Pocketful of Miracles (1961) Deluxe DVD
Frank Capra's last directorial effort and it is a gem. The film stars Glenn Ford, Bette Davis, Hope Lange, Arthur O'Connell, Peter Falk, Thomas Mitchell and Ann-Margret.
Davis plays Apple Annie, a boozy, flamboyant, street vendor of apples, as much a part of New York as Broadway. Ford is Dave the Dude, a bootlegger, who believes that Annie's apples are lucky for him. Neither he nor his girlfriend Queenie Martin (Lange) are ready for the challenge that is to fall upon them in the form of a request from Apple Annie. Her daughter, Louise, has been living in a Spanish Convent since childhood and is now engaged to be married to a Count and he wants to meet her mother. The challenge is to make Annie a 'right-and-proper' lady of wealth and prosperity. While the movie is very talky, it all leads up to the grand finale which will take your breath away. Highly recommended. A strong 4/5 on my rating scale.
What Movie Did You Just Watch? ... And Robin
-
SillySymphony
- Gold Classic Collection
- Posts: 454
- Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:28 pm
- Location: Alaska
-
Dr Frankenollie
- In The Vaults
- Posts: 2704
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 4:19 am
Marnie (1964)
Hitchcock’s movies have always been about sex. North by Northwest has inventive innuendos, Rear Window is a voyeuristic tale, Vertigo is about the lust a depressed man had for a mysterious woman, The Birds is about two women competing for the affection for one man, Frenzy is the story of a rapist, and Psycho is about the reaction of a lunatic with split personality disorder to a beautiful woman. Of course, the sexual connotations were subtle in all those movies; however, one of his last great films, 1964’s Marnie, is blatantly sexual.
It’s about a compulsive thief and liar, the titular Marnie Edgar (‘Tippi’ Hedren, a year after portraying Melanie Daniels in The Birds) who has been going about charming employers despite having no references, stealing from them, then subsequently dying her hair and changing her identity for years, and surprisingly the most common criminal excuses (it’s for their sick mother) is actually one of the reasons why she does it. She soon makes the mistake of working for a client of her previous employer, Strutt (Sidney Gabel): the charming Mark Rutland (Sean Connery). Mark soon figures out who she is, learns her true name and of her criminal activities, but doesn’t turn her over to the police as he is not only fascinated by her, but smitten with her.
Mark becomes determined to work out what exactly makes Marnie tick, and thus blackmails her into marrying him. Both the audience and Mark learn that Marnie has a number of irrational fears, being frightened and sometimes drawn to tears by the colour red, the touch of a man, thunder and lightning and also has frequent nightmares involving her disabled and babysitting Bernice (Louise Latham) and a creepy tapping noise.
Despite her reluctance, Marnie agrees to go on a honeymoon cruise with Mark, who begins studying psychology as he tries to understand Marnie; upon return, Marnie starts living in her new husband’s grand mansion, but her already gloomy time there is further hindered by the meddlesome and jealous sister of Mark’s dead first wife, Lil (Diane Baker). The truth finally comes out in a horrific, thrilling climax.
The movie has great performances all round, as is usual for Hitchcock. In particular, Hedren has improved greatly; in The Birds she gave a reasonable, sometimes very good performance, but in this she’s facially incredible, especially facially, making her character realistic and unbelievable. Sometimes she says a line or two a bit stiffly (like when Lil eavesdrops on a conversation between Marnie and a departing Mark), and sometimes she’s arguably a little hammy, but it’s nevertheless a physically perfect and precise performance.
Marnie is a fine character, Hitchcock’s second best (the first obviously being Norman Bates from Psycho), and she is the most likable character in the movie due to the amount of depth the script gives her, Hitchcock’s top notch direction, and most of all Hedren’s exquisite talent at acting subtlety. Hitchcock has a knack of making us side with somewhat evil characters; in one excellently shot scene, Marnie is trying to steal from a safe in Mark’s workplace, and whilst she loots the safe the camera simultaneously shows an elderly cleaner mopping up only a wall apart from the oblivious Marnie. And who do we side with? Who we most concerned for and worried about? Marnie of course.
Connery (at the time usually playing only James Bond) has his usual suavity and charismatic coolness about him-helped by the spectacularly witty remarks provided for him by screenwriter Jay Presson Allen-but besides the witticisms, Connery’s performance is at times impressive due to the often cruel and considerably evil things he does. At one point, Mark actually rapes Marnie, but it is heavily implied that it helps her in a twisted way-and that was Mark’s motive. Mark may not be given the depth Marnie is given, and usually acts like the character of J.B. Jeffries did in Rear Window (to represent the audience, sharing their curiosity and occasional befuddlement), but is nevertheless given a good deal of sometimes unnoticeable depth that many other cinematic characters lack.
Louise Latham is also excellent, with her initially portraying Marnie’s mother Bernice as kindly, merry and sweet; but due to her chemistry with Hedren, we soon realise that the relationship between mother and daughter is far from perfect. Marnie is envious of a little girl who is looked after by Bernice, and Marnie starts claiming that Bernice never loved her. In the climax, Latham is at her finest as her character breaks down when the past is revealed. Diane Baker’s portrayal of Lil is very good, and like Alan Napier (who plays Mark’s father who shares a love for horses with Marnie) she fits her role well, but is nothing special.
