Stephen444
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Posts posted by Stephen444
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>Skimpole wrote..."To help clarify what I mean by the "seventies best picture nominee,"
OK Skimpy, I've always wanted an explanation to the meaning to the ending of 2001. Maybe you can supply me with one.
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Pretty good 70s film on tonight...Carnal Knowledge. Saw it in the movies when it was released. Remember it being good but depressing.
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Ureka! "Inchon" is in Netflix's database but alas it is not currently available. I have the option to save it for the future. I wonder whether it will ever be available.
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>Scottman wrote...it would be fun if TCM could show some of the early 1930s German films like CONGRESS DANCES
When I search for this title on Netflix all I get is "Confessions of a Lap Dancer" Not too much of the obscure stuff to be found there.
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Off the top of my head...late 60's, 70s movies that are worthy of mention that have not been mentioned...
*Looking for Mr. Goodbar*...a truly depressing but excellent film.
*Putney Swope*...acid humor
*Brewster McClould*...70s fantasy, funny, many excellent details that you pick up on with multiple viewings.
*Breaking Away*..a story full of sentiment without sentimentality.
I would agree with most of the previously mentioned films here, although I haven't seen all of them. I think this period of filmmaking wasn't as profit driven as it has become. I don't think that the term "Blockbuster" arrived before Jaws (understandably not on the list). I can remember reviews of films, even on tv spoke about the meaning of the film rather then just how much money it grossed. That's the result of the bean counters taking control of the industry.
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This is not a criticism of tcm. I'm sure there are rational reasons why you don't see certain movies on tcm and maybe I just didn't see some of these when they were shown. I am sure there are people here, or as our former and current President's like to say "Folks", that would also be interested in discussing these titles. I'm interested in all genre's.
I am also interested in compiling a suggestion list of movies that should be seen but are not shown on tcm. Please add to the list to help me out.
I recently acquired a subscription to Netflix and have been viewing some of the movies that I am referring to. I just finished watching "Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). I had remembered this from seeing it in the theatre when it first came out and had retained a favorable memory of it. It's funny how your age, among other things, changes your response. In this case I was not as pleased as I had been 31 years ago viewing this offering. Conversely I have grown to appreciate the qualities of the orignal Body Snatchers (1956) Maybe the whole subject of unfeeling aliens fits better into the mid 50s America then in the later film. I mean there were people in the 50s that really looked like they did in the original movie. Alien vs. real was not as easy to identify in the 56 version. I haven't seen the most recent version of this story as yet. (Body Snatchers 1992)
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>One of my favorite scenes was when Hughes demonstrated why it was not a good idea to put a car's radiator in the car's door.
Yeah, I liked that part too. I also liked the part where he decides that he has to make Hell's Angels over from scratch because he decided that it had to have sound. To hell with the cost or making do. He had to have things done a certain way and that was it. He was brilliant but he wasn't afraid to make mistakes, which he did quite often. Of course it helps to be able to afford to make mistakes.
A scene that was deleted just popped into my head. It was earlier on in the movie where he comes home late to a dinner party after working on one of his projects. Everyone is dressed up for the party and Hughes arrives in his work clothes. How many times have you wanted to do that? Not being too good at small talk I don't think he made any new friends at the party. Hughes was so cool. Too bad they butchered the film.
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This is unrelated to tcm but I think it is still of interest to everyone. I rented a DVD from Netflix that was originally a made for TV production by EMI. I'm sure that it was orignally shown over several nights. The title is "The Amazing Howard Hughes", starring Tommy Lee Jones. One fascinating detail is how much Tommy Lee Jones resembles Hughes in his middle years. I had seen it originally on TV and had always wanted to see it again. While watching it I felt that there had to be scenes taken out because it just didn't make much sense. The affair that Hughes had with Katherine Hepburn appeared to be just a casual occurence and didn't do justice to their relationship. The story generally didn't didn't hold together.
I googled the title and read that the DVD had been shortened by 75 minutes from the original production. The DVD reviewer said that it was a boring production that would have only been more boring with the added scenes. I don't know what is more idiotic, the company that shortened the movie or the person reviewing the DVD who hadn't viewed the missing scenes feeling qualified to pass judgment on the film.
