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| gromit |
 Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:56 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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That's why I said "soon enough."
Yes, To Live was much more political and allowed the authorities to ban the films release in China and slap a 2 year filmmaking ban on Zhang.
But there was also a cumulative disapproval. Chinese frequently criticized QiuJu for showing China in a negative light. And then there was talk that Zhang only portrays China as poor and backward, going back to his earliest films.
China, at the time, was very sensitive about its portrayal in the West, wanting to lure in foreign capital and ramp up joint ventures. And they thought the most prominent cultural export from China, Zhang Yi Mou films, were intentionally showing China in a negative light and as a poor ignorant country. The more obvious political nature of To Live allowed the authorities to punish Zhang, but the discontent and rumblings were there after QiuJu. His ban only lasted a year, as he patched things up and made the bland non-threatening Shanghai Triad. The PRC did like the prestige of having a top-level, internationally acclaimed filmmaker. But wanted to be able to control him to some degree.
The Blue Kite was a somewhat similar film to To Live and came out the year before and was banned and got the director a 10 filmmaking ban |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 6:27 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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My last three films:
The Railway Children (1970)
Apparently a much-beloved British film.
A lot like a British version of a Disney film. Well-made, good characters, very family friendly. I liked the kids.
Rock and Roll High School (1979)
I hadn't seen this since a midnight showing circa 1980.
It's kind of fun, with a goofy charm.
They throw in gags like an Indian with a tomahawk working the ticket line ("scalper"). Mice exploding and the very nice giant mouse costume. He's allowed in to the concert because he has head phones. Harmless silliness. And it's amusing/great they made a movie centered around the Ramones.
The Haunted Castle (1921)
An early Murnau, a year before Nosferatu.
Good melodrama.
Bunch of folks in a country mansion waiting for the rain to let up and the hunt to begin. And someone might have murdered someone else's relative a few years ago.
I like how each reel was an act in a 5 act play/film,
The 1st act introduces the setting, characters, etc nicely and ends on a good suspense note. I have Act 5 left, |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 11:54 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Finally saw Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, one of Marc's fave raves, and am I glad I saw it for free on cable. Marc and Manohla Dargis of the NYTimes both loved this 90-minute societal-critique-cum-music-video that feels like three hours (the opposite effect from The Wolf of Wall Street, btw). James Franco injects some life into SB, but otherwise the film's somewhat pretentious nihilism lacks the entertainment value of pure trash but looks and feels just as junky. I still trust Marc, since we agree 75 percent of the time, but Manohla Dargis is batting about .100 with me. |
Last edited by billyweeds on Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:42 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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gromit wrote: My last three films:
The Railway Children (1970)
Apparently a much-beloved British film.
A lot like a British version of a Disney film. Well-made, good characters, very family friendly. I liked the kids.
Rock and Roll High School (1979)
I hadn't seen this since a midnight showing circa 1980.
It's kind of fun, with a goofy charm.
They throw in gags like an Indian with a tomahawk working the ticket line ("scalper"). Mice exploding and the very nice giant mouse costume. He's allowed in to the concert because he has head phones. Harmless silliness. And it's amusing/great they made a movie centered around the Ramones.
The Haunted Castle (1921)
An early Murnau, a year before Nosferatu.
Good melodrama.
Bunch of folks in a country mansion waiting for the rain to let up and the hunt to begin. And someone might have murdered someone else's relative a few years ago.
I like how each reel was an act in a 5 act play/film,
The 1st act introduces the setting, characters, etc nicely and ends on a good suspense note. I have Act 5 left,
I'd really like to see The Haunted Castle in a decent print. It's a pretty good chamber mystery. |
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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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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:10 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Syd wrote:
I'd really like to see The Haunted Castle in a decent print. It's a pretty good chamber mystery.
It is a pretty good moody piece.
The first act is terrific.
And the dream sequence is pretty chilling.
I have the Eureka (MoC) edition and it looked pretty terrific to me.
The tints were good.
They usually do a quality job on the restoration. And likely an upgrade on whatever Kino had out there.
Interestingly, the story was serialized in a Berlin magazine, and the film came out before the final installment. A pretty cool kind of tie-in. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:22 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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Syd wrote: I'm watching Scorsese's Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home..... I look forward to Part II.
There is a long audio online, with Studs Turkel and Dylan. That one I gotta hear. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:21 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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yambu wrote: Syd wrote: I'm watching Scorsese's Bob Dylan documentary No Direction Home..... I look forward to Part II. I'm right with you. I was moved when Allen Ginsberg said he cried when he first heard Dylan. It takes a poet of Ginsberg's stature to immediately recognize the historic shift that was already occurring.
There is a long audio online, with Studs Turkel and Dylan. That one I gotta hear.
Part II was satisfying as well, although it only takes you to his motorcycle accident, which is also when Dylan stopped touring for eight years, hence no footage. The accident was between Blonde on Blonde and John Wesley Harding, so you have lots of songs from what I consider the peak of his career, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. His #1 albums were in the 1970s, but I prefer the 60s Dylan.
