Now that I have retired I have the time to re – watch and seek out films that I have either seen or want to see. I cannot think of a better lighthouse than Roger Ebert. I have been an ardent fan for my whole life and will be deeply saddened when he no longer will write. I can think of no one who possesses a consensus consciousness as he does. Never tainted by class structure, intellectuality, prejuidice or an enourmous ego he continues to critizise and examine film as The Common Man. Never ever being far from his own humanity, gut feelings and his personal demons he looks for the dream within the vision. A true renaissance man.
How come nobody has mentioned Eyes Without a Face and The Blood of the Beasts? Even though Eyes Without a Face is rather dated it still stands out in 2009. If you’re going to be talking about French Horror Films you should at least give Eyes Without a Face “an homage”. Even though others have surpassed it, it still stands as a landmark film for it’s time. I can just imagine how audiences responded to it back in the late fifties. It broke new ground.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE JOHN WATERS. HE IS MORE THAN JUST A FILM MAKER. HE IS AN ANTHROPOLOGIST, SOCIOLOGIST AND PSYCHOLOGIST OF AMERICAN CULTURE. HIS VISION OF WHAT ALBERT CAMUS USED TO CALL “HAVING TO STAND NAKED IN THE FACE OF THE ABSURD” RESONATES THROUGH EVERY FILM. HE IS TRULY A GENIUS AND A VISIONARY BUT MORE THAN THAT HE HAS ONE OF THE MOST COMPASSIONATE EYES I HAVE EVER WITNESSED. OUT OF ALL THE FOOLISHNESS COMES A HUMANITY THAT TRANSCENDS THE ABSURD AND GIVES HIS CHARACTERS LIFE.
Bergman is a firm believer in secular salvation. By secular salvation I mean that heaven is possible here on earth without any regard to religion or even spirituality. The scene involving the wild strawberries and milk is nothing short of the wine and the water used in the sacrament of the mass. Both are sacred mysteries; one pagan and one religious, both represent life at once momentary and one eternal. I prefer the momentary pleasure. The joy of that scene transcends any promise of salvation in an after life.
If anybody is in the mood for a “real screamer” I suggest they get a copy of Luis Bunuel’s Simon of the Desert. It is the most irreverant, blasphemous, heretical and downright hysterically funny film I have seen in a long time. When I first saw it I shook my head. The second time I saw it I had a "shit eatin’ " grin on my face. The thrid time I saw it I just had to laugh. What a sense of humor Bunuel has. Anyone who was raised Catholic will completely understand Simon of the Desert. Unlike the grimm, dark, gloomy, stark The Exterminating Angel, Simon of the Desert is totally tongue in cheek.
My favorite scene is Sylvia Pinal dressed up in Jesus drag holding the paschal lamb. There interaction is a complete hoot. I can’t decide if this is Spanish “high camp” or the some of the finest allegory I have seen in ages.
The votes in: some of the finest allegory I have seen in ages. And instead of making them iconic as authors do in many allegories, Bunuel only allows there humanity to shine through making the film a true triumph instead of falling into the kind of films the nuns and priests used to show us about holy people and how holy they were.
The scene involving the “brothers” and Simon is another hoot. Haven’t they got anything better to do than try to decide which one is holiest???? It reminds me of parochial school and trying to decide who would get to crown Mary on May 1st. Believe you me the shit would fly and all the dirt would hit the fan. Only the most pious would win. And there were ways of making people look bad.
Please see Simon of the Desert. I would pay Monty Python and the Flying Circus to do and English remake to make it more accesable to English speaking people.
Mel Brooks would have a field day with this movie. Gene Wilder as Simon and Madelin Kahn as Satan. ( God rest Madelin’s soul. I just loved her. She was and still is “a shining star”. )
The scene in which Gene Tierney takes advantage of Darryl Hickman’s disability while swimming in a lake alongside her john boat in the northern woods of Vermont. He tires and asks her to stop and take him into the boat. She looks around. No one is anywhere nearby. He begins to falter and her gaze begins to harden as she watches him slip under the water and drown. Luckily someone hears him at the last moment and she dives in to save him. A heroic action which belies the hatred in her heart because of his disability. Her pathological need to completely suffocate her husband as an object of her jealosy. The boy dies and of course she tells everyone that she tryed everything she possibly could have to save him from a watery death.