Nothing upsets me more then censorship regardless of the reasons. I guess it was shortened to eliminate the added expense of including a second DVD to complete the product. I have always felt that if you purchase a DVD you can be assured that someone hasn't fooled with the original product. As you can see this is not the case.
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I don't know what the technical term is but when I turn on the tcm channel the title of the movie comes up on the screen momentarily. Tonight the ID for Dr. Stranglove read Dr. Strangefellow. Hmm...do you think the person typing in the ID really knows the title??
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>I wouldn't be surprised about that. It's probably more profitable to release those shows on DVD box sets.
Yeah, I just received a DVD set of Norman Lear's 1976 soap opera Mary "Hartman, Mary Hartman" This is the first 25 episodes and the only DVD available of this series of which, I believe, there were a total of more then 300 made during the two seasons that it was on. I look forward to future releases. This was a ground breaking show. I don't think there has ever been anything quite like it before or since.
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I no longer get tv land on my cable but I do remember when they featured series such as "St Elsewhere", which was an excellent show from the 80s. I think the programming changes are just another example of the dumbing down in cable programming. Notice how stations never move from having commercials to not having them? This may be the greatest country in the world but it's not really getting better in artistic terms.
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a classic tv network. There is just not enough interest in history from the general public to make this a profitable venture.
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> it would have been perfect for a climactic Hitchcock scene.
This movie has always reminded me of Hitchcock. Maybe not as suspenseful but there is definitely a Hitchcock feel to it.
I think that Marilyn is at her height of development in this film. Before she became a stereotype of herself. Her acting technique is less stylized in this movie and physically I think she is at her best.
After seeing this movie this week I was curious about what other films Henry Hathaway directed. I was surprised to see that alot of his production seems to be John Wayne action type films. Certainly not like this film. I can't say that I am familiar with his other films so I'll reserve judgement until I've seen a few.
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>If I upset any Jackson **** fans, GOOD! :-)
Obviously a statement from a died in the wool Kitschman or woman as the case may be. Long live stereotypes.
Message was edited by: Stephen444
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I can't think of another film that captures the paranoia of the 50s as well as this film does. People subtly changing from who they were, suddenly lacking human emotions. It portrays America in a state of paranoia...Macarthyism (no pun intended) nuclear war.
I don't find it particularly depressing. When the doctor orders in the FBI and the Governor. Come on, thats a pure 50s Sci-Fi ending. The only depressing element for me is that this ending diminishes some of the genuine horror to be found in this film.
I would think that the director would be pleased to here that the audience found his film disturbing.
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As always, glad to see a new title on tcm. I had never seen this film before. I don't think the writing was very effective. The characters seemed to go through scenes with little energy or purpose. Billy Burke always projects a strong presence in her roles but even she couldn't save this film. I would probably try to look at it in the future but I couldn't get through the entire movie this time.
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> hlywdkjk wrote...Most of the clips of those that have passed are coordinated to specific lyrics in the song.
Wow, thats alot to digest. I'll have to spend some more time with these references.
I like what tcm does with the images that are inspired by Edward Hopper. Someone obviously likes his work, but that's visual.
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>Ollie T wrote....They missed IVAN DIXON, who died in March, 2008. RAISIN IN THE SUN, A PATCH OF BLUE, PORGY AND BESS... a great episode as the boxer on TWILIGHT ZONE...
Yeah, that episode of the Twilight Zone is a classic. Good writing, good acting.
On another note, I could do without that irritating little musical accompaniment that they are using this year.
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I don't consider myself a conservative person when it comes to personal conduct but there are some things that you just don't do in this life. One is to have sex with a 13 year old girl under any circumstances. It's just not forgivable. You also don't marry your step daughter as another one of our other great directors did.
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Unfortunately I don't think you can ignore Woody's personal life when evaluating his films. I love his films from the 70's and 80's but I can't look at them the way I did before 1992. I don't buy into his vision of the world.
