Conspiracy on HBO. Great movie. Must see.
Me, too. TV in general has been pretty sad this last year.
20259. Erin R. - 5/24/2001 2:57:41 PM
We need better TV shows. I know I could have done a better job with Voyager's last season.
20260. Cellar Door - 5/24/2001 10:27:48 PM
I have been asked to be a judge at this year's San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Film festival.
Therefore I shall be in The City for a few days towards the end of June.
Ducastel & Martineau are coming as well with Adventures of Felix.
Much fun!
20261. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 1:22:39 AM
Conspiracy on HBO. Great movie. Must see.
20262. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 1:22:58 AM
20263. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 1:31:10 AM
This movie illustrates what Hannah Arendt meant by "the banality of evil." There are no mu-hwa-hawa laughs here (well, actually, there are a couple). But mainly these guys act like mid-level managers at a coporate training get-away.
What's weird is that I kept looking for a hero here. I know these guys are Nazis; but it's still a movie, and I was still looking for a "good guy." The guy who comes closest is Dr. Kitzinger, who argues against anhiliating the Jews. Purge them, separate them, deprive them of liberty-- yes! But kill them-- No. He's the film's "conscience." But, of course, even his "conscience" gives way once Heydrich (Kenneth Brannagh) threatens him a bit.
And then there's Colin Firth as the lawyer who crafted the Nuremburg race laws. He seems, at first, to be a Jewish sympathizer... but then we learn he despises Jews more than half of the people at the table. He just wants to purge them... "legally." Whatever that could mean in this context.
And then there's an SS captain who's uncomfortable with killing Jews, and doesn't want to do it.
So, there are the film's "heroes." Three guys who are uncomfortable, for one reason or another, at the thought of exterminating a race. But they all agree to do it anyway.
Kenneth Brannagh is great as Heydrich. No muu-hwa-haws from him. Everything is said with a polite smile.
A really, really terrific and disturbing film. Based, apparently, almost entirely on the exact word-for-word minutes of the meeting, so there's little Hollywoodization. (Although there are a few private discussions which, presumably, had to be written.)
20264. PelleNilsson - 5/25/2001 2:51:26 AM
20265. rubberducky - 5/25/2001 10:58:05 AM
the last episode of Star Trek: Voyager was pretty good (just watched the tape i made last night).
took too long to get to the action, but that is pretty normal. i liked the First Contact tie-in.
decent stuff, but they could have addressed what happened to the marquis members, but oh well.
20266. Fielding - 5/25/2001 11:06:11 AM
Cellar:
"I have been asked to be a judge at this year's San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Film festival."
That's great!
Just one question. How do you determine what qualifies as a "Gay & Lesbian" film?
20267. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 11:38:35 AM
They are entered in the festival? Might be a clue. :-)
20268. Fielding - 5/25/2001 11:47:28 AM
Yes, but would they accept anything that was submitted? For example, Eyes Wide Shut had Alan Cumming in a small role, and Tom Cruise . . . well, you get my point.
20269. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 11:52:53 AM
I'm sure Cellar will fill us in on the criteria...but a Tome Cruise movie ought to qualify since Tome Cruise is...well, you know the drill.
Did anyone see the newwsfilm of that floor collapsing at the hotel in...Israel?...where 24 people died? Home movies...it looked like special effects gone awry.
20270. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 11:55:20 AM
It was Jerusalem and 25 are dead, so far. It was a wedding reception so lots of video cameras were running...it was astonishing video.
20271. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 12:27:02 PM
Review of Pearl Harbor
The Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into World War II has inspired a splendid movie, full of vivid performances and unforgettable scenes, a movie that uses the coming of war as a backdrop for individual stories of love, ambition, heroism and betrayal. The name of that movie is "From Here to Eternity."
"Pearl Harbor," the noisy, expensive and very long new blockbuster from Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay, steals an occasional glance in the direction of "Eternity," Fred Zinnemann's durable 1953 melodrama, adapted from James Jones's sprawling best seller.
Another review calls it "a film which will live in infamy".
20272. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 12:32:30 PM
The NYT observes the relevant historical paraphrase comes from Winston Churchill: Never before have so many spent so much on so little.
20273. LadyChaos - 5/25/2001 1:15:51 PM
Well, I'd gloat about the reviews that Pearl Harbor has received, but I think that most here would agree that those reviews were to be expected.
Having said that, I could even be tempted to see it, just for the sport of arguing with Ace over why Bay is a crappy director.
20274. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 1:19:07 PM
Bay apparently resorts to his typical abbatoir-style editing technique in even this film, which one would imagine could be edited in a more mature, less frenetically childish manner.
20275. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 1:21:45 PM
I mean, Pearl Harbor seems suitable for an audience beyond ADD-afflicted fourteen-year-old boys.
So Bay has made a concession to the potentially broader demographic... he no features very few one-third of a second cuts. Instead, he features half-second cuts.
20276. Fielding - 5/25/2001 1:26:09 PM
"I mean, Pearl Harbor seems suitable for an audience beyond ADD-afflicted fourteen-year-old boys.
So Bay has made a concession to the potentially broader demographic... he no features very few one-third of a second cuts. Instead, he features half-second cuts."
LOL!
20277. LadyChaos - 5/25/2001 3:44:22 PM
Ace,
Those "half-second cuts" are probably to acknowledge that PH is an "epic."
Btw, I am interested in seeing "Conspiracy," but don't get HBO. Do they release these things on rental video, eventually?
When I was living in Prague, I tried to help launch a project based on the assassination of Heydrich. One of the most difficult challenges, had the project gone forward, would have been casting Heydrich, who was a singular-looking fellow. I am interested in seeing Branagh's portrayal of him.
P.S. A rather bad version of the Heydrich assassination story was made in the mid-seventies, featuring Timothy Bottoms as one of the Czech parachutists. It had lots of awful WWII espionage cliches, including a beautiful young resistance fighter given to wearing dark berets and a beige trenchcoat.
20278. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 4:03:36 PM
Btw, I am interested in seeing "Conspiracy," but don't get HBO. Do they release these things on rental video, eventually?
Yes. Although I wouldn't count on seeing advertisements for its availability.
"I am interested in seeing Branagh's portrayal of him."
He played him like a mid-level corporate brand-recognition manager for The Olive Garden.
20279. CalGal - 5/25/2001 4:16:38 PM
Lady,
Yes, they do eventually come out on video. The conference was presented as having taken place in a very corporate way--we want to hear from everyone and make it unanimous, yes?
20280. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 4:20:57 PM
Oh bull...he was great in the role. And Stanley Tucci was great as Eichmann. I didn't sit there thinking, "Oh look...it's the guy from Big Night and Emma Thompsons ex-husband", in other words.
20281. LadyChaos - 5/25/2001 4:21:23 PM
CalGal,
Yes, I suppose there are only so many ways that you can portray a meeting.
20282. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 4:29:10 PM
LadyC:
I don't think you'd be disappointed in Branaghs performance.
20283. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 4:29:59 PM
JAH,
I said above that he was "great." My line about the Olive Garden is not meant as derogatory; it just means that he portrayed evil in a banal, friendly, scrub-faced-and-politely-smiling way.
20284. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 4:35:20 PM
I thought he was very, very good. I thought all the actors were great.
The one exception is Stanley Tucci. It's not that he wasn't good; it's just that he didn't say three words in the entire movie. I find it difficult to rate a performance as "great" if an actor is barely in the movie, and just takes notes or looks around when he is in the movie.
Some will call this "perfectly understated." I call it "the kind of role I could easily play." You want me to sit there and listen to people? In a Nazi SS uniform? I don't call this "acting"; I call it "Saturday night, out with the boys."
So, was he bad? No. But he had so little to do it's hard to say he was good or bad.
20285. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 4:36:33 PM
Oh, well then..I agree with you. I have such an aversion to Olive Garden that I may have misinterpreted your remark.
20286. CalGal - 5/25/2001 4:41:04 PM
Branagh did exceptionally well, I thought.
Tucci was very good in his one speech near the end. Other than that, it was more a matter of his physical presence--he didn't have much to do. But he used his presence well.
Firth was superb, as was the little guy playing Hoffman (the one who got ill near the end and said it was the cigar).
But then, all of the acting was top-notch--which is what you need for a movie about a meeting.
20287. JudithAtHome - 5/25/2001 4:41:13 PM
I think Tucci gave an understated performance, true, but he managed with his actions and eyes to convey his was very apprehensive about measuring up and also, when he was dealing with the staff, he became very self assured and pompous...his actions around the table and his reactions to the slightest thing Heydrich said were a picture of toadying and submissiveness to the stronger personality. I think he did very well...at least for me, he did.
20288. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 4:43:32 PM
Tucci did just fine. No complaints. I'm just saying -- it's like asking another writer to rewrite your script. He decides your script is okay and returns it without any changes.
Now, did he do a good "rewriting job"? He might have made the right decision and served his function, yes. But can we say he did a great job of rewriting?
Tucci was fine. But he just sat there in an SS uniform. Which, as I say, I do every Saturday night, and no one gives me a Peabody Award for it.
20289. CalGal - 5/25/2001 4:45:11 PM
his actions around the table and his reactions to the slightest thing Heydrich said were a picture of toadying and submissiveness to the stronger personality.
That's funny, it didn't strike me as "toadying" at all.
20290. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 4:48:26 PM
when he was dealing with the staff, he became very self assured and pompous...
Oh yeah. He slapped a soldier towards the end. I forgot about that.
Still, he was obviously not carrying the weight of the film. Brannagh, Firth, the SS officer from Riga, Klopfer, the little guy who got sick, the reddish-haired manager of the Polish ghettoes, and Dr. Kitzinger were the main players.
Tucci was a secretary. Which is fine -- that's what Eichman was. An adjutant; a lackey. But he wasn't involved in any of the conflicts.
20291. CalGal - 5/25/2001 4:53:12 PM
The scene outside with Branagh and Firth was wonderful.
"Look, this is going to happen. The SS is going to take over the running of it, and they are going to note who is enthusiastic and who isn't and you are going to have to make a choice just like everyone else. But are you going to make your choice and make it known now, just because some fat inconsequential prick is pissing you off?"
20292. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 5:05:27 PM
Vertical Limit -- Two and a half stars
Pretty much this is the script everyone wanted to write after they read the Everest-disaster book "Into Thin Air" (great book, by the way). But, instead of a disaster on Everest, it's a lost expedition on K2, a mountain which is an even tougher technical climb than Everest. Except this story has guys climbing up the mountain with some ridiculously unstable nitroglycerine in their backpacks.
If avalalanches and falls off a 26,000 ft tall mountain aren't enough, just throw in some nitroglycerine for some huge explosions.
That said, the film is decent; I'm tempted to give it three stars, because it doesn't suck, but not quite tempted enough.
THIS is how CGI should be done: CGI provides breathtaking backgrounds and incidental elements to the foreground action; you can't really tell it's CGI. It looks good. And, if you get the DVD, you get a huge number of featurettes on the special effects (and seeing them paint mountain landscapes over bluescreen is soooo cool) including a National Geographic documentary. The director (Martin Cambpell, Goldeneye) and producer provide audio-track commentary; while occasionally interesting, it's chiefly both men agreeing that each and every scene and performance is "great," "lovely," and/or "extraodinary" or some combination thereof.
20293. CalGal - 5/25/2001 5:07:18 PM
It was such a fun movie. I had a ball. My only complaint is that it cried out for Keanu Reeve and instead we were stuck with Chris O'Donnell.
20294. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 5:14:07 PM
The story: A Richard Branson type tycoon --except he's a brash Texan rather than a Brit -- pays Robin Tunney and a master-climber to take him to the top of K2 as a publicity stunt for his new airline.
Well, Robin Tunney (who, unfortunately, does not show her boobs in this picture) is the brother of Chris O'Donnell (only 75% as annoying as he usually is). And see, in the teaser, they're rockclimbing with Dad and... well, did you see Cliffhanger? Let's just say that when friends and family are rock-climbing in the beginning of the film, the sequence ain't gonna end with a picnic.
So, years later, Chris O'Donnel has given up climbing; Robin Tunney is even more determined to become a champion climber, and is in fact one of the best female climbers in the world. And she's so gung-ho to get to the top of K2 that she ignores the fact that a serious storm is coming... which is okay with billionare Paxton, because he doesn't care about the storm either.
The storm strikes. Paxton and Tunney are buried in a sort-of fake-looking ice cave. And now Chris O'Donnel and a team of five other climbers (including Scott Glen, playing the obligatory burnt-out, cynical, world-weary older expert) now have to carry lots and lots (and I mean LOTS) of nitroglycerine up the mountain to blow open the ice-cave Sis is trapped in.
