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| (…Non-lesbian…) Movies | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 14 2007, 11:39 AM (2,654 Views) | |
| Mad Maggot | Dec 14 2007, 11:39 AM Post #1 |
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Out of Dorm
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Hey everyone, I thought I’d start a thread about movies in general, since we already have a thread about lesbian movies and for obvious reasons it’s not suitable to talk about other stuff there. So yeah, I reckon someone else might want to share their thoughts/views on a movie they’ve seen or plan to see or whatever. There’s absolutely nothing good on the big screen here at the moment, so I’ve had time to re-watch some of the classics I have, among them Breakfast at Tiffany’s, A Clockwork Orange (and then I read some reviews and boy, does Roger Ebert hate it or what?), 2001, Annie Hall and a couple of old Russian romances. I’ve actually made a list of movies I need to re-watch, it includes films like The Silence of the Lambs (it’s been a long, long while), Last Tango in Paris, Capote, Breaking the Waves, Der Himmel über Berlin, etc. I wonder what other people think of Breakfast at Tiffany’s..? In class, we’re currently reading the book (and since we’re supposed to read it in a year, we read 3 to 4 pages per week and then discuss every word in class.. the educational system is too stupid for words) and so I figured I need to watch it once again to refresh my memory. On the one hand, the movie is true to the book (especially in quoting the dialogue), but on the other hand, it’s totally different and basically it was “prettied up” for Hollywood. For instance, Holly isn’t supposed to be SO glamorous, beautiful and so goddamn perfect looking. Not that I dislike Audrey Hepburn, she looks very organic in the movie as a stand-alone piece but if you compare her character to the one in the book, they differ greatly. I wonder what the film would’ve been like if Capote got his own and Monroe played the part of Holly Golightly.. what I know is, neither of them looked 19 at the time as the heroine was supposed to be. Has anyone seen Trade? And Secretary? |
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| ekny | Dec 14 2007, 08:06 PM Post #2 |
In love with a prisoner
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Hi madmaggot, I think this is a great idea for a thread! I am sorry I haven't seen most of what you've brought up, so can't comment really but hopefully others will. If I saw Breakfast it was so long ago I can't remember it; I do know Hepburn's neck kinda creeped me out. That Modigliani thing... I mean yeah, long, slender, graceful: there's a limit. Or course, I felt the same way about Adjani in Herzog's Nosferatu (who was clearly cast in a role w/very little dialogue for her 1 shining virtue: major neck!)--and now we see why ek's been quiet, too much retail makes her head go I was wondering if I'm the only person who hasn't yet seen Lives of Others. I'm quite embarrassed about having not done so yet. I don't think I've ever heard of a movie where so many *different* sorts of people I know have all, uniformly, said either "it's the best movie I've seen in the last X-years" or "it's one of the best movies I've ever seen" or something along those lines. But I know when I have time to renew my Netflix sub, it'll be top of my list. |
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| Mad Maggot | Dec 15 2007, 11:47 AM Post #3 |
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Out of Dorm
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Hey there ![]() Actually, now that you mention it, I've always found that that little black dress/cloth looked strange on Audrey's shoulders, forearms, etc. but I didn't know why.. maybe it's got something to do with her neck, I must have a look at it, never noticed it being very long. I haven't seen Lives of Others as well, so now it makes two of us. It was on TV not long ago but when I read the plot, it failed to engage my attention, so I thought I'd pass. Is it that good? There was another German movie I'm reminded of every time I hear of this one, Alles auf Zucker, everybody told me it was too good to miss and when I finally got my hands on it, I barely made it till the end... Why do you have to renew your Netflix subscription to get it, is it not available online? And since we're on the topic of German movies... in one of the threads in the Debates section (maybe S2Ep2 or 6), we once talked about experiments that were conducted on students who volunteered to take part in it. They were divided into "screws and cons" and the roleplay was supposed to last two weeks; however, the thing went out of the scientists' control and they had to stop it before the end of the first week. I'm pretty sure it's called the Stanford Experiment. I was pretty surpsised to find out that there's a movie based on it and its title is, shockingly, Das Experiment (available online). It's shot well, but the actual story has been slightly altered for "dramatic puproses", but nevertheless it's quite good. So I highly recommend it to you... or anyone else from this board because it's a well-known thing that most of us here are crazy for all things prison. |