If you ever get a chance to see Leave Her To Heaven it is Gene Tierney at her best. The drowning scene at the lake is without a doubt one of Hollywood’s coldest, iceiest scenes of premeditated murder. Gene is the consumate psychopath.
OH MY GOD!!! I forgot all about the sisters in Cries and Whispers. Weren’t they a pair?!?!? Truly reptilian. Not a shrad of humanity in them. Two people that really deserve each other. Ignorance and want at their worst.
I just recently re – saw The Night of the Hunter for the about the twelfth time. I am so impressed with Robert Mitchum’s acting. Yet, I know so precious little about him. Please, no tabloid dirt. Just facts. I think he is a fine actor. I have seen him in many films including “The Noirs” which have made him famous. His quiet, understated ways project volumes about his character.
I remember the scene in The Night of the Hunter when he faces the Spoons in the ice cream shop after he has murdered his wife. He sobs feigned aligator tears as he explains that his wife’s dissapearance is because of the booze. As he lays his head on his shoulders, at the soda bar, Mr. Spoon says, “she’ll be back”. He has his left hand to the camera with “hate” tattooed on it. He stops blubbering for an instant, looks up with the most sober look in his eyes and says, “I don’t think so”. All you can see for that instant are pupils that are completley blackened, empty and evil. And let’s not forget, “chil…..dren, oh chil…..dren I know you’re down there.”
After seeing Viridianna, The Exterminating Angel and Simon of the Desert I have convinced myself that his earlier “big three” are that much better than Belle De Jour and The Extreme Charm of the Bourgeoise.
The “big three” are so much more powerful and eloquent. He seems to have mellowed out with Belle and The Discreet Charm to the point of being “commercial” by my standards.
Even though I have my issues with The Discreet Charm, I must say that I really do like the film. I felt as if I was really watching a Bunuel film instead of the Martin Scorsese / Luis Bunuel work entitled Belle De Jour. Except for maybe about ten minutes of Belle, the rest of the film looked like any other Martin Scorsese film.
I was just curious if anyone else felt as I do?
Early Bunuel or Later Bunuel? Early for me!!!!
The Friends of Eddie Coyle is being released to the public May 19th, 2009 on The Criterion Collection Website. The indroductory price is quite nice. Borders or Barnes and Nobles will not match The Criterion introductory price.
I’m a big fan of Robert Mitchum and would like to see the film. Any old timers out there who remember 1974? I was in my late teens and still gooo gooo over Star Wars and all the science fiction films of that time. I have no recollection of The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Any input would be great. SIght unseen is always a gamble when it comes to buying movies you have never seen. There has to be someone out there who is still alive and well enough to remember The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Thank you.
after watching 8 1/2 last night I wondered what kind of relationship Fellini had with Julietta Massina? Were they both just a couple of celebrity whores or did they prefer their privacy? 8 1/2 paints a terrible picture of infedelity. Was Fellini as cruel when he was young? ? ?
How long were Federico and Julietta married? Wasn’t Claudia Cardinalle just wonderful? This is my favorite Fellini film.
what does “following” and “follow” mean? I’m not exactlyl a pro at posting messages. I don’t understand the concepts. Would someone explain? I really appreciate this messaging board because of my interest in films. I’m sure there are many more means of communication it has to offer. I have already been chided on sticking to a thread: movies that are going to be realeased have their own messaging board.
I recently discovered I have a copy of Querelle in VHS format. I no longer have a VHS player and was wonderring why Querelle is not included in the films listed in the library. I have always been impressed with Fassbinder. I find Jean Genet a bit avant garde as far as theather goes. As far as movies go I remember seeing The Maids when I was in college. It starred Glenda Jackson and she was spellbinding. Even though Genet is a little far out as far as I’m concerned he still represents that segment of French literary history that he shares with the likes of Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sarte.
To make a Readers Digest post out of all this I simple want to know who I write to at The Auteurs to suggest a film for adding to their collection.
If the straight community wanted some real ammunition and a weapon to point at gay men it would have to be Querelle de Brest. He is the most sickenning little fairy that I have ever seen created in literature. He gives gay men a bad name because he always has to ACT the way he is expected to act. He’s like Albert Camus’s Meursault in The Stranger; life isn’t just sensation without any understanding. Meursault’s tragedy is that he always does what he is told instead of telling his friends to fight their own battle.
