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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 327 responses total. |
scott
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response 96 of 327:
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Jan 6 06:00 UTC 2003 |
http://www.smitheeawards.com
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richard
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response 97 of 327:
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Jan 6 08:34 UTC 2003 |
Read an article about "Catch me if you Can" In the movie, Spielberg more
or less portrays Abagnale's acts as him being in denial about his parents
divorce, thinking that if he made something of himself, and got his dad's
money and prestige back, maybe his mom and dad wouldn't divorce. This is pure
Spielberg, as he has admitted that a lot of his movies-- particularly E.T.
but also Close Encounters and A.I. and others, deal with the divorce theme,
because his own parents divorce was particularly painful to him.
But Abagnale in the article denies his parents divorce had anything to do with
his acts. "Hell, I just did it to get girls, thats all" It is pure hollywood
to take the lead character's actions and somehow try to make them seem more
noble. Case in point was the movie of Grisham's "The Firm" If you read the
book, you know that it ends with the main character having stolen the
money from the crooks and living the rest of his life on the run on the high
seas. But in the movie "The Firm", they completely changed the ending.
They created a scene where Tom Cruise's character actually goes and negotiates
with the bad guys for his freedom. And it ends with he and his wife leaving
in their old car to go back up north and be idealistic again. It is typical
hollywood to take the ending of a perfectly good book and ruin it simply
because they want the lead character to come across as more wholesome.
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jep
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response 98 of 327:
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Jan 6 14:24 UTC 2003 |
"The Firm" is a book with a *lousy* ending. The movie version was a
big improvement.
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lynne
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response 99 of 327:
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Jan 6 22:37 UTC 2003 |
Both movie and book endings for "The Firm" totally sucked. I think this is
a frequent Grisham theme--books that are fine until about 75% of the way
through, and then cease to be good for anything but the recycle bin.
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snowth
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response 100 of 327:
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Jan 7 02:13 UTC 2003 |
re: 73
Remmers, it's not that I would be worried about my teaching position at that
point, the "take my job away from me" comment was in reference to a writer
making money to teach Other People to be writers while the teacher sits around
in a classroom. :)
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edina
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response 101 of 327:
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Jan 7 18:01 UTC 2003 |
Finally saw "The Two Towers". Loved it. Hate people bitching and grousing
about it because it seems as if they miss out on just how much vision and
scope Peter Jackson has. Good lord - he made all three of them back to back
- look at the continuity! It's really amazing. And yes - I have read the
first two books. Sure - stuff gets left out - some leeway is given - but it's
like that in many adaptations.
Plus, and ladies, I'm expecting some concurrence here - he gave us Orlando
Bloom in long blonde hair. Let's be honest, people - elves are HOT. So,
thank you Peter Jackson - for a great ride, a lot of fun, and making me want
to go to New Zealand. :)
Ok - on rental:
"The Sweetest Thing" - laughed my ass off. I really do love Cameron Diaz.
"Reign of Fire" - not bad, not bad. Decent story, decent effects. And it
has Christian Bale. I love Christian Bale.
"A Walk to Remember" - look people - you want to bitch about a bad book to
film translation, I highly recommend this. Though I surprisingly did like
the actors.
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mynxcat
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response 102 of 327:
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Jan 7 18:19 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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bhelliom
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response 103 of 327:
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Jan 7 19:02 UTC 2003 |
I can agree with no reservation. And the horse trick, dear gods that
was just beautiful...
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anderyn
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response 104 of 327:
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Jan 8 01:48 UTC 2003 |
We just re-saw the Two Towers. Some of what I was bitching about scanned
better the second time around, and DAMN Legolas is hot. :=) Though I kind of
like Aragorn, once he's cleaned up a little.
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bhelliom
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response 105 of 327:
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Jan 8 08:15 UTC 2003 |
He's pretty beaten up throughout a good portion of the movie. :p
I think I need to go see it again. It's a great ride.
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jep
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response 106 of 327:
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Jan 8 14:18 UTC 2003 |
I guess I need to go see it again, too.
