I Just Watched...

[Allhallowsday]

...One of my favorite Mitchum movies even if the Vincent Price comedy and the extended "fight" between Burr and Mitchum at the end were a little too long. This has been the opinion of many reviewers. However, it goes great for a first or second viewing.
Was surprised to see that the Tuesday showings ran over into Wednesday morning where Macao was shown. This was another good cast and director makes an OK story better.

It's amazing how long that hypodermic needle hovers and hovers... and get a vein, don't move, moves... get a vein...hovering... Like he wouldn't have been just JABBED?

[txfilmfan]

That was my list of 1994 titles originally, not Lorna's (although Lorna quoted it) I'm sorry if there was any mixup on that. 1994 was hardly a favorite year but I mustered it up. This was my list in whole

1 Quiz Show
2 The Browning Version
3 That's Entertainment! III
4 Widows' Peak
5 Ed Wood
6 Little Women
7 Crooklyn
8 Second Best
9 I'll Do Anything
10 Immortal Beloved
11 Corrina, Corrina
12 Four Weddings and a Funeral
13 Don Juan DeMarco
14 Serial Mom
15 Tom and Viv
16 It Could Happen to You
17 Guarding Tess
18 Pret-a-Porter
19 The Shawshank Redemption
20 Black Beauty
21 The Ref
22 Vanya on 42nd Street
23 Three Colors: Red
24 Nobody's Fool
25 The Hudsucker Proxy
26 The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
27 The Swan Princess
28 The Paper
29 Love Affair
30 Death and the Maiden

I notice BLUE SKY is not on your list. Have you not seen it, did you dislike it or do you not really consider it a feature even if JESSICA LANGE did win BEST ACTRESS for it? (personally, I kinda like it all right even if it is a LIFETIME MOVIE that got a theatrical release and lucked into a weak, weak year for leading roles for women.)

ALSO, I wanted to see DEATH AND THE MAIDEN back in 1994, but never got around to it, and now- knowing about POLANSKI- I'm not sure I want to see his view in the subject matter.

also also they filmed THE HUDSUCKER PROXY in my hometown, many of the exteriors are streets I walk almost every day IRL. Still don't like the movie.

the book on which NOBODY'S FOOL is based (by RICHARD RUSSO) suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks and has a MISERABLY UNHAPPY ENDING and is too damn long- they did a REALLY GOOD JOB abridging it and making the story less bleak for the film, so I liked it better than you for that reason.

I like The Hudsucker Proxy, but it would have been much better if Jennifer Jason Leigh hadn't delivered her lines like a cross between Katharine Hepburn and Rosalind Russell (IMO). Parody is hard to pull off (especially for a film's length), and I think she took the accent/delivery a bit too far.

[TikiSoo]

also also they filmed THE HUDSUCKER PROXY in my hometown, many of the exteriors are streets I walk almost every day IRL. Still don't like the movie.

the book on which NOBODY'S FOOL is based (by RICHARD RUSSO) suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks and has a MISERABLY UNHAPPY ENDING and is too damn long- they did a REALLY GOOD JOB abridging it and making the story less bleak for the film, so I liked it better than you for that reason.

Haha I like THE HUDSUCKER PROXY for it's sincere absurdness and visual lighting/sets but absolutely agree with TX about Jennifer Jason Leigh's weird vocal choice that almost ruins the movie entirely-you're not sure if it's supposed to be funny.

And my company at the time was hired by the location scout for NOBODY'S FOOL-they wanted to film exclusively in the Hudson Valley and wanted to know what cool, historic buildings were available & which direction they face for sunlight. All that information now easily researched in GoogleMaps. Sigh.
It's weird working for a movie in the planning stages-everyone thought I was going to work with Paul Newman. Um, no.

[Lorna]

I like The Hudsucker Proxy, but it would have been much better if Jennifer Jason Leigh hadn't delivered her lines like a cross between Katharine Hepburn and Rosalind Russell (IMO). Parody is hard to pull off (especially for a film's length), and I think she took the accent/delivery a bit too far.

oh, it's not just your opinion- honestly, she was what ruined it for me. (I know that's a heavy statement, but I have never warmed to JENNIFER JASON LEIGH in anything ever.)

I think it was ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY's movie critic who said that she tore into and refused to drop that MID-ATLANTIC ACCENT like a "terrier with a gym sock."

[Lorna]

And my company at the time was hired by the location scout for NOBODY'S FOOL-they wanted to film exclusively in the Hudson Valley and wanted to know what cool, historic buildings were available & which direction they face for sunlight. All that information now easily researched in GoogleMaps. Sigh.
It's weird working for a movie in the planning stages-everyone thought I was going to work with Paul Newman. Um, no.

this is making me want to see NOBODY'S FOOL again- I don't think I've seen it since 1994 and that was shortly after reading the book which had just left such a bad impression on me (it is SO DIFFERENT from the movie, just such a miserably depressing story). it would be a nice film for TCM to air on the regular, I recall JESSICA TANDY being really good (as always), same for MELANIE GRIFFITH and BRUCE WILLIS (a far less common occurrence for both.)

