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Yes another movie thread heck why not we all love em.
Ok we all know your fav films and your top ten or 30 films in some cases ;), but what have you been watching this or last week.
It doesn't have to be films you enjoyed particularly but a short sentance about each one or a warning would be nice.
Here goes
This week so far i have been mostly watching
"Sneakers" (1992) excellent if slightly nerdy film with some very subtle humour well worth a watch.
"Kill Bill Vol II" (2004) tell all your friends this film rocks if you haven't seen it yet do so, possibly the best film of 2004, it worth watching just for David Carradine's coolness all the way through.
"Leaving Las Vegas" (1995) Tragic movie about two loners brought together by chance, not a nice flick but brilliant through out, Nic Cage and Elizabeth Shue are outstanding.
"Kingpin" (1996) I saw this last night again and wet myself again, great road, buddy, bowling movie by the Farrelly brothers ;D
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Field of Dreams - Great film. The scene where Doc Graham leaves the bsaeball field is heart wrenching. All around it's a beautiful film.
Star Trek: Generations - Kirk says good-bye :'(. This film is one of the better Trek films but too bad it was rushed or else they could have spent more time making it look like a film and not an episode of the TV show.
Goodfellas - Amazing.
Raging Bull - Best boxing film ever. DeNiro is brilliant and gives the performance of his career. Too bad he's gone downhill these days.
The Fog of War - The best documentary of 2003. Errol Morris is a great filmmaker and everyone should see this film.
Bottle Rocket - Had some good stuff but it was alright.
Rushmore - Pretty good. I'm still not "getting" the whole appreciation or massive love for Wes Anderson films but whatever.
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Only two so far this week..
"A High Wind in Jamaica" Starring Anthony Quinn and James Coburn... and directed by one of my favorite directors Alexander Mackendrik. A lovely little film that probably gets a little closer to the true nature of Pirates than most movies. Quinns great and some good acting from the child actors too.
and....
Fat City. John Hustons boxing movie... one of the great boxing movies.
I agree with you Brendan... Burt Lancaster's brilliant in Field of Dreams..
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Bits and pieces of The Omega Man. End of the World fantasy/drama. Charlton Heston. Love it.
Sam Peckinpah's Junior Bonner . Peckinpah aficionados will be interested to know that the DVD has a commentary by 3 Peckinpah authors: Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle. Stars Steve McQueen.
Baby, The Rain Must Fall. Powerful psychological drama. Stands up to repeated viewings. Stars Steve McQueen and Lee Remick.
My minireview here: http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/mcqueenmovies/message/6
WKC.
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I really like Rushmore a lot. I caught just a little bit of it on TV recently. I haven't seen Bottle Rocket yet.
I haven't actually watched any movies in a while. I did just watch the second Columbo TV movie, Ransom for a Dead Man. :D
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I watched 25th Hour last night.I was a little disappointed with it.I've liked Edward Norton in Primal Fear and American History X and The Score.But this film didn't compare with them. ;)
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Been busy hanging out with family and friends that I'm visiting, but I managed to see "Saw", "National Treasure", and "Alexander".
Also watched "Spiderman 2" on DVD.
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'Dead Poets Society' - Williams at his best.
Planning on watching 'Gone with the Wind' one day aswell.
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I much prefer Robin Williams in evil mode ala "One Hour Photo" and "Insomnia"
Scary stuff
:o
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I just saw "Sideways". Excellent flick that works both as a drama and a comedy; don't miss this one. It might be the best movie I've seen in the theater this year.
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Wow, I found Sideways a huge disappointment. Like About Schmidt before it, Payne has made another ultimately unsatisfying flick. There's some good character work by the actors, but not enough of a deep examination to carry an entire film. And as for the situational comedy, it's not highlighted enough to make that the real strength either. What's left is a movie that could have been a good character piece or could have been an updated screwball comedy, but instead isn't much of either. Too bad. It has its moments, but as an overall effort is simply little more than average. That it is better than Babershop 2, 50 First Dates and The Whole Ten Yards is not much of an accomplishment. It has to be more than just better than the usual Hollywood dreck to actually be great. Sideways ain't.
Grade: B-
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Wow, I found Sideways a huge disappointment. Like About Schmidt before it, Payne has made another ultimately unsatisfying flick. There's some good character work by the actors, but not enough of a deep examination to carry an entire film. And as for the situational comedy, it's not highlighted enough to make that the real strength either. What's left is a movie that could have been a good character piece or could have been an updated screwball comedy, but instead isn't much of either. Too bad. It has its moments, but as an overall effort is simply little more than average. That it is better than Babershop 2, 50 First Dates and The Whole Ten Yards is not much of an accomplishment. It has to be more than just better than the usual Hollywood dreck to actually be great. Sideways ain't.
Grade: B-
I agree that it is in the middle between a character exam piece and screwball comedy, but I feel that "Sideways" was good in both departments.
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"Born on the 4th of July"
That's a good movie, a great performance for Cruise. But ... I don't know, I feel like there was something missing ... I can't find what exactly ???
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"The Core" was on telly (uk) last night ....and might i say what a pile of $#!t.
the only thing i can suggest is switch off your t.v. if this disaster of a disaster film comes on.
Why ...totally improbable, totoally unbelievable, wooden acting by wooden characters who you dont care wether they die or not.
To be honest i couldn't bare to finish watching the film.
Tune in to something else, turn off and drop a brick on the dvd.
:P
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i saw beyond the sea last week, it's very good, lots of fun, not sure about how acurate it is, don't know too much about bobby darin, but spacey is very good at the song and dance routines, i wonder how many takes he needed. i remember hearing brando had to do a seperate take for each line he sang in guys and dolls, it must have taken forever to record
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I just spend my weekend on a WWII marathon with 6 of my mates.
on saturday we had our "allies night" where we got through the entire Band of brothers series, saving private ryan, Battle of brittain and Enemy at the gates.
Sunday we had our "axis night" where we saw Das Boat (long version), Stalingrad, the eagle has landed and The iron cross.
All in all a pretty wasted weekend, but great on the social side. ;)
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If we are counting from last week`s tuesday I have watched
I,Robot(quite entertainig if not a masterpiece)
Sniper 3(far from a masterpiece.What happened to Tom Berenger ???Why talented guy like he makes a movies like this...and more importantly why I keep watching them ;D)
Cheaper By Dozen(Steve Martin is not what he used to be but the film was watchable)
Garfield(I think this film sucked but my 6 year old stepson said it`s greatest film ever made)
Kate&Leopold(How Wolverine Met Sally...pretty average film)
That`s about it so far...
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absolute power - awesome
Phone Man: Just part of my job.
Seth Frank: I hate it when people say that. "Just part of my job." It IS your ****ing job.
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Army of Darkness again last night
What a hoot ok very tacky gorefest but certainly kept me entertained and Bruce Campbell is on top form again.
Not the best in the Evil Dead series but none the less good fun
"gimme some suga baby"
8)
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I really like Rushmore a lot. I caught just a little bit of it on TV recently.
I saw the kid from Rushmore in Spun recently. An utterly forgettable performance by him unfortunately. The film was saved by the presence of Mickey Rourke as the cook.
WKC.
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Every time i watch "Clockers" it takes my breath away, surely one of "Spike Lee's" best movies.
The plot just comes together so well, like Mystic River this is another everyday slice of gritty urban life, not a happy tale but one that never the less needs to be told.
An excellent screen play written by Richard Price (Sea of Love, The Wanderers)
An excellent cast (Delroy Lindo is so evil controlling the local kids with promises)
Well directed.
I recommend this film to anyone it gave me one of those rare tingles you get from watching a class film.
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This Is Spinal Tap. The funniest film I've ever ever seen. A recommend to anyone who can undrstand British humour. I'd give it 93%.
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Just saw "Shawn of the Dead" and "Napolean Dynamite". The former is a fun comedy/horror spoof of zombie flicks, and the latter is a comedy that takes place in the late 80s thats about nerds trying to fit in at school - and it rocks! Both worth a look if you get some time, especially "Napolean Dynamite".
That ends my "week".
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I havent seen aything new this week but I have watched Harold and Maude, Donnie Darko, The Bridges of Madison County, For A Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, The Crucible, Unforgiven, a Fistful of Dollars, Outlaw Josey Wales, and this odd B film... Revenge of the Puppet People.
The reason I've watched so many is because I'm making a western video for history, tons of fun. Woo.
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This week I have watched City Heat, Honkytonk Man, Paint Your Wagon and Pink Cadillac. I found them in various places and as they are fairly 'old' movies I decided to wait and have a session of video viewing. The best of the four HAS to be Honkytonk Man. City Heat- different. Paint Your Wagon - Well I like to hear Clint sing! and Pink Cadillac - also 'different. Tonight I paln to watch Unforgiven and I really look forward to that. (Recorded from TV on Monday inthe UK. Lin ::)
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Just saw "Shawn of the Dead" and "Napolean Dynamite". The former is a fun comedy/horror spoof of zombie flicks, and the latter is a comedy that takes place in the late 80s thats about nerds trying to fit in at school - and it rocks! Both worth a look if you get some time, especially "Napolean Dynamite".
That ends my "week".
I don't think Napoleon Dynamite took place in the 80's, I could be wrong but I never got that from the film.
Anyways, Napoleon Dynamite is a terrific little flick and could easily make my top ten at the end of the year. I loved the fact there was hardly any camera movement whatsever. All it was was just a camera on a tripod for the whole film. Occasionally they had a zoom but I can only remember that happening two or three times. I felt it helped add to the film since it's about a "boring" guy the shots eing obring just help add to the feel and tone of the film. 8)
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/gallery/sundance_the_movies/10.jpg)
(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Newsweek/Photos/Web_Exclusives/040119_040126/040123_SundanceNapoleon_wide.hmedium.jpg)
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Last night I watched AKA Cassius Clay.
Nice little doco made at the time that Ali was suspended from fighting due to refusing the draft.
Good footage from his earlier fights.
WKC.
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This Is Spinal Tap. The funniest film I've ever ever seen. A recommend to anyone who can undrstand British humour.
But they're all Americans, save for Tony Hendra and Patrick Macnee's cameo.
"Fu*k the napkin!"
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At least it's in Dubly !
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I don't think Napoleon Dynamite took place in the 80's, I could be wrong but I never got that from the film.
Its either late 80s or early 90s.
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Napoleon Dynamite takes place is the present-day. They're all just hopelessly backward and have awful taste. But the internet is available in that community (that wouldn't have happened until fairly recently), and the older uncle hopes for his glory days - which were not just a few years ago.
Their fashion is late '70s/early '80s, but that's true of the folks who work at the DMV too. Doesn't mean they have a functional time machine.
I saw Napoleon Dynamite over the summer, and was unimpressed. It's one of those movies that tries waaaaaaay too hard. It wants to be Rushmore but has not the wit or heart. It wants to be Welcome to the Dollhouse, but it doesn't have the courage to be that dark. It it wants to be Gummo, but isn't even on the same plane of weirdness. The end result is it's a little like those movies but not enough of its own thing.
The acting is fine, especially the kid in the title role. But they have precious little to do. It has its moments, and the Pedro for President dance number is spectacular. But overall, a disappointment. It's not a bad movie, it's just not a good one.
GRADE: B-
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This week I've watched two films noirs, The Set Up (recommended by Holden in the Best Boxing Movie thread) and The Wrong Man with Henry Fonda (Hitchcock). I enjoyed them both, though I'd still consider Rocky the best boxing movie. ;) The Set Up does focus a lot more on boxing though, and since it's set in "real time" the fight scenes are exciting and completely believable. Rocky isn't a boxing movie in the same way... concentrating much more on the characters than the fight.
I also saw two Denzel Washington movies, The Hurricane and Remember the Titans. I enjoyed them both, though I did enjoy Titans more. I love a good sports flick, and this one was especially good because it was a true and very uplifting story of how a football team in a just racially integrated high school managed to overcome their prejudices and function as a team. I'd put it up there with the best sports films, along with 61, Hoosiers and..... Rocky. :P ;D
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Glad you're still watching Hitchcock, Matt :)
I don't actually own The Wrong Man and there's other Hitchcock films I'd like to own, too - mainly his early British ones, but at the moment, Marnie is next on my list.
Anyway, this past week, I watched The Shawshank Redemption again (my boyfriend hadn't seen it so we watched it on DVD on Friday). The soundtrack is so moving and the story so inspirational, it has me in tears every time. Also, The Incredibles. I just got back from seeing it 1 1/2 hrs ago - and it's incredible! The animation looks amazing and it has so many twists and turns, you never get bored. Also the soundtrack really blew me away. Sort of 60s jazzy with hints of the original Batman series. A great way to improve what otherwise would have been a fairly average night in.
I watched a lot of films when I was in Paris, including revisiting GBU and Unforgiven, and I also saw Doctor Zhivago for the first time. The first David Lean film I've seen, and a great one to start with. I'd really like to watch his Great Expectations next. I know Clint thinks a lot of his directing - I'm sure he mentioned him on Unforgiven and possibly GBU documentaries I saw recently.
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Marnie is next on my list.
Marnie is one of my very favorite Hitchcock films. Let me know what you think after you've seen it.
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That I will! I'm still waiting for you to see The Shawshank Redemption, as it's a film I think a lot of...or did you see it yet?
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I did see it, Ally. I guess I wasn't overwhelmingly impressed with it, which I know goes against popular opinion. It was good, but I just wasn't really moved by it.
Your turn... I've been trying to get you to watch Rocky for months. I also watched Amelie which you recommended (and bought it after enjoying it so much). So, I'd say that you're due to watch the one I recommend now.
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Aw...I'm just glad you saw The Shawshank Redemption! Gotta admit Tim Robbins, and Morgan Freeman too, give sterling performances. For our next connection to Clint's films, well, I plan to get Dead Man Walking (Sean Penn stars) because it has good word of mouth (I haven't seen it before).
And I'm extremely chuffed ;) about you liking Amelie. There's hope for you yet, boy! Jeunet has also done other good films like Delicatessen, which I own. I recommend that you watch that one next!
Rocky...hmmm...well I'm not buying it! I'll spend £3 and rent it, just for you. I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the main reasons I'll like it is for 'Eye Of The Tiger' and the general feeling of nostalgia I get whenever I see 80s films. What can I say, I'm a sucker for them! Anyway, I'll get back to you :)
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Ally, if you see a Rocky movie from the 80's with "Eye of the Tiger" in it, you aren't seeing the movie I'm recommending, but one of the sequels (I think Rocky III)
Rocky (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/) is from 1976. The theme song is "Gonna Fly Now", and it's one of the best movie themes ever. If you can put away all your prejudices (not just you, but everyone who hasn't seen it yet because they don't like Stallone) about Sly, and watch it the way all of us did back when it released and we had never seen him before, I think you'll be truly knocked out by it. :D
And, it wouldn't surprise me if you decided to buy it too. It's a character drama and love story, and one of the most inspirational movies ever made. You'll like it.
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Yup, I had a feeling once I'd posted about the 80s, you'd tell me that Rocky was from the 70s! Yes I probably did see one of the sequels. The one with Dolph Lundgren? Yeah, Rocky IV. 1985, that'd be about right. I would've been 5 or 6!
I'm not prejudiced...and I'll keep an open mind, I promise :) I'll watch Rocky...and you go and watch Delicatessen :D There's a lot of black humour in there!
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I can't say anything good about Rocky IV. Well, it's good for a few laughs at the ending scene, I guess. It's not at all comparable to Rocky. No wonder you haven't wanted to see it... since you'd seen IV.
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Also, The Incredibles. I just got back from seeing it 1 1/2 hrs ago - and it's incredible! The animation looks amazing and it has so many twists and turns, you never get bored. Also the soundtrack really blew me away. Sort of 60s jazzy with hints of the original Batman series. A great way to improve what otherwise would have been a fairly average night in.
I really liked The Incredibles too. Very fun movie.
I watched Something Wicked This Way Comes a few days ago. I just finished the book a few days back as well. I think I'd recommend the book first.
I saw Blade Trinity today. It was just okay. I haven't actually seen the second one, but I did see the first one a few years back. But it's not one I'd highly recommend.
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Napoleon Dynamite takes place is the present-day. They're all just hopelessly backward and have awful taste. But the internet is available in that community (that wouldn't have happened until fairly recently), and the older uncle hopes for his glory days - which were not just a few years ago.
When the uncle said that he met a girl online, I was thinking that he was referring to CompuServe or one of the old dial-up BBS that were around during the late 80s or early 90s. The trapper keeper, clothes, slang, and overall feel led me to believe it was set when I was in school.
Anyway...Yea, the movie did try a little too hard, but I still dug it.
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Just saw A night at the Opera on DVD.Part of a five disc collection of their MGM work.One film that can be viewed over and over again and never fails to raise a chuckle.Remember there's no such thing as a sanity clause. ;D
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I can't say anything good about Rocky IV. Well, it's good for a few laughs at the ending scene, I guess. It's not at all comparable to Rocky. No wonder you haven't wanted to see it... since you'd seen IV.
I love Rocky IV.
I love it because it's so absurd and ridiculous. I love Rocky's speech at the end of the fight because it's just so wrong and it's bascially a slap to Russia's face. I also love when he runs up the mountain and when he helps that Russian get his carraige out of the snow. The shot of Rocky crushing the Drago picture is classic as well. It's 100% Grade A cheese.
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I love Rocky IV.
I love it because it's so absurd and ridiculous. I love Rocky's speech at the end of the fight because it's just so wrong and it's bascially a slap to Russia's face. I also love when he runs up the mountain and when he helps that Russian get his carraige out of the snow. The shot of Rocky crushing the Drago picture is classic as well. It's 100% Grade A cheese.
Interestingly enough, the current World Heavyweight champ IS Russian!
WKC.
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I have just finished the On the buses trilogy.
(http://members.lycos.co.uk/busesfanclub/hpbimg/buses%20q.jpg)
Philo .
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I have just finished the On the buses trilogy.
(http://members.lycos.co.uk/busesfanclub/hpbimg/buses%20q.jpg)
Philo .
Good ol' Syd James ;).
Did you buy a DVD set?
WKC.
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Errr Sid wasn't in the series or the films. It was Reg Varney.
The three films are part of a 2 disc set.
Philo .
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Errr Sid wasn't in the series or the films. It was Reg Varney.
The three films are part of a 2 disc set.
Philo .
he he..
Not a part of the 'carry on' series right?
Same humour?
WKC.
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Blakey rules ;D
Gee i rememeber this show.......however DO NOT watch the "On The Buses" Movie .....that really does suck
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Yes wkc same kind of humour
The movies are typical of spin offs and I have seen a lot worse.
Philo .
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We finally got a quiet weekend (a rarity these days) and suprisingly enough we watched Starskey & Hutch. While I was totally prepared to not like this movie. (I don't like it when they remake tv shows into movies, especially when they turn dramas into comedies.)
Suprisingly this one was pretty funny as Ben Stiller and Luke Owens are always funny. I even kinda liked Snoop Dog in this movie as Huggy Bear.
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Yeah i enjoyed Starsky and Hutch too....Wilson and Stiller work well together and some nice cameo's too.
I watched "Frida" last night the story of Mexican artist "Frida Kahlo" an excellent film, warm yet also full of pathos, the scenes were Kahlo's paintings came to life were really well done, if you no nothing of this artist watch it, if you are familiar with this artist still watch it.
Geoffrey Rush was as always on top form as "Trotsky" and Alfred Molina as the Zapatist artist and serial philanderer Diego Rivera was amazing.
I also never realised how much of a good actor Salma Hayek was, this film truly threw the light on how much talent she has.
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I watched Kill Bill and Meet the Parents over the weekend. I'm planning on watching Bullitt tonight or tomorrow.
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Starsky and Hutch wasn't that good. It had some good moments but all around most of it fell flat. It also seemed Ben Stiller was trying way too hard at times to be funny. Disappointing.
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Ha... those On the buses films are great.. but sooooo cheap. The director didn't even bother to tell the bystanders not to look directly at the camera... that cheap ;D I was sad to read that Bob Grant had died...
Still..cheap as they were.. I think they were amongst Hammer Films bigest grossing movies :o
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I'm planning on watching Bullitt tonight or tomorrow.
Have you seen it before Masterchief? If not, make sure you pay close attention during the opening scenes.
WKC.
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high plains drifter
well right now i don't feel to agreeable
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28 days Later. (Not a good tourist ad for Britain ;))
Of Mice and Men (Gary Sinise and John Malkovich)
WKC.
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Have you seen it before Masterchief? If not, make sure you pay close attention during the opening scenes ;)
No, I've never seen it before. I'm going to watch it tonight and I'll be sure to pay attention in the opening scenes
Of Mice and Men (Gary Sinise and John Malkovich)
I love this film and the book. The film was almost exactly how I imagined the book to be.
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I watched two great movies this week: Apocalypse Now (Redux) and Adaptation. (See Christopher, we agree on a movie AGAIN. Apocalypse Now was great. Have you seen the longer "Redux" version?)
I also watched It's a Wonderful Life (which I do every year around this time). Oh, and Rio Bravo because mgk sent me the DVD thinking I'd like it. She was wrong... but it wasn't too painful. Thanks anyway, M. ;)
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I haven't seen Redux. Actually, I've only seen a few minutes of it on TV once. I have the original cut on DVD.
I still haven't seen Adaptation yet.
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See Adaptation, Christopher. I really enjoyed it and I think you would too, especially since you write screenplays, and that's what the movie is about... writing a screenplay. It's funny, original, and the acting by Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper is all fantastic. And Tilda Swinton's in it. :)
(Ally, you wanted to send me something "really English" for Christmas.... can you send her?)
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Adaptation is awesome especially if you've read Robert McKee's Story. It totally does what McKee says not to do.
I watched Dangerous Liaisons, Pocahontas, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Glory (gag), and the best of all Million Dollar Baby!!! ;D
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Alien - I hadn't seen the film in a long time and it was thrilling from begininng to end. Great piece of work by Ridley Scott. It moves so slow and you hardly see the alien at all (MAN IN A SUIT!! MAN IN A SUIT!!) but when he does give you a glimpse at times it scares the crap out of you.
Aliens - What I loved about the first one is it's pacing and how slow it went and how there was hardly any action at all but what I love about the sequel... is the action. Interestingly enough though it take about an hour and twenty minutes for the action to start, how crazy is that? I never actually realized that before.
I can't say enough about this movie either. Everything about it is great. Much like the first one it hardly shows you the aliens. They're always in the dark or Cameron uses quick cuts to show just enough of them while never actually giving you a full money shot, until the end of course.
And how can I not mention Bill Paxton? The best over acting EVER!! And I love it!! It's just the way he plays his character and delivers his lines, it's classic and you can't help but love the guy. I love Hudson. He's one of my favourite film characters.
One of my favourite parts of the film is when the Marines have just walked into the room where the bodies of the station workers have been strung up by the aliens. They find a person who is alive and an alien baby pops ot of her stomach and they fry it. What happens after that is tremendously thrilling. We see the aliens start to move, the radar goes off, the noises come from everywhere and the team gets ambushed. Cameron then cuts back to that military vehilce/mobile command post where Ripley, Burke and the commander are. Over the radio you can hear Hudson scream: "They're coming outta the walls. They're coming outta the goddamn walls, we're f@#ked!" Cameron could have easily shown us them being attacked and given us an action sequence but cutting back to the command center and hearing it over the radio and not seeing what was going on just added so much more to that scene.
Oh and James Horner's score. Brilliant at times. My heart was pounding when Ripley took the vehicle and drove into the building to get the marines. The score there is brilliant.
I can't say enough about this film. I could go on and on and just keep mentioning little details that made the film work in so many ways. James Cameron is probably the best action director out there. He never goes over board with the action and always keeps it real. His last big action film was in 1994 with True Lies. It's been too long Cameron, too long.
If you haven't seen Aliens please for the love of God, see it. It's a truly great piece of cinema.
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Wow Matt, I saw Adaptation and thought it was one of the most confusing and pointless movies that I'd ever seen. I've only seen it once, so perhaps on a repeat viewing, I might have more appreciation for it, but I really didn't like it at all. I've had this discussion with Ally before, but the movie just didn't make sense to me. I could never tell what was supposed to be the real story.I do agree that the acting from all of the principal characters was quite good, but the story seemed to me to be one of those stories that tried really hard to be intellectual and unpredictable and in the end failed at both.
I've also seen Sideways which I thought was good enough, but I see no reason why it has gotten the huge critical acclaim and awards consideration that it has. I saw nothing spectacular in the film, and I tend to like independent and/or foreign films. It may have something to do with the fact that the whole movie seemed to be about a man who would stop at nothing to dishonor his fiance to satisfy his own ridiculous and selfish notion of a "last fling," and we all know how I dislike that theme. Not only does it happen once, but it happens over and over again, with not one, but two different people. In my opinion, anyone who would do something like that doesn't deserve to be married in the first place. If people were calling it a well-written, well acted, offbeat little film that was pretty good, that wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility, but to call it the best picture of the year, that I don't see at all. Perhaps a second viewing would help, but I won't see the film again until it either comes out on DVD or I see it on the television.
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Talking about films that are overated:
I saw Collateral (a few weeks ago), and it is way overrated.
WKC.
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The Rock - Although I have a massive distaste and/or hatred for Michael Bay films, this is his best one. It's not a great flick by any means but it is a terribly enjoyable one. From beginning to end it's a thrill ride. Some dialogue is bad but at times it doesn't matter and oddly enough it fits with the feel of the movie. The action is well shot, makes sense actually since that's all Bay knows is how to shoot action.
Bay: "Hey instead of having five explosions... could we have twenty?"
Special Effects Guy: "Why? Why would any film need twenty explosions?"
Bay:"Why not?"
Special Effects Guy: "Because twenty just seems like overkill. At that point it is no longer believable and takes people out of the film and detracts from the characters and the story."
Bay:"....twenty it is then."
Special Effects Guy: "Wait, what?"
It's the perfect action movie to just sit back and watch and not be concerned about plot holes or the absurdness of it all. This is also Sean Connery's last best film before he went downhill. It also has a stellar supporting cast: John Spencer, David Morse, William Forsythe, Michael Beihn (before the alcohol destroyed his career), Tony Todd, John C. McGinley and the hotness of Vanessa Marcil.
Fun, fun, fun. That's all this flick is.
Blade: Trinity - Disappointing is the best way to describe this flick. The first two Blade films I enjoyed a lot and were fun little vampires romps but this one was terrible. Bad dialogue, bad direction, bad shots and just all around weakness. David Goyer is a good writer (of comic book films and other sci-fi films) but not a good director. The action scenes just looked a little sloppy as well. Very, very disappointing.
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I agree Brendan
David S Goyer should stick to what he is best at "writing" after writing the script for the first Blade film and it becoming a sucess i reckon he must have got delusions of grandier.
I never realised Micheal Biehn was a soak, shame this was the tough guy in "Terminator" and Aliens".
Has his career truly finished,,, is he in rehab???
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I never realised Micheal Biehn was a soak, shame this was the tough guy in "Terminator" and Aliens".
Has his career truly finished,,, is he in rehab???
Alcohol didn't "ruin" his career but I'd say it contributed to him barely having one now. I've read stories about him showing up on set drunk and just being very arrogant and difficult to work with. It's a shame really since he had talent and probably could have further developed it had he stayed on track. It happens though.
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I haven't seen Redux. Actually, I've only seen a few minutes of it on TV once. I have the original cut on DVD.
I still haven't seen Adaptation yet.
Stick with the original version of Apocalypse.Now!
I got redux version of it and it`s only longer version not a better version.
Adaption is a great movie.
Lately I´ve been watching Indiana Jones films.Since they are showing the Indy trilogy in finnish tv.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark was still great fun to watch but Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom was rubbish.
Few good moments but not enought to make it a good movie.
Tonight I´m gonna watch Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade and if I remeber correctly it`s a great film.
And also I bought/watched The Magnificent Seven few nights ago.Great film.
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I saw Intolerable Cruelty. I know some people have liked it but wow, I thought it was really quite a poor movie. I didn't find it funny, charming, or in the least bit witty. I had to watch it because I had guests over from overseas (Holland and Italy) and it was what they picked to watch. Curiously, I had just gotten through telling them how I didn't like George Clooney at all as an actor about a couple of hours prior to that, but I guess they conveniently forgot ;) One of them liked it, the other one thought it was pretty bad. Not only was the story absolutely ridiculous and completely devoid of any humor, but the whole premise of the movie made a complete mockery of the legal system. It's not possible to continue marrying people haphazardly with reckless abandon hoping to extort half their net worth six months later. That's not how the legal system works. In order to take full advantage of the benefits of marriage, somebody has to be married for quite a few years. How much support you eventually get is determined by how long it has been prior to the dissolution of the marriage. You can't get married and then six months later decide to divorce someone, and then try the same scheme a few weeks or months later, and continue to get a financial windfall every time. The whole premise of the movie is absolutely ridiculous. If the film was engaging and humorous in other ways, I could overlook that, but it simply wasn't. I definitely wouldn't recommend this one.
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Hemlock - I just watched Apocalypse Now, too, the original.......not the Redux.......and it was an excellent film. I know Marlon Brando was a huge name back then but it seemed strange that he had top billing considering he was only in about 20 minutes of the film.
Also saw Adaptation and thoroughly enjoyed it. However, I will have to admit that I was totally confused at the end. And, it was bouncing around in my head for a few days. With some help, I finally got everthing figured out. :-*
I find the Indiana Jones movies enjoyable, too, but agree with you that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is definitely a weak movie. I enjoyed Raiders of the Lost Ark a lot but I think my favorite is Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The chemistry between Connery and Harrison was a thrill to watch.
As for some of the other movies mentioned in this thread.....
"Sneakers" (1992) excellent if slightly nerdy film with some very subtle humour well worth a watch.
"Kill Bill Vol II" (2004) tell all your friends this film rocks if you haven't seen it yet do so, possibly the best film of 2004, it worth watching just for David Carradine's coolness all the way through.
Agree with you on both of those movies. I was blown over with Michael Parks' performance as Esteban Vihaio. I did not even recognize him until someone pointed him out to me. Amazing!
Goodfellas - Amazing.
Raging Bull - Best boxing film ever. DeNiro is brilliant and gives the performance of his career. Too bad he's gone downhill these days.
Yes, Goodfellas was a terrific movie. I haven't seen Raging Bull in a long time but plan to revisited it soon.
I also saw two Denzel Washington movies, The Hurricane and Remember the Titans. I enjoyed them both, though I did enjoy Titans more.
(Sorry, Matt......couldn't fix the italics on The Hurricane for some reason. It's correct in your post.)
Anyway, Remember the Titans is one of my all-time favorites when it comes to a sport movie and when it comes to a "feel good" movie. :D
Alien - I hadn't seen the film in a long time and it was thrilling from begininng to end. Great piece of work by Ridley Scott. It moves so slow and you hardly see the alien at all (MAN IN A SUIT!! MAN IN A SUIT!!) but when he does give you a glimpse at times it scares the crap out of you.
Aliens - What I loved about the first one is it's pacing and how slow it went and how there was hardly any action at all but what I love about the sequel... is the action. Interestingly enough though it take about an hour and twenty minutes for the action to start, how crazy is that? I never actually realized that before.
If you haven't seen Aliens please for the love of God, see it. It's a truly great piece of cinema.
Brendan, I watched Alien recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. Also plan to watch Aliens soon. I have seen it before and remember liking it as well. I also liked The Rock as an entertaining movie and, once again, Connery's charm was a big reason.
Since it is the Christmas Season, I recently watched a couple of traditional movies but had a lot of fun watching A Christmas Story last night. It was so much fun to get inside of Ralphie's imagination and just be completely entertained by him and his various plans on how to convince his parents that he reallly did need a brand new Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Delightful. ;D
And, yes, I did send Matt Rio Bravo thinking it would be one of John Wayne's movies that he might like. Didn't work. :-[ >:( Sure glad I didn't pick some of Wayne's other movies since I think Rio Bravo and The Searches are two of his best. Oh, well....... ;)
The best movie I have seen in the past decade is The Pianist, Great movie and I have plans to watch it again sometime fairly soon.
There are so many great movies out "there" that it would be impossible to list them all. But as I watched them, either for the first time or to re-watch, I will let you know if I can recommend others.
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I know Coppola has said he believes Apocalypse Now Redux to be better, but I've always found that hard to believe. I wouldn't mind seeing the new footage though. The original cut is my favorite war movie of all.
I've always thought Temple of Doom is a very fun movie. It was the first Indiana Jones movie I saw. I was very young when I first saw it. The image of the guy's heart being ripped from his chest has been emblazoned on my mind from the time I was a youngster. :D
MGK, I haven't seen Rio Bravo, but I would agree that The Searchers is the best John Wayne movie. Matt, have you seen The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance? That one is another favorite Wayne movie of mine.
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After eagerly awaiting watching "The Passion of the Christ" i was not amused.
What was Gibson thinking of, i just dont get it, what was the reasoning behind the film, apart from chronicling a well known tale thats been done loads of times before.
The acting, the setting, etc was all very authentic and hats off to the researchers who did an excellent job.
But if you ask me Scorsese's "last temptation of christ" was a better film and that was not brilliant. Ok there were some flashbacks with opened up the characters a little but nothing substantial.
Gibsons over the top use of symbolism was also a bit tired, like he had looked over a load of religious paintings before doing the film.
The cross, the crown of thorns and the nails (which the camera panned in on and held for an age towards the end of the film) all overly used and to what avail, its not like this is a new tale.
I can understand the contraversy considering the amount of violence and anti-semiticism but i am sure this was quite realistic of the time.
Is it worth watching well only to see what all the fuss was about, dont expect any higher meaning or enlightenment from this film
:(
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Last weekend I watched:
American Flyers, Early Kevin Costner film about cycle racing( not bad ). :)
The swarm,lots of well known actors but not a great film. :(
Death in Venice,Dirk Bogarde film that completely lost me.I have no idea what the hell it was all about.2 hours of my life I won't get back. ???
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Jurassic Park - I loved this movie. This is just one hell of a film and one hell of a ride.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - Speilberg did not make a good film here. Terrible actually. It had moments but ultimately it served no purpose and had no point. Just when the film could have gone one way (which, with my idea, would have made a better film) it goes in a differant direction and turns into a big dinosaur hunt.
I like it though, when Vince Vaughn's character leaves Ian Malcolm and his group to go ahead and radio for help but when Malcolm and his gorup take the same path they get attacked by raptors. It seems a little odd that Vince Vaughn never got attacked.
And the last half hour was ridiculous. The T-Rex running around San Diego... ah God. And how did the T-Rex kill all the people on the ship? It seems impossible that it managed too. How did it get inside the control room and kill the captain and his crew? All they had to do was walk inside the room and they were safe. There is no way for the T-Rex to get inside that room at all, it's to big. It doesn't make sense as to how they were killed. The baby T-Rex wasn't on the boat so that doesn't explain it. It's a big plot hole.
Jurassic Park III - I enjoyed this in the theatres just because it was a fun ride. But much like The Lost World it could have gone in a differant direction but it chose not too. When I first saw the trailer I believe it had this line:
Amanda: This is how you make dinosaurs?
Dr. Grant: No, this is how you play God.
Now to me that means something. It means they were genetically engineering dinosaurs for use as a weapon or creating some sort of super-dino or mutant dino's (like corss breeding) but they left that alone and never touched on it. That's a shame since it would have made a much better film instead of the Aliens rip-off it turned into.
Oh well. At least there's the first one.
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Saw Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin biopic Beyond The Sea last night.. and I gotta say that I really quite enjoyed it.. The reviews have been luke warm to say the least but I think I enjoyed Spacey's nerve, taking on all the singing duties himself. I'm a big Darin fan and thought Spacey did a good job..in fact the performance scenes were my favorites. Maybe Spacey was a little old for the part as a young Darin.. but Darin never looked particularly young, possibly due to ill health... anyway, that didn't spoil the film for me.
I think it was a brave move by Spacey to make this movie, especialy when most young people today probably have no idea who Darin was.. I applaud his nerve.
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Death in Venice,Dirk Bogarde film that completely lost me.I have no idea what the hell it was all about.2 hours of my life I won't get back. ???
It's based on a great book, maybe you should try reading it some day. :D ;)
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The Station Agent - I think I can now add a new film to my favourites list. Has anyone seen this film?
This is the plot from the IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340377/plotsummary):
When his only friend and co-worker dies, a young man born with dwarfism moves to an abandoned train depot in rural New Jersey. Though he tried to maintain a life of solitude, he is soon entangled with an artist who is struggling with a personal tragedy and an overly-friendly Cuban hot dog vendor.
I'm just so happy I've seen this film. It's such a beautiful piece of work. I loved every minute, every second, every frame of it! This was just such a great film.
There has to be some other board members out there who have seen this wonderful piece of work.
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Yes, Brendan, I saw it when it was still in the theater early this year and I liked it a lot. I liked the way the story didn't really "resolve," but just ended ... the characters learned the importance of friendship, but the filmmakers didn't try to make it look as if friendship could solve everyone's problems. Good performances from everyone concerned, too. Did you remember Patricia Clarkson from The Dead Pool?
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No, I didn't remember her from The Dead Pool, I guess it has to do with The Dead Pool being very unmemorable ;D.
I also liked how the movie never resolved anything. The ending just happened and after it I felt alright. They were all happy now. They had each other again. These three differant people each struggling with their own unique problems are able to find comfort with each other and never be afraid.
I was really trying to pick out a favourite scene but I just couldn't. All of the scenes, especially the ones between Fin and Joe, were just great. Like when Joe and Fin are reading together and Fin was timing how long it took for Joe to talk ;D. The train chasing and even the scene where they're watching the trains go by. Great stuff.
Wonderful film.
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A while back I bought the Martin Scorsese box set. Of the five movies in the set, I hadn't seen two: After Hours and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (if you don't know, the other three are Goodfellas, Mean Streets, and Who's That Knocking at My Door). I finally watched After Hours last night and hope to watch Alice soon. Anyhow, After Hours is quite a movie. It's probably one of the best "dark comedies" I've ever seen. On top of that, the movie held me in a great deal of suspense. It was somewhat horrifying seeing what would happen to this guy next. I mean, a real sense of dread that runs throughout the movie. I got so caught up, I was never aware or thought about how long I'd been watching the movie or what time it was.
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Dr.Stangelove yesterday. The last scene might have been the funniest of all time (with Strangelove's theory on how to survive a war).
Citizen Kane today. One of the best films (if not he best) of all time.
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Citizen Kane today. One of the best films (if not he best) of all time.
I`ve never understood why this film is so special ???
Don`t get me wrong I think it`s a good movie but this talk about it being best film ever is an overstatement .
For example Orson Welles`s Touch Of Evil is way better film than Citizen Kane.
Btw I just watched Robert Benton`s Twilight(`98).Paul Newman,Susan Sarandon,James Gardner and Genen Hackman are marvellous in it.
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I've never understood why [ Citizen Kane ] is [considered/reputed to be] so special.
Besides the actual quality of the film and its performances and such, the reasons it is so wildly hearlded is for its many innovations on the technical side (some of the shots, cinematographically speaking, were simply unheard of at the time and beyond groudbreaking, and the way the narrative is played with was pretty revolutionary) and of course because of the tremendous and epic backstory of the production - most especially William Randolph Hearst's attempts (and near success) to literally destroy every print of the movie and keep it from being seen at all. And it was a 27-year-old wunderkind's first film, after conquering radio and the New York stage. Orson was such an interesting personality. It's just such a great STORY. So that incredibly rich history coupled with it being a damn fine film apart from all that catapults Citizen Kane routinely into most discussions of "best film ever made".
But personally, I think Chimes at Midnight is Welles' true masterpiece, and that if the Studio hadn't taken The Magnificent Ambersons away from him and recut it that it might be the equal of, if not superior to, Kane.
But Citizen Kane is pretty fu*kin' good.
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Reservoir Dogs:Quentin Tarantino's first film.I was a little disappointed with this as I was expecting to be as good as Pulp Fiction.I thought too much of the film took place in the hide-out and started to feel like a stage play.
Carlito's Way:Enjoyed this a lot more,great performances by Al Pacino ( has he ever given a bad one ) and Sean Penn ( what was with the hair ).
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great performance by Al Pacino (has he ever given a bad one?)
Oh, sure. Scarface, Revolution, The Devil's Advocate, Scent of a Woman and Cruising are all horrible performances. His best work was done in the '70s, most especially The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico and the wonderful but underseen Scarecrow with Gene Hackman. I liked him in Carlito's Way and Donnie Brasco a lot, and thought it was a long overdue return to form. His work in HBO's "Angels in America" was fantastic too.
But my goodness yes, he has made some acting missteps over the years.
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Holden, have you seen Merchant of Venice yet? (I hesitate to go because of the "Pacino factor.")
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His best work was done in the '70s, most especially The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico and the wonderful but underseen Scarecrow with Gene Hackman. I liked him in Carlito's Way and Donnie Brasco a lot, and thought it was a long overdue return to form. His work in HBO's "Angels in America" was fantastic too.
Holden you forgot The Insider, Heat, Insomnia, Any Given Sunday (which could go either way I guess) and a film that nobody saw called People I Know. (http://forum.gateworld.net/images/gw_smilies/wink.gif) He gives some of his best work in the latter.
As for The Merchant of Venice, KC, I've heard he gives a good performance. Most of the reviews I've read seem to praise his work in the film. Hope you don't mind me answering the question here. (http://forum.gateworld.net/images/gw_smilies/smile.gif)
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Oh, sure. Scarface, Revolution, The Devil's Advocate, Scent of a Woman and Cruising are all horrible performances. His best work was done in the '70s, most especially The Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico and the wonderful but underseen Scarecrow with Gene Hackman. I liked him in Carlito's Way and Donnie Brasco a lot, and thought it was a long overdue return to form. His work in HBO's "Angels in America" was fantastic too.
But my goodness yes, he has made some acting missteps over the years.
I wouldn't have said they were bad performances from Pacino,sure the films weren't great but it wasn't due to the acting.Acting missteps is a bit harse considering every actor at sometime in their career will appear in bad movies.I'd call it choice missteps not acting. ;)
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I wouldn't have said they were bad performances from Pacino,sure the films weren't great but it wasn't due to the acting.Acting missteps is a bit harse considering every actor at sometime in their career will appear in bad movies.I'd call it choice missteps not acting. ;)
I would call them both acting and choice missteps, except for "Scarface", which I thought was fantastic all-around. Replacing "Scarface" with "City Hall" on that short list, I would agree that Pacino's performances ranged from below average ("City Hall") to ridiculous overacting ("Scent of a Woman"). "Scent of a Woman" is a fun movie that I want to like, but I can't get past the over-and-beyond-the-top performance by Pacino.
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Al Pacino is a class actor, one of the greats, Scarface was a class movie, Scent of a Woman although not his best was still acted brilliantly.
As for Pacino making his best films in the seventies this is sheer poppycock.
Sea of love, Heat, Donnie Brasco, Sea of Love, Glengarry Glenross all excellent films and lately so was Insomnia, the only bad films i can think of that Pacino has done are "The Recruit" and that awful "Frankie and Johnny" but in a career that spans as long as his does a couple of bad uns aint bad.
I love this actor and will defend him to the hilt the original shouter who more than makes up for his size, Hollywood would not be the same without Pacino.
Has clint ever appeared in a movie with Al, if not he should...thank you very much
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No, I haven't seen the new version of The Merchant of Venice. Don't think it has played in Portland yet. But I did like Pacino's Looking for Richard, which was mostly a kind of documentary, but also had Al and others staging some scenes from Richard III.
And guys, Pacino is AWFUL in Scarface. Yes, the movie is definitely crap beyond his performance, but YOWZA.
Glangarry Glen Ross is the only one of his great performances from late in his career I didn't mention.
I thought he and his southern drawl were pretty terrible in People I Know, Brendan. Besides that flick being a stinker overall, Pacino isn't very good in it. Al was fine in Heat and Insomnia, sure, though I don't think they rate anywhere near his best work. Any Given Sunday is crap and his performance is nothing.
I think, anyway.
I recommend you all, Pacino lovers and haters, track down Scarecrow (1973 - Jerry Schatzberg). It's one of those low-key. understated great movies from the '70s that has gotten a bit lost over the years, despite Pacino and Hackman being at the very top of their games. It's a great character piece about two drifters who become traveling buddies in the dusty midwest. Hackman is an ex-con prone to bursts of violence who has a very detailed dream of opening a car wash in Pittsburgh, and Pacino is a more niave ex-merchant marine who tries to solve conflict through offbeat humor rather than fisticuffs...save for the one part of his past he's running away from. They're both great and I think it is Pacino's single best performance.
It's a great movie. Unfortunately not yet available on DVD, and it's a shame because along with everything else there's some beautiful cinemtography by Vilmos Zsigmond (McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Close Encounters of the Third Kind). The opening sequence on the prarie with the storm coming towards them is one of my favorites of that decade, photographically speaking.
(http://www.netlaputa.ne.jp/~sakura3/scarecrow.jpg)
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Has clint ever appeared in a movie with Al?
No.
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Holden Pike said
And guys, Pacino is AWFUL in Scarface. Yes, the movie is definitely crap beyond his performance, but YOWZA.
How can you say this "Scarface" is a classic film and Pacino is excellent in it.
>:D
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How can you say this?
Easily, and with confidence.
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Watched "Welcome to the Jungle" (The Rundown in the US) last night.........errr.........well it aint shakespeare..lol.....above average action feel good movie that is totally unbelievable but it aint as bad as some movies out there.
Could have been funnier, could have been directed better, but you have to laugh at "The Rock".
There was a nice cameo by Arnie at the beginning saying "Good Luck " to beck (the rock) is this an official pass of the action hero baton from one old beefcake to another younger version...??????.
One thing though why oh why was Christopher Walken in this film....i am getting sick of Walken appearing as the same old bad guy in films that are way below his calibre...i know this has been going on for a while, i just hope we see some more decent performances from Mr Walken real soon before he becomes a real bad parody of himself.
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Well Holden Pike i am not going to get into an arguement with you but i say this again with ease and confidence.
Scarface is a classic film and Al Pacino's performance is an excellent one, it was one of the first films that i saw with Al in and it converted me into a Pacino fan from then on.
Long live Tony Montana
O0
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Watched "Welcome to the Jungle" (The Rundown in the US) last night.........errr.........well it aint shakespeare..lol.....above average action feel good movie that is totally unbelievable but it aint as bad as some movies out there.
Could have been funnier, could have been directed better, but you have to laugh at "The Rock".
It was directed fine. Peter Berg is a man who has a lot of talent. He's a young director to watch. The chemistry between The Rock and Sean William Scott was just great. It was like Dodgeball, in that it's the chemistry and delivery of the lines by the actors that makes the film good and enjoyable. That and The Rundown is just a fun film.(http://forum.gateworld.net/images/gw_icons/icon7.gif)
There was a nice cameo by Arnie at the beginning saying "Good Luck " to beck (the rock) is this an official pass of the action hero baton from one old beefcake to another younger version...??????.
He said, "Have fun." and it wasn't meant as a passing of the baton. Arnold, The Rock and director Peter Berg were having lunch together and Berg just, out of nowhere, asked Arnold if he wanted to be in it and Arnold said yes. The Rock has said that he never saw that way and Arnold has said he just did it for fun.
And this (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023427/) is the REAL Scarface.(http://forum.gateworld.net/images/gw_icons/icon12.gif)
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And THIS (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023427/) is the REAL Scarface.
Damn right!
Frustratingly, the original Scarface still isn't on DVD (maybe by the time they release The Aviator on DVD?), but the upcoming Warner Bros. Gangster Collection is finally bringing six classics to the format: Little Caesar, Public Enemy, The Roaring Twenties, Angels with Dirty Faces, White Heat and The Petrified Forest. The set streets at the end of this month (1.25.05). It retails for only $68 (or less than $12 a flick), and it isn't difficult to find it for around 30% off if you pre-order it (like I sure have).
(http://www.dvdplanet.com/productimages/front/48804.jpg)
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Heck yeah, White Heat! I need to get that one, hopefully I can get it alone.
Maybe one of these days I'll check out the "original" "Scarface"...Was it about Al Capone or like the DePalma "Scarface"?
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Made it, Ma! Top of the world! :D
(First, last and only time I'll ever use that smiley! (http://forums.nyyfans.com/images/smilies/wink.gif) )
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Cheers Brendan and Holden Pike, i have never seen the original scarface, i must catch that one, directed by Howard Hawks too, looks great.
Tell me was the De Palma one a remake then ????
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Tell me was the De Palma one a remake then ????
Very loosely, but yes. The Hawks '32 film is of course loosely based on Al "Scarface" Capone. DePalma's '83 flick is even more loosely based on the Hawks movie. There are some structural similarlities, and there are some homage nods to the original in the Pacino one, but ultimately they are very distant cousins. At best. To say the original is a better film is an understatement of massive proportions. Little Caesar, Public Enemy and Scarface absolutely defined the genre. DePalma's Scarface is shallow, over-the-top, pulpy trash that was dated the second the cameras stopped rolling. Oh yeah, and Pacino's performance is godawful in it (have I mentioned that?).
(http://www.bfi.org.uk/showing/nft/featurearchive/crimescene2000/images/scarface.jpg) (http://membres.lycos.fr/donfabrizio/scarfc_2.jpe)
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I seem to remember you saying something about Pacino's performance in Scarface ;), but hey it would be no good if we all liked the same stuff, cheers 8)
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I think Al Pacino is simply amazing in Godfather and so very disappointing in Godfather III. He can be accused of lazy acting at times. Still I do like Scarface, for some reason, despite all the reasons not to care for it. It's a fun film, I guess. Though it's been a while since I've seen it.
I saw Station Agent this week based on the good word I heard on this board. I really enjoyed it, and I can see how if I'd come across it at a film festival I would have been very enamored of the movie. I saw The Terminal, and I really, really enjoyed that movie, after my initial hesitation of seeing Tom Hanks playing a foreigner from Europe. It was hard not to love the movie, despite its farfetched goings on, though I think there had to be a more suitable actor to play Tom's role. The accent sounded fine, though, to my untrained ear. Dogville was a cool movie, combining a novelistic omniscient narrator with bare minimum theatre stage design ... which encroaches on one's involvement with the story, but from an artistic standpoint, I can see how the minimilistic stage design is a way of laying bare the essence of the town in the same way the story lays bare the nature of the human soul. It's a good movie, but not for everyone.
I saw several other movies this past week, but those were the notable ones.
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Dogville is a pretty interesting experiment, but for once i wished Lars von Trier really would treat his actors better. Kidman dropped out of the trilogy (2 more yet to come) due to him being a too much of a wanker (pun intended) so lets see what the two next brings.
I saw Return of the king special edition, and i must say i was pretty dissapointed. I cant understand why peter Jackson would put so much crap in a SE trilogy which has so far been so good. a drinking game between Legolas and Gimli? an avalance of skulls? Aragorn being too much of a twat? more scenes of frodo crying? Surely he could do better that... earlier last year, i defended the ammount of oscars that LOTR received (against the oscars that Mystic river got, by writing that ROTK deserved every oscar that it got. After having seen the two editions, i must draw back that statement, and say that Mystic river should have had that oscar instead. the cinematic edition have people switching clothes, wounds, locations, e.t.c. all the time. that editing has been done with a dull showel against a grainy rock.
In the SE only the scenes with the death of Saruman, and the Faramir/Denethor relation stands out.
If you want to see the SE, be prepared to be disapointed...
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I think Al Pacino is simply amazing in Godfather and so very disappointing in Godfather III. He can be accused of lazy acting at times
WHAAAT :o :o
Could it be that Michael Corleone was more matured in Godfather II and that`s why Pacino`s performance in it wasn`t over the top like it is today.
Last week I watched The Punisher,Walking Tall,The Chronicles of Riddick,Around The World In 80 Days(Jackie Chan`s version),Lost In Translation and Jersey Girl.
You can imagine that Lost In Translation was the film that I enjoyed the most .Bill Murray was magnificent.Really good movie O0
There were couple of moment in The Punisher that made it decent action film.
Chan`s 80 Days was baaaad >:(
Jersey Girl`s only good thing was/is Liv Tyler.
Diesel`s Riddick and The Rock`s Walking Tall were good fun but not very memorable films.
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I liked the "Walking Tall" remake, though I hate to admit it. :-[
Earlier today I saw a movie in the theater called "Kung Fu Hustle"; directed by Stephen Chow. It was sometimes funny, very original, and a good parody of generic martial arts movies. The big drawback was the many weak attempts at humor.
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I've been so lazy this week. I've watched Bridges of Madison County, The Clearing, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstien.
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Lazy? I'd say watching all those movies is pretty hard work ... especially Abbott and Costello! :o
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I went on a Michael Mann binge and watched the Ali: Director's Cut, The Last of the Mohicans and The Insider, which I fall in love with more and more everytime I watch it.
The Ali: Diretor's Cut is something. When I watched the theatrical cut of Ali I felt it was alright but didn't hold up to Mann's previous work. But the Director's Cut is tremendous. Will Smith was great as Ali and he deserved the Oscar the nomination that he recieved. If you haven't seen Ali yet don't rent the theatrical cut but instead rent the Director's Cut.
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I went on a Michael Mann binge and watched the Ali: Director's Cut, The Last of the Mohicans and The Insider, which I fall in love with more and more everytime I watch it.
The Ali: Diretor's Cut is something. When I watched the theatrical cut of Ali I felt it was alright but didn't hold up to Mann's previous work. But the Director's Cut is tremendous. Will Smith was great as Ali and he deserved the Oscar the nomination that he recieved. If you haven't seen Ali yet don't rent the theatrical cut but instead rent the Director's Cut.
I watched the theatrical version of Ali sometime ago and got to say I was very dissapointed :(
I´m also big fan of Mann`s films.The Last Of THe Mohicans is one of my all time favorite films.The Heat is also great film...come to think of it I got to have this one on DVD.
I was so reliefed when I saw Collateral.After crap film like Ali he once again made a truly a wonderful film.
Looking forward to see Mann`s Miami Vice-movie.
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WHAAAT :o :o
Could it be that Michael Corleone was more matured in Godfather II and that`s why Pacino`s performance in it wasn`t over the top like it is today.
I'm not sure what you're saying "WHAAAT :o :o" to... I made no mention of Godfather II, but rather Godfather III. And I can't see how his acting in Part III comes even remotely close to matching that of the first. (Which was definitely not "over the top," if you were implying that, but I'm not sure if you were.) As for saying he can be a lazy actor, I was not specifically referring to the third Godfather, but to several movies -- of which, if you want to pin me down, I would say includes Godfather III. Just opinion. But I would say his acting is more "over the top" in the third movie, and lazy at that, because he simply projects a persona that to me doesn't ring true based on where this character came from. To me he doesn't bring any of his prior conflicts to this character, which for me comes across as a brand new character based on what we've seen in the first two movies.
Anyway.... It's just my opinion.
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Watched 21 Grams last night.....phew that film is hard work, but well worth it, the director jumps back and forth constantly and flits from one character to another, a jigsaw piece of a film but when you do put all the pieces together it takes your breath away, just dont go out for a cigarette or make a brew, you have to watch every second carefully.
I must say as Sean Penn matures he puts in some great performances, Naomi Watts also excellent, not to sure about Benicio Del Toro these days though
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The Heat is also great film...come to think of it I got to have this one on DVD.
The two disc special edition is coming out in February.
Looking forward to see Mann`s Miami Vice-movie.
Heh heh, I'm looking forward to it as well. The film version for the show has been rumoured for a few years now. One thing that bothers me about it is that it's taking place in the present so there's not going to be any 80's music, clothes or style and I think it's just going to be a re-telling of the pilot episode but that's a rumour so who knows.
But hey, it's Michael Mann doing an action flick so there's no way it can go wrong. Plus he has Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell lined up to star. O0
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I'm not sure what you're saying "WHAAAT :o :o" to... I made no mention of Godfather II, but rather Godfather III. And I can't see how his acting in Part III comes even remotely close to matching that of the first. (Which was definitely not "over the top," if you were implying that, but I'm not sure if you were.) As for saying he can be a lazy actor, I was not specifically referring to the third Godfather, but to several movies -- of which, if you want to pin me down, I would say includes Godfather III. Just opinion. But I would say his acting is more "over the top" in the third movie, and lazy at that, because he simply projects a persona that to me doesn't ring true based on where this character came from. To me he doesn't bring any of his prior conflicts to this character, which for me comes across as a brand new character based on what we've seen in the first two movies.
Anyway.... It's just my opinion.
Sorry Doug!I read your reply too fast.I thought you wrote that Pacino`s acting was lazy in GODFATHER II not in Godfather III :-[
I do agree with you,Doug.Lately Pacino`s performances has been a bit over the top like you said.
I think this started when he made Scent Of A Woman.He`s last decent performance was in Michael Mann`s Heat and in it he also a bit overacted at times.
Angels In America is now showing in Finland`s television and I got to say it`s not all that great as people have said it to be...and again Pacino overacts..big time >:(
Again I do apologizes Doug for reading your post too fast and commentateing about it.
And Brendan I agree with you too.It would be a shame if this Miami Vice movie will happen in present time instead of the 80`s :(
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Saw Shaun of the dead on dvd yesterday.
A british comedy/zombie movie about a guy named Shaun who has a lousy job/life, a relationship going down the drain, and a stepfather who resents him.
The movie borrows from the original zombie trilogy by Romero and is clearly made by fans of the genre which means that there are a lot of references to the movies made in a new but fun way (we´re comming for you Barbara ;) and the fact that british zombies arent going to the mall, they´re going to the pub instead.)
I had a great time watching this movie, and if you like zombiemovies just a bit, dont miss this one O0
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I watched Natural Born Killers ... this movie is really something O0
I don't think I'll ever forget about it ...
I particularly liked the editing work
Though the two lead characters are truly psychos, I came to kind of like them by the end of the movie, blaming society for what they had done to them.
It provides a very interesting analysis of our modern world, of how it idolizes and promotes violence, and how pop culture, TV, movies, music, everything can turn you into a total freak.
It's pretty frightening actually.
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Spent the last three nights watching "Angels in America",and I'm absolutely speechless.This was the most bizarre film I've seen for a long while.It just went completely over my head.I only watched it for the Pacino Factor(which I enjoyed)but the rest of it left me dumbfounded. : ???Can anyone enlighten me on this mini series?I would greatly appreciate it. ;)
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Spent the last three nights watching "Angels in America",and I'm absolutely speechless. This was the most bizarre film I've seen for a long while. It just went completely over my head. I only watched it for the Pacino Factor( which I enjoyed) but the rest of it left me dumbfounded. Can anyone enlighten me on this mini-series?I would greatly appreciate it.
Enlighten how? Don't know where to start. What are some specific things you didn't get?
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Enlighten how? Don't know where to start. What are some specific things you didn't get?
What were they trying to say with all the dream sequences,to me they didn't make sense,which is why I was left dumbfounded. ;)
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What were they trying to say with all the dream sequences,to me they didn't make sense,which is why I was left dumbfounded. ;)
"What were they trying to say?!?" I don't know how to answer a question as general as that when faced with the totality of Kushner's work. Let me respond in kind, I guess: AIDS is bad. Did you get that much?
Unless you want to give me specific scenes, specific dreams, I can't blanketly offer you much more than that.
I'll give you a little bit about the Pacino character in general, maybe that'll ease you into some specific questions? Pacino's character was based on a real person, the infamous Roy Cohn. Cohn was a self-hating Jew and a self-hating homosexual...though that wasn't really known back when he was at the height of his power. In the '50s Cohn was right-hand hammer and legal counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy in his Communist witch-hunting. Before that he had prosecuted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed for treason. The ghost that visits Cohn at his bedside in "Angels in America" is Ethel Rosenberg (played by Meryl Streep in one of her three roles). She represents all the people he destroyed, literally and emotionally, in his reign of terror. It's a guilt that now, at the end of his life, Kushner supposes would finally be tormenting him. He hopes it would anyway.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/images/2004/0404frontrow_angels.jpg)
So, that's what the Pacino character's dream sequences are about, in part anyway: the guilt of a life spent with absolutely no regard for others finally catching up with him as he dies from AIDS.
That's the most obvious and clear-cut of the visions, if you know even the basic history of who Cohn was (BTW, there's a pretty good made-for-HBO bio-pic about the man called "Citizen Cohn" (1992) starring James Woods as Roy Cohen, Joe Don Baker as Joe McCarthy, Pat Hingle as J. Edgar Hoover and Frederic Forrest as Dashiell Hammett).
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Just watched Supersize Me.. didn't really teach me anything I didn't already know...but enjoyed :o it all the same...
I liked the idea that this guy could just go out and make this cheap little doc and have it have such a great effect..... or has it ?
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Ah... I love my local library as the system has a better selection than Blockbuster and you can't beat the price for rentals, as long as you get them in on time...FREE !!!
so this week I picked up Elf, Sanjuro and Amelie
Sanjuro is the sequel to Yojimbo, which is the movie A Fistful of Dollars copied. I had never seen it before, and it was great!!!! Its funnier than Yojimbo, and is a great watch as long as you don't mind the subtitles and black and white. The translation is a little weak in parts, and some of the lines have double meanings that you don't get from the subtitles.
Elf-that was so stupid-funny in parts and really cheesy but was enjoyable none the less
Amelie- I'll check it out tonight. Heard good things about it.
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Aw Matt, your killing me...I really liked "Elf". Maybe I'm biased because I'm a huge Will Ferrell fan.
I liked Elf as well. Will Ferrell was perfect in it and it was just such a ridiculous movie.
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I liked Elf as well. Will Ferrell was perfect in it and it was just such a ridiculous movie.
My Favorite line:
The Mom: "You must really like sugar."
Elf: "Does syrup have sugar in it?"
The Mom: "yea..."
Elf: "Then YES!"
In addition to Ferrell being hilarious, I thought "Elf" did a good job of parodying old school Christmas movies.
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"What were they trying to say?!?" I don't know how to answer a question as general as that when faced with the totality of Kushner's work. Let me respond in kind, I guess: AIDS is bad. Did you get that much?
Unless you want to give me specific scenes, specific dreams, I can't blanketly offer you much more than that.
I'll give you a little bit about the Pacino character in general, maybe that'll ease you into some specific questions? Pacino's character was based on a real person, the infamous Roy Cohn. Cohn was a self-hating Jew and a self-hating homosexual...though that wasn't really known back when he was at the height of his power. In the '50s Cohn was right-hand hammer and legal counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy in his Communist witch-hunting. Before that he had prosecuted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed for treason. The ghost that visits Cohn at his bedside in "Angels in America" is Ethel Rosenberg (played by Meryl Streep in one of her three roles). She represents all the people he destroyed, literally and emotionally, in his reign of terror. It's a guilt that now, at the end of his life, Kushner supposes would finally be tormenting him. He hopes it would anyway.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/images/2004/0404frontrow_angels.jpg)
So, that's what the Pacino character's dream sequences are about, in part anyway: the guilt of a life spent with absolutely no regard for others finally catching up with him as he dies from AIDS.
That's the most obvious and clear-cut of the visions, if you know even the basic history of who Cohn was (BTW, there's a pretty good made-for-HBO bio-pic about the man called "Citizen Cohn" (1992) starring James Woods as Roy Cohen, Joe Don Baker as Joe McCarthy, Pat Hingle as J. Edgar Hoover and Frederic Forrest as Dashiell Hammett).
Thanks for that,it's a little clearer now.I'll definitely look out for that James Woods movie Citizen Cohn because I didn't know anything about the man before. :)
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Elf-that was so stupid-funny in parts and really cheesy but was enjoyable none the less
I thought Elf was a piece of crap. Honestly, that was awful. Just so bad.
Over the past few weeks, I've watched the Die Hard series and about 1/4 of the recommendations in the "Five movies you HIGHLY recommend" thread.
Aw Matt, your killing me...I really liked "Elf". Maybe I'm biased because I'm a huge Will Ferrell fan.
