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| Syd |
 Posted: Tue May 22, 2018 9:06 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12889
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Currently watching Ballerina, which is a documentary about the training of Russian ballerinas (which makes it a sort of companion piece of Ballet Russes). Interesting and more than a little disturbing in the same way that films about young gymnasts and skaters can be. |
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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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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Tue May 22, 2018 10:06 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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carrobin wrote: "Cradle Will Rock"--sounds like a prequel for "School of Rock."
Actually, the weirdest thing about "Desk Set," for me, was Gig Young. Katharine Hepburn and Gig Young as a romantic couple (pre-Spencer, of course)? Hepburn & Bob Hope were more believable.
This morning I caught a TCM flick I'd seen before but was happy to watch again--"When Ladies Meet." A very literate, amusing, smart drama in which Myrna Loy is a successful author who is having an affair with her publisher, Frank Morgan, and Ann Harding is the publisher's wife who is introduced to her incognito. They have some great conversations about marriage and fidelity and love and life before Morgan shows up and suddenly everyone knows who's who, and long-set opinions start changing. The film was remade in the '40s with Greer Garson as the wife and, I think, Mary Astor as the author, and it was almost as good (but nobody's as good as Myrna). Maybe there should be another remake--with George Clooney as the publisher. Morgan was okay, but it was hard to see him as the beloved of two brilliant women.
The author in the 1941 version was Joan Crawford. Herbert Marshall was the publisher, Robert Taylor as the novelist's suitor. It's glossier than 1933, but not quite as incisive somehow. And yes, a remake with The Clooney might be really trenchant at present. |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Tue May 22, 2018 10:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Tue May 22, 2018 10:13 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Thanks, Inla--I was feeling too lazy to look it up in IMDb, as usual. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat May 26, 2018 9:27 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12889
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Cabiria starts off in a villa with a view of Mount Etna, we promptly get what Etna is famous for, servants fleeing with their master's treasure (and his little daughter Cabiria, since her nurse won't leave her behind), finding a fortuitous ship which isn't fortuitous since it's a pirate ship, so little Cabiria and her nurse are sold to Carthage with Cabiria to be sacrificed to Moloch. This is the first ten minutes of a two-hour movie which spans over a decade of the Second Punic war (so you get the idea that the title character isn't incinerated in the first ten minutes). Exciting stuff which holds up surprisingly well for a 104 year-old movie.
By the way, two of Cabrira's rescuers are a Roman spy and his slave. Interestingly, the slave gets more time and has become an icon, because he is Maciste, the lead character for more than 50 films, the archetypical strongman character that we've seen in films about Hercules, Samson and even Conan the Barbarian. (The scene where Conan builds up his strength through years of pushing on a treadmill is a tribute to this film.) He's also the model for Anthony Quinn's character in La Strada, except Maciste is heroic rather than nasty. |
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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: Mon May 28, 2018 12:05 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Watched "Three Little Words"--a little-known MGM musical--for the first time in many decades, and it charmed my socks off. Fred Astaire is predictably wonderful in this fictionalized bio of tunesmiths Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, but he's matched (unpredictably) by Red Skelton and Vera-Ellen, both of whom do (IMO) their very best film work. It's simple. ungreat, but delightful. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 12:08 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Syd wrote: New York, New York is just okay as a movie, but I prefer Liza Minelli's version of the title song to Frank Sinatra's. Surprising because I usually don't like her singing (except here and the title song from Cabaret.) Maybe she needed to do more title songs.
I do like her as an actress. Including Arthur. Maybe I would like Arthur's Theme better if she had sung it.
Sinatra is "pitchy" in NYNY. It's not a great rendition, but it's the iconic one for whatever reason. The song, which is fantastic, was not even nominated for the Oscar. Yeesh. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon May 28, 2018 5:56 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12889
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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North West Frontier is a very tense action film as Captain Scott Kenneth More tries to save an eight-year old Indian Maharajah from a Muslim revolt in what would now be the region of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan. This leads to an escape to a fort that is under siege and the last train left with refugees before the Prince arrived at the fort. Or actually, there is one ancient locomotive and carriage, the Empress of India (called "Victoria" by its Indian engineer) that just might get repaired in time to take a motley crew of refugees to safety in Kalapur* if it can make it through what seems like hundred of miles of rough countryside chock full of canyons perfectly suited for ambushing an ancient train.
Good movie, with few stars whose names I knew except for Lauren Bacall (who plays the Prince's governess) and Herbert Lom, who plays an anti-British reporter. Wilfrid Hyde-White (Pickering from My Fair Lady) is a British ex-pat who is reluctant to leave his adopted homeland. He's very good.
Oddly, this reminds me a lot of Stagecoach with American archetypes being replaced British and Indians being replace by, well, Indians. In a way, this crew has it easier because they have a Maxim machine gun. On the other hand there are a lot more enemies, too.
*Possibly the same place as Kalupur |
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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: Wed May 30, 2018 12:17 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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I've wanted to see Cabiria for quite some time.
