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Post by Mike Sullivan on Dec 3, 2005 18:44:50 GMT
My Fair Lady (1964) First Viewing Directed by: George Cuckor Rating: [/i] First, I don't think it would be just to not meantion the wonderful lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederic Lowe. Their collaboration on this musical really pushed foward the Broadway stage and the subsiquent film adaptaion that I am reviewing here. Plot is really quite easy to understand: Masagonistic phoneticist Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison, reprising his role from the stage) takes on the challange of teaching a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle (pplayed by Audrey Hepburn) how to speak properly so as to pass her off as a true lady amoung the aristocracy of victorian Era London. Of course, the plan backfires as she becomes indepdent of Higgins. I must really applaud Lerner who acctually stays truthful to the heart and soul of the Shaw play "Pygmalion", from which the film is based on. In fact, I suppose Shaw would not be disapointed with the final product save for perhaps the final revelations of the film. Really, this might be the last truly great musical to come from Hollywood and perhaps one of the greatest.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 3, 2005 19:31:06 GMT
Richard III(1955/Laurence Olivier) [First Viewing] A British soldier, Richard III, is determined to take the crown at any cost.A colorful spectacle of rich atmosphere and wonderful performances. Similar to Olivier's "Henry V", but this time the film is much more character driven, making the audience more interested in the goings on. Plus, it might be Olivier's best performance.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 4, 2005 1:28:50 GMT
La Notte The Night(1961/Michelangelo Antonioni) [First Viewing] In the course of a very eventful twenty-four hours, a couple realize they have fallen out of love.Antonioni explores his usual themes of alienation, existence, and identity with his trademark symbolism and techniques in tact. Unfortunately, the film is very uninvolved and we sense a distance from the characters that makes us unable to understand them. Maybe that was the point. At least it was never boring and had some great cinematography.
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Post by Vercetti on Dec 4, 2005 6:40:42 GMT
War of the Worlds - (Steven Spielberg;2005;USA) - A man and his two kids flee from New York City when aliens begin a long-planned extermination.I felt this was going to be a mediocre alien movie along the lines of ID4, but I was pleasantly surprised. It seems like Spielberg rolled the Holocaust and 9/11 together in this film, especially with the images of New York's explosions, and the ashes falling everywhere. As much as I enjoy Tim Robbins, I felt those basement scenes worked against the film, especially with his corny, cliche nut-case dialogue. He felt like a character rented from previous cinematic archetypes. The ending was also slightly off in my opinion, but as for the rest of the film, it turns out to be a very suspenseful and engrossing film. Tom Cruise is also in great form.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 4, 2005 14:20:34 GMT
Vercetti, that pretty much runs in accordance to my review of the film. Technical wizardry galore, but Spielberg needs to write better endings; Robbins could have gone.
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Post by Vercetti on Dec 4, 2005 16:35:33 GMT
The main problem I have is SPOILERSHow to the aliens begin to fail in their machines? Tom Cruise destroys one and all of a sudden the rest begin their downfall. IMDB says Earth's bacteria is the problem, but how does that effect machines, and where is it mentioned? SPOILERSInterestingly, the Naugatuck, CT power plant was in "Boston" at the end with the last tripod. Also there's an interesting anecdote. The scene with the bodies floating down the river was filmed in the Connecticut river in Windsor, and some of the fake bodies got away from the crew and floated further away, causing several police reports of bodies.
