Movies

Everything except LibriVox (yes, this is where knitting gets discussed. Now includes non-LV Volunteers Wanted projects)
anoldfashiongirl
Posts: 234
Joined: May 19th, 2008, 1:46 pm
Location: Eastern North Carolina
Contact:

Post by anoldfashiongirl »

Robinsgirl wrote:Yea! In my little town of _ _ _ _ _ _-_ _ _ _ _ we have four movie galleries! and they are ALL sold out of Walli! how stupid is that! So either everyone in my town has two copies, or the tourists decided they wanted to watch Walli during vacation! I had to borrow the movie from a friend.
LOL Luckly Walmart had a bunch on Black Friday. I've only watched it 10 times so far. :lol:
I only have one movie gallery really close to me. I went Saturday and bought iGOR. We haven't watched it yet. Has anyone seen it? The previews are really funny.
Also has anyone seen Mall Cop? I want to SO bad!
~~~ Jami ~~~

Your Life is an occasion, rise to it.
- Mr. Magorium

Signature Loading
(89%/100)
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ceastman
Posts: 4195
Joined: December 28th, 2005, 8:36 pm
Location: Redwood City, CA

Post by ceastman »

We just saw Coraline (3D). Fantastic movie; detailed blog post hopefully coming soon!

Do read the book first; it's a quick read, and has (of course) a couple of things that didn't make it into the film... but the film added enough really good new stuff to make up for what it missed or changed from the book.

-Catharine
harvey
Posts: 257
Joined: February 16th, 2006, 4:51 pm
Location: Idaho

Post by harvey »

ceastman wrote:We just saw Coraline (3D). Fantastic movie! Do read the book first.
Wow! It's been out only eleven days, yet Coraline is already on the
IMDb's Top 250 (at #201). The plot summary reminds me of Spirited
Away
(2001) by writer-director Hayao Miyazaki, which is currently #61
on the Top 250 (more details on Miyazaki earlier in this thread).

One of the discussions on the Message Broads at the IMDb for
Coraline has the subject line "Coraline vs. Citizen Kane" (:-)

I've reserved the book from the public library.
harvey
Posts: 257
Joined: February 16th, 2006, 4:51 pm
Location: Idaho

Post by harvey »

For those of you who haven't been following it, the Watchmen thread
of this forum has, in recent days, discussed several movies.
ceastman
Posts: 4195
Joined: December 28th, 2005, 8:36 pm
Location: Redwood City, CA

Post by ceastman »

Off-off-topic...

The Coraline soundtrack is also really neat, and great to do semi-focused work to. It's both interesting and melodic enough to pay attention to anytime you want, yet has enough of an ambient feel to let portions go by without paying attention.

The associated website, coraline.com, is fairly well done and amusing as well - looks like it has a lot of 'how we did such-and-such' videos, none of which I've actually watched yet.

We now return you to more direct movie stuff..

-Catharine
BellonaTimes
Posts: 3647
Joined: February 15th, 2009, 6:25 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

Post by BellonaTimes »

I like older films and indies, not interested in Hollywood mainstream junk. The last flick I enjoyed was Juno -- what a wonderful role model for teenagers that girl was! Smart, funny, sensitive, & loving. Mostly I watch Turner Classics, followed by IFC or Sundance, and the Flix channels.

Can't remember which one showed Nothing But A Man recently but that is one film I highly recommend. Ex-soldier (played by Ivan Dixon) moves to Alabama for work on railroad, falls in love with a preacher's daughter (played by jazz singer Abbey Lincoln); they marry but their relationship is constantly fouled by the ill effects of racism. This came out in 1964, and doesn't flinch with the situations and dialogue, although it's probably a PG-13.

I also like listening to episodes of Lux Theater, which was a long-running radio show that did 1-hour adaptations of popular films, often with one or more original stars replaying their roles -- like William Powell & Myrna Loy in stagings of the first two Thin Man movies. Other times, they have an equivalent star playing the lead, like the Barbara Stanwyck version of Dark Victory. It's interesting hearing her spin on it compared to Bette Davis' in the film. Sorta like the different versions of stories we have here on Librivox. ;)
harvey
Posts: 257
Joined: February 16th, 2006, 4:51 pm
Location: Idaho

Post by harvey »

Jami (anoldfashiongirl) just started a thread on Coraline - The Book.

I posted a different version of what's below on that new thread, but
since it's more about movies than the book, I'll post it here, too.

