skimpole

Not that many in this thread from The Usual Suspects, but nevertheless Cop: I can put you in Queens on the night of the hijacking. Hockney: Really? I live in Queens! Did you put that together yourself, Einstein? Got a team of monkeys working around the clock on this? Cop: You know what happens if you do another turn in the joint? Hockney: Uh... I *****your father in the shower and then have a snack? Are you going to charge me, [obscenity]? Kujan: If someone wants to get you, they're gonna get you out there. Turn state's evidence. You may never see trial. Verbal: Maybe so. But I'm not a rat, Agent Kujan. Kint: Keaton always said, "I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of him." Well, I believe in God...and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Söze.

Unfortunately the last time I saw a film of his was Any Wednesday, when it appeared on TCM sometime in the last couple of years. Although Jones was supposed to be the hero, I clearly sympathized with Jason Robards' more obnoxious character because he was clearly the better actor. Also it was one of those pseudo-sex pseudo-comedies in the last days of classic Hollywood which just wasted Jane Fonda's talents.

I think Splash single-handedly turned Madison into a girl's name. Riley is the name of the heroine in both Inside Out and the Tv series "Girl meets World" as well as the love interest in "Baby Daddy."

"I'm not the guy you kill, I'm the guy you buy! Are you so [obscene gerund] blind that you don't even see what I am? I sold out Arthur for 80 grand and a three year contract. I'm the easiest part of your problem and you're gonna kill me?" Michael Clayton (George Clooney) in Michael Clayton. Also "Do I look like I'm negotiating?"

The Bergman and Marx days were the best so far.

No, TCM has apparently only shown Accatone and Mamma Rosa. I can understand why they haven't shown Salo, or the trilogy of life films or Teorema. (I'm indifferent to Teorema, while Salo and Arabian Nights are well worth watching.) But The Gospel According to Saint Matthew is an obvious choice, and The Hawks and the Sparrows is also well worth watching.

To me, while the Beatles obviously showed early promise (my favorite cover is their version of "Money") it was A Hard Day's Night that turned them from an amazingly popular group to the seminal rock group that they were.

I know there are romantic movies where the person who truly loves the object of affection ends up doing what he/she can to ensure someone else wins aforementioned OOA. (1) Either this is played for pathos, such as in Cyrano de Bergerac, or (2) the person who makes the effort ends up winning the OOA anyways. But suppose there was a third category (3) where we are to assume the nitwit who couldn't win the OOA alone deserves to win, and the person who did the work should have been just grateful to help? Personally I think that would be intolerable, but can anyone name examples of movies in these three categories?

Has there ever been a romantic movie with a happy ending whose ending made you want to scream? Either the wrong couple got together, or the couple who one was supposed to admire left you could, or you thought the unsuccessful suitor was treated unjustly.

I saw three movies last week. The remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still is an uninspiring film in every respect. Just thinking about it, the switch from the original to fears of nuclear war to environmental devastation make little sense. One can imagine alien races fearing Earth's nuclear weaspns, on the grounds that by discovering the secret humans would soon find out secrets that would soon threaten other planets. By contrast, if worse came to worse, a ruined Earth would just be another planet. I should also point out the one thing that is most striking about the original is its use of the theremin. There is nothing equivalently striking and strange in the remake. Even having Klaatu or Gort have the strange effect of making every radio play "Afternoon Delight" or "Macarthur Park" or some similiarly loathed song would be an improvement. By contrast, Thieves Highway is a much better film, with a genuine sense of economic risk of exploitation behind Lee J. Cobb's skullduggery. Timbuktu has many interesting aspects as it tells the story of the titular city ruled by Islamists fanatics who introduce stoning and ban soccer and music. It's a pity I didn't appreciate it more.

Perhaps I should have been clearer that I was referring to recent romantic movies. But I should point out they do make boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and then boy ultimately loses her forever. Examples of these movies that have a particularly strong attraction to me included Tess, The World of Apu and Paris, Texas. Manhattan and Annie Hall are only slightly lighter variations on the theme. (Oddly enough a recent TV comedy has adapted this theme with the added touch that the relationship will never have existed, to make it more palatable for the successful suitor.) In this century there is the unconsummated delirium of In the Mood for Love, Marisa Tomei's destroyed romance in In the Bedroom, the borderline sociopathy of Punch-Drunk Love, the divided couple of The Weeping Meadow, the motif of reincarnation in Tropical Malady, and the desire at the heart of solipsism in The Eternal Sunshine of the Sleepless Mind. There is the very hard won happy ending in A Very Long Engagement, the reliable intelligence of The Romance of Astrea and Celadon, the extraordinary beauty of The New World and To the Wonder, and the collapsing relationship of Regular Lovers enlivened by the Kinks' "This Time Tomorrow," and vestiges of love. There is the remarkable charm of Moonrise Kingdom, the puzzles behind Certified Copy, the strange enthusiasms of Bellflower, as well as the remarkable autopsy in An Oversimplification of her Beauty. And there is wonderful combination of eroticism and psychological depth in Blue in the Warmest Color, the subtle touches in The Wind Rises, and Scarlett Johansson's ineffable voice in Her.

