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| Ghulam |
 Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:39 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| Last year's Oscar nominee "The Hunt" from Denmark scrutinizes the savage reaction of an otherwise gentle little town when an innocent school teacher is falsely accused of child molestation. Superb screenplay and narrative. Mads Mikkelsen got the acting award at Cannes. Riveting! |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 7:39 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Ghulam wrote: Last year's Oscar nominee "The Hunt" from Denmark scrutinizes the savage reaction of an otherwise gentle little town when an innocent school teacher is falsely accused of child molestation. Superb screenplay and narrative. Mads Mikkelsen got the acting award at Cannes. Riveting!
Almost a year ago, I reviewed this movie and disagree strongly with Ghulam. I quote myself:
"The Hunt is a well-acted piece of manipulative crap about an innocent man accused of pedophilia. Mads Mikkelsen is good in the lead, but the movie is full of nonsensical contrivance and hard-to-believe turns of event." |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 11:57 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| Billy, you were far too harsh on 'The Hunt'. I thought the story was quite believable, especially when set in that particular ethos. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 12:20 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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I thought Mads was great, but I recall finding the movie generally hard to believe. I'd have to see it again to pin down where my suspensions of disbelief failed.
Just finished reading 8 Million Ways to Die, by Lawrence Block, one of the best crime novels I've ever read, and my introduction to the Matt Scudder character. I looked around for the film version, but the warnings I've received have been so dire, and the plot summary at wiki sounded so unlike the heart and soul of the book, that I dropped my quest. And I rarely miss a Jeff Bridges movie if I can help it.*
I do want to see the most recent Scudder novel adaptation, A Walk Among the Tombstones, when it shows up streaming.
* edit: Weird, I looked up Jeff Bridges on wiki, to see what other films he was doing around that time and I see that he turns 65 today, Dec. 4. Happy Birthday, El Duderino! 8MWtD seems to be tucked in there between Jagged Edge and Tucker. Wouldn't mind seeing Tucker again. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 12:45 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| I'm nearly through "When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes," which is the predecessor of "Eight Million Ways to Die"--Scudder is still drinking hard throughout, so I'm glad he's into AA later. They're really more than just mysteries, with the sharply drawn characters and relationships. Part of the appeal for me is also the fact that I know the area where Scudder lives--and in fact looked at an apartment on his street before I found my condo. (It's changed a lot since the early '70s, though--not so many bars.) |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 4:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Lawrence Block knows that area of town like the back of his hand. In fact, in the days when I was drinking (and to excess), Jimmy Armstrong (Scudder's favorite bartender) was also my favorite bartender. He was a great guy, the classic bartender, mustache and all. R.I.P. Jimmy.
The movie of Eight Million Ways is a must to avoid. Even Jeff Bridges is lost. The only saving grace is Andy Garcia in what was sort of his breakthrough role. When the Sacred Ginmill Closes is an even better book IMO, though it's sort of a tossup. Ginmill has a better plot, that's all. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 11:58 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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| The One I Love goes right to my year's top 10, an indie that somehow seemed like Rod Serling sprang from the grave and decided to do a remake of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. This doesn't describe the film in any way (to say much more would get me spoilering a film you just have to see), beyond offering one viewer's sense of what remains best about indie film: the freedom to follow your weirdest daydreams. TY for alerting me to this one, Weeds. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 5:57 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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carrobin wrote: I'm nearly through "When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes," which is the predecessor of "Eight Million Ways to Die"...
It was actually written later. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 9:17 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I finally watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes the other night (as part of a film nuttage) and had a lot of fun, and greatly enjoyed Monroe's and Russell's performances of "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend." I kept looking for a young James Coburn until I realized the film featured CHARLES Coburn, who is quite a different person (and who I like better). For male viewers, you get Russell and Monroe, while women get the United States Olympic Team, who are frequently shirtless and wear flesh-colored shorts. We don't get to see the women athletes in flesh-colored shorts because this is a Code film, but we do get to see Jane Russell in a wet dress because she fell in the swimming pool during a production number and Howard Hawks had enough sense to leave that bit in.
Russell was the big star in the film, but this is one of the films that turned Marilyn Monroe into a superstar, and she's incredibly sexy, which compensates for her not being that great an actress. She is great in the musical numbers, but Russell is fine throughout. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 5:41 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Jane Russell was an underrated performer--underrated because she had a dry, humorous delivery and because she could never fully escape the va-va-voom direction her career took early on. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:18 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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| The Imposter (2012) is one of the best documentaries of the past couple years - a fascinating study of a French con man, and the forces that drive people to believe things, sometimes against all evidence. I found it suspenseful, funny, often taking bizarre turns that...well, you would be hard put to write a fictional work this riveting and which could be told so cinematically. Gromit mentioned this IIRC but search function unable to unearth... |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 10:29 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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| Musta been some impostor, cause I never heard of it ... |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 12:15 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Heh! Well, you heard of it now, and I hope you get a chance to see.
The title is spelled as I spelled it, which always looks wrong to me, maybe because the word looks Latin derived and so I expect the -or suffix. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 1:11 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| The Imposter (yes, that's the correct spelling) is a terrific film, which cannot be said of the fictionalized version (which came out two years earlier than the documentary). The fiction film, titled The Chameleon, is very lame indeed, even though Ellen Barkin is in it. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 1:11 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Who knows, the dvd selection here is not what it once was.
And I've been trying to buy less and watch more dvd's bought in the past.
First year in a long time that I've totally slacked on new films as well.
But yes, some random foreign doc sounds like the kind of thing I might watch and review. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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