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Grex > Cinema > #23: ---<<<< AT THE MOVIES >>>>--- |  |
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| 25 new of 146 responses total. |
other
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response 38 of 146:
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Oct 13 00:17 UTC 1998 |
i don't mean to imply that i thought the film endorsed the evangelical idea,
but merely that its portayal of it was overbearing in relation to the story...
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md
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response 39 of 146:
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Oct 13 11:29 UTC 1998 |
A web reviewer (Salon, I think) recently referred to "What Dreams
May Come" as a "hideous explosion in the cosmic kitsch factory."
That's what the TV commercials for it make it look like, but I'd
still like to see it and make up my own mind. If only Robin
Williams weren't in it . . .
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mary
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response 40 of 146:
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Oct 13 12:53 UTC 1998 |
Williams is very subdued in "What Dreams...". The computer
animation and special effects *are* the movie.
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maeve
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response 41 of 146:
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Oct 13 19:33 UTC 1998 |
Dangerous Liasions was a good example of justified scummy-ness. He was a
horrible person, and he did horrible things, but he did them so well,
and with such grace, that you can't help but admire him for it. Basicaly
it's the idea of admirable villains.
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richard
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response 42 of 146:
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Oct 13 23:02 UTC 1998 |
"Buffalo 66"-- catch this if you can while its still in theaters or rent
it when its out on Video. This is a terrific little indie film starring
and directed by Vincent Gallo, about a young man who comes back to his
hometown of Buffalo, NY after having been in jail for gambling. He has
not told his parents he's been in jail, instead lying and saying he was
married and living in another town. So once out of jail, he kidnaps a
girl (Christina Ricci) and gets her to pretend to be his wife, and they
visit his neurotic, dysfunctional parents (his football obsessed mom is
wonderfully played by Anjelica Huston) and other hometown friends.
Everyone they encounter is portrayed as being warped, dysfunctional and
living in their own private universes. Eventually Ricci, who has been
pretending to be Gallo's wife, realizes she's really fallen for him, and
Gallo has to consider whether he wants to live in *his* own private
universe, or whether there is a place in it for someone else.
The movie points out a decision we all make in our lives at some point
on whether we should live through our fantasies and neuroses, or to live
and accept life as it really is. The movie brilliantly portrays the
extents to which so many people live in denial, refusing to accept
life as it is and people as they are-- instead insisting on believing in
fantasies and pre-conceived notions. And how, the difference between a
loveless relationship (Gallo's parents) and a loving relationship (Gallo
and Ricci) is in having complete acceptance in who the other person
really is and not distorting reality or living in denial.
"Buffalo 66" is one of the best movies I've seen this year. Very funny
and higly recommended. **** (four stars)
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other
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response 43 of 146:
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Oct 14 01:54 UTC 1998 |
*** By the Sword ***
F. Murray Abraham and Eric Roberts star in this 1991 dramatic sleeper.
Abraham is drifter Max Suba, who arrives at the fencing studio of Maestro
Villard (Roberts) in New York City looking to teach fencing.
The artistic sport of fencing plays a lead role in this well written, but
sometimes unsubtlely directed morality play. The opening sequence reminds
one of a cross between a low-budget martial arts film and a low-budget crime
drama, but don't be misled -- this *is* a low-budget film, but ultimately,
it doesn't matter. The unfolding of the story is as engaging and as
fascinating as the romantic artistry of fencing itself. The strangely
animated flashback/dream sequences, at first enigmatic and obscure, begin
later to reveal the hidden truth behind the present lives of the characters
of Suba and Villard.
Mia Sara plays a supporting role as a fast-learning new student who arrives
on the scene presumably only moments prior to Suba's arrival at the beginning
of the film.
Admittedly biased, having been a collegiate varsity fencer, I have to say I
really enjoyed this film, not only for the way the story was told, but for
the most realistic sport fencing sequences I have ever seen on film. Even
if you're not and never have been a fencer, the story still has a rich
romantic appeal, and the telling of it grows better and better from the
slovenly beginnings at the opening credits.
