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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 8, 2016 3:49:26 GMT -5
The Ice Storm (1997) Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Toby McGuire, Christine Ricci, Fantastic Four # 141, Sigourney Weaver, Elijah Wood
Winter 1973, Connecticut. A well to do family is slowly breaking apart. Kevin Klein is drinking too much and having an affair. His wife, Joan Allen is now aware. Their 14 year old daughter, Christine Ricci, is a nympho and 16 year old son Toby McGuire reads the same comic for days and smokes from a bong. It all comes to a head one night during a historic ice storm
Wasn't planning a Kevin Kline double feature-luck of the draw
Director Ang Lee's 2nd American film and he would go on to direct The Hulk, Life Of Pi, Brokeback Mountain and more. The film really captures the zeitgeist of winter 1973 with Watergate heating up, Cat Stevens on the stereo, people getting tired of their waterbeds etc. An interesting character study-Gene Siskel thought it was the best film of the year. It will stay with you for a few days and give you much to contemplate
And yes, the copy of Fantastic Four #141 gets plenty of screen time and is an important character too
Oh-it's a Criterion. Oh goody
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 8, 2016 20:27:01 GMT -5
I saw The Strawberry Blonde (1941) a few days ago. James Cagney, Rita Hayworth, Jack Carson and Olivia de Haviland are all great! It's New York about 1905, so it's all streetcars and handlebar moustaches and derbys. Olivia de Haviland is hilarious as a young woman trying awfully hard to show how modern she is. (She smokes! And she has a job!)
It's very entertaining. It's one of those films where Rita Hatworth reminds us of what a great actor she was when she needed to be more than just a pretty face.
And I got a huge unintentional laugh from one scene. Cagney is studying to be a dentist. Alan Hale is his father, and Cagney is using a pamphlet to learn how to pull a tooth and he's going to take out Alan Hale's bad tooth. Alan Hale is making a bit of a ruckus. So Cagney says "Don't be such a pussy willow!" Which sounded like Cagney was calling Alan Hale a p*ssy until you hear the last two syllables.
I was cracking up. I'll remember this as the one where Jimmy Cagney called Alan Hale a p*ssy.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 8, 2016 20:41:01 GMT -5
I saw another Cary Grant movie! I've now seen every Cary Grant movie from 1940 to the end of his career (1966) except Kiss Them for Me.
Walk Don't Run is about Tokyo being very crowded during the 1964 Olympics and Cary Grant has to find a place to stay because the hotels are full. So he sees a notice about a room being available and he goes and his new roommate is Samantha Egger. She was expecting a girl. Then Cary rents half his room to Jim Hutton and decides to play matchmaker for Egger and Hutton, despite knowing that Egger is already engaged.
It's very much a remake of The More the Merrier from the 1940s. I'm not that big a fan of The More the Merrier but it's a lot better than Walk Don't Run.
It wasn't boring and it wasn't hard to watch but it is just very dumb a lot of the time. Cary Grant comes off as a colossal butthole, interfering with the relationship between Samantha Egger and her boyfriend and trying to push Jim Hutton on her. I didn't really get why. The fiancé was a bit of a self-important stick-in-the-mud, but Jim Hutton was a sullen whiner with a chip on his shoulder.
The real moral of the story seemed to be that it was OK for Cary Grant to interfere because the fiancé was short and balding and not as much of a "man" as Jim Hutton, who was tall and an Olympic athlete and also an architect.
It had its moments. I'm glad I saw it just to get that much closer to seeing all Grant's movies. But I wish he had stopped after Father Goose.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 8, 2016 21:09:26 GMT -5
The recent discovery that Fat City is on YouTube prompted me to see if I could find a few other movies I want to see on YouTube, and I made a list of five YouTube movies that I plan to watch in the next few weeks. I'm hoping to make Sunday morning my YouTube Movie Time.
Girl Shy (1924) - I've seen quite a few Harold Lloyd movies but not this one. My brother saw it (on PBS, I think) many years ago and he described it to me and I thought it sounded HILARIOUS. I've been meaning to see it for twenty years but I never had the opportunity.
Utopia (1951) - Laurel and Hardy's last movie. It has a reputation of being really awful. Well, I watched Love Happy. I watched The Countess from Hong Kong. I don't think Utopia will be any harder to watch than either of those.
The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955) - Also known as Ensayo de un crimen. I really love the films of Luis Bunuel. I don't know much about this. But I saw Almodovar's Carne Tremula and there's a scene where there's an old movie on TV in the background and, man, it is the weirdest looking old movie! I looked it up on IMDB (It's been close to ten years) and I've been wanting to see The Criminal Life of Archibaldo Cruz ever since.
Mon Oncle (1958) - I've seen Playtime (IT'S SO GREAT!) but I've never seen any other Jacques Tati. It seems to me like a huge failure on my part that I've never seen Mon Oncle.
Fat City (1972) - Fat City showed at a revival house when I lived in Los Angeles. I didn't see it. I went to that place A LOT, but I didn't see everything. But I did see the trailer one night and I figured I'd see it eventually because it's directed by John Huston. And here it is, twenty years later and I still haven't seen it.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 8, 2016 21:16:07 GMT -5
I've seen Utopia and it deserves it's reputation,
I've enjoyed all the Jacques Tardi films featuring M. Hulot. They're great (and all on Criterion-are you able to rent them from your library?-they got great extra features too)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2016 22:01:42 GMT -5
I've seen Utopia and it deserves it's reputation, I've enjoyed all the Jacques Tardi films featuring M. Hulot. They're great (and all on Criterion-are you able to rent them from your library?-they got great extra features too) Jacques Tati (not Tardi) ... sorry Ish. My Favorite YouTube
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 8, 2016 22:09:51 GMT -5
Jacques Tati (not Tardi) ... sorry Ish. Quite all right. I'll make sure to be correcting all your misspellings and grammatical errors as well
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 9, 2016 9:48:03 GMT -5
I've never seen M. Hulot's Holiday either. I'm thinking of watching it as a double feature with Mon Uncle.