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Dec 4, 2005 19:13:21 GMT
NOVEMBER: An extremely low tally, considering 14 of these 28 are shorts. And only 7 of the remainder were first viewings. Nocturna Artificialia (Those Who Desire Without End) Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay 1979, UK[/color] 1st time[/size] The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay 1984, UK[/color] 2nd time[/size] The Epic of Gilgamesh, or: This Unnameable Little Broom Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay/Keith Griffiths 1985, UK[/color] 1st time[/size] Street of Crocodiles Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay 1985, UK[/color] 2nd time[/size] Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay 1986, UK[/color] 1st time[/size] Dramolet (Stille Nacht I) Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay 1988, UK[/color] 2nd time[/size] The Comb (From the Museums of Sleep) Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay 1990, UK[/color] 1st time[/size] Anamorphosis, or: De Artificiali Perspectiva Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay 1991, UK[/color] 1st time[/size] Are We Still Married? (Stille Nacht II) Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay 1991, UK[/color] 2nd time[/size] Tales from the Vienna Woods (Stille Nacht III) Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay 1992, UK[/color] 2nd time[/size] Can't Go Wrong Without You (Stille Nacht IV) Stephen Quay/Timothy Quay 1993, UK[/color] 2nd time[/size] Se7en Seven David Fincher 1995, USA[/color] 4th time[/size] Hauru no ugoku shiro Howl's Moving Castle Hayao Miyazaki 2004, Japan[/color] 1st time[/size] Kôkaku kidôtai 2: Inosensu Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence Mamoru Oshii 2004, Japan[/color] 1st time[/size] Neco z Alenky Alice Jan Švankmajer 1988, Czechoslovakia/Switzerland/UK/West Germany[/color] 2nd time[/size] The Brothers Grimm Terry Gilliam 2005, Czech Republic/USA[/color] 1st time[/size] The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Pt.1: The Moab Story Peter Greenaway 2003, UK/Spain/Italy/Luxembourg/Netherlands/Russia/Hungary/Germany[/color] 1st time[/size] Gerry Gus Van Sant 2001, USA/Argentina/Jordan[/color] 2nd time[/size] Weekend Jean-Luc Godard 1967, Italy/France[/color] 1st time[/size] Salaryman 6 Jake Knight 2002, Japan/UK[/color] 1st time[/size] The Constant Gardener Fernando Meirelles 2005, UK[/color] 1st time[/size] Vital Shinya Tsukamoto 2004, Japan[/color] 1st time[/size] Rope Alfred Hitchcock 1948, USA[/color] 2nd time[/size] Elephant Gus Van Sant 2003, USA[/color] 3rd time[/size] First Blood Ted Kotcheff 1982, USA[/color] 3rd time[/size] The Village M. Night Shyamalan 2004, USA[/color] 3rd time[/size] Rubber Johnny Chris Cunningham 2005, UK[/color] 1st time[/size] Monkey Drummer Chris Cunningham 2000, UK[/color] 1st time[/size]
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 4, 2005 19:54:17 GMT
Glad you saw Salaryman 6. Thoughts?
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Dec 4, 2005 20:31:23 GMT
Yeah, it's a nice short. I like the subject matter, but it's complex enough to support a much longer film, and works without elaboration as a pretty basic conceit. It's well shot, with the stationary low angles in the wide aspect, and the acrid lighting.
By the way, is that the complete film on the BBC's website? IMDb states its running time is 17 minutes, and I don't think the version I watched was even 7.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 4, 2005 20:37:55 GMT
I reckon that's the full version. The first time I saw it was part of a hardtofind short films DVD, and it was the same version.
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Post by Vercetti on Dec 5, 2005 3:28:37 GMT
Mr. & Mrs. Smith - (Doug Liman;2005;USA) A husband and wife find out during a failing marriage that they are both assassins working for rival companies.Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have very good chemistry, and this film has many moments of good humor, but unfortunately it lacks in everything else. The whole film seems to exist solely for it's shootouts, and nothing else aside it's humor. It's not enough, and at times the action feels too cartoon-ish to enjoy, although those scenes do have their moments.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 5, 2005 4:11:00 GMT
L'Eclisse Eclipse(1962/Michelangelo Antonioni) [First Viewing] After just breaking up with her fiance, a young woman falls in love with a stockbroker.Like "Blowup", Antonioni explores the alienation of an entire culture through one character. In "Blowup" it was the swinging sixties London. Here, it is the generation gap of the ambitious youth of Rome, and their wealthy bourgeoisie parents. An interesting film, full of profound images and limited dialogue that make for the perfect example of existential pondering. Probably a film I will appreciate more with time the passing of time.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 6, 2005 2:08:06 GMT
The Big Easy(1987/Jim McBride) [First Viewing] A slick and sleazy New Orleans' detective finds himself under investigation by the District Attorney for corruption.Despite a dynamic and very charismatic (not to mention rare) performance by Dennis Quaid, this film is a typical detective flick, with a romantic subplot that isn't as interesting as the brief glimpses of Cajun culture. And of course, since it was the 80's, the ending has to have an explosion. Still, it works on an entertainment level.
