WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[charliechaplinfan]

I'm on the fence about Richard Harris but as someone who had to watch all the Harry Potters back to back on holiday his Dumbledore really irritates me, he doesn't speak properly, I kept wanting him to speak up (sorry Nancy) I like This Sporting Life but I prefer Look Back in Anger. I'm not overkeen on Cromwell as a film, partially because I had a boyfriend who watched it every month, I don't ever need to see it again. I like MacArthur Park though.

[feaito]

Thanks to Carrie, I was able to finally watch the long anticipated "Merrily We Live" (1938), a screwball comedy produced by Hal Roach and released through MGM, which was clearly inspired by La Cava's masterpiece "My Man Godfrey" (1936).

The film comes across in my opinion, a little bit "forced" in its efforts of being funny; the situations do not flow like in the aforementioned masterpiece. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the comedy is good and amusing on an average level. Billie Burke, as the dizzy matriarch of the clan, manages to be sillier and daffier than the Alice Brady character in MMG, and definitely with a more naïve and less cynical quality. I had never seen Brian Ahern in a screwball comedy and he does a very fine job as the tramp turned unwittingly into a chauffeur...and also I had never seen him as the object of the affection of most of the ladies of the cast, whose jaws dropped after beholding him; they are transfixed and in awe of his handsomeness: Connie Bennett (the young heiress-fine), Bonita Granville (her younger, mischievous sister), Ann Dvorak (a socialite), Patsy Kelly (the maid). There are some funny scenes and the film is pleasant, but sadly, it does not reach the high echeleons of zaniness of "Bringing Up Baby" (1938), "My Man Godfrey" (1936) or "The Awful Truth" (1937).

[JackFavell]

I agree with all you wrote fernando. At first I didn't like the film, it was a big disappointment to me. But it's grown on me a lot with subsequent viewings, and now I really like it, especially Aherne and his chemistry with everyone in the family. It's no My Man Godfrey but what is? I especially like the scene where he's accidentally accepted into the dinner party, and the scene where he and Connie try to get in the house through the window. It's charming, I just wish they'd come up with something less like Godfrey in the first place. Aherne is a very good light actor and he really shines in this one. Plus I;m a big fan of Bonita Granville who as always does a great job playing the brat.

[feaito]

Ditto WEN and thanks, as usual, for your very insightful and valuable feedback.

[JackFavell]

I watched The Killing yesterday, thanks to some reviews of the TCM film festival showing written up here at the Oasis.

KILLING SPOILERS

It was just great, no fat on this movie! One of the joys for me was the supporting cast, who were brought forward as stars, while the star, Sterling Hayden stayed behind the scenes for most of the movie. He seemed at first to be merely the catalyst for the more quirky characters' actions and foibles. Only an actor as strong and 'big' as Hayden could pull off this role, because when he steps forward, there's no question he's the leader, even in his own quiet way. Marie Windsor's mere presence is enough to throw this perfect crime off, turning it into tragedy. As Maven said, Kola Kwariani reminded me of Stanislaus Zbysko from Night and the City. but somewhat wiser a man. I could have seen more of him. Joe Sawyer was WONDERFUL. Glad to see him shine in this film after years of supporting others. Ditto for Ted de Corsia.

I liked the sudden burst of violence. Shocking! It really is horrific, how fast it comes and then is over. It felt real and senseless. One can deal with Carey's ultimate demise, since he's on the periphery, and obviously a nut job psychotic (sorry ChiO) but somewhere along the way, I really began to care what happened to Joe Sawyer and Sterling Hayden. I was expecting a face off between Cook and Hayden, but wasn't disappointed with the turns this movie took.

The visuals are beautiful, but not out of place or even arty seeming in the context of the film. It was all of a piece, film and individual shots. I wish I could have found a photo of Elisha Cook Jr. with his hand over his eyes, I found that shot very evocative of his character, who we see rising to a pitch of fevered insanity. He was wonderful, creepier than Timothy Carey, and I was actually amazed at how long he lived in this film.

It seems to me that Kubrick must have been influenced by Rashomon when making this film. The whole set up of the movie, the movement of it has everything to do with seeing the same events from different angles, and it's done masterfully, moving the plot forward while keeping us in suspense at the same time. Building up to Hayden's view and attempted escape was genius...coming so close to it only to have it blow out of his control and disappear...well I laughed out loud at Hayden's last line, "What's the difference?" Perfect.