Querelle’s tragedy is that he always acts as he is expected to act instead of telling his friends that he hates being patronized and reduced to a cultural stereotype so that he can fit in.
we were arguing about a famous women writer who had a lot to do with Sunset Boulevard, after we exhausted our search I thought I would try the auteurs forum. my female friend may be wrong, but something in the back of my memory banks tells me otherwise. can anybody help with this one. a famous women writer that had a lot to do with the script of Sunset Boulevard?
I was treasure hunting at the local library the other day and came across Brand on the Brain in the DVD section. It looked interesting enough, it was a Criterion film; it couldn’t have been that bad, so I took it home and watched it for the firs time.
Jeez Louise, this is one of the strangest films I have ever seen except for Un Chien Andalou by Luis Bunuel. It was sordid, lurid, profane, lascivious, lewd and full of morbid fascination. In other words, I loved it!
What an imagination this Guy Madden has to be able to produce such a controlled hallucination. I highly recommend this one, it’s a poetic piece of cinema, very disturbing and very alone in a remote part of nowhere that ushers in despair and longing.
I did an inter-library loan and got a hold of a copy of the book before I see the movie. Exceptionally good writing. Terse, tense and pointed. You feel sorry for the poor guy. He’s just a screw in a machine. The forces around him are annihilating. All he really wants is just the wife, kids and a place to lay his head at night.
I couldn’t help it, I had to pull out my copy of Trog last night and watch it after Jay Leno. Afterwards, I thought that there must be plenty of people out there who watch movies that they keep from their friends, or, even happen to mention in civilized company.
I’d like to know from other cinephiles what they keep in the sock drawer, under the bed and in the back of the closet. Those movies that would make your friends cringe and that you always watch when their is no one around. Come on, fess up and let’s hear some real goodies, or baddies for that matter.
I would like to thank everyone that replied to my question.
I should say in all honesty that my really favorite film, that is not considered auteur by any standards, is Poltergeist by Steven Speilberg. I practically have the script memorized, especially the monologue given by the psychologist to mother and son. Then the other monologue, given by the psychic in front of eveyone, before they bring back child and mother from the other side.
Buddha says, “there is no such thing as an evil spirit, just unhappy souls”. This is so central to the plot, especially the ending.
I would like to do a reality check?
Is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button soon to be available on the Criterion Label?
If so, what has become of mankind?
How much payola did Criterion get for putting their edorsement on the film?
I can’t stand Brad Pitt!
He has the least amount of acting ability that I have ever witnessed on the screen!
What would possess Criterion to offer him those kind of kudos?
A no talent celebrity bum who doesn’t even have any star quality?
If Brad Pitt can make it to Criterion why doesn’t Adam Sandler get a shot with Don’t Mess with the Cohan?
What is the world coming to?
Is nothing sacred?
I was perusing the DVD section of the library today and found a copy of Home From The Hill. I’m a big Robert Mitchum fan and have never heard of Home From The Hill. Has anyone had any experiancde viewing this film?
I’m still “not” patiently waiting for The Friends of Eddie Coyle to be realeased the ninetheeth of May.
I ordered Vampyre Killers from Barnes and Nobles last night. I’m just oredering on the word of mouth from a good friend who says the film is a real hoot. Anyone out there familiar with Vampyre Killers?
Thank you for the various and sundry posts. After scrutinizing the back cover I noticed Vincente Minnelli was the director. I’m only familiar with An American in Paris and GiGi, yet, I can see his work and attention to detail in this film. A friend of mine used to call these films, “technicolor turkeys” because they were so vivid and gaudy. There were moments of sheer beauty. Minnelli had quite an eye.
It was rather silly, though, the dialogue between Mitchum and Parker was melodramatic at best.
Doctor Lemonglow stated: (Watching the two young actors give such excellent performances,
one wonders what went wrong with their respective careers.) I was truly impressed with the two Georges; Hamilton and Peppard. I, too, wondered what happended to them after seeing this film.
One of my dear friends, who has since passed away, was a real fan of the, “technicolor turkies” of the fifties. I once asked him if he coined that phrase and he said, “no, it was _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ who used to play in all those gaudy pirate movies in the fifties”.
I saw my first film starring Leni Reifenstahl last night. It was called The Holy Mountain. It was directed by Arnold Fanck. Even though the movie had National Socialist Party written all over it, it was not a political film per se. It was more interested in the lofty ideals men place on themselves for spiritual growth and true love.
