Movie Thread

[Tricycle Rider]

I was in the mood for some urban/inner city dramedies recently, so I watched Ice Cube's entire Barbershop franchise, Beauty Shop (2005) with Queen Latifah, and the Indie film CornerStore (2011). Barbershop and Beauty Shop had their poignant moments and a few laughs, I liked that the former franchise had been filmed in Chicago and not some studio in LA.

My fave was the low budget, filmed in Detroit CornerStore though, the humor was quite sharp. It also helped that I was familiar with the pop culture of the time.

What all of these movies had in common was an excellent soundtrack - Motown, R&B, old school hip-hop... yeah, I'm down with that.

 

[movingtarget]

I saw this a long time ago, I remember there was a big stink about Polanski getting nominated for an Oscar for The Pianist because of his criminal past and ongoing extradition requests to the US. As a person I find him repulsive, but as a filmmaker he's quite good.

I think The Pianist is quality, and my fave movie of his is The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). The cinematography in the latter is just charming.

Yeah that was a fun movie but I think I liked Chinatown and Tess the best of Polanski's movies. Tess was very different for Polanski, basically a doomed love story. While Chinatown was a great film about corruption in LA.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Yeah that was a fun movie but I think I liked Chinatown and Tess the best of Polanski's movies. Tess was very different for Polanski, basically a doomed love story. While Chinatown was a great film about corruption in LA.

I haven't seen Tess, but saw Chinatown some time ago, it's consistently ranked as one of the top movies in the US. I can't really remember what I thought of it, would have to give it another looky.

What do you think of Jack Nicholson?

I really liked him initially in his older movies (like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Shining), but then grew tired of him because he always plays the same cool guy role. Because of this I think his acting abilities are exaggerated.

 

[movingtarget]

I haven't seen Tess, but saw Chinatown some time ago, it's consistently ranked as one of the top movies in the US. I can't really remember what I thought of it, would have to give it another looky.

What do you think of Jack Nicholson?

I really liked him initially in his older movies (like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Shining), but then grew tired of him because he always plays the same cool guy role. Because of this I think his acting abilities are exaggerated.

Sometimes I think his acting is over the top such as in The Shining. He's a method actor and likes to improvise from what I have heard and Kubrick was happy with his performance. I think The Shining would have worked better if some of the performances were dialled down a little especially the two leads. People seem to love or hate Nicholson, but I think after his real success his acting was verging on self parody sometimes. A bit cartoonish. I liked him in the Batman movie which suited his acting style. I liked his western from 1976 with Marlon Brando called Missouri Breaks also Easy Rider, The Last Detail, Chinatown, The Departed, The Pledge, About Schmidt and five Easy Pieces. They were probably my favourite films of his and most of them from the first half of his career. I haven't seen The Passenger which was one of his rare European movies but I have to catch up with it. A saw part of it years ago.

Two movies of his that were very popular which I didn't care for much were For A Few Good Men and also One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Might have to revisit the latter. Wolf and The Witches of Eastwick had some good moments but were disappointing. As Good As It Gets was pretty good but Helen Hunt saved the movie for me and won a deserved Oscar. Nicholson was believable as someone with OCD and also won an Oscar but I think Hunt's was the better performance.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I just watched it tonight. Great performance by JP!

I don't know how to use the multi-quote function, but I know several of you have commented on the Joker movie, so I'm just throwing in my opinion being I watched it last night.

It was very good. It was grim and dark with a touch of violence, slow-moving, and very adult. It's definitely not a movie you want to watch with the kids on family night.

It is advertised as such, so I'm not saying anything new when I say it could have easily been a stand-alone movie that had nothing to do with the comic book universe. It was more of a character study akin to Travis Bickle's, I also thought of Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs.

Joaquin Phoenix did a very good job, and after having read some trivia tidbits at IMDb I now know why he stumbled through his speech at the Oscars, turns out he gets extremely anxious in front of crowds, and initially even in front of the camera. He apparently walked out several times (so he could compose himself) during the filming of Joker, but one actor he had scenes with that he did not dare to walk out on was Robert De Niro. Respect!