I didn't think Ferrell, or the movie, were funny at all. I couldn't tell you one line that I laughed at.
Elf is hilarious. Very funny flick.
(EDIT: Sorry for this sloppy post. When I pulled the Kubrick-oriented posts out of this thread and moved them to their own thread (http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=3470.0), parts of this Elf conversation were left hanging in the Kubrick thread. To avoid confusion over there, I've edited the Elf remarks out of those posts, and threw them all in this post. I couldn't duplicate the posts to have them in both places, and this was the best way I could think to do it.)
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I couldn't explain why I think Adam Sandler is funny to people who think he's ridiculously UNfunny. And I can't imagine what's funny about Elf or Will Ferrell. Chalk it up to different senses of humor. They're both "stupid" comedy, but there's nothing wrong with that if it makes you laugh. (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardsmile.gif)
Some of our tastes are the same, like Sandler movies...But I reckon we'll have to differ on Ferrell. The guy is so funny that he is the only SNL cast member with two DVDs. His "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" movie was weak overall, but he was still hilarious to watch in it.
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Amelie is such an enjoyable film. Come back and tell us what you thought of it. I loved it.
Ah, Amelie.... Top 25 on IMDB.... did I like it ? maybe on a second try it will be better. It was very well made, I'll say that, and if I wasn't reading these subtitles at paragraphs a minute I would have noticed how beautifully shot it was. Audrey Tatou (sp?), she's really cute in the role, otherwise it would be a no go, and I think she makes up for some of the flaws in the film.
Parts of the film were infuriatingly infantile and monotonous. And the pseudo-intellectual vibe it goes with is annoying in its superior than thou tones.
As a note, the DVD I got from the library was chipped because it was a two disc set they put into a one disc case so I missed a chapter and a half and took 15 minutes trying to fix it, so perhaps that had something to do with it. I can see why people would like it. Some scenes and cinematography were strikingly beautiful.
I'd give it a marginal thumbs up, but realize some ppl would love the film a lot.
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This week I´ve seen Pale Rider and Errol Flynn/Raoul Walsh film Object To Burma.
Got them on DVD and few days ago I felt like watching them.Great films.
Next I´m gonna watch John Irvin`s Hamburger Hill.
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Matt, you had said something earlier about starting up a Kubrick thread. Perhaps you should do that, and maybe take some of the posts in this thread over to there. I realize some of those movies are movies people here have been watching "this week" (or the past several), but Kubrick could warrant his own thread.
As for movies I've been watching... I've dug a little more into my Friday the 13th box set recently. In about a week's span, I watched Friday the 13th Part IV The Final Chapter, Friday the 13th Part V A New Beginning, and the appropriately titled Friday the 13th Part VI Jason Lives. Only two more left in the set! Then once I'm finished, what do I do? Start all over! ;D (Kidding) I've had a good time watching them. I still believe they're partially at fault for the slasher movies demise, but they're still better than a lot of the imitators. At times, they're very funny, bloody and there's some nice suspenseful moments in them as well. I'm quite happy I ended up getting the set.
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Matt, you had said something earlier about starting up a Kubrick thread. Perhaps you should do that, and maybe take some of the posts in this thread over to there. I realize some of those movies are movies people here have been watching "this week" (or the past several), but Kubrick could warrant his own thread.
Great idea! I've started the new thread on Kubrick. You can find it HERE (http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=3470.0). It was a messy job because some of the posts were about Kubrick films but also included discussion of other films. I wound up needing to edit quite a few posts--sorry to everyone whose posts were edited. I probably should have done this from the get-go before it got to be such a big job and so many edits. If your post was edited, I didn't remove or add any words to your posts, I just wound up moving them between threads a bit.
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For the second time recently I've watched Robert Altman's Nashville. It's been quite a few years since I saw this film originaly and I wasn't sure how it might have aged... well, I think I enjoyed it as much this time round as 20 years ago. The political satire side of the movie still bites.. Over the three hours I never once felt it dragged and really enjoyed spending this time in the company of all these different characters. There are so many great performances in this film..I especialy like Lily Tomlin and Ned Beatty. The songs were (mainly) quite good. I've spent time in Nashville and although many years after this film takes place, I recognised so many characteristics of this town. The musical Hollywood where every one you meet, Taxi drivers,bar keeps,waiters is a singer looking for a record deal. Watching this has made me want to revisit some of Altmans other films.... Might go for McCabe and Mrs Miller next.
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Just checked out of the library:
The Big Lebowski
Supersize Me
Napoleon Dynamite
never seen any , will report back or edit this with results :)
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The Big Lebowski is a classic comedy, possibly the best Bowling movie (although there aren't many) the dude is one of the coolest characters going.......i wont spoil your fun but enjoy O0
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The Big Lebowski is a classic comedy, possibly the best Bowling movie (although there aren't many) the dude is one of the coolest characters going.......i wont spoil your fun but enjoy O0
I think Kingpin would get my vote as the best bowling movie.
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Its a tough call Seamus but they are both excellent, however on the cast alone i feel The Big Lebowski has to win it Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore and dont forget John Turturro who is excellent as ever
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Rosemaries Baby.
A very disturbing film which depicts a beautiful young naive woman who is decieved, raped and exploited by those around her (including her husband), and then depicted as passively accepting and embracing these people and all they stand for.
WKC.
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Watched The Searchers yesterday. Still one of my favorite John Wayne flicks...
Its a tough call Seamus but they are both excellent, however on the cast alone i feel The Big Lebowski has to win it Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore and dont forget John Turturro who is excellent as ever
I heard that there´s plans for a "sequel" of the big lebowski called The passion of the jesus :D.
It´s about the Jesus character in the big lebowski. He is about as nerdy about bowling as the rest of the crew, and hopefully we have some nice cameoes from most of the above :)
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I heard that there´s plans for a "sequel" of the big lebowski called The passion of the jesus :D.
It´s about the Jesus character in the big lebowski.
Really Dane, you mean the John Turturro Character......i cant wait for that one.......the world needs a couple more bowling movies if you ask me, i just hope the Dude returns ;D
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I've watched a few, from best to worst:
1. Team America: World Police - Hillaious. The South Park boys have done it again.
2. Happy Gilmore - Not bad, had a few funny moments.
3. Shrek 2 - Not bad again, but wasn't majorly impressed.
4. Bad Boys - Boring and dull, could just about pay attention to it.
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Ok, I have seen The Big Lebowski and.............
this thing is whacked LOL, 2 thumbs up, or 3 in a ball !!!
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twins the other day - never seen it before thought it quite funny
sundance festival begins today usually some good movies come out of that
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Just like many of us I saw Million Dollar Baby this week and Bridget Jones The Edge Of Reason. Not bad I only saw it because the times were wrong in the paper for MDB so I got to the theatre 2 hours early. I think I liked the first Bridget Jones Better. I also saw High Plains Drifter. ??? Best movie was of course Million Dollar Baby.
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OK here goes...
Supersize Me....this was realy boring, and the guy who made it is an idiot. Not as well put together as a Michael Moore doc, whether or not you like his point of view, he does make good docs. Moral of the story...don't sit around and eat McDonalds all day..DUH
one or two interesting comments, the extra's were more interesting, the SMOKING FRY, where the fries don't decompose after months is interesting, and the interciew with the smug author of Fast Food Nation was interesting, picked up that book to read. Probably better to read that than see this snoozefest.
Napoleon Dynamite.. This movie is boring too, its better in retrospect than when watching it. Many of the lines are funny, chuckle funny and laugh out loud funny. Its probably better on a second viewing, where you aren't trying to figure out what is going on, because there isn't anything going on. It's more like a long long Saturday Night Live skit, where you see the characters in pointless events. I can see many people acting like the characters, and quoting the lines from this movie for years to come. Funny 80's retro stuff, a lot of little jokes here and there. But don't expect anything other than what it is, at just over 90 minutes, it was way longer than it needed to be and drags..
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Million Dollar Baby....... at last :)
tmw3nyc.... Fast Food Nation is a good read...
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OK here goes...
Supersize Me....this was realy boring, and the guy who made it is an idiot. Not as well put together as a Michael Moore doc, whether or not you like his point of view, he does make good docs. Moral of the story...don't sit around and eat McDonalds all day..DUH
I loved that movie. And I don't think most people realize that McDonald's (and fast food) is that bad for you. If so, then 60% of American's wouldn't be overweight. (And half of those not overweight just have fast matabolisms.)
Of note, I saw Collateral this last week. Great movie. Also saw Cellular ... decent movie.
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Pretty scary how his liver started to pack up after a coupla weeks.... :o
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Watched "The Ring" again last night and i realised just how silly the film is the worst moment that gorgious black horse jumping off the ferry, i love horses and iu found this particular scene horrible.
As for the rest of the film the acting was good apart from that way over the top kid, i just found the whole concept daft to be honest, i have never seen the original japanese film is that version any better.
To be honest i enjoyed the parody of this film in Scary Movie 3 much better
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I watched Closer ... didn't like it :(
I didn't find Natalie Portman's performance THAT amazing ... anyway not a performance that was worth a Golden Globe ... ditto for Clive Owen ...
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Hey AB it looks like Clive Owen is favourite to be the next James Bond, you reckon he can handle that role, i personally dont think he has got what it takes to be agent extrodinaire, i feel 007 should be slightly tongue in cheek
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Geeze, with the way this thread is going we all might as well just start up movie journals. Anyways:
I watched Closer ... didn't like it :(
I didn't find Natalie Portman's performance THAT amazing ... anyway not a performance that was worth a Golden Globe ... ditto for Clive Owen ...
Considering Portman's previous work this was a completely differant role for her. The strip club scene between her and Owen was great to watch. Seeing them go back and forth at each other and manipulate each other was terrific. There was another scene with Owen and Julia Roberts that was swell. It was the one where Owen confesses he cheated on her and then all hell breaks loose. Both actors did a good job in that scene.
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I watched Closer ... didn't like it :(
I didn't find Natalie Portman's performance THAT amazing ... anyway not a performance that was worth a Golden Globe ... ditto for Clive Owen ...
Same here, I thought Closer was flaming piece of crap, I don't see why it's so amazing. :-\
I've watched Shaun of the Dead, Mean Girls (yay!), Pale Rider, and the Aviator.
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Just saw 2046 yesterday.
Wasn't half as good as In the mood for love, but still a masterful movie.
Wonder if Million Dollar Baby is as good as this one. Still no Baby-opening date for Germany... >:(
Wong Kar-Wai is the world's greatest director.
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Watched Fistful of Dollars last night with a coupla pals... Still a great movie.
Gonna try and see Ray this week.
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Watched Fistful of Dollars last night with a coupla pals... Still a great movie.
Me too! Coincidence? Anyway, I went the pictures to watch Team America again. I also watch the first hour of The Negotiator before the movie night started.
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Watched Fistful of Dollars last night with a coupla pals...
So did I! (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardgrin.gif)
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So did I! (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardgrin.gif)
What a coincidence! Me too. (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/lol.gif)
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This week will be
Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Together.
Together was really good. Kaige Chen wrote, directs and appears in it . I don't want to give away the story too much, but it involves a young violin prodigy. If you like classical music , add a few points. He also directed The Emperor and the Asssasin, which I recommend and Farewell My Concubine, which I have not seen yet.
I am looking forward to seeing 2046 also. I heard good reviews.
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Ah, I missed Fistful with you guys...
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It was fun, tmw3nyc! See you next time!
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Ah, I missed Fistful with you guys...
So did I.
But I watched Unforgiven again,and it just gets better and better with each viewing. O0
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So did I.
But I watched Unforgiven again,and it just gets better and better with each viewing. O0
I'll watch THAT with you anytime, tgy!
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Since I wasn't able to join in the movie night last night I just watched Black Hawk Down again. I love that movie a lot. It's rather ridiculous how such a simple, routine extraction turned into a huge full scale war in just a matter of minutes. The action is so intense it feels like your there.
(http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1111398/photo_06.jpg)
There's just too many great scenes in this film. I like the scene where the two Rangers ask if they can be dropped off at one of the crash sites to help secure the pilot until the extraction can reach them. Even when they were told that they had no clue when reinforcements would arrive they still wanted to go in.
Then there's a scene when the extraction is forced to return to the base and unload and gear up to go back out. One soldier says to another that he can't go back and the other replies, "It's what you do right now that makes a difference." The young soldier just looks at him. Once the other guys gear up and begin to move out the young soldier runs to a humvee and climbs in. There was another soldier who geared up even though he had broken wrist and forced to sit out.
(http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1111398/photo_11.jpg)
There's also the scene at the end where Eric Bana's character sums why they do it:
When I get home people 'll ask me, "Hey Hoot, why do ya do it man? Why? You just some war junkie?" Ya know what I'll say? I won't say a goddamn word. Why? They won't understand. They won't understand why we do it. They won't understand that it's about the men next to you, and that's it. That's all it is.
If you haven't seen this film I highly recommend it. Roger Ebert (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20020118/REVIEWS/201180301/1023) said it best:
"Films like this are more useful than gung-ho capers like Behind Enemy Lines. They help audiences understand and sympathize with the actual experiences of combat troops, instead of trivializing them into entertainments."
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tmw3nyc, I can highly recommend 2046. The critics are right.
Farewell my Concubine is a great movie. A great saga about the Chinese History of the 20th century. And about the Peking Opera. Just great.
I just saw Donnie Brasco last night. A very nice movie. No Godfather and no Once Upon A Time In America - but a very nice movie.
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I watched two great movies this week: Apocalypse Now (Redux) and Adaptation.
Hey that's funny Matt, I watched those same 2 movies that week too.
Apocalypse Now Redux was very good (it's the only version of the film that I've seen). It was slightly different to what I expected though. The surfing scene with Robert Duvall was bizarre but excellent. (Now I just have to get around to reading Heart of Darkness). Can't resist some screenshots.
(http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/MyWebFilms/Oorlog/ApocalypseAanval1.jpg)
(http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/MyWebFilms/Oorlog/ApocalypseHelicopter2.jpg)
(http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/MyWebFilms/Oorlog/ApocalypseVictory.jpg)
Martin Sheen is a class actor. I'm halfway through watching a DVD I got for Christmas - the 1983 miniseries Kennedy in which Sheen plays JFK, with a cool accent. I like it a lot, so far.
(http://www.dvd-movie-sale.co.uk/vidimage/images/V0083042.JPG)
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And for Adaptation., a separate post, because I LOVED it. (My punctuation isn't out - there is a period in the official title. :-X) It's one of the best movies I've seen in ages, and one of the VERY few, that as soon as I have finished watching I have put back to the beginning and watched straight through a second time. I'm gonna buy it when it comes out with special features. Nicolas Cage's acting of the identical twins was brilliant. As was the screenplay, of course. (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardcheesy.gif) I just love the way the story interleaves with real life, so you have to think about what's happening, and the clever, self-referencing script (Nicolas Cage called it "literary cubism" 8)). Often that kinda thing can seem pompous, but this didn't, to me.
Streep was great as ever, and Chris Cooper acted so well that I never thought of him as an actor, but as the real Laroche, drafted in from Florida to play himself ("I think I should play me"!).
I really liked the dinner party scene at Orlean's New York apartment, because it was well acted, and because of the way it sent up the arty-farty literati, who acted themselves! Classic. Luckily for me, the third movie that I had rented that week was 8 Mile, and I immediately recognised its director Curtis Hanson, who plays Orlean's husband, from the 8 Mile special features. For anyone who doesn't know, dinner guests playing themselves were Agnes Badoo (stylist-to-the-stars), Paul Jasmin (photographer), Wendy Mogel (a clinical psychologist and parenting expert), Paul Fortune (anyone know what he does?), David O. Russell (director) and Lisa Love (make-up designer).
The movie is especially cool if you have any interest in screenwriting.
Quoting Chessie
Adaptation is awesome especially if you've read Robert McKee's Story. It totally does what McKee says not to do.
Yeah. When I watched the movie I'd never heard of McKee, and I still haven't read his screenwriters' "bible", but you get the joke/comment anyway, because he is in the movie. I won't go into details cuz you really have to see the film first, but I love the twist, and recommend the movie highly. O0
Has anyone read The Orchid Thief? I must get around to that. :)
(http://www.allstarz.org/~malkovich/images/adaptation.jpg)
(http://ffmedia.ign.com/filmforce/image/adaptation-laroche.jpg)
(http://image.pathfinder.com/people/images/features/reviews/021216/adaptation.jpg)
(http://www.offoffoff.com/film/2002/images/adaptation.jpg)
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Uprising ( 2001 ) Great story of the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto during WWII,but went on for far too long.
Get Carter ( 1971 ) Michael Caine out for revenge of his brother's murder.Great movie except for the ending.
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Wow Matt, I saw Adaptation and thought it was one of the most confusing and pointless movies that I'd ever seen. I've only seen it once, so perhaps on a repeat viewing, I might have more appreciation for it, but I really didn't like it at all. I've had this discussion with Ally before, but the movie just didn't make sense to me. I could never tell what was supposed to be the real story.I do agree that the acting from all of the principal characters was quite good, but the story seemed to me to be one of those stories that tried really hard to be intellectual and unpredictable and in the end failed at both.
Not to give offense, but I think you really missed something crucial in regards to the spirit of that movie. A great movie. Up there with Being John Malkovich, if not better. Have you seen that one yet, Matt?
For me I watched The Village ... disappointing is the best one word description of that. And Shaun of the Dead, which I really enjoyed.
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Up there with Being John Malkovich, if not better. Have you seen that one yet, Matt?
I hadn't any interest in seeing Being John Malkovich until seeing Adaptation. But now you can be sure I'll be checking that one out soon.
Adaptation is one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen this year. AKA, I would definitely give it a second watch and see if it doesn't start to make more sense for you then.
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So far this week I have watched Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Eiger Sanction, Escape from Alcatraz and The Whole Nine Yards. Bruce Willis, a bit different but not a brilliant movie. :)
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I hadn't any interest in seeing Being John Malkovich until seeing Adaptation. But now you can be sure I'll be checking that one out soon.
Yes do Matt i strongly recommend this film, a very surreal but extremely enjoyable film and so unlike any other film i have seen.
O0 O0 O0
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Yes do Matt i strongly recommend this film, a very surreal but extremely enjoyable film and so unlike any other film i have seen.
O0 O0 O0
Adaptation is a funny movie. You may have to see it a second time to understand what exactly happened there regarding the script and plot. I never did read the Orchid Thief, but calling this an adapted screenplay of it is amusing...Too bad they didn't do this for Blue Crush also. Think of the possibilities :o
Saw Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.... it's too bad they don't make movies like this or promote them too much. I think all women, teenagers and up would love the movies, and men of a little bit older age. Before Sunset would be on my best list of the year, if I did that sort of thing....
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The Fog of War - The best documentary of 2003. Errol Morris is a great filmmaker and everyone should see this film.
I saw The Fog of War last month and I agree Brendan, it was excellent. I'll avoid violating our "no politics" rule by commenting on content, but it was technically very cleverly made, with McNamara looking into a specially designed camera so that it felt as though he were really talking to you. Whatever your opinions about McNamara or the Vietnam War, this is worth seeing. The most striking thing for me - which I suppose the title hints at - was how it illustrated the extensiveness of the "grey areas" in war, and in public life generally.
I saw Ray on Monday. I liked it a lot. It captivated me with the story, and the music was great. I think Jamie Fox's acting was excellent. I was sceptical after hearing people say that it's easy to put on a pair of shades and twitch about, but there was much more to his performance than that. He must have studied Ray Charles carefully, and he sung very well. But of course now Clint has been nominated for Best Actor I am (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardlipsealed.gif)
Today I caught a bit of Bonanza: The Next Generation on TV. Cheesy but goody. (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardcheesy.gif)
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I watched Westworld this week... It seemed a little dated but still fun and I thought Bryner was real good in it. I'm surprised it hasn't sufferd from being re-made yet.
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I watched Westworld this week... It seemed a little dated but still fun and I thought Bryner was real good in it. I'm surprised it hasn't sufferd from being re-made yet.
It was going to be, with Arnold Schwarzenegger starring. Rumours were also going around that Bruce willis and Sly Stallone were going to be in it as well. Arnold was going to play on of the good guys not the killer robot. But once he agreed to T3 and ran for Govenor the plans for it just fell apart.
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I also saw Westworld this week and you are right Gant its still a fun film, for its day it must have been very futuristic, great idea though by Crichton.
Also viewed American Psycho.....what an excellent movie, it always makes me wet myself, the critiques of Huey Lewis and Genesis during Batemans mad spells are hilarious.
Watched Troy as well, didn't really like this film, cinematically wise its great to look at but the acting was so damn wooden which is a pity as there were some good actors in it. The film was far too long as well, you would think with a marvelous tale like that so much more could be achieved
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Watched Troy as well, didn't really like this film, cinematically wise its great to look at but the acting was so damn wooden which is a pity as there were some good actors in it.
Well, the actors weren't actually that bad, but oh, that horse ... (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/instantrolleyes.gif) (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/instantwink.gif)
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I thought part of the fun in Westworld was watching Bryner (kind of) reprising his role as Chris from The Magnificent Seven.
I'm glad the re-make fell thru. Apart from the first Terminater film Arnie just don't do it for me.
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The thing with arnold is that almost all of his movies are alike...Name one movie of his where he doesn's at least punch someone. I can only think of one and that's Twins...But he might have in that too.
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The thing with arnold is that almost all of his movies are alike...Name one movie of his where he doesn's at least punch someone. I can only think of one and that's Twins...But he might have in that too.
He punches people in Twins, Kindergarten Cop and even Jingle All the Way.
But there are no fisticuffs or explosions in Junior.
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The thing with arnold is that almost all of his movies are alike...Name one movie of his where he doesn's at least punch someone. I can only think of one and that's Twins...But he might have in that too.
"Pumping Iron" :)
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I watched Life is Beautiful (La Vita è Bella) last night. It's one of my favorite movies, and really sticks with me for a long time after watching it. What an amazing story. And I can't think of a better example of a tragicomedy. So funny, and then so devastating, and in the end... somehow, optimistic.
I'm going to finally see Million Dollar Baby tonight. O0
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Of course Ah-nold can't act. That's never a question for debate. But sometimes his persona fits OK if the movie around him is fairly solid. Most times the material is weak so it highlights how incredibly vapid and talentless he is.
The best film Arnold has ever appeared in is Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973), but he only has a cameo there. Of his career as a name star after the bodybuilding documentaries and his first couple bit parts...
(http://www.dvdreview.com/fullreviews/Images/ConanBarbarian/Conan3.jpg) (http://www.dvdreview.com/fullreviews/Images/ConanBarbarian/Conan9.jpg)
WARLORD: Conan! What is best in life?
CONAN: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the
lamentation of their women.
1. Conan the Barbarian[/b][/color][/size] (1982 - John Milius)
GRADE: A-
2. The Terminator[/b][/color][/size] (1984 - Jim Cameron)
GRADE: B+
3. True Lies[/b][/color][/size] (1994 - Jim Cameron)
GRADE: B
4. Predator[/b][/color][/size] (1987 - John McTiernan)
GRADE: B-
5. Total Recall[/b][/color][/size] (1990 - Paul Verhoeven)
GRADE: C+
6. The Running Man[/b][/color][/size] (1987 - Paul Michael Glazer)
GRADE: C+
7. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines[/b][/color][/size] (2003 - Jonathan Mostow)
GRADE: C
8. Terminator 2: Judgement Day[/b][/color][/size] (1991 - Jim Cameron)
GRADE: C
9. Twins[/b][/color][/size] (1988 - Ivan Reitman)
GRADE: C-
10. Raw Deal[/b][/color][/size] (1986 - John Irvin)
GRADE: C-
11. Red Heat[/b][/color][/size] (1988 - Walter Hill)
GRADE: C-
12. Red Sonja[/b][/color][/size] (1985 - Richard Fleisher)
GRADE: D+
13. Junior[/color][/size] (1994 - Ivan Reitman)
GRADE: D+
14. The 6th Day[/b][/color][/size] (2000 - Roger Spotswoode)
GRADE: D
15. Eraser[/b][/color][/size] (1996 - Chuck Russell)
GRADE: D
16. Jingle All the Way[/b][/color][/size] (1996 - Brian Levant)
GRADE: D
17. The Last Action Hero[/b][/color][/size] (1993 - John McTiernan)
GRADE: D
18. Collateral Damage[/b][/color][/size] (2001 - Andrew Davis)
GRADE: D
19. Kindergarten Cop[/b][/color][/size] (1990 - Ivan Reitman)
GRADE: D
20. End of Days[/b][/color][/size] (1999 - Peter Hyams)
GRADE: D-
21. Commando[/b][/color][/size] (1985 - Mark Lester)
GRADE: D-
22. Conan the Destroyer[/color][/size] (1984 - Richard Fleischer)
GRADE: F
23. Batman & Robin[/color][/size] (1997 - Joel Schumacher)
GRADE: F
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Great list Holden and i would agree when it comes to Arnie we cant really talk about Acting, its something else that makes his films stand out, his personae.
I couldn't imagine anyone else playing Conan, or The Terminator it just would not have been the same.
He is one of those actors (if i can use this term) that whether you like him or not you still have to watch him.
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"Red Sonya" is my least favorite Arnold action flick. You can't beat "Conan the Barbarian"...and outside of Wilt's acting, I thought "Conan the Destroyer" was watchable.
Best soundtracks from Arnold movies in order of greatness: "Conan the Barbarian" (Instrumental), "Last Action Hero", and "T2: Judgement Day".
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One of the weirdest things I've ever seen is when one day I put on the TV and saw Arnold in a silly movie with Kirk Douglas and Ann Margaret called " The Villain "
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080097/
This was way out of left field and was one wacky movie
I think when he is in the right role he is very good but if the movie isn't right it can be a little off, but he still makes it watchable, if only for the entertainment value of laughing at it.
Does he always punch someone ? We used to play the Arnold Sound Page and crank calls made with it. If you never heard some of those they are hilarious...
this site has some of the best cranks made with the movie soundbites... when "arnold" calls the massage parlors and asks " who is yr daddy and what does he do ?" ah , its classic
http://www.btinternet.com/~pir8/arnie/
"I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I am going to ram it all ther way into your stomach"
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One of the weirdest things I've ever seen is when one day I put on the TV and saw Arnold in a silly movie with Kirk Douglas and Ann Margaret called " The Villain "
The Villain is OK fun (a.k.a. Cactus Jack in the U.K.), especially for kids as it's a step up from The Apple Dumpling Gang, but it isn't in the same class as My Name Is Nobody, Cat Ballou, Blazing Saddles, Support Your Local Sherrif, Support Your Local Gunfighter or even Rustlers' Rhapsody and ¡Three Amigos!. Stuntman turned director Hal Needham (Smokey & the Bandit, The Cannonbal Run) definitely had fun bringing the anarchic cartoon sensibility of Chuck Jones and Tex Avery to live-action, but I think all the other Western spoofs I listed above are better flicks.
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I haven't watched The Villain in a very long time, but I always thought it was funny. It's like a Road Runner-Wile E. Coyote cartoon. It was probably unusual at the time to see Kirk Douglas in a movie like that, but he does a great job in it. Paul Lynde has always stood out in my mind too. I loved his role in the movie.
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So did I.
But I watched Unforgiven again,and it just gets better and better with each viewing. O0
In fact now when people ask me what my all time favorite film is.The answer will be:
UNFORGIVEN O0
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I've been fairly productive in my movie watching this week.
Because of my AP US History class I was forced to watch Far and Away, gag.
On my own I watched Victor/Victoria, Super Size Me, Farhenhite 9/11, and 50 First Dates. Victor/Victoria and Super Size Me are both amazing. 9/11 is okay and 50 First Dates is really cute, so I enjoyed it.
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Did anyone catch (UK) Electra Glide in Blue on tv last night... I remember really liking this film when I first saw it 20 years ago.... Unfortunately I was out on the razz in London last night and forgot to set the vcr... :'(
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I don't reside in the United Kingdom, but I've seen Electra Glide in Blue many times and have it on tape...letterboxed even, showcasing Conrad Hall's wonderful cinemtaography.
It is often compared to or mentioned as a sort of counterpoint to Easy Rider. While Hopper's film was extremely influential in the business for showing that a little movie with almsot no budget could rake in just as much money as a big Hollywood production and Nicholson has his breakout role in support, Electra Glide in Blue is a much better film.
BTW, Electra Glide in Blue is coming to R1 DVD March 22nd.
(http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/upcomingdvdart/0322/electraglideinblue1973dvd.jpg) (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:ACspU-Hh-OQJ:www.bikemenu.com/photos/famous/Robert%2520Blake%2520Electra%2520Glide%2520in%2520Blue02.jpg) (http://www.bikemenu.com/photos/famous/Robert%20Blake%20Electra%20Glide%20in%20Blue02.jpg)
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Did anyone catch (UK) Electraglide in Blue on tv last night...
Hey Gant i saw it what again, and it remains in one of my fav films list, definately an odd ball film and i never realised most of the band Chicago had roles in the film (Peter Cetera etc) sorry i didn't tape it though.
Hows your head after partying in London
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midnight in the garden of good and evil
always needs a few viewings to appreciate it
but a very clever witty amusing film
and another beautifully directed film by mr. clint
and well acted by mr spacey etc.
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Electra Glide in Blue on dvd soon, great news. I gotta have that. :)
It's been a long time since I saw it but it's kinda stayed with me..I remember being quite shocked by the ending...
Yeah... the head hurts plenty... had a great night at the 100 club >:D... but theres always a price to pay... (hangover smiley needed)
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(hangover smiley needed)
(http://www.discodelic.netfirms.com/sick-headache2.gif)
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Really Dane, you mean the John Turturro Character......i cant wait for that one.......the world needs a couple more bowling movies if you ask me, i just hope the Dude returns
Yep. It was even said in an interview, so it´s not some rumor i heard somewhere. I´ll see if i can dig it out from wherever i left it, and post it here.
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Wong Kar-Wai is the world's greatest director.
This week I saw Seabiscuit and Chungking Express.
Seabiscuit was OK. Its well made, but I didn't really flow with something about it. After seeing the list of movies made by the director, I noticed I felt the same way abt more of those movies, Dave and Pleasantville. He also made Big which I liked more than those. I think all his movies are OK and professional but I guess I don't really feel the same way abt things as he does and that comes thru in subconscious ways.
On the other hand, I really liked Chungking Express, but I don't know why really. I think the movie will be really rewatchable and get better with each viewing, its not really a plot filled movie, in fact theres hardly anything going on, but theres a lot going on. It seems like everything is so carefully shot and without saying things overtly more things are said and felt. I did enjoy the second part of the movie much much more than the first and even though they were somewhat not related and stylistically different, having the first part made the second part better, but I can't really explain that fully. I have California Dreaming stuck in my head with the actress dancing and I don't really like music from that era. If you like movies as an art form this is a good watch. Just sit thru the whole thing and don't really try to think abt it. I will probably check out his other films soon and watch this again in a few months , although, I wouldn't go so far as ben shockley 's quote but I see promise :)
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Watched Girl Six this weekend ....i really like spike le films and although not his best this did not dissapoint, some great acting here and some crazy cameo's Ron Silver and Michael Imperioli.
Also watched Coogans Bluff again a fine movie and didn't clint look young
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Love Actually ( 2003 ) .I was really surprised with this movie.I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to.Usually if there a too many story lines in one movie it gets too much for me to follow,but this seemed to gel altogether quite well.It wasn't uproariously funny but had many amusing scenes.
And of course MILLION DOLLAR BABY. O0
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I lost a wager this weekend and ended up watching Stephen King's Storm of the Century.
While it wasn't the best Stephen King mini-series (The Stand, It, etc.), it was a long way from being the worst. (Golden Years, Red Rose),
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I just watched The Pawnbroker (1964) on BBC2. What a movie! A powerful story, great shots, excellent performance by Rod Steiger, and a fantastic score by Quincy Jones. At first I thought it being in black and white would detract from the movie, but it actually added a great deal to the mood, the subject of the film being dark anyway. Anyone else enjoy it?
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I just made my friend to watch the Bridges of Madison County just earlier tonight and he previously said that no movies would make him cry, I guess he assumed too early. ;D ;
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I just made my friend to watch the Bridges of Madison County just earlier tonight and he previously said that no movies would make him cry, I guess he assumed too early. ;D ;
8) Nice one, gimpy. Keep converting 'em. O0
I love Rocky IV.
I love it because it's so absurd and ridiculous. I love Rocky's speech at the end of the fight because it's just so wrong and it's bascially a slap to Russia's face. I also love when he runs up the mountain and when he helps that Russian get his carraige out of the snow. The shot of Rocky crushing the Drago picture is classic as well. It's 100% Grade A cheese.
I just caught the last 45 mins or so of Rocky IV on the TV. Gotta agree that it has a high cheese rating, and isn't bad for that. It's kinda funny to look back at the mid-80's Reagan era and think how things have changed.
The same cheesiness goes for True Lies which is on ITV1 right now - it's the first Arnie film I've seen. :-X
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I just caught the last 45 mins or so of Rocky IV on the TV. Gotta agree that it has a high cheese rating, and isn't bad for that. It's kinda funny to look back at the mid-80's Reagan era and think how things have changed.
The same cheesiness goes for True Lies which is on ITV1 right now - it's the first Arnie film I've seen. :-X
Thing is is that True Lies isn't supposed to be taken seriously. Rocky IV is which is what makes it even sillier and cheesy then it is.
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(http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardsmile.gif) Yeah, guess you're right, Brendan. By the time Arnie shot off the missile on his plane that the terrorist was hanging on to, with the words "you're fired", I figured they couldn't be taking themselves too seriously!
Yes, Rocky IV is funny because of its apparent seriousness. Dolph Lundgren was classic as the iconic Soviet mean machine.
Here he looks like a plastic action man doll.
(http://www.americanphoto.co.jp/pages/eiga/RO/Previews/Plans-32492.jpg)
(By the way, he has a Masters in Chemical Engineering and a Fulbright scholarship to MIT. Brains as well as brawn!)
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Dolph Lundgren was classic as the iconic Soviet mean machine.
Here he looks like a plastic action man doll.
(http://www.americanphoto.co.jp/pages/eiga/RO/Previews/Plans-32492.jpg)
(By the way, he has a Masters in Chemical Engineering and a Fulbright scholarship to MIT. Brains as well as brawn!)
He is an extremely well educated man but I guess not educated enough to realize he's making terrible films. He'd probably have a better career if he stopped after Universal Soldier and focused on engineering.
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He'll always be He-Man to me! ;)
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Good god Christopher i thought that movie was well dead and buried ...........i wont be able to sleep tonight now .....cheers ;)
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I found a cheap DVD of Masters of the Universe a while back and bought it. I remember watching it quite a bit on TV back when I was a youngster. ;)
But I also loved the animated series too.
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I used to watch the animated series after school too, you seen any of the new japanese made series ...its worth checking out if thats your cup of tea ......... O0
But for me Samuarai Jack is the Ultimate Hero and that evil AKU boy what a villian
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Good god Christopher i thought that movie was well dead and buried ...........i wont be able to sleep tonight now .....cheers ;)
I remember "I Come in Peace" which was about alien drug dealers with the brilliant line that follows...........
AND YOU GO IN PIECES !!!
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I watched:
The Godfather - Brilliant
The Godfather Part II - Very good, but not as good as the first
Saw - Wasn't bad, but nothing special, I thought the twist was quite nice.
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Ah Masterchief that age old debate concerning the Godfather films, many say that the 2nd movie is one of those instances where the sequel is much better than the original.
Personally i prefer the 1st film as it introduces the characters, you also have james caan in one of his best performances as the psycho Sonny, and how about that dramatic hard hitting ending.
Do yourself a favour though dont watch Part 3 apart from Andy Garcia it aint worth it.
O0 O0
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The Portland International Film Festival is in town for a couple weeks. So far since Friday I've seen The Merchant of Venice (Michael Radford), Millions (Danny Boyle), The Ballad of Jack & Rose (Rebecca Miller), Mercano el Marciano - Mercano the Martian (Juan Antin), Mua len Trau - Buffalo Boy (Minh Nguyen-Vo), Dear Frankie (Shona Auerbach) and Kaldaljós - Cold Light (Hilmar Oddsson). Tonight I'll catch Schiza - Schizo (Gulshat Omarova).
Over the next eleven days I'll be seeing The Other Side of the Street (Brazil), Turtels Can Fly (Iran), The Man Who Copied (Brazil), Machucha (Chile), Norte Musique (France), Old Boy (South Korea), Schultze Gets the Blues (Germany), Kung Fu Hustle (Hong Kong), Z Channel (U.S.), Imaginary Heroes (U.S.), Dutch Light (Netherlands) and four or five others.
So nanny-nanny boo-boo. ;)
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I did lots of movie watching this week.
I watched Bridges, Bronco Billy, Easy Rider, Aladdin, Play Misty For Me, Tightrope, True Crime, and Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope.
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Hey Holden ... I caught a trailer for Schultze Gets the Blues and it looked like fun ... let us know what you think of it!
Same with any of the others that you particularly liked (or hated), of course. Though I haven't heard of most of them, there's a chance they'll make it to some venue or other in the city, if they're well received on the festival circuit.
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Ah Masterchief that age old debate concerning the Godfather films, many say that the 2nd movie is one of those instances where the sequel is much better than the original.
Personally i prefer the 1st film as it introduces the characters, you also have james caan in one of his best performances as the psycho Sonny, and how about that dramatic hard hitting ending.
Do yourself a favour though dont watch Part 3 apart from Andy Garcia it aint worth it.
O0 O0
The Godfather (part I) had a brilliant ending, with the door shutting on Kay. So your saying that I shouldn't watch Part III. I want to know what happens to the Corleone (the ones that are surviving) Family.
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So your saying that I shouldn't watch Part III. I want to know what happens to the Corleone (the ones that are surviving) Family.
Well if you like Continuity i would go ahead and watch the 3rd instalment just dont expect much i feel that Coppolla has gone soft over the years, i wont spoil the film for you MC but Joe Mantegna who plays the main goomba in The Simpsons is particularly good.
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Hey Holden ... I caught a trailer for Schultze Gets the Blues and it looked like fun ... let us know what you think of it!
Yeah, I saw the Schultze Gets the Blues trailer weeks ago too, and it definitely looks like a funny little movie. I'll be seeing it either Friday or Saturday, so I'll let you know.
Last night in addition to Шиzа (Schizo), which is a Kazakhstan/Russia production, I also saw the German flick The Edukators.
These are the best I've seen so far...
(http://www.nwfilm.org/piff/films/images/Buf-Boy---Vietman.jpg) (http://www.nwfilm.org/piff/films/images/Edukators.jpg)
- Buffalo Boy - Mua len Trau (Minh Nguyen-Vô, Vietnam)
Set in 1940s Vietnam, a fifteen year-old-boy must take his family's two water buffalo to higher ground after the season's rains completely flood the lowlands where they live and rot all the grasses. He hooks up with some herders who are basically a traveling gang of miscreants who drink and gamble and rape their way across the countryside with a few dozen buffalo in tow. The boy also learns old dark secrets from his father's past. Buffalo Boy is a coming-of-age story and a terribly fascinating look at purely agrarian Vietnam removed from the political struggles with the French occupiers or of course any of the later wartime era that has become familiar territory in film the past twenty-five years. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Yves Cape, most of the narrative takes place on plains flooded as far as they eye can see - shot on location in the Ca Mau provine. Amazingly, this is director Nguyen-Vô's debut effort, and all but one of the actors in the film have never worked in front of a camera before. Ambitious and beautiful.
- The Edukators - Die Fetten Jahre sind Vorbei (Hans Weingartner, Germany)
Sort of a mix between Fight Club, Panic Room and "The Ransom of Red Chief", done as essentially a comedy and with some strong social commentary too. Three young German twentysomethings take their hate of class inequity to a strange battlefield: they break into the estates of millionares when they aren't home and rearrange their furniture with acts of minor non-permanent vandalism leaving messages that money is evil and their riegns of comfort and decadence are coming to an end. They don't steal anything, other than the wealthy homeowners' sense of security and, they hope, cause them to reevaluate their morality. Trouble comes when they pick a target with a personal connection who they kidnap when he unexpectedly walks in on them. Funny, smart and compelling.
- Cold Light - Kaldaljós (Hilmar Oddsson, Iceland)
A quiet and detached man, probably forty-years-old, in contemporary urban Iceland joins an art night-class at a local university. We learn he has been drawing since he was a young boy, when he lived with his sister, mother and fisherman father in a small, secluded fishing village in the mountains. Through flashbacks we see he believes he possesses a sort of clairvoyance through his art, and that he had predicted pain and tragedy explains why he is so cold and distant as an adult. But he falls in love with his art teacher, and through that relationship he reexamines events from his childhood and hopefully starts to come back to life. Gorgeous wintery Icelandic setting, mixed with a bit of magical realism and a probing character study.
(http://www.nwfilm.org/piff/films/images/cold-light_002.jpg) (http://www.icecorp.is/media/files/films/coldlight/stor/ColdLight.Poster.En.jpg)
Millions and Dear Frankie are both sweet and well-made Brit flicks but a little too slight, The Ballad of Jack & Rose has some great performances but an unfocused narrative and Schizo while good but far from spectacular if nothing else it is a very interesting look at the societal margins inside Kazakhstan. Mercano the Martian, a cartoon from Argentina, was the only real waste of time. It's not terribly funny and it awkwardly attempts to graft social commentary into the nonsense. It does have a decnet punchline, but not really worth the ride to get there.
As for The Merchant of Venice, it's one of Billy Shakespeare's most problematic plays...and the movie is no different. Pretty faithful adaptation by Michael Radford (Il Postino), but while lovely to look at ultimately this one leaves me cold. Pacino is not the problem however. Al of course is an actor who goes over-the-top more often than not (unfortunately), but here he is quite controlled and actually manages to bring a good deal of humanity to the character of Shylock - which isn't always easy when you look at the way Shakespeare wrote the role. Jeremy Irons is fine as Antonio, but I continue to have a problem with Joseph Finnes. I just don't buy him as a credible screen presence. The shifting tones of the play/film are awkward to me, the perfect example being the dramatic hearing where Shylock wants his pound of flesh but Portia turns up disguised as a man as the scholar who settles the matter. There's too much comedy mixed in with what I think is hard to take as anything but tragedy. But that's the real problem of this play and makes it difficult to determine what Shakespeare was trying to say about Jews, if much of anything at all other than using them as stereotypes. That problem will continue to hang over the play, no matter who adapts the movie from it.
ANYway, those three films I highlighted are all very much worth seeing.
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Alien vs. Predator is an insanely ridiculous movie. There's almost nothing good about it. It had some ok action scenes but the rest just fell flat. The acting was TERRIBLE!! And the part that got me the most was when they showed the alien "face huggers" jump out of their cocoons and soar through the air in slow motion. Ugh.
Oh and then there was the part where the last Predator and the last human girl team up. ::) Ugh. There's a scene where the Predator sets a bomb and then the human girl and himself run down a hallway to escape together. I haven't laughed as hard as I did when watching that in a long time.
What a terrible film. You could see potential in it, scatered through out but since it was directed by a hack who cares more about visuals then story and plot it all fell apart. There's just so many things wrong with the film or just plain stupid that I could get into but won't.
(http://brendanpayne.ca/img/stars02.jpg)
Ray. What can I say? Over-rated? Too long? No focus? This was not a good film. Definitely not worthy of a Best Picture nomination and if I could I would easily replace it with Hotel Rwanda.
The film seemed a little cheap to me. It looked like a TV movie-of-the-week production. It also had no focus. For awhile I thought it was going to show us each and every year of Ray Cjharles's life. It seemed like they were just showing us random clips from his life. Here he is doing drugs, here he is banging a chick behind his wife's back, here he is doing drugs again while banging some chick and now here he is recording a song. Wait... did we show you the part where he does drugs? Oh... we did? Well here it is again but this times he's in a bathroom with overly dramatic lighting.
The lighting is something else that bothered me. They seemed to be trying to hard at certain points to drive home a feeling or look with the lighting. This film definitely does not deserve the Best Director or Best Picture nominations it recieved.
And it was WAY too long. I actually checked how much time was left and that's never a good thing. One of the worst things someone can say about a film is that it's too long.
However despite those problems Jamie Foxx does deliver an Oscar caliber performance. And after seeing this film, he will win. Unless he splits the votes but either way it's his to lose.
(http://brendanpayne.ca/img/stars03.jpg)
And then there's Hotel Rwanda. One of the best films of the year and SHOULD be a Best Picture cotender. There's not much I can say about this film other then GO SEE IT!! It's a brilliant film that everyone should see.
There's just so many raw and powerful scenes. Like the one where Don Cheadle. playing Paul Rusesabagina steps off of the truck that was taking him and his family to safety in order to stay with the people who weren't allowed to go at the hotel. What he says in that scene is simply heartbreaking:
"I cannot leave these people here to die."
There's another scene shared betweem Rusesabagina and one of his employees at the hotel. They're listening to the radio and hearing about mass slaughters and the employee asks him:
"Why do people do these things?"
And Paul Rusesabagina simply replys:
"Hatred. Insanity. I don't know."
This is a must see film.
(http://brendanpayne.ca/img/stars04half.jpg)
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Oh and then there was the part where the last Predator and the last human girl team up. ::) Ugh. There's a scene where the Predator sets a bomb and then the human girl and himself run down a hallway to escape together. I haven't laughed as hard as I did when watching that in a long time.
;D I loved that part too. So funny!
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The Color of Money, another great Scorsese classic. Reminds me of myself in the old days. 8)
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The Color of Money, another great Scorsese classic. Reminds me of myself in the old days. 8)
Why, were you an "incredible flake" too?
(http://www.michaeljscues.com/5b876250.jpg)
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Maybe gimpy means that he's a dashing handsome gent like Tom Cruise or Paul Newman? :D
Stay around gimpy! O0
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yea I AM as studly as those gents ;)
and I could hustle your money without you noticing it too. >:D
anyways I saw another great movie just like The Color of Money called Pool House Junkies and it actually has Alison Eastwood acting as one of the main roles in the movie. The acting aint as swell, but it does have Christopher Walken in it :)
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Just watched an interesting little western called Bad Company (1972).
While I was watching this, I got the feeling Clint Eastwood must have watched it before casting several of his later films, because it is a who's who of Eastwood ensemble actors and co stars.
It features:
Jeff Bridges
Geoffrey Lewis
John Quade
and Charles Tyner.
I might have missed a few others..
It is a very original/quirky western.
Jeff Bridges is the co starring actor, along with Barry Brown.
WKC.
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Oooookay, let me just say this for the record. If anyone says "Hey I just saw this great movie, its really fun called OPEN WATER...you should watch it" get away from them as soon as possible, they are demented.
My friends got me to watch this movie. I think they know of my overly developed fear of sharks. Now if you have ever sat thru a horror movie and felt "Hmmm, if this was a little more realistic..I may just have a heart attack"...then trust me, this ISNT the movie for you.
For those who dont know..the movie is about a couple who get left on a scuba dive, in the water. As they sit and wait for the people to return, the current keeps dragging them farther and farther out into the water...deep dangerous water.
Now, to its credit, the director went to great pains to make this movie as realistic as possible. The first thing you may or may not notice about this movie is that there is no score, music, anything involving it. It also utilizes the "BLAIR WITCH PROJECT" handheld movie method, giving it a sense of loss of control.
The actors, are also an interesting bunch. There is no standout character, giving you the sense that this is just a normal day, happening to normal people. No heros, no twists, no great moments or acts.
Its also the most chilling aspect of this movie. The great thing about Clint movies or HALLOWEEN movies for that matter, is the sense of the supernatural character. That something great could happen to help them.
But as you watch this movie, you get into the plot because of the loss of control of the characters. You empathize with their plight. You begin to fear for their safety. In other words, you are scared out of your mind.
It turns quickly from two people floating in water, to two people realizing they are REALLY out of control in an environment they dont own. They try to keep things sane and keep cool...but as their normal conversation floating in the water goes along...you get reminders..however subtle..that things are going awry. Such as in the middle of a conversation...a shark splashes just five feet from them..but doesnt notice them. In another scene...as opposed to the previous where they could react to the danger....they show them talking in the water...from an overhead angle looking down on them and the water....and you SEE a shark swim under them..and they dont even notice.
Completely unaware, and then things start to get worse.
If you like to be scared out of your wits, trust me this is the movie for you. But unlike JAWS, where the shark was supernatural and mechanical....these are real sharks with real reactions. The fear is seemingly real.
So Ive either strayed you from this movie..or convinced you that you in no way, shape or form, need to see this movie.
Either way, dont say you werent warned ;)
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Last night I saw two South American flicks: Days of Santiago from Peru and The Man Who Copied from Brazil. Days of Santiago is a good little movie, kind of the Peruvian Taxi Driver though it takes a slightly different route to get there. Certainly a good movie, but it pales in comparison to the one I saw just afterwards...
(http://www.nwfilm.org/piff/films/images/man_who_copied_grey.jpg) (http://www.lunchkino.ch/filme/manwhocopied/zoom/b-manwhocopied2.jpg)
The Man Who Copied - O Homem Que Copiava[/color][/font] (Jorge Furtado, Brazil)
A heist movie about a day-dreaming comic artist barely scraping by with the minimum wage
he earns making photocopies in a small store who yearns to turn his obsession with the girl
next door into a romance, this fantastic flick is a must-see. It is funny, it is charming, and it is
exhilerating filmmaking. If Pedro Almodóvar were Brazilian and made a cross between Rear
Window, Say Anything..., Fresh and Nine Queens it would come out as The Man Who
Copied. I can't wait to see this one again. What a ride.
Oh, and on top of it being a great movie, The Man Who Copied is also a great introduction to the
stunning beauty that is Luana Piovani. My god...
(http://www.luanapiovani.blogger.com.br/copiava2.jpg) (http://www.pointx.at/wallpaper/LuanaPiovani001.jpg) (http://allstars.pp.ru/foto/luana_piovani/4.jpg) (http://www.napazzz.blogger.com.br/Luana%20Piovani%2007.jpg)
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I've been "testing" the movie channels on Dish Network the last two days (replaced the cable).
I've caught Species for the first time. I'm somewhat surprised they were able to get all the big name actors to do the movie. It's okay, but nothing real special.
Starship Troopers - This one was fun.
Willard - Very interesting. Crispin Glover did a very good job in the title role. The movie is strange and a little creepy. I liked it! O0
The most impressive and best movie I've seen as of late (wasn't on Dish Network ;)) was Leon The Professional. It easily ranks as one of the best action movies I've ever seen. But it's a lot more than that. I loved the character of Leon, and Jean Reno played him perfectly. Amazing to think it was Natalie Portman's first film. If I hadn't known that, I would have thought she'd done some other movies prior to this one. She's 100% believable in the part, whether it's the emotional scenes or the dinner scene where she gets tipsy and laughs hysterically for no reason (other than the fact she's tipsy). Gary Oldman brought a lot to his character too. Oldman makes his character memorable, which wouldn't have been the case if someone else would have played him, considering so much of the movie is about Leon and Mathilda's relationship.
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Tonight I watched a light, fun movie 'Funny Farm' Chevy Chase and Madolyn Smith. Just now and then I need a daft movie to lighten up. Now it is back to reading Million Dollar Baby tucked up in bed. ::)
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Forget Sideways, Hotel Rwanda, The Aviator and Million Dollar Baby. I have seen the BEST film of the year and it's name is... Resident Evil: Apocalypse.
Now, I'm sure you think I'm kidding around but I'm serious. Once I explain to you why it's the greatest film of 2004 you'll believe me so much, that you'll stop what your doing, run down to the video store and rent it as fast as you can.
The film starts off with some oddly misplaced scenes that only help to add to the films further inconsistencies later on down the road. And, if you look closely enough, you can even see the CN TOWER!! Which I feel helps to bring me into the film and adds realism to it since, you know, it takes place in America.
Anyways the film movies along through beautifully choppy editing and confusing shots which only help to bring you into the film and hurt your mind. Take for instance a scene in a church where one of the main characters, Jill Valentine, wanders around, runs into a Priest and his zombified sister who manages to break out of her latches and eat her brother and hen we're back in the lobby of the church with Jill where these creatures are attacking her and her two taggers-along and then the main star, Milla Jovovich breaks through on a motorcycle and kills them all. The creatures not the people.
Of course they end up walking around some more and running into cliched scenarios and fighting zombie dogs. Eventually the taggers-along are narrowed down due to just a few of them. Of course the Russian who speaks American but yet speaks Russian is killed and then there's the Token Black Guy who is there to provide comic relief and does it brilliantly with his cliched lines and deliveries.
So the film moves along with barrels and barrells of cliches and ends up with the main character Alice (Jovovich) fighting a monster which was created to take out the special ops team which was setup to protect the city so the zombies couldn't get out and that work with the company which created the virus that turned people into zombies which got unleashed because people are idiots and then took people over so.... ah... yeah....
Anyways so they face off in front of Toronto's City Hall... er... I mean some building which during this scene features one of the greatest inconsistencies ever! I find it really hard to believe that the taggers-along didn't see the leader guy take the little girl hostage. Yes I realize I probably just confused you but it's what this film likes to do. Confuse you. But it does it excellently. It confuses you in ways I never thought possible. Which is the key to its brilliance.
Now the acting. Oh my God... pure brilliance. I actually BELIEVED the actors were hurting their minds trying to deliver their lines. I could feel the raw emotion and power coming from their voices and their souls within as they delivered their non-witty one liners. The performances were solid. Like the way the actress playing Jill Valentine over did her SWAT like manouvers. Constantly zing zang zooming around and squating up and down and tilting her head from side to side.
Sure the film was inconsistent, overly cliched, amazing badly acted, and insanely incoherent but man... it was AWSOME!!
(http://brendanpayne.ca/img/stars05.jpg)
Slag it... the movie violated me in more ways then one. What a mess.
(http://brendanpayne.ca/img/stars00half.jpg)
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HAHA! nice one Brendan, ya kinda scared me there. But there is one movie that can top that. . . .Alone in the Dark
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OK, my total number of films seen at the Portland International Film Festival is now up to nineteen...and there are still six more days to go!
Since last report I have seen Oldboy (Chan-Wook Park, South Korea), Kontroll (Nimród Antal, Hungary), Schultze Gets the Blues (Michael Schorr, Germany), Reel Paradise (Steve James, U.S.), The Waiting Room (Zeki Demirkubuz, Turkey), Kung Fu Hustle (Stephen Chow, Hong Kong), 5x2 (François Ozon, France) and Notre Musique (Jean-Luc Godard, France).
The best of that bunch...
(http://www.nwfilm.org/piff/films/images/KONTROL_hires4r_grey.jpg) (http://www.cinefile.biz/oldboy1.jpg)
- Kontroll[/font][/color] (Nimród Antal, Hungary)
Set in the Budapest subway system, but recast as a sort of metaphorical and surreal Hades uncercut with dark humor. It follows teams of ticket control officers who ride the rails looking for fare violators, writing fines for those trying to ride for free or who haven't paid for the proper zones. The main team we follow is a rag-tag motley crew, dirty and bloody from fistfights with spirited passengers and rival control officers, led by Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi), a thritysomething who we see has started to live underground completely, sleeping in the tunnels in the middle of the night after train service stops. There are also some odd murders taking place down there, a tall shady figure in a hooded sweatshirt who is pushing passengers into oncoming trains. Eventually it falls to Bulcsú to defend the labyrinthine abyss. A nightmare that is beautifully horrible, paranoid and very funny, and the characters who inhabit this underworld are a mix of the sacred, the profane and the lost.
- Oldboy[/size][/font] (Chan-Wook Park, South Korea)
A hardcore revenge epic not for the weak of heart, Oldboy starts with a middle-class, middle-aged man named Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-shik) being kidnapped off the street one rainy night. He awakens to find himself in a private prison done up like a hotel room (save for the steel door and no windows). He is not communicated with directly at all, by his captors or his guards, leaving him to wonder why he has been imprisoned and by who. He does have a television, and through it he learns his wife has been murdered with him the obvious suspect (as he has disappeared), with his three-year-old daughter taken away to foster homes. He stays in that prison for fifteen long years, turning over in his mind every person he has done any manner of wrong to in his life, trying to figure who would have done this to him. He is suddenly released one day...and then the torture really begins. There are scenes of almost unspeakable brutality as Dae-su goes on a bloody quest to find answers and get payback. Some of the "enjoyment" (if that's the appropriate word for a film like Oldboy) and impact of the film was lessened as I guessed the main "twist" extremely early on in the narrative, but it's still a powerful flick, with segments that won't leave you quickly (even, and maybe especially, if you want them to). Intense stuff, putting a slick popcorner like Tarantino's Kill Bill to shame.
- Schultze Gets the Blues[/font][/color] (Michael Schorr, Germany)
A nice change of pace from those extreme rides, Schultze is a very quiet and sentimental character piece. Schultze (Horst Krause) lives in a small rural community in the Saxony-Anhalt region of Germany. As the film starts, the fortysomething Schultze and his two friends are forced into an early retirement from their jobs in the salt mines. Schultze lives alone and very modestly, emerging only to go to the pub with his two pals (who seem to do all the talking) and play traditional German polkas on his accordian at the local music hall - just as his father had done before him. One night while scanning the radio dial, he accidentally happens upon Zydeco music and the American music inspires him. Eventually this obsession leads him to Texas and Louisiana, where toting his accordian he travels through a world he never even imagined before. A very understated portrait moved by character rather than incident, with cinematography and long extended takes akin to Antonioni - elements that Western audiences raised on Hollywood fare may find too still and introspective, but to the viewer who lets the style wash over them this is an endearing journey.
(http://www.filmnews.at/rezensionen/icons/tn_schultze.jpg)
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Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession[/color][/font] (Xan Cassavetes, USA)
This is a terrific documentary for film buffs, a chronicle of the rise and tragic fall of Jerry Harvey. Harvey was a smart if troubled man (apparently largely due to an abusive family dynamic) who loved film. I mean he frippin' loved it and devoted almost every waking second to his love. Inititally in the early '70s this manifested itself when he got the job programming a Los Angeles theater, and through his infectious passion was able to highlight movies by filmmakers like Altman and Peckinpah that had been dismissed by critics and audiences on first pass, which got him a reputation among other film lovers and the filmmakers he was showcasing, many of whom he befriended. In the late '70s he and a pal even got a screenplay produced, the decent Spaghetti Western China 9, Liberty 37 starring friend Warren Oates directed by friend Monte Hellman. But all of that was a precursor to his true legacy.
By the very early '80s Harvey had gotten a couple jobs in cable television in L.A., a field that was still brand new. When he wound up at the Z Channel as chief programmer given free reign to make deals with studios and show whatever he wanted uncut and commercial free, Jerry was in heaven. His great taste and extremely eclectic choices in EVERYthing from the Altmans and Peckinpahs to the Henry Jalgoms and Nic Roegs to Kurosawa and Fellini to Nicholas Ray and Sam Fuller to silents and European soft-core porn and abosultely everything in between made the cable channel and Harvey himself a force in Los Angeles. He even had some real power to save films, not just in showing obscure stuff, but by tracking down uncut fully restored prints of Heaven's Gate, 1900, The Leopard and Once Upon A Time in America after the U.S. studios could give a sh!t, saving the director's visions before all the prints were destroyed. Not only did he save these butchered films, but he proved to the Studios that there was a market for them. Oh yeah, and he also ran movies letterboxed whenever he could find the transfers. Z Channel was so unique and beloved in L.A. that even national powerhouses HBO and Showtime couldn't take it down as the '80s progressed. Harvey's programming was so good and so incredibly different than the mainstream that there wasn't anything being offered to replace it in town. In the later '80s when Z Channel planned on going nationwide, the personal problems in Jerry's life escelated leading eventually to the murder of his wife and his own suicide. Z Channel essentially died with Harvey. The film is full of interviews with friends who worked with him as well as his first wife and first serious girlfriend and tons of filmmakers and actors from the '70s and '80s like Bob Altman, Alan Rudolph, Paul Verhoeven, Jim Jarmusch, Vilmos Zsigmond, Jacqueline Bisset, Theresa Russell, James Woods and current-day filmmakers who were fans like Alexander Payne and Quentin Tarantino. It's a great story of a love of film, and a sad look at a seriously depressed man who ultimately couldn't be saved from himself. Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession is directed by Gena Rowland and John Cassavetes' daughter Alexandra.
(http://www.filmfestivals.com/pixus/festivals/generic/Z-CHANNEL.jpg) (http://img5.allocine.fr/img_cis/images/festivaldecannes/img/vign/007243.jpg)
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Shanghai Triad directed by Zhang Yimou, director of Hero and House of Flying Daggers, is a masterpiece! It's basically about a servant that hangs out with the Chinese gang known as the TRIADS and gets caught up with in their mess. It is a REALLY good movie, ya should check it out if you like gangster films.
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15. Eraser[/b][/color][/size] (1996 - Chuck Russell)
GRADE: D
Caught it on tv last night. Bizarre, ridiculous, cheesy, but good for a bit of light-hearted escapism. The best bits were with the Italian guys. (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardgrin.gif)
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Midnight Cowboy, great buddy movie and extremely enjoyable, not for the weak hearted though :o
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I saw Kung Fu Hustle on DVD w/DTS and english subs the other day. I think it releases in theaters in the US in another month or two.
It is written by, directed by and stars Stephen Chow. I never saw any of his other movies before. His last was Shaolin Soccer. He is considered to be the Jim Carrey of Asia but his older movies don't play too well if you don't speak Cantonese.
This movie is awesome!!!! The first half is really funny with some great comedic sequences. If you are a Kung Fu fan from the old days, it makes fun of and also pays homage to the old flicks. Plus, it also satirizes current Hollywood movies such as the Matrix and Spiderman. The production value is as good as any Hollywood movie and it is funny for non Cantonese audiences, which is something I've been told his other movies aren't. So if it hits theaters soon near you check it out. I believe it broke box office records in Hong Kong. The DVD is already released in Asia.
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I just finished watching " Man On Fire " with Denzel Washington .......... I mean he was in the movie not watching it with me ;)
I really enjoyed it . Nothing special just a good old fashioned revenge flick with some flashy visuals by Tony Scott .
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I saw Kung Fu Hustle on DVD w/DTS and english subs the other day. I think it releases in theaters in the US in another month or two.
I saw this last week, on a big screen.
Lest you fellas who couldn't care less about arthouse fare think there was nothing for you too at the Portland International Film Festival, last Sunday I saw Kung Fu Hustle[/color][/font] (Stephen Chow, Hong Kong), a live-action parody of Hong Kong kung-fu adventure movies by the director of Shaolin Soccer. It was dumb fun in spots, but absolutely nothing more, and for me the same schtick over and over again became tiresome by the second half of the movie. It was worth seeing though for what it is, and anyone who is bigtime into Hong Kong action or is a boy between the ages of nine and fifteen will likely love it, but Kung Fu Hustle is just dopey nonsense and ultimately forgettable. Kind of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by way of Dumb & Dumber. I laughed only a few scattered times, and it never had me rolling (save for the attempted assassintaion with the knives, which was on the level of Buster Keaton perfection), and all the extended CGI cartoony fights just became dull and tedious by the time the Beast is released. Casting the Masters the way they did was a fun gag...you know, the first few times it was revealed. Then it was overkill like everything else. Director Chow also stars, and he's got good screen presence - the scene where he tries to pick a fight with townspeople the first time he arrives at Pig Alley is a highlight. The Western pop-culture references throughout, like The Untouchables, The Shining, Spider-Man and the Looney Tunes, were about as amusing as Scary Movie 2 and certainly not the stuff of say Blazing Saddles or even The Kentucky Fried Movie. Frankly, when all is said and done I'll take John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China over Kung Fu Hustle every day of the week.
GRADE: C+
(http://www.10thnpc.org.cn/images/98125.jpg) (http://www.nwfilm.org/piff/films/images/Kung-Fu-Hustle-Hong-Kong)3.jpg)
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Kung Fu Hustle[/color][/font] (Stephen Chow, Hong Kong)
GRADE: C+
I agree completely...I saw it in the theater and amazingly people were laughing at the tired jokes and in other cases, childish humor. At best, I on-and-off chuckled throughout.
