175 new of 348 responses total.
Mark- what show were you at? Ashke (formerly sun) and I were there yesterday at the 4:15 showing. Personally, I really like that movie, it's horribly cheesy- but it *knows* it's cheese and plays it up.
I saw Inspector Gadget last Friday. It was a fun movie. It covered all of the old standards of the cartoon show, except for the obligatory scene in each TV episode where Chief Quimby gives Gadget his assignment. (Chief Quimby does appear in the film, played by Dabney Coleman.) It was a silly stupid film, but not as silly or as stupid as George of the Jungle. I give it a B+.
Re #174: I was at the 4:15 show too - down near the front on the right. Sorry I missed you!
Heh, askhe and I were probably very near you then. <laughs> Although, we arrived just in time to miss most of the previews... (We intended to see "Matrix" but were too late)
re: way back there...Jay "Tonto" Silverheels died back in the late 70's (maybe 1979?) One of the pallbearers was his real-life best friend Clayton Moore, who of course played the Lone Ranger along side his Tonto for years first on radio and then on television.
RE #178 I believe that Clayton Moore played The Lone Ranger exclusively on television. But, of course, I may be wrong on that.
Brace Beemer was the radio Ranger.
Brace Beemer was the first radio Ranger....or actually the second...Clayton Moore was the Lone Ranger on the radio during the 40's. John Hart played the LR on TV first, but was replaced by Clayton Moore for most of the tv series run as well. Jay Silverheels was of course, always Tonto
I bow to your superior Lone Ranger knowledge. I used to listen to TLR on the radio when I was a kid, but it wasn't until I moved to this area that I learned that the show was broadcast from Detroit.
But who played Silver?
You folks know what "tonto" and "kemo sabe" mean, right?
And while were doing Lone Ranger stuff: The Lone Ranger was produced live on WXYZ radio, from Detroit. The same company would also go on to produce The Green Hornet. WXYZ was located in the old Maccabees building on Woodward. The Maccabees is now known as the Detroit Public Schools Center. There still is a radio station, and it is known as WDET. And lastly, a man named Rube Weiss, who died a few years ago did the introduction to the Lone Ranger. Even though he is gone, Rube can still be heard on the Guardian Alarm TV commercials.
I also saw "Mystery Men" over the weekend and also thought it was really funny, though I might qualify that with "if you like superhero stories or enjoy movies whose basic joke is playing with the 'rules' of a genre.." Whatever -- I thoroughly enjoyed it, even after paying Showcases's amazing $8 ticket price, which is usually enough to sour me on even a really good movie..
I did like mystery men, tho they could have lost the spleen, there was enough conflict in the other characters that we could have lost him. It played on the spacialization of the character traits very well, and the screwups were great. Thats Specialization up there, by the by.
You know the Green Hornet was supposed to be the great great grandson of the Lone Ranger or something like that...they have the same last name
Get out of here.
just saw the matrix. wow. i've had dreams like that, but not nearly so stylish.
re #188: What was the Lone Ranger's last name?
Re #187: I think the Spleen was a necessary character. Having someone with a super poewr noone wanted nearby was a great twist on the superhero genre.
Saw "Entrapment" last night at Fox Village. Definitely a fun movie, but a bit too scary for us height-scardy-cats!
Try watching it at 13,000 feet sometime.
Rather low for an airplane. Are you suggesting climbing a peak in the rockies to watch it?
I haven't been in a airplane in over twenty years -- and I'm never climbing a peak.
Forget my figure in resp:194 - how high do airplanes fly these days? In any case, "Entrapment" was shown on an airborne 747 on which I was a passenger a few days ago. I paid only sporadic attention to the movie; general impression is that it's a rather cookie-cutter Hollywood romantic thriller.
I think 30,000 feet is pretty typical. Carol and I saw Notting Hill at the Fox last night. I liked it a whole lot. Very funny and very romantic.
I think anything from 30,000 to 50,000 is typical for a 747. 25,000 or less for short commuter flights on things like ATR turboprops. Under 12,000 for non-turbocharged general aviation aircraft like Cessna Skylanes and Piper Cherokees. (Friend of mine whose wife is an ATC says they refer to that level as 'indian country' because of all the Piper aircraft.)
#199...I believe the Lone Ranger and Green Hornet's characters last name was Reed...both shows owned by radio station, and Green Hornet was a spinoff meant to be something likea modern day LR. Both shows had great theme songs...the Lone Ranger was of course Wagner, and Green Hornet was Stravinsky's Flight of the Bumblebee.
I mean it, Richard -- who was that masked man? I wish I knew his name.
RE #200 I believe that the "Lone Ranger" theme was the "William Tell Overture" by Rossini.
Right - Rossini, not Wagner.
A question: Did the Green Hornet play poker with Bee cards? <I'm not expecting an answer>
His sidekick was none other than Bruce Lee (born and raised in Oakland,CA) (who was allergic to 'pot' and is why he died.)
Bruce Lee played Tonto? ;)
RE #206 Bruce Lee played Kato (The Green Hornet's sidekick on the 1966-67 TV series).
