The Mote Archive - Movies pt 2

Pincher/Cellar

Europe may be equally self-contained, but it strikes me as much more culturally varied than the US -- quite aside from language differences.

I disagree with Cellar's assertion that there's great variety here. Growing up, my family moved cross-country repeatedly, and I found local adjustments, school quality, character of the populace pretty uniform everywhere we went, including Corn-fed Heartland states like Ohio as well as culturally diverse places like New Mexico. I think the US is remarkably (distressingly?) homegenous.

The only markedly different region was the deep South, but in the past 25 years, even that area has joined the dominant American culture
But here I go engaging in sweeping generalizations...a practice I impliedly criticised earlier in the CalGal/Candide exchanges.

Toes. The homogenization in this country has accelerated since the times you are talking about, of course. TV, the fact that people move around from region to region so much more (for work or in retirement), the fact that people travel to disparate parts of the country so much more. Fast food chains. Walmarts, Kmarts and their counterparts. All the same restaurants (say, ever been to an Olive Garden? Ycchh.).

Someone might even say that if you stand in the middle of a given shopping strip on a highway leading out of almost any city, there is very little to tell you where in hell in the country you are.

ToeNails --

Europe may be equally self-contained, but it strikes me as much more culturally varied than the US -- quite aside from language differences.

Yes, I agree, but that is more a function of its prehistorical and historical development before the States even existed, and they seem to be moving the opposite direction now.

janjon (5069)

Yes, the strip phenomenon is distressing. What really gets to me is visiting a place like Williamsburg, Va. -- a town dedicated to celebrating the past -- and seeing the identical Burger King/Arbey's strip, block after block, only a mile or so away from the colonial village.

You could be in Winslow, Arizona or North Platte, Neb. and not be able to tell you'd left Williamsburg.

Cellar (Message # 5060): We prefer "The Heartland" to "Flyover Country", thank you very much.

One place where homogenization has taken hold is local TV news. Wherever I go in the U.S., the local news anchorpeople sound exactly the same, bland and accent-free. They must be bred in pods somewhere.

Re: #5071 I doubt you would think you were in North Platte. We don't have strip malls or Gaps or Olive Gardens. And I do miss them all. I am from San Diego and moving to North Platte was like going to the moon.

I probably have seen this issue from the other side more than anyone else here, even though I don't like the homogeneity it creates. From the landlord of the shopping center, he would rather do business with a national chain because:
1. A well known brand will bring people into the center.
2. A national chain will generally have deeper pockets, making it less likely that they will fail to pay rent or go bankrupt (often meaning it's easier and cheaper to get loans to build or refinance the center).
3. National chains do more advertizing (even if it's less per store), increasing sales, and therefore what the store can pay as rent.
4. National chains can buy goods and services cheaper (since they're buying in larger quantities), making them able to pay more rent.

As I said, I don't like it, but it's the way it works.

Sharon:

i know what you mean; we moved from Dallas to Caribou Maine. Talk about culture shock!

We'd drive 200 miles one way to eat in a restaurant with table cloths...

Well, every rule or generalization has its exception. I was a bit surprised to hear SharonS. talke about North Platte, Neb. (although I must admit I don't know beans about the place, how large it is etc.) But, anyone who moves to Caribou, Maine just has to know that they ain't in Kansas any more. Um, WHY would someone move there? Are you or your husband a zoologist specializing in moose?

We have a Mcdonald's and a Burger King but they are blocks apart. Dairy queen is at the other end of town. The only place to eat in our embarassingly pathetic mall is a yogurt joint. We have no restaraunts that have table cloths. I have driven 200 miles for a seafood dinner (Red Lobster) (its the closest thing we can get to a seafood dinner) and over 100 miles for Ben & Jerry's ice cream.... I would absolutely kill for chocolate covered gummy bears (that was my favorite munchie when I was in SoCal.)

I guess it goes without saying that I drew North Platte out of a hat...but I must say I'm surprised to learn that it's somehow avoided the plague.

Let me know when you're ready to leave. Maybe I'll be a buyer for your house.

I was shocked that North Platte was used as an example... before I moved here I didn't even know where it was... and frankly didn't care.

Even plagues don't survive here. Its not that we don't have chains... we don't have anything... no great mom & pop places to eat... no cozy little country stores... With have four large grocery stores in this town and three of them are owned by the same people. They think ethnic food is refried beans. I have lived here for 6 years now and just in the last six months have I been able to buy sea salt. Our library doesn't have any books by Freud and only two books on aromatherapy. We have many retirement villages and many many churches, only two bars that aren't country or private (and one of those is only open Thursday - Saturday).

Somebody save me...

janjon:

My husband was in the military and technically, we lived at Loring AFB. We still don't know who he pissed off to draw that assignment...11 months and 27 days. Canada and Nova Scotia were nice, though, and we'd probably never have seen them had we not been desperate to take escapist trips out of Northern Maine

Sory... I was ranting again... This place makes me a little crazy sometimes... my sincerest apologies.

"Somebody save me.."

Poor Sharon!

...And on top of all that, it's probably still coldern' hell there, right?

The secret of small town living is to choose a semi-successful tourist trap. I'm in a minor-league version of Williamsburg, Va. -- a place interesting enough to draw small conventions but too dull to get overrun with turistas.

But we have museums, art dealers, antiques, good restaurants (well, reasonably good) and nice weather.

We also have Wal-Mart, et al.

Pincher -- Message # 5068

I browsed the thread in TT. Yes there were some good posts, most of them by you but on the whole I wasn't impressed.

But this is seriously off-topic.

I am from SoCal... Born and raised in the high desert and lived for many years in San Diego... In North Platee it is miserably cold in the winter and very humid with (eek) tornadoes in the summer... I will never get used to the weather. I am getting used to the shopping (or lack of) but I could sure use a nice museum or two right about now. Our local television stations are poorly operated and don't always stick to the network programming. We are frequently given nice conservative family and religious fare at random. Any newscasters even mildly professional are quickly gone for bigger and better.

Raskolnikov 5057

Baywatch had only a very short run on US networks, and even in
syndication it has never been more than a minor ratings getter. It
is foreign demand for the show which keeps it going.

Australia has a show like that called "Neighbours". It's a smash hit in Britain but no one with an IQ above bath temperature watches it in OZ.

"Baywatch" tried to buy up a beach in Sydney to film the show here but the entire 'village' came out in anger with placards and the deal folded.

Toenails 5059

Australia is self-contained and miles from anywhere and that makes it more curious about the rest of the world. I don't think that's the entire reason.

When I lived in Maine, we had cable and received an Australian soaper about a family od real estate tycoons, similar to Dynasty here in the states. It was a generational show, and very interesting.

I like many Aussie movies, like Picnic at Hanging Rock and one called Pictures. Judy Davis had a good one a few years ago about a mother and daughter who finally got together after years of being apart. And there was one about a couple who owned a wrecking yard? Smash Palace?

Yeah, yeah. Australia, New Zealand, what's the difference? They all speak with those accents.

Not at all Cal, we New Zealander's are refined and speak English as she should be spoke, unlike those uncouth Aussies who are little more than wanna-be Yanks.

Of course I might seem a little more refined if I didn't persist in putting apostrophes where they are not needed.

Haha, of course not, I say refined in a very "refaihned" manner. BTW, you'll be pleased to learn that this year my daughter is doing a paper in American film since 1967 - we'll be having a break from subtitles for a while.

Cal, good list and I think quite a few of those will be on the required viewing list. Bonnie and Clyde is first up when term starts next week. The staff in this paper encourage students to bring friends to any screenings and as my daughter doesn't mind Mum tagging along I should be able to see a lot of old favourites again.

EAST COAST LATE NIGHT MOVIE ALERT:

If you're up, "The Last of Sheila"-- one of my favorite flicks, for some odd reason-- is on CBS.

It's going to be remade this year. So check it out.

Ace--

I like that one a lot too. It's excellent if only in the sense of eminently watchable. Good cast.

Saw American Beauty last weekend and have just checked motemovies for reviews. Funny, my thinking is no more complicated than, "Did I get $6 worth of entertainment out of that?" My answer is yes. However,my comment to Mrs. Uzmakk was, "This movie stands head and shoulders above everything else Hollywood did this year? Doesn't say much for Hollywood."

On a whim, I rented A Bridge Too Far, the story of Operation Market Garden, or Monty's Attempt at a D-Day. I remember it being thoroughly panned when it came out ("A Bridge Too Long") and I know I watched parts of it a few years later when it came out on TV. But I had never watched the whole film at a sitting. My son has been much interested in WWII lately, so I picked it up.

I was pleasantly surprised.

The movie was cast with almost every major male star or even superstar of the 70s--Redford, Connery, O'Neal, Caan, Hackman, Caine, Gould--as well as major international actors--Anthony Hopkins, Hardy Kruger, Maximilian Schell, Edward Fox, Lawrence Olivier, Dirk Bogard, Liv Ullman.

At the time, this must have overburdened the film something awful--much as seeing Penn, Harrelson, Clooney, Travolta, Cusack, Nolte et. al. was just too much in Thin Red Line. But 20 years later, the top-heavy quality isn't there anymore--the ones that are still considered major stars had a lousy 80s to tarnish their aura and a few of them dropped off the map for a long time and never regained their previous standing.

As a result, the glamour has worn off, and you are left with one happy truth--this group of seventies movie stars were good at their craft. No breast-beating, no "This Is My Oscar Moment" speeches, no real egos in sight.

There isn't a really bad performance in the bunch, although I could have done without Hackman as the Polish general, and O'Neal never quite leaves his pretty boy image behind.

The screenplay, by William Goldman, is tight, dry, and note perfect, with nicely tuned humor. The length comes not from extraneous speechifying, but a detailed and precise telling of a complicated tale. The movie is accurate, apparently faithful to the Cornelius Ryan book it was based on, and places the blame with a fair hand. Attenborough never was an innovative or interesting filmmaker, and he's always been dull--but his ability to tell a story is his major strength, and it is used to advantage here.

There aren't too many moments that stand out from the others, but the sequence of the C47s with their gliders taking off is impressive, as is the drop sequence--pre-CGI, this was done with the real thing, and must have cost a fortune.

I very much enjoyed the moment when Anthony Hopkins, as John Frost, is asked by the Germans if he'd like to discuss a surrender. Hopkins, surrounded on all sides by the enemy, out of ammunition, a third of his troops seriously wounded, is unyielding, so his adjutant responds, politely, "Sorry, we really don't have any facilities here to take you all prisoner, so we can't accept your surrender."

But by far the best sequence is Redford's turn as Julian Cook. Forced to cross a river in daylight and take a bridge against significant odds, he is blessed with men who'll do anything for him and one incredible moment of good luck. This entire segment is excellent; cinematography, editing, script, and performance all work in tandem to elevate the movie momentarily from ordinary, stodgy storytelling to damn good war film. Redford is as good as I've ever seen him, and two or three times as good as normal.

If you haven't seen it, get the DVD or widescreen video version when you've got a few hours to kill and want background noise. You might get drawn into it in spite of yourself--and if you don't, then just hang tight for the Redford sequence.

One note about the movie's accuracy:

One character actively warns against the campaign for all the right reasons. He is named "Major Fuller" in the movie, but he was really Brian Urquhart, later knighted for an accomplished UN career.

I couldn't figure out why they'd changed his name, given he is the one person who was well-known outside the WW II reference. I found a review that mentioned the reason: Sean Connery's character was also named Urquhart, and there was a fear that we'd all be terribly confused by two instances of such an unusual name (by American standards).

Sigh.

Okay, it must be that the Sopranos takes 6 weeks to hit its stride, because tonight's episode was fuckin' great.

"When you're married, you'll understand the importance of fresh produce!"

and

"Be a good Catholic for 15 fucking minutes, is that so much to ask?"

I thought last week's episode was great, too, and had a great laugh out loud line, when Junior was telling Tony about his retarded uncle.

