WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[MikeBSG]

Monday night I saw Julie Taymor's "The Tempest" the recent film with Helen Mirren as "Prospera" on the big screen.

I liked it, although I don't think the casting of Mirren worked. She struck me as too young and vital for the role. When she says "Every third thought shall be my grave," I couldn't believe it. I wanted to say "You have plenty of good years ahead of you."

But the rest of the cast was superb, especially Alfred Molina as Stephano, the butler who tricks Caliban. It was a very enjoyable film.

[MikeBSG]

Yesterday I watched "Revenge," a 2002 comedy directed by Andrzej Wajda.

Yes, you read that right, a comedy by Wajda. I really enjoyed it. It is apparently based on a classic Polish play, about Romeo and Juliet style lovers separated by boorish adults. There is a vain and cowardly servant, a lusty widow, and a real lunkhead loose in the drama, and it all worked. Wajda treated every character with respect and didn't let them become stereotypes. Roman Polanski was the vain and cowardly servant, and he showed real comic flare in the part.

[JackFavell]

Polanski can be very funny. Just not in real life I guess.

Alfred Molina can do NO wrong, in my book.

[movieman1957]

Are you enjoying Molina in "Law and Order: LA"?

[JackFavell]

I had no idea he was on American TV! I don't get around much since TCM entered my life.

[movieman1957]

I just picked it up in a news story. Much like you I'm on TCM or Netflix or wildlife documentaries anymore.

[JackFavell]

Thanks for telling me, I'll try to find it and sneak it in, in between Jean Harlow or Ray Milland or whatever else is on.

[charliechaplinfan]

I rented and watched No End today but frustratingly, the DVD was flawed and I missed a section in the middle concerning the lawyer and his client so when ti came to trial I was unsure what had happened, it spoiled the whole flow of the film for me so I'm borrowing a review from the imdb

'Krystoff Kieslowski is today best known for his last four films, made wholly or partly in France, which in some ways is a shame, as while these movies are not without merit, they are outshone by the massive brilliance of his earlier, Polish work. Kieslowski was, of course, the greatest visual poet of communist architecture; and there's also something magical about the way he communicates the most intense emotion behind the facade of Slavic stoicism (witness, for example, in this film, the scene where the car is taken by the police). And also there was the subtext of the political beneath the personal, never more apparent than in 'No End', set (and, courageously, made) in the aftermath of the impact of the Solidarity movement on Polish society. In the face of civil unrest, the government had declared martial law, hoping to stave off a "friendly" Russian invasion; but system had lost confidence in itself, and had already effectively negotiated its own demise by the time the collapse of the Berlin wall finally cast it into oblivion. It's in this intermediate period, where normality intermingled with fear, that 'No End' unfolds, a drama that combines moral complexity and human sympathy in equal measure.

Kieslowski is famous for his collaboration with Zbigniew Priesner, who wrote wonderful scores for this film (and all it's successors); but watching it, one is also struck by how well he used silence. He also had a talent for finding the most wonderfully expressive faces: the lawyer (Aleksander Bardini), the wife (Grazyna Szapolowska) and the client (Artus Barcis) all went on to appear in his 'Dekalog'. It's impossible to imagine a better actor than Bardini for his role; while Szapolowska appears more beautiful than any Hollywood starlet precisely because of the complete lack of glamour with which she is shot; her portrayal of a woman holding things together in the face of an unconquerable grief is wonderful and immensely sad.

There are so many moments of brilliance in this film, almost of all them unflaunted; the moment where the woman's son interrupts her phone call; the tiny flinch induced when a door closes behind her, the way that light floods a previously darkened room; the speech of introduction uttered by the lawyer; Kieslowski constantly finds the subtlest of ways to shed light on his subjects. This is a ten star film, made by a master, grounded in its era but which speaks of so much more.'

[feaito]

Two weekends ago I saw “Spartacus” (1960). I was eager to watch the Blu Ray edition of this fantastic film and I was very happy with my purchase, because the images are glorious. I’ve seen this film many times before and I think that Kubirick elevated the Roman Epic to new heights of artistry. On the other hand, to have Charles Laughton and Peter Ustinov together, both great actors who had impersonated Nero in films with similar plots: “The Sign of the Cross” (1932) and “Quo Vadis?” (1951) is a must.

The extras were good so I had a great time revisiting this timeless classic….How can anyone dare to compare the recent amateurish TV series with this classic?? And to see what skilled directors could do directing masses before CGI is a gift from heaven.

Top-notch.

