Cinemascope
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Posts posted by Cinemascope
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movielover, I wish there was some way to get the thread back on-topic...
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> > ****
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> Nice! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?
But of course he does, and where do you think he learned such language?
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I'm just speculating, but it is possible that the huge box-office success of the cheaply-made Borat may have helped Fox be named "Distributor of the Year". They also had good results with X-Men 2 and other movies, although likely none made as many headlines...
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Feb. 27 NATO of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan today announced that 20th Century Fox will be honored as Distributor of the Year at The Geneva Convention to be held May 8 through 10, 2007 at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The convention is the third largest U.S. convention in the exhibition industry.
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The Universal back lot can be a lot of fun, at least when you approach it as a tourist. I know from having watched them filming something how incredibly tedious it can become to do take after take of the same shot because you're trying to get all the elements right. It probably isn't nearly as glamorous once it becomes a job.
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You can say that again, pardner
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I also understand the movie was voted "Best Time at the Movies" at the alternative Oscars...
The Alternative Oscars
Feb. 25, 2007(National Review Online)
Peter Suderman.
On Sunday night, Hollywood will roll out the red carpet and rev up their limousines for the 79th Annual Academy Awards. The four-hour long nationally televised ceremony gives us what is perhaps Tinseltown?s most honest depiction of itself ? by which I mean the most glitzy, ditzy, and shamelessly shallow. At their core, the Oscars are a way for the movie industry to publicly congratulate itself for its brilliance and generosity ? for really, who needs attention more than movie stars?
Thus, each and every year they lavish themselves with a night of $40,000 gift bags, super-stretch Humvees, and dresses that cost more than your home. They fill a stage with theme-park quality set-pieces and find a host who?ll tell corny jokes that flatter the industry?s top players into thinking they have a sense of humor about themselves. They trot out starlets barely old enough to have graduated from college wearing enough jewels to pay off the national debt. It's as if someone gave a high-school dance committee a Trump-sized fortune, a network TV deal, and a massively inflated sense of self-importance and said, "Go all out!"
And oh yes. There will be awards given out too ? though from all the surrounding hoopla about designer evening wear and who?s walking down the carpet with who, you?d be forgiven if you forgot. This is Hollywood?s true image of itself: unlimited indulgence and luxury for the privileged stars while the rest of the world serves as fawning spectators. The awesome narcissism and vapidity of the evening seems to suck any possible meaning away ? it's a black-tie black hole.
But what about the movies? The Hollywood elite often seem to care for them only as launching pads for personal glories, but there?s a nation of moviegoers who don't care for the sequins and tabloid drama. Many of these can look to critics' polls for more careful consideration of the year?s movie offerings, but as Rod Dreher has explained, professional movie critics increasingly cater to a novelty-seeking cinematic elite that, for better and for worse, doesn?t entirely reflect mainstream taste. Moreover, mainstream critics, on the whole, don't tend to prize conservative values, and with a few exceptions, their taste in movies tends to reflect this.
That's why American Film Renaissance (AFR) intends to provide some balance. The group "was created to spearhead a revival of timeless American values in film and to serve as a forum for voices and ideas often marginalized or denigrated by the contemporary artistic community," and today it releases its own movie poll. Not surprisingly, the results are somewhat different from both the critical mainstream and the awards-season standbys.
"The Pursuit of Happyness," a serious but uplifting drama based on a true story about a down-on-his-luck salesman (Will Smith) who becomes a stock broker, took the top spot in two categories: Best Movie and Best Hero. "Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration," placed first in the Best Documentary category, and the raucous comedy "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhastan" was voted Best Time at the Movies.
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Yes, as I was saying...
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movielover11, bless you, these days it's hard to hear a single kind word around here
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How do all DVD-R's compare with prerecorded DVDs?
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Thank you coopsgirl!
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> ****
There, just wanted it for the record.
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I think of MM as more of an innocent than naive, but in any event her untimely death was a very sad loss for the film industry.
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I was actually sorry that Sacha passed on the chance to be a presenter for Oscar night, he would probably have been just as funny during the telecast as he is in the movie, although of course he'd probably have had to tone it down a bit.
Seems like it all had to do with the fact that they wouldn't let him stay in character if he went onstage....
'Borat' passes on presenting Oscar
Sacha Baron Cohen will not be a presenter at tonight's Academy Award ceremony because he could not appear as his famous character Borat Sagdiyev, reports IMDB.com.
Cohen has been reluctant to make appearances as himself, preferring to do interviews as the star of the faux documentary Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan.