"Yeah, I kinda remember my mother yellin' at Pop about his retarded brother. I thought she meant you."

But tonight's episode was excellent too, especially for a celebrity fuckfest. Favreau had a pretty good-sized part, and pulled it off well. Garofalo's walk-on was decent also. Sandra Bernhard, amazingly, just gets uglier every time I see her. Any more fugly, and Sandy will be sporting a tail.

Yes, I liked last week's too. I wonder if I'll watch the early episodes later and see an improvement?

My uncle called durimg the first 21 minutes so I missed most of the guesting roles...I'll have to catch the reruns on Tuesday. But I really loved the last half!

Who thinks Anthony Jr. felt the wire when Pussy hugged him? That whole thing with Pussy just broke my heart...

Fantasia 2000 -- The original ranks among the best animated movies of all time, so any attempt to duplicate it has to meet a very high standard. This doesn't quite do it, although it sometimes comes very close.

The flaws in this are not too great, but they were annoying. The introductions veered strongly away from the music and instead were cameos from famous actors (Steve Martin, Bette Midler, et al.) whose connection was not at all apparent. Perhaps Disney felt we needed the star power to get people into their seats, although I have no idea why.

A more personal objection comes from the orchestra itself. I grew up listening to the late-Ormandy era of the Philadelphia Orchestra, which continued the lush strings from the Stokowski era of the original Fantasia. The Chicago Symphony seemed too brassy for my taste.

The 8 pieces recycle the original Mickey Mouse as Sorceror's Apprentice from the original, while the others are all new. The greatest successes were the Shostokovich Piano Concerto No. 2 with a Little Tin Soldier-ballerina romance and Stravinsky's Firebird.

Totally enjoyable, but just not as good as the first. 3 1/2 planets (out of 4)

'Watched the first half of the Beachboys made-for-TV movie.

I liked the music then, and I still like it now, but I can't get rid of this recurring image in my mind's eye--a roomful of hip Black guys listening to "Good Vibrations" and laughing their asses off!

Toe:

That was always my reaction to their music...I grew up during early rock'n'roll and used to choak when Pat Boone did covers of Little Richard. They couldn't have been serious?

"Australia is self-contained and miles from anywhere and that makes it more curious about the rest of the world. I don't think that's the entire reason."

I'll also say that population, military and economic power, and national culture (The US was deliberately isolationist for most of its first 165 years)also enter into it.

As well as the size of the entertainment industry. There are only so many times you can watch "Crocodile Dundee" and "Young Einstein" before you have to rely on foreign films for entertainment.

But I actually *like* Priscilla, (as well as Strictly Ballroom, the Mad Max films, Dead Calm, and a few others). Mentioning a good movie would have gotten in the way of my attempt to be an entertainment patriot.

saw three videos recently and I have some brief comments.

Stir of Echoes

This is The Sixth Sense light, it is easily figured out, but it makes up for it in creepiness, and Kathryn Erbie's sex scene. You can rent this and not be angry with my tepid recommendation.

Lake Placid

I laughed, but that's because the movie dispenses with any attempt at realism (it is, after all, about hunting a 30 foot crocodile in Maine) and I am sure Ace penned parts of it (it has former Golden Girl Betty White calling a sheriff "fuck meat").

The Winslow Boy

David Mamet's period piece about an Edwardian (?) scandal is smart and poignant. A proper and intellectual English family short on emotion strives to clear the name of one of their own from what they perceive as a slander to their name (the youngest son is accused of theft - 5 shillings - and expelled from navy school). The father (Nigel Hawthorne of "The Madness of King George") is an eccentric banker who sacrifices the position (financial and otherwise) of his family to clear his son. His daughter (Rebecca Pidgeon) is a suffragette engaged to a military man - as the scandal envelops the family, her social life is shattered.

The family engages the services of Sir Robert Morton (Jeremy Northam), a leading barrister and politician who opposes women's suffrage, but finds himself inexorably drawn to the case and Pigeon.

This is understated and rhythmic dialogue, and Mamet treats each character, major and minor, with dignity. There are no fops or fools. Everyone is multi-faceted and thus, interesting. Mamet's touch and restraint are inerrant.

The film evokes a change to my nominations, though minor:

My Nominations, thus far

Best Picture
Being John Malkovich
The Limey
The Sixth Sense
Election
The Talented Mr. Ripley

Best Actor
Tobey Maguire, The Cider House Rules
Terence Stamp, The Limey
Kevin Spacey, American Beauty
Matthew Broderick, Election
John Malkovich, Being John Malkovich

Best Supporting Actor
Jude Law, The Talented Mr. Ripley
William H. Macy, Happy, Texas
Delroy Lindo, The Cider House Rules
Hayley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense
Jeremy Northam, The Winslow Boy

Best Actress
Heather Donahue, The Blair Witch Project
Julia Roberts, Notting Hill
Ally Walker, Happy, Texas
Renee Russo, The Thomas Crown Affair
Rebecca Pidgeon, The Winslow Boy

Best Supporting Actress
Catherine Keener, Being John Malkovich
Reese Witherspoon, Election
Julianne Moore, An Ideal Husband
Glenn Close, Cookie's Fortune
Cameron Diaz, Being John Malkovich

I saw Cider House Rules this weekend. Strong story telling although I cannot see why Michael Caine got the nomination for best supporting actor. Very New England in location and in understated acting. He was great in his part, but does Tobey McGuire have any other speeds in his acting abilities than catatonic nice boy?

GJ,

No. None. Although I hear he's good in Wonder Boys.

I like Maguire. But he's very passive.

glenda

Cider House was the first time I'd seen Maguire. Suffice to say that after viewing Pleasantville, he benefitted from a first viewing.

PM,
Ice Storm was excellent. It deserved far better recognition than it received.

I think he was equally good in both Cider House and Pleasantville. Nothing terrible about him, but that squeaky voice doesn't allow for a lot of range.

I saw Cider House--the big surprise to me was the rather repugnant racism in it. But then, I didn't see it as a major pro-choice movie, either.

Viewed "Cider House" over the weekend...not a good as I hoped, better probably than I thought. The scenes from New England, cold and true, touched me in a way the characters didn't. A kind physician and orphans are sureshots for tearjerk appeal, but I wonder if the stereotypes didn't cut off significant character development. Tobi McGwire gumped his person with desired affect, and cute faces of children danced like sugar plums across the screen. The plot was interesting, with the notion that anything could happen anytime. The contemporary and seemingly obligatory sexual child molester was seen as a backdrop for the historical need for abortion, African-Americans were again established as happy fruit pickers, and drug-addiction to ether is now penciled in for the next Oprah. A good watch, all-in-all, with no fear of teenage noise and its usual complement of popcorn crunching and sexual laughter.

I caught Cider House Rules as well. McGuire played the same non-entity he played in Pleasantville. I don't think he had a whole lot to work with, since his character was expressly described as always trying to stay calm, but I can't remotely comprehend Niner's support for him as best actor.

I didn't think it was a *bad* film. The orphanage scenes worked okay (although I have never seen any orphanage scenes which *didn't* succeed at tugging the ole heartstrings), and I find that I really like Paul Rudd as an actor, but the film generally struck me as wavering between confusion and obviousness. That scene where Homer burns the titular rules is one of the most ridiculous piece of symbolism I have seen. Most movies at least *try* to make the symbolism fit within the narrative.

I saw! If you make it to the last round, pick Movies, call me as your Lifeline, and have a quote-worthy witticism ready.

SharonSchroeder, I used to spend summers working in the Thedford-Valentine area and know North Platte, circa 1955 well. We used to go over every year for the 4th of July rodeo. Also, a divorced uncle of mine used to frequent a bordello in North Platte. That was fine until he got tired of the drive or wanted to see the lady more often and brought her back to Thedford and installed her in a unused house on my Grandfather's place. That worked out okay for a couple of weeks until she and my uncle became the hottest topic of conversation in Thedford and word leaked out to my grandfather in Brownlee. That ended my uncle's cozy setup pdq! I have fond memories of that part of Nebraska (summers only)but can see it would be a downer for someone moving from San Diego. One other item I recall. Before he died another uncle spent some time in a nursing home in North Platte. Next door to the nursing home was a funeral home owned by the same people as the nursing home. Talking about vertical integration! Nebraskans are practical folk and nobody seemed to give the arrangement a second thought.

glendajean et al.,
does Tobey McGuire have any other speeds in his acting abilities than catatonic nice boy?

Did you see him in Ride With the Devil? He was rough and ready in that one, hardly uncorrupted youth.

What has happened to Ellen Barkin? I saw this weirdo S&M/bondage type fiasco with Peta Wilson and Ellen Barkin last night... Mercy and mercy! was that ever a dog. Julian Sand as a transvestite S&M devotee who is also a therapist. But the worst part was Barkins face which has cratered badly. Has she been ill or diagnosed with something? Lord....y.

She played tacky trailor park trash in a movie with that woman from Veronica's Closet about a beauty pagent in Minnesota. Looked the same as you described, Judith. At first, I didn't realize it was her.

Barkin apparently is going to marry Ronald Perlman. Even with a antenuptual agreement, she's at least in clover.

Sad to hear that that great face is going. She was the real thing, imho.

Her body still looked great but her face seems to be getting very round and flattened, with this caved in look. I hardly recognized her, either, GJ...this movie was made in 99. Maybe her hair was contributing to this awful look. It was flat and long and parted in the middle. But close-ups did her no favors AT ALL...

I'm glad she's hooked a rich one...maybe she's happy with him.

Well I saw "The Next Best Thing." Could I have the thing after that? Like "Isn't She Great?" It's another Bad-Good-Idea. Rupert gets Madonna pregnant in a just-one-of-those-things moment. She decides to keep the child and he embraces fatherhood with a passion that would put Dan Savage to shame. Rupert Everett as a Daddy -- what a dream come true. And for the first half-hour "Next" looks like it's going to be what a Rock Hudson Doris Day comedy might have been like if Rock had been out. Then Madonna meets Julia Roberts' boytoy Benjamin Bratt (moderatelyhumpy, not Cellar's type but wouldn't throw him out of bed), quabbles with Ruert and decides to raise the kid with her new love. Soon we're in court and the film turns into "Kramer vs. Madonna." Gack! The minutes fly by like hours as Rupert trundles around with a permanent hang-dog expression. Gone is the fizz of the first half -- which featured cameos by Gavin Lambert, George Axelrod, and a swimming scene with Mo (Rupert's black labrador retreiver.) If thee's anything the moviegoing public doesn't need it's the gay version of "Madame X." Especially from the director of "Darling," "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "The Day of the Locust," and "An Englishman Abroad."

I rented "The Bride Wore Black" and comment on it mostly for Niner, who said he recently read Truffaut's book on Hitchcock (which I also happened to have reread a couple of months ago). The film is Truffaut's homage to Hitch and stars Jeanne Moreau as a widowed bride tracking down the five men she considers responsible for her groom's death.

Mostly, I'd say that although the movie seems on the surface anti-male, it's really anti-sex. Moreau is a virgin and in one sequence she models Diana, the huntress, who of course killed Actaeon for seeing her nude. Moreau's victims are all skirt chasers whose daily lives are insipid and at least in one case criminal. Her less physical, more romanticized love, however, appears no better as it leads to madness and death.

One criticism I have is that Moreau just isn't physically attractive enough for the role, although Truffaut may have wanted to make men seem even more pathetic by how easily even a "passable" woman leads them astray. Considering her frigid exterior, general rudeness, and age, I found it difficult to believe she could more or less seduce male after male so easily--especially as with one exception we're supposed to believe these men were highly successful with the ladies.

The movie is worth a watch for its stylistic value and a fair amount of suspense, but it drags in parts. And I did burst out laughing at a couple of unintentionally humorous places: i.e., the plot relies on contrivances such as one might find in the EC comic books of the 1950s.

