lakota Sioux. 22675. Phoenix Rising - 11/21/2001 10:04:17 AM Day Six of the Atlanta gay film festival was on November 11th, exactly two months after you know what. 22676. Phoenix Rising - 11/21/2001 10:16:55 AM Next I saw Rainbow House a local documentary about six homeless teenagers who were the first inhabitants of Rainbow House, a shelter for homeless and runaway teens. 22677. Phoenix Rising - 11/21/2001 10:51:48 AM The festival closed with Julie Johnson. 22678. judithathome - 11/21/2001 10:54:25 AM That happened to the Q Festival here this year, also...(and in case I'm chided, that is the official name of the thing...) 22679. Khabees Khargosh - 11/21/2001 2:11:43 PM Rask, 22680. Khabees Khargosh - 11/21/2001 2:41:47 PM Marj wrote about the plot already. Some of the ineresting things about the moive are, It's british cast for the first time in an Indian movie, it's huge budget, it's perfectionist producer, who also is the hero. The movie incited much talk and rumor in the Bollywood with little hopes of success. Most of the new generation of movie goers in India, who have access to Hollywood mvies wanted it to be successful, in hope that it might change the trend in Indian film industry. To what extent that will happen is yet to be seen. One good sign though, was the recent release of another movie (also starring Amir Khan...the hero of Lagaan)called Dil Chahta Hai. We can call it "second drop of rain". It was also a hit and hopefully will help a lot in changing the way movies are made in Bollywood. 22681. rubberducky - 11/21/2001 2:45:43 PM dumb question time: why is it called 'Bollywood'? 22682. PelleNilsson - 11/21/2001 2:48:15 PM Bollywood = Bombay 22683. PelleNilsson - 11/21/2001 2:49:22 PM I guess it should be Mollywood now since Bombay has become Munbai. 22684. rubberducky - 11/21/2001 2:50:02 PM oh, ok, thanks 22685. Khabees Khargosh - 11/21/2001 2:53:30 PM As far as the number of film releases per year is concerned, Indian film industry is by far ahead of others. Indians felt that they need to name their beloved film indusrty. Since Bombay (now Mumbai) is the center of the industry, they named it Bollywood, after Hollywood of course. Pakistan followed idiotically by naming their's, based in Lahore as Lollywood. Both names remain local so far. 22686. PelleNilsson - 11/21/2001 3:07:37 PM Mumbai. Sorry. 22687. CalGal - 11/21/2001 3:33:22 PM KK--welcome to the Movies thread! At least I don't think I've seen you post here before. 22688. Phoenix Rising - 11/21/2001 3:45:13 PM Home for the Holidays 22689. Phoenix Rising - 11/21/2001 3:46:50 PM Ravenous 22690. Phoenix Rising - 11/21/2001 3:48:10 PM No. wait. That one was just about eating. Had nothing to do with Thanksgiving. 22691. Cellar Door - 11/21/2001 3:55:25 PM Just got through watching Pie in the Sky, Vincent Fremont's film about Brigid Berlin. A friend taped it for me off of the IFC channel. Funny and touching. 22692. Absensia - 11/21/2001 4:14:44 PM How about these...I found them on IMDB: 22693. judithathome - 11/21/2001 4:18:02 PM Are you a bit of a vegan, Abs?;-) 22694. judithathome - 11/21/2001 4:18:17 PM liked... 22695. Jenerator - 11/21/2001 4:23:36 PM Thanksgiving....cannibals...Thanksgiving....cannibals. 22696. wonkers2 - 11/21/2001 9:40:31 PM Anybody seen Amelie, the wacky little French fantasy romance movie? It's a winner. 22697. Raskolnikov - 11/21/2001 11:13:32 PM Khabees: Thanks for the second on Marj's recommendation. I will give the film a try when it comes out on DVD. I have been meaning to delve a bit deeper into Bollywood films. For what its worth, the term "Bollywood" isn't just local to India. I frequently see it in the American press when describing the Indian film industry. 22698. Absensia - 11/21/2001 11:19:32 PM Ohhh, "Eating Raoul" yes! And there is always "Silence of the Yams." 22699. Toenails - 11/22/2001 1:31:31 AM 22700. Cellar Door - 11/22/2001 2:32:16 PM Saw Iris last night. Dame Judy Dench and Sam Mendes' new squeeze take turns playing the great Iris Murdoch. 22701. Phoenix Rising - 11/26/2001 10:37:18 AM "I pride myself on the fact that my work has no socially redeeming value." --John Waters 22702. CalGal - 11/26/2001 10:47:40 AM Was there an article in the New Yorker on Iris and her husband a few years back? I seem to recall it, because I found it very moving. Her husband is a writer as well? 22703. Cellar Door - 11/26/2001 11:13:22 AM Yes he is. 22704. CalGal - 11/26/2001 11:18:29 AM That must have been who I read about. I found it most moving; as I recall at the time she had Alzheimer's but wasn't completely vegetablized yet. 22705. Cellar Door - 11/26/2001 11:28:21 AM Yes he's a historian and a philosopher. I've never read him, but I plan to. 22706. CalGal - 11/26/2001 11:40:46 AM Okay, that was the article. I save everything; I probably still have the New Yorker issue somewhere. I remember it quite well; both writers were captured beautifully, it seemed to me. 22707. glendajean - 11/26/2001 2:56:51 PM Cal -- he wrote two memoirs, one about Iris Murdoch during her illness, and one after she died. I think what you read was an excerpt. He is a literary scholar and critic, John Bailey? or something like that. 22708. judithathome - 11/26/2001 2:59:15 PM What do you mean Judy Dench and Sam Mendes new squeeze take turns? 22709. CalGal - 11/26/2001 3:05:02 PM GJ, 22710. glendajean - 11/26/2001 3:09:17 PM In deference to my mother's distaste of Harry Potter and witchcraft, something her church has decided is evil, we instead went to see "Shallow Hal" for our holiday movie outing. I had already seen HP, but was thinking it would a be a fine choice. Wrong. 22711. mgleason - 11/26/2001 3:14:58 PM I saw an old Richard Widmark film, The Bedford Incident, over the weekend, about a determined Cold Warrior hunting for a Russian submarine encroaching on our waters. Very tense, with a bang! of an ending. 22712. PelleNilsson - 11/26/2001 3:15:26 PM Sie sprechen also Deutsch, Glenda? 22713. CalGal - 11/26/2001 3:16:06 PM Maria--aren't you catching up on Caine movies? Did you see my question about Get Carter? 22714. mgleason - 11/26/2001 3:18:52 PM Yep; I've been working my way through the Caine canon. I'm sorry, though, I missed your question. What was it? 22715. CalGal - 11/26/2001 3:23:00 PM No, just wondered if you'd seen it yet. I finally got a chance to catch up on Netflix viewing last week and it was extraordinary. Don't miss it. I am speaking of the original, of course. 22716. mgleason - 11/26/2001 3:27:45 PM Of course. Never fear; it's on the list. We're just going through a patch of submarine/war movies at present - good thing I'm not a chick flick addict. 22717. CalGal - 11/26/2001 3:29:08 PM Well, you can combine the two for The Eagle Has Landed. 22718. Raskolnikov - 11/26/2001 3:41:07 PM I didn't know Eagle was out on DVD. I have added it to my queue. 22719. glendajean - 11/26/2001 3:46:29 PM Pelle -- my freshman college German professor once apologized to me that there was even a German language. I managed to take two years of German in three years, but I did ok the summer I spent there (mid-70s). 22720. CalGal - 11/26/2001 4:06:57 PM Rask--it has no extras to speak of. Have you seen it before? 22721. Raskolnikov - 11/26/2001 4:32:45 PM Cal: No, I have never seen it. But it is one of those films I have wanted to see for awhile. 22722. CalGal - 11/26/2001 4:37:25 PM Definitely worth watching. The obligatory romance is as false as Sutherland's accent (he's in the IRA), but otherwise there was a refreshing lack of sentiment. Caine was terrific. Have you seen Get Carter, and if so, have you gotten the Special Edition DVD with the commentaries? 22723. CalGal - 11/26/2001 5:01:03 PM I slept through the first 45 minutes of Heartbreakers, a comedy with Sigorney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt playing a mother/daughter con team. So I can't comment on the entire film. 22724. Francis Urquhart - 11/27/2001 9:32:33 AM Planet of the Apes is a lame action adventure, plagued by a drab script and a leaden lead in Mark Wahlberg. Tim Burton appears straight-jacketed by the venture. 22725. rubberducky - 11/27/2001 9:40:46 AM yeah, but how about that ending Fran?? 22726. Francis Urquhart - 11/27/2001 9:57:03 AM Had the beginning and middle had anything to recommend them, I might have ben more offended by the end. As it was, the end was awful, but it was the end, so I had that for which to be thankful. 22727. Jamie R - 11/27/2001 7:08:41 PM I think the godawfulness of that movie is perfectly encapsulated in the scene where Wahlburg has figured out his plan to defeat the apes, and calls together his council: the post-apocalyptic supermodel with flawless makeup, the plucky kid who refuses to stay out of the action and thus endangers them all, and the black guy. 22728. CalGal - 11/27/2001 7:21:10 PM Jamie, good to see ya. 22729. Jamie R - 11/28/2001 4:42:50 PM Hey, I'd forgotten all about that. I need to go to Chicago anyway to see the Van Gogh/Gaugain exhibit (assuming it's still playing there.) 22730. CalGal - 11/28/2001 4:46:32 PM Do you mean where he ponytailed the dogs legs together? 22731. Jamie R - 11/28/2001 4:49:31 PM That was the bit. 22732. Jamie R - 11/28/2001 4:50:41 PM Which parking lot scene? 22733. CalGal - 11/28/2001 4:54:48 PM Frank Oz's commentary was outstanding; a fantastic lesson in how to keep a comedy moving. 22734. CalGal - 11/28/2001 4:57:32 PM Oh, and the Scientology stuff was outstanding. I had to explain that to Spawn and my sister when we saw it; they had no idea. My sister told me that the movie really enlightened her--she now cracks up whenever she reads that yet another actor has converted. 22735. Jamie R - 11/28/2001 5:01:56 PM No,no. I'm with you now. For whatever reason, "parking lot" and "parking garage" are as different to me as "canteloupe" and "space shuttle." 22736. CalGal - 11/28/2001 5:08:28 PM "keepittogether keepittogether keepittogether keepittogether keepittogether!" 22737. CalGal - 11/28/2001 5:09:20 PM For whatever reason, "parking lot" and "parking garage" are as different to me as "canteloupe" and "space shuttle." 22738. Cellar Door - 11/29/2001 2:38:13 AM Well I'm just in from Vanilla Extract, and I'm almost half-curioius to see Abre Los Ojos cause this thing is a mess, honey! 22739. CalGal - 11/29/2001 2:47:53 AM Remember Noah from Shine? Better ask if we remember Noah from Flirting. 22740. rubberducky - 11/29/2001 8:52:50 AM CD: god, that movie looked horrible from the trailers. nice to know that's the case. 22741. glendajean - 11/29/2001 11:20:12 AM It's been awhile since I saw Bowfinger, but I didn't enjoy it that much. 22742. CalGal - 11/29/2001 11:23:05 AM The joy of Bowfinger is the farce; the movie bits just make it fun. My two favorite farces are Bowfinger (which I didn't recognize as such until Rask mentioned it) and Howard Hawks' Monkey Business. 22743. Cellar Door - 11/29/2001 12:46:52 PM Yeah it was Scott Rudin. With a little bit of Joel Silver thrown in for good measure. 22744. Cellar Door - 12/6/2001 10:48:33 AM 22745. rubberducky - 12/6/2001 11:02:49 AM i'll probably be scoffed at, but i am wanting to see Not Another Teen Movie. hopefully it'll be a spoof that delivers. unlike, say, Scary Movie. 22746. CalGal - 12/6/2001 11:29:45 AM The other night I stumbled onto The Long Goodbye and I can now safely say that I just do not like Altman. M*A*S*H is the anomaly, not the rule. What an unpleasant piece of moviemaking. 22747. CalGal - 12/6/2001 12:10:57 PM NY POST/By LOU LUMENICK 22748. justears - 12/6/2001 12:15:51 PM If you are tempted to pick up SONGCATCHER at the video store, DON"T. It is just about the worst movie I've been 'privileged' to watch in the last few years. Simply awful. 22749. rubberducky - 12/6/2001 1:40:46 PM never heard of it, JE, what made you rent it? 22750. CalGal - 12/6/2001 1:42:10 PM Is that the one about the hillbillies and music in a "woman's picture"? 22751. judithathome - 12/7/2001 12:36:27 PM I'm always somewhat leery of movies which seem overly hyped. Here's a review of one such... 22752. Cellar Door - 12/7/2001 12:59:51 PM Very much enjoyed Gosford Park, Altman's cross between Rules of the Game and Agatha Christie. The set-up is superficially like A Wedding: swells and servants at a country estate, a murder takes place and everyone's a suspect. But unlike most Altman jamobrees this one is far more speific as to plot and character. There are clearly delineated "big scenes" and "important moments." 22753. judithathome - 12/7/2001 1:04:34 PM the ever-sneering Richard E. Grant, 22754. christipeters - 12/7/2001 1:22:41 PM I kinda liked Patriot in the theatre. However, when I rented the video, I thought it was just so-so. I guess some pictures just don't translate well from the big screen to the small. 22755. CalGal - 12/7/2001 1:26:29 PM There's movies like that--the experience of the theater, the crowds, the popcorn can turn a so-so movie into a good experience. 22756. judithathome - 12/7/2001 1:32:18 PM We went to see Harry Potter Wednesday and there was one other person in the theater besides us... 22757. judithathome - 12/7/2001 1:33:05 PM My favorite part of the movie was any scene with Alan Rickman! And I loved the owls. 22758. christipeters - 12/7/2001 1:34:31 PM Judith - well, in each book, the kids are supposed to be a year older -matching each year in school. So if they don't take too long to make them, there's no problem with the kids getting older - they're supposed to get older. 22759. judithathome - 12/7/2001 1:38:54 PM I figured that was the case. 22760. christipeters - 12/7/2001 1:40:34 PM LD and I both love the books, too! We loved the movie a lot as well. 22761. justears - 12/7/2001 3:15:38 PM Yes, Songcatcher is a Hillbilly "Woman's movie", that is, it deals with lesbianism in the back woods but it is so stilted and awkward it is embarassing. I saw a trailer that made it look good. I am a folk music enthusiast and it seemed appealing. 22762. wonkers2 - 12/7/2001 3:39:44 PM Saw Intimacy last weekend. Set in England directed by a frenchman, Michel Chereau. It came as close to an xxx porn movie as anything I've seen in a regular theater. If the couple weren't really having sex they fooled me. I guess the movie tries to examine the meaning of intimacy, physical and psychological. A married woman comes for sex every Wednesday to the apartment of a lonely, divorced man. They don't talk and neither knows anything about the other until one day, after their weekly session, the man follows the woman in an effort to learn something about her, presumably out of his need for greater intimacy than provided by sex, however good. (It was pretty good!) [The movie is highly recommended by Cap'n Dirty, but it's not an Academy Award candidate.] 22763. CalGal - 12/7/2001 3:40:03 PM When I saw the trailer I thought of Holly Near, for some reason, and instantly knew that meant they all must be gay. You know, women, folksingers, birkenstocks...it all adds up. 22764. judithathome - 12/7/2001 3:43:32 PM wonkers: 22765. wonkers2 - 12/7/2001 3:47:28 PM It has been compared to Last Tango. But I don't recall that the sex was as graphic in Last Tango. 22766. judithathome - 12/7/2001 3:49:10 PM Maybe I was overly impressed by how graphic it seemed...I do recall going back more than once to see it, too.;-) 22767. wonkers2 - 12/7/2001 3:53:20 PM We walked out of the theater after Intimacy behind four ladies who were the other side of 60 one of whom I overheard comment, "That really got me goin'" 22768. CalGal - 12/7/2001 3:53:51 PM Ebert, Mitchell, and both Post Reviewers all give Ocean's 11 a thumbs up for doing exactly what it set out to do. They are remarkably consistent. 22769. judithathome - 12/7/2001 3:54:07 PM Hahahha! 22770. judithathome - 12/7/2001 3:54:43 PM 22769 was to Wonkers last comment. 22771. CalGal - 12/7/2001 3:57:57 PM Mitchell: 22772. wonkers2 - 12/7/2001 4:01:22 PM I heard a reviewer of Ocean's 11 say that the new one directed by Soderberg is much better than the original. 22773. judithathome - 12/7/2001 4:03:28 PM Wonkers, did you read the link upthread I posted...it's a different take. 22774. CalGal - 12/7/2001 4:03:59 PM Oh, absolutely. That goes without saying, though. The original sucked. I do enjoy watching Frank, Dean, and Bing sing "Style", dumb as it is. But that's all of 3 minutes. 22775. wonkers2 - 12/7/2001 4:10:16 PM judith, now I have. I guess we'll have to see the movie and judge for ourselves, or not see it as the case may be. It sounds like a lot of Hollywood hype. But, then, I like Soderberg's stuff. 22776. CalGal - 12/7/2001 4:15:30 PM Judith, the reviewer you linked in said that it was worse than the original, which demonstrates a severe lack of critical thinking. And it's completely clear that he has no idea what he's talking about--and is apparently unfamiliar with a standard genre. 22777. judithathome - 12/7/2001 4:21:44 PM Well, this no name was personally picked by Mitchell to take his place at the paper so make of that what you will. 22778. judithathome - 12/7/2001 4:22:36 PM I hadn't realized you'd already seen the movie and knew he was wrong. Sorry. 22779. TabouliJones - 12/7/2001 4:35:58 PM Rick Groen of the Globe and Mail gave Oceans 11 a thumbs up, saying: the movie was fun, well crafted, with some solid performances, although, in the end,without any real substance. His summary: 22780. TabouliJones - 12/7/2001 4:38:08 PM I am likely to see Oceans 11 this weekend. I am a big fan of Out of Sight, and expect that Oceans 11 will evoke some of its charm if not its magic. 22781. CalGal - 12/7/2001 4:52:19 PM Judith, 22782. CalGal - 12/7/2001 4:53:38 PM TJ, 22783. TabouliJones - 12/7/2001 5:07:08 PM Calgal, 22784. TabouliJones - 12/7/2001 5:08:18 PM I have to run, but I will check in on the weekend. Hopefully, I will have time to chat here more often than I have in the last year. 22785. Cellar Door - 12/7/2001 6:07:41 PM Ocean's 11 like bad Altman? Not nearly that good. 22786. CalGal - 12/7/2001 9:55:56 PM Ocean's 11 like bad Altman? Not nearly that good. 22787. wonkers2 - 12/7/2001 9:58:18 PM cellar, Were they really doing it in Intimacy? It was either the real thing or an Academy Award performance. 22788. Cellar Door - 12/8/2001 11:22:02 AM Yes. 22789. Cellar Door - 12/8/2001 11:22:32 AM Had a lovely time at a recption Fox Searchlight threw last night at The Highlands, a rather large restaurant in the new complex up on Hollywood blvd. with the Kodak theater where they're going to have the oscar ceremonies. 22790. Francis Urquhart - 12/8/2001 1:48:48 PM Made 22791. judithathome - 12/8/2001 1:50:58 PM Well, that sounds like a movie for me because I liked both! 22792. Toenails - 12/8/2001 11:04:10 PM "Life as a House" was manipulative, and the cynics will pan it, but sentimental types (like me) will like it a lot. 22793. CalGal - 12/8/2001 11:12:09 PM I hear Kline is pretty good in it, but that it is weepy as Richard Simmons. And hi! Nice to see you. 22794. Raskolnikov - 12/9/2001 9:34:01 PM "I spend the better part of my life showing that there's no difference between the sexes and what do I get? One of each. It's God's little joke." 22795. CalGal - 12/9/2001 9:53:52 PM Hey, Rask--how much money did you get for Harry Potter, and have you seen Ocean's 11 yet? 22796. Raskolnikov - 12/9/2001 9:58:36 PM Cal: I won $1400 on the opening weekend. And promptly lost $1500 betting that it would have much better legs than it did (pretty much the entire industry has been surprised by how fast the film is fading). I haven't seen Ocean's 11, but won about $100 on it. 22797. CalGal - 12/9/2001 10:12:57 PM Hey, I just remembered that I bought HSX stock in George Clooney last year. I wonder if he's gone up any. 22798. Raskolnikov - 12/9/2001 11:21:25 PM Easy come, easy go. I plan on making a mint on Lord of the Rings, so we will see. 22799. TabouliJones - 12/10/2001 8:56:18 AM I didn't get to see Oceans 11 this weekend, as the friend I agreed to see it with was unavailable. So it will have to wait for awhile. 22800. Phoenix Rising - 12/10/2001 9:36:25 AM I enjoyed the "Last Summer" slashers. The first had Freddie Prinz Jr. AND Ryan Phillippe. Kept my fantacies juiced for quite some time. 22801. Cellar Door - 12/11/2001 10:08:18 AM Doing some end-of-the-year-catch-up via the video cassettes and DVDs the studios have been seinding me. 22802. rubberducky - 12/11/2001 10:11:13 AM i just have zero desire to see Ali. Will Smith is not much of a dramtic actor and the subject material is ... untimely imho. 22803. Cellar Door - 12/11/2001 10:15:19 AM Actually it's a lot more timely than you might think. 22804. rubberducky - 12/11/2001 10:17:30 AM i don't think it is so much white ass kissing as is running scared to some hokey ass religion to avoid doing one's duty as a citizen of this country. 22805. Francis Urquhart - 12/11/2001 10:54:37 AM Ocean's 11 22806. Cellar Door - 12/11/2001 11:34:35 AM Actually I'd go along with that, Francis. 22807. Jamie R - 12/11/2001 7:42:04 PM I'm kinda fond of Renny Harlin. I have rarely laughed as much as when I saw Deep Blue Sea in the theater. 22808. CalGal - 12/11/2001 7:58:15 PM It was a hoot. 22809. judithathome - 12/12/2001 8:09:49 AM Bad as it was, the original Oceans 11 was made with the idea in mind that everyone in the country knew about the Rat Pack so the in-jokes would have included the audience. In the remake, we know these guys never hung out before the movie was cast and any in-jokes are either copped from the origianl or manufactured. 22810. judithathome - 12/12/2001 8:11:09 AM origianl=original 22811. webfeet - 12/12/2001 8:57:32 AM As I was scrolling back to look for a post on David Mamets "Heist" (I was too lazy to go way back) I came across the conversation on 'Bowfinger" and it brought back a smile. 22812. CalGal - 12/12/2001 9:34:37 AM This fact alone seems like a ready made excuse for the movie to fall a little flat. 22813. CalGal - 12/12/2001 9:35:44 AM Web, 22814. judithathome - 12/12/2001 9:43:17 AM Wonder why Francis didn't get a lecture...he didn't seem to be overly enthused about the movie. But I suppose he didn't make semantical errors as I did. 22815. judithathome - 12/12/2001 9:44:43 AM (it is as if the actors want to emulate the har-har insiderism of the original Rat Pack). 22816. CalGal - 12/12/2001 9:58:40 AM Wonder why Francis didn't get a lecture 22817. judithathome - 12/12/2001 10:08:46 AM Maybe she liked being ripped apart. Most of us don't. 22818. judithathome - 12/12/2001 10:10:33 AM Main Entry: se·man·tic 22819. TabouliJones - 12/12/2001 10:14:16 AM I have only seen Pidgeon in the Spanish Prisoner. I loved Spanish Prisoner in the end, but it took me about half an hour to adjust to its peculiar rhythm. Ditto for Pidgeon's performance. I imagine that Pidgeon's approach can get tiresome on repeat incarnations, but it seemed to work for the Spanish Prisoner. 22820. judithathome - 12/12/2001 10:17:23 AM She seemed to be okay in State and Main but that was because she didn't have to be enigmatic, just ordinary. 22821. TabouliJones - 12/12/2001 10:23:01 AM I don't know where I stand on Mamet in general. It strikes me that I should be annoyed by his style and world view, but the three Mamet or Mamet based films that I have seen have all been very good: Glengarry GlenRoss (of course), the Spanish Prisoner and American Buffalo. 22822. judithathome - 12/12/2001 10:27:37 AM I like Mamet but then, I like wordy movies with no chase scenes. 22823. webfeet - 12/12/2001 2:41:43 PM Who was Mamet's first wife? 22824. judithathome - 12/12/2001 3:39:43 PM Mamet should really cast another leading lady. And I think that's also starting to get tacky. 22825. Phoenix Rising - 12/12/2001 3:46:03 PM I still haven't made it all the way through State and Main. For some reason, it puts me to sleep every time. 22826. judithathome - 12/12/2001 3:48:17 PM I thought it was full of funny stuff like that... 22827. Phoenix Rising - 12/12/2001 3:53:28 PM I'll take your word for it. Maybe I am just sick and tired of Sarah Jessica Parker's incessant whine. 22828. Jenerator - 12/12/2001 3:53:56 PM I loved Bowfinger. It was an unexpected treat. I was hoping that State and Main would be the same, but I got bored with it quickly. One of the reviews said that it was "wickedly satirical" and I suppose the scene about the possibility of killing a horse (Macy's rant) was just that, but the movie still lacked something. 22829. Phoenix Rising - 12/12/2001 3:58:28 PM For me, it was lacking about the last hour. 22830. Raskolnikov - 12/12/2001 9:51:00 PM "Who was Mamet's first wife? " 22831. Cellar Door - 12/13/2001 11:13:30 AM The Shipping News is a huge bore. Lasse Hallstrom is Miramax's Robert Z.Leonard. 22832. Cellar Door - 12/15/2001 10:09:46 PM The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has voted for the Best of 2001. 22833. Shannon - 12/15/2001 10:48:34 PM We keep renting Memento and having to return it before we get to watch it. Pathetic of us, I know. 22834. judithathome - 12/15/2001 11:36:20 PM We don't go to many, so when we do go, it seems like a big deal, and if there's nothing really promising showing, we figure it's not worth it. So we go less. 22835. judithathome - 12/17/2001 5:23:34 PM This is from Page Six in the New York Post: 22836. Arcturus of Boötes - 12/19/2001 10:54:56 AM A question: Who is the credited screenwriter for The African Queen? 22837. judithathome - 12/19/2001 11:01:52 AM John Huston and James Agee both are credited with "adaptation" of the C.S. Forester novel and Peter Viertel is "uncredited" as adaptor. 22838. judithathome - 12/19/2001 11:02:48 AM adaptER, rather. 22839. Cellar Door - 12/19/2001 3:06:05 PM All three were involved in the writing, Judith. 22840. judithathome - 12/19/2001 3:21:47 PM I know but for some reason, Viertel is listed as "uncredited"...did he actually get credit on the film credits? I can't say; I was just passing on what IMDB had listed. 22841. judithathome - 12/20/2001 11:32:22 AM Here are the Golden Globe nominations: 22842. judithathome - 12/20/2001 11:40:27 AM (con't) 22843. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 2:44:33 PM I thought the first twenty minutes of Molin Rouge was great, but that the film went steadily downhill from there. There were a couple of exceptions to the dreadful last hour and a half -- Broadbent singing "Like A Virgin" was one --but generally the film lacked interest. 22844. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 2:48:10 PM Has anyone seen any of the following films: A Beautiful Mind, Spy Games, The Fellowship of the Rings, or Blackhawk Down? 22845. CalGal - 12/20/2001 3:42:17 PM Moulin Rouge is an outstanding musical, although I freely admit I'm more than a bit nutty about it. It certainly isn't in the same category as Gladiator. Gladiator made a ton of money and got generally weak reviews. MR didn't do well financially but got a number of glowing reviews, a lot of good reviews, and only a few total pans. 22846. CalGal - 12/20/2001 3:43:55 PM Haven't seen any of those movies, but everyone who has seen Fellowship has said good things. I'll probably catch it this weekend. I am worried about A Beautiful Mind, because Howard isn't the guy I'd choose to direct it. Spy Games didn't interest me and no one I knew who saw it had anything good to say. I'd rather see Three Days of the Condor again. 22847. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 3:53:42 PM CalGal -- 22848. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:05:36 PM Blackhawk Down is named after a book on the U.S. debacle in Somalia. It's directed by Ridley Scott. Here's a positive review of the film by Time's critic (sorry, I can't find it on the net so I have to cut and paste it from an e-mail): 22849. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:06:08 PM What the film, which was written largely in cries, whispers and expletives by Ken Nolan and Steven Zaillian, stresses instead is the sheer anarchy of war: bloody, terrifying, tragic and meaningless except as a test of a fighting man's virtue. Like every other great war movie, Black Hawk Down succeeds because it becomes, almost unintentionally, an antiwar movie--or at least one that can be read that way by anyone so inclined--a relentless catalog of the many absurd and accidental ways you can die when you are ordered into harm's way. 22850. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:07:02 PM The U.S. troops, too long cooped up, were spoiling for this fight. Most had not been under fire, but no matter. They knew they were good--superbly equipped and well led. And, indeed, the Delta Force quickly and painlessly accomplished the extraction. Subsequently, everything that could go wrong did. One of the first Rangers out of the helicopter missed the rope and free-fell 60 ft. to the ground. The ground convoy got hopelessly lost in the debris-strewn streets of the city. Pinned down, the American soldiers began to attract vast crowds of armed clansmen, often advancing behind human shields of women and children. One Black Hawk helicopter was shot from the sky, then another. The Ranger creed holds that no fallen comrade, even a dead one, can be left behind. The Americans stood by that oath. 22851. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:07:32 PM Ridley Scott, however, could. A bluff, down-to-earth Brit who started out to be a painter (he still does some of his own production sketches), he has become a master of all kinds of moviemaking--the visionary (Blade Runner), the intimate (Thelma & Louise) and the spectacular (Gladiator). He has not, however, done anything quite as grimly realistic as Black Hawk Down. Like most of his subjects here, Scott is from a working-class background, and he says that what he liked about this film was the simplicity of his characters--"they're like highly trained athletes, really." He is also something of an old-fashioned British traveler, the kind of man who relishes harsh conditions in odd corners of the world. Art director Arthur Max's brilliant re-creation of battered Mogadishu (built in Morocco) concentrated Scott's mind, eye and energies most wonderfully. More than anything else, he says, he wanted "to create an anatomy of a war that could be any war," and to that end he stripped away all talk, all thought, of this fight's larger geopolitical implications. Real soldiers don't think much about such matters, and neither do Scott's. Why, he wonders, "do we need such background when we have such a strong foreground?" 22852. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:07:58 PM There are powerful incidents--a downed chopper pilot captured by a raging mob, the bloody struggle to save the life of a soldier whose artery has been severed. There's even a presumptive hero, Josh Hartnett's Sergeant Matt Eversmann, leading a Ranger "chalk" (small unit) into combat for the first time. He's a guy who thinks maybe they can eventually "make a difference" in Somalia. But his unit catches much of the movie's hard luck, and by its end he sadly realizes what every soldier finally learns--that the only principle anyone fights for is existential: your own survival and that of your buddies. 22853. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:08:20 PM Still, there is less distance between the event Black Hawk Down recounts and the events that most of the other great war movies relate. You have to wonder if the movie's immediacy, its obvious analogies to Afghanistan, will frighten audiences away. This is a matter of some moment to Bruckheimer. His soft-spoken intelligence belies his fame as producer of big-scale action films (Top Gun, Armageddon). At 56, he has reached an age at which he wants to move beyond popcorn movies, and he observes that in Black Hawk Down he and Scott were trying very soberly to make an entire 2 1/2-hr. movie in the spirit of Saving Private Ryan's unforgettably horrific D-day sequence--and without its "good war" rationale. No such glory attaches to Somalia. The country is today, as Bruckheimer notes, "exactly as we left it," still starving, still sunk in hopeless anarchy. Worse were the implications that the world's only superpower was unwilling to fight in defense of hard-to-explain principles. Osama bin Laden has specifically cited our Somalian retreat as an inspiration for his depredations. 22854. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:08:35 PM The Greatest Combat Films Of All Time 22855. CalGal - 12/20/2001 4:09:51 PM Pincher, 22856. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:13:56 PM How did the major reviewers specifically talk about Gladiator? I remember the film doing about as well as Moulin Rouge critically and quite well commercially. 22857. CalGal - 12/20/2001 4:31:14 PM Link to Time's Blackhawk Down review 22858. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:33:10 PM Sorry, CG, for trashing your thread, but I honestly couldn't find it when I looked here 22859. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 4:33:21 PM Moulin Rouge has been a love it or hate it film, but most critics loved it. I would say it has a better than average chance of getting a best picture nomination. Critical reception was different than it was for Gladiator. Critics generally liked Gladiator, but were not enthusiastic. I don't think it made many critics top ten lists. But those who liked Moulin Rouge tended to love it. 22860. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 4:34:47 PM Blackhawk Down hasn't been released yet, and Beautiful Mind has only been in very limited release, extending wider tomorrow. 22861. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:36:50 PM Rask -- 22862. CalGal - 12/20/2001 4:41:54 PM Pincher, no offense taken and no rebuke intended. I just always look up links because some people prefer reading them that way. 22863. ScottLoar - 12/20/2001 4:46:36 PM No mention of The Deerslayer as a great combat film? No, I don't watch combat films for vicarious pleasure or to experience what combat must be like (Saving Private Ryan is good in that regard) but The Deerslayer continues to bother me (I've seen it once from beginning to end), especially that scene where the several of them are taken out of the cage in the water for Russian roulette. It still bothers me, more than anything else I've seen as DeNiro, swearing and fuck-you challenges the VC to load two (three?) rounds into the pistol.I think what bothers me is the feeling that nothing matters before the moment and there is no thought beyond that moment, it's all NOW, one thought, totally committed, and it's the strongest feeling that can ever grab you because nothing matters, nothing has ever mattered, except NOW and fuck-you-I-don't-care-anymore because this is it, this is what I've come to and I'm gonna' give it everything I got. 22864. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 4:48:22 PM Assuming I'm reading the website correctly at RottenTomatoes, it appears Gladiator does better than Moulin Rouge when all critics are counted, but loses out when you look at only the top-flight critics. 22865. Slackjaw - 12/20/2001 4:48:45 PM I am worried about A Beautiful Mind, because Howard isn't the guy I'd choose to direct it. 22866. ScottLoar - 12/20/2001 4:49:20 PM I thought Moulin Rouge spoiled by the music. If the score was period music I think it would have been a most excellent juxtaposition against the cinematography and special effects, but the modern tunes made it seem like MTV out of place and time. 22867. CalGal - 12/20/2001 4:50:59 PM Pincher--that would make sense. 22868. CalGal - 12/20/2001 4:54:20 PM Scott, 22869. CalGal - 12/20/2001 4:55:57 PM Slack--be prepared for disappointment. I do think there are other directors who could have done a good job--in fact, Michael Mann might have done a decent job with it, even if I would have been waiting for commercials. But at least he would have tried to address the actual issue. 22870. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 4:57:22 PM LOTR did 18 million yesterday, which indicates a ballpark of a 50 million weekend. This is a very strong opening for the Christmas season, with a potential for long legs over the next two weeks. Reviews are spectacular, and word of mouth is good, so I would expect *at least* a gross of around 250-300 million. Whether it has a chance to beat the grosses of Phantom Menace or Titanic won't be known for a couple weeks. But it is possible. I wouldn't underestimate the potential of a major film which is already being called a modern classic. Particularly if it moves into cultural phenomenon status, and grabs a large handful of Oscar nominations, which would bring in a wider audience. 22871. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 4:58:52 PM Yeah, the Rotten Tomatoes interface does crash a lot. But it is invaluable anyway. 22872. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 5:01:49 PM Edelstein has reviewed A Beautiful Mind and gives Crowe's performance raves. He also has good things to say about Howard's direction, but seems to resent the man for it. 22873. PincherMartin - 12/20/2001 5:04:17 PM LOTR did 18 million yesterday, which indicates a ballpark of a 50 million weekend. This is a very strong opening for the Christmas season, with a potential for long legs over the next two weeks. Reviews are spectacular, and word of mouth is good, so I would expect *at least* a gross of around 250-300 million. 22874. ScottLoar - 12/20/2001 5:05:01 PM Calgal, Moulin Rouge jars me with the music unlike those you mentioned in Message # 22868 in which the music seems to complement the body of the movie. I don't think I'm looking at a mining camp when I see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; I know I'm seeing a background for great footwork and tunes, just like Singing in the Rain. But, had Singing in the Rain used beebop I'd have felt the same sort of disjunction I feel when watching Moulin Rouge. 22875. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 5:14:08 PM "I'm surprised at how low your weekend numbers are. Didn't Harry Potter nearly clean out a cool ninety million in three days?" 22876. Francis Urquhart - 12/20/2001 5:18:54 PM A list of great combat films is the kind of thing that will bring the final posts from Francis Urquhart, prior to his assassination. 22877. CalGal - 12/20/2001 5:19:11 PM Scott, 22878. CalGal - 12/20/2001 5:19:30 PM 22879. Francis Urquhart - 12/20/2001 5:20:09 PM I'm looking forward to seeing Black Hawk Down, as I just finished the book. 22880. Francis Urquhart - 12/20/2001 5:22:31 PM And the battle sequences in HBO's Band of Brothers were top-notch. 22881. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 5:22:34 PM For great combat films, I can't recommend Battleground highly enough. It completely blew me away for a film made only a few years after the end of WWII. 22882. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 5:24:02 PM Band of Brothers owed a lot to Battleground, which also followed the 101st Airborne. 22883. Francis Urquhart - 12/20/2001 5:27:16 PM Rask 22884. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 5:29:05 PM Yeah, Mr Rourke bites in the snow, sans any rich corinthian leather. 22885. CalGal - 12/20/2001 5:34:48 PM Favorite war films, in no particular order: 22886. ScottLoar - 12/20/2001 5:36:04 PM The book Das Boot exceeds the movie by far. The author (the book is the sum of his experiences as a a German Navy correspondent) after the war went on to sell abstractionist artwork which is reflected, for example, in his descriptions of sea and sky. 22887. judithathome - 12/20/2001 5:36:32 PM I dare you to watch Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and not come away singing Bless Your Beautiful Hide for days afterward... 22888. CalGal - 12/20/2001 5:39:15 PM Didn't refresh, but I see that Rask and FU have mentioned Battleground. I love Van Johnson. 22889. ScottLoar - 12/20/2001 5:40:31 PM There's another film that stays with me as a good war flick, Ulana's Raid, starring Burt Lancaster as an aging Army scout called under an inexperienced Army lieutenant to bring down an Apache raiding party, which gives me the same feeling of everything coming together into one desperate moment. 22890. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 5:40:52 PM I remember listening to the commentary track of U-571. Johnathon Mostow, the director, likes Das Boot, but he complains that it falsely presents German submarine crews as dutiful but reluctant participants in the war. Mostow says they were almost all die-hard Nazis, as they were given such a wide latitude of independence. My knowledge of WWII doesn't extend this deep. Does anyone know for sure whether Mostow is correct? 22891. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 5:41:48 PM Cal: depends on the sub movie. Run Silent counts, but Operation:Petticoat does not. :) 22892. CalGal - 12/20/2001 5:45:48 PM I dare you to watch Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and not come away singing Bless Your Beautiful Hide for days afterward... 22893. CalGal - 12/20/2001 5:46:41 PM What? But they sunk a truck!!! 22894. ScottLoar - 12/20/2001 5:46:47 PM I don't know for sure if submarine crews were all die-hard Nazis, but the crew members recounted by the book Das Boot were not. The captain was a bit of an eccentric, the crew members read pornography, snickered at the political officer's attempts at on-board propaganda, and on leave contemptuously recounted a Nazi officer in chromed helmet upbraiding one of them for having their uniform out of regulation. The crew, who were more concerned with staying alive in a dangerous situation and reading pornography, were contemptuous of any political aspect of the war. 22895. CalGal - 12/20/2001 5:48:12 PM Next thing you'll be telling me that Mister Roberts doesn't qualify! 22896. ScottLoar - 12/20/2001 5:48:50 PM The characters in the book Das Boot were by the author's admission a composite of those he submarined with. 22897. Raskolnikov - 12/20/2001 5:48:53 PM Nor Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. (As much as I love the Seaview) 22898. CalGal - 12/20/2001 5:49:57 PM But Incredible Voyage should, since there is a Cold Warrior as a bad guy. 22899. ScottLoar - 12/20/2001 5:50:16 PM Calgal, ask that movie maven CalGal for the correct spelling, but do see the movie. I've brought it up here about three times over the last few years and seem to be the only one who's ever seen it. 22900. CalGal - 12/20/2001 5:52:13 PM No, I've always liked the title and have noted your approval of the film as well. I love Lancaster, and have always been a Davison fan as well. 22901. ScottLoar - 12/20/2001 5:53:42 PM CalGal, a memorable scene in that movie (Ulana's - Ulzana's - Raid) is when the young lieutenant asks the Apache scout why his people act so. The scout talks about the smell of woman and dog filling the nostrils,and a man must get up and do, and the cleansing smell of gunpowder. 22902. Cellar Door - 12/20/2001 6:35:55 PM What "PC Police," dear? Your persecution fantasies will doubtless drive you to the therapy you so sorely need. 22903. CalGal - 12/20/2001 6:41:37 PM That post is completely incomprehensible. 22904. Cellar Door - 12/20/2001 6:43:20 PM Oh but it's OK to invoke the "PC Police," right George W. CalGal? 22905. CalGal - 12/20/2001 7:05:58 PM That's right. Glad we've got that cleared up. 22906. Jenerator - 12/20/2001 7:11:22 PM I'm finicky when it comes to musicals. 22907. Cellar Door - 12/20/2001 11:57:02 PM Me too. 22908. judithathome - 12/21/2001 8:54:40 AM I loved Hedwig and the Angry Inch! 22909. webfeet - 12/21/2001 9:07:46 AM Mon Dieu Cellar, you forgot Gigi! Or was that intentional? zank heaven...for little...girls. 22910. judithathome - 12/21/2001 9:21:32 AM Oh yes, French TV is the best. Here, though, you can swoon over Cheryl Ladd and Lindsey Waggoner weeping up a storm on Lifetime Movies every day so it's a trade off. 22911. rubberducky - 12/21/2001 9:48:09 AM Rask 22912. glendajean - 12/21/2001 10:21:06 AM Speaking of the homosexual agenda, I saw on a preview for the Johnny Neutron movie that they use the Bette Davis line from All About Eve, the one about "buckling your seat belt because it is going to be a bumpy ride." 22913. judithathome - 12/21/2001 10:26:57 AM I think they used that one purely to sell the little Neutron wheel toy car that is being pushed off the kids this season. 22914. glendajean - 12/21/2001 10:30:16 AM That's what you think. It's actually our plot to make more drag queens, starting at a younger age. 22915. judithathome - 12/21/2001 10:38:06 AM Ah! Well, more power to you! 22916. rubberducky - 12/21/2001 10:54:13 AM those damn hets are always trying to steal our stuff! 22917. Cellar Door - 12/21/2001 1:56:35 PM You're right. I forgot both Gigi and Meet Me in St. Louis. 22918. Cellar Door - 12/21/2001 1:57:04 PM I also greatly enjoyed Buffy: The Musical. 22919. Cellar Door - 12/21/2001 1:59:53 PM Francoise Dorleac was really something else. Her whole demeanor was subtly different than her sister's -- yet complimentary. In a way Deneuve has come to replace her. Her performances in Scene of the Crime, Time Regained and especially Place Vendome show a maturity and garavitas,/i> of which I'd never thought her capable at the start of her career. 22920. Cellar Door - 12/21/2001 2:00:22 PM toys 22921. webfeet - 12/21/2001 2:16:40 PM Im not surprised. And she was so lovely, with that ginger-colored hair. 22922. webfeet - 12/21/2001 2:17:15 PM /i> 22923. webfeet - 12/21/2001 2:17:43 PM stop 22924. webfeet - 12/21/2001 2:18:16 PM 22925. webfeet - 12/21/2001 2:18:38 PM has it stopped? 22926. webfeet - 12/21/2001 2:19:56 PM stop tormenting me 22927. CalGal - 12/21/2001 2:20:27 PM 22928. webfeet - 12/21/2001 2:20:46 PM please stop tormenting me 22929. CalGal - 12/21/2001 2:20:56 PM 22930. webfeet - 12/21/2001 2:21:32 PM au secours! au secours! 22931. webfeet - 12/21/2001 2:22:37 PM That was exhausting. 22932. Cellar Door - 12/21/2001 2:30:04 PM Haven't seen Diary of a Seducer. Godard's still alive.You're thinking of Truffaut. But that's not why Leaud lost his mind. I'd credit it to the suicide of Jean Eustache, the writer-director of his most important film The Mother and the Whore. 22933. Raskolnikov - 12/21/2001 4:37:19 PM Ducky: 22934. CalGal - 12/21/2001 4:45:31 PM How was LOTR? 22935. Raskolnikov - 12/21/2001 6:18:28 PM It was very good. My biggest fear about Jackson's direction was that he was going to do an ironic take on the books, given his past track record. But he plays it straight. I have some quibbles with the film, but it is about as good of an adaptation as one can reasonable expect. McKellan and Wood are perfect. Most of the rest of the supporting cast is solid as well. 22936. CalGal - 12/21/2001 6:25:58 PM Good to know. I'm probably taking Spawn tonight. 22937. PincherMartin - 12/21/2001 6:26:16 PM Rask -- 22938. Raskolnikov - 12/21/2001 9:28:54 PM Pincher: doing the film without a major fuckup is worthy of a 3 and a half star review in itself. 22939. Raskolnikov - 12/21/2001 9:30:48 PM But I was also speaking to the audience here in the Mote. When my co-workers asked me whether I liked it, my response was "it kicked ass". They *hate* nuanced commentary. 22940. PincherMartin - 12/21/2001 9:38:15 PM Rask -- 22941. Cellar Door - 12/21/2001 9:48:47 PM Remember too, Pincher, Unlike Star Wars or the Godfather movies, Jackson has shot all three films at once. The next two will be released at yearly intervals. That means he sarted with a conception he's carried through in one go without taking a second or third breath. 22942. PincherMartin - 12/21/2001 9:52:38 PM Have you seen the film, Cellar? 22943. judithathome - 12/21/2001 10:10:37 PM Does that mean I get to include the sub movie with Mitchum and Jergens? I love that one. 22944. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/21/2001 10:42:05 PM I saw LOTR yesterday and I enjoyed it. There is a lot to like. It was a bit too violent and scary for younger kids, but the values are very reaffirming. 22945. Raskolnikov - 12/21/2001 11:33:33 PM "1) How is Liv Tyler in the role of Arwen?" 22946. Raskolnikov - 12/21/2001 11:38:51 PM I'll second Wiz's comments about Moria. The entire Moria sequence is amazing, and bodes well for the action orchestration to come. I think my favorite line was Sean Bean saying "they've got a cave troll" in the same tone of voice you would use in saying "the neighbors just bought a SUV". 22947. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/22/2001 1:01:48 AM Yes, and the troll reminded me of Denny Hastert --same body type! 22948. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/22/2001 1:03:36 AM 22949. Cellar Door - 12/22/2001 5:56:24 PM Just put a beard on him and you've got it, Wiz. 22950. PincherMartin - 12/22/2001 7:09:11 PM Wiz, Rask, and Cellar - 22951. judithathome - 12/22/2001 7:11:19 PM Tonight we're watching videos: 22952. arkymalarky - 12/22/2001 7:22:09 PM Mose rented Moulin Rouge again the other night and went to see LOTR last night. She loved it, and fantasy isn't her thing at all. Bob and I are going to go as soon as we can get a night free together. 22953. PincherMartin - 12/22/2001 7:58:47 PM Rask -- 22954. ronski - 12/22/2001 8:24:48 PM I've given myself a Christmas present by getting a copy of the out-of-print video of Montgomery Clift's The Search, his first film, I believe. Expensive, but worth it for me, as I really love the film. 22955. Raskolnikov - 12/22/2001 9:25:18 PM Pincher: Mojo's predictions are for the 5 day weekend, from Friday through Christmas Day. He is the only writer I have seen who is calculating on that time period. Most are just referring to the fri-sun period, which was the time period I was referring to. I haven't given any thought to how the film will do on Monday and Tuesday (I don't have money riding on that time period) but 13 million sounds plausible. 22956. Raskolnikov - 12/22/2001 9:31:11 PM "How did you come up with a number of fifty million, give or take five million?" 22957. PincherMartin - 12/22/2001 11:25:24 PM Rask -- 22958. Raskolnikov - 12/23/2001 12:04:22 AM "Betting on movie grosses? That's hilarious! Where exactly in England would you do that?" 22959. Raskolnikov - 12/23/2001 12:04:49 AM "How did you do on Titanic? (A movie that started off great and then had what must have been the longest legs in history.)" 22960. judithathome - 12/23/2001 11:04:09 AM Ronski: 22961. judithathome - 12/23/2001 11:04:37 AM They were both made in 1948, however... 22962. CalGal - 12/23/2001 12:38:13 PM The IMDb lists The Search first; I don't know which one filmed first. They both came out in 48. 22963. judithathome - 12/23/2001 12:47:33 PM We watched Moulin Rouge last night and while I loved most of the music and Ewan, I was really disappointed because the dancing was so unapproachable. I'm saying this as a dance fanatic...we have season tickets to 2 dance companys and love dance above, say, opera. So for that reason, I was very irritated by the way the dnces were filmed in that frantic, zig-zag style. 22964. CalGal - 12/23/2001 12:57:47 PM Most people come up with inaccurate reasons to dislike MR that I swiftly slice and dice--it's okay to dislike MR, but not if you come up with reasons that you wouldn't apply to any other musical. But the choppy dance cutting is a valid bitch (the choppy editing the other). 22965. judithathome - 12/23/2001 1:06:58 PM We watched it on video...don't have a DVD yet. But I'd love to see the full tango because that is the dance I felt cheated on the most. I didn't mind it on the opening can-can numbers because, as you say, it added a lot to the over all feel of the place. 22966. judithathome - 12/23/2001 1:09:51 PM Have you seen Hedwig yet, Cal? 22967. CalGal - 12/23/2001 1:13:03 PM But I'd love to see the full tango because that is the dance I felt cheated on the most. 22968. judithathome - 12/23/2001 1:23:26 PM I think you'll like it...it's very imaginative and clever. 22969. judithathome - 12/23/2001 1:26:19 PM We also watche Made and once again, Vince Vaughn stole the show. I liked it but was predisposed to doing so... 22971. Raskolnikov - 12/23/2001 2:34:02 PM I caught Made last week. It was really disappointing, as I am a big fan of Swingers. I think it hinges on whether or not you found Vaughn's character amusing. I didn't. He reminded me of those Scorsese characters Robert De Niro used to play in the seventies, in Mean Streets, King of Comedy, (New York)^2, etc. Those pushy, selfish characters who have no idea how irritating they are and don't care. I could deal with it in most Scorsese films but here it just irritated the hell out of me. 22972. judithathome - 12/23/2001 2:38:54 PM Maybe because you are older and it isn't funny any longer...I enjoyed it because he was exactly like someone we used to know and like even though he was a boor...he's no longer around so it was like a little visit from him. It got old in the movie just as in real life but I still enjoyed it..and him. 22973. CalGal - 12/23/2001 2:43:44 PM I can often have a strong negative reaction to a movie with a character I just can't stand. The Big Lebowski had that effect on me; I simply wanted John Goodman's character to die, horribly. I didn't watch De Niro films for a long time because the first one I saw was New York, New York and I loathed him so much I couldn't imagine enjoying him in another film. 22974. judithathome - 12/23/2001 2:45:17 PM That explains my Julia Roberts disgust to a tee... 22975. CalGal - 12/23/2001 2:49:49 PM No, don't confuse dislike of a character with dislike of an actor. 22976. judithathome - 12/23/2001 2:54:17 PM I'm not...I loathed her in Pretty Woman and from then on couldn't abide her in anything. I've seen some of her movies and haven't enjoyed them at all because she is in them. I should have avoided them altogether, I guess, as you did DeNiro. 22977. CalGal - 12/23/2001 2:55:43 PM I was just browsing The Enemy Below listing and noted that the writer was also responsible for: 22978. judithathome - 12/23/2001 2:55:47 PM I dislike her as an actor NOW but my original dislike started with her character in that movie...in case I wasn't clear. 22979. CalGal - 12/23/2001 3:00:11 PM Again, no, it's not the same thing. I like John Goodman, and I like De Niro. The fact that I avoided De Niro because of the film only indicates strength of the reaction to the dislike of the character. 22980. judithathome - 12/23/2001 3:12:24 PM Whatever... 22981. Cellar Door - 12/23/2001 4:46:51 PM Which one of Tilda's did you loathe? 22982. judithathome - 12/23/2001 11:31:30 PM I hope it wasn't Orlando. 22983. Absensia - 12/23/2001 11:32:35 PM Hmm, haven't seen it. 22984. judithathome - 12/23/2001 11:35:13 PM Verrrry interesting, Abs... 22985. Absensia - 12/23/2001 11:38:48 PM Knew you'd get the message! : ) 22986. CalGal - 12/23/2001 11:49:20 PM It was. I loathed Orlando. Had she done anything interesting I would have revisited. I may consider her recent movie worth a look. 22987. judithathome - 12/23/2001 11:59:38 PM Okay...you were right. 22988. glendajean - 12/24/2001 12:11:55 AM Vanilla Sky 22989. PincherMartin - 12/24/2001 8:46:28 AM One silly moment. Cruise is in a bar and he thinks a man is hitting on him. "Sorry, pal, I'm straight." 22990. Cellar Door - 12/24/2001 10:12:04 AM LOL! 22991. RustlerPike - 12/26/2001 3:07:17 AM Saw LOTR and it is very impressive but very tedious and extremely long. 22992. Cellar Door - 12/26/2001 10:13:46 AM However, Rustler, many LOTR fans have reported that as the end credits rolled audience members could be heard screaming "Part Two! Part Two!" 22993. glendajean - 12/26/2001 10:20:41 AM Ocean's 11 22994. marshame - 12/26/2001 10:25:56 AM Judith 22995. Cellar Door - 12/26/2001 11:28:08 AM 22996. marshame - 12/26/2001 11:32:28 AM What, no comparison shots with Martha Raye? Where is the Wizard of Whimsy when we need him? 22997. CalGal - 12/26/2001 12:02:55 PM I loathed Orlando because it was tedious, pretentious and had no point worth making. 22998. Cellar Door - 12/26/2001 12:19:43 PM Well Tilda Swinton 22999. CalGal - 12/26/2001 12:23:35 PM Brad looks good clothed or not. I've never thought Swinton all that good looking--Blanchett either. 23000. CalGal - 12/26/2001 12:26:04 PM Millennial? 23001. Raskolnikov - 12/26/2001 1:05:26 PM Tilda isn't good looking at all. Blanchett is a supermodel in comparison. The only Swinton film I have seen is The Beach, when my brother rented it for a joint movie night. Bad film. The rest of her films look like the type of films that I usually run away from while screaming. The Deep End is an exception. I plan on seeing that on DVD. 23002. Cellar Door - 12/26/2001 1:09:30 PM Well I think y'all's taste is in your mouth. 23003. Phoenix Rising - 12/26/2001 1:27:59 PM Well, it has been a banner week of movie watching. 23004. Phoenix Rising - 12/26/2001 1:28:58 PM 23005. Phoenix Rising - 12/26/2001 1:29:57 PM 23006. Cellar Door - 12/26/2001 1:51:45 PM toys? 23007. Cellar Door - 12/26/2001 1:52:07 PM toys 23008. CalGal - 12/26/2001 2:09:40 PM Nigel Hawthorne: RIP 23009. judithathome - 12/26/2001 2:13:46 PM Oh no...was he ill or was it sudden? 23010. Cellar Door - 12/26/2001 2:24:28 PM He's been ill for some time now. 23011. CalGal - 12/26/2001 2:27:15 PM He had a heart attack, but CNN said he had also been receiving chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. 23012. marshame - 12/26/2001 2:51:33 PM " I still hate Owen Wilson's nose." 23013. wonkers2 - 12/26/2001 5:55:32 PM Tilda Swinton was great in The Deep End. She's attractive in a kind of non-Hollywood way. Like a real and intelligent but not glamorous person. 23014. Cellar Door - 12/26/2001 6:55:49 PM Precisely, wonkers. 23015. Raskolnikov - 12/26/2001 11:57:50 PM Which of her performances would Powell even have seen before he died? I wasn't aware that Swinton had any significant roles before Orlando. Or was Powell a Jarman enthusiast in his final years? 23016. concerned - 12/27/2001 3:30:17 AM From 'Jihad in Afghanistan': 23017. glendajean - 12/27/2001 9:26:10 AM Here's a Washington Post article about the scarcity of older women-younger men romance in the movies. Turns out Meg Ryan is 7 years older than Hugh Jackman. 23018. CalGal - 12/27/2001 9:41:03 AM That's a really dumb article (although I'm glad you linked it in). 23019. Raskolnikov - 12/27/2001 9:57:26 AM When people get on a tirade about how much of a taboo older women/younger men movies are, no one ever mentions Moonstruck. Cage was 18 years younger than Cher, and it isn't even commented on in the movie or in the popular press. And the film was a big hit, which won Cher an Oscar. Granted, this is an exception, but it does demonstrate that it isn't so much of a taboo we are talking about, as much as it is a mild Hollywood social convention. 23020. CalGal - 12/27/2001 10:06:52 AM Argggh! Moonstruck. I knew there was another one I was forgetting about. 23021. CalGal - 12/27/2001 10:09:28 AM I should mention that I'm talking about the Old Actresses Fade Away problem. The "taboo" between older actress/younger actor is social convention. I do get tired of movies where the male actor is 30 years older than the female--in As Good As It Gets, Nicholson is older than Shirley Booth, the woman playing Helen Hunt's mother. And I do know that a lot of people have mentioned finding this irritating. But until they stop going to movies with that sort of age difference, ain't nothing going to change. 23022. Raskolnikov - 12/27/2001 10:16:43 AM Yes, I think the age difference has a lot more to do with what the genders find delectable. Sean Connery and Robert Redford still get described by many women as incredibly sexy. You would be very hard pressed to find many men say that about any actress their age. I'll admit that Sophia Loren and Ann Margaret looked pretty good in Grumpy Old Men, and Catherine Deneuve always seems ageless, but a serious contender for any popular contest of sexiest woman alive? Not a chance. 23023. Raskolnikov - 12/27/2001 10:20:05 AM a 40 year old /25 year old mix doesn't bother me much. But yeah, Nicholson and Hunt in AGAIG was nauseating. I still haven't seen Entrapment partially because the thought of watching Connery nail Zeta-Jones gives me the willies. 23024. CalGal - 12/27/2001 10:32:38 AM I gotta say I really wonder how many women really do find Connery or Redford sexy anymore--although I agree that that they find older men sexy for far longer than men find older women sexy. 23025. Cellar Door - 12/27/2001 10:37:49 AM Powell saw all of her work with Jarman, and she and Sally Potter met him when they were putting Orlando together. 23026. Raskolnikov - 12/27/2001 12:54:30 PM I think the primary reason for my surprise is that I had always assumed Powell had died 30 years ago, given his disappearance from the movie scene. Of course, I am still shocked every time I hear Billy Wilder is still alive. 23027. Cellar Door - 12/27/2001 12:57:41 PM Powell even did a walk-on in Scorsese's segment of New York Stories. He and Thelma had a very happy marriage. They made a great couple. 23028. TabouliJones - 12/27/2001 1:00:15 PM I rented the Score yesterday. Directed by Fran Oz, starring Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando and Edward Norton it is basically a straigtforward heist movie with a stellar cast. Brando is especially excellent, if perhaps a little too campy for some people's tastes, in the role of well-heeled fence to Norton and de Niro's well-skilled thieves. Added plus: the movie is set in Montreal,a city I have spent some time in and appreciate seeing on the big screen. 23029. Ms. No - 12/27/2001 1:01:27 PM CG, 23030. glendajean - 12/27/2001 1:03:15 PM Movies I still want to see: 23031. Raskolnikov - 12/27/2001 1:10:58 PM I know the Royal Tennenbaum's is getting great reviews, but I am beginning to think that I am allergic to Wes Anderson films. I couldn't understand what people saw in Rushmore at all, and thought Bottle Rocket was only slightly better. I do like Owen Wilson, however. 23032. judithathome - 12/27/2001 1:26:33 PM Nicholson is older than Shirley Booth, the woman playing Helen Hunt's mother. 23033. CalGal - 12/27/2001 1:34:28 PM I always do that! In fact, I thought "I should look it up first" but was in a hurry. Shirley Knight, Shirley Knight, Shirley Knight. But she's six months younger than Nicholson. 23034. Cellar Door - 12/27/2001 1:49:18 PM I love The Royal Tennenbaums! 23035. Julius Caesar - 12/27/2001 2:02:52 PM Scary Movie 2 23036. glendajean - 12/27/2001 2:03:35 PM A pause for the late Shirley Booth. In my demented childhood, I wanted a maid just like her. 23037. Julius Caesar - 12/27/2001 2:03:44 PM American Psycho 23038. Julius Caesar - 12/27/2001 2:04:10 PM What the big-splatter accomplishes, however, is to force both films into the genre of super car chase movies. The text, which presumes to be of greater import than Gone in 60 Seconds, manages about that level of sophistication, because the directors are not content (or able) to write a story without use of the absurdist imagery that carries all the subtlety of a cholera outbreak. 23039. glendajean - 12/27/2001 2:04:37 PM He came. He saw. He went Roman Emperor on us. 23040. Julius Caesar - 12/27/2001 2:05:36 PM Hedwig and the Angry Inch 23041. TabouliJones - 12/27/2001 2:27:44 PM Slate is running its annual Movie Club forum, with critics David Edelstein, Roger Ebert,Sarah Kerr, Johnathon Rosenbaum and A.O. Scott. These critics pick their individual 10 best of the year and then engage in a week-long back and forth on their choices and other film matters. Last year's forum was good reading and this year's is off to a promising start. 23042. CalGal - 12/27/2001 2:44:38 PM 23043. Cellar Door - 12/27/2001 2:46:11 PM My choices are appearing the Village Voice's annual Film Critics poll. 23044. arkymalarky - 12/27/2001 8:23:40 PM I just love What About Bob? 23045. Cellar Door - 12/27/2001 9:14:36 PM Me too. It's one of Bill Murray's best. 23046. Absensia - 12/27/2001 10:36:52 PM Glad to hear you both like "What About Bob?" I received a copy for Christmas, along with a dvd player and will watch it as soon as I get the dvd player set up. 23047. CalGal - 12/27/2001 10:39:47 PM Hey, welcome to the world of DVD! 23048. Jenerator - 12/27/2001 10:46:09 PM Listen Abs, there are two kinds of people in this world. 23049. Shannon - 12/27/2001 11:39:33 PM I'm planning to sign up for Netflix. Showed hubby how many silent films they had and he was all over it. And we didn't even get to the musicals and epics :-) 23050. judithathome - 12/27/2001 11:49:22 PM Get Children of Paradise if they have it... 23051. Absensia - 12/28/2001 12:25:35 AM Thanks Cal...I will check out Netflix. Judith, have added Children of Paradise. Thanks. 23052. CalGal - 12/28/2001 12:33:14 AM I haven't updated MoteMovies in far too long. My website is out of room, and I should either get my own server up or get a new website. I have the reviews thus far created as a conversation. 23053. Absensia - 12/28/2001 1:13:50 AM Hmm, I could have sworn you'd updated it since last I looked. Chocolat was there, and I didn't remember it from before, etc. 23054. wonkers2 - 12/29/2001 12:31:12 AM Saw an irreverantly funny little movie on HBO today--Game Day. It lampoons college sports, coaches, players, fans, cheerleaders and just about everybody else. 23055. Absensia - 12/29/2001 12:58:15 AM What movie(s) do y'all think were the best of 2001? Any you would actually buy or have bought for your collection? 23056. CalGal - 12/29/2001 1:04:31 AM Moulin Rouge was my favorite of the year. The DVD is solid, lots of great extras but brought down by an uninteresting commentary. 23057. CalGal - 12/29/2001 1:05:54 AM What Hitchcock collection are you referring to? I don't think any of his 50s or 60s films have commentary on the DVDs, as far as I remember. The commentary on 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes are both very good. 23058. Absensia - 12/29/2001 1:34:16 AM I want to start with his early ones and go forward. 23059. CalGal - 12/29/2001 1:43:58 AM Well, you watch it first without the commentary. It's just to listen to. You don't really hear the movie unless they stop talking for amoment. 23060. CalGal - 12/29/2001 3:47:23 PM Abs, 23061. rubberducky - 12/29/2001 3:59:12 PM just saw it last night and have no problem saying that Lord of the Rings is easily the movie of 2001 -- hands down. 23062. CalGal - 12/29/2001 4:17:24 PM I also saw the following films for the first time in 2001. All are extraordinarily good movies and should be added to your Netflix list. 23063. Absensia - 12/29/2001 4:31:28 PM Thanks...this is making for some great reading as well as list making! 23064. Absensia - 12/29/2001 4:36:32 PM It also makes me feel more HBO deprived than ever. 23065. Cellar Door - 12/29/2001 5:09:05 PM If you loved Brief Encounter then you'll plotz over In the Mood for Love 23066. Toenails - 12/29/2001 5:55:56 PM Finally saw Legally Blonde today. 23067. Cellar Door - 12/29/2001 8:31:34 PM I thought it was delightful. 23068. judithathome - 12/29/2001 9:40:42 PM Cellar: 23069. justears - 12/29/2001 9:45:16 PM I haven't seen anyone mentioning Mulholland Drive (pardon if I just haven't looked back far enough in the thread). Maybe it was just too ominous for us to want to remember. But I thought David Lynch hit another bullseye. It seemed to me to be every bit as good as Lost Highway, Wild at Heart or Blue Velvet. He is just the master of noir. 23070. judithathome - 12/29/2001 9:50:30 PM I think someone mentioned it earlier...favorably, too. 23071. CalGal - 12/29/2001 10:03:11 PM I found TJ and Wonkers' reviews at Message # 22171, Message # 22214, and Message # 22799. 23072. slackjaw - 12/29/2001 11:38:58 PM Saw A Beautiful Mind today and quite enjoyed it. I was worried Nash's career would be butchered and his work made out to be codebreaking, so that it might be made into something saleable for the great unwashed. I will only say I was relieved and impressed by the role that his codebreaking was purported to play in the larger scheme of his career. 23073. slackjaw - 12/29/2001 11:40:42 PM The only major problem really was that Nash's analysis for his buddies of the game of picking up dames in a bar was wrong. The game Nash described has no pure strategy equilibrium but only mixed ones -- in equilibrium each guy randomizes over the potential mates to shoot for, because if all went for someone besides the hot blonde, someone could deviate and pick her off for sure. In fact the real Nash's major contribution revolved around exactly that sort of randomization -- once you allow for it and define the notion of equilibrium as mutual optimization, proving the existence of equilibrium in a large class of games (which Nash did) is trivial. 23074. CalGal - 12/29/2001 11:52:45 PM Well, I'm happy for you. That must be a relief. 23075. slackjaw - 12/30/2001 12:56:48 AM That could be. 23076. Cellar Door - 12/30/2001 10:11:10 AM Sully is having a cow over the fact that Opie doesn't deal with any of the gay stuff in Nash's life and blames (wait for it) David Geffen! 23077. slackjaw - 12/31/2001 12:55:02 AM Well Nash's foray into gaydom (which resulted in his security clearance being revoked) is certainly an example of the untreated but does not deserve to be singled out as such. 23078. CalGal - 12/31/2001 1:05:09 AM Is the book it was based on worth reading? 23079. slackjaw - 12/31/2001 2:36:17 AM If you can tolerate more than the usual journalistic bandying of jargon & ideas so the author can appear to be in the know, yes, it is worth reading. It's a great story, so even in the hands of an author who knows nothing about either economics or as far as I can tell mathematics it's compelling. 23080. thoughtful - 12/31/2001 8:27:57 AM Hubby and I saw lord of the rings this weekend and really enjoyed it. Only problem for me was not enough "breathing room". Every time an evil was fought and won another one came down the pike. Has oscar written all over it. Scenery exquisite. Time to head to New Zealand. 23081. Jamie R - 12/31/2001 9:28:26 AM Moulin Rouge made all three of Salon's "10 Best" lists. I didn't think it was all that well critically received when it first came out. It'll be interesting to see how it does at the Oscar's. 23082. Jamie R - 12/31/2001 9:32:16 AM I saw LOTR a second time yesterday. It holds up extremely well. And the second time around I could distinguish one beatific glowing elf from another, which made a few important scenes easier to follow. 23083. Julius Caesar - 12/31/2001 9:36:03 AM Moulin Rouge 23084. Julius Caesar - 12/31/2001 9:36:14 AM That said, these flaws are easier to overlook given the dizzying spectacle Luhrman offers. I found myself laughing hysterically during Jim Broadbent's Like a Virgin, and at first, I thought that the laughter was a result of a scene gone awful. But it was so ridiculous that I was howling, and I imagine that was the effect Luhrman was aiming for. Similarly, the tango to The Police's Roxanne starts with a groan, but ends as a beautiful, sad and masterful song-and-dance. 23085. Julius Caesar - 12/31/2001 9:38:29 AM The Royal Tenebaums 23086. Julius Caesar - 12/31/2001 9:38:50 AM Proviso: Caesar saw this film with 5 other people, two of whom deemed it so-so, and one of whom liked it, but was nowhere near as effusive as Caesar. They were immediately given the opportunity to take their own lives and spare 23087. Julius Caesar - 12/31/2001 9:46:43 AM Caesar's Top Five Films of 2002 23088. rubberducky - 12/31/2001 9:49:04 AM A.I. was horrible, don't waste your schekles 23089. rubberducky - 12/31/2001 9:49:36 AM whoops, forgot to correct my mistake, i meant to say: 23090. judithathome - 12/31/2001 9:52:33 AM I think JCs unit of currency is the lira. 23091. glendajean - 12/31/2001 10:17:50 AM I thought biblical money was denari or something to that effect. Wasn't that a Roman currency? 23092. judithathome - 12/31/2001 10:20:37 AM Well, at least I hit the correct country... 23093. rubberducky - 12/31/2001 10:45:24 AM I talked my partner into seeing "Majestic" today. I have no desire to see it. He has the day off and wants to see it. I am spared. 23094. judithathome - 12/31/2001 10:54:23 AM Because GJ is at work...and isn't going to the movie. So doesn't have to sit through it. 23095. Jenerator - 12/31/2001 10:58:06 AM GJ is right. 23096. judithathome - 12/31/2001 11:04:59 AM JC would play hell paying in anything but lira today, though, wouldn't he? And I'm assuming he'd want to see the movie in this era, not back in his days of former glory... 23097. Indiana Jones - 12/31/2001 11:06:21 AM It's all Euros now. 23098. judithathome - 12/31/2001 11:10:38 AM True...no more pretty currency! 23099. Cellar Door - 12/31/2001 11:27:08 AM The Royal Tenenbaumsis a rather subtle stew,Julius. You're right that he wants to stop the wedding, but that's put aside in favor of his real goal -reconciling with his son (Ben Stiller) 23100. Julius Caesar - 12/31/2001 11:36:35 AM Cellar 23101. Jamie R - 12/31/2001 11:39:05 AM The only Ken Russell musical I saw was Salome, which I found totally unwatchable. (And, in fact, I stopped watching at some point.) But I can't imagine that Russell and Luhrman are aiming at anything close to the same thing in their movies. 23102. Cellar Door - 12/31/2001 11:51:32 AM That's where Russell starts to go threadbare, Jamie. The Real Deal is Ken Russell's Film of Tchaikovsky and The Music Lovers (that's the full title), The Devils, The Boy Friend and (leave us not forget) Larry Kramer's Women in Love 23103. Jamie R - 12/31/2001 11:53:55 AM Thanks. The Tchaikovsky one is something I've been meaning to see. I'll bump it up on my list. 23104. judithathome - 12/31/2001 11:54:35 AM I think Women In Love is one of the most beautiful love stories on film. 23105. glendajean - 12/31/2001 12:01:16 PM Is that the movie with Alan Bates and the late Oliver somebody writhing on the floor in tasteful homoerotic struggle? 23106. CalGal - 12/31/2001 12:01:24 PM In reading Caesar's review of Moulin Rouge, I am reminded again how very little people know of musical history. But I'm glad he liked it, if for a bunch of weird reasons. 23107. Cellar Door - 12/31/2001 12:03:03 PM You got it, glendajean! 23108. CalGal - 12/31/2001 12:04:20 PM Oliver Reed. Didn't Larry Kramer direct that scene, or something? 23109. Cellar Door - 12/31/2001 12:05:27 PM LOL! 23110. Cellar Door - 12/31/2001 12:06:00 PM Larry appears to be adjusting to his new liver quite nicely, BTW. 23111. CalGal - 12/31/2001 7:30:26 PM Question: In the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, is Leonard Nimoy a pod person in his first scene? If not, when does he get got? 23112. Cellar Door - 12/31/2001 10:01:12 PM As I recall not until the 1/4 mark. 23113. CalGal - 12/31/2001 10:05:48 PM It's really impossible to tell. He is always doing the same thing, which is telling people they are crazy for thinking that their boyfriend isn't their boyfriend, etc. 23114. wonkers2 - 1/1/2002 10:04:53 AM Julius, are you saying that Hollywood dumped the original music in Moulin Rouge and hired somebody else to write new music? A songwriter on Terry Gross's Fresh Air said they tried hire somebody to rewrite the music for the movie, Showboat, in order to avoid paying royalties to Gershwin or whoever owned the copyright to the original, but they decided they couldn't drop Old Man River and some of the others from the show. Hollywood knows no shame! 23115. Cellar Door - 1/1/2002 11:04:18 AM Jerome Kern. 23116. CalGal - 1/1/2002 11:10:37 AM Wonkers--Moulin Rouge is a movie; what "original music" could they have dropped? 23117. Indiana Jones - 1/1/2002 12:13:44 PM For New Year's Eve, I went to see Lord of the Rings. If you are a Tolkien fan, you have to see it: you will love this film. And if you don't know Tolkien, you may love it anyway. 23118. Indiana Jones - 1/1/2002 12:25:02 PM (continued) 23119. wonkers2 - 1/1/2002 12:25:46 PM Gotcha! I assumed it had been a Broadway show. Is Moulin Rouge at all similar to Hedwig or the one about the London barber who slit his customers' throats? 23120. CalGal - 1/1/2002 12:30:20 PM Sweeny Todd. No. 23121. CalGal - 1/1/2002 12:33:32 PM Actually, it's kind of like La Traviata meets Andy Rooney (Hey, kids, let's put on our own show!). 23122. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 1/1/2002 12:35:16 PM Sweeny Todd? No. It's a contrived and regurgitated mannerist mélange of pop music with a few scenes of visual billiance. 23123. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 1/1/2002 12:35:45 PM Ha! 23124. CalGal - 1/1/2002 12:36:14 PM Well, is Singin in the Rain. Except it doesn't have the visual brilliance. 23125. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 1/1/2002 12:36:36 PM Mickey Rooney? 23126. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 1/1/2002 12:36:55 PM Andy Hardy? 23127. CalGal - 1/1/2002 12:37:04 PM Add a "so" ater the comma. 23128. CalGal - 1/1/2002 12:37:53 PM Man. That's my third weird mistake today. Either a bad omen for 2002, or Alzheimer's. 23129. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 1/1/2002 12:38:00 PM Andy Rooney -- Sixty Minutes? 23130. CalGal - 1/1/2002 12:39:39 PM No, you're right. My brain has decided to take a vacation. 23131. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 1/1/2002 12:45:02 PM Or Tosca meets Sixty Minutes? ;-} 23132. glendajean - 1/2/2002 1:42:30 PM Given that Royal Tannenbaums hasn't made it to Indy yet, and probably becauseI am a wuss, I went to see Kate and Leopold yesterday. 23133. Cellar Door - 1/3/2002 1:14:51 AM 23134. OhioSTOPAS - 1/4/2002 4:17:54 PM Mr. Door: You're the first film critic I know of to say anything positive about "A.I." (I haven't seen it yet, but plan to on video or cable.) 23135. judithathome - 1/4/2002 4:29:04 PM Did she see him today on The Early Show? I think he even impressed Blasé Bryant Gumball. 23136. glendajean - 1/4/2002 4:39:52 PM Mr. Ohio -- The Mrs. has good taste. 23137. OhioSTOPAS - 1/4/2002 4:54:14 PM Aaah, what's he got that I haven't got? 23138. OhioSTOPAS - 1/4/2002 4:56:41 PM Judith: We rented the movie "Someone Like You" (starring Ashley Judd and Jackman). The movie was so-so, but it's got Mrs. Ohio looking for more Hugh. ("Someone Like Hugh"?) 23139. Raskolnikov - 1/4/2002 5:13:59 PM Ohio: AI has a small but devoted following among critics, who describe it as "misunderstood" and "underappreciated" while everyone else rolls their eyes or sneers at them. As far as I am concerned, an attempt to merge the artistic visions of Spielberg and Kubrick is about as misbegotten as I can imagine. Spielberg won the contest as Kubrick was dead, but the audience lost. 23140. Cellar Door - 1/4/2002 5:16:55 PM And I'm rolling my eyes and sneering at you. 23141. Raskolnikov - 1/4/2002 11:23:51 PM Cellar: you used to have a better sense of humor. 23142. Cellar Door - 1/5/2002 10:25:13 AM Well blame it on September 11th. 23143. PincherMartin - 1/5/2002 12:10:04 PM I thought A.I. was one of the most interesting movies I've seen this year; I wondered why it didn't get more critical attention. 23144. Cellar Door - 1/5/2002 12:20:37 PM Haley Joel Osment is phenomenal. The scene where his mother "imprints" him is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen an actor do.Normally child stars have a hard time switching to adult roles. He'll do it without breaking a sweat. 23145. PincherMartin - 1/5/2002 12:49:34 PM I just finished watching The Crimson Rivers, a movie highly recommended by Roger Ebert. After viewing it, I have to say I don't know why it would be highly recommended by Ebert, unless he fell asleep after the first half-hour. 23146. PincherMartin - 1/5/2002 1:05:45 PM Cellar -- 23147. PincherMartin - 1/5/2002 1:06:52 PM With that post, I'm off to bed. 23148. Cellar Door - 1/5/2002 1:20:56 PM Well there's more than a suggestion that David is a repository for all that is good in mankind. But "good" and "evil" tend to fall apart as concepts in this context. The aliens insist that David is "special" but what is he to them really? They're beyond "good" and "evil." 23149. PincherMartin - 1/5/2002 8:32:46 PM In other words the film isn't designed to arrive at a comfortable conclusion with a neatly wrapped-up end. 23150. Cellar Door - 1/5/2002 8:43:19 PM Actually I think you've nailed it in your last line, Pincher. 23151. CalGal - 1/5/2002 8:57:05 PM I first ran across the title Big Deal on Madonna Street some 20 years ago, when I was perusing my first copy of Leonard Maltin's film reference book, but it took me a while to add it to my list of European films to check out. The reviews always seemed so delightedly affectionate, and I was reluctant to discover that it, too, was tedious as so many European films turn out to be. But after I saw Riffifi, I thought it'd be fun to see an open send up; if nothing else I'd catch all the references. 23152. CalGal - 1/5/2002 8:58:20 PM Then there's the sweet ex-orphan who is always buying gifts for his mother, with a payoff that is never mentioned overtly. A major Italian comic, Toto (think Jerry Lewis), shows up as Dante, the ex-thief, giving the hapless team hysterical lectures on safecracking and other fine points of thieving. One team member locks his sister up in the house all day; virginity is important! 23153. CalGal - 1/5/2002 8:58:56 PM Director and co-writer Mario Monicelli is apparently well-known by those who aren't 'murrican oafs. Big Deal is proof enough for me. This is also an extremely goodlooking film, with impressive cinematography and marvellous shot composition. The performances of the major players are all flawless. Vittorio Gassman is delectable and funny in his first comedy, and this is the film that made Marcello Mastroianni, the dad with no daycare, a star. A 17 year old Claudia Cardinale is the sister who has little to do but look hapless and stunning, she delivers nicely--the guy playing her brother was a dishwasher, apparently, which is pretty normal for Italian films from that period. 23154. Cellar Door - 1/6/2002 12:30:04 AM Dubbed? Really? I saw it when it was originally released with subtitles. It was an enormous hit here. Everyone saw these very italian characters as comparable to Americans of the same class. Just goes to show that the more specific you are the more universal you become. 23155. CalGal - 1/6/2002 3:28:26 AM Interview with Monticelli 23156. CalGal - 1/6/2002 3:36:13 AM Cellar--I really think Big Deal should be re-released. I think it'd still be a big hit. 23157. wonkers2 - 1/6/2002 9:27:22 AM Film Critics' Picks 23158. Cellar Door - 1/6/2002 11:22:15 AM I jusr remembered,Bob Fosse's last musical was Big Deal, a musical version of Big Deal on Madonna Street set in Harlem with an all-black cast. It was a flop. 23159. CalGal - 1/6/2002 11:41:10 AM Yeah, the director mentions that. Also Louis Malle's remake. I think more people should check out the original. I am really surprised it doesn't get more play as a great comedy. 23160. Julius Caesar - 1/6/2002 6:24:25 PM A Beautiful Mind 23161. Cellar Door - 1/6/2002 6:40:30 PM Actually she started out as a nymphette in Once Upon a Time in America. Nothing like her since Jean Simmons in Great Expectations 23162. Julius Caesar - 1/6/2002 7:22:10 PM I recall her naked and sunbathing in The Hot Spot. After that, it is all a blur. 23163. Cellar Door - 1/6/2002 11:38:11 PM 23164. Property of Jesus - 1/7/2002 9:28:31 AM Cellar Door drops more names than a telephone book with bad binding. 23165. rubberducky - 1/7/2002 9:51:44 AM toys 23166. glendajean - 1/7/2002 10:06:13 AM The Fluffer - another indie movie about gay desire and the unavailable, beautiful man. 23167. Phoenix Rising - 1/7/2002 10:13:18 AM Andrew Sullivan is a big fat idiot. 23168. Phoenix Rising - 1/7/2002 10:25:52 AM Over the weekend, I saw: 23169. Raskolnikov - 1/7/2002 10:33:25 AM More on AI: 23170. Phoenix Rising - 1/7/2002 10:33:27 AM But all was not a loss. 23171. Raskolnikov - 1/7/2002 10:47:40 AM I saw Gosford Park last night. Unfortunately, I can't give it a fair review since the film's dialogue was largely incomprehensible. A friend and I are trying to determine whether this was because of a bad sound system in the theater (his guess) or Altman's usual preference for muddy sound mixing and overlapping dialogue, combined with British accents (my guess) and a complex plot. Did anyone else have problems understanding the dialogue? 23172. glendajean - 1/7/2002 10:51:30 AM Phoenix -- Cellar recommended it, too. It will probably get here next year. 23173. judithathome - 1/7/2002 11:05:22 AM I thought Nashville was difficult to understand, also, but saw it again and caught more of the dialogue so I think it is a problem with Altmans movies rather than the sound system at the theaters. I generally don't like to watch a movie over and over, however, so I was hoping he'd gotten over that technique. 23174. rubberducky - 1/7/2002 11:05:30 AM hmm 23175. Phoenix Rising - 1/7/2002 11:07:33 AM gj: I found Nico and Dani at my local Blockbuster. Also out on video is All Over the Guy, this year's Broken Hearts Club. It's O.K., but not that great. 23176. Cellar Door - 1/7/2002 11:08:38 AM Well you're wrong, ducks. 23177. Cellar Door - 1/7/2002 11:11:05 AM Andrew Sullivan is a Big Fat Idiot (2002) a Joel Schumacher production starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Andrew Sullivan and Shemar Moore as "Brother Welcome." 23178. Phoenix Rising - 1/7/2002 11:34:45 AM So, Celler, what kind of "research" will you have to endure for your review of The Fluffer? Will you be needing any kneepads? 23179. Raskolnikov - 1/7/2002 11:58:53 AM Judith, Glenda: It is a problem I can deal with in most Altman films, although I still find myself missing the occasional line. But in Gosford Park it crossed a threshold of incomprehensibility. You have 40-odd characters in a complex plot, with a wide variety of accents, mumbling and stepping on each other's line while having their dialogue obscured by the music or background noise. The many one-on-one scenes work well, but almost half the movie consists of the camera following snippets of conversation that occur in the midst of large social gatherings. At the end of the film I realized that while I followed the central story very well (and it is very good), there are about a half-dozen subplots that I couldn't even begin to describe. 23180. judithathome - 1/7/2002 12:19:01 PM How about the look of the film, Rask? From the ads, it looks lush and wonderfully done. (I'm a sets and costume junkie.) 23181. Raskolnikov - 1/7/2002 12:31:46 PM It looks great. I have no technical complaints except the sound. Although I wouldn't describe it as "lush", given Altman's preference for muted colors and lots of light. The costumes are very good. 23182. Cellar Door - 1/7/2002 1:27:27 PM No kneepads needed. 23183. Phoenix Rising - 1/7/2002 1:48:25 PM I saw at the bookstore that Aidan Shaw has written another book. I read Brutal several years ago. I wonder if the new one is any good. 23184. Cellar Door - 1/7/2002 1:52:30 PM I always mix pleasure with business. 23185. judithathome - 1/7/2002 1:55:18 PM That makes for a happy worker... 23186. Phoenix Rising - 1/8/2002 9:10:28 AM O.K., People! Why didn't at least one of you clue us in that there is hot man on man action in Dude, Where's My Car? You folks are really becoming out of touch! 23187. Phoenix Rising - 1/8/2002 9:13:25 AM During the making of this film, the director woke up one morning and had an epiphany: 23188. glendajean - 1/8/2002 10:18:35 AM I caught snippets on tv this past weekend of a great all-time campy film, Madame X with Lana Turner. Supposedly Turner's last big movie star release (filmed in 63-64 and released in 66), this would make a great story for opera, except that it is too melodramatic. Turner is a society wife married to rich up and coming John Forsythe. Bored and left alone, she has a bit of an affair with Ricardo Montalban. Turner and Forsythe make up, Montalban gets mad & falls down the stairs. A telling scarf is left behind. 23189. CalGal - 1/8/2002 2:04:33 PM GJ--Have you ever seen Payton Place? (or is it Peyton Place?) 23190. glendajean - 1/8/2002 2:18:12 PM Cal -- yes, but it has been a long time. Joel Chandler was in that, wasn't he? 23191. judithathome - 1/8/2002 2:22:59 PM I think Crawford embarrassed herslf in that circus movie with Ty Hardin...and in her later movies, she was always filmed with shadows from venetian blinds or slats on windows across her neck, to mask her crepey skin. 23192. judithathome - 1/8/2002 2:25:48 PM Joan Crawford in BERSERK! 23193. CalGal - 1/8/2002 2:32:07 PM I reviewed Daisy Kenyon a while back. Very interesting movie. Joan was very ahead of her time in a lot of ways. I don't care for her acting at all, but her movie characters had a great deal of power, even by today's standards. 23194. glendajean - 1/8/2002 2:55:00 PM What was that perfectly awful movie with Mercedes McCambridge (?) -- Johnny Guitar or something like that. 23195. CalGal - 1/8/2002 3:03:28 PM Yes, it was Mercedes McCambridge. That's a cult classic. Worth a look if only for it's "now I've seen everything" value. 23196. Cellar Door - 1/8/2002 4:54:54 PM Johnny Guitar is a masterpiece! 23197. Phoenix Rising - 1/9/2002 11:57:00 AM You may have. Since I was absent from here for a couple of years, I missed it. I haven't bothered to read 20 thousand posts. 23198. PincherMartin - 1/9/2002 1:24:21 PM Rask -- 23199. PincherMartin - 1/9/2002 1:28:55 PM I think 2001 is one the greatest science fiction films ever made; A.I. is a pretty good film with some intriguing elements in a year that I haven't seen many good movies. But 2001 has no acting performances on par with what Law and Osment do in A.I. 23200. Cellar Door - 1/9/2002 2:07:37 PM Agreed. 23201. glendajean - 1/9/2002 3:44:47 PM I came away from the movie thinking that Spielburg speculates that the human spirit will be passed on to machines in time. I don't think he mourns that passing. Based on that and Osment's portrayal, I found it an interesting movie. 23202. Cellar Door - 1/9/2002 9:10:40 PM No, I think the anger came from seeing a film that says mankind will vanish from the face of the earth. 23203. Cellar Door - 1/10/2002 10:11:59 AM 23204. TabouliJones - 1/10/2002 2:27:39 PM 23205. Phoenix Rising - 1/10/2002 2:29:21 PM Sundance starts tomorrow. It is rather tedious, but if you try hard enough, you can find the program and schedule on their web site. They don't make it easy, however. 23206. judithathome - 1/10/2002 2:31:30 PM It stinks... 23207. Phoenix Rising - 1/10/2002 2:35:25 PM Britney Baby - One More Time is about a young drag queen who has won a Britney look alike contest. 23208. judithathome - 1/10/2002 2:38:17 PM The Dancer Upstairs John Malkovich's directing debut and starring Javier Bardem. 23209. Ms. No - 1/10/2002 2:38:18 PM Anybody seen Brotherhood of the Wolf, yet? 23210. Phoenix Rising - 1/10/2002 2:41:52 PM The Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys. Jodie Foster plays a mean nun. 23211. Phoenix Rising - 1/10/2002 2:52:56 PM Karmen Gei is Bizet's Carmen set in West Africa and done with some unbridled sexuality. 23212. judithathome - 1/10/2002 2:55:31 PM The Kid Stays in the Picture is the autobiography of Robert Evans 23213. Phoenix Rising - 1/10/2002 3:00:36 PM Miss America is a documentary history of the pagent. Margaret Cho has some say in it. I will see it for that alone. 23214. Phoenix Rising - 1/10/2002 3:11:45 PM Storytelling by writer/director Todd Solondz stars Selma Blair, Paul Giamatti, John Goodman and Julie Hagerty. 23215. Phoenix Rising - 1/10/2002 3:34:12 PM Thanks, Tabou. Mr. LaBruce hit the nail on the head. 23216. Phoenix Rising - 1/10/2002 3:34:32 PM The Kid Stays in the Picture is sure to become an instant classic. The title of the film is a quote from one of his many great stories, but to find out more, you will simply have to see the picture. 23217. Phoenix Rising - 1/10/2002 3:41:20 PM Sundance 23218. judithathome - 1/10/2002 4:06:03 PM Thanks Phoenix...have you checked the Inferno to see the result of your post with a funny quote? 23219. Phoenix Rising - 1/10/2002 4:13:33 PM Yea, I lurk. 23220. CalGal - 1/10/2002 4:24:15 PM A few random trivia questions from movies I've seen in the past several weeks. 23221. judithathome - 1/10/2002 4:25:53 PM Cal, you should link the Sundance list to the front page...it's pretty good. There's ben nothing new there for a long time.. 23222. Property of Jesus - 1/10/2002 4:59:04 PM Too highbrow for me. I don't get it. But I've learned that you never ask a tire salesman if you need new tires. 23223. CalGal - 1/10/2002 5:52:48 PM Judith--nothing new where? At Sundance? 23224. judithathome - 1/10/2002 5:54:26 PM No, on the butter bar on the front page...the "new topics". 23225. judithathome - 1/10/2002 5:57:35 PM Topics of Interest, rather... 23226. Cellar Door - 1/10/2002 8:20:03 PM Tilda plays a robot in that movie BTW. 23227. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 9:58:16 AM Re: Message # 23209, Ms. No. 23228. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 10:09:04 AM recently watched movies: 23229. Cellar Door - 1/11/2002 10:23:38 AM All movies featuring Vin Diesel should be required to have him stripped to the waist throughtout! 23230. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 10:34:03 AM CD - you ain't kidding! 23231. Cellar Door - 1/11/2002 10:53:30 AM No it isn't. 23232. Phoenix Rising - 1/11/2002 11:12:40 AM Yes, somebody did overlook Derrida. 23233. TabouliJones - 1/11/2002 12:33:08 PM I saw Gosford Park last night. It deserves all of the critical praise that it has received. Quintessential Altman, but with an atypical sense of good cheer. The cast is extraordinary, and I am now thoroughly in love with Kelly Macdonald. 23234. CalGal - 1/11/2002 12:38:44 PM So, what were the best movies this year? 23235. TabouliJones - 1/11/2002 12:42:29 PM Off the top of my head, the best movies I have seen this year, in no particular order: 23236. PelleNilsson - 1/11/2002 1:35:37 PM Cellar 23237. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 1:36:48 PM that reminds me... 23238. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 1:43:23 PM haven't put together my list of 2001 yet b/c there are a few more i want to see before i commit. there was precious little to like in '01. the year for movies mirrored the shitty year in reality, imho. 23239. CalGal - 1/11/2002 1:54:26 PM the good chemistry between Pitt & Clooney was really the only thing that kept me in my seat. 23240. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 2:12:34 PM Any movie that allows me to spend a great deal of time staring at these two men while they exchange witty banter and look beautiful can not possibly be a bad film. 23241. CalGal - 1/11/2002 2:44:00 PM I wasn't bored to tears. I thought it was a good movie. Not great, but clever and enjoyable. 23242. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 2:46:15 PM saw the preview for Time Machine based on the well known book of the same name that looked pretty awesome. anyone else see that preview? 23243. CalGal - 1/11/2002 2:57:06 PM I saw the preview and am skeptical. Have you seen the Rod Stewart version? 23244. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 3:00:54 PM you mean from Twilight Zone? 23245. Ms. No - 1/11/2002 3:04:10 PM That's Serling, dear. Stewart is the rock star. 23246. Ms. No - 1/11/2002 3:04:36 PM Also looking forward to The Mothman Prophesies. 23247. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 3:06:28 PM hehehe 23248. Ms. No - 1/11/2002 3:09:35 PM I'm not a huge Gere fan, but he doesn't bug so long as I can hear him----I tried watching American Gigolo once and couldn't understand a word he said. I don't want to have to re-name it the Mushmouth Prophesies. 23249. CalGal - 1/11/2002 3:11:03 PM No, I meant Rod Taylor, but did you see Behind the Music with Rod Stewart? Because that's the show that made my switch possible. 23250. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 3:23:54 PM I agree, Ms No. i can't completely dislike Gere b/c of Primal Fear 23251. CalGal - 1/11/2002 3:33:13 PM The Time Machine, with Rod Taylor. 23252. rubberducky - 1/11/2002 3:34:07 PM oh, i haven't seen the whole thing, no 23253. Cellar Door - 1/11/2002 10:10:20 PM Don't sell Derrida short, Pelle. Of all the French Intellectual Biggies he comes off quite well in person (unlike Foucault or Lacan who were all style and no substance.) A few years back he appeared as himself in British film about Cargo Cults called Ghost Dance, which starred Pascale Ogier (her very last film I belive) and Leonie Mellinger. He was dryly amusing in it -- talking about Ghosts. 23254. CalGal - 1/12/2002 1:05:22 AM Robert Redford on Sundance--excellent piece, I thought. 23255. PelleNilsson - 1/12/2002 1:23:08 PM Cellar 23256. CalGal - 1/12/2002 1:38:58 PM The M*A*S*H DVD is out, with lots of extras: 23257. Cellar Door - 1/12/2002 1:53:42 PM There's a new 8 1/2 out from Criterion. It's a two-disc set that includes the rarely seen A Director's Notebook that Fellini made for NBC. 23258. joezan - 1/12/2002 10:27:26 PM Went to see Lord of the Rings today. It was spectacular -breath-taking, even. 23259. judithathome - 1/12/2002 10:32:49 PM No, Faulkner on acid. 23260. joezan - 1/12/2002 10:34:28 PM How do you figure? 23261. CalGal - 1/12/2002 10:34:39 PM No one on acid. It was a terrific musical. 23262. joezan - 1/12/2002 10:38:56 PM That too. 23263. judithathome - 1/12/2002 10:40:28 PM I just thought if you were going to throw in authors on acid, Falkner was a better bet because he was closer to the territory. Steinbeck was better when he wrote about Californians. 23264. joezan - 1/12/2002 10:43:12 PM I dunno, judith. 23265. CalGal - 1/12/2002 10:50:03 PM That's true--Judith has the locale to author match right, but of the two authors the dialogue and characters are more Steinbeck than Faulkner. 23266. CalGal - 1/12/2002 10:51:30 PM Of course, now that I think on it, Steinbeck was a depression writer. Did Faulkner focus much on it? 23267. CalGal - 1/12/2002 10:54:37 PM Of course, now that I think on it, Steinbeck was a depression writer. Did Faulkner focus much on it? 23268. wonkers2 - 1/12/2002 11:03:21 PM Saw The Royal Tenenbaums tonight. Bad choice. Maybe I wasn't in a funny mood, but I thought it sucked. Hackman was funny but he was about the only good thing in it. Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Stiller did nothing for me, and the role was not a good one for Angelica Huston. 23269. judithathome - 1/12/2002 11:04:01 PM He did when he was on acid. 23270. joezan - 1/12/2002 11:20:54 PM Raising Arizona is one of my all-time favorite flicks. 23271. CalGal - 1/12/2002 11:35:02 PM My favorite moment in Raising Arizona is waiting for Goodman and his buddy to figure out that they'd left the baby on top of the car. 23272. Julius Caesar - 1/13/2002 10:00:26 AM Gosford Park 23273. Julius Caesar - 1/13/2002 10:01:20 AM The film is an "Upstairs, Downstairs" hunt country weekend, depicting the lives of the rich and the servants in 1932 Britain, with a murder thrown in to keep things lively. Gosford Park gets beyond the stereotypes and Julian Fellowes' script brings you close to not only to characters well worn by stock depictions in the past, but a whole lot of them. It is witty and sharp, but best (and very unlike Altman, who can be cruel to his characters) it is often, unexpectedly touching. 23274. Julius Caesar - 1/13/2002 10:07:05 AM Before the Oscars, I will see 23275. judithathome - 1/13/2002 10:13:48 AM I loved Hedwig...very clever. 23276. Julius Caesar - 1/13/2002 10:23:05 AM It was. The music was great and true, but what makes Hedwig is that he was very affecting, and his songs really told his story. It serves as a pointed comparison to Moulin Rouge, which I liked very much, but which was emotionally flat (almost a necessity amidst Luhrman's three-ring circus) save for the ardor of McGregor and Kidman. 23277. CalGal - 1/13/2002 10:28:57 AM I thought Moulin Rough far superior to The Others, which I figured out fairly quickly and was just a counterpoint to Sixth Sense. 23278. Cellar Door - 1/13/2002 10:34:55 AM And the fascinating thing, Julius, is that John never did drag before he created Hedwig. She was based on some real German babysitters he had in Berlin (He's an army brat and his officer father was stationed there for many years. John witnessed the wall being torn down.) And she's also derived from gender-bending cabaret he saw in Berlin as a teenager. What really gets me about it is that it's a real movie -- not a film of a stage performance. He has so many genuinely inventive moviemaking ideas on display throughout the film. 23279. Julius Caesar - 1/13/2002 10:40:38 AM Cellar 23280. judithathome - 1/13/2002 10:45:52 AM I think I mentioned once that there were two little old ladies in the theater along with us and one other patron...we made a bet on how long the ladies would stay and both of us lost because they stayed for the whole movie. One of them commented to me later as we were leaving that the movie was interesting. 23281. CalGal - 1/13/2002 10:46:53 AM Ewwww, Hedwig is about glam rock? I fucking hate glam rock. Not even Ewan McGregor could save that other stupid movie on it. 23282. Julius Caesar - 1/13/2002 10:49:26 AM Cal 23283. Cellar Door - 1/13/2002 10:50:08 AM Actually I've always felt the ideal audience for Hedwig would be ordinary middle-class women who stumbled into the multi-plex by accident. 23284. CalGal - 1/13/2002 10:53:15 AM JC--I'll eventually see Hedwig on DVD, where I can zap through the boring parts if necessary. 23285. judithathome - 1/13/2002 10:53:57 AM Cellar, that's exactly what I thought, too. It wasn't about glam rock as much as about the person who survived all that stuff we go through daily. Hedwig just went through more quirky days than most... 23286. Julius Caesar - 1/13/2002 10:53:58 AM Cellar 23287. judithathome - 1/13/2002 10:55:27 AM I didn't think there were any boring parts in Hedwig. 23288. CalGal - 1/13/2002 10:56:48 AM Altman will get a nomination for best director. Did Ridley Scott ever win? 23289. Cellar Door - 1/13/2002 10:56:58 AM But there are so many great Supporting Actresses in that film! 23290. Julius Caesar - 1/13/2002 10:58:13 AM Cellar 23291. CalGal - 1/13/2002 11:01:24 AM Again, Smith has already won one, so there's no need to reward her just on those grounds. Besides, she's extremely popular and always has been, so there's no deficit to make up. 23292. Julius Caesar - 1/13/2002 11:02:01 AM Okay. 23293. wonkers2 - 1/13/2002 11:05:04 AM JC, Amores Perros is a good choice. It was quite a good movie. Especially for anyone tired of Hollywood fare. I agree with your judgment on Hedwig. It's an original. 23294. wonkers2 - 1/13/2002 11:06:09 AM JC,Cellar and judith, i meant to say. 23295. judithathome - 1/13/2002 2:49:06 PM This is a good overview of Silent Sisters: A Salute To Women In Silent Film 23296. Jenerator - 1/13/2002 2:53:32 PM I saw the Orange County movie on Friday. Talk about a star-studded cast! The story itself was alright, but some of the jokes were hilarious! 23297. CalGal - 1/13/2002 2:54:55 PM Drug addict brother was Jack Black. 23298. Cellar Door - 1/13/2002 3:37:44 PM And it was written by Mike White (son of former Fundie speechwriter Mel White) who also penned Chuck and Buck. 23299. CalGal - 1/13/2002 3:42:12 PM That's right, I meant to mention that. Chuck and Buck made me sick to my stomach; I couldn't watch it for more than a couple minutes. It seemed like a fine movie but the subject matter was a killer. 23300. CalGal - 1/13/2002 8:12:40 PM BTW, I am not sure when I'll get around to writing an actual review of Black Narcissus, which I saw last night for the first time, and intend to watch at least twice more, with or without commentary. I'm behind on reviews because it keeps reminding me I need to get Mote@theMovies updated. 23301. Cellar Door - 1/13/2002 8:41:26 PM Major Subtext: Michael Powell was ending his affair with Kathleeen Byron and starting one with Deborah Kerr during the shooting of Black Narcissus 23302. CalGal - 1/13/2002 8:46:55 PM No kidding (on the relationship stuff)? That's interesting. Kerr is gorgeous, as always, but she's flat. She really didn't seem to develop much of a personality until the 50s, though. 23303. Cellar Door - 1/13/2002 9:06:48 PM No kidding. 23304. CalGal - 1/13/2002 9:10:48 PM I don't know why, but I always assumed he was cozily ensconced in some torrid mutuality with Pressburger. 23305. Cellar Door - 1/13/2002 9:17:12 PM Not at all. They were both straight, though obviously very gay-friendly as ther most important actors were Anton Walbrook and Conrad Veidt. 23306. wonkers2 - 1/13/2002 9:42:15 PM I saw Deborah Kerr on Broadway over Thanksgiving in 1957 in Tea and Sympathy. It was one of the early shows to deal with a gay theme. I didn't know what the play was about when I bought the tickets, and when I picked up my date, a senior in high school, her parents asked what show we were seeing. They raised their eyebrows when I told them Tea and Sympathy, but they didn't object. It was a good show. 23307. CalGal - 1/13/2002 10:14:15 PM I knew Conrad Veidt was gay, but what movie of theirs was he in? He was in Thief of Bagdad, I know, but is that theirs together? 23308. Cellar Door - 1/14/2002 12:52:42 AM He was also in The Spy in Black and Contraband. 23309. stostosto - 1/14/2002 6:09:54 AM I saw the Scarlet Letter yesterday in a 1995 version with Gary Oldman, Demi Moore and Robert Duvall. 23310. rubberducky - 1/14/2002 9:19:09 AM this weekend turned out to be movies a go-go even though Brotherhood of the Wolf wasn't playing in my area yet. bastards. 23311. rubberducky - 1/14/2002 9:19:43 AM and yeah, Demi Moore sucks almost as bad as A.I. 23312. Toenails - 1/14/2002 9:42:31 AM Saw Moulin Rouge on tape a few days ago--that is, I saw the first 20 minutes. 23313. rubberducky - 1/14/2002 9:47:49 AM one i'm sure i'd share if forced to watch it, Toes 23314. Cellar Door - 1/14/2002 9:53:43 AM That's exactly how many minutes of it I could take! 23315. judithathome - 1/14/2002 1:50:39 PM Director Ted Demme, RIP...cardiac arrest after celebrity basketball game. (CNN) 23316. judithathome - 1/14/2002 2:37:40 PM He was only 38...wow. 23317. Property of Jesus - 1/14/2002 3:09:27 PM Actually, 37. I loved his commentary on the BLOW DVD. 23318. CalGal - 1/14/2002 3:13:21 PM That's a shock, about Demme. 23319. judithathome - 1/14/2002 3:23:07 PM Actually, 37. 23320. stostosto - 1/14/2002 3:45:00 PM Sto--every so often a movie will be made that borrows a classic title and puts an egregiously and offensively inaccurate story underneath it. The Scarlet Letter is one of the worst offenders of that practice. 23321. stostosto - 1/14/2002 3:51:11 PM Cal, 23322. CalGal - 1/14/2002 3:52:17 PM I did not know that. But the French are notoriously bigoted. 23323. CalGal - 1/14/2002 3:53:56 PM Oh, and do you ever read reviews before you rent? 23324. stostosto - 1/14/2002 3:59:25 PM Yes, we got a DVD player in December. Nice device. 23325. stostosto - 1/14/2002 4:02:49 PM I saw The Scarlet Letter on TV, didn't rent it. 23326. CalGal - 1/14/2002 4:13:46 PM Did you make better movies, or did you have a baby boom about 13 years ago? 23327. glendajean - 1/14/2002 4:24:16 PM There was a nice review of a Danish film in the NY Times this weekend, a comedy directed by a woman who used Dogma 95 rules (I think Italian is in the title, but I cannot remember name). 23328. wonkers2 - 1/14/2002 5:32:42 PM Cal, No, the play opened on Broadway in 1956 and the movie in 1959. I remember it like yesterday, but of course I have trouble remembering what happened yesterday! Deborah Kerr repeated her role in the movie. 23329. CalGal - 1/14/2002 5:52:18 PM Wonk--I had looked it up. Not because I wanted to check up on you, but because I had Kerr's listing up to read about Black Narcissus. 23330. stostosto - 1/15/2002 6:31:46 AM Glenda, the movie with "Italian" in it is Italiensk for begyndere -"Italian for beginners". A quite amusing little film which has been hugely popular here. I think it also won awards at some European festivals, like Berlin and such. 23331. glendajean - 1/15/2002 12:30:17 PM Sto -- thanks for the linked review. I hope this movie makes it to Indianapolis. 23332. rubberducky - 1/15/2002 1:49:47 PM Made is a great rental. one of the few recently that i would've gladly paid full ticket price to see. a fun, light movie that has some genuine funny parts. Vaughn was fantastic as .. well, Vaughn. 23333. Julius Caesar - 1/15/2002 1:52:19 PM Vaughan deserves a best supporting nod, the Rupert Pupkin of the new millenium. Made was awesome. 23334. rubberducky - 1/15/2002 1:58:50 PM indeed, quite the treat. Vaughn is superb is this type of role. Made will end up being an owner as was Swingers. 23335. wonkers2 - 1/15/2002 10:01:02 PM Cal, Your source is wrong. The play opened on Broadway in 1956 and the movie in 1959. Look it up again in another source. If you'd like to make a little wager I'd be happy to oblige you. I knew when I saw the play (1957) but not when the movie came out. My movie guide says 1959. It couldn't have been 1956 because I saw it on stage in 1957. And after that I saw the movie. 23336. wonkers2 - 1/15/2002 10:12:31 PM Oops! My memory slipped a cog. I saw the play in 1954, not 1957. But my movie guide says the movie was released in 1959. Another one says 1956. No bet! You are probably right. 23337. wonkers2 - 1/15/2002 10:16:26 PM I found a link which indicates the play opened on Broadway in 1953. My recollection is that I saw it at Thanksgiving 1953. But who the hell cares! There must be a better way to spend our time. I got four books for Christmas. Think I'll go read one. 23338. CalGal - 1/15/2002 10:39:11 PM Wonkers, I wasn't attacking you at all. I hate it when my memory gets dates wrong. 23339. Cellar Door - 1/16/2002 12:55:12 AM And that, as the saying goes, is the heart of the matter. 23340. CalGal - 1/16/2002 12:59:54 AM Yep. 23341. Cellar Door - 1/16/2002 10:58:32 PM Saw Storytelling this evening. More curdles mysanthropy from Todd Solondz. 23342. arkymalarky - 1/16/2002 11:11:01 PM So that's what a passive/aggressive is. Hmmm. 23343. CalGal - 1/16/2002 11:23:55 PM No, it's not--at least not as Cellar defines it. Passive aggressives don't beg for abuse. They feel some sort of stress or negative emotion towards an individual or situation, but they are afraid of confrontation (either consciously or unconsciously). So they will act politely or pretend to comply, all the while displaying indirect hostility or resentment. 23344. Cellar Door - 1/17/2002 12:15:08 AM That's Todd in a nutshell, CG. 23345. CalGal - 1/17/2002 12:18:16 AM Okay. 23346. PincherMartin - 1/17/2002 6:48:48 AM The Lord of the Rings takes in over 230 million U.S. dollars domestically in less than 30 days 23347. PincherMartin - 1/17/2002 9:19:22 AM I enjoy reading the movie reviews at the Chicago Tribune more than I do Ebert at the Chicago Sun-Times. 23348. Cellar Door - 1/17/2002 10:24:37 AM Jonatha Rosenbaum at the Chicago Reader had it high on his list as well. A.I. clicked with critics, but not with audiences. 23349. rubberducky - 1/17/2002 10:39:57 AM that's because audiences don't have to pretend to 'get' dreck like A.I. whereas critics always pretend to be above the peons and like shit because they are in the know. 23350. rubberducky - 1/17/2002 10:44:29 AM watched 15 minutes last night. it was an okay rental. not that great. i read that it was made a few years ago and only recently released. it really shows, imho. 23351. Cellar Door - 1/17/2002 12:59:55 PM 23352. glendajean - 1/17/2002 1:07:53 PM Cellar -- thanks for the Fluffer link. This is the first time I've seen a movie before you reviewed it. Quoting Lorenz Hart is quite apt for this movie, since his love in real life was always unrequieted. 23353. rubberducky - 1/17/2002 1:25:08 PM peachiness = preachiness, btw 23354. Cellar Door - 1/17/2002 3:28:28 PM 23355. CalGal - 1/17/2002 3:36:05 PM Interesting note on Black Hawk Down: 23356. glendajean - 1/17/2002 3:54:41 PM Cal -- your post reminded me of a comment I read in Judge Richard Posner's Slate diary this past week: 23357. CalGal - 1/17/2002 4:00:09 PM I just read a bit more and it appears that it was child molestation--which may still be technically rape, but the first piece I read made it sound as if it were an actual violent rape. 23358. Raskolnikov - 1/17/2002 4:34:17 PM Pincher: 23359. Raskolnikov - 1/17/2002 4:34:49 PM "Rask, what's your calculation, based on these figures, on where The Lord of the Rings will end up in the domestic box office? Will it beat Harry Potter? From what I can see, it will fall short, perhaps not even making the 300 million mark. But what do I know." 23360. glendajean - 1/18/2002 10:17:37 AM A long profile and interview of Robert Altman in the Daily Telegraph. 23361. Cellar Door - 1/18/2002 10:29:16 AM Cool interview. Thanks for the link! 23362. Cellar Door - 1/18/2002 10:36:23 AM 23363. CalGal - 1/18/2002 8:00:43 PM Oscar predictions, anyone? 23364. Cellar Door - 1/18/2002 8:07:21 PM 1. Maybe 23365. CalGal - 1/18/2002 8:12:38 PM I never have a full slate of guesses, much less picks. 23366. CalGal - 1/18/2002 8:18:10 PM Best Actress: 23367. Cellar Door - 1/18/2002 8:20:42 PM I would truly be surprised if Altman got nominated. 23368. CalGal - 1/18/2002 8:26:45 PM I just realized that I didn't mention Ben Kingsley in the tossup category for Sexy Beast. 23369. Cellar Door - 1/18/2002 8:57:42 PM They might well give it to Sir Ian to make up for the Roberto Begnini insanity. 23370. CalGal - 1/18/2002 9:02:16 PM They might well give it to Sir Ian to make up for the Roberto Begnini insanity. 23371. Cellar Door - 1/18/2002 9:04:59 PM It is, but the Academy is quite hidebound. There are voting members there who truly believe that he can't direct his way out of a paper bag and that the only reason anyone pays any attention to him is that Pauline Kael said they should. 23372. CalGal - 1/18/2002 9:13:57 PM Yes, but Academy votes also notice trends. The Golden Globes nominated him, and that means he's hit the public radar. It will be a real shame if he doesn't, and it could only be explained by a vendetta. So if he doesn't get nominated, I'll believe you fer shure. 23373. Cellar Door - 1/18/2002 9:21:14 PM That's about right for screenplay, I think. 23374. CalGal - 1/18/2002 9:23:36 PM Oh! I thought it was an original. Okay, then either Memento or Iris might drop off. Memento will get nominations if people remember it--I see it as kind of all or nothing. 23375. Cellar Door - 1/18/2002 9:45:14 PM An original. 23376. CalGal - 1/18/2002 9:51:37 PM Okay, then here is my modified lists--first guess, anyway. 23377. Cellar Door - 1/18/2002 10:20:43 PM No. It's an ensemble picture. 23378. CalGal - 1/18/2002 10:25:04 PM Oh, I meant supporting actor, if anything. And I agree that acting ensembles should have their own category. 23379. CalGal - 1/18/2002 11:34:43 PM I just remembered someone I wanted to mention for best supporting actor: Carl Reiner, in Ocean's 11. 23380. Cellar Door - 1/19/2002 10:41:18 AM From the CNN site's Sundance coverage: 23381. wonkers2 - 1/19/2002 11:53:13 PM Saw Gosford Park tonight. Most enjoyable, except I, too, had trouble understanding the dialog. They really should provide subtitles for movies with English actors. 23382. justears - 1/20/2002 1:07:21 PM Wonk, Odd coincidence....I saw it last night also. What a panoply of interesting characters. I too had trouble understanding the accents. I don't know if it is a function of my ageing hearing, but damn it...why don't they speak midwestern like the rest of us. Speaking of midwestern....we sure never blasted away at pheasants the way they do in the movie. What a proud bunch of hunters as they trek up to the gazebo for lunch. The movie is replete with delicious ironies. Reminds me a bit of Remains of the Day. 23383. wonkers2 - 1/20/2002 1:53:56 PM No, pheasant hunters here don't have beaters or loaders. 23384. wonkers2 - 1/20/2002 9:06:52 PM Shipping News held my interest, but it's a second tier movie in my estimation. Kevin Spacey was a zombie, and movie was filled with quite a few too many contrived, bizarre events for my taste. I haven't read the book, and the movie didn't make me want to. 23385. wonkers2 - 1/20/2002 9:07:34 PM add: bizarre events AND CHARACTERS for my taste. 23386. wonkers2 - 1/20/2002 11:52:41 PM add: bizarre events AND CHARACTERS for my taste. 23387. Toenails - 1/21/2002 7:32:47 AM As is the case after every awards show for films or TV, I renew my suggestion that a full-dress award be provided annually for the best vignette in a film (or for the best minor characterization in a film or television show). 23388. rubberducky - 1/21/2002 9:53:08 AM Re: Message # 23376, CalGal. 23389. judithathome - 1/21/2002 10:56:42 AM Congratulations to Robert Altman for winning a Golden Globe... 23390. Toenails - 1/21/2002 11:18:28 AM 23391. judithathome - 1/21/2002 11:21:54 AM Opie has years ahead of him; Altman may not. 23392. CalGal - 1/21/2002 11:24:05 AM No, Shrek was a children's story. 23393. Ms. No - 1/21/2002 11:35:41 AM Toenails, 23394. judithathome - 1/21/2002 11:38:21 AM Toe: 23395. rubberducky - 1/21/2002 12:35:01 PM btw, avoid American Pie 2 at all costs. we watched about the first 20 laughless minutes and turned it off. 23396. CalGal - 1/21/2002 12:36:12 PM The first that came to mind was George Hamilton in Doc Hollywood, which I happened to click on while channel hopping the other day. 23397. Erin R. - 1/21/2002 12:39:49 PM I saw bits of that too yesterday. 23398. Cellar Door - 1/21/2002 1:16:16 PM Gus pushes the envelope -- and Todd McCarthy freaks out! 23399. rasheed - 1/21/2002 2:14:28 PM 23400. Ms. No - 1/21/2002 6:37:24 PM Brotherhood of the Wolf is being called France’s answer to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I’m not sure why. The only things the two films have in common are superb martial arts displays and some beautiful cinematography. Otherwise they are nothing alike and it’s ridiculous to compare them. 23401. Ms. No - 1/21/2002 6:45:06 PM Brotherhood of the Wolf cont. 23402. Ms. No - 1/21/2002 6:45:50 PM Brotherhood of the Wolf final - 23403. Phoenix Rising - 1/22/2002 9:45:31 AM Freddy Got Fingered is basically pornography. Scenes filmed purely for purient interest. I can appreciate Tom Green's appeal to 10 year old boys. Nothing will ever explain what Drew Barrymore ever saw in him. 23404. glendajean - 1/22/2002 9:53:07 AM Gosford Park -- Think of Remains of the Day on speed. Once again we spend a weekend in the country in between-the-wars England. The Lord (Michael Gambon) is a rich bastard who shows love only for his little lap dog and one of the maids, Emily Watson. Kristin Scott Thomas should always play bored rich English ladies for she has perfected the pose. She is excellent and quick in establishing her character as the Lord's trophy wife. 23405. glendajean - 1/22/2002 9:53:47 AM There are a couple of other guests as well, and they all appear to be dependent on the Lord for money and support. James Willoby (sp?) who played the title role in Maurice does a fine job as the desparate English cad. The actress who plays his wife is also excellent as she reacts mostly in silence to his desparations and to the put-downs from almost all the other guests. 23406. glendajean - 1/22/2002 9:54:06 AM I did't have a problem with the sound, but I did have trouble understanding all the characters' stories and dialogue. But the main threads are farely obvious. It is as if Altman is teasing us by giving us so many stories that life has many arcs, not the unified theories of most story telling. See how interesting and infinitely fascinating it all is? 23407. glendajean - 1/22/2002 9:57:41 AM A Beautiful Mind 23408. Phoenix Rising - 1/22/2002 10:22:58 AM Amore Perros (Love's a Bitch) is a film about intersections. 23409. theDiva - 1/22/2002 10:24:23 AM hello babies 23410. Phoenix Rising - 1/22/2002 10:30:30 AM The last triangle is the least successful because post September 11th it is hard for any American audience to have sympathy for a terrorist. El Chivo is torn between love of revolution and love of family. At a young age, he chose revolution and terrorism. After 20 years in prison, he now makes his living as an assassin. He cleverly disguises himself by becoming one of the invisible street people that appears to carry his worldly possessions around in a cart and is followed by a pack of mongrel dogs that he has befriended. 23411. Cellar Door - 1/22/2002 10:43:26 AM Jeremy Northam 23412. glendajean - 1/22/2002 10:46:08 AM Cellar -- thanks for the correct spelling. And for the insight into Novello. Northam played the character well and sang beautifully. 23413. Julius Caesar - 1/22/2002 11:01:31 AM The Anniversary Party 23414. Cellar Door - 1/22/2002 11:02:15 AM I don't think he plays that particular song. Gotta getmy tape back to look at the movie again. 23415. CalGal - 1/22/2002 11:03:31 AM I didn't see any stress on Novello's homosexuality; it seemed normal enough that a gay footman would have the hots for him. The scene between Balaban and Phillippe was the only explicit one (such as it was). This isn't to say I doubt you, Cellar, I just didn't see it touched on in the film at all. 23416. Julius Caesar - 1/22/2002 11:05:04 AM I got the sense through Northam's bemused disinterest in women that he was gay. When he was tender to the ugly duckling, my suspicions were aroused further. 23417. CalGal - 1/22/2002 11:15:59 AM I didn't see any bemused disinterest in women so much as complete disinterest in the nasty cretins he had to suffer through. 23418. glendajean - 1/22/2002 11:25:57 AM I think the scene between Phillipe and Balaban was meant to throw us off a bit. We interpreted it as a signal between lovers but it was really about Phillipe's secret. Of course, Phillipe could have been a casting couch "kept boy" but that was never fleshed out. Again, hints of stories that Altman or his actors throw out. I hope the DVD version has deleted scenes. 23419. Cellar Door - 1/22/2002 11:31:07 AM Julius, your Gaydar is much better attuned than gelndajean's. 23420. Julius Caesar - 1/22/2002 11:33:54 AM I don't know about my gaydar, but Balaban had that unmistakeable "will I see you later for sexual congress?" look, not a "will I see you later to shoot the breeze?" look. 23421. CalGal - 1/22/2002 11:36:48 AM Yes, definitely. There's no question about Balaban and Philippe. I thought the ambiguity was "oh, so that's why an American is pretending to have a valet". 23422. Cellar Door - 1/22/2002 6:45:28 PM See? See? What did I tell you!?! 23423. CalGal - 1/22/2002 6:52:12 PM You did indeed tell me. Wow. Unreal. 23424. Ms. No - 1/22/2002 6:59:00 PM What exactly was Oscar-worthy about A Beautiful Mind? It's a nice little film, but it's certainly not a GREAT film. Crowe's work in it is excellent and worthy of a nomination but the film itself isn't anything spectacular. 23425. Cellar Door - 1/23/2002 10:30:49 AM Well it was a lovely evening at the "Casa Del Mar" hotel,which is right at the beach where Pico blvd.comes to an end in Santa Monica. very elegant old place that had been boarded up for years -- now returned to its former grandeur. Plenty of room to move around. So much so that I didn't get to talk to everyone I wanted to -- and there was a great turnout. Of all the biggies only Jim Broadbent and Ennio Morricone didn't show. Baz Lurmann gave a very nice speech about Broadbent (who won Best Supporting Actor for both Irisand Moulin Rouge. Morrricone was working, of course, but he sent a nice speech and Hans Zimmer talked about him. 23426. Cellar Door - 1/23/2002 10:31:12 AM Agnes Varda (who spends a great deal of time im L.A., BTW) got a huge ovation. No Man's Land director Danis Tanovic is quite the babe! (got a nice pic) Christopher Nolan, ditto. Denzell was his usual gracious self. The man glows in the dark! 23427. Raskolnikov - 1/23/2002 12:01:52 PM Cal: It is a different group that nominates the Oscars - I think it is directors who are members in the Academy, but I am not sure. However, there is usually a very strong overlap between DGA noms and Oscar noms. Those five directors and their pictures are now the frontrunners for Best Picture and Director. Although usually one DGA nominee and his picture get screwed. My bet would be Nolan and Memento. 23428. Cellar Door - 1/23/2002 1:31:01 PM BTW, the publicist for Fine Line says that Charlie Kaufman, the screenwriter of Being John Malkovich and the forthcoming Human Nature and Adaptation no longer wants his picture taken or circulated. 23429. rubberducky - 1/23/2002 1:47:22 PM did they say why? 23430. CalGal - 1/23/2002 1:50:06 PM Rask, 23431. Raskolnikov - 1/23/2002 2:02:51 PM Altman's snub doesn't surprise me much. I'll take Cellar's word that the DGA doesn't like him, as there is quite a bit of evidence for this. He has never had a DGA nom, despite 4 Academy nominations (although the DGA gave him a lifetime achievement award a few years ago). 23432. CalGal - 1/23/2002 2:07:42 PM I"m surprised (if pleased) that Moulin Rouge has done this well so far. I didn't think it'd get much beyond Nicole Kidman and some technical awards. 23433. Raskolnikov - 1/23/2002 2:24:01 PM Altman's 4 nominations speak pretty strongly about whether or not the Academy likes him. 23434. arkymalarky - 1/23/2002 8:23:44 PM It is my studied opinion that Jim Varney is (was) funnier than Jim Carrey. 23435. wonkers2 - 1/23/2002 10:25:43 PM Ms. No, just got home from "A Beautiful Mind," and I agree with your comment that it was enjoyable but not Oscar quality. Pollak was a similar but more memorable film-about an unusual genius and his devoted wife. Crowe was good and Jennifer Connelly is a knockout. It was amazing how young Crowe looked at the beginning of the movie and how old at the end. The makeup job and Crowe's acting made the 40-50 year span quite convincing. 23436. Cellar Door - 1/24/2002 12:01:49 AM I have been asked to write about the De-Gaying of A Beautiful Mind for the "S.F. Chronicle" 23437. wonkers2 - 1/24/2002 9:45:20 AM Well, there wasn't a hint in the movie that Nash was gay. Isn't he currently living with his wife in Princeton? Maybe he's back in the closet or never came out of the closet? 23438. glendajean - 1/24/2002 9:49:41 AM It was more than de-gaying. It was ignoring a relationship with his wife that ten times more complicated than the movie suggests, and creating a "gosh, times were tough, but she stood by her man" romantic love story. 23439. Cellar Door - 1/24/2002 10:14:14 AM About Nash: exchange Math for Literature and full-blown schizophrenia for general neurosis and you've got. . . .John Cheever. 23440. glendajean - 1/24/2002 10:19:23 AM Cellar -- that's right, although Cheever was a full-blown alcoholic, not just neurotic. I suppose the same could have been said of Leonard Bernstein, too (possible alcoholic, definitely bi-sexual). 23441. glendajean - 1/24/2002 10:29:15 AM I don't know how closely the biography tracks the characters that real life Nash encountered during his illness, but one of them could have easily signified his attraction to men. Without spoiling the O Henry twist, if you have seen the movie it would be easy to figure out which character could have been one that also included same sex attraction, at least on Nash's part. 23442. glendajean - 1/24/2002 10:40:56 AM If one is telling the story strictly from the Schizophrenic's point of view, I can see where the other characters would be more flat and one dimensional. 23443. Cellar Door - 1/24/2002 11:09:01 AM You got it! 23444. glendajean - 1/24/2002 11:23:37 AM Yes, almost from the beginning. That was a key point in the NY Times review when the movie opened. 23445. CalGal - 1/24/2002 11:34:35 AM GJ--I think you mean Shine. 23446. glendajean - 1/24/2002 11:43:30 AM Yes. An example of my mental deterioration. Geoffrey Rush in Shine. Thanks for deciphering my rants. 23447. CalGal - 1/24/2002 12:11:03 PM I dunno. Slackjaw spoke highly of it, and I've read a few other mathematicians rave about it. 23448. stostosto - 1/24/2002 12:16:31 PM Shine -- wasn't that also the title of that film about the fucked-up Australian-Jewish pianist who excelled at Rachmaninov's 3rd? 23449. stostosto - 1/24/2002 12:17:15 PM glenda; 23450. glendajean - 1/24/2002 12:24:29 PM Sto -- no. I don't think it has made its way to Indianapolis yet. But I keep reading stories and reviews about it. 23451. judithathome - 1/24/2002 12:26:23 PM Another good movie about madness and genius is The Luzhin Defence with John Turturro. He plays a brilliant chess master whose sanity is a sometime thing...excellent little movie. 23452. Raskolnikov - 1/24/2002 1:11:47 PM Why is it that you can't do a movie about a genius unless he has some sort of psychosis? The only well-adjusted genius movies I can think of are comedies, like Real Genius. 23453. Raskolnikov - 1/24/2002 1:16:02 PM Infinity is a counter-example, although it wasn't that great of a movie. 23454. wonkers2 - 1/24/2002 1:17:52 PM I just heard Sylvia Nasser interviewed on NPR. Terry Gross asked her about the omission of Nash's arrests for soliciting and apparent gay relationships from the movie. Nasser said that it probably would have been a mistake to try to deal with the arrest, etc., in the movie because she didn't think it was one of the major issues or themes in Nash's life, which were his genius, his schizophrenia, his relationship with his wife and her devotion to him throughout. She thought trying to deal with his sexuality would have been a needless distraction. She didn't seem to have a lot of information on it. Apparently this matter was not a major part of her book. 23455. CalGal - 1/24/2002 1:23:45 PM Why is it that you can't do a movie about a genius unless he has some sort of psychosis? 23456. wonkers2 - 1/24/2002 1:35:45 PM The movies about Van Gogh and Mozart are a couple of more examples. Also, Jackson Pollak as mentioned above. 23457. Cellar Door - 1/24/2002 1:49:48 PM "She thought trying to deal with his sexuality would have been a needless distraction." 23458. Ms. No - 1/24/2002 2:58:54 PM Glendajean 23459. wonkers2 - 1/24/2002 6:10:26 PM Probably my mistake, not Nasser's. She may well have said Nash's son. It's possible that his wife now considers him her son also. 23460. judithathome - 1/24/2002 6:16:54 PM Sorry, maybe that guy looks better on film but he is too anemic looking for me...nice mouth, though. 23461. marjoribanks - 1/24/2002 6:55:29 PM I saw Mira Nair's 'Monsoon Wedding' a couple of days ago, and liked it quite a lot. 23462. Ms. No - 1/24/2002 6:56:32 PM He's a bit on the thin side for my usual tastes, but he's so engaging to watch and he has a lovely voice as well. 23463. iiibbb - 1/24/2002 6:57:19 PM If you are ok with quirky subtitled french love stories... 'Amilie' is pretty good. 23464. Cellar Door - 1/24/2002 7:05:41 PM "Are you saying that his sexual relationships with men inherently loomed large in his life?" 23465. marjoribanks - 1/24/2002 7:13:18 PM As a kicker, here's part of the Guardian's review: 23466. wonkers2 - 1/24/2002 7:39:56 PM I agree that "constantly hitting on one's male colleagues" is significant and, if that was the case, should have been dealt with in the film which portrayed Nash hitting bluntly on the coeds at Princeton, albeit with little success. According to the movie, Nash wasn't adept at any kind of human relationships. 23467. wonkers2 - 1/24/2002 7:42:52 PM In the movie and, apparently in real life, Nash's most significant relationship was with his wife. I guess that was what Sylvia Nasser was saying. I don't pretend to know what the truth was. The only information I have is from the movie, a couple of reviews, and the interview with Sylvia Nasser. 23468. stostosto - 1/25/2002 6:15:57 AM glenda Message # 23450 23469. glendajean - 1/25/2002 9:39:00 AM Ms. No -- thanks for the pics. Yes, it is his voice and spirit that makes this guy so, how do you say, sexy? 23470. judithathome - 1/25/2002 9:51:26 AM Or what book she says she's reading...did anyone acyually see her reading it? 23471. stostosto - 1/25/2002 10:48:02 AM glenda, you are right of course, Dogma 95 is the only "hook", and therein consists the main part of its significance: It's a "hook", something to distinguish Danish films by. That particular hook seems to be running its last lap, the point when it becomes de rigeur to denounce it, so Lars von Trier will soon have to come up with a new ploy. 23472. stostosto - 1/25/2002 10:51:38 AM A propos, and speaking of Lars von Trier, he is presently in Sweden shooting his next movie in starring Nicole Kidman. She was reported in a local headline the other day as having been "Spooked by a Naked Troll". It turns out she was shopping for souvenirs for her kids and considered a troll figure, but decided against it when she discovered it had an oversized red penis popping out when you pressed a button. 23473. glendajean - 1/25/2002 11:10:24 AM Damn the Swedish and their imapropriate sex toys! 23474. glendajean - 1/25/2002 11:10:49 AM or inappropriate... 23475. Julius Caesar - 1/27/2002 1:15:30 PM Black Hawk Down 23476. Julius Caesar - 1/27/2002 1:17:27 PM On the downside, Scott attempts context with a short explanation of the volatile political situation, but soon, his action picture credentials come to the fore. This makes for exciting viewing, but the pleasure is somewhat guilty, because you'd been led to believe this was something more. Worse, Scott loses confidence in his message and the picture becomes didactic, at one lapsing into a conversation between Sergeant Eversman (Josh Hartnett) and a Delta soldier that rivals an ad for Mennen Speed Stick (because, "it's about the man next to you"). The exchange is one that even if uttered should have been excised. 23477. Julius Caesar - 1/27/2002 1:17:49 PM Lastly, Scott departs from the book in a few ways that are unfortunate. For example, at the beginning of the raid, a Ranger fell from a helicopter, breaking his back. Having to ferry the Ranger back had an impact on the mission, and by all accounts, he just missed the rope. Scott chose to have his helicopter veering away from an RPG. Thus, the Ranger fell, but not by his own error. A small point, but indicative of Scott preferring less warts than Bowden. 23478. CalGal - 1/27/2002 1:25:12 PM There was one case where a Somali woman just came out and shouted at them and then went back behind cover. She did this several times, and a Delta soldier said, "If she comes out one more time, I'm going to kill her." She did, and he did. 23479. Cellar Door - 1/27/2002 1:25:42 PM Julius, does the pic still have a card at the end that speaks of U.S. policy since Sept. 11th? 23480. Julius Caesar - 1/27/2002 1:29:01 PM Cellar 23481. CalGal - 1/27/2002 1:29:20 PM There is text at the end, but I heard it mentioned bin Laden, and I didn't see that. It only mentioned that the warlord died the same day Garrison retired--although it gave the impression that these events correlated, and didn't mention that the warlord died in an accident. 23482. Julius Caesar - 1/27/2002 1:35:46 PM I thought Aideed died of a heart attack after getting shot. 23483. Cellar Door - 1/27/2002 1:36:09 PM The end card I saw didn't mention Bin Ladin by name but only dealt with the fact that the disaster of the Mogadishu raid made the U.S. chary of sending troops overseas -- until now with Afganistan. 23484. Julius Caesar - 1/27/2002 1:40:48 PM Bowden writes in the book that members of al Qaeda/bin Laden may have been been training Aideed's militia in the use of RPGs to strike the American helicopters (the book was written significantly prior to September 11th). The book is also prescient in demonstrating how, after taking the beating we did and pulling up stakes, the message sent to terrorists may one day come back to haunt us. 23485. CalGal - 1/27/2002 1:58:23 PM I thought Aideed died of a heart attack after getting shot. 23486. CalGal - 1/27/2002 2:15:44 PM I just read this at the Rant: 23487. Cellar Door - 1/27/2002 2:52:29 PM LOL! 23488. glendajean - 1/28/2002 10:45:53 AM In The Bedroom 23489. glendajean - 1/28/2002 10:46:08 AM Each member of the Doctor's family appears inarticulate. The doctor at times cannot even decide how to bet at his weekly poker game. The mother crudely conducts her choir without much passion or sense of rhythm (they could have prepared her better on her conducting), giving her girls a thumbs up as her most excited gesture to music that sounds alien and cold and distant. The son cannot explain his love for Tomei or his feelings about college. There are drawings in his room that speak of ambition and desire to be an architect that are rarely addressed by words. 23490. amax - 1/28/2002 10:00:45 PM Re: Black Hawk Down 23491. amax - 1/28/2002 10:06:56 PM The Soldier's Load, by S.L. Marshall 23492. Cellar Door - 1/29/2002 10:07:01 AM Excellent points, amax. When I first saw the film I was impressed, as I always am, by Scott's skill as a confector of imagery and action. Afterwards I was disturbed by the notion of regurgitating an event of this kind as "entertainment." Now the fact that key historical/political points have been blurred makes the film's faults all the more apparent. 23493. Julius Caesar - 1/29/2002 1:13:31 PM Wet Hot American Summer 23494. rubberducky - 1/29/2002 1:37:10 PM toycheck 23495. CalGal - 1/29/2002 1:45:34 PM Hey, it worked! Good to see you. 23496. Julius Caesar - 1/29/2002 1:52:23 PM I don't know if this will make any more understandable, but I've made some adjustments-- 23497. rubberducky - 1/29/2002 2:16:09 PM tanks, CG. and now, some recent reviews: 23498. Cellar Door - 1/30/2002 9:32:11 AM What "Black Hawk Down" left out. 23499. rubberducky - 1/30/2002 9:45:53 AM My review of Snatch: 23500. CalGal - 1/30/2002 11:10:33 PM SAG nominations 23501. Raskolnikov - 1/31/2002 4:30:58 PM SAG has a strong correlation with the Oscars, but isn't perfectly reliable. For instance, Marcia Gay Hardin wasn't nominated for a SAG award last year, but won the Oscar. Still, I am surprised by Kidman's omission, and it doesn't bode well for her chances of winning an Oscar. 23502. CalGal - 1/31/2002 4:31:50 PM Well, so long as she's nominated that's fine. I figure Spacek and Wilkinson are the most likely winners this year. 23503. stostosto - 1/31/2002 5:05:47 PM 23504. CalGal - 1/31/2002 5:13:14 PM Sure it's not Ben Gazzara? Longtime actor, most famous for his work with John Cassavetes, but he also paid the bills with a ton of TV work. He was in Buffalo 66 recently, and if you've ever seen the classic Anatomy of a Murder, he's the sergeant on trial. 23505. stostosto - 2/1/2002 4:55:43 AM Cal, 23506. rubberducky - 2/1/2002 9:35:40 AM (Or is it both?) 23507. Raskolnikov - 2/1/2002 10:03:31 AM Cassavetes in the Godfather of American indie cinema, with Shadows, Faces, Husbands, Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Gloria, and Woman under the Influence. 23508. Phoenix Rising - 2/1/2002 10:15:56 AM The Brotherhood and The Brotherhood II are delicious little pieces of soft core porn. Similar to Zalman King's typical offerings except these two are strictly for gay boys. 23509. rubberducky - 2/1/2002 11:34:12 AM PR: 23510. CalGal - 2/1/2002 11:45:22 AM Rask--wasn't he in Killing of a Chinese Bookie? 23511. CalGal - 2/1/2002 11:50:13 AM I just looked up in the IMDb to be sure and yeah, Gazzara was the star of Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and also Opening Night. 23512. Raskolnikov - 2/1/2002 4:01:01 PM I stand corrected. 23513. CalGal - 2/1/2002 4:02:38 PM I figured that Falk had been in more, but unless I counted wrong, Gazzara had three to Falk's two--unless you count Columbo. I didn't count Rowland's total, though. 23514. Raskolnikov - 2/1/2002 4:22:06 PM I am way behind. I caught Brotherhood of the Wolf when I was in Seattle a couple weeks ago, but nothing else since Gosford Park. I haven't seen Beautiful Mind, In the Bedroom, Man Who Wasn't There, Mulholland Drive, Monsters Ball, or several other films. 23515. Raskolnikov - 2/1/2002 4:24:37 PM Or even Blackhawk Down, which is probably my highest priority film right now. 23516. CalGal - 2/1/2002 4:25:06 PM Of that list, the only ones I'm probably going to see are In the Bedroom and Sexy Beast. The more I hear of Beautiful Mind, the more it sounds like a standard biopic. Although I do like Christopher Plummer. 23517. CalGal - 2/1/2002 4:28:18 PM I enjoyed Black Hawk Down. Nice to see Bruckheimer using his powers for good. 23518. Raskolnikov - 2/2/2002 12:04:17 AM Sexy Beast isn't available for rental yet. I scored a copy on DVD from a movie critic friend who got a "for your consideration" copy. Kingsley's role is supporting, not lead. It is a very surprising role for him. He plays one of the most convincing tough guy badasses I have seen on film. Not bad for Gandhi. 23519. arkymalarky - 2/2/2002 9:37:34 AM I have big hopes for Britney Spears' new movie--hopes that it will finally cross the line into overexposure and she will disappear. 23520. arkymalarky - 2/2/2002 9:39:18 AM That reminds me. Something I've always wanted to ask but can never remember to is why Marj hates Gandhi so much. 23521. wonkers2 - 2/2/2002 3:50:49 PM Hard to fathom why anybody would hate Gandhi, let alone an Indian. 23522. judithathome - 2/2/2002 3:56:22 PM The movie bored me blind...we saw it in a Quonset hut without air conditioning in Okinawa, seated on folding chairs. Could've had something to do with it. 23523. Cellar Door - 2/2/2002 5:16:58 PM I have big hopes for Britney Spears' new movie--hopes that it will finally cross the line into overexposure and she will disappear. 23524. PincherMartin - 2/2/2002 9:07:07 PM I saw The Fellowship of the Rings. I thought it was one of the most dull movies I've ever seen, on a level with Waterworld and The Phantom Menace. I can't understand all the critical kudos it's getting. And this is coming from someone who loved the book when he was a teenager. 23525. CalGal - 2/2/2002 10:09:47 PM It rivaled 2001 as the most tedious movie I have ever sat through. 23526. CalGal - 2/2/2002 10:16:35 PM "Okay, the group is walking. Mountains. More mountains. Snow. Oh, there's the other old guy, he's making...people? Dead people? Lord, they look awful. 23527. wonkers2 - 2/2/2002 10:31:27 PM Just got home from The Count of Monte Crisco. Not bad. Reminded me of some of the old pirate movies of my youth--Errol Flynn, Maureen O'Hara, Burt Lancaster, et al. 23528. rubberducky - 2/4/2002 11:16:35 AM rented Atlantis: The Lost Empire over the weekend and was pleasantly surprised at the product. i had sworn off Disney cartoons after Hercules, but i enjoyed this cartoon. no singing, no dancing - thank god. the script/plot was pretty good for a cartoon and some good voice work (Leonard Nimoy being a welcome surprise). 23529. Phoenix Rising - 2/4/2002 1:43:17 PM Just got home from The Count of Monte Crisco. 23530. Phoenix Rising - 2/4/2002 1:55:25 PM Baz Lurhmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet was a noble failure. Mainly because Lurhmann attempted to take Shakespeare's language which is elevated, if not operatic, and tried to make it common. At some level, actors spouting Shakespeare while cavorting in something that looks like Miami Beach and brandishing revolvers is ridiculous. 23531. judithathome - 2/4/2002 2:07:29 PM I could see it as a stage play easily...would love to see it that way, in fact. The thing that bothered me about the film was the frenetic camera action so making it into a play would suit me fine. 23532. CalGal - 2/4/2002 2:12:18 PM The camera action was really only frenetic for a sustained period during the beginning. The cutting during Roxanne was annoying, but it wasn't particularly rapid or excessive--unlike the beginning. 23533. Phoenix Rising - 2/5/2002 9:44:01 AM I actually loved the frenetic opening. Particularly, the introduction to the decay and squalor of Montmartre circa 1900. Better still, the first number in the Moulin Rouge was like a Degas had leaped into life off of the canvas. I am less enthusiastic about the absinthe soaked number. 