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| Syd |
 Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:04 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Website for Sita Sings the Blues, with links so you can download it and watch it.
http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/ |
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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: Tue Apr 28, 2009 6:23 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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Marc wrote: Joe,
there were reasons to re-make THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. The original was in black and white and no one going to movies today saw the original. The gospel according to Hollywood.
Which is what makes it a false religion.  |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:03 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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yes, but a religion that many of us have accepted into our life, oh brother.
Now pray with me
Our Father who art in heaven
Hollywood be thy name |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:48 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I finally saw my first Werner Herzog fictional film (I'd seen several documentaries), in this case Fitzcarraldo. I was surprised in that I was expecting it to be a Heart of Darkness type of story (which it sometimes threatens to be). Maybe I was expecting it to be Aguirre or Burden of Dreams, which I have yet to see.
Klaus Kinski plays Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, whose last name is Hispanicized as Fitzcarraldo. He is an Irishman with several schemes, and a dream of bringing an opera house to the rubber boom city of Iquitos on the Peruvian Amazon. In this he is supported by his lover, Molly, the local madam, charmingly played by Claudia Cardinale. Molly has a beaming smile and a weakness for Fitzgerald's schemes, which make just enough sense to be intriguing. You really hope he succeeds so you'll get to see Claudia smile again.
Fitzgerald sees another possibility: getting into the rubber business. A few dozen miles south of Iquitos, on the Ucayali, there is a large area containing millions of unexploited rubber trees. Unfortunately, there is a set of rapids between the Ucayali and Iquitos which prevents these from being exploited. (For some reason, you need a steamboat to do it.) The river is navigable above the rapids. One day, Fitzgerald sees a map and notices another tributary of the Amazon comes within less than a mile of the Ucayali and that one is navigable, and all there is in between is a ridge and a ferocious tribe of headhunters. So Fitzgerald has another bright idea...and if you know anything about the movie, you know what it is.
This is a movie about an obsessed man who may be a little dangerous, but is actually pretty admirable and can become a bit of a legend. Fitzgerald is based on a real rubber baron who had the sense to take the steamship apart and put it together at its destination, but what's the fun in that? It does seem the real and fictional Fitzgerald had an awful lot in common. The climax is great and I was expecting quite a different kind of climax.
I really like the photography in the film, and not just the jungle and set pieces. The inside of the Manaus Opera House is incredibly beautiful, and the buildings of Iquitos look like you would expect a boomtown to look. Claudia Cardinale, of course, is a reason that cameras were invented. Klaus Kinski is a lot more restrained than you might expect, but should take some of the money from the ice business and invest in a comb. His performance reminded me favorably of James Cagney in one of his go-getter roles like Footlight Parade. I could easily see a forty-year old Cagney in this part.
The film does drag in quite a few places. On the other hand, if you're going to drag a big steamship up and down a mountain, I can take an extra few minutes to admire your achievement. |
Last edited by Syd on Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:21 am; edited 2 times 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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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:33 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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"Fitzcarraldo" remains in my memory as one of the better movies from the 1980's. Building an opera house in the jungle, or lifting a ship over a mountain are the same order of feats as making this movie.
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| Marj |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:35 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Billy--I'm listening and I hear you loud and clear.
I find Jon Hamm's remark especially interesting since I've been Paul Rudd fan for more years than I'd like to admit. I also admit that while I'm not a fan of the kinds of movies he's been making, Rudd is one of the best young actors around. He's also a very funny guy.
I discovered him in a TV show called Sisters. It was somewhat soap operay if I recall, but he stood out. In fact all of the actors were very good. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:07 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I remember him on Sisters, which strikes me as just the right role for him: boy toy. I don't think he can act at all, but he's no longer young, so he can't play leading man. It seems he wants to go the Bill Shatner route of "I'm really just a clown." For a time, it looked like Rudd was pulling that off, but not so much as more movies come along. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:22 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Joe Vitus wrote: I don't think he can act at all...
What can I say except...you're wrong? |
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| lissa |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 3:43 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 2148
Location: my computer
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Quote: he's no longer young, so he can't play leading man
Oooooooh....ageism? Here?
I'm not familiar with his work, but:
Harrison Ford
Sean Connery
Mel Gibson
Donald Sutherland
Robert Redford
PAUL NEWMAN
The list could go on and on. Strong, confident, talented men, none of them what you'd call "young" (RIP Mr Newman, but you had what it took), and handsome on top of it too. Leading man qualities, in my book.
billy:
Quote: What can I say except...you're wrong?
I have to question your statement - Joe said he THINKS the man can't act...you beg to differ, but you can't tell him he's wrong. It's his opinion and he's as entitled to it as you are to yours.
Just sayin' |
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Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarfs aren't happy. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:26 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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billyweeds wrote: Joe Vitus wrote: I don't think he can act at all...
What can I say except...you're wrong?
Well, you could say that you're wrong. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:31 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| In any case--Lissa and Joe--I was sort of kidding. Of course I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion, duh. I was just being emphatically pro-Rudd in my own special way. No offense meant, f'r'eavens sake. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:43 pm |
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| Lissa, you spend too much time being a mother. You give advice as if we were children. It's cute actually. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:45 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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marantzo wrote: Lissa, you spend too much time being a mother. You give advice as if we were children. It's cute actually.
Cute and condescending. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:45 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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billyweeds wrote: In any case--Lissa and Joe--I was sort of kidding.
So was I. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:46 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Joe Vitus wrote: billyweeds wrote: In any case--Lissa and Joe--I was sort of kidding.
So was I.
I assumed that, but Lissa not so much. |
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