Her attractiveness is of a different order. Catherine Deneuve would have been perfect in that part.

Celler, too bad about the Everett-Madonna movie. Another one that I was looking forward to see. Thanks for the warning.

So, I saw this ad today for something with Julia Roberts and it looks like she is playing some sort of Law Office Pretty Woman...anyone know anything about this movie? Not that I'm going to SEE it, just wondered if there was any talk about it. Sorry, I cannot recall the title; it's her characters name, though.

Judith,

The Julia Roberts movie might be fun--it's hard to tell. Nice to see Finney working.

Well, there is indeed some script on the right hand side and I can make out "Johnny".

He must have seen Speed and gotten hold of Keanu Reeve's personal trainer.

Given that the still is from Platoon, I'd say that any copying was done by Keanu.

He still looks like a wuss next to the new guy on NYPDBlue....but then, who wouldn't?

Was Platoon before Gilbert Grape? If so, I would accuse Depp of being twins. One pumped up, one not.

That was a good episode last night. I was really moved when the bigwig headed for a breakdown pointed out that here it was, the first time any black man had paid attention to this kid--and it was to elicit a confession.

It reminded me of that prosecutor, speaking about the kid in Michigan. "We're going to put our arms around this little boy".

Yeah? Suppose he'd walked up to the cops a week ago and said, "My dad's in jail, my mom has moved out, my uncle keeps guns and drugs in the house, I'm scared, and I want help."

No one would have given a damn. He shoots someone, then we care.

Platoon was '86, Gilbert was '93.

and that guy on NYPD Blue couldn't possibly be any more dishy.

And Cellar, that is such a drag about "Next Best Thing". But it always annoys me that women can decide to just yank a kid away from his dad just because she's got a new man in her life.

Yeah, Cal, I kinda caught a whiff of that last week. Unfortunately, I didn't see last night's show, as I was comatose by 10 pm.

"So, I saw this ad today for something with Julia Roberts and it looks like she is playing some sort of Law Office Pretty Woman...anyone know anything about this movie?"

The film is called "Erin Brokovich". On the bright side, it is directed by Steven Soderbergh, who has been on a hot streak lately, even providing the then-contemptable George Clooney with one of the best reviewed films of that year in Out of Sight. I won't be lining up to see the film, but I also am not putting it on my "no fucking way" list. I'll wait for reviews and word of mouth.

No, but that's very funny, since when I clicked on the movie link that, too, was the movie I was expecting to see. I wonder what movie we're thinking of?

I'll quote Maltin, since it's brief:

Imaginative fable of Britain taken over by the Nazis during WW2, made in semidocumentary style by two ingenious young filmmakers. Brits keep a stiff upper lip during fascist persecution; leading lady Murray is the odd woman out, as a nurse thought to be collaborating with the enemy.

It was directed by Kevin Brownlow, who I know of more as a film historian than a director. It was a true indy, made back in 1961--he shot it over 8 years, on weekends, for about 20,000. I'd never heard of it before today.

CalGal:

I would say "great minds" but mine is distinctly sub-par these days as far as recalling movies. I, too, wonder which movie we could've been mulling over.....

I just got a copy of "It Happened Here" on DVD. Brownlow started shooting the film when he was just a teenager. It took years to complete. Quite interesting, as is his other film "Winstanley."

That's it. I'd never heard of it before, but I queued it up in Netflix.

Those of you who don't have DVD, get it. Those of you who do have DVD, I am checking out the Marquee program at Netflix--assuming they deliver in a timely manner, I have to tell you that it is fantastic. (But whatever you do, don't select too many movies at once before checking out.)

And thanks to Rask for recommending it.

Last night I watched a Spanish film we had taped: Secrets of the Heart. Set in the 60s in Navarre, it was one of thos films, that the Spanish seem to excel at, of a world seen through the eyes of children. Why is it that nowadays all children can act?

This film was exquisite.

"...it was one of thos films, that the Spanish seem to excel at, of a world seen through the eyes of children."

Definitely check out Carlos Suara's "Cria!".

T. Tallis

I've seen it. This was almost as good. Unfortunately I'd have to put the tape on to check the Spanish name and the director which I will do as soon as possible. This time it was about little boys.

Candide:

I think all children excell at acting all the time. You can never tell what's going on in the mind of a child. I know that I always felt like I was acting a part as the "good child" when in my little cold heart, I felt quite evil. I think many kids are like this...thespians at life.

Judith

I agree with that. We were all trying to please I think. The origin of lies. But you study the acting of children in earlier films and compare them with modern kids. The modern kids aren't even acting. They're "being".

I was channel-hopping and bumped into The Country Girl, with Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly. I have never forgiven Grace for winning the Oscar that year over Judy Garland in A Star is Born--she apparently received it for Wardrobe Trauma Above and Beyond the Call of Duty (poor girl's clothes came from Sears!)--and I've never really much cared for the story.

But Bing is fantastic--beaten, old, insecure. His opening number is superb--he was able to let it rip more than he was allowed to in his musicals. If you come across it, stay long enough to see him sing.

Although I swear, the man's hips had to have been physically attached to his shoulders.

I have the Spanish name of the film I mentioned earlier.
Secretos del corazón written and directed by Mantxo Armendáriz.

CalGal
Crosby
Although I swear, the man's hips had to have been physically attached to his shoulders. hahaha

Agnes Brown: Anjelica Huston is a widow with 6 children in a small Irish town. Sentimental and episodic; reviewers are shrugging at it, but seems harmless enough.

What Planet Are You From?--Alien (Larry Shandling) gets fitted with a penis, comes to earth to impregnate women and take over the world. Also stars Annette Bening, Greg Kinnear, and Ben Kingsley. Reviews are mixed; I'm interested to see what people here think of it.

5194. JudithAtHome - 3/3/2000 11:55:47 AM

Our newspaper reviewers panned the Madonna movie big time...it got a 3/4 page with headline "The Next Worst Thing" and only one star out of 5.

Local TV reviews of "Planet" were extremely positive.

5195. JudithAtHome - 3/3/2000 11:56:35 AM

By the way, did you know the photo from "My Dog..." didn't load?

5196. wonkers2 - 3/3/2000 9:40:43 PM

Just got home from Sweet and Lowdown. What a vehicle for Sean Penn! He's my man for best actor. And what a triumph of creative imagination for Woody Allen. He deserved a nomination for best screenplay, IMO. Aside from Sean Penn's brilliant acting, the score featuring Howard Alden's jazz guitar was a treat. Also, Smanatha Morton as Penn's mute doormat girlfriend was great but not quite up to an Oscar for best supporting actress. She reminded me of Michael J. Pollard's character in Bonnie and Clyde or, as one of the critics observed, of Giuletta Massina in La Strada, but not quite as memorable.

5197. Candide - 3/4/2000 1:52:00 AM

wonkers2

At last, someone has praised Woody Allen.

5198. CalGal - 3/4/2000 1:55:25 AM

Your notion of time or definition of praise is severely out of kilter.

5199. Candide - 3/4/2000 1:57:09 AM

Why? How? ??

5200. Candide - 3/4/2000 1:58:29 AM

CalGal

It's just that it's widely believed that Allen is more admired outside the USA and I have been watching for a mention. Not, I grant you, with hawk-like attention.

5201. CalGal - 3/4/2000 1:59:26 AM

Because Woody Allen regularly receives praise, yet you seem to think he must wait a long time for a few crumbs.

5202. CalGal - 3/4/2000 2:07:01 AM

It's just that it's widely believed that Allen is more admired outside the USA

Well, it's widely believed that Elvis is dead, too, but only among the severely inbred population centers.

Allen has received 20 Oscar nominations (6 in this decade) and won 3. While not everyone likes him, and he's never been a huge popular success, he is certainly considered one of the pre-eminent American directors and writers. He lost a few points for hitting on his girlfriend's teenage daughter, but frankly, he's a bigger talent than Mia so he was forgiven.

5203. Candide - 3/4/2000 2:12:17 AM

CalGal

Fits my picture. I had read that his films were poorly attended in the US. I knew his recent sins had done him no good.

Personally I found "Deconstructing Harry" to be uproariously funny. Our local bad girl, Judy Davis, was well cast too.

5204. wonkers2 - 3/4/2000 7:33:22 AM

C & C, In my opinion, Woody approaches the level of Chaplin--actor, director, writer. I suppose one criticism is that for a long time he dwelled on the neurotic New Yorker theme which was very funny and insightful but got too predictable. But he has broken out of that rut several times as in Sweet and Lowdown which is a gem.

5205. CalGal - 3/4/2000 1:19:07 PM

I just want to encourage everyone with a DVD to check out Netflix--see the details in the butterscotch bar. I've started and man, I'm sold. If it's something that a disorganized soul like this one can manage, then anyone can do it.

I signed up for the Marquee program, which is $20/month for unlimited movies, unlimited time. But if you want to use it on an ad hoc basis, it still works out to $10 for 2 movies for 7 days. That's a couple bucks more than Blockbuster charges for 5 days, I believe. But late fees are only 99 cents a week per movie (which is a hell of a lot cheaper than BB).

Besides, if you don't think the incredible selection and convenience is worth an extra couple bucks, I'll be surprised. I made my first order on Wednesday; the movies were in Friday's mail--all set for the weekend.

I decided to rent at least one movie each week that is outside my normal interest range--the two major categories I'm focusing on are foreign films and silent films. I have a queue of 76 movies already--still, I'm well behind Raskolnikov's 200.

And thanks again to Rask for pushing this--I wouldn't have heard of it without him, and I've been getting fed up with the selection at video stores (it's not like things are much better at the independents).

BTW--If you don't have a DVD, treat yourself. You'll never regret it.

5206. PsychProf - 3/4/2000 1:22:53 PM

Cal...why not link your new movies to the topics of interest bar on the home page.

5207. CalGal - 3/4/2000 1:24:50 PM

Great minds, Prof. But here's my concern. I want to make sure that I remember to do this every week. If I remember next week and get it done on time, then I'll add it both to the butterscotch bar and the front page.

5208. CalGal - 3/4/2000 1:26:14 PM

God.

It occurs to me I'm SUCH a commitment-phobe. In other words, the reason I didn't want to put it on the front page yet is because I'm worried I'll forget.

Wuss. Wimp. PIKER.

I'll do it.

(wanders away, snivelling.)

5209. Candide - 3/4/2000 4:27:45 PM

CalGal

I look forward to hearing your take on the foreign films. Have you seen the 1963 French film based on an old silent movie serial Judex?
It's a great exercise in style.

Another one I'd enjoy hearing from you about is Lina Wertmuller's Mimi Mettalurgico1972. It contains the only rape scene where one is sorry for the rapist.

And The Nasty Girl directed by Michael Verhoeven.1990

5217. Candide - 3/4/2000 4:35:21 PM

i>Metallurgico sorry. It's before coffee.

5218. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 4:40:02 PM

Way before, I'd guess. :-)

5219. CalGal - 3/4/2000 4:41:12 PM

Zounds. If you ladies don't object, I'll clean this up?

5220. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 4:45:05 PM

CalGal:

I read your suggestion about DVD players and the site Netflix over in...where ever that was. My husband and I have decided to look at DVD players this weekend.

5221. Candide - 3/4/2000 4:58:21 PM

CalGal

Thanks.

5222. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:02:50 PM

Candide,

Frankly, I'm not sanguine about my take on foreign films--and I'm focusing first on the Frrrrrrrench. But thanks for reminding me of Lina--I will add her to the list.

I view any problems of foreign films as being one of my own failed sensibilities--not the fault of the film. It's not that I mind subtitles, either. Usually, it's the story. I'm sitting there going, what--are you folks just dumber than stumps? What's the problem, here?

And I have the problem most often with French and Italian films. But I'm viewing it like vegetables. It will be good for me to experiment.