I also watched “The Social Network” (2010). This fast-paced, intelligent drama really deserved much more in the recent AA. I’d dare to say that it’s one of the best releases of 2010. Although I got sometimes confused with certain technical terms and issues relating to the film’s plot, I found it very well done and was impressed by Jesse Eisenberg’s and Justin Timberlake’s performances and the very good script. Absorbing and enthralling.

I watched "The Golden Bowl" (2000) with my wife, a film adaptation of Henry James' novel produced by the Merchant-Ivory team and we had a pleasant evening watching it.

The film is handsome to look at, has high production values, beautiful locations and an interesting cast (Uma Thurman, Nick Nolte, Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Northam, Anjelica Huston), but is rather slow moving at times, which I particularly don’t mind at all.


We also saw "It Came from Beneath the Sea" (1955), the colorized version of this entertaining sci-fi film with special effects by Ray Harryhausen and althought not as good as “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1953), “Them!” (1954) or “The Thing” (1951) it has its own merits, especially in its documentary-type of approach to the story.

I had never seen Faith Domergue on screen and her look was somewhat reminiscent of Jane Russell’s –I read on the net that when she was very young she had a terrible accident and that she had to undergo extensive plastic surgery on her face- and I only knew about her affair with Howard Hughes. She made a nice couple with Kenneth Tobey –who plays a navy officer he-man.

[ChiO]

Two weekends ago I saw “Spartacus” (1960). I was eager to watch the Blu Ray edition of this fantastic film and I was very happy with my purchase, because the images are glorious. I’ve seen this film many times before and I think that Kubirick elevated the Roman Epic to new heights of artistry. On the other hand, to have Charles Laughton and Peter Ustinov together, both great actors who had impersonated Nero in films with similar plots: “The Sign of the Cross” (1932) and “Quo Vadis?” (1951) is a must.

Oh, but to dream of what it might have been....

When Kubrick took over the directing reins from Anthony Mann, he brought in one of his favorite actors, but Executive Producer Kirk Douglas refused to allow him to be in the movie. The loss to cinema: Olivier, Laughton, Ustinov, Ireland, McGraw and TIMOTHY CAREY!

[feaito]

I did not know that ChiO...What role did Kubirck want him to play?

[ChiO]

My recollection is that it would have been a classic Timothy Carey role -- uncredited as one of the slaves. But Douglas didn't want him anywhere around.

[klondike]

Saw The Fighter last night . .
Every bit as good as everyone claimed . . my only caveats:
A) Still not quite as good, I felt, as The Town, and as they were both modern-day, gritty street-savvy urban Mass flicks that came out within five months of each other, one, of course had to overshadow the other . .
B) So realistic, and well-shot on location, it reminded just a little too accurately of workaday Lowell, Massachusetts, which is a place that, if ya ain't from there, ya can't wait to finish passing through, 'cause there ain't too many town east of Detroit more desperately hungry or depressed or irritable than this one, which was indeed, the Birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution, and at the peak of its 19th-century strength, nearly emptied the entire province of Quebec of every able-bodied farm kid, male or female, with its lure of 'easy factory wages'.
And from the 20's through the 60's, the mills just kept on closing . . and ever since, the heartbreak feels like forever.

[MichiganJ]

Two weekends ago I saw “Spartacus” (1960). I was eager to watch the Blu Ray edition of this fantastic film and I was very happy with my purchase, because the images are glorious.

The blu-ray brings this film to life. The details and colors really do get one more involved in the story.

I also watched “The Social Network” (2010). This fast-paced, intelligent drama really deserved much more in the recent AA

For me, this was the best film of the year and I would have liked to see Fincher win best director. He's certainly one of the best working today, in my opinion.

We also saw "It Came from Beneath the Sea" (1955), the colorized version of this entertaining sci-fi film with special effects by Ray Harryhausen

Was this the blu-ray as well? The Harryhausen films on blu are amazing. And I'm quite happy that they include both the b & w versions as well as the new, "authorized" colorizations, which I didn't think I'd like but are really impressive. (Both 20,000 Miles to Earth and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers are equally impressive.)

[feaito]

Hi Kevin, Glad to read that we agree in relation with the Blu Ray release of Spartacus and the appraisal of The Social Network.

Regarding It Came from Beneath the Sea, it's the double DVD special Edition of the film which includes the B&W version and the Colorized one. On Blu Ray I only own Harryhausen's Jason & the Argonauts. But I'd like to have more of his films in B-Ray....Jason is awesome looking!