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| gromit |
 Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:01 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Watched the 1946 The Killers for the first time in a few years. It's unusual how the two leads have such little screen time. Of course they weren't stars yet, as this was Lancaster's first role, and his screen persona is somewhat unformed. Ava is a knockout here; this was her breakthrough role as well, and she'd go on to star in two more Hemingway based films. Jack Lambert has a nice edge as one of the heist gang.
The Killers is really an ensemble piece led by Edmond O'Brien, who morphs further and further into a Bogart impersonator (of the Maltese Falcon variety) the longer the film goes on. The story is told in flashbacks as part of an unofficial investigation seemingly borrowed from Citizen Kane and perhaps other films. The insurance investigation is also reminiscent of Double Indemnity. So some nice borrowings with a Hemingway story as its jumping off point. It all has a fine noirish look to it, but the plotting and resolution aren't fully satisfying. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:15 pm |
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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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| If I'd seen it on a different day, I would have probably railed at You've Got Mail as formulaic, lazy and contrived. But I must have been in the right mood, as I found it a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours. That said, at times it was so inoffensive as to offend - a cuddly, unthreatening radical (Hollywood doesn't do transgressive) Meg Ryan may have come across as good wife material, but she was the antithesis of sexy. |
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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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| yambu |
| Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:33 am |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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| Good news. Pinocchio is finally coming to Netflix in February. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:39 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I remember the ads for the porno version: "It's not his nose that grows." |
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-Topher |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 12:50 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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yambu wrote: Good news. Pinocchio is finally coming to Netflix in February.
My choice for the best animated film of all time. If you can't wait, there's always the Roberto Benigni version, which languished at 0% favorable on Rotten Tomatoes for a long time and must still be somewhere around there.
Then there's this, also available on Netflix:
Pinocchio 964
(1992)
Screams of Blasphemy
A lobotomized, cybernetic sex slave (Pinocchio by name, played by Hage Suzuki) drifts aimlessly around Japan until he meets Himiko (Onn Chan), a fellow amnesiac harboring a terrible secret. Together, they attempt to reconstruct their lives in an environment where memory is obsolete. Meanwhile, Pinocchio's malevolent creator is frantically trying to locate his missing prototype before the world finds him … or before the unhinged sex 'bot unravels.
Starring: Hage Suzuki, Koji Kita
Director: Shozin Fukui |
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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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| Rod |
| Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:35 pm |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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| As per a recent conversation, I stumbled across and purchased a copy of the original The Blob yesterday, and watched it again last night for the first time in about fifteen years. It's mild fun in a low-hype fashion, but the dialogue is often incredibly inane, and the first twenty minutes or so are tough going - you can actually detect the actors and filmmakers finding their feet as they go on. Still, Steve McQueen is obviously superior, and the film's tight, contiguous, all-on-one-night action and feeling of paranoia in the suburban night is still interesting - I've always suspected this aspect of the film had a strong influence on the likes of Halloween for just this reason. Certainly better than any other movie of its era represents both the inventiveness and the cheese associated with the '50s genre films. I still get a laugh out of the two teens hunting for the Blob, finding instead a necking couple and offering, sheepishly; "Sorry - we're looking for a monster!" |
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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: Tue Dec 23, 2008 11:53 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The Visitor is a mostly quiet film about Walter Vale, a dry and lonely college professor (Richard Jenkins) who is called to deliver a paper which he co-authored (or actually he consented to put his name on as a co-author) at a conference in New York, where he owns an apartment he doesn't actually live in. When he arrives, he discovers that the apartment is occupied by two immigrants, Zainab, a Senegalese woman (Danai Gurira) who sells African beadwork and Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), a Syrian man who plays African drums. They all strike up an unlikely friendship. Eventually Tarek runs into trouble with immigration authorities, and Vale does what he can to help Tarek, and strikes up a semi-romance with Mouna (Hiam Abbass), Tarek's mother, who also has to watch her step. Since this is post 9/11, and Zainab, Tarek and Mouna are Muslim, the authorities are not inclined to be lax with them.
The Visitor is Thomas McCarthy's second directed film, the first being the wonderful The Station Agent, and both films show how unexpected friendships can transform a person and bring out the best of them. This seems to be Richard Jenkins' first lead role after a lot of supporting parts, and he is reaching the peak of his movie career at the age of 61. It's mostly an understated performance, and I'm worried that the Oscars may overlook it for showier acting.