Incidentally, I do like many French films. I am looking forward to seeing Diabolique again, and I very much enjoyed La Grande Illusion when I saw it at the Castro earlier this year.

I've got the following French films queued up:

Diabolique
Beauty and the Beast
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Not very daring of me, but I figured it's a start.

I am much more excited about the silent films I'm going to see. I saw City Lights last night--I'm not even sure if I've ever seen the whole thing before. Amazing film. I highly recommend that you run out and get a good print of it. But be warned--video prints of silent films are often of horrible quality.

5223. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:03:40 PM

Judith,

A convert! I'm so pleased. I'm assuming you have a reasonably new TV? If it's older than 5 years or so, then consider springing for that, too.

(Sony and JVC pay me the big bucks.)

5224. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:04:33 PM

Oh, and Candide, I just queued up Seven Beauties, based on your mention of Wertmuller. Thanks again.

5225. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 5:08:32 PM

CAlGal:

No, both our TVs are new.

Candide:

I like several Lina Wertmueller movies, my fave being The Seven Beauties and I actually like Here We Are At the End of the World In Our Usual Bed In a Night Full of Rain or maybe I just like saying the whole title too much!

5226. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 5:09:30 PM

Oh, and Swept Away .

5227. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:14:49 PM

Oh, good. Then you'll love it. It's loads of fun to go through the special features. I loved the commentary on Alien and Bowfinger (both by directors). They remain my favorite so far.

I loved it when Ridley Scott goes, "Wow! That really did come out nice--I'd forgotten!" Frank Oz's comments remind me of how incredibly important it is to remember timing and pace in comedy. He describes several ruthless edits.

5228. SnowOwl - 3/4/2000 5:18:44 PM

last year we saw My Name is Joe complete with subtitles. It is considered a foreign language film in the States. Since I am married to a Glaswegian I have some sympathy with that point of view.

Actually, it's rather silly to ask someone what they think of "foreign films". There are good and bad movies filmed everywhere and unless you want to talk about particular films the question is fairly meaningless.

5229. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:30:48 PM

That actually brings up an interesting cultural issue, Snow. I translated Candide's use of "foreign film" in the American sense, which is also how I used it. Given that this is not a US forum, I should have been more accurate.

When you hear an American say "foreign film", they usually mean a subtitled European movie. English language films are not included--neither are Japanese films, which are referred to as either chop-socky, Godzilla, or samurai (Jackie Chan, sci-fi, or Kurasawa).

So when I said that I was planning on focusing on "foreign films", I was using the term in a way that most Americans would have subconsciously translated as "European films". I will focus on European films--starting with the French.

Just another case of CalGal demonstrating the Ugly American.

5230. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 5:32:13 PM

Snow Owl:

Yes, and you'd be surprised how many people think "foriegn" in front the word film automatically means excellence, no matter if it's a boring lump of incomprehensible nonsense.

But then, there's the opposite experience, too...one of my friends said she would go to the movies with me only if she didn't have to "read" them.

5231. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 5:35:12 PM

CalGal:

The horror! I would never refer to a Kurosawa film as "chop Socky" or "suey" either one....I live with someone who speaks fluent Japanese and thinks in terms of Kurosawa being a god.:-)

5232. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:37:31 PM

When I think of "foreign films", the first thing that comes to mind is The Bicycle Thief. Yes, yes, I'm sure it's a beautiful movie, and it only proves my sensibilities are shot to shit and back, but I'm like, people, it's a damn bicycle! (Proof that I'm just as plebe as they get.)

The second thing that comes to mind is any movie where people drink coffee out of little cups and smoke incessantly, looking unhappy and wearing a great deal of black. Of course, that could be any number of Frrrrench films.

Third thing to mind is Liv Ullman. She also looks unhappy but she doesn't seem to wear black.

In short, "foreign films" and "films that aren't made in America" are two entirely different things in the CalGal Lexicon.

5233. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:39:58 PM

Judith,

No, no! Kurosawa is samurai! Jackie Chan is chop socky. Check your dictionary. Anyway, I like Japanese movies.

For example, when I made the decision that I would focus on "foreign films", I already had Yojimbo, Ran, and The Seven Samurai in my queue. Those aren't "foreign films", they're movies!

5234. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 5:40:08 PM

AAAArrrggghhhhh.....we'll get you yet, my pretty. And your little dog, too! Oh wait....you don't have a dog....

5235. SnowOwl - 3/4/2000 5:41:52 PM

Haha Cal,

I'm glad you explained that, although I think your categorisation is one shared by quite a number of people.

Judith,

The thing I find really irritating about the types who believe that anything in another language must be excellent is that they usually also hold the converse to be true - that anything made in America and popular must be bad.

5236. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:45:59 PM

Snow--you wouldn't have any one, um, particular in mind, would you?

5237. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 5:46:36 PM

Snow Owl:

Yes, but I suppose it's lucky we don't all agree on what is "best"...I like having lots of choices. Although I wouldn't lose sleep if Jerry Bruckheimer never backed another movie.

5238. SnowOwl - 3/4/2000 5:47:48 PM

Now would I think that way, Cal? I'm much too open and honest to ever make sly suggestions disguised as comment.

5239. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:49:41 PM

That's true. I ought not to have misjudged you so egregiously.

Judith,

You'd leave the world without Con Air?

5240. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 5:50:58 PM

CalGal:

Oh yes indeedy....and anything else he and that addled Simpson ever did.

5241. SnowOwl - 3/4/2000 5:52:32 PM

Oh God. One of my kids liked Con Air. But he only liked it because he likes films that are really bad.

5242. CalGal - 3/4/2000 5:54:41 PM

Snow,

He must be the one who likes "foreign films".

5243. SnowOwl - 3/4/2000 5:59:05 PM

Haha, Cal, as long as they involve lots of flying fists of fury. It's the youngest daughter that's particularly keen on "foreign films", although I must be fair and admit she does have fairly eclectic tastes.

5244. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 6:06:03 PM

Okay, I'm gone for the day...got busted for agreeing with people by the intrepid Rosetta.

Enjoy the weekend....

5245. Candide - 3/4/2000 6:46:56 PM

CalGal and Judith

A terrible confession. I haven't seen Seven Beauties. Not that I wouldn't love to.

5246. Candide - 3/4/2000 6:55:09 PM

Calgal and Snowowl
When I said "foreign films" I was quoting CalGal and my US movie guide books. De Sica's "Bicycle Thief" is beautiful and I hope I don't sound too uppity if I say it really helps to at least have a feel for the Italian language, even if you don't speak it.

Oh yes. Do watch the japanese film Tampopo if you haven't done so already.

I don't automatically expect non US films to be superior. But they often come from a freer creative process that makes them less predictable.

5247. Candide - 3/4/2000 6:56:50 PM

CalGal 5232

You haven't suffered until you've sat behind two lesbians sharing one orange.

Not that there's anything wrong with it.

5248. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 6:57:37 PM

CalGal:

Ever see Betty Blue ? That's a jarring French film...

5249. Candide - 3/4/2000 6:59:57 PM

CalGal

You're going to watch Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. Confession. I CAN'T STAND Jean Marais.

5250. Candide - 3/4/2000 7:03:31 PM

Snowowl

You are sometimes an old cat. So there. I happen to love lots of American films.

5251. CalGal - 3/4/2000 7:06:09 PM

You haven't suffered until you've sat behind two lesbians sharing one orange.

Actually, I used to go to Holly Near concerts fairly often. I know suffering, Candide.

5252. Candide - 3/4/2000 7:08:02 PM

I have been spared that one.

5253. CalGal - 3/4/2000 7:09:07 PM

Well, that's not fair because I quite like Holly Near's voice. You would luuuuuuuv her, I promise. Her politics are right in line with your own.

5254. CalGal - 3/4/2000 7:09:55 PM

I only meant, though, that Holly Near concerts give one quite a bit of experience in sitting behind lesbians. I never was lucky enough to get the front row.

5255. Candide - 3/4/2000 7:16:34 PM

CalGal
Not if she attracts orange-sharers they're not my views. I've grown out of politics. They're for kids. I once sat through some of a conflict-resolution meeting where I was the only person not dressed in overalls. I decided that I preferred conflict. You see. Nobody understands me. I took the option of leaving the room. That may have been Seguine's option 3. (see internat. thread - only don't bother.)

5256. Candide - 3/4/2000 7:16:43 PM

CalGal
Not if she attracts orange-sharers they're not. I've grown out of politics. They're for kids. I once sat through some of a conflict-resolution meeting where I was the only person not dressed in overalls. I decided that I preferred conflict. You see. Nobody understands me. I took the option of leaving the room. That may have been Seguine's option 3. (see internat. thread - only don't bother.)

5257. Candide - 3/4/2000 7:18:38 PM

Sorry CalGal. Grenlins rule today.

5258. Candide - 3/4/2000 7:21:21 PM

and gremlins.

5259. Candide - 3/4/2000 7:33:38 PM

CalGal

You must know Jacques Tati's films. Monsieur Hulot's Holiday. Mon Oncle.

As a young Californian you will have to adjust to the idea of shabby romanticism being preferable to shiny modernism. But to a woman of your capacities.....

5260. CalGal - 3/4/2000 7:40:03 PM

Candide,

Alas. That is precisely what I object to. But here I am, renting Frrrrrench films.

I've been waiting for the system to slow up here at work, and browsing the foreign film category at Netflix. This is now my French films list:

Diabolique
Beauty and the Beast
Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Black Orpheus
Belle Epoque
Cleo from 5 to 7
Entre Nous
Passion of Joan of Arc
Grande Illusion (to see again)
La Femme Nikita (yeah, so shoot me)

5261. CalGal - 3/4/2000 7:40:36 PM

Ha! To SPEED up. It has been slow all day. (I'm speaking of a work system, not the Mote)

5262. Candide - 3/4/2000 7:43:31 PM

CalGal

I won't say anything about your films (apart from Jean Marais - the atmospherics are wonderful anyway) because I don't want to spoil them.

5263. Candide - 3/4/2000 7:45:09 PM

I'll just say that I saw Black Orpheus when I was a student and we all did the samba all the way home.

5264. TabouliJones - 3/4/2000 7:48:16 PM

The Passion of Joan of Arc is an absolute must see. it is an astounding, lyrical, silent movie with an astounding, lyrical,by Maria Falconetti. Pauline Kael and many others cite Falconetti's performance as one of the most compelling of all time.

5265. TabouliJones - 3/4/2000 7:49:06 PM

Damn: That's: astounding, lyrical, performance by . . .

5266. CalGal - 3/4/2000 7:52:06 PM

TJ,

As I mentioned, the other category I'm focusing on is silent films, so Joan of Arc qualifies for both.

There is a thread devoted to silent films over at TT, and they were raving about it as well--which caused me to remember Ebert's accolades in his Great Movies section. I couldn't find it in Netflix at first, but happily, it's there. I find it rather alarming, actually. It can't be that good.

5267. TabouliJones - 3/4/2000 7:58:36 PM

Calgal,

It really is quite astounding. The movie is largely a series of extreme close-ups on Falconetti's big, languid eyes as she conveys Joan of Arc's emotional convictions and conflicts as she is being tried as a witch. It truly is one of the best movies I have ever seen; and you don't need to have an affinity for silent movies to become immersed in it.

I see that City Lights is on your list. I have not yet seen it, but I keep hearing excellent things about it. I think Woody Allen lists it as a masterpiece. I have seen other Chaplin movies, however. The one with Jackie Koogan -- The Kid, I believe -- and Modern Times stand out in my memory.

5268. CalGal - 3/4/2000 8:05:34 PM

TJ,

I watched City Lights last night, in fact--it was my inaugural Netflix movie. I can't really remember if I've seen it before, or just the highlights.

It is wonderful. It's not only Allen who mentions it as a masterpiece; I think many critics consider it Chaplin's finest and one of the best movies ever made.