[ChiO]

Wonderful reflection on THE KILLING, which comes in at #6 on the Noir ChiO-Meter, JF. I am compelled, however, to provide an alternate view as to one provocative statement.

One can deal with Carey's ultimate demise, since he's on the periphery, and obviously a nut job psychotic

A "nut job psychotic"? Nikki is as rational as Johnny Clay. He's a sharpshooter paid to do a job. He does it...coolly and efficiently. When confronted, he does what he needs to do to accomplish his mission and extricate himself when it's accomplished.

That to do so also reveals some inner ugliness is a statement by Kubrick later replayed in DR. STRANGELOVE (the only Kubrick movie that I like more): acceptance of an insane world by dealing with it rationally is the height of insanity, and Doom is inevitable. Kinda Noir, isn't it?

"On the periphery"? Nikki is the key to the movie...as a Timothy Carey performance always is.

[JackFavell]

Hahahaha! OK...OK! I knew I'd get you to join in if I dissed Timothy Carey!

I meant he was one of the lower paid "skilled workmen" - those who weren't in on the main job. I should NEVER have said he was "on the periphery".

A "nut job psychotic"? Nikki is as rational as Johnny Clay. He's a sharpshooter paid to do a job. He does it...coolly and efficiently. When confronted, he does what he needs to do to accomplish his mission and extricate himself when it's accomplished.

That to do so also reveals some inner ugliness is a statement by Kubrick later replayed in DR. STRANGELOVE (the only Kubrick movie that I like more): acceptance of an insane world by dealing with it rationally is the height of insanity, and Doom is inevitable. Kinda Noir, isn't it?

You are absolutely right, yours is a much better description of Carey than mine. He wasn't a psychotic at all. Just a man using our national psychosis and fear to his benefit. He was able to perform the job perfectly, showed ruthless dedication to it when confronted with obstacles. Before noir, this would be seen as an asset in a character. How very American! I don't think he even gave much thought to what he did, as long as it had the required affect. Don't worry about HOW you do the job, as long as the job gets done. The parallel to the business world and America in general is extremely clear. I think there's a reason why we get these parallels in noir films like The Killing, Night and the City and The Asphalt Jungle. All show an underworld that simply mimics practices of the so called "legitimate" business world, and even our government, pointing up the less savory aspects of the American workplace.

I loved the fact that we could SEE Carey's character's quick thought processes about what he was going to say to James Edwards, using the word he knew would be most likely to get him off his back. Expedience necessitated the ugly phrase, and it worked like a charm. And it also I think, gave him a rush of pleasure to get the guy off his back in this brilliant way. So what if his lie at the beginning to get into the parking lot endeared him to Edwards in the first place? That's America. Anything goes, when you have a job to do. Who knows how he might have felt outside. People don't really matter, they are just there to be used. He yanked James Edwards around, and it's appropriate for Edwards to be angry. It's almost as shocking to see as the violent gunfight. And what's great is, it puts us on Edwards' side in a way that I don't think we had seen before - from a black standpoint.

It's kind of interesting, because I think filmmakers do something similar, lying to us, guiding us to find empathy for a character, then yanking that empathy from us by showing an uglier side of the same character. That's modern filmmaking, and it stems from movies like this. There were a lot of layers in that scene and I think it was probably the best acted one in the film.

[ChiO]

As the greatest (okay, my favorite) director, who also made the greatest (okay, okay, my favorite) film, said in F FOR FAKE:

I did promise that for one hour, I'd tell you only the truth. That hour, ladies and gentlemen, is over. For the past seventeen minutes, I've been lying my head off.

What we professional liars hope to serve is truth. I'm afraid the pompous word for that is "art".

[RedRiver]

All show an underworld that simply mimics practices of the so called "legitimate" business world, and even our government

Increasingly, that's where the greatest crimes are committed.

In all honesty, I like "Macarthur Park" too. I was just having a little fun with it. I don't think I've left a cake out in the rain since hearing that song! Harris recorded another pleasant tune called "Didn't We."

[ChiO]

Didn't we, g-g-g-girl?