23534. Phoenix Rising - 2/5/2002 9:44:45 AM Oh, as as for the happy ending. I want some of those drugs that CG is evidently on. 23535. CalGal - 2/5/2002 10:58:53 AM Happy ending--sure. You know at the very beginning that she dies. So to the extent that this is sad, it's built-in from the beginning. But Christian is looking miserable, so the clear potential for tragedy exists. He could have become jealous and vicious. She could have gone for the money. One of them could have started drinking. The story kept creating potential moments where they could have forgotten or neglected the promises they make. But no, Christian accepts that she'll have to sleep with him, doesn't back away when it gets tough. He creates the song, and every time she sings it, he remembers its purpose. Satine tries to pretend otherwise, in order to save him, but instead of completely believing it, Christian has to go to the Moulin Rouge one more time, to make her say it, to try and believe it. She does her best to deny it, but in the end she puts their love for each other first. 23536. rubberducky - 2/5/2002 11:31:04 AM SHE DIES?!?!??! 23537. glendajean - 2/5/2002 1:39:57 PM Cal -- your take on the non-tragic ending of MR is interesting. In opera, the convention of tragedy would cover "Moulon Rouge." 23538. judithathome - 2/5/2002 1:57:42 PM So he ends up alone and working...sounds like a very modern love story, doesn't it? 23539. glendajean - 2/5/2002 2:04:52 PM In Aida, he ends up sealed up in the tomb with Aida, his love. 23540. judithathome - 2/5/2002 2:37:19 PM That sounds better to me than the way Moulin Rouge ends...;-) 23541. CalGal - 2/5/2002 2:52:00 PM GJ, 23542. glendajean - 2/5/2002 3:16:43 PM The MR story is similar to Verdi's "La Traviata," itself based on the Camile stories. A courtesan named Violeta falls in love with a young man. The father is scandalized and secretly meets with V and begs her to give up his son. She kicks him out of the house. Meanwhile, she has an incurable illness (cough, cough). In the end he returns to proclaim his love. She dies (end of coughing). "La Bohoeme" also has a sick lover, Mimi. When she and her boyfriend finally get back together, she dies of her illness. In the musical re-telling, "Rent," she doesn't die. 23543. glendajean - 2/5/2002 3:20:36 PM I don't think Radames and Aida had other choices. Certainly Aida didn't. She was going to escape with Radames to her father's country (the Ethiopians, mortal enemies of the Egyptians). Radames is the Egyptian general. Pharoah's daughter has the hots for him. He loves the slave girl Aida. He was throwing away his career and his love of his country for Aida. The princess throws her in the grave. She is alone and sad. But as the bricks are put in place, she discovers Radames. As they embrace, the curtain falls. We don't see them later dehydrated and dead. Verdi liked to end his operas fast. Bam-bam. Lover dies. Curtain falls. 23544. CalGal - 2/5/2002 4:22:28 PM GJ--I said other possibilities, not other choices, meaning that in a better world the same situation could have led to a happier outcome. 23545. rubberducky - 2/6/2002 9:43:10 AM btw, CG, loved your LotR review above. made me laugh! 23546. betty - 2/6/2002 9:18:41 PM Just wondering if anyone (Maria I'm looking your way search queen) has or can find the music/words for "It's Fate, Baby, It's Fate" from the Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra/Esther Williams flick Take Me Out To The Ball Game? 23547. CalGal - 2/6/2002 9:20:54 PM I'll see what I can come up with, but have you considered Baby it's Cold Outside? The lyrics are pretty torchy. And it won an Oscar. 23548. CalGal - 2/6/2002 9:21:19 PM Ducky--thanks! I had fun writing it. Did you like Viggo? 23549. betty - 2/6/2002 9:25:54 PM i'm not that familiar with "Baby it's Cold Outside", but torchy is not enough, they also have to be "witchy"..."It's Fate" is all about the Zodiac hence fitting my purposes. 23550. CalGal - 2/6/2002 9:30:39 PM Ah. 23551. rubberducky - 2/7/2002 9:24:51 AM CG: 23552. wonkers2 - 2/7/2002 10:18:36 AM Anybody seen "Georgia" a '95 movie starring Jennifer Jason Leigh? I caught it on HBO last night. It was painful to watch, but I thought her performance as a strung out alcoholic, drug addicted rock singer was incredibly good. Her rendition of a Van Morrison's "Take Me Back" was a knockout. 23553. judithathome - 2/7/2002 10:30:49 AM I liked it but most people have their teeth set on edge by JJL... 23554. wonkers2 - 2/7/2002 10:38:44 AM Yep. 23555. judithathome - 2/7/2002 10:50:23 AM I just saw a clip from the new Arnold movie, Collateral Damage and was amazed when I looked it up on IMDB to find out who plays "the Wolf" that the guy has the very unethnic name of Cliff Curtis. Most of the movies he's been in I've never seen and the one that I had seen, Three Kings I just don't remember that vividly...I think he might have been the guy who gave them the cars...anyhow, he seems very good in this role in CD. 23556. Snowowl - 2/7/2002 6:32:43 PM Cliff Curtis is a Maori, from New Zealand. 23557. judithathome - 2/7/2002 6:40:11 PM He's very good looking...! 23558. Julius Caesar - 2/9/2002 11:07:00 AM Ghost World 23559. CalGal - 2/9/2002 11:08:55 AM Did you think the last third was way off base? I was enjoying it tremendously til that point, but the story really seemed to go off course. I can't remember the moment I began thinking "whoa" but it had something to do with the art show. 23560. Julius Caesar - 2/9/2002 11:17:05 AM Cal 23561. PincherMartin - 2/9/2002 8:02:43 PM Cal, your description of "The Fellowship of the Rings" is hilarious. But I don't like the comparison you make with "2001." The tedium of "2001" was entirely different that in "The Fellowship of the Rings." 23562. CalGal - 2/9/2002 8:21:09 PM I agree that the tedium is different. But my zenlike state was the same. Thanks for the kind words. 23563. PincherMartin - 2/9/2002 8:37:57 PM Where is Rask? He has some explaining to do. He made fun of Cellar's and my fondness for A.I., but gave three and a half stars to The Fellowship of the Rings. 23564. Cellar Door - 2/9/2002 8:38:58 PM 23565. PincherMartin - 2/9/2002 8:41:07 PM Hahaha! 23566. Julius Caesar - 2/10/2002 9:20:46 AM Mulholland Drive 23567. Julius Caesar - 2/10/2002 9:21:00 AM My evaluation is less accommodating: Mulholland Drive is a stylish, captivating set-up followed by a disappointing, self-indulgent cop-out, but is just arty enough to sway some mainstream critics. 23568. Cellar Door - 2/10/2002 10:18:34 AM Movie audiences don't like sex? When did this happen? 23569. judithathome - 2/10/2002 10:31:33 AM I heard the movie was made as a TV series and no one would buy it so Lynch cut it together and added some stuff and called it a movie. 23570. Cellar Door - 2/10/2002 11:16:41 AM That's right. 23571. judithathome - 2/10/2002 11:32:01 AM We watched Ghost World last night and it looked very much like what it was based on...Japanese cartoon books....all the flat and colorful scenery and the way the characters moved and dressed and had such flat expressions. The blonde girl started out being quirky but she experienced growth...her body moved differently and she spoke differently at the end of the movie while the brunette remained more stiff and expressionless. 23572. Raskolnikov - 2/10/2002 1:04:01 PM Pincher:"Where is Rask? He has some explaining to do. He made fun of Cellar's and my fondness for A.I., but gave three and a half stars to The Fellowship of the Rings." 23573. Raskolnikov - 2/10/2002 1:06:58 PM Whereas AI was an incoherent mess with only a couple performances and a special effects budget to its credit. 23574. Raskolnikov - 2/10/2002 1:09:30 PM But I can't fathom how anyone could compare LOTR to the quality of Waterworld or Phantom Menace, which were soulless, badly written, and weakly acted (although Phantom Menace had one or two kick ass set pieces). 23575. Cellar Door - 2/10/2002 4:45:39 PM I stand by by view of A.I> as one of the best pictures of last year and one of Spielberg's finest achivements. 23576. Cellar Door - 2/10/2002 4:58:11 PM Just saw Kirby Dick's new movie about Jacques Derrida. Here's the website for it 23577. Cellar Door - 2/10/2002 4:58:42 PM Just saw Kirby Dick's new movie about Jacques Derrida. Here's the website for it 23578. justears - 2/10/2002 5:41:33 PM Julius, I agree that maybe Mulholland Drive didn't finally make sense (I read the plot as a kind of mobius strip) and the dumpster demon was a bit much. However, I was on the edge of my seat for most of the film and didn't even realize until later that it was an extra long movie. Even when Lynch is meandering he is ten times more interesting than just about anyone making movies that I am aware of. I give it a 5 star rating. 23579. glendajean - 2/10/2002 8:26:31 PM Lord of the Rings -- Journey flick. Evil is on the rise. Frodo the good-hearted hobbit gathers a kick-butt group of mates to return a nasty piece of jewelry back to the fire in the middle of Evil HQ. Cute Elf. Cute son of a failed king. Rudy of Notre Dame football is also tagging along as the good-hearted hobbit named Sam. Don't think of England surrounded by Nazis, or European folklore, or even 1970s graphics. Or other derivative tales from this mother of 20th century fantasy. The bad guys have bad teeth and are slimy. The wizard has great heart. 23580. CalGal - 2/10/2002 8:44:45 PM hahaha. did you see my zen review? We must have been in the same mood. 23581. glendajean - 2/10/2002 8:53:31 PM Sam I Am 23582. glendajean - 2/10/2002 8:54:25 PM There are even a few commentaries on modern life drawn from Starbucks, a major setting for the movie. 23583. glendajean - 2/10/2002 8:56:43 PM Cal -- I didn't hate Lord of the Rings. It was ok. I had read the books 30 years ago so I guess I accept up front some of the silliness. 23584. glendajean - 2/10/2002 8:57:59 PM toys 23585. CalGal - 2/11/2002 1:14:09 AM Betty, 23586. judithathome - 2/11/2002 11:07:10 AM Wow, they don't write songs like that anymore...can't you see Britney and Justin cooing that to one another! 23587. judithathome - 2/11/2002 11:10:24 AM On second thought...I can see them doing that one easily. My brain is ill but I can see it. 23588. christipeters - 2/11/2002 11:14:18 AM I took LD and friend to see A Walk to Remember. Several of her group of friends have read the book and she's been bugging me about wanting to see the movie since the first trailers were shown. 23589. rubberducky - 2/11/2002 11:45:04 AM as always, the only awards i care about have been announced 23590. Phoenix Rising - 2/11/2002 3:51:16 PM Good grief. I thought Josh Hartnett should have made that list. Affleck's performance in Pearl Harbor was just wooden. Hartnett's was not only wooden, it was also squinty. 23591. rubberducky - 2/11/2002 3:59:03 PM what do you think of the new movie with Josh where he's trying to be in a romantic movie while sporting a Moe Howard haricut! 23592. Phoenix Rising - 2/11/2002 4:03:31 PM I saw a preview. Alas, it seems he squints his way through this one too. 23593. Cellar Door - 2/11/2002 4:05:20 PM It's the squinting that's a turn-off. 23594. Phoenix Rising - 2/11/2002 4:16:32 PM Over the weekend I saw: 23595. betty - 2/11/2002 4:16:47 PM do the razzies have a ceremony...I bet Green would go to that one and give an awesome acceptance speech. 23596. rubberducky - 2/11/2002 4:16:54 PM are you sure you aren't secertly Dan Savage? 23597. betty - 2/11/2002 4:17:15 PM CalGal, 23598. rubberducky - 2/11/2002 4:18:50 PM er, my 23596 was in response to CD 23599. Phoenix Rising - 2/11/2002 4:19:19 PM I also saw the letterbox version of Moulin Rouge on Direct TV PPV. Lord, I hope this movie gets a boatload of Oscar nominations and is re-released into theaters. I will go see it a jillion times. 23600. rubberducky - 2/11/2002 4:21:29 PM eh, i doubt that 23601. Phoenix Rising - 2/11/2002 4:25:09 PM Hey, I could see myself in bed with Nicole and Ewan. 23602. glendajean - 2/11/2002 4:28:15 PM I read somewhere that when they were filming Ewan screwing Christian Bale on the roof of a building for whatever their glam rock movie was of a couple of a years ago, the scene went on and on. 23603. Phoenix Rising - 2/11/2002 4:31:00 PM Velvet Goldmine 23604. CalGal - 2/11/2002 4:55:37 PM God, that was a terrible movie. 23605. Ms. No - 2/11/2002 5:06:03 PM Phoenix, 23606. Cellar Door - 2/11/2002 7:19:32 PM Velvet Goldmine is a masterpiece, and Todd is God! 23607. Raskolnikov - 2/11/2002 8:06:30 PM "Oscar nominations are tomorrow; I'm trying not to be too hopeful. I hate it when the nominations suck." 23608. CalGal - 2/11/2002 8:12:17 PM I don't see how that's "most" of the noms. If it picks up anything other than an obligatory nod for McKellan in actor categories I'll be miffed. 23609. Raskolnikov - 2/11/2002 11:00:50 PM I said "the most nominations", not "most of the nominations". LOTR will probably get nods for picture, director, supporting actor, adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing, sound, sound effects, visual effects, score, art direction, and costumes. Beautiful Mind is the other big contender, but it won't be in the running for most of the technicals. 23610. CalGal - 2/11/2002 11:34:04 PM Oh, I see. Yes, I know they'll get all the technical awards. 23611. CalGal - 2/12/2002 8:51:13 AM Renee Zellwegger? 23612. CalGal - 2/12/2002 9:02:16 AM I'd missed her in your picks, Rask. That's pretty annoying, for some reason. 23613. CalGal - 2/12/2002 9:16:02 AM 23614. rubberducky - 2/12/2002 9:19:22 AM are you going to do your pool this year? 23615. CalGal - 2/12/2002 9:22:04 AM Yeah, I caught it--sorry bout that. 23616. glendajean - 2/12/2002 9:41:21 AM Sean Penn's acting deserved a nomination. Tom Wilkinson is an excellent choice, too. I think Denzel Washington is one of our best actors alive, but I haven't seen "Training Day" yet. 23617. theDiva - 2/12/2002 9:51:52 AM Yowza, did we get some nominations. 23618. glendajean - 2/12/2002 9:54:00 AM Other thoughts: 23619. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 10:02:15 AM Cal: Hawke was also nominated for a SAG award, so he shouldn't have been a huge surprise. Same hting for Penn and Zellweger. I generally find SAG and the DGA to be, by far, the best predictors of Oscar mominations and wins, with slight variations for known inaccuracies (for instance, while Jennifer Connelly got a SAG nod for best actress, the studio pushed her in the supporting actress category for the Oscars). SAG got 4/5 in supporting actor, 4/5 in lead actor, 4/5 in lead actress, and 2/5 in supporting actress. DGA went 3/5 in director, and using it to project Best Picture nominations, it went 3/5. And this is actually a pretty bad year for predictability. 23620. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 10:04:06 AM But what should Moulin Rouge have been nominated for in music categories? I don't think any of the songs were original, and I don't recall much about the orchestral score. And they no longer have a choreography Oscar. 23621. glendajean - 2/12/2002 10:06:35 AM Rask -- I hope your kids have shoes! You are getting very serious about this movie stuff betting. 23622. CalGal - 2/12/2002 10:10:48 AM Rask--Come What May was original and was actually sung in the movie, fercrissakes. Also, the orchestration was original. You don't suppose that the combination of Come What May, Your Song, Children of the Revolution, and Someday I'll Fly Away was done before? 23623. CalGal - 2/12/2002 10:12:54 AM And Rask, you convinced me of the accuracy of Guild awards back when the Karate Kid chick won over Annette Bening. I just hadn't really looked at the Guild nominations closely. I should have. 23624. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 10:15:14 AM Cal: I didn't know that about Come What May, but I still am not surprised. The academy's song nominations are always pretty flaky. 23625. CalGal - 2/12/2002 10:18:36 AM I know they're flaky, but it's still upsetting. I thought the one thing I would see for sure was McGregor and Kidman singing at the Oscars. I figured that was more of a sure thing than any other nomination! 23626. glendajean - 2/12/2002 10:24:45 AM I always expect to see Geena Davis in a wickedly bad dress. 23627. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 10:28:26 AM "Contrary to conventional wisdom, Altman got his nomination for Best Director (Gosford Park)." 23628. CalGal - 2/12/2002 10:31:31 AM Hey, CNN just mentioned it's Black History Month! 23629. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 10:35:49 AM "And Rask, you convinced me of the accuracy of Guild awards back when the Karate Kid chick won over Annette Bening." 23630. CalGal - 2/12/2002 10:38:45 AM The one from Boys Don't Cry wasn't in Karate Kid? 23631. CalGal - 2/12/2002 10:39:22 AM Hillary Swank, that's her damn name. Brain block. She was in one of the KK's, wasn't she? 23632. Julius Caesar - 2/12/2002 10:41:40 AM There appears to be no way around it. I will have to see In the Bedroom 23633. Julius Caesar - 2/12/2002 10:42:16 AM What I will definitely see pre-Oscars 23634. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 10:46:23 AM Cal: Oh, Swank was in "The Next Karate Kid". Shue was the girlfriend in the original Karate Kid, so I assumed you meant her. 23635. CalGal - 2/12/2002 10:50:45 AM Okay, then who am I thinking of? 23636. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 10:52:10 AM I still need to see: 23637. CalGal - 2/12/2002 10:59:38 AM The only ones for sure on my best of list are Moulin Rouge and Shrek. 23638. CalGal - 2/12/2002 11:02:31 AM Looking at JC's list, I see that Tailor of Panama is another one I enjoyed but didn't have enough to make me add it to the best of list a year later. 23639. Julius Caesar - 2/12/2002 11:03:27 AM It will be very hard to knock out one of my top five. I think they are great pictures. 23640. CalGal - 2/12/2002 11:07:29 AM I can't seriously see putting The Others above Moulin Rouge. It was an interesting movie, but totally predictable and nothing particularly innovative. 23641. glendajean - 2/12/2002 11:17:42 AM Rask -- The conventional wisdom I referred to (re: Altman) was the one that said a DGA shutout probably meant an Academy shutout. 23642. glendajean - 2/12/2002 11:19:32 AM Julius, I've only seen one of your top five, but Hedwig, Sexy Beast and Tannenbaums are all on my list to see. 23643. theDiva - 2/12/2002 11:23:45 AM Three blactors nominated. The most in any one year since 1972, I read somewhere. 23644. CalGal - 2/12/2002 11:27:07 AM GJ--The Others isn't a horror film. 23645. theDiva - 2/12/2002 11:33:21 AM I wish I could remember where I read that now. Daggone it. Maybe yesterday's Post. It was Cicely Tyson, Sidney Poitier, and oh hell. Now I have to go look. Torniamo subito. 23646. theDiva - 2/12/2002 11:40:37 AM Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson for Sounder; and that Godawful woman for that Godawful movie was the third one. 23647. Julius Caesar - 2/12/2002 11:44:37 AM The Others harkens back to The Uninvited and The Sixth Sense. It is a triumph of the visual, the mood is great, the choices are made well throughout, and Kidman (as well as the rest of the cast) is great. I liked Moulin Rouge and, in fact, presently would rank it sixth or seventh. I am, however, begining to wonder if CalGal should not be renamed BazGal. (g) 23648. CalGal - 2/12/2002 11:45:42 AM I'm guessing Diana Ross committed the heresy. 23649. judithathome - 2/12/2002 11:47:27 AM Diana Ross for Lady Sings the Blues is the third but I like Diva's description better. 23650. judithathome - 2/12/2002 11:48:18 AM x-post 23651. Julius Caesar - 2/12/2002 11:48:33 AM Cellar 23652. theDiva - 2/12/2002 11:55:08 AM Cal, Judith 23653. CalGal - 2/12/2002 11:57:46 AM But I'm not sure if Moulin Rouge isn't more appropriately in the Jimmy Neutron, Shrek and Monsters, Inc. category. 23654. Julius Caesar - 2/12/2002 12:28:09 PM Cal 23655. CalGal - 2/12/2002 12:58:04 PM Have you seen Hedwig? 23656. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 1:21:48 PM "Rask -- The conventional wisdom I referred to (re: Altman) was the one that said a DGA shutout probably meant an Academy shutout. " 23657. Phoenix Rising - 2/12/2002 1:31:44 PM LOTR - 13 noms 23658. Phoenix Rising - 2/12/2002 1:32:03 PM LOTR - 13 noms 23659. CalGal - 2/12/2002 1:34:55 PM the one in Moulin Rouge was far superior to many that were nominated in the past several years. 23660. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 1:40:52 PM The Others: I thought it was a good old-fashioned ghost story. "The Uninvited meets the Sixth Sense" is probably how it was described in the pitch meeting, although it also supposedly owed a lot to The Innocents (which I have never been able to find for rental). 23661. Phoenix Rising - 2/12/2002 1:43:55 PM I agree, The costumes were great. Also to say that Kidman's performance was Oscar worthy but McGreggor's wasn't is a little silly. But I am just glad it got what it got. 23662. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 1:46:49 PM I am really surprised MR didn't get a costume nod. 23663. CalGal - 2/12/2002 1:47:18 PM Rask--That sucks. But at least it makes more sense. Thanks for letting me know. 23664. CalGal - 2/12/2002 1:49:11 PM There's nothing wrong with it. 23665. CalGal - 2/12/2002 1:54:17 PM PR--I think Kidman was fine in Moulin Rouge, and she's been doing well-received work for a while and had a great year. 23666. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 1:59:08 PM Cal: I read Turn of the Screw back in high school, when I was in a classic literary horror phase (I also read Frankenstein, Dracula, and Jekyll and Hyde). I thought it was as boring as hell. But I was 15. I realize now that I was an idiot then, but I still can't convince myself to give the book another try. 23667. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 2:08:37 PM I have also heard that MR's score was ruled ineligible, but the source isn't particularly reliable. I don't completely understand the logic, but I think he is saying that they couldn't distinguish sufficiently between songs and score, so the Academy ruled the score ineligible because the voters would others vote for it because of the songs. 23668. CalGal - 2/12/2002 2:09:03 PM Rask, 23669. Julius Caesar - 2/12/2002 2:12:56 PM I also want to see The Devil's Backbone 23670. judithathome - 2/12/2002 2:16:40 PM How could Memento, based on a short story, get a nomination for Best Original Screenplay? 23671. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 2:16:54 PM I remember almost nothing about the book except the bare outlines of the plot: governess is watching a couple kids, there is a ghost hanging around, the governess is freaked out, and something bad happens. I also recall that it seemed to take Henry James two pages to say "she looked out the window". 23672. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 2:18:02 PM judith: I don't understand it either. I think maybe the short story was unpublished. But I wouldn't have thought that mattered. 23673. CalGal - 2/12/2002 2:19:24 PM there is a ghost hanging around, 23674. CalGal - 2/12/2002 2:20:37 PM It shouldn't. That's really weird, particularly in a year when they are disallowing a musical's original music. 23675. judithathome - 2/12/2002 2:21:37 PM This is great: 23676. judithathome - 2/12/2002 2:23:30 PM 23675 is in reference to JC's link... 23677. Cellar Door - 2/12/2002 4:28:45 PM It's a lock on A Beautiful Thoroughly Heterosexual Mind and I Don't Want To Hear Word One About the Boyfriends or That T-room Bust That Cost Him His Job at the RAND Corporation with Opie for best Director and Everybody's Favorite Testy Tosspot for Best Actor. 23678. Phoenix Rising - 2/12/2002 4:35:30 PM Testy Tosspot? More like saucy sexpot. 23679. CalGal - 2/12/2002 4:39:58 PM I dunno. I think Wilkinson has a good shot, and Denzel's nomination alone suggests he's got a following, since the movie didn't make that much money. The backlash on the accuracy issue could hurt Crowe in much the same way that Denzel was hurt last year in Hurricane. 23680. glendajean - 2/12/2002 4:42:19 PM Cellar -- I am pessimistic about A Beautiful Mind winning, too. 23681. Cellar Door - 2/12/2002 4:43:11 PM He's a Testy Tosspot AND a Saucy Sexpot! 23682. CalGal - 2/12/2002 4:43:49 PM Hey, I've been waiting for it. I remembered you mentioning it and periodically check the sfgate site. 23683. CalGal - 2/12/2002 4:44:19 PM GJ--did you see that it was Whoopi hosting? 23684. glendajean - 2/12/2002 4:50:06 PM No, I hadn't heard who was hosting. 23685. CalGal - 2/12/2002 4:52:08 PM Hey, fly out to California for a weekend. We'll have a great time! 23686. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 4:53:07 PM I don't think the Best Actor race is a lock. Crowe won last year, and I am not sure he has the popularity of Hanks or Tracy that would offset the desire to spread the wealth. Meanwhile, with Poitier getting a lifetime achievement award, I think there might be a desire to give the Oscar that year to another great black actor, even if it isn't for one of his best performances (Training Day made 76 million, so it did quite well). Meanwhile, Wilkenson's performance has the most critical support and the nomination pattern seems to indicate that the Academy gives credit to the actors more than the director. I could see any one of the three taking it. 23687. glendajean - 2/12/2002 4:53:58 PM Between my partner's 40th birthday trip and our trip to England this summer, I am tapped out of time and $$ for traveling. 23688. Phoenix Rising - 2/12/2002 4:58:40 PM Well a three hour drive to Chicago from Indy is always a good thing to do. 23689. CalGal - 2/12/2002 4:58:43 PM Wow, it made that much? I knew it did well the first week or two. But still, it wasn't a blockbuster. 23690. CalGal - 2/12/2002 4:59:33 PM GJ--hey, I figured you'd have to drive to Chicago several times to catch all the movies. And our restaurants are just as good! 23691. Phoenix Rising - 2/12/2002 5:02:12 PM LOTR will not win for one reason. 23692. CalGal - 2/12/2002 5:03:59 PM I don't see why they'd have egg on their faces. Silence of the Lambs won for best picture. No one has revisited that decision in light of the fact that Hannibal sucked. 23693. Raskolnikov - 2/12/2002 5:38:46 PM I partially agree with Cal. Personally, I have a problem giving the first LOTR movie a final review until the next two are out. The film was incomplete, and its final merits will depend on how well certain themes, characters and relationships are developed over the next two films. I am currently giving it a provisional A-. But I have doubts that the Academy will hold off on rewarding it on these grounds, if they otherwise deem the film worthy. My suspicion instead is that they are snobs who won't consider a fantasy film to be serious film-making, and won't vote for it. A science fiction/fantasy film has never won best picture, despite the huge critical and popular followings that many of these films have had (Star Wars and ET being the most notable). 23694. CalGal - 2/12/2002 5:44:13 PM I wasn't questioning LOTR's ability to win either way. I just don't agree that its role as Part 1 in a saga will negatively affect its chances. 23695. Cellar Door - 2/12/2002 6:11:04 PM For those of you in the greater Los Angeles area I will be on KPFK-FM radio tomorrow morning from about 8:40 to 9 or so to discuss the Oscars. 23696. rubberducky - 2/13/2002 1:30:14 PM ok, i need to catch up on some of my patented movie reviews for those of us who never read reviews: 23697. rubberducky - 2/13/2002 1:30:24 PM Kiss of the Dragon was a cool Jet Li movie. lots of cool stuff with very Jet Li-ish movie qualities. know that going in. if you don't like pervious Jet Li movies, you won't care for this, if you did then you'll like this. Bridget Fonda does a great job as the whore mommy, btw, so there is some acting in it. 3 1/2 quacks of five. 23698. CalGal - 2/13/2002 2:27:45 PM Oh, I liked Rat Race. It might be because I saw it in the theater. The two brothers cracked me up. 23699. rubberducky - 2/13/2002 2:42:09 PM really? ugh, i can't imagine. i found the one with the pierced tongue a headache and irritating. Dr Evil's son just had no comedic presence in this. 23700. rubberducky - 2/13/2002 2:43:04 PM oh and Mr. Bean?? i mean WTF was that? was he Arabic or what? horrible, simply horrible. 23701. Raskolnikov - 2/13/2002 2:43:54 PM Rat Race has a following, but given that I yawned my way through Mad^4 World, which is much more widely loved film, I am staying away. 23702. CalGal - 2/13/2002 2:53:32 PM I didn't like Mad^4 World, and I can't say I would wholeheartedly recommend Rat Race. As I said, it might have been the theater and the audience. But I howled at the cow and the hot air balloon, and the monster truck rally. 23703. glendajean - 2/13/2002 3:04:47 PM Speaking of "It's a Mad,..." 23704. Phoenix Rising - 2/13/2002 3:09:55 PM I saw Mad x 4 in the theater when it first came out. I never laughed so hard. 23705. CalGal - 2/13/2002 3:15:28 PM Catching up: 23706. Raskolnikov - 2/13/2002 3:26:14 PM I just saw this a couple weeks ago (I rented a portable DVD viewer for my flight to Seattle, it rocked), and don't recall a great laugh. But maybe the kid behind me was kicking my seat at the time. What was it? 23707. CalGal - 2/13/2002 3:43:28 PM Osmosis Jones--Inventive and amusing mix of live action and animation to tell the tale of Frank (Bill Murray) and his body. I couldn't watch the live action sequences, which are truly disgusting, even for the Farrelly brothers. But the animated segment is lots of fun, and I recommend it. Chris Rock plays Osmosis, a dedicated white cell "cop" struggling to regain his credibility after a disastrous false alarm involving oysters and a vomit alert. David Hyde Pierce is Drix, the cold capsule, taken as a woefully ineffectual remedy for the discomfort caused by Thrax, the badass virus that thinks of Ebola as a mild case of dandruff (Lawrence Fishburne). William Shatner as the sleazy brain cell mayor who shores up his constituency with bribes of buffalo wings and a third chin and Ron Howard as Tom Colonic, the do-good campaigner determined to win the election and get Frank back into shape, round out the cast--oh, yeah, there's Brandy as the love interest (making this possibly the first animated film with three black leads). 23708. CalGal - 2/13/2002 3:46:20 PM Rask--you'd probably have to have been completely in the mood, but when it turns out that the neighbor does have a wife, and she finds this out in public to her great humiliation, and then they are all at the same party, she sees them, waves, and he..... 23709. Raskolnikov - 2/13/2002 4:18:29 PM Oh that. I think I chuckled. I did listen to the Spinal Tap commentary track on the flight back, and annoyed my neighbors by having suppressed hysterics all the way over the great plains. 23710. rubberducky - 2/13/2002 4:20:53 PM i, too, chuckled but don't think it all that memorable a moment 23711. Raskolnikov - 2/13/2002 4:23:48 PM Cal: I think that is a good take on WLB. The fact that the first hour was a red herring annoyed the hell out of me. At least it wasn't the remake of DOA, where 90% of the film was a fucking red herring. 23712. CalGal - 2/13/2002 4:29:55 PM Rask, Ducky: I was watching it at 2 am, in a dark apartment. So I was definitely primed for the mood break. 23713. rubberducky - 2/13/2002 4:30:55 PM ahhhh - bigger laugh. 23714. CalGal - 2/13/2002 4:30:58 PM Rask--have you seen Black Narcissus? 23715. Raskolnikov - 2/13/2002 4:43:08 PM Cal: Funny you should ask. I rented it from Netflix last week and arrived on my doorstep yesterday. I'll probably get to it in the next week. 23716. CalGal - 2/13/2002 4:53:10 PM It is absolutely gorgeous. I was surprised at how much I wanted to hide behind the couch during the last 20 minutes. It really ramped up the fear factor. 23717. Raskolnikov - 2/13/2002 5:15:44 PM I have liked the Powell films I have seen - Thief of Bagdad, 49th Parallel, Red Shoes, and Peeping Tom, and this is generally regarded as of equal quality to those, so I have high hopes for it. That will take my through his masterpieces, but I still want to see a few more: Matter of Life and Death, I know where I'm Going, and One of our Aircraft is missing. 23718. AytchMan - 2/13/2002 5:16:28 PM I also loved Mad World when I was a kid. The only movie at which I ever laughed harder and longer (in that period) was The Great Race (Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk and Natalie Wood and Tony Curtis with great support), now almost forgotten. 23719. CalGal - 2/13/2002 5:21:18 PM Are you joking? The Great Race isn't forgotten; I would say it gets more showings than Mad^4. 23720. CalGal - 2/13/2002 5:24:35 PM "He shouldn'ta hadn'ta oughtna swang on me." 23721. CalGal - 2/13/2002 5:26:36 PM Rask--I only rented Black Narcissus because of Kerr, but it's made me want to see more of their work. The extras on the CD are terrific. 23722. CalGal - 2/13/2002 5:26:53 PM DVD, I mean. 23723. Raskolnikov - 2/13/2002 5:33:43 PM Everybody loves The Red Shoes. Peeping Tom is... interesting. It is one of Cellar's favorite films. There is certainly a hell of a lot of interest, but it isn't the most pleasant viewing experience I have ever had. Sustained POV shots from the perspective of a serial killer are disturbing enough in films like Halloween, but when you have Powell directing some solid actors, it gets seriously wiggy. 23724. CalGal - 2/13/2002 5:39:02 PM I've seen clips, but I don't believe I've ever seen it. I'll check it out. Sabu is in Black Narcissus; Powell really liked him. 23725. CalGal - 2/13/2002 5:41:07 PM Or is it A Matter of Life or Death? I always forget which the official name is. 23726. Cellar Door - 2/13/2002 5:48:46 PM A Matter of Life and Death is the official name. 23727. Cellar Door - 2/13/2002 5:51:53 PM I Know Where I'm Going is both completely delightful and truly unusual. The Criterion DVD has a wonderful doc about it involving a woman who has become so obsessed with it that she's visited the actual locations in Scotland. She corresponded with Powell but he passed on before they had a chance to meet. 23728. CalGal - 2/13/2002 5:54:54 PM I definitely want to see I Know Where I'm Going, because I love Wendy Hiller. I can't remember if it's in my Netflix queue or if Netflix doesn't have it yet. 23729. Raskolnikov - 2/13/2002 6:16:34 PM Netflix has it. It is in my queue. 23730. CalGal - 2/13/2002 6:31:10 PM Yes, it's in mine too--must have added it when I put in Black Narcissus. But Thief of Bagdad isn't at Netflix, from what I can tell. 23731. Raskolnikov - 2/13/2002 6:38:23 PM It isn't on DVD. TCM or AMC frequently show it, however. 23732. Cellar Door - 2/13/2002 8:38:21 PM I Know Where I'm Going is on DVD, Rask. 23733. CalGal - 2/13/2002 8:55:22 PM No, he's talking about Thief of Bagdad. 23734. CalGal - 2/13/2002 9:56:00 PM Hey, the IMDB doesn't have Moulin Rouge listed for Best Costume, but the EW link does. I also counted up the nominations and EW has 8. 23735. Cellar Door - 2/14/2002 12:50:36 AM I have Thief of Bagdad on laser. 23736. rubberducky - 2/15/2050 9:02:25 AM based on what i read on this thread a few days ago, i rented and watched Ginger Snaps. 23737. Jenerator - 2/15/2050 12:58:12 PM Do any of you movie professionals know when Ali G's movie will be released in the US and where? 23738. Raskolnikov - 2/15/2050 2:07:26 PM I haven't heard a thing about it. It might not have a US distributer. 23739. PincherMartin - 2/16/2050 11:27:06 AM Rask, I look at the awarding of 13 Oscar nominations to "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings" in the same way that some people apparently look at the judging in Olympic figure skating contests: that is, "you've got to be fucking kidding me." 23740. CalGal - 2/16/2050 11:34:37 AM Pincher, 23741. PincherMartin - 2/16/2050 11:41:45 AM Cal, 23742. PincherMartin - 2/16/2050 11:44:16 AM Of course, that still might mean as many as eight Oscar nominations. 23743. CalGal - 2/16/2050 12:30:37 PM Okay, so I was off by two. You see my point. It still would have had as many Oscars as the other two leaders--although Moulin Rouge really should have had two more for music categories. 23744. Jenerator - 2/16/2050 12:35:13 PM Rask, 23745. CalGal - 2/16/2050 12:44:07 PM Jen, are you referring to Ali G In Da House or is there some other Ali G? 23746. Jenerator - 2/16/2050 2:45:54 PM That's the one! 23747. copans - 2/16/2050 3:16:48 PM Re: Michael Powell 23748. Cellar Door - 2/16/2050 3:35:01 PM I have The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp on laser. 23749. CalGal - 2/16/2050 4:37:09 PM Copans!!!! It's lovely to see you again. What did you think of Black Narcissus? 23750. copans - 2/16/2050 5:30:51 PM I really do think Red Shoes is good, but I guess with all the buildup.. Anton Walbrook is indeed great, but his name is called Kretchmar-Schuldorff in Colonel Blimp, which is a distinct advantage:) 23751. CalGal - 2/16/2050 6:09:21 PM Wow, congrats on the baby! Okay, the job and the move is probably cool, too. You'll still be under 70 before the kid hits college, so all is well. 23752. Cellar Door - 2/16/2050 6:30:41 PM The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a masterpiece! 23753. PincherMartin - 2/16/2050 8:46:29 PM Okay, so I was off by two. You see my point. It still would have had as many Oscars as the other two leaders--although Moulin Rouge really should have had two more for music categories. 23754. copans - 2/16/2050 9:04:02 PM Re: LOTR 23755. CalGal - 2/16/2050 9:14:30 PM As you might have figured out from my zenstate "review", I didn't have the foggiest idea what was going on in front of that statue, and I don't even remember him finding the ring in the snow. 23756. copans - 2/16/2050 9:42:47 PM Cal, 23757. CalGal - 2/16/2050 9:59:01 PM Ewwww, I hated Umbrellas of Cherbourg! Yes, the colors were gorgeous and bright--that's not why I hated the movie (review). But I liked the shadows and tones in BN much better. 23758. Cellar Door - 2/16/2050 9:59:53 PM Wow I'd love to come over to your place with some of my stuff! 23759. PincherMartin - 2/16/2050 10:35:03 PM Mortenson was okay in TFOR. His coolest role so far though has to be in G.I. Jane. 23760. CalGal - 2/16/2050 10:37:58 PM Are there a lot more categories than there were a couple of decades ago? How about compared to fifty years ago? If you count eligible categories, the increase isn't substantial. By my count, GWTW was eligible for 15 nominations, LOTR for 17. I just hate to think of TFOR getting as many nominations as Gone with the Wind and nearly tying the all-time record for nominations. Something seems out of kilter. I don't see why you're so fussed. GWTW is relatively rare in being extremely popular, critically well-regarded throughout the years, and successful at the Oscars. Even so, it only won 8 out of 13, and isn't the leader in noms or in wins. Here's the most Oscars, how many noms, how many eligible categories--I did the last myself, roughly, but it's not a perfect comparison in the case of multiple acting category noms. 23761. CalGal - 2/16/2050 10:39:56 PM As far as quality goes, it's a decent list, but there are at least three that I would cheerfully never see again (and one more that I'd only stop for the chariot race)--and all are of the same dull "epic" variety that LOTR is, the kind of film that the Academy loves to nominate. 23762. PincherMartin - 2/16/2050 10:44:02 PM An interesting chart, Cal. Still, as much as I think of Amadeus and Gandhi as both flashes-in-the-pan, I find them far preferable to TFOR in every way. 23763. CalGal - 2/16/2050 11:19:59 PM Gandhi, Ben Hur, The English Patient, and The Last Emperor are dreary films. Gigi is a good musical, but not what I would call a top rank musical, much less movie. Titanic does a good job during the sinking, but before that it is an embarrassment. Still, talking about your or my likes and dislikes misses the point, since it's not relevant. 23764. CalGal - 2/16/2050 11:23:13 PM I think the only movie on that list that didn't win Best Picture was Cabaret. 23765. PincherMartin - 2/16/2050 11:33:39 PM Ben Hur is fantastic. That chariot race is still exciting, even nearly fifty years after it was made. The only dreary part of the film is at the end when Jesus shows up. Gandhi is a bit too much the standard biopic, but still a good sight better than than TFOR. Ben Kingsley's performance as Gandhi is masterly, carrying the entire film. 23766. copans - 2/17/2050 1:10:25 AM Speaking of colors. Just finished Moulin Rouge. What a rush the first 40 or so minutes are. Good stuff through the end, but what I was impressed with was the wholeheartedness of the leads. They did their Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson imitations without apparent irony. That's acting. 23767. Cellar Door - 2/17/2050 9:42:20 AM Cellar has something else in "Mind" 23768. CalGal - 2/17/2050 9:55:08 AM Pincher--I definitely get huffy when people start going off on the "oh, for the glory days of yesteryear!" But I did think you were serious, so if you were just goofing then I'm sorry I missed that tone. 23769. Cellar Door - 2/17/2050 10:24:52 AM Cellar's Gold Standard for male performance in a musical is Bobby Van in Small Town Girl. 23770. CalGal - 2/17/2050 1:51:49 PM What? The guy did nothing but jump for five minutes. 23771. Cellar Door - 2/17/2050 1:52:24 PM YOU try it! 23772. CalGal - 2/17/2050 2:01:56 PM Great performances in a musical (no particular order): 23773. Cellar Door - 2/17/2050 2:30:16 PM You're forgetting Astaire's performances in the musicals he did with Ginger Rogers. 23774. CalGal - 2/17/2050 2:41:05 PM Oh, of course (about Grey). But he didn't have any part that wasn't onstage. 23775. Cellar Door - 2/17/2050 3:04:17 PM Read more carefully. I was citing Leslie Caron in Lili. 23776. Julius Caesar - 2/17/2050 3:38:46 PM From Rottentomatoes.com 23777. Julius Caesar - 2/17/2050 3:45:28 PM Three of the five best films nominated by the Academy are on the list -- 23778. CalGal - 2/17/2050 3:58:20 PM JC, how many of those movies have more than 50 reviews? 23779. CalGal - 2/17/2050 4:00:15 PM Cellar, I think all the Astaire/Rogers musicals suck in terms of performance--they are cheesy and overacted. 23780. Cellar Door - 2/17/2050 4:15:39 PM "cheesy and overacted"? 23781. CalGal - 2/17/2050 4:35:12 PM I realize I'm in the minority view about their value as musicals. But I don't think I'm that far off critical consensus on the performances. 23782. glendajean - 2/17/2050 6:21:02 PM The Royal Tannebaums 23783. PincherMartin - 2/17/2050 7:42:18 PM CalGal and Cellar -- 23784. Cellar Door - 2/17/2050 7:45:16 PM The former,"yes," the latter "no." 23785. CalGal - 2/17/2050 7:47:32 PM I agree with Cellar--SNF is not a musical. Grease is definitely a musical; it began life as a Broadway musical. 23786. copans - 2/17/2050 8:28:20 PM Re: Astaire. We've been over this before. As Cellar points out, Swing Time is the best argument--the Never Going To Dance scena particularly. I can't believe didn't fight for It's Always Fair Weather being the generally best acted musical (right down to the secondary parts). 23787. copans - 2/17/2050 8:30:33 PM Re: Moulin Rouge 23788. CalGal - 2/17/2050 8:42:25 PM I loathe Grease. 23789. copans - 2/17/2050 8:55:48 PM If I remember correctly, Cellar has a (justifiably) high opininion of Dolores Gray in IAFW, although not a leading role. Then again, neither was Paul Robeson, which I agree is a superlative performance that Whale capitalizes on in ways unimagined by Edna Ferber. 23790. ronski - 2/17/2050 9:01:40 PM I dreamed last night I misdialed and got Helen Mirren on the phone, and just said, "Sorry, wrong number," without telling her that I think she is our greatest living actor. 23791. Cellar Door - 2/17/2050 9:07:13 PM You have a dial telephone? 23792. CalGal - 2/17/2050 9:10:24 PM No requirement that it be a lead performance, and I'm willing to defer on Gray, since even in my memory she stands out. 23793. copans - 2/17/2050 9:10:26 PM Yeah, it means that you should check your phone bill, post her number and we'll make up for your oversight. 23794. ronski - 2/17/2050 9:10:30 PM I must have been calling from my mother's phone. She still has one. Two, in fact. 23795. copans - 2/17/2050 10:03:41 PM Re: Rex Harrison 23796. Cellar Door - 2/17/2050 10:14:39 PM I can't say that I care for Grease, but Randal Kleiser is a real sweetie. 23797. Absensia - 2/18/2050 12:13:28 AM This list is fun! Okay, who saw some of these? 23798. Cellar Door - 2/18/2050 12:58:55 PM I saw great numbers of them. And Mars Attacks! is a masterpiece! 23799. Erin R. - 2/18/2050 1:22:24 PM Oh, that's a fun site! 23800. Absensia - 2/18/2050 1:44:35 PM I would expect no less of you, CD! 23801. Ms. No - 2/18/2050 1:47:28 PM Abs, 23802. Absensia - 2/18/2050 2:27:09 PM Nope....probably a few were decent movies but the votes missedd the subtle inuendo or gendre(sp) 23803. Snowowl - 2/18/2050 2:55:53 PM Between all of my family members we've seen most of them. Some of them count amongst our very favourite films. We're with Cellar, Mars Attacks is great! 23804. Julius Caesar - 2/18/2050 3:46:40 PM Of what I've seen -- 23805. OhioSTOPAS - 2/18/2050 4:02:04 PM That list of bad movies would be more meaningful if sequels - which you know are gonna stink - were ineligible for selection. 23806. CalGal - 2/18/2050 4:33:07 PM I agree for the most part with JC's comments. In general, the list was inexplicable as an offering for worst movies ever. Some were horrible, but there were too many decent or good ones to make sense. 23807. CalGal - 2/18/2050 5:03:29 PM It's so odd, I am humming "If you could see her through my eyes" and thinking why on earth am I singing this song all of a sudden? Why not last night, when I was talking about musicals? And why Cabaret, which barely was mentioned? 23808. Raskolnikov - 2/18/2050 5:19:04 PM I have seen 46 films mentioned on the list. Many of them deserve to be there (Batman and Robin, Cobra). Others I actually like, but recognize that my tastes for them are idiosyncratic (Last Action Hero, Mars Attacks). But other films on the list are just cheap attempts at iconoclasm, or are otherwise inexplicable (Titanic, Blair Witch Project, Gods must be Crazy - ay-yi-yi). A 4th group is bad, but fun to watch anyway (Gymkata and the Ed Wood films). 23809. CalGal - 2/18/2050 5:27:02 PM Rask speaks the truth. Where's Sea of Grass, or Dragon Seed? The Conqueror, Green Berets, or The Alamo? Why no mention of that low point in Tony Curtis' career, Goodbye Charlie? 23810. Raskolnikov - 2/18/2050 5:35:31 PM I watched Black Narcissus last night. It is, unsurprisingly, beautifully filmed, well-acted, and thematically rich. I do believe, however, that Powell and Pressburger must have been hamstrung by production code issues (or the British equivalent), as the film never is quite convincing as to the sensuality of the place that drives the nuns towards failure. We mostly just have to take their word for it. The only real sensuality shown is in the performances of Jean Simmons and Kathleen Byron. But Byron is insane, and Simmons plays a native in heat, so it is never clear why this supposedly affects the rest of the group, or how it leads to their downfall. I think they needed a better male lead. I think I could have bought the premise if it were Cary Grant driving the women nuts with sexual frustration, instead of the rather homely David Farrar. 23811. Raskolnikov - 2/18/2050 5:45:02 PM What have you been doing lately, subjecting yourself to the worst of John Wayne's oeuvre? 23812. Raskolnikov - 2/18/2050 5:45:25 PM toys 23813. CalGal - 2/18/2050 5:47:15 PM I think they needed a better male lead. 23814. copans - 2/18/2050 5:50:23 PM Cal, 23815. CalGal - 2/18/2050 5:51:29 PM I would, however, put forward Casino Royale 23816. CalGal - 2/18/2050 5:52:49 PM What movies to win major Oscars are unwatchable? 23817. CalGal - 2/18/2050 6:03:33 PM Best Picture Winners 23818. Ms. No - 2/18/2050 6:18:44 PM Where are the Barbarian Movies like Yor and Ator? And crazed biker movies and girly spy movies like the Ginger films and Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill! 23819. bubbaette - 2/18/2050 6:29:19 PM Worst Movies from Yesteryear: 23820. Cellar Door - 2/18/2050 6:59:00 PM One Million B.C. ! 23821. copans - 2/18/2050 7:10:01 PM There are some careers for which the word "mediocrity" would be a panegyric. I'm thinking of Chuck Norris, Lee Majors, Freddie Prinze, Jr., Bo Derek, but in 50 years these will be the equivalent of off-the-map careers like actor Donald "Red" Barry or director James Flood. If you are not gloriously bad, you become a nonentity. 23822. CalGal - 2/18/2050 7:12:55 PM One thing to remember about Lee Majors--it is a bad idea to completely dismiss someone who has had three successful TV shows. If it were that simple, everyone would do it. As it is, Majors is one of a very select group. 23823. tonedef - 2/19/2050 7:10:53 AM If you took out the sequels - which I agree, are almost bad by definition -you'd have room for two awful adaptations - Something Wicked This Way Comes, and The Magician of Lublin. 23824. TabouliJones - 2/19/2050 9:52:19 AM One glaring omission from the worst movies list is Candy, directed by Christian Marquand and starring Marlon Brando, Ringo Starr, John Huston,Richard Burton, Walter Mathau, James Coburn and Sugar Ray Robinson. It is just awful, though fascinating to watch as a cultural artifact -- an example of late 60's flower power notions gone terribly haywire in the hands of some major icons. 23825. rubberducky - 2/19/2050 10:19:34 AM Re: Message # 23806, CalGal. 23826. CalGal - 2/19/2050 10:28:40 AM Oh, that was funny, too. 23827. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2050 10:33:39 AM I can't think of any unwatchable best picture winners. Some bad films have won (American Beauty, Braveheart, Gigi, Gentlemen's Agreement), but they all have elements that make them watchable. Gentlemen's Agreement, for instance, is at least worth seeing as a piece in the history of American anti-semitism, and of liberals belated reaction to it. 23828. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2050 10:34:46 AM 1 million BC can be called many things, but not "unwatchable", at least by any heterosexual post-pubescent male with a pulse. 23829. rubberducky - 2/19/2050 10:36:08 AM 1 million BC can be called many things, but not "unwatchable", at least by any heterosexual post-pubescent male with a pulse. 23830. Erin R. - 2/19/2050 10:36:46 AM Gigi was an awesome movie! I actually have it on tape. 23831. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2050 10:56:54 AM Aside from the costumes, I can't think of much to recommend it. Lame songs, mostly unlikable characters, etc. "It's a bore!" 23832. Indiana Jones - 2/19/2050 11:06:55 AM Braveheart a bad film? 23833. arkymalarky - 2/19/2050 11:16:54 AM My students love Braveheart and are always trying to get me to watch it. One of these days I will, I guess. 23834. CalGal - 2/19/2050 11:22:51 AM I've seen Greatest Show on Earth, and it really is dreadful. 23835. Indiana Jones - 2/19/2050 11:28:47 AM arky: I kind of want to see Rask's criticisms before saying anything else about it, but I'd give it four out of four stars. 23836. Erin R. - 2/19/2050 11:30:31 AM The songs were great. 23837. Indiana Jones - 2/19/2050 11:43:33 AM The worst "Best Picture" I've seen: The English Patient. 23838. CalGal - 2/19/2050 11:48:07 AM I'd agree with that list except I like Forrest Gump more than that. Dances With Wolves was one of those movies that struck me as very enjoyable when I saw it, but the next time I looked at it I couldn't see what I'd liked. 23839. CalGal - 2/19/2050 11:50:27 AM Erin--that is Peck. I haven't seen Man in Grey Flannel Suit, or if I have, I've forgotten it. 23840. Indiana Jones - 2/19/2050 11:52:33 AM You're right, Cal. I take it back off the list. 23841. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2050 12:06:29 PM Indy: Braveheart is a moderately bad film. I gave it a negative review when it came out, but didn't hate it. That is still my opinion of it. Main criticisms: 23842. CalGal - 2/19/2050 12:09:14 PM Yeah, keep in mind that in this conversation I'm comparing it to other Best Picture winners, not other great films. I don't know that it's a great film--but I think it is a great sports film. It's a good movie, and when compared against other Best Picture winners, there's a whole lot that would lose the remote control battle with Rocky. 23843. CalGal - 2/19/2050 12:10:43 PM I thought that Irish dude in Braveheart was hot. I began clicking away whenever he wasn't on screen. 23844. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2050 12:15:06 PM There is a certain class of film that I think is loved mostly because it is the first film of its type that the viewers have ever seen. Indy is a more literate viewer, so I don't include him in this characterization of Braveheart's fans (although I do wonder if he saw Braveheart *before* he dove deeper into film, and hasn't re-evaluated it since), but to many of its adherents it is the first film that emotionally moved them on anything close to an adult level, and thus they think it is a masterpiece. Shawshank Redemption has a huge following for the same reason. Both are considered masterpieces almost solely by people who have only seen a dozen films made prior to 1980. 23845. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2050 12:17:46 PM Rocky is fluff, but at least it is a decent movie that is really hard to dislike for anyone except unrepentant cynics. 23846. CalGal - 2/19/2050 12:21:09 PM Rocky is fluff, but at least it is a decent movie that is really hard to dislike for anyone except unrepentant cynics. 23847. copans - 2/19/2050 12:30:46 PM Re: Shawshank 23848. PelleNilsson - 2/19/2050 12:31:47 PM A piece of history from The Economist: 23849. glendajean - 2/19/2050 12:41:35 PM I've always thought that 1950s American movies shot in Europe also tried to be a travelogue for the American public. Hence, that movie with Katharine Hepburn in Venice takes up a lot of screen time showing us Venice from a tourist's p.o.v. Roman Holiday does that some, too, doesn't it? It's been years since I've seen it but I remember scooter rides through Rome. 23850. CalGal - 2/19/2050 12:44:30 PM Cop--ha! 23851. Indiana Jones - 2/19/2050 12:47:00 PM Rask: 23852. Indiana Jones - 2/19/2050 12:48:47 PM And it is much, much better than The Patriot. Maybe I dislike The Patriot because I know the bad history in that film and don't know Scottish history enough to be as critical of Bravheart. But The Patriot is just mawkish. 23853. Indiana Jones - 2/19/2050 12:56:00 PM Rask (23844): I watched Braveheart only within the last one or two years (on DVD), when I started filling in gaps of movies I'd never seen that were considered the best. 23854. CalGal - 2/19/2050 12:56:46 PM I didn't care for Gladiator, but the sex thing between Wallace and that queen woman in Braveheart really did cause problems. It violated an epic clause that Gladiator kept intact. 23855. Erin R. - 2/19/2050 12:56:54 PM Speaking of travelogues: I love it when movies are filmed in cities I am familiar with, and there are chase scenes and such, where the characters are in one place, then way across town a few seconds later. 23856. Indiana Jones - 2/19/2050 1:00:28 PM I can't remember the sex scene, though I remember they had an affair. Did they just steal away? 23857. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2050 1:02:26 PM "Is that it? I am always amazed by people who rave over Shawshank. I enjoy it, but simply can't understand the enthusiasm." 23858. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2002 1:12:26 PM "Can be said of several films (that they lack originality). Shakespeare borrowed many of his plots, so it really depends on the execution." 23859. Erin R. - 2/19/2002 1:16:15 PM I loved The Shawshank Redemption, and I've seen dozens upon dozens of movies of pre-1980 vintage. 23860. CalGal - 2/19/2002 1:28:16 PM Oh, here's the movie thread. Weird things happened. 23861. Erin R. - 2/19/2002 1:46:13 PM Yes, it's way down on the list for some reason. 23862. Phoenix Rising - 2/19/2002 1:57:22 PM I basically agree with the list of bad movies that was linked in #23797. However, some bad movies are fun to watch while others are just unwatchable. 23863. copans - 2/19/2002 2:09:35 PM Have most of you seen the coming attractions for Star Wars II? Maybe this has been covered before, but it looks like Phantom Menace is going to look like a classic by comparison. I've seen the preview several times before LOTR which you would think would be a likely crowd to respond with other than stupefied silence if it augured well. (Poor Ewan McGregor.) 23864. rubberducky - 2/19/2002 2:09:55 PM rented Tarzan and the Lost City mainly (okay, only) because it stars Casper Van Dien who, for my money, is the hottest male movie star today. the fact he hasn't made anything watchable since Starship Troopers doesn't change the fact that he is a beautiful, perfectly proportioned man. 23865. rubberducky - 2/19/2002 2:13:16 PM Re: Message # 23863, copans. 23866. CalGal - 2/19/2002 2:27:04 PM The one that hypes the romance is an embarrassment. 23867. Erin R. - 2/19/2002 2:33:20 PM I haven't seen any. I may do a search for trailers on-line. 23868. copans - 2/19/2002 2:33:47 PM ducky: 23869. rubberducky - 2/19/2002 2:34:33 PM you should, they make me wanna see it (not that is an accomplishment in and of itself). just remember there are 3 to get. 23870. Ms. No - 2/19/2002 2:37:50 PM I think you guys have overlooked something important about Shawshank: it's one of the best adaptions of a Stephen King story ever made. I think that may account for a great deal of its popularity. 23871. CalGal - 2/19/2002 2:42:38 PM MsNo, you might have nailed it with the adaptation bit. 23872. Erin R. - 2/19/2002 2:44:21 PM I agree that the quality of the book adaptation is part of the reason the movie was popular. 23873. Ms. No - 2/19/2002 2:53:31 PM Erin, 23874. OhioSTOPAS - 2/19/2002 3:31:39 PM Rubberducky (Message # 23864): You deliberately watched a bad movie just to ogle some good-looking young star? 23875. CalGal - 2/19/2002 3:33:53 PM Cop, 23876. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2002 3:41:29 PM Erin: "I loved The Shawshank Redemption, and I've seen dozens upon dozens of movies of pre-1980 vintage." 23877. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2002 3:43:01 PM Ms No: King's fanbase is part of the reason, but Shawshank has ethusiastic worshippers even among people who don't read King. 23878. copans - 2/19/2002 3:46:42 PM Cal, 23879. Ms. No - 2/19/2002 3:48:25 PM Yes, but I'm convinced that EVERYONE should love King so those who saw the movie but haven't read him like the film because he's such a good storyteller. 23880. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2002 3:48:26 PM "every one talked about how Sturges was so certain that Horst Buckholtz would be the "hit" of the movie." 23881. CalGal - 2/19/2002 3:50:41 PM Cop, 23882. copans - 2/19/2002 4:09:26 PM Cal, 23883. CalGal - 2/19/2002 4:13:22 PM I completely agree about "truthtellers". There are many excellent actors who can't seem to identify a good property--Ray Liotta comes to mind. Then you have Andy McDowell, who is no great shakes as an actress but whose movies make a hell of a film festival. 23884. Ms. No - 2/19/2002 4:16:53 PM Ditto, Keanu Reeves. 23885. copans - 2/19/2002 4:48:26 PM Magnificent Seven: 23886. Indiana Jones - 2/19/2002 5:35:49 PM Shakespeare added much originality elsewhere. What was original in Braveheart? 23887. Indiana Jones - 2/19/2002 5:36:28 PM So Braveheart is great simply because it got some nominations? 23888. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2002 6:21:52 PM "... is original with Spartacus, do you? At least two notable Joan of Arcs films predate Spartacus." 23889. Raskolnikov - 2/19/2002 6:26:01 PM What is it that you thought was particular good, worthy of 4 stars? The acting? The complexity of the film? The irresistable tightness of the story? So far, your only real comment has been to the effect of "well, it wasn't *that* bad". If our disagreement is between my C+ and your B-, we are quibbling, but if you indeed give it an A, I think you need to mount a stronger defense than "Shakespeare cribbed his plots too". 23890. Julius Caesar - 2/19/2002 7:53:55 PM Spartacus is a better film than most believe. The script is very engaging, almost playful. Braveheart is closer to Dances with Wolves than a lot of folks will admit. What Gibson did not have in terms of intelligent dialogue he made up for in blood and wry humor (Parick McGoohan chucking fops out of windows is goof stuff). When all is said and done, Braveheart is a visually stimulating but overlong cartoon. 23891. Cellar Door - 2/19/2002 8:16:10 PM Ah, but you can't have that and make the characters "sympathetic." 23892. CalGal - 2/19/2002 8:39:37 PM Well, that's because it's unpopular to admit that there really were a lot of communists in Hollywood in the 30s and 40s. As we discussed somewhere recently. 23893. tonedef - 2/20/2002 2:25:38 AM copans 23894. tonedef - 2/20/2002 2:31:38 AM "Harry in My Pocket" got me thinking about Harry Palmer, and then I associated Len Deighton with John LeCarre, (which is how my neurons are wired), and it occurred to me, one of the truly awful films of the 1980's - The Little Drummer Girl 23895. CalGal - 2/20/2002 2:46:00 AM Bullitt is a great picture. 23896. stostosto - 2/20/2002 6:30:11 AM I saw The Little Drummer Girl in the 80s and I remember thinking it was a good film - in fact, my opinion was that it was better than the book which I had incidentally read beforehand. (I don't remember much about it by now, though). I am generally wary of Le Carre, it should probably be said. First, I am not much into that genre, and second, his prose strikes me as massively dull. 23897. copans - 2/20/2002 8:14:37 AM tone, 23898. stostosto - 2/20/2002 8:40:09 AM I hadn't registered that Diane Keaton played the leading part in Drummer Girl. I can't for the life of me recall her in that part. (And I can't fathom how she would be chosen for it). 23899. tonedef - 2/21/2002 2:21:37 AM CalGal, 23900. tonedef - 2/21/2002 2:34:12 AM stosto, 23901. Cellar Door - 2/21/2002 9:34:36 AM 23902. rubberducky - 2/21/2002 11:21:26 AM nice article, CD. thanks for posting it 23903. Cellar Door - 2/21/2002 11:44:10 AM You're welcome! 23904. Julius Caesar - 2/21/2002 11:45:48 AM Ditto to duck. 23905. CalGal - 2/21/2002 11:52:50 AM Yes, I enjoyed it too. Has your Chronicle piece been published yet? 23906. CalGal - 2/21/2002 11:54:55 AM Tone, 23907. PelleNilsson - 2/21/2002 1:59:43 PM The Little Drummer Girl is Carré's worst book. No wonder the movie was bad too. 23908. stostosto - 2/21/2002 4:30:16 PM I maintain that the movie was better than the book. 23909. Cellar Door - 2/23/2002 9:51:28 AM 23910. CalGal - 2/23/2002 12:33:48 PM That's all, folks. 23911. glendajean - 2/23/2002 1:32:37 PM Another similarity of Streisand and Midler, besides being Jewish divas, is that they have a heightened sense of sentimentality in many of the movies they made. While walking on a treadmill this afternoon, I watched a part of The Way We Were, something I haven't seen in a long time. 23912. Cellar Door - 2/23/2002 2:26:14 PM Well Redford never did anything for me, but the scene is hot anyway. 23913. judithathome - 2/23/2002 2:40:27 PM I can imagine Farley was Mr. Wrong for a lot of people. 23914. Absensia - 2/23/2002 2:44:22 PM I think I'm going to see Dragon Fly tonight. Has anyone heard anything about it? 23915. judithathome - 2/23/2002 2:46:51 PM Just saw the ads for it and thought they were like that one with Harrison Ford where Michelle Pfieffer turns into the ghost of an ex lover...I'm sure this one is different but the ads looked like the other one. 23916. Absensia - 2/23/2002 2:48:15 PM It reminded me of t hat a bit too....but my choices were Dragon Fly or LOTR. 23917. judithathome - 2/23/2002 2:49:01 PM No books? ;-) 23918. judithathome - 2/23/2002 2:49:26 PM (joke joke!!) 23919. Absensia - 2/23/2002 2:50:17 PM :P 23920. Absensia - 2/23/2002 2:50:46 PM I'm not going alone you know!!!! 23921. CalGal - 2/23/2002 3:02:34 PM There is no movie where Michelle Pfeiffer turns into the ghost of his ex-lover, but in any event Dragon Fly is more a la ghost story than thriller. 23922. judithathome - 2/23/2002 3:07:43 PM Well, whatever...Harrison Ford is married to Michelle and they are making love and suddenly she morphs into the ex lover...at least that is what the ads looked like... 23923. CalGal - 2/23/2002 3:21:29 PM Yes, I knew what movie you meant--I forgot to mention the title. And I know that's what the ads made it look like. But the ads are completely offbase, so I was just mentioning it. 23924. judithathome - 2/23/2002 3:26:46 PM Well, I never saw it...and probably won't...so thanks for straightening me out on it. :-) 23925. Shannon - 2/23/2002 3:28:47 PM Despite my dislike Melanie Griffith, we watched Working Girl last night. Entertaining. So I guess that's her reason for existence. 23926. CalGal - 2/23/2002 3:32:00 PM That is a great movie; I count it among Ford's finest performances, and Weaver is equally outstanding. All Griffith has to do is not ruin it,and she does this very well. 23927. glendajean - 2/23/2002 4:49:25 PM Isn't that "New Jerusalem" by Carly Simon? I think they did a remake for one of the WTC tributes (or some event recently). Oh, I know, it was one of those tourism ads or we love New York ads, I think. 23928. judithathome - 2/23/2002 4:51:26 PM I thought it was the Post Office ads...? 23929. glendajean - 2/23/2002 4:55:46 PM Maybe that's it, Judith. 23930. glendajean - 2/23/2002 4:55:53 PM Maybe that's it, Judith. 23931. glendajean - 2/23/2002 4:56:15 PM Sorry for the echo. 23932. CalGal - 2/23/2002 5:08:03 PM Yes, it was the post office ads, and they used New Jerusalem, which won Carly an Oscar, I believe, and I don't think it's coincidence that they chose it, given the WTC connection. 23933. pogie - 2/23/2002 7:51:42 PM Anybody seen John Q? I thought it was entertaining, if pretty overblown. Mr. Washington did very well as a slightly tubby and clueless average guy. And the other actors actually managed to not all seem like cutout figures, which was nifty given the script, which just strung a lot of cliches and healthcare arguments together. 23934. CalGal - 2/23/2002 7:59:59 PM Hey, Pogie! Long time. 23935. pogie - 2/23/2002 8:17:03 PM Training Day was beautiful until the ending. I am strongly inclined to catch it again at the dollar cinema. 23936. Julius Caesar - 2/24/2002 10:13:35 AM Lord of the Rings 23937. copans - 2/24/2002 12:12:25 PM On Friday night, my 16 year-old and I went to hear Michael Wilmington, the Chicago Tribune lead reviewer, give a talk at a local school. A lot of it was fairly interesting, including a list I had not seen since it was published in 1999 giving the top 100 movies of the century. This list was different than an earlier one I found online 23938. copans - 2/24/2002 12:16:59 PM I should probably add, given the jeremiads against LOTR, that Michael Wilmington would vote for that among the nominees, though he really seemed to like all the nominees, with Beautiful Mind bringing up the rear. 23939. Cellar Door - 2/24/2002 7:22:19 PM BAFTA AWARDS 23940. Cellar Door - 2/24/2002 7:22:37 PM COSTUME DESIGN 23941. Phoenix Rising - 2/25/2002 9:12:09 AM although he particularly relished the interweaving of songs atop the elephant 23942. Phoenix Rising - 2/25/2002 9:22:49 AM This weekend, I also watched Vatel. It is a movie about food. It is a movie about Gerard Depardieu having consumed too much food in his life time. It is a movie about feet. It is a movie about Tim Roth not moving a single facial muscle. It is a movie about Uma Thurman doing something, but I am not sure what. 23943. TabouliJones - 2/25/2002 9:36:45 AM I have to disagree with Phoenix re: Larry Clark's Bully. Certainly there is a pornographic edge to the film and Clark's interest in teenage sexuality tilts toward the prurient. Still, the movie is a challenging, uncompromising, look at a real life tragedy. I was disturbed and intrigued enough to see it twice and now think that it stands as one of the better movies of 2001 -- not that I support Clark's worldview, of course. 23944. copans - 2/25/2002 11:24:38 AM Phoenix, 23945. CalGal - 2/25/2002 11:33:37 AM Cop--thanks for the Wilmington writeup; it sounds interesting. 23946. Raskolnikov - 2/25/2002 11:38:33 AM I don't think Leo amd Danes were the problem in R+J. The main problem was the bad match between Baz's style and Shakespeare's material. I can think of few more painful scenes in my memory than watching Mercutio's Queen Mab speech unintelligibly shouted while guitars scream in the background. 23947. mgleason - 2/25/2002 11:45:17 AM I saw an unpretentious little movie this weekend called The Thirteenth Floor, a cross between The Truman Show and The Matrix, which did a good job of exploring the nature of reality without being too heavy-handed about it. On some levels it worked better than Matrix, because it didn't have to support action movie expectations, and though character develoment wasn't a priority, any faithful SF reader/viewer wouldn't expect it. 23948. copans - 2/25/2002 12:01:26 PM I guess what I was getting at, unless Baz was really lucky, at that stage of his career he wouldn't have had the clout to get the level of actors he needed to pull off Moulin Rouge, unless he went with unknowns and got really really lucky. (Part of the frisson of MR is finding out these familiar top-level stars can actually sing OK) 23949. Raskolnikov - 2/25/2002 12:09:34 PM There does seem to be a trend in musicals of having non-musical actors sing while using their real voices. Does this date back further than "Everyone Says I love You", or does Woody Allen truly deserve credit for being a very influential musical director? 23950. Raskolnikov - 2/25/2002 12:15:02 PM That was one thing that disappointed me about R+J. Leo and Danes were pretty solid casting. Both were perceived at the time as two of the best young actors then working. I was curious to see whether they could pull off Shakespearean dialogue, which has befuddled many otherwise solid actors. But given that Baz was out of his depth as a director on that one, I still don't know if Leo and Danes can do Shakespeare. 23951. copans - 2/25/2002 1:48:09 PM ..I meant NORMA Shearer as Juliet, not Moira. All that Powell/Pressburger chat a few weeks ago. Norma was only 33 when she did the part for her husband, but it was an old 33. I'd have preferred Moira, as well as Danes. 23952. CalGal - 2/25/2002 1:52:05 PM Does this date back further than "Everyone Says I love You", or does Woody Allen truly deserve credit for being a very influential musical director? 23953. Absensia - 2/25/2002 1:53:53 PM I saw Dragonfly this weekend. My recommendation? Don't waste your time. If you are a Kevin Costner fan you may be able to sit through it. But, it was boring, tedious, short on plot, long on the expected. It's sort of a haunting for a while, but only because Costner swings from disbelieve to manic belif. He and his wife are doctors. She, while doing volunteer work in South American is killed. Costner gets the message from all sorts of her pediatric patients who have "flat lined" and returned, that his wife wants him "there." 23954. judithathome - 2/25/2002 1:59:47 PM Peter Bogdanovitch made At Long Last Love in 1975 using actors who did their own singing. 23955. Cellar Door - 2/25/2002 2:02:13 PM I saw At Long Last Love the day it opened at Radio City. YIKES! 23956. CalGal - 2/25/2002 2:02:36 PM Yeah, that's a good one, since it was an original musical. Probably a better first case than mine. 23957. judithathome - 2/25/2002 2:04:39 PM Oh yeah...probably why no one remembers it. 23958. CalGal - 2/25/2002 2:06:33 PM I think one reason that Woody's musical works as well as it does is because he didn't showcase the songs or the singers; he wanted a "natural" musical. 23959. Cellar Door - 2/25/2002 2:07:28 PM It also needed someone who understood Cole Porter. 23960. CalGal - 2/25/2002 2:12:35 PM True nuff, it had more wrong with it than lousy singers. 23961. Phoenix Rising - 2/25/2002 2:16:45 PM I give Lurhmann credit for trying to bring Shakespeare to a new young audience, and he probably succeeded much as Franco Zefferelli did for my generation. He really tried some out-there stuff. Some of it worked: 23962. Ms. No - 2/25/2002 2:43:26 PM DiCaprio needs to find his gray areas. The incredible impact of watching him fully commit to wrenching emotion----think of the Cricket Scene in What's Eating Gilbert Grape---- loses its punch after awhile. It begins to look like a trick or just another actor tool "Ah, here's where Leo pulls out all the stops and sobs his eyes out....again." We've seen this. We know he can do it. Now we need to see that he can NOT do it. 23963. Ms. No - 2/25/2002 2:49:35 PM Phoenix, 23964. CalGal - 2/25/2002 2:56:53 PM DiCaprio was sexy to 14 year old and earlier girls, who have this serious yen for androgyny these days. 23965. judithathome - 2/25/2002 2:59:29 PM Isn't he sort of a has-been now? I mean, he hasn't been in anything lately and has even stopped being mentioned in the gossip columns. 23966. glendajean - 2/25/2002 3:02:03 PM It's a sad commentary on me, but I confuse Claire Dane and Kirsten Dunst's (sp?) names. I know the difference between the actresses, but I see one of these names and I realize I am thinking of the other. 23967. Ms. No - 2/25/2002 3:04:50 PM Speaking of sexy, has anyone seen the trailers for the new Spiderman movie, yet? I had grave doubts about Toby Maguire being able to pull off any sex appeal at all----it's the youth thing again----but after seeing the trailer...hubba hubba! 23968. Phoenix Rising - 2/25/2002 3:08:10 PM I hear you No. Take Ewan McGregor's cathartic moments in MR. It was pitch perfect. I speak of the scene where he throws the money at Satine and also the end where he gives an anguished cry while holding the dead Satine in his arms. 23969. Ms. No - 2/25/2002 3:11:10 PM CG, 23970. Ms. No - 2/25/2002 3:15:35 PM Phoenix, 23971. Phoenix Rising - 2/25/2002 3:18:30 PM I saw the Spiderman preview at Xmas before LOTR. It looks like the movie is going to make me dizzy. And I don't just mean Toby. 23972. CalGal - 2/25/2002 3:18:33 PM Well, MacGregor was only 25 when he made Trainspotting. 23973. Ms. No - 2/25/2002 3:31:08 PM CG, 23974. Ms. No - 2/25/2002 3:45:39 PM Phoenix, 23975. Julius Caesar - 2/25/2002 3:53:58 PM DiCaprio's adolescent-to-adult Waterloo will be Scorcese's Gangs of New York, and I'm not sure Leo will fare as Wellington. It looks tough, lustrous, and brawny (and a little overwrought) and my take from the preview was the Leonardo looked like Tinkerbell throughout. 23976. Julius Caesar - 2/25/2002 3:59:30 PM Imagine Fight Club, starring . . . . Robby Benson. 23977. glendajean - 2/25/2002 4:05:21 PM Ouch ... have you been going through back copies of old Tiger Beats? 23978. rubberducky - 2/25/2002 4:05:49 PM rented Don't Say a Word over the weekend. the plot was pretty ridiculous but otherwise it was a good rental. some good performances and nothing felt too forced. loved the little girl that was kidnapped and the crazy bitch as well. 23979. Ms. No - 2/25/2002 4:38:02 PM The crazy chick has been in lots of stuff as supporting actress, but I think this is her first starring role---at least in a major film. 23980. copans - 2/25/2002 8:58:09 PM Seijun Suzuki on Criterion DVD: 23981. Cellar Door - 2/25/2002 9:15:33 PM 23983. rubberducky - 2/26/2002 9:30:40 AM MsNo: 23984. judithathome - 2/26/2002 5:54:00 PM Let's play the One Word Movie Game into a millennial....name a movie that uses one word from the previous title or connects by actor or director or subject. 23985. CalGal - 2/26/2002 5:55:14 PM Separate Tables 23986. judithathome - 2/26/2002 5:56:12 PM Tea and Sympathy 23987. Cellar Door - 2/26/2002 5:58:00 PM Yolanda and the Thief 23988. judithathome - 2/26/2002 5:59:42 PM It Takes A Thief 23989. CalGal - 2/26/2002 6:00:31 PM The Thief Who Came to Dinner. 23990. judithathome - 2/26/2002 6:04:34 PM My Dinner With André 23991. CalGal - 2/26/2002 6:07:02 PM Andre 23992. judithathome - 2/26/2002 6:10:51 PM Bride of Frankenstein 23993. CalGal - 2/26/2002 6:12:40 PM Showboat 23994. judithathome - 2/26/2002 6:17:15 PM Barefoot Contessa 23995. CalGal - 2/26/2002 6:20:40 PM James Whale directed BoF and the first Showboat. Unless you are allowed to cross both. 23996. judithathome - 2/26/2002 6:23:02 PM Oaky...I was going for Ava Gardner in Show Boat and in Barefoot Contessa. 23997. CalGal - 2/26/2002 6:27:52 PM Oh, I knew what you were going for. I should have said the first Showboat. 23998. judithathome - 2/26/2002 6:28:31 PM The Good Earth 23999. CalGal - 2/26/2002 6:29:33 PM The Day the Earth Stood Still. 24000. judithathome - 2/26/2002 6:30:30 PM The Day of the Locust 24001. CalGal - 2/26/2002 6:30:37 PM Hombre. 24002. judithathome - 2/26/2002 6:31:18 PM Hud 24003. CalGal - 2/26/2002 6:31:25 PM Ack, you stole the millenial! (yes, I know it was your turn, I was being sly. Ignore Hombre). 24004. judithathome - 2/26/2002 6:33:25 PM Cheaper By The Dozen 24005. CalGal - 2/26/2002 6:35:24 PM Laura. 24006. judithathome - 2/26/2002 6:36:10 PM The Naked Prey 24007. Cellar Door - 2/26/2002 6:40:29 PM Go Naked in the World 24008. judithathome - 2/26/2002 6:44:21 PM The Naked Maja (got it on two counts) 24009. judithathome - 2/26/2002 7:02:13 PM Well, I guess my little coup scared everyone off...Naked in both titles and Tony Franciosa in both films. 24010. Cellar Door - 2/26/2002 7:43:33 PM Pandora and the Flying Dutchman 24011. judithathome - 2/26/2002 7:55:08 PM Meersman and Lewin? 24012. judithathome - 2/26/2002 7:57:53 PM Flying Down To Rio 24013. Cellar Door - 2/26/2002 8:06:28 PM Ava and Lewin 24014. judithathome - 2/26/2002 8:08:37 PM Mr. And Mrs. Bridge 24015. Cellar Door - 2/26/2002 8:23:37 PM No Man's Land 24016. copans - 2/28/2002 8:38:45 AM All Quiet on the Western Front 24017. Phoenix Rising - 2/28/2002 9:09:17 AM All the President's Men 24018. judithathome - 2/28/2002 9:12:44 AM Showoff! 24019. CalGal - 2/28/2002 9:40:42 AM Harry in my Pocket 24020. CalGal - 2/28/2002 9:42:30 AM Whoops--Paris When It Sizzles s/be Last Time I Saw Paris. 24021. Cellar Door - 2/28/2002 9:53:43 AM Paris Holiday 24022. judithathome - 2/28/2002 9:55:53 AM Holiday Inn 24023. Cellar Door - 2/28/2002 10:29:53 AM Jamaica Inn 24024. judithathome - 2/28/2002 10:30:29 AM High Wind In Jamaica 24025. Phoenix Rising - 2/28/2002 1:36:41 PM Hang 'Em High 24026. CalGal - 2/28/2002 1:37:42 PM High Society. 24027. Phoenix Rising - 2/28/2002 1:40:52 PM Casino 24028. CalGal - 2/28/2002 1:42:58 PM Ah, okay. 24029. Phoenix Rising - 2/28/2002 1:45:29 PM Dr. Strangelove 24030. Cellar Door - 2/28/2002 1:56:18 PM Being There 24031. Phoenix Rising - 2/28/2002 3:36:56 PM Patton 24032. CalGal - 2/28/2002 3:38:35 PM Planet of the Apes 24033. judithathome - 2/28/2002 3:40:04 PM Return To Planet of the Apes 24034. Phoenix Rising - 2/28/2002 3:54:59 PM Planet of the Apes (2001)? 24035. judithathome - 2/28/2002 3:55:43 PM Boogie Nights 24036. Phoenix Rising - 2/28/2002 3:57:36 PM Cannonball Run 24037. Phoenix Rising - 2/28/2002 4:02:43 PM Wait. Stop. Hold the presses. 24038. Ms. No - 2/28/2002 4:21:13 PM But you can go from Being There to 24039. judithathome - 2/28/2002 5:45:10 PM This one word movie game races over at the Atlantic! 24040. Cellar Door - 2/28/2002 9:19:24 PM Lola Montes 24041. copans - 2/28/2002 10:20:38 PM Letter from an Unknown Woman 24042. Cellar Door - 3/1/2002 11:18:37 AM Beyond a Reasonable Doubt 24043. CalGal - 3/1/2002 11:24:48 AM A Walk in the Sun 24044. CalGal - 3/1/2002 11:34:25 AM Stop the presses: 24045. judithathome - 3/1/2002 11:55:23 AM Sam Elliot had better be in this movie a LOT to make up for Gibson's stilted delivery. 24046. CalGal - 3/1/2002 12:05:50 PM Gibson is one of the major movie stars of the decade, Judith. "Stilted delivery" is not among his list of problems. 24047. Erin R. - 3/1/2002 12:08:03 PM I like Mel, but I don't trust the Southern accent I heard in the trailers. 24048. CalGal - 3/1/2002 12:09:49 PM The trailer is terrible, and makes the movie look awful. I can only figure it sells to the peanut gallery. I was stunned to read solid reviews in the Times and Ebert. Haven't read others yet. 24049. judithathome - 3/1/2002 12:21:38 PM Cal, if you don't think his delivery in those trailers is stilted, then you haven't seen the ones I've seen. I'm not arguing he's not one of the major stars of a decade; I was only saying the delivery of his lines in this movie is stilted. 24050. judithathome - 3/1/2002 12:22:51 PM Maybe it;s as Erin says, the Southern accent. Perhaps he thinks all Southerners speak in a slow, monotone with no inflection. 24051. CalGal - 3/1/2002 12:27:01 PM I was only saying the delivery of his lines in this movie is stilted. 24052. Erin R. - 3/1/2002 12:33:11 PM I have a thing about Southern accents in movies; I think they are hard to pull off if this is not your native dialect. 24053. judithathome - 3/1/2002 12:36:24 PM Cal, I don't want to get into it...whatever you say. Enjoy the movie. 24054. theDiva - 3/1/2002 1:00:42 PM A Raisin in the Sun. 24055. CalGal - 3/1/2002 1:16:26 PM Hogan's Heroes! 24056. Cellar Door - 3/1/2002 1:22:08 PM Trouble Man 24057. theDiva - 3/1/2002 1:23:41 PM A Man for All Seasons 24058. judithathome - 3/1/2002 1:24:46 PM Little Man Tate 24059. theDiva - 3/1/2002 1:25:14 PM Contact 24060. judithathome - 3/1/2002 1:25:56 PM Lone Star 24061. CalGal - 3/1/2002 1:27:46 PM Eight Men Out 24062. theDiva - 3/1/2002 1:28:35 PM Bull Durham 24063. CalGal - 3/1/2002 1:30:03 PM King of the Gypsies 24064. theDiva - 3/1/2002 1:31:09 PM Pope of Greenwich Village 24065. theDiva - 3/1/2002 1:31:40 PM (whaddya need a fancy suit faw, Chollie, you ain't got no job ta wear it to.) 24066. CalGal - 3/1/2002 1:32:27 PM It's My Party 24067. CalGal - 3/1/2002 1:33:52 PM EW on Gibson 24068. theDiva - 3/1/2002 1:37:54 PM My Life as a Dog 24069. CalGal - 3/1/2002 1:41:53 PM What's eating Gilbert Grape? 24070. Ms. No - 3/1/2002 1:45:47 PM Eating Raoul 24071. theDiva - 3/1/2002 1:49:00 PM Big Night 24072. Ms. No - 3/1/2002 1:50:54 PM The Linguini Incident 24073. OhioSTOPAS - 3/1/2002 1:57:41 PM Meatballs. 24074. Ms. No - 3/1/2002 2:00:13 PM Scrooged 24075. CalGal - 3/1/2002 2:00:16 PM 24076. CalGal - 3/1/2002 2:00:45 PM Scrooge 24077. theDiva - 3/1/2002 2:01:22 PM Ghostbusters 24078. theDiva - 3/1/2002 2:01:58 PM oh balls. Refresh already, Diva. 24079. Jamie R - 3/1/2002 2:07:32 PM The Razor's Edge 24080. Jamie R - 3/1/2002 2:08:30 PM (whoops, I'm off track, aren't I?) 24081. OhioSTOPAS - 3/1/2002 2:25:16 PM Razorba the Greek 24082. CalGal - 3/1/2002 2:28:56 PM Ha. 24083. judithathome - 3/1/2002 2:29:39 PM Greek Tycoon 24084. CalGal - 3/1/2002 2:30:35 PM So we can legitimately get to Razor's Edge, but I dunno about this Razorba bit. 24085. theDiva - 3/1/2002 2:30:40 PM Zorba the Greek 24086. theDiva - 3/1/2002 2:31:29 PM oh, fuck. Another xp. 24087. Jamie R - 3/1/2002 2:36:46 PM When Harry Met Sally 24088. CalGal - 3/1/2002 2:37:05 PM Oooh, nice association. 24089. CalGal - 3/1/2002 2:39:04 PM Oh, I'll take Harry Met Sally to Analyze This! 24090. theDiva - 3/1/2002 2:40:04 PM Raging Bull 24091. theDiva - 3/1/2002 2:40:29 PM mahogany, indeed. Just see if I ever rescue your toolbar again, toots. 24092. Jamie R - 3/1/2002 2:40:35 PM Bull Durham 24093. theDiva - 3/1/2002 2:41:09 PM er.... 24094. Jamie R - 3/1/2002 2:42:07 PM The Long Kiss Goodnight 24095. judithathome - 3/1/2002 2:44:18 PM The Long Good Friday 24096. Snowowl - 3/1/2002 2:53:23 PM Came a Hot Friday 24097. theDiva - 3/1/2002 2:55:18 PM Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 24098. Ms. No - 3/1/2002 3:04:28 PM Pushing Tin 24099. judithathome - 3/1/2002 3:05:08 PM Tin Cup 24100. judithathome - 3/1/2002 3:59:37 PM Oh well...why not? 24101. Jamie R - 3/1/2002 4:11:43 PM silver streak. 24102. judithathome - 3/1/2002 4:16:23 PM Sometimes A Hero 24103. judithathome - 3/1/2002 4:18:16 PM Arrrggghhhh... 24104. Snowowl - 3/1/2002 4:19:28 PM Sometimes a Great Notion 24105. Snowowl - 3/1/2002 4:20:18 PM Jeez, Judith, now you've screwed me up. 24106. Snowowl - 3/1/2002 4:20:43 PM A Kind of Loving 24107. OhioSTOPAS - 3/1/2002 4:24:02 PM Kind(ergarten) Cop 24108. judithathome - 3/1/2002 4:34:26 PM School for Scandal 24109. OhioSTOPAS - 3/1/2002 4:38:05 PM Sixteen Candals - uh, Candles 24110. Cellar Door - 3/2/2002 10:02:36 AM King Lear 24111. judithathome - 3/2/2002 12:06:08 PM King of Comedy 24112. Snowowl - 3/2/2002 12:14:48 PM The Fisher King 24113. judithathome - 3/2/2002 12:41:46 PM Shows of the Fisherman 24114. judithathome - 3/2/2002 12:42:19 PM ...or better yet, 24115. Cellar Door - 3/2/2002 12:44:56 PM Shoeshine 24116. judithathome - 3/2/2002 12:45:34 PM Shine 24117. Property of Jesus - 3/2/2002 1:18:17 PM Say what you like about Woody Allen's fixation with Mia's daughters, but the man knows his music. 24118. Cellar Door - 3/2/2002 1:24:10 PM Can't say I cared for that one at all. Small Time Crooks was passable, but the juice seems to have gone out of the Woodman lately. I quite liked Everyone Says I Love You, though it didn't really work. He went to a lot of trouble to create a real musical. And that's more than I can say for Moulin Rouge. 24119. Property of Jesus - 3/2/2002 1:42:53 PM My favorite Allen movies are MANHATTAN and HANNAH'S SISTERS. But all his little films bring back memories to me of growing up near New York City. 24120. CalGal - 3/2/2002 1:55:31 PM Cellar, have you seen Big Deal on Madonna Street? 24121. CalGal - 3/2/2002 1:56:51 PM He went to a lot of trouble to create a real musical. And that's more than I can say for Moulin Rouge. 24122. Cellar Door - 3/2/2002 2:31:58 PM And that's its problem. 24123. CalGal - 3/2/2002 2:42:15 PM That might be its problem, but you can't say it's not a "real" musical. Just one you don't like. 24124. Raskolnikov - 3/3/2002 12:18:03 AM The movie word game is a sure way to kill this thread, as other commentary gets lost in the midst of one sentence posts (I almost missed the excellent guild/Oscar article that Cal linked). I recommend a separate thread for the game. 24125. Cellar Door - 3/3/2002 12:21:23 AM Hey Rask, what do you think of the success of DVD and the resultant growing interface between theatrical screenings and home video? 24126. CalGal - 3/3/2002 12:21:44 AM I was getting to that point myself but didn't want to stop the fun others were having. Times like this I wish we had a real subthread implementation that was easily visible. 24127. Cellar Door - 3/3/2002 12:24:21 AM 24128. CalGal - 3/3/2002 12:26:21 AM I dunno; I just read an article about him shoving a reporter around. Plus, it seems his role has the same credibility problems that Denzel suffered from last year. 24129. judithathome - 3/3/2002 12:28:34 AM Sean Penn? 24130. CalGal - 3/3/2002 12:31:09 AM Thank you. No wonder I forgot; the memory is painful. 24131. judithathome - 3/3/2002 1:02:20 AM We watched Pi; Haiku Tunnel; and the best one of the three, Startup.com tonight. That last one was all it's been cracked up to be...very enjoyable and better than many fictional movies. It was just great! 24132. CalGal - 3/3/2002 1:05:17 AM Did you listen to the commentary? I don't know if you saw my comments earlier, but the guy who was the president of The Competition was killed, along with his fiance, in a fire about a week before Startup.com was shown at Sundance. 24133. judithathome - 3/3/2002 1:07:21 AM There was no commentary; we watched it on video. 24134. PincherMartin - 3/3/2002 1:13:20 AM Cal -- 24135. CalGal - 3/3/2002 1:14:41 AM I know, that's why it stuck with me. 24136. CalGal - 3/3/2002 1:17:21 AM Pincher--the role, not Denzel. The movie was one big lie, and there was a lot of speculation that the backlash hurt Denzel's chances. 24137. judithathome - 3/3/2002 1:18:53 AM Well, I know nothing of the actual business but I thought it was a terrific study of personal dynamics...I could smell the fear on Kaliel when the Atlanta competitor went online before them and loved the way Tom handled being pushed out of the company he'd created...it was just a tidy little film, all the way around. 24138. PincherMartin - 3/3/2002 1:19:36 AM Cal, I gotcha. 24139. Cellar Door - 3/3/2002 9:54:14 AM Ah but A Beautiful Mind is an even bigger lie! 24140. robertjayb - 3/3/2002 11:24:09 AM Awful timing deep-sixes Austin movie... 24141. copans - 3/3/2002 1:57:45 PM Michael Wilmington (Chicago Tribune reviewer whom I heard lecture recently) thinks there as a chance of both Denzel and Halle could win. 24142. Cellar Door - 3/3/2002 3:23:46 PM Love that Gloria! 24143. wonkers2 - 3/3/2002 8:14:14 PM Saw a dismal Chinese movie last night--Beijing Bicycle Thief which the blurb likened to Victorio De Sica's masterpiece. Either the Chinese are weird or the movie was really bad, or both. 24144. Raskolnikov - 3/4/2002 12:11:28 AM Cellar:"Hey Rask, what do you think of the success of DVD and the resultant growing interface between theatrical screenings and home video?" 24145. Raskolnikov - 3/4/2002 12:14:51 AM Cal: "Who is the frontrunner for Best Actor these days?" 24146. Toenails - 3/4/2002 8:42:10 AM And why, pray, isn't Wilkenson a "real" contender? 24147. copans - 3/4/2002 9:07:31 AM I think Wilkinson may be enough a contender that people will NOT vote for Spacek, because it really is Wilkinson's movie. But I don't think he will win. 24148. CalGal - 3/4/2002 9:37:45 AM Toe, the Oscar is never really about who gave the best performance. I'm astonished you don't know that, or think that Rask's comment had anything to do with the quality of Wilkinson's work. 24149. judithathome - 3/4/2002 10:27:06 AM The first time I really noticed Wilkinson was as Pecksniff in the TV Martin Chuzzlewit. I was convince he was doing a spot on imitation of William Bennett's sanctimony 24150. CalGal - 3/4/2002 10:31:10 AM First time I saw him was in Prime Suspect. 24151. rubberducky - 3/4/2002 11:09:45 AM movie review roundup: 24152. Raskolnikov - 3/4/2002 11:33:31 AM Toenails:"And why, pray, isn't Wilkenson a "real" contender? He was superb. Is there a rule that only movies that cost more than $50 million can have best actors?" 24153. glendajean - 3/4/2002 11:40:07 AM Penn acted as well as Crowe or Washington. But if I were an Academy voter, I would vote for Wilkinson. His performance was outstanding. Penn, Crowe and Washington were quite good, but their performances were not as powerful as Wilkinson's. 24154. Raskolnikov - 3/4/2002 11:56:21 AM Moulin Rouge wins the Producers Guild Award for Best Picture. The PGA is a fairly accurate predictor for Best Picture, but given Luhrmann's snub at the Oscars, I still think it is a dark horse, although this does increase its chances. 24155. Raskolnikov - 3/4/2002 11:56:26 AM Moulin Rouge wins the Producers Guild Award for Best Picture. The PGA is a fairly accurate predictor for Best Picture, but given Luhrmann's snub at the Oscars, I still think it is a dark horse, although this does increase its chances. 24156. Raskolnikov - 3/4/2002 11:56:31 AM Moulin Rouge wins the Producers Guild Award for Best Picture. The PGA is a fairly accurate predictor for Best Picture, but given Luhrmann's snub at the Oscars, I still think it is a dark horse, although this does increase its chances. 24157. Raskolnikov - 3/4/2002 11:57:50 AM Sorry, my browser froze up on me there and didn't look like it was posting. 24158. glendajean - 3/4/2002 12:00:11 PM Training Day 24159. glendajean - 3/4/2002 12:00:24 PM There is a side story here, almost submerged, dealing with police corruption and underworld/organized crime. Mostly watching Hawke and Washington on their tour of poor neighborhoods, we catch little bits of it, hints really, but then this story line takes over the last third of the movie. Turns out this movie is actually a "suspense" story, but it felt like the twist was tacked on, a little too late for us to care. 24160. PelleNilsson - 3/4/2002 3:42:32 PM The Economist's take on the Oscars. 24161. christipeters - 3/4/2002 4:14:52 PM LD and I watched The Green Mile on DVD this weekend. We both enjoyed the film, although it made LD a bit sad. I thought is was an interesting idea, done fairly well. The whateveritwas flying out of John's mouth every time he did a healing was weird, though. All in all, I'm glad I rented it and watched it, but wouldn't watch it a second time. 24162. Raskolnikov - 3/4/2002 4:41:54 PM I am surprised the Economist didn't just defer to the market or pseudo-market predictions for the Oscars. Here are the current leaders on Cantor's spread betting, and on the Hollywood Stock Exchange: 24163. Raskolnikov - 3/4/2002 4:44:14 PM HSX's prediction for McKellan needs to have a grain of salt with it, as does their LOTR tie for best picture. HSX is dominated by greasy fanboys who tend to overestimate the appeal of certain films. But beyond that, they have a very creditable track record in predicting Oscars. 24165. PelleNilsson - 3/4/2002 4:55:47 PM The missing post was my bad. 24166. copans - 3/4/2002 6:40:35 PM Rask (and anyone else), (off topic) 24167. Raskolnikov - 3/4/2002 6:50:04 PM I loved Crouching Tiger. Its "wire fu" is very common in Asian cinema. I didn't like wire fu the first few times I saw it, and I still think it is often used sloppily, but I have now gotten used to it and some of my favorite Hong Kong films rely heavily on it (Once Upon a Time in China, Fong Sai Yuk, Bride with White Hair, Chinese Ghost Story, and Iron Monkey). 24168. CalGal - 3/4/2002 6:50:32 PM I loved the fighting. I think it was Scott Loar who mentioned that few of the stars were native speakers, so in Chinese the movie was a bit like watching Arnold and Jean Claude do a love scene. 24169. copans - 3/4/2002 10:28:38 PM Rask/Cal, 24170. Raskolnikov - 3/5/2002 12:47:31 AM Chan is a much more talented entertainer. He has a great onscreen personality, and has impeccable comedic instincts. You aren't the only one who compares him favorably to Keaton. 24171. Raskolnikov - 3/5/2002 12:50:56 AM Once Upon a Time in China isn't just technically impressive, however. It is also a fairly solid film in most other respects. It actually has some thematic depth to it (symbolism, duality of characters, etc.), and has impressive production battles. This is pretty rare for HK films, and I believe it was the first HK film to attempt this. It is usually the first film I recommend to anyone who says they loved CTHD. 24172. copans - 3/5/2002 11:37:53 AM Rask, 24173. Raskolnikov - 3/5/2002 11:48:55 AM I have seen Prodigal Son and liked it. Yuen Baio was woefully underused as a star. I think he got caught in Chan's shadow. He also has a great fight with Chan in Young Master. 24174. copans - 3/5/2002 5:41:24 PM Pedicab Driver is reputed by some to be Sammo's finest hour. Not on DVD. 24175. copans - 3/5/2002 6:52:48 PM I will not try to seque from Martial Arts to my pet theory. 24176. Raskolnikov - 3/6/2002 12:44:32 AM I have often seen distinctions between "great" films and "favorite" films. I personally don't use the distinction much myself, except for pure guilty pleasure movies. 24177. Cellar Door - 3/6/2002 12:56:58 AM Alien is the second greatest cat movie. 24178. CalGal - 3/6/2002 1:40:34 AM I use the distinction between great and favorite all the time. 24179. copans - 3/6/2002 7:52:04 AM Rask, 24180. Raskolnikov - 3/6/2002 10:55:21 AM "Yes, the Stanton scene. It's one of those "If you are so stupid you deserve to die horribly" scenes. " 24181. CalGal - 3/6/2002 11:01:51 AM Christi--I just saw your review of Green Mile. That was pretty much my take, too. A whole bunch of who the hell cares, but well done. I liked David Morse a great deal, though. 24182. CalGal - 3/6/2002 11:06:14 AM He did have great source material. But it would have been so easy to ignore the total gender equality, or take it in another direction. Instead, Cameron gives us kickass female Marines. Nirvana. 24183. Julius Caesar - 3/6/2002 11:35:11 AM A.I. 24184. Julius Caesar - 3/6/2002 11:35:21 AM In the second third, Osment wanders with his talking teddy bear, finding a subculture of mechas who do not want to die. They scrounge for parts to keep alive, and fear a WWF style slaughterhouse where crowds roar to celebrate their humanity and simultaneously, cheer the destruction of mechas. Osment, however, is like nothing they have ever seen, and his life-like sensibility turns the crowd to riot. He and Law, a sex servicer mecha, escape to find the "blue fairy". 24185. zojak quafeth - 3/6/2002 11:45:24 AM A.I. It's one of those fims that I have no interest in whatsoever. My wife had to drag me to see Titanic. I hated the idea so much, I'm sure I magnified it's significant faults. A.I. would be in the same category for me. I'd be so predisposed to disliking it that it would have to be REALLY good to get me over the hump. I have no desire to see some whiny kid acting like a whiny robot who really wants to be a whiny kid. (BLECH!) 24186. Julius Caesar - 3/6/2002 11:46:54 AM Your predisposition carries the day, but Osment deserves better. 24187. zojak quafeth - 3/6/2002 11:48:34 AM ...a better predisposition? ...or a better film to act whiny in? 24188. Julius Caesar - 3/6/2002 11:51:45 AM Better from you and better from Spielberg. 24189. judithathome - 3/6/2002 11:51:53 AM Better than to be identified as a whiny kid, if you mean the actor. In interviews, he is exceptionally mature and thoughtful. 24190. zojak quafeth - 3/6/2002 11:56:38 AM Well the kid certainly has a long resume: 24191. CalGal - 3/6/2002 1:00:53 PM First thing he was noticed in was Forrest Gump, I believe. And while I never watched the Foxworthy show, there was a very funny promo that he and Foxworthy did after the first year's restructuring. 24192. rubberducky - 3/6/2002 1:15:42 PM well, JC, i told you A.I. sucked. 24193. Cellar Door - 3/6/2002 2:01:38 PM Well we all love the little scamp. 24194. Julius Caesar - 3/6/2002 2:11:48 PM Cellar 24195. zojak quafeth - 3/6/2002 2:39:36 PM Julius - 24196. Raskolnikov - 3/6/2002 2:44:19 PM Iron Monkey is excellent. 24197. zojak quafeth - 3/6/2002 2:52:35 PM Rask- 24198. Cellar Door - 3/6/2002 3:53:56 PM I don't find the zone it retreats to all that comfortable. It's a film about the end of the world. There are no humans at the end of the story-- only "Mechas." And the last trace of "humanity" is inside a "Mecha"-- a "boy" who will always be ten years old. 24199. Raskolnikov - 3/6/2002 4:44:00 PM Zojak: Iron Monkey is about as good as straightforward Kung Fu gets, but what I liked about CTHD is that there was an actual drama underneath. If you missed it, scroll back a couple dozen posts, as copans and I just exchanged several messages on CTHD and Hong Kong cinema in general. 24200. zojak quafeth - 3/7/2002 8:20:39 AM Rask - 24201. zojak quafeth - 3/7/2002 8:28:52 AM And for those who haven't seen Iron Monkey, looks like its coming out on video and DVD on March 26. 24202. rubberducky - 3/7/2002 1:57:34 PM looked for IM at NetFlix, but i'm not sure which one it is. i know it's a re-dubbed flick from a couple years ago, but which one: 24203. Raskolnikov - 3/7/2002 6:32:07 PM Ducky: The HK version of Iron Monkey has been out on DVD for years. I rented it from Netflix about two years ago. It is the 1993 version. The sequel supposedly isn't very good. 24204. Property of Jesus - 3/12/2002 9:47:42 AM ALTMAN: Titanic Worst Movie Ever 24205. judithathome - 3/12/2002 9:49:41 AM When he's right, he's right... 24206. glendajean - 3/12/2002 9:51:47 AM From POJ's link, Altman on Warren Beatty: 24207. theDiva - 3/12/2002 9:54:04 AM "Another film that I think is equally bad was American Beauty. So badly acted and directed." 24208. CalGal - 3/12/2002 10:17:30 AM I just checked out the MASH DVD over the weekend, and his commentary was a bit too pausey, but there were lots of good stories. 24209. Cellar Door - 3/12/2002 10:43:06 AM Can't wait for Altman to get together with Cate Blanchett! 24210. copans - 3/12/2002 1:59:08 PM I've self-edited a lot of Altman's career (outside of Popeye). Is there anyone to stick up for: 24211. rubberducky - 3/12/2002 2:01:14 PM Gingerbread Man wasn't very good, but i think the problems stemmed from the weak plot vs. Altman himself. that said, i didn't hate it, just didn't think a whole lot of it. 24212. Raskolnikov - 3/12/2002 2:24:08 PM I actually liked Gingerbread Man. But just approach it as a straightforward neo-noir, without the artistic aspirations of most of Altman's other films. 24213. Julius Caesar - 3/12/2002 2:28:27 PM The Gingerbread Man was Brits, Australians and Americans doing waaaaaayyy ovuhbrooooaaaad Southern accents in a dull, dreary film. Fortunately, Altman's ham-handed direction, lighting and sound mixing drowned out the ovuhhhhhh emoting. 24214. Property of Jesus - 3/12/2002 2:43:22 PM I don't care what anyone says, POPEYE was a great film. As was NASHVILLE. 24215. CalGal - 3/12/2002 3:22:20 PM On Altman films, it's easier to list the ones I actively enjoy: 24216. Julius Caesar - 3/12/2002 3:31:41 PM Great to Good Altman Films I Enjoy 24217. copans - 3/12/2002 3:48:08 PM JC, 24218. theDiva - 3/12/2002 3:50:06 PM The best part of KC was the music, and the offshoot documentary. 24219. Julius Caesar - 3/12/2002 4:09:25 PM copans 24220. CalGal - 3/12/2002 4:13:39 PM I loathed The Long Goodbye. Except Mark Rydell was excellent. McCabe & Mrs. Miller is good, but unpleasant. I've seen enough of Nashville and 3 Women to go blecccchh, ditto The Player. Haven't seen California Split. 24221. Cellar Door - 3/12/2002 4:24:36 PM Of those you haven't seen the most important is Three Woman. A real masterpiece with some of Sissy Spacek's best work. 24222. glendajean - 3/12/2002 4:36:01 PM Jimmy Dean has Karen Black in it, and she always creeps me out. 24223. Raskolnikov - 3/12/2002 5:16:08 PM Copans:"I think Short Cust is replacing Nashville as the definitive Altman film, so I'm surprise to find you have such a low opinion of it. I thought it very good, but a step below Nashville, McCabe, Long Goodbye, California Split (glad you liked it too.)" 24224. copans - 3/13/2002 7:43:56 AM Rask: Re Short Cuts' prestige 24225. Raskolnikov - 3/13/2002 3:41:14 PM Nasar responds to criticisms about the accuracy of Beautiful Mind. 24226. CalGal - 3/13/2002 4:14:54 PM I thought she flailed a lot on the homosexuality angle, but the bit about their marriage was pretty interesting. 24227. Cellar Door - 3/13/2002 5:38:48 PM And here's my answer to the bitch! (scroll down) 24228. betty - 3/13/2002 8:11:03 PM CD, 24229. Cellar Door - 3/13/2002 8:43:58 PM I know. 24230. christipeters - 3/14/2002 1:18:31 AM Out of sheer curiosity, I rented the Sleepy Hollow DVD. I only got part way through it before turning it off, though, as I found it boring and stupid. I may give it another chance before I send it back. An acquaintance of mine says it gets a bit better before the end. OTOH, it is so disappointing to sit through a movie thinking, "surely this is going to get better" only to have it be dreadful to the bitter end. 24231. copans - 3/14/2002 9:24:39 AM Second Time Around: 24232. Cellar Door - 3/14/2002 9:46:58 AM That sometimes happens, copans. Certain films just didn't "connect" with me on first viewing. Of course since I'm a reviewer and have to see a lot of films fatigue can set in -- especially around Christmas time. I was impressed with "Black Hawk Down" when I first saw it, but the more I've learned about the situation it claims to represent, the more my enthusiasm has waned. Technically it's still amazing, however. 24233. CalGal - 3/14/2002 10:33:41 AM I was far more impressed with Chinatown on my second viewing, although I liked it a lot the first time. 24234. copans - 3/14/2002 10:50:34 AM I've only seen Chinatown once. I'm surprised that Out of Africa would improve. I thought it's main appeal was the unusual setting. 24235. CalGal - 3/14/2002 11:01:56 AM Based on my experience, it's also one of the movies with a generally "arty" pretensions that most people recognize as great. 24236. Cellar Door - 3/14/2002 11:13:43 AM The Third Man works on a basic mystery level. We're drawn in to the mystery of who Harry Lime why and why he disappeared. Once inside, Reed and company deliver the goods. 24237. copans - 3/14/2002 11:20:52 AM Do you know the story of Mr. Wu that Welles used to tell? As I recall it, "In the first two acts of the play everybody runs about saying, 'Wait till Mr. Wu gets here. He'll fix things up. He'll put things right.' Then in the third act, Mr. Wu comes in, speaks 4 or 5 lines and the play ends. The audience leaves, saying to each other that 'Wasn't the guy who played Mr. Wu great?' 24238. Raskolnikov - 3/14/2002 11:29:56 AM I have heard the Wu story, in the Bogdanovich interview, where Welles himself used it to explain why he gets such raves for his Harry Lime performance. He is right, but it is still a great performance. 24239. CalGal - 3/14/2002 11:32:21 AM Yes, I think the story came about because of his work in Third Man. I think it is Welles' best performance. His oversized personality works well in small doses, and he was never as sexy again. 24240. Raskolnikov - 3/14/2002 11:33:43 AM I am reading Simon Callow's "Road to Xanadu" now. Does anyone know when part 2 is supposed to come out? Paging Cellar. 24241. copans - 3/14/2002 11:40:29 AM Rask--Is that a recommendation? Thanks for the Bogdanovich interview reference. I heard excerpts and was unaware or had forgotten that the connection to Harry Lime was explicit. (Now I'm really sure that Tarantino was playing on the story with Mr. Wolf) 24242. Raskolnikov - 3/14/2002 11:40:45 AM The film abounds with nice performances. The casting was almost impeccable, with weird-looking characters that you would never find in Hollywood casting circles, such as the landlord, the "Balloon, mein herr" man, Kurtz, and that little homunculus boy with the ball. 24243. CalGal - 3/14/2002 11:46:26 AM Yeah, that little boy is about as far away from "cute" as he can get and still be a kid. The spooky gay couple, and also Wilfrid Hyde-White, chatting genially while maneuvering his mistress upstairs. 24244. Raskolnikov - 3/14/2002 11:49:55 AM Copans: I have only read the first chapter, but it was heralded by raves when it came out, so I am sure I will like it. 24245. Raskolnikov - 3/14/2002 11:53:22 AM Point being that it can be detrimental to spend too much time exploring the motives of a character who is *supposed* to be mysterious. 24246. CalGal - 3/14/2002 12:38:50 PM I have the book, read a good deal of it, but like Callow better as an actor. It's been out for a number of years now; I'm surprised part 2 hasn't shown up. 24247. copans - 3/14/2002 1:32:54 PM Callow did a one-man-show of Dickens here in Chicago recently and a friend of mine who normally hates such things thought it was great. 24248. Cellar Door - 3/14/2002 3:20:01 PM I've been wondering about the second volume of the Welles book myself. No idea when it's coming. Callow's a busy guy. Did you read his BFI book on Night of the Hunter, copans? 24249. copans - 3/14/2002 3:35:20 PM No. I had never heard of the BFI. (I'll NEVER forgive the AFI for leaving the General off their top 100 films.) 24250. glendajean - 3/14/2002 3:42:16 PM Oscar countdown 24251. CalGal - 3/14/2002 3:49:47 PM GJ, try and see Black Hawk Down in the theater. 24252. CalGal - 3/14/2002 3:51:48 PM Question: My brand new Panasonic does not play THX DVDs well at all. The midrange is impossible to hear. I don't understand why. I originally thought it was the DVD or the audio balance on the TV, but it plays other DVDs fine, and as a TV the sound works great. Any thoughts, Rask or other electronicophiles? 24253. Raskolnikov - 3/14/2002 3:56:11 PM copans: I have seen the Hitchcock version. I had assumed that the reference in GP referred to that version, and the purpose of the exchange in the film was to illustrate the poor taste of the Maggie Smith character (similar to Billy Zane's dissing of Picasso in Titanic). But Hitchcock's Lodger was a big hit. 24254. Raskolnikov - 3/14/2002 4:02:30 PM Cal: that one surpasses me. It sounds like a decoding problem with the player, but that is just a half-assed guess. I do know that some players have reputations for having problems for certain types of disks, but I had thought most of those compatibility bugs were worked out a couple years ago. 24255. copans - 3/14/2002 4:08:25 PM Rask: A opening title says May 1932. Another aside from the Michael Wilmington talk I attended: Bob Balaban's family owned many movie theaters in the Chicago area going way back to that era. (Balaban & Katz, I believe.) Natives of the area all seemed to know this, but it was news to me. 24256. CalGal - 3/14/2002 4:17:44 PM Rask, 24257. copans - 3/14/2002 4:45:29 PM By coincidence I just checked to see if the 2002 Sight and Sound Poll of greatest films had been published. It apparently hasn't, but I was led to the www.bfi.org website. But I've never heard of them. 24258. CalGal - 3/14/2002 4:56:52 PM Gentlement Prefer Blondes is on the list? 24259. Cellar Door - 3/14/2002 8:37:23 PM Not Cahiers du Cinema, CG. Theyloved it there. Rivette cites it as a primary influence on all his work -- especially Celine and Julie Go Boating 24260. Julius Caesar - 3/15/2002 9:10:00 AM BEST PICTURE 24261. rubberducky - 3/15/2002 10:10:34 AM don't hurry to see Joy Ride , JC 24262. Indiana Jones - 3/15/2002 10:11:22 AM I hope you're being careful today, JC. 24263. CalGal - 3/15/2002 10:11:42 AM You're a minority view there, Ducky. Besides, JC will want to see it for the nipple shot alone. 24264. Julius Caesar - 3/15/2002 10:15:21 AM Indy 24265. rubberducky - 3/15/2002 10:16:32 AM yeah, well, it was still one of the most boring 'thrillers' i've ever slep.... er, sat through. 24266. rubberducky - 3/15/2002 10:20:57 AM Sexy Beast is speeding its way to me via the USPS thanks to NetFlix even as i type this. i'm not in a hurry to see Heist, but will at some point. 24267. Julius Caesar - 3/15/2002 10:22:42 AM The Taste of Others 24268. glendajean - 3/15/2002 1:59:01 PM I've got Memento and Sexy Beast rented for this weekend. 24269. Cellar Door - 3/16/2002 1:00:30 AM Inquiry and Analysis No. 88: Egyptian Press: 'Since Egyptian Gays Have No Rights, Their Rights Need No Defense' 24270. Cellar Door - 3/16/2002 1:03:09 AM The Perverts Must Be Investigated 24271. Cellar Door - 3/16/2002 1:04:11 AM The West's Defense of These Perverts Causes Nausea and Repulsion In Egyptians 24272. Julius Caesar - 3/16/2002 1:06:07 AM Saw Joy Ride. It's The Hitcher and Duel made fun by Steve Zahn and the slick work of John Dahl (The Last Seduction, Red Rock West). 24273. Cellar Door - 3/16/2002 1:07:10 AM Al-Akhbar columnist Wagih Abu Zikra wrote: "With nausea and repulsion, I have followed the news of the perverts arrested in the Al-Bouhayra district, and how the pathological report determined their guilt… What moral debasement has this group reached? What kind of people are they, with no religion, moral values, or honor? And yet there are people in the West who defend them – even hold a march in Paris in their honor, claiming human rights. What human? What rights?! I don't care what they say in the West… Where are human rights in all things regarding what is going on in Palestine?! Why aren't there demonstrations for the rights of the Palestinian child?!… Where are human rights in the Guantanamo detention camps?!…" (3) 24274. Cellar Door - 3/16/2002 1:09:02 AM "Excuse me, Brother Joe [i.e. 'Joseph' Shaheen]… If the government wanted to fabricate a scandal to conceal its economic failure, it would have looked for well-known individuals… instead of encountering new faces in the world of perversion, of whom we have never heard…" (4) 24275. Cellar Door - 3/16/2002 1:09:50 AM Shaheen did not receive support even from the Egyptian Human Rights Oraganization, which kept its distance from the cause of the imprisoned homosexuals. Hafez Abu Sa'deh, the organization's director, explained, "Egypt's human rights organizations cannot defend the perverts because we adhere to the values and traditions customary in Egypt. Furthermore, the laws are largely drawn from Islamic religious law. Thousands of people need the protection of the Egyptian human rights organizations, primarily in matters of violations of liberty… and it is fitting that we take it upon ourselves to handle these cases rather than defend those accused of perversion. If we support the perverts, the Egyptians will boycott, and be repulsed by, the human rights organizations." (6) 24276. Cellar Door - 3/16/2002 1:10:56 AM The Egyptian papers quoted numerous clerics and "scientists" who attempted to explain homosexuality. Sheikh Muhammad Abd Al-Magid Zaydan, of the Egyptian Ministry for Religious Endowment, discussed forms of punishment for homosexuality: 24277. Cellar Door - 3/16/2002 1:12:37 AM Dr. Sayyid Subhi, lecturer in psychiatry at Al-Azhar, added: "It is difficult to believe that the perverted behavior found someone to defend it… It is natural for a male to desire a female. Allah cursed the men who make themselves into women, and the women who make themselves into men, because the honor of [man], whom Allah created, is violated when a pervert attempts to carry out the idiocy of his perversion. Such a man makes himself into a female. Furthermore, a man of honor is one who fulfils the role of husband and father. If these perverts proliferate, the honor of the entire society will be violated, and the life [of the homosexual] will become valueless… These perverts are characterized by aggressiveness and destructiveness. We must pay attention to this risk. There are attempts by the media and the Internet to conduct missionary activity to promote these perverted acts. Efforts must be increased to caution our children against this accursed disease and to raise them on religious and moral values…" (9) 24278. Cellar Door - 3/16/2002 1:13:04 AM Another opinion is that the perpetrator of the deed, and the one to whom it is done, should be killed. A third opinion is that the homosexual should be burned… A fourth opinion is that he should be thrown from the highest wall, due to the loathsome nature of the deed."(10) 24279. Cellar Door - 3/16/2002 1:16:31 AM The Films of Youssef Chahine 24280. joezan - 3/17/2002 8:12:35 AM Took the 4 y.o. to see Ice Age yesterday. 24281. betty - 3/17/2002 11:34:56 AM Just incase anyone was considering seeing Time Machine...it's a complete piece of crap. The acting is frighteningly bad, it's terrbily directed and the special effects aren't very special. 24282. wonkers2 - 3/17/2002 2:42:01 PM Just caught the last half-hour of "The Laramie Project" on HBO. Powerful stuff. Great cast including Peter Fonda, Laura Linney, Steve Buscemi among others. Matthew Shepherd's father's speech to the jury is one of the most moving scenes in memory. 24283. wonkers2 - 3/17/2002 11:36:18 PM Just watched most of The Fight Club on HBO. Not my kind of movie. Filled with pointless, nightmarish (somebody please tell me the point) and repetitive gore and mahem. 24284. wonkers2 - 3/17/2002 11:37:00 PM I really must stop watching this crap and start reading books again! 24285. Cellar Door - 3/17/2002 11:46:58 PM I'm reading "The Passion of Pier Paolo Pasolini" by Sam Rohdie. Excellent. 24286. arkymalarky - 3/18/2002 12:30:15 AM I avoided being a deer widow, a sports widow, a camping widow, and a fishing widow. 24287. RustlerPike - 3/18/2002 1:33:35 AM Arky: 24288. RustlerPike - 3/18/2002 1:35:33 AM Why did the critics blast Pearl Harbor? I thought it was good. Was it a big success? 24289. Phoenix Rising - 3/18/2002 9:28:30 AM The critics blasted it because a 10 year old could write better dialog. Josh Hartnett did all of his acting with his eye brows. Ben Affleck did all of his acting with his chin. Kate Beckensale did all of her acting with her index finger. The movie was chalk full of cliches and not much else. The worst movie since Titanic. Even Battlefield Earth was a more interesting movie. 24290. Erin R. - 3/18/2002 9:33:19 AM My husband and I went to see The Time Machine on Saturday. 24291. glendajean - 3/18/2002 9:37:40 AM Two more down for Oscar night. 24292. glendajean - 3/18/2002 10:22:18 AM Monster's Ball 24293. glendajean - 3/18/2002 10:22:42 AM Improbability is somewhat muted by rebounding tragedy, and by a certain humbleness in storytelling. The lives of these people are poor or working class. They are either sleeping through life or barely getting by, characters out of a Russell Banks novel in a setting like that of the more hopeful movie, The Apostle. 24294. Cellar Door - 3/18/2002 10:52:30 AM 24295. Raskolnikov - 3/18/2002 11:53:14 AM Rustler:"Why did the critics blast Pearl Harbor? I thought it was good. Was it a big success?" 24296. Julius Caesar - 3/18/2002 12:41:39 PM Heist 24297. Julius Caesar - 3/18/2002 1:03:49 PM The year's nominees for the Best Picture Oscar are a mixed bag. Lord of the Rings can make your jaw drop. Unfortunately, half the time it is from wonder, the other half from full yawns. When you can understand Gosford Park, it is a wry, amusing drawing room comedy of manners, but the deck is stacked by perhaps the strongest cast in the history of film. In the Bedroom is searing, but in the end, it is little more than a suburban Death Wish. This leaves Moulin Rouge and A Beautiful Mind. The former is perhaps the most lavish and perfectly choreographed episode of The Monkees ever made. The latter oozes professionalism but never quite exceeds very good disease-of-the-week fare. 24298. Julius Caesar - 3/18/2002 1:24:18 PM Few films handle race with anything near truth. Mostly, a white guy does a black guy wrong then the black guy saves the white guy's life or teaches him a lesson of tolerance, or, more likely, teaches him a lesson of tolerance while sacrificing his own life in the process. The beatification of the black character is every bit as insulting as the previously decried Huggy Bear stereotype, since updated by a hip-hop sensibility funded by suburban white wannabes. Atoning for the strutting pimp and the angry gun thug, Hollywood salves its collective conscience by offering the silent, suffering, statuesque black character. Unfortunately, whether a black man is cartoonishly snarling or patiently teaching truths, he is still shorthand, a caricature. There is precious little discussion of this problem. Instead, Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino argue over who has the right to have characters say "nigger" more. 24299. Julius Caesar - 3/18/2002 1:26:39 PM As good as Thornton is at conveying the path from inner turmoil to redemption, Halle Berry's portrayal of a woman on the edge is unparalleled. Julia Roberts should be strapped to a chair, eyelids pried open ala' Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange, and forced to watch Berry's beautiful, subtle performance. Unlike the faux angelic Erin Brockovich, Leticia is an uneven mother, less plucky and more weary. Her love is true, but her wounds have left her bereft of an ability to express it. It takes the bleeding Hank to give Leticia the room she needs to grieve her losses, not through life lessons and a 12-step program, but through a good honest drunk and hard sex. Still, humanity is never far from the characters, no matter how base their actions. I haven't seen as bittersweet a scene as (SPOILER) the one between Hank and his racist father, as Hank parks the old man in a nursing home in his continuing effort to right his life. "I don't want to go out like this," Boyle imparts. "I don't want to go out like this either," Hank responds. 24300. Julius Caesar - 3/18/2002 1:27:20 PM Mostly, however, Oscar is predictable, settling on safe, sweeping movies. Best Pictures that share the honor of putting me to sleep, waking me, and then putting me to sleep again, all in one sitting, include Chariots of Fire (1981), Gandhi (1982), Out of Africa (1985), The Last Emperor (1987), Dances With Wolves (1990), and The English Patient (1996). 24301. glendajean - 3/18/2002 2:04:53 PM Great read on MB. 24302. copans - 3/18/2002 2:54:17 PM JC 24303. CalGal - 3/18/2002 4:16:51 PM Mainstream finally mentions Netflix....and it turns out that one of the two reasons I switched is the service's primary demographic: Blockbuster's late fees. (the other reason was selection) 24304. CalGal - 3/18/2002 4:19:24 PM We talked a while back about Oscar winners and their relative quality. It is rare that the best film ever wins, but in more than half the cases a good film wins. More rarely does a film with completely ageless appeal win. In the nineties, I think the best winner would have to be Shakespeare in Love, unless I am forgetting one. 24305. judithathome - 3/18/2002 4:23:51 PM CNN did a story on NetFlix last week...in the business or techno part. I'd be willing to bet they got tons of hits after that little story. 24306. Raskolnikov - 3/18/2002 5:15:56 PM Netflix' success has little to do with recommendations, as their recommendations suck. Instead, it is their business model (and the fact that they were first at it), plus their strong selection of films that are actually in stock (many rental companies selections are hypothetical). 24307. arkymalarky - 3/18/2002 7:35:27 PM You're an absolute genius, RP. 24308. Cellar Door - 3/18/2002 7:42:25 PM I suspect Billy Bob has "a touch of the tarbrush." 24309. arkymalarky - 3/18/2002 7:51:04 PM The town Thornton's family's from purportedly had a sign way into the '70s that read "Don't let the sun set on your black ass." I never saw it myself, but I never had occasion to go there until several years after it was supposedly removed. 24310. CalGal - 3/18/2002 7:56:18 PM Rask, 24311. CalGal - 3/18/2002 7:58:08 PM I shouldn't write posts when I'm focusing on a report. Scratch a "clearly" or two and one of those "number of years", thanks so much. 24312. Raskolnikov - 3/18/2002 8:36:25 PM "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." 24313. wonkers2 - 3/18/2002 8:56:55 PM Another movie on HBO--weird, ambitious but disappointing, Wim Wenders' Million Dollar Hotel. 24314. glendajean - 3/19/2002 10:45:53 AM I am hopeful that within 5 years we can order any movie we want to see either over satellite or cable. 24315. Raskolnikov - 3/19/2002 11:27:28 AM It is getting close. There is already a Taiwanese service that offers video on demand, but it takes forever to download a movie and the last I heard Hollywood was suing the bejesus out of them. As bandwidth increases, it is inevitable, although it might be a while longer before it is indisputably legal. 24316. rubberducky - 3/19/2002 3:04:27 PM Movie roundup: 24317. Cellar Door - 3/20/2002 11:20:26 AM Saw The Cockettes documentary last night. Absolutely 100% Amazing! 24318. Cellar Door - 3/20/2002 11:20:41 AM Now for the REALLY fascinating part. The Cockettes took shape around a commune -- part of a network of communes -- in San Francisco. The most famous was the Kalifower Commune run by Irving Rosenthal -- the eminence gris of the Beats. He was the first person to publish Burroughs in America via amagazine called "Big Table" -- which he invented when the University of Chicago's literary journal, which he edited, refused to publish excerpts from the (then unpubliushed in the U.S.) Naked Lunch. His book Sheeper (Grove Press,1967) is my second favorite piece of literature of all time. The Cockettes began when Irving's boyfriend, "Hibiscus," moved out of the Kaliflower commune to go out on his own. He had a show called "Angels of Light" thatwas very Jack Smith-like (Irving was one of the stars of Flaming Creatures)as were The Cockettes to some degree. The degree to which they weren't had to do with the fact that they all took Acid. All the time. 24319. CalGal - 3/20/2002 11:24:30 AM Ducky, 24320. rubberducky - 3/20/2002 1:56:22 PM Liotta should work a lot more, I swear. 24321. Raskolnikov - 3/20/2002 1:58:52 PM Liotta has been pretty horrible in almost every film I have seen him in. Exceptions were Something Wild and Blow. 24322. Julius Caesar - 3/20/2002 2:06:42 PM And Goodfellas 24323. Raskolnikov - 3/20/2002 2:08:37 PM I didn't like him in Goodfellas. He is a big gaping non-entity in the middle of an otherwise great movie. 24324. Indiana Jones - 3/20/2002 2:09:55 PM I have a feeling a couple of Mote film critics haven't seen that fine thriller Unlawful Entry. 24325. rubberducky - 3/20/2002 2:19:03 PM i liked it, IJ. a good, by the numbers 'thriller' piece of fluff! 24326. Raskolnikov - 3/20/2002 2:27:52 PM He is blown off the screen by his co-stars. I have trouble believing that Scorsese intending that. 24327. Raskolnikov - 3/20/2002 2:30:23 PM I haven't seen Unlawful Entry, but I have seen Turbulence, No Escape, Hannibal, Copland and a few other films where he sucked the life out of the picture. 24328. CalGal - 3/20/2002 2:32:18 PM I didn't like Liotta's character in Goodfellas; I thought he did it as well as it could be done. I liked him in Something Wild, from what I can remember. 24329. rubberducky - 3/20/2002 2:35:52 PM i thought he was fine in Hannibal, not his best but fine. the character was supposed to be hated, so it's hard to separate the two, in my mind. 24330. Raskolnikov - 3/20/2002 2:41:47 PM I did see Joy Ride the other night. I thought it was an extremely well done thriller, with some very nice work by Steve Zahn. 24331. CalGal - 3/20/2002 2:44:13 PM I could swear that early reviews mentioned someone else, though, because I looked it up as well and was disappointed to discover it wasn't him. He wasn't in the IMDB back then. 24332. Cellar Door - 3/20/2002 2:52:43 PM Just got word that the Cockettes documentary is going to be opening at the Castro in SF in May. 24333. betty - 3/20/2002 3:01:05 PM CD, 24334. Cellar Door - 3/20/2002 6:34:39 PM MY what colorful lives some of us get to lead! 24335. copans - 3/21/2002 11:44:46 AM I'm with Rask on Liotta, but I guess that CalGal may be correct about Goodfellas. My initial thought was way overrated but most of my complaints came down to not caring about Liotta's character or believing it. I assumed that a better actor would have brought it off, but maybe not. Few great movies suffer from such a hole at the center. I noticed a French poll (Positif) that put Barry Lyndon in the top 10 movies of all time. I think it is hard to judge an actor speaking another language. (There must be some explanation.) 24336. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 12:06:03 PM Tim Holt is all right, because the character *is* a big gaping hole. He only really doesn't work at the end, after his character gets his comeuppance. 24337. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 12:08:06 PM Oh that is right. Copans posted a link saying this last week. 24338. CalGal - 3/21/2002 12:14:01 PM Recent movies seen; can't remember if I've mentioned some of them before. 24339. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 12:56:14 PM I don't know if I have posted this, but if you are looking for a good internet DVD rental company to supplement Netflix, check out numberslate.com. Their interface looks a little clunky, but they have a terrific selection - much better than Netflix when it comes to more recent arty/foreign releases. Netflix is very lax in stocking Criterion and Anchor Bay titles, whereas Numberslate usually gets them quickly. However, they don't have as good of a selection of titles that were released more than a year ago, and Netflix is usually better with new releases. 24340. copans - 3/21/2002 1:10:05 PM Rask-What is Anchor Bay? 24341. rubberducky - 3/21/2002 1:13:17 PM 24342. Cellar Door - 3/21/2002 1:20:26 PM I like Rules of the Game, but the "greatest film ever made" stuff has always eluded me. Part of the film's inflated rep has to do with overcompensation for the way it was dissed upon its initial release. Then there's the fact that the elements were scattered to the four winds for many years. Rules was reconstructed in the late 50's for re-release. Seeing it then, many critics sensed intimations of what was to come for France with WWII and its aftermath. 24343. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 1:24:31 PM I own most of the Kino Keatons. They have no extras (unless you count the wonderful shorts as extras, but for me they are why I am buying the disks) but most of the prints are excellent, and the scores are decent. 24344. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 1:28:09 PM I love Grand Illusion, so maybe my expectations were just too high. But at least I know I am capable of "getting Renoir". I have only watched 8 1/2 once, because other Fellini films have convinced me that I just don't like him, and repeat viewings will be unnecessary torture. (Although I am still planning on seeing La Strada and La Dolce Vita if they ever come out on DVD). 24345. Cellar Door - 3/21/2002 1:45:51 PM Really Rask? I'm surprised. 24346. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 1:49:48 PM About what? That I don't like Fellini? 24347. copans - 3/21/2002 1:50:16 PM Let me echo Cellar at least partly. The Crime of M. Lange is really terrific but available only on poor VHS. The screenplay is by Prevert (Children of Paradise) and has a famous pan singled out by Bazin. 24348. copans - 3/21/2002 1:52:37 PM Oops by pan I meant that Bazin praise the meaningful 270 degree "pan" of an alleyway at the end of Crime of M Lange not a pan review. 24349. jayackroyd - 3/21/2002 1:55:17 PM Rask, are you gonna do your approval voting test? Maybe for the big four categories? 24350. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 2:15:34 PM Jay: Slack didn't seem interested in helping set it up. I didn't want to go through the whole thing only to lose a debate about experimental design. 24351. CalGal - 3/21/2002 2:21:38 PM How many "tolerates" can you have? 24352. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 2:29:07 PM Theoretically, you can tolerate all of them, although your vote is then basically useless. Although, we need to get the wording correct. It probably should be "which of the following films would meet your approval as a best picture winner". But I want Slack or Jay's input on this, as they have a better understanding of approval voting. The key issue seems to be the setting of the threshold for whether or not a film gets a vote. The results will vary depending on how high or low the bar is set. 24353. Julius Caesar - 3/21/2002 2:38:17 PM Why Ben Kingsley Deserves Another Oscar 24354. CalGal - 3/21/2002 2:43:54 PM He won't get it, although I'd be fine with that as a win. I suspect it will be McKellan. 24355. copans - 3/21/2002 3:08:21 PM JC, 24356. CalGal - 3/21/2002 3:10:26 PM Lots of people are gaga over Nicholson's Joker, although I've never seen it. De Niro's Capone is a pretty silly selection, though, given that it's Connery's film if it's anyone's. 24357. Cellar Door - 3/21/2002 3:11:37 PM Not that you don't like him but are so dismissive of him. 24358. copans - 3/21/2002 3:32:16 PM Again I'm with Rask on Fellini. I'm planning on seeing 8 1/2 which I think is way overrated, as I do La Dolce Vita, but I really like I Vitelloni, besides La Strada and Cabiria and Amarcord. I even like Juliet of the Spirits. 24359. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 4:13:43 PM "Not that you don't like him but are so dismissive of him." 24360. CalGal - 3/21/2002 4:17:07 PM I loathe Fellini. He is one of the primary reasons I despise foreign films. By which I mean Italian and French movies made in the 50s and 60s. 24361. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 4:19:17 PM Kingsley is indeed on a whole other plane in Sexy Beast. But what really stuns me is his dramatic range. This is *Gandhi*, for Chrissake. Several actors could have played his character in Sexy Beast (DeNiro, if he could do the accent, or Robert Carlyle redoing Begbie from Trainspotting), but I don't think any of them could have played Gandhi. 24362. copans - 3/21/2002 4:19:39 PM Cellar, 24363. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 4:34:13 PM I watched 8 1/2 with a friend who absolutely loved it. He was literally doubled over with laughter for half the movie, while I just sat there with a "what the fuck" expression on my face. I asked him to explain himself, and he said it was largely a Catholic thing. 24364. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 4:41:46 PM I should say that Nights of Cabiria is toward the top of my Netflix queue. It is also one of the earlier Felinni films I am willing to try, and it is also available on DVD. 24365. Ms. No - 3/21/2002 4:45:36 PM Fellini disappoints me because I always think I'm going to get porn...but he doesn't deliver. 24366. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 5:11:26 PM There is a category of films that includes 8 1/2, L'Avventura, Jules and Jim, Pierrot Le Fou, and a few others. When I watch these films, I realize that there is a lot happening. I catch symbols, thematic development, the use of sets to comment on theme and character, etc. But I know I am not getting it all, and it would require repeated viewings to really come close to appreciating what the director was doing. 24367. Julius Caesar - 3/21/2002 5:21:58 PM copans 24368. Julius Caesar - 3/21/2002 5:23:25 PM Rask 24369. Julius Caesar - 3/21/2002 5:24:28 PM And I think George Takei could do Gandhi. 24370. Cellar Door - 3/21/2002 5:25:44 PM I saw 8 1/2 when it first came out back in 1963. I have seen it countless times since. La Dolce Vita was less a film that something that actually happenend in my life. I walked into the screen during the Bassano di Sutri sequence and essentially I've never left. 8 1/2 was another story. Superficially it's supposed to be a film about moviemaking. But you never see a camera. It's also supposedly about the creative process -- but that itsn't it either. It's a film about memory and fantasy. As such there's nothing "difficult" about it at all. 24371. justears - 3/21/2002 5:29:06 PM The fellini movie which completely sends me is La Strada. It is definitely Anthony Quinn's best performance (along with Zorba). 24372. jayackroyd - 3/21/2002 5:30:09 PM 24350 24373. Raskolnikov - 3/21/2002 5:42:07 PM I would vote for not worrying about anonymization. I think we would also have to cross-reference the monikers of the respondents, to make sure our results aren't different just because someone e-mailed you and not me. Cross-referencing would be hard with anonymization. 24374. copans - 3/21/2002 5:52:41 PM Cellar--thanks 24375. Cellar Door - 3/21/2002 5:59:55 PM Not just that. She was also in Volker Schlondorff's Young Torless, Louis Malle's Pretty Baby Roger Corman's The Pit and the Pendumum, and Joe Dante's Pirhana 24376. CalGal - 3/21/2002 6:40:12 PM Guys, let me know if you need any help on notifications, collations, publications, etc. 24377. joezan - 3/21/2002 11:48:20 PM Ok, you movie nuts. You've been waiting all year for this, and now it's here: 24378. Cellar Door - 3/22/2002 12:24:09 AM The ol'crackhead is pretty much on the money in terms of mainstream taste. 24379. Absensia - 3/22/2002 1:16:19 AM THAT Marion Barry???? Hahahahahahahah. Oh sorry, hahahahahaha. Marion, what a guy! 24380. Cellar Door - 3/22/2002 9:32:19 AM 24381. glendajean - 3/22/2002 10:04:39 AM When I was in high school, "Butterflies are free" was the play people talked about and did scenes from in play contests. 24382. glendajean - 3/22/2002 10:07:20 AM Memento 24383. glendajean - 3/22/2002 10:25:03 AM Just found out Ghost World is out on DVD at Blockbuster. 24384. CalGal - 3/22/2002 10:48:59 AM Joe Pantoliano is an interesting actor. Not that Moss and Pearce weren't great; it's just that Pantoliano seems to be all over the place, everywhere, showing up in TV shows, indies, huge commercial hits. 24385. glendajean - 3/22/2002 11:06:25 AM He's sitting at a party in silence next to a pretty girl. He excuses himself to go to the bathroom. We next see him washing his hands. The music and loud party sounds are muted. He runs his fingers over the sink fixture and counter. He then returns to his date and says, "You should see the bathroom. It's great" or something to that effect. 24386. jayackroyd - 3/22/2002 11:29:01 AM I'm ready to go Rask. Post at noon edt? Or name a time. 24387. jayackroyd - 3/22/2002 11:57:27 AM Rask, 24388. Raskolnikov - 3/22/2002 4:33:02 PM Jay: I was AFK most of the day. I should be around for the next hour and a half, or else tonight after 10pm edt. We may have participation problems over the weekend, however, particularly since the Oscars are Sunday night, and people might change their votes depending on who wins (there is almost always a backlash against the winner, and people who would approve it before the show might not do so afterwards). 24389. jayackroyd - 3/22/2002 4:45:03 PM Okay, then we're too late. We can't ask for votes after the awards. 24390. Raskolnikov - 3/22/2002 5:03:01 PM Shall we give it a go or give up the ghost? I think you have a better idea than I do of the number of people who stop by after friday afternoon. 24391. CalGal - 3/22/2002 5:11:32 PM How many participants would you need? 24392. Raskolnikov - 3/22/2002 5:14:07 PM There is no absolute number, but I was hoping for at least 20-30. 24393. judithathome - 3/22/2002 5:16:49 PM Is it just me or does anybody else find the blind guy at the party in the commerical about the bathroom fixtures a sexy fellow? 24394. hollyw - 3/22/2002 11:25:36 PM Goodness. I guess I need to watch more TV. 24395. CalGal - 3/23/2002 12:39:10 AM Moulin Rouge win Best Picture? 24396. Cellar Door - 3/23/2002 11:12:27 AM Wishful thinking. 24397. glendajean - 3/23/2002 2:38:20 PM Ghost World 24398. glendajean - 3/23/2002 2:38:35 PM Meanwhile, she connects with Seymour (Steve Buscemi) a blues and jazz record collector who is even more disconnected than Enid. 24399. glendajean - 3/23/2002 2:42:06 PM There is a tender sweetness between the two girl -- they often hold hands, or walk with linked arm in a most natural and unforced way. I am unsure if this is a hint of a lesbian relationship or rather a recognition that they are careful of each other because they don't have anybody else. Enid tells Seymour that she would like to date Josh, but Rebecca would go "ape." Rebecca wants to date a band member, but Enid thinks he is stupid. 24400. wonkers2 - 3/23/2002 4:04:27 PM Good review of Ghost World. I also enjoyed the movie. 24401. wonkers2 - 3/23/2002 4:29:13 PM Saw an interesting new (to me) actress,Famke Janssen,in "Made" a little romantic comedy today. She played a magazine columnist writing for young singles. Just looked her up on the net. Interesting bio--Dutch, studied economics at Holland University and Columbia. Switched to English and acting. Model. Played blonde who crushed men with her thighs in James Bond "Goldeneye." Has since moved on to more serious roles. She didn't strike me as typical Hollywood. 24402. Cellar Door - 3/23/2002 5:26:51 PM Tom Wilkinson ( up for Best Actor for In the Bedroom) to CNN about Awards season: 24403. judithathome - 3/24/2002 9:34:34 AM Great review, GJ...that movie made the cartoonish look and feel of an American city seem so very real. The outdoor scenes of the strip malls and apartment buildings easpecially...they looked very "drawn and colored" like cartoon flats. 24404. Cygnus X-1 - 3/25/2002 9:11:41 AM Re the Oscars: 24405. bubbaette - 3/25/2002 9:13:15 AM You ought to try a laxative, Cyg. 24406. Cygnus X-1 - 3/25/2002 9:28:38 AM Yes, you could say "tough shit". Not really, though. After all, who cares about the Oscars? This just makes them even more irrelevant. It's my fault for being surprised that faux sophistication in the form of blatant condescension still rears its ugly head. 24407. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 9:31:00 AM I thought it was better than most telecasts: 24408. CalGal - 3/25/2002 9:32:46 AM I thought the show was surprisingly good. The clip packages weren't as choppy, the jokes were decent, Whoopi did well, and there were even a couple serious upsets. Jim Broadbent? Bosnia? 24409. theDiva - 3/25/2002 9:34:42 AM Best line: 24410. CalGal - 3/25/2002 9:35:53 AM Oh, I forgot Randy Newman! That was the other great surprise. Wonderful win. 24411. CalGal - 3/25/2002 9:37:06 AM Rask, did you bet on Broadbent? 24412. theDiva - 3/25/2002 9:40:10 AM I was stunned to see Woody. Stunned. 24413. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 9:40:14 AM Cal: No, the book only offered bets on a handful of awards. I bet on Actress, Picture, and Director. I avoided Actor because I smelled an upset, but wasn't sure enough to put my money where my mouth was. 24414. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 9:52:56 AM I thought Halle was adorable, loved the dress, but wished she had put together a speech beforehand. Others brought their speeches on little pieces of paper and no one seemed to mind. 24415. theDiva - 3/25/2002 9:54:35 AM what'd she do? I dozed off just before Cirque du Soleil, then turned off the set, then the baby woke up, etc. etc. 24416. bubbaette - 3/25/2002 9:58:36 AM Paltrow's dress was hideous. What was she thinking? 24417. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:01:06 AM She cried a la Gwenyth (sp) Paltrow. But she seemed to pull it together at the end. 24418. theDiva - 3/25/2002 10:01:31 AM oh, and speaking of hideous dresses, what about Jennifer Connolly's dress? And Lordy, child, put on a bra while you're at it. 24419. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:01:43 AM Paltrow's dress was ugly. And who did Jennifer Lopez' hair. Yuck! 24420. theDiva - 3/25/2002 10:02:27 AM Erin 24421. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:03:04 AM Jennifer Connolly's dress was ugly. Ditto Faith Hill--it looked like some king of tie-dye deal. 24422. theDiva - 3/25/2002 10:07:03 AM totally awful. Judi Dench looked fab, as did Sissy Spacek. Jody Foster looked pretty good, but again, a bra would have helped. 24423. theDiva - 3/25/2002 10:12:50 AM For God's sake, Gwyneth, what would your mother say? 24424. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:18:48 AM Wait--were you asking me what Kidman did? 24425. theDiva - 3/25/2002 10:26:44 AM Yeah, I meant Kidman, that wench. I saw Halle on the news this morning, she really was adorable. I loved how she kept hugging her mom. 24426. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 10:27:30 AM Kidman shouldn't have thought she had much of a chance. Spacek was the one who had the right to be disappointed. 24427. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:29:56 AM Oh, yes, it's about time. I didn't expect to see two black actors take both top acting honors, though. 24428. theDiva - 3/25/2002 10:31:56 AM My husband boycotted the show because he expected the same old, same old. Frankly, I did, too, but I still had to watch for the dresses and the dish. 24429. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:32:23 AM I almost went to go see Monster's Ball with my mother, but we were with my 10-year-old kid sister, and we didn't think it was appropriate for her to see. 24430. theDiva - 3/25/2002 10:35:03 AM Haven't seen the picture, but I guess her award is due to the 'it's about time' factor as much as her actual performance. 24431. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:37:28 AM I heard she was actually very good in the film. And I love Billy Bob, too, so I have two reasons to see it. 24432. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 10:38:36 AM I knew it was a strong possibility. Hollywood has taken flack for the lack of black winners in the lead acting categories for years, and the Academy consists of dramatic, showbiz types who have a natural instinct for publicity. 24433. CalGal - 3/25/2002 10:38:44 AM Deev--from everything I've heard, she really did turn in an outstanding performance. I suspect she was acting over her head, and might never do as well again. 24434. glendajean - 3/25/2002 10:38:58 AM Berry earned her award. 24435. CalGal - 3/25/2002 10:42:28 AM Oh, that was another good line, btw, by Whoopi: 24436. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:42:32 AM Halle Berry seems to be a glamour-puss actress from the Old School. She projects "movie star" regardless of the marginal films she's been in. 24437. bubbaette - 3/25/2002 10:42:43 AM Yeah, Nicole looked like she had a bug up her butt while Berry was saying her thank-you's. Spacek looked much more gracious. (But then Spacek is a better actress than Kidman, so maybe she was just acting.) 