5269. CalGal - 3/4/2000 8:07:32 PM

Am I the only person who feels that way about Chaplin comedies, btw? I have seen the clips of the funniest moments any number of times, and then sometimes I'll watch specials on Chaplin, or run across one of his movies on PBS. So I'm not always sure if I've actually seen the movie, or just seen so many clips it feels like it. Same with Keaton and Harold Lloyd.

I do know I've seen The Gold Rush--I watched it in my sophomore drama class. I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

5270. TabouliJones - 3/4/2000 8:12:29 PM

When I first made a deliberate attempt to see full length Chaplin movies I was surprised at how well they held together as movies. I had always figured that Chaplin could be reduced to a bunch of funny vaudevillian gags; and that once you had seen one or two of them, you had basically seen the entirey of his oeuvre. Man was I wrong.

5271. Cellar Door - 3/4/2000 8:31:07 PM

By that point he had refined vaudeville into something else. "City Lights" is sublime. Especially the ending -- an astonishingly poetic rendering of "Amazing Grace." And much else.

5272. Candide - 3/4/2000 8:32:30 PM

Many years ago children, I lived in a house on a cliff by the sea in New Zealand and didn't have TV. We hired all of Chaplin's films and a screen and projector and watched them again and again. We also saw some on the big screen. Then in London we saw them again on better screens. I think I have seen all of Chaplins films and most more than once. I'd unreservedly say that he was a great artist. You must have seen "The Immigrant."? Do it.

A couple of years ago I had a strange encounter in a bookshop in my Sydney suburb. A woman was buying a book and somehow we got chatting and she actually turned out to have been Chaplin's secretary for some years. She said she worshipped him but couldn't stand Oona. She also spent about twenty minutes pouring out disillusion and venom about Mitterand. Qhite an encounter.

5273. Candide - 3/4/2000 8:33:33 PM

Quaite!

5274. CalGal - 3/4/2000 8:33:51 PM

Ain't that the truth.

I wonder if it is even possible to combine genres the way Chaplin did. City Lights finds a very tight balance between physical slapstick and sentimentality that just isn't really possible today. These days, if the down and out bum wants to help the blind girl, if the tramp wants to keep the kid, we get impatient--manipulative, derivative, cheap and easy. It's been done before.

But of course, it's been done before because Chaplin did it so well the first time--back when it hadn't been done before--that his approach was copied for decades.

5275. TabouliJones - 3/4/2000 8:34:27 PM

Oona, Oprah. Oprah, Oona.

5276. JudithAtHome - 3/4/2000 8:34:55 PM

Cal:

See if you can get Children of Paradise ; it's a classic made during the occupation of Paris. With Arletty....very moving.

5277. Cellar Door - 3/4/2000 8:36:44 PM

Cellar Door's French films :

Playtime

Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train

Contempt

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Les Amant du Pont-Neuf

Zero de Conduite

Duelle

Cleo de 5 a 7

Le Testament D'Orphee

India Song

5278. TabouliJones - 3/4/2000 8:36:50 PM

And if you are going to watch silent movies, you have to see Un Chien Andalou -- the Luis Bunuel/Salvador Dali classic, famous for the razor blade to the eye sequence.

5279. Candide - 3/4/2000 8:38:06 PM

Tabouli Jones

Mrs Chaplin number 4. Daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill and mother of Geraldine Chaplin who is a dead ringer of her Mum.

5280. CalGal - 3/4/2000 8:38:19 PM

I looked for it, Judith, but it doesn't seem to be out on DVD yet.

5281. TabouliJones - 3/4/2000 8:39:34 PM

Candide,

I knew who you were talking about. I just couldn't resist being a dumb-ass for a moment.

5282. CalGal - 3/4/2000 8:39:40 PM

I've got two of Cellar's films on my list!! Jeez, I wonder why?

5283. Candide - 3/4/2000 8:40:03 PM

AND have you seen Bunuel's "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie"?

5284. Candide - 3/4/2000 8:41:58 PM

Put Tampopo

5285. Candide -3/4/2000 8:43:41 PM

What's wrong with my machine? I went on to say that the director of "Tampopo" Juzo Itami, was murdered recently so there won't be any more.

5286. Candide - 3/4/2000 8:44:31 PM

and I had closed italics after the first "Tampopo".

5287. Indiana Jones - 3/4/2000 8:46:28 PM

I rented "The Train" (1964) with Burt Lancaster, Paul Scofield, and Jean Moreau and strongly recommend it.

Lancaster is a French stationmaster/member of the resistance charged with thwarting Nazi colonel Scofield's attempt to ship an enormous cache of art treasures from Paris to Germany, via train. Unfortunately, the character and Lancaster's acting require that he be American, but the plot, script, and his name all say he's Parisian. If the viewer can overlook this flaw (which isn't so difficult once the train pulls out of the station), the rest of the film is firstrate.

The train sequences--which were filmed entirely with real trains, rather than models--and Scofield are particularly superb, as are the performances in general. Aside from Lancaster's inability to act "French," he's good too, especially in scenes requiring athleticism--his circus acrobat training makes for natural realism as he slithers in and out of windows and over walls.

The film lags some as various attempts at slowing up the train become repetitive, but the last fifteen minutes are one of the most nearly perfect endings I've ever seen. So many films blow it at the end that I was bowled over by the finale's sheer flawlessness.

We have a lot of war movie buffs here at the Mote, and those who haven't done so should give "The Train" a ride.

5288. TabouliJones - 3/4/2000 8:47:19 PM

Candide,

I saw The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoisie years ago, but it was beyond my cinematic comprehension at the time. Last year i rented a bunch of his movies, including: The Phantom of Liberty, Belle de Jour, Mexican Bus Ride and a couple of his other Mexican flicks -- all of which were very good. His autobiography -- My Last Sigh -- is also delightful.

5289. CalGal - 3/4/2000 8:50:49 PM

Indy,

The Train is on my list, too. I've only seen it on TV, am very much looking forward to it.

Have you seen Seven Days in May or the Manchurian Candidate?

5290. Candide - 3/4/2000 9:00:32 PM

Indiana Jones

I've got Buñuel's autobiography. Odd, interesting life.

5291. Candide - 3/5/2000 12:54:22 AM

A quote from the last chapter of Buñuel's autobiography My Last Breath. (The opinions expressed are his and not necessarily mine.)

"According to the latest reports, we now [1982] have enough nuclear bombs not only to destroy all life on the planet but also to blow the planet itself, empty and cold, out of its orbit altogether and into the immensity of the cosmic void. I find that possibility magnificent, and in fact I'm tempted to shout bravo, because from now on there can be no doubt that science is our enemy. She flatters our desires for omnipotence — desired that lead inevitably to our destruction. A recent poll announced that out of 700,000 "highly qualified" scientists now working throughout the world, 520,000 of them are busy trying to streamline the means of ous self-destruction, while only 180,000 are studying ways to keep us alive.

The trumpets of the apocalypse have been sounding at our gates for years now, but we still stop up our ears. We do, however have four new horsemen: overpopulation (the leader, the one waving the black flag) science, technology and the media. All the other evils in the world are merely consequences of these. I'm not afraid to put the press in the front rank, either."

5292. Candide - 3/5/2000 12:58:34 AM

I should add that there's a quote from Salman Rushdie on the cover of Buñuel's autobiography: "My Last Breathis pure delight...It's as funny and provocative asthe old chien's best movies; than which there's no higher praise."

5293. CalGal - 3/5/2000 1:08:31 AM

The Trouble With Harry isn't one of my favorite Hitchcock films, but the print they are showing on AMC is pristine. Gorgeous colors. Look for it this month.

5294. Candide - 3/5/2000 1:12:26 AM

CalGal

I saw "The Trouble with Harry" when I was a student and couldn't believe the colours. Then years later I went to up-state New York in fall and realised that if anything it had been an understatement.

I remember too it was my first glimpse of Shirley Maclaine.

5295. CalGal - 3/5/2000 1:19:05 AM

It was nearly everyone's first glimpse of Shirley Maclaine, unless they'd caught her on Broadway when she was understudying for...Verdon, I think?

The foliage is spectacular, of course, but you should see this print. You can see details in amazing clarity; for example, you can see details on the framed pictures in Shirley's home.

As for the movie itself, it is actually a nicely gruesome little comedy, with terrific performances. It improves if you don't think of it as a Hitchcock.

5296. Candide - 3/5/2000 1:23:26 AM

It was many years ago. Alas I won't be able to see your print. You know that Shirley has had an on/off affair with an Australian politician who was supposed to be the leader of the party led by John Howard. She described him somewhere as a "radical" which shows she's not quite in touch. Andrew Peacock is his name and he is (was?) Australian ambassador to the USA. He was always good looking in a vacuous sort of way. They've been an item for decades.

5297. CalGal - 3/5/2000 1:24:44 AM

She described him somewhere as a "radical" which shows she's not quite in touch.

Not necessarily. As all the world tries to tell you, Candide, the US defines things differently.

5298. Candide - 3/5/2000 2:29:14 AM

CalGal

I had to close down because of a thunderstorm.
Yes, calling Andrew Peacock 'radical' is a tad different. He is a happy hedonist though with a good sense of humour. He took Shirley to an official reception in Washington for the visiting Australian prime minister John Howard, and Shirley fell asleep - rather too ostentatiously I thought - during Howard's speech. John Howard had stabbed Peacock in the back some years ago when Peacock led the Liberal party. I think Shirley's sleep was planned.

5299. Cellar Door - 3/5/2000 10:12:35 AM

I saw "The Trouble With Harry" when it was first released as a double-feature with "Artists and Models" -- which also starred Shirley Maclaine.

5300. JudithAtHome - 3/5/2000 10:57:30 AM

CalGal:

I'm going to ask you some dumb questions about the DVD player. Can you hook it up and leave the VCR hooked up, too? Or do you have to choose one over the other? Is there any sort of VCR that can double as a DVD player? I'm sure the answers to these questions are no, yes, and no...I'm electronically challenged.

5301. CalGal - 3/5/2000 11:10:36 AM

Judith,

There are never any dumb questions. There are only dumb people.

I believe the answer to the first question is yes, actually--but you don't really want to. I asked the same question, I think, and it interferes with the quality of the picture--but you can do it. (It is also possible that I'm thinking of a different question, so anyone who knows otherwise chime right in.) In general, though, you want to have one TV for DVD and one for video.

I had to make a number of choices when I bought DVD--for example, my cable converter is the only way I can get my premium channels. This means I only get HBO on one TV. But I need to tape things like The Sopranos--and I can only do that with a VCR. So my cable converter had to go on a different TV than my DVD. Which means I don't get HBO on my killer new TV. Very irritating, and I cannot wait until my cable company does away with these damn converters. I've only ever had to deal with them in this county.

Are these the sort of juggling acts that you're wondering about, or is there something else?

5302. JudithAtHome - 3/5/2000 11:18:22 AM

That's what I'm wondering about...but I don't have to worry about a converter because we get cable on both TVs, no boxes. I hate losing the ability to tape off 2 TVs but I suppose I'll get over it. It's not like I use both recorders all that much, anyhow.

I know there are debates, in my mind at least, about dumb people...I am winning on my own behalf but others aren't faring all that well.

So...we may go look at players today when HH gets back from golf...

5303. CalGal - 3/5/2000 11:23:04 AM

Oh, I see. I've never needed to tape off of two TVs more than once or twice--but then, I have four TVs hooked up to cable.

(Um. Well, actually, I have five TVs at the moment. But one is just operating as a nice piece of furniture. )

The only limit for me is HBO taping. I do find it annoying, though, because I'd really like to have my premium TV channels on my new TV.

5304. CalGal - 3/5/2000 11:24:48 AM

(and the "dumb questions/dumb people" is an old computing joke. Users are always worried about asking stupid questions, so the PC response was, "There are no stupid questions." Inevitably, someone came up with the punchline.)