Wait... didn't they get stuck in the cave because of an avalanche? Won't the nitroglycerine -- especially the industrial-sized tanks these boys are carrying -- cause even WORSE avalanches?
Not to worry. In true disaster picture style, there will be poignant deaths and noble sacrifices and even long-sought vengeance, but rest assured the youngest, and prettiest, people will survive.
20295. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 5:14:18 PM
The film is competent. It begins much, much better than its middle or end; in the beginning, you're ready for a really good movie. But while it's not really all that good, it's not terrible, either. So it's worth a rental, especially on DVD.
20296. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 5:28:52 PM
Dungeons and Dragons -- one half star
Make your saving roll against "Crap;" you need to roll a natural twenty to avoid being alternately bored by this film's insipid banality and angered by its incompetence and cut-and-paste swipes from better movies (all of which you've seen before, by the way... how come crappy movies have to steal from the same top twenty movies of all time, rather than from lesser-known films?)
Is there comic relief? IS THERE EVER!! You have a black guy shucking and jiving and whose eyes virtually bug out when he's scared with a cry of "Feets don't fails me now!" You've got a very ugly dwarf with a very fake-looking red beard whose dialogue you can't understand, although he sounds a bit like a seedy Popeye, and who eats like a pig.
And the special effects! Why, there are guys walking around with bright purple and bright green face masks; they're supposed to be... I dunno, aliens from the Star Wars cantina, perhaps. Who knows? And then you have lots of footage shot in Prague... supposedly. As far as I can tell, all city exteriors are CGI. Bad CGI. Bad videogame CGI.
20297. AceofSpades - 5/25/2001 5:29:00 PM
And at the end some dragons fight each other. There are Red Dragons, controlled by the Evil Wizard's Rod of Red Dragon Control, which is also called the Rod of Seville, and there are Gold Dragons, controlled by the Good Empress' Rod of Gold Dragon Control, which I THOUGHT was ALSO called the "Rod of Seville," or something, and I can't quite figure out how both people can control dragons since the whole plot involved getting the one rod that could control dragons... but then, I don't understand the whole middle of the film (the tenth minute to the hundredth minute), because it really makes no sense at all.
It's not that it's complicated. It's just really inept.
Did I mention that Jeremy Irons plays the Evil Wizard? Yuhp. He's in the film for, oh... six or seven minutes. About five or six days on the set.
Is he good?
IS HE EVER!!!
20298. LadyChaos - 5/25/2001 5:29:09 PM
This paragraph from the Miami Herald's Review of Pearl Harbor probably sums up the problem with Michael Bay about as well as anything I have read:
The attack --which, along with its aftermath, consumes nearly an hour of screen time -- is the main lure for the millions who will be lining up to see Pearl Harbor this weekend. It's the irresistible hook of an otherwise mundane movie, but even this doesn't pay off the way it should. Men are shot, drowned, blasted to smithereens, and the havoc washes over you, entrancing the eye but never engaging the emotions. In Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg captured the visceral rush of combat and the inconceivable pain and terror felt by the soldiers. In Pearl Harbor, the destruction is dazzling, but you don't feel a thing. It's all smoke and fireballs, spectacle without any real punch.
20299. LadyChaos - 5/25/2001 5:50:49 PM
And this:
...was it too much to ask for a trace of intelligence, or maturity, or even insight? When Rafe and Danny board their planes and take off into the sky to do battle with the bad guys, they might as well be Luke Skywalker and Han Solo blasting tie fighters out of the sky.
20300. LadyChaos - 5/26/2001 11:28:41 AM
Sheesh, can I kill a thread, or what?
20301. LadyChaos - 5/26/2001 11:32:16 AM
Only Kevin Thomas of the LA Times seems to be on the Michael Bay payroll.
20302. Cellar Door - 5/26/2001 11:52:04 AM
And thereby hangs a tale. Kevin is the Will Rogers of film critics. He's never met a movie he didn't like. I have no doubt that all manner of brass-knuckle threats -- like denial of advertising -- was made by Disney to the L.A. Times to force them to have Kevin write the review.
I've linked Frank Rich's column on "Pearl Harbor" in "American Politics."
20303. JudithAtHome - 5/26/2001 12:25:08 PM
Our local paper is owned by the Disneyites and you could certainly tell it by the review written by our "critic"...he raved over the damned thing and this is so unlike his usual critical reviews. He has taken a hard line that I respect on movies that are mainstream "hits" and done some good film criticism...until yesterday. I'm disappointed in this guy because he has been very believable up to now.
20304. LadyChaos - 5/26/2001 4:10:27 PM
Judith,
It goes to show that even intelligent people can get swept up by the hype.
Butt-buddies Bay and Bruck'n'Hammer ain't gettin' a dime of my money, no way no how.
20305. JudithAtHome - 5/26/2001 6:36:10 PM
LC:
I'm not so sure he is caught up in the hype so much as trying to protect his ass...the paper is paring down and I read in the alternative weekly that many who work there are quaking in their boots that they wil get the ax. The paper is owned by the conglomerate who put out this drecky film.
20306. arkymalarky - 5/26/2001 7:05:48 PM
I tried to warn her. I tried to tell her all the stories I'd heard. I talked about the cost, the time not to be retrieved, the fact that it's ok to be different--just because "everyone else is doing it" is no reason to follow the herd.
But she did it anyway...
She went to see Pearl Harbor--
AND SHE LIKED IT!!
Where have I gone wrong? What kind of parent must I be? Oh, the shame.
20307. LadyChaos - 5/26/2001 7:10:51 PM
Oh, the humanity!
I didn't know that Disney had bought the LA Times.
Cellar,
I'm going to have about a week to myself at the end of July-beginning of August, and I'm considering a visit to LA-LA Land. Would you be up for a drink at the Formasa 'round then?
20308. Toenails - 5/26/2001 9:07:53 PM
If it's true that Disney owns the Times, then one would think that the reviewer for the L.A. Times would mention that little conflict in his review. Did he?
20309. AceofSpades - 5/26/2001 9:30:54 PM
From what I've read, the LAT has had an incestuous and overly-friendly, overly-protective relationship with Hollywood for quite some time.
LA is a company town.
20310. AceofSpades - 5/26/2001 9:34:25 PM
It also should be noted that many reviewers are loathe to give a bad review to a huge event film.
Ebert, for example, gave a fairly positive review to The Phantom Menace. Many reviewers gave Godzilla a fairly charitable review.
I think that when it comes to big popcorn movies, reviewers are victims of "learned futility." They've given so many negative reviews to popcorn pictures that end up making a lot of money they've decided that they're sort of clueless when it comes to evaluating such movies. So often they don't even try to really critique such films; they simply note that the film will satisfy its intended audience, or whatever. Which isn't really a critique or review.
20311. AceofSpades - 5/26/2001 9:39:12 PM
Most reviews of Die Hard, for example, were middling-to-slightly-positive. Time magazine's old-fart reviewer was particularly clueless, giving the film only the most grudging of credit for its script and direction. But few reviewers understood they were watching one of the most influential movies of the eighties and nineties.
Movie critics, by and large, are pretty stupid. Or perhaps "stupid" isn't the right word; let's just say that someone who watches 300-400 films per year (major releases, film festivals, revivals, research for film-mag critiques) has a different perspective on the movies from the average movie goer.
20312. AceofSpades - 5/26/2001 9:52:19 PM
One thing I find completely unfair is reviewers' constant sniping that Pearl Harbor is "timid" for portraying the Japanese so positively.
How ludicrous. This is a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation. Had Bay depicted the Japanese as ruthless Imperialists who had savaged China and Korea with barbaric rapes, the critics would have cried "jingoism" and "racism" and the like. Does ANYONE doubt this?
So, the filmmakers soft-pedal the Japanese's fairly warlike attitudes and the critics all bleat "timid" and "PC." "Why, the Japanese are painted as noble warriors forced into a war they didn't want," reviewers complain.
Well, what the fuck did you expect? After playing the roll of PC Police for twenty years, now you complain that the "criminals" aren't breaking the law anymore?
20313. Cellar Door - 5/26/2001 9:52:22 PM
I most surely would, Lady C!
20314. Cellar Door - 5/27/2001 9:20:35 AM
20315. JudithAtHome - 5/27/2001 10:11:49 AM
Ace:
I think the reasons for portraying the Japanese the way they did has nothing to do with PCism at all but rather with the bottom line...they soft-pedaled the take on them so the Japanese would flock to movie in droves and slap down their yen to see the damned thing.
It's like changing Gone With the Wind so the South won in order to lure all the patrons in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the theatres.
20316. Indiana Jones - 5/27/2001 10:45:05 AM
Saw Fargo. I'm by no means an authority on the Coen brothers, but it occurred to me that they may have a limited palette of characters after watching this film. Francis McDormand's sheriff reminded me of Ed, and the two kidnappers reminded me of Hi's prison buddies with a litte of the lone biker of the Apocalypse added in for the Gaear Grimsrud character. You have a kidnapping, and the father who endures his daughter's kidnapping is pretty much the same kind of guy as Nathan Arizona, who also had his daughter kidnapped--though this control-freak, ball-breaking father apparently has less humor to him.
The cinematography reminded me of Miller's Crossing.
The main reason I think the sense of repeated "ingredients" stood out was Fargo is an ingredients film. Lots of nice bits and bobs, but I'm not sure that it eventually hangs together. William Macy's character shows some promise, for example, but then goes nowhere. What's with the little Japanese rendevous that Frances McDormand has? For sure that should have been on the cutting room floor.
As a pastiche of Columbo, the film sort of works: the crooks are consistently inept bumblers, the witnesses unhelpful, and the sheriff eventually catches them by the sheer luck of driving by and seeing their car. Not that catching them really accomplishes much because they've all succeeded in screwing themselves over worse than the system ever could, while losing 92 percent of the ransom money.
Two and a half stars.
20317. JudithAtHome - 5/27/2001 11:07:19 AM
We watched Before Night Falls and I think Javier Bardem was robbed of an Oscar. The film was wonderful...beautifully and artistically shot and very well put together. The scene of Reinaldos taxi ride home from the hospital, with the intercuts of the streets of Havana, were very well done. I loved this movie and think it was a great effort, effectively done.
And if that was, indeed, Johnny Depps ass...all I can say is, now I understand what all the hoopla is about over his "beauty"!
20318. LadyChaos - 5/27/2001 2:47:57 PM
Indy,
It's clear that Fargo suffered from some severe editing, which is why the backstory of McDormand's rendezvous never quite makes sense. But all in all, I enjoyed the film as a pleasant black comedy.
I recommend Barton Fink, if you haven't seen it. It does a good job of putting you in the state of mind of a writer who's losing his mind.
20319. Indiana Jones - 5/27/2001 11:00:47 PM
It's clear that Fargo suffered from some severe editing, which is why the backstory of McDormand's rendezvous never quite makes sense.
LC: Yes, that's probably the explanation--which is kind of strange considering the film is only 98 minutes. I don't know what they took out, but I would have cut the rendezvous entirely and plumped the rest up with something to make it gel. Other loose ends: the teenage son, the serial numbers that were faxed (yeah, that's probably why the William Macy character is in trouble to start with, but still--exactly what is he blowing money on?), the American Indian who beats the crap out of one of the kidnappers, the father's sidekick/adviser. IMO it's almost all loose ends.
It also sort of bugged me that the wife survived falling down the stairs and the shootout when the highway patrolman pulls them over, and yet she is apparently shot off camera for "irritating" Gaear Grimsrud. Why not have her die at the start if you're going to be so cavalier about it later? That's just a quibble, but I have a lot of quibbles about this film.
20320. LadyChaos - 5/27/2001 11:22:17 PM
Indy,
There was apparently some backstory about MacDormand and her husband being in a marital crisis of some sort that was edited out. You get hints of it toward the end, when hubby mentions having sold a painting of his to the Postal service for use on a stamp. The former editor in me picked up on this immediately, and figured that they probably shot a good deal of material explaining this, but decided to cut it in favor of emphasizing the black comedy aspect. It was probably a good thing, but they left just enough loose ends dangling to make it annoying.
Otherwise, I didn't have a problem with the film at all.
20321. CalGal - 5/27/2001 11:31:37 PM
It is another in the list of movies where I simply can't really like anyone involved in the main plot. McDormand's character was as close as it got, and even she was annoying. Although I did like her police work at the beginning.
The main plot relied on everyone being like George in Seinfeld.
The murder scene at the beginning was incredibly powerful. I still get panicky when I think of it.
