Being no Godard fan, I would say: "You didn't miss anything! It's just a bore...."movieman1957 wrote:Someone tell me what I am missing.
WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
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Ann Harding
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klondike
Last night I watched Chasing the Deer: The tragedy of Culloden Moor, an independent British film from 1994. I was really pumped to find this movie, which took me forever to track down, as it is evidently the only non-documentary film treatment of 1746's Battle of Culloden Moor, actually pretty much a complete massacre, which forever ended the dream of an independent Scotland through Jacobite rebellion, and the Royal House of Stuart, and went down in history as the last military engagement in Great Britain.
It started off quite promising, with shots of the stark, majestic Highlands of central Scotland, along with some nicely evocative uilean pipe & fiddle music, but from there forward the downhill tumble begins, rarely righting itself over the eighty minutes or so that follow, ultimately wasting some beautiful righteous wardrobe, miles of stunning shooting locations, a wagonload of overlooked story potential and the marvelous character talents of the one known actor they could brag on, that beloved, too-seldom-seen powerhouse, Brian Blessed.
The VHS sleeve claims that this movie won the Best British Feature Film competition at the North West Film Festival, but it's hard to imagine how poor its rivals must have been. Not only do the presenters offers us an indecipherable mishmash of historical events, with a wavering, muffled soundtrack and murky, muzzy cinematography, but the editing is so choppy & jagged, and the roles so cartoonishly broad, that one would expect a novice to this historical period to come away with still no firm idea of what actually transpired, or why.
The credits, both front & back, boast that: "This film is dedicated to the men and women of the Wallace Clan Trust, Scotland, the true spirit of the Highland Clans." - a sad sentiment indeed; given the besmirchment that this queasy farrago splatters on the last, great hurrah of Highland Independence, were I a descendent of Clan Wallace, I'd take these cinematic slanderers to court and sue the trews off 'em!
It started off quite promising, with shots of the stark, majestic Highlands of central Scotland, along with some nicely evocative uilean pipe & fiddle music, but from there forward the downhill tumble begins, rarely righting itself over the eighty minutes or so that follow, ultimately wasting some beautiful righteous wardrobe, miles of stunning shooting locations, a wagonload of overlooked story potential and the marvelous character talents of the one known actor they could brag on, that beloved, too-seldom-seen powerhouse, Brian Blessed.
The VHS sleeve claims that this movie won the Best British Feature Film competition at the North West Film Festival, but it's hard to imagine how poor its rivals must have been. Not only do the presenters offers us an indecipherable mishmash of historical events, with a wavering, muffled soundtrack and murky, muzzy cinematography, but the editing is so choppy & jagged, and the roles so cartoonishly broad, that one would expect a novice to this historical period to come away with still no firm idea of what actually transpired, or why.
The credits, both front & back, boast that: "This film is dedicated to the men and women of the Wallace Clan Trust, Scotland, the true spirit of the Highland Clans." - a sad sentiment indeed; given the besmirchment that this queasy farrago splatters on the last, great hurrah of Highland Independence, were I a descendent of Clan Wallace, I'd take these cinematic slanderers to court and sue the trews off 'em!
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moira finnie
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Don't feel bad about A Woman Is a Woman, Chris.
I've been trying to watch Contempt for six months now, but just can't seem to stay with it. Guess my attention span for Godard is pretty short, though I got through Breathless okay a couple of times.
Ann,
Was it expediency to avoid the costs of storing the original version of The Dark Angel that led Frances Goldwyn to have it disposed of a few decades ago?
So, Klondike,
What Brian Blessed movies would you recommend?
The only notable one that I can recall enjoying him in thoroughly was Flash Gordon--a movie from the '80s that seemed wonderfully cheesy and entertaining then but maybe is a 'guilty pleasure' now. I do like the actor, but aside from stuff like Black Adder and Doctor Who, the guy seems to be consigned to roles such as "Wrestler Trainer" in Oliver Stone's craptastic Alexander (2004). I understand that Blessed's played King Lear, was born to play Falstaff, has been in many classic theatrical productions and such, climbed Mt. Everest twice in his spare time, and been a friend of Patrick Stewart for over half a century, but could someone please write this guy a decent role in the movies?
