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Post by cstower on Jul 18, 2015 16:00:39 GMT -6
Gillianren : what do you think about the reports that Robert Downey Jr. wants to make a new PERRY MASON film?
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Post by Gillianren on Jul 18, 2015 17:33:53 GMT -6
Hmmm. Interesting. I actually read the books, which are usually pretty easy to find in thrift stores and other secondhand stores. I own a dozen or so of them.
If he's going to do it, I think he should do a version that's closer to some of the stuff they couldn't show on the TV show--there is a lot of sexual tension between Perry and Della. They go dancing in most of the books while waiting for Paul to get work done or what have you. Perry is never really shown as dating anyone, but there's also an understanding that, no, Della won't marry him. I haven't read any of the books where he proposes (I've heard he does several times), but my understanding is that she won't because she figures Perry would probably get another secretary, and she'd be expected to sit at home all day instead of actually being around him and being useful. Since some of the books were written during Prohibition, there's also a little dabbling with law-breaking in Perry, who doesn't stop drinking any more than anyone else did. The books are actually a lot racier in places than people think, for all there's no actual sex or strong language.
Of course, this is all assuming he's planning to do Perry as a period piece instead of updating them, but that's definitely my preference. Maybe I'll write a defense of the period piece for The Solute.
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Post by cstower on Jul 18, 2015 18:04:47 GMT -6
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Post by blixie on Jul 18, 2015 20:23:25 GMT -6
I watched Slow West which was pleasingly diverting, but not much more than that, and made me think of the last western I loved The Proposition, thinking Ben Mendelsohn was in that when he wasn't and was actually in Animal Kingdom, which was a much better version of the story Winter's Bone was telling, and I also thought Ben Mendelsohn was in Edge of Tommorow but that was Noah Taylor whom is now his doppleganger.
I have a lot of thoughts.
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Post by artdork on Jul 19, 2015 16:40:01 GMT -6
A RDJ version of Perry Mason? I'm in! It's a controversial statement, but I"m going to make it: I find Robert Downey Jr. charming. Phew.
Anyway, my friend was in town, but after she left, Mr. Dork put Band of Brothers on. Why is that show so perfect? It makes me cry every time.
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Post by Username Too Long on Jul 20, 2015 8:07:45 GMT -6
36 - Dir. Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (2012) The title refers both to the number of pictures in one roll of film and the number of shots in the movie. Each shot is introduced by a title card, and yet form doesn’t completely take over the rather understated but sweet story of memory and loss.
Inside Out - Dir. Pete Docter (2015) Rewatch followed by post-screening Q&A with Pete Docter, Jonas Rivera, and Amy Poehler. The movie is still great and the best I’ve seen this year so far (new releases division), it was particularly sweet to see the shot of Riley drawing Bing-Bong and singing his song in the opening growing-up montage. The Q&A was quite interesting, it makes sense but it’s always impressive to hear that a second of screen time takes about a day’s work (now checking the math it can’t be that accurate actually), they ascribe Pixar’s success rate to the fact that the higher-ups are all first and foremost creative types and other directors. They prioritised questions from children which still didn’t prevent one from asking if it was significant that Riley’s emotion were both male and female while her parents’ weren’t, answer was no, they just did what they felt would look/be funny. Interestingly when they asked the audience what they thought of the movie, while love was universal, apparently only adults admitted to crying, which I guess makes sense.
Macbeth - Dir. Orson Welles (1948) That was a dark one with the direction perfectly highlighting the play, I love Macbeth so was unlikely to dislike this, but it’s still my least favourite Welles movie so far, it has an appropriately desolate look, but it felt fairly conventional for one of his movies.
The Curse of Frankenstein - Dir. Terence Fischer (1957) Was rather disappointed as it finished, the story beats are quite different from the novel, even if a few of them are set up and then abandoned. In retrospect, taken on its own term as a movie about someone who happens to be called Frankenstein and also creates a creature from dead bodyparts it’s a bit more successful than I gave it credit for, but not a lot more, particularly disappointing is the overall lack of interest in the monster (iconic Boris Karloff this is not (I haven’t even seen those movies)), be it how it looks and what they’re doing with it.
Life of Riley - Dir. Alain Resnais (2014) For some reason, I’ve seen a lot more of Resnais’s work from the nineties and later than the movies that made his reputation. However the two I haven’t seen from that later period are the two most highly praised (soon hopefully), and this is another movie which while likable isn’t all that great. Fault lies in large part with the material adapted, I’m still unconvinced that Alan Ayckbourn is anywhere near a great playwright (all the more so that I’ve now seen one of his actual plays meant to be one of his best), but all credits to Resnais for having an idea of how this should be directed and sticking to it, the little digressions being only possible in cinema being all the more notable, just a shame really this would be based on the work of an only ok writer.
