Originally Posted by El Loro:
P.S. I Love You is moderately good but is too long. I preferred Truly Madly Deeply which has some similarities.
I thought P.S I Love You was crap
- the Irish scenery is attractiveWaterloo Road (1945) 8.5/10
Win Win (2011) 8/10
Ed Wood (1994) 10/10 3rd viewing
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Ed Wood (1994) 10/10 3rd viewing
I don't know if you look at the obituaries thread, but on 13 May I posted this:
I haven't seen The Adjustment Bureau, but do you happen to know why it was called this instead of The Adjustment Team which is the name of Philip K Dick's story?
When I first heard of this film I thought at first that it was connected with The Assassination Bureau (1969) with Oliver Reed and Diana Rigg, but there is no connection.
I wouldn't think anyone would confuse this with The A Team.
Originally Posted by El Loro:
I haven't seen The Adjustment Bureau, but do you happen to know why it was called this instead of The Adjustment Team which is the name of Philip K Dick's story?
.
I have no idea why they changed it
Considering the fame of Bonnie and Clyde (1967), it may seem slightly surprising that I had never seen it, so when it was reshown on television a few days ago I recorded it and saw it yesterday. I had seen the last scene before on documentaries, so I knew what to expect. An excellent film, well worth its reputation, and full of touches which made this memorable.
Although Warren Beatty was already established, this film brought Faye Dunaway and Gene Hackman to success. And it was also another Gene's first significant role - Gene Wilder.
Arthur Penn was influenced by the French New Wave, and it shows,
I saw Badlands (1973) when it was released, and I can see how Bonnie and Clyde influenced this.
Edes Anna (1958) 8/10
Stella Dallas (1937) 9/10
I saw the classic His Girl Friday (1940) yesterday with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Also had Ralph Bellamy. Briiliant dialogue at break neck speed. Also a few injokes in the film. For instance the mayor says "Whistling in the dark. Well that isn't going to help you this time. You're through.". And Cary Grant replies "Listen the last man that said that to me was Archie Leach just a week before he cut his throat.". Archie Leach was Cary Grant's real name. There was a similar injoke in Grant's later film Arsenic and Old LAce.
Originally Posted by El Loro:
I saw the classic His Girl Friday (1940) yesterday with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Also had Ralph Bellamy. Briiliant dialogue at break neck speed. Also a few injokes in the film. For instance the mayor says "Whistling in the dark. Well that isn't going to help you this time. You're through.". And Cary Grant replies "Listen the last man that said that to me was Archie Leach just a week before he cut his throat.". Archie Leach was Cary Grant's real name. There was a similar injoke in Grant's later film Arsenic and Old LAce.
One of the funniest films i have seen
Born Yesterday (1950) with Judy Holliday in her best film reprising her role she played on stage 4 years before (Jean Arthur was supposed to have played the role on stage but pulled out just before the play opened). A serious comedy. The film was originally intended for Rita Hayworth but she was on sabbatical having just married. Apparently Marilyn Monroe was also tested for the role.
Originally Posted by El Loro:
Born Yesterday (1950) . Apparently Marilyn Monroe was also tested for the role.
Very glad she didnt get the role
Black Swan - 4/10....melodramatic tosh
. It did prompt me to go on Amazon and order a copy of the 1992 restored version of The Red Shoes - looking forward to that!
I saw Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) yesterday. An excellent nautical film well written and acted with an authentic feel to what life would have been like. Confusing at times, but that is to be expected in the heat of battle.
The name of the enemy ship Acheron, described at one point as a hell ship, was the name of one of the rivers in Hades in Greek mythology, so well named.
There is also a touch of humour at times, for instance:
Capt. Jack Aubrey: Do you see those two weevils doctor?
Dr. Stephen Maturin: I do.
Capt. Jack Aubrey: Which would you choose?
Dr. Stephen Maturin: [sighs annoyed] Neither; there is not a scrap a difference between them. They are the same species of Curculio.
Capt. Jack Aubrey: If you had to choose. If you were forced to make a choice. If there was no other response...
Dr. Stephen Maturin: [Exasperated] Well then if you are going to *push* me...
[the doctor studies the weevils briefly]
Dr. Stephen Maturin: ...I would choose the right hand weevil; it has... significant advantage in both length and breadth.
[the captain thumps his fist in the table]
Capt. Jack Aubrey: There, I have you! You're completely dished! Do you not know that in the service...
[pauses]
Capt. Jack Aubrey: ...one must always choose the lesser of two weevils.
[the officers burst out in laughter]
A Child Is Waiting (1963) 8.5/10
Le Beau Serge (1958) 7.5/10
I resaw Beetlejuice (1988). One of the insanest madcap films I've seen, though the first tiem I saw it I enjoyed it more than a second time around as it was possibly the first Tim Burton film I had seen so it took me by surprise. And the music by Danny Elfman really helped.
