Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
Movies, DVDs, and Theater
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What MOVIES or DVDs have you seen? (PART NINE: On-Going General Thread)
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Nina
(last edited Feb 01, 2017 12:54PM)
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Feb 01, 2017 12:53PM
I read the book and I think my feeling was about the same as your movie review. And I did feel about the same as you about the Everybody's Fine movie. It was OK not great. My husband laughed at one of the lines, however. "Hi Dad, is Mom there?" He is always telling people that's the way it is at our house. Those exact words.
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Nina wrote: "I read the book and I think my feeling was about the same as your movie review. And I did feel about the same as you about the Everybody's Fine movie. It was OK not great. My husband laughed at one..."Nina, I read Empire Falls by Richard Russo too but it was a while ago. I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Russo's Nobody's Fool which was terrific. I didn't enjoy Russo's Bridge of Sighs.
I don't think I read either of those books so can't comment.
Nina wrote: "I don't think I read either of those books so can't comment."Nina, perhaps one of these day you'll try reading Russo's Nobody's Fool. IMO the film adaptation didn't do it justice. I really enjoyed the book!
Today I finished watching the following movie (via streaming from Amazon):"Across the Sea" (2014)
https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Across-...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3263718/?...
"Damla reluctantly returns to her Turkish summer town with her American husband. Her bitter past is soon to be unveiled."
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M98POM7/...
"Damla returns home to a beautiful Turkish summer village, bringing along her American husband, Kevin. Soon, she is face to face with the painful heartbreaks of years ago. Amid a beautiful beach backdrop, can Damla and Kevin overcome the pains of the past? "
At first I wasn't impressed with the slow beginning of the movie. There were too many scenes showing the protagonist "staring" sadly and sullenly into space, scenes which I guess were an attempt to create suspense. However, I stuck with it, mostly because of the beautiful scenery by the water in Turkey.
Finally, toward the end of the story, we find out the back-story. The ending was so sobering. For a few minutes I just sat there watching the credits and listening to the atonal music which accompanied the closing. It was a tearful moment when one realizes the sad effects and ramifications of love triangles. It was quietly wrenching.
I saw that movie and have to say I agree with your review. I just couldn't agree the ending was right, however. Yes beautiful scenery almost made up for it.
I'll make a note to try "Nobody's Fool," next time I'm at the library.
Nina wrote: "I saw that movie and have to say I agree with your review. I just couldn't agree the ending was right, however. Yes beautiful scenery almost made up for it."Nina, no matter which ending had taken place, someone would have been hurt. Sometimes there is no perfect ending... as in life. [Re: "Across the Sea"] Sometimes we just have to hope for the best.
The situation reminded me of the other book we talked about in which the girl has to choose between two men. I believe she came from Ireland. Oh, Yes, the book was: Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín In that book, no matter what the ending, someone would have been hurt and there would be regrets.
Today I watched a fascinating movie which I streamed from Amazon. It's also available as a DVD from Netflix:"Bernard and Doris" (2006)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470732/?...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FWSIVI2/...
https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Bernard...
"Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes star in this Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated tale inspired by the life of billionaire heiress Doris Duke, which speculates on the relationship between Duke and her gay butler, Bernard Lafferty, whom she left in charge of her fortune. Newly sober, Lafferty (Fiennes) finds domestic work with the demanding and eccentric Duke (Sarandon). And in six short years, the two opposites forge a bond deeper than anyone would comprehend."
I had never heard of this movie before today. Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes were a perfect combination for this film. I was rivetted.
Joy, is your special interest celebrities biographies?
Nina wrote: "Joy, is your special interest celebrities biographies?"Yes, Nina, I suppose it is, but only certain celebrities and certain famous people of history.
BTW, I am never interested when a biography starts out telling too much about the celebrity's ancestors. I usually am interested in how a person became famous... what steps led to their becoming famous and what they did to earn their fame.
Joy H. wrote: "Nina wrote: "I saw that movie and have to say I agree with your review. I just couldn't agree the ending was right, however. Yes beautiful scenery almost made up for it."Nina, no matter which end..."I think that is real life, Joy.
