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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 8, 2010 18:36:08 GMT
Thanks so much for the recommendation, Kimby. I have been very interested in that film.
Lola, what do you mean when you say Invictus "takes a certain amount of work to watch"?
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Post by lola on Jul 8, 2010 23:54:03 GMT
Hi, Bixa. The story behind Invictus took some careful laying out, I guess I'd say, so that the average ignorant viewer such as myself could feel Mandela's and the rugby team's struggle leading up to the World Cup. Not one of your easy feel-good sports movies.
I found it inspiring, and it led to a major forgiving I hadn't realized I'd been holding off on. I felt that if Mandela could forgive 27 years in prison, I could make my own effort.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 9, 2010 0:42:38 GMT
Thanks, Lola. Extremely interesting point about the forgiving. I know when I saw the preview for the movie, his ordeal was foremost in my mind.
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Post by Kimby on Jul 9, 2010 15:05:39 GMT
Saw Miracle at St. Anna recently, and felt it did not live up to its very favorable reviews. Pacing was slow and it was too long, IMO. Nothing wrong with it otherwise, though. www.imdb.com/title/tt1046997/
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 9, 2010 17:41:53 GMT
Your last sentence is how I usually wind up feeling about Spike Lee films.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2010 10:08:21 GMT
I finally saw The Hurt Locker for the first time last night. I loved it,a very powerful film and deserving of every award it received.
Next up,The Bad Lieutenant,a remake of the movie of the same title originally starring Harvey Keitel. The original; set in NYC,this version set in NOLA starring Nicholas Cage. We're most curious to see it,first of all because of the location,and secondly because the original with Keitel,we both really,really liked. I don't have my hopes set up too high.
Countdown time to the new season of Mad Men!!!!!
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Post by lola on Jul 11, 2010 12:50:48 GMT
Let us know about Bad Lt., Casimira.
Reporting back on Deadwood: the first episode failed to grab my #1 dtr, though she was polite about it, and then we were gone for a week so took it back to the library. We watched first episodes of both that and Mad Men, and what a contrast in ... what... screen hygeine. Buckets of guts vs buttoned down. Well, I love em both.
How much lag time before we can watch Mad Men on tvshack, bixa? There's no way we'll get cable, since we watch TV approx often enough for World Cup, Grand Slam Tennis, World Series if the Cardinals are in it.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 11, 2010 16:51:50 GMT
Lola, do you use OVGuide? That's really the way to go for watching tv & movies online. It searches all of the online venues, so you have a much bigger chance of finding what you want. For instance, here is the hits page for Mad Men Season 3. I see BlinxRemote has the full season. I've had very good results with Blinx. Almost all the hour-long drama shows are available less than 24 hours after airing on tv. This is great, as long as you can train your cabled friends not to blurt out spoilers. www.ovguide.com/
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Post by dahuffy on Jul 11, 2010 18:06:33 GMT
Bix, the name of the t.v. show was "Alice". Mel's Diner was the place that she worked.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 11, 2010 21:06:42 GMT
Thanks, Dahuffy, and particular thanks for the proof that people really do read threads! Re: Hurt Locker -- I keep avoiding it, but keep hearing how worthwhile it is. I never saw the 1st Bad Lieutenant, even though I worship Harvey Keitel. I'm edgy about this one, because Nicholas Cage will either be very, very good or cringingly embarrassing.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2010 21:56:50 GMT
Bad Lieutenant is not a masterpiece, either version. But it is impossible to pass up any movie set in New Orleans.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2010 2:42:30 GMT
Will keep y'all posted. Funny story involving T. and seeing Nicholas Cage here in NOLA while filming this movie. T. saw Cage on a side street walking at night here in our neighborhood. They both stopped and eyeballed each other. T. said to Cage,"Aren't you....? (Cage thinking he was going to say Nicholas Cage)...T. finished",the Bad Lieutenant?" Cage smiled and said,"Yes,I am!"Both went on their merry way.
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Post by lola on Jul 12, 2010 13:54:54 GMT
Nice story, casimira! I admire Cage.
Thanks, bixa, for the link. With both daughters far off in college I might have time in the fall to catch up on things.
I had suggested The Bicycle Thief to our book club that met last night to discuss along with the book. I was a little surprised at how few of them loved it. Out of the 10 who watched it: 4 loved it, 2 fell asleep, another 2 found it long and boring but stayed awake, and 2 found it depressing and/or too perplexing. I know some people don't do black and white or subtitles, the philistines, but it's not high brow stuff. I find more to love about it each time I see it -- maybe four times now including my intro to it in a Univ tragedy class.
