I Just Watched...

[Allhallowsday]

I'm increasingly bemused by the notion of ORSON WELLES directing ALTERED STATES.

According to imdb, the cast and the director all got into ISOLATION TANKS in order to understand the material.

can't you just see ORSON getting STUCK in his TANK and having to be dollied around on set in it like a DALEK, heavily-echoed directions to the cast and crew emanating in that DEEP VOICE from within??

If ORSON never got out, it could've been like this:



Or this...

[jamesjazzguitar]

I'll quit talking about ALTERED STATES soon (although I make the sidenote that GOD, I'VE MISSED IT WHEN WE HAVE A GROUP DISCUSSION ABOUT A FILM, ESPECIALLY A WEIRD ONE)...

however...

there's one more thing that's worth talking about and that is WILLIAM HURT (side note- I keep thinking WILLIAM HOLDEN when typing HURT's name, and it's maybe because they had a similar cold, competent, sonofabitch way about their personas on screen and off.)

growing up in the 1980's, WILLIAM HURT was always in movies my parents were into, so I never thought about him much and it's only been recentlyish that I've come across some of his work- there are still lots of films of his I have not seen though.

...and even though he was BY MANY, MANY ACCOUNTS AN UTTERLY AWFUL PERSON (google it), I do think he was a very very good actor- highly capable and adept at a challenge- in fact it seemed as if he enjoyed rising to the challenge presented by THAT DIALOGUE in ALTERED STATES, and you need only to watch his ABSOLUTE HIMBO in BROADCAST NEWS (where he is as daft as BILL PULLMAN in RUTHLESS PEOPLE) to know he's got versatility.

sue me for this, but he was also pretty cute in his prime.

Google it???? What a clown show.

[Allhallowsday]

...
growing up in the 1980's, WILLIAM HURT was always in movies my parents were into, so I never thought about him much and it's only been recentlyish that I've come across some of his work- there are still lots of films of his I have not seen though.

...and even though he was BY MANY, MANY ACCOUNTS AN UTTERLY AWFUL PERSON (google it), I do think he was a very very good actor- highly capable and adept at a challenge- in fact it seemed as if he enjoyed rising to the challenge presented by THAT DIALOGUE in ALTERED STATES, and you need only to watch his ABSOLUTE HIMBO in BROADCAST NEWS (where he is as daft as BILL PULLMAN in RUTHLESS PEOPLE) to know he's got versatility...

Have you seen BODY HEAT (1981) with KATHLEEN TURNER?

[Lorna]

For a time in the 1980s William Hurt was considered one of the best, possibly even the best, actor working in film. He had a run of good films.

I remember, quite well. That's why I was surprised that when he died, it made barely a blip in the news. I think it occurred while YE OLDE MESSAGEBOARDS were down, so I got no concensus from the folks here on their feelings, but I recall news of his passing ran below the main headlines on the websites that did mention it (cnn and huffpost come to mind distinctly), compare that to when PAUL REUBENS (PEE WEE HERMAN) died and he got THE BANNER HEADLINE at multiple sites and a large public reaction.

**EDIT- not saying PEE WEE HERMAN didn't deserve it, he did, just- y'know- HURT was one of THE actors of the 80's, even though I have not seen many of his movies, I know they were HUGE.

Fame, she is a fleeting creature.

***EDIT EDIT: CORRECTING SOME SYNTAX ABOVE- I'm NOT SAYING PEE WEE HERMAN deserved death, I'm saying his tragic death merited the level of public reaction it got.

I was surprised when I imdb'd HURT and saw that he worked really steadily even though his LEADING MAN DAYS where over by the early nineties (I remember THE DOCTOR was supposed to be his BIG "RETURN" but it fizzled out, he appeared in a BUTT TON OF MARVEL MOVIES though.

[Lorna]

Have you seen BODY HEAT (1981) with KATHLEEN TURNER?

yes, only within the last two years or so, I want to say it was one of the last films I reviewed on YE OLDE MESSAGEBOARDES.

I liked it- it was like a sexy version of THE FILE ON THELMA JORDON, only with nudity and TWO HIGHLY COMPETENT LEADS instead of just one**, and it drove home how good an actor WILLIAM HURT was, because he was clearly an intelligent man in real life, and he is- in BODY HEAT- quite convincingly playing a man who is doing some really, really stupid things and making some really, really bad decisions primarily because he is thinking near-exclusively with an organ that is not his brain.

**WENDELL COREY bores me.

[NoShear]

[quote=Allhallowsday post_id=190722 time=1699820383 user_id=349058]
Last night on METV (looking forward to this episode all week!):







I've admired that greasy Space Cowboy since I was 4 years old...when the episode was new!
[/quote]

Enjoyed your regale of "WELCOME STRANGER", Allhallowsday...

In similar southwest trekking, "CASTLES IN SPACE" reimagines Pancho Villa as an alien which offers at least one funny yield - albeit politically incorrect.
It was bundled up in winter wear on this day in 1967:



Feliz Navidad!!