At Catharine's recommendation above, I read Coraline last week.
The book reminds me of the movie The Curse of the Cat People (1944),
which I saw for the first time while reading Coraline. It's by famed
horror movie producer Val Lewton and was the first film directed by
Robert Wise. It's considered by some as the best filmed study of child
psychology told from the perspective of the child, who, in this movie,
has a very active imagination. It's this, coupled with the threatening
things which happen, that I find similar to Coraline.

Curse is nominally a sequel to Lewton's first film, Cat People (1942)
(my favorite among his movies). Cat People was considered very scary
when it was released. It was very popular and made a lot of money
for the studio (RKO Radio Pictures). Lewton's movies have little of the
standard elements of horror movies (such as blood and monsters);
I think of them as thrillers. An interesting bit of trivia is that sets from
Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) were re-used in Curse.

Val Lewton is an interesting character, with quite a whimsical sense
of humor. His aunt was the silent film star Nazimova, who was as
famous in her day as was Valentino. Lewton had a long history as a
writer before turning his hand to movie production. He was a reporter,
wrote articles for many magazines, and was a novelist. Got fired for
fabricating a news story. Several of his novels were made into movies
(before he joined the film making industry). He worked for David O.
Selznick, where he wrote a number of scenes used in Gone with the
Wind
. His biography page at the IMDb is worth a look.
harvey
Posts: 257
Joined: February 16th, 2006, 4:51 pm
Location: Idaho

Post by harvey »

BellonaTimes wrote:I like older films and indies, not interested in Hollywood mainstream junk.
I, too, like old(er) movies. However, I enjoy the occasional bite of Hollywood
junk food.
I also like listening to episodes of Lux Theater, which was a long-running
radio show that did 1-hour adaptations of popular films, often with one or
more original stars replaying their roles.
Check out the forum thread on old-time radio shows.
BellonaTimes
Posts: 3647
Joined: February 15th, 2009, 6:25 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

Post by BellonaTimes »

harvey wrote:
Curse is nominally a sequel to Lewton's first film, Cat People (1942)
(my favorite among his movies). Cat People was considered very scary
when it was released. It was very popular and made a lot of money
for the studio (RKO Radio Pictures). Lewton's movies have little of the
standard elements of horror movies (such as blood and monsters);
I think of them as thrillers. An interesting bit of trivia is that sets from
Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) were re-used in Curse.
The Kirk Douglas / Lana Turner movie The Bad and The Beautiful has an homage to Lewton in the form of a group of indie film-makers having a hit with a Cat People like film, complete with unseen characters.

My fav Lewton flick is I Walked With A Zombie, which I had avoided for years simply because of that stupid title. It's a beautiful film, scary and romantic at the same time. I love the way they were able to create so much atmosphere on such a low budget.

Speaking of low budget, check out At Land in archive.org's movie section. It's a surrealistic short film from 1944 with similar eerieness. The star and director is a woman named Maya Deren; she later wrote a book -- and tried to finish a documentary -- about voodoo in Haiti.
They call me Threadkiller.
My Catalog Page
harvey
Posts: 257
Joined: February 16th, 2006, 4:51 pm
Location: Idaho

Post by harvey »

Filmed versions of Vanity Fair

Any recommendations -- pro or con -- on Vanity Fair (2004) with
Reese Witherspoon?

While we're on the topic, how about the 1967 BBC mini-series version
with Susan Hampshire?

Or is another of the many versions the best one to see?
Robinsgirl
Posts: 473
Joined: October 13th, 2008, 7:34 am
Location: In the hearts of other people.

Post by Robinsgirl »

anoldfashiongirl wrote:
Robinsgirl wrote:Yea! In my little town of _ _ _ _ _ _-_ _ _ _ _ we have four movie galleries! and they are ALL sold out of Walli! how stupid is that! So either everyone in my town has two copies, or the tourists decided they wanted to watch Walli during vacation! I had to borrow the movie from a friend.
LOL Luckly Walmart had a bunch on Black Friday. I've only watched it 10 times so far. :lol:
I only have one movie gallery really close to me. I went Saturday and bought iGOR. We haven't watched it yet. Has anyone seen it? The previews are really funny.
Also has anyone seen Mall Cop? I want to SO bad!
I dont know if you have seen it yet, but IO absolutely hated this movie! I thought it was horrible and I will NEVER watch it again.

Edit: talking about Igor
Robert Frost is my hero!