20322. Fielding - 5/27/2001 11:39:51 PM
Pearl Harbor made 38 million in its first two days, which is HUGE disappointment. The movie is officially a bomb. I wouldn't be surprised if Shrek outgrosses Pearl Harbor.
It won't be remembered as a bomb on the level of Ishtar, but it will be the biggest disappointment of the year, and will slow down Michael Bay's career.
20323. CalGal - 5/27/2001 11:42:17 PM
Yes, I read that it didn't do that well, but the weekend wasn't over. How wonderful!
20324. Cellar Door - 5/27/2001 11:50:22 PM
I passed by a multiplex yesterday afternoon where "Pearl Harbor" was playing. A huge crowd of kids was outside waiting in line.
They were all going to see "Shrek"
20325. CalGal - 5/27/2001 11:56:22 PM
Shrek is terrific.
20326. Fielding - 5/28/2001 12:21:32 AM
It's no Chicken Run.
20327. CalGal - 5/28/2001 12:27:45 AM
I liked Chicken Run a great deal, but I think I'd give the nod to Shrek. I'm looking forward to seeing it again.
20328. Fielding - 5/28/2001 10:49:15 AM
:-(~~~~~~
20329. JudithAtHome - 5/28/2001 12:26:37 PM
We or rather I, watched Urbania last night...husband fell asleep. It was intriguing; told in flashback and current time which took awhile to figure out. All the urban legends included in the story were portrayed rather naturally but the entire film was so much an urban legend in itself, you had to work to make sense of it. Cleverly done and a sadness afterward that sticks with you.
The main character, Charley, is aimlessly wandering around NYC and runs into many different people along the way. He is saddened by something and as the story progresses, we think we learn why. The theme of the entire experience is "Heard any good stories lately?" and we do, as urbam legends are played out in flashback while being related to Charley. With the end of the movie, all is revealed...surprisingly.
20330. LadyChaos - 5/28/2001 6:53:02 PM
Fielding,
You can't really compare weekend box office receipts between one movie that runs over three hours and another that runs under two, since a lot of it depends on how often exhibitors are able to turn the film in a day. More telling will be whether receipts hold steady over a period of weeks, or start to fall off as word of mouth gets around. Early reports seem to favor repeat business from -- get this -- teenage girls (who apparently liked the "love triangle" aspect).
This is not good.
20331. Cellar Door - 5/28/2001 9:44:48 PM
20332. Ms. No - 5/28/2001 10:30:52 PM
Oh, wow! How incredibly cool! I went to highschool with Peter Paige. I had to go and look him up to see if it was actually him but I'm thrilled to see he's doing so well AND that he finally came out of the closet. Right on!!!
Hmmm.....I wonder if he's going to the 15 year reunion?
20333. JudithAtHome - 5/28/2001 11:04:47 PM
Cellar:
Thanks for the picture and link for Jon Shear...I loved the movie! Did you?
20334. JudithAtHome - 5/28/2001 11:06:35 PM
MsNO:
15 year reunion? Neophyte!
20335. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 12:25:24 AM
It's a tough job but somebody's got to do it!
In fifteen minutes I leave to see Moulin Rouge. Can't wait!
20336. Wombat - 5/29/2001 10:29:43 AM
Saw "Pearl Harbor." Dear God. A love story broken up up by a lot of explosions and ships sinking. If you took out all the extraneous stuff it would be about 60 minutes long. "Tora, Tora, Tora" has it beat all hollow. The National Geographic documentary about Pearl Harbor on NBC on Sunday was excellent.
If I can bring myself to do so, I'll discuss the "historical" aspects of the film over in History. Those who want to start without me, please do so.
20337. Cellar Door - 5/29/2001 10:55:45 AM
I'm crazy about the movie, Judith. It manages to cover a lot of very interesting and complex ground gracefully. I especially loved the way the friendship between Dan Futterman and Alan Cumming was dealt with. It rang ever-so-true.
20338. Fielding - 5/29/2001 11:44:38 AM
Mea Culpa. While surely a box office disappointment, I got a bit carried away in calling Pearl Harbor a bomb. Even if it only breaks even domestically, which is still a possibility, it will make a lot of money overseas.
20339. Fielding - 5/29/2001 11:55:21 AM
Lady Chaos:
You can't really compare weekend box office receipts between one movie that runs over three hours and another that runs under two, since a lot of it depends on how often exhibitors are able to turn the film in a day. More telling will be whether receipts hold steady over a period of weeks, or start to fall off as word of mouth gets around. Early reports seem to favor repeat business from -- get this -- teenage girls (who apparently liked the "love triangle" aspect).
Actually, you can. The film producer community starts deciding whether a film is a hit or a miss by the opening Friday night. Hollywood knows the Box Office status of 90% of studio releases by the Saturday morning. Nonetheless, if your point is that jury is still out on Pearl Harbor, I agree with you.
Pearl Harbor was designed with teenage girls in mind. Indeed, it was teenage girls who made Titanic the huge hit it became, and Pearl Harbor intended to follow the Titanic formula. The majority of Titanic's repeat viewings were among teenage girls.
20340. rubberducky - 5/29/2001 11:59:32 AM
i have no idea why you are calling Pearl Harbor a bomb
The World War II epic "Pearl Harbor," one of the most heavily marketed films of the year, opened at No. 1 at the four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend box office with ticket sales of about $75.1 million, according to studio estimates issued on Monday.
The Walt Disney Co. film ranks second on the four-day list, between "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," which opened with $90.1 million during the Memorial Day holiday weekend in 1997, and "Mission: Impossible 2," with $70.8 million (Memorial Day 2000).
yes, it fell from some ridiclous 'predicitions' but it has made a little over half the production costs in the 1st 4 days. to think it will only break even domestically is silly imo.
20341. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 12:28:24 PM
Just saw some clips of that skinny kid from Freaks and Geeks playing James Dean in the TV movie of his life...he's got that gawky, quirky thing down pat and looks fantastically like James Dean. It's on August 5 on TNT.
20342. Fielding - 5/29/2001 12:34:25 PM
Ducks:
I already posted that my "bomb" reference was an overstatement.
Nonetheless, your post understates Pearl Harbor's costs. The production costs were $150 million (a record), but that does not include marketing. Also, the exhibitors keep a percentage of the film's gross revenues, and that percentage goes up after two weeks. Pearl Harbor will need to gross over $250 domestically to break even, which is less than 50% likely to occur.
As I said, it will make its money overseas.
20343. rubberducky - 5/29/2001 12:44:44 PM
as you say, we'll see.
if this dumb movie doesn't make $175 million i'll be surprised. but then, i'm constantly amazed by people's stupidity.
20344. CalGal - 5/29/2001 1:32:59 PM
In Fielding's defense, the first articles about its supposedly weak performance didn't mention that it was three hours long. It wasn't until yesterday that I read an analysis that said it actually did well. The best indicator would be attendance per viewing--EW usually reports on that, doesn't it?
20345. LadyChaos - 5/29/2001 1:42:19 PM
CalGal,
An attendance per viewing standard would be the most fair measure. If you have two films that are getting the same attendance, yet one can be show five to six times per day while the other can be shown only three to four times per day, you might be led to believe, based on gross box office receipts, that the shorter picture is doing better. And, in a sense, it is doing better in terms of its rate of return per screening day. But the longer film could easily end up making more money over the long term.
I heard several reports on Pearl Harbor this morning, all of them bad. But even some of those people continue to defend Michael Bay as being a good "technical" action director.
I worry that I might have to go see the film, just to arm myself for these debates. If so, it will only be while holding my nose.
20346. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 2:03:34 PM
I'm feeling considerably less than eloquent this morning due to lack of sleep but wanted to mention that I loved Moulin Rouge. It's beautiful and tragic and funny and sexy and I'm definitely going to see it again.
The sets and costumes are amazing but I missed a lot of the same kinds of things that I missed in Lurhmann's Romeo & Juliet simply because there is such an awful lot going on in so many of the scenes but it's fabulous eye-candy. I was pleasantly surprised by Ewan MacGregor's singing voice. I had no idea that he could sing. Not only that, but he sings very well! Nicole Kidman is beautifl and fascinating to watch and aquits herself well in the vocal department. It's difficult for me to say whether I think she's a particularly talented actess simply because she's so amazingly beautiful that I get sidetracked. She's good but that's pretty much all I can tell you. If I can see her be really good when the camera isn't quite so in love with her face I'll be better able to tell.
John Leguizamo (sp?) and Richard Roxburgh are the stand-out performances although I wasn't overly fond of the speech impediment that Leguizamo adopted for Lautrec. Both men brought moments of utterly naked humanity to roles that could easily have been mere stereotypes---The clown and the Evil Duke.
okay, brain fade. I can't think of anything else right now.
20347. Fielding - 5/29/2001 2:15:26 PM
I agree with Ms. No. I thought Moulin Rouge was brilliant. I hope to put together a fuller length review soon.
I also want to stress that anybody interested in seeing this movie should try to see it in a theater with good sound, preferably during a sold out show, preferably soon. There was more audience activity in viewing this film than any I've seen in 20 years.
20348. LadyChaos - 5/29/2001 2:17:24 PM
I've been avoiding Moulin Rouge because I'm not sure how I feel about the modern soundtrack. Was that an impediment?
20349. Fielding - 5/29/2001 2:23:14 PM
Not to me. The soundtrack was filled with songs that I would never choose to listen to before the movie, and that did not inhibit my enjoyment.
20350. CalGal - 5/29/2001 2:25:01 PM
Shrek
Imaginative, funny, and extremely eclectic, this story of a cranky troll and his sidekick donkey rescuing the truly beautiful princess does not require you haul a kid along to justify your attendance. The voice work is superb, with Murphy's donkey up there with Williams' genie in the pantheon of superlative comedy turns. The stream of visual gags is consistently funny as well, with the Disney digs coming fast and furious.
Special kudos for the female character: strong, funny, sexy, and perfectly capable of looking after herself. (I never thought I'd say this about a gorgeous blonde, but Diaz really is amazing--how'd she get all that in looks and still manage to acquire brains and a personality?)
There is, simply, nothing not to like about Shrek, including the cranky ogre himself. Let us all sing praise for a blockbuster that actually deserves its popularity.
Oh, and I'll bet a fair amount of virtual cash that the soundtrack will be a hit, too. Great tunes.
20351. christipeters - 5/29/2001 2:38:39 PM
Cal - "Shrek is terrific"
Told ya so!
20352. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 2:39:37 PM
LadyC,
The modern tunes were used very effectively. They were good for some laughs as well as underscoring the theme of the film. There were a few that I didn't recognize at all, but one of my favorite scenes is set to Sting's Roxanne. It's a song that I love anyway, but the rearrangement and the choreography were ......god, I can't think of anything to convey how strongly it affected me. Not from an intellectual standpoint--the song is very frank and the message it conveys in the film unsubtle but the shear power of it was ....shit! I'm still out of words for it.
Another of my favorite scenes is in the beginning when they're selling the idea of Spectacula Spectacula to the Duke. I can't remember the name of the piece but it's classical and you might most easily recognize it with a cartoon cat and mouse chasing one another and hitting each other over the head with frying pans etc.
good god. I've got to get some sleep. I make no sense and have no words. blegh!
At any rate, I laughed my ass off---as did the rest of the audience. Kidman does over-the-top campy incredibly well. Her total commitment to melodrama in the early scenes with MacGregor and Roxburgh are hysterical. Satine knows the power of her allure but at the same time she never takes herself seriously. I think it's that quality the Kidman has in common with the character she portays and it's what frees her to be completely balls out in her performance.
20353. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 2:47:24 PM
Of course "Cameron Diaz" is beautiful, sexy, intelligent, and all that...she is a CARTOON. I don't think she's all that brainy and intelligent in real life but possibly you are letting the fact she's a cartoon with all those attributes color your view of her.
20354. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 2:51:17 PM
Juditha,
From what I've heard she's pretty bright and down-to-earth in real life as well. She doesn't take her own beauty at all seriously and is something of a goofball. She's one of those girls that you'd love to hate but just can't seem somehow to manage it because she's so incredibly nice and fun to be around.
20355. CalGal - 5/29/2001 2:52:23 PM
Judith,
Do you really think it is conceivable that my comment was about Fiona, as opposed to Cameron Diaz? Mightn't you want to think for a second before you make such silly comments?
20356. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 2:57:58 PM
I just wonder how you can assume she is all the things you say from seeing her as a character in a cartoon...your segue in that post made it seem so.
Of course, when I say "silly things", I'm advised to stop and think before doing so...your remarks struck me as fairly silly, too.