[CinemaInternational]

A few last words on Altered States. By the time it was made, Paddy Cheyefsky was possibly the most respected writer in movies at that point, so he had a clause saying that not a single word could be changed in his script. Ken Russell did not like the script, finding it dry and confusing. He came upon a way to have the actors say the lines quickly, say them while drinking or eating, or simply to mutter them; this really offended Cheyefsky who wanted them delivered in a much more audible and drawn-out way. (Admittedly, the previous two scripts he had won Oscars for, The Hospital and Network, had been directed by journeyman directors Arthur Hiller and Sidney Lumet, so they likely didn't try to get in the way of the script) Cheyefsky ended up getting barred from the set, which was already infamous because Russell usually was soused every day of filming. A lot of creatives loved Paddy, so Russell became a pariah in Hollywood circles over the feud. Cheyefsky died of a heart attack at the age of 58, 8 months after Altered States was released on Christmas Day (!) 1980. Most thought at the time that the movie killed him. I have to agree with Russell though, the script was simply lacking, filled with diologue that felt far too technical for any audience composed of non-scientists. Blair Brown did tell the press, either during filming, or just afterwards that every word of the script ended up in the film. Postnote: One of Cheyefsky's best friends was Bob Fosse. (Which does beg the question why Fosse didn't end up directing this when Arthur Penn bailed, and over 25 other directors said no) . Two years after his death, Star 80 ended up being dedicated to Cheyefsky. I understand that the friendship ran deep, but to dedicate a movie as bleak and despairing as Star 80 to a deceased friend seems very odd.

As for the music and sound Oscar nods, the latter was probably because it had a lot of showy sound effects, and I'm fine with the former. The music score was composed by John Corigliano, an avant-garde modern day composer who was much respected, but rarely did compositions for films, although he nailed a surprise Oscar for the music to the little-watched The Red Violin in the late 90s. His work here is deliberately creepy, sometimes austere, and at the end quite melodic. It helps the film immensely I think.
the nominated musical scores of 1980 at the Oscars were:

Altered States (John Corigliano)
The Elephant Man (John Williams)
The Empire Strikes Back (John Williams)
Fame (Michael Gore)***
Tess (Philippe Sarde)

Fame won the Oscar for score, bur even though its songs are memorable and Gore later composed a wonderful score for Terms of Endearment, I can't remember it having much of a background score, at least not a very memorable one. Altered States actually had the score I remember most from this particular group. The two most memorable scores of the year were snubbed: John Barry's work for Somewhere in Time and Pino Dinaggio's orchestrations for Dressed to Kill. (It otherwise wasn't the most memorable year for orchestral scores, although I liked Bill Conti's work on Gloria and John Barry's other 1980 work Inside Moves. However, it was a great year for movie songs: Fame and its songs, Xanadu and its songs, Blondie's Call Me, Dolly Parton's 9 to 5, etc.)

Just want to make two comments about two of your other posts, Lorna:

Tubi is something I have not investigated too much, but it seems like a nicely offbeat streaming website, with films from many different studios. The TCM fodder that has turned up there recently has something to do with the deal WB-Discovery signed last year with Tubi, to provide them with both TV shows and movies that range from vintage material to more modern things, so probably expect more films of yore to appear there in the near future.

And, never complain about your writing. Your posts are always a pleasure to read, a clear sign of a smart, active mind, and your "rambings" are great fun to read. Everyone has their own writing style, and yours is far more distinguished than "ranting" would signify. Don't sell yourself short, you are one of the best writers here.

[Lorna]

OUT OF OF THOSE NOMINEES "FAME" IS THE ONE THAT WON????!!!!!!

???!!!!

Wow. Cocaine was nuts in the late 70's/early 80s.

[Lorna]

A few last words on Altered States...One of Cheyefsky's best friends was Bob Fosse. (Which does beg the question why Fosse didn't end up directing this when Arthur Penn bailed, and over 25 other directors said no) . Two years after his death, Star 80 ended up being dedicated to Cheyefsky. I understand that the friendship ran deep, but to dedicate a movie as bleak and despairing as Star 80 to a deceased friend seems very odd.


Fame won the Oscar for score, but... The two most memorable scores of the year were snubbed: John Barry's work for Somewhere in Time and Pino Dinaggio's orchestrations for Dressed to Kill.

you know, I kinda wish that ALTERED STATES had ended up being 27 short films by different directors , ROBERT ALTMAN could produce and each segment could be distinctly "signature"- WOODY ALLEN could get the neurotic meet-cute at the party, FOSSE could choreograph the CAVE MAN SEQUENCE like a ballet, SPIELBERG could work some alien bullshit in, JON WATERS could tackle pretty much any section he wanted...

[Lorna]

personally, I think CRONENBERG or TERRY GILLIAM would've been the best fits for the material,

[Lorna]

PAULINE KAEL’a review of “altered states” is so spot on that I’m going to try reading it alloud into my phone, and hopefully voice transcriber will not booger it up too horribly.

(With some edits)

“ an aggressively silly head-horror movie, the result of the misalliance of two wildly, different hyperbolic talents – the Director, Ken, Russell, and the writer, Paddy Chayefsky. …. chayefsky’s dialogue is like a series of position papers. Russell uses a lot of tricks to Spare you the misery of hearing the words declaimed straight, but no matter how hopped up the delivery is, you can help feel that you’re in a lecture hall, and the characters should all have pointers. There are some effectively scary Jekyll – and – Hyde tricks and WILLIAM HURT, making his movie debut brings a cool quivering untrustworthiness to his revved up mad scientist rolE, this young scientist is Neuroaesthetic, charismatic and ready to try anything. But Russell clomps from one scene to the next and the psychedelic visions come at you like choppy, slideshows, and the picture has a dismal, tired, humanistic ending…. with Blair Brown in an updated version of the thankless role of the worrying, handwringing wife, she’s an anthropologist with a job at Harvard, but all she does is fret.”