Det Jim McLeod
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Posts posted by Det Jim McLeod
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1 hour ago, TopBilled said:
One thing I realize looking at these lists is how it seems the Academy just had certain favorite films each year. So instead of spreading the nominations out among skilled performers in other films not up for Best Picture, they just looked at the casts of the year's most important pictures and nominated multiple people from those same films. I am not saying some of these people didn't deserve to be recognized, but a few of them are obviously just included because they are associated with an important film or an important director, not because they did anything truly spectacular during the given year.
Two films mentioned so far, All About Eve and Peyton Place seemed to garner the most acting nominations, in addition to the supporting nominations above, in the first one there were two Best Actress noms for Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, as well as supporting actor win for George Sanders and Lana Turner got an Best Actress nom for the second.
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2 hours ago, HelenBaby2 said:
But don’t you think O’Connell has the more compelling story? Scott is the guy who does what he has to do; O’Connell has to basically make a choice between doing meaningful work or a continuous wasted life with no good end.
Now that I think about it, yes I agree. O'Connell was very touching, one of his best. Scott is good, I guess I was thinking more about him since the courtroom scenes were some of most compelling parts.
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19) Shot Of Love-very good and entertaining album, big improvement over the last one. It explodes with the title song first, a great rocker and some interesting lyrics. This is often called Dylan's final Christian album though only two songs "Property Of Jesus" and "Dead Man Dead Man" mention God and Jesus. Both are good songs especially the latter with a great reggae beat. My favorite track is a bluesy rocker on the second side called "Trouble". It ends with the long poetic "Every Grain Of Sand".
20) Infidels- a brilliant album with great lyrics and Dylan is reunited with Mark Knopfler to create his best since Slow Train Coming. The first track "Jokerman" has some of Dylan's best word play, recalling such songs as "Mr Tambourine Man" or "All Along The Watchtower'. There are tough, angry songs like "Neighborhood Bully" and "Man Of Peace" where Dylan warns sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace. "Union Sundown" is his first protest song in years, about slave labor used in other countries. My favorite is the last "Don't Fall Apart On Me Tonight" one of his most poignant, pleading love songs.
21) Empire Burlesque-a letdown after the last masterpiece, with glossy 1980s synthesizer production. Still some good stuff on here. The first track "Tight Connection To My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)" is my favorite, a catchy 80s pop song about a breakup . There are two nice tender love songs-"I'll Remember You" and "Emotionally Yours". It ends with a solo acoustic song "Dark Eyes", the first time in years we hear only Dylan on guitar and harmonica. An added bonus is this is the first time Dylan included all the lyrics on the inside sleeve.
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10 hours ago, Rudy's Girl said:
Edward G. always struck me as the intellectual type. I'm not surprised by Raft. It looks like he's holding Robinson back. I wonder what caused this.
I had read it was because in a scene, Raft had to grab Robinson's arm and spin him around, but he did it a little too hard for Robinson's liking.
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Part 2 1950-1959
1. 1950 Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter All About Eve
2. 1953 Brandon de Wilde and Jack Palance Shane
3. 1954 Lee J Cobb, Karl Malden and Rod Steiger On The Waterfront
Jan Sterling and Claire Trevor The High And The Mighty
4. 1956 Eileen Heckert and Patty McCormack The Bad Seed
5. 1957 Arthur Kennedy and Russ Tamblyn Peyton Place
Hope Lange and Diane Varsi Peyton Place
6. 1959 Arthur O'Connell and George C Scott Anatomy Of A Murder
Susan Kohner and Juanita Moore Imitation Of Life
My Choices
1. Ritter has some good wisecracks as usual but I pick Holm. She had the more substantial role and seems to be just a dutiful wife, but proves to be one of the more intelligent characters as she figures out what's going on before anyone else.
2. A very tough call, Palance has great presence as the villain, but I will give it to de Wilde since he did a good job with a large role for a little kid.
3. I choose Malden though all three had great moments. Malden showed a lot of toughness in the role of the priest.
Jan Sterling had a touching scene on the plane when she removes her makeup, so that clinched it for me.