The movie is also exceedingly well-made, with Hitchcock regular Bernard Herrmann conducting an inspired and goosebump-inducing opening theme and other good but unmemorable pieces of music. The aforementioned script by Jay Presson Allen is chock full of wonderful witticisms, and as usual the cinematography is often beautiful (with my favourite shots being the tracking or ‘dolly’ shots, like the first shot focusing on Marnie’s yellow purse and the shot which shows a tearful Marnie carrying a gun).
As noted by Canadian film critic Robin Wood, the special effects of Marnie (including the obvious back projection and matte paintings) evoke silent German expressionist cinema from the likes of Fritz Lang in the 1920’s, and combined with the occasionally very dark lighting and music, a tense atmosphere almost on par with Vertigo’s atmosphere is often achieved.
After Marnie and Mark settle into married life, the already rather slow-paced Marnie becomes a little boring, but things pick up again when the inquisitive Mark plays a word game with Marnie and during the horse race scene.
Marnie may be a little flawed in some areas, but it’s nevertheless a vastly unappreciated near-masterpiece by Hitchcock, and is worth watching due to the stylised elements of it, the dark mystery surrounding the characters and the fine performances. It’s a powerful film by a powerful director, and at times is truly brilliant.
9/10.
Hitchcock’s movies have always been about sex. North by Northwest has inventive innuendos, Rear Window is a voyeuristic tale, Vertigo is about the lust a depressed man had for a mysterious woman, The Birds is about two women competing for the affection for one man, Frenzy is the story of a rapist, and Psycho is about the reaction of a lunatic with split personality disorder to a beautiful woman. Of course, the sexual connotations were subtle in all those movies; however, one of his last great films, 1964’s Marnie, is blatantly sexual.
It’s about a compulsive thief and liar, the titular Marnie Edgar (‘Tippi’ Hedren, a year after portraying Melanie Daniels in The Birds) who has been going about charming employers despite having no references, stealing from them, then subsequently dying her hair and changing her identity for years, and surprisingly the most common criminal excuses (it’s for their sick mother) is actually one of the reasons why she does it. She soon makes the mistake of working for a client of her previous employer, Strutt (Sidney Gabel): the charming Mark Rutland (Sean Connery). Mark soon figures out who she is, learns her true name and of her criminal activities, but doesn’t turn her over to the police as he is not only fascinated by her, but smitten with her.
Mark becomes determined to work out what exactly makes Marnie tick, and thus blackmails her into marrying him. Both the audience and Mark learn that Marnie has a number of irrational fears, being frightened and sometimes drawn to tears by the colour red, the touch of a man, thunder and lightning and also has frequent nightmares involving her disabled and babysitting Bernice (Louise Latham) and a creepy tapping noise.
Despite her reluctance, Marnie agrees to go on a honeymoon cruise with Mark, who begins studying psychology as he tries to understand Marnie; upon return, Marnie starts living in her new husband’s grand mansion, but her already gloomy time there is further hindered by the meddlesome and jealous sister of Mark’s dead first wife, Lil (Diane Baker). The truth finally comes out in a horrific, thrilling climax.
The movie has great performances all round, as is usual for Hitchcock. In particular, Hedren has improved greatly; in The Birds she gave a reasonable, sometimes very good performance, but in this she’s facially incredible, especially facially, making her character realistic and unbelievable. Sometimes she says a line or two a bit stiffly (like when Lil eavesdrops on a conversation between Marnie and a departing Mark), and sometimes she’s arguably a little hammy, but it’s nevertheless a physically perfect and precise performance.
Marnie is a fine character, Hitchcock’s second best (the first obviously being Norman Bates from Psycho), and she is the most likable character in the movie due to the amount of depth the script gives her, Hitchcock’s top notch direction, and most of all Hedren’s exquisite talent at acting subtlety. Hitchcock has a knack of making us side with somewhat evil characters; in one excellently shot scene, Marnie is trying to steal from a safe in Mark’s workplace, and whilst she loots the safe the camera simultaneously shows an elderly cleaner mopping up only a wall apart from the oblivious Marnie. And who do we side with? Who we most concerned for and worried about? Marnie of course.
Connery (at the time usually playing only James Bond) has his usual suavity and charismatic coolness about him-helped by the spectacularly witty remarks provided for him by screenwriter Jay Presson Allen-but besides the witticisms, Connery’s performance is at times impressive due to the often cruel and considerably evil things he does. At one point, Mark actually rapes Marnie, but it is heavily implied that it helps her in a twisted way-and that was Mark’s motive. Mark may not be given the depth Marnie is given, and usually acts like the character of J.B. Jeffries did in Rear Window (to represent the audience, sharing their curiosity and occasional befuddlement), but is nevertheless given a good deal of sometimes unnoticeable depth that many other cinematic characters lack.
Louise Latham is also excellent, with her initially portraying Marnie’s mother Bernice as kindly, merry and sweet; but due to her chemistry with Hedren, we soon realise that the relationship between mother and daughter is far from perfect. Marnie is envious of a little girl who is looked after by Bernice, and Marnie starts claiming that Bernice never loved her. In the climax, Latham is at her finest as her character breaks down when the past is revealed. Diane Baker’s portrayal of Lil is very good, and like Alan Napier (who plays Mark’s father who shares a love for horses with Marnie) she fits her role well, but is nothing special.