5305. JudithAtHome - 3/5/2000 11:28:28 AM

Yeah, I've heard that before....I live in Texas, remember? Different questions, same people.

5306. Indiana Jones - 3/5/2000 1:22:13 PM

CalGal (5289): I haven't seen Seven Days in May. Thought The Manchurian Candidate was excellent.

Candide (5290): Must confess that I didn't notice the Brunel connection. Did he write the book on which The Train was based?

5307. CalGal - 3/5/2000 1:27:14 PM

Indy,

Check out Seven Days. It's a fun ride. Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Frederick March, Martin Balsam. (Ava Gardner's in it too, but bleah.) It's actually based on a more believable conspiracy theory than Manchurian Candidate (not that either one are incredibly likely).

5308. Indiana Jones - 3/5/2000 1:28:22 PM

Thanks for the tip, Cal.

5309. 109109 - 3/5/2000 6:07:12 PM

I saw Boys Don't Cry, a picture about an unfortunate Lincoln, Nebraska woman (Hillary Swank) with gender identity issues. She wants to be a boy, so she crops her hair short and poses as a boy. In those moments, where she has "passed" and tasted affection from the vantage point of a male, the film works. We see the fearful life Swank leads, how her surroundings and her gender conspire against her desire to express what she feels and who she thinks she is. Swank has you share her exhiliration as she ends an evening with a kiss from a unknowing date. Her performance is justly praised.

Swank soon falls in with a motley crew of losers, including an ex-con, a self-mutilator who has burned his own family out of house and home, and a girl who aspires to leave her job canning broccoli so she can get paid as a karaoke singer (Chloe Sevigny). Swank falls in love with Sevigny, and a white trash Romeo and Juliet ensues.

Director Kimberly Peirce has a firm grip on the picture when she is depicting Swank's acceptance into this group. It plays as a more rough-hewn "American Graffiti" where the gang eschews the strip for the highways of Nebraska, and malts become beers and bong hits. Peirce shows a group moving fast (she uses the effect of fast speed highway lights, super slow-motion shots of the gang getting high in the back of a car, and a police chase off-road in the dust) and going nowhere.

Unfortunately, in real life, the Swank character was murdered, and the second half of the film grounds to the halt of numbing, repeated brutalization of Swank. Director Peirce pours it on at the end, with 4 scenes of debasement and cruelty. Swank is so dehumanized that any emotional power is drained from the film. I suppose the end is defensible on grounds of reality, but it saps the early beauty of the film and worse, it blots out Swank's singular character until she is just another unrecognizable victim of senseless American violence.

5310. joezan - 3/5/2000 8:24:50 PM

Judith:

You may have both your VCR and DVD hooked up at the same time, provided there are inputs for two machines. I can see no reason at all why the picture should suffer, unless your TV or amp happen to be older sets. In which case the signal will suffer regardless.

5311. CalGal - 3/5/2000 8:29:46 PM

Joe, do you have a DVD?

5312. joezan - 3/5/2000 8:35:49 PM

Cal:

No, but my dad's on his third and I always get the call to hook him up. And, actually, he's offered us his last one, so it's there for the taking. I'll probably check it out soon.

5313. CalGal - 3/5/2000 8:39:21 PM

I am looking at you sternly. Remove the "probably" from that statement. You'll never regret it.

("one of us, one of us")

5314. CalGal - 3/5/2000 8:41:17 PM

And that's good to know--I may hook up my VCR and cable converter to my new tv and get HBO and the ability to record. Thanks for the info.

5315. joezan - 3/5/2000 8:47:22 PM

Yea - I know. I think the biggest reason we've resisted is that my dad gets such a kick out of having the kids over to watch DVD movies.

He's a tech nut, and has to have the latest stuff. You'd get a kick out of him -you have nearly identical cinematic tastes. He's got over 1,500 movies on tape, and copying filters and such up the wazoo. If he ever goes back on line I'll have him post here.

(Another thing I've resisted, since I'd have to clean up my act).

5316. joezan - 3/5/2000 8:50:15 PM

...5315 is to 5313.

5317. CalGal - 3/5/2000 8:52:51 PM

Well, tell him about Netflix--he might like it as a way of checking out DVDs prior to buying them.

And the kids can still go to Grandpa's house to watch movies. Just decide you'll never, ever get any movies they want to watch!

BTW, I am watching Carpenter's The Thing right now.

5318. theDiva - 3/5/2000 8:54:12 PM

Last night I watched the first hour of Point Break.

What garbage, but damn, Keanu Reeves is cute.

5319. CalGal - 3/5/2000 8:54:19 PM

And he sounds way more "bleeding edge" than me. I'm not an early adopter; I'm the sort who is a "leading indicator" instead. If I bought a DVD player, that's all she wrote for videos and laserdisc, folks.

5320. EricCartman - 3/5/2000 9:42:11 PM

Indy:

I second Cal's take on Seven Days In May. Great movie. I may have to dig out my tape of it sometime soon.

Sopranos Fans:

Remember that tonight's episode starts an hour earlier than usual, at 8:00 PST. It's a good one, if a tad short. Three good ones in a row, though; they're finally on a roll.

5321. Dantheman - 3/6/2000 9:01:03 AM

Wonder Boys

Fran Lebowitz was once asked for advice by a young writer. She replied that the story of your life would not make a good book. Don't even try. She could have added that if the story of your life runs over 2600 pages, something is very wrong with your storytelling.

This lesson has been breached far too many times over the years, with results typically as uninteresting as this film. Despite a good cast (Michael Douglas, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey, Jr and Tobey Maguire), this movie runs in far too many directions to be accessable, or even coherent. Plots and characters drop out of the film for a solid 30 minutes at a stretch, and we are presented with far too many unlikely resolutions in the last 15 minutes. The acting is solid, but does not save this film. 1 1/2 planets out of 4.

5322. JudithAtHome - 3/6/2000 10:04:48 AM

I've never read any Nero Wolfe books but I watched A&Es Golden Spiders last night despite initially thinking it was so bad, it was fascinating. I still think that, actually. It was very stylized and seemed to be going for the 40s noir look. I liked the sets and the cars...

5323. Cellar Door - 3/6/2000 10:49:27 AM

Well I worked the line doing interviews at the Writers Guild Awards at the Beverly Hilton last night with the camera crew from Producers Library Service. Very crowded, but much fun -- except for the fact that Matt Damon sprinted right past me with a smile and a wave as he headed for the banquet room door. The nerve! One camera crew towards the end managed to snag him, but that was it. Damn!

Did get to talk with Haley Joe Osment, however, who is just amazing. I have NEVER seen a more together child actor. Smart, prepared, polite, and not at all plastic. He really seemed to be having a good time. And when you don't wince when Sheryl Lee Ralph scoops you up for a photo op, you're a genuine pro in my book.

Jean-Claude Carriere says that Oshima is on the mend.

Alexander Payne, is becoming a real character. Somebody should cast him in a movie because he's good-looking as well as smart.

Pat Kingsley appears to have forgotten who I am, because she spoke to me -- something she was quite ill-disposed to do at the Los Angeles Film Critics Asociation Awards.

I encourgaed Bruce Vilanch to stage a gay wedding at this year's Oscars, and the idea greatly appealed to him. He says that Billy Crystal is still upset that Whoopi got to wear the Queen Elizabeth dress last year. "He thought HE should have done that."

5324. 109109 - 3/6/2000 1:37:44 PM

After Boys Don't Cry

My Nominations, thus far

Best Picture
Being John Malkovich
The Limey
The Sixth Sense
Election
The Talented Mr. Ripley

Best Actor
Tobey Maguire, The Cider House Rules
Terence Stamp, The Limey
Kevin Spacey, American Beauty
Matthew Broderick, Election
John Malkovich, Being John Malkovich

Best Supporting Actor
Jude Law, The Talented Mr. Ripley
William H. Macy, Happy, Texas
Delroy Lindo, The Cider House Rules
Hayley Joel Osment, The Sixth Sense
Jeremy Northam, The Winslow Boy

Best Actress
Heather Donahue, The Blair Witch Project
Hillary Swank, Boys Don't Cry
Ally Walker, Happy, Texas
Renee Russo, The Thomas Crown Affair
Rebecca Pidgeon, The Winslow Boy

Best Supporting Actress
Catherine Keener, Being John Malkovich
Reese Witherspoon, Election
Julianne Moore, An Ideal Husband
Glenn Close, Cookie's Fortune
Cameron Diaz, Being John Malkovich

5325. PsychProf - 3/6/2000 1:53:13 PM

Cellar...very interesting to hear you recount your adventures. Give us more...

5326. Cellar Door - 3/6/2000 2:16:07 PM

You'll get 'em, Psych.

The Big Event of the Movie Season, IMO, isn't the Oscars. It's the Independent Feature Project Awards. They're the same week and a lot more fun. You get unrestricted access to the stars and the filmmakers. And they're much more interesting stars and filmmakers to begin with. It's down on the beach in Santa Monica, and people tend to get sloshed, flirt rather than network, and throw caution to the winds in their speeches. Last year, for instance, Ally Sheedy simly did not want to get off-stage. I think she may be planning to star in "Faye Dunaway Tonight."

5327. CalGal - 3/6/2000 4:05:20 PM

David Ansen gives "Erin Brockovich" a good review in Newsweek.

I didn't know this, but it's a true story about PG&E's attempt to coverup industrial pollution that caused a number of illnesses in California. Erin Brockovich was an annoying, brassy, trash-talking legal investigator who was just sure something was wrong (Newsweek's take on the events)

I'm pulling for it, since I like Soderbergh and Roberts. Let me know if you hear anything different.

5328. Dantheman - 3/6/2000 4:11:29 PM

I saw the trailer for Erin Brockovich over the weekend. The Squirrel is nearly certain to drag me to it, but it looks nearly laughable to me as courtroom drama.

5329. CalGal - 3/6/2000 4:14:19 PM

The uncanny parallels to "A Civil Action" have been noted--however, it is accurate and apparently very funny. Mainly a two-person show, from what I understand (Roberts and Finney), with Eckhart being the stay at home boyfriend.

5330. JudithAtHome - 3/6/2000 4:30:54 PM

Oh, from the ads I thought maybe the "2" you were referring to were Julias boobs in her Wonder bra.

5331. janjon - 3/6/2000 4:41:35 PM

Silkwood, redux. Sort of.

5332. CalGal - 3/6/2000 4:42:14 PM

Judith,

No, that's double-barrelled in a double breasted.

Jan,

No, not Silkwood redux. It's a comedy.

5333. janjon - 3/6/2000 4:43:11 PM

A comedy, eh. Ye Gods.

5334. JudithAtHome - 3/6/2000 4:44:09 PM

CalGal:

They look like half-tanned cantalopes regardless.

5335. Cellar Door - 3/6/2000 8:39:16 PM

Well I'll be squeezing the melons at the All-Media screening later this week.

5336. TabouliJones - 3/6/2000 9:17:56 PM

The Wonder Boys is not nearly as bad as Dantheman suggests; although those hoping that director Curtis Hanson would repeat his stellar accomplishment in L.A. Confidential will surely be disappointed. For the most part, the movie does a good job of portraying the dysfunctional entropy that often takes hold in academic settings. Rather than being convoluted, as Dantheman and other critics suggest, the movie amounts to an understated farce that generates some decent --but subdued --laughs, without leaning too heavily on charicatures or unduly goofy prat falls. Most of the ensemble cast is very good, especially Toby Maguire as the laconically morbid writing student and Robert Downey Jr. as the sybaritic editor. The characters are generally believable and, for the most part, each develops in an emotionally satisfying and dramatically sensible manner; although I agree with Dantheman that the final act errs on the pat side. Finally, the film is well shot; making good use of an alternately snow and rain enveloped campus at the University of Pittsburg. I don't share Roger Ebert's effusive enthusiasm for this movie, or his sentimental attachment to the academic milieu that is its subject matter, but I do recommend it to anyone trying to separate the wheat from the chaffe in the current crop of new releases. Final Grade: 3 and 1/2 out of 5.

