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 lately? (PART FOUR - 2011) (ongoing thread)
message 451:
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Nina
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Apr 27, 2011 04:55PM
Our book selection for June in our book club is "The Man Who loved Books Too Much." I will post some of the comments after our discussion. nina
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Jim, you and Marg probably watch TV together. That's nice. Eddie won't watch DVDs with me because I tend to rewind and go back for clarifications. Also, we don't usually like the same shows.Today I received the Netflix DVD of the movie adapted from the book, The Lightning Thief. I started reading the book a while ago but I wasn't drawn in. So I stopped reading. Now at least I'll get to see how the plot progressed. So far, I've seen Zeus and Poseidon at the beginning of the film. Still have to watch the rest tonight (if I can pull myself away from John Cheever's biography). (g) I was never thrilled with Greek mythology, but maybe this film will change my attitude a bit. After all, I have to learn who stole the lightning. :)
I read this book because my great grandson liked it so much he told his mother he would read anything this author wrote until he died. What a recommendation from a twelve year old boy! I could understand it's appeal after reading it. nina
Nina, do you think the boy will start stealing books? :) Only kidding! (lol)
I read "The Lightening Thief" & it was OK. Glad your g'grandson liked it, Nina. Anything that gets a kid to read is super, in my book. ;-)
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
We watched half of "Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Downey Jr. I hadn't thought I'd like it too much based on what I'd heard about how Downey played Holmes, but I think he's got it, by Jove! Seriously, Holmes in the books was an erratic genius & Downey seems to be capturing that fairly well. Can't wait to see the other half, maybe tomorrow night.
Yes, Joy, we do watch together since we only have the one. I only get the TV at lunch on weekends, otherwise it's Marg's.
;-)
Well, Jim, I doubt if you watch TV enough to warrant a separate TV. :) You're too busy with other things.As I said in a previous post, I watched "Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Downey, Jr. via Netflix. Too dark and too much action for me. (But I admit, Downey was good. So was Jude Law.) Even Ebert commented on the dark atmosphere of the movie. But I guess that goes with the territory.
The other day I watched the 1939 film, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" on TCM.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031022/
Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce made a great team. I found the following online about this film:
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[It was] "The second of the 14 Sherlock Holmes movies starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce..."
"Unfortunately, it was the last time he would don the famous Inverness cape and deerstalker cap."
See more at: http://www.basilrathbone.net/films/sh...
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I had to smile at your comment about Shanen stealing a book. He looks so much now like the Biber sensation we have a lot of fun teasing him about that when the girls start screaming at him. He was fourteen last Saturday and yes, he still reads. nina
Nina wrote: "I had to smile at your comment about Shanen... He was fourteen last Saturday and yes, he still reads."Nina, it's so important for kids to keep reading. I wish all of them knew what a difference it makes in one's life. Reading enhances their development in so many ways, some of them being the improvement of their vocabulary and the increase in their knowledge. The earlier they begin to make a habit of reading, the more profound will be the effects on their development. I wish I had started the habit of reading earlier in life. I'm trying to catch up now, but it's too late acquire so many of the hidden advantages one gains when starting young.
(Re message 450), you're welcome, Joy!
I watched three movies recently.The Eagle, which seemed nothing more than a Duty Honor Country propaganda film. Parts of it were utterly ridiculous. Beautiful scenery and good music but not enough to make it worth recommending.
Tron Legacy. Mediocre. I thought it would have been better. Even the special effects weren't that impressive.
Season of the Witch. Another mediocre film.
All in all, I felt like I wasted 6 hours on these 3 movies.
I'm a Holmesphile, hving read all56 short stories and four novels twice. Rathbone, will always be Shelock Holmes for me---he uncannily resembled the original illustrations of Holmes from the 1880's magazine.
Unfortunately, only one of the Rathbone/Holmes films
wqas based on Conan Doyle's writings, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" .
Jeremy Brett on PBS was quite good, but I thought he played Sherlock a bit too cold and borderline OCD, without much of the humor and and humanity of Doyle's creation.
Have you seen the latest one with Downey, Arnie. It's been years since I read all the Holmes stories, but I still have an old, much read set of two hardbacks that my grandfather gave me. I don't know if all the stories are in those 2 volumes, but I'd guess all were. I'll have to count them tonight.
Jim, I saw parts of the Downey film and, apart from his being the antithesis of what you expect Holmes to look like, the storyline seemed more like something you'd expect from a Nicholas Cage film.
I like the manic/depressive character Downey brings to the role which was something I missed with Rathbone, although he certainly looked & sounded the part better. Rathbone was too staid for Doyle's character.The story line is nothing like anything Doyle wrote. That is a bit of a bummer, but pretty typical of movies today.