There was such a strangeness to the film. The musical background was very good and worked well.
I put an interlibrary loan out for Triumph of the Will and Olympia.
It wasn’t Linda Darnell, although she did play in a lot of those pirate movies. It was none other than Yvonne De Carlo. She needed the money. She was willing to allow her hair to be jet black. The pancake makeup just packed on with enough eye makeup to make her eyelids drop. I suppose it made her look saucy.
I saw my first film by Jeunet & Caro last night. It was entitled The City of Lost Children. I happened onto a review by Roger Ebert and I’m with him; I have no idea what the film is about. I was moved by the relationship between Ron Perlman and the little French girl whos name fails me at the moment. It was a fantastic film. Full of fantasy, the making of myth and legend. Ron Perlman must have been young when he made this film. I’m a big Hellboy fan and was suprised to see him as capable an actor as he was in Lost Children.
I would see the film again except this time I would pay more attention to the language instead of the props and special effects.
Saluti a Roger Ebert!!! over 3 years ago
Now that I have retired I have the time to re – watch and seek out films that I have either seen or want to see. I cannot think of a better lighthouse than Roger Ebert. I have been an ardent fan for my whole life and will be deeply saddened when he no longer will write. I can think of no one who possesses a consensus consciousness as he does. Never tainted by class structure, intellectuality, prejuidice or an enourmous ego he continues to critizise and examine film as The Common Man. Never ever being far from his own humanity, gut feelings and his personal demons he looks for the dream within the vision. A true renaissance man.
Go to Comment
HORROR FILMS FROM FRANCE over 3 years ago
How come nobody has mentioned Eyes Without a Face and The Blood of the Beasts? Even though Eyes Without a Face is rather dated it still stands out in 2009. If you’re going to be talking about French Horror Films you should at least give Eyes Without a Face “an homage”. Even though others have surpassed it, it still stands as a landmark film for it’s time. I can just imagine how audiences responded to it back in the late fifties. It broke new ground.
Go to Comment
John Waters over 3 years ago
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE JOHN WATERS. HE IS MORE THAN JUST A FILM MAKER. HE IS AN ANTHROPOLOGIST, SOCIOLOGIST AND PSYCHOLOGIST OF AMERICAN CULTURE. HIS VISION OF WHAT ALBERT CAMUS USED TO CALL “HAVING TO STAND NAKED IN THE FACE OF THE ABSURD” RESONATES THROUGH EVERY FILM. HE IS TRULY A GENIUS AND A VISIONARY BUT MORE THAN THAT HE HAS ONE OF THE MOST COMPASSIONATE EYES I HAVE EVER WITNESSED. OUT OF ALL THE FOOLISHNESS COMES A HUMANITY THAT TRANSCENDS THE ABSURD AND GIVES HIS CHARACTERS LIFE.
Go to Comment
Wild Strawberries over 3 years ago
Bergman is a firm believer in secular salvation. By secular salvation I mean that heaven is possible here on earth without any regard to religion or even spirituality. The scene involving the wild strawberries and milk is nothing short of the wine and the water used in the sacrament of the mass. Both are sacred mysteries; one pagan and one religious, both represent life at once momentary and one eternal. I prefer the momentary pleasure. The joy of that scene transcends any promise of salvation in an after life.
Go to Comment
What a hoot!!!!! about 3 years ago
If anybody is in the mood for a “real screamer” I suggest they get a copy of Luis Bunuel’s Simon of the Desert. It is the most irreverant, blasphemous, heretical and downright hysterically funny film I have seen in a long time. When I first saw it I shook my head. The second time I saw it I had a "shit eatin’ " grin on my face. The thrid time I saw it I just had to laugh. What a sense of humor Bunuel has. Anyone who was raised Catholic will completely understand Simon of the Desert. Unlike the grimm, dark, gloomy, stark The Exterminating Angel, Simon of the Desert is totally tongue in cheek.
My favorite scene is Sylvia Pinal dressed up in Jesus drag holding the paschal lamb. There interaction is a complete hoot. I can’t decide if this is Spanish “high camp” or the some of the finest allegory I have seen in ages.
The votes in: some of the finest allegory I have seen in ages. And instead of making them iconic as authors do in many allegories, Bunuel only allows there humanity to shine through making the film a true triumph instead of falling into the kind of films the nuns and priests used to show us about holy people and how holy they were.
