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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 229 responses total. |
md
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response 197 of 229:
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Mar 12 15:41 UTC 2000 |
Some things I liked about EWS:
The exploitation of various societal strata. Dr Harford
and his wife are first presented as a couple of rich and
wordly New Yorkers, invited to the best parties, collectors
of art, all-around BPs. Then, as they are exposed to people
from other social and economic levels, we see a prostitute
more beautiful -- inside and out -- than either of them;
and, in the end, we get Ziegler's comment to Harford that
Harford was immediately identified as an outsider at the
orgy because, "you arrived in a cab, and everyone else came
in a limo."
The first and least effective example of this is the oily
Hungarian who tries to hit on Alice at Ziegler's big party.
We're meant to think of him as an aristocratic European taking
advantage of the silly naive American girl we'd been taking
for an upper-class sophisticate just two minutes ago.
Unfortunately, not only does Kubrick ruin it by making Kidman
too drunk for her coy giggles to mean anything, but also the
Hungarian himself is first cousin to Zoltan Carpathy, that
figure of fun who "oozes charm from every pore as he oils his
way around the floor" trying and failing to unmask Eliza
Doolittle at the Embassy Ball in "My Fair Lady." It's
practically the same guy. But a director like Kubrick can't
possibly have done something like this by accident, so maybe
the message is: *even* a Zoltan Carpathy can knock over a
ditz like Alice.
The last scene between the Harfords has been justly criticized,
even by the movie's admirers, for some really dreadful writing.
But the very last word of the movie is right on the money. The
way couples trying to be faithful to each other can deal with the
kinds of temptations the Harfords have been agonizing pointlessly
over is -- to be faithful to each other. When Nicole Kidman says
the word "fuck," you feel like saying, "THANK you!" For more
than two hours, it looked like they'd ever figure it out. The
fact that Kubrick presented it as if it were some great final
illumination is symptomatic of the over-all puerility of the movie,
however.
I like the general idea, if not its execution in EWS, of the
director making ironic little comments, visible only to the
audience. The NY Post headline "LUCKY TO BE ALIVE" is one obvious
(too obvious) example. The various references to Kubrick, his
family, and his other movies scattered throughout EWS is another.
There is an undeniably so-what quality to all of this, but it
helped pass the time, at least for me.
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jazz
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response 198 of 229:
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Mar 12 15:49 UTC 2000 |
I'd thought the "LUCKY TO BE ALIVE" headline was a bit corny in that
context; in a movie that was less realistically shot, it might've worked
quite well.
It also occured to me that whomever was writing the film had some
seriously confused ideas about the ritual magic and bondage communities, and
sex clubs.
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danr
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response 199 of 229:
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Mar 12 18:46 UTC 2000 |
Sweet and Lowdown
2.5 stars out of 4
Sean Penn is really great in this movie, but about every ten minutes or so the
movie is interrupted by Woody Allen and some other folks supposedly
knowledgeable about Emmet Ray to tell stories. These interruptions really
prevented you from really getting into the movie, imho. And sometimes when
Woody was on it was almost as if he couldn't bear to make a movie in which he
didn't appear.
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flem
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response 200 of 229:
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Mar 12 20:31 UTC 2000 |
I have a fond place in my heart for Sweet and Lowdown, not because I
enjoyed the movie so much (though I did rather like it), but because
after walking out, I had such an urge to go listen to some jazz music
that I went to the Bird of Paradise for the first time. I'm rather
quickly becoming a regular there. :)
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richard
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response 201 of 229:
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Mar 12 20:57 UTC 2000 |
Remember, Citizen Kane was panned when it first came out-- Orson Welles
didnt even get nominated for best director, best actor, or best picture.
Like fine wine, good films age well with time-- maybe it didnt win any
academy awards, or even get nominated, but Welles' film is now widely
considered the greatest american film ever made. People just had to
watch it a few times ya know....same thing with Kubrick
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md
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response 202 of 229:
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Mar 12 22:34 UTC 2000 |
When Citizen Kane first came out, Borges predicted
that it would be recognized as a masterpiece, but
that not many people would want to actually sit
through it again. A nice disinction. Maybe EWS
will turn out that way, too.
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otter
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response 203 of 229:
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Mar 12 23:01 UTC 2000 |
Back to resp:172 for just a sec...
In several real-life agencies, designators and working names are passed
on as people quit, transfer, die, retire. So, agent 007 is always called
James Bond, no matter who happens to be doing that job at any given time.
In at least one American agency, teams of people who work together all
have the same working first name; you have Mike team, Bill team, Tim
team, etc.
Honest.
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remmers
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response 204 of 229:
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Mar 13 00:15 UTC 2000 |
Hm, Borges blew it. I've seen "Citizen Kane" a few times, anyway.
Would like to see EWS again too...
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jep
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response 205 of 229:
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Mar 13 02:38 UTC 2000 |
We saw "The Tigger Movie" again at the #2/ticket Clinton theater. It
kept my wife and I awake, and greatly entertained the kids. It also
sold out the Clinton theater on Friday night (216 seats). By
obervation, I'd say they had good crowds for the Saturday and Sunday
night showings as well.
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katie
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response 206 of 229:
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Mar 13 02:43 UTC 2000 |
I thoroughly enjoyed "Wonder Boys" last night. Am wondering, tho, why
Robert Downey, Jr was allowed to leave prison to make it.