The movie is also exceedingly well-made, with Hitchcock regular Bernard Herrmann conducting an inspired and goosebump-inducing opening theme and other good but unmemorable pieces of music. The aforementioned script by Jay Presson Allen is chock full of wonderful witticisms, and as usual the cinematography is often beautiful (with my favourite shots being the tracking or ‘dolly’ shots, like the first shot focusing on Marnie’s yellow purse and the shot which shows a tearful Marnie carrying a gun).
As noted by Canadian film critic Robin Wood, the special effects of Marnie (including the obvious back projection and matte paintings) evoke silent German expressionist cinema from the likes of Fritz Lang in the 1920’s, and combined with the occasionally very dark lighting and music, a tense atmosphere almost on par with Vertigo’s atmosphere is often achieved.
After Marnie and Mark settle into married life, the already rather slow-paced Marnie becomes a little boring, but things pick up again when the inquisitive Mark plays a word game with Marnie and during the horse race scene.
Marnie may be a little flawed in some areas, but it’s nevertheless a vastly unappreciated near-masterpiece by Hitchcock, and is worth watching due to the stylised elements of it, the dark mystery surrounding the characters and the fine performances. It’s a powerful film by a powerful director, and at times is truly brilliant.
9/10.
-
ajmrowland
- Signature Collection
- Posts: 8177
- Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:19 pm
- Location: Appleton, WI
Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader(2010)
Okay, my personal favorite book in the series is my least favorite of the movies. The film starts off ok, but quickly started to fall apart a few minutes in, after calling Edmund "High King". the green mist and the swords are a pathetic attempt to give the film an "epic quest" that wasnt needed. They foresaken the bloodless siege of the Lone Islands for a battle. Honestly-whether it's director change, writer change, or studio change-something made it all go wrong.
The Film's saving grace is Eustace, who's character ark is front, center, and performed wonderfully by Will Poulter.
Okay, my personal favorite book in the series is my least favorite of the movies. The film starts off ok, but quickly started to fall apart a few minutes in, after calling Edmund "High King". the green mist and the swords are a pathetic attempt to give the film an "epic quest" that wasnt needed. They foresaken the bloodless siege of the Lone Islands for a battle. Honestly-whether it's director change, writer change, or studio change-something made it all go wrong.
The Film's saving grace is Eustace, who's character ark is front, center, and performed wonderfully by Will Poulter.
-
PixarFan2006
- Signature Collection
- Posts: 6166
- Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:44 am
- Location: Michigan
Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss
A made for tv movie in the same vein of A Christmas Story, with Jean Shepherd reprising the role of the Narrator. It tells of Ralphie getting a job, the family dog running away and, finally, the family heading to a cabin for the summer and dealing with the obstacles that follow.
It is pretty good, though it's obviously not a classic like A Christmas Story is. Me and my family have watched it every summer for almost five years in a row now. [/b]
A made for tv movie in the same vein of A Christmas Story, with Jean Shepherd reprising the role of the Narrator. It tells of Ralphie getting a job, the family dog running away and, finally, the family heading to a cabin for the summer and dealing with the obstacles that follow.
It is pretty good, though it's obviously not a classic like A Christmas Story is. Me and my family have watched it every summer for almost five years in a row now. [/b]
-
jpanimation
- Anniversary Edition
- Posts: 1841
- Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:00 am
Battle Los Angeles (2011) 5.5/10 - almost as bad as Skyline but not quite. You really don't know much about the characters outside their cardboard stereotype personalities, so I really didn't care who died next and you really aren't interested in the aliens, since they look generic and everything they did was by-the-book cliched. There wasn't really a story to speak of, just military combat and aliens. Nothing at all really there to hold my attention besides some decent visual effects.
Cedar Rapids (2011) 5/10 - what a painfully unfunny movie. I watched about the first half and fell asleep. Since I didn't laugh once from what I saw and the people I watched it with said it's crappy all the way to the end, I didn't bother going back to watch what I missed.
Super 8 (2011) 7/10 - disappointing (well, it doesn't live up the amazingly nostalgic trailer with the great James Horner music). I expected another great Spielberg movie but really just got JJ's generic knock-off. It was better then Close Encounters but no where near as good as E.T. From the reviews, I thought too much familiarity, the alien being shoe-horned into the story, and the ending would be this movies biggest problems and while they are problems, I found there is something else that bothers me about it. Just as with my X-Men review, I may be rating it a little higher then I should or will in the future.
Cedar Rapids (2011) 5/10 - what a painfully unfunny movie. I watched about the first half and fell asleep. Since I didn't laugh once from what I saw and the people I watched it with said it's crappy all the way to the end, I didn't bother going back to watch what I missed.
Super 8 (2011) 7/10 - disappointing (well, it doesn't live up the amazingly nostalgic trailer with the great James Horner music). I expected another great Spielberg movie but really just got JJ's generic knock-off. It was better then Close Encounters but no where near as good as E.T. From the reviews, I thought too much familiarity, the alien being shoe-horned into the story, and the ending would be this movies biggest problems and while they are problems, I found there is something else that bothers me about it. Just as with my X-Men review, I may be rating it a little higher then I should or will in the future.
