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| whiskeypriest |
 Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 5:17 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:15 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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whiskeypriest, thank you. End-Of-Thread Limbo is such a lonely place.
Befade wrote:
Inla.......that is motivation enough for me to see The King's Speech. A Single Man was the most unforgettable film/performance last year.
As you already know, am right there with you on that. Though Hurt Locker maybe worked my last remaining nerve ending (count it) more, Up buoyed my heartstrings a tad more, A Single Man, for reasons both political, artistic and personal (for starters, the late partner was also named Jim), devastated me beyond measure or description. Yeah, Betsy, you kinda sorta gotta see King Colin and Company.
Quote: Probably the 2 different brothers is ordinary (I guess I'd better remember to see the Toby McGuire/Jake Gyllanhal film) But Amy Adams up against ......did you say 7 sisters and a mother......crushing!
Maybe not so much ordinary, just that it's been done (albeit in other ways/situations -- Tucci and Shalhoub in Big Night, for instance). Certainly, Mssrs. Bale and Wahlberg are anything but ordinary in their playing.
And on reflection I concede that a F-bomb-dropping, take-no-guff Amy Adams mixing it up with Mega Mom Melissa and the Seven Scary-Haired Sisters is something I hadn't quite seen before, tee-hee.
Syd wrote:
A lesser man would have been Adam Sandler's character in Punch-Drunk Love. If only he'd had a brother...
billyweeds wrote:
I have completely blanked on the racist element in Kind Hearts and Coronets, probably because the movie is so damned great that it seems irrelevant. And Joan Greenwood's Sabina gets my vote as one of the sexiest characters ever to grace a film.
Joan Greenwood's character in KH&C is named Sibella.
Sabina is the eternal Lilith who keeps intruding on Mr (Adam) Antrobus and Mrs. (Eve) Antrobus in The Skin of Our Teeth.
Plum-Toned Joan would have been petty durned sexy in that role, too.
jeremy wrote:
I love the way Inla packs half an article into a single sentence.
Oh, jeremy, you're too kind. As ever, it's recreational indulgence (one of many reasons we love this hear place), because the professional venues don't remotely permit such wordaholic spew.
bartist wrote:
Had the same thought -- and I heartily agree with Inla's appraisal...just saw TKS last night. A film with real heart, and a strong ring of truth often missing from historical drama. Glad I saw this in theater, as I was pleasantly stunned by the interiors -- I don't always pay enough attention to sets, but this film pulled me into them and made me want to linger. When wallpaper is made interesting, you know the DP and set designers are doing good work.
Hello. Exactly. One of the several ways the fillum is gaining in edge with that, um, other film society, is that the tech/craft-based Aclademites won't likely overlook so seamlessly elegant an accomplishment. |
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2011 11:06 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| inla--Something told me I should have researched the Joan Greenwood character's name. I sort of knew she didn't have the same name as the temptress from The Skin of Our Teeth, but got lazy. Whatever--Joan Greenwood could recite the phone book and make it sound lascivious. But Kind Hearts and Coronets is for me her peak. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 1:51 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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Billy......this is what I had to say first............
Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:24 am Post subject:
I want to read Ebert's review of Another Year. But I want to get my thoughts out before I do.
Well: I'm not sure I'm bowled over. It has a lingering effect. It asks alot of disturbing questions:
Are ugly women better at marriage and life?
Is drinking good or bad?
Are chances for happiness and love over by a certain age?
Why would a content couple befriend unhappy people?
Should an older woman buy a car?
Should an older woman attempt a romance with her friend's son?
Is it possible to be happy without a partner?
What is this movie about? |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 7:47 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Befade wrote:
It has a lingering effect. It asks alot of disturbing questions.
This is true, but for me they are rather easily answered, to wit:
Befade wrote: Are ugly women better at marriage and life?
You make the mistake, I think, of assuming that the movie intends some cosmic comment. I think it's about what it's about and little else. Some friends rather dismissively called it "the non-comedy version of Seinfeld--e.g., about "nothing--and they have a point. With that in mind, I'd say that 1) I don't think Mike Leigh is making any statement about "ugly women," just this one woman, Gerri, who 2) I don't think is remotely "ugly," just homely in a mighty pleasant way.
Befade wrote: Is drinking good or bad?
According to the movie, drinking is fine but not for alcoholics like Ken and Mary.
Befade wrote: Are chances for happiness and love over by a certain age?