Jeez, I just realized that the guy could easily play the lead in an idealized biopic of Luciano Pavarotti
I've been trying to watch Contempt for six months now, but just can't seem to stay with it. Guess my attention span for Godard is pretty short, though I got through Breathless okay a couple of times.
Ann,
Was it expediency to avoid the costs of storing the original version of The Dark Angel that led Frances Goldwyn to have it disposed of a few decades ago?
So, Klondike,
What Brian Blessed movies would you recommend?
The only notable one that I can recall enjoying him in thoroughly was Flash Gordon--a movie from the '80s that seemed wonderfully cheesy and entertaining then but maybe is a 'guilty pleasure' now. I do like the actor, but aside from stuff like Black Adder and Doctor Who, the guy seems to be consigned to roles such as "Wrestler Trainer" in Oliver Stone's craptastic Alexander (2004). I understand that Blessed's played King Lear, was born to play Falstaff, has been in many classic theatrical productions and such, climbed Mt. Everest twice in his spare time, and been a friend of Patrick Stewart for over half a century, but could someone please write this guy a decent role in the movies?
Jeez, I just realized that the guy could easily play the lead in an idealized biopic of Luciano Pavarotti
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Ann Harding
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- Joined: January 11th, 2008, 11:03 am
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Well, allegedly it was to get more shelf space in the vaults....moirafinnie wrote:Ann,
Was it expediency to avoid the costs of storing the original version of The Dark Angel that led Frances Goldwyn to have it disposed of a few decades ago?
We'll never know exactly why. They probably also consider that these silents didn't have any commercial value..... 
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klondike
Unfortunately, for most of us Bless-heads, Brian's career virtually defines the concept of a cameo role - colorful, zesty, memorable and brief!moirafinnie wrote:So, Klondike,
What Brian Blessed movies would you recommend?
The only notable one that I can recall enjoying him in thoroughly was Flash Gordon--a movie from the '80s that seemed wonderfully cheesy and entertaining then but maybe is a 'guilty pleasure' now . . but could someone please write this guy a decent role in the movies?
Jeez, I just realized that the guy could easily play the lead in an idealized biopic of Luciano Pavarotti
I first met him back in high school, watching grainy, syndicated episodes of "Arthur, Young Warlord", wherein he played the snarling, bombastic Mark of Cornwall (to the hilt, of course); a dozen or so years later, TV brought me back to Mr. B, this time as the macho-loony King Henry on "Blackadder". . who, when asked by his elder son if he was glad to be back from the Crusades, replied "Of course not! I miss the smell of blood in my nostrils . . and the Queen has a 'headache' . . !"
But even when he hits the big screen, it's too long between gigs; after comic-stripping himself as Voltan for Flash Gordon, we glimpse him as the Baron of Locksley in Prince of Thieves, and then as the delightful outlaw chief Cluny MacPherson, opposite Armand Assante in Kidnapped . . and then . . not so much; lots of guest roles on short-lived British TV series, plenty of well-paid voice-overs . . and {shudder} that walking autopsy in Alexander.
By the way, according to IMDb, Brian has played Pavarotti at least once . . on an old episode of some show called "Stars in My Eyes" . . {sigh} . .
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feaito
Over the weekend I watched three films:
-"Flor Silvestre" (1943) (aka Wildflower), a very melodramatic Mexican film, directed by Emilio "Indio" Fernández, starring Dolores Del Río and Pedro Armendáriz. Too heavy-handed for my taste, but still a worthwhile film, from a historical-sociological point of view. Del Río plays a humble peasant girl in love with a Mexican Landowner's son who has revolutionary tendencies. Ultra-sentimental. The least interesting of the Del Río-Armendáriz pairings I've seen to this date. I still have to see "María Candelaria" (1943), which is hailed as the couple's best film together, but I haven't been able to get hold of it.
