Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review
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Wow, you're really techno savy. I'm in the dark ages when it comes to technology.
I know enough, but I haven't really kept up on the newer tech stuff. There are a lot of people who know more tech stuff than I do.
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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
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Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writer: Hayao Miyazaki
Voice Actors: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino
Genre: Animation, Adventure
Country: Japan
Synopsis: An unhappy 10 year old girl moves with her family to the suburbs. She's lazy and uncaring...During a wrong way turn onto an abandoned country road, the family gets out of their car and walks down a long tunnel, and into a world ruled by spirit beings...where humans if caught trespassing are changed into animals.
Review: I really enjoyed this! I watched the English audio version, there is also the original Japanese language version with subtitles. I connected to this film right from the start.
What I loved about Spirited Away was that it's so richly detailed with wonderfully interesting spirit characters. The story both written and directed by Miyazaki excels in 'world building' much like Ridley Scott did in Blade Runner. We're treated to a uniquely different world with its on set of rules and traditions. And we're showing many aspects of it, from the deep bowels where coal is stoked into the fires by little dust creatures to the upper world of the bath house which is richly appointed with it's own characters and ways of doing things.
The bath house was immense like some castle labyrinth, I want to go there! Each room had it's own interesting design, every time we enter a new room there's something fascinating to see. In some ways this reminded me of the Alice in Wonderland, stories with a new adventure at every turn!
I loved that the animators understood the relationship between lighting and color gradients. Much care was given to making the film look real and three dimensional. I was impressed that cinematography camera angles were used. We get low angle and overhand shots, fly by shots and more. Just like a well made live action film, Spirited Away has amazing cinematography, lighting and sets.
Of course the star of the Spirited Away is the little girl who must cope with insurmountable odds to save the day. She seems real, with real emotions, so I cared about her plight. This was a very enjoyable film to watch.
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Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
Director: Alfred HitchcockCast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes
Genre: Mystery,Thriller, Romance
About: A San Francisco police detective (James Stewart) during a robbery chase, nearly falls from a tall building...and develops acrophobia (the extreme fear of heights). The detective, now retired is hired to investigate the strange activities of an old friend's wife (Kim Novak), who according to her husband has been possessed by the spirit of a woman who committed suicide a 100 years earlier. The detective ends up falling in love with the mysterious woman.
My Thoughts: When Vertigo came out it was panned by audiences and critics alike. Hitchcock blamed James Stewart for being too old to have a believable romance with Kim Novak. Hitch also blamed Kim Novak saying she was the wrong choice. Personally I liked Kim Novak in this and everyone loves James Stewart. I never thought of him as being too old either.
I did like the movie. I love the way Hitch incorporated vertical themes into many of his scenes and sets. Two examples are shown below in the photos.
Midge's apartment, with huge bay windows looking out from dizzying heights to the cityscape below. Notice how the set is dressed vertically with points of interest from floor to ceiling. Hitch repeats this set idea in many of the scenes.
The art museum, here too the space is big and tall. Note how Kim Novak looks small and is low in the frama and looking up. Makes me feel dizzy just looking at it.
What I thought failed was the special effects for the scenes where we see the effects of vertigo. They didn't feel intense enough. Hitch needed to have a couple more brief scenes establishing just how impeded James Stewart's character was by his fear of his heights. This is the main part of the film and it should have been played up more.
I bet audiences back in 1958 laughed at the dream sequences. I thought some of the elements were comically fun, and overly cartoonish to be taken seriously. Though other elements of the dream scene looked and worked great.
I think Hitch also failed to convey a budding romance between the two leads...or maybe they just didn't have chemistry? They meet, their in love, their separated, they can't live without each other. But it doesn't feel like we the audience, fall in love at the same time. Hitch is a great technical director with his use of creative studio lighting and in Vertigo I think it's Hitch's love for pazazz that gets in the way of the human element being realized.
But hey, this is still a Hitch film which makes it better than the average bear. And you can't go wrong with James Stewart in the lead, especially when Hitch makes even the smallest details look so important.
I like Vertigo, but I think James Stewart and Kim Novak didn't have any chemistry together, and yes, I think their age difference was part of the reason. But I have a bad fear of heights, and I get dizzy, and sometimes even pass out, in high places, so I can relate to what he's going through.