Basic Instinct (1992)
First time viewing (can you believe that?). A cynic's answer: they could've used DNA techniques and the case would've been solved in less than five minutes. DNA has been used in criminal investigations since 1984, so this is a major plothole. But as someone who loves good, exciting movies, I say: excellent! The first half hour I didn't think it was going to be good, but after that, it really picked up the pace and kept me onto the edge of my seat to the end. I kept changing my idea of who the killer was constantly. Well done! Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone have great chemistry and she really plays her part perfectly. The only minor beef I have with it, is how the male detectives, early on in the film, all assume the Stone-character is a bad woman because she has sex with men just for the fun of it. A bit misogynistic if you ask me. Other than that: no complaints.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Another first watch. This was a huge dissappointment. Of course I already knew this was not a 'typical' Western, but more a product of the '60s counter-culture, but still, I was not prepared for this. I'll let an IMDb-reviewer sum up my problems with the movie: Mind-bogglingly overrated, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [...] has barely anything decent going for it in its plot less script. The title characters have no depth or edge, which makes their escapades rather tiresome; not even the formidable double-act of Paul Newman and Robert Redford can do much with this pair of non-entities, while Katharine Ross is totally wasted in the token girlfriend role. As a comedy it's nothing more than mildly amusing, as an adventure it totally lacks excitement and as a drama it has no pathos, emotion or substance. On the plus side, it is beautifully shot and lensed, and the first fifteen minutes show great promise, but overall you may walk away from this sacred cow wondering just what all the fuss was about.
First time viewing (can you believe that?). A cynic's answer: they could've used DNA techniques and the case would've been solved in less than five minutes. DNA has been used in criminal investigations since 1984, so this is a major plothole. But as someone who loves good, exciting movies, I say: excellent! The first half hour I didn't think it was going to be good, but after that, it really picked up the pace and kept me onto the edge of my seat to the end. I kept changing my idea of who the killer was constantly. Well done! Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone have great chemistry and she really plays her part perfectly. The only minor beef I have with it, is how the male detectives, early on in the film, all assume the Stone-character is a bad woman because she has sex with men just for the fun of it. A bit misogynistic if you ask me. Other than that: no complaints.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Another first watch. This was a huge dissappointment. Of course I already knew this was not a 'typical' Western, but more a product of the '60s counter-culture, but still, I was not prepared for this. I'll let an IMDb-reviewer sum up my problems with the movie: Mind-bogglingly overrated, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid [...] has barely anything decent going for it in its plot less script. The title characters have no depth or edge, which makes their escapades rather tiresome; not even the formidable double-act of Paul Newman and Robert Redford can do much with this pair of non-entities, while Katharine Ross is totally wasted in the token girlfriend role. As a comedy it's nothing more than mildly amusing, as an adventure it totally lacks excitement and as a drama it has no pathos, emotion or substance. On the plus side, it is beautifully shot and lensed, and the first fifteen minutes show great promise, but overall you may walk away from this sacred cow wondering just what all the fuss was about.
-
jpanimation
- Anniversary Edition
- Posts: 1841
- Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:00 am
^Glad to see I'm not the only person that didn't care for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The Adjustment Bureau (2011) 6.5/10 - not bad. I found it entertaining but not as well constructed or 'smart' as I thought it would be. The characters are rather uninteresting. It's the story that kept me going and ultimately let me down. There really isn't any kind of closure as to what the whole purpose of the Adjustment Bureau is, what they are and why plans had to be changed to begin with.
The Adjustment Bureau (2011) 6.5/10 - not bad. I found it entertaining but not as well constructed or 'smart' as I thought it would be. The characters are rather uninteresting. It's the story that kept me going and ultimately let me down. There really isn't any kind of closure as to what the whole purpose of the Adjustment Bureau is, what they are and why plans had to be changed to begin with.
-
dvdjunkie
- Signature Collection
- Posts: 5613
- Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:05 am
- Location: Wichita, Kansas
Monte Carlo (2011)
Well I went into this film, accompanied by my wife and daughter, and wanted to like this movie, but alas, it was not to be.
To quote my daughter: "What do they think about making Selena Gomez an adult character? All it turned out to be was 'Mary Poppins with a potty mouth'!"
My wife fell asleep about half way through this debacle that is a strong candidate for worst movie of the year 2011.
The first half of the movie was really cute, and very funny, as Selena and her gal pals, Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy, are on a summer tour of Paris. When they become bored with the tour, they sneak away to a big Hotel and are mistaken for Royalty and the film goes downhill from there.
I wanted to like this movie, but sadly I can't. The first thirty minutes rates a very high 4 out of 4 stars and the movie as a whole is probably just a 2 star movie, if that good.
Well I went into this film, accompanied by my wife and daughter, and wanted to like this movie, but alas, it was not to be.
To quote my daughter: "What do they think about making Selena Gomez an adult character? All it turned out to be was 'Mary Poppins with a potty mouth'!"
My wife fell asleep about half way through this debacle that is a strong candidate for worst movie of the year 2011.
The first half of the movie was really cute, and very funny, as Selena and her gal pals, Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy, are on a summer tour of Paris. When they become bored with the tour, they sneak away to a big Hotel and are mistaken for Royalty and the film goes downhill from there.
I wanted to like this movie, but sadly I can't. The first thirty minutes rates a very high 4 out of 4 stars and the movie as a whole is probably just a 2 star movie, if that good.
The only way to watch movies - Original Aspect Ratio!!!!
I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
Oh, no!!! Not POTTY!!!dvdjunkie wrote:To quote my daughter: "What do they think about making Selena Gomez an adult character? All it turned out to be was 'Mary Poppins with a potty mouth'!"
