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marantzo

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:23 am

Guest

I saw Exodus when it opened. I was very disappointed, and bored. Going in, I thought that it might be schlocky, but I was expecting that it would still have some exciting things in it. It didn't. Bad acting all around (John Derek was probably the best of the lot and what does that say about the cast)? There was enough schmaltz in the movie, to have warranted a warning of possible cardiac arrest. Another big disappointment was just when some real action would be entering the story, it ended. Just a clunker all around.

I'm pretty sure there was an intermission.

gromit

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:01 am

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

I'm inclined to believe that it was an intermission cue. But every other scene ended so poorly or awkwardly, it was hard to tell.

I never even got around to mentioning the blond girl who is a super-earnest goody-two-shoes, a sort of Anne Frank character who makes it to Israel, but a poor actress. Mild Spoilers if anyone is going to sit through 3 hours and 20 minutes of this shipwreck:

Quote:

Have to say I was glad when she was abducted. But it was sort of comical when Sal Mineo's character, on patrol, walks right by her body, but the guy behind him sees it and points out what almost tripped Sal up. A lot of weird amateurish staging like that made it feel more like a play, with its limited stage, than a movie.

I do agree that the last hour things picked up, as the prison break gets into gear. But it felt a little Hogan's Heroes to me, and the music makes sure to punctuate every clandestine note or object smuggled inside, possibly to assist the visually impaired.

John Derek had a small part as an Arab village leader, probably less than 5 minutes screen time, though his character meets a memorable end. He and Newman, a Jew, had grown up together almost like brothers, but now find the partition of Palestine pitting them on opposite sides ... cue the heroic score.
And the score is quite famous and heroic, though I'd rather listen to Bob Marley's Exodus.

I've been watching a few biblical epics from the late 50's, and no doubt Preminger was trying to make Exodus as a modern-day biblical epic. Even the title gives it away. In fact, the relationship between Newman and Derek seems lifted almost straight from Ben Hur, made the year before. Maybe that's why Newman was cast in the lead, to rival Heston's good looks.

Another Paul Newman box set has spilled out into Shanghai as individual titles. Tonight I picked up Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! and Quintet. Last week, I picked up From The Terrace and The Long Hot Summer, plus Exodus.

Newman made a lot of films.
I usually enjoy those 70's apocalyptic films of doomed mankind -- especially Charlton Heston films -- so I might roll with Quintet tonight, a film I hadn't heard of until the "box set" turned up here.

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marantzo

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:36 am

Guest

When I saw Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! back in (when was it '58?) I really enjoyed it. A funny, silly, brightly coloured romp where the players seem to be having a lot of fun. I saw it a few years ago on TV and it wasn't quite as much fun as the first time but still an enjoyable diversion. Joan Collins as the temptress is a definite asset. Smile

Their wild encounter SPOILER (with the chandelier) was a pisser. Don't really know if a spoiler was called for.

I read a number of Max Shulman's books and He was a funny guy. Not heavy reading but fun.

Ghulam

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 1:11 am

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4742 Location: Upstate NY

Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell is as spooky a ghost movie as they come. Wonder why it did not do better in theaters.

.

Marc

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 1:17 am

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 8424

Drag Me To Hell will be in my top ten of 2009.

I just got thru watching Tilda Swinton in "Julia". You must see this movie for her performance alone. It is a stunner.

Syd

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 1:31 am

Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12921 Location: Norman, Oklahoma

Saving Face is a comedy where Chinese-American women have to face the pressures of forbidden love against traditionalist parents, the kicker being that one of the traditionalist mothers is one of the ones facing the pressure. Wil (i.e. Wilhelmina) is a tomboyish surgeon whose mother is trying to fix her up with boys, which is futile because Wil is a lesbian, and much more interested in having a romance with the more open Vivian. Then one day Wil's mother shows up on her doorstep because she (the 48-year-old mother) is pregnant and won't say who the father is. So Wil's mother is being rejected by her father while trying to raise her daughter in a traditional lifestyle, which means lots of matchmaking, both by daughter and by mother.

Fairly funny, with fortunate echoes of The Wedding Banquet but occasionally having echoes of the awful In and Out. Most interesting appearance is Joan Chen as the mother; I hadn't seen her since she played Pu Yi's Empress in The Last Emperor. (She directed Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, which I hated.) Overall, it's an okay rental without being anything special.

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billyweeds

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:10 am

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

Random notes on what's just been said:

That boxed set of Newman movies should be titled "The Very Worst of Paul Newman." Add Torn Curtain and A New Kind of Love and subtract The Long, Hot Summer and you've got it all there.

Quintet is literally unwatchable, as visually monotonous as it is dramatically inert and unbearable. It's not only one of Altman's worst, it's on my list of ten worst of all time. Absolutely horrendous.

Despite what Gary said, Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! proves definitively that, despite what considerable gifts Paul Newman possessed, farce was not one of them. This (and the other laff-riot-wannabe A New Kind of Love) show him and spouse Joanne Woodward unable to sustain a laugh if their careers depended upon it. Newman was no George Clooney or Jon Hamm, latter-day dreamboats with funnybones attached. Newman is only rivaled by Kirk Douglas and Sally Field in the guffaw-free major star pantheon.

On the other hand, The Long, Hot Summer is terrific, not only boasting charismatic, sexy, and appropriately amusing (as opposed to "funny") performances by Newman and Woodward, but a hotttttt contribution by luscious Lee Remick and great character work from Orson Welles and Angela Lansbury. A cast to die for in a juicily entertaining package.

Can't agree on Drag Me to Hell. A dull movie and a severe disappointment. I'm not surprised audiences failed to respond.