EDIT- I failed to mention this earlier, but I sensed a bit of Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in JP's portrayal as Joker.

And, of course, there are a whole bunch of other real life people who had inspired JP's (and the filmmaker's) interpretations also, but the one I found the most interesting was JP's little dance on the stairs and toward the end - apparently the inspiration came from Ray Bolger's The Old Soft Shoe. (Eh, gotta give credit to the original artists where the credit is due!)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM8yBTV7BgA

 

[Tobs]

What interesting detective stories can you recommend to me in 2020?

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Sometimes I think his acting is over the top such as in The Shining. He's a method actor and likes to improvise from what I have heard and Kubrick was happy with his performance. I think The Shining would have worked better if some of the performances were dialled down a little especially the two leads. People seem to love or hate Nicholson, but I think after his real success his acting was verging on self parody sometimes. A bit cartoonish. I liked him in the Batman movie which suited his acting style. I liked his western from 1976 with Marlon Brando called Missouri Breaks also Easy Rider, The Last Detail, Chinatown, The Departed, The Pledge, About Schmidt and five Easy Pieces. They were probably my favourite films of his and most of them from the first half of his career. I haven't seen The Passenger which was one of his rare European movies but I have to catch up with it. A saw part of it years ago.

Two movies of his that were very popular which I didn't care for much were For A Few Good Men and also One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Might have to revisit the latter. Wolf and The Witches of Eastwick had some good moments but were disappointing. As Good As It Gets was pretty good but Helen Hunt saved the movie for me and won a deserved Oscar. Nicholson was believable as someone with OCD and also won an Oscar but I think Hunt's was the better performance.

See, I would have liked some of Nicholson's movies whether he was in them or not, especially Cuckoo's Nest because it had such a stellar cast otherwise. Something like Chinatown, which I rewatched last night, I would have liked a lot better if he hadn't been in it, in Chinatown he was the typical Nicholson - arrogant tough guy, I've had enough of him. I'm also surprised he's considered a method actor, I would have never guessed because I don't think there's anything nuanced about his acting. He's either Nicholson, or Nicholson goes to 11. I do agree in his later movies he was more of a self parody.

Anyhoo, I did like the cinematography in Chinatown, and I ended up reading some trivia tidbits about the film which were pretty interesting. Evidently the water dam bursting was inspired by the real St. Francis Dam disaster back in 1928, and there had been some real California water wars.

​

In other news I also watched Niagara (1953) again last night, I love this movie. The cinematography was lovely (as was Marilyn Monroe back then), and being it's been a while since I've seen it and had forgotten a lot I actually felt some suspense.

 

[movingtarget]

See, I would have liked some of Nicholson's movies whether he was in them or not, especially Cuckoo's Nest because it had such a stellar cast otherwise. Something like Chinatown, which I rewatched last night, I would have liked a lot better if he hadn't been in it, in Chinatown he was the typical Nicholson - arrogant tough guy, I've had enough of him. I'm also surprised he's considered a method actor, I would have never guessed because I don't think there's anything nuanced about his acting. He's either Nicholson, or Nicholson goes to 11. I do agree in his later movies he was more of a self parody.

Anyhoo, I did like the cinematography in Chinatown, and I ended up reading some trivia tidbits about the film which were pretty interesting. Evidently the water dam bursting was inspired by the real St. Francis Dam disaster back in 1928, and there had been some real California water wars.

​

In other news I also watched Niagara (1953) again last night, I love this movie. The cinematography was lovely (as was Marilyn Monroe back then), and being it's been a while since I've seen it and had forgotten a lot I actually felt some suspense.

One of Monroe's best performances was in the Misfits (1961), her last film, with a great cast. Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Clark Gable and Eli Wallach. Gable died before the film was released, Monroe the following year and Clift five years later. It was the last movie for Gable and Monroe and Clift made three more movies before he died. But Monroe was supposed to be messed up, maybe on drugs and some people said she wasn't acting in the film. It was a raw performance especially in the scenes with Clift who was also a troubled soul.

