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| Ghulam |
 Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 12:28 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| Enjoyed and was impressed by Hustle and Flow. From a nobody to a pimp, and from a pimp to a rapster - that too is pursuit of the American dream, notwithstanding how many people you tread on in the process. The treatment of the subject is very sympathetic, at times a bit sugary. Terrence Howard is outstanding. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 4:54 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I finally watched Strictly Ballroom, which had been sitting in the queue for months, and I loved it almost from beginning to end. It firmly establishes that Baz Luhrmann was nuts as early as 1986, when he created the play that became this movie. Since the Australian ballroom dancing scene is apparently pretty wild, that may have been what drove Luhrmann nuts.
This is the story of a championship-calibre ballroom dancer, Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio), who has ambitions to extend Australian ballroom dancing beyond the standardized repertoire of steps it has fallen into. This loses him his dance partner, Liz (Gia Carides), but picks up the interest of Fran (Tara Morice), a homely beginning dance student who is secretly working on innovations of her own. Scott soon discovers that the girl is much more talented than she first appears, and that she comes from a family of talented Spanish dancers, which inspires Scott and Fran to introduce new steps into the upcoming Big Contest. It also cleans up Fran's acne and clothes sense, and Scott and Fran discover that the love that the rhumba is about is not just pretend. As Scott falls for Fran, she grows progressively more attractive in the way people do as you grow to love them.
This being a Baz Luhrmann film, it is flayboyant, crazilly edited, corny, very funny and extremely romantic. There are two beautiful dance numbers, one on a rooftop (concluding in front of a giant Coca Cola sign, no less), and one backstage, which are among the most romantic I've ever seen, and their climactic dance is a delight. Paul Mercurio is great, and Tara Morice more than matches him, only backwards and in high heels. Their chemistry builds appropriately as the movie goes on.
The ballroom dancing scene is portrayed affectionately and obsessively and you get caught up in it, much as you do the dog show in Best of Show. You have the star dancer who has a tendency to show up with a thermos full of alcohol, the formerly great dancer whose ambitions were thwarted by a threatened rival, the current rivals who want Fran to stay in beginner's class, and the kids who comment on the action. You even get interviews with some of the characters as in a documentary.
Tara Morice doesn't seem to have had much of a movie career, which is a shame because she is wonderful here both as dancer and actress. She is in an upcoming film called Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance but apparently not in one of the major roles. (She also sings one of the versions of "Time After Time" in the movie.) This was her first starring role. Unlike Paul Mercurio, she wasn't a professional dancer. |
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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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| Marilyn |
| Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 7:14 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8210
Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
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| Silents lovers, the 1925 Ben-Hur, starring Ramon Novarro, is on tonight at 1 a.m. ET. It's really good. Don't miss it! |
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http://ferdyonfilms.com |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:52 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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| On what? |
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It truly disappoints me when people do something for you via no prompt of your own and then use it as some kind of weapon against you at a later time and place. It is what it is. |
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| grace |
| Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:04 pm |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 3214
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| On Turner Classic Movies. |
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| Terese |
| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 5:44 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 127
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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| Re: Strictly Ballroom. Just a bit of useless information for you, Paul Mercurio is now one of the judges on Dancing With The Stars here in Australia. Also, the woman who plays Tina Sparkle (Sonya Kruger) is the co-host. |
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dogs teach you how to love cats teach you how to live |
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| lady wakasa |
| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:37 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 5911
Location: Beyond the Blue Horizon
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Interesting contest: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/giveaway.htm.
And Criterion's got YiYi on its release schedule. |
Last edited by lady wakasa on Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 10:52 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| That link doesn't work for me. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:03 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Excise the final period in the webdress.
A couple pretty lame promotional questions as part of the contest.
But I'm definitely looking forward to Elevator to the Gallows. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:17 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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Me, too!!!
Missed the Ramon Novarro flick last night, not much of a Ben-Hur fan, but I could have watched him for an hour or two.
Instead watched Truffaut's Farenheit 451. |
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It truly disappoints me when people do something for you via no prompt of your own and then use it as some kind of weapon against you at a later time and place. It is what it is. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:23 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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ehle64 wrote:
Instead watched Truffaut's Farenheit 451.
Pretty terrible movie IMO. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:26 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| Great chariot race considering it was made in 1925. |
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| lady wakasa |
| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:34 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 5911
Location: Beyond the Blue Horizon
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gromit wrote: Excise the final period in the webdress.
A couple pretty lame promotional questions as part of the contest.
But I'm definitely looking forward to Elevator to the Gallows.
Not that lame - it'll keep them from getting very many answers and thus devoting a lot of time to managing this contest.
DVD Beaver has some hardcore fans, but it's extremely small and having problems staying afloat (the guy threatened to shut down last week) so Criterion is doing them a huge favor with this giveaway.
And I'd be willing to do a number of things for a free Criterion of Elevator to the Gallows.
BTW, the URL is fixed. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:45 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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I really wanted to see EttG at its Film Forum run last year, but never seemed to be able to make it so I am very excited about this.
Been watching the latest Criterion/Malle collaboration -- Three Films of Louis Malle: Murmur of the Heart; Lacombe, Lucien; and Au revoir les enfants. We watched the first two already and the third is in my queue. I seem to remember having seen ARlE before, but need to see it again after such a timespan. |
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It truly disappoints me when people do something for you via no prompt of your own and then use it as some kind of weapon against you at a later time and place. It is what it is. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 11:47 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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billyweeds wrote: ehle64 wrote:
Instead watched Truffaut's Farenheit 451.
Pretty terrible movie IMO.
While it will never go down on any favorite lists, I wouldn't necessarily call it "terrible". |
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It truly disappoints me when people do something for you via no prompt of your own and then use it as some kind of weapon against you at a later time and place. It is what it is. |
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