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Great Bill Murray season on channel five last.
Rushmore is an excellent film that i had never seen before and loved it too bits and what a happy smoochy ending this film has moved up in my top lists.
Followed by Caddyshack gee i forgot how funny and silly this film really was. Murray's character Carl made me piss everytime he opened his slanted curt mouth.
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I agree completely...I saw it in the theater and amazingly people were laughing at the tired jokes and in other cases, childish humor. At best, I on-and-off chuckled throughout.
I think it's the fact that not many people have seen anything like it.
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The Tuxedo
Starring Jackie Chan
I was disappointed with this.It is not the usual Jackie Chan movie with plenty of action and fight scenes,but it only went for 90 minutes so it didn't drag on.
2 out of 5 .
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Great Bill Murray season on channel five
Yeah, five can be good for them. It was a five Eastwood season that got me into Clint. I saw Murray in Groundhog Day the other day. Pretty amusing, harmless feel good movie. Speaking of which...I saw Short Circuit last week, and its sequel tonight. ;D I saw the original when I was a kid so it was fun to re-live some 80's nostalgia. :D The sequel is actually not as awful as you might imagine a follow-up to be. Hate to admit this but... :-[...I could add it to the movies that make you cry thread! :o ;D Just a little bit, at the end when Number 5 gets his citizenship! ;D
Last week saw Vanishing Point (1971) with Barry Newman. Interesting. Very much of its time it seemed to me - the subversive culture thing, the police, the hippies out in the desert. Kept my attention throughout despite being mostly him driving along. Interesting repeat sequence at beginning and end.
(http://www.drivepast.com/posters/vpquad.jpg)
Best movie I saw this week was an Iranian film, The Colour of Paradise (1999), about a blind boy (wonderfully played by blind child actor Mohsen Ramezani) whose father wants him out of the way so he can remarry. Simple, but beautiful, and a pleasingly ambiguous ending.
(http://www.czech-tv.cz/program/porady/1053359107/foto/000.jpg)
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Monster with Charlize Theron, amazing in this movie.
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Claude Rains double bill " The Invisible Man " & The Phantom Of The Opera " Both great .
The Boogeyman ....... AWFUL !
Murder By Decree . This was about the 5th time I've watched it and I still loved it . It has to be the most entertaining movie concerning Jack The Ripper . Although the theory behind the plot is pure fiction , the cast and director pull it off to a remarkable degree . I highly recommend it .
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The Serpent and the Rainbow was on and i have to admit i enjoyed this piece of Voodoo ....lol....i like Wes Craven anyway but for him this was a low key work that had very little monster or gore scenes, this made it far more realistic and quite chilling in parts. However i have to say Bill Pullman is not the best leading action man and i wanted to crack him constantly during the film, also Cathy Tyson cannot do french or Haiti accents so why did she bother.
Overall apart from the bad casting a good movie
More currently i saw "King Arthur" and boy was i let down....i can understand that the film was supposed to be more historically correct but in doing so it took all the magic away, Merlin was just a dirty old man and Guinevere was a mucky Woad Warrior, not a patch on Excalibur and again Clive Owen just doesn't have that action man hero feel to him, Ioan Gruffudd is a far better actor if you ask me. No lady of the lake no Morgan Le faye or modred......i was gutted.
A worth while action flick with some good fight scenes but reminds me a little of a watered down Lord of the Rings and was shot in a similar vain.
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The Man Who Would Be King ( 1975 )
The first hour of this was great with plenty of one liners and I usually enjoy Michael Caine and Sean Connery films,but then in the second hour it turned serious.It was still good,but a little disappointing after such a great start.
3 out of 5.
I Dream Too Much ( 1935 )
Early Henry Fonda film,his third I think and the only reason I watched this.It wasn't that bad,if you enjoy opera you may enjoy it more.He plays the husband to Lily Pons who becomes a big opera star as he gets left behind and a little jealous.
2 and a half out of 5.
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About A Boy and Notting Hill. I like Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. I have also watched Blow Dry. On late night TV while at work. Different if you are a Pom and you know the Bradford/Keighley area of Yorkshire. Must get some up to date stuff.
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On late night TV while at work.
You must have a good job.Watching movies while at work.How good is that. ;D
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You must have a good job.Watching movies while at work.How good is that. ;D
Not really it gets boring when there are no customers and all the other work is done. Some nights I get so busy I can't even get a coffee so it is only fair that on slow nights I get to movie watch. I am by myself so I can please myself , customers allowing :D
Just before we all get any ideas..... ;D I work in a 24 hour fuel station ;D ;D
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Flesh and Bone ( 1993 ) Dennis Quaid,Meg Ryan and James Caan in this drama.Not bad although all the coincidences that happened with the central characters was a bit of a stretch.
3 out of 5.
Mannequin ( 1937 ) Spencer Tracy and Joan Crawford.Rags to riches story of Crawford making a better life for herself with the help of Tracy.Interesting to note Tracy called Crawford MO CHUISLE in one scene.
3 out of 5.
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I have watched
Sabrina with Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond in Danish Television, and The Silence of The Lambs and Space Cowboys on DVD.
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I have just watched Catch 22 It was on during the night, prior to that I looked at Legal Eagles. Robert Redford and Debra Winger. on Sunday night I watched Black Hawk Down.
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butch cassidy and the sundance kid - awesome
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Alien V Predator ........ Much better than I was led to believe .
Bridget Jones , Edge Of Reason ....... A great laugh .
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jones pull that cord ;D
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butch cassidy and the sundance kid - awesome
Was that the DVD?
I've noticed it's real cheap lately and was thinking of buying it,but I have seen in the past when DVD's are going cheap it sometimes means a special edition may be released in the coming months.
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yeh dvd - i did originally see it when it came out in the cinema all them years back
i don't know about a special - i always find with specials if you wait they come down in value as well - so unless its mr. clint in which i get it when it comes out - i usually wait for the bargains
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Was that the DVD?
I've noticed it's real cheap lately and was thinking of buying it,but I have seen in the past when DVD's are going cheap it sometimes means a special edition may be released in the coming months.
My copy of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid already says "Special Edition." It includes a 45 minute documentary, which I recall finding quite interesting, and a not-so-bad commentary track.
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yeh it does have a feature which i haven't seen yet and 3 trailers
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My copy of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid already says "Special Edition." It includes a 45 minute documentary, which I recall finding quite interesting, and a not-so-bad commentary track.
I went back and bought this because it does say "Special Edition" on the front and back cover which I didn't notice.:-[
But they had the discounted barcode over the special features menu >:(,so it just looked like the disc was the film only and that's why I thought it was cheap.
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Yes, as I remember the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid SE DVD is pretty good - with nice silver box packaging too. 8)
Trouble sleeping this week so I took Hang 'Em High to bed with me and watched it in bed in two halves over a couple of nights.
Finally got around to watching my Once Upon A Time In The West DVD. O0 O0 That put me in the mood for spaghetti, so I watched A Fistful of Dollars and A Few Dollars More on consecutive nights. I haven't watched the Leone films many times, and it's interesting getting a different perspective with each viewing. I'll watch GBU again, and then Once Upon...The West again to get the progression. I loved the latter but need to see it more to decide how I feel about it in relation to Clint's spaghetti westerns, and to take in the subtleties.
Also watched half of The Outlaw Josey Wales, again in bed, until I fell asleep with my notepad (trying to make notes for a belated contribution to the discussion threads).
I'm on a real western bender (saving up for some non-Clint classics). It's the genre that really gets me into film history and thinking about the American experience. So much coolness. 8)
Tomorrow both Dirty Harry and Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ are on British terrestrial TV, but I can't see either because being a politics addict I never miss an episode of This Week - it's too much fun watching Michael Portillo and Diane Abbott fawning over each other. ;D
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Just watched The Bridges Of Madison County and Grumpy Old Men...like Lin I watched them while I was"working" ;D
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like Lin I watched them while I was"working" ;D
You lucky gits! >:( ;)
Also watched Tumbleweeds (1999). Nothing special, but decent enough for unambitious entertainment. I mainly watched it because it was described somewhere as a road movie, but it wasn't quite.
Anyone recommend any good road movies, besides Thelma and Louise?
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The road to Hong Kong
The road to Bali
The road to Morocco
No just kidding ;D ;D ;D
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Anyone recommend any good road movies, besides Thelma and Louise?
How about Easy Rider ???
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Ah yes, thanks Hemlock. O0
That's another classic I haven't seen. Added it to my wishlist.
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I'm on a real western bender (saving up for some non-Clint classics).
Me too. Over the past week or so, I've watched a few westerns, all spaghetti.
Started with Django. Pretty entertaining. In fact, you can read about it on this board, I recall there have been some people who have asked about the movie where Eastwood's character carries a coffin behind him.
Then Death Rides a Horse, starring Lee Van Cleef. Really good. O0 Pretty much all region 1 DVDs of the movie suck though, they need to get a good quality transfer released.
God's Gun, also with Lee Van Cleef and Jack Palance. Not so good. ;)
Mannaja - A Man Called Blade - I was pleased with this one as well. Apparently one of the last spaghetti's made (1977). The movie felt dark to me, and was very violent. A nice gritty feel to it.
Run, Man, Run - I got Mannaja and this one together in a two-pack, but this one has a much different feel from the other. It's much lighter but still very entertaining.
And I threw in a horror film a few nights ago to just to add some flavor. Horror Express with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. I thought it was pretty decent.
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Cool Christopher. 8) Death Rides a Horse and Django are on my list. I really like Lee Van Cleef. Those other two spaghettis sound interesting too.
It's a film made for TV, but did any of the UK members see The Government Inspector on Channel 4 tonight? For those who didn't see it, it's a dramatisation of the events surrounding the death of chief British weapons inspector in Iraq, Dr David Kelly. He committed suicide on the day Tony Blair spoke to the U.S. Congress, after being identified as the source in a BBC report on the UK government dossier about WMD in Iraq.
I thought the film was a success, with a good cast, and was apparently (mostly) well-researched. It is impossible to know how close it comes to the truth on some matters, so in appreciating it, I accept that it is not a perfect representation of events. No doubt over the coming days we will hear a lot about Gilligan's claims on the note changing, among other things. My biggest concern in approving of it is that the Kelly family refused cooperation with the makers. I hope they will not be upset by it.
I found it a moving portrayal of how events got out of hand from a seemingly pretty harmless beginning. I thought Mark Rylance gave an excellent performance as Dr Kelly.
(http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/government_inspector/images/goverment_sc_2.jpg)
After seeing it I was surprised to find myself thinking that it would have made a good theatrical release, it was good enough. I hope they release it on DVD because the complexities demand further viewing.
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The last 2 ones I saw are : "Ray" and "Collateral" as I was in an US Airways plane, coming back from Florida 8) 8) 8) to France, 2 days ago, on a really too small screen !!!
Jamie Foxx is really good in Ray Charles' character, but I 've found the film just a little ... boring, but not all the great songs of course. O0
As for "Collateral", Tom Cruise is different from his other roles, and I liked it. O0 ... and Jamie Foxx is good in this one too ! :) :)
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I was in an US Airways plane, coming back from Florida 8) 8) 8) to France, 2 days ago
8) Cool Sylvie. Hope you had a good time, it wouldn't be hard to over there. O0
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Cool Sylvie . Hope you had a good time, it wouldn't be hard to over there. O0
Yes, really good time ! :) :) :) O0 And flying to Orlando, I watched "Bridget Jones 's Diary" , funny !
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Glad to hear it Sylvie. :)
Just watched We Were Soldiers. It wasn't as bad as it might have been, but it wasn't great either. I appreciated the attempt to show the futility of war, and the full horror (the guy with the burnt face, whose skin fell off when touched, stands out), but it didn't cut it for me.
I feel like it was rather a missed opportunity. It's a true story, and a good one, but some of the characters - particularly the wives back home - were too bland for my liking. This could have been a really moving, gut-wrenching film, but it hardly made me cry (and y'all know how easy that is!), I suppose because I didn't empathise with characters who didn't seem real enough. The wives and families were just too perfect, and the young draftees all too clean-cut and apple pie handsome for me to believe in them.
To me it comes down to the fact that the movie seemed neither one thing nor another: neither a hoo-rah war movie for which you are willing to suspend belief and enjoy the cheese, nor a serious character driven film. I liked Sam Elliott, and some of his "funny" bits in the build-up, but they didn't chime with what the film was aspiring to - presumably to be a moving, thoughtful reflection on Vietnam, or at least a piece of that war.
There were some interesting moments in the build-up story, for example when the wives discuss the "whites only" sign at the laundrette, but I found myself left wanting more.
It's a real shame, because I wanted to like this movie, and it had such brilliant source material. As I said, I feel it was a missed opportunity to make a really quality film about an amazing event with outstanding real-life characters. It seems like it sold out to the "blockbuster ethic", without even doing that well.
I was surprised to hear that the budget was only $75 million, given all the effects involved.
One good thing is that I will now read the real book by Colonel Moore himself, which I understand is excellent. I'm expecting to get much more from that.
Final thought: what an amazing and truly heroic colonel, and soldiers. I suppose what really happened is beyond filmmaking.
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I wasn't going to post in this thread anymore since I started My Movie Journal (http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=4026.msg58112#msg58112),but I watched The Greatest Story Ever Told today and I have to ask:What was Sidney Poitier and John Wayne doing in this movie.I know it was a big name cast but Sidney was on screen for probably just over a minute a did not say a word.The Duke was on screen for about ten seconds for one line.I like cameo's in films but these two seemed really out of place.
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SInce I haven't gotten all the movies together that I've watched in for the movie journal thread, I thought that I would post here.
Movies that I've watched in the last few days include.
The Grudge
The Saw
Bad Santa (Actually watched the unrated version Badder Santa)
The Stand
Play Misty for me (Watched that last nite)
Paycheck (watched last nite)
Connie & Carla
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Within a week I`ve watched these films
Million Dollar Baby(in cinema)
Rush Hour 2(it was on tv last night)
My Name Is nobody(DVD)
The Eagle Has Landed(DVD)
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The Hustler with Paul Newman.
Never seen The Color of Money though ...
What struck me is that Newman has something of Brando in this movie
Nixon with Anthony Hopkins.
Nixon was kinda crazy. He was really paranoïd
I had never realized that before.
Of course I had heard things ... but I never thought it would be that much ...
All we know about him is The Watergate Scandal, but a lot of things happened behind the scenes, and I think the movie gives a good idea of who Nixon the man was.
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The Hustler is far superior to The Color of Money. You could probably live a fairly complete life without seeing the Color of Money, it's not that amazing, and by far not the performance Paul Newman should have won an Oscar for.
I just watched But I'm a Cheerleader, it was cute. Now I'm watching Saw and the tension is overwhelming. I had to turn on the lights to watch it. Very creepy, but my best friend just IMed me from Indonesia so I had to stop and talk to her, but I have a feeling I'm going to get very creeped out, very soon.
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Nixon was kinda crazy. He was really paranoïd
I had never realized that before.
Of course I had heard things ... but I never thought it would be that much ...
All we know about him is The Watergate Scandal, but a lot of things happened behind the scenes, and I think the movie gives a good idea of who Nixon the man was.
Don't believe everything you see in a movie. Especially when it's about a Republican president. (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardwink.gif)
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I have watched
City Heat on DVD
What Woman Want on DVD
The Rookie on DVD
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I just saw Hostage.
On the bright side, it was well acted (w/ 1 big exception) with an original plot that deviates from the usual "hostage actioner" type of script. The action scenes are enjoyable, Willis and Pollack were solid with easy roles for both, and basically, it was just fun to watch. On a side note - Despite originality with the plot/subplots, a few standard cliches are present: The unhappy "cop wife" is there and the requisite FBI "We are assuming command!" fight with local authorities.
On the negative side, me and a friend had a trio of fat chicks sitting behind us and they were chewing all kinds of food with their gaping maws open and blathering on in another language. :( Anyway, negatives about the movie...One of the initial three bad-guy hostage takers is a interesting character that is slowly revealed to be [SEMI SPOILER] a nutso lunatic [SEMI SPOILER] as the movie progresses. Had this part been given to someone who didn't go to the William Shatner School of Overacting, this character would have been a plus instead of a minus. And though the movie seemed well-directed overall, there were two slo-mo, closeup scenes where Willis rushes to save child hostages that really seemed like a kid in film class was playing with a camera. Also, the ending is moderately (but not hugely) cheesy mainstream with Willis going Die-Hard on everybody.
An overacting "bad guy teen" reduces my score by one point.
7 out of 10
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crocodile dundee - now thats knife
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Just watched The Forgotten . Not bad but really just an extended X Files episode .
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Boys Don't Cry on TV last night. Not what I expected at all.
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Boys Don't Cry on TV last night. Not what I expected at all.
Were you expecting boys who didn't cry?
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tgy, I just looked over your Movie Journal, and it looks like you're on a bad run this week. Three "Only If There Is Nothing Else On" films in a row. Treat yourself to a good movie for a change. You can check out my March... I'm on a roll. Only two movies that I wouldn't recommend: The Hanging Tree and Captain Correlli's Mandolin. The rest have been really good.
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A movie that I highly recommend seeing is:
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006UEVNQ.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
Brilliant is the only word I can use to describe it. O0
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Yeah I know Matt,it's been a very ordinary week,so tonight I'm watching one of the DVD's I've bought recently.Communion with Christopher Walken.I saw it years ago and really enjoyed it.At the same time I'll be recording Finding Nemo off cable,which I haven't seen yet but if it's anything like the Toy Story movies I'm sure I'll enjoy that too when I get to it.
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Boys Don't Cry...... I really enjoyed this offbeat little movie and I thought Hilary Swank was very good in it. I'm looking forward to seeing what career choices she makes in the future.
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The Last Samurai
Routine , predictable , sentimentalised .............. I LOVED IT !!!
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Fight Club. . .pretty interesting. Won't guarentee everyone will like it. Brad Pitt was great though. Edward Norton's done better.
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Don't believe everything you see in a movie. Especially when it's about a Republican president. (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardwink.gif)
(http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardgrin.gif) Not just Republican presidents! JFK is half-fantasy, and has unfortunately contributed to the persistence of myths surrounding the assassination.
>:( Damn. I just realised the time - I was going to watch All The President's Men on BBC1, but I've missed the beginning. Will have to get it on DVD.
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Hey Brendan,is the remake of The Flight of the Phoenix really that bad.It still hasn't been released at the cinemas here.I saw the trailer when I saw Million Dollar Baby and it didn't look that bad ( I know some trailers show all the best bits while the rest of the movie is crap ).
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It's TERRIBLE!! I was really trying to find something... ANYTHING to like about it but I almost couldn't. It has pretty much every cliche in it and there's just too many WTF? moments. It's ok enough to sit through but you sure as hell won't want to be sitting through it ever again.
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The distributors here must think the same.The release date has been put back till late July.
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Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room[/b]
Brilliant and infuriating documentary recounting the rise and fall.
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Hey Brendan,is the remake of The Flight of the Phoenix really that bad.It still hasn't been released at the cinemas here.I saw the trailer when I saw Million Dollar Baby and it didn't look that bad ( I know some trailers show all the best bits while the rest of the movie is crap ).
The original The Flight Of The Phoenix will be on finnsih television today.I´ll try to remember to watch it since it got James Stewart in it 8)
The remake got Dennis Quaid,right?
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The original The Flight Of The Phoenix will be on finnsih television today.I´ll try to remember to watch it since it got James Stewart in it 8)
The remake got Dennis Quaid,right?
Yeah, Dennis Quaid is in it. I've liked Dennis pretty much my whole life and his roles in Traffic and The Rookie really brought him back. Too bad he had such a bad year in films: The Alamo, The Day After Tomorrow and Flight of the Pheonix. Two of those tanked while The Day After Tomorrow made a lot of money, I don't really consider it a hit since it made about as much as it cost.
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(http://money.cnn.com/2003/09/29/news/companies/sec_enron/enron_ken_lay.03.jpg)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room[/color][/font] (2005 - Alex Gibney)
Brilliant and infuriating documentary recounting the rise and fall. The brilliance of the film is that even though everybody knows the ending going in and maybe even knows many of the sorid details, the way they retell the entire story is very involving and effective. You can link to the trailer HERE (http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=8576).
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>:( Damn. I just realised the time - I was going to watch All The President's Men on BBC1, but I've missed the beginning. Will have to get it on DVD.
I watched it at work and it was just as good as the first time I saw it. I think it has stood the test of time. :) Do get it on DVD Lilly it is worth it. O0
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I watched a weird little movie last night entitled "Angel On My Shoulder (1947)
With Paul Muni as the gangster who enters a faustian pact with the Devil played expertly and most elegantly by Claude Raines
I thoroughly recommend this gem even if it is in Black and White
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I thoroughly recommend this gem even if it is in Black and White.
What in the Hell does that mean?
Angel on My Shoulder is OK, and Claude is one of my favorite on-screen Devils, but its no masterpiece. A truly great movie, though coming from the opposite angle and with much more wit, is Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941 - Alex Hall), with Claude Rains this time wonderful as an Angel. Re-made well as Warren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait (1978), and re-made embarassingly poorly for Chris Rock titled Down to Earth (2001).
(http://img2.exs.cx/img2/8944/2guys.png) (http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/images/heavencanwait1.jpg)
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God Holden Pike talk about raining on other people's parade's you do this every time with your overly anal film knowledge i admit you certainly know your stuff but hey we are all entitled to opinions as you so often point out.
What i said mad total sense to me most people think of film gems being in Colour and i was merely pointing out that this film stands out even in todays standards
Is this clear enough for you old boy lol
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I thoroughly recommend this gem even if it is in Black and White
What in the Hell does that mean?
I can see why he'd ask. ;)
At first, I wasn't sure if I'd do the film journal, but it comes in handy though. Last week I was on vacation from school and watched a bunch of movies (some worth watching, others not), so it's nice to be able to look back at it and see on what days I watched what. Otherwise, I'd have to recall all of it from memory. Plus, I'm on this board pretty much everyday so it's not a big thing to edit my post if I've seen anything.
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Last couple of days I've seen Finding Nemo.It was good but not as good as Toy Story.The Puppet Masters with Donald Sutherland about aliens arriving on earth and infecting a town in Iowa.Reminiscent of the old 50's sci-fi alien movies,and The Program with James Caan about U.S. college football.3 good movies not classics but a lot better than some of the films I've seen recently.
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Watched Collateral last night. Not bad. I liked the central idea..tho' it got a bit silly towards the end. I like Cruise as a bad guy.
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Taxi (2004).
Pros: Gisele Bündchen (The second most beautiful woman in the world) & Jeff Gordon cameo (Shame on you, Jeff!)
Cons: Absolutley everything else!!
It pains me to know that someone like Clint Eastwood has a hard time making both Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby, even though the first one recieved critical accliam, several top awards and made slightly over $90 million and yet this "film" gets greenlite and backed by a major studio. Explain to me how that make sense. A two time (now four) Academy Award winner, who's been making films for over 30 years and has made many, many well recieved films has a hard time getting funding and a distributor but yet this film gets all of it. Come on!!
I knew this movie was gonna suck and I'll admit that the only reason I watched it was because of Gisele Bündchen.
(http://www.darkhorizons.com/2004/taxi/taxi9.jpg)
[insert drooling smiley]
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Sin City: just like Pulp Fiction in its own right.
Ring 2: Please stop making these movies, they are corny and pointless.
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I knew this movie was gonna suck and I'll admit that the only reason I watched it was because of Gisele Bündchen.
You've just about convinced me to watch it too. ;)
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Team America last night ... ;D ;D ;D
Really funny O0
And the songs :D
Film Actors Guild ;D
And of course
(http://www.discodelic.netfirms.com/silly-bangonhead2.gif)< Matt Damon
There's one line I think I'll never forget "No intelligence ! We have no intelligence !!!"
That's when their HQ are bombed and the computer -named Intelligence ::) is destroyed ... this is exactly what happened ...
NO INTELLIGENCE ^-^
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Gisele Bündchen (The second most beautiful woman in the world)
Who's the first? ; ;)
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I watched two nights of crap in a row.
Last night - Ringu. What bothers me about this is that everyone I talked to who had seen it said that it was better then the original and scarier. Yet it totally wasn't. That really blew. I was disappointed.
Tonight - Audition. This is another one that I listened to my friends about and said it was creepy and gross and just ewe. It wasn't. The 90 minute build up to the semi gross part was hardly worth it. The gross stuff was bad, but nothing worse then Saw.
In the brighter news of what's been watched this week. Sin City, everyone go see it, it's great. I've seen twice already and it's only been out 3 days. It's good.
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In the brighter news of what's been watched this week. Sin City, everyone go see it, it's great. I've seen twice already and it's only been out 3 days. It's good.
I saw a trailer for this today at the movies,it does look good,but have to wait till May 26 before it's released here.
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Watched "The Chronicles of Riddick" this weekend .....
What a pile of dog turd ....ok special effects galore.....but what happened to story lines .....as for the acting.....Vin Diesel ...pls is there nothing else you can do in life apart from talk gruffly and stare alot ....
can't wait for the sequel
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This last week-end, I have watched :
- "Two mules for Sister Sarah" ("Sierra Torride" in
French )
- "Top Gun".
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Watched "The Chronicles of Riddick" this weekend .....
What a pile of dog turd ....
That statement does a disservice to dog turds everywhere. "Chronicles..." might be the worst movie that I saw in the theater last year. I wasn't expecting greatness, maybe some brainless actioner fun...but it delivered nothing, not even action! And Judy Dench was in it? What the heck?
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You've just about convinced me to watch it too. ;)
I saw about 75% of "Taxi" on an airplane. Normally I don't judge a movie based on an "airplane viewing", but trust me man, see the Luc Beeson version.
She is hot though...Ok so do something else around the TV while its on and then when Gisele Whateverson appears, give the movie your full attention. Be sure to turn away quickly after she is off the screen though, lest be visually and aurally poisoned by the movie itself.
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I just watched Bad Company last night, from 1972 (just so we don't confuse it with the newer movie with the same name). This starred Jeff Bridges.
Easily one of the best westerns I've seen. O0
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I went and saw The Upside of Anger Sunday and I LOVED it. Joan Allen was wonderful here and if this film had of been released late last year she most likely would have ended up with an Oscar nomination. It's a shame though that the film was released now since it will be lost come the Oscar time at the end of the year.
(http://www.darkhorizons.com/2005/upside/anger8.jpg)
One of the reasons I wanted to see this movie is because of Evan Rachel Wood (above, center). She's such a wonderful young actress and with every film I see her in I continually get blown away by how great she really is. She was great in Thirteen and, as a matter of fact, deserved a Best Actress nomination. I'm easily a fan of hers now after seeing her in this. She completley out acted her "sisters" in the film (Keri Russell, Erika Christensen and Alicia Witt) and she was right up there with Joan Allen. It's nice to see a young actress who can actually act rather then just an "actress" who is there to sell tickets.
Costner was good as well but it was hard for him to screw this up since it was a pretty laid back role and didn't really require much. Thankfully not an accent. His chemistry with Allen was great and the two shared some good moments.
The Upside of Anger is a wonderful little film which some will either like or hate. I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending still but I know I did like it since I'm still thinking about it two days later. It really changes the film.
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saw sahara last night good fun, nothing special but good fun, had a great ateam vibe to it.
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Watched Coma again last night.. Havn't seen it in years but I felt it still held up well and Bujold gave a strong central performance.
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was that the movier with mr zeta jones as a doctor, that was good
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Mr Zeta Jones... ;D Nice one.
Yup.. thats the movie.
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who was the dame
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Genevive Bujold... who co-starred in Tightrope with Clint.
Shes a fine actress tho' I wasn't too keen on her character in Coma.. I mean when a guy comes in from a hard day and asks for a beer...she should get it.. and quick. I guess it was the era. ;)
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mr zeta jones
;D
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Within a week I`ve watched
Two Mules For Sister Sara.I love the dialogue between the Eastwood and Maclaine.Very funny...also great action scenes and music...as you all know ;D
Wild Bunch.What can I say...this film is a masterpiece.Everything is perfect in it.
Amadeus-The Director`s Cut.Great film.Hulce and Abraham are great in the main roles...btw what ever happened to them ???
Hart`s War.Decent film.I think Willis was better than Farrell in it even though Willis got only one expression on his face through the film.
The Alamo.Huge disappointment.It looked like expensive made for TV kind of film.It got plenty of good actors but somehow they all sucked...big time :(
Man Of Fire.Denzel Washington and Christopher Walken in Tony Scott film sounds great but the film turn out to be only good one not great.
Bad Santa.Billy Bob Thornton was great...and the whole film is great.I laughed a lot when I was watching it.
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I have watched
Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason it was very funny.
The Bourne Supremacy, I think it was very bad, besauce i had reed the book and the movie follow not the book.
Kongekabale a Danish movie, it was good.
Coogans Bluff
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Watched Adaptation last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very refreshing to watch a film that keeps you guessing all the way and Nic Cage was excellent. Felt the same way about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . :)
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Road to Perdition - great performances of Paul Newman and Tom Hanks.
Great music and wonderful cinematography (well deserved Oscar O0)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - I loved it. Small film big impact on me that's for sure.
Good performances (I love the hitchhiker :D) ... and those eye shots are WOW
"You damn fool, you ruined the door !" ;D ;D
I am Sam - Sean Penn is perfect, but I think the movie was too long and Michelle Pfeiffer's perf disappointing
But good movie on the whole.
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - I loved it. Small film big impact on me that's for sure.
Good performances (I love the hitchhiker :D) ... and those eye shots are WOW
"You damn fool, you ruined the door !" ;D ;D
;D Aw, memories!
I've been wanting to watch this movie again, but haven't had/taken the time here recently. It's probably been a year or so ago since I've seen it.
But it is nice to hear others hail the movie besides me. ;) :D
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I still need to see it and the Night of the Living Dead or heck all of the Dead/Romero series. I've seen the Michael Bay TCM remake and I surpringsly enjoyed it.
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But it is nice to hear others hail the movie besides me. ;) :D
You're very convincing when it comes to horror movies ;)
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The Bourne Supremacy, I think it was very bad, besauce i had reed the book and the movie follow not the book.
i'd have to disagree with you there bito bourne movies may not be as good as the books, but they are the best thrillers of the last 10-15 years, beats any of the recent bonds, and total let downs of hollywood thrillers.
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Watched Adaptation last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very refreshing to watch a film that keeps you guessing all the way and Nic Cage was excellent. Felt the same way about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind . :)
I liked Spike Jonze`s Being John Malkovich and Adaptation a lot and looked forward to see Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind but I was very disappointinted when I finally saw it.Quite boring film.The idea was good but somehow I end up disliking it ???
About Bourne movies,I did enjoy both of them.Matt Damon was surprisingly good as an actionhero.Much better than his buddy Ben Affleck.
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Watch Osama. This movie takes you beyond your emotional depths and makes you think and realize how unfortunate Afghanastanian women are under the Taliban's stupid policies. This movie DEFINITELY made me feel so much more greatful and realize how lucky I am to be living in a free Republic. It also made me look into women's perspectives and made me realize how brave and courageous women can be and have gone through so much more than men (sorry guys ;D) I definitely recommend this movie just because it keeps your eyes glued through the whole movie and for its strong emotional message that comes out of it.
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Watch Character this French Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language film a couple years ago is simply genius. The narration just keeps you at a steady pace with the movie and as well as interested. Brilliant movie.
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Watched Adaptation last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very refreshing to watch a film that keeps you guessing all the way and Nic Cage was excellent.
Right on. O0
Watch Osama. This movie takes you beyond your emotional depths and makes you think and realize how unfortunate Afghanastanian women are under the Taliban's stupid policies. This movie DEFINITELY made me feel so much more greatful and realize how lucky I am to be living in a free Republic. It also made me look into women's perspectives and made me realize how brave and courageous women can be and have gone through so much more than men (sorry guys ;D) I definitely recommend this movie just because it keeps your eyes glued through the whole movie and for its strong emotional message that comes out of it.
Sounds interesting gimpy - I'll make a note to look out for it, thanks. :)
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I'm kind of ashamed to say I watched Johnny English last night and thought it funny. Need something light now and then. :D
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Chill Lin, everyone has a "guilty pleasure". ;)
This afternoon I watched Springfield Rifle (1952) starring Gary Cooper. It was pretty good for an old time western. The story was slightly more unusual, and the scenery was good - looked like it was shot around the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, CA (where some of Joe Kidd was filmed.)
The worst thing was the adverts in between. Guilt at watching daytime TV is exacerbated by all the ads being for old people. Makes you feel like a right loser putting your feet up with the Countdown grannies. (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardgrin.gif) (For the uninitiated, Countdown is a cheesy quiz show.)
(http://www.affichescinema.com/insc_s/springfield_rifle.jpg)
Before that I caught the last few minutes of Seminole (1953) with Rock Hudson. Looked like classic western cheese with Rock's acting as wooden as ever. But you can't beat cheesy westerns for nostalgia, and to imagine what a shock Leone must have been coming after all that.
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Watched Fort Apache ( 1948 ) today,I bought the DVD several weeks ago but only got around to watching it today.This is one great movie.The first in John Ford's Cavalry trilogy,starring John Wayne,Henry Fonda,Ward Bond,Victor McLaglen,Shirley Temple and plenty of others that always worked for Ford.Fonda plays against type and does an outstanding job.His actions towards the end of the movie are completely different to what you are used to seeing him do in other roles,but he pulls it off superbly.John Wayne answering the reporters questions at the end is classic ( never let the facts get in the way of a good story ).
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good old victor mclaglen, where would duke be without him..
ye know despite playing a lot of stereotypical irishmen in the movies he was actually english also a fighter, he once fought heavyweight champion 'Jack Johnson' to a draw in six rounds, and belive it or not, won the best actor oscar in 1935 for ford's the informer, and now after all that you'll probably tell me you knew that already
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I didn't know he was English and I didn't know he fought Jack Johnson but I did know he'd won the Best actor oscar in 1935. O0
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I just saw "Sahara". It couldn't be more cliche even if the bad guy wore a monacle and slowly stroked a white cat.
Sure I was expecting cheesy actioner, but aside from a few interesting action scenes and the cool idea of including an old ironclad in the plot, it was crap. Cruz (heroine as the unoriginal hot doctor with a heart of gold) sleepwalked through, and even though Mcanawhatever (hero) and Zahn (comic relief) actually showed up, they didn't have anything to work with. It even had the old "rich, suave bad guy escaping on a helicopter with hero arriving at the last minute to give chase" scene. Its too formula to be more than average, and doesn't even work as a "popcorn" cheesy actioner, so it is below average. William H. Macy is in it, though I think anyone could have played his part. And Delroy Lindo shows up in a small role.
2 out of 10
Don't see it, unless your only other options are "Speed 2" or getting stabbed in the forehead.
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I'm kind of ashamed to say I watched Johnny English last night and thought it funny. Need something light now and then. :D
It wasn't great, but I chuckled on and off throughout. I've seen much, much worse than "Johnny English".
My biggest guilty pleasure is "Rocketman" with Harland Williams.
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Watched Fort Apache ( 1948 ) today,I bought the DVD several weeks ago but only got around to watching it today.This is one great movie.The first in John Ford's Cavalry trilogy,starring John Wayne,Henry Fonda,Ward Bond,Victor McLaglen,Shirley Temple and plenty of others that always worked for Ford.Fonda plays against type and does an outstanding job.His actions towards the end of the movie are completely different to what you are used to seeing him do in other roles,but he pulls it off superbly.John Wayne answering the reporters questions at the end is classic ( never let the facts get in the way of a good story ).
Sounds great tgy. 8) That one's on my list. Since seeing Once Upon A Time In The West I'd like to see more Henry Fonda.
now after all that you'll probably tell me you knew that already
I didn't know any of that. Thanks little bill. O0
Has anyone seen Downfall? I fancy a trip to the movies and I hear it's very good. ???
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I'm surprised Sahara even topped the box office over Sin City. Well, bad movies are very unpredictable.
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Monday Every Which Way But Loose O0 O0
Ruth Gordon is hilarious ;D
I love that movie
Tuesday Manhattan
Worth seeing for the photography (if you like NY, you'll love it ... ) and the dialogues, witty and sharp as usual in Allen's movies.
(http://www.rtsi.ch/prog/images/Trasm/film_manhattan_woody_allen_new_york-b.jpg)
Wednesday Any Which Way You Can O0 O0
'love that one too ;)
I've always had kind of a soft spot for Geoffrey Lewis ;)
Thursday Sin City
WOW impressive
Great perfs of Willis, Owen and Rourke
Visually O0 ... black and white WOOWWW WOOOW
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Saw the Amityville Horror yesterday, it was scary but definitely not as good as the original. And was this movie REALLY based on a true story? Or was that for marketing reasons? But overall this movie was an average to me and if you want to see Amityville, I suggest you see the original instead.
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The new Amityville Horror doesn't really interest me, but then again, I only think the original is just an okay movie.
Out of the haunted house type movies, I like Poltergeist (unsurprisingly ;))
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Manhattan
Worth seeing for the photography (if you like NY, you'll love it ... ) and the dialogues, witty and sharp as usual in Allen's movies.
(http://www.rtsi.ch/prog/images/Trasm/film_manhattan_woody_allen_new_york-b.jpg)
Thanks AB, I will look out for that. To this day I have not seen a Woody Allen film. I love good landscape and cityscapes in movies. That pic reminds me of the wonderful NYC of Once Upon A Time In America.
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good old victor mclaglen, where would duke be without him..
ye know despite playing a lot of stereotypical irishmen in the movies he was actually english also a fighter, he once fought heavyweight champion 'Jack Johnson' to a draw in six rounds....
Let's not mislead the folks here.... He was not knocked out by Jack Johnson, who was most likely toying with him. No knock out, no decision, that was the rules of the exhibition bout. He was not Jack Johnson's equal in a boxing ring, though by all accounts quite the boxer otherwise.
Just curious, why did you put Jack Johnson's name in quotations?
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cause i wasn't sure which world hweight champ he fought i just heard the story as fought the world hweight champ. i picked up johnson s name later on.
isn't amityville horror something to do with michael"i can't make a decent movie to save my life"bay
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The African Queen and Full Metal Jacket.
Thought I should get around to seeing the former as prep for White Hunter, Black Heart. I quite liked it, and it grew on me as I watched, but it's not something I could watch a lot. The play between Bogart and Hepburn in the early parts of the voyage niggled me a bit. But I appreciated their metamorphosis. It wasn't really what I had expected - I imagined it to be much more of an "epic". But I understand that shooting on location out there was a big deal at the time, and seeing it in 1951 would have been quite different. Probably also from the point of view of Rosie's strong character (even though she was still annoyingly swoony at times, but I guess there was some humour in that). I know it's silly for this age of movie, but I'm one of those people who is put off by old special effects that are so unconvincing. :-X Of course a good story always wins out though.
It's the first time I've properly watched either actor, so I'm interested to compare other performances.
I really liked Full Metal Jacket. O0 It might be my favourite Vietnam movie so far. I don't think it's better than Apocalypse Now, but I think I like it more.
I loved the cinematography throughout, but was particularly struck by the mood and colour in the boot camp sequences. The acting was fantastic. I like the fact that there was no obvious cliched comment about the horror of war. It just showed it, take it or leave it. For me the real theme was "the duality of man", as vocalised by Joker, but apparent throughout.
Does anyone know which John Wayne movie Joker was quoting?
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Can you tell I've been to town and Blockbuster? (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardgrin.gif)
Finally got around to Goodfellas. Loved it. O0
I'm sure lots of you feel the same way so I'll save my gassing, and just say that I particularly liked the way the camera pans all around a room, showing all the details of the excellent sets. Especially that long take of Henry and Karen entering the club; the camera follows them for ages. Also loved the use of music.
Only my second Scorsese film, the other being Gangs of New York, which is no comparison.
(http://www.sensesofcinema.com/images/directors/02/good.jpg)
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Finally got around to Goodfellas. Loved it. O0
I'm sure lots of you feel the same way so I'll save my gassing, and just say that I particularly liked the way the camera pans all around a room, showing all the details of the excellent sets. Especially that long take of Henry and Karen entering the club; the camera follows them for ages. Also loved the use of music.
That's one of the best Steadicam shots ever!
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Brendan have you seen Russian Ark?
The whole film is one amazing steadicam shot. 8)
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Does anyone know which John Wayne movie Joker was quoting?
What's the quote?
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Thanks Doug, the soldiers kept imitating him talking about "pilgrims" and saying "little lady"...maybe that's every Wayne movie! I'll try to find a more exact quote.
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Joker does Wayne voices a few times, but the main full quote he says is
Listen up, pilgrim. A day without blood is like a day without sunshine.
But I'm thinking that's his variation, and only "Listen up, pilgrim" is The Duke. Did he say it in a particular movie or is this a general John Wayne thing? Google doesn't bring up a movie title for me.
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I know he says "pilgrim" an annoying number of times in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. I'm sure it's more a general impression of John Wayne, and as for the part, "A day without blood is like a day without sunshine," I would think has got to be original.
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Watched a couple of flms this
passing week
1st off Hellboy .........pretty good all round, could have had more action in it and i hate those love interest things that affect the pace of the film in this case "Selma Blair".
The overall look of the film was pretty arty and very darn good Del Toro's trade marks all over it.
The casting was pretty good too i could see any other actor portraying Hellboy as Ron Perlman did. John Hurt was pretty good to as always.
The other film however ......Collateral was $#!t i am afraid to say as i was quite looking forward to it .
Tom Cruise as a hitman ....i dont think so.....started off quite convincing but the film just spiralled out of control and in the end it seemed that tom cruise was in fact a Terminator as he could not be killed.
Personally if i was a hitman and Jamie foxx gave me that much lip i would have whacked him very early on in the film, i mean this cabbie took the piss, chucking all his documents away, stopping him from doing his very well paid work.
There was also alot of predictability as i knew that as soon as Jada Pinkett SMith gave the cabbie her number that this would not be the last we would see of her.....which is a shame.
Finally are you telling me that in a shoot off between a psychotic killer and a cabbie at close range that the cabbie would win.
Cruise please stick to nice films and leave the menacing bad guys to the actors who can really do these parts justice.
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ah i didn't think it was that bad, the end was a bit off alright especially the way they had to reiterate the bit about being dead ona train and noone noticing. but i thought cruise was a good bad guy
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Personally if i was a hitman and Jamie foxx gave me that much lip i would have whacked him very early on in the film, i mean this cabbie took the piss, chucking all his documents away, stopping him from doing his very well paid work.
Killing Max for tossing the briefcase would have been a reflex move, but not smart. Vincent used Max to get the new list of targets, knowing that going to the crime boss to explain that the list was lost would be suicide.
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Leolo: this movie is just absolutely disgusting, depressing, disturbing. . . . .which is why this movie is so beautiful.
I loved this film, it makes every crappy situation that comes along in our lives make it seem like an itch. It's about a young boy going through a very bad time in his life including his family and the only way he escapes is through his imagination and writing. The thing about this film is that it takes all the depressing situations and makes them humorous and beautiful. The young boy is so engulfed in his imagination that he ends up in a physciatric ward but is still seeing life as a beautiful thing.
This is one of the best films of 1992 and I definitely recommend it!
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Watched
- Showtime only worth watching for DeNiro, otherwise Eddie Murphy is not even funny anymore (what's he doing, is he still an actor ? :-\)
I really enjoyed watching the bloopers at the end ;D DeNiro can be such a joker :D
Besides, it was as if Rene Russo was not in the movie ... and what is she up to ? I wish we could see her more
- The Glass House with Diane Lane, Leelee Sobieski :( watchable.
I'd like to have the same house though. Pretty cool ;)
- North to Alaska with John Wayne :)
Funny guy this John Wayne
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Watched
- Showtime only worth watching for DeNiro, otherwise Eddie Murphy is not even funny anymore (what's he doing, is he still an actor ? :-\)
I really enjoyed watching the bloopers at the end ;D
the shatner cameo was classic, especially the bonnett slide, fair play to him, he's in his 70's
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I have watced
Million Dollar Baby in cinema, it's so good.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly on DVD
Somethings Gotta Give on DVD
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Last night I watched Ed Harris's film about the American painter Jackson Pollock.....
Pollock
(2000)
I'm quite a fan of Pollocks work and Ed Harris so I was looking forward to this.. maybe too much. It's certainly not a bad film. Harris is excellent tho' I must admit I found Marcia Gay Harden a little irritating as his wife..
Harris is totaly believable as the ill temperd, mentally ill, alchoholic artist and a lot of the film does focus on these personality traits...I guess it really is a warts and all bio...tho' I think some of the best scenes were those showing him at work creating those huge canvasas that Pollock favoured. Theres some teriffic actors in smallish roles .. John Heard, Bud Cort, Val Kilmer.. and overall I liked Harris's direction.. He obviously has huge respect for Pollock and his work.. I guess I just found the subject matter..ie Pollocks numerous personality disorders a little hard to take on film.. I'm gonna watch it again soon.. Maybe like Bird it'll improve with repeated viewings..
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Some of the movies I have just watched recently were:
The Good the Bad and the Ugly: DVD
FistFull of Dollars: DVD
Meet the Fockers: DVD
Instinct: Television
The Quick and the Dead: Cable
Can't seem to recall any others at the moment... Hm.
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The Legend of 1900: very underrated movie and leading character is another very underrated actor, TIm Roth. The cinematography is beautiful and the music is worth getting the soundtrack for. And the music is by Mr. Morricone himself.
The movie is about one of the greatest pianists in the world (Tim Roth) that has never stepped off a cruiseline and went on dry land. This is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen and this is the type of movie that can be watchable over and over and over again. O0
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Watched Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin biopic Beyond the Sea on dvd last night and enjoyed it even more second time round... :)
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Tonight I'm watching No Way Out. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Silverado was three weeks ago. Always makes me laugh.
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Watched Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin biopic Beyond the Sea on dvd last night and enjoyed it even more second time round... :)
amen to that, great film
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Yeah.. It didn't get very good reviews and I don't think the box office was too good. But I thought it was a very good effort and Spacey was very convincing as darin. Good direction as well.. especialy with the musical numbers. Might have to buy this one. ;)
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:) Yesterday evening, I saw "Gosford Park" (Robert Altman, 2001), on TV.
I had ever seen it , in original version, that's a nice movie, with good actors (Kristin Scott Thomas, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith ...).
It reminds me of all the James Ivory movies, which always talk of English aristocracy, the links between people, the appearences , the people who work for them.
I like the atmosphere, all the various and rich details of the wide castles, the wonderful gardens ...
But what I prefer is the general plots of such movies, the strange microcosms of that period, which seem completly anachronistic now, but not really ... in fact !
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I saw that on TV the other week too. Quite good. Nice to see a quality all-star cast, and, as you say, a good atmosphere is evoked.
But I much preferred one of those Merchant Ivory films you mention, Sylvie: The Remains of the Day. Very moving, and it had me crying. I like Anthony Hopkins and he and Emma Thompson were good in that. The book is great too. I agree Sylvie, dramatisations of the old class rituals can be interesting to watch.
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:) Hi Lilly !
Oh ! Yes "Remains of the day" is a wonderful movie ! I only saw it once, and after , I couldn't stop crying ....
Anthony Hopkins is one of my favorite actors, not only because he played a terrific Hannibal Lecter !!! :)
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:) Hi Sylvie.
Yes, Hopkins was my favourite actor when I was about 17. I had a giant Remains of the Day poster in my study at school. But that was before I discovered Clint. :P Yeah he was a good Hannibal - amazing range to play those two very different characters.
I see a pattern here...you and I liking stories of lost love, with both Bridges and Remains of the Day. :D That bit when they let go of each other's hands as she goes off on the bus... :'(
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who saw octopussy - what a way to go - suffocated by an octopus
remains of the day is good and so is howards end if you haven't seen it
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I know he says "pilgrim" an annoying number of times in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. I'm sure it's more a general impression of John Wayne, and as for the part, "A day without blood is like a day without sunshine," I would think has got to be original.
Thank you Doug. I must see The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
Would also like to see The Green Berets, a different type of Vietnam War film. Someone on the IMDb message board for Full Metal Jacket made a good point about that film's references to John Wayne signalling a change in attitude towards the war, and representing the disillusionment of some soldiers.
Is that you John Wayne? Is this me?
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The Legend of 1900: very underrated movie and leading character is another very underrated actor, TIm Roth. The cinematography is beautiful and the music is worth getting the soundtrack for. And the music is by Mr. Morricone himself.
The movie is about one of the greatest pianists in the world (Tim Roth) that has never stepped off a cruiseline and went on dry land. This is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen and this is the type of movie that can be watchable over and over and over again. O0
I caught that film on TV a while back, and yes, it may be underrated. It was lavishly done - I imagine a fairly big budget - with those big shots of the ship and the Statue of Liberty. A good script, from what at the outset might seem like a dubious premise. Sensitive and gripping.
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Thank you Doug. I must see The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
Would also like to see The Green Berets, a different type of Vietnam War film. Someone on the IMDb message board for Full Metal Jacket made a good point about that film's references to John Wayne signalling a change in attitude towards the war, and representing the disillusionment of some soldiers.
"I love the smell of napalm in the morning"........
The Green Berets was abit overdone and really had nothing to do with reality.....Full Metal Jacket was more interesting and much closer to the true experience.
It's interesting to note how the film makers depicted the Vietnam war before and after......such tripe. >:(
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The Green Berets was abit overdone and really had nothing to do with reality.....Full Metal Jacket was more interesting and much closer to the true experience.
It's interesting to note how the film makers depicted the Vietnam war before and after......such tripe. >:(
Yes, I understand The Green Berets is said to be an old-style gung-ho morale-raiser, rather than an attempt at realism.
I'm not so interested in the movies for themselves, but for what they say about the American experience in Vietnam, and changing interpretations of the war.
Dave, do you speak from experience?
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Lilly: Great to hear from you! Yes, I do speak from experience. I also apologize for what could be taken as a rather rude remark. It's just that I am still somewhat bothered by the way Vietnam (and the vets) are depicted. Like you, I am not so much interested in the movies themselves, as much as I am in the message they are trying to send. :-\ Anyway, hope you doing well. :)
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8) Hi Dave. :) Good to see ya.
No apologies necessary, I didn't think you rude at all.
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Yes, I understand The Green Berets is said to be an old-style gung-ho morale-raiser, rather than an attempt at realism.
You got that right. The green berets is a western that just happends to take place in nam. The berets are the cavalry, the south vietnamese are the settlers, and the vietcong are the indians. ;)
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Harold and Kumar
One of the funniest movies I have ever seen in my life. It is so random but at the same time a lung dropping experiece. It's not only just about two stoners making a 45 minute road trip just to eat the scrumptious White Castle mini-burgers, it deals with racial issues and living life to the fullest, and so much more madness these two experience. I definitely recommend this film. This is definitely on my top 5 comedies of all time now.
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Harold and Kumar
One of the funniest movies I have ever seen in my life. It is so random but at the same time a lung dropping experiece. It's not only just about two stoners making a 45 minute road trip just to eat the scrumptious White Castle mini-burgers, it deals with racial issues and living life to the fullest, and so much more madness these two experience. I definitely recommend this film. This is definitely on my top 5 comedies of all time now.
I liked it a lot as well. I liked how it was just completely random and stuff happened for no reason or no point at all. As much as I liked the first American Pie movie, I liked this better as a "teen comedy-this generations-Animal House kind of a thing. If that makes sense. :)
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I have watched
Hannibal
Shadowlands
and I like also Anthony Hopkins he is a great actor.
Inspector Morse
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i watched manhunter the directors cut.
it is far superior to red dragon, peterson is brilliant as the emotionally scarred investigator
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i watched manhunter the directors cut.
it is far superior to red dragon, peterson is brilliant as the emotionally scarred investigator
YES! Thank you! I love Manhunter and it doesn't have anything to with the fact Michael Mann directed it I assure you. ;D It's a little 80's but what else do you expect for a low budget flick of that decade? And yes, Petersen is wonderful and so is Tom Noonan as the killer.
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Manhunter was alot more creepier than Red Dragon. Besides Anthony Hopkins, the acting in Red Dragon was bad and killed the mood of the movie.
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I still haven't seen Red Dragon yet.
I like Manhunter. Though I did have an issue with the ending back when I first saw it some years back. I thought the movie wanted to be a little too much of an action movie near the end. But then I saw Thief last year, and saw a very similar approach to the end battle scene in that movie. So I don't know, I might think differently of it now if I was to watch it again. It's just the thing that bothers me the most about reading a book before seeing the movie is when it feels like the book's "tone" has been messed with. Red Dragon is such a dark book (and the best of that series), it could make an exceptional suspense/horror movie.
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Shadowlands
and I like also Anthony Hopkins he is a great actor.
Cool bito. 8) Shadowlands is my favourite Hopkins movie, and for a long time was my all-time favourite film. The first movie I ever watched that as soon as it had finished I grabbed a snack and stuck the cassette straight back in for another viewing. 8) That was back when I was 16. That film got me into reading C.S. Lewis' non-Narnia books. If you like the film, I recommend reading Surprised by Joy - it made me pick up on a lot more nuances in the movie. Plus it's a thought-provoking book in itself. Or a shorter one, specifically about his reaction to the loss of his wife, A Grief Observed.
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Shadowlands ........ :'( :'( :'(
Speaking of sad endings. Or movies that make you cry.
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I like also Anthony Hopkins he is a great actor.
Bito,have you seen a film called Spotswood,made in Australia in 1992.I think they changed the title to The Efficiency Expert in other parts of the world.A very funny film with a great performance by Anthony Hopkins.A different type of role by Hopkins but he does pull it off.
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Shadowlands ........ :'( :'( :'(
Speaking of sad endings. Or movies that make you cry.
Yeah all my favourite movies seem to be tear-jerkers! :'( It speaks for the quality of a film when it rips your guts out with emotion, I guess that's it.
And with Shadowlands, you don't have the option of telling yourself it's just a movie - it's a true story. :(
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Lilly wrote:
If you like the film, I recommend reading Surprised by Joy - A Grief Observed
I have read the books and you are right the books are more nuanceret than the movie.
tgy wrote:
Bito,have you seen a film called Spotswood,made in Australia in 1992
I have watched the movie and you are right it's a funny movie and a different type of role by Hopkins.
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I have read the books and you are right the books are more nuanceret than the movie.
Nuanceret.... I assume this is the Danish word for nuance?
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Doug wrote:
Nuanceret.... I assume this is the Danish word for nuance
I'm sorry, I have spelt the word wrong and my english isn't so good but I hope you can understand what I write.
I'm sorry again.
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Doug wrote:
Nuanceret.... I assume this is the Danish word for nuance
I'm sorry, I have spelt the word wrong and my english isn't so good but I hope you can understand what I write.
I'm sorry again.
Don't be sorry! And of course I understood what you wrote. I went to the dictionary and didn't see the word there, so I then looked up where you were from and naturally figured it was a Danish word. The meaning was clear enough. It was because your English was so good that I thought it was a word I would find in the English dictionary.
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I saw a movie called Fireworks (Hana Bi). It reminded me in some ways of the Dirty Harry/ MWNN movies. It was very good. It was a Japanese movie from the mid 90's.
I also saw Shaolin Soccer which was funny.
Bend It Like Beckham which was OK but not really as good as everyone made it out to be.
Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle which was stupid but funny in that dumb kind of way.
I, Robot which I enjoyed a lot. The special effects didn't seem out of place with the movie. It looked realistic. Better than I thought it would be.....
House of Flying Daggers which was awesome. The best of the bunch by far. Really pretty to look at. I recommend this one highly....
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Lilly wrote:
If you like the film, I recommend reading Surprised by Joy - A Grief Observed
I have read the books and you are right the books are more nuanceret than the movie.
Glad you've read 'em bito! 8) And your English is great. O0
Just saw The Hurricane. Interesting, but I understand it took some unnecessary liberties with the facts of the real life story. I know zilch about Carter's case, but I wish movie makers wouldn't make gratuitous changes. The emotions surrounding a case like that are so high, that it really is important to try to be faithful to the true events, whilst making any necessary artistic embellishments.
I enjoyed the film, but I'm left with a feeling that it could have been better. The story is so powerful that it hardly needs messing with. There were a few little things that grated and seemed unrealistic, and that detracted from the film. One that stands out is when Carter sees the lights of the building across the city flashing, and knows it is Lazarus. For all I know that could have happened, but it seemed phoney to me. Also, Carter's dramatic speech to the courtroom near the end. In real life he never spoke, and I doubt he would have been allowed to. To me that was over-the-top, and added nothing but cheese.
There was also the odd moment when the score annoyed me - too obvious supposedly emotion-inducing strings that just distract rather than enhance. Needed some Eastwood advice there I think!
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Doug wrote:
Nuanceret.... I assume this is the Danish word for nuance
I'm sorry, I have spelt the word wrong and my english isn't so good but I hope you can understand what I write.
I'm sorry again.
Don't worry about it, bito. Your English is fine. Anyway, if need be, I can interpret from the Danish. In this case, Doug is right, or he's close. "Nuanced" is the word in English.
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Thanks for the nice word about my english.
I try to do my best and I'm so glad You can understand what I write.
Have a nice weekend.
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Glad you've read 'em bito! 8) And your English is great. O0
Just saw The Hurricane. Interesting, but I understand it took some unnecessary liberties with the facts of the real life story. I know zilch about Carter's case, but I wish movie makers wouldn't make gratuitous changes. The emotions surrounding a case like that are so high, that it really is important to try to be faithful to the true events, whilst making any necessary artistic embellishments.
I enjoyed the film, but I'm left with a feeling that it could have been better. The story is so powerful that it hardly needs messing with. There were a few little things that grated and seemed unrealistic, and that detracted from the film. One that stands out is when Carter sees the lights of the building across the city flashing, and knows it is Lazarus. For all I know that could have happened, but it seemed phoney to me. Also, Carter's dramatic speech to the courtroom near the end. In real life he never spoke, and I doubt he would have been allowed to. To me that was over-the-top, and added nothing but cheese.
There was also the odd moment when the score annoyed me - too obvious supposedly emotion-inducing strings that just distract rather than enhance. Needed some Eastwood advice there I think!
moan moan moan ;D
good old denZEL, sockin it to the bad guys.
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moan moan moan ;D
good old denZEL, sockin it to the bad guys.
;D Fair enough, little bill. It was still a pretty good, enjoyable movie. And yeah, Denzel was very good. I like him; he has a kind face. From what I hear he's a good guy in real life too. 8)
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I love The Hurricane, it's a good movie, and yeah Denzel Washington is very good in it 8)
Well deserved Best Actor nomination O0
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I re-watched
- A Fistful Of Dollars (with Christopher Frayling's commentary-better than the Schickel's commentary on Unforgiven no doubt about it)
- Magnum Force
- The Enforcer
- Sudden Impact
I realized that one of the thing I really enjoy in an Eastwood movie is the end :D
I love the end in Magnum Force and The Enforcer
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Well deserved Best Actor nomination O0
I don't know whether it's true, but I heard some people think he lost out because of the controversy about the film.
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Well I've never heard about it, but to me he lost because Spacey was better ;)
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Could well be - I don't even know what the competing films were. :-[
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Could well be - I don't even know what the competing films were. :-[
No problem :)
http://us.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Academy_Awards_USA/2000
Academy Awards, USA: 2000
Best Picture
Winner:American Beauty (1999) - Bruce Cohen; Dan Jinks
Other Nominees:
# Cider House Rules, The (1999) - Richard N. Gladstein
# Green Mile, The (1999) - David Valdes; Frank Darabont
# Insider, The (1999) - Michael Mann (I); Pieter Jan Brugge
# Sixth Sense, The (1999) - Frank Marshall (I); Kathleen Kennedy (I); Barry Mendel
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Winner: American Beauty (1999) - Kevin Spacey
Other Nominees:
# Hurricane, The (1999) - Denzel Washington
# Insider, The (1999) - Russell Crowe (I)
# Straight Story, The (1999) - Richard Farnsworth
# Sweet and Lowdown (1999) - Sean Penn
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O0 Thank you AB. You saved my lazy ass. :-[
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;D no problem
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Watched all six Star Wars films.Episode 1 and 2 were good,3 was much better but I still say 4 and 5 are the standouts,and 6 finished the saga well.When I first saw the DVD of episode 6 last year with the change of Hayden Christensen standing next to Alec Guiness and Yoda at the end,I didn't like it, but having watched all 6 films in order it makes a lot of sense.Maybe when Luke Skywalker took the helmet off Vader they could have super imposed Hayden's head and redubbed the lines in that scene as well.
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Watched Denzil Washington in The Manchurian Candidate last.
Always been a fan of the original Sinatra movie... but still enjoyed this. I'm fast becoming a bit of a Denzil fan after seeing Man On Fire recently and Devil in a Blue Dress...
Candidate was a good updating of the story, maybe a little far fetched in some places and I was a little dissapointed with the ending (compared to the original) but it was still good and Streep was very good in her role..(tho' maybe not quite as creepy..(bad choice of word but it'll have to do for now) as Angela Lansbury..
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HitchHikers guide to the Galaxy.
7/10.
Had some slow parts, but overall funny and original (as per the original book and TV series which I never read or watched). Possible sequel too I imagine.
WKC.
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Watched Densil Washington in The Manchurian Candidate last.
Always been a fan of the original Sinatra movie... but still enjoyed this. I'm fast becoming a bit of a Densil fan after seeing Man On Fire recently and Devil in a Blue Dress...
Candidate was a good updating of the story, maybe a little far fetched in some places and I was a little dissapointed with the ending (compared to the original) but it was still good and Streep was very good in her role..(tho' maybe not quite as creepy..(bad choice of word but it'll have to do for now) as Angela Lansbury..
as eddie murphy said
"i pay five dollars to watch denzel.
i don't pay no five dollars to watch honky bruce willis.
denzels the man, i pay five dollar to watch denzel."
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Matt, I saw you recently watched M -- did you like it?
It's probably one of the best movies I've ever seen.
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Watched "American Movie" today. The doc about the Wisconsin handy man trying to get his horror film Coven made... and not letting small things like lack of recources or talent stand in his way... ;D
Interesting.. but not great.
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Watched all the Star Wars movies this week all in order including Revenge of the Sith of course with my friends. Loved it!
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Watched this weekend
Howards End
The Sting
Magnum Force
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Sudden Impact
Magnum Force
Coogan's Bluff.
Took the DVD's to work with me.
Last night. 05/29 Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.
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Where Eagles Dare-even though Clint is not the main character still one of my favorite action movies.
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Watched Woody Allen's Manhattan ( 1979 ).I was a little dissappointed with this thinking it would be up there with Annie Hall, but It just didn't recapture that brilliance.
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I watched "Dancer in the Dark", Lars von Trier (2000), whith Björk, David Morse, Peter Stormare, Catherine Deneuve...
It is a very sad movie, about a young woman who is becoming blind, how she struggles for life, for the welfare of her son, until the murder she commits ... In the end , she's condemned, and her death is terrible.
Björk is amazing in this role, she seems enlighted from the inside, I was moved to tears ... :'(
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I finally saw "Cool Hand Luke". Very good flick, and it was nice to see George Kennedy in a role other than "Eiger Sanction" or as a straight man to Leslie Neilsen. The whole movie felt very real to me, especially the ending where there wasn't much talk or drawn out bits like in most movies...The law shows up, Newman mocks the big boss, and blam.
Man I hate to admit it, but this is only one of many "older" classics that I need to catch up on.
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Closer: Films like these with pure, great, geniune acting are amazingly entertaining. Every performance was outstanding and Clive Owen's performace stuck out the most. You can really feel the connection and disturbance with these characters and that is what makes a great film.
Sling Blade: Billy Bob Thorton is amazing. Although his character seems "retarded" or dull no one else could have done any better. This story is intriging and interesting and I highly reccommend this film.