24438. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 10:43:25 AM She has gotten raves, so I won't write it off as tokenism. But by most accounts, Denzel's win must have been a combination of a lifetime achievement award and a chance for a choice photo op with Poitier. His performance in Training Day is by all accounts good, but not up to the caliber of other performances he has turned in. But everyone knew Washington was going to get an Oscar eventually, so his win isn't any less appropriate than Pacino winning for Scent of a Woman, or Newman for Color of Money. Standard Academy practice. 24439. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:45:14 AM Good--I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed Kidman was just a teensy bit off. 24440. glendajean - 3/25/2002 10:47:41 AM Tom Wilkinson may have put in a slightly better performance. Sean Penn gave the performance of his career. But Washington is consistent in his performances, even in crappy movies (see Hurricane). 24441. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 10:52:08 AM Erin: That is just it - Berry *isn't* a star (prior to last night). She is a pretty face who turned in a string of eye candy roles, while leaving no impression beyond "damn, is she cute". 24442. glendajean - 3/25/2002 10:52:33 AM At the party I was at, a friend commented after Josh Harnett did his introduction that they shouldn't let young actors on the stage. 24443. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:53:30 AM Rene Zellweger. 24444. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 10:53:42 AM The "it's about time" factor is unfortunate. 24445. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 10:55:41 AM But every time you see Halle, she is all dolled up and glamorous looking. She seems to do a lot to promote her movies. 24446. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 10:56:34 AM JC: Her performance has more than enough raves to fight off allegations of tokenism. Washington's performance wouldn't, but for the fantastic string of performances behind him. 24447. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 10:56:53 AM The nominations should have been 24448. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 10:59:46 AM Washington's performance was something to see. It is great to see an actor put all his might into a role yet still remain surgical in what he is trying to communicate. There are a lot of huffers and emoters (Tom Cruise comes to mind). 24449. judithathome - 3/25/2002 11:00:25 AM I thought Reese Witherspoon looked nice and Sharon Stone, too. Nicole looked like she got her dress from JCPenney's. 24450. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 11:00:59 AM Who the hell was the *lead* actor in Sexy Beast if both Winstone and Kingsley are supporting? 24451. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:04:05 AM Rask 24452. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 11:04:40 AM I haven't seen Training Day yet, so I am not commenting on merits, just on what perception has been. But based on that, if anyone other than Washington had turned in his performance, Russell Crowe would have his second Oscar. It was essentially a lifetime achievement award. No discredit to this - the Academy works this way. It is rare when an actor's best performance is the one he actually wins for. 24453. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 11:08:13 AM What *does* annoy me is when someone with no career worth paying tribute to wins for what I see as a bad performance. Geoffrey Rush in Shine is the prime example of this, but it looks like it may have been an *advance* on a career achievemnt award, as he has had a string of good performances since (Mystery Men notwithstanding). 24454. bubbaette - 3/25/2002 11:08:39 AM I did NOT need to see Ryan O'Neill. Geez Louise, what happened to him. He looks like forty miles of dirt road. 24455. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:09:03 AM nonono, don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying it's tokenism....I don't doubt she gave a fine performance, she's a very talented actress. I think folks just realized they couldn't blow her, or black folks, off any longer. 24456. TabouliJones - 3/25/2002 11:10:23 AM I actually watched Training Day during the first half of The Oscars. I have no objection to Washington winning, but his nod last night was clearly in the Al Pacino Scent of a Woman category -- recognition for past performances and superior talent consistently displayed over the years, not a sincere belief that his performance was the best of the year. In many respects, in fact, Training Day was a ridiculous movie and Washington's character in it borderline absurd. 24457. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 11:10:58 AM Oh, yes...Ryan O'Neill...yuck! 24458. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:11:01 AM Er, I dunno. Training Day was a little film (and a good, not a great one) but I can see people frothing over Washington's portrayal. And Washington has been stricken with Harrison Ford boring good guy roles for a while now. It was a jolt to see him break out so powerfully. 24459. Cellar Door - 3/25/2002 11:11:59 AM When Cruise came on stage I was expecting him to say "Good evening -- AND I'M NOT GAY!" 24460. glendajean - 3/25/2002 11:12:17 AM JC, you left off Tom Wilkinson who was excellent in In The Bedroom. 24461. judithathome - 3/25/2002 11:14:34 AM I did NOT need to see Ryan O'Neill. Geez Louise, what happened to him. He looks like forty miles of dirt road. 24462. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:14:45 AM Judith 24463. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:15:11 AM TJ 24464. bubbaette - 3/25/2002 11:16:22 AM I didn't know about the leukemia. I guess that explains it 24465. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:17:18 AM Cellar 24466. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:19:04 AM Stiller and Wilson were very funny. The show needs more of that. Jim Carrey is funny as heck when he gives an award, Where was he? 24467. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:19:14 AM Julio 24468. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:20:18 AM The Stiller/Wilson thing was funny as hell. I could not stop laughing. "Actor, director, writer...quitter" 24469. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:20:56 AM Diva 24470. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:21:49 AM "Oh, okay, Zoolander?." 24471. judithathome - 3/25/2002 11:22:22 AM Wil Smith and his wife went to the hospital where their baby daughter had been taken with an ear infection and 103° temperature. 24472. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 11:22:46 AM The thing is that any racism probably isn't with the Academy. Oscars could have gone to Spacek and Crowe with few people arguing that they hadn't deserved them. It is the same thing almost every year that a black actor has gotten stiffed at the ceremony. 24473. TabouliJones - 3/25/2002 11:23:59 AM Julius, 24474. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:25:13 AM And when it comes to career achievement, what black actor aside from Poitier, and now Washington, had really earned it with a string of high profile, topnotch performances? (Samuel Jackson is heading there, but his career is barely a decade old). 24475. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 11:26:57 AM Glenda: "you should watch TD before discounting Washington's peformance." 24476. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:26:58 AM TJ 24477. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:27:48 AM liekd=liked 24478. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 11:28:44 AM I think Don Cheadle is a fantastic actor who needs better materials. Angela Bassett is great too, but hasn't been in anything that would earn her a nomination in some time. 24479. judithathome - 3/25/2002 11:31:18 AM I think the best looking couple last night was Sir Ian and his cookie boy... 24480. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 11:32:30 AM Freeman, yes. But he has *not* won an award. I don't think he has ever had a single performance that deserved a best actor win that year, but he has amassed enough of them that a career award would not be unreasonable. 24481. glendajean - 3/25/2002 11:33:36 AM Judith, he brought that guy to the Golden Globes, too. 24482. TabouliJones - 3/25/2002 11:33:45 AM As midnight approached, my prevailing thought was not about the pending climax, but that Ethan Hawke was going to catch hell from his wife for failing to call and explain that he was going to be home late -- which was not, I assume, the reaction the film-makers intended to elicit. 24483. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 11:34:36 AM The last memorable movie Freeman has been in is Seven. He doesn't seem to be getting the Oscar-worthy roles. 24484. TabouliJones - 3/25/2002 11:34:46 AM Uhm, my last post was to Julius re: Training Day. 24485. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 11:34:46 AM "I think Don Cheadle is a fantastic actor who needs better materials. Angela Bassett is great too, but hasn't been in anything that would earn her a nomination in some time." 24486. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 11:34:56 AM "I think Don Cheadle is a fantastic actor who needs better materials. Angela Bassett is great too, but hasn't been in anything that would earn her a nomination in some time." 24487. glendajean - 3/25/2002 11:35:21 AM TJ -- his wife was sitting next to him. 24488. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:35:53 AM Judith 24489. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 11:38:25 AM They are a cute couple. He's about a foot or more taller than she is. 24490. glendajean - 3/25/2002 11:39:54 AM Sorry, TJ. That makes sense. 24491. TabouliJones - 3/25/2002 11:40:26 AM And speaking of Ethan Hawke, when he was on stage with Paltrow , I think he was chanelling the thoughts of the entire audience; as he was suppressing a grin the entire time and I think trying to figure out what the hell was going on with her dress. 24492. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:40:45 AM But can the next color barrier be broken, the one that really inhibits roles for blacks? 24493. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:42:26 AM Speaking of Paltrow, hers was the worst dress I've ever seen. I can see her at the designer now: 24494. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:43:34 AM TJ 24495. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:43:52 AM Will just cracks me up. I saw him on some goofy show that gave him an award for best dressed actor, and he said 'I just wear whatever Jada put on the bed....' 24496. CalGal - 3/25/2002 11:44:33 AM I would say that the other problem with blacks and Oscars has been the nominating process. Cheadle is Exhibit A as an example of a guy who sends in awesome performances one after another and never even gets noticed. Ocean's 11 was unique in that he was unbearable. 24497. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:44:54 AM hahahahaha 24498. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:47:13 AM Man, Diva. She did. I've seen them. Beautiful, voluptuous and massive. 24499. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 11:47:27 AM But Jennifer's hair was yucky. What was she trying to prove with that ratty, dry, flip thing? 24500. glendajean - 3/25/2002 11:49:32 AM JL's hair was bad, but Cameron Diaz's was the worst. 24501. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:49:45 AM Well, she ought to have been pushing them up. I wonder if she had surgery. 24502. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 11:50:26 AM I think last night was Make Jennifer Connolly Look Ugly night. She really looked like hell. 24503. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:50:43 AM OH. MY. GOD. YES! I was like, Cameron, honey. You're a beautiful woman. COMB YOUR HAIR. 24504. CalGal - 3/25/2002 11:51:44 AM They had fashion designers on CNN this morning who said that the color of Connelly's dress just didn't work on TV, but that it was gorgeous. Also, she apparently didn't look as thin in person. 24505. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 11:52:22 AM Just to clarify: Jennifer Lopez had the ugly hair. 24506. judithathome - 3/25/2002 11:53:34 AM Jennifer Connelly has obviously given up fat in her diet...she has all the outward signs of it in her face. She's lost a lot of weight and it doesn't look good on her at all. 24507. bubbaette - 3/25/2002 11:54:45 AM Cameron's hair looked like she'd teased it with a fork and then slept on it for several days. 24508. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:55:16 AM Erin, yes, my post was to Glenda. Can't find a pic of JLo's hair....but now this is how you wear strapless. 24509. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 11:55:28 AM That's too bad--I've always thought she has the old-fashioned lush beauty of the Hollywood Bombshell. 24510. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 11:55:38 AM "Agreed. But their plight is sadly much like the plight of the over-40 actress. Market share rules." 24511. judithathome - 3/25/2002 11:55:50 AM I thought Cameron looked like she'd just gotten out of the shower, scrunched her hair and grabbed a kimino off the back of the bathroom door... 24512. theDiva - 3/25/2002 11:56:01 AM Look at Hugh Grant. He is like 'hyuk hyuk, look at this babe I'm with....' 24513. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 11:56:09 AM Jodie Foster looked hot. 24514. Cellar Door - 3/25/2002 11:56:53 AM Uma Thurman's breasts made a welcome return to Show Business lastnight. She's got a balcony you can do Shakespeare from! 24515. TabouliJones - 3/25/2002 11:57:32 AM "I would say that the other problem with blacks and Oscars has been the nominating process. Cheadle is Exhibit A as an example of a guy who sends in awesome performances one after another and never even gets noticed. Ocean's 11 was unique in that he was unbearable." 24516. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 11:57:56 AM Yes, I remember Sandra's dress now. It was one of my favorites. 24517. Cellar Door - 3/25/2002 11:58:09 AM Hugh Grant now appears to have more hair than at any point in his career. What is it with that? 24518. Cellar Door - 3/25/2002 11:59:27 AM "Jodie Foster looked hot." 24519. TabouliJones - 3/25/2002 12:01:14 PM Actually, I thought Cameron Diaz looked great and had no problems with her hair. 24520. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 12:02:50 PM I thought she looked great for six months post-partum. 24521. Indiana Jones - 3/25/2002 12:03:32 PM How old is Jennifer Connelly's kid? If she's actually trying to take care of him (?) and he's less than a year, that might have something to do with the weight loss, sort-of-tired look. 24522. theDiva - 3/25/2002 12:03:57 PM 24523. theDiva - 3/25/2002 12:04:45 PM who's 6 months post partum? Connolly?! Well, that explains a lot, including the deflated boobies. 24524. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 12:06:15 PM Yes, I didn't think JLo's dress was particularly flattering. I liked the top OK, but the rest had a bridesmaid's flair to it. 24525. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 12:07:34 PM Jodie Foster I think is six months post-partum. 24526. theDiva - 3/25/2002 12:08:03 PM My guess is she wanted to show off that booty. 24527. Cellar Door - 3/25/2002 12:08:04 PM J-LO STOLE FAYE DUNAWAY'S HAIR!!!! 24528. CalGal - 3/25/2002 12:08:34 PM TJ, 24529. glendajean - 3/25/2002 12:08:55 PM Diva -- what did she want to show off at the Grammys two years ago? 24530. judithathome - 3/25/2002 12:09:03 PM Jennifer Connelly's kid is older...she's not a new mom. I think he's like 4 or 5 years old. 24531. theDiva - 3/25/2002 12:09:05 PM Oh, I didn't realize Jodie had given birth! Wow, she did look fab. 24532. theDiva - 3/25/2002 12:09:40 PM Glenda 24533. Indiana Jones - 3/25/2002 12:10:01 PM Quick search indicates Connelly's child should be a couple of years old by now. 24534. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 12:10:13 PM JC: Nice observation on the historical/literary barrier. Of the 20 acting nominations this year, 3 were played by blacks and only about half of the remainder could have been played by blacks without major re-writing, or without sacrificing historical accuracy. But part of this is simple choice of selection of what history and works of literature you choose to adapt from. 24535. judithathome - 3/25/2002 12:10:51 PM Diva, Jennifer C's look is from NO FAT in her diet...look at the lines next to her mouth; that is a result of cutting out fat. 24536. theDiva - 3/25/2002 12:12:21 PM Which would also explain the, to coin a phrase, saggy flapjacks. 24537. CalGal - 3/25/2002 12:12:53 PM Denzel himself was creditable in Branagh's Much Ado, with no confusion. 24538. bubbaette - 3/25/2002 12:13:21 PM I must confess that I thought Halle Berry overdid it with her screaming/crying thing. Gimme a break, the girl had been crying for a full two minutes before there was the first tear, though she did have snot on her face before the end of her speech. Am I just jaded? 24539. glendajean - 3/25/2002 12:14:24 PM We watched last night at a friend's house. I missed my TIVO everytime somebody said, "who was that" or "did you see her." 24540. CalGal - 3/25/2002 12:16:28 PM GJ, 24541. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 12:17:47 PM Rask 24542. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 12:22:31 PM As it is, I'm not sure it is fair to assume thate black directors and writers will write to black audiences, thus increasing participation of black actors. 24543. CalGal - 3/25/2002 12:28:25 PM The other thing is that the serious "black" dramas are generally not considered to address universal issues. A Beautiful Mind might be about schizophrenia, but it tapped into something that everyone related to. The John Singleton movie, Baby Boy(?), was about something that just isn't an issue with white audiences. It's also not an issue that audiences feel sympathy for (unlike slavery, the civil war, sharecropping). 24544. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 12:31:29 PM Good point. Washington won for the Popeye Doyle role. 24545. glendajean - 3/25/2002 1:30:04 PM This weekend, Iris as the last movie I saw. I gave up on Black Hawk Down and Jimmy Neutron. 24546. glendajean - 3/25/2002 1:30:16 PM There is enough back and forth to distract us from the sad facts. Winslet and Bonneville (he was the husband to the wheel chair lady in Notting Hill have a good connection, physically, to the older actors, and for Bonneville, he is the mirror of Broadbent. 24547. CalGal - 3/25/2002 1:32:37 PM he was the husband to the wheel chair lady 24548. Ms. No - 3/25/2002 1:36:13 PM I was quite pleased with Denzel's nomination and win for TD. I walked out of that film thinking that it was the best performance of his career. 24549. Erin R. - 3/25/2002 1:42:14 PM Isn't it fairly common for best acting awards to go to movies that aren't the big blockbusters? 24550. Ms. No - 3/25/2002 1:42:31 PM Jennifer Lopez looked like she'd just walked off the runway for the 1965 Miss Florida pageant. 24551. Ms. No - 3/25/2002 1:43:59 PM I think there's maybe a higher percentage of best actor from best film winners, but it's nowhere near the regularity of the best director of best film winners. 24552. CalGal - 3/25/2002 1:54:02 PM Erin, 24553. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 1:59:41 PM JC: 24554. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 2:05:04 PM "Isn't it fairly common for best acting awards to go to movies that aren't the big blockbusters?" 24555. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 2:15:07 PM The same thing often happens in the technical awards. If the movie was good, the crew that worked on it must have been good, so we'll give them editing, cinematography, art direction, sound, and screenplay. And we'll blindly subscribe to auteur theory and assume that if the movie was good, it must be because of the director. 24556. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 2:23:30 PM But auteur theory really seems to have captured the Academy. Whenever a film gets a best picture nomination and the director gets stiffed, there is some comment about the film directing itself, which implies that if it didn't get other nominations, it must have written itself, edited itself, shot itself, or acted itself. 24557. theDiva - 3/25/2002 2:28:21 PM I thought that in the tech awards, only the techies in that discipline voted. No? 24558. CalGal - 3/25/2002 2:28:48 PM I was just listening to Altman's commentary on MASH, where he mentions that the loudspeaker announcements were his idea and put in after filming. He needed something that would pull all the various episodes together. Is that a directing decision or a screenplay decision? 24559. theDiva - 3/25/2002 2:31:30 PM It's an editing/post-production decision, even though the director made it. 24560. CalGal - 3/25/2002 2:34:22 PM That's funny, I almost mentioned editing as another possibility but thought I might not understand editing sufficiently. 24561. Ms. No - 3/25/2002 2:35:28 PM I'd vote Directing. 24562. Ms. No - 3/25/2002 2:38:13 PM Of course, I may have an entirely different vision of what directing entails having worked almost exclusively in live theater as opposed to film. 24563. theDiva - 3/25/2002 3:36:51 PM IMO, when that kind of stuff is added in post, especially if it's not in the script, it's an editing decision...because you're changing the original vision or plan. 24564. rubberducky - 3/25/2002 4:17:25 PM bad news for theMote's more discriminating movie tastes... i read today that Sarah Michelle Gellar's lesbian kiss scene (with Velma) was cut from the Scobby Doo movie due to it being too 'provocative'. 24565. Stephanie D. - 3/25/2002 4:29:53 PM Worst fashion disaster: tie between Gwyneth and Jennifer Connelly. She used to look so luscious. Beige makes her look completely colorless, and not only that, her dress was a horror in general, some sort of raggedy 80s-style gauze melange. Who told her that a neck scarf would be more appropriate than diamonds for the Oscars? 24566. Julius Caesar - 3/25/2002 4:31:24 PM Amen on Julia Roberts and her over-healthy self-esteem. 24567. CalGal - 3/25/2002 4:42:18 PM Yes, Julia Roberts was doing an F. Murray Abraham and it was not cool. Especially when you consider how glum she would have looked if she'd had to announce Crowe as the winner. 24568. CalGal - 3/25/2002 4:43:06 PM I liked Fellows speech, too, and forgot to mention it. He had two wonderful movie references, and that heartfelt ending. 24569. Cellar Door - 3/25/2002 4:47:23 PM Julia wants Denzell so bad she can taste it. 24570. Raskolnikov - 3/25/2002 6:58:46 PM Diva: "I thought that in the tech awards, only the techies in that discipline voted. No?" 24571. hollyw - 3/25/2002 10:45:47 PM Favorite moment: Julian Fellowes' acceptance speech, when he said "I think you must be the most generous nation on Earth. Thank you very much and God bless America." He sounded like he meant it. 24572. rubberducky - 3/26/2002 10:51:04 AM in true Oscar coincidence, i rented Training Day last night. while a somewhat engaging movie, i felt that Washington certainly wasn't giving an Oscar caliber performance. it's just ... odd to see him try to act 'black' in such a jarring and unnatural way. also, i saw no need for the constant racial comments that riddled the movie. 24573. betty - 3/26/2002 10:58:33 AM rubberducky, 24574. rubberducky - 3/26/2002 11:02:00 AM that's probably so, betty. 24575. theDiva - 3/26/2002 11:05:32 AM they chose to do it for a stereotypically "black" (meaning bad guy) performance rather than his more spectacular and "middle class" performances 24576. Erin R. - 3/26/2002 11:16:33 AM My husband felt the awards in the best acting categories stunk of tokenism. Since I haven't seen any of the movies, I don't know. 24577. theDiva - 3/26/2002 11:21:23 AM Greg saw Training Day, and liked it a lot...I, OTOH, haven't seen a movie since Crouching Tiger..... 24578. glendajean - 3/26/2002 11:21:24 AM Washington won the award for his performance in TD. Certainly there is an accumulative affect, too. The voters often look at the whole career. He has consistently turned in great performances. Maybe the stars were aligned right. Whatever. But I would hate to take away from the merit of his acting and put in an asterik that says we devalue his winning because it wasn't for the right, appropriate to all political tests, role. 24579. Raskolnikov - 3/26/2002 11:21:47 AM Ducky:"this is supposed to be a 'heist' flick, yet 24580. theDiva - 3/26/2002 11:21:59 AM Oh, I adored DIABD. 24581. glendajean - 3/26/2002 11:22:28 AM toys? 24582. Erin R. - 3/26/2002 11:24:35 AM I loved Devil in a Blue Dress, too, although the book was quite a bit more raunchy. 24583. rubberducky - 3/26/2002 11:26:40 AM Rask: 24584. theDiva - 3/26/2002 11:26:52 AM Was it? I haven't read it yet, though I've been meaning to. Do I recall correctly that there are more in the series? It'd be nice to see those made. 24585. Erin R. - 3/26/2002 11:31:50 AM Yes, there are more in the series. 24586. Raskolnikov - 3/26/2002 11:34:00 AM He has done several movies that I didn't like, but most of them were at least interesting, and his performance wasn't the problem: Heart Condition, Mo Better Blues, Fallen, and Pelican Brief. And by most accounts Virtuoisity was pretty lame, even though Denzel plays opposite Russell Crowe, as was Bone Collector. 24587. theDiva - 3/26/2002 11:35:01 AM Not the Bone Collector? 24588. theDiva - 3/26/2002 11:37:32 AM I loved Mo' Betta Blues, but then I've got some serious biases working in that regard.... 24589. Raskolnikov - 3/26/2002 11:37:54 AM I haven't seen it, and maybe I only saw a narrow selection of reviews, but all the Bone Collector reviews I saw were pretty bad. 24590. Erin R. - 3/26/2002 11:39:55 AM No, Deeve, that's another author I have read--he wrote the books the movies "Kiss the Girls" and "Along Came a Spider," starring Morgan Freeman, are based on. 24591. theDiva - 3/26/2002 11:40:02 AM oh, and thanks, Rask, for the AA voting info. It's been so many years since I've had a vested interest that I've forgotten the rules. 24592. theDiva - 3/26/2002 11:41:40 AM Erin 24593. Raskolnikov - 3/26/2002 11:43:31 AM the sci fi movie was Virtuosity. 24594. Erin R. - 3/26/2002 11:44:12 AM I was thinking Virtuosity. Was Russell Crowe in that movie? I don't remember. 24595. theDiva - 3/26/2002 11:44:30 AM that's it! 24596. theDiva - 3/26/2002 11:45:24 AM I remember Greg renting it...he said it was pretty violent and that I wouldn't like it, so I didn't bother. 24597. CalGal - 3/26/2002 11:46:02 AM Hey, that's right. Virtuosity had Russell Crowe in it. It was one of his first major roles in the US. 24598. Erin R. - 3/26/2002 11:51:11 AM Did his eyes glow in the movie? Wasn't there some scene where he shoots up a disco/nightclub? 24599. CalGal - 3/26/2002 11:55:59 AM I think so. I didn't really watch the movie, but he was a robot or something. 24600. CalGal - 3/26/2002 11:56:45 AM Whoops--read it wrong. No Way Back was the other 1995 movie. Sum of Us was 1994. 24601. Erin R. - 3/26/2002 11:57:27 AM He was in the Quick and the Dead? I've seen that movie, in parts, at least five or six times. 24602. CalGal - 3/26/2002 11:57:57 AM I can't remember a thing about No Way Back, even after having read the movie listing. 24603. Erin R. - 3/26/2002 11:58:13 AM So, No Way Back instead of the Quick and the Dead? 24604. CalGal - 3/26/2002 12:00:07 PM No, The Quick and The Dead was his first US movie. No Way Back was his first starring role in the US, from what I can gather, also in 1995. Virtuousity was his third US film that year. 24605. Ms. No - 3/26/2002 12:38:25 PM The Bone Collector 24606. Phoenix Rising - 3/26/2002 3:53:08 PM Virtuosity is the mediocre movie that answers the question, "Does Russell Crowe have a fabulous ass?". 24608. Absensia - 3/26/2002 11:50:06 PM I have read three or four of Jeffery Deaver's murder mysteries. I got tired of them after awhile. I saw Bone Collector, but since I knew what was going to happen, it didn't seem too bad. 24609. Absensia - 3/26/2002 11:53:15 PM Sorry....#24607 is not here....I had written more, then deleted it, then posted...I think I am still suffering from watching the oscars, then Barbara Walter's Special, then Barbara Walter's "Dish" special...all of them sucked, imo. 24610. Cellar Door - 3/27/2002 11:11:04 AM From the "New York Observer" cover story on Oscar Night: 24611. Julius Caesar - 3/27/2002 1:51:28 PM Lloyd Grove on the execrable Julia "Pez Head" Roberts 24612. CalGal - 3/27/2002 1:56:36 PM I thought Julia's comment was dumb, but the media made much of her pre-Oscar comment that she couldn't imagine a world where Denzel didn't have an Oscar. Most people had some awareness of that statement and she clearly thought she needed to reference it. Stupid call, but in general all of this dumping on her is just more pissing and moaning about her popularity. 24613. CalGal - 3/27/2002 2:31:30 PM RIP: Dudley Moore 24614. Erin R. - 3/27/2002 2:36:20 PM Two days after the event, and the dumping continues. 24615. judithathome - 3/27/2002 2:48:54 PM She also made much of the fact she had kissed Poitier earlier...I thought her "love my life" comment was geared toward the fact she would now be able to kiss Denzel. 24616. Erin R. - 3/27/2002 2:58:10 PM I guess that makes sense, but for some reason, I didn't get that impression at the time. 24617. CalGal - 3/27/2002 3:01:46 PM Put simply: it is never okay to add any words in between "and the Oscar goes to" and the name of the winner. So Roberts clearly screwed up. But it wasn't some horrible sin, just over-indulgence. 24618. Erin R. - 3/27/2002 3:14:35 PM No, I don't think it's that big of a deal. It was just odd at the time. 24619. CalGal - 3/27/2002 3:18:26 PM Oh, I wasn't addressing that to you, or to Judith. More the overreaction of the media generally. 24620. Erin R. - 3/27/2002 3:19:54 PM Apparently, knockoffs of the dress are already in the works. 24621. judithathome - 3/27/2002 3:20:27 PM Erin, you can get a dress just like the one she wore online...dresses.com, I think. Fraction of the cost, too. ;-) 24622. Toenails - 3/27/2002 3:56:29 PM Belatedly caught "Monster's Ball" last night. 24623. CalGal - 3/27/2002 4:41:58 PM Times' obit on Moore--clearly his death wasn't a surprise. 24624. hollyw - 3/27/2002 10:54:15 PM He had some funny moments. I thought he had MS, like Richard Pryor, for some reason. 24625. Raskolnikov - 3/27/2002 11:10:26 PM Roberts has also worked with Washington, so it isn't implausible that she would be rooting for him to win. 24626. wonkers2 - 3/28/2002 10:29:00 AM The first 2002 Oscar contender A Beautiful Body 24627. rubberducky - 3/28/2002 10:35:02 AM rented Angel Eyes and was pissed. the trailers make it look like a thriller. the only thrilling aspect was when it was finally over. 24628. Cellar Door - 3/28/2002 5:09:05 PM 24629. CalGal - 3/28/2002 5:18:56 PM Well, he was older even than Uncle Miltie, so I'm just grateful we had him around as long as we did. 24630. Cellar Door - 3/28/2002 5:37:20 PM There's no fear the Billy Wilder will be remembered for Buddy Buddy. 24631. wonkers2 - 3/28/2002 10:08:55 PM Saw Moulin Rouge tonight. It was spectacular but it didn't grab me emotionally like the great ones did--South Pacific, Man of La Mancha, Kismet, Guys and Dolls come to mind. Kidman was just about perfect. Does she sing? Or was she lip synching? 24632. arkymalarky - 3/28/2002 10:26:53 PM Mose just loves that movie to obsession. I promised her I'd watch it with her this weekend. She's got a roomful of friends watching it right now. 24633. CalGal - 3/28/2002 11:20:49 PM Wonkers, everyone did their own singing except Jim Broadbent in Like a Virgin, who was dubbed because he doesn't have an operatic voice. Didn't grab you emotionally? Lordy, none of the ones you mention did a thing for me. 24634. Toenails - 3/29/2002 8:27:01 AM 24635. judithathome - 3/29/2002 8:47:10 AM Ha! 24636. Jamie R - 3/29/2002 9:42:09 AM Calgal, I've been meaning to ask you about the DVD. I agree that the director/production commentary was unimpressive (swinging between too technical and too banal- "we used a number 7 Schletzwig lense to capture this moment where I switch from drama to comedy") but what did you think of the Luhrman/Pierce writer's commentary? 24637. Jamie R - 3/29/2002 9:44:52 AM Whoops. DVD = Moulin Rouge DVD. 24638. Julius Caesar - 3/29/2002 9:54:03 AM Donnie Darko 24639. CalGal - 3/29/2002 10:21:28 AM Jamie, I thought the director/writer commentary was excellent. I hadn't realized there were two commentaries at first. 24640. rubberducky - 3/29/2002 10:40:02 AM 24641. rubberducky - 3/29/2002 10:44:56 AM JC: 24642. CalGal - 3/29/2002 10:05:39 PM Panic Room got solid reviews from Ebert, Mitchell, and the Post. I don't know why, but this surprised me. 24643. wonkers2 - 3/30/2002 9:29:27 AM Cal, How about Dickens' Christmas Carol? Did that grab you emotionally? 24644. wonkers2 - 3/30/2002 9:37:38 AM Moulin Rouge had no great, soaring, affecting ballads like South Pacific (Younger than Springtime, Carefully Taught) or Evita (Don't Cry for Me Argentina). I don't recall hearing any songs from Moulin Rouge on the radio?? Have any made the pop charts or other charts? 24645. judithathome - 3/30/2002 10:18:20 AM Here's another review of the movie Cal mentioned. Some might consider information contained in it to be slightly spoilerish so be aware: 24646. CalGal - 3/30/2002 10:39:01 AM Wonkers, 24647. wonkers2 - 3/30/2002 12:48:14 PM Well, my claim wasn't a claim, it was a fact. I said Moulin Rouge "didn't grab me emotionally." 24648. wonkers2 - 3/30/2002 11:08:41 PM I saw Mira Nair's latest film tonight: Rangoon Wedding. Quite enjoyable and funny story about an arranged wedding between upper class Indians. Actually, the film was about much more than the wedding--the extended family, the bride's affair with a married radio announcer and about the "events manager," a comical character who, while making the elaborate arrangements for the wedding, fell in love with the family's servant girl. The film was unintentionally topical in that it included a pedophile friend of the family. 24649. Cellar Door - 3/31/2002 1:21:38 PM Before it slips that "Beautiful Mind" of yours... 24650. judithathome - 3/31/2002 1:51:57 PM We watched about 7 videos yesterday and last night...one of which was A.I.. We both liked it a lot...very sad movie; that kid was excellent. I loved the fluidity of Jude Law's moves, too. 24651. wonkers2 - 3/31/2002 9:13:48 PM Oops! Mira Nair's movie was called Monsoon Wedding, not Rangoon Wedding. 24652. Erin R. - 4/1/2002 10:10:12 AM I keep meaning to see Moulin Rouge on pay-per-view, but the window of opportunity to sit through a three-hour movie never quite presents itself. I guess I will check with my neighborhood Blockbuster. 24653. CalGal - 4/1/2002 10:12:07 AM You don't have a DVD player? Make sure you get widescreen, if nothing else, and on as big a TV as you can manage. 24654. Erin R. - 4/1/2002 10:15:01 AM No, only on my computer. Come to think of it, I've got a number of business trips this month (including one that starts today). Maybe I'll run by Blockbuster on the way home and see if they have it. 24655. CalGal - 4/1/2002 10:17:57 AM I think you can hook up a PC DVD to a TV, can't you? 24656. Erin R. - 4/1/2002 10:27:29 AM Yes, but I'm not that motivated, and I doubt my husband would have much interest in the film. 24657. Absensia - 4/2/2002 12:12:06 AM Russell Crowe has been accused by an Australian rugby league coach of trying to lure several players to South Sydney, a team the actor avidly supports. 24658. wonkers2 - 4/2/2002 12:42:59 PM Erin, you may be right. Not much of Kidman's bare skin! Disappointing in that regard. But otherwise quite spectacular. 24659. CalGal - 4/2/2002 1:06:58 PM Saw Double Indemnity over the weekend on TCM, for what I think is the first time. 24660. christipeters - 4/2/2002 3:39:50 PM LD and I went to see The Rookie Monday afternoon. Yep, it is a predictable, G-rated, feel-good movie, but it is a nicely done predictable, G-rated, feel-good movie. We both really enjoyed it. 24661. Cellar Door - 4/2/2002 4:17:06 PM I don't think anything in it dates, really. This generation imagines that Quentin Tarantino and John Woo invented "edgey" filmmaking. They're cream puffs compared to Wilder. 24662. CalGal - 4/2/2002 4:24:22 PM "I wonder if you know what I mean." 24663. stostosto - 4/2/2002 5:12:45 PM I gave up on watching "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" the other night. (An adaptation of Czech author Milan Kundera's novel). That was a movie which hasn't aged well. Not only was it unbearable, it was downright insufferable. I remember I resented Daniel Day-Lewis in it back when it came out - but I didn't generally find it so thoroughly phoney and pretentious then as I do now. Maybe I was simply too much of a gravely serious young student back then... In fact, that suspicion is probably what I resent at least as much as the film. What a waste of youth... 24664. lizzard - 4/3/2002 6:40:35 PM 24665. wonkers2 - 4/3/2002 6:50:27 PM sto, I agree with your assessment of The Unbearable,etc--unbearable! 24666. CalGal - 4/3/2002 7:04:59 PM I watched part of it last night, too. I can't bear it when the good Senator is killed, so I always turn it off around then. 24667. lizzard - 4/3/2002 7:14:25 PM I could never figure out what Leigh was doing there either, although she's such a pleasant diversion. I'd never heard Ebert's theory. Hmm. That train scene is hypnotic though, with Leigh asking "can you remember that?" several times in that soothing voice. 24668. CalGal - 4/3/2002 7:20:30 PM Ebert's Manchurian Candidate review 24669. Cellar Door - 4/3/2002 8:05:27 PM Leave us not forget the author of the screenplay -- George Axelrod. 24670. CalGal - 4/3/2002 8:40:50 PM Weird trivia note: John Frankenheimer drove Bobby Kennedy to the Ambassador Hotel the night he was killed. 24671. Erinys - 4/4/2002 12:59:14 AM So sad. 24672. Raskolnikov - 4/4/2002 1:59:20 PM I thought ULOB was pretentious and boring when it came out, but Goddamn, Lena Olin was hot. 24673. Indiana Jones - 4/4/2002 2:37:51 PM In many ways The Manchurian Candidate is all-of-a-piece with his Lord Love a Duck -- the apotheosis of Tuesday Weld. 24674. rubberducky - 4/4/2002 2:44:12 PM yes, but who doesn't love a duck? 24675. Cellar Door - 4/4/2002 6:32:09 PM It's the answer to the eternal question "Why a Duck?" Indy. 24676. judithathome - 4/5/2002 2:32:11 PM Anyone seen this movie yet? 24677. wonkers2 - 4/5/2002 2:33:56 PM No, but I read a review and saw a preview. Looks like a winner. 24678. judithathome - 4/5/2002 2:35:20 PM Our reviewer locally was majorly enthusiastic, as his review linked above shows. 24679. CalGal - 4/5/2002 11:06:13 PM Rashomon gets the Criterion treatment. Altman does an intro, and it has a commentary. Wowza. 24680. rubberducky - 4/8/2002 9:12:25 AM Swordfish wasn't the worst movie to come from 2001, but it was still in the lower 25%. i guess the key to watching it is to go in hating it and getting it for free. anyway, Travolta is as pretentious as ever, the storyline was ridiculous, and i fail to see what's so great about Halle Berry's tits. there was a great scene or two, so that and Hugh Jackman being hot saved it from complete wretchedness. 2 ¼ quacks out of 5. 24681. Phoenix Rising - 4/8/2002 9:43:54 AM You mean Tony Shalhoub? I haven't seen 13 Ghosts and likely will not unless it some random HBO or Showtime surfing months from now. 24682. judithathome - 4/8/2002 9:47:12 AM He was great in Big Night. 24683. Phoenix Rising - 4/8/2002 9:48:11 AM Joy Ride was just so-so. I really couldn't buy the set-up at all. I would rather my psycho killers have a little more motive. Although the nudity was enjoyable, the restaurant scene was just ridiculous and then it went nowhere. As did this entire movie. 2 flames. 24684. rubberducky - 4/8/2002 10:02:24 AM PR: 24685. glendajean - 4/8/2002 10:38:56 AM He was great in Big Night, too. 24686. judithathome - 4/8/2002 10:39:38 AM GJ, great minds! 24687. glendajean - 4/8/2002 11:13:27 AM Last week, I taped off of HBO the documentary Murder on a Sunday Morning. It won the Academy Award this year for best documentary. 24688. glendajean - 4/8/2002 11:13:54 AM The kid is quiet. He wears wire glasses and rarely speaks. We actually hear his voice for the first time when he is on the witness stand. His parents appear working class. 24689. Raskolnikov - 4/8/2002 12:51:20 PM On Joy Ride: 24690. Cellar Door - 4/9/2002 1:21:43 PM Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland came over last night and we had a Natalie Wood and Nico evening. 24691. wonkers2 - 4/9/2002 3:48:30 PM I assume a "fluffer" is the same as a "plater" which is what Cynthia Plaster Caster calls her assistant? 24692. TabouliJones - 4/9/2002 4:52:09 PM From the Literature Thread: 24693. CalGal - 4/9/2002 4:55:30 PM The Sweet Hereafter is a beautiful, if incredibly painful, film. 24694. TabouliJones - 4/9/2002 5:04:57 PM Actually, I would be interested the Russell Banks's book that the movie adopts. I recall an Banks reamarking in an interview that he wished that he had written the scene, unique to the movie, in which the lawyer has a cell phone conversation with his junkie daughter while in the middle of a car wash. 24695. judithathome - 4/9/2002 5:07:45 PM Tabouli, I'll think of that movie around 4am, I'm sure.... 24696. CalGal - 4/9/2002 5:10:24 PM Have you seen the DVD? The commentary is done by Egoyan and Banks. 24697. TabouliJones - 4/9/2002 5:10:26 PM It sounds sort of like a movie by Robert Lepage, who is also a movie director worthy of checking out -- although he is most revered as a theatre director. 24698. TabouliJones - 4/9/2002 5:13:41 PM My precious post was to Judith. 24699. Property of Jesus - 4/10/2002 1:41:25 PM Halle Berry hurt in blast during James Bond film scene 24700. CalGal - 4/12/2002 3:40:08 PM Some really good movies--or if flawed, at least interestingly so--are opening up this weekend. 24701. Property of Jesus - 4/13/2002 12:05:45 PM SCORSESE: Finished Gangs of New York is Director's Cut 24702. Cellar Door - 4/13/2002 12:54:14 PM Great news. 2 hours and 40 minutes makes it Rivette Length 24703. CalGal - 4/13/2002 7:07:07 PM The Stunt Man is out on DVD! 24704. Cellar Door - 4/13/2002 9:05:11 PM Thge DVD includes his documentary on the making of The Stunt Man. 24705. copans - 4/14/2002 9:39:46 AM I got The Stunt Man on DVD about 4 months ago. When it was first released it had a buzz similar to Memento's, but was soon relegated to more obsure cult status. I can't see why. 24706. copans - 4/14/2002 10:36:14 AM I got The Stunt Man on DVD about 4 months ago. When it was first released it had a buzz similar to Memento's, but was soon relegated to more obsure cult status. I can't see why. 24707. CalGal - 4/14/2002 11:17:45 AM It got several nominations; I know the first time I heard of it was when O'Toole was nominated as an Oscar. 24708. TabouliJones - 4/15/2002 8:46:43 AM This weekend I rented Free Enterprise, which Calgal recommended as an antedote to High Fidelity. My two word review: Freaking Hilarious. 24709. judithathome - 4/15/2002 9:54:03 AM I thought Lone Star was a fantastic piece of work, also...the acme of Matthew McConaughey's career. Why he never again played a cowboy or westerner, I'll never know. (Maybe he did...I stopped caring after that one with Jodie Foster.) 24710. Julius Caesar - 4/15/2002 10:14:00 AM Recent Video Rentals 24711. TabouliJones - 4/15/2002 10:18:55 AM Judith, 24712. zojak quafeth - 4/15/2002 10:24:53 AM Iron Monkey Turned it off. I got the English-dubbed version, so it viewed like a Mystery Science Theater 3000. A boatlaod of Asians kicking each other in the groin. Grade: D-. 24713. CalGal - 4/15/2002 10:46:54 AM TJ--Ha! I'm glad you liked it. I did not misrepresent, it appears. Did you see what I mean about the moment when it all turns on its head? 24714. Cellar Door - 4/15/2002 11:11:37 AM I'm surprised you didn't like Bandits, Julius. 24715. TabouliJones - 4/15/2002 11:20:29 AM Calgal, 24716. Julius Caesar - 4/15/2002 11:26:11 AM Cellar 24717. Cellar Door - 4/15/2002 11:30:47 AM Well I'm crazy about Cate Blanchett, and it's one of Billy Bob's few truly likeable performances, IMO. 24718. CalGal - 4/15/2002 11:32:52 AM TJ, 24719. zojak quafeth - 4/15/2002 11:35:04 AM Well since Affleck and Pitt are discussed above, I'll move on to Damon. 24720. zojak quafeth - 4/15/2002 11:39:12 AM one of Billy Bob's few truly likeable performances 24721. CalGal - 4/15/2002 11:40:07 AM It's awfully brave of Damon to risk treading Richard Chamberlain territory. 24722. zojak quafeth - 4/15/2002 11:45:17 AM OK, as we get closer to summer, what are the "big" summer flicks coming up? Changing Lanes is getting great reviews. We can assume the new Star Warts will be a big hit. But what else coming coming out that's being really hyped? 24723. Cellar Door - 4/15/2002 11:47:17 AM Minority Report : Spielberg's latest with that Mapother person. 24724. zojak quafeth - 4/15/2002 11:52:09 AM Spy Kids 2 24725. CalGal - 4/15/2002 12:07:40 PM I enjoyed Spy Kids a great deal when it came out, although it didn't stay with me. 24726. zojak quafeth - 4/15/2002 12:12:29 PM I can't think of a single movie starring Antonio Banderas that I have enjoyed. He really annoys the shit out of me. 24727. CalGal - 4/15/2002 12:15:57 PM He could just stand there and look pretty and be way ahead of 99% of the planet. 24728. Raskolnikov - 4/15/2002 12:46:44 PM The big films: 24729. Raskolnikov - 4/15/2002 12:52:43 PM I also liked Banderas in Evita, and a few Amaldovar films. 24730. zojak quafeth - 4/15/2002 1:15:12 PM lol. I'm not saying he's a bad actor. I'm just saying he really annoys the shit out of me. Don't like him. Don't know why. 24731. arkymalarky - 4/15/2002 1:15:26 PM Some of my former students got to meet Antonio Banderas when Thornton made that movie in AR that was evidently so bad it didn't even get to video. I'm not as attracted to his looks as lots of people are. 24732. arkymalarky - 4/15/2002 1:16:16 PM I'd have loved the chance to meet him, though. 24733. Cellar Door - 4/15/2002 1:38:29 PM His career has been a real disappointment. He had such spark and potential early on. Now he just looks tired. 24734. copans - 4/16/2002 10:51:04 AM Banderas is only a little older than George Clooney. After Batman and Robin, I would have said that Clooney was a disappointment on the way nowhere. Now I see him as a major star for the next 15-20 year. As long as Banderas takes care of himself and picks some good projects he has a chance to rebound. What I'd worry about is him becoming a latter day Omar Sharif. 24735. arkymalarky - 4/16/2002 11:25:09 AM Some of my students really liked it. I've never seen it. Not that I select movies based on student tastes. They all think Adam Sandler's a riot. For that matter, so does Bob. 24736. arkymalarky - 4/16/2002 11:25:39 AM And they love Tom Green. I don't think Bob would like him. 24737. zojak quafeth - 4/16/2002 11:30:19 AM The only Adam Sandler movie I can remember liking as "The Wedding Singer." 24738. arkymalarky - 4/16/2002 11:37:30 AM Since we got satellite a few months ago I haven't watched as many movies as I thought I would, but one which I'm ashamed to admit made me howl with laughter was Scary Movie. It was lewd, crude and rude, but I still think of scenes from it weeks later and crack up. 24739. Cellar Door - 4/16/2002 1:03:51 PM Saw Murder By Numbers. Very professionally made post- Seven muder thriller. Sandra Bullock exceptionally good. Barbet Schroeder gives the material more polish than it deserves. 24740. Cellar Door - 4/19/2002 2:59:12 PM 24741. CalGal - 4/21/2002 1:42:47 PM The Empire Bounces Back 24742. Toenails - 4/22/2002 8:07:46 AM Saw "The Rookie" -- the based-on-a-true-story baseball movie. Considering that Disney produced it, it's not half bad. In fact (at least if you're a baseball fan) it is 'way above average. 24743. zojak quafeth - 4/22/2002 1:45:05 PM Toenails - 24744. Ms. No - 4/22/2002 2:30:43 PM I loved The 13th Warrior. Very cool flick. 24745. Toenails - 4/24/2002 8:04:04 AM We were thinking of going to see the Rookiue with our 5 and 7 year olds as a family thing. 24746. betty - 4/24/2002 8:43:32 AM Get Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, John Stewart and my guy in a room and I would die of orgasmic laughter. 24747. marjoribanks - 4/24/2002 9:23:40 AM I note that Lagaan, the movie touted by me and then Khabees to Raskolnikov, is now freely available at Blockbuster. 24748. Julius Caesar - 4/24/2002 10:05:21 AM Behind Enemy Lines 24749. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 12:30:31 PM Betty: Green was in discussions to play Shaggy in the Scooby Doo movie, but I don't what happened, as Matthew Lillard now has the role. He would have been perfect. 24750. CalGal - 4/24/2002 12:34:48 PM Well, I'll have to add it to my Netflix queue. Can you spare me the need to read up on cricket and tell me the operative rules? 24751. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 1:22:50 PM That reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon, where Tina the tech writer tells Alice "I need better career prospects, can you teach me how to be an engineer?" 24752. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 1:23:07 PM 6) If a hit ball rolls outside the circle surrounding the field, the batsman automatically gets 4 runs. If he hits it out on the fly, he gets 6 runs. 24753. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 1:23:32 PM 10) There are many ways for a batsman to be dismissed, but the main ones in the movie are: getting caught out in the air (a fly ball, just like baseball), having the bail knocked off the wicket on a bowl, having the bail knocked off your wicket while you are between wickets - the batsman closest to the wicket is the one dismissed (there is a boundary, called a crease I think, behind which the batsmen are safe - a couple times in the movie, a batsman steps outside the crease during a swing and the "catcher" knocks the bail off the wicket), and Leg Before Wicket, where the umpire determines the ball would have hit the wicket if your leg hadn't gotten in the way and if your bat made no contact with the ball. A dismissed batsman leaves the field, and is replaced by another batsman. Batting order is therefore crucial, as one of your first two batsmen could potential also be the last man dismissed. 24754. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 1:23:50 PM 24755. Ms. No - 4/24/2002 1:43:59 PM Thanks, Rask. That was incredibly cool. I've never seen cricket explained before----I believed all the stories that it couldn't be explained to someone who wasn't British-----wasn't even a real game but something that the British make up as they go along to maintain their superiority over other nationalities. 24756. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 2:05:22 PM "who tries to throw the ball to know the bails off the wicket" 24757. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 2:08:15 PM Best line: "that has to be the first 50 in the history of Indian village cricket". It was the only line of English dialogue in the film which really sounded *English*. 24758. CalGal - 4/24/2002 2:08:43 PM Thanks for the description. The only stuff I did know was the bit about batters batting forever. And I remember the "googly" in that English movie with Sarah Miles. 24759. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 2:12:57 PM Ms No: You are welcome. Part of the problem is that we Americans come at the game viewing it as similar to baseball, but it is sufficiently different to be as confusing as hell. Whenever I caught it on TV while I lived in England, I would find myself asking: why isn't that guy running?, why aren't they throwing him out? how the hell did that 'out' occur? Doesn't anyone else ever get to bat? Why are they just switching places? Why are they carrying their bats? Where is foul territory? Doesn't the pitcher know he can throw the ball faster if he bends his elbow? Etc. 24760. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 2:15:23 PM I still don't really know what a Googly is, but I think it is a bouncing screwball. 24761. wabbit - 4/24/2002 2:26:26 PM Googly and other spin bowling techniques used in cricket 24762. wabbit - 4/24/2002 2:34:33 PM Hindi movies crack me up sometimes. So many of them are a very short story wrapped around many music videos, making for a 3-4 hour movie. Spunky was watching a crime movie the other night and honestly, can you imagine Pacino breaking into song somewhere in The Godfather? They really bring out the Hollywood in me. I could have done without 90% of the song-and-dance numbers in Lagaan, but the balance of the movie was very good. The cricket match at the end is very exciting. 24763. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 2:44:37 PM There were only about four musical numbers in Lagaan (the rain song, the recruiting song, the love song, and that song about the Gods), with a couple reprises. My interest in them was mostly anthropological, as you don't often see guys in the west putting one hand behind the back of their head, looking to one side, and rotating their hips. At least, not in the dance clubs *I* go to. The musical numbers were all over-produced, IMO. The use of echo effects on the singing sort of distracted from the supposed 19th century setting. 24764. Raskolnikov - 4/24/2002 2:46:07 PM And that cricket match is indeed a humdinger. 24765. rubberducky - 4/24/2002 3:06:29 PM rented Under Suspicion and i can see why it was direct to video. Freeman and Hackman were good even if in roles that are completely familiar to them, but there was no action in this, a hand full of sets and scarcely more characters. 24766. copans - 4/25/2002 11:04:14 AM Rask, 24767. Julius Caesar - 4/26/2002 2:28:16 PM The Man Who Wasn't There 24768. lizzard - 4/26/2002 3:52:25 PM Keep seeing ads for "Life or Something Like It" and all I can think is, what is up with that platinum 'do on Angelina Jolie? She's so beautiful already, why add the shellacked blonde helmet? Hopefully it's a plot thing. 24769. Indiana Jones - 4/27/2002 5:47:02 PM Saw the DVD of the restored version of The Wild Bunch. 24770. Indiana Jones - 4/27/2002 5:48:22 PM On the subject of Angelina Jolie, I also got around to watching Tomb Raider. 24771. CalGal - 4/27/2002 5:53:45 PM Indy, I saw The Wild Bunch for the first time a few months ago on TMC, and keep forgetting to add it to my Netflix Queue. Thanks for the reminder. 24772. Indiana Jones - 4/27/2002 7:53:17 PM Cal: Dunno if the Movie Channel included the restored footage or not, but this was the first time I've ever seen The Wild Bunch too (except maybe as a kid...the machine gun climax seemed vaguely familiar). I looked up Ebert's review, and according to him, the extra 11 minutes substantially changes the film. 24773. Cellar Door - 4/27/2002 7:56:21 PM Glad you mentioned Junior Bonner. It's barely known and quite lovely as is The Ballad of Cable Hogue -- which was as close as he ever got to a musical. 24774. CalGal - 4/27/2002 8:29:58 PM There's a gentle underside to Pekinpah 24775. wonkers2 - 4/27/2002 10:10:55 PM Just saw Y Tu Mama, Tambien. It held my attention for two hours with lots of clever and sexy dialog, un poco sexo colectivo, sexo solitario, y sexo normal. That is, some group sex, some solo sex and some ordinary sex. (Maria, feel free to correct my Spanish.) There was plenty of bare skin including full male and female nudity and some fairly realistic sex. (A woman and what appeared to be her teenage son walked out after the opening sex scene.) It was a Mexican road movie with two teen boys and an older, more experienced chick, with some commentary on the shallowness and corruption of upper class Mexican society, an entertaining movie, but in my opinion, not nearly as good as last year's Amores Perros. Anybody else seen it? What did you think? 24776. Raskolnikov - 4/28/2002 1:03:04 PM JC: I watched The Man Who Wasn't There a couple days ago. I am a strong admirer of the Coen's, believing them to currently be the best American film-makers, but this was far and away their worst movie, and their only film that I would actually say was bad, rather than just mediocre (like Hudsucker Proxy or Big Lebowski). 24777. Raskolnikov - 4/28/2002 1:06:56 PM On Peckinpah: Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs are amazing films. I have seen Ride the High Country, but only on VHS, about 7 years ago. I liked it, but didn't seen any brilliance. However, the local revival theater is showing it on the big screen this summer, and I plan on catching it, as I have heard the film packs a much bigger wallop that way. 24778. CalGal - 4/28/2002 2:20:20 PM I love Junior Bonner, but you can't really expect to "see" anything in it. It's just a great mood piece about families. 24779. TabouliJones - 4/28/2002 3:07:00 PM I actually really enjoyed The Man Who Wasn't There. Don't know why, but the slow pacing of it, Thornton's performance as the absurdly laconic lead and the quirky characters all came together for me. It was sufficiently amusing throughout and several scenes made me laugh out loud. Oddly enough, I also felt that the movie had a heart and I actually connected with and cared about the fate of Thornton's character. I wouldn't say that it is among the best of the Coen brothers' work, but I was intrigued enough to plan for a second viewing. 24780. Toenails - 4/28/2002 3:38:38 PM 24781. wonkers2 - 4/28/2002 8:45:02 PM Who did (get it)? Except for the mysterious mood of fear and mystery.. I liked it, too. 24782. betty - 4/28/2002 10:45:22 PM this weeks video's from the library... 24783. Raskolnikov - 4/28/2002 10:55:26 PM I caught Being There recently as well. I still don't know if I really like the ending, but I have to give it props for being one of the rare social satires that actually works, probably because its target wasn't already beaten to death. 24784. CalGal - 4/28/2002 11:06:40 PM I never quite understood the ending. But it's a lot of fun to watch. (everyone, all together: I like to watch.) 24785. betty - 4/28/2002 11:14:59 PM 24786. Indiana Jones - 4/28/2002 11:18:10 PM I'm pretty sure Bring Me the Head was listed in the Fifty Worst Films of All Time. 24787. CalGal - 4/28/2002 11:32:03 PM I loved that maid scene. 24788. rubberducky - 4/29/2002 9:00:10 AM caught Blade II this weekend and was blown away at how great it was. the sequel really outdoes the original. superb! 24789. betty - 4/29/2002 9:07:39 AM Remember the other movie that The Magic Christian reminded me of...The Monkee's movie Head. Head is one of my all time faves...Jack Nicholson, Frank Zappa and Choreography by Toni Bassel(?) of "Oh Mickey" fame. 24790. Cellar Door - 4/29/2002 9:31:59 AM Basil. 24791. rubberducky - 4/29/2002 9:44:41 AM rented Session 9 this weekend and didn't really 'get' it. David Caruso stars in this flick about some blue collar grunts going into an old abandoned asylum to clean out asbestos and such. inevitably, weirdness ensues as well as murders and they desperately try and tie it to an old case from the asylum. not well, of course, but they do try. 24792. rubberducky - 4/29/2002 9:47:35 AM I'm the One That I Want was hilarious. if you like stand up movies, this is something you should catch. 24793. glendajean - 4/29/2002 11:46:47 AM I always liked the maid's line from Being There. The other quotable line was from the outtake, shown during the closing credits, where Sellers says, "Tell Rafael (something about his honkey ass) ....," referring to a street message his character gets early in the movie when he has left home. 24794. CalGal - 4/29/2002 3:06:30 PM Okay, my Mote@theMovies format change is taking me so long that I've decided to make the damn reviews available without the pretty frontend. 24795. CalGal - 4/29/2002 3:11:33 PM A few other newbies I missed: 24796. rubberducky - 4/29/2002 3:33:23 PM thanks for the hard work, CG. 24797. glendajean - 4/29/2002 3:40:07 PM yes, thanks for your hard work, Calgal. 24798. CalGal - 4/29/2002 5:47:28 PM Ducky, I just reread it. It is fun! 24799. TabouliJones - 4/30/2002 10:17:53 AM $%#@&%$##%$#%#%#% 24800. rubberducky - 4/30/2002 11:07:17 AM it is a time killer, innit? 24801. zojak quafeth - 4/30/2002 11:40:54 AM That's quite a list of reviews. I closed the link and I swear I'm gonna ignore it till lunch. 24802. Cellar Door - 4/30/2002 11:45:02 AM Saw Hollywood Ending last night. Better than Curse of the Jade Scorpion, but what isn't? 24803. betty - 4/30/2002 1:03:12 PM CD, 24804. Cellar Door - 4/30/2002 1:11:21 PM Nope. 24805. TabouliJones - 4/30/2002 1:13:27 PM Perhaps I am perverse, but I laughed my ass off throughout Deconstructing Harry. 24806. CalGal - 4/30/2002 1:14:06 PM Oh, can we have another round of what a great fucking flick that was? I loved that movie to distraction. 24807. CalGal - 4/30/2002 1:15:02 PM MMM that is, not Deconstructing Harry. I don't think I've seen an Allen film since MMM--oh wait, I have seen Everybody Says I Love You, which is fun. Don't think I've seen any others. 24808. TabouliJones - 4/30/2002 1:23:14 PM Everybody Says I Love You gave me the warm fuzzies when I saw it. It is quite a tender movie, which is sort of odd for latter day Allen. 24809. CalGal - 4/30/2002 11:44:59 PM The Death of Film 24810. concerned - 5/1/2002 4:07:24 AM Reviews waiting for a round tuit 24811. betty - 5/1/2002 8:50:36 AM Alfred really like Allen's Movies and I like lots of his earlier stuff (havent' seen MMM, will put it on the list) but Alf really enjoyed Deconstructing Harry and I thought it was awful. 24812. TabouliJones - 5/1/2002 9:15:46 AM Woody Allen directed flicks since 1992: 24813. TabouliJones - 5/1/2002 9:20:20 AM Of those I have seen, Allen is batting 6 for 8; and at least 3 of the good ones rate highly in my book and 1 standing out as one of my favourites of the 1990s. So, the old dude is still doing alright in my book. Although, I would much prefer that he slow down a little and put all of his energies into one truly incredible movie; rather than churning out a movie a year. 24814. CalGal - 5/1/2002 10:43:08 AM Good lord, I've seen more than I thought. 24815. TabouliJones - 5/1/2002 10:49:25 AM CalGal, 24816. Cellar Door - 5/1/2002 10:53:43 AM I can't recomend it highly enough. 24817. CalGal - 5/1/2002 10:56:17 AM See, this is why I'm glad I got those reviews uploaded. 24818. TabouliJones - 5/1/2002 11:05:50 AM Sounds like one to check out. 24819. zojak quafeth - 5/1/2002 12:03:02 PM Saw Changing Lanes last weekend. 24820. rubberducky - 5/1/2002 1:15:16 PM you've seen him take a dump! 24821. Ms. No - 5/1/2002 1:24:23 PM On the Allen list the only two I've seen are Bullets Over Broadway and Shadows and Fog. 24822. rubberducky - 5/1/2002 1:26:38 PM i can proudly say i've seen no Allen movie, nor have i had the slightest urge to do so. 24823. Ms. No - 5/1/2002 1:27:58 PM Zojak, 24824. Ms. No - 5/1/2002 1:28:57 PM Ducks, 24825. rubberducky - 5/1/2002 1:36:54 PM Ms No: yes, well, this is true. but, i can picture him in a variety of things that leaves his bare ass exposed... 24826. Ms. No - 5/1/2002 1:45:50 PM waitaminnit 24827. rubberducky - 5/1/2002 1:50:51 PM 24828. CalGal - 5/1/2002 2:07:56 PM Ben Affleck is a pretty lad, and he clearly isn't stupid, if he did write Good Will Hunting. He's yet to be anywhere near as good as he was in SiL, though. 24829. Ms. No - 5/1/2002 2:20:04 PM Ducks, 24830. rubberducky - 5/1/2002 2:25:24 PM 24831. CalGal - 5/1/2002 2:27:36 PM MsNo, you have to see Manhattan Murder Mystery. Ducky's tastes are unpredictable, but I am quite sure you'd laugh your ass off. 24832. Ms. No - 5/1/2002 2:33:24 PM CG, 24833. Ms. No - 5/1/2002 2:34:13 PM CG, 24834. rubberducky - 5/1/2002 2:36:34 PM hmm, i always have considered myself pretty consistent in my pans and picks.... interesting. 24835. CalGal - 5/1/2002 2:39:18 PM You might be consistent and I just haven't figured out the pattern yet. I think you have good taste in movies; I'm just hesitant about making recommendations because we don't always like the same things. 24836. glendajean - 5/1/2002 2:40:41 PM Ducky -- we're from different planets. I've see everyone of those Allen movies listed by TabouliJones with the exception of the latest, Hollywood Ending, and possibly Don't Drink The Water. Was that a made for tv movie with Michael J. Fox? 24837. rubberducky - 5/1/2002 2:43:06 PM i think it more of a (no offense intended of course) generational thing, GJ. 24838. CalGal - 5/1/2002 2:43:07 PM Don't Drink the Water was a movie from the 60s that was remade with Woody. I don't think he directed it, though. 24839. CalGal - 5/1/2002 2:44:11 PM Like I would have predicted that you loved Joy Ride, when you thought it was terrible. 24840. rubberducky - 5/1/2002 2:48:29 PM ditto in reverse, hahahaha 24841. glendajean - 5/1/2002 2:55:08 PM Frankly, I had to think about some of the ones listed before I remembered if I had seen them. They were forgettable. 24842. glendajean - 5/1/2002 2:56:42 PM Maureen Stapleton. 24843. glendajean - 5/1/2002 2:57:49 PM I would like to see Alice again, too. I liked that one a lot. And the musical with Edward Norton. 24844. CalGal - 5/1/2002 3:09:36 PM I like Sleeper; it's the only one of his goofy 70s comedies that I regularly rewatch--and from what the experts tell me, it's not considered the strongest. 24845. glendajean - 5/1/2002 3:36:51 PM Yes, Hannah was quite enjoyable, and Bullets, too. 24846. Cellar Door - 5/2/2002 10:39:57 AM 24847. CalGal - 5/2/2002 2:44:22 PM You know, I don't know if I'm up for anything as formalized as a film festival, but does anyone want to come up with a list of films it might be fun to watch and discuss? Doesn't have to be a lot of people, and I don't mean "discuss" in a learned, film school, fashion that takes all the fun out of it. 24848. glendajean - 5/2/2002 2:48:50 PM I was reading an article in the Advocate last night and saw Cellar's by-line. You're everywhere. 24849. CalGal - 5/2/2002 2:55:55 PM An entirely reasonable list. All we need is for Ducky to agree that he doesn't have to like it, and we're in. 24850. rubberducky - 5/2/2002 3:00:42 PM All we need is for Ducky to agree that he doesn't have to like it, and we're in. 24851. CalGal - 5/2/2002 3:29:16 PM Okay, I'll start. And I'm going to pick good movies that I don't think many people have seen. This list pretty much presupposes a DVD because some of them aren't even available on video, but you can rent them cheap now--and BUY them cheaper--so I hope this spurs some folks to consider getting one. 24852. rubberducky - 5/2/2002 3:35:04 PM i still need to see Free Enterprise so i'm game for that, but i'll pass on any/all Allen movies 24853. Ms. No - 5/2/2002 3:44:30 PM I will soon be the proud owner of a DVD player. We are switching our DSL service to Earthlink. Free hardware, no set-up free, 1 year commitment to service (eh, so's everyone) and for $24 in shipping we'll get a DVD player. 24854. Cellar Door - 5/2/2002 3:46:06 PM That must have been my capsule review of Time Regained. They've started asking me to write for them again. I've just finished doing the lead article for their Summer Movies issue. 24855. rubberducky - 5/2/2002 3:50:21 PM Ms. No: i was very happy with their dial-up access. my experience was that they have a friendly and efficient customer service department, and i've heard good things about their DSL so you should be in pretty good hands. 24856. glendajean - 5/2/2002 3:50:33 PM I always wondered what the poster formerly known as Julius C. thought about The Sweet Hereafter. It's an excellent film, imo. Very haunting adaptation of Russell Bank's novel, a much better one that the movie based on one of his novels with Nolte, Spacek and James Coburn. 24857. glendajean - 5/2/2002 3:52:33 PM Cellar -- yes, it was the review of the Proust movie. Made me want to see it. 24858. CalGal - 5/2/2002 3:54:58 PM 24859. AytchMan - 5/2/2002 3:58:03 PM glenda 856-- 24860. CalGal - 5/2/2002 3:59:06 PM I never cared for The Train. But I have Ulzana's Raid at home right now, which is supposed to be an interesting Western. 24861. CalGal - 5/2/2002 4:00:41 PM In case that doesn't seem to follow, it's a Burt Lancaster movie from the 60s. 24862. glendajean - 5/2/2002 4:01:37 PM I never thought I would say this, given my growing up in the late 50s, early 60s, when my father and grandfathers watched westerns constantly, but I think I wouldn't mind seeing a good western, particularly a classic. I've ignored them all my adult life, and one mind seeing a good one. 24863. glendajean - 5/2/2002 4:02:49 PM Well, I'd like to see Castle's Keep. 24864. betty - 5/2/2002 4:04:55 PM Of no relevance to anything being said here... 24865. AytchMan - 5/2/2002 4:32:55 PM If you're looking for an obscure but good thriller, add The Prize with Paul Newman (1960's) to the list. Edward G Robinson, Diane Baker and Elke Sommer (the only good acting job of her career). 24866. CalGal - 5/2/2002 4:43:35 PM Good call on the Ipcress File, which just made me think of Get Carter, which is an even better movie. Either would be fine. 24867. CalGal - 5/2/2002 4:44:28 PM GJ--Castle Keep also isn't in DVD. Is it often found in rental stores? 24868. wonkers2 - 5/2/2002 4:51:25 PM A couple of good westerns: The Gunfighter (Gregory Peck, Helen Wescott, Karl Malden) and Red River (John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, Walter Brennan, Joanne Dru, John Ireland). 24869. CalGal - 5/2/2002 4:57:27 PM Both good selections. 24870. glendajean - 5/2/2002 4:58:45 PM I haven't seen CK in years, but if it isn't available, let's skip it. Perhaps another war movie? 24871. wonkers2 - 5/2/2002 5:05:11 PM Two classic themes: the cattle drive (Red River) and the fastest gun in the West who wants to quit but can't (The Gunfighter). 24872. Cellar Door - 5/2/2002 5:07:06 PM The Quiller Memorandum is another great 60's spy thriller. Harold Pinter's best script, IMO. Nice direction from Michael Anderson (with a hommage to The Third Man in its finale) and top-notch playing from George Segal, Senta Berger, Alec Guiness and Robert Helpmann. 24873. CalGal - 5/2/2002 5:23:07 PM I've never heard of Hellman, but the IMDB says he's a cult director of some note. 24874. CalGal - 5/2/2002 5:30:13 PM Ride in the Whirlwind review with history of Nicholson/Hellman relationship. 24875. Cellar Door - 5/2/2002 5:53:05 PM That's a very useful review. 24876. CalGal - 5/2/2002 8:05:05 PM Okay, so Free Enterprise got one thumbs up, and there is definite interest in a Western and a spy/political thriller. 24877. wabbit - 5/3/2002 1:55:01 AM The Sweet Hereafter is on Bravo tonight. 24878. CalGal - 5/3/2002 3:13:34 AM Did you get a chance to watch it? Bravo tends to cut things up a great deal, is the only problem. 24879. Property of Jesus - 5/3/2002 8:41:15 AM Well-regarded Woody Allen documentary tomorrow night on Turner Movie Channel. 24880. ivan osokin - 5/3/2002 9:46:33 AM Is it a documentary by woody allen? or is it about him? or is it by woody allen about himself? 24881. Cellar Door - 5/3/2002 10:34:37 AM It's about Woody and it's by Richard Schiekel. 24882. TabouliJones - 5/3/2002 10:47:33 AM I would be interested in watching and discussing any of the movies mentioned so far. In fact, I would really enjoy a collective Mote movie experience. 24883. CalGal - 5/3/2002 10:54:27 AM TJ--excellent suggestion on relationship trilogy. For the third, I would suggest The Tao of Steve, because relationship movies can't have a high brow. 24884. TabouliJones - 5/3/2002 11:01:29 AM The Tao of Steve is a great suggestion. Julius, I think, would also recommend it. 24885. TabouliJones - 5/3/2002 12:59:25 PM Here is a nice little snippet from Rick Groen's review of Woody Allen's latest -- Hollywood Ending: 24886. glendajean - 5/3/2002 1:02:57 PM I haven't seen any of the three (HF, FE, and ToS). I'd watch them. Sign me up, too. 24887. Cellar Door - 5/3/2002 1:10:21 PM I wrote the liner notes for the Criterion Collection laserdisc set of The Hidden Fortress. 24888. wabbit - 5/3/2002 1:13:25 PM Message # 24878 24889. CalGal - 5/3/2002 1:18:34 PM Ah. But at 2am, I still count Friday night as tomorrow. 24890. CalGal - 5/3/2002 2:03:03 PM Okay, so here's the movies. I linked the LA Times review in each case. 24891. CalGal - 5/3/2002 2:15:56 PM Haven't really figured out the schedule yet--it's the weekend, and there may not be enough time to get the rentals. Ideas? 24892. rubberducky - 5/3/2002 3:36:22 PM life is good. cutting work early to catch a matinee showing of Spider-Man. 24893. TabouliJones - 5/3/2002 3:51:19 PM I suggest we schedule discussion for a week Monday. That way everyone has two weekends to view the movies. 24894. TabouliJones - 5/3/2002 3:51:34 PM I suggest we schedule discussion for a week from Monday. That way everyone has two weekends to view the movies. 24895. CalGal - 5/3/2002 3:52:33 PM Discussion to start on May 13th. It's official, then. Now all that's left is the nagging. 24896. Ms. No - 5/3/2002 4:53:41 PM Ooh! Cool movies! 24897. Cellar Door - 5/3/2002 4:56:14 PM I enjoyed it in spite of its subtext. 24898. CalGal - 5/3/2002 4:57:39 PM Ha! Am I correct, that it usually isn't as well regarded as his other films? Because I enjoyed the bejesus out of it. 24899. Ms. No - 5/3/2002 5:03:34 PM Man I hope not. I'm drawing a complete blank on offensive subtext in Betty Blue.....well, I mean, I'm sure it has the potential to offend some people, but if it offended Cellar then I must've just missed something. 24900. Ms. No - 5/3/2002 5:05:04 PM gee.....that sounded just wrong somehow. 24901. Cellar Door - 5/3/2002 5:40:21 PM No, I was talking about The Hidden Fortress 24902. Ms. No - 5/3/2002 6:21:07 PM Oh cool, loathing I could take. Offense just left me bewildered. 24903. CalGal - 5/3/2002 7:34:34 PM Someone else was just talking about Betty Blue. I want to say Indy. 24904. anomieme - 5/3/2002 9:36:33 PM I must have watched Betty Blue back in the early 90's and I remember being stunned at the ending. I remember thinking that no American film would dare end that way. I can't even remember the details, but the feeling of the movie has stayed with me and I'll watch it again someday. Maybe soon. 24905. HollyW - 5/3/2002 9:51:42 PM Who said offensive? 24906. anomieme - 5/3/2002 9:55:46 PM Cellar, 24907. Cellar Door - 5/4/2002 10:21:22 AM Its high-handed treatment of AIDS. 24908. anomieme - 5/4/2002 10:33:53 AM Cellar; Thanks. I'll have to watch it again. Back then I was probably not that aware of AIDS and its physical and emotional impact...to my shame, I'm sure. 24909. wonkers2 - 5/4/2002 10:05:15 PM Saw Changing Lanes tonight. Fast-paced but disappointing morality tale. Several logical disconnects in the complicated plot. And too many cardboard cutout characters. Reminded me a bit of Wall Street--young lawyer sells soul to get ahead and make lots of money in evil firm-but not in the same league. 24910. anomieme - 5/5/2002 8:38:58 AM The Deep End: (Ha! Gays and lesbians have a genius for naming their nightclubs.) A well made but pointless movie billed as a thriller, but without a whodunit aspect which renders the film a so-so character study. Interesting and believable character development of the principle blackmailer. 24911. anomieme - 5/5/2002 8:52:54 AM My First Mister: Not sure I understand the title and if I'd known what this movie was really about I probably would have passed, but I'm glad I saw it. I don't usually go for tear-jerkers. 24912. anomieme - 5/5/2002 9:03:58 AM Cal, 24913. anomieme - 5/5/2002 9:15:24 AM Cal, Just saw it in "Topics". Disregard my previous post. Sorry. 24914. Raskolnikov - 5/5/2002 12:35:52 PM In case you haven't heard, Spider-Man is completely shattering box office records. We are probably looking at a $120 million weekend. It did $41 mill on Friday, and beat that yesterday. As such it will take best single day, best opening day, and best weekend, with no qualifiers such as "non-holiday". I was predicting a 83 million weekend, which was pretty much in the dead zone for bets, so I had no money on it. I honestly didn't think this level of box office was possible. 24915. Raskolnikov - 5/5/2002 12:41:38 PM $114 million for the weekend. 24916. CalGal - 5/5/2002 1:05:13 PM I agree that the CGI effects were a bit weak. Performances were all pretty solid. I am amazed at the box office performance--last night I went on a whim to the 12:00 am showing, figuring it'd be reasonable. The line stretched forever, and it wasn't the last show of the night. 24917. rubberducky - 5/6/2002 9:22:13 AM Spider-Man completely sucked. 24918. rubberducky - 5/6/2002 9:24:59 AM rented The Deep End and thought it okay. not much of a 'thriller', but an interesting drama. it certainly had the nicest blackmailer i ever did see, but overall was pretty average. 24919. Phoenix Rising - 5/6/2002 9:38:04 AM Spider - Man is indeed too cool for school. I saw it twice and I never do that. I even paid full non-matinee price both times. 24920. Phoenix Rising - 5/6/2002 9:41:59 AM rd's problem is he has no inner teen girl. :) 24921. rubberducky - 5/6/2002 9:42:10 AM That is the best thing about the movie.... the action sequences were subordinate to the story, not the other way around. 24922. rubberducky - 5/6/2002 9:43:10 AM hahaha, that could be PR. 24923. Phoenix Rising - 5/6/2002 9:52:15 AM I should also say the worst thing about Spider - Man was having to sit through 15 minutes of trailers to get to the movie. 24924. rubberducky - 5/6/2002 9:55:35 AM haha - now there's some action i could get into, PR ... 24925. rubberducky - 5/6/2002 9:58:18 AM oh, and i sat through not only too many trailers (but still didn't see one for Hulk dammit) but 3 plain ole Commercials 24926. Phoenix Rising - 5/6/2002 10:25:58 AM I did see a Hulk trailer, however, it was very coy and very short. No actual Hulk sighting in the thing. But we have an entire year to become oversatuated and bored with the advertizing for this one. 24927. rubberducky - 5/6/2002 10:27:48 AM twice! 24928. Phoenix Rising - 5/6/2002 10:36:45 AM Yes, twice. 24929. Ms. No - 5/6/2002 12:59:00 PM Found a "new" theater last night while searching for a film that I thought would've had wider release. 24930. Ms. No - 5/6/2002 1:00:12 PM So, the lights went out and the movie came up and I was transfixed for the next hour and forty. What an excellent film. I have no idea why is hasn't gotten a wider release, but the guy at the concession counter told me that quite a few people have been seriously disturbed by it and I guess I can understand why. 24931. rubberducky - 5/6/2002 1:09:11 PM Frailty is one i really wanna catch, too. haven't seen much of it, so i'll probably wait for video. 24932. glendajean - 5/6/2002 1:22:40 PM Speaking of goofy smile appeals (ala PR & Toby McGuire), I've thought Paxton's sexual appeal is in a certain slowness of life, a type B who drank too much last night, a fellow who reads too many paperback books (a seventies type, I guess). 24933. rubberducky - 5/6/2002 1:29:16 PM CG: 24934. Ms. No - 5/6/2002 1:46:47 PM Frailty cont. 24935. Ms. No - 5/6/2002 1:53:02 PM GJ, 24936. TabouliJones - 5/6/2002 1:53:36 PM I rented One Night at McCool's this weekend. It stars Liv Tyler as a conwoman/siren who brings sex and havoc to the lives of a shlub of a cop (John Goodman), a sleaze-bag lawyer (Paul Reiser) and a dopey bartender (Matt Dillon). It also features Michael Douglas as a bingo-playing hitman, Reba McEntire as a shrink and Richard Jenkins as a priest. Overall it is a goofy little flick, that is short on big belly laughs but long on quirky fun, with an economically told story and fine comic acting by all involved. Douglas is especially good and Liv Tyler is not only funny, but also sexy beyond belief. 24937. TabouliJones - 5/6/2002 1:55:48 PM Incidentally, I will be watching the three movies chosen for the first Mote relationship-flick-a-thon (or whatever you want to call it) this coming Friday and Saturday, and look forward to the subsequent discussion. 24938. Absensia - 5/6/2002 8:57:08 PM Oh NO! Not the HOllywood sign! 24939. anomieme - 5/6/2002 9:54:14 PM Rubberducky: I thought your AI review was entertaining as well as spot on. Described my opinion exactly. 24940. rubberducky - 5/7/2002 9:46:20 AM thanks! that's always nice to hear 24941. CalGal - 5/8/2002 12:07:23 AM Don't know if anyone is up and around right now, but The Great Race is on TCM, and it's damn funny in a goofy way. Just started. 24942. Cellar Door - 5/8/2002 6:29:31 PM It's a very underrated movie. 24943. CalGal - 5/8/2002 7:04:01 PM It's very odd, but last night is the first time it occurred to me that this is Lemmon and Curtis' second movie together. It's so different from Some Like It Hot, and they were never discussed as a movie team--although Newman and Redford didn't make more than two. 24944. Cellar Door - 5/8/2002 9:29:28 PM I just love the shot of the balloon with Lemmon and Falk pedalling to make it go floating across the screen from left to right with the word "Fate" on it in giant letters. 24945. CalGal - 5/8/2002 9:46:10 PM I like the melody better than the lyrics, but I agree it's a nice song. 24946. CalGal - 5/8/2002 10:54:20 PM Has anyone seen Enigma and I've missed it? It is getting excellent reviews. 24947. copans - 5/9/2002 3:57:47 PM Not knowing the book, I assumed this would be all about the fascinating Alan Turing, but the person I spoke to who had seen the movie, thought that the main character must have been based on Turing, despite the fact that the protagonist was decidedly heterosexual. Too bad, since Turing's tragic story deserves a major film treatment. (According to this link, Turing was in America during the time of this movie so wasn't instrumental in the Enigma project anymore.) 24948. glendajean - 5/9/2002 4:06:06 PM Copans -- as you probably know, there was a play about Turing that was either made into an HBO or PBS movie. Derek Wolcot (?) maybe, played him. I read Turing's bio many years ago, and it is a sad story. I thought about him when I saw Beautiful Mind. 24949. CalGal - 5/9/2002 4:15:51 PM Yes, I read about that, too. It's too bad they changed that. But the movie itself is getting good reviews. 24950. copans - 5/9/2002 4:30:09 PM GJ, I'll keep my eyes open. 24951. CalGal - 5/9/2002 4:31:29 PM Turing is in there, though. But he's not a major player. Rudy someone is in there, too. 24952. TabouliJones - 5/10/2002 9:02:52 AM Last night I caught the tail end of Crumb, the documentary by Terry Zwigoff about the life and work of controversial comic book artist Robert Crumb. I saw this fascinating documentary when it first came out in 1994 and am sorry that I missed the first 2/3s of it last night. 24953. CalGal - 5/10/2002 9:56:14 AM Don't forget when planning rentals, folks: 24954. glendajean - 5/10/2002 10:51:00 AM TJ -- I saw that doc when it came out. It is definitely in the genre of Grey Gardens ladies and the cowmen in Pennsylvania (where the guy was tried for killing his brother). 24955. TabouliJones - 5/10/2002 11:05:55 AM glendajean, 24956. zojak quafeth - 5/10/2002 11:58:08 AM OK, here in the DC Metro area tix for the next Star Wars installment went on sale today. The tix for Thursday are already sold out. 24957. rubberducky - 5/10/2002 12:27:51 PM i think SW will beat SM or come damn close if for no other reason than the diehard SW fans are just too damn stubborn to think SM should be able to beat 'their' record, 24958. CalGal - 5/10/2002 1:02:45 PM Ebert doesn't make Episode II sound terribly appealing 24959. Ms. No - 5/10/2002 1:32:50 PM I'll still see the film, but his review confirms my suspicions about Episode II. I had some of those same problems with Phantom Menace: the script is weak on the dialogue and character development. The line he quoted about the sand v Amidala's skin was truly groan-worthy. 24960. rubberducky - 5/10/2002 1:32:59 PM nothing i didn't expect, CG, but i still am anxious considering how craptacular Spidey was. 24961. Ms. No - 5/10/2002 1:35:20 PM I'm looking forward to Signs. 24962. rubberducky - 5/10/2002 1:39:14 PM yeah, that looks good, but i dunno. looks like it could easily wind up in the crapola bin. ditto MIIB, but i hope not. 24963. glendajean - 5/10/2002 1:41:13 PM Zojak -- the Uptown was about 15 minutes by walk from my old house when I lived in DC. Great theater to see movies -- except when they did their renovation a few years ago, they made the aisles/seats too small. 24964. CalGal - 5/10/2002 1:46:54 PM I can't stand the Anakin guy, and I wish they'd give Obi more time. I mean, why is Lucas focusing on romance anyway? He has so few strengths to begin with, shouldn't he stick with them? 24965. rubberducky - 5/10/2002 1:48:45 PM why's he focusing on romance?? 24966. rubberducky - 5/10/2002 1:51:11 PM next trilogy, not 3 flicks... 24967. Cellar Door - 5/10/2002 1:51:18 PM Crumb is indeed excellent, as is Grey Gardens. But while they both deal with eccentrics they're not really comparable. Crumb has a family and a social life -- curmudgeon that he is. The Beales were truly special. 24968. Cellar Door - 5/10/2002 1:52:24 PM Some of the very best films I've seen recently are documentaries. Be on the look out for The Cockettes and Derrida when they play your way later this year. 24969. Ms. No - 5/10/2002 1:53:47 PM Oh, yes, I'm definitely on board for XXX. I want a tape of Vin Diesel speaking to lull me into sweet dreams each night. I think the movie will be a lot of fun. 24970. rubberducky - 5/10/2002 1:56:33 PM Shyamalan's name doesn't do anything for me anymore other than make me mildly curious. he used all the capital the Sixth Sense generated on the unwatchable Unbreakable 24971. glendajean - 5/10/2002 1:56:45 PM Cellar -- I was not thinking of Crumb, but his brother and his mother, also in the documentary. They're not as elegant in their decay as the Bouviers, but they are quite similar in shutting out the rest of the world. 24972. Ms. No - 5/10/2002 1:57:57 PM CG, 24973. Ms. No - 5/10/2002 1:59:14 PM Ducks, 24974. rubberducky - 5/10/2002 1:59:18 PM Signs is set for August according to the Spidey trailer. 24975. CalGal - 5/10/2002 2:00:21 PM Has anyone seen A Day in September? Good documentary. I can never remember the documentaries I enjoy--it's almost obligatory to mention Hoop Dreams, but I only ever watched it once and it didn't do a great deal for me. I like Wasn't That A Time! for no particularly great reason, except it seems so happy. 24976. Ms. No - 5/10/2002 2:00:44 PM I really enjoyed Crumb but I kept asking myself "This is so depressing, why do you like it? Why aren't you slitting your wrists by now?" 24977. CalGal - 5/10/2002 2:13:49 PM Oh, that's right. I remember Signs, now. I didn't care for Unbreakable, but the problems were with story, not with execution. The kid was wacko. 24978. zojak quafeth - 5/10/2002 2:26:49 PM Glendajean - 24979. TabouliJones - 5/10/2002 3:37:07 PM I saw A Day in September. It was quite harrowing to watch. I knew little about the hostage crisis at the Munich games and was astounded at the apparent incompetence displayed by the German security forces inn responding to the situation. 24980. CalGal - 5/10/2002 4:56:05 PM I had always thought I was fairly well-informed about it and my impression was that the Germans had done badly--but not to the level of incompetence shown. The police officer in particulary was mindboggling. 24981. judithathome - 5/11/2002 12:19:46 PM I posted this in TV but it proabably belongs here so I'll re-post it: 24982. CalGal - 5/11/2002 12:28:07 PM Look for the interview with him, too. It's great. 24983. AytchMan - 5/11/2002 6:16:51 PM It's kind of odd that Shyamalan would use crop circles. They were explained several years ago. And, amazingly enough, there haven't been any since. 24984. Cellar Door - 5/11/2002 7:11:05 PM 24985. wonkers2 - 5/12/2002 10:17:42 AM Tramps, Vamps & Cuckolds--"Unfaithful" 24986. CalGal - 5/12/2002 10:32:35 AM Aytch, 24987. Indiana Jones - 5/12/2002 11:53:45 AM Watched Moulin Rouge on DVD. From an earlier discussion I recall that CalGal really liked it and Rask (I think it was) thought it lacked heart. 24988. judithathome - 5/12/2002 12:06:36 PM IJ, I agree with you about the comparison to All That Jazz, which, in its day was as much a change from the norm as is Moulin Rouge today. Big difference is, at least you could see those visually stunning dance numbers in ATJ! 24989. CalGal - 5/12/2002 12:23:23 PM All That Jazz was an egotistical mess of a movie. It also wasn't particularly a musical, certainly not in the sense of the traditional Hollywood musical. More a weird biopic with a couple stage numbers. I think of it as one of those movies I thought was Deep when I was 18 and then went ick a few years later. 24990. Cellar Door - 5/12/2002 12:30:20 PM Egotistical, yes. But not a mess at all. I've had a chance to see it again recently in a spanking new print and it more than "holds up." 24991. CalGal - 5/12/2002 12:59:24 PM I thought it got very messy, particularly near the end. It had a lot of good moments, though. The scene with the dancer who was his temporary girlfriend was terrific. "I don't know if I can make you a great dancer. I don't even know if I can make you a good dancer. But if you stick with me, I promise you'll be a better dancer." Nice stuff. Also the moments with his kid, and the relationship with the Gwen Verdon standin. 24992. PelleNilsson - 5/12/2002 1:07:56 PM CalGal 24993. judithathome - 5/12/2002 1:17:31 PM Maybe in 22 years, you'll be going "ick" at Moulin Rouge. ;-) 24994. CalGal - 5/12/2002 1:23:07 PM Hardly. It only took a few years, not 22, and it was because I was still silly enough to think the movie profound. Besides, I only went "ick" at the aspects I thought were deep and innovative the first time round--which I certainly didn't make clear in my first post. Certain scenes were quite nice. But the overall narcissism and justification were pretty offputting. I watch it for a few sections. 24995. CalGal - 5/12/2002 1:25:22 PM Pelle, I just tried the link and it doesn't work--is there a missing letter somewhere? 24996. judithathome - 5/12/2002 1:27:58 PM I've only seen it twice and that was years ago but I certainly didn't think the movie was profound. I watch movies for entertainment, not for enlightenment. 24997. CalGal - 5/12/2002 1:39:15 PM I certainly didn't think the movie was profound. 24998. judithathome - 5/12/2002 1:44:16 PM Well, we never know what the future brings, do we? 24999. judithathome - 5/12/2002 1:46:07 PM Jeez, must be channelling Doris Day this morning.... 25000. judithathome - 5/12/2002 1:46:50 PM Then again... 25001. PelleNilsson - 5/12/2002 2:04:35 PM CalGal 25002. CalGal - 5/12/2002 2:08:19 PM Gosh, I didn't realize we were that close to the millennial. 25003. anomieme - 5/12/2002 7:01:01 PM Frailty: Ms No gives an excellent description of the film's premise and mood in her review a few posts back. I just reread it before posting my impressions. Most of the actors did a great job. The kids were good and I think they and the director (paxton) deserve credit for that. It must be hard to direct kids in realistic roles. The cinematography helped support the mood (soft focus in the flashbacks, muted colors). I was intrigued to see this film mainly because of the religious subject matter.... angels, demons, end of the world, and so on. The theological framework disappoints, however. 25004. judithathome - 5/12/2002 7:15:10 PM Wonder why we don't see more of him in movies these days. 25005. anomieme - 5/12/2002 9:05:14 PM Hi Judith. He's instantly familiar when I see him but I can never remember what I've seen him in. Frailty uses a lot of close shots (you can see each haie folical), which seemed to enhance his performance. 25006. justears - 5/12/2002 9:11:08 PM Saw Monsoon Wedding tonight, then to an Indian restaurant for dinner. I enjoyed the movie. Soundtrack was very involving as were the colors. Felt as if I were communing with the very texture of an Indian family. Recommended. 25007. wonkers2 - 5/12/2002 9:14:14 PM As I commented several weeks ago, the Indian women struck me as more animated and earthier than I had imagined, never having met an Indian woman. 25008. justears - 5/12/2002 9:21:20 PM Reminded me of some Latinas. 25009. wonkers2 - 5/12/2002 9:28:42 PM MGleason? 25010. TabouliJones - 5/13/2002 10:31:00 AM I saw The Fellowship of the Ring this weekend. I went in expecting to dislike it, as I don't generally enjoy the adventure fantasy genre and figured it would be comparable in execution and tone to The Phantom Menace, which I hated. Well, my cynicism did not stand a chance against Peter Jackson's wizardry. I was enthralled by the atmosphere and spirit of the Ring, not to mention the superior technical effects and outstanding cinematic choreography. It is a truly exceptional movie and I am happy that I saw it on the big screen. 25011. rubberducky - 5/13/2002 10:53:21 AM it's still there? or did you see it at a 2nd run joint? 25012. TabouliJones - 5/13/2002 11:00:00 AM Fellowship of the Ring is currently playing at about 8 first-run theatres in Toronto. I don't know if it has been playing continually, or if it has been trotted out for a second round as a means of drawing customers away from Spiderman and Attack of the Clones. There were only about 30 people at the 8 pm Saturday showing that I saw, so I don't know how much more box-office steam it has left. Mind you, Toronto has excess theatre capacity (I think), so it may be around until the next installment. 25013. CalGal - 5/13/2002 11:33:25 AM Okay, I'm off to work but we can start discussing the three movies at 9, or now, if anyone wants to kick it off sooner. 25014. Indiana Jones - 5/13/2002 11:47:09 AM All That Jazz was an egotistical mess of a movie. 25015. CalGal - 5/13/2002 11:54:58 AM And Moulin Rouge is a traditional Hollywood musical? 25016. rubberducky - 5/13/2002 12:56:25 PM the american (Quentin Tarantino) version of Iron Monkey was a decent rental. i wouldn't recommend it unless you really like these fantasy subtitled Hong Kong movies set in feudal China. 25017. anomieme - 5/13/2002 3:56:27 PM Of the three, High Fidelity is by far the best as movies go. The record shop local and the two employees could be an interesting show (maybe TV) onto themselves. The male female stuff hit a few true notes at least in my experience, and some were quite funny. A constant criticism of this and every other relationship movie: Where are the average looking women? 25018. anomieme - 5/13/2002 4:01:26 PM Free Enterprise I watched recently, but while napping. It wasn't nearly as introverted as HF. Nor was it as arrogant as TOS. Shatner was funny and humble. I suppose some of the relationship stuff was true enough. But I didn't enjoy this one as a whole. Even the parts I watched fully awake struck me as skit-like. 25019. CalGal - 5/13/2002 4:02:30 PM I should start by saying that I think all three movies are very good comedies. But when I look at their theme, or message, in terms of gender and relationships, my approval ratings varied tremendously. 25020. TabouliJones - 5/13/2002 4:11:26 PM I agree that High Fidelity is the most accomplished of the three movies. The script is well structured and the pacing is dead on, imho. 25021. TabouliJones - 5/13/2002 4:16:22 PM "He has his own business, after all, and is happy." 25022. TabouliJones - 5/13/2002 4:28:16 PM Incidentally, I just found the The High Fidelity Script. 25023. anomieme - 5/13/2002 4:34:39 PM TabouliJones: I'm glad there was some payback for Steve. Maybe I should have hung in. 25024. christipeters - 5/13/2002 4:37:44 PM LD and I watched The Legend of Bagger Vance last night on DVD. LD was very critical of the film. "What's with all this mystical deeper meaning of life crap? It's GOLF! a little white ball and a stick - nothing deep about that!" 25025. CalGal - 5/13/2002 5:46:24 PM Tao of Steve soothed my snarls over High Fidelity--I originally watched them in the same month time frame and was quite snippy about HF for some time. I found Dex to be somewhat less attractive than Rob, but that was part of the interest. This was a guy who used women in exactly the same opportunistic way that most women use men--just as they look for a guy who will provide for them, he looked for sex. But he won the game, by cheerfully not meeting any of those women's standards and still getting them anyway. As someone who doesn't approve of the endless female natterings about appropriate mates, I found this most enjoyable. 25026. CalGal - 5/13/2002 5:47:42 PM With all the movie had to say about relationships, I found the one scene I always remember first is when his sweet little roommate discovers that Dex thinks of him as a Stu (the opposite of an ultra-cool Steve). I have a terrible feeling this is because I'm a Stu, in as much as a chick can be one. Or maybe it's just the secret fear that our friends are, in fact, laughing at us. In any event, that scene hurts to watch. 25027. CalGal - 5/13/2002 5:49:54 PM TJ: I agree that the take on the movie differs if you think Rob was unhappy at the beginning and happy at the end. 25028. anomieme - 5/13/2002 6:03:31 PM We are all situational "Stu's", I think. I liked when Shatner revealed (in Free Enterprise) that he too got nervous when real feelings about a women got in his way. 25029. Cellar Door - 5/13/2002 6:19:05 PM "Tao of Steve is a movie that I think works very well for both gays and straights, because it doesn't rely as much on gender issues to move the plot along." 25030. judithathome - 5/13/2002 6:20:39 PM Or maybe it's just the secret fear that our friends are, in fact, laughing at us. 25031. CalGal - 5/13/2002 6:25:37 PM Cellar, 25032. Cellar Door - 5/13/2002 6:38:23 PM Well actually I was thinking in terms of more general issues relating to "identification" and gender. 25033. judithathome - 5/13/2002 6:38:47 PM Not necessarily. They might need to get a shrink. 25034. CalGal - 5/13/2002 6:47:14 PM I've often wondered about women's reactions to a"mainstream" cinema that is so male dominated. 25035. CalGal - 5/13/2002 6:49:10 PM One male actor who seems to communicate emotional subtleties in a way usually associated with women is Johnny Depp. 25036. Cellar Door - 5/13/2002 7:02:59 PM Well Thelma and Louise could be called a Susan Sarandon action extravaganza. 25037. CalGal - 5/13/2002 7:20:04 PM Well Thelma and Louise could be called a Susan Sarandon action extravaganza. 25038. CalGal - 5/13/2002 7:20:49 PM I'm thinking baout the performances I've seen over the years that I've truly identified with. 25039. anomieme - 5/13/2002 7:41:10 PM Cal, Cusack in GPB was very matter-of-fact and business-like in extradinary situations. I've noticed that in your posts at times. 25040. Daniel Sickles - 5/13/2002 10:16:50 PM Off the top of my head, characters I have identified with include poor William Peterson's partner in To Live and Die in LA, Father Karras in The Exorcist and Ray Winstone in Sexy Beast. 25041. Daniel Sickles - 5/13/2002 10:20:26 PM But, perhaps the character who I mos identify with in all of film, is poor Bromhead in Zulu 25042. DocBrown - 5/13/2002 10:52:29 PM 25043. HollyW - 5/13/2002 10:56:25 PM I am a great deal like the Meg Tilly character in Leaving Normal, if she weren't so baked. 25044. CalGal - 5/13/2002 10:56:29 PM We all want to be Wayne, or more often of late, the anti-hero, but when do we actually say, "Wow, that character is a lot like me." 25045. CalGal - 5/13/2002 10:57:43 PM but what she really was, was demanding, self-consumed, and manipulative. And I know he knew it, but he was also under the impression that this is how women are across the board and she had such an attractive list of attributes he could probably suck it up. 25046. Cellar Door - 5/14/2002 12:31:39 AM Well as many of you may know, I'm crazy about Tilda Swinton 25047. Cellar Door - 5/14/2002 12:32:46 AM 25048. anomieme - 5/14/2002 8:02:35 AM Cellar, Thanks for your site link. It used to be here on the Mote, but I don't see it anymore. It's nice to check in periodically to see your pics. 25049. TabouliJones - 5/14/2002 9:43:48 AM Perhaps I am a putz, or a sucker for cute, Scandinavian, blondes, but I did not find the Laura character in High Fidelity to be nearly as odious as Holly and CalGal suggest. I guess, in some ways, she messed with Rob's head, but I don't think that this was deliberate on her part, and, certainly, she was not vindictive towards Rob. As the dumper, and first to find someone new, she was certainly in a position of power over Rob post break-up, but self-consumed and manipulative, I don't think so. I honestly think she was patient with Rob and justifiably frustrated with his self loathing and his determination to mould her into some sort of hip, pop-culture sophisticate. You guys see her as a corporate climbing bitch driven to making Rob over into a yuppie bore, but, in my view, she simply wants him to be less moody and more satisfied with his life. 25050. CalGal - 5/14/2002 10:02:06 AM Remember, TJ, the story liked her, or the filmmakers, or whatever. So it's hardly as if Laura is going to appear in a negative light. What I am responding to, and possibly Holly as well, is the context of her motivations. Why would she even be interested in Rob in the first place? Why would she leave but not really? Because the leaving was clearly just one step in the strategy, which was to get Rob to understand it was time to (erk) grow up. 25051. TabouliJones - 5/14/2002 10:46:08 AM "Why would she leave but not really? Because the leaving was clearly just one step in the strategy, which was to get Rob to understand it was time to (erk) grow up." 25052. TabouliJones - 5/14/2002 10:46:21 AM And, no, I don't see the "record store owner" remark as some sort of put down. I think she was just saying, "Hey. Your life ain't so bad. What's the deal with all the compulsive list of people you would so much rather be." 25053. TabouliJones - 5/14/2002 10:48:56 AM That said. I would, still, so much rather be with the comic book chick from Free Enterprise. 25054. HollyW - 5/14/2002 11:15:34 AM I don't see Rob ever thinking that Laura wasn't cool enough for him. He saw himself as a loser, essentially, and after he slept with the cool chick--the Lisa Bonet character--he couldn't get out of there fast enough, he wasn't crushed in the slightest that she had no interest in seeing him again. If anything, he seemed to feel that he wasn't good enough for Laura. For example, the segment where he agrees that he did the heinous crime of sleeping with someone else while Laura was pregnant. He also admits to, but seems to overlook, the fact that she never told him she was pregnant, and had an abortion without his knowledge. Where is she coming from? And then to later hold this up to her friend as evidence that Rob is a cad? Who erred, here? 25055. TabouliJones - 5/14/2002 11:32:16 AM I agree that Laura offered an unfair portrayal of Rob to her friends, but I don't think that Rob is blind to this behaviour. He offers his perspective on his sins, after all, and does tell the friend to stick her contempt up her ass. He is hardly meek or cowed into believing that Laura is some sort of paragon of virtue. Sure, she is morally all over the place throughout the breakup. In the end, tho, he forgives her and she forgives him and they both realize that they can make each other happy for the time being. 25056. TabouliJones - 5/14/2002 2:07:17 PM Here is a question for everybody. From our relationship trio of movies, which character(s) do you think you would actually like dating? 25057. CalGal - 5/14/2002 2:18:24 PM Actually, I'd take Mark from Free Enterprise, or maybe Jack Black from High Fidelity, before any of the three guys in the focus relationships. 25058. CalGal - 5/14/2002 2:24:23 PM The thing I love about Free Enterprise is that Rob doesn't play the game, doesn't bother to try to act like an attractive provider to lure women. What does he get? Laid a lot, and finally ends up with the most wonderful woman in the world, who actually apologizes for leaving him just because he didn't have enough money for his electricity bill. After all, what's security? She can provide it for herself; she loves Rob for his great creativity and love of his art. 25059. TabouliJones - 5/14/2002 2:28:06 PM Mark?!!!!??? 25060. CalGal - 5/14/2002 2:32:50 PM Sure, she is morally all over the place throughout the breakup. In the end, tho, he forgives her and she forgives him and they both realize that they can make each other happy for the time being. 25061. CalGal - 5/14/2002 2:35:44 PM And, you can see her and Dick actually staying together. 25062. TabouliJones - 5/14/2002 2:40:57 PM I still don't see that Laura required Rob to be a good provider. 25063. CalGal - 5/14/2002 2:50:38 PM The script actually includes scenes not in the final cut of Laura explaining to Rob that she doesn't need or require him to be a good provider. 25064. TabouliJones - 5/14/2002 2:52:31 PM Well, you could be attracted to Mark (Eric McCormack) because he is Canadian and we Canadians are all possessed of raw animal magnetism. 25065. CalGal - 5/14/2002 2:55:51 PM That must be it. I'm hot for Peter Jennings, too. Which reminds me, which city did you decide on? (you can answer in the cafe) 25066. TabouliJones - 5/14/2002 2:57:10 PM FMLA ???? 25067. CalGal - 5/14/2002 3:07:03 PM Family Medical Leave Act--gives employees a guaranteed 3 months off, usually used by women after their disability leave and vacation is used up to extend maternity leave. 25068. Ms. No - 5/14/2002 3:40:54 PM Saw a couple of flicks this weekend on a friend's new flat-screen television. There were some very cool moments----when guns fire you can actually see the little blue flame as the bullet ejects. No shit. 25069. anomieme - 5/14/2002 9:25:40 PM Ms. No, was this a tube TV or a plasma screen? The plasma screens I've seen seem lack brightness or something. Was it HD? 25070. Toenails - 5/15/2002 11:41:38 AM (i)Here is a question for everybody. From our relationship trio of movies, which character(s) do you think you would actually like dating?(/i) 25071. CalGal - 5/16/2002 10:48:14 AM Man, the reviews of the new Star Wars movie really, really suck. I'm having trouble getting up the interest to see it at all, which is not the proper attitude for a pop culture diva. 25072. Jamie R - 5/16/2002 10:59:49 AM I am holding out hope that this is much belated backlash to Phantom Menace. Not that the first one was exactly praised to the skies, but I thought it got the kid glove treatment. Ebert, for example, is no doubt embarassed about the 3 1/2 stars he gave it. This is his chance for a little payback. 25073. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 11:15:44 AM David Edelstein's review in Slate does a decent job of putting Attack of the Clones in perspective. Here is how he sums up the movie and the critical response thus far: 25074. CalGal - 5/16/2002 11:33:50 AM Hey, Jamie! Nice to see you. 25075. Jamie R - 5/16/2002 11:38:18 AM Well, my not-girlfriend saw it last night at a midnight screening and her two line review is "very cool, much better than the first one." 25076. CalGal - 5/16/2002 11:42:21 AM The not-girlfriend? Heavens. Read up on this last discussion and provide input, thanks. And Jamie, meet TJ. (g) 25077. Jamie R - 5/16/2002 11:46:29 AM Chiming in late on High Fidelity. I thought the ending message about growing up = "pick a woman and stick with her dammit" was depressing. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I don't recall any chemistry whatsoever between Cusack and whatshername. His fear of commitment wasn't keeping him from something great romantically. It was much more like he felt it was time to step into a certain role and here was a chance to do it. I predict divorce in < 5 years. 25078. CalGal - 5/16/2002 11:51:37 AM Phew. I thought me and Holly were going to be the only ones! 25079. Jamie R - 5/16/2002 12:01:59 PM Oh, sure. The unhappily married are often fervent apostles for matrimony. "It's great, there's a closeness, but also a comfortableness. You can just BE with each other and it doesn't have to be some big electric exhausting thing all the time." Translation- I don't miss sex nearly so much with the Paxil. 25080. judithathome - 5/16/2002 12:11:48 PM But aren't you guys doing the same thing? "I'm single and it's fantastic; I don't need a (mate) to complete me; I am independent and need help from no one; sex is great or if not, there's always the gym." 25081. Jamie R - 5/16/2002 12:15:52 PM I thought in the Tao of Steve the guy had a real intimacy problem, had problems being intimate with pretty much anyone. Cusack's character had all that chemistry with his record store guys, some kind of real friendship anyway. 25082. Jamie R - 5/16/2002 12:21:47 PM No, I'm no big advocate of the single life. I have some qualms about marriage as a legal/contractual institution, but long term monogamous romantic partnerships are swell IMO. 25083. Jamie R - 5/16/2002 12:23:45 PM But all that aside, judithathome, I was making a joke. 25084. CalGal - 5/16/2002 12:37:23 PM I don't think everyone tries to rationalize their choices by doctoring it up as "maturity". I think it's quite possible to make marriage and relationships seem most attractive. But what High Fidelity posits is that anyone who doesn't want to be in a relationship is immature and must be led, by the nose, into adulthood--which is settling down with whoever happens to be the recent squeeze by reassuring her that he'll be able to pay for her life when she wants to have kids. 25085. CalGal - 5/16/2002 12:39:37 PM I thought in the Tao of Steve the guy had a real intimacy problem, had problems being intimate with pretty much anyone. 25086. judithathome - 5/16/2002 12:57:27 PM You don't know anyone who will honestly admit "geez, I really hate the way my life is going right now. I made this job decision and I did it for the wrong reasons and I feel really trapped."? 25087. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 1:24:27 PM Judith, 25088. judithathome - 5/16/2002 1:32:50 PM I'm not pushing for either one, though of course, I know more about being married. I have several single friends who are entirely pleased with their status and wouldn't change it for the world. Both "sides" promote; that was my only point. 25089. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 1:41:19 PM Sorry Judith. I wasn't suggesting that you yourself were promoting marriage as the key to happiness. I know that you are a to-each-his/her-own sort of person. 25090. CalGal - 5/16/2002 1:42:10 PM It's not an equivalency. We're talking about a movie. The movie has an agenda and, in the opinion of some here, that agenda compromises its artistic value. So we're talking about that. The reason that society as a whole comes up in the conversation is because many people don't even pick up on the agenda, because they are so accustomed to the mindset that promotes it. 25091. CalGal - 5/16/2002 1:43:32 PM God, I loved Forster in Jackie Brown. Too bad I couldn't stand her. (g) 25092. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 1:50:07 PM Don't ask me why, but I really admire the scene in which Jackie Brown askes Forster whether he ever worries about getting old and he responds something like: 25093. CalGal - 5/16/2002 2:02:09 PM My review of Jackie Brown--I watched it solely for Forster's performance, and it was worth it. 25094. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 2:20:41 PM Calgal, 25095. CalGal - 5/16/2002 2:25:44 PM But, he isn't going to fret about being with her. 25096. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 2:28:31 PM Let me qualitfy: He's too cool to be unhappy -- Full Stop. (g) 25097. Jamie R - 5/16/2002 2:30:43 PM Calgal, I haven't seen Free Enterprise. I hadn't even heard of it before now, but I'm intrigued by what little info there was on IMDB. 25098. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 2:32:14 PM It is killing me. What is the name of the song that Forster buys on cassette after JB plays it for him on vinyl. I actually heard it the other day. And can't remember the title or artist for the life of me. URRG. I checked IMDB, but they don't appear to list the soundtrack. 25099. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 2:35:06 PM Okay. It just came to me: The Delfonics. 25100. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 2:38:43 PM Okay. I must be in stream of consciousness mode re: JB. But another scene, actually more like a moment, that plays exquisitely is the one in which Forster comes out of the movie theatre in the suburban mall. Watching it the first time, I immediately thought: You know, Tarantino really digs and understands what it means to go to movies. Oddly, I think that feeling will prevent me from ever really disliking a Tarantino movie. 25101. Jamie R - 5/16/2002 2:49:31 PM Ooh, hated From Dusk til Dawn. Hated hated hated it. Which is too bad, because it certainly has its moments. 25102. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 2:59:24 PM I enjoyed From Dusk til Dawn; although I don't recall much about it (which is, I suppose, criticism enough in and of itself). What I do remember is being enthralled at the highly kinetic and engaging editing of the movie. Rodriguez displays a whole whack of interesting editing techniques to great effect. 25103. Åse - 5/16/2002 2:59:40 PM Hi Jamie. 25104. TabouliJones - 5/16/2002 3:20:03 PM The discussion re: relationship movies got me to thinking about scenes establishing or affirming a romantic or erotic connection between two characters. Three that come to mind as being especially well handled are: 25105. CalGal - 5/16/2002 5:06:03 PM I'll take your 1) and add: 25106. Cellar Door - 5/16/2002 5:07:18 PM 25107. CalGal - 5/16/2002 5:08:44 PM Jamie, I can't recommend Free Enterprise highly enough. It's not a great film, but it's good--and it's a wonderful comedy. Also it is a lovely antidote to High Fidelity. 25108. Åse - 5/16/2002 5:18:08 PM Women have a lot vested in making men think they are incomprehensible. 25109. CalGal - 5/16/2002 5:28:45 PM See, I make a really bad woman then. 25110. Åse - 5/16/2002 5:43:35 PM hah. Yes. 25111. CalGal - 5/16/2002 5:44:53 PM No, go watch Lone Star, Rear Window, or Free Enterprise for the first time, if you haven't seen them. 25112. Åse - 5/16/2002 5:58:10 PM Well, Free Enterprise should shortly be shipped. I have seen Lone Star and Rear Window, but it's been a while. 25113. CalGal - 5/16/2002 6:00:40 PM True nuff. 25114. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 8:50:51 AM The Elizabeth Pena, Chris Cooper juke box scene from Lone Star is an inspired choice Calgal. Almost every scene in Lone Star is inspired, in fact. 25115. CalGal - 5/17/2002 9:16:08 AM Rear Window and Lawrence of Arabia? Are you kidding me? 25116. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 9:23:38 AM I wish I were kidding. I never did get around to my planned Hitchcock weekend. 25117. CalGal - 5/17/2002 9:28:49 AM You do have DVD? If not, don't do either Lawrence or RW until DVD. 25118. rubberducky - 5/17/2002 9:47:19 AM took in the 12:01 AM Thursday morning showing of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and was pleased. it isn't a great movie, but, by god, it is much better than Menace. 25119. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 9:49:38 AM I have DVD on my computer, but not at home. So, I may hold off and wait to see Lawrence and RW properly. 25120. CalGal - 5/17/2002 9:59:47 AM I liked The Seventh Seal a whole lot better than I thought I would. It is the quintessential "foreign film", I think. 25121. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 10:17:06 AM I'll up your Ebert on Grant with a Rick Groen on Grant: 25122. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 10:25:27 AM Musing about the AGO's cinema (actually called The Cinematheque), I got to thinking about the list they published in 1999 of the best movies from the 1990s. The Cinematheque programmer, polled about 60 programmers from around the world and they came up with a best-of list that, I ams ure to say, would bore (perhaps infuriate) Calgal on the one hand and give Cellar wet dreams on the other. Most of the films on the list are obscure. The beauty was that the Cinematheque showed most of the films during the year. Unfortunatley, I was in Montreal when they showed them, so didn't get a chance to take in the retrospective. 25123. CalGal - 5/17/2002 10:28:38 AM wasn't interested in it, until someone pointed out that it is based on a Nick Hornby 25124. CalGal - 5/17/2002 10:31:53 AM On that list--I got to Thin Red Line and started laughing. 25125. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 10:37:06 AM Here is the Cinematheque list, as the above link is very slow. Note: repeat rankings (two 24s, for eg.) indicate a tie, just in case anyone thinks the rankings are wonky. 25126. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 10:37:32 AM 15. THE SWEET HEREAFTER Atom Egoyan Canada 25127. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 10:43:33 AM For me, two that stand out as being misplaced on the list are The Thin Red Line and Unforgiven. 25128. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 10:46:24 AM Oh. Add Breaking the Wavs to my list of "seens" on the best-of-90s list. 25129. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 10:46:33 AM Oh. Add Breaking the Waves to my list of "seens" on the best-of-90s list. 25130. Cellar Door - 5/17/2002 10:53:59 AM Where's Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train ? 25131. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 11:01:30 AM Cellar, 25132. Cellar Door - 5/17/2002 11:04:45 AM I reccomend Nouvelle Vague, Close-Up, Chungking Express, Safe and La Belle Noiseuse. 25133. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 11:06:50 AM Merci. 25134. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 11:10:35 AM Any of the movies by Abbas Kiarostami interest me, actually. He was getting alot of positive press in Toronto about a year ago. I think the Cinematheque had a retrospective. I recall reading that one of his movies is all about a guy who spends years making one painting of a tree in his garden; which sounds well, dull beyond belief, but is apparently very entertaining. 25135. Cellar Door - 5/17/2002 11:14:07 AM He makes really interesting movies about unsual and seemingly un-movie-worthy people, places and things. 25136. CalGal - 5/17/2002 11:33:15 AM TJ--oh, that makes more sense. All of the reviews have mentioned the character's age as 38, so I thought he was saying Grant was a year older. 25137. CalGal - 5/17/2002 11:35:08 AM A decade older. And in penance for my sin, I looked it up. Grant will be the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything on September 9th of this year. 25140. Åse - 5/17/2002 11:45:26 AM Oh, aaack. I couldn't get it to link 25142. CalGal - 5/17/2002 11:47:43 AM That is cute. I'll repost it here, but it is Laura Erickson's poem, posted first in TT: 25143. TabouliJones - 5/17/2002 11:58:25 AM Hugh Grant looks great for any age, but I didn't realize that he was already over 40 (42 in September). Looks like he is in the Paul Newman/Julie Newmar/Sophia Loren school of beauty -- hot forever. . . . Jerk. 25144. judithathome - 5/17/2002 5:22:27 PM Anyone heard anything about the latest Val Kilmer movie The Salton Sea? Looks rather interesting; I love Adam Goldberg and Vincent D'Onofrio... 25145. Cellar Door - 5/17/2002 6:05:22 PM Michael Moore at the Cannes Film Festival. 25146. raskolnikov - 5/18/2002 1:18:37 AM I have 16 of the films on TJ's list. The American entries are unsurprising if you are going to have a serious jones for independent films. (Altough Dead Man and Thin Red Line are surprising - particularly the former, as it sucked). 25147. raskolnikov - 5/18/2002 1:28:46 AM From that list, I'll recommend Fireworks, Red, and Naked. I really disliked Safe and Chungking Express. Taste of Cherry was extremely unsatisfying. It was more interesting than I thought it would be, but the ending is one of the lamest cop-outs in screen history. 25148. Cellar Door - 5/18/2002 10:04:12 AM Why did you "really dislike" Safe and Chungking Express ? I'm surprised. 25149. TabouliJones - 5/18/2002 2:48:21 PM Rask, 25150. CalGal - 5/18/2002 2:56:23 PM Heavenly Creatures is just so...not fun. 25151. TabouliJones - 5/18/2002 3:02:39 PM The Third Man and Miller's Crossing both work for me; especially The Third Man. 25152. CalGal - 5/18/2002 3:13:30 PM I've seen The Sweet Hereafter, which is brilliant. But painful. What other movies of his do you recommend? 25153. TabouliJones - 5/18/2002 3:29:05 PM Any Egoyan is interesting. I have seen all of his movies, except Felicia's Journey, which I would be open to watching. 25154. Raskolnikov - 5/18/2002 10:54:11 PM "Why did you "really dislike" Safe and Chungking Express ? I'm surprised." 25155. Cellar Door - 5/19/2002 1:18:16 AM Chungking Express is minor Wong, as is Fallen Angels. But Happy Together and In the Mood For Love are masterpieces. 25156. Raskolnikov - 5/19/2002 11:21:01 AM "I don't find Safe didactic at all. It's Todd's nightmare of becoming a Valley Housewife." 25157. judithathome - 5/19/2002 11:32:19 AM A Jim Jarmusch trilogy might be fun...his films would qualify for indies, right? 25158. rubberducky - 5/20/2002 10:18:51 AM Behind Enemy Lines was better than i thought it would be. the movie based on the true life story of an American shot down over Bosnia was pretty compelling. i was wondering how long they can make what is basically a chase movie interesting, but they manage. there are some absolutely terrific shots and Owen Wilson makes a surprisingly good action star. 25159. CalGal - 5/20/2002 10:26:46 AM How about a North American indy festival? One from Canada, one from US, one from South America (probably Mexico). 25160. Cellar Door - 5/20/2002 11:03:49 AM Well the thing about Moore's character in Safe, Rask, was that he didn't have any motivation. For anything. The whole film was about her search for motivation. 25161. CalGal - 5/20/2002 1:30:22 PM Okay, I saw The Deep End last night and I want to gripe about all the critics (here included) who said this was a great thriller when it's a fucking chick flick, and a bad one at that! 25162. CalGal - 5/20/2002 7:40:34 PM 'Star Wars' Is Short of 'Spider-Man' 25163. Cellar Door - 5/20/2002 7:48:09 PM A "chick flick"? What's your definition of one? 25164. CalGal - 5/20/2002 8:00:35 PM Ha! I couldn't believe I'd made that post without you squawking. 25165. Cellar Door - 5/20/2002 9:03:54 PM A melodrama? Any melodrama? 25166. CalGal - 5/20/2002 9:20:15 PM And there's no stupidity in thrillers because they're "masculine"? 25167. Cellar Door - 5/20/2002 10:54:58 PM She's not miserable at all. The dramatic tension is dertived entirely from the fact that the son doens't want to talk about "it," and she does. 25168. CalGal - 5/20/2002 11:15:57 PM She's not miserable at all. 25169. Cellar Door - 5/21/2002 1:07:25 AM "She's never done anything for herself, and she's not happy." 25170. betty - 5/21/2002 1:24:58 AM Cellar, 25171. CalGal - 5/21/2002 1:46:22 AM Cellar, I've looked up all her movies. The only other one I might watch is Love is the Devil, and that's for Jacoby, not her. 25172. CalGal - 5/21/2002 1:48:18 AM Then all the plot holes I mentioned already--why did she put him in clear, shallow water again? Except for the fact that it's a great visual and you know, she needs those car keys. 25173. Cellar Door - 5/21/2002 1:50:57 AM Dottie Gets Spanked is the short film. Poisonis definitely worth trying to see, as it's a historic document. It ranked right below Mapplethorpe in Jesse Helms' Anti-NEA Jihaad. (You can get it on video.)
Ah, love. AI is another movie about love, this time, maternal love. As everybody knows, Stanley Kubrick tried to do this movie forever, and somehow passed the project on to Steven Spillberg before he died. An unlikely pairing, but perhaps Spillberg is the spoon full of sugar necessary to swallow Kubrick's often stark sense of humanity.
This is the BIG picture. We --human beings -- aren't the center of the universe. We're smart and terribly mean, we're creative and what makes us human may not be our bodies.
In AI, the world is run by orgas (short for organics) and aided by megas (mechanicals or robots) due to a shortage of orgas because of environmental catastrophes. The ice caps have melted, and New York along with all other coastal cities around the world are underwater.
The humans feel both paternal and superior to the megas, who are basically slaves. In wilderness "Flesh Fairs," megas are routinely destroyed in entertainments akin to Roman circues.
Almost all sympathy in AI's world is with the megas in general, and in particular a boy robot named David played by Haley Joel Osment (an actor who has mastered the art of playing lonely little boys isolated from all others). Osment is creepily good, and on the screen for almost the entire movie. He definitely deserves a nomination for this role.
The other two sympathetic characters are: 1) Teddy, the sympathetic Smart Toy teddy bear and Sancho Panza to David's Don Quixote; and 2) Gigolo Joe, played by Jude Law, a slick and cocky mega created to give women sexual pleasure.
David was created to provide love for childless couples (most humans are in this world). He was also built to dream and retain affection for the mother who says the magic sequence of words. Once they are said and the right button is pushed, he is hardwired for life to love and desire that love, to want to be loved by that mother.
Unfortunately, humans have a hard time returning love to megas, and secondly, life for a machine can potentially continue long past life for a person. In fact, the fiat assumption of this movie, is that this boy is going to last for a long time.
I've read several comments about how darkly disturbing this movie is, but I didn't respond that way. Perhaps colored by Spielburg's "sugar," the audience is given enough time to accept that what makes us humans, at least the good part, our spirit, might be transfered down the line to mechanical entities.
Really? I think he's an extremely solid leading man. If it were easy to hold down a movie's center, it wouldn't pay so well. I really admire Clooney (quite apart from thinking he's hot).
GJ,
Is it appropriate for early teens? Spawn wants to go, and I've tried to tell him it's not a fun movie, but I want to know if there's anything too violent or sexually creepy.
CalGal
Well, Cloony isn't as crappy as Phoenix, that's for sure. He's just crappy in a kinda Tom Sellecky, hail-fellow-well-met kinda way.
Phoenix is crappy in a "see how deeply emotive I am...hark! my eyes are watering...forsooth! my chin is quivering" kinda way. He's much more annoying, it's true.
re: Moulin Rouge -- it's Baz Lurhmann's idea of a musical. As I read somewhere else, he doesn't get much traction with his characters, giving everything over to the visual and spectacular. I think in someways it was much more operatic than musical, but that's an argument fraught with difficulty.
Excluding our personal opinions (in which we're allowed to think of him as either the next Olivier or just another cute TV star), Clooney's success thus far has moved him completely out of Selleck's orbit. He's not appearing in studio "vehicles" (a la Selleck, Fox, Ted Danson, and other TV stars who tried to make the jump) that they know will probably tank in the theaters but make enough money in video to justify the expenditure.
No, Clooney's charging some $12 mill per film and going for the same A-film parts as Hanks, Cruise, Crowe and the like. He's made the leap. Which makes him the first major TV star to do so, ever. Selleck could never hold down a film's center--which is why he never made it. Clooney's price and success proves that he can.
So if you want to call him crappy, call him crappy in a Cruise kind of way. The guy's earned the right to a meaningful comparison. (g)
I don't think he's crappy at all, btw. He's one of my favorite leading men, and one of his movies has hit my top five films for each of the past three years. But I'm taking issue with your assessment of him because I've been tracking TV stars trying to break into movies for a very long time, and I'm just so proud of him. (wipes away a tear.)
I think he is an iconic actor (ala Gary Cooper or Clark Gable). One can read into his silent, black stares, his stubbled faced, a world of things.
But GJ, what musical does get traction from its characters?
George Cloony was in a tv show?
You're joking? Clooney was in ER and was the major breakout star of the show that was ranked #1 every year since.
Despite many offers to leave the show and work in movies, he not only worked out his six year contract, he didn't renegotiate for more money. He worked movies in and around his tv schedule, working 100 hour weeks at times in order to meet both commitments.
Also, he was Roxanne's boss for awhile in the beginning of her tv show.
CG
Do tell. You sound .... enamoured (snerk snerk)
ER, I've heard of it, I've never seen it, is it still on? Is it an HBO series? (we canceled cable a while back)
Well, that's the kind I try to ask. (g)
Compare it to Singin in the Rain or The Bandwagon in terms of quality of musical numbers, their appropriateness to the plot, the naturalness in which the stars break into song and the music is used to progress the movie emotionally. I think the comparison is entirely apt--except for the dancing, but then Moulin Rouge is a singing musical. Now I grant you that Singin in the Rain is the greatest musical ever, precisely because its script and story is far beyond what any other musical ever achieved. But looking at these movies as musicals, I think you'll see that Moulin Rouge is entirely within that tradition--and certainly worthy of comparison with other Hollywood musicals of the 50s.
Mind you, I don't object if people hate it, but I do think that there is a tendency to exalt musicals of the 50s and then excoriate a movie that uses exactly the same approach--and does so very well--all the while beating the poor film up for using practices that are accepted and celebrated without question in the hallowed films of old.
ER, I've heard of it, I've never seen it, is it still on?
Um. Yes. For a while NBC paid $13 million per episode. Which means, of course, that it is not on cable.
It is truly a huge, huge TV show. You've never seen or heard of ER? Seriously?
No, no, I've HEARD of it - hell, I've "heard" (read) you guys talking about it for a couple of years now. But no, I've never seen it, and I did think it was an HBO show like WestWing or something like that.
Ack, sorry - I think I've shocked you!
I don't think I could hum a single song from MR. He is much more into snippets than a song (with a couple of exceptions).
I always thought nobody takes pop songs about love seriously. Lurhmann does, enough to get it to be the fuel of his story. It worked, for me in the final scene (very performance with-in-a-performance moment).
The early stuff, I found boring. In fact, I had to fight falling asleep.
They'd bought the soundtrack before they got to see the movie and they listen to it all the time. The artist is one of their favorites, can't remember his name and they're not home to ask, but that is a nice cd.
Mom and Dad swore up and down it was a Texas governor. Derning (sp) looked to me like Huey Long, though, and I thought he modeled his style, another thing Dad disagreed with. I guess one fat Southern politician in a white hat and coat looks like another to me.
Oh, sweetie. It's worse than that. West Wing isn't HBO, either.
When O'Daniel was elected Governor, they had his inauguration in the newly built Memorial Stadium at the University of Texas. It is considered the largest crowd for an inauguration.
The movie put him in Mississippi, but then, it borrowed lots of elements from history and re-arranged them, not to mention its retelling of the Oddessy.
No way! I would have sworn that West Wing was a cable show! Huh.
OK, Sopranos, that one's cable, yes?
Now that I've thought of it, I did know that Clooney was on that show. I've seen his picture on magazines and stuff.
I didn't much care for the first musical number, at the Moulin Rouge. (although I did first catch interest when the narcoleptic Argentinian made his entrance, earlier). But for me, the film kicked into gear when Ewan broke in on that high note (on the John/Taupin song).
As for song tidbits--except for the first number at the Moulin Rouge and the deliberate use of song tidbits in the Elephant Medley, all the other numbers are sung in full.
However, even if you personally don't enjoy the songs, my point is that it is very much in keeping with that tradition. Hollywood musicals used pop songs, didn't have much "character traction", and weren't always terribly original stories.
dingdingdingdingding!
Now that I've thought of it, I did know that Clooney was on that show. I've seen his picture on magazines and stuff.
Yeah. He was a huge TV star. There have been TV stars trying to use their popularity to cut over to movie stardom for some 30+ years--Pernell Roberts, Wayne Rogers, Shelley Long, David Caruso. Note how familiar those names are. In fact, Selleck, Fox, and Danson are the most successful of the group. Until Clooney, who is the only person to successfully make the transition.
Note: this doesn't include people who were minor TV stars and then made it big in movies (Hanks, Moore, Carrey). That's a different (and easier) path.
MR borrowed heavily, lifting existing music and reusing it in a whole new context. Was there an original song in this movie? It's what cabaret singers do all the time.
Maybe Lurhmann saw that as an innovation of the form here.
Or maybe he is frustrated that he doesn't write music and wanted to make a musical and did what is used often on MTV shows like Real World, and punctuated with the pop songs that speak to him.
But then, Garner is God.
If I'd have known that West Wing was on regular TV, I might have watched it a couple of times, it sounds kind of interesting. But now we get such crappy reception, it's really not worth turning the tv on.
But dearheart. You surely didn't think Singin in the Rain was original to the film? It only had one original song. (Make em Laugh). Ditto The Band Wagon (That's Entertainment was written for the film). American in Paris had no original songs. Neither did Easter Parade--in fact, it was created just to take advantage of the pop song.
I discussed this a while back with the Ms--most (but not all) of the Hollywood musicals with memorable scores were created by taking a whole series of popular songs and stringing a story to them.
Many cases where the musicals used original scores are entirely unmemorable. On the Town was almost completely rewritten for screen, and what songs can you remember from that, after the opening to "New York New York"? Seven Brides for Seven Brothers had an original score, but I bet most people can't remember more than one song from it--that movie is famous for the dancing.
The movies with song after memorable song are almost always done by compiling a bunch of pop hits. Broadway musicals often had spectacular scores, but they were written in a much longer time period, with more attention. Hollywood musicals were a slapdash affair, and if they didn't use recycled pop hits, the music was quite often ordinary, with maybe one or two noteworthy tunes.
Nope.
(What sort of gay man are you, anyway?)
I'll look up the previous conversation--I went into this in more detail.
I promise I'll never say that MR isn't a musical and will write this down a hundred times in my journal. (g)
Message # 20816 is where this was discussed before.
All I'm saying is that you are wrong. At least half of the Hollywood musicals that you consider "great" used pop songs from the past 20 years. Just like Moulin Rouge.
I think there are plenty of reasons not to like the film; I just think far too many people think that Gene Kelly wrote Singin in the Rain. Hell, it wasn't only a pop song, it had been used in at least two other movies before then.
If you remember from previous discussions, I am more biased towards musicals than movie musicals. I usually think movies of musicals I like aren't as good as the real thing, seen on a stage, with a good cast and a strong interpretation.
I saw Moulin Rouge the first weekend that it came out. I really enjoyed the first half, but lost interst after that. The execution at the beginning was exciting, the music fun in a tongue and chick kind of way and the cinematography was wild. After a while, however, all of these elements lost their allure, as the weakness of the story (or book i guess you'd say) started to reveal itself.
I would still recommend it, especially to anyone who enjoys musicals. Also, the audience that I saw it with was very enthusiastic; cheering and clapping and chortling throughout.
Oh, and I am tempted to see A.I.
The premise of the movie and the Kubrick connection are both intriguing. The reviews I have read have all been in the fascinating-but-flawed-with-the-occasional-touch-of-magic mould.
I liked all the musical numbers and they were interspersed consistently enough that my interest never flagged.
My biggest complaint was the Duke, who was just too weird to be enjoyable (although Like A Virgin came close).
Have you seen Shrek? The Anniversary Party? Anything else?
GJ, you linked in that New Yorker review about the French film who has to pretend to be gay? I've read a few other good reviews of it. Is it generally released yet?
Oh, I did. I'm a goner as far as that flick is concerned. I can understand people not liking it, but it was such a joy to see an original musical again that really understood the spirit of old.
Besides, no matter what one thinks of the film itself, it was an extraordinary performance (for a musical) by MacGregor. It's not often you get to see that on a big screen.
I've only read one weak review, and it was in National Review. I mean, what the hell would they know? (g)
I'll go see it if only for Osment, because everyone says he's phenomenal.
as for that, I haven't seen much on the big screen of late.
I would like to go see crazy beautiful, which has been getting surprisingly good reviews. other than that and A.I., howver, nothing has piqued my interest of late.
That review about the The Closet was from the NY Times. I assume it is playing in NYC, but haven't seen in my burg yet. I figure I'll give it 6 months.
I think the review was by David Denby in the New Yorker. I like Kubrick myself, but Denby proabably has a point. From what I have heard, there is an almost schizophrenic impulse throughout the movie, in which Spielberg attempts to mix his somewhat cheery world view with the less than rosey outlook of Kubrick.
I think the overall p.o.v. is Kubrick's, a certain pessimism about the ability of humans to survive. Spielberg seems to have taken that thought and said, this isn't so bad. As I said, the ending is sort out of 2001.
The movie roots for the machines.
What I've heard about it though is that Kubrick planned all along for Spielberg to be a major player. Jude Law's comments on the making of the film were that Kubrick was present in all but coporeal form. Spielberg was very dedicated to fulfilling Kubrick's vision to the best of his ability.
The tributary aspects of the film are enough to get me into the theater even without the added bonus of Osment and Law.
I also heard some interesting stuff about Crazy Beautiful. It's not a movie I had planned to see----story has been done to death I thought. However, listening to local coverage about it this morning I learned that they cast a lot of non-professional actors in order to gain a different view and an authenticity/veracity that is often lacking in films of this kind.
They played a clip of one of the actors performing a monologue that he wrote for his acting class at the highschool they used for their talent pool and it was really amazing. Now I'm excited just to go and see this kid's performance.
I rented City Hall last night. It is about a charismatic New York City mayor (played by Al Pacino) and his young deputy mayor (played by John Cusack). I knew going in that it was going to be melodramatic (and loathe melodrama), but I got it in my head that I really, really, need to see Al Pacino chew up some scenery. And Chew Pacino did. Other than the scenery chewing, however, i can't really recommend City Hall. Next on my Pacino makes a parody of himself list: The Devil's Advocate.
Kirsten Dunst is supposed to be excellent in Crazy Beautiful. Like you, i am surprised at how much positive press the movie is getting. I'm not normally into these teen angst flicks, but I am determined to see this one.
I heard that Crazy/Beautiful was supposed to be an intelligent antidote to all the cheapo/nutso teen comedies out there...one meant to raise the bar, so to speak.
Crazy Beautiful is getting very solid reviews. I believe that they were forced to tone down the degree to which Dunst was "bad" in order to avoid protests and an R rating.
But apart from the incessant and soppy score, this is a grueling and accurate look at alcholism. Worth a look, if you haven't seen it in a while.
I'm just waiting for The Great Race.
There's a joke that he didn't do this one (while he was alive) because the actor playing the little boy would have grown too much in the years it would have taken him to make the movies.
I think Kubrick does think machines are sinister, but then he thinks people are too. As I said, this movie roots for the machines.
I will say that the last 20 minutes helped to rehabilitate what I had considered a complete failure up until that point, even with the "sensational" twist.
Grade: C.
I really didn't like AI. It was painful to watch. It seemed like everyone in the movie, when they made their decisions, seemed to try to pick the choice that would cause the most people the most pain. There were many illogical things about it, people doing things that just didn't make sense in order to further the plot. I think that it would have been a better movie if they'd worked harder to make things flow more logically.
In limited release, the French farce "The Closet" did well, grossing $80,000 at four theaters in New York City and San Francisco. The movie stars Daniel Auteuil and Gerard Depardieu in a comedy of errors about a bland accountant who pretends to be gay to avoid getting fired.
re: A.I. Notice the moon symbolism. Spielburg uses it a lot, from a DreamWorks logo like quarter moon over the kid's bed, to a moon balloon (although there is no singing moon as in MRJ).
Lime,
Hmmm, I hate watching painful movies. A dilemma.
But it wasn't much of either, I thought.
I think these two gave up on making anybody in the movie but David, Teddy and Gigolo Joe sympathetic, them and the junk robots at the Flesh Fair.
Orgas are in bad shape and have made too many bad choices by the time the movie opens.
Finding mama. That's another theme. Wasn't the first or second Star Trek movie about a force gone amok because it was trying to find its creator, in this case, the satellite sent up in the 70s to explore outer space?
Maybe A.I. is a modern day "Pilgrim's Progress."
The other interesting thing about the ending was (white font follows!) that the mechas at the end of the movie were very interested in what humans were like, and about their spirit, in direct contrast to The Matrix, or the tv show Cleopatra, where the machines are out to get the humans.
Heh. I'm not familiar with Pappy O'Daniel. I do know, however, that Jimmie Davis (who was governor twice, in the 40's and the 60's) wrote "You Are My Sunshine."
All I'm saying is that you are wrong.
If only we had taglines here.
George Clooney was also on Sisters.
Didn't I mention Sisters? I couldn't remember the name. But he was one of their boyfriends. That was the last gig before ER, I think.