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Post by Kimby on Jul 12, 2010 15:14:57 GMT
Saw Woody Allen's "Whatever Works" last night. Loved the dialog (and point of view) and wondered if this wasn't written originally as a play. (If not, it could certainly have a second life in live theatre.) We also wondered why Woody didn't play the lead himself, as it was so clearly him. Is he too old now? Too short? Not believable as a Nobel prize runner-up in physics "String Theory"? Or was he afraid that the romance with the unsophisticated young lady from Mississippi might not be believable, given his age? Even though he is married to his much younger former step-daughter? Perhaps he didn't want to have to endure the comparisons to his real life. We loved it anyway.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 12, 2010 18:03:42 GMT
Thanks for that recommendation, Kimby. When Woody Allen's dialogue is good, it's brilliant.
I know Casimira's T, and that story is pure T, in the most wonderful way. Love it!
How could they not get into The Bicycle Thief?! I was an adult when I saw it for the first time (reviewed it somewhere in here, actually), and was immediately in agreement with the kudos heaped upon the film over the years.
Even if one didn't need the subtitles, I think there's a tiny bit of fancy footwork involved in keeping up with the movie that is part of the enjoyment.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 13, 2010 6:29:13 GMT
At this moment I am almost exhausted from watching one of the finest movies I've ever seen. I finally found a copy of "I've Loved You So Long" with English sub-titles and am so glad I persevered. I REALLY wish I had someone with which to discuss this! It would need either a separate thread or tons of spoiler buttons, though. It would be horrible to deprive anyone of the experience of letting this film unfold in the way it was intended to be presented to a viewer. All I knew of Philippe Claudel, the director, was a book I'd read by him. I mentioned it in the reading thread, & Kerouac told me that he'd directed "I've Loved You So Long". ( here, Replies 161 and 163) It's impossible to figure out who was most responsible for making this movie as good as it was. Was it the director, who created and maintained a pace that was so excruciatingly appropriate for telling this story? Or was it the actors, who must have drained themselves emotionally to so thoroughly bring their characters to life? It's almost an insult to the players in this movie to call what they did "acting", as they took what they did to a level that makes you forget you're not watching real life.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2010 10:53:52 GMT
Wasn't Kristin Scott-Thomas sensational? She was nominated for the French Academy Awards, the BAFTA awards and the Golden Globes for best actress... However, it was Elsa Zylberstein who won a French Academy Award for best supporting actress. She is rarely a front line actress, but she adds so much to lots of films with her supporting roles.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 13, 2010 17:59:05 GMT
I agree! How did she not garner every prize available that year? Really, she should have gotten some kind of life-achievement award for that one role. And that is a perfect description of Elsa Zylberstein's contribution to the film. It's impossible to imagine another actress stacking up so solidly alongside Scott-Thomas, nor creating such a fully-formed character with so little dialogue.
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Post by lola on Jul 17, 2010 19:22:37 GMT
I had been resisting it so far, but based on your recommendation I watched I've Loved You So Long last night Bixa, and found myself jumping up to be right next to the screen in spots, and in tears in others. Without getting into the spoiler zone:
The sister thing -- very moving. The happy extended family and circle of friends thing -- envy-inducing. I thought it was funny they felt a need to explain her accent a few times.
PS on Bicycle Thief: I must have had Bixa's rec in the back of my mind when I suggested book club watch that. I wish we could have flown you up for that gathering so we could've had a proper discussion. I never like being a book or movie's main booster while a chunk of the crowd sits there perplexed.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 18, 2010 1:56:54 GMT
Oh, Lola ~~ I am thrilled that you watched that! Truly, I'd like to kiss everyone who ever recommended it here. The idea I would have missed that singular piece of art almost makes me ill.
I agree about the sister thing -- straightforward, moving, and believable.
About the ext.fam&crcl of frnds -- agree in a way, although I felt the director wanted us to accept it more like real life, in the sense that there were tensions and probably some fallings-away in that future.
I also liked the way the director mis-directed us on a several points. It was done in a wonderfully subtle way, wherein it didn't matter whether we picked up on the little red herrings or not, because the movie was designed to work anyway. Well really, you could say the whole thing was sort of a red herring.
I'm very curious to know what "got" to you the most. I know the one thing that caught me and threw me into tears left me emotionally wide open for the rest of the movie.
PS on the Bicycle Thief ~ I would have loved to have been there. I should watch that movie again some time, anyway.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2010 2:17:32 GMT
Oh, I loved ,Kristen Scott Thomas and the movie, I've Loved You So Long,fabulous,fabulous film. I know, or or least I thought, I gushed on about it in one of these threads,not long after it came out.She deserved every award she got and then some for this performance. I believe she may be one of our finest living actresses. Have loved ever since The English Patient,and even her role in Three Weddings and a Funeral was brilliant (I happen to really like that movie,corny as it is... ) Re: T he Bicycle Thief,Lola,you need to educate these people,or find other group to hang out with!!! My goodness, as classic a film as they come!!! Jeez!!! Isn't Mad Men coming back on soon?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 18, 2010 2:30:51 GMT
the 25th -- tick tick tick tick. in its honor, I watched an entire not-great movie simply because it took place in the same time period as Mad Men:
Has anyone seen The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio? Odd little movie. I am really not a Julianne Moore fan anyway, & the first part of her performance was just peculiar. For one thing, her makeup was weird. She seemed to have on white eyeshadow -- most disconcerting. Also, she was supposed to be a person of determined optimism and goodness. In her rendition, it came out as a slitty-eyed tight smile, the kind of look someone might have while delivering withering sarcasm.