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edina
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response 107 of 327:
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Jan 8 14:20 UTC 2003 |
Saw "Gangs of New York" last night. I posted more on m-net about what I
thought (great but a bit long), but bottom line really felt that it's Daniel
Day-Lewis's film. He's amazing. I wish he'd make more movies. It also
brought up (for me) who I consider to be the most amazing actors of our time.
I came up with Edward Norton, Sean Penn and Daniel Day-Lewis, but I'm curious
as to other people's opinions.
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mxyzptlk
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response 108 of 327:
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Jan 8 14:22 UTC 2003 |
I liked the movie ending to Contact more than I liked the Carl Sagan ending.
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jep
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response 109 of 327:
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Jan 8 14:23 UTC 2003 |
I can take my son to see the Star Trek movie for $2.50. Is it worth
his time to take him? Also, is it violent? (He's had streaks of
pretty violent behavior after playing video games, and I'm trying to
avoid promoting more of that.)
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mynxcat
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response 110 of 327:
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Jan 8 14:44 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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bhelliom
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response 111 of 327:
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Jan 8 15:15 UTC 2003 |
Don't go see "Signs". I paid $0.50 to see it and I still felt ripped
off.
Hmmmm....LOTR this weekend, anyone?
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gizlnort
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response 112 of 327:
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Jan 8 15:19 UTC 2003 |
I finally saw _Insomnia_ last night, I thought it a fairly well done piece,
it maintained a decent level of intensity. Robin Williams though as a
villian, now that was a pleasure to see. I was surpised but the man can carry
off a villian really well.
Documentary wise, last night I also saw "Dr. Death", fascinating work by the
same director that did The Thin Blue Line (which now I have to see), excellent
look at the life of Fred Leuchter, and on checking I see the proper title is
Mr. Death. Still overall a great ride.
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mynxcat
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response 113 of 327:
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Jan 8 16:15 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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anderyn
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response 114 of 327:
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Jan 8 17:06 UTC 2003 |
I'm not sure I'm ready for "A Beautiful Mind" -- since we've gotten reviews
of both book and movie go through our office , I read the book very soon after
publication and have seen what mathematicians think of it, and ... well ...
I already know how eccentric mathematicians can be. :-)
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mynxcat
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response 115 of 327:
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Jan 8 17:18 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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rcurl
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response 116 of 327:
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Jan 8 18:17 UTC 2003 |
A professional mathematician was the advisor for that aspect of the
movie. I've read some reviews of the movie by mathematicians, and none
of them faulted the mathematics shown. Can you cite a negative review
from that perspective? In any case, however, *it doesn't matter*, as the
movie was not about mathematics but rather about a man. Of course, practically
any mathematical gobbledigook could have been used as the intended general
audience would not have known a conditional probability from a heiroglyphic.
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anderyn
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response 117 of 327:
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Jan 9 00:22 UTC 2003 |
Well, yes, I know the mathematics weren't faulty. That's not my point. I've
had to work with some eccentric mathematicians over the years, and I'm not
sure I want to see a recreation of yet another. :-) (Not to say anything bad
about my current co-workers, mind you. It's just that one of the most
eccentric of my past coworkers died very suddenly last Friday, which has
brought his more colorful moments vividly to mind. And he was probably a lot
more colorful to work with than Russell Crow's character (though I am basing
that on the book and not on the real man, or anything).)
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rcurl
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response 118 of 327:
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Jan 9 01:48 UTC 2003 |
If course, Nash wasn't just eccentric - he was sick. The film had much more
to do with schizophrenia than mathematics. The math angle just added an
opportunity for a dramatic context of a brilliant person that falls mentally
sick.
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edina
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response 119 of 327:
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Jan 9 15:03 UTC 2003 |
Twila, just bite the bullet and watch the movie. It's good. I have worked
with schizophrenics and thought the portrayal was accurate.
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tod
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response 120 of 327:
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Jan 9 18:13 UTC 2003 |
This response has been erased.
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