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Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1955)
Writers: John Patrick(screenplay), Han Suyin(novel)
Cast: William Holden, Jennifer Jones, Torin Thatcher
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
About: Set during the last days of the Chinese communist revolution of the 1950s...A beautiful Eurasian woman (Jennifer Jones) who's recently widowed, works as a doctor in the Hong Kong hospital. Hers is an uneventful life until she meets and fall in love with an American newspaper correspondent (William Holden).
Review: The 1950's were the time of big budget, Hollywood soap-opera dramas like Peyton Place, Some Came Running and of course all those wonderful Douglas Sirk films...But don't mistake Love Is a Many Splendored Thing for a soapy style drama, it's not. It's a straight forward telling of a difficult (at the time) interracial relationship between a white American male and a woman of Chinese and European parents, a Euroasian. The film focuses on the two people and their growing love for each other, as well as the problems society and their families create for them.
Beautiful set in Hong Kong, the film is a thing of beauty. We're treated to many first hand scenes set in the crowded streets of Hong Kong...and that harbor! Oh my, it's alone worth watching.
Jennifer Jones reads a letter from her lover William Holden who's been sent to cover the war in Korea.
Both Jennifer Jones and William Holden have believable screen chemistry. What I like here, is that we, the audience also fall in love as the two leads do. Jennifer Jones brings to the movie a reserved, self disciplined, yet spiritual and hopeful character in Han Suyin.
William Holden might very well be at his finest here. We're use to seeing him play the confident, swaggering maverick. Here we see a more sincere and compassionate side. His character Mark Elliott is forthright with his emotions and shows tenderness towards his love interest. Which is a testimony to his acting as reportedly Jennifer Jones and William Holden didn't get along at all! She went as far as eating garlic before their big romantic kiss, yuk. Holden should have won an Oscar just for kissing the pungent tasting girl.
William Holden might very well be at his finest here. We're use to seeing him play the confident, swaggering maverick. Here we see a more sincere and compassionate side. His character Mark Elliott is forthright with his emotions and shows tenderness towards his love interest. Which is a testimony to his acting as reportedly Jennifer Jones and William Holden didn't get along at all! She went as far as eating garlic before their big romantic kiss, yuk. Holden should have won an Oscar just for kissing the pungent tasting girl.
I was hoping to watch Love Is a Many Splendored Thing before turning in my 1950's list, but I haven't had the chance to watch it yet. I'm pretty sure that I saw it many years ago, but I don't remember much about it.
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Anatomy of a Murder (Otto Preminger, 1959)
Director: Otto Preminger
Cast: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Otto Preminger knows how to make a movie! Who else could make a 2 hour 40 minute movie about a murder investigation with a long trial and yet make it interesting? Without using over dramatization, Preminger tells a straight forward story as he takes a frank look at the inner workings of the judicial system.
Cast: James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Otto Preminger knows how to make a movie! Who else could make a 2 hour 40 minute movie about a murder investigation with a long trial and yet make it interesting? Without using over dramatization, Preminger tells a straight forward story as he takes a frank look at the inner workings of the judicial system.
Preminger masterfully controlled the story keeping it focused. Many other directors would have thrown in a car chase or a gun battle or two. Another director would have been tempted to create a romantic sub plot around Lee Remick and James Stewart. But this is a tight film, it has focus, it knows what it wants to be and it delivers.
Preminger's cinematography is polished. The camera glides effortlessly. I loved how the film opens with a Duke Ellington jazz score that tells us James Stewart's character marches to a different drummer. The score tells us he's a bit roguish but likable. Equally impressive was how the score changed when we get to the trial portion of the film, then it was all business. Preminger has all the elements of film making in harmonization.
James Stewart is always amazing. What's amazing here is he plays his character more subdued than he usually does. He's not as quirky, not as colorful...and that matches the feel of the movie. Same goes for George C Scott, amazing always. Here he's powerful but not uber powerful as he often is. He's metered, also matching the style of the film. Artur O'Connelly and Eve Arden were good choices to lighten the film some.
I liked Ben Gazzara's performance he seemed capable of committing a violent act of passion.
Anatomy of a Murder is rich in detail and nuances. I found the realistic study of how defense and prosecuting attorneys operate in a court of law fascinating.
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Anatomy of a Murder is rich in detail and nuances. I found the realistic study of how defense and prosecuting attorneys operate in a court of law fascinating.
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Anatomy of a Murder is a great movie, and a strong candidate for my 1950's list.
