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| carrobin |
 Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 12:57 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| I don't know why my dad saw "Radio Days," since neither he nor his wife was an Allen fan, but he didn't think much of it--except the part about the couple on a date hearing about the Martians landing. Dad said he remembered it well, and the film really brought back the confusion and panic at the time. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 2:49 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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| The Welles' Martian invasion was treated in a broadly comic way. Much better was the girl-down-the-well episode. Because it both resonated within the family and then went to the scene, and it's poignant when they report her dead body was brought up, and slowly the camera lights and all lights are extinguished. That was probably the highlight of the film. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 10:22 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6964
Location: Black Hills
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We saw a couple comic/horror classics, Young Frankenstein, and Phantom of the Paradise, which neither of us had seen in many years (PotP I'd never seen). YF held up beautifully, of course. And I'd forgotten that Gene Hackman is (unrecognizably at first) the blind monk who has difficulties ladeling out soup to his new friend. And what a crush I had on Teri Garr.
PotP struck me as a "Rule of Two" with Rocky Horror, though I think they came out at nearly the same time. The feeling is heightened by the presence of a character named "Beef" who bears some similarities, at least in terms of introduction, to Meatloaf in RHPS. It's definitely no RHPS, and the music is mostly forgettable, but I can see it developing a fandom (a large one in Winnipeg, I'm informed by wikipedia, maybe MARANTZ would recall something about this?) just based on its style and sheer weirdness as a pastiche of Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the glam rock scene of the day. The Christine-like character, "Phoenix," is played by Jessica Harper who achieved horror immortality a couple years later in Argento's "Suspiria." |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2016 5:56 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| My former hairdresser, a very eccentric Hispanic guy always had a movie on when he cut my hair. I didn't get to choose. His choices weren't arty....comedies and mainstream 60's....everything from Valley of the Dolls to Madea. I could only listen because he didn't turn my head toward the screen. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 10:28 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6964
Location: Black Hills
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| Swiss Army Man is beyond my capacity to categorize - it is a genre unto itself. If you are familiar with the basic premise, then you will understand why I might say it's more than the sum of its farts. Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe both commit themselves to quite challenging roles. At Sundance, a significant portion of the audience walked out early in the film, but I think it's worth sticking with. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 11:01 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| I saw Radcliffe talking about the film on Stephen Colbert's show, and as much as I like Radcliffe (he should have gotten a Tony for "How to Succeed in Business"), I couldn't imagine wanting to see that movie. It sounds like the kind of flick we sometimes had at the film class--the ones most of the class walked out of. (That was allowed, as long as you didn't try to leave during the credits, which were required reading if you sat through the movie.) |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 9:54 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6964
Location: Black Hills
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I acknowledge 2 things.
1. SAM is a wee bit self-indulgent.
2. Viewers in touch with an inner 16 year old boy will fare better.
3. I know I said 2, but here's a third: if you come ashore on the Pacific Northwest, you only have to walk a short ways down the beach to find civilization. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 1:36 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| I'll admit that although I sometimes wince, I do admire the willingness of some performers to take on roles that make them look ridiculous or worse--currently I'm thinking of Benedict Cumberbatch on last night's SNL, in which he was in a (pretty clever) toilet "commercial" and a (cringeworthy) sketch about male strippers and a dead woman. British actors in particular seem to enjoy such material. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 12:30 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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They come from a culture of dignity? which heightens the pleasure of abandoning it? just guessing here...
We saw "Hell or High Water" Tuesday evening at the 2nd Run moviehouse downtown. Well done movie about 2 rural brothers struggling to save a family ranch by robbing small amounts from multiple banks. Jeff Bridges plays (perfection) the TX ranger who's trying to catch them. Chris Pine and Ben Foster also turn in solid performances as the brothers -- good job exploring the love and strife between sibs. Our choice of movie title was not meant as political commentary on the evening's proceedings, btw. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 2:18 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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I rewatched Synedoche NY on election eve and finished up post-election night. A rather fittingly depressing film about dying and the difficulty if living our lives fully or even understanding them.
I liked it better the first time when everything seemed innovative and surprising. What's odd is I didn't really remember that much except the beginning illnesses and the end ongoing multi-self play. It just seems like there's too much trying to be smashed in and there isn't that much to latch on to. Not much really worked or clicked. I was still interested to see what would happen next, but wished it were more connected and coherent instead of scattershot. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 9:43 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| My main wish for that film was that it was much shorter, had an entirely different plot, script, and director, and that I would forget having lived in this universe where this version existed. Other than that, it was terrific. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 1:49 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Hey, I think I've seen that film--but several that we saw at film class could qualify, so I don't recall the title. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 1:50 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 3:25 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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bartist wrote: My main wish for that film was that it was much shorter, had an entirely different plot, script, and director, and that I would forget having lived in this universe where this version existed. Other than that, it was terrific.
I believe billy was a big fan of the movie being erased from all human consciousness and all prints burned with the ashes being so widely scattered that they could never, in the entirety of time, even by accident, reassemble |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 8:27 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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I really thought I'd like it better on 2nd viewing and be able to piece together the themes and structure. But instead it kind of left me observing it as an outsider, not really engaged. It wasn't bad this time around, but I was rather neutral about it.
Things I liked:
- the little girl who played the young daughter and her role
- Catherine Keener's micro-artworks
- the way two unlikely people at different times reel off a few very perspicacious lines and get the role of being the director, despite looking nothing like him.
- some of the weird confusing brief exchanges with doctors
- the all the world's a stage concept |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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