MUSINGS, PONDERINGS, RUMINATIONS AND FANCIES

[CinemaInternational]

As promised, more abysmal films....


The Whale (2022)

I can't bring myself to watch this one.

The diologue is ham-fisted, actors who have proven themselves in the past feel afflicted by the blight of the director, and it is horribly photographed to boot. A painful occasion.

[CinemaInternational]

As promised, more abysmal films....
In Like Flint (1967)
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1975)

Very surprised you included In Like Flint - it left me cold but thought I was the only one.
I always wanted to see Jaques Brel is Alive & Well, remember when it came out is was talked about. The fact it's no longer talked about reinforces it's not worth seeing.
Thanks!

Batman (1989)
The Cider House Rules (1999)
Riding in Cars with Boys (2001)

My friend the Costume Designer recommended Batman when it first came out, but all she talked about was the costumes! I figured it had to be good since it spurred on an entire series. Glad I didn't bother seeing it.

I liked The Cider House Rules but also understand as a John Irving fan, movies made from his books are often a fail.
But I liked Riding In Cars With Boys...at least I did when I saw it.

In like Flint felt like it could have been a zesty spy spoof, but it was leaden and quite insulting really.....

Jacques Brel was just arch and irritating. The songs weren't bad, but there was no plot, and the visuals were trying for arch avant-garde eccentricity, which came across as being extremely forced. Part of the reason why it is so scarse was because it was part of the short lived American Film Theatre project, which did film versions of stage productions. It was an interesting idea, but most of the films were a bit starchy. Still, this one was better than one of the others, The Man in the Glass Booth, which was a saga of the trial of a war criminal that felt like an excuse for some of the most rampant overacting that I can recall.....


Cider House just felt simply too divided to stand on its feet, and it fell through the floor. Riding in Cars with Boys had such miserably unhappy characters with no real catharsis for anyone, making it seem pretty pointless.....

And as for Batman, the set designs in the film are astonishing, but Jack Nicholson goes way over the top as the Joker, Michael Keaton's Batman is underplayed to the point of catatonia, the villain's main plot of killing women through cosmetics that would kill them if they kept using them or look like burn victims if they stopped using them was ghoulish and unpleasant, and Prince's original songs were some of the worst songs of the 80s. It's just astonishing how many liked it at the time. (the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, while not perfect, is an improvement due to a fascinating performance from Michelle Pfeiffer)

[kingrat]

"Jack Nicholson goes way over the top"--like that would ever happen! Again, I mean. And again. Is his death scene in The Departed supposed to be funny? But Batman was indeed a huge hit, a film seen by everyone but me and loved by many, and Nicholson as the Joker was one of the main reasons.

[CinemaInternational]

"Jack Nicholson goes way over the top"--like that would ever happen! Again, I mean. And again. Is his death scene in The Departed supposed to be funny? But Batman was indeed a huge hit, a film seen by everyone but me and loved by many, and Nicholson as the Joker was one of the main reasons.

Nicholson does have a history of being larger-than-life in film.... and yet, in other films, it makes perfect sense (such as his character going crazy in The Shining, the devil in The Witches of Eastwick, or his alcoholic womanizer in Terms of Endearment). And it makes sense on paper for the Joker, but it feels extremely amiss when Michael Keaton as the hero is more low-key than George Raft. It creates an alarming imbalance in the film.


(And I do tend to prefer Nicholson at his most introspective, in The king of Marvin Gardens, Hoffa, The Pledge, and About Schmidt)

[nakanosunplaza]

Keaton's Bruce Wayne was very good,Wayne is a low key character he has to protect Batman's identity the Joker is the exact opposite Cesar Romero played the role almost the same way in the 60's tv serie.

[Dargo]

"Jack Nicholson goes way over the top"--like that would ever happen! Again, I mean. And again. Is his death scene in The Departed supposed to be funny? But Batman was indeed a huge hit, a film seen by everyone but me and loved by many, and Nicholson as the Joker was one of the main reasons.

Nicholson does have a history of being larger-than-life in film.... and yet, in other films, it makes perfect sense (such as his character going crazy in The Shining, the devil in The Witches of Eastwick, or his alcoholic womanizer in Terms of Endearment). And it makes sense on paper for the Joker, but it feels extremely amiss when Michael Keaton as the hero is more low-key than George Raft. It creates an alarming imbalance in the film.


(And I do tend to prefer Nicholson at his most introspective, in The king of Marvin Gardens, Hoffa, The Pledge, and About Schmidt)

Ya know CI, with Keaton also noted for his many over-the-top performances, it almost sounds as if you would've liked this movie a whole lot better if they had reversed the casting in it.

(...and considering I've always felt Keaton was somewhat miscast as Batman to begin with, maybe this wouldn't have been a bad idea at all)

[Arsan444]

I like Jack Nicholson's performance as The Joker. It is over the top and very entertaining, and I think he makes it work because his Joker is the perfect foil and provides good contrast to Michael Keaton's less showy performance as Batman.

[HoldenIsHere]

"Jack Nicholson goes way over the top"--like that would ever happen! Again, I mean. And again. Is his death scene in The Departed supposed to be funny? But Batman was indeed a huge hit, a film seen by everyone but me and loved by many, and Nicholson as the Joker was one of the main reasons.

Keaton's Bruce Wayne was very good,Wayne is a low key character he has to protect Batman's identity the Joker is the exact opposite Cesar Romero played the role almost the same way in the 60's tv serie.

I like Jack Nicholson's performance as The Joker. It is over the top and very entertaining, and I think he makes it work because his Joker is the perfect foil and provides good contrast to Michael Keaton's less showy performance as Batman.

I also like Jack Nicholson's performance as The Joker in BATMAN (1989).
Jack Nicholson's Joker and Mark Hamill's Joker from BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES are my two favorite versions of the character.

[Hibi]

BOOM! Is one of my favorite bad movies of all time and I wish TCM would schedule it. I haven't seen it in decades and another one with no dvd release. I think TCM did show it once or twice years ago.

A DVD release of Boom was put out a few years ago, and so was a Blu-ray (!) Release. Obviously, it has its fans.

Wow. I didn't know that. Thanks.

[kingrat]

The "Witch of Capri," character played by Noel Coward in BOOM! was a woman in the original play.

[Hibi]

The "Witch of Capri," character played by Noel Coward in BOOM! was a woman in the original play.

Yes, I know. Noel filled the bill, campily! I think I read somewhere that K. Hepburn was offered the part! LOL.

[CinemaInternational]

The "Witch of Capri," character played by Noel Coward in BOOM! was a woman in the original play.

Yes, I know. Noel filled the bill, campily! I think I read somewhere that K. Hepburn was offered the part! LOL.

Probably she passed for doing The lion in Winter, a wiser career choice (also, it is also pretty well known how much Hepburn disliked filming Suddenly Last Summer, so even though she got along with Liz, she might not want to have been reminded of the earlier experience)

[Hibi]

I doubt Kate would've entertained supporting the Burtons. The part is more like a cameo part.

[Bronxgirl48]

Bela Lugosi~Tom Hanks. I'm not getting anything right away, but I just started.

Believe me, you'll find one! But take your time.

[Bronxgirl48]

DARGO, sweet Pisces! Please accept my belated but heartfelt birthday greetings.

Zeppo Marx was a Pisces.