4. No contest here, Patty McCormack gets my vote, she was chilling as the little murderess.
5. Tamblyn was good as the sensitive youth, but Kennedy was more memorable as the brutal father.
I definitely would pick Lange, she was heartbreaking as the abused daughter
6. A close call, but I give it to Scott as the tough prosecutor.
Another close one since both were excellent, but slight edge to Moore since she had to be more quiet and long suffering. Kingrat made a great point of this when talking about Olivia De Havilland in GWTW.
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Edward G Robinson and George Raft get into a real fight on the set of Manpower.
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3 minutes ago, Allhallowsday said:
What about Blood On The Tracks?
A great album, I just like the musicians and some of the songs a bit better on Slow Train
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16) Street Legal-a slickly produced album with some good sax playing. "Changing Of The Guards" and 'No Time To Think" have some surreal imagery and word play Dylan hasn't used in awhile, the female R&B backup singers sometime drown him out though. My favorite song is the catchy "Baby Stop Crying". Another good one is an ominous tale "Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)" in which the narrator is being taken somewhere in a foreign land by some mysterious Senor, maybe to his death. Otherwise most of the songs are just OK or forgettable, this album is very inferior to the last 3.
17) Slow Train Coming-Dylan's first Christian album has great lyrics and brilliant playing by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits on guitar, the female backup is much better on this one. My favorite is the first 'Gotta Serve Somebody" which sets the tone musically and lyrically, though there are a couple that are just as good. "Precious Angel" has a great inspirational chorus of "Shine your light on me!". "When You Gonna Wake Up" is Dylan's angriest Christian song with great keyboards and horns. A few others can be seen as religious but don't actually mention God or Jesus at all. "I Believe In You" can be just taken as believing in just some ordinary human being. "Slow Train" is a great bluesy song which also has ambiguous meaning. I think this is Dylan's best since Blonde On Blonde.
18) Saved- Dylan's first album in the 1980s, and a big letdown after the great last one. "Saved" and "Solid Rock" are two of the livelier songs, they sound like they could have been old time gospel numbers. The others are mostly dull and lifeless. Dylan's weakest since Self Portrait.
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William Holden
Next-favorite guest star on The Carol Burnett Show
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I was thinking of doing this another time, but there are so many that I didn't have the patience. Now I am bored out of my skull with nothing to do in NYC, I thought I would try it. Name and discuss who you think was the best performance in the film from these nominees. I will do it in sections since there are so many.
Part 1 1939-1949
1. 1939 Harry Carey and Claude Rains Mr Smith Goes To Washington
Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel Gone With The Wind
2. 1941 Patricia Collinge and Teresa Wright The Little Foxes
3, 1943 Gladys Cooper and Ann Revere The Song Of Bernandette
4. 1945 Eve Arden and Ann Blyth Mildred Pierce
5. 1947 Celeste Holm and Ann Revere Gentleman's Agreement
6, 1948 Barbara Bel Geddes and Ellen Corby I Remember Mama
7, 1949 Celeste Holm and Elsa Lanchester Come To The Stable
Ethel Barrymore and Ethel Waters Pinky
My Choices
1. I choose Rains, I can't really recall much about Carey.
A close one, but McDaniel for me, she was very entertaining and stole some scenes.
2. Collinge was touching as the abused Birdie.
3. I would give it to Cooper, she was very effective as the mean nun.
4. I got to give to Blyth as evil daughter, she was excellent.
5. I guess Revere as the kind mother, I honestly can't remember much about Holm's performance.
6. Haven't seen this one.
7, Ethel Waters was very touching and the most memorable in the film. I haven't seen Stable.
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10 hours ago, starliteyes said:
"I was a _____________ yesterday; now look at me today!"
"I was a King In New York yesterday; now look at me today!"
A bird in hand is worth __________.
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4 hours ago, hamradio said:
It's from mommie dearest.
I recognized her even through that makeup.
I think she looks kind of sexy in blackface.
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13) Planet Waves-a very good album with backing by The Band. There are some energetic rockers like "On A Night Like This" and "Tough Mama. Another Dylan classic on here is 'Forever Young" a beautiful inspirational song which parents would relate to regarding their children. There is a raw, emotional song called "Dirge" about guilt and self loathing, some of his most powerful lyrics in years. My favorite song is the last, "Wedding Song" an acoustic, stripped down song with very personal and touching lyrics about the love of a woman he clearly worships more than life itself.