Actually rumors have always held that Bruce Lee was killed by the chinese mafia for some dark, sinister reasons. There are also conspiracy theories about the death of Lee's son Brandon Lee, who died in the most bizzarre way on the set of the movie "The Crow" Lee was filming a scene for the movie, where his Crow character gets shot. He was supposed to be shot with a gun that had blanks in it, so his charater would appear to have been shot and killed. However, the prop gun mysteriously had a *real* bullet in it and Lee was *really* killed. An actual murder captured on film for the big screen. The conpsiracy theorists think it was his dad's old enemies in the chinese mafia who pulled this off.
re#208: There are other 'legends' about Bruce Lee's death, that he was killed for revealing secret arcane teachings, etc. The fact is he was allergic to some compound in marijuana/hashish/hemp. He had been previously warned about it and had at least one and perhaps more prior allergic reactions. Each allergic reaction is more severe than the prior and in the fatal case his brain swelled and of course the skull is rather inflexible. There was nothing to be done, and he died. From pot.
It is my understanding that Brandon Lee was killed by a poorly constructed squib rather than an improperly loaded gun.
I'm assuming here you mean the pyrotechnic charge, and not a short
piece of satire. If it were possible to kill with the latter, Swift would've
been a mass murderer many times over.
Brandon Lee was not killed by a real bullet... I think I still have all the articles that were written in connection to "The Crow" and his death at my parents house... I could find them... There were also several other mishaps on the set.
I rented several movies recently. Here's some mini-reviews. Trainspotting: Once I got past the thicker Scottish accents, I really enjoyed this movie. I'm not sure what else I can say about this. A- Wax: or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees: What started out as a weird psuedo-documentary turned very quickly into a trip full of video effects and a rambling monologue. I love bizarre movies, but the narration almost made me fall asleep. I had to stop the film and come back to it later. The plot was incoherent at times. It was a good effort, but too taxing to watch. C- Marquis: This was like watching the cast of _Meet the Feebles_ do a period piece. The movie is set months before the storming of the Bastille in pre-Revolutionary France. The Marquis de Sade interacts with his literay characters. He even talks to himself, in a way that just has to be seen. Oh, I forgot to mention that all of the characters (except for Colin) are animorphic animals. The French have a very weird sense of humor. A Touch of Evil: It's now my favorite Orson Welles movie. Watch it. You won't be disappointed. Try to find the Director's Cut, if possible. A+
Saw BOWFINGER (C) today. Didn't like it much except when Eddie Murphy was in the shot. Many old stale Hollywood in-jokes.
Touch of Evil was on cable a few months ago. I was lucid enough to record it. I agree, it was stupendous.
The Sixth Sense (B+) - It helps to avoid the teasers and advance information about this film (although it is not as necessary as with "Arlington Road.") The film does a good job building tension and suspense, even if you have seen the teasers, but it will be better if you don't. The genre, technically, is "thriller." A psychologist (Bruce Willis) treats a boy (Haley Joel Osment) who is suffering from severe anxiety, social withdrawal, and some disturbing behavior, and finds out a lot more than he had bargained for. The film's title is suggestive of the origin and nature of the boy's disturbance, and that's probably all you should know going in. Willis and Osment do a good job with their roles, and build a respectable intensity, something that too few self-described "thrillers" manage to do.
I was impressed by the staging and the amount of time the movie spent
in developing it's characters; I really could empathize with both of the
protagonists.
"Touch of Evil" is a reasonably good film, and there are many technical achievements in it that make film geeks drool (such as the long shot at the beginning, following the car..) but I, at least, didn't find it enjoyable enough to warrant an "A+" rating.. I'm impressed with the technical artistry of the film, and some of the performances are quite good, but it's not a film I'll return to again and again..
Recent rentals: ELIZABETH (B+) -- I'm a sucker for any historic drama. This one is better than most, thanks mainly to the acting of Cate Blanchett, who seems to have perfected her 'tude by watching Glenda Jackson in the old "Elizabeth R" TV series. French cinebabe Fanny Ardant is hot in a brief appearance as Mary of Guise. The over-all atmosphere and the final scenes of this movie are cribbed straight from Godfather I, however. I almost expected to see Fat Clemenza show up and plug Norfolk in his bed. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (A) -- I'm a sucker for any historic drama. This isn't awfully historic, but it does deal with some real people, and is filled with English Lit. major in-jokes. (My favorite one is John Webster portrayed as a boy whose favorite parts of the plays are the violent death scenes.) There's a too-sweet love story in there, too, plus Gwyneth Paltrow, if you like her.
As to remarks of the Spleen being superfluous in Mystery Men: in the appearances of the Mystery Men in various numbers of Flaming Carrot Comics, the Spleen was generally useless, cowardly, and - if memory serves - had no superpowers at all, but simply (for some unexplained reason) had a radioactive spleen. He was a foil to the others, who were generally ready for a fight; usually hid when there was a battle and then boasted afterward. There were a couple Mystery Men left out of the movie... I guess the Garofalo character replaced Mystic Hand.
"The Bowler" was a *great* caracter though.
I hoped that Screwball would make an appearance in Mystrey Men, if only so I could watch him play with his pet shoelace.
I *really* liked "Sixth Sense". **** I agree with Aaron that knowing almost nothing about it would be a good thing here.
I hadn't planned on seeing sixth sense, so I felt that hearing the ending wouldn't mean much. As it turned out, I now wish I could see it without that information, but that's okay. I knew what I was getting into. I was *highly* impressed with what I heard, based on what I knew.
See it. Even if you know where the road's going, the ride's well
worth it.
Not to mention that Haley Joel Osment gives one of the most memorable performances by a child actor in recent memory.