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mcnally
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response 207 of 229:
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Mar 13 03:37 UTC 2000 |
Because of its strong anti-substance-abuse message?
saw "The Beach" at The Harbor, the cheapie theater in Muskegon,
on Friday.
it was, ummm, interesting.. Not totally unredeemable, but it Had
Serious Problems. I'd give it a C+ After "Trainspotting" I was
expecting more from director Danny Boyle..
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mary
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response 208 of 229:
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Mar 13 11:39 UTC 2000 |
"Mission to Mars" is a Tom Hanks movie without Tom Hanks.
Take the kids.
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md
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response 209 of 229:
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Mar 13 11:58 UTC 2000 |
That we will.
We went and saw THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (B) in an
effort to catch up on our Oscar nominees. It's
a very nice movie. John Irving tends to let his
plots and characters lead him where they will,
which can make for a pleasingly random ride.
The movie was shot, I'm told, largely in western
Massachusetts where I grew up. Michael Cain is
excellent.
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otaking
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response 210 of 229:
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Mar 13 16:44 UTC 2000 |
I saw FANTASIA 2000 on Saturday. It's a great movie that I highly recommend.
The mix of art and classical music was superb. In particular, I loved the
animation with the whales (unfortunately, I can't remember the music that
accompanied it), Rhapsody in Blue, and The Firebird. The latter in particulr
was beautiful.
Watching "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" showed the vast difference between
61-year-old 35mm film and new IMAX 15/70mm film. The old film looked grainy
in comparison to the rest of the film. Despite that, I still loved watchin
it on a big screen.
If you see it at the IMAX theater at Greenfield Village, be sure to stick
around for the tour of the projection booth after the show. It's a neat behind
the scenes look.
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richard
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response 211 of 229:
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Mar 13 18:02 UTC 2000 |
robert downey is a great actor, if he can get day leave from his prison
home to do films, why not? *shrug*
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mcnally
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response 212 of 229:
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Mar 13 20:42 UTC 2000 |
The question wasn't "why would RD jr leave prison to do a film?"
but "why would he be *allowed* to leave to do a film?"
Although I like his work, it still pisses me off to see the justice
system bend over backwards to accomodate the rich and famous. If he
were a bricklayer or an office worker who was in prison as a repeat
drug offender would he recieve the same treatment? I doubt it, even
if his family's livelihood depended on it..
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rcurl
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response 213 of 229:
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Mar 13 21:55 UTC 2000 |
Re #210: van Gogh looks grainy too.
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albaugh
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response 214 of 229:
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Mar 13 22:03 UTC 2000 |
Saw "Stuart Little" last night with the family at Plymouth's Penn Theatre.
Nice little family flick, everything comes out OK in the end (oops, was that
a spoiler? ;-) and no animals were harmed in the making of the film (unless
you consider cats falling into the river and dragging themselves out
bedraggled to be punishment instead of fit punishment! :-)
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omni
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response 215 of 229:
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Mar 13 23:00 UTC 2000 |
It was "The Pines of Rome" by Rhespiegi (sp)
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richard
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response 216 of 229:
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Mar 13 23:03 UTC 2000 |
"FREE ENTERPRISE"-- found this movie on the video store shelf-- it may
have been straight to video because I'd never heard of it before.
Its about two Trekkies (star trek fans) who live star trek obssessed lives.
Their hero is William Shatner (captain kirk) and he appears to them
in apparitions giving them advice. Then one day they actually *meet*
Shatner in real life (Shatner playing himself), and are disillusioned
to find out Shatner is really a shallow egomaniacal actor. Shatner is
recovering from a recent divorce and drowning himself in alchoholism. And
instead of doing Trek projects and Trek conventions, Shatner is trying to
do a one-man, musical (!) version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in which
he plays all the parts. Naturally, the two Trekkies are completely
disgusted, but come to realize Shatner is just an actor and that they cant
lead their lives based on a tv series done 30 years ago. The ending to
this is really bizarre as it shows Shatner actually doing his musical
Julius Caesar (this scene defies description) All in all a funny movie,
and Shatner is to be commended for portraying himself so accurately
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flem
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response 217 of 229:
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Mar 14 01:01 UTC 2000 |
Oh, what a mental image! :)
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gull
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response 218 of 229:
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Mar 14 01:54 UTC 2000 |
Re #210: The only thing that bugged me about the whales is that the CG
whales and the hand-drawn eyes made a really spooky and wrong-looking
combination.
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tpryan
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response 219 of 229:
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Mar 14 03:40 UTC 2000 |
Friend in Florida's review of Mission to Mars: Long and boring.
Tried to be 2001 without the aid of Krubrick or Clarke.
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mcnally
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response 220 of 229:
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Mar 14 04:37 UTC 2000 |
My sister, my brother, and I went to see "The Cider House Rules" tonight.
Basically, I liked it but think that it's a pretty sad year for movies
when this is a strong contender for a "best picture" Oscar.. It was a
decent movie and no doubt a better-than-average novel adaptation, but a
year and a half from now I suspect I'll barely remember it..
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gypsi
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response 221 of 229:
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Mar 14 05:54 UTC 2000 |
Anney and I watched _Detroit Rock City_ tonight. We laughed and
laughed. I'm not a huge Kiss fan, but it had some *great* classic
songs all the way through it. Hell, even "Convoy" made it. =) There
were some priceless scenes and some fairly good humor. B+
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