The scene involving the “brothers” and Simon is another hoot. Haven’t they got anything better to do than try to decide which one is holiest???? It reminds me of parochial school and trying to decide who would get to crown Mary on May 1st. Believe you me the shit would fly and all the dirt would hit the fan. Only the most pious would win. And there were ways of making people look bad.
Please see Simon of the Desert. I would pay Monty Python and the Flying Circus to do and English remake to make it more accesable to English speaking people.
Mel Brooks would have a field day with this movie. Gene Wilder as Simon and Madelin Kahn as Satan. ( God rest Madelin’s soul. I just loved her. She was and still is “a shining star”. )
Go to Comment
Best Movie Villain about 3 years ago
The scene in which Gene Tierney takes advantage of Darryl Hickman’s disability while swimming in a lake alongside her john boat in the northern woods of Vermont. He tires and asks her to stop and take him into the boat. She looks around. No one is anywhere nearby. He begins to falter and her gaze begins to harden as she watches him slip under the water and drown. Luckily someone hears him at the last moment and she dives in to save him. A heroic action which belies the hatred in her heart because of his disability. Her pathological need to completely suffocate her husband as an object of her jealosy. The boy dies and of course she tells everyone that she tryed everything she possibly could have to save him from a watery death.
If you ever get a chance to see Leave Her To Heaven it is Gene Tierney at her best. The drowning scene at the lake is without a doubt one of Hollywood’s coldest, iceiest scenes of premeditated murder. Gene is the consumate psychopath.
Go to Comment
Best Movie Villain about 3 years ago
OH MY GOD!!! I forgot all about the sisters in Cries and Whispers. Weren’t they a pair?!?!? Truly reptilian. Not a shrad of humanity in them. Two people that really deserve each other. Ignorance and want at their worst.
Go to Comment
Does anybody know anything about Robert Mitchum?!?!?!?!?!? about 3 years ago
I just recently re – saw The Night of the Hunter for the about the twelfth time. I am so impressed with Robert Mitchum’s acting. Yet, I know so precious little about him. Please, no tabloid dirt. Just facts. I think he is a fine actor. I have seen him in many films including “The Noirs” which have made him famous. His quiet, understated ways project volumes about his character.
I remember the scene in The Night of the Hunter when he faces the Spoons in the ice cream shop after he has murdered his wife. He sobs feigned aligator tears as he explains that his wife’s dissapearance is because of the booze. As he lays his head on his shoulders, at the soda bar, Mr. Spoon says, “she’ll be back”. He has his left hand to the camera with “hate” tattooed on it. He stops blubbering for an instant, looks up with the most sober look in his eyes and says, “I don’t think so”. All you can see for that instant are pupils that are completley blackened, empty and evil. And let’s not forget, “chil…..dren, oh chil…..dren I know you’re down there.”
Go to Comment
Early Bunuel or Later Bunuel? Early Bunuel for me! about 3 years ago
After seeing Viridianna, The Exterminating Angel and Simon of the Desert I have convinced myself that his earlier “big three” are that much better than Belle De Jour and The Extreme Charm of the Bourgeoise.
The “big three” are so much more powerful and eloquent. He seems to have mellowed out with Belle and The Discreet Charm to the point of being “commercial” by my standards.
Even though I have my issues with The Discreet Charm, I must say that I really do like the film. I felt as if I was really watching a Bunuel film instead of the Martin Scorsese / Luis Bunuel work entitled Belle De Jour. Except for maybe about ten minutes of Belle, the rest of the film looked like any other Martin Scorsese film.
I was just curious if anyone else felt as I do?
Early Bunuel or Later Bunuel? Early for me!!!!
Go to Comment
Has anyone seen The Friends of Eddie Coyle??????????? about 3 years ago
The Friends of Eddie Coyle is being released to the public May 19th, 2009 on The Criterion Collection Website. The indroductory price is quite nice. Borders or Barnes and Nobles will not match The Criterion introductory price.
I’m a big fan of Robert Mitchum and would like to see the film. Any old timers out there who remember 1974? I was in my late teens and still gooo gooo over Star Wars and all the science fiction films of that time. I have no recollection of The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Any input would be great. SIght unseen is always a gamble when it comes to buying movies you have never seen. There has to be someone out there who is still alive and well enough to remember The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Thank you.
