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gromit
Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2020 4:22 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
I heard some good things about First Reformed.

I keep forgetting to check if the lone Dvd shop I know is open these days. Well, I went by one night around 9 PM, but I think it might be open in the afternoon, if at all.


Last edited by gromit on Mon Mar 16, 2020 6:08 pm; edited 1 time in total

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billyweeds
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2020 3:36 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
Really liked "First Reformed" even with the ultra-weird finale.
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bartist
Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2020 7:26 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Eight miles out of Memphis and I got no spare....

RIP Kenny Rogers.

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carrobin
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 3:31 am Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 7795 Location: NYC
TCM was showing "A Big Hand for the Little Lady" the other night when I was sick of the coronavirus news, and I happened on it at the beginning and got interested. I knew nothing about it except that it starred Henry Fonda and Joanne Woodward (another South Carolina girl), but there were some other interesting actors as well (I've always liked Burgess Meredith). And it was one of those flicks you can't stop watching, waiting for the next twist, and the ending was a kicker. I'll watch it again if it comes back around--just to see it from the perspective of the last scene. I'm sure most of the folk here have seen it, but I'll avoid spoilers just in case, and just say it involves a poker game.

Take care of yourself (and the same to your wife), Bart. I don't know anyone at the moment who's even been tested, but New York City is not the same, and I worry that it may never be again. Quiet, tense, people behaving normally but knowing nothing is normal anymore. But a walk in the park is still safe--I hope.
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Syd
Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2020 9:37 am Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
Walking outside should be safe if you can socially distance, which is easier on Norman, I think.

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carrobin
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 12:58 am Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 7795 Location: NYC
TCM remains my best escape from CNN. This morning they had "Elevator to the Gallows," the early Louis Malle flick with Jeanne Moreau; I had heard of it but never had a chance to see it. A carefully plotted murder screwed up by an inconvenient phone call and locked doors, complicated by a stolen car--definitely worth the effort of reading subtitles. I hope they'll show more French noir.
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gromit
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 6:47 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
That's a fun film with a great jazz score. I re-watch it every now and then. Probably have sen it 4x. I was never sure how he was going to get the rope off the upper balcony after he climbed down. That never happens, so it s left there by accident, but seems a loose thread how he was going to retrieve that.

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bartist
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2020 9:20 am Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Bombshell - a showcase for top tier actors, with Margot Robbie providing the emotional core as she endures Roger-ing and survives. In movies like this, where most of the cast has to play actual living persons and thus has some interpretive constraints (and the temptation to slip into mimicry), the composite character has some advantages - "Kayla"(Robbie's role) is no particular Fox employee, and so is the plum role. (and less time in makeup, as she needs no facial prosthetics)

The film also managed to maintain some suspense, which is fairly impressive, given its plot ripped from the headlines. The film never allows you to pull out and think on what's ahead, in terms of historical knowledge. YMMV on this.

I'm curious if some male viewers felt a special sort of discomfort, perhaps cognitive dissonance, as Ailes leers at Robbie and makes his sexual demands. Lithgow does a terrific and nuanced scene where he shows us a man who is both in the grips of a compulsion and feels some self-loathing about what he's doing. At the same time, you see how scared and miserable Robbie is, and that tends to shut down any sympathy you might develop for Ailes, sad though he may be.

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billyweeds
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 11:02 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
bartist--I found "Bombshell" too staid and not campy enough for the subject matter. That said, the scene you referenced between Robbie and Lithgow was terrific--for me, by far the high point of the movie. Robbie was award-worthy, particularly when coupled with her Sharon Tate in "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood."
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billyweeds
Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2020 11:04 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
carrobin--I adore "A Big Hand for the Little Lady." Seen it multiple times and always love it. Great cast, great music. "Rosie, you are my posie..."
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gromit
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2020 11:15 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Thought I'd pop in with some praise for Rabbit Hole. Family tragedy. Terrific cast. Probably my favorite Kidman performance. Saw it for the 3rd time. My favorite film of the 2010's.

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carrobin
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:06 am Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 7795 Location: NYC
Watching "Follow the Fleet" on TCM today (why don't they show that film more often?), I was struck by the dark edge of the final dance number--"Let's Face the Music and Dance." After watching the morning's updates on the pandemic, I found it very affecting, the way original audiences must have felt after the Depression and during the war. The theatrical performance begins with Astaire rescuing Rogers from a suicide attempt, then showing her his empty wallet, and swinging into "There may be trouble ahead..." An interesting way to end a musical comedy, but beautiful to watch.
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bartist
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2020 9:21 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Quote:
I really, really liked Lady Bird. When I saw the preview I thought it was all about a mother and daughter fighting a lot. One of my best friends and her daughter went to it and weren't impressed. I didn't expect much.

Forget the mother/daughter conflict. This is a vivid portrait of a life loving girl ready to jump into womanhood. The focus and the energy of the film belong to Saoirse Ronan. I don't think she's beautiful to look at....her face is pale, pimply, and freckley. But she takes on life so confidently that it's a joy to see someone who really wants to be herself.

I like the pace and the aspects of the film. We jump in and get to know this girl intimately. But we're never told why she's wearing a cast on her arm. We're never told why her brother is so Hispanic looking and she's so Irish. Her mother may be really anxious about losing control of her, but her father is so sweetly accepting of her uniqueness.

We know she's naive about a lot of things. She and her girlfriend imagine what sex might be like. She wants to know what boys are all about so she makes the first move. When things don't turn out the way she'd hoped she moves on without losing her zest for life.

I think it's time for an upbeat film like this.
-- Befade, Dec. 2017

I used Search and found yours and Gromit's comments on this film which I just saw. He didn't much care for it, which I took to be coming from a different taste so far as plots and theme are concerned. You liked it as slice of life and with a likeable character, which is more or less where I landed. I can answer your question about the cast on her arm: you must have missed the first two minutes of the film. If you can watch those two minutes on a streaming service, all will be answered. If not, I will fill you in, gladly. As for her brother, he was adopted. It's alluded to, but I couldn't tell you specifically where in the movie. I agree with Syd, who wrote at the time that he couldn't see it as a BP contender at the Oscar's. Indeed. But still, a nice ensemble effort, with some sweet/funny moments.

Hope you all are staying healthy.

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billyweeds
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 12:59 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
gromit wrote:
Thought I'd pop in with some praise for Rabbit Hole. Family tragedy. Terrific cast. Probably my favorite Kidman performance. Saw it for the 3rd time. My favorite film of the 2010's.


Kidman, not always a favorite of mine, was great, and so was Miles Teller, who later shone in "The Spectacular Now" and "Whiplash."
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bartist
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 9:07 am Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Finally saw Ace in the Hole -thanks to 3eyers who recommended it. Wilder at his most misanthropic, with a script dipped in acid, it seems to speak to our trumpian times. Interesting that many reviewers, in 1951, found it implausible, in spite of many decades of Hearstian journalism that had already passed. The concept of making "media circus" so very literal is clever, and the crowd shots artfully executed, sometimes with a surreal aura that struck me as Fellini-esque.

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