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| yambu |
 Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 9:42 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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The Red Shoes, recently discussed here, should be preserved in amber, too precious for unimpeded viewing. The lead balletomane has all the sexuality and drive of a high school frosh playing her part. Her main squeeze might as well have been played by Zeppo Marx.
So is the film all about the Lermontov character? You bet your ass it is - until the relentlessly trite plot overwhelms even him, with all else that is mediocre or, if you please, great about the whole thing. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 11:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I adore The Red Shoes, but haven't seen it recently enough to respond specifically to your comments. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 5:41 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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I understand and respect yambu's comments on The Red Shoes. If it wasn't such a great film, made so by unbelievably great photography, genius pacing, and an indescribable sense of urgency, it would reside in the highest levels of high camp. Hell, it resides there anyway. The story is sheer insanity and the acting is out of overacting heaven. I disagree with yambu about the quality of the performances, but I think Moira Shearer's performance alone is simultaneously great and ridiculous, and I love the Zeppo Marx analogy.
The Red Shoes is a classic, but it is ripe for wicked parody. Why hasn't anyone ever done a satire on it? Maybe because it's its own best parody. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 6:39 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| I recall nothing that deserves to be parodied. I thought it captured the art culture of the time well, and I loved Moira Sheerer's performance. I need to rent it so I can say more. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 6:53 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Joe--The movie is some kind of masterpiece. But it is overripe to say the least. That's what I'm talking about. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 8:16 am |
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I haven't seen The Red Shoes but I remember vividly when it played in Winnipeg. It was very popular and ran for a long time. My dad told me that it had the longest run for a movie in New York.
I picked up Where the Wild Things Are. I'm looking forward to seeing it. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 2:38 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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| I was warned off TRS years ago by someone who had a Yambu-like impression of it. Plus the fact that I have a conspicuous lack of interest in dance films. (realizing that a truly great film of any genre will trancend its genre domain and be worth watching....) I remember seeing something with Julia Stiles with my daughter while she was in her dance phase, and...that's all. Nothing left in the grey matter except "film with Julia Stiles." Like cotton candy of the brain. Sorry, I digress. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 3:37 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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bartist wrote: I was warned off TRS years ago by someone who had a Yambu-like impression of it. Plus the fact that I have a conspicuous lack of interest in dance films. (realizing that a truly great film of any genre will trancend its genre domain and be worth watching....) I remember seeing something with Julia Stiles with my daughter while she was in her dance phase, and...that's all. Nothing left in the grey matter except "film with Julia Stiles." Like cotton candy of the brain. Sorry, I digress.
Save the Last Dance. Good movie with an interracial romance angle. My introduction to Julia Stiles who I usually like. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 7:12 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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I have zero interest in dance films. The movie is really about a woman torn between two men, and trying to figure out what she wants from her life, rather than what they do.
It also has the most stunning Technicolor photography ever. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 9:09 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Joe Vitus wrote: I have zero interest in dance films. The movie is really about a woman torn between two men, and trying to figure out what she wants from her life, rather than what they do.
It also has the most stunning Technicolor photography ever.
The Red Shoes and Rebel Without a Cause are the best advertisements for the color red that exist in any film I've ever seen. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:07 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| I'd probably throw Gone With the Wind in that group, too, but I totally agree with you. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 10:15 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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billyweeds wrote: Joe Vitus wrote: I have zero interest in dance films. The movie is really about a woman torn between two men, and trying to figure out what she wants from her life, rather than what they do.
It also has the most stunning Technicolor photography ever. and Rebel Without a Cause are the best advertisements for the color red that exist in any film I've ever seen. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 12:31 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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The Devil's Miner is a documentary set in Bolivia's Cerro Rico sliver mines, a most dangerous and depressing place to work in. It is the story of a 14 year old boy who works in the mine together with his 12 year old brother. They live with their mother and attribute all their hardships to the fact that their father died when they were barely 2 or 3 years old. Touching and sad.
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 12:33 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Watching Fanaa, with Kajol as a beautiful blind girl who falls in love with a tour guide (Aamir Khan) who is a womanizer. Nice romance, rather sappy, nice songs, then you get the twist and the intermission, which I'm taking as a hint to finish tomorrow. Good enough so far,
I have a bit of a problem with Aamir Khan as a romantic lead; he looks a bit like Liberace to me (or maybe Fellini's White Sheik, who also reminds me a bit of Liberace). Kajol, on the other hand, is drop-dead gorgeous, and the girls who play her friends are very pretty too,
This is the film Ghulam mentioned back in 2006 as being boycotted in the state of Gujarat because Aamir Khan was protesting a dam that resulted in thousands of families being forced to relocate before resettlement arrangements had been made. (Look up "Narmada River" in Search for details. Also check Gromit's post a couple before Ghulam's. Both are dated June 11, 2006.) |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2011 2:52 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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Quote: The Red Shoes and Rebel Without a Cause are the best advertisements for the color red that exist in any film I've ever seen.
Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451 and Argento's Suspiria. |
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