misswonderly3

> {quote:title=jbh wrote:}{quote} > I found Night of the Hunter compelling, disturbing, heart-wrenching, and overall a great movie, but I think it is in it's own genre. It's also very dark, but also very timely with it's variously-entertwined subject matter. No Country is also very good, very disturbing, and the protagonist is one of the scariest villains I have ever watched. But I don't see the similarities between the two. What am I missing? Well, it's kind of a stretch for me to say they're really similar. But you can draw some comparisons: both films are about someone who has a treasure of some kind , and someone else is after it. The pursuer always finds the pursued, no matter how carefully they hide and how fast they run. The pursuer is also one who seems larger than life in terms of how purely evil they are, how willing they are to kill others, sometimes not even in the search for the treasure, but just for the sake of it. If I wanted to get really fancy, I could also argue that both *Night of the Hunter* and *No Country for Old Men* share a poetic vision, there are scenes in both films , especially when the children/the Josh Brolin character are in flight, that seem almost surreal, they have a dream-like appearance. And both movies examine, in very different ways, the strangeness of evil; the pursuer/killer as Angel of Death. Ok, I said I was getting a bit too fancy.

At first I was going to say Amy Winehouse, but she's more recent than the 90s.

What's her name? Virginia Plain. Good song, good video. (Love that Tarzan outfit the drummer's wearing. ) Feel completely happy and relaxed today for three minutes and thirty seconds. Listen to lovely Corinne Bailey Rae's mellow and sweet singing, Put Your Records On. We were talking about soul music the other day - this is like some felicitous throwback to the 70s soul era. (Except she's British .) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRwSbLf6z6Y

How can you consider *Night of the Hunter* "average" ? It's so friggin' weird, it kind of precludes "average-ness". ( "Average-osity" ? ). Please, either love it or hate it, but don't say it's "average". It's about as "average" as *No Country for Old Men* . (In fact, the two films do have some similarities.)

Wow, does that ever rock. She's kind of like a female Led Zepplin. PJ Harvey is for me what Tom Waits is for you...I've heard she's good, always meant to get into her music more, but never seemed to have the time. That is one dynamite performance. Edited by: misswonderly on Mar 21, 2011 2:34 PM typo

Anyone else think *Night of the Hunter* is over-rated? ( I don't, but apparently some see it as over-wrought and silly. ) It's actually one of my favourite films, but I can see it as one that people either love or hate.

It's now officially spring. Here's Jolie Holland, with the jazzy and slightly fey Springtime Can Kill You . Jolie's definitely an acquired taste, just too quirky and odd for a lot of music fans, but like most acquired tastes, once you've "got " her, you're a hard core fan. I love her stuff. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqAczylSo-E

Gotta love that surf music, be it Dick Dale or the (early) Beach Boys. finance, sounds like quintessential 80s dance music to me. Edited by: misswonderly on Mar 21, 2011 9:24 AM

> {quote:title=SBurgess wrote:}{quote} > Based on posts here I think most people define "worst film" as "most over-rated film." I tend to do that myself--if everybody hates a movie there's no sense of outrage over its lameness. It's when others love a film that we tend to get worked up. On that note I nominate "The Night of the Hunter." I am always totally mystified at the critical adulation heaped on this hammy, overwrought, silly film. That's as good a way to label a movie "bad" as any. If we're going that route, I have to cite *Dr. Zhivago* as one of my most hated films. I don't know if the word "worst" is appropriate, considering the top-notch cast, respected director, grand production values, etc. But it's definitely over-rated, and the more people praise it and elevate it, the more I loathe it. Gotta speak up for *Night of the Hunter* , though. I don't think it's any of those adjectives you applied to it. I can understand, if a person is not in a certain "mind set", receptive to what Charles Laughton was trying ( I think successfully) to do, perceiving the film as "overwrought". But I see *Night of the Hunter* as a film outside the usual parametres of moviedom; it's more like a fairy tale, ( a real fairy tale, which includes scenarios such as children fleeing terrifying monsters), a dream. I've always thought of it as a cinematic poem. You have to like that kind of thing, be willing to accept the almost excessive dialogue and images the film plays out, or you will find it "silly". Maybe it's one of those movies people either love or hate.

