Miscellaneous Movie Musings

Prudence · 05-27-2007, 08:31 PM

Today I watched Golden Door (Nuovomondo), an Italian film being shown as part of the Seattle International Film Festival. The festival gave it an A+ grade, which was definitely a bit over generous.

I wasn't totally thrilled with it as a movie. It had some amusing parts (lots of super large carrots), but was a bit over-odd. Although I think the end of the movie puts the beginning better in context, I'm not sure I like that approach.

Regardless, what the movie *did* do was get me once again thinking about what it must have been like for my great grandparents when they came here (also on an Italian boat) from Switzerland. Having just recently been to Ellis Island and seen the various exhibits, it made that portion of the film more meaningful to me.

It's not a movie I would probably watch again, but I will be thinking about it for awhile.

Alex · 06-04-2007, 07:07 AM

I haven't been watching many movies lately, most of my spare time has been taken up slogging through the 1983 mini-series of Herman Wouk's The Winds of War. About 10 hours in and the Germans and British just started shooting at each other. Started well but the last four hours have been pretty slow.

But this was a three movie weekend.

Mr. Brooks - Nothing truly fantastic but a pretty good movie starring Kevin Costner as a high-functioning serial killer. It has a pretty tight ending, but the epilogue makes the movie's first serious misstep and it was a pretty bad one, slightly redeemed by the last words.

Knocked Up - Lani and I enjoyed this a lot. A comedy targeted squarely at adults that is still raunchy enough to be fun. Certain parts of the set-up didn't ring true, but once you accept them the rest flows in a reasonable manner.

Damage - A 1992 psychological sex drama starring Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche. First, it is amazing that a movie with so many explicit sex scenes could leave me falling asleep out of boredom. They are the most unerotic (somewhat by intention) I've suffered through. Second, other than some sympathy for Irons' wife in the movie, there isn't anybody to even care about. A review at IMDb says it is a fantastic satire of overwrought sex dramas that give good thoughtful movies a bad name when critics go gaga over them.

That's true, except any satire would appear to be unintentional.

05-27-2007, 08:31 PM	#1
Prudence Beelzeboobs, Esq. Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Gavel - I haz it Posts: 6,287	Today I watched Golden Door (Nuovomondo), an Italian film being shown as part of the Seattle International Film Festival. The festival gave it an A+ grade, which was definitely a bit over generous. I wasn't totally thrilled with it as a movie. It had some amusing parts (lots of super large carrots), but was a bit over-odd. Although I think the end of the movie puts the beginning better in context, I'm not sure I like that approach. Regardless, what the movie did do was get me once again thinking about what it must have been like for my great grandparents when they came here (also on an Italian boat) from Switzerland. Having just recently been to Ellis Island and seen the various exhibits, it made that portion of the film more meaningful to me. It's not a movie I would probably watch again, but I will be thinking about it for awhile. __________________ traguna macoities tracorum satis de
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06-04-2007, 07:07 AM	#2
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	I haven't been watching many movies lately, most of my spare time has been taken up slogging through the 1983 mini-series of Herman Wouk's The Winds of War. About 10 hours in and the Germans and British just started shooting at each other. Started well but the last four hours have been pretty slow. But this was a three movie weekend. Mr. Brooks - Nothing truly fantastic but a pretty good movie starring Kevin Costner as a high-functioning serial killer. It has a pretty tight ending, but the epilogue makes the movie's first serious misstep and it was a pretty bad one, slightly redeemed by the last words. Knocked Up - Lani and I enjoyed this a lot. A comedy targeted squarely at adults that is still raunchy enough to be fun. Certain parts of the set-up didn't ring true, but once you accept them the rest flows in a reasonable manner. Damage - A 1992 psychological sex drama starring Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche. First, it is amazing that a movie with so many explicit sex scenes could leave me falling asleep out of boredom. They are the most unerotic (somewhat by intention) I've suffered through. Second, other than some sympathy for Irons' wife in the movie, there isn't anybody to even care about. A review at IMDb says it is a fantastic satire of overwrought sex dramas that give good thoughtful movies a bad name when critics go gaga over them. That's true, except any satire would appear to be unintentional.
	Submit to Quotes