The Aviator (second time watching): When watching this film on DVD for the second time, I realized how boring it was to me. I guess the only reason it kept me awake while watching it in a theater was because it was louder. The movie is WAY TOO LONG and tries too hard to fit a whole man's life in one film. The story is interesting but the film's transition to one conflict to another is way too much which made it so boring.
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The Aviator (second time watching): When watching this film on DVD for the second time, I realized how boring it was to me. I guess the only reason it kept me awake while watching it in a theater was because it was louder. The movie is WAY TOO LONG and tries too hard to fit a whole man's life in one film. The story is interesting but the film's transition to one conflict to another is way too much which made it so boring.
i'm only going to agree with you 99.99 and 9/9ths %
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"Le Dîner de cons"
Its a funny French movie about rich guys that have to bring an idiot to a weekly dinner, and whoever brings the biggest idiot wins. Its both funny and very original.
8 out of 10
This might be the first French movie I have seen without Jean Reno or Gerard Depardieu, or both in it 8)
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Yesterday I watched The Pelican Brief again for the first time since '93 when it was released. Not bad but not earthshakingly good either, about the same reactions as I had when watching it in the movies. Alan J. Pakula has made many brilliant films but this was only so-so. Even seemed like a bit of a rehash of All The President´s Men in some ways. I also think Pakula´s films from the 70's were very much outcome of the collaboration with cinematographer Gordon Willis. Stephen Goldblatt does a great job here, but I still kinda miss Willis's bold lighting styles...
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I watched Howard Hawk's The Thing last night for the first time... Wow. still an effectively scary movie after all these years. Somehow they manage to rack up the tension without recourse to showy effects work. Real movie making. ;D
I did like the Carpenter version to tho'.. ;)
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Good Will Hunting: what an amazing and uplifting movie. Matt Damon was absolutely phenominal, I don't give a damn what anyone thinks. Robin WIlliams was great as always and definitely deserved that Oscar. The screenplay is just brilliant, written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, that won the well deserved Oscar as well. I have so much to relate to this movie, coming from a rough neighborhood, but having great influencial people who supported me in a crucial time in my life. This movie did not only relate to me, but it would to so many other people just like Will Hunting. This is a must see movie. Pure brilliance.
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Cool gimpy. O0 I liked that movie too. Some very powerful scenes. It's great when you find a film that strikes a personal chord. 8)
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MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMON,
that said watched the bourne movies recently. Miles ahead of usual hollywood spy/thriller fare, great fun movies.
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Just watched Ridley Scott´s The Duellists for the first time... Breathtakingly beautiful cinematography, music, locations, costumes, everything really. Not to mention great actors and a good script. This must be one of the best films I´ve seen this year, probably ever. The melody keeps playing in my head... :)
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finally saw chronicalls of Riddick, very B grade sci fi.
Still waiting to see Batman Begins
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Yesterday I saw The Eiger Sanction. A good film but not one of Eastwoods greatests... :-\
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Ok...I did it. I saw "Wake of Death", which is Van Damme's latest straight-to-video actioner. While it doesn't suck as bad as "Universal Soldier II", its still about what you would expect. The movie was only good for a few action scenes, the rest of the action was standard fare. There is slightly better than average acting for a dumb video actioner and even though its the same old avenge the dead wife/son/sister/mom/karate teacher etc..., the plot isn't totally throwaway.
Van Damme had to do a little more acting than usual in this one by the way. DeNiro he isn't, but I didn't find myself laughing like I thought I would have (the way I do at Seagal) during his few brief "dramatic" scenes.
5 out of 10
I also saw "Suspect Zero" with Ben Kingsley and Aaron Eckhart. Its a pretty good, well acted flick with an interesting plot twist about halfway through. It isn't as clever as it tries to be, if you know what I mean...but it is still worth a rental if you dig "track the killer" type of flicks.
7 out of 10
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Just watched Ridley Scott´s The Duellists for the first time... Breathtakingly beautiful cinematography, music, locations, costumes, everything really. Not to mention great actors and a good script. This must be one of the best films I´ve seen this year, probably ever. The melody keeps playing in my head... :)
Great flick! I really like this one. O0
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Just watched Ridley Scott's The Duellists for the first time... Breathtakingly beautiful cinematography...
(http://grouse.net.au/~sirrobin/duellists.jpg)
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Mr. and Mrs. Smith Entertaining movie to see when you're on a date but otherwise just the same old cliche type action flick.
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Watched Task Force ( 1949 ) tonight.It's the first time I'd seen this movie and I wasn't disappointed.Starring Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan,it tells the story of the development of the aircraft carrier and it's importantance during WWII.It's starts in 1922 and finishes in 1949 and traces Cooper's character's career in the navy.The action from WWII in the pacific is sensational with real life footage incorporated into the film.This was shown here in Australia on the Turner Classic Movies channel,so if you've got it,keep a look out for this great film.4 out of 5. O0
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Saw Batman Begins tonight. It's great.
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Saw Batman Begins tonight. It's great.
Exactly what I wanted to hear. I'm going Wednesday at 12:30pm, first showing. O0
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Saw Batman Begins tonight. It's great.
dammit i was going to the previews tonight but now i'm stuck at home, have to avoid crowds.
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Dancer in the Dark
Very interesting movie. Many sad and disturbing moments, and a few rejoiceful ones. Some are left for the audience to make too many of their own conclusions. However, what looked like a disturbing and depressing film turned out to have its beautiful moments. When Bijork is in the darkest of situations, she manages to escape through her own world where she is in her own musical. Which was nicely directed. I definitely recommend this film, it's not a GREAT one, but it is very interesting and moving.
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You're right, Gimpy, it's a very good movie.
I posted here about it a few days ago, this movie is really moving, and Bjork is amazing in her part. :)
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BATMAN
(http://www.movieforums.com/images/misc/thumb-batman_begins_logo.jpg)
saw it again today, it's great
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Watched Raging Bull and Goodfellas again on DVD. Great movies. Awesome character study. . .I don't need to say anymore, ya already know well enough how great these two films are.
Hopefully see Batman Begins today!
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ok sir michael caine - great ?
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ok sir michael caine - great ?
In Batman Begins? Yeah, he's a great Alfred.
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Watched Batman Begins, pretty self explanitory.
Men with Guns: very disturbing movie about a doctor who seeks out his former students in a disease infected, gang infested, and war ridden unknown country. Basically seeing that he sent his best students to risk their lives to save others, his regrets leads him to try to save them from a country with no hope of rehabilitation and eventually leads himself to his own downfall. Very sad and disturbing movie, but another great foreign film I recommend.
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Men with Guns: very disturbing movie about a doctor who seeks out his former students in a disease infected, gang infested, and war ridden unknown country. Basically seeing that he sent his best students to risk their lives to save others, his regrets leads him to try to save them from a country with no hope of rehabilitation and eventually leads himself to his own downfall. Very sad and disturbing movie, but another great foreign film I recommend.
Men with Guns is a great film, maybe my favorite of all John Sayles' work...but it ain't a "foreign film". Sayles is very much an American. Yes, Men with Guns is almost entirely in Spanish (saving for Mandy Patinkin's wonderful cameo) and set in a fictional, unnamed country in either Central or South America, but the financing and John Sayles the writer/director are from the United States.
It has subtitles and the spoken language is Spanish, but it ain't foreign. However it is a great movie. And it's not one I find at all disturbing". It's a very smart allegory, and I find it actually very uplifiting and deeply inspiring.
(http://www.theedge.abelgratis.co.uk/filmsmr/menwithguns_files/menwithguns1.jpe) (http://www.rykodisc.com/rykointernal/databasesupport/album_covers_full/725.gif) (http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/res/images/m/menwithguns_sayle.jpg)
John Sayles is consistently underrated for some reason, even among folks who watch a lot of independent films and consider themselves some manner of film buff. One of the last great filmmakers to graduate from the Roger Corman school of learn-as-you-go no-budget schlock filmmaking (Sayles wrote the scripts for Piranha, Battle Beyond the Stars and The Howling), his own stuff is character driven, usually very quiet and subtle, often peopled by amazing ensemble casts, quite moving and extraordinary flicks. All of his movies are worth seeing, but I'd rank his very bast as...
1. Men with Guns[/font] (1997)
2. Passion Fish[/font] (1992)
3. Lone Star[/font] (1996)
4. Limbo[/font] (1999)
5. Eight Men Out[/font] (1988)
6. Matewan[/font] (1987)
7. Return of the Secaucus 7[/font] (1980)
8. The Secret of Roan Inish[/font] (1994)
9. Baby It's You[/font] (1983)
10. Lianna[/font] (1983)
John uses many great actors time and time again, most notably David Strathairn (seven films), Chris Cooper (four films) and Joe Morton (three films). He also has a pretty rare ability to write strong and complex female roles, some of the highlights being Alfre Woodard and Mary McDonnell in Passion Fish, Mary Alice, Angela Bassett and Edie Falco in Sunshine State, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in Limbo, Elizabeth Peña in Lone Star and Linda Griffiths and Jane Hallaren in Lianna. Sayles also edits all of his films by himself and he's also published a couple novels. He's one of the very best and most distinctive and very independent writer/directors of the past twenty-five years with extremely accessible work...and hardly anybody knows his name.
Check him out sometime.
(http://www.identitytheory.com/idgraphics/johnsayles.jpg)
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It is an inspiring movie, but I don't wouldn't call it "uplifting." And you don't think the scene where the men from one of the villages sacrificing themselves by building their own graves to get shot is not disturbing? That's pretty damn disturbing if ya ask me. There are alot more scenes in the movie I can explain, but overall, I think it's like a war version of Salvador; where you see a world with people that only give a damn about themselves and steal off of people by killing them, their friends, family, or everything they have. Uplifting? Don't think so. Great movie? Yes.
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Thank you, gimpy and Holden for bringing John Sayles to my attention. I will definitely look out for his stuff, especially Men With Guns. O0
Just watched Black Day, Blue Night (J. S. Cardone, 1995). I wasn't going to watch TV but caught the beginning with those southwest American desert roads, and I am a sucker for western and road stuff so...
It's a very good, interesting, thought-provoking thriller. Kept my attention and has clever, unexpected plot twists, that in the end leave you wondering what it all means, and what the guy does next. I suppose it's a study of human nature and what unintended things can happen if you don't play life straight. That's what I took from a first watching anyway.
I particularly liked Michelle Forbes' performance. This film gave me déjà-vu, and I'm not sure if I've seen part of it before.
Anyone else seen it? I'd like to know what you make of the crop-duster plane at the end. Reminded me of North by Northwest. 8) (Speaking of which - anyone else in the UK seen the Virgin Trains advert, with all the classic movie scenes in, including the famous one of Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in the dining car? Very cool. 8) I love trains anyway, but even if I didn't, the images in that advert are enough to make me want to go on one.)
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Los Angeles Plays Itself[/color][/font] (2004 - Thom Anderson)
(http://www.mykreeve.net/california/los_angeles/downtown/bradbury_building.jpg) (http://www.jagarchitects.com/img/cont/la_off.jpg)
(http://www.bladezone.com/contents/film/image-library/Images/2812628_Bradbury.jpg)
Interesting if basic idea of tracking the visual history of Los Angeles through feature films, starting with the Silent comedies of Max Senett to the dystopic nightmare of BladeRunner and beyond. And it's not just simply showing different eras uses of particular locations (like the famous Bradbury Building above), but trying to determine how those uses differ and posit reasons for why, with historical perspective of the city as well. Filmmaker Anderson's personal point-of-view as an Angeleno is initially a bonus, but as he points out in the film many of the best uses of the city as a character in the last four decades have been by outsiders (like Polanski), and ultimately he may be too close to his subject. Also he kind of awkwardly interjects his personal feelings of the movies and politics, both of which are all over the map, neither of which are given any time or dedication to see how he reached his opinions, simply snide asides out of the blue. He also draws some pretty tenuous conclusions in spots. But he also makes some interesting points. A mixed bag overall, and not the homerun it should have been. It runs about ten minutes short of three hours, but the length didn't bother me like the inconsistency of tone and message did. Worth seeing, at least as a rental, but I think more could have been done with the material.
GRADE: B-
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/collective/dnaimages/041210/main_losangeles.jpg) (http://www.filmfestivals.com/pixus/festivals/generic/_Los-Angeles-Plays-Itself.jpg)
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BATMAN
(http://www.movieforums.com/images/misc/thumb-batman_begins_logo.jpg)
saw it again today, it's great
Indeed. This is the best Batman (after Adam West, of course ;) )
Great perfomers as Michael Caine, or Gary Oldman in a not typical low profile- nice guy role. Freeman as always, perfect.
And of course, bale playing a perfect and temible Batman
The new Batmobile, completely different from anything that has come before is appropriate, utilitarian and practical
In my DVD collection wish list O0
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I´m trying to ignore anything that`s written about Batman Begins film since it opens in Finland next month and I want to find out myself it`s greatness or badness.
This week has been quite lame with film watching but these ones I saw within a week:
The Flaming Star(the best Elvis movie)
Big Fish(Tim Burton`s another masterpiece)
The Front Page(Matthau,Lemmon and Wilder = brilliant)
House Calls(another Matthau film,nice but nothing special)
Blade Trinity(watchable but worst from all of the Blade movies)
Switchback(watchable Quaid-Glover thriller)
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Who else just saw The Girl in the Café on BBC1?
I thought it was brilliant! O0
American members...it also premieres on HBO, tonight 8pm/7 Central.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443518/
It's a joint BBC/HBO production. What a shame it couldn't be on in the cinemas.
Won't say much in case y'all watch it later, but I thought it was a clever interweaving of a personal story, and the bigger issue of poverty. Great timing of release, but they did very well to ensure it wasn't just an issue film. The personal story works so well too. 8) And some nice cinematography. O0
I love Bill Nighy! (http://home.swfla.rr.com/mattreigns/boardkiss.gif)
HBO page (http://www.hbo.com/films/girlinthecafe/?ntrack_para1=leftnav_category3_show0).
BBC page (http://www.bbc.co.uk/africalives/features/girl.shtml).
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Watched
Dr. No
From Russia With love
The Thomas Crown Affair
Evelyn
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Saw an interesting 1969 movie on the TV last night, that I had not heard of before. Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, about a woman and a TV cameraman caught up in the violence surrounding the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.
I want to see it again to take in all the details, but I found it very interesting, and well shot. It has a wonderful 60s feel to it, and for a youngster like me, not alive in '68, it was really great to see a contemporary interpretation of events at that time.
One shot in particular that I remember was one in which the camera stays only on the muddy boots of the two TV newsmen as they are talking, trying to find their way in a muddy field. It was cleverly done.
I also liked the set design in the cameraman's apartment, and the vivid yellow dress of the woman walking through the police and national guards. Those final scenes were quite striking. And the end really caught me by surprise and gripped me. 8)
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Saw Shane ( 1953 ) again last night,this time on DVD.What a great film.The scenery in the background of some scenes was awesome,the acting,the sound,so much better on DVD.
Some of the scenes that I hadn't really noticed before were when they were bringing Stonewall Torrey's body back after being gunned down by Jack Wilson.The camera panned across the young girls standing there watching the horse go by,one of them started to wave,while her sister grabbed her hand to stop her.I'll have to listen to the audio commentary to hear if that was in the script or not.Also the scene where they are burying Torrey,as the coffin is being lowered into the ground his dog places it's paw on the coffin as it gives out a little whine.That got a lump in my throat.Also interesting to see Ben Johnson play a bad guy,although he does come to his senses at the end of the film as he warns Shane what Ryker is up to.Jack Palance could get a run in the badass thread as he drips pure evil in his role.
What about the very last scene where Shane rides off over the mountains.Is he Dead?Maybe,maybe not.You can make up your own mind.Definitely not to be missed 5/5.
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This week, I will rewatch Three Seasons and plan to watch The Beautiful Country, both Vietanamese/American films. Three Seasons is a very sentimental film about redemption and self discovery. When I first watched this film with my father, he admitted that Three Seasons is the only film that reminded him the most about his former homeland of Vietnam. There are many other great Vietnamese films, but this one I recommend the most. It has a great cast including Harvey Keitel, an American veteran who searches for the daughter he fathered and lost during the Vietnam War. There are other seperate stories aside from this one, but I found this one to be the best out of all of them.
The Beautiful Country I assume will be good as well because of the great reviews it is recieving.
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I've not had a chance to see much this week but I did relax in the company of Peter Cushing & Christopher lee for The Hound Of The Baskervilles ............. a real class act .
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Three Seasons is a very sentimental film about redemption and self discovery. When I first watched this film with my father, he admitted that Three Seasons is the only film that reminded him the most about his former homeland of Vietnam. There are many other great Vietnamese films, but this one I recommend the most. It has a great cast including Harvey Keitel, an American veteran who searches for the daughter he fathered and lost during the Vietnam War.
Sounds good, gimpy.
I just saw Red Dust (2004) on TV. This is only the second movie I have seen with Hilary Swank, and she was great in this too. O0 I loved the film. It delves into some very difficult issues, and is a remarkable study of the complexities of forgiveness and reconciliation. Some nice cinematography too. I really recommend this. It'll make you think. 8)
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I just watched House of the Dead, and I was trying to find Brendan's review of it (I searched it), but couldn't. Is it still on the board?
Anyhow, it's a less than average movie. But there were times when I found myself entertained by what I was watching (I liked what brought the dead back to life). On my Zombi 2 DVD, there's trailers for other Italian zombie movies (possibly a Japanese trailer too) as an extra feature. And watching House of the Dead reminded me of some of those trailers for movies like Zombi 3 and Zombi 4. In all honestly, I would guess that most of those movies aren't terribly good.
But I did think what if someone with talent like Lucio Fulci had gotten hold of the material for House of the Dead, what results would we have gotten? Probably something pretty good. But as we have it, I guess House of the Dead is like an Americanized version of a bad Italian zombie movie. :D
Except for the fact that House had very little gore. ??? How could they cut away from showing us the gore? I watched Fulci's City of the Living Dead recently, and found myself squirming during one particularly nasty scene.
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The night we called it a day ( 2003 ).An Australian film about Frank Sinatra's infamous tour down under in 1974.I only taped this for a friend who is a big Sinatra fan and doesn't get cable t.v. and he enjoyed it,so I thought I'd have a look myself.I was very surprised by this,I found it an entertaining 90 minutes.Although after the first 10 minutes,I didn't think I would.I don't know how much was fact and fiction but you can't let the facts get in the way of a good story.I don't know if this film got released in the rest of the world,but if you come across it,I highly recommend it.
Dennis Hopper portrays Sinatra ( miming to songs sung by Tom Burlinson ) Melanie Griffith's is Barbra Marx and there's plenty of familiar Aussie actors in supporting roles.
The story revolves around the Aussie promoter getting Sinatra to tour down under,then when Sinatra is on stage one night he calls one of our female reporters that is following the tour a hooker.Then the #%$* hits the fan and everyone goes on strike.The musicians,the hotel staff where he is staying,there's no room service,no running water,no refueling of Sinatra's private plane for him to leave the country.Frank is a prisoner in his own hotel room until he apologises which he refuses to do.
4/5 for this even if you're not a Sinatra fan.
edit: I forgot to mention the best scene in the film.When Union Leader Bob Hawke wakes up in a blood soaked bed with a kangaroo's head ;D ;D ;D
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Road to Perdition and Miller's Crossing:
Two very good gangsta films.
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I just watched House of the Dead... Anyhow, it's a less than average movie.
Less then average?! I'd really say what I think but I know the board censors would block most of it out.
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I heard that Uwe Boll is coming out with another video game adaptation.
Please! Somebody fire this guy! >:(
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That's all he does gimpy. He just makes crappy video games into crappy movies.
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Road to Perdition and Miller's Crossing:
Two very good gangsta films.
i love millers crossing.
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(http://www.proverbes.net/img/boutique/produits/317_1251.jpg)
"Charly and the Chocolate Factory", Tim Burton.
I watched it yesterday evening, in theatre.
I've found Johnny Depp not really good in the part of Willy Wonka, the movie full of nice references (such as the link with "2001, a Space Odyssey", but not as humourous and imaginative as the Roald Dahl's book.
To me it's not a "great" Burton's movie ... But not a very bad too ! Well, I've been a little bit ... disappointed !
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Yea, alot of people lately have been uncomfortable with Depp's performance simply because he looks and acts more like a creep than what the original Wonka used to be. But the visuals I heard were very well done.
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the original wonka was a creep, if your judging him by gene wilder your wide of the mark, as that movie only bore a passing resemblance to the book in tone and indeed in certain entire scenes
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I've just watched " Creep and I have to say it's one of the best horror films I've seen in years . Check it out if you like a real horror film , you won't be dissapointed .
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I've just watched " Creep and I have to say it's one of the best horror films I've seen in years . Check it out if you like a real horror film , you won't be dissapointed .
HAHAAHA!
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Is that the one set on the London underground..?
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I watched Ed Wood yesterday. What a great movie. This film made me like Tim Burton more and one of Johnny Depp's finest performances. With great comical intensity, determination, and heart, his performance had me change my views of this director. The scene where he meets Orson Welles at the bar touched me, where Orson explains to Edward to not let others get in the way of making "your vision" come true.
The other day, I watched an interview with Depp and about Edward Wood. He basically explained that he didn't think his movies were bad, they were just strange, and people at the time weren't very accepting of those types of films. What a wonderful thing to say about a "terrible director" and a great man who lived his life to the fullest.
(http://img348.imageshack.us/img348/7752/edwood8fh.jpg) (http://www.imageshack.us)
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Sounds good, gimpy.
I just saw Red Dust (2004) on TV. This is only the second movie I have seen with Hilary Swank, and she was great in this too. O0 I loved the film. It delves into some very difficult issues, and is a remarkable study of the complexities of forgiveness and reconciliation. Some nice cinematography too. I really recommend this. It'll make you think. 8)
Sounds great Lilly. I've been very interested in Hilary Swank after Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don't Cry. I've been keeping track of her other upcoming films:
The Black Dahlia
The Reaping
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005476/
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Ed Wood is one of the best movies ever. So good. O0
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I've been very interested in Hilary Swank after Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don't Cry. I've been keeping track of her other upcoming films:
The Black Dahlia
The Reaping
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005476/
Sounds cool, gimpy. 8) I'll be interested in her future work too.
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Is that the one set on the London underground..?
Yes , it is .
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Hustle and Flow
(http://img309.imageshack.us/img309/8729/hustle1ex.jpg) (http://www.imageshack.us)
One of the best films of the year so far. Not too original, but at the same not too cliche either. Very unique in its own right. The characters are never too forced and are developed smoothly which keeps you more and more interested. Anthony Anderson and especially Terrence Howard bring out the best performances of their career. Terrence Howard who plays a pimp named DJay striving for hip hop stardom is not a good man, as well as too bad. The way his charactor is introduced is great because it's never to forced because he's not made to be too lovable or hatable as well. The rest of the ensemble cast is the best I've seen so far this year, and the humor is presented at the right times. You don't need to be into rap to be impressed by this film. The film also gives prositutes a chance and more humanful perspective on what usually people really see them as. Great film, definitely a must see.
A-
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Watched The Life Aquatic and enjoyed it... Not as good as The Royal Tenenbaums but I still liked it a lot.. Some great acting and some quite moving moments.. Enjoyed the stop-motion animation and the Portugese versions of Bowie songs were superb.
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Last night, I may have watched the worst movie ever to get any type of distribution.
Night of Horror (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202496/maindetails)
I'm sure if you wonder into the movie journal thread and see that I've seen a movie called Night of Horror, you might think I probably had a good time with it. But sadly, no.
To put it the best way possible, it looks like a very bad student film, only I doubt the filmmakers were ever actually in film school.
The most surprising thing is that the movie is actually available on VHS. Somebody actually distributed it. :o
And, they had a copy of the movie at my local video store. There have been a number of movies I've looked for at that place and HAVEN'T been able to find them. ::)
As you can see from the IMDb page, not many people have rated it, which is a good thing. ;)
Watched The Life Aquatic and enjoyed it... Not as good as The Royal Tenenbaums
I've recently seen The Life Aquatic and Bottle Rocket. My overall favorite is Rushmore, but all of his movies are very interesting.
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Last night, I may have watched the worst movie ever to get any type of distribution.
Night of Horror (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202496/maindetails)
Oh man a 1.4? Wow, thats one of the lowest I've seen on IMDB. Its not the worst to get distribution, no way can it be as bad as "Corky Romano."
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ye'd think wouldn't ye, but romano got a 4.6 on imdb , and check this out, someone reviewed it as 9/10 stars
there's no way they are serious
A great comedy..., 15 May 2002
9/10
Author: Cheese_Battalion from America
Corky Romano is a very funny movie.Some of the jokes in this movie aren't all that funny,but most of the jokes are hilarious.One of the things I didn't like about Corky Romano was that in some scenes,they focus too much on certain parts.The point is that Corky Romano lives up to some peoples expectations,but on the other hand,some people might find this movie to be filled with third rate humor that only kids can enjoy.Seriously though,Corky Romano has great comedy elements,the acting made the movie even better.The ending wasn't all that great,but those small flaws don't drive this movie into the ground. 9 out of 10.
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ye'd think wouldn't ye, but romano got a 4.6 on imdb , and check this out, someone reviewed it as 9/10 stars
there's no way they are serious
It shouldn't be higher than a 2. Half of the theater walked out during the movie. Sadly, Fred Ward was in that debacle...
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and peter falk, now eh just one more question mr falk and i'll leave you and your dinner party in piece, eh
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING BEING IN THIS PILE OF SH!T?"
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Oh man a 1.4? Wow, thats one of the lowest I've seen on IMDB. Its not the worst to get distribution, no way can it be as bad as "Corky Romano."
I'm not sure how many people have to rate a movie before it can be put on one fo their lists, but I'm sure Night of Horror would be on as one of the worst movies. I'm guessing the movie was never shown theatrically, but someone actually released it on video, and that will always amaze me. ??? I forced myself to sit through the whole thing. I was curious. Plus I paid a dollar to rent two movies, and it was one of them. ;)
Too bad they titled it Night of Horror. The title is good. I like that.
That Corky Romano review is entertaining in itself. ;D
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My Darling Clementine.
The Great Escape.
The Big Red One.
Sahara.
Sands of Iwo Jima.
Island In the Sky.
The High and the Mighty.
Hell and High Water.
The Desert Rats.
and Dodge City.
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Constantine
(http://img276.imageshack.us/img276/5218/constantinereeves1sm2mj.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
Nice freakish sequences and special effects. But I thought Star Wars was the master of wooden dialogue. All the actors in this movie especially Keanu Reeves just plain sucked. Very dull and blunt emotions which makes the dialogue that has good potential go to waste. Good thing the action keeps this film going, but if you want good acting, don't rent this film.
Grade: C
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
(http://img276.imageshack.us/img276/3434/return1pq.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
Quite an overwhelming film: great action, decent acting, nice special effects, and an average plot. But this movie in my opinion is overrated. The film is too long stretching out to 4 hours, repetitiveness throughout the film making you go through the same old battle sequences over and over again, and everything seemed to be too forced and crammed up into one film. There are many flaws, but out of the three movies from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, this one rises above all in emotional intensity and immense story.
Grade:B
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Saw Meet Joe Black. Been meaning to for ages, because, although I heard a lot of poor reviews, I am quite an Anthony Hopkins fan. Considering it got 2 stars in the Radio Times, it was better than I had expected. It was a bit schmaltzy in parts, especially at the end, but the gentle, careful pace didn't bother me at all, and it was only the end that really went off for me. The final scene was dragged out and too slushy. And the Susan character annoyed me. Her sister, played by the lovely Marcia Gay Harden, was much more likable. I think Hopkins pulled the movie off when it could have been a real dud. He has such talent and made believable scenes out of what might have seemed ridiculous had it been played by a lesser actor.
There have been some pretty good movies on the BBC lately. I missed a lot of the first half, but I still absolutely loved In The Bedroom (Field 2001). Wonderful acting, good script, excellent direction, atmospheric locations. It is an art to make a slowly developed film captivating, but this certainly was. It is very melancholy, but you can't help being gripped by it. The newspaper said the ending was stupid, but I thought it was very good, and not fantastical. That could happen. Tom Wilkinson is a brilliant actor, and versatile. The movie had five Oscar nominations, but deserved to win something, in my opinion (not that I am familiar with the opposition that year).
http://www.geekroar.com/film/archives/inthebedroom.jpg
Following straight after that on the TV, another excellent film with Sissy Spacek, Terrence Malick's 1973 Badlands. Fantastic! O0 Martin Sheen was excellent, and both lead actors did a great job of portraying their nonchalence in the face of murder. Some beautiful shots of American land- and roadscapes too. 8) I loved the open, non-prescriptive script. It presented these two characters, and their actions, and that was it. I suppose such murder is somewhat inexplicable anyway. :-\ This film reminded me of Black Day, Blue Night (1995), but I prefer it to that.
(http://execprivilege.tripod.com/roles/badlands10.jpg)
Malick is a talented guy, who has hardly made any movies at all. There were a couple of similarities to The Thin Red Line, in the use of wildlife shots (though fewer than in the later film) and music. I am interested to see his upcoming movie, The New World, about the colonisation of America.
Also saw the lightweight but fun Outside Providence. I'm a sucker for anything that shows New England in the fall, and I enjoy the occasional college movie. This is actually high school, but a similar tone - kind of a less zany Road Trip (with Amy Smart in common too), but with a slightly less solid ending, and a tender blue collar framing story (I cried during the scene when the father shows his son how to tie his tie, while he looks at his dead mothers photo :'().
http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/dolls/66/providence01.jpg
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Lilly, some of your pictures aren't showing up.
"Stealing bandwith is for losers"
That's hysterical! ;D
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;D
Whoops! Guess my cache is giving them to me.
"Stealing bandwith is for losers"
They're quite right too. :-[ I've been known to say that myself, and get annoyed when it's done to me, so fair enough.
But you feel a bit iffy about rehosting people's own pics sometimes too. :-\
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Haha, you got busted by a site called Geek Roar. Hilarious 8)
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You could just post the URL of the image, I guess.
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Good idea, KC. O0 I've changed it. It's not an especially great pic anyway, just thought I'd throw it in because it was from one of the best scenes. 8)
Funny, I could still see all 3 pics, even after emptying my browser cache, restarting Firefox, and restarting Windows. Anyone know why that is? I suppose there must be another temp cache somewhere? ???
Can you see the other two? I thought Tripod might block Martin Sheen.
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Damb, Lilly ... clicking that URL link takes me to that same "Stealing bandwidth is for losers" image ... maybe that's the fault of my cache, though.
I can see Sheen, but not the third pic ... getting a "fortunecity" image.
I tried the GeekRoar link in IE, and it works there, so I guess it is a cache thing.
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Thanks, KC. I changed the last image to the plain URL too. In fact, maybe I'll mainly post URLs in future, that way people won't have to spend time downloading images unless they are interested.
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Watched Englisg gangster flick Layer Cake again last night. Excellent film that improved on second viewing.
Michael Gambon and Colm Meaney are both excellent in this film but star Daniel Craig really shines. Layer Cake definitely gets a Gant recomendation. If you only see 1 English gangster movie this year.. make it this one. ;D
.... and I still think Craig would make an excellent Bond.
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Watched
James Bond On Her Majesstys Secret Service
Something's Gotta Give
Firefox
THe Thornbirds
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Within a week I`ve watched
Batman Begins(liked it)
Elektra(boring)
Team America(good if not as good as the South Park movie)
Out Of Reach(Steven Seagal`s latest,straight to video crap)
Die Another Day(hopefully this is not Brosnan`s last Bond)
And if that list is not sad(not including the Batman Begins)I´ve been watching lately quite a lot Terence Hill and Bud Spencer films ;D
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Last night I watched Marnie Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren. Typical of Hitch@#!%'s movies. A few twists and it kept me interested. Made in 1964 the hairstyles and clothes really dated it but Sean was a young handsome man. ;)
Whoops! Forgot about the censorship on Alfred's surname!
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Watched Englisg gangster flick Layer Cake again last night. Excellent film that improved on second viewing.
Michael Gambon and Colm Meaney are both excellent in this film but star Daniel Craig really shines. Layer Cake definitely gets a Gant recomendation. If you only see 1 English gangster movie this year.. make it this one. ;D
.... and I still think Craig would make an excellent Bond.
hows meany's english accent, i saw him attempt a welsh one once it was awful, gambons always been good at the english accent, sure he has one. but that accent he has in open range would have been the typical inner city dublin accent he'd have grown up with.
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Mr (http://www.discodelic.netfirms.com/silly-drool2.gif)and Mrs Smith
WOW loved it 8)
Really good (http://www.discodelic.netfirms.com/other-5stars.gif) (http://www.discodelic.netfirms.com/other-score10.gif)
It's very funny, there's a lot of action.
AND the actors are pretty good too.
THIS is what I call entertainment ;)O0 Summer movies can be really bad sometimes, but not this one.
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Mr (http://www.discodelic.netfirms.com/silly-drool2.gif)and Mrs Smith
WOW loved it
Really good
It's very funny, there's a lot of action.
AND the actors are pretty good too.
THIS is what I call entertainment ;)O0 Summer movies can be really bad sometimes, but not this one.
Yeah, I really enjoyed the Heck out of Mr. & Mrs. Smith too. I went in expecting nothing and found myself laughing and smiling the whole way through. I definitely recommend it. It was especially a good vehicle for Pitt, and Vince Vaughn of course had his Vince Vaughn moments too.
(http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:8h4NzX2_IrQJ:www.mrandmrssmithmovie.com/images/wp/1280x1024.jpg) (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:BBo3WUUFvf0J:www.zelluloid.de/images/szenen/41aadb016716e.jpg)
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The Grapes Of Wrath -on DVD
Beautiful.
Henry Fonda is amazing, and the other actors as well.
B&w cinematography, direction, script O0 O0
This movie is a gem.
Very highly recommended (http://www.discodelic.netfirms.com/other-5stars.gif)
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Saw The Devils Rejects yesterday .
It was nasty , nasty , nasty . I quite enjoyed it >:D
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Is it necessary to have seen House of 1000 Corpses before seeing The Devil's Rejects?
I want to get around to renting House of 1000 Corpses soon (actually, my local store doesn't have it. I'll probably have to go to Blockbuster).
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grapes of wrath is brilliant AB a very moving film
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Is it necessary to have seen House of 1000 Corpses before seeing The Devil's Rejects?
I want to get around to renting House of 1000 Corpses soon (actually, my local store doesn't have it. I'll probably have to go to Blockbuster).
House of 1,000 Corpses is probably in my top ten of worst films I've ever seen. I was so disapointed by it after hearing how good the pre-release buzz was AND the fact Rob Zombie was making it. I'm not much a fan of his music but I figured maybe he could deliver a truly good horror film... I was wrong. However, The Devil's Rejects appears to be getting better feedback then House... did so I'll watch it when it hits video/DVD.
But as for the need to see House... first it depends. From the plot outline of The Devils Rejects it picks up right where House... left off. I guess really the only reason you'd need to see it is to know who these characters are that's only reason I could see.
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I never cared a great deal about seeing it when it was first released. Actually, I don't remember hearing a whole lot about it then.
But what first got me interested was browsing in a store and seeing the DVD, which has a quote on it with Tobe Hooper praising the movie. That got me interested. Then, a few months ago, I heard one of my teachers say it was one of his favorite movies. So I figure I'll give it a look. I've read some good things about it, actually.
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Perhaps I'll give it a second go around sometime. I think I was so tough on it and didn;t like it because I was expecting something else not what it turned into.
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The Deer Hunter last night.
I watched the extras, and the Michael Cimino interview. Wow! I wouldn't have recognized him :o
I know he's not 35 anymore, but still ...
(http://www.theyshootpictures.com/images/ciminomichael.jpg)(http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/images/eamonn/DeerHunter06.jpg)
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He certainly looks different, AB!
Saw Midnight Cowboy (Schlesinger, 1969). Superb! O0 Brilliant acting. Brilliant script. Brilliant cinematography. Everything was class. 8) I love John Barry's haunting harmonica theme, and it was well used with Henry Nilsson's Everybody's Talkin' song.
Jon Voight fitted the part of the naive new boy in town so well, and Dustin Hoffman was outstanding. This is one of those films when for large chunks of time you forget it's a movie, and you think you are really there seeing a seedy drama played out on the streets of New York.
It's probably old hat to people who were around at the time, but for people my age who haven't seen them before, there's something special about certain 60s and 70s films that you just don't get anymore. Maybe a willingness to experiment that is rarer nowadays.
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I agree with you Lilly, Midnight Cowboy is great and one of my favorites and I think it's Hoffman and Voight at their best. If you want great acting and great emotional drama, you couldn't ask for more when watching this film. This film can get pretty gritty with the ghetto parts of New York, drug abuse, an abandoned apartment building, and the sexual content. But it depicts what REALLY happens in the grittier parts of big cities. This is the buddy film everyone should watch.
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Natural Born Killers
(http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/9558/naturalborn8wk.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
Whooo boy! What a crazy film. Filled with endless violence, this movie is about a couple, Mallory and Mickey Knox: (Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis), who decide to take out all their frustration from their childhood and go on a killing spree, basically Bonnie and Clyde with Charles Manson's mind. This film may seem like a pointless heep of crap, but what it does is take you into the mind of two serial killers haunted by their terrible childhood and the psychotic drive that leads them into a bloody journey. Oliver Stone let's us visualize ourselves what goes through the mind of these "natural born killers" by showing random and somewhat creepy clips of bloody people, wild animals, and an array of colors that adds to the effect, (kind of like you're hallucinating throughout the whole film.) Some people when watching this, might hate it because of the intense graphic nature and how heartless these killings may be, but what we see is everything in the couples' perspective. We are not meant to like, or to necessarily hate them, but in a way understand why they are complete psychopaths. I don't recommend this film to the weak-hearted, but I do think that it is very well directed and unique in it's own way.
Grade: B
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"Coach Carter" last week, on theatre : :(
"Alien", yesterday evening on tv, always the same creeps, the same fascination for the Monster, the Nostromo maze, one of my non-Eastwood favorite movies ! ;)
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Watched The Battle of the Sexes ( 1959 ) today and while not the best Peter Sellers film it is worth watching just for the scene where he goes to Constance Cummings apartment to kill her,it's classic old British comedy,which I always enjoy watching.The Brits certainly made some great comedies through the 40's and 50's.
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"Road to Perdition" Sam Mendes (2002)(http://aka.fotovista.com/dev/3/0/D2310003/s_D2310003.jpg)
I've found it really good, very well filmed, the opposition of dark and light, the good, the bad, the inner feelings and deep decency between a father and his son .
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steel magnolias
tom skerrit - shirley mclaine and glenn close - both bickering
tragic ending but a good film
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steel magnolias
tom skerrit - shirley mclaine and glenn close - both bickering
Glann Close is most definitely not in Steel Magnolias. Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton and Daryl Hannah portray the other main female characters in the movie.
(http://images.art.com/images/PRODUCTS/large/10134000/10134733.jpg)
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thinking of olympis dukaksis thanks wasn't it her and shirley mclaine who kept arguing
i have also seen tom skerritt in a river runs through it recently - i use to like picket fences
a very good actor
glad he worked with ce - nice to see them together again sometime
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(http://www.allthingszombie.com/images/movies/landotd_a.jpg)
Romero's new Land of the dead, opened here on friday. what rubbish! george whats happened man. the zombies were cool but the acting, the script and just about everything else was awful. it was formulaic and clicheed, now i'm just an ordinary punter who like a bit of bang for his buck, but his was bad even on the "no brainer movie" scale of things. it was so obvious as well. like the little guy goes up to the shed, the music is nice and low and just as the music hits crescendo and we get a jump cut to the inside door of the shed the whole cinema is shouting, "there's nothing in there never mind the music and go in" and low and behold there's nothing in there. it was brutal in that respect, and i expected more from romero, hopper was quite fun to watch though. bout all i can say positive about the movie.
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it was so obvious as well. like the little guy goes up to the shed, the music is nice and low and just as the music hits crescendo and we get a jump cut to the inside door of the shed the whole cinema is shouting, "there's nothing in there never mind the music and go in" and low and behold there's nothing in there.
I´m assuming that "the little guy" you´re referring to, is the same little guy who is set to watch out for the boat with all the money being delivered. If you wanna talk about obvious things, think of the way he dies...
He´s apparently smoked a joint, put his walkman headphones on, and sits and dozes somewhat off. Then he notice a moving shadow, steps up on his skateboard, to roll over to investigate...
All of this happends deep into "zombieland".
Just about all of his actions screams out NOOOO! DON'T DO IT !!! ::)
This death just about tops my Stupid-ways-to-die-in-movies list
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Hostage : Bruce Willis :D
Nice dosis of adrenaline
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Crash
That movie ROCKS 8)
Took my breath away. Really.
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Funny ;D :D
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Watched some spagetti westerns:
The Big Gundown
&
The Great Silence
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I´m assuming that "the little guy" you´re referring to, is the same little guy who is set to watch out for the boat with all the money being delivered. If you wanna talk about obvious things, think of the way he dies...
He´s apparently smoked a joint, put his walkman headphones on, and sits and dozes somewhat off. Then he notice a moving shadow, steps up on his skateboard, to roll over to investigate...
All of this happends deep into "zombieland".
Just about all of his actions screams out NOOOO! DON'T DO IT !!! ::)
This death just about tops my Stupid-ways-to-die-in-movies list
yeah your on the money there dane ;D, however i wasn't trying to get too specific in case people hadn't seen the movie and knowing this ruined that bit for them,
but even though mindless gore and blood were enough for the first three movies he seemed to think he needed to use really old cliched "scary moments" that have been used to death in the movies that copied his original trilogy, thats wha annoyed me, it was like copying the people that copied him in the first place :-\
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A Clockwork Orange
(http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/8903/orange4cn.gif) (http://imageshack.us)
Stanly Kubrick, I applaud you, for making the most overrated film of all time. I absolutely hated this movie, probably the only minority opinion of this film in this forum or anywhere in general. I thought it was quite pointless and very inconsistent. For example: the character development of Alex played by Malcolm McDowell is just a pyschological mess; we don't know what his true goals in his life are, we don't know why he loves to rape and murder women, and we don't know whether he really wanted to change for the better after somewhat, cruel experiments have been performed on him. Basically Alex's character development is what progresses the plot, and that is what makes the movie such an inconsistent piece of garbage which leaves people wondering whether it's a movie about the lessons of self-destruction, or the celebration of idiocy and immaturity. I have to admitt, the musical score is a treat for the ears, mostly based on Beethoven's symphonic pieces. However, the musical score does not capture and connect with the dark themes presented in this film and only serves as a pointless obsession of Alex. Not only is this movie pointless and offensive at the same time, but became extremely boring and irritating. You just come to the point when you just don't care for Alex, and even the innocent characters, and even the film itself. I may be one of the many few that hate this film, but I stick to my reasons above. Pointless, offensive, overrated.
D+
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Well, either A Clockwork Orange is pointless or you just didn't get the point. It's a satire. The character of Alex is representational and not supposed to be taken literally as a fully-rounded human being.
That you hate it is fine and dandy. But just because you personally didn't see the points it was making doesn't mean it didn't have a larger agenda than presenting ultraviolence on the screen for kicks.
Sounds to me like you watched it with either a) one or more of your parents or b) a girl in the room. Your shock and outrage are duly noted. I'd recommend reading the novel now, then watching the movie again. Or don't. It's your loss, believe me.
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I probably took the satire too literally, but I still did not like the film. I will to look into the novel and try to comprehend it's themes more figuratively. Thanks for your rebuttal Holden.
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I watched The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp this weekend.
This is one of the few Michael Powell films I hadn't seen and I was blown away by it. Brilliant film.
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Yesterday, I watched
Magnum Force 8) -no need to say it's the best one, out of the three I've seen.
Wild Things ^-^
Showgirls ;D
This movie should've been a comedy ;D
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it was so obvious as well. like the little guy goes up to the shed, the music is nice and low and just as the music hits crescendo and we get a jump cut to the inside door of the shed the whole cinema is shouting, "there's nothing in there never mind the music and go in" and low and behold there's nothing in there. it was brutal in that respect, and i expected more from romero
I don't think it was over done, though. You don't expect that from Romero, so the fact he'd do it in this was a bit of a fun surprise. For over-use of "jump scenes," see What Lies Beneath and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You'll see what I find annoying. And besides, don't forget the jump scenes in Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. ;) Not as obvious, no, but they exist.
Romero has always had fun with the genre, and, as I've said, I think he had as much fun here as the makers of Shaun of the Dead. I saw the movie with a small audience, and it seemed to me that we all enjoyed it. We laughed and cringed our way through the whole thing.
He´s apparently smoked a joint, put his walkman headphones on, and sits and dozes somewhat off. Then he notice a moving shadow, steps up on his skateboard, to roll over to investigate...
All of this happends deep into "zombieland".
How deep into "zombieland" are they, though? Doesn't this come after the zombies begin their travels across the river?
it was like copying the people that copied him in the first place
Maybe you're on to something there. I think Land of the Dead is about the first "Hollywood" movie George A. Romero has made. And really, the only reason why he got the money to make this movie was because of the success of the Dawn of the Dead remake.
I've noticed on the IMDb that remakes of Day of the Dead and The Crazies are on their way too. I'm a bit surprised by The Crazies, it was released under more than one title and wasn't successful under any of them. But a very good movie, nevertheless. But that's Romero, he's made many great movies that haven't made a lot of money. Land actually grossed its budget back, so that's a plus. If these remakes gets Romero money to do movies he wants to do, I think it'll be worth it. :)
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it's interesting that day... is being remade and not Night...., i reckon hollywood deliberately chose the two movies that have plenty of zombies in them for the simple action formula they will bring to the story(dawn and day were both crwaling in zombies), like they did with dawn, they turned it into an action movie, most of romeros points about mans greed and commercialism were just lost in a "blast the zombie" flick , i believe they'd have trouble handling one thats more phsycologically than physically terrifying like night. i flat out love that scene where barbara is pulled through the wall into the mass of zombies and ben just has to stand there,
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Night was remade in the early 90s, I think. Romero wrote the script and Savini directed.
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the tom savini one, i was vaugely aware of it but romero was involved in it. i'm talking about the bigwigs behind the dawn of the dead remake being unable to handle night.....
ps did you see tom savinis cameo in land....
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I saw savini's "Night.." re-make at the cinema and thought it was quite fun.
Gonna go see Land this friday. Lookin' forward.
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Land Of The Dead.
Saw it last night and quite enjoyed it. I preferd it to Day. Good fun. ;D
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Stray Dog (1949)
A rookie detective has his pistol stolen and the gun is used in the murder of a woman. Consumed by guilt the roookie turns to a senior partner for help and together the two of them hunt down the shooter.
An early Akira Kurosawa movie and what an impressive thriller/character study it is. Toshiro Mifune is terrific as the rookie who sees elements of himself in the killer and Takashi Shimura is even better as the older officer whose years in the job have stripped him of any sympathy for the criminals he's chasing.
The characters here - from the two detectives on the case and the various suspects and victims they encounter, right through to the killer and his girl - all are satisfyingly rounded. Their personal ambitions, their failures, all presented in a sympathetic yet level-headed manner that cannot fail to draw the viewer in.
From the backstreet chases to a tense police stakeout at a baseball game, a grieving husbands lament for his dead wife and the final gripping showdown, Kurosawa's technical skills are in ample evidence. Stray Dog is not a great movie but it is certainly a very, very good one.
Deadlier than the Male (1965)
Man of action Bulldog Dummond tangles with a deadly crime syndicate and must deal with its two murderous females, Eckman and Penelope.
I've watched this twice now and come to the conclusion that I like it a lot. The whole thing is a mish-mash of elements - mixing bursts of tough violence, casual sadism (a female stubbing out cigarettes on a man's naked chest), beautiful sexy women (Sylvia Koscina and Virginia North), glamorous locations (N.Italy) and a kinky, humorous, swinging London aura - all of which comes together remarkably well. If you take the toughness of From Russia With Love, the tongue in cheek silliness of Goldfinger and mix it with the early Matt Helm/In Like Flint movies then Deadlier Then The Male is pretty much the sort of movie you'd end up with.
Oh, and the cast is excellent. Richard Johnson is a good enough substitute Bond here - virile, tough and charming - to make you wonder if the 007 producers ever offered him the real thing. Nigel Green, Leonard Rossiter and many other familiar British character actors are all in here too. But the real stars for my money are the girl killers. Elke Sommer is OK as the stern Eckmar but Sylvia Koscina is a delight. As the dippy assassin who can't stop falling in love with her victims or wearing her partner's (extremely skimpy) dresses she's not only gorgeous and funny but also the very definition of sex on legs. To be murdered by Miss Koscina would be a pleasure indeed!
Tarantino has mentioned DTTM as part-inspiration for Kill Bill and watching the movie it's easy to see why as it's glamorous female killers could easily be the grandmothers to Bill's DiVAS. Strange the way DTTM has become so obscure as it's actually stood up far better than most Bond imitations.
Well, either A Clockwork Orange is pointless
It's pointless alright. Pseudo-intellectual artwank. I first saw it as a teenager and like most adolescents was suitably wowed by its stylish scenes of violence and sex. 20 years later I watched it again and found it not only overlong but downright pretentious. I admire its directors desire to shock the audience but amusingly even that aspect of the film now seems rather quaint. At least, I don't get the impression that todays teenagers are anywhere near as wowed by it as my generation were. It's a good book though.
I'd recommend reading the novel now, then watching the movie again.
Why? A movie adaptation should stand or fall on its own merits. You can't excuse sloppy screenwriting by saying 'Oh, read the book because that'll make the movie clearer.' As if! Either the film stands on its merits as a movie or it doesn't.
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went to see Four Brothers the other day, its a pretty good movie, i wasn't expecting much as 3 of the 4 main leads are rappers but i thought it was pretty damn good, and i was surprised.
the story basically is this foster mother adopts and raises 4 troublesome kids as brother 2 black(andre benjamin, tyrese gibson) 2 white(mark wahlberg, garret hedlund), and sets them onn their way (thats all backstory we never see it).
anyway one night she gets shot in a convenience store hold up so back come the guys for the funeral, but not just the funeral, they are out for revenge, and it turns out they get more than they bargain for when the whole mess just keeps getting deeper and deeper.
it's a remake of the henry hathaway western "the sons of katie elder" featuring john wayne dean martin geroge kennedy and dennis hopper.
except this is far more violent, the 2005 boys want blood, not anyones blood, everyones blood.they want to kill everyone involved and their friends.
i went into it thinking it was gonna be mindless rapping and violence but it's very well handled, the director it turns out is john singleton (boys in the hood,shaft(2000), higher learning, poetic justice) and he makes a really good story.
the surprise for me was andre benjamin after stealing the scenes he was in in "be cool" he steals the whole movie here, he's the only brother who's completely gone straight, a married business man with kids, the others are a marine, a tradesman(i'm guessing, he has lots of overalls and shows some skill at woodwork near the end) and a wanabe rockstar.
the other pleasant surprise was cop fowler played by josh charles, i couldn't place him for a while but he's the guy in dead poets society who rooms with ethan hawke.
the only complaint i have is the badly done sentimental scenes, the mother keeps appearing in day dreams to the boys individually to remind them of manners and such, kind of like a cheap flashback)
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I want to go see Cronenbergs "A History Of Violence"
Anyone seen it...?
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This week just gone I watched Million Dollar Baby for the first time, also The Magnificent Seven, The Eiger Sanction, Short Circuit, [Antz, Toy Story (with my kids)],
and Firefox. I like Oldies but Goodies. ;) Also speaking of movies I saw "Strange Bedfellows" for the first time a couple of weeks ago and thought it was pretty funny. I was wondering what people from other countries thought of our Australian movies and humour. ;)
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How deep into "zombieland" are they, though? Doesn't this come after the zombies begin their travels across the river?
In my book, 5 meters into zombieland is "deep", but i´d reckon a few kilometers, based on the distance to the city when they fire the missile. ::)
I dont remember if the small guy was killed before or after the zombies invade the city. But it´s pretty obvious that the deserters doesnt know about the zombie attack at that time, so i cant really see why the soon-to-be-dead guard should relax.
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he wasn't a guard he was a member of cholo's group, they left the outer compound as it was under attack from the zombies, so they knew the zombies were on the rampage.
it was right after this scene that the zombies lined up across the river bank to invade the city, so it's weird but it seems the zombies broke into the outer compound, couldn't get into the city and so decided to try crossing the river instead.
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Watched Metallica S&M
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Metallica_-_S%26M.jpg)
Ever heard of the joke about the rock band and the symphony orchestra ? :D ;D
Well, this is no joke!
And let me tell you that IT WORKS ! 8)
You gotta give it a try ... even if you've never heard Metallica playing before -worse ;) you don't know about them AT ALL. Well that's another good reason why this concert is a must-see.
Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.
Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (maestro Michael Kamen - R.I.P. he'll be missed)
Recorded live at the Berkeley Community Theatre on April 21-22 1999.
Rent it, buy it, borrow it from a friend ... doesn't matter! WATCH IT!
Try Nothing Else Matters for a start ;)
*Ennio Morricone is the composer of the song "The Ecstasy of Gold" which Metallica uses on its intro tape to open their live shows. The song is from the Clint Eastwood movie, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. It is performed in its own right on S&M - Symphony & Metallica. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica)
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metallica, my god how painful they've become to listen to, for me the band peaked with and justice for all, since then there were one or two good song fade to black, nothing else matters, but a lot of crap too (the entire reload and st anger album) i had that s&m dvd but i got rid of it, hetfields such a weirdo, i could have thumped him while watching that some kind of monster doc. they aren't metallica anymore anyway, hetfields changed and when cliff died i thought they got a very good replacement in jason but whats with this idiot now who thinks he''s a frog jumping up and down on stage.
nah metallica had their day, a long long time ago
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a lot of crap too (the entire reload and st anger album)
:o :o
i thought they got a very good replacement in jason but whats with this idiot now who thinks he''s a frog jumping up and down on stage.
;D
(http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/9162/181b0ms.jpg) ;D 8) ;)
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As a matter of fact, for me everything began with Reload -I was 13-14 ... had never heard of them until the day I first listened to this album.
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As a matter of fact, for me everything began with Reload -I was 13-14 ... had never heard of them until the day I first listened to this album.
i my god, get ride the lightning it's such a killer album, then treat yourself to the others, master of puppets, and justice for all and finally kill 'em all in that order, four fantatstic albums, if you thought that the P.O.C. that was reload was good this stuff'll blow your mind
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Just watched Easy Rider O0
And the making of too -"Shake the cage"
Great score.
I like the way it was filmed -the editing at the beginning is so weird, with the very rapid cuts (to tell you the truth at first I thought my DVD player had a problem :D)
And the locations, I mean some places/shots are really beautiful 8)
Dennis Hopper is really good. Looks like he was high during all the filming of the picture -which after seeing the making of, is actually kinda what happened ... and Jack Nicholson with his "Nik! Nik! Nik!" ;D :D
Hanson: Boy, I sure wish I was going with you.
Wyatt: You got a helmet?
Hanson: Oh, I've got a helmet! Oh oh oh oh, I got a beauty! ;D ;D
(http://www.radford.edu/~wkovarik/misc/blog/easyrider.jpeg)
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I want to go see Cronenbergs "A History Of Violence"
Anyone seen it...?
Yes. And I really disliked it. I think that the performances were good but I didn't like the script or the direction, especially the direction. The movie echoes another Croenberg film which really fell flat, in my opinion, called Crash (1997). I thought that the film could have been so much better, it just lacked. On the flip side alot of my guy friends liked it, they couldn't explain why very clearly but they did... So who knows maybe it's a guy thing... Maybe... It gets a big thumbs down for me though.
Tonight I caught a triple header.
Started off with Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I thought it was wonderful. It was very witty and smart. I like the classic movie references and just the overall story was really good as well. I like how it was a mystery and very clean. I like that I could take my little immature to see it. I think by far it's the best animated movie of the year, thus far.
Then I caught a showing of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstien. I grew up with this movie and I've always loved it, but it was wonderful to see it again on the big screen. It's so funny and charming.
Last up I caught Thumbsucker. The only way I can really describe this film is, it's a less good version of Garden State (which I really liked). This one fell rather flat. I thought that the performances were good, and Keanu Reeves was withstandable, I mean he played a hippy for half the film so it wasn't a stretch. But the script just lacked so much. And the message was very downgrading. I'm kind of bothered by these films now that are teens in search of self. Maybe because I am a teen and all of what I see is such BS. The only film that hit it fairly well was Garden State. I guess some teens will see this film as a dipiction of their life, the flawed family and such. But it's nothing that hasn't been done before. The only originality to it is that the main character sucks his thumb, and babies do that. It just lacked. It annoyed me ultimately.
So 2/3 aint bad.
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Chessie.. I saw A&C meet Frankenstien not too long ago. Quite shocking when the nurse gets thrown thru' the window... :o
I finally got round to Hotel Rwanda last night. Very moving film and I thought Don Cheadle was very good, in fact I thought all the acting was superb.
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Oh yeah Gant, especially at the time. So surprising.
I really liked Hotel Rwanda, I thought Don Cheadle should have won instead of Jamie Foxx... Well actually Clint should of won, but ya know.
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Watched Seabiscuit ( 2003 ) last night.Didn't know anything about the history of this great horse from the 30's. A nice film with the period captured nicely and the performances all round were good.
Even if your not a horseracing fan ( I'm not ) you'll still enjoy this flick.
Two things that I was curious about.
1:What was the ten dollars for that Red asked for from Mr.Howard.
2:What became of Red's parents and the rest of his family after he became this famous jockey.I would have thought they would have come back into the picture after he made it big.
3/5
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Watched Monster (with Charlize Theron) last night.
She is unrecognizable (ugly would be more appropriate) :o
Amazing physical transformation.
Terrific performance.
Uh, but what's wrong with her teeth though??
Did she have to wear false teeth to look like Aileen Wuornos? Because it really looks like she's got trouble talkin' ;D
It remains a pretty violent movie. Many scenes were barely watchable.
I'm also wondering which things about her life, about the whole Wuornos case were left out for the needs of the movie. Just curious.
Sometimes I had the feeling that the movie was kinda trying to legitimize/excuse her acts, her violence by showing us what she is going through everyday as a prostitute -clients who like it "rough", and what she went through as a kid.
To arouse our sympathy I guess ... It didn't work.
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Agreed, Chessie. :)
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To AB's review of Monster.
I agree with you I thought Theron was good. But, I personally didn't think she deserved the Oscar, though we all knew she was going to get it.
The movie left me in bad mood, which wasn't good. I felt physically sore after watching and very down on myself. It was a very unhappy movie.
Alot of the stuff was pretty grotesque. But it seemed real, still hard to watch nonetheless.
I also thought Christina Ricci did a good job.
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Watched Batman Returns (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/) last night.
Hilarious ;D
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The remake of The Manchurian Candidate .
Not a patch on the original but solid entertainment nonetheless . Meryl Streep was oustanding .
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" The Dead Pool" yesterday evening, I hadn't watched it for almost 2 years ! O0
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"League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse"
been looking forward to this one as I was always a fan of the tv series. Movie didn't dissapoint. Some great ideas and some very, very dark humor.. even for this gang. very funny. Must admit tho'.. it could have been trimmed to an hour or so and been a great "special" rather than a cinema release.
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I saw 'Once Upon a Time In The West' yesterday. One of the best non-Eastwood westerns. 8) The music always gives me chills down my neck.. :D
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Just watched
Anchorman:The Legend Of Ron Burgundy.Will Ferrell was as hilarious as usual.
Denzel Washington`s Out Of Time was a bit of a disappointment.Mediocre thriller.
And yesterday I watched John Sturges`s Gunfight At The O.K. Corral.Truly a great old fashion western.Burt Lancaster,Kirk Douglas,Tiomkin`s music and just about everything in it was perfect.
ps.-satu- terve ;)
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hemlock, did you get the extras disc with anchorman, they made an entirley new movie out of the unused scenes.
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hemlock, did you get the extras disc with anchorman, they made an entirley new movie out of the unused scenes.
No extra discs since I watched it from VCR :( .I watched in my workplace(I´m on nightshift)and there`s no DVD-player.
I did like the film quite a bit so I definitely try to check out that double DVD...I do have DVD-player in my home.
I liked the part where Burgundy(Ferrel) tries to impress Veronica Corningstone(Applegate)in their first date and tells that San Diego was founded by Germans and the name San Diego means whale`s vagina ;D ;D
Btw is this extra disc called Wake Up,Ron Burgundy ???
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yep thats the one, get the R1 release, it's got a couple more special features on it.
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yep thats the one, get the R1 release, it's got a couple more special features on it.
Good to know.Thanks bill :)
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Yesterday, I watched
Citizen Kane (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/) O0
Nazi America, A Secret History (http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=71232). Creepy :o
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Yesterday I watched the John Denver story, Take Me Home Chad Lowe does a pretty good job as John and the end of the movie has some wonderful scenes of Monterey Bay where John died when his plane crashed.
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ps.-satu- terve ;)
:o another finn? terve vaan! ;)
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My dad and I went to Good Luck and Good Night. Really good. Probably the best movie I've seen thus far this year. Really good. Well done, great acting, loved the black and white. It's just beautiful all around.
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Stalingrad
This german warmovie finally came out in a nice edition, and is about a bunch of german afrikakorps soldiers who is sent to russia, to fight in stalingrad. It features some pretty rough but sadly realistic stuff (and just about the most sadistic commanding officer since sgt. Barnes in Platoon)
The movie doesnt try to explain or excuse anything that the germans did, it merely tells the story of a group of soldiers caught in a place they cant even fathom, nor escape. If you have seen Downfall and liked it, you should give this one a chance.
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My dad and I went to Good Luck and Good Night. Really good. Probably the best movie I've seen thus far this year. Really good. Well done, great acting, loved the black and white. It's just beautiful all around.
Isn't it ... the other way round, though? :D
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Yes it is. I just wasn't thinking as I was typing it.
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I hit three movies up this weekend in the cinema.
First was Domino. The movie is stylistically shot, almost so much so that it's hard to watch. The rapid camera movement and ridiculous freeze frame and speed up editing made the movie very hard to watch. It also felt like the movie was over 3 hours long. Really not enjoyable. Keira Knightly, though, does show alot of promise and is very good in her role, but the overall movie just wasn't very good and gets big thumbs down from me.
Second was Stay. Now, as some of you know, I'm a big Ewan McGregor fan, and that wasn't even enough to give me a good opinion of this movie. It's hard to do a movie where you bend the rules of reality, typically they don't work. And this one doesn't... It's nicely shot and edited (though I don't know if that's a good thing, cause you're not suppose to notice editing). But the story is really poor. Boo hiss on the writing. Ewan, Ryan Gosling, and Bob Hoskins are all really good. Naomi Watts' character is totally underdeveloped and not used well. Oh and whoever designed the costumes for this movie needs to be shot. All of Ewan McGregor's suits aren't the right pant length and it looks awful, pissed me off. Sadly, this one gets a thumbs down from me.
Third was North Country. My god. This movie is one of those ones that is made solely for the purpose of getting Academy Award nominations. Really it is. Hence why the critics are loving it and the Academy will when it comes time to vote. What's sad about this movie is that it's more about the performances then what it should be about which is the women the story is about. I couldn't believe how many "acting scenes" there were in this film and it really didn't focus on the women. Bothered me immensely. Part of the problem also is that the pace is slow, and by slow I mean slow. Certain things that happen half way into the movie should of happened in the first 15 minutes of the film. There's also alot of misplaced dramatics. Focus is shifted from the court case of what the women are going through to what Charlize Theron's character was going through nearly 12 years prior to the case, and it's ridiculous. Big thumbs down from me.
In addition to hitting those up in the movie I watched two at home.
