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| marantzo |
 Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:16 pm |
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| Actually, I think it was his Ninth, where he was conducting (which he demanded) on it's initial performance. Of course he was stone deaf at the time and the first violinist told the orchestra and chorus to just follow his lead. When the piece was over and the audience has risen to their feet cheering and applauding uproariously, Beethoven was still conducting, oblivious to the reality. The first violinist turned him around to see the acclaim of the audience and of course let him know that the piece was already over. |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:42 pm |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
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Location: Lithgow, Australia
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It was the contralto singer, Caroline Unger, who turned him around, according to the (varying) anecdotes about the performance. Beethoven was sharing conducting duties with the kapellmeister Michael Umlauf - which meant standing and waving his arms furiously without a clue of where they were at.
But not according to this movie!
Actually, it's curiously non-terrible, despite its patent phoniness. Kruger's developing some winsome charm as an actress and Ed Harris overacting is actually fun. |
Last edited by Rod on Sat Jan 26, 2008 7:24 am; edited 2 times in total
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A long time ago, but somehow in the future...It is a period of civil war and renegade paragraphs floating through space. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 10:44 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Paprika is brilliant animation and amazingly inventive. I'm absolutely exhausted and happy to be so. Highly recommended.
Japanese scientists have invented a machine that allows people to enter each other's dreams. One of them has created a dream avatar that she uses to treat patients. (The avatar is named Paprika, hence the title.) However someone has stolen three of the machines and is using it to invade other people's dreams, and, eventually their reality. Since a good part of the film takes place within dreams, perceptions are altered and weird images abound. Doing this and making it coherent is a major challenge. This essentially does for 2000's animation what Akira did for the 1980's. That it didn't get an Oscar nomination is criminal.
This was created by Satoshi Kon, who also directed Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Tokyo Godfathers. I've seen the latter two, and they are good, but this is on another level. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 2:33 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| Sarah Polley's Away from Her is a fairly honest depiction of how Alzheimer's devastates families. The story is less dramatic and somewhat more contrived than that of The Golden Pond, but the extraordinary performances of Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie make it all worthwhile. |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:02 am |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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| Geoffrey Wright's version of Macbeth, set amongst Melbourne gangland, could have been great - who can resist the idea of the three witches as a gang of goth schoolgirls? - but proves numbingly bad within ten minutes. Nothing tests the verbal skills and dexterity of imagination and interpretation of an actor like Shakespearean dialogue; Sam Worthington and his fellows rise to the challenge by reciting with all the passion and clarity of a McDonalds drive-thru attendant. |
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A long time ago, but somehow in the future...It is a period of civil war and renegade paragraphs floating through space. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:29 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Manhattan
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:15 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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| I'm semi-watching Benny & Joon, semi-arguing with Mr. Weeds and must say that even though the film doesn't hold up, Depp is pretty gosh-darned cute and completely watchable. Thanks Sho-HD. |
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It truly disappoints me when people do something for you via no prompt of your own and then use it as some kind of weapon against you at a later time and place. It is what it is. |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:27 am |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
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Location: Lithgow, Australia
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I agree absolutely, Ehle. B&J was a sticky pre-Indie Cute comedy made into class by Depp.
Speaking of JD, I watched him giving him another class effort in The Libertine. That's a lumpy but interesting piece of work with some very good performances - Rosamund Pike had a spectacular scene late in the piece. |
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A long time ago, but somehow in the future...It is a period of civil war and renegade paragraphs floating through space. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:29 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: NYC; US&A
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| I have The Libertine here, just haven't felt the urge to see syphallitic(sp?) Depp. |
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It truly disappoints me when people do something for you via no prompt of your own and then use it as some kind of weapon against you at a later time and place. It is what it is. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 2:35 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Talk to Me is a fine movie starring Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor as pioneering radio host Petey Green and his manager Dewey Hughes, with Taraji P. Henson as Green's lover Vernell, who is truly a force of nature. Not surprisingly, all are superb. Cedric the Entertainer and Martin Sheen are also good in minor parts. Green was an ex-con who got hired as a morning DJ at WOL in Washington DC through circumstances which here seem a bit unlikely but very funny, but hired he was. He became quickly known for being outrageous and honest and establishing a firm bond with his listeners. This became essential on the night of April 4, 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and the cores of cities, including Washington, were in flames and a voice of reason is needed.
The movie has a serious problem that its emotional climax comes about two-thirds through the movie and we follow Green's later career, then Hughes going it alone. I understand the purpose of this, which shows us how Green's influence persisted, but the movie really needs Petey at this point. What happens to Dewey is pretty interesting, but Petey is a lot more interesting.
Despite this problem, this is mostly a very good movie and I highly recommend it. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 3:56 am |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
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Location: Lithgow, Australia
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ehle64 wrote: I have The Libertine here, just haven't felt the urge to see syphallitic(sp?) Depp.
I dig, and this aspect's largely responsible for the last third being something of a drag. Still, it's a film with something interesting to say about an historical example of what's called Intellectual Immigration - the refusal to use one's talents and skills to impress people and an era not worthy of glorification. |
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A long time ago, but somehow in the future...It is a period of civil war and renegade paragraphs floating through space. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 5:21 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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ehle64 wrote: I have The Libertine here, just haven't felt the urge to see syphallitic(sp?) Depp.
And boy was he poxed. |
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I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| Trish |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:47 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Massachusetts
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ehle64 wrote: I have The Libertine here, just haven't felt the urge to see syphallitic(sp?) Depp.
Depp does have a penchant for uglification
as does Pitt - although his pretty boy roles bring a little balance to his portfolio |
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| Trish |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:55 am |
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Location: Massachusetts
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I was just thinking of actors who really like to mess with their appearence for roles, often to the extreme
Christian Bale (see the Machinist), Pitt, Depp, DeNiro to name a few
I'm thinking Ryan Gosling will be another leading man-actor who does
actresses
I can think of many who have done it ONCE - Charlize Theron, Diaz (sort of), Barbara Hershey (Gary's favorite actress - ha ha) a couple times, etc
Glen Close etc
but who among actresses makes a habit of it? |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:59 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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Rod wrote: Geoffrey Wright's version of Macbeth, set amongst Melbourne gangland, could have been great - who can resist the idea of the three witches as a gang of goth schoolgirls? - but proves numbingly bad within ten minutes. Nothing tests the verbal skills and dexterity of imagination and interpretation of an actor like Shakespearean dialogue; Sam Worthington and his fellows rise to the challenge by reciting with all the passion and clarity of a McDonalds drive-thru attendant.
I saw the universally bad reviews and moved on. Shame. |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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