20357. CalGal - 5/29/2001 3:02:35 PM
Judith--it was a parenthetical remark. But in any event, that you would think that anyone other than a five year old would confuse an animated character with a real actress suggests a basic problem in your assumption methodology.
20358. CalGal - 5/29/2001 3:04:04 PM
MsNo,
Yes, exactly. Usually beautiful blondes--in fact, most spectacularly beautiful people--are more than a bit lacking in the personality department. I wonder if Diaz had a miserable childhood? (g)
20359. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 3:09:12 PM
I think many of us have problems with assuming, Cal....
20360. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 4:12:36 PM
CG,
I dunno. I've heard that she has terrible problems with her skin...
Actually, I think some of it is just inborn personality and some of it is the way one is raised. If she wasn't raised as a "beautiful child" then there isn't much tendency to fall back onto that kind of attitude. I think a lot of it depends on what one is praised for and how one is encouraged to shine.
20361. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 4:14:02 PM
Off Topic: CG did you get my query about the conversations page? I just sent it this morning but didn't know if you had access to email.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread topic.
Anybody know anything about how bad I should expect "Witchblade" to be? Is it a rentable movie or only a TV thing?
20362. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 4:18:42 PM
I thought it was a series...
20363. CalGal - 5/29/2001 4:22:06 PM
yes, I did get it, but I can only receive inbound and have to go to my webaccount for outbound. I keep forgetting. Do you have instant messenger? I have it at work--for work, actually.
20364. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 4:29:42 PM
CG,
AOL instant messenger?
Yeah, I've still got that on this machine. I'm bridgeburner69 on AOL. I'm pretty much an ICQ person but some of my work contacts use AIM so I've got that too.
Judith,
Yeah, it looks like a series but I think there was a full length film/pilot that's showing tonight in place of Buffy the Vampire Slayer since that's moving to UPN.
20365. PelleNilsson - 5/29/2001 4:34:35 PM
If you want to see a great rant about stupid blondes, check Rustler's recent link in International.
20366. JudithAtHome - 5/29/2001 4:35:38 PM
Oh, I've only seen one ad for it when I was surfing channels...I don't get that Buffy cult stuff and am not into the fantasy based shows at all.
20367. Ms. No - 5/29/2001 4:48:31 PM
We're only cultish enough to make sure we see all the episodes. No paraphernalia or posters or long drawn-out coffee conversations about the shows. (yes we watch Angel too)
It's the only TV I really watch. I figure I can lose myself in escapist fantasy for two hours a week. Yippeee!!!!
20368. PelleNilsson - 5/29/2001 4:50:41 PM
20369. MsIvoryTower - 5/29/2001 6:00:15 PM
Just caught Shrek, and I see Calgal covered all the bases in her review above.
I'll just add that the Disney spoofs were some of the most imaginative, well-integrated, and hilarious moments of the film. And the soundtrack was a definite winner.
What a jewel of a film.
20370. CalGal - 5/29/2001 6:03:00 PM
Oh, they were hysterical. I just realized that I forgot to mention the Gingerbread man cameo. Truly the finest film performance ever turned in by a cookie.
Did you catch the Matrix nod?
20371. MsIvoryTower - 5/29/2001 6:09:34 PM
Yes.
The Matrix nod, the Scrooge nod, the Sleeping Beauty nod, and the B&B nod, among others.
The gingerbread nod was too funny, and it continued up to the closing scenes.
20372. CalGal - 5/29/2001 6:11:55 PM
hahahaha! I didn't think they could top the torture scene, but it was the perfect ending.
20373. Fielding - 5/30/2001 11:08:21 AM
Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall.
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood,
Cries out, "My God, they killed them all!"
Here comes the story of the Hurricane,
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin' that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.
Three bodies lyin' there does Patty see
And another man named Bello, movin' around mysteriously.
"I didn't do it," he says, and he throws up his hands
"I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand.
I saw them leavin'," he says, and he stops
"One of us had better call up the cops."
And so Patty calls the cops
And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin'
In the hot New Jersey night.
Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around.
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that.
In Paterson that's just the way things go.
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
'Less you wanna draw the heat.
20374. Fielding - 5/30/2001 11:09:20 AM
Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops.
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' around
He said, "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweights
They jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates."
And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head.
Cop said, "Wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead"
So they took him to the infirmary
And though this man could hardly see
They told him that he could identify the guilty men.
Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin in,
Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs.
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye
Says, "Wha'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy!"
Yes, here's the story of the Hurricane,
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin' that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.
Four months later, the ghettos are in flame,
Rubin's in South America, fightin' for his name
While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game
And the cops are puttin' the screws to him, lookin' for somebody to blame.
"Remember that murder that happened in a bar?"
"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
"You think you'd like to play ball with the law?"
"Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night?"
"Don't forget that you are white."
Arthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm really not sure."
Cops said, "A poor boy like you could use a break
We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend Bello
Now you don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow.
You'll be doin' society a favor.
That sonofabitch is brave and gettin' braver.
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He ain't no Gentleman Jim."
20375. Fielding - 5/30/2001 11:09:31 AM
Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much.
It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for pay
And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way
Up to some paradise
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
And ride a horse along a trail.
But then they took him to the jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse.
All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance.
The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger.
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger.
And though they could not produce the gun,
The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed
And the all-white jury agreed.
Rubin Carter was falsely tried.
The crime was murder "one," guess who testified?
Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied
And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride.
How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool's hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.
Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell
An innocent man in a living hell.
That's the story of the Hurricane,
But it won't be over till they clear his name
And give him back the time he's done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.
20376. rubberducky - 5/30/2001 11:17:07 AM
Fielding: what the hell are you doing?
20377. JudithAtHome - 5/30/2001 11:19:27 AM
I saw Dylan do this one live with the Rollin' Thunder Revue and tons of big names in music...Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, lots of people I can't recall but enjoyed at the time. Really great concert...Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys opened.
20378. Fielding - 5/30/2001 11:24:24 AM
RD:
Isn't it obvious?
I'm posting on-topic lyrics from Bob Dylan in different threads, in honor of his 60th Birthday.
20379. rubberducky - 5/30/2001 11:25:29 AM
oh...
well, please stop
20380. CalGal - 5/30/2001 11:26:09 AM
Stop that spam, Fielding.
20381. Fielding - 5/30/2001 11:31:22 AM
Its on topic, so it not spam. And I'm not going to argue with you about it.
20382. CalGal - 5/30/2001 11:35:15 AM
It's not on topic, and you're right, you won't be arguing about it since provided you don't spew it again there's nothing to discuss.
20383. CalGal - 5/30/2001 11:55:07 AM
Lord, those Conseco ads kill me.
"Oh, look! There she is!"
"Grandma!"
20384. LadyChaos - 5/30/2001 1:36:22 PM
The all time barf me out award winner for commercials is the recent spot for Phillip Morris where the cold, stern-looking professional white lady arrives from America with a planeload of Kraft foods to save the poor Kosovars. It raises cynicism to new heights, and makes me embarrassed to be an American.
20385. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 1:43:51 PM
Why?
Phillip Morris give bucketfuls of cash, goods and services to humanitarian causes (and the arts). In the past decade, it has contributed more than $1 billion in cash and food donations to charitable organizations. They want to say "Hey, we give you smokes, but we also do these nice things."
I have no issue with that, though I've never understood how advertisiements for corporations as good citizens will get me to buy more Oreos.
20386. LadyChaos - 5/30/2001 1:51:54 PM
Francis,
Have you seen the ad? I'm not talking about a corporation's right to blow its own horn, but about a matter of execution, which in this case was very ham-handed.
20387. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 1:55:44 PM
Lady
I have. They always are ham-handed when handing out hams. It is the nature of the medium of "Hey, look at me doing something good!"
20388. ButterfieldSwire - 5/30/2001 2:05:16 PM
Didnt Phillip Morris fund some Martin Luther King scholarships which they advertised during football halftimes until it was revealed they were spending $100 on adds for every $1 in scholarships.
[After they were caught, they made things right by cancelling the adds.]
20389. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 2:08:26 PM
(from the PM website)
The Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund
With long-time funding of outstanding organizations such as the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, Philip Morris has supported efforts that provide educational opportunities for all students, while reflecting the growing cultural diversity in our schools.
The Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, a merit scholarship program founded in 1987, provides four-year scholarships to students who attend historically black public colleges and universities. The Fund is a result of the work of the director of the Office for the Advancement of Public Black Colleges of the National Association of State University and Land Grant Colleges, and a representative of Miller Brewing Company. It was named after the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, who knew firsthand the importance of historically black public colleges in providing African-American students with academic challenges, as well as opportunities, for creative and intellectual growth.
The Fund has awarded scholarships totaling more than $6 million since its inception. More than 200 Thurgood Marshall scholars have already graduated, and 160 are currently receiving awards from the Fund. The 38 historically black public colleges and universities that participate in the Fund’s programs enroll more than 190,000 students engaged in studies spanning 400 fields. Over 70% of all students enrolled in historically black colleges and universities attend these institutions. Each year, these institutions educate more than 54% of the African-Americans who go on to graduate and professional schools.
20390. JudithAtHome - 5/30/2001 2:12:17 PM
I'd rather see them running ads about humanitarian deeds, ham-handed though they be in execution, than the print ads pushing how wonderfully sexy and independent it is to smoke slender ciggies if you are a "modern woman with a mind of her own".
20391. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 2:15:46 PM
I kind of miss those.
Because, like it or not, smoking is sophisticated.
20392. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 2:16:53 PM
Besides, anyone who is lured to the dark side of tobacco by a smiling girl with volleyball in one hand and a menthol 100 in the other deserves lung cancer.
20393. LadyChaos - 5/30/2001 2:22:47 PM
Judith,
I feel just the opposite. The ads are precisely what they purport to be -- entreaties to get you to buy a product.
The "charity ads," however, are simply P.R. wrapped up in the guise of charity. And to top it all off, it's really hard to say how much of it would be happening were it not for the structure of income tax deductions.
An advertising boss of mine in Europe used to say, regarding such ads, that they represented the absolute worst in corporate America, because the underlying message is: "If you'll be good to us, we'll be good to you."
But what I really hate about this recent P-M campaign is the way that it patronizes the Kosovars while sneaking in lots of branding shots for Kraft foods. This amounts to a double-whammy of unpardonable sins.
20394. LadyChaos - 5/30/2001 2:23:54 PM
I should clarify that by saying that the tobacco ads are just what they purport to be, and nothing more.
20395. JudithAtHome - 5/30/2001 2:44:49 PM
it's really hard to say how much of it would be happening were it not for the structure of income tax deductions.
But that is true of much that is charitable in this country....although the Republicans who believe Bush seem to think all charity springs from good hearts.
I agree that the ads are self-aggrandizing but this is hardly the only corporation doing it. Maybe the most irritating but not the only...
20396. Fielding - 5/30/2001 2:45:48 PM
Hurricane was a terrible movie.
20397. LadyChaos - 5/30/2001 2:56:14 PM
Judith,
I can tolerate corporate self-aggrandizement. But when a corporation portrays one of its New York corner-office dowagers as Mother Teresa, I want to hurl.
20398. JudithAtHome - 5/30/2001 2:59:42 PM
Well, I didn't get that from the ad but we all view things differently.
If I were in that situation and starving, I wouldn't care who brought the macaroni and cheese; I'd just be glad it arrived.
20399. glendajean - 5/30/2001 3:15:49 PM
Hurricane was a terrible movie.
I agree. But Denzel Washington's acting was superb.
20400. Fielding - 5/30/2001 3:26:34 PM
"Denzel Washington's acting was superb."
I couldn't agree more. He was brilliant.
20401. CalGal - 5/30/2001 4:36:49 PM
It is amusing that Francis decries real celebrations of heroism and sacrifice, such as the Vietnam Memorial, which he calls disgusting, but defends Philip Morris' right to tout its heroic charity.
20402. CalGal - 5/30/2001 4:43:08 PM
Because, like it or not, smoking is sophisticated.
Sophistication is, by definition, subjective. You are welcome to say "Like it or not, certain categories of morons think it's sophisticated". or "Some people like to smoke because a cigarette is one of the few things in life that is always going to be shorter than they are." But there is no absolute about it.
20403. AceofSpades - 5/30/2001 5:28:42 PM
Yeah, Francis. Didn't you know that was "just your opinion"?
Luckilly, CalGal was here to inform you of that.
I mean, she knows the difference between facts and opinions. What she says is a "fact"; what you say is "just an opinion."
20404. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 6:19:54 PM
I don't care what anyone says, a choco-mouth by-way-of decades of Pall Mall inhalation is sophisticated.
