WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[feaito]

I had read that he had been born in 1933. 79! More incredible even so.

Did you see "The Bridges of Madison County" Brenda?

[silentscreen]

Yes, I did. He was totally different in that one, and I enjoyed it very much. I just got kind of burnt out on the cowboy and "Dirty Harry" stuff. He's a talented actor, and I've never understood why he didn't show other sides more. He's very capable of it.

[MichiganJ]

Haven't seen Gran Torino yet, but I did recently see the other film Eastwood directed in 2008 film, Changeling. Taking place in the late 1920's, it's about a single mother (a superb Angelina Jolie) who comes home from work and finds her son missing. The LAPD calls out a search, and months later, the boy is found in the midwest. When the train pulls up to the station, the newspaper photographers at the ready for the reunion, upon seeing the boy, Jolie insists it is not her son. But the LAPD (not wanting to look bad in front of the papers), insist the boy is her son... And that's just the set up.

Eastwood's brilliance as a director is in his attention to detail. For instance, Jolie works as a phone operator. There are a few scenes at her work, and it is utterly fascinating to see how they used to work the phones (check out the roller skates). Of course Eastwood is great with his actors, too. John Malkovich has a small-ish, but pivotal role, and he's very good, too.

One of my favorite "non-traditional" Eastwood performances is his take as John Huston in White Hunter, Black Heart. But of course, he's not really playing John Huston....

[charliechaplinfan]

I loved The Bridges of Madison County, I thought it was a lovely film.

[feaito]

I loved The Bridges of Madison County, I thought it was a lovely film.

My mum and my wife too, they cried all the way. I must admit I also shed some tears. A very moving film, like "Shadowlands".

Last weekend I revisited Max Reinharddt's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1935). Each time I see this film I like it more & more. I think it's one of the best fantasies I've seen ever. It has appeal for children and adults alike. It is visually stunning and a treat for the eye. The sequences with the fairies in the forest are one of the most magical ever filmed; the dance of the fairies with Nina Thelaide as the lead dancer and the choreographies by Bronislava Nijinska are superb. A wonderful film. 10/10

I also watched a dull comedy starring Antonio Banderas and Meg Ryan titled "My Mom's New Boyfriend" (2008). My wife could not believe what unnecessary plastic surgery has done to Meg's once beautiful face. She looks like Batman's the Joker. I can't understand why such gorgeous women as her and Nicole Kidman have diminished their natural beauty with these surgeries. In Meg's case she ruined her face. A true pity.

Watched another formulaic comedy starring Renée Zellwegger and Harry Connick Jr. titled "New in Town" (2009). Very predictable.

Last but not least, I saw a rather interesting Argentinian film titled "No Mires para Abajo" (2008) (aka Don't Look Down) about a young lad's discovery of the pleasures of tantric sex with the aid of a beautiful young woman she falls in love with. Sensous and done with taste, but nevertheless flawed IMO. It's directed by renowned Argentinian director Eliseo Subiela.

[mrsl]

Silent Screen:

Just a thought for you. You might look up Clint on imdB and rent some of his recent movies both directed and starred in by him. His Mystic River was phenomenal, and just about everything since the Bridges at Madison County have been oscar material whether in acting or directing. When he directs he seems to have the talent of the old school masters at bringing out the very best emotions in his actors. I have seen many actors who praised his directorial ability as being very laid back and trusting, but he must have or do something that causes his actors to bring out their best. Again, using Mystic River as an example, all three men, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, and Kevin Bacon all turn in fine performances. I only hope the academy see fit to honor him now while he is still here to enjoy it, and not wait until one of his kids has to accept for him.

Anne

[feaito]

Watched a rather entertaining French film with Daniel Auteil and Thierry Lhermitte titled "L'Invité" (2007). Its aesthetics reminded me of Almodovar's kitsch look in his films.

[Birdy]

I have been on a Bob Montgomery comedy jag, rewatching Picadilly Jim, Ever Since Eve, and Live, Love and Learn.
He and Frank Morgan really made a great father-son duo, seeming to read each other's minds and finish each other's sentences. But then, both were consumate actors in my opinion. A lot of people think Bob was kind of a cold fish, but I think it's just that 30s persona and I find him charming.
B

[charliechaplinfan]

I had a ball watching Bringing Up Baby, it's long been one of my favorites. I have so many favorite scenes. I think my favorite sequence is in the bar when Katharine Hepburn is catching olives in her mouth and Cary slips, all the way through to when they make an exit in lock step.

I put a couple of clips on for the kids this morning whilst we were having breakfast, they really enjoyed the leopard in Susan's appartment and I noticed that when the leopard rubs around Cary's legs you don't see his face, I don't think they were Cary's legs at all, he was too scared of the leopard. I'm sure I'd have taken Katherine Hepburn's attitude and thought it was just a big soft pussy cat.

Another thing I noticed about the leopard was the scene when he's playing with George or rather George is playing with him. That looked dangerous for old George, it is a delightful scene though.

I never noticed before but Cary discards his glasses half way through.