The horror! A character with a POTTY mouth! 
Hide the children!Selena Gomez as an adult character, eh? Gotta check that one out. Hmm... movie poster looks good.
-
SillySymphony
- Gold Classic Collection
- Posts: 454
- Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:28 pm
- Location: Alaska
-
Dr Frankenollie
- In The Vaults
- Posts: 2704
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 4:19 am
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Big Lebowski isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s a very good film, but also a very modern film. Friends of mine feel that I dislike modern movies because they’re too, well, modern; they think that I sit watching black-and-white silent films all day. Well, the problem I have with modern movies is that they lack story. Sure, they might get from Point A to Point B, but the story is so often handled poorly, is ripped off, or the film is too reliant on special effects.
The Big Lebowski is one of the most creative movies released since, perhaps, 1980 (I am referring to The Empire Strikes Back). It is fast-paced with imaginative and thrilling twists and turns yet has many slow, subtle emotional scenes. But, most of all, The Big Lebowski is a comedy, and it is hilarious.
It features situational humour, which I prefer greatly to slapstick humour or dialogue humour. In one scene, a raging John Goodman as Walter Sobchak smashes a car, believing it belongs to an uncooperative teen named Larry, who seems to have spent Walter’s (technically) stolen money. But it’s not Larry’s car, and the whole neighbourhood has woken up as the unlikely hero, Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski (a brilliant Jeff Bridges) tries to calm his friend Walter down.
This is one of the lesser funny moments, as I don’t wish to spoil them for you. But I lightly touched upon one of the movie’s favourite traits: it never spells the truth out for the audience. I am still slightly confused after watching it with all the ins and outs of the bizarre mystery caper, with the twist not saving you from doing the work like in The Usual Suspects or The Sixth Sense, and the twist is not contrived as well as believable. But this makes it more realistic; not all of the plot threads are tied up and not everything goes according to anyone’s plan. We never find out the fate of the mysterious, Danny DeVito-like detective, or how the narrating ‘Mysterious Stranger’ finds out everything about the Dude. But it doesn’t matter, as it is reflective and evocative of the randomness of real life.
The story is about the aforementioned Jeffrey ‘the Dude’ Lebowski, perhaps the most entertaining character ever to be put to film. He has a bad apartment. He’s unemployed. He has obnoxious and idiotic friends. But he really doesn’t care. He is a casual hippy, going with the flow, remaining calm even as his head is forced down a toilet by a sociopathic brute.
The sociopathic brute is employed by Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara), a greedy pornographrt who lives in Malibu. Treehorn is owed a huge sum of money, and the person who owes him the money is Bunny Lebowski (Tara Reid), the young trophy wife of another Jeffrey Lebowski, the titular ‘Big Lebowski’ (David Huddleston). Treehorn’s thugs realise their mistake when they remember that the Lebowski married to Bunny is a disabled billionaire. They leave the Dude’s apartment, but not before urinating on his rug. The Dude goes to the Big Lebowski to complain about this, and not long after is forced to act as courier between Treehorn and Lebowski when Bunny is kidnapped. Or rather, appears to be kidnapped.
The film is vibrant and imaginative, with the best scenes being the dream sequences, which perfectly mix together silliness, farfetched situations, quirky music and colourful visuals. The Big Lebowski is always balancing on the line between seriousness and comedy. In fact, at some points it gets so dark I feel that perhaps some of the earlier sequences were just for comic relief. But it is, first and foremost, a comedy; and a buddy picture, and a heartfelt one at that. One blasphemous character aside, the talented Ethan and Joel Coen (who both wrote the screenplay and directed) really make us feel real emotions for these characters, especially at the end when the Dude and Walter mourn the demise of a good friend.
What ties the film together truly is the acting, and the great chemistry the primary actors, Goodman, Bridges and Steve Buscemi have with each other. Goodman is the best, in his first scene telling you much about his character: he gets easily agitated, uses much profanity, has sudden mood swings and demands to lead the conversation. But Bridges develops his character the most, at first being laid-back and uninterested, but horrified, panicky and stressful at the thought of a character’s death.
The film wasn’t a hit at the box office, but has since become a cult movie, and has sparked a so-called ‘religion’ of sorts: Dudeism. This amount of obsession with a film is only rivalled by the obsession with Star Wars and Star Trek, an apt comparison as, like the aforementioned franchises, The Big Lebowski is not for everyone. It’s for anyone who has a good sense of humour and a taste for something quirky, unique and refreshing.
9/10.
The Big Lebowski isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s a very good film, but also a very modern film. Friends of mine feel that I dislike modern movies because they’re too, well, modern; they think that I sit watching black-and-white silent films all day. Well, the problem I have with modern movies is that they lack story. Sure, they might get from Point A to Point B, but the story is so often handled poorly, is ripped off, or the film is too reliant on special effects.
The Big Lebowski is one of the most creative movies released since, perhaps, 1980 (I am referring to The Empire Strikes Back). It is fast-paced with imaginative and thrilling twists and turns yet has many slow, subtle emotional scenes. But, most of all, The Big Lebowski is a comedy, and it is hilarious.