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| richard | Jan 1 2008, 10:37 PM Post #4 |
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Enhanced
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On a completely different note, I rewatched the film which hopefully has been on the rounds and that was the Monty Python team production of 'Life of Brian' which has got to be the best spoof of all the over the top films made about Christianity. For those who haven't come across it, the opening sequence starts with the three princes getting the wrong manger where Brian had just been born, taking their gifts back on discovering their mistake and moving on to the right manger. This is one that for decades I tended to sort of take for granted after the initial enjoyment but in the days of the religious right, it makes more of a mark than one might think. A preface programme on the making of it revealed that EMI pulled out of the funding at the last minute but fortunately George Harrison (of the Beatles) put up the money to finance it. Thirty years ago there was a vocal religious pressure group headed by Mary Whitehouse which tried to interfere in the transmission of the film on the cinema circuit. There were memorable clips of a TV discussion where two of the team took on a couple of the religious right and won the debate hands down. One of them, John Cleese made the very valid point that the older he gets the more insane the world appears which is nice to hear said. I bet that Bush and his pals have never seen the film which is very funny. |
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| Jeanna | Jan 2 2008, 02:37 AM Post #5 |
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I said SIT IN THAT CHAIR
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And I liked the bit...'follow the gourd'...'no, follow the sandal'... And Brian yelling at them not to follow anything, to think for themselves. |
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H&N Music Vid by me and ekny Something To Talk About YouTube My BG Music Vids On YouTube My vids You Tube removed Click Here OR HERE BAM for Beginners BAM Channel | |
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| richard | Jan 2 2008, 08:14 AM Post #6 |
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Enhanced
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Absolutely spot on Jeanna. You focussed in on a key bit of dialogue in the film that really gets to the heart of the matter.Mmm, thinking for yourself, very subversive stuff. as a left wing guy, I have to admit that the less publicised send up of left wing secrarianism was right on the mark and should be compulsory viewing for some groups to this day. I always found it interesting that George Harrison put up the moey for the film. The guy certainly laid claim to have led a spiritual life yet if you look at the Beatles 'Anthology' the guy was also very witty. He saw no contradictions in both sides of his personality. It is a worthy challenge to low grade thinking. |
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| solitasolano | Jan 8 2008, 08:18 PM Post #7 |
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It's award screening time in the industry. The first awards have been given (critic's awards). Since the end of November I have taken advantage of the industry perk and tried to see as many films as possible which are being promoted and pushed by the studios. Everyday still there are a slew of screenings open to industry folks. I'm into lists today. In no particluar order, here's what I've seen and minimal comments or none: No Country for Old Men - beautifully crafted; I'm not a fan of the Cohen Brs, very violent, Javier who plays the psycho is brillant. Charlie Wilson's War - I am a big fan of Aaron Sorkin and Mike Nichols...the dialog plays like West Wing, fast and wall to wall, jammed with information, but there's no pacing and Hanks and Roberts are Hanks and Roberts....Philip Seymour Hoffman is FANTASTIC in his role as a no nonense, wierd sense of humor and duty career CIA man. Reason to go see the film. The Bucket List La Vie En Rose same actress plays Piaf at all ages. She's excellent! The Savages - how I like my films, small and talky The Kingdom - yawn Into the Wild - Read the book "Into Thin Air" instead The Kite Runner - the kids are fantastic, French speaking Afgans. The music score sucks the life out of the film. A Mighty Heart The Assination of Jesse James - pristine sound track...Casey Aflect's performance excellent, worth more than a supporting noms...how can a movie be so good when the SCRIPT SUCKS??? horrible it was. Michael Clayton - entertaining I'm Not There - uneven, pretty, the B&W sequences featuring Cate Blancette are very good. Recommend There Will Be Blood - Daniel Day Lewis absolutely deserves his awards...see this one althought I can't say I've seen anything which totally wows me. Seeing this week still: Juno, Sweeny Todd, American Gangster, The Great Debators, Eastern Promises. Ones I would like to see: Once, Lars and the Real Girl, Elizabeth the Golden Age, Waitress, Gone Baby Gone. Anyone seen any of those? Whatelse in terms of mainstream Hollywood would you all recommend? What about "foreign" films? |
