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Joe Vitus

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 9:49 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 14498 Location: Houston

Which, sadly enough, is a kind of stretch for him. It's odd that the guy who found fame in Risky Business has evolved into one of the most humorless movie stars of all time. And I'm talking about his onscreen work.

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Nancy

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:30 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4607 Location: Norman, OK

Joe Vitus wrote:

If Cruise had had the courage (and I mean the courage to commit to the role, not just take it), he would probably have been a very good White. Of course, Josh Brolin couldn't be equalled.

Brolin was also awfully good in W.

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Joe Vitus

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:36 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 14498 Location: Houston

I'll probably think the same when and if I ever see it.

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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.

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Marj

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:00 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 10497 Location: Manhattan

Yesterday I went to New Jersey to see Doubt. And I loved it! I should qualify my remarks by saying I dearly wanted to see it when it was on B'way but could never get tickets or some such problem. And had I seen it there, I may have felt as Billy does about the original actors, especially Cherry Jones, who I think is really a terrific actor.

That said, I loved this cast and I didn't think Meryl Streep was over the top at all. In fact, I thought it was one of her best performances. I loved everyone in this production and was so immersed in the story that angles and light bulb moments, didn't even register with me.

I dearly want to see it again. The theater I was in was freezing and I know I missed some important points. But I absolutely love walking out of a theater and discussing a film for hours afterward. How often do we get the opportunity to do that?

Befade

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:05 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ

Quote:

Has anyone seen Revolutionary Road?

I'm going to see it this weekend. A friend read the book and said it's a good read. Saw Sam Mendes on Charlie Rose talking about it yesterday....with alot of new clips. Then saw Winslett and DiCaprio talking with him last week. I'm expecting to like it.

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inlareviewer

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:42 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

Marj wrote:

Cherry was indeed amazing (though on tour, she became entrenched in her character beats, suggested late-period Katharine Hepburn as an angry Sequoia tree the second time I saw it, and still infinitely preferable to the untenable Linda Hunt-with-a-headset-to-feed-her-the-lines nunsense at the Pasadena Playhouse, but I digress), and Brian O'Byrne's Father Flynn met her blow for blow, as did La Lenox as the mom. That said, couldn't agree more with your assessment of the film. With all due respect, Streep disappointees may be missing the flicker of contradiction that registers beneath her scary starch during the first half of the film, evolves in the other direction during the pivotal scene with La Davis, goes into overdrive during the toe-to-toe with Hoffman and bubbles up and out and spills over in the last scene. Hadn't expected anything nearly so potent, and yes, I'm pre-biased, but still. She's been this good maybe twice, thrice in her career, and she brings all the others up to her bar. Amy Adams has always been charming and appealing. but even more than in Junebug, here's she's An Actress To Be Reckoned With. Certainly Shanley could have dialed back the weather conditions and the Germanic angles, but it would have then been even more stage-bound than it is being cited as, and from my political activist seat, the themes and social issues benefited immensely from the opening out tactics, even as the central conundrum was diminished by seeing the kid in context. Don't know that I think it a great film, but I'm still thinking about it, and discussing it with the friends who saw it with me, all these weeks later, and as you say, how often is there an opportunity to do that? There must be some reason it's doing such respectable box office business, which nobody in Townseltin remotely expected. It was supposed to be one of The Sayzun's Hardest Prestige Sells.

Edit, edit, it's an addiction, or at least a tic.

Last edited by inlareviewer on Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:17 pm; edited 3 times in total
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gromit

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:59 pm

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

Has anyone (Mo?) seen Garbage Warrior?
Released in May 2008.

Quote:

Garbage Warrior is a feature-length documentary film telling the epic story of maverick US architect Michael Reynolds and his fight to introduce radically sustainable housing.

There was just an interesting article in the NYTimes about impressively sealed "passive houses" in Germany, which don't require heating. Not the same thing, but in the same realm.

Quote:

Shot over three years in the USA, India and Mexico, Garbage Warrior is a feature-length documentary film telling the epic story of maverick architect Michael Reynolds, his crew of renegade house builders from New Mexico, and their fight to introduce radically different ways of living. A snapshot of contemporary geo-politics and an inspirational tale of triumph over bureaucracy, Garbage Warrior is above all an intimate portrait of an extraordinary individual and his dream of changing the world

Seems Taos is a center for this. One of the credits is for: Dave DiCicco - Taos County planner.
Taos. Eco-living. Architecture.
Any additional info, Mo?

It sounds interesting, so I think I'll pick up the Dvd when next I see it around.

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billyweeds

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:19 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

Will be seeing Revolutionary Road sometime in the next few days, along with Wendy and Lucy, The Furies, The House Bunny, Tropic Thunder, and Let the Right One In, along with possible reseeings of Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, and Slumdog Millionaire.

And Doubt, no doubt.

Marj

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:26 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 10497 Location: Manhattan

Thanks so much, Inla for catching me up on what I missed on stage. And for getting my point!

Billy, For some reason I thought you'd already seen Doubt. Perhaps I was confusing it with the play.