First was Carnal Knowledge. I figured that since it was Mike Nichols and Jack Nicholson it had to be good, boy was I wrong. The movie felt like it took forever, and dragged, not a good thing for a 98 minute movie. I didn't sympathize with any character in the film and didn't particularly care what happened to any of them, they all deserved what they got ultimately. And the ending was really poor. Thumbs down.
Second was Breathless. I was told by my art of film teacher that this film would drive me crazy because they didn't adhere to the "continuity editing" theory. That didn't bother me, I was able to fill in most of what wasn't shown. I just didn't think the film was all that great quite honestly. The story wasn't particularly original and it really had no point. I thought the mimicking of Bogart was very forced at parts. Jean Seberg was very pretty and looked good in the film, but didn't deliver a great performance. It just fell flat. Kind of a bummer. Thumbs down.
Upon reflecting on this weekend in film for me, it was a big let down. So I'm being optimistic and hoping next week in cinema will by much better then this weekend. O0
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domino was a terrible movie, the whole filmed seemed to revolve around scotts mtv style editing, it nearly gave me a headache, he nearly had to much of it in man on fire, but he was definitely overboard here. i just didn't really feel anything for the main characters, i think he pushed style over substance on this one, maybe he did it on purpose maybe he knew he didn't really have anything worth watching.
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I thought that since Halloween was drawing near, I would pull out some of the Horror classice that I've been planning on watching. First on my list to watch was Rosemary's Baby. Needless to say that when it was over I was trying to figure out why I hadn't watched it before. I usually try to watch the movie before reading the book because I'm always disappointed at how when a movie is made from a novel it's ripped to pieces. Needless to say this was one of the times where I had read the book long before watching the movie and Roman Polanski didn't disappoint. He stay soo close to the movie that it was almost like you could turn the page at each frame of the movie, except for the ending. (I'll admit it's been a long while since I've read the book)
While this movie wouldn't be considered a "horror" movie by today's standards, it definately was creepy spooky and keeps you watching to see what happens next.
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(http://dvdtoile.com/FILMS/12/12891.jpg)
Yesterday afternoon, I saw "Oliver Twist", the last Polanski, at theatre.
I' ve liked it , the transposition into the period described with accurate details in the famous Dickens' book is very well realized, and I've found the actors, especially Ben Kingsley in the part of Fagin, really good.
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I wanted to see Oliver Twist, but it was in and out of the theaters here in a couple of weeks ... and I was too busy with baseball to go to the movies. :-\
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the legend of zorro and the brothers grimm, gilliams grimm was very good, not his best work but a solid movie, and he can't really be blamed for some of the shortcomings as he inherited ethan krugers script, which he tinkered with but had to use, plus most of the people he wanted were nixed by harbey weinstein.
zorro was ok, nothing better, very formulaic as most hollywood movies tend to be these days, maybe a little too long but it really felt like campbell was warming up for bond, you could have easily transplanted bond into the sequences and have them make perfect sense, a few moments where i was gonna grump but then i remembered this was alejandro and not don diego de la vegas zorro so mistakes forgiven
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show :D <-- That's the only to describe it. I've seen it before but a LONG time ago. I forgot how stupid and fun it is.
(http://img417.imageshack.us/img417/8309/rockyhorror17ey.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
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Dark City, last night.
You realize that the world you live in is fake.
You realize that you're not who you think you are.
// The Matrix
Weird movie. Good but weird.
Good performances too.
Basically here, the "bad guys" are some sort of aliens -"strangers" who have the power to play with people's memories. Everyday at midnight, time stops, people fall asleep and these guys mess with their minds.
As a matter of fact, after discovering that their race was to become extinct, they decided to learn how to become humans, how to feel and react like humans ... by making a little experiment, by creating this "dark city", on which they have an absolute control. "Dark" because the city never sees the light of the sun.
They happen to have the power to take away your memories and to give them to somebody else/mix them with somebody else's memories ... thanks to the help of a psychologist, played by Kiefer Sutherland.
So that one day you can be a plumber, the other day a detective or a taxi driver.
Just so that they can observe you :D
Oh and they can distort space too, alter the surroundings :D Crazy. They can change the way the city looks ... new buildings come out of the ground every night.
Anyway, one night the experiment fails.
One "patient" wakes up only to realize that he's accused of murder and that he doesn't know this woman who claims to be his wife -played by Jennifer Connelly.
And in addition to that, he finds out that he kind of inherited this power to change the shape of things.
He's confused -as you can imagine. Doesn't know who he is ... and wonders if he ever knew.
Starts wondering about the city.
Since now he's half human and half "stranger", he doesn't fall asleep at midnight anymore ... meaning that he can see the "strangers" working at night.
He starts wondering about them too.
His goal: uncovering the mystery of Dark City.
He's immediately perceived by the "strangers" as a menace to their race.
Their goal: eliminate him.
They're hunting him down.
He's hunting for the truth.
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Dark City is a very cool movie, especially because it slowly gets under your skin.
it got good overall acting (especially Sutherland's slimy, overnervous psychologist ) and the effects of the "strangers" powers (called tuning, if i remember correctly) is very nicely done.
Definitely a movie worth seeing if you want to see a good cult movie O0
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it got good overall acting (especially Sutherland's slimy, overnervous psychologist )
Yeah. He was good in that part.
So good, that he actually makes you nervous :D
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(http://a69.g.akamai.net/n/69/10688/v1/img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/35/52/30/18444948_vign.jpg)
My first "Wallace and Gromit ! It was really funny, one of my daughters and I saw it today and we loved it ! O0
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Cool Hand Luke (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061512/) last night -1967 movie starring Paul Newman and George Kennedy
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0790731509.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif)
Very enjoyable. Funny. Moving. Great acting.
Paul Newman is ... well, Paul Newman 8) He was made for this role.
And George Kennedy. Great performance.
I was rather surprised because I didn't expect his character to be so important to the story. As a matter of fact, more than once did he overshadow Luke -Paul Newman's character.
Highly recommended :)
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0790731509/102-9680928-0000123?v=glance&n=130&s=dvd&v=glance)Tagline: The man...and the motion picture that simply do not conform.
Plot Outline: A man refuses to conform to life in a rural prison.
Plot Synopsis: Luke is sent to a prison camp, where he gets a reputation as a hard man. The head of the gang hates him, and tries to break him by beating him up. It doesn't work, and he gains respect. His mother dies, and he escapes, but is caught, escapes again, and is caught again. Will the camp bosses ever break him ?
[/url]
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Well I have not watched anything as great as Cool Hand Luke but I watched couple of good films and one crapfest(quess which one it was ;D)
These ones I just saw
(http://images.google.fi/images?q=tbn:jt9V1bWCw60J:www.cartelia.net/fotos/t/tigerland)
(http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0001G6PZC.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
(http://www.affichescinema.com/insc_a/american_outlaws.jpg)
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I went to see The Legend of Zorro in the movies, and yesterday The Bridges Of Madison County came on tv.
(http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/allposters/153/1229572_rt.jpg)
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0790729369.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
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I went to see The Legend of Zorro in the movies.
(http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/allposters/153/1229572_rt.jpg)
How was it ?
I liked the first one and I´ve been wondering should I go to see this sequel as well in theatre or should I wait until it`s on DVD ???
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wait fo rdvd, it's good but it's not worth the cinema ticket, a great little romp but too many annoyance factors like the kid is in way too much of the movie, but for me it's better than the mask of zorro as it gets straight into the action. very bond like
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wait fo rdvd, it's good but it's not worth the cinema ticket, a great little romp but too many annoyance factors like the kid is in way too much of the movie, but for me it's better than the mask of zorro as it gets straight into the action. very bond like
Well I´m a huge Bond fan so maybe it`ll work for me too ;)
Maybe I`ll go to see it during a daytime when all those annoying youngsters are still in school ;D
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On Monday night I watched Halloween and Night Of The Living Dead (http://www.discodelic.netfirms.com/scared-hairraising2.gif)
I highly recommend you to watch Night... if you haven't already.
This movie is a classic that deserves its status O0
Duane Jones, the main character delivers a great performance here.
(http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/9758/notldduanejones24ky.jpg)
The ending will leave you stunned. The least you can say is that it is pretty unexpected.
I love this film. My favorite horror film? Could be ;)
And yesterday I watched Manhunter.
Good movie, definitely worth seeing for William Petersen's performance only.
Great cinematography too -Mann's trademark. And soundtrack -Red7, Heartbeat 8)
(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/3181/wp37sb.jpg)(http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/9256/wp79lu.jpg)
I must say that Brian Cox'Lecktor is far more creepy than Anthony Hopkins'Lecter of Silence Of The Lambs.
It's been a long time since I have watched Silence though... but to me Cox was very convincing.
Nice posters.
(http://www.monkeyhouselounge.com/bmovies/posters/manhunter2.jpg) (http://www.cinema.com/image_lib/5797_poster1_thumb.jpg)
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Saw Land of the Dead for the first time this week. Extreme disappointment.
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(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T611/t61172m64tr.jpg) (http://www.bahcecikdevekusu.com/movies/2005/13558ece0.jpg)
Hostage was good action-thriller but xXx-The Next Level sucked.
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XXX2 really annoyed me, they changed tha name from state of the union because they didn't think non americans would get it, so this next level name is just stupid and has no meaning, and what was sam jackson thinking, they must have paid him a fortune
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This afternoon : "Usual Suspects" , on DVD, I love this film ! One of my favorite thriller !
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I stayed up late the other night and enjoyed 'Finding Neverland' with my wife and then watched 'Tom Horn', 'Death Race 2000' and 'The Enforcer" Short but sweet movies.
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- High Noon
Great Gary Cooper. Outstanding performance.
Will Kane could have been High Plains Drifter's Marshall Duncan. The way "his" people give up on him :o
Many similarities between Kane and Dirty Harry too. His dedication to his work (his life) for instance.
Also when he says that he knows he's gotta stay to face Frank Miller and his guys but he doesn't know why, he just has to. Just like in The Enforcer, when DiGeorgio asks Harry "what makes a man crazy enough to join the cops?", and Harry answers "you find out you let me know"
And the throwing of the badge in the end, of course.
He looks so sad and powerless in this movie. Very dark character, very reserved, hard to know what's on his mind. Even if he doesn't say much (given that he's all alone), you can read his face like a book.
- Bronco Billy
I'll never tire of this one. So "sweet". Full of hope. Never give up your dreams.
- Nightmare On Elm Street
Had a good laugh watching Freddy Krueger. He's a pretty scary guy, especially when he's scratching his "nails" against the walls.
Special effects were OK.
Good movie. Entertaining.
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- Nigh Noon
Great Gary Cooper. Outstanding performance.
"Nigh" Noon? :o
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::)
This is what happens when you type too fast.
Mistake corrected.
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(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT500/T569/t56951cegdu.jpg)(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT200/T203/t20354bv0oj.jpg)(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T656/t65698rhqgr.jpg)
and Henry Fonda western The Tin Star that I mentioned in other thread.
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(http://a526.g.akamai.net/7/526/14067/v1/img.priceminister.com/photo/88099430_M.jpg)(http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000CDMJO.08.MZZZZZZZ.jpg)
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- A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
A teenage boy is haunted in his dreams by Freddy Krueger who is out to possess him to continue his murdering in the real world.
- A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
As Freddy Krueger continues his murdering, the kids, led by Freddie's main opponent in the first film, prepare to fight back.
- A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
You shouldn't have buried me, I'm not dead
Number 3 was the most enjoyable. Funny, scary, special effects are handled pretty well
Freddy's one liners really crack me up ;D
(http://www.italiadvd.it/news/img/freddy.jpg)
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- A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
You shouldn't have buried me, I'm not dead
Is that a line from the movie?
"Don't bury me. I'm not dead!" is from The Serpent and the Rainbow. :D
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It's the tagline
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Goldfinger
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Daddy Day Care.
Here's a nice little inoffensive film for the whole family.No Violence or bad language and it stars Eddie Murphy. :o
I really enjoyed this.90 minutes of good family entertainment.
Murphy loses his job and decides to start a day care center with his best friend,thinking how hard could it be.
3/5.
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Saw this one theatrically a week ago and kept forgetting to add my comments...
(http://www.weeklydig.com/images/articles/MV_ElevatorGallowsMain.gif)
Elevator to the Gallows[/font] (1958 - Louis Malle)
Louis Malle's feature debut, and the prototype for the French New Wave. A Noirish tale about an elaborate killing and the four people caught up in the aftermath, including the murderer stuck in an elevator impeding his getaway, his lover wandering the streets wondering what happened to him, and the two teenagers who steal the man's car, assume his identity and get into deadly trouble of their own. Will the assassin have to confess to one crime to be cleared of another? Is there a way out? Will the police piece it all together before any of them can cover their tracks? All I know is don't leave cameras with undeveloped film in them lying around.
I hadn't seen this one in years, though I've probably listened to the Miles Davis soundtrack CD roughly two-hundred times in the interim. Seeing Ascenseur pour L'échafaud - Elevator to the Gallows (aka Lift to the Scaffold) on the big screen was a treat. The tension and the humor and the style really wash over the viewer in the theater. Jeanne Moreau was never lovlier, and I could watch two hours just of her walking the Parisian streets in the rain to Miles Davis. The clever twists and turns of the plot are still fun even when you know what's coming, but the genius of the movie is its simplicity and the obvious love of cinema.
GRADE: A-
(http://www.nrc.nl/images/m_lascenseur216.jpg) (http://www.forumdesimages.net/fr/alacarte/htm/RESSOURCES/PHOTO/R_467_Petit.jpg)
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By a coincidence, I also just saw a terrific (but less well-known) French gangster picture, Claude Sautet's Classe tous risques (1960). It stars Lino Ventura as a notorious killer on the lam with two small children, and a very young Jean-Paul Belmondo as the honorable thief who befriends him (this was either just before or just after Breathless, depending on whom you read). Lots of details to savor, top-flight performances all round.
(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/11/18/arts/18risq.184.jpg) (http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/11/18/arts/18risq.650.jpg) (http://www.newyorkmagazine.com/movies/csphotos/01847401.jpg)
More info here ...
http://www.filmforum.org/films/classe.html
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Well once again I have not seen anything as good as those last two films but I and few million other people saw this film few days ago
(http://www.posterplanet.net/harrypotter/images/gobletintlrep.jpg)
surprisingly it wasn`t all that bad :o Actually quite entertaining.Even David"Harry Potter"Radcliffe managed to be good in it ;)
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Well once again I have not seen anything as good as those last two films but I and few million other people saw this film few days ago
(http://www.posterplanet.net/harrypotter/images/gobletintlrep.jpg)
surprisingly it wasn`t all that bad :o Actually quite entertaining.Even David"Harry Potter"Radcliffe managed to be good in it ;)
Daniel Radcliffe. ;)
And yes, it wasn't bad at all. In fact it was excellent. Probably the best Potter film to date which is great since they've continuously gotten better with each film.
I liked the return (finally!) of Lord Voldemort (played wonderfully by Ralph Fiennes) and the sebsequent character change of Potter. I like how the film have gotten darker as they go on.
Things I didn't like were that the hottie Fleur Delacour was hardly in it and Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs) was hardly in it. Though it was great to see that Lucius is part of Voldemort's clan.
Too bad the next one isn't scheduled until 2007. :(
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Daniel Radcliffe. ;)
But ofcourse :)
He and the filmseries is getting better...and darker as you said Brendan.
It was also fun to see that Harry,Hermione and Ron got all those troubles that we all go/went through in our puberty eventhough they`re masters in magic.
I heard that lots of were left out from the novel but still the film is the best one so far.
I think it was a bit too obvious that Lucius Malfoy is a baddie...after all he`s played by Jason Isaacs :)
Ralph Fiennes was quite impressive as Voldemort.
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(http://worldserver2.oleane.com/taz/images/back_akodo.gif)
Samurai Rebellion[/color][/font] (1967 - Masaki Kobayashi)
I think I have seen every Akira Kurosawa movie ever made, most of them many multiple times. But I'm ashamed to say there are lots of other Japanese directors I simply haven't gotten around to seeing much of their work. I had seen two films by Masaki Kobayashi: Kwaidan (1964) and Harakiri (1962). I think both are great, but due to the relative scarcity of much of Koayashi's work in the U.S., I had never gotten around to seeing anything else. An oversight I will soon correct, thanks to seeing the fantastic Samurai Rebellion on the big screen last night.
What a great movie. One of the greatest actors of world cinema, Toshirô Mifune, stars as a quiet Samurai who is known as the greatest swordsman in the clan, but he has never risen to the highest ranks of his Lord's court, mostly due to his stoic nature. He has two sons and a b!tch of a wife (Michiko Otsuka), a woman he was more or less forced to marry years ago and has never spent even ten minutes ever loving her, nor she him.
But his mid-level vassal's family is soon under much pressure when the Lord of the clan orders that his latest mistress, who recently bore him a son, leave the castle and marry Mifune's oldest boy (Go Katô). The rumor is that she went berzerk with jealousy over the Lord's newer mistress, attacking her and even slapping him. Because she is mother to one of only two heirs to the throne she is not killed or tortured, but essentially cast off and married to another. Mifune shows backbone against his master and tries to refuse the order, not wanting a wild woman in his house and more importantly not wanting his son to be in a loveless marriage like his. But it's no use trying to disobey. Eventually they agree and the former Lady of the castle becomes his daughter in law. As soon as they meet her (Yôko Tsukasa) they realize she is a good and gentle woman. She becomes an exceptional wife, they have a daughter together, and she and the son fall in true love with each other.
Then things get complicated. The Lord's elder son dies of illness, making his only other heir, the disfavored Yôko's child, next in line...which means she must leave the vassal's home and return to the castle as the Lord's Lady. Mifune, his son and his new daughter in law all are insulted by this turn of events and refuse. There is much poiliticking among the various levels of the clan, including Mifune's own relatives and wife, but the three stand steadfast to disobey such an unjust command, refusing to go through such emotional torment for another whim of a petty man...even if he is their Lord. Then things get bloody.
Samurai Rebellion (the Japanese title is Jôi-uchi: Hairyô tsuma Shimatsu, which translates as "Rebellion: Receive the Wife") is only two hours long, but it builds wonderfully. It's over an hour into it before the refusal of the order is formally made, and about a hour and forty minutes before the first sword is drawn in conflict. There's so much care and time spent establishing the characters with very good subtle work by Toshirô Mifune and Yôko Tsukasa especially. The tension just builds and builds. By the time they do start fighting, that too is terrific stuff. The last twenty minutes of the movie have a couple bloodbaths, including a duel of honor against the Samurai in the clan Mifune most respects (Tatsuya Nakadai) who knows Mifune is doing the right thing but finds himself obeying the rules of the society to try and stop his mentor. The last battle, with Mifune charging into the tall grass with his lone sword going against wave after wave of soldier, many with rifles, is magnificent.
I was really impressed with Masaki Kobayashi's direction. I knew from Kwaidan that he had a good visual sensibility, and together with cinematographer Kazuo Yamada they compose frame after frame of beauty in crisp black & white. The trust Kobayashi showed in the story and the actors not to rush into the dice-'em-up stuff was impressive. I can see this being remade in Hollywood, transfering the setting to the world of '30s gangsters, but condensing all the meat of the story into the first twenty minutes and having a series of shoot outs and explosions for the remaining hour and forty minutes, without having the audience feel one thing for the characters.
I loved Samurai Rebellion.
GRADE: A
*BTW, Samurai Rebellion has recently been released on R1 DVD by the Criterion Collection, available individually or in the "Rebel Samurai: Sixties Swordplay Classics" boxed set with Sword of the Beast (1965 - Hideo Gosha), Samurai Spy (1965 - Masahiro Shinoda) and Kill! (1968 - Kihachi Okamoto).
(http://www.dvdplanet.com/productimages/thumbnail/61520.jpg) (http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000AQKUFO.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg) (http://www.dvdplanet.com/productimages/thumbnail/61522.jpg) (http://www.dvdplanet.com/productimages/thumbnail/61521.jpg) (http://www.dvdplanet.com/productimages/thumbnail/61517.jpg)
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Rocky 1 and Rocky 2.
(http://www.geocities.com/theactionkingsb/ROCKY.gif)
(http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/ATA/24241M~Rocky-II-Posters.jpg)
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By the way, is it true that they will change the actors to the next Potter-movie? I heard a rumor that Radcliffe wouldn't be in the next one, and i hope it isn't true. :'( :-\
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- A Streetcar Named Desire (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044081/) (http://www.geocities.com/caldwellmark/Street2.jpg)
- A History Of Violence (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399146/) (http://www.moviereporter.net/filme/history_of_violence_a/history_of_violence_a-poster.jpg)
- In The Heat Of The Night (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061811/) (http://www.news.wisc.edu/wisweek/01-Mar-2000/images/Wfilmfest_Heat_Night00.jpg)
- A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream child (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097981/) (http://www.impawards.com/1989/posters/nightmare_on_elm_street_five.jpg)
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(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0001J3SVI.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif)
A nice way to finish off the night :)
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"The Piano", Jane Campion, 1993.
One of my favourite movies ...
I love the scene when Holly Hunter plays the piano on the beach, while Harvey Keitel is listerning and watching her, as the little girl is dancing ... A magical moment, just filmed as out of time ... and the music is wonderful.
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(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0001J3SVI.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif)
A nice way to finish off the night :)
Ahh, Charade, one of my all time faves. Who could forget such classic lines as 'A man drowned in his bed? Ridiculous!' or 'Mrs Lampert, you do realise that any morning now you could wake up dead?' ;D
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Last night I saw the German film Untergang,Der (2004) or to give it it's English title...Downfall.
(http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39991000/jpg/_39991682_downfall_203.jpg)
A very powerful film set at the end of the war, concentrating on Hitler's final days in his bunker as the Russians march on Berlin.
Bruno Ganz as Hitler gives a great performance portraying the Fuhrer struggling with the onset of Parkinson's disease and gradually losing his grip on sanity.. Bruno manages to give the dictator a human face. He is a monster to be sure, but a human monster, which I think makes him all the more terrifying.
The rest of the cast are equally as good in this
very tense and claustrophobic movie. best film I've seen in a while.
Anyone else managed to carch up with it ?
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Not yet Gant, but sounds like one for the future.
I've had a very long day and settled tonight for something a little less taxing ;)
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00077HMGG.01-A22XP0Z2W4YOLT.PT03._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
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Monster. A movie about Aileen Wuornos - a serialkiller. (her family comes from Finland, a little place called Vuornos. I actually know the place.) :o
(http://www.filmsinreview.com/Images/H_P/monster.jpg)
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I`ve been watching tv and DVDs quite a lot lately.
Here`s a few that I´ve seen within a week
(http://images.planetspice.de/reviews/Sahara/Sahara-Poster-Small.jpg) (http://www.roicat.com.tw/poster/i-l/layercake.JPG)
(http://www.tntp.org.vn/newsimgs/28_1_2005/Thang-07---War-Of-Worlds.jpg) (http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000AP04EW.01._SCLZZZZZZZ)
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(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0001J3SVI.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.gif)
A nice way to finish off the night :)
I just found out that this film is in public domain. That means anyone can do anything they want with it.
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charade):
Copyright status
According to the Archive.org website and other sources, due to an irregularity involving the lack of a copyright notice on this film, it is now in the public domain. No claim of copyright was put into the original prints, despite that copyright notices were mandatory in the US prior to 1989. This was not a major issue until the introduction of VCR equipment meant that companies could produce retail copies with no need to pay any licence fees. As a result, there are many editions of Charade on VHS and DVD, of widely varying sound and picture quality. Two notable releases include a restored Criterion DVD edition (selling for, on average, ten times the average cost of most DVD releases of the film), and the film was also included as a bonus feature on the DVD release of the remake, The Truth About Charlie.
You can even download it from that link above. It's a nice 4.2 GB's, so if you don't mind waiting about four and a half hours...
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That's interesting. I didn't know some movies could be in the public domain.
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I liked the return (finally!) of Lord Voldemo rt (played wonderfully by Ralph Fiennes) and the subsequent character change of Potter. I like how the film have gotten darker as they go on.
I liked Fiennes portrayal of Voldemo rt myself, it just about hit my idea of voldemo rt bullseye. Even Fiennes moves were snakelike... Very eerie indeed.
Its true that you sadly don't see much of Lucius, (or Draco). But i did like the added screentime that Snape (Alan Rickman) got. He´s hardly in the Champer of secret at all, and he could have been given more time in Prisoner of Azkaban, but this time he was given the time he deserved O0
Anyone else managed to catch up with it ?
I saw Der Untergang/Downfall early this year, when it was in the cinema, and bought it later on dvd.
As you said yourself, it is pretty powerfull stuff, with great acting overall.
Eva Braun is chocking in her denial of the truth (the downfall of the Reich) at the start of the movie, as is Goebbels couple and especially the killing of the Goebbels children...
Great chilling performances all around...
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I also saw Der Untergang when it was in theaters here last spring. I've seen Bruno Ganz on stage and screen many times, but this was the role he was born to play. Chilling.
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I was going to see Downfall earlier this year, but never got around to it. Watched Marathon Man on the train home last night. That's a good one. Olivier's performance is chilling.
Someone loaned me And Justice For All with Al Pacino this week, and My Cousin Vinny, with Joe Pesci. Both were okay, nothing to scream about.
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(http://www.harrypotterfanzone.com/gallery/albums/userpics/newgofposter.jpg)
(http://www.unificationfrance.com/IMG/jpg/harry_potter_et_la_coupe_de_feu_harry_en_danger.jpg)
The last Harry Potter, yesterday, with kids, in theatre ...
Not a lot of surprises in it, and a lot of missing important scenes present in the book ; the last part of the movie is particularly "dark" and almost scamped, as the scene in the labyrinth ... Well, I think it is the only one that kids won't want to have on DVD ! :-\
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The Gunfighter (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042531/), with Gregory Peck.
Enjoyed it very much. Probably one of Peck's finest performances.
(http://www.ezydvd.com.au/g/i/p/227132.jpg)
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The Gunfighter is a great movie... Reading your post makes me wanna watch it again immediately
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The Gunfighter is a great movie... Reading your post makes me wanna watch it again immediately
The ending reminded me of Unforgiven when Munny tells the Kid "That's a hell of a thing killing a man..."
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Just seen Narnia, really enjoyed it. How nice to see a Hollywood blockbuster that for once actually has a story (as opposed to a string of increasingly tiresome CG effects sequences) and conveys strong moral values without being preachy about it. I thought the Pevensie kids were well played (especially Lucy), Mr Tumnus was instantly likeable (I felt quite bad for what happened to him because of Edmund), the beavers were great - several of their lines got huge laughs from the audience - Aslan was great and the film passes one of the key requirements for this sort of story; make sure you get a good villain. Tilda Swinton was well cast here, able to play evil on different levels and reasonably physically convincing in the battle scenes. Gorgeous producion values too. I saw nothing in the movie that adversely affected my enjoyment although I do wish directors would stop inserting unnecesary slow motion shots in the middle of otherwise exciting battle scenes. I swear to god if I see one more character screaming 'Noooooooooo!' in slow motion as his best friend/brother/wife/husband/lover gets killed then I'll be the one screaming. Just saying ...
... anyway, an exceptional movie and I look forward to buying the DVD and hopefully watching the sequel a couple of years from now.
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Cool, Grizzled. I'll be interested to see it, but it'll take something to beat the BBC series of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Dunno if you got to see that on PBS or anything, but it was superb. I've seen clips from the new Narnia movie, and the special effects (Aslan etc) didn't look any better than on the Beeb version, which is pretty old now, as I was still a kid when it was on. It must have been ahead of its time.
For me, it'd be hard to think of Edmund, Lucy et al. as being anyone but the wonderful child actors in that series. It was so enchanting to watch that as a kid. It was on Sundays in the early evening, and we'd get all set up with tea and muffins (English ones ;)) by the fire. Oh, happy days... 8)
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I swear to god if I see one more character screaming 'Noooooooooo!' in slow motion as his best friend/brother/wife/husband/lover gets killed then I'll be the one screaming. Just saying ...
http://vadercoaster.ytmnd.com/ (http://vadercoaster.ytmnd.com/)
http://vaderfortune.ytmnd.com/ (http://vaderfortune.ytmnd.com/)
;)
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The ending reminded me of Unforgiven when Munny tells the Kid "That's a hell of a thing killing a man..."
Yeah.. It's so long since I saw Gunfighter but somehow thinking about it reminds me of the feel of Unforgiven....That settles it... Gonna have to buy it now. ;D
That slow-mo screaming bit reminds me of an excellent scene from The Simpsons when McBain's partner gets blasted (one day before retiremet)
M-E-N-D-O-S-A !!!!!!!! ;D
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I saw ong bak this week. It was pretty impressive, physically. The movie, eh, its not Shakespeare, but does Hamlet run around on people's heads ???
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Casablanca (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/)
First time. First Humphrey Bogart movie. Very good. He's very good O0
And so is Ingrid Bergman -beautiful too :o
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The Kid Stays In The Picture
Documentary about legendary Paramount producer Robert Evans...
Whatever else is said about him he did produce some excellent films.
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Yes, he did. I watched one last week - good ol' Marathon Man.
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Havn't seen that in ages but watching the doc made me wanna re-visit it.. along with some of the others..
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Casablanca (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/)
First time. First Humphrey Bogart movie. Very good. He's very good O0
And so is Ingrid Bergman -beautiful too :o
Spot on AB. Casablanca is one of my favourtie "old" movies. I also like Key Largo very much. Now I have mentioned it I think I might watch Key Largo tonight.
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Just watched Dirty Harry... for no particular reason other than it's been a while and it's a damn fine film.... ;)
(http://crazy4cinema.com/Review/FilmsD/stills/dirtyharry02.jpg)
Of course I've seen this film many times over the years.... but what really stood out for me this time round was the brilliance of Andrew Robinson's performance.
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Last night at work (very quiet snowy night) I watched The American President starring Michael Douglas and Annette Bening. She is so pretty. Then on to watch The Likely Lads A UK comedy, the movie of a TV series from the 70's. I think it is funny. James Bolam one of the Lads went on to do some brilliant TV and movie stuff in the UK.
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I watched The American President too, mainly because it was written by Aaron Sorkin and was the precursor to The West Wing. Quite obviously it has nothing on the latter, being a fairly unexciting romantic comedy with the odd unusual feature and some polished moments, but for a West Wing fan like me it's interesting to see some of the seeds that blossomed in the TV show. Apart from Clint, Martin Sheen is the only actor of whose work I want a comprehensive collection, and who I will watch in anything, so I'd watch it for that reason anyway.
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The Likely Lads.... Brilliant stuff. Bolam's great.
Also watched one of the "On The Buses" movies.... but they really don't stand the test of time..Nice to see the old routemasters tho' ;)
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Yeah, James Bolam can be good.
I also caught a bit of one of the On The Buses films. Funny to see a bit of the old style stuff, but like Gant says, they don't stand up much nowadays. Not a patch on the Carry On films, many of which still crack me up. My favourite is Carry On Behind. 8) Kenneth Williams - class. O0
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I'm with you on that one Lilly.. always been a "Camping" man meself... ;D ;)
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;D
Yeah that's a good one too. (http://users.erols.com/kcoblenz/boardgrin.gif)
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Elektra ;D
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I just watched Anguish (1987). Awesome! O0 I had never heard of it until today. I saw it at the video store, read the back and decided to rent it. The best horror movie I've seen in a while.
Next up is Herbie Fully Loaded with the hotness of Lindsay Lohan! She makes me go: :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
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Elektra ;D
god love you, are you sitting in the shower rocking back an forth saying "unclean, unclean."
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Finally watched my new copy of Don’t Bother to Knock (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044557/) (1952), after having not seen it for many years.
(http://www.richnoble.com/knock0.jpg)
Stars Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe, and a newcomer at the time – the late Anne Bancroft in her first film appearance.
(http://www.richnoble.com/knock2.jpg)
What makes this film so interesting, I think, is watching Widmark shoot off a bunch of dry, cynical one-liners, and a psychotic Monroe, playing an unstable babysitter (yeah - that's right). She actually does quite a convincing job in this one, to the point where it gives you the creeps.
(http://www.richnoble.com/knock1.jpg)
"You haven’t any reason to leave!"
"Sure I do....I want to!"
(http://www.richnoble.com/knock3.jpg)
My advice: For you single guys out there in a hurry to get married…
give it some good, long, and hard thought.
If you get a chance to rent this one or catch it on the tube, watch it. I think you’ll enjoy it. O0
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In the last ten days or so I've seen Brokeback Mountain, Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Rumor Has It, Breakfast on Pluto, Munich and Manderlay. Don't really have the time or energy to discuss them in any detail, but I'd grade them...
- Brokeback Mountain
GRADE: B
- Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
GRADE: B
- Rumor Has It
GRADE: D+
- Breakfast on Pluto
GRADE: B-
- Munich
GRADE: A
- Manderlay
GRADE: A+
(http://www.tipos.com.br/media/7/20050515-manderlay%201.jpg)
Hope to finally catch up with Syriana in the next day or two.
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I hope you will rest up and regain your energy and give us a little more detail on your takes on these films, Holden!
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I decided to use some days from my Holiday break to watch some Classics, that I hadn't watched :o...I have no exucse for taking so long.
I was kind of busy this week....
Once Upon A Time In The West
Once Upon A Tiime in America
The Godfather
Sunset Blvd.
Casablanca
King Kong (2005)
Airplane!
Jaws
They were all fantastic films, except Airplane. I wasn't expecting much, it is just a silly comedy, but it's a good comedy. I have some Stanley Kubrick movies lined up that I'm going to watch within the next month, or so.
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Dannyman, you've seen a lot of great movies. I love all the ones on your list.
As for Airplane!, it may seem like just another comedy now, but when it first came out, it was very fresh and funny as hell. It was a trend-setting comedy that eventually led the way for a load of films like it, including the Naked Gun films. There's a bunch of classic quotes in it too, my favorite being "Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue."
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I hope I didn't sound like I didn't like it, because I really did. I picked it up because I really loved the Naked Gun films. The Abrams' brohters, Zucker, and Nielsen make a fantastic comedy team!
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking."
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue."
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines."
"I am serious... and don't call me Shirley. " ;D
I also really loved Jonny in the film, remember him? He had a bunch of spntaneous lines that really made me laugh.
Steve McCroskey: This fog is getting thicker.
Johnny: And Leon is getting laaaaarrrrrger.
[reading newspaper headlines]
Rex Kramer: Passengers certain to die!
Steve McCroskey: Airline negligent.
Johnny: There's a sale at Penny's! ;D
(Describing the airplane to reporters): "It looks like a giant Tylenol!"
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You were to kind.
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Saw Munich (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408306/) today, and was quite good. However, I noticed that it appeared to be almost a carbon copy of another made-for-TV movie I've seen (and have on DVD): Sword of Gideon (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092038/) (1986), with Steven Bauer, Michael York, and Rod Steiger. Well no wonder - they're both based on the same novel: Vengeance. But mention of SoG seems to be practically non-existent, expect on the IMDB blogs under the Munich listing.
Of course, Munich is much more big-budget, gory (Spielberg seems to specialize in lots of blood), and puts more focus on the actual Olympics tragedy of '72. But if anyone has a chance to see Sword of Gideon, I highly recommend you see that one as well. Personally, I like that one better, as the characters seem more down to earth, and you seem to sympathize with them more. But I suggest you see both - not necessarily to judge which one is better, as they're both very good in their own way....but just to compare the two. It's quite interesting.
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I have not been all that much in the movies lately but I´ve been watching quite a lot of TV and DVDs.
These are the latest films that I´ve seen
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T679/t67916evl02.jpg) (http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT200/T211/t21185nkei2.jpg) (http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T637/t63790e8wls.jpg) (http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T607/t60736qiv7w.jpg) (http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT300/T394/t39483dnqgp.jpg)
So nothing special.I did like The Upside Of Anger.Kevin Costner and Joan Allen were great in it.
The Longest Yard did not offer anything new.I did laugh in one or two times but I still prefer the original film over this remake.
Those two Tim Allen movies were decent films to watch but I won`t be watching them again.
I watched Loonie tunes:Back In Action with my girlfriend`s son(of 7 year)and surprisingly we both liked it ;D
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Green Card....... Not one of my better choices and Catch Me If You Can. I thought with Tom Hanks in the latter it would have been good. I rate it 2 out of 10
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Catch Me If You Can. I thought with Tom Hanks in the latter it would have been good. I rate it 2 out of 10
Really? I'm surprised. I liked Catch Me If You Can quite a bit. I've never been much of a Leonardo fan (and neither are you as I recall, Lin! (http://users.erols.com/kcoblenz/boardgrin.gif)), but I thought he did well in this role, and he was suited to the part. I probably wouldn't have seen the movie back in 2002, but it was screened on a long flight so I ended up watching it, and it made my journey much less boring.
Watched it again the other day when it was on BBC1 and I still think it's a good movie. Mainly because it's amazing how much of it actually happened. :o I know Abagnale's story is embellished, but if only a quarter of it were true it would be incredible.
I thought Tom Hanks was pretty good, and I mainly just liked the feel of the movie. Spielberg did good, I thought. The music was excellent, and I love the opening titles, which are obviously a tribute to those in North by Northwest, and a nice way of referencing the time period in which the film is set.
I also thought Christopher Walken did a great job as the troubled father. O0
All in all, a very entertaining film with some classy touches too.
Our taste is usually quite similar Lin, but I guess there's no accountin' for it! :)
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I recorded the screening of it on BBC1 and that was what watched. Perhaps I am going through a bad spot but I just couldn't get into it. I do like Tom Hanks and he played his part OK but I expected more. Sorry.
Whoops I had already said too much when I said I didn't like Bronco Billy in another thread. Maybe I should go back and watch them both over again :D. Put it down to old age ;D ;D
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I recorded the screening of it on BBC1 and that was what watched. Perhaps I am going through a bad spot but I just couldn't get into it. I do like Tom Hanks and he played his part OK but I expected more. Sorry.
Whoops I had already said too much when I said I didn't like Bronco Billy in another thread. Maybe I should go back and watch them both over again :D. Put it down to old age ;D ;D
;D Hey Lin, no worries, it's up to you mate. 8) I do think it wasn't one of Tom Hanks' best roles, so if you were watching it for him it might be a disappointment. He didn't get all that much screen time either.
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Very good week for me movie-wise 8)
- Driving Miss Daisy (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097239/)
(http://www.discodelic.netfirms.com/happy-claphands2.gif) to Morgan Freeman for his performance.
Sweet, funny and very moving. Loved it.
"Only took me six days. Same time it took the Lord to make the world." -Morgan Freeman's character on how long it took him to convince Miss Daisy to accept him as her chauffeur.
- White Heat (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042041/)
Jarrett chewing on a chicken leg, the guy in the trunk of the car asking for air, Jarrett just says something like I'll give you a little air, and he shoots in the trunk ;D ;D Unforgettable scene ;D
I don't think anybody could've played the bad guy better than he did here. Is it me or does he always have this devilish look on his face? >:D
It's hard not to like him, though. He's a bad guy all right. But probably the most lovable of them all.
- North By Northwest (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053125/)
Awesome. Very funny and entertaining. Great cinematography
There's one scene I really liked -in addition to this scene where Thornhill (Cary Grant's character) is hunted by a crop duster plane: the love scene :-[ ;D I don't know. I just liked the way it was filmed.
Oh and also when Thornhill's drunk ;D
My third Hitchcock movie -so far I've only seen Psycho and Spellbound.
- To Kill A Mockingbird (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056592/)
I loved the book. The movie lives up to it. Just great.
Great performances...the kids, Gregory Peck and all the other actors involved in the movie.
"My lord, Aunt Stephanie, you almost gave me a heart attack." -Dill ;D
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These are the films I watched this week:
The Producers (2005) - 7/10. I enjoyed it. Will Ferrall was actually in a good movie this year! It felt claustrophobic at times and it seemed to go on a little too long. But all in all it was fun.
Sky High (2005) - 6/10. Fun. That's really the only word to describe it. Kurt Russell is great as always.
Rumor Has It... (2005) - 2/10. Terrible!
Office Space (1999) - 8/10. Awesome! I love this movie. It made me a Ron Livingston fan and showcased that Jennifer Aniston has some amount of talent in her.
March of the Penguins (2005) - 9/10. Fantastic! Some breath taking images too. Great documentary.
Layer Cake (2004) - 8/10. See the new James Bond in action! This Brit film is a blast. It's a great little film that I would recommend.
X-Men (2000) & X2: X-Men United (2003) 7/10 & 8/10. Good and great! I love these two flicks and the latter is a pure treat. I get so excited when Wolverine goes nuts when that special ops team invades the school in the second one. I hate the fact Bryan Singer took off to do Superman Returns and left X3 to Brett Ratner. At least one of them will be great...
Capote (2005) - 4/10. I wasn't that impressed by this. The performances were great but the film itself was just not that good. Why is the film called Capote? It's not about him. It's about him writing the book "In Cold Blood" so why was the film not called that? I expected a bio pic but it's not. And the way they built up to Perry telling Truman what happened that night is very anti-climactic. I didn't know much about the story so I figured there was going to be some twist but in the end. Glad I was able to see it since it wasn't playing in my city but disappointed that I didn't like it. And the score... AH! Stop with these pitiful one note scores. It's just someone pushing a piano key for five minutes and then they looped it though out the film whenever they needed it.
Aliens (1986) - 8/10. What a blast! I love this movie. I love that Ridley Scott's Alien was so slow and plodding while Cameron's Alien film is a full out action film. And James Horner's score.... ah man! Amazing! Such a perfect action movie score. My heart races everytime I see Ripley drive the vehicle into the complex to rescue the Marines. Horner's score is so brilliantly effective there. Damn. What a fine, fine action film. One of the best. Hurry up, Cameron with your Battle Angel something or other and give us another action film!
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North By Northwest (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053125/)
Awesome. Very funny and entertaining. Great cinematography
There's one scene I really liked -in addition to this scene where Thornhill (Cary Grant's character) is hunted by a crop duster plane: the love scene :-[ ;D I don't know. I just liked the way it was filmed.
Oh and also when Thornhill's drunk ;D
Cool. Yeah I like those scenes too. So many great ones in that movie. And the colours are fantastic. I thought the matte painting was great too - especially when they were clambering over Mount Rushmore. 8)
Why is the film called Capote? It's not about him. It's about him writing the book "In Cold Blood" so why was the film not called that?
I'd guess because of the 1967 movie by that name. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061809/
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I'd guess because of the 1967 movie by that name. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061809/
Which is based on his book... still though. It's not that big of a deal just a little mis-leading to some. I knew about the movie going into so I suppose if I had of read up on it or watched the trailer I wouldn've gotten a better idea.
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Whoops I had already said too much when I said I didn't like Bronco Billy in another thread.
Don`t worry Lin.I also got lot of trouble liking Bronco Billy :-[
But speaking of Catch Me If You Can,I thought it was a quite good film if not Spielberg`s or Hanks`best...and it`s certainly better film than their`s Terminal.now that film really sucked.
DiCaprio was surprisingly good in Catch Me If You Can(hated him in Aviator...actually I hated the whole film)
North By Northwest is my all time favorite film from both hitchcock and Cary Grant.Awesome film.
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Just watched Sourthern Comfort (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083111/) again, after a 2-3 year hiatus. That's a good one, with Keith Carradine and Powers Boothe, about an Army National Guard outfit stuck in the Louisiana bayou gettin' picked off one by one by angry Cajuns. Good flick from 1981.
(http://www.richnoble.com/sc1.jpg)
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Southern Comfort is one of my personal favs.
That eerie music is really great. It’s like some southern Cajun Dobro slide guitar.
Really enjoy Powers Booths performance in this one. He had a great show on HBO right after that called Phillip Marlow based on the Raymond Chandler character and had a string of good ones after that. Red Dawn, The Emerald Forest, and Extreme Prejudice.
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Yeah he was good in that. I remember his role as Jim Jones, a couple years before that. Really creepy.
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A Shot At Glory.(2001)
Starring Robert Duvall as a Scottish Football manager of a lower division side in their quest for glory in the Scottish F.A. Cup.
Duvall even puts on a great scottish accent.I really enjoyed this film even though I'm not a big soccer fan and highly recommend it as a great sporting comedy.I liked the guy who would go the matches but would either stand with his back to the game or sit with his head in his hands always asking his mate what was happening as he couldn't bear to watch.
4/5.
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I liked the guy who would go the matches but would either stand with his back to the game or sit with his head in his hands always asking his mate what was happening as he couldn't bear to watch.
4/5.
Sounds like me watching the Yankees! (http://users.erols.com/kcoblenz/Lol.GIF)
Glad you're back, tgy! :)
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Watched King Ralph (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Ralph) (1991) on the train ride home tonight. I’ve always liked this comedy since first seeing it in the early 90s. It’s about a search to find an heir to the throne after the royal family’s wiped out in a freak accident. Turns out the next living heir’s an American Vegas performer (Goodman). Sounds really idiotic, but the film works for the most part.
Peter O’Toole’s great (as usual), as is John Hurt. Even John Goodman’s pretty good in this one. Some of it is plain silly, other parts outright hilarious.
(http://www.richnoble.com/kr1.jpg)
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Last night I re-watched The Ipcress File
(http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/932994.jpg)
Michael caine in one of his finest roles as Government spy Harry Palmer
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That seems to be difficult to obtain over here, at least the R1 version. Recently watched him in the original Alfie, which was very good.
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Yeah.. I've only become a fan of Caine's work in recent years.. But he made some cracking movies. Alfie is probably my favorite. Closely followed by Get Carter and The Man Who Would Be King. Mind you.. he has been in a lot of crap also.. ;D
My Ipcress File came free with the newspaper. Your welcome to it if you've got multi region.
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Thanks very much, Gant. If I cannot find a cheap copy, I may take you up on that. O0
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Watched CRASH last night andd thoroughly enjoyed it. Very good movie.
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I just read that a special edition of The Ipcress file is about to be released with bundles of extras. I'm sure it'll get a region 1 release.
last night I watched the Aussie horror flick Wolf Creek. I don't really go for these type of movies any more but this got so many good reviews I gave it a whirl..
Didn't really do it for me. More nasty than scary...
(http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/Images/MoviePics/w/wolfcreek.jpg)
A true story supposedly... :o
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(http://www.djdchronology.com/images%209/prideprejudice01_small1.jpg)
Pride and Prejudice (2005). Good movie, I really liked it. :) I'm planning to buy it when it comes on DVD.
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I just read that a special edition of The Ipcress file is about to be released with bundles of extras. I'm sure it'll get a region 1 release.
I’ve seen several adverts for Ipcress SE for pre-order on several UK sites, such as Amazon UK, (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BVK814/202-9315713-8312603) going between £17.99 - £29.99, release date mid-Jan ‘06.
(http://www.richnoble.com/ipfile,jpg)
It may not be released here, at least not anytime soon, as it’s a pretty obscure film over on this end. Most of Caine’s work is acknowledged here, but for some reason Ipcress is not.
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Some movies I watched this week:
Kinsey (2004) - 8/10. Terrific. I loved this movie and it's one of my favourite from 2004. Liam Neeson is supbern and so is Laura Linney.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - 10/10. To me this thing is one of the greatest films ever made. Probably the best of the 90's or one of. I love everything about this movie and it's perfectly made to me.
Where Eagles Dare (1968) - 4/10. Ugh. It becomes mindless at the end and is a Michael Bay lite film. And the Germans speaking english to each other? Come on! And when Clint speaks to a German officer he speaks American english? And the German doesn't think that this wierd? WTF?
The Killer (1989) - 8/10. Hong Kong John Woo = Great. American John Woo = horrible. I dug this film from beginning to end and loved every frame of it. I watched on a recommendation from my buddy and he also gave me Hard Boiled to watch as well. I'll be checking that out soon.
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The Killer (1989) - 8/10. Hong Kong John Woo = Great. American John Woo = horrible. I dug this film from beginning to end and loved every frame of it. I watched on a recommendation from my buddy and he also gave me Hard Boiled to watch as well. I'll be checking that out soon.
(http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview/lesamourai/poat2.jpg) (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview/lesamourai/subsamp.jpg) (http://www.thegline.com/cgi-bin/t.php?pic=../dvd-of-the-week/images/2003/samourai106.jpg) (http://www.dvdplanet.com/productimages/thumbnail/61518.jpg)
If you liked The Killer (I sure don't), get a hold of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï (1967), which Woo reworked as his film. I find Melville's superior in every single way imaginable. It was recently released as part of the Criterion Collection on R1 DVD. If you've never seen any of Jean-Pierre's flicks, this one is a good place to start.
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Where Eagles Dare (1968) - 4/10. Ugh. It becomes mindless at the end and is a Michael Bay lite film. And the Germans speaking english to each other? Come on! And when Clint speaks to a German officer he speaks American english? And the German doesn't think that this wierd? WTF?
Heck, at least the Germans speak English with a German accent! (http://users.erols.com/kcoblenz/Lol.GIF)
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I'll try and track that down, Holden. Thanks. You can't rent Criterions anywhere in my city (except for Wes Anderson's films) and it's even harder to find any sort of a selection in stores... especially ones that aren't WAY overpriced. I was shocked when I saw Hoop Dreams and I had a very short debate as to whether or not I should wait to get or buy it then. Of course I bought it then.
Heck, at least the Germans speak English with a German accent! (http://users.erols.com/kcoblenz/Lol.GIF)
Yeah at least that was a step in the right direction. One thing I liked about The Hunt For Red October was that the Russians spoke Russian to each other. And then gradually started speaking English (though it was still supposed to be Russian). This is why I hope that in Clint's Japanese Iwo Jima film all the Japanese soldiers speak Japanese to each other.
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(http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00079FGXK.02._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg) Not quite what I expected. I didn't find it funny. Must just be me. :(
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Vertigo (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357/) Good movie, but definitely not my favorite Hitchcock movie -out of the four I've seen ;D :-[
Didn't enjoy it as much as North By Northwest.
Speaking of Hitchcock, which movie is considered his best? ???
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Speaking of Hitchcock, which movie is considered his best? ???
Actually, Vertigo is my personal favorite. Only four so far, AB? There are a lot of good ones, so have fun!
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Speaking of Hitchcock, which movie is considered his best? ???
Well, a lot of critics consider Vertigo Hitch's best! I'm with you though, AB ... I don't care for it as much as several of his others.
These are a few of my personal favorites:
- Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
- Notorious (1946)
- Rear Window (1954)
- North by Northwest (1959)
Second tier:
- Strangers on a Train (1951)
- Psycho (1960)
- The Birds (1963)
... and Vertigo, if only for the look of the thing.
Anyway, those are my picks as of this morning, glancing over his filmography.
You might be interested to know that Hitchcock himself occasionally singled out Shadow of a Doubt as his best film in his own opinion. However, he told Truffaut ...
François Truffaut: I know why Shadow of a Doubt is your favorite picture, but I think, just the same, that if your pictures were to disappear and this was the only one that remained—it would, perhaps, give a false concept of the Hitchcockian style and Notorious would give a more accurate idea.
Alfred Hitchcock: Well, my first reason for feeling—it's probably truly incorrect for me to say that it's my favorite picture. It's probably my conscience toward the plausibles and the logicians that I feel that here is something they cannot complain about. And the psychologists.
F.T.: That's right.
A.H.: And it's probably, that is the true reason for my saying it's my favorite picture. In a sense, it's a weakness to say it, because why am I, on the one hand dismissing the plausibles, and yet on the other hand, I'm worrying about them. I'm only human. So I think this is the real truth of the Shadow of a Doubt statement. Also, possibly, there are such pleasant memories of working king with Thornton Wilder. You see, having been frustrated by not having always the very best writers who were willing to work seriously in a milieu that generally they despised—I'm talking about American writers—it suddenly became gratifying for me to find one of the most eminent of American playwrights willing to work with me …
From the audiotapes on which the book Hitchcock by François Truffaut is based (New York: Simon and Schuster, rev. ed. 1984); quoted in Multimedia Hitchcock, a museum computer kiosk application on which I worked, exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 1999.
Maybe Holden will chime in with a "Hitchcock appreciation" post ... ;)
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Speaking of Hitchcock, which movie is considered his best? ???
That depends entirely who you're asking, of course. You're likely to hear Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, Rebecca, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Notorious, The 39 Steps, Shadow of a Doubt, The Lady Vanishes or any number of his films offered as his "best". He has many bests, and personal taste will dictate which you put at the top of your list. As far as Oscars, he never won Best Director but Rebecca did win Best Picture, if you want to use that as a criteria. The 2002 BFI/Sight&Sound poll of directors and critics put Vertigo as the second-best film of all-time (behind Citizen Kane). The first AFI "100 Years, 100 Movies" poll had Psycho at #18, North by Northwest at #40, Rear Window at #42 and Vertigo at #61. Hitch himself said Shadow of a Doubt was his personal favorite. My own list goes...
1. North by Northwest
2. Notorious
3. Psycho
4. Shadow of a Doubt
5. Rebecca
6. Rear Window
7. Strangers on a Train
8. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
9. The Wrong Man
10. The 39 Steps
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Thanks guys O0
Well, a lot of critics consider Vertigo Hitch's best!
Really?! :o
Actually, Vertigo is my personal favorite. Only four so far, AB? There are a lot of good ones, so have fun!
Yeah, only four so far. Some more catchup to do ;)
Maybe Holden will chime in with a "Hitchcock appreciation" post ... ;)
That would be nice :)
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And as you can see, I don't care all that much for Vertigo either.
(http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/WanadooFilms/Thriller/NorthVeiling.jpg)
VANDAMM
Seems to me you fellows could stand
a little less training from the F.B.I. and
a little more from the Actor's Studio.
ROGER THORNHILL
Apparently the only performance that
will satisfy you is when I play dead.
VANDAMME
Your very next role. You'll be quite
convincing, I assure you.[/font]
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8) Cool, Holden. Great cast in that movie, Martin Landau and James Mason made such good baddies.
(http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00079FGXK.02._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg) Not quite what I expected. I didn't find it funny. Must just be me. :(
I rented that a few years ago and "not what I expected" fitted the bill for me too. It was much more lightweight than I realised and I found it hard to get through. But I had it on in the background when it was on BBC1 the other day, and I appreciated some parts of it more, not expecting much this time. It's still a pretty lame plot, with cheese ball stuff, but I am amused by Travolta's blatant piss-take of Clinton. He takes him off well. The basic idea was a good one, but the movie doesn't quite fit any genre comfortably. I did love seeing Allison Janney in a very small part as a school board official. She is such a great physical comedian - she can fall over in a more realistic and hilarious way than anyone I've seen.
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My best of the best Hitchcock list would be:
Vertigo
Psycho
Strangers on a Train
Shadow of a Doubt
Rear Window
Frenzy
Not all of those are in order. For a long time, Psycho and Vertigo were always the standouts in my mind, and then, alas, Vertigo took the top spot. It seems like the type of movie that could have been Hitchcock's most personal film, and at any rate, it's the most personal to me.
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It's still a pretty lame plot, with cheese ball stuff, but I am amused by Travolta's blatant piss-take of Clinton. He takes him off well. The basic idea was a good one, but the movie doesn't quite fit any genre comfortably.
I quite agree
I did love seeing Allison Janney in a very small part as a school board official. She is such a great physical comedian - she can fall over in a more realistic and hilarious way than anyone I've seen.
Those were the best bits of the movie. I did find it difficult to keep watching it but I did to the bitter end. :-\
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Ha, the plumber coming over to fix my heating is called jimmy stewart, no messing.
and that reminds me i watched you can't take it with you again this week, and str trek nemisis, i think it's better at home it has more of a dounle episode feel to it than a proper movie
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The movies I watched this week:
- Urban Legend (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146336/)
Don't expect too much of this one.
There's nothing like a good ol' horror movie -preferably black and white like, uh...Night Of The Living Dead ;) They sure don't make them like they used to... ::)
In a nutshell, don't waste your time with this one. Watch Freddy Krueger or NOTLD instead :)
- Match Point (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416320/)
OK movie. I'm not a big Woody Allen fan anyway.
- Good Night, And Good Luck (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433383/)
Very interesting. I didn't know about CBS being behind the fall of McCarthy.
Nice cast. David Strathairn and Ray Wise performances stood out for me. Great acting.
- Brokeback Mountain (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/)
Very beautifully and rightly filmed and told.
Great cinematography.
Acting tour de force.
- In the Cut (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199626/)
Meg Ryan at her best.
Once again, I particularly like the cinematography -one of the reasons why I bought the DVD.
- Friday the 13th (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080761/)
Now I've got to see the sequels :D
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Watched my Wild In the Streets/Gas-s-s-s DVD, and quite enjoyed it. Film made an impression on me when I viewed it as a kid, and it's stuck with me all these years. Sure it’s campy, but it’s worth to see at least once if you get the chance. If you’re an American-International fan, then you’d enjoy WITS. Not sure about the flip side, however. Why even spend all this time sharing about a film like WITS? Cuz it’s Sunday, I’m beat, and I don’t have anything better to do today. Plus I like this film!
Quick synopsis with cap shots. Massive spoiler ahead, but maybe it doesn’t matter since a lot of you may not ever end up seeing it anyway. Limited availability, you know. Right... ;)
__________________________________________
Max Fatow Jr. (Christopher Jones) is an angry, troubled teen with a domineering, neurotic mother (Shelley Winters) and weak-willed father (Bert Freed):
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild1a.jpg)
Max in his chemical lab having a conversation with his mother
So he decides to run away from home, but first he thrashes the home and blows up his dad’s new Chrysler:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild1b.jpg)
On his own he becomes a rock musician - changes his name to Max “Frost” - and makes the big time:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild1c.jpg)
One of his band entourage, the drummer, is Stanley X, played by Richard Pryor:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild3.jpg)
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild3b.jpg)
Senator Johnny Fergus (Hal Holbrook), a California congressman running for the Senate, is sort of a popular RFK type…
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild2a.jpg)
…and decides to recruit Max and his band to campaign for him, wanting to grab the support of the younger voters:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild4.jpg)
Instead, Max ends up becoming the real “hero” for youth culture, and sure enough they really want him to run for office. Another older senator dies shortly before the election, leaving an empty seat to be filled. Being that Max is too young to run, the only one in his group old enough is his girlfriend and keyboardist, Sally (Diane Varsi). She successfully wins a seat in the Senate (along with Fergus). She and Max push for the legal age requirement to be lowered for holding a political office. Of course Congress is totally against it. So the most logical recourse is to pollute the waters in the District with LSD:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild9b.jpg)
Spiking the Potomac with acid
So when the day comes for Congress to vote for or against lowering the age for office holders, it's a chaotic scene, as they’re pretty helpless (since they've tuned in, turned on, and dropped out...against their knowledge), so Max and his escorts assist them a bit with getting the vote through:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild7.jpg)
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild5.jpg)
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild6.jpg)
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild7b.jpg)
The times they are-a-changin.’ Senator Fergus tripping his brains out.
Sure enough, they get the votes needed to pass the amendment, and shortly thereafter Max becomes a candidate for President of the United States...on the Republican ticket!:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild8.jpg)
Max’s mother, trying to fit in and understand the counter-culture, supports her son 100% - though he wants nothing to do with her:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild7c.jpg)
Max’s mom (Winters) dragging on a pot pipe and undergoing LSD therapy
But Fergus (Holbrook) tries to stop the madness by attempting to assassinate him, albeit unsuccessfully:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild8b.jpg)
Max takes the presidency with electoral votes of 49 States (Hawaii being the sole exception), and shortly thereafter requires everyone 30 years and over to be sent to concentration camps, where they’re forced to be perpetually drugged the rest of their passing lives:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild10.jpg)
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild11a.jpg)
The water tanks laced with LSD that all inhabitants/prisoners must glug down
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild11b.jpg)
An over-30, average middle-class woman forced to partake of the acid-laced water
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild12.jpg)
The senior population living the rest of their lives in bliss
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild15.jpg)
Unfortunately Max’s mom is not exempt....
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild13.jpg)
…neither is Senator Fergus, who can't accept the concept of being an old hippy and decides to end it all, cutting short a successful career in politics. Years later he becomes an actor and lands a role in Magnum Force.
As for the State of Hawaii, their punishment for not supporting Max in the previous election is dumping laods of STP (a very potent LSD-like drug) in their water, causing a massive overdose of the population. Those who survive are reduced to weird, veggie-like creatures, merely existing - completely oblivious of their surroundings:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild16.jpg)
Aloha
Max, passing his days as the leader of the USA, having obtained his objective of ridding the country of the menacing older population, ends up one day spending some leisure time by a quiet creek in the countryside, and runs into a little crawly-creature, stepping on it just out of amusement. When three boys who are playing nearby complain that he just killed their pet crawdad, Max could care less.
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild17.jpg)
One of the boys, in a tone of vengeance, proclaims:
(http://www.richnoble.com/wild18.jpg)
”Anyone over the age of 10, we’re going to put them out of business.”
So ends the story in a vicious cycle. One generation gets too old for the other.
_______________________________________
As far as Roger Corman’s Gas-s-s-s, I can’t really comment on it except to say I wonder if Corman himself was on acid when he directed this flick, as it really has no plot, no direction, and no substance. There’s some pretty good music by Country Joe and the Fish throughout the movie, but other than that….there’s nothing going for it. I’m sure it was made to watch while on the influence of something, but being most of us have given up recreational 'passtimes' (hopefully), it’s really just something to put on the B side of this disc.
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Thunderbolt and Lightfoot again :)
Sleepless In Seattle again
You've Got Mail again
and for the first time Brothers. OK but I wont watch it again. ;D
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"Midnight in The Garden of God and Evil" :) :) :)
"U.S Marshals" (Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes) :)
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Layer Cake... again.
Wanted to check out the new Bond... :)
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I watched The White Buffalo again. I've been on a Bronson kick lately. I forget his name, but the actor who portrayed Ten Bears in "Wales" was also in this movie, which came out the following year.
It was ok. Barely enjoyable enough to see it through to it's conclusion. Jack Warden was good as usual, too.
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I watched White Buffalo again. I forget his name, but the actor who portrayed Ten Bears in "Wales" was also in this movie...
(http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/Drama/Drama/OneFlewChief2.jpg)
Will Sampson[/font], Big Chief Bromden in[/font] One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest[/font]
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Thanks, Holden. How could I forget that one? Great movie.
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The Night We Never Met :o :-\ :( ??? Well I watched it to the end. Why??
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Being Australia Day,I just had to sit down and watch one of my favorite Aussie film's ever.
Smiley ( 1956 )
Starring Ralph Richardson,Chips Rafferty and Colin Peterson as Smiley.
Smiley is a young boy growing up in an outback town back in the 1950's and all he want's is a bike,but he doesn't have the money so he starts doing chores for everyone in town to try and raise the four quid that it costs.Unfortunately his mischievious ways prevent him from collecting enough with paying for broken windows and losing at a game of two-up.
This may be dated now for some but I think it's still great family entertainment so if you get a chance to see it sometime I'd highly recommend it.
4/5. O0
(http://www.boyacts.com/babin/actorpics/425.jpg)
Colin Peterson as "Smiley"
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That above pic reminds me something out of The Little Rascals (or Our Gang).
Just been watching reruns on the train this week. Die Hard and Bourne Identity. Going to watch The Conversation with Gene Hackman tonight. For the life of me I can't remember what I watched on Monday. :( Took the kids to see The Chronicles of Narnia movie on Saturday. Fun flick.
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Secondhand Lions ( 2003 )
Robert Duvall,Michael Caine and Haley Joel Osment.
Duvall and Caine seem to be getting better with each passing year.Here they play a couple of eccentric uncle's to Osment who live out in the sticks hating to be bothered by anyone.
Osment gets dumped with them by his mother who wants to know where they stashed a supposedly fortune in gold and cash.
This is another great family film and a lot of fun watching these two great veterans,I highly recommend it.
4/5.