Yep, the flipside of the original 45. I actually played that side more. And I love Maynard Ferguson's swingin' big band rendition of MacArthur Park. Seeing Jimmy Webb perform it solo at a piano twice (once in the former Three Penny, Red), also gave me a new appreciation of having left that cake out in the rain when it took so long to bake it.

[movieman1957]

Didn't we, g-g-g-girl?

Yep, the flipside of the original 45. I actually played that side more. And I love Maynard Ferguson's swingin' big band rendition of MacArthur Park. Seeing Jimmy Webb perform it solo at a piano twice (once in the former Three Penny, Red), also gave me a new appreciation of having left that cake out in the rain when it took so long to bake it.

Do you have Webb's album "Ten Easy Pieces"? Great interpretations of some of his famous songs. "Galveston" and "The Worst That Could Happen" are particularly fine. He does do "MacArthur Park."

[CineMaven]

Last Friday I went to the Cinema to see "Oblivion" ( 2013 ) and I enjoyed it very much and found it an above-average film of its kind. The premise of the story is smart and the development of the plot is well delineated. The sets and art direction are impressive. Tom Cruise is fine and the man seem to have stayed in his thirties; he loooks younger than Brad Pitt who's quite younger than him. Andrea Riesenborough's ( "The Devil's Whore" ) performance is riveting -IMO-; she stands out among the members of the cast. Good.

Sometimes three is a crowd. Even in space.

Hola Feaitito. I saw "OBLIVION" today and I hadn't cared for it. I am usually very generous with movies. I suspend my disbelief...I go with what's going on. And I don't like being negative on the Board. But whew, I had a tough time with it. I found it big, overblown; a Tom Cruise vanity project. I couldn't get into it emotionally. I liked the time-tripping aspect of the script though I got confused a bit. Morgan Freeman, typical leader of the free-thinking, real people...a bit cliche. I liked the idea of Cruise's natural hideaway in the midst of a deadened planet and space station of chrome. He's living double, triple lives. I like mechanical Melissa Leo, and you're right about Riesenborough. I've not seen her before. I liked her distress of covering up for Cruise. She had to hold together the false life Cruise led. She was fascinating to watch. I wish I could have a better feeling for it. At one point a curtain came down over my brain and I began to see it as a movie, when I'm usually carried off into the dream.

Loved those drones though. Boy, were they angry, and I think I even saw their personality.

[HowardRoarkSheffield]

I watched the Hanging Tree and To Be Or Not To, the Jack Benny version. Such a funny film. The Hanging Tree is great too, catchy song, I've been singing it for days.

[JackFavell]

I went to see Baz Luhrmann's version of The Great Gatsby. I had no expectations, but wanted to see it since it is one of my absolute favorite stories, as you all probably know already. I expected to dislike it.

SPOILERS

The surprise is, I loved it. I mean I LOVED IT. I found it at all times compelling. I'd go see it again. Once inside the inner core of the movie, nothing could break the connection between me and what was happening on the screen. I swear, no one spoke or even made noise during the film, and this was a large Friday night audience. You just couldn't wait to find out what happened, and I know what happened! I wanted to see how it would unfold. It didn't disappoint. It exceeded every expectation, and my friend said it felt the same for her.

The story, despite a few changes in placement for effect, and the deletion of the scene with Gatsby's father, was extremely true to the writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald and it's clear to me that Luhrmann loves this story and knows it inside and out. Fitzgerald's words actually floated across the screen at times, a wonderful effect. There are a few deviations from Fitz's words in the dialogue, but they are not particularly noticeable unless you've read the book over and over again, and they do not detract from the overall texture and beauty of the film. In fact, all the effects that were so jarring to me during the previews worked for me. Even the conceit of having modern rap music juxtaposed against 1920's style music in certain scenes worked to demarcate the decadence, corruption and coarseness of different levels of society, especially the behavior of people in a crowd - the 'only place one can be really intimate', according to Jordan Baker, one of the characters. That rather disgusting "anything goes" social intimacy with absolute strangers was brought forward by the modern music and it worked! So sue me, I liked it.