Morgen (2010) 8.5/10
Devil (2010) 4/10
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
I saw this early Frank Capra film a couple of years ago when it was shown on television. IMDB trivia says:
This film was made before the days of process screen photography, so few special effects were employed. In a testament to the actors' bravery and dedication to their craft, David Manners recalled that he and Barbara Stanwyck had to work near live lions, separated only by invisible netting. The actor said: "I could smell their breath". Similarly, during the climactic fire scene, Stanwyck had to stand amid real blazing fires, swirling smoke, and falling timbers.
Thats the brilliant thing about old films, you dont see any of the ridiculous over the top cgi that you always see in films today
The Maid (La nana) (2009) 8.5/10 2nd viewing
Jovana Lukina (1979) 7.5/10
Yesterday I saw a travelogue about Italy - it was quite attractive showing Rome, Venice and the Italian countryside.
There's not a lot else I can say about Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) as the story was very slight. I think it may have been made following the success of Roman Holiday made in the previous year as Maggie McNamara could have been selected as an Audrey Hepburn clone. The opening scene is meant to be a travelogue with the song which got an Oscar. Unusually the singer was not mentioned in the credits, but it was obviously Frank Sinatra.
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
That is a film that I want to see but it never seems to get shown on the Freeview TV channels. From what I've heard the acting is outstanding and goes to show that Burgess Meredith was a fine actor even though he seems to be remembered most for The Penguin.
The film is on youtube (i got it through lovefilm)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Ww8BKxtZU
The acting is brilliant and the part of Lenny wasnt overracted at all
I resaw the classic Laura (1944), an excellent film. 3 minor points. Firstly in the scene where Dana Andrews meets Clifton Webb, Webb is sitting in his bath tub. If you look closely, there a a couple of times where you can see that Webb was wearing swimming trunks - this is confirmed on IMDB.
Secondly, having seen this film before I was able to appreciate some of the minor roles more. Of particular note was the maid played by the uncredited Dorothy Adams.
Thirdly, the poem which was included in Webb's radio broadcast was by Ernest Dowson:
"Vitae Summa Brevis"
"They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses: (source of the 1962 film)
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for awhile, then closes
Within a dream."
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
I think The Hudsucker Proxy is one of those films which you need to be in the right mood to appreciate it. I've only seen it the once and thoroughly enjoyed it though it is a very strange film. I thought of it as if Fellini at his most extravagant (such as Roma) trying to make a Frank Capra film whilst high on drugs.
Strangely enough the film was made in the same year as The Road to Wellville, another very strange film, and both dealing in a highly fictionlised way with the development of well known real products - the frisbee in the former and Corn Flakes in the latter.
I thought the performances in Hudsucker Proxy were very good and is the reason i didnt rate the film lower than a 5
Deep End (1970) 7/10
Originally Posted by jackassfan:
Deep End (1970) 7/10
I am probably one of the small number of people who saw this at the cinema when it was first released.
The Ninth Gate (1999) or should that be 1666 which is when the book being seached for was written.
The end of this intriguing Roman Polanski film is ambiguous as it ends with Johnny Depp walking towards to the light shining through the now opened 9th gate but doesn't show what happened next. And who really is the mysterious girl? I'm guessing that she is the whore of Babylon who at the end of the film seduces Johnny Depp, and he walks through the gate to see that she gives birth to Lucifer the antiChrist.
Paju (2009) 7/10
Dark Passage (1947) 8.5/10
Zmory (1979) 7/10
I started watching the Japanese animated version of Metropolis (2001) but gave up as it didn't work for me. That's possibly because I have seen the original a few times, and the animated version just didn't give me the sense of awe of the original. Also some of the scenes were intended to be humerous but not to me.
I saw Cheyenne Autumn (1964), John Ford's last western. A good sombre account of the mistreatment of Cheyennes by the white man though not without its faults. Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland were the two lead Cheyennes but neither were native Indians. But the main fault was the out of place section in the middle of the film involving 4 Texans and Wyatt Earp (played by James Stewart). This section had no real connection with the rest of the film and belonged to another film. The film was long enough as it was and this just seemed to be put in to make the film longer. It seems that Ford had put this in as a sort of intermission.
Hesher (2010) 6/10
I saw Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948). This was directed by Max Ophuls and starred Joan Fontaine giving one of her best performances such as it is hard to think that the film could have been made with any other actress, Although an American film, it felt much more like an European film.
I saw Letter From An Unknown Woman about 4 years ago and thought it was a great film
I saw two very different films. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) is a delightful Japanese animated film with as much for adults as for children and is free of violence and catastrophes.
The Spy in Black (1939) a WW1 story filmed on the eve of WW2. This is an important British film as it is the first time that Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger worked together. Although not credited in the titles Alexander Korda was involved as producer and the film was made at the Denham film studios, Korda's base. The music was by Miklos Rozsa who worked on some of the Korda films. Powell was to work with Korda and Rozsa a year later on The Thief of Bagdad.