Oscar broadcast producer Laura Ziskin tells the Los Angeles Times, ``He was asked, but he declined.''
There had been speculation that the comedian's participation in the ceremony would bring a welcome shot of excitement to the broadcast. Baron Cohen's acceptance speech at the Golden Globe ceremony last month was one of the most talked-about events of the night. When he won an acting award, he paid homage to his costar Ken Davitian's naked backside, which was part of a memorable moment in the film.
Cohen could still appear onstage if the film wins for Best Adapted Screenplay.
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Sez you!
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And getting back to the thread topic -- more personal quotes from Marlon Brando:
[On his characterization of Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954)] "[The role] was actor-proof, a scene that demonstrated how audiences often do much of the acting themselves in an effectively told story."
{On directing] "I did it once. It was an ****-breaker. You work yourself to death. You're the first one up in the morning . . . I mean, we shot that thing [One-Eyed Jacks (1961)] on the run, you know. You make up the dialog the scene before, improvising, and your brain is going crazy."
[On the Academy Awards, to Connie Chung after his Best Supporting Actor nomination for A Dry White Season (1989)] "That's a part of the sickness in America, that you have to think in terms of who wins, who loses, who's good, who's bad, who's best, who's worst . . . I don't like to think that way. Everybody has their own value in different ways, and I don't like to think who's the best at this. I mean, what's the point of it?"
[On the Academy Awards, Connie Chung TV interview, 1990] "What do I care? I've made all the money I need to make. I won a couple of Academy Awards if I ever cared about that. I've been nominated I don't know how many times and I'm in a position of respect and standing in my craft as an actor in this country. So what the hell, I don't need to gild the lily."
[After accepting the Best Actor Oscar for On the Waterfront (1954) at the 27th Academy Awards ceremony] "I can't remember what I was going to say for the life of me. I don't think ever in my life that so many people were so directly responsible for my being so very, very happy."
"If the vacuum formed by Dr. King's death isn't filled with concern and understanding and a measure of love, then I think we all are really going to be lost here in this country."
[On Malcolm X]: "He was a dynamic person, a very special human being who might have caused a revolution. He had to be done away with. The American government couldn't let him live. If 23 million blacks found a charismatic leader like he was, they would have followed him. The powers that be couldn't accept that."
"To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication."
"It is a simple fact that all of us use the techniques of acting to achieve whatever ends we seek.... Acting serves as the quintessential social lubricant and a device for protecting our interests and gaining advantage in every aspect of life."
"It seems to me hilarious that our government put the face of Elvis Presley on a postage stamp after he died from an overdose of drugs. His fans don't mention that because they don't want to give up their myths. They ignore the fact that he was a drug addict and claim he invented rock 'n' roll when in fact he took it from black culture; they had been singing that way for years before he came along, copied them and became a star."
"I'm one of those people who believes that if I'm very good in this life I'll go to France when I die."
"Even today I meet people who think of me automatically as a tough, insensitive, coarse guy named Stanley Kowalski. They can't help it, but, it is troubling."
"A movie that I was in, called On the Waterfront (1954): there was a scene in a taxicab, where I turn to my brother, who's come to turn me over to the gangsters, and I lament to him that he never looked after me, he never gave me a chance, that I could have been a contender, I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum ... "You should of looked out after me, Charley." It was very moving. And people often spoke about that, "Oh, my God, what a wonderful scene, Marlon, blah blah blah blah blah." It wasn't wonderful at all. The situation was wonderful. Everybody feels like he could have been a contender, he could have been somebody, everybody feels as though he's partly bum, some part of him. He is not fulfilled and he could have done better, he could have been better. Everybody feels a sense of loss about something. So that was what touched people. It wasn't the scene itself. There are other scenes where you'll find actors being expert, but since the audience can't clearly identify with them, they just pass unnoticed. Wonderful scenes never get mentioned, only those scenes that affect people."
"Most people want those fantasies of those who are worthy of our hate - we get rid of a lot of anger that way; and of those who are worthy of our idolatry. Whether it's Farrah Fawcett or somebody else, it doesn't make a difference. They're easily replaceable units, pick 'em out like a card file. Johnnie Ray enjoyed that kind of hysterical popularity, celebration, and then suddenly he wasn't there anymore. The Beatles are now nobody in particular. Once they set screaming crowds running after them, they ran in fear of their lives, they had special tunnels for them. They can walk almost anyplace now. Because the fantasy is gone. Elvis Presley - bloated, over the hill, adolescent entertainer, suddenly drawing people into Las Vegas - had nothing to do with excellence, just myth. It's convenient for people to believe that something is wonderful, therefore they're wonderful."