I watched Godzilla because it was renting for 99 cents. Having arrived with very low expectations, I didn't find them entirely met. Special effects were fine. Liked the way that they failed to anthromorphize Godzilla - he is treated as a big fierce animal, not a sapient being. Interestingly, because he is treated that way, he becomes somewhat sympathetic and you can feel sad for him when he is killed. I think it's a bit of 90's think - it's kind of sad to kill the last of a species (barring sequels) even if it's not exactly a species you want visiting your backyard. The hero and heroine were a pair of dewy-eyed Brady-bunch escapees, but that's consistant with the human characters in all the original films, and makes a nice contrast to the monster. And they had fun pitting New York City against Godzilla. The final duel between Godzilla and a yellow cab driven by a foreigner was fun from that point of view. Chrysler Building, subways, fish markets, Madison Square Gardens, Holland Tunnel, and the Brooklyn bridge all figure promently into the movie. Interesting that they left out the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center (except for a reference to the bombings) and the Statue of Liberty. Anyway, it wasn't great, but it was enjoyable for me.
Didja notice how the mayor and his assistant were named Siskel and Ebert?
Oh my God! They killed Godzilla. Those bastards!
I just watched Fail Safe and Dr Strangelove in a row. yikel!
Where the heck did you find _Fail Safe_? I've wanted Kenn to see it for years and can never find it!
Where all obscure videos hide: Liberty St:)
The Thomas Crown Affair - C+ - It is cute, which might make up for the fact that the plot is not credible, but it is *entirely* predictable. The only think I did not predict was how lame the ending was going to be. They do an amazing job with some of the sets, however, such as the museum sets (no part of the film was shot inside a real museum).
Why is _Fail Safe_ an obscure video? Was it because it came out the same year as _Dr. Strangelove_?
Universal Soldier: The Return (B-) is a sequel to the original. The computer running the unisols (reanimated dead supersoldier) goes FUBAR, moves into a human body, and directs the unisols to wreak havok in the military base in which they are situated. It's Jean Claude van Damme's job to stop them. The storyline doesn't go smoothly (Damme's sweethart seemed to be stuck into the story, and there wasn't a good transition from the original), although there was a bit of humor in there (people getting bashed in some funny ways), and the sound (Heavy rock music for all the fight scenes) and graphics were pretty good. Basically, if you have a DVD, 50" projection screen, and a really good sound system, you won't care for one minute that the story's bad. Though this movie has one scene which made half the theatre yuck out, you can take your teenagers with you (exept for the fact that there's around five minutes of off-and-on (mostly on) frontal nudity (strip club), so that's a great time for the teen to get a refill on popcorn). Anyway, unless you go to a theatre with really good DTS Surround sound, wait for the DVD.
I got both fail safe and dr strangelove from amazon.com. Failsafe was only 8.99 I.ve already got my order in for yellow submarine in. to be rerelised next month.
We saw "The Blair Witch Project" at the new theater on Jackson Rd. on Saturday. I was not impressed at all; it seemed to me like 2 hours of a home movie, with very little plot and not much of interest from the characters. My wife liked it pretty well; she called it "post-modern". Interestingly, we read an article in the AA News on Saturday, saying that people over 35 don't like it as much as those under 35. I'm over that age, and she's under. We weren't too impressed by the new theater, either. Andrea didn't like the smaller theater; she said she just prefers larger ones. I thought it was okay. Smaller theaters ought to mean a smaller chance of someone behind you using his popcorn to compete with the audio level of the movie. (Though perhaps less likely, we were treated to this experience on Saturday.) I liked one thing: at 8:00 pm on a Saturday, there were *no lines* at the concession stand, and the line for getting a ticket moved very quickly. Neither of us liked the tiny parking lot.
Actually, it seems that a smaller theater could increase the odds of somebody eating popcorn while sitting behind you -- in a larger theater, assuming similar traffic, the odds are greater that there won't be someone behind you at all. Of course, there are a lot of variables to consider.
However, a larger theatre will have a larger clientele.... therefore, the proportions for filled-seats-to-empty-seats and jackass-filled-seats-to-normalpeople-filled-seats will be the same. Ergo, you have the same chance of someone screwing around with the popcorn behind you.
Which is why I specified similar traffic. As I said, there are a lot of variables to consider.
In any case it hasn't been my experience that theater patronage is generally proportional to theater size..
Right. This is because nature abhors a vacuum but not an empty theater.
My experience is that at theatres with different-sized screens, a bigger screen meant a more popular movie, ergo more patronage, ergo proportionality.
Within the same theater megaplex, no doubt the management tries to balance just as you say.. Once you get outside the confines of a single megaplex, though, the relationship doesn't hold. In this area, where large-capacity old-style theaters like the Michigan show independent and 'art' films, there's probably a negative correlation between theater capacity and theater patronage..
Even in the bigger theaters, they have a set number of theaters of various sizes. It costs more to build large theaters. It may cost moderately more to operate them, due to cleaning costs, but I'm guessing that part isn't too significant in the grand scheme of things. Therefore, once they've built the capacity, much of the expense directly related to capacity has been taken care of, and they then need to start bringing in money to pay their construction and operations costs. To maximize income, they need capacity to hold as many people as want to see the most popular movies during peak hours. There may be a lot of people wanting to see the popular movies, and there may be several popular movies out at once. It is therefore to the megaplex's advantage to build a number of very large theaters. They also build some small theaters, not because off peak crowds are small, but because there will always be some movies that don't draw big crowds even during peak times. Now, let's say it's an off-peak time, or a time of year when the studios aren't releasing many really popular movies. The theater has all these large theaters sitting there, but crowds that aren't big enough to fill them. The theater has a choice: leave the large theaters sitting empty and make no money from them, or show movies in them anyway, and make some money. Which are they going to choose?