-"Enchanted April" (1935). An interesting little film starring Ann Harding. While it doesn't display Harding's talents at its best, it nevertheless has a charm of its own, with good performances by Jessie Ralph, Katharine Alexander, Frank Morgan, Raffaela Ottiano and Reginald Owen, deftly playing an obnoxious character.
- "Romanoff and Juliet" (1961), a smart, political comedy directed by Peter Ustinov. Clever dialogue. Interesting film.
-"Flor Silvestre" (1943) (aka Wildflower), a very melodramatic Mexican film, directed by Emilio "Indio" Fernández, starring Dolores Del Río and Pedro Armendáriz. Too heavy-handed for my taste, but still a worthwhile film, from a historical-sociological point of view. Del Río plays a humble peasant girl in love with a Mexican Landowner's son who has revolutionary tendencies. Ultra-sentimental. The least interesting of the Del Río-Armendáriz pairings I've seen to this date. I still have to see "María Candelaria" (1943), which is hailed as the couple's best film together, but I haven't been able to get hold of it.
-"Enchanted April" (1935). An interesting little film starring Ann Harding. While it doesn't display Harding's talents at its best, it nevertheless has a charm of its own, with good performances by Jessie Ralph, Katharine Alexander, Frank Morgan, Raffaela Ottiano and Reginald Owen, deftly playing an obnoxious character.
- "Romanoff and Juliet" (1961), a smart, political comedy directed by Peter Ustinov. Clever dialogue. Interesting film.
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jdb1
Sidebar about Brian Blessed:
My Yorkshire friend works as a hiking and rock climbing guide, and she often sends me various brochures about parks and reserves in Yorkshire. Brian Blessed is the celebrity patron for at least one of these (which one I can't remember now of course) and his photos are plastered all over the brochures. I believe he comes from the town of Mexborough in Yorkshire. I'm not familiar with it, but I hear tell it's somewhere near Doncaster.
My Yorkshire friend works as a hiking and rock climbing guide, and she often sends me various brochures about parks and reserves in Yorkshire. Brian Blessed is the celebrity patron for at least one of these (which one I can't remember now of course) and his photos are plastered all over the brochures. I believe he comes from the town of Mexborough in Yorkshire. I'm not familiar with it, but I hear tell it's somewhere near Doncaster.
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feaito
Yesterday, on board the subway en route back to my home from work, I was reading a chapter of the enlightening book “The Runaway Bride”, a book on Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1930s, authored by Elizabeth Kendall, which analyzed George Stevens’ first important film -the 1935 Kate Hepburn vehicle “Alice Adams” (1935), which is one of my favorite movies- as well as the director’s background and career.
While reading it I remembered that his 1948 film “I Remember Mama” (1948) was in my “pending list” of DVDs to be seen, so when I arrived at home, I felt the urge to watch this film.
I was completely captured by the film’s honest approach to its subject, a Norwegian family living in San Francisco during the teens. The film is comprised of wonderful, endearing vignettes of the everyday life of the Hanson family, with Irene Dunne deftly playing the sweet, but not syrupy, title character. She truly gives a flawless, marvelous performance, with accent and all, of the matriarch of a family comprised of three daughters, one son, one husband, three sisters (& a newly “acquired” husband), one nephew, their uncle and the latter’s wife.
Each of the characters is so well developed and portrayed, with sensitivity but not with sentimentalism, if you know what I mean. The picture is very true to life and very touching. I could not help being moved at some points and this is a sign, for me, that the movie’s extremely well done.
It’s a perfect film, with wonderful, subtle, nuanced performances, worthy of praise and analysis, and which demonstrates George Stevens’ tremendous skill and talent as a director.
Four stars out of four.
While reading it I remembered that his 1948 film “I Remember Mama” (1948) was in my “pending list” of DVDs to be seen, so when I arrived at home, I felt the urge to watch this film.