I saw the Downey Sherlock Holmes movie back last fall, and commented on it at some length here on this thread on Sept. 5, 2010. So I won't rehash any of my comments now. (As Master Yoda from Star Wars would tell me, "Stated, your opinion is!" :-) )Jeremy Brett remains my favorite cinematic Holmes (though I'm ashamed to admit I've never seen Rathbone in the role). Matt Frewer plays an interesting Holmes, though --a bit different take than Brett's.
I'm still watching the movie version of The Lightning Thief (aka "Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1"). I can only take a little of it at a time before it loses my attention. Lots of CGI. At least now I know that Percy was named after the god, Perseus, the son of Zeus. I got a kick out of the wings attached to the sneakers. (lol) I can see that the film might be a good way to get kids into Greek Mythology because it brings the gods to life. When I get tired of TLT, I go back to _Cheever - A Life_. There are 21 or 22 discs in the audio album. I'm at around disc 10.
I hear that they're adapting She's Come Undone to film. I just finished reading the book. I heard that Reese Witherspoon will play the part of Dolores Price. Seems to me that she doesn't fit the part at all. Will they pad her clothing to make her obese? I doubt if she'd put on that many pounds for a part. Maybe they'll just ignore the fact that she's supposed to be obese, although that was an integral part of the story.
Arnie, I didn't know that "only one of the Rathbone/Holmes films was based on Conan Doyle's writings, The Hound of the Baskervilles". Interesting.
I have a bright great granddaughter who had read 14 books by the time she was four. She called her grandmother on the phone on her fourth birthday and read her The Cat In The Hat. She is encouraged at home to continue her love affair with books. nina
What a pleasure that must have been, Nina, hearing one's little granddaughter reading the book on the phone. So adorable.
I got my The Complete Sherlock Holmes: All 4 Novels & 56 Short Stories out & found that it did indeed have all the stories plus the 4 novels. My edition is from 1953, not exactly the one in the link, & I'm sad to say, the binding is starting to go a bit. I'd forgotten, but I read The Valley of Fear not too long ago. It's odd, at least half is a western, with Sherlock Holmes appearing only in the first & last quarters. The middle is told by someone else & takes place in the US old West.
Jim wrote: "I got my The Complete Sherlock Holmes: All 4 Novels & 56 Short Stories out & found that it did indeed have all the stories plus the 4 novels. ..."Jim, that's a great book to have in your collection!
Netflixed North and Southhttp://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Nor...
Hated the first 20 minutes, but then got into it. Boy-meets-girl in foggy olde England. I'll give it 3 stars, and have the 2nd and final dvd coming.
Earl, as predictable as North and South is, I still found it enjoyable. 3 stars is what I'd give it too.
Thanks, Joy. It is. It still has Grandpa's book name plate in it, too. A nice remembrance of him.
This coming Wednesday, 5/4/11 at 8 PM, TCM will be airing "Stepping Out", a musical.I saw the TV ads and it looks like an entertaining movie.
"Stepping Out" (1991): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102979/
Stars: Liza Minnelli, Shelley Winters and Robyn Stevan
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THE USER REVIEW AT IMDb SAYS: "Someone wrote that "Stepping Out" was mostly forgettable. I beg to differ. It is not really 'mostly forgettable', just formulaic. BUT that is what I like about it. I like the old 'Let's find a barn and put on a show' plots -- that's what I liked watching when I was growing up. So, 'Stepping Out' is a great example of the genre. Liza shines -- good music, great dancing and seeing the incomparable Shelly Winters was a plus. Some of the supporting cast have moved up the ladder -- Jane Krakowski, Julie Walters, Bill Erwin, Sheila McCarthy, Andrea Martin, Robyn Stevan, Ellen Greene, Carol woods, Luke Reilly. I see their name in the credits and I remember what fun it is to watch "Stepping Out" again. It reminds me of the small dance studios all over the country. I should know -- I took a tap class at one."
==========================================================
ROGER EBERT'S REVIEW IS AT: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/p...
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EXCERPTS: " 'Stepping Out' is an amateur night version of 'Chorus Line,' in which the members of a tap dance class face their individual problems and tell their own stories, while rehearsing for the big production number that will inevitably end the movie. Room is made for a couple of production numbers featuring the star, Liza Minnelli, and they're so good they left me wishing for more Liza and fewer problems in the chorus. ...
...
"But the movie is neither fish nor fowl. As a song-and-dance picture, it talks too much. As a drama, it's superficial and locked into a formula. Maybe it will remind somebody what a wonderful talent Liza Minnelli has, and they will do something with it, like putting her in a real musical."
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MATCHFLICK REVIEW: http://www.matchflick.com/movie-revie...
EXCERPTS: "A great big cast of talented, awesome people who want to be dancers in Liza Minnelli's school. ... It is a joy to see a very young Jane Krakowski ('Ally Macbeal', '30 Rock') as the brilliant dancer she once was, as well as comic slapstick genius Bill Irwin in an underwritten but still great role."