The movie is so carelessly, effortlessly rich (a perfect analogy for the story) that I wished I could freeze frame many scenes just to look at the depth of vision - costumes, jewelry, rugs, furniture, flowers, wine glasses, architecture. This far far outdoes the 1970's Gatsby, it literally takes your breath away. Wealth and waste beyond measure was on display in Gatsby's home, but it was dwarfed by Daisy and Tom's home on the other side of the water. Gatsby's house looks as if it could fit into the wealthy 20's style community, more ostentatious than it's neighbors, but it also has touches of the fairy castle about it. It is so fanciful that it's almost inappropriate, which is just right for Gatsby's home. Nick's cottage bungalow is small, but looks like it fits into the setting too.

The two sides of the "Egg", West and East seemed as far away from each other as two places could be, which worked beautifully. Never were the settings or set pieces so over the top that they did not serve the story itself. The private scene in Gatsby's home with him tossing the shirts over the balcony, well it was a dream, so exquisitely directed that I wanted to cry. The same goes for the opening sequence with Daisy and Jordan - it made me suck in my breath, all the visuals were right out of the book, with white dresses and white curtains blowing in the breeze.... done so well that it made me wonder why no one has taken those brilliant descriptions and filmed it this way before. It all feels right, it all feels like the book.

I was worried at first about Tobey McGuire and Leonardo DiCapprio, they still seem so young to me, but they were PERFECT. Thank goodness, Leonardo made a character closer to Alan Ladd... though I think you could say he brought the best of both earlier performances together here. He has never looked as good as in this film, and this is coming from someone who thinks he's just weird looking. He was handsome, lovely. Carey Mulligan was PERFECT, childlike, but with an occasional biting sarcasm, spoken so casually and sweetly that she is able to get away with it, as a most beautiful woman might. Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan was absolutely spot on, and even brought a few moments of humanity to this character that has always remained a loathsome mystery to me. He really shone in his scenes, and I begin to think the key to the story is in Tom's manipulation of not just Daisy in the hotel scene with the ice, but of Gatsby too. Edgerton for me, gave the best performance in a film filled with excellent performances. All guided by Luhrmann into a whole... a vision... beginning and ending with a green light across the water.

The movie is so cinematic, it's been ages since I saw a film so seductively visual (that wasn't a silent picture). It's really NOT vulgar, except when it needs to be, and then it is more shocking in the characters' crudeness than crude itself. This was the biggest surprise to me. I believe that Luhrmann has really done his classic film homework. He seems highly influenced by it. I got the impression that you could watch this film without sound and understand it. It's filmed like a silent film. It begins in a way that any classic film lover would applaud - with a black and white Art Deco Warner Bros. logo, which turned into the gold and black initials JG, adding a Busby Berkeley pinpoint of tiny light in the black center of the logo, a green light that grew larger until we are drawn into the film itself, the green light at the end of the dock. The film also ended with that dreamy green light across the water sliding into an infinitesimally tiny spot, back to the initials, and the Warner Bros. logo. I have to say that there was a delicious Sunset Boulevard homage at the end as well, that came a little too close to blowing the mood for me in it's perfect recreation of the scene from the earlier movie, but once more, Luhrmann pulled it off by adding his own visual of newspaper headlines fading into the handwriting motif that was used throughout the film. The transitions are remarkable throughout the whole film, making it ebb and flow like a river, or perhaps like words flowing from the mind, being written down on a sheet of paper as they are thought out.

Best of all was Luhrmann's tweaking of Nick Carroway into F. Scott Fitzgerald himself - another conceit that worked so very well for this movie. He gives us a future Nick, the Nick who narrates the story, stretching the character's life to encompass Fitzgerald's own later life. We see how the death of Gatsby and Myrtle, the actions of Daisy and Tom have affected him, caused that cynicism and mental anguish that we know so well from biographies of Fitzgerald's life. But he puts it all in context of THIS story, as if it really happened to Fitzgerald, rooting it in reality in a way I never thought of before. I felt that Luhrmann helped me to understand motivations in the story much better than I ever did. That's really saying something. It's a little slow moving in the latter half of the film, but wow! it's appropriate and it still works. I just can't get over it. I never thought when I was going out tonight that I'd see the definitive version of this story so far. Now if they only could find the 1926 version, my life would be complete.

Go see it. Even if you've read the book and think you would hate it. It's meant to be seen by those who have read the book, and that's the joy of watching this version of The GREAT Gatsby.

[CineMaven]

Welll...my assignment before Tuesday, is to see this movie. And then I'll be able to read your review.