_Sixth Sense_ - a definate 'do'. Try not to hear anything about it before you see it. Whats-her-name and I were both fortunate in not knowing anything about it other that her nephiew said to do it. Both of us were extremely and pleasantly surprised by it. The acting is superb, all the major characters deliver outstandingly. (Bruce Willis has two kinds of movies, one where he actually works, and one where he kinda floats jokingly through the script while collecting green beer coupons - this is most definately the former.) _Bowfinger_ - a definate 'do'. Not in the same class, but still well done none-the-less. There are a lot of 'hollywood inside jokes' that do not detract from the film if you don't 'get' them and add to your enjoyment of it if you do (especially when you know who Steve Martin's most recent sex partner was).
I liked "Sixth Sense" quite a bit and agree that the less you know about the plot going in, the better. I'll say a little bit about the style, though. The movie takes chances that Hollywood films don't often take - very leisurely pace, many quiet moments. "Sixth Sense" is a big hit (number one at the box office for two weeks in a row), so the approach seems to be working with audiences. We saw it in a fairly crowded theater, and during the quiet moments, the audience was absolutely silent; you could've heard a pin drop.
I was impressed that such an intelligent film did so well at the box
office.
I take it you're a connoisseur of movies like Dumb & Dumber and Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion?
I didn't see "Dumb and Dumber" but I'll stick up for "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion" It wasn't "Hamlet", but then it didn't set out to be..
Re #245: The Cinema 5 in Houghton seems to have a different strategy. All their theaters are quite small (it's crammed into one end of the Copper Country Mall.) Really big films, they show in more than one theater for a while. The same company owns the Lode, which was a classic "huge" theater until they divided it up into three smaller ones. They also own the Pic, which is still huge, probably because they didn't want to put that kind of money into it.
As to Dumb & Dumber and Romy & Michele - it's true that D&D was asine, but it did have a few funny moments - yet you must admit that it succeeded where Forrest Gump failed. Romy & Michele was , yes it was, a good picture. You must have a heart of stone to not laugh when as they watch "Pretty Woman" and cry when they won't let Julia Roberts shop in the stores on Rodeo Drive.
I finally saw American Pie, which was hillarious. Lots of mentions of Ann Arbor too (talked about in terms of future plans -- it didn't actually take place here). This was also my first trip to the Quality 16 theater out on Jackson Road. Compared to the grandeur of the other new multiplexes I've been in, it was extremely pretty small and very understated. The theater we were in was tiny, although I'm assuming they probably have some bigger theaters somewhere. I haven't made up my mind about the theater yet.
Video/DVD recommendation-- just bought the new DVD edition of the Universal films 1933 classic "Frankenstein", with Boris Karloff. The DVD features a terrific new, completely restored and uncut version of the original film (somebody found the master print, which is great since the film has been edited and cutup so many times over the years as its played on tv). Also features an alternate soundtrack you can play over the movie with that film historian from American Movie Classics (I forget his name) which is really fascinating. As well as a full length documentary on the making of the Frankenstein movies showing many cool clips, like Karloff having his monster makeup applied .etc And an extensive photo archive, showing stills and posters and publicity material for the movie. There;s an old frankenstein cartoon on there and the movie trailer and cast/director biographies and production notes and other stuff. This DVD package gives the proper treatment a great and cool old movie deserves. It is the first of what is gokng to be a series of DVD's of the old Universal 1930's horror classics (like Bride of Frankenstein, INvisible Man, Dracula, Wolf Man .etc) I cant wait...
In spite of bad reviews, we all found The 13th Warrior to be an excellent movie. Thats four thimbs up. I am begining to think the reviewers in this country are full of something other than gray matter. The historical setting is accurate, teh equipment and clothing set well with the times. One of us had a quibble with one of the pieces of armor, but it was a very rough version of what would have been seen in a later period. My only quibble is that there were too many of the enemy for what they were supposed to be at that time. The comeraderie between the warrior, th way they worked as a group, the combat techniques, and the encampments were all very well done and as you would expect them to be in early midevil times. (post mohhamed) Go. Enjoy!
The 13th Warrior - D+ The vikings are pretty cool, but they are secondary characters in a poorly plotted, poorly acted film. As Bruce suggests, the "massive enemy" is so contrived, it is impossible to take it seriously. There are some interesting "myth versus reality" aspects, but not much else in the movie is particularly interesting. I have heard that this film had a $100 million budget, yet the CGI boating scenes are *that* cheesy? Run away! Run away! (And now we bring this exercise in contrasts to a close. ;)
Yeah: Adam Herz was from Grand Rapids (referred to as Great Falls in the movie) and went to U-M. It makes sense that Stifler's Mom would have a cabin on Lake Michigan. What makes less sense is that Stifler would have a prescription filled from a pharmacy that had a 517 area code.