Speaking of celebrities I recently heard an interview of Debby Reynold's son and I was so impressed with the way he described his mother. He said that though it was obvious she was heartbroken when his father left her for Elizabeth Taylor she never said a bad word about him to her children. She seemed to keep her grief to herself but he said Eddy Fisher was never much a father to him or his sister and that the latter one never quite got over it. He thought it almost ruined her life as she tried to make him like her. Isn't that sad? You and I have discussed before this that we were lucky with our fathers.
Nina wrote: "Speaking of celebrities I recently heard an interview of Debby Reynold's son and I was so impressed with the way he described his mother. He said that though it was obvious she was heartbroken when..."I could never see what ANYONE saw in Eddie Fisher. He never impressed me one bit. I'm glad to hear that Debbie Reynolds' son says nice things about his mother. She was the kind of person who seemed to spread cheer wherever she went in spite of her troubles.
I listened to the audio version of Unsinkable: A Memoir by Debbie Reynolds. See my review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I once listened to many audio tapes of Grace Kelly's life and it was truly fascinating. I don't remember the exact title. I once had a friend whose brother and his high school friends hung with Grace so she knew her in that way. My friend was younger and her impression of Grace was that she always wore bright red lipstick and was often sitting on the top of the convertible back seat and waving as they rode through town. Doesn't give the impression of what we were to observe later.
Nina wrote: "I once listened to many audio tapes of Grace Kelly's life and it was truly fascinating. I don't remember the exact title. I once had a friend whose brother and his high school friends hung with Gra..."Nina, yes, Grace Kelly's life is very interesting to read about. She wasn't always the reserved, dignified figure she presented to the public! I am currently reading (bit by bit) my Kindle edition of Grace: Her Lives - Her Loves: The startling royal exposé by Robert Lacey.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L1EES6G/...
Just watched again after a long spell "Jane Eyre," again and it's still a good movie and Judy Dench is superb.
Nina wrote: "Just watched again after a long spell "Jane Eyre," again and it's still a good movie and Judy Dench is superb."I've never seen the 2011 version of Jane Eyre. I think I must have seen the 1943 version with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229822/f...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036969/?...
PS-Or perhaps I saw the 1970 version of Jane Eyre with George C. Scott and Susannah York. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065911/?...
Tonight I finally found a good movie after several failed searches for a good movie to stream from Amazon Prime. I bailed out of several movies in a row until I found this one. I'm so glad kept searching!I'm glad that I didn't know anything about the storyline at all before I started watching. It just kept gradually unrolling into a wonderful surprise as I watched. I only knew that it starred Christian Slater and Marisa Tomei. The musical score is perfect. Well done! Netflix has it available as a DVD. I gave it 5 stars!
The title is no help in figuring out what the movie is about. It has meaning only after you've seen the movie. Still, I don't think it's a good title. I don't think the cover drawing is a good one either. The drawing is off-putting and unappealing. In spite of all that, it's a beautiful movie in many unexpected ways. The title is:
"Untamed Heart" (1993)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108451/?...
https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Untamed...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B99N68I/...
I'm surprised that I had never heard of this movie before. I'm purposely not telling more about it. Let yourself be pleasantly surprised and touched.
I watched "Harry Brown" with Michael Caine. As usual, he did a great job, but it was a nasty sort of movie. Don't even think about it, Joy.I also finished watching "Sabotage" starring Arnie. It was awful. Reminded me of "Commando", but not as good since it seemed to take itself seriously.
Jim wrote: "I watched "Harry Brown" with Michael Caine. As usual, he did a great job, but it was a nasty sort of movie. Don't even think about it, Joy. I also finished watching "Sabotage" starring Arnie. It w..."What's the opposite of "Chick-Flicks"? There should be a word. Joe's Shows!
I just recently finished a watching of "Law and Order---The First Year". I have seen several of the spin-off series, Law and Order:Special Victims Unit, but never the original.Got the box set of DVD's from the Library. There are 22 episodes in this set though I did not get to see two of them because of damage to the disks. The series---created by Dick Wolf--is very enjoyable. Of the 20 episodes I watched five the excellent,thirteen good and two so-so. I probably will indeed watch more of the series.
Enjoy your DVDs, Mary JL. It's always good to have good shows to watch. Today I received a DVD from Netflix. I'm at the beginning of the story. So far it's awful! "Beginners" (2010)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1532503/?...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1532503/?...
One of the Netflix reviews says: "It's a real hodge-podge of tone, style, plot elements, jumbled chronology." I hate movies like this.