MovieMadness, I think I over-reacted to your original post. I also did not realize the context in which you were raising the question. Thank you for clarifying the background behind the post, and for your ideas about it. I guess it's like a lot of things - much depends on the individual child, the parents, the film they're considering, whether they have a conversation about any subject matter in the film that might be disturbing to the child, etc. etc. Children, especially children over the age of nine or so, are often ready to handle more than their parents think they are. There are many wonderful children's books that deal with sensitivity and intelligence around issues such as death, divorce, war, and so forth. Children should not necessarily be shielded from hearing about these matters; it's really a question of how the subject is approached, and how it is discussed.

Valentine, you say of the British film director Peter Greenaway: "...I never saw a Greenaway film I didn't like..." I respect your opinion; I have to say, I really dislike Peter Greenaway's work. He's all brain and no heart. Don't get me wrong, I like "brainy" movies (sometimes -when my brain's up to it.) But Greenaway's movies are always cold as ice. If it were a not summer day and my air conditioning wasn't working, I'd put on a Peter Greenaway dvd (except of course I don't have any, because I don't like him.)

Sorry, MovieMadness, but I think your original post comment is a silly one. For one thing, who ever said or thought that TCM was for children? There may on occasion be a movie suitable for or even made for children on this channel, but it was never conceived of as a "family" television station as such. And thank goodness for that, there are enough "kids" tv shows around already. Why would you make the assumption that because a movie is "old", it's appropriate for children ? If all the films made before 1960 were "family" fare, what a bland movie universe it would be. This is not to say that there are no excellent, moving, thought-provoking "classic" movies made for children - I won't even begin to list them. But to think that just because a film is old automatically makes it something you'd be comfortable having your children watch is to do an injustice to movies. You wouldn't think all "classic" literature is appropriate for children to read, would you, just because it may have been written before 1960?

> {quote:title=AndyM108 wrote:}{quote} > There are so many "worst" films from recent years that I'll restrict it to the TCM era > > Most overrated movies: Bonnie & Clyde, Citizen Kane -- all technique and no substance > > Lamest screwball: Miracle of Morgan's Creek (and Sturges is my favorite screwball director) > > Most godawful musical: The Sound of Music, Gold Diggers of 1935 (the 1933 version was a gem) > > Most overrated screen couple: Tracy and Hepburn (Her movies with Grant are much better) > > Most overrated genre: American-made World War II epics - 90% of the good ones are foreign-made > > And worst movie, period: Last Tango in Paris - I'll take my butter on toast, thanks Well, Andy, I'm with you on some of these. I also think *The Sound of Music* is over-rated; its certainly over-long. And I must admit that I've never "got" *Miracle of Morgan's Creek* -it's not the " naughty" factor that escapes me, it just doesn't make much sense to me, even for a screwball comedy (not one of my favourite genres, anyway.) And it doesn't make me laugh. As for "most over-rated screen couple: Tracy and Hepburn". oh yeah, no argument from me. I usually dislike both Tracy and Hepburn individually, so you can imagine how annoying I find them as a team. Sorry Tracy and Hepburn fans, there's just something very smug about them (imho.)

JOEL McCREA ! JOEL McCREA ! "Righteous and Rustic" Let's have 30 day (s) ! Thanks for that interview, lynn. What a guy. Gotta love JOEL McCREA !

Hey, he's Ben Mankiewicz. That's good enough for me. Now if only I could persuade him that I'm Gus and Mottley's -worthy.