20405. JudithAtHome - 5/30/2001 6:22:47 PM
Not to mention the mummification of the skin on ones face that goes along with it.
20406. Francis Urquhart - 5/30/2001 6:25:59 PM
Ooooooooooh . . . .
I forgot about that.
Sassy!
20407. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:17:38 AM
I saw three movies over the holiday weekend. "Best in Show" is a great film. Christopher Guest's mockumentary on dog show entrants is both sweet and harsh, and always hilarious. What makes it travel so well is that even as he shows folks engaging in what many might feel is an absurd practice, he leaves them dignity. Fred Willard, as a third rate Howard Cosell of the dog show circuit, is alone worth the rental. Grade -A.
"Vertical Limit" is an unmitigated piece of crap. Strictly for dumbasses, and not even justified by what were supposed to be awesome special effects/snow stuff. Grade D-.
"All The Pretty Horses" is just that - pretty. Otherwise, it is a jumbled mess, and interminable at that. Matt Damon is written as a Texas Confucious, and there is not a genuine moment in the picture, which is strange, because the scenery is certainly genuine. It sure looked like the Rio Grande. Grade F.
20408. Indiana Jones - 5/31/2001 10:19:42 AM
I was just about to rent "All the Pretty Horses." One last question: Any bare Penelope in it?
20409. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:21:29 AM
Indy
Not really. Though she is attractive, in a queer, Ellen Barkinesque way.
20410. Fielding - 5/31/2001 10:22:54 AM
Indy:
The film you want is Jamon, Jamon. Much nudity. Very little clothing. No dialogue in English.
20411. Indiana Jones - 5/31/2001 10:23:27 AM
Fielding: Seen it.
20412. Fielding - 5/31/2001 10:32:12 AM
Indy:
Then there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to sit through Pretty Horses.
20413. JudithAtHome - 5/31/2001 10:33:07 AM
FU:
We rented Best In Show this weekend, too. I loved Fred Willard...who was the guy with him? He was great at drawing attention away from Fred with sly little hand movements...
20414. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:35:55 AM
Juditha
I agree. I don't know who he was, but it seems as if he was a real announcer for dog shows, and he and Willard played very well off of each other. I was surprised by Best in Show, because I expected it to be satirical, but I did not expect it to be so engaging. I was rooting hard for these people.
As for Pretty Horses, it was directed by Billy Bob Thornton. He was clearly aiming for lyrical and zipped right past coherent.
20415. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:36:18 AM
Fred Willard's performance was a "dead-on" send-up of Joe Garigola's (sp?) hosting of the Westminister Dog Show on the USA Network each year. This is the biggest dog show in the country held at Madison Square Garden. I liked Best In Show, but it wasn't as good as Guest's masterpiece, Waiting for Guffman (using the same cast).
20416. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:37:14 AM
Fielding
From my knowledge of your like of Waking the Dead, you might be more favorably predisposed to All the Pretty Horses. They are definitely of the same stripe, so take my comments in that vein.
20417. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:38:57 AM
Glenda
I disagree about Guffman, which I liked, but I thought Guest had too many Parker Poseys in Guffman (i.e., too many people who you could more easily satirize than imbue with empathy).
20418. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:40:44 AM
Barbara Bush the Elder, aka Babs, is in Indy today to speak to the Junior League. Liberal Democrats are posted at all pubs and sports bars with cell phone in hand to dial the authorities in case the senior Barbara commits any violation of Indiana alcoholic beverage laws.
20419. CalGal - 5/31/2001 10:42:47 AM
not even justified by what were supposed to be awesome special effects/snow stuff.
Only for those who haven't figured out how to purchase a DVD player.
20420. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:43:08 AM
And I am posting in the wrong thread. Sorry.
As far as Guffman, the performances are wonderful, particularly Willard and O'Hara, and Eugene Levy.
Guffman is a sermon on years of American childraising where kids are told they can be anything they want to be. And the Posey's are overcome by Guest's performance as Corkie, the director. As silly as it was, it was also very sweet.
20421. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:47:41 AM
But Corkie, and most of the rest of Guffman, was so over-the-top, so maniacal or one-dimensional, that I was never really drawn into them, whereas (with the exception of Posey and husband in Show), I really learned to like something about every one of the entrants in Show. They seemed much more human, yet Guest was able to display the same satire. Show just struck me as a more mature work.
20422. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:50:13 AM
I saw Bridget Jones this weekend with friends.
Should be a definitional example for any dictionary entry of the phrase chick flick.
I didn't think Rene Z. was all that convincing or interesting. Hugh Grant was interesting because he played against his screen type. Colin Firth was handsome but mostly perplexed in how he got in such a movie.
20423. CalGal - 5/31/2001 10:52:28 AM
I don't understand how Firth gets so many leading man roles. I must be missing something about his basic appeal. I liked him in Conspiracy, though.
20424. Fielding - 5/31/2001 10:52:38 AM
FU:
I know lots of people who liked Waking The Dead. I don't know anyone who liked Pretty Horses. If you had actually liked Waking The Dead and told me it was similar to Pretty Horses, I would consider renting it.
Also, I will admit that hearing the words "I love you, Fielding" emanate from the mouth of naked Jennifer Connelly may have impaired my sobriety.
20425. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:53:29 AM
I find Guffman funny on repeated showings. What can I say? BTW, Eugene Levy's dental office was filmed in the place where I used to get my hair cut in Austin.
BIS is also not very far from the outrageousness of Westiminister Dog Show, a two night entertainment in February.
It's interesting that Guest is creating, at least for these two films, a repetory company of actors.
20426. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 10:54:02 AM
Fielding
Fair enough. I think that both films have the common trait of placing symbol and mystical import above linear progression.
20427. glendajean - 5/31/2001 10:56:19 AM
I liked the young Firth in Another Country and in Apartment Zero.
He always appears tightly wound and angry, and on him, imo, this makes him sexy.
20428. christipeters - 5/31/2001 11:08:48 AM
LD and I watched Dungeons and Dragons on video last night. While it wasn't horrible, I'm certainly glad I didn't pay to see it at the theatre. The story was predictable, the acting mediocre, and the effects ok, but not good enough to make up for the rest.
20429. Fielding - 5/31/2001 11:16:58 AM
Waking The Dead is about a man who is conflicted between his idealistic side and his pragmatic side. He sees the idealistic for all of its beauty and seductiveness, yet is not willing to let go of his understanding of the real world. When the idealism disappears, he feels guilty and wonders if he has sold out, whether it was worth it to sacrifice the purity of the ideal for the effectiveness of the real.
I think about these issues all the time, so Waking The Dead worked really well for me. I can see how others would refuse to see the jennifer Connelly character as a viable choice, and how the movie wouldn't work as well for them.
The important thing is that Fielding did fall for her, he did love her, and even if he didn't choose her path to political action, he understood that deep down her values were good ones, that she wanted to help people just like he did, and was willing to die to help people just like he was willing. So even if it was a choice that many of us wouldn't even consider, we see that the choice was very real for him.
I personally believe that true love will cause people to consider doing things that they aren't really programmed to do. I guess to really like the movie, you have to accept either the viability of joining a left wing radical group or the view that a person in love will consider almost anything. Preferably, one would accept both premises.
20430. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 11:22:22 AM
Fielding
My biggest problem with Waking the Dead had less to do with what it was about than how it was presented. I don't think Keith Gordon is a competent director. Everyone one of his films (at least The Chocolate War and A Midnight Clear) feels like a first film, and he lacks the discipline to run a scene and keep his actors in check. He really left Crudup out on the line, and he also lapsed into film school technique on a regular basis.
I did like him in Stephen King's "Christine" and "Back to School."
20431. Cellar Door - 5/31/2001 11:25:53 AM
20432. Fielding - 5/31/2001 11:30:12 AM
FU:
I agree that a few of the scenes made me cringe, especially the lurches toward supernatural effects. I was able to overlook this problem, but maybe I shouldn't have. On the other hand, one can go overboard letting a flaw ruin a movie. For example, does the amateurish bookending of The Dish ruin the film? I say no.
20433. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 11:32:41 AM
I never saw The Dish. What is it?
20434. Fielding - 5/31/2001 11:38:03 AM
Its a very good little Australian film about the role of a few Australians and their satellite dish in the Apollo lunar landing in 1969.
You can choose any number of other examples. Did the "I should have done more" speech ruin Schindler's List? Of course not. Spielberg can't help himself, but he still made a fine movie. (And no, I am not arguing that Waking The Dead is anywhere near as good a movie as Schindler's List.
20435. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 11:59:40 AM
FU,
Strange, but our tastes in films seem completely divergent. I gave Vertical Limit two and half stars. I can't imagine giving the film a D-.
20436. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:07:23 PM
Ace
The "thing" was laughable (i.e., the sun on the liquid), the characters were thin, the acting was leaden (such is Chris O'Donnell), the tie-in of the mystical Scott Glenn was a hoot, the end was clear, and during the film, when we were marking time to the big finale, no one had anything to say that made them interesting or more than stock.
So, it was charmless. What suprised me was that an action picture could be so boring.
The best thing about Vertical Limit, like Cliffhnager before it, was the first scene.
20437. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:13:16 PM
It was a hybrid of a disaster film and an action film. When you say the characters were "thin," by what metric, precisely, are you measuring?
By the metric established in the Stallone opus Daylight?
The characters were very thin. Because they always are in disaster movies, for the simple reason that disaster /horror movies require many more "main characters" than other films, due to the fact that 85% of the cast is going to be killed.
20438. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:18:01 PM
Now, in a pure action film, you can get by with one or two main characters plus a romantic interest and plus a "sidekick" or "sympathetic older character" (who is going to die, of course).
But that's just one body. Disaster films require all of the above plus five or six Walking Corpses to die in the course of the film. The Walking Corpses are obviously not going to get more than superficial attention.
20439. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:21:33 PM
Oh -- of course, action pictures have a bunch of Walking Corpses, too, but they're the Villain's henchmen, and we don't expect them to be "characters."
20440. RosettaStone - 5/31/2001 12:42:09 PM
No wonder the 19-year-old twins drink
MamaB admits to a smoking habit in her youth, claims the Washington Post
Does Laura Bush sneak cigarettes?
The Washington Post's "Reliable Source" has heard that the first lady, who admits to a smoking habit in her youth, is said to take a puff out of public view. When we put the question to Mrs. Bush's press secretary, Noelia Rodriquez, she told us: "I'm not aware of that. I can't confirm or deny this."
Guilty, as charged.
20441. RosettaStone - 5/31/2001 12:43:04 PM
oops, wrong thread.
20442. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:44:11 PM
Ace
I agree that characters are necessarily thin in any disaster/action film. These characters were paper thin. And they were boringly portrayed.
Five examples of well-developed (but necessarily thin) characters in disaster/action pictures:
Gene Hackman (The Poseiden Adventure)
Clint Eastwood (In the Line of Fire)
Bruce Willis (Die Hard)
Peter Weller (Robocop)
Any of the three leads in Jaws
No character in Vertical Limit came within 40% of the thickness of these characters.
If you can tersely make characters thicker, instead of the stock dorks (mystical man, drunken brothers, Muslim guy, hot babe, young buck) in Vertical Limit, it carries you to a C no matter how cheezy the picture.
20443. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:48:06 PM
Ace
Even if you excuse Vertical Limit on the defense of "too many characters" (i.e., 6 rescuers), it still does not match up with The Magnificent Seven or The Dirty Dozen or The Great Escape.
That's because it is difficlut to write characters when lines are at a premium, as they are in disaster/action pictures. And portrayal is everything.
For example, James Coburn, who I'm pretty sure said "Yep" and "Nope" and "Yep" and that was it in The Magnificent Seven, established more of a character - and thus was much more interesting - than Chris O'Donnell in Vertical Limit, though he was given a bazillion lines.
Why?
Because his lines sucked, we'd heard them all - and I mean every one - before, and he is a shitty actor.
20444. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:51:21 PM
Look, I only gave the film two and a half stars. It's a C+/B-. Don't think I believe it's a good film.
But a D minus, when most movies aren't even watchable?
You can compare Vertical Limits to the all-time classics, if you like; but I think it's important to keep in mind you're comaring to Classics
20445. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:52:31 PM
Look, I only gave the film two and a half stars. It's a C+/B-. Don't think I believe it's a good film.
But a D minus, when most movies aren't even watchable?
You can compare Vertical Limits to the all-time classics, if you like; but I think it's important to keep in mind you're comaring to Classics, which are, by definition, exceptional.
Chris O'Donnel sucks. Yes. Quite frankly, so does Scott Glenn. But how much can you penalize a film for that fact alone?