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I agree and disagree with most of the comments made here. 40 years after first seeing 2001 I still don't understand it. This doesn't stop me from acknowledging how well it has stood up for that amount of time as a vision of the future. The technology still looks good and the enigma of it's meanings about existence, as we perceive it, is what brings me back to it.
I agree that films should be seen in a theater as they were intended to be seen. The comment about the interaction of the audience adding to your personal experience of the film is interesting. I guess I never thought about this. Back in the late 60s and early 70s, when I went to see a lot of films, the theaters were often deserted and they didn't make you leave after the film had ended. I think certain films suffer more then others when not viewed on a big projected screen. I think this would apply to many of Kubrick's films. Certainly 2001, Clockwork and Barry Lyndon would fall into this category. I think Strangelove, Lolita and Full Metal Jacket are more successful on the TV scale.
I like certain parts of Lolita. I think Shelly Winters gives the best performance in the film especially if you compare her portrayal to that of Melanie Griffith in the 1997 version. Winters has the hard possessive parts of the character where Griffith just comes off as a passive victim.
As for his other films, I saw Barry Lyndon in the theater when it was released. Don't remember much about it other then the filming, which was suppose to be break through, in it's use of reduced light conditions and the convincing physical portrayals of Ryan O' Neil and Marisa Berenson. Eyes Wide Shut didn't impress me. I thought the Shining was disturbingly funny. I can't say that I have seen all or in some cases any of his other films.
I think that it can be said that Kubrick's films are ambitious and grand in scale without the prime inspiration being to make mega profits. He was an artist.
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I wholeheartedly agree about "Home For The Holidays". This is one of my favorite holiday movies. Ditto for Trains, Planes and Autos (uncensored). I would add Hannah & Her Sisters to this list prior to Woody's personal troubles. I have heard that Soon Ye is one of the children at the Thanksgiving party in the film. Giant is good too although I don't really associate Thanksgiving with it.
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>Fedya wrote...Just as Toohey was able to fill the staffs of the Wynand newspapers with his acolytes, in the real world there's been a congregation of people with a broadly similar world-view
I wonder whether Rubert Murdock ever read The Fountainhead? There are many similarities to the fictional character of Gail Wynand and Murdock's accomplishments.
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>I'm not trying to get into politics here; I'm more just trying to point out that non-corporate media models aren't necessarily going to be any better for large-scale media.
You have a point about big government potentially creating additional problems with regard to an autonomous media. My point is more directed to the influence of profit on the media which is not to be found in government sponsorship.
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>Even if there are some contemporary journalists that would find inspiration or motivation in All The President's Men, those wouldn't be enough to uncover all the corrupt practices that take place in Washington (or Wall Street). As John Dean stated in the outro last night, nor are there many newspapers willing to "go there" with the kind of commitment necessary to expose such behavior. That's the danger of newspapers becoming part of "media conglomerates". News is never as important as revenue.
>Are we talking about the same media? The "liberal media" that so many Republicans complain about?
I think the comment Dean made about the media was the most interesting comment that he made last night. As was fortold in the movie "Network" in 1979 the media is composed of huge conglomerates controlled by fewer and fewer companies. News has become another venue for entertainment and the news that is presented is filtered so as not to step on any corporate toes...NBC isn't going to criticize General Electric. ABC is not going to portray the Disney company in an unfavorable light...etc. etc. What motivates these huge corporations is a need to produce profits above all other considerations.
"Mr. Beal, there is no America or Russia there is Exxon and Shell Oil. These are the real centers of power in our world. The world is a business Mr. Beal. It has been since we crawed out of the slime." (Loose quote from Ned Beaty's speech in Network) In my opinion this is one of the most chilling pieces of film on this subject ever created.
Message was edited by: Stephen444
Message was edited by: Stephen444
THE GREAT IMPOSTER (1961)...
in General Discussions
Posted
Yeah, I agree. But not only don't you see it on tcm but Netflix doesn't carry it. Netflix seems to be the Walmart of films although I did just view some obscure docu dramas from the 60s by Ken Russell on Netflix. Again I have never seen these on tcm.