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| gromit |
 Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:41 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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| Chico and Rita 2010) is a nice animated film loosely chronicling the life of Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes (who is also the father of noted Cuba pianist Chucho Valdes). Bebo just died last year at age 95. The film shows him living in poverty in Cuba as an old man with many flashbacks to the 1940's and the Golden Age of Latin jazz. The film also includes the death of Chano Pozo, a badass and one of the founding figures of latin jazz. Well done, especially if you like such music. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:02 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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Bebo left his family and five kids and broke for Sweden, where he married an eighteen year old and raised another family. He reunited with son Chucho while the latter was appearing in Stockholm.
I have seen Chucho many times, in Habana and in the States, and he is simply the best jazz pianist living. He could be very successful here, but he will never leave Cuba.
Chucho's son Chuchito is on tour right now, coming to Berkeley. Having heard one of his recordings, I have decided to wait until he matures.
I've seen Chico and Rita, but I'm grateful for the reminder to see it again. |
Last edited by yambu on Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| yambu |
| Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 3:42 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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| A Separation Is an Iranian film about a bitter child custody fight. The hate poisons both parents, but, like Maisie, the child has the resilience to remain who she is. Unlike Kramer v. Kramer, where the parents reconcile in the middle of their court hearing, there's no such copout here. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:16 pm |
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Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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While the film shows Chico/Bebo womanizing and cheating on his girlfriends, the filmmakers obviously preferred having their main character grow old in poverty and anonymity in Havana -- like many of his contemporaries (think Buena Vista Social Club) -- rather than in Sweden with a much younger wife.
I was guessing that the fictional name Chico was a riff on and nod to Bebo's real son Chucho, who as you say is a world class pianist.
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I also just watched an Iranian film, Jafar Panahi's The Circle (2000) which isn't terribly subtle but is a pretty harsh indictment of the way women are mistreated in Iran. Unsurprisingly, this was banned in Iran. Pretty bold making such a film, which shows the police popping up everywhere to search and arrest citizens.
The story is formally interesting as we follow one character who runs across another woman, and then the focus shifts to the new woman and her problems. In total, we have four main characters, in sequence. And wind up in jail. Panahi is now under house arrest and a 20 year filmmaking ban which he subverted by making This Is Not A Film (2011) and smuggling out of the country. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 7:34 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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yambu wrote: A Separation Is an Iranian film about a bitter child custody fight. The hate poisons both parents, but, like Maisie, the child has the resilience to remain who she is. Unlike Kramer v. Kramer, where the parents reconcile in the middle of their court hearing, there's no such copout here.
What Maisie Knew is one of my top ten for 2014. A Separation is one of my top 20 of all time. And, yes, there is a lot of similarity between them. The difference is the difference between excellent (Maisie) and great (Separation). |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 2:50 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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Agnes Brown, played by Angelica Huston, loses her husband when she has seven kids. No tears for him, nor even a mention. No self pity. She just keeps on. You get the impression that hubby never contributed much. Not even the kids seem to miss him.
It's a great setup for the real story, which is Huston's relationship with her best friend. A million laughs and other more serious things. The only negative - these are damn difficult lower class Dublin accents to follow. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 3:16 pm |
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I had seen bits and pieces of Wuthering Heights. Today I just saw the whole movie. It was a well done film and I liked it, but the two main characters, Heathcliff and Catherine were two obnoxious character and I had no sympathy for them at all. Edgar and Isabella were nice people, and of course Heathcliff and Catherine treated them, (their wife and husband) like crap. Glad to see the lead characters die.  |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 6:52 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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marantzo wrote: I had seen bits and pieces of Wuthering Heights. Today I just saw the whole movie. It was a well done film and I liked it, but the two main characters, Heathcliff and Catherine were two obnoxious character and I had no sympathy for them at all. Edgar and Isabella were nice people, and of course Heathcliff and Catherine treated them, (their wife and husband) like crap. Glad to see the lead characters die.
Haven't seen Wuthering Heights since I was a teenager. Sounds very much like The English Patient, where I absolutely loathed both of the leading characters. Any similarity, Gary? |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 7:28 pm |
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"Haven't seen Wuthering Heights since I was a teenager. Sounds very much like The English Patient, where I absolutely loathed both of the leading characters. Any similarity, Gary?"
Billy, I never saw The English Patient. I wrote a long time ago, why. My late wife Shirley Anne saw the movie and she hated it. That was good enough for me. Then we saw the Seinfeld episode where Elaine hates TEP and makes it very well known. Shirley Anne and I were in stitches. I think that was her favourite episode. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:28 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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| Enough Said is at Redbox on Feb. 11. The night I could have seen this in theater was the night that it got down to fifteen below here, during the first "polar vortex." Enough said. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 2:56 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Jafar Panahi's Offside is a film about a number of girls sneaking into watch a football match disguised as boys. A half dozen get caught and most of the film occurs with them in a small detention area on the upper level of the stadium. This got rather tiresome quickly, with its slow pace and squabbling among soldiers and between soldiers and their female prisoners. In that it reminded me of the bureaucratic squabbling in a number of (later) Romanian films. Seemed like it might have made a good short film, say 15 minutes.
About the only thing I liked was the one soldier who provides a running commentary on the game for the girls in the pen, and tries to take control of a men's room at one point. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 10:31 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I'm watching Fanny and Alexander and getting more and more alarmed at the Christmas trees decorated with candles. Not to mention the guy going down the stairs with a big silver bowl full of flames. I can't tell whether it's a dessert, flaming punch, or what. I just hope Swedish homes of the period came with lots of fire extinguishers.
This appears to be taking place when electricity was just coming in. There's a mix of candelabras and what look like early electric lamps. Pretty film. The kids' family must be rich as Croesus given the size and decorations of the house.
Edit: Now they're having a pillow fight in a room full of lit candles. I've never seen a Cracked article on how Ingmar Bergman incinerated a cast of actors, but they must have been well away from the fire marshal. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 7:08 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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| CGI candles. Bergman was famous for his early use of the technology. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 2:55 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| IIRC, Fanny & Alexander also featured a castmember igniting his own fart. That was CGI, too, I'm sure. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 4:34 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: IIRC, Fanny & Alexander also featured a castmember igniting his own fart. That was CGI, too, I'm sure.
I think that character's name was Skeeter. |
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