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Post by Mike Sullivan on Dec 6, 2005 4:14:34 GMT
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) Second or Third Viewing Directed by: Vincente Minneli Rating: [/i] On my musical spree I decided to look back upon the Arthur Free musicals of the 1940's and 1950's in somewhat comparison to perhaps the epic length musicals of the 1960's. The 1940's musicals have one very, very big addvantage: great pacing, never draging and alot of heart, this most evident here, in the story of a family in turn of the century St. Louis who'se lives are turned upside down with the prospect of their moving away to New York City. Highpoint here? No doubt Judy Garland's heartbreaking and definative rendition of the Martin & Blane masterpiece, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". I get chills listening to it and it is a testamet to perhaps the most underknown songwriting teams in history.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 6, 2005 21:02:03 GMT
De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté The Beat That My Heart Skipped Jacques Audiard 2005 France 1st time; big screen A small-time crook operating at the low end of the property market takes up his passion again for the piano, and struggles to share time between his two lives.Never less than engaging, a credited remake of James Toback's Fingers, this is a brooding character study done with unsettling flair and driven along by a meticulously agitated performance from Romain Duris in the leading role, as the tormented would-be concert pianist.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 7, 2005 16:10:39 GMT
Week-end Weekend Jean-Luc Godard 1967 France/Italy 2nd time A bourgeois couple travel to Oinville, but their journey is hampered by an endless traffic jam and forest-dwelling savages.Godard's vision of Hell, depicted with brutal force at the expense of middle class consumerism: apparently, in order to overcome the horrors of the bourgeoisie, more horror is required. Essential viewing, as a cinematic mass of one artist's ideas; it is quite clearly made by somebody disgusted with the world.
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Post by Mike Sullivan on Dec 8, 2005 2:58:00 GMT
The Big Red One (1980) Second Viewing Directed by: Samuel Fuller Rating: [/i] Searching through my history teachers closet today, I found a VHS copy of Sam Fuller's, "The Big Red One". A huge fan of the new reconstruction (Perhaps the greatest war film ever and one of my personal favorites), I was loaned the copy and I saw a film, that even trunicated, still is extremely effective. However, watching the original 1980 cut I am reminded of just how criminal it was to cut almost an hour of fotage from the film and it also reinforces my love of the reconstruction. The original cut eliminates many of the best scenes I've grown accustomed to and the pacing is awkward, making it from the amazing war epic I love into a more faster paced but weaker film and in fact the cuts made by Warners in 1980 really made some scenes just really hard to comprehend. At any rate, it's worth seeking out the original 1980 cut to compare with the 2004 reconstruction. Tomorow I am watching, "Michael Collins".
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 8, 2005 18:48:28 GMT
Out of the Past Build My Gallows High Jacques Tourneur 1947 US[/color] 1st timeA small town gas station owner is visited by an old friend, and his past life creeps up on him.[/size] Atmospheric noir superbly played by all involved; every line reeks of wit and every shot is drenched in shadow.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 9, 2005 23:01:52 GMT
Le Ballon rouge The Red Balloon Albert Lamorisse 1955 France 1st time A small school boy living in Belville comes across a red balloon, and all the other kids get jealous.An absolutely absorbing piece of visual cinema, a short film which has been neglected by DVD distributors and lost to oblivion, like the setting itself, which was demolished in the sixties and rebuilt. Sur mes lèvres Read My Lips Jacques Audiard 2001 France 1st time; big screen A deaf secretary in the property business hires a male ex-con, and gets involved in criminal activity.The ambiguous plot outline is telling: the director here isn't so much interested in the narrative's crime arc as the central relationship between two very credible characters put in a situation which here never rings true.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 10, 2005 21:53:19 GMT
Syriana(2005/Stephen Gaghan) [First Viewing] The life of a CIA operative, a D.C. lawyer, Middle Eastern peasants, and many others are forever changed by the war on oil.Complex and deeply layered political thriller, with a low key style that keeps everything in a cloud of mystery. Every actor gives their best, and the writing takes on a Shakespearean tragedy type of tone that makes it a story of fathers and sons, and redemption. A very powerful and engaging film. Ironically, it's very similar to Mick's 'Conflicts' than to "Traffic" (which it is better than).
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