It features situational humour, which I prefer greatly to slapstick humour or dialogue humour. In one scene, a raging John Goodman as Walter Sobchak smashes a car, believing it belongs to an uncooperative teen named Larry, who seems to have spent Walter’s (technically) stolen money. But it’s not Larry’s car, and the whole neighbourhood has woken up as the unlikely hero, Jeffrey ‘The Dude’ Lebowski (a brilliant Jeff Bridges) tries to calm his friend Walter down.
This is one of the lesser funny moments, as I don’t wish to spoil them for you. But I lightly touched upon one of the movie’s favourite traits: it never spells the truth out for the audience. I am still slightly confused after watching it with all the ins and outs of the bizarre mystery caper, with the twist not saving you from doing the work like in The Usual Suspects or The Sixth Sense, and the twist is not contrived as well as believable. But this makes it more realistic; not all of the plot threads are tied up and not everything goes according to anyone’s plan. We never find out the fate of the mysterious, Danny DeVito-like detective, or how the narrating ‘Mysterious Stranger’ finds out everything about the Dude. But it doesn’t matter, as it is reflective and evocative of the randomness of real life.
The story is about the aforementioned Jeffrey ‘the Dude’ Lebowski, perhaps the most entertaining character ever to be put to film. He has a bad apartment. He’s unemployed. He has obnoxious and idiotic friends. But he really doesn’t care. He is a casual hippy, going with the flow, remaining calm even as his head is forced down a toilet by a sociopathic brute.
The sociopathic brute is employed by Jackie Treehorn (Ben Gazzara), a greedy pornographrt who lives in Malibu. Treehorn is owed a huge sum of money, and the person who owes him the money is Bunny Lebowski (Tara Reid), the young trophy wife of another Jeffrey Lebowski, the titular ‘Big Lebowski’ (David Huddleston). Treehorn’s thugs realise their mistake when they remember that the Lebowski married to Bunny is a disabled billionaire. They leave the Dude’s apartment, but not before urinating on his rug. The Dude goes to the Big Lebowski to complain about this, and not long after is forced to act as courier between Treehorn and Lebowski when Bunny is kidnapped. Or rather, appears to be kidnapped.
The film is vibrant and imaginative, with the best scenes being the dream sequences, which perfectly mix together silliness, farfetched situations, quirky music and colourful visuals. The Big Lebowski is always balancing on the line between seriousness and comedy. In fact, at some points it gets so dark I feel that perhaps some of the earlier sequences were just for comic relief. But it is, first and foremost, a comedy; and a buddy picture, and a heartfelt one at that. One blasphemous character aside, the talented Ethan and Joel Coen (who both wrote the screenplay and directed) really make us feel real emotions for these characters, especially at the end when the Dude and Walter mourn the demise of a good friend.
What ties the film together truly is the acting, and the great chemistry the primary actors, Goodman, Bridges and Steve Buscemi have with each other. Goodman is the best, in his first scene telling you much about his character: he gets easily agitated, uses much profanity, has sudden mood swings and demands to lead the conversation. But Bridges develops his character the most, at first being laid-back and uninterested, but horrified, panicky and stressful at the thought of a character’s death.
The film wasn’t a hit at the box office, but has since become a cult movie, and has sparked a so-called ‘religion’ of sorts: Dudeism. This amount of obsession with a film is only rivalled by the obsession with Star Wars and Star Trek, an apt comparison as, like the aforementioned franchises, The Big Lebowski is not for everyone. It’s for anyone who has a good sense of humour and a taste for something quirky, unique and refreshing.
9/10.
-
Disney-Fan
- Platinum Edition
- Posts: 3381
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:59 am
- Location: Where it's flat and immense and the heat is intense
- Contact:
Just saw X-Men: First Class - This film is not without flaws but its James Bond-esque story and the fact that this movie went back, in theming and idea exploration, to the greatness of movies 1+2 really makes up for any shortcomings. It's right up there with the first two, and a fine addition to the franchise. Oh, and that cameo? HILARIOUS! 8/10 
"See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve." - The Joker
-
disneyboy20022
- Signature Collection
- Posts: 6868
- Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2005 2:17 pm
Yep it was good...and that cameo I was so surprised that I said louldy in laughter Best Cameo EVER...Disney-Fan wrote:Just saw X-Men: First Class - This film is not without flaws but its James Bond-esque story and the fact that this movie went back, in theming and idea exploration, to the greatness of movies 1+2 really makes up for any shortcomings. It's right up there with the first two, and a fine addition to the franchise. Oh, and that cameo? HILARIOUS! 8/10
Anyway...
I saw Transfomers: Dark of The Moon in 3D with my dad,
It was pretty good, I thought it was interesting having bad humans people working for/with/etc the decepticons I was taken off guard by that a bit, though I quite Liked it. Also Sentinel Prime's Acting Voice was Leonard Nimy, whose voice I couldn't quite get where I have HEARD that voice recently..l.then I remembered he voice Master Xehanort in Kingdom Hearts BBS
My only advice on both of these films...Transformers 3 and X-Men First Class...pray to god sarah palin doesn't watch this....you think it's crazy her getting mixed up about Paul Revere ....on second that show it to her....It would be a nice comedy to laugh at...
Want to Hear How I met Roy E. Disney in 2003? Click the link Below
http://fromscreentotheme.com/ThursdayTr ... isney.aspx
http://fromscreentotheme.com/ThursdayTr ... isney.aspx
-
dvdjunkie
- Signature Collection
- Posts: 5613
- Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2004 10:05 am
- Location: Wichita, Kansas
Bridesmaids (2011) Directed by Paul Fieg
Hey guys!!! If you want to impress your girlfriend by taking her to see a 'chick-flick' then this one is the one to see. The most "anti-chick-flick chick flick" on the market today.