Scott, I am definitely going to rent Empire of the Sun. I don't know why I thought it was set in Singapore.
I remember the promos for the movie -- an English boys choir singing a hymn, contrasted with the brutality of the war. It was very haunting -- at least enough that I still remember it.
Maybe I'll get to see it this weekend.
Another one that will also cross the Atlantic soon is The Fabulous Destiny of Emilie Poulin, a big hit in France at the moment, directed by Jeunet, The director of Delicatessen. Im not really wild about his style, but the film was okay. Afterward, I felt like I had seen 17 or so cleverly designed commercials pasted back to back.
I dont get it. Why isnt John Travolta the biggest actor to jump from TV to movies. For 3 years, he was the star of a top 10, TV show "Welcome Back, Kotter." Then, he became the star of the top grossing movies.
First off, you're absolutely right--failure to mention Travolta is a serious oversight.
But Travolta doesn't qualify as a successful cutover. To the extent that he was a TV personality at all, he goes in the Michael J. Fox/Ted Danson category, as in "one hit does not a movie star make". Or in his case, two hits--Saturday Night Fever and Grease. The similarity with Fox and Danson (and Clooney, for that matter) ends there--he dumped the show that made him.
So he was on the show as a regular for a year, then pretty much disappeared once SNF was a hit, made Grease, then made a series of disastrously bad movies--his greatest contribution to cinema during that period was Richard Gere, who never would have made it without Travolta's rejects.
One thing that is true of Travolta that isn't the case of Fox and Danson is that he was a movie actor--his TV show was a fluke. He never returned to TV, never wanted to. I don't know enough about the history of SNF to know if he was cast based on his TV stardom or because of his dancing ability (does anyone know?). But his life from that point on was in movies, not TV.
In that regard I think he's more akin to Hanks--someone who was a star in a highly rated TV show but not really considered a cutover.
He is unquestionably the most successful of the "later folks, I'm famous now" actors who dumped the show the minute he had a big hit, and certainly should have been mentioned. I plead guilty to neglecting him. Sorry, John.
Yes, Peter Scolari made a couple of not great films but the vast majority of his work has been in Television. I don't really watch much television so I couldn't say much about his acting ability, but I've certainly never seen him be bad and I thought he was equal to Hanks on Bosom Buddies. I imagine that his stature had something to do with him not making a good crossover to film. Regardless of ability he isn't "leading man" material.
Not that there aren't short leading men---notably Cruise and Stallone---but Scolari isn't particularly pretty-boy or macho either. He would've been relegated to supporting and character roles as he has been in television.
He plays a gay man in it.
No less exciting was the fact that I got to see the new Harry Potter trailer on the big screen. The cast, sfx and the sets look great.
Oddly enough, this musical remains the only dramatization of the colonies' debate leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It really does succeed admirably, despite the often goofy songs and the clunky cuts (the only betrayal of its early 70s making). The performances are all excellent, the script is both witty and quotable, and despite knowing how it all turns out, the suspense is kept taut throughout.
1776 may not capture the events with perfect accuracy, but it certainly goes a long way towards capturing the essence and spirit of one of the great political achievements in history.
Fun for kids; let them run off during the slow parts. Find a widescreen showing, if you can.
All this talk about John Adams lately reminds me of it.
LadyC, we talked about A.I. a couple of days ago, but I don't think very many people have seen it. I liked your image of the time capsule.
Last night my mom wanted to go to a movie with Spawn and me, and the only one available was Moulin Rouge. They both loved it without reservation, I'm happy to say. (breeding tells.)
I have now seen it three times, twice with small suburban audiences (Santa Clara and Overland Park, KC) and once in a full house in a San Francisco theater. The suburban audiences both times were more responsive and definitely "got it", whereas the SF audience was quiet throughout.
I'm not talking about whether or not the audience liked the film (although there's no question that the majority in both suburban audiences did), but whether or not they understood the references, the humor, and so on. I would have expected the SF audience to be more tuned in, whether or not they appreciated it.
I guess I'll have to stop selling my beloved suburbs short.
So I'm going to go see MR this weekend while LD is with her Godparents. I am really looking forward to it.
Same for A.I. I usually go to the earliest matinee on Saturday or Sunday. When I lived in DC, the Arlington Courthouse cinema had 10:30 am showings for a while. Only two mishaps -- the manager overslept --everybody was there, including the popcorn people, but he had the key to the safe. The second one happened because they were tearing down a government building next to the theater. I watched all of Evita while some guy was jackhammering next door.
GJ,
A lot of movies are really enhanced with a good audience, don't you think? I rarely go to matinees unless I know it's a popular film.
I'm back to going to the movie theatre now that I found one that has $2 matinees and is in decent condition. It is a 40 minute drive from my place, but much much nicer than the 2 theatres here in town that are very decrepit and charge $4 for matinees.
In fact, I may just make an afternoon of it on Saturday and see both MR and AI.
(Obviously, I haven't had any problems with matinees.)
Next thing you know, I'll be bowling alone.
The (g) was because I'm clearly a broken record on the subject, not because I thought you didn't know.
I don't mind matinees where the audience isn't a big part of the movie experience. I saw The Truman Show in a $2 theater almost completely empty, and Out Of Sight, one of my favorite movies, was seen with just three other people late on a Sunday evening.
It's not matinees per se that I seek to avoid, it's empty theaters for an audience film.
LD wants to see Legally Blonde, but I'm not sure I do. Still, I'll probably take her to see it.
I refused to take her to see Animal (NOT my cup of tea), so her Dad took her.
I'm also planning on Cats and Dogs, although Planet of the Apes is the one I'm really looking forward to. I want Tim Burton to redeem himself for Sleepy Hollow.
I may be the only person who lived through the first Planet series that didn't go see any of them.
I think another Midwest reunion is in order, though. How far away is Chicago? Slack and his wife are on their way there now.
I hate audiences because I can hear everything going on around me and can't block it out...in restaurants, I can hear converstions going on two tables away very clearly. So we like to watch movies in big empty theatres...audience reaction has never added to my enjoyment in a theatre enough to equal the way it has detracted from it. I get enough enjoyment out of Keonis reaction...
When I saw Sleepy Hollow there was a very very large man who sat down a few seats over from me and spent the rest of the movie struggling to breath. I have ocassional asthma and that is one of the few sounds that I simply cannot tolerate- I had to get up and move it was so excruciating. (I felt pretty bad about that.)
Oh, and yes glendajean, I've been in Indy for about two years now. And Chicago's about 4 hours away from me, Calgal.
Oh, I know what you mean. But that can happen anywhere. I once had a contract with a cubicle next to a guy with some horrible condition that involved constant hacking and wheezing. Fortunately he only worked part-time, so I wouldn't come in until 10 or so to avoid him.
Now to confess my guilty secret - I have never seen any of the Godfather movies. I just always thought I didn't like gangster movies, detective movies, or cop movies. Keoni managed to convert me enough that I am going to go out and rent the 3 Godfather movies, however.
He has a way of doing that sort of thing; that's why I now like musicals.
Well, I've always liked musicals. So, once again, your fella demonstrates his good taste. You have each chosen a winner to spend your lives with.
Now I can go see MR at the local theatre, but it's small, ugly, uncomfortable, and usually has projection problems. Then there is the big fancy multiplex a little farther away than my fav place, but they've just raised their 'cheap' matinee ticket to $5 and that makes me grouchy. Of course, MR is also showing at the theatre in the big mall to the SW which charges $4.25, but I know I won't resist shopping too, making that potentially much much more expensive.
sigh
decisions decisions
I suppose I could watch MR at the big multiplex and stop at my fav on the way home to watch A.I.....
Or maybe I'll just rent the Godfather movies and stay home and pop my own popcorn and watch all 3 right in a row.
Click here to become a director of your own short film
Gotta get to a workout. TTFN
( I didn't scroll back, so forgive me if it has already been linked in here )
I want to see Legally Blonde. It looks cute.
I really like most of the movies he's in, but I know exactly what to expect from him, and it's tiresome.
He perfected the likable, highly distractable/constantly distracted smart guy about 15 years ago in The Fly, and it's time to move on.
...unless that's all he's got, of course.
It took a while to understand folks, but this is another sweet film in what is now almost a genre unto itself: the bud of bloom in the horror of Thatcherism (see Trainspotting, Little Voice, Brassed Off, a spate of Ken Loach films). Grade: B.
I don't think Trainspotting is in the same category, is it? I still haven't seen it--heard about the baby and decided to pass.
Goldblum is in a cable movie right now about one of the Hollywood 10, the one who made the movie about the strike.
Good call on the baby. Avoid.
Silverado, The Fly, The Tall Guy, The Big Chill.
Arigato! and Thank You!
A Fistfull of Dollars.
Yojimbo itself, however, is based on a Dashielle Hammett story. Maybe The Glass Key.
Ace, are you sure? Somehow that doesn't sound right. But maybe Kurosawa was a Hammett fan?
Roadhouse Nights (1930, from Red Harvest)
The Maltese Falcon (1931)
The Thin Man (1934)
Woman in the Dark (1934)
The Glass Key (1935)
Satan Met a Lady (1936) (from The Maltese Falcon)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
The Glass Key (1942)
Yojimbo (1961) (from Red Harvest)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) (from Red Harvest)
The Dain Curse (1978) (TV)
Miller's Crossing (1990) (from The Glass Key, but not acknowledged)
Last Man Standing (1996) (from Red Harvest)
etc.
Yojimbo (DVD)
Yojimbo (VHS)
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
with Toshiro Mifune
Kurosawa admitted in interviews that this film was, essentially, an uncredited adaptation of elements from Dashiell Hammett's "Red Harvest" and "The Glass Key"; in addition, as so many samurai films are, it shares many tropes with the American Western, which made Sergio Leone's swipe of the swipe, turning "Yojimbo" into "Fistful of Dollars" all the more logical.
Having recently seen Holy Smoke and now bits of this, I think Jane Campion movies need a warning on the video jacket: "Pleased be advised, when we describe this movie as "erotic" we are speaking in the alien tongue of the Slime Overlords of Rigel 7. Humans viewers may not be aroused by urination, dismemberment, or Harvey Keitel."
Again, thanks for the information.
(snerk)
Was it Campion who directed Little Women, or some other female director? Oh, wait. That was Gillian Armstrong. Okay, the erotic warning holds.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Solid story, nice set of unconventional characters, and outstanding visual effects--I actually got vertigo a few times--all add up to a well spent 90 minutes. Take the kids or not, it works either way.
Incidentally, that's Florence Stanley as the unflappable old woman with many of the best lines. If you're wondering why you know her voice, there's a good chance it's because you're a Barney Miller fan (she was Fish's wife).
I've....been away...so maybe A.I. has been discussed to death already.
No real spoilers here.
'Just saw it tonight. Not bad, exactly, but definitely disappointing. As usual, I had high expectations and they were not fulfilled.
'First third of the movie, I take it, was the Kubrick part, and it was fine. 'Last two-thirds were pure Spielberg, and (in my view) pretty juvenile.
Two and a half stars on the Maltin scale.
I did not much like MR. I didn't like the frenetic cutting
blink
they're over there in those costumes
blink
no, they're over there
blink
moved again!
I couldn't work up much sympathy for the characters. No one was developed very well, and there was no pay-off.
Just not my cup of tea.
I did like AI.
I didn't feel, as I have seen/heard others say, that it was two different movies. I thought it hung together very well and progressed naturally. The AI child was very believable, never seemed to be a "real boy" - very much the programmed simalcrum faithful to his programming. The other people were also well-drawn, adults and chldren, minor and major characters. I also didn't think it drew too dark or nasty vision of the human race, either.
I do hope some engineer see the flick and decides to design a "Teddy" like that, though. I want one.
um, here's something: it sucked.
hard.
the kid was good - that's it. i mildly liked 'Teddy', but that is only worth mentioning because the rest of this movie is complete derivative, predictable drek.
let's start with the 'plot'. the first half of the movie creeped me and Ripley out big time. i thought the idea of the company using an employee who suffered a loss as shown in the movie to be sick. sick and cruel.
so, these two idiots take this robot boy into their home and proceed to ... i dunno - be boring. this was excruciating to watch. did i mention creepy? because it was - creepy.
anyway, let's move on. after roughly half the movie passes (slooooowly i might add), the film goes from Millennium Man Part II to Tron meets Running Man with just a smidge of watered down Blade Runner thrown in just to piss me off.
stupid. that's all i can say. the costumes, plot holes, acting in these horrible 'action' sequences were irritating to say the absolution least.
i won't even go into how absolutely retarded Jude Law's "Mr Robo: Male Gigolo" gig is.
avoid. this movie is so lame, i did something i haven't done since i don't know when -we got up and left when Law did his 'dancin'-in-the-rain' bullshit in the woods.
rent if you absolutely must see it.
i give it one and a half quacks. one for Osment & a half for 'Teddy'.
Christi,
The cutting is the one thing I warn people about. It didn't bother me (and choppy cutting usually does) but I could see it being distracting.
As far as well-developed characters--were you judging it by musical standards? I thought the characters were quite well done on that level.
I saw Crazy/Beautiful yesterday, which I really liked. Predictable, I guess, but I liked the characters.
The mother couldn't take him back to the company that made him because she had been told that he would be destroyed. Her selfishness (which is what got her into this trouble in the first place) wouldn't allow her to let David be destroyed because it was too painful for her even though it was infinitely more cruel to abandon David than to let him be destroyed.
So the humans in the movie make lousy choices and the characters that we are supposed to like are ... machines.
I thought Law did a pretty good job with his characterization of being a goofy sex doll.
Who else is on the "I really liked it" team? Am I alone? If I am, perhaps it is fitting since isolation is such a major theme in the film.
Before I get bogged down in the themes department let me say that whether or not one likes the film itself there is no denying the incredible talent of Haley Joel Osment. His transformation in the imprinting scene is one of the most amazing performances I've ever seen. A lot of people are impressed by "big" acting----tears and madness and rage and storms of emotion----but the skill and talent required to effectively and movingly portray such a subtle thing as being infused with a human soul is about the slickest fucking trick in the book. And it was accomplished by a 12 year old boy. It's an Oscar-worthy performance bar none.
Okay, on to other things.
Visually I found A.I. compelling and beautiful. I could if required point out the Kubrick scenes v. the Spielberg scenes, but while watching the film I didn't feel jarred at all. A major shift in the film comes toward the last quarter and I found it most closely resembled the shift in 2001. It's like being at a backyard party surrounded by people and noise and then diving into the deep end of the pool: time slows, sound mutes and vision is blurred a bit.
The themes of isolation, the nature of love, selfishness v. selflessness, moral responsibility for the growth of technology, responsibility within families and societally for how we behave toward one another and the responsibility we bear toward those who love us are all present. I'm sure there are others, but on a single viewing it's about all I can remember.
cont.
There aren't really any villains in the film only people who disappoint you and make you ashamed of them. The one exception is the ring-leader at the Flesh Fair but he and his minion were so poorly developed it's hard to call them villains. I think, too, that there is a sympathetic light to show him in as well as those who follow him. This would be for me the only real "Spielberg Failing" in that he gives us a character who is obviously there for us to loathe. I don't consider the action sequences of the film to be failings although they are certainly Spielbergisms and I'm of mixed feelings about the Teddy character who is something like a cross between an Ewok and a non-sentient Yoda (if you can imagine that). I certainly don't agree with reviews who state that Spielberg give us a happy ending. All in all I think the complexity of the characters and their motivations is something that Spielberg rarely accomplishes on his own and to see how diligently he resisted his own tendancy to give us moral absolutes is a testament to his respect for Kubrick's dream.
Flaws....well, there are a couple of plot points that don't make a whole lot of sense but they are minor enough that they didn't bug me. I think also that some suspension of disbelief is necessary to account for the behavior of the Mechas (robots) in general. They very obviously have a will to survive. Perhaps this is explained in a scene that takes place between David and some neighborhood boys, but if so it was not clear enough for me to get it until just this very moment when I thought of it some 24 hours later. At any rate, even this is not too bothersome. It's a movie in large part about humanity and how it might be achieved in humanoid robots, it wouldn't be very effective if we didn't care about them and how could we care about them if they don't care for themselves?
Here's the list--let me know what I missed:
A.I.
The Anniversary Party
Atlantis
Baby Boy
Cats and Dogs
The Closet
Crazy/Beautiful
Dr. Doolittle II
Evolution
Fast and the Furious
Kiss of the Dragon
Lara Croft, Tombraider
Moulin Rouge
Pearl Harbor
Pootie Tang
Princess and the Warrior
Sexy Beast
Shrek
Songcatcher
Swordfish
Hopefully I'll figure out a way to format.
The Anniversary Party: Yea
Atlantis: Yea
Moulin Rouge: Yea
Shrek: Yea
Spawn's:
Lara Croft: Nay
Moulin Rouge: Yea
Pearl Harbor: Nay
Shrek: Yea
Of those only" Cats and Dogs" is on my to see list. have there been posts regarding Cats and Dogs in this discussion?
Cats and Dogs Nay
Crazy/Beautiful Yea
"The Luzern Defese" ( I spelled Luzern wrong it is not the Swiss city.
A.I. eh.
Pearl Harbor NAY!!!!!
....That's it for me. I'm mostly a VCR guy.
Lara Croft, Tombraider - Yay (it was fun)
Moulin Rouge - BIG YAY!
Shrek - Yay
Swordfish - Nay
Lara Croft, Tombraider - Nay (the sequences between game levels were more fun)
Moulin Rouge - ok (yawn)
Pearl Harbor (it bombed)
Dr. Doolittle II - yay
Evolution - eh
Moulin Rouge -nay
Shrek - Yay
On my 'gonna see it' list:
Atlantis
Cats and Dogs
Crazy/Beautiful
On my 'maybe when it comes out on video' list:
Pearl Harbor
Laura Croft
A lot of the others I haven't heard of. We did notice Pootie Tang running at the movies when we went to see Evolution, but have no idea what it is about, not having seen any ads or trailers for it. Has anyone here seen it and can give me a hint?
LD wants to see Legally Blonde this weekend with some friends and I haven't yet decided if I'll let her. Any comments?
Atlantis & Cats and Dogs i'll try to get around to seeing in the theater if i can.
no interest in/never heard of the rest in CG's list.
looking forward to seeing:
Jurassic Park III (hope it is better than II)
Final Fantasy (if for nothing other than the animation - i've never played the game)
Rush Hour 2 (probably will suck, but i love Chris Tucker)
I'll probably wait and watch
I saw a cut from Legally Blonde and it looked cute...they didn't mention a rating but Reese Witherspoon said it was about reaching goals and not judging by appearences. She didn't mention what it was rated.
I guess I'll let them see Legally Blonde, assuming I'm right that it is rated PG-13.
I think LD would enjoy it a lot.
I saw the ads for the Chris Rock movie but it didn't look like anything I would enjoy so I didn't pay attention to them. I liked him in Nurse Betty but other than that, I'm not a huge fan of his...just my opinion; I know he is very popular with most people.
I just checked the online sites of the five theaters in this area that we go to and none of them are showing Legally Blonde.
LD is disappointed.
Saw Reqium for a Dream(edited version) . I don't think I could have taken the unedited version.
Great movie.
SO, cancel Cats and Dogs (it's still showing, they just prefer LB), we'll be going to see Legally Blonde on Saturday after all.
I'll let you know what I and the girls think of it.
I hope Legally Blonde is appropriate enough for the girls -- sitting and watching a nice fluffy movie for a couple of hours on Monday afternoon sounds like a great way to pass the time!
140 million bucks to simulate a movie with a lousy script, wooden acting, and pedestrian direction. I'm sure you can get that these days for under 100. With the exception of a few short seguences (maybe ten minutes of the film) I was terribly bored.
Ebert's review: "the reason to see this movie is simply, gloriously, to look at it." That's primarily why I went, but I didn't see much that was glorious. The computer stuff is impressive by the standards of video games, and pretty lousy by the standards of normal animation. The characters are stiff and expressionless and often badly lipsync their dialogue. There is a weightless quality to everything in the film, so that objects that are supposed to be interacting more often just seem superimposed. Everything is just a little bit off, but with no clear intention, so that the end result is not stylistic or comic but merely annoying.
That aside, the visuals are generic and dull. The movie has no style and no inventiveness. For some insane reason they chose to lift the heroes straight out of Armageddon. Given that they had total freedom, did they really need the male "lead" to be a square-jawed GI Joe doll?
(I will grant them that in what must have been an excruciating concession to conscience they decided to give the scientist lady normal breasts and have her wear normal clothes.)
IMO this cutting edge stuff would be better tested out on films that are fundamentally comedies, so that when the animation doesn't quite work we're too busy laughing to complain.
And yes, recreated is much better. They didn't just simulate a boring movie, they honest to god created the real deal.
So have you seen Moulin Rouge yet? What did you think?
Haven't seen anything bad about The Score. I think we're going to see that one, after we see Kiss of the Dragon.
(the real question is, did you laugh at Like a Virgin?)
That said, I did laugh at Like a Virgin.
Most of the reasons people give for disliking Moulin Rouge seem "unfair"--meaning that they are just as true about any other musical, so why hold MR to a different standard? But as I mentioned earlier, the cutting is "fair".
Of course, lots of people just don't like musicals, too, but that is a different thing entirely.
I wish to be clear that I'm not demanding people like it, by god! It is just interesting to me to realize how the lapse in original movie musicals has changed the parameters by which we view them.
IMO, the cutting is a legitimate style choice on the part of the director. I can even see a reason behind it - to give a frenetic feel to the movie as a way to present the bohemian (?sp) life. It is just a style that I, personally, don't like.
I wouldn't say I hated the movie or even intensely disliked it, as there were scenes (such as the Like a Virgin bit) that I really liked. I just wish I had rented it or seen it at the cheap theatre instead.
Really? I think Christian is one of the most appealing characters ever, for a musical. There really aren't that many great musical characters, particularly when you move outside of Broadway.
Hmm. Riff in WSS is a good character. Lena Lamont in Singin in the Rain. The Paul Robeson role in Showboat. Fred Astaire in Bandwagon.
But really, most of them don't do much.
I also thought Satine was a decent character--not great, but good enough. And Harold was well developed--good mix of care and commercialism.
I don't think Latrec or the Duke were well-defined characters at all. The Duke in particular seemed a bit too ridiculous to be a heavy. Odd choice--especially since the guy is very goodlooking really and can play a lethal bad guy (he was the best thing in a lousy MI2).
As far as caring about them, I certainly did care about the underlying love story--more than usual, in fact. I really was impressed with the decision at the end on stage (after he tosses the money and walks away).
She's a great musical character but no, not appealing. But good villains are hard to find in musicals. The other great musical villain I can think of off the top of my head is in West Side Story, but it was a concept, not a person.
As far as the performances, I'm impressed by how far out on a limb everyone was willing to go. I was really affected by Kidman (whom I normally dislike) and MacGregor. There's a point in the first scene inside the elephant where she's rolling around on the floor pretending to be orgasmic about his "naughty words" and in general trying to play him. It's totally ridiculous until he hits the opening of My Song (or whatever it's called.) It completely cuts through her act and she looks up very startled and completely defenseless. That expression just kills me, every time.
Oh, and gruesome and funny is exactly right for LaV. Especially at the end when the Duke is stalking the guy on the table and making those little pawing gestures at the air.
That is exactly the moment the movie kicks into high gear, for me. For one thing, it's a decent cover and you aren't expecting him to come in on that high note--the first straight song in the film. Two, when I was watching the scene it was funny, but I was expecting it to go on in that vein and have some silly way out of it--instead, it shifted gears very believably. And you're right, her reaction was perfect.
I think Kidman is gorgeous, but she should do more comedy. I think she's only done this and To Die For, and it's significant that she gets her best reviews in both (if no Oscar nominations).
The other great comedy bit was "So Exciting"--even if it wasn't "for a musical", it would stand up well. Good farce, great use of lyrics, and when Christian is making things up off the top of his head but still has time to glare at the Duke while he says evil majarajah I just love it.
And the champagne corks pop!
White font stuff:
The underlying love story didn't grab me at all. He was a slightly dim rube from the country who fell for the first garishly dressed pretty girl he saw. She was a hooker with a great ambition to be an actress - not even a hooker with a heart of gold, she was pretty focused on using her body to get what she wanted - who decided to dally with the cute rube. It also made it pretty obvious from the beginning that she was dying, so you knew right away it would end badly. You're tight about Harold - good mix of commercialism and caring. The Duke was a cardboard charicature straight from the regency romance novels. I recognized it and they played it well, so I didn't object to him as a villian.
Ah well, as I tell LD, different folks have different tastes and wouldn't the world be boring if we were all the same.
I liked the fact that you knew she died right off--particularly at the end. Because what you didn't know was whether he was miserable because he (or she) had betrayed their love or just because she died. Turns out it was just because she died--that when he had a choice of rejecting her call to him (when he's walking out of the theater) or not, he comes back. That's the heart of the movie, to this sentimentalist. (but don't tell anyone).
As for them falling in love--well, of course he falls in love with her because she's beautiful, but I thought they made it reasonably believable that she falls in love with him because for the first time she gives herself the luxury to do so. (the scene at the end with Harold--you told me that all I could manage was the street, but he loves me.) Besides, it's not like there's ever much reason for anyone to fall in love in musicals. Tony and Maria in WSS, Don Lockwood and Cathy in Singin in the Rain, and so on. It's just a given that they fall in love. By those standards, the love story has more grit than almost any movie musical I can think of.
My complaint about the Duke is that I thought he could have played him a bit less ridiculous and a bit more lethal. As it was, you had to take the risk to Christian on faith (believable mainly because of the bald guy--oh, and speaking of funny moments his moves through the stage amused me at the end.)
I still say (stbborn chin stuck out) that it is a nice-to-rent-when-you're-bored quality movie rather than a ooo-gotta-run-to-the-theatre-and-SEE-this quality movie.
However, I will admit that this is strictly a personal preference judgement.
The Snore is more like it. I mean, the Bore. Ha ha ha . . . er. Okay. If you are looking for a heist film wherein the ultimate heist is so-so, and the preparations for same are mundane, and the characters are stock and to a person, uninteresting, this is your baby. It has --
Robert DeNiro-master thief; wants one "last score" so he can "get out".
Angela Bassett-girlfriend; wants to commit to DeNiro, but only if he leaves the life.
Edward Norton-hotshot gambler to Deniro's cool-headed pro.
Marlon Brando-a big fat man who needs the score to get out of dutch with thugs.
It also has a manic computer hacker who lives with his mother. Ha ha ha . . . er.
What may have impressed critic as cool (DeNiro lives in Montreal, owns a jazz club, and dates the hot Bassett) is merely frosting for a hollow cake. DeNiro is about nothing, he speaks in terse blahs, and his criminal work is lame (the opening heist is very "So what?"). The film drags for very long stretches, Brando is fat (he is Sydney Greenstreet times 4) to the point of distraction, no one says much that is interesting, and it is procedurally lazy, in that all of DeNiro is caution and preparedness, yet he takes absurd chances (using cell phones, getting mixed up with Norton without checking his background, paying off a complete stranger who could easily be a cop) because the story requires it. Grade: D.
TO: Kevin Costner
FROM: The Public
RE: Thirteen Days/Future Work
Kevin. Please. No more films requiring an accent or dialect. You suck at them, and your Boston accent as special advisor to the President Kenneth O'Donnell is atrocious.
Actually, while we are at it, so is Thirteen Days, a historically inept (and not quite accurate) drama of the Cuban Missile Crisis told through the eyes of O'Donnell (who most agree was more a fetcher for than a policy force with the Kennedys see John Dean on Thirteen Days). While it is not unreasonable to inflate the involvement of a tertiary character in historical
drama, why they would choose the flat O'Donnell is beyond me. As written in Thirteen Days and played by Costner, O'Donnell has the political instincts and temperment of an eight grader. He is a chump and an amateur. His primary motivation sems to be to have the Kennedys (as played by Bruce Greenwood and Stephen Culp) like him.
Blocky, uniform, anti-climactic, and fatuous (it sometime uses black-and-white in reverence to Camelot), ignore this lame real life "thriller." The only thing that recommends it is Greenwood, who does a decent job conveying President Kennedy's angst and his sense of isolation. Conversely, Culp's Bobby Kennedy is portrayed as borderline stupid with impulse control issues. Grade: D+. Instead, see The Missiles of October
The thing I didn't like about the story was the manufactured sense of crisis. It was scary enough without making things up. Also, given that most of O'Donnell's lines were stolen from Sorenson, why on earth not use Sorenson as the central character? (the answer has something to do with age, I suspect.)
I first saw Missiles of October in high school. Good stuff.
Some great one-liners in there, very predictable in parts, but we were entertained the whole time.
And was that Lauren Bacall in a cameo appearance as a professor?
and look at it is all that you need to do. the plot was stupid, stupid, stupid and filled with holes and characters doing dumb things for no reason other to advance the 'plot'
if you go into it thinking you are watching an anime cartoon only more life-like, then you've got it. another fun activity to fill in the lag time is figuring out who is voicing the different characters.
but, see it in the theater. it is a must to enjoy it. it is just gorgeous to watch.
3 ½ quacks because it was entertaining insomuch the concepts and animation were superb and the plot isn't too distracting.
All this according to CNN.
4th place is completely deserved, imo.
Those of us well versed in our religion (even as we left Mother Church in droves) were fascinated by Weber’s vision of “the greatest story ever told”. Rather then getting one more puling image of a sweet-cheeked Christ put to death by the evil Pharisees, Weber delivered a story that examined the powerful political forces behind the death of Christ. Tim Neely, a man that looked like he had been hounded across the desert for the last three years due to his beliefs, blew away forever the nauseating Aryan Reich image of Christ my generation had grown up with. Carl Andersen’s Judas struck a deep cord in us as he struggled with his love of Christ and his anger and rage for the endless numbers of suffering souls in his world that were not being healed by Christ’s ministry.
The whole opera had an edgy darkness that was compelling to the masses of dissatisfied-with-lies Catholic youth of the time. JC SS was the inevitable response to the feel-good Love ‘n’ Sunshine productions of Hair and Godspell. It resonated with us because we, the generation of Korea and Viet Nam, knew how innocence could be ground up by political machinations.
So it was with some trepidation that my husband and I sat down to watch the revival of Jesus Christ Super Star (2001) on video. We were not amused.
(cont.)
Every performance is filled with unrelenting furor, anger and torment. Rather then communicating the passion inherent in the story, I was left just feeling boredom. “Oh, gee Judas is upset, oh gosh Christ is anguished, and that’s different from two seconds ago!”
The apostles are a faceless boiling mob of arm pumping youths with sneers on their faces, spoiling for a fight. Jérôme Pradon’s Judas swings between foaming at the mouth rage and whiny, eye-rolling petulance. By the time we get to the hanging scene all I could thing was, Thank God, he’s dead.”
And then there is Glenn Carter as Christ. His long blonde tresses and buff physique caused my husband to joking refer to the film as “Barbie Christ Super Star”. It was disconcerting to have such a pretty Christ. Despite Carter’s attempts to paste a holy expression of ethereal love on his face when he caressed Mary Magdalena’s cheek, you got the sneaking suspicion that he was trying to peek down her tunic. He was just too earthy, too “of the flesh”. He looked more like a man capable of running for Senate in Utah then a rebel heretic imbued with unearthly visions of God his Father.
The same could be said about the singing. Though Pradon’s Judas starts out strong, by the time he gets to his defining moment before the Pharisees he is doing more sniveling and swaggering then struggling with the conflicting feelings of love and hate for Christ.
(cont.)
The mishmash of “modern” costuming left me cold. There did not seem to a creative vision that tied it all together. Rather it was like five costumer each picked there favorite “look” leaving us with Prussian uniforms, leather and denim clad Apostles and a Khaki Christ.
All in all, I was left feeling that Jesus Christ Super Star should have been left alone.
Much has been made of the friendship between Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. I imagine that when Ben and Matt were growing up on the not-so-mean streets of Cambridge, Mass., Ben often got permission to do things (crazy kid things, like go to Red Sox games — at night!) because Matt was coming along. "Oh, that nice Matthew is going? Okay, Ben. Just behave, for heaven’s sake." Something tells me that trend continues to this day in studios all over Hollywood. "Okay, Ben, you can make this movie. Just listen to what Matt says, okay?"
Hence my grave concerns that Ben is simply in over his head these days, traipsing through Hollywood for no other reason than that Matt is there, too.
Now I grant you, I think Affleck is hot, and I like him fine in Shakespeare in Love (the author does not). Other than that, she might be on to something.
The only thing I can figure is that this Jessica Reaves must have met me at some time, and now her standards are impossibly high.
Best Vindication: HBO's chilling "Conspiracy" — an understated but awe- inspiring movie detailing the hour-and-a-half meeting where the Nazis hammered out the Final Solution for the Jews — got more nominations than the network's higher-profile "61*," a competent baseball movie, and "Wit," the moving but simplistic story of a professor dying from cancer, which all but grabbed Emmy voters' arms and forced them to write it onto their ballots.
I thought Wit was sublime and very much enjoyed 61*, but I'd still go along with his assessment--although by my count both 61* and Conspiracy got ten nods each.
Conspiracy took enormous risks in both subject matter and setting, and paid off with an enthralling, chilling tale that informs on any number of levels. The dialogue moves easily between almost unimaginably crude racist remarks and pragmatic legalities and logistics.
Kenneth Branagh leads an ensemble cast with a masterful corporate take on Reinhard Heydrich, who literally manages the group to consensus for the Final Solution. Colin Firth as Wilhelm Stuckart, and Stanley Tucci as Adolf Eichmann were both nominated in supporting roles, although Tucci is outshone by both David Threlfall and Nicholas Woodeson as Kritzinger and Hoffman.
Not to be missed.
It just occurred to me that Branagh and Thompson will almost certainly get Best Actor and Actress in Original Film. Together again.
Thompson was outstanding in Wit.
I was just looking up cast members in the IMD last night, and it turns out that Nicholas Woodeson, who played Otto Hoffman (the little man who got sick and said it was the cigar), was Mr. Seymour in Topsy Turvy.
So that's what he looks like without all that hair.
toycheck
I don't remember the scene. It's been a long time since I saw it. But I'll look forward to it.
There are few things more difficult to do than stand up to what at least seems to be the dominant, almost-universally held viewpoint of one's peers.
The film hinted, several times, at the fact that there were people -- even in that room, in positions of "leadership" -- who knew that what was being said and done was incredibly wrong-headed and evil. But they were cowed by the world they found themselves living in.
That's the way it happens. It not only can happen here, it already has.
Oh, absolutely. I'm not sure that was what happened in this case, though.
Heydrich wanted everyone "on board". But he needed to get consensus on implementation method and priority, not persuade everyone as to the need for the project. Most of them had no need of convincing.
A few people did object to the underlying goal, but the risk they presented was distraction. If the majority was spending all their time arguing with these nitwits about the need to kill Jews, how could he keep them focused on gassing and train schedules?
The brilliance of the film is its presentation of this dilemma as a management problem. Heydrich takes a different tack with each of the three main naysayers. The soldier, angry at the corporate doublespeak covering up a gruesome reality, is treated with sympathy and respect--Help us get these desk jockeys in line, that's the best way to help your men. Stuckart is handled as a peer who just hasn't heard the news yet; a friendly warning and reminder that people are watching.
Kritzinger is the only member who is overtly threatened, and there's no hinting about it. As Heydrich observes, he is the only attendee who both objected and had sufficient influence to pull others with him--if not at the meeting, then in the government at large. So alone among the attendees, he is shown the bludgeon. He will give it his support, or a lot of powerful people will do their best to bring him down.
All just another day at the office.
The linked review is much more favorable than my opinion, but represents more the consensus. My opinion is that like most French films, there's a lot of talking and much explaining by characters of their feelings etc. without really giving an explanation at all. I mean, if I say I keep a bottle of vitriol around and you ask why, and I say to throw in the eyes of men who lie, well, that's sort of the same explanation a schizophrenic might give.
Otherwise, I thought it dull and meandering. The only thing that bothered me about the film is Jean Moreau playing another "hell kitten" woman whom all the men go for. The same way women sometimes hate seeing movies in which their sex seems attracted to men who are abusive or otherwise losers, I find it tiresome after a while that so many films portray men as preferring the mysterious crazy to a more conventional female--that being a self-destructive oddball is somehow a turn on.
To that extent, one who thinks art influences life might find such stereotypes counterproductive.
Thus far I have liked Diabolique, Beauty and the Beast and Wages of Fear.
Saying "most French films" is an overstatement since I haven't seen most. But in general, I can't say I've been impressed with the majority of those I've seen. I didn't like Breathless, either, and it's another perennial on the "greatest films" list.
The good thing about foreign films for me, though, is I'm much less able to predict what will happen than with American movies. The mindset is just different. Though with a French selection, it's a good bet that whatever happens there will be a lot of talking before, during and after.
His penis is on his face.
Moulin Rouge is gone from Indy and I'm seriously depressed about it. I just saw it last night in this way out of the way theater, the only one left showing it. It turns out this theater has a fantastic big luminous screen and great sound. I really wanted to see it again there, dammit!!
It's like being dumped by a lover. You never know your last time is gonna be your last time.
Betty Blue
The Summer House (Clothes in the Wardrobe)
Toto Le Hero
Cyrano (w/Girard Depardieu)
Beauty & the Beast
La Femme Nikita
Yes...which goes against my complaint upthread about movies featuring self-destructive females and the men enthralled by them.
Who could dislike a film that starts out with such a "bang"?
I want to see it one more time, too, and I'm afraid it's going to disappear before I get around to it. But hey, all the more reason to get a DVD.
MsNo,
I like Cyrano, a play that is very nearly ageless until Roxanne goes 20 years mourning and Cyrano just never gets around to mentioning who she's really in love with. Until then, it's great stuff. Still, even that was improved upon by the 'Murricans. (g)
I have Entre Nous queued up.
I can't say I've heard of Betty Blue; when did it come out?
Glad to see you mention Betty Blue. I first saw it with a friend in an art house in the La Brea district about 10 years ago. It's still one of my favorites---French or otherwise
Bolero (not the Bo Derek one)
Betty Blue
Indochine
Breathless
Jules & Jim
Children of Paradise
Get Out Your Handerchiefs
Obscure Object of Desire
Day For Night
Shoot the Piano Player
Bicycle Thief
Tons more...
Except maybe Children of Paradise.
I haven't seen Au revoir les enfants recently, but I probably wouldn't hate it. I enjoyed parts of La Grande Illusion.
Oh, no question, that cinches it for me. I may have to finally get my TV in proper stereo too.
Or maybe a new tv. New TVs are always good.
No, I was referring to the 60s French films, all of which are the absolute worst offenders--Jules and Jim, Day for Night, Shoot the Piano Player, and so on.
I still remember the scene from The Story of Adele H, where she is running along the river banks, in and out among the trees, and the camera is obviously in the water tracking her.
And Diva was interesting -- if that was its title. A movie about an opera singer and a boy who makes bootleg copies of her performances.
That's on the list, too. As is Breathless. And Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which I took the time to review a while ago because I was irked.
That's how I feel about all car races.
What did he expect?
I was surprised, until I learned that it was directed by Joe Johnston (October Sky, The Rocketeer, and the silly but fastmoving Honey I Shrunk the Kids) and if that's not shock enough the screenplay was by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (Election, Citizen Ruth). That's some serious pedigree for a dino movie.
I want to rent it again--the dog was being noisy as hell, and we had to watch it over two nights because the kids kept interrupting. I'd like to see it w/fewer distractions. So maybe when the kids have moved out we can try again :-)
Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train
Playtime
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (what "irks Cal excites me)
Celine and Julie Go Boating
Muriel
Contempt
Zero de Conduite
Le Testament D'Orphee
Le Samourai
Ma Nuit Chez Maud
the list goes on and on
The plot and dialogue are, um, lean (efficient?) but at least we are spared more tedious droning to the effect that non-linear equations have proven that natural habitat zoos are impossible in principle.
The super cute wonder kid is not as obnoxious. None of the heroes are "idealistic" environmental terrorists. The allegedly smart people do not behave like complete imbeciles. The leading guy occasionally does something besides stand around and whine about danger.
And the trailer for B.C. is really cool.
I would warn that for some reason the showing I saw was packed with little kids (really little, like 4 and 5 year olds) so if you're bothered by a running commentary of kindergarten voices, see a late show. (Wasn't there a time in history when parents who could not shut their children up actually removed them from the scene, rather than inflicting said noisiness on everyone else? And since when is Jurassic Park 3 a kids movie?)
Yes, the villagers are "real" in their grit and grime and wild beauty and because the film is shot on location we're obliged to compliment the scenery with cliched adjectives("magnificent", "fabulous", even "scenic" - you know any others?) but... The film was a goddamned bore that views from yaks' backs can't relieve. Two hours of French cinematography if you like that kind of thing.
what can i say? how do you screw up cool looking dinos chasing / eating plucky humans? well, they found a way. throw in an inconceivably bad drippy family drama with even worse acting!
this was worse than II in my opinion. when not sidetracked into a will-they-won't-they-who-the-fuck-cares relationship question with Wm H Macy and Mulder's wife, it is a complete retread of the first two movies. you can tell at the beginning who is gonna get killed, some damn kid who is smarter than all the adults combined, and (when not showcasing the same ole Jurassic Park branded dinosaurs) brand new, never-before-seen, dinos with zero explanation of how/why they are even there. and, if i have to see yet another close up of that lead archeologist raising his eyebrow under his Indiana Jones hat, i will literally scream.
what a complete waste of time. i'm glad Ripley got a free ticket, because i probably would have complained if both of us had to pay full price for this.
my advice: endure the yapping kids and pay for a matinee, that's the only way you'll come close to getting your money's worth.
1 quack out of 5 (it woulda been 2 except for a unbelievably stupid talking dino scene)
I didn't find it stupid in an offensive way, just in a B movie way. Compare that with
** Lost World spoilers **
the Julianne Moore character (presented as a wilderness survival expert) droning on and on about T-Rex as a super tracking mommy protector, and then hanging that blood soaked backpack in her tent.
Or the rough tough mercenary who's listening to his walkman despite the fact that he's in an unbelievably dangerous foreign environment where being able to hear a predator might be good thing.
Or the fact that the "good" guys unleash a deadly stampede into a campsite full of hired hands whose chief moral failing is agreeing to help some corporate guys build a zoo.
Or a little girl beating up a bunch of velociraptors with her super gymnastic powers.
This movie is wayyyy better than Lost World. Shorter too.
Jamie:
eh, okay. maybe not worse than II, but certainly as bad. the talking raptor, the kid somehow surviving 8 weeks (!!) by himself when the other guy didn't even make it out of the damn tree, the love story was soo cliché and out of place in this kind of movie, the Raptors just letting them go after they find them with the eggs!!
stupid. yes, i agree, not offensive, but it was just a bad, barely existent cliché riddled 'plot' device movie filled with acting so bad as to only make it more evident that this movie was put out solely to capitalize on a successful chain.
Except for Tea Leoni, that is. Good lord.
2 words: 90 minutes
Yes, in a time and universe far, far away...before parents became convinced punishment for rudeness hurt the little darlings self-esteem and before parents decided every single thing their clones uttered was a bon mot worthy of quoting in the New Yorker...the Shawn years, not the Tina Brown years.
Most parents remove their kids from adult movies if they are misbehaving, unless it is a matinee and something they perceive to be a "kid's movie". If it is a kid's movie and the numbers favor the kids, then you are indeed screwed.
Some parents bring their kids to adult movies and then let them act like kids. But that is hardly a statement about parenting today, any more than the idiots who talk loudly during the show are representative of the state of humanity.
There were parents who took little Junior to adult shows 20-30 years ago, too, and got all huffy when asked to hush him. The reason there are more of them now is not because there are more parents convinced that they have little darlings, but because babysitters are far more expensive than taking the little darling to the movie.
I agree that none of the JPs struck me as kid's movies, and one of the few actual parenting disagreements my ex and I ever had was when I had decided not to take Spawn to the first JP and my ex took him anyway. But then, Spawn loved it and was unharmed.
I'm more than willing to admit I may be remembering incorrectly, but my impression is that moviegoers in general are louder and more disruptive now than when I was a kid. My first guess is that the culprit is the VCR- talking over movies at home becomes a habit that carries into the theater.
My second guess is that I'm full of it and people are no better or worse than they've ever been.
I wonder if anyone has ever done a study on the demographics of moviegoers? Were movies primarily attended by couples, either dating or married? Did people used to go to movies in larger groups as is common now? And then race, age, and all the standard stuff.
For example, I wonder how many people, when referring to the "golden years" of silence are harkening back to the 70s. The early 70s were a lousy time for Joe Sixpack, what with all those boring "auteur" movies out there. The audiences may have been more quiet because only a cinephile would go to The Conversation.
It may be the video player, but we've had TV for a lot longer than that and it's the same dynamic. So the change should be seen a lot earlier.
Speaking only for myself, I remember noisy movie theaters going back to my childhood. But then when I was in Saudi Arabia the open air movie theater was right next to the airport, and we'd lose 2-3 minutes of dialog every time a plane revved its engines. It's possible my standards are low.
And I may have attended mainly "auteur" movies back in the 70s but I went to fairly regular stuff during the 60s (before my enlightenment...ha!) and people were a lot more quiet and respectrful back then. Except, of course, kiddie movies which I attended at times with my son.
um, no NYT subscription
I do happen to think crowds these days are ruder, yes.
and turns out that i do have one.
it's the WSJ i don't have one for cuz they want cash.
I haven't had that experience, but it's possible I go to a lot more crowded crammed theaters than you do. If you only go once in a while, you don't really have a representative sample.
It's also possible that it is regional. Maybe there are more Texans who think suffering silently gets them to heaven quicker, or something. Why on earth would anyone sit through noise and not do something about it?
In any event, I think it most unlikely that people are ruder these days. Our society is less repressive, certainly. But that's a different issue. I'll take the discomfort that comes with having my social norms violated any day in comparison. Especially since I can complain to the management if my social norm is also the one enforced.
Of course, there was the guy at Jurassic Park III the other night screaming "ENOUGH WITH THE FUCKING EYEBROW!!!" . . . (Message # 21373)
I agree with you. I rarely have any problems in movie theaters. My worst problem for years was the "why the hell does the tallest person in the planet sit in front of me?" scenario, and even that has lessened considerably thanks to the new seats.
And perhaps out here in the wild west, we do have ruder people but I don't intend to put myself in situations where I'll be forced to find out.
My worst experience ever was at the symphony, where a man seated right next to me kept making and receiving phone calls, but I just sicced a ferocious little old lady usher on him.
One exception: whenever I go to a movie with a predominantly black audience, there will be a lot of noise. But that is because for some reason black women, in particular, talk back at the screen. "Girlfriend, don't believe his lyin ass!" "That's right. Uh huh."
I'm always more bemused and amused than upset. It's so clearly a behavioral standard difference that there's no point. But then around here, the only time a movie is going to get a predominantly black audience is Lee, Singleton, or Wayans.
I don't know if this is regional or economic since around here the majority of the few blacks are lower income.
There are only two drawbacks at all to this theater: they still have old seats rather than the Star-Trekian control deck type with the moveable arm-rests AND it can be hell to try and get in to see a picture opening weekend.
The audiences are predominantly UCLA students since the theater is in the heart of Westwood Village, but as rambunctious as they can be before the lights go out at showtime they are an incredibly appreciative film audience and I've never, not even once been disturbed by anyone talking or mucking about during the film.
This is, however the only theater that my roommate and I fully agree on.
She is willing and happy to frequent theaters that I absolutely refuse to set foot in. We have different irritant buttons. I won't go someplace that requires forty-minutes and a stunt-driving license just to park. She dislikes attending any theater that doesn't look well-kept. (I don't care what the carpet and wall-paper looks like so long as the seats and the screens are okay.)
This means that I won't go to the Century 14 at the Galleria and she has to have her arm put in a vice to convince her to go to the Mann Culver (affectionately known as the Mann Ghetto).
Fortunately we're both fond of attending movies by ourselves.
The Comfort of Strangers was the film that provided my Pinter epiphany. I had a horrid Theater Instructor who would go on and on and on about how NOT to do Pinter and all of the things that it WASN'T but she could never explain to us actually perform his works or what he was all about.
The Comfort of Strangers made it bundantly clear and I just wanted to slap my old Prof.
The only one that I can think of off the top of my head that I KNOW has valet parking is up at Universal Studios and I loathe seeing films there as well. The screens are small, the smell is horrid and the audiences are obnoxious. Not to mention the fact that you have to pay outrageous amounts to park, they only validate for half the parking price, their movies cost 50 cents more than nearly everyone else in town and the construction of many of the theaters severely impedes the sound.
And did I mention that they have the worst crowds in town?
Anyway, I end up seeing a movie there every month or so because my brother manages a restaurant up on the Citywalk and if we go to a show it's the most convenient place to see one. Additionally, he can check back in on the restaurant during closing to make sure everything is okay.
Yes, what a wonderfully, disturbing, nasty little film. I haven't spent a whole lot of time with Pinter. I think my professor gave me an aversion and then once I felt I'd figured it out I never really went back and explored him. I meant to, but you know how all of that goes.
I'm still planning to read the Classics.
Is it income related at all, do you think? Or maybe that middle and upper income blacks aren't usually enough of a majority to set the behavioral norms at movie theaters?
I guess the way to check this out would be in places where there are middle/upper income black communities. I know DC and Dallas have these communities--does Chicago?
There are higher-income black communities in Chicago, but because of the way movie theaters seem to be set up these days--megaplexes drawing large crowds from all over, instead of the neighborhood theater--it would be hard to determine who is yelling at the screen.
Anyway, we're pretty urban. I've heard more talking to the screens in the more suburban areas----up in the north San Fernando Valley. Also, as I said, it depends on the film. No talking to the screen during Knight's Tale but plenty during Scream.
Not only was the theatre a full house, but given who the scantly loin cloth star of the movie was, the audience was comprised of mainly relatively young males such as myself and my best friend. It was like going to see the Man Show, with Adam Corola and that other obnoxious fuck of a host (What's his name ?).
With suspension of belief, as well as our tongue and cheeks, firmly in check, the movie begins innocently enough, but within 15 minutes quickly succumbs to its incredibly horrible production, acting and directing. The actress's appearance -- which is the reason we went, and I suspect the reason every other male was there -- quickly takes a backseat to its cartoon quality. Clever quips, putdowns and laughter could be heard all over the theatre as different seating sections would "talk" to the screen with an uncanny rythym. It wasn't meant to be a comedy, but it was so hard to leave this dog with the chemistry that had assembled for this one showing. It was definitely a case where the crowd made the movie, but it also makes me wonder about studio executives which approve these duds year after year. Horrible, just horrible.
...It did have one saving grace -- Sheena is shown bathing next to a waterfall. Yum, yum!
E-mail coming up, by the way.
Anyway, no Jeff Goldblum in this one, and it doesn't suffer a bit for that lacking. Also, thankfully, only one cute kid, who is actually central to the plot - the 12 y.o. son of a goof-ball couple who manage to trick whatsisname - the star - into helping search for their son, who ends up trapped on Isla Sorna following a freak para-skiing accident. But sadly (for me) only a couple of quick scenes with Laura Dern, who is now somehow apparently a VIP of the highest order - minor spoiler ahead:
After our heroes manage to locate the missing satellite phone in a rather disgusting place, they call Dern at home, who never hears the complete message, but deduces correctly where they are by the roars of the dinosaur that's about to try to eat them. We don't see how she manages it, but she sends the Navy and Marines to the island to rescue them.
Anyway, this one has more - and more interesting dinosaurs - than either of the first two. In particular, the new "Super Predator" (forget its name), and the pteradactyls were very well rendered.
They have also seen fit (and it's about time) to do away with the rippling puddle/water glass as prelude to dino appearances, which made them much less predictable and more terrifying for my daughter, who was actually scared for once.
The SFX just keep getting better, and by now we're all used to suspending our disbelief for this series -and this one requires some major leaps. But all-in-all, it works very well.
Great summer fun.
Mostly young teen to young adult. And despite the fact that I counted at least 6 former juvies (including 3 of a set of wild quads - all boys and all of whom have been locked up at one time or another), the crowd was very quiet except for the occasional group gasp, and a scream here and there.
No one in the crowd of about 100 even got up to pee during the movie.
I've been on a bit of a Michael Caine binge lately; he really is a wonderful actor, enlivening even the most pedestrian fare. We rented all the Harry Palmers a couple of weeks ago, a decidedly guilty pleasure. Nobody does cynicism better.
It turns out that AMC is showing it tomorrow at 1:30 EST! Don't miss it.
All the movie buffs on this thread probably have seen it four times (if they didn't hate it) but I saw the 1997 Canadian film, "The Sweet Hereafter" for the first time a few days ago.
It was superb. If there are others, like me, who missed this little gem the first time around, I recommend it. It's dark, and there isn't a lot of uplift in it, but the performances (Ian Holm, Sarah Polley) were first-rate.
'Way better than anything that the Academy found interesting that year.
Rififi
Blacklisted American director Jules Dassin had been five years between projects, even after moving to France to try and recover his successful career (The Naked City, Brute Force). Broke and near despair, he was finally handed a single opportunity, to film a potboiler novel he loathed for only $200K.
He resolved the source material problem by co-writing a screenplay that eliminated everything but a minor incident--a carefully planned burglary of a Parisian jewelry store. He used the money to fund the best available craftsmen behind the cameras, choosing unknowns and hasbeens for the onscreen talent. When a contract dispute caused one actor to walk, Dassin filled in himself as the fourth member of the team (written as an Italian who didn't speak French, to cover up Dassin's lack of the lingo).
The result: a brutal, suspenseful tale of the planning, execution, and aftermath of a breakin performed by four career criminals out for one last score. Rififi was a critical and financial phenomenon, winning raves and record returns throughout the world; it created the heist genre and still stands as the benchmark by which all entries are assessed. Dassin won the Cannes prize for Best Director, restored his career and got to marry Melina Mercouri.
Rififi's influence really can't be overstated, particularly in the presentation of the heist, as the thieves execute their meticulous plan with nothing more complicated than simple tools, an umbrella, and a fire extinguisher. (The exposition is so accurate that many countries cut out key scenes to avoid copycat thefts.)
Dassin presents the heist in screen silence--a convention that has been faithfully copied ever since, the genre equivalent of the musical's "you're going out a chorus girl, but you're coming back a star!". Unlike other landmark films, this one hasn't aged almost at all and certainly doesn't suffer from familiarity.
Eliminate the influential aspects and Rififi still has plenty to offer. The characters are unglorified thugs and likeable for it. The performances are solid or better (Jean Servais as the aging ex-con stands out), the story engrossing, the dialog in the noir tradition, with a French twist. ("Bonjour, beautiful, put your moneymaker right here.") The technical aspects are gorgeous--cinematography, set design, and score particularly. Paris is used as effectively as San Francisco is used in Bullitt--Dassin spent hours looking for evocative street corners, alleys, and riverfronts.
Made outside the confines of the Hollywood production code, the brutality and sexuality isn't hedged and doesn't date. I read a few reviews that complained about the film's treatment of women but I'm not sure why. All the female characters come off quite well. (They are all more than a tad bodacious, particularly Mario's buxom and bubbly wife.)
The heist is Act II, with a major chunk of the story left untold The heist serves as the catalyst, not the outcome. Regardless of how one might feel about the outcome, it is hard not to admire the structure. Throughout the film, the four thieves are primarily defined not by indivdiual characteristics, but by their relationships--with each other, with loved ones, with enemies. Dassin uses these relationships to drive the story to its resolution and pulls it off beautifully. Had I not been forewarned, I might have found the third act most annoyingly "French".
I suppose Rififi could be considered one of the few positive aspects of Hollywood's McCarthy period. Dassin slips in an editorial comment about it; note what happens to the guy who rats someone out.
Not to be missed; check it out at your first opportunity.
There ought to be a rule in Hollywood that the industry cannot effectively satirize itself. The line between satire and reality is so infinitely small.
Not much humor in this movie. An ensemble act more than a star treatment for Julia Roberts. Christopher Walken in a long gray wig is wasted in a cameo as the demented director of a movie not yet seen by Stanley Tucci, the studio head. Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones-Douglas whatever are former married couple who starred in several popular movies, but now they are separated and the fans are having a hard time liking them. Hank Azaria has the Castillian accent from hell and plays Zeta-Jones new lover.
Amost no heat between anybody in this movie. Sadly, Billy Crystal isn't very funny. At one point, he tells a joke to a waitress. She walks off with no reaction. "No laugh, no tip," he says. In his frustration, he sounded like he could have been talking about the movie.
Elliot,
Almost? I've failed, then. (sniff)
They also said the Zulus had carried pouches of cannibis snuff which worked almost as an hallucingen on the warriors...they were even more fearless than usual.
Since "For Love of the Game," Sam Raimi has established himself as a plodding by-the-numbers director. I'm not sure how he got from the frenetic and fun "Evil Dead 2" to this sad state, but there you have it.
Cate Blanchett plays a Southerner who has "a gift" - she can look at cards and see, and sometimes, she can see without the cards. That established, Raimi gives us "Murder in a Small Town", with Blanchett's gift at the center. The problem lies in the fact that Blanchett comes along with her gift, and as written, she is senseless. She courts danger, she puts the lives of her children in jeopardy, and she flaunts her ability to uncover a murderer before every conceivable suspect. And the killer is evident early on.
On the upside, as the sultry sleaze of this Southern town, Katie Holmes The Real Gift is naked.
First laugh, 18 minutes in. None forthcoming in the next 5 minutes. Turned off.
Saving Silverman
I chuckled throughout. Silverman (Jason Biggs from American Pie) begins dating a psychiatrist (Amanda Peet) who becomes his puppetmaster (her words) and demands that he drop his two loser friends, Jack Black (High Fidelity) and Steve Zahn (Happy Texas). They kidnap her to stop her ruination of the triad. That's about it.
Black, Zahn and to a lesser extent Biggs are funny guys, so even when the material falters, they do not. Grade: C+.
No. I'm only 17 myself, dude.
carry on.
What surprised me about the gift is the rather un-gifted performance of last year's Oscar winner, Hilary Swank.
I still haven't been able to bring myself to see Boys Don't Cry but everything I've heard has led me to believe that Swank heartily deserved her Oscar.
Granted, The Gift, is not a great film or script, but I was still disappointed in her performance as the battered wife.
The problem is endemic in Hollywood. Make people Southerners, and they eeeeeeeee-mote.
She is wonderful in Boys Don't Cry, but the film is unsettling to the point of self-defeat.
Pssst, Janjon--for Francis' age, see Grey's post in Suggestions.
Tilda's coming to town this week with "The Deep End" -- a remake of Ophuls'"The Reckless Moment."
Tilda Swinton isn't in The Gift. It's Kate Blanchette ---who could be a prettier sister to Swinton---- and Hilary Swank who resembles neither of them.
I've never seen Swank in anything else. As I said, I just can't bring myself to watch Boys Don't Cry. I think I've just built up the horror of it too much in my mind.
it's a good renter, but i'm glad i didn't bother to see it in the theater.
misc highlights:
good, goofy comedy ... 3 quacks out of 5
My bro and I rented OBWT lastThursday night and laughed our asses off. This is a soundtrack that I must own soon.
I like the Camper Van Beethoven version of O Death better musically, but I agree with Ducky that the Singing Dancy KKK flag corps was very funny.
I'd heard the other two are singing, but on the CD, I didn't see them credited.
** Mild spoilers, not that it much matters**
Boys Don't Cry was a total miss for me. I thought the most interesting thing about the story was that this young woman was able to reinvent herself completely as a guy, but having done so wanted nothing more in life than to marry some trailer girl and hang out swilling beer with a bunch of redneck criminals. That combination of total imagination coupled with total lack of imagination struck me.
The director evidently thought the story was about the distressing lack of tolerance among violent ex-cons. Add to that the relatively unsympathetic nature of the main character (a petty thief, a liar, someone with a rather questionable understanding of the idea of consent) and a totally ludicrous lesbian scene that leaves one wondering if the director understood her protagonist at all and you're left with a terribly violent and unpleasant incoherent mess. It all adds up to not much of anything.
Great performance by Swank though.
MsNo,
Do Not Seek The Treasure!
WE THOUGHT YOOOO WUZ UH TOAD!!
DO NOT SEEK THE TREASURE!
It recently occurred to me that there will probably never be a theatrical release of Zulu, which is too bad.
There are three if you count the instrumental by John Hartford...
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, a unit of Disney, will go to court next week to ask a judge to stop trailer distributor Video Pipeline[.com] from providing some parts of its movie trailers online.
Buena Vista, which is trying to increase its share of the home-video retail market, hopes to become a major online destination for people who want to buy its movies. If the company succeeds in getting a preliminary injunction, online movie retailers such as Netflix and others might not be able to offer some movie previews to their customers.
Well, apparently they want people to come to their site to view trailers. They're willing to sacrifice the free advertising they get from the movie retailers to promote their website.
Time will tell if they made the right choice. Are you saying that it is an obviously wrong move? If so, what is it that Buena Vista doesn't understand?
yes, it is obviously wrong. BV should happily allow their distributors access to the product they are distributing b/c it means more sales ultimately.
Quickly, it was about a young woman's sexual fascination with the dead and how her life crosses paths with that of a young medical student who becomes fascinated by her interest in cadavers.
Throughout the movie I kept checking the info button to make sure that this was a foreign film; surely only foreigners would make such an excruciatingly weird film, but no, it was an American film. However, the director's last name was something like Steponowich, so who knows.
Anyway, since there was nothing else on except for the last agonizing hour of "Klute" starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland, I decided to tough this one out.
The girl somehow becomes "fascinated" by death after she buries a pet bird as a youngster. Later, in her teenaged years, she takes a job at the local mortuary. At night, she sneaks in to touch the bodies and it provides a sexual high for her. Later, when she's a young adult, she gets butt naked with the corpses.
And just how did this get bypassed for an Oscar?
Ya know when something's supposed to be artsy or film noir, but just isn't? This film had, "I'm trying to be unique!" written all over it. However, it WAS entertaining in the is-this-really-a-movie category!
Thankfully, it didn't show sex with cadavers, but it did show one too many of her only look -- the glooming forlorn stare into the camera...but that's when I realized that this was also supposed to be her orgasm look.
I'll go ahead and spoil the ending for you, since most of you have probably not seen this dreadful film. Her boyfriend begs her to let him watch what she does with dead people, but she refuses claiming that it's too personal and that each person has his own energy and life force that shouldn't be cheapened by such voyeuristic intentions. He continues to beg and she leaves in a huff, I guess they broke up for that day.
The next day, they run into each other and he invites her over to his place, she accepts his invitation half-heartedly, with the same complacent stare. After coming into his house, she finds him completely nude (a naked man, I saw his willy!), but he's standing in the corner ona chair with a noose around his neck. Instead of being shocked, I asked myself, "Where the heck did he learn how to tie such an enormously large noose? The Boy Scouts?" He claims that she doesn't love him, he disagrees and he commits suicide in front of her.
The finale: she has sex with his corpse.
THE END
I'm loving it...here you were supposed to be stunned or something by the conclusion, but your attention was drawn to his huge enormous knot! I think I would be wondering the same, if I hadn't fallen asleep by then.
There is a lot of deep symbolism in there. Clearly she wants to recall these young men to life by offering them her own youthful vigour. Think classical, think Greek.
A technicality. How does one make love to a corpse? Wait for rigor mortis?
consistent erections when alive."
I wonder what the stats for the over 35 crowd is.
None of the sheets were raised in anyway over any parts, if you catch my drift...
Marshame,
Be sure and stop by the liquor store after you rent this gem.
Pelle,
She wasn't trying to restore their vitality, she was robbing them of it, in sort of a vampiric twist.
That's wonderful material. The young widow has come to the mortuary to identify the body. Overcome with grief she has asked to be left alone for a little while. Suddenly there is movement beneath the bedsheet. She watches, wide-eyed, and not being able to restrain herself, she ..... (the camera moves discreetly away)
Yes, yes, what are the stats ?
Be sure and stop by the liquor store after you rent this gem.
LOL! That bad, huh ?
They were D-E-A-D. What vitality was there to rob? I fear you are very insensitive to the subtle messages this seriously underrated film apparently conveys. Maybe you haven't seen enough artistic European movies.
Back to the issue of men and their erections. PP, did the study cover, er, did the study discuss, uh, how can I put this appropriately? Uh, was duration of erections a factor in the study?
The film did not attempt to portray the young woman as offering her youthful vigor in order to recall these young men to life. (Btw, she didn't limit it to young men...) instead, it showed her attempting to steal their vigor by humping their corpses, as though in death each man still had some form of energy to offer her in order to make her more sexually gratified.
re "stop by the liquor store"
Honey Babe, surely you know about "wet" and "dry" in Texas??? There's no liquor store in these parts!!
I've learned something today.
I must see more artistic *European* films in order to understand necrophilia as more than sex with the dead, but as a subtle form of symbolic classical Greek story-telling.
Perhaps sex with corpses was her desperate attempt to have a sensory experience (in a negative sense, that is) that would drive her through her near-catatonia and into real authenticity! Yes, I see it as a cry for help.
That's not subtle enough.
What would Dionysius of Halicarnassus have said regarding this film?
I once wrote a synopsis for an artistic Finnish film . I think you would like it.
Whenever I watch Heston discuss his work in a film, I understand his success and longevity, despite a modest talent and the wrong politics. He picks properties well, he is fully involved in the making of the film, and he works with, not against, the studios in order to get what he thinks is necessary.
Or James Naughton...Ally McBeals dad?
mgleason,
There was a recent "Harry Palmer," I believe, called Bullet to Beijing, which sucked.
You might want to check out The Fourth Protocol, which was great, and featured the prototypical angry/profane/urbane Michael Caine character type.
Quick Movie Reviews:
Pay it Forward: Not nearly as obnoxiously goody-goody self-satisfiedly treacly and more "Dead Poets Society" than thou as I was led to believe. Watchable, at least until the last ten minutes, when the film becomes disgustingly manipulative and messianic. Two stars.
Enemy at the Gate: Low key (read: boring) sniper vs. sniper in Stalingrad. God, I love Rachel Weisz. With Ed Harris and Jude Law. I enjoyed this movie, and I admire it a bit, but really, it was a little too stately (read: boring) for its own good. The best thing about the film is the rubble. God, I love smoking ruined cities. Three stars, but just barely so.
The Mexican: Not excrutiating awful "quirky gangster movie"/Pulp Fiction semi-clone. Brad Pitt is a good actor. Funny guy. All the parts with him are pretty good. Julia Roberts is not a particularly good actor, and the treacly PC girl-talk gabfast between her and the homo hitmat are fucking embarassing. Just smug and just boring and terrible and horrible. Ugh. Two *charitable* stars for the Brad Pitt parts.
Monkeybone: What do you have when you take Tim Burton and take away his wit, visual style, and narrative coherence? Well, you have Tim Burton, basically. But you also have this ludicrous pile of steaming dogcrap called "Monkeybone." Jesus Christ, is Brandon Frasier racking up enormous gambling debts which require him to be in every piece of shit movie in the world? Also featuring Dave Foley, who was barely funny in Kids in the Hall, not funny in News Radio, and painfully unfunny here. Big baby boy eyes and gap-toothed grin can only get you so far, Canuck. Go back to fucking Saskatchawan. Oh-- and this film answers the question, "Where did Bridget Fonda go when she fell off the face of the fucking planet?" The next question I have -- why did we let her back on? One star.
I guess I also saw some other piece of shit movie on the flight over, but I can't remember it. I'm pretty sure it sucked, though, whatever it was.
Oh. The other movie was "The Dish."
I had high hopes for this film, and I was therefore disappointed. It's not bad. But it's a tad uneventful and, of course, "quirky." God I am sick to death of "quirky." Still, any film pairing Sam Neill and "David Putty" (David Warburton) is worth seeing, I guess. Two and a half disappointed stars.
again.
this is getting to be too damn repetitive. every 'summer blockbuster' has sucked horribly. this was the best of those so-called 'blockbusters' but just barely so. not as dumb as Tomb Raider, not as trite and incomprehensible as Final Fantasy, not as unbelievably fractured as A.I., not as pointlessly repetitive as Jurassic Park III (and that was a sequel, not a basic remake).
anyway, it failed to deliver. it had too much Tim Burton in it. too moody, too much self-referential humor. the whole reason why this even starts is too stupid to even review. plot holes galore mire what should have been a fun, yet culturally conscious, action romp.
even ignoring all the problems with this flick, i didn't hate it. it would have gotten a solid 3 stars because it was a fun movie. that is, of course, until the end. unspeakably dreadful. it was so stupid it looked like something out of a bad musical.
and, pardon me, but does every fucking movie have to be setup for a sequel? it is ridiculous these days to get zero closure from a movie for fear of fucking up the next installment.
in short, if you are in the mood for a blockbuster and must see one, this is the one to see. word of advice, after the battle at the end, get up and leave because you do not want to see how they end it. just imagine your own ending - it'll be way better.
2 ¼ quacks out of 5.
That aura of menace was one of the reasons I thought he'd make a good Bond, because they could get back the essential caddishness lost with Pretty Boy Moore, but they've managed to erase it even from Brosnan. One of the weeklies recently had a future Bond wish list, rating Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale, Rupert Everett, Russell Crowe, and a few others. They gave top marks to Bale, but while he conveys the right kind of menace, he's got a bit too much of that American Psycho edge for my taste.
While LD was with her Dad and then off swimming with friends, I relaxed at the house and watched The Godfather and The Color Purple, both excellent movies.
Late Sunday afternoon we went to the theater to see Cats and Dogs. It was ....
um....
almost cute.
Even LD, who is less critical than I am, gave it a rating of a shrug and a yawn.
Is there an emoticon to reflect disappointment, like a thumbs down ?
I went and saw Jurrasic Park III the other night on a whim.
sure thing
at the beginning of the movie, in the year 2029, Wahlberg's character takes off after a chimp and gets lost and crash lands on the Planet. at some point he finds out he's several thousand years in the future.
well, at the end, that same chimp shows up and Wahlberg sticks the chimp on the planet and jets off in his pod. (yes, the chimp lands his ship better than Wahlberg can. insert your own joke here.)
soooo, he hits the same storm or time portal -- whatever -- and approaches earth. true to form he's out of control again and will crash land. where would you pick to crash land your ship? why, Washington DC of course! so, he barely misses the Washington Monument and lands in the pond in front of it and skids to a stop when he smacks of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. except....
GASP !!
it isn't Lincoln but the evil Chimpanzee leader (Tim Roth's character) sitting there. i should insert here, he is obviously in late 20th century earth. our time, in other words -- his past!
well, the cops come, pull up and ....
DOUBLE GASP !!!!
they are all monkeys! all the cars, fire engines .. all the exact same -just apes pouring out of them. not a human in sight. the cops are pointing their service revolvers at him as the fade to black occurs.
stupid, eh?
and, there you have it.
mgleason,
Yes, the Fourth Protocol co-stars Pierce Brosnan as the KGB agent.
The only problem with the Fourth Protocol is that the ending is underwhelming, in that there is no real final mano-a-mano between Brosnan and Caine; an SAS strike force handles the matter. More realistic, I guess, but there's a lack of ooomph there.
Meanwhile Tom "If you say I'm gay I'll sue you for $100 million" Cruise attended Madonna's concert in New York last night, accompanied by
a) Rosie O'Donnell
b) Penelope Cruz
c) Christopher Ciccone
If you guessed C you win an autographed photo of Dolores Gray.
Yes -- Tom's dating Madonna's brother!
Superb film about a German city's hunt for a child murderer; Fritz Lang's first talkie establishes the police procedural and the psycho killer thriller genres in one swoop. The movie tracks the police's detailed search for the killer, the impact of this search on the criminal community, and their pragmatic decision to institute their own investigation in order to return life to normalcy as soon as possible.
Both efforts are given equal time, as the story cuts from one to the other often in mid-sentence; both investigations are exciting and advance with believable developments. The film provides a fascinating view into pre-Nazi German life; it's odd to think that we're only 70 years away from an era with beggars guilds and washer women.
Technically the film is a marvel; Lang used sound so well it makes many current efforts look cheap in comparison. The cinematography is eery, but always on the right side of realistic, never stylized.
The murderer is played by Peter Lorre in his first major film role and one that still ranks high in the pantheon of brilliant portrayals of a deviant. Only 26, Lorre's work is still timely, and his riveting final speech is as persuasive as it is repellant. The other performances are solid, if not particularly notable.
The story, co-written by Lang and his Nazi wife Thea von Harbou, is far more complex than I expected. I was astonished to realize that we might have outgrown beggars and washerwomen, but we still have exactly the same issues about crime, punishment, and mental illness, and they show an admirable reluctance to present easy solutions or simple heroes. It is also worth remembering that Lang left the country and divorced his wife within two years of making this film; it is impossible to believe the film wasn't also intended as an indictment of Nazism, although no overt attack is made.
Don't miss this, but make sure you get the restored version.
I like Cruise regardless of whether he's gay or not, I just don't understand why it's such a big deal for you. Your "proof" isn't proof at all. If anything, it seems to me that you're trying to insinuate that he's gay to perpetuate a rumor that'll make you happy.
I didn't see it as a morality play at all, although perhaps I misunderstand the phrase. Much of the movie is spent on the hunt, so there is a natural tendency to see the hunters as the good guys. But Lorre's final speech certainly was intended to remind the audience that the people who'd hunted him down were murderers and thieves, too, with far more control over their actions than he had--or at least leaves it open to question. The cops certainly weren't presented as paragons either. The mother's last line was "We are all responsible for our children", or something to that effect, which certainly doesn't suggest a clearcut assignment of right and wrong.
As for the indictment of Nazism, perhaps I've stated it too strongly. I certainly didn't see it as overt or direct. But the dangers of mob rule are demonstrated more than once--the mock "trial", the nice old man almost killed by a suspicious mob. Lorre shrieks about the evil inside him, compelling him to do things he despises later. No one--not the authorities, not the criminals--is particularly sympathetic and surely it's no a coincidence that there isn't a single attractive character in the film (save the little girl victims). German society is presented as efficient, certainly, but is it viewed with anything like affection or admiration? The police are brutally repressive in their attempts to find the murder, the society is compliant with this priority, the criminals are presented as repulsive, the public is dangerous and ready to gang up in groups to do that which they can't do as individuals--Most of the shots are brilliantly claustrophobic, but everything is in shadow--he didn't appear to have a very admiring view of Berlin.
His wife was a Nazi, and I can't believe that she would have signed on for it. But then most of the suggestion is made with imagery; the dialogue only becomes suggestive within the context.
I'm pretty sick of Queeney's constant death-threats.
Got a bit carried away with hyphens there. Change both of the bold ones to periods.
Have you read Siegfried Krakauer's "From Caligari to Hitler"? It's the definitive text on Nazi influence on German cinema.
Then invest in a barf-bag, cause they're far from over, Breeder-Boy!
I'm not sure how "Nazi" German society was in 1931. To the extent M is critical of then-German society, it may be a paen to then-growing National Socialism.
All
Panic is a self-important draggy hit man/family drama movie, alternately ponderous and self-reverential. William H. Macy is good, but he almost always is, so it is no recommendation. But I was a bit unnerved at finding Tracey ullman more alluring than Neve Campbell, but there you have it. Grade: C-.
eh, he was useless and added nothing to Jurassic Park III.
The Family Man:
Eh. Starts off fairly well, then gets pretty lame. It's a great vehicle for Nick Cage to do his typically funny madman-exasperation bit, and that's all well and good for the first twenty minutes, but then the story stops being funny and gets wholly sentimental. In addition, it gets just odd, implausible, and strangely dark a few times.
There's a weird and distracting joke introduced early. Nick Cage's daughter realizes that he's not her father. Rather than *lie* to this little 4-year-old cutie and reassure her that he *is* her Dad, Nick Cage confesses, gleefully, that he is not. Odd. The daughter then says that Nick Cage is an alien of some sort, and wonders when he will return to the "mothership." This joke is repeated throughout the movie.
Not funny. It's a writerly sort of gag. It's the sort of joke that it is instantly recognizable as a joke on *paper,* but which isn't nearly as funny as the stuff that doesn't read as obvious "jokes" on paper but which are actually much funnier when peformed. Like Nick Cage's madman routine.
Ah, well. It's not terrible. A big mistake, I think, is that the angel (I guess he's an angel, at least) who transforms Cage's life -- Don Cheadle -- is only in the film in the very beginning and at the very end. That means that Cage can't complain to anyone about his odd predicament, as no one else in the film understands he's in an odd predicament at all. And complaining is funny.
C. Maybe a C+. You get to see "Tea Leoni" naked through the pebbled glass of a shower door, but you can't see much except vague outlines, and it's almost certainly not Tea Leoni anyway.
RD,
I can't say I really understand the fuss over Macy myself.
me either. i like him as an 'everyman' sort. but even that oh-garsh-lands-sakes befuddled bit gets old after he does it in most every damn flick he's in.
i must like him, overall, though, because he was good in several things -- A Slight Case of Murder & Mystery Men being the top of my recent list.
Oh, on the Family Man:
The ending is sort of strange, too.
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
Not that it matters much, because the film had lost me well before the ending, but the ending is just unsatisfying a bit strange.
So, you know the premise: Nick Cage is a bachelor King of the World, but he's put into an alternate universe where he became an everyday schlub-- but an everyday schlub with a loving wife and two cute children.
Fine. So the end of the movie comes... and he goes back to the "real world," and he becomes the bachelor again. But he pines for the other life, so he seeks out Tea Leoni in order to raise a family with her.
All well and good. But that means his two alternate-universe children have been written out of existance.
Is this a big problem? I guess not; the whole film is a big fantasy. But still, it's a little strange that Hollywood chooses to erase the two kids out of existance at the end of the film. Do they count as deaths? I dunno. Sure, the suggestion is that Nick Cage and Tea Leoni will *now* have the same kids, but of course they won't; if your kid dies, you can have another kid, but he won't be the *same* kid.
Really, the whole film was pretty poorly conceived.
SPOILERS END
I'm not sure assessment of anyone's work in Jurassic Park III is a fair gauge.
Hitler was around by then, wasn't he? Lang was offered a job by Goebbels, who approved of him, but he turned it down. I believe that Leni Riefenstahl accepted it instead. I don't see M as a paean to National Socialism. The negative behavior is growing and developing, not receding in lieu of some greater good. Lang's involvement in the early days of Nazism (through his wife) would have given him an inside view of where things were going, and it's hard not to see some of his artistic decisions in that light.
I don't see this as the primary focus of the film; it's far too good to be that simple.
No, I haven't. I did an online search on Von Harbou and could find very little, btw, because I was interested in that as well.
I think Ace is correct about death threats. I thought the rest of it was funny; I hadn't seen the post before then but given that Cruise is sue-happy I'd just as soon not give him the opportunity.
Yes, but he was still known by then, wasn't he? His next film on Dr. Mabuse was either banned or severely edited; I can't remember which right now. But the bad guys were spouting Nazi slogans. That's a big turnaround in 2 years.
Weimar is the correct spelling.
ei = I
ie = ee, as in wiener
In any event, I think certain aspects of the film can be seen as a warning, at least. Maybe not consciously, although he certainly was conscious of it a couple years later.
What's always been maddening about the original "AN" was it's total lack of any political context. Now in the new version it suddenly has one. The plantation sequence is stunning in the way it re-contextualizes the war in the only way that makes sense --through the French.
Ironically Christian Marquand never lived to see his performance in this version. He passed away a few months ago. Likewise Gian-Carlo Coppola (who died in the motorboat accident during the shooting of "Gardens of Stone") also appears in this scene.
There's a very good new scene where Brando reads from "Time" magazine, and a really funny/strange one with the "Playboy" Playmates-of-the-Month.
Fascinating sidebar: Frederick Forrest is rading letters to and from his girl back home -- Eva. That was Eva Gardos, who was his girlfriend at that time. She was working as a film editor. Now she's become a writer-director. Her highly autobiographical movie "American Rhapsody" is about to open. It's co-produced by Colleen Camp (who plays the "Playboy" playmate Forrest gets to have sex with.) Camp also has an acting role in Gardos' film.
The movie to see this weekend or so is Ghostworld, which is getting raves. Did you review it? I haven't been tracking lately, so apologies if I missed it.
Pinnochio meets Wizard of OZ meets Bladerunner.
Special effects were decent, but Speilberg as usual overplays the heartstrings. Not to mention a few factual snafus regarding glaciers and global warming. Also a couple of snafus with plot continuity... such as why would eating spinach be hazardous to an android, but submerging one in a few 100 feet of sea-water not.
There were several aspects of the movie that were actually kind of disturbing... but I won't ruin the story.
The 1935 version, with Gable and Charles Laughton as Captain Bly, usually gets rave reviews; I don't remember having seen it.
"Hello, Matt? It's me. I can't talk long. I'm using the phone in my counselor's office. He doesn't know I'm in here. What? Yeah, he's OK. Not really buff, but he's old. He's like 45. Anyway, you've got to get me out of here! It's friggin' army shit. You have to get up early, make your bed and clean the floors.
But that's not the worst part. Christ, do you know who's here? No, not him. Of course Downey's here, I knew that. What a diva. And Poundstone. Oh God, she really is ickey. No, I'm talking about fucking Danny fucking Partridge. What the fuck is he doing in a Malibu rehab? A fucking former child star and a radio DJ who humps RuPauls? What's next? Gary midget Coleman's gonna walk in here any minute. I didn't come here to have to deal with Danny fucking Partridge. God, I have to talk to him?
What? Oh, Matty you have to come and get me. Why? Too busy? Who is he? Oh shit, Poundstone is calling for me. YEAH PAULA, YOU CAN WEAR THE FUCKING JACKET -- Hello, Matt "
The movie starts off (merely) bad, as we see a band of survivors from a sunken WWII merchant vessel, through luck and daring, capture the u-boat that sunk their vessel. The wily nazis manage to trick their captors into steering the vessel deep into the south atlantic, at which point they reveal their hidden arms and reimprison the survivors (except, of course, for the sexy blond microbiologist survivor). The survivors-turned-captors-turned-captives (via the blond babe) turn the tables once more and destroy the nazi supply ship with which the u-boat was to rendezvous.
Then, it gets worse.
It has an incomprehensible plot, gratuitous violence (let's kill the cute dinosaurs just for fun!), implausibility heaped upon impossibility, really bad dinosaur props, and gobs of pseudoscience, pseudomorality, pseudosexuality, pseudoengineering, pseudoevil, pseudovirtue, etc.
No pseudoerasmus, though. Even the smartest characters in this movie are stupid.
Watch this movie at your peril.
Three movies seen recently, based on favorable comment heard here:
State & Main
The Crossing Guard
Breaking the Waves
All three good-but-not-great.
State & Main **1/2
Breaking the Waves **
My wife and I had a good time making fun of it. It was either that or play fill-in-the-blanks with Mutiny. It was a slow night.
...My nominee for phoniest line ever used in a movie.
Francis Ford Coppola
...my nominee for most overrated director in history.
80-odd more minutes of AN:
...What the world needs about as much as a smallpox outbreak.
hahahahaha.
Cellar,
Is that an LA station? (I know nothing of radio).
Anyone watching Gone with the Wind this afternoon? I swear, Melanie is the greatest.
Best film of the year. Sharp, consistently hilarious, never-a-dill-moment, the theater was cracking up non-stop. This is one of those benchmark films that you can use to determine if someone has a good sense of humor. If they go, and say "eh", then they don't. They may think they do, but trust me -- THEY DON'T.
They still may be very nice.
Grade: A.
My thoughts exactly!!
[His version of Dracula was downright painful to watch it was so terrible, what did you think?]
Rainmaker, The - C
Jack - F
Dracula - B
Tucker: The Man and His Dream - B
Gardens of Stone - C+
Peggy Sue Got Married - B-
Cotton Club, The - B
Rumble Fish - C+
Outsiders, The - B
One from the Heart - B
Apocalypse Now - A
The Conversation - B+
The Godfather: Part II - A
The Godfather - A
The Rain People, The - B
Given that four to five of Coppola's films are arguably in the top fifty of all films ever made, and two to three are in the top twenty, that is a very good percentage.
As for Dracula, it was camp from beginning to end, and I thought it was a blast (much like Burton's Sleepy Hollow).
Valentine was a very by the numbers horror movie. absolutely nothing here is surprising. more than that, though, is the most unforgivable horror movie sin: it drags. badly.
the hunk from Angel is in it & Denise Richards is too. that's the star power. and, with this script, that is hardly surprising or the tiniest bit original. it can be summed up in one sentence: a dude sends chicks a valentine (guess when all this happens??) and then kills 'em.
2 ½ quacks out of five. the ½ is there because while the killing scenes are brief, they are wonderfully brutal.
Dracula 2000 by Wes Craven was a fun movie. very entertaining, a nice update of the mythos. Drac himself was ugly and the 'origin' is bizarrely obvious, but it doesn't fail to entertain.
side note: Jeri Ryan's (7 of 9 from Star Trek: Voyager) part was insanely small. it looks like she was put in to get some box office action and most of her parts were on the cutting room floor - too bad, she was okay.
further side note: why did they release a horror movie with the year in the title in december of that year? seems like a recipe for disaster to me.
anyway, 3 ¼ quacks of 5. my recommendation for a recent horror rental, no question.
I'm with you on Dracula 2000. I was pleasantly surprised. It moved, it was attractive, and it was occasionally funny.
And 7 of 9 was near naked.
Vitamin C's tits were a let down, though, eh?
I agree that it is impossible to overrate Coppola as a director. It is more accurate to say he shot his wad by 1980.
I'm not sold on The Conversation and One From the Heart, but the former is widely held to be a classic, and the latter is held to be more of a classic, but by a smaller group of afficionados.
I don't think AN could be considered in the top ranks; it has always seemed to be more of an interesting failure that only worked if you understood what Coppola was trying to do.
Godfather I and II, though, are enough to carry anyone's career. Apocalypse Now is flawed, but without a doubt a major film.
When you think about it, Tolstoy had really only two masterpieces, you know.
Oh, I agree. I wasn't quibbling with Coppola's inclusion on the "greats" list. But he doesn't have the depth of some of the others.
Enjoyable popcorn movie--how can you really object to a flick that gives you Sam Neill and William Macy as action heros? Script is tight and funny and moves well.
Agenda alert: I do wish Spielberg would get over his obsession with divorced parents.
When did Alan Grant become the poor man's Indy? Not that I'm complaining, of course.
Spielberg had little to do with JPIII, right? he had a producer credit, that was about it.
PS did you see my 'careers' post?
I did, and I'm finishing up some stuff before I work on it. Do you have the time, or do you need it asap?
as for the resume, i'd like to finish it up today, if possible. it can wait, though, until you get a few minutes.
i need to call you so you can get the whole scoop - i shudder to think i'd have to type it all in this little box - ugh.
I think you seriously underrate "Rumble Fish," Francis. Take another look at it.
The first was Trick, and I saw it before at the movies. I know nothing about Jim Fall, the director, or the actors other than Tori Spelling, but it is a wonderful movie. It is about a kid who lives in New York City who is trying to write musical comedies. Tori Spelling is his obnoxious friend from high school days who is trying to make it as an actress. (she does this role quite well). One day in a bar, he sees a go-go boy in his red thong. Next thing he knows, he sees the same guy on the subway and the guy shows an interest in him.
Like After Hours and other urban comedies where the hero is derailed in a strange night on the town, desire and the hope for love are delayed, stopped and started. Ends with a lovely 1930s rendition of the kid's song. The guy who plays the songwriter is sweet and nerdy. The guy who plays the go-go boy moves like a tiger in the bar, while he is dancing, and manages to make his character believable and more than two dimensional. And for those so inclined, there's a beautiful actress (the roommate from hell's girlfriend) who is topless for an entire scene.
I also saw an Australian movie called Head On about a Greek Australian kid who makes wrong choices over and over. There was supposed to be more poignance to his plight, but outside of this lovely man's black eyes and beautiful body, and the look at Greek life down under, there isn't much to recommend.
Also Head On documents what I can only call "angry sex." I was a lot like this when I was in high school. When things weren't going my way I'd run right out and get laid ASAP.
One from the Heart is a wonderful film. Haven't seen Rumble Fish. Will check it out.
Everybody, I feel a case of video madness coming on...recommendations are more than welcome...in fact needed. I've seen most of what has come out in the last couple of years.
Recent films I've seen or reseen and enjoyed that came out between 1980 and 1999:
Well, that's just in the past week.
Also saw Stalag 17, Gone with the Wind, M, and Zulu if you're looking for older classics.
Thanks...I DVD player is in my future I think. Have a couple of other things to get first.
I've been using the Mote movie reviews with good results.
I haven't seen some of the above, and as far as older classics, need to head down to the city and plurge on a lot of 40s videos....ahhhh, Mildred Pierce et al.
But I have gone so far as to collect all the ones that aren't on the site in a conversation, which I shall now formally title:
Collected Unpublished Mote Movie Reviews.
Tender Mercies is the film that won Robert Duvall an Oscar. It is a "little" film, but I enjoy it. My review of Free Enterprise is in the "unpublished" link, and Francis/Jack's review of Croupier on the site, I'm pretty sure.
I check out the list and copy and paste. Then I print out the list and head to the video store when it's 5/99cents day for 5 days....now they say
"Oh, you have THE LIST with you." And dash about looking for what they have. They are nice people. It's locally owned so they have more limited stock, but I like them.
If you're into the 40's get Preston Sturges comedies.
"Cover Girl" is a wonderful 40's musical.
The music was gorgeous. I really did get snuffly even at the beginning, just because I could see where it was going. Oddly enough, the predictability assisted in delivering the emotional impact.
Pete Postlethwaite's face when he was conducting them at the semi-finals (his last gig before collapsing) was a priceless study of joy and pride, and the scenes with his son were wonderful--the son was excellent as well.
Ebert on Brassed Off
``Brassed Off'' is a film that views the survival of the town through the survival of the band, and the survival of the band through the eyes of Danny (Pete Postlethwaite), who in some corner of his mind probably believes the mines exist only to supply him with musicians. The movie makes liberal use of storytelling formulas (there is a love story involving young people, and a crisis involving a married couple, and a health crisis involving Danny, a strategic use of ``Danny Boy,'' and a national band contest at the Royal Albert Hall). But Postlethwaite's performance elevates and even ennobles this material.
I agree with that last particularly. I don't think it could have surpassed its flaws without Postlethwaite--although all the actors are extremely likeable, which carries a number of them through some thin characterizations.
jay-sus
why not a simple The Clone Wars? this does not bode well.
While the Internet Movie Database is a great
reference, the plot summaries leave a bit to be desired. Sometimes I'm
just too busy
to sit through some movie and
discover
the inane ending
and exactly what happens so I can
spoil the movie for all my friends
or nitpick endlessly.
Prof--well, according to Francis this means you have no sense of humor. I hope you can live with yourself.
Very well done...I have been admiring your talent in the internet thread.
Even without seeing it, I know this true about my marriage.
TNR piece
Blake is just a bit nutty. The woman is waaaaaaaaay out there. All of Blake's proposed scenarios make a lot more sense.
What I want to know is, what are Bonny and Robert doing in TNR? Between stuff like this and Andrew Sullivan's ruination of the TRB column, I'm beginning to wonder why I don't just let that subscription lapse.
I saw the French comedy The Closet last night. It had gotten a good review in the NY Times and I was looking forward to seeing it.
Very glib and silly. Directed by Veber, the guy who directed "La Cage aux Folles" in the 70s. This movie wastes several talented actors: Daniel Auteil, Gerard Depardieu, and a couple I recognized but don't know their names.
About an accountant at a condom factory that is so pale he is expendable. A new neigbhor, an older gay man who had lost his job many years before for being gay, convinces him of a plot to send anonymous photos of him in a gay bar. Suddenly, everybody thinks he is coming out of the closet and re-interprets him and his behaviors. The wallflower is a flamer. Autiel plays the accountant. His character never changes, but his co-workers sees him differently. Depardieu plays a homophobe who is encouraged to be nice to the accountant to show he is not a gay basher. This suddenly becomes his quest and he finds himself transformed.
Unfortunately, not very funny.
Gerard Depardieu, the most macho of French actors, plays Santini, a homophobe who stops gay-bashing and tries to befriend Pignon. Jean Rochefort is the magisterial boss of the company. And Thierry Lhermitte is the troublemaker who inflames Depardieu's fears by telling him he'll be fired for his political incorrectness. To understand this casting in Hollywood terms, think of Auteuil, Depardieu, Rochefort and Lhermitte as Tom Hanks, Brendan Fraser, Michael Douglas and Kevin Pollak. (Given the success of the Hollywood remake of "La Cage Aux Folles," we may actually be seeing casting like this before long.)
Of course, that could be because I really related to it in several ways.
Not when I met him!
What's interesting though, about Veber, according to my husband, is that many years ago he was contracted to work for Disney, producing comedies and he had some kind of creative block, and returned home to France, unable to write un mot. ANd yet this movie could be a classically Disney American movie--there was nothing to define it's frenchness, whereas 'The Dinner Game' his last hit, was very french, and seemed to be playing in far fewer theaters in the US. At least if you judge NY and its environs to be a microcosm of the US.
The best role I ever saw Depardieu in was a movie where he played a man married to a beautiful, stunning wife, but he ends up being obsessed with a fat clerk. His wife cannot understand his attraction to the more obese woman. Lots of Schubert in the background. He was also good in The Return of Martin Guierre (sp?).
The best role I ever saw Depardieu in was a movie where he played a man married to a beautiful, stunning wife, but he ends up being obsessed with a fat clerk. His wife cannot understand his attraction to the more obese woman. Lots of Schubert in the background. He was also good in The Return of Martin Guierre (sp?).
Webbie -- I agree that America's Sweetheart wasn't very funny. In Closet, I got the feeling that they showed up on the set and said the lines and we were supposed to think they were funny. There wasn't much energy in the story. Auteuil is a great actor, and it was a wasted role for him, imo.
And then the scene is ruined when he lunges at pignon and tries to choke him or whatever on the floor.
What is the name of that movie with Depaqrdiue obsessed with the obese clerk? It sounds wild!
I was one with that number and the other person with the same number was one of our (only six) female students. [NOTE: This was long, long ago.] The female student with "my" number was pretty good looking (not blonde, although it would have made for a better story). One grade was a high "A" number, and the other a borderline low "B".
I admit to thinking that the high "A" was probably mine, whereas the beautiful-but-probably-dumb mere female would get the low "B".
I don't need to tell you the rest of the story, except to mention that nowadays she's a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
...And I'm not.
Cal..watched State and Main last night. Thanks for the suggestion...I laughed a lot..good little movie. Four more to go!
Funny moment?
How about:
"YOU got into lawschool!?" (incredulous boyfriend)
"What? Like it's hard?" (Blonde)
Thanks to whoever recommended it here on this thread. 'Fun movie.
Interesting, reading about it on the IMDB: All the major people in it, director, writers, actors, have no other movie-related credits whatsoever. They just got together and made this movie--and pretty damned well, at that. I mean, it was obviously low-budget, but it wasn't badly construted at all.
"Based on a story by Duncan North
"Based on an idea by Duncan North
"Based on Duncan North."
Other problems abound. Penn uses top actors for single scenes, so each feels compelled to ACCCCCCCCCCCTTTTTTTTTTT! like there's no tomorrow. Benicio Del Toro, Vanessa Redgrave, Mickey Rourke, Helen Mirren, they all emote for a brief, generally pointless flash. Others - like harry Dean Stanton and Sam Shepard - are given roles best left to the grapes or leaves in a Fruit of the Loom commercial. But Sean called, so, hey. Like Keith Gordon, Penn is so enamored of his visual style that a cop can't walk into a room without cross-cuts to the ticking clock and the face of a fat, stupid common clerk telling us something (but what?) Nicholson can't drink at a Nevada airport bar without flash cuts to whirring slot machines. Not only does all this work lead to continuity problems (Nicholson's scotch miraculously becomes a beer seconds later - water into wine?), it is annoying.
The plot is Penn, all the way. Nicholson is haunted by the murder of a little girl, so much so it tests his sanity. And best, we are introduced to Nicholson as insane, so the film drained of any dramatic impact at the get go. Grade: F.
I'd never heard of him, but I'm reading his stuff now.
All
Chocolat (pronounced "Shawk - o - la")
Suck-o-lot.
Grade: F.
I wouldn't go near suck-o-lot. It looked deadly at the get-go.
Hate to admit it after that scathing review, but I'm also sort of a Sean Penn fan. (Not a "fan" like in "idolizing," but in thinking he's a fine actor.)
Penn does not act in The Pledge. That tells you something right there.
"No, no, really . . . you do it."
Webfeet
While watching Chocolat, I could only console myself with the fact that I had resisted seeing it in the theater. Small comfort.
Don't let me over-influence your rentals. If you like treacly allegories so offensive to your intelligence that you feel like an NFL first-round pick taking a personality test ("If you have three apples, and a man takes two from you, how many apples do you have?"), please, by all means, rent Suck-o-lat.
The name of the one you recommended about the hit man in Spain escapes me now, but that's likely the next I'll see. I think it's still playing around here (though it might be good to see something other than mob violence for a change). Also have been reading pretty bad reviews of the Angelina Jolie/Antonio Banderas film. Might still see it for the kitsch factor, though. I have the feeling it's going to be so bad it's good.
It has been a very, very bad year.
I have only seen three very good films this year:
Memento
Sexy Beast
Legally Blonde
That said, I have still to see
Enemy at the Gates
The Tailor of Panama
A.I.
Amores Perros
The Anniversary Party
Moulin Rouge
Startup.com
Ghost World
Baby Boy
Francis: Save your money on A.I. until it's available at the video store. It wasn't SS's finest hour. (Finest or not, it would have been better if it had only lasted an hour.)
Thanks. Time has become a premium, so the only one of the aforementioned films I'll see in the theater is Ghost World.
Toe is right, A.I. is a renter all the way. and that is being charitable -- did you see my review?
movies i have yet to see that i think will be watchable (i hope):
you're right though, this has been a bad, bad year. on par with last year, and i never thought i'd say that.
High Fidelity A
The Tao of Steve A
Croupier A
You Can Count On Me A
Almost Famous A
Joe Gould's Secret B
Gladiator B
Hamlet B
What Lies Beneath B
Deterrence B
Meet the Parents A-
Boiler Room B
State and Main B+
Judy Berlin B
Chuck and Buck B
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon B
Gun Shy B-
Animal Factory B-
O Brother Where Art Thou B
Bring It On B+
Wonderboys B+
Tigerland B-
Best In Show B+
2000 was, all in all, not as bad a year as I expected.
also saw a commercial for Rat Race which looks like a fun retread of Cannonball Run ... so that might make a good matinee. it has Mr. Bean in it after all!
there are a few good movies every year, but this and last year have seen quite the dirth of them, imho.
Castaway
Traffic
Billy Elliot
Unbreakable
Overall it's Truffaut's version of Pierrot le Fou. It has one ofmy favorite movie moments when Belmondo says to Deneuve "You're so beautiful it hurts to look at you."
So true!
Among other things it has a remarkably sophisticated attitude towards sex, particularly the "philandering" of the central character. Quite refreshing in these Clinton/Condit-besotted times.
The cinematography (plus editing) are what makes rewatching it so enjoyable for me.
Really Liked
Liked
Eh
Didn't Like
Kill Everyone Involved
i probably missed some but, as i say, i don't care much for 2000 movie wise.
2000 seems bad to you because you have not seen any of my top 5 A films or my two B+ films.
High Fidelity A
The Tao of Steve A
Croupier A
You Can Count On Me A
Almost Famous A
Best in Show B+
State and Main B+
O Brother Where Art Thou?
You Can Count on Me
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Traffic
Good stuff
Chicken Run
State and Main
Tao of Steve
Croupier
Good if you could tolerate the hidden agenda:
High Fidelity
Almost Famous
I liked Frequency a lot, even though the main character was disgustingly whiny and should have been frequently slapped. Dennis Quaid makes up for a lot of lesser sins.
Oh, and Chuck and Buck was so disgusting as to be unwatchable. But that was the subject matter; I'm sure the execution was fine if you could get beyond it. Haven't seen Wonderboys.
State and Main sucked ass.
High Fidelity was mediocre, which isn't bad, but it's little more than a John Hughes comedy 15 years later.
I mean, if you liked High Fidelity, you'll love St. Elmo's Fire.
Same thing, pretty much.
The Tao of Steve looks to be a movie about a regular shome. eh, i live that already.
Croupier looks like a good one, but according to IMDB, it was released in '98
You Can Count On Me looks like a weepy drama that i've never heard of beyond mentions here.
Almost Famous & Best in Show are in my NetFlix queue.
State and Main sounds bad and looks worse.
'Brows of all levels encourage to browse.'?
Hey, if it works for Nature Magazine....
HF is worth watching for Jack Black and the other little geek. And I do like Cusack, so his monologues are fun even if they are in service to a putrid little morality tale.
"High Fidelity just holds no attraction for me. but then, John Cusack just gets on my last nerve most of the time. "
Heh, heh. To still be in the John Cusack Fan Club into your thirties requires that you be either:
1) A woman who got her first girly-girl crush on John Cusack in the dismal Say Anything
or
2) Francis Urquhart
Oh, it would have been The Grifters, now that I think of it.
The bare bones of the plot are really just ok, but there are a sufficient number of minor twists that I don't want to reveal so I won't say more about it. However, the manner in which this movie was put together was terrific in every way. Starting with the acting, Tilda Swinton (I remember her from Orlando and from Carravagio, but don't recall having seen her in anything else) is just superb as a mother who has much trouble on her hands. Goran Visnjic from ER also does a terrific job, but the young actor who plays the son is also superb, as well he had to be for the movie to hold together as well as it does.
The cinematography is first rate as is the writing.
I don't know if a film noir like this will attract enough buzz to get into Academy Award range, but it should - both as a film and certainly for Tilda Swinton.
Actually, it might. It is being distributed by 20th Century Fox, through whose graces I saw it at a private showing put on for the summer associates (and hangers on) at my wife's firm.
At any rate - go as soon as you can.
Anyway, I just saw "Too Beautiful For You" with depardieu, carole bouquet and josiane belasco. Apparently the love that dare not speak its name in French society is to fuck a homely woman. It was hyper ludicrous, arrogant and yet, a funny take on adultery and all its bewildering highs and lows. So what if she was quite mouche?
'les passions les plus incenderes sont les plus ephemeres.'
Would it be possible, if cloning were permitted and everyone could genetically program their little girls to look like the ravissante Carole Bouquet, that she, too, would become ordinaire?
The John Cusack "Hit List"
The Sure Thing -- Eh. Pretty good at the time, but doesn't really hold up
Better off Dead -- low-budget goofball comedy which has its chuckles, but pretty much only watchable for nostalgia value
Say Anything -- dismal
The Grifters -- sucked.
Grosse Point Blank -- Pointless, dumb, unfunny, trite. Bad.
etc.
I don't know how this idiot does it.
Where I differ with fran is on Almost Famous. I really couldn't watch it, maybe it was fatigue, but Frances Mcdorman is brilliant init.
I love Grosse Point Blank.
McDormand was the reason to watch Almost Famous. Crudup and Lee were good, so far as it went.
It doesn't help that the movie is basically a paean to groupies, those poor misunderstood chicks who set their value by how many famous people they've fucked.
agree 100% with you on Cusack. he even sucked in Con Air and that movie was really bad!
JanJon:
The Dead End doesn't show up on IMDB yet - is it a new release?
Webs:
it's not just the name or who is in it, but from what i've read it looks like it was shot a couple years ago and rewritten and reedited too many times. but, what the hell, i'll put it in my NetFlix queue - that's what it's for, movies i'll get to at some point.
What can I say, except that the name of the movie is THE DEEP END.
I mentioned the cinematography. Beautifully lit, too.
I first met her at the time of Caravaggio when she and Derek Jarman were visiting L.A. with Derek's boytoy du jour a truly striking punk called Spring (he's featured in The Last of England, jumping up and down on a Caravaggio painting and strolling through the sets of Full Metal Jacket.
Lucius Barr (of the Cannes Film Festival) had lent them his apartment. Derek and Tilda and I and my friends Jonathan and Meredith were having a lovely chat, but Spring was sulky. "I wontta go ta The Pleasure Chest," he kept whining. So finally Derek took him to the doorway, pointed down the street and told him where to go. "It's a nice five minute walk, darling."
Most critics know Orlando and Edward II, but I think some of Tilda's most interesting work has been for John Maybury --Man to Man and especially Remembrance of Things Fast in which she appears with Rupert Everett and my favorite gay porn star, Aidan Shaw.
I really like Cusack. You hate him and think that film was "dismal".
What are we gonna do?
Peacefully coexist, I guess. But, hey, how can you resist Cusack's dinner-table recital of all the things he doesn't want to do to make a living?
...Or the absolutely superior final scene, on the airplane?
This movie is so head-and-shoulders ahead of the entire genre of kid films, before it and after it, that it's like a landmark.
Almost Fomous ...is that that Firefighter movie that Opie directed?
Yeah, I'd forgotten the girl-chorus bit. I agree that was unreal and overdone.
One of the best in the Times series. Check out Woody's statement on great movies.
The one I'm interested in is Osmosis Jones, a Farrelly Brothers film that combines live action and animation. The live action part, starring Bill Murray as a disgusting zookeeper whose diet includes anything that hasn't hatched a maggot, will be hard to endure.
But the animation story sounds great: Chris Rock is the voice of Osmosis, a white cell who is worried at the sudden decrease in numbers. He partners up with Drix (David Hyde Pierce), a prissy antihistamine tablet to try and discover what's going on. The mayor, an oleaginous brain cell (William Shatner), is too busy worrying about re-election against do-gooder Tom Colonic (Ron Howard) to care much about the intruder causing the problems--a deadly virus that "makes Ebola look like a case of dandruff" (who else but Lawrence Fishburne?).
Looks like it might be fun, if you can just close your eyes for the gross out scenes with Murray, Chris Elliot, and Molly Shannon.
If I find myself thinking about a movie more than a day or so after having seen it, I deem it to have been a REALLY GOOD one. And, I find myself thinking about this one quite a bit. Mostly about how all of the characters had meat put on their bones in well thought out and subtle ways. About how I can't think of a single scene that was superfluous. While still quite economical in terms of making its point or furthering the story and then ending.
Oh, I can think of a couple of loose ends that may not end being loose ends when I see it again, which I will.
I think I mentioned that I saw this at a private screening put on by 20th Century Fox for the summer associates at my wife's firm. A rather jaded group by now (having been wined and dined and entertained in a ridiculous manner all summmer now.) Without exception (well, I didn't speak to all of them at the buffet supper overlooking all of Manhattan afterwards), they all wanted to talk about the movie and how much they enjoyed it. Instead of themselves, as is usual at these events.
Mind you - this isn't a message movie (other than in a broad way), it is just a well-crafted noirish movie.
And both husband material !
have you seen this film yet?
This is a big year for couples, what with Ducastel & Martineau (The Adventures of Felix)
I think the thing that makes it work, and worth talking about, janjon, is the fact that action is tired directly to character. Part of the reason the old film noirs are so absorbing is that we're being told a story and being told about the people who are in it at the same time. "The Deep End" continues this tradition in a contempoary form. This woman and her children are very "recognizable" -- even for those of us who don't come from military families that live in Lake Tahoe. "What's going to happen next?" is always present in a set-up like this. And at a time when the majority of films consist of nothing ,this is very refreshing.
To some degree she's prepared. Right at the top of the movie she's knocking at the door of the club and telling the owner to stay away from her son. He himself says to the kid in the boat house, "She's a mother, not a moron." And she tells the kid that she won't tell Dad about the affair. That's what's really fascinating. The character is individuated. She isn't used as a sounding board for recieved ideas. And that's because the filmmakers steer clear of telling us what to think about what they're showing us.
and, well, if this is indeed somewhat formulaic (taking the long view back to the 40s), then at least it is a much better formula than most of the crap out there.
When the blackmailer shows up with the video, he asks Mrs. Hall to see Mr. Hall. My first reaction was that this was because he thought the husband/father would be able to tough out what he was going to see and then get down to business with the blackmailer. That the woman would collapse and be useless.
Yet another way, in the way things then played out, of highlighting how inaccurate a stereotype that was what with Mrs. Hall being as tough and focussed as she was. And, above all, determined to protect her son whom she loved deeply.
Yeah, I got squicked out reading about it. But the cartoon part looks great.
what's odd is that I remember in the last scene Ione Skye;s character screaming as the fasten your seat belt light beeped. In this version, however, the film just ended at the beep. Am I imagining things or did she scream in the original?
But they're both babes!
Same for me! And if I think of it, unbidden, years later, it just won an Oscar in my own little personal Academy Awards.
I could never decide if Orlando was riveting or the most boring film of all time. IFC seems to play it every other day. That, and the Last Temptation of Christ, which is one of my favorites.
I do like John Cusack, but I'd be happy to discuss Willem Dafoe for a while. The man crackles with sexiness.
'Caught "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" on tape.
'Didn't do much for me. A complete waste of John Torturro, for one thing.
No use knocking it. It's just one of those pictures that some people will really love and others will think is much ado about very little.
Maybe watching it while stoned would have helped.
Working through your list. Just saw BrassedOff. Liked it a lot, sniff sniff. Predictable but a good little film. Also saw Running on Empty. Ah, had to be the Trib Bissel story. Sure seemed like it.
Also Panic. Grey, of course, typical midlife crisis even though Dad's company is in the business of killing people and the son wants out.
Donald Sutherland was, er, Donal Sutherland.
I also watched Chocolat. I liked that a lot...a feel good movie. Truly a fable kind of thing and not a big movie at all but a nice little film, IMO
The movie doesn't work if you take the politics seriously. I liked the idea of the film becaues it showed that their political action forced them into a life where they couldn't affor politics anymore. All the "he's very talented" was very pat--was Danny supposed to stay with his family if he'd only been a so-so pianist and wanted to play baseball?
But the scene between Lahti and her father (Steven Hiller) is still incredibly wrenching, and I always tear up at the end when she says "Goodbye, baby" to her son. A better than average parenting movie.
Glad you liked Brassed Off; it's one of those movies where the predictability works in its favor. Wasn't Postlethwaite wonderful?
Haven't seen Panic but it got good reviews. Isn't that the one with Macy as the son?
Sign me up for option 2--well, not the most boring. But it's on the list. Hated, hated, hated that movie.
Dafoe never has done much for me, though.
I testified in an FBI case in U.S. District Court, Seattle, Washington on December 4, 1979. This case involved charges against
Judith Bissel relating to an attempted bombing of the Air Force ROTC Building at the University of Washington building by her and
her husband. She and her husband had forfeited a $50,000 cash bond in 1970 when they disappeared after being arrested. Judith Bissel
had been a fugitive for 10 years prior to the trial. Her husband was a fugitive at the tine of my testimony and to my knowledge
remains so.
as a complete by the way. You're right, it does sound like the movie was based on it.
I really liked Postlethwaite a lot and some real tear jerker scenes.
Bissel made more of a splash because, as I recall, his parents posted hefty bail for both he and his wife and they ran. The way he described his life when he turned himself in, was much like in the movie, but I suppose that is true for all who were living that life.
I suppose that the story chose various elements of each radical's tale. Odd to think that so much time was spent looking for them.
BTW, watched Tender Mercies today...agree with your analysis...an nice little film. I also watched Rumble Fish....extremely well done and I kept waiting to catch a glimpse of Sal Mineo or James Dean.
Slightly different note:
In Multiplex Age, Even Blockbusters Find Fame Fleeting
Interesting article about the recent phenomenon of movies having one big weekend then a rapid falloff--and how the studios and theater owners feel about it.
I ask because yesterday I saw SEXY BEAST
20 movies playing in this town and that is the only one I had any intention of seeing.
A real sleeper but left me with a lot of questions about why did he or she do THAT??
Would like to ask my questions and hear yours.
Francis saw Sexy Beast and said it was excellent; I don't think there has been any discussion.
Ask my question that is.
Who is FRancis . a SO of yours?
What is an email alert?
was the bizarro rollo for Ben Kingsley.
BTW that title almost caused me to lump this movie in with so many these days that I find
uninteresting even before seeing .
I think Cal was kidding you with the e-mail alert remark.
Thought about Prof's challenge.
Here's my response.
1.) Because it was hot and humid outside and the theater is quite cold.
2) Because Reese Witherspoon is a charming actress and I like watching her.
3) Because my partner wanted to see it.
Definitely not Paper Chase, but more like a cross between Clueless and that movie with Joe Peche and Brendan Fraser. Silly froth.
Judith is correct; I was jes joshing. Francis is FrancisUrquhart.
I keep meaning to see Sexy Beast; from what I hear Kingsley is a near shoo-in for a Best Actor nod.
GJ,
I like the movies Witherspoon picks; she is clearly intelligent and funny. But she just doesn't do much for me. Still, I want to see Legally Blonde.
it looks like a excellent throw back to the goofy, yet still great, Cannonball Run movie.
of course, i could be wrong and likely am as any and everything seems to get redone movie wise.
Once the film started, it still looked like it would at least be originial, if mannered (some speeded up shots, split-screen between two scenes, rapid juxtaposition of images to mimic "tripping"), but I eventually started hitting the fast forward button. Perhaps I'm not totally qualified to review it in light of that, but I thought overall it was one of the worst films I've seen.
It had Jennifer Connelly in it (poor girl), so maybe that's why I had it in my queue. Then I checked out the reviews and Rotten Tomatoes has 70 percent or better as positive, many of them glowing. So I must have read a praiseful review, too--Ellen Burstyn's performance draws high marks from several.
Nevertheless, provided your idea of a good film is not one in which the main characters are tortured and degraded throughout and to no redeeming purpose, avoid this film like a gangrenous limb.
I was so intriged with the movie SEXY BEAST
that I had wondered if it was a book before a movie; I don't think so.
The vcr wouldn't get tossed...my son would love it, but he has one and doesn't need to "move up" yet.
Recent movie thoughts.
Sexy Beast-in your face sketch of a mob heist- sent over the top by Ben Kingsley.
Rush Hour 2- chop socky meets the dozens- lowbrow action movie that is a crowd-pleaser but does not challenge the old nogging.
American Pie 2- more sex and beer jokes- if you like party movies you will like this one- if you are looking for highbrow entertainment ignore this one.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back- one big inside joke for the fans of Kevin Smith.Chock full of cameos and reefer references this roadtrip flick is for KS fans that can not hear the term "snootchie boochies" enough.
Confectioner's porn.
Or go to Google search engine and see if you can locate some...type in Screenplays for Sale or something like that. Or try an online auction...eBay supposedly has anything you could ever want.
Abs,
$125 seems a tad cheap, but if it has everything, go for it. I've been quite happy with the two Panasonics I've had. I recently did a Consumer Reports check and they basically said, "they all seem fine to us."
re. screenplays for sale.
You can also just do an online search for "screenplays online".
Screenplays are not generally available. You can purchase *some* screenplays from places like Pix Posters in Boston (call information; they mail scripts to you), but their selection is limited.
There are, of course, dozens of places that sell screenplays in LA. Hit the online yellow pages.
Drew's Script-o-Rama is a great place to find scripts online, but the selection is even more limited. The scripts that appear on line (and in shops, actually) tend to be oriented to male film buffs' tastes. There are lots of sci-fi, horror, etc., sort of genre scripts, some art house film school type scripts, and few chick flick scripts (except for blockbusters, like Pretty Woman).
Do a google search for Drew's Script O Rama.
Again, this is all hit and miss. I think that selling screenplays is technically a copyright violation (I doubt these script shacks are actually paying royalties on each copy of a script sold), so it's not exactly a booming business.
if you find a script you like, a shop will usually charge $15-20 for it.
Occasionally a script will actually be published in annotated book form. These aren't real scripts (not correct format, etc.), and they're pretty rare. Much less than 1% of scripts are ever published.
And that's all I know about buying scripts.
One can't always tell on the Internet.
Many thanks ,Many thanks.
BTW have you seen; are you planning to see SEXY BEAST?
Who said that? Who the fuck said that? Who's the slimy communist shit twinkle-toed cocksucker who just signed his own death warrant?
Was it as bad as "Kissed" from my Message # 21474?
Also, there is one Seagal movie that really is worth watching: Under Siege. Directed by Andrew Davis, it has his crew of regulars (you'll see a lot of Fugitive players). It also has a great lineup of bad guys, including Tommy Lee Jones (pre-Fugitive, he played in a lot of Davis movies) and Gary Busey. Worth watching, even if the chick is worse than a bimbo. The reason I first rented it was because I was astonished to see several reviewers give it high marks--and from their columns, they were pretty astonished too.
Earlier I had seen The Family Man, and hated it..it was, IMO, dreadful and just didn't make it as a feel good film. I usually like Nicolas Cage, but not this time...and the woman who played his wife, reminded me of Tom Cruise for some reason.
Then saw Good Will Hunting and liked that a lot. Touching and predictable. Then went to The Comfort of Strangers to get all that sugar out of my system.
But on New Years, it was a toss up between "Quills" and "You Can Count on Me." My friend and I opted for "Quills". We saw it at The Tivoli in U City (St. Louis environs). It is a travesty what they did to that theater (divided a grand old theater up into something vaguely resembling a multiplex).
I just saw "You Can Count on Me" on video. It's a quiet little movie with an ambiguous ending. Didn't live up to the reviews IMHO. Mark Ruffalo......RRRRRRuff!
Saw "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Though it was an infinitely better movie than "Gladiator", I was expecting to be wowed, as I usually am by Ang Lee. I was only partially, marginally wowed.
Isn't everyone a little tired of these "Matrix" fight scene imitations? I see from previews we are about to be treated to a Musketeers remake complete with Hong Kong action style sword fights. What next? "Jason and the Argonauts" with Hong Kong action style fighting? How about a remake of "Wuthering Heights" with Hong Kong action style fighting. Now that I would pay to see.
So where is this list of CalGal's? What is it a list of? I'm bored. I could go for some list reading right about now.
it's coming up in my NetFlix queue and am interested to see if i should bump it up in priority
are you new or a returning poster here? if new, welcome.
btw, yes, i am tired of everyone ripping off Matrix unless it is done with a wink a la Charlie's Angles
O.K., here is my in depth analysis of that one:
Joaquin Phoenix was not nekkid enough.
As for a recommendation of where to place it in your queue, I would put it somewhere above "Mystery Men" where Geoffrey Rush played a similar character and below "Shakespeare In Love" where he played a not so similar character.
"Quills" was all about Geoffrey Rush's acting.
Now "Charlie's Angels" was one cool movie. I wish I had seen it on the big screen.
"AND what about Rudy [Giuliani]? He loves opera, does drag, and is now living with two gay guys. Sounds like he's ready for Scientology!" - Michael Musto in the Village Voice . . .
Thought you'd enjoy this quote!
Just six or so weeks to go until the big gay film festival here in ATL. I guess I will post my 3rd annual battlefield reports here. They are likely to be more appreciated than they were at TT.
I've started a "The Search For Jordon Nardino" thread in a last-ditch effort to get a second date out of the lad. (Good Tadzios are hard to come by these days.)
Well his acting is the same, but my feelings for him are not.
Speaking of derrieres, what happened to Wes Bentley. He rockets from anonymity to stardom in the hottest ticket in 1999 and then does nothing but crap.
How do I know it's crap? I won't even sit still to watch it.
Has anyone here seen Big Deal on Madonna Street? I'm still writing my review, but it was paralyzingly funny.
Hmmmmmm.
My List of movies worth seeing from the past 2 years Chronologically sort of:
Head On
Lola and Bilidikid
Before Night Falls
O Brother Where Art Thou
Traffic
Charlie's Angels
You Can Count on Me
The Cell
Paragraph 175
Cecil B. Demented
The Tao of Steve
Urbania
X-Men
Battlefield Earth (I kid you not)
Chuck and Buck
Small Time Crooks
But I'm a Cheerleader
American Psycho
Beau Travail
The Filth and the Fury
Final Destination
The Five Senses
High Fidelity
The Ninth Gate
Pitch Black
Scream 3
Wonder Boys
Galaxy Quest
The Virgin Suicides
Magnolia
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Titus
Billy Elliot was enjoyable, Spawn and I just watched it again the other night. Great performance by the kid.
I didn't care for Almost Famous; paeans to groupies bore me. McDormand was wonderful.
Have you seen Free Enterprise?
Why is Battlefield Earth on the list? I might include it as something that has to be seen to be believed or maybe proof positive that John Travolta should never do anything again except dance in tight pants and grin, but is there something redeeming about the film?
I mean, I'm happy to drool over Barry Pepper any day, but I can't think of a better produced lousy film ever. I mean, it was bad not in a schlocky B-Movie kind of way but in a Bless This Child kind of way.
big derrrrr.
That's what Barbarian movies are for, dear.
You hit the nail squarely, Ms. No. "Battlefield Earth" is so bad it is mesmerizing. I have watched it 3 times and still am dumbstruck (But never asleep) by the end. It is a movie worth seeing because it sets a new standard for BAD that may take a decade or two to break. We are talking imaginatively bad. Not like "Coyote Ugly" which is just bad bad.
Oh, Absensia was just asking us for any movies that we'd seen recently. In other words, not a greatest of list, just hey, here's some flicks I saw recently that were fun.
I was thinking of you the other day, since you were one of two (along with Tabouli) that kicked off FrayFest two years ago, remember?
I actually saw it in the theater----even after all of the horrid press and hubbub. It was at the Mann Village----a truly excellent theater---and I was one of about 15 people in the audience.
The seating capacity at the MV is about 800.
I just couldn't tear my eyes away from the thing. It was worse than the compulsion to watch a car accident. I was spellbound by the unimaginable badness of it.
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Murder by Death
Star Trek First Contact
Wow. That's a weird list. Let's not go there anymore.
I never cared for Murder By Death, but for some reason Maggie Smith's cry of "Where's my Dickie?" has stayed in my memories through the years.
And it is only coincidental that I saw "Murder by Death" and ST FC the same day. But then I did deliberately watch "LA Confidential" the same weekend. It sort of gave me an appreciation for the career arc of James Cromwell.
I loved LA Confidential, except the obligatory hooker with the heart of gold who runs off with the guy who beat the shit out of her. But you can't have everything.
I'm certainly up for it; I don't know what the right approach is.
I don't know of a good format. Maybe have nominations for movies and see who is interested in hosting a discussion about them. I think at some point there is a great pressure to pick a movie that will be satisfying to everybody.
I liked Galaxy Quest simply because it surprised me. I went in with a 'tude that anything starring Tim Allen couldn't possibly appeal to me. And he didn't really, but Sigorney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shoub, Sam Rockwell and the general zaniness and satire of it all was wonderful.
I had the opposite experience with "What Planet Are You From". I went in expecting more of Gary Shandling and Annette Benning and was disappointed as a result.
I think it might be fun to go by Motie favorites. There should be a fairly wide spectrum. Submit two of your favorite films and then work up a schedule of who can host discussions on what when?
I didn't like What Planet Are you From, either.
I was amazed that Basinger won the Oscar, as well. She didn't do anything in LAC that she hasn't done in every other film she's ever been in---stand around looking beautiful, vapid and slightly wounded--- it's just that there was finally a really good film with that called for exactly that from the actress.
On the wave of her Oscar success she went on to make two truly horrid films: I Dreamed of Africa where she is vapid, wounded and beautiful in linen, and Bless This Child where she is vapid, wounded and beautiful in torn pantyhose surrounded by CGI demons.
What is this desire that we have to insist upon granting Oscars to people who are no more than pretty faces or one-note Johnnies/Janes?
blegh!
Here are some of the films I've rented recently:
Day of the Jackal
Reservoir Dogs
Pulp Fiction
Face/Off
The Usual Suspects
The Odessa File
Little Nikita
Sneakers
The Osterman Weekend
State and Main
Shadow of the Vampire
The Family Man
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Conspiracy Theory
The Faculty
They were all enjoyable in their various ways, except for The Family Man and Face/Off. Hm. Is there a trend?
And with that I gotta go.
And with that I gotta go.
I didn't say it was "nothing more than" a paean to groupies; that was the aspect that turned me off--particularly given that it was supposed to be about a writer.
I enjoyed McDormand, and would have liked to see more on the rock stars--Lee and Crudup were both excellent.
I not only didn't like The Family Man, I was annoyed. Waste of money even though I rented it on a 5/$1 for 5 days day.
Phoenix, we are all very agreeable here, always, all time. RME. Care for some tea?
Have you seen The End of the Affair? I liked it a lot...
Judith, nope but am putting it on THE list.
I love spy films, especially vintage WWII ones. The propaganda films from that era are a hoot, too. You should go over to IMDb and explore - you can sort by actor, director, genre. That's what I do, then make lists.
How was An Ideal Husband? I've heard mixed reviews. For very different reasons, two of my favs are Marijuana Madness and Harold and Maude.
I thought the mother was wonderful; I liked the rock stars. But as I said, I don't get all that worked up about a flick that spends a lot of time romanticizing groupies--especially when it is presented as something else.
It still cracks me up that Crowe is now married to a rock star. The identification continues tot this day.
I enjoyed An Ideal Husband immensely. In my opinion, Minnie Driver was the only really unfortunate bit of casting - she just didn't belong in a period piece like that. True, the film could have been done with a lighter touch, but Rupert Everett was delicious, as always.
I still haven't seen the film. My roommate has it on DVD but I just haven't been in the right mood to watch it yet. Mostly I've been reading and not watching TV/film lately.
Good re: An Ideal Husband.
Anything by Hitcock is great. And, An Affair to Remember...the original version...still is the best. And the 40's and 50's stuff...Mildred Pierce et all. I love them!
and I found but two that I would see again
The Usual Suspects and Traffic.
Either I am hard to please or good ( IMO)movies
are hard to find.
and I live in a movie buff town with
20 or so movies playing each week.
Where are you located?
Any movie that plays on "a Free-Spirited-Hippy-Girl and the men who adore her" isn't going to work for me. The hippy girls I've met have all been excruciatingly tedious to talk to.
Great concept...1860 Irish gang war in NYC...but Leonardo needs an Irish voice coach somethin awful
What the hell are you doing, showing your kids French films? Next thing you know they'll be spending all their time in greasy spoon diners, wearing slatternly clothes and letting cigarettes hang out of the side of their mouth.
I told you, hub got it. He'll watch anything. Really. I've decided we have to get cable because he's taken to watching the lame-ass movies on network TV. Two Saturdays in a row, he's watched Tom Arnold movies. Something must be done.
Well because of some strange alignment of the planets which is likely to be a one-time occurance in my lifetime, I have been paralleling CalGal. I too posted (double somehow) hastily because someone poked their head into my cube quizzical about why I was still around at 5:30. Therefore, I posted something that did not come out right and was overly harsh.
While I can understand people being bored with "Almost Famous" I was not. However, I attribute that to the fact that I was a 16/17/18 year old boy during the exact time period that this movie dipicts. I was facinated with how well it recreated a feeling of a particular time and a particular place. Unless you happened to have shared similar circumstances, this movie may understandably not have resonated with you as it did with me. Hence, I am not surprised you might find it boring.
Saying it is a paean to rock groupies is, of course, a gross oversimplification. This film is first and foremost a coming of age story. Such stories have been done to death, however, I thought this one was done quite well. But again that may because the look and feel of the film was so close to my own coming of age.
"Almost Famous" is also a valentine to the rock scene of the early seventies. A time when "Rolling Stone" magazine was something new and different. There is a lot of love in this picture and it vibrated with a sweetness that I found appealing. Sweet I don't normally do.
At least we can agree on Francis McDormand's performance. This is also the only performance of Kate Hudson's, to date, that is not forgettable.
As for my seeming indignation about CalGals rather brusque dismissal of this film, I guess the pot shouldn't be sneering at the kettle....
Therefore, I must make amends....
Baggage that is associated with him being a sexual outlaw. Or just an outlaw. An almost Jeffrey Dahmer/John Wayne Gacy level of lawlessness. As a gay man, I think being a sexual outlaw is fine and healthy. Unfortunately it means me and my kind frequently get lumped into the same general category as as those mentioned above.
Just exactly where is it O.K. to draw the line? Ultimately, I don't think there is a rational answer to this question. Certainly short of actual murder and torture where the "victim" is not a willing participant. But what about torture where the "victim" is a willing participant?
I happened to have actually read de Sade. I didn't particularly like it but I feel it was good for me. Just like watching Passolini's "Salo". Not enjoyable, but certainly edifying.
And because of that comparison, "Quills" suffers. Passolini put de Sade in the context of Fascism and true political repression. As a gay man who suffered much from societal reprobation and political repression, Passolini certainly had a nuanced understanding of de Sade. And a visceral understanding of de Sade.
Even if Geoffrey Rush captured the whimsey and capriciousness that deSade may have had, I just didn't feel the profound anguish that the man must also have had in order to envision and write the things he did.
The whole theme of censorship vs. artistic expression was just handled awfully with sledgehammer to head as almost all the critics noted.
The whole deSade/laundress/priest love triangle (and a true triangle where the priest and deSade also have an intersecting point) was just melodramatic and had no real weight to it.
Passolini got it right. Phillip Kaufman did not.
Well maybe not a better film, but certainly more enjoyable.
maybe it's because i wasn't born when most of it was happening and have no knowledge of the time, but eh, i kept waiting for something, anything, to happen.
so, half way through, we popped in Starship Troopers and marveled at how sexy and pretty Casper Van Dien was in that movie. truly, he has one superb ass.
Me Too!
I wanted to link to the review of Ghost World but it isn't available; the reviewer who took Elvis Mitchells place on our paper is really good but on this stupid web site, he's barely represented.
LONDON (Reuters) - "Planet of the Apes" director Tim Burton is adamant there will be no sequel to the blockbuster movie.
"The idea of doing a sequel -- I'd rather jump out of the window, I swear to God," Burton told Britain's Independent newspaper in an interview published Friday.
Hollywood's "King of the Weird," whose previous quirky triumphs have ranged from "Batman" to "Edward Scissorhands," took a swipe at studio bosses.
"They give you a script, and you do a budget based on that, and say 'This movie would cost $300 million to make', and then they treat you like a crazy, overspending, crazy-person. It's like, 'Well, you gave me the script'," Burton said.
Meanwhile, I've finally updated my online DVD collection list.
Moments after this appeared on-line yesterday, peter bart was forced to take a "leave of absence." HOO-YAH! Haven't had this much fun since David Bgelman forged a check!
Never has so much verbiage been used to say so little.
Got You Can Count on Me to watch later. And I watched The Incredible Journey with the kids this afternoon. Good kids' movie; I hadn't seen it in years.
It was so great to see Hoffman get the lead in a movie--and he was believable, too. ("Who cares, everyone's already seen her tits!")
When you posted your list, I missed your comment about not enjoying The Faculty or Face Off. Just watched The Faculty, while doing housework. I assumed, until I went back and looked, that it was on your "so bad it's hilarious" list. I laughed and laughed...it is sooo baaad. Some how it goes well with housework.
I just now saw your posts on Almost Famous. I didn't see it as a "coming of age" story at all; the kid didn't really mature, and it's not like we all get to travel around with rock stars.
The reason I said it was a paean to groupies is because the film not only romanticized a bunch of young chicks who determine their status by the popularity of the rock star who fucks and then forgets them, but the kid himself was far more groupie than he was a writer. The groupies adopted him, said he was "one of them". Even the sex scene was lesbian--and that's with the boy participating--he certainly was "one of the girls". I didn't get the impression that he was a good writer (although Crowe himself certainly is), but instead someone who worshipped the rock stars. He even ranked his own status based on the groupie he was able to get--at first, he got the second string, but at the end, he finally got the lead chick!
I would have been more impressed if he had given any hint that he was seeking to affect his own destiny. But again, he was just like a groupie--events were completely out of his control.
Eh. It was well acted, McDormand was wonderful. But in the end, it's no surprise that Crowe married a rock star. Although I'm sure he would have rather he'd snagged a bigger name. After all, that's how groupies get status.
If you haven't yet, go see it.
"And Olive? I think you shud know dis. You're a horrible actress."
He said something to the effect that after Deconstructing Harry, he had given up on Allen's movies meaning very much. He thought that the new movie changes that.
Over the weekend I saw "Tigerland". When the fuck is Joel Schumaker going to do us all a favor and just die? About an hour into this I was wishing I could go to Viet Nam. I mean, it couldn't possibly have been as awful as basic training....or this movie.
Speaking of a horrible melieu, I also saw "Bring It On." We lost Viet Nam because we sent the wrong people! Ho Chi Minh would have succumbed to Big Red, Courtney and Whitney in less than a month. Actually, I liked this movie. Jesse Bradford has replaced Freddie Prinz Jr., as my personal teen hearthrob.
That is the premise of "The Deep End" which, as janjon's subconscious hinted at, should be called The Dead End.
This movie has been hyped as a thriller and a film noir when it is neither. It is really more of a melodrama, but an edgy one.
The first half hour or so, I was 'mesmorized' and deeply involved. It's nothing like you've ever seen, and for those moments alone, it is probably worth it. Yet, about mid-way I suddenly felt restless and disassociated from it, and was only curious as to how it would play out. I kept waiting for the thriller part of the film to begin but was disappointed. I was not alone, though,judging by the grumbling from the audience on the way out. I really think the expectation was that this film was supposed to be frightening. It was quite mannered if anything.
David Edelstein's review in Slate has been the only negative one I've read so far.
I've been thinking a bit more about it (always a sign for me that I considered it a terrific movie), and the only part that I think could have been fleshed out a bit more perfectly was the changing relationship between the mother and the blackmailer interplayed with her even more increased determination to "win" and his growing ambivalence about what he was doing (which, I think, was more than just his growing "feelings" for her.)
mannered isn't a bad word for its overall effect, I suppose. Highly stylized and obviously very very very thought out hit it better for me.
click on photo 
I don't know what I expected, but I was surprised at how unsubtle this one was. It reminded me of that old "Fernwood" (?) flick from several years back -- or maybe "Mary Hartman...."
Not exactly what I'd expected. It was hit-over-the-head, pie-in-face humor for the most part, with a variety of digs at several differing types of people who are dog fanciers.
I would imagine someone really dedicated to dogs and dog shows would absolutely despise this movie (although I hope not--I like to think they'd see themselves in it and still laugh).
I kept wishing for just a tad of subtlety somewhere in the script, but it never came. Still, it was good fun, and I laughed out loud several times. Obvious humor is ok if it's genuinely funny.
I need to see that one.
Kim Stanley died? Wasn't she in Planet of the Apes, or do I have that wrong?
My favorite Kim Stanley story concerns the famous production of "The Three Sisters" that she did back in the 60's. At one point they were supposed to eat something on stage, so the actors were asked what they would like to eat because they would be doing it night after night. Stanley, the greatest exponent of "The Method" of her time sang out lustily "Chili! Good Ol' Texas Chili!"
Must be something Chekovian about chili.
Man, was Paddy Chayevsky cookin' with that script!
So, how's Kim Novak?
I was very disappointed in "Best in Show". It was nowhere as good as "Waiting for Guffman". The only thing I found remarkable about it was Christopher Guest's performance. And only remarkable because the character was so different than Corky St. Clair.
Fred Willard, Catherine O'hara and Eugene Levy seemed kinda flat and one-dimensional compared to their performances in Guffman. And Parker Posey was just annoying. Which is what she was striving for, I guess.
Those who are fans of Lauren Ambrose in the current HBO hit "Six Feet Under" on the little screen should catch her performance in "Psycho Beach Party" currently playing on Starz (I think). She did a bang-up job in an otherwise pretty lame movie. The writing by Charles Busch was at many moments very well done and funny, but in the end, it didn't add up.
Buffy fans should see this movie also to satisfy their Nicholas Brandon jones.
Funniest line: "Honey, Lassie could fart out a better script!"
Thanks; you're right, of course. I knew it was a blondish guy whose biceps looked great with rolled up sleeves.
mistake.
he doesn't take his shirt off and thus this movie suffers some of what Planet of the Apes suffered from. mainly a fully clothed Mark Wahlberg can't carry a movie.
this movie was boring and uninteresting. only kept watching it hoping for skin. all i got was Joaquin Phoenix pasty ass - not worth it, lemme tell you.
skip this one.
one quack out of five
(scroll down to read Cellar's critical regrets)
I've seen half of it. If the second half gives me some other reason than to report that they have made Stalingrad 90210, I'll let you know.
Has anyone seen The Others or Ghost World? I want to see them, and would appreciate any short recommendations that do not give anything away. Thanks in advance.
If you want something that will be its best in the theaters, see Rat Race. Very enjoyable for that type of film.
Surprised by your post Phoenix.
"Best in Show" made my short list of best movies
last year.
movies showing in the Bay Area . There were 40
(sic) forty reviews.
Only one was of a movieI would see , have seen, would see again, viz.
"Sexy Beast".
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Okay for me but Keoni loved it.
Shadow of the Vampire Absolutely loved it, both of us. I screamed at Malkovichs lines about love and pain...
You Can Count On Me Both of us liked it.
State and Main Funny enough and loved Hoffman the most; hated Rebecca Pidgeon. She is lucky she's married to Mamet; otherwise, she'd be a storekeeper somewhere.
Susan Alexander Mamet.
Blech. Burn in hell, movie.
Luckily, I also rented Singing in the Rain, so all's well in my world.
Add to your list: the father's infidelities were his daughter's fault because after all, if she loved him and gave him the adoration any daughter owes her father, he wouldn't have strayed.
Although I do like that one scene where Cary Grant shoves Kate Hepburn down after she breaks his golfclub (in the beginning). I absolutely shouldn't, it is terribly un-PC, but from a comedic standpoint it is wonderfully unexpected and it gets me every time I see the clip.
Have you seen Singin' yet? I love the lines. "Don't tell me. You're a French aristocat and she's a lass of the people who won't give you a tumbrel."
"I'm bigger than Calvin Coolidge...PUT TOGETHER!"
What a great movie. It's on my short list of DVD's to start my collection with (once I get the player, of course.)
I also love the acrobatics of it, those tremendous leaps off the walls that the piano player performs. The whole thing reminded me of much of what Jackie Chan does. (Speaking of which, I saw a movie the other day where Jackie Chan hurled himself feet first into a car through the open back window. I don't know how many takes it took to do that, but I bet everyone except the last really hurt like hell.)
The piano player is a guy named Donald O'Connor--who is still alive, I believe. I doubt you saw the Lemmon/Matthau Grumpy Old Men At Sea movie called Out to Sea, but he was one of the featured male dancers (Hal Linden was the other).
In fact, most of the talent in Singin in the Rain is still alive. Of the major actors, Kelly, Lamont, Millard Mitchell (RD) and Douglas Fowley (Roscoe) are dead. Mitchell died shortly after the movie came out, Lamont died young of throat cancer--but Fowley just died two years ago.
Stanley Donen, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green are all still with us. I wish they would do a retrospective documentary--or at least get everyone together for a commentary. That's a high "still alive" rate for a 1950s classic.
Early 50s, right after Singin in the Rain. It is the best of the Fred Astaire MGM musicals--and his best if you aren't a big fan of his movies with Ginger (which I am not). Skewers the theater in much the same way that Singin takes on movies, but not as funny. Still, some great stuff. Fred sings "I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plans" and "With A Shine on My Shoes", both classics. And Cyd Charisse is considerably sexier than Debbie Reynolds, particularly in the long number at the end where she wears a short red dress slit up the thigh. Spectacular, spectacular.
Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant are only so so as the Comden/Green takeoffs, but Jack Buchanan is marvellous as the English director/song and dance man.
If you've ever seen movie clips from musicals, you may have seen the Triplets number, which is Fred, Nannette and Jack dressed up in baby clothes. It is funnier than it sounds.
It is from a parody of Mickey Spillane novels, with some very funny narration.
Here's the Triplets number. 
Couldn't find any good pics on Shine on My Shoes, but it really is great.
Jane Greer, R.I.P.
Jane Greer--who was it that ruined her career because she turned him down? Some producer or studio head? Or am I thinking of someone else?
Anyway, Ted Turner has removed the term "Jap" from all the dialogue, so when Charlton Heston says "You better watch it sonny, or some Jap hotshot is going to flame your ass", it comes out "You better watch it sonny, or some (pause) hosthot is going to flame your ass" and then Heston's lines get screwy and it looks much like English dubbed onto, well, a Japanese picture. And the pilots can no longer exclaim with glee as they peer through the clouds, "It's the whole damn Jap navy!"
I will watch the Battle of the Bulge and Platoon to see if Mr. Turner treats WWII vintage Germans and 1960s Vietnamese to a kraut and gook free filmic 21st century.
I don't think he is running any of those networks anymore, having exchanged control for $$, particularly since AOL took over Time-Warner.
"...Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. Men, all this stuff you've heard about America not wanting to fight - wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost and never will lose a war, because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. Now, an army is a team - it lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap... Now, we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world. You know, by god, I actually pity those poor bastards we're goin' up against. By god, I do. We're not just gonna shoot the bastard, we're going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun bastards by the bushel. Now, some of you boys, I know, are wondering whether or not you'll chicken out under fire. Don't worry about it. I can assure you that you will all do your duty . . . .
I wonder the market share of the Hun?
Shit, on the other hand is obscene. We take great care not to offend the delicate sensibilites of cranky old bitches and say "Poo" instead.
A very light film: an actress uncertain of her part, oldloves and new loves, amysterious manuscript, a sinister brother (Bruno Todeschini) and a comely half-sister.