"If [Wally Cox] had been a woman, I would have married him and we would have lived happily ever after."
"America has been good to me, but that wasn't a gift."
"I don't think it's the nature of any man to be monogamous. Men are propelled by genetically ordained impulses over which they have no control to distribute their seed."
"An actor's a guy who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening."
"I have eyes like those of a dead pig."
"To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication."
"The only reason I'm in Hollywood is that I don't have the moral courage to refuse the money."
"Privacy is not something that I'm merely entitled to, it's an absolute prerequisite."
"I don't mind that I'm fat. You still get the same money."
"This is a false world. It's been a struggle to try to preserve my sanity and sense of reality taken away by success. I have to fight hard to preserve that sense of reality so as to bring up my children."
"I always enjoyed watching John Wayne, but it never occurred to me until I spoke with Indians how corrosive and damaging and destructive his movies were - most Hollywood movies were."
[On John Wayne's 1971 interview with Playboy magazine] "That doesn't need a reply, it's self-evident. You can't even get mad at it; it's so insane that there's just nothing to say about it. He would be, according to his point of view, someone not disposed to returning any of the colonial possessions in Africa or Asia to their rightful owners. He would be sharing a perspective with [b.J. Vorster] if he were in South Africa. He would be on the side of Ian Smith. He would have shot down [Mahatma Gandhi], called him a rabble rouser. The only freedom fighters he would recognize would be those who were fighting Communists; if they were fighting to get out from under colonial rule, he'd call them terrorists. The Indians today he'd call agitators, terrorists, who knows? If John Wayne ran for President, he would get a great following ... I think he's been enormously instrumental in perpetuating this view of the Indian as a savage, ferocious, destructive force. He's made us believe things about the Indian that were never true and perpetuated the myth about how wonderful the frontiersmen were and how decent and honorable we all were."
"Everybody ought not to turn his back on the phenomenon of hatred in whatever form it takes. We have to find out what the anatomy of hatred is before we can understand it. We have to make some attempt to put it into some understandable form. Any kind of group hatred is extremely dangerous and much more volatile than individual hatred. Heinous crimes are committed by groups and it's all done, of course, in the name of right, justice. It's John Wayne. It's the way he thinks. All the crimes committed against Indians are not considered crimes by John Wayne."
"I don't see anybody as evil. When you start seeing people as evil, you're in trouble. The thing that's going to save us is understanding. The inspection of the mind of [Adolf Eichmann] or [Heinrich ****] . . . Just to dispense with them as evil is not enough, because it doesn't bring you understanding. You have to see them for what they are. You have to examine John Wayne. He's not a bad person. Who among us is going to say he's a bad man? He feels justified for what he does. The damage that he does he doesn't consider damage, he thinks it's an honest presentation of the facts."
"Three or four times, I've pulled a gun on somebody. I had a problem after Charles Manson, deciding to get a gun. But I didn't want somebody coming in my house and committing mayhem. The Hillside Strangler victims - one of the girls was found in back of my Los Angeles house. My next-door neighbor was murdered, strangled in the bathroom. Mulholland Drive is full of crazy people. We have nuts coming up and down all the time."
"Homosexuality is so much in fashion it no longer makes news. Like a large number of men, I, too, have had homosexual experiences and I am not ashamed. I have never paid much attention to what people think about me. But if there is someone who is convinced that Jack Nicholson and I are lovers, may they continue to do so. I find it amusing."
"I know I'm not an easy person to get along with, I'm no walk in the park."
[on Burt Reynolds] "I disagree with the thought process of people like him, who is a totally narcissistic person who epitomizes everything wrong with being a celebrity in Hollywood."
[On Cheyenne Autumn (1964)] "That was worse than any other film, because it didn't tell the truth. Superduper patriots like John Ford could never say that the American government was at fault. He made the evil cavalry captain a foreigner. John Ford had him speak with a thick accent, you didn't know what he was, but you knew he didn't represent Mom's apple pie."
"You're not going to call The Rolling Stones artists. I heard somebody compare them - or The Beatles - to [Johann Sebastian Bach]. It was claimed they had created something as memorable and as important as Bach, [Joseph Haydn], [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart] and [Franz Schubert]. I hate rock 'n' roll. It's ugly. I liked it when the blacks had it in 1927."
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Oh yeah and as I said before, I remain firmly convinced that when there are personal differences involved, it's better for everybody to allow the situation to be discussed off the forums. Other people aren't really interested in the squabbles and personal vendettas, there is no point in subjecting them to it when they just want to read about the thread topic.