Distributed by Universal Pictures this Judd Apatow production is a welcome relief from all of those so-called 'couple movies' out there today.
Kristen Wiig, who also co-wrote this film, stars as Annie, whose best friend, played by Maya Rudolph is getting married, and she insists that she be her maid of honor so she can plan this most humongous wedding ever.
Things go steadily down-hill thereafter, and there is one catastrophy after another in all the plans for this wedding and who the bridesmaids are and the color of their dresses and what the bride is going to wear. The scene in the Bridal-fitting shop is worth the admission price alone.
If you want to make points with your favorite girl, take her to see this film and you will make her one happy girl.
To quote one reviewer: "Bridesmaids is like Judd Apatow meets Wedding Crashers meet The Hangover - with girls!!!".
This film is R-rated for good reason, but it is also good fun.
Hey guys!!! If you want to impress your girlfriend by taking her to see a 'chick-flick' then this one is the one to see. The most "anti-chick-flick chick flick" on the market today.
Distributed by Universal Pictures this Judd Apatow production is a welcome relief from all of those so-called 'couple movies' out there today.
Kristen Wiig, who also co-wrote this film, stars as Annie, whose best friend, played by Maya Rudolph is getting married, and she insists that she be her maid of honor so she can plan this most humongous wedding ever.
Things go steadily down-hill thereafter, and there is one catastrophy after another in all the plans for this wedding and who the bridesmaids are and the color of their dresses and what the bride is going to wear. The scene in the Bridal-fitting shop is worth the admission price alone.
If you want to make points with your favorite girl, take her to see this film and you will make her one happy girl.
To quote one reviewer: "Bridesmaids is like Judd Apatow meets Wedding Crashers meet The Hangover - with girls!!!".
This film is R-rated for good reason, but it is also good fun.
The only way to watch movies - Original Aspect Ratio!!!!
I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
I LOVE my Blu-Ray Disc Player!
-
Dr Frankenollie
- In The Vaults
- Posts: 2704
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 4:19 am
Equilibrium (2002)
Christian Bale is, without a doubt, one of the best actors in the movie industry right now. He has made great efforts to adequately portray certain characters (such as losing weight) and like F Murray Abraham, Jack Nicholson and a few other truly breathtaking actors and actresses can act sometimes with solely his eyes. In Kurt Wimmer’s sci-fi psychological thriller Equilibrium, Bale gives arguably his best performance to date (milestones ahead of his gravelly-voiced portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne).
Equilibrium is set sometime in the future, and according to its prologue a Third World War took place in the early years of the 21st Century; as a result, a political ideology that believe human emotion and feeling was responsible was developed, eventually taking control of the dystopian state of Libria, where anything of artistic value or anyone who even feels an inkling of any emotion, good or bad, is destroyed. All citizens of Libria have to take a drug injected via needle into the neck to repress feelings. The main law enforcement of this cold, gruesome hellhole are the Grammaton Clerics, treacherous, stiff and aloof authority figures heavily reminiscent of Orwell’s Thought Police.
The unlikely protagonist is John Preston (Bale), a First Class Cleric who in the opening scenes single-handedly destroys the Mona Lisa and kills his partner (Sean Bean) when the latter admits to feeling. Preston has an uncanny knack for being able to tell what other people are feeling at any given time, but doesn’t know why. We learn via flashback that Preston’s wife was killed for showing emotion, breaking the absurd laws of ‘Father’ (Sean Pertwee), the leader of Libria. After arresting Mary O’Brien (Emily Watson) with the help of his new partner Brandt (Taye Diggs), Preston starts feeling a number of emotions, coming into contact with an adorable puppy, a snow globe of the Eiffel Tower and a record of powerful classical music that leaves him in tears. Preston also falls for Mary, and starts contacting the underground resistance after trying to help several rebellious terrorists escape the other Clerics’ vicious clutches. Preston mentally struggles with his battling emotions as he stops taking the required drug to repress his feelings, whilst trying to hide his crimes from the merciless state.
As mentioned earlier, Bale gives an excellent performance, being able to portray a character stiffly when it’s required (like early on when Preston is no better than his future foes), before showing the character’s confusion and turmoil (giving a subtle, nuanced change to his earlier stiffness) and eventually becoming a courageous hero. The other performances lack the level of depth Bale has, but Emily Watson and Sean Bean are minor gems, and Matthew Harbour (who plays Preston’s son) is also surprisingly good.
The cinematography is exquisite, elegant and bold, with the director of photography (Dion Beebe) using a number of unusual shots for some scenes, as well as noticeably using deep focus to make us feel like we’re in the movie (a better method than 3-D by far, and much less cheap and gimmicky). Also, the frequent use of turning everything completely dark for more than just a few seconds makes the movie unsettling and more exciting. Klaus Badelt’s score isn’t particularly memorable but fun to listen to, fitting the action perfectly.
