So, how was it?

333 responses total.

The other day I was looking for a feel-good no-brainer type of movie, a
chick-flick, to round out a difficult day.  So I rented "An American
President".  I was quite surprised, actually, when it turned out to be a
fine, Capra-like film, well worth seeing.  Not perfect but they don't
make perfect Capra-like films any more.

But there is hope - in the credits, under first assistant director, was
a Frank Capra III.  Now, where is today's Hepburn, Tracy, and Henry
Fonda?

Out there somewhere...hollywood just hasn't found them yet..<grin>

 I borrowed 'Babe' from my parents last night, and guess what?
 it really was that good. i had been wondering why the hype <i
 mean, entertainment weekly has run some article or at least
 mentioned the film in *every* issue since it came out...>

Frank Capra III has been around since at least 1973.

We rented the *original* _Hunchback of Notre Dame (193?), with Charles
Laughton. I found his character rather inconsistent, switching between
imbecilic and intelligent without apparent causes. But then, the title
of Hugo's book was _Notre Dame of Paris_ - without the "hunchback". 
Since I certainly was familiar with the general story, I must have seen the
movie, and maybe even read the book - but cannot recall doing either. 
Guess I'll have to look for a copy at the next library sale. 

   i thought the original "hunchback" movie was the silent one with lon
chaney, made in the teens or twenties.

Right.  1923-Silent.  The first of the Universal cycle of "monster" movies.
It was followed two years later by "The Phantom of the Opera", also starring
Chaney.

Well well..we'll have to ask for Lon Chaney's _Hunchback_ at our local
friendly video store. Who added "hunchback" to Hugo's tale? Was it added
to the first English translation of the novel?

has anyone seen the disney hunchback yet?

We saw it on saturday..  It is an awesome movie, even if Hugo suffers
in teh translation, so to speak.  The soundtrack is probably the best
ever to come out of disney.

I think it was rather stupid to have the gargoyles peg-pelvised (from prevues)
instead of giving them legs.

i agree with bru....i'm listening to the soundtrak as i type....:)  it's very
NotFor Children, tho...but the parents would get a good kick out of it.  the
music kinda reminds me of les miz.  :)  and the animation is incredible!!!!!!!

        For me, the soundtrack was exciting *only* with the movie.  Listened
to the CD twice through last night and it doesn't not hit me as one to 
listen to on a regualar basis.  (re: Hunchback soundtrack).

i don't know....i really like god help the outcasts....and really didn't like
the one by bette middler  (kinda surprised me, but...:)

I saw the Disney Hunchback last Saturday, and was most pleasantly
surprised.  Of course, it wasn't the same as the book (Rane - Barnes &
Noble has paperback copies of the book on sale for $4.95 - unabridged)
it was more a takeoff on the Charles Laughton version of the movie.
The one thing that struck me though was that it *wasn't* a kids movie.
Not unless you are prepared to explain to your child about lust (a 
Disney movie about lust, imagine!) religion, eternal damnation and 
hellfire, sin, witches, gypsies and burning at the stake.

so that's why it's not for kids... I getcha now

    On Monday night I attended a free outdoor screening (in a park) of 
"Citizen Kane"  I think that I have seen this movie at least ten or 
twelve times over the years and I still see new things in it every time I 
watch it again.  Just a great movie.

  The cool thing about this screening is who stopped by to introduce it.  
The movie is based on the life of publishing tycoon William Randolph 
Hearst, who tried in vain to stop it from being made and then from being 
released.  His grandaughter, Patty Hearst, stopped by because she was in 
town and heard the film was being screened.  She talked emotionally about 
how her family found the film to be such an accurate depiction of her 
grandfather's life that it was scary and that she was not allowed to see 
it when she was little.  She said she was the only member of the Hearst 
family who never publicly denounced the film, and that it was important 
to her because she barely knew  her grandfather and that the film helped 
her to get to know him.

It did make me feel a bit old however when a college age girl sitting next 
to me asked, "who's patty hearst?"  You couldnt have been alive at a 
certain time in the 70's and not known who she was.  

Patty Hearst had a small part in the John Waters/Johnny Depp movie
"Cry Baby". Amazing as it may seem to old coots like me, members
of the under-25 crowd are probably more likely to know her from
that than from the kidnapping story that made headlines for months
in the 1970's. Tempis fugit, as they say.

 Older, or smarter?

   I feel bad for those who ignore history, and historical types like Patty
Hearst, Charles Manson, Tim Leary, or G.Gordon Liddy. It shows me that this
person who is clueless about our culture and that is really sad. Ever watch
that Leno bit where he asks 30 ish people about pop culture, and history
and most if not all know the pop icon, but are really clueless about
history, and what they should've learned in school.