20446. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:52:59 PM
Toys, and oops.
20447. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:53:33 PM
Ace
I agree, but I'm a tough grader, and you grade on a liberal pussy curve.
VERTICAL LIMIT
ACTING - F (everyone was awful)
ACTION - D (it was ho hum)
PACE - D (it dragged)
SCRIPT - F (not one clever line, and you know it)
20448. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:55:53 PM
Ace
I can penalize it 25% if EVERYONE who is turning in a performance blows. I have to watch these people for upwards of 110 minutes, and they ALL were godawful.
Here is another grading
THE SIXTH DAY
ACTING - C (Arnold was Arnold)
ACTION - C+ (derivative, but cool)
PACE - B (it moved)
SCRIPT - C+ (decent patter, a few yucks)
20449. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 12:56:16 PM
So, there is how it ranks with a non-classic.
20450. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 12:58:42 PM
SPECTACLE - A. good, seemless use of CGI; unless you watched the Making-Of featurettes, you probably aren't even sure which scenes were CGI and which were real. (Beyond the obvious, of course.)
PREMISE - B+. Good premise. I could have done without the nitroglycerin.
ROBIN TUNNEY'S TITS -- B. Perky and full as usual, but sadly hidden beneath Gortex.
BILL PAXTON FACTOR -- B. Always good to see Bill Paxton.
HEATHEN SAVAGES PRESENTED AS ENGLISH-ACCENTED, OXFORD-EDUCATED NORMAL PEOPLE -- A+. From this film you would imagine that Pakistanis were the sort of people you woudln't mind knowing, rather than the barbaric head-hunting cannibals they actually are.
DVD EXTRAS: A+. Loaded.
20451. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 1:00:55 PM
LACK OF HORRIBLE IRONY THAT PLAGUES 90% OF ACTION FILMS: A+. Not a single wink at the audience. Played completely straight.
20452. Francis Urquhart - 5/31/2001 1:04:49 PM
SPECTACLE - C. The technical wizardry may have been there, but it seemed backyardish in many ways. Great, set 3 folks in a big hole and have Tunney cross a rickety ice bridge - lame. Blow up two guys while they hug - lame. The forever hopping off the copter. Lame. Final scene - totally boring - we are still the stupid hole.
Daddy's fall was good. The avalanche/hanging scene was fair.
PREMISE - D. The nitro was awful, and frankly, it was the premise.
ROBIN TUNNEY'S TITS -- F. See Gortex.
BILL PAXTON FACTOR -- B. It is always good to see Bill Paxton.
HEATHEN SAVAGES PRESENTED AS ENGLISH-ACCENTED, OXFORD-EDUCATED NORMAL PEOPLE -- A+. Agreed.
DVD EXTRAS: Not applicable.
But your grade is equivalent to the 10% you can get for "class participation."
20453. CalGal - 5/31/2001 1:18:30 PM
It's absurd to say that Vertical Limit is a D- movie, considering the shit that is out there. It is a marvellously cheesy B-movie that accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. The only problem was that the lead role cried out for Keanu.
The Dish is a wonderful little comedy about the moon landing that manages to be both suspenseful and touching.
20454. AceofSpades - 5/31/2001 1:22:44 PM
FU,
Does a C to you mean "average"?
If so, are you really claiming that VL is far below average? That would suggest that there are a great many movies better than VL, and only a relative handfull of flims worse than it. I think that's an untenable proposition.
20455. janjon - 5/31/2001 1:22:44 PM
Much of the dialogue in Best in Show, and therefore much of the flow of various scenes or situations (such as the hilarious scene where Parker Posey and whatever his name is reveal that their dog watchs them having sex, or the on-going "conversation" between the two commentators), was improvised.
The movie had a few flat spots, but on the whole it was quite a whoofer.
20456. don s. - 5/31/2001 3:26:00 PM
“The film you want is Jamon, Jamon. Much nudity.”
Ohhhh yeah. Made me a big fan of Javier Bardem. Some really nice frontal nudity (though not of Javier) when Bardem and his friend do some midnite naked bullfighting.
Sigh.
20457. glendajean - 5/31/2001 3:34:21 PM
I'd pay to watch that movie.
20458. JudithAtHome - 5/31/2001 4:15:00 PM
He wasn't too shabby in Before Night Falls clothed.
20459. don s. - 5/31/2001 5:18:33 PM
Yes, Before Night Falls had some nice Speedo action. But it couldn't compare with the shot of him clambering over a fence without a speedo.
20460. CalGal - 5/31/2001 11:45:22 PM
The Tao of Steve
Consistently amusing "little" movie, about a sloppy, fat, part-time kindergarten teacher who still manages to get laid whenever he wants--and the girl who finally lands this prize specimen.
Dex, a former overachieving college stud whose reasons for going to pot are never provided, believes in the Tao of Steve, a metaphor for the way life is lived by the coolest of the cool, the men who are Steve (Austin, Garreth, and McQueen). Of course, he only adopts that policy when it comes to getting laid--none of the Steves lived as he does, which is quintessentially Stu (the name of the uncool). His reasoning as to why the technique works and his explanations are the basis for the much of the comedy, which works very well.
And of course, he meets someone who he actually wants to be with and the entire strategy dissolves, just when he needs it most. But how to manage the affairs of the heart and still save face with his pals?
Donal Logue plays the rogue with a fat suit and some added weight (odd to think he was the AIDS poster boy in And The Band Played On) and the movie relies heavily on his charm, although all the performances are solid, with Kimo Wills standing out in the "junior roommate" role.
Like Free Enterprise, Tao is a pleasant change from the maudlin and moralizing relationship comedies of recent years--most notably High Fidelity, with its desperate snowjob on the desirability of settling for a dreary set of "shoulds", just because it's time. Lord knows a film's easier to take without an agenda.
20461. rubberducky - 6/1/2001 10:20:18 AM
interesting tidbit from infobeat:
How 'The Grinch' is still in the red
LOS ANGELES (Launch) - Despite closing 2000 as the year's top-grossing movie, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" has yet to make money - $123 million dollars of the film's $260 million domestic box office gross goes towards the original production budget. Thirty-four percent of the remaining $137 million then goes to director Ron Howard and star Jim Carrey as part of their backend participation deal, notes the Wall Street Journal. Throw in the 50% of the gross that studios typically split with exhibitors, and an estimated $40 million marketing and exhibit budget, and you've got Universal making no profit. The studio is also victim to "The Grinch's" disappointing foreign box office returns, which typically are the same or greater than the domestic gross. To date, "The Grinch" has grossed about $85 million overseas, just less than a third of its domestic take.
20462. rubberducky - 6/1/2001 10:24:09 AM
watched Space Cowboys last night. with lowered expectations, this is an enjoyable family movie. nothing in it you haven't seen before, so i won't pick it apart and tell you the plot-holes and such.
anyway, worth a rental if only to see some great actors with the occasional funny quip in an otherwise unremarkable movie.
3 out of 5 quacks
20463. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:21:09 AM
I read somewhere recently that studios also assign losses from stinkers to their big dollar grossing movies.
I saw Three Kings last night. Quirky war/western movie set in Iraq. Edited by the MTV school. I particularly liked the actor who played the Iraqi who tortured Mark Wahlburg's character, and Nora Dunn turned in a fine supporting role as a tough, bitchy network reporter. A group of Desert Storm soldiers go desert hunting after Kuwaiti bars of gold stolen by Sadaam Hussein that is rumored to be buried in desert bunkers.
Several surreal moments thrown in, including a vivid illustration of working internal body parts, a discussion of Michael Jackson's physical transformation, a cell phone call from the bunker torture chamber to the sweet wife back in the States, and luxury automobiles driving across the desert. George Clooney stars, using his tough but sweet guy shorthand that is reduced to grunts, stares and nods.
20464. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:24:35 AM
Oh, I forgot-- there are lots of lovely murals of Sadaam, in cap and gown, with children, as a military leader. Fun stuff, particularly if one has seen the South Park movie.
20465. Fielding - 6/1/2001 11:29:53 AM
"Despite closing 2000 as the year's top-grossing movie, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" has yet to make money - $123 million dollars of the film's $260 million domestic box office gross goes towards the original production budget.
This is why people are calling Pearl Harbor a Box Office disappointment.
20466. Fielding - 6/1/2001 11:35:20 AM
BTW, anybody interested in the Broadway run of Mamma Mia had better move fast. Center orchestra seats for matinees are already gone until next May.
If you want to see this, I recommend that you by your tickets today!
20467. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:37:01 AM
Yesterday we got Producer tickets for December.
20468. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 11:40:44 AM
This will sound so lame...yesterday I made reservations for I Love You; You're Perfect; Now Change for July 14...it opens this weekend and all weekends in June are sold out.
20469. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 11:41:34 AM
....not bad for a boring little city west of Dallas.
20470. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:43:15 AM
Judith, if it makes you feel any better, I think we got lousy seats and will probably only have the bragging right of saying we were in the room when Lane and Broderick were performingl
BTW, Tonys are on Sunday night.
20471. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 11:46:23 AM
Really? And here I was thinking Sunday nights would be boring after Tony and the crew left...I guess this week, we'll be getting a different type of Tony!
Will you be ready to dish on Monday about what everyone wore and who was robbed of recognition? I guess I'll tape Sex and the City and watch it after the Tonys...
20472. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:49:59 AM
Judith -- Lane has co-hosted the Tonys 2 times. In his first effort, he showed up on stage wearing only an apron (costume from Love, Valour, Compassion). So maybe it will be a question of what some are not wearing.
HBO's Six Feet Under also is debuting Sunday night along with the return of Sex.
20473. Fielding - 6/1/2001 11:51:59 AM
GJ:
What date are you going? I'm going in December too. Maybe I'll see you there.
20474. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:56:32 AM
Maybe the 13th? I'll check.
A good friend in Texas went last week and convinced my partner that we had to go. She of course had perfect orchestra seats.
Actually, I am pretty jazzed about seeing it. When we lived in DC, we used to drive up for theater weekends. Haven't done that in over a year.
20475. glendajean - 6/1/2001 11:58:11 AM
Caryn James' review of Six Feet Under in today's New York Times
20476. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 12:00:18 PM
I envy all of you who are going in December or whenever, really...I would love to see a play, any play, in NYC. I want to see if the place makes any difference in the enjoyment...because I enjoy the hell out of the plays here. Provincial of me, I know, but I can live with it!
20477. Fielding - 6/1/2001 12:01:10 PM
I have Center Orchestra for December 18th, IIRC.
20478. glendajean - 6/1/2001 12:06:49 PM
Judith, we always bought tickets ahead of time for the one show we wanted to see, and then went to TKTS (usually the one in the World Trade Center) for additional half-price tickets. In 2 or 3 days you can see a lot of theater, blow a day in the Met Museum and do one or two other things as well. The feet hurt and there's no sleeping in, though.
20479. glendajean - 6/1/2001 12:07:46 PM
Let me try this again. Caryn James review in today's NY Times.
20480. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 12:08:04 PM
That review whets my appetite for the show...the girl playing the daughter was destined to be a star from the first time she appeared on Law&Order as a rape victim and mentally challenged teen.
20481. Fielding - 6/1/2001 12:08:09 PM
Judith:
If you saw the right play or musical in New York, you would love it. When everything hits perfectly, it is almost magical.
The Producers and Mamma Mia are hot tickets right now, but the next big hyped thing is the FREE, outdoor performance of Anton Checkov's The Seagull, adapted by Tom Stoppard, which stars John Goodman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Allison Janney, Kevin Kline, Debra Monk, Larry Pine, Natalie Portman, Stephen Spinella, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken. Oh, and its directed by Mike Nichols.
20482. glendajean - 6/1/2001 12:08:33 PM
God, I've lost my power to link.
review
20483. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 12:10:22 PM
Jeez, Fielding...when is THAT one due? I didn't realize there were that many roles in The Seagull .
20484. Fielding - 6/1/2001 12:15:21 PM
I think Tom Stoppard has broadened it a bit. With Stoppard, you often get flashbacks and reality tricks, so anything is possible.
Its part of Shakespeare in the Park, and it will run about 4 weeks from mid-July to mid-August.
20485. JudithAtHome - 6/1/2001 12:16:26 PM
Is this the same sort of thing Joseph Papp used to do in the park?
20486. Fielding - 6/1/2001 12:23:52 PM
Yes.
20487. glendajean - 6/1/2001 3:30:32 PM
Slate article by Jodi Kantor about HBO, sex and the Sunday night shows Sex in the City and Six Feet Under.
20488. glendajean - 6/1/2001 3:30:59 PM
There is a SPOILER warning at the beginning of the story.