Then, somewhere around the middle of the movie, she somehow got into the role and was quite good. It's based on a true story written by one of ten kids of a feckless father and a mother who kept the family afloat by entering contests. All of the kids in the movie are good and seem like real children.
The movie has a sort of Reader's Digest feel to it and I hated the device at the beginning where the J.Moore character addresses the audience. Still, at the end I found myself rather moved.
Is there a point to all this? Yes, it's to say that Woody Harrelson is one amazingly fine actor! Damn -- he triumphs over a bad hair-dye job and an overall trite movie to give a brilliant, memorable performance.
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Post by lola on Jul 18, 2010 3:37:10 GMT
I think it's time for spoiler box explanation of the red herrings, which I think I missed. Well, the poem thing when Juliette gets angry at her niece.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 18, 2010 4:16:42 GMT
Continuing conversation @ I've Loved You So Long: Yeah, that was interesting because it really sticks with you, especially after you can tell she's taken a shine to the niece. But at first you think she just doesn't like kids.
I thought the friendship/colleague relationship between Lea & Michel as first presented was supposed to misdirect us into suspecting an affair, especially as her husband wasn't all that sympathetic or interesting as a character right at first.
You could also called red herrings those moments of tension where you're waiting for something bad to happen, which never does. When she picks up the guy at the café would be an example.
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Post by Kimby on Jul 18, 2010 16:30:41 GMT
We are gradually ticking movies off our list. We write down the titles of ones that get good reviews when they are on the big screen, then wait for them to come out on DVD and rent them. Long after we have forgotten entirely what they are about. Which can be a good thing. We have a video rental store that on Tuesdays rents all their DVDs for $1.50 each, and the ones that aren't new releases can be kept for a week. We usually get two or three films a week. This week we saw An Education and It's Complicated, which though totally different stories, both dealt with the sexual awakening (or re-awakening) of a woman, though that was not the main thrust (pardon the pun) of either movie. An Education features a brilliant English high school student who is Oxford-bound until she meets a fascinating older man who can give her everything she wanted to achieve with her Oxford education - music, fine meals, art auctions, sophisticated conversation, Paris. Her parents - whose main interest in pushing her toward Oxford is to find her a suitable husband - are won over by this man despite initial reservations. She learns the hard way that there is no shortcut to her future. It's Complicated has Meryl Streep as a 10-year divorced woman who has finally found her equilibrium, being brought together with her ex (played by Alec Baldwin) - who is married to the much younger woman he cheated on her with - on the occasion of their son's graduation from college. At the same time, she has met an interesting architect (Steve Martin) while designing the kitchen addition she has always wanted. Though the movie could have used tighter editing, as a chick flick, it works. And the scene that had a naked Alec Baldwin on Meryl Streep's bed hiding his privates with a laptop computer that she'd been Skyping with the architect before they both took pee breaks had both Mr. Kimby and me holding our sides laughing. The preview was for Mamma Mia, and Mr. Kimby asked if it was "on our list". It wasn't, but I had watched it on my own. I said he probably would not like it, because it was more of what he didn't like about It's Complicated: a hip but aging Meryl Streep playing a divorced mom while running her own charming business (an island B&B vs. a catering bakery) and with emotion-charged family reunions including exes. Only Mamma Mia has music (Abba) and dancing to confuse the issue. A strange movie.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2010 16:43:05 GMT
I confess that I skipped It's Complicated when it came out. I would have liked to have seen it, if only for Meryl Streep, but too many movies come out every week in Paris, and there is no way to keep up with everything. I missed An Education for the same reason.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 22, 2010 23:19:06 GMT
... watched It's Complicated, which is fairly slight, but fun. The only thing I couldn't understand was how it would be possible for Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep to have such totally twitty children. That said, it's an awfully fun movie and good for video night at home. A friend called me the other day, burbling enthusiastically about An Education. She was totally convinced by the movie, whereas I had trouble believing the girl would be that cool and poised and simultaneously so naive. Even though the actress was extremely good, that detail was too much for me, as was the broad-stroke depiction of the parents. I've tried three times to watch Mamma Mia and can think of any number of unpleasant things I'd rather do instead.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2010 23:20:50 GMT
Mad Men this weekend!!!!! I am so psyched!!! It's the only TV I watch.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 24, 2010 0:49:24 GMT
Because I never in my whole life watched an episode of Friends and because this seems to be some void in my life, the other night I watched the pilot & have watched 3 or 4 more episodes since then.
I really like it!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2010 14:58:13 GMT
It is actually quite contagious, but so many episodes are so stupid. However, it doesn't matter all that much once you have become attached to at least a couple of the characters.
I highly recommend the episode with Brad Pitt.
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