:Q

ValentineX wrote of *Pulp Fiction* : "...I'm not offended by excessive violence. I am offended when such brutal, evil violence is depicted as hip, stylish, and fun. But I still can't call Pulp Fiction one of the worst films made, even though I don't like it, because it IS well made...." But, see, I don't think the "brutal evil violence" is depicted as "hip, stylish, and fun". I do think Tarantino is distancing himself and the audience from the violence, rendering it "cartoony". This is also what he did in the two *Kill Bill* movies. It's a tendency of his that I don't particularly like; in fact, for me, the jury is always out on Quentin Tarantino. I keep changing my mind about him (although not about *Pulp Fiction* .) I do think that most of the violence in *Inglourious Basterds* is repellent ( I mean, even more so than usual ) and much of it unnecessary (for example, the scene in which Pitt and his henchmen are " questioning" Diane Kruger. And she's even on their side ! ) Edited by: misswonderly on Mar 20, 2011 3:04 PM Edited by: misswonderly on Mar 20, 2011 3:09 PM got mixed up on that "the jury's still out" expression. I thought it was "the verdict's still out". Oh well, you catch my drift...

I thought it was a tad harsh, too. Let's hope poor Kunsisarah isn't completely put off or bewildered by the sarcastic responses. Still, you'd think anyone who cares enough about *Citizen Kane* to want to discuss it would know it was spelt *Citizen Kane* , with a "K". Sorry, Kusisarah, I suspect this internet forum is a little more judgmental about spelling mistakes than most.

lynn, I don't want to wait for mere chance timing to see this. Do you know if I can access it somehow on the home website? (You know how I feel about Ben baby. )

finance, I just recently saw a dvd about Hendrix. He talks about how much he loved All Along the Watchtower . Dylan himself said Hendrix's version was better than his own. I've been thinking about *Pulp Fiction* lately (some discussion of it on another thread.) Here's the opening song, Dick Dale's Misirlou : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck3RB4FaEDw&feature=fvsr hmm, whoever made that video really focused on the violent aspect to the film. Sorry about that. It does have other scenes in it besides the violent ones. Edited by: misswonderly on Mar 19, 2011 12:28 PM

> {quote:title=phroso wrote:}{quote} > Another defense of *PULP FICTION*: As Samuel L. Jackson pointed out, there were more murders in the seemingly benign *BULLETS OVER BROADWAY* (released by the same studio in the same year) than in *PULP FICTION.* Also, *PULP FICTION* is divided into three stories, all of which end up with at least one character's life being saved. So there actually is a heart to this film, for those who are willing to excavate in their search for it. I'm not a big noir person, but *PULP FICTION* would get my vote as the best film of the 1990s. Thank you, phroso, for posting such an articulate and insightful message about one of my favourite movies. Too often people make assumptions about a movie and base their opinion of it on what they've heard about it, or they are so put off by something in the film they don't like that they can't relax enough to see anything in it that they might like if they gave it a chance.

I wish to apologize for being so embarrassingly over-the-top about a song. (Although, come to think of it, it's probably not a good idea to be embarrassingly over-the-top about anything. )

> {quote:title=cujas wrote:}{quote} > For two people who actually hated each other, they handled themselves very well professionally. That's what show business is all about. What ? ! They hated each other ? ! I honestly didn't know that. Really? Why? Say it aint' so.

Let's Face the Music and Dance - not only a superlative dance number from F and G, moody, compelling to watch, beautifully choreographed, but set to one of Irving Berlin's greatest compositions. The beauty of Let's Face the Music and Dance lies in the perfect marriage of music and lyric. The deliciously minor key melody complements the contemplative yet romantic lyrics. And yet, if you think about the lyrics, it's in its own way quite a life-affirming song. And it too, is about "living in the moment" - for this one moment of perfect beauty, we will forget about everything else. It's almost "zen". (ok, maybe I'm waxing a little overly rhapsodic about this song. I admit it. )

Ah well, we're all low tech dunces in one way or another. Here's an answer to Sammi Smith's plea to help her make it through the night. I really wanted the original Bob Dylan version from his John Wesley Harding album. It's perfect. But of course, typically, it's not available on youtube. So I was going to go with pretty Linda Ronstadt's cover, it's not bad. But then I settled on Ramblin' Jack Elliott. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight : This is the kind of song that can become an "earworm". I've suffered from earworm many times.