I was completely captured by the film’s honest approach to its subject, a Norwegian family living in San Francisco during the teens. The film is comprised of wonderful, endearing vignettes of the everyday life of the Hanson family, with Irene Dunne deftly playing the sweet, but not syrupy, title character. She truly gives a flawless, marvelous performance, with accent and all, of the matriarch of a family comprised of three daughters, one son, one husband, three sisters (& a newly “acquired” husband), one nephew, their uncle and the latter’s wife.
Each of the characters is so well developed and portrayed, with sensitivity but not with sentimentalism, if you know what I mean. The picture is very true to life and very touching. I could not help being moved at some points and this is a sign, for me, that the movie’s extremely well done.
It’s a perfect film, with wonderful, subtle, nuanced performances, worthy of praise and analysis, and which demonstrates George Stevens’ tremendous skill and talent as a director.
Four stars out of four.
Last edited by feaito on October 14th, 2008, 12:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.
One of major reasons that todays motion pictures do not appeal to me is their lack of humanity, alone with too much loud noise and excessive use of profanity. Or maybe because I am just an old f*rt.feaito wrote:Yesterday, on board the subway en route back to my home from work, I was reading a chapter of the enlightening book “The Runaway Bride”, a book on Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1930s, authored by Elizabeth Kendall, which analyzed George Stevens’ first important film -the 1935 Kate Hepburn vehicle “Alice Adams” (1935), which is one of my favorite movies- as well as the director’s background and career.
While reading it I remembered that his 1948 film “I Remember Mama” (1948) was in my “pending list” of DVDs to be seen, so when I arrived at home, I felt the urge to watch this film.
I was completely captured by the film’s honest approach to its subject, a Norwegian family living in San Francisco during the teens. The film is comprised of wonderful, endearing vignettes of the everyday life of the Hanson family, with Irene Dunne deftly playing the sweet, but not syrupy, title character. She truly gives a flawless, marvelous performance, with accent and all, of the matriarch of a family comprised of three daughters, one son, one husband, three sisters (& a newly “acquired” husband), one nephew, their uncle and the latter’s wife.
Each of the characters is so well developed and portrayed, with sensitivity but not with sentimentalism, if you know what I mean. The picture is very true to life and very touching. I could not help being moved at some points and this is a signal, for me, that the movie’s extremely well done.
It’s a perfect film, with wonderful, subtle, nuanced performances, worthy of praise and analysis, and which demonstrates George Stevens’ tremendous skill and talent as a director.
Four stars out of four.
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movieman1957
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- Location: MD
No. That is my problem with newer movies too. They are too fast, too noisy, too nasty and mostly too preposterous.
We had some friends come over the other night with their teenage son. They like old movies but aren't familiar with many of them. I showed them "Vivacious Lady" and they liked it but more impressively the kid liked it. He later told his mother he didn't think a black and white movie would be that much fun.
Chalk one up for the old guy.
We had some friends come over the other night with their teenage son. They like old movies but aren't familiar with many of them. I showed them "Vivacious Lady" and they liked it but more impressively the kid liked it. He later told his mother he didn't think a black and white movie would be that much fun.
Chalk one up for the old guy.
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
Nando, you've discovered one of the best movies! Something that strikes me every time I watch I Remember Mama is that I don't feel like I'm watching Irene Dunne, Philip Dorn, Oskar Homolka, or Ellen Corby. I'm watching Mama, Papa, Uncle, and Auntie. They just totally submerged into those roles. You found a true gem!
Nancy
Nancy
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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feaito
Ken, I can connect with what you are saying and I pretty much agree with you.
Chris, one of the things I've always tried to do is to make people my age or younger realize that watching 1930s, 1940s B&W films can be fun and engrossing too.
Nancy, you are so right, the actors are totally submerged into their respective parts. And I forgot to mention Sir Cedric Hardwicke, who endearingly played the Hansons' boarder and who for a time was also part of the family.
