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Bogie56

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Posts posted by Bogie56

    I Just Watched...

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    …The Moon and Sixpence, part of Saturday’s small tribute to director Albert Lewin.  (This tribute included The Essentials selection Dorian Gray, which has a rousing debate elsewhere on this board.) Was also featured in the Martin Scorsese TCM column (http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/1091436%7C0/Scorsese-Screens-for-June.html)

     

    Moon is a very unusual film, loosely based on the life of painter Paul Gauguin.  “Loosely” because all names are changed and events are not completely consistent with the famous artist’s life.  A notable feature of the film is that the first half is shot in black and white, and then switches to color when the character moves to Tahiti.  However, for most of the second half color is only used to present the island scenes with an amber tint, and only one very short segment at the end is shown in full color.

     

    George Sanders is very good as the ~Gauguin, but his character is completely unsympathetic for most of the film.  The main theme seems to be that although ~Gauguin’s works would eventually make him a world-famous artist, during his life he was a complete wrecking ball to all those around him who gave him their love and support.

     

    I did appreciate the film’s performances and the unusual aspects of the production, but overall feel that the whole was somewhat a miss.  Making a film which is ostensibly about Gauguin but does not use Gauguin’s name and also changes major events in the person’s life seems curious.  I also did not get much out of the amber tint for the second half, and the very short color sequence at the end to me did not pay off the decision to present it this way.  In the introduction Robert said they were specifically blocked by the estate from showing any of Gauguin’s actual works, so perhaps such issues prevented them from making the film as they had originally intended.

     

    Now I'm curious to see Donald Sutherland's Gauguin film again, Wolf at the Door aka Oviri just to see what they did with the paintings in that film.

    It would make a good triple bill on TCM with Lust For Life.

    • Like 2

    TV Movies You'd Like to see on TCM ... once in a while

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    A few made for TV movies/Mini Series I would like to see on TCM.

     

    Same Time, Next Year (1978) with Ellen Burstyn Alan Alda.

     

     

    Best wishes

    Metairie Road

    This may have been intended for television but I'm certain it had a theatrical release before its tv debut as Ellen Burstyn was nominated for an Oscar for this.  She wouldn't have been eligible otherwise.

    I think if the tv mow exceeded expectations the studios sometimes did a limited theatrical release just for awards season.

    • Like 1

    I Just Watched...

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    I finally caught up with Universe (1960) a short film made by the National Film Board (NFB) which was directed by Roman Kroiter and Colin Low, two of the IMAX pioneers.  I was almost going to put this little post in the Bucket List thread as it is a film that I have long wanted to see. 

    I had read that Stanley Kubrick was enamoured by this b&w short.  And once viewed, you can see why.

    Thee are many model shots combined with mattes to give multi planet views of our own solar system.  I think the images of distant galaxies may be artist's interpretations in some cases too much like the space corridor sequence in 2001 A Space Odyssey.

    It is only 28 minutes long and worth seeing especially for Kubrick fans.  Of course, its effects have been superseded by modern technology but at least one thing about this film is almost unique: its narration. The narrator is none other than Canada's own Douglas Rain, the voice of HAL 9000 in 2001.

    The Toronto library system has but one copy on vhs for anyone nearby.

     

    • Like 1

    I Just Watched...

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    I recently splurged on a boatload of DVDs and bought movies that I’ve seen once or twice before and liked a lot.  Last night I watched Marty.

     

    In the opening scene you see a woman from a lower-class New York neighborhood chiding Marty Piletti continually: “Whatsa matter with you?  Whatsa matter with you?  Whatsa matter with you?”  This is the theme of the movie – why isn’t Marty married?  Why isn’t he loved?  Why doesn’t he fit in with the rest of society?

     

    Marty’s social scene is his group of male friends, but he mainly hangs with his best friend Angie, a fellow “loser”.  Marty is filled with a lot of self-doubt, and is socially awkward. In one scene, Marty gets up the courage to call Mary Feeney after Angie convinces Marty that she likes him.  He stumbles over his words: “I wonder if you might recall me?”  Needless to say Mary does not recall him, nor does she want to go on a date with him.

     

    You can almost physically feel Marty’s pain as he strikes out in life.  The lines are good, and Borgnine delivers them so that they hit your heart.  “There comes a point in a man’s life when he’s gotta face some facts.  And one fact that I gotta face is that whatever it is that women like, I haven’t got!”

     

    In contrast, you see married couples having their own sets of problems, Marty’s cousins Virginia and Tommy in particular, showing that the grass on the other side is not always greener.

     

    Marty finally sees light at the end of the tunnel when he meets Claire, a sweetly attractive girl who is dumped by her obnoxious blind date for not being “hot” enough.  Two social rejects coming together and falling in love, seemingly a stale concept, but the script is fantastic.  As they are dancing, Marty gives some insight into his character: “You don’t get to be good-hearted by accident.  You get kicked around long enough, you get to be a real professor of pain.”