I have to admit from the snatches of film I'd seen, I was prepared for the worst from Streep. So this was really a pleasant surprise. Of course now I want to see it again but comfortably. Like in my home! Perhaps then I'll see a lot of the points I missed while I was too bundled up to see the screen clearly.

lady wakasa

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:53 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 5911 Location: Beyond the Blue Horizon

Marj wrote:

Yesterday I went to New Jersey

...I'm sorry.

%^D

Actually, yesterday I went to New York to see Waltz With Bashir (review in draft form). So the cosmos are in balance.

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inlareviewer

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:05 pm

Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS

Marj, but of course, and, even for a hopeless Merylite like myself, was also prepared to have to be Cherry-table, after having seen the stage show and being as impressed by Her Jonesness as could be. And, believing as I do these things to be (wait for it)
subjective, it stands to reason that other's less favorable perceptions of her performance are as true from their perspective as they weren't from mine. Apples and oranges, endive and romaine.

Was going to see Tenement Hound Ten Hundred Thousandaire this afternoon, but am under the weather. It's atop the list, so it must happen, just must. Will get to Rovolutionary Read, 3/4 Time Dance with Martin and The Crashes Around A Ring In Spandexsterafter that; am less certain of when Bunjamin Betton will figure into the schedule. The Singing Dancing Therapist, who is generally better at seeing through these things than I am, absolutely loathed it, gave me the "3 hours of my life that I will never get back" comment, which is seldom a good sign.

_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim

Earl

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 6:42 pm

Joined: 09 Jun 2004 Posts: 2621 Location: Houston

Joe Vitus wrote:

Earl wrote:

An interview with Gus Van Sant about the making of Milk:

Article here

I hadn't realized that the film had bounced around for so many years or that guys like Tom Cruise and Matt Damon had been considered for the role of Dan White.

If Cruise had had the courage (and I mean the courage to commit to the role, not just take it), he would probably have been a very good White. Of course, Josh Brolin couldn't be equalled.

I agree with all of this. I could see Cruise having a pretty good go at the surface self-righteousness with all those conflicting emotions boiling just beneath. But Brolin, as you note, was the guy for the role.

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mo_flixx

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:41 pm

Joined: 30 May 2004 Posts: 12533

gromit wrote:

Has anyone (Mo?) seen Garbage Warrior?
Released in May 2008.

Quote:

Garbage Warrior is a feature-length documentary film telling the epic story of maverick US architect Michael Reynolds and his fight to introduce radically sustainable housing.

There was just an interesting article in the NYTimes about impressively sealed "passive houses" in Germany, which don't require heating. Not the same thing, but in the same realm.

Quote:

I saw the DVD last week and also read about the houses in Germany. The doc. is interesting as are the extras.

There is a German architect who lives here who designs passive houses, also.

Taos is a center for many types of alternative bldg. I know Dave DiCicco who is now in private practice. He comes off as a bad guy in the film.

I thought the doc. was good but it is somewhat biased in favor of Mike Reynolds, arch/builder. The houses look MUCH better on film than in real life, btw. Apparently this movie was a success at the Toronto Film Fest. last year.

Marj

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:50 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 10497 Location: Manhattan

lady wakasa wrote:

Marj wrote:

Yesterday I went to New Jersey

...I'm sorry.

%^D

Actually, yesterday I went to New York to see Waltz With Bashir (review in draft form). So the cosmos are in balance.

LADY!! OUCH. Remember the old saying: It only hurts when I laugh?

I thought you were coming here yesterday. I kept looking into car windows. I really did!!

mo_flixx

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:13 pm

Joined: 30 May 2004 Posts: 12533

Just saw BUTTON. It wasn't as bad as I thought. All the criticisms are merited...but in some ways, I think it was worth seeing. Esp. on the big screen.

The look of the film is just about perfect. I'm curious about Fitzgerald's story which would have had to have been set much earlier than the movie. The old age makeup is creepy to say the least. The baby Benjamin is pretty horrifying.

The youthful makeup for both Pitt and Blanchett is truly amazing. I'm not sure just how they got Pitt to look 16, but they did and it works. Pitt age 30 - 40ish on a motorcycle and on a sailboat is just about the most gorgeous thing imaginable. He hasn't looked that good in years! Think Ralph Lauren ad. Cate can't even come close.

The Gumpisms (the hurricane, etc.) seem unnecessary. And the film could have been much shorter. There's too much CGI...when will they learn?

Tilda Swinton and the scenes in Murmansk, U.S.S.R. are romantic and beautiful.

There is a very creepy quality to the film that was probably NOT present in the story. The film attempts to handle the age difference sensitively but it still seems rather awkward. I'm sure I'd much rather read the short story than spend almost 3 hrs. at this movie. It's bittersweet qualities would be so much better expressed in literature than on film, IMO.

Unfortunately our audience had 2 crazy guys talking loudly to the screen (not to each other) and that the movie's volume was turned up to earsplitting. There was a sign in the Lobby that one theater had no heat...but at least it was for a different movie.

SPOILER --
------------------------
------------------------

There's genuine creepiness when the teen Pitt meets his own pre-teen daughter.

Last edited by mo_flixx on Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:39 pm; edited 1 time in total

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