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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 229 responses total. |
maeve
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response 17 of 229:
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Dec 27 15:53 UTC 1999 |
Mansfield Park:
A terribly lovely film. Apparently it was tweaked from the original, but I
don't remember the book enough to tell you if it was good or bad changes. Some
cute modern-y bits, only one character in strange costume, and the knowledge
that since it's Jane Austen, everyone will marry precisely who they should.
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richard
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response 18 of 229:
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Dec 27 16:02 UTC 1999 |
THE IRON GIANT-- Watched this christmas day with my nephew (he got it
from somebody for as a present) This is a wonderful animated movie about
a boy who befriends a giant iron robot. The robot is built to be a
weapon, but learns from the boy that he can be who he wants to be, not
who others tell him he should be. The movie also has a strong anti-
nuclear, anti-weapons message. The animation is wonderful, and the
story is really moving. This movie is on a lot of year-end ten best
films of the year lists.
THE IRION GIANT (**** FOUR STARS)
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other
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response 19 of 229:
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Dec 27 16:54 UTC 1999 |
i enjoyed iron giant, and as soon as it was over, i realized that IRON GIANT
is ET in different clothes.
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mcnally
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response 20 of 229:
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Dec 27 17:47 UTC 1999 |
The Talented Mr. Ripley -- C+
About an hour too long. Not particularly faithful to the book.
Not mysterious enough to be a mystery. Not suspenseful enough to
be a thriller. Too shallow to be a psychological drama. About the
only thing really worth watching here is the scenery of Italy..
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omni
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response 21 of 229:
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Dec 27 20:41 UTC 1999 |
Lady and the Tramp-
I know it's a little old, but no one should miss seeing it. Disney showed
the letterbox edition last night and it was superb. 4 stars.
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drewmike
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response 22 of 229:
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Dec 27 22:09 UTC 1999 |
One of the guiding principles of American economics is that better
things cost more.
The DVD of "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" retails for $30, while
the VHS version of the same title is over $100.
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mcnally
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response 23 of 229:
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Dec 27 22:19 UTC 1999 |
VHS tapes often cost that much when they're priced for sale to video
stores and not ordinary consumers.. Probably there'll be a consumer-
price (~$20) VHS release soon..
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janc
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response 24 of 229:
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Dec 28 06:41 UTC 1999 |
I accidentally acquired a video I'd never heard of called "The Zero
Effect" - the directorial debut of the 22-year-old son of Lawrence
Kasdan. It looked like yet another action flick, but I watched it.
Possibly partly because I came to it with no expectations, I liked it a
lot. You keep thinking it is about to turn into an action flick,
breaking out in gun fights and car chases, but it never does. Instead
it's a mystery in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes (in fact, it is a
remake of Sherlock Holmes), never quite taking itself seriously, never
quite going over the edge into utter silliness.
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mcnally
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response 25 of 229:
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Dec 28 07:43 UTC 1999 |
Despite the fact that Bill Pullman always annoys me, I enjoyed "Zero
Effect" (perhaps because this time for a chance he's actually *supposed*
to be annoying.)
Ben Stiller's role, playing the much harried sidekick/assistant/foil to
private investigator Darryl Zero (Pullman's character) must've been
reasonably fun..
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remmers
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response 26 of 229:
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Dec 28 14:03 UTC 1999 |
Another thumbs up for "The Zero Effect" from me.
It's been said that Pullman's and Stiller's roles should have been
switched, but I disagree. Casting against type can work surprisingly
well.
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remmers
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response 27 of 229:
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Dec 28 14:53 UTC 1999 |
Speaking of movies with "zero" in the title: Check out "Apartment
Zero" sometime...
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richard
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response 28 of 229:
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Dec 28 16:13 UTC 1999 |
movies with "zero" in the title..."Less than Zero", pretty good
movie version of Brett Easton Ellis novel about baby boomer angst--
Robert Downey Jr. plays a cocaine addict who dies in the movie
when he cant shake his addictions. Downey apparently *really*
became addicted to coke on the set and has had serious drug problems
ever since and is currently in jail.
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jazz
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response 29 of 229:
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Dec 28 16:18 UTC 1999 |
"Ground Zero", a decent docudrama-style movie about the British tests
on Arboriginal land in the 1960s, and the fallout (literally) from them.
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remmers
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response 30 of 229:
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Dec 29 20:43 UTC 1999 |
"Zero for Conduct", a classic 1930's French film about a rebellion
in a school for boys.
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happyboy
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response 31 of 229:
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Dec 29 21:29 UTC 1999 |
is it about spankings and stuff?
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iggy
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response 32 of 229:
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Dec 29 22:21 UTC 1999 |
saw 'run lola run'
thought it was pretty good. had a bit of 'groundhog day' feel to it.
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fitz
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response 33 of 229:
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Jan 1 17:02 UTC 2000 |
ON ANY GIVEN SUNDAY (D) This movie was already described in #14, but
I take a far less charitable stand on the presumption of a plot and the
invention of the shakey-cam, the cliche for football mayhem on film.
I lpaid matinee prices and did not get my money's worth--even though I sat
for three hours. I doubt that even the price of a rental would be a bargain.
I suggest waiting for a *broadcast* network to play it so that any dope with
some scissors can improve it by making random cuts for commercial space.
One good thing to say about the film: The sound of turf being torn from the
ground in the hands of the first-string quarterback after his injury. That
was great, but it certainly didn't make a three-hour movie any good.
