39 new of 327 responses total.
(I've not seen it, but I thought he played a nutso in The Fisher King.)
Yes, but in that film he was a heartwarming nutso..
Rented "King of Texas". Patrick Stewart and Colim Meany set aside their Star Fleet togs to do King Lear reset as a Western. I guess this is mostly a curiousity. But it's not nearly as bad as one might reasonably expect it to be. Quite watchable, really. Patrick Stewart really is a good actor, as are several of the other performers.
Oh, and the film is called "Insomnia" not "Insomniac".
oops! I almost didn't even come up with that, so thanks!
Watched a fair amount of "Ishtar" (yes, *that* bad movie) last night - didn't really watch it will attention, and the friend who bought had to leave early to avoid the snowstorm. No opinion on it yet.
Re. 291: I think you mean "Colm Meaney." I just finished watching the TV-movie remake of The Lone Ranger. I didn't recognize any of the actors but I enjoyed it. Although it took place in the old west, you could definitely see modern-day influences, like the way they talked and particularly the fighting style of Tonto which had plenty of martial arts-style moves.
I've enjoyed Robin Williams evolution as an actor. He's continued to mix up both comedy and more serious roles as his film career progresses. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd highly recommend "Robin Williams, Live on Broadway." It's fabulous!
I think Williams deserved to be nominated for an academy award for "One Hour Photo", but it was a smaller film and released earlier in the year and not the end of it, and lacked the marketing muscle of other films. But he was great in it.
Saw "Chicago" on Saturday. Ok - how badly do I want to take jazz classes now? Talk about a great show!
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I still can't get over how great Richard Gere was!!! I mean, he's an ok singer, but the tapdance he did was great. And how can I forget John C. Reilly? Talk about a great actor. I can't believe that Gere didn't get an Oscar nod.
Yep, I REALLY did enjoy that movie. I went out and bought the soundtrack immediately upon leaving the theater!
Watched "Shall We Dance" over the weekend. Cute Japaneese movie. reminded me a little of Strictly Ballroom, which I love. (Which is on Bravo this week.)
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Rented "The Fast Runner" (on Jan's enthusiastic recommendation in #278). We were "glued to our seats" (but were happy for video so we could pause for potty runs). It IS a movie - not a documentary - but the closeness to either earlier or remote Inuit life is well done. No "modern conveniences" are evident, except for a pot in which they boiled water or rendered fat, which may have been a snowmobile oil pan (??). We thought the cinematography was excellent - it was just that the scenery is so barren. The focus is therefore mostly on the people and their lives. It is a story of an internal feud in a remote Inuit tribe based on jealousies over both a woman and leadership. Although a murder is committed most public violence is ritualistic, with elders having enormous influence. The story and characters are a little hard to follow because of unfamiliar faces, and the langauge being Inuktitut with English subtitles. If you can't pronounce a character's name it is harder to follow their place in the story. I had read "Confessions of an Igloo Dweller" by James Houston some years ago. It would have been complementary to have seen this movie immediately after having read the book. Many of the objects of daily use described in the book were employed in the film - the ulu, igloos of course and kayaks, the tangle of the dogsleds, an angakuk, kamotiks,..... (I think there is a review of _Confessions..._ in the book cf) - as well as the social and work lives of the Inuit.
You know, Jeanne - "Strictly Ballroom" is easily one of my favorite movies. Where on earth is Paul Mercurio?
Me too Brooke. I'll be watching it again this Friday on Bravo. :)
JUNGLE BOOK 2 C+ Kids under 10 will like it well enough. It has songs and characters from the first movie and has similar story line. This resemblance to the previous Jungle Book is the selling point. However, the ordinary evaluation comes from an adult perspective. In the past I have been amazed that Disney could retell an old story and make it great. Such is not the case here, where the plot is as thin as one peril after another in the jungle. The animation is uninspired: coloration was just plain clumsy with the shadow areas of head shots looking as though faces were blemished by a creeping, irregular bruise. The direction managed to get the story told, but there were few instances of extra effort. In lparticular, the musical number W-I-I-ILD is the only part with novel POV. I paid matineee prices and did not get my money's worth. This movie is good enough to rent though.
This seems like another totally unnecessary sequel from Disney. The first time I went to a movie where the trailer for it played, people *booed* it.
Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt If you watched the '60s Batman series as a kid you'd probably get a grin off this spoof of a spoof. As in the original episodes, the storyline is thin. The original Batmobile is stolen from a charity auction and Adam West and Burt Ward-- in Batman and Robin style--follow clues left by the mysterious thief. Intermixed are flashbacks of how the show got started, problems with censors, Adam's sexual excapades, Burt's problem with the battle of his "buldge," et al. In addition to the original Dynamic Duel, Julie Newmar and Frank Gorshin make appearances as themselves. As for the flashback actors, I wasn't impressed with Jack Brewer, who played a young Adam West. He only sorta looked like him and IMO, didn't sound like him at all. Jason Marsden, who played yound Burt Ward, I thought was alright; not great, but alright. The best casting was with the young villains. I particularly liked the guy who played Burgess Meredeth (Penguin). All-in-all, a fun romp.
I'll probably take my son to see "Jungle Book 2" at the $2.50/seat Clinton Theater on Friday. I've only seen the first movie once, so even if this one is a repeat, I'll be okay.