14) Blood On The Tracks-one of Dylan's most acclaimed and definitely one of his best. There are many songs of lost love, most sung in first person. The opening "Tangled Up In Blue" is one of the best with tales of going down the road to the next joint. Other good ones are "Simple Twist Of Fate" and "You're A Big Girl Now" all sung with great passion. "Idiot Wind" is a bitter song with some dark and witty lyrics. My favorite song is "Shelter From The Storm" with some great lyrics about being taken in by a kind woman away from all the troubles of the world. Interesting biblical references like "crown of thorns" and "gambling for my clothes".
15) Desire-another very good album with some protest and love songs. "Hurricane" is a powerful song about Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer who Dylan says was wrongly convicted of murder. no symbolism here just plain straight talk. There is good use of violin playing by Scarlet Rivera on the whole album, best use is on the haunting "One More Cup Of Coffee". "Joey" is another true life story of gangster "Crazy Joe" Gallo. My favorite is the last "Sara" a raw, personal song about the love of his wife who he is losing. This is one of Dylan's best songs ever.
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The Hasty Heart (1949)
next- Storm Warning (1950) 2 more with Ronald Reagan
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13 hours ago, Allhallowsday said:
I think it was AL KOOPER on piano.
Yes, he is on most of the songs, though Dylan himself is credited with playing piano on a few of them.
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I won't be reviewing any Dylan greatest hits, live albums or Basement Tapes type collections, just official studio albums.
10) Self Portrait-Dylan's first of the 1970s is a disappointing grab bag of covers and a few originals. My favorite song on the album is on Side 1, "Days Of 49" a good old folk song about the gold rush days, Dylan sounds most confident on this one. There is a nice cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Mornin Rain". One of the problems on here is we get two versions of some songs. One "Alberta 1" is a good bluesy original, "Alberta 2" is a faster version not needed. One of the better originals is good story song "Little Sadie" but we also get really bad rehearsal version called "In Search Of Little Sadie". The worst of the cover songs is an awful version of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer". Dylan double tracks his voice but the harmony never gets together.
11) New Morning-A great improvement over the last two albums. There are many nice love songs on here. The first song became one of his most covered "If Not For You", Olivia Newton John had a hit with it and George Harrison did the best version on his All Things Must Pass. The title song and "The Man In Me" are joyous, the latter got more popular when The Big Lebowski was released. The songs are dominated by some great piano playing on tracks "If Dogs Run Free"and 'Winterlude". My favorite song is the last one "Father Of Night" with great inspirational lyrics and more great piano playing.
12) Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid-Dylan's soundtrack to the Sam Peckinpah movie. It's a lot of guitar strumming and 3 forgettable versions of the same song "Billy". One classic came out of it-"Knockin On Heaven's Door" one of Dylan's most haunting songs. It became a hit single, only problem is it's only 2 1/2 minutes long, I could have listened to 3 or 4 more verses and the chorus over and over again.
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22 hours ago, Sepiatone said:
but in short order he showed he could easily keep up with the others in the cast and proved to be a bigger talent that many at first thought.
He was definitely very talented, a great voice and a droll sense of humor. I recall one Sunset Blvd sketch on the show, Harvey was playing the Eric Von Stroheim part and Lyle was a doctor. Lyle did something to make Harvey crack up, Harvey then ad libbed " Just what we need, funny doctors!"
Due to his great speaking voice, he did some fine voice work also. He did the voice of a lawyer named Perry Masonry on a Flintstones episode. Edit-I checked IMDB and don't see it credited there, but I am almost 99% sure that is his voice. Does anyone know for sure?
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If anyone wants to chime in what they think of Dylan's albums, please do.