20489. CalGal - 6/1/2001 3:41:03 PM
Nice article, although it really doesn't give much away. She's right that The Sopranos and Sex in the City center entirely on subjects that the networks are constricted by (violence and sex).
20490. Cellar Door - 6/1/2001 11:08:38 PM
At the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Sunday June 17 at 3:30 p.m.
Out of the Closet, Off the Screen: The Life & Times of William Haines, a new documentary by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, featuring Gavin Lambert and Cellar Door.
20491. Francis Urquhart - 6/2/2001 8:57:12 AM
Ace
Here is a late answer to your question of a few days ago.
A grade of "C" does mean "average" to me, but average only in regard to action/disaster films I actually see. "Vertical Limit" does not improve by the existence of Anna Nicole Smith's "Skyscraper" or Dolph Lundgren's "I Come in Peace."
Here are my grades for the last action/disaster pictures I can remember seeing:
Gladiator B
Enemy of the State B
The Matrix B
The Sixth Day C+
Pitch Black C
X-Men C
U-571 C-
Deep Blue Sea D
Vertical Limit D-
Mission Impossible 2 F
Gone in 60 Seconds F
20492. AceofSpades - 6/3/2001 12:11:16 AM
A grade of "C" does mean "average" to me, but average only in regard to action/disaster films I actually see. "Vertical Limit" does not improve by the existence of Anna Nicole Smith's "Skyscraper" or Dolph Lundgren's "I Come in Peace."
"I Come in Peace" actually -- seriously -- was pretty decent.
20493. Indiana Jones - 6/3/2001 9:02:59 AM
Rented Woman on Top and Crime and Punishment in Suburbia.
I've noticed lately an almost inevitable synchronicity whenever I rent more than one DVD or receive two at the same time from NetFlix. Sometimes it's much of the action of the film occurs in the same city (e.g., Las Vegas), a common character actor (Thomas Mitchell--but then considering how many films this man appears in, that's not that unusual at all), or an almost identical character, or characters with identical names. Weird.
The weird coincidence this week is that Francis mentioned up thread that Penelope Cruz was attractive in an Ellen Barkin sort of way, which I'm thinking maybe he meant as a joke because the two women don't look similar at all to me. Anyhow, the female lead in Woman on Top is Penelope Cruz, and who should show up in Crime and Punishment in Suburbia as the second female, but Ellen Barkin? Completely unintentional on my part.
(Ellen Barkin looks even less like Penelope Cruz in this film than previously as her face is getting pretty rough. I didn't even recognize her to tell the truth until I started listening to the director's commentary. She still has a nice chest, though, and has just the right looks for this part.)
20494. Indiana Jones - 6/3/2001 9:10:26 AM
(Toys--Should have previewed.)
Woman on Top starts out kind of promising, although the food = sex thing is getting a little shopworn lately. It had a foreign feel to it, and I watched it with the Spanish subtitles on so I could try to brush up on my Spanish at the same time.
It soon lost all interest and was amazingly tedious for such a short film (I think it was about 80 minutes or something). The basic plot is Cruz has severe motion sickness and needs to be in control of her movements at all time--including sex. She's one helluva cook though.
Her male partner puts up with her needing to be on top for a couple of years (they both love each other with a hot chili pepper kind of passion), but then gets caught screwing around. Exit Penelope to America (LA, IIRC). The rest of the film is about boyfriend trying to retrieve Penelope, who gets a cooking show that all the men are watching because of the way she slices and dices.
You can likely fill in the rest of the story and the outcome yourself. Will the TV show have a male producer who is also after Penelope? Will the two lovers be reunited and all be right with the world at the end? Will Penelope overcome her motion sickness, and/or will her lover come to appreciate her for who she is?
20495. Indiana Jones - 6/3/2001 9:17:17 AM
One last comment re Woman on Top: does anyone else see the following pattern in male-female foils?
A male foil (the buddy, or whatever) will usually be more normal and gray than the male lead. His head will be on better, but he'll also be kind of drab--grounded.
A female foil (the buddy, or whatever) will usually be whacked out more than the female lead. She'll have bizarre clothes or hairstyle or lifestyle. Aside from knowing how to advise the heroine, her own life will be in even worse shape.
In Woman on Top, Penelope Cruz's best friend/foil is a black transvestite. Based on movies and TV, I'm beginning to think all single women are advised by some combination of lesbian transvestite drug addict, who is usually black.
20496. Indiana Jones - 6/3/2001 9:29:54 AM
Crime and Punishment in Suburbia is sort of an American Beauty meets Fyodor Dostoyevsky with a contemporary soundtrack a la the Gwyneth Paltrow Great Expectations.
Most reviews appear to have pooh-poohed the Dostoyevsky connection (and sticking it in the title is hopelessly pretentious, which describes this film in general, but teenagers are a lot like this movie in that they often do see everything as overwhelmingly important and that which is not particularly original as unique to their experience). I do think the Dostoyevsky elements are there, though, albeit from other books besides the namesake.
In particular, Vincent reminded me of Prince Mishkin, and the overall plot was a little more reminiscent of Brothers Karamazov. Like Dostoyevsky, it reaches too far and as a result is hopelessly muddled.
I linked the Ebert review because it's so typically Ebert. I can just see him oozing in his chair with unnecessary, over-the-top earnestness about this movie. IMO, he's right about several things, but it's sure not good enough to warrant the level of praise he glops on it.
It's sort of okay because it does try to do more than just exploit teenagers. But it's uncomfortable, ugly film that flops generally and isn't particularly well made.
The Michael Ironside stepfather--while horrific--almost rises to the level of a Dostoyevskian character. The best touch is having him so incapable of physically defending himself, despite his menacing physicality.
20497. TabouliJones - 6/3/2001 1:39:23 PM
I went to see Moulin Rouge on Friday. For the most part I enjoyed it, although at times the movie was dragged down by the director's vaulting ambitions. My favourite critic, Rick Groen of the Globe and Mail, sums up the experience nicely:
"The musical is the most delicate of movie genres --the fragile magic either works or it doesn't. Although hardly perfect, Moulin Rouge is a must-see if only because Baz Luhrmann, drawing upon every directorial trick in his vast arsenal, goes to impressive lengths to reinvigorate the movie musical. And yet, when all is sung and done, the poor thing remains as fragile as ever. Here, the magic flickers on and off like alternating current, and the result is a film as giddily unpredictable as the love it celebrates --enervating one moment, thrilling the next."
Oddly enough, I went to see this movie with me ex-girlfriend. The last movie we saw on the big screen was Titanic, which turned out to be a miserable experience for the both of us, given the sinking ship and all.
20498. JudithAtHome - 6/3/2001 1:50:07 PM
This looks like a trend in the making:
The Reviewer Who Wasn't There
Sony resorts to some questionable marketing practices to promote new movies
What next? Fake popcorn?
20499. JudithAtHome - 6/3/2001 6:48:44 PM
Anthony Quinn....RIP
20500. stostosto - 6/3/2001 7:14:36 PM
What next? Fake popcorn?
Fake audience. The studio buys all the tickets.
20501. glendajean - 6/4/2001 12:26:07 PM
Imongen Coco and Anthony Quinn. Whose is the third?
20502. Cellar Door - 6/4/2001 12:37:07 PM
Arlene Francis.
20503. JudithAtHome - 6/4/2001 12:39:35 PM
Oh, that's right! Quinn was the third....
Cellar, I would love to have your insights about Alan Ball added to the discussion of Six Feet Under in the TV thread...
20504. glendajean - 6/4/2001 12:40:36 PM
When did she die? She always wore pearls in contrast to Dorothy Killgalin's I'm the smart one act" on "What's My Line."
If she just died, that would be 3.
20505. JudithAtHome - 6/4/2001 12:44:18 PM
GJ:
Thursday or Friday...
20506. Cellar Door - 6/4/2001 1:06:33 PM
I interviewed Ball the other day as I'm working on my annual Gays in Hollywood piece for "Daily Variety."
20507. ElliottRW - 6/4/2001 1:27:06 PM
Shrek Excellent movie. Just one note of caution: when the blue bird starts singing a duet with Fiona, don't let your sensitive, bird-loving five-year-old watch. It's an hilarious parody, so you'll want to watch; it's just not for small children.
20508. CalGal - 6/4/2001 3:57:32 PM
The immediate follow up to the bluebird scene is one of the best giggles in the movie.
20509. Toenails - 6/4/2001 6:06:55 PM
Cellar: You do an annual "gays in Hollywood" piece?
'Sounds an awful lot like a "dog bites man" story to me.
20510. rubberducky - 6/4/2001 10:13:42 PM
sigh
i have the best b/f in the world. one of my gifts for my upcoming b-day is the GI Joe Collector's Edition DVD with all 25 of the Joe 'public service' announcements! (that's where you see some kid get locked in a frig or start a fire and some Joe comes up and tells them no, now they know, and that's 'half the battle'.)
anyhoo, this particular edition is a rare find and i love it!
and to those of you who marvel at my geekdom: nyah, nyah, na-nyah-nyah
20511. CalGal - 6/4/2001 10:37:37 PM
Wow, that is very cool. Way to go, Ripley!
And happy day, Ducky!
20512. CalGal - 6/4/2001 10:42:16 PM
I have been pondering Anthony Quinn's resume, and for all the longevity, it appears that all of his best movies were made between 1952 and 1965, a period of less than 15 years.
He is one of those actors whose career was actually kicked off by an Oscar win, after nearly twenty years in B films with few notable movies (often he was the best thing in them). I believe that all his great movies were made between Viva Zapata (1952) through High Wind in Jamaica (1965). The rest of his sixties output is variable, and I don't believe he ever did anything decent after that, did he?
My favorite Quinn performances and films are Lawrence of Arabia, High Wind in Jamaica and The Guns of Navarone. He is excellent in Lust for Life and La Strada but they really aren't any fun to watch. I haven't seen Zorba the Greek and a few of his other famous roles, but I'd be surprised if any of them could outrank these on my favorites list, even if I might find them better (an unlikely enough prospect).
20513. Cellar Door - 6/5/2001 10:15:10 AM
Not really, Toenails. Each year it's a different man and a different dog.
And sometimes it's a "man bites dog" story.
I'm going to be interviewing Carol Leifer next week. She's writing Ellen's new show, and is a way cool writer and performer in her own right. Talkign to writers and directors is so much more fun than talking to performers.
I'm rather shocked that "La Strada" has so seldom been mentioned in press coverage of Quinn. It's an amazing film, and an amazing performance of a truly remarkable character. "Raging Bull" wouldn't have been unthinkable without the preceden "La Strada" provides. The last scene of him collapsing on the beach is incredibly moving.
20514. Francis Urquhart - 6/5/2001 10:30:33 AM
I saw Bridget Jones's Diary. It is below Notting Hill (significantly) and a little below Four Weddings and a Funeral. Still, it passes nicely, though it flirts with so debasing our heroine (Rene Zellwegger) that it gets harder and harder to root for her eventual romantic triumph. But Colin Firth and especially Hugh Grant, as the rake, are excellent as her suitors, and many of the gags play well (those that don't tend to fall flat because the film is overstuffed with gags). Grade: B-.
20515. rubberducky - 6/5/2001 11:28:26 AM
Ripley and i were both not feeling that great this weekend (thanks to intermittent rain and hot-no-cold-no-hot-really-cold-nah-hot weather the past couple of weeks in Ohio), so we rented some movies.
first up was Shadow of the Vampire which was an odd, but enjoyable movie. Willem Dafoe was just fantastic as the not-Dracula Dracula. superb. i can't say enough about him. the facial tics, the gestures - he was "Count Orlock". why he didn't win an award for this is beyond me. he has to have turned in one of the best performances for 2000. Malkovich was also great as the cruel and calculating (almost more inhuman than the vampire) director who wants authenticity at any cost.
the story centers on Malkovich's character, F.W. Murnau, who is making his 'masterpiece' Nosferatu, but really it's about the lengths that some people will go to in order to achieve their own desires as he offers up one of his own stars to the vampire as his reward for making his movie
the film had flaws, but they were minimal. the opening credits seemed to last a solid 5 minutes. there was a little overacting, but overall this is minimized by some excellent direction, wonderful sets and a smart and somewhat tight script.
i'd recommend this to anyone who likes a non-slapstick sometimes comedic sometimes horrific look at the monster that is within all of us.
4 and quacks out of 5.