Dracula - Dir. Terence Fischer (1958) I found this a lot more successful than the earlier Frankenstein from the same team. Lots of rightly iconic visuals, Lee’s Dracula appears little enough to carry menace with him throughout, the movie is more interested in action and thrills than mystery and is all the better for it.
The Idiot - Dir. Akira Kurosawa (1951) The first few minutes with exposition intertitles and voice-over got me pretty scared, but they got rid of pretty quickly and the drama was allowed to speak for itself. Not having read the book, while this was a lighter than what I’d expect from Dostoevsky, it still made sense and showed its conflicts clearly. I preferred the first part to the second which got a bit to meandering (I understand the studio edited what Kurosawa delivered so that might be why), overall I liked this quite a bit (more than the two other I’ve seen by him actually)
Winter’s Bone - Dir. Debra Granik (2010) The juxtaposition of Sundance and Oscar buzz is generally not a good sign as far as I’m concerned, but every now and then I’m happy to be proved wrong. It’s not difficult to see why it put Jennifer Lawrence on the map in a big way, she completely carries the movie, and it’s a pretty good movie, relentless and uncompromising in its vision, without wallowing in its misery.
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Post by cstower on Jul 20, 2015 19:43:55 GMT -6
Username Too Long: The Hammer Frankenstein films improve; most fans consider either THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN or FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED the best of the series. You really haven't seen the Universal Frankensteins? The series kind of tanks after Karloff leaves the role, but those first three are definitely worth seeing for anyone interested in the genre (and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN is a must-see even if you AREN'T).
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Post by Username Too Long on Jul 21, 2015 3:30:00 GMT -6
cstower I've seen very little horror (my top 10 80s horror would be almost all the 80s horror I've seen), trying to fix it these days, but there are just so many movies out there.
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Post by Username Too Long on Jul 21, 2015 4:55:26 GMT -6
Ant-Man - Dir. Peyton Reed (2015) I'd been fairly unimpressed with the last few Marvel movies I've seen, so in a way it's only fitting that the one that gets middling reviews would be the most fun I remember having with one of their offerings. Villain is boring but he doesn't have enough screentime for it to really be an issue, so most of it is just plain fun, and actual fun to look at, definitely the most enjoyable Marvel movie on a formal level, the scene at the end (you know the one) is an obvious highlight, but just one among others.
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Post by cstower on Jul 21, 2015 5:19:53 GMT -6
Username Too Long: best way to get into horror is just repesentative sampling (which is what you seem to be doing); just try a recommended example from each "school", and if you like the taste try more; if not, move on. (being a fan does NOT mean being a completist)
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vomas
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by vomas on Jul 21, 2015 5:32:12 GMT -6
Creep (2004) and Creep (2014). Based on this experience and a previous one watching House (1986) and House (aka Hausu, 1977) in the same night, picking two films with the same name for a double-bill is ALWAYS BRILLIANT.
This one actually worked even better than the previous attempt, since the main problems with the 2004 Creep (idiot characters doing stupid things just because it's a horror film) get directly commented on towards the end of the more recent Creep. They were a great pairing! The new one is a much better film overall though, Mark Duplass' current sequence of odd leading roles is really great.
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Post by Username Too Long on Jul 21, 2015 7:09:53 GMT -6
cstower I'm catching what I can (Netflix, rep screenings, or in the case of the two Hammer I just watched BBC) without really digging too deep so far, an easy way to see good ones from various territories/eras/styles. I'm not really a completist anymore these days, and I have anyway too many classics left to see to start trying to see all the movies in one specific sub-section. vomas are the Creep movies related? I saw the new one had been added on Netflix, but how did you see the other one?
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vomas
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by vomas on Jul 21, 2015 7:29:34 GMT -6
They're not related at all, it just seemed like a fun idea for a double-bill. The older one was a cheap DVD.
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Post by Gillianren on Jul 22, 2015 22:27:30 GMT -6
Watching The Last Starfighter, because why not?
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Post by Username Too Long on Jul 28, 2015 4:55:05 GMT -6
Tried watching Sweet Sixteen which as far as I can tell was the inspiration for Minions, some lovable scamp who just spout gibberish with occasionally a recogniable word here or there, however the version on Netflix didn't have subtitles so I gave up after five minutes, and unless someone tells me the dialogue is irrelevant, I'll leave it at that for now.
Then watched Wet Hot American Summer which didn't do much for me, I've liked Wain's more straightforward comedies well enough, but this one didn't do much for me.
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