To be seen and enjoyed.
A few weeks ago, Richard Corliss wrote an essay on Barbara Stanwyck and how well she and her movies have held up. I wrote him an email asking why he thought it was that some actors hold up better than others. Indy and I have both discussed how Joan Crawford and Clark Gable's movies don't hold up all that well.
He wrote back; it was an interesting exchange. Anyway, I have since spent time mulling the pantheon of "So Explain My 30 Year Career" Hasbeens--Crawford, Tyrone Power, Roberts Taylor and Montgomery, and so on.
So in the middle of working GRE math questions til 3am, I stumbled across two movies that were astonishingly interesting--I hesitate to say "excellent", but they were both solid efforts that had a lot of original thought behind them, and both starred people from the Pantheon.
But to be a Jap in the WWII sense, the teeth has to be closer to a rabbits, and the glasses have to include thick lenses and large black frames.
The film wasn't terrible; I just expected more considering its reputation. The symbolism was in some places so obvious as to be inept (Jim Backus wearing a Shirley-Booth-as-Hazel-style apron), and the plot contrived, dangly, and obvious. The last 45 minutes or so were interminable.
Contrived: Sal Mineo writes down Jim Stark's address so he won't forget it. Like he would? Because he writes it down, the toughs can find Stark's house later after they accost Mineo and find the notepad within two seconds.
Dangly: What happened to Natalie Wood's family?
Obvious: Sal Mineo might as well have been wearing a red Star Trek uniform.
Natalie Wood was pretty good in it, I thought. Why did those push-up bras go out of style, anyway? Too many eye injuries? A conspiracy by the silicone industry?
(I expect Cellar to offer an outraged defense of Rebel and point out why my opinion is so Phillistine, BTW.)
Joan Crawford, Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Ruth Warrick. Directed by Otto
Preminger.
One of the few times Joan had male co-stars of equal stature who were capable
of holding their own and a director who didn't specialize in chick flicks.
It's really too bad she didn't take this route more often. Star power and
unsentimental direction do much to improve a rather sudsy tale of a fashion
designer in love with a married lawyer (Dana Andrews) and her decision to
hook up with a shellshocked soldier (Fonda).
I know, it sounds completely ordinary. But get this: Fonda is goofy,
unpredictable, and not the saintly rescuer--his character is the weakest in
the film, but at least it's not predictable. Andrews' wife (Ruth Warrick) is
not an obvious villain, just a high strung housewife who happens to
physically abuse her younger daughter. Andrews is a good and loving dad, a
lawyer who actually takes his job seriously without trying to save the
world--but he's also seriously upset when Crawford marries Fonda. Crawford
isn't a whiner and lives with her choices with unforced good humor. The two
men in her life become friendly rivals and call each other (I'm not making
this up) "honey bunch". The story turns in twists both historically and
dramatically interesting; I never anticipated the way in which consent-based
divorce entered the plot equation, for example.
At the same time it is a surprisingly modern film. A
morally righteous ending is not enforced; the presentation of the various
family and relationship dysfunctions is nuanced and far more insightful than
one would expect.
It's not available on DVD or video, so you'll have to see if it shows up on AMC again. I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but if you stumble across it I'd recommend leaving it on, if only for its unpredictability.
You should've seen that movie when you were 13 or 14....it was very powerful stuff in 1955.
East of Eden is the Real Dean Deal.
Meanwhile... It'sMea Culpatime in Hollywood as "Bartgate" reaches a Cellar-predicted conclusion.
Ghost World is worth seeing also, reminiscent of Polyester and Hairspray. Steve Buscemi plays a nice guy for a change and Thora Birch is quite good in the lead. Terry Zwigoff's last movie was Crumb.
Hedwig was spectacular, visually and musically. It was called by the reviewers "glam rock." The nearest I can recall is Tommy.
I felt that Ghost World had a weak ending. What did you think of the whole "bus" thing?
Bror was a famous hunter, Hemingway modeled his hero in The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber after him. Felicity is actually Beryl Markham. And Blixen really did do everything to try and find a place for "her" Kikoyu.
Great movie, Out of Africa. I'll never forget Karen Blixen's farewell remarks at Finch-Haddon's burial: "He brought us joy. And we loved him well. He was not yours. He was not ours." (My memory may not be perfect but that's close.)
This caused me to watch the video to see all the wonderful things I'd missed the first time around when the movie came out in 1953. Well, the movie is okay, perhaps among the best westerns but far from the best western, let alone the best American movie. I guess it was a mistake to trust the judgment of a quintessential New Yorker on westerns. Alan Ladd just wasn't an authentic gunslinger or even a cowboy, in the way he talked, dressed rode or handled his gun. He looked too Hollywood, too much like Roy Rogers and his horse too much like Trigger. The straw that broke the camel's back for me was the way he twirled his gun before putting it back into its holster after dispatching the bad guy played by Jack Palance.
In my opinion, off the top of my head, The Gunfighter, The Oxbow Incident, Red River and High Noon are all better, or at least more authentic, westerns than Shane. (I'm sure there are others that don't immediately come to mind.)
My Faves:
Once Upon a Time in the West
Johnny Guitar
One-Eyed Jacks
The Shooting
Horse
1. The Ox Bow Incident
2. The Searchers
3. The Long Riders
4. Once Upon A Time in the West
5. The Magnificent Seven
6. The Outlaw Josey Wales
7. Unforgiven
8. High Noon
9. Red River
10. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
"He was not ours. He was not mine." But yes, it is sweet.
I added Shane to my Netflix queue because of that article; don't know if the movie is any good but it certainly piqued my interest.
Finally, another film released in 2001 that I can recommend without reservation ("Sexy Beast" and "Legally Blonde" were being crushed under the weight of responsibility). Directed by Chilean Alejandro Amenabar and shot in Spain (Spain does a creditable job as the Channel Islands, circa 1945), The Others is essentially a haunted house story. The inhabitants of that house are Nicole Kidman, a WWII widower (though she hangs on to the slim reed of hope that her missing husband will some day return) and her two children who suffer a allergy to light. As such, they must be kept in a house curtained off from all sunlight. They are joined by an elder nanny and gardener, and a mute servant girl.
Amenabar's picture is creepy and methodical, but he has no real interest in a big "Gotcha!" or in the marvels of special effects. His haunts are sparse yet genuine, and with the riveting and luscious Kidman as our guide (1945 fashion agrees with her), he draws the audience into the horror of the house gently. The picture is also beautiful as Amenabar makes full use of his light-deprived set, yet makes the externals (the fog laden English manor) even more foreboding.
The parallels to The Sixth Sense are there, but The Others owes more to Peter Medak's The Changeling and Lewis Allen's The Uninvited. One of the best of this year. Grade: A.
Long before Streisand became an impossible diva who confused obsessive control with artistry, she was an extremely talented comedienne with a voice that deserved all the raves. Her first film, a so-so biopic of Fanny Brice, is the only film that really showcased her properly; she was never seen to such advantage again.
More of a comedy with songs than traditional musical, it works well enough in the first half as Fanny makes her way from starstruck East Side girl to Ziegfeld star. The supporting performances are fine--Kay Medford as Mrs. Brice is perfect, Walter Pidgeon is both stuffy and amusing as Flo Ziegfeld, and Omar Sharif is much better than I ever expect him to be. The dialog is witty and sharp, and there are two excellent comic scenes--in fact, I think it may be the second funniest "musical" after Singin in the Rain, based solely on the first half's achievements. The movie rests on Babs' shoulders and for the first 90 minutes she carries it effortlessly. Her singing is truly extraordinary; it reminds me again that age has not been kind to her voice.
The second half sucks, as do almost all musicals based on Broadway shows. The only bright spots are a comic stage show of The Swan--which has a nice turn by Tommy Rall as the Prince--and Streisand's gorgeous delivery of Brice's signature song "My Man". The last is a variation from the stage show; I think the stage song is more fitting but I'm not sure I'd trade.
It has been gussied up for re-release and is making the arthouse rounds. Worth seeing on the big screen; this is a movie that suffers badly from pan and scan. If you can, see it with a large crowd--the gayer the better. I saw it at the Castro. Okay, proximity to SF gives me an unfair advantage. But shoot for the big crowd, anyway.
We seldom agreed. I was never a Paulette,and hadn't spoken to her for years. But she will be missed.
Luckily she passed in a truly terrible year.
Pauline -- you didn't miss a thing!
It has been a dreadful year, hasn't it?
I wonder if I saw it as an adult would I still be as scared...
I thought it was extremely funny when, at one point in the movie, Hedwig was speaking about the lawsuit and said "Tommy, can you hear me?"
I recently saw The Uninvited. It still instills a decent chill, and it is a hell of a lot of fun to watch with the lights out. It has a timeless quality.
I would add another to the pantheon of very good ghost films (I think The Haunting is overrated, somewhat overacted and clunky). A 1988 Frank Laloggia picture called Lady in White. A commenter in IMDB named Dr. Tart fairly encapsulates my thinking:
"'Lady In White' is beautiful. It's a tale about murder and revenge set in a small town...that just happens to be haunted by a the ghost of one of the victims. Director Frank LaLoggia gives the tale plenty of common sense and allows the stars to portray their characters very realistically, which adds a much more sinister element once the ghosts are introduced. What's more scarier than ghosts appearing to "real" people? It's smart, scary, stylish, and keeps you guessing. I highly recommend this movie."
The film is largley unrecognized, and LaLoggia didn't do another picture, but my top 5 ghost pictures would now be
The Uninvited
Lady in White
The Others
The Changeling
The Shining
Good to see a ghosty horror movie again rather than the hack 'em slash 'em feed 'em to a CGI blob crap that's mostly out there.
I recently saw Session 9 as well which was good but not as much to my taste as The Others.
I'm very glad I saw her in The Full Monty before she went.
I spend too much time not able to see what's going on in the crucial moments and frantically adjusting the volume on the remote because the dialogue is garbled and whisper soft while the mood music is loud enough to make me bleed from the ears.
I'm still trying to find a video store around here that's got a copy of the original Haunting of Hill House.
We've got 92 copies of Bride of Chucky and not a single one of a classic like HoHH.
is a taut thriller that role reverses to good effect. The protagonist - Tilda Swinton - is a mother who covers up for the crime of her son. The "hooker with a heart of gold" is no hooker, but a blackmailer - Goran Visnjic - who warms to Swinton in her desperation to come up with cash. Swinton is mesmerizing as an isolated, semi-repressed mother figure, desperately dealing not only with the emergence of her teenage son's lover as a corpse in their backyard, but the fact that her son is dealing with his homosexuality (no mean feat in a military family), her husband is at sea (he serves on a United States carrier), her father-in-law (who lives with her) is ill, and she has two other children to whom she tends. Visjnic is forced by the screenwriters to silently evoke his change of heart in very little time, but he manages, even in quietude (I was reminded of Kevin Spacey's all-in-the-eyes grasp for an honest change in L.A. Confidential). The Deep End succeeds most with Swinton as she juggles the pressures of most thrillers (violence, threats, time-pressure) with the everyday factor of child-rearing. Her exasperated speech to Visjnic as he informs her that she is not trying hard enough to get the money, is the heart of the film. One negative is Visnjic's partner, an inexplicably bad, bad, bad guy whose present suggests more Tarantino than really works for this picture. Grade: B+
3000 Miles to Graceland
is the worst film I've ever seen. Stars Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner quarreled over the ending. As the director, Demian Lichtenstein, may very well be retarded, it was an unnecessary squabble.
I had taped this from HBO and watched it last night. Billy Crystal's ode to Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris' chase of Babe Ruth's home run record crackles along well for the fist half, but when Mantle (Thomas Jane) drops out of the picture, we are left with the morose, pathetic, whiner that is Roger Maris (Barry Pepper). Because Crystal so lingers on his woe and misery because everybody loves Mickey (as well they should - Mickey is fun), the picture runs 30 minutes too long. Apparently, Maris was a pitiable whiner for years to come (he stated as late as the 1980 All-Star Game, “They acted as though I was doing something wrong, poisoning the record books or something. Do you know what I have to show for 61 home runs? Nothing. Exactly nothing”).
Thirty very long minutes. Grade: C.
Mantle was a brilliant talent, Maris was a worker with a skill. He was unquestionably mistreated by the fans, because fans prefer talent to workmanlike competence and were happy to forgive Mickey anything--once they'd stopped hating him for "replacing" DiMaggio, of course.
Anyway, Jane was unquestionably excellent as Mantle; Pepper did a good job with Maris and I agree that it was half an hour too long.
I turned to PBS in the hopes that the Lehrer Newshour or some other of the PBS newsshows would be on and save me from the bathos of network newscasters with a dearth of new information. Instead, I found a Dana Andrews movie just beginning, looked it up and decided I could skip an evening of news about the attack.
Boomerang! is a taut little semi-documentary about a real-life murder of a priest in Bridgeport, CT. The town is outraged, the pols must find a scapegoat to win re-election, they railroad a drifter, cops pressure him into a confession, state's attorney starts to see problems with the case ....well, I'm sure you know the rest.
But it's well done, with a great cast--not only Dana Andrews, but Lee J.Cobb, Ed Begley, Sam Levene, and Arthur Kennedy as the hapless drifter. It also happens to be a true story; the DA went on to serve as FDR's attorney general for two terms.
There are very few movies with Dana Andrews that aren't worth a look; if you aren't already stopping when you run into his face on the late show, give it a try.
In short order, I saw a couple of commercials, and the Wolverine/Sabertooth fight scene at the Statue of Liberty.
It made me think that there are certain movies (and t.v. show opening promos) and commercials that will never again quite be the same.
Then I thought that this most recent event may be such a watershed that we may all, at least unconsciously, not view movies the same again.
Then I started trying to make a list.
A. Before the WTC was ever built
I need to rewatch "Funny Girl". Did or did not the "People" number feature the NYC skyline pre-WTC?
What are all the many other movies that feature the pre-WTC skyline?
B. While the WTC stood.
X-Men, of course, and any other film between 1972 and 2001 that featured the NYC skyline. What are those?
C. Post WTC.
We do not know what the future holds, but no future film that uses the NYC skyine as a backdrop will fail to cause some sort of tinge (sadness, nostalgia, I don't know what else) of feeling.
A. Pre-Trade Center skylines: West Side Story has an opening shot of the isle of Manhattan, doesn't it?
Evidently a bunch of upcoming films are undergoing editing to remove shots of the WTC from the movies. It certainly would create a jarring moment in a romantic comedy.
There are also movies set in Hoboken or Jersey City that show the WTC, aren't there?
I don't remember any WTC shots in "Manhattan." Just the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building.
I haven't seen the movie for years, but must admit that every time I hear Gershwin's "Rhapsady in Blue", I think of the fireworks exploding over the Manhattan skyline.
The WTC only appears for a fraction of a second in that fight scene and only the lower portion of it.
It is first most prominently visible in an establishing arial shot just prior to Toad and Sabertooth killing the Liberty Island guards.
A replica of the WTC is pretty prominent in the 3-D holographic map that Cyclops/Wolverine et. al. use to plan the approach to Liberty Is.
The actual WTC is most prominent in the arial shots as Wolverine destroys the mutant-making machine to save Rogue.
My point, however, is that the whole focus of those scenes seems to have shifted for me. Certainly when I am consciously looking for it. But my experience last weekend was more jarring and reflexive.
That is worse than the digital fig leaves that were pasted onto "Eyes Wide Shut" after Kubrick's death.
It is a vandalism that is unforgivable.
Every time I hear it, I think of United Airlines. (I wish there was a law against appropriation of great music for commercials...and whether the sponsors pay for the privilege shouldn't even be relevant.)
Every time I hear it, I think of United Airlines.
fireworks over the Manhattan skyline ... United Airlines ... so that's where they got the idea!
I recently watched "The Mummy".
Not a single gunshot. Not a single gun. The hero was kinda wimpy, but the heroine was sassy. The creature was pretty frightening. The flashbacks to ancient Egypt and the backstory of Imhotep and Anck Su Namun was majestic.
Have you seen The Mummy Returns? I thought that it was bad sequelling to make Brandon Frasier's character suddenly more rough and skilled in fighting. He went from the wimpy and awkward love interest to the brave and attitudey defender of the bracelet in part 2.
David Manners as Frank Whemple was dashingly handsome, but something of a wimp. Still, he showed bravery when called upon and didn't need an entire armory to do so.
Boris Karloff as Imhotep/Ardeth Bey was creepy. He was able to project a sense of the supernatural with just his eyes. No sand storms, no marching skeletons, no swarms of locusts.
IMDB lists Nina wilcox Puntnam, Richard Schayer and John L. Balderston as the writers of this version and as "uncredited" writers of the 1999 version.
Since the 1999 script adhered so closely to the basics of the 1932 script, they should have also been credited with that script too, IMHO.
Only after watching the 1932 version do I realize how tacked on the gunfights really are in the 1999 version. And how unnessary the computer generated special effects really are. In fact, they detract from the story.
I've never been able to catch all of the original The Mummy.
I recently watched "Traffic" and "Trainspotting" in close proximity. Although "Traffic" is a must-see movie to understand why the War on Drugs is futile and a stupid waste of billions of dollars, the violence is sickening in its realism and detail. I think this movie could have been just as good with none of the graphic violence.
"Trainspotting", really a comedy, had little graphic violence, even though people died. Begbie (Robert Carlyle in a stunning performance) was the only violent character, but he didn't kill anyone and although he brandished a gun, he never shot it. He actually made the point that it wasn't even loaded.
"Trainspotting" also brought home the point (more subtly than did "Traffic") that drugs are not really the problem, it is the dead-end that many young people face that causes the drug problem to begin with. It's all about boredom, really.
I am not advocating that anyone go out and chastise Hollywood for senseless violence. Hollywood doesn't bother me because they are for the most part talentless and uninspired (see comments re: 1999 'The Mummy'). But after recent events (which were not like a movie), I for one, am going to be a little more questioning when I see graphic and brutal violence on the screen.
"Band of Brothers": violence necessary to the story.
"The Mummy", "Traffic", violence for the sake of violence. Really designed to shock and amaze. So , is it necessary? Especially when who, anywhere, can really be shocked anymore?
I mean, honestly, in the wake of the Pentagon and WTC attacks who really gives a shit if some petty, greedy kids in swimsuits will force themselves to eat bugs to stave off hunger for a million dollars?
I once walked by a car with darkened windows and from the sounds coming from it and the fact it was rocking, I could tell something was going on inside...my imagination made it more sexy...and violent...than it would have been in reality, I'm sure.
People will talk about the horrid scene where the girl gets hung up on the meat hook as if they actually saw the hook going into her skin, but they didn't. You see the hook, you see the girl, you see the girl lifted toward the hook and then it cuts away and you hear her screaming but you don't see her actually impaled. You know it but you don't see it.
It's far more horrifying than any amount of latex and red syrup could be. Your mind is a much better FX creator.
And, hoooo, man! that Kate Beckensale is some fine lookin' woman. Oh, my goodness!
Recommended for romantics of all ages. Cynics and realists need not apply.
That's why the sexiest scenes don't necessarily involve nudity.
That Gladiator sucks, is not news.
However, that it so thoroughly sucks, and yet is regarded as a quality movie. Now, that sucks.
How can Bruce Willis possibly be considered a top actor? How can anyone stand him?
I couldn't make it through the film.
But he's a top movie star.
Movie star is to actor
As golfer is to athlete.
I suppose she is if you like rail thin bodies with huge heads wobbling on top. I saw a photo of her in a evening gown...the description said "curve hugging" but I couldn't locate one...with her hair up in a french twist and she looked like on of those aliens getting off the ship in Close Encounters.....
Take me to her leader!
Bruce Willis is a drip.
My students have been bugging me to rent Gladiator--they mostly loved it. I've been resisting so far, but I still haven't seen SPR or even Braveheart, which students also love, for some reason not related to Mel Gibson being the finest looking man on the planet. I'm not a blood and guts fan.
As golfer is to athlete.
Golfers are athletes. And one would expect some kind of charisma in top movie stars. Some kind of good looks. Something. The guy is fucking god-fucking-awful! (sorry to take the Lord's name in vain. Won't do it again, so help me god). Even Mickey Rourke is better than that loser!
I mean - we used to have Brandos and Bogarts, you know.
(Did I say loser?)
(Well, he is, no matter how much moolah he makes).
I liked Braveheart.
Well, there's one part where Gibson and his men give the opposing army a group full monty. Maybe that'll make up for the fight scenes.
Besides, as I recall, there's a lot more than fight scenes.
But I may be confusing Braveheart with Rob Roy.
It's overdrawn, overblown, overrated and overpraised.
Then again, it's 'way better than Gladiator!
Whatshisname.
He has a girl name. Like Leslie.
Nice to see this thread active. Laugh-track Judy should be given the duty of both TV & MOVIES until I get back in the good graces of wabbit.
We rented the DVD of "Josie & the Pussycats." Deep, deep movie. Hilarious, especially the version with the producers talking over the script.
On Sunday night we saw the latest Rohmer, "The Lady and the Duke" at the New York Film Festival.
Depicting the French Revolution from any angle is a risky prospect, but Rohmer seems to deserve the criticism (in france) that he sympathizes with royalists with this one. I tried very hard to defend him, reaching one could say, for examples in which Rohmer subtley mocked the proud, noble, scottish aristocrat Grace Elliott, the heroine of this film, but my husband flattened each attempt. In the end, I had to admit, that Rohmer portrayed the aristocracy as brave, eloquent and virtuous, and the revolutionaries as village idiots-- ill-mannered, bumbling fools outdoing each other in their fanaticism.
I discovered, in the process, that my husband is a closet royalist, an accusation he once levelled at one of my professors, Pierre Rosanvallon, because he reminded him physically of Louis XVI.
I wished for Grace to be beheaded by the end because her haughtiness and self-righteousness was insufferable. My husband found her 'cute'.
What you are supposed to take away from the film is "the ironic play on character shaped by environment". When Grace sends for her lady-in-waiting to fetch her a sachet of lavander to protect her delicate nostrils from the stench of the french prison, this irony is at its best. (we almost got divorced over this issue)
What is also noteworthy is the digital backdrop in which the effect of reproducing pre-revolutionary France was achieved. It was like superimposing real life, moving figures on a stagnant oil painting, but very cool in a way. At eighty-one, Rohmer is still reinventing his style and outdoing himself. I recommend you see this movie in a theater, not on video.
Gangsters, guns and ganja in early 1970s in Jamaica that introduced reggae to the wider world.
I've never seen the movie, only heard the album.
The problems I noticed with the film are that it's sometimes hard to follow the action because you're not sure why some things are being done although this may have been a "choice" in order to give the audience the same feeling of disorientation as Hawke's character. Additionally, I think they're not so sly as they think they are----there are only a couple of really good "surprise" moments in the film. This isn't a bad thing, but I have a feeling they wanted the audience to be a little less certain of the outcome of events.
At any rate, it's a good action flick, tolerable on the "ethics" front---doesn't get too moralistic---, and involves some excellent performances. Not just Denzel but I'm thinking especially of the secondary/tertiary characters. The scene at Mexican gang-bangers' house is one of the best in the film. SnoopDogg has a cameo and I could have sworn the woman in the pink housecoat was Macy Gray...
(pops over to IMDB.com)
well, Hell, it WAS Macy Gray. Very cool cameo. Dr. Dre also has a cameo but I don't recall which one it was since I don't recognize him as easily as others.
Not much to say about Ethan Hawke. He does a good job in the straight-man role but it's nothing to get hopped up over. Not his fault just not a very showy role.
The only laugh is the last frame of film, and even that is a sight gag.
Grade: F-.
Nicolas Cage is a really fine actor, and it shows most when he is in sub-par retread material like "The Family Man", a cross between "It's a Wonderful Life", "A Christmas Carol", and (here's the bad part), and "Regarding Henry." Soulless capitalist, an 80s archetype, gets a chance to see his life as it would have been had he been hip and grooving and stuck with Tea Leoni.
Here is a big problem. Tea Leoni is noticeable only when she's grating. And for the film to work, we have to see that Cage's life would be appreciably better as a New Jersey tire salesman married to Leoni, as opposed to a driven, but apparently decent arbitrage multi-millionaire (a good deed gets him his glimpse of another life).
And his life as a tire salesman does suck. Objectively. Squadoosh.
The film has a few funny bits, and Cage makes much that otherwise wouldn't work.
Grade: C.
Don't know why all the suprise that he's a Royalist. He's always been politically Conservative (and one of the Old School at that. He'd have no truck with the Coulter's of this world.)
My review of Chereau's Intimacy is running next week in "New Time: Los Angeles." A supremely depressing film that no one should miss. 180 away from the generosity of spirit that marked Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train. this time out sex becomes an expression of alienation and anxiety. The leads, Mark Rylance and Kerry Fox, actually do it. But don't expect to get all hot and bothered by the results.
Marianne Faithfull is superb in a supporting role.
....the rings will bind them....
It's smart and sassy!!!!
What is that? A joke?
"Zool, you nut!"
If Brad Pitt had been Rick in “Casablanca,” he’d have said, “Here’s looking at me, Kid.”
If Pam Grier had been the lead in “Nine ½ Weeks,” Mickey Roarke wouldn’t have lasted nine ½ minutes.
If Kevin Costner had played Rosebud in “Citizen Kane” he’d have probably screwed it up.
If Kris Kristofferson was in a remake of “A Star is Born....” Wait a minute. He was in a remake. ...What were they thinking?
LOTR comes out around x-mas time, i think
Send an email to motegatekeeper@yahoo.com and you can get a new password.
The movie "Cats & Dogs" available tomorrow at Blockbusters.
Did Ripley send in his password request?
Band of Brothers has been about the only non-news viewing I've done lately.
So, what if the kids don't finish their homework, the movie is sooooo cool.
"Ellie May" Clampett was the same way in an interview I saw once. A 60+ year old woman in fake blond pony tails is not a pretty sight. Maybe she was doing it as a joke or something, but now I can hardly watch her in B. Hillbilly reruns without cringing (not that I could without some irritation before).
I will get to see "All Over The Guy" and "Adventures of Felix". No "Nico and Dani" however.
Will also see "Gypsy 83" by Todd Stephens and some episodes of "Metrosexuality", the British TV show. The festival closes with "Julie Johnson" which I have also been wanting to see ever since I read about its showing at Sundance.
sorry about that.
Under no circumstances should Adventures of Felix be missed. All Over the Guy is nice mild fun.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Afghanistan may have been the breeding ground for last month's terrorist attacks, but Hollywood served as a source of inspiration, says director Robert Altman.
"The movies set the pattern, and these people have copied the movies," Altman said Tuesday by phone from London, where he's finishing his film "Gosford Park.""Nobody would have thought to commit an atrocity like that unless they'd seen it in a movie."
So violent action movies with huge explosions amount to training films for such bold attacks, as studios spend a lot of time and money trying to appeal to young males, the 76-year-old filmmaker said
"How dare we continue to show this kind of mass destruction in movies," said Altman, whose directing credits include "M-A-S-H,""Nashville" and "Dr. T & the Women.""I just believe we created this atmosphere and taught them how to do it."
what an idiot
Might be a good link to post in WWTD, though. I think it goes along with the premise there.
Why not just copy to WWTD? It's a dual-purpose post.
'Went to see Bandits. Thought it would be fun.
It wasn't.
'Thought it might have been based on the old Elmore Leonard novel.
It wasn't.
'Thought it might have some good laughs, and some good dialogue.
It didn't.
Trust me. Save your money.
'Sucks. Big Time.
But you knew that.
Well, I'm one of the minority that believes modern movies are far superior, in general, to the oldies. I've frequently said so, here, in the past.
However, the oldies were better than Bandits.
A good movie has a combination of originality, good writing, good acting, good editing and good direction whether it was made in 1939 or 1999. Nothing new there. Modern movies can be just as good as old movies. Modern movies that are remakes suffer in comparison because they immediately are missing the originality.
Isn't Bandits that new Bruce Willis movie?
not that it looks like great cinema or anything, but Jet Lee's The One & the comic adaptation From Hell both look worthy of a trip to the theater.
I tend to be too critical of stuff that probably was largely beyond the control of the people who made those movies, i.e., I blame them for the times they lived in.
For example, I've remarked here before that Preston Sturges wasn't above using racist charicatures in some scenes. To me, this is disappointing in the extreme, although, on sober reflection, it is probably forgivable, considering the time the films were made.
Another great movie, "Gentlemen's Agreement" boldly took on the ugly social evil of anti-Semitism, but timidly ignored the much more pervasive evil of racism. Again, understandable, considering the times, but infuriating nevertheless. Two minutes, even, of recognition in the dialogue that black people were being screwed 'way more regularly than were the Jews would have saved it. But, no.
The other big Sin of oldies, to me, was the apparent glorification (especially in the 30s) of people who were narrow, ignorant, even stupid, and the frequent fun-poking at people who were educated. A better formula for raising a nation of dolts couldn't have been contrived if they'd tried.
Then there's the wonderful '50s, when the McCarthy witch-hunts terminated the careers of hundreds of the most creative people in the movie industry. Were it not for a few musicals and a handful of decent but often overrated dramatic efforts, the whole middle of that decade would have been unadulterated tripe.
But, hell, I've tried making this point before and I always get shouted down. Go ahead and enjoy the oldies. Hell, you're right, there must have been, oh, thirty movies made before 1957 that are worth saving.
Much more facinating than Bruce Willis.
BEST PICTURE
Memento
Sexy Beast
Legally Blonde
The Others
The Deep End
BEST ACTOR
Guy Pearce - Memento
Johnny Depp - Blow
Ray Winsome - Sexy Beast
Edward Norton - The Score
BEST ACTRESS
Reese Witherspoon -Legally Blonde
Nicole Kidman - The Others
Tilda Swinton - The Deep End
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Alakina Mann - The Others
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Pierce Brosnan - The Tailor of Panama
Ben Kingsley -Sexy Beast
Ian McShane - Sexy Beast
James Bentley - The Others
Goran Visnjic - The Deep End
Other Good Films of 2001
Startup.com
The Tailor of Panama
Films I Want To See From 2001
A.I.
Amores Perros
Anniversary Party
Moulin Rouge
Ghost World
Baby Boy
Session 9
Diamond Men
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Happy Accidents
L.I.E.
Training Day
Joy Ride
Anastasia
Autumn Leaves
Around the World in Eighty Days
Anything Goes
The Best Things in Life Are Free
Bus Stop
The Court Jester
Forbidden Planet
Giant
The Girl Can't Help It
Godzilla
High Society
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The King and I
A Kiss Before Dying
The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Moby Dick
Our Miss Brooks
The Searchers
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Tea and Sympathy
The Ten Commandments
Trapeze
War and Peace
The Wrong Man
1984
That's 27 and only 1956. To get to 31 I did have to go all the way to the g's in 1955:
Bad Day at Black Rock
Blackboard Jungle
East of Eden
Guys and Dolls
That's 31
Phoenix:
'Ever heard of outrageous overstatement for the sake of emphasis?
I readily concede that 30 is 'way too low a number. It was plucked out of the air.
'Lots of good movies before 1957. (But more, since.)
Or bad like The Phantom Menace?
Francis, you have very eclectic taste. I fear however that the tastes of the "Academy" are not as well developed. Therefore, films like Memento and The Deep End will be totally overlooked come nomination time.
nails: my gut feeling is that your assertion is wrong. However, I do not have time to continue my exhaustive reasearch at imdb.
Her son, Jonathan Poe, did attend however. In his late 20's ( his pic soon in Ehrensteinland, natch) he's a kind of lanky version of his mother. He definitely has her eyebrows. (His father is the late screenwriter James Poe whose credits include The Bedford Incident and They Shoot Horses Don't They.
Anyway the most important thing was he'd never seen the movie before!
I told him to be prepared to have an entirely new relationship with Mom as a result. I spoke to him afterwards and he seemed quite shaken by the experience.
Best movie this year, Moulin Rouge. Then Shrek--I really don't understand Francis' prejudice against putting it on the list. After that it drops quickly, although I did like Spy Kids, Tailor of Panama Street. Haven't seen The Others, The Deep End, and Sexy Beast yet.
I enjoyed the laughs in Rat Race, for no good reason.
Performances:
MacGregor in Moulin Rouge
Brosnan in Tailor
Buscemi in Ghost World
The farther I get from having seen Memento, the more it pisses me off. Great movie gone bad. Still, Pearce was good.
Like that one...the other one at least has an excuse.
If Ebert's review is even partially accurate, this is probably a terrific movie that I will never see because I would fucking want to kill the mother. But good for Penny Marshall for doing something closer to reality than her usual crap.
From Hell looks very promising, too.
Well on the print sown last night "Blue Moon" was replaced -- in both instances -- by "The Shiek of Araby"! At first I thought I'd misremembered, but when I got home I put on my laserdisc of * 1/2 and there was "Blue Moon"!
I've never come across anything like this before. Can anyone explain it?
Gee, now that I know about the music switch, I'd much rather have the "original" Italian version.
Licia Maglietti, married with two teenage boys and an obnoxious husband, is left behind by the tour bus on her family's vacation, and instead of going home, goes off on a lark to Venice where she makes some new friends and discovers some new things about herself. Anybody who doesn't like this movie is simply sub-human.
is an infantile (read, "stylish") revamp of the Jack the Ripper saga. It has many things wrong with it. Here are a few:
1) Johnny Depp, the lead Ripper investigator, is a psychic, which comes in handy;
2) The Ripper entices prostitutes with grapes, a neat fact the investigators choose to withhold from potential victims (as well as the fact that the Ripper is an educated man);
3) Heather Graham is about as convincing as a White Chapel prostitute as I might be as the lead in "The Clint Eastwood Story."
4) Every murder (and every autopsy/crime scene) is shown. Each more bloody then the next. This is exhausting and boring.
5) You can see this film in its more straightforward and adult incarnation. It is called "Murder By Decree."
Grade: F.
It is getting good reviews thus far. I was going to see it tonight.
Good luck. Adios.
Joy Ride it is.
The film left the audience to fill in a fair number of blanks as best it could. Lynch captured the sinister side of Los Angeles and Hollywood and provided suspense and dread that matched most anything by Hitchcock, minus a clear, coherent, completely comprehensible plot.
Lynch has come a long way since Eraserhead.
you are going to hate joy Ride
Although "American Friend" did to perfection the scene where Ripley and the dying man killed the mobster in the toilet on the train. It is one of the few instances in cinema where you get a sense of just how difficult it is to strangle someone. Trying to do it in a toilet on a train can only be hilarious. When you think about it.
I just grieved for the Ganz character; he broke my heart.
Of course, I would also like to see them make a film of The Boy Who Followed Ripley which is the most overtly homoerotic of all the series.
I just discovered that both Ripley Underground and Ripley's Game are in the works.
Actually, I had a great time. Movies like Joy Ride are hard to watch in theaters, though, since they don't provide couches for me to hide behind while I'm watching through my fingers.
My bro and I are trying to decide whether to see Joy Ride or From Hell tonight. I know that Joy Ride is getting some good press, but I'm still a bit leery. I'm not a huge Leelee Sobiesky fan---I think she's a bit overexposed of late, but I can get past that. What I fear is that the protagonists will do dumb things in order to endanger themselves and keep the movie suspenseful. I'm also worried that there will be 9 million "Whew, we're safe.....Oh SHIT!!!!" scenes.
What would you compare JoyRide to? Is it better or worse than The Hitcher? Closer to Final Destination (quite good) or Urban Legends (lame)?
They do not. That is what elevates the movie to a true suspense flick (if B level) as opposed to a schlock horror film that has screams but no suspense. Very little on screen violence, and the movie isn't distorted around Leelee.
It is also, to this chick's way of thinking, extremely funny.
I'm trying to think of some other good suspense flicks in the same genre and can't. All that came to mind is Diabolique, which is A level and not funny. But that is the kind of anxiety it provokes, at its best. Lots of fun, not to be taken seriously, and definitely bruised forearm.
;-)
Thanks!
The Online Film Critics Society
Nothing good said about From Hell. Forget the toin coss....uh...coin toss. We're going to Joy Ride.
Zahn was excellent, but I think a lot of money could be made releasing a special DVD edition where the audience gets to punch his character in the face every time his actions cause a major problem.
Two things I have to mention:
(not really spoilers but I'll white font anyway)
- When you hot-wire an automobile you can't turn it off and then back on again unless you either find the keys or hotwire it again.
- Could somebody get Leelee Sobiesky a bra, please? The shirts they put her in show her nipples even when they aren't erect. I was embarassed for her.
i have no idea what in Joy Ride would make you watch it thru your fingers.
assuming, of course, you aren't trying to keep your dinner down from the sheer dumbness of the whole thing
CG & Ms No:
what'd you think of the boo-tay scene?
Christin, you aren't suggesting it was an accident?
Ducky, that's the kind of scare that gets me. Sorry.
OSCAR CAN-CAN: In an attempt to draw Oscar interest, Fox announcing plans to rerelease its musical Moulin Rouge November 21, with engagements in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, Variety reports.
She had been at the Fellini event a few evenings before, and I gave her a copy of "December" magazine,the Chicago Arts journal I wrote for in the 60's and 70's, which had the piece I'd written about her in it (I called it "Black Sundae")
She spoke beofre the film about Fellini and how he loved to audition hordes of people for months. No one read any lines. He'd just talk to them about what they were doing. When she saw him for 8 1/2 he took one look at her and sent her straight to wardrobe where she met "this brilliant costume designer Pietro Gerhardi -- the only man ever allowed to trim Anouk Aimee's eyelashes."
She's a delight.
Also saw The Luzhin Defense and loved it. In fact, I picked 3 winners this weekend because we liked The Tailor of Panama , too.
I'm sure it was puposeful, that's what irritated me. Maybe it's because she still seems like such a child or maybe it's just because I think it's tacky. Probably more the latter than the former.
I thought Unbreakable was great. I know a lot of people didn't like it, but it's one of my favorites.
I know my preceding remarks may sound insane but it was an enjoyable movie and I didn't spend a lot of time thinking about how implausible the kids mental attitude was or how bizarre both the leads were.
That was the point--all was forgotten after the incident in the kitchen.
The kid was clearly the sort who ends up shooting up a school. He didn't have a lot of friends, he was desperate, he wanted for something important to be true in his life to make his dreary existence worthwhile--I know, let's make it that dad's a superhero!!! I'll shoot him, he'll be alive, and then I'll be a hero for proving it!
And it was quite important that the kid was off his rocker, because the movie deliberately took a realistic, non-fantastical, approach to the movie. Thus it was a very real possibility that the kid was deranged and completely imagining his father's special ability. He had no knowledge. It's not like he saw his dad fly or something, so that he knew his dad was a superhero. He was just completely convinced it was true, he wanted it to be true, so he was willing to shoot his dad in order to be sure.
This is what you call "hinky". One hates to think what you consider deranged.
Bleah. Nice performance of a whackjob, but it wasn't only used to poor effect, it was a nasty thing to use.
I didn't find it that enjoyable; the couple had no reason to be in love, they were unpleasant, it dragged in places. I liked the concept a great deal, though, and the end made up for a lot.
The notion that movies don't have different requirements for verisimilitude is just silly.
I liked it and thought it was above average, probably because I was surprised by the ending. But that's about it for me...other than appreciating the various ways the director conveyed things through certain choices, I just don't get into movies as much you do. We both enjoy film, just in differing degrees of interest.
A Knight's Tale - didn't even finish it. terrible movie. aside from the absurdity of the whole thing it was one boring cliché after another. good for kids, i guess. 2 quacks just cause Heath is a looker
Driven was another one i didn't make it through. just dreadful. some cool shots but that hardly compensated for the weak ass plots and bad acting. 1 quack.
Proof of Life was okay. took WAY too long to get the good stuff. more drama than action and that was a let down. i dont get all the all the fawning over Russell Crowe. as this movie shows he is a very average actor and plain looking to boot. dont even get me started on Meg Ryan & David Caruso who acted like that little yipping dog who jumped all over the bulldog named Spike in those old WB Bugs Bunny cartoons. 3 quacks.
The Art of War was an unsurprising 007 rip off movie that was still somewhat entertaining. think Blade meets Jackie Chan and James Bond. only for people wanting good, escapist action fare. 3 1/2 quacks.
The Mexican annoyed the hell out of me. Brad Pitt was surprisingly not bad but Julia Roberts needs get the fuck off the screen. the homo hitman was funny, but overall this flick was over rated. 3 quacks.
Quills was very good. probably on my top 5 for 2000. worth a rental. great acting, good sets and direction, pacing. a must rent. 4 quacks.
The Caveman's Valentine tried, really tried, but ultimately failed to be something. Jackson was great as the wacko homeless man who is fighting some made up villian only he can see, but the movie plodded along too much and made little literal sence. still, in comparison to much of 2001 movies, it was pretty good. 3 quacks.
The Yards sucked. not even the adorable Mark Wahlberg could save the derivative piece of shit. you've seen this movie a hundred times before whether you've rented it or not. 1 quack.
This is Christine Lahti's first major movie direction.
Like Harold and Maude, it's the story of two people from different generations finding comfort and friendship despite their generational and cultural differences. They unite in their quirky aloneness.
Albert Brooks is always a pleasure to watch. He plays the same character over and over, but perhaps because he isn't in that many movies, or because that character contrasts with the more heroic roles that others play, he doesn't, for me, wear thin.
In this movie, he is Randall, the manager of a Mall men's clothing store. Leelee S. is a 17 year old Goth child, with the straight black hair, piercings and tatoos. Her mom from hell is the wonderful Carol Kane, who likes to listen to 50s Broadway musicals and cook briskets. Her step-dad is a badly toupeed Michael McKean, a fellow who sits in his recliner and watches Ben Stein's quiz show.
Lahti appears to be asking who is the freak in this picture. The girl is terribly earnest, with her Sylvia Plath "The Bell Jar" by her bedside, her numerous candles and her daily eulogies to herself. (and is less believable than say the daughter on the HBO series Six Feet Under).
Somehow, she ends up working for and befriending Brooks. It's a leap that I never quite make.
And then there's the storybook, almost maudlin ending, where everything is put in its proper perspective. Which defies all plausability.
Still, this flick has Brooks, and small roles by Mary Kay Place and John Goodman as well as McKean and Kane.
I did rent Proof of Life recently and thought is was decent, just missing something, I'm not sure what. Also rented Remember and Titans and liked it, although anything with American football in it these days for me is good. And to show you how far behind I am in the movie seen, I recently rented Arlington Road. Really enjoyed that one. And The Sixth Day with Arnie I found enjoyable as well.
LeeLee is the same LeeLee whose nipples MsNo were complaining about in JoyRide (see immediately above).
I've heard My First Mister is good; I may check it out.
Joy Ride:
Lots of fun. A really well paced suspense flick, with a good sense of humour and a decent amount of heart attack inducing scariness. Steve Zahn is terriffic (as always) and Sobieski's nipples deserve a cast credit of their own.
Mulholland Drive:
Amazing. An intoxicating mix of film noir style and off kilter surrealism. Lynch does a masterful job of messing with his audience. And for a special bonus: some scintillating lesbian action between the two sultry leads.
Made:
Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau as two shlubs trying to impress erzats Mafia Don Peter Falk ... HILARIOUS. The funniest movie I have seen in years.
Bully:
Larry Clarke examines the real life murder of a suburban bully by a group of teenagers. Very often prurient in its examination rebellious and aimless teens. Riveting in its ultimate effect. This movie will disturb you to no end. A great accomplishment -- albeit a controversial one.
I am not sure what else is good to see out there.
Riding in Cars with Boys is getting solid reviews, with Zahn's so glowing that I wonder if he'll get an Oscar nod.
Glad you liked Joyride; I thought it was fun.
It centers on a Last Tango style non-relationship between a man and a woman (Mark Rylance and Kerry Fox) who gradually come to be ever-so-vaguely interested in one another. There's a lot of semi-graphic sexual grappling in it but it's not an erotic film at all.
In fact it deals with sex as a tool people use to cut themselves off from one another. The atmosphere is decidedly chilly -- not at all like Chereau's Those Who Love Me Can Take the Trainwhich was warm and wistful.
Marrianne Faithful does a stunning supporting turn in this one, as dos the ever-reliable Timothy Spall.
In short -- See it With Someone You're Planning to Break-Up With.
btw, TJ, i'm a bit surprised at your liking of Joy Ride. i found it a clunker and as lame a 'thriller' as Valentine
Riding in Cars with Boys was trashed by the local critics, but I am tempted to see it just for Zahn. Zahn is a wonder to watch. He always elevates a movie just by his quirky presence. He is also funny as hell in real life, as evidence by his recent guest appearance on Conan O'Brian.
I disagree on Joy Ride. It had what every suspense thriller needs: solid pacing and some genuine scary moments. I was also taken in by the premise. Of course, it is also possible that I was simply overwhelmed into enjoying the movie by the constant presence of Sobieski's nipples.
I forgot DiCaprio is in GoN. I imagine Scorcese will get a decent performance out of him.
Cellar,
Thanks for the info re: Intimacy. I will check it out, presuming it makes it to theatres in Toronto.
I haven't seen My First Mister, yet. It's gotten mixed reviews. But it's Sobieski with Albert Brooks, which is a combo that's hard to resist.
Sobieski is great in EWS, though that had more to do with the movie than any real talent on her part.
Calgal,
The critics who trashed RICWB all focused on the selfishness of the central character. One critic also said that Marshall had an off-putting tendency to try and extract comedy from scenes that should have been played for drama -- eg. trying to get laughs from the son's near drowning.
You will be happy to know that I took my first baby steps into the world of Hitchcock. Recently a friend and I finished a bottle of gin while taking in the Birds. I was truly impressed and am now motivated to take in the Hitchcok canon.
I can often tell just from reading a review that I won't be able to detach. On the other hand, Marshall deserves a few points for not making a simplistic movie, but an honest one. It's not a strong point of hers.
I like The Birds more and more each time I see it. I believe the three premiere Hitchcocks are: Notorious, Rear Window, and North by Northwest, with Psycho a shade behind because I just don't like anyone in it.
Interestingly, an acquaintance of mine is obsessed with Hitchcock's composer of choice, Bernard Hermann, who also scored Taxi Driver and Citizen Cane among a slew of others. Mind you this guy is frighteningly obsessed, so I will probably avoid future discussions with him on the matter.
I had never considered birds to be particularly scary before.
I had never considered birds to be particularly scary before.
talk about scary.
Rear Window will probably be my next Hitchcock.
Ms. No,
I am not sure which movie you are referring to. But Suburbia brings to mind another good teen angst flick called the River's Edge. It stars a young Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper and that freak who played Marty McFly in Back to the Future. I saw it years ago, but still remember it fondly. For whatever reasons, it is seemingly impossible to get on video.
You sure are being nice to me today. Want to call a truce?
Message # 22248?
That t.v. episode must be what I was thinking of. How deliciously sinister.
If I agree with your position, I say so. If I don't, I don't. The post about truce and nice and blah blah is only polluting a conversation about Hitchcock films, so please stop.
Not too long ago I saw Pink Flamingos again. I must have been stoned when I first saw it years ago. I did not remember how gross and shocking it was. The chicken fucking scene remains the second most shocking thing ever filmed. He could never have done that today without PETA and the ASPCA being all over his ass.
It is, I think, the most famous of the Hitchcock TV shows. Certainly the only one I remember.
Introductory Hitchcock - accessible, excellent, everyone likes them: Rear Window, North by Northwest, Notorious, Shadow of a Doubt, Strangers on a Train, 39 Steps.
Advanced Hitchcock - more artistically demanding, and less accessible: Psycho, Vertigo, The Birds.
Second-tier Hitchcock, but still good solid thrillers: Lady Vanishes, Foreign Correspondant, both versions of Man Who Knew Too Much, To Catch a Thief, Suspicion, Rebecca, Frenzy, Sabotage, Saboteur, Young and Innocent, Spellbound.
For the completist: The Wrong Man, The Lodger, Dial M, Rope, Trouble with Harry, Lifeboat.
Avoid at all costs: Marnie, Torn Curtain.
Haven't seen, but need to see: Family Plot (just rented), Stage Fright, I Confess, Secret Agent, Blackmail, Murder, Mr and Mrs Smith.
Plan on avoiding as I have never heard anything good about them: Topaz, Under Capricorn, Paradine Case, Jamaica Inn, unmentioned early (pre-1934) films.
The only other Waters I have seen is Girl Trouble (???). I think it was his first movie and was truly disgusting at points. I remember a lot of feces related grotesquerie. Still, I found it to be generally hilarious.
The Paradine Case is OK too. Topaz is just awful.
I haven't seen Jamaica Inn for some time.
All Laughton is worth a look.
Hey Jen, got a spare leg of lamb handy?
I blame Julie Andrews.
Thanks for the Hitchcock syllabus. I might rent Dial M, just for the exercise of comparing the original with the remake.
I saw Gus van Zant's remake, which I enjoyed save for the odd psychology lesson from the detective at the end.
Tabouli,
Why did you like Pecker?
But the film has worse problems that that. Mostly, save for one murder scene, it is boring, with scenes that drag on too long, and ugly photography.
Roger Corman's Suburbia from 1984. If you click on the picture you'll get a larger version and can see one of the most memorable shots from the film. In the movie it's a slo-mo shot of the entire family/gang walking down the sidewalk of a "respectable" neighborhood going to confront the abusive parents of one of the kids.
It's really the highest point of the movie. I'm sure the shot has probably been done before but I wouldn't know where from. I know for sure it's been done since.
Hitchcock's version is stagey and talky. Except for the attempted murder scene, it feels like a filmed play (which is why the 3D was so silly - instead of oohing and ahhing over a knife being thrown at a camera, the 3D effects are being used on liquor bottles and knick-knack's on shelves -again, except for the murder attempt where Kelly's hand reaches out into the audience). But Milland is a likable rascal, who you sort of want to root for, due to his cleverness.
The remake has completely unlikable lead characters (its the first time I didn't like Gwynneth in a movie) and a very silly plot. It isn't horrible, just a by-the-numbers thriller.
Really, the film is embarrassing.
Reasons to like Pecker:
1) Furlong and Ricci made for charming leads.
2) There were plenty of gags that worked -- eg. the ongoing joke about the kid who mainlined on sugar and the daughter's discovery of Baltimore's gay scene.
3) Waters ability to take the piss out of "high brow" urban scenesters while fashioning an odd but endearing picture of the suburban working class family.
I am sure there are other reasons to like Pecker, but that is what comes to mind. Overall, it was funny and had its heart in the right place.
And Julie Andrews. For one thing, she is not a blond.
I can see your #3, but I didn't care for Pecker that much. It was nice to see Furlong as a nice kid for once. He was good in that movie (can't remember the name) about the KISS devotees.
She was in Sound of Music. Hitchcock probably chose her hair color. I think he was cured of (or was at least supressing) his obsession with Blondes by this point. After the Hedren disaster in Marnie I don't think he ever had a Blonde in a lead role again.
Oddly, The Perfect Murder is the first time I have ever understood Paltrow's charms. I thought she was quite good and was also taken in by marital drama aspect of the movie. I agree that the rest of the plot is a by the numbers thriller.
Thanks for the infor re: the original Suburbia.
Rask,
Eric Bogosian's script was weak, but Suburbia was for the most part redeemed by excellent work from a fine (generally unkown) ensemble cast.
Well, it has been fun. I must go, but I hope to be back soon.
Ever see Sliding Doors? I'm not a huge Paltrow fan, but I quite liked her in this.
I did see Sliding Doors when it came out. I remember being impressed by the leading men in that one, but Paltrow's performance in that one doesn't resonate with me. I am not saying I dislike Paltrow, but until The Perfect Murder I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. Maybe, all of the hype around her blinded me to her strengths as an actress and over all hottie.
Until next time.
The only Paltrow performance I have cared for was in Shakespeare in Love. I saw Sliding Doors and loathed both Paltrow and the character, but the one guy--the one in 4 Weddings--was a charmer.
She's probably a better actress than Paltrow, too, although I think Paltrow can be captivating.
I would like to see Paltrow in a really good contemporary comedy. I think she could be terrific.
Sorry, folks, but you want the modern American variant on Hepburn or Bergman? It's Julia Roberts, who at 13 years and counting puts all the bleatings about whatever recent star jerks your johnny in perspective.
Meg Ryan, also at 13 years, if without quite the success rate.
English? Helena Bonham Carter, maybe, has a track record. Thompson, although she didn't really hit it big until her late 20s.
The fact that the folks looking for the next Hepburn don't like Roberts and Ryan kind of misses the point. In this era, a five year career is an accomplishment. Of Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Ingrid Bergman, only Bergman had a meaningful career in the double digits. Grace was a blip, albeit a memorable one. Hepburn went 14 years, barely, and both Ryan and Roberts should pass that effortlessly next year.
I'll stop now.
Actually, I believe the leader of the longevity pack is Sigourney Weaver, who may just have a career of breadth and depth to rival the real Hepburn, not the skinny little Audrey.
Scott,
Liking or disliking Roberts is not the point. It's just bizarre to cite Paltrow or Blanchett as meaningful contenders to a throne that includes popularity and ignore someone who has attained both enormous success and longevity.
I like Diaz a great deal, she is both beautiful and funny. But she's only been an A-list leading lady for 3-4 years, and around in total for 8. Not anywhere near the same league as Roberts or Ryan, but certainly far more of a contender than Paltrow or (ick) Blanchett.
Streep is a peer of Weaver's, (two decades ahead of Roberts) and a comparison of their careers is instructive in demonstrating that, while Streep is a great actress, she has no claim in any competition that includes longevity as a leading lady.
Weaver is really underrated, though. Never understood why.
Julia Roberts is not a Grace Kelly. She is more of a Mary Pickford.
Paltrow just does an extremely convincing British accent in many of her films.
But in terms of popularity, very few actresses in the past 30 years have managed even a decade long career. I was assessing them from that perspective; I'm sorry I missed the elegance issue.
Rask: It's news to me that Cruise and Carrey are still bankable actors.
Gwyneth Paltrow (who is probably imagined to hail from the UK because her name is vaguely Welsh and she does so many Brit accents in her movies) is not only tasty, she's remarkably talented. She also happens to be on a very short list of Hollywood actresses I'd sleep with, which might have something to do with how highly I rate her, but that's what happens when you're male. I think it's perhaps chic to point out that Paltrow isn't really as good as they come -- for she isn't, after all -- but actresses are rarely so good as that. Paltrow is merely very good, but that's enough for me.
1) Julia Roberts: There is no denying that this woman has buckets of charm, on screen at least. I can sort of sympathize with those who critique her way or read her vast popularity as a symptom of declining audience intelligence. But on a gut reaction level, I have always just found her fun to watch. Also, although obviously very sexy, Roberts has a gawkiness about her that lends her an every-woman accessibility that makes me dig her even more.
2) Paltrow: Like I said, I did not really understand her appeal until recently. Now, though, I am on the Paltrow bandwagon. I agree with Scott Loar that she has an elegance about her that cannot be denied.
3) Cameron Diaz: My favourite. In my mind she is quite simply one of the best comic actors (male or female) in the business.
4) Winona Ryder: I think her time has passed. She no longer seems able to command audience attention the way any of the above actresses do.
5) Meg Ryan: Her whole sort of pixie whatever persona strikes me as contrived and off-putting. I have seen no evidence as of yet of any sort of mature acting sensibility that will enable her to excel as a leading lady in her later years.
It shouldn't be. Both are extremely reliable in terms of box office grosses, consistently opening films over $20 million.
zojak:"Has anyone seen "Iron Monkey"?
I rented it a year ago on DVD, and caught it again a couple weeks ago at the theater. It is one of the best Kung Fu films ever made, and am glad it finally got a wide US release. If you are a fan of the genre, I can't recommend it highly enough.
In terms of incredible popularity and the type of roles - less glamour queen and more "sweetheart". I have seen a few of her short films, and parts of "Coquette".
Don't take that personally as it was not personally intended.
Rider has a following that liked her style, her dark mysteriousness, her counterculture youth as in Beetlejuice but subsequent roles (as in that period piece about witchcraft in New England) shows she just can't go outside her own personal character (and that's what an actor must do, go outside his own character into another and make it believable) and has but one persona, like it or leave it.
And frankly, I am glad. I hate royalty of any kind, be it the Kennedys or Bushes or the Hollywood variety. Count me firmly in the camp of Oliver Cromwell.
.....except for all that Puritan stuff.
I completely agree with your take on Ryder. Her dark, brooding characters appealed to me as a young buck. Now, however, she seems out of depth when acting in roles that go beyond that persona. I think Christina Ricci is similarly afflicted.
Wasn't aware she had any scandal going on.
Ryder definitely needs to take herself less seriously. Developing some sort of comedic talent or appreciation for comedy would certainly help her get beyond the rut she has created for herself.
You had said:
The woman has no class, no depth, nothing remarkable about her save Hollywood fame.
My response was that this is utter nonsense. It doesn't matter if you like her or not, and "Hollywood fame" has nothing to do with bankability.
Demi Moore, Nicole Kidman, and other women who are married to major actors with a career of their own are "Hollywood famous". Julia Roberts is a star. That, by definition, is something to remark on.
I'm not trying to argue you out of your dislike, but your dislike is causing you to misrepresent reality. There is, clearly, something remarkable about Julia Roberts. As I keep telling people: if it was easy to be a major motion picture star for decades, how come everyone isn't doing it?
I think that she's pretty in an unusual way, and she definitely has the best stylist, make-up artist and wardrobe consultant, but she bores me in movies because she so entirely predictable.
A minor point: we didn't even know Streep's name until she was older than Ryder is now.
I think that Phoenix might be right that there is no value for elegant movie stars and hasn't been since teen boys became the major box office demographic back in the 70s.
Saying she's the same character is an easy way to dismiss her: it's also been said of Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, Tom Hanks, and Gregory Peck. Stars have a charisma that they can't easily shake.
That said, Roberts wins a lot of points with me because she's one of the few actresses who is at her best when she is angry and mean with it.
Julia Roberts is uproariously mind-bogglingly sexy. AND talented.
Both of them have me panting in the most uncomposed manner.
You can quote me on that.
Julia Roberts is uproariously mind-bogglingly sexy. AND talented.
Both of them have me panting in the most uncomposed manner.
You can quote me on that.
An actress who I think is just downright gross and gives me the impression that she smells stale, is Angelina Jolie. The thought of her and Billy Bob playing in their velcro'd bedroom repulses me, and then watching her pout on screen makes it even more nauseating.
To confuse my dislike as misrepresenting a fundamental reality supposes everyone, even me, should like Julia Roberts as the reason for her stardom is self-evident. I don't deny she is popular but I sure don't know why.
Say, Calgal, do you know why?
Also not a good example because that's when Ricci started exhibiting the results of her starvation diet. Maybe her range has greatly diminished because she is just so damn hungry all the time.
As for Dracula that was Gary Oldman's movie and I found little else in it watchable. So...Winona Ryder was in that movie?
Meg Ryan is the same way.
With Julia, I know that with any given film, she will get superficial annoyed with someone, she'll get superficially happy with someone (insert trademark grin here), she will get superficially upset at something (insert croccodile tears here, but she always holds them back, thus crying in the same fashion in every film), and she will, of course, laugh the same laugh.
It could be a movie about love or death and Julia will be the same person in the same role as the same character.
Jen, that's just a flat out stupid thing to say. Gere is a perfect example of someone who is "Hollywood famous" with no bankability to back it up. And the nature of the story meant it lived or died based on the ability of Roberts' to make the central character likeable and vulnerable. So you have it exactly backwards.
And even if your assertion were true, the graveyard of Hollywood starlets demonstrates that one hit doesn't mean a damn thing. Hollywood gives any number of pretty, charming actresses a start--they use them up like Kleenex. So even if it were a guaranteed hit--and I am nearly sure it was a sleeper, which again contradicts you--it does nothing to explain Roberts' longevity and 7 $100 million hits.
I'm rather given to panting, I do admit. But barnyard animals don't really do it for me.
I think there is some truth to this, but there have always been "elegant" roles for which Hollywood usually ends up casting an unknown actress, usually foreign, who drifts back to obscurity afterwards. I am glad we now have a quality star who can play those parts.
Jen:" I believe that ANY actress would have had their "break through" performance in Pretty Woman because of the nature of the film and the costar. It was a total feel-good-hit-of-the-summer/chick flick."
I strongly disagree. The film was formulaic and unoriginal, with a mutated screenplay. It was also a spring release, not a summer release. Prior to its release, Hollywood was convinced spring was a graveyard. The film made a fortune. Given audience response and her subsequent career, I think the only reasonable explanation for its success is audence perception of Roberts' charm. I will confess to being a sucker for it. I was a fan of hers after seeing Mystic Pizza.
Meril Streep is too, but in a much more palatable way.
That's kind of like saying "Say, CalGal, explain art."
My assertion is that the "why" is answered by "talent". It's just not a talent that most people respect or recognize--except by the box office.
Has Julia Roberts made anything since My Best Friend's Wedding? I "noticed" she was in that doing something while Rupert Everett, Cameron Diaz and even Dermont Mulroney were making a movie.
She's like John Travolta. If he's in it, I avoid seeing it. Battlefield Earth was a total accident.
I swear.
I have hopes for Diaz.
I can't help but think about Jolie that way, that's all they talk about. Ever seen a photo op with the couple? Excuse me while I get sick!!
You mean, apart from the enormous hit Notting Hill and that pic she won the Oscar for?
Jenerator--your assertions are questionable at best.
She's good (and predictable) in your basic light hearted romantic comedy.
How singularly wonderfully histrionically theatrical.
Disingenuous.
How about Streep in "Pretty Woman"?
There is such a thing called "casting".
You're damn right it can't.
Streep wouldn't have worked in PW because it needed someone younger. Had she been in her 20s, she could have played the part.
I am not sure I quite understand your last post to me. Did I think you were denying the reality of Roberts' popularity? Yes, I did. But given your comment, I think it was a reasonable interpretation. In any event, I have now forgiven you. (that was a mild attempt at irony)
That said, I think people underrate the talent involved in being a movie star.
Jenerator,
Yet another bizarre assertion. Surely you can't be saying that comedy requires less talent than serious subject matter?
absolutely, definitely NOT!!!
Which romantic comedies have Streep been cast in at all?
I am proud to say I have seen neither.
But I generally agree with your argument about Julia Roberts.
Her longevity is mostly due to her choosing and
getting good parts in films.
I have never seen a "good part" in a film. Maybe one of those experimental films where an off-screen voice reads the part? It usually takes a human being to make it come alive before the camera. Silly girl. Go back to imagining what Angelina and Billy Bob are currently doing...it is 9:30 am in LA.
I too was a sucker for Mystic Pizza and Pretty Woman. I have cured myself of my suckerhood, however.
Basically, I think that other actresses could portray the characters Roberts has chosen to play. However, i do not think that Roberts could portray the characters others have chosen to play.
I have not seen Roberts in a serious role acting any different than she did in Steel Magnolias.
Notting Hill is a truly delightful romantic comedy. I highly recommend it.
Runaway Bride, by contrast, was a toe-wrenching disaster.
Wasn't she in a comedy with Roseanne Barr?
Phoenix,
At 9:30 Am, I imagine them still sleeping. Jolie in her strategically torn and smelly Harley Davidson shirt and Billy Bob covered in stubble and nude. 
What can I say? I do think those pictures make my point completely. Thank you.
Notting Hill is, as Sto says, an excellent romantic comedy. The best in easily a decade. You might not like it. But it was extremely popular with men--as I recall both Ace and Francis spoke well of it. It was far superior to Erin Brockovich.
Swank is a well known type--she happened to do a decent job of emoting in a film that everyone wanted to reward. Her career was obscure before and since for a reason. Ditto Shue.
Hollywood makes it far more difficult for men to get to the A-list, but they get to stay on top longer when they've made it. Actresses get far more shots at making it--eye candy is needed to keep the menfolk happy--but it's a lot harder for them to stay there.
What was the last blockbuster film of Woody Allen's?
Sigh. I wish I could honestly gainsay you.
("gainsay" - how Loarish of me).
sto3, just so you know, Julia Roberts is from Marietta, GA. I go over to her mom's house every time she is home for the holidays.
We have......
slumber parties.
I think resentment against her has to do with her success being disproportionate to her talent. No one complains when De Niro gets a $15 million role.
But yeah, her range does have limits, but in that she is hardly unique.
True. He makes movies that only a small percentage enjoy; which includes some movie critics and some people here.
Hahahaha. A bit of a limited sample. Surely you know more than two men?
Thank you for the endorsement.
Shue followed Leaving Las Vegas with several not great films inlcuding two remarkably bad performances as leading lady in both The Saint and Hollowman. She's as bad about acting with her chin as Ally Sheedy and they both now annoy me in like measure although I enjoyed them early in their carreers-----Adventures in Babysitting & Cocktail (Shue) and War Games & The Breakfast Club (Sheedy).
Wynona Ryder will never be anything more than what she is now which is wooden. In her younger days this could pass for dewy and ethereal but now it's more deer in the head-lights. On top of this she needs vocal coaching as desperately as Keanu Reeves. Whether or not one is creeped out by Angelina Jolie her performance in Girl Interrupted completely buried Ryder's. Likewise the other girls in the supporting cast. I don't even find Ryder all that beautiful anymore. Something about her is eternally priggish and uptight even when she's attempting to play a bad girl a la Heathers.
Streep (who really shouldn't be mentioned in this crop as they are all at least 20 years younger than her) is about as good as they come and I doubt there is a role she could not play convincingly. This is not the same, however, as being the best actress for every role. She has shown herself equally adept at comedy, drama and even action roles. Part of what makes her such a phenomenal actress, however, is also exactly what makes her unlikely to be the kind of star that Julia Robers is. Roberts is a persona----people like her as much or more for who they believe her to be in real life as they do for anything she's done acting-wise.
cont.
Roberts while not the most talented or diverse actress is full well the most widely accessible and well-liked actress of the last 20 years. It is her very ordinariness that appeals to so many people. Yes, she can be unbelievably beautiful, but not because she actually IS classicaly beautiful. She's not. She's got a monkey face, big teeth and an unfortunate pulse in her forehead. Nonetheless she radiates charm and an earthiness that allows people to imagine themselves knowing her as girl next door, daughter, girlfriend, best friend, sister, self. She comes from a working class background which gives her an edge over the high-society Paltrow but she's never had that taint of trailer-park that stubbornly clings to Demi Moore.
Gwenyth Paltrow doesn't do a whole lot for me. I don't particularly dislike her as an actress, but her real-life personality is rather off-putting. The fact that everyone always raves about how good her British accent is is rather telling, I think. There are plenty of actors out there who do accents and do them well. Most any NY actor worth his salt does several. What else does she do? So far she hasn't really had any terribly difficult roles. She's tall and thin and blonde and she dresses nicely, but she'll need more than that to be a "great" actress. As it stands, she's believable in the roles she takes but it remains to be seen if she can become more than what she currently is: a decent actress with a good look and a nice British accent.
cont.
I don't know that any of the actresses in competion with Roberts could take her place mainly because Roberts would have to be de-throned for that to occur and I think it highly unlikely unless she were to die or suffer some crippling accident. Or maybe kill some orphans or something.
I had high hopes for both Ashley Judd and Charlize Theron, but nothing Judd has done since has touched her performance in Smoke and Theron seems to have been sidelined of late.
I think the strongest contenders right now are Cameron Diaz----the most diverse of all of these actresses with the exception of Streep----and possibly Drew Barrymore who is proving herself a reliably bankable force not only in front of the camera but also as a producer. I really can't wait to see Vanilla Sky if only to see Diaz take on a seriously villainous role which she hasn't yet done. (She was a bitch in Very Bad Things, but that was farcical). I'm still a huge fan of Sandra Bullock's and I think she will continue to do well but I don't imagine that she will ever get the recognition she deserves.
I have to agree with Rask and CG (God, that hurt!) on Julia Roberts. I personally do not like her or her movies. But that is a matter of taste that is entirely separate from issues of her talent, looks, star quality or popularity.
You should see Ally Sheedy in High Art. It is a damn fine piece of work.
Very Bad Things was a farce? I think it was far too mean spirited to be called anything except what it was: an unfortunate mistake.
I don't doubt that Sheedy can give a fine performance, but like Shue it seems to be an exception rather than the rule. I think that Leaving Las Vegas elevated both Shue and Cage past what their usual acting abilities were capable of. However, I'm willing to give Sheedy another look while I consider Shue to be pretty much a lost cause.
I tend to agree with you about Very Bad Things. I think they meant to make a farce so that's what I called it. Plus the fact, Diaz is an unlikeable character in that but she's also wickedly funny at it.
Nonsense. Those girls I knew all looked like Gwenyth Paltrow.
Cage peaked with Moonstruck and Raising Arizona in 1987 eight years before he chewed the scenery in Vegas. Although he had a brief comeback in Face Off.
I get the similar chin thrusting between Sheedy and Shue but I had never really thought of them as being in the same class. In checking IMDb, I see that their careers are roughly parallel.
Sheedy has shown the ability to be great. Shue has always been competent at best. And stinker for stinker, Shue wins hands down.
I did mention a while back that Streep was in an entirely different generation, along with Sigourney Weaver. I repeat that Weaver gets no respect for longevity and versatility, when she's the reigning champ in both.
Quite a woman. She's been spending a lot of time, totally unheralded, manning the "soup kitchens at Ground Zero.
Daughter of the former head of NBC as I am sure most of you know.
Nonsense. Those girls I knew all looked like Gwenyth Paltrow
Which contributes to why you prefer Paltrow to Roberts.
Phoenix,
One of these days you're going to have a quibble and I won't agree with you, dammit!
I loved both Moonstruck and Raising Arizona with RA being my favorite Cage performance. I also enjoyed Wild At Heart, but Leaving Las Vegas was the biggest departure for him to that point and I don't think he's done anything new since then. That was new at the time but he's played out. I didn't find that his Face-Off performance showed anything that he hadn't given us in one form or another before.
Cage is king of manic/crazy and he uses his deadpan to great advantage in roles like Raising Arizona, but once he started taking the leading man roles that the Vegas Oscar provided it showed that having a wooden hand was the least of his worries.
Versatility? I agree that Streep is an excellent comedian, but she hasn't had anything near the variety--or success--that Weaver has. And her one foray into action was largely a joke, although she wasn't that terrible.
I like Streep and I really wish she'd done something better with her time in the past 15 years, but she's been out of the running for a long time, purely on her fall from A-list mainstream "money" actress.
What women her age, including Weaver for that matter, get cast as romantic leads against the Big Names. Streep as she has gotten older probably has done better than anyone since Katherine Hepburn on that score.
But again, I was focusing on A-list bankable stars and Streep and Sarandon haven't been there for a while.
Weaver and Streep are the same age. I'm reasonably sure that Streep wasn't given any consideration for Galaxy Quest--or Heartbreakers, for that matter. Weaver has just had two roles recently as a luscious bimbo, and many of her recent roles have relied on her sheer sex appeal. Streep is out of the running there, too--which is not to say she isn't beautiful, but not in the bankble way. She's also put on weight.
And Streep's nominations notwithstanding, her career has definitely come down a big notch. Most of her movies are weepies of only moderate quality. Postcards was her last movie with any edge, and Bridges of Madison County is the last time she worked with a leading man of caliber--and while Clint is A-list, he was doing his "small" movie that year.
I know DeNiro was in Marvin's Room (1996) with Streep, but I don't know what his role was. And then she played opposite Willis in Death Becomes Her, in 1992.
Weaver's most recent leading men: Gene Hackman, Tim Allen, Kevin Kline (going back to Dave in 1993).
Weaver is in a lot more mainstream films, however. The difference between them is that Weaver has aged better, in that she is the same age as Streep, but looks ten years younger. As such, she can still play girlfriend/seductress/sexpot roles that Streep can't get anymore.
Married, shacked up, whatever. My point is that Tim keeps her working--and that's not a bad thing, but we'd be seeing far less of her, and in movies of weaker quality, were it not for that.
But I wish them both well. Streep and Weaver too.
You forgot Kline in Icestorm as well. And remember that this includes two action pictures in which she was the bankable star. All the other folks in the Alien films were A list supporting, too.
DeNiro was the doctor, it was a nothing part--and it was a nothing movie. You forgot Liam Neeson in Before and After for Streep. Still, you've grasped the main point: Weaver is in mainstream films, she's still leading lady in romantic love interest films, and she is still an opener. Streep is not, and has not been for a long time.
Also, Weaver has three Oscar nods. This is dwarfed by Streep's 12, but my lord, two of Streep's are a joke and the point is that Weaver is a player not only in the money side of movies, but the critical side as well.
She also has had two or three simply stunning cameos (Jeffrey comes to mind, but there are others) and the fact that she is asked to lend her name and clout to films like that is also evidence of her standing. Streep doesn't have it anymore, and hasn't for a long time.
This is not a diss of Streep. She's still around, still working, and in another five years she can pick up Shirley Mclaine's life. But when we talk longevity as a leading lady and major player in Hollywood, Weaver kicks her ass.
And that is where I for one will leave it.
No, I meant that Pfeiffer had five years at the top. She's over. Fork went in years ago.
You know more about box office than I do, so I will defer and modify "bankable": she's in the hotter movies. There might be money in women's weepers, but there ain't glory.
Oh- another one who didn't make the grade as she aged - Anjelica Huston. (That last Irish themed movie she made and I assume bankrolled was just awful awful awful.)
She has had more than that, stretching from Scarface in 1983 to What Lies Beneath last year. WLB grossed 150 million+, and her leading man was Harrison Ford. There is no fork in Pfeiffer yet.
She is still getting mainstream leading lady roles, and her looks are very much holding up.
I think she is another underappreciated actress, deft at drama (Age of Innocence, Fabulous Baker Boys), action (Batman Returns), and comedy (Married to the Mob).
Another candidate for the longevity sweepstakes: Jodie Foster, from Taxi Driver in 1976 to the present. Contact was a hit only four years ago. The current question is whether mommyhood will slow her down.
Young actresses showing the most potential for long term career success: Paltrow, Barrymore, Diaz
Longer shots: Jolie, Judd, Portman, Ricci.
Pfeiffer, Streep, and Sarandon have all been relegated to weepers. I don't understand why they don't have more in the way of pride.
I thought of Foster, but she's so...earnest. And she's never been a hit maker the way that the others have. Still, she certainly wins any longevity contest when you realize she was also top rank as a child actress.
Which gives her a three film slump after a string of modest successes like Wolf, Dangerous Minds, and One Fine Day. Look at any of the actresses we have mentioned, and you will find an occasional drought.
Whether Pfeiffer is really out of her slump remains to be seen. She isn't appearing in anything soon that looks to be an obvious hit, but I wouldn't count her out.
I also agree that any actress can have a slump; if she rebuilds from WBL then that's what it was. I really did think she was over and that's still how I'd bet if forced to. But I hope she can build on her last success.
On Jolie, she is a rare combination of acting talent in a centerfold's body, and she just had a huge hit. Where she goes from here depends on her career choices, and whether she can either find a consistent niche in action films, or can translate to romantic comedies.
On Foster: Silence of the Lambs and Contact were big hits, as was Maverick (although that was more Gibson's doing). She also alternates between mainstream and arty fare - which is demonstrably the best recipe for longevity, whether you are male or female.
If you want to call these films lackluster, then Weaver has been in a slump since Ghostbusters 2, with Alien 4 the only exception (unless you count Galaxy Quest's success on video).
I agree about Foster. One thing to consider: she's almost completely out of contention in romantic comedy and in fact comedies in general. (Maverick was very much the aberration.) This means she is limited to action films, small indies (usually directed by her) and all sorts of straight drama. That makes her accomplishment simultaneously more and less impressive. She's leaving out the two toughest categories to maintain a career in, and a great deal of the A-list crop, by refusing to compete. It also gives her a lot of protection from public and much anticipated attempts flopping.
On the other hand, that makes her long stand at the top even more impressive, since she has never won the Joe Sixpack audience over.
There is no comparison between Galaxy Quest and any of the Pfeiffer films mentioned. Box office barely comes into it, especially considering that GQ was released in December and was overlooked and still did well. I thought it did in the 60 or 70 million range? And didn't Dave make quite a bit of money? Copycat did well in comparison to its budget too, I thought.
Also, Ice Storm was in a different class and was critically well-received--particularly Weaver. So that can't count as a flop. When Weaver does small films, they are generally more successful than anything Pfeiffer's done.
But other than that, I bow to your box office knowledge. My impression is that Pfeiffer has been a long time out of the top and did nothing to build on her late 80s/early 90s heat.
Her marriage to Cruise may have jump-started her career, but she is immensely talented and now bankable in her own right with plenty enough clout to carry a film on her own. I don't think the divorce is going to stall her the way poor Mimi Rogers got sidelined.
Kidman's career appears hobbled by her marriage to Chipmunk Boy. She's quite talented, but good roles are hard to come by. And Moulin Rouge isn't my idea of a good role.
Christian Bale.
You are right about Galaxy Quest, Dave did around 60 million (although I will point out that Weaver had only a supporting role in both films), and Copycat did 30 million (on a 20 million budget). But you misunderstand me. I was not saying that Weaver's films were flops. I was saying that using your standards for Pfieffer, where an 85 million gross is "lackluster". they were flops. I was critiquing your inconsistent standards, not Weaver's films.
"Also, Ice Storm was in a different class and was critically well-received--particularly Weaver. So that can't count as a flop. When Weaver does small films, they are generally more successful than anything Pfeiffer's done."
I am not so sure about that. Dangerous Liaisons and Age of Innocence did pretty well, and were at least as critically well received as Ice Storm, which is the only "small" film Weaver has done that can claim critical success, but never found an audience.
Ice Storm wasn't supposed to be "small" by the way. It had an $18 million budget and the studio hoped it would break out after getting Oscar nominations, but it didn't get even one.
All Weaver can claim is that her last critically successful indie film is more recent than Pfieffer's.
But to put this discussion to bed, I agree that Weaver is a better actress.
On kidman: she should indeed have been mentioned on my list of stars with the greatest potential for longevity. She breaks up with Cruise and has her best film successes yet, with Moulin Rouge and The Others.
I don't think you are to be trusted on assessing Foster. Her success in Silence of the Lambs and Contact is indisputable, so she *can* draw audiences in. In my mind, the only question is whether she will continue to do so.
"Kidman's career appears hobbled by her marriage to Chipmunk Boy. She's quite talented, but good roles are hard to come by. And Moulin Rouge isn't my idea of a good role."
Regardless of what you think of her role in Moulin Rouge, you can't argue that her career is hobbled right now. Moulin Rouge was a modest hit (doing even better oversees), getting what have been the best critical notices so far this year. Kidman will probably get her first Oscar nomination out of it. She followed that up with The Others, which was the biggest sleeper success of the year.
If these films had flopped, I think she might have had some real career problems due to perceptions that she was nothing without Cruise. But instead she is on a roll.
I was very impressed with her in The Tailor of Panama. She held her own with Geoffrey Rush.
I also have even greater respect for Rush. Watching the scene where he chalks and cuts the suit is just amazing. Although there were several edits, there is much that was done in fairly long takes. He must have spent hours learning how to make the right movements in the right sequence.
And who knew Pierce Brosnan would make such a delicious bad guy. I mean he played a thief in The Thomas Crown Affair but he wasn't the bad guy. He should do more of that.
Rask,
What about Renee Zellweger?
Halloween
Masked psycho Michael Myers gives Jamie Lee Curtis one scary night of baby-sitting in a groundbreaking flick that buries its unworthy sequels.
The Evil Dead
Low-budget screams: Cult hero Bruce Campbell hacks up his buddies with an ax and Sam Raimi scores first blood as director.
Salem's Lot
From horror-meister Stephen King: The pint-sized bloodsuckers summon the biggest scares in this vampire flick that doesn't bite.
Carnival of Souls
The '60s "Sixth Sense"? Church organist sees dead people, in a cult classic that proves black and white is still scary.
Dawn of the Dead
A crowd-free shopping mall sounds like a dream, but brain-munching zombies turn it into a gruesome nightmare.
Rosemary's Baby
Sex with Satan? Mia Farrow unwittingly beds the beast in this chilling fable. And yes, he's scarier than Woody Allen.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
It's common sense to avoid guys named Leatherface who own chainsaws, a lesson this flick teaches with gory gusto.
The Shining
Is anything scarier than Jack Nicholson going out of his gourd? Oh yeah, creepy twin girls and a hallway of blood.
Suspiria
It's a bad time to be in ballet when fellow students are getting stabbed, hanged and tortured. Watch this with the lights out.
The Exorcist
Head-spinning and projectile vomiting are just the beginning in a movie that features some of the most disturbing religious perversions on film.
I wasn't going back to Dangerous Liaisons and Age of Innocence, for heavens sake. That was in her heyday. I was thinking of To Gillian, Thousand Acres, and the other film, in comparison to Ice Storm. But you're right about Ice Storm's expectations financially. It was better than I thoguht it'd be, which is why I think kindly of it.
As for my inconsistent standards, as I said I always defer to you on box office. When looking back at a career, I make a distinction between films that do X million and then never have a life afterwards and films that do the same X but live on. So looking at Pfeiffer's Dangerous Minds and Weaver's Dave, Dave has a much longer shelf life, even if they both did the same box office. I agree that this is a subjective comparison. But when I make predictions about who is going to do well, the fact that none of Pfeiffer's films since Wolf make an impression is a factor. Your reminders about actual numbers are well taken, though.
I was thinking about Kidman last night and realizing that her two recent hits may mean she's on a role. Good news, if so. She should still do more comedy. I would have no objection if she got a nom out of Moulin Rouge, but the performance of the movie was MacGregor's. I hope the rerelease will help.
The first Nightmare on Elm Street had some genuinely freaky imagery. The bit where he walks down the alley and his arms stretch out to meet the opposite walls got to me pretty badly (I was 14 or so.)
I always thought Dawn of the Dead was supposed to be a black comedy. I don't remember anything scary about it.
I nominate The Legend of Hell House. Maybe not top ten, but certainly up there.
As for the younger crowd - I wouldn't count out Reese Witherspoon......She's clearly able to cut it with off-beat comedy (like Election), and is pretty enough, while not conventionally beautiful, to be able to hack some romantic roles. In other words, I think she's got range.
What is she - about 24?
I don't know that I think much of that list. It is more of the gruesome horror type, which is different from scary.
Witherspoon is well-taken as a potential contender. She is another one who is balancing art-cred films (Election) with pop hits (Legally Blonde)
Christ! Actors appreciate good lines and she was given a bunch in that movie.
"And to continue, Ms. No, unicorns would come to feed in our garden..."
Can I interest you in the aquisition of an irony emoticon?
Perhaps I should have offered you a bran muffin.
I agree, however, that anyone - even you, Loar - would have been funny and winning in A Fish Called Wanda
geesh.
I have lost track of what we are talking about Who's a Star? Star quality? Enduring Careers? How underrated Signorney Weaver is?
So the last movie I saw was Pollock. It left me kinda cold. So the great artist (and I like his work) was l'enfant terrible. Big deal.
When the film came out, everyone was raving about Marcia Gay Harden. I think she got an Oscar nom?
I found Amy Madigan much more interesting as Peggy Guggenheim. So much so, I went searching for Peg on the web and found her.
Only then did I appreciate how well Madigan impersonated the original right down to the Calder earrings.
I have yet to develop a sensibility for teen-slasher flicks. Although I find teens themselves rather delectable.
Does that make me bad?
Sounds prettly culturally well-rounded to me.
I'd say see Halloween only because it's the Original from which all teen slasher movies then derived. There are some very creepy things about it, but ultimately it doesn't work for me because it requires too much stupidity on the part of the victims.
I don't remember much about Friday the 13th, but from what I recall it was the first bastard child of Halloween. Unlike Halloween the focus on Ft13 was on nudity and gore and all the subsequent films only got worse.
The only cool thing about Friday the 13th so far as I'm concerned is that the guy who played Jason in ptVII was my next door neighbor.
The first Nightmare on Elm St. was much scarier and much more plausible to me since people only did really stupid things in their dreams. The lead actress in NoES was really pretty awful and the explanation for how Freddy was created defies biology but it makes a suitably horrifying story that it's not a big deal.
crap.
toys?
it doesn't work for me because it requires too
much stupidity on the part of the victims.
I think this was pretty effectively satirized in the "Scream" movies. No need to see the actual subject of the satire to get the point.
the focus on Ft13 was on nudity and gore
Which I would be an avid fan of, except it is probably only the women that are nude, focus wise. If I am wrong, I will hie me hence...
the guy who played Jason in ptVII was my next door neighbor.
That's pretty cool. Bet there was some great trick-or-treating in your neck of the woods.
the explanation for how Freddy was created defies biology
As a trained biologist, I have a feeling this would be a pretty big stumbling block for me.
For my cinematic horror, I will stick with the original Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and The Mummy. And The Shining
For real horror, I will stick with The History of Britian on the History Channel. Much more gruesome than anything Hollywood can dream up.
It is certainly on my top ten list of scary movies. It seems I print these every year, but once more, in no particular order...
Alien
The Thing (original)
The Haunting
Halloween
Night of the Living Dead
Them!
Psycho
Diabolique (the original. If you haven't seen the remake the ending will be a heartpounder)
The Vanishing (ditto)
The House on Haunted Hill (the original, for fun value)
Them!, Aliens, and The Thing are fantastic films but they aren't what I consider scary. I'd add Invasion of the Body Snatchers (50s or 70s) as scary before any of them. And actually, I'd put the remake of The Thing on the list as scary.
The Night of the Hunter
Les Yeux Sans Visage
Psycho
Peeping Tom
The Haunting
Alien (the first and the best)
Freaks
Black Sunday
Suspiria
The Fury
I don't watch many scary movies. My constitution can't take them.
But The Fury and Black Sunday surprise me. I never thought The Fury was anything remarkable, and Black Sunday, while I have never seen it, only has a modest reputation. What is the story?
Cal: Aliens wasn't on my list. So you only think two of my films aren't scary. Them! is admittedly more fun-scary (as is House on Haunted Hill, which shouldn't have made the list, but I had to go and had momentarily forgotten films like Scream, Freaks, Night Stalker, Fright Night, and Blair Witch Project), but the original Thing is genuinely creepy. I saw it again on the big screen last year, and still delivered the chills. The remake is more gross than scary, as far as I am concerned. I do like the film but I can't think of any scene that particularly frightens me. It is more of a slightly paranoid whodunnit than a monster movie.
Night of the Living Dead is as scary as hell. Vanishing is a different kind of scary. You don't jump out of your seat or anything, and only the final scene delivers any real chills, but that scene is a humdinger that brings on nightmares.
Maybe I'd have to see The Thing on a big screen. As for the remake, it is definitely gross, but it works as scary, too. I've been trying to think of other scary films; my brain isn't checking in. A lot of people will put Lady in White on their list, but that never did it for me, either.
Oh, another one that Spawn and I just saw lately that had some good spooky moments was The Spiral Staircase, with Dorothy McGuire.
Having pretty much deliberately avoided most movies in this genre, I've stayed out of this one, but I agree with those who have rated Psycho, Night of the Hunter, and Alien as pretty damned scary.
Those are the only ones I've seen all the way through. Much as I like Jamie Lee partially disrobed, watching her running around in the dark trying to escape sundry monster-types doesn't strike me as optimum use of recreational time.
My theory is that if sexuality hadn't been so severely restricted in movies in the second half of the 20th century, we'd have had only about 5% as many gore-and-scare flicks. Let's face it, all that stabbing and biting is just a (poor) substitute for sex.
I agree with your take on Pollock. Ed Harris was excellent as the lead and the recreations of Pollock doing his thing above the canvas were great to watch. But, the movie lacked dramatic oomph. Poor artist, tortured-alcoholic artist, on the wagon artist, off the wagon artist, then death -- BORING! And already done to death. Plus, so much of the dialogue was wooden and distracting. Like, Krasner (played by Harden) musing before Pollock's early work: "It's not really cubism because your not breaking down the plane and its not really BLAH BLAH". Who needs a half-assed art lecture in a movie. Surely there was a better way to convey Pollock's early position within the art world. And the movie just plodded along with such clunky moments like that, one after another until Pollock dies in an ineptly staged car crash. Dissapointing given all the hype around the movie and Harris' apparent obsession with getting it made.
I thought of you last night, since IFC got all Hitchcockian. They ran Rear Window, Virtigo, Psycho, The Birds and Marnie back to back.
For me, the movie did pique some interest in Krasner's work -- who I hadn't heard of before.
Another movie that dealt with a famous artist and which turned out to be a disappointment for me was Tim Robbins' The Cradle Will Rock. Although only meant to be tangential,I was dissapointed by the the movie's portrayal of Diego Rivera's efforts to paint an homage to Lenin on the walls of the Rockefeller Centre after he was commissioned by one of the Rockefeller's to do a mural there on American Progress. It is such a delicious real life story and yet Robbins' telling of the tale was not entertaining or provocative in the least.
On a positive note, and by way of segue, a movie *by* a painter that I truly enjoyed was Julian Schnabel's Before Night Falls, if you can call being harrowed by a tragic and haunting bio-pic disturbing.
I plan to catch at least one Hitchcok this weekend. Don't know which yet. I am going to let my friend decide.
For whatever reason, and despite having several friends who are enthusiasts of his work, I have never gotten around to seeing any Derek Jarman movies. His Caravaggio has been recommended to me a number of times. Hopefully, I will get around to seeing it one of these days -- that and Wittgenstein, which I meant to see when it was first released.
I was interested in what The High Museum of Art had in its collection for Pollock. Couldn't find it but they do feature their Rothko on their website.
Haven't seen any of Krasner's work, that I know of. I am sure I have seen Pollock at The Art Institute in Chicago but it was long ago. Most recently, I have seen a couple of his paintings at the St. Louis Art Museum.
I lament the High Museum. It is small. In general, Atlanta is very poor in cultural amenities compared to other much smaller cities like St. Louis and Cincinnati.
Hopefully things will get a little better. The High Museum has announced plans for an expansion that will double its size. Architecture they do well. The current building was designed by Richard Meier and won several awards. The expansion will be designed by Renzo Piano. I can hardly wait.
And on-topic, I hated The Garden but loved Edward II.
With increasing attention directed towards Tilda Swinton, now's a prime opportunity for those who've never seen her work with Derek to catch up.
Here is a good documentary on Warhol but I like this better.
I also liked Basquait but can't find it at IMDb.
And there is always this one.
And a year or two ago there was a film about an artist that was quite good, but I can't remember it now. The opening scene was of a hunky burgler breaking into the artist's studio.
and I am not forgetting the one where Kirk Douglas played Van Gogh. Can't remember the name.
Too big.
Some of it was dated, even then. But....some of it was downright scary. I'll never forget the scene where they open the under-the-counter cabinets and those dead dogs come falling out.
James Arness played The Thing, did he not?
Speaking of Lili Taylor, I get to see Julie Johnson on November 11th for the closing night of Atlanta's gay film festival. I have been salivating to see this since I read about its premier at this year's Sundance.
I think you'd like it a whole lot, Phoenix. (For the cute naked boy content alone.)
The rest pretty much put me to sleep.
Wasn't the other movie I can't remember where the artist beds the burgler also about Hockney?
And another good one in which to see Tilda Swinton.
Thanks, Cal and Celler.
Not a good date film, I would think. I was tired coming out of the theater. The movie's a bit of an ordeal.
The promises of nudity in the commercials are misleading- it's naked bloody dead people. It is not a sexy film. It is not tittilating. Or, at least, if you think otherwise please stay the hell away from me.
The black woman does a credible job in the Black Person Role standard in these movies, with appropriately sassy exclamations of "oh, hell no" and "lord, I'm surrounded by crazy white people" and all the rest. The big breasted naked dead chick does a credible job of having big breasts. The sound guy does a bang up job at making everything really really fucking loud.
Not a fun scary movie, even in the diminished expectations realm of gorefests, but ocassionally effective. There were a few good ideas buried way down in there. But the movie is certainly no Evil Dead II. It has all the excess without any of the goofy cheerfulness.
Have you seen Joy Ride? If not, go check it out. Lots of fun, and might take the bad taste out of your mouth.
But the Galaxy Quest guy makes a rather atypical movie hero, which was interesting. Middle-Aged Dad to the rescue.
I really liked it, and am surprised it doesn't have a better reputation. It does lack the glamour-puss leads that are a Hitchcock staple (Bruce Dern is about as uncharismatic a hero as I have ever seen), but it has a fun, twisty, story that has a lot in common with many very recent films (I somehow suspect Guy Ritchie is a fan), and the cast is uniformly very good. I can't think of anything I didn't like about it, except that I had to look at Bruce Dern for two hours, instead of Grace Kelly.
Anybody have any idea what the name of the Wonder tune is?
With A Friend Like Harry
A psychological thriller about old schoolmates bumping into each other by chance, with the rich, charming, and potentially psychotic one interposing himself into the life of the other. You will be required to suspend disbelief a few times (I chalked some of the more trusting actions on the part of characters to the fact that they were French), and director Dominik Moll lapses into Hitchcock fetish once too often, but still, a compelling two hours.
Grade: B.
Wonkers, I have read good stuff about Innocence.
It's a kind of variation on Patricia Highsmith as Bunuel might have concieved it.
Tip to parents: if your small child is afraid of heights, wait until this one comes out on video.
Just noticed on our way back from the Y that they tore down Hugh O'Brien's childhood home, just 4 miles from here.
It was an old, ugly, brown two-storey - very long...maybe 80 feet, but narrow so it looked like a huge railroad boxcar - with lots of small windows and incongruent shutters.
It was situated on a side street off the main street, first house behind an old shell station which has sat vacant for 2 years since it was discovered to be leaking gas into the ground.
RiteAid Drugs had bought the Shell property, and announced plans to have the store built by early 2002. But nothing I ever read said anything about old Hugh's house coming down.
Weird.
Atmospheric spooker that relies on acting, lighting, music, and sound instead of CGI to provide a most satisfactory two hours of chills.
Kidman delivers her second solid performance of the year as the brittle, devout, brave British mom always a step or two away from hysteria as she fights to discover who is threatening the security of her family and the possession of her isolated mansion. The servants leave in the middle of the night, the children speak casually of ghosts and visitors, the house rocks and creaks most alarmingly. The new servants, particularly Mrs. Mills, lend a comforting weight of sanity to the household--or do they?
There isn't much original in the story, but part of the charm in a haunted house tale is the manner of telling, and director/writer Alejandro Amenabar, in his first English film, nails all the essentials. The two kids are excellent, and the great Fionnula Flanagan (renowned among Trekkies everywhere as Data's Mom) gets the best role of her film career as the sturdy, sensible housekeeper with ambiguous motives.
It's almost out of the theaters now, but it should play well on DVD. Perfectly suitable for teens.
The title sequences looks are made to look like 1960s animation (think Pink Panther movies).
I figure Disney can get at least one theme-park ride out of this.
the only funny parts were the parodying of old nursery rhymes and/or Disney flicks. i didn't think Myers or Murphy were all that funny, and this movie just had too many dull parts. overall, a real disappointment -- 2 ½ quacks.
Just saw it for the first time this weekend, and the 4 y.o. daughter is already addicted.
I thought his quasi-reprisal of that role fit very well in Shrek, though.
like i said, the lampooning of old Disney movies and nursery rhymes was top notch, but the rest was crap.
And, btw, why was Mike Myers talking in his title character's dad from So I Married An Axe Murderer? very annoying
The festival in general is scaled back. Two years ago, I fondly remember leaving the theater at 2:00 am after seeing a midnight showing of Boom and being back in the theater at 11:00 am the next day. No such chance of that this year.
There are no midnight showings and there is no showing of a vintage classic like Valley of the Dolls last year. The number of concurrent showings is drastically reduced. Just not as many films being shown, period.
I have wondered at this. Part of it is good. Many "gay" films now get a wide general release such as Hedwig and the Angry Inch. They don't have to rely on the gay film festival circuit for distribution. But part of it is sadly due to a city even the size of Atlanta (4 million plus) being unable to sustain a large scale gay film festival.
Dan Bucatinsky was O.K. but he tended to overact with much rolling of his eyes. He is a better writer than actor. Richard Ruccolo was quite good. I especially appreciate that as a straight man, he did not shy away from the hot man on man action. Unlike Dean Cain and Andrew Keegan in Broken Hearts, Ruccolo made it seem real. A good actor and excellent eye candy to boot.
Adam Goldberg was the best of the four leads and Shasha Alexander was quite good.
Several walk-on parts of note. Lisa Kudrow was the best and funniest. However she has convincingly done a role of the talentless actress before in Clock Watchers.
Chistina Ricci was just sorta there doing a schtick she has done before.
Andrea Martin was great as a crazed Jewish mother. Again, a role that is not really a stretch for her.
Doris Roberts was also quite good. However, we have all seen the nice little old lady who spouts profanities to great comic effect.
She was also central to the major flaw of the film. It was not enough that it be a light entertainment. It also had to get heavy with a message. Sieze the Day, Life is for the Living, to be loved you have to first love yourself....etc.
So Doris Roberts sharply goes from light comedy to heavy message without missing a beat. And we have more than enough alcoholic parents and the sister (unseen) locked away somewhere with FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) and an alcoholic who suddenly becomes violent.
At a running time of 92 minutes it would seem that this movie could have been a lot tighter and more controlled. More romance and comedy and less of the heavy life lessons would have been very nice.
Doris Roberts, BTW, has recently endowed a grant at the Christopher Isherwood Foundation
First almost two hours of reading English subtiles while hearing the almost musical Thai language during Iron Ladies.
This is a dramatization of a real Thai men's volleyball team composed largely of gay men and an occasional transexual that competed in the Thai national championships in 1996. It was educational.
But not a very good movie.
The Thai language must have no actual word or phrase for the word "games" as in SEA Games and Asian Games.
Then almost two hours of listening to French while occasionally reading a subtitle or two for Adventures of Felix.
This was a much more satisfying film going experience, not due entirely to my actually understanding a little French.
First, I was stunned and nostalgic for the beauty of the French countryside. There is nothing like seeing the Cathedral of Chartres in the shimmering distance of a summer day. I have seen the real thing and this film captured it perfectly. Bravo to the cinimatographer.
I think the film also capured that je ne sais quoi that is peculiar to the French.
This was the only Atlanta showing of this film. It played to about 50 people. Thank you, President Bush, for snarling traffic so bad that people were afraid to go out to the movies.
When I lived in Austin, they had a great gay film festival. I never made it to the one in DC nor the one here in Indy.
I think you are right about your comment yesterday that gay culture and stories are so prevalent now days that there is no longer that sense one used to have -- that getting to see these kind of movies is an exceptional moment.
Etc magazine, the local bar rag, is a major sponsor and promoter of the film festival for many years now. Etc., although a bar rag, did attain a quality comparable to TWIT and other similar publications. Although being mainly a promotion device for bars and clubs, it did have a modicum of journalistic standards.
But two years ago a new group from Florida showed up in town to publish "David" magazine which is a bar rag of the worst kind. Its most probing articles are its "Fitness File" with "Better Abs in 3 Easy Steps" being their biggest journalistic challenge.
But they read the market well and have greatly reduced Etc.'s readership. As a result, there has been little promotion for this year's festival.
And you wouldn't know there was a festival at all if all you read is Southern Voice. They have long ignored the festival because it was sponsered by a rival.
I also adore their previous film, the AIDS musical Jeanne and the Perfect Guy.
This movie is everything that is wrong with Hollywood films, save for Halle Berry's bare breasts, which in their un-enhanced state, are lovely.
Film: F.
Halle Berry's breasts: A.
This film covers the role an Australian satellite dish and its operators played in projecting Neil Armstrong's moon walk to the world. The Dish is in the mold of 1983s "Local Hero", a little picture that benefits greatly from the quirky characters who inhabit the little town of Parkes, Australia, and how they grapple (mostly comically) with their 15 minutes of fame. Often very funny, the timing is deft, and like Local Hero, The Dish has several sweet, true moments.
Grade: B+.
I've observed for myself that watching screaming hostages get blown to pieces has lost much of its entertainment value in the last few months.
Same thing with the biohazard scenes in Monsters Inc. (which are nevertheless very funny.)
It also has Lena Horne doing Julie in excerpts from Show Boat
Blow was surprisingly good. interesting mainly due to Depp's performance as a guy who just can't get away from his drugs and past, it was a pleasure. an understated movie that's suffered in, undue imho, comparison to Traffic. a good renter, no doubt and worth a watch. 3 quacks.
John Singleton's new tale in the middle class 'hood alternates as a compelling family drama and an unrelenting, sometimes savage, critique of the urban African-American male. Singleton pulls no punches from the outset, likening the film's main character, Jody (in his early twenties), to a baby not only by use of the theories of crackpot Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, but by way of a first scene that shows Jody, as a grown man, warm in amniotic fluid. He has two children by two women; the mothers of his two children harass him, but cater to him; he still lives at home; plays Daddy only when it is fun; comes and goes as he pleases; does not have a job; allows his own mother to baby, feed, and financially support him; has sex when and with whom he wants; and otherwise, lives a life a only a bit rougher than one of Peter Pan's lost boys.
What makes this film so different, and sometimes, uncompromisingly harsh, is that Singleton gives not one second to establishing root cause. Unlike earlier films, racism, oppression, and poverty play no overt role, and, Jody's world appears to be one of affluence. His mother's house is nice, one girlfriend works and supports herself well, the other appears to live in her mother's mansion (the grandmother drives a Benz). Instead, Singleton hammers home that Jody is not a man - his girlfriends spit it at him, his mother insinuates the fact. Singleton has Jody fixing the bikes of the neighborhood kids, and living in the kind of bedroom normally reserved for a 13 year old boy.
The film is a bit long, and the symbolism is very strong (Rhames, at one point, takes the gun from Jody's hand and gives him a blanket - oh, if only Jody had a Daddy!), but Singleton has grown as a filmmaker, and I recommend the picture.
Grade: B.
TOKYO — Movie director Nagisa Oshima is undergoing treatment in an intensive care unit at a hospital in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, his family said Monday.
Oshima, 69, has been in the hospital since Wednesday night when he underwent surgery after suffering from peritonitis, the family said. (Kyodo News)
I've already bought advance tickets for Saturday. My daughter is more excited than she ever was on Christmas Eve.
The film is charming and your daughter will love it.
Was your daughter one of the kids that went to the midnight premiering of the latest book? I took my bookworm cousin (who was dressed up in costume, scar and all) to the event here at the Local Barnes & Noble and she proceeded to read the 800 pg book in less than 24 hours.
I can only imagine how pumped up she is for this movie. She probably camped out for tickets. I hope that it lives up to her expectation. She will no doubt watch every detail to ensure that the facts are in order.
Gypsy 83 is the second in Todd Stephens' Sandusky trilogy. The World Trade Center shows up promenently at the end of the film.
Karen Black shows up promenently with top billing even though she only has a supporting role. Weird. Stephens' is quoted as saying he thinks Karen Black is fantastic and he looks forward to doing many more films with her. Given that her face was frozen long ago by the plastic surgeons and she is unable to express any emotion with her face, I would rather he not.
She does sing well and should continue that career.
It is a good film and a wonderful complement to the earlier "Edge of Seventeen". But it is not a sequel. Entirely different and only the very beginning of the film takes place in Sandusky. The movie is basically a road trip. With a few twists and turns. The moment that Gypsy and Clive walk into a bar in Nowheresville, USA is priceless.
The film ends in a cemetery in New York with the skyline in the background.
One of the themes of the film is the obsession some fans have with Stevie Nicks. Only one Stevie Nicks song is on the soundtrack, however, because Stephens was unable to obtain the rights. Too bad.
Cloning Bruce Lee? It may sound like a B-movie, but if a Korean film company has its way, it could happen.
The late martial arts star is going to be digitally resurrected to star in Dragon Warrior, his first film since his death more than 28 years ago, Daily Variety reports.
The $50 million kung-fu flick is being financed by ShinCine Communications, a South Korean company funded by Samsung and run by CEO Chul Shin. ShinCine purchased the rights to Lee's likeness from the actor's estate, which is supervised by Lee's widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, and his daughter, Shannon Lee.
The company has been developing Dragon Warrior over the last four years and lobbied hard to turn Lee into a virtual action hero. Korean and Japanese writers have reportedly completed a third draft of the script and plan on widening its appeal to English-language audiences.
The movie also happens to mark the first time a dead celeb has been brought back to life for a major role in a feature-length film.
...
But instead of digitally tweaking old footage of the deceased star, Dragon Warrior's computer artists will literally recreate Lee using the kind of computer-generated technology that made Jar Jar Binks a real-life character in The Phantom Menace and created many of creatures in The Lord of the Rings. If all goes well, the computerized Lee will be indistinguishable from the real deal and will be inserted seamlessly into the live-action film.
Hey! That's cute.
I suspect Rask won't lose any money.
Even more innovative was Miss Anartica Iva Tchiestequolde (pronounced "chest cold") who came on stage with a seeing eye dog (snow blindness) and made her own costumes from the carcasses of dead animals. Being blind, some of the carcasses were arranged rather.....strangely.
It will be a goldmine.
my bet is on Lord of the Rings over Harry Potter. that goes for this year as well as the entire trilogy.
it must have gotten cold up north early this year.
how the hell did you pick $222 million as the figure??
The 222 million figure was set by Cantor. Cantor bought out the Hollywood Stock Exchange earlier this year, and uses HSX prices to set their lines for spread bets in England. They initially set the line at 205, but it jumped up quickly as bettors thought they were underestimating it. I wasn't able to get in until it had hit 222 million. If you wanted to place a bet now, I think the line is 234 million.
to both of you.
Hey, I saw Get Carter, the original. Haven't finished my review yet but has anyone else seen it? Is the commentary by Caine worth a listen? (yeah, that's a dumb question.)
Incredbly moving performances by Sissy Spacek (the crowning moment of her career) and Tom Wilkerson in this delicate drama of grief and loss.
And Marisa Tomei can keep that Oscar!
William Mapother is also quite good as the heavy in the story (Extra Gay Jeopardy points if you can name his brother!)
Visually the entire movie - sets, costumes, the physical appearances of the main characters, etc. - was surprisingly true to the images evoked by the book. From what I've seen on TV (along with my daughter's near-constant excited whispers - "That's exactly how I imagined -----!"), this seems to be a nearly universal reaction which I guess has to be attributed to the author herself, not only for her books' descriptive style, but because she reportedly spent a great deal of time advising on the set. One aside here -I was a bit disappointed upon hearing Hagrid (the good-natured half-giant) speak, because in the books his accent was clearly Cockney. But then I recalled how, when reading the first book to my daughter, I had to Americanize Hagrid's speech because she couldn't understand him otherwise. (Hagrid, btw, was my favorite character in both the book and the movie, and Robby Coltrane is the perfect Hagrid).
The child actors (don't know any of their rl names) -Harry, Ron Weasely and Hermione Granger - were all very good - especially Harry.
We're supposed to go to a free matinee this noon at the same place - The Grinch. I have a feeling my daughter will talk me into another viewing of Harry, which I will gladly do - as long as she pays this time.
Highly recommended.
Tell him to go to an early show if he's working the next day, though - we didn't get out of the theater till 12:20am!
(For the uninitiated, Quiddich is a game played by wizards and witches on broomsticks -kind of an airborne rugby match with 3 distincly different types of balls).
The cinematography employed in the filming of the match, while very effective and realistic, actually made me dizzy, and sick to my stomach.
You are warned.
HARRY POTTER!
My wife says it's the best movie she's seen in ages.
Last week I was working in my room and Spawn was watching a movie in the living room. I heard this high pitched noise like crickets chirping and said, "Spawn, are you watching Them!??"
He didn't hear me, but a couple minutes later came running in and said "Mom, Mom! There's this great movie on, it's a 50s science fiction movie like that one about the pods, and it's not over but have you seen it? It's called Them!"
I laughed and said yeah, I had recognized it just from the chirping. I then said, "You know, there's a really famous movie that is roughly based on the same plot. See if you can guess it."
He said, "Who's in it? But I have to go back and finish it, I just came in because it was a meeting scene."
I said "I won't tell you, but it's another movie with a little girl who survived."
So he went away and kept watching, and a while later came running back. "Aliens!"
I said, "Yep!"
And then his face fell. "Oh no, that means the cop dies!"
I done raised that boy right.
But in the short term, I've put the Harry Potter reviews in a conversation which is now on the butterscotch bar.
Harry Potter made 29.5 million yesterday, setting both the records for biggest opening day and highest single day gross. It might break the latter record again today. Kids' movies tend to go ballistic on Saturdays.
I've often thought that part of Harry's power is the effect he has on those around him - they somehow become more in his presence - and the film illustrated this perfectly. Daniel Radcliffe is a generous young actor, fully inhabiting his role, but making it possible for others to shine, as well. There is something a little other-worldly about him; he is Harry.
Go to see it - I'm going back in a little while.
Fortunately, Eddie came back with the popcorn and twizzlers, and I devoted myself to grazing in silence.
That's what I've heard protests are centered around.
Bob used to like to make fun of the same types wrt their feelings about clothes (he does a disgusting but very funny impersonation of a preacher preaching on short skirts and halter tops--it sounds sort of like Peter Lorre). Seeing skin brought out their most primitive impulses, and they satisfied those tendencies by being constantly on the subject of how eeeeevil skimpy clothes were. Preachers with that constant focus were always the ones most likely to run off with the church secretary.
And yes, we went to see it again this afternoon. We had gone (both girls and I this time) to see the Grinch on a free matinee. But even though we were 15 minutes early, all the Grinch seats were gone (despite playing on two screens).
Fortunately for us, this meant that HP was not sold out for the noon showing, so we were able to get into that. All other HP screens at all other times are sold out until 9:20 tonight.
This time, though, we sat quite a bit further back, andI didn't have such a bad reaction to the Quiddich scenes.
I thought that the treatment was adequate, but not as imaginative as it could have been. I especially felt that the film was trying so hard to be faithful to the book's plot points that it sort of hopped along, like a stone skimming on water, and that there weren't enough moments to get to know the characters. For example, if I hadn't read the book, the moment when the kids begin to suspect Snape would have seemed to come out of nowhere. (This is no small thing, because the emotional thrust of what little narrative thread there is in the book depends a great deal on Harry's growing sense that Snape is out to get him; it could have been developed better without sacrificing other elements.)
There were also some production miscues, here and there, that perhaps only a film professional would have noticed. Still, they smacked of sloppiness. The closing scene seemed like it had been shot rather perfunctorily; either that or they used an odd film stock.
The cast, though, was terrific, and they really gave it all they had. I especially liked Emma Watson's performance (the girl who plays Hermione). Her withering, disdainful gazes were great. Rupert Grint (Ron) was adorable, too.
I would be interested in hearing the reaction of someone who never read a HP book.
I don't think a kid who has not read the book would have much trouble buying Harry's distrust of Snape.
Although the whole Snape thing isn't fleshed out, his character was sufficiently sinister, imo, that even a kid who is not familiar with the story would probably not question Harry's reaction. IOW, only someone who has read the book would notice that Harry's distrust is not sufficiently explained.
To dwell on the reasons for the distrust, I think, would have sent the movie down a long, boring road. If this were to be a one-shot movie, then it wouldn't make sense to even include it. But Snape's role becomes even more central in the next three books, so I kind of saw that as introducing that facet of their relationship.
To be sure, it was a trade-off - but I think a necessary one.
Biggest opening weekend
Biggest opening day
Biggest single day
2nd biggest single day
3rd biggest single day (probably. it is for today).
It is also almost certain to set the record for fastest film to $100 million. 4 days. It will also probably be the first to 200 million with Turkey Day coming up. With the Christmas holiday, I think the film is going to do *at least* $400 million in its US run.
I'll probably be making $1500 off this on my bet. With previous winnings, that puts me 2/3 of the way to a 57" widescreen Sony HDTV.
I find carping among critics in the press that the film isn't sufficiently "Imagical"to be rather silly. We're not dealing with a work of breathles originality. Rowling has cleverly combined readymade ideas (sorcerers, boading schools, unicorns, centaurs, broomsticks, potions -- even rugby) into a "new" bottle.
Distrust over Snape is obvious as he's played by Alan Rickman. Had Columbus cast Sam Waterston in the role objections to the kids' attitudes towards him might be more appropriate.
But assessed without gratitude, it's just....flat. Lackluster, despite sterling characterizations and usually outstanding visual effects.
Columbus is still hampered by his usual weakness: he has no ability to create a genuine emotional impact. Harry's isolation and aching loneliness is completely ignored; for all the time wasted on the Muggle family, never once did I feel what it really would have been like for Harry to live in such a hellhole. Hermione's predicament, that of a brilliant girl who won't throttle back on her genius but still feels her alienation keenly, is barely mentioned. The film references Harry's notoriety, but never demonstrates the combination of fear and awe that everyone evinced upon meeting Harry, and the confusion this caused the poor kid.
Bizarre priorities are set. The film spends some ten minutes on marginally humorous owl deliveries, then barely mentions the content of the letter that changed Harry's life. We never find out exactly how the bad guy stole a person's body, while a centaur gets a good five minute dialog with no plot significance--but boy, he sure do look pretty.
At the same time, the devotion to the story seems slavish, which is why the bad decisions mentioned (and others) are so irritating. At times I was sitting there thinking "now we'll see the boats" or "now we'll get our quidditch lesson" and everything was by the numbers predictable. Then I'd be irritated because Mrs. Weasely was short-shrifted, or the whole House Cup concept was ignored except when convenient.
And the performances do make up for a great deal. Richard Harris is a quiet Dumbledore, who doesn't quite have the feel of a schoolmaster but is sweet enough. Maggie Smith is a tart and note perfect McGonnigal, and I was happy to see her discovery of Potter's Snitch capabilities left in and not given to a male teacher. I knew Rickman would be cast as Snape from the moment I read the first book, but I expected a bit more....sinuousness. He was geekier than I expected. The kids are all fine, although Radcliffe has far too many reaction shots and doesn't communicate the awed joy that Harry would have felt at the radical life transformation he received. I am still mulling over Emma Wood as Hermione; she seemed too aware of her performance. Ron Weasely was exactly right; one of the better child comic performances I've seen in a while.
But it is Robbie Coltrane's glorious turn as Hagrid who finds the right note of comic sensibility and emotional connection that makes me feel the loss of what could have been most keenly. Had Columbus set the film's tone by following Coltrane's lead, I would have forgiven many of the story decisions.
WB, Columbus, and screenwriter Kloves deserve kudos for realizing that tender concern for the source would earn them the billions that would never show up if they oversimplified and dumbed it down in the usual Hollywood treatment of book adaptations. If I don't care for the results, it's not because they went for the easy business buck and that's certainly something to celebrate.
I have been reading it aloud to my sons -- all four books -- and we have all enjoyed it hugely. But I think they have been listening much better than I have; it's as though I haven't really absorbed the story the way the have -- and people like you. Maybe I am epically challenged... (my wife also invariably gets the story line way ahead of me in all kinds of fiction, and sometimes I simply don't have a fucking clue why that person does that to that other person, and who was she anyway and wasn't he married to that other one, and gee, I thought that one was one of the evil guys, --- oh, he was? Oh, I knew that...).
We are going to see the movie on Friday, and I am looking very much forward to it, despite your mixed endorsement.
We went to see HP on Saturday morning at a 9:15 special showing. Lots of little kids as well the small crowd of adults (parents and my fellow nutty friends).
I will go see it again. Great, tremendous fun. Elvis from the NY Times was sweating a little on the Today Show this morning.
On the whole, the casting was excellent and delightful. Hagrid was outstanding, as well as the child leads.
Minor quibles; For much of the movie, I thought Maggie Smith had ditched Professor MacDonagul's Scottish accent. Then I got a hint of it or so.
I am not a big Richard Harris fan, and I think he was wrong for Dubledore (sp?). Ian McKellan would have been a better choice. There. I said it.
They made Hermione too bitchy. Yes, she is a know-it-all, but in the books, one gets the sense that she has to struggle because she is one. And like her two friends, she is a bit of an outsider (muggle parents), but she is very good hearted. We get a more compelete picture of her, one that is more sympathetic than the movie.
What happened with the ghosts? Peeves was absent. Cleese was wasted on Headless Nick. Personally, I think he would have made a much better Mr. Dursley. Reading that character, I always pictured Cleese showing anger and pompous outrage.
I think the books (moreso than the movie) speaks to the outsider in all of us, something that children are particularly sensitive to. This story very much speaks to my own feelings growing up gay in a less knowing time, but I am sure others identify with this on a variety of levels, and with experiences different from mine.
I am reading the Danish translation which is excellent. My boys are 9 and 11 and they're not fluent in English. The older one is catching on to it very fast now, though.
My younger one was wary of the film for a long time and declared that he didn't want to see it because it would ruin the images of the characters that he'd made for himself. He was really angry with the pictures he saw from the film on the Harry Potter web site and elsewhere. But he came round a couple of weeks ago, and suddenly he just can't wait to go and see it.
And neither can wait for the 5th book in the sequel to be published. What takes her so long??? they ask.
This weekend, I saw a production of Tchaikovsky's opera Eugene Onegin, based on Pushkin's poem. Tchaikovsky took on Russia's most favored literature, something that his audiences knew by heart. He told the story from his own point of view, which meant less from Pushkin's cynical Onegin and more from the character Tatiana. Perhaps she matched his own romantic style of music.
Anyway, he called it lyric scenes from the poem. So that is how I see the movie Harry Potter. It's snatches from the books.
The best films work on all levels--and Harry Potter is an entirely legitimate adult bestseller.
Sto--Oh, I would definitely go see it. Thanks for the kind words.
GJ--I completely agree about McKellan. I also think it was foolish for Columbus to cast anyone so old in a series that will go on for this long.
I also think you're exactly right about the common theme of being an outsider. No matter how many friends Harry acquires, he always has to reprove himself over suspicion. This is not a concept that Columbus would even understand, much less accurately portray. You've captured something else that I feel was lost in translation.
One other thing--Columbus clearly read all the books. I think that was a mistake. The books are written for kids to "grow up" with, and the first book is quite lighthearted. The movie has the tone of the fourth book. 
Dave Barry's take on Harry Potter?
This was followed by the Boys Shorts, which were just awful. Fortunately they were all short. The only one worth mentioning was Jeffrey's Hollywood Screen Trick, a satire on the recent spate of gay themed "romantic comedies". The quotes are intentionally sarcastic.
This short was stop-action using the Billy and Carlos dolls which are anatomically correct in the front, but not the back. At the end of a date, the Carlos doll uses a power drill to give the Billy doll a new one. It was pretty yucky and funny.
I would rather have attended the counseling group.
This was followed by the documentary My Left Breast made by a Canadian lesbian cancer survivor. It was very honest and harrowing.
The evening was capped off with 6 episodes of Metrosexuality. A BBC television series in the vein of Queer As Folk.
I was totally lost in episode 1 due to the large cast of characters and the necessity to adjust my ears to the Mother Tongue. By the middle of episode 2 things started sorting themselves out at which point, I sat back and had a thoroughly good time.
It is as good as or better than QaF (the British version, not the American travesty).
The actors playing Kwame and Bambi are scrumpdillilicious. Highly recommended. But after seeing it you will be depressed at the fact that all you have to go back to on the American boob tube is pale by comparision. Even the excellent stuff on HBO is not as innovative and daring as what the BBC puts on its public channels.
Boo to American Television.
Interesting choice--Denzel is apparently directing now. He doesn't go into the film as thoroughly as I would like, but he has some interesting comments.
It's easy enough to begrudge OP the Best Film Oscar in a year that had Raging Bull. But it's a very good movie in its own right. Besides, the injustice of its win is matched or more by MTM losing out to Sissy Spacek that year.
I guess white people have all the magic, hunh?
Or maybe we've just got the BLACK MAGIC -- like in I Walked With a Zombie
Oh wait a minute at the end that seems some white bitch was responsible for all the zombie stuff too.
Well I guess Elvis was right -- NAWS (niggers ain't worth shit)
Gee, ain't he lucky to have a job at the NYT!
(and a fortiori I know the Phoebe personally, and have seen him in action for over a decade.)
Yes well there's nothing like minority objecting to the representation of minorities in a fantasy film.
I don't know if that was his point, but it wasn't mine. They could have been given much more to do, and there's no reason why more of the speaking parts couldn't have been cast with black actors. Certainly the Oliver Wood character--who is only in this film and the next--could have been cast with a black person. Ditto the PE teacher. Quirrel could have been black or Asian without any violation of the canon. And so on.
I'm going to try to take my daughter to see it again, but in a better theater. I got the feeling that we had a bad print and a bad sound system where we saw it.
I've really begun to notice the problem Ebert mentions regularly--most film projectors run at like a third the required wattage.
Biggest load of bs I've ever read. They compare the boxoffice gross records the movie set to Roger Maris' home run record in '61, when he broke Ruth's record. (The famous asterisk because Maris broke the record in 162 games, as opposed to Ruth's 154). This, because The Lost World opened in '97 -as if 4 years ago we were all plunking down a dollar for our seat. (I don't know about you guys, but here it's exactly the same price, $6, as it was in '97).
But, that's not the only reason HP deserves an asterisk. Because then (and they nearly had me fooled), they compare the number of theaters the two movies opened in - HP's 8,000-some-odd to the other's 5,000-some-odd. Only now, they're not comparing HP to Lost World anymore...they're comparing it to Star Wars, The Phantom Menace. They don't even mention the number of theaters Lost World opened in. Nor do they mention the fact that HP is, what - 60%(?) longer than either of those movies, and that that fact just about makes up the difference in number of screens.
But I know hornswaggle when I read it.
I think it was 7.50 in 97. Now it's 9.
Any talk of dollars that isn't adjusted for inflation is pretty pointless. I think it most likely that HP outdoes all the recent box office hits.
As for number of theaters, EW usually covers that in their weekly stats.
Yeah, but when you're talking opening weekend of blockbuster movies, you're pretty much talking about full houses all 'round, no? Especially in light of the point the Forbes piece tries (desperately) to make - that TLW's opening at less screens is significant because, potentially, lots of people who wished to see it, didn't (because of unavailability of seats).
HP's per theater take was $25,463. According to this link, TLW took in $28,256. TLW was in 3000 fewer screens, but was 20 minutes shorter, which might allow them to fit in one more showing per theater a day.
1) When you adjust the opening weekend for ticket price inflation, Potter still breaks the opening weekend record, although I don't think it would break the opening day record.
2) Harry Potter is only about 10-15 minutes longer than Lost World and Phantom Menace. That isn't enough to squeeze in an extra showing, unless you do morning or midnight screenings.
3) Cal's per screen numbers for Lost World are for the 4 day Memorial Day weekend, which isn't apples and oranges.
4) Lost World *didn't* have high grosses after opening. It faded fast. Potter won't. Its Cinemascore ratings are spectactular, and it is getting very good word of mouth. Lost World was a disappointment.
5) Yes, box office records don't control for screens, or for population growth. So what? The Forbes article ignores that Maris' asterisk was very controversial, and was eventually removed. Baseball stats also don't control for number of teams in the league, the number of players, and quality of pitchers.
6) What is usually reported as per screen average is really per *theater* average. In the past, this has been a good proxy for screens, but in the past few years that has changed, because of megaplexes. The ratio of screens to theaters has changed. Consider that the ratio of screens to theaters for Phantom Menace was 1.67:1, and the ration for Harry Potter was close to 2.2:1. That does explain a lot of why Potter was able to generate its high grosses, but it doesn't take away from the achievement.
Oh, interesting. That's good to know.
Isn't apples and oranges, or is?
A longish time ago you asked me for some recommendations for Bollywood movies. I finally have one I stand behind - it's for the blockbuster of the past year, a very enjoyable flick called 'Lagaan'.
It's made with superior production values, but is unabashedly Bollywood anyhow, with stock characters, stock scenes, and much singing and dancing.
The plot follows a band of villagers sometime in the nineteenth century who get challenged for a cricket match by the local (sinister) English cantonement, with the entire taxes of the province riding on the result. You have it all, Rask, the brave band of villagers include the youthful hero (who naturally has a widowed mother), you have the half-mad seer, you have the doughty Sikh and the righteous Muslim and even the downtrodden untouchable and the mute temple-boy. These all come together for the match, which ends in a mighty triple flourish of a clouted six, the advent of the monsoons and the unification of the fated couple.
Capital entertainment, Rask. Lagaan. You can get it with subtitles, without a doubt.
By contrast, men in Bollywood movies (though rarely the hero) cry all the time, wretchedly, helplessly, heaving with sobs. Interesting little cultural difference.
Much touted as the most expensive Bollywood musical ever and the first to include British actors, this might just do for the genre what Crouching Tiger did for the martial arts romance. Lagaan is a lavish epic, a gorgeous love story, and a rollicking adventure yarn. Larger than life and outrageously enjoyable, it's got a dash of spaghetti western, a hint of Kurosawa, with a bracing shot of Kipling. The "lagaan" of the title is the tax that the British imposed on Indian farmers at the time of the Raj; the villainous Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne) imposes a double lagaan, but agrees to waive it if the locals can beat the Brits at cricket - but meanwhile his beautiful sister Elizabeth (Rachel Shelley) is falling in love with the defiant villager Bhuvan (Aamir Khan). The acting is a bit broad-brush, especially for the British chaps, but Ashutosh Gowariker's film is virile, muscular storytelling, with rich musical dance numbers, and inspired touches like an Untouchable inventing off-spin. A heavily bewhiskered Chris England plays a vicious bodyline bowler. Go and see it.
Hmm. "Little" isn't the first size adjective that comes to mind.
Of course the hero doesn't cry, he is the rock in this time of despair.
Anyway, it was interesting, I haven't seen anything like it on the screen for a long time. And I do look forward to your comments, I suggest you rush out to your local Indian grocery (they all rent out videotapes and DVD's) asap.
There's a new mommy in town.
Hee hee. I live in the burbs in the Widwest. There are probably a couple Indian groceries in the metro area, but they ain't local.
I'll rent the film from Netflix when it becomes available, which should be soon.
But none of those restaurants are close to where I now live. I'll rent on the Net.
Indians in the US most often don't live where they shop. It's an interesting phenomenon, as contrasted to the community in the UK and other places.
I first saw Undetectable: The New Faces of AIDS. Jay Corcoran was in attendance. Anyone who thinks the AIDS crises is over or that AIDS is cured, needs to see this film. Corcoran filmed 6 Boston area people with HIV including David Brudroy, a radio talk show host. The people included males, females, gays, straights, black, hispanic and white. Four contracted the virus through sexual activity and two through drug use/sex. One was a white, middle class, surburban housewife who contracted the virus from her unfaithful husband. A real cross-section.
Most were in relatively good health but a couple of them including Brudroy were in poor health when all started using the AIDS "cocktail".
At the beginning of the film, all were responding well to the therapy and Brudroy actually recovered his health remarkably.
By the end of the film, one was dead, one was near dead and the other four were doing O.K. but having to adhere to a harrowing daily regime of drugs with some very nasty side-effects.
Three of the teens were female, three were male. Five were gay, one was straight. Two were black, four were white. All had been on the streets for some time before the shelter finally opened.
Calling it a shelter is misleading. It is a fully furnished home in a middle class neighborhood that caters to a maximum of 8 youths. It is well staffed with professional social workers and psychologists. The kids have to sign a contract agreeing to the house rules which include that they either have to go to school or get a job.
Rainbow house is the third such facility in the country.
The film was pretty even handed, given that even making it showed where the filmmaker's sympathies lie. By the end of the film, three of the kids were doing well and there seemed to be hope for them. (Two of the kids were in attendance and answered questions after the film.)
However, three of the kids were back on the streets by the end of the film. Two of them were girls that just makes you cringe. These two girls were back into alcohol, prostitution and one of them was trying to get pregnant.
Sad, but after watching them and the choices they made, I had no sympathy for them. They were given a very good chance and blew it. Good riddence.
The opening shot of the film was a spectacular day time shot of the World Trade Center. Even after two months, the image is unsettling.
Lili Taylor and Courtney Love did a great job. In case you are interested, there is some hot girl on girl action.
All of the supporting roles were done very well. NYT review here.
In general, the festival was greatly scaled back and poorly attended this year. I am unsure of the reasons, but in addition to the times in which we live, I think it was mainly due to a lack of promotion.
It does not bode well for continuation of the festival.
Marj is right about this movie , Lagaan. A wonderful production, much better than any Indian movie I have even seen. If somebody is interested in watching an indian movie, this is a must.
I was trying to think of some good Thanksgiving movies, where the holiday was integral to the story. Suggestions?
How about Battlefield Earth.
That's a real turkey.
And perfect Thanksgiving fare re dessert as Brigid's favorite is Key Lime pie.
1. Alice Cans the Cannibals (1925)
2. Life Among the Cannibals (1996)
3. All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960)
4. Summer Cannibals (1996)
5. Cannibals of the South Seas (1912)
6. Feed Them to the Cannibals! (1993)
7. Shipwrecked Among Cannibals (1920)
8. Mike and Jake Among the Cannibals (1913)
9. Little ol' Bosko and the Cannibals (1937)
I like All The Fine Young Cannibals when it came out...
I see it now!
Cal: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is the most obvious choice to me. But following the theme of the rest of the posters, I would recommend Eating Raoul, Titus, Cook Thief Wife Lover, and Fried Green Tomatoes.
Phoenix: "How about Battlefield Earth. That's a real turkey."
groan
And from the 60s: "One Potato, Two Potato"
Supremely depressing.
Should Alzheimer's strike me just put a baggie over my head and have done with it.
Horrible for anyone to die this way, but the spectacle of a first-rate mind being ground to dust is almost unbeaable.
As her devoted husband, Jim Broadbent gives the performance of his career.
See it, but don't say you weren't warned.
Of course, one only has to see just about any John Waters film to know this statement is not true.
Over the weekend, one of the Stars Channels ran Cry Baby in fairly heavy rotation. I hadn't seen it in awhile. This is perhaps Waters' sweetest movie, at least as sweet as Pecker.
It is a riff/hommage to the teen musicals of the fifties and early sixties with some direct references to Jailhouse Rock and Bye Bye Birdie. Johnny Depp in the lead role does a remarkable job of being a believable teen heart throb in the midst of the usual Waters madness.
The usual Waters cast is here with Ricki Lake as the knocked-up (3rd time) teenage sister of Depp, Patty Hearst as the too-understanding mother of bad-girl teen Traci Lords. Troy Donahue and Mink Stole also show up. A standout in the cast is Kim McGuire as Hatchet Face. This movie should be seen for her performance alone.
There are some flaws, most notably the about face that Polly Bergan as Mrs. Vernon-Williams does that is rather jarring, out of character, and rather inexplicable.
This is actually a surprisingly good musical also.
Go rent it.
I read a lot of Iris Murdoch in high school. ANYTHING to getaway from kids trying to foist Hesse and Salinger on me! Quite like her novels.
I never liked Salinger at all, but haven't read any Murdoch. The husband is a philosopher or historian or something? Or do I have him confused with someone else?
What do you mean Judy Dench and Sam Mendes new squeeze take turns?
My first dip in Hesse was in college German class. Unfortunately, it concided with a bit of a depression where I was also reading about Jung. So I read a couple of his books. I can't say that I enjoyed him.
But he was hot at the time, as was Kurt Vonnegut. Are writers hot on college campuses these days?
(Sorry, wrong thread to raise the questions).
Playing her as young and old, probably.
I don't think it was an excerpt; I seem to recall it dealt with both of them in the third person. It may have been one of those pseudo "reviews" that actually is an article about the subject in question.
Shallow Hal is a sweet little movie, with emphasis on the word sweet. Hal is only attracted to beautiful women. They all hate him. One day, Tony Robbins, the infomercial guhru, puts a hex on him to only see the inward beauty of women.
He falls in love with Gwyneth Paltrow, lithely played. He sees her as a skinny blonde beauty. The world sees her as fat.
Jason Alexander, the unexplainable slimey friend, tries to set him straight. There is a bit of a "Shrek" like ending. And the only gross-out trick is played on Alexander.
Another out-of-the-way selection was Operation Crossbow, about the infiltration of the German rocket works by the British, starring a hunky George Peppard. Not your usual feel-good war flick with unbelievable escapes. Duncan Sandys, Churchill's son-in-law, was one of the characters; he's the man many hold responsible for destroying Britain's aviation program with his insistence that unmanned rockets were the wave of the future.
Run Silent Run Deep is out on DVD, and I have yet to find a movie that shows off a home theater sound system better than U-571.
I am afraid I am now reduced to little phrases here and there.
It goes on too long--chop chop chop! And the plot devices vis a vis daughter's romance with feckless bar owner is insultingly silly. But on sex appeal alone, this movie delivers a wallop. No rivalry between mother and daughter, for the very sensible reason that it would be laughable to present Weaver as somehow less delectable due to her age. Thus both women are sumptuously packaged throughout. And the love interest, Jason Lee, is quite the hottie, even if I preferred him with long hair a la Almost Famous.
But the movie works nicely as an entry in the brutally heartless comedy genre, if not quite the farce it could have been. This is due largely to Weaver's considerable comic talents and supporting work by Gene Hackman and Ray Liotta as Next Suitor Prospect and Prior Marital Payoff, respectively.
Hackman's hack (heh) will make you ill, but if you can get beyond that then it's his best work in years. And Liotta: lordy, I've missed Liotta. I wish he were around more. I didn't catch his work in the first half, when he is set up by the duo, but his reappearance in the last half hour is sufficient to justify the rental, in my view.
I remain continually perplexed by Liotta's career decisions; he just turned down a role on the Sopranos.
Tim Roth, however, is an impressive ape.
Grade: D.
Lord almighty, what a piece of shit.
the post-apocalyptic supermodel with flawless makeup, the plucky kid who refuses to stay out of the action and thus endangers them all, and the black guy.
This was very amusing.
Moulin Rouge is back, did you see?
Thanks for recommending Bowfinger. The bit with the dog during the dinner-date scene was worth the price of the movie alone.
But there were other great moments too.
"We're breaking up. You slept with --"
"So?"
"I never thought of it that way. I'll see you tonight."
And the Three Happy Premises had me laughing out loud, which rarely happens when I'm watching a movie alone.
I laughed so hard at the parking lot scene that I thought I'd rupture.
"Tell 'em Spearchucker says Hello!" bang, bang, bang! always cracks me up for some reason.
And then my lord, the Mexicans!
That movie was criminally overlooked at the Oscars for both Murphy's performance and Martin's writing. At least I think he wrote it, didn't he?
I'm very impressed they were willing to mock the Scientologists so openly. There are some people there that'll never be working with Tom Cruise again.
'Course, I don't imagine that's a big concern of Eddie Murphy/ Steve Martin.
I don't remember who wrote it. I was impressed from the outtakes/commentary how much of Murphy's stuff was improv.
Just checked--it was written by Steve Martin.
The parking lot scene where they freaked Eddie out with the dog in heels? It might be something you need with an audience, but Eddie's absolutely understandable hysteria interspersed with the cheery dog clicking away just slayed me.
I agree, it was hysterical. Poor bastard.
"There are no aliens."
"There is no giant foot trying to squash me."
What's the other one? "I feel like I might explode, but I probably won't?"
"Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father!"
Oh! Ha. I don't think I ever say parking garage. But then "space shuttle" doesn't show up much in my daily chat either.
The audiences that flocked to see Eyes Wide Shut -- NOT! -- are going to stay away in droves when the word gets out on this thing.
Running the gamut of emotions from A to B Cruise plays a magazine magnate who seems to be the straight Jann Wenner. His best pal is the ever-frisky Jason Lee, and his sort-of-girl is the ever friskier Cameron Diaz. The only trouble is she's insane! Whe he meets Penelope Cruz at a birthday party he's thrown for himself (to which Cameron wasn't invited) she flips -- nearly killing him in a car accident that takes her life and destroys his face -- just like Monty Clift.
But is she really dead? He keeps getting flashes of her. And then he thinks that Penelope may acually BE her. Or something.
Then he finds out through Noah Taylor (remember him from Shine ?) that he's actually in an alternate reality. A company run by Tilda Swinton (who shot the whole scene in a day) has had him cryogenically frozen. Years have passed and Penny has pennies on her eyes. But they plan to come back in their next life as cats.
No, I am not making this up.
It's Tom's Seconds folks.
Oh wait -- there's more. The gay stuff.
When Noah Taylor first approaches him in a bar Tom says. "Look, I happen to be straight."
However the man chosen to represent his father -- seen in some enomously projected still images -- is Robert Rauschenberg.
who as we all know, is Gay.
So what is Tom REALLY saying here class?
... bowfinger .. need to add that to the queue
My favorite Hollywood-on-Hollywood movie was a dark comedy with Kevin Spacey (redundant?) called Swimming With Sharks.
I haven't seen it in a while, but it about the Movie Producer from hell (Scott Rudin?) who is tortured by his executive assistant. One of his acts of torture was cutting Spacey with paper cuts and then pouring vinegar on the cuts.
The movie opens with the executive assistant telling the Shirley Winters story about her being told she would have to read for a part. And she responds by pulling both her Oscars out of her bag.
I strongly, strongly recommend keeping an eye out for Monkey Business. It is not out on DVD or video that I've ever seen, but AMC shows it regularly. Drop everything if you run into it and watch.
Elliot Gould plays Trapper John channelling Philip Marlowe, who helps a pal out by driving him from LA to Mexico--yeah, he's that kind of pal. Upon returning home he is arrested for having abetted said friend in the murder of his wife, until the cops learn that the friend went down to Mexico solely to off himself. Case closed.
But Marlowe, of course, knows that something is not right, so he investigates. The story might have been interesting if Altman gave a damn about anything other than romancing his favorite city (LA), but the director shows a near total contempt for the genre and the characters are universally creepy.
The performances are all good enough; only Mark Rydell, aka director, is outstanding as a slimeball Jewish crime lord. Look fast for Ahr-nolt in his underwear.
I did read that there was an opening scene with a cat that I missed. I can't believe it would redeem the whole movie, but give what a waste of time the film was I wish I'd caught it.
THE epic musical "Moulin Rouge," with Nicole Kidman, has won the Oscar season's equivalent of the New Hampshire primary, being named Best Film yesterday by the National Board of Review.
These 70-year-old awards by a group of amateur critics aren't always a reliable predictor of the Oscars - last year's top pick, "Quills" wasn't even nominated as Best Picture - but they get a lot of attention because they come at the very top of the awards season.
The board cited nine other English-language films for excellence: "In the Bedroom," "Memento," "The Man Who Wasn't There," "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence," "The Pledge," "Mulholland Drive" and the soon-to-open "Ocean's Eleven," "Monster's Ball" and "Black Hawk Down."
Billy Bob Thornton was named Best Actor for three films: "Monster's Ball," "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "Bandits."
Halle Berry copped Best Actress honors for "Monster's Ball."
Best Supporting Actor honors went to Jim Broadbent for "Moulin Rouge" and the upcoming "Iris."
Cate Blanchett was named best supporting Actress for three roles: "The Man Who Cried" and the forthcoming "Lord of the Rings" and "The Shipping News."
The director award went to newcomer Todd Field for "In the Bedroom," with Peter Jackson being cited for special achievement for "Lord of the Rings."
"Shrek" was named best animated feature.
Mexico's "Amores Perros" was cited as best foreign-language film. "The Endurance" was named best documentary.
Ocean's 11
Great perfs all around, especially Helen Mirren, Emily Watson, Jeremy Northam (as Ivor Novello -- he even sings several Novello songs), Bob Balaban (whose idea this was. The script is by Julian Fellowes), Alan Bates, Eileen Atkins, Kristin Scott Thomas, the ever-sneering Richard E. Grant, Michael Gambon, and Maggie Smith.
My only objection: Altman has Ryan Philippe keep his clothes on, so we never get a look at that fabulous ass of his, even though he beds Kristin Scott Thomas. Twice!
I love this guy!!
Cellar, in the link above, the reviewer says Oceans 11 is something like an Altman film, but not as good as one.
I'd never read the books but enjoyed the movie. Very imaginative. I wonder how they will do the other 3 before the kid grows up, though...I know they could cast a new actor but this one seemed so perfect. But I guess the character ages a bit in the books, too.
Keoni just loved the movie...and the books!
I hear the music was good, though. Wasn't there a CD released?
Sounds like Last Tango In Paris without Brando.
This film is so brazenly showbizzy that everyone seems to be in costume. It depends on hard work and movie star combustion and gets by because the actors bring verve and professionalism to the enterprise.
That they're better than the lackluster material isn't a given, and you may end up trying to fight their considerable charms. But even those potentially repelled by the in-jokes and raffishness may go along.
For those not so taken by the star power, this new "Ocean's Eleven" is the equivalent of a domineering team you can't stand that enters the Super Bowl. Even if you don't like the players, the odds are so good that it's tough to bet against them.
In any event, some no-name vs. Ebert, Mitchell, Turan, and the Post? Alas, all opinions aren't created equal. I don't know if I'll like it, but I'm certainly sure that I'm not impressed with some guy who tries to claim its worse than the original.
Eh. I realize it'll be fun for some people to loathe it, and of course some people want to loathe it so that they can kvetch. But I'm glad it's going to be fun.
If you'd prefer, I won't link to any more of his hapless reviews.
"To be sure, Soderbergh has proved his entertaining point, and done the Rat Pack one better, converting a paltry failure into a paltry success. But just how cool is that?"
You are welcome to link in whoever you like. And since I stated clearly that I didn't know if I'd like it (future tense), I am unclear how it is you drew the conclusion I had seen the movie, unless it was a misguided attempt at sarcasm.
I'm not a huge Mitchell fan; nor do I need to be. The point isn't whether or not the movie is good, the issue at hand is whether the reviewer knows what he is talking about.