5337. CalGal - 3/6/2000 9:36:08 PM

Really, I think it's criminal that Robert Downey has to be considered a criminal. The guy is too good. While I appreciate his great work in smaller supporting roles (Bowfinger, and he's supposed to be great in Wonder Boys), he's not been able to star in any movies for a while--all because he's unfortunate enough to have an addiction to an illegal substance.

If he'd just been an alcoholic, or been lucky enough not to have been caught, we'd be the richer by a few movies.

5338. TabouliJones - 3/6/2000 9:50:34 PM

In The Wonder Boys, Downey Jr. brings such an infectious glee to his bon vivant character that one might feel a tinge of guilt when enjoying his performance, given his much publicized addiction. (Note: this observation doesn't originate with me. I think David Edelstein notes this in his Slate review.) Downey gives a similarly enthralling performance in Short Cuts, albeit with a touch of the sinister added to comport with that movie's mind set. He is also excellent as Chaplin in Sir Whats-his-name's biopic of the same name.

I agree, it would be nice if he could stay out of prison long enough to expose his talent to a greater raange of roles.

5339. TabouliJones - 3/6/2000 9:52:13 PM

Make that: Sir-Whats-his-name's otherwise dull disappointing movie of the same.

5340. CalGal - 3/6/2000 10:03:05 PM

Well, the thing that Downey proves so inescapably is that you can be imprisoned only for being an addict. He's rich, he's not committing any accompanying crime with his use--he's just using. I think the worse thing he's done is wander into someone's house, or something?

And god knows that other movie actors have gotten away with far worse. Downey was just unlucky enough to get scooped up into the system and then given a limit (don't do it again) that he could never meet.

Attenborough--it was a dreary film, except for Downey, wasn't it? Kline was fun, too.

It's not just his time in prison, at this point. I imagine he can't get insured to take a lead role anymore. But that's just a guess.

5341. EricCartman - 3/7/2000 12:51:23 AM

Cal:

Downey's being imprisoned for his own good, you know. Now that he's safely behind bars, he won't be able to get any of those nasty drugs.

Plus we have to send a message to the kids, or they might start to think that it's all bullshit.

5342. Raskolnikov - 3/7/2000 11:04:07 AM

"I'm going to ask you some dumb questions about the DVD player. Can you hook it up and leave the VCR hooked up, too? Or do you have to choose one over the other?"

There are several ways you can do this, depending on your equipment. Basically, it depends on whether your TV has AV inputs and outputs, and whether you want to send the sound through a stereo or home theater system. My recommendation would be to look at all the equipment (TV, VCR, DVD, cable, and sound system, if any) you have, note exactly what types of inputs and outputs exist on each piece of equipment, note the types and lengths of all cables in your possession, head to the nearest Radio Shack or Audio King with this information, and tell them what you want to do. The primary variable is your TV. TVs range from having only cable inputs, to having cable, AV, SVHS, Optical, and component video inputs *and* outputs, with a variety of options in between.

But here are some possibilities...

1) Here is what I do - I want my satellite, my VCR, and DVD to all send the audio to my stereo system, which only has a limited number of inputs, so I hook my DVD player up to the AV inputs on the VCR, the satellite up to the RF (coax cable) input of the VCR, send the audio signal to the stereo, and hook the whole kit and kaboodle up to the TV via the RF input. That way, I can get good stereo sound from any item but just listening to the signal from the VCR, while watching the TV. The only downsides are that there is some slight signal loss from the extra connections (but I would doubt most people could notice it), and you need to moneky around with the VCR in order to watch your DVDs.

5343. Raskolnikov - 3/7/2000 11:04:16 AM

2) if your TV has AV inputs, you could wire the VCR through the RF (the coaxial cable) input, and send the DVD into the AV jacks.

3) you can pick up an AV switch box, and a spare set of AV cables, at Radio Shack for around $25, but your TV needs to have AV inputs.

For reference. AV inputs and outputs come in color coded sets - Red for right audio, white for left audio, and yellow for video.

Also, if you have a home theater system you might have a few other options at your disposal, such as an optical connection or composite video.

I used to do this shit for a living. It may sound complicated, but it becomes a hell of a lot simpler once you know what is possible for your system.

5344. Raskolnikov - 3/7/2000 11:18:06 AM

A few random comments on previous thread topics over the past few days...

Belle Epoque is Spanish, not French

Few Americans, Cal Gal excepted, would fail to call a Kurosawa film "foreign". Americans tend to use "foreign" as a short hand for "foreign language", so it is true that few viewers would refer to a lot Kung Fu films as "foreign", since they are often dubbed in English.

I would argue that the consensus critical take on Woody Allen is that he has fallen quite far since his 70s peak (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Bananas), although he does create the odd stand-out film every now and then (Hannah and her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, mostly, although I am a fan of Manhattan Murder Mystery).

Deconstructing Harry was awful. Like all of Woody's films, it had its moments, but I found the mere premise offensive. Allen pretty much satirized the "artist creates his own moral universe" idea in Bullets over Broadway, but here he seems to actually be taking the idea seriously.

City Lights is wonderful. I am not a huge Chaplin fan - I think Gold Rush and Modern Times are very overpraised, but I love City Lights, and got a big kick out of the Chaplin shorts that TCM showed a few months ago.

The best thing about Netflix is that they have all of Kino's Buster Keaton DVDs. Netflix's listing isn't as revealing as it should be all the time, not always prominently saying which shorts on the DVDs (and in the case of the Our Hospitality/ Sherlock Jr DVD, I don't think they even tell you that Sherlock Jr is on the disk - and Sherlock Jr is arguably the better of the two Keaton masterpieces). The other strongly recommended DVD is The General. Not only is it a great movie, but the DVD also contains Keaton's short "Cops", which is the funniest 20 minutes of film I have ever seen.

5345. CalGal - 3/7/2000 11:43:11 AM

I would argue that the consensus critical take on Woody Allen is that he has fallen quite far since his 70s peak (Annie Hall, Manhattan, Bananas), although he does create the odd stand-out film every now and then (Hannah and her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, mostly, although I am a fan of Manhattan Murder Mystery).

Everyone Says I Love You got a lot of good reviews, as I recall, and Husbands and Wives was considered "interesting".

That being said, I wouldn't disagree. I don't see how that contradicts my point to Candide, who was asserting that Woody Allen was not appreciated in the US. I didn't get any indication that she was only discussing the last ten years; my response to her was also not limited to that time frame. In a discussion of important American filmmakers, Allen would certainly get more than a mention.

Very few directors maintain a high level of quality throughout their career. Allen has done better than many.

5346. CalGal - 3/7/2000 11:45:16 AM

Speaking of Bullets Over Broadway, I see that you didn't include it on the list of his recent well-received work. I am nearly sure it was generally considered an excellent comedy, but I'd have to check back.

5347. Dantheman - 3/7/2000 11:57:24 AM

TJones,
Sorry, I can't agree on Wonder Boys. I only had one good laugh from (spoiler: the book blowing into the Mon,) definitely a type of pratfall. I also saw plenty of caricatures, especially Rip Torn and Katie Holmes (admittedly, minor characters).

5348. Raskolnikov - 3/7/2000 12:15:08 PM

Cal: I wasn't disagreeing with you on Allen's general regard.

Bullets over Broadway got decent notices, and was well received at the Oscars, but I don't recall any critics favorably comparing it to Allen's best films. Which was kind of my point - Allen's successes now are measured more by the number of base hits he gets, rather than by the number of home runs.

5349. janjon - 3/7/2000 1:02:16 PM

Raskolnikov. About all your inputs and outputs, and connecting this to that and that to this.

I just hire my daughter to figure it out and to buy the stuff necessary.

So far, so good. No explosions and everything works.

5350. janjon - 3/7/2000 1:03:29 PM

Am I wrong in assuming that Wonder Boys was completed some time ago before Downey went in the last time around? Or, is he given some sort of work furlough from time to time.

5351. Raskolnikov - 3/7/2000 1:08:24 PM

"I just hire my daughter to figure it out and to buy the stuff necessary."

My parents still use the same approach with me. Every time I go home, I find myself hooking up a VCR or a computer. No wages though. Just a hot meal and the absence of being sent on a guilt truip.

5352. CalGal - 3/7/2000 1:14:14 PM

Rask,

Oh, okay. Yes, I agree.

BTW, I would quibble with you a bit about "foreign films"--although I was in the main goofing off. I still think that people would be more likely to specify "Japanese" film and leave "foreign film" to signify the dreary European arthouse stereotype.

5353. Raskolnikov - 3/7/2000 1:15:17 PM

nah, those films are called "artsy-fartsy", not "foreign".

5354. Dantheman - 3/7/2000 1:16:52 PM

CalGal,
"dreary European arthouse stereotype"

Does this mean posting a review of that type of movie isn't welcome? I need to know, as the Squirrel and I are using my parents Talk Cinema tickets on Sunday, which means we have a good chance of seeing something like that.

5355. Raskolnikov - 3/7/2000 1:21:13 PM

If we banned reviews of dreary European films, we would end up censoring a good share of Cellar's posts.

Seriously, post away. This thread has certainly had highbrow European film discussions in the past.

5356. Dantheman - 3/7/2000 1:23:19 PM

Rask,
I know. I've even discussed some of them myself (especially The Celebration which I saw last year when I borrowed my parents' tickets).
Just pulling legs.

5357. CalGal - 3/7/2000 1:28:48 PM

Dan,

I said nothing of banning them! Post away. Besides, not all "foreign films" are dreary. And I have grimly decided to focus on these films, anyway, in my Netflix rentals. I consider it the equivalent of eating (shudder) Brussels sprouts.

This is all in reference to a previous conversation, starting at Message # 5222.

You also must consider the possibility that I am parodying my own woefully 'murrican sensibilities.

5358. Jenerator - 3/7/2000 1:31:47 PM

I saw Les Girls today. I hadn't seen it in awhile. I love Gene Kelly and the old musicals.

5359. CalGal - 3/7/2000 1:34:24 PM

Lucky you! I can almost never find that playing. It's a fun musical.

5360. Jenerator - 3/7/2000 2:00:17 PM

Cal,

I have to admit that the BBC is a weird thing. Never before have I seen such a wonderful and awful variety of movies, documentaries, soap operas, news shows, and game shows thrown into cable. Only here could you watch the 'new' epsidode of Friends, then a show on how man came from apes, into a home renovation special, into a terrible western, into a special on Hinduism all on one channel. Every day they feature an oldie, so I've been able to catch up here and there and some of the good ones.

5361. Cellar Door - 3/7/2000 9:50:17 PM

Great review of "Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train"!

5362. Cellar Door - 3/7/2000 9:54:20 PM

Downey's being imprisoned for his own good, you know. Now that he's safely behind bars, he won't be able to get any of those nasty drugs.

Plus we have to send a message to the kids, or they might start to think that it's all bullshit.

And what a message it is too: drug addiction and imprisonment don't trump talent.

5363. EricCartman - 3/7/2000 10:35:24 PM

Cellar:

Frequently drugs facilitate talent. I subscribe to the theory once posited by the late great Bill Hicks:

"If you think drugs are bad, then here's what you need to do -- go home, and get all your records, all your tapes, all your CDs, and burn 'em. 'Cause you know all those musicians who made all those great songs that enhanced your lives through the years? Rrrrrrreal fuckin' high on drugs."

They're not for everyone, but some people do indeed get creative energy from certain things. Too bad we don't take our national credo of "live and let live" very seriously.

5364. JudithAtHome - 3/8/2000 10:55:15 AM

I wrote my best poetry while drugged...but that's another story.

So, did anyone watch NYPB Blue last night and do you think Dannys problems are solved by just a talk with Andy and a burger with Diane?

