Well, I know I *really* wanna see "Big Night" at the Michigan this week.
I like Stanley Tucci no end since he was on Murder One last year.

Hmm, what else did I see.

"Basquiat" was pretty good - a high point was David Bowie as Andy Warhol.
"Basquiat" is the story of a street painter who got to be the next big 
thing in the New York art world, back in the 80's, before dying at age
27 of a drug overdose.  I suspect that the movie made him a lot more
sympathetic a character than he really was.

"Ed's Next Move" was fun, but the best part of it was the soundtrack, which
I am still trying to get on cd.  Anyone ever hear of a folk group called
Ed's Redeeming Qualities?  That's who was in the movie (and on the sound-
track) and they were *great*.  "Ed's Next Move" is about a guy from 
Wisconsin who moves to New York, and instead of getting caught up in the
cynecism around him, redeems everyone else from it.

"Girlfriends" also had a pretty good score.  It's about three high school
girls in New Jersey whose friend kills herself after being raped.  They
find out some things about themselves, and set out to achieve justice.

"First Wives Club" was pretty lame.  There were a few amusing moments, but
compared to the book (which was NOT a comedy in my view - it was almost 
painful to read in spots) it was a caricature.  I noticed that it was
written, produced and directed by men, and I can't help wondering if they
really understood the point of the book.  (Mind you - I don't think the
book was any great shakes as far as literature goes, but it seemed to
convey an entirely different point of view than the movie)

I think that's most of what I've seen recently.

102 responses total.

"Wedding Banquet" was one of the best movies I have seen in a while. It's
partly in English and partly in Chinese with English subtitles. I also 
realized that English subtitles do not do justice to the Chinese dialogue.
There were parts when my friends and I were laughing our guts out which
one would barely get a smirk from the English subtitles. As a Hong Kong
movie critic said, Chinese is a must more poetic language than English
and the subtitles will never do it justice. Anyways, the story is both
funny and dramatic and you I highly recommend it, especially if you 
understand Mandarin.

"Eat Drink Man Woman" was also very good but not as good as the Wedding
Banquet. It was filmed in Taiwan and I actually recognized some of the
landmarks. Again, story is very interesting with some hilarious moments.
It's in Mandarin with English subtitles. 

first wives club was probably one of those stories which someone who did get
the point of the book tried to turn into a screenplay, which was then coopted
and rewritten as a comedy to broaden it's mass appeal once someone figured
out that comedy or no, it still struck a very mainstream chord.

"From Dusk Till Dawn" was so bad - mostly on purpose, I hope! :-) - that it
was actually amusing in a "Dark Star" kind of way...

To answer Meg's question about the soundtrack:  Yes, I have heard of 
the band Ed's Redeeming Qualities, and I can probably help you run down 
their CD -- they might have two -- if you want

Well, the band has several CD's out, judging from my search on the net.
To begin with, I'm trying to get the soundtrack from the movie.  Everyone
seems to have it 'on order' but nobody seems to actually have it.

I watched "The Joy Luck Club" on video yesterday.  I'm glad that I did.  I
was wondering if I'd be bored by a "human relations" kinda flick, but I found
the characters compelling and people I cared about.  Perhaps it's my bias for
wanting to learn more about other cultures.  Can folks who have read the book
recommend it as enthusiatically?

hubby and i saw 'the long kiss goodnight'
i was blown away by geena davis's character .
you may not like all the violence, but the character was a very
strong female both physicaly and emotionaly. she didnt wait around
to be rescued, she was very capable of doing it herself.

just saw "nell" on video.  jodie foster and liam neeson.   just the kind of
experience that really makes it easy to sympathize with john hinckley jr.

We watched Moll Flanders on NPB recently. "We" included our 14 year old
daughter. When I was 14, Moll Flanders was essentilly a "banned book", and
I read it secretly so my parents would not find out. The film is much more
graphic than I expected - with couples humping it here and there. Times
sure have changed. Our daughter does not seem worse for the
experience..... 

Joy Luck Club was an *excellent* book but I thought it was a bad movie.
It seemed very manipulative to me - pulled out every stop to produce
audience tears.  I walked out feeling vaguely resentful.

I thought "Nell" was one of the worst movies I'd seen in years.

I also caught that "Moll Flanders" production on PBS, and thought it was
pretty good.  I never did read the book, and now I want to.

This response has been erased.

Funny how that works, isn't it, Rane?  If your junior high school teacher
*assigned* that book, and told you it was written by a famous author 200
years ago, you'd probably never have bothered to read it.  I've heard
of boys in yeshivas secretly reading Darwin and Galileo with a similar
sense of naughtiness and excitement--great way to get an education!

I agree with Meg about those movies.  Moll Flanders was probably *better*
than the book, though.

I should have added that the movie was extremely well done, except that the
ending got rather hurried through - probably running out of production funds
from NEA.

 Moll Flanders was a good piece, but could have done without the graphic
scenes, but still a good story, and I'll probably buy the book.

re 11:  Neither.  Just because I can sympathize doesn't mean I feel the same
need for expression.  I think that would be *empathy*.

Anyway, Jodie Foster's performance, if you get past the surface silliness of
the character, was extremely skilled, and the cinematographer captured in a
setting of extreme beauty a moderately beautiful face in such a way as to
greatly augment the overall image.

gee.. all that and her titties too...

i didn't actually find the footage of her breasts particularly attractive.

Saw "Sleepers"...pretty good movie although it has some script problems.
Four kids commit a childish criminal act and get sent away to reform
school where evil guard Kevin Bacon and his cronies proceed to rape and
molest them.  Years later the now grown kids (Brad Pitt, Jason Patric et
al)  take revenge and murder Bacon.  Robert Deniro plays the priest/father
figure to the boys who must decide whether to lie on the witness stand to
protect them from being convicted of the murder.  Dustin Hoffman is the
alchoholic attorney who is defending them.