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maeve
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response 44 of 146:
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Oct 15 12:01 UTC 1998 |
intreguing..I should fence again..not enough time..
oh, does anyone know where I might be able to find out some information
about 'The Governess'? I've already seen it, but I want some historical
information and I couldn't find any on the web and I was wondering if
people had some other bright ideas as to how to find out things like
design work etc..
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richard
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response 45 of 146:
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Oct 31 16:01 UTC 1998 |
AMERICAN HISTORY X-- Powerful drama about a man's learning how
*not* to hate. Edward Norton, in a great performance (IMO he's
one of the best young actors in the business) as a teenager who
becomes a nazi skinhead after blacks kill his policeman father.
Hate and racism consume his life, to the point where he gets a
nazi swastika tattooed on his chest, and alienates everyone who
doesnt share his hate. He ends up shooting to death two blacks
trying to steal his car and goes to jail.
In jail, he learns he hasnt been hating blacks, but himself, and
actually befriends a black man, causing his former skinhead jail
buddies to beat him up. He is guided and helped by his old high
school principal (Avery Brooks of Deep Space Nine in a terrific
performance)
Once out of jail, he is a changed man, and sets out to save his
little brother, who has become a skinhead himself and joined the
same nazi gang. He has to teach his little brother what he has
finally learned, how wrong it is to hate.
This is a powerful and disturbing movie, with brilliant
cinematography, shifting between black and white flashbacks of
Norton's skinhead past and color in the present when he has
gotten out of jail. Well worth seeing. **** (four stars)
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krj
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response 46 of 146:
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Nov 8 05:49 UTC 1998 |
Tonight I finally got around to seeing (on video) "Paulie," a very
sweet movie about a talking parrot. A children's movie with a good
bit of appeal to adults, and a "name" cast
including Gena Rowlands, Tony Shaloub and Cheech Marin.
Sentimental idiot that I am, I sniffled through the whole thing.
I'd wanted to see this ever since I saw the child actress in it
appear on Jay Leno's show, and since I read Janet Maslin's rave review.
-----
Leslie is looking to find a movie which was released in the mid-1990s.
It's about three eccentric English women, possibly set in Italy,
and all the lead roles are played by grand dames of the British stage.
Does this ring any bells?
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aruba
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response 47 of 146:
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Nov 8 17:36 UTC 1998 |
That sounds like "Enchanted April".
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aruba
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response 48 of 146:
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Nov 8 18:18 UTC 1998 |
We went to see Pleasantville last night. This was the first movie in a
long, long time that I didn't feel bad about paying $7.50 for. (Well, I
felt bad when I paid it, but not after I'd seen the movie.)
It's a story about the choices we make personally and as a society. Would
we rather have things be pleasant all the time, or have soaring highs and
deep lows? Would we rather live in a small world where we understand
everything, or a big one which is scary but much more varied? Is there a
way life "should" be, which consequently makes it easier to know what to
do, or is it up to everyone to make what they can out of their lives -
making life harder but boundless.
People who are nostalgic for the 1950s often talk about how life was
"simpler" then. I am such a person sometimes (even though I was born in
1967) when I am frustrated about not knowing what to do with my life, or
how to interact with people, or how to judge if what I've done is a
success. Sometimes I wish that the world were small and the rules clearly
defined, so that I wouldn't have to make so many choices.
But I subscribe to the notion that you can't really be alive in such a
world. In other words, no one is a whole person who depends on everyone
else to make all the rules and judge all the accomplishments. The essence
of what makes us "intelligent life", and other animals less so, is that we
can confront new situations, solve new problems, and find our way in the
world unguided by evolutionarily built-in instincts. The very reason we
are able to do the things we do is that humanity didn't get locked into a
pattern of behavior and an evolutionary niche that would eventually
dissappear.
Societally built-in patterns and instincts, while making it a lot easier
to live, are no less deadly than evolutionary ones, in the end. If we
allow ourselves to think that there is one way that things "should be", we
are condemning ourselves to stagnation and, eventually, extinction.
The movie has a wonderful way of showing people coming alive. I give it
an A+.