I liked Nicholson in Chinatown, I thought he suited the role. A lot of people didn't realize it was Polanski who attacked him with the knife and cut his nose. Blink and you'll miss it ! John Huston almost stole the film as the awful father of Faye Dunaway. Nice soundtrack as well.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

One of Monroe's best performances was in the Misfits (1961), her last film, with a great cast. Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Clark Gable and Eli Wallach. Gable died before the film was released, Monroe the following year and Clift five years later. It was the last movie for Gable and Monroe and Clift made three more movies before he died. But Monroe was supposed to be messed up, maybe on drugs and some people said she wasn't acting in the film. It was a raw performance especially in the scenes with Clift who was also a troubled soul.

I liked Nicholson in Chinatown, I thought he suited the role. A lot of people didn't realize it was Polanski who attacked him with the knife and cut his nose. Blink and you'll miss it ! John Huston almost stole the film as the awful father of Faye Dunaway. Nice soundtrack as well.

I knew it was Polanski because he just has that kind of face and stature (and also because I saw him acting in The Fearless Vampire Killers), apparently he lamented having to cut his long hair short for this very minor role. Now that is what I would almost call method acting!

Also, and yes, John Huston definitely was very menacing, I ended up fearing for his daughter's/granddaughter's well-being at the very end of the movie.

I'll have to watch The Misfits, Monroe had certainly been type-cast as the blonde bimbo for most of her career. Her role in Niagara was the only time she got to play a villain.

 

[movingtarget]

I knew it was Polanski because he just has that kind of face and stature (and also because I saw him acting in The Fearless Vampire Killers), apparently he lamented having to cut his long hair short for this very minor role. Now that is what I would almost call method acting!

Also, and yes, John Huston definitely was very menacing, I ended up fearing for his daughter's/granddaughter's well-being at the very end of the movie.

I'll have to watch The Misfits, Monroe had certainly been type-cast as the blonde bimbo for most of her career. Her role in Niagara was the only time she got to play a villain.

I haven't seen many Monroe films including Niagara. Another one to add to the watchlist. Polanski was quite good in The Fearless Vampire Killers as was poor Sharon Tate his soon to be wife. Another movie of his that he also acted in was The Tenant. A lot of people liked it. To be honest I didn't care much for the book or the movie. Polanski also made Downhill Racer. Gene Hackman and Robert Redford were both good in it. One of the better sporting movies from that time and one of Polanski's movies that seem to have been reevalulated over time as a movie that slipped under the radar and was underrated. Simple story but well made.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I haven't seen many Monroe films including Niagara. Another one to add to the watchlist. Polanski was quite good in The Fearless Vampire Killers as was poor Sharon Tate his soon to be wife. Another movie of his that he also acted in was The Tenant. A lot of people liked it. To be honest I didn't care much for the book or the movie. Polanski also made Downhill Racer. Gene Hackman and Robert Redford were both good in it. One of the better sporting movies from that time and one of Polanski's movies that seem to have been reevalulated over time as a movie that slipped under the radar and was underrated. Simple story but well made.

You want to revisit whom had actually directed The Downhill Racer?

 

[movingtarget]

You want to revisit whom had actually directed The Downhill Racer?

So it's started.................the dementia I mean.........

 

[Tricycle Rider]

So it's started.................the dementia I mean.........

For every condition there is a movie...

What did you think of Still Alice (2014), starring Julianne Moore?

 

[movingtarget]

For every condition there is a movie...

What did you think of Still Alice (2014), starring Julianne Moore?

Haven't seen that one.............or maybe I did...........

 

[movingtarget]

You want to revisit whom had actually directed The Downhill Racer?

This was Ritchie's first film. He went on to direct Redford in "The Candidate" and subsequently made such sports-themed hits as "The Bad News Bears" and "Semi- Tough." His edgy, hand-held camerawork proved ideal for the project, even though Redford's first choice was Roman Polanski. Polanski, an avid skier, ended up directing "Rosemary's Baby," a movie about a very different kind of slippery slope.

