WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Chit-chat, current events
MikeBSG
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by MikeBSG »

Richard Gere was very good in "Chicago," and he was great as the evil cop in "Internal Affairs."

He was good as Dr. T, but maybe he was too "realistic" or "normal" for what the movie required. As i said, it was a good Altman film ("Dr. T and the Women") but I kept feeling it could have been better in some way. Perhaps with rapid "His Girl Friday" style dialog.
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charliechaplinfan
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by charliechaplinfan »

sigh

Image
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
jdb1

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by jdb1 »

I saw a very nice little comedy on the Fox channel yesterday, called Something for the Birds (1952). This is a story of lobbyists in Washington, and stars Victor Mature as of the the cynical lobbyists trying to get government land released for his client oil company. Patricia Neal is a young bird expert from California who has come to pursuade Congress to Save the California Condor, and Edmund Gwenn is a Washington insider who is lobbied by both Mature and Neal.

First of all, the subject matter was fascinating, especially because it could have fit right into today's Washington scene; nothing has changed, really. Mature was credible as a pushy cynic whose morals were rather elastic where his clients were concerned. Gwenn played his usual cute little character, who wasn't in fact a real insider, but worked for an engraving company in Washington, and printed out an extra invitation for himself if the party in question looked interesting.

The really nice suprise for me here was Patricia Neal. I am not a fan of hers, and in fact I don't particularly care for her. I find her the same in every part she plays, and I find her acting style very off-putting: she always has such a tense back and slightly raised shoulders, making her look uncomfortable and unbelievable. I don't buy her as a romantic lead - I find her presence onscreen monotonous and uninteresting. I'm also not thrilled by her in glamor parts; no matter how stylish a gown she's wearing, I see a raw-boned hillbilly.

However . . . . here she was light, girlish and sweet. She raised the pitch of her voice a little and spoke rapidly, and darn it, if she didn't bring to mind a brunette Jean Arthur. I didn't know she had it in her (the director here was Robert Wise). There wasn't much chemistry between Mature and Neal, but their scenes with Gwenn more than made up for that lack -- he really carried the movie, and very well, too.

This was obviously intended as a second feature, but had a bit more weight than the usual studio throwaway, and I recommend it as very enjoyable.
feaito

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by feaito »

I watched two contemporary films yesterday:

Richard Attenborough's "Closing the Ring" (2007), a quite moving story about a woman who's stuck with her long lost love of her life. It's set in 1991 with constant flashbacks to the WWII years. Wonderful performances by the seasoned pros Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Brenda Fricker and Pete Postlethwaite and by newcomers Mischa Barton and Martin McCann; the other young performers left me quite cold.

Mike Cahill's offbeat "The King of California" (2007) with Michael Douglas as wacky character; I don't like M. Douglas in general, especially when he plays the sexy-man of the world for whom women fall, but in this role I must say he was very good. Kudos too for the lovely Evan rachel Wood who plays his daughter. A strange little film which was -thank God- not the formulaic, silly comedy that I expected.
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inglis
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by inglis »

Hi to all!
I just saw Georgy Girl on Sunday and loved it .I loved Lynn Redgrave's very spirited performance and the chemistry with James Mason was a delight to soak in again.The ending with The Seekers doing the them song made me cry like it always does haaa. nIce to pop in here again
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movieman1957
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by movieman1957 »

I watched "The Grass Is Greener" with Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons. A "comedy of manners" I think they call it. Mitchum plays American millionaire touring Grant's estate in England. Mitchum horns into the private section of the house and meets Kerr (Grant's wife.) Somehow in the course of an hour Mitchum has Kerr all warm and fuzzy and gets a goodbye kiss reserved for lovers which they soon become. Grant playing the hurt husband is very dignified in dealing with his adultress wife and Mithcum by being polite and always ready to accomodate Kerr in anyway that will make her happy. I guess the Brits don't get mad at most anything. Suspend your belief and enjoy the cast. Simmons is offbeat and sometimes odd as the ditz of the foursome.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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MissGoddess
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by MissGoddess »

Oh Chris I absolutely love Jean Simmons in this role---it showed she had a real flair for comedy, her screwball heroine is my favorite aspect of this movie. I find Deborah Kerr's character annoying. I love Big Bad Bob but my sympathies are all with Grant. I almost wish he'd dumped her and married Jean. :mrgreen:
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
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movieman1957
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by movieman1957 »

I'm glad you love Jean. It is quite an unusual role for her but she does it well. My sympathies were with Grant as well. Geez, if I had the charisma Kerr found in Mitchum I might have had a couple of more dates before I met my bride.