Go to Comment
was Fellini a celebrity whore like Mastrianni in 8 1/2? ? ? about 3 years ago
after watching 8 1/2 last night I wondered what kind of relationship Fellini had with Julietta Massina? Were they both just a couple of celebrity whores or did they prefer their privacy? 8 1/2 paints a terrible picture of infedelity. Was Fellini as cruel when he was young? ? ?
How long were Federico and Julietta married? Wasn’t Claudia Cardinalle just wonderful? This is my favorite Fellini film.
Go to Comment
"following" and "follow" concepts about 3 years ago
what does “following” and “follow” mean? I’m not exactlyl a pro at posting messages. I don’t understand the concepts. Would someone explain? I really appreciate this messaging board because of my interest in films. I’m sure there are many more means of communication it has to offer. I have already been chided on sticking to a thread: movies that are going to be realeased have their own messaging board.
Go to Comment
was Fellini a celebrity whore like Mastrianni in 8 1/2? ? ? about 3 years ago
by “celebrity whore” I mean a very famous person who is known for being very promiscuous.
Go to Comment
I would like to suggest Querelle by Fassbinder. How is this done??? about 3 years ago
I recently discovered I have a copy of Querelle in VHS format. I no longer have a VHS player and was wonderring why Querelle is not included in the films listed in the library. I have always been impressed with Fassbinder. I find Jean Genet a bit avant garde as far as theather goes. As far as movies go I remember seeing The Maids when I was in college. It starred Glenda Jackson and she was spellbinding. Even though Genet is a little far out as far as I’m concerned he still represents that segment of French literary history that he shares with the likes of Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sarte.
To make a Readers Digest post out of all this I simple want to know who I write to at The Auteurs to suggest a film for adding to their collection.
Go to Comment
I would like to suggest Querelle by Fassbinder. How is this done??? about 3 years ago
If the straight community wanted some real ammunition and a weapon to point at gay men it would have to be Querelle de Brest. He is the most sickenning little fairy that I have ever seen created in literature. He gives gay men a bad name because he always has to ACT the way he is expected to act. He’s like Albert Camus’s Meursault in The Stranger; life isn’t just sensation without any understanding. Meursault’s tragedy is that he always does what he is told instead of telling his friends to fight their own battle.
Querelle’s tragedy is that he always acts as he is expected to act instead of telling his friends that he hates being patronized and reduced to a cultural stereotype so that he can fit in.
Go to Comment
I would like to suggest Querelle by Fassbinder. How is this done??? about 3 years ago
Querelle de Brest is the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of gay films.
Go to Comment
Famous women writer who helped script Sunset Boulevard????????????? about 3 years ago
we were arguing about a famous women writer who had a lot to do with Sunset Boulevard, after we exhausted our search I thought I would try the auteurs forum. my female friend may be wrong, but something in the back of my memory banks tells me otherwise. can anybody help with this one. a famous women writer that had a lot to do with the script of Sunset Boulevard?
Go to Comment
Brand on the Brain about 3 years ago
I was treasure hunting at the local library the other day and came across Brand on the Brain in the DVD section. It looked interesting enough, it was a Criterion film; it couldn’t have been that bad, so I took it home and watched it for the firs time.
Jeez Louise, this is one of the strangest films I have ever seen except for Un Chien Andalou by Luis Bunuel. It was sordid, lurid, profane, lascivious, lewd and full of morbid fascination. In other words, I loved it!
What an imagination this Guy Madden has to be able to produce such a controlled hallucination. I highly recommend this one, it’s a poetic piece of cinema, very disturbing and very alone in a remote part of nowhere that ushers in despair and longing.
Go to Comment
Has anyone seen The Friends of Eddie Coyle??????????? about 3 years ago
I did an inter-library loan and got a hold of a copy of the book before I see the movie. Exceptionally good writing. Terse, tense and pointed. You feel sorry for the poor guy. He’s just a screw in a machine. The forces around him are annihilating. All he really wants is just the wife, kids and a place to lay his head at night.
Go to Comment
Too embarrassed to admit you like a film that is questionable? about 3 years ago
I couldn’t help it, I had to pull out my copy of Trog last night and watch it after Jay Leno. Afterwards, I thought that there must be plenty of people out there who watch movies that they keep from their friends, or, even happen to mention in civilized company.
I’d like to know from other cinephiles what they keep in the sock drawer, under the bed and in the back of the closet. Those movies that would make your friends cringe and that you always watch when their is no one around. Come on, fess up and let’s hear some real goodies, or baddies for that matter.