Oh, this is a drift that I cannot resist:  I have always been interested 
in talking to different people about the notables and events that demark 
differences between generations.  P. Hearst, T. Leary, Huey Lewis have a 
high recognition among those of you old enough to read newspapers in the 
'70's and a low recognition for those younger than 30.  

However, Charles Manson, and other notorius murderers, have wide 
recognition across all generations.  [This is my own experience--not 
scientific at all.]  If somebody were telling you about Effraim Zimbalist 
and Elma Gluck, you would know more about what generation they were from 
than you would if somebody were talking about Charles Whitman  or John 
Wayne Gacey.  (Did I spell that correctly?)

I loved the story about Patty Hearst.  Fantastic!

Was Huey Lewis around in the 70s?

I think it was the Simpsons where a kid asked "who is Paul McCartney," to
be answered by another, "wasn't he in Wings or something?"

huey lewis was at the top of his popularity in the mid 80's.

ok, i'll bite.  who the heck was/is elma gluck?

A singer.  She's Efraim Zimbalist Jr's mother.  And it's Alma, not Elma.

Well, a bit more than a singer.  She was a premiere operatic diva of her
time.  Efrem Zimbalist, Sr. was a renowned violinist who fled Russia when
the Bolshevists came to power.  It's rather a classy family, actually.

Yep.  But I was thinking of Huey Newton when the ouzo took over.
I apologize for the grexing under the influence.

Well, go out into the world and make your own indicators of generational 
markers as you are able.  Note that none had to ask, "Who was Chas. Whitman?"
It's a terrible way to be famous.

thanks meg and krc.  i knew of efrem's dad, but had never heard of his mom's
accomplishments.  typical.

what's sad is that even kids in college dont know what is basically recent
history.  One of the local radio talk show hosts in d.c. is g.gordon liddy (who
is now so far to the right in his views that his show is almost unbearable
to listen to)  Anyway the Washington Post did a random survey of local 18-24
year  olds about their knowledge of recent contemporary history.

Asked what "Watergate" was, most couldnt answer and some that did simply said
the  fancy hotel in D.C.

Asked as a follow-up, "who's g.gordon liddy", most said "he's the talk show
host"

Really sad. I had to laugh when I was arguing one day with a young republican
who  was too young to remember Watergate, and he was comparing it to Whitewater
and  saying that Whitewater is dominating the news like Watergate did in 73 and
74.

He knew his history, but without the perspective of remembering the actual 
events, I guess its impossible to understand just how consumed this country was
 for a time with the drama and events of Watergate.  It was an unparalleled
drama  in american history, and yet now many kids dont know about it and some
that do  have such a bad understanding of it that it is absurd.  

Hey kerouac:  who is Nikola Tesla?

(pop quiz! :)

I recently acquired "Dazed and Confused" and "Clueless", total mind-candy
movies. I actually loved Dazed... although it takes plce in the 70s, it
totally reminded me of high school in a fond way. And I never thought I'd look
upon high school memories fondly. It's not all pranks and gags. Rent this on
a Saturday night when you are stuck at home.

Clueless is funny, again, a movie you watch when you're vegetative. So
unrealistic it's funny. Very cheesy ending, but ALicia Silverstone says
totally funny things you don't expect. In one scene she is held up at gunpoint
when the guy she's riding home with asks her to put out, and she refuses
(virgninity is a major thread in this movie). So she's in a scary neighborhood
walking home. She cries when the gun is to her head, not because she is scared
for ehr life but because the guy tells her to get on the ground, which will
ruin her Alaia dress. sigh.

Wasn't there a movie about Tesla? What was it called?

        ummm I don't know who Chas. Whitman is, but I do know who Tesla
is.  

i think charles whitman was the texas tower dood.  wasn't tesla a rock group?

That's a shocking thought.

Tesla sent messages to outer space in 1923 and (allegedly) a response came
back in 1946, giving rise to the belief that life was "out there" about 11-1/2
light years away.

Anyway, for those stilled stumped, Nikola Tesla was an electrical genius who
was a contemporary of Edison.  While Edison continued to push DC power, Tesla
pioneered AC power generation and distribution.  Tesla's "polyphase AC power
system" is what we use today.  Tesla also developed flourescent lights, RF
communication (Marconi infringed on some of Tesla's patents), and a variety
of other really interesting things, such as a fluid pump that worked on
vicosity and others.  Some of his inventions *still* haven't been duplicated.

(I was thinking of the electircal Tesla.)

You mean they're more than  a band? :)

to get back to movies a bit... I thought "Clueless" was surprisingly funny.
I expected it to be worse.  For weeks after seeing it, friends of mine were
holding up their fingers in a "W" and saying "What-Ever" at appropriate
moments.
,

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