     

    Marty’s mother tries to break them up – she fears being abandoned – and Angie doesn’t like her because he is jealous of the way she monopolizes Marty’s time.  Marty is again filled with self-doubt and does not show up for his date with Clara, until he finally gets smart and realizes that he wants to rise above it all and pursue happiness.

     

    There was one thread running through the movie that I thought was interesting.  The characters say one thing and feel one way early on, then change their minds later.  Marty’s mother encourages him to get married, then later tries to break up him and his girlfriend.  Marty’s cousin Tommy encourages Marty to buy the butcher shop, then later tells him he is foolish.  Tommy is in agreement with his wife that his mother should live elsewhere, then turns on Virginia when his mother starts to cry.  There are other such “switches” that happen throughout – did anyone else notice this?

    Yes, great observation.  It is easier to be an arm-chair critic and sit on the fence instead of engaging in life.  Fear of change and the unknown cripples these souls.  That is something Marty learns to overcome and gets on with things by being his own man.

    TV Movies You'd Like to see on TCM ... once in a while

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    How about The Last Seduction (1994) a Neo Noir erotic thriller film directed by John Dahl, and features Linda Fiorenrino, Peter Berg, and Bill Pullman.  Fiorentino's performance generated talk of an Oscar nomination, but she was ineligible because the film was shown on HBO before it was released to theatres. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and distributed by October Films.

    I was always under the impression that The Last Seduction was a bonafide theatrical feature so this is news, thanks.   Fiorentino certainly made an impression with that film and as you say, too bad it was then ineligible under the Los Angeles Academy rules.

    I'm sure there are plenty of examples that films that started out as tv mow's that gained subsequent theatrical release abroad, if not in the U.S.

    Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage (1973) started out as a tv mini series in his native Sweden but played over here as a theatrical feature and the NYC Film Critics and BAFTA didn't let it bother them when they handed out the theatrical feature awards.

    HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    According to the source of the rumor, Boba Fett's appearance was altered by "cybernetic modifications" necessary after the injuries he suffered from his encounter with the Sarlaac in RETURN OF THE JEDI.

    Jeremy Bulloch's face was never revealed in either THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK or RETURN OF THE JEDI since Boba Fett was always wearing his signature armor in those movies.

    In the prequel ATTACK OF THE CLONES, it was revealed that Boba Fett was a clone of Jango Fett. Therefore, the adult Boba (without "modifications") would look exactly like his "father" Jango (who was played by Temuera Morrison in ATTACK OF THE CLONES).

    I'll take your word for it, Holden!

    Glad you were able to follow the plot.   :)

    HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    Tuesday, June 30

     

    6 a.m. Crash (1932) with Ruth Chatterton and George Brent.  Never seen this one.

     

    7 a.m.  Two Against the World (1932) with Constance Bennett.  Haven’t seen this one either.

     

    8:15 a.m.  Grand Slam (1933) with Loretta Young.  Looking forward to seeing this for the first time too.

     

    9:30 a.m.  The Captain Hates the Sea (1934) an early Stooges appearance!

     

    8 and 10:30 p.m.  eek!   Auntie Mame followed by Mame.    No, no, please .. I confess!!

     
    • Like 1

    HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    Although Max Von Sydow's role in the upcoming STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS has not been officially revealed, it is currently rumored that he will be playing Boba Fett.

     

    George Lucas has said that Boba Fett did not die in the Sarlaac pit, into which he fell in RETURN OF THE JEDI. 

    I see the original actor for this part, Jeremy Bulloch is still with us.

    HITS & MISSES: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow on TCM

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    Monday, June 29

     

    Max von Sydow night!  Now here is someone who deserves an Academy lifetime achievement award for his 60+ year film career.

     

    8 p.m.  Hawaii (1966) One of Max’s best lead performances in the English language.  This would make a good double bill with Charlton Heston's The Hawaiians some day.

     

    3:15  a.m.  The Emigrants.  Maybe one of these days TCM will show the Jan Troell sequel, The New Land (1972)

     

    MIA is Max’s best screen performance: Pelle the Conqueror (1987).

     

    ​Max has enough Foreign and English language films up his sleeve to be Star of the Month.  

    • Like 2

    Name a movie you feel is moved from ok to memorable by its' musical score

    in General Discussions

    Posted

    Andrzej Wajda received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars not long ago.

     

    He is best known for his Polish resistance WWII trilogy:  A Generation (1955); Kanal (1957); and Ashes and Diamonds (1958)

     

    But also for Man of Iron (1981) with Lech Walesa

     

    I would also recommend

     

    Danton (1983)

    Korczak (1990)

     

    I saw Katyn (2007) at the BFI in the big theatre.  It was well attended by a Polish crowd and at the end of that film dozens and dozens of people were leaving the theatre weeping.  It was quite amazing.

    • Like 1
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