I knew Polanski was connected somehow and he was was as a non participant !

 

[Tricycle Rider]

This was Ritchie's first film. He went on to direct Redford in "The Candidate" and subsequently made such sports-themed hits as "The Bad News Bears" and "Semi- Tough." His edgy, hand-held camerawork proved ideal for the project, even though Redford's first choice was Roman Polanski. Polanski, an avid skier, ended up directing "Rosemary's Baby," a movie about a very different kind of slippery slope.

I knew Polanski was connected somehow and he was was as a non participant !

It's cool. It's all about the six degrees of Kevin Bacon, after all. It's all somehow related and connected. Speaking of Bacon...

Have you seen Beauty Shop (2005)? Bacon is in it, and he does a rather splendid job playing a role that would probably not be usual for him.

 

[movingtarget]

It's cool. It's all about the six degrees of Kevin Bacon, after all. It's all somehow related and connected. Speaking of Bacon...

Have you seen Beauty Shop (2005)? Bacon is in it, and he does a rather splendid job playing a role that would probably not be usual for him.

No have not seen that one. Stir of Echoes was a good Bacon film. Creepy thriller. He's been in many good movies. Mystic River with Sean Penn was also very good.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

No have not seen that one. Stir of Echoes was a good Bacon film. Creepy thriller. He's been in many good movies. Mystic River with Sean Penn was also very good.

I liked Mystic River. Thought Sean Penn's emotional scene was a bit hammy, but it was nothing like Faye Dunaway's performance in Mommie Dearest, which I watched yesterday. And on that note...

Mommie Dearest (1981) - Oooof! According to the director this was supposed to be a drama, but due to Dunaway's iconic, over the top performance as Joan Crawford it is now considered more of a black comedy drama.

Evidently Dunaway was also a pill to work with, and she was actually convinced she should have been nominated for an Oscar. Instead she and the rest of this production ended up being nominated for, and winning, a number of Razzies, even the kid who played little Christina Crawford wasn't spared of a nomination. I thought that was a bit harsh.

It's hard to say how much of the movie is factually true because Christina Crawford had published her scathing autobiography a year after her mother had passed, so Joan wasn't around to defend herself. But as long as viewers keep this in mind I think they can have a good time watching this legendary camp fest.

 

[movingtarget]

I liked Mystic River. Thought Sean Penn's emotional scene was a bit hammy, but it was nothing like Faye Dunaway's performance in Mommie Dearest, which I watched yesterday. And on that note...

Mommie Dearest (1981) - Oooof! According to the director this was supposed to be a drama, but due to Dunaway's iconic, over the top performance as Joan Crawford it is now considered more of a black comedy drama.

Evidently Dunaway was also a pill to work with, and she was actually convinced she should have been nominated for an Oscar. Instead she and the rest of this production ended up being nominated for, and winning, a number of Razzies, even the kid who played little Christina Crawford wasn't spared of a nomination. I thought that was a bit harsh.

It's hard to say how much of the movie is factually true because Christina Crawford had published her scathing autobiography a year after her mother had passed, so Joan wasn't around to defend herself. But as long as viewers keep this in mind I think they can have a good time watching this legendary camp fest.

Never saw Mommie Dearest. Don't think Dunaway was a great actress. She was good in Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown, Three Days of the Condor. Miscast badly in Barfly but the best performance I saw from her was in Network in a film of many good performances.

As for Penn he is sometimes over the top. He is good at playing bastards like the soldier in Casualties of War but I think his acting improved through the years. He was good also in The Thin Red Line among many others. He is an underrated director and has directed some interesting movies like The Pledge and The Indian Runner. Mel Gibson is/was another popular actor that has directed some decent movies like Braveheart and Passion of The Christ. Gibson of course almost ruined his career and was in the wilderness for while. He was lucky to have a few stars go in to bat for him, without them it might have been curtains although his career is nothing like it was in the 80s and 90s. Those days are long gone. He was box office magic back them.