I was disappointed they were remaking the movie since the original was so horrible. I think "paltry success" about sums it up. But if it is better than Erin Brockovich, surely that says something?
Did you see my recent grousing about The Long Goodbye? I just don't like that Altman character.
Groen is good at reviewing entertaining but unambitious movies. For me, his recommendations are usually bang on.
I saw your grousing about The Long Goodbye, which I have yet to see. I remain a big fan of Altman's, though I am growing more convinced that there is merit to your theory that Altman's portrayal of women is off-kilter.
I can't wait to see Altman's new one, especially now that Cellar has given it his thumbs up.
The Long Goodbye is a Fucking Masterpiece. it's the best film ever about Los Angeles.
The only one that really describes the mood of this town.
It's also a record of what the city was like when it was less inhabited and you could actually drive through it.
Altman's contempt for the genre matches Chandler's. But in a different key.
It's the picture Chandler would have written had he lived in the 70's.
Heavens, no. I grant that Altman's a good director and that in comparison even the remade O11 is at best well-made enjoyable fluff. I just can't stand any of his damn movies except M*A*S*H.
I wish to correct a statement I made earlier. It was in Robin and the 7 Hoods that Dean, Bing, and Frank sang together. Thus there is no reason at all to justify the original O11's existence.
TJ,
The Long Goodbye is probably going to play again on Starz or Cinemax, so if you get either one of them be on the lookout for it.
And anyone who gets Encore be on the lookout for the widescreen version of The Wild Bunch.
Everybody kept coming up to Tilda Swinton and telling her she was the best thing in Vanilla Sky, which greatly amused her. She hasn't seen it yet. She said that Crowe said the part was an extension of Orlandoin that he projected her into the future where she ran the world.
She also told me something about the first time we met, which was in 1985 when she, Derek and his punkette boytoy Spring were staying at Lucius Barr's place. "Lucius left the keys at this other apartment. We rang the door and this woman opened it -- who was Margaret Lockwood. Not the real Margaret Lockwood, but her stand-in. She told us about this -- the stoy of her entire life, in fact -- in the time it took her to cross the room to get the keys. Suddenly I had this flash of a whole Alternate Universe in Hollywood inhabited by stand-ins."
Tilda's going to Sundance with a new movie by Lynn Hirshman called Techno Lust in which she plays a robot.
"Aha -- back to robots again!" I told her.
"Ah yes," she said.
She also told me about her twins, who are now four.
"I spend the better part of my life showing that there's no difference between the sexes and what do I get? One of each. It's God's little joke."
Jon Favreau's follow-up to Swingers is less hilarious, and more edgy, but it is still a very, very funny buddy movie. Vince Vaughan plays Favreau's childhood buddy, a frenetic, almost Rupert Pupkinesque accomplice, unnerving, entertaining, and perhaps chemically imbalanced. Favreau, a dopey boxer and bodyguard for his stripper girlfriend (he has a tendency to beat up the recipents of her lap dances) is assigned by LA mob boss Peter Falk for a drug buy in New York City. Favreau vouches for Vaughan and their travels become the movie. Puff Daddy even holds his own as a New York thug.
If you liked Swingers, you'll probably like this movie, but if you liked Swingers and King of Comedy, you almost assuredly will like it.
Grade: B.
Bring the kleenex.
And, please, somebody-who-knows-about-such-things, tell me that late-40s Mary Steenbergen's nude scene was really her, and not some 22-year-old Playboy bunny.
Damn! I'm in love!
I love this line.
That's too bad about losing that money. I suspect everyone who wanted to see it saw it right away. Interesting that the trend of huge opening weekends held even with HP. Did Monsters do okay, or did it fade away when Harry showed up?
Monsters Inc is still doing decent business. It took a hit from Potter, but will still probably end up being one of the top 3 or 4 films of the year, and make more than Toy Story 2.
The huge opening weekend trend seems driven by the Megaplexes. There are too many theaters with too many screens, so everything is frontloaded. It used to be that if a film had that much demand, you would have sell-outs and the demand would be pushed back a few weeks, keeping interest in the film longer. Sell-outs seem to be much less common nowadays.
Instead, I went to see Mulholland Drive again, which holds up extremely well on second viewing.
I also rented I Know What You Did Last Summer, the teen slasher flick starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sara Michelle Gellar. Essentially the movie sucks, but as I rented it for entirely prurient reasons (i.e. JLH in tank top) I can't complain.
Lastly, I second Francis' recommendation of Made. However, imo it is funnier than Swingers, which I also liked. Vaughn's character in Made is one of the funniest I have seen on the big screen in a long time. Hilarious.
But the best teen slasher recently was Final Destination. It was very tongue in cheek but also masterfully suspensful. The scene where the one kid is offed in his own shower is just perfect. You laugh and piss your pants at the same time.
And then that is topped by the teacher who gets it in her kitchen. I can watch that scene over and over and continue to be amazed at how perfectly worked out it is.
Of course if you are just in it for nubile girls in tank tops.....
Kerr Smith was kinda cute.
Greatly enjoyed Bandits -- a whole lot more entertaining than you might expect, and Cate Blanchette is a goddess!
Legally Blonde is wonderfully silly fun that seriously deals with class snobbery in America. Worth seeing for the shot of Chihuahua in a hairdryer alone.
Saw Ali yesterday. A shoo-in Oscar nomination for Will Smith, but the movie -- while well made -- lacks focus. So much of Ali's life is documented, Michael Mann had a wealth of material to choose from. But his decision to make the "Rumble in the Jungle" the climax doesn't work. If you know Ali's life -- as most of the people who'll want to see this movie do -- then there's no suspense to it. He buries a much more important turning point-- Ali winning his case before the Supreme Court.
Today's Supremes would doubtless hand him over to a Military Tribunal to be executed by firing squad.
To anyone who lived through those early years, and remembers the impact young Cassius Clay had African-American life in this culture, there's some real fun to be had here. But not as much fun as William Kelin's great documentary of the real Ali, "Cassius le Grand."
It's the story of a black American who won't kiss white America's ceaselessly proffered ass.
I'd love to strap Uncle Clarence in a seat and force him to watch it Clockwork Orange style.
Soderbergh's "remake" is professional, glitzy, well-acted, smart, thoroughly predictable, and insufferably cloying (it is as if the actors want to emulate the har-har insiderism of the original Rat Pack). It rubbed me so wrong that I could only identify with villain Andy Garcia, and Don Cheadle's godawful Cockney merits a full half-point penalty in and of itself. Grade: C-.
Pearl Harbor
The first third is pure genius. Then, you realize it is not a spoof. The remainder explains why Hollywood deserves a Stalinesque purge as a lesson to others. Death by firing squad, with the first victims to be Michael Bay, Dominic Sena, and Renny Harlin.
Grade: F.
This fact alone seems like a ready made excuse for the movie to fall a little flat.
That was a hilarious movie, brilliantly funny. The parking lot scene made me laugh like a teenager, as did several of Christine Bransons scenes in which she stalked Eddie Murphy (in character or out). I think I'd rent it again, and I rarely do that.
Was 'Heist' discussed here? I enjoyed it, but maybe not so much as 'The Spanish Prisoner.' Gene Hackman, one of the few men over sixty-five I would gladly bed, is, as usual, masterful. But I get tired of that little sneak Pidgeon. That slithery, cunning quality she brings to the screen is recognizable no matter what color she has dyed her hair. Despite this new do, her character is essentially the same as the one in SP and it makes for a predictable ending.
Well, it would be a ready-made reason, not excuse. One doesn't need excuses with a $40 million opening weekend. And given that the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, the "reason" is only for those people who don't enjoy it. Everyone can't enjoy every movie, Judith, remember?
The "fact" that this cast wasn't buddy buddy is entirely irrelevant, given that they didn't do a blow by blow remake, with all the winks and nods intact. The story either works, or it doesn't. If the movie had been a critical success because of that fact, it'd be different. But it was quite the contrary.
Sorry, Judith. You're just going to have to accept the fact (the actual kind of fact) that it's a huge hit and that all the folks involved have now enhanced, rather than diminished, their careers. Terribly unfair, I know.
I almost caught Heist a couple weeks ago, but the timing was wrong--it was showing at 7 and 10:30 and I needed dinner and was very tired. I would like to see it, but I too am very tired of Pidgeon. At least Mamet's first wife could act.
I can accept that it is a huge hit and a success. Fine by me.
Just to quote FU...
Why would you bring up Francis? He doesn't like the movie. What does that have to do with my post in response to you? You are correct, though, he made no errors, "semantical" or otherwise.
I can accept that it is a huge hit and a success. Fine by me.
Really? It's so hard to tell.
I have a friend who disliked commercial artis purely because they were successful. She stopped complaining about it to me because she wouldn't admit that her dislike was pure prejudice and I would rip apart all her "reasoned" objections. All her other pals shared her disdain for popularity, so I was the only one who made her work that hard.
She's still my friend, though. Go figure.
Pronunciation: si-'man-tik
Variant(s): also se·man·ti·cal /-ti-k&l/
Function: adjective
Etymology: Greek sEmantikos significant, from sEmainein to signify, mean, from sEma sign, token
Date: 1894
1 : of or relating to meaning in language
2 : of or relating to semantics
- se·man·ti·cal·ly /-ti-k(&-)lE/ adverb
Heist is on my must see list, as is State and Main.
'Heist' has a few chase scenes, Judith, but they are grindingly suspenseful; there is a lot of noise from heavy, industrial machinery as background for some of these tense little moments that is put to good effect. Especially one moment in a Mac truck. 'Heist' is suspenseful but, again, the problem with Pidgeon. She betrays only the plot this time.
Mamet should really cast another leading lady. And I think that's also starting to get tacky.
It seems to limit the leading lady roles he writes, that's for sure. However, I suppose we should be glad he's not married to Mariah Carey.
Never the less:
"What does he like?"
"14 year old girls."
"Well, give him half of a 28 year old girl."
is one of the funniest pieces of dialogue I have heard in a good long while.
At any rate, I fall asleep usually about the time she shows up in the movie.
Up to that point, Alec Baldwin, William H. Macy and Julia Stiles among others do really good work.
Lindsay Crouse, from House of Games.
Best Picture In the Bedroom
Best Director: David Lynch Mullholland Drive
Best Actress: Sissey Spacek In the Bedroom
Best Actor: Denzel Washington,Training Day
Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslett,Iris.
Best Supporting Actor: Jim Broadbent, Iris and Moulin Rouge.
Best Documentary:The Gleaners and I .
Best Animation: Shrek
Best Foreign Film: No Man's Land
New Generation Award: John Cameron Mitchell
Best Score: Lord of the Rings
Best Production Design: Moulin Rouge
Best Cinematography: The Man Who Wasn't There
Independent/Experimental Film/Video Award: Trent Harris, Beaver Trilogy
Best Screenplay : Memento
We rented (and actully watched) Legally Blonde, which was indeed fun and worth watching. Also America's Sweethearts just because I think John Cusak's adorable.
We realized recently that we've developed this weird cirular thinking pattern that keeps us from seeing more movies in the theater. We don't go to many, so when we do go, it seems like a big deal, and if there's nothing really promising showing, we figure it's not worth it. So we go less.
Seems we get hit with bad showtimes a lot too. Easy to have that happen here, since restaurants don't tend to be open very late, so you have to eat before the movie. The 7 and 10 thing hits us a lot.
I so know what you are talking about...we do the very same thing!
JIM CARREY's stepping up to the plate in terms of really serious acting. He'll star in a film based on a book that's been on the New York Times best-seller list, Los Angeles Times best-seller list and made the charts as No. 8 in this year's top bios. It's New Millennium's "Hughes: The Private Diaries, Letters and Memos of Howard Hughes." Author is Richard Hack.
Four studios conducted a bidding war this month for the rights to the film. Major seven figures changed hands and Castle Rock won. So did Jim Carrey, who specifically wanted the role although such names as Tom Cruise, Jude Law and Billy Bob Thornton were interested.
Chris Nolan directs. Scott Steindorf produces. Exec producers are Deborah Raffin and Michael Viner.
This ought to be interesting with Carrey doing another serious role. I assume The Majestic is serious.
I really would've liked to see Billy Bob as Hughes, however...one obsessive portraying another!
I had always thought it to be Huston himself, but in reading up a bit about John Agee, find that movie listed as one of his credits, along with The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky and The Night of the Hunter.
Any help is appreciated.
Motion Picture, Drama: A Beautiful Mind, In the Bedroom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Man Who Wasn't There, Mulholland Drive
Best Actress, Drama: Halle Berry, Monster's Ball; Judi Dench, Iris; Nicole Kidman, The Others; Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom; Tilda Swinton, The Deep End
Best Actor, Drama: Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind; Will Smith, Ali; Kevin Spacey, The Shipping News; Billy Bob Thornton, The Man Who Wasn't There; Denzel Washington, Training Day
Motion Picture, Musical/Comedy: Bridget Jones's Diary, Gosford Park, Legally Blonde, Moulin Rouge, Shrek
Best Actress, Musical/Comedy: Thora Birch, Ghost World; Cate Blanchett, Bandits; Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge; Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones's Diary
Best Actor, Musical/Comedy: Gene Hackman, The Royal Tenenbaums; Hugh Jackman, Kate & Leopold; Ewan McGregor, Moulin Rouge; John Cameron Mitchell, Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Billy Bob Thornton, Bandits
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind; Cameron Diaz, Vanilla Sky; Helen Mirren, Gosford Park; Maggie Smith, Gosford Park; Marisa Tomei, In the Bedroom; Kate Winslet, Iris
Best Supporting Actor: Jim Broadbent, Iris; Steve Buscemi, Ghost World; Hayden Christensen, Live as a House; Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast; Jude Law, A.I. Artificial Intelligence; Jon Voight, Ali
Best Director: Robert Altman, Gosford Park; Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind; Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; Baz Luhrmann, Moulin Rouge; David Lynch, Mulholland Drive; Steven Spielberg, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Best Screenplay: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, The Man Who Wasn't There; Julian Fellowes, Gosford Park; Akiva Goldsman, A Beautiful Mind; David Lynch, Mulholland Drive; Christopher Nolan, Memento
Best Original Score: Craig Armstrong, Moulin Rouge; Angelo Baldamenti, Mulholland Drive,; Lisa Gerrard & Pierre Bourke, Ali; James Horner, A Beautiful Mind; Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; John Williams, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; Hans Zimmer, Pearl Harbor
Best Original Song: "Come What May," David Baerwald (Moulin Rouge); "May It Be," Enya (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring); "There You'll Be," Diane Warren (Pearl Harbor); "Until," Sting (Kate & Leopold); "Vanilla Sky," Paul McCartney (Vanilla Sky)
That the film could win six GG nominations blows me away. This is the second year in a row I haven't been able to figure out the taste of those who vote in these award shows. Last year's Gladiator was one of the worst "epic" films I've seen and yet most people seemed to like it.
I wouldn't think too much about the nominations, since GG is the only one that has a musicals category. O Brother did very well last year in that category (Clooney won for best actor) but got almost no nominations in the Oscars or other major awards.
What's Blackhawk Down? I haven't read about it.
I just looked at this site, and it seems the reviews for Moulin Rouge were mixed. Everything seems to have been said about it from CNN's "...quite simply, a spectacular reinvention of the movie musical." to the New York Times' "...never pound[s] out a coherent narrative." Ebert gave it three and a half stars, but USA Today gave it one and half stars and the LA Times said it has some brilliant spots, but was basically defective.
Spoilers
*******
They're just kids--late teens, early 20s. They mainly believe in God, country and kicking ass. About religion and patriotism they are straightforward and uncomplicated, pretty typically American. Kicking ass is a different matter. At that, a Ranger or a Delta Force soldier is a world-class expert--superbly trained, heedlessly brave, a figure set very much apart from the rest of us. In large measure, that's because his elite military status has given him something he didn't find in school or on the streets back home--that fierce pride in self, unit and mission that accrues when you are volunteering your life to be, as the recruiting slogan would have it, all that you can be.
This much is made vividly clear in Mark Bowden's powerful best seller, Black Hawk Down, which is a virtually minute-by-minute reconstruction of the helicopter and humvee incursion into Mogadishu, Somalia, in October 1993, that resulted in unacceptable American casualties and geopolitical repercussions still rumbling today. Director Ridley Scott's terrific movie adaptation is only inferentially concerned with the motives and back story Bowden provided. It also lacks a movie-star hero--a Tom Cruise or a Mel Gibson--reassuring us, simply by showing up, that everything will come out O.K. in the end.
continued ...
That was especially true in Somalia in the fall of 1993. At that point, the 25,000 U.S. Marines who had brought order to the distribution of food in a starving land had been withdrawn. The U.N. peacekeeping force on the ground was essentially impotent to intervene in the clan warfare that had brought the country well over the edge of chaos. The most powerful of the clans was the Habr Gadir, led by Mohammed Farrah Aidid. It became American policy to arrest him and the clan's other leaders and subdue its "militia."
Major General William F. Garrison (played in the movie by playwright Sam Shepard) was three weeks past the deadline Washington had set for completing that task when he got solid intelligence that two Habr Gadir "Tier One Personalities" and a raft of smaller fry were meeting near the Bakhara Market in "Mog." He ordered a midafternoon assault--Delta Force troops roping down out of helicopters to make the grab, Rangers securing a perimeter around the building. The captives would then be loaded into an armored convoy and taken back to the airfield headquarters.
continued ...
The fire fight would extend for an astonishing 15 hours, virtually without a break. Eighteen Americans would die, 73 more would be wounded--well over half our troops on the scene. But you cannot imagine the hot chaos those chilling figures contain.
continued ...
Good question, though not one that's comfortably answered by a brutal film that requires us to embrace the same deadly chaos our soldiers encountered eight years ago--a battle without visible turning points, a battle no one could map, a battle in which the hero is the group whose members become so grime smeared and blood spattered that audiences will have trouble identifying the players.
continued ...
That does not mean, however, that the troops in Mogadishu fought badly. On the contrary, they took everything the enemy threw at them, improvising their own deadly responses on the run. Under fire, they were, indeed, all that they could be. Afterward, Garrison pointed out that they carried out their mission successfully (he got his "personalities") and killed at least 300 of the enemy. It merely took more time and American blood than they ever imagined it would. In other words, you can see Black Hawk Down as antiwar if you're so inclined, but you cannot possibly see it as antisoldier. It is precisely that ambiguity that makes this picture such a compelling experience.
But that still raises the big question: Will people go to see it in numbers large enough to repay its estimated $ 90 million cost? It was, of course, shot and largely edited before Sept. 11. The only changes made since then, both Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer insist, were to ensure its action and geography are understandable to audiences.
continued ...
But Black Hawk Down begins with a quotation from T.S. Eliot: "All our ignorance brings us closer to death." By the light of its flash-bang grenades, this movie seeks to banish some of that darkness. It offers a paradigm of what war in the 21st century is going to be--modernism run amuck as it defends itself against primitivism, innocence savagely fragmented in incomprehensible combat. Black Hawk Down makes that point without preachment, in precise and pitiless imagery. And for that reason alone it takes its place on the very short list of the unforgettable movies about war and its ineradicable and immeasurable costs.
continued ...
As long as there have been movies, there have been war movies. A lot of them, especially those made while wars were going on, have been pretty awful--pious, jingoistic, improbably heroic. But these are war movies--rueful as they count the human costs of military imperative--that should continue to echo in our memories
FULL METAL JACKET, 1987 -- Young recruits first flirt with war, then make awkward love to it and, in the end, marry the bitch. This is perhaps the coldest movie ever made about Vietnam, but it is also the greatest movie about how civilized instinct finally, tragically, yields to murderous impulse. Harsh and bitter, Stanley Kubrick's film may reveal the ambiguous psychology of warfare better than any other movie
THE BIG RED ONE, 1980 -- Writer-director Samuel Fuller soldiered through four years of World War II and emerged with this tough-tender tale of how he and his buddies survived and grew to manhood. It is the great dogface film, gripping and compassionate
THEY WERE EXPENDABLE, 1945 -- A PT-boat squadron is devastated by Japanese assaults. Its sailors respond with grim dutifulness in what may be John Ford's greatest film, a gentle hymn to the grace sometimes found under deadly pressure
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, 1930 -- German schoolboys are imbued with patriotic fervor by a posturing teacher, then discover that the reality of trench warfare gives the lie to his fatuous speechifying. Lewis Milestone's movie remains the most powerful pacifist statement ever placed on film
THE BIG PARADE, 1925 --King Vidor was the greatest American silent-film director, and the terrible beauty of his stagings--especially the literal big parade of a mechanized army moving to the front--ironically underscores this WW I story of a young man acquiring--as so many in the military do--a tragic sense of life.
You seem to think that contradicts what I said? I don't see how.
Most reviewers who didn't like it still gave it sterling grades in various areas, and such reviews are not a "total pan". In fact, even the ones who hated it clearly gave it more regard than most films. The LA Times review is a perfect example. (Btw, the Times complaint about a coherent narrative in a musical is evidence only of reviewer's ignorance, but that's neither here nor there in this discussion.)
Gladiator could only have hoped for such reviews. It got almost no raves. On the other hand, it was very popular, so it's not like it matters.
I was just pointing out that there are no similarities to MR and Gladiator--one was a popular hit, one wasn't, one was a love it or hate it fest with critics, one was sneered at. Likewise, there is no basis to you apparent fear that Moulin Rouge will get a whole bunch of major awards just like Gladiator did. Moulin Rouge's nominations are in a category that doesn't even exist anywhere else. I'd love it if it got a lot of Oscar nominations, but it's certainly unlikely.
rottentomatoes.com is always a great place to go if you want to see what the "critical consensus" of a movie was. Cal, you might want to add it as a sidebar link.
I am seeing Lord of the Rings in three hours.
Moulin Rouge has been a love it or hate it film, but most critics loved it.
I loved and hated it. Loved the first twenty minutes and hated the rest (for the most part).
Rask, what's the word on how The Lord of the Rings will do financially? Some people say it has a chance to knock off The Phantom Menace.
Rask--yes, that's what I was trying to say about the two. The tone of the reviews was quite different. Gladiator got no raves and at best polite positives. Ebert gave it two stars, LA Times was vaguely polite about a failure, the Times did not like. Pincher, here are the reviews from IMDB for Gladiator.
I second the Rotten Tomatoes site (and will link it in) with a caveat--the interface is a serious pain in the ass, and it crashes my browser pretty often.
A few scenes from Apocalypse Now also bothered me; little else about combat in movies does. My lack of imagination I guess.
There are very few people who could direct it properly. Maybe only Roger Myerson or Ken Arrow. And there'd better be a sequel on John Harsanyi.
Be it known that John Nash was not a code breaker.
Scott--that scene from the Deerhunter stayed with me as well. I never really think of it as a combat sequence, but it is very powerful. Walken's behavior later in the film is entirely believable because of it.
If the score was period music I think it would have been a most excellent juxtaposition against the cinematography and special effects, but the modern tunes made it seem like MTV out of place and time.
Out of curiousity, would you hold Singin in the Rain to the same standards? Or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, or a number of other musicals? You aren't the first person I've known to make this complaint, but I've never seen other musicals held to this requirement.
Still, who knows? Maybe it will be well-done.
I'm surprised at how low your weekend numbers are. Didn't Harry Potter nearly clean out a cool ninety million in three days?
Yes. But LOTR is longer, which cuts showtimes by 25%. Also, The Wednesday opening will lessen the weekend box office, and LOTR is appearing on 30% fewer screens.
And my 50 million estimate is pretty solid, based on the 18 million box office yesterday. I doubt it is off by more than 5 million.
I think you have to consider Saving Private Ryan, with the beginning and ending serving as perhaps the strongest recreations of combat on film. Zulu also does a creditable job of depicting a 19th century siege. Terence Malick's The Thin Red Line and Oliver Stone's Platoon are solid entries, though both films are atonal, the former overly elegiac, the latter leaded down by banal propaganda. Hamburger Hill is a grueling combat film, and if large scale action is your bag, the massive Waterloo is extremely impressive (the use of extras alone is in the thousands).
Our generation didn't grow up with Hollywood musicals, so we aren't as aware of the fact that many of the best musicals of that generation used recent pop hits. They were doing the equivalent of taking the most recent hits.
So Singin in the Rain was nothing more than a story thrown around a number of popular songs. Ditto American in Paris, The Bandwagon, and Easter Parade.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, on the other hand, had no original songs--but then try and recall a song from the movie. There were some lyrics that are memorable for their offenses against the PC police, but there aren't many good songs.
The best musicals from that era either came from Broadway, where the score was the product of months of work, or were made by stringing together a number of popular songs that the audience would recognize and appreciate.
toycheck
Battleground is good (is it the one that has Ricardo Montalban freezing to death?)
Another good one, somewhat unsung, is Peckinpah's Cross of Iron. As the anti-hero was a German officer (James Coburn), the lack of popularity is understandable. Das Boot as well.
Also, Stalingrad is an excellent combat film.
Pearl Harbor, for all its money, was as visually impressive as a strong Road Runner.
I have never seen Cross of Iron, but I will second Das Boot and Stalingrad. I just saw the latter a few months ago, and it has really stayed with me.
I always watch these. After that, it's a tougher call. I don't care for Saving Private Ryan, save for the opening. The script is execrable (sp), and I've never forgiven it. I don't enjoy Platoon. Haven't seen a few of the 70s films that are considered excellent (eg, Big Red One).
I saw a very interesting war movie a while back that I mentioned here--A Walk in the Sun. Worth a look, if you can find it.
I forgot about Das Boot, but then I always think of submarine movies as a different genre from war movies. Does that mean I get to include the sub movie with Mitchum and Jergens? I love that one.
As I said, the lyrics are memorable, if only for their cheerful offenses against the PC police. The songs are nothing much. Or, if it's clearer, the tunes.
But the lyrics....in addition to Bless Your Beautiful Hide, there is the sobbin' women. "They acted angry and annoyed, but secretly they wuz overjoyed!" I'm amazed NOW hasn't protested.
Still, there is nothing memorable about Seven Brides musically--the best song in it is actually the solo that Powell's chirpy soprano trills (it's been covered a few times, I think). It's the dancing that puts it in the top league of musicals, not the music. This is true to a lesser extent of Singin in the Rain, which doesn't have a lot of coverable tunes, although they are all wellknown and far superior to anything in 7 Brides. The Bandwagon and American in Paris, on the other hand, have terrific songs that were hits before they ever appeared in the movie.
Scott--Ulana's or Ulzana's? I've always wanted to see that.
The last time I checked the DVD wasn't available; now it is. I've added it to my Netflix queue.
No, not my sentiments, but believable, especially as that time is far removed from any of our experience.
Of course your treatment will be a lot less expensive than the sort required for the likes of Ann Coulter and the Scaifettes.
As for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, everyone knows it's a cornerstone of the Gay Agenda. The entire project was devised to convince unsuspecting schoolboys that dancing is Really Butch.
Of course we all know better, don't we?
Love me some Howard Keel!
The "PC Police" would be a tad upset by a guy singing a song in which he assesses which woman will be the best wife to haul away and work on his farm, or the men who kidnap women away for the winter knowing that while they might pretend to be upset, they are actually delighted.
And there shall be no mention of Coulter et al in this thread; take it to the appropriate domain.
My favorites:
Good News
Easter Parade
On the Town
Singin in the Rain
It's Always Fair Weather
The Band Wagon
Swingtime
Top Hat
Funny Face
A Star is Born
The Harvey Girls
The Pirate
Summer Stock
Broadway Melody of 1940
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Une Chambre en Ville
Trois Place pour le 26th
Jeanne and the Perfect Guy
I saw Les Demoiselles de Rochefort in Aix on television last year and thought it was adorable. I think Francoise D'orleat (sp) Deneuve's sister, (who was sadly killed in a car crash) had beaucoup plus de charme than her sister.
I love French television--there is always a Bergman, or a Rohmer or some charming little comedy that you can watch uninterrupted. Imagine not having a commercial break until an hour?
why would opening on Wed weaken a movie's intake?
The standard line is "It's so unbelieveable in the movies when people suddenly break into song." To me it's so unbelieveable when they DON'T!
Im sort of bored by Deneuve, except, as Ive mentioned, in her role as a lesbian professor in Les Voleurs but we saw Chiarra, in a very funny, very dark and freaky little film, with Jean-Pierre Lelaud (sp--you would know him even if I messed up his name--he was the little boy in Quatre Cent Coups who partly lost his mind when Godard died).
Now I remember--It's called "Diary of a Seducer" and it's very entertaining. Have you seen it?
toycheck
Wow, that's a lot of italics.
When Bill and I were in Paris in '88 we went to a party "Cahiers du Cinema" threw for itself. Tons of people there with TV monitors showing the first (never released) cut of Wenders' Hammett. Leaud was there and Bill was terrified of being in the same room with him.
"why would opening on Wed weaken a movie's intake?"
It weakens the weekend gross for the upcoming weekend, not a film's overall box office.
Your Message # 22935 sounds like a two-star review, almost as if you are happy Jackson could do the film without a major fuckup. I take it those reviews saying the film is a modern classic and this generations's Star Wars are off base.
But I didn't mean to damn it with faint praise. It is an excellent movie. My problem in reviewing it is that this is just the first movie. Whether it is truly a modern classic will depend on how well the other films turn out.
For instance, the jury is still out on Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. Instead of the determined and confident Aragorn of the books, he is conflicted - afraid to take up his mantle as king. I don't like this, and if it isn't developed better in the next two films, it will hurt the films. But it doesn't ruin the first one. It just makes me aware that I am watching a work in progress, which makes my review a tad tentative.
But I definitely recommend it, particularly to you, knowing your tastes. But this generation's Star Wars and a modern classic? I'll wait and see. It certainly has the *potential* to do that. Many of the sequences are as breathtaking as the best sequences in the star wars trilogy, and the characters are better.
Some questions you can answer with little exposition:
1) How is Liv Tyler in the role of Arwen?
2) How are the non-action parts of the film? Some reviewers have damned it with faint praise, saying the action sequences of the film are great, but that during the segments without action, you find yourself looking at your watch.
3) How is the CGI? Some say that while most of the film is very well-done in this regard, there are several "Jar Jar Binks" moments in the film that will make a viewer wince.
4) I assume you have read all the books. Is this the case?
5) Did you see the movie with anyone who hasn't read the books? And if so, how did they like it?
Did you mean The Enemy Below? It was on AMC tonight...
Liv Tyler did an inspired job and she was well cast as a strong, beautiful and courageous character. My hard-boiled feminist wife warmed up to her instantly--I was seduced pretty quickly too.
I had no complaints with non-action moments -- except for the gloppy art direction for the Rivendell segment. It wasn't anywhere as bad as The wookie scenes in Star Wars, but it wasn't as thoughtful as the rest of the art direction. Lots of bad sculpture and interior design. What's the Jewish term--oongapachka? (sp?)
The caves of Moria sequence was done very well and it broke some new ground visually if not cinematically.
I never read any of the Tolkein books because of the whacko illustrator-geeks in art school who talked of nothing else for four years. So everything was new for me and thoroughly enjoyable. I saw Star Wars premier at Groman's Chinese Theater in L.A. in '77 and I thought this was worthy of many of the same kinds of accolades.
Better than I expected. They built up the part, giving her a key role in Frodo's flight from the Nazgul, but she still only has about 10 minutes of screentime. She is a solid supporting player.
"2) How are the non-action parts of the film? Some reviewers have damned it with faint praise, saying the action sequences of the film are great, but that during the segments without action, you find yourself looking at your watch."
There are some weak moments, but by and large the non-action sequences work very well, due to the quality of the cast. Given the sincerity of the books, it would be easy for many scenes to come across as corny, but the actors pull it off very well. McKellan and Wood are the heart of the film's drama, and both are superb.
"3) How is the CGI? Some say that while most of the film is very well-done in this regard, there are several "Jar Jar Binks" moments in the film that will make a viewer wince."
Very few of these moments. The CGI is by-and-large amazing. I expect the film to be a lock for the best FX Oscar. The moments that don't work are less "Jar"-ring, and more reminescent of a video game.
"4) I assume you have read all the books. Is this the case?"
Yes.
"5) Did you see the movie with anyone who hasn't read the books? And if so, how did they like it?"
My wife and I saw it with another couple, one of whom is a huge fan. But the other has only read a couple chapters into the first book at her husband's urging. She thought the movie was great, and she tends to be picky about such things.
And I really can't praise the cast enough. Great ensemble acting. 
I saw LOTR several weeks back. I'm not a fan of the books so I'm the wrong person to ask. It was fairly nice for what it was, but not my cup of tea.
Frankly I enjoyed Harry Potter more.
Fantasy stories of elves, trolls, soceres and the like leave me cold save for Korda's production of The Thief of Bagdad starring my childhood idol, Sabu.
Thanks for your comments.
Moulin Rouge, Made and one from the director of Memento called Following.
Message # 22875
And my 50 million estimate is pretty solid, based on the 18 million box office yesterday. I doubt it is off by more than 5 million.
I discovered this interesting website called BoxofficeMojo.
They have weekend projections for the various films playing in theaters this week.
If their projections hold up, your prediction for the weekend would be off by more than 13 million. How did you come up with a number of fifty million, give or take five million?
It's about a G.I. assisting a little Czech refugee boy who was separated from his mother during WW2. A very tender and touching film. And not very well known.
Also, the Friday numbers are in. Lord of the Rings made 14 million yesterday, which implies about a 45 million weekend.
FWIW, Brandon Gray, the writer for Box Office Mojo, isn't any more (or less) of an authority on this sort of thing than I am.
It was an extrapolation of the Wednesday numbers, given how other blockbusters have done over the weekend when they opened on a Wednesday. Phantom Menace and Jurassic Park III were my benchmarks. I then added some fudge factors based on things like the rabidness of the Star Wars fanbase, Jurassic Park III's poor word of mouth, and the nature of this box office weekend. I have been doing this sort of thing as a hobby for almost five years now, and have been making some decent coin on it lately, from a spread betting company in England that accepts spread bets on certain movies. I should make about $700 off of Lord of the Rings. I'll know for sure by Wednesday.
Pincher: Mojo's predictions are for the 5 day weekend, from Friday through Christmas Day.
So it is. I should read more carefully.
I have been doing this sort of thing as a hobby for almost five years now, and have been making some decent coin on it lately, from a spread betting company in England that accepts spread bets on certain movies. I should make about $700 off of Lord of the Rings. I'll know for sure by Wednesday.
Betting on movie grosses? That's hilarious! Where exactly in England would you do that?
Is there any way as this point in time to predict how the first movie of The Lord of the Rings will do over the long haul? What factors do you have to take into account to make such predictions other than those you have mentioned? How do you assess good word of mouth? From websites? How did you do on Titanic? (A movie that started off great and then had what must have been the longest legs in history.)
here. A British friend of mine places bets for me.
"Is there any way as this point in time to predict how the first movie of The Lord of the Rings will do over the long haul?"
Within limits. Movies opening just before Christmas tend to have longer legs. 4-5 times opening weekend gross is about the average. Kids' films do 6-7. As such, I would say that LOTR will *probably* end up in the 225-275 range. But if it becomes a cultural phenonomen, like Titanic or Star Wars, all bets are off.
"What factors do you have to take into account to make such predictions other than those you have mentioned?"
You are asking for a crash course in box office prognosticating. Answering this question adequately would take awhile. But the basics are how similar movies have done, quality of the marketing, buzz, star track record, and your gut.
"How do you assess good word of mouth?"
Cinemascore is the easiest way to quantify it. But it is frequently anecdotal. LOTR is getting an A- from Cinemescore, which tells me that people like it, but it isn't blowing the masses away.
"From websites?"
Mostly. Also from talking to people who have seen the movie.
I pegged the opening weekend within four million, and knew it would have very strong legs (I found my prediction column saying that it would "have stronger legs than Mary Lou Retton"). But no one knew they would be *that* strong. I was thinking 250 or so. We didn't really know that it was becoming a juggernaut until the third weekend, when it grossed more than it did on its first weekend (it did this on its second weekend as well, but this is typical for the weekend after Christmas. For the weekend after new years it is unheard of). I think I recall predicting a gross in the 400s by early January. It ended up just breaking 600 million.
The thing is, you can usually project a films' eventual gross by seeing how much it drops off the second week, and extrapolating from there. With Christmas, you have to wait for the third weekend. But Titanic never had a substantial weekend drop off until about its 6th weekend, and then it rebounded from that. So all of our projection models were useless. We had to wait for it to start dropping before we could get an accurate bead on it, and that didn't happen until the weekend after Valentine's day, by which time it had already broken the 400 million mark.
Had you mentioned it here, I'd have given you my copy of The Search ...it IS a wonderful movie, isn't it? But I belive Red River is Clifts first movie.
And yes, I was speaking of The Enemy Below. Missed it on AMC. I've always enjoyed it.
I got my Moulin Rouge DVD!!!! The commentary is extremely technical and very boring. Most disappointing. But the extras are great, otherwise.
It was imaginative and the ways they used the songs were great but I just couldn't warm up it as much as I wanted to.
(The scenes in the tower drove me nuts because I wanted so badly to see those Venetian glass mirrors! But that's not a huge problem except for scenery nuts like myself.)
I found it particularly bothersome during the tango. The rapid cutting from Christian to the dancers to Satine could still have been accomplished while putting more dance time on screen.
I'm not as bothered by it in the opening numbers, because I liked the frenetic quality. But that's a matter of opinion. Still, I thought he got in a lot more numbers than he could have if he'd showed more of each individual number. So I liked the wildness and mere hint of dancing in the opening stuff. But the tango definitely should have spent more time with the dancers. Did you see the full dance numbers on the second DVD?
Sorry I ever doubted Ewan could be romantic...he looked quite good.
Definitely. But I think Luhrman is more interested in mood than technique. It's just lucky that MacGregor and Kidman were damn good singers or we might have been inflicted with dubs.
I haven't seen Hedwig, mainly because the description of the hero gives me the bleahs. I have a feeling I'll probably enjoy it when I get around to it.
But the shocker was Following the movie Christopher Nolan made prior to Memento. It was very well done and though I wasn't totally tricked by the ending, I was very surprised.
I saw her in a few before PW and could at least tolerate her...after that, no way.
Anatomy of a Murder
Advise and Consent
Von Ryan's Express
Hotel (which is a delightfully trashy flick)
and the original Death Wish
That explains a lot. Nice resume.
It is quite different to hate an actor. It is very unusual for me to loathe an actor just because I hated a movie or a character they made. The closest I can think of is Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton, both of whom made movies that I loathed. But even then I've seen other Blanchett movies. I'm just unlikely to ever think she's wonderful until she's done something to offset the damage of Elizabeth.
Even then, though, it's the movie. Loathing a character is entirely different.
But you are right...I evidently don't understand.
This The fact that I avoided De Niro because of the film only indicates strength of the reaction to the dislike of the character seems to me to relate to me disliking Roberts because of a character she played...the "strength of the reaction to the dislike of the character." Just because you originally liked DeNiro (as I had nothing against Roberts and didn't actively loathe her prior) and then wouldn't see his movies (as I wouldn't see hers) and then DID go back to his movies...doesn't mean I may not one day come back to Julias movies.
(joke...I know what you are saying...)
Judith, I offered my avoidance of De Niro films based on my dislike of the character as an actual mistake--as in, look how stupidly I can act when I really don't like a character in a movie.
Glad you overcame it...
Tom Cruise has acted in three fairly enigmatic movies in the last few years: Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia, and now VS.
VS is a science fiction movie, but not a space fiction. It doesn't try to create a rational story about the future. Rather, it takes the "how" by fiat, skipping past all the questions one might have, obviously aiming for some higher calling, a story about choice and chance and how life looks different from the perspective of death and dying.
This movie fails miserably. With its loosy-goosy plotting, we, the audience, find ourselves not very interested in Cruise's rich, creative yuppie magazine publisher, his whiney best friend writer (the same actor played Ben Affleck's whiney best friend in Chasing Amy), or more importantly, Penelope Cruz's impish distant but really hot as fire Latin lover. (An aside -- there is one scene where Cruise and Cruz embrace among the yellow leaves of Central Park in Autumn. I started thinking about the trailor for some weepie that Richard Gere and the retail store researcher Wynona Ryder did last year).
The only really good performance was Cameron Diaz, who could give Glenn Close a run for playing scary girlfriends.
This movie is warmed over The Matrix without the fight scenes. This movie tries to hold out the O Henry twist ending on par with the value of Sixth Sense. SS, a horror movie of sorts or at least a horror thriller, gave the viewer a tremendous satisfaction at its conclusion. Ah, that's what all that meant. For VK, I was just glad the damn thing was over.
One silly moment. Cruise is in a bar and he thinks a man is hitting on him. "Sorry, pal, I'm straight."
David Ehrenstein in a cameo role, perhaps?
Why did you "loathe" Orlando, CG? Have you seen Tilda's other work? (Edward II, Remembrance of Things Fast, Love is the Devil, The Last of England, Female Perversions, The Deep End)
Matter of fact, I still can't believe it's over.
Fun fluff. And no matter how limited Brad Pitt's acting range, he always looks good in a suit or a sport jacket.
I tried to watch the original on tv a couple of years ago. It was so painful I turned it off. This movie gave the appearance of light hearted fun, but included the audience in the fun.
If anyone saw Notting Hill, they would recognize Julia Robert's performance as being the kind of movie star performance one would expect from her NH character.
All in all, if the tongue was in the cheek, it wasn't very hard. A silly, fun movie.
I thought she was possitively smarmy in Erin Brockovich. She has got to have the largest mouth since Martha Raye.
I'm sorry, who is this Tilda person? I did see Orlando and thought it was intriguing, if a bit ponderously paced.
Of the Swinton movie list you provided, Cellar, the only two I have any interest in seeing are Love is the Devil and, as I mentioned earlier, The Deep End. The rest of the mentioned films are a nasty and unappealing lot (I'd read of all of them except The Last of England before now).
There are actors who can make me take a risk on what seems to be unappealing movies. There are actors who can drive me away from taking that chance. Swinton is firmly in the latter camp. The only reason I'm interested in seeing Love is the Devil is for Derek Jacoby, who is very much an actor who can convince me to take a chance on his movies.
But until The Deep End, Swinton's films have all looked extremely unappealing and her presence confirmed my desire to avoid them.
is a goddess!
And Brad
does look good in clothes.
Pitt's range is limited, but when he picks the right part he's very appealing.
First, Behind Enemy Lines . Eh. I still hate Owen Wilson's nose. Don't they usually fix those sort of things in Hollyweird? Anyway, it was a passable actioneer. I am sick of all this MTV editing though.
Then I saw Spy Game. Eh. I am sick of all this MTV editing though. Redford was passable.
Can't say enough about Lord of the Rings. It could only have been more perfect if Viggo Mortensen had kissed Sean Bean on the lips.
Pearl Harbor is as bad as bad can be. And that ain't good.
Shrek was a delight. I kept visualizing Fat Bastard though. Mike Myers should have tried a different accent.
As for trailers, I can't wait to see Spiderman. It looks positively kick-ass. I think Denzel should have skipped his upcoming weepy. I will not see it, even accidently.A mini Austin Powers? The trailer was inspired, but I am thinking this concept is starting to wear a little thin.
Sorry.
Happy New Year to you all.
And I've been thinking all along it was his lips that were the problem.
Michael Powell (a great redhead enthusiast) was crzy about her, BTW.
CHAMAN (Islam News): Tools of vulgarity have been sent to Kandahar via the Pakistani border region, Chaman, loaded on three vehicles. Acording to reliable sources, on 24 December, three Mazda pickups were observed carrying satellite dishes, video films, musical instruments and tapes.
Many Quetta traders have sent these for selling in Kandahar and these traders were personally approached by Gul Agha for engaging in this vulgar trade. The majority of the films included Indian sex movies and the American agents are taking special efforts to spread these video films among the common people in Kandahar. This should not come as a surprise because even under the Taliban rule, Christian 'aid workers' were caught spreading Christian video films amongst the Afghan people.
During the Taliban rule, the possession, sale and purchase of such videos were prohibited. Perhaps this is the 'modern Islam' that 'progressive, moderate Muslims' in the Western countries have been crying for?
Maybe these 'Muslim' organisations can organise the export of XXX- rated pornographic videos from Europe and America to Afghanistan, to bring the Afghan Muslims up to the level of the 'progressive, moderate Islam' as practised in Britain and America?
Is that Islamic irony I detect? I love it! But those Islamists had better put a stop to the distribution of Indian 'sex movies' in Kandahar 'chop chop'.
It's not that the premise isn't well documented, it's that his "supporting evidence" sucks. He has no idea what he is talking about.
Another "May-August" pairing, as he puts it, would be Jodie Foster and McConaughey in Contact.
I think we talked about this once: the best explanation I've come up with is that the barrier to becoming a major male star is pretty high, whereas it's relatively easy to become a female star of the arm candy variety and sit on top for a few years. But making it to the top and staying there are two entirely different things, and the easier it was to get there, the easier it is to fall off.
Then there is the age thing, but as I think you discussed last time, the reason Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon don't get the juicy parts is because they don't look juicy anymore. That isn't true of Weaver--someone who the article doesn't even mention because, based on his rationale, she would decimate his case--who is, as a result, working steady in A-list pics.
I think a big reason women still claim to find old farts sexy is that it plays into their (the women's) self image and wish fulfillment. Women aren't ageist scumbags who only like the most recent pretty face. They're better than those bastard men who dump movie stars the same way they dump wives.
Because in reality, the same observation you make about Margaret and Loren is true about Connery and Redford. Yes, they look good. But a serious contender for the contest of sexiest man alive? Not a chance, in any cold-eyed objective assessment. This is also true of Harrison Ford, who hasn't been extremely sexy (if he ever was) since some time in the late 80s.
Except for Entrapment, I don't think Connery has been the lead in a romance for a long time--ten years, or so. And yeah, I think he went way too far in Entrapment.
On a related tangent, I noted a lot of comments about Mel Gibson's neck wattles and thickening torso in What Women Want. It will be interesting to see if the complaints continue. Years of smoking have taken their toll.
I think a big reason women still claim to find old farts sexy is that it plays into their (the women's) self image and wish fulfillment. Women aren't ageist scumbags who only like the most recent pretty face. They're better than those bastard men who dump movie stars the same way they dump wives.
Nah, older men just have more money.
The Deep End
Mulholland Drive
The Royal Tannenbaums
Lord of the Rings
He may well be older than Shirley Booth but he was in the movie with Shirley Knight...that's twice you've done that! ;-)
Much bettewr than Rushmore. I've never seen Bottle Rocket in either version.
A cloddish gross-out, worse than the original, which was not very good.
Grade: F.
A cloddish gross-out, worse than the book, which was not very good. Actually, it is not all that awful, but Mary Harron's ironic send-up of the go-go, greedy 80s falls flat in part because it is old news (I'm still waiting for the filmic condemnation of the excesses of the Internet generation, but given that they have a warmer sensibility than the slicked back Wall Street practitioners of Reagan-era greed, I won't hold my breath). Worse, Harron's protagonist - Christian Bale as a psychotic serial killer (or is he?), desensitized by excess and commercialism - allows her so much visual leeway that she probably felt justified with a one-dimensional, non-involving script. After all, with a buff, blood-splattered Bale running naked through the icy white hallways of mid 80s minimalism, who needs text?
This concept was done a little better, but still wildly overdone, in David Fincher's Fight Club. Again, both films are too timid to actually tackle the issues they propose to grip in an adult fashion, so they opt for the grandiose, hoping the awesome force of the wages of generational sin will be enough to make the movie special. Bale is a chainsaw wielding maniac, slicing through his meat, propelled by the vicious materialism of the day. Similarly, in Fight Club, Edward Norton rebels against the commercialism that so dominates his life by lapsing into a multiple personailty and ultimately, committing mass-murder.
For his part, Bale is like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. To the extent he is required to play a cartoon, he does it well, stopping just shy of being strapped to a rocket emblazoned with the label "ACME". How does one judge such an unmoored performance, other than to ignore it or summarily award it an Oscar?
Grade: C-.
This is a great rock movie, about a gay East Berliner (John Cameron Mitchell) who endures a botched sex change operation for love, ends up abandoned in Junction City, Kansas, tutors the next Bowie, and then stalks that Bowie (who has ripped off Hedwig's songs) with his own band, the Angry Inch. The film is a sparse story interspersing several really great musical numbers. What makes it works so well is that the story is seemlessly woven into the music, and the music, rather than schmaltzy and obvious, is really fine. Mitchell wrote, starred and directed the picture, but Stephen Trask, who wrote the music and produced the picture (he also serves as the lead guitarist for the Angry Inch), is the star. He has done more than ape a Bowie record - he has transcended the genre, and the picture features a glam opus that rivals Bowie's best; some very strong punk anthems; catchy riffs that put Blondie and Matthew Sweet to shame; and tenderness that evokes early Elton John. All original music, all rock solid, and the band aping the playing is actually the band that plays the music live (no hideously clumsy fret playing here, and no need to hide most of the guitar work, as Cameron Crowe was forced to do with Billy Crudup in Almost Famous). Trask also used perhaps the greatest rock guitarist in terms of a big, blended sound in Bob Mould, formerly of Husker Du and Sugar, and it shows.
The film also does well what most films do poorly in using animation as part of the story. Additionally, in every scene, there are several well-written, sharp lines. Mitchell is fantastic as the tortured and lovelorn artist.
Grade: A.
Interview with Stephen Trask
More Trask
Hail Caesar! (And is that wife of yours truly above suspicion?)
John Cameron Mitchell is DA BOMB! We (the Los Angeles Film Critics Association) gave him our "New Generation" award this year. Hedwig is truly inventive.Loaded with real moviemaking ideas -- not flashy gimmicks.
"Look -- I'm sailing!"
Don't forget to check out Netflix.
Those who like Neil Diamond.
And those who do not.
Cal, I noticed you updated the movie list...that had to be a lot of work...thanks...and I'm doing some browsing here checking out dvd recommendations.
I would like to get the Citizen Kane Collection, and the Hitchcock one...and I don't know that anyone has put together a collection of the women of the forties films...bette davis, joan crawford, etc. I love those films.
First time I remember seeing Richard Lewis. He struck me a a poor man's Al Pacino. In fact at first I mistook him for Pacino.
The Ebert commentary on Citizen Kane is supposed to be excellent.
I am not sure how I will like the commentaries. In many cases it may be like some one sitting next to me in a theatre and talking, grrrr.
I thought more on your question. I really can't say I've seen enough 2001 films to create a best of list yet. But here are the movies I've seen that I would recommend, split into wholeheartedly and with reservations.
Wholeheartedly
With reservations
Haven't seen the following, some of which are certainly to make the list:
go see it, it has something for everyone. hell, i'm going to do something i can't remember doing since the new Star Wars came out, seeing it again in the theater. Big Deal on Madonna Street--quite possibly one of the funniest movies ever made, the first to spoof heist films. Succeeds on all comic levels: slapstick, situation, script. Howlingly funny. Spawn was forced to watch it as "punishment" and within ten minutes was on the floor--he recently wrote a review on it for school as one of the best films he saw all year. It also has two gorgeous stars (Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni) and Claudia Cardinale wanders around looking toothsome.
Note that they are almost all furrin, and three of them are furrin language to boot. I'm not one of those who finds films about ugly women with bad makeup sit in a coffee shop having inexplicable conversations with stringy-haired mournful men in any way appealing. Trust me on this--these are flicks that any redblooded discerning plotdriven 'murrican will love.
Disappointing. I guess it was mildly entertaining, but I'd heard many good things about it, and must have been oversold. It was simplistic and formulaic, and the little incidents that were supposed to show what a brainy little wonder the "Blonde" was were unconvincing and, if anything, demonstrated that she was just an extremely lucky airhead.
I laughed, several months ago when this movie came out and a few Harvard law students objected to it, but now I sort of understand where they were coming from.
Off topic but hopefully, you will see this here...did you know there is an article by Lance Loud in the Advocate this month?
Opie managed to maintain dramatic heft and pathos while staying surprisingly true to Nash's life and the nature of his work. He also employed some cinematic devices that I found quite clever, but that may only be because I am a movie cretin.
Anyway, while the movie was certainly not about the content of Nash's work and not a timeline of his career (and shouldn't be), it did manage to convey a reasonably true sense of both, as far as I know. Nash's surprise at the range of applications of Nash equilibrium was an especially nice touch.
(Well, I guess that's not a major problem because it's hard to do a mixed equilibrium properly in a movie. But don't think it's some super clever trick to explain what Nash equilibrium is all about. It goes through one iteration of best replies and stops. But it does capture the idea of a best reply by one player to the strategies of other players.)
Small nitpick i: the reception for the equilibrium concept at Princeton was very warm in the movie. In fact at the time the reception was mixed. John von Neumann, the father of game theory, considered it an unprofound cross between von Neumann's work and a basic fixed point theorem.
Small nitpick ii: the Nobel Prize committee guy declares that Nash's analysis of the bargaining problem had applications to auction design & antitrust cases. That of course is false; the bargaining problem was an application of cooperative game theory, which has nothing to do with auction theory or the industrial organization theory behind antitrust analysis in economics. Nash's work on the bagaining problem was I believe mentioned in the Nobel Prize citation, but is not the reason he won the prize - he won for equilibrium in non-cooperative games.
I think Howard might win the Oscar for this one; it's the first of his films that has some depth, and the academy will be looking to reward him.
It is a small relief. We only get so many chances to have game theory treated in any way and it would be a shame to waste it on some trivial Rainmanesque codebreaking.
Don't get me wrong of course -there's a ton of the man's life (in addition to career) not treated or not treated in any depth. But it's not a biographical picture. What I did like was that while meeting the primary purpose of a movie, Opie still stayed relatively true.
Of course the reason for this is that Geffen's a Clintonista.
I saw that piece in The Advocate. Judith. As usual with Lance it's quite eloquent. Also very melancholy. He takes full responsibility for his situation -- unlike a certain HIV+ uberpundit I could name. I'm quoted in Lance's Daily Variety obit, BTW.
Last night I took out my tapes of An American Family and started rewatching it. Lord have we come a long way since then! Everyone was "shocked" that the Loud's would go before the cameras. And now we have Survivor, Big Brother, The Real World, et. al. What's amazing about looking at the show again is that it's even more clear now than ever before that Lance was the head of the family. Everyone wanted his approval. Even his Dad, Bill. Truly hilarious to hear him on the phone from New York (where he was staying at the Chelsea Hotel, natch) ask his sister Delilah to send him all his scarves ASAP.
On another note:
Here's a Book Review!
I wrote this in July and they're only getting around to running it now.
It's as if the head of the European Board of Tourism would go hopping mad because the movie didn't mention his travels in Europe.
Wow. Breathtaking. There is little to say other than that, though I'd have preferred to see in a theater, and was fortunate enough to see it on a big TV screen with decent stereo. Other than that, it is captivating, beautiful, kinetic, sensuous, ambitious, and sometimes frustrating. The best thing I can say is that you have to see it.
There are a few sour notes, most particularly, the use of contemporary, instead of original music in most every scene. While the melange of Nirvana and Lady Marmalade work for a stunning opening dance number, in the one-to-one scenes with dommed lovers Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, Elton John, and a succession of other pop tunes, is an annoying distraction. More detrimental, the gimmick gets in the way of establishing an emotional bond between the lovers, and the chemistry is delayed because of the silliness of the songs. Unlike Tony and Maria, for whom West Side Story gave silent, touching moments, for too much of Moulin Rouge McGregor and Kidman (less so) are wide-eyed and hollering pop idiocies at
each other.
Additionally, the film is too long. It has two break-up scenes, where one would have sufficed. Also, both Kidman and McGregor have fine voices, but McGregor is a bellower, which grates. Lastly, the Duke -the bad guy and the man who longs to own Kidman - is played as a gruesome fop. Romantic triangles in any film suffer when there is no real competition (as in Titanic, where Billy Zane plays Kate Winslet's romantic captor just short of malevolent), and while the Duke was never meant to be a threat, to make him so ridiculous (to the point of physically abnormal) detracts from the bond between the star-crossed lovers.
And the ending was truly stunning, deft in both timing and finally, emotion.
Grade: A-.
Wes Anderson (and co-writer Owen Wilson) offer an involving, broad comedy notable for its attention to detail and an almost subversive heart. If you liked Rushmore, which Caesar found to be one of the best comedies ever, you will also like The Royal Tenenbaums. Gene Hackman plays the patriarch of a family of geniuses -- ex-wife archaeologist Angelica Huston, adopted daughter and dark playwright Gwyneth Paltrow (married to psychiatrist Bill Murray), son and Type A financial wiz Ben Stiller, and son and burned out tennis pro Luke Wilson. Owen Wilson plays the neighbor's son from childhood days, grown up to be a Tenenbaum wannabe and a drug-addicted nouveau western writer. Essentially, Hackman hears that Huston is to wed longtime suitor and accountant Danny Glover, and he takes the opportunity to inject himself into the lives of his abandoned children, who are damaged, disaffected, and/or bitter, in an effort to stop the wedding.
The quirky nature of the family offers the choice laughs, and Anderson is no stranger to slapstick. But their everyday hurts, presented fleetingly during the film, are what resonate. Stiller is particularly effective as the one most angry about his father's failures, as he can transition from broad comedy to intimate with the most ease. But each actor is given and capitalizes on a moment or depth and feeling, and the entire cast is solid. Throughout, the dialogue is ironic and at times, laugh-out-loud funny.
Anderson's eye is gentle. He films his characters in a dark 70s hue, and his choice of New York locations matches the tenor of each scene. He also has Scorcese's flair for choosing the right music for any given scene, ranging from The Vince Guaraldi Trio to The Rolling Stones' Flowers . Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo) wrote the original score.
the lives of their families.
Grade: A
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Sexy Beast
Moulin Rouge
The Others
The Royal Tenenbaums
Other Good Films of 2002
Startup.com
The Tailor of Panama
Baby Boy
Made
Memento
Legally Blonde
The Deep End
Films Caesar Must Still See
A.I.
Amores Perros
Anniversary Party
Ghost World
Session 9
Diamond Men
Happy Accidents
L.I.E.
Lumumba
Mullholland Drive
Our Lady of the Assassins
Heist
The Man Who Wasn't There
In The Bedroom
Lord of the Rings
Gosford Park
A.I. was horrible, don't waste your shekels
AI is definitely worth seeing regardless of how one finally decides its worth.
I talked my partner into seeing "Majestic" today. I have no desire to see it. He has the day off and wants to see it. I am spared.
i don't understand. why talk him into seeing something you have no desire to see?
I know exactly what you mean, GJ...can you say Starship Troopers?
-
The 30 silver pieces were dinarii
I found it a very precise recreation of the New York I knew in the 60's. The use of the two Rolling Stones cuts (fromBetween the Buttons) and the Nico cuts (the songs Jacksopn Browne worte for her when he was 15 -- he always adds a year, but he was 15) are likewise used with amazing flair. And Gwyneth is every girl I went to HighSchool with.
Moulin Rouge is warmed-under Ken Russell. I prefer Lisztomania (and that's second-rate Russell at that.)
On your "to see" list I'm most interested in your reaction to Our Lady of the Assassins, Julius.
That's exactly right - "a subtle stew." What Anderson can do is mix the comedy and the pathos like very few other directors. He serves the stew in the perfect bowl.
I agree about Stiller, but consider the line where Royal says "These last few days have been the happiest of my life" and then narrator Alec Baldwin says (paraphrased) that Royal realized immediately after he said those words that they were true.
Royal's intentions were initially borne of low, base aims.
No, but it made him very popular in certain circles.
I'm watching the DVD right now. It's one of those cases where the remake is very good in its own right. I really like both of them.
Julius is saying, I believe, that the movie would have been more effective with "original music", songs written specifically for the movie.
At three hours, it's long, but then it's covering a 600-or-so page book and doing an excellent job of remaining faithful to the original. (I checked the book later and at least some of the dialogue is lifted wholesale from the novel.) Moreover, at three hours the movie flags only so slightly because of having so much to look at and some of the best epic fight sequences I've ever seen. (The qualifier "some of" is probably unnecessary in that last sentence.)
Some things I liked immensely:
The weaknesses are mostly weaknesses with the original material. The fact that it is the first of three parts is just a given, of course, otherwise (minor spoilers, especially if you've read the book): Gandalf's escape from Saruman, though explained slightly better in the book, was always sort of glossed over and in the film is almost why bother at all. It's as though villains just ought to expect the good guys to get away when making the perennial mistake of "taking prisoners."
I dislike the overuse of the Nazgul, especially having Liv Tyler's character rout the lot of them. They were more fearsome in the original, I thought, and one should have been enough to inspire fear in a pack of hobbits--so that later on when all nine show up, yikes!
Nevertheless, if you have any liking for the genre at all, this is a must-see. It is how the film ought to look and shows a genuine reverence for the material. And it's an enjoyable adventure for anyone who can tolerate a little make-believe.
I would say that it is an opera with a happier ending.
Andy Hardy.
La Traviata meets Andy Hardy.
And enjoyed it.
Not much logic to this movie. Movieland has accepted that there are portals within the time/space continuim. Liev Schreiber finds one. Ends up bringing handsome Hugh Jackman back to contemporary Manhattan from 1876 Manhattan. Jackman is a down-on-his luck, bored English duke being forced to marry a rich American girl to improve the family finances.
This time portal business is quickly taken care of (movie fiction as opposed to science fiction?), and we find Meg Ryan in her usual fuzzy hair spaciness. She often looks confused and out of sorts in this movie, something we've seen many times before in her career.
She lives with her actor brother, Brackin somebody (I know he's becoming a somebody with a weak NBC sit-com and several recent movie appearances, but I don't remember his name).
The Duke is dashing -- there is a horse chase through Central Park -- as well as a fish out of water -- he is confounded by the inability of a toaster to perfectly toast the bread on only one try. He woos Ryan the old fashioned way, and becomes a perfect antidote to the sliminess of Ryan's boss, played by the guy who plays Josh Limon on West Wing.
All silly, but well told, none-the-less. A very pleasing afternoon. Judging by the audience, this is a gay men and women who watch Rosie O'Donnell kind of movie.
Glendajean: Mrs. Ohio discovered Hugh Jackman recently. She informed me I will be taking her to see "Kate and Leopold".
The film will have its day.
That, or I used to be better at making it clear I was joking.
That's the standard excuse for everything these days.
Jude Law gives a great performance in the movie. And Haley Joel Osment is uncannily good, once again (I think a person would be hard pressed to come up with even a handful of adult actors who, over the last three years, have acted in two roles that reach the level Osment reaches as "David" and "Cole Sear").
For those two performances alone the movie is worth seeing. For an added bonus, you get to see a flick that makes all of mankind the movie's bad guy for the first two hours and then, in the last half-hour, jumps forward two thousand years to give a weepy post-mortem retrospective on the species.
I think what's confused a lot of people about the film is that while it's lasquarter is allegedly devoted to Mother Love it takes place in a world where the human species ceased to exist 2000 years before.
As for mankind being the bad guy, I'm not so sure. The "Flesh Fair" sequence shows man at his worst. The mother's abandonment of the "child" is likewise disturbing for all sorts of reasons.And then there's Professor Hobby himself. He creates a toy that looks like his dead son but doesn't want to keep him for himself. His motives and means are extremely mysterious.
And finally the most haunting moment is when Gigolo Joe says "I am. I was."
For those first thirty minutes, I was completely taken in. The film is set in the French Alps and its story begins with an improbable murder: a corpse is found on a glacial cliff, bound in a fetal position, eyes missing, with the hands amputated.
Jean Reno, a legendary cop, is sent from Paris to investigate. He discovers the corpse was once a professor at one of France's top universities, situated just below where the body was found. But the university staff is suspiciously uncooperative. What do they have to hide?
So far, so good. But then the second cop is introduced. I recognize the face of the actor, but not his name, which I had to look up: Vincent Cassel. Cassel's cop starts off as a fairly cool character. When we first see him, he is hanging out with some French Arabs as they do some sort of shuck and jive that I take to be a French version of Rap. A little later, he smokes a joint in a squad car with two of his flunkies.
But this initial coolness later evaporates as the Lieutenant seems to come unhinged at the most trivial of matters (for example, his car not starting, even though I can't understand why he would be in such a hurry; at the time, he's merely investigating the desecration of a girl's tomb).
So what begins as beautifully filmed macabre-thriller finishes with Cassel and Reno getting together (as their separate cases intersect) to trade what I take to be witticisms, as if the French were trying their best to imitate an American cop buddy movie like Lethal Weapon or a tame version of 48 Hours. Too bad they didn't stick with the tone of the first half-hour.
There were haunting moments in the film for me as well (you've mentioned two of them). I found the story oddly affecting. But when I step back from it, it seems to fall apart in contradictons.
You say you don't know if mankind was suppose to fill the role of "enemy" in the film, but it's hard not to come to that conclusion. Until the alien at the end of the film justifies our extinct race to David as special, there is hardly a redeeming feature in any of the human characters who show up on the screen. They are notable for their flaws and we are made to judge them by what they have done to something that isn't alive, "David."
In other words the film isn't designed to arrive at a comfortable conclusion with a neatly wrapped-up end.
Yes, the film is disconcerting and probably designed to be so. But its portrayal of humankind is a little one-sided, and almost inhumane. Humans appear as jack-booted thugs, nazis, etc. Humans are cruel, capricious, and sometimes downright wicked. With the exception of one major scene by minor characters at the "flesh fair," I can't think of anyone human who does something redeeming in the film.
The mother abandons David; the father never has any meaningful relationship with the android and pushes for its destruction; the human brother's basic treatment of his new "brother" is almost entirely motivated by jealousy and cruelty; anonymous humans chase and want to destroy David; Professor Hobby's motivation to create David, a loving nearly-sentient creature, is sparked by pride rather than love or responsibility.
Even the backdrop of the movie is due to a mistake by man, global warming -- a mistake that appears to eventually destroy it. If David is, as you say, a repository for the good in man, it's a small repository amid the obvious failings of our species shown in the movie.
Humans may find some redemption in the end, but it's a mock redemption. David has one final perfect day with a lobotimized clone mother set up -- not by humans themselves -- but by friendly aliens. Still, who says that mankind (or at least one of its members) must be portrayed well in all the movies? I thought the movie was interesting precisely because its shows man failing to live up to his creations.
Score another to the continentals. This is certainly one of the funniest films ever made. Big Deal on Madonna Street is a joyous sendup of the heist genre: the hardened criminal who learns of the perfect score, the intro to the team, the detailed planning, the setbacks, the breakthrough, and of course, the painstaking execution. All the plot requirements are met and mangled hilariously. The hardened criminal can't steal a car without setting off the horn and he's too slow to outrun the cops. No one else on the team has moved much beyond grand theft stroller ("it's the only thing with wheels and no alarm").
The characters are all wonderfully drawn. One team member is an incompetent boxer with a heart of gold, another must babysit his son while his wife is in jail for cigarette smuggling, making him possibly the first father on film with childcare issues-what to do with his son while he's working? ("Put him in jail with his mother, they have a great nursery in jail." "No, I don't want him to go to jail until he's all grown up, and then only if he wants to.")
The comedy scores on all levels. There are several outstanding slapstick sequences: my favorite is the bar fight where you just know the boxer is going to eventually go down, but how? This is the only subtitled comedy I have found myself quoting, the dialogue just crackles with good humor. The situations all pay off perfectly, and there are howlingly funny set pieces; the attempt to film the safe for closer scrutiny is a particular gem.
At the edge of all the comedy, of course, is sad reality of all the lives wasted by a lack of opportunity in post-war Italy. Tragedy does lurk around the corner, and the ending is probably the least accessible part of the film to American sensibilities. But the characters keep plugging away, and that's always worth celebrating.
The film is dubbed, which was also the norm at the time, although the major stars do their own voices. Don't let this distract you. The Criterion transfer is superb, but there aren't a lot of extras.
Add it to your Netflix queue, and maybe try it with your kids. Spawn howled all the way through it and wanted to see it twice.
Offscreen: Related to this, why is it that most Italian films are shot silent and postdubbed?
M.M.: Many reasons. First of all because in Italy we often shoot with actors who are not professional. For example in I Soliti Ignoti the guy who plays the Sicilian, the jealous brother Ferribotte, was not an actor. He was a dishwasher in a restaurant I would frequent. The guy who plays Capannelle, the sporty guy, wasn't an actor either. I think he was a bricklayer. Of course Cardinale wasn't an actress then either. But this way of shooting films was quite common in Italy, to use actors taken from the street. So because they didn't know how to recite their lines they had to be dubbed. On the other hand, you know that in Italy we speak many different dialects. So, for example, the actor who plays the Sicilian was not Sicilian. He was neither an actor, or a Sicilian! So I had to have a Sicilian dub his voice. Another one of the actors who was supposed to be Bolognesian (from Bologna) was from Naples, so I had to dub his voice. Cardinale spoke French so I had to dub her voice into Sicilian.
Offscreen: It seems to me that Marcello and Gassman did their own dubbing?
M.M.: Yes, Marcello, Gassman, and Toto dubbed their own voices.
National Society of Film Critics best films of 2001:
1. Mulholland Drive--30 votes
2. Gosford Park--28 votes
3. Lord of the Ring--19 votes
Best Director
1. Robert Altman (28 votes)
2. David Lynch (25)
Best Actor
1. Gene Hackman, The Royal Tenenbaums
Best Actress
1. Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive
Ron Howard is a competent director and this a competently made film that transitions nicely from filmography to whodunit to disease-of-the week to uplifting feelgood movie of the year. Given that Howard has to translate both mathematics (our protagonist is Princeton mathematician John Nash, played by Russell Crowe)
and schizophrenia marked by major delusions (Nash suffers from the condition), Howard is to be credited. The schizophrenia of the story, however, prevents it from taking root. In the end, it is a pleasant and competent (excuse the word again) picture, and little more. The end is a tacked on schmaltz, as if Howard could sense the lack of heart of the first three-quarters.
Crowe is excellent, playing an individual with a disability with great detail and consistency, though his Australian accent does intrude on what are supposed to be Nash's West Virginia beginnings. Better is Jennifer Connelly, who started as an ingenue in The Rocketeer and through a series of poor choices, fell victim to her beauty and breast size. Connelly is and has always been stunning, but like Diane Lane, age has given her face character and gravitas. Her performance as Nash's loving and loyal wife could have been mail-in and dutiful, but she conveys her love for him and her frustration effectively and with verve.
It's overlong, but not terribly so.
Grade: B-.
Andrew Sullivan does a fabulous job in describing the success of LORD OF THE RINGS in George W. Baggins.
Kid moves to LA to make movies. Thanks to a Blockbuster Video goof, sees "Citizen Cum" instead of "Citizen Kane" and discovers gay porn.
Gets a job as a cameraman at Men of Janus. Falls for the one true stud among Janus contract players, a fellow whose porn name is Johnny Rebel. Johnny has a girlfriend who is a stripper. He also has pecs of death, and despite his straightness, or perhaps because of it, needs assistance from time to time when getting ready for the money shot. The cameraman is willing to oblige.
Alas, there is the requisite sex, lies and videotape, as well as drugs, and a few character actors recognizable from tv shows and other movies. An echo of "Boogie Nights." As one character says, "this isn't about sex. It's about pornography." The standard for the industry, it appears, is to satisfy farmers from the midwest.
It all ends badly, particularly for Johnny Rebel, who in the end is perhaps not straight or gay but totally stuck on himself.
And a lousy movie critic to boot.
Legally Blonde. Eh. It was a bore. I normally like Reese Witherspoon and think she can be an inspired actor. But this film was nothing more than a showcase for her talent and she fell remarkably flat. A one-note performance. - 1 flame
101 Rent Boys. I didn't like it the first time. Second viewing only confirmed it is lousy. The video had appended additional interview footage and more of the 3-minute segments where the boys were alone in the room with the camera. Judging from the results, most of the boys could think of nothing better to do with their 3 minutes than to expose themselves. The whole premise of this documentary was flawed from the start. After they had about ten interviews they had ample evidence that none of these people have any insight or depth. At that point, the film makers should have just thrown the footage in the trash and gone home. Stretching it to 101 is just redundant to the extreme. - 0 flames, all gas no match.
I think what Cellar seems to be calling "mysterious" is what I am calling the misbegotten merger of the visions of cinema's greatest misanthrope with that of cinema's greatest optimist.
I think Pincher describes it accurately when he points out how the themes and events in the first 80% of the film don't match up with the themes and events in the ending. I don't think you can wave it all away by calling it interesting contradictions. To me, it indicates that the film is a thematic mess. Without any sort of coherency, the film really lacks much to recommend it, except some great FX and the performances by Osment and Law. Worth watching for that? Sure. One of the best films of the year? Not even close, IMO.
I also think that both Cellar and Pincher misunderstood the ending. I am pretty sure that the entities we see aren't aliens. They are androids - futuristic versions of David, created by other androids. You can see the fiber optic circuitry working inside them, and it significantly explains their actions.
And I think the creator/creation thing was done much much better in 2001.
Nico and Dani a.k.a. Krampack is a marvelous films. This is one of the sweetest and most honest films ever to deal with the subject of adolescents coming of age. Throughout this film I could palpably feel the emotions that the kids were dealing with as they were trying to become adults. In one scene, it was just amazing how Dani had a murderous impulse that he resisted. It was conveyed so perfectly. The film is well written and shot. The acting by both the principles and the supporting cast is perfect. - 5 flames. Or the whole damn conflagration if you will.
I think I'll have to watch it again on a DVD with subtitles. It was good enough that I want to know what the hell I missed, but if the sound problems were Altman's choice, then the man is a sadist.
Rask -- I have a hard time watching Nashville because of the sound problems. Too bad. I've been looking forward to seeing. Maybe when it comes out on DVD, you can watch it with the closed-captioning on.
I think one of the problems for viewers of Altman movies is the overlapping dialogue and that maybe he becomes so used to it during the dailies, etc. he may not see it as a probelm at the end of the shoot...I know he uses that technique because it more closely represents the way people speak naturally but I can just imagine how brutal that will be combined with accents.
well, A.I. still sucked and will always suck.
I'm writing a review of The Fluffer for"New Times" when it opens here later this month.
(couldn't resist).
Using close captioning on DVD will be a must for me.
We've discussed my sorties with Danny Sommers and Aidan Shaw haven't we?
As for your sorties, were they of a professional nature, or purely pleasure?
Yea, yea. 200 channels and that was the only thing I found remotely interesting to watch last night.
So these two Hobbits (Seann and Ashton) wake up in the Shire. It seems the night before, they went to their Uncle Bilbo's 111th Birthday Party and got wasted. Now they are really hung over and can't remember a thing about the previous night.
They meet Suramon the evil wizard disguised as the most unconvincing transexual in the world. Suramon informs the Hobbits that they must bring him/her a suitcase full of money or suffer the consequences.
Then they meet Gandalf the good Swedish wizard of twins and he tells them they are in charge of the space-time transducer or the time warp transponder or something. Anyway, if this Ring of Power falls into the wrong hands, it will cause all of Middle Earth to be destroyed.
So the happy Hobbits go their marry way and recover the Ring and the suitcase of money and destroy Sauron who is really 5 large breasted women in skin tight leather jump suits.
(director guy slaps forehead) "My God! I am making a terrible movie. This piece of crap is going to get me laughed out of the Director's Guild! And not in a good way."
So the director guy wracks his brain and comes up with a new scene. He hires Fabio for no apparent reason and he has Seann and Ashton passionately kiss each other for no apparent reason.
This saves the film.
Enter Constance Bennett in the Agnes Moorhead role as the mean mother-in-law. She forces Turner to fake a death off of the family yacht (think the size of QE II).
On the lam with a new identity and m-i-l's annual checks, Turner becomes a big lush in Switzerland, Denmark and Mexico, runs into Burgess Meridith who figures out who she is> He gets her hooked on absinth (sp?), cleans her up and takes her to NYC, and tries to use her to blackmail the family.
She kills Meridith, goes into shock, and is known in the newspapers only as Madame X -- that's because she signed a confession with a big X. Her public defender is a sweet young lawyer who turns out to be the little boy she had abandoned back on the family yacht. Forsythe is now the governor of New York and is running for president. He and mum sit in the back of the courtroom. Slowly Forsythe, mum and Turner figure out what's what. The boy never catches on. Turner dies in his arms after he has made an impassioned speech in her defense.
Barbara Stanwyck or Joan Crawford could have played this role, but Turner tried to be them and Shelly Winters rolled up into one. Not to be believed in living technicolor.
Turner never figured out how to change acting styles. I don't know that Joan or Barbra did either, but Barbara had an ageless style and Crawford died before she could embarrass herself.
Well, that's not fair to Joan, I suppose. She didn't always play la grande dame movie star. That's just the stuff we remember.
Madame X is pure ham. Make that delicious pure ham.
Stanwyck was definitely the better actress, in my limited opinion, certainly better than Crawford and Winters. In her later years, Crawford became heavy eyebrows, pulled back hair, and the toughest shoulder pads in Hollywood. Of course, another hammy actress, Faye Dunaway, has indelibly colored how we see Crawford.
Of some kind of another.
The Lana Turner Madame X inspired one of Pauline Kael's greatest lines: "She's not Madame X, she's Brand X."
Phoenix, haven't I sung the praises of Dude, Where's My Car? in here? It's the closest the American cinema has come to Celine and Julie Go Boating
albeit it in a quintessentially dumb form.
I actually enjoyed the movie in a quintessentially dumb way.
I may also have had a few glasses of vino. I don't remember.....
I think Pincher describes it accurately when he points out how the themes and events in the first 80% of the film don't match up with the themes and events in the ending. I don't think you can wave it all away by calling it interesting contradictions.
I didn't say the contradictions were interesting. I said the movie was interesting for other reasons. The contradictions were not a sufficient detraction from the film for me.
To me, it indicates that the film is a thematic mess. Without any sort of coherency, the film really lacks much to recommend it ...
The film has a major contradiction in its theme and that detracts from it, I agree. For eighty percent of the movie, it adheres to a certain theme; for the remaining twenty percent it switches to a contradictory one.
But a film is far more than its theme. A.I. has scenes of powerful and rare emotion (for a science fiction film, anyway), great acting, and first-rate special effects. Those three things right there would be enough to make most sit up and take notice of a movie, and I consider those three elements more important to a film than its thematic consistency.
I also think that both Cellar and Pincher misunderstood the ending. I am pretty sure that the entities we see aren't aliens. They are androids - futuristic versions of David, created by other androids. You can see the fiber optic circuitry working inside them, and it significantly explains their actions.
I don't follow this. Have you read the book or a review of film to back this up?
continued ...
It has to be one of the most mis-marketed movies in recent times (although the awful Vanilla Sky suffers from the same problem). I don't know if the Dreamworks marketing department missed the screening or if they were afraid to deal with the product they got handed to them, but I wonder if some of the anger about the movie resulted from the expectations of thosing looking for another ET.
To save you the trouble and to give a short (reletively speaking) preview up what's coming to your theater this year, independent film wise:
Bark a comedy in which Lisa Kudrow plays a dogsitter who abandons human forms of communication. Also starring Hank Azaria, Vincent D'Onofrio and Lee Tergesen.
Birthday Girl a comedy in which Nicole Kidman plays an e-mail-order Russian bride who speaks no English. Also starring Ben Chaplin and Vincent Cassel.
I smell a trend...
I fail to see the charm...
The Business of Fancydancing has a gay American Indian as a protagonist.
By Hook or By Crook is a "lesbian Midnight Cowboy".
I can hardly wait....
Cherish a romantic comedy by director Finn Taylor (Dream With The Fishes) stars Robin Tunney, Tim Blake Nelson, Nora Dunn and Jason Priestley.
Cocketts is a documentary about the Cockettes.
Daddy and Papa a documentary about gay male parenting.
The Dancer Upstairs John Malkovich's directing debut and starring Javier Bardem.
That one sounds interesting...
Empire stars John Leguizamo as a drug dealer. Also stars Denise Richards, Peter Sarsgaard, Sonia Braga and Isabella Rossellini.
A veritable U.N. of actors...
Family Fundementals a documentary that features a Pentacostal church leader and her gay grandson and lesbian daughter. Also features Rep. Bob Dornan (R) California and his gay Chief of Staff.
Gerry directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Casey Affleck and Matt Damon.
The Good Girl directed by Miguel Arteta and written by Mike White, both of Chuck and Buck. This one stars Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal and John C. Reilly.
Human Nature written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich) and starring Tim Robbins and Patricia Arquette.
The Kid Stays in the Picture is the autobiography of Robert Evans.
Lan Yu directed by Stanley Kwan is about gay boys in Hong Kong.
The Laramie Project based on the play of the same name has a cast of 56 that is a Who's Who of independent film talent.
Of course, it is about what happened to Matthew Shepard and is a must see.
Love in the Time of Money stars Steve Buschemi and the synopsis reads vaguely like what could have been written for Eyes Wide Shut. And no wonder. It is based on Arthur Schnitzler's Reigen.
Love Lisa. Phillip Seymore Hoffman sniffs gasolene and model airplane fuels to stay oblivious of his pain.
Luck Break a comedy directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty.)
The Man from Elysian Fields. Andy Garcia plays a male whore (for women) and Mick Jagger is his pimp.
Miranda. Another busy year for Christina Ricca who evidently dons an English accent for this one. Also stars Kyle MacLachlan and John Hurt.
Miss 501 (A Portrait of Luck). It has a lot of queers in it.
Please tell me if you know, who on earth is playing Evans?
On-Line starring Josh Hamilton and Harold Perrineau. It promises hot virtual man on man action. However, not from Hamilton or Perrineau.
One Hour Photo Robin Williams "brings a painfully exquisite vitality to a complicated character."
I think I have already seen it....like a million times already!
Our America starring Josh Charles (yum) and Peter Paige (for David). this is based on the true story of Eric Morse who was dropped from the 14th floor of a Chicago housing project by two other boys.
Pumpkin. Christina Ricci plays a sorority girl.
Ralph Ellison: An American Journey is a documentary about the obvious.
There is a set of shorts with 09/11/01 as its common theme.
Stolen Summer. This is the Project Greenlight movie that is the subject of the HBO series and was produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
Tadpole stars Sigourney Weaver, Bebe Neuwirth and John Ritter. It is about a 15 year old boy who falls in love with a much older woman.
Teknolust A veritable feast of Tilda Swinton who plays (get this!) Rosetta Stone. It is a tale about cloning and Tilda has more than one character. Also stars Jeremy Davies, James Urbaniak and Karen Black.
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing stars Matthew McConaughey and John Turturro. It is a "narrative puzzle".
Let the Memento knockoffs begin....
Two Towns of Jasper. This is facinating. They used two entirely separate film crews. An all white crew interviewed the white citizens of Jasper, Texas. An all black crew interviewed the black citizens. The result is that we the audiance get to be a "fly on the wall during a racially charged conversation."
World Traveler stars Billy Crudup, Julianne Moore, Karen Allen and James LeGros. It is by writer/director Bart Freundlich (The Myth of Fingerprints and he "has again cracked the surface of priviledged America."
Whoopie....
Finally, XX/XY stars Mark Ruffalo (rrrrruff!) in a threeway with two women.
I have not mentioned the many, many shorts except for the 09/11 ones. All in all, it is a sufficiently queer year.
Thanks, Sundance.
Please tell me if you know, who on earth is playing Evans?
The Page with the program guide on it. You have to download the PDF file.
But for Judith:
He evidently plays himself. Here is the synopsis:
There are three sides to every story: my side, your side, and the truth. -- Robert Evans
Intimate, gripping, revealing, uncensored, and fascinating are only a few of the adjectives big enough to describe this cinematic adaptation of Robert Evans's no-holds-barred autobiography. The Kid Stays in the Picture tracks the rise, fall, and rise again of the giant and legend who was labeled the "bad boy" of Hollywood.
The first actor ever to run a motion picture studio, Evans reigned supreme for more than half a decade as studio chief and independent producer at Paramount. He was responsible for such revolutionary films as The Odd Couple, Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, The Godfather, and Chinatown. His personal life was equally sensational: infamous marriages to Ali McGraw and Phyllis George, a cocaine addiction, and half-a-dozen close calls with personal and financial disaster.
Filmmakers Brett Morgen and Nanette Burstein have constructed this amazing hybrid of a documentary using incredible footage and personal photos. They brilliantly keep Evans at the heart of the project, narrating his own life, even reliving important phone calls and imitating some of Hollywood's greatest celebrities. Evans tells all, or at least his version of it. No reputation is left unscathed, even his own. His famed home in Beverly Hills becomes a character in the film. Behind its gates surrounded by 2,000 roses, it's as if the walls really can talk.
Continued.
Or at least the way to virtually get there.
1. Who would Woodcock love to lose his money to, if it was his choice?
2. Which owner of the Bellicec Mudbaths was still "alive" to see what happened to the banjo player and his dog?
3. "Is there no redemption for actors?" Who answered this question?
4. He was far too surprised to look back in anger. After all, he hadn't killed this particular girl.
Anybody seen Brotherhood of the Wolf, yet?
no, but i think Ripley and i are going to catch it this weekend
Cats & Dogs finally went back to NetFlix recently. we couldn't make it through it - kept meaning to get back to it. it was too fricking cutesy. good, i suppose, if you have spawned offspring, but check your brain at the door. 1 1/2 quack of 5.
i've already reviewed Lord of the Rings, but let me say again it's the movie of the year. i forgot to give it quacks in my last review so let me do that now. it gets the highly coveted and seldomly given 5 of 5 quacks!
Fast and the Furious was a horrible movie. for a movie about cars, it had a LOT of talking heads. the blonde guy could have been a lot cuter (as he was in Joy Ride) had he taken a frickin' bath. Vin Diesel was okay, but only took his shirt off one time! what a waste. not worth it. the worst thing about this movie is they are planning a sequel. ick. one of five quacks.
Did somebody overlook my pal Kirby Dick's Jacques Derrida documentary? It's already The Talk of Sundance and the event hasn't even started yet!
oh, and this just in, A.I. is a complete waste of time and film!
It's a documentary about....
sorry 'bout that. I was still in shock that Lisa Kudrow barks like a dog instead of speaking English in her upcoming film.
Now, that's deconstruction!
And Rask: the vast cast of characters, the usual Altman technique of over-lapping dialogue and the many accents unfamiliar to my ear did make it difficult at times to comprehend the dialogue. Still, my comprehension grew as the movie moved along. My guess is that your troubles with the dialogue may have been the result of poor sound quality at your particular venue.
Mulholland Drive
Bully
Memento
Made
Gosford Park
I am probably forgetting two or three worthy movies from 2001, but nothing else comes to mind at the moment.
To see:
Oceans 11
The Man Who Wasn't There
Ali
In the Bedroom
A documentary of Derrida? That epitome of incomprehensible, convoluted post-modernism? Tell us more about it.
Oceans 11 was terrible. incredibly too much self assured bullshit to be believable. the only good thing about Julia Roberts being in it is that she was relegated to a role suitable to her talent: supporting star in about a fourth of the movie.
this flick was flat out boring. whatever other problems it had (of which there were MANY), this was the fatal flaw. the good chemistry between Pitt & Clooney was really the only thing that kept me in my seat.
this is, barely, a renter. only because you can fast-forward at your leisure.
2 of 5 quacks.
some movies i liked:
LOTR
Rush Hour 2
Mummy Returns
Along Came a Spider
still need to see:
Legally Blonde
Made
Any movie that allows me to spend a great deal of time staring at these two men while they exchange witty banter and look beautiful can not possibly be a bad film.
The movie delivered on its promise and did so very well.
Pitt was outstanding, btw, if it is possible to be that good in a light piece of fluff. It's as good as I've ever seen him. Reiner was excellent, too.
it is when you are bored to tears when they aren't on the screen. together. exchanging said banter.
oh yeah
then, no, i guess i haven't
The Mothman Prophesies looks okay. but i don't care much for Gere or Grace trying to be all serious and scared. be hard for me to buy it, i'm thinking.
CG: well, now i am completely confused
Kirby Dick is a really interesting filmmaker and very nice guy.
Very beautiful too, but (alas!) straight.
I'm really looking forward to this movie.
Very well then. Personally, though, I don't judge philosophers on their screen appearence.
(This message brought to you by Pelle 'Snide Dickhead'(™Pincher) Nilsson)
• Color, Closed-captioned, THX, Widescreen
• Commentary by director Robert Altman
• 2 Disc Set
• AMC "Backstory" Behind-The-Scenes Featurette
• Still Gallery
• "Enlisted: The Story of M*A*S*H" - New Documentary
• "M*A*S*H: History Through the Lens" - Background Documentary
• 30th Anniversary M*A*S*H Cast Reunion
• Film Restoration Featurette
• Easter Egg
• Widescreen anamorphic format
• Number of discs: 2
At 3 hours, it needed an intermission though -badly.
The thing that hit me almost immediately was how much Harry Potter drew from the story. Weird - it's been probably 20 years since I last read LOTR, but I wouldn't have thought the Voldemort/Sauron connection could fly completely beneath my radar - but it did.
I was quite pleased with it - as was my daughter, who pronounced it "twice as good" as HP.
We also rented Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?. Glorious, imo.
John Steinbeck on acid.
"We thought you wuz a Toad!"
"Do Not Seek the Treasure!"
The KKK number was exquisitely choreographed.
I was hearing Lenny from Of Mice and Men, and Tom Joad.
Have you ever seen Raising Arizona, Joe? That's the Coen bros work that is most similar to O Brother.
Clooney is excellent. I really thought he should have received an Oscar nod.
I loved Randall "Tex" Cobb, the ex-prize fighter irl (who fought with his face, if his record and looks are any indication) who played the Satan/Biker.
Although the 7-11 robbery is pretty funny. "I'll be taking these Huggies and any cash you got on hand. And make it quick; I'm in dutch with the wife."
Prior to the last two to three weeks, the top five films for the year had been:
Legally Blonde
Memento
The Deep End
The Others
Sexy Beast
I then began to see films in earnest, including Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Royal Tenenbaums, Moulin Rouge and A Beautiful Mind, significantly revising my top five as follows:
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Moulin Rouge
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Others
Sexy Beast
Yesterday afternoon, I saw Gosford Park, and the it will take its place on my top five. Altman is as schizophrenic a director as you'll find, the director of a lot of crap, like Dr. T & the Women (2000), The Gingerbread Man (1998), Kansas City (1996), Prêt-à-Porter (1994), Short Cuts (1993) and Beyond Therapy (1987) (but who knew that Goldblum and Lauper wouldn't hit).
Altman has also directed some fine, clever work, like Cookie's Fortune (1999), The Player (1992), and Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). He is further responsible for a failed masterpiece - Nashville (1975) - and successful ones, like California Split (1974), The Long Goodbye (1973) and M*A*S*H (1971).
I can't decide whether Gosford Park falls in the category of an Altman fine, clever work, or a masterpiece. As he doesn't so much juggle the drawing room murder and British class-comparison genres, but rather, makes the plot device of the former mesh effortlessly and to purposes with the latter, I'm inclined to label it a near masterpiece.
I read someone else's review, and they complained of the sound. I didn't find it to be a problem, but it was booming in the theater where I saw the picture. I can see how it would be miserable if a sub-par sound system were in place.
Grade: A.
Revised Top 5 (Moulin Rouge has a short, but storied stay in my top 5)
Gosford Park
The Others
Sexy Beast
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
The Royal Tenenbaums
Amores Perros
The Anniversary Party
Black Hawk Down
Ghost World
Mullholland Drive
Our Lady of the Assassins
Heist
In the Bedroom
Lord of the Rings
Training Day
I hope to see
A.I.
Ali
Diamond Men
Happy Accidents
L.I.E.
Lumumba
The Man Who Wasn't There
Monster's Ball
But I felt for John Cameron Mitchell.
I'm not sure whether to bother with Gosford Park. I loathe Altman's movies as a general rule, but I like this cast.
As for Gosford Park it's perfect object lesson/answer to the question "Just what does a director do?"
I agree aboutGosford Park. Altman's stamp is there (which may be a warning to stay away for Cal), and it makes the picture (though the idea for the story was apparently from Altman and Bob Balaban).
Same with Hedwig. Though a decent knowledge of glam rock and rock in general makes it even more enjoyable, the film is so inventive that it mainstreams a story that you really couldn't imagine being mainstreamed.
I'm certain they were shocked at a lot of it and knew nothing of glam rock or rock and roll, either, but they seemed to enjoy it and at least didn't seem offended as you migh expect them to be. They took a chance and probably learned something that day.
I suggest you avoid both Hedwig and Gosford Park.
Hedwig may be a German transsexual rock singer, but her story is one that any number of people from less offbeat walks of life are familiar with. Anybody who has ever ben dumped, or ripped-off, or simply woken up one day and decided to forge ahead with their life despite the ,can identify with Hedwig.
Gosford Park doesn't appear to live up to Altman's high misogyny standards, and it will probably get an Oscar nod or two, so I will probably go see it in the theaters.
Exactly. The universality is the emotional connection, and the specific circumstances are the conduit for much of the inventiveness.
And the crime will be that a Hedwig song will be nominated, but it won't be the angry punk anthem harkening back to Hedwig's surgery and betrayal.
And bank this, all you who fill out your Oscar pools:
Best Supporting Actress
Maggie Smith
Gosford Park
I don't know that Smith will win an Oscar. She's won already; it depends on what categories are up against her. (and no, it doesn't matter if I've seen the film or not, I'm talking Oscar voters, not quality.)
Emily Watson, Helen Mirren, Kristen Scott Thomas. It's an embarassment of riches.
You're right, but she is the closest to death, and more importantly, her performance was wickedly funny.
I'm not saying she won't win, but it's not like she doesn't nail her performances every year and is known for it. No real shock to see her being great. I think it likely she'll get a nomination, of course; it's not like any of the others are more likely.
Adios.
Another one, very different both from Hedwig and Hollywood, that sticks in my mind in the same way as Hedwig is Underground, a movie about Yugoslavia, before, during and after WWII and Tito.
There is mention of specific actress in the last part of the article.
hadn't even seen the preview for the movie, and so it was a surprise for me. The drug addict brother was a hoot!
You'll like this movie if you're in a light hearted mood.
Don't know if you know, but in addition to the star-studded cast, the star is Tom Hanks' son and the girlfriend is Sissy Spacek's daughter.
But if you have a DVD player, run out and rent it right away or add it to your Netflix queue.
And Cellar, before you say "Told ya so!" I should mention that this Archers production is one I've wanted to see for years even before I knew it was made by your favorite twosome. I'm a Kerr fan, although Deborah's performance is merely adequate, wiped from memory in comparison to the mad nun, who was stunning.
And (needless to say) Sabu c'est moi !
Powell was a pushover for redheads.
Wonkers,
Wouldn't it have been before 1957? I thought the movie came out in 56.
I hate to sound pretentious, but this was the most outrageous butchery of a classic I have ever seen. I just checked comments on it on the IMDB and most had the same reaction.
I knew nothing of this version; I actually thought I had seen it before, but it turns out that was a 1979 version which was faithful to the book.
I guess this should be in write, since it spoils it for anyone who might wish to see the film:
To put such a ridiculous improbable happy ending on this film was nothing less than hysterical. I and my wife (who, as it happens, majored in American studies) were aghast, but at the same time it was hugely comical.
I'll never understand the attraction of Demi Moore, btw.
American Outlaws was rented for and should only be watched for eye candy. the lead, playing Jesse James was a major hottie. nice dark eyes, nice (if a little skinny) build, voice, he had it all. his cousin was also very hot even if he had a stupid beard i wanted to shave off during the whole thing.
the movie, though, is a run of the mill western with run of the mill acting, direction, and sets. a couple of shots were well done, but nothing that is distinguishing. it was nice to see a little historical accuracy in this movie, but that was a too little too late, in all honesty. 3 quacks out of five, if you take nothing in this too seriously.
AntiTrust starred one of my favorite 20 somethings, Ryan Phillippe. so, naturally, i can't say anything too negative, heh. this was an average run of the mill big brother 'thriller' where our hero can trust no one and must over come all for truth, justice and the murrican way. 3 quacks out of five as it is a decent rental.
Osmosis Jones was a bit of a disappointment. the gross out live action wasn't that funny, just nasty and poorly acted. the animation was fair with a few amusing moments and interesting ideas with how the human body gets through the day. for a cartoon, however, this flick dragged badly and was pretty boring. it played more like a ordinary buddy cop movie than a cartoon. 2 quacks out of five.
I found it so dreadful that I couldn't even finish watching. (I know, I know, lots of people think it was great, it may win awards, etc. etc.)
It just wasn't my kind of movie. I've walked out on very few movies in my life--I'm the tolerant type, as a rule. Easy, even.
But this was a True Turkey.
Still, if you haven't seen it, don't let me stop you--I recognize that mine is a very personal reaction.
Toe--Moulin Rouge is either love or hate. Did you get to where MacGregor sings to Kidman in the elephant? If so, then you will hate the whole thing. If not, you may want to get that far.
Sto--every so often a movie will be made that borrows a classic title and puts an egregiously and offensively inaccurate story underneath it. The Scarlet Letter is one of the worst offenders of that practice.
Be sure to call CNN and E! on-line.
I agree. It was Kim Il-Sung like in its glossy distortion.
The thing is, it's a quite good movie for maybe four fifths of it, I was actually rather taken in, although one could probably quibble about many things. And then it takes such an appallingly steep and sudden dive into pure Hollywood parody.
If it had been bad all way through, it wouldn't have been so bad. But this was just incredible.
did you know, btw, that of the box office top-5 films in France last year, four were French?
Do you have a DVD player yet?
I usually don't read reviews, because 1) I rent movies so seldom I usually have several titles in store that I know I want to watch; 2) the local rental store has a rather limited selection anyway, so you are rather constrained by that.
---
I did not know that. But the French are notoriously bigoted.
Yes, well, 2001 was a great year for Danish movies here. It took a market share of 30% of total theater revenues. That's the highest share since 1978.
When I was last at one of the few art film houses in Indy, I saw a preview for a Danish movie. It wasn't all that exciting, but my partner likes to practice his Danish so we'll probably go see it.
Tea and Sympathy--film, released in 1956.
The play opened with both Kerrs in the lead in 1953, according to this link of Anderson plays.
I like it very much, if for nothing else then for its recognisable location. I actually grew up nearby where they shot it. Few Hollywood Films can claim as much.
A Slant Magazine review
I once watched filming of "Nadine" that took place a block from my house in Austin. They even filmed some of the car driving up and down my street. The film crew was in the neighborhood for about a week.
your like or dislike of this movie will mirror that of Swingers, which i loved, guaranteed. 4 of 5 quacks.
the only down-side was it pissed me off i had to rent it at Blockbuster as NetFlix doesn't carry it.
The real thing that gets me? You saw Deborah Kerr. IN PERSON.
I'm envious.
"When you speak about this -- and you will -- be kind."
Having known him a good number of years before he "made it big" I can safely say that he is exactly like his films -- a Passive/Agressive begging for abuse even as he shells it out to others.
Rask, what's your calculation, based on these figures, on where The Lord of the Rings will end up in the domestic box office?
Will it beat Harry Potter? From what I can see, it will fall short, perhaps not even making the 300 million mark. But what do I know.
Interestingly enough, going over both of the paper's top ten movie lists for 2001 by its two reviewers (Mark Caro and Michael Wilmington), I found both give A.I. Movie of the Year honors.
thus, audiences see A.I. for the shit that it is (and avoid it accordingly) while some critics are too busy believing their own by-lines to be objective.
the acting was fine and the plot was okay, but the peachiness about media vultures is by today's standard an accepted truism already, so the main 'point' is pretty pointless.
still, a decent rental and diversion. 2 and 1/2 quacks of 5.
Ewan McGregor plays John Grimes. There is no John Grimes. John Grimes is actually a guy called John Stebbins, who was inconveniently convicted of having raped a girl under the age of 12. The Pentagon asked the author to change his name for both book and movie, but Bowden only agreed to change the name in the screenplay.
As far as my judicial work is concerned, federal appellate judging is a gas (to place a bit of circa 1970 slang back into circulation), because the cases are so varied, so eye-opening, and, often, so weird. Truth really is stranger than fiction, because writers of fiction try to be plausible, and reality has no aim.
From what I can tell they didn't change any of the other facts involved with Stebbins--just his name.
GJ--yeah. You really couldn't make that stuff up. "Stebbins saved the lives of several men, getting wounded three times in the process, then went on to molest young girls."
I said: "I also think that both Cellar and Pincher misunderstood the ending. I am pretty sure that the entities we see aren't aliens. They are androids - futuristic versions of David, created by other androids. You can see the fiber optic circuitry working inside them, and it significantly explains their actions."
Pincher asked: "I don't follow this. Have you read the book or a review of film to back this up?"
I haven't read the book, and few reviews discuss the ending for fear of spoilers. But there has been considerable debate on this point on the net. I just think that the evidence points to androids, not aliens. Nothing in the film describes them as aliens, but there are many clues that they are robots or androids:
1) fiber optic circuitry visible inside of them.
2) Ability to interface with David's memory through a touch of their fingers.
3) more than an archeaological interest in humanity
4)Foreshadowing: comments to the effect that "robots will outlast humanity".
If it wasn't for Spielberg's penchant for an interest in aliens, I doubt people would have jumped to that conclusion. Nothing points to aliens. Everything points to robots, although we are given nothing definitive.
If it weren't for the Oscars, I would estimate its final take at around $275, assuming a 30-40% per week drop off, which has been its general range in recent weeks. But if it gets a host of Oscar nominations, it could get a decent boost from a more mainstream audience who otherwise wouldn't show up (people like my mom and dad, who wouldn't normally think about seeing the film, but might if it gets 10 nominations for best picture). Boost from Oscar nominations varies greatly from film to film, but my hunch is that if gets a clutch of 8-10 nominations (which I expect it to), it will make an additional $25-50 million (which is a big Oscar boost for a wide release film), ending up at around $315 or so. That is pretty close to what Harry Potter will probably do, but my bet is that LOTR ends up beating it slightly.
Questions I can think of:
1. Will this be the first time that two African Americans will be nominated in the same category?
2. Will this be the toughest Best Director field in history?
3. Will Nicole Kidman get nominated for Moulin Rouge or The Others?
4. Will Gene Hackman get a Supporting or Best Actor nod?
2. Yes
3. The Others
4. Supporting if he gets the nod.
Best Director:
1. Ron Howard
2. Robert Altman
3. Peter Jackson
4. Ridley Scott
5. Wild card--possibly Lynch? Todd Field?
Best Actor:
1. Russell Crowe
2. Tom Wilkinson
Those two I'm pretty sure of. Then it's a tossup.
3. Denzel Washington, Will Smith
It would be so Academy to just have one Black nomination. This assumes either gets nominated, which isn't a given. But if both of them get nominated, it's an interesting ballgame.
4. Guy Pearce--will people remember him?
5. Another tossup--Billy Bob and Kevin Spacey got GG noms, but then so did Ewan McGregor and Hackman, and both of them had showier parts than BB and Spacey.
1. Judi Dench
2. Sissy Spacek
3. Nicole Kidman--the only risk here is that her votes cancel each other out, which would be a shame. I hope she gets nominated for Moulin Rouge, because if she does she has an excellent chance of winning.
4. Tilda Swinton
5. Halle Berry has a good chance; it's been a while since a black actress has gotten a nomination. Reese Witherspoon? It was a big sleeper hit, and she's done some great work. Thora Birch got a GG nomination as well.
I think the five will come from the GG nominations, though. It's a good group.
The DGA "Old Guard" LOATHES him.
Supporting Actor:
1. Ian McKellan
2. Jude Law
3. Jim Broadbent--probably for Iris
Tossup for the last two.
Supporting Actress
I haven't seen most of the movies that will field this group, but my guesses:
1. Jennifer Connelly
2. Marisa Tomei
3. Maggie Smith
Probably another Gosford Park nomination, and maybe Kate Winslet.
Best Picture
1. A Beautiful Mind
2. Lord of the Rings
3. Gosford Park
4. Blackhawk Down, probably
5. Mulholland Drive, In the Bedroom are likely candidates.
And I think Helen Mirren will get a Best Supporting nomination for Gosford Park
Hell, yes.
I think you're right about Mirren being the other GP nominee. She's got the name.
You really think they'll ignore Altman this time? I dunno. This is his most popular film this decade, isn't it?
Adapted Screenplay
1. Lord of the Rings
2. Black Hawk Down(?)
3. A Beautiful Mind
4. Memento
5. Iris
Original Screenplay
1. In the Bedroom
2. Gosford Park
3. The Man Who Wasn't There
4. The Royal Tennebaums
5. Mulholland Drive
Except I think In the Bedroom might get a nod there for adaptation (it's not an original)
I just realized I forgot Shrek, which might get an adapted nomination.
Was Monster's Ball original or adapted?
Adapted:
1. Lord of the Rings
2. Black Hawk Down
3. In the Bedroom
4. A Beautiful Mind
5. Tossup: Shrek/Memento/Iris
Original:
1. Monster's Ball
2. Gosford Park
3. The Man Who Wasn't There
4. The Royal Tennebaums
5. Mulholland Drive
You've seen Blackhawk Down, right? Politics aside, what do you think of Fichtner, Sizemore, and McGregor? Do any of them stand out enough for a nomination?
Actually it's high time there was a separate category for acting ensembles.
Granted, that was an ensemble film too, but Reiner's work really stood out. He hasn't had that many oppportunities to work with a really good part, and he made the most of it.
"Gus Van Sant's "Gerry" is an abstract, existential story of two friends wandering through the desert. Although the film stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, it may be too experimental to be picked up for major distribution."
Go Gus!
I bet Robert Altman had fun making this comedy satirizing a 1930s British weekend house and shooting party on an immense estate, a Jewish Hollywood director of Charlie Chan movies who got himself invited in order to research his next film and Poirot murder mysteries. I wonder how the movie will be received in England. Altman took some pretty funny shots at the manners and morals of the classes in Great Britain. But I guess no more than they routinely poke fun at themselves.
The characters were interesting:
"Maggie Smith as Constance, the Countess of Trentham, peering down her nose while dispensing barbed litle pearls of imperious condescension and cruelty" reminded me of my mother-in-law.
Michael Gambon was unforgettable as Sir William, "a hardhearted and randy old sod..who thinks nothing of pawing every young woman who catches his fancy."
Kristin Scott Thomas, reminiscent of Dietrich, as Lady Sylvia, "Sir William's icy wife."
"The movie's truth teller and most likeable character, Elsie (Emily Watson), is the head houskeeper whose affair with Sir William is common knowledge but never spoken of."
And Helen Mirren was outstanding, as ever, as the head housekeeper.
In part, from a NYT review by Stephen Holden
Many films, especially comedies, are enriched by walk-on actors who do (and do very well) some incidental bit of business that brings a laugh or a smile. Their parts are too small to be considered as "supporting actor" roles, but they are often priceless bits of acting.
As is a frequent problem with my little essays, I'm lost at the moment for a good example of exactly what I'm talking about. Think of Keenan Wynn's small part in Dr. Strangelove. In a less sublime but more recent example, think of the maintenance man on the comedy tv series, "Scrubs".
We need an award for these kinds of performances--not only to honor the (relatively) small-time actors for a job well done, but for the sheer fun of showing five or six of these little priceless passages at the awards ceremony.
Okay, then here is my modified lists--first guess, anyway.
Adapted:
1. Lord of the Rings
2. Black Hawk Down
3. In the Bedroom
4. A Beautiful Mind
5. Tossup: Shrek/Memento/Iris
Memento is listed as a 2000 release (on imdb at least) so i'm not sure why you include it.
btw, how would Shrek get best adapted? it was an 'original' script, right?
I was pulling for Opie, but Altman's good.
If Memento isn't eligible for this year's Oscars, I haven't heard it mentioned.
Michael Jeter in The Fisher King
Ashely Judd in Smoke
It could be a Cameo Oscar ---only defining cameo by the size of the role rather than the size of the actor.
think of the maintenance man on the comedy tv series, "Scrubs".
This guy is excellent...he has managed to create a role that is very identifiable with little or no dialogue at all.
major suckage and no eye candy to speak of - a deadly combo.
zero quacks.
Memento will get nominations if people remember it--
Funny.
Brotherhood of the Wolf is part action film, part horror, part mystery, part political drama and part love story. If that seems a bit of a mish-mash, well, it sort of is, and it occasionally bogs down. The film is hard to follow in some places---particularly when it’s talkative. I don’t know that I’ve ever had as much trouble reading subtitles in my life. I don’t know if it’s because I understand some of the dialogue and therefore can’t focus totally on reading, or if it’s just wordy or maybe the font was bad. Whatever the reason, I found it difficult and annoying to try and keep up with the subtitles at the same time as the action. Perhaps that’s it. There’s a lot of action, you don’t want to look away from it to read.
The film is beautiful to look at but the sound can be overwhelming. I’m thinking particularly of the first killing, which is about the most brutal thing I’ve ever seen on film. It’s not gratuitous, it’s just incredibly effective at conveying the horror of the attacks. I confess that having seen the trailers I was a little bit worried about the appearance of the beast----I loved An American Werewolf in London until the closing scenes where they put in that hokey, humpy, lumpy, guy-in-a-faux-fur-werewolf suit. The beast in Brotherhood of the Wolf does not disappoint and the reason for it is quite clever, I think.
cont.
MINOR SPOILER IN WHITE FONT: Rather than create a fanciful creature that might look hokey, they camouflaged the beast in armor. One can catch glimpses of the beast, but you’re never required to look at a stuffed animal or animatronic or CGI monstrosity and buy that it’s the real thing. Sometimes the movement is a bit jerky—there’s a dogfight/beast-baiting scene that is a bit clunky, but on the whole the beast is very well done.
Our hero is a bit slow to develop…or maybe I was just distracted by his companion, Mani, played by martial arts expert Marc Dacascos. And who wouldn’t be distracted? The man is beautiful to look at, fascinating to watch and hardly ever speaks in the film so he’s mysterious as well. That’s a tough act to compete with particularly if you’re a less-good-looking, seeming dilettante like Grégoire de Fronsac – played by Samuel Le Bihan. De Fronsac comes into his own, though and is eventually the more satisfying character even if he’s less physically appealing than Mani.
The cast of supporting characters is quite good. They aren’t particularly deep characters---but this is an action film even if sometimes it forgets that---and the secondaries are sufficiently well developed to enrich the story without pulling too much focus. It took me more than half the film to figure out why the brother or the love interest looked familiar---Vincent Cassel played the cross dressing Duc d’Anjou in Elizabeth. He was also the voice of Robin Hood in Shrek (note to CalGal)
cont.
I’m not sure what else to say about this film. It’s marvelous eye-candy. It is sufficiently convoluted to produce some mystery. It’s certainly suspenseful and horrifying. The fight sequences are great---and even though it tends to bog down in places it picks back up well. I kept expecting it to be over and then it wouldn’t be. I don’t know if that’s good or bad---I liked it because it meant there was more movie for me to watch, but at the same time I’m aware that it speaks of rather sloppy writing and will bother a lot of people.
So do I recommend it? Absolutely. Some of you will no doubt hate it, but I find it impossible to predict who those folk will be. This is a film that I’ll buy when it comes out on DVD if for no other reason than to look at it.
Rip Torn is the only reason to see this movie. But if you are older than 10 and you are other than male, I recommend you find something else to do with your time...like watch porn that actually has sex in it. 1 flame.
Guests for the weekend include Jeremy Northren (sp?) as a movie matinee idol ("I play these people on the screen"), Bob Balaban as a California movie producer (he produces Charlie Chan mysteries and is along to do research for his next movie), Ryan Philippe (sp?) as his pouty Scottish valet, and above all the others, Maggie Smith as a snooty Lady who brings along her new maid. This is the best Maggie Smith role in years ("I don't have snobbish bone in my body" and "Breaking in a new maid is terribly hard work").
After dinner, Northren entertains the group with his piano playing and singing in a lovely unaffected voice. Supposedly he played the piano and sang live instead of lip syncing. One forgets about pure singing when since the 1950s every syllable cries out for intepretation. For a matinee idol, Northren's character is sweet and long-suffering. There is an interesting contast between the snobbish guests reaction to his singing and the pure delight on the servants as they sneak around to listen to him sing.
Helen Mirren is the Head Housekeeper, suffering in silence and in tightly coiled anger, efficient and for the most part, unkind.
If in other same period pieces ("Upstairs, Downstairs" or "Remains of the Day"), there is a strong sense of two separate worlds, this movie tears down the wall. Altman moves from upstairs to downstairs with lightening speed. Most of the story is told from the point of view of Maggie Smith's new maid, a young Scottish girl who is innocent, but also intelligent, and who appears to be having a good time. Various other recognizable actors play the innumerable servants (Derek Jacobi, fyi).
Almost immediately one understands why these country house lifestyles have ended. These country estates aren't homes, they're hotels.
There is almost no privacy for the rich from their servants. Servants are everywhere, they are curious about everything.
Ostensibly, this weekend is about a murder mystery (the Lord is killed and everybody has a motive). But outside of Stephen Frears bumbling inspector who is cowed by the elite and yet who is terribly snobbish to the hired help, hardly any energy is put into the who-done-it. Instead, this movie is about life, told not by individuals but as ensemble, an Altman gift that when it works, is almost breathtaking.
A final note. There is the a wonderful pheasant hunting scene that is alone worth the price of the admission.
Mostly connect the dots. Almost all of the characters are one dimensional. Interesting portrayal of mental illness, but mostly we have Russell Crowe and nobody else. The fellow who played his college roommate was lively, but that was about it.
I've heard the biography tells an interesting and messy story. This doesn't.
And dogs.
And Love.
The film has a jumbled narrative which really works, for a change. This is not a linear narrative with a mixed up time line just for the hell of it. This is really three stories in parallel and only at the end do they come together at a particular intersection in Guadalahara.
Love and the decisions we make because we are in love (or think we are) and the disasterous consequences of those decisions is portrayed very well in this film. There are three love stories here, and each one of them is a triangle.
In the first, Octavio is in love with his brother's wife, Susana. Octavio and his brother, Ramairo, jointly own a Rottweiler. Octavio enlists the dog in fighting and saves his winnings in order to run off to Juarez with Susana. Ramairo is a check out clerk by day and a stick up man by night. This complex little triangle leads to some disasterous consequences.
In the second triangle, Daniel is married and has two daughters. He leaves his wife and family to live with his mistress, Valeria. Valeria is a successful and beautiful model. Valeria owns one of those fluffy little lap dogs. Whereas Octavio and Susana's disaster is entirely of their own making, what happens to Valeria and Daniel is due much more to random circumstances. Although the disaster leaves Daniel longing for the stability of his wife and daughters.
Cont.
I no longer get to the movies, just watch DVDs.
Nonetheless...
This weekend, rented 'The Man Who Cried' and 'Sweet November'.
TMWC was good...quite moving, very nicely played, Johnny Depp adorable as ever. Two thumbs up.
SN was quite possibly the worst movie I have seen in the last ten years. I have never wanted to slap anyone as hard as I wanted to slap Charlize Theron's character. Keanu, normally adorable, was slightly less engaging than usual and needs maybe to hit the weights a bit harder before he takes off his shirt next time. However, Greg thought it was sweet and romantic. Split decision.
El Chivo longs to reestablish a relationship with his daughter, Maru, who thinks he is dead. In doing so, he loses his taste for his profession. His last job involves two half-brothers who are business partners. El Chivo cleverly finds a way to complete his job and take the money, without directly killing. I found the story of the two brothers far more compelling than El Chivo and his plight.
The dog fighting in this film is particulary gruesome. I was happy that the video had a short section after the credits that showed how the filming was accomplished without actually hurting the dogs.
4 flames.
Ryan Phillippe (yum!)
James Wilby
Northam plays Ivor Novello, who was both a matinee idol, afilm star (Hitchcock's The Lodger was a hit. The fact that Maggie Smith's character claims it was a flop reflects solely on her snobbery) and a composer of popular songs. His most famous tune: "Keep the Homefires Burning"
And he was gay -- a point Altman doesn't stress too much here, though it's clear in hat one of the servants is after him and another (played by the ever-sneering Richard E. Grant) is jealous.
Doesn't he play "Keep the Homefires Burning" in the movie?
I suppose Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh should be commended for a searing look at Hollywood vacuousness and the insecurity of artists, but the revelation of the fault lines and scars of their six year relationship (he being a writer/director, she being a film actress) makes for very dull, and often excruciating viewing.
The concept is simple. They have been together six years, he is just off a fling and separation, and they are confronting a future, a move to London, attempts to have a child, and her faltering career, all in the framework of immense distrust.
So, they have a six year anniversary party - attended by Kevin Kline, Phoebe Cates, Parker Posey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Beals, and others -all of whom celebrate not only their longevity, but their recent reunion. What appears to be a tense and uncomfortable look at two very self-destructive, inward looking people (and their friends, most of whom exhibit some malady or another) becomes really uncomfortable when they each take Ecstacy.
In order to let viewers in on a different world convincingly, there has to be a token offering for what makes them a part of that world. But here, we are made to accept on faith the talents of the attendees.
It is not enough. Everything unmoors. Soon, all repressed feelings are unleashed, and what we get is a different, more esoteric version of one Dynasty catfight after another. Leigh and Cumming appear so miserable even during the moments of tenderness and before the hell breaks loose, that when it does, it is no revelation or shock or even an understanding. They started off at full rev, aimed right at each other. Moreover, both actors are so tic-laden (she generally, he in this role) that they appear to be plagued by a bad rash throughout.
Grade: D.
Lordy, Phillippe's a pretty lad. I don't think I've ever seen him in a movie where I was able to appreciate it before.
Northam's singing was wonderful--all the songs he sang were Novello's. And I'm glad you mentioned the hunting scene, GJ. It was the first time I really understood the logistics of hunting. The reaction shots of Northam, Balaban, and Phillippe were hysterical.
When he sang 30 straight tunes, I knew it for sure.
But in any event, he was very good. The whole cast was excellent.
When did Alan Bates become Derek's doppelganger?
I agree, CalGal, RP has a fine, pouty mouth. He is equally beautiful in that modern update of Dangerous Liaisons. I think his best acting was in this movie, and it was in the scenes where he didn't talk but just pouted.
Cellar -- I think they even comment about "Keep the Homefires Burning." One of the women says that she always cries when she hears it. He never sang the lyrics, just played the tune.
Julius -- 30 straight songs? Ha.
The Balaban/Phillippe relationship is about as ambiguous as David Geffen and Steve Antin!
Is this the same crew that nominates for the Oscars, or is that a larger group?
Jeezus Pleezus I'll never understand Hollywood politics.
The In the Bedroom gang was there is full force: Todd Field, Sissy Spacek, Marisa Tomei, William Mapother,and Nick Stahl. Because she came with her husband, Jack Fisk there was a sense of spillover to best Director winner David Lynch. As you may recall Sissy helped design Eraserhead.
Kate Winslet (Best Supporting Actres for Iris) was there with Sam Mendes. He was a chipper asn ever. She's lost all the weight everyone chattered so mindlessly about circa Titanic and looks just as smashing as ever. I reminded Sam that the last time he came here he was with Russell Crowe, who groused about that drink tickets?"He did?" said Kate. "Oh he's always that way!"
Trent Harris, our "Independent/Experimental" winner for beaver Trilogy, who I introduced and presented the award, simply said "I've never won anything before! Thank You." And the crowd roared it's approval of his brevity.
The biggest hand was for animator Joe Grant who in his 90's is still working! Among his credits Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and both versions of Fantasia. And now in his 90's he's working with the gang at Pixar!
But you know me!
Did the snub of Altman surprise you? Do you think he'll be the one subbed for Nolan?
The buzz for GP isn't quite high enough to make Altman a shoe in for an Oscar nomination, but I would bet that if Nolan gets beaten, it is either by Altman or Lynch with Altman the frontrunner.
I thought Cellar was talking about the Academy itself not liking Altman, not the DGA. In any event, this certainly made a believer out of me.
If Howard wanted to shape the story that strongly, he should have created a fictional character, completely delinked from Nash's name and the particulars of his story. Instead, we get four or give key events that really happened (attended Princeton, came up with powerful theory, went crazy, learned to deal with his illness, wins the Nobel Prize), the middle part showing his illness, and a romantic love story.
Left out was the guy's attraction to men, his child by another woman, and the fact that Nash and wife divorced years ago. They are now friends.
In the Slate movie round-up, Ebert said that this didn't bother him. If he didn't know any facts about Nash's life, and had just seen the movie as strictly a fiction, it would have still revealed some basic "truth" with this story. I think Edelstein (?), the Slate reviwer, disagreed. A.O. Scott from the NY Times, strongly disagreed.
I haven't read the biography of Nash which got the movie producers excited about the story, but I understand that its author managed to capture much of the ocmplexity of this man's life.
Somebody earlier commented on Pollack as a similar movie about genious and decline. I agree that P is a much better movie. Marsha Gay Hardin potrayed a living, breathing character to match Ed Harris' tour de force example of a deteriorating artist. Almost all the other actors besides Crowe in "Mind" were wasted on roles that were entirely superfilous. My one exception would be his college roommate. At least at the beginning, that fellow actually came across as a real person (a cute one, I might add).
But I think Howard tries to have it both ways, a unique take in a movie on one's mental illness, and a romantic love story as a sop to the audience that might be turned off by not having sympathetic characters.
But that carries a danger of patronizing the mentally ill person, stripping him or her (think of Rush) to being a cute child-like genious that is loved by a good woman (again think of Rush).
The complexity of such a life, and of dealing or caring for such a person, would suggest that Howard, by creating a simple love story, took an easy way out.
Hollywood is always about the easy way out.
The most interesting in this whole affair is that questions were raised -- and aired -- at all.
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I also know it has gotten a lot of kudos for doing a good job of explaining exactly what Nash did that made his work so valuable.
I think a good case could be made for the argument that taking on the genius aspect and the complicated love life is too much for one movie. Given that, something had to be punted and they chose the complicated love life.
No, there is hardly any discussion of Nash's theory. He has one. Years later, it is considered revolutionary. Little effort or energy to explain it.
did you see Italian for Beginners yet?
I just saw this review in the New York Observer. -- Scroll down about half a page to find it.
Nash and his wife remarried last year after many years of living together. Nasser said that one reason they remarried is their need to provide for the care of their 40-year-old schizophrenic son who lives with them. He is also a math genius. Despite that the onset of his schizophrenia was at age 15, he managed to complete a Phd in math at Rutgers.
Because most of them are wacko?
The story of my life. One long needless distraction!
" She didn't seem to have a lot of information on it."
She's didn't claim to have a lot of information. The information has been there for years. She chpooses not to notice it.
Typical.
" Apparently this matter was not a major part of her book."
As far as she's concerned.
"Nash and his wife remarried last year after many years of living together. Nasser said that one reason they remarried is their need to provide for the care of their 40-year-old schizophrenic son who lives with them. He is also a math genius."
He's not their son. He's his son -- the issue of an out-of-wedlock relationship with somebody else.
The devil is in the details.
Yes. Paul Bettany is beautiful. I'll pretty much see him in anything from now on. Dunno if you saw A Knight's Tale, but he played Chaucer. He's also in something that's getting ready to be released... 
grrr! yummy!
Apparently this was not a major part of her book.
"As far as she's concerned."
Well, it's her book. Anyway, she didn't say that. I inferred it from what she said. I haven't seen the book. It did mention his arrest and previous homosexual relationships. Don't you suppose that Nash and his wife may have been reluctant to discuss the matter? Are you saying that his sexual relationships with men inherently loomed large in his life? Seems to me that it is possible that they may have have less significance that you think should be attached to them compared to other aspects of his life. I guess that would depend on the actual facts.
Naseerudin Shah hold the movie together, superbly playing an upper-middle-class Punjabi man trying to tread water and put his family's best foot forward through an expensive, instantly recognizable, Delhi wedding.
Om Puri has garnered all the international glory these past few years, but Shah is a very good actor who only needs a couple more such roles to carve out his own richly-deserved space abroad.
There are lots of bits of this movie that strike home to me, incisive looks at various aspects of a post-liberalization, fluid Indian society. One major aspect of the movie is the sweet developing romance between the tribal-Christian Bihari maid and the "event-planner" budding entrepreneur. Treated in a slightly slapstick manner, it's the best part of the movie all the way through.
The real bonus is the unadulterated Punjabi/Hindi dialogue, coarse in parts, high-flying in others. It gives the movie a very real texture even as the narrative sometimes skips and starts.
You all are not slightly nostalgic for an Indian society that feels like home. Still, I think Monsoon Wedding is worth recommending to everyone.
Losing your job with the RAND coporation over a tearoom bust is of some significance, don't you think?
"Seems to me that it is possible that they may have have less significance that you think should be attached to them compared to other aspects of his life."
Constantly hitting on you male colleagues at work is of some significance, don't you think?
And when has same-sexuality EVER been considered to have "less significance" than anything else?
Not in my lifetime!
I was born the year the film's action begins,BTW.
After Lagaan and Asoka, along comes Monsoon Wedding - the third Indian film in as many months to attempt the big breakthrough in the west. As recipient of the Venice film festival's Golden Lion, Mira Nair's film looks like the odds-on favourite to achieve the most cross-cultural success.
This is no art film, though it is certainly artful. It's a comedy of manners, Indian-style. The cast is exclusively Indian and the setting is Delhi, where the very middle-class Verma family live. The film is played out in English, Hindi and Punjabi, which such a family would speak. ...The groom is an engineer from Houston, and the characters are as familiar with the dot.com society as anyone in the west. What may intrigue those who don't know much about India is this odd mixture of ancient and modern that holds the Verma family in its thrall. Nair looks at these contrasts with a skilled eye that's ironic but never mocking.
The resulting entertainment is just a little facile at times but the five interconnecting love stories, ending with a wedding amid the monsoon, are encompassed with considerable skill.
There are moments of real drama.The family's powerful friend (Rajat Kapoor) turns out to have raped a cousin when she was a child. Father (Naseeruddin Shah) agonises about the possibility of his son being gay. Another member of the family has a last fling with a married lover. But most of the film concentrates on the fraught preparations and the wedding itself, with Vijay Raaz's eccentric wedding planner falling head over heels in love with the maid, to complicate matters.
We've probably seen it all before but not from India. That's one reason Monsson Wedding seems fresh. The other is Nair's cast, experienced Shah, who avoids overplaying and thus makes the comedy a great deal more amusing than it might have been in coarser hands.
Thanks for the link, that's a quite extensive review, although I am not sure it captures the film satisfactorily. The sour remarks on Dogma 95 are superfluous, mostly designed to cast the reviewer as a sophisticated cognoscento. It comes off as just so much blasé flatulence.
The point of this film is not its Dogma-adherence, that's just a peculiar factoid, like the fact that Julia Roberts was reading Tolstoi when she was shooting The Pelican Brief.
sto -- about the only hook American reviewers have in looking at Danish movies is Dogma 95. You are right that they use it because it is there, so to speak. OTH, Dogma 95 is the opposite of Hollywood Slick movies, so when movies are made using those guidelines, it probably has more impact than what book Julia Roberts is reading while she is working on making a movie.
;-)
(Btw: I have no idea what Julia Roberts was reading at that or other occasions, if anything).
Lars is no bad on the eyes, himself, btw. (In order to show my own vapid standards. Call it Dogma 2002).
Ridley Scott's near-faithful rendition of Mark Bowden's book about the 1993 battle in Mogadishu which left 18 Americans dead, almost 100 wounded, and between 750 and 1500 Somali militia and civilians killed is a mixed bag.
What Scott does well, he does very well. The battle sequences are extraordinary, and his juxtaposition of the beauty of the land with the squalor of the impoverished city is affecting. America hovers above the mess that is the world, pristine, gleaming, powerful, and clueless about the byzantine factions and home-grown anger that awaits.
He also captures the military ethos, the young centurions in a strange land, trained to kill, there to enforce some wort of peace, but repressing what might be an insensitive desire to practice their craft.
Scott is also expert in communicating a very convoluted battle scenario with precision and clarity. And the performances, largely given amongst screaming, yelling and explosions, are well delivered, with special nods to the craggy, character-filled faces of William Fichtner and Tom Sizemore.
It is also a shame, because for the most part, Black Hawk Down avoids some of the pat excess of Saving private Ryan.
The Somalis, like so many foreign foes portrayed in American film, are given the short-shrift of the mystical "Do not come here, white man, this is not your war." This is a cheap out, not only because it is hackneyed, but because the bitterness on the ground in Mogadishu was borne of factors critical to the story.
Along the same line, Bowden reported that after a time, the embattled soldiers were becoming less discriminate about killing civilians.
Interestingly, Scott only trains in on Somali civilians geting killed in three instances - at the outset, when Aideed's men murder those clamoring for U.N. food shipments; during the battle, when a Somali boy tries to shoot a Ranger, but instead shoots his own father; and at the end, when a Ranger begs a Somali woman not to pick up a weapon. She does, and she is killed by another Ranger.
All of which may have happened. But what also happened, with greater frequency, was that the soldiers, besieged from all sides, let loose on anything that moved. It is not a moral judgment to depict this aspect of the carnage.
Still, a visually impressive, relatively tight war picture. Grade: B.
I did think I read that no one knows how the first kid went down. It was Frontline, I think.
(I saw an early cut with a temp music track.)
I don't think so. At least, I don't recall it.
You're right. I always forget the specifics, only that it is never presented as having died in battle--the wounds weren't in and of themselves fatal, and either one got infected or he died of a heart attack during surgery. I've also read that it was a stray bullet.
The cards imply that the US killed him, which is not the case.
I just got home from a party where the consensus was reached that LOTR should have been titled "Aragorn and Some Short People That Sometimes Regrettably Get Between Him and the Camera."
I'll sign up for that.
All the talk about this flick has been about Spacey's performance. She is a fine actress and does a great job portraying a mother who is "controlling" in her family. Perhaps her character is not as brittle as Mary Tyler Moore's mother in Ordinary People,, but they reside in similar territory. Spacek is a the wife of a small town coastal Maine doctor, the mother to a sweet best little boy in the world, now about to go off to college, and is the director of a girls choir that sings Balkan folk music.
The almost breathtaking performance was, however, by Tom Wilkinson, the British actor who played Spacek's doctor husband. He is the son of a Maine lobster fisherman, and he still owns a boat and knows how to do the trade. Wilkinson acts through his eyes. His calm demeanor masks familial love, anger, lust and pain. But his eyes give hints of all of these emotions.
The bedroom of the title refers to the lobster traps. But as others have pointed out, it is also a telling reference to the private lives, their love, fear and anger.
The sweet kid son (Nick Stahl)is spending his last summer before college running lobster traps and dating Marisa Tomei, an older woman separated from her husband, and mother to two small boys.
Almost immediately, we learn that Tomei's husband (William Mapother) wants his family back and that he is not above slapping either wife or her sweet kid boyfriend around. This sets up the violence that feeds the rest of the movie.
Akin to The Sweet Hereafter, the story is told slowly. And like that fine movie, we slowly watch the effects of violence and death as it eats on the survivors. We learn less from exposition than from static shots. The director, Todd Field, doesn't appear afraid to let a scene go on, with pauses in dialogue, without lots of soundtrack music to set up and punctuate plot points.
The evil wifebeater, a bad character, also happens to be the son of the local factory owner, yet the references to this wealth, and the impact on the other character's responses to his violence, are rarely if at all stated.
Field does not mock his characters. And long after the movie is over, the image of a tired Wilkinson, in his bed, staring back at us, lingers on.
I was fairly disappointed in the movie. Granted, most of the story was one long battle sequence and that was done fairly well, but I thought the way the tale was told precisely mirrored the folly that led us into Somalia in the first place. The first hint was with the opening scenes, and the director's apparent need to portray Aided as some kind of mini-Hitler. In reality, and in Bowden's book, Aideed is simply the leader of the strongest clan in Somalia, and is thus a convenient scapegoat for the morality-obsessed Americans to vent their outrage on. One of the terms that the, and US media in particular use that irritates me is the overuse of the term 'warlord' -- I'd be interested in seeing a review of 'Braveheart' that continually refers to the main character as a 'warlord' instead of a patriot or whatever.
Another annoying cop-out was the same old attempts to come up with simplistic blame sound-bites so that the average viewer can feel morally superior to the people on the ground. The AC-130 gunship/forgetting one's LI goggles are used here --even tho neither would have solved any of the real political/strategic problems with our being involved there. Bringing lots of stuff is a classic American strength, but I think all too often it becomes the end instead of the means. They ought to make the next war movie director read A Soldier's Load and the Mobility of the Nation. Ten times.
The last thing that got my ire was the closing credits, where the director does not mention that the US let all of the captured leadership cadre go in exchange for the pilot. When we get defeated, hollywood shouldn't pretend its some kind of draw or victory. Somalia was a defeat, simply because the US did not have the will to win -- and there was no reason that it should have.
Ridley Scott is thus a perfect example of the fact that you can have enormous visual acumen, nonpareil technical skill, and an unfailing flare for drama, and STILL be clueless.
The Farrelly Brothers should be forced to watch this fly-by-night send-up of late 70s/early 80s camp teen T&A movies, as should the punk director on Project Greenlight who absolutely must have this shot, and that shot, and more that $1 million, to make his goofy tear-jerker. Guerrilla comedy at its best, rottentomatoes.com gives it a 20%, a horrific score, Salon Hated It, and you probably will too.
It's bust-up hilarious, and Janeane Garofalo is destined to be the Sex Thread's Ms. February as a just accolade.
Grade: A.
Julius, could you repost that review? I couldn't understand it.
The lately moribund Farrelly Brothers should be forced to watch this fly-by-night send-up of late 70s/early 80s camp teen T&A movies, as should the punk director on HBO's Project Greenlight, who absolutely must have this shot, and that shot, and more that $1 million, to make his goofy tear-jerker.
Guerrilla comedy at its best, rottentomatoes.com gives Wet Hot American Summer a 20% (a horrific score).
Salon Hated It and you probably will too.
Blame yourself. It's bust-up hilarious, and Janeane Garofalo is destined to be the Sex Thread's Ms. February as a just accolade.
Grade: A.
Legally Blonde was an enjoyable rental. maybe it was because i didn't expect much from Clueless Goes To College, but many laughs were had. Witherspoon is a doll and just oozes talent. the DVD has some nice extras and plenty of cut scenes. a great rental and recommended - probably one of the funniest movies last year (not that that says a whole lot). 3 and 1/2 quacks of five.
Rock Star was a horrible movie - not even Marky Mark flashing his chest through the whole thing helped it. absolutely predictable drivel that should be avoided at all costs. one quack of five.
Jeepers Creepers was a fun little horror movie. not very taxing on the brain, but had some cool shots and a couple of real thrills. fun to see a brother/sister rather than the tired boy/girlfriend protagonist set. a few plotholes and obvious horror movie character mistakes, but that's all part of the fun. worth the rental if you like that sorta thing. 3 of 5 quacks.
Brotherhood of the Wolf was a very enjoyable movie. Ms No’s review was spot on. it's hard to generically recommend it to someone, but i think most people should see it regardless. it's a movie that begs to be experienced. so many different genres in one movie and all have some degree of importance. an excellent experience; it should be at the top of your movie list thus far. 4 and ½ quacks – missing a half because it needed some trimming.
it sucked and Pitt is getting old. if you've already seen Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels then you have no reason to waste your time on this. if you haven't, put down the copy of Snatch and go rent that.
a single quack only cuz Guy Ritchie (Mr Madonna) had some cool shots and setups.
I believe that these are the awards that have successfully predicted the Oscar winners for the last umptyump years? If so, it looks like there's no Oscar for Nicole this year. She wasn't even nominated.
Neither was Gene Hackman, Tilda Swinton, or Billy Bob.
Nicole Kidman may not be nominated for an Oscar but she is reported as being in "good harmony" with Lars von Trier, the eccentric Danish director, who is currently shooting his next film "Dogville" in Sweden.
Also starring are Lauren Bacall, Stellan Skarsgård and Ben Gazzaro (whoever he may be), and Patricia Clarkson (ditto).
True to form Lars von Trier has shrouded the project in oddity. He'll be personally doing the photography, all scenes will be shot on a single set, all actors will be present during all takes, and the 220 pages long script is really just, like, a guideline. The actors can't really tell anything about their parts because they haven't begun "developing" them yet.
Patricia Clarkson also does a lot of "little films". I'm still looking for Pharoah's Army, with her and Chris Cooper. Mainstream, she's a wife and mom a lot of the time. She was the wife with a brain tumor in Green Mile. She was Benzali's wife in Murder One. She was the mom in Jumanji. And so on.
Jumanji, that one I have seen. But I can't remember anything about the mother. Wasn't Robin Williams in that?
Everything else you said ring absolutely no bells. (Let's see... John Cassavetes... John Cassavetes... John Cassavetes... hmmm I've heard that name somewhere, I am sure).
I wonder, are you an extreme geek, or am I totally out of the loop? (Or is it both?)
bingo.
He is probably better known to the masses as an actor, playing Farrow's husband in Rosemary's Baby, and one of the Dirty Dozen.Interestingly, I always mistake him for Ben Gazzara when I see him. But what other Cassavetes film was Gazzara in, other than Husbands?
The original is better than the sequel mainly because the male flesh in the sequel is not quite as delicious. Also the original is about vampires in a frat house which lends itself to one guy putting his mouth directly onto the body of another guy.
The sequel is about warlocks, so not as much hot man on man action in addition to the men being not quite as hot.
The plots of both are identical as are the characters. The writing is cliched and full of obvious double entendres. The actors deliver the lines in flat monotones, but who the hell is listening to what comes out of their mouths anyway?
Special effects consist entirely of shaking the camera and using a strobe light.
5 flames each, but not for the writing, acting, directing or production values.
i also watched The Brotherhood and also hated it, but their was some great eye candy, but not enough for me to recommend it to even 'gay boys'
U-571, OTOH, is the opposite. eye candy and a plot that does make you gag.
Have you seen Monster's Ball? It looks extremely unappealing.
I did, howeverm catch Sexy Beast this week, and thought it was excellent, and the Kingsley has deserved all the praise he has gotten.
Sexy Beast is available for rental, then? Why is Kingsley always been mentioned for supporting actor? Isn't it a starring role?
Hey, it worked for Mariah Carey!
I got into this zenlike state, though. Just sat and stared at the screen, not tracking a thing.
"What's all this big fight about? I can't see or hear a damn thing. Okay, they're all dead. Good. Man, those are ugly feet on those hobbits. That's right, the ring makes Bilbo invisible. But he's leaving--oh, it's not Bilbo in the three books, he's The Hobbit. So there's Frodo, and he's running from some people on a set of badass horses. Takes all these other little hobbits with them.
Hey. That guy. At the table in the bar. Who the hell is he? He's cute. Wow. Very, very cute. Okay, now we're back with the old guy, who is fighting some other old guy. Nice to see Christopher Lee working. Now the old guy is on a tower. Now he's on a bird, or is he a bird? I can't tell. Okay, we're back with those horses and man, those horses look mean. Oh, but that is a pretty white horse. Now they are riding and trying to catch the girl. Ride, ride. Now they are in an elf place. There's Bilbo--ACK! Oh. It's over. That was awful. What's that chain thing?
Hey, there's the cute guy again. Man, he's really cute. He must be somebody important in the story. The cranky dude, he's mad at him for some reason. Why is cute guy kissing the chick from the white horse, and why do they look so sad...oh, it's over. Whatever. Okay, something important--there's this whole big group and the leader of the Elves wants them to do something. I've seen that leader before somewhere, who is he? There's the cute guy, the cranky guy, the old guy, the little guys, some burly guy with weird eyes and look, there's another elf. Hey, something must have happened. They all stand up. They are doing something! They are going somewhere! Hey, maybe something will happen now! It's only ninety minutes in."
Okay, we're back with the crew that said they were going somewhere; they're out of the mountains. Now there is a big ugly squid. Now--oh, that must be Gollum, from the book. Uh oh, that is one big ugly....what kind of monster is that, anyway? Hey, wait. Frodo can't be dead. I'm pretty sure he makes it to the third book. Oh, that weird chain thing saved him. Okay. Now there's many many ugly, little things chasing them. Stones, big stones, and they're crashing. Jump. The old guy fell off a cliff--but last time, didn't he fly? How come he didn't fly this time? Oh well, he's gone. They're sad.
Now they are at Elfland...but wait. I thought they already went to Elfland. Are there two Elflands? Who is this woman, and why do I care that she's bathed in bright light? Hey, the burly guy with the crossed eyes is John Rhys Davies! Took me a while to recognize him. Should have known the voice.
Now the cranky guy who's always mad at the cute guy is trying to kill Frodo--but he doesn't want to be a bad guy, he's fighting it and now ewww, those are those things that the other old guy made, and who are they after, anyway? Oh, the cranky guy is fighting them...Ick. Ick. Ick. Ick. Ick. ICK! Oh come on, die already, this is awful.
Frodo and the other little guy are leaving, are they supposed to do that? If they leave, does that mean the cute guy won't be back? If he's not back, I'm leaving. Oh. The credits. Phew."
there were some departures in the Disney SOP, IMHO. plenty of people getting blown up and what looked like some computer CGI along with the standard hand animation.
worth rental for some pleasant diversion. not sure if kids will like it, but i did. 3 quacks out of five.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Fried Chicken!
For this reason, I was in no hurry to see Moulin Rouge!.
Boy, was I wrong. I regret not having seen this film on the big screen.
Here, Lurhmann has done the opposite. He has taken something common (pop music) and elevated it to the operatic. The result is stunning.
It is quite possible that someone is already thinking about adapting this movie for Broadway. I wish someone was thinking of making an opera out of it. It could infuse some life and youth into the same old schedule of Puccini, Verdi and Mozart in heavy rotation at regional opera companies.
One reason the beginning was so choppy was because he'd originally planned on a much longer setup. The three songs were all done in full. Then he realized he had taken too much time, so he cut and chopped everything up. I think it's interesting, although I wouldn't have liked it if the whole movie had been that way.
I imagine it will end up on Broadway.
I dunno about opera--I think of opera as tragic, and the thing I love about Moulin Rouge is the wonderfully happy ending.
All in all, I fell in love with this movie the moment Ewan McGreggor burst into "The Sound of Music". It was a dizzy, thrilling ride after that. I think I caught my breath again only after Kidman fell from the trapeze.
Death itself isn't a tragedy. Sure, it's sad. But they never betray each other or their love, and when he turns around and sings, walking up the aisle back to her, it's one of the most wonderfully happy moments in movie history.
Yes, she dies. But she dies happy, knowing he loves her and that her love and her story will go on, in him. This is reinforced by the last scene, where he's no longer shaking and miserable. He's writing, working hard, moving on, the way she asked, not broken by her loss. But not forgotten, either. He's even taking care of her bird (I love that touch). No regrets.
The story sets you up to expect both death and tragedy, then successfully navigates to a believable (within the constructs) ending in which death follows the triumph of their devotion winning out over all. In my book, that's a happy ending.
(just kidding, i wouldn't sit through it anyway)
For example, in Aida, the slave girl is sealed up in a tomb by the jealous princess. But her love, Radames, sneaks back into the tomb before the seal is completed and embraces her. They have each other in the end, but at the price of life.
I know little about Greek tragedy, but I do know that in opera, love + death = tragedy. In fact, some guy wrote a book with that title. This is less a judgement than a fairly accurate description of a standard.
Well, in that case the slave girl and Radames had other possibilities, like neither of them dies. But even so, I think it's a triumphant ending--they defy the people who want to put an end to their love, choosing death first. Still sad, because one would prefer a world in which they weren't put to death, of course.
I also think my original post, in which I used "tragedy" and "happy endings" as opposites was sloppy. I think of opera as a case where the student lover runs away and comes back, filled with remorse, but too late, too late!
But in MR, we know she dies at the beginning. The movie begins in despair. He is looking miserable, and the question (to me, anyway) is why is he miserable?
That's the tension and suspense of the story--not whether or not Satine dies, but what course their love affair took until her death. Could he have saved her from the Duke? Did he reject her at some key moment? Did she dump him for money? What happened? When did their love go wrong?
The emotional impact of MR, to me, is that they do everything right--at every moment when one calls, the other answers. The story builds up to the last time she sings the song, the talisman, and he accepts it, and they have the moment of absolute joy. This is the climax of the story, when Luhrmann resolves all the tension, letting you know that the sorrow was pure, not corrupted with regret. He then quickly eliminates the only external risk (death by Duke) and kills off Satine.
I don't think that's a coincidence; it seems to me deliberate story structure to give it a joyous, triumphant resolution. The movie begins in despair, but it ends in hope.
One of my favorite opera tragedies (and I am stretching here), is the comedy "Der Rosenkavalier." The middle-aged noblewoman is married to a bore who spends his time hunting. She has a little fling with a young man (a pants role sung by a woman). The young man is madly in love with the older woman. In the final act, the older woman wisely (according to Straus' interpretation) lets go of the young man so that he can find true happiness in the arms of a young woman.
I tried finding it on line but the one site that seemed like it might have it ("thepeaches"?) was not working for me.
I really want to add this to my "witchy torch songs" set.
So far, you're right--the lyrics only seem to be on peaches and it appears to be down.
Did you like Viggo?
yeah, but i dunno. i thought the elf with the bow was kinda hot in a weird sorta way.
probably not without the makeup, but that's the magic of Hollywood.
It's not easy to deliberatly sing as badly as she did...I think someone here mentioned that before. I thought she captured the envy and resentment of the "other" sister very well. It was painful to watch but felt very true to me.
If anyone sees it, let me know how he does.
Given its non-Hollywood ending and its nuanced treatment of caricatures as characters and vice-versa, Terry Zwigoff's picture is to be commended. Thora Birch's exudes pain cemented in the icy irony of a high school senior, and her courtship with the refreshingly laconic Steve Buscemi may be one of the more compelling near-love stories of recent film history. And a celebration of oddballs that does not over-sentimentalize is also an achievement. That said, Zwigoff's pacing is often glacial, and the picture loses traction on more than one occasion.
Still, a good picture, and certainly one of the more intimate ones of this year.
Grade: B.
Yes. I agree. It became haphazard and my intererst, which had been high, waned.
Adios
Here is the most accurate review on The Lord of the Rings I've read.
Read the links found at the top of the page as well to see how emotional some people can get defending a bad film -- it's like they have some investment in the movie that doesn't allow them to be objective because it was that was once a book they loved in childhood.
David Lynch's film noirish, who-am-I, Hollywood allegory starts off well enough. His direction is haunting, the film has both creepy and funny moments, and his usual cast of midgets, bizarros and freaks is not overly intrusive. Better, Lynch draws you into the intersection of two women -- one a fresh-faced ingenue hoping to make it big in Hollywood (Naomi Watts), the other a mysterious survivor of a murder attempt/car accident who has amnesia (Laura Harring). Watts is fantastic, just the right mix of clean and dirty, innocent and scarred.
It becomes clear, however, that Lynch has gotten himself in and he has no clue as to how to get himself out. So the double-doubles pile up, along with a healthy dollop of freaks, flashbacks, skitzo cuts, blurs, performance art and the like. Roger Ebert (who loved the movie) captures the problem: "Mulholland Drive" isn't like "Memento," where if you watch it closely enough, you can hope to explain the mystery. There is no explanation. There may not even be a mystery . . . . "Mulholland Drive" is all dream. There is nothing that is intended to be a waking moment. Like real dreams, it does not explain, does not complete its sequences, lingers over what it finds fascinating, dismisses unpromising plotlines . . . . This is a movie to surrender yourself to. If you require logic, see something else. "Mulholland Drive" works directly on the emotions, like music. Individual scenes play well by themselves, as they do in dreams, but they don't connect in a way that makes sense--again, like dreams. The way you know the movie is over is that it ends. And then you tell a friend, "I saw the weirdest movie last night." Just like you tell them you had the weirdest dream.
Ebert is correct on one score: Betty and Rita have two lesbian love scenes so sexy you'd swear this was a 1970s movie, made when movie audiences liked sex.
And there's Chad Everett.
Grade: C.
I liked Ann Miller in it. But Lynch's bag o' tricks is empty. You seen one creature that lives behind a dumpster on Sunset, you seen 'em all.
Each street scene was like a frame by frame comic book, with weird and unusual people walking in and out of almost every outdoor scene. The colors of the buildings, the archectiture...all of it straight out of a comic book. Frightening to realize they shot this movie on location!
We both liked this thing very much...probably didn't notice the "falling off" in the last third because we were switching back and forth to the Olympics figure skating. We viewed this movie like one would read a comic..laying it down and then picking it up where we left off later.
And I stand by both assessments. I knew a backlash against LOTR was inevitable, given that it has been overpraised and expectations were raised too high, but I still think it is a very good movie - a well acted, old fashioned epic that eschewed irony in favor of heroes.
But just to show you I don't hold any hard feelings Here's a pic of Barbara Steele's son!
Really, really cool. It premiered at Sundance and will be going into general release in the fall.
Really, really cool. It premiered at Sundance and will be going into general release in the fall.
How ready was I to hate this movie, seeing it only because of the buzz on Sean Penn's performance. If I am going to see everything nominated for the Oscars, it means seeing flicks like this.
It's the flicks like this that I dislike, making the village idiot to be truly wise and insightful. Of course, I am talking about what Hollywood does in these movies, rarely ever taking us inside the life of real people, but rather spreading fantasy dust over fictitious mentally disabled characters.
Sometimes Sam uses the obligatory sledge hammer to get across a point. But frankly, I found this to be a movie with a great deal of heart.
Sam has the intelligence level of a 7 year old. He is left with a baby to raise and somehow with the help of neigbhor Dianne Wiest and a Greek chorus of fellows with mental disablities, he gets this child through her early childhood.
Most of the movie revolves around the efforts of social workers for the state deciding that Sam can no longer responsibly raise this little girl once she gets to the first grade. He can give a lusty reading of "Green Eggs and Ham," (hence the title), but the books his little girl brings home are over his head.
Michele Pfeifer is the beautiful yuppie lawyer from hell who ends up helping Sam. He is a hard client to defend. We rarely ever feel that he is capable of raising a child on his own. In fact, to the movie's credit, we get several examples of how he is not capable of raising a child.
Penn makes his Sam very likeable. And if we feel tears or pain, (and it is the required need to make us cry that also makes me not like movies like this), it is because we feel Sam's frustrating stone wall. Sam is smart enough to know he is not smart. To put it another way, this is a very human performance and contrasts well against so-called intelligent people who almost have little time or patience for Sam.
The little girl is smart and well poised. The woman who is the crazy teacher on Boston Public plays a well-meaning social worker. Richard Schiff from West Wing is the attorney trying to take the little girl away. Laura Dern is the foster mother who intends to adopt the little girl.
I think the Hobbits are more British than the American actors portrayed them. I think Ian M. plays a great wizard.
Peaches site is back up, but in case it's down when you look again, here are the lyrics:
Betty: You better make your mind up not to stall with me;
Start playing ball with me
Your future isn't changeable or shapable,
It's inescapable.
If you should run to China, or toTurkey or Sweden
Or Earth or Venus or Mars,
It wouldn't matter where you'd be,
A force will pull you back to me,
It's written in the stars.
It's fate, baby, it's fate,
And it's knocking at our door.
It's fate, baby, and that's the reason,
You're mine and I am yours.
Don't wait, baby, don't wait,
It'll happen anyhow,
Don't wait, baby, don't do next season
What you can do right now.
There's a plan for every woman and every man
Each was made for the other,
Don't treat me like a brother,
Too late, baby, too late,
So accept your destiny,
It's fate, baby, that you were meant to fall into love with me.
(musical interlude)
I'm gonna start it out on my astrology, and phrenology
Frank: It does not matter that you are Aquarius, or Sagittarius
Or Gemini or Scorpio or Taurus the Bull, Capriconus or Pisces the fish.
Betty: Winter, summer, spring or fall,
As long as you were born at all, Mister, you're my dish.
It's fate baby, it's fate.
Frank: Can't I even put up a fuss?
Betty: It's fate, baby, the stars have written that you and me is Us.
It's right, baby so right, I can see it in the stars,
Don't fight baby, take off that mitten,
For you and me is pars.
Listen, Mac, it's all arranged in the Zodiak.
Got you coming and going, hey bud, your future's showing.
(Hahaha) Too late, baby, too late, there's feeling in this urge,
It's fate, baby, so let's start buying towels marked His and Hers
I went with low expectations ('good grief, the kid wants to see yet another teenaged-angst-in-love move!') So, maybe that's why I liked it more than I thought I would.
While not earth-shatteringly original, the plot was well played, the visual look of the film very nice, and it made me cry at all the moments it meant me to. All-in-all, I found it a nice movie.
LD and her friend cried part of the way home and want both the book and the DVD (when it comes out). Ahhhh, the teens, when everything is just so durn intense. The Razzies, which purposely names its nominees a day before the far, far more prestigious Oscar nominations are announced, said the fight for worst film has come down to five critical fiascoes: ``Driven,'' ``Freddy Got Fingered,'' Mariah Carey's ``Glitter,'' ``Pearl Harbor'' and ``3000 Miles to Graceland,'' a near-forgotten tale of what happens when Elvis imitators go bad.
Few films were hammered as hard by the critics last year as the five named as the nonprofit satire group's worst film nominees. But the driving forces behind the race-car drama ''Driven,'' Sylvester Stallone, and gross-out comedy ``Freddy Got Fingered,'' Tom Green, were also nominated for four other worst awards, tying the previous record for most individual worst nominations.
According to Razzie head John Wilson, Green was ``fingered'' for worst actor, worst director, worst screenplay (with Derek Harvie) and for worst screen couple as ``Tom Green and Any Animal He Abuses.'' (The film is replete with animal abuse.)
Stallone, who won the Razzie Worst Actor of The Century trophy in 2000, was nominated for worst supporting actor, worst screenplay, worst screen couple (with co-star Burt Reynolds) and for worst picture as one of the producers of ``Driven.'' This brings Stallone's career Razzie total to 29 nominations in 22 years. He won nine times.
Besides Green, the worst actor nominees were Ben Affleck for ``Pearl Harbor,'' Kevin Costner for ``3000 Miles To Graceland,'' Keanu Reeves for ``Hardball'' and the tear-jerker ''Sweet November,'' and John Travolta, nominated for ``Domestic Disturbance'' and Swordfish.''
And while I am at it, Kate Beckensale should win for worst actress using only an index finger. It plugs arteries! It types!! It ACTS!!!
more garbage to skip, imho.
I actually liked Hartnett in O. He had some depth and was dead sexy. Didn't notice the squinting that much.
Give me Ashton Kutcher any day.
On a bed of rice.
The Fast and the Furious Lord, I thought Paul Walker was longing for Vin Diesel to throw him over the hood of a car and just plow him. Unfortunately, some long haired woman kept inserting herself into the scene. Other than the eye candy and obvious homoeroticism, this movie has little to recommend it. 1 eternal flame each for Paul and Vin.
Ginger Snaps an utterly delightful little horror movie. It was poingnant and funny. Alas at the end, it subcumbed to a horror movie trap, long tedious scenes of a girl running and screaming. I would much rather she just pull out a shotgun and blow the monster away. It would have been more in keeping with her personality in the rest of the movie. Highly recommended. 3.5 flames.
thanks for the lyrics.
I heart Ewan. Nicole is damn sexy too.
I think I may be bi!
I be yanking that bitch's red hair out by the roots and trying to push her over the side....
To get at Ewan's huge talent, don't cha know.
Because the shot was done by helicopter, there was nobody else on the roof. The director and crew decided as a joke to not yell "cut."
And that was no joke!
PR, they've already re-released Moulin Rouge once; I doubt it will show up again.
Oscar nominations are tomorrow; I'm trying not to be too hopeful. I hate it when the nominations suck.
Ginger Snaps! Hooray! I loved this film and I nearly fell out of my chair over Mimi Rogers' performance, but I agree with you about the ending. I've been recommending it to lots of folks lately and so far not a single nay-sayer.
Much to Pincher's chagrin, LOTR is likely to walk away with the most nominations.
Here are my predictions for the big four, on which I have placed a few bets.
Picture: Beautiful Mind, LOTR, Moulin Rouge, Blackhawk Down, Memento
Director: Howard, Jackson, Luhrman, Scott, Altman
Actor: Crowe, Washington, Wilkenson, Penn, Kline
Actress: Berry, Spacek, Dench, Zellweger, Kidman (Moulin Rouge)
Most of this is based on SAG and DGA nominations, with a couple excepttions. Memento for BP and Kline for Best Actor are the ones I am lease sure about, but I think they have better chances than the other contenders. If not Memento, it'll probably be In the Bedroom.
Kline and Penn? Really? That's pretty sad, if so.
How many LOTR wins is another story. Right now my money would be on Beautiful Mind.
If you count techie awards, though, Moulin Rouge should do well.
Overall, it's not a bad group. Penn and Zellwegger are a drag. I didn't care for Memento at all, but it was well done. And while I don't like Luhrmann being left out, I can live with it given the substitution.
And three--yes, count em, three!--African American nominees, with two in Best Actor.
Can't find a link yet. But LOTR, Beautiful Mind, and Moulin Rouge did well, according to my count.
(PS i don't think you closed your bold in the News section)
I'm planning on the pool; gifts might not be as much! (g)
Moulin Rouge got no music awards? No costume nominations?
And how the hell did Ethan Hawke get nominated? Surely there's some sort of deficit he has to make up before he's eligible?
My list of movies to still see:
Ali
Amelie
Black Hawk Down
Ghost World
Iris
Jimmy Neutron
Memento
Monster's Ball
Mulholland Drive
Sexy Beast
The Affair of the Necklace
The Man Who Wasn't There
The Royal Tannenbaums
Training Day
I won't get to all of them unfortunately. The lag between come and gone in Indy and available at the video store or Netflix is too great.
Movie I should have seen but didn't: Amelie
Moulin Rouge shouldn't have been left out of the music awards. Are the Eastern Europeans on the judging panel?
Zellweger doesn't deserve an acting award for BJ, imo.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, Altman got his nomination for Best Director (Gosford Park).
Having seen all 5 best picture nominations, if I were voting, I would rank them:
1) Gosford Park
2) In the Bedroom
3) Moulin Rouge (and I didn't necessarily like it)
4) Lord of the Rings
5) A Beautiful Mind
I think A Beautiful Mind will probably win. Is that Old Hollywood or new Old Hollywood? I am confused.
I generally find that those who deviate from using the guild awards occasionally score some correct predictions, but more often than not they score even more incorrect predictions (they get Lynch right, but end up picking Mulholland drive for best picture and Naomi Watts for best actress, for instance).
No vast surprises in the major categories. The major omissions were known to be vulnerable, and the alternates were all known to be contenders.
I won about $100 on my Oscar bets. The big money winners were betting against Gene Hackman and Naomi Watts.
Glenda: I am doing the bets with a group of friends with whom I have been playing Oscar and box office games for years. We have been cleaning up, although my winnings are fairly meager ($500 or so in total) due to a smaller stake and getting creamed on Harry Potter's 4 week box office.
But I do this by usual Academy behavior and trending, not careful analysis of this season's awards. I think that would take too much fun out of it. (g)
And bad choreography from Debbie Allen.
Conventional wisdom was that he *would* get a nomination. He had the third best odds at my bookie, for instance.
Huh? Elizabeth Shue never won the SAG or the Oscar. And Bening wasn't nominated for either that year. Sarandon won both awards.
And I was saying that she won over Bening in the Oscars after having won SAG--or do I have my years mixed up?
Thus far, here are my nominations:
BEST PICTURE
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Sexy Beast
Gosford Park
The Others
The Royal Tenenbaums
BEST ACTOR
Gene Hackman - The Royal Tenenbaums
John Cameron Mitchell - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Ray Winsome - Sexy Beast
Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind
Ewan McGregor - Moulin Rouge
BEST ACTRESS
Reese Witherspoon -Legally Blonde
Nicole Kidman - The Others
Tilda Swinton - The Deep End
Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge
Naomi Watts - Mulholland Drive
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angelica Huston - The Royal Tenenbaums
Hellen Mirren - Gosford Park
Maggie Smith - Gosford Park
Jennifer Connelly - A Beautiful Mind
Alakina Mann - The Others
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
Vince Vaughan - Made
Ving Rhames - Baby Boy
Carl Reiner - Ocean's 11
Goran Visnjic - The Deep End
Amores Perros (vid)
Lumumba (HBO)
Our Lady of the Assassins (vid)
The Heist (vid)
In The Bedroom
Lord of the Rings
Training Day (vid)
Monster's Ball
What I hope to see pre-Oscars
A.I.
Ali
Diamond Men
Happy Accidents
L.I.E.
The Man Who Wasn't There
Other Good Films of 2001
Startup.com
The Tailor of Panama
Baby Boy
Made
Memento
Legally Blonde
The Deep End
Moulin Rouge
Black Hawk Down
Wet Hot American Summer
Ghost World
Also, SAG gave the award to Bening, not Swank, It is an instance where SAG got it wrong.
(Runs off to look at the SAGs.)
Ah, it was abomination of Begnini the year before. Gawd, I'm getting too old.
Will Smith was interviewed on CNN and the anchor mentioned that this is the first rapper to be nominated.
Beautiful Mind
In the Bedroom
Royal Tenenbaums (dreading it - I'll wait for vid)
Mulholland Drive
Man Who Wasn't There
The Deep End
Training Day
So far, I don't have a satisfying list of the best pictures of last year. The top 5 so far would be Sexy Beast, Shrek, Lord of the Rings, Blackhawk Down, and Moulin Rouge. All are potentially vulnerable, but from what I have read it is unlikely that any of the films above will jump to #1. The Coen's film has the best shot based on their track record.
Blackhawk Down might make the cut.
Of the ones I haven't seen, I'd give Sexy Beast, In the Bedroom, and The Deep End the best shot.
Spy Kids was actually very good, in retrospect. Didn't have a lot of staying power. A lot of my potential best of picks have that problem--if I'm still not enthused over it months later, I become skeptical.
I liked Startup.com and Ghost World, but the first was too "been there, done that" and the second fell off dramatically in the last third.
Haven't seen Mulholland Drive or Monster's Ball; neither of them seem all that appealing. Ditto Man Who Wasn't There and Royal Tenebaums.
I enjoyed Gosford Park, which may make my top five. I'm just not convinced I missed some disgusting Altman subtext that will piss me off all over again.
I think with Altman & GP, it is his pretext (letting great actors roam a little) that makes GP work.
I categorically ignore horror movies.
Deev--three black actors have been nominated before? If so, I would have guessed The Color Purple.
But I'm not sure if Moulin Rouge isn't more appropriately in the Jimmy Neutron, Shrek and Monsters, Inc. category.
I wrote a bit more on Mulholland Drive .
Your I liked Ann Miller in it. But Lynch's bag o' tricks is empty. You seen one creature that lives behind a dumpster on Sunset, you seen 'em all pretty much covers it, though.
Funny stuff.
bingo.
????
This from a guy who put Hedwig on his Best picture list?
I freely admit that I love Moulin Rouge. But there are other pictures that I wouldn't debate if someone said they liked it better, or found it superior. Or if someone loathed MR, I certainly wouldn't argue.
But The Others is an utterly ordinary film that is nicely executed. It's really an insult to compare it to Sixth Sense--in fact, it feeds on the ending in a way I find unforgiveable. The comparison to The Uninvited is more apt, but at least the latter had an original take on the subject.
Have you seen Hedwig? If not, your tireless work for Baz Corp. has you commenting on that upon which you are not qualified.
As for The Others, which I presume you have seen (in that it engenders such a strong emotion as "unforgiveable"), to the extent one looks at the film as reliant on an ending ala' The Sixth Sense, your point is well-taken. But I was never as impressed by the ending of The Sixth Sense as I was with its mood, performances and execution.
I also agree that The Others is closer kin to The Uninvited.
I'd be interested in the input of others who have seen it, but not many people have.
I wasn't dissing Hedwig. I was commenting on your characterization of a musical as a cartoon. I thought you knew the difference. I apologize if I overestimated your knowledge. Would you like a primer?
I have seen The Others, and gave it a good review. You have somehow concluded that my criticism of the ending equates to a statement that both films relied on the ending. I made no such association, and will restate in hopes it will be clearer.
I see very little similarity between The Others and The Sixth Sense in tone, mood, or atmosphere. I considered The Sixth Sense to be a superlative and original film--as well as quite different from The Others in the ways mentioned. Linking the two films sheerly because they both have ghosts seemed insulting to the better movie.
Then, as an additional comment, I pointed out that the most serious failing of The Others is its inexcusable feeding off of The Sixth Sense's ending. While most of it is nicely executed if nothing new, the ending is derivative in a clumsy attempt to be in the in-crowd.
It shouldn't have been seen that way. Altman has been nominated for an Oscar three times before without getting a DGA nomination. It lends credence to Cellar's claim that the DGA hates him.
Moulin Rouge - 8 noms
Beautiful Mind - 8 noms
I can live with that.
Although, I find it unfathomable that one of the most innovative scores in years (MR) was overlooked. I am less enamored with the syrupy love song which was not nominated. Although in the tradition of syrupy love songs that usually get nominated (Titanic comes to mind)the one in Moulin Rouge was far superior to many that were nominated in the past several years.
I am also not to overheated that Luhrmann was not nominated. Even though you can call me....
BazGuy.
Moulin Rouge - 8 noms
Beautiful Mind - 8 noms
I can live with that.
Although, I find it unfathomable that one of the most innovative scores in years (MR) was overlooked. I am less enamored with the syrupy love song which was not nominated. Although in the tradition of syrupy love songs that usually get nominated (Titanic comes to mind) the one in Moulin Rouge was far superior to many that were nominated in the past several years.
I am also not too overheated that Luhrmann was not nominated. Even though you can call me....
BazGuy.
Agreed.
I'm also stunned it didn't get a nom for costume.
I agree more with Cal's take than Caesar's. But if I had continued through to make a top 10 list, The Others probably would have been on it (along with Gosford Park, and Monsters Inc)
I also can't believe I left Memento off of my top 5. I keep categorizing it as a 2000 film for some reason. It is the best of the 2001 crop that I have seen.
Cal: I just heard that Come What May was ruled ineligible because it was written for Romeo + Juliet, even though it was cut from the film.
Although I liked LOTR, I think MR was superior in Musical Score, Original Song, Costumes and Director. LOTR is a pretty conventional movie and other than the CGI, is not very innovative. Moulin Rouge was stunningly original.
Still, either is a much better movie than the big winners of the past 3 years.
I would have put The Others on my top ten list, too, but after I've seen all of 2001 I think it would be in my top 20. There's nothing wrong with it. I was just surprised that someone who liked Moulin Rouge would find an ordinary little ghost story superior to it. Had JC hated MR, it would have made more sense.
I've seen The Innocents, although it has been years. Have you read the book?
Well, except that damn twisted "oh, aren't we being cute" ending. And even that will probably fade in years to come.
But I think McGregor turned in one of the best performances ever in a musical--an admittedly limited category--and was overlooked because most people don't track musicals sufficiently to understand how great his work was.
The movie wouldn't have worked if Christian had been too naive, too innocent. He had to be savvy enough to sell the comedy and the sex aspects. All that and he sings and cries, too!
Well, if you are familiar with the book, then I'll put the similarity to The Innocents in spoiler font--you may already know it:
The obvious similarities: boy and a girl, mother figure caregiver, kids see ghosts, caregiver worried first for sanity then for safety of children, caregiver longs for the children's father.
Common theme: the ambiguity in book and movie is did the governess fail to save the boy, or did she in fact kill him? Kerr plays the governess as high-strung and extremely neurotic (generally considered one of her best), and the movie tilts more towards "she killed him" pov, as I recall. Thus the thematic similarity is the caregiver, convinced she is trying to save the children, in fact is the killer (or may be, in The Innocents' case).
TotS is a book I enjoyed writing about more than reading.
Well, that's what the governness thinks.
And yeah, it takes James way too long to say things. That's what makes him fun to write about, though--lots of theme fodder.
Besides, I thought it was published.
But inside this orphan a mistery father more interesting than all this is about to being unvailed.
And this:
The three of them gives us the performances of their lives in a movie you must die to see it.
Some of these reviewers is they needs to have the editors to make it straight.
I presume you speak of Mr. Crowe.
My article on Opie's Schizo Spectacular will be appearing in this Sunday's SF Chronicle.
I am pondering whether or not a three hour drive to Chicago is worth catching up on movies I'll never get here.
But my money would be on Beautiful Mind and Howard for Best Director. I think it is a race between BM and LOTR, but LOTR has a serious genre handicap, whereas Beautiful Mind is a serious drama, with high grosses, the type of film that the Academy loves to give Oscars to.
The closest thing to a lock in a major category right now seems to be Spacek.
But a three hour trip to Chicago seems easier now when I put it in the context of going to Northern California (g).
For sanity's sake.
A six hour drive to Chicago from Cincy is an even better thing to do.
I agree with your take overall on actors and yes, Sissy is a lock for actress. I don't know that Beautiful Mind is that much of an odds on favorite for best picture, but you follow odds more closely than I do. The urge to reward Opie will be strong.
The interesting categories are the supporting ones. Kingsley and McKellan will be a tough call. I think it'd be a shame if Smith acts as proxy for everything in Gosford Park, but I worry that is the likely outcome. Still, it's nice that Mirren was nominated.
If the next two segments are duds, the Academy would really have egg on their faces.
Unlikely, but still not worth the risk. As for popularity with the public, here is a up to date poll
Still, LOTR has a lot going for it. The film with most nominations almost always wins best picture, and it is a long, high grossing epic, which are also over-represented among past best picture winners.
Rat Race was one of the absolute worst things i have seen in a long, long time. horrible is too nice a term. do NOT rent this or even look at it on the video shelf. so not funny, tedious and boring. if you think that maybe this slap stick could be watchable, you would think incorrectly. zero quacks.
The Forsaken was a movie of coulda beens. it coulda been a good movie, it coulda had some cool stuff in it, it coulda shown more skin from Kerr Smith. a pretty uninteresting vampires on the road flick, where the evil lead vampire shoots guns and drives fast, that's about it. lame. it's a shame because it had potential. 2 quacks for the violence, 2 ½ because of Kerr Smith.
The Glass House was the most inoffensive 'thriller' i've ever seen. the chubby cheeked girl from Joy Ride has her parents die and she and her brother have to go live with her ex-neighbors, Mr. & Mrs. Glass, who must've struck the lottery by the looks of their shack. anyway, turns out the Glasses only took the kids in for the cash they get. did they kill the parents or just jump at a chance to make money? well, i watched this thing and have no idea. by the time the action rolls around, it's too little too late. moderately interesting throughout, needed more polish and a firmer hand in the editing room. 2 3/4 quacks of five.
caught the first 10 ot 15 minutes of Saving Silverman and saw no reason to continue. stupid and everything you've seen before. the Silverman is Jason Biggs who is controlled by some manipulative bitch and his friends have to save him. like that doesn't go on in real life everyday. a true must-miss classic - zero quacks.
John Cleese waaaaay overacted and was wasted. Whoopi, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Jon Lovitz gave horrible performances comedy wise. the absolute only thing i liked about this movie was the cutie from Inside Schwartz, but even his acting was pathetic.
All the other players had at least one moment that made me giggle. The notion of using a helicopter as a weapon just struck me as damn funny. "Oh, look! My boyfriend is cheating on me again! Get him!"
I wouldn't argue with you, Ducky, because I'm sure in the wrong mood it would strike me as stupid, too. Or the right mood. Whatever. But I laughed.
There is a front page story in today's Wall Street Journal about finding the lost scenes.
When it came out, it was too long, so somebody cut out whole sections of the movies. The original has been lost. And a major film restorer has been on a quest to find the missing scenes, including one with Spencer Tracey and Buster Keaton. He's found audio tracks and a black and white copy but never the complete picture.
I was 10.
I think that is the "mood" you have to be in to enjoy the full impact of this type of film.
Proof of Life--I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, probably because the mechanics of kidnapping for profit interested me. But the film also had some interesting observations about intimacy, without being too blatant about it. Crowe and Ryan are too big for their parts and the movie, and Ryan is miscast, although she does well enough. David Morse as the kidnapped husband is solid, carrying his part of the film well, with help from Gottfried John as a fellow hostage. David Caruso has his best part in years as the loyal girlfriend who finally gets his man.
Castaway--Another movie I liked a lot more than I expected to; Hanks is superb as the "lucky" plane crash survivor who lives on a tiny tropical island for four years. Helen Hunt is adequate as the love of his life, but Wilson exceeds all expectations (which suggests that Hanks deserves even more credit). A believable, moving film about loss and hope that didn't depress the hell out of me. No small accomplishment, that.
What Lies Beneath--This spooky atmospheric thriller is worth a rental. But trust me on this: stop the film right after James Remar delivers the movie's biggest laugh and best moment. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it. Stop it there. Because it's all downhill from that point.
On the plus side: Ford and Pfeiffer use their movie star personas to good effect as professor and wife with empty nest syndrome. No matter what my bitch with the movie it's nice to see Ford trying to move out of the Great White Stiff persona. Diana Scarwid is excellent in the Best Friend role. The music, mood, and jumpy scares are all nicely handled. You will be spooked.
But the story has three endings too many, and by the time you figure it out--or she does, which ever comes first--you won't give a damn.
So definitely a mixed bag. I just zipped by the live action.
I laughed my ass off, and on the commentary, Zemeckis said this always got a huge laugh. It was adlibbed by Remar.
Besides, I don't think there was a bigger laugh, was there? Maybe the seance scene.
no, on that you are probably correct.
I love The Great Race.
"Farewell My Good Leslie! I hope you win, I hope you win!"
"You! You are banished, banished, banished!"
"Before this iceberg melts and we drown, we're gonna do plenty!"
"Yeah? What?"
"We're gonna starve!"
Both of these are available on DVD. I had assumed you had seen the remake of Thief of Bagdad. It is a hoot - Disney robbed it blind to make Aladdin.
I know of Peeping Tom and have no desire to see it. The only movies of theirs I really want to see are I Know Where I'm Going and Stairway to Heaven. I'll add Thief to the list.
I own a copy.
That makes a lot more sense.
i didn't like it. besides the fact it was about an hour too long and i ended up hating the main characters, there's the fact it just plain sucked.
i thought it was kinda dumb. 1 ½ quacks just cuz it tried and i ended up making it all the way through it.
Yes, yes, yes. The movie almost has it all: special effects, costumes, great actors, a dedicated director, a movie studio that took a great risk. In short, the film has everything except a story which keeps more than half the audience awake.
It's just a dull film. The only way I can understand 13 nominations is if I think of it as a reward from the Academy for those people trying to do their damndest to make a good film, in the same way a teacher might give poor little hard-working Johnny an "A for Effort" even after he flunked the test. The only other option I have is the collective insanity of the academy as they were casting their ballots.
I saw the film here on its second night in Taiwan and I thought there was going to be a riot by the crowd in the theater. They were clearly expecting something in the same galaxy as all the hype that had built the movie up. There probably would have been a riot if the film didn't have such a numbing effect on the audience's collective brain.
I don't see why the amount of nominations has you fussed. Based on your comments, it would have received ten or eleven of the nominations even if everyone had agreed with you.
I was just spoofing about the movie having it all.
I would have given the film nominations for the technical and music categories, but none for best movie, its direction, its editing (the film had atrocious editing in parts!!), or its adapted screenplay. The only acting category I would have given it would have been for Sean Bean's performance in a supporting role.
Bean acted well during his icky death scene, but honestly. Nothing there. I have no terrible objection to McKellan getting it; he's English after all. They always sound so tony it seems a shame not to nominate them every so often.
Does that mean that it won't be released in the US, or that it will just take awhile longer?
(from a voice from the past)
I guess I've seem most of the Powell stuff except Peeping Tom. For some reason, I like the Red Shoes least. (I have the slight, but paradigmatic A Canterbury Tale on VHS, Tales of Hoffman on LaserDisc (only OK, despite Beecham), and I Know Where I'm Going (Criterion--Excellent, but I wanted to like it better than I did) on DVD, which has some rather fatuous additional material but does contain the interesting comment that Scorcese (a big fan of the Archers(Powell/Pressburger) saw it right before filming Raging Bull and implies an influence on the quality of the B&W photography).
The one I want most to see again is the Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, which I gather goes in and out of fashion. I know somebody like David Thomson considers it the Archers' magnum opus. However, it doesn't seem to be available.
--
In some movie Woody Allen says that he hates doing standup in front of stoned people, because they giggle at everything. There have been a handful of times when I'm comfortably tipsy that I threw myself into a movie and hence perhaps overrate it. I have such a memory of the opening radio scene beteen Niven and Kim Hunter in Matter of Life and Death. Cognitively I know that scene can't be as good as the first time I saw it, but I don't really convince myself. I wonder how many of my favorite movies or moments in movies are influenced by my mental state in the theater at just that time.
And you were right aout A Matter of Life and Death the first time.
What's wrong with The Red Shoes ?
(A loaded question as Anton Walbrook is my favorite actor and Lermontov is my role model. )
And as I recall, we had many talks about musicals so I must ask: what did you think of Moulin Rouge?
Black Narcissus shares with Red Shoes that Titianesque coloring and I really liked it, but feel no urge to see again. I think Kathleen Byron is riveting though. She's striking in I Know Where I'm Going, but I had trouble realizing it was the same woman. (Apparently a romantic attachment to Powell ex
I have Moulin Rouge rented for tonight. I feel the weight of film heritage on me. I'm taking my 16 year old to our local school where the Chicago Tribune reviewer Michael Wilmington is going to talk on the Oscar nominees. That's what inspired me to see if you guys were still out there (which gave me a pretty sappy feeling of pleasure, I blush to say). In any case, I just couldn't find Gosford Park to hold a candle to Rules of the Game and I fear the I will hold the fact that I love French Can Can better than any man living against Moulin Rouge.
I haven't had much time to check out the archives and will probably rehash, but I've settled down, having changed jobs, moved from PA to Oak Park IL, had a baby at 49 (wife 45) since I last chimed in.
Cellar, you were about coy about Blimp, other than owning it. Haven't seen Small Black Room in over 30 years.
A friend and I were trying to see Ebert at Herbst Theater in SF but he was already sold out. Most disappointing.
I haven't updated Mote Movies in a year, but I am almost done with the most recent load, so hopefully I'll have it done by the time you check it.
If you think of it, ask Michael Wilmington if he knows any of the details behind Moulin Rouge score and song being declared ineligible. I know why, I'd just like to know the reasoning or rules behind it.
I think Kathleen Byron is riveting though.
Wasn't she, though? I was hiding behind the couch by the end. I couldn't believe how spooked I was. Have you seen the DVD or the video? I quite liked her in the DVD retrospective.
The Small Back Room is a neat little thriller.
Do you know Tales of Hoffman ?
How about Oh Rosalinda !!!! ?
And then there's Age of Consent, the screen debut of Helen Mirren.
And then there's The Boy Who Turned Yellow, Powell's last work, a TV film for children about electricity, with a script by Leo Marks -- author of the infamous Peeping Tom
Are there a lot more categories than there were a couple of decades ago? How about compared to fifty years ago? I just hate to think of TFOR getting as many nominations as Gone with the Wind and nearly tying the all-time record for nominations. Something seems out of kilter.
Bean acted well during his icky death scene, but honestly. Nothing there. I have no terrible objection to McKellan getting it; he's English after all. They always sound so tony it seems a shame not to nominate them every so often.
McKellan was fine. I preferred Bean and not just for his death scene. He also had a beautiful scene in front of the broken sword with Aragorn as well as when he picked the ring out of the snow. Both very quick scenes, but Bean made his mark in them and they were critical to his character and to the film.
I agree with Pincher on Bean, partially because the character in the book was a relative weakness. I'm despondent that Pincher and CalGal didn't like it much. (It's hard for me to be too objective since I read LOTR pre-paperback era and so feel proprietary.) I think I liked a little better than Rask did, but was mainly relieved that it was not an embarassment.
Re: Powell
I have seen (or even heard of) Oh Rosalinda. As I mentioned before. As a Mirren fan, I have seen half or Age of Consent.
Saw Black Narcissus on Video, where the reds are highly suspect. Our library has the DVD, I think.
Bean was fine. Mortenson was hot, hot, hot. But who were those short people in front of him all the time? (badumpdump)
Cop, you must get the DVD for BN right away. The colors are simply unreal.
For pure color on DVD, I'd recommend "Umbrellas of CHerbourg" (which I'd recommend on many other fronts as well) and the Zoichi the Earless section of "Kwaidan".
One of the benefits of my new job is I'm not longer working for a not for profit and was able to afford a pretty good home theater with 65" widescreen and progressive scan DVD. When you are stuck home with a baby, it's great having a toy like that. I've also been buying a lot of DVDs but the phenomenon that happens is that all the movies I have just lying around unwatched are 3 hours that no one ever feels they have time for, (like Kobayashi's Human Condition trilogy which has sat there for 7 months).
I don't have a huge TV yet, but I have a 32, a 31, and a 27, 3 DVD players, and four computers. (g) That's all my apartment can fit right now. You and Rask are the only two I know who have the home theaters; they sound neat.
I've got Lawrence of Arabia on laser ( Criterion set), and then there's my favorite movie of all time, Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train which is in scope, letterboxed on DVD.
Name Win Noms eligible Ben Hur 11 12 (92%) 15 (80%) Titanic 11 14 (78%) 17 (82%*) West Side Story 10 11 (91%) 17 (65%) Gigi 9 9 (100%) 15 (60%) Last Emperor 9 9 (100%) 15 (53%) English Patient 9 12 (75%) 17 (70%) Gone with the Wind 8 13 (62%) 15 (87%*) From Here to Eternity 8 13 (62%) 16 (81%) On the Waterfront 8 12 (67%) 16 (75%) My Fair Lady 8 12 (67%) 17 (70%) Cabaret 8 10 (80%) 15 (67%) Gandhi 8 11 (73%) 17 (65%) Amadeus 8 11 (73%) 17 (65%*) Shakespeare in Love 7 13 (73%) 17 (76%)
So let's not romanticize the glory days of Oscar. They don't exist. In fact, I'd say the quality of Oscar nominations and wins have increased dramatically over the past ten years.
Your original plaint suggested that a great and mighty history has been soiled by the inclusion of LOTR among the ranks of top Oscar winners. This is, of course, pure nonsense when you look at this list. LOTR was one of the most consistently well-reviewed films this year, and that's more than enough to make it a contender for the list we're talking about.
The Last Emperor and The English Patient are stronger examples for your case. I suppose that I may have unconsciously taken up the prejudice that it's okay for a boring "serious" film to win Oscars, but not a boring "fantasy" film.
You took my spoof of the Academy experiencing collective insanity the night they voted for TFOR a bit too seriously. I'm sure a good many other undeserving films have been nominated for Oscars in the past.
Cal's list I find rather dreary. Although there are good pieces or set scenes to some of these movies, why can't Lawrence of Arabia (great on home DVD widescreen) or Godfather II have been on the list, when they were immediately thought of as great, have the requisite scale and stand the test of time? Something is wrong somewhere. (I do like Cabaret, OnTheW and, with lower expectations, Shakespeare in Love.) I'll take LOTR over most of the rest, thank you.
All About Eve is just off the list with 6 awards and something like 14 nominations.
Cop--remember that this list is of the multiple nominee films. Lawrence of Arabia is a righteous epic and almost made this list as well, since it got ten nominations, winning 6, including Best Picture. Godfather II surprised me; I see that it has exactly the same results--10/6. (Godfather is 9/3).
All About Eve does have 14 nominations and I believe it still holds the record for most acting nominations (5).
No question, though, that the list has far too many tier 2 and worse movies.
They did their Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson imitations without apparent irony. That's acting.
Oh, it's been at least 20 posts since I've said it--MacGregor's performance is one of the best in a musical, ever.
As much as I love Ewan MacGregor (and that's a whole bunch) he doesn't come within a mile of it.
I left Joel Grey, James Mason, Jean Hagen off the list, Grey because he only sang, and Jean because I think she's one of the great comic performances ever, but it's not a musical performance. Mason was excellent in A Star is Born, but it also wasn't a musical performance.
I would also cite Gene Kelly in An American in Paris, On the Town, Singin' in the Rain, It's Always Fair Weather and The Pirate, Leslie Caron in Lili, Gigi and An American in Paris.
Joel Grey danced as well as sang in Cabaret.
I'm not forgetting any performance of Astaire's; none of his work with Rogers is anything special.
I wouldn't cite any of Kelly's except, possible, Singin in the Rain, which almost makes the cut. He wasn't in Lili, btw. That was Mel Ferrar.
I feel a great musical performance has to integrate both musical and acting components.
Astaire's work with Rogers is VERY special. Look at Swing Time again.
Closely.
I would also cite Virginie Ledoyen in Jeanne and the Perfect Guy
The top 50 movies (showing the percentage of positive reviews)
1. 100% The Taste of Others
2. 100% Down from the Mountain
3. 96% Lord of the Rings, The: The Fellowship of the Ring
4. 96% With a Friend Like Harry
5. 96% The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
6. 96% Cure
7. 95% Ginger Snaps
8. 95% Baran
9. 94% Monsters, Inc.
10. 94% Ghost World
11. 93% Memento
12. 93% The Dish
13. 93% No Man's Land
14. 93% The Circle
15. 93% Our Song
16. 93% Go Tigers!
17. 92% Hedwig and the Angry Inch
18. 92% Apocalypse Now Redux
19. 92% Last Resort
20. 91% In the Bedroom
21. 91% Spy Kids
22. 91% Amelie
23. 91% Startup.com
24. 91% The Widow of St. Pierre
25. 91% Divided We Fall
26. 91% The Day I Became A Woman
27. 90% Together
28. 90% Va Savoir
29. 90% Panic
30. 90% Trembling Before G-d
31. 89% The Devil's Backbone
32. 89% Under the Sand
33. 89% Eureka
34. 88% Shrek
35. 88% Gosford Park
36. 88% The Road Home
37. 88% Dinner Rush
38. 88% 101 Reykjavik
39. 87% Sexy Beast
40. 87% Lantana
41. 87% In the Mood for Love
42. 87% Faithless
43. 86% The Closet
44. 86% Jump Tomorrow
45. 86% Himalaya
46. 86% Aberdeen
47. 85% Ocean's Eleven
48. 85% Monster's Ball
49. 85% The Deep End
50. 85% Kandahar
Lord of the Rings (3rd)
In the Bedroom (20th)
Gosford Park (35th)
Two films nominated for this year's Academy Awards are not on the list:
Moulin Rouge (103 reviews/71%)
A Beautiful Mind (94 reviews/78% favorable)
Similar to the Academy, of my five, only three are represented on the list --
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (17th)
Gosford Park (35th)
Sexy Beast (39th)
Two films on my top five are not on the list:
The Others (92 reviews/77%)
The Royal Tenenbaums (92 reviews/79%)
Yes, I see I misread about Lily. She was okay. I don't much care for the movie or mournful Mel, so I might be biased against it.
THEY'RE CLASSICS!
I love the musical numbers, and have many of them on tape where I can watch them without being distracted by the lousy stories and acting.
Someone forgot to tell Wes Anderson that irony is dead.
Heavily imbued in 1970s imagery, with a pre-cleaned up, literary New York City view of the world, TRT is a fable, an illustrated movie of a novel as narrated by Alec Baldwain.
Superb cast, particularly Gene Hackman, Angelica Huston, Danny Clover and Gwynneth Paltrow. Luke and Owen Wilson put most of the quirk in this very personal movie. Ben Stiller is ok.
Anderson continues his meditation on precocious children. The Tannebaum children were all genius (playwright, finance and tennis). They are surrounded by literary achievers. What saves the movie is Hackman having a lot of fun as a particularly wicked fellow, the father who shoots his own kid with a bb gun to prove a point. It is as if Anderson is saying that we MUST have a devil to make sense of life or at least to enjoy it.
Do "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever" count as musicals?
Irony is not dead.
Ironic, isn't it?
"I realize I'm in the minority view about their value as musicals. But I don't think I'm that far off critical consensus on the performances."
Read Frank O'Hara and Arlene Croce.
I'd also have to add Margaret O'Brien in Meet Me In St. Louis as a special addendum to your list, which is otherwise good.
I also think in terms of comic versatility, that Danny Kaye in the Court Jester, which is a quasi-musical, has to be considered.
I've tried to like Grease but have failed miserably, but I can see that Stockard Channing would have to be in the running for some people.
For the critics on JCs list who didn't like it, I suggest they compare it to Love's Labour's Lost, now on heavy rotation on my cable channels. It really makes Baz look like a genius.
For worst performance in a musical or in a Shakespearean move I offer Alicia Silverstone for your delectation.
It has been years and years since I saw It's Always Fair Weather and I should see it again before I completely dismiss Gene's performance. That said, I don't think he'd make my list.
However, from memory alone, I'd give it a good ensemble rating. I believe it is generally considered Dailey's best work, and the blonde chick who sang Thanks a Lot but No Thanks was great. Gene wasn't the better dancer, but he seemed to bring out the very best in his co-stars; the other great ensemble musical would be Singin in the Rain.
Danny Kaye always seemed to be more of a comic than a musical star. And a very good comic indeed. I agree he is brilliant in Court Jester, but it is more like Jean Hagen, a terrific comic performance, than a great musical performance.
Good call on Margaret O'Brien. Weird little girl, though.
But I agree, that Jean Hagen/Kaye is a tough call and you don't want to crowd the list with clowns.
Few examples of great acting come from the post WestSideStory embalmings of Broadway musicals, but I guess I should also mention Rex Harrison, even if he was past his prime, but Henry Higgins is one of the best written monsters in a musical (or a play for that matter). I saw a special on Harrison not long ago, and he seemed to attract remarkably beautiful women and in one case at least literally drove them crazy. (Where's that Cellar when you need him for details.)
What does this mean, if anything?
Both Rex Harrison and Otto Preminger seemed to have a gift for either driving women nuts or picking them weird in the first place. I'm the sort who refuses to believe that suicides or other craziness is caused by external circumstances, which means I lean heavily towards the theory that they just liked really nutty chicks.
Having seen Leslie Howard in Pygmalion, I think Henry Higgins is pretty foolproof. I wouldn't argue with anyone who wanted Rex on the list, but I can't bring myself to add him. It's a great, timeless part, and hard to screw up. I agree in advance this is unreasonable of me, but "musical performances" is, of a necessity, a narrow and exacting definition. Starting with a character and dialogue created by one of the better playwrights of the last 20th century is an unfair advantage.
Of course, if they'd given Julie Andrews the Eliza Doolittle part she'd probably be on my list. There's subjectivity for you. But then, she actually sang.
David Thomson is one of the few film critics that considers great acting on TV to be more that a footnote to their careers. At least, two of the principals of "Gosford Park" did their greatest work on TV miniseries. (Mirren likely and Gambon definitely).
Some of the women he attracted may have been weird but many were utterly beautiful. I think the young Lili Palmer to be utterly ravishing and I can't quite get Rex's appeal, from movies like Blithe Spirit and Major Barbara it seems hard to think of him as the Brad Pitt of his day.
Seque from Major Barbara back to Wendy Hiller and "I Know Where I'm Going".
She made 4 movies in a row that I think are great to very, very good: Pygmalion, Major Barbara, IKWIG, and the oddly neglected and probably underrated Outcast of the Islands (although I can't say she was a major contributor to the last). These 4 movies spanned 1938 to 1952, with the gap between the last 2 being 7 years!!! It's hard to imagine that there weren't great parts she turned down, even with Britain's movie business being weak and the stage having so much more pull "legitimacy" back then.
List of worst films for the 20th century.
I've seen about 20 of them and about 5 of those I don't think belong on the list, but I suppose there's no accounting for taste, eh?
I've seem some myself.
Ace Ventura II is bad, but not execrable.
Anaconda is okay. Jennifer Lopex in a lot of snug pants.
Armageddon is deservedly on the list.
As is The Avengers, which I think is the most boring film I've ever seen.
Batman and Robin is deservedly on the list - if I recall, I couldn't even focus on what the hell was happening.
I saw Battlefield Earth on HBO. It was bad, but only standard bad.
The Blair Witch Project is a great picture, and part 2 was actually better than I expected.
Caligula is bad, but not uninteresting. Hardcore porn, cumshots, O'Toole and Gielgud? What's not to like?
The Exorcist sequels do suck, but Boorman's suckiness is not anywhere near the suckiness of Blatty as a director.
I chuckled regularly at The Gods Must be Crazy.
Grease 2 is unwatchable.
Harlem Nights is unwatchable.
Hudson Hawk is execrable.
Independence Day is execrable.
It's Pat was funnier than an It's Pat might otherwise be.
Judge Dredd is okay.
Lost in Space is execrable.
Red Dawn rocks! Go Wolverines!
The love scene in the pool between Elizabeth Berkely and Kyle Machlachan in Showgirls is a primer for all young lovers.
And I'm a Striptease fan. It has some laughs, and Demi has a great body.
Titanic sucks, but it is relative. It is still a pretty picture, at times breathtaking.
I didn't mind Waterworld.
I can't think of Ace Ventura II without laughing about the raccoon. A great performance.
The mind, it's a weird thing.
Cop, if you're around, how was the Wilmington talk?
And I was thinking more about West Side Story, which I was lucky enough to see on the big screen a few weeks ago--a lousy print, but still a wonderful experience.
It's interesting how the Jets' performances are all extremely stylized, whereas the Sharks are much more natural. I wonder if that was deliberate or not?
I mentioned earlier that both Tamblyn and Moreno are on the short list of great performances. Tamblyn's performance is much more mannered than Moreno's is--and yet, that's what makes his performance work as well as it does. If he'd played it too straight, it would have failed--he's not enough of an actor, for one thing, but also because the script demands it. How he makes any of those lines work is more than I can figure. Part of it is pure appeal--he's cute, friendly, all American, and uses all of that to great advantage. One of the great Mercutios. Better than Ben Affleck, even.
Moreno's work is as "natural" as any musical performance I've ever seen from that time period. Her tired crankiness at the end of the day, her sexual attraction to her yummy boyfriend. She has two or three genuinely funny lines. "Don't worry, we won't bite you. Not until we know you better" and that 'hahahahaha' she follows it up with always gets a surprised guffaw from anyone watching the movie for the first time. And her work in I Like To Be In America is a comic wonder--"Everyone there will have moved here." in that goofy low voice gets me every time.
A wonderful movie. I hope they restore it and reissue for the big screen and DVD.
It is also heavily biased toward the 70s, 80s and 90s, except for films that have appeared on MST3k.
I think it is awful that the modern generation of viewers doesn't have a broader, more timeless view of bad cinema. Where are the rotten films of yesteryear? Are they to be forgotten in favor of recent tripe? Is this fair? I, for one, say "No"!
I'll confess that I didn't name any because I have barely seen any horrible older films. I would, however, put forward Casino Royale, and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini.
Every time he showed up in his shorts and goofy pony I snickered. He actually wasn't bad looking at all, and I can't think Cary would have been any sexier if he'd had to cope with the shorts and the Shetland, or whatever it was. Of course, Cary would never have let that happen.
Powell liked him a great deal and thought he could have been a major star if he'd been interested.
I didn't think that the other nuns were supposed to have been affected by the guy, though. I thought it was that they were all taken by the sensuality and wild nature of the place in their own way--one gave in to the floral beauty, one gave in to the maternal instinct, and two, specifically, got hot for the guy.
I liked the big burly nurse who didn't seem affected by anything and made bad coffee. But Flora Robson, the nurse who didn't plant vegetables, was the one who seemed to capture the essence of the place--you either give into it completely like the "hero", or you disappear from it altogether, like the wild man.
I agree that you have to take it on faith and that the movie doesn't make the case all that well.
I thought it worked best as a demonstration as a failure in management and what surprises me is that I don't think this was unintentional.
But weren't you spooked at the end, just a little? Wasn't it scarier than you expected? Or maybe it was just that I had no idea it was coming.
The Michael Wilmington talk is this coming Friday. Both Chicago Tribune reviewers (Mark Caro being the other) thought that AI was the best movie the year. I haven't seen it, so I'd be curious what others thought.
Re: Goodbye Charlie -- inexplicably bad
Writer George Axelrod (with Rock Hunter in his past and Lord Love a Duck in near future.
Director VINCENT MINELLI???
There is nothing worse than a movie that should be good, has pretensions to be good and is inexplicably horrendous. But things that stick in your mind as bad are often campily bad (Rask's category 4). Most of the other horrors are easy to avoid.
What movies to win major Oscars are unwatchable? (I know it is a character flaw, but I can't sit through 10 minutes of "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" which won actress and was nominated for best picture).
Oh, you just said that to make me laugh again at Mondaugen putting it forward as the best Bond.
I deliberately picked the rather famously bad of two movie stars--Hepburn and Wayne, who were chosen because I could quickly name some of their famous stinkers.
I suppose I could have offered up The Silver Chalice or That Hagen Girl.
Incidentally, why is Leonard Maltin no longer linked into the IMDB?
Rask, if you say Gentleman's Agreement I'll smack you.
American in Paris, I don't like much at all.
Having just scanned the list, I'd say the weakest decade was the 50s. Few are unwatchable, but Gigi, Around the World in 80 Days, American in Paris, and Greatest Show on Earth are just not a very good group. Gigi's the best of that bunch.
I haven't ever seen Marty, but Ben Hur is no great shakes except the chariot race, which is outstanding.
The 60s has The Sound of Music and Oliver to be embarrassed about. I found A Man for All Seasons extremely dreary, but it has some great lines so I can't be too hard on it. The 70s is a very good decade--even the weaker winners, Rocky, Kramer vs. Kramer, and The Sting, are enjoyable watches.
80s had a couple questionable calls: Gandhi, Last Emperor, Chariots of Fire--I excuse Ordinary People because even though it shouldn't have won over Raging Bull, it's a good film. But none of these are horrors.
Very few are unwatchable, but the 50s list comes the closest.
That Racquel Welch movie in which she wears a fur bikini and everyone talks in grunts.
Robin and his Hoods or whatever the name of that hideous Sammy Davis/Frank Sinatra movie.
Granted, none of the TV shows are remembered a week after they've ended. But still.
Brando and others did their best to revent its release and bury the stinker forever, but there are some bootlegs kicking around.
I can't think of Ace Ventura II without laughing about the raccoon. A great performance.
have to disagree with you there. the most memorable scene from that stupid movie was the 'rhino' birthing scene. still makes me laugh.
And the shaking trees. Spawn was still little when that came out and he figured out what it meant. Cracked him up.
But I generally haven't seen several of the best picture winners that are most commonly put forward as "the worst best picture winners" - Cimmaron, Broadway Melody, and Greatest Show on Earth. Nor do I want to.
heh
well, in my estimation, it wasn't
Surely you must be joking.
I can't watch Gigi anymore without thinking of Hugh Hefner on SNL singing "Thank Heaven for Little Girls".
Gigi isn't a terrible movie, but I don't even think it's a top-tier musical, much less an Oscar quality film.
I like Gentlemen's Agreement a lot more than Rask does. It's earnest and sincere, yes, but it has a remarkable performance by Celeste Holm, and the caregiving relationships between father and son--as well as between Peck and mother Anne Revere--are outstanding.
I liked Gentlemen's Agreement, but I much prefer that other Peck movie (wasn't it Peck?), The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.
These I've seen and consider mediocre (no better than C+/B-): Gladiator, American Beauty, Titanic, Forrest Gump (almost bad, rather than mediocre), Dances with Wolves, The Last Emperor (all I remember is being bored), Rocky (a pretty good film, but not what I'd call "Best Picture").
I've decided that Rocky gets undersold. It's an powerful movie that is dissed because of popularity and Stallone's post-Rocky career.
If you like Gregory Peck, try 12 O'Clock High and Yellow Sky. One's a war pic, one's a western. The first one is pretty famous, the second a bit obscure. But I like them both. I'm assuming you've seen To Kill a Mockingbird, which I've never liked that much but that's not just a minority view, that's fringe.
It's probably a B+. The fact that Rocky doesn't win the fight tips the balance, I think.
1) That which is good is derivitive, mostly from Spartacus -- the upstart who fights for freedom, is more successful than expected, and is eventually betrayed and martyred. My first review called it "Spartacus in Kilts". Even the attempt at the end to get Wallace to recant just shows that the writer has too much fondness for Dalton Trumbo.
2)An unremarkable screenplay. Not only was it derivitive, it was very flawed, with horrifically implausible plot developments (Wallace boinking Princess Isabelle), and uninteresting thematic development (part of my frustration was that the film took the hackneyed route of revenge and freedom fighting, rather than the many more interesting routes that presented themselves and were rejected, such as the distinction between a freedom fighter and a terrorist murderer).
3) Weak characterizations. The only standout was Edward I. Mostly I think this was a problem with the writing, but the casting wasn't very good either. Better actors probably could have pulled something of interest out of the movie, but the cast was mostly of limited talent. Gibson himself was out of his depth, and the rest of the cast was worse.
The end result was a film that started off with a decent premise, built up to a few decent battle scenes, and wound up never going anywhere interesting. And it took itself way too seriously to work just as an action movie. As it is, I think it is only slightly better than The Patriot.
For example, I consider Rocky far more watchable than:
I'd rather watch it than the following list, although I'd say this is more a matter of taste:
I consider it either on par or roughly equivalent to:
Not counting some from the 30s.
That puts it midlist, I think.
I agree, except I'd say its emotional impact the very first time you see it boosts it a bit beyond fluff. Unless you're a cynic.
Compared, for example, to The Longest Yard or Semi-Tough, both enjoyable sports movies that are true fluff.
Both are considered masterpieces almost solely by people who have only seen a dozen films made prior to 1980.
Is that it? I am always amazed by people who rave over Shawshank. I enjoy it, but simply can't understand the enthusiasm.
I think when people are moved all bets are off as far as critical judgment goes. I'm embarrassed to say that I'm one of 6 people who were moved by The Mission and I would never confess that in public now. But if I had gotten positive feedback from everybody that it was great, why then I'd be stating it proudly.
Rask-Re: Braveheart
As a medievalist I hated the depiction of Edward I but thought that the Bruce was a very interesting character. I also thought the battle scenes to be well done--one of the few times I've seen a movie steal from my favorite battle scene--Shrewbury in Chimes at Midnight/Falstaff (Welles tries one battle scene in his life and it is arguably the best ever.) However, I have NO desire to watch Braveheart again. Still, I'd give it a B/B-.
Rocky might be an A- if Stallone had died after its release.
An American film called “Roman Holiday”, first shown in 1953, starred Audrey Hepburn as a princess who runs away to Rome in rebellion against her stuffy life at home. It won numerous Oscars and started Belgian-born Miss Hepburn on a successful Hollywood career. The clever script was written under a false name by Dalton Trumbo who had fallen foul of Joe McCarthy while he was hunting communists. But what mostly interested many filmgoers was that Miss Hepburn resembled Princess Margaret and it was assumed that Margaret was a rebel too.
When Elizabeth was crowned the following year an alert photographer snapped Margaret removing what seemed to be a piece of fluff from the uniform of one Peter Townsend. Margaretologists noted that Townsend looked a bit like Gregory Peck, who had starred with Audrey Hepburn.
Pelle--that makes a lot of sense, now having read the specifics of Margaret's early years. I agree it seems very similar.
GJ--Oh, I agree. Summertime is the Kate Hepburn movie.
1) Can be said of several films (that they lack originality). Shakespeare borrowed many of his plots, so it really depends on the execution.
2) The screenplay was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Writers Guild Award.
3) This brings me to the real puzzlement I have with your ranking it as "bad." To some degree rating a film is of course personal and subjective, but that you dislike Braveheart while liking Lord of the Rings is a bit baffling. (I liked both movies.) Both pictures are better than Gladiator, which you didn't list, so I'm assuming you consider it better than Braveheart
The kinds of things that I expect would offend someone about Braveheart are present in the other two pictures (length, taking itself perhaps over seriously, focus on action and scenery rather than character, unexceptional acting, unoriginal plot, etc.), yet you apparently dislike one, at least tolerate another, and like the last.
My Best Friend's Wedding has some examples of this.
I have a hard time thinking I'd forget an overt sex scene involving Sophie Marceau.
That is mostly it. Shawshank has very few enthusiasts with a lot of film experience. However, I am not sure that its reputation will fade for quite some time. Each generation has its favorite films from its maturation years, and those films tend to get carried to great heights as that generation comes into power (consider the high placement of idiosyncratic 50s and 60s films on the AFI lists). I suspect Shawshank will get carried to those heights on the backs of Generations X and Y, who tend to love it.
Shakespeare added much originality elsewhere. What was original in Braveheart?
"2) The screenplay was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Writers Guild Award."
So Braveheart is great simply because it got some nominations? That pretty much puts "worst best picture winner" discussions to bed right there.
"Both pictures are better than Gladiator, which you didn't list, so I'm assuming you consider it
better than Braveheart"
Yes, I consider Gladiator better than Braveheart. Gladiator gets a B+ from me. Braveheart gets a C+, which is just into thumbs down territory. LOTR gets and A-.
"The kinds of things that I expect would offend someone about Braveheart are present in the other two pictures (length, taking itself perhaps over seriously, focus on action and scenery rather than
character, unexceptional acting, unoriginal plot, etc.), yet you apparently dislike one, at least tolerate another, and like the last."
Gladiator and LOTR had much better ensemble casts, characterizations, and technical crewmembers supporting them. They also were paced better, developed better, and were a lot more interesting to look at. Scott and Jackson are widely acknowledged visual masters. Gibson relies instead on technical competency, which works when the scene can carry the film (such as the battle scenes), but leaves you bored to tears during the many times that the film drags.
Mars Attacks may be bad but I have thoroughly enjoyed it every time I have seen it. I can't honestly say that I enjoy Battlefield Earth but it is still mesmerizing and a completely awful movie to boot. Then there are the bad ones that are funny because they have become campy, like the Ed Wood movies.
OTOH, Phantom Menace is just so boring that it is unwatchable.
back to the movie... even though he is gorgeous in each and every scene and in various stages of undress in most of them, Ripley and i couldn't make it though this movie. part of the problem is the movie takes up the story after Tarzan leaves the jungle and has to come back. WTF is that? he needed to be jumping around in a loin cloth a la Geroge of the Jungle from the opening scene forward.
anyway, avoid this 1997 dud. this flick gets just 1 quack but gets 5 for the ever-quackable Van Dien.
Have most of you seen the coming attractions for Star Wars II?
yes, and they are a mixed bag. the one that hypes the romance makes it look boring, but the one that showcases the action (and the awesome Jenga Fett action sequence) makes it look awesome. which did you see?
It was all romance and an emphasis on the terrible acting of the teenage Annakin. It seemed like folly to emphasize either until it had actually opened.
I recently saw Magnificent Seven and in the specials every one talked about how Sturges was so certain that Horst Buckholtz would be the "hit" of the movie. Lucas must think "young Anny" is really cute. Or something.
This was one of my favorite King novellas and I was quite literally terrified that they would fuck it up in the film version----King movies don't have a great track record for upholding the books they're adapted from. To my great satisfaction, Shawshank was well cast, well acted, visually evocative of the book, followed the story nearly exactly with a strong script and managed to hit pretty much every emotional payoff the book does.
It's a solid film on it's own merit, but to have properly adapted one of Stephen King's stories boosts it in my estimation and certainly in that of other King fans I've spoken with.
Although "Stand by Me" was also good, the plot was not nearly as powerful or interesting.
I agree with you about SBM. The Body and consequently Stand By Me was a much more "slice of life" story. It was more about the wonder of childhood friendships than it was about the actual event of finding the body. More substantial from an intellectual standpoint, but not as riveting as a story about a jail break.
You gay guys sure are shallow. A straight guy would never do that.
Honest.
How could anyone with a name like Horst Bucholz ever be a big deal?
Speaking of M7, I just saw Harry in my Pocket for the first time in a zillion years last week. I'd completely forgotten that Walter Pidgeon was the old guy.
Was George C. Scott what happened to Trish Vandevere, or was there some other reason she disappeared from the face of the earth?
Don't get me wrong. Shawshank is a good movie, and it made my top 5 for the year it came out. I think I have seen it three times. But it is over-rated among young moviegoers. It is currently #3 on the IMDBs user rankings of the greatest films of all time, behind Godfather and Lord of the Rings (also over-rated, but for other reasons). Right behind Shawshank on the list are Godfather II, Schindler's List, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, and Seven Samurai.
Shawshank is a decent film, but this level of enthusiasm among people who otherwise have a pretty decent appreciation for film (The IMDBs top 250 has some clunkers and biases, but all of the consensus great films are there), is ridiculous.
And the IMDB voters are not an anomaly.
I wish I could say that Trish died of shame from the "Savage is Loose" (still an unsettling movie idea to film in the family, like as if Angelica Huston and John Cusack were really Ma and Son in the Grifters). Actually, I thought she was pretty cute in Movie Movie, which was later. According to allmovie.com she is on the stage.
I think Hard Times made Harry redundant. I'm surprised it seems to have disappeared,though.
(uh, yes, I'm joking.....mostly)
An actor named after the Nazi anthem? Not a chance.
Savage is Loose and Day of the Dolphin really ought to be enough to curdle anyone's career. But that suggests it was George.
I've always said the most important thing a top actor can do is learn to read a script and have a few "truth tellers" around who can read it as well. I doubt many people turn Mike Nichols down however. He hadn't made a dud yet when Dolphins came around. Those of you (which is probably close to all of you) too young to remember the hype around "Carnal Knowledge" when it came out will be surprised to learn that it was considered an instant classic by many. Hard to believe now.
Another tidbit from the extras was that McQueen drove Brynner crazy with all his constant business with his hands, his hat whatever. I always thought they look so comfortable together, but now when I watch their scenes you can see why Brynner could be upset. I would never have thought of McQueen as a busy actor on my own.
It's not necessary to prove that Braveheart is on Shakespeare's level to defend it against the charge of being a bad film. I think you'll readily concede that a film can be "not bad" without being at the level of Shakespeare. My point is that many things are also "not bad" that lack originality in their plots. Your criticism was that the film was too much like Spartacus, not that it didn't meet the standard of Shakespeare.
For that matter, you don't think the plot of...
"the upstart who fights for freedom, is more successful than expected, and is eventually betrayed and martyred"
... is original with Spartacus, do you? At least two notable Joan of Arcs films predate Spartacus.
Besides, that much of the plot at least is based on history. Would you have had the screenwriter alter history for originality's sake?
You said the film was bad, so I asked your justification, and one of the three items you listed was...
An unremarkable screenplay.
...and I pointed out that several groups of critics and the Writers Guild of America didn't share your opinion (specifically) of the screenplay. Of course the topic is "Bad Academy Awards Choices," but if the discussion is going to be on a level of anything other than "what I like versus what you like" we have to talk about specific reasons and address whether those reasons are valid (possibly by citing the opinion of "experts"). In this case, I especially think that the opinion of other screenwriters ought to hold some weight as to whether the screenplay was bad or commendable.
Not only was it derivitive...
See above.
it was very flawed, with horrifically implausible plot developments (Wallace boinking Princess Isabelle), and uninteresting thematic development (part of my frustration was that the film took the hackneyed route of revenge and freedom fighting, rather than the many more interesting routes that presented themselves and were rejected, such as the distinction between a freedom fighter and a terrorist murderer).
This (that it didn't focus on freedom fighting versus terrorism) is an arcane criticism in my opinion.
Braveheart has much more in common with Spartacus than Spartacus has with The Passion of Joan of Arc. I haven't seen Ingrid's version, but if Spartacus is derivitive of that, it is points off of Spartacus, not points for Braveheart, so it is irrelevant.
"Besides, that much of the plot at least is based on history. Would you have had the screenwriter alter history for originality's sake?"
They both already altered history significantly. Braveheart just does so in a way that mirrors Spartacus' story arc. And the story reflects a Dalton Trumbo influence in other ways, as I said.
"but if the discussion is going to be on a level of anything other than "what I like versus what you like" we have to talk about specific reasons and address whether those reasons are valid (possibly by citing the opinion of "experts")."
"This (that it didn't focus on freedom fighting versus terrorism) is an arcane criticism in my opinion."
It was an example of an interesting route the movie could have taken. I mention this just because of my disappointment. When Gibson rode a horse into the bedroom of one of his betrayers, and cold-bloodedly murdered him, I thought they were going this route - exploring the extent to which Wallace was a terrorist. I was intrigued, as the film was starting to bore me, and this was something I hadn't seen done well before. But nope, the film reverted back to its very conventional form.
Basically, aside from 20 minutes of battle scenes, there is little in the film worth watching in its remaining ~3 hours, and even the battle scenes aren't exactly spectacular. That meets my definition of a bad film. Only slightly better than The Patriot (and my dislike of Patriot has little to do with its historical liberties).
The Shawshank Redemption is vastly overpraised. It is a pretty movie, but it is pat (everybody drinks Corona at the end), derivative, and a little bit ridiculous (as beautiful music tames the hearts of the prison yard). And hey, lookey here, we got the real killer!
It would have ben a much better film if Morgan Freeman had been a rightly convicted rapist and/or Robbins ahd actually committed the murder.
A somewhat less overheated version of same is Guilty By Suspicion. Abe Polonsky had written a script about a writer who had been Communist in the 1930's.Irwin Winkler turned it into a movie about a writer wrongfully accused of being a Communist in the 30's. All the difference in the world.
So Abe had his name taken off of it.
I think Steve McQ did a lot of "busy" things with his hands, props etc. to define his character, or make his character look like a deep thinker, etc. Think of the baseball and mitt in The Great Escape. And wasn't there something in Bullitt, like jiggling his keys, or snapping his fingers?
Little Drummer Girl is the one with Keaton?
If you're going to think of Harry Palmer, why not segue through Michael Caine pictures and go to Get Carter?
You're right about McQueen. Since he underreads his lines (and was playing stoic characters) so often that's what I remember, not the millions of bits he does. They're effective and different, but I had just never really be cognitively aware of them. Now I can't think of anything else when I see McQueen. I am constantly reminded of his mannerisms and my own lack of perception.
---
I thought that Little Drummer Girl was surprisingly tolerable since I Diane Keaton would have been far from my first choice for the role. I'm guessing it isn't being shown on TV much right now.
The screen adaptation of Spy Who Came in from the Cold and the TV adaptation of Tinker, Tailor are quite a bit more successful.
I think probably one of the main attractions for me of that movie was the location. So few American action movies are set in continental Europe and the Middle East. It gave it a differentness that I appreciated.
I saw Get Carter for the first time a couple of years ago -before the Stallone remake came out - I think it must have had a tremendous influence on a generation or two of British filmmakers, which has continued right through films such as The Long Good Friday, and The Krays, up to Lock, Stock etc.
maybe it's because I'd read the book beforehand, but Drummer Girl (a) seemed utterly bereft of tension and suspense, (b) did little in the way of character development, (c) left untouched the moral ambiguity of the protagonists. And Diane Keaton was just so badly miscast, I would have been embarassed for her if I could have brought myself to care about what was happening on the screen.
I was very impressed with Get Carter, and agree with you as to its influence on subsequent British gangster films.
If you have a chance, get the DVD and listen to Caine's commentary. Caine knew a lot of gangsters and very much wanted to be part of a movie that showed them as they really were.
I couldn't hear the dialogue, so it was just watching scenes.
Streisand was mugging on camera in that manner that only continued throughout her movie career.
One of the opening scenes brought back memories (no pun intended). Redford is a tipsy naval officer Streisand knew from college days. They meet in New York during the War and she takes him home to her apartment. When she comes out of the kitchen with tea, she sees a trail of his clothes leading to the bedroom.
Redford in the 70s was truly one of the most beautiful men in the movies. He was blond, he was silent, and that silence hinted at some mystery (we lost that mystery forever in the Horse Whisperer, but that's another story). There he is lying in her bed with just a sheet on. She takes off her dress and virgin like slides into the bed fully awake. The touch and smell of this naked man, the waspy man of her college dreams, no less, is next to her in the night.
Next thing we see him climb on top of her silently. He is quiet and moves slowly. And then he falls asleep on top of her.
Pardon the moment of 70s flashback, but that scene was as hot as any porn movie.
The Way We Were is a primal fantasy about bagging Mr. Wrong.
In its author's case, Mr. Wrong was Farley Granger.
GJ, watch The Way We Were in its entirety some day. I always like it far more than I expect to. That scene is extremely hot.
What Lies Beneath or something.
Did you notice the song that played at the end with the WTC view?
I dunno, it looked so "by the numbers". Denzel is starting to be one of those actors who should only play bad guys.
The movie fails for many of the reasons Star Wars succeeded. The latter was fun, mythic, had good chemistry between actors, and did not need to be accompanied by a dictionary ("This is Blobo. He is a Gorchofolio. He is the second son of the fire mulch frond of Alpangeitser"). Ah.
Worse, the Lord plods, caught in between introducing a great many characters (I presume, to please those who have read the book and to set the stage for matters in parts 2 and 3) and educating the unititiated, like me, who did not know that Blobo was a Gorchofolio. He is the second son of the fire mulch frond of Alpangeitser.
It is pedestrian. Peter Jackson over-relies on Elijah Wood's blue eyes of wonder and his sweeping aearial photography. So, anything that is said between characters is b rate. For example, the revelation that Peter Cushing has gone to the dark side. Essentially, it goes like this:
McKellan: You've been looking at the ball!
Cushing: Get off my back. The ball is fun!
McKellan: The ball is bad!
Cushing: Boring! (sweeps hand, McKellan goes spinning up to the roof)
The acting is similar to that in Gettysburg. The actors act as if they are in an epic.
Lastly, having the ring tempt someone is important. But how many times? By my count, 7 scens of ring temptation.
Some good fights scenes, and the start (scary, mysterious riders) invokes real chills. But Jackson soon goes nuts on the make-up budget, and we are treated to ghoulish slime monsters - hundreds of them. And once you've seen one, you've seen 'em all.
Grade: C-.
http://home.earthlink.net/~cljohnsonphd/Listlists.html, but obviously had the same feel.
The focus was mainly on Oscars, and I asked on behalf of Cal why Moulin Rouge had been excluded from the music categories. He could not be definitive, but he thought that although much was original, the real highlights were a "found score", although he particularly relished the interweaving of songs atop the elephant. (That sentence may sound weird if you haven't seen the film.)
He had many anecdotes, and I'm not sure how many are well known, but I was surprised to learn that the stage role that brought Russell Crowe to prominence in Australia in the role of Dr. Frankenfurter in the stage version of Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Cal, he also would have Kidman as best actress, again among the nominees.
Implicit was an endorsement of the choice of Mulholland Drive and Naomi Watts by the National Society of Film Critics. He says that org is trying to get TV time to boost the prominence of that award. What he had to say about a competing org, the Golden Globes, was not pretty.
It was some
BEST FILM
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD
For the outstanding British Film of the Year
GOSFORD PARK
THE DAVID LEAN AWARD
For achievement in Direction
THE LORD OF THE RINGS (Peter Jackson)
SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL)
AMELIE (Guillaume Laurant/Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
SCREENPLAY (ADAPTED)
SHREK Ted Elliott/Terry (Rossio/Joe Stillman/Roger S.H. Schulman)
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
JUDI DENCH (Iris)
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
RUSSELL CROWE (A Beautiful Mind)
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
JENNIFER CONNELLY (A Beautiful Mind)
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
JIM BROADBENT (Moulin Rouge)
THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD
For achievement in Film Music
MOULIN ROUGE (Craig Armstrong/Marius De Vries)
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
AMORES PERROS (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE (Roger Deakins)
PRODUCTION DESIGN
AMELIE (Aline Bonetto)
GOSFORD PARK (Jenny Beavan)
EDITING
MULHOLLAND DRIVE (Mary Sweeney)
SOUND
MOULIN ROUGE (Andy Nelson/Anna Behlmer/Roger Savage/Guntis Sics/Gareth
Vanderhope/Antony Gray)
ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE LORD OF THE RINGS (Jim Rygiel/Richard Taylor/Alex Funke/Randall
William Cook/Mark Stetson)
MAKE UP/HAIR
THE LORD OF THE RINGS (Peter Owen/Peter King/Richard Taylor)
SHORT FILM
ABOUT A GIRL (Janey de Nordwall/Brian Percival/Julie Rutterford)
SHORT ANIMATION
DOG (Suzie Templeton)
THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD
For the most promising newcomer to British Film
JOEL HOPKINS / NICOLA USBORNE (Writer & Director/Producer: Jump
Tomorrow)
I thought that was particularly brilliant. Kidman sings the lyric, "I would have thought people would be tired of silly little love songs" and then McGregor sings the lyrics of just about every silly little love song you can imagine. All the while breaking down her barriers. Just beautiful.
I rented Lurhmann's Romeo + Juliet and watched it this weekend. It is amazing the number of devices he carries through to Moulin Rouge. The procenium, the L'Amour sign, are just the beginning of the similarities.
R+J suffers in comparison as now it seems to have been just a warm up exercise for the main event. Also, Lurhmann used many of the same camera techniques but he developed a better pace in MR. He was still experimenting in R+J, and some of his experiments were failures.
He also seems to have learned to pick better actors.
Two flames. I deed not like the feesh.
And Larry Clark's Bully. The R rated version. Which means something was cut out. Whatever it was, I did not miss it. What was left is still pornographic. As nearly as I can tell, Clark must think the world would be a better place if all teenagers were sent to the electric chair. He doesn't much like them, which means he doesn't really like people. He should go make documentaries about animals mating in the wild or something.
1 flame. It steenks.
Re: Baz
I agree on the better actors. It points out something. R-J was a risky venture, but nothing like as risky as Moulin Rouge. If he had tried to make MR with Leo/Danes his career would probably be effectively over.
Re: Leo/Danes in Romeo+Juliet. I imagine he wanted to cast it with youngsters, so had fewer options.
Danes and Leo would have been bad for MR because they would have been miscast, not because they are bad actors. Mostly Danes. Leo might have been able to pull it off.
R-J is notoriously hard to cast and I can't criticize his choices there. I certainly find Danes more plausible than Moira Shearer.
I believe it was first done in A Little Night Music.
But there was a real difference between what Woody did--in which the actors weren't expected to be really good singers--and Luhrmann's choices, which required singers who could deliver.
YAWN!
Lousy movie, too.
At Long Last Love, on the other hand, needed a Moulin Rouge approach, with actors who could sing.
And a script wouldn't have been bad either.
Harold Perrineau doing Mercutio in drag.
Some of it didn't: The aforementioned Queen Mab speech.
Yes, DiCaprio and Danes were hot tickets when the movie was released, but there was absolutely no chemistry between the two. Their readings in the love scenes were flat. It seemed as if they had memorized the lines, but had no idea what the words actually meant. Danes more so than DiCaprio.
Also, I just don't think Danes was beautiful enough. I just wasn't convinced that Romeo would be bowled over by her beauty. As opposed to ready acceptance of why any heterosexual man would be captivated by Nicole Kidman on first sight.
I hope that this is something that will improve with age. I think the very thing that has allowed him to be so raw and vulnerable in so many roles is also what keeps him from being very nuanced as an actor: his immaturity.
It's a foible of many young actors to always make the big, showy choice, the cathartic breakdown, the violent outburst, the stunning revelation. They fall in love with the melodrama and don't ever learn to exercise judgement about when it's most effective to make the "big choice". They never discover the power of subtlety.
I agree with you about Danes and also the lack of chemistry between Danes & DiCaprio, however, I have yet to see DiCaprio successfully pull off being sexy in anything. He's still got too much of the little boy about him. Like if you got him into your bedroom and half undressed he'd be all "Hey! Wanna go ride bikes?"
Danes is not sexy and has yet to figure out a good way of showcasing a considerable talent.
Leo convincingly played the boorish movie star or rock singer in Woody Allen's not very good movie about celebrityhood with Kenneth Branaugh.
The scene in the rain where Maguire is in costume, upside down and pulls his mask up just enough to plant one on the rain soaked Kirsten Dunst is about the hottest screen kiss I've seen in the last five years. Maybe because it's over so quickly or maybe it's the rain or the suggestion of nudity or maybe it's the sublime line of Maguire's jaw, but I thought I was going to have to dump my soda down my shirt to cool off after seeing it.
But it has not that much to do with the maturity of the actors. DiCaprio was 27 last November. McGregor turns 30 on March 31st. They are relatively the same age.
No, you're right. Danes isn't sexy and I don't know that she ever will be. There's something just "pure" about her.
Yes, but DiCaprio was only 21 when R+J was made. There can also be a huge difference between 27 and 30. I think DiCaprio is young for his age. This is a man who still lived with his family a couple of years ago. MacGregor has been married for years and has a 5 year old daughter.
In addition to "pure" I would add "plain" as descriptive of Danes' looks.
I think you're right about diCaprio being young for his age, but that's something he'll have to outgrow--or not, and retire in obscurity.
Yeah, it's not really about numeric age. Some women are girls at 60 while some girls are women at 15. Ditto for the males.
I don't have high hopes for Spiderman. I mean, if you're a fan of Raimi (which I am) then you'll likely love it as a Raimi film, but not as a film in general. The clincher is Willem Dafoe as the villain, however. I can't explain it and have nothing to back it up, but I think this combination spells certain doom.
We shall see.
worth a pickup if there's nothing new you're excited about seeing on the shelves (and, admittedly, there's very little these days). 3 quacks of 5.
She was the chicken-hoarding bulimic in Girl Interrupted, the contestant with the cross-dressing brother in Drop Dead Gorgeous and the "new girl" in Clueless. She was also in Riding in Cars with Boys which I didn't see, but then, you probably didn't either. (g) If you saw the trailer she's the best friend who stands in as Drew Barrymore's parents when Drew practices breaking the news to them that she's pregnant.
Murphy looks at her a moment and then on a public sidewalk starts wailing "Oh my gawd! My dawtah's a TRAMP!!"
I just saw "Tokyo Drifter" last night and "Branded to Kill" about a month ago. These are close to being the favorite movies of my 16-year-old, but my wife had quite a different viewpoint. She loathed BTK and wouldn't watch TD. I preferred BTK, but TD has an astonishing final scene. (Warning: BTK has some pretty deviant stuff, but my 13-year-old survived, though both movies are rather hard to follow).
Everyone says they were low budget affairs, but I really can't believe it. I also have difficulty believing that I had never heard of them until Criterion published them.
TD has a great theme song that was written by the star and which he performs while walking through the snow in tennis shoes before slaughtering a bunch of bad guys.
that sounds familiar. of those movies you name i've seen Clueless and that was when it came out!
Around the World In Eighty Days
(g)
Okay, that sucks. I'll take The Princess Bride for 2000, Alex.
But we can get there from Showboat (Hattie McDaniel)-->Gone with the Wind (Hattie McDaniel, Clark Gable)->The Hucksters (Clark Gable, Ava Gardner) to Barefoot Contessa.
Okay, Earthquake!
The Dirty Dozen.
(also two counts if you look closely!)
Flying Down to Rio
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
(Where is everybody?)
The Quiet Man
Western Union
The Front Page
snicker
The President's Analyst
Man In The Grey Flannel Suit
State of the Union
..and I'm stumped; before coffee.
Song of Bernadette
Paris When it Sizzles
Boy Meets Girl
Assumed: 1995 High Society.
Casino Royale.
Is that permitted? How else do we get to:
Rock Star
I screwed up. There is no way to get from Being There to Patton.
Canonball Run II
Canonball Run
etc.
Run Lola Run
I've read two good reviews of We Were Soldiers. It's getting so you can't rely on trailers anymore; this sucker looked cheesy.
Sam Elliot is in this movie. Why wasn't I informed?
These things so often fall apart.
Actually, the delivery of his lines in the trailer, which is all you've seen. And I mentioned the trailer looked lame, because that's all I've seen. Yet the reviews--written by people who have seen the movie, not the trailer--are solid to excellent.
This would suggest that the trailer is misleading. And lo! that brings us to my first post, where I said exactly that.
Oh, wait.
Nothing But A Man
Finally, though, this is Mel Gibson's movie to win or lose. And he discharges his duties maturely and successfully --so much so that his career is worth analyzing even after discussion about the current national interest in soldiers' tales has run its course. In a Hollywood war being waged right now by two attractive stars in their 40s, there's that dancer-with-wolves gone flat-footed, 47-year-old Kevin Costner (''Dragonfly,'' ''3000 Miles to Graceland,'' ''Message in a Bottle''), apparently outfoxed by middle age, and currently out of ammo. And there's Gibson, a road warrior who, at 46, knows himself well enough to subdivide his large personality into projects as varied as ''What Women Want'' (romantic-comedy Gibson), ''The Patriot'' (violent, weird Gibson), ''Chicken Run'' (delightfully silly Gibson), and this honorable expression of Catholic, conservative, suburban Gibson. Randall Wallace and Lieut. Col. Hal Moore are well served by an actor who fights so handsomely for the right to to be free.
Okay, we have to tie up two threads.
I said Scrooge, which starred Albert Finney, who was in Erin Brockovich, with Aaron Eckhart, who was in Nurse Betty, starring Renee Zellwegger, who was in Me Myself & Irene, directed by the Farrely Bros, who directed Kingpin, which starred Bill Murray.
I will go from Jamie's Razor's Edge to Mahogany, just to upset Deev.
I'll go with Cal's selection, and
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
just to get the HELL on out of That Godawful Woman's career.
In & Out.
A League of Their Own
The Silver Chalice
Some Kind Of Hero
SHOES of the Fisherman
We rented THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION last night and it was wonderful. Great writing and excellent acting.
I also noticed something worthwhile. There were no 15 minutes of movie commercials in front of the movie. This is the second film (RADIO DAYS) of his we rented in the last month without the promotion.
He must have it in his contract that they can't do that to his films.
I know he's had a whole system in play for decades now, but I do wish he'd take some time off between films and think his ideas through a bit more thoroughly.
I'm just glad that the family sex scandal didn't stop him from writing, acting and directing. He is a gem.
That's just silliness, and I speak as someone who enjoyed Everyone Says I Love You. Both are musicals, but Moulin Rouge is far more in the Hollywood tradition than Everyone is.
Yes I've seen Big Deal On Madonna Street. It's a gem.
I'm really surprised that there hasn't been an arthouse revival of Big Deal.
I was wondering if you'd like that article; it seemed to address a lot of the issues you talk about when discussing the obscene sums of money you spend betting on the outcome. (g)
Who is the frontrunner for Best Actor these days?
For some reason I am having a terrible time remembering the last nominee and can't bring myself to look it up: Crowe, Wilkinson, Washington, Smith, and argh.
What a bummer...that guy seemed really nice; well, for someone who was a competitor. Shit.
I dunno; I just read an article about him shoving a reporter around. Plus, it seems his role has the same credibility problems that Denzel suffered from last year.
What kind of credibility problems did Denzel Washington have, last year?
I loved that movie, even though it was like 5 years behind the curve--I mean, no one quits a job at Goldman Saks to go to a dotcom in 1999, fercrissakes!
But speaking as a developer, it was great to see all the conflicts captured. Even if it was painful to watch the developer be proven right again and again--even if no one remembered it, and everyone was "blaming" him for not being done with the work, even though they kept changing the requirements.
It all depends on which lie you want to hear.
And why.
Imagine making a sci-fi comedy with hot special effects showing commercial jetliners blowing each other out of the sky and running into tall buildings — right before 9-11.
Scott Perry and Tom LeGros of Austin don't have to imagine. They did it.
(John Kelso in the American-Statesman)
I saw James Whale's "The Old Dark House" (1932) on DVD last night and it was a hoot. Thesiger, as usual, steals the show, but to have Laughton and Melvin Douglas in a Laemmle movie, wow.
Cellar, I remember you having an admiration for an underused leading lady. Was it Gloria Stuart? She was pretty hot stuff. (I haven't seen Titanic yet, which she was in 65 years later.)
One really fascinating sidelight to The Old Dark House. At a certain point in long shot the brother kept in the attack makes his first appearance -- as a hand on the stairway.
And thus "thing" from The Addams Family was born!
As a parent of two kids who can't get out of the house nearly as much as I used to, I am all for it.
The scuttlebutt is that it is now a toss up between Crowe and Washington. But my money (not literally) has been on Washington ever since it became clear that Wilkenson wasn't a real contender.
He was superb. Is there a rule that only movies that cost more than $50 million can have best actors?
The first time I really noticed Wilkinson was as Pecksniff in the TV Martin Chuzzlewit. I was convince he was doing a spot on imitation of William Bennett's sanctimony.
That's amazing...I thought almost the same thing when we saw him in that role. I commented to my husband that Pecksniff would fit right in with a Republican administration.
Soul Survivors sucked. i see now why i have never heard of it. it's a movie where a girl gets in a car accident and the big mystery is the question of did she die in the wreck or not? well, by the end, you will not care and actively wish her dead if she isn't - guaranteed. major suckage. 1 quack out of 5.
The Musketeer sucked. it was supposed to be the story of the The 3 Musketeers with some Crouching Tiger... type action scenes. well, there were 2. for an action movie there was A LOT of frickin' talking. sucked much harder than it needed to. 1 quack out of 5.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was very disappointing. a classic 'back to the well too many times' flick, this is the 'final' movie set in the Kevin Smith universe that created the great movies he's famous for (Chasing Amy, Clerks, Dogma). if you REALLY liked those movies, then check this out, otherwise skip it. the references to the past movies and characters was the only thing i found to be funny. 2 and ½ quacks out of 5.
Hearts in Atlantis was a great little film. well worth a rental. this Steven King adaptation is engaging and full of great moments. there is zero action to speak of, so for a film like this to grab and hold my attention through the entire thing is a rarity to say the least. there's no horror in it and good for everyone, i would suspect. 3 and ½ quacks out of 5.
No, as Spacek is the frontrunner for best actress. Cal is right - my comments had nothing to do with the merits of his performance, just the chances of his winning. The race seems to be between Crowe and Washington.
I still haven't seen Ali, but I cannot imagine Will Smith surpassing any of these other guys.
Thanks to pay for view in my hotel room this weekend, I finally got to see TD. It has long left Indy.
Los Angeles, city of despair and corruption, is the setting, a conceit of both pulp fiction movies and science fiction. Ethan Hawke is the high school All-American, a young cop, being checked out by Denzel Washington, a longtime undercover officer during a one-day audition, or training day.
Usually Hawke is too cool for the rest of us, a bit on the edge, but here he is a young yuppie. The movie opens to his nervous and swift waking up and stopping the clock alarm on his big day. As he looks across the room, we see his beautiful wife breastfeeding their infant baby in the moonlight. This is his world, and he will be asked to give it up many times before he returns home.
If Hawke is green and not very street smart, Washington is Kurtz, from Conrad's novel, a man who has been there too long and has long since lost whatever innocence he may have had.
Rules are only what he writes as floats through a day. He tells Hawke that to catch a wolf you have to be a wolf. At times he delights in proving Hawke's naivete and at other times he is desparately trying to seduce him to his point of view. This takes place across the day in neighborhoods where white guys don't go into, according to Washington's character.
Hawke rises to the occasion, in countering Washington's devil and provides a very capable performance. Washington is always good, and has in some ways, a trickier role. As usual, he puts his stamp on his character, making him complicated, and a little crazy.
Picture: Beautiful Mind for both, LOTR a close 2nd.
Director: Cantor - Ron Howard. HSX - (tie) Howard and Jackson.
Actor: Crowe for both - Washington a distant 2nd.
Actress: Spacek for both, with Kidman a distant 2nd.
Supporting Actor: HSX has McKellan. Cantor has no line.
Supporting Actress: HSX has Connelly. Cantor has no line.
I was a non-participant when Crouching Tiger came out and missed "hearing" your take on it. I thought some things were great, but given the build-up was disappointed. I much prefer the more realistic fighting, but did think the acting was great. (Native Taiwanese friends say that the bandit Lo was laughably bad saying his lines, but his subtitles looked fine to me.)
But what I really liked about CTHD is that it melded the best of HK cinema (even though it was Taiwanese) with the best of Hollywood (high production values and solid acting). That had never really been done before (The Matrix and Once Upon a Time in China come closest).
My understanding is that accent problems were the primary reason why Crouching Tiger was only a modest success in East Asia (outside of Taiwan, where I understand it broke records). Supposedly Chow's Mandarin was pretty bad. But I liked how you say it: "his subtitles looked fine", so it didn't affect my enjoyment of the film.
(I realize I'm not Rask, of course.)
Arnold and Jean Claude doing a love scene, indeed. Now there is a project!
I probably would say I loved CTHD, except I was expecting to be blown away and wasn't. But there is something to say for Hollywood values. (I still like Enter the Dragon than more authentic Hong Kong fare.) And the 3 leads were terrific, and the bar room brawl is just a gas.
I've come to really appreciate the comedic talents of Jackie Chan--even in poor movies like Mr. Nice Guy there Keatonesque moments of pure rapture. Nothing he does approaches the point where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, but the two Drunken Master films, Project A and a couple of others are really good entertainment. (Dragons Forever is hilarious, sort of in spite of Jackie, who lets Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao upstage him.)
I've only seen Once Upon a Time in China I, and was impressed, but I'm not a martial artist so am more impressed by the wit of Jackie Chan than technical prowess of Jet Li.
But his movies are more slapdash. They are usually a string of great setpieces strung together with some farce, a chaste romantic subplot, and some well-worn plot. Most of his films have moments of brilliance, but none of his films are "brilliant". (The only canonical Chan films I haven't seen are Police Story 2 and the first drunken master film, which are almost impossible to find on DVD). The closest I think he comes is Miracles, as he cribs his story from a Frank Capra movie. It has the strongest story, but it is a weak entry technically. My favorites are Drunken Master II, Miracles, the Project A films, the first and third Police Story films, Young Master, Wheels on Meals, and Who Am I. Dragons Forever didn't do much for me. Everything in it is done better in Wheels on Meals, which also have Yuen Baio, Sammo Hung, with Benny Urquidez as the bad guy.
Jet Li tends to make movies that hold together much better, even though he isn't as charismatic as Chan. With Jet Li, you really should try the 2nd Once Upon a Time movie (they go rapidly downhill after that), Fists of Legend (a remake of Chinese Connection with a strong story and an amazing fight sequence at the end), and Fong Sai Yuk.
Also catch Iron Monkey if you haven't seen it. Michelle Yeoh's Wing Chun is also terrific.
Lately, I have been watching both newer wire fu films (I saw Storm Riders last month. eh.), and older films with stars and directors that I like (Yuen Biao's Dreadnaught, directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, is on deck in my DVD player).
Thanks, that's great. I hadn't known that Miracles was any good. I've been unable to find Wheels on Meals or the good Police Stories. Didn't much like Who Am I, though I thought it was basically a good idea. I did get this odd Yuen/Sammo movie Prodigal Son on DVD and can recommend it. Very uneven in tone. Sammo hardly recognizable. Great Peking Opera detail and impressive turn by Ying.
Have you seen Pedi-cab Driver? I've heard widely varying reports on that. (Then I guess we'd better get off this topic before people get sick of us.)
I haven't even heard of Pedi-cab driver.
I call my pet theory the Alien/Aliens theory.
Here's the proposition:
"Alien" because of its memorable scenes and really imaginative art direction really sticks in your memory. "Aliens" has better pacing, has fewer dull spots, and nothing as stupid as the "Here Kitty" scene that would have been ridiculed in Lon Chaney Sr. days. I think this matters, and makes "Aliens" a better movie.
However, I can understand that 5 years after watching both, "Alien" provides many striking memories and "Aliens" few. Obviously, movies like "Citizen Kane" are both memorable and "well-made". (Marial Arts tie-in: Chan/Li = Alien/Aliens)
Another "duality" I think you could explore is:
enjoy/respect. I love "Gunga Din" and admire Cassevetes films, but not vice versa.
-----
A couple of years ago I actually found some investors for an idea I was going to market to Amazon and others dealing with collaborative filtering and the other technologies that go into preference detection, so I've thought about this problem in that context. My first hire was going to be CalGal. Then the Internet imploded.
But what is your gripe against the Here Kitty scene? (I assume you mean Stanton's quest for the cat, not Weaver's - Stanton says Here Kitty a lot, but Weaver's cat rescue is an eye roller) I think it is one of the best scenes in Alien.
The greatest is Alain Resnais' Je T'Aime Je T'Aime
I don't know that Alien sticks in one's memory more than Aliens. It probably depends on whether you remember visuals or dialogue.
"Game over, man!"
"They can bill me."
"Hey, Vasquez, you ever been taken for a man?" "No. Have you?"
And "get away from her you BITCH!"
Yes, the Stanton scene. It's one of those "If you are so stupid you deserve to die horribly" scenes.
Cal,
Visually, the first movie has the interior of the alien space craft, which seems to have a truly alien aesthetic, John Hurt having the octoform smother his face and then little Butchie popping out of his stomach.
I do think the first movie did develop Ripley as a character pretty well, and I think it was a genuine breakthrough in Hollywood.
Yet, as far as storytelling craftsmanship and as you point out, dialogue, it is, I believe, clearly inferior to the Cameron movie. I know my moderately sophisticated kids who made it through Apocalypse Now, couldn't keep their eyes open through Alien.
At that point they think the Alien is a teeny little snake. I guess I agree that it is still a tad implausible, but the scene is still so damned effective in its own right (absence of score, 10 minutes of suspense, the reaction of the cat, and the appearance of the mature alien), that I can't fault it.
I do think Alien suffers from "seventiesitis", where we have mumbly dialogue and many unlikable characters (Kane is a non-entity, Ash is a soulless robot, and Lambert is a crybaby). I think Ripley mainly worked because of Weaver's performance. Ripley isn't all that nice. No one in the crew likes her, and she has the management style of a bureaucrat. But when she is left mostly alone for the last 30 minutes of the film, with no dialogue, Weaver acts her pants off.
One example is that scene where she prepares to look around the corner at the shuttle after she sets the self-destruct (right before she spots the alien and runs back to try to abort). She arches her neck, shuts her eyes, and visibly tries to muster the courage to look around the corner. I think it is at this point where the film throws off its cold, clinical take on horror and viscerally starts to terrify.
Aliens is about as close to a perfect action movie as has ever been made. But in watching the original I am reminded just how rich the source material was that Cameron had to work with.
Without Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment, this film is in deep, deep trouble. With them, this futuristic Pinocchio sports a problematic first-third, and wow of a middle third, and a schmaltzy repetition of the same scene for the last third, as Osment (Pinnochio) is forced to plead to be a "real" boy over and over and over again.
In the first segment, Osment is a mecha, a mechanical boy who can give love to his mother. He comes to a family in grief over their own boy's vegetative state, begins to grow, the son comes out of his coma, loathes Osment, and, naturally, Osment is cast out - literally, left in the woods by his "mother" in a scene that suggests cruelty and love (she knows if she gives him back to the corporation, he will be destroyed). The strength of the first third is thematic. You get the sense that Spielberg is working to say something larger about disposable life and the limits of technology, a boy left on the road like the pet of a military family. Perhaps this is why the parents are so unsympathetic. Probably a necessary issue, but as the mother becomes the focus of Osment's quest (he must become a real boy to return to the family), when you are unsympathetic to that mother, the quest is cheapened.
That "blue fairy" ends up being William Hurt, the creator of Osment. Here, the film falls apart, as Spielberg cannot resist cheap sentimentality again and again. Having Osment plead for life once is affecting. Five times is criminal.
Another problem falls under the category of continuity in art direction. For example, Osment falls into the waters of a futuristic waterland Manhattan, and floats to . . . Coney Island? When he meets Hurt, he is left alone for what appears to be a significant time, even though Hurt has gone to get the "team" responsible for making Osment. The lab is creepy, but so stagey (it even has boxes of boys, like big Barbies) as to be silly.
Osment carries the film. This kid is something special. He even got me through the execrable Pay it Forward, and his ability to interact, as opposed to act, is compelling.
Otherwise, A.I. is uneven, there is much less there than meets the eye, and the stretch run is grueling.
Grade: C-.
I just love the little scamp.
Jungle Book II, The (2003) (voice) .... Mowgli
Country Bears, The (2002) (voice) .... Beary Barrinson
Edges of the Lord (2001) .... Romek
Hunchback of Notre Dame II, The (2001) (V) (voice) .... Zephyr
Billy Elliot Boy, The (2001) (TV) (archive footage) .... Himself
... aka Omnibus: The Billy Elliot Boy (2001) (TV) (UK: series title)
Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001).... David
... aka Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001) (USA)
Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big (2000) (voice)
Pay It Forward (2000) .... Trevor 'Trev' McKinney
Discover Spot (2000) (V) (voice) .... Spot
I'll Remember April (1999) .... Peewee Clayton
Sixth Sense, The (1999) .... Cole Sear
Cab to Canada (1998) (TV) .... Bobby
Ransom of Red Chief, The (1998) (TV) .... Andy Dorset
Lake, The (1998) (TV) .... Dylan Hydecker
Last Stand at Saber River (1997) (TV) .... Davis Cable
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) (V) (voice) .... Chip (speaking)
... aka Beauty and the Beast 2 (1997) (V) (USA: promotional title)
"Murphy Brown" (1988) TV Series .... Avery Brown (1997-1998)
For Better or Worse (1996) .... Danny
Bogus (1996).... Albert Franklin
"Jeff Foxworthy Show, The" (1995) TV Series .... Matt Foxworthy
... aka "Somewhere in America" (1995)
Mixed Nuts (1994) .... Little Boy
... aka Lifesavers (1994)
Forrest Gump (1994) .... Forrest Gump Junior
"Thunder Alley" (1994) TV Series .... Harry Turner
Lies of the Heart: The Story of Laurie Kellogg (1994) (TV).... Kyle
But you don't understand what Osment is doing in the last part of the film, Julius. He's praying to the Blue Fairy in the very traditional Orthodox Jewish manner of supplicants at the Wailing Wall.
It's a bizarre film in that Spielberg isn't conflicted about his mother in any way. It's a nightmare of what his life would be like if he were.
And it's a vision of what Kubrick would have been like were he not so intent on becoming Ubergoy. (Barry Lyndon is Kubrick's most Jewish film. Rise above your station and God will cut off your leg!)
A.I. is an extremely complex work, one of Spielberg's very best. That he would make something this rskiy at this stage of his career shows just how serious a filmmaker he is.
That's interesting. My take was that he started off with risks, but eventually, slid back into his comfort zone - a suburban sentimentality. While I very much liked the performances, and parts of the film were visually impressive, I felt it didn't hand together, and after betting big, Spielberg folded his cards when the ante got too high.
I do think it is a serious work, but in the end, a mish-mash, followed by a retreat to a comfort zone.
Have you seen Iron Monkey?
I agree. I liked it much better than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Even though it used some of the same type special effects, the effects weren't as overwhelming as in Crouching Tiger, where I felt like I had to look around for an air traffic controller for these people to finally land and fight. Too much flyin in the bamboo.
The drama is getting him to stop --which can't be accomplished without the mother's intervention -- much like the word series that "imprinted" him.
He's a machine that won't shut off until it runs thorugh its cycle-- like a washer-dryer.
I did miss it. Thanks. I'll check out some of the other films the two if you mentioned. The only ones I have seen (other than the Jackie Chan movies) are iron Monkey and CTHD.
Iron Monkey NR 1993
Siunin Wong Fei-hung Tsi Titmalau
Iron Monkey NR 1977
Iron Monkey 2 NR 1996
anyway, i'm looking forward to Time Machine, Resident Evil, and still need to see Queen of the Damned. what's everyone else have on their see list?
The version that is coming out next month is Tarantino's version. It is slightly different.
It has better English subtitles, and is preceded and is followed by some some text giving some of the historical context for what is going on.
The only other major change I noticed was a soundtrack change. In the HK version, when the child Wong Fei Hung appears, you hear the signature theme music that accompanies the character in many other Wong Fei Hung movies (including the Once Upon a Time in China series). That music is curiously missing from the American release. Probably because most of us have no clue who WFH is, and why he would be introduced with such prominent theme music. Either version would be perfectly acceptable, although I might buy Tarantino's version if it has some nice extras.
Altman also reveals that he and Warren Beatty didn't get along very well on the classic film McCabe & Mrs. Miller.
"Warren and I don't like each other very much," Altman said. "I think he's certainly a good actor. He was great in McCabe. But I wouldn't go through that again. It's no fun."
Go Bob! I hated that picture.
Apparently, Sutherland and Gould were so upset by his anarchic style that they tried to get him fired. Altman never heard of it until a year later when Gould called and apologized.
OC and Stiggs
Quintet
Pret-A-Porter
Kansas City
Gingerbread Man
(I didn't think that American Beauty was very good outside of the Wes Bentley character, but I was happy to have seen it for that reason. I've left off filmed plays as another genre.)
Altman's capacity to follow up good films with not just failed films, but terrible, awful, amateurish fare, is bewildering.
MASH
and finally a second one on the list--Gosford Park
from there it's downhill.
Haven't seen Brewster McCloud yet and don't know much about it.
Gosford Park (2001)
Cookie's Fortune (1999)
Player, The (1992)
Streamers (1983)
Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976)
Nashville (1975)
California Split (1974)
Thieves Like Us (1974)
Long Goodbye, The (1973)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Brewster McCloud (1970)
MASH (1970)
Ass Munching Altman Films
Dr. T & the Women (2000)
Gingerbread Man, The (1998)
Kansas City (1996)
Prêt-à-Porter (1994)
Short Cuts (1993)
Popeye (1980)
Altman Films I've never Seen
Vincent & Theo (1990)
Beyond Therapy (1987)
Dumb Waiter, The (1987) (TV)
Fool for Love (1985)
O.C. & Stiggs (1985)
Secret Honor (1984)
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
Images (1972)
H.E.A.L.T.H. (1979)
Perfect Couple, A (1979)
Quintet (1979)
Wedding, A (1978)
3 Women (1977)
I think Short Cust is replacing Nashville as the definitive Altman film, so I'm surprise to find you have such a low opinion of it. I thought it very good, but a step below Nashville, McCabe, Long Goodbye, California Split (glad you liked it too.)
Haven't seen and am surprised at presence of Buffalo Bill and Cookie's Fortune, which I don't think are well regarded.
In any case, I think Altman dismissing American Beauty as rubbish with all of his junk in the closet.
PofJ->I can understand someone enjoying Popeye and the reversion to the older world of the strips, but calling it Great seems pretty far-fetched. I liked the middle OK and hated the end. It's too pretentious to have any camp appeal, IMHO.
Well, "Great to Good" gives me some latitude (hence, the inclusion of the amusing but slight Buffalo Bill). And I think Cookie's Fortune was an adept, charming movie.
I didn't like Short Cuts, but for the life of me, I can't remember precisiely why. I'll rent it this week and get back to you with a revised opinion or a recovered memory.
Nashville, McCabe, Long Goodbye are first-rate, and California Split is woefully underrated.
Cookie's Fortune had a terrible ending that ruined an otherwise decent film, although Altman's mysogyny (sp) strikes again.
Come back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean is enjoyable, but minor.
O.C. & Stiggs is truly weird, and i like it very much. But it's an acquired taste.
Quintet is the weirdest of all. Wish I liked it more. It would appear to have everything I like in a movie, but it just doesn't work somehow.
I've always enjoyed A Wedding. Lillian Gish plays a dead body. Carol Burnet, Mia Farrow and Lucille Ball's kid are in it, along with a cast of thousands. It's where old money Chicago meets new money Kentucky at the wedding reception. It zings all over the place.
I haven't seen evidence yet of Short Cuts replacing Nashville in that position. Short Cuts does have its followers, but its greatest supporters, in my experience, regard Nashville as even more definitive.
I guess I probably overstated it.
Chicago Tribune's Michael Wilmington puts Short Cuts on top and he is a major Altman buff. (In fact, he believes an article he wrote when he was in LA led to Altman getting the backing for "The Player".)
Many reviews referred to GP as best film since Short Cuts, which I'll grant doesn't mean much, but Short Cuts is prominently displayed at the "recommended" DVD racks video stores I've frequentd, whereas it has been hard to find a copy of Nashville. It may be that the Nashiville DVD has not been out for long.
The best part was her explaining away his anti-semitism and she doesn't address the comments about him being a racist...I mean he worked for Rand, it doesn't get much scarier.
The point-person on all of this is a former friend of mine named Terry Press. She's head publicity honcho at Dreamworks (back when she was at Disney she worked for Eisner and was known around town as his "pit bull") She's done a first-rate job of getting this film publicized in all sorts of places. Getting George Will to go apeshit over it was quite a coup.
But the truth will out (to mix a metaphor), and Nasser has gone far too far. She should have quit while she was ahead. Now she's in the position of having to lie about the truths she uncovered.
Needless to say she's clueless as to the implication of those truths.
I saw Gosford Park for a second time last night and now think much more highly of it. Some of the things that annoyed me on first viewing were now givens, so didn't worry me as much.
The only movie I can think of that improved in my estimation as much on a second viewing was Magnificent Ambersons. It does seem a weakness to say that a movie requires a second viewing, but I'd say 75% of the movies I really love or respect were better on a second viewing. (Citizen Kane was an exception oddly. It's dash and originality were most forceful on first viewing and the tedium and "inevitability" of the last 40 minutes more pronounced on subsequent viewings.)
I can't say I've ever change opinion completely with any film other than maybe Easy Rider, which I saw the first week it played and was later embarrassed by my enfatuation with it.
With Altman it's easy to be distracted by certain aspects of plot and character that don't become clear until the film is over. In "Gosford Park," for instance, it's really not necessary to know exactly why certain characters are pissed off by Michael Gambon. Moreover it's for some a subtle point on first viewing to realize that the servants are far more important than the masters in terms of the story.
A number of good melodramas seem to improve on repeated viewings. Out of Africa and The Way We Were, for example. Both are films that I thought were merely okay on first viewing and now I quite enjoy them (the former more than the latter).
I have never much cared for Citizen Kane; haven't seen The Magnificent Ambersons. I love The Third Man to distraction, though.
Especially if he's got dimples. (badumpdump)
By the way, The Third Man is another film that gets better in my estimation--or I've found more to pity in poor Holley Martins as I've aged. Based on my experience, it's also one of the movies with a generally "arty" pretensions that most people recognize as great.
Yes. I think of it as the greatest of the auteur films--or at least my favorite.
Holly Martins works because of Joseph Cotten, a very underrated actor delivering what I think is his best and bravest performance.
I think melodramas can improve on repeated viewings if they are structured well. Out of Africa does a beautiful job of taking away everything from a woman who just juts her chin and keeps on trying for more, and at the end, she is not quite defeated.
The impact of Welles' first appearance in the doorway has never lessened even after repeated viewings.
I retell this because it almost seems to be a comment on Harry Lime. Except for the fact it really is an incandescent performance with fascinating lines.
The movie I always think plays on this story is Pulp Fiction, where everybody in the movie says how Mr. Wolf will take care of things and everybody in the audience is impressed with Harvey Keitel. (In spite of the fact I love him, I felt the whole deal gave off more light than heat.)
But all the performances are outstanding: Cotton, Welles, Howard, Q, and the furrin chick.
CalGal--Welles is used rather teasingly like the shark in Jaws or T&A in some rock videos. I do wonder why he trusts Holly enough for the final meeting, unless it is his egoism conquering judgment.
Cop--I've wondered, too. Given that the Europeans are incredibly cynical, I've wondered if this was just their notion of the fool romantic things we 'murricans get up to.
"I do wonder why he trusts Holly enough for the
final meeting, unless it is his egoism conquering judgment."
Harry does talk about needing someone to trust. I think his motives still aren't all that clear, but Holly is the focus of the story, not Harry. I think it works better that Harry remains somewhat mysterious.
I've been tempted to read his book on Laughton, having just seen "Old Dark House". (I'd trade the careers of such celebrated directors as Nick Ray, Sirk, Sam Fuller and Siodmak in order to preserve "Night of the Hunter". Of course, nobody is forcing me to do make the choice. This is one of the "taste" tests I've come up with: in music it goes like "How can Revolver be universally regarded as better than Rubber Soul, when I miss the existence of Norwegian Wood, and maybe In My Life, more than the existence of all of Revolver?" (In this thought experiment I take Alien over Aliens, despite what I've said earlier.)
This leads to a Gosford Park question. I've seen the moody Laird Cregar version of the Lodger. Have any of you seen the Hitchcock version with Ivor Novello (1926) or the one he wrote and starred in (1932) which is the one that Maggie Smith's character mocks him for? I had assumed that this was an anachronistic reference to the 1926 movie and hadn't known about the 32 version.
I still need to see (and doable at either the theater or by rental):
Ali
Black Hawk Down
Memento
Monster's Ball
Sexy Beast
Probably not doable:
Ghost World
Johnny Neutron
Mulholland Drive
The Affair of the Necklace
The Man Who Wasn't There
And while I don't even try to make the foreign list, I wish I had seen Amelie.
My father saw Monster's Ball and thought it was hard to watch, but good. Not his sort of film at all, so it must be extremely watchable.
What in GP gives away the year? I don't recall.
I would recommend asking in the tech forum of dvdtalk.com, or running a search at Panasonic.
GJ: Amelie is still in some theaters (In fact it is just about to start at my local theater (Oak Park IL) tomorrow. My son gets extra credit in French so we're going.)
You know, I just figured it was the TV, but maybe it is the DVD player. I can check, too--one of the advantages of having four DVD players. Well, two of them are in computers. But still.
If it's not the TV, I'll be a lot happier.
here's a history of the poll
Sight & Sound Multi Year
here's a site that shows the 1992 list with availability on video:
Last Poll with VHS/DVD
And where is Monkey Business (the Hawks version)? Why does everyone ignore that classic?
Meanwhile in other movie news --
Another letter about Sylvia Nasser's lies.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Sexy Beast
Gosford Park
Monster's Ball
The Royal Tenenbaums
BEST ACTOR
Gene Hackman - The Royal Tenenbaums
John Cameron Mitchell - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Ray Winsome - Sexy Beast
Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind
Billy Bob Thornton - Monster's Ball
BEST ACTRESS
Halle Berry - Monster's Ball
Nicole Kidman - The Others
Tilda Swinton - The Deep End
Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge
Naomi Watts - Mulholland Drive
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angelica Huston - The Royal Tenenbaums
Fionnula Flanagan - The Others
Maggie Smith - Gosford Park
Jennifer Connelly - A Beautiful Mind
Alakina Mann - The Others
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
Vince Vaughan - Made
Ving Rhames - Baby Boy
Peter Boyle - Monster's Ball
Goran Visnjic - The Deep End
Other Good Films
With a Friend Like Harry
The Taste of Others
Startup.com
The Tailor of Panama
Baby Boy
Made
Memento
Legally Blonde
The Deep End
Moulin Rouge
Black Hawk Down
Wet Hot American Summer
Ghost World
The Others
Will See Pre-Oscars
In The Bedroom
Training Day
Heist
Joy Ride
Will See Later
Ali
Amores Perros
Diamond Men
Happy Accidents
L.I.E.
Lumumba
Our Lady of the Assassins
The Man Who Wasn't There
The Devil's Backbone
Ides of March and all.
Thanks for the concern. I'm wearing my kevlar toga.
Cal, Duck
Everyone I know who has seen Joy Ride dug it (except for you, duck). So, even though you warned me on A.I., I'm going to have to bite.
By the way, Joy Ride, Heist and Sexy Beast are all out, and Training Day comes out 3/19.
as for Joy Ride, you might like it, but it's a pretty weak film - and you won't even appreciate the nice ass shot of the cute male lead.
Great, charming very funny French film about the intersection of a businessman, an actress, and their coteries. Got rottentomatoes.com's highest rating (which means not that it was the best, but that it was the least negative film of 2001). Grade: B+.
My only hope for Mulholland Falls is pay-for-view, and I haven't seen it listed there.
In 2001, Egyptian authorities carried out wide-scale arrests of members of "homosexual organizations" the arrested were tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison. Another wave of arrests took place in January 2002. Recently, French composer and multimedia artist Jean Michel Jarre, who produced the opera celebration of the millennium at the Great Pyramids, spearheaded a protest action against the arrests.
The protest was joined by many French celebrities. Jarre also declared his intentions to discuss gay rights with Egyptian leaders. A few days later, Egyptian film producer Yusef Shaheen told AFP that he supported Jarre's activities and explained that whenever the Egyptian authorities find themselves in political or economic trouble, they contrive a moral scandal to cover their failures. Since then, Jarre, Shaheen, and homosexuality itself have been the object of harsh criticism by the Egyptian press.
Muhammad Abd Al-Mun'im Murad, a columnist for the Egyptian government daily Al-Akhbar, wrote, "I do not know why this perversion [homosexuality] has spread so conspicuously, either here in Egypt or globally... What is regrettable is that this distressing phenomenon is accompanied by campaigns. . . defending the perverts' right to do as they wish with their bodies…"
"A man must remain a man, and a woman must remain a woman. Each gender is entitled by Islamic religious law to protect the [nature] of the sex Allah made him or her. . ."
"Similarly, Egyptians see procuring between an active and a passive pervert or procuring between a man and a woman for the purpose of sexual perversion and for depravity as one of the most loathsome acts of which anyone can be accused. People who have in the past found themselves imprisoned [in Egypt] were stunned by the depravity committed by the perverts, both secretly and openly. Those accused of sex crimes and vice are the lowest of the low [in prison], and they are treated worse than murderers, thieves, swindlers, counterfeiters, or burglars. Crimes of sexual perversion are the worst a man can commit in the eyes of conservative Egyptians.. . A man must remain a man.
Moreover, the quality of manliness is connected in peoples' consciousness with honor, morality, and loyalty... The causes of the spread of this perversion in our country must be investigated." (1)
Al-Akhbar columnist Suniya 'Abbas addressed Jarre directly: "Who are you to protest [the treatment of homosexuals in Egypt]? Who told you that perverts have rights in Egypt, that you should defend them?! Who told you we would accept your protest, or the protest of the entire world, and defend the perverts?! Who told you this protest would be echoed by any [Egyptian] official?!… Egypt permitted you to produce the millennium show, but it will not allow you to meddle with its legal rulings. Oh Mr. Jean, oh 'Frenchman': This is an Egyptian legal ruling, and it was handed down only after the evidence proved their guilt. This guilt arises from the monotheistic religion, and any reasonable, mentally balanced man who respects his religion and protects morality condemns this act. In short, your protest is religiously and morally unacceptable – even if you are a famous producer, as the papers claim!! Your fame will not increase, and you will earn no respect from the public because you defend the perverts. On the contrary – even if the West recognizes this deed [homosexuality] and grants rights to [its perpetrators], the countries of the East are revolted and shamed by it." (2)
There is no better director at shooting highways and bars.
C+.
Yusef Shaheen was the target of severe censure. Hisham Mubarak wrote in Al-Akhbar, "...I do not understand why Shaheen left his post behind the camera to become a political and economic commentator – as if we had any lack of commentators. [I do not understand why he] declared to the French news agency, after shedding traditional Egyptian dress and donning 'French' dress, that every time an economic problem crops up, they – meaning the Egyptians – try to hide it with a scandal that will inflame the people. . ."
In the A'akhir Sa'a weekly, Hassan 'Allam also attacked Shaheen: "…Oh, the shame! When a man reaches old age, he usually turns to Allah [to ask forgiveness] for his sins… But Yusef Shaheen, aged 75, went to Paris so that the perverts 'would make use of him!"
"If you have no shame, Yusef Shaheen, do whatever you like. All monotheistic religions prohibit the perversion of homosexuality… but Yusef Shaheen has his own school of religious thought, and a religion different from the monotheistic religions. So he defends perverts, homosexuals, and lesbians."
"If Yusef Shaheen is a Christian, then I remind him that… both the Old and New Testaments include about 10 perfectly clear passages on this matter, most of which discuss penalties deterring the sin of the perversion."
"Perhaps the homosexuals find limited support in liberal Europe and therefore their voices rise… But in Egypt the situation is completely different, just as in the other Eastern cultures. We despise them, and they arouse our loathing and nausea." (5)
Leading Egyptian Government Officials and Scientists: 'Perverts, [namely homosexuals] Must Be Thrown Off Mountaintops, Killed, or Burned'
"Despite Western criticism, imprisonment is not a severe enough punishment to deter these perverts. Islamic law states that they should be thrown from a high place. The clerics agreed that anyone who commits this abomination must be thrown off a mountaintop. Others maintain that the wall of a house should be knocked down on him." (7)
Dr. Abd Al-Hadi Misbah, a lecturer at Al-Azhar University's faculty of medicine, took a "scientific" approach. "It is known that sexual perversion damages the anus, because Allah made the anus delicate in order to allow the passing of the things that exit from it. But during the perverted act, transfer of the microbes in the blood that comes out of the anus occurs. We, as men of medicine and religion, must base our defense of religion on science, because the West tries to destroy religion and justify such acts [homosexuality] with science. We must confront the research of the West with our own scientific studies that refute their false claims…" (8)
Dr. 'Ali Al-Sibki, lecturer on Islamic culture at Cairo University, presented the various approaches to executing homosexuals. "The wisdom of prohibiting homosexuality stems from the fact that the continuation of human propagation depends on the relationship between man and woman… For this reason, deviation from this behavior constitutes heresy, which requires the penalty set out by Islamic religious law… There is a [scholarly religious] dispute regarding how they should be killed: One opinion is that the penalty for fornication should be applied to homosexuals, as [the act involves] penetration of a bodily orifice prohibited by religious law…
Endnotes:(1) Al-Akhbar (Egypt), February 7, 2002.(2) Al-Akhbar (Egypt), February 7, 2002. (3) Al-Akhbar (Egypt), February 17, 2002.(4) Al-Akhbar (Egypt), February 14, 2002.(5) A'akhir Sa'a (Egypt), February 20, 2002.(6) Al-Haqiqa (Egypt), February 16, 2002.(7) Al-Haqiqa (Egypt), February 16, 2002.(8) Al-Usb'u (Egypt), February 18, 2002.(9) Al-Usb'u (Egypt), February 18, 2002.(10) Al-Usb'u (Egypt), February 18, 2002.
Egypt's greatest filmmaker -- his life is now clearly in grave danger.
Pretty standard, uncomplicated storyline that uses the prehistoric backdrop only as a vehicle for featuring animals that are, uh, prehistoric.
How standard?
The minute the evil Sabre-tooth Tiger is introduced, my daughter asks: "He's bad, right?"
ME: "Yup".
HER: "...but he's gonna be good at the end, right?"
Exactly.
Being a big fan of Wells I thought I would sit through it...which i did but really regret. what a waste of time and money. What a disaster.
Who'd ever have guessed I'd become a satellite movie widow? Bob gets way more into movies on Dish than I do, though I've watched some. I'll bet he's watched over 20 movies in this recent rainy spell.
We watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon last night.
Get a video camera set up on a tripod in the bedroom and hook up a feed to one of the TV channels. Then do a striptease as he's zapping around the channels. That way he'll probably give you some attention on the commercial breaks.
The Laramie Project was gripping. But you all knew that already. I would have preferred that they stuck with the words of the people of Laramie and not interjected the self referential stuff about the film crew. I didn't need to have the hatefulness filtered through the point of view of the interviewers in order to get the point.
Baby Boy was a delightful and effective peek into black culture for this white boy. Ving Rhames can cook me breakfast anytime!
The movie itself was not that great, but I really liked the special effects. We went to this cool movie theater/restaurant in Plano. They had this cool setup for taking your order during the movie: they pass out menus and little plastic boxes as you enter the movie. You press a button on the box, it lights up, and someone comes over to take your order.
Sexy Beast -- Partner and I saw this on DVD, which was helpful because we could run the captions while watching it in wide-format. The English dialects are almost not comprehensible.
Four middle-aged Brits, the men mobsters, their wives mixed up in that world, have escaped England for sunny, rocky Spain. They live in minimalist and beautiful white washed modern villas with stylish swimming pools and always a vast blue sky and pure heat. At night they eat in nice restaurants and tell silly stories and act thankful to be away from their old lives and their wet, cold native country.
Till Ben Kingsley arrives to summon Gal back to England for another job. Kingsley is the devil in purest form, or at least a high ranking demon. He is terror, only slightly crazier than the men we have all watched on The Sopranos. And he doesn't take no for an answer.
The cinematography is excellent, the feel very European, and in a general sense, sexy, fast, and sleek, even if the main character, Gal, has lost his former good looks and taste for the criminal life. He is now overweight, but wears his orange bikini proudly, floating in his beloved swimming pool, joking with the Spanish pool boy who has adoped them all.
The description of the heist is told like water trickling down a multi-levered fountain, with words coming from one character in one time and place and then continued by another in another time and place, making up a whole story.
Billy Bob Thornton is sexy. Somebody else told me that yesterday after we saw the movie. And I suppose in a Humphrey Bogart sort of way, he is.
In this movie, he is head of an execution unit in a Georgia penitentiary. Peter Boyle is his aging father, a retired prison guard, a particularly nasty fellow who has nothing but ugly things to say about everybody. Heath Ledger, the former beautiful boy in Patriot and Knight's Tale plays Thornton's pathetic son who also works on his dad's detail. They live together in a house with cheap paneling and old flower print wallpaper.
The father, confined to the house, watches television like it is a morphine drip, with oxygen tank and tube close by, and a walker. The son is always in the shadow. Father and grandfather are racist, and unforgiving of weakness.
The execution of Sean 'Puffy' Comb's character sets off a series of tragedies that improbably brings Thornton together with Halle Berry, who happed to be married to Combs. Executioner and the dead man's wife in love?
Grace, when it finally comes, occurs in a quiet moment when Berry and Thornton are sitting on the back porch, eating chocolate ice cream.
Berry deserves her nomination. Despite her beauty, we see her desparation and frustration, her powerful nervousness. Thornton makes the leap from cultural racist to Berry's lover. Boyle is a nastier version of his Everybody Loves Raymond character, and provides the one funny scene in the movie. Heath Ledger, has a wonderful southern voice, hurt and sweet, and appears completely against type as skinny and weak. I suppose actors like to play big death scenes, and Combs was good enough to make me wonder if he was more than a little nervous at even imagining being in such a place as a southern electric chair.
The title comes from the party death row inmates throw the night before one is executed. Like Green Mile, we are led to believe that guards who routinely deal with executions try to create some sense of civility and ritual, a peculiar sense of manners and respect.
Last year I saw an art book, all photographs of American prison execution chambers. It is a hard business and one we don't see much. Not the point of this movie, it still gets used as a sobering device. MB is not a movie of the week.
By normal standards, it was a success, approaching $200 million. But based on expectations, it was a disappointment. Word of mouth was poor, and there was little repeat business.
I thought it was a typical mediocre Hollywood blockbuster - a string of FX heavy action sequences strung together with a bad screenplay and an uninteresting love story.
It was watchable, but the event deserved better than to be given such formulaic treatment.
David Mamet's tough patter works best when it is not in a tough genre or it is clearly in a stage format. It also requires really good actors who commit to the language.
Heist, however, is a conventional action/theft picture, and several of the actors (most surprisingly, Gene Hackman) don't seem sold on the material. Especially bad are Mamet's wife, Rebecca Pidgeon, Sam Rockwell and Delroy Lindo. Danny Devito and longtime Mamet regular Ricky Jay have it down, but having it down does not help when the rest of the ensemble is fumbling.
Worse, this is not very good Mamet. "Cute as a bag of kittens" and "cute as a Chinese baby" in one film is too cute by half a Chinese kitten. And it's time for mamet to shelve a bunch of characters talking about "the thing."
Last, the tried and true Mamet double double of The Spanish Prisoner and House of Games is not very exciting.
Grade: D.
None of these films is the best picture of 2001, an honor that should be bestowed on Monster's Ball. Loathe as I am to rely upon Roger Ebert -- who gave four stars to David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, best summarized by Cellar as follows: "Lynch's bag o' tricks is empty. You seen one creature that lives behind a dumpster on Sunset, you seen 'em all" -- Ebert has never been more right in characterizing a film: "The movie has the complexity of great fiction, and requires our empathy as we interpret the decisions that are made--especially at the end, when the movie avoids an obligatory scene that would have been conventional and forces us to cut straight to the point."
Monster's Ball is the tale of two people on the margins, Georgia death row correctional officer Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton) and single mother Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry). Their lives intersect after numerous tragedies, the common one being that Hank presided over the execution of Leticia's condemned ex-husband (rapper and mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs, in a surprisingly restrained performance). Wounded and tortured, Hank and Leticia collide and together, work to pick up the pieces of their failed lives.
Monster's Ball rejects portraying Leticia as a lessongiver or maker. Instead, it explores the nuances of interaction between poor whites and blacks in today's South, expressing Hank's reflexive racism as enforced by his ailing bigot of a father (Peter Boyle) and capturing the results when years of outwardly directed hatred corrodes Hank's insides. There are no speeches nor is there overt moralizing. Hank's hatred is simmering, and it is often in doubt whether he will succumb to it. Leticia is critical in determining the result, not as archtype, but as a real flesh and blood character. I don't know what it is about Thornton, but he has been involved in a slew of films that have deftly portrayed the economic and racial minefield of the modern South, including The Apostle, One False Move, Sling Blade, and A Family Thing.
Monster's Ball will not be feted at an Oscar ball on March 24th. Oscar is an inconsistent judge. 1988's Rain Man and 1994's Forrest Gump were passable at the time, and now wear as well as your father's 1976 sideburns, bell bottoms and driving hat. Oscar can be cruel. Martin Scorsese has gotten hosed twice by actors taking their hand at directing, first in 1980, when Robert Redford's Lifetime Channel drama Ordinary People edged out Raging Bull, and then again in 1990, when Kevin Costner's travelogue Dancing with Wolves overshadowed Goodfellas. I am with Altman on 1997's Titanic over L.A. Confidential.
Monster's Ball is neither sweeping or somnambulate. It is the best film of the 2001.
re: MB & Oscar: Hollywood doesn't deal in stories set to human sized scale well.
I always thought the best criticism of The English Patient was the scene from Seinfeld where Elaine stood up in the middle of the theater and cried, "Die, damn it. Just die."
"too cute by half a Chinese kitten" made my day.
I actually liked Pidgeon in Winslow Boy, but she usually takes a beating.
Re: Mulholland Drive
I've been holding off on this. I wanted my 16-year-old to see Blue Velvet first. I really can't believe MD is better. Am I deluded? (I guess I know what Cellar would say.)
They still have some drawbacks. Their turnaround on returns is pretty slow, and they need an east coast distribution center. Also, they are very slow in getting new releases from Criterion and Anchor Bay (I finally rented Wicker Man at Hollywood, of all places, because Netflix still wasn't carrying it several months after release).
Blockbuster would have a real problem on the Net. Their success is due to convenience (they are ubiquitous) and they are likely to have a new release in stock even on a Friday night. But the huge number of Friday rentals shows something else - Blockbuster shoppers shop at the last minute. But if you rent on the Internet you have to plan ahead. As such, having a huge supply of new releases on hand on a weekend isn't going to be an advantage if they go up against Netflix.
And if Blockbuster adopted Netflix' business model, I think they would fail. Too many people hate Blockbuster, and Netflix is already established. I doubt they would do much better than Barnes and Noble did against Amazon.
JC,
I don't know what it is about Thornton, but he has been involved in a slew of films that have deftly portrayed the economic and racial minefield of the modern South, including The Apostle, One False Move, Sling Blade, and A Family Thing.
He comes from my part of AR and his characters and locations are based on what he grew up with. He was born in an all white community and raised in an integrated but not really racially comfortable one.
We meant to at least see LOTR, but when Bob's dad got sick we didn't go anywhere, and it just hasn't been convenient for me to go to a movie lately. It's one of the few recent movies I've really wanted to see in theaters.
LOVED A Family Thing, BTW. Didn't much care for Monster's Ball.
My favorite films about race remain Shadows and The Cool World (both directed by white people.)
Oh, I agree that recommendations have little to do with Netflix success. But the number of people I know who finally got fed up with paying BB late fees is not insignificant--clearly, BB was trying to sock the disorganized yuppie for some extra profit, and who can blame them?
You mention the other factors that killed BB for me: the horrible crowds and poor selection. Had Blockbuster managed to stay ahead of the curve on either one, I might not have left--at least I wouldn't have left as soon as I did (two years ago), because I'm definitely not the early adopter. But they clearly weren't willing to put up the money to build the same depth in DVDs that they had in video, and I just wasn't willing to wait in those obscene lines for nothing more than the limited DVD fare they were offering.
Netflix will probably never be the service of choice for people who just want to walk into the store on Friday night and pick up the latest release. But that group might dwindle over time if they don't fix their crowds. How can they be that damn crowded if there are so many stores?
I speak as someone who was quite fond of BB for a number of years, and defended it stoutly when elitists bitched about its power and influence. It offered a great service for a number of years. But they really weren't prepared for the success of DVD.
saw Time Machine opening weekend. didn't think much of it. not enough action and intrigue like in the book, but too much yakking and googly-eyes making like in most Hollywood movies. some cool special effects - the head Morlock was pretty cool. overall, this shoulda been a rental. waste of money otherwise. 2 quacks out of 5.
rented Heartbreakers not expecting much. i wasn't disappointed. it was funny in parts, had some great characaterizations, but it just lacked anything that made it a good movie. it was just another grifter-done-gone-good flick. while i like Jason Mewes, he is hardly leading man material. overall, a funny engaging piece of fluff worth a rental. 2 ¾ quacks out of five.
rented The One was a great example of why Jet Li is a star. a fast paced, sci-fi action movie that really delivers. the 'science' was weak and some of the acting ridiculous, but all of this is easily over looked for some of the awesome fighting and FX sequences. a must rent for sci-fi and/or action lovers. 4 of 5 quacks.
I don't know how many of you remember this group. They were a San Francisco troupe from the late 60's who pretty much invented "genderfuck" :Hippie drag queens with beards covered in glitter, plus a smattering of women and even a few straight men. They performed at the Palace theater in make-shift shows that largely consisted of them parading about in outlandish outfits and singing old songs. One night Rex Reed and Truman Capote came and saw them and were Over the Moon excited. Reed wrote a column that was syndicated throughout the country at that time. He hailed them as the Next Big Thing. So a guy named Erroll Weston brought them to New York in 1971 for a two-week run at the Anderson theater -- a Yiddish vaudeville houe on the Lower East Side. Opening night (whoch I attended) wasamagnificent Disaster. Tout New York was there. I satin the same row with helmut berg and Robert Rauschenberg. The audience wa so high on itself that they were in no real mood for a show. Sylvester was the Cockettes opening act. He came on and sang and brought down the house. Little surprise that he later became a Disco Diva. Then came the Cockettes and the evening went right down the drain. New York was used to real drag pros like Charles Ludlam, Jackie Curtis, Candy Darling and the like. The Cockettes were spirited amateurs but no more than tha.
The documentary has recent interviews with surviving Cockettes and much footage of them in their heyday, including clips from Cockettes movies Elevator Girls in Bondage, and Tricia's Wedding.
Probably the most famous Vietnam war protest ptoto shows a long-haired blonde youth sticking a flower into a National Guardsman's rifle outside the Pentagon.
That young man was "Hibiscus."
It was, needless to say, a hop skip and a jump from the Pentagon to the Cockettes.
But "success" destroyed things for "Hibiscus." He wanted to give free shows. Sebastian, the manger of the Palace theater was charging $2 dollars admission and trying as best he could to pay cast members.
But "Hibiscus" would have none of it and quit The Cockettes before the new York fiasco. They returned to Sn Francisco and survived for a year or somore. He went to New York with the newly-reformed "Angels ofLight." I saw him there at the Theater For the New City. He was quite charming. he died in 1982 -- one of the first "name" victims of what was then called "Gay Cancer."
Not sure precisely when this film is opening. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES MISS IT!
I thought Weaver and especially Liotta were hysterical in Heartbreakers. Liotta should work a lot more, I swear.
yeah, that was my thought as well. he carried his weight through some stuff that would be hard for most to carry and still seem 'real'.
My main problem with Liotta is that he picks lousy movies and makes odd career choices. But I almost always enjoy watching him. I liked him in Field of Dreams, Dominick and Eugene, Copland, even though I didn't much care for the latter two films. I hated that damn Corrina movie, but I thought he was as likeable as could be managed.
But I was really surprised that they had so much trouble with the ending. The DVD shows 4 different endings that they worked on before they came up with the one in the movie. Which is weird, because the one used in the film fits so well that it is hard to believe it wasn't designed that way at the beginning.
And I could have sworn that was Ted "it puts the lotion in the basket" Levine as the voice of Rusty Nail, but he wasn't credited. The IMDB, however, lists him as the voice, so I am glad to know I am not going crazy.
My father in law "dated" Candy Darling a few times...none of us have had the nerve to tell him some of the finer details...perhaps he knew them, but i suspect not.
(this is the guy who threw an Andy Warhol in the garbage--thankfully someone who knew better rescued it--and sold a Dali sketch to his fence for a hundred bucks...)
I trust you're writing your memoirs, betty.
I'm a big Magnificent Amberson's fan but can't for the life of me see how Welles could see Tim Holt in the part. Nora Gregor is famously miscast in Rules of the Game.
I never understood the enthusiasm for Rules of the Game, but the acting wasn't the problem. I know I need to see it again. I thought I had heard Criterion was working on a DVD.
I Know Where I'm Going!--outstanding romance set on a Scottish isle, with Wendy Hiller in a rare leading role as a headstrong, materialistic girl on her way to marry a rich daddy substitute. According to the IMDB, Paramount used this movie as an example of the perfect screenplay, showing it to any studio writers who were stuck with a problem or needed inspiration.
We Were Soldiers--excellent war movie, kept from top league by a lousy script. Gibson is solid, and Sam Elliot even better as his second in command. The telling of the first major battle in Vietnam is remarkable for being the first that shows the opposition as something other than a faceless enemy. I also found it very informative regarding the logistics of warfare in that era--I used to wonder how so many people could die via friendly fire. No more.
Klute--I've seen it before, but not in a long time and not in widescreen. Fonda is unusually good, Sutherland even better.
Wonder Boys--This is the film that should have gotten Douglas a nomination in 2000. Very enjoyable movie about a writer and his wreckage of a life, with another sublime supporting turn by Robert Downey Jr. Tobey Maguire is his usually blank self, but it's more bearable than in Cider House.
Breakheart Pass--I've always wanted to see this Bronson film based on an Alistair McClean novel and happily enough, it didn't disappoint. Good action film, strong supporting performances by a cast that is, by and large, still working, with outstanding fight scene on top of a moving train. Yakima Canutt did the second unit work.
Films I have rented from them that have been impossible to get from Netflix: Solaris, Written on te Wind, Arbuckle and Keaton, I Claudius, Suspiria, Chushingura, and Scarlet Empress. Plus a few Hong Kong titles that Netflix never has in stock. I have some Dreyer and Herzog films ready to ship next that Netflix simply doesn't even stock, like Ordet, Gertrud, Aguirre, and Caspar Hauser.
I subscribe to both, and use them to supplement each other. If a film is non-existent, or "very long wait" at Netflix, I can often find it readily available at Numberslate.