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Took my kids to go see Hoodwinked (http://www.hoodwinkedthemovie.com/), not really knowing what to expect. You know, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, especially at an animated kid's movie (supposedly), but the script and the jokes were so fresh and spontaneous - it was really top-notch. My kids saw me laughing and began to laugh as a result. If I'm losing my mind, I'm really enjoying it. The animation was off the wall, and deliberately so. But kudos to the writers. From what I've read, people either love or hate this movie. I thought it was a nice break from the dime-a-dozen flicks being pumped out by Disney and Dreamworks, that are for the most part nauseating. Also, the voice talent in this one was very good. Not just which current celebrity will bring in the most $$$. The wolf was top notch. And the singing goat... don't get me started. This one's gonna be on my DVD shelf when it comes out.
(http://www.richnoble.com/hood1.jpg)
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I watched Hoodwinked yesterday. I liked its cleverness, but over all, I wouldn't give it a strong recommendation compared to a lot of other animated movies I've seen. A decent enough movie, though.
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I took my nephew to see Hoodwinked on Friday. We both liked it. Any excuse to see a computer-animated movie, I'm there. Been a fan of them since Toy Story (and TV's ReBoot around the same time).
My wife and I also watched Crash & Redeye; we enjoyed 'em both.
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I watched Hoodwinked yesterday. ..I wouldn't give it a strong recommendation compared to a lot of other animated movies I've seen.
For the same reason that's how I came to my conclusion of why I liked it. The off-branded sense of humor and animation style is what drew me to it. Facial expressions and characters - especially the wolf and Red.
I found the movie cool. ;)
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- The Color Of Money (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090863/)
Paul Newman has an incredible screen presence. He just shines on screen -and here for the second time of his career as Eddie Felson O0
I was impressed with some of the pool-playing scenes. I mean many of the pool tricks you see on screen are just WOW unbelievable :o
Either Newman and Cruise are two outstanding pool players, or they hired world champions to double for them :D Serioulsy, did they do some of the tricks?
It's been a little while since I've seen The Hustler (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054997/), but I remember liking it.
Anyway, I enjoyed its sequel.
"I'm back!" 8)
- Single White Female (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105414/) (http://www.discodelic.netfirms.com/scared-boltaway1.gif)
Jennifer Jason Leigh is an actress who gives me the willies whenever I see her on screen.
- Beverly Hills Cop (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086960/)
(http://www.fast-rewind.com/bhcop3.jpg)
Serge always cracks me up ;D ;D
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I was impressed with some of the pool-playing scenes [in The Color of Money]. I mean many of the pool tricks you see on screen are just WOW, unbelievable. Either Newman and Cruise are two outstanding pool players, or they hired world champions to double for them. Serioulsy, did they do some of the tricks?
Newman and Cruise did all their own pool shots in the movie save one: jumping the two balls that Vincent has to do. That was done by the pro Michael Sigel. Otherwise it was all Newman and Cruise.
(http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=61747) (http://www.movieactors.com/freezeframes510/colorofmoney70.jpeg)
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Impressive.
Thanks for the info O0
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With this talk of these two movies, I'm gonna have to watch The Hustler and The Color of Money again.... which of course is never a bad thing.
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Someone loaned me a DVD for an bizarre pic called The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, about an Aussie who travels to the UK and gets into all sorts of mischief. Pretty much exploits the worst in both cultures. Very strange and low-budget. Not sure what else to say about this flick. Has some big names, but what a strange movie.
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Brokeback Mountian Opinion in the Brokeback Moutain thread.
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Watched "The 40 Year Old Virgin" on a plane this weekend. Awful.
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Watched "The 40 Year Old Virgin" on a plane this weekend. Awful.
I've watched it like four times since I bought the DVD a few weeks ago, and I laugh just as much now as I did in the theater....which is a whole heck of a lot.
Hysterical stuff.
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A plane may not be the best venue for that one ... ;)
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maybe not..... especialy when the 23 stone man in front of me decided to ram his seat back full tilt without warning sending my JD and coke cascading down all over me and pushing the video screen flat against my nose... >:(
Now some people found that amusing..... ;)
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Finally got to watch Ipcress File with Michael Caine. It starts out slow, but I must say this film is a real sleeper. Very good, I like Caine's dry style throughout. Very cool 8)
Although dated in some ways, it has an hypnotic effect (like the storyline) that keeps your attention till the end. Another thing I like about this film is it's very unBond-like, not relying on the 007 gimmicks and babes. Just a good story, acting, and other things. Hypnotic.
(http://www.richnoble.com/ipcress.jpg)
Also watched White Lightning, an old Burt Reynolds flick about running moonshine. Ned Beatty plays the corrupt sheriff. Just a good ol' boy flick.
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Watched Wedding Crashers (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396269/) yesterday.
Very funny.
I know. The movie's 2 hrs long. But time flies when you're having fun ;)
Vince Vaughn is too awesome 8)
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(http://www.filmdeculte.com/photo/film/gangsofnewyork/image.jpg)
Very good actors , great scenery ... but too much violent.
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Glad you enjoyed it Agent.. it's a cracking film...
The new Bond movie started filming this week.
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Just won a copy on Ebay for very good price - NTSC version. O0
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Wha !!!!!! The new Bond film ? :o :o
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I watched The Thin Man last night. I have it on VHS, but I hadn't seen it in a very long time. Some great one-liners, and William Powell and Myrna Loy are priceless as Nick and Nora Charles. I've never seen any of the sequels, though I'd like to.
(http://freespace.virgin.net/d.moore1/Donna2/films/thinman2.jpg)
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Wha !!!!!! The new Bond film ? :o :o
Yeah - I get a DVD of it before it's even finished filming! Now how fast is that??
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Those bootleggers keep getting cleverer and cleverer! :D
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I have watched both the Which Way movies and Love Actually and This Sporting Life starring Richard Harris. This Sporting Life was the movie that really got Richard Harris noitced. Pity it was in black and white.
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Pity it was in black and white.
You got something against black and white movies? Or was it a colour movie that you just happened to watch in black and white?
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Agent.. Have you seen Funeral In Berlin or Billion Dollar Brain...?
A Caine movie I've never seen but would like to catch up with is the Don Siegal directed The Black Windmill..
Last night I watched one of my all time favorite movies (for about the 20th time)
Wages Of Fear .. directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot.
(http://images.play.com/covers/98971m.jpg)
I can never get too much of this movie.
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This Sporting Life was the movie that really got Richard Harris noitced. Pity it was in black and white.
Why in the Hell is that a pity?!? (http://smilies.vidahost.com/otn/confused/fie.gif)
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well in fairness a lot fo Black and white movies From the UK had poor lighting and as a result were difficult enough to see sometimes, i guess lin probably means it's a shame we couldn't see Richard harris in all his glory in living colour.
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I know what Lin means. I'm not familiar with This Sporting Life, but I find it hard to get in to some black and white films. There are, of course, some fantastic examples, especially some made in the colour era - I'm thinking particularly of The Man Who Wasn't There (2001, Coen Brothers), which was lit and shot superbly.
But some films made years ago, in black and white just because that was the only option at the time, would be better in colour. :)
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Those bootleggers keep getting cleverer and cleverer! :D
Yeah, bad enough they go into theaters with video cams and record it, but now we have them on the actual sets as they film! So I get the deleted scenes as well! ;)
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Agent.. Have you seen Funeral In Berlin or Billion Dollar Brain...?
No, but I plan to rent them if possible. I see Funeral in Berlin is even harder to obtain (NTSC) than Ipcress, and going for bigger bucks. I may have to settle for the PAL version, as it's readily available new in the UK. Billion Dollar Brain is still available here new, but that seems to not get very good reviews. Good thing about getting a PAL disc is I can convert it into NTSC, but it's a very complicated process.
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Billion Dollar Brain is really fun to watch as a finn since it`s filmed partly in Helsinki :)
Obviously Helsinki has changed some after that film(since it was filmed in late 60`s).
I actually live quite near to some of those places where Michael Caine`s Palmer visits.
It`s not the best of the Harry Palmer movies but it`s still fun to watch.Very 60`s kind of film ;)
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Thanks little_bill and Lilly. I have nothing against black and white movies but the lighting was pretty bad in this one, especially as there were a lot of night shots and shots in a club. I would have liked to have seen Richard Harris a little clearer.
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Billion Dollar Brain is really fun to watch as a finn since it`s filmed partly in Helsinki :)
Obviously Helsinki has changed some after that film(since it was filmed in late 60`s).
I actually live quite near to some of those places where Michael Caine`s Palmer visits.
It`s not the best of the Harry Palmer movies but it`s still fun to watch.Very 60`s kind of film ;)
Thanks for the info, Hem. I'll look forward to watching those.
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Went to the movies for the first time in ages today, and saw Jarhead. I enjoyed it, but it didn't really say anything new, and left me feeling something was lacking. It's a good movie, but not a brilliant one, though I suspect the original material had potential to be at least very good, and certainly more memorable than it is. As it is, I'll remember it as a visually slick, slightly offbeat film. If more had been made of Swofford's narrative, and more of a story/message explored, it might have had a more lasting impact on me, in the way that, for example, Full Metal Jacket did.
(http://www.uip.nl/Pictures/jarhead/04.jpg)
The most memorable aspect of the movie is the visuals - especially the effects in the desert: the vista of burning oil wells, the black rain of oil falling everywhere, the white footprints in blackened sand, the charred bodies in a bombed out convoy. The latter were so realistic as to be surreal. I've never seen a charred body, but these movie images look exactly like real digital photos of the same thing in Iraq, posted online by U.S. soldiers.
That similarity was kinda spooky, and gave the film some added significance for me. It was also interesting in that it's one of the few movies I've seen about a war that took place in my lifetime, that I can clearly remember. That gave it an edge for me.
There were some interesting themes. It's the first film I've seen that explores the changed nature of some large-scale modern warfare, in which air power supersedes the marine with his rifle. It was as much a movie about a lack of fighting, as about the fighting itself. But anything that had potential to be striking got lost in what came across as a hotchpotch of different experiences with insufficiently captivating linkage. It did keep my interest, and I can see an argument that a soldier's experience is itself episodic and disjointed, but it needed something more. The post-war scenes seemed tacked-on, and didn't have much emotional impact on me, although they were presumably designed to be of great import. (The scene of the marine veteran on the bus was an exception to this.)
In general the film tries hard to be realistic, but some things are difficult to believe. I haven't read the book, and maybe they did happen, but I can't believe that a soldier could snap like Swof, point a loaded weapon at a comrade, and not get busted for it. I guess maybe the witness never grassed, but even that seems unlikely.
The fact that I haven't read the book probably accounts for my not being too disappointed with this film. I hear the book is quite different, and I'm glad I saw the film first, so I can read the deeper side later if I choose to.
EDIT: I wholeheartedly agree with Holden's review of Jarhead, posted HERE (http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=3433.msg79611#msg79611). He said it better than I did. Thanks for the interesting info and book extracts, Holden. O0
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The Forgotten ( 2004 )
Here's a nice little thriller that I found on cable tonight,that is very reminisicent of the X Files t.v. series.Julianne Moore is still grieving for her nine year old son who was killed in a plane crash 14 months previously.Now she is being told that he never existed.Also starring Gary Sinise.Some great effects in this which would've be better seen on the big screen with surround sound but I still got a little jumpy from them off the telly.
If you liked the X Files,I'm sure you'll like this,and at 90 minutes it doesn't drag on and on.
3/5.
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(http://dvdtoile.com/FILMS/0/397.jpg)
My favourite Tarantino ! :)
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mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm bridget fonda
saw munich the other day again, it's a good movie, one of the best in the last while, but i can't shake the feeling the spielberg is feeling a little lost behind the camers, can't produce the magic anymore, maybe it's just me.
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Watched The General (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017925/) with Buster Keaton. Great.
(http://www.richnoble.com/general.jpg)
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Watched Robert Mitchum in Build My Gallows High. Great movie with a fine performance by Bob.
Great poster with it's original American title.
(http://www.filmsite.org/posters/outo.jpg)
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Watched Robert Mitchum in Build My Gallows High. Great movie with a fine performance by Bob.Great poster with it's original American title.
(http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/noir/images/out-whit.jpg)
Build My Gallows High is actually the title of the novel from which the film was adapted, but Out of the Past is a little more simple and works too, I suppose. Great movie, a true Noir classic. The loose re-make, Against All Odds with Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward, is such a pale and forgettable bit of '80s junk that only has the attractiveness of the two leads really going for it (and Jane Greer does have a small supporting role). But man, the original still holds up great!
Was this the first time you had seen it, Gant?
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(http://www.giant-buddhas.com/shared/img/show1_01.jpg) (http://www.cineman.ch/movie/img/8943/still12.jpg)
The Giant Buddhas[/font] (Christian Frei, Switzerland)
This is a documentary about two enormous stone Buddhas that the Taliban destroyed in Afghanistan back in February of 2001. The Buddhas were made in the side of a cliff in the Bamiyan Valley more than 1,600 years ago, and after a decree that all non-Islamic icons be destroyed, Taliban fundamentalists blew them up. As a movie I found The Giant Buddhas only partially successful. The senseless desruction of the gigantic statues (the larger of the two standing at 53-meters high) that survived everything from Genghis Khan to the Russian occupation is interesting, but the tangential excursions the narrative takes are even more so, such as the French archeologist who after reading Silk Road accounts of the 7th Century monk Xuanzang is convinced there is a larger (300-meter!) reclining Buddha that would have been the eighth wonder of the ancient world buried somewhere else in the valley, or the trip the filmmaker takes to China to find a full-scale replica of the Bamiyan Buddha that was comissioned and built after the original was destroyed - but nobody there will tell you where it is or why it was hidden after its construction. Those episodes are fascinating and fun and have a great energy to them. The larger points Frei tries to illuminate about the dangers of fanaticism and the loss of culture are much more flat and standard. Still, it's an intersting story and worth discovering.
GRADE: B
(http://mira.film.nu/upload/masjavlar_350_236.jpg) (http://www.elle.se/elle/artiklar/jan05sofiahelin/stor.jpg)
Masjävlar - Dalecarlians[/color][/font] (Maria Blom, Sweden)
Mia (Sofia Helin), a successful computer programmer in Stockholm, returns to her small hometown in the Swedish countryside for her father's seventieth birthday. She is independent and headstrong and one of the few denizens of this backwater burg to ever leave and make it - certainly the only one in her real and extended family. Pretty standard dramady follows, with tensions and resentments between Mia and her two older sisters (Kajsa Ernst and Ann Petrén) and the other townies boiling back up. Secrets are revealed, hard truths and naked jealousies exposed, and some of the characters realize they really do love each other under all of the dysfunction. Sofia Helin is very good in the lead, Joakim Lindblad and Lars-Gunnar Aronsson are the stand-outs in the supporting cast, and it works best when it is playing with dark comedy. But Dalecarlians never finds enough original voice or a consistent tone to rise above the dysfuntional family drama clichés. Though I admit I did kind of fall for the Helin, and will be looking for her in other Swedish films.
GRADE: C+
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(http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/storyville/images/wild_blue_yonder1_lead.jpg) (http://www.netzeitung.de/img/0023/171523-1.jpg) (http://www.lumen.org.uk/images/wild-blue-yonder.jpg)
"It sucked. Nobody came, nobody settled, nobody shopped."[/font]
The Wild Blue Yonder[/color][/font] (Werner Herzog, Germany/U.S.)
The Wild Blue Yonder is a visionary "Science Fiction Fantasy" from Werner Herzog that is both mesmerizing and fitfully hysterical. Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, "Deadwood") is the narrator of this piece and also appears on camera. He tells us he's an Alien from the Andromeda Galaxy, who came to Earth with many others of his kind after their world died. He recounts some of their history on our planet, though they are mostly embarassing failures involving flying machines, shopping malls and the CIA. Then the narrative - such as it is - becomes about an expedition of Earthlings that venture back to that distant planet of frozen liquid hydrogen and explore it in hopes of colonizing for us one day. All the footage that isn't Dourif in this movie is stock footage, mostly from NASA and divers in Antarctica, cut together to tell Herzog's wild blue tall tale. Oh, and my goodness the music! The amazing soundtrack is an otherworldly collaboration between a classically trained cellist from Vienna, a choir from Sardinia and a vocalist from Senegal. The music they create is hypnotic, stunning and overwhelming, and when combined with this fabulous and unusual footage as well as Herzog's darkly cynical yet somehow marvelously funny point of view (the rants about the sins of domesticating pigs and climbing mountains are Herzogian brilliance), the result on screen is cinematic poetry. Now if you go into this movie looking for any kind of standard narrative, even a documentary narrative, you will be sorely disappointed. But if you let the unique feel and sound of this film wash over you, you're in for quite a journey.
Actor Brad Dourif was in attendance at the screening, introduced the film and stuck around for Q&A afterward. He has some good anecdotes about Werner and his process (this is the second time they've worked together, the other being 1991's Scream of Stone), and some information about the genesis of this project that makes it all the more interesting. Such as Herzog only tried to get access to the NASA footage after he heard James Cameron wanted to use it for something but was turned down in all his requests, thereby making it a mission for Werner to see if he could succeed where Cameron failed - he didn't even know what the footage really was at that point. And the diving footage was sent to Werner in connection with another project entirely - one that he wasn't at all interested in, a rather standard Jacques Cousteau type of straightforward nature bit that you can find on The Discover Channel 24/7. But while he found the bulk of the footage ordinary, what fascinated him immediately was the extra material that was on the ends of the reels, the bits the divers shot that weren't at all intended for use. Those visuals combined with this idea he had of blending these disperate musical styles (which was apparently largely improvised in studio) and the idea that Aliens actually suck - that's just the kind of inspiration Werner Herzog thrives on. And it was also mentioned that when asked what he really thought about the exploration of space and the possibility of colonization off-world, Werner responeded quickly and bluntly, "It's all bullsh!t, we're never getting out of here." If that isn't pure Herzog, I don't know what is.
GRADE: A-
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Kosmos kak Predchuvstvie - Dreaming of Space[/color][/font] (Aleksei Uchitel, Russia)
Set in Russia near the Finnish border in the winter of 1957 after Sputnik's launch, Dreaming of Space is a nice character piece and glimpse into how Russians view their own past. Yevgeni Mironov stars as "Horsie", a young man full of restless energy but naïve about how his meager hopes and dreams might survive in a small Communist town. At the gym he meets a tall, strong, mysterious man (Yevgeni Tsyganov) who he tries desperately to befriend. This man is everything Horsie is not: quiet, dignified and capable. Eventually the two men do develop a bond, though Horsie has suspicions about his new friend, as in he may be plotting an escape either by swimming for freedom or maybe even flying away somehow. Is this man a spy or a defector or, as he claims, a cosmonaut secretly training for the day they put a man into one of those rockets? Horsie is an interesting character, and well played by Mironov, and Tsyganov has great fun playing the more stoic yet still charming Gherman. The narrative gets a bit bogged down in plotlines invloving Horsie's girlfriend and her sister (Irina Pegova and Yelena Lyadova), and there are some intentionally awkward editing jumps toward the last third of the film that detract from the pace and tone that narrative had been traveling. But the loving recreation of late '50s Mother Russia and the souls left dreaming inside of her borders despite the cold darkness, drawing inspiration from each other and grand ideas like space travel, is delightful.
GRADE: B-
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Oh, and I probably should have explained that the Portland International Film Festival started this weekend, so I'll be seeing tons of odd little movies in the next two weeks. It's a great, great festival organized by the Northwest Film Center and the Portland Art Museum. Last year I believe I saw twenty-eight films total, and a program of short subjects. I hope to view at least that many again this year.
Much more to come....
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Looking forward to more odd little reviews, I mean great reviews of odd little movies, Holden!
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Yeah Holden... it was my first time. Somehow this ones elluded me over the years. Anyway, it was a marvelous film and you can't beat seeing classic movies the first time with no prior knowledge of the plot...
They don't write dialogue like that any more.. and did a movie character ever get thru' so many smokes in one film :)
It's billed as Build My Gallows High here.. Was it quite common for movies to have different titles in the Uk from the US in those days ?
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Super reviews, Holden. You do a great job of informing us about good lesser-known works. O0
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First trip to the cinema in months today and I saw Walk The Line.I really enjoyed this film and the music was great,I still can't believe that Phoenix and Witherspoon did all their own singing,simply amazing.Also good to see the bad times Johnny Cash endured as some movies like to skip over and not mention it.
4/5.
(http://images.readingcinemas.com.au/images/movies/mainimage/940_main.jpg)
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Glad to see you getting to the movies tgy...you and I have each been once this year, and it's only February - we may break our record! :D
Glad Walk the Line was good. 8) That one's on my list.
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Yesterday the first thing I saw was a program of nine short films, most running about thirteen to sixteen minutes and the shortest at four minutes. It was a mixed bag, though none of them were awful.
"At the Quinte Hotel"[/font][/color] (Bruce Alcock, Canada)
This is the late Al Purdy (kind of a poor man's Canadian Charles Bukowski) reading his great poem, with Alcock providing animation. He throws up just about every animating style there is in only four minutes, and it's fine but Purdy's words are so descriptive and alive that having visuals to go with it is redundant and ultimately unnecessary. Nice little piece I suppose, but the highlight is really hearing Purdy's reading of his own work. You can watch a piece of the short HERE (http://mag.awn.com/issue10.07/10.07clips/At_The_Quinte_Hotel.mov).
"The Act"[/font][/color] (Kraker & Ware, U.S.A.)
This one stars Debra Jo Rupp ("That '70s Show") as a stand-up comedianne. We see her act on stage, which is mostly about what a lazy, no-good bastard her ex-husband is, intercut with her alone at home dealing with real pain. The idea that comedians turn the tragedy from their life into material for the stage is not at all new, and the slight "twist" of the ending doesn't make it any more satisfying.
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"My Dad Is 100 Years Old"[/font] (Guy Maddin, Canada)
This one is the biggest reason I had to see this collection of shorts, and I wasn't in the least bit disappointed. Guy Maddin directs this wonderfully odd and heartfelt love letter from his Saddest Music in the World star Isabella Rossellini. Her Dad was the Italian director Roberto Rossellini, one of the Neo-Realists from the '40s and '50s who's best known work is probably Rome, Open City (1945). Isabella wrote this exquisite little film in which Roberto is embodied as an enormous talking stomach, as his big belly was something she and her siblings remember fondly from their childhood. All the other parts in the film are played by Isabella herself, and they are Federico Fellini, Alfred Hitchcock, David O. Selznick, Charlie Chaplin and Isabella's mother, Ingrid Bergman. The film consists mostly of these characters all meeting in a movie theater and debating the merits of Roberto's work with his belly - Hitchcock, Selznick and Fellini all critical of his style, Chaplin and Bergman praising it. Beyond what it has to say about Roberto Rossellini's philosophy of filmmaking, it has bigger things to say about art vs. commerce and very specific personal points Isabella wants to make about her father as a man other than his artistry. It's funny and weird and sad and tender and the kind of surreal trip only Maddin could have filmed for Isabella.
"Jelly Baby"[/font][/color] (Rob Burke, Ireland)
Little piece that feels more like a commercial than a film - though I don't know what they'd be selling (other than Grecian Formula). It's about a young father and his crying baby who he can never seem to calm down, and the twisted opportunistic way he corrects the problem one sunny day in the park. There are a couple nice visual gags, but this was the weakest of the nine.
"Through My Thick Glasses"[/font][/color] (Pjotr Sapegin, Norway/Canada)
Sweet animated piece about a grandfather trying to get his young granddaughter to put her hat on to play in the cold outside by telling a long story of his experiences as a boy in World War II. Genuine, but nothing that really knocked me out.
"Hibernation"[/font][/color] (John Williams, Great Britain)
A bittersweet piece that mixes animation and live action to tell the story of a yopung boy who died of cancer and his two friends scheming in their treehouse for a way to bring him back to life. It's more than a little schmaltzy, but the bits of dark comedy running through help even it out a bit. Two boys dressed as animals electrocuting themselves is kind of fun, after all.
"Rain is Falling"[/font][/color] (Holger Ernst, Germany)
In an unnamed Middle Eastern country (filmed in Morocco), a small girl travels miles of barren landscape to bring water to her sick mother. There is almost no dialogue in the film, and the little girl (Fadma et Tagoum) is captivating on screen. A sad little piece, exquisitely shot, about survival and love.
"Dying of Love"[/font][/color] (Gil Alkabetz, Germany)
Animated short about two caged parrots who try to awaken their owner as he sleeps so they can be fed. They start by imitating the sounds of the city they can hear from the window, but soon are recreating in sound the day that they were brought from the jungle, inadvertandly unlocking a secret the man didn't know for all these years. Builds to a decent punchline, but at 14 minutes it felt about seven minutes too long.
"Fluent Dysphasia"[/font][/color] (Daniel O'Hara, Ireland)
This one was pretty good, though far from great. It stars Stephen Rea as a man who awakens one morning to find he no longer understands or can speak English, but is now fluent in Gaelic. This is quite distressing, but his teenage daughter, who is studying Irish in school, is able to help calm him. I liked the Bugs Bunny solution to the problem and Rea is good as always, but there wasn't much meat to this one. It does have a sweet ending though, and a few good, hardy laughs.
I also saw the features Tsotsi and Sophie Scholl: The Final Days on Sunday, but I'll have to do write-ups for them later.
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Tsotsi[/font][/color] (Gavin Hood, South Africa)
A violent thug who only calls himself Tsotsi (which is street slang for gangster), played by young Presley Chweneyagae, roams Johannesburg looking for marks and scores, unafraid to strike out with brutality on the slightest whim and for only a few bucks. Even the members of his own crew aren't safe from his violence, as one of them finds out in the opening minutes. It's not clear at first what has made Tsotsi so amoral and cruel, but we're given clues that it has something to do with his childhood in these same slums. One night while on the prowl alone in the rain, Tsotsi decides to commit a crime of opportunity when a wealthy woman has to get out of her car when the gate to her expensive home doesn't open with the remote. He jacks her car, but she tries to stop him. Tsotsi coldly puts a bullet in her and speeds off. Once he gets away he realizes there is an infant in the backseat; this bit of fate will change his life. Through taking care of the baby, Tsotsi regains his own humanity. In stages anyway. It certainly doesn't come easy to him, but when it does take hold it's an epiphany. But has it come too late to escape the all destruction he has left in the world? Like 2002's City of God did for Rio de Janeiro and 2000's Amores Perros did for Mexico City, Tsotsi is a startling and fascinating portrait of the chaos and humanity in the poverty of modern day Johannesburg. Adapted from the only novel by South African playwright Athol Fugard, it's a good morality play with plenty of authenticity in setting and character. Well directed without distracting camera tricks and flourishes, it's moving and well acted. It's no wonder this is the front-runner to win the Oscar.
GRADE: B+
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Sophie Scholl: The Final Days[/font][/color] (Marc Rothemund, Germany)
Yes, another film about Nazi Germany. I know most have probably reached a saturation point where you can't take another gut-wrenching tale about one of the darkest periods of human history. But wait, Sophie Sholl is an excellent film, and different from the likes of Schindler's List and The Pianist. This is a dramatization of the true story of Sophie and her brother Hans, who were part of an underground resistance group in 1942 and 1943 Germany that called themselves The White Rose. They were not a violent resistance about bombs and guns, they hoped to build a groundswell of support with ideas and words among the other silent masses of citizens who may not have been aware of the depth of horrors under Hitler. Hans Scholl had been to the Russian front as a medic, and others in the group had seen or heard first-hand accounts of the Concentration Camps and other atrocities. They felt the war was unwinnable and the regime's policies immoral. Though dissent was obviously illegal under the Nazis, they risked their lives to print leaflets and paint slogans on the sides of walls in the cities. During one of these missions at a University in Munich, Sophie and Hans are caught almost red-handed. They are arrested and interrogated, knowing that any false step could lead to death.
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days mostly chronicles the few days between her arrest and trial, and is chiefly spent in a battle of verbal cat and mouse with her interrogator. Through their discussions we get an intellectual breakdown of all that was wrong with that Germany, how some could delude themselves into thinking it was something else, and how others had no choice but to stand up against what they saw as an absolute evil - those who's consciences drove them into action. Julia Jentsch, who starred in one of my favorites from last year's festival, The Edukators, is excellent as Sophie. Gerald Alexander Held (The Downfall) is also good as Mohr, her interrogator, who becomes impressed by her resolve and even shows signs that he sees her treasonous point of view. Sophie, her brother and many of their White Rose network were sentenced to death for their dissent, but the way we get to know this woman, her courage and everything she was fighting for, the ending is almost a happy one. No, she doesn't escape her sentence, but the way she expresses her higher morality in the face of opression is ultimately an uplifting message, and the film tells her story very well. By not showing the death and destruction of the war machine but framing the issues intellectually, much like Wannseekonferenz (1984) and Conspiracy (2001), Sophie Scholl: The Final Days is powerful in a different way than naked wasted bodies and tanks.
GRADE: A-
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Underworld: Evolution Good action scenes, just expect to turn off the ole' noggin or else you will keep asking yourself, "Why do the idiot human soldiers even bother trying to kill vampires and werewolves?"
5 out of 10
Munich Excellent. The acting was there, the story kept me interested all the way through, and the action had a realistic feel to it. I don't add or subtract points for a movie being politically or historically important, this was just a very good flick that kept me entertained. Eric Bana and Geoffrey Rush both brought their acting A game. Admittedly, I wouldn't know if Bana pulled off the accent; it sounded just fine to me.
9 out of 10
Dirty Gritty dirty cop flick that was like "Training Day" if both officers were dirty. Good flick, though I didn't totally buy Cuba Gooding Jr as a tough guy.
7 out of 10
Fun With Dick and Jane This had potential...Some funny moments, some not-so funny. I liked the plot, but it just got too over-the-top for its own good about halfway through.
6 out of 10
I still need to see "The New World."
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Holden, have you ever seen the two other movies about Sophie Scholl? They both were released in 1982 and they both starred Lena Stolze as Sophie ...
Fünf letzte Tage (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0083984/) ("Five last days") by Percy Adlon ...
(http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:RFwkG7kjJ5T98M:http://www.deutsches-filmhaus.de/filme_einzeln/a_einzeln/adlon_percy/fuenf_letzte_tage_sz1_einh.jpg) (http://www.deutsches-filmhaus.de/filme_einzeln/a_einzeln/adlon_percy/fuenf_letzte_tage_sz1_einh.jpg)
and Die weiße Rose (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0084897/) ("The White Rose") by Michael Verhoeven.
(http://www.kinowelt.de/material/cover/135_DieWeisseRose_DVD-D-3.jpg)
As I recall (it's been a while since I saw them), both were excellent ... Fünf letzte Tage was more narrowly focused on the end of the story, while Die Weiße Rose told more of the background. I was puzzled, when I first heard about the new film, as to what it could possibly add.
I see an American version of the story may be coming ... The White Rose (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0437549/) (allegedly to be released in 2006, though the IMDb doesn't yet list a director), starring Christina Ricci (!) and written by Anjelica's sister Allegra Huston. Mmmph.
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Holden, have you ever seen the two other movies about Sophie Scholl? They both were released in 1982...
I have seen The White Rose, though it was many years ago. I remember liking it, and at the time (it had to be the mid-'80s, I was probably sixteen or so) I didn't know anything about Die Weiße Rose, so I was really amazed by the story. I never have seen the other Scholl movie. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days gives very little of the overview of the group at large, it's only implied and hinted at through the questions the interrogator asks her. It really focuses almost entirely on Sophie; her interviews, her thoughts and feelings in her cell, at the trial and during that final walk to the guillotine, all from her point of view. Even knowing the basics and many of the specifics of her story going in, I found this film engrossing.
I see an American version of the story may be coming ... The White Rose (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0437549/) (allegedly to be released in 2006, though the IMDb doesn't yet list a director), starring Christina Ricci (!) and written by Anjelica's sister Allegra Huston. Mmmph.
Yes, this can only end badly. Hopefully it'll never come to be.
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"Bloody Sunday", Paul Greengrass (2002), with James Nesbitt, Nicholas Farrell ...
A very forceful film.
The way it has been filmed, like a documentary, is stroking.
And the U2 song in the end (live version), is particularly moving.
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So far this week
Las Vegas Lady - Stella Stevens and Stuart Whitman 1/5
Lightning Jack - Paul Hogan and Cuba Gooding Jr. 3/5 (comedy value)
The Green Mile - Tom Hanks 3/5
WIll watch today Moonfleet - Stewart Granger. 5/5 I've seen it before the movie of one of my favourite books.
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Wah-Wah[/font] (Richard E. Grant, U.K.)
Wah-Wah is a coming of age story set against the backdrop of the end of an age. Ralph Compton (played by Zachary Fox in the opening minutes, then About A Boy's Nicholas Hoult as the character ages) lives in Swaziland, the small country in southeast Africa. It's the late 1960s, just before the kingdom took back its independence from the British. Ralph's father (Gabriel Byrne) is in the foreign service, assigned chiefly as a teacher of English, and has a chest full of medals for his work. His wife (Miranda Richardson) has grown weary of their post, and weary of her husband. As the movie opens, young Ralphie pretends to be asleep in the back seat of the car as his mother commits adultery in the front seat. His parents divorce soon after, Mom leaves, and Ralph chooses boarding school rather than stay home with his father, who has taken to drinking very heavily. When Ralph returns a couple years later, he learns his father has remarried a loud American former stewardess (Emily Watson), and Ralph tries to deal with his broken family the best way a fifteen-year-old can.
This a thinly-veiled autobiography from the writer/director Richard E. Grant (the well-known actor from the likes of Withnail & I, The Player, L.A. Story, etc.). While the subject matter is obviously very personal to him and most of the individual scenes feel authentic, as a narrative it doesn't quite work. The pacing and tone are off, and frankly he tries to cram much too much into one-hundred minutes. The result is too choppy, and comes off more like a beautifully photogrphed TV movie. Byrne has some nice moments as the alcoholic father who was kind and charming by day and a monster at night after a bottle of Scotch, and some of the supporting cast does some good work too, especially Julie Walters as a family friend and the wife of the man Ralph's mother ran off with. Nicholas Hoult, who was so good in About A Boy a few years ago, has hit a tremendous growth spurt since then and is over six feet tall now (you can also see him in last year's dud The Weather Man with Nic Cage). He's also a darn good young actor. Ralph is darker and different from that shy misfit who kept politely pestering Hugh Grant. I'm sure all the things that happen in Wah-Wah are based on the emotional high and low points Richard Grant experienced as a boy, but he needed somebody with more distance from the material to edit it for him, show him how to condense all those incidents into a cohesive story that flows and characters that come off as more than just types. It's a heartfelt first effort, but less than the sum of its parts.
GRADE: C+
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Lightning Jack - Paul Hogan and Cuba Gooding Jr. 3/5 (comedy value)
The Green Mile - Tom Hanks 3/5
nop no no lin how can you give shightning jack the same score as the green mile ;D
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no no no lin, how can you give lightning jack the same score as the green mile.
I don't care if they both have the same score, but they should both be down at about 1 out of 5. In my book, anyway.
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ah holden lightning jack was terrible, no movie was that bad.
i wouldn't even give them 1 out of 5 for pointing the camera in the general direction of the actors and developing the film ;D
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ah holden lightning jack was terrible, no movie was that bad.
Yes, as inept and forced and unfunny and dull a "comedy" as Lightning Jack is, to me The Green Mile is just as cheesy and pretentious and boring and obvious a "drama". Truth be told, if you're going to tie me down Clockwork Orange-style and force me to watch one of the two, I'd much prefer Lightning Jack. But I'd rather have my eyes plucked out like Gloucester than watch either one ever again.
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Well I am sorry I started such a discussion. I like Cuba Gooding Jr. and I guess Paul Hogan too because he is Aussie. I agree The Green Mile is cheesy and I suppose I gave them 3/5 as they where MUCH better than Las Vegas Lady. I was scoring them against each other and not on a par with the movies I usually watch. They were on when I was working through the night and there was nothing else to watch. We don't run to cable, freeview etc. at work! :-X
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Joyeux Noël - Merry Christmas[/font] (Christian Carion, France)
On Christmas Eve 1914, still the earliest months of World War I, along the frontlines there were pockets of spontaneous, unsanctioned cease-fires where for a day or so soldiers put down their rilfes, emerged from their trenches and met the enemy as human beings in No Man's Land. Hundreds if not thousands of soldiers met in this way along the Western Front that Christmas. Joyeux Noël dramatizes this bizarre and inspiring chapter of the war.
The movie is set in the middle a France, where a regiment of German soldiers are dug in facing French and Scottish troops. Though only a few months into the War, all sides have already experienced the incredible loss rates and insanity of trench warfare. On the German side there is a soldier who was a top tenor (Benno Fürmann, The Princess and the Warrior) with the opera in Berlin before being called into service. On the French side, a young Lieutenant (Guillaume Canet, Love Me If You Dare) worries about his wife and new child not having had communication with them since the war began. In the Scots trenches, a priest (Gary Lewis, Billy Elliot) has signed on as a stretcher bearer so that he may tend to the young men of his parish who went to war.
After getting back stories for these and a handful of the other soldiers, we witness a bloody assault on December 23rd by the French and Scots that meets German machine guns and forces a retreat. The German command have arranged for candles and small trees to be sent to the front, so that their soldiers may experience a little bit of the holiday and hopefully boost morale. In the Scottish trench, the priest gets on the bagpipes and starts the men in a song about home. The Germans, only fifty some yards away, answer with their tenor, who sings a carol, and some of the men put their lit trees on the top of the trench - initially confounding the French. The Scots return with another carol on the bagpipes, and the tenor joins them. Caught in the moment, he rises from his trench and walks into No Man's Land. Soon the heads of all three armies are watching the show, and a truce is struck up among the three commanders. Men meet as men, exchance cigarettes and coffee and chocolates, show each other pictures of their wives and homes, and for a few hours there is peace. This extends to the next day when they decide to properly bury the dead that litter the grounds. They even play football together. War, by necessity for a soldier, is about the dehuminization of the enemy. For this brief odd and wonderful moment, that programming was overridden in an instinctive gesture of basic humanity.
All extremely unlikely, except these are exactly the sorts of things reported in the various accounts from the front that Christmas. Writer/director Christian Carion melds all of those stories into one melodrama. Yes, some of the supporting characters are stock types, and the subplot about the tenor's lover from the Opera joining him on the front is pretty contrived, but overall a nicely made movie with a slew of good European actors. In addition to those already mentioned there's also Daniel Brühl (Goodbye, Lenin, The Edukators) as the German lieutenant, Alex Ferns ("The EastEnders") as the Scottish lieutenant and Diane Kruger (Troy, National Treasure) as the soprano who cannot bare another minute away from her love. I'm not sure why this wasn't put into theaters in America in time for Christmas 2005, as it was throughout Europe. It's going to get a small art house run in March, but hopefully it'll be on DVD by Christmas '06.
GRADE: B
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Well I am sorry I started such a discussion. I like Cuba Gooding Jr. and I guess Paul Hogan too because he is Aussie. I agree The Green Mile is cheesy and I suppose I gave them 3/5 as they where MUCH better than Las Vegas Lady. I was scoring them against each other and not on a par with the movies I usually watch. They were on when I was working through the night and there was nothing else to watch. We don't run to cable, freeview etc. at work! :-X
don't be sorry lin it's the diversity that encourages the discussion, if we all agreed the boad would be full of boring "i agree" and "me too" posts ;D
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The Proposition[/font][/color] (John Hillcoat, Australia)
A great looking flick with atmosphere to spare, it never becomes the great movie it might have been. Set in the Australian Outback at the turn of the 20th century during the last throws of the Bushranger era, The Proposition is chiefly about a lawman, Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone), who captures two brothers from the infamous Burns gang of bloodthirsty outlaws. The proposition of the title is this: the Captain will arrest the younger brother, Mikey, if Charlie (Guy Pearce) will ride out into the desert and kill his older brother Arthur (Danny Huston), the leader of the gang and the most insane and violent of the bunch. Charlie has until Christmas, just a handful of days, to complete the task. If he does, Charlie and Mikey will be pardoned. If he does not, Mikey will be hung on Christmas Day. Charlie reluctantly agrees.
If it sounds like a classic plot for a Western, it is. But there's nothing classic about the tone of The Proposition. First of all it is one of the goriest and bloodiest "Westerns" this side of Jodorowsky's El Topo (1970). That kind of stuff doesn't bother me in and of itself, but it's certainly a warning for the weaker of heart. My problem with it is the narrative is really choppy and awkward, leaving the gore and these characters to meander in pretentious confusion. The screenplay was written by singer/songwriter Nick Cave, and while it has lots of great elements what it doesn't have is a strong spine or any sense of basic exposition. Many individual scenes work as stand alone pieces, but as a whole you keep feeling like you got up to go to the bathroom a dozen times and have missed crucial plot points and character introductions. And it's a shame, because there are some great actors in The Proposition doing their best to make it work, but the script and/or editing have let them down. In addition to Pearce and Winstone who are always great, Danny Huston, son of the legendary John Huston and half-brother to Anjelica, gets his best role ever as the philosophical madman who likes watching magnificent sunsets and quoting poetry, believes in the bond of family above all else, and will behead and rape and disembowel like he's buttering bread. Danny was also very good as the duplicitous Sandy in The Constant Gardener last year, and between these two movies and work in recent years like Silver City and Birth, he's proving himself to be a good actor. The cast also features Emily Watson as Winstone's wife, David Gulpilil (Walkabout, Rabbit-Proof Fence), David Wenham (Faramir in LOTR), an unrecognizeable Noah Taylor (Shine, Almost Famous) and a scenery chewing cameo by John Hurt as an old bounty hunter.
Besides a bunch of very good actors, the main highlight of the movie is the amazing cinematography by Benoît Delhomme (The Scent of Green Papaya, The Winslow Boy). There are some shots that rival a Terence Malick movie for sheer breathtaking beauty. This makes the weak and flawed narrative all the more frustrating. Nick Cave and fellow Bad Seeder Warren Ellis provide the music, and while it can be as overwhelming as the violence at times, it works. So many individual things work in The Proposition, which makes its failure to become a great movie puzzling and disappointing. There had to be a way to blend the stylized violence and the attempt at myth with better fundamental storytelling. It's an experience alright, but it might have been a masterpiece.
GRADE: C+
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Mój Nikifor - My Nikifor[/font][/color] (Krzysztof Krauze, Poland)
Based on the true story of a "native" artist in '60s Communist Poland. Native art, or what has been dubbed "outsider art" in America, meaning coming from those without formal training, folk artists or art created by the mentally ill, which used to be called "naïve art" in Europe. One of the first such artists to be recognized in Poland was Nikifor Drowniak Krynicki, who left thousands of paintings and drawings behind, creating upwards of two to four pieces every day of his adult life. My Nikifour is the story of how he was befriended and discovered.
Marian Wlosinski (Roman Gancarczyk) is a middle-aged husband and father who is a State employed artist, which mostly invloves creating uninteresting banners and murals, and has little time to truly express his art. But it's a living, and supports his family. At his studio in Krynica, an elderly odd little man has taken to inviting himself in every day, siting at a desk by the window, and without much in the way of conversation will paint all day long - when he isn't eating the paint, that is. Out of some basic charity and pity for this old man who makes what little money he can by selling his art for change on the street and train station, Marian lets this man (Krystyna Feldman), who only identifies himself as Nikifor, stay and work each day. He wears stinking rags, has skin conditions and a hacking cough, but Wlosinski can't turn him away. Over time he bonds with the sick, crusty old artist, and even his wife and two daughters take a sort of liking to him. It's a nice little character piece about faith and tolerance and art. The two lead performances are both good, and when you realize that Krystyna Feldman is a woman, the cross-gender nature of her role as Nikifor is pretty amazing. The narrative holds no surprises I suppose, and thankfully no cliché plot mechinations of oppresive bad guys or evil doctors are employed. It's just a nice, bitterweet story of an unlikely friendship and an unlikely artist.
GRADE: B-
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Watched the original Italian Job. Quite an interesting chase with those Fiat 500s.
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Watched The Quiet American (2002 remake), and enjoyed it for the most part. I did enjoy the performances of Caine and Fraser, but got the feeling they were miscast for their parts. Caine appeared to be tired and disinterested through the whole movie. Just reading his lines to a certain extent. Maybe his heart wasn't into it...I don't know. I also think he was too old for the part.
Fraser was good, and felt he also was miscast, appearing a bit too boyish and just out of place. But at least he put some energy into it.
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Jazireh Ahani - Iron Island[/color][/font] (Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran)
Iranian movie about a hundred or so people who live on a rusting old oil tanker, their mini-society within that world, and what happens when they have to leave their island. There's some very think allegorical stuff going on here, and some of it was basic and easy to translate, as in the boat represents Iran, the drilling into the bottom of the hull of the boat to get oil which will keep them independent for a time or some of the young boys bringing back a television with Western influences on it. But the larger points it was going for I just didn't get. I'm sure "The Captain" respresented somebody specific, that the pregnant woman and her stillbirth refer to some point in the country's history, that the residents signing their power of attorney meant something more, that the drowned boy tortured until made to admit "I fu*ked up!" and then left unconscious at the prayer sight and a dozen other characters and actions were symbolic of something. Unfortunately I don't know enough about Iran to know what, I reckon. There were some very nice shots of the boat alone in the azure sea, but in the second half of the movie when it stops being about the characters and is only about the allegory, I had no way to interpret what the filmmaker was going for. I did get the impression it was being very critical of Iranian history and policies, and it is probably a very brave and radical film. Maybe I'll watch it with a couple Iranians someday and they can walk me through it? Until then, I don't even feel qualified to give it a grade, other than to say as a narrative it didn't work apart from the allegory (whatever it was).
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Cowboy del Amor[/color][/font] (Michèle Ohayon, U.S.A.)
No, this isn't a sequel to Brokeback Mountain. Cowboy del Amor is a gentle and enjoyable if lightweight and innocuous documentary about Ivan Thompson, the self-appointed "Cowboy Cupid" who, for a fee, will take American men into Mexico and find them wives. He runs a mail-order Mexican bride business, but without eliminating the middle man. He actually goes with the men and sits on the interviews as they look for prospects. Ivan, sixty-years-old, is a character alright, and in the movie we follow one set-up from beginning to end and see a couple others in various stages. The shopping husband we chielfy spend time with is a nice enough guy, and that he isn't some obvious sleazeball and the woman he chooses not some tart looking for a Green Card makes the whole thing kind of oddly sweet, in its way. Michèle, the director, doesn't insert herself into the proceedings, but we do hear her ask a couple pointed questions and with her editing she doesn't let the fact that the whole idea is far less than sweet go by unnoticed. We also get to see matchmaker Ivan and his Mexican ex-wife and her family, giving much more perspective to who he is when he isn't being a salseman for the lonely. It's fluff, but Ivan with his homespun nonsense and thoughts about American women and the depths of love is amusing enough, and the main contracted romance sincere enough that it's an amusing hour and a half, but not anything more.
GRADE: C+
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Innocence[/color][/font] (Lucile Hadzihalilovic, France)
Weird movie that as far as I can tell is weird just for the sake of being weird, which gets boring pretty quickly. Sort of a stylized nightmare of a finishing school/prison where little girls aged about eight or nine arrive in coffins. They arise, are given color-coded ribbons for their hair that correspond to their age, and partake in lessons, though it seems mostly centered in ballet. Much of the screentime time is spent with topless nine and twelve-year-old girls in white panties cavorting on the grounds, which is a large mansion in a dark woods with a high wall around it. There's also a theatre through a grandfather clock they perform in for anonymous adults and dark caves and running water. Feels fairy tale-ish and also kinda like "The Prisoner", but never with much of any point. Innocence is purposefully obtuse, and while there's definitely some obvious metaphors about caterpillars and butterflies and such, it's all for nothing. There's plenty of symbolism to interpret, and none of it worth the effort. The ending seems to suggest some Margaret Atwood-like Sci-Fi context, but by then you won't give a crap...and it still doesn't make the hour and fifty-five minutes before it any better or clearer.
GRADE: D
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Kakushi-ken, Oni no Tsume - The Hidden Blade[/color][/font] (Yôji Yamada, Japan)
Writer/director Yôji Yamada's The Twilight Samurai was a moving and poetic character-driven story set in Feudal Japan that had almost nothing to do with swordplay. His latest, The Hidden Blade, is in a similar vein, though doesn't acheive the kind of perfection Twilight did. This one is a little more plot driven, but it still owes much more to Samurai films by Masaki Kobayashi than it does to the likes of Takeshi Kitano. A mid-level Samurai named Katagiri (Masatoshi Nagase) who has never had to draw his sword in combat ("Killing is frightening, even for a Samurai") is forced to unsheath his blade against a friend (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) who has turned rebellious. But it takes a long time to get to that duel. What the movie mostly consists of is an honorable man trying to work toward a higher justice within the rigid caste system, and find a way to be with the woman he loves (Takako Matsu) while maneuvering through the societal restraints. While the examination of love and the encroachment of modern rifles and canons into what was a centuries old noble form of combat are the main issues, the movie does take time to develop the characters well. It's also got some terrific humor sprinkled throughout. And when the final confrontation does come, it's a good one. The Twilight Samurai is a beautiful film. The Hidden Blade is an entertaining one, but refreshingly in the old fashioned style.
GRADE: B
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Agreed on The Hidden Blade review. Good flick with an old school pacing O0
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Watched an old 1945 film called Brief Encounter (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/), directed by David Lean (Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia), about two married people falling in love at a train station. Old sentimental mush, but was pretty good though.
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Thats a coincidence Agent... That freebie dvd I got of The Ipcress File is a double bill with Brief Encounter..
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Brief Encounter with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson is one of my favourite movies. It is very sad, but what an understanding husband she has! They don't make movies like that one anymore.
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Thats a coincidence Agent... That freebie dvd I got of The Ipcress File is a double bill with Brief Encounter..
Yes, quite a coincidence, man. If only I had subscribed to the same paper.... ;)
Brief Encounter with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson is one of my favourite movies. It is very sad, but what an understanding husband she has! They don't make movies like that one anymore.
Yeah, kind of a cross between understanding and bubble-headed. Oblivious to his surroundings. I found it peculiar they never actually did the 'dirty,' but perhaps in those days the film board would have thought it too scandalous. Just the theme itself I'm sure was a heavy topic for those days.
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They don't make husbands like that anymore either.. ;D
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Watched a few recently
Cinderella Man.
I like Russell Crowe and thought he was good as boxing hero James J Braddock but somehow the film didn't really do it for me.. It looked good but just seemed a little formularic and the boxing sequences although well staged didnt really do anything that we havn't already seen in Raging Bull or Rocky.
Nanny McPhee Good Kids film.. I secretly quite enjoyed this
Freebie and the Bean
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Finally caught up with this San Francisco set buddy cop movie for the first time and enjoyed it a lot. I thought the location work was very good, great car stunts, abrasive dialogue..this is what the 70's was all about. ;D Pushes the Dirty Harry ethos to black comic extremes..
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Freebie and the Bean
Finally caught up with this San Francisco set buddy cop movie for the first time and enjoyed it a lot. I thought the location work was very good, great car stunts, abrasive dialogue..this is what the 70's was all about....
I saw this when I was about 10 or so with my dad (actually he left when the movie started and didn't return until it just about over - probably out havin' a few with his pals), but I really liked this film. Need to see it again after 30+ years. Only images that stick out are the car going through the house(?) with Caan and Arkin, and the transvestite kickin' the sh*t out of one of them in the bathroom. Can't remember which one. Not out on DVD I see... :(
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L'Enfant - The Child[/color][/font] (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium)
Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, L'Enfant opens with Sonia (Déborah François), a very young mother toting her newborn son around the streets of a cold, gray working class Belgian town looking for her boyfriend, Bruno (Jérémie Renier). She goes to her apartment to find Bruno has sublet it while she was in the hospital. She wanders the streets and his regular haunts until she finds him, working. Bruno is a small-time theif and petty criminal, and didn't even bother to come see Sonia or their new son yet. He can barely be bothered to hold him now. They have to spend the night at a shelter waiting for the sublet to be up, and in the middle of the night Bruno gets a call from his main fence to do some business. He does, and she casually mentions that if raising the baby is too much for them there is a market for healthy infants that pays much more than the market for stolen electronics and jewelry. Bruno, Silvia and the boy they name Jimmy spend a couple days together and everything seems normal - or as normal as it is going to get. We don't quite see what it is Sonia loves about Bruno, but she is a teenager in a vulnerable position and is surely trying to make the best of the situation. When Bruno takes the baby for a walk in the carriage, he realizes completely unemotionally he'd like to make some quick cash. It's all done through mysterious phonecalls but a deal is quickly struck, though Bruno never sees the people he sells Jimmy to. When he returns to Sonia with an empty carraige and a wad of bills, she is horrified, goes into hysterics and collapses in shock. He rushes her to the hospital but realizes he must get the child back, not for any emotional pull he's feeling himself or even to calm his girlfriend but because when Sonia wakes up she's going to tell the police what he's done.
L'Enfant is similar in some basics to the South African film Tsotsi in that a street criminal has to find his humanity through the innocence of an infant. But in Tsotsi it is much more theatrical and melodramatic, and the turn is from psychopath to human being. Bruno, though not a violent or dangerous criminal, is still one of the most unlikeable characters you'll meet. But he has no rages, he doesn't beat or kill or rape or even yell, he just quietly and matter-of-factly treats his own flesh and blood as if it were a lifeless commodity. He will eventually come to feel something, but it is a long road, and his humanity is regained very slowly and only after he has run into a couple of dead ends that limit his natural choices. Considering the subject matter, L'Enfant is a very restrained and quiet piece. It's not as emotionally engaging or as shocking as it might have been in a different style, but the documentary-like tone in a way makes the thought of selling a newborn baby all the more horrific.
GRADE: B+
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Neil Young: Heart of Gold[/color][/font] (Jonathan Demme, USA)
A beautiful concert documentary from the director who already made one great entry in the genre with 1984's Stop Making Sense. In the spring of 2005, the great singer and songwriter Neil Young was diagnosed with a potentially fatal brain aneurysm. Rather than panic or go into a deep depression, Neil was infused with a burst of creative inspiration. The result was the album Prairie Wind, full of songs about looking back on life, loss, friendship, love and time with the depth and power of an artist who felt like this might truly be the last time he was able to express himself. Young had successful surgery, and the sixty-year-old debuted the album in a concert at the famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. He played with his regular country sidemen who have been with him for decades, including Spooner Oldham, Ben Keith and Neil's wife Pegi as well as a couple friends as guests like Emmylou Harris. Young's musical style over his long career has been fairly eclectic spanning folk rock, rockabilly and his mantle as the godfather of grunge, but the instrumentation and tone of Prairie Wind is most similar to his great '70s masterpiece Harvest and the 1992 classic Harvest Moon. The concert blends songs from all three of those albums as Neil and company play on a warm stage. It starts with brief interviews of the participants before the concert, but mostly this is about the wonderful music. Demme doesn't do anything flashy directorially, but then neither does Neil. Demme captures the quiet poetry and wistful beauty of Young's performance and music (something Jim Jarmusch flubbed in his 1997 documentary Year of the Horse) . If you have no idea who Neil Young is (though how could that be?), you'll become and instant fan. For any who already knows what a genius the man is, the concert film is a must see.
GRADE: A-
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I watched Freaky Friday (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0322330/) twice this week :D
Too funny.
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Oh my God! I'm oooold! I'm like the Cryptkeeper!! ;D ;D
And I went to see Brokeback Mountain (again) today.
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Bluebird[/color][/font] (Mijke de Jong, Netherlands)
Dutch coming-of-ager about a nine-year-old girl named Merel (Elske Rotteveel) who has to deal with a group of bullies at school. I suppose it is at once comforting and infuriating to realize that mean-spirited children in groups like school are just a fact of life, no matter where you're from. If you're a little bit of an outsider who's too smart or too happy or too anything, you can be sure some insecure, petty little sh!ts are going to hassle you for no apparent reason. Merel is smart and cute and kind and introspective. In a perfect world such a child would be encouraged and supported, or at the very least not have to put up with unnecessary crap. Alas... Considering how familiar this type of story is, either from other films and literature or our own unhappy memories, director de Jong does a good job at keeping it understated and real. Rotteveel is a good child actress and captures the pain and sadness of the character perfectly. One of the secondary plots about her caring for and dealing with her adopted little brother, who suffers from a major physical handicap, is handled nicely and the scenes between her and little Kaspar (Kees Scholten) are natural and charming. Ultimately Bluebird doesn't really offer much of anything new and it's not stylized like Welcome to the Dollhouse or anything of the sort, but it's a well told little movie.
GRADE: B-
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Kinky Boots[/color][/font] (Julian Jarrold, U.K.)
Kinky Boots is based on a true story, but what it's really based on are a whole slew of other movies from the past decade or so produced in the U.K. I guess you'd have to go back to The Commitments - the 1991 Alan Parker film, not the Roddy Doyle novel. From that one popular and successful international hit a basic blueprint was created. You take a simple, working class community - either very rural or in a slow and dying industrial town, add a bunch of pale and initially crusty but loveable bunch of eccentrics, introduce some scheme or activity that seems an unlikely fit with that group, watch as they transfer their hopes and dreams to this task, add a deadline of a plant closing or somebody who is ill and watch the wacky yet sweetly gentle comedy that follows. It was done perfectly in The Commitments, which had some dark edges and a real infectious passion for soul music. In the years after that movie came The Full Monty, Brassed Off, Calendar Girls, Saving Grace, Waking Ned Divine, Blow Dry, etc., becoming more and more formulaic with every outing. Kinky Boots is the latest, and surely won't be the last.
The Price & Sons shoe factory in Northampton has survived since the late 19th Century, a small business built on the love of their product - quality men's shoes. After his father dies, Charlie Price (Joel Edgerton) reluctantly takes over the family business he never wanted. But it's about to go bankrupt, and Charlie has no idea how to save it or the jobs of the craftsmen and women who have worked there for decades. Then comes a chance meeting with a drag queen named Lola (Chiwetel Ejiofor) outside of a SoHo club. Soon Charlie has the brainstorm to turn his factory into a boot factory, with the projected clientele drag queens like Lola, who's manly weight is much too much for the sexy footware designed for women. How will the conservative workers of this small Midlands town initially take to a drag queen in their midst? How will he change them, and vice versa? Will they get their new line designed and perfected in time for the big show in Milan? Will they save "These Boots Are Made for Walking" for the happy finale? Will Charlie stay with his dour and cold fiance or fall for the cute girl who works on the line and supports his dreams? If you don't know the answers to all of that and more before you walk in to such a movie then you were probably also shocked that Reese Witherspoon won the big case at the end of Legally Blonde. It's all as made-to-order as shoes coming down the conveyor belt.
As far as these things go, it's fine. Chiwetel Ejiofor is having fun, it doesn't get too bogged down in dramatic and depressing subplots but stays focused on the simple throughline that fans of this type of movie shovel in like chocolate ice cream that's melting. To me it's the very definition of average, and I'd rather watch The Commitments again instead, or see Ejiofor in something like Dirty Pretty Things.
GRADE: C
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Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea[/color][/font] (Chris Metzler & Jeff Springer, USA)
Documentary about California's infamous Salton Sea, its history and its probable deadly future. In first few years of the 20th Century, a bunch of enterprising farmers decided to try irrigating the desert in the southeastern part of the state. Water was diverted from the Colorado River, and for a time the rich soil of the Salton basin boasted incredible bounty that could be harvested year-round. In 1909, the Colorado broke through the various cut-offs that had been designed and flooded the valley, destroying much of what was there and killing many. It flooded it to such an extent that it created an enormous lake, thirty-five miles long and fifteen miles wide, and all of this 195 feet below sea level! The run-off from the accrued and continued agriculture in the area lead to an unusually high salt content in the water, thus the Salton Sea was born. They brought saltwater fish from the ocean to populate this new unintentionally man-made sea, mostly tilapia, which thrived. They thrived to the point that by the 1950s The Salton Sea was known as one of the best sport fishing areas in the entire world.
For a time in the '50s and '60s, The Salton Sea was a paradise that rivaled Palm Springs, and towns and businesses and land speculators by the thousands flocked to the area. But the Sea was too salty, and getting saltier with every passing year. The high salt content coupled with the hot waters of the high summer (where water temperatures can reach 90 degrees) eventually led to enormous fishkills where literally millions a day would wash up dead on the shores, deprived of oxygen in the water. Still, the cycle of nature is such that those dead fish turned into massive amounts of algee, which led to just as huge a fish population the following year...followed by just as large a fishkill. And so on, and so on. The smell in the summertime wasn't pleasant, to put it mildly, and it was known back in the '60s that freshwater needed to be regularly supplied to the Satlon Sea to keep the salinity levels in check. But nothing was done. Not then, and not since. In 1976 and 1977, two huge tropical storms flood the sea and destroy much of what was left of the Salton communities. By the 1980s, development had essentially stopped around The Salton Sea, and all that was left were ghost towns.
Since then things have only gotten worse, including by the '90s huge threats to the bird populations that stop there. The continuing cycle of dead and rotting fish leads to avian botulism, killing tens of thousands of birds. But the birds keep coming as over 90% of Southern California's natural wetlands have been destroyed and developed in the past fifty years, leaving The Salton Sea as the only refuge for migrating geese and pelicans especially, though it is much more than waterfowl as over half of the known species of U.S. birds have been spotted at The Salton Sea over the decades. Pop Star turned Palm Springs Mayor turned Congressman Sonny Bono made saving The Salton Sea a special priority, and his legislation had real traction...until he was killed in a skiing accident in 1998. As a sort of tribute to him, the legislation passed after his death, but with nobody left to shepherd the effort and dispense the money wisely, the Salton Sea Authority has accomplished virtually nothing by way of actually reversing the ecological disaster. Added to the maddness, the fresh water from the Colorado that could potentially save the Sea is now being diverted all the way to San Diego and Los Angeles, thanks to political manuevering and big money.
All that remains as far as living people around the ragtag, rusted, rotting little towns of The Salton Sea are either nutty eccentrics, elderly retirees who moved there in the heyday and have resigned themselves to stay until they die, or pockets of welfare communities as the rent and land are so cheap that counties have shuttled unwanted people out to the desert and the stinking, salty, dying seaside. Filmmaker John Waters narrates this history and elegy of The Salton Sea. Fascinating stuff, and tragic that nothing is being done - whether or not the film's apocalyptic conclusions turn out to be true in the coming decades. The film is also quite funny, thanks to Waters' narration and the wacky folks that still live on the ever-retreating banks. Informative and entertaining.
GRADE: B+
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Vinterkyss - Kissed by Winter[/color][/font] (Sara Johnsen, Sweden)
A moody piece about Victoria (Annika Hallin), a doctor who has fled the big city after the death of her son. Two months after his funeral and adjusting to being a small town doctor, she becomes involved with a local man named Kai (Kristoffer Joner) who drives the snowplow on the back roads at night for a living. When the body of a teenage boy (Jade Francis Haj) is found in the snowbanks alongside the road, Kai becomes the cheif suspect as the police surmise it was a hit-and-run incident. Victoria as the town's doctor has unique access to the case and must decide whether or not to believe Kai's claims of innocence, all while still processing the death of her own boy. What followed could have been a taught and suspenseful mystery or even a supernatural ghost story, but director and co-writer Sara Johnsen has instead crafted an interesting character piece where the biggest mysteries are inside of us and the most haunting ghosts are those of our own consciences. The emotional finale where we finally learn all the details of both boy's deaths is well earned and much more satisfying than the contrivances of any twisting thriller.
GRADE: B+
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Space Cowboys yet again and I still like it. I also watched Polar Express and My Father The Hero I like Gerard Depardieu. In this movie he really makes me laugh.
