Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[Gemini Cricket]

I keep reading my own thread as 'Miscellaneous Movie Mushings'.

I'd like to reiterate my utter devotion to the film 'The Philadelphia Story'. It is superb. Watched it again last night. Faboo, baby!

Does anyone have a favorite period for movies?

I do. I love the movies of the 30's and 40's. I guess that period was heavy with films based on popular plays, maybe that's the attraction. Something glamorous and ideal about those pics.

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

I keep reading my own thread as 'Miscellaneous Movie Mushings'.

I'd like to reiterate my utter devotion to the film 'The Philadelphia Story'. It is superb. Watched it again last night. Faboo, baby!

Does anyone have a favorite period for movies?

I do. I love the movies of the 30's and 40's. I guess that period was heavy with films based on popular plays, maybe that's the attraction. Something glamorous and ideal about those pics.

1920's to 1940's with some great 1950's tossed in. The glamour certainly has appeal, oh those Adrian gowns!

The silent era for me is very special. Not merely the Valentino connection, although that was a major attraction. Some very good films in this period, very effective and very absorbing.

I have to confess, of the studios in this era, my favorite, by leaps and bounds would be Warner Brothers. As much as I love MGM films, there is a level of sheer superficilality and also self-importance to an MGM film that is not found in a WB flick. Let me qualify, MGM post Thalberg was pretty sticky.

Warners had much more snappy dialogue (always a plus to me), sillier plots in the b-pics, but the gritty more realisic world of Warners is more satisfying. Not to mention the Busby Berkely musicals, pre-code and delicious.

Fox runs a real distant third for me, surprising since Zanuck came to fame at WB, but Fox was all fluff. As pretty as Tyrone Power was, very little substance in a Fox flick, unless it was made by John Ford.

Paramount was a giant in the 20s, though they made more than their share of crap. Bigger stars than anyone in the 20s, lost focus in the sound era and relied too heavily on DeMille (a very successful hack). Dietrich and Von Sternberg were just too weird, however marvelous the films look today, he Scarlett Empress and The Devil is a Woman are still total messes of film, but eye candywise, they're great.

RKO was good, too. How can you not love a studio that brings King Kong and Fred & Ginger?

Now, if you ask about favorite directors..... Billy Wilder, George Stevens, John Huston immediately come to mind. Favorite genre, hmm, that is tougher, but I lean toward noir. It's the snappy dialogue that is the hook for me.

Gah! What got me on my soapbox?

To put this back on track, I'm behind the times and all that, so I just saw Transamerica and Brokeback last night. Quite a double feature!

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

To put this back on track, I'm behind the times and all that, so I just saw Transamerica and Brokeback last night. Quite a double feature!

And your reviews, m'dear...?

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

And your reviews, m'dear...?

I very much enjoyed both films.

Brokeback was as lyrical as expected from Ang Lee. Visually langourous, gorgeous exteriors and a very quiet film. While I did not find the film too terribly deep, I think that's because I'm the only person on the planet who has not yet read the original short story.

I enjoyed both performances by Gyllenhall and Ledger, but explain to me why Ledger was nominated for an Academy Award? I missed something extraordinary in his performance, at least nothing struck me. But, that's me and I'm pretty sure the fault is with me and not him. I was annoyed with myself for not turning on the subtitles until late in the film. I laugh thinking people found Tatou unintelliglble in Da Vinco Code, Ledger was very hard to understand (at least to me). Maybe I would have felt more had I the smarts to turn on the subtitles.

It was a very good film and I thought the wigs for (I cannot for the life of me remember her name) were silly. I don't care what you put on her head, she still looked to be 24 yesars old even though the story took you through 20 years. Same thing for the guys, neither one looked any older, mustachio made no difference for Gyllenhall (nice doe eyes on him, though).

I give it a 3 out of 4.

Transamerica was fun and touching. A typical road trip picture in a lot of respects, including the obvious plot holes. I found the whole premiss of the shrink witholding final signature for the operation until Bree went to NY to deal with her newly discovered son a bit of a stretch. I thought Huffman was very good as well. But part of me thinks how much more effective this would have been with a guy playing the part. It's not Victor/Victoria for me, a girl impersonating a man impersonating a woman, know what I mean?

The development of the relationship between Bree & Toby just moved along too fast. Unless they had something really cathartic to bind them, aside from the car being stolen, it seemed pretty superficial. But how much can you explore and how deep can you go in 90 minutes?

In any case, I thought it was enjoyable, not a great film, but a worthy one.

I give it 2 out of 4.