What age would that be? Joe (Tom and Gerri's son) is approaching middle age and he and Katie form a blissful relationship. Mary isn't that much older. She's a different sort of person. Again, no cosmic comment implied here as far as I can see.
Befade wrote: Why would a content couple befriend unhappy people?
This is a more complex and interesting question. The positive answer is that they have warm hearts and want to give people a good time. The negative one, suggested by some critics of the film, is that they need to build their own self-esteem and egos by surrounding themselves with "losers." Either is possible and not fully answered by the movie, thank goodness. Leigh is far too smart for that "well-made William Inge" drama.
Befade wrote: Should an older woman buy a car?
Not if she gets drunk at lunch.
Befade wrote: Should an older woman attempt a romance with her friend's son?
Not unless he shows some scintilla of romantic interest in her.
Befade wrote: Is it possible to be happy without a partner?
The movie makes no comment on this question. Again, it's about the characters it's about--not Hamlet, Sigmund Freud, or Edith Bunker.
Befade wrote: What is this movie about?
I think I've answered that already. But to recap: it's about Tom and Gerri, Ken and Mary, Joe and Katie, and a funeral and an angry semi-sociopathic nephew and a depressed brother and...
In other words, it's about what it's about. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 8:32 am |
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"Are chances for happiness and love over by a certain age? "
I think I can answer that with certainty. No!
This has to be my driest year for film viewing. I thought last year was bad, but this year I've seen even fewer films. Being in Medellin doesn't help, but even that is worse this year because the choice of movies is far worse than last year. I haven't been to a theatre here yet. The only films I was even interested in were animated and they were all dubbed in Spanish. I don't even go to movies dubbed in English so going to a film dubbed in a language that I hardly understand is ridiculous, claro. Oh, I miss Paris where I saw more movies in a month than I've seen in each of the last two years. The most frustrating thing is that one of the theatres with 6 screens is at the mall right across the street from us and another with 8 screens is at a mall 5 minute walk away. I check every Friday to see what's playing and it's been a crashing disappointment every week.
Other than that, Medellin is a lovely place to be. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:07 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| From my own perspective I certainly can echo Gary's "no." But in fairness, Betsy was asking whether the movie makes a statement on that subject, and I think the answer is "no" to that one too. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 10:50 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Quote: The movie makes no comment on this question. Again, it's about the characters it's about--not Hamlet, Sigmund Freud, or Edith Bunker.
I want to write a play with those three characters. Both Lincoln and Medellin are still waiting for many of these films. I could complain, but now I'm feeling lucky that, when they do arrive, they won't be dubbed in Spanish. "Howl" just showed up at the U. theater; that's progress. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 12:05 pm |
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Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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Ever since I saw Bowie play Tesla in "The Prestige," I've been hoping someone would make a Tesla film. Looks like it might happen...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1710622/
(if Bale stays with the project, this will be his second film with Tesla in it) |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 12:55 pm |
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Location: New York City
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Befade wrote:
Is it possible to be happy without a partner?
I didn't mention the fact that the widowed brother had a partner for years and didn't seem very happy. So there's no clear-cut attitude toward partnership. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 3:49 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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Quote: This has to be my driest year for film viewing.
Gary.........I think you need a direct connection to Gromit's dvd suppliers..... |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:21 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Manhattan
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:38 pm |
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Location: AZ
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Billy........That was my immediate reaction to the film. I have to guess that I was unprepared for it. Mary was such a strong negative presence that I felt Leigh was trying to say something about her.
But conclusions now: I think that happy, stable people will not want to pollute their peace with troubled people to any major extent. I don't think Tom and Gerri befriended Mary for ego enhancement. But they might have befriended her to have someone they could drink heavily with who would not criticize that.........just saying.
Anyway.........if you haven't already, see All or Nothing. Ruth Sheen plays a very likeable single mother with short dark hair and a great singing voice. Lesley Manville plays a mousy, miserable, married mother of teenagers. In this film there is character development, a plot that resolves nicely, and some really dear characters.........along with the typical lower class troubles. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:40 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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How are you Marj?
Attn: Gromit.......deliver copies to the needy........ |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:44 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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Quote: A Single Man, for reasons both political, artistic and personal (for starters, the late partner was also named Jim), devastated me beyond measure or description.
Inla.........I am sorry to hear that. I would say that Hurt Locker, though riveting is not a place I'd want to revisit. Up on the other hand was really Up and the old man with his backstory befriending the boy.......inspiring. Still, it's Firth that sticks. |
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