Besides watching "Victoria," on Masterpiece we are once again after many years watching, "Winds of War," and it proves to pass the test of time;as good as ever. Great acting by Alli McGraw and Robert Mitchen and Ralfh Bellamy. I was twelve years old when my mother said one morning, "Hitler invaded Poland and that means soon we'll be at war." My son in law's mother was in Poland at that time/1939 when she discovered two Jewish babies on their doorstep. Her family "adopted" the babies and she was twelve at the time and helped care for them. She was desvestated when a woman appeared at their door four years later and pretending to be a nurse demanded they hand over the children. They never saw them again and they were under suspecion and threatened to be cast into a prison camp. She remembers running and hearing the clanking footsteps behind them. They did escape and hid for a while before returning home. end of story except her Catechism teacher happened to be Pope John Paul
Nina wrote: "Besides watching "Victoria," on Masterpiece we are once again after many years watching, "Winds of War," and it proves to pass the test of time;as good as ever. Great acting by Alli McGraw and Robe..."Interesting story, Nina, but sad!
I just put "Victoria" on my Netflix queue.
"Victoria" - TV Series (2016– )
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5137338/?...
https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Masterp...
I really enjoyed (via a Netflix DVD) the film adaptation of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes."Me Before You" (2016)
"A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralyzed man she's taking care of." A bittersweet romance.
See my review at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Perhaps there was a message in that book/movie but to me it was terribly depressing and I guess because of my religious beliefs I don't believe in pre-conceived suicide.
Nina wrote: "Perhaps there was a message in that book/movie but to me it was terribly depressing and I guess because of my religious beliefs I don't believe in pre-conceived suicide."Yes, Nina, it was a bittersweet movie. For some reason I wasn't depressed by it, probably because the acting was so upbeat, despite the ending. I don't believe in "pcs" either but that was the young man's choice.
Not that I haven't seen "Breakfast at Tiffany's" before but watched it again and was interested that the announcer said they originally wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the lead and Audrey was second choice and the author of the book it was based on, Truman Capote disliked Audrey playing the part and never thought she did a good job and I really thought she was perfect and it came up with several Oscar nominations and won for the song, "Moon River," that I loved and they were originally going to cut it from the movie. Just trivia.
Nina wrote: "Not that I haven't seen "Breakfast at Tiffany's" before but watched it again and was interested that the announcer said they originally wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the lead and Audrey was second ..."I loved that movie!
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054698/?...
"A young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building."
Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054698/v...
The TCM Channel is currently airing "The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella". (1976) (Richard Chamberlain plays the Prince.)http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075232/?...
I wasn't going to watch it but I kept the TV on in the background as the movie played. Now I realize that it has a whole new music score that I have never heard.
I searched for the composers of the musical score and found that the film's songs (Academy Award-nominated) were written by the Sherman Brothers – Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman.
I was surprised to learn that "the Sherman Brothers wrote more motion-picture musical song scores than any other songwriting team in film history. Film scores of the Sherman Brothers include Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Charlotte's Web and The Aristocats."
See the complete listing of their songs at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman...
PS-BTW, Richard Chamberlin is now my age (born in 1934). He'll be 83 in March! He's aged rather well... better than I have. :)PICS:
http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Ri...
http://static.tvgcdn.net/mediabin/gal...
http://www.dallasvoice.com/wp-content...
WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard...
I don't think I would have liked Marilyn M. in Breakfast at Tiffany's and do you agree Joy?
Loved the music in Mary Poppins/every song. Chitty C Bang Bang good also.
Nina wrote: "I don't think I would have liked Marilyn M. in Breakfast at Tiffany's and do you agree Joy?"I agree with you, Nina. Audrey Hepburn was perfect. Monroe couldn't hold a candle to her.
My sister suggested I watch "A Box of Faith" and I get this free with my membership to Prime Amazon. http://www.dove.org/review/10670-a-bo...
A good feel kind of movie.
Linda wrote: "My sister suggested I watch "A Box of Faith" and I get this free with my membership to Prime Amazon. http://www.dove.org/review/10670-a-bo...
A good feel kind of movie."
Linda, thanks for the link about the film, "A Box of Faith". I see that it's available free to Prime Amazon members. So I put it on my Amazon Watchlist.