Go to Comment
Too embarrassed to admit you like a film that is questionable? about 3 years ago
I would like to thank everyone that replied to my question.
I should say in all honesty that my really favorite film, that is not considered auteur by any standards, is Poltergeist by Steven Speilberg. I practically have the script memorized, especially the monologue given by the psychologist to mother and son. Then the other monologue, given by the psychic in front of eveyone, before they bring back child and mother from the other side.
Buddha says, “there is no such thing as an evil spirit, just unhappy souls”. This is so central to the plot, especially the ending.
Go to Comment
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button about 3 years ago
I would like to do a reality check?
Is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button soon to be available on the Criterion Label?
If so, what has become of mankind?
How much payola did Criterion get for putting their edorsement on the film?
I can’t stand Brad Pitt!
He has the least amount of acting ability that I have ever witnessed on the screen!
What would possess Criterion to offer him those kind of kudos?
A no talent celebrity bum who doesn’t even have any star quality?
If Brad Pitt can make it to Criterion why doesn’t Adam Sandler get a shot with Don’t Mess with the Cohan?
What is the world coming to?
Is nothing sacred?
Go to Comment
Home From The Hill about 3 years ago
I was perusing the DVD section of the library today and found a copy of Home From The Hill. I’m a big Robert Mitchum fan and have never heard of Home From The Hill. Has anyone had any experiancde viewing this film?
I’m still “not” patiently waiting for The Friends of Eddie Coyle to be realeased the ninetheeth of May.
Go to Comment
The Fearless Vampyre Killers about 3 years ago
I ordered Vampyre Killers from Barnes and Nobles last night. I’m just oredering on the word of mouth from a good friend who says the film is a real hoot. Anyone out there familiar with Vampyre Killers?
Go to Comment
Home From The Hill about 3 years ago
Thank you for the various and sundry posts. After scrutinizing the back cover I noticed Vincente Minnelli was the director. I’m only familiar with An American in Paris and GiGi, yet, I can see his work and attention to detail in this film. A friend of mine used to call these films, “technicolor turkeys” because they were so vivid and gaudy. There were moments of sheer beauty. Minnelli had quite an eye.
It was rather silly, though, the dialogue between Mitchum and Parker was melodramatic at best.
Doctor Lemonglow stated: (Watching the two young actors give such excellent performances,
one wonders what went wrong with their respective careers.) I was truly impressed with the two Georges; Hamilton and Peppard. I, too, wondered what happended to them after seeing this film.
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Which female movie star coined the term, "technicolor turkies"? about 3 years ago
One of my dear friends, who has since passed away, was a real fan of the, “technicolor turkies” of the fifties. I once asked him if he coined that phrase and he said, “no, it was _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ who used to play in all those gaudy pirate movies in the fifties”.
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Arnold Fanck about 3 years ago
I saw my first film starring Leni Reifenstahl last night. It was called The Holy Mountain. It was directed by Arnold Fanck. Even though the movie had National Socialist Party written all over it, it was not a political film per se. It was more interested in the lofty ideals men place on themselves for spiritual growth and true love.
There was such a strangeness to the film. The musical background was very good and worked well.
I put an interlibrary loan out for Triumph of the Will and Olympia.
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Which female movie star coined the term, "technicolor turkies"? about 3 years ago
Now you got me stumped; so I can’t say either way, keep trying
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Which female movie star coined the term, "technicolor turkies"? about 3 years ago
It wasn’t Linda Darnell, although she did play in a lot of those pirate movies. It was none other than Yvonne De Carlo. She needed the money. She was willing to allow her hair to be jet black. The pancake makeup just packed on with enough eye makeup to make her eyelids drop. I suppose it made her look saucy.
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The City of Lost Children about 3 years ago
I saw my first film by Jeunet & Caro last night. It was entitled The City of Lost Children. I happened onto a review by Roger Ebert and I’m with him; I have no idea what the film is about. I was moved by the relationship between Ron Perlman and the little French girl whos name fails me at the moment. It was a fantastic film. Full of fantasy, the making of myth and legend. Ron Perlman must have been young when he made this film. I’m a big Hellboy fan and was suprised to see him as capable an actor as he was in Lost Children.
I would see the film again except this time I would pay more attention to the language instead of the props and special effects.
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