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| Mad Maggot | Jan 9 2008, 09:39 AM Post #8 |
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Out of Dorm
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What a wonderful start of the day to realize I've seen none of those. Sigh. In terms of mainstream Hollywood I think I only saw The Brave One (just this past weekend). I hear Atonement, There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men are supposed to be good, but it doesn't seem like they'll be released here very soon, so I might have to wait. Also Juno seems interesting - mostly because Roger Ebert ranked it as his personal favorite of the year 2007. As far as foreign films go, I can recommend Trade about the pretty harsh reality of slavery in modern times and Auf der Anderen Seite (if I'm not mistaken, the international title is The Edge of Heaven) which I raved about earlier in one of the other threads. In related news, the book I read and loved in 2007 was Bernhard Schlink's Der Vorleser which I mistakenly thought was not translated into any foreign language (and was too lazy to check out), but apparently it's been translated into 39 languages and the English title is The Reader and evidently, Oprah is a fan of it (...don't know what exactly to think of that) and had it on her book club show or whatever that thing is. Stephen Daldry is about to start filming a movie based on the book, Nicole Kidman just pulled out (yeeeha!) of production due to pregnancy and was replaced by Kate Winslet which I find amazing because 1) she's a good actress with solid performances and 2) this is what the main heroine is supposed to look like. According to imdb, the movie is slated for a 12.12.08 release which means they're aiming at the Oscars.. bleh.. but hopefully, the chase for the big prizes won't hurt the actual movie. |
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| ekny | Mar 17 2008, 08:57 PM Post #9 |
In love with a prisoner
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Finally saw Mike Leigh's All or Nothing, which is the best thing from him I've seen since High Hopes, a personal favorite. He does a lot of 'small' movies about minuscule events or changes in the lives of his characters which, sometimes, enable them to move forward emotionally in equally small but significant ways. All or Nothing is typically grim on the outside, with a bunch of barely-functional working-class characters who stumble through lives for which they seem to have almost no coping mechanisms. There's a really good review in the NYT, without spoilers http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res...753C1A9649C8B63 I love his stuff, he rarely mocks his characters--in this film they're all painfully believable, and the best of them deserve nothing but respect in their fights for dignity & meaning. I was also lucky to finally see something I feel ignorant for having NO idea even existed, a short animated piece by the brothers Quay called 'Street of Crocodiles'. Very grim and unbelievably... tactile. Their use of textures is just incredible, and hugely pleasing (at least to me). Influenced by a short story of the same name by Bruno Schulz. We're in super-duper Art-house Land here, even for animation. I usually don't speak while watching films but I couldn't shut up during this, bothered my poor friend half to death exclaiming over its greatness, I haven't been that excited just to SEE something in a long time. (You can tell right away where the people who made music-videos for Tool and NiN were influenced: this stuff is the origin for that 'look'.) ...Got one of their feature-length films this weekend (Piano Tuner of Earthquakes) but was mightily disappointed, they have no idea ht do dialogue or work with actors. Whole thing would have been a hundred x better without any script at all. It's supposed to be a sort of nightmarish fairy-tale, I think, and you can see elements from all kinds of different genres went into the approach, but it winds up being unbearably pompous and self-indulgent. Initially you think: surely this is a joke, right? but... apparently... not. Which is a damn shame because the cinematography, sets, and animation are all gorgeous. I'll still see whatever I can of theirs because their stuff is just such a pleasure to look at (besides, how could you resist a film called 'Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life'?--no matter how problematic the script, I know it'll look amazing) ...especially eager to see collections of their other animation--it really is spectacular. (It helps if you're into animation, of course.) I can't remember the last time I saw films that were almost wholly original in their visual style. This is a very distinctive body of work. |
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| ekny | Mar 28 2008, 06:32 AM Post #10 |
In love with a prisoner