The blonde in Exodus is probably Jill Haworth (and yes, that's the correct spelling), indeed a poor actress and (incredibly) the lead in the original Broadway production of Cabaret. Her ineptitude was part of the reason Joel Grey so definitively stole the show. Liza Minnelli took over on screen and wiped away all memories of Haworth. But then there's Exodus.

lissa

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:43 am

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 2148 Location: my computer

Syd - that sounds fascinating and very reminiscent of Caramel, a story about 4 modern-day women in modern-day Beirut living amidst very old-fashioned values. The movie is poignant, humorous, gripping and enlightening. I saw it when it first came out on DVD but it bears rewatching. I'll look for Saving Face. Thanks!

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marantzo

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:51 am

Guest

I like The Long Hot Summer also.

I wouldn't call Drag Me To Hell a severe disappointment for me, but I was not impressed with it. A lot of very familiar horror movie tricks and a lot of the same dumb stuff they have been using forever. Not terrible, but not anything special.

I didn't know it did poorly at the box office. I thought it did well.

Perfect movie for children. Laughing

gromit

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:04 am

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

This is the Newman boxset (though as I said it comes without the box -- that is, individually).

13 films on 17 discs, as 4 films have 2 disc Special Editions, including The Towering Inferno.

Disc 1: The Long Hot Summer
Disc 2: Rally 'Round the Flag Boys
Disc 3: From the Terrace
Disc 4: Exodus
Disc 5: The Hustler - Collector's Edition Disc 1
Disc 6: The Hustler - Collector's Edition Disc 2
Disc 7: Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man
Disc 8: What a Way To Go!
Disc 9: Hombre
Disc 10: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Collector'sl Edition Disc 1
Disc 11: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Collector's Edition Disc 2
Disc 12: Towering Inferno - Special Edition Disc 1
Disc 13: Towering Inferno - Special Edition Disc 2
Disc 14: Buffalo Bill and the Indians
Disc 15: Quintet
Disc 16: The Verdict - Collector's Edition Disc 1
Disc 17: The Verdict - Collector's Edition Disc 2

billyweeds wrote:

Quintet is literally unwatchable, as visually monotonous as it is dramatically inert and unbearable. It's not only one of Altman's worst, it's on my list of ten worst of all time. Absolutely horrendous.

Well, call him Billy Liar, as I watched Quintet last night.

The game at the heart of the film is a bit of a lame conception, and not well clarified. And it all amounts to little.

But still I liked the frozen world (global cooling?) and a weary, confused Newman stumbling around in the snow and ice, and finally into a plot that he doesn't understand. I also liked the medieval robes and Renaissance floppy hats. And some of the set -- they converted the 10-year abandoned Montreal World Expo island site -- was interestingly creepy as a futuristic iceworld. I always find it interesting when a real landscape is transformed into a hellish future (Alphaville, Mad Max, Blade Runner, etc).***

In fact, Quintet reminded me of Blade Runner and Time Bandits, in its low-budget approach to a future world. I believe they were all filmed around the same time, so its probably that late 70's can-do aesthetic. Unfortunately it also reminded me of those schlocky Edgar Allan Poe horror films churned out int he early 70's.

Dramatically, Quintet goes nowhere. The murders and the game ultimately aren't very interesting or resolved satisfactorily. It winds up seeming more like an exercise in location dressing and set design. Too bad they didn't put more thought into constructing the plot, making it dramatic, and telling it well.

I've never cared much for Altman, and was surprised when his director's credit hit the screen at the start of the film.

At least I can look forward to The Long, Hot Summer, which has Faulkner's name on the dvd cover only 4 times.

------------------------------------------------
***Shanghai has become a favorite for use as a futuristic city, with so many new shiny, odd-shaped buildings. Code 46 (2003) probably made the biggest use of this, though I haven't seen the blockbusters that have filmed a few scenes here.

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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.

billyweeds

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:10 am

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

The Hustler, The Verdict, and The Long, Hot Summer are the only titles I would heartily recommend in that set. Hombre is mediocre at best, and the others range from sub-mediocre to sub-terrible. What a Way to Go! is another example of Newman trying comedy and falling on his handsome face, along with a host of other superstars doing the same. This would include Shirley MacLaine in the lead. This is a truly cretinous movie.

marantzo

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:22 am

Guest

Since Mad Max was mentioned; I hadn't seen until a week ago when I came across this motorcycle, The Wild One type of movie. It took a while before I realized it was Mad Max. What a stupid, bad movie it was.

lady wakasa

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:29 am

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

Syd wrote:

This sounds something like Red Doors (well, maybe not the mother thing): http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0415234/

BTW, I need to pm you...

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marantzo

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:57 am

Guest

Checking out the JustinTV site the other night I came across old sci fi movies around page 6 or 7. Clicked on it and came in the middle of Tarantula, a classic I had seen at a drive-in in the 50's. Not too bad actually and fun to watch in the late night. There were about 6 or 7 viewers, and this of course was from a worldwide audience. The movie ended and the next movie up was Teenagers From Outer Space. Now I was the only viewer. I watched the first few minutes and it was wonderfully dreadful. I wanted to watch the whole thing, but I was just too tired. I recommend these two icons of the era for anyone who appreciates things that are so hokey that they are charming, like some talentless 10 year old playing a tortured How Much Is That Doggy In the Window, on an accordion.

Syd

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:10 am

Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12921 Location: Norman, Oklahoma

lady wakasa wrote:

Syd wrote:

This sounds something like Red Doors (well, maybe not the mother thing): http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0415234/

BTW, I need to pm you...

As Clara says in Kinsey, I think I might like that.

_________________
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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