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Lü cao Di - Mongolian Ping Pong[/color][/font] (Hoa Ning, China)
Very nice slice-of-life piece that feels like it has the authenticity of documentary while offering some of the most beautiful landscapes you'll ever see on a cinema screen. Six-year-old Bilike and his family are part of a small community of nomadic shepherds that live on the expansive grasslands of modern day Mongolia. There are two other boys of about the same age, Dawa & Eguotou, who also live in the area with their families. It is a secluded and simple life, but children are curious no matter where they're from. One day Bilike finds a ping-pong ball floating down the river. Of course he has never seen one before and has no idea what it is for. Neither does his family, though his grandmother says it is a glowing pearl from heaven. The wise Lama's they encounter have no idea what it is, but a man who travels the countryside with a small tent show where he projects movies tells them it's a ping-pong ball - though he doesn't tell them what that means exactly. Dawa's father has traded a couple sheep for an old television set, but they get no reception on the plains. For a couple minutes the boys do tune in some sound without pictures, and they hear the noises of a ping pong game, which the commentator tells them is China's national sport, making the ping-pong ball China's national ball. They aren't sure what the noise was, though they guess it was the clopping of horse's hooves and ping-pong a game they envision to be more like polo. But they are sure the Nation must be worried about its missing ball! With Bilkie and Dawa on horseback and Eguotou on a scooter, the three small boys head off to Bejing to return the treasure...even though they have no idea where Bejing really is, or how far. Mongolian Ping Pong isn't as plot driven as that may sound, and it doesn't become the sort of broad comedy the South African '80s arthouse hit The Gods Must be Crazy was. It's a gentle and unassuming look at a region and the few characters who populate it.
The glimpse of the modern nomads largely from the perspective of these children is fascinating and doesn't fall into the traps of either condescention or infantalizing. The child actors are all genuine and have an easy charm in front of the camera. The most memorable thing about the movie is the cinematography (by Jie Du) that shows off the stunningly gorgeous landscapes of Inner Mongolia's grasslands. Seemingly limitless horizons filled with bright green grass blowing in the wind under skies that are azure blue or darkend from distant storms, it's really breathtaking.
GRADE: B
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Äideistä Parhain - Mother of Mine[/color][/font] (Klaus Härö, Finland)
In stark contrast to Mongolian Ping Pong, the Finnish film Mother of Mine is hopelessly bogged down in the tired cliché of melodrama. During WWII, about 70,000 Finnish children were sent to neutral neighbor Sweden as the Nazis occupied the land and the Russians began pushing in through the eastern borders. This is the fictional story of one such boy, a nine-year-old name Eero (Topi Majaniemi). His father is killed by Russian bombs so his distraught mother (Marjaana Maijala) decides to send him to Sweden so he'll be safe. Once there Eero is one of the lucky ones in that he isn't placed in a large children's home but with a family. Hjalmar (Michael Nyqvist) and Signe Jönsson (Maria Lundqvist) are a middle-aged couple with a farm on the shore. Hjalmar bonds quickly and easily with Eero, but Signe is distant and strict. Eero is homesick, misses his mother, and can be a rebellious little cuss, which makes Signe all the more strict. Eero has spotty contact with his mother via mail, and after months does finally settle into his new life a bit. Signe has been keeping the death of her young daughter a secret from Eero, explaining her difficulty in accepting a new child into her home, but eventually they develop a bond and love deeper even than the one he shares with his real mother. The story itself, though offering no surprises at all, isn't the problem. Nor is the acting, as Majaniemi is a more than competent child actor who can play the sullenness and confusion of the character well and Maria Lundqvist is quite good and reminds me of a Swedish Melinda Dillon. But the direction is so obvious and standard TV-movie quality, and the constantly surging and intrusive score with a slowly tinkling piano and wailing strings betrays any of the subtlty in performance. What's left is a very standard and manipulative weeper that never comes anywhere close to the level of great movies like Boorman's Hope & Glory (1987) or Ingmar Bergman's Fanny & Alexander (1982).
GRADE: C-
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Der Wald vor lauter Bäumen - The Forest for the Trees[/color][/font] (Maren Ade, Germany)
Character piece about a twenty-eight-year-old named Melanie Pröschle (Eva Löbau), who is leaving her small-town comfortable life to take on the big city of Baden-Baden. Melanie is a school teacher, and after the success of dealing with kids from her hometown she's ready for new challenges...or so she thinks. She's also broken up with her longtime fiancé, though she doesn't know anybody in Baden-Baden. She's incredibly optomistic, but wildly naive. In her head she imagines she has the world all figured out, but she's in for a relentless dose of reality. The children in her classes, especially the ninth graders, sense her timidity and naïveté, and they feast upon it with contempt and cruelty. Even the other teachers have sized her up as a probable early washout. Within the first few weeks she has exhausted every technique she can think of and the noisy, unruly children are running the class, paying no attention to her at best and hurling insults and even their chocolate milk at her at worst. But Melanie doesn't admit defeat or ask for help from the other teachers, not even Thorsten (Jan Neumann), another young teacher who seems similarly timid and idealistic but has somehow survived in the system and tries in vein to befriend her. But perhaps because Thorsten reminds her of her fiancé she left behind or more probably because she sees herself in him and imagines herself much differently, she scoffs him repeatedly.
Her home life offers no solace either, and she spends every night or day off alone in her small apartment. She has, inadvertandly at first, started spying on a twentysomething female neighbor, Tina (Daniela Holtz), who lives across the courtyard, and in a chance meeting away from their apartments Melanie introudces herself. Tina is everything Melanie is not: self-reliant, hip, beautiful and popular. They start a kind of casual friendship, but Melanie pushes it too much and soon her only semblance of a friendship is just as awkward and strained as her days at school. The film is excrutiating throughout as we watch the socially retarded and undynamic young woman fail over and over again, each time not learning from the mistake and backing off but redoubling her efforts and failing even more spectacularly and embarassingly the next time. She hides these failures from everybody and becomes a shaking wreck. The end sequence can be interpreted as either an odd fantasy or the way she has finally escaped her unhappy life.
The Forest for the Trees is very low-key and realistic, adding to the incredible awkwardness of Melanie, as she is not a silly movie character in a comedy, but a real and sad person who we witness spiraling out of control in her own self-tormented way. It's an effective approach for the kind of character we don't often see examined with any sense of truth.
GRADE: B-
Last night I also saw another collection of nine short subjects...- The Fan & the Flower[/color][/font] (Bill Plympton, USA)
Animator Bill Pympton has been nominated for or won just about every award a cartoonist can get in the past twenty years. His pencils and watercolors with his surreal take on any manner of subjects is immediately identifiable. "The Fan & the Flower" is a more gentle fable than some of his best-known works, but still very much a Plymptoon: an unlikely romance bewteen a ceiling fan and a potted flower. Narrated by Paul Giamatti, it's a breezy and bright seven minutes in mostly black and white ink that brings to mind Shel Silverstein almost as much as Plympton.
- Tama Tu - Sons of War[/color][/font] (Taika Waititi, New Zealand)
An odd and amusing piece about a small group of Maori WWII soldiers hiding from snipers in a bombed-out building. But this isn't about the suspense and horror of warfare, it's about the simple silliness and childlike bonding that goes on between young men anywhere, war or not. They partake in little games where they make faces at each other, play 'pull my finger' or slap a "shoot me" sign on the back of a fellow soldier's helmet, all done in a Caro & Jeunet Delicatessen style.
- Driver's Ed[/color][/font] (Thom Harp, USA)
Fine little comedy about an eighteen-year-old lovesick girl who desperately needs her license so she can visit her boyfriend who has left for college. This is a fifth attempt to learn how to drive, after four failures on her driven test. She is a horrible driver, monsterously distracted, and a stoic teacher has to sit in the passenger seat in horror. Frankly it's not as funny as Bob Newhart's old stand-up routine or even the "Get A LIfe" episode where Chris Elliott's freak takes his driving test, but it delivers plenty of laughs in eleven minutes.
- Torte Bluma[/font] (Benjamin Ross, Great Britain)
So many short films are at least tinged with comedy, if not all-out jokes with punchlines. Torte Bluma is not. It's an eighteen minute piece about a Nazi officer (Stellan Skarsgård) in charge of a Concentration Camp, and the Jewish man (Simon McBurney) he keeps on as his personal assistant to cook for him. The episode of their relationship we witness is the Jew asking the Nazi for a kind of tempered mercy for his father, who has just arrived on the latest train, which oddly turns out to be really more horrific than if he had been killed with everybody else in his group. Chilling and painful.
- Milk[/color][/font] (Peter Mackie Burns, Scotland)
Two character piece about a woman (Brenda Fricker) and her twenty-something granddaughter (Kathleen McDermott) as the elder woman is bathed. As it starts we can tell it has been a somewhat strained relationship, but they have a bonding moment in front of our eyes.
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- Oh My God[/color][/font] (John Bryant, USA)
Some of you may have seen this on the net at some point. It's a bloody dark comedy where 90% of the dialogue is "Oh my God! How did this happen?!?" with a truly hysterical punchline that makes the gore-filled set-up worth it. But I won't spoil any of it by telling you anything more about it.
- Our Time Is Up[/color][/font] (Rob Pearlstein, USA)
Decent if obvious little comedy about a therapist, played by Kevin Pollak, who we watch go through his day calmly and quiety listening to his roster of patients rant about their troubles. Later he receives a phonecall telling him he has only six weeks to live. The next day he tells his patients bluntly what whining morons they are...which of course turns out to be the therapy they needed all along. I'm a big fan of Pollak's, and he makes the piece work with his performance, even if the comedy idea is less than fresh.
- One Minute Past Midnight[/color][/font] (Celia Galen Julve, Great Britain)
A couple of bored guys (Alexander Perkins and Stan Robinson) working the graveyard shift at a convenience store as one laments about the girl he loves from the day shift. Though he's never met her he watches her actions on the tapes of the security camera. There's some nonsense about this being fifty years in the future and bans on coffee and cigarettes, but these are dropped in and have no bearing on anything that happens in the story. It meanders along and does give the viwer an accurate feeling of boredom, but I suspect they were going for more. They didn't acheive it.
- Birthday Boy[/color][/font] (Sejong Park, Australia)
Nicely computer animated short about a small boy in Korea during the '50s imaging the exploits of his soldier father on the front, and the package that arrives that he assumes is a birthday present from Dad. The animation is fantastic, and the emotional payoff a good one.
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Just had a 70's triple bill :D
The Deep 1977 (as a tribute to Peter Benchley who died recently)
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Followed by The Wild Geese 1978
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and finished off with The China Syndrome 1979
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They don't make em like that anymore :'(
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Just saw Tin Men with Danny DeVito.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094155/
Funny and well-executed 1987 movie set in the 60s. I was surprised at how amusing I found it - DeVito can be such a funny guy. 8) It's also a nostalgic comment on how business, particularly sales, changed after the 60s, and had a surprisingly authentic look for the kind of movie.
Light-hearted fun well done. 8)
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KZ[/font] (Rex Bloomstein, United Kingdom)
Documentary about the WWII death camp in Mauthausen, Austria. It was the last Concentration Camp to be liberated, receiving trainloads of victims right up until three days before the Allies arrived in May of 1945. But KZ doesn't employ the typical devices of black and white archival photographs and testimony from survivors, rather it shows the site today as it exists as a museum and monument. Mauthausen is a picturesque small village west of Vienna along the Danube, and the camp sits atop a hill overlooking the entire town. How does it feel to be a tourist at a former concentration camp? How does it feel to work there as a guide, day in day out? How does it feel to live there as a local with the dark secrets of the past? And what of those who've chosen this town to be their new home? These are the questions the film examines, and this approach to the story of the Hell of a Concentration Camp makes for an engaging and horrific film. Other than on the walls of the museum displays I can't remember a single photograph being used, but it's still one of the most vivid Holocaust documentaries I've seen. A tour guide standing in one of the gas chambers telling a group of students in graphic detail what went on thousands of times exactly where they are standing, then explaining that the shower heads that used to be on the ceiling are now gone as tourists have stolen them as souveniers in the past decade and pointing out how a memorial plaque in the chamber has been vandalized with a swastika...it is gripping stuff.
GRADE: A-
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Factotum[/color][/font] (Bent Hamer, USA/Norway)
Disappointing movie based on some of skidrow poet and novelist Charles Bukowski's writings, with a miscast Matt Dillon. Besides having the wrong actor, another problem is Factotum covers some of the same ground (sometimes the exact same ground) as Barbet Schroeder's Barfly (1987), and it is nowhere near as good as that film. Dillon stars as Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's thinly-veiled alter ego. He likes to drink, gamble, write and screw, in about that order of preference. None of those pursuits make him very employable, and the main narrative of Factotum, such as it is, follows Henry from menial job to menial job, some lasting hours and some weeks but all ending when Henry decides to go off and drink or gamble. We also see him with a couple of the women in his life, two barflies named Jan (Lili Taylor) and Laura (Marisa Tomei). Lili Taylor is excellent and gives one of her best performances in years, but Marisa - who plays essentially the same role Faye Dunaway did in Schroeder's film (though it is a much shorter episode in Factotum) is miscast. But she's perfect compared to Dillon.
I like Matt, from My Bodyguard and Tex to The Flamingo Kid and Drugstore Cowboy to City of Ghosts and Crash and most of what he's done in between. But Chinaski is just plain out of his range, and you catch him "acting" in virtually every single scene. And let me state the obvious that I guess nobody told the director or producers: he's waaaaaay too good looking to ever play the role convincingly anyway. He's too big, too fit (sadly he's in much better shape to play this character than he was as the racist cop in Crash), his hair's too nice and he simply can't carry himself as an alcoholic down and outer. Mickey Rourke, who starred in Barfly, really inhabited the character and adopted Bukowski's unique cadence and posture and made it his own. Dillon seems like he's doing an impression of Rourke's performance at times, and it's not even a convincing impression. It's really too bad. But the movie is flawed beyond the crucial miscasting as it has no clear tone, and what is there misses most of the dark humor that makes Bukowski's writings about degredation and lack of typical ambition so interesting and beloved. Director Bent Hamer, who's last feature was the terrific offbeat international hit Kitchen Stories, doesn't have a good handle on the material...and his leading man is too much a leading man instead of casting to the character. A missed opportunity.
GRADE: C
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I watched The Thin Man last night. I have it on VHS, but I hadn't seen it in a very long time. Some great one-liners, and William Powell and Myrna Loy are priceless as Nick and Nora Charles. I've never seen any of the sequels, though I'd like to.
(http://freespace.virgin.net/d.moore1/Donna2/films/thinman2.jpg)
The Thin Man movie was great. It is effortless to watch over and over.The sequels were fantastic as well.
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Watched FLIGHTPLAN earlier this evening... Don't know why really. Absolute pap. maybe I'm just gettin' too old for the movies. Not one redeemng feature.. sad to see an actor of the calibre of Sean Bean in such a non role..
Thought Jodie Foster looked uncannily like Michael Jackson in the opening scenes tho'.... :o
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Art School Confidential[/color][/font] (Terry Zwigoff, USA)
Like Zwigoff's Ghost World (2000), Art School Confidential is also adapted from a Daniel Clowes comic, though this time only gaining basic inspiration as it was just a four-page self-contained story in one issue of Eightball. The movie starts out hysterically, as we watch a young outsider in middle school tormented by bullies and too shy to talk to girls. He realizes that his talent for drawing could be his ticket to at once rise above the jerks and become adored by beautiful women. Now a high scool graduate, Jerome (Max Minghella) is off to art school where he hopes to find his way in the world. When he gets there he finds a kaleidoscope of every stripe of outsider, tenuously bonded together by art. Jerome has an obsession with a nude model, Audrey (Sophia Myles from Underworld and Tristan + Isolde), who was featured in the school's brochure, and when she models for his class he is thunderstruck. Even among other misfits, Jerome doesn't seem to quite fit in with his roommates and fellow students, and what's worse the odd faculty, especially his professor Sandy (John Malkovich), seem to praise an asthetic, or lack of asthetic, that Jerome just doesn't get. The portraits of art school freaks and burned-out faculty is all dead on. Some of them may be easy targets, sure, but a bullseye is a bullseye, and the first half of the film is full of great stuff. But there's also a series of murders around the campus, and the subplot of the viscious strangler becomes intertwined more and more with Jerome's story. At first it seems like a silly parody of slasher movies in a way, but by the final act it has melded into some sort of attempt at a larger satire. For me the satire and strangler stuff didn't work anywhere near as well as the extremely funny look at art school, which had a flavor of authenticity and was truly funny. Clowes' own work in Eightball especially does this sort of thing blending disperate styles and storylines, but they are much more subtle connections and such dissimilar ideas, while they may very well be in the same issue, would not likely be intertwined as narratives. Not in such an obvious way.
But even with a narrative that I thought went astray a bit, Art School Confidential is still a satisfying movie. The parts that do work are so funny, I can almost forgive that they write themselves into a corner. Max Minghella is good in the lead, but it's the diverse supporting cast that really steals the show. Malkovich is perfect, and the best acting done by anyone is Jim Broadbent, who plays an aged former graduate of the university who is a jaded, alcoholic shut-in living just off campus in a dark rent-controlled apartment and serves as a sort of mentor for the increasingly disillusioned and frustrated Jerome. He only has a handful of scenes, but Broadbent is having an absolute blast and does more with his eyes alone than most actors do with their entire bodies. Matt Keeslar is well cast as Jerome's rival in the classroom and for the affections of his dreamgirl, and Sophia Myles sufficiently dreamy as the love interest. Angelica Huston and Steve Buscemi aren't asked to do as much and their roles are familiar as the kinds of parts they've played before, but they are welcome glorified cameos just the same. Joel Moore (Dodgeball) and Ethan Suplee ("My Name Is Earl") are two of the stand-outs among the other students, and Adam Scott has a wonderful scene as a returning graduate who has made it big as an artist. But all of the parts, even the smallest background freaks and types, are all very well cast and effective.
I wish Zwigoff and Clowes would have had the inspiration and determination to carry the wit and energy and spot-on perspective of the first half of the movie all the way through to the finale, but it's still a pretty good flick that may well become a cult favorite among all of those who are dealing with the inequities of a system that grades something as purely subjective as art. To those artsy-fartsy kids in high schools and that you see walking around college campuses, Art School Confidential could turn out to be their Napoleon Dynamite or Monty Python & the Holy Grail, where almost every line is memorized and quoted as a mantra.
GRADE: B-
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The Notorious Bettie Page[/font] (Mary Harron, USA)
Bettie Page was the pin-up queen and underground sex goddess of the repressed 1950s, and she continues to be an enduring icon today. With her trademark bangs, warm smile, jet-black hair and beautiful curves, she's automatically identifyable even if you've never known her name. This biopic looks at her rise and fall, how a modest good girl from Nashville, TN became a timeless sex object. Gretchen Mol, who back in '98 and '99 was tapped as one of the "next big things" but never had a role or success to justify her dozens of appearances on magazine covers and "Enertainment Tonight", is really the perfect choice to bring Betty back to life. After years of rumors that anyone from Jennifer Connelly to Liv Tyler was going to star in the project, the lower-profile Mol (Rounders, The Shape of Things) excels in the role. Great supporting cast too, led by Lili Taylor, Chris Bauer, Jared Harris and Sarah Paulson and featuring a dozen character actors in small roles and cameos including David Strathairn, Austin Pendleton, John Cullum, Matt McGrath, Michael Gaston, Max Casella, Victor Slezak and Cara Seymour. But it is most definitely Grethen Mol's movie.
The director and co-writer is Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho) and she made some interesting choices that really work. The movie is shot mostly in black & white with some color sequences sparsed throughout. In both cases, it is shot very much in keeping with the style and look of lower budgeted flicks from the '50s, and this goes so far as to include obvious stock footage, with camera movements, lighting and frame compositions that harken back to the old B-movies. This could have been distracting and gimmicky, but I thought it worked very organically and did indeed give the feel as if this movie was somehow made in 1956. Even when dealing with dark subjects like incest, spousal abuse and rape, it's presented exactly the same way it would have been then without ever showing anything but suggesting it. And Harron uses these stylistic touches without ever becoming a self-conscious Airplane!-style parody like Die, Mommie, Die! or The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra from recent years that have fun with their one-joke premises but become tiring for an entire feature. That old-time '50s asthetic doesn't hold true when it comes to nudity, and there are quite a few scenes of the lovely Miss Mol as the lovely Ms. Page without any clothes on. But the nudity is presented in the same innocent yet seductive style as the eternally famous photographs of Bettie Page, who went from modeling in her bathing suit to modeling partially and completely nude to posing in bondage and fetish pics and one-reel mail-order films. The Notorious Bettie Page is similar to Tim Burton's Ed Wood in many respects, including in tone and presenting the title subject as an eternal innocent. This may be a more simplified take on who Page was and how aware she was of her impact and what she was asked to do, but for the narrative, the style of the film, the character and the performance, it works.
For any Page enthusiasts, all of the major points of her career are detailed, from her days with the "camera clubs" around New York, her chance meeting with Jerry Tibbs on the beach that led to her hairstyle, her popularity in magazines, the years of working with Irving and Paula Klaw, her Florida sessions with Bunny Yeager and her appearance as a Playboy centerfold. I don't think some of the larger points the movie goes for about the hypocrisy of the repressed sexual culture are anywhere near as weighty and important as the filmmakers may have hoped, but it's a nicely understated biopic with interesting stylistic choices, a very good turn by Mol, and a breezy hundred minutes.
GRADE: B
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Just watched Our Town (1940, Sam Wood), starring William Holden and Martha Scott.
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Hollywood's version has a different ending to the one Thornton Wilder gave the play. I'd have liked to have seen the play first, but came upon this going cheap. It dragged a bit in spots, but has its charm. I'm looking forward to getting the PBS DVD of the stage play, starring Paul Newman in his first Broadway appearance in 40 years.
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Requiem of Snow[/font] (Jamil Rostami, Iraq/Iran)
A teenaged Kurdish girl named Rojan (Shadi Variani) living in a small village in the mountains on the Iran/Iraq border is unhappy. She is engaged to her best friend's brother, Jian (Masoud Yousefi), who she loves. But he has been gone for over a year trying to make enough money so they may marry properly. In the meantime there has been a drought, and Rojan's father (Mohayeddin Variani) has gone into debt. He has now promised his young daughter to the richest man in their town, Faegh (Anvar Farajpour), who is her father's age. He is a widower and needs a new mother for his children, so they have come to a business agreement. But Rojan is refusing the arrangement, and tries to get a letter to her beloved before her wedding. The man who carries the letters from town to town, Saeed (Jalil Mohammad Veysi), is a halfwit who travels the countryside selling fabric. Just before the wedding, Saeed returns and tells her that Jian will meet her the next morning outside the village. She meets up with Saeed and follows him into the mountains, and they are far from home before she realizes he has lied to her and intends to marry her himself!
This is the first film from Iraq officially sumbitted for Academy Awards consideration. First time director Jamil Rostam has a nice idea to focus on a story that has nothing to do with the chaotic war torn state of much of his country, and this dark little fable really highlights the horrible position women are in and how few men of the society are at all sympathetic to the situation. The father is a beast of a character, her mother is useless, Saeed just plain creepy and even when her love arrives he is no knight to rescue her but quick to believe the worst about her with absolutely no evidence. There are only two men in Rojan's ordeal who are decent and help her and save her from the kidnapping, though all is for naught and ultimately she happily accepts death as a solution. Strange movie, and I'm sure much of the cultural stuff was lost in the translation, though I did like the last shot.
GRADE: C
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The Notorious Bettie Page looks good. I'll look out for that one..
I wonder why they've spelt her name Bettie when I've always seen it written as Betty...
Had some nice playing cards adorned with images of Ms Page some years back... ;)
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I wonder why they've spelt her name Bettie when I've always seen it written as Betty?
Her name was spelled both ways, "Betty" and "Bettie", though the "ie" spelling is what's on her birth certificate and you'll find it more common and accepted.
(http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/Bettie_Page_Queen_Nile-01.jpg) (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/40/Bettie_Page_DVD_cover.jpg/150px-Bettie_Page_DVD_cover.jpg)
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Well.. she can spell it any way she wants.. I certainly wouldn't argue with her..... >:D
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Zozo[/color][/font] (Josef Fares, Sweden)
Zozo is the name of an eleven-year-old boy and his story starts in Beirut, Lebanon in 1987 where he lives with his family. The Lebanese Civil War really heated up that year on the streets of Beirut, but we see Zozo (Imad Creidi) and his friends having adapted to life and carrying on as normally as most young boys do. His parents have been trying to arrange their transport out of Lebanon, as Zozo's paternal grandparents had immigrated to Sweden years ago. Their passports are in order and the tickets have finnaly been approved when his entire family: Mother, Father and older sister and brother are killed in an attack. Zozo survives and manages to take the passports and make his shocked trek toward the airport. A nice girl (Antoinette Turk) and a sympathetic military guard eventually get him across the battle torn countryside and to his flight. He arrives in Sweden to his relieved grandparents (Elias Gergi and Yasmine Awad). But their way of dealing with grief is decidedly old school, and they decide the best way for Zozo to get past the horrors is to never speak of them.
Zozo's grandfather is a great character, a funny, brassy, don't-take-any-crap-from-nobody spirited man who loves his grandson dearly. He tries to teach him about being tough and standing up for himself, swinging first and asking questions later, but after all Zozo has seen violence is not his style. This gets him into trouble when he enlists in school and runs into some Swedish bullies. But he does make one friend, another boy with pain and loss in his eyes (Viktor Axelsson). The first parts of the story that take place in Beirut are effective enough, but full of familiar wartime scenes. There are also some odd fantasy sequences throughout, such as Zozo having conversations with a talking baby chicken and fairly elaborate dream sequences. Director Fares is trying to capture the thoughts of a small boy with these diversions, but they're pretty extraneous in the end. Where the movie succeeds most is the second half spent in Sweden. The trials and triumphs of minorities in a new culture are more interesting and have a feeling of authenticity. I would have liked to see shorter strokes in establishing the Beirut material and more of the narrative spent with grandpa in Sweden. It sttill makes for a nice little movie.
GRADE: B-
(http://www.cinematical.com/images/2005/10/presidents%20last%20bang.jpg) (http://www.seoulselection.com/files/shop_attach/742p-attach-6.jpg)
Geuddae Geusaramdeul - The President's Last Bang[/color][/font] (Im Sang-Soo, South Korea)
Very strange movie that recounts the 1979 assassination of South Korean President Park Chung Hee and the failed coups d'état that followed. Park himself had come to power in 1961 as a Colonel during a bloodless coup. His policies turned South Korea's economic fortunes around in the '60s, but by the early '70s he was losing popularity so he passed a new Constitution in 1972 that made him essentailly a dictator. He was shot and killed while in residence at a safe house in Seoul by Kim Jaegyu, his longtime friend and director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency. There is still confusion over what exactly motivated Kim, but whatever attempt at a coup there was failed and he was taken to Army headquarters and the Prime Minister regained control. Kim and the chief conspirators were all tried and executed.
Those are the "facts" of the assassination, but The President's Last Bang is not a simple docudrama recounting events. Director Im Sang-Soo has made a very odd mishmash of action film, satire and dark comedy, and frankly it doesn't all ever come together. Yun-shik Baek is very good as Director Kim, the assassin, playing him as a man full of darkly amusing quirks. But even if you knew the basics of what went on as I described above, you'd have a hard time following the progression of events in this movie. It is told in a linear fashion, but there is zero consistency of tone and too many characters wander in and out of the narrative beyond the priciples to keep track of. The assassination itself, a bloody round of shooting where the President and a dozen others are gunned down, is done in a gory style that would make Chan-Wook Park or Takashi Miike proud. There is also the darkest of comedy as men slip around in the large pools of blood and try to reattach missing limbs. But nothing in the hour plus leading up to this bloodletting has prepared the audience for this shift in tone, other than some of Baek's performance. Then there's the comedy of errors that leads to the coup being supressed and the conspirators captured. But none of this material fits together. You get the feeling Sang-Soo was probably going for a Dr. Strangelove-like take on the events, but he has no idea how to make that into a coherent narrative with a unifying tone.
The President's Last Bang certainly has some memorable bloody bits and a few perverse chuckles, but it is a mess of a movie.
GRADE: D+
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Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373469/)
Well worth watching if only for the two lead actors. Robert Downey Jr is great in it, and very funny too. Two thumbs up O0 O0
Shaun Of The Dead (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/)
Funny ;D
Open Range (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316356/)
Definitely not in the same league as Unforgiven. Once you've seen it, every other western seems a little dull :P ;)
I couldn't help comparing the 2. Alright. After repeated viewings I realized that Unforgiven was one of the -if not THE, most powerful western I'd ever seen. Open Range? Not even close ::)
As for Costner's performance, what's the big deal? Nothing spectacular here ???
Red Eye (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421239/)
Cillian Murphy sure is one creepy guy >:D
It was OK. Could've been better though.
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Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373469/)
Well worth watching if only for the two lead actors. Robert Downey Jr is great in it, and very funny too. Two thumbs up O0 O0
Shaun Of The Dead (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/)
Funny ;D
Open Range (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316356/)
Definitely not in the same league as Unforgiven. Once you've seen it, every other western seems a little dull :P ;)
I couldn't help comparing the 2. Alright. After repeated viewings I realized that Unforgiven was one of the -if not THE, most powerful western I'd ever seen. Open Range? Not even close ::)
As for Costner's performance, what's the big deal? Nothing spectacular here ???
Red Eye (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421239/)
Cillian Murphy sure is one creepy guy >:D
It was OK. Could've been better though.
I agree with all your assessments. Open Range simply bored me to tears. And I also just watched Red Eye last week and you're right, it's simply okay and then you forget it the next day. I love how in the special features they went on about how they thought the script was so great and it's a character-driven thriller, and blah-blah-blah, when it's simply... well, okay. I could imagine so easily the script writer staying up for nights on end to try to come up with a plausible reason why they had to coerce the hotel manager to change the deputy secretary of Homeland Security's hotel rooms in order to go through with the assassination. It just seemed a little bit less than clever... :)
I loved both Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Shaun of the Dead.
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And I also just watched Red Eye last week and you're right, it's simply okay and then you forget it the next day. I love how in the special features they went on about how they thought the script was so great and it's a character-driven thriller, and blah-blah-blah, when it's simply... well, okay. I could imagine so easily the script writer staying up for nights on end to try to come up with a plausible reason why they had to coerce the hotel manager to change the deputy secretary of Homeland Security's hotel rooms in order to go through with the assassination. It just seemed a little bit less than clever... :)
I think the strength of Red Eye is in the performances. The reasons why he wants her to do as he says is more like a McGuffin as far as I'm concerned. Any reason to have the two actors battle it out would be worth the watch.
Of course, I'm not sure how I'd rate Red Eye to other Craven films. I watched The People Under the Stairs again over the weekend, and that one's really good. Classic raw Craven. O0
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(http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/10006433/photo_06.jpg) (http://www.clearcutmovie.com/images/poster2.gif)
Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon[/font] (Peter Richardson, USA)
Good documentary that ultimately encapsulates much of the curent "Blue State/Red State" divide. First the history: Philomath is a small town in central Oregon, 93 miles south of Portland. Since the 1800s, it was a huge timber industry town. One of the wealthiest loggers, Rex Clemens, was so proud of the community that he set up many philanthropic programs. One of these established in the 1960s was that every single graduate of the Philomath public High School is automatically awarded a full scholarship for the college of their choice, if they wish to attend. The original idea was for kids in this timber town to have opportunities to become something other than loggers, if they wanted. There were no restirictions put on eligibility, and the scholarship value would constantly shift to match the tuition cost at nearby Oregon State University. Obviously that's an incredibly generous program, and the only one like it in the country attached to a public school.
But in the 1980s trouble started. All but two of the once dozen saw mills closed down and the demographic of the town changed. After Rex Clemens died his wife, Ethel, sold a piece of land to the school district for a new primary school. A dispute over the revelation of some old buried fuel drums and contaminated soil on the property spilled onto the pages of the local press, and the superintendent basically accused Ethel and/or those around her of concealing the problem. It was eventually settled, but it got uglier than necessary. It was only a sign of things to come. The school started changing with the times, typified for many of the old guard by things like removing an old wooden indian mascot that was deemed offensive for the day, a peaceful in-school display by the few gay and lesbian students and perhaps the worst sin of all a science curriculum that may suggest that logging is not a benefit to the environment (though even the most biased students in those classes have to admit no teacher ever really said the timber industry was in the wrong...but they could just "tell" what they really think). In 2002 and 2003 this all came to a head when Steve Lowther, the nephew of the late Rex and Ethel who controlls the Clemens Foundation, basically made an ultimatum to the superintendent, Terry Kneisler: he and a few key teachers had to resign immideately and the so-called political correctness in the school had to be stopped or the foundation would cut off the scholorships immediately.
The public war that erupted fiercely divided the community and was big news in Oregon...and to the cable outfit FOX News, who picked it up as a story about the heroic Lowther standing up for good old fashioned values in a world gone mad. The county School Board convened a special panel to investigate the claims of inpropriety by Kneisler and teachers, a panel that included voices from all sides of the argument (including Steve Lowther) and gave everyone a chance to speak their peace. When the chairman of the investigating committee determined the superintendent had done no wrong and the county even extended his contract, the Clemens Foundation stopped the scholorship program. They didn't phase it out, they just cut it off some nine months before the class of 2003 was to graduate. A year or so after the battle was over, Kneisler did resign anyway. Lowther reinstated the scholarship program, but now it has strict guidelines for eligibilty: a parent has to be employed in industries like logging or mining and/or the student has to be a member of a specific set of groups like 4H, the Boy Scouts of America and Christian organizations.
The bottom line is that it is private money so of course the Foundation can do whatever they like, but instead of just saying what they really felt they made it a fight over "values", and instead of phasing the scholarship program out over a period of even two years to give the kids a chance to make other plans rather than the opportunity they had been promised from first grade onward, the individual students bore the brunt of the punishment in what was a clash of personalities as much as anything else. The venemous ferocity of Lowther and his supporters and the lack of courage to just stand up and say out loud they don't like homosexuality or care about science but wrap that all up in the flag and Jesus as justification is a microcosm of how too many individuals and communities are divided today.
GRADE: B+
(http://boxoffice.psfilmfest.org/_uploaded/image/film/9734l.jpg) (http://www.altfg.com/Stars/al_otro_lado.jpg)
Al otro Lado - To the Other Side[/color][/font] (Gustavo Loza, Mexico)
Interwoven fictional stories of three children effected by the same thing: the loss of their father emigrating from their community to "the other side" where they will hopefully make more money, even as illegal labor. The children are all about ten years old or so: Prisciliano a boy from a poor village in central Mexico, Fátima a girl from a small town in Morocco, and Angel a boy in Havana, Cuba. Unfortunately the film is uneven. The Cuban story is the least satisfying and the child actor simply isn't able to pull it off. The Mexican story, while sweet, is more like a fable and employs Magical Realism that sets it too apart in tone from the other two narratives. The best by far is the story of Fátima, who witout even being able to speak Spanish manages to trek from her remote town all the way to Spain to find her father, who left her and her mother six years before to make his fortune. It has the kind of subtlty and power and sense of reality the other two do not plus the young actress is excellent, and expanded to a full feature that character alone would have made for a better film.
GRADE: C+ (but an A- for Fátima's segment)
(http://thecia.com.au/reviews/c/images/crazy-c-r-a-z-y-3.jpg) (http://thecia.com.au/reviews/c/images/crazy-c-r-a-z-y-6.jpg) (http://www.cinemainvisibile.it/IMMAGINI/crazy.jpg) (http://www.juliebelanger.com/uploaded_images/photo4-726489.jpg)
C.R.A.Z.Y.[/color][/font] (Jean-Marc Vallée, Canada)
Good, stylized coming-of-ager set in Québec. We follow Zachary Beaulieu, from his birth on Christmas Day in 1960 until the age of twenty-one. One of five sons of Gervais (Michel Côté) and Laurianne (Danielle Proulx), right from the beginning Zach (played by Émile Vallée as a six to eight-year-old) doesn't feel like he fits in. He hates all of his brothers and when Dad senses he may like playing with dolls more than footballs he begins to pull away too. His Mother is very supportive in her quiet way, he is clearly her favorite, and she believes he has a gift from God to heal people. The bulk of the story takes place when Zach (now played by Marc-André Grondin) is aged fifteen to twenty-one, from 1975 to 1981. Director and co-writer Jean-Marc Vallée captures so many details of the time period and middle class dysfuntion perfectly. As one small example, I don't remember any other movie so spot-on recreating the feeling of a depressed and confused teenage boy disappearing into his room to crank up Bowie and Floyd and tell the world to fu*k off. There are some stylized and flashy directorial flourishes in the storytelling, but they fit with the darkly comic tone of the dramady. There's quite a lot packed into C.R.A.Z.Y. that I'm not even getting into here, and for all the plot strands crammed into 127 minutes it all works and flows organically. The cast is excellent, especially Marc-André Grondin and Michel Côté. The aging of Côté is also among the best I've seen, and poppa Gervais is a terrific character that he embodies with zeal, anger, love and frustration.
GRADE: B+
(http://www.focus-on-asia.com/e/work/images/06.jpg) (http://www.isop.ucla.edu/cms/images/SoCloseDirect.jpg) (http://www.parstimes.com/film/soclose.jpg) (http://www.parstimes.com/film/soclose2_lrg.jpg)
Kheili Dour, Kheili Nazdik - So Close, So Far[/color][/font] (Seyyed Reza Mir-Karimi, Iran)
An existential road movie set in modern-day Iran where an extremely successful and self-obsessed neurologist learns the limits of science versus faith. After getting wrapped up at work and his extracurricular activites of on-line gambling, Doctor Alam (Mesoud Raygan) misses his son's eighteenth birthday, which is also just before the Iranian New Year. Finally on his way out the door he glances at some X-rays that had been delivered without any of the usual information. Horribly he realizes they are his son's, accidentally sent before the other physician could deliver the news personally, and they show an inoperable tumor. Alam's son only has a few weeks to live, and when he rushes home he finds an empty house: his son and his friends have left for the desert on a two-day competition with their astrology club. Alam gets into his Mercedes Benz and heads off into the sand, but finding his son won't be as simple as he thought, and before he gets there he has to confront the limitations of his scientific capabilities and his lack of a belief in God. Some of the desert sequences bring to mind Antonioni's The Passenger (1975) with excellent cinematography by Hamid Khozui-Abyaneh. Seyyed Reza Mir-Karimi, the director and co-screenwriter, strikes an excellent laid back tone that underplays the melodrama in favor of subtle introspection that leads to a powerful and well-earned conclusion, and Mesoud Raygan gives an outstanding central performance (he reminds me of an Iranian Javier Bardem). The subject matter could have been handled as pretentious hokum in other hands, but So Close, So Far is an engaging and profoundly philosophical piece.
GRADE: A-
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So that was it: those last four movies I saw on Sunday brought my grand total to thirty-four feature films and eighteen short subjetcs in sixteen days. That still left about thirty-three features and thirty-two shorts I didn't see, and the ones I'm sorriest I missed are Fateless (Hungary), 4 (Russia), Skřítek (Czech Republic) and Look Both Ways (Australia).
Lots and lots of good movies, a handful of great ones and a couple stinkers. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, The Wild Blue Yonder, Neil Young: Heart of Gold, So Close So Far, KZ, Kissed by Winter and L'Enfant were my favorites, though I didn't even see the best movie playing at the Festival: Lars von Trier's Manderlay, which I already own on DVD and have seen upwards of ten times, so I went to see unknown stuff instead (though I'm sure I'll pay to see Manderlay when it comes to the regular theaters in town). Overall I think the quality was a little off from last year's selections - not in the number of great and bad films, but the middle range of good stuff seemed a bit stronger in 2005. But don't get me wrong: I'm not complaining! It's most definitely a great, great event and I can hardly wait for February to roll around again.
(http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2000/fs060-00/images/PDX-Hood.jpg) (http://www.pstos.org/instruments/or/portland/broadway_streetscene-1940-l.jpg)
I do love Portland, OR. (http://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/legionxs/wavey.gif)
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Looks like there were some good films in that mix. It's doubtful I'll ever see any of these on the video store shelves in my area but I've written down some of the ones that sounded interesting and were given good reviews.
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The reasons why he wants her to do as he says is more like a McGuffin as far as I'm concerned.
Of course it's a McGuffin, but I like my McGuffins not to seem so obviously labored over. ;)
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I've written down some of the ones that sounded interesting
Me too. Thanks, Holden. Yeah, Portland looks like a cool place. A friend of mine used to live there and moaned that it was boring suburbia, :D but I doubt it. Now she lives in Monterey, CA, lucky cow. >:(
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From DVD:
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT700/T740/t74017nrk3m.jpg) I liked this one even though I don`t think Ewan McGregor is right man for actionfilms.
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT700/T739/t73948oagft.jpg) I got to admit that I laughed my *ss off while watching this ;D
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT700/T705/t70589hbtqd.jpg) Also liked this one which was quite a surprise to me
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT700/T733/t73370etzw0.jpg) Slow start,intresting plot and typical ending.Good enough though.
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T644/t64452rppa7.jpg) aka Danny The Dog.What can I say Jet Li rules even though he makes bad film choices every now and then :)
(http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/9890000/9894924.jpg) This one was great.I truly enjoyed it.Great casting and therefore acting.
In the cinema:
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT700/T734/t73483zq8y5.jpg) Liked this one too even though there was nothing new to see.Jake Gyllenhaal was good as was Jamie Foxx.
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On The Waterfront
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Saw 16 Blocks. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0450232/) Shared my thoughts on the film here. (http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=5363.msg87993#msg87993)
(http://www.richnoble.com/16p.jpg)
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Polanski's Oliver Twist.
(http://images.play.com/covers/852394m.jpg)
Enjoyed it. Kingsley was great as Fagin but I didn't feel the other actors were as memorable as Oliver Reed and the rest of the cast from the 68 version. The film looked good and I preferd the absence of song as I'm not a big fan of musicals.
It's All Gone Pete Tong
(http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000AQ5JN2.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
Rented this on the strength of mary mary's say so and glad I did. Certainly didn't deserve the caining it got from some reviewers. Sad and funny at the same time. Worth renting. Paul kaye was very good in it...
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Today from vcr and tv:
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The Verdict was great as it always has been and Duel was still surprisingly entertaining .
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Saw two good movies in the theatre this week.
Walk the Line was enjoyable, but I see now why it isn't up for a Best Picture Oscar. It was the two lead performances that were outstanding, rather than the whole. I can see why some people found the pace a little slow, but personally I found it fine; just when I thought it might begin to drag, something of note got me hooked back in.
I loved Good Night, and Good Luck. Maybe that's predictable given my interests, but it was better executed and more powerful than I had anticipated. David Strathairn gave an excellent, believable performance as Ed Murrow.
(http://img345.imageshack.us/img345/8874/goodnight27hi.jpg)
I also particularly liked Ray Wise as Don Hollenbeck; a small part, but touching. He said a lot with his facial expressions.
(http://img345.imageshack.us/img345/1500/goodnight10ow.jpg)
What surprised me most was the quality of the cinematography. This is one of those instances when choosing black and white really worked a treat. Apart from being a period device, it was very atmospheric, and worked particularly well with Murrow's chain smoking.
There were a few shots in particular that stood out as being unusual and interesting. One I remember was when CBS chief exec William Paley (played by Frank Langella) was standing in the studio after an important broadcast, in dramatic, portentous shadow. Also, I loved the way the camera sometimes went up so close to the men's faces, showing the stubble. It was kinda introspective, as the characters themselves were thinking and making important decisions.
The cinematography and particularly the editing was excellent in the scene in which Fred Friendly receives the call telling him bad news (not gonna say the spoiler). The shifting camera created so much tension and emotion.
It was apparent that this was a low budget movie, and yet (as I seem to recall one of the usual pretentious divs on Newsnight Review saying), it made a virtue of necessity. The limited locations made it slightly claustrophobic, but that turned out to be a good thing, adding to the atmosphere, and even serving as a metaphor for the political claustrophobia of the time.
There may be inaccuracies or omissions that I am unaware of, but in general I believe this to be a faithful - if necessarily simplified - telling of events (if anyone has detail otherwise I'd very much like to know about it :)). I find it particularly gratifying that Murrow's words are taken directly from his original See It Now broadcasts, and thus are historically accurate. I also loved the fact that the original footage of the McCarthy hearings was used, not actors. Like Murrow, the movie showed McCarthy in his own words. I was amused to read that some audiences complained that "the actor playing McCarthy" was "overacting", :D when they were actually watching news footage of the senator himself! ;D
Overall I found it a captivating, powerful film, which didn't overplay its hand, nor slip into cliché.
If anyone's interested there is a lot of info, photos, and trailers for the film on the David Strathairn site: http://www.david-strathairn.com/film/goodnight.html
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Just watched Walk The Line 8)
Excellent performances. Both actors deserved this Oscar nod.
I didn't know anything about Johnny Cash prior to seeing the movie -had heard a few songs, but that was it. I really enjoyed it.
And I still can't believe they're doing their own singing :o
Lilly, I agree with all that you said about Good Night, And Good Luck. Loved it too O0
I was amused to read that some audiences complained that "the actor playing McCarthy" was "overacting", :D when they were actually watching news footage of the senator himself! ;D
:o ;D No way??!! Some people really said that? Wow.
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And I still can't believe they're doing their own singing :o
Yeah, it's impressive.
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Yesterday I saw An Unfinished Life. It's still in the movie theatre here.
(http://www.miramax.com/anunfinishedlife/anunfinishedlifeposter.jpg)
I really liked this. Different kind of western. Have to buy this when it comes on dvd. :D Morgan Freeman is one my favourite actors, he did a great role in this one also. 8)
I've never liked JLo but she did a good job in this movie. O0
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(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T670/t67035hifqs.jpg) (http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T677/t67770k9wcz.jpg)
Madagascar was fun but The Brohters Grimm was a bit boring.
Gilliam has done better films.
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got to catch three burials... at a preview of the movie, holden was so right, the movie is brilliant, far superior to some of what i've seen recently and on par if not better than the last two movies i have seen, good night.... and capote
great recommendation holden, thanks O0
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Saw the new Harrison Ford film 'Firewall' today.Very predicitable by the numbers family's been kidnapped,Dad has to save the day kind of film.Unfortunately I think Harrison Ford's days of an action hero passed several years ago.
2/5.
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Duel (1971)
One of Steven Spielberg's earliest films originally made for t.v,still gets me on the edge of my seat after all these years.I saw this on DVD,which I highly recommend as it has 3 featurettes.A 35 minute making of Duel by Spielberg,a 9 minute How Spielberg got started directing t.v and a 9 minute chat with screen writer Richard Matheson on writing Duel.
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(http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,5058168,00.jpg) (http://www.image.net/xads/thumbnail/82694880,1BC01167F4669A3A986)
The Proposition[/font][/color] (John Hillcoat, Australia)
A great looking flick with atmosphere to spare, it never becomes the great movie it might have been. Set in the Australian Outback at the turn of the 20th century during the last throws of the Bushranger era, The Proposition is chiefly about a lawman, Captain Stanley (Ray Winstone), who captures two brothers from the infamous Burns gang of bloodthirsty outlaws. The proposition of the title is this: the Captain will arrest the younger brother, Mikey, if Charlie (Guy Pearce) will ride out into the desert and kill his older brother Arthur (Danny Huston), the leader of the gang and the most insane and violent of the bunch. Charlie has until Christmas, just a handful of days, to complete the task. If he does, Charlie and Mikey will be pardoned. If he does not, Mikey will be hung on Christmas Day. Charlie reluctantly agrees.
If it sounds like a classic plot for a Western, it is. But there's nothing classic about the tone of The Proposition. First of all it is one of the goriest and bloodiest "Westerns" this side of Jodorowsky's El Topo (1970). That kind of stuff doesn't bother me in and of itself, but it's certainly a warning for the weaker of heart. My problem with it is the narrative is really choppy and awkward, leaving the gore and these characters to meander in pretentious confusion. The screenplay was written by singer/songwriter Nick Cave, and while it has lots of great elements what it doesn't have is a strong spine or any sense of basic exposition. Many individual scenes work as stand alone pieces, but as a whole you keep feeling like you got up to go to the bathroom a dozen times and have missed crucial plot points and character introductions. And it's a shame, because there are some great actors in The Proposition doing their best to make it work, but the script and/or editing have let them down. In addition to Pearce and Winstone who are always great, Danny Huston, son of the legendary John Huston and half-brother to Anjelica, gets his best role ever as the philosophical madman who likes watching magnificent sunsets and quoting poetry, believes in the bond of family above all else, and will behead and rape and disembowel like he's buttering bread. Danny was also very good as the duplicitous Sandy in The Constant Gardener last year, and between these two movies and work in recent years like Silver City and Birth, he's proving himself to be a good actor. The cast also features Emily Watson as Winstone's wife, David Gulpilil (Walkabout, Rabbit-Proof Fence), David Wenham (Faramir in LOTR), an unrecognizeable Noah Taylor (Shine, Almost Famous) and a scenery chewing cameo by John Hurt as an old bounty hunter.
Besides a bunch of very good actors, the main highlight of the movie is the amazing cinematography by Benoît Delhomme (The Scent of Green Papaya, The Winslow Boy). There are some shots that rival a Terence Malick movie for sheer breathtaking beauty. This makes the weak and flawed narrative all the more frustrating. Nick Cave and fellow Bad Seeder Warren Ellis provide the music, and while it can be as overwhelming as the violence at times, it works. So many individual things work in The Proposition, which makes its failure to become a great movie puzzling and disappointing. There had to be a way to blend the stylized violence and the attempt at myth with better fundamental storytelling. It's an experience alright, but it might have been a masterpiece.
GRADE: C+
This goes on general release in the UK today. Tonight's Newsnight Review on BBC2 covered it, and the panel compared it to Leone and Eastwood movies, noting that the stronger the character the fewer words he speaks. I hope to check it out some time soon. You can watch the Newsnight discussion from tomorrow.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/review/4793562.stm
(Be warned: there is the usual cross-talk and babble. ::))
IMDb page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421238/).
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I would REALLY REALLY like to see Tsotsi. I've already seen another movie known as Cry, the Beloved Country, (both versions), that also takes place in Johannesburg. The more I hear about Johannesburg, the more I want to learn about what is going on in that city. Since winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film, I definitely look foward to seeing this film very much.
Y Tu Mama Tambien (2002)
I finally got to see this film, and I have to say it is one of the most original comedy dramas I've seen in a while. The cinematics are beautiful and the acting is superb. I loved how unique the narration is in which it describe interesting facts about how the characters encounter people, places, and things very vividly. The sex might have been too much but I think it was very necessary and one of the most important factors included in the plot in the first place. Seeing this movie makes me want to go on a road trip myself ;D.
B+
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I watched an old 70's movie with Jodi Foster and Martin Sheen. Little Girl who lives down the lane.
(http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2338/135309ks.jpg)
It's a very good thrillerish movie directed by Nicolas Gessner, where 13 year old Rynn (Jodi Foster) who lives in a house with her famous poet of father or so she is leading everyone to believe. Her father has actually committed suicide and she's trying to maintain the household by her self until the nosy landlord and her son the town pedophile (played by Martin Sheene) start nosying around and taking an interest in Rynn.
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Hi ! Gino M !
I've had completly forgotten this movie, one of the first I watched "alone " at theatre (without my parents ! :D ) when I was 13 or 14 ! I'll try to rent it one of these days !
Jodie Foster was so young in that film ... just like me at this time ! ;D ;D
(http://www.horreur.com/watermark.php?largeur=300&img=UWoFPgdoVWAGNwkuCytVMgYlVm4GJgFsCX1ZLwBpVnkCOVNoVD1WdwhzVDkIN1dnUi4AMAchAnJXYQQpWT9Xe1Fk)
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Well,I decided to see for myself how bad the new Pink Panther film was,and it was half price Tuesday at the cinema.
This has to be the worse film I've paid money to see.In 90 minutes not one laugh not even a chuckle.One smirk is all they got out of me in the scene where Steve Martin had his finger jammed in the door.
Executives at Columbia and MGM should hang their hands in shame for this film being made.
1/5. Really should be 0.
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Did you ask for your money back, tgy?! :D
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Did you ask for your money back, tgy?! :D
No,I completely forgot in my haste to get out of the cinema. ;D
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Of to Rome soon so got re-aquainted with this classic movie..
(http://images.play.com/covers/185194m.jpg)
La Dolce Vita
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I'm shocked the new Pink Panther film is a dud! ;)
I recall that Martin Sheen/Jodie Foster film as a kid, too.
Someone was going to loan me La Dolce Vita a few weeks ago, but never worked out. Oh well. Don't care for subtitles.
Watched Charley Varrick last night on the train. Forgot how good that one is. Watched Junior Bonner a few days ago. Going to watch Mr. Majestyk tonight for the ride home.
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I'm shocked the new Pink Panther film is a dud! ;)
your post there agent got me thinking, how come everyone knew this was a rotten idea(even the dogs in the streets) and yet martin and the execs plowed ahead with it anyway. it just doesn't make sense. what part of their brain was removed to stop them getting involved with this car wreck.
steve martin needs a big hit badly, his career hasn't been great on the comedy front since.... oh i'd say parenthood, he slowly came down from that peak in his career and never recovered. surely he had to realise that replacing one of sellers finest achievements was nigh on impossible. so my main question is why did he get involved in something bound to hurt his career, is he in money trouble, or maybe schwarzeneggers administration is adding something to the water in california. if hollywood keeps making terrible movies it might elevate the standards of some of his stinkers, "Ja , see, jingle all de way wasn't dat bad after all you know"
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But didn`t this new Pink Panther movie do well in the boxoffice ???
Anyway that`s what I´ve read from the papers,that it`s a hit...if not as good as the old Panther films.
I hate the idea that they did another Panther movie but than again the original director/creator of the filmseries Blake Edwards tried to cash in few different times also after the death of Peter Sellers:
The Trail Of Pink Panther,Curse Of The Pink Panther and truly horrible film Son Of The Pink Panther.
I also hate the fact that Steve Martin is doing these remakes but I believe most of them have done great business in the boxoffice(well,maybe not Sgt Bilko).
I really would like to see him in a film that`s at least half as good as were his films The Jerk,The Man With Two Brains,The Lonely Guy,Dead Men Don`t Wear Plaid and All Of Me...to name a few.
But back to the topic I watched the other day from TV John McTiernan`s Basic (2003)which was quite mediocre film even though it got actors like Samuel L.Jackson,John Travolta and Connie Nielsen.
What happened to McTiernan ???After all he did direct the films Die Hard,Predator and The Hunt Of The Red October.
His latest films have been quite awful :13.Warrior and especially remake of Rollerball.
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I gave up on martin after that awful Bilko debacle.... Should learn to leave the classics alone.
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But didn't this new Pink Panther movie do well in the boxoffice ???
Yes, sadly there's no accounting for taste, and virtually any hunk o' crap you can throw on the screen and market toward families will almost automatically make money. After just over a month in U.S. release, this newest Pink Panther has made about $75-million, plus another $20-million so far from the few international markets it has opened in. It has already made back its money, and by the time it hits DVD this summer it will probably triple the Studio's investment.
[John McTiernan]'s latest films have been quite awful :13.Warrior and especially remake of Rollerball.
I rather liked The 13th Warrior, which got mercilessly slammed by critics and ignored by audiences but is a credible action movie that essentially retells the Beowulf story minus the supernatural elements. It's no masterpiece, but I never understood why there was so much hate leveled at the flick.
McTiernan is very hit and miss, entirely dependant on the material he gets, and will probably never have another opportunity that is as good as the original Die Hard again. I'd rate his filmography...
1. Die Hard, A
2. The Hunt for Red October, B+
3. Predator, B-
4. The Thomas Crown Affair, B-
5. The 13th Warrior, C+
6. Die Hard: with a Vengeance, C+
7. Nomads, D+
8. Basic, D-
9. Medicine Man, F
10. Last Action Hero, F
11. Rollerball (2002), F
GRADE AVERAGE: C-
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I really thought The Last Action Hero was gonna be great. Somehow it just didn't quite work.. imo :)
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I really thought The Last Action Hero was gonna be great. Somehow it just didn't quite work.. imo :)
I was really enjoying The Last Action Hero until Danny DeVito turned up as a cartoon cat,Whiskas. :o
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your post there agent got me thinking, how come everyone knew this was a rotten idea(even the dogs in the streets) and yet martin and the execs plowed ahead with it anyway. it just doesn't make sense. what part of their brain was removed to stop them getting involved with this car wreck . . . if hollywood keeps making terrible movies it might elevate the standards of some of his stinkers, "Ja , see, jingle all de way wasn't dat bad after all you know"
Besides Martin, you have to wonder why any of these so-called comedians (Tom Arnold, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Tim Allen - to name a few) are pumping out one piece of trash after another. But if you look at what the films are grossing each week, many times it's these very films are in the Top 10. So as long as people go and pay to see this stuff, Hollywood's going to keep supplying them. So the question is, why are significant amounts of people going to see this junk? Are they all brain-dead crack addicts who don't give a damn what they're looking at? Perhaps. Or maybe most are just wanting something to do. But there are plenty of other (more decent) films out there showing. Why pick these?
For Hollywood, it's just supply and demand. As far as the public and why they feed on this stuff, I really can't answer that.
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I watched Kickboxer for the 126 time. Man I still love this film as much as when I was ten.
:'( But the days of the action heroes are gone :'(
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Kickboxer, I have to admit was a fun film to watch.
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I rather liked The 13th Warrior, which got mercilessly slammed by critics and ignored by audiences but is a credible action movie that essentially retells the Beowulf story minus the supernatural elements. It's no masterpiece, but I never understood why there was so much hate leveled at the flick.
I rather liked the 13´th warrior as well. So many things in the movie works so well. I like the scene where Banderas learns to speak scandinavian, the view on viking religion, and the soundtrack is one of the ten best i´ve ever heard. It´s entertainment, nothing more, but it´s good entertainment.
Kickboxer, I have to admit was a fun film to watch.
Riddled with cliches, all to well known story, laughable predictable, but that´s what makes it fun to watch. ;)
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(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T678/t67899tt4l6.jpg) (http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T664/t66447ly9pm.jpg) (http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT600/T692/t69280pk50y.jpg)
All of them were equally bad...well maybe Seagal`s Black Dawn was worst of them ;D I got no excuse why I keep watching Seagal`s films.Especially when they keep getting worse and worse...maybe I´m a pervert ???
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went to the previews for the pink panther, they've changed this movie completely when the original was made it was a comedy, this is like a new genre of horror, where the unbearable pain is inflicted on the audience, *worst film i've ever seen*
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I disagree. Kickboxer is a fine film. And Van Damme takes to much flack. I think his films are great. Well expect for three. But that is me.
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I just finished watching Friday Night Lights. I loved it.
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I disagree. Kickboxer is a fine film. And Van Damme takes to much flack. I think his films are great. Well expect for three. But that is me.
Dont worry No,named fan, I like Kickboxer too. As i wrote, it got all these "bad" parts, but it´s still fun to watch. Kickboxer is one of the better movies van damme has made. Consider what i wrote to be seen in a "positive" way. Right now i´m pressed for time right now so i cant elaborate on my statements, but if you want me to, i´ll gladly do it later.
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Some Like It Hot (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053291/)
The scene on the yacht is just awesome :D ;D
To Live And Die In LA (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090180/)
Great film. Underrated.
Loved the music ... and William Petersen steals the show.
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(http://a69.g.akamai.net/n/69/10688/v1/img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/36/06/96/18479526_vign.jpg)
(http://a69.g.akamai.net/n/69/10688/v1/img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/36/06/96/18475998_vign.jpg)(http://a69.g.akamai.net/n/69/10688/v1/img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/36/06/96/18476001_vign.jpg)
(http://a69.g.akamai.net/n/69/10688/v1/img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/36/06/96/18449987_vign.jpg)
"The World's Fastest Indian" (Burt Munro, french title), Roger Donaldson, with the fantastic Anthony Hopkins, yesterday evening.
One of the best films I've watched for months ! :)
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Cool Sylvie. I saw that on a billboard and wondered what it was about. Just going by your pics, it reminds me of another Hopkins role, as Donald Campbell of fateful Bluebird fame. I was young when I saw that movie on TV and it was very moving.
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Bewitched Well it was different and I quite liked the idea of it. Better they didn't try to emulate the old TV show, instead they included it.
Darby O'Gill and The Little People. little_bill mentioned it in another thread so I thought I would look at it again. Amazon had it available on the rental list so I rented it. I thought it fun and the Banshee nearly had me behind the sofa.
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Darby O'Gill and The Little People.
I read somewhere that thanks to this film James Bond film series producers Broccoli and Saltzman took notice of Sean Connery and cast him as 007.
Evidently they were impressed by Connery`s physical appearance.
However I vaguely remember that Connery`s acting in this particular film was not that great...but than again it`s been several years when I saw the film.
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Connery's acting wasn't so bad, he had a few awkward bits like singing and trying to sound Irish but his good looks over shadowed those problems. I can see why he was chosen as James Bond.
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My viewing is getting really sad, I just watched Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin in The Out-of-Towners
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I just finished watching Friday Night Lights. I loved it.
Yeah,I agree.Is it really true that in a three way tie for a spot in the playoffs,it comes down to a coin toss.Surely it would be better for it to come down to percentages on for and against or who scored the most touchdowns in the regular season.Doesn't seem fair for your whole season to hinge on the toss of a coin. ???
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I know what yoy mean TGY. It would not be fair. I had never heard that rule before until viewing the movie. I will do some research on that.
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Right now I'm watching Bulworth on ITV. It's a spoof presidential campaign and it's hilarious. ;D
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Yeah.. I saw Bulworth some years back and thought it was a very good film. It's a shame Beatty hasn't directed more..
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Watched the other day Tim Burton`s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory,Cronenberg`s A History Of violence and Hallström`s An Unfinished Life.
All were quite good films.Definitely worth renting :)
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Watched a horrible, low-budget horror film on cable called The Puppet Master. One of the worst films I've ever seen in my life. Awful.
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Worse than "Killer Clowns From Outer Space" ?? :o
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Worse than "Killer Clowns From Outer Space" ?? :o
Do you not get the difference between something that is clearly a parody of the genre and intentionally campy vs. something that is taking itself seriously as a horror movie?
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Worse than "Killer Clowns From Outer Space" ?? :o
I've never seen KCFOS, and have a feeling it'll be a long time before I come across that one. ;)
But PM did take itself seriously. The acting especially was gawdawful. I like Paul LeMat (American Graffiti), though he's not the best actor. But compared to the rest of the cast, he was Olivier. And those grotesque little puppets.....
(http://www.ween.net/puppetmaster/site/figures/pinhead/phead.jpg)
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Watched a horrible, low-budget horror film on cable called The Puppet Master. One of the worst films I've ever seen in my life. Awful.
I agree Agent. Can you believe there have been sequels to it?
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I kinda figured the "Clowns" was a parody.. but I still thought it awful. I took a date to go see it and it did work in that respect.. She paid no attention to the movie. ;D ;) (Sid James laugh..)
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Watched Auto Focus, the "biography" of Bob Crane, and one of my favorites...
The Getaway with Steve McQueen.
(http://www.richnoble.com/get2.jpg)
I never get tired of watching this flick. Timeless.
(http://www.richnoble.com/chicken.jpg)
Women, music and fried chicken. What
more does man need to survive?
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I kinda figured the "Clowns" was a parody.. but I still thought it awful. I took a date to go see it and it did work in that respect.. She paid no attention to the movie. ;D ;) (Sid James laugh..)
(http://users.erols.com/kcoblenz/Lol.GIF)
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http://home.swipnet.se/~w-28870/
According to this web-page, there were talks of a sequel at some point. "Klowns" is a great flick!
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Salem's Lot (2004)
I not a fan of the horror genre and only watched this for the Donald Sutherland factor.Unfortunately his role in this wasn't as big as I thought.This was actually filmed here in Australia and it was spot the Aussie t.v. stars in supporting roles and there were plenty of them.Seeing them all try the American accents was a little off putting as well.
At just under 3 hours it was way too long.I haven't seen the original with David Soul,so maybe that's a better version?
Maybe our horror fan Christopher has seen both and can comment?