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remmers
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response 49 of 146:
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Nov 8 21:43 UTC 1998 |
Nice analysis. I liked "Pleasantville" a lot.
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void
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response 50 of 146:
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Nov 9 00:41 UTC 1998 |
"apt pupil" is yet another example of someone screwing up a stephen
king story when attempting to translate it to film. don't bother seeing
this movie. the plot has been mostly removed, much of the rest of the
movie including the ending has been disneyed, and several of the
performances are lame.
otoh, the story "apt pupil," which is in stephen king's anthology
_different seasons_, may well be the best thing king has ever written.
i'm no big stephen king fan, but that story is one of the best i've ever
read, as well as being one of the most disturbing.
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mwg
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response 51 of 146:
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Nov 9 02:27 UTC 1998 |
_The Wizard of Oz_, on a screen bigger than will fit in your living room,
see it. (And try to cope with a narrow-frame movie and credits that end
before the theater vacates. {Including the extra restoration credits.})
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omni
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response 52 of 146:
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Nov 9 06:45 UTC 1998 |
I don't think I want to see the new Wizard.
I saw it years ago at the Michigan, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. For one
thing, this movie is made for the big screen, not TV, so even seeing the old
version in a theatre is yards better than on TV. I think the sequences where
the WWW is flying on the broomstick doing the pollution thing is neat when
you're watching it from a balcony, and the sequence where the trio meets the
Wizard for the first time is really scary when the sound is loud and it's 30
feet tall and in your face. You sort of lose than on TV.
Hey Hollywood- If it aint broke, don't fix it.
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omni
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response 53 of 146:
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Nov 9 06:45 UTC 1998 |
WWW= Wicked Witch of the West.
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remmers
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response 54 of 146:
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Nov 9 13:04 UTC 1998 |
Re resp:51 and resp:52 - the new version of _Wizard of Oz_ is a
restoration with a remastered digital stereo soundtrack. That could be
good or bad, depending on whether they tried to be faithful to the
original sound & just reproduce it better (good), or whether they added
snazzy directional effects that weren't in the mono original (bad).
The color restoration is, according to Siskel & Ebert, magnificent.
However, there are two kinds of prints circulating: Eastman Color and
3-strip Technicolor. The latter is the way color movies used to be done
and, although it is more expensive, the results are stunning. People who
haven't seen 3-strip Technicolor in a theater (a process abandoned in
the 1950's for cost reasons, but now making a limited comeback) don't
know what they've been missing.
I'd be interested in seeing _Wizard_ in the Technicolor version. The
local ads don't mention Technicolor though, so I suspect they're showing
an Eastman Color print.
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omni
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response 55 of 146:
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Nov 9 16:11 UTC 1998 |
I'm a revisionist, and I hate spoiling things from the past. Why can't this
generation just accept the work of the hollywood that was, instead of
retooling it into something evil? There are some wonderful old movies that
have been ruined by colorizaion. The Maltese Falcon is the first one I can
think of, and Mutiny on the Bounty is second. Heretics all!
I wonder what Lenny Maltin said about this new Wizard. He usually is
the voice of reason. Siskel and Ebert like most everthing, and that
is the reason I don't put much stock in the thumbs up/thumbs down thing.
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albaugh
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response 56 of 146:
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Nov 9 16:45 UTC 1998 |
Restoring or improving a movie's media condition isn't spoiling the original
intent, and is sometimes an outright necessity, the recent restoration of
"My Fair Lady" (as seen on AMC) a case in point. (And I'm not referring to
colorization as one of those media improvements! :-)
Re: King books into movies: 2 of the 4 "seasons" episodes were made into
pretty good flicks, the first, "The Body", doing well as "Stand By Me", and
the 2nd "The Shawshank Redemption". I'm sorry to hear that "Apt Pupil"
suffered in the translation. I'd still probably pay $2 to see it, bad reviews
notwithstanding, if for no other reason than to personally ridicule it for
deviating from the book! :-)
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gregb
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response 57 of 146:
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Nov 9 16:56 UTC 1998 |
*** Balto ***
When this first came out, I was sorta interested, but not enough to spend
money to go see it. Not too long ago, it was shown in the Cartoon Network,
so I gave it a look-see. I enjoyed it emensely. While this is an "animal"
flick, I think the story is pure drama. Thyis is no wussy Disney film (I
think Spielberg was Exec. Producer). There's big names doing the voices,
including Kevin Bacon and Phil Collings, et al. The music was composed/
conducted by James Horner, my second-fav movie score composers (John Williams
is my first). The animation was alright; not the best I've seen, but there
\was some nice bacground scenes.