This is a pretty good movie based on a true story, but there were holes in
the script and some characters not developed enough.  **1/2...B
minus...thumbs in the middle.

I saw Sleepers, too... And thought that, though it's intense at times,
its very well done. [Though it brought back some painful memories for me,
though...]

I saw "Thinner" last night... based on the Stephen King book.  I
really hated it... almost to the point that I would have gotten up and walked
out if I hadn't been with somebody else.  It didn't really have a very good
plot, and parts of the film were downright disgusting.  Last time I go see
a Steven King flick.

There have been some decent Stephen King flicks. Try "The Dead
Zone", or the TV miniseries "It".

[Item 61 in winter Agora is now linked as item 126 in the Arts
conference.]

_It_ was basically Bozo the Clown with an attitude.

_The Langoliers_ was mildly interesting, but does not square with what is
known in theoretical physics.

I rather liked _The Stand_; reminded me of _Omega Man_ and other such World
War III films. I think the heroes of _The Stand_ had a (figurative) penis
for a God, however.

 Carrie is also good, but primitive, as is Pet Semetary. 

  The only thing wrong with some Stephen King movies is that some are
really bloody, or they're hugely hilarious. Example: Pet Sematary which 
has it's share of gore, but didja see who officiated at the funeral of the
laundress? There he was Fr King doing his best to comfort.
  And then there was Creepshow, and the segment called "The lonesome death
of Jordy Verril. Everytime I see it, I cannot stop laughing because King is
such a bad actor. 

  Remmers is right, IT and The Dead Zone are his best works.
Don't get me started on The Shining. ;)

Stephen King's stuff simply doesn't translate well onto
film.  What is clever and humorous in his work is not the plot
but the unspoken dialogue.  Very hard to work that into
a script.  So all you are left with is what Hollywood
thinks will be shocking.  And that's not what King
does best.

"Secrets and Lies".  Wow.  This is an English film about 
a family trying to stay close as best they can despite
themselves.  This movie has some of the best acting I've
ever seen.  It is not a happy film and it's something like
140 minutes long.  Skip it if you need action and bad guys 
or likeable characters.

****.

Sorry to hear about "Thinner". I thought the book was wonderful. It's a shame
that King's work doesn't translate well to film, because some of it is quite
good. Don't get me started on "The Shining", either. I walked out of the
theater completely *pissed* at Kubrick. (sp)
Didn't King do a cameo in the stinker that was based on the short story
"Trucks"?

A good movie adaption of a SK book was "The Dark Half".  Timothy Hutton did
a good job of acting both the author and his evil book character come to life.

Re #24: Actually, I've never read Stephen King (shocking
revelation, eh?), so I wouldn't know what his best works are.
But I have seen a few movies based on his stuff, most of which
were lousy, although I thought "Dead Zone" and "It" were pretty
good.

Re "Secrets and Lies": I agree with Mary, although I actually
came to like most all the characters by the end, even those that
made it really difficult. That's part of the magic that this
film works. Highly recommended.

there were 2 steven king truck movies...
duel, and maximum overdrive

The only SK book I've read was "The Dead Zone", and that was when
I was in high school.  I haven't seen a lot of the movies based on
his work, either.  Now Clive Barker books/movies, those I love.

Some of the best Stephen King flicks are his non-horror stories. Two that
immediately come to mind are "Stand by Me" and "The Shawshank Redemption." 

Duel was very good. I believe it was Spielberg's first film. I did not know
it was a Stephen King story. "Maximum Overdrive" sucked.

Hey, I *liked* the Shining!  I thought it was one of his best works.  Its just
more of a psychological thriller than a traditional horror story.  Good movie
too!     *redrum redrum redrum redrum*

 Granted, but Nicholson was too Nicholson. I cannot read that book witnout
thinking Jack Torrance is Jack Nicholson. And of course, you know he's going
crazy when you see him in Ullman's office. It's not scary at all. Not one bit.

Very few movies intended to be scary actually scare me. The TV
miniseries of "It" is the only recent exception. It had some
deliciously scary moments, although the ending (which I'm told
was quite different from the book's) was a letdown.

 Yeah, Tim Curry can be very evil. That clown gave me some bad dreams.

King had nothing to do with "Duel".  It was a 1971 TV movie written by Richard
Matheson (who wrote many of the most memorable "Twilight Zone" episodes.  It
also marked the directoral debut of Steven Spielberg.

As a rule, King hasn't filmed well.  "Salem's Lot" was an abomination.  I
didn't care for most of the rest of them, either.  "Carrie" was well-done,
though not particuarly faithful; "Firestarter" was faithful to the book (for
the most part), and was horrible for that reason.  I thought "The Stand" came
off a lot better than I expected.

<remmers hopes that goroke's expectations were pretty low
 to begin with  ;)>

I love to read stephen King, but I don't really like horror movies, so I'm
not surprised when the movies don't do justice to the books. There's so much
more in the books that could never fit into a 2-hr or miniseries movie. I
particularly enjoy the character development!

I rented "Restoration" so-so movie, the reviews made it look better than it
was, but there were some interesting scenes of the King Charles' idea room.
The plot was a little stretched to unbelievable in several places, too.
"Beautiful Girls" another so-so movie that had some great soliquys but the
rest was disappointing.
"Queen Margo" luckily had read the book about a month ago, otherwise it would
not have made much sense. The story was based on the throne of France (oerseen
by Catherine de Medici), its demise, the constant battle between the Catholics
and the Protestants.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss