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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:58 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Capote himself wanted Marilyn Monroe as Holly but it didn't happen for one reason or another. Hepburn was totally miscast as Capote's Holly, but she made it her own in a big way. And her singing of "Moon River" alone makes the movie a classic.
There are few instances where the first time you hear a song you know it's going to 1) win the Oscar; and 2) become a timeless standard. "Moon River" was one of that handful. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:39 am |
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| Never liked Breakfast at Tiffany's. I was going to write that Hepburn was badly miscast but Billy beat me to it. She was OK in the role but like someone else said, I didn't like the character. For me the movie was sort of a fluff piece with characters that didn't interest me at all. Moon River was a nice song. From what I've heard and read, the movie is a different animal than Capote's story. They should have stuck to Capote's version and then it might have had some depth. A very disappointing time at the theatre for me. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:44 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Hepburn was more than okay as Holly. She was iconic and memorable. This does not mean she gave a "good" performance. She was all wrong as a call girl and as a former hillbilly, both. But she had charisma, charm, and looks. The movie is actually pretty bad (and Mickey Rooney is really bad), but it's watchable, over and over again.
In fact, this thread has forced me to start watching it on Netflix. (It streams.) |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 11:30 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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I'll be the curmudgeon and tell you I plan to never see BAT's again. One big soaked cat of a movie.
Quote: I still chuckle at Ellen Barkin [in TABB) selling her part so earnestly
Me, too. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:09 pm |
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bartist wrote: I'll be the curmudgeon and tell you I plan to never see BAT's again. One big soaked cat of a movie.
Quote: I still chuckle at Ellen Barkin [in TABB) selling her part so earnestly
Me, too.
There is more than one curmudgeon here about this movie. As to seeing it again, I came across it on TV a year or more ago. It had already started and I figured I'd give it a try. My try didn't last long and Rooney seemed to be acting horribly on purpose. I don't think the box office numbers in Japan could have been very good.
I have to agree with you, Billy. She did light up the movie with her performance, though I found the reality of her character non-existent. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:09 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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If I remember, Judith Crist didn't care for The Apartment because the lovers weren't pushed for their misdeeds or something. I can just imagine what she thought of Breakfast at Tiffany's.
I shouldn't make fun of Billy. I was in tears at the fate of the poor Cat. Orangey ("Cat") had a distinguished career, including becoming the only cat to win two Patsy awards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangey |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:51 pm |
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"If I remember, Judith Crist didn't care for The Apartment because the lovers weren't pushed for their misdeeds or something."
That was a criticism by Dwight MacDonald also.
Barring certain circumstances I don't have any respect for women having affairs with married men or men having affairs with married women. Of course the Hollywood bunch seems to be in a different category as far as marital ethics go.  |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:42 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| In The Apartment MacLaine was certainly "punished" for her "misdeeds" by nearly successfully committing suicide. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 7:58 pm |
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billyweeds wrote: Capote himself wanted Marilyn Monroe as Holly but it didn't happen for one reason or another. Hepburn was totally miscast as Capote's Holly, but she made it her own in a big way. And her singing of "Moon River" alone makes the movie a classic.
There are few instances where the first time you hear a song you know it's going to 1) win the Oscar; and 2) become a timeless standard. "Moon River" was one of that handful.
Monroe would have been equally miscast as the boyish, elfin Golightly (which is how Capote describes the character). I think it just pleased Capote to beat the moviemakers over the head for whatever decision they made. To me, the movie is a huge improvement over the book. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:18 pm |
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Joe Vitus wrote: billyweeds wrote: Capote himself wanted Marilyn Monroe as Holly but it didn't happen for one reason or another. Hepburn was totally miscast as Capote's Holly, but she made it her own in a big way. And her singing of "Moon River" alone makes the movie a classic.
There are few instances where the first time you hear a song you know it's going to 1) win the Oscar; and 2) become a timeless standard. "Moon River" was one of that handful.
Monroe would have been equally miscast as the boyish, elfin Golightly (which is how Capote describes the character). I think it just pleased Capote to beat the moviemakers over the head for whatever decision they made. To me, the movie is a huge improvement over the book.
I disagree. The "book"--actually a long short story--is ineffably sad and beautifully written. The movie creates a happy ending that is faintly ridiculous. I did enjoy it, though--hence my many viewings. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:16 pm |
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You're right that it's technically a novella, though it's often published on its own, hence my writing "book." But it ends happily, too. Holly traveling the world with very wealthy people, and seemingly as capricious and mercurial as ever. In both the book and the movie, she loses the person she cares most about and who she had the strongest real connection (her brother). Granted, Capote puts his ending at the start of his narrative, so its easy to think his version is tougher because we last see Holly remorseful about shoving the cat out of the car and heading off to the airport and no future in the rain. But geez, she ends up wealthy and exotic, the narrator pretty much satisfied, and even the cat winds up well-fed in a warm, comfortable home.
The real difference is that the book is about a gamine and a gay friend, hence it ends without a love match, while the movie is a about a gamine and a straight man, hence it ends with a love match. But both are syrupy and essentially improbable endings that nonetheless satisfy. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:41 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Joe--I think you're being Pollyanna-ish about the end of the novella. I find it very, very sad, as Holly is left rootless and going nowhere--fast and slowly. She is doomed--wealthy, provided for, but doomed. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:52 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| I saw On Any Given Sunday the other night. As sports movies go, I thought it was pretty good. Even the footballing scenes weren’t bad. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:02 am |
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jeremy wrote: I saw On Any Given Sunday the other night. As sports movies go, I thought it was pretty good. Even the footballing scenes weren’t bad.
Any Given Sunday (no "On" in the title) was IMO one of Oliver Stone's very few (two or three) good movies. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:38 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| "Thor" is visually baroque and inventive, jumping back and forth between Asgard, the icy place (Jotunheim?), and small town New Mexico. The attempts to somehow reconcile the mythic and modern science are hokey, with Natalie Portman in the unlikely role of a physicist, but can all be enjoyed with a wink. |
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