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I haven't seen the new one but I've seen the original Salem's Lot. I watched it last summer after I'd read the novel, and also because it was directed by Tobe Hooper. The new one was a miniseries as well, right? Sometimes, I think I put the movie at a disadvantage when I watch it right after reading the book. The original is long too, but the book is pretty big and also more exciting than any film version could be.
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Thanks Christopher.
The new one was a miniseries as well, right? .
Yeah,it was shown here on a cable movie channel with both parts back to back.
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I have watched
Taggart
John Deed
The Sting
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Heat (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113277/) Liked it
Kiss The Sky (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0127629/) Liked it
Gunshy (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119238/) Liked it
:D William Petersen rocks my socks!
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Finding Neverland (2004)
This is the best film I've seen in ages.
This is the type of film I'd wish they'd make more of these days.
Everything about it was perfect.Johnny Depp as J.M.Barrie was brilliant as was the rest of the cast especially the child actors.
Not ashamed to say I shed a few tears during this one as well.
Great to see the family movie genre isn't dead yet.
5/5. O0 O0
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I have just watched Cinderella Man Not what I expected but OK.
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I have just watched Cinderella Man Not what I expected but OK.
What were you expecting, a Fairy Godmother?
(http://home.att.net/~cindi73/CinderellaFairyGodmother.jpg)
"Bibbity-Bobbity-Bob-and-Weave. Now let's see that left hook!"
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Watched The Substitute (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117774/) with Tom Berenger and The Beguiled with what's his name.... ;)
The Substitute is one of the guilty pleasure-type movies where you just sit back, watch, and enjoy. It's corny, for sure...but certainly watchable.
Watching The Beguiled last night brought back memories of some the discussions we had a few years back. The one about the war's effect on McB (http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=739.0) came to mind.... 8)
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I liked The Subsitute as well. Tom Berenger played a cool tough guy in that film.
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What were you expecting, a Fairy Godmother?
;D ;D ;D Actually I rented a DVD from "Amazon rentals by post" and that is the one they sent instead of the one I ordered. It was unexpected and I am ashamed to say I had no idea what it was about until I started to watch it. I returned it and told them it was in the wrong DVD case and they have now sent me the movie I wanted. Still it gave me another aspect on "boxing" movies.
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Long Gone (http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/6829/minipdvd133bmp7yl.jpg) ---> Great
Fist Of Fury (http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ray.d8/fof.jpg) ---> Very good
Get Rich Or Die Tryin' (http://www.hiphop.gr/subjects/world/50cent_movie/poster.jpg) ---> OK
King Kong (http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/8571/pdvd0012oh.png) ---> Great
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I turned on part way in to Big Momma's House and it's pretty funny. ;D Nice, light, feel good movie for when you just want to veg.
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Last night I watched O' Brother Where Art Thou for the 2nd time. I loved this film even more than the first time I viewed it. I love the famous characters they meet along the way along with the incredible scenery and portrayal of the southern United States of that time period.
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King Kong ( 2005 )
I have to say that I was disappointed with this film.It was alright but at nearly 3 hours it took it's time telling the story.
Nearly an hour before they get to the island,the second hour on the island and the last hour in New York.
The second hour is the one that let it down for me.The big battle with the T-Rex went on too long,then the scenes with the giant bugs could've been left on the cutting room floor altogther,it didn't add anything to the story at all,apart from adding to the death toll.
A real let down 2/5.
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"As Good As It Gets", for the fourth time !
I love this film, Jack Nicholson is at his best, and Helen Hunt is great too, and beautiful ! As for the small dog ,Verdel, I could nearly prefer dogs to cats if it could be mine ;D !
(http://www.customermotivators.com/As%20Good%20As%20It%20Gets.jpg)
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21 Grams (2003)
What's the deal with the way this film was edited together.Jumping back and forth between characters and storyline,it had me shaking my head a few times early on trying to figure out what was happening.Is this a new gimmick thing film makers do to make the film more interesting.It didn't do it for me.
The performances were fine and the storyline was good,I just would have enjoyed it more had it been shown in sequence.
2/5.
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Rented The 40 Year Old Virgin this weekend. Has its hilarious moments. However, I've heard that the theatrical version is actually better than the unrated version (which is the version I picked up without looking), mainly because the extra material bogs it down somewhat and sort of takes away from the impact of the original version. I don't know, as I've never seen the theatrical version, but I can believe it, as some of the stuff was way over the top and just made the storyline drag a bit.
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The Dark with Sean Bean
Quite an effective little chiller set in Jersey . Nice photography , good performances and an effective atmosphere .Well worth a look .
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21 Grams (2003)
What's the deal with the way this film was edited together.Jumping back and forth between characters and storyline,it had me shaking my head a few times early on trying to figure out what was happening.Is this a new gimmick thing film makers do to make the film more interesting.It didn't do it for me.
The performances were fine and the storyline was good,I just would have enjoyed it more had it been shown in sequence.
2/5.
Totally agree.
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Since icehockey`s worldchampionship games are on I`ve not been able to watch too many films lately.
But I did see Mission Impossible 3 at the cinema couple of daus ago and I liked the film quite a bit.I think it`s the second best film out of three.First one being number one to me.
Also last night I watched quite mediocre romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice,starring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant.
Btw I thought 21 Grams was good.I had no problems to follow the storyline.Sean Penn and Benico Del Toro were great as always.
And The 40 Years Old Virgin is the funniest film I´ve watched for ages.What can I say I´m a sucker for a comedies that do have some bad taste element in them ;D
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I watched Grizzly Man the other night. If you ask me the sap had it comin'.
1 up for the bears.
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Walk The Line
I enjoyed this one. A good movie that pretty much followed the path of most biogs.... Good period detail with a few glaring errors... (Presley with a drummer on early Sun tracks..C'mon !!)
But the two lead performers Joaquin Pheonix and Reese Witherspoon were excellent. I totally believed in them and thought they lifted the movie well above average. Always admired Cash's work and thought Pheonix made a Great job of the singing.
I enjoyed this movis as much as.. if not a little more than Ray.
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(http://frenchfilms.topcities.com/1926_Faust.jpg) (http://frenchfilms.topcities.com/Faust_7.jpg) (http://www.gattomarte.com/images/DSC_4317_ridimensionare-tn.jpg)
Faust[/b] (1926 - F.W. Murnau)
Last night I went to a screening of Murnau's Faust, which had a live musical accompaniment of an original score by the Italian Gatto Marte Quartet. They primarily play piano, violin, bassoon and double-bass, but they also used instruments as odd as a didgeridoo and a gazoo throughout. This was not a traditional score, obviously, but an eclectic mix of styles that actually worked perfectly set to Murnau's strong visuals. Murnau uses only the basics of Gothe's play in constructing his dark fantasy. The Devil makes a wager with an Angel that he can corrupt the doctor, Faust (Gösta Ekman), so he brings plague and pestilence to the village. After seeing so many die and unable to help them, Faust loses his faith in God and science, and in steps Mephisto (Emil Jannings) with an offer: if Faust signs over his soul, he will be granted the power to save the dying. At first he will not accept, but eventually agrees to have a one day trial. He is able to help, but the townspeople turn against him when they see his ability is on loan from The Devil. Mephisto then gives Faust his youth back, and helps him seduce a beautiful princess. Just before he is going to consumate his lust, Mephisto informs him that his day is up. Faust agrees to make the deal permanent.
Murnau was one of the medium's first great visionaries. His striking impressionistic style coupled with an aptitude for special effects are on full display in Faust. The second half of the story, where Faust falls in love with an innocent girl (Camilla Horn) and Mephisto does his worst to make sure nothing but pain and tragedy result, is not nearly as strong as the set-up, and at two hours the meandering second half does make the movie feel overlong. But at this special screening in particular that hardly mattered, as even when the story faltered the amazing score and fascinating performance by Gatto Marte made for a Hell of an evening.
Gatto Marte does travel the world with this presentation, so if you see it screening in your town give it a look.
(http://www.gattomarte.com/images/faust_poster-tn.jpg) (http://www.gattomarte.com/images/DSC_4295_ridimensionare-tn.jpg)
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Batman Begins, well being voted 81 on imdbs (admins) 250 I think this is the most overrated film to date. The shaky directing was bad and the film was just horrible, bad acting and the film was badly paced and was just lousy 1 and half stars, I don't why batman fans love, it so much,burtons was better, I think I will stick with spider-man 1 &2 as they are the best comic book moves.
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Within a week I´ve seen these films
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT800/T814/t81472zxris.jpg)
Not as good as was the first one but Jason Statham was quite cool again as Frank Martin.
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT700/T755/t75524gvj21.jpg)
Well made film no doubt about that but I found it a bit dull most of the time.Best part was the fight between Kong and three dinosaurus Rex.
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT700/T783/t78358aowe1.jpg)
I really liked this one.Very funny thanks to great acting job by Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr.
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000BYRCGU.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
To be honest I rented this one because of Jessica Alba ;) but it turned out to be quite watchable film if not a masterpiece.
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT700/T708/t70867ptds9.jpg)
Now this film could`ve been good without horrible Demi Moore in the lead role.She can sink just about any film.Obviously it was not me who choose to rent this one ;D
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov150/DRT700/T753/t75305ilek3.jpg)
Once again a used to be a great director, Tony Scott failed me like he did with Man On Fire .The film got some good moments in it but mainly it looks like overlong MTV-video :(
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Saw these both theatrically on Sunday...
(http://www.noircity.com/img/films2006/Man_Who_Cheated.jpg) (http://www.noircity.com/img/films2006/Window.jpg)
The Man Who Cheated Himself[/font][/color] (1950 - Felix Feist)
The Window[/font][/color] (1949 - Ted Tetzlaff)
Lovingly restored by the Film Noir Foundation (http://www.noircity.com/foundation.html), two terrific prints of two terrific Noirs. The Man Who Cheated Himself stars Lee J. Cobb (12 Angry Men, Coogan's Bluff) as a Police Detective involved with the wrong dame. Improbably she's played by Jane Wyatt, best known as Robert Young's perfect housewife on the '50s sitcom "Father Knows Best". Here she's a rich society broad who is in the process of divorcing her second husband while carrying on an affair with Cobb. She discovers he plans to kill her, but she gets the gun and plugs him with Cobb watching. He decides to help her dispose of the body. Bad decision. Especially since Cobb's younger brother, played by John Dall (Rope, Gun Crazy), who is also a cop has this case as his first homicide. Great use of San Francisco locations, and it's always good to see Cobb in one of his few starring roles. This is definitely in the James M. Cain mode of Noir, where a basically decent guy makes some bad choices that he knows damn well are bad when he's doing them...but goes right ahead anyway.
The second film is The Window, starring young Bobby Driscoll as Tommy Woodry. Tommy is a nine-year-old boy with a bad habit of telling tall tales: robbers, cowboys and Indians, he seems to run into them all on an almost daily basis. His parents (Arthur Kennedy and Barbara Hale) have had just about enough of this behavior. One hot summer night in their New York apartment building Tommy goes out to sleep on the fire escape where it's cooler. He awakes in the middle of the night to witness his upstairs neighbors (Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman) murder a man. Of course his parents don't believe him. Neither do the Police. The only people who believe him are the killers, who now know that he knows. A cat and mouse game ensues, and they do some menacing and at least one act of violence to the lad that I don't think you'd get away with even today (not in a mainstream Studio picture, anyway). If it sounds a bit Rear Window-ish, that's because it's from a story by Cornell Woolrich, who wrote the story Hitchcock's movie was based on as well (which was released five years after The Window). The cast and the direction here aren't up to the level of that masterpiece, but it's a damn good Noir just the same. This was the second Studio feature shot on location in New York, after Jules Dassin's The Naked City, and the metropolis is used very effectively, especially the old tenament where the finale takes place.
GRADES:
The Man Who Cheated Himself, B-
The Window, B
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Has anyone else gotten to see Jean-Pierre Melville's superb, haunting French Resistance film Army of Shadows (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0064040/)? It's only now, incredibly, having its U.S. premiere 37 years after it was filmed, in a newly and impeccably restored version; it seems to be showing in just a few theaters now but may be coming to an art theater near you later this summer.
Highly recommended.
(http://www.hyperleap.nl/bioscoop/library/show_image_bio1.php?ID=8424&max_w=160&max_h=1000)
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This past week...
Stalingrad
The Lost Battalion
Patton
Star Wars Ep. III
Seven
Apollo 13
GBU
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- Thief
- Scarface
Just great 8)
- Shaft. I dig this guy. So cool 8)
- Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.
Absolutely loved it. Very funny. And great acting -especially Sydney Poitiers and Spencer Tracy.
No matter what people say, I don't think things have changed a whole lot since 1967.
Oh and the whole "boozenberry" scene was hilarious ;D
- The Beast (http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/5082/thebeast1643qc.jpg).
I didn't expect much of this made-for-TV movie, but I was agreeably surprised. I admit I didn't care much about the beast when I bought this film ... much more interested in the lead ::) :P, but it was very good.
Now if anyone taped the film when it was on TV or know someone who did, let me know 'cause the version that was released on VHS was cut -there's more than an hour missing :o I WANT the UNCUT version >:D
- 16 Blocks (http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/7401/16blocks17wt.jpg).
Mos Def. Maybe it's time for a career change ;D Wonder why he doesn't act more often. I mean, he was great. Bruce Willis was ... Bruce Willis :D, but Mos Def was really good. Better than Willis, if you ask me.
And I don't wanna hear that 16 Blocks has nothing to do with The Gauntlet again. There ARE some pretty obvious similarities.
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Six Days Seven Nights
A romantic comedy Harrison Ford was good and I like Anne Hench. A light movie for a restful evening! :D
The Long Kiss Goodnight Not a bad movie at all. I liked it. The story kept moving on and at each turn there was suspense!
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I just watched " Running Scared " . No , not that old Gregory Hines film . This one has Paul Walker as a mafia lap dog and it's one of the best crime movies I've seen in a long long time . Seek it out and enjoy O0
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"Sliding Doors" 1998, Peter Howitt, with Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah ...
A very good and nice theme about chance and destiny ...
A love story too, but full of lies, and dissimulations !
But an Happy End ! :)
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16 Blocks. Yeah, it has the same basic story idea of The Gauntlet, but I don't think it's similar enough that anyone could sue over. Anyway, I found it to be rather standard action fare and lacking anything that would make it remarkable. The early emotional conflicts just don't work for me and the motivations of the characters are a little muddled, even after taking account for the little twist at the end. Compared to The Gauntlet, which has several very memorable action scenes and the movitations of the characters are very clear, and as well in The Gauntlet, the emotional and personal challenges come to a climax right before the climatic action sequence, which is far more effective than 16 Blocks where the ending drags on and on after all the action is effectively concluded. And then 16 Blocks resorts to the most cliched gimmick of them all in order to get the goods on the bad guys.
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Has anyone else gotten to see Jean-Pierre Melville's superb, haunting French Resistance film Army of Shadows (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0064040/)?
Yep, it was shown on BBC2 15-16 years ago. I remember being really impressed by it (always liked Simone Signoret) and searched fruitlessly for it on video over the years. The new print you refer to got an airing over here recently so I suspect a R2 DVD will be forthcoming from the BFI or somebody before too long. Watch it alonside The Sorrow and The Pity. That'd make a good double bill! :)
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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005)
(http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/sony_pictures_classics/the_three_burials_of_melquiades_estrada/_group_photos/barry_pepper4.jpg)
WOW!
Rent. This. Film. Now.
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(http://www.cinemovies.fr/images/data/affiches/Paff1544259679.jpg)
"The Break-Up" in english !
Funny comedy ;)
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I like the French title, Sylvie ... it suggests what might have happened if Jennifer tried to pick up Vince! ;D
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Yesterday, I watched SSSSSSS, A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die, and Trainspotting.
SSSSSSS was actually the highlight of the movie watching day. :o
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/6304389175.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
A few days ago, I saw Gremlins 2, which was very bizarre, strange, funny and horrific. The Gremlins movies are really some of the best horror comedies I've seen.
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Don't really have time or energy to do reviews, but these are the movies I've seen theatrically the past week and a half or so...
An Inconvenient Truth, A-
49 Up, A
Nacho Libre, D+
Eight Below*, D+
Point Blank (1967)[/font], A
The Big Buy: Tom Delay's Stolen Congress, B
*OK, this one wasn't in the theatre, it was on a commercial airline. Thanks a lot, United.
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Watched Firefox this evening.. What a great movie. Well worth repeating....
Think in Russian
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Watched this week (on screen) :
"Da Vinci Code" and "Scary Movie 4" : totally different ! ;D ;D
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(http://www.cineramaadventure.com/poster-2thb.jpg) (http://www.merciacinema.org.uk/images/Odeon+Cinerama+Bournemouth.jpg) (http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/pacifnw/pnwtheatre/hollywoodtheatportlandor.jpg)
Cinerama Adventure[/font][/color] (2002 - David Strohmaier)
Last night as part of Portland, Oregon's Hollywood Theatre (http://www.hollywoodtheatre.org/) 80th birthday celebration this weekend, there was a special screening of Cinerama Adventure (The Hollywood had been a Cinerama cinema during the '50s, the remnants of which are still visible inside). This is a good and thorough documentary recounting the history and worldwide phenomenon of Cinerama in the '50s and early '60s. The three-projector, curved & louvered screen and seven-channel stereophonic sound of Cinerama was a technical marvel and revolutionized the entire industry. It gave birth to Cinemascope, Todd-AO, 70mm and every other widescreen process up to and including today's IMAX (which for all its grandure still doesn't replicate the feeling of Cinerama). There are only two funtioning Cinerama screens left in America: the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles and the Seattle Cinerama. The L.A. theater tries to schedule at least one week's worth of Cinerama programming annually, but the Seattle operation hasn't had a screening in a few years (though they still have the equipment and capability). There may be fewer Cinerama screens left than Drive-Ins, but in its day Cinerama was extraordinarily popular.
This film starts with the pioneers who dreamt it up and put it into practice, which at its core hoped to replicate depth of vision by curving the screen and incorperating the peripheral. The main technical wizard was the amazing inventor Fred Waller, who was working on the idea for the mainstream in the '30s but got sidetracked by WWII. He and his multi-camera Viterama invention that premiered at the 1939 Worlds Fair were contracted by the military and an impressive five-camera system with a hemispherical screen was developed as an effective flight simulator for gunners. It was a genius system and the Army credits the training and scoring system with probably saving thousands of lives during the War. After the War it was declassified and Waller went back to bringing it to the public. Early tests were shown to the Studio heads who were all impressed by the effect, but deemed it too expensive to implement. Hazard Reeves was the genius on the sound side, and multi-track sound was incorperated. Lowell Thomas, who was the on-screen face and voice of Cinerama, was the man who really brought it all together and got the idea marketed and running. Legendary figures Mike Todd and Marion C. Cooper also were key to the early success of Cinerama. When it premiered in New York City in 1952 it was a bonafide phenomenon. When the Studios saw the reaction of the public coupled with their ever-declining receipts at the hand of television's exploding popularity, they immediately got to work on their own widescreen projects - though none of them used the complicated and unique multi-camera specialized screen that Cinerama boasted.
The original Cinerama productions, from This Is Cinerama on through the rest of the 1950s, were travelogues. There was no plot, no special effects, but dazzling sequences filmed literally all over the world. The rugged and adventurous crews that took this unweildy triple camera box to the ends of the earth were an interesting bunch, including legendary Hollywood pilot Paul Mantz. The aerial photography in particular was some of the most spectacular footage in the Cinerama travelogues. The story of deciding to fly inside the crater of an active volcano and almost not getting out alive is typical of the death-defying feats that lead to breathtaking images, and during a rafting sequence in India a crewmemebr was actually killed when the raft capsized in dangerous water.
(http://www.drexelantiques.com/ddd013.jpg) (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/06/1962.htwww.jpg/180px-1962.htwww.jpg)
Eventually the longstanding phenomenon lead to two narrative Studio productions being shot completely in the process: The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) and How the West Was Won (1962) with an all-star cast. Despite the boxoffice success of West in particular, it was clear that shooting in Cinerama was too unweildy, expensive and even dangerous. The near-fatal accident that crippled stuntman Bob Morgan and the technical problems it caused for the directors and actors meant Cinerama was finished. The travelogues had been exhausted in the previous decade and no longer held the same kind of wonder, so the process just stopped being used. But the love of the widescreen continued, and though movies like It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), Grand Prix (1966) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) were sold in roadshow productions as "Cinerama", they were really just 70mm from a single projector onto a curved (but shortened from the true ratio) screen. Beautiful, to be sure, but not the actual Cinerama experience.
For about a decade Cinerama was the innovation in cinema, and the legacy as well as the fascinating group of geniuses and mavericks who brought it to life are all given their proper due and awe in Cinerama Adventure. The documentarians also invented a process they call "Smilebox" (http://www.cineramaadventure.com/smilebox.htm) that comes the closest we'll ever get to replicating Cinerama onto a flat screen.
Cinerama Adventure's director/producer David Strohmaier and producer Randy Gitsch were on hand at the screening last night. Two very knowlegable and passionate guys, they said they have finally inked a deal to bring Cinerama Adventure to DVD in the next year or so. They also hope their invention of Smilebox and the support they've received from filmmakers and the industry will get the original Cinerama movies remastered using their process and also be readied for DVD. The ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) has been one of their biggest champions. Cinerama has special appeal to them because it was really a cameraman's medium, not the director's.
If you have a chance to see Cinerama Adventure on a big screen, don't miss it.
GRADE: A-
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Now ... Cinerama Adventure on DVD ... do I need to watch that on THREE TV sets? :o
Thanks for the report, Holden! 8)
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Now ... Cinerama Adventure on DVD ... do I need to watch that on THREE TV sets?
Yeah, I think three widescreen TV sets placed in a makeshift semi-circle might just do the trick!
\__/ ;D
(http://www.ominous-valve.com/images/cinerama.jpg)
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(http://amazing3rdplanet.com/img/posters-westerns/HowTheWestWasWonHSsm.jpg) (http://members.cox.net/ralphhanson/HTWWW/artwork/postcard_of_Indian_attack_artwork.jpg) (http://www.lumiere.org/techniques/images/cinerama-logo.gif) (http://www.whitenberg.de/FoxTheatreAtlanta/images/Misc/cinerama-index2_logo.gif)
Went back to another event with the Cinerama Adventure guys at the Hollywood Theatre today, and the DVD deal they have is with Warner Bros. But their documentary will not be released individually, it's going to be a supplement on a remastered reissue double-disc edition of How the West Was Won. That's currently scheduled for release in the second half of 2007 (R1).
When they were making their own doc, when they got to talking to cast and crew from How the West was Won they decided to shoot extra footage that more generally related to the film's production, rather than only Cinerama-based questions. They figured if anybody ever got the bright idea to do a documentary on HTWWW, they'd have footage. Warners did finally get the bright idea, and they'll be making a new feature for this special DVD that will also showcase Cinerama Adventure.
They aren't sure at this point if Warners is going to adopt their "Smilebox" process for the new transfer to simulate the Cinerama aspect ratio, but they hope so.
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(http://www.plus.es/media/PAGINADIGITALPLUS/Cine/busterKeaton/ElMaquinistaDeLaGeneral.jpg) (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Gen5.jpg/180px-Gen5.jpg)
The General[/font] (1927 - Bruckman & Keaton)
Saw this on the big screen today, with a live organ accompaniment. I've seen it many times of course, including a couple theatrical screenings, but I can't pass up any and every opportunity to see it again. Buster Keaton's masterpiece about a meek locomotive engineer who isn't allowed to enlist in the Civil War but becomes a hero anyway when his train is stolen and he crosses enemy lines to retrieve it and the girl he loves - based on a true story. Just brilliant physical gag after brilliant physical gag, many of them performed on actual moving trains. The stunts and Keaton's physicality are priceless, though the biggest laughs from me always come from Great Stoneface's reaction when first the runaway boxcar he thought he had rerouted shows up in front of his engine again, then moments later his face when it has just as mysteriously disappeared.
This was another part of Portland's Hollywood Theatre 80th birthday celebration. The General was especially a good fit for the occasion because even though it wasn't released until 1927, it was filmed in 1926, and it was filmed south of the city in Cottage Grove, Oregon...meaning it, too, is celebrating its 80th birthday (or at least the 80th birthday from when it was filmed in the state).
Can't see The General too many times, especially projected in a theatre.
GRADE: A+
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A room for romeo brass. It is a great british film.
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I'm roughly a third of the way into Ones Upon A Time In America. Gonna watch it over three concecutive evenings..
It's been a long while since I saw this movie so am really enjoying it.
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Last night I treated myself to the best of all Star Trek movies, The Wrath Of Khan. Of course, being a fan of the original series, my opinion is biased. I "got into" Star Trek before Elvis and Eastwood, which came a couple of years later. I loved watching Kirk win the fight, get the girl (alien or human) and save the day. The first movie in the series was an overall disappointment but the first sequel more than made up for it. As great as The Voyage Home and First Contact are (the only 2 on par w/TWOK), it's this movie that is still my absolute favorite.
(http://www.startrek.com/imageuploads/200307/gal-mov-ii-05/320x240.jpg) (http://www.startrek.com/imageuploads/200307/gal-mov-ii-03/320x240.jpg) (http://www.startrek.com/imageuploads/200307/gal-mov-ii-08/320x240.jpg) (http://www.startrek.com/imageuploads/200307/gal-mov-ii-09/240x320.jpg)
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As great as The Voyage Home and Final Frontier are (the only 2 on par w/TWOK)...
You of course mean The Voyage Home AND The Undiscovered Country. Right...?
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You of course mean The Voyage Home AND The Undiscovered Country. Right...?
obviously, it was a *Freudian slip, but First Contact is a very good all TNG Cast movie, my favourite of their four(three and a half ;D).
(time to dig up and old classic)
*Freudian slip= when you say one thing but mean your mother.
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Dagnabit, I did mean First Contact! :-\
Thanks Brendan & Little Bill.
I've corrected my mistake. 8)
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I still mean The Undiscovered Country though. First Contact wouldn't count unless you're refering to all the Star Trek movies. But I'd still put First Contact in third place even if you were including all ten movies. But as for The Original Series's movies I'd say Wrath of Kahn and The Undiscovered Country are the two best and are far superior to any of the of the other four.
I'd rank all the Trek movies like this:
1. The Wrath of Kahn
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/94/21194.gif)
2. The Undiscovered Country
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/33/28033.gif)
3. First Contact
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/97/49197.gif)
4. The Voyage Home
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/70/24270.gif)
5. Generations
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/69/47269.gif)
6. The Search for Spock
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/17/22817.gif)
7. Insurrection
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/61/60661.gif)
8. Nemesis
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/99/64499.gif)
9. The Motion Picture
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/51/14351.gif)
10. The Final Frontier
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/32/28032.gif)
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Hey Brendan,
Yeah, I was referring to the entire series. I remember being disappointed in TNG when it first aired and only watching it sporadically until the end of season 3, when it caught my eye enough to tune in more over the next few years, which I consider their best. I still haven't seen all of the episodes of all of the series, but thanks to TiVo that minor problem is solved.
Our rankings are close; here's mine:
1. The Wrath of Kahn
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/94/21194.gif)
2. The Voyage Home
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/70/24270.gif)
3. First Contact
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/97/49197.gif)
4. The Search for Spock
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/17/22817.gif)
5. The Undiscovered Country
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/33/28033.gif)
6. Insurrection
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/61/60661.gif)
7. Generations
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/69/47269.gif)
8. Nemesis
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/99/64499.gif)
9. The Motion Picture
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/51/14351.gif)
10. The Final Frontier
(http://www.dvdaf-pics.com/thumbs/32/28032.gif)
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Watched a very good film called The World’s Fastest Indian, the true story of Burt Munro (excellently portrayed by Anthony Hopkins), an old codger from New Zealand who traveled by boat to the U.S. back in the 1960s, final destination being the Bonneville Speedway in Utah, in an attempt to break some speed records with his ancient 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle. A very inspiring and sometimes hilarious film. Highly recommended if you're a speed freak (no not the meth kind), or just like a good movie. You won't be disappointed.
(http://www.richnoble.com/wfi1.jpg)
Official Website (http://www.worldsfastestindian.com.au/)
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caught worlds fastest myself a wee whjile back, was very impressed, it's a nice little gem.
as for star trek, i won't clog up the trhread with anymore pics
but i'd have to say
1. Wrath of Khan
2. The Undiscovered COuntry (the working title for Wrath of Khan, nicholas meyer is a stubborn man. ;D)
3.The Voyage Home
4.First Contact
5. The Search for Spock
6. The Motion Picture
7. Generations
8. The final Frontier
9. Insurrextion
10. Nemesis
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Fanfan La Tulipe ... a French Seven Years' War swashbuckler from 1952. It won a Best Director award at Cannes that year for Christian-Jaque, and Film Forum in NYC has revived it for a two-week run.
(http://www.filmforum.org/films/fanfan/FAN1.jpg)
I enjoyed the heck out of this one. I've had a crush on Gérard Philipe, I think ever since I first saw him on the cover of a paperback edition of Le Rouge et le Noir years ago ... just pulled it off the shelf to check, and an old David Denby review of a different movie fell out:
What's needed to engage the fantasies of women is someone like Gérard Philipe, who used to bring a kind of impassioned spiritual elegance to this sort of role and whose mournfully beautiful countenance still evokes loyal sighs from practically every woman I know.
Not much spirituality was called for in this role, but Philipe demonstrates plenty of passion and elegance ... he did his own stunts, and some of them were pretty impressive. The blurb on the Film Forum website (http://www.filmforum.org/films/fanfan.html) says ...
Imagine Douglas Fairbanks (Sr. and Jr.) and Errol Flynn rolled into one by Voltaire.
French critic Georges Sadoul on the stunts (same source):
Gérard greatly enjoyed the company of the stuntmen, but wouldn't let them stand in for him for various acrobatics and fencing scenes. When, for instance, he avoids a saber thrust from Noël Roqeuvert during the rooftop duel by ducking behind a chimney, it was because Roquevert got carried away by his role and became genuinely aggressive. Gérard even got a cut across the forehead and stabbed in the hand by a saber but refused to stop shooting.
(http://www.filmforum.org/films/fanfan/legend.jpg)
When Philipe first appears onscreen, caught in flagrante after a literal roll in the hay with a peasant lass, you gasp at his beauty. When he dashes through one exploit of derring-do and hairsbreadth escape after another you grin and clap (yes, the audience actually applauded when one particularly elegant, prolonged horse-and-carriage chase scene concluded with the lovely heroine leaping out of a carriage window onto Fanfan's horse, then into his arms). And when the whole thing winds up with a fairy-tale silly happy ending, you laugh and cry at the same time for pure pleasure. At least, that was my reaction.
Also featured were a lot of very good French actors ... I particularly enjoyed Marcel Herrand as Louis XV, a man who certainly knew a good thing when he saw one and wouldn't let a little thing like a war distract him from the pursuit of a beautiful woman.
For that matter, there were a lot of very nice, sarcastic antiwar digs in the film, chiefly delivered by an offscreen narrator, who calls war "The only recreation of kings the people could enjoy." As a group of soldiers advances towards the camera, their uniforms torn to shreds by ferocious artillery fire, the narrator reminds us that this conflict in the middle of the dandified Rococo period was known as "La guerre en dentelles" or "The lace war."
For the gents, the pic also has an errrr prominent role for Gina Lollobrigida ... it was, in fact, her first international success.
(http://www.filmforum.org/films/fanfan/fanfanhead.jpg)
(http://www.filmforum.org/films/fanfan/gina.jpg)
Philipe managed to complete 34 films in his all-too-short life (he died at 37, in 1959), but many of them haven't been shown much outside of France and I've only gotten to see three or four of them over the years. I'll certainly hope for future revivals of any or all!
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I saw Superman Returns yesterday, quite enjoyable, and a nice nod toward Mr. Reeves in the closing credits, who was my fav guy in the famous red pants ;D
I remember reading at the time of the 1978 version that Clint was even considered for the role :D
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I've seen a coupla decent movies this week. First up "Junebug" Starring Embeth Davictz. Enjoyed this quirky little film about a son and his new wife visiting his folks.. about as far away from Meet The Fockers as you could get...
The second movie I caught in a hotel and thoroughly enjoyed it.. Spike Lees Heist flick "Inside Man" Kept me guessing all the way thru'. I'm not a huge fan of Clive Owen I think he can be a little wooden at times tho' he's ok in this.. I was very impressed with Denzil Washington and Jodie Foster. Also William Dafoe and Christopher Plummer are very good.. This film caught me by surprise a little bit as I went into it having no idea what to expect and was pleasantly surprised.. I can't discuss the plot in any way as that'll spoil it for anyone planning on seeing it.
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Gant, as I may have mentioned somewhere else on this site ... in Inside Man, the small (but key ;) ) role of the Mayor of New York was played by a friend of mine, Peter Kybart. Peter invited me to the premiere (and following party) last March, which was a lot of fun. I didn't get to meet Jody or Denzel, but I did meet Spike Lee's brother (he was the still photographer on the shoot). 8)
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Cool.. This is the first Spike Lee film I've seen in some time..but I gotta say I really enjoyed it. It's out here to rent on dvd as of today and I'm looking forward to seeing it again.
Must have been great going to the premiere.. ;D
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(http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/wellspring/the_beat_that_my_heart_skipped/romain_duris/thebeat4.jpg)
I saw a good French flick called "The Beat That My Heart Skipped." Its about a small-time thief/thug who rekindles an interest in playing the piano. Its well-acted, with a very straightforward story-telling style and pacing (that works). The action also feels very realistic, which a good thing and rare these days.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. The biggest flaw is the slight overacting by the main character whenever he gets in front of a piano.
7 out of 10
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If you liked The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Conan, check out Read My Lips which is by the same director, Jacques Audiard.
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Has anyone else gotten to see Jean-Pierre Melville's superb, haunting French Resistance film Army of Shadows (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0064040/)? It's only now, incredibly, having its U.S. premiere 37 years after it was filmed, in a newly and impeccably restored version; it seems to be showing in just a few theaters now but may be coming to an art theater near you later this summer.
Highly recommended.
Yes! It finally got to Portland, OR this weekend.
(http://www.dvdclassik.com/V2/Critiques/armee7.jpg)
L' Armée des Ombres - Army of Shadows[/color][/font] (1969 - Jean-Pierre Melville)
Fantastic "lost" entry from Melville that stands as tall as anything in his career. Army of Shadows is a look at a few months of The Resistance in occupied France in late '42 and early '43. Lino Ventura stars as a middle-aged seemingly mild-mannered engineer who is actually a wiley and cooly determined higher up in The Resistance. The members of his cell include Paul Crauchet, Claude Mann, Christian Barbier, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Simone Signoret, plus the leader of the entire operation who he reports to, played by Diabolique's Paul Meurisse. We follow them through various missions and escapes from the clutches of The Gastapo and The Vichy, doing what they can to establish an underground network and defeat the Nazis. They are smart, careful and resourceful, and they all agree the real glue of the operation is Signore's Mathilde, a housewife turned cunning espionage agent. The couple action sequences are tense and extremely well choreographed and even reach Hitchockian levels of suspense, but mostly this is a quiet character piece about a small group of courageous patriots doing what they can under the dire circumstances of war. These are not a muscled, square-jawed bunch of commandos, but ordinary people thrust into extraordinay events. It's a different and very effective take on wartime mission flicks like The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare.
This one has "lost" status because though it was released in France in 1969, somehow it had gone completely unreleased in the United States for the past thirty-seven years (it wasn't even released in the U.K. until the late 1970s). Thankfully it has made it's belated debut, and the restored film is a time-capsuled treat for movie fans. Made at the tail end of Melville's career when he was in his gangster cycle of Le Samouraï, Le Cercle Rouge and Un Flic, this one deserves all the reputation and accolades of those better known works.
GRADE: A-
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(http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1153567/photo_02.jpg)
The Descent[/color][/font] (2005 - Neil Marshall)
A UK horror flick that is just making its way to America now, this is a good old fashioned thriller. Six young women go spelunking somewhere in the Appalachain Mountains. Rather than go through one of the well-mapped caves frequented by tourists and weekend warriors, they explore an unknown, unnamed series of tunnels that lead them deeper and deeper underground. Most of the girls are experienced and adventure seekers so rah-rah, but then there's a cave-in. Next one of the girls is seriously injured. And then one of them spots something moving in the dark.
The Descent delivers more character development than you often get in the genre, and the tension builds well even before all Hell breaks loose with creepy crawlers in the darkened depths. The filmmakers do a good job at presenting the claustrophobic geography, and for me (as someone who only went slithering in a cave once to only a few hundred feet or so before I got freaked out and had to turn around) I thought there's plenty of suspense even before the creatures make their way onto the screen. Can't say there's anything especially new here, but it's well made and involving just the same. Those who go to these kinds of movies for jump-scares and Kensington Gore won't be disappointed, and it's not dumbed down or overly stylized so much that a more casual horror horror watcher can't enjoy it too.
GRADE: B-
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(http://www.asiaexpress.it/img_temp/3outlaw_samurai6.jpg) (http://www.asiaexpress.it/img_temp/3outlaw_samurai8.jpg)
Sanbiki No Samurai - Three Outlaw Samurai[/font][/color] (1964 - Hideo Gosha)
Good '60s Samurai entry that borrows elements from Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, Sanjuro and Yojimbo, but what it lacks in originality it makes up for in style and fun. Tetsuro Tamba is the wise old Ronin roaming the contryside when he comes across a small village being mistreated by a callous and selfish chamberlin. In an act of desperation, the villagers have kidnapped the chamberlin's daughter (Miyuki Kuwano) in order to have their petition of grievances heard. Though initially Tamba intends only to stick around for amusement, soon his honor has him on the side of the farmers. Isamu Nagato plays a portly Ronin who has been locked up for vagrancy. He is promised freedom and a reward if he will slay a few of the villagers and return the girl. He accepts, but once there he too is fighting for the underdogs. The third Samurai of the title is played by Mikijiro Hira. He is still in the service of the chamberlin, but he knows all to well what an unpleasant snake he really is. By the final act all three have joined together to take on gangs of thugs, experienced killers and all of the chamberlin's guards. But wil the farmers rise to help them?
Director Hideo Gosha (Sword of the Beast) has a very good visual sense for frame composition and staging a swordfight, and there are a few good ones throughout. While it most definitely borrows elements from previous Samurai films, it also spins them ever so slightly and the charm of the three leads in combination with good filmmaking all adds up to a very satisfying entry.
GRADE: B+
BTW, I saw this theatrically and it was a nicely cleaned-up print under the Janus Films banner, which I hope means we'll see it on Criterion DVD in the not-too-distant future.
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I lost a bet with my friends and they made me watch Pulse. Has to be the worst film of the year by far. . . . >:(
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Holiday Inn
Mystic Pizza
Love and Sex
It Happened One Night.
A lot for me but I had a lot of ironing to do. :D :D
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The Descent
What a great horror film, I loved it from the start. There are actually times where I jumped while watching this film. I haven't had this much fun watching a movie in theaters for a long while. Not too much plot, but in my opinion, it already had enough story and thrill to carry the movie through. Very good acting as well, not like other horror films these days where the dialogue is made out of stone. Even though the only kind of plot in the movie is a bunch of girlfriends getting through an cave where no one has made it out alive before, there is plenty of character development between the friends. Even the creatures in this film seemed somewhat believable and very creepy as well. One of the most engaging and intense horror films I have seen in years!
A-
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I saw United 93 yesterday as it opened in Finland and it must be one of the most shattering movie experiences I've had in years, maybe ever. I had a knot in my stomach from the beginning and felt it tightening until I was hurting physically. The story is told in such a matter of fact way, starting with just another beautiful day that turned into the nightmare that changed the world forever. You know how it's going to turn out but you're still hoping that the passengers will survive. A very powerful movie, highly recommended.
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I saw United 93 yesterday as it opened in Finland and it must be one of the most shattering movie experiences I've had in years, maybe ever. I had a knot in my stomach from the beginning and felt it tightening until I was hurting physically.
That opened here last week as well.I'd like to see it but don't know if I could handle the emotion of the subject.
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That opened here last week as well.I'd like to see it but don't know if I could handle the emotion of the subject.
I know I couldn't, tgy ... I'd like to see that movie some day, maybe ten or fifteen years from now. (http://users.erols.com/kcoblenz/boardsad.gif)
Meanwhile, for those who want to escape from all that, there's Snakes on a Plane ... ;)
... unlike “Flightplan” and “Red Eye,” two other recent airborne thrillers, “Snakes on a Plane” is less about surviving on airplanes than wresting control of them. In other words, it’s “United 93” without the tears.
http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/08/19/movies/19snak.html?ref=movies
Anyone seen it yet?
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I know I couldn't, tgy ... I'd like to see that movie some day, maybe ten or fifteen years from now.
I can understand that tgy, KC. The events are still so fresh in our minds. It's been five years but it still seems like yesterday... The movie is very tastefully done though, it does tell the story in a very detailed way but it doesn't do it for shock value. That would be unforgivable. The film I'm worried about is Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. I hope he doesn't go overboard with the subject and Nicolas Cage in the lead. United 93 doesn't have any big names in the cast and that helps a lot in identifying with the people on board...
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The film I'm worried about is Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. I hope he doesn't go overboard with the subject and Nicolas Cage in the lead.
According to Holden Pike's review in the 2006 Movie Discussion thread, he said Stone does not go overboard and is quite restrained and respectful to the subject matter. I'm not a fan of Oliver Stone's output following Born on the Fourth of July and I generally can't stand Nicholas Cage, but I trust Holden Pike's judgment, so that's one good recommendation for the movie.
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Meanwhile, for those who want to escape from all that, there's Snakes on a Plane ... ;)
Anyone seen it yet?
Oh yes, I was there at the 10 PM showing Thursday night... And might I say it was quite amazing. We had a terrific crowd, that's probably what made it so amazing. But the film is very good. It was tongue in cheek, yet serious. Funny but had emotional scenes. And, it's Samuel L. Jackson kicking ass, and that just warms my heart. It was really good though, great popcorn movie, and it's just awesome.
According to Holden Pike's review in the 2006 Movie Discussion thread, he said Stone does not go overboard and is quite restrained and respectful to the subject matter. I'm not a fan of Oliver Stone's output following Born on the Fourth of July and I generally can't stand Nicholas Cage, but I trust Holden Pike's judgment, so that's one good recommendation for the movie.
It's very true, Stone doesn't go overboard and it is a very restrained and respectful movie on his part. I can't stand Nic Cage either, but he's decent and withstandable. Michael Pena is amazing though.
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I watched The Day After Tomorrow last night and I couldn't help but laugh at so many scenes. To me the movie is a comedy. The scene at the beginning on the Artctic ice flow is hilarious. I love how Dennis Quaid had an ice pick up his sleeve. And then there's just the general cliches and the "You're not going by yourself! I'm going with you!" "And I'm going with you as well!" "You know one of you has to die to make the mission more emotional and to get the audience into it right?" "Yep. We drew straws."
And I love the part when the Americans are trying to get into Mexico. Yah... YAH, now who wants the Mexicans help huh?
And the reason I find the movie a comedy now is because of the South Park episode "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow". In it Cartman and Stan destroy a beaver dam by driving a speed boat into it. The dam keeps the lake from flowing into Beaverton. Officials end up blaming the destruction of the beaver dam on global warming and everyone begins to freak out. Global warming begins it's "attack" and the town of South Park seeks shelter. Meanwhile the town of Beaverton is flooded and no one is helping the citizens. This subplot ends up being a mocking of how the news media covered Hurricane Katrina with a reporter saying:
Field Reporter: We believe the death toll is in the hundreds of millions. Beaverton only has a population of about 8,000 so this would be quite devastating. We're not sure what's going in the town of Beaverton but we're REPORTING that there is looting, raping and yes, acts of cannibalism.
News Anchor: My God, you've actually seen people looting, raping and eating each other?
Field Reporter: No, no, we haven't actually SEEN it Tom, we're just REPORTING it.
This is the scene where Stan's dad gives a speech to the government about global warming:
(http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/9290/pdvd008us4.png)(http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/5798/pdvd072ud7.png)
Randy: My colleagues in the scientific community are still running tests BUT we believe it will happen... the day after tomorrow.
Vice President: Excuse me, I'm sure we're all very impressed with your wild theories Dr. Marsh. But the fact is that no statical proof has ever been confirmed that global warming exists. Are you suggesting that we shut down the economy?
Randy: With all due respect cliched, descending Republican. The economy isn't going to matter... the day after tomorrow.
Scientists come in
Scientists: Listen! Listen! We finished running the tests. Global wamring is going to strike two days BEFORE the day after tomorrow.
Randy: Oh my God. That's TODAY!
The commitee panicks, screams, runs around and throws chairs around.
(http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/6812/pdvd009jd2.png)(http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9158/pdvd006lu3.png)
In this scene Stan's dad tries to explain that people from the North are dead and people to the south should be evacuated. The people in the mid-east should wait it out and the people in the west might have a chance and New York will recieve a tidal wave that will flood the enitre east coast. I couldn't stop laughing when I saw this scene in the movie. All I could think about was Randy's drawing.
I just don't know how anyone could actually get into this movie and be played by it. I find it hard to believe that the actors took this material seriously. Everytime Dennis Quaid was on screen I kept thinking, "is he secretly laughing about this movie while he's shooting this scene?"
Typical Roland Emmerich stuff though. He reminds me of Michael Bay but crappier. Maybe like Michael Bay's little brother who's trying to out shine him or something. Their movies are almost alike.
If you've seen The Day After Tomorrow I highly recommend seeing the South Park episode. Even if you don't watch South Park it's still worth seeing.
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I like Day After Tomorrow too... as a comedy.
Brendan, hadn't you seen it before and given it a bad review?
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For Brendan's previous comments on The Day After Tomorrow, see this post ...
http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=1793.msg44952#msg44952
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Ummm...yeah. Nice phallic artwork in the last shot there. :P
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I sort of liked this film and could possibly find enjoyment watching it again down the road oneday.
Well I was right about this. I'd love to watch this movie again with some buddies after having a few shots. It'd probably be one of the funnest movies to make fun of while... a wee bit intoxicated.
And Matt, you need to see that South Park episode. It's a season 9 episode. Too many solid episodes in season 9 but this one stands out.
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I watched The Day After Tomorrow last night and I couldn't help but laugh at so many scenes. To me the movie is a comedy.
I suppose whether the movie is a comedy or not depends on how hilarious you find the average cliche. :-\ Now that South Park episode looks like comedy -- I'll have to try to catch it. The Day After Tomorrow was certainly a big-budget B movie, that toddled along the line of mindless entertainment and complete ridiculousness. In that regard it's not too much unlike most of these summer blockbusters we must endure year after year.
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Speaking of cliches, I watched The New World this week. It seemed full of them, from the nauseating narratives to the music to the shots of swaying foliage (a la Oliver Stone's Heaven and Earth, where I found it just as annoying and cliched(since we were just speaking of Oliver Stone)) to the worse cliche of them all that these "naturals" were so pure and innocent and devoid of all impure emotions, in the manner of some Marxist Utopia. I'm a sucker for being drawn into the culture and plight of the American Indians, but this movie made me gag, which is really too bad because it seems like the filmmakers had all the best intentions and the willingness and the ability to bring that culture to life, and just failed miserably. The Outlaw Josey Wales is a far more poignant film in terms of how it deals with Native Americans. And then to top it off, for all the film's attempt at realism, there's no proof that John Smith and Pocahontas were lovers or had a relationship even remotely resembling what is in this movie, as well as the fact that Pocahontas would have been around eleven or twelve years of age, which would be one thing if their relationship could be substantiated, but in this case.... It's a movie that looks good, but without any substance.
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I've been trying to catch up on films I've missed recently and finally got round to watching Training Day. Wasn't overly impressed. I thought the central storyline was interesting and I am an admirer of Denzel Washingtons work.. but it was a little bit over the top for me..
Gonna rent Hurricane next.
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I decided to see United 93 today.
It is very well told,it didn't rely on big stars,showed what went on with the military and FAA in detail,and what may of happened on the plane.
Those final few minutes though are some of the hardest I've sat through in a cinema.All the more so because you already know what's going to happen.
Very moving tribute to those who lost their lives that day.
5/5.
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Finally got round to watching Cutter's Way starring Jeff Bridges and John Heard. It's been many years since I saw this movie and it still stands up. Bridges is very good and I've always thought Heard underated....
Was Sudden Impact filmed in Santa Barbara.. Some of the scenes in Cutter's Way on the Pier looked familiar..
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Was Sudden Impact filmed in Santa Barbara? Some of the scenes in Cutter's Way on the Pier looked familiar.
Nope. Sudden Impact was filmed much farther up the California Coast in Santa Cruz, CA. The Lost Boys (1987) and Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) were also filmed in and around Santa Cruz and its famous boardwalk.
(http://nowthis.com/log/batman-bomb.jpg) (http://www.fantasfilm.com/image/x-cutterswaylabless-nb1.jpg)
The original Batman (1966) movie with Adam West was filmed on the Santa Barabara pier, the terrific "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb" sequence in particular. John Milius' surf epic Big Wednesday (1978) and Bob Rafelson's sexed-up Postman Always Rings Twice re-make with Nicholson and Jessica Lange were also filmed in Santa Barbara. Pieces of David Mamet's Spartan (2003), too.
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This week I have watched:
Return To Witch Mountain. Pretty weak after the first one!
Flightplan OK but it was inevitable who and what, so I was a little disappointed.
Love and Sex. A sort of comedy.
Turner and Hooch Easy watching.
Practical Magic Different!!
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Thanks for the info Holden.. I've got the Batman movie. I'll check it out..
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I checked out John Woo's Hard Boiled.... ugh. I guess it's a dark comedy which makes sense since I couldn't help but laugh too many times throughout the film. Especially when Chow Yun-Fat's character is running with a baby in his arms and is dodging explosions left and right. Not a fan of the movie anyway.
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O.K...don't laugh, I watched Ol' Yeller for the first time! I had only seen bits and peices and always avoided it because it seemed too sad to watch and it was sad but a very good classic!
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That is a classic Disney flick. Good book too.
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Old Yeller ... always makes me :'(
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The Conversation, with Gene Hackman and written/directed by Francis Ford Coppola. A+ Incredible "Sound Design" by Watler Murch.
Holden Pike, what would you list as your top ten movies in sound editing?
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I watched "The Long Good Friday" last night starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren...
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000EDWLNM.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
(http://www.bergen-filmklubb.no/images/The_Long_Good_Friday_stort.jpg)
This has always been one of my favorite London movies. Hoskins is superb in the lead and Helen Mirrem is also very good as his woman. The main themes of terroism, religion, corruption and big business are just as relevant today as they were then and thats what helps keep this film (although it's very much an early Eighties London) fresh for a modern audience.
..and the line about London hosting the Olympics was quite prophetic... :) ;D
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(http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/WanadooFilms/Misdaad/GoodPostbode_sm.jpg) (http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/WanadooFilms/Misdaad/GoodTommyMoeder_sm.jpg) (http://www.gonemovies.com/WWW/WanadooFilms/Misdaad/GoodRestaurantBreed.jpg)
To cleanse my cinematic palate after the bad taste DePalma's latest left in my mouth, I went out to see GoodFellas tonight at one of the local theatres. It's probably the tenth time or so I've seen it on the big screen, and it really did the trick. A great way to end the day. If I could go out to see it two or three times a week, I probably would.
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I'd love to see that on the big screen.
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Loch Ness. Starring Ted Danson. I liked it. Not an outstanding movie but great scenery and a 'nice' story!
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(http://www.boxofficemojo.com/images/chinatown_poster.jpg)
Finally watched this and wow! One of the greatest films I have ever seen! It has easily become on of my favourites. Thanks Holden for the recommendation. 8)
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(http://www.cinemovies.fr/images/data/affiches/Paff2024330182.jpg)"Days of Even" ("Les Moissons Du Ciel", in french), Terrence Malick, 1978.
Beautiful film, with Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard ...
Filmed with the art of a painter ... as nice as the futur "The Thin Red Line" ("La ligne rouge" by Terence Malick.)
I watched it on tv, but that is be the next DVD I will buy
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(http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/images/daysofheavenr22.jpg) (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews9/days-of-heaven/days-of-heavenPDVD_00901.jpg) (http://www.dvdpure.net/kuvat/leffa_daysofheaven4.jpg) (http://www.eskimo.com/~toates/malick/days/days11.jpg)
The English title is Days of Heaven, and it is definitely one of the most beautifully photographed films in the history of cinema. All four of Terrence Malick's movies (Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The New World) are amazing to look at. As perfect as Days of Heaven is, if I had to pick my favorite of the four I'd go with The Thin Red Line. But really, all of them are masterpieces of cinematography.
(http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews9/days-of-heaven/days-of-heavenPDVD_01401.jpg)
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;) Thank you for the correction in the english title , Holden Pike, of course, "heaven" and not "even" ... :(
And for the so nice photos you post :)
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(http://www.boxofficemojo.com/images/chinatown_poster.jpg)
Finally watched this and wow! One of the greatest films I have ever seen! It has easily become on of my favourites. Thanks Holden for the recommendation. 8)
While The Two Jakes is not the masterpiece Chinatown is, it is still well worth checking out, too, as a continuation of that character.
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Wow, thanks Sylvie and Holden. You've just sold me on Days of Heaven. That cap is amazing. 8)
I love Malick's work (Badlands is one of my all time favourite movies), that's why I was interested to read Doug's comments on The New World.
Speaking of cliches, I watched The New World this week. It seemed full of them, from the nauseating narratives to the music to the shots of swaying foliage (a la Oliver Stone's Heaven and Earth, where I found it just as annoying and cliched(since we were just speaking of Oliver Stone)) to the worse cliche of them all that these "naturals" were so pure and innocent and devoid of all impure emotions, in the manner of some Marxist Utopia. I'm a sucker for being drawn into the culture and plight of the American Indians, but this movie made me gag, which is really too bad because it seems like the filmmakers had all the best intentions and the willingness and the ability to bring that culture to life, and just failed miserably. The Outlaw Josey Wales is a far more poignant film in terms of how it deals with Native Americans. And then to top it off, for all the film's attempt at realism, there's no proof that John Smith and Pocahontas were lovers or had a relationship even remotely resembling what is in this movie, as well as the fact that Pocahontas would have been around eleven or twelve years of age, which would be one thing if their relationship could be substantiated, but in this case.... It's a movie that looks good, but without any substance.
I think this kind of period semi-true story is difficult to portray, but I'm gonna give it a look anyway.
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Well, if you want a different opinion, I liked The New World. A lot. My review on the site is HERE (http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=3433.210). Pity you didn't see it on the big screen, though. Any chance you get to see any of Malick's work in a theater, take it. I saw Days of Heaven again earlier this Summer here in Portland. It blows me away again every time I see that filmstock projected in the dark.
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Finally! I watched The Beguiled today and damn if it's not a tremendous movie. Easily one of Eastwood's finest performances and one his best characters. I have no idea why it took me this long to watch it but I finally did! Two great movies in a week. 8)
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Yay, Brendan saw The Beguiled! Now we can use it when we play trivia with him! :D ;)
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Yes , The Beguiled is a great film. The character that Clint plays seems odd for an Eastwood film. Does anyone know how Clint was picked for that part? He did do a brilliant job though.
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According to Richard Schickel's Clint Eastwood, p. 237-238 ...
"I wasn't sure an audience was ready for that, or wanted that, but I knew I wanted it," Clint says of The Beguiled. He wanted it because it was a strange and complex story, because it was such a totally unexpected vehicle for him and for the best and simplest of reasons—because it was "something I could act, something besides just gunning people down."
There is some question as to who first presented the project to Clint and in what form it came to him. Don Siegel would remember Clint giving him Thomas Cullinan's novel to read while they were working on Two Mules for Sister Sara and recalled it having been sent to Clint by Jennings Lang. Clint remembers getting a first-draft screenplay to read and thinks it was Lenny Hirshan who provided it. It is certain in any case that by this time a script—again by Albert Maltz—existed and that the agent thought well of it.
What's also beyond question is that Clint responded very quickly to whatever material had been sent to him. He read it in a night, found himself disturbed and intrigued by it and passed it on to Siegel for a reality check. The director also loved it. He told Clint he thought it would be their best movie.
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Thank you KC.
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I've been thinking about the film all night and all I can say is that it's definitley a tremendous piece of work and that it's too bad that it seems to be a totally under rated Eastwood film. No one ever seems to mention it. It's worth seeing just for the characters alone.
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I've been thinking about the film all night and all I can say is that it's definitley a tremendous piece of work and that it's too bad that it seems to be a totally under rated Eastwood film. No one ever seems to mention it. It's worth seeing just for the characters alone.
It's never been underrated by me, I've always loved it and I've always thought it was a great movie. And we had a great film discussion of it a while back, and I can't believe you didn't watch it for that. :o What's wrong with you Brenden?!!! :) ;) I'm going to be rewatching it again here soon myself. :)
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Well, if you want a different opinion, I liked The New World. A lot. My review on the site is HERE (http://www.clinteastwood.org/forums/index.php?topic=3433.210). Pity you didn't see it on the big screen, though. Any chance you get to see any of Malick's work in a theater, take it. I saw Days of Heaven again earlier this Summer here in Portland. It blows me away again every time I see that filmstock projected in the dark.
Thanks Holden, I'll keep my eyes open for anything coming up.
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You've just sold me on Days of Heaven. That cap is amazing.
The bulk of Days of Heaven was shot at Magic Hour. "Magic Hour" (sometimes "Golden Hour") is a term D.P.s use for the quality of natural light just before sundown when the sun itself is no longer visible but the glow from beyond the horizon is, coloring the sky and casting a unique light on objects and faces. Though Magic Hour is a misnomer: it's actaully more like twenty minutes. Days of Heaven took an usually long time to make because Malick and cinematographer Néstor Almendros shot much of it at "Magic Hour", which meant they had to do all their set-ups and sometimes coordinate trains and large groups of extras for less than thirty minutes of shooting a day.
Yeah. But the results speak for themselves. They put the magic into Magic Hour, that's for damn sure.
(http://www.nicksflickpicks.com/dayshvn.jpg) (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:BpuhjX4dQ3qZcM:http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/Films/DaysOfHeaven.jpg) (http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/Films/DaysOfHeaven.jpg) (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:BvtZ-LjL4wYHzM:http://www.ecranlarge.com/images/dvd/tests/Dayheaven-z1-testdvd-film02.jpg) (http://www.ecranlarge.com/images/dvd/tests/Dayheaven-z1-testdvd-film02.jpg) (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:1_Wb7FovApUXgM:http://www.dvdpure.net/kuvat/leffa_daysofheaven4.jpg) (http://www.dvdpure.net/kuvat/leffa_daysofheaven4.jpg)
After you're done drooling over Malick's beautiful cinematic eye, check out the documentary Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography (1992). Excellent piece that covers the history of the artform including lots of clips and interviews with some of the best directors of photography to ever work in the business including Vilmos Zsigmond (McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Conrad Hall (Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, American Beauty), Sven Nykvist (Autumn Sonata, Fanny & Alexander), László Kovács (Paper Moon, Ghostbusters), Haskell Wexler (In the Heat of the Night, Bound for Glory), John Alonzo (Chinatown, Harold & Maude), Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, 1900), Caleb Deschanel (The Natural, Being There) and many others. It's informative and fascinating.
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I've seen Visions of Light and it is a damn fine documentary. Alot of the footage they show from the movies is truly breathtaking. Speaking of breath taking images, Holden, have you seen Powaqqatsi and Koyaanisqatsi? Now those are something else. I haven't seen the other ones yet though.
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Holden, have you seen Powaqqatsi and Koyaanisqatsi? Now those are something else. I haven't seen the other ones yet though.
Yes, I've seen those as well as Anima Mundi and Naqoyqatsi, plus Baraka which isn't part of that series but is a similar idea. I probably like Baraka the best of the bunch (maybe because I saw it first?), but all are worth seeing, ESPECIALLY in the cinema.
(http://cinema16.mty.itesm.mx/ciertamirada/gifs_mirada/baraka.gif) (http://www.filmfestivals.com/images/dubai/images/Baraka%20-%20film%20still%204.jpg) (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:UnmERMm1bMNwSM:http://www.astor-theatre.com/images/in-line/posters/postersB/baraka-1-lc.gif) (http://www.filmfestivals.com/images/dubai/images/Baraka%20-%20film%20still%202.jpg)
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I'll have to add that to my ever expanding list of movies to see.
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(http://www.kensforce.com/sitebuilder/images/04xanadu1-241x176.jpg) (http://kensforce.com/04xanadu2.JPG) (http://www.kensforce.com/sitebuilder/images/04xanadu8-169x120.jpg) (http://www.cinemademerde.com/xanadu-eyes.gif) (http://www.autobahn.com.br/filmes/xanadu/screen2.jpg) (http://www.spacecast.com/images/News/blog_xanadu_rdax_386x211.jpg)
XANADU (1980 - Robert Greewald)
Yes, Saturday night I went to see the infamous dog Xanadu in all it's craptaculance on the big screen, and I even sang along with Oliva Newton-John and ELO (I wasn't the only one singin' in that theatre, which was close to sold out by the way). It is easily one of the worst Hollywood movies of the past thirty-five years...and I've probably seen it close to a hundred times. I've professed my odd and undying love for this turkey on the board before, so the regulars shouldn't be shocked that I would purposefully subject myself to a heapin' helping of the cinematic bloody diarrhea that is Xanadu.
I feel no personal shame or regret.
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Today I've finally made it all the way through for the first time ever: Paint Your Wagon. :o Yes, I've seen bits and pieces of it over the years, but never all the way through in one go, all two hours and fifty some minutes of it. I have to say there's a certain charm to the movie, but my God nothing happens! and it just keeps going and going and going, and I click the DISPLAY button on my remote and see there's still an unbelievable amount of time left even though it feels like I've already been watching it for hours.
I wouldn't call it horrible, exactly, just extremely long and slow -- and then there's the singing!
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I don't know how you did it, Doug. I couldn't do it these days. I was forced to watch it on the big screen as a kid when it came out, seeing it with my big sis (who loved it) and my mom. It left permanent scars that I don't know if I'll ever recover from. :P
I'm guessing Marvin really was drunk all throughout the movie. He'd have to be in order to get thru that script and do that singing.
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Holden, thanks a lot for the info on Days of Heaven and Visions of Light. It looks superb, and I will make a point of seeing both. By the way, a couple of your images aren't showing up.
This cap looks like a Constable painting.
(http://www.dvdpure.net/kuvat/leffa_daysofheaven4.jpg)
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(http://a69.g.akamai.net/n/69/10688/v1/img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/60/12/26/18649233.jpg)
"The Wind That Shakes The Barley", Ken Loach, Cannes Palme D'Or, 2006.
I watched it yesterday afternoon, on screen, with one of my 15 years old daughter.
We came out of the movies completly moved and silent, then talked all afternoon long about this beautiful and violent film.
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When I´m doing my nightshifts there`s really not that much really work to do so I watch quite a lot tv/videos and DVDs.Therefore I´ve seen loads of films lately:
(http://image.allmusic.com/00/adg/cov200/drt800/t824/t82429kyfks.jpg) almost could`ve been In The Line Of Fire II ;) Decent film but nothing special.
(http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000CBCWRQ.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg) Kind of liked this one.Pacino didn`t overact in this one...too much :D
(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000FILV1Y.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V52030304_.jpg) This one was completly waste of time.
(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000FFJ826.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V51808031_.jpg) Decent enough film surprisingly thanks to Vin Diesel.
(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000E60TOC.01-A25UEPKZCB0F3D._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg) I was expecting more from this film(because of Jackson) but in the end it was just another odd-copule/buddy-cop-film.Nothing special.
(http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000ENUYGS.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V55464411_.jpg)..errr In The Line Of Fire III ::)What ever happened to Cuba Gooding Jr ???Also James Woods wastes his talent in this