7) Blonde On Blonde-many feel this is Dylan's best. I think it's a great album but not as good as the last two. "Rainy Day Women #12 &35" is the rollicking, wild first track, it became a big hit and sounds like a drunken marching band. Dylan's backing band of mostly Nashville musicians are terrific throughout the record. "Visions Of Johanna" is a good laid back track with surreal lyrics. Side 2 is the best, with hit singles "I Want You" with a catchy ringing guitar riff and the great love ballad "Just Like A Woman". My favorite song is "Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again" a fun song with great playing and love the refrain. "Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat" is a hilarious break up song. Another interesting song is "Fourth Time Around" with some very funny lyrics and similar instrumentation to the Beatles "Norwegian Wood" (John Lennon noticed that). The final track takes up all of Side 4 "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands", it's an interesting epic of Dylan worshiping a woman he seems to feel is a goddess. (we later find out it is written for his wife Sara.
8. John Wesley Harding-a more subdued Dylan here, but for the most part the music is as good as ever. It begins with the title song, a Woody Guthrie-esqe tale. There are some haunting folk songs like "As I Went Out One Morning" and "I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine". The best song became a Dylan classic "All Along The Watchtower" an ominous sounding song about a Joker and a Thief which sets up the story and quietly concludes. There are more Guthrie types songs with "I Am A Lonesome Hobo" and "I Pity The Poor Immigrant". The final track is a sweet country tune "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight".
9) Nashville Skyline- Dylan closes out the 1960s with a simple country record. Many of the Nashville musicians from the last two albums are back again and still do a great job. The first track is a remake of "Girl From The North Country" which was on Freewheelin. It's a duet with Johnny Cash but they can't seem to get together on the harmony, it almost sounds like an outtake. The soothing ballad "Lay Lady Lay" became a big hit and is my favorite on the album. Some other good tunes are "I Threw It All Away" and "One More Night". It's a pretty good record but Dylan's weakest since his debut.
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The Crying Game (1992)
Next-Stargate (1994) 2 with Jaye Davidson
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8 hours ago, laffite said:
True Confessions (1981)
I saw this when it was first released. I was trying to see everything DeNiro did at this time. It's obviously based on the famous Black Dahlia murder. It doesn't answer all questions at the end but the reason to see it is the actors. DeNiro, Duvall and Durning have a great scene together in a restaurant, all are fabulous.
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10 hours ago, TomJH said:
The Untouchables (1987)
My favorite film of the 1980s. I haven't watched it recently, but I was totally knocked out by it when it was first released.
DePalma's flamboyant direction is at it's best here, there is some bloody violence, though he shows some restraint in the baseball bat scene.
I love the cast, Costner as Ness is a star making part and he is great, maybe the best he ever did. Connery deserved the Oscar for the tough and determined cop, Andy Garcia is a interesting addition as the only Italian among the group, Charles Martin Smith is very likable and funny as the accountant suddenly involved in gunfights, he is actually the one who gets Capone by charging him with tax evasion. I liked the fact there were four Untouchables, perhaps representing the Four Horseman Of The Apocalypse. They have a great scene on horseback on a raid by the Canadian border. DePalma has said he thought of this as a John Ford film at times.
The ribbon tying everything up is the fantastic score by Morricone. I bought the soundtrack album as soon as it came out in 1987. It ranks with his best of his spaghetti western scores.
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11 hours ago, laffite said:
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) Father Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is facing trial for wrongful death (or murder) of a 19-year-old woman (Jennifer Carpenter) when something goes terribly wrong (as they say) with an attempted exorcism. Moore’s lawyer (Laura Linney) gets him a terrific plea bargain, but he refuses because he wants everyone “to know the truth.” Early flashbacks show Emily Rose having horrific “hallucinations” that lead us to believe that she is possessed of the Devil. These sequence. are extraordinarily intense and quite SCARY. After just two of these, I threw in the towel, not necessarily out of sheer fright, but rather of unpleasantness. I am not a horror-genre fan. The film starts out as a courtroom drama and I thought oh goody I like those, but of course the title of the film should dispel any notion that it was primarily just that. But the film does seem to offer a glimpse of both worlds, a courtroom drama and a hairy-scary horror story (although horror takes precedence). Everything I’ve said about the film here takes place within the first 15 or so minutes of the film so I don't think there are any serious spoilers. I have no inkling of what happens later on in the film but despite that, it is safe to say that it is to be recommended to passionate horror fans.