Hhm. I gave "The Thirteenth Warrior" a high B plus, or four stars, or an eight. I don't give out that many eights. I think this is the second in two years. Maybe it's all those months I spent translating Beowulf from the Anglo-Saxon, maybe it's the fact that most of the historical details were spot on, maybe it's that I'm a gamer and look for different things in my movies -- like a plausible fight, a very plausible level of action, things like that -- but I didn't see any real problems with it, on the acting or on the script level. (Oh. Yeah. I read "eaters of the dead" a few years back, so I also knew that the enemy was supposed to be who they were, and what the conceit of the movie/book was. But no one else who watched it with me knew, and they all enjoyed it, too. The movie is about a thousand times better realized tha the book.)
very much enjoyed "The Red Violin."
new movies in production item-- word is that United Artists has bribed Sylvester Stallone with many millions of dollars to make Rocky VI-- thats right- coming to a theater near you next christmas, Rocky Balboa now age 53 or so comes out of retirement with new manager Mr. T to win back the heavyweight title. Movie will parallell the real life comeback of George Foreman. It sounds like Im making this up, but Im not. Rocky VI. I guess the real question will be who dies in this one (one Rocky character dies in each sequel) Will it be Adrian, or Paulie or Mr. T or Rocky Jr.?
Movie will parallel George Foreman... So, a somewhat genial but dimwitted Rocky, carrying about eighty extra pounds, and his ten children (boys and girls, all named Rocky), will fight as a heavyweight (because Stallone would be such a convincing heavyweight), and... wait -- didn't Foreman retire again, long before he had a chance to contend for the title? Maybe it will be like Rocky II, and Rocky will try to work his damaged brain up to the point when he can stammer through the lines for a commercial.
_better than chocolate_ quite possibly the most entirely entertaining movie i can remember. rated "one of the five best lesbian movies," it is a love story with a fairly standard gay/lesbian issue (telling the parents), but it remains pleasantly free of cliche' and has some nice twists. really nicely shot, intelligently written, funny, etc. and a really creative and beautiful love scene, too. you don't have to be a lesbian to enjoy it, either.
"Autumn Tale" is a charming story of a woman in mid-life who has almost convinced herself that she is isn't up to the effort of finding love in a long term relationship. In comes her best friends, who feel otherwise. This isn't a Hollywood screenplay which goes for laughs but rather for honest dialogue, played with a light touch. Highly recommended. French subtitled.
I second the recommendation for "Autumn Tale". It's yet another winner in the series of witty comedies of manners and morals that director Eric Rohmer has been turning out for thirty years.
"54"-- movie about the famous New York 70's disco, "Studio 54", with Mike Myers as 54's egomaniacal owner, Steve Rubell. Myers is really good in what is a dramatic, non-comedy, role. Ryan Philippe is a naive New Jersey pretty boy that Myers/Rubell picks out of the line in front of the club and makes a busboy and later bartender. This film has some script problems but is in general a pretty good chronicle of the 70's disco craze and the era of Studio 54 (the world's most famous disco at the height of the disco craze) *** (three out of four stars, not a great film but ok) "EDTV" Matthew Mconaughey as a guy named Ed whose life becomes chronicled on a 24hour cable channel. This also had script problems, and Mconaughey was the wrong person for the lead. His part should have gone to Woody Harrelson who played his brother in thefilm. Also the ending was too contrived. Pretty funny though. Truman Show was much better. ** 1/2 stars
"The Governess" **** A really engrossing and heartbreaking film starring Minnie Driver as a Victorian era Jewish woman from London who hides her heritage, taking a Christian name and becoming a governess in Scotland in order to help support her family after her father is murdered. She falls in love with her employer, while his son falls in love with her. Lots of erotic scenes of passion, and a couple of glimpses of full frontal male nudity (in case that sort of thing bothers you -- it didn't bother me in context... it wasn't flagrant).
I wasn't crazy about 54 (B-). The expensive-looking set wasn't very convincing. Also, Neve Campbell's character seemed hackneyed -- the weary, "I bet you think this is glamorous," actress who finds coffee and conversation at a simple diner more rewarding than drugs and dancing at fabulous "Studio," as everyone called it (wouldn't've made a very good title, though). Mike Myers' sustained impression of Steve Rubell was . . . impressive. The director had a lot of fun with Neve Campbell's face, as directors always do. Speaking of faces, my daughter brought home a movie called CANDYMAN (C), which seems be about Virginia Madsen's face more than anything else. The camera is *always* focused in on it -- smiling, weeping, angry, swooning, left profile, right profile, full-face. It's a nice face, but jeez. Madsen bears up under the camera's scrutiny quite well and does a convincing job with her role. The title character's monotone recitations of the silly lines he's given, which perfectly matches the tediously droning score (by Philip Glass, of all people), makes you almost glad he was stung to death by bees in his former life. There were a few jump-out-at-you moments that were more startling than scary. You can see the surprise ending coming, but it's still pretty cool. My kids both gave Candyman a "B," so I'm sure it has its admirers.
"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" I'll give it a B, but with the caveat that you can't watch this movie sober and gain any enjoyment at all. Knowing the text helps, I think (I know it quite well), but being somewhat impaired helps quite a bit more. But with that taken care of, it *does* do a pretty good job of carrying the tone of the book. Even the more reflective part about the 60's culture is in there, which I was pleasantly suprised to find. "Waiting for Guffman" Hmm, another B. It's sort of the Spinal Tap of local theatre. Quite funny, but seemed a hair long to me even at it's less than 2 hour length.
Saw "Run Lola Run" at the State Theater, and really enjoyed it. It was a very unique and creative film, unlike anything I've seen before (which probably isn't saying much -- I'm not much of a moviegoer). I won't reveal much about the film, except that the plot is essentially that the flame-haired Lola must obtain 100,000 marks (or was it 500,000?) within 20 minutes in order to save her boyfriend's life. Upon seeing a preview for this movie at the Michigan theater, I really had no interest in seeing it, but upon the high recommendation from two friends I decided to give it a try, and found it to be quite worthwhile. It's a fast-paced film, and one of my friends said that she felt like everything was moving really slowly after she came out of the theater. The film is in German with subtitles and runs a bit less than two hours, despite all the action taking place within 20 minutes.
