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| inlareviewer |
 Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:02 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:15 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Breaking Strike News: prior rumors now being confirmed -- the informal talks have reached a tentative preliminary agreement. If a final contract results, it could reach the WGA board by Friday, meaning that the 3 month walkout could end forthwith if it's accepted. Tees crossed, eyes dotted, candles lit.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-me-strike3feb03,0,4479428.story |
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:26 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4607
Location: Norman, OK
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| I certainly hope the strike ends. I have a couple of friends who always throw an Oscar watch party, and their plans have been up in the air lately. |
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"All in all, it's just another feather in the fan."
Isaacism, 2009 |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:35 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| This means that the Blanches will go on as normal and we can take off the mime makeup. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:49 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| Deleted for undue blather quotient |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:13 am; edited 4 times in total
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:59 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Last time there was a strike, we had a series of memorably awful "comedy" films come out. I'm expecting that to happen again, although if the previews I saw before Atonement and There Will Be Blood are any guide, we can also expect a batch of British films to take up the slack. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:59 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| One of the trailers was for Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day with Frances McDormand as a dismissed governess who finds herself sucked into the orbit of Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams). Shirley Henderson's on hand, too, which is always nice. Looks like a bit of a change of pace for Amy Adams, who will have an even bigger change in Doubt. The movie looks like it might be fun. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:56 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| Although I have long loved Piaf, I must confess I did not enjoy La Vie en Rose at all. It is a highly melodramatized biopic. I could not warm up to Marion Cotillard either. A joyless 2 hrs. and 20 mins. Must be something I ate. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:03 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Ghulam wrote: Although I have long loved Piaf, I must confess I did not enjoy La Vie en Rose at all. It is a highly melodramatized biopic. I could not warm up to Marion Cotillard either. A joyless 2 hrs. and 20 mins. Must be something I ate.
Edited for more Marcels |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Tue Feb 05, 2008 4:07 am; edited 4 times in total
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:51 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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| It was a pretty negative portrait, with WWII amnesia, and a child thrown in erratically at the end. A strangely structured film. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Jynx |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:30 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 750
Location: Nowheresville
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Quote: Deleted for undue blather quotient
I like your blather. My kid absolutely adores your avatar ... she's a fricking Sweeny Todd junkie. She says "mom, go on that movie place where you talk to those people so I can see the Sweeny Todd thing." She digs the anime ones too. My little artist.
Kids and larey ... YOU KNOW I LOVE 'EM!
La Vie en Rose - I fell asleep. |
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"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass ... and I'm all out of bubblegum." |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:07 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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| While I didn't find it an absolute smash of a film, there is no denying Mademoiselle Cotillard's FIERCE emersion of a performance., To sleep during that catharsis leaves this poster agog. |
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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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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:52 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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ehle64 wrote: While I didn't find it an absolute smash of a film, there is no denying Mademoiselle Cotillard's FIERCE emersion of a performance., To sleep during that catharsis leaves this poster agog.
Wade -- I couldn't have said it better no matter how I might try. Is it because we're both actors? I don't know. But for me Cotillard's performance was so much more than a performance. It was transcendent. No, I think emersion is even better.
I suppose what I saw was an actor playing a scared child who dealt with her fears by becoming the diva that was Piaf. But underneath and clearly there was that scared child. An astounding feat. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:59 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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Yeah. Totally.
I wanted to be blown away by the film, but was really just blown away by the lead. It's still a good film, just one that will never be in my top 20 (or whatever). |
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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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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:05 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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California Dreamin' is another good Romanian film.
Lorne, unless you've been hanging around with Romanians lately, I assume your friend played one of the two main American soldiers. The Marine Corporal was played by a 59 year old actor which sounds about right, but the young Sgt. is from Montreal. So you keep me guessing.
In any case, the film is not about the Americans, but rather how the Romanians react to their presence. The year is 1999, and a train with NATO communication equipment is passing through Romania on its way to Kosovo, guarded by 10 or so US Marines and a half dozen somewhat less spiffy Romanian soldiers. The corrupt stationmaster of an out-of-the-way village decides to hold up the train, which is authorized but doesn't have the proper papers (which apparently were not thought necessary by anybody).
The stationmaster has a complex web of reasons to derail the Americans. Foremost seems to be because at the end of WWII the Americans never came to the rescue, so his parents were taken away by the incoming Russians. But he also is opposed to the US bombing of Kosovo. And as the Americans cool their heels on a side track, his daughter becomes involved with the Marine sergeant.
And like petty bureaucrats everywhere, he seems to enjoy throwing his weight around in his little fiefdom.
The town reacts with gusto to the American presence. The mayor throws celebrations hoping that the Americans will spend money and hopefully improve the town's image. Workers at a nearly-bankrupt factory decide it's the perfect time to hold a strike, with decidedly imperfect results. While all of the girls in the town are so eager for fresh blood and a link to the outside world that they swarm all over the American soldiers.
That's all the first hour and the set-up is very effective. The film meanders a bit and loses some steam during the lengthy scenes of the soldiers and girls getting to know each other. Of course, this being Romania, everything is rather shambolic with the stationmaster usually being half-dressed, telephones promptly answered on the twentieth ring, limited and deceptive translations, etc.
While this longish segment seemed a bit slow-paced for me (ie. I could have done with one song from the Romanian Elvis-impersonator, though later decided that it would have been funnier if Blue Suede Shoes and Love Me Tender were done as a medley, instead of as two separate songs). But I think the idea is to capture the lazy, erratic rhythm of the Romanian countryside, which 12:08 East of Bucharest also attempted in its mid/late section.
Things get a little amped up towards the conclusion, and I liked the oblivious American leave-taking, which could be read as a comment on Kosovo as well. There is a strange coda, with a brief 3 minute scene at the end occurring 5 years later. A little hard to say what the point of that was.
While I might have made the film sound political, it really is a snapshot of the Romanian countryside and their aspirations.
There's also humor throughout, especially the corrupt stationmaster insisting on upholding the law while stealing what he can from each trainload, the poor translations, and (my favorite) the inept strikers.
As for the Americans, the older Corporal is pretty convincing as a gruff man of action forced to cool his heels. The young sergeant seems more sensitive and intelligent than likely for a young marine, but that's intentional for the plot. Both come off well in supporting roles, though at times their dialogue could have been strengthened.
The 27 year old director, Cristian Nemescu, was killed in a car accident 24 August 2006, during the post-production of the film. I don't know how that affected the end result, but the Romanian title Nesfarit means unfinished. I thought the film was overlong at 2 hrs 35 min. And needed to be tightened up in the second half.
From the db:
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The car crash in Bucharest which claimed his life also killed sound engineer Andrei Toncu. While both men were sitting in a taxi, it was struck by a Porsche Cayenne SUV, driven by a British citizen who ran a red light and had a speed 63 km/h above the speed limit . |
Last edited by gromit on Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:16 pm; edited 1 time in total
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