When Equilibrium was released, it was mostly criticised for bearing too many similarities to sci-fi classics, and it is rather noticeable. Along with the aforementioned link between the Grammaton Clerics and the Thought Police, ‘Father’ is an obvious reworking of ‘Big Brother’, the love interest’s surname is possible a reference to the villain of 1984, and then the concept of incinerating many emotion-inducing objects like books is borrowed from Fahrenheit 451. And as much as I enjoyed the movie, the fact that it blatantly rips off superior sci-fi classics is hard to ignore and is absolutely true.
Nevertheless, Equilibrium is able to turn what could’ve been a basic, run-of-the-mill action movie into something much more thought-provoking, commendable and interesting. As is obvious, it falls short of greatness, but is worth watching simply because of Bale.
7/10.
Christian Bale is, without a doubt, one of the best actors in the movie industry right now. He has made great efforts to adequately portray certain characters (such as losing weight) and like F Murray Abraham, Jack Nicholson and a few other truly breathtaking actors and actresses can act sometimes with solely his eyes. In Kurt Wimmer’s sci-fi psychological thriller Equilibrium, Bale gives arguably his best performance to date (milestones ahead of his gravelly-voiced portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne).
Equilibrium is set sometime in the future, and according to its prologue a Third World War took place in the early years of the 21st Century; as a result, a political ideology that believe human emotion and feeling was responsible was developed, eventually taking control of the dystopian state of Libria, where anything of artistic value or anyone who even feels an inkling of any emotion, good or bad, is destroyed. All citizens of Libria have to take a drug injected via needle into the neck to repress feelings. The main law enforcement of this cold, gruesome hellhole are the Grammaton Clerics, treacherous, stiff and aloof authority figures heavily reminiscent of Orwell’s Thought Police.
The unlikely protagonist is John Preston (Bale), a First Class Cleric who in the opening scenes single-handedly destroys the Mona Lisa and kills his partner (Sean Bean) when the latter admits to feeling. Preston has an uncanny knack for being able to tell what other people are feeling at any given time, but doesn’t know why. We learn via flashback that Preston’s wife was killed for showing emotion, breaking the absurd laws of ‘Father’ (Sean Pertwee), the leader of Libria. After arresting Mary O’Brien (Emily Watson) with the help of his new partner Brandt (Taye Diggs), Preston starts feeling a number of emotions, coming into contact with an adorable puppy, a snow globe of the Eiffel Tower and a record of powerful classical music that leaves him in tears. Preston also falls for Mary, and starts contacting the underground resistance after trying to help several rebellious terrorists escape the other Clerics’ vicious clutches. Preston mentally struggles with his battling emotions as he stops taking the required drug to repress his feelings, whilst trying to hide his crimes from the merciless state.
As mentioned earlier, Bale gives an excellent performance, being able to portray a character stiffly when it’s required (like early on when Preston is no better than his future foes), before showing the character’s confusion and turmoil (giving a subtle, nuanced change to his earlier stiffness) and eventually becoming a courageous hero. The other performances lack the level of depth Bale has, but Emily Watson and Sean Bean are minor gems, and Matthew Harbour (who plays Preston’s son) is also surprisingly good.
The cinematography is exquisite, elegant and bold, with the director of photography (Dion Beebe) using a number of unusual shots for some scenes, as well as noticeably using deep focus to make us feel like we’re in the movie (a better method than 3-D by far, and much less cheap and gimmicky). Also, the frequent use of turning everything completely dark for more than just a few seconds makes the movie unsettling and more exciting. Klaus Badelt’s score isn’t particularly memorable but fun to listen to, fitting the action perfectly.
When Equilibrium was released, it was mostly criticised for bearing too many similarities to sci-fi classics, and it is rather noticeable. Along with the aforementioned link between the Grammaton Clerics and the Thought Police, ‘Father’ is an obvious reworking of ‘Big Brother’, the love interest’s surname is possible a reference to the villain of 1984, and then the concept of incinerating many emotion-inducing objects like books is borrowed from Fahrenheit 451. And as much as I enjoyed the movie, the fact that it blatantly rips off superior sci-fi classics is hard to ignore and is absolutely true.
Nevertheless, Equilibrium is able to turn what could’ve been a basic, run-of-the-mill action movie into something much more thought-provoking, commendable and interesting. As is obvious, it falls short of greatness, but is worth watching simply because of Bale.
7/10.
La tête en friche (2010)
Short, little light-weight French movie about a dim-witted overweight adult (Gerard Depardieu) who meets an elderly woman in the park, who teaches him to appreciate literature. Nice idea, but the execution is a bit too crude and too obvious. A subtle film, it is not.
The life of David Gale (2003)
Always a pleasure to see Kate Winslet and Kevin Spacey perform, and the story about an anti-death penalty activist being put on death row while he's innocent is intruiging. The movie is well told, has an exciting pace and doesn't bore a minute. Though the eventual last-minute plot twists are surprising, they're also a bit too much.
Short, little light-weight French movie about a dim-witted overweight adult (Gerard Depardieu) who meets an elderly woman in the park, who teaches him to appreciate literature. Nice idea, but the execution is a bit too crude and too obvious. A subtle film, it is not.
The life of David Gale (2003)
Always a pleasure to see Kate Winslet and Kevin Spacey perform, and the story about an anti-death penalty activist being put on death row while he's innocent is intruiging. The movie is well told, has an exciting pace and doesn't bore a minute. Though the eventual last-minute plot twists are surprising, they're also a bit too much.
-
SillySymphony
- Gold Classic Collection
- Posts: 454
- Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:28 pm
- Location: Alaska