Re Rules of the Game: having the same trouble with someone at work. My brother and I both think it is the greatest movie made. Many critics consistently rated tops (it was No. 1 in the Positif poll), but I haven't actually gotten anybody to watch it who wasn't lukewarm. Again, I liked it better 2nd time around.
Also, only the Kino Keaton seems available. My brother has Laserdisks based on the Rohauer holdings. Anybody have an opinion? I've been holding off on the Kino's.
I own Scarlet Empress but haven't watched it. (I've always thought it has the best "stills" of any movie though watching on a small TV years ago I wasn't impressed. Other great stills from Lillian Gish's Romola, which I've never been able to see.)
Other Renoir films are much more ambitious -- both technically and thematically. Of the works of that period I much prefer Le Crime de M. Lange. As for the later films The Golden Coach is peerless.
I know about Rules of the Games' rep, which is why I will watch it again. When my views are that far outside the mainstream consensus, I usually try to watch the film at least twice more. Sometimes I change my opinion (Godfather, Lawrence of Arabia - both first seen pan and scan VHS on a 13" TV screen), and sometimes I don't (Searchers, Vertigo).
I guess I'm befuddled on Rules. As it gathers momentum it seems so rich, varied, humane, incisive, exciting that it just blows me away in the way that Don Giovanni does or Middlemarch and Charterhouse of Parma do. (My current no. 2 film is probably Pather Panchali, the first of the Apu movies, then maybe The General and Seven Samurai. I have met people who like those.)
But I suppose we could still do it just to see how much the results vary. What I had in mind was to have people submit two ballots - one with their #1 choice for the top 4 categories. The other an "approval" ballot, naming which winners they would be willing to tolerate in each category. Results would then be tallied and compared.
How does that sound for methodology?
I think we can all think of better movie psychos than "Nicholson's Joker" and "DeNiro's Capone".
Haven't seen Sexy Beast, but it sounds like Kingsley is on another level like Pesci in "Goodfellas", Mitchum in "Night of the Hunter" (or "Cape Fear"), Cagney in "White Heat".
But then I can't really be objective as he's my second favorite filmmaker of all time.
But I'm puzzled that Fellini is so lionized, when nobody talks about Joseph Losey as a great director, in spite of The Go-Between and The Servant which I'd rather have than all of Fellini and Antonioni (except La Notte).
Well, there are only so many films I can see in a week. Therefore being a completist on a film maker like Felinni, of whom I have never seen a film I really liked, is a very low priority.
But as I said, I will give his earlier films a try if I can find them on DVD or see them in a theater.
I'd love for you to "make the case" for 8 1/2 if you have the time (or have done so before and can revivify it.) I can normally live with pretentious, I can live with amorphous, but pretentious, amorphous and dull gives me a problem. But again, I know I'm in the minority, and realize it is probably a deficiency on my part.
It might be a deficiency on part, but I think it is more likely that his artistic sensibility just has little appeal for me.
I thought Satyricon was pretty funny, though.
But they bore me to tears. Quite simply, that which is happening on the surface is too tedious for me to care enough to watch the film again to delve into the artistic content. I recognize that there is directorial talent on display, but I just wish the damn things had a decent screenplay, or at least didn't involve unlikable characters in hopelessly contrived, usually slow-moving, situations.
See Sexy Beast. Not only is the film very tight, innovative and smart, but Kingsley's performance is neither excessive or broad.
And his performance is damn near matched by Ray Winstone and Ian McShane.
I think several actors could have done Sexy Beast, but I suspect that they would have turned in exactly the performance so feared by copans.
Writing about it atthis point in time, after having lived with it so long -- that is become an event in my life as well -- I'm moved to talk about it first and foremost as a senseual experience. This is one of those black and white fiulms that are far more beautiful than any color film could hope to be Gianni Di Vaneanzo was a master. But part of his mastery dovetails into that of Pietro Gherardi, Nino Rota and Marcello Mastroianni -- the most transparent of all great stars. He let's us inside his skin without muss or fuss.
8 1/2 also contains the purest emination of My Muse.
Yeah, Rask, that what i was thinking. How about we have them email the single vote to you, and the approval votes to me, and we'll compile them independently. Strictly speaking, we should put them through some kind of anonymization, but that's too much work.
There is a simple way to anonymize, actually. We could create a hot mail account from which voters could submit. The risk here is that people could vote more than once under that model.
So we need to decide whether that risk plus our willingness to trust people to only vote once vs the risk that people will report dishonestly because they are worried about our opinion of their opinions. We, of course, would pledge not to reveal any votes. That pledge may not credible, of course.
The rest of the model sounds fine. I have the easy job, and I'll let you worry about how to phrase the threshold for an approval vote.
We will also probably want a blurb on the main page, and make sure our two posts are fairly close to each other. So, let me know when you are ready to go, as your description will be more complicated.
Will probably see 8 1/2 within the next month.
Following your link, I'm embarrassed to say I've never heard of the Italian "Black Sunday" which seems to be Barbara's big deal.
On top of all that she's won Emmys as producer of Winds of War and War and Remembrance.
I think her son has, uh. . . potential. (If he'd just dump his extremely posessive boyfriend.)
Marion Barry's Oscar picks.
But somebody had better tell him who the murderer was in Gosford Park.
I watched the movie a few years ago and it felt so incredibly dated.
Is it just me or does anybody else find the blind guy at the party in the commerical about the bathroom fixtures a sexy fellow?
My annual Oscar quest has come down to three movies that I can see before Sunday night: Black Hawk Down, Iris, and Jimmy Neutron. I missed Ali -- it was here till last night and is at none of the re-run houses here.
Watched it this week on video. This probably repeats what Cal or others have said about it here. I was fascinated by the concept (the first third of the movie), started to get bored by the repetition (second third) and was disappointed in the pay-off.
Still, the conceit was vivid. And long after I forget the punch line, I 'll think about living without shortterm memory (I'm halfway there already).
Don't know the blind guy in the bathroom ad. It sounds like a punch line.
Pearce is out there a lot now, too, with Count of Monte Cristo and Time Machine. But I love him in Priscilla and in LA Confidential.
You're right. The phrasing is critical. Using this as our test environment makes it impossible to test different phrasings. Still, I should have it by noon.
I do...I love the way he feels the sink and realizes the entire room is beautiful. Makes you leap to the idea he could do that by "feeling" you.
Fun because it spells out a number of remarkable parallels with Moulin Rouge and American in Paris, another musical that won Best Picture.
Baz Luridman is NOT Vincente Minnelli and Nicole Kidman isn't Leslie Caron.
It's in the bag for Opie.
Does film portray alienation better than any other medium? Put a teenager walking down a not particularly interesting street, throw in a little piano music and violins, and you have got loneliness.
Edward Hopper, who liked going to the movies, could have painted any number of the people in this movie, because for the most part, they are all disconnected. Thora Birch is Enid, a high school senior who needs to take a summer school art class to get her diplomma. Birch was the daughter in American Beauty, and while her character here is more subdued in her disgust, she is still flustered by the world she inhabits. She and her close friend, Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) are going to live together in an apartment. That is the plan, but it keeps getting interrupted.
They are turned off by their classmates, and indeed find all of life boring. People are on a different frequency. Nothing makes sense. The one boy in their life, a luckless kid named Josh who works in a convenience store/yogurt shop, only does things with them when he is forced.
Bob Balaban plays Enid's dad with Terri Garr as his girlfriend. While diffident in his conversations with his daughter to the point that they hardly communicate, he appears to care for her. He just has no ability to talk with her.
Forced to take the art class from perky instructor Illeana Douglas, Enid discovers that her own cartoon drawings are labeled low art while her fellow students are praised for art that is considered shocking or political (GW was adapted from a comic book, btw).
The characters muddle on through a series of scenes, and then the movie ends with a metaphor based on a homeless man, a bus stop bench, and a bus that isn't supposed to run.
Buscemi has had an odd career, hanging out in independent movies as a high strung sad sack. He is not much of an actor, he's more of a physical symbol with his skinny, slumped frame, his less than warm voice, and his soulful eyes.
Enid's relationship with Seymour intrudes on the girl's plans, and their friendship. In the end, they are all alone.
"I've been to about five or six of them now. They're all pretty much the same: banks of photographers, a red carpet, people asking what you are wearing and did you think this would happen when you made the movie and what you think your chances are of winning the Oscar. And then you go inside and watch Russell Crowe win."
I'm glad I didn't watch it. Absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable. What a joke. The only good that can come out of this is that Julia Roberts shut her big, ignorant mouth.
* Lots of surprises, with no sweep. 4 wins being the most for the evening has got to be close to a record minimum
* Woody Allen's surprise appearance
* Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller
* Whoopi didn't have much airtime
* The songs were kept mercifully abbreviated
* Randy Newman finally won
* Halle Berry's reaction to her win was just adorable
* The Cirque du Soleil number was surprisingly good for a piece of halftime entertainment
* All my bets came in, including one on long shot Berry.
* Washington's acceptance tribute to Poitier was noble and as honest as Berry's emoting.
* Sharon Stone's dress
The major downsides:
* Berry's acceptance speech went from the sublime to the ridiculous after about 5 minutes. Her *lawyers*?
* That they had any songs at all
* Few of the candidates I was really rooting for managed to win (Memento for screenplay, for instance).
The speeches were all enjoyable and in many cases moving--although I don't care how many years it's been, Halle, you don't thank your lawyer and forget Billy Bob. But it was a great dress.
Nathan Lane "I thought Monsters, Inc. was about the Weinsteins"
hahahahahahaha
Yes, Sharon Stone's dress was seriously outstanding. Why did we get so little of her and about 8 hours of Gwyneth Paltrow's saggies, remind me?
I believe that was Woody's first Oscar appearance ever? Because they just moved it off of Mondays. It was pretty funny. (He becomes aroused by her footnotes.)
I wouldn't have bet money on supporting actor anyway. That category was really a tossup.
The other best actress nominees did a decent job of not seeming too disappointed, but what was up with Nicole Kidman?
I loved Julia Roberts' dress. Polished and very sexy.
did she? How very tacky.
Agreed, Julia and Halle both looked great. They usually do.
Oh, and I loved Kate Winslet's dress. 
Well, she kept screwing up her face as Halle cried and thanked the whole world (with the exception of Billy Bob). She did not look pleased.
Anywho, it's about damned time, is all I can say.
I really need to see Monster's Ball now. My first reaction to the knowledge that Halle Berry was the first black best actress woman is to say:
"Halle Berry? Swordfish? Boomerang? the cute-but-bland X-Man? She breaks the color barrier? Not Angela Bassett. Not Dorothy Dandridge. But the eye-candy stewardess from Executive Decision?"
But I will hold off until I see if she is as good as the hype.
Yeah, Halle Berry, star of "BAPs"
Having Washington get his Oscar the same night as Poitier is an awfully tough photo op to pass up. Particularly when you are only screwing over an asshole like Russell Crowe who just won last year. It didn't occur to me that Berry might make it a trifecta until she won the SAG award.
Not that I predicted it. I had Berry winning (just - I saw it as a toss up between her and Spacek), but I picked Crowe for Actor, although I was giving stronger odds to Denzel than most pundits.
But yeah, with all the great black actresses around these days, it's odd to think of the flight attendant from ED taking home the big prize. Oh, and add to the list of "nots" Cicely Tyson.
In addition to her awful dress, Paltrow had terrible make-up, late 60s heavy eye shadow.
Cameron Diaz had a lovely dress, but her hair looked like she hadn't washed it in, oh, three or four days.
I could have done without Tom Cruise's ponderous opening. The whole time he was talking about being in Kansas (not really) or whatever, I was thinking, gosh, I'd like to see Billy Crystal do his musical montage.
The new theater seems ok, although the stage looks a little small for such a big space. TV distorts dimensions so it may look more proportional in real life.
I agree about the clips being ok, and I'll take Cirque de Soleil anyday over Debbie Allen's tap dance tributes to Saving Private Ryan or Rob Lowe and Snow White.
Having Woody Allen and Barbara Striesand both there was suprising to me.
The Brits are more involved than they used to be. They obviously still hate the hoopla, but they were there, looking less above it all than they used to.
Look, here's the Smith family sitting all together.
The Academy seems to respond to that kind of image.
And I think he gave a strong performance in TD, as did Hawke (an actor I usually think pouts and mumbles through his roles).
Crowe was outstanding in LA Confidential and The Insider, certainly much better than in Gladiator.
The one probably shouldn't have been there nomination was Rene Zellweiger.
Contrast this with Sandra Bullock, who stole the movies in her two eye candy roles (Demolition Man and Speed).
Berry never had a lot of star quality, and has never carried a movie. She just rang up a lot of unremarkable notices in a string of mostly unremarkable films.
The only exception is her Dorothy Dandridge movie, but that was HBO.
The glass slipper commercial was fun.
I don't like her as an actress, and couldn't she have powdered down her face a bit for the show?
I haven't seen Ali, but the clip they showed of Will Smith wasn't all that great. I don't know that he should have been there.
Berry's performance is stunning, one of the best female performances in any film at any time.
I'd hate to see it mottled and coated as a token.
And God love her for thanking her lawyers.
She reminds me of Sharon Stone in her earlier days in that regard, just not as broad-like.
BEST PICTURE
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Sexy Beast
Gosford Park
Monster's Ball
The Royal Tenenbaums
BEST ACTOR
Denzel Washington - Training Day
Gene Hackman - The Royal Tenebaums
John Cameron Mitchell - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind
Billy Bob Thornton - Monster's Ball
BEST ACTRESS
Halle Berry - Monster's Ball
Nicole Kidman -The Others
Tilda Swinton - The Deep End
Nicole Kidman - Moulin Rouge
Naomi Watts - Mulholland Drive
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angelica Huston - The Royal Tenenbaums
Fionnula Flanagan - The Others
Maggie Smith - Gosford Park
Jennifer Connelly - A Beautiful Mind
Alakina Mann -The Others
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
Ray Winsome - Sexy Beast
Ving Rhames - Baby Boy
Peter Boyle -Monster's Ball
Goran Visnjic - The Deep End
I'm cheating. It's my way of not having to make a tough decision in the lead category, but you're correct. How about this?
BEST ACTOR
Denzel Washington - Training Day
Ray Winsome - Sexy Beast
John Cameron Mitchell - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Russell Crowe - A Beautiful Mind
Billy Bob Thornton - Monster's Ball
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
Gene Hackman - The Royal Tenenbaums
Ving Rhames - Baby Boy
Peter Boyle - Monster's Ball
Goran Visnjic - The Deep End
Sunday, I also saw David Mamet's The Heist, which was a meandering flick with no real payoff in terms of character development, solid acting, witty dialogue, comedy or even logic. I think Niner called it right when he said that The Heist is too cute by half. I was expecting something akin to Mamet's The Spanish Prisoner (which I really like) but was truly disappointed at how weak The Heist turned out to be.
But Ali McGraw still looks great.
It had a Popeye Doyle quality to it, although his Popeye Doyle was much more scary.
He was also well-complimented by Hawke, who I don't like very often (he's a slacker actor).
Girlfriend freaking out and crawling, sobbing to the stage for her Oscar was the Blackest thing she's ever done in her life. It should provide "Saturday Night Live" with an entire season's worth of material (if they've got the balls, which I doubt.)
I did not like Monster's Ball at all. Bill called it "An 'Afterschool Special' with butt-fucking." (Can't improve on that.)
"Cirque de Soleil" was a welcome replacement for Debbie Allen.
Denzell gave a nice speech. Sidney Poitier glows in the dark!
Babs looked relaxed for maybe the first time ever. Woody was actually funny.
SO happy about Randy Newman, who had the best line of the evening: "I don't want your pity."
Rask, you should watch TD before discounting Washington's peformance. Crowe didn't out-act him this year. And the same could be said of Crowe winning it for Gladiator instead of other peformances.
I thought he looked pretty good for a guy with leukemia...
Reese was adorable. She did her momma proud.
I can see the Scent of a Woman comparison, but more because Training Day was so showy. Frankly, I don't think Washington had come close to the "time to recognize him no matter what slop he emotes". He had one Oscar. He's young.
Diva
It's a tough line to walk. I liked Washington's response last night during his press conference when asked how he feels given what the award "represents."
"I guess that depends on what you think the award represents."
There was no anal in Monster's Ball. Just a solid , made-in-America, interracial doggie.
And where did Will Smith go?
It is...but few of the major awards are ever bestowed simply on the basis of merit. I mean, Titanic, anyone?
I think the greater crimes occur in Best picture and if Crowe or Wilkinson or the others had one, it would not have been like Pia Zadora beating out Meryl Streep.
I just liked "I guess that depends on what you think the award represents."
My awards reference books are packed pending a move, but I don't think there has been a year when the critics were ever firmly behind a performance by a black actor. As such, it is hard to argue that the Academy was discriminating against meritorious performances by blacks.
And when it comes to career achievement, what black actor aside from Poitier, and now Washington, had really earned it with a string of high profile, topnotch performances? (Samuel Jackson is heading there, but his career is barely a decade old).
Perceived merit and career are the two criteria by which the Academy gives out awards.
The more compelling argument is that any discrimination is structural, in the writing and greenlighting of films with few good roles for blacks. No black actor was given a chance to show what he could do before Poitier. And several of the best actors working in Hollywood today are black, but rarely get a shot at prime lead material (Cheadle and Bassett, particularly).
Washington's performance in Training Day was, indeed, excellent and few actors could have redeemed the role, which would otherwise simply have been a characature of a bad-ass sheriff working the no-man's land of LA streets. I guess I just had a difficult time getting over the conceit of the movie: corrupt, evil cop, introduces a bright eyed rookie to all of his sinister machinations and then gets his commeuppance all on the rookie's first day of the job. A longer, more realistic, time frame would have vastly changed my perception of the character and Washington's performance, I think.
Morgan Freeman, and he has been recognized.
The more compelling argument is that any discrimination is structural, in the writing and greenlighting of films with few good roles for blacks. No black actor was given a chance to show what he could do before Poitier. And several of the best actors working in Hollywood today are black, but rarely get a shot at prime lead material (Cheadle and Bassett, particularly).
Agreed. But their plight is sadly much like the plight of the over-40 actress. Market share rules.
You miss my point. You don't need to see a performance to gauge how it is seen by the public, or by critics, which is what I was doing.
Absolutely no disagreement from me. What I liekd about the film I liked given the constrains of a single day, but I kept thinking "What a stupid restriction." And because of the restriction, things became more symbolic and ominous in a New Jack City way.
contrains=constraints
But Freeman's career at the top has actually been shorter than Washingtons. Freeman never had a chance to show his stuff until the late 80s, whereas Washington was already getting choice roles in the early 80s.
On a positive note, I thought Washington's acceptance speech was gracious and witty.
My point is that this because she isn't *getting* anything.
My point is that this because she isn't *getting* anything.
They were sweet holding hands. Gracie and I were rooting for him to win...she's got a 6" high bust of him as Frodo (or whoever he was in the movie) that he autographed to her.
Too bad about Will and Jada's baby! Speaking of which, they are just adorable together.
The historical color barrier.
Can Halle Berry play Emma? I've no doubt she can. Or Morgan Freeman? Can he play an officer in a World War II? Or General Omar Bradley? Sure. But without any reference to their skin color?
That's the next barrier. And when it is breached, I imagine the howls from the Spike Lees and those who favor historical accuracy will be unanimously loud that the breach is intolerable (for different reasons).
"I'd like something to make my breasts look like soggy flapjacks."
Hawke: "Hmmmmm. Why do I have to present with the badly dressed goth girl? Where's Jennifer Lopez?"
Here's a question...didn't this girl used to be a lot more bosomy? 
I think she's got to be taping them down in that dress.
Best dresses: Berry, Stone, the woman who won for The Accountant, JLo.
Babs looked and sounded more natural than in ages, I thought.
Cameron's hair was bad, but she at least looked like she tried to make a statement. Lopez's hair looked like a retro styling gone bad. 
I think this is too glib. The box office does not discriminate against black actors. And Oscar doesn't discriminate against over 40 actresses (2 or 3 are nominated every year, and they win about proportionately).
I think it has more to do with who is making the films that get nominated for Oscars. These are almost exclusively dramas, and a disproportionate share of these star white actors. Box office isn't a sufficient explanation, as dramas targeted towards blacks are more reliable money makers than those targeted toward whites. There just aren't very many of them made.
Probably because of a lack of black writers and directors. There are only about 4 or 5 major black directors (Lee, Singleton, Lemmons, Hughes Brothers, Carl Franklin, ?) working in Hollywood, which is disproportionately low considering the number of films that get made, and the amount of time it takes most directors to make a film. True, some white writer/directors give dramatic roles to blacks, but I don't think this is proportionate, and some of the black directors above also make movies starring whites (The hughes brothers last film was From Hell, with Johnny Depp, and Franklin's last film starred Streep and Zellweger, gaining Streep a host of noms).
I don't know the number of black writers,
As some of you may recall Uma's father is a Joseph Campbell acolyte and Mystic Poo-Bah (hence her name.) George Lucas is a follower of Dad and when Uma was doing mucho nude scenes early in her career George let it be known that Thuman's daughter shouldn't be exposing herself in such a fashion.
THANKS A BUNCH, GEORGE!
So pleased that Uma has come to her senses about this. My guess is she saw The Phantom Menace and said "Well that's enough of that!"
I think that your observation re: Cheadle may also be indicative of problem with Hollywood casting in general. So many actors who have shown themselves to be exceptionally talented get pigeon holed as character actors and never get an opportuntity to carry a movie as a leading man or woman. Dan Hedaya immediately comes to mind alongside Cheadle in this category, but I am sure that a lengthy list of under appreciated talent could be made.
Forget it Julius, you're the worng gender.
I also agree with Julius that Jodie Foster looked great. She also sounded great; and has my vote for the sexiest speaking voice (female) in Hollywood.
She's still a stunner in my book. 
Well, her hair is kinda 80s poufy. As is the dress.
Jodie is indeed hot. I have always liked her.
Excellent point about Hedaya. There are some incredible supporting actors out there that are never acknowledged. I was mentioning Cheadle, because it seems to me that he is getting excellent parts showing a wide range and is probably less pigeonholed as a "black actor" than most.
I thought the montage of "thank yous" in the Poitier tribute was very moving.
So what's Connolly's excuse?
the whole delicatessen!
Well, one way or the other, she's a beautiful woman. Not as beautiful as Jennifer Weigel, perhaps, but then who is?
Color blind casting is quite common on the stage, but is much less common in movies. I think audiences would adapt easily enough if it didn't create confusion (having Desdemona be black would make Othello quite bizarre), but Denzel himself was creditable in Branagh's Much Ado, with no confusion.
It did work fine, but every time they mentioned that he and Keanue were brothers, I kept thinking of the Fozzie Bear/Kermit moment in one of the Muppets movie, when they were playing identical twins. "Which one am I?" "The one with the hat." "Oh, that's right."
Does anybody know how many seats there are in the new Kodak auditorium? Unlike previous venues, they showed pictures of the balcony, but I saw several empty seats in the upper one.
A whole lot fewer seats, I believe. The invitation list was a lot shorter, and many folks were cranky about it.
I think this is too glib. The box office does not discriminate against black actors. And Oscar doesn't discriminate against over 40 actresses (2 or 3 are nominated every year, and they win about proportionately).
It is a funnel. Better box office means more exposure means more publicity means more nominations. Thus, while Oscar does not discriminate, the way Oscar takes notice is skewed against those who can't penetrate the market.
I think it has more to do with who is making the films that get nominated for Oscars. These are almost exclusively dramas, and a disproportionate share of these star white actors.
Why?
Box office isn't a sufficient explanation, as dramas targeted towards blacks are more reliable money makers than those targeted toward whites. There just aren't very many of them made.
This is bizarre. Hollywood has a more reliable money maker, but doesn't cash in? I'm aware of two black dramas released in 2001, and they did moderately well (approximately $25 million).
Probably because of a lack of black writers and directors.
If the money was there, they'd be churning out minority directors like silicone.
Like most writers, they will write to the market, and if that market is Rush Hour 37 or American Cream Pie, there you have it.
As long as many "black" movies are considered outside the mainstream, addressing "black" issues, their wins will have the veneer of "special consideration".
But that's part of what makes Denzel's win nice. He didn't win for Hurricane or Malcolm, which were "black" movies, of a sort. He won for a movie and a part that could have starred an actor of any color. In that sense his win transcended color, and is a nice step forward. (This is also true of Cuba Gooding's win a few years ago).
Iris
A movie about Alzheimer's is inherently sad. The disease is unrelenting, and despite the best hopes of the spouse or family member, the person's being, their soul, disappears, and a child-like shell is left behind.
So how can this story be told without being maudlin or heartbreakingly sad?
Iris Murdoch was a somewhat-philospher and a prolific novelist. Her husband, John Bayley, is a literature professor. Several times at the beginning of this movie based on Bayley's two memoirs about Murdoch and her illness, we are told that they live their lives in their minds. The rather messy house they lived in was one sign of this. We are given a few plodding moments when Murdoch lectures on education or is interviewed about love, thrown in to underscore her seriousness. Old Murdoch is humorless. Is this a sign of a life of the mind?
Yet the couple supposedly are full of private jokes.
Fortunate for the movie, Judi Dench puts a little life into this character (also played by Kate Winslet). Even as she is saying the most deadly dull statements, she is compelling. Real life film clips of Murdoch suffer in comparison, lacking the warmth of Dench's voice.
This is a story of an unlikely relationship. Bayley (played by Jim Broadbent as well as Hugh Bonneville)is a pastey man, clumsy, stuttering. We move back and forth from the beginning of their relationship (hence the younger actors in these roles) and then back to the end when Murdoch is diagnosed and then endures her illness.
Ultimately, it is the sweetness of their relationship that appears to endure, and that helps them through the darkness of her disease.
There is one scene where Dench and Broadbent have gone to the river, and she looks searchingly into the muddy water. We see a naked Winslet, the younger Murdoch, swimming and frolicking with the younger Bayley. It was perhaps the best moment in the film.
Nope. He was the chubby-cheeked stockbroker who didn't recognize Anna Scott at the beginning.
Not necessarily the best role, but far and away the most multi-layered, subtle thing I've ever seen him do. I've never seen Washington give a poor performance, but I think that many of the roles he's gotten, particularly in recent years, have been too similar, requiring less than his full talents to portray.
Training Day is not a great film, but it's certainly a good film and Washington's performance is a very large part of what makes it good. He gives the film a depth and meaning with his portrayal that I'm hard pressed to imagine another actor accomplishing. Certainly not Samuel Jackson. Certainly not Nicholas Cage. Certainly not any of the stable of actors who are generally considered for this type of vehicle.
My husband complained that the male lead in the best picture winner usually wins. But I don't think that's necessarily true.
It doesn't happen that often, but it did just happen two years in a row, which may be why your husband was focusing on it. Here's the past decade of winners--I asterisked those that matched with an Actor win:
Paltrow won for Best Actress in SiL, and of course Foster won in Silence of the Lambs. Those are the only female winners who matched a Best Film win in that period.
"It is a funnel. Better box office means more exposure means more publicity means more nominations. Thus, while Oscar does not discriminate, the way Oscar takes notice is skewed against those who can't penetrate the market. "
This dodges the question, as my argument was that blacks *have* penetrated the market. Chris Tucker, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, Samuel Jackson, and Morgan Freeman are all reliable box office draws.
"Why?"
Re-read what I wrote. I think it is because there are very few black directors and writers.
"This is bizarre. Hollywood has a more reliable money maker, but doesn't cash in? I'm aware of two black dramas released in 2001, and they did moderately well (approximately $25 million)."
And they were dirt cheap to make, and quite profitable.
But Hollywood isn't a completely rational business. There are a lot more execs chasing after the next Matrix than there are chasing after the next Blair Witch Project, even though the latter was much more profitable.
I think it comes back to the lack of black writers and directors. It is hard to tap a market if you don't have people that are at all comfortable with that market.
But I think this is changing. Hollywood doesn't ignore success forever, and there has been a marked increase in the number of films with black principals lately.
Yes. Monsters Ball. Boys dont Cry. Blue Sky. Dead Man Walking. Shine. Life is Beautiful. Fargo.
But box office generally helps. There is often a bandwagon effect at the Oscars. As a large share of the academy is made up of actors, films that showcase acting talent tend to do disproportionately better. I would argue that Russell Crowe didn't win last year because he was in Gladiator, but that Gladiator won best picture because of Russell Crowe's performance.
This occasionally leads to some embarassments, such as Victor Fleming winning best director for Gone with the Wind, even though Selznick by all accounts micromanaged the hell out of him and two other directors did substantial work on the movie.
But I think this is just a reflection that the voters often have no clue what they are really voting for, unless they can see or hear it directly. You can *see* a performance, follow the shooting script, notice the quality of the photography and special effects, and listen to the score and sound, but it is almost impossible to really know, without a great deal of extra work, what the director did, or what the editor did, or what the screenplay actually looked like.
Which leads to some weirdness. Why was Memento up for best editing? Almost certainly because of the way the film played with time. But all that was in the *screenplay*. The only way you can really know what the editor did is to sit in the booth with him, or ask some people with firsthand knowledge.
And then other times, it's a director who gives the actors all the ideas for key moments that really make the performance, but the actor gets the credit.
ah well, no accounting for taste these days
I thought Nicole Kidman looked fantastic. Now there's a woman who understands that it's the responsibility of a Hollywood star to provide glamor. I loved her pink-and-gold 1940s luxe look.
Jennifer Lopez's dress was a floor-length version of that pink corset Madonna wore in her Blonde Ambition tour.
Note to Julia Roberts: It was Denzel's Oscar. Not yours. News flash--sometimes it's not all about you! Unwrap yourself from Denzel!
My vote for prettiest dress: Marcia Gay Harden's. Sexiest: Halle Berry's.
Favorite moment: Julian Fellowes' acceptance speech, when he said "I think you must be the most generous nation on Earth. Thank you very much and God bless America." He sounded like he meant it.
And frankly I don't blame her. He is FINE!
Also he's a nice guy and a great father.
No. Nominations are made this way, with directors nominating directors, actors nominating actors, and editors nominating actors, but the actual winners are voted on by the academy as a whole.
Exceptions are for the documentary and short film categories, where you have to attend special showings of the films in question in order to vote. And honorary awards, which are made by the board of directors. There also might be an exception for those obscure technical awards that aren't even shown at the ceremony, but I don't know much about those.
Yes, that was lovely. I thought most of the acceptance speeches were quite good. I missed the big ones though--when Babs came out and started to do some tribute to Redford I got pissy--"What?! We already tributed Poitier!" and it was already midnight on a work night.
I generally skip watching the Oscars--I'm usually at work, I guess. Are the presenters always so wooden? Are the jokes always so lame? Very funny when I remember that most of the presenters have won/were nominated in other years, but I suppose it couldn't really be any other way (the lameness, I mean) and work, somehow.
the story of the corrupt cop was worth watching, but the introduction and wrap up all in one day seemed pretty ludicrous. Washington's character is such a master planner and schemer and yet takes a green rookie and subject him to so much in the course of one day and expects him to roll over? ridiculous.
worth watching and renting, but hardly remarkable. 2 ¾ quacks of 5.
i have to thank glendajean for suggesting watching Sexy Beast with English subtitles. without them, i would have been lost. episodes of Are You Being Served? were easier to listen to and understand. a fun movie that's a little light on the 'action'. this is supposed to be a 'heist' flick, yet that happens in the span of less than 10 minutes.
anyway, Kingsley is justifiably praised as he has to pretty much carry this thing all the way through. i didn't think the fat thief was very good and was just kinda there as a plot device. 3 out of 5 quacks.
a friend of mine pointed out that though they have had many opportunities to reward Washington that they chose to do it for a stereotypically "black" (meaning bad guy) performance rather than his more spectacular and "middle class" performances. I think my friend has a point.
and, really, it's just another reason i detest, don't follow, and refuse to watch awards shows of any type (other than a few minutes each year of the MTV awards).
Washington's a great actor and should have one for many other roles. that he wins for this gangster act is, to me, a little insulting.
My husband, upon hearing of Denzel's win, said approximately the same thing.
Here's a quote from a Times of London tv columnist about Washington:
It [Washington's film career] ranges from big-budget period pieces such as Devil in a Blue Dress, in which he played a Los Angeles detective taking on institutionalised racism as well as the usual dangers of the job, to his winning film, Training Day, in which he is a detective once again, but this time in a colour blind role and playing against type as a thoroughly corrupt anti-hero.
that happens in the span of less than 10 minutes. "
That was one of the things I liked about Sexy Beast. You can't throw a rock without it hitting a heist movie about a thief coaxed out of retirement for one last job. Sexy Beast was a novel twist on this, where the thief *really* didn't want to come out of retirement, and the focus was on the "coaxing", and the characters, not the heist.
that's a good point. to me, though, it seemed like a lot of leading up to little pay off.
on the other hand, the death was handled very well and came out incredibly entertaining.
Quite honestly, he hasn't made a movie I haven't liked. The man has taste.
Black Betty and A Red Death are the two I have read--not sure if there are more.
He made a weird science fiction movie some time back. I don't remember the name of it.
But he has as solid a resume as anyone in Hollywood.
Pelican Brief was entertaining. I didn't see BC, or Virtuosity, or Heart Condition.
No, I meant was Bone Collector the weird sci-fi movie Denzel made?
That's about all I remember.
I just looked up Crowe's resume, and I believe that Romper Stomper (1992) was his first major role. 1995 was his breakout year, where he did The Sum of Us (that movie about the gay son and his dad) and made two US movies, The Quick and the Dead and Virtuosity.
They say the memory is the first to go.
I was incorrect in putting The Sum of Us in 1995; it was the year before.
very.
bad.
film.
More gruesome than it needed to be ---somebody saw Seven too many times--- idiocy runs amok in this psycho-killer cop thriller. No amount of stellar performance could pull this thing out of the toilet. Cliche-ridden, illogical, improbable and tied up at the end by a climax un-worthy of even the worst episode of Murder, She Wrote
Don't rent it.
Don't see it if it's on cable.
If captured by enemy soldiers and forced to choose between seeing this movie or having bamboo shoots shoved under your nails try to bargain for just half the film. If they insist on the whole or nothing, go with the bamboo. That pain will eventually heal.
The Bone Collector is the awful movie that answers the question, "What would it be like if Denzel were strapped to a bed for 118 minutes and I had nothing better to do than fantisize about licking him from head to toe?"
Yes
and
Yummy.
"Shortly after 3 a.m., the lights went on in the Veranda room. But Sir Ian McKellen was not through having fun. If there was any justice in the world, Mr. McKellen would have gotten the Oscar for his portrayal of Frankenstein director James Whale in 1998’s Gods and Monsters, but he had been denied then, and on March 24 he was denied for his portrayal of the Wizard Gandalf in Lord of the Rings.
But Mr. McKellen did not look the least bit melancholy as he and his slim-hipped, long-haired boyfriend Nick Cuthell—who had gotten one of the money shots on ABC Sunday night, showing the United States and its cultural recipients around the world what a really good-looking boyfriend should look like—swayed together near the breakfast buffet to the D.J.’s last songs. The two men seemed oblivious to the outside world, to the guests leaving the party, to the bartenders packing up. Outside the stars shone weakly in the cold Los Angeles night. The air smelled of night-blooming jasmine. Inside, the two men embraced tenderly and danced away the remains of the day, as if they were the last men on earth."
In other words: "Who needs an Oscar? I've got the coolest boyfriend in town!"
What is it with this Julia Roberts person? Last year, it seems she was hanging over the proceedings like a soggy blanket, dragging everything down in an unpleasant moist heap, and it was just so refreshing to think that this year she would be relegated to bit-part status. And then there she is again, front and center, reminding me of her estranged brother Eric in one of his creepier roles as she presents the Best Actor award to Denzel—weirdly confusing Tom Conti, the actor, with Bill Conti, the orchestra leader who attempted to cut her off during her longwinded oration last year, when she dissed him as "stick man."
This time, once again, Julia tried to suck all the oxygen out of the hall, confiding that "I love my life!" as she announced Denzel as the winner. She even jumped the poor guy and hung on for dear life as he tried to make his way backstage after his classy acceptance speech.
These dyspeptic reflections come after reading Jeanette Walls today. I know it's not my place as a gossip columnist to overly judgmental—especially when it comes to big box-office movie stars on whom I depend to get on the phone with me every so often. And I don't expect you to agree with me. But I just think everybody concerned would be better off if Julia took a sabbatical.
On the plus side, no more Arthur movies.
At least Julia made a point to ensure she was photographed kissing Denzel's wife. Suggesting that they are all three of them the best of pals.
As for her delight and hanging on Washington's arm as they walked off, the Oscar show decided to cover it. I don't believe for a moment that this is the only time it happened in all of Oscar history. So she can hardly be blamed for that.
I'm not nuts about Julia (she looks like a horse), but the fact that she was one of the better-dressed celebrities of the evening makes up for the Mauling of Denzel.
I thought she looked good.
Halle was good. She wasn't as good, I thought, as Spacek, but she was excellent, all the same.
But Billy Bob didn't just get forgotten by Halle Berry in her acceptance blubber, wherein she thanked everyone else, including her Orkin Man. BB got forgotten in the Academy's nominating process as well. This guy can flat-out act.
Also turning in exceptional performances in Ball were Sean Combs and Peter Boyle.
Excellent movie, with a great ending.
The Shipping News
I saw this on Saturday, and it's still left me with a good feeling which is sometimes all you want a movie to do, but a thought or two as well would've been nice.
Kevin Spacey tries very hard to not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, and he almost pulls it off. The plot is utterly predictable from beginning to end, with some quirkiness thrown in as asides. The shots of the Newfoundland coast are beautiful, but the movie gives about as much of a sense of place as a brochure. The characters are about the same, pleasing/entertaining little snapshots without much more to them. Even Spacey, who guides his character's waking up to life with some subtlety, can't seem to find any reason why he would. My theory is, leaving Poughkeepsie, N.Y. would enliven anybody, but hey, that's just me.
Wait for the video when you plan on watching four or five over a rainy weekend. It won't mess with your mood.
don't rent unless you want to watch an over acted 'chick flick'. 1 of 5 quacks.
It's too bad his last movie was so dreadful. But for the most part his work stayed solid, if of lesser quality, to the end of his career.
Arky,
There are three types of people in this world: People who liked Moulin Rouge, people who didn't like Moulin Rouge, and people who have forgotten how many times they've seen Moulin Rouge.
I've seen Moulin Rouge l/3 times.
I thought the two had great chemistry together. I confess I was very surprised to learn that they're partners and not "partners".
I'm very irked because the commentary on the Strictly Ballroom DVD I just bought doesn't play on my machine. Has anyone heard it? Is it worth taking the disk over to a friend's house?
Very weird, intense, smart movie, well-played by everyone (and it is a disparate cast, from Patrick Swayze to Drew Barrymore to Katherine Ross to Noah Wylie). I enjoyed it, but frankly, I don't know what to make of it. I'd appreciate the input of anyone who has seen or sees it.
Like the eggs in software programs, these are little (or big) surprises you can access by going to specific points in the movie or user menus, then hitting specific key combinations.
"These [Easter Eggs] go even beyond the traditional 'special features' that are advertised with most DVDs," Wolf tells me. "Almost every DVD that comes out nowadays has a few eggs in it." For example:
In "Memento," you can watch the whole movie in correct chronological order.
An infomercial plays throughout "Requiem for a Dream," in which a spokesman refers to "three things" that changed his life. But you hear only about the first two--"no red meat" and "no refined sugar." An egg on the DVD lets you watch the whole infomercial--and find out what the third thing is.
"Mallrats" contains a concealed clip in which director Kevin Smith flies into a tirade at you for wasting your time trying to find Easter eggs on DVDs.
In "Snatch," you can find a hidden montage of all the swearing in the movie, cut together into one big sequence--makes you realize how much swearing there really was!
Darko is high up in my NetFlix queue, so i'll comment on it soon, i hope.
Dennis Quaid's movie, The Rookie, is getting better reviews than I expected as well. A good notch lower than those for Panic Room, but all that I've read thus far state that it is well made, if entirely predictable.
Panic Room
Actually, Moulin Rouge's cover of Lady Marmalade, or whatever it is called, was a huge hit that won a Grammy.
But your original claim was that Moulin Rouge wasn't emotionally affecting. I disagree. Moulin Rouge has tremendous heart.
South Pacific and Evita are Broadway musicals, anyway.
As you know, South Pacific and Evita were Brodway hit musicals that were made into movies. The original cast albums sold many copies and several hit songs from each made the charts on radio.
I enjoyed Moulin Rouge and am not knocking it, but the music wasn't its spectacular feature. It's a bit similar to Topsy Turvy and perhaps Sweeney Todd. I enjoyed both but can't remember a tune from either. But I can remember several from South Pacific which I heard when my parents bought the original Broadway cast album and saw when the movie came out in the 1950s. (Some Enchanted Evening, Carefully Taught, Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair, Bloody Mary, etc.)
Marjoribanks--have you seen the movie? Comments?
Other films by Mira Nair: Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala, Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love plus a bunch of documentaries.
Bad boy Russell
Wow. Outstanding performances, phenomenal script, and it really hasn't dated all that much at all. I was also unexpectedly moved by the ending. Can't wait to get the DVD.
And the Stanwyck/Murray can-you top-this dialogue ("There's a speed limit in this state" ) is immortal.
"I wonder if you wonder."
And Robinson was fabulous. That monologue about death statistics had no business being that riveting.
The thing that seemed dated to me was the ease of getting insurance policies, as well as filing a claim on accident insurance because you broke a leg. Nothing serious.
The real irony is that none of the three stars ever won an Oscar. Stanwyck was the only one ever nominated (for that film as well as three others).
Leigh is very good, except her character has no reason to exist. Ebert speculates that Sinatra was the backup candidate and that she was his operative. I always thought that was silly, but that train scene really does come off like hypnosis of some sort, doesn't it?
I believe that was the first karate fight in film--the one between Sinatra and Silva.
I loathed Unbearable Lightness. I saw it when I was 8.5 months pregnant, which might have had something to do with it. I have really never forgiven Lena Olin or Juliette Binoche.
Midway in his investigation, Sinatra meets and falls in love with a woman played by Janet Leigh, and their relationship provides the movie with what looks to me like a subtle, tantalizing suggestion of an additional level of intrigue. They meet in the parlor car of a train, where Sinatra, shaking, cannot light a cigarette and knocks over the table with his drink on it. Leigh follows him to the space between cars, lights a cigarette for him and engages him in a very weird conversation, after which they fall in love and she quickly ditches her fiance. What's going on here? My notion is that Sinatra's character is a Manchurian killer, too - one allowed to remember details of Harvey's brainwashing because that would make him seem more credible. And Leigh? She is Sinatra's controller.
As I said, I think it's loopy. But every time I watch that scene I can see why he came up with that notion.
In many ways The Manchurian Candidate is all-of-a-piece with his Lord Love a Duck -- the apotheosis of Tuesday Weld.
Last movie I saw in a theater was "Beautiful Mind."
I have had a thing about bowler hats ever since.
Eh?
Y Tu Mama Tambien
13 Ghosts was very good... to look at. i knew better to rent a movie starring that Italian jackass from the Wings TV show, but didn't heed my own advice. the costumes and the main set were fantastic. the acting, story, direction all were shitty. just one of five quacks.
Anyway, Wings aside, I have enjoyed his acting in almost everything I have seen him in. I imagine he should stick with comedies.
Ghost World was quite enjoyable. I didn't know Thora Birch had it in her. Quite a talented young actress. This tale of teen restlessness and angst was well written, acted and directed. Some good music at times too. 4 flames.
yeah that's him and he was okay in Men in Black and Galaxy Quest but that's about it. i wouldn't go so far as to say i liked his acting, but he didn't ruin those movies.
One Sunday morning in Jacksonville, Florida, a man and his wife were walking down the sidewalk at a Ramada Inn. A young black man put a gun to the woman's face and asked for her purse. Before she could comply, he shot her and took the purse and ran.
Two hours later, the police stop a 15 year old kid walking to the Blockbuster Video to apply for a job. They ask him if has seen anybody who fit the description (taller than him, btw). They then take him up to the man who lost his wife. The man says that the kid was the person who did it.
During the day, the kid signed a confession.
The documentary is about his trial and is told from the point-of-view of the public defenders with a sparse, minimal style, intercutting the public defenders discussing aspects of the case or out investigating facts in between actual trial testimony.
The one artsy effect was the night before the closing arguments, when the main public defender in the story is going over his notes in his study in the middle of the night.
There is not much flair in any of the scenes or great courtroom drama, ala tv fiction. The most color we get is from the kid's parents, who are quite religious, and we see them praying at church, and with church members outside the courtroom.
The public defenders are a middle-aged woman with white hair, no make-up, and a slightly southern monotone voice. She tells us early on that her theory is that the kid was picked up because he was black. The main defender is a 50 year old man. We see him in his car alot, often smoking. He has a funny clipped accent. He appears quite unflappable, and definitely has the lawyerly appreciation for the courtroom being a battle against two sides.
Without narration, we get most of the exposition from him. The defense claims the kid was taken to the woods that Sunday night and beaten up. He then signed a confession written by one of the police officers. They also contend that the police did nothing else to prove the kid's guilt or to verify any other facts in the case after the man identified the kid.
There are two twists to the story, the trial outcome and then what happened four months later after the trial.
While the male public defender would probably be played by Russell Crowe in a movie full of David Kelly-like speeches about justice, it was nice to watch a compelling story about real people caught in a life crisis without much embellishment and adornment. The directors took a workman like, calm approach, and I think the effect was thus much more powerful.
I've thought about this story several times since watching it.
"Joy Ride was just so-so. I really couldn't buy the set-up at all. I would rather my psycho killers have a little more motive. Although the nudity was enjoyable, the restaurant scene was just ridiculous and then it went nowhere. As did this entire movie. 2 flames."
The alternate scenes on the DVD explain what happened with the restaurant scene. Initially, it was the departure point for a completely different ending. Rusty Nail sends them into the diner in order to make an attempt to kidnap the chick. Which is what I had thought was going to happen at the time.
As it stands, that scene no longer has any real purpose. But it doesn't derail the film or anything.
I thought the killer's motivation was fine. It was certainly fleshed out more than in Duel, which was obviously a big influence on the movie.
It started out of a conversation I'd had with Wash about Inside Daisy Clover which he'd never seen, but Richard had (many years ago of course.) Then I mentioned some other stuff I had on video including my "Nico Live in Japan" laserdisc. So we watched some of that. Then Wash talked about the Bassano di Sutri sequence in La Dolce Vita, and Richard said "She was in that?" After the gasps from Wash and I subsided we looked at that sequence (my fave) which is right at the top of side three of my laserdisc. THEN we watched Inside Daisy Clover (once upon a time Robert Redford could act, and Christopher Plummer has scarcely aged in over 30 years and he's STILL a major league performer) We finished with the "All I Need is the Girl" number from Gypsy (She's a real heartbreaker in that one.)
Lots of gossip all evening, especialy about Barbara Steele who was discovered for the movies by (brace yourselves) Cary Grant !
(I wish I could reproduce Wash doing Barbara Steele on line.)
Then they went home to pull and all-nighter. They're cutting The Fluffer to an R-rated version so Blockbuster can take it. The uncut will of course be available everywhere else.
"There are several Canadian films I've liked a lot; one about a brother and sister living in this gloomy old Art Nouveau-ish house is flitting around in the back of my brain but I can't get it to come forward..."
Judith,
I don't know which movie you are talking about, though it does sound vaguely familiar. There have been some very good movies out of Canada over the years and Atom Egoyan is one of the most accomplished film makers working today. Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter and Exotica are two movies that I admire very much.
The scene where the bus crashes through the ice is harrowing. The sound of the ice collapsing was jarring to say the least. I can't imagine the book replicating the dread feeling I had at that moment in the movie.
Affliction is another Russell Banks based movie, which was quite good, but not nearly as accomplished as The Sweet Hereafter.
Egoyan's choices are very interesting, never more so than in his depiction of the crash.
Cal,
That commentary sounds interesting. I will check it out one weekend. Egoyan is an intelligent, articulate, commentator (he occasionally writes for the Globe and Mail) --though he has one of those pseudo Ivy league, hyper-educated, sounding accents that I tend to rebel against for whatevever reason.
The Cat's Meow--Peter Bogdanovich's first film in 8 years, opening only in Manhattan and LA at the moment. Story of that fateful trip (the one before Gilligan's) when William Randolph Hearst took his mistress and some pals out for a cruise. One of them ends up dead. Morning newspapers announced that the victim had been shot; afternoon papers, including Hearst's own, declared the cause of death as indigestion. The filmmakers have requested that the name of the victim not be mentioned; if you know your Hollywood history you already know the name of the victim, but please don't mention it. The cast includes Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin, Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies, Cary Elwes as Thomas Ince, Jennifer Tilly as Louella Parsons and the excellent Edward Herrmann as Hearst. This movie seems to have been made in 2001, but not released anywhere that I can see.
Frailty--Bill Paxton's directorial debut about a father who believes that God is requiring him to kill people, with his two sons' assistance. This looks fascinating; both the Times and Ebert gave it outstanding reviews.
Changing Lanes--Samuel Jackson and Affleck star as two men with very differnet lives who have a fender bender, and the day that follows. Noteworthy if for no other reason than it's a Ben Affleck film that hasn't been roundly panned. Ebert loved it, Mitchell at the Times thought it flawed but interesting. Also has Sidney Pollack as Affleck's boss, Amanda Peet as his wife, and William Hurt as Jackson's AA sponsor. Director is Roger Mitchell of Notting Hill and Persuasion, screenwriter is Michael Tolkin, who wrote The Player, The Rapture, and The New Age. That's a hell of a pedigree.
Human Nature--Goofy comedy by the writer of Being John Malkovich. I haven't figured out the plot yet, but it's getting a fair amount of attention.
Why wasn't I informed?
If you haven't seen The Stunt Man, run out and rent it this instant.
Rush is a very strange man.
However, I wonder if younger audiences will appreciate that Steve Railsback, who is really, really good in it is best known for a TV movie, Helter Skelter, where he played Charles Manson rather memorably.
And of course it is a central role in the Peter O'Toole canon, along with LofA and The Ruling Class.
However, I wonder if younger audiences will appreciate that Steve Railsback, who is really, really good in it is best known for a TV movie, Helter Skelter, where he played Charles Manson rather memorably.
And of course it is a central role in the Peter O'Toole canon, along with LofA and The Ruling Class.
It was always hard to find on video.
I can't stand The Ruling Class; I am convinced that everyone who enjoys it turns it off after the "I'm Jack" scene and has never seen the last 25 minutes. Gleah.
But Stunt Man is probably my favorite O'Toole role. In reviewing all of his chances to win an Oscar, this doesn't stand out as a terrible oversight--after all, De Niro won for Raging Bull. But he lost to Cliff Robertson in Charly and that's just not necessary.
Also rented Lone Star this weekend. I don't have time for a formal review and I believe that Ms. It and Calgal discussed it way back when. My one line review: An sophisticated film with a superb story, superior acting and note perfect moments from beginning to end -- a master work from a fantastic director.
No Man's Land Deserved winner of the Academy Award. Satiric but painfully close to the bone. Grade: A. One of the best of 2002.
Bandits A comedy without funny lives, funny people or one true moment. Grade: D-.
13 Ghosts A vile horror flick, makes no sense, and it must have cost a bundle. The naked girl from American Pie helps not a whit. Inept. Grade: F.
Spy Game I liked Tony Scott's Enemy of the State. But Pitt is no Will Smith, and the film takes too long to get to the issue at hand. It is pleasing to see Robert Redford play a full-out kill them before they kill us empire/cold warrior. Still, very flat. Grade: C.
Serendipity. Kate Beckinsale has some white teeth for a Brit, and John Cusack seems a nice guy, but they have no chemistry, their comic sidekicks (Jeremy Piven and Molly Shannon) have no funny lines, and this movie has a mean little heart. Thankully, it is very short. Re-rent Notting Hill or You've Got Mail. Grade: D-.
Zoolander Funnier than expected, and I expected it to be very unfunny. Will Ferrell is the funniest man in the world. Grade: C+.
Iron Monkey Turned it off. I got the English-dubbed version, so it viewed like a Mystery Science Theater 3000. A boatlaod of Asians kicking each other in the groin. Grade: D-.
McConaughy is excellent, as is the rest of the case (except perhaps Frances McDormand, who slightly overplays her small role). Chris Cooper, though, is beyond excellent as Sam Deeds. His marvelously understated performance stands out as one of the best that I have ever seen.
Are you nuts? That movie rocked. One of my co-workers actually has the movie poster set up as the desktop on his computer.
I think you're missing the boat on this one JC.
(white font)
Honey, I'm sorry I walked out on you. You go ahead and be exactly the guy you want to be. I can pay my own power bills, and if I wanted a boring life like my parents, I'd have married some other schmuck by now.
Besides, she is so absolutely cool.
Did you read any of the reviews or backstory on the making of that movie? They originally had expected Shatner to be the all-knowing wonder pal; it was his request that the story be rewritten to make him a schmoe.
I see what you mean about the turning point. Although, I am not, nor have I ever been a comic book geek, I agree with you that the chick in the movie is, indeed, tres cool. Mind you, I disagree with your assesment of John Cusack's girlfriend in High Fidelity. I happen to think she is right to urge Cusack's character to do some growing up, and she did not strike me as the whiney bimbo that you took her to be -- (which is in keeping with our different takes on the movie).
As for the back story to Shatner's role, I had heard about the rewrite from sage to befuddled windbag. Actually, for me, there was an odd feel to the movie that I suspect had something to do with this major change. I could never get a true read on the characters motivations and feelings toward one another or on their general perspective on life, which brought an edge to the comedy that elevated it beyond a series of movie references and which may not have been there if Shatner had not convinced the screen writers to reimagine his role. At any rate, Shatner does a great job of satirizing himself. Eric McCormack (Will from Will and Grace) was also excellent.
I thought it was a tired affair, a weak update of Butch Cassidy, with lesser stars, lazy patter, and an ending lacking half the guts. It was also a little too cool for school.
I wanted to like it, for whatever that's worth.
I was won over from the scene where she's lip-synching to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in her kitchen while whipping a up a gourmet meal her neglectful hubby isn't going to eat.
I also loved the idea of a passing bystander shooting video of them that ends up on the news. It's a very modern moemnt IMO, in that today everything is supposed to be captured on video.
That was the first time I'd ever seen Eric McCormack--I didn't start watching W&G until this year. The movie first got my attention from background noise because of his opening monologue.
I think it is wrong to urge someone to grow up, and it's even worse to say, "I'm gonna dump you...oh, you're gonna grow up? Well, I'll reconsider."
Shatner's performance and the rewrite he required definitely elevated the movie considerably. Otherwise it would have just been a fun geek movie. I think I mention that in my review.
But the Logan's Run nightmare was a nice conceit.
Has anyone heard anything about the new Matt Damon flick coming out in the near future, The Bourne Identity? Based on a Robert Ludlum novel.
Really? There are actually few Thorton performancesthat I don't like.
Changing Lanes won the weekend. Maybe Affleck's beaten his curse.
Men in Black 2, Spy Kids 2, Austin Powers 3
Why must they torture us so?
I believe I'll be curling up with a good book next to the pool when the wife takes the kids to see that one. I hadforgotte all about Powers and MIB.
I liked him in Philadelphia, which is notable only because I thought Philadelphia was a stupid movie. But he was a cute little hausfrau. Liked him in Zorro, so far as it goes. Liked him in Spy Kids.
Spider-Man (will be huge)
Star Wars ep 2
Scooby Doo
Minority Report
Men in Black 2
Austin Powers 3
Triple X
Signs
Potentially big (some will end up being flops):
Insomnia
The Tux
Windtalkers
Lilo and Stitch
Deeds
Spy Kids 2
Road to Perdition
Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood
Bad Company
Sum of All Fears
Spirit
Cute, but tired.
By the way, a number of medievalists I know actually like the generally reviled 13th Warrior, although Banderas wasn't a major factor in that appreciation.
Michael Pitt has losta lot of weight but hasn't shed his creepily effective blobby quality as one of the two Leopold and Loeb style thrill killers.
Despite Menace's huge numbers, Lucas knows his franchise took a credibility hit and took the criticism seriously.
First "G" rated movie that I liked since Singing in the Rain. (But then, with Rachel Griffiths in it, all she has to do is walk across the screen, fully clothed, and the rating goes to at least PG-13 for me.)
We were thinking of going to see the Rookiue with our 5 and 7 year olds as a family thing.
Is it something kids that young would enjoy?
Also saw Murder By Numbers this weekend. Solid, engaging and twisty enough to give a few surprises if you think you know everything already from the trailer. I won't say that anything shocked me, but it was still very well done. Sandra Bullock wonderful as usual. She doesn't have a huge range, but what she does she does well and she's just so damn appealing that I'll see her in anything she does.
Good performances all around, but I was most impressed by Ryan Gosling. It's hard to play suave, you kind of really have to just BE suave, but the character Gosling built was so beautifully layered and subltly nuanced I'd believe him capable of manufacturing the suavity. I'm sure that doesn't make any sense, you kind of have to see it to believe it. Pretty amazing, though.
Is it something kids that young would enjoy?
It's been a long time since I had any associations with 5-7-year-olds, but my guess would be probably yes. For one thing, the hero of the story has a young son (maybe 10-11?) who has a substantial role, and it's possible your children would identify with him.
On the other hand, the movie is pretty long and has some dead spots in it--at least what I would expect a kid to regard as dead spots. It's not a sure-fire smallfry movie.
But Tom Green looks like Shaggy from Scooby Doo and the proto-slacker was my first crush.
Rask thus has no excuse not to go see it and review it here immediately.
Owen Wilson is a strange choice for an action hero, but because he's so offbeat, he's much more watchable than a standard brawny guy. The movie is pretty exciting in parts, and has the added advantages of discarding dialogue and being an unapologetic music video/advertisement for the military. Director John Moore has a bright future ahead of him as a soulless action picture director.
Grade: C+.
Marj: I watched Lagaan about a month ago, when it first came out on DVD, but I haven't seen you around to tell you. I thought it was wonderfully fun. Every sports movie cliche in the book is there on screen, and the subtexts, from Indian cooptation of a British sport, to national unity, were so obvious they don't need a "sub" prefix. But damn if it doesn't work anyway, and if the 4 hours didn't fly past fast. Mostly because it was a nice story with some excellent acting and characterization by the cricket players. The English actors sucked, but I am used to that from watching the imperial caricatures in Hong Kong movies.
But I had to read up on the rules of cricket for the climatic game (taking up the last two hours of the movie) to make any sense.
Thanks for the recommendation.
But I will try. I am sure these will be slightly inaccurate, and I will miss some exceptions, but these will suffice for the film.
1) It is played on an open field, surrounded by a circle.
2) Each team gets one turn at bat. Batsmen keep batting until they are dismissed ("out" in baseball parlance), and another batsman takes their place. When all but one batsman is dismissed, the "innings" is over, and the other team gets to bat.
3) Two batsmen are on the field at a time, at two wickets. The first batsman defends the wicket from the bowler, who tries to throw the ball to know the bails off the wicket, thereby dismissing the batsman. The batsman's chief job is to defend the wicket. His secondary job is to score runs.
4) He defends the wicket by trying to deflect or hit the ball. Key points: there is no "foul" ball, and the batsman *does not have to run* if he hits the ball.
5)If the batsman thinks he has a good chance of getting a run, he can run to the opposite wicket, and that batsman switches places with him. They can keep switching places as long as they can, scoring more runs.
7) If an odd number of runs are scored, the 2nd batsman is now at the primary wicket, and it is his turn to bat.
8) The bowler tries to bowl the ball past the batsman to knock the bail off the wicket. the ball is bowled with an unbent elbow, but can be underhand, overhand, bounced off the ground, or in the air, straight, or spun. At the time the movie was set, there was no penalty for hitting the batsmen, who wear pads on their legs.
9) Every six bowls, the batsmen switch places, regardless of how long they have been at that wicket. After a certain number of bowls, a different bowler rotates in.
11) There are a lot of runs scored, and the priority of defending the wicket makes for a very long game. The play in the film occurs over three days. The game is over when both teams have completed batting. The game also will end at the end of the third day, even if there are still batsmen who have not been dismissed. I don't quite follow what happens here. In modern play, it is a draw if they run out of time and one side has not completed its innings, but that isn't what happens in the film. I don't understand the reason, but the rule is clearly explained in the film, so just take it for granted.
12) when a potential dismissal occurs, the fielding time requests a ruling of the umpire by asking "how's that?" or "howzat?"
13) Strategy involves matching an appropriate bowler to a batsman, avoiding dismissals at all costs, having the right balance of strong bowlers and strong batsmen, managing baserunning, etc. Much of it is familiar from baseball, although game play is much more conservative and risk averse, as you only get 9 "outs" total per side.
This should be sufficient. Most of it is pretty clear from the film, but it helps to focus on the action when you aren't trying to figure out the rules and can easily understand the consequences of a given play.
should be *knock* the bails off the wicket.
If it didn't look so similar to baseball, it would probably be easier to figure out.
the twists and turns make the movie watchable and the very cool technique of inserting the people having the conversation inserted into the flashback was entertaining, but not enough to help with the head scratcher ending.
worth a rental, but just barely. 2 ½ quacks out of 5.
Thanks for the cricket rules. That odd number of runs was what I was missing. Ordered Lagaan from Amazon, although as I mentioned before, movies that are under 2 hours get watched in first week, 3 hour movies wait forever.
Re: Sports Themes
I've read Hornby's About a Boy and High Fidelity with pleasure, really liked the Cusack film of latter and look forward to Hugh Grant film of former, but I understand that in Britain Hornby is really thought of as the author of Fever Pitch, a football/soccer fanaticism book. It seems to have disappeared without a trace. Has anybody seen it?
I read one of the best critiques of a Coen Brothers movie from D.C.'s City Paper - there always less there than meets the eye.
In some cases, this is unfair (i.e., Fargo, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski) and given the woeful state of American filmmaking in terms of ingenuity, it is difficult to be hard on the Coens.
Not this time. The Man Who Wasn't There takes a crack at psychological tough-guy noir, but it lacks a center and worse, it has no sense of humor. Miller's Crossing was so false as to be glamorous, but what fun.
Not here. In Man we are stuck with a morose, perhaps deranged Billy Bob Thornton, who comes closer to his character in Sling Blade rather than a doomed Jim Thompson protagonist. Everyone else is very good, from the fine Frances McDormand to James Galdofini not straying too far from Tony Soprano. Tony Shalhoub's criminal defense attorney is memorable.
It is also beautifully photographed.
But there's no there there. Thornton is a zombie. Who cares about the hard-boiled tale of murder, revenge, mistake, redemption, sin, lust, and all the rest when your guide is a zombie?
Grade: C.
If you take movies seriously, you have to see this. A masterpiece.
My review: a video game starring some exquisite breasts.
I've become a serious Peckinpah fan. I highly recommend Junior Bonner as a lovely mood piece, if not as riveting. And Ride the High Country is not yet out on DVD, I don't think, but look for it on TMC. It is wonderful, and if the ending doesn't make you cry, I don't know what will.
Anyway, Ebert also says that Holden was supposedly appalled when he saw the finished film. Maybe, but he sure didn't have any reason to be appalled at his own performance.
Coincidentally, given Caesar's mention of Tony Soprano above, I kept seeing many precursors to The Sopranos in The Wild Bunch. A different genre, of course, but the basic themes and characters and their relationships were there (although TWB has no female character to speak of, and hence none of the male-female dynamic of The Sopranos).
There's a gentle underside to Pekinpah, that's rarely acknowledged. The key scene in The Wild Bunch is the visit to Mexican village -- which as you know is recalled in the finale.
The Wild Bunch overall, is and ode to "Alpha Male" self-destructiveness -- and as such constitutes the most sophisticated "weepie" ever made.
Oh, absolutely. Junior Bonner is a wonderful ode to families. And the end to Ride the High Country really is beautiful.
I think I know what they were *trying* to do: they were creating an anti-film noir. One signature characteristic of films noir is a sense of fate, of the inevitability of the climax, usually due to character. They are also intensely moralistic, with either a cathartic scene for the lead, or else a supporting character who provides a moral center. MWWT deliberately eschews these considerations in favor of an existential noir, where life is random and meaningless, where the lead is motivated by the mundane desire to open a dry cleaning store and not by sex (this is made explicit in his scenes with the young pianist), and where there is no moral center.
I think the Coen's see this as incredibly funny. I have listened to part of the commentary track, and they are constantly in stitches over Thornton's performance. I certainly chuckled in a few scenes, but generally I got the joke without thinking it was funny, or worth two hours of my time. It is basically an arty film "shaggy dog" story.
A frequent criticism of the Coen's is that their films lack heart, and they are mocking, more than sympathezing with, their main characters. This is true in some of their films to various degrees, but it is very much a problem in this film. And in this case, it pretty much kills the movie, as aside from the photography and a handful of nice performances, there is nothing of interest. Even in their mediocre films, the Coen's have never previously been guilty of being *boring*, but that is what happens here.
Junior Bonner was a silly film. I can't understand what so many people see in it. If I didn't know Peckinpah better, I would be tempted to assume the film was a parody.
I've only seen Ride the High Country once (letterboxed), and I don't know if I'd call it brilliant, but it was extremely well done and very moving.
As for Peckinpah, I loved The Wild Bunch when I first saw it a few years back. I should see it again, because I think that I would get more out of it on second viewing. Holden's final words in the movie -- "It ain't like it used to be, but it'll do" -- stand out as one of my favourite bits of movie dialogue.
Two years ago, a friend and I rented Peckinpah's Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. Our mutual response: Confusing, unfunny, odd with a compelling burst of violence at the end. Still, I may give it a second chance.
Lastly, I went to see Gosford Park for a second time last weekend. It was evan better on second viewing. It is a remarkably well crafted movie and the excellence (and subtlety) of the script really comes through on repeat viewing. And once again, I fell in love with Maggie Smith.
Saw Mulholland Drive on VCR.
Didn't get it.
Liked it anyway.
Babe which Sofi and I watched about 20 times this week. I really enjoyed this movie but had a hard time explaining to Sofi the concept of eating animals. I tried to keep it as judgement free as possible, and I'm sure it was obvious to her that I found the idea a little skeevy but it was the first "big topic" type talk I've had to do with her. Anyway, I thought it was such a sensitive film and loved the silence of it. I was afraid it would be too mature for Sofi but she really dug it too. We'll probably try to find a copy of it because I suspect we'll be borrowing it a lot.
Also got Being There, the Screen adaptation of Kosinski's novel which i read a couple of weeks ago. Peter Sellers was wonderful, of course, and played Chance exactly as he should have been played. Shirley MacLaine was also good and looked beautiful...but it just didn't leave me with the same feeling that the book did. It was less powerful.
Our other movie was The Magic Christian with Sellers and Ringo Starr and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite that Tweety Bird of a Beatle McCartney's song piping in every two minutes. It reminded me of Putney Swope or that really early DeNiro flick about him helping a black militant group that does living theatre...Hey Mom or something like that.
Anyway, that's my library video rental report.
TJ,
Ebert's review of Bring Me the Head was extremely effective: it made me never ever want to see it. And he loved the film.
I just watched the goofiest movie: Blow Dry. I can see why I missed it in the theaters.
Not in the book but a great movie scene is when the maid is sitting at home with her family, watching Chance on TV and says "It is a white man's world..." I howled.
The ending is what kept me from being excited about the film...it was less potent than the novel but i think on a second viewing I might like it more.
If you've never read that book, it's hilarious, BTW. Unfortunately, according to Amazon it's out of print.
I'm listening/half watching Miss Congeniality right now, and it is an extremely silly story. But in and around the asinine plot, it's lots of fun watching Michael Caine as the pageant expert, William Shatner turning in a great turn as Bert Parks, and Candace Bergen as Mary Ann Mobley, or whatever her name is. And Bullock's talent sketch is hysterical.
sure, there were goofy parts (like a few too many wrestling moves in the fight scenes) and a little of the effects were hazy, but these are small, small complaints overall.
if you like a gory, horror action movie, this is a must see!
4 ½ quacks out of 5.
And Teri Garr is in it too.
i think they were going for a Shining thing here, but failed miserably. i hated this thing.
the characters do things that make no sense and the thing just doesn't add up at the end. stupid from start to finish.
1 quack out of 5.
Margaret Cho muses on her life as a Korean woman in American as well as a failed TV star. the stand up is well paced and is great from start to finish. the DVD extras like the 'making of' featurette were also fun to watch.
this is a must rent. 4 of 5 quacks.
Reviews waiting for a round tuit now lists the index for my site. It's not pretty, but I've got an entire year plus of reviews out there that aren't on the formal front page (which is going to change), and it's a shame not to let people find them if they want.
To find your reviews, just do a find on your moniker name. To find movies, do a search on the movie name.
The reason the format is taking a long time is because I am moving further down the road of automating it, and because the front page is becoming too unwieldy.
I also finally broke down and paid $5/month--mainly for the FTP privileges, but it also eliminates those damn ads.
It's not official yet until it's on the front page, but welcome Lime, Shannon, and iiibbb, who are all on the site for the first time. Zojak, your review hasn't been uploaded yet but its coming.
I have some 450 reviews from last year alone, more from this year already. You guys do a great job, and I'm sorry I haven't done more to keep the site up to date in the past year. It certainly is the better for all the great reviews everyone takes the time to post.
Amax
Elzbieta
KhabeesKhargosh
Think that's everyone; sorry if I still missed a name. I'll pick it up.
I have about half the reviews loaded, will get most of the rest of them done tonight, and that still leaves me another three months to get caught up.
man, i still love my A.I. review...
You're welcome, both of you. Thanks for providing so many good reviews.
BTW, if you just want to see new reviews, you can sort it by date by clicking on the date heading.
Figured I would check out rubberducky's review of A.I. to see what all the fuss is about. Got caught up in reading about twenty other fabulous reviews. Forgot to read rubberducky's review. Realized if I go back to check it out, I will kill another hour or so that should be spent working.
@#%@%$#%#%% Distractions.
But thanks Cal, great work. It should prove to be a fabulous resource.
i 'lost' more than an hour yesterday, but it is fun to see what others see in things
The premise is interesting but it fails to develop. A temperamental "genius" director who has fallen on hard times is givn the chance at a comeback with a big new film his ex-wife, now a studio executive, thinks is perfect for him. Overwhelmed he becomes psychosomaically blind -- and directs the picture anyway, with help from various parties.
Many badly directed scenes. Tea Leoni is good as the ex-wife but Allen, who is in virtually every scene, is often quite bad.
Did you like Deconstructing Harry?
I haven't like a Woody movie since Manhattan Murder Mystery.
"I'm in an elevatore with a dead body. A neurotic's jackpot!"
And the lights go out.
Interesting piece on how close digital projection is, and how it impacts moviemaking economics.
I'll see your round tuit and raise you a oval threeut.
Alf claims I would like it just fine if I could get over his...umm...lifestyle choice...but anyway.
Hollywood Ending (Haven't seen; intrigued though)
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (Haven't seen; won't see)
Small Time Crooks (Thought it sucked)
Sweet and Lowdown (Quirky, with some great acting, though it feels slight somehow)
Celebrity (Sucks ass, but has some beautiful b/w cinematography)
Deconstructing Harry (Freak'n hilarious; a wonderfully crude movie, with many inventive bits)
Everyone Says I Love You (Fantastic; very sweet movie; one of my favourite Woody Allen flicks)
Mighty Aphrodite (Quite funny, well told little movie)
Don't Drink the Water (Haven't seen, but would like to)
Bullets Over Broadway (Has a terriffic cast, and I laughed out loud at some classic Allen dialogue, but remember little else about the movie for some reason)
Manhattan Murder Mystery (Haven't seen, but will, lest I incur the wrath of Calgal)
Husbands and Wives (Loved this funny, bitter movie about the travails of marriage and divorce)
Shadows and Fog (Haven't seen)
Bullets Over Broadway is marvellous. I had the same impression of the movie after I saw it the first time (laughed, but no big), then watched it again recently and was struck by what a great deal it had to say about art and artists. I recommend watching it again; it's very good.
Husbands and Wives: difficult to watch, brilliant work by Pollack and Davis. Never saw it again, don't want to.
Everybody Says I Love You: I agree it's very sweet and watchable. Nice concept. I put it third for enjoyability, though, after MMM and BoB.
Haven't seen any of the rest, don't really want to except Sweet and Lowdown.
TJ, have you seen Big Deal on Madonna Street?
Nope. In fact, I haven't heard of it, until just now. Based on the imdb plot summary, it looks as if it was an inspiration for Small Time Crooks.
Do you recommend it?
Yes, I do. And it's one of them furrin films, so if I'm recommending it you know it's got to be good.
And Calgal, great review btw. Your phrase "grand theft stroller" made me laugh.
Screenplay/Plot/Storyline -Great, deep, things goin' on at lotsa levels.
Samuel L. Jackson -Awesome.
William Hurt - random shabby angel-figure. good performance.
Amanda Peet - Nice to look at and did a very good job in her limited role.
Ben Affleck - weak. WEAK. WEAK. Whether he's conflicted, hurt, contemplating life, getting emotional, expressing contempt, it's all the same facial expression. And it's rather similar to the one used when one is taking a dump. 
I saw S&F within 6mos of having performed in The 3-Penny Opera so I loved it. I don't know how I would've felt about the film had I not just done that particular show. I think it might've dragged just a little bit, but, even so, I would've found it more engaging than my usual attempt to watch Allen's films.
That might mean a real Allen fan would hate it, but I'm more than satisfied with what my $8 got me.
Yep, I'm with you on the Affleck diagnosis. He's just not strong enough to play anything but a supporting role unless it's the stereotypically wooden tough-guy in an action flick a la Reindeer Games.
I just know his nightly prayer is "Please, someday let me be a real boy!"
Yes, but if you look at the upper left pic w/the blue background you can almost see Ben Affleck taking a dump.
speaking of asses, the aforementioned Mr Affleck was chosen to play Daredevil. don't know if i'm happy about it or not, however.
I thought Daredevil was horribly deformed under his helmet from the motorcycle accident where he slid some 20 feet across the pavement on his face.
Or maybe I'm thinking of another superhero altogether.
Oh.
duh.
I knew that.
Daredevil is the blind guy.
Okay, now I'm off to figure out what character I've got him mixed up with. It's a dude in black leather who rides a motorcycle and wears a skull for a helmet---not a real skull of course.
Oh, he's certainly good looking and I don't doubt that he's bright, but there are plenty of super-bright folks who can't act and quite a few dumb ones who can. I used to think it was about brains, but I've since come to the realization that the correllation is too unreliable to bank on.
yeah, Ducks and I can't give each other movie recs. He's hated plenty of stuff I've loved and vice versa.
On the other hand, I haven't a clue (or care) who Daredevil is.
CG: i see what you're saying, i was just surprised.
He also did straight acting jobs. Scenes from a Mall wasn't that successful, but his voice work in Antz was terrific.
Larry McMurtry once wrote that a novelist who writes over 30 years gets tired of reading his own work for that long. If I were Allen, I'd feel that way about watching all those movies.
Only a few of his movies ever really made a strong impression on me. I particularly loved Purple Rose of Cairo, Annie Hall (which I wonder if it would feel very dated now), and Husbands and Wives.
But watching his films are like going into a well-developed other world, Woody's parrallel universe: The black and white credits, the 20s through 40s music, the inspired (if not real) vision of New York.
And then there are moments. The father clutching his clod of dirt ("he loved Mother Russia"), scenes from Everything You Wanted to Know*, the Gershwin music and b&W shots of Manhattan, the conceit from Sleepers that in the future health food will be cigarettes, whiskey and red meat.
Even in his very dated and flawed Bergmanesque Interiors had its moments (Diane Keeton and Barbara Hershey lamenting over their middle sister's lack of talent - "Poor Joey, she has all the termperament of an artist, but no talent"); Geraldine Page's minimal interior rooms, her need to be what she no longer was; E.G. Marshall's nervous rich guy making up for lost time, and especially, the acting by (name forgotten, but her sister was Archie's Edith), the only one wearing red, a loud, happy lady ("you only live once, but once is enough if you do it right").
I like Hannah and Her Sisters, Bullets over Broadway, and Manhattan Murder Mystery unreservedly. Everybody Says I Love You is a conceit, but a really enjoyable one.
Great idea, Cal. I think the only criteria should be a) something that almost everybody can rent and b) something I like.
So start a list. I'm thinking I'd like a mixed bag of films that most people haven't seen; recent good stuff, great classics, even foreign films--but only I get to choose on that count. (g)
hahahahaha!
i agree it sounds like fun, but i'm sure i won't like whatever it is, heh.
If anyone knows anything horrid about Earthlink DSL, now is the time to tell me, btw.
I'm surprised you've listed The Third Man. I thought everyone had seen that.
But then I'm 55 years-old.
I hope that we can agree on one non-American movie. (other than SH, which is Canadian). I haven't seen many foreign movies lately, and wouldn't mind seeing something from another place.
My Allen suggestion would be: Annie Hall (I'd like to revisit it since I haven't seen it in years), Alice, or Bullets Over Broadway.
For musicals, I'd like to see West Side Story, another I haven't seen in a long time. In fact, I'd like to see it on a screen.
A Room With a View -- Ivory and Merchant did it right, and made us think that they could bring life to period costume movies. The lake scene, as E.M. Forster intended, was quite frisky.
I've never made it through Nashville. I would try it again, or suggest A Wedding, Altman's lesser known comedy that has Carol Burnett, Mia Farrow and and a dead body cameo with Lillian Gish.
Maybe Seven Days in May. So very dated, not as compelling as The Manchurian Candidate, but also not as well known. Perhaps Drury's Advise and Consent. I don't think I've ever seen that either. Any other good political movies, or is that impossible?
I am not a Nicolas Cage fan, but Moonstruck is wonderful, and Guarding Tess is also very good (except for the ending). Either of those would be interesting to see again.
Wasn't Burt Lancaster in a WWII war movie from the 60s or 70s called The Castle? Or Castle's Keep?
I do have two British movies on the list--the Powell Pressburger selections and Third Man--as well as an Italian movie (Big Deal on Madonna Street.
I am so not an Altman fan. Can't we watch MASH again, huh, huh?
Either of those political movies are excellent suggestions. I think Advise and Consent is particularly relevant, given our neverending Senate confirmations.
All excellent suggestions, though.
Burt Lancaster was in The Train from that era. Quite a good war movie. Don't know if he was in Castle Keep.
for some reason memories of watching a slew of Kenneth Anger films one very intoxicated night with about 30 other freakers at a friend's house have disrupted all other brain activity...and I can't stop laughing thinking of PoJ, concerned and Rama as "actors" in Scorpio Rising.
Or the original Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) spy flick, Ipcress File.
The Prize--I don't know if it's generally availalbe, and it's not out on DVD. I want to try and make these fairly easy to get.
GJ--if we do a western, we should probably do a classic. The Searchers grows on me every time I see it, although it's not fun. What other classic but not generally seen Westerns are there?
And how many people have seen Double Indemnity? Aytch mentioning Edward G. made me think of it.
I've always wanted to see Red River, but perhaps there are others. I think I saw a jillion Audie Murphy "B" movies when I was growing up, with stock characters that usually included a Doc Holliday coughing his way through the movie, a good guy, a sweet woman, and a bad guy or bad gang.
As for Westerns, anyone for Monte Mellman? I love
The Shooting, Ride in the Whirlwind and China 9 Liberty 37.
Any other mentions?
The Kurosawa films I've seen thus far often have a grim, fatalistic tone and are paced more slowly than I prefer. I consider this a small price to pay for the stories, performances, and cinematography, and have always counted him among my favorite "furrin" directors. But he makes the sort of movies I'm usually more interested in talking about than seeing again.
Thus I was pleasantly surprised this evening when Spawn and I watched Hidden Fortress, aka the model for Star Wars. A delightfully Western romp of a movie with laugh out loud moments and genuinely suspenseful story twists. I was not at all sure how the story would end.
The characters are all likeable and well-developed. Mifune is marvellous as usual in the Obi Wan role, but the peasants, who are usually cowardly and servile--well, they're still cowardly and servile, but a hell of a lot smarter and funnier than in Yojimbo or The Seven Samurai. The Princess is brave, ferocious, cranky, smart, smartassed, and a determined leader. In a 1958 Japanese flick. Go figure.
Visually it has the goods as well; the opening slave revolt is outstanding.
I am probably revealing my plebe roots here, because I usually see Hidden Fortress described as lesser Kurosawa. Yojimbo, Seven Samurai, and Rashomon are certainly great. But this one's my favorite.
speaking of the woodman: has anyone seen "what's up tiger lilly?"...very strange, but has its funny spots.
What's Up Tiger Lily? is great silly fun.
My suggestion would be to pick a trio of movies dealing with a similar theme or subject matter. For example, we could watch three movies re: relationships -- such as Free Enterprise, High Fidelity and . . . I dunno, Hiroshima Mon Amour to up the brow ante.
In any event, I am willing to watch whatever movies the group decides upon.
Anyone want to sign on for that trilogy? Even if it's just you and me, TJ, I think we should do that so I could give you more fodder for nagging relatives.
Sign me up for the trilogy: High Fidelity, Free Enterprise and Tao of Steve.
"Beneath its careless surface, you can't shake the sense that once-sublime feelings are being eulogized in Hollywood Ending -- ours for Woody, and Woody's for his life's work."
I have yet to see Hollywood Ending, but the above captures my feeling towards some of Allen's latest offerings.
Sorry, Cal, I meant my tonight, Friday night. We right-coasters can be a bit horocentric.
Cellar--so you enjoyed it, too? Or was there a homosexual subtext I missed?
High Fidelity
The Tao of Steve
Free Enterprise
The theme is Men and Relationships; it goes without saying that all three movies are extremely funny.
If you haven't seen any of these and want to participate, seeing just one is fine. I'd shoot for two, just to compare and contrast.
High Fidelity is the A-list movie of the three, with major stars showing up for cameos. If you're only going to see one movie, this is probably the safest choice.
Tao of Steve is a quirky little movie, based on a real life guy. If you're gay and aren't particularly into pop culture, this is the movie I'd suggest of the three. The relationship issues are far less gender-based than in High Fidelity, and Free Enterprise is tough to follow if you don't know what age you start having Logan's Run nightmares.
Free Enterprise is a must if you like pop culture, and if you're into Star Trek and haven't seen it, more fool you. William Shatner at his finest. Also has Eric McCormack from Will and Grace. You don't have to be a Trekkie to enjoy it, though; enough of the jokes will sink in, and it is also a very nice film about relationship and friendship.
will let the rest of you know if you should waste your time or not, heh.
i'm guessing i'll rank it 3 quacks, but we'll see.
Suggestion for foreign film:
Betty Blue
For no other reason than that I love this film and I'm on a mission for converts.
Or wait, are you talking about Betty Blue?
I'll take the chance that folks knew what I meant and not put both feet in my mouth by trying to explain.
I LOATHED Betty Blue.
I love Betty Blue. I haven't seen it in years.
I've seen High Fidelity and love that movie, I'll try to see the others and participate. I have May 13th off, ha, imagine that! Maybe I'll do something radical and make a date with the computer...
What did you loath about Betty Blue?
I remember it being a benign French movie experience untill the end...
I really must see it again now.
Plus its overall style, or rather STYLE!!!!
Two nitpics: It's not difficult to contact navy people at sea. They even have email these days for Pete's sake. And, someone jumping into lake Tahoe is gonna shiver.
It's about a confused young, pierced and punky girl and her attraction to an older man played very straight by Albert Brooks. He plays the part just right as a confused, frightened, but curious human being relating to another confused, frightened person who displays some borderline inappropriate behaviors. The young women does a complete change in outward appearance and in her relationships with her parents as a result of her new-found friend. I got the impression that she somehow retained her core personality. Not sure if that was intended by the story or not. The actress was wonderful.
The writers got the older/younger relationship and its ambiguities just right, I think. The title somehow still seems wrong for the movie.
"Don't judge a book by its cover" would sum up the characters better perhaps.
I found the info on the three movies but only by reading back. Do you plan to post something on the home page or start a thread or something? I may have missed it altogether without your direct mention. As it happens, I'm off work on the 13th, so I hope I can join in. Thanks.
I saw it Friday night. A good, solid, blockbuster held together by the central love story. I thought the FX were actually a bit weak, but the action scenes work well when you can tell they are using actors rather than CGI. It is the most faithful comic adaption I have seen, and on par with the first two Superman films as the best superhero movie. I give it a B+.
never mind the weak ass effects, the main problem for me can be summed up in four words:
Too
Much
Mary
Jane
god, Ripley and i thought the film should have been called The Amazing Mary Jane and Some Guy in Tights
why ruin Spider-Man in this way? what'd he ever do to them?
the Green Goblin was wrong, wrong, WRONG! Uncle Ben? please! and since when does Aunt May CUSS!!
major suckage.
one disappointing quack for a couple of the minor things they did get right.
2 ½ quacks out of 5.
Tobey McGuire is inspired casting. But all the critics are saying that. There are a couple of places where the CGI make the thing feel like watching a cartoon. But then given the subject matter, even that may be appropriate. The most noticable fake was Peter running accross the roof tops. Otherwise, the CGI was quite serviceable.
The action sequences were well done and fit nicely in the story. That is the best thing about the movie.... the action sequences were subordinate to the story, not the other way around.
The Green Goblin was the worst thing in the movie. Just not sinister enough and way too over the top. He just as well have had a handle bar moustash and tied M.J. to the train tracks. But even that could not detract since the coolness of Peter/Spidey easily offset this dud of a villian.
Seeing real talented writers, actors and directors at work makes me dread Star Bores, Attack of the Snores In spite of the manipulation of the entertainment "press" (Georgie has discovered his fans blah blah blah..) there is no way it can look anything but empty and D.O.A. compared to THE blockbuster of the summer. Spider-Man may even have legs (snicker) since the young teen girls may line up over and over to see this love story. Wouldn't it be great if it stuck around for a while a la Titanic.
and, to me, that was the worst thing about it. this was supposed to be an action flick. but, in name only as it turns out.
and why fake him running across rooftops? how hard is that to shoot? whatta rip.
i certainly would've liked a cuter Peter Parker, but at least he had a nice chest.
Never fear, rd, your summer will be filled with souless action flicks. MIIB looks to be the best of the lot.
As for the cuteness of Peter Parker, I would never kick him out of bed for eating crackers. But I am a sucker for goofy smiles. Besides, I now have fantasies of him getting it on with James Franco in the sequel. He has given up girls...after all!
god damn but that shit needs to stop!
I hate to say it, but Minority Report also looks to be cool. I hate saying anything to promote the former Mr. Kidman.
And Cris Rock needs to get a new schtick. I grimaced through that entire trailer. Anthony Hopkins appears doing an action/thriller while Rock is doing his same o same o. Schizophrenic, to say the least.
Only 3 commercials? I must have sat through 10 or more.
LOL
Fortunately, Y Tu Mama Tambien had no trailers preceding it.
At first I thought there was something wrong with the soundtrack as the film seemed to go silent. But it was just a voice over explaining some inane detail or the other. It was jarring throughout, but I finally got used to it and when the sound went dead, I was prepared for the stupid interruption for some artsy fartsy narrative.
That said, this is a marvelous little film and the three lead actors could not have been better. A great companion piece for Nico and Dani.
The Aero theater in Santa Monica is a single screen film house built probably in the '40s. They serve microwaved popcorn and canned sodas at the concession stand and hand-make their movie posters, but the sound is good and the screen is large and not only were there no commercials, but there were no dancing candies or hot dogs telling me what to eat, where to put my garbage and reminding me that there's still no smoking in theaters.
Hell, I'm 32 years old and I barely remember when people could smoke in theaters. I suppose the announcement is for New Yorkers?
Oh, sorry, I'm talking about Frailty and it is disturbing. It isn't gorey----the opening credits are more gruesome than anything you actually see in the film---but it is horrifying.
Matthew McConaughey plays Fenton Meiks (Meeks)who has come to the office of an FBI agent played by Powers Boothe (does this man never age?) to confess that he believes his younger brother Adam to be the God's Hand serial killer that the FBI has been tracking for some months.
Boothe is, naturally, skeptical and so Fenton begins the tale of his and his brother's childhood and the night their widowed father told them he'd been commanded by an Angel to destroy demons.
Bill Paxton plays the boys' father as well as directing and while I'm still pondering his talents as an actor he directed the hell out of this film. Paxton's performance isn't by any means bad, but there are a few lines here and there that don't seem to fit comfortably and they threw me every once in awhile. I always have this problem with Paxton, however. Maybe it's just a trick of his voice. At any rate, the problem is minor, and the strength of this film rests largely on Paxton's ability to show us the intimate life of a family's love and loyalty even in the face of madness.
McGuire is another internal thinker (he's either processing or he is just plain dumb). I can't wait to see Spiderman.
I was mad at myself for missing The Deep End when it came through here in the theater, so I am looking forward to renting it.
i think i've mentioned this before, but you should definitely put DVD Price Search in the links section.
it is invaluable to me when i shop for a purchase.
Just out of curiosity I was looking at all the info available on IMDB and discovered that Paxton, McConaughey and Boothe are all native Texans and the cast largely consists of people that McConaughey worked with on U-571. No names other than the three leads and the young Fenton who is only just getting to be a name having played the son in the latest Travolta travesty Domestic Disturbance. There are also 12 producers all of whom were listed in the opening credits.
Why any of this matters I couldn't say, but it made me think of the project as something of a "family" endeavor and labor of love.
Yeah, Paxton is sexy. He's not handsome, but he has an undeniable appeal that I didn't notice the first few times I saw him. He's like the blue-collar prince charming. Sexy as hell in an extraordinary average guy kind of way. Watching him in this film all I could think was "Bill, father my children, how 'bout?"
McConaughey on the other hand has only to stand in that cocked hip pose to make my mouth water. Literally. He did that and my roomate kicked me in the ankle as we both gulped. That boy ought to be illegal. Doesn't strike me as great father material for anything other than pretty gene contributions but I only like to practice makin' babies anyway!
HOLLYWOOD SIGN CAUGHT IN SECESSION TUG OF WAR
Los Angeles Times
It started life as a real estate ad and became a world-famous landmark.
It has fallen down and been fixed up. It has been scrawled with hearts
that say so-and-so loves so-and-so forever. Pranksters have draped it in
sheets to read HOLLYWEED (for dope), HOLYWOOD (for the pope), RAFFEYSOD
(for the Raffeys, an obscure rock band). Now, the Hollywood sign has
been transformed again--into a symbol used by both sides of the city's
secession debate.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-050602holly.story
Check Out The Hollywood Sign¹s History, And A Live Webcam
http://www.hollywoodsign.org/
Lemmon is especially brilliant, and the final gag had me laughing for a good five minutes afterwards when I first saw the film at Radio City back in 1965.
It's the only really enjoyable pie fight scene I've ever watched. And Lemmon is particularly fab. The first 20 times I've seen it I only enjoyed him as Rupert ("you are banished, you bad tucker inner! Banished, banished, banished!"). But then Professor Fate grew on me.
"Yeah, well before we sink we're gonna do plenty!"
"What?"
"We're gonna starve!"
I enjoy Curtis, too. If only for being impossibly perfect.
There's a lovely Henry Mancini song too: "The Sweetheart Tree."
You forgot to mention the classic tune, "He Shouldn'ta Hadn'ta Oughtn'ta Swang On Me".
Concerns about Enigma by Turing biographer
Cal, I think I read Cryptonomicon on your say so. (At least, that's how I remember it.) That also deals with Enigma and doesn't have Turing.
Crumb is a true odd-ball, who grew up with an abusive father, an amphetamine addicted mother, two mentally ill brothers and two sisters, who presumably turned out relatively normal despite their tragic family situation, but who (I think tellingly) declined to be interviewed for the documentary.
Crumb is most famous for the Freak Brothers and Fritz the Cat comic strips, although this work is relatively sane and in some way sweet, compared to the bulk of his work: stream of consciousness oddities filled with huge thighed, very often headless women, sadistic horndogs and an assortment of bizarro psycho-sexual images and characters. Some early work also features offensive portrayals of black Americans, including an extreme minstrel named something like Bug-a-boo and a story about the sale of "Nigger Hearts."
Clearly, much of Crumb's work is mysoginistic and racist; although there are many who defend even his most directly offensive work as an expression of the dark underbelly of the American "psyche" and a direct satire of consumer driven society.
Regardless of what one might think of his work, however, Crumb and his family are truly fascinating and the documentary sdeptly handles this subject matter.
High Fidelity
The Tao of Steve
Free Enterprise
cal -- thanks for the reminder. I hope to see at least one. I've got a busy weekend.
I rarely watch documentaries for some reason, although I am likely to see some good ones in the coming weeks. TV Ontario, a public broadcaster, is airing a series billed as HOT DOCs, featuring, you guessed it, successful documentaries.
The Grey Gardens doc sounds interesting. If it is not part of the HOT DOCs series, I will rent it.
The Uptown Theatre, a revamped wonderful old huge one-screen theatre starts selling at noon today. A bunch o Yodas, chewbaccas, etc. started camping in front of the theatre yesterday.
How badly will Star Wars beat Spidey on its first weekend?
Or are we seeing a limited number of real die hard who just MUST see it first?
I hope SpiderMan kicks its ass!
i'd like at least one 'blockbuster' to like this year.
Sigh
seen the previews for XXX yet, Ms No? looks like a goofy WWF meets Bond starring the ever lickable Vin Diesel, but should be good popcorn fare.
What's Signs?
I didn't loathe Spiderman. It was fun, goofy, nothing terrific.
because the 2 protagonists for the next 3 flicks need to be created!
Sally Quinn now owns Grey Gardens, BTW. She's turned it into a giant planter.
Typical.
I'm a little concerned about MIIB because I just worry about sequels to really cool films. I'm not all that worried about Signs. I know that it will deliver on the things that I've come to expect from Shyamalan's films. If it happens to dissapoint in the mystery or suspense I doubt I'll be too upset by it. I'll be too busy waxing rhapsodic over his examination of family dynamics.
Signs is the latest from M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Mel Gibson and Joaquim Phoenix. Gibson is a rural preacher, Phoenix is one of his three children. They start discovering crop circles in their cornfield. That's about all I know from the trailer----could be aliens, could be gods, but it looks suspenseful. The trailer does have that same "quietness" about it that both 6thSense and Unbreakable had.
I'm not sure what the release date is, but I've been seeing trailers for a couple of months now.
Yeah, but I really liked Unbreakable. Shyamalan's a two time winner with me so I'll keep watching.
Are both his brothers dead now?
If I remember correctly the Uptown did the big renovation in time for Jurassic Park, complete with strobe light "lightning effects."
I remember they went thru a preiod before then of showing old classics. I saw Gone with the Wind and Lawrence of Arabia there. We had to sit in the balcony for Lawrence of Arabia. It was winter but they had the heat cranked up. I remember those of us in the balcony laughing that it was a true immersion experience in that we felt like we were actually in the desert. I actually got the free refill on my large (it's only 50 cents more) coke to get thru the heat on that one.
I can't think of his name right now, but the guy who was the military attache? The one who formed the German anti-terrorism unit after Munich? He is apparently pretty legendary among those sorts.
For all Woody Allen fans:
TCM is running his early stuff all night long, with Bananas first followed by Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex... and then Sleeper and finally, Love and Death.
What was the explanation of crop circles? (I didn't even really pay attention to them when they were big)
I wanted to like this film. When I was an adolescent, an apartment I used to visit had a big poster in it that said "Moulin Rouge" and two of the three times I've been to Paris I've gone to the Montmartre area to traipse up the hill to Sacre Coeur and also see the Moulin Rouge. (I've never actually seen a show at the Moulin Rouge. I think it was about $175 the time I considered it, and that seemed sort of pricey. Plus, the surrounding "shows" and shops had an effect on me as is experienced by the narrator in Joyce's "Araby." Still, it's something that has piqued my interest ever since seeing that big and at the time meaningless phrase on the poster.)
Anyway, Moulin Rouge is a horrible mess of a film. It has style in excess but otherwise it's not engrossing or memorable. A lack of heart is it's biggest failing. The incessant camera cuts is another.
I thought of All That Jazz, one of my favorites, which in some ways was similar (overlap of life and the musical stage, the show must go on, death, lots of interesting costumes and visually stunning dance numbers), yet whereas despite all the failings of Joe Gideon we care about him, I just didn't give a tinker's damn about anyone in Moulin Rouge. In fact, like with a Zola novel, I had the almost certain sense we were supposed to be laughing at the lovers and laughing even at Nicole Kidman's melodramatic bouts with TB.
I watched it because I had high hopes and so as a satisfier of my curiosity I'm glad I did. But I wouldn't be interested in seeing more films like it.
I don't see any point of comparison with Moulin Rouge, love it or hate it. All That Jazz has far more in common with Cabaret (as Fosse envisioned it), another non-musical with songs.
Where it really scores in ways that Moulin Rouge doesn't is in its use of songs: "On Broadway," "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries," "By Bye Love," and "Some of These Days" are treated in very different and original ways.
Fosse was quite a pice of work. Yet he continues to inspire awe in those who worked with him, like
Deborah Geffner and
Sandahl Bergman
You think the treatment of those songs was different? I dunno. "Like a Virgin" and "Roxanne" were treated quite originally in Moulin Rouge, and I can't think of any song in All That Jazz that is really treated differently. Put in a different context, sure--particularly Bye Bye Love. But I thought Roxanne and Like a Virgin were really transformed in a way that none of the songs in All That Jazz were.
Crop Circles
Pelle--thanks.
I was making a joke...I knew you said "a few years"; I was just making a joke that perhaps it would take longer for you to view MR in a different light since you like it so much now.
Oh, I'm sure you didn't. I was 18. I was clarifying my own opinion, not stating yours.
And I knew what you meant. Just seemed a tad unlikely.
Trying again
Thanks, that did work. So they were a hoax? I hope he decides to address that in the movie.
I have to agree with Ms No's observation about Paxton's acting. It was choppy and a little wooden. He deliverd dialogue unlike a father communicating to his kids. Maybe it's because he was directing himself and didn't push his own acting. He should have gone a little more upstage. Some of the dialogue throughout the film was moviola as well. A little to poignant and phoney.
My biggest complaint is pacing, and I think that's the film's main flaw. The initial premise is repeated for an hour and 20 minutes before the story moves to the next (and final) step. It would have been an excellent half-hour on the old hitchcock suspense series.
Powers Booth has a strong screen presence. Wonder why we don't see more of him in movies these days.
I think he's tagged as a B-movie guy...too bad because he's very good.
The three movies, again, are:
The focus is on men and relationships, but of course they can be discussed in all aspects.
If you've just seen one, feel free to jump right in.
Yes, there's a lot of ego in ATJ.
It also wasn't particularly a musical, certainly not in the sense of the traditional Hollywood musical.
And Moulin Rouge is a traditional Hollywood musical?
I think of it as one of those movies I thought was Deep when I was 18 and then went ick a few years later.
Well, I don't think too much of ATJ as a Deep movie, either--if you mean mentally. Still, I didn't compare the two films' intellectual but emotional depth. Nevertheless, given that MR's oft-repeated theme is "The greatest thing / You'll ever learn /Is just to love and /Be loved in return," I'd rank ATJ over it on that score as well. That is the kind of sentiment an 18 year old might think Deep.
As for the songs, inherently they were--as a group--transformed more in ATJ because the subject matter was juxtaposed from love to life & death. In MR you still had lovers singing love songs. (MR is like Les Miserables focused entirely on the cliched Maurius and Cosette.) If you mean MR's numbers were more spruced up, it's a 20-something-year later film and post- rather than pre-MTV.
I did think Roxanne was the highpoint of the movie, but then it plodded on for--what?--another 45 minutes after that.
Oh, yes. Very much so.
In MR you still had lovers singing love songs.
Not in the case of Like a Virgin and Roxanne. And The Show Must Go On was actually transformed as well, from a more serious subject to a less serious one.
The songs in All That Jazz weren't transformed at all, with the exception of Bye Bye Love. They were just sung, with the meanings largely intact.
That is the kind of sentiment an 18 year old might think Deep.
Quite the opposite, actually. All That Jazz sought to be profound and failed. Moulin Rouge sought--and, to my mind, achieved--simplicity of emotion. Which is not to be confused with simplicity of delivery.
but, my main complaint (as with Crouching Tiger) was too much talking. well, that and the plot made little sense.
2½ quacks out of 5.
Tao OS was unwatchable. I watched the first few mionutes and gave up. It's been a while, but I didn't like the lead actor and I rememeber thinking how smug he was, and I remember thinking nobody has it figured out that well, even if his theory had a kernal of truth.
Funny. HF was also skit-like, come to think of it, but it just worked better and had more interesting characters.
I thought High Fidelity had an incredibly offputting theme. High-powered female attorney wants her boyfriend to "grow up" by becoming more successful, in order to raise her status in marrying him. He has to be the type of guy who she won't be embarrassed to introduce, the type of guy who will have enough success so that if she wants to stay home. I know, I know, half of you are thinking "What? That was never mentioned in the movie!" Well, yes, it was. Not directly. But consider that she has enough money to do whatever she likes. He has his own business, after all, and is happy. Why the need for him to prove anything more? Because men must achieve, dammit, and if they are remarkable enough to attract high achievers then it is that woman's job to force him to achieve in order to win her hand.
The other aspect of the movie that I find simultaneously extremely truthful and distasteful is John Cusack's confession to his girlfriend at the end, that he was flirting with the journalist and then realized that he was always looking for something new, to keep the excitement alive. Truthful, yes. But if he still feels that way, I don't see a lot of hope for that relationship. I believe the author of the book has, in fact, divorced since having written that book. I find that cheering news. (g)
As for the relationship issues, I think the treatment of male commitment angst is well done, and I think that the relationship between Rob (John Cusack) and Laura (Iben Hjejle) is true to life.
I disagree with your assessment of The Tao of Steve. There is much charm to the lead character, Dex (Donal Logue) and the whole relationship guru schtick is most amusing throughout -- especially as it comes back to bite him in his gargantuan ass. True, nobody has it all figured out, but that is simply a conceit that the movie plays with.
I think that this is where our interpretations of High Fidelity vastly differ. I don't think that Rob is happy with his life at the beginning of the movie, and his unhappiness has more to do with Laura's decision to leave him (or,more precisely, test the waters with another man) than anything to do with her displeasure with his status in life or desire to find some sort of trophy mann to take to office parties.
I remember now after reading Cal's remarks, that I had the same feeling about male expectations. I'm so used to it that it seemed a normal part of his relationship problem.
I coould also empathize with his going back to visit old girlfriends. i wish I had watched it more recently to be more specific, but in almost every case, the changes he observed in his past girlfriends were very believable. Having gone to 14 schools and moved all my adult life, I have a little experienced in going back to visit old friends, and I had a quite a few chuckles in watching HF.
chuckle
All of this could have been ruined, of course, had Dex fallen in love with a successful woman who required that he must meet her standards, turn himself into an entrepreneur who runs daycares and loses 50 pounds. But the charm of Tao is, to me, that Syd doesn't really expect much of him at all. In a functional sense, all he must do is leave his cosy little cocoon and go to New York--where one gets the impression it would be okay if he continued to be the world's most fabulous kindergarten teacher.
Thus the movie focuses on real issues, with both people, rather than a tedious list of shoulds. Yes, Dex changes, but whereas Rob seemed to be doing quite well for himself as a mournful underachiever, Dex really seems to have lost his own self-respect and is stuck in his own Tao--you can't work hard on something and be cool like Steve. His changes are extremely minimal, quite believable, and do not seem to have been done in order to satisfy a demanding woman who wants a respectable partner. Rather, Syd seems to have been a catalyst to a quite believable transition that isn't complete or neatly answered, by the movie's end.
Tao of Steve is a movie that I think works very well for both gays and straights, because it doesn't rely as much on gender issues to move the plot along. It has a great deal of honest things to say about intimacy, insecurity, and is one of the few movies that addresses overweight problems from a male perspective.
I think he's someone who will always be vaguely depressed. I think far too many women think they can just wish a man to be different, get him to make one change and lo! he's a different guy. This movie seemed to feed that expectation. But I thought he was just as depressed and uncertain at the end of the movie as at the beginning--and less happy in one sense, in that his life wasn't his own anymore.
A man always has a friend who is way cooler with women than he is, and he has another friend who is way less cool. It can be quite surprising sometimes to see who gets the babe.
Hmmm. That's an interesting notion. I'm going to think about that.
If people have those fears about their friends, they need to get new ones.
Yes, I'd be interested in your take on that. Using High Fidelity as a contrast, I simply don't think that would work with two men or two women. It relies on the inherent expectation that it is reasonable for Rob's girlfriend to expect him to do better for himself before he can win her.
Judith,
Not necessarily. They might need to get a shrink.
As you well know, gay men are crazy about certain stars -- Bette Davis for instance. I think a lot of this has to do with her macho attitude. She projects her rage. Few men do that in the movies. Jean Gabin comes to mind, as does Cagney. But there are other emotional subtleties to which male stars are not heir to and female stars are.
In more general audience terms, I've often wondered about women's reactions to a"mainstream" cinema that is so male dominated.More and more films have Two male stars (Changing Lanes for instance) and no real women of note (Amanda Peet anyone? I didn't think so.) How does one negotiate such a film in terms of "identification"?
Do you "identify" with Samuel L. Jackson? I don't see how.
Ha! True...
I generally find myself identifying with men. If a film creates a female character that I identify with, I am thrilled. But it's rare.
In general, women in films are relegated to their role in men's lives--girlfriend, lover, wife, mom. When they are dominant players, it is almost always because they are in search of a relationship, or the wisecracking dame who convinces a guy he needs a relationship.
Let us avert our eyes from "women's films", chick flicks, melodramas, and the like, where the conflicts and questions are almost always so trivial and banal.
I find it frustrating. But I'm also an atypical female. I would guess that most women are content with this portrayal, generally. To the extent that they want change, I imagine they want more Susan Sarandon tear jerkers, not Signorney Weaver action extravaganzas.
LOVE Johnny Depp. One of the best, subtlest, actors around.
I'm thinking baout the performances I've seen over the years that I've truly identified with. Julie Christie in almost everything. I love Jeanne Moreau but only feel connected to her tangetially. Alain Delon is my favorite male performer, but he's someone to be worshipped from afar. Jude Law's a lot closer. What I love about his work in both Ripley and A.I. was the way he allows you access to the character's thought processes.
I would argue that it proves my case. It is an illogical, woefully inept melodrama in which the women do nothing that makes sense, but because they feeeeeeeeeeel strongly about it, it's somehow a good thing. Hated that film with a passion.
William Hurt in The Big Chill. John Cusack in Grosse Point Blank. Both seem odd, given that I don't do or sell drugs, kill people for money, and am happily not impotent. I probably would keep these two my own little secret were it not for the fact that in the early 80s I hung out with a group of friends who all said, unanimously and independently, that I was the Hurt character. Cusack in Grosse Point Blank was even spookier because people called me up to say that I had to see this movie, there was this guy in it just like me! So apparently whatever resonates in me with those two roles is something that others see as well. I don't feel as much of the Hurt identification any more, but Cusack in GPB is still a big "wow, that's me".
And, fortunately (because she's female), Ripley in Aliens. Not that I am sure I'd be that brave, but I know that I'd be that cranky, ornery, and don't fucking push me around. I would like to be Diane Christenson in Network, but I'm not that ambitious. Ditto to Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs.
Oh, I just thought of an actress I really identify with. Celeste Holm. Particularly in Gentleman's Agreement and The Tender Trap.
Cal is much on point with the role of women in film. What I liked most about The Deep End was Tilda Swinton being a rare female character with whom I could identify.
But for the most part, I rarely identify with film characters so much as enjoy them.
And I think identification and emulation is a fine line. We all want to be Wayne, or more often of late, the anti-hero, but when do we actually say, "Wow, that character is a lot like me."
So, when it comes to a movie character with whom you can identify, no one picked me?
I saw HF, not the other two, although I did try to find them in two video stores this weekend. Ended up renting The Man Who Wasn't There. It was not what I expected.
I enjoyed HF, largely because of John Cusack. I did not like the girlfriend at all, and wasn't sure why, except that she was cookie cutter Female and not the slightest bit interesting as a person. Most movie Girlfriends are not.
I see a little better now the tense undertone through their romance. She may be open and giving and without artifice in his eyes--as she seemed to be when he listed off the Top Ten things he liked about her--but what she really was, was demanding, self-consumed, and manipulative. And I know he knew it, but he was also under the impression that this is how women are across the board and she had such an attractive list of attributes he could probably suck it up. Time to knuckle down and start the long, long road of making the woman happy, like the guy who loves her does, right?
No wonder I wasn't happy with the ending. He was putting himself into a box. He was a lost and searching soul at the beginning, and he was at the end too, but trying to convince himself he had found something.
I think he settled for.
Well, in my case, I was talking about the latter. Believe it or not, I don't actually want to be a drug dealer or a hired killer.
I do think that women are generally getting the representation that they want in films. That's in large part what I find depressing.
Oh, that is so true. Sing it, sister!
Two things stand out for me and condition my response to the Laura character and her attitude towards Rob: 1) Although it is not dealt with in any great detail, her father's death was apparently preceded by a lengthy illness, which would have caused her significant distress (obviously) and may have caused her to be more sensitive to Rob's self-consumption; and 2) The scene in which Laura tenderly suggests that Rob should add record store owner to the list he has made of careers he would have liked to have lived. These two details make it hard for me to read Laura's breakup with Rob as the act of a vindictive, self-centred, jerk.
Also, there is nothing wrong with her having broken up with Rob. A simple "I'm not happy with you" would do fine. But the whole notion was that she broke up with Rob and it was his fault, that her friends have the right to dump all over him for being a jerk, that he should have understood how reasonable she was in her requests--all she wanted, after all, was for him to stop being such a loser.
Holly's remark is dead on, to me. This is what life held for him in the future--relationships that started great and ended up with some chick wanting him to do more for himself. He either had to lower his standards in women or accept that all women he was interested in would eventually demand that he submit to their will and be an acceptable partner. So he convinces himself that he's in love with Laura and becomes a different person.
You didn't think that comment about "record store owner" wasn't a cut?
I just realized I haven't posted any remarks on Free Enterprise yet. Will get on that.
I don't see any cunning or overall strategy in Laura's dumping of Rob. I think she found herself with the doofus Ian/Ray for whatever reason --loneliness, desperation, a quart of Vodka, a brain freeze, whatever -- and figured (wrongly)that she might be happier with him rather than Rob. Essentially, she acts like any other person in a relationship that is suffering from entropy -- she considers other people and ponders a future that doesn't include her current mate. I don't see anything insufferable in her behaviour.
Where you see in Laura's story arc some sort of bogus moral about the importance of growing up and settling down, I simply see someone going through typical relationship angst. If the movie espouses any sort of moral or relationship/life lesson, I think the lesson is that, if you are a music geek, eventually you have to abandon the quixotic pursuit of that perfect uber-cool chick that is hipper than thou and sympatico with all of your idiosyncratic tastes in music and pop culture. The movie ends with Rob deciding to make a mixed tape of music that Laura would like, rather than a mixed tape of songs that he, the pop sophisticate, believes she ought to like. That is, he realizes that he can be happy with someone who might have shitty taste in music but is a good person, not uptight or a bitch, and who makes him laugh -- and that it is foolish to torture himself looking elsewhere for happiness. To that extent, yes, the movie espouses the importance of "growing up" but, I think it is reading too much into the movie to suggest that this perspective represents some sort of hideous agenda touting the need for guys to abandon fun and settle down with the next uptight yuppie lawyer that happens to come along.
But she is cute, and she is sympathetic. That's the thing. It is easy to accept Rob's assertion that Laura is all that is good. Morally she is all over the place, though. But women aren't expected to be consistent or forthright. So as far as the movie is concerned, she's just fine.
You guys seem to see the Laura character as simply drawn or some sort of charicature. I see her as more complex, at least in terms of her motivations and behaviour. Sure, her complexity pales in comparison to Rob. But, hey, Rob "wrote" the movie afterall.
In order of preference, I would like dating:
1. The comic book chick (Claire) from Free Enterprise;
2. Laura from High Fidelity; and
3. Syd from the Tao of Steve.
In reality, I'll probably end up with Munchkin Beth from Free Enterprise.
Oh yeah, those playing have to discount the fact that Rob from High Fidelity is played by John Cusack when making their choices. I know how all the ladies love that boy.
And yes, the gay folk can play too.
But of the three, I'd like to think I'd go for Free Enterprise Rob first. Then HF Rob before Laura ruined him. Dex last, mainly because I worry about weight issues. Take out the weight and he'd probably top out HF Rob.
Of the women, it's no contest--Claire is fabulous. Syd next, Laura can rot in relationship hell for all I care. I did like Sara Gilbert's character in that movie.
Mark plays the game, keeps a job, pays for women who want to be paid for in the hopes that they'll give him sex, fails constantly, and only gets sex from a disastrous ex-girlfriend. Who he keeps around purely for the purpose of getting what miserable sex he can manage.
Talk about a morality play!
But the character is such an asshole.
The Sara Gilbert character in HF is cute. And, you can see her and Dick actually staying together.
Actually, he had to change in order for them to get back together, basically by proving that he could deliver something more than "for the time being". The entire conflict was their different perceptions; she wanted more than for the time being, which meant he had to prove he was a good provider. He didn't see why "for the time being" couldn't mean "forever" without actually saying so.
I see her as more complex, at least in terms of her motivations and behaviour.
I see her as engaging in very common female behavior, and given a pass for it, rather than being called on her manipulation and demanding expectations. Rob decides that most women are like this and hell, this ones a lot better than most and besides, he's used to her and it'd be a lot of work to find another girlfriend. This is not explicit; it's the subtext that bothers me.
Yes. Which originally gave me hope that maybe the movie wasn't that down on women. Then I realized--and boy, this was a bummer--that Sara Gilbert's character is much lower on the achievement scale than Laura is, and can't expect much more than a schlump like Dirk--cute though he is.
I know Mark is an asshole. I just liked him. Hadn't seen Will and Grace at that time, either, so it wasn't that.
But I've been mulling it, and I realized that actually I'm identifying with Mark. Which means I should always go for the feckless Rob sorts. (g)
The script actually includes scenes not in the final cut of Laura explaining to Rob that she doesn't need or require him to be a good provider.
As for the supposedly manipulative behaviour of Laura, I guess I have trouble seeing it. If it is there, it is really slight or deeply buried in subtext that has escaped me. Perhaps Laura looks like a dream to me because I have been involved with a truly manipulative, security obsessed woman in recent years.
Interesting that they cut that, don't you think? Because of course it was about her wanting him to be a provider. What makes you think she was serious?
Let us count up the women who have originally said they don't want a husband to provide for them, but then looked weepy when it came time to go back to work after FMLA ran out. You surely know that most women are keeping that thought in the back of their brain? Given Laura's extremely emotional back and forth, I want this no I want that and here, let my friends kick you around for a while--do you honestly wish to claim that she wouldn't be the sort of woman who'd change her mind about something like that? Speaking hypothetically, of course.
Anyone reading this who hasn't seen Free Enterprise: it is a nice movie about all sorts of relationships, but it is also a very funny movie with any number of outstanding throwaway lines. It's also a treasure house of pop culture jokes.
I know most women have thoughts of securing a good provider nagging at their brains when they hit a certain stage in life. But, still, I think that Laura's claims about not being uncomfortable with Rob's humble lot in life are sincere. She may waffle emotionally, but I think she really isn't the type to obsess over whether or not her man is a success in life.
But, still, I think that Laura's claims about not being uncomfortable with Rob's humble lot in life are sincere.
He didn't have a "humble lot". He owned a store, after all, which isn't chopped liver. But she wanted him to move beyond that, because it was clear it had no growth potential. She didn't mind him owning a shop, but she wanted to see growth. Presumably she saw in him the potential to be the success she wanted, but only if he worked for it.
Also, once he starts working towards success, she can justify expecting more.
Overall, though, I have to say I like my stone-age set better. The clarity of focus on the new TV makes everything look like it was shot in video. I confess to a secret prejudice against video. It makes everything look...cheap and soap-opera-y as far as I'm concerned.
Blegh!
Oh, plus, it does really icky (in my opion) stuff to CGI. We watched parts of the Phantom Menace and I must say the light saber fight was amazing----bright and shiny things look really cool----but the battle on the field and the robts in the hallway etc. looked less real and more animated.
Give me back my illusions dammit!!!
1. Syd, from The Tao of Steve
2. Syd
3. Syd.
"With all the screaming Lucasoids on one side and all the hand-wringing critics on the other, it might be hard to remember that Attack of the Clones is more or less OK. And not especially important."
Overall, Edelstein says that Star Wars is fair to middling.
I've read that the laser fight is great, and the traffic scene terrific. Besides, I'll go see it for MacGregor alone, despite my fussing.
Hey, Calgal. I see you're tearing up MWT again. I'm tempted to subscribe but I fear you'll be banned before they process my check.
I missed problem solving at the Rant. But the two strikes I've gotten were so mild that it's pretty clear they are bent on banning me.
I saw that idea of "responsibility" come up a lot in the Salon Mother's Who Think thread. A woman (it goes without saying) can be her own person, doesn't need a damn man, doesn't need marriage etc. But a guy who isn't married by 30 is just a neurotic "Peter Pan."
Hornby did get divorced, btw, if one is to assume anything autobiographical about it.
But a guy who isn't married by 30 is just a neurotic "Peter Pan."
Chick marketing, combined with a bunch of guys who bought the line and are determined to bring others in to share in the misery.
Everyone tries to justify their own existance, no matter what it may be.
IIRC Dex mostly just shoots the shit with his buddies, and he yanks that poor Stu guy's chain for his own ends (and his own ego-gratification.) I liked the scene at the end where he starts to actually relate to the Stu and tells him to disregard all previous advice. Granted the scene has to serve an expository purpose. "Look how I've grown." But he's also actually giving a shit for once, and about a guy no less. It was nicely done.
"Everyone tries to justify their own existence."
Um, no. Assholes do, or decent people who are behaving like assholes. You don't know anyone who will honestly admit "geez, I really hate the way my life is going right now. I made this job decision and I did it for the wrong reasons and I feel really trapped."?
Jamie, have you seen Free Enterprise?
That's a really good point. Dex had no real friends, just drinking buddies. On the other hand, he was an outstanding kindergarten teacher.
I'd forgotten about the final scene with the Stu character. I'll have to watch it again, because the only thing that sticks in my mind is the humiliation when he realizes that they all think of him as the uncool one.
Actually, I do know a few who have admitted this. Maybe not about a job but about a marriage or buying a house or spending all their savings on frivilous things...and I know one person who said it about his job. Since he's still at the same one, I can't say he was honest about it; maybe he's just trapped.
And now I'll drop it because this, while on topic sort of, isn't about the movies y'all are discussing.
Substitue "porn" for "the gym" in your following statement and you have a rationalization that I do, in fact, use -- and believe -- on occasion:
"But aren't you guys doing the same thing? "I'm single and it's fantastic; I don't need a (mate) to complete me; I am independent and need help from no one; sex is great or if not, there's always the gym."
Although I don't proselytize about the virtues of singledom, I do find it tiresome when people suggest that marriage is somehow required for adult happiness. It can get annoying explaining to such people that bachelorhood doesn't equate with social buffoonery or some sort of gross perversion of adulthood. Not that I have a strong preference either way. Being single has its moments. Being married or otherwise betrothed has its moments. And that is about as far as I go in terms of having a position on the issue of marriage.
And to bring this back to movies.
When I think of a positive sort of response to singledom, I think of Robert Forster's character in Jackie Brown, for some reason. Not that it is exactly explicit in Jackie Brown, but the Max Cherry character is hip to the virtues of being with a cool woman, but generally content with being single and not at all stressed out about entering a relationship with Jackie Brown (Pam Grier). He likes the connection they establish, but doesn't fret about the follow up. Just cool.
"Well, a few years ago I was concerned about my thinning hair, but then I did something about it. Other than that. No."
I am a big fan of JAckie Brown; although I don't understand all the hype surrounding Pam Grier's performance. Grier was competent and looked good. But other than that, nothing she did in the movie is especially worthy of praise. Forster on the other hand deserves all sorts of kudos for his wonderfully laid-back performance.
He's in a movie out right now, or on Showtime. Can't think what it is.
Nice review; although I like the movie far better than you.
Your take on Forster is interesting. You say:
"But I only rented the movie for one reason--Robert Forster--and the man delivered. As the bail bondsman who figures out all the scams as they happen, he convinced me of the guy's intelligence, decency, and utter, aching longing for JB."
I agree with that assessment, but for the aching longing part. I think, Max Cherry clearly thinks JB is the bees knees and longs for her. But I think there is an element in which he is simply happy with the fact that the connection between them has been established. To some degree, it is enough for him to know that he hit it off with someone as cool as JB. Sure, he would like to be with her. But, he isn't going to fret about being with her. He might long, but he is too laid-back to utterly-achingly-long.
Oh, I completely agree with that, as well as the rest of your take. But I still think the ache is there.
I think he feels regret, but it's the kind of regret you want, if you're going to be stuck with it. Given the factors, there's nothing he would change.
That's funny--now you're glorifying singledom! "He's too cool to be unhappy about losing her!" (g)
I should be getting "free enterprise" this week. I've had it in queue forever, but we didn't get around to watch the DVD's we had out until I did a marathon last week. (Saw Galaxy Quest, which was fun, and AI which fucking hurt, and a Swedish/Norwegian flick "insomnia" with Stellan Skarsgård which was ... well, interesting.)
I saw High Fidelity when it came out, and had this general like. Well, because I remember being a record nut (not to that extent, but still). I got very excited when that shy guy who goes out with Sarah Gilbert mentions stiff little fingers...
One thing I remember that annoyed or bothered me was this narration that basically boils down to "guys don't understand women. We are clueless at figuring them out. They are this species from outerspace, and it is easier to understand cats".
This always bothers me, because I have this thing that men and women really shouldn't have that hard of a time understanding one another, being of the same species 'n all. And, also, I can't for my life think that I'm that hard to understand (looking at myself as an exemplar of woman, but then again, I am atypical too).
I'm renting it to think more about the issues discussed - I didn't even remember that she was supposed to have a career or something.
1) the rooftop hotel scene in which Clooney and Lopez share a bourbon in Out of Sight;
2) the scene when Robert De Niro and Amy Brennemann meet at the coffee shop in Heat; and
3) the whole use of the Delfonics tune as a way of establihing Forster's attraction to Jackie Brown in Jackie Brown.
The wrestling scene between Alan Bates and Oliver Reed in Women in Love also comes to mind . . . but let's not go there.
2) the dance between Chris Cooper and Elizabeth Pena in Lone Star
3) The first time Hepburn and Tracy see each other in Woman of the Year
4) Grace Kelly's "from top to bottom" scene in Rear Window, where she turns on all the lights. Much sexier than The Kiss that preceded it--although that isn't bad.
5) Lawrence and Sherif Ali's meeting at the well.
This always bothers me, because I have this thing that men and women really shouldn't have that hard of a time understanding one another, being of the same species 'n all
Women have a lot vested in making men think they are incomprehensible.
They do? See, I make a really bad woman then. Especially since I can't even figure out what they have vested in it.
Me, too. And I've only figured out what they have vested by the years I've spent reading MWT.
If men think they are incomprehensible, they won't understand that they are being manipulated. They won't see a pattern to the behavior, other than "If I just make sure she's always right, maybe I'll get sex, or at least the promise of it."
At this stage of the game, women have the best of both worlds--they have equality when they want it, and protection when they want it. As long as they stay incomprehensible, they've got a better chance of keeping the game rigged.
Bugs the crap out of me too. Makes me want to do like Pilate.
And, aside from that, I now have the theme of "Lawrence of Arabia" running thru my head. I might have to watch it again.
We own Lawrence, so it's easy to get a fix of that.
I spend too much time lately ignoring my Netflix flicks. I think I need to reconfigure my apartment or get my Linux server back up and running.
As for your choices 3) through 5), I haven't seen any of the movies, so can't comment. Of course, admitting that, I feel a much deserved spanking coming on --I know, get thyself out there and rent movies 3) through 5).
Woman of the Year isn't topshelf Hepburn and Tracy; if you haven't seen any H&T I recommend starting with Adam's Rib, moving on to State of the Union and Desk Set. Then Woman of the Year and Pat and Mike.
As for Lawrence of Arabia, I want to see it, but this voice inside me says I should see it for the first time on the big screen at an arthouse/repertory theatre. I suppose I should abandon my romantic notion and just go rent the darn thing.
Man. I haven't been to a rep theatre in about a year. I used to go all the time. And there are still some relatively good ones here in Toronto.
Rep theater is what we call revival/art house theaters? Shows old movies? Back in the early 80s, there were about 6 just in the mid-Peninsula, but now there are probably 6, big or small, in the entire Bay Area. Still, one of those is the Castro and another is the Stanford, in Palo Alto, so that's no shabby selection.
the first hour to hour and a half is hard to get through. lots of yakking, very little Jar Jar. just about the time i was ready to try and reach the screen to strangle him, he was gone. so, that's one lesson learned. they spent a little too much on Anakin's sobbing and whining about Obi Wan. god, get this kid some Prozac. we have Episode II's version of the pod race early on this time with Obi Wan.
but, all of this is easily forgotten and forgiven once the movie finally gets going. the battle scenes, Jengo Fett, cloner aliens, the beasts in the pit, the clone troops and attack vehicles were awesome and recovered what faith was lost.
but, folks, it all boils down to Yoda. that's all i'll say. the little muppet kicks ass. i didn't like that he was completely CGI in this, but, again, i got over it.
if you have had any inkling of like for any Star Wars you should check it out on the big screen. 3 and 1/2 quacks out of 5.
A rep theatre is the same as what you call a revival theatre. There are about 8 or 9 in Toronto, most of which are jointly owned or affiliated in some way. They still show classic movies and plenty of indie stuff. But, over the last five years they have all become more like second-run theatres showing a lot of movies that were in first-run only 6 months or a year before.
I think the best film deal in Toronto is the cinema at the Art Gallery of Ontario. They put on retrospectives dealing with a particular director, movement, genre etc. and have a knack for getting high quality prints. A few years ago, I saw prinstine prints of Bergman's The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries at the AGO. They looked incredible. I don't think I have ever seen such crisp b/w imagery before. I also saw a terriffic print of Dr. Strangelove there a few summers ago.
Ebert on Grant (from About a Boy review)
The way [Grant] handles it--the way he handles the role in general--shows how hard it is to do light romantic comedy, and how easily it comes to him. We have all the action heroes and Method script-chewers we need right now, but the Cary Grant department is understaffed, and Hugh Grant shows here that he is more than a star, he is a resource.
"The final secret is an open one -- Hugh Grant himself. Although his floopy do has been fashionably cropped for the occasion, he's still got a full decade on the protagonist in the book. No matter. Who better than moviedom's Eternal Boy to star in a 38-year-old's coming-of-age tale. Grant was born to this role, and carries the entire picture on his slim shoulders -- minus (thankfully) most of his precious mannerisms and trademark stutter. The result is easy to take --finally, a flick about our infantilized culture that isn't entirely infantile."
I may go see About a Boy this weekend. I wasn't interested in it, until someone pointed out that it is based on a Nick Hornby (he of High Fidelity) novel.
The list is available here.
Heh. The fact that it's sourced on a Hornby book is the one thing I'm worried about.
No way is Hugh Grant 48. He's my age, maybe a year older. Certainly not born before 1960.
1. DREAM OF LIGHT
(EL SOL DEL MEMBRILLO) Victor Erice Spain
2. AND LIFE GOES ON Abbas Kiarostami Iran
2. THROUGH THE OLIVE TREES Abbas Kiarostami Iran
3. DRIFTING CLOUDS Aki Kaurismäki Finland
4. CLOSE-UP Abbas Kiarostami Iran
4. BREAKING THE WAVES Lars von Trier Denmark
5. SÀTÀNTANGÒ Bela Tarr Hungary
6. FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI Hou Hsiao-hsien Taiwan
6. TASTE OF CHERRY Abbas Kiarostami Iran
7. CHUNGKING EXPRESS Wong Kar-wai Hong Kong
8. FIREWORKS
(HANA-BI) Takeshi Kitano Japan
8. THE THIN RED LINE Terence Malick USA
9. HISTOIRE(S) DU CINÉMA Jean-Luc Godard France
9. A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY Edward Yang Taiwan
10. A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE Mohsen Makhmalbaf Iran
11. GOODFELLAS Martin Scorsese USA
11. COLD WATER
(L'EAU FROIDE) Olivier Assayas France
12. MOTHER & SON Alexander Sokurov Russia
13. VIVE L'AMOUR Tsai Ming-Liang Taiwan
13. NOUVELLE VAGUE Jean-Luc Godard France
14. ABRAHAM'S VALLEY Manoel de Oliveira Portugal
14. SAFE Todd Haynes USA
14. DEAD MAN Jim Jarmusch USA
15. UNFORGIVEN Clint Eastwood USA
15. EXOTICA Atom Egoyan Canada
16. SONATINE Takeshi Kitano Japan
17. MABOROSI Hirokazu Kore-eda Japan
17. NAKED Mike Leigh UK
18. LA VIE DE JÉSUS Bruno Dumont France
18. FARGO The Coen Brothers USA
19. PULP FICTION Quentin Tarantino USA
20. LA BELLE NOISEUSE Jacques Rivette France
20. VAN GOGH Maurice Pialat France
20. RED Krzysztof Kieslowski France/Poland
21. THE LAST BOLSHEVIK Chris Marker France
22. DEAR DIARY Nanni Moretti Italy
23. CRUMB Terry Zwigoff USA
24. THE PUPPETMASTER Hou Hsiao-hsien Taiwan
24. GOODBYE SOUTH GOODBYE Hou Hsiao-hsien Taiwan
25. SICILIA! Jean-Marie Straub &
Danièle Huillet Italy/France
I haven't seen any of the foreign movies on the list, which means I have not seen most of the movies.
From the list, I have seen: Goodfellas, Dead Man, Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter, Fargo, Pulp Fiction and Crumb. All are excellent and worthy of mention on any best of the 90s list.
And Calgal,
I think Groen meant that Grant is 38 and that the protagonist in the book is 28; although his description is somewhat muddled (which is odd for Groen, who, as you know, I really like as a film critic).
Naked and Red are two movies on the list that I have been meaning to get around to.
Naked and Red are two movies on the list that I have been meaning to get around to.
It's absence from the list renders it meaningless.
I doubt the list was ever meant to be definitive. My impression is taht it was done more for a) fun and b) as a chance to educate people about relatively obscure flicks.
I was hoping you'd play nice and offer some recommendations (preferably from the list, as most can likely be seen in Toronto at some point) -- please, please, please.
Here I try again
Isn't it rich? Our fate is dire.
Jedis in battle against an evil Empire.
Send in the clones.
Poor Obiwan, don't you approve?
Why do you say that these clones are not a good move?
Send in the clones.
Here comes Count Dukoo, with his light saber
Finally creaming the one that I wanted to kill.
He got away; but an army of clones
Could help us win.
Then we could win.
Don't you love wars?
Light sabers and bombs
I thought you'd want what I want. Poor Obiwan.
Where are the clones? Send in the clones.
It's too late. They're here.
Isn't it rich? Isn't it queer?
Making an error so late in my Jedi career.
Don't send in the clones. Don't send in the clones for Episode III.
But damn, those are some obscure foreign films. I haven't even heard of 20 of the films. As I am not an ignoramus about foreign film, this smacks of obscurantism.
I agree there is a certain amount of obscurantism in the list. The Cinematheque clearly has a jones on for obscure foreign film -- or "World Cinema" as they tend to call it. Still, it is useful for me and I plan to check out a decent mix of the films, some day; especially some of the obscure ones so that I might have greater credibility should I ever run into a severe film snob.
I actually, tried to rent Safe last night, but it was out; so I will try later next week.
I ended up renting Heavenly Creatures and Quills to get my redhead fix for the week. I have seen both before, but will report back after I watch them on Sunday or Monday.
It is too bad you didn't like Dead Man. I actually think it is marvelous. The first time I saw it I found it to be unbearably slow and ponderous. When I went to see it a second time, I made sure I was jacked up on caffeine and fell in love with it -- and have seen it several times since.
By the way, one of my all time favourite movies is Jarmusch's Stranger than Paradise.
I enjoyed that talk on male relationship comedies. Anyone have any take on the next duo or trio?
Noir, maybe?
Rask once mentioned The Third Man and Miller's Crossing as a film festival option.
I also wouldn't mind doing a trio of indie American films.
A trio of Atom Egoyan movies could be interesting -- albeit, hardly what most would call fun.
Indy 'murrican films such as?
The Sweet Hereafter and Exotica are the two most accomplished Egoyan flicks. Exotica is equally painful to watch, but it is still an amazing movie.
Calendar and The Adjuster are two Egoyan that would be great to discuss with others; but, they may be a little difficult for some to get hold of.
As for Indy 'murrican films: Trees Lounge and Stranger than Paradise immediately come to mind, as does Blood Simple -- which would also fit well in a Noir trio.
Anyways, I must go until Tuesday. Time to get some sun and exercise on this Canadian long weekend. Cheers.
Safe: It has been quite a while since I saw this, so I mostly left with just a negative impression. But from what I recall, I saw it as ponderously slow pretentious pap, where political didacticism substitutes for character motivation. I seem to remember that there was a good deal of ambiguity about whether the Retreat Moore went to was fraudulent, but I didn't think either assessment would make much difference to the quality of the film.
Chungking Express: I went into this one with very high expectations. I was falling in love with Hong Kong cinema, and Wong Kar Wai was touted as one of the brightest talents. What I got was an excessive dose of style over substance without even the benefit of a decent action scene. It is style over substance as applies to romance. Imagine David Fincher directing Love Story. The first story was halfway decent, with Brigitte Lin stealing the show, as per usual. But the second, much longer story just dragged. The characters weren't worth the time, and Wong seems to have a real problem with narration. Ashes of Time also suffered from idiotically pretentious running commentary from the main character. My dislike of Chungking Express and Ashes of Time has put me off Happy Together and Mood for Love, although I will probably get around to both sooner or later.
I don't find Safe didactic at all. It's Todd's nightmare of becoming a Valley Housewife. (And being born and raised in the Valley he knows precisely what that nightmare entails.)
The relative fradulence of the retreat is something of a side issue in that, good or bad, it grants her an identity -- something she didn't have before.
The film it most resembles, IMO is I Walked With a Zombie.
That is what I found politically didactic - I felt like I was being lectured on the horrors of being a modern housefrau. But nothing was done to actually bring this "nightmare" home. The horror is simply that she is a middle class housewife. Full Stop.
I generally can't stand films like this, where character motivation springs from the creator's political ideology, rather than from any explicable human emotion. I end up feeling like I am watching a sociology lecture about bourgeois alienation.
This might work for Haynes, but it is bad characterization as far as I am concerned.
great rental, 3 of 5 quacks.
Of course I don't know if Egoyan is an indy up in Canada.
I've just recieved an e-mail informing me that Raymond Durgnat, one of the world's greatest film critics, passed away in his sleep last night. Ray had liver cancer and was not expected to lastout the year. The online movie journal "Sense of Cinema" is doing tribute to Ray, which will be coming up on line later this year, and to which I've contributed.
His books include: Films and Feelings, The Strange Case of Alfred Hitchcock, Franju, Luis Bunuel, Sexual Alienation in the Cinema, The Crazy Mirror, and A Mirror For England.
Story sucked. Execution excellent.
— "Star Wars: Episode 2 — Attack of the Clones" sold an estimated $116.3 million worth of tickets in its first four days in theaters, an impressive opening for any film, but one, it must be said, that did not quite match the $115 million that "Spider-Man" made in just three days two weeks ago.
And did you see The Reckless Moment ?
I am interested in seeing The Reckless Moment. A "chick flick" is a melodrama. The Deep End is far more melodrama than it is thriller. Any movie that relies on the heroine's sublime stupidity and the deus ex machina for both the danger and the rescue for the danger has no business calling itself a thriller.
Performances were good. Goran's gorgeous. I still am not crazy about Tilda Swinton, though.
And there's no stupidity in thrillers because they're "masculine"? I can think of few things more stupid than a James Bond film.
Does Cary Grant behave with pure intellectual savoir faire in North By Northwest ?
Is Five Fingers any less a melodrama than Letter From an Unknown Woman ?
Back to the drawing board, dear.
No, of course not. Where did I say that? But the thriller has to thrill. This didn't pass the basic test: suspension of disbelief.
I also said nothing about thrillers being masculine. A "chick flick" is pretty standard description of a melodrama, I thought. But this was billed as a thriller, so I expected it to, you know, thrill. This had no thrill to it. The bad guy was nice, the super-bad guy was barely around, just showing up at the end to be unbelievably threatening. The police were never close and never even wondered. The son never did anything stupid to further endanger himself, and so on.
If you view it as a melodrama, a genre where characters do stupid things all the time, it works better. I'd still be irritated, though, because the woman's actions actively put her son at risk and there seems to be no such awareness of that. Still, it makes more sense if viewed as a woman's internal toil, her misery with her life, and so on.
You don't mention the club owner. He's the primary source of menace -- even when dead.
And why don't you like Tilda ?
I disagree. She has no life of her own; she's primarily involved with running her kids around from place to place, running the household while her husband is gone--which is most of the time. That's why Alex asked her that question in the key scene (down by the lake) about herself. She's never done anything for herself, and she's not happy.
The dramatic tension is dertived entirely from the fact that the son doens't want to talk about "it," and she does.
Again, I disagree. Her son was trying to talk to her about the murder and what happened that night, and she kept on shushing him. She never even asked him what happened. She didn't want to know.
He's the primary source of menace -- even when dead.
It would have been a better movie if so. His presence didn't linger. Besides, he wasn't really a source of menace. He was a jerk and a scum, but he wasn't chasing the kid at the time of the accident. The menace was completely separate--it had nothing to do with her coverup, and nothing to do with the death. Granted, she was terrified of it coming out because she was worried it would draw attention to them, but that was due to her being foolish enough to hide the body in the first place.
And incidentally, what a pathetic job she did at hiding the body. As one reviewer points out, there was no reason to call it The Deep End--she put him in shallow water! Tahoe is an extremely deep lake, why put the body in crystal clear water? Why, that's because she needed to go back and get the keys, of course.
Horribly constructed story with completely laughable plot devices. The acting was excellent, though.
I don't like Tilda, period. I have never forgiven her for that nasty piece of work, Orlando. She's a good actress, but I don't find her particularly interesting or appealing.
I disagree. And if taking care of a pesky corpse isn't doing anything for herself I don't know what is.
"Her son was trying to talk to her about the murder and what happened that night, and she kept on shushing him."
Nope. Look at it again. (I've seen it a huge number of times, BTW) HE'S the one who doesn't want to face things. His most important exchange to her is "Don't tell Dad," which she, of course, won't.
"Besides, he wasn't really a source of menace. He was a jerk and a scum, but he wasn't chasing the kid at the time of the accident."
Oh yes he was! Again, take another look.
What was "nasty" about Orlando ? Take a look at her other films, particularly War Requiem and Love is the Devil. If you can find it there's an amazing video film she did for John Maybury
called Remembrance of Things Fast a plotless extravaganza in which she co-stars with Rupert Everett and the babe-a-licious Aidan Shaw.
I really liked Safe because it was vague about her "illness" and because it plays with that perfect life image. I also liked a short i saw by Haynes, "Spanking Dotty", I think. But was really disappointed by Velvet Goldmine and another film of his i can't remember the name of. Never saw Passion, is it worth trying to locate? Is he the one who did Superstar: the Karen Carpentar Story and do you have a copy of it because I'd really like to see it?
Oh yes he was! Again, take another look.
I did just watch it last night. The kid was walking away, the guy was saying something vaguely confused when he leaned against the rail and it broke.
Besides, he really doesn't hover over the movie; it was a good performance (they all were) but once he was gone, he was gone.
I disagree. And if taking care of a pesky corpse isn't doing anything for herself I don't know what is.
Well, if you think having a husband gone all the time, taking care of three kids all day, not having any fun of your own so the only thing you ever do for yourself is dump a corpse is anything other than misery, I don't know what is. She has no life. Her own needs don't matter.
In fact, one of the extras on the DVD makes it explicit that the directors intended you to see her life as starved of any meaning or enjoyment. So anything I picked up on that aspect was certainly an intended interpretation.
In fact, now that I think on it, it plays like the ultimate chick fantasy. The perfect mother, sublimating herself into her children, sexless (husband away), makes a huge sacrifice for her son, Then wowza, here comes this incredible gorgeous bad guy who gives life to a loved one, falls in love with her, saves her once, twice, gives up his badness out of love for her, then dies--leaving her with her son, who will of course never leave her now and will ever more be a good son.
He didn't want her to tell his dad, no doubt. But that's not the same as not wanting to discuss it. She was the one who refused to discuss it the next day, when she'd already disposed of the body--much less maybe ask the kid if he'd actually killed him.
How is it that the cops don't know about her son's relationship with the club owner? He taped his entire sex life, and that's the only tape that remains? No one mentioned him? No one mentioned her visit to the club? I don't think so.
Velvet Goldmine is a problematic film. I quite like it, but I understand those who don't. It's rather hard to warm-up to.
And yes, Todd did Superstar:The Karen Carpent