At some point you want Grant to drop the civility, pop Mitchum, tell himself he feels better and then get to the nice guy he has been all along. I didn't find Kerr annoying unless you count falling for a guy she has known less than an hour.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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MissGoddess
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by MissGoddess »

movieman1957 wrote: At some point you want Grant to drop the civility, pop Mitchum, tell himself he feels better and then get to the nice guy he has been all along. I didn't find Kerr annoying unless you count falling for a guy she has known less than an hour.
Ha! Well, he DID challenge Mitchum to a duel! I thought that was rather gallant.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
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movieman1957
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by movieman1957 »

It's not very gallant if you are the one who gets shot. It hurts and it tends to ruin a perfectly good shirt.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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MissGoddess
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by MissGoddess »

movieman1957 wrote:It's not very gallant if you are the one who gets shot. It hurts and it tends to ruin a perfectly good shirt.

I guess it depends on whether the big shots are all good shots!
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
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Professional Tourist
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by Professional Tourist »

I received a few new DVDs last Friday and managed to get through them all this past weekend: Road House, Victor/Victoria, The Killing of Sister George, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown. All of these were new to me except for V/V.

I liked Molly Brown less than I thought I would; I got it mostly for Debbie Reynolds and although she dances quite a bit, she doesn't sing much. Harve Presnell has the big singing part. Debbie actually sings more in How the West was Won than she does here.

Road House I purchased for a reason I don't want to admit :oops: and was surprised how much I ended up liking it. It's a nice little noir picture, and Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, and Richard Widmark are all good. [The commentary track isn't worth much, though -- a couple of hipster-types laughing through most of it.]

The Killing of Sister George had come recommended to me -- it was actually screening here in town a couple of weeks ago, at Lincoln Center, but between ticket price and car fare it cost less to purchase the DVD, so I did. :wink: I have to admit it was interesting even though I found all of the characters very much unlikeable. Coral Browne was the best of the lot, I think -- she was quite good.

Victor/Victoria was the best. I love the plot, the music, the staging, and all the leading players -- but to me it's really Robert Preston as Toddy that wins me over. Toddy would be a great friend. :) I hadn't seen this picture in so many years, and hadn't heard the soundtrack since I gave up vinyl, so it's good to have this one at hand. There's a nice commentary track by Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards, too.
MikeBSG
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by MikeBSG »

My 13 year old son and I recently watched "Ride 'em Cowboy," an Abbott and Costello film from 1942. Perhaps there was a bit more singing than I would have liked, but I have to say that it was very enjoyable. The scene in which Costello dreams he is in a rest home with Indians all around was good, and the big chase at the end was extremely well handled. In all, a fun movie.

It surprised me to see Ella Fitzgerald in this film. Also, her scenes were not such that they could easily be trimmed from the film, which was interesting.
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MissGoddess
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Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by MissGoddess »

Kings Row

Last night was the first time I was able to watch this film from start to finish.
I'd always missed the beginning and because the actresses seem to look alike
to me, I was always confused what was going on with them. There is so much
going on in that little town, my goodness! But what I came away with was not
so much all the scandal and secrets but a wonderful tale about friendship. I've
seldom seen such a moving portrayal of loyal frienship as between Randy, Parris
and Drake.

I thought Reagan's acting was the best I've seen in all his films so far. I really
felt awful for what happened to Drake. Even Sam Wood's direction was quite
fine, giving impetus to certain emotional scenes when necessary.

That, and Korngold's extraordinary score deepened the the film and gave the
emotions wings.

I wonder if composer John Williams was influenced by Korngold, I could swear I heard
similarities in their style.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
jdb1

Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

Post by jdb1 »

MissGoddess wrote:
I wonder if composer John Williams was influenced by Korngold, I could swear I heard
similarities in their style.
MssG, I think John Williams was not only influenced by classical and film composers before him, I think he outright stole from them, especially from those out of copyright. His music, to my ears, can be called "highly derivative" if one is being kind, and "blatantly plagiaristic," if one isn't. This is not to say that Williams' film music is not appropriate and enjoyable, because I think it is. I just don't think he deserves the wild accolades his music seems to engender. It's all been done before.

For example, are you familiar with the concert work by Gustave Holst (English, even if his name wasn't) called "The Planets?" You can hear direct quotes and/or echoes of it in just about every orchestrated score for sci-fi flicks from the 1960s on (that is, scores using orchestras rather than electronic sounds). Williams is not innocent on that front, either, and composer James Horner is an even more obvious Holst-imitator.
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