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These threads are to discuss films, artists, and filmmakers, and I think everyone is free to offer their own opinions on all of these, or to share relevant information. People who don't enjoy this kind of film or aren't very interested in discussing them don't have to read the thread.
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I agree that docs deserve their own slot on TCM. My tivo is still filled with all the wonderful docs they ran for a day last April.
If not a permanent slot, then at least a semi-permanent one. The shorts are nice and occasionally they show some aspects of filmmaking, but nothing like documentaries that are totally dedicated to aspects of filmmaking and that explore the careers of artists and filmmakers.
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The Gene Kelly documentary is actually from 2002.
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Invitation to the Dance has some remarkable visual effects, considering that at the time mixing live-action and animation was a relatively new thing, that for the most part hadn't been tried in full-length movies aside from Song of the South.
It's a shame that MGM decided to shelve this for about 4 years. Maybe if it had come out earlier it could have found a bigger audience, but at least we can see it today and realize what an amazing milestone this movie represented.
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I taped this the day they had the special series on the Fox Channel, I've been waiting to see it but I heard some of the music while it was taping and it was really nice.
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Well... maybe if you don't tell her, she won't notice? After all it could *almost* be mistaken for one of the old Frankenstein movies of the 30's!
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Well there is a lot to be said for comedians who aren't afraid to push the envelope. I think in some people's minds, it is already a cult classic, and yes I have the DVD.
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I also got a kick out of the review from filmcritic.com
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
A film review by Chris Cabin
Kazakhstan has a pretty sunny disposition for what is, ostensibly, a hellhole. In the middle of this dirt patch between Russia and China lies, a man toils to make his life better. He makes his living as a television reporter for Kazakhstan TV and his sister is the fourth most popular prostitute in the country. His name is Borat Sagdiyev, he has a moustache reserved for used car dealers, and he's just landed on American shores.
Dreamt up by Sacha Baron Cohen on some lucid night, Borat is a creation of surreptitious glee. An anti-Semite to the nth degree, he badmouths the "nitwit" enemy nation of Uzbekistan, calls his pain-in-the-**** neighbor a girl for having an iPod mini instead of an iPod, and likes to make "sexy time" with his mother-in-law. This is just in Kazakhstan; America is chock full of more dangerous, giddy propositions.
Aided only by Ken Davitian (who plays his producer, Azamat), Cohen is a one-man-army of prodding laughs and ingenious performance art. Every laugh delivered by this transplanted outsider slowly peels away layers of false niceties and political correctness. On a small motor-home heading to California, three college frat boys divulge that slavery should be brought back and that women, Jews, and Muslims aren't worth a damn. None of the "regular" people interviewed in the film are in on the joke that this is a mockumentary and that Borat is not really the yokel he pretends to be.
Directed by Seinfeld writer and Curb Your Enthusiasm/Entourage alumnus Larry Charles, Borat has to be the most unapologetically crass attack on the morals and values of America to reach these shores since the boys of South Park took to the big screen. Even better, these are laughs that never are scared of their audience or their timeliness. On his way to California to capture his "virgin bride" Pamela Anderson, Borat faces scenarios that coyly bring out America's own inherent anti-Semitism and homophobic tendencies. In the film's penultimate scene, Borat and Azamat face off in a naked wrestling match brought on by Borat catching his producer **** to a photo of Pamela. Replete with black bars, the two hairy bodies go into damn near every position imaginable and roll from their hotel room to a business convention going on the first floor; if Cohen doesn't coax out our fears in subtle ways, he takes drastic measures to make sure we get it.
A Cambridge scholar from a firmly Jewish family, Cohen could have probably written papers for the rest of his life (his thesis was on Jewish Culture and the Civil Rights Movement). Instead, with Borat and his other characters, he has deviously found laughter as a key to sneaking in on hypocrites and the ridiculousness of modern American culture. Cohen's obsession with the foul and perverse might make for an awkward view for some, but you can never blame Cohen for going too far when most films barely pass the starting line. His use of a tactless, chauvinistic alien thrown into our cultural hodgepodge brings new meaning to thoughtful humor and rethinks satire as an open minefield rather than a target at the end of a sniper rifle. At a rodeo in the southern states, Borat is met with thunderous applause when he tells a crowd that he hopes "Premier Bush drinks the blood of every man, woman, and child in Iraq" only moments after a rodeo master tells him he hopes they hang the homosexuals at the gallows. God help us all.
Cinemascope's Sociopathic Spamming Thread
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