Below are several links to web pages about the film:
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5007774/?...
NETFLIX: https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/A-Box-o...
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Box-Faith-Sava...
"Alone and on her own, sixteen-year-old Dior figures out how to survive on the streets by the stroke of a spiritual pen."
BTW, the annual fee for Amazon Prime members is $ 105.93. The charge just showed up on my credit card. It used to be $99.00!
Today I searched Amazon for a good movie and, surprisingly enough, I found one! This movie stars Albert Finney with a wonderful supporting cast, including Rufus Sewell, Michael Gambon, Brenda Fricker, and many others."A Man of No Importance" (1994)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110455/?...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N53M7S2/...
(Netflix doesn't seem to have it as a DVD.)
I'm glad I had no idea what it was about. I just started watching and let it unroll before me. Albert Finney draws you in like a magnet... you don't need any other motivation to keep watching.
Finally, near the end, I realized what the story was really about. What kept me watching was that I knew it was going somewhere. I just didn't know where. I'm glad I made the trip. Not knowing anything about the story gave the ending a wonderful wallop! That's why I'm glad I didn't realize the aim of the story until the end.
I can't understand why I had never heard of this movie before!
PS-I was so impressed with this movie that I've made it a separate topic at: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Once more I searched (in vain) for a good movie to stream. Anthony Hopkins sounded like a good bet. So I watched:"The City of Your Final Destination" (2009) Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XRDAP3E/...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0896923/?...
I found it to be as dull as the title sounds. Bad bet.
Adapted from the book: City of Your Final Destination by Peter Cameron
The NYTimes book review is just as dull as the movie. Not only that, I found the review impenetrable. That's the NY Times! Or maybe I'm just tired and turned-off at this point.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/15/boo...
PS-At least I watched it to the end! That's saying something at this point!
One of my very favorite movies is "84 Charring Cross Road," and that's partly because I so liked Anthony Hopkins in it.
Nina wrote: "One of my very favorite movies is "84 Charring Cross Road," and that's partly because I so liked Anthony Hopkins in it."I loved that movie too, Nina. I also liked the movie in which Hopkins played the butler, "The Remains of the Day", an adaptation of the book, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Joy H. wrote: "Linda wrote: "My sister suggested I watch "A Box of Faith" and I get this free with my membership to Prime Amazon. http://www.dove.org/review/10670-a-bo...
A good feel kind of movie."
Lin..."
Yes, I thought it was $99.00. Saw charge on credit card for the $105 and figured taxes? Still a good deal with some free e-books, prime shows, free shipping through Amazon, etc.
Linda wrote: "Yes, I thought it was $99.00. Saw charge on credit card for the $105 and figured taxes? Still a good deal with some free e-books, prime shows, free shipping through Amazon, etc. "With Amazon Prime, at least I can stream "prime" movies instantly. I gave up on streaming Netflix because their choice of movies was terrible. I now get only DVDs from Netflix.
And yes, as you point out, Amazon Prime has other advantages, not the least of which is free shipping!
Watched an old movie last night again and loved it all over again, "You've Got Mail." And isn't Tom Hanks a terrific actor and when Meg Ryan supposedly had a bad cold how to they get someone to sound like they have a cold when they haven't one?
Nina wrote: "Watched an old movie last night again and loved it all over again, "You've Got Mail." And isn't Tom Hanks a terrific actor and when Meg Ryan supposedly had a bad cold how to they get someone to sou..."Yes, Meg and Tom are a great combination!
An oldie, goodie, "You've Got Mail." Makes me think of "Sleepless in Seattle" also with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
Has anyone ever seen the original film before "You've Got Mail"? It was:"The Shop Around the Corner" (1940)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033045/?...
"Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal."
The same story was done as a musical in:
"In the Good Old Summertime" (1949) with : Judy Garland, Van Johnson & S.Z. Sakall .
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041507/?...
All 3 films are wonderful to watch! Such a cute plot!
Oh my goodness, Yes! I've seen "The Shop Around the Corner" with Jimmy Stewart. Growing up he was my all time favorite.
Here are 2 movies I've watched in the past which I'd like to pass on to others. "The Magic of Belle Isle" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1839654/?...
starring Morgan Freeman.
and this one is cute. Absolutely fell in love with the little boy - called "Angel in the House." https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Angel-i...
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