Jill's comments (member since Jul 20, 2009)

Jill's comments from the Movies We've Just Watched group.

I've only read the book, but I'm quite curious to see how they could pull off an R rating without cutting too much out.

Cutiepie wrote: "This is sooo kewl I <3 stuff like this I havnt seen Hedwich and the Angry Wig but why is a guy a girl or did I miss somthing?

Annyway I wud want to be Marie in the sound of music its my fave!"

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is about a rock singer who had a botched sex change operation (male to female - hence the term "angry inch") in order to marry an American soldier and get out of Eastern Germany. It's the story, narrated by her, about her adventures and relationships while trying to become a famous rock singer. It's a rock musical, and one of the best musicals ever, IMHO.

John Cameron Mitchell created the role and the story, while Steven Trask and his band created the music (the band in the musical is called The Angry Inch). But since the character's gender isn't strictly defined, both men and women can play the role. I believe Ally Sheedy has, in fact, played Hedwig before.

Here's the most famous song from the musical: "The Origin of Love". I apologize that the last note is cut off.

And for the sheer fun of the song, "Wig In A Box".

I'd like to play John Cameron Mitchell's character Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I see no reason why a girl couldn't play Hedwig, even if a guy did originate the character. Hedwig is an amazing character on a number of levels. Just look at this bit of dialogue:

"How did a slip of a girly-boy from communist East Berlin become the internationally ignored song stylist barely standing before you?"

Lauren wrote: "MURIEL'S WEDDING - I effing well love this film :D On the exterior it might appear a fairly dated girlie rom-com type thing, but it has some strong pathos, great satire, and the acting is top-knotch. "

Love Muriel's Wedding. So many people haven't seen it because it seems like your typical chick flick, but it's so not that (and I'm saying this as a person who avoids chick flicks like the plague). The whole thing with Muriel's mom alone takes it to a much darker place.

Count me in as another Kane lover. I saw the movie for the first time as a teenager and didn't quite get it, but I enjoyed the movie as just an entertaining movie. Later, when I was in college and knew more about the history of Hearst and his empire, as well as Welles himself, I really grew to appreciate it on a whole new level. It's just a truly brilliant film.

I heard about the Casablanca thread after the fact, but I guess I missed out on all the excitement.

Alex DeLarge wrote: "Tom, give JACKIE BROWN a try someday; I think it's his best film. But many don't like it because it's to tame and character driven. "

I'd agree with this. Of all of Tarantino's films, it's the most character driven. All the performances given in it are top notch. Pam Grier's performance was just fantastic. So was Jackson. DeNiro gave a great performance while barely saying a word. And Robert Forster was fantastically understated as probably the nicest bail bondsman in history.

Of course,I happen to be a fan of Tarantino because of his Grindhouse style of filmmaking. Grindhouse films were the films I always watched as a kid and are therefore a kind of comfort food for my brain. So take my view of Jackie Brown with whatever grain of salt you wish. But I agree with Alex that it's his best work.

I haven't seen Inglorious Basterds yet, but I still plan to. I'll give you my opinion when I finally get around to it. :)

This Is Spinal Tap is by far the best, but I have to give it up to Christopher Guest for the creation of Waiting for Guffman too. I've yet to meet a die hard theater major who couldn't quote that film. If you've ever done community theater, you know those people. I especially liked Catherine O'Hara's special touch of mouthing the words of the other performers (see the audition scene). I did the exact same thing the first time I performed in a play (mind you, I was eleven). It still makes me cringe.

That's what I like about those faux documentaries. There's almost always some character you can identify with in some painfully embarrassing way.

This Is Spinal Tap is a true classic. And, from what I hear, one that virtually every band has in their tour bus movie collection.

It's definitely a movie that takes it all the way up to eleven.

Here's another vote for Let the Right One In.

Oh, and I liked Half-Blood Prince quite a bit (loved Jim Broadbent's performance as Slughorn), but I liked Order of the Phoenix better.

I hope like hell the next two are done well. Since they have two movies, I really hope they don't cut much out. Well, (slight spoiler!) they can cut out some of the camping. That got a bit boring. (end slight spoiler!)

Tom wrote: "If she's a muggle, why is Harry reading a magical newspaper right in front of her like that? Isn't that a terrible breach of etiquette? Muggles aren't supposed to know about magical things, are t..."

If they're related to a witch or a wizard, there's nothing to prevent them from knowing about them. But I somehow doubt that she was. That was just Harry being a teenager.

And since the attack on the Burrow was an add on (I'm guessing because they largely left out the attack on Hogwarts...reducing it to Bellatrix just breaking some stuff), I can't really vouch for what they could do to repair it. But I'm guessing that it wasn't a normal fire that was used to torch the Burrow. Bellatrix would never be that subtle.

And Ron's outfit at the ball in Goblet of Fire was another indicator of how poor his family was, something that is emphasized throughout the series. Even though they're a highly respected old wizarding family, they really aren't focused on gaining material wealth. The father even works in one of the least popular departments in the Ministry of Magic. They're the opposite of the Malfoys. They're an example of something pure and good in one of its most traditional senses: The whole classic good, humble, poor, but deeply respected and established family vs. the rich, powerful, evil, equally established, feared family. The Harry Potter series is a classic hero's tale, and it uses a lot of the classic archetypes. Good but poor vs. rich but evil is about as old a device as it gets.

I'd better get to bed. I think I left Rambling about an hour ago and wandered unwittingly into Long-winded. ;)

Phillip wrote: "OK, here's my most embarrassing confession: I watched American Pie the other night and cried during several scenes....

I'm pathetic. "

I wept for Paul Finch's lower intestine too. ;)

Ariel wrote: "ha ha yeah me too! yeah hes my fav. ha ha thats the same reason my dad went! Have you seen Shaun of the dead, Hot Fuzz or Spaced, the british sit com?"

I own all three on DVD. They're brilliant. That's why I was so excited about Pegg being cast. He's one of the biggest geeks working in the industry (there's nothing geekier than Spaced ;)). It's only right that he should get to play Scotty. :)

You should check out Black Books. It stars Dylan Moran, the man who played Shaun's ex-girlfriend's roommate's boyfriend. And various cast members from the Edgar Wright's films routinely make appearances. Pegg appears in season 3 as an evil rival bookstore owner (Dylan Moran's character runs a bookstore, albeit quite badly) who tries to steal Manny, Moran's best and only employee, away. You'd love it. It's a great show. :)

Ariel wrote: "you remeber sylar?"

Barely, but I know he played Spock. His performance was the one my mother was looking forward to seeing the most, since she's a huge fan of Heroes.

I thought he did a fantastic job as Spock. :)

The reason I went was because Simon Pegg was playing Scotty, and I adore him.

Ariel wrote: "YES thats who it was thanks... youve seen the tv show heroes right?"

A few episodes. I liked Hiro, but the show didn't really pull me in. I was happy that George Takei was in it for a while.

McCoy is Karl Urban, also known as Eomer from The Lord of the Rings.

I'm avoiding the film. I like the books, and from what I heard, they really neuter the story, which is a damn shame because the books are almost perfectly designed to be made into movies. I'd love to see those creatures that roll around on seeds like the Wheelers from Return to Oz, only nice.

I think Nicole Kidman had the potential to be a good Mrs. Coulter, but somehow I doubt they portrayed her well. Mrs. Coulter is a villain. So, really, is Lord Asriel, though you're more sympathetic to his cause. They're horrible people. But they're complex. And I'm worried that the film might have turned them into one dimensional characters. They're anything but that.

NinjaFanpire wrote: "But thank you for the advice. I'll probably just take what I need. Not a science major."

Good luck. Try to diversify the science credits you do have to take. It's a great help to see how the scientific method works in each discipline. :)

NinjaFanpire wrote: "I don't know if the community college in my small town even offers all of those courses! "

Well, then take your basics at community college, get good grades, and then move up to a four year university. Lots of people do that. I work at a four year university and the catalog we have of science classes is quite impressive. Tons to choose from. :)

That's good. If the teachers taught you properly, you should have a sound base with which to enter the college science courses. If you can, I do recommend the list I gave above. If you're not a science major, it's probably more than you need credit-wise, but the beauty of being an undergrad is flexibility. All of those topics should give you a sound scientific background. Better than the average person, anyway.