Jerry and I just returned from "The Thomas Crown Affair" which we both truly enjoyed. Thought it was fun and sexy and Rene Russo is one of the most attractive woman I have seen.
I saw Ed TV last night. It was enjoyable, but too long. Some of the subplots just dragged on too long. Although it was more realistic than The Truman Show, it wasn't as fun to watch. I actually found it harder to suspend my disbelief with this film than The Truman Show. C-
I saw Bullworth last night. Didn't know it was such an attitude adjustment' movie.
THE SIXTH SENSE (C) -- Pretty lame. It's one of those movies in which several key characters would have to be stupid, or laughably inattentive, to behave the way they do, and in which the director repeatedly has to cut away from certain scenes and move hastily on, in the hope that we won't notice. Cheap trick. There were a couple of well-executed startles, which are always fun, and the drizzly autumnal atmosphere was just right. Bruce Willis is his usual smirky self. The little boy is very good. The "surprise" was figured out in the following order, according to the people involved: my 15-year-old-son (the movie maven in the family), right after the opening sequence; myself, about 15 minutes in; my wife, a couple of scenes before the truth comes out at the end; my 13-year-old daughter, when we explained it to her on the way out to the car.
"13th Warrior" Entertainingly gory. Would have been a really kickass Xena episode. Oh wait, I think it was on last year's season.
Ah, now I remember. I think 3rd season Xena, "The Horde". They came back in a later episode, livingh in a cave! After some reflection, I'd have to say that "13th Warrior" was pretty badly done. But it, like Star Trek movies with even numbers, was at least quite fun to watch.
Whoops, make that 2nd season Xena. Episode was called "The Price". The bad guys were called The Horde, and were wonderfully over the top barbarian (with bones in their noses, no less). (can you tell I'm bored?) (info courtesy www.whoosh.org)
"The Astronaut's Wife". Both lead characters had the same cool haircut. That's the best thing I can say about this movie.
<steve cracks up laughing>
"SIXTH SENSE"-- I thought this was really pretty good, with a great performance by 8-year old Haley Joel Osment as the kid (he's the early favorite according to Variety for the best supporting actor oscar-- what kind of acceptance speech does an 8 year old give anyway) who is tormented by ghosts and visions. Bruce Willis is also excellent as the psychologist. The ending caught me off-guard and now I want to re-watch the whole film. Its a very complex movie, and well-made ***1/2 (3.5 stars)
re#279: Indeed. I saw it a couple weeks ago and am still telling folks to do it. Excellent do. On the airplane I watched some film "The Letter" or something like that just to kill time. Kate Capshaw, Blythe Danner, and some others, it was actually quite good. I wished that it was dubbed in mandarin so Nai-Nai could enjoy it as it was one of those sort of universal sorta films that I think will so well in no matter what foreign market it shows in. As it turns out it was directed by a chinese person I think. Instead, nai-nai slept most of the way back to chicagoland.
I also liked Sixth Sense. There's another movie from a few years ago which is very similar and also done much better. Can't tell what it is without giving away a lot of the plot of SS.
Last night John and I went to see The Muse, at Quality 16. Have I mentioned before I really like that theater? Albert Brooks, who directed and co-wrote the screenplay, reminds me a whole lot of Woody Allen, if Allen lived in southern California but still didn't get much sun. So this movie was great fun. I'm especially fond what he did with the cleverly placed cameo roles. ***
The bit with Martin Scorsese is a classic.
The Quality 16 lacks in one critical area - popcorn. Their popcorn
isn't so much bad, as it is tasteless.
We brought our own.
At Quality 16 I asked for salt for my popcorn. The droid behind the counter said there was some "somewhere". And when there wasn't any salt to be found, he he told my kids there was something wrong with me for wanting salt in the first place:) Not that there was anything wrong with him being a tree sloth.
Hey, I've been wanting to see South Park ever since Mr. Delizia reviewed it here, a month or so ago. So I went to the cheap show today and had great fun. Writing Satan as the most sympathetic character in the story was a nice touch. I waited through the credits to the very end. I so wanted it to be dedicated to Lenny.
bruce?
(I especially enjoyed Satan's big song, "Up There")
I loved the Terrance and Phillip song at the beginning. For some strange reason, I never made the connection between T&P and the adopted Canadian baby until I saw the film. It was only then that I realized that all Canadians are drawn with the same style. I don't know how I missed that before.
Saw "Stigmata" tonight with Jazz ans Clees. Wow, that was a very cool movie, and the soundtrack was great. I was most impressed. Although, it's being billed as a horror movie, but it wasn't really scary. I highly reccomend this movie.
Bruce.
It was the historical touches that prevented the pissant in me from
being annoyed - the stigmata were in the right places, and the mysterious
quotes were really from the Gospel of St. Thomas of the Nag Hammadi
collection of early writings. Very spooky effect.
What movie featured the following cast: Gillian Anderson, Ellen Burstyn, Sean Connery, Anthony Edwards, Angelina Jolie, Jay Mohr, Ryan Phillippe, Dennis Quaid, Gena Rowlands, Jon Stewart, Madeleine Stowe? It's called PLAYING BY HEART (A). It's a collection of short stories with a common theme that share a common ending. The stories are all well- written and beautifully directed. The strongest of the stories is about a pair of star-crossed lovers, played by Phillipe and Jolie, who go together like butter and toast. Highly recommended.