Basically, the story is about a half dog/wolf named Balto and his search for
his place in the world, and to fulfil a dream: To become a sleddog in
Alaska's big sled race (I know the name, but can't spell it<g>).
Unfortunately, Balto is shuned by both humans and the other dogs. The only
ones who will accept his are Boris, a goose and his best friend; Two polar
bears (whose names escape me); And Jenna, a female dog and love interest.
The antagonist of the story is Steele, a champion sleddog whose more
interested in his own fame--and Jenna (in that order)--than anything else.
What I liked about this movie was none of these characters were two-
dimensional. You get to learn about them to some degree: Boris, a goose who
for reasons unknown doesn't want to re-join his fellow geese; The polar
bears, who love to squabble, and don't know how to swim, thus becoming out-
casts from the other bears (they also refer to Boris as "Uncle"); Jenna, who
is completely devoted to her little-girl master; And Steele, who'll do
anything to retain his "top-dog" status.
If you like "feel-good" movies, this one's a must see.
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krj
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response 58 of 146:
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Nov 9 18:14 UTC 1998 |
resp:47 :: Leslie thinks that "Enchanted April" is indeed the title she
was looking for. Thanks! She got to thinking about it because
Joan Plowright has a role in the presumably-doomed sitcom ENCORE, ENCORE.
(Plowright plays the mother of retired opera singer Nathan Lane.)
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mcnally
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response 59 of 146:
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Nov 9 22:17 UTC 1998 |
re #57: didn't see it but I thought that Balto was adapted from the
story of the origins of the Iditarod.
"Velvet Goldmine" -- C+. Different and potentially interesting subject
matter spoiled by muddled treatment and big problems with the narrative.
Relates the story of a glam-rock superstar told in "Citizen Kane"-like
flashbacks. (Many reviewers seem to assume that the character is supposed
to be David Bowie but those familiar with the music of that period will
recognize that the character is a composite of several performers.)
Outrageous costumes and good music fail to redeem a poor script but fans
of the era's music will probably enjoy the show.
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tpryan
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response 60 of 146:
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Nov 9 23:22 UTC 1998 |
I too saw Wizard of Oz on one of previous appearaces at the
Michigan. However, I was in the Ann Arbor News reviewers seat (it said
so on the plaque), about 9 rows back. It would be good to see it again
at a theature.
Exceptional that two movies from that era have re-shown on our
screens this year. The other being Gone With The Wind. Also amazing
that in just less than ten years after 'the talkies' where introduced,
movies making had advanced to what it was to Wizard and Wind caliber.
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aruba
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response 61 of 146:
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Nov 10 01:53 UTC 1998 |
Re #55: Siskel & Ebert certainly do *not* like most everything. And they
have been very critical of Ted Turner's colorization campaign. When he
restored GWTW, they applauded him for finally getting the right idea:
colorizing movies that were in color to begin with.
Film deteriorates, Jim. Why do you think restoring it is evil?
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senna
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response 62 of 146:
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Nov 10 05:11 UTC 1998 |
The reissue of the Star Wars trilogy illustrates both sides of the coin. On
one hand, they revamped the special effects, particularly in the first movie,
and added some scenes. This changes how the movie was originally released.
(George insists that there was a reason for this, since technology is only
now able to tell the story how he envisioned it, and there's reasont to
believe him.) On the other hand, a lot of the unchanged stuff got restored.
I shouldn't have to be the first one to tell you that the picture quality of
recent trilogy showings has been degrading. The original negatives are over
20 years old, and they were restored for a reason. They were showing their
age. I suspect the Wizard of Oz restoration is along a similar vein,
restoring the picture to its original quality.
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