5365. CalGal - 3/8/2000 12:05:56 PM

I fell asleep, dammit. But I woke up in time to see the Sopranos ep, finally. And watching the Sopranos is more and more becoming an exercise in enduring a really shitty group of people at a neverending dinner party. I want Tony back, dammit.

5366. Jenerator - 3/8/2000 12:08:06 PM

I cannot read let alone create 'art' with a clowded mind. I don't see how people can function on drugs [marihuana, LSD, coke, etc.]

5367. Cellar Door - 3/8/2000 12:18:08 PM

You just haven't been taking the right drugs, Jen.

5368. JudithAtHome - 3/8/2000 1:24:15 PM

Cellars right, Jen...I never said I was on illicit drugs; I was a prescription junkie.

5369. janjon - 3/8/2000 2:30:10 PM

I may have gotten the answer somewhere up above, but was Wonder Boy filmed some time ago and just left on the shelf for a while for whatever reasons? In other words, was it filmed before Downey went into prison this most recent longish-stretch time, or was he "furloughed" or something like that in order to be able to make the film? If the latter was the case, why? To make some bread for his family? (Does he have a family?) If so, lots of cons would like that opportunity, I bet. But I've jumped way ahead of getting the facts.

5370. Jenerator - 3/8/2000 2:51:01 PM

I think I listed the "right" artistic drugs, except for heroin. I'll be sure and try some with a sketchbook nearby and a crayon. I wouldn't want to hurt myself.

5371. Cellar Door - 3/8/2000 2:54:07 PM

Downey went into the slammer moments after finishing up "Wonder Boys." He was on probation during it's production. He's gotten some of the best reviews of his career while locked up to "protect" us all from his self-destruction.

5372. CalGal - 3/8/2000 2:54:32 PM

Jan,

I think Downey was out of jail for a year and a half. He just went back in late last year, didn't he?

5373. CalGal - 3/8/2000 2:58:07 PM

Jan,

Here you go...

It was no laughing matter to cast the troubled and currently incarcerated Downey who gives an indelibly affecting performance, his last before losing his freedom.

"I was aware of the problems," Hanson said. "Robert came to Pittsburgh; he flew up to pursue the job. We had a lengthy and very frank conversation. I take what I do seriously and this was going to be a difficult shoot, done in continuity [meaning the highly unusual manner of filming each scene in the order we see it in the film], in Pittsburgh, in the winter. Robert impressed me with his commitment to the work and the next morning I said, 'Let's hire him.'"

Hanson brightens as he talks about Downey. "We were there four-and-a-half months and there's a joyfulness watching him work. As we finished, Robert came to Los Angeles and slipped — and voluntarily admitted [to the judge] he had slipped. And without any new charge, they put him in prison. It's unprecedented what happened to him."

5374. AceofSpades - 3/8/2000 3:06:09 PM

Hm. This may be the wrong thread for this, but many alcoholics claim they "need" booze to function. They "need" booze to get through meetings or the article they're writing or what not.

We look at such people askance. We say, "No, that's a psychological crutch. You don't need booze; you're just rationalizing your taste for it."

But then Cartman comes along and tells us that OTHER drugs -- presumably magical -- do in fact fuel the creative process. He takes the words of smack-addicts uncritically. He doesn't for one moment seem to grasp that writing while high on smack is quite similar to writing while drunk on alcohol; and that the same skepticism he might have that booze improves performance should also apply to heroin or LSD or whatever.

The Beatles all did LSD and pot. The Beatles were all also incredibly talented (well, except for Ringo). I buy their statements that pot and acid fueld their writing to the same extent I buy Raymond Chandler's assertion that he "needed" to be falling-down drunk to finish scripts in Hollywood. No doubt an inebriant loosens you up-- that's the whole point of them, after all -- but it doesn't "fuel" anyting.

Guns N Roses were all hard-core alcoholics and smack addicts. But then, you know, so were Poison. So let's not jerk ourselves off here.

5375. Jenerator - 3/8/2000 3:07:34 PM

AceofSpades I love you.

5376. CalGal - 3/8/2000 3:13:06 PM

I think that creative/artistic predisposition is found disproportionately in those who are genetically disposed to things like addiction and depression.

So it's not so much that I buy that Raymond Chandler "needed" booze to write better, as it is that I think the Raymond Chandlers of the world are more likely to need booze, period.

5377. AceofSpades - 3/8/2000 3:14:34 PM

Raymond Chandler, by the way, spent five or six weeks falling-down drunk to complete a script (I forget which; it wasn't a Marlowe script; I'm sure Cellar will know).

He had a hired car pick him up in the morning, then bring him to a hotel room stocked with liquour. He boozed up and by 11 am he was ready to write. He was literally falling-down drunk all day.

The car would pick him up at seven or eight and ferry his drunken ass home.

Now, Chandler was a perfectionist, famous for his incredibly slow writing, his agonizing over every single goddamn word. To write on deadline, I guess yes, in a way, it was *effective* to fuck his head up, to drown that unforgiving self-editor/critic with Whiskey.

But did he *need* it? I don't know. I'll tell you I "need" cigarettes when I'm writing. I "need" them. Cannot write without them.

But I'm lying, you know. I just don't want to give the fuckers up.

5378. CalGal - 3/8/2000 3:15:17 PM

Just to be clear--none of the Beatles are addicts, so they are left out of my equation entirely. They are just an example of creative talents who weren't genetically predisposed to addiction. Although I think Lennon probably suffered from bouts of depression, the other ill that artists seem unnaturally prone to.

5379. AceofSpades - 3/8/2000 3:17:30 PM

Jen:

By the way, I thought of Chandler because of your spelling of "marihuana," which I take is a British variant. Chandler's the only guy I've seen spell it like that (& he was schooled in Britain & an Anglophile in general).

5380. CalGal - 3/8/2000 3:18:41 PM

But did he *need* it?

Did he need it to be great? No. Did he need it in the sense that all addicts "need" their drug? Sure. He was an addict. Those are two different issues, though.

5381. Jenerator - 3/8/2000 3:22:08 PM

Ace,

I was taught the mariJuana spelling was circulated in order to villify the Mexicans who were blamed for the introduction of it into America, so that the 'real' spelling is with an H. I have no real preference to be honest.

Btw, I love you.

5382. AceofSpades - 3/8/2000 3:22:29 PM

Cal Gal:

But that's sort of the whole point. Cartman's position seems to be that drugs can in fact drive the creative process.

I am extremely skeptical. I think that addicts need drugs -- they're addicted, after all -- and therefore, yes, they "need" drugs for songwriting the same as they "need" drugs to calm the shakes in the morning.

In other words: They don't really "need" them. They've simply become addicted, like I have to nicotine, and feel out-of-sorts and cloudy-minded when they don't have their drug of choice.

But kick the habit and the need goes away.

On the other hand...

Robin Williams was never funny after quitting coke. Then again, looking back with 20/20 hindsight, he was never funny when he was on coke, either.

5383. AceofSpades - 3/8/2000 3:23:38 PM

Jen:

Yes, I caught that. But our dangerous love is forbidden.

5384. Jenerator - 3/8/2000 3:24:48 PM

I know that, I just wanted you to remind you.

5385. JudithAtHome - 3/8/2000 3:28:06 PM

Writers like Thomas Wolfe and William Faulkner might disagree with your theory about need.

5386. AceofSpades - 3/8/2000 3:29:35 PM

Judith:

About the "need" to be drunk? You're saying they'd say they did in fact "need" liquor?

Perhaps they would say that. But I would be skeptical. Alcoholics claim they "need" booze to function. It's textbook, you know?

5387. CalGal - 3/8/2000 3:30:38 PM

Ace,

Cartman's position seems to be that drugs can in fact drive the creative process.

Okay, let's split that up, see if we can define any points of agreement. I agree that for the non-addict, this is not true. Flat out, no qualifications.

Now, for the addict, I agree that the drug itself does nothing to improve the quality of the output and that use of the drug will eventually degrade their overall work because of mental and physical impairments.

But if an addict stops using, will it affect the quality of their work? I think this is arguably true. If you consider the possibility that addicts have a different brain chemistry (undersupply of dopamine, I think?), then stopping drugs completely is likely to affect their brain chemistry--make them duller and slower, less creative.

5388. CalGal - 3/8/2000 3:31:35 PM

In my post above, I said "addict", but it should be considered as "addicted artist". In other words, I'm assuming creative ability and addiction.

5389. AceofSpades - 3/8/2000 3:32:35 PM

...and I'd have trouble understanding why one job -- writing -- does in fact "require" booze, whereas all other jobs on the planet -- plumber, lawyer, bank manager -- don't "require" booze.

An alcoholic bank manager tells me he needs booze to function at his job. I tell him, "No you don't." But a writer says the same thing and I say, "Oh, well, you're a *writer*. Ergo I accept your statements uncritically."

I don't know. I don't buy the whole "Mysterious Epiphany" theory of creativity.

5390. CalGal - 3/8/2000 3:35:46 PM

All addicts who stop using are going to take the same hit in brain chemistry. It may be that the artist's hit is more noticeable because of the type of work done.

5391. AceofSpades - 3/8/2000 3:37:26 PM

Cal:

I think we're saying the same thing, by and large, except for the addict thing.

I don't know about that. You may be right, but in a trivial way. Dopamine regulates mood, right, not clarity of thought?

So, many artists are miserable. So what? They're supposed to be miserable.

5392. JudithAtHome - 3/8/2000 3:39:59 PM

A plumber doesn't need inspiration to fix your toilet...unless you count his fees as such.

5393. CalGal - 3/8/2000 3:41:49 PM

Ace,

It doesn't really matter what it regulates, does it? If you regularly manage the dopamine hits in one particular fashion for years and then you completely take this away and decide to live with the lack--you've just told your brain to fucking live with it. That's a big switch.

It's also why only 30% of addicts of any sort (including smokers, I think?) manage to kick it. Until they figure out the brain chemistry aspect and create a drug that will regulate it without altering mood, I think those numbers are going to stay consistent.

5394. CalGal - 3/8/2000 3:45:28 PM

Smokers and dopamine

In the new research, published in the journal Nature, scientists ran brain scans on smokers and abstainers and found that smokers had 40% less of a brain enzyme known as monoamine oxidase B, or MAO B. The enzyme breaks down dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain associated with feelings of pleasure. Because of its exquisitely satisfying effects, says Joanna Fowler, a chemist at Brookhaven National Laboratory and one of the study's authors, "dopamine is crucially important in reinforcing and motivating behavior."

Thus smoking appears to create a self-perpetuating cycle: less MAO B leads to more dopamine, leads to more pleasure, leads to more smoking, leads to less MAO B and so on.

Scientists have not yet identified what factor in smoke lowers levels of MAO B, but Fowler speculates that it may be working synergistically with nicotine to boost dopamine levels. Earlier research showed that nicotine also increases dopamine levels by gripping like Velcro to receptors clustered in the forebrain.

There may be an even more dangerous synergy at work, according to Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "Every substance that is addicting leads to an increase in dopamine levels in the brain," he says. That may help explain why people who abuse one substance so often abuse another. Fowler likens the effect to creating a biochemical pathway or channel: "A drug may leave an imprint in the brain, so that the next drug becomes more pleasurable than it would otherwise." In short, the brain gets into a rut that just grows deeper and deeper.

This is from 1996; we've known about dopamine and addiction since then. I believe that is where a lot of the new research is headed.

5395. AceofSpades - 3/8/2000 3:45:40 PM

"It may be that the artist's hit is more noticeable because of the type of work done."

Eh, I don't buy this. ANY top-tier job requires large doses of creativity & flair. If you're a top lawyer or brain surgeon or physicist or mathematician, you're creative. Not in the same way as a musician, of course, but similar parts of the brain are active.

Now,

Movies pt. 2

Post reviews, ask for recommendations, make a list. Brows of all levels welcome.