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Saw Somersault, with an Aussie named Abbie Cornish; well worth seeing, beautifully shot, kind of tough subject matter (sexually promiscuous teenager who runs away from home getting used by various men as she tries to find her way), but very watchable in an uncomfortable yet weirdly moving way--no one's evil here, they are just a lot of f*cked up people battling with occasionally decent impulses and carnal ones. Cornish was incredibly good. She's on the screen in virtually every scene, carries the whole movie effortlessly and works through an impressive range of emotions. And though I've never seen her before, I'm gonna go look her up to see what-all else she's done, because there's zero doubt we'll all be seeing her again. (The film also won almost every single award from the Australian Film Institute for 2004, for those who take note of such things, & was selected for Cannes.) It's good enough that I'm still considering parts of it, days later. And I love the color-palette the director used (dir. was female--you'd have to be, almost, to do this sort of film really well). *** I see she's been in a bunch of stuff, including Candy, which I have no interest in seeing, but the new Iraq movie from director of Boys Don't Cry is getting good reviews, I might give it a shot.... |
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| marymartin | Mar 28 2008, 09:59 PM Post #11 |
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The ghost of Larkhall!
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Is this thread limited to films in theatres or does it also include dvd releases? If the latter, I highly recommend Jane Austen Book Club and Tortilla Soup. Excellent interaction by the actors and actresses and very enjoyable. |
| "Thomas is gorgeous. He's everything you would want in a man. But I want a woman." | |
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| ekny | Mar 28 2008, 10:28 PM Post #12 |
In love with a prisoner
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I don't think there are any particular strictures, marymartin... just: if it's mainly of lesbian interest, it goes in the lesbian thread, & if not, at least now we have another place to discuss general movies. I see a lot of films I don't post about; for here I just say something if it's really stuck with me or seems unusual/noteworthy in some way, but those are my own ideas, only. --ekny
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| Mad Maggot | Apr 6 2008, 08:10 AM Post #13 |
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Out of Dorm
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I just watched Transamerica last night and boy, did I love it! Fantastic movie. Felicity Huffman was so good it literally takes my breath away. I wonder how to true to life the actual movie is? It seemed pretty honest and positive in its represantation, but I know relatively little about transsexuality for a member of the LGBT community (to my shame, actually.. but I'm doing my research now) and so I wouldn't know if it's umm.. realistic. |
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| marymartin | Apr 6 2008, 04:18 PM Post #14 |
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The ghost of Larkhall!
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I saw No Country for Old Men and Sweeny Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street last night. Both very disturbing in their own way but also brilliant. No Country is creepy beyond belief at what one man will do to get his money back. Johnny Depp is fabulous as Sweeny Todd -- I never knew he could sing. The rest of the cast is quite good also and IMO you can never go wrong with a Stephen Sondheim score. Both worth consideration even though I doubt they are the types of films I would watch again and again. |
| "Thomas is gorgeous. He's everything you would want in a man. But I want a woman." | |
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| bc gal | Apr 6 2008, 07:07 PM Post #15 |
I said SIT IN THAT CHAIR
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Aye, mm.. You've got to give Tim Burton his due. The man has that whirky genius going on...somewhere. The movie caught my interest when I first heard they were making it into a musical. From the first notes Sweeney sang unboarding the ship, I was hooked. Johnny Depp has to be one of the most versatile actors around, period. I liked all the characters as they intertwined and the secrets they harbored. Haven't seen "No Country for Old Men", but I hear it's excellent. I'm a Coen Brothers fan and generally enjoy everything they make. Check out "Oh Brother, where Art Thou".... Now that's putting another spin on an old story.
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You focussed in on a key bit of dialogue in the film that really gets to the heart of the matter.Mmm, thinking for yourself, very subversive stuff. as a left wing guy, I have to admit that the less publicised send up of left wing secrarianism was right on the mark and should be compulsory viewing for some groups to this day. 

8:45 AM Jul 11