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One of my favorite early 21st century films. Another thing that I found interesting was the prosecutor (Campbell Scott) was a man of faith and he has to argue that the exorcism is not legit while agnostic Linney has to argue for it. The latter part is mostly courtroom drama, but the horror moments deliver.
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4) Another Side Of Bob Dylan- a very good album and the final link in between the acoustic folk music and the electric rockers that would soon follow. It has two that became very popular with cover artists "All I Really Want To Do" and "It Ain't Me Babe". "Black Crow Blues"features the first time we get Dylan playing piano. "My Back Pages" has some great thoughtful lyrics like "I was so much older then, I'm younger then that now". There are two hilarious story songs- "I Shall Be Free No 10" which talks about Cassius Clay and Barry Goldwater. "Motorpsycho Nitemare" is about the narrator stopping at a farmhouse where the suspicious farmer thinks he is that traveling salesman he heard about. His daughter resembles Tony Perkins and offers the man a shower. "Ballad In Plain D" is a brutally honest account of the end of a love affair due to meddling from his girl's relatives.
5) Bringing It All Back Home-my favorite album. The opening song "Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a driving rocker with wild and great rhymes. "Maggie's Farm" is a fun protest song in which the narrator is employed by a family who use, abuse and exploit him. "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" has some of Dylan's best poetic lyrics. Another very funny talking song is "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" . The second side has no rockers instead some subdued mostly acoustic songs. Dylan is on guitar and harmonica, occasionally accompanied on bass. "Mr Tambourine Man" is one of his greatest songs, with the title character offering escape from everything with his jingle jangle music. There are two stark and ominous songs 'Gates Of Eden" is one of Dylan's most cynical, as he talks of only good things in Eden, probably representing the after life and nothing good outside of it, "It's Alright Ma, (I'm Only Bleeding") is a great one about apathy, as Dylan says this is life, not always great and not much can be done about it.
6) Highway 61 Revisited-Dylan goes full throttle rock and roll with this one. A close second for my favorite album. "Like A Rolling Stone" may be Dylan's best song ever. Driving guitars, carnival like organ and wonderfully wild lyrics. "Tombstone Blues" is a great rocker with excellent guitar and bashing backbeat throughout. My favorite track "Ballad Of A Thin Man" is a tale of a square named Mr Jones who cannot understand the people he comes in contact with. Musically great with a Ray Charles inspired piano riff. The second side has some of Dylan's wildest imagery. The title song has a shrill police whistle among the great music, it tells of characters who can only can get certain deeds done if they go down this mystical Highway. The final track is "Desolation Row" an 11 minute epic with spare instrumentation including a Mexican cantina flavor to the guitar. The characters in the song include Cinderella, Einstein, The Phantom Of The Opera who all seemed to be headed to either their salvation or doom on the titled road.
Supporting Oscar Nominated Performances For The Same Film
in General Discussions
Posted
Part 3- 1961-1972
1. 1961 Jackie Gleason and George C Scott The Hustler
2. 1963 Diane Cilento, Dame Edith Evans and Joyce Redman Tom Jones
3, 1965 Joyce Redman and Maggie Smith Othello
4. 1967 Gene Hackman and Michael J Pollard Bonnie And Clyde
5. 1970 Helen Hayes and Maureen Stapleton Airport
6. 1971 Jeff Bridges and Ben Johnson The Last Picture Show
Ellen Burstyn and Cloris Leachman The Last Picture Show
7. 1972 James Caan, Robert Duvall and Al Pacino The Godfather
My Choices
1. I had to think a bit, but since Gleason so successfully underplays and makes you forget his boisterous TV image, I give it to him.
2. The sexy lusty Cilento made the biggest impression on me.
3. Smith was a touching Desdemona, I don't even recall Redman in this.
4. Pollard's impish performance gives him the edge here.
5. Hayes was such a delight as the elderly stowaway, I have to give it to her.
6. Johnson deserved it, he had some good moments as the old time Texas cowpoke.
I liked Leachman more, as the frustrated wife, a nice subtle performance
7. Definitely Pacino, his best performance ever, and a fascinating character study of a clean cut soldier turned into cold blooded crime boss.