Kids insisted we catch STIGMATA (C) yesterday. It almost put them to sleep. Pokey, unscary. Uncreepy, even. Gabriel Byrne, as an angsty priest, and Patricia Arquette, as Saint Frankie, valiantly try and make something of all the nonsense. It's worth seeing for them, but that's about it. Someone described Stigmata as "MTV meets The Exorcist." Close. Portia de Rossi, who plays Nell on TV's Emmy-winning Ally McBeal, has a miniscule role.
If you can , talk to me ,please.
(i still wonder why someone would name their child "door.")
:-) They didn't. She was born Mandy Rodgers,
changed her name when she was 12 and started
modeling.
"Portia" is an old Roman name, but the noun
"portia" doesn't exist. There is a masculine noun
"portio," meaning "part." If you felt like it, you
could posit the existence of a feminine form
"portia," indicating that Miss de Rossi is a "piece."
("Nomen," the Latin word for "name," also means
"noun," so we may be on to something.)
I guess it beats Kevin Kline's query about the name, from "A Fish Called Wanda".
When people tell Arsenio Hall that "Arsenio" is an unusual name for a black man, he says "It means Leroy in Latin".
Forgot to mention: "ostium" is "door." "Portus" is "port." Now, write that 100 times.
Portia is an Uranian Moon. Along with Desdemona, Cressida, Opelia, Juliet, Puck and Ariel, just to mention a few.
Rented John Boorman's "Excalibur" last night. Still a cool movie, but those knights were pretty tough characters to be wearing their full plate armor all the time like that. They didn't even take it off to have sex!
Yeah, that's what I remember about that movie, all right.
Now you know how turtles and armadillos feel.
Good about practicing safe sex?
'YELLOW SUBMARINE'-- They have just re-released a fully restored and beautiful looking new version of one of my alltime favorite movies, the Beatles "Yellow Submarine" This was the first movie I can ever recal seeing (my dad took me to see it at theater in 1968 when it came out, I was almost five I think) This was back when the Beatles were like supergods and I remember loud screaming of girls when the cartoon versions of John, Paul, George, and Ringo were introduced on screen. The Beatles are recruited by Sgt. Pepper to be in his Lonely Hearts Club Band and travel to Pepperland aboard the Yellow Submarine to save the world from the Blue Meanies. The psychedelic animation and the interspersing of live action and animated shots is really something in this. And of course the music including many Beatles classics, like "All You need is Love". "When Im 64", "Nowhere Man", and a personal favorite, the title song, "Yellow Submarine" This is a true 60's classic. The DVD has the widescreen version, a making of documentary, plus you can index by song and just play your favorites. **** (four stars...buy it, its a keeper!)
Also The Matrix has come out on DVD today. Some say it is the movie that will drive people to buying DVD players.
MATRIX ON DVD? WHERE ARE MY SHOES? I am serious closing agora *now* and buying this.
Don't forget about Uncle Albert.
Got Matrix?
I also loved "It's all too much", which is a masterpiece of
odered-seeming chaos, and appears only in _Yellow Submarine_ and it's
soundtrack, insofar as I've seen.
Its been reported of course that Keanu Reeves has signed to film not one but two Matrix sequels back to back next year. They are to be filmed late this year at the same time with the thought (and this is an interesting idea) to release both Matrix II and III at the same time. This way theater owners can play with your minds by not telling you which movie you are seeing until you are in the theater, or they can switch the endings around.
Hm, I will probably stay home so that they can't play with my money.
Robert Zemeckis did something like that for the filming of "Back to the Future" II and III (filmed them at the same time and then released them almost simultaneously..)
Not for another week. However, I had some computer shopping which that prompted me to do.
Re #315: There were about 6 months between the release dates of BTF II and III (11/22/89 and 5/25/90, according to the IMDB).
my copy of yellow sub. came in the mail to my door from amazon :) the sound os great, good surround sound, oh, the pictures were good too :) ,
MICKEY BLUE EYES (C) - A hearty laugh or two, but that's about all, despite the nice cast. The story and pacing don't sustain your interest. The directing seemed off the mark in many places: thirty minutes in, it suddenly dawns on you what the movie's been trying, clumsily, to make think this or that character is supposed to be like. Hugh Grant is not at his best. 200 CIGARETTES (B) - Something I read or heard put me off about this movie when it was showing in the theaters. It definitely has its moments, though, if not its audience. It resembles a '90s teen party flick in some ways -- think Can't Hardly Wait -- but the characters are mostly early '80s 20-somethings. Several separate stories intertwine and converge. Funny in places, touching in places, some stories work, others fail. It's one of those movies you keep on recasting it in your head, which is not a good sign.
ZARDOZ (C-) - I only rate this bad movie this high because it was a fun bad movie.The plot was very confusing at times. Sean Connery probably regretted starring in this one. Then again, maybe he liked running around in a red loincloth throughout the whole film.
re resp:267 I had an amusing few seconds, thinking you were saying that Philip Glass was stung to death by bees in a former life. It would explain a lot. :)
i loved zardoz. great late-night swill!
re#320&322: Yeah. _Zardoz_ was way too kewl. And if you ever thought about it rather meaningful as well. I especially liked the use of the 7th symphony as well as other classical music in the score.