I saw Playtime at the Cinematheque in Hollywood! A one-of-a-kind movie experience. I've been thinking of making a list of Top Ten Movies I've only seen once and Playtime would be near the top.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 10, 2016 12:15:21 GMT -5
Turner Classic Movies is showing Ingmar Bergman movies on Sunday night all through March. So if you're a cinephile who's been curious about Bergman but never took the plunge because you're wary of arty movies with sub-titles, here's your chance to look at the film summaries and maybe pick something that's not quite so arty.
Or if you're already a fan of Bergman, here's a chance to see one of his masterpieces that you've missed so far, or one of his obscure films, or maybe something you loved ten or twenty years ago and just haven't had a chance to see it again.
I've already DVRed Cries and Whispers (one that I've never seen) and I plan to record Scenes from a Marriage (another one I've never seen) when it shows. And Sawdust and Tinsel (one of my favorites) is showing this coming Sunday and I've been wanting to see that again almost from the moment I sent it back to Netflix several years again.
I hope to see a few of his less well-known films as well.
I watched A Lesson in Love (1954) last night. I can see why it's not hailed as a Bergman classic. But it's watchable and entertaining, and Eva Dahlbeck is great! I love her so much!
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 10, 2016 12:57:39 GMT -5
Here's Eva Dahlbeck in Smiles of a Summer Night, my favorite Ingmar Bergman film. If you ever get a chance to see it, DON'T WALK, RUN.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 10, 2016 23:13:25 GMT -5
The Young Lions (1958) Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin, Hope Lange, Maximillian Schell, Barbara Ruch, Lee Van Cleef
The story of 3 men during WWII. Montgomery Clift plays a New York Jew facing antisemitism both on the homefront and in the army. Dean Martin is a Broadway entertainer, a playboy and coward. Both are drafted and sent to fight in Europe for their eventual destiny with German Officer Marlon Brando
Long, epic story with lots of character background between the 3 principles and decent war action. Brando dyed his hair blonde and, of course, speaks with a German accent. Well worth viewing for the cast alone. Tony Randall was initially meant to play the Dean Martin part but had to drop out. Clift was close friends with Martin and helped him land the role. It was the breakthrough part for Dean after he split with Jerry Lewis and was his first dramatic role. The movie was criticized for its sympathetic portrayal of German officer Brando, a nice German who did not agree with all the Nazi ideas.
Montgomery Clift looked kind of sickly in this film. This was filmed a year after his terrible car accident, major surgery and dependence on drugs. He somehow stayed alive another 8 years but one of his friends was quoted as saying "It was the longest suicide"
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 11, 2016 1:48:06 GMT -5
Dangerous Liaisons (1988) Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman, Keanu Reeves, Swoosie Kurtz, Mildred Natwick
18th century France and bored aristocrats plot and bed each other to obtain revenge
There is a large contingent of folks who love this film-I'm not one of them. I got through it but I'm not a fan of this type of costume drama. The cast is great- you get 2 future Batman femme fatales and its fuuny to watch Keanu get few lines and none are more than 5 words each. The costumes are Oscar worthy (which it won), but powered wigs and upper crusty bedroom frolics are not my cup of tea..oops wrong country. Anywho, Uma Thurman's bosoms make a surprise appearance . There is that.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 11, 2016 2:17:56 GMT -5
Mondo Trasho is on YouTube! I've been wanting to see it for decades! I'm sure it wasn't on YouTube last time I looked but it's there now! I'll probably watch it tomorrow.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 11, 2016 16:54:51 GMT -5
I watched Mondo Trasho (1969) this morning. I've now seen every feature-length film that John Waters ever made. I feel like I'm in a very special club.
As for the movie, it is so wrong. WRONG WRONG WRONG! As wrong as ten episodes of "The Family Guy."
I would recommend it for people who like a unique cinema experience. Also, it's entertaining and watchable for those cinephiles who like the early films of John Waters, like Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble. And Mondo Trasho is also fun for people who love the John Waters stock company because Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Divine and Mink Stole are all in it. Mink Stole steals the show with a very long topless dance.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Mar 11, 2016 18:31:04 GMT -5
I watched Mondo Trasho (1969) this morning. I've now seen every feature-length film that John Waters ever made. I feel like I'm in a very special club. As for the movie, it is so wrong. WRONG WRONG WRONG! As wrong as ten episodes of "The Family Guy." I would recommend it for people who like a unique cinema experience. Also, it's entertaining and watchable for those cinephiles who like the early films of John Waters, like Pink Flamingos and Female Trouble. And Mondo Trasho is also fun for people who love the John Waters stock company because Mary Vivian Pearce, David Lochary, Divine and Mink Stole are all in it. Mink Stole steals the show with a very long topless dance. I'm part of that special club, seen all the early John Waters films and most, but not all, of his latest (Have not seen Cecil B. Demented or Kiddie Flamingos) . Even saw Pink Flamingos after midnight at the Elgin Cinema on the lower west side of Manhattan along with 3 other brain damaging movies all in one evening. Those other Waters films I've seen first on VHS and then DVDs. Last saw them about 10 years ago or so
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