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krj
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response 34 of 229:
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Jan 2 06:31 UTC 2000 |
resp:24, resp:25 :: We haven't gotten to ZERO EFFECT yet, but from the
reviews I was led to understand that it was a reworking of Nero Wolfe, not
Sherlock Holmes. Nero Wolfe is the genius who stays home and thinks, and
Archie is the assistant who gathers the evidence and tells the story.
GALAXY QUEST gets two thumbs up from this household, though perhaps you
have to be a SF fan or a Trekkie to really enjoy it. Tim Allen does
a wonderful job playing a William Shatner-like character.
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janc
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response 35 of 229:
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Jan 2 17:18 UTC 2000 |
No, it's a reworking of Sherlock Holmes. No question about it. It's
even a specific Sherlock Holmes story.
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remmers
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response 36 of 229:
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Jan 2 19:17 UTC 2000 |
Which story? (I haven't read Holmes lately...)
The plot may be Holmesian, but I agree with Ken that the two
main characters seem to be based on Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.
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md
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response 37 of 229:
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Jan 2 23:04 UTC 2000 |
Roger Ebert says:
"Midway through the movie, I was being nudged by echoes of
another story, and I realized that Zero Effect was probably
inspired by the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and the
faithful Watson -- Holmes, who could sit in his study and
use pure deduction to solve a crime. When Zero described his
methods, he sounds Holmesian: 'Objectivity ... and observation.
The two ob's.' If Zero is like Holmes, Gloria is certainly
like Irene Adler, from 'A Scandal in Bohemia.' She was the one
woman for Holmes, the one who got under his skin and into his
mind."
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richard
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response 38 of 229:
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Jan 4 15:30 UTC 2000 |
New DVD recommendation-- THE LAST PICTURE SHOW- this is director Peter
Bogdonavich's wonderful version of Larry McMurtry's book of the same name
about a year in the life of a small, dying, Texas town. Stars a number of
young actors in their first acting jobs (Cybill Sheppard, Jeff Bridges,
Randy Quaid, Timothy Bottoms). "LAST PICTURE SHOW" is an american classic
about the death of small town america. Bogdanovich filmed this in
beautiful black and white at the recommendation of Orson Welles. The DVD
also includes a terrific "making-of" documentary and other features. This
is one of the great films and well worth having on DVD.
LAST PICTURE SOHW (***** FIVE STARS)
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janc
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response 39 of 229:
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Jan 5 04:53 UTC 2000 |
As Delizia/Ebert say, "A Scandal in Bohemia". Some points of similarity
(mild spoilers):
- "He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine
that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself
in a false position." Much is made in the first paragraph of Holmes'
objectivity, and of the impression his nemisis in this story made on
him. "And yet, there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the
late Irene Adler".
- "I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us
away from each other." Like Steve Arlo, Dr Watson is being distracted
from Holmes by love. Holmes more or less drags him into the case.
- Between cases, Holmes have been indulging in cocaine. Zero drugs up.
(Both also play string instruments (badly) though this is not mentioned
in "A Scandal in Bohemia").
- When Holmes sees Watson, he observes that he has taken up his practice
again and has been recently caught in the rain. The basis? He smells
of iodoform. Zero identifies Gloria's profession based on her hair having
been wet and her smell of iodine.
- The King of Bohemia is being blackmailed by Irene Adler, with whom he
had an affair. She has a picture of them together, which she threatens
to send to his future wife. Obviously this had to be updated, since
that could hardly be cause for much alarm in this day and age. Irene
has been split into two different women in "Zero Effect" and the
embarrassingness of the relationship has been magnified.
- Holmes, like Zero, uses many disguises in his work.
- Holmes' client, like Zero's, attempts to keep secrets from the great
detective.
- A false fire alarm figures in both stories.
- Holmes, like Zero, figures out the woman's secret, but fails to bring
her to "justice", because she figures him out just as fast and flees
the country. She reveals that she has uncovered him by addressing him
by name.
- Though the lady is not captured, the blackmail threat is ended.
The "Zero Effect" plot is substanially more complex and suspenseful, but
this is a lot of similarities given that "A Scandal in Bohemia" is only about
20 pages long. Zero's reclusiveness does seem similar to Nero Wolfe's, but
in fact Zero spends the whole movie out and about, not being reclusive.
I don't see many other Wolfe similarities, but I've only read a couple of
those books.
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remmers
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response 40 of 229:
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Jan 6 15:02 UTC 2000 |
<remmers concedes the point to janc, who is obviously the
superior holmesian scholar>
|
hematite
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response 41 of 229:
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Jan 6 23:18 UTC 2000 |
My roommate and I saw Fantasia 2000 last night on the IMAX screen here
in Columbus. Was wonderful, albeit Disney. Some of the pieces including
Beethovens 9th Symphony, Saint Saens 'March of the Animals' (Or
something close, can't remember the exact name) with a flock of
flamingos and a yo-yo; and Pomp and Circumstance with Donald Duck
trying to herd animals onto Noah's Ark. Everybodies favourite 'The
Sorcerers Apprentice' and Stravinsky's 'Firebird' (I think that's it
name. Headache is blocking exact names at the moment). A few other
songs were in the movie, of those I can't remember the names or
composers so I won't embarass myself with my lack of knowledge on those
songs(More than I already have). Lots of story telling through the
songs and less image and colours. (I think Beethovens piece may have
been the only image piece and not a story). Typical Disney animation
and a large contrast in the animation between the new songs and
with 'Sorcers Apprentice'. Appeared to have more computer animation
than the original. (For obvious reasons, but the computer animation was
heavily used as opposed to regular animation. Did that make sense?)
Well worth the $10 we each payed for an evening show.
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