How can anyone other than Phil Harris be Balue the Bear?
Hell, I thought the first Jungle Book movie was sacrelige.
Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood" - MacBeth, set in medieval Japan. Great B&W movie, starring (natually) Toshiro Mifune.
resp:305 I agree.. funny, romantic, and I liked the Spanish touches. Paul Mercurio? The male lead? resp:309 Oh, I missed that! I hope I can catch a re-run. resp:311 That would be "Baloo".. I wonder if it's Hindi for "bear." Sapna? Phil Harris voiced Little John for Robin Hood as well and I wouldn't be surprised if he was in other Disney films. He has such a rich, melodious baritone voice..I like John Goodman, but really, compare Phil Harris's voice to his gratey bass and well, I just don't think I could sit through this film. resp:307 hasn't Disney learned anything? I know they're capable of good work-- this must be a throwaway film. (I think a friend of mine who's studying graphic arts pointed to Lilo & Stitch as a fine example of pure cell animation.) My first cousin, once removed, Don Bluth, used to be Disney's right hand man but left the studios when animation got bad. Pete's Dragon was one of his last projects for them. "The Secret of NIMH" was his first big project and I understand he wanted to make it really good.. I think animation students may still study it. I hope he does more projects; I enjoyed "Anatasia" and "Titan A.E.".
John and I went to see "Jungle Book 2" at the cheap theater in Clinton ($2.50 per seat). It was worth that much. It was a nice enough movie, very similar to the first one. I hope there's never a "Jungle Book 3", though.
Re #314 (response pi?): That's "cel animation", not "cell". (I wonder if this term is derived from "celluloid"?)
Re #314: Bluth also did a pretty decent PC adventure game a few years back. Wish I could remember the name of it.
Since Tim has been away, this weekend was chick/foreign/any movie that Tim won't watch weekend: In the Bedroom - Ok. kinda boring, but I didn't hate it. The performances were good the but story dragged a bit. About a Boy - I loved this a movie. A little slow at times, but I really liked it. Probably my favorite Hugh Grant role. I do get tired of his roles being much the same, though. Igby Goes down - Ok. It was a little cliche, but ok. Y Tu Mama Tambien - This was an interesting little movie with lots of sex in it. Not rated. The Banger Sisters - This was a fun movie. I liked Geoffry Rush in it a lot. Bowling for Columbine - I loved this movie. It's interesting being both from Michigan and living in Colorado, since most of the movie is centered around the two states. Daughter from Danang - Documentary about "Operation Baby Lift" back during the Vietnam war where they took 2000 vietnam kids and adopted them out to American Parents. One child who came to the US when she was 7 was adopted to a single mom in a very small town in Tenessee. 22 years later, they reunited her with her birthmom in Vietnam and took her there. It was a very interesting how the cultural differences were portrayed in this movie. Pretty good.
I saw Daredevil this afternoon. I liked it. There's something about movies based on comic books. They can't possibly be expected to be realistic, and so I can dismiss that part of the movie, and just have fun watching.
Went to the movies last night with my brother and his wife. They have a two year old at home and had limited time away from the house (her parents were babysitting) and the only interesting-looking movie showing when we got to the multiplex was "The Hunted". Until they do an MST3K version, I'd recommend avoiding it unless you enjoy seeing Tommy Lee Jones outrun trains or don't find it overly implausible that a fleeing fugitive would stop running long enough to forge his own weapon from found scrap iron. I'd describe the movie as having the Grand Canyon of plot holes but, well, there's only *one* Grand Canyon. Heartily disrecommended, unless you and a group of friends are looking for something to make fun of..
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The East Lansing / MSU film festival this week (Wed - Sat) will feature a guest appearance by Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, etc.) and his very recent movie where he stars as a still-alive Elvis Presley.
Saw Daredevil with Julie myself late this afternoon myself. We were not disappointed. In retrospect, it wasn't quite as thrilling as the Spidey flick, but it was still very, very good. We noted that the reporter was the same actor that played Cipher in Matrix, and thought that Kingpin was well cast. I also thought Jennifer Garner made a smart career move with the role as Elektra.. not a stretch from her Alias job, but might get her considered for romantic roles perhaps in the future. I somehow missed, though, that Stan Lee had a cameo (I think I remember it now.. it was when Matt and Elektra were crossing the street and Matt noticed the car.) resp:316 Again, I must trust my memory.. that's right, "cel animation." resp:317 PC adventure? I was aware he had his laser disc games packaged together-- those being Space Ace, Dragon's Lair, and Dragon's Lair 2. The video games came out in the mid-80s and Bluth was quoted as saying that they were very expensive to produce at the time. It was pretty cool for back then, though, although I remember my father's non-plussed response when I babbled wildly about how neat they were: "Yes, I know all about it; he's my cousin."
cel (sel), n: a transparent celluloid sheet on which a
character, scene, etc. is drawn or painted and which
contributes one frame in the filming of an amalgamated
cartoon; may be overlapped for change of background or
foreground. Also, <b>cell.</b> [by shortening of celluloid]
I love unabridged dictionaries.
Do you feel scholarly superior now? <chuckle>
Superior? Before, it was something I suspected; now, it's something we all know. If anything, I've lost some "superiority"... but I've gained karma, and we're all a bit richer.
har.
You have several choices: