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| whiskeypriest |
 Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:37 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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knox wrote: Feeling the restrained excitement over the DVD release of Johnny English Reborn. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:19 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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Funny you should mention JER; just rented it. I'm not sure I've seen the first one. Have liked Mr. Bean and Black Adder, however, so am prepared to like this.
Post-Viewing Edit: The scene with the adjustable chair was great - what Atkinson does best. Sendups of the JB's (James Bond, Jason Bourne) come thick and fast. Especially enjoyed by this viewer was the chase sequence in which RA draws upon "the wisdom of age" to stay in pursuit of a young and agile spy. |
Last edited by bartist on Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:43 am; edited 1 time in total
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 10:42 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 11:01 am |
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| Atkinson is a favourite of mine also. I'll have to catch those two films. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 1:48 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Since Hungarian film week generated so many posts, I thought I'd blaze right into older Iranian films. The Cow (1969) is a simple story of village life and a bovine. The dialogue and staging are a bit clumsy at times, but the views of a rural village in Shah Iran is quite interesting, with people living in adobe shacks and caves. The parts which are filmed much like a neo-realist film are the best. The Shah's people were kind of embarrassed that this film became an internatioanl hit, as it showed a poor backward village in Iran -- much as China would later grumble over the early Zhang YiMou films. But The Cow presents a loving portrait.
Interestingly, the at the time exiled Ayatollah Khomeini was reported to have admired the film. And allegedly that's why he allowed Iranian cinema to continue without becoming completely banned after the Iranian Revolution.
I always like how arbitrary strictures are. In red China, all sorts of things, from religion to boxing to pet owning were banned, but smoking and dancing were allowed, because that's what the commie boys in the caves of Yan'An enjoyed.
Back to Iranian cinema -- I preferred The Cyclist (1987) in which a poor Afghani tries to raise money for his ailing wife's hospital bills by riding a bicycle for 7 days straight. Again, a very simple story and another realistic view of poor folks scrambling to get by. Some of the filming was quite well done. Kinetic camerawork. And a whole corrupt circus develops around the desperation of this one man. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:20 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Caught the end of Local Hero again. I first saw it as part of a double feature with Something Wicked this Way Comes, and, sinceLocal Hero is such a quiet film, it was kind of overwhelmed in comparison, but it's one of those films that got better on reflection. I've liked it better each time I've seen it and it's now one of my favorite films. This and Atlantic City are my favorite Burt Lancaster roles, and I may just like this film better. Which, since I wanted Atlantic City to sweep the Oscars, is a major turnaround. |
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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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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 1:53 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Which reminds me (since I'm mentioning Bill Fortsyth directed films), Housekeeping has been available on DVD since last September and is one of my favorite films. |
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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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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:38 am |
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Local Hero and Atlantic City are two films that are examples of how a perfect film should be made. I can't imagine anyone leaving these two without being very happy to have seen them, but of course there will be some.
Two very different roles for Lancaster and certainly among his best. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 9:27 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Syd wrote: Caught the end of Local Hero again. I first saw it as part of a double feature with Something Wicked this Way Comes, and, sinceLocal Hero is such a quiet film, it was kind of overwhelmed in comparison, but it's one of those films that got better on reflection. I've liked it better each time I've seen it and it's now one of my favorite films. This and Atlantic City are my favorite Burt Lancaster roles, and I may just like this film better. Which, since I wanted Atlantic City to sweep the Oscars, is a major turnaround.
I loved Atlantic City. Never wanted to be a lemon so much in all my life. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 12:38 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| "Biutiful" is just that - a beautiful and sad look at the end of a man's life in a rough neighborhood of Barcelona, and his struggle to put his affairs in order and make sure his loved ones will be okay. Much more involving and compelling than I expected from the synopsis on the box. Bardem has one of the most interesting faces in cinema, so much depth there. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 3:25 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I'm watching The Private Life of Don Juan, with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., in his final role, playing a lothario past his prime, and Merle Oberon and Melville Cooper stealing the movie right from under him. Though Fairbanks has a lot of good moments, part of the joke is that the younger Don Juan impersonator seems much more Don Juanish than the real thing, who is under doctor's orders to climb no more than one balcony a night.
Director is Alexander Korda, who also directed The Private Life of Henry VIII and a lot else.
Correction: it was Benita Hume who was stealing the film as his wife. Merle Oberon was a dancer. |
Last edited by Syd on Mon Apr 09, 2012 11:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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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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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 3:53 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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bartist wrote: "Biutiful" is just that - a beautiful and sad look at the end of a man's life in a rough neighborhood of Barcelona, and his struggle to put his affairs in order and make sure his loved ones will be okay. Much more involving and compelling than I expected from the synopsis on the box. Bardem has one of the most interesting faces in cinema, so much depth there.
But the movie is a complete and utter downer. Effective if that's what you're after; non-entertainment in its purest form. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:29 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Quote: But the movie is a complete and utter downer. Effective if that's what you're after; non-entertainment in its purest form.
I must enjoy misery.
Seriously, I didn't find it to be a complete downer, in spite of the horrible tragedy with the immigrant Asian workers. Yes, some get ground up in the inhuman gears of a global economy hungry for the cheapest labor possible, but we also see him save those that he can save and he acts with an extraordinary energy for someone in the final states of cancer. In the midst of the sordid and desperate, he asserts a spiritual power. A sort of "flowers growing in sewage" theme. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 6:24 pm |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1246
Location: St. Louis
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| They did a remake of The Lady Vanishes?? It took me 33 years to learn this?? Is this any good? Elliot Gould inclines me to go ahead and rent this. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:39 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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knox wrote: They did a remake of The Lady Vanishes?? It took me 33 years to learn this?? Is this any good? Elliot Gould inclines me to go ahead and rent this.
Supposed to be awful. |
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