Miscellaneous Movie Musings

BarTopDancer · 07-10-2006, 10:02 PM

I just finished Fun With Dick and Jane. Great movie. The first credits rock too.

Netflix should be sending me:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Fever Pitch
Shopgirl

Alex · 07-10-2006, 10:18 PM

Tried to watch Sophie's Choice yesterday. Made it about 90 seconds into the movie. The first moment of Kevin Kline chewing scenery and I knew I just couldn't sit through it.

It immediately came out of the DVD player and back into the Netflix envelope. Maybe I'll try again some other time. I like Kevin Kline but he rubs my very soul (as if I had one) the wrong way when he plays characters in a certain way.

So I watched Terms of Endearment instead. I remember the brouhaha about it when I was a kid and can picture in my head the evening when my parents rented it. But I've never seen it myself. Not really the movie I was expecting. It almost seems to derive its soul reason to exist from the cruel joke of "well, we'll make you really like this person and then kill them just so you can feel some pain." As a character piece without any real message I enjoyed it.

Alex · 07-13-2006, 05:45 PM

Just watched The Year of Living Dangerously.

It's good to be reminded that once upon a time Mel Gibson was an actor. Having recently seen Body Heat and now this and catching both Kathleen Turner and Sigourney Weaver I had to pause for a sexist moment to reflect on how aging is a differently cruel process for some people (especially considering that Weaver is 8 years older than Turner).

Anyway, a good subtle movie. Kind of touched on some of the same themes of journalistic responsibility and involvement that featured in the Sam Waterston portions of The Killing Fields. In fact, this movie and that might make for a very good pairing.

The brilliance of casting Linda Hunt (a white woman) as Billy Kwan (an Indonesian man) is amazing in its audaciousness. I'm sure it was all the buzz back in 1982 but I didn't realize it and it was very late into the movie before I realized it was Linda Hunt. I'd recognized the character as very feminine but it lent am amazing ethereal quality to an already bizarre characterization. Looking it up now I see Hunt won an Oscar and without checking the competition it seems thoroughly deserved.

Peter Wier shows a restraint that seems to have mostly abandoned him in recent years, willing to just let the camera linger without filling it with movement. But he showcases the ability to get the best from actors for which he is famous.

07-10-2006, 10:02 PM	#1
BarTopDancer Prepping... Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Here, there, everywhere Posts: 11,405	I just finished Fun With Dick and Jane. Great movie. The first credits rock too. Netflix should be sending me: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Fever Pitch Shopgirl __________________ Spork is the new MacGyver Postcards From My Edge
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07-10-2006, 10:18 PM	#2
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Tried to watch Sophie's Choice yesterday. Made it about 90 seconds into the movie. The first moment of Kevin Kline chewing scenery and I knew I just couldn't sit through it. It immediately came out of the DVD player and back into the Netflix envelope. Maybe I'll try again some other time. I like Kevin Kline but he rubs my very soul (as if I had one) the wrong way when he plays characters in a certain way. So I watched Terms of Endearment instead. I remember the brouhaha about it when I was a kid and can picture in my head the evening when my parents rented it. But I've never seen it myself. Not really the movie I was expecting. It almost seems to derive its soul reason to exist from the cruel joke of "well, we'll make you really like this person and then kill them just so you can feel some pain." As a character piece without any real message I enjoyed it.
	Submit to Quotes

07-13-2006, 05:45 PM	#3
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Just watched The Year of Living Dangerously. It's good to be reminded that once upon a time Mel Gibson was an actor. Having recently seen Body Heat and now this and catching both Kathleen Turner and Sigourney Weaver I had to pause for a sexist moment to reflect on how aging is a differently cruel process for some people (especially considering that Weaver is 8 years older than Turner). Anyway, a good subtle movie. Kind of touched on some of the same themes of journalistic responsibility and involvement that featured in the Sam Waterston portions of The Killing Fields. In fact, this movie and that might make for a very good pairing. The brilliance of casting Linda Hunt (a white woman) as Billy Kwan (an Indonesian man) is amazing in its audaciousness. I'm sure it was all the buzz back in 1982 but I didn't realize it and it was very late into the movie before I realized it was Linda Hunt. I'd recognized the character as very feminine but it lent am amazing ethereal quality to an already bizarre characterization. Looking it up now I see Hunt won an Oscar and without checking the competition it seems thoroughly deserved. Peter Wier shows a restraint that seems to have mostly abandoned him in recent years, willing to just let the camera linger without filling it with movement. But he showcases the ability to get the best from actors for which he is famous.
	Submit to Quotes