[Lorna]

you absolutely WOULD NEVER see A TRAILER LIKE THIS these days!

[CinemaInternational]

also also they filmed THE HUDSUCKER PROXY in my hometown, many of the exteriors are streets I walk almost every day IRL. Still don't like the movie.

the book on which NOBODY'S FOOL is based (by RICHARD RUSSO) suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks and has a MISERABLY UNHAPPY ENDING and is too damn long- they did a REALLY GOOD JOB abridging it and making the story less bleak for the film, so I liked it better than you for that reason.

Haha I like THE HUDSUCKER PROXY for it's sincere absurdness and visual lighting/sets but absolutely agree with TX about Jennifer Jason Leigh's weird vocal choice that almost ruins the movie entirely-you're not sure if it's supposed to be funny.

And my company at the time was hired by the location scout for NOBODY'S FOOL-they wanted to film exclusively in the Hudson Valley and wanted to know what cool, historic buildings were available & which direction they face for sunlight. All that information now easily researched in GoogleMaps. Sigh.
It's weird working for a movie in the planning stages-everyone thought I was going to work with Paul Newman. Um, no.

Since Hudsucker was a farcical fantasy/comedy, I didn't have a problem with Jennifer Jason Leigh's voice in the film.... But she did vocally go too far in another 90s film, the neonoir Kansas City, dealing with gangsters, kidnapping, and murder. In that film, her kidnapper character had a sneering voice reminiscent of James Cagney in his gangster roles, and it was so utterly distracting in a dark drama, and it was a major debit for the film, not helped by Miranda Richardson acting circles around her in the same scenes.

[CinemaInternational]

That was my list of 1994 titles originally, not Lorna's (although Lorna quoted it) I'm sorry if there was any mixup on that. 1994 was hardly a favorite year but I mustered it up. This was my list in whole

1 Quiz Show
2 The Browning Version
3 That's Entertainment! III
4 Widows' Peak
5 Ed Wood
6 Little Women
7 Crooklyn
8 Second Best
9 I'll Do Anything
10 Immortal Beloved
11 Corrina, Corrina
12 Four Weddings and a Funeral
13 Don Juan DeMarco
14 Serial Mom
15 Tom and Viv
16 It Could Happen to You
17 Guarding Tess
18 Pret-a-Porter
19 The Shawshank Redemption
20 Black Beauty
21 The Ref
22 Vanya on 42nd Street
23 Three Colors: Red
24 Nobody's Fool
25 The Hudsucker Proxy
26 The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
27 The Swan Princess
28 The Paper
29 Love Affair
30 Death and the Maiden

I notice BLUE SKY is not on your list. Have you not seen it, did you dislike it or do you not really consider it a feature even if JESSICA LANGE did win BEST ACTRESS for it? (personally, I kinda like it all right even if it is a LIFETIME MOVIE that got a theatrical release and lucked into a weak, weak year for leading roles for women.)

ALSO, I wanted to see DEATH AND THE MAIDEN back in 1994, but never got around to it, and now- knowing about POLANSKI- I'm not sure I want to see his view in the subject matter.

also also they filmed THE HUDSUCKER PROXY in my hometown, many of the exteriors are streets I walk almost every day IRL. Still don't like the movie.

the book on which NOBODY'S FOOL is based (by RICHARD RUSSO) suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks and has a MISERABLY UNHAPPY ENDING and is too damn long- they did a REALLY GOOD JOB abridging it and making the story less bleak for the film, so I liked it better than you for that reason.

Blue Sky is decent. It would probably be between 30-35 for me for the year (out of 86; just for reference, the worst films of 1994 were Disclosure and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein). Jessica Lange gives a fine performance as the mentally troubled lead, and as a big fan of hers, I am glad that she has a leading actress Oscar (she deserved it for Frances and Country). However, I'd give Miranda Richardson's performance as a similarly frenzied wife in Tom and Viv the edge for playing a troubled woman in 1994.

Death and the Maiden was based on a stage play, so they would not necessarily be Polanski's thoughts. The film is dark, violent, and claustrophobic, worth watching for a strong performance from Sigourney Weaver.

I think I want to see Nobody's Fool again. I remember liking Newman, Tandy, and Griffith in it....

It must be cool to live in a city where so many movies are filmed.....

[CinemaInternational]

HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1951) Great cast, usually ignored it, but caught all the parts I'd missed. Yes, absurdly impossible. Comic? VINCENT PRICE is kind-of PERFECTLY over-the-top. There are long stretches where we don't see ROBERT MITCHUM at all... and RAYMOND BURR at his most menacing. Hee hee hee!

Yes, a fun noir, and Vincent Price is exceptional fun in it. A bit on the long side, but it works.

[CinemaInternational]

I like The Hudsucker Proxy, but it would have been much better if Jennifer Jason Leigh hadn't delivered her lines like a cross between Katharine Hepburn and Rosalind Russell (IMO). Parody is hard to pull off (especially for a film's length), and I think she took the accent/delivery a bit too far.

oh, it's not just your opinion- honestly, she was what ruined it for me. (I know that's a heavy statement, but I have never warmed to JENNIFER JASON LEIGH in anything ever.)

