"Not the art of scholars but of illiterates." (new movie thread)

[lastclearchance]

But really, Gary Cooper: I've just never seen it. Dude is blandness personified, and not in an interesting or endearing Jimmy Stewart way.

I'm with you on this, though I'd love for someone to crack Cooper-as-star open for me

[hannah]

The strong, silent type. That was an American. He wasn't in touch with his feelings. He just did what he had to do.

[elpollodiablo]

You're the best, hh.

[coldforge]

I j ust finished Heat. It was not nearly as entertaining as I had expected. In fact, it was turgid, cliched, chauvanistic, by the numbers, and generally plotless. And JESUS has Al Pacino been a bad actor for the last, oh, 20 years.

[donblood]

Show me the money

[elpollodiablo]

Cuz she had a GREAT ASS

So: thoughts on Little Children? I'm conflicted.

[lastclearchance]

I j ust finished Heat. It was not nearly as entertaining as I had expected. In fact, it was turgid, cliched, chauvanistic, by the numbers, and generally plotless. And JESUS has Al Pacino been a bad actor for the last, oh, 20 years.

I JUST HAD A CUPPA COFFEE WITH HIM HALF AN HOUR AGO

Michael Mann movies are pretty terrible

[elpollodiablo]

Indeed. Public Enemies continued the trend.

[Andrew_TSKS]

I saw "The Long Goodbye" tonight. Strangely disappointing, but probably only because I thought it was gonna be just about the best movie ever. I mean, it's based on one of my top 3 books of all time, it's directed by Robert Altman, written by Leigh Brackett, and stars Elliott Gould. That's a lot to live up to. But hey, it was still a damn sight better than good. I think maybe Altman took the whole "everyone mumble and ad lib most of your dialogue" approach a little too far, which I say mostly because it was tough to figure out what parts of the dialogue were substantial and important and what was just meaningless chatter. I got it all together by the end, though, and the plot was more linear in the end than I thought it was gonna be halfway through the movie. My love for the book probably also fucked things up, because I kept noticing plot details that were changed or put into the movie out of sequence. I feel like I'm harping too much on the things I didn't like, though, which overshadows the fact that there was a lot to love. The opening sequence, between Marlowe and his cat, was fucking great. The cinematography was excellent throughout, and I loved the sunburnt look the whole film had (apparently due to an unorthodox use of a technique called flashing, which I really don't know anything about). I liked Gould's portrayal of Marlowe a great deal, and thought it was a perfect update for the time period in which the film was shot. It wouldn't have worked if you took Bogey out of "The Big Sleep" and inserted Gould's Marlowe, but for "The Long Goodbye" it was perfect. And I really liked Sterling Hayden as well. The acting in general worked really well for me, in fact. I guess all my complaints come down to the fact that the film was too loose, but I'm generally more forgiving of that in Altman films, since I go in expecting it anyway, so I think it's just my love for the source material talking there. In the end, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

[lastclearchance]

honestly if you didn't know the source material i think you would have loved it as much as you'd hoped

[G.C.R]

For real. I haven't read the book (I would like to) but damn I like that film a whole bunch.

[Thermofusion]

Re: Heat

But you do not get to watch...MY TELEVISION

I like Heat. I think it's more opera than film, though, particularly in light of the unrealistic nature of its final denouement (esp., like, in the last minute where the movie descends into pure metaphysical fantasy, for better or worse)

[auto-da-fey]

I'm with lcc and Grace--sounds like you brought too much baggage to it (also sounds like you realize it--maybe try California Split, which Altman and Gould made the next year and has a somewhat comparable vibe but not as much built-in expectation?)

also, I felt the same way as cf about Heat when I saw it, but that was when it came out. I've been vaguely intending to revisit it since at least 1999, but it just never comes anywhere near my top priorities. I suspect I'd still agree with all of those points--esp. w/r/t to fucking Pacino, though partly because his all-time low in 88 Minutes is still burned into my consciousness--but enjoy it anyway just because it was shot all around L.A. and I get more enjoyment out of that than, say, plot.

x-posted because my cribbed wireless connection just faded

[Greg Nog]

I loved that movie a huuuuge amount when I saw it in like '96; I haven't seen it since then.  Maybe I shouldn't?

[Andrew_TSKS]

I'm with lcc and Grace--sounds like you brought too much baggage to it (also sounds like you realize it--maybe try California Split, which Altman and Gould made the next year and has a somewhat comparable vibe but not as much built-in expectation?)

Oh whoa, I didn't know that existed. I will check it out!

EDIT: It's not available on DVD from Netflix, but I can watch it instantly, so I added it to my instant queue. I never use that thing, but I guess I'll have to in this instance.

[auto-da-fey]

huh, they used to have it, guess it went out of print? it's a problematic DVD--shorn of some scenes because of music-rights bullshit--but sometimes you've gotta make your peace with the fact that, barring some Criterion intervention, this is what you're stuck with.

I'm contemplating another Dietrich/Bronson double-feature tonight, but it hinges on accomplishing a sufficient amount of work first.

[The_Tourist]

me and a few people were trying to figure out what to do tonight.

"september 12

    * 25th Anniversary w/ Special Guests

    * Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984)
          o Midnight (11:59 p.m.) - all seats $7"


problem solved.

[diesel_powered]

That is excellent. Kinda jealous.

[Ignatius]

That is NOT excellent! You paid 7 dollars to watch Electric Boogaloo!

[YojimboMonkey]

but it's got fuckin ice-t in it CASE CLOSED


though of course you could have also watched Law&Order SVU

[Ignatius]

I would not pay 7 bucks to watch that movie about the stealth planes that I saw one afternoon on showtime when me and Uso cut school for egg sandwiches and whatnot.

[jm]

but it's got fuckin ice-t in it CASE CLOSED


though of course you could have also watched Law&Order SVU

I had the... pleasure?... of seeing Ice-T perform as Kool Keith's hype man this year at APW.  Of course, it wasn't long before they "ran out of ideas" and every improvised bit of a song was about general nakedness.  But still.  That > SVU.

[YojimboMonkey]

Yeah and Melle Mel in Beat Street* >>>> Ice-T in Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo but it's still funny to see T back then (wikipedia says he now considers his performance then "whack")


*pay no attention to the clean-cut young man in khaki at the beginning, Melle Mel jumps onstage around 2:35 or so

[elpollodiablo]

In the Loop is probably the funniest film I've seen this year.

[Snarfyguy]

Recently re-watched the first five Marx Brothers movies for the first time in a couple of decades, I guess. Variously fantastic, of course, although you really want to keep the remote control nearby because when none of the Brothers are on screen, there's just no point watching. I'd never been aware of how short some of these are; Horse Feathers and Duck Soup don't even really qualify as feature films, I don't think, both clocking in at under 70 minutes.

Also saw Derek Jarman's Jubilee, which, despite being super low budget and kind of technically retarded, had a lot of great visual ideas. Maybe the VHS tape I watched it on didn't show it at its best.