 

[BlueRoads]

I really like Sean Penn. One of my favourite actors. Of course he's over the top sometimes, but I have a suspicion he might be like that in real life, too, so maybe it's not just overacting. Mystic River is my favourite among his films, but I liked a lot of the others as well, also some that are not rated that highly, like The Game (I love Michael Douglas...), U-Turn and some of the 80s works.
As a director he's great, he really has a sense for a lot of things that make a movie and hasn't done big "prestigious" or heavy-weight plots, but obviously those that really mattered to him personally.
But he should never again write a script himself, or if, he should not make it a movie, because that is one thing he's definitely not good at...

Did you watch "I love ***"? I hated it for some reasons, but especially since it had Kevin Bacon as a kind of Donald Judd (although he wasn't bad at it), and it just kills me that the Footloose guy and Donald Judd are now somehow linked. I don't know why, this connection just blows up my mind.

 

[movingtarget]

I really like Sean Penn. One of my favourite actors. Of course he's over the top sometimes, but I have a suspicion he might be like that in real life, too, so maybe it's not just overacting. Mystic River is my favourite among his films, but I liked a lot of the others as well, also some that are not rated that highly, like The Game (I love Michael Douglas...), U-Turn and some of the 80s works.
As a director he's great, he really has a sense for a lot of things that make a movie and hasn't done big "prestigious" or heavy-weight plots, but obviously those that really mattered to him personally.
But he should never again write a script himself, or if, he should not make it a movie, because that is one thing he's definitely not good at...

Did you watch "I love ***"? I hated it for some reasons, but especially since it had Kevin Bacon as a kind of Donald Judd (although he wasn't bad at it), and it just kills me that the Footloose guy and Donald Judd are now somehow linked. I don't know why, this connection just blows up my mind.

The Game was okay but I thought Seven was a better Fincher movie. U-Turn was pretty good as well. Didn't see that Bacon movie I don't think. But Bacon and Penn have been in plenty of good movies. No doubt Penn is an underrated director.

 

[movingtarget]

Watched JFK (1991). As with most Oliver Stone movies, it's a long film but entertaining enough. Good cast with that Kevin Bacon fella turning up again ! Even if you don't buy this version of the conspiracy theory there is enough there to show how absurd the official government version of the truth was. Just the Zapruder Film footage on it's own, probably the most famous home movie in history is enough to convince that there could not have been only one shooter. Eyewitness accounts just add weight to that footage. Interestingly government documents from a second investigation have been sealed till 2029. What comes out that should be very interesting as they basically admitted that a cover up was probable in their conclusion. and it turned out that one of the figures that was was tried and found to be innocent of conspiracy charges was a CIA agent. This was admitted by a former head of the CIA years later. One of the most powerful moments in the film apart from the Zapruder film was Kevin Costner's DA character watching Bobby Kennedy's assassination live on TV. I Wonder what was the average American thinking after the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy ?

 

[movingtarget]

Watched Cronos (1994) Mexican cult horror film. Not bad but I was expecting better. One of Guillermo del Toro's early efforts before he hit the big time. The first half hour promised more than it delivered.

 

[jmdirt]

Somewhere (2010)...unless you are confined to bed and have already watched almost everything else, this isn't worth the time IMO. Elle Fanning is a pretty good kid actor though.

For those who have been talking about Sean Penn above he was on Firing Line last week:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/firing-line/video/sean-penn-feetzm/

 

[movingtarget]

Somewhere (2010)...unless you are confined to bed and have already watched almost everything else, this isn't worth the time IMO. Elle Fanning is a pretty good kid actor though.

For those who have been talking about Sean Penn above he was on Firing Line last week:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/firing-line/video/sean-penn-feetzm/

I know Penn has copped plenty of flak in the past for his actions in various spheres but he is doing some good work here and should be applauded for it. Some interesting opinions in the interview. Let's face it, celebrities are never going to win when it comes to charity work etc........and some seem to treat it like a way to boost their profile but if people are benefiting does it really matter ? Penn never really gave that impression though and always seemed serious about his work outside of Hollywood even though some seem to think he was misguided at times. Maybe more of a political view than anything else.