Chris, one of the things I've always tried to do is to make people my age or younger realize that watching 1930s, 1940s B&W films can be fun and engrossing too.
Nancy, you are so right, the actors are totally submerged into their respective parts. And I forgot to mention Sir Cedric Hardwicke, who endearingly played the Hansons' boarder and who for a time was also part of the family.
Feaito:
What you said about I Remember Mama is so on the mark. Even the Black and White doesn't detract from it. Nothing done in the last 20 years comes even close to comparing with it. Oh, there will be some 'big' movies that become 'classic' but that will be because of their 'bigness' not their fine acting or direction or any of the hundreds of other things that go into making a movie. James Cameron's Titanic comes to mind, but most others have fallen to the wayside. With the passing of each classic actor such as Paul Newman, we are losing more and more of a valuable, historic treasure. These movies that youngsters scoff at, show them how their grandparents lived. No amount of photos, or stories can relate like a moving picture. I myself cannot understand how people live in what New Yorkers call 'walk ups'; those small one or one and a half room apartments such as Natalie Wood got for herself in Love with the Proper Stranger. Around here, that's called a 'garden apartment' - mainly because it's half way under the garden :!:
But returning to movies, naturally, being a woman, I enjoy seeing the kitchens and what the utensils are like. I look for weird looking toasters, ovens ans stoves. Have you seen ice boxes where the ice is delivered each day and put in the box to keep the food cold? I've seen washing machines with rollers and recall catching my fingers in them, and irons that you put on a heating pad to get hot, and wetting my finger to test and see if it was hot enough yet - I was always afraid of burning my finger, so I just rubbed it over the ironing board and touched it to see if it was hot or just warm.
One of the main things, is my generations' men were big, and strong, even little Alan Ladd looked big. They looked like they could handle any situation whether it be fighting indians or being the contractor on a sky scraper. The women also were feminine. Even when the war started and they went to work in the factories, they still remained feminine, wearing skirts on the streets to and from work, just keeping up the ladylike persona, I've seen many photos of my aunts work groups and they still looked like ladies. I don't know when tastes changed to small guys with pretty faces. I don't think there is a male actor in Hollywood these days that top 6 feet. Yes, yes, I know there are some - Russell Crowe, Dennis Quaid, but I'm really talking under 30. Unless women are taller, very few men are more than one or two inches taller than their leading ladies, and the few that are have skinny bodies that you really don't want to see in swim trunks thank you. Nor do the women stand out from one another. I have been watching the newer movies lately because between SOTM, and various other tributes and events, most of the movies shown through August, September and October have been 3rd and 4th reruns of movies I've seen already 10 or 15 times, and much as I love them, was just not in the mood to see again. Anyway last year I listed several girls that I kind of noticed, but most of them are GONE! Where did they go? Again I'm at the point where I watch the trailers on IMDb and don't know the names. These kids make a splash, do 5 or so movies, then disappear! Nobody sticks around a fights for the parts. Again there are some exceptions, Naomi Watts is still in there in the thick as is Drew, Reese, and a couple of others. But ask yourself have you seen a replacement for Bette Davis, or Joan Crawford, John Wayne, or Clark Gable?
Sorry I mouthed off so much, but I really miss seeing a new movie I can really dig my teeth into.
Anne
What you said about I Remember Mama is so on the mark. Even the Black and White doesn't detract from it. Nothing done in the last 20 years comes even close to comparing with it. Oh, there will be some 'big' movies that become 'classic' but that will be because of their 'bigness' not their fine acting or direction or any of the hundreds of other things that go into making a movie. James Cameron's Titanic comes to mind, but most others have fallen to the wayside. With the passing of each classic actor such as Paul Newman, we are losing more and more of a valuable, historic treasure. These movies that youngsters scoff at, show them how their grandparents lived. No amount of photos, or stories can relate like a moving picture. I myself cannot understand how people live in what New Yorkers call 'walk ups'; those small one or one and a half room apartments such as Natalie Wood got for herself in Love with the Proper Stranger. Around here, that's called a 'garden apartment' - mainly because it's half way under the garden :!:
But returning to movies, naturally, being a woman, I enjoy seeing the kitchens and what the utensils are like. I look for weird looking toasters, ovens ans stoves. Have you seen ice boxes where the ice is delivered each day and put in the box to keep the food cold? I've seen washing machines with rollers and recall catching my fingers in them, and irons that you put on a heating pad to get hot, and wetting my finger to test and see if it was hot enough yet - I was always afraid of burning my finger, so I just rubbed it over the ironing board and touched it to see if it was hot or just warm.