Today I watched a Netflix DVD of "Secretariat" (2010). I enjoyed the movie. The characters were likable and the horse was lovable. The final race was very exciting. It was an amazing true story.Although I haven't read the book, Secretariat by William Nack, I posted some information about Secretariat at my book review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Barb and I loved that movie too, Joy. Glad to hear you liked it!
Yes, Werner, I remember that you brought up the subject of the movie, "Secretariat", back in on 10/16/10 in Part Three of our Movie threads. Jim and Jackie chimed in. The conversation started at Message #1089 at the following thread:http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...
I see that Kathryn also started a conversation about "Secretariat" at Message #438 in the following "Coming Soon" thread on 10/7/10.:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...
Nina and Jim jumped in too.
Well, I finally got around to seeing the film this month, May 2011. Better late than never. I always wait for Netflix to make the DVD available. Sooner or later, I catch up with things.
I watch most of my movies on DVD (or VHS) too, Joy! :-)
This week I recorded Body Of Lies off TNT. http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Bod...
This was probably one of the last movies I saw in a theater, before finally giving up on the incomprehensible audio. Boy, it was SO much better at home with subtitles and my headphones! Really enjoyed it.
Netflixed Sorcerer's Apprentice
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The...
I gave it 2 stars out of 5. I've enjoyed many Nicholas Cage's movies, but he seems to consistently make stinkers of late. Maybe they're easier/faster for him to do? Wish he'd be more picky about his scripts.
Yeah, Cage has beeen in more dogs than Alpo, in recent years--- I guess he's cryin' all the way to the bank.
I agree about Cage. SA was awful, and even his acting was poor. I recently saw Season of the Witch, yes, you guessed it, another 'stinker'. I never thought Cage was all that talented but he's gotten worse as the years go by.
We just watched "Edge of Darkness" with Mel Gibson. It was pretty good. A bit much in parts - too Hollywood. (view spoiler) The end is left open, to some extent, which helped a lot.
Jim wrote: "We just watched "Edge of Darkness" with Mel Gibson. It was pretty good. A bit much in parts - too Hollywood. Gibson was a veteran, supposedly a Master Sergeant at the age of 20 when he mustered..."Netflix says: "This movie is: Violent, Dark, Gritty, Suspenseful."
Here are the links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226273/
http://movies.netflix.com/Search?v1=E...
Sounds like man's movie. Instead of "Chic Lit" it's "Gents' Genre".
Whoops! I goofed my spoiler tag. Just fixed it. Sorry about that.I don't know, Joy. Marg liked it, but we both like Gibson's acting. In some ways, it reminded me of "Payback" but not quite as gritty. I'm surprised I never heard of it. Probably his personal life impacting his acting career. Yuck.
Netflix says that the movie, "Payback" (1999), is: "Violent, Exciting"http://movies.netflix.com/WiSearch?v1...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120784/
"Porter is shot by his wife and best friend and is left to die. When he survives he plots revenge."
IMDb's summary of "Edge of Darkness" (2010) says:
"As homicide detective Thomas Craven investigates the death of his activist daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence."
Both movies are about murder or attemped murder. I guess the two movies could be considered part of the "mystery/crime/suspense" genres. Both got about 2 & 1/2 stars out of 5 at Netflix.
Marg probably enjoyed "Edge of Darkness" because she was watching it with you.
I watched the Netflix DVD, "La Vie En Rose"(2007).http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450188/
"The life story of singer Édith Piaf."
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/La_...
==================================================
"In this biopic, director Olivier Dahan creates a poignant portrait of legendary Parisian singer Édith Piaf (played by Marion Cotillard in an Oscar-winning performance), whose passion for music saw her through a life filled with tragedy. The film follows the chanteuse from her forlorn childhood in a brothel to her big break at Louis Leplée's (Gérard Depardieu) nightclub and her premature death at age 47." -from Netflix
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I thought the movie was uneven. Parts of it dragged, but it was a heart-touching story and interesting in parts. The music was beautiful but, in an attempt to be arty, the director slowed down the story with instrumental interludes and draggy scenes.
However, Marion Cotillard deserved the Oscar she received. She did a great job. In the bonus features she was interviewed and I was surprised at how young and pretty she really is. The makeup people really changed her a lot. The Bonus part showed them putting on the makeup. Interesting.
IMO, there were too many confusing time-shifts (an attempt to be arty again). At one point it became surrealistic. I was often baffled by the switching back and forth in time. In fact it was annoying. I haven't read any of the professional reviews yet. I'm wondering if they will echo my feelings just a little bit. Probably not. They LOVE that arty stuff! I gave the film 3 Netflix stars out of 5.