Where'd you get hold of that? |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed May 30, 2018 2:11 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12889
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Netflix has it in their mail service. |
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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: Sun Jun 03, 2018 3:53 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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I thought The Founder was a total crock ...
It's a solid movie and pretty well done.
Keaton holds it together and keeps you guessing a bit about Kroc's decency v. will to win. Some elements are a bit perfunctory -- such as the failed selling of milk shake machines and the unhappy family scenes, which mostly feature lonely Laura Dern looking constipated.
I think the best parts are Kroc interacting with the McDonald Bros. and their diverging view, values, approaches.
I liked the period detail and look. Also, how the success of McDonald's was tied to the era -- it was a suburban phenomena, catering to families with baby boom children and run by middle-class franchisee investors.
I liked how Kroc has the McDonald Bros. system but it takes him a while to get the franchising figured out and profitable. I'm somewhat surprised in this age of glorifying business that the film didn't do better. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 8:28 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Don't quite understand the dichotomy in your describing "The Founder" as "a total crock" and then going on to say you kinda liked it. Do you mean they fictionalized the story of Ray Kroc or are you just indulging in a pun? If the latter, ewww.
I would gladly listen to Michael Keaton read the telephone book, so I enjoyed every minute of the movie, and was likewise surprised that it didn't fare better at the box office.
For the record, my ideal movie of the moment would star Keaton, Sally Field, Mark Ruffalo, and Anna Kendrick. Of course, the movie that coupled Ruffalo and Keaton ("Spotlight") was only good in my book, not the masterpiece I was hoping for (even though it did win the Oscar). |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 9:58 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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A Total Kroc . . .
I mostly liked it, but was left somewhat wanting more.
It's a rather conventional film -- which is probably why it didn't catch on -- but then again so was the '50's and early 60's it represents.
Also, Kroc died over 30 years ago, so most folks today don't recall him and he was kind of behind the scenes from 1974 on.
As for accuracy, apparently the handshake on royalties isn't clear if it occurred and isn't very reliably sourced. Also it would seem logical that Kroc would tell the McD's Bros that controlling the leasing on franchisee properties allows him/them to have substantial control over the operations, so they can insure things are done strictly the Mickey D's way. But that is neglected (by the writers) in order to build up the growing confrontation between the two parties.
One moment I liked was when one the country club investors is selling fried chicken and biscuits at his MCDonald's outlet, and tells Kroc "everyone likes fried chicken" -- hinting at the opportunity KFC will fill.
(I might have not noticed that if not for the "and Biscuits" on the sign) |
Last edited by gromit on Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:48 am; edited 1 time in total
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:30 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Brigsby Bear was okayish.
Sort of quirky and offbeat but decidedly safe at the same time.
Most of the characters were marshmallows, while the creators were much more interested in the bear tv show than anything else.
The kind of thing you might watch 30 mins of on cable and then flip to see what else is on. About the only thing I liked was that the lead character looked rather like a young Woody Allen. But then too many of the other characters looked like good-looking actors.
Perhaps I wasn't the right person for it. I kind of see it working well for a tween audience. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 11:04 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Accidentally rewatched Low Down (2014) about a jazz pianist trying to maintain his career, shoot up heroin and raise a daughter in the '70's. It took me about 35 minutes in to realize i'd seen it before, which shows its staying power. It's a bit of an odd film, based on the writings of Joe Albany's daughter. So it's from her point of view, but her character is weirdly underdeveloped. Elle Fanning is mostly shown laughing awkwardly or looking concerned, but things are just happening around her. And she looks a bit old for the part, as a 16 year old playing 13 or whatever, and even by the end when she's supposed to be 15 or 16 or so, she looks more mature and around 18.
Otherwise the film feels rather perfunctory. The dialogue is often poor or terribly cliched. And the beats it hits are too obvious and on the nose. maybe the whole thing is too earnest in its kitchen sink depiction. I think they needed to take the basic story-line and events and re-work them somewhat in order to make a more compelling film.
Amy Jo Albany is an exec producer and it felt like they were too wedded to the written material.
One clear take away that the film doesn't even consider is why the hell are these drug laws in place anyway? I never understood the concept that you don't want someone wasting their life and being an unproductive member of society by taking drugs, so you're going to put them in prison and make sure their life is wasted and they are unproductive. Bravo. It seems rather surreal to me. Not to mention that drugs are highly available whether legal or not. And that plenty of folks can function fine while drinking or taking drugs. Others of course can't, but prison doesn't help that any.
Anyway, the film is fine enough in a grim 70's manner, but kind of boring and likely feels familiar even upon first viewing. Completely slipped my mind until half an hour in. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2018 9:25 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12889
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Caught the last part of Toy Story 3 again and fortunately had tissues at hand. The scene with Andy and Bonnie is sweet, poignant and reinforces the series whole point of what the purpose of toys is. (A point front and center in Toy Story 2.)
The Christmas episode they had on TV a couple of years ago was awful. I hope Toy Story 4 hold up to the high standards of the first three movies. |
Last edited by Syd on Sat Mar 30, 2019 10:34 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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