Ugh. My friend has Zardoz on video and he loves it. We watched it one night after the bar. Even with a mild buzz I can't say I enjoyed it. And I usually would go for that sorta thing.
I think that Zardoz is not really a movie to enjoy, but something more like a rite of passage. Since we are talking of such old films, am I the only person on earth who LIKED "Hudson Hawk" and "Big Times in Little China"?
No..
When I saw Hudson Hawk for the first time, in the theaters, I didn't like it at all. I saw most of it again recently on late night cable, and loved it.
That's "Big Trouble in Little China", and it's become one of my all-time favorite movies. "Now I'm gonna tell you about an accident, and I don't wanna hear 'Act of God'."
Cassia- you're not alone. I liked "Hudson Hawk" when I saw it in the theater, and I really really like "Big Trouble in Little China." Although, in the last big fight scene- try counting how many knives Kurt Russell's character pulls out of his boot... It's amusing.
I liked Hudson Hawk when I watched it with a group of friends. As bad as it was, Richard Grant played the role he was born to play. I love "Big Trouble in Little China" and watch it whenever it's on. I just love how the movie plays with the macho hero stereotype. Too bad they never made the sequel.
Just saw "Strange Days" for the first time. (It came out in '95, and I had meant to see it then but never got around to it.) *Very* cool. Great story, with action, sci-fi, suspense and a little bit of romance all rolled into one. The ending was a little predictable, but by that point I had become so engrossed in the story that it didn't matter. It takes place roughly three months from now, during the last two days of 1999, which makes it all the more realistic. It's certainly worth renting, and I wouldn't have felt at all disappointed had I paid to see it in a theater.
I would agree that "Strange Days" is a good movie. Realistic, though? Perhaps in comparison to "1984" or "Space: 1999", or other specifically time-stamped future scenarios.. Our world is substantially less screwed up than the one portrayed in the movie..
Yeah, and those Sony Discmans that record our memories will be out any day now. "Space: 1999" did get one thing right. We're very dependent on computers to the point that a lot of people would be afraid to work without them. It hasn't reached the point that when a computer says it requires a human decision, there's a collective thought of "We're screwed!" I've known some people who kind of forget that not everyone has e-mail though. :)
It's pass-the-buck-itis. Most people look for reasons to avoid work,
rather than what they need to do, and having computers down is a wonderful
excuse which sounds plausible enough for them to pass on to coworkers,
employers, and customers.
My favorite "pass-the-buck-itis" was when a co-worker called and requested some info. The personon the other end said, "Sorry, our fax lady is out right now. We can't fax anything until she returns." How hard can it be to fax something? If you can use a phone and a document feeder on a copier, you can use a fax machine.
but you don't understand.... sales people are only able to so certain things... other things in life they have no clue. They would get their tie stuck in the fax machine and die!
"Lulu on the Bridge" is an interesting rental which I enjoyed a whole lot. It's written and directed by Paul Auster (who also did "Smoke") and stars Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino and Willem Dafoe. Where did this little gem come from? I don't think it played anywhere in Ann Arbor, or maybe it did, and I missed it. It's another that will play much better the less you know about the plot. Just let it unfold. Send me mail once you've seen it. I'd like to compare takes on the ending.
George C. Scott has died.
Geez, really? That's sad. A great actor. He was fairly old but was still practicing his craft within the last few months. Seems to me I just saw him as the William Jennings Bryan-like character in the made-for-cable version of "Inherit the Wind".
Saw _Better than Chocolate_ last night.
My first thought was, that if you were looking to it to be a political
commentary, it'd be a failure. It dashes all sorts of stereotypes about
lesbians and transgenders, but then proceeds to stereotype all skinheads as
violent racists and downplays the rejection of bisexual folk by both the gay
and straight communities.
My second thought was, if you don't think of it as political commentary
and just accept it as a romantic comedy, it's easily one of the best romantic
comedies I've seen in years, since _Overnight Delivery_, and easily as
intelligent as _Love and Human Remains_.
So if you're looking for political commentary, skip it. If you're
turned off by transgenderism, homosexuality, or the free speech folks, skip
it. If you're looking for an intelligent and honest modern love story told
as a comedy, then you'd do well to track it down at one of the local
independent theatres.
George C. Scott passed away? Looks like I'll be watching Patton and They Might Be Giants, my favorite Scott movies.
It is actually pushes as a "Romantic Comedy for Lesbians" - About Better than Chocolate
Also passed away... Pop icon Madonna is mourning the sudden, unexpected loss of her darling, irrepressible, three-year-old British accent.
I saw "Better Than Chocolate" and I agree that as a political statement it's a flop, but I liked seeing it as a romantic comedy. It seems to me that if a lesbian film can be seen as simply a romantic comedy and not a statement then it's becoming more mainstream, more 'normal' for such movies to be out there. Which, I think, is a good thing.
Re: 339, since when is 71 terribly old?
George C. Scott was a great actor-- my favorite was in the "Hustler" where plays this slimy hustler who takes control of pool shark Paul Newman's career and teaches him what it *really* means to hustle, the price you really have to pay. He won best supporting actor for that but turned it down, and also turned down the best actor award for Patton, because he doesnt/didnt believe you can compare dramatic performances.
Stop the presses: I definitely agree w/ richard re: "The Hustler".
So watch The Hustler, and The Color of Money back to back if you have the time. I loved The Hustler. Great film, great cast, and great acting.
You have several choices: