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| Marilyn |
 Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 10:43 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8210
Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
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| I disagree with Shane's slam on Sideways. It's a much better movie than it sounds like Closer is (can't say--didn't see it). But I agree with Rod 100%. He's terribly uneven as a director. I'm upset that his partner Elaine May has never gotten the accolades she deserves. A New Leaf is one of the most overlooked films of all time. |
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http://ferdyonfilms.com |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 11:29 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| Angels in America was probably the best thing on TV since I Claudius. And Closer was one of the more intriguing movies of 2004. |
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| censored-03 |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 12:35 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 3058
Location: Gotham, Big Apple, The Naked City
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Quote: Angels in America was probably the best thing on TV since I Claudius |
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"Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel."
-- Horace Walpole |
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| Melody |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 12:48 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 2242
Location: TX
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| Censored, if you don't mind buying used DVDs, you can get AiA in the 3-for-$25 bin at Hollywood Video. It may have been released as one deluxe set by now, but when I picked it up, it was two separate DVDs, hours 1-3 on the first and 4-6 on the second. I still haven't home toodled it. |
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My heart told my head: This time, no. |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 12:52 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
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Closer was a film my wife and I really enjoyed, and it spurred a long discussion over dinner afterwards. I thought Nichols did a good job of opening up the stage play, and I felt the casting and acting were excellent. Do people behave this self-destructively in real life? Yes. Are they as eloquent in their venom or in expressing the incoherence of their desires? No. I give Nichols high marks for not fancying it up and letting the script speak for itself.
Sideways I liked better than anything I've seen in the last few years.
Now let's see what Thomas Haden Church can do in his portrayal of Sandman in Spiderman 3-- Alfred Molina aced Doc Ock in S2, but he was playing a genius scientist. Sandman is a step up from a maroon. |
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| merlot |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 1:11 pm |
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Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Posts: 210
Location: Cinci
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tirebiter wrote: Sandman is a step up from a maroon.
At least he was a better villain than Paste Pot Pete.
M. |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 1:46 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
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| Paste Pot Pete! Ah, what childhood memories.... Later he became The Trapster and gained a few chops (especially when drawn by Gene Colan), but he was still a zhlub. Some of those Marvel villains were pretty lame, but I have an affection for even the wimpiest bad guys: The Bookworm! Mr. Fish! Plant Man! The Walrus! The White Rabbit! |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:00 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Sideways I liked better than anything I've seen in the last few years.
Now you're talkin'. Actually I liked it as much as anything I've seen in the last five years. It's up there with Mulholland Dr. and Chicago. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:02 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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I've said from the start that Angels in America is not for everyone. But that has more to do with the subject matter and how Kushner chose to tell his story. It either grabs you or it doesn't. It has nothing to do with Mike Nichols whose direction was flawless.
He also seems to have a particular affiliation for transferring plays to screen. Wit is a wonderful example. I also think Nichols sees humor where others don't and I agree that Primary Colors is underrated. I see him as a risk taker with certain material. And sometimes the material either fails or we just don't get it.
I'll be curious to see which category Closer falls into later today. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:26 pm |
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"who are these people and why should I care about their pathetic lives?"
Marc, that is almost exactly what our local critic wrote about Closer. I have no desire to see this film. I saw the preview and was tempted to walk out on that.
I thought Primary Colors was a good movie. And as far is Elaine May is concerned, I really liked The Heartbreak Kid and I was one of maybe three people to think that Ishtar was funny. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:30 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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Marc,
Though I haven't seen Closer, yet (I've rented it, but haven't had time to watch it), you wrote a great review. Some of the best, most acidic writing I've seen from you. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:32 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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marantzo wrote:
I thought Primary Colors was a good movie. And as far is Elaine May is concerned, I really liked The Heartbreak Kid and I was one of maybe three people to think that Ishtar was funny.
I've never seen Ishtar, but people I trust keep quoting the script as examples of funny stuff. I want to see it some day. It sounds like a working definition of underrated. |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:32 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
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| You want acidic writing? Try Closer. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:36 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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Quote: I've never seen Ishtar
Its worth seeing. I found it very funny. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:40 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Just one example of the genius of Mike Nichols: the last shot of Working Girl. The idea of ending the movie with...
WORKING GIRL SPOILER (NECESSARY?)
...a shot of Joan Cusack rather than the lead Melanie Griffith has to have been Nichols's. Tess's (Griffith's) triumph is told much more effectively by showing how it affects Cusack's character. But how many directors would have thrown the focus on a supporting role for the final shot of a movie? And of course there has seldom been better use of a theme song than the way he uses Carly Simon's "Let the River Run." |
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