20516. rubberducky - 6/5/2001 11:28:46 AM
oops remove that last 'and'
20517. rubberducky - 6/5/2001 11:34:42 AM
the other movie we rented was Bless the Child which was the seemingly inspired by End of Days religious 'thriller'.
the movie was just dumb. not much else to say. the villain (the hero from the much loved Dark City) was just a loser. Kim Basinger was an inept stooge throughout the entire thing.
it had a couple of good moments - Ricci's part (most particularly her head) were well used. other than that, this was nothing you haven't seen before. yet another kid who could be the next christ/prophet/bubba/saint and the evil dudes who wanna taint her. Yawn.
1 and 1/2 quacks out of 5.
20518. Webfeet - 6/5/2001 12:04:53 PM
Michel and I have been on an Eric Rohmer festival since december and are going to watch Ma Nuit Chez Maude tonight. We've seen them all, practically, except Marquise d'O.
Has Rohmer ever been discussed in this thread? I think his morality tales are among the most famous, especially Claire's Knee.
But there are many good ones out there tucked in the shelves of the foreign film section that could get easily overlooked. One is Boyfriends and Girlfriends which looks like a corny '80s love farce, which it almost is, except that the awkward way the two leads fall in love is genuinely poignant and you can't help but root for them in the end.
20519. CalGal - 6/5/2001 12:33:18 PM
I believe that Cellar loves Rohmer. I went through a period of trying to understand French film last year, but never got around to Rohmer. My Night at Maud's and Claire's Knee is on my queue at Netflix. I haven't ever heard of Boyfriends and Girlfriends.
20520. Cellar Door - 6/5/2001 3:22:15 PM
It's very good.
"An Autumn Tale" is excellent, but my favorite is "Summer" (aka "Le Rayon Vert")
I also like "The Aviator's Wife," and "Four Adventures of Reinette et Mirabelle."
"Claire's Knee" introduced Pascale Greggory -- who was later snapped up (personally as well as professionally) by Patrice Chereau.
20521. Cellar Door - 6/5/2001 3:23:09 PM
Somebody just posted this in "Datalounge":
NEW YORK: International mega star Tom Cruise has filed a $200 million law suit in the Suffolk County municipal court after learning the Julius Levin, a 24-year old assistant chef at Boticelli's in East Hampton, has been masturbating to his image for the past year. The Cruise lawsuit states: "Although Mr. Cruise is flattered by Levin's choice of sexual imagery and personal fantasies, he wants the press to understand that he shall never be an object of this gay man's fantasies, and does not even know Mr. Levin. Furthermore, Mr. Cruise has repeatedly stated that he can prove he is not gay and thathe is really, really 'str8' (his words)." Levin, whose penchant for the 38-year old actor was discussed as he was having brunch with two female friends, was reported to have stated that e had an 8X10 glossy of Mr. Cruise which he purchased from E-bay that he keeps under his bed. Mr. Levin could not be reached for comment, but a friend of the openly gay restauranteur who wished not to be identified stated: "This is totally f**ked up".
20522. Webfeet - 6/5/2001 3:35:07 PM
I warn you, Rohmer is addicting if you're inclined to that sort of philosophically discursive film that can either confirm all french stereotypes or make you appreciate the french character in a different light. What I appreciate most about his films is the way he forces you to see people in all of their dimensions, not just what they represent at one moment, in one context. The essence is you are more than the sum of how others define you and usually the character in question finds someone who will love them for what and who they really are. (they are usually rejected by others first)
By American standards, many of his characters would be labelled 'losers' and there is that awful tendency shaped in part by cultural expectations, to judge people by these trite little conventions, but he makes you see that the way we sometimes judge people is false and in doing so, exposes our own limitations.
Sometimes Rohmer introduces
20523. JudithAtHome - 6/5/2001 3:43:03 PM
Cellar:
That may be a joke but he did institute another lawsuit against someone claiming to have had sex with him...with tapes to prove it, allegedly.
20524. Webfeet - 6/5/2001 3:48:47 PM
I adore Reinette and Mirabelle but the lead in Le Rayon Vert sometimes got so hysterical with her vegetarianism, loneliness and need for lightness, that she began to kill me.
But in the end, she finds love, she just wasn't with the right people. that was a great scene with that little Swedish flirt on the terrace. I thought that the dialogue they shared with those two men must have been replicated in dozens of conversation in dozens of outdoor bars on the Mediterranean.
20525. Cellar Door - 6/5/2001 6:30:39 PM
That's what I like about him, Webby. He risks presenting us with a character that most people would reflexively dismiss as a pain in the ass and allows us to see her in a complex way. As a result we find we're rooting for her in the last reel.
20526. CalGal - 6/5/2001 6:47:34 PM
I just read that "What's The Worst That Could Happen" is based on a Westlake Dortmunder book. That's incredibly depressing, to ruin great source material. And it could have been excellent, with that cast.
Anyone looking for the true essence of Westlake is directed to The Hot Rock, which stars Redford at his most cool, Ron Liebman, and Zero Mostel. Not to be missed.
20527. Cellar Door - 6/5/2001 7:53:29 PM
Then there are Westlake's "Richard Stark" books. Two have been made into film classics: "Point Blank" and "Made in U.S.A."
20528. MaxMacks - 6/5/2001 8:13:24 PM
off the subject now but could not get my post in earlier to
say that I have seen Lawrence of Arabia" maybe
3or 4 times and have surprised some who did not know that Alec Guiness had principal part.
But you, Cal GAl, surprised me when you wrote
that A. Quinn was in that movie.
What was his part?
20529. CalGal - 6/5/2001 8:17:38 PM
Cellar,
I haven't read Westlake's Richard Stark books, I guess--although I really thought I had run through everything of his at the library a few years ago.
Max,
"Thy mother mated with a scorpion!"
20530. JudithAtHome - 6/5/2001 8:17:39 PM
He played Auda abu Tayi, whoever that is....
20531. CalGal - 6/5/2001 8:20:51 PM
He's the Bedouin chieftain that Lawrence has to convince to cross the desert to Aqaba.
20532. MaxMacks - 6/6/2001 2:51:35 PM
Was he the guy who shot at Lawrence/O'Toole
when Lawrence was using a well?
20533. MaxMacks - 6/6/2001 2:52:47 PM
how nice to get a post posted right away.
Hi Judith, amazing that you knew Auda abu Tayi!
20534. JudithAtHome - 6/6/2001 2:54:40 PM
Max...I just looked it up on the Internet Movie Database. It's listed in the yellow bar on the right of the screen near the top of the page. It's really handy for movie and even TV questions...
20535. CalGal - 6/6/2001 3:06:27 PM
Max,
No, that was Omar Sharif.
20536. CalGal - 6/6/2001 3:15:33 PM
Quinn is in the foreground, Sharif in the background.
20537. rubberducky - 6/6/2001 6:04:43 PM
has nobody commented on this from Today's Papers'?
USAT reefers news that Blockbuster, where more Americans get their videos than from any other source, has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit which claimed that the video pusher's late-return policy resulted in exorbitant fees. The dispute centered on Blockbuster's practice of charging customers a full rental fee for each day a tape was late (i.e. a five-day rental that cost a total of $2.99 would cost an additional $2.99 each day it was late.) Blockbuster -- which didn't admit to any wrongdoing -- agreed to issue customers up to $450 million in free coupons. Go get your slice of the pie (limited to a max of $18 per person).
20538. CalGal - 6/6/2001 6:53:42 PM
Anyone can get it? Cool. I did read it last night and meant to mention it.
It's funny--I was regularly reamed by their late fees and all this time I just figured it was me. I had no idea that they were that high. I quit Blockbuster, in part because of the late fees, back in March of 2000.
20539. rubberducky - 6/6/2001 6:56:00 PM
i rent from them only on impulse when Ripley and i are between netflix movies.
and, yeah, their fees are insane. it's one reason i was sooo happy to get into netflix.
20540. MaxMacks - 6/6/2001 8:06:03 PM
Judith AH , ya I knew you looked it up.
That is a great place for movie trivia info.
Cal Gal....so cool that you can not only find
a scene from a movie but then put it on here.
20541. Shannon - 6/6/2001 11:16:50 PM
Hubby went to Blockbuster last night. They're handing out legal notices with their receipts now. Too funny.
We have a Blockbuster about 5 minutes away, and the next closest place is 20 minutes, so we rent there when we're lazy. Like last night in the pouring rain when we needed kid amusement.
He also rented Best in Show, which we thoroughly enjoyed.
20542. Toenails - 6/6/2001 11:27:25 PM
OK, everybody warned me...the people on this thread, the critics, everybody, but I had to see Pearl Harbor for myself--just it case it wasn't quite as awful as they said it was.
Don't go, don't GO! It was perfectly awful...the worst piece of utter garbage I've seen since the last Sylvester Stallone feature.
The storyline is juvenile, derivative, unconvincing and trite. The dialogue sounds like something out of Harold Robbins.
The action sequences are technically unimpressive and mostly feature lots and lots (and LOTS) of big, fiery explosions.
The whole thing would make a great video game.
20543. MsIvoryTower - 6/6/2001 11:31:42 PM
I rented Finding Forester yesterday. I found the performances by Sean Connery and Brown(?) quite moving. I liked the closeness shown between Brown and his family, even though his father was no longer in the picture. I rarely see such normalcy portrayed about inner city black families.
The scene where F. Murray Abrams indirectly accuses Jamal of turning in plagerized work was also a killer for me. The assumptions he made were painful, but rang true. I did a similar thing to a young student during my year of student teaching, when I was fresh out of my teacher training program.
I will never forget the experience, the assumptions I made, and my guilt about it. I still think about the girl (she was a mediocre student, and I thought her a young blonde airhead), and the erroneous accusations I made about her work. Although I learned a very valuable lesson from the experience, I never got the chance to tell the girl that I had been wrong to make the assumptions I did.
Anyways, I really liked this movie. I've been thinking about it all day, which I always see as a barometer of a good movie.
20544. MaxMacks - 6/7/2001 12:05:25 AM
Toenails -20502. In a quite recent New Yorker magagine there was one of the funniest , scathing, movie reviews of Pearl Harbor that
I've read in some while.
20545. CalGal - 6/7/2001 12:08:09 AM
Ms,
I thought the story was terrible and hackneyed, but the performances were both solid, particularly Brown's. I can see why the plagiarism scene would resonate with you, but the problem is that the teacher wasn't anything more than a hack. The story would have been much more interesting had your experience been used, I think.
20546. CalGal - 6/7/2001 12:09:57 AM
I was flipping through the channels and came across LA Confidential, which really isn't seen at its best on TNT.
Still, I watched it for a bit, because the three leads are terrific. In retrospect, I think Spacey's performance comes off the best. At the time, Crowe and Pearse were the surprises whereas everyone had grown to expect it from Spacey. But when I watch it now, I watch it for his Jack Vincennes. Or maybe I just like quirky, funny, resigned, and cynical in a guy. Combined with cool clothes, of course.
20547. MsIvoryTower - 6/7/2001 8:35:36 AM
Cal
I liked the story. Abrams was a hack, I agree, but I thought a lot of the story was interesting.
It would have been better, though, had Abrams not made the multiple mistakes he did, I think most teachers in real life would not compound such an error once it's apparent they're wrong. Then they would have had to think of another way to get Connery to come to the boy's rescue (which was also a bit hackneyed).
20548. CalGal - 6/7/2001 8:40:22 AM
A bit? All it needed was Pacino. To say nothing of the fact that all the trailers showed the scene, so you knew it was coming.
I thought the basketball playing scene between the two charity kids was terrific.
20549. MsIvoryTower - 6/7/2001 8:42:49 AM
Well, I didn't see the trailers. I hate Pacino, and I've never seen Scent of a Woman, for which I'm grateful.
The basketball scene was excellent. So was the last sport scene where Paquin's father makes a deal with Jamal, and the boy loses the game (I think) deliberately.
20550. MsIvoryTower - 6/7/2001 8:46:12 AM
Actually, the way I was hoping Connery would reveal his relationship with Jamal was to offer to read his piece in the contest. The conversation they had about authors reading their work was very funny, I thought, and so true.
The story would have been better had the connection been revealed in a non-rescue event, but would have had just as much punch.
20551. glendajean - 6/7/2001 10:41:47 AM
I thought the kid deserved a nomination for best actor. He really handled the part well.
Funny about the Abram scene. When I was visiting friends a few weeks ago, they were telling John Silber stories. Silber was Dean of Arts and Sciences at UT-Austin back in the 60s. He was also something of a dictator/bully in his classes. He always claimed he was merely practicing the Socratic method, but he could be fairly brutal. Anyway, my friend talked about how he made some factual statement about a city in Europe and a female student raised her hand and corrected him. He screamed at her, stood over her chair, told her she was wrong