BTW, the director explained in the Bonus part that he adapted the film from many of the sources of info about Edith Piaf, not one particular book.
I skimmed the book, No Regrets: The Life of Edith Piaf. It was interesting but not compelling. See my review here:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Today I watched a Netflix DVD of "Black Swan"."Black Swan" (2010)
http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/Black...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/
Stars: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel
"A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile, the Black Swan."
I gave this movie only 1 Netflix star out of 5. I found it creepy and boring and couldn't wait for it to be over. There was hardly anything to the plot except for watching the main character lose her mind. The ending left me completely unsatisfied. It didn't make sense at all. If ambiguity like this is art, you can have it.
I felt the same way Joy. I thought it was terribly boring. Although Natalie Portman did a good job, it just didn't mean anything in light of the dull story.
I have mixed feelings about ambiguity.
Matt Soergel---excellent critic from Florida Times-Union---not a bandwagon jumperSwan' is a dark, odd bird, indeed
2 stars out of 4
Darren Aronofsky's last movie, "The Wrestler," was the best movie of 2008. His newest, "Black Swan," set in the world of ballet, has a similar theme — the toll, physical and mental, that some will take on in pursuit of their passion.
But this is a melodramatic mess, one that aims to be a twisted psychological thriller yet traffics only in the obvious. It doesn't help that it's populated by symbols, not people, relying all-too readily on horror-flick tricks and inch-deep psychoanalysis.
For all of Natalie Portman's impressive angst as a tormented ballet dancer, all you need to know is that she's sexually repressed, sleeps only with the big stuffed bunnies of her childhood, and that her creepy ex-ballet dancer mother (Barbara Hershey) still tucks her in at night.
Now she's cracking up, just as she lands the lead role in "Swan Lake" at her ballet company. She's bleeding from mysterious scratches, has some really icky things going on with her nails, and seems to have some feathers coming out of her skin. She's seeing things too, in mirrors, on the street - quick-cut images out of some third-rate horror movie (strangers seem to be morphing into her face).
Is she nuts? Sure seems like it. The advice she's getting from her company's manipulative artistic director (Vincent Cassel) isn't helping, either.
He tells her she's fine for the White Swan role. But for the Black Swan alter ego? She's far too frigid, he says, then offers her a suggestion or two on how to resolve that matter.
The first step she takes to address her frigidity leads to the movie's biggest laugh, which I'm not sure was intentional. A later step leads to a buzzed-about sex scene with a rival dancer played by Mila Kunis of "That '70s Show." That, too, ends with laughter, if you're in the mood.
I kind of admired how far Aronofsky was willing to push the nuttiness in "Black Swan." I just wish he'd come up with something more than the good-girl/bad-girl shtick.
The movie works best as a bit of tongue-in-cheek high camp (it could have a second life as an art-house midnight movie), but it doesn't appear as if anyone connected with the movie was in such a light-hearted mood.
Jackie: I agree that Natalie Portman did a good job with the part.Arnie: That was a good summary of "Black Swan". As Jackie said, it was boring. I couldn't wait for it to end. I wasn't enjoying it at all. There were no likable characters. They all turned me off.
I call it "The English Patient" Syndrome amongst critics--thank God for Elaine on "Seinfeld"!
Arnie wrote: "I call it "The English Patient" Syndrome amongst critics--thank God for Elaine on "Seinfeld"!"I agreed with Elaine. Hated The English Patient, both the book and the movie. The book was too ambiguous, not enough exposition. I NEED exposition! I hate ambiguity!
During its showing (The E.P.)---I called suicide hotline twice!
Arnie wrote: "During its showing (The E.P.)---I called suicide hotline twice!"LOL - Good line, Arnie.
What is it about these producers and directors that they want to create such depressing films! No wonder people need to take tranquillizers and anti-anxiety/anti-depression pills. Contemporary producers, directors, and writers don't seem to know how to create sophisticated comedy and light-hearted films. That's because smart, witty humor is more difficult to create than serious drama. Ask any comedian. It's tougher to be funny than it is to be serious.
As GB Shaw disapprovingly watched a rehearsal of one of his plays, he said to the actors,""This may all be very well enough for drama---but this is COMEDY!"
Arnie wrote: "As GB Shaw disapprovingly watched a rehearsal of one of his plays, he said to the actors, 'This may all be very well enough for drama---but this is COMEDY!'""Those wanting wit affect gravity, and go by the name of solid men."
-John Dryden
Joy wrote: What is it about these producers and directors that they want to create such depressing films! Which is why I prefer fantasy. I've got my own reality every day, I don't need to get depressed over someone else's.
Jackie wrote: "Which is why I prefer fantasy. I've got my own reality every day, I don't need to get depressed over someone else's."Exactly!!!
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Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
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