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I like Vertigo, but I think James Stewart and Kim Novak didn't have any chemistry together, and yes, I think their age difference was part of the reason. But I have a bad fear of heights, and I get dizzy, and sometimes even pass out, in high places, so I can relate to what he's going through.
I was hoping to watch Love Is a Many Splendored Thing before turning in my 1950's list, but I haven't had the chance to watch it yet. I'm pretty sure that I saw it many years ago, but I don't remember much about it.
Anatomy of a Murder is a great movie, and a strong candidate for my 1950's list.
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I had so many great 50s films that it was the hardest list for me to make so far.
I know how you feel. I've been narrowing down my '50's list so I'll be ready to submit it, and it's going up and down like a yo-yo. Every time I remove a movie from my list, I regret removing it and try to remove something else to put it back on.
But if you think that's hard, try voting in the Old Fogey Song Tournament. I think that's even harder.
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A Man for All Seasons (Fred Zinnemann, 1966)
Director: Fred ZinnemannWriters: Robert Bolt (stageplay), Robert Bolt(screenplay)
Cast: Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Robert Shaw, Susannah York, John Hurt, Orson Welles
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Synopsis: 16th century England: Sir Thomas More who's a respected lawyer, author, statesman, humanist and serves as Councillor to King Henry VIII, puts his life in danger when he opposes the King's rejection of the Roman Catholic Church. Thomas More's steadfast holding to his religious beliefs stands in the way of the king being granted a divorce and remarriage. A matter of upmost importance to the King, as so far the King has no male heirs, only daughters.
Review: I had seen this before a few years ago and had completely forgotten it. Probably because despite the very dramatic history being presented, the film itself isn't that emotional. That's not a bad thing...The film presents a more intellectual picture of Sir Thomas More and goes into depth with his mental reasoning's for opposing the King wishes. Sir More was a man of deep beliefs and would not budge from those beliefs, even when his life was endangered the film explores his convictions and the man behind them.
Cardinal Wolsey (Orson Welles) has a confrontation with Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofied).
I like period pieces and the story of England's infamous King Henry VIII and his clash with the Catholic Church and Sir Thomas More is the stuff of legends. I thought the actors were well cast in their roles. I would have liked to seen more of Cardinal Wolsey (Orson Welles). I would also have liked a little more detail on why King Henry was seeking to be the head of his own church....The Church of England.
The outdoor scenes were excellent and the old English castles were neat to see. A slower moving film, but with great characters. I enjoyed it.
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Lee Remick was OK but didn't quite fit the role. Oh sure she's all dolled up and looks the part, but she didn't have the personality of a man crazy, party girl floozy.
I thought I had posted this already but I don't see it...it's interesting that you thought Lee Remick wasn't right for the role because she wasn't originally cast in the role. Lana Turner was originally cast in the role, but she had issues with the costume and makeup people and walked.
I thought I had posted this already but I don't see it...it's interesting that you thought Lee Remick wasn't right for the role because she wasn't originally cast in the role. Lana Turner was originally cast in the role, but she had issues with the costume and makeup people and walked.
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Lee Remick was OK but didn't quite fit the role. Oh sure she's all dolled up and looks the part, but she didn't have the personality of a man crazy, party girl floozy.
I thought I had posted this already but I don't see it...it's interesting that you thought Lee Remick wasn't right for the role because she wasn't originally cast in the role. Lana Turner was originally cast in the role, but she had issues with the costume and makeup people and walked.
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Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015)
Director: John CrowleyWriters: Nick Hornby(screenplay), Colm Tóibín(novel)
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson
Genre: Period Piece, Drama, Romance
A young Irish girl leaves her mother and sister behind and travels to America in 1951. In Brooklyn she starts a new life for herself as she falls in love with a young Italian American boy.
Review: What a wonderful film! Lovely story telling, without the usual profanity, violence and faux sex that usually accompanies the typical Hollywood movie. But....this is not a Hollywood by-the-numbers movie, it's a finely made Irish-British-Canadian film directed by John Crowley. Cowley is an up and coming film maker with only five theatrical release movies to his name (films that he directed). After watching his very personal and charming story telling of Brooklyn, I'm keen on watching other of his films. And that says a lot for this movie!
What I really appreciated about this movie is, it was made as if we were along for the ride. We see America for the first time, and we feel like Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) feels as she takes a room at a boarding house in a strange country and goes to work in a department store and struggles with her shyness, until she finds love and confidence. Latter in the film when she travels back to Ireland we feel as she feels, torn between her ancestral homeland in Ireland and her new home in America.