I love this film so much how can my husband not, he had to suffer the last 30 minutes of it, well he was on the laptop, how could he not think it was delightful, no he just said it was noisy, which it is. Says the same about My Girl Friday too.

[klondike]

I love this film so much how can my husband not, he had to suffer the last 30 minutes of it, well he was on the laptop, how could he not think it was delightful, no he just said it was noisy, which it is. Says the same about My Girl Friday too.

Alison;

Here's the litmus test to diagnose the source of your hubby's antipathy:
Has he ever shared the viewing room with The Philadelphia Story, or The Awful Truth, or Mr. Blandings Builds His Dreamhouse?
I myself used to suffer with a testosteronally induced case of severe carygrantophobia, but sitting through all 3 of those films in one year affected a marvelous cure upon me!
If he has experienced as many as 2 of those, to no good effect, then our research will need to continue in different directions . . .

[charliechaplinfan]

Cary Grant is lost on my husband. He's seen Philadelphia Story and likes James Stewart but doesn't like Cary. He likes Cary only in Hitchcock movies and credits Hitchcock with those performances. He never really watches older movies, he listens whilst he's on his laptop.

I coludn't see him liking The Awful Truth and Mr Blandings. In The Pride and The Passion Cary is dreadful in his opinion he can't stand That Touch of Mink ( with this movie I can see why). He thinks Cary Grant played the same character which was Cary Grant in every single film, never varying his performance, I think the complete opposite. I sometimes think if I wasn't such a avid fan of Cary Grant he might appreciate him more.

In truth he's lost to screwball comedy and silent comedy save for Charlie Chaplin and some Laurel and Hardy.

[movieman1957]

At least he likes L & H. I was beginning to really get worried.

[jdb1]

I saw a lovely Bollywood film yesterday, called Saawariya. It's loosely based on Dosteyevsky's short story "White Nights. From what I can gather on IMDb, the word means "soulmates."

The story is presented as an adult fairy tale -- a young man, a singer in a nightclub band, meets a beautiful woman on a bridge. She is waiting for her lover, who mysteriously disappeared the year before, but who had promised to meet her on the bridge in a year's time. The characters are part of the Indian Muslim community; the city could be Mumbai or New Delhi, but the sets are deliberately artificial-looking, and bring to mind Venice or Paris.

The young leads (both named Kapoor) were very good; the Bollywood hottie Salman Kahn has a small part as the mysterious lover. His scenes with the young woman, although decorous as befits an Indian movie, were pretty darn sexy. The elderly veteran actress of British and Indian films and TV Zohra Seghal plays the young man's Anglo-Indian landlady, and very excellent she was, too.

The story revolves around the young man's love for this girl, his attempt to win her heart, and his eventual realization that all he wants is for her to be happy, even if it means giving her up. The entire mise-en-scene is one of make-believe, and it's beautiful to look at, although rather dark, since almost all of the action takes place at night.

There were not a lot of songs in this one, but I thought all of them were quite good, especially a hot number sung and danced by Rani Mukherjee, who plays the prostitute with a heart of gold (well, it is a flim of the night, after all). There's also a very pretty lovesong, and a cute pseudo-rock and roll number (with yodelling!) in the nightclub.

My one problem with the movie is that the subtitles (in yellow) were sometimes very hard to make out. However, as in so many Indian films, there is so much English in the dialogue, that you can get the gist of what's going on. If you can suspend your disbelief enough, you will find this a very sweet and enjoyable film. The ending is bittersweet, but I thought realistic and satisfying.

[charliechaplinfan]

At least he likes L & H. I was beginning to really get worried.

Yes I was worried, not only can he not appreciate Cary Grant, he thinks Buster Keaton is not only not funny but boring. One may ask why I have spent so many years with a man who has quite clearly lost his marbles

[feaito]

Last week I saw "Young Victoria" (2009) and I was positively surprised by it. It depicts Victoria's rise to the British throne, her relationships with her mother, her uncle William IV, Dowager Queen Adelaide, sir John Conroy, Lord Melbourne and most importantly, Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Emily Blunt does a very good work portraying the young, passionate queen. She is a fine actress indeed and Rupert Friend is equally good as Albert. Beautifully filmed. Interesting and must-see for people interested in Royal History.

Today I finished watching the notorious Biblical flop "The Silver Chalice" (1954) -I guess Warners wasn't lucky with Biblical or Ancient spectacles, because "Helen of Troy" and "Land of Pharaoh's" (both 1955) also failed at the box-office as I recall. Dramatically uneven it did interest me aesthetically, because I found the sets and decors very appealing and modern. The wardrobe too. In terms of Art Direction this film is a must-see. It was quite strange to see Paul Newman dressed as a ancient Greek. The mise-en-scene is very theatrical. I do not know anything about the background or making of this film, but it looks as if it had been based upon a theatrical piece. The choice of the film's look, with modern, clean, minimalistic, but aesthetically appealing sets, I don't know if was done on purpose or to avoid higher production costs. Anyway it's an interesting artistic decision, because the film's look is striking and differs from other Ancient spectacles of the 1950s. I Hope I could express myself correctly.