One of the main things, is my generations' men were big, and strong, even little Alan Ladd looked big. They looked like they could handle any situation whether it be fighting indians or being the contractor on a sky scraper. The women also were feminine. Even when the war started and they went to work in the factories, they still remained feminine, wearing skirts on the streets to and from work, just keeping up the ladylike persona, I've seen many photos of my aunts work groups and they still looked like ladies. I don't know when tastes changed to small guys with pretty faces. I don't think there is a male actor in Hollywood these days that top 6 feet. Yes, yes, I know there are some - Russell Crowe, Dennis Quaid, but I'm really talking under 30. Unless women are taller, very few men are more than one or two inches taller than their leading ladies, and the few that are have skinny bodies that you really don't want to see in swim trunks thank you. Nor do the women stand out from one another. I have been watching the newer movies lately because between SOTM, and various other tributes and events, most of the movies shown through August, September and October have been 3rd and 4th reruns of movies I've seen already 10 or 15 times, and much as I love them, was just not in the mood to see again. Anyway last year I listed several girls that I kind of noticed, but most of them are GONE! Where did they go? Again I'm at the point where I watch the trailers on IMDb and don't know the names. These kids make a splash, do 5 or so movies, then disappear! Nobody sticks around a fights for the parts. Again there are some exceptions, Naomi Watts is still in there in the thick as is Drew, Reese, and a couple of others. But ask yourself have you seen a replacement for Bette Davis, or Joan Crawford, John Wayne, or Clark Gable?
Sorry I mouthed off so much, but I really miss seeing a new movie I can really dig my teeth into.
Anne
Anne
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feaito
It's always interesting to read your posts Anne, because they are very honest.
Today I watched Robert Siodmak's "The Killers" (1946), a fantastic Film-Noir. It reminded me in way of "Out of the Past", because the story is also told via flashback.
It is a cleverly mounted film which holds one's interest from start to finish. I think it was Lancaster's and Gardner's only pairing and they make a great couple. One only wishes they would have had more time together on screen. Gardner is at her most alluring as a sultry Femme Fatale and she looks mesmerizing in that satin black gown which resembles the one that Rita Hayworth wore the very same year in "Gilda". Gardner's character also connects on many levels with Greer's in "Out of the Past".
Two words linger in my mind after watching it: double crosser and victim. Pity poor the Swede (played by Lancaster). A really doomed guy if I ever saw one.
Edmond O'Brien is magnificent as the investigator who works for the Insurance company.
Superb!
Today I watched Robert Siodmak's "The Killers" (1946), a fantastic Film-Noir. It reminded me in way of "Out of the Past", because the story is also told via flashback.
It is a cleverly mounted film which holds one's interest from start to finish. I think it was Lancaster's and Gardner's only pairing and they make a great couple. One only wishes they would have had more time together on screen. Gardner is at her most alluring as a sultry Femme Fatale and she looks mesmerizing in that satin black gown which resembles the one that Rita Hayworth wore the very same year in "Gilda". Gardner's character also connects on many levels with Greer's in "Out of the Past".
Two words linger in my mind after watching it: double crosser and victim. Pity poor the Swede (played by Lancaster). A really doomed guy if I ever saw one.
Edmond O'Brien is magnificent as the investigator who works for the Insurance company.
Superb!