I Just Watched...

[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.

[Lorna]

oh, yes, that is THE HOTEL CORONADO, which is a lovely building and did not ask to be part of this movie.

[laffite]

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.

Wasn't The Boston Strangler something like that, at least in part? I agree, no good. It is impossible to watch both screens at the same time. A minute detail might be overlooked. I wouldn't recommend this type movie, especially those with tunnel vision.

[CinemaInternational]

Time to get salty and get a few licks in....

I saw the first episode of that new Power of Film series that TCM is co-parter on, and well, to borrow a term from a popular country song of the 90's, "That Don't Impress Me Much".

First of all, most of the film clips are from films from the 70s onward, and there are an awful lot of clips from post 2000 films.

Second, this man has been a respected UCLA professor since the 70s? It doesn't take a college degree and thousands of dollars to say that it's empathy that cause a personal connection with a film. Anyone of us here could have said that for free, as could anyone ranging from the humblest farmhand to the wealthiest bigwig without getting a UcLA degree from him....

Third, the eye-rolling statement that there weren't many films about women to come from Hollywood until a few years ago. The women's films of the 30s, 40s, and 50s? The salad days of Streep, Lange, Sarandon, Keaton, Close, et all in the 80s/90s? Hello? Is there a brain in there?

Next, trying to say people are cowed by respect for the police.... By showing a clip from Thelma and Louise, where immediately after the clip, they force him into the trunk of his patrol car.

Yet another piece that is trying to make us ashamed for ever liking Gone with the Wind.... Ick.

Some of the films praised here stink to high heaven....

And finally, just following popular films is so limiting. People should see a vast array of films, both ones still talked about and those forgotten gems. I always rebel a bit against the established canon of titles, and others should too.

[txfilmfan]

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.

It's not split-screen; it's ANAMORPHIC DUO-VISION!!! The most exciting new story-telling technique in film! Says so right here, in the trailer...



Apparently it was intended to be shown as two separate films running synchronously, side-by-side on a single screen. But they realized that few theaters (if any) would be equipped to exhibit it this way, so they squeezed the two separate films onto one 35mm print- and that's where the "anamorphic" part comes in, I guess.

[CinemaInternational]

One final way to sum up the first part of "The Power of Film" series....

[Cinemaspeak59]

In the "Your Favorite Films Of Years Ending In 4" thread, it was hard for me to think of a film I really liked from 1994. I finally picked Barcelona, which I like very much.

I do like Ed Wood and Quiz Show. I've never seen (and have no desire to see) The Shawshank Redemption, although I know someone who was very close to one of the main supporting actors, whom I heard was a pretty vile human being.

I would add Barcelona as well. The characters, setting and script make for repeat viewings.

[Lorna]

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


It's not split-screen; it's ANAMORPHIC DUO-VISION!!! The most exciting new story-telling technique in film! Says so right here, in the trailer...

OHMYGAH!!!!

Thank you for posting that TRAILER- IT IS A HOOT THROUGH-AND-THROUGH! I am LIVING for the THEME SONG "WICKED WICKED, YEAH THAT'S THE TICKET." OH MOTHER, I MIGHT HAVE TO JUST GIVE THIS ONE A SECOND TRY NOW.

[Lorna]

Wasn't The Boston Strangler [SHOT IN SPLIT-SCREEN], at least in part? I agree, no good. It is impossible to watch both screens at the same time. A minute detail might be overlooked. I wouldn't recommend this type movie, especially those with tunnel vision.

i CAN'T SAY AS I have never seen THE BOSTON STRANGLER.
Or people with only one eye, like pirates.

[laffite]

Wasn't The Boston Strangler [SHOT IN SPLIT-SCREEN], at least in part? I agree, no good. It is impossible to watch both screens at the same time. A minute detail might be overlooked. I wouldn't recommend this type movie, especially those with tunnel vision.

i CAN'T SAY AS I have never seen THE BOSTON STRANGLER.
Or people with only one eye, like pirates.

Yup, I am a pirate, screen name wise; but I, in reality, have only one usable eye. Don't ask : (

[Allhallowsday]

BARBIE (2023) Terrific script, I sat straight through it. Despite reviews, my expectations were low. Loved it!