BellonaTimes
Posts: 3647
Joined: February 15th, 2009, 6:25 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

Post by BellonaTimes »

harvey wrote:Filmed versions of Vanity Fair

Any recommendations -- pro or con -- on Vanity Fair (2004) with
Reese Witherspoon?

While we're on the topic, how about the 1967 BBC mini-series version
with Susan Hampshire?

Or is another of the many versions the best one to see?
I'm surprised you didn't mention the 1930's production of Becky Sharp starring Miriam Hopkins. Can't stand Hopkins except in These Three and when Bette Davis shakes her in Old Acquaintance.

And to answer your question, none of the above. Haven't read the book yet but if the flicks are anything like it, don't really want to.
They call me Threadkiller.
My Catalog Page
harvey
Posts: 257
Joined: February 16th, 2006, 4:51 pm
Location: Idaho

Post by harvey »

BellonaTimes wrote:
harvey wrote:Filmed versions of Vanity Fair: Any recommendations ... ?
I'm surprised you didn't mention the 1930's production of
Becky Sharp starring Miriam Hopkins.
To relieve your surprise, I had singled out a few of the more
interesting movie versions available at the public library
(I particularly like actress Susan Hampshire) and, yes, I knew about
Becky Sharp (1935), which is reputed to be well-worth the watch.
It's based on a play which is, in turn, based on the book.

In fact, I have the video file of Becky Sharp from archive.org.
I've watched only a few minutes so far. I'm a bit frustrated about it
because I know that there were a lot of inferior film copies made
for theater use when the movie was released and that UCLA has a
restored version which people who've seen it say has great picture
quality, but which has never been released for sale.

Becky Sharp is interesting historically as the first movie released in
full (three-strip) Technicolor. I don't know if that also means the
first in full color, since I don't know if Technicolor had any competitors
then. Technicolor had previously developed a two-strip color film
(captured red, including flesh tones, and green, but no blue), which
dates from at least 1930 (the earliest example I've seen).
Can't stand Hopkins except in These Three and when Bette Davis
shakes her in Old Acquaintance.
I like Miriam Hopkins in the two movies I've seen with her:

Barbary Coast (1935), with Edward G. Robinson and Joel McCrea,
directed by Howard Hawks. Takes place in San Francisco during the
California Gold Rush. It has adventure, drama, and romance. There's
a triangle among the three main characters. (Trivia: banned in
Finland in 1936.)

Trouble in Paradise (1932) with Herbert Marshall and Kay Francis,
directed by Ernst Lubitsch. A romantic comedy. The dinner scene
with Hopkins and Marshall at the beginning is a classic. It, too, has
a triangle among the three main characters. (Trivia: also banned
in Finland; did they have something against Ms. Hopkins?)

Unfortunately, our library has neither of her two movies you like.
BellonaTimes
Posts: 3647
Joined: February 15th, 2009, 6:25 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

Post by BellonaTimes »

These Three is the Hollywoodization of Lillian Hellman's first hit play, The Children's Hour. Because of the production code of the time, the lesbian aspect of the lover's triangle in the original play was turned into a standard straight triangle with two women -- best pals & business partners running a girl's private school -- in love with the same man. Merle Oberon plays the pal, Joel McCrea the lucky guy. :twisted:
Hopkins turned up in the nosy aunt role in the inferior 1961 remake with Shirley MacLaine & Audrey Hepburn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/These_Three
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Children%27s_Hour_(1961_film)

There is a coffee-table book on the Technicolor process -- Glorious Technicolor: The Movies' Magic Rainbow -- that goes into detail about the business. You're right about Becky Sharp being the first 3-color film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becky_Sharp_(film)
They call me Threadkiller.
My Catalog Page
BellonaTimes
Posts: 3647
Joined: February 15th, 2009, 6:25 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

Post by BellonaTimes »

A few news outlets (Montreal Gazette, OK! online) are reporting that theater and film star Natasha Richardson has been critically-injured in a skiing accident in Canada. :( Some of her famous roles include The Handmaid's Tale, Anna Christie, Sally Bowles in the revival of Cabaret (both on Broadway), the remake of The Parent Trap, and Nell with her husband Liam Neeson, with whom she has two sons. She's also Vanessa Redgrave's daughter by director Tony Richardson.

Just saw her last night in Parent Trap, spooky... hope she's okay or doesn't suffer.
They call me Threadkiller.
My Catalog Page
Post Reply