I never realized Dylan wrote "If Not For You," which was covered by George Harrison (who I thought wrote it) and was the first hit by Olivia Newton-John. |
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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 Jan 12, 2014 10:36 am |
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A good friend of my parents had retired when he sold his store in Fort Frances, Ontario, on the border of Minnesota, always came to our wholesale before he took a bus home. He and my dad used to compare the prices they paid for groceries. It was fun listening to them. One day he came to the wholesale after he came back from Palm Springs that winter, and he asked me if I knew a singer named, (he couldn't remember the exact name), Dion. I said, "Is it Dion and the Belmonts?"
He said, "No that's not it, it was Dion something."
"Is it Bob Dylan?"
"Yeah, that's it!"
I asked him what he wanted to know about Dylan. And then he told me the story.
He was waiting for a bus in Palm Springs one afternoon when he was going to his daughter's house. There was a guy on the sidewalk not far from him who was dressed rather ragged and the guy walked up to him and he was sure that the guy would be asking him for some money, but he didn't. The guy asked him where he was from and Mr.Alex Lerman (that's his name) told him that he was from Fort Frances and was now living in Winnipeg. The guy told him that he grew up in Hibbing, very close to Fort Frances, and asked him what was his name. Alex told him and asked him what his name was. The guy said Bob Dylan. Alex told him that he and his wife used to go down to Hibbing once in a while for a little trip. He asked Dylan what he did for a living. Dylan said that he was a singer and was doing OK. Then he asked him, "Who are your people?" meaning family. Dylan said the Zimmermans and his father ran a hardware store. (I think it was a hardware store.) Alex said, I know your father we used to go to that store when we were in Hibbing. How are you parents. Dylan said that they don't get in touch with him anymore because of my new religion, so he doesn't see them or keep in touch with them, Alex told him that you have to respect your parents and you have to keep in touch with them regardless of their feelings toward your new life. Dylan said that he would consider it. And then a fancy car stopped at the curb to pick Dylan up. Dylan said something like, "Goodbye Mr. Lerman, nice talking to you."
When Alex got to his daughter's place, he asked her if she ever heard of Bob Dylan, the singer. She answered, "Bob Dylan? Of course! He's one of the greatest song writer/singer of popular music since the early 60's. Why did you ask me about him?"
Alex told her how he met him at the bus stop and they had a nice conversation.
"You were talking to Bob Dylan at a bus stop!!!!!??? BOB DYLAN ?"
Alex told me that he thought his daughter was going to faint. Of course Alex never heard of him. I told him that I named our son after him. He did know my son's name was Dylan. He said, "Oh!" |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 11:03 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| One thing that struck me about the 1960s Dylan is how he was able to give an interview without saying anything. The interviews with the older Dylan are more substantial, as when he's talking about Hibbing. It must have been nice for him to talk to someone who didn't know who he was. |
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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 Jan 12, 2014 12:14 pm |
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It must have been nice for him to talk to someone who didn't know who he was.
Definitely. And he never said anything that made him look like someone special. This took place in the early 80's or late 70's. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 12:27 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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Syd wrote: One thing that struck me about the 1960s Dylan is how he was able to give an interview without saying anything....
My favorite bit about autograph hounds:
Guy had his arm through Dylan's almost closed window, pleading.
"You don't need my autograph. If I thought you needed it I'd give it to you." |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:06 pm |
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Here's an example that I've found in a bit of an interview, that is typical Dylan:
"But you weren't supposed to be crass enough to ask him what his songs were about. When Playboy magazine did, in 1966, the answer was this: "Oh, some are about four minutes; some are about five, and some, believe it or not, are about 11."
Dylan is definitely multi-talented. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 1:20 pm |
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Here is a good summary of Dylan's progress from his youth till his 70th birthday. It seems dead on to me, but there are two records that I like and they wrote that they were not good. Empire Burlesque and Knocked Out Loaded were the two I liked.
http://www.bobdylan.com/us/news/one-kind-bob-dylan-70 |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 4:10 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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There was once a Jewish comedian - not Jackie Mason:
"....Now that nice Jewish boy Bobby Zimmerman. He sure can sing. But he oughta sound more Jewish." And he proceeded to sing Rolling Stone in a Yiddish accent. I would love to dig up Ed Sullivan's grave for that one. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:56 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Frank and Ollie is about Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, who committed one of the most famous murders in movie history. Yes, they killed Bambi's mother.
Frank and Ollie were two of Disney's "Nine Old Men" animation team and worked together from the 1930s (Mickey Mouse shorts) until 1981 (The Fox and the Hound). You've definitely seen their work since they worked on pretty much all of Disney's animated films, including such famous scenes as Lady and the Tramp eating spaghetti, Bambi and Thumper's skating, Pinocchio trying to lie, Wart in the form of a squirrel inadvertently causing a female squirrel to fall in love with him in The Sword and the Stone, and about half of The Jungle Book. Their friendship started in the early 1930s when they were art students who sort of fell into the world of animation, at least till 1995 when the film was made, and presumably until Frank died in 2004 and Ollie in 2008. They were so close their first-born sons were born within a week of each other.
This is a sweet, slight, episodic film that is worth watching as a glimpse on how those films were made. Frank and Ollie were noted for giving their characters vivid personalities. It's nice to have this memorial to them. Director is Frank's son Theodore Thomas, so don't expect any shocking revelations. I'm a little surprised Mary Poppins isn't mentioned since they worked on that as well. (7 of 10). |
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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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