In any case, I like McCarthy's directoral style which is quiet, accessible, using slow edits and tracking shots without them calling attention to themselves. (I only noticed because David Bordwell makes a fuss about shot length, and I was looking to see how McCarthy did it.) His films are more intimate and more moving because of it. He doesn't direct often, but I'm looking forward to future efforts. |
Last edited by Syd on Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:09 am; edited 1 time in total
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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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| lissa |
| Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:01 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 2148
Location: my computer
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I ADORED The Visitor and have recommended it to anyone who'll listen. It was wonderful seeing Richard Jenkins in this role, as I've loved him since Six Feet Under. But his understated portrayal of Walter's demeanor - in my opinion - is what I believe WILL get a nod from the Oscars. It's rare to find such a powerful performance in such low-key form, and I'm hoping that the Academy will see Jenkins as they saw Julie Christie's performance in Away From Her. She, too, could have been more over the top but she kept it simple and heartbreakingly modest. Same with Jenkins.
His relationship with Mouna was beautiful. And the film doesn't give the viewer that (perhaps) perceived and anticipated denouement. It coasts to what can only be seen as its natural conclusion, and yet with a euphoria that overshadows the frustration (in actually expressing it, musically).
I loved the music, I've gotten into African drumming now (listening, not playing) and will have to rent The Station Agent to see more of McCarthy's visionary work.
So glad I'm not alone in loving this movie! |
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Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarfs aren't happy. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 12:23 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The music in The Visitor is beautiful; not just the African drumming, but the incidental music, which reminds me of Keith Jarrett when he's feeling melodic. It's almost too good; I found myself listening to the music when I should have been paying attention to the music. Music is one of the things the characters have in common; Walter initially is taking piano lessons because his wife was a concert pianist, and I guess he hopes if he learns it himself, he'll feel closer to her. Walter's too old to get as good as he wants to be, but eventually he finds himself drawn to Tarek's drumming as he begins to feel emotions again.
I think you'd really like The Station Agent, which not only has a standout performance by Peter Dinklage, but also Patricia Richardson and Michelle Williams. |
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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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| lissa |
| Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 2148
Location: my computer
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| I agree, Syd. The soundtrack is not only integral to the film but alluringly noticeable. As well, music representing emotional freedom runs thematically through the movie. From Tarek's joyous creations to Walter's emergence, it truly applies to all the musicians and their performances. I think perhaps the soundtrack was composed with that in mind. The wonderful Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Finding Neverland - an AWESOME CD) wrote the soundtrack and I wouldn't be surprised to know the theme of music and emotions was prime in his mind. |
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Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarfs aren't happy. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:15 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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Syd wrote: ...
I think you'd really like The Station Agent, which not only has a standout performance by Peter Dinklage, but also Patricia Richardson and Michelle Williams.
It's Patricia Clarkson. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:22 am |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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| I loved The Visitor. I've played at that Central Park scene, and it is a magical place. Jenkins can't play the African djembe worth a damn, and neither can his Syrian mentor, but neither can a lot of people who show up there. It is about communion with others, and THAT the film gets just right. |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:29 am |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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| The Visitor was entertaining and affecting. It is also the definition of the type of safe, lo-fi, unchallenging, lefty-piety-peddling little film that leans on pre-programmed story and character cues and tries to make up for it with deadpan filmmaking, that fails to rock my world these days. McCarthy's got talent but he needs to lose the Indie-101 handbook. |
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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: Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:59 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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mo_flixx wrote: Syd wrote: ...
I think you'd really like The Station Agent, which not only has a standout performance by Peter Dinklage, but also Patricia Richardson and Michelle Williams.
It's Patricia Clarkson. |
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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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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 7:14 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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Rod wrote: The Visitor was entertaining and affecting. It is also the definition of the type of safe, lo-fi, unchallenging, lefty-piety-peddling little film that leans on pre-programmed story and character cues and tries to make up for it with deadpan filmmaking, that fails to rock my world these days. McCarthy's got talent but he needs to lose the Indie-101 handbook.
Pretty much agree with all of this. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
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