I saw four movies this week. Clearly the best movie was When Marnie was There, supposedly the last Studio Ghibli movie. If not as good as The Wind Rises or The Tale of the Princess Kaguya it is very touching and certainly better than the director's previous The Secret World of Arietty. Oddly enough two other films are about Japan. A Pot Worth a Million Ryo was mildly amusing and touching in places, as various people searched for a pot that has a valuable treasure map embossed upon it. I suppose another look would see its virtues more clearly. By contrast, The Yakuza was rather dull, notwithstanding Robert Mitchum and what in an another director might be the interesting touch of a husband pretending to be a brother. Finally, there's Calvary which is often contrived, shallow and manipulative. I wouldn't say Brendon Gleeson redeems the movie with a great performance, but he does work very hard.

It's interesting. None of the recent romantic movies that I've liked have been remotely forumlaic. Yet I've been strongly moved by romances in television comedies that are patently formulaic. I suspect part of the reason may be that television shows, although filled with utter dross, can tell us more about a romantic couple than an ordinary movie.

There is an alternate universe where Stanley Kubrick's The Man Who Loved Children, starring Robin Williams, Kathleen Turner, Chistina Ricci and Mara Wilson humiliates Forrest Gump at the 1994 Academy Awards. The Autumn of the Patriarch Bleak House A Sentimental Education The Master and Margarita Death on the Installment Plan The Satantic Verses The Golovyov Family The Good Soldier [this is a role for Ralph Fiennes] The Baron in the Trees The Garden Where the Brass Band Played The Maias Shame Song of Solomon Lost Illusions The White Guard Nostromo Humboldt's Gift The Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man A Death in the Family The Knot of Vipers The Possessed Tongo-Bungay Call it Sleep The Iron Tracks The Age of Wonders Money Self-Condemned Kokoro

One Hundred Years of Solitude. I don't know if Candide has ever been made into a French movie. When Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were married I thought they might be a good couple for If on a Winter's Night a Traveller.

I saw four movies last week. The Great Garrick was an amusing movie I suppose, about the great British actor playing games with French actors playing games with him. The next two movies I probably wasn't in the best emotional state to fully appreciate. Mad Max: Fury Road certainly does show more invention that many Hollywood summer blockbusters, even if I see no particular need to remake The Road Warrior with fifteen to twenty times the original budget. The Ipcress File shows some of Michael Caine's early promise, even if it arguably doesn't show enough, and the mind control mechanism at the heart of it appears quite dated now. Finally Foxcatcher is an interesting, tasteful drama, like Bennett Miller's earlier movies Capote and Moneyball, though it's hard to feel much empathy with Steve Carell's entitled weirdo or Channing Tatum's pathetic idiot.

I may not be the biggest Sanders fan, but if Shearer gets November than surely Sanders get the final month.

I'd prefer a Ray retrospective to a Felini one, especially since my favorite Fellini film, Nights of Cabiria keeps being rescheduled away. But it's always good to see The Flowers of Saint Francis.

Metropolitan: CHARLIE: Do you know the French film, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie? When I first heard the title, I thought, “Finally, someone’s going to tell the truth about the bourgeoisie.” What a disappointment! It would be hard to imagine a less fair or accurate portrait.

Chinatown: Mrs. Mulwray: I don't get tough with anyone, Mr. Gittes. My lawyer does. Gittes: You were seeing someone too. For very long? Mrs. Mulwray: I don't see anyone for very long, Mr. Gittes. It's difficult for me.

I saw four movies last week. The Age of the Earth is an important, strange and final movie of the great Brazillian director Glauber Rocha, fascinatingly filmed without a clear narrative and without the benefit of subtitles from the Portuguese. The Look of Silence is a companion piece to The Act of Killing, which deals with an Indonesian trying to find the facts about the murder of his brother before he was born, and which slowly become worse as the movie proceeds. Ex Machina is an interesting film about an encounter with artificial intelligence. While not as original or strange as Under the Skin, and at least one revelation shouldn't surprise anyone, it does offer a striking view of men who think, in Stuart Klawans' words, they want sex with these strange women but actually want them to wave goodbye when they leave. Finally, A Most Wanted Year benefits from one of Philip Seymour Hoffman's final performances. On the other hand, this adaptation of Le Carre shows some of the pat ambiguities one expects from him.

You do have a point. Canada apparently had Pennies from Heaven twice Thursday night. It's unfortunate that Martin never made as many as good films as his talent deserved. My favorite performances are The Man with Two Brains and The Spanish Prisoner.

Apparently all of Eric Rohmer is on region 2 DVD. But on region one, I don't think you can get any of the movies from Love in the Afternoon to Catherine de Heilbron, or from A Good Marriage to Le Trio en si bemol, nor A Tale of Springtime among other movies.

I wonder if the rights issues that prevent History is Made at Night from being shown in Canada also prevent it from being on DVD.

I think I could live the rest of my life not worrying at all that TCM never showed this movie. Now if it showed Yellow Submarine and Help! that would be awesome.