My highest praise is for an amazing actresses, Saoirse Ronan. She makes her character come alive by playing her character oh-so-subtly. I believed her character was real and that says a lot for this actresses.
So many films have to go 'big' in order to get the R rating and yet they fail to deliver any type of storytelling worth caring about. I cared about this film and it's story.
Sadly, it will be a long time until I find another new film that I like as much as I do this one.
My highest praise is for an amazing actresses, Saoirse Ronan. She makes her character come alive by playing her character oh-so-subtly. I believed her character was real and that says a lot for this actresses.
So many films have to go 'big' in order to get the R rating and yet they fail to deliver any type of storytelling worth caring about. I cared about this film and it's story.
Sadly, it will be a long time until I find another new film that I like as much as I do this one.
Last edited by Citizen Rules; 07-22-16 at 11:51 PM.
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Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981)
Director: George MillerWriters: Terry Hayes, George Miller
Cast: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
About: In a dystopian, post-apocalyptic wasteland where water and gasoline is a rare commodity...a hardened drifter, Max (Mel Gibson) appears on the scene and enters into a contract with a group of people who are trapped in a fortress like compound. They're gasoline rich, but surrounded by murderous bandits who want their gasoline.
We had a contract!....Max
Review: Totally awesome! This does exactly what it's designed to do and does it better than any movie of its type. It's full of interesting characters with their own quirks. There are lots of cool and strange looking autos too. But most of all it's got the coolest dude to hit a dystopian sunset...Mad Max. Mel Gibson created one hell of an iconic figure and along with his hot rod car, the last of the V8 Interceptors and his helpful dog, he kicks sci-fi ass.
Stunts! those are a huge part of the film and let me say a well executed stunt is just as impressive as some artsy camera movement. The tanker chase down a long stretch of road has enough crazy stunts to impress anyone and those are real stunts, not CG stuff.
On a personal level this film holds a deep meaning for me...it's tenet that runs through this movie and also in Beyond Thunder Dome...The cool thing about Road Warrior is that despite all of the carnage and violence, Max has a personal code of honor that he holds to and I admire that.
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Last edited by Citizen Rules; 04-10-20 at 07:17 PM.
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Hello My Name is Doris (Michael Showalter, 2015)
Director: Michael Showalter
Writers: Michael Showalter, Laura Terruso
Cast: Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Tyne Daly
Genre: Indie Drama-Comedy-Romance
Doris (Sally Fields) is an ecliptic, lonely 60ish spinster, who has spent her life living with her mother in a run down old house, filled with junk and memories. Doris is left alone after her mother dies, her only friend (Tyne Daily) tries to keep her company. Her brother and sister in-law want her to get rid of her life long collection of useless junk and sell the house. But Doris is not willing to let go of her safe space...too her the junk might be useful and holds memories.
After attending a free motivational seminar, which she buys into hook, line and sinker, Doris decides nothing in life is impossible...including pursuing a romance with her much younger and handsome office worker (Max Greenfield).
Writers: Michael Showalter, Laura Terruso
Cast: Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Tyne Daly
Genre: Indie Drama-Comedy-Romance
Doris (Sally Fields) is an ecliptic, lonely 60ish spinster, who has spent her life living with her mother in a run down old house, filled with junk and memories. Doris is left alone after her mother dies, her only friend (Tyne Daily) tries to keep her company. Her brother and sister in-law want her to get rid of her life long collection of useless junk and sell the house. But Doris is not willing to let go of her safe space...too her the junk might be useful and holds memories.
After attending a free motivational seminar, which she buys into hook, line and sinker, Doris decides nothing in life is impossible...including pursuing a romance with her much younger and handsome office worker (Max Greenfield).
Sally Fields has still got it! She takes what might be an over the top character type and grounds her in stark reality. As a result we're treated to both insightful, funny moments, as well as some very hard to watch moments. One such hard scene, is when her brother and sister in-law come to take her life long collection of stuff away from her. Doris' reaction is heart felt and real, giving us an uncomfortable scene but a very honest one.
We see a lot of ourselves in Doris and see how she makes the same life mistakes that many of us do...and so we care about her. At the same time the director shows us how pitiful Doris can be in her out of place actions, especially her attempt to break up her co-workers relationship. Almost everything Doris does in the pursuit of romