Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
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Movies, DVDs, and Theater
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What MOVIES or DVDs have you watched? (PART SIX - 2013) (ongoing thread)
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Jackie
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Apr 04, 2013 11:12AM
The Asimov episode was one of my favorites, Arthur C Clarke too. Very interesting series.
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I didn't care much for the Shelley one. I guess because I'd recently read a foreword to Frankenstein & all the material & more was covered better.
I didn't like that one either. No specific reason, just didn't. I don't consider her SF and surely not a 'master' in any genre.
Tonight I was sorry to hear about the passing of Roger Ebert. There doesn't seem to be anyone to take his place on TV as a critic for the mainstream audience.Here's my review of his autobiography, Life Itself (2011):
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Below are some good thoughts which he left us with:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try."
"I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do."
-Roger Ebert
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Silver Linings Playbook http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1045658/?...It was a good movie, and Jennifer Lawrence was really good in it. I didn't think it'd be something that would interest me but it held my attention all the way through.
I've added it to my Netflix queue, Jackie. Thanks.I see it was based on the book, The Silver Linings Playbook, by Matthew Quick.
PS-A GR reviewer says: "The movie is better than the book."
See the review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Books are always better. I don't know if I'd want to spend the time on the book. Some things are better as movies for me.
A GR reviewer says: "The movie is better than the book."See the review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Haha, reviews are subjective to taste, and we all have different tastes! It's so hard to go by them. My friend Christine recommended Silver Linings, but she knows my taste. I had told her I had no interest in it but she assured me I would like it. And I did. Recommendations from people that know me and my taste, go a long way in my opinion. Better than a random stranger who may not like the same things I do.I should state that this is not my usual type of movie, just in case it turns anyone off. I know my usual can be a bit out there, lol
Jackie wrote: "Haha, reviews are subjective to taste, and we all have different tastes! ..."“Art and life are subjective. Not everybody's gonna dig what I dig, but I reserve the right to dig it.” ---Whoopi Goldberg
I am trying to recall the name of a corrupt medieval Italian family. I think it begins with the letter "B". Is there such a family and where have I heard of them? Could it be that I'm thinking of the Medici family? Why do I keep thinking that the name begins with the letter "B"?
The Borgias. The showtimes series starts it's 3rd season tomorrow, I think. Rodgrigo Borgia was a corrupt Pope, his son Cesar wasn't much better, once a cardinal he left the church to be the military man he always wanted to be but only after his father agreed because he wanted an army beholden to him, the Pope. Rodrigo's daughter Lucretia was used as a pawn to further her father's agendas, he treated her like a head of cattle to be bartered. Their history is interesting.
Ah, yes! Thank you, Jackie!!! That's the name I was thinking of. I appreciate your help. Now I remember that this group talked about the Borgia movies last November. Here they are at IMDb:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1582457/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1736341/?...
Of course, there's always Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borgias
"The Borgias became prominent in ecclesiastical and political affairs in the 15th and 16th centuries, producing three popes."
All I needed was the name! :) Thanks again!
(Eddie is now reading _Pope Joan_ and we were talking about popes.)
This month I was lucky to find two wonderful old movies.The movies were adapted from classic novels. The novels were:
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
and
Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis.
See my reviews at:
Movie - "Carrie" (1952): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
and
Movie - "Dodsworth" (1936): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I recommend both movies very highly.
Joy, I've never seen either of those, and never read Dodsworth; but I've read Sister Carrie and liked it. I'm sure I'd like the film version, too!Speaking of novel adaptations, we went to see The Host last night, and came away very favorably impressed. I thought the adaptation was as faithful as the film medium allows for (short of a multi-episode miniseries); some elements are compressed or omitted for time, and there are changes in details, but the message and essence of the original is captured wonderfully, IMO. (That's undoubtedly owing to the fact that Stephanie Meyer was involved, as the producer; I hope that starts a trend for authors, and if it does, I think Hollywood will butcher a lot fewer novels!) William Hurt (playing Jed) is the only cast member I recognized; but I felt that Saoirse Ronan was perfect for the part of Melanie/Wanderer, and that she did an excellent job. In general, I had no criticism of the casting or acting; I'm aware of the sentiment of some fans that Max Irons didn't fit their visual image of Jared, but I had no such problem.
If you've read and liked The Host as a novel, I think you'd enjoy this movie. I'd also recommend the film if you haven't read the book, but are curious; it's a good way to experience the basic storyline, and might whet your appetite to read it!
That's good to hear. I enjoyed reading The Host, and I'm looking forward to when it comes on DVD.
Werner, I took a peek at Dreiser's Sister Carrie online. Seems too wordy for me.I'll keep my eye open for "The Host" movie adaptation.
Reference: The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517260/?...
BTW, I recently watched "Life of Pi" (via a Netflix DVD). I think they did a good job of adapting it from the book, Life of Pi. I thought it was well done.
I watched Shelter (also knows as 6 Souls) last night, it was pretty good. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179069/
Joy, I know you're not really a science fiction fan, but you actually might enjoy The Host, at least in the film version. (Yes, I'm online again for now --Rebekah and Tony are out with another of our grandsons at the moment.) This is the type of science fiction that concentrates much more on the human element and on relationships than on techno-gadgetry. My review is of the book, not the movie, but here's the link: www.goodreads.com/review/show/117504327 .
Jackie wrote: "I watched Shelter (also knows as 6 Souls) last night, it was pretty good. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179069/"Sounds like a mystery. I prefer romance. :)
Werner wrote: "Joy, I know you're not really a science fiction fan, but you actually might enjoy The Host, at least in the film version. ..."Werner, The Host is in my "saved" queue at Netflix, waiting for it to become available. I enjoy plots about relationships between people, the psychological approach.
I just now added the following to my review of Life of Pi:=======================================
I finally saw the movie adaptation of this book. I think they did a good job with it.
IMO, the movie can be better appreciated if the book is read first.
I agree with the following comments by several Netflix members:
---------------------------------------------------------
"A powerhouse blurring the line between natural wonder and hallucinatory beauty. Surprisingly philosophical ..., the movie tackles topics of God and faith with elegance and heart, with symbolism and subtlety begging for repeated viewings. A visual phantasmagoria with inspiring spirit at its center." [bolding of the text is mine]
"The movie was visually amazing... "
"... the animals are not real, but are computer generated images used in a powerful way to drive forward the drama and action."
--------------------------------------------------------
As for myself, I didn't see it as a story about religion or faith especially. Instead it goes beyond that and gives a wider philosophical scope. The character, Pi, is immersed in all religions due to his background. He accepts all the different gods including Jesus because he has a broad view of life. So no one religion is embraced; instead he seems to make use of all religious ideas and adapts them to his own world view. In the movie he says: "Faith is a house of many rooms". I get the sense that we all choose our own illusions. And yet, Pi says that his story will make the listener believe in God. I didn't find that to be true.
At the end of the movie it is suggested that the viewers choose whichever version of Pi's story they prefer. He presents a couple of versions, one being the symbolic approach. Pi says: "And so it goes with God." Food for thought!!!
======================================================
My full review is at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Earlier this week, I watched the third installment in the series of Narnia adaptations being produced by Fox 2000 Pictures and Walden Media, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010). Personally, I wasn't as taken with it as I was with the first two; I'd have given those five stars, but this one only four. It doesn't follow the plotline of the book as closely as its predecessors; some of the changes seemed designed to "jazz it up," but the action/excitement scenes usually had me fighting sleep (true, my energy level wasn't at its peak, but I could stay awake for the more substantive scenes). But Eustace's character development was well done, the ending was faithful to the book and very moving; and you've gotta love the talking mouse, Reepicheep! Here's the imdb link, if anyone's interested: www.imdb.com/title/tt0980970 .
Werner wrote: "Earlier this week, I watched the third installment in the series of Narnia adaptations being produced by Fox 2000 Pictures and Walden Media, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010). ..."Werner, thanks for the link and the comments. I am still unfamiliar with this series of books by C. S. Lewis. Sometimes it helps to see an overview; so, as a reference for myself, below is a listing of the books in the series (taken from Wiki).
=======================================================
The seven books that make up The Chronicles of Narnia are as follows (listed in order of original publication date):
1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (1951)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)
ABOUT THE READING ORDER: The issue about the reading order revolves around the placement of The Magician's Nephew and The Horse and His Boy in the series. Both are set significantly earlier in the story of Narnia than their publication order and fall somewhat outside the main story arc connecting the others. The reading order of the other five books is not disputed.
THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narnia
====================================================
Personally, I've never liked the sound of the word, "Narnia". IMO, it's not a pleasing sound. I realize that it's taken from the name of a town in Italy, Narni, simply because the author liked the sound of it. There's no accounting for tastes!
At any rate, that's probably why I was never attracted to the books or the movies. Silly, but true!
Interestingly, after the entire series was written, Lewis himself recommended that readers start with The Magician's Nephew, which provides the origin story for Narnia, followed by The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and then by The Horse and His Boy, which takes place in the same time period. The filmmakers, though, are adapting the books in the order they were written, which is the way that most readers read them.
Werner, thanks for the info.I might look into this Narnia thing. :)
I still think a better word than "Narnia" could have been chosen.
How about "Campania"! It rolls off the tongue so much more smoothly.
The Chronicles of Campania! LOL It's almost musical!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campania
I'm not often home to watch TV movies on Sunday evenings, but I happened to be last night; and since I'd seen ads earlier in the week for The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (perhaps others in the group did too), I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did; I found it solidly entertaining historical family drama, with solid performances by veteran actress Glenn Close (and by some other seasoned character actors, such as Wilford Brimley) and by Jenna Malone in the title role. (Malone is an actress I wasn't previously familiar with, but I'll remember her now.) It's an adaptation, made for TV in 2001, of the novel The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman (which is going on my to-read shelf). For anyone who's interested, here's the imdb link: www.imdb.com/title/tt0262259/ .
Werner wrote: "I'm not often home to watch TV movies on Sunday evenings, but I happened to be last night; and since I'd seen ads earlier in the week for The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (perhaps others in the group did..."Thanks, Werner. It's available for streaming from Netflix. So I've put it on my queue. I love Glenn Close!
Yes, she's an excellent actress! Hope you like the movie, Joy; I think you probably will.
Werner, I watched the movie you suggested ("The Ballad of Lucy Whipple") and enjoyed it very much. A very touching storyline. Makes you appreciate what the early settlers had to go through. They suffered so many setbacks and hardships. They had to be made of strong stuff! The teen-age daughter (played well by Jena Malone) had what it takes!http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0262259/?...
Last week I watched the film adaptation of the play, A Delicate Balance, by Edward Albee. I found the film to be very boring, despite the great cast.Cast: Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Paul Scofield, Lee Remick, Kate Reid, Joseph Cotten, Betsy Blair
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069958/?...
NETFLIX DESCRIPTION: "Part of the American Film Theatre series, Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning play gets the star treatment with Katharine Hepburn and Paul Scofield playing a long-married couple who'd rather be alone than entertain visitors. The first interloper is Hepburn's drunken sister (Kate Reid), followed by the couple's much-divorced daughter (Lee Remick). But the duo's limit is reached when friends (Joseph Cotten and Betsy Blair) show up unexpectedly."
FROM: http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/A-Delica...
Below are some Netflix reviewers' negative comments (although there were positive comments too):
=======================================================
"Hated it. Great cast but did not want to spend two hours watching characters claw at one another."
"Reparte alone does not a good play or a good film make. It was almost unbearable."
========================================================
FROM THE GR DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAY:
"A dark comedy about unfulfilled lives, broken promises, and family jealousies"
PS-Personally, I found it unrealistic that friends would have the nerve to move in to their friends' home without being invited (despite the fact that they were supposed to be very good friends). Real friends wouldn't do that; they would have more consideration and wouldn't automatically assume that they'd be welcome. Seems like a false premise to me. I think the daughter had every right to be angry that the friends took over her room without any consideration for her.
Joy, glad to hear you liked "The Ballad of Lucy Whipple!" I was pretty sure that you would (after all, what's not to like?). :-)
Eric took me to see Iron Man 3 for our early Mother's Day outing. He has to work on the official day. It was fantastic, Robert Downey Jr, as always, embodies the Tony Stark character to perfection. Lots of excitement, adventure, action and humor.
Marvel's got a whole lot more movies on the agenda. I'm all for it, now that technology has caught up, the movies are great.
Jackie wrote: "Eric took me to see Iron Man 3 for our early Mother's Day outing. He has to work on the official day. It was fantastic, Robert Downey Jr, as always, embodies the Tony Stark character to perfect..."
Super! I'm loving their movies. The Hulk-Loki scene in the last one was just epic. LOL! "Puny god."
We've got the Wolverine movie coming up also this summer. A new Thor movie in October, a new Capt America, can't remember when that's coming out but it will be before the second Avengers movie next year.
Jackie wrote: "We've got the Wolverine movie coming up also this summer. A new Thor movie in October, a new Capt America, can't remember when that's coming out but it will be before the second Avengers movie nex..."A lot to look forward to! I'm still catching up with Downton Abbey! Blockbuster is renting Seasons 1 and 2 (broken up into several DVDs) for 99 cents each for 5 days each. I've seen most of the episodes before this but I missed several in Season 2. Haven't seen Season 3 at all yet.
Joy, if you don't get to Season 3 by late fall, remember that PBS airs the previous season right before airing the new season in January. So you could watch S3 without having to wait or rent the DVDs. Do you have an On Demand function on your remote? The reason I ask, is that I know sometimes you miss a current show, and then bow out for missing it, or not being able to maintain that set schedule. If you have On Demand you can watch it at your convenience. It would have to be somewhat around the time of the showing. It's just another option to keep in mind for the future. It's taken me a while to remember to use OD and even now I forget about it sometimes.
Jackie wrote: "Joy, if you don't get to Season 3 by late fall, remember that PBS airs the previous season right before airing the new season in January. So you could watch S3 without having to wait or rent the D..."Thanks for the info, Jackie. I'll keep my eye on PBS.
Yes, I see that I DO have an On Demand button on my remote. Do I have to pay to use On Demand? How does that work?
Some things you would pay for but that's mostly current movies. It will let you know before you choose it, like "Buy for $1.99". For shows on regular TV and PBS it's free.I don't use the OD button, what I do is a search for the show I want, see if it's airing again, if it is I record it. Some that are no longer airing will be listed, that's when I can get it OD, I just click the Select button in the center top of the remote and it'll say "Play" and I click again.
The OD button has too many channels I have no interest in, too much to scroll through. I find it quicker to do a search. I asked about the button because if it's the easiest way to see if you get On Demand. Click the OD button, at the bottom of your screen it should have networks, choose one that isn't a pay cable channel, then select a show to play. If it plays you have the capability.
Jackie wrote: "Some things you would pay for but that's mostly current movies. It will let you know before you choose it, like "Buy for $1.99". For shows on regular TV and PBS it's free. I don't use the OD button..."Thanks, Jackie, for taking the time to explain about On Demand. I guess it will all become clearer when I try it out.
PS-I tried OD years ago, but there was never anything I wanted to see. I suppose they offer more nowadays.
Joy, the next season for Downton Abby is January or Feb. so don't start looking until at least Dac. for past episodes.
Nina wrote: "Joy, the next season for Downton Abby is January or Feb. so don't start looking until at least Dac. for past episodes."Thanks, Nina. That would be Season 4 in 2014. I still haven't seen Season 3! :) If I wanted to, I could see Season 3 via Amazon Prime for $2.99 per episode.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A...
Or I could wait until Dec. 2013 and find Season 3 on PBS TV. However, I'm very bad about scheduling myself to watch a TV episode. I like to choose the time I watch things.
Am just finishing up watching Season 2 via a Blockbuster rental for $1.00.
Will Blockbuster be getting S3 any time soon? I can't make myself be available to watch shows at a certain time/day. That's why I like the DVR. Or rentals. It puts the control of when in my hands.
Happy Mother's Day! Mine is quiet as we celebrated a couple Sunday's ago when a visiting from out of town daughter was here with a huge cook out. Then this week came flowers and cards and phone calls and emails so it is pleasant to sit and look at my garden. It looks like the secret garden.
Anyone seen Argohttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024648/?...
I'm running out of tv serials to watch on Netflix and took their recommendation to rent this one. That hardly ever works out, but this time I struck gold. It's about the Iran hostage crisis. I gave it an unprecedented 5 stars!
My daughter and son in law said it was very good. I intend to watch it.
I have a book recommendation for each of you Goodread friends regardless of age or sex or prior reading preferences: "How Lincoln Learned to Read," by Daniel Wolff. It is not only about Lincoln, but so far it's a look into the life of Ben Franklin, Abigail Adams, Andrew Jackson and so on. Do check it out. I think it should be required reading for high school students. It is really about what was taught to these people, both formal and informal education. It is an amazing history of our country which you probably thought you already knew but really didn't. "Nuff said.
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Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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