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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:03 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Marc wrote: Watched Peter Yates THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE. with Robert Mitchum. It's a tight, no frills crime flick with sturdy performances by a cast of relative unknowns (excepting Peter Boyle), most of whom are dead now. Based on a novel by George V. Higgens, FOEC has a nitty gritty authenticity that comes off like Scorsese-lite. Mitchum is soulful as a mid-level criminal who gets caught between his gangster buddies and a cop who offers him a way out. A fine film finally available on DVD thanks to Criterion. My only complaint, the pseudo funk score by Dave Gruisin is intrusive at times. As composer of music scores, Gruisin is about as subtle a pair of brass knuckles upside yer head.
Marc--First of all, Grusin (the correct spelling) is a great musician. Second of all, his score to Tootsie is among the finest I know for any movie. Third, his score for The Firm is as ill-conceived as any other that I know. The problem with it, however, is that it was too subtle. Jazz piano has little or nothing to do with a crime thriller. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 12:31 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| Grusin makes pseudo jazz for the easy listening crowd. He may be skillfull, but he ain't great. And his score for THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE is so dumb I'm shocked that director Yates didn't trash it. Grusin's technique is to throw a heavy white funk groove on the track every time someone jumps in a car and speeds off. The rest of the time, he's noodling on the keyboard to little or no effect. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 12:32 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| so, billy, fuck Grusin, did you like THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE? |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 1:02 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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I watched Friends of EC last month.
Good low-key crime drama.
Nice weary Mitchum performance.
But at times it struggles to rise much above a TV crime series of the era, such as Baretta. The score being part of the problem there. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 2:00 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE is a downbeat film and Grusin was probably instructed by the studio to jazz it up. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:15 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Marc wrote: so, billy, fuck Grusin, did you like THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE?
Haven't seen it in many years, but my reaction at the time was that it was too low-key for my taste. I like realism, but enhanced. TFOEC was almost a documentary. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 9:03 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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| I sent DVDs to billy and earl on the same day from Austin. One got to New York before the other has gotten to Houston. Weird. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:38 am |
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I finally saw Carpenter's The Thing. As I knew going in, it is much closer to the story than the 50's picture. It was good and moved nicely on its gory, anxiety ridden path. It has a very good ending also. I usually like Carpenter's stuff and this was no exception. The only thing that bothered me was that I was watching a DVD and I'm sure that on the big screen it would be more impressive. Actually there is another thing, that has nothing to do with the quality, that puts me off; Having lived in Winnipeg most of my life, I don't care to see bitter cold and snow for a whole movie.  (And I never go anywhere north of Winnipeg for a trip.)
Seeing the original The Thing, was an experience that I will never forget. The cold and snow didn't bother me much because I saw it on a sunny hot day in July. The spring here has been the worst I remember.
Global warming?....bullshit! |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:02 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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marantzo wrote:
Global warming?....bullshit!
I have enough respect for your intelligence to assume you mean this as a joke. If for some reason you are serious, and think that a cold winter makes global warming a myth (as many Republicans persist in arguing), then you need to do a lot of research. |
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| Trish |
| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:35 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 2438
Location: Massachusetts
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| Watched Tropic Thunder again on cable - Robert Downey Jr. just cracked me up over and over again - his conversation with Ben Stiller's character over the character's portrayal of a mentally disabled man - just had me in hysterics and then Nick Nolte near the end SPOILERs when he says to RBJ "forget about him (Stiller) he's joined the circus..." that line killed me - I can't remember the last film that made me laugh so hard |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:33 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Trish--Must say I found Tropic Thunder a crashing bore, just torture to endure. Downey, who I often love, was no better than the rest of the movie to me. It was affected, pretentious, and unfunny IMO. Therefore I may just love The Hangover. (That's my logical theory for today.) |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:54 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| And I languish right in the middle. An awful place to be Btw. I thought Downey was pretentious. But still awfully funny. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 1:10 pm |
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| Kate |
| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 1:17 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1397
Location: Pacific Northwest
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| I found TT very funny, with an engaging cast of characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 2:19 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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I haven't seen it or felt compelled to but I think it's great to find a movie that really really gets you laughing.
I just bought Death Proof because it's a movie I like to watch again and again. I don't think any men on here liked it. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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