I think it was ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY's movie critic who said that she tore into and refused to drop that MID-ATLANTIC ACCENT like a "terrier with a gym sock."

I think that Jennifer Jason Leigh is usually fine (she's on point twice in 1995 as troubled characters in Dolores Claiborne and Georgia), although I did note in another post one time she got on my nerves and wrecked a film (Kansas City).

I looked for, but did not find the terrier quote in the Entertainment Weekly review of Hudsucker, which did however take a sledgehammer to her performance....here was the quote....

And I’m afraid that Jennifer Jason Leigh is a disaster. She does a meticulous imitation of Katharine Hepburn’s aristocratic vowels, only without a hint of Hepburn’s effusiveness, her saucy joy. Leigh looks so pouty and rigid that you can’t connect the speech to the face. It’s like watching a replicant do screwball comedy.

[CinemaInternational]

I will randomly toss out that 1995- while not a good year for GREAT MOVIES, was, however, a GREAT YEAR for GOOD MOVIES (and a rare year where I think the Oscars were closer to being on the mark than usual [at least nominations-wise].)

some notable films from that year just off the top o' my head: RICHARD III, BABE, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, APOLLO 13 (even if you didn't like it, it was an audience pleaser that wasn't mindless) CASINO, LEAVING LAS VEGAS, DEAD MAN WALKING...and I do think MEL GIBSON is pretty good in BRAVEHEART.

IL POSTINO sucks though.

Braveheart wasn't for me (Not a Mel Gibson fan outside of Mrs. Soffel, Hamlet, and The Man Without a Face), Leaving Las Vegas was too heavy (in spite of a fine Elisabeth Shue performance), and Il Postino (released in Italy in 1994) was a hellacious bore, but there was still enough to savor in the year, at least at the top.....

Top list for that year (out of 89 total)

1Dead Man Walking
2Sense and Sensibility
3Babe
4The Bridges of Madison County
5Dolores Claiborne
6To Die For
7Boys on the Side
8Mr. Holland's Opus
9Cry the Beloved Country
10How to Make an American Quilt
11A Walk in the Clouds
12While You Were Sleeping
13The Neon Bible
14The Grass Harp
15Nixon
16Persuasion
17Pocahontas
18Moonlight and Valentino
19Before Sunrise
20Father of the Bride Part II
21A Month by the Lake
22Forget Paris
23Georgia
24Funny Bones
25Rob Roy
2612 Monkeys
27Now and Then
28My Family
29Richard III
30Waiting to Exhale
31A Little Princess
32Circle of Friends
33Casino
34The Brady Bunch Movie
35Apollo 13
36Outbreak
37The Flower of My Secret
38Carrington
39First Knight
40Mighty Aphrodite

[Lorna]

Leaving Las Vegas was too heavy (in spite of a fine Elisabeth Shue performance)
You know, oftentimes, a film has ONE PERFORMANCE that is SINGLED OUT FOR PRAISE and when you see it, you're like, "yeah, SO AND SO was good, but damn THEIR LESS PRAISED COSTAR was AMAZING." NIC CAGE is good, ELISABETH SHUE is the soul of the movie. LEAVING LAS VEGAS also introduced me to the song LONELY TEARDROPS, the original by JACKIE WILSON (I think) has become one of my favorites.

Top list for that year (out of 89 total)

Dead Man Walking
I hate that SUSAN SARANDON has become such a joyless, sour-faced lemon-suckin old "rhymes with" to the point that it has eclipsed her work and range as an actor. She was such a talented performer.


Dolores Claiborne This is a really, really, really good movie. the one times KATHY BATES got a BARBARA STANWYCK role.

How to Make an American Quilt this came and went in a hot minute, but i saw it in the theater and really liked it, but have never seen it since. remmeber if made great use of the SOUTHERN CALIFONIA setting and thesong CHERRY in the trailer.


Persuasion- I'd rate this higher, although the lack of budget shows.

[Lorna]

Death and the Maiden was based on a stage play, so they would not necessarily be Polanski's thoughts. well, not his thoughts, but as the director, he had charge of presenting and editing and displaying those thoughts and showing sympathy to the moral of the story.

It must be cool to live in a city where so many movies are filmed..... eh, they're always %^&*()ing up traffic...also, a lot of that has changed in recent years as our state legislature did away with film incentives and we lost a lot of business to GEORGIA

[Lorna]

i tried watching WICKED, WICKED (1973)- which was featured as a late night "cult" offering on a certain cable network.



sometimes i feel guilty for posting reviews on films when I did not watch them in entirety- but sometimes, I think of it as a public service announcement, like the "don't eat the brown acid" PA Message from Woodstock.

the entire 15-20 minutes of movie that I was able to stand was shot in SPLIT SCREEN. Everything, even the opening credits (pictured above) are SPLIT SCREEN.

i IMAGINE that everyone in the audience ca. 1973- save for a young BRIAN DePALMA who was busy taking notes- had to be running for the aisles in the first 10 minutes before they barfed MILK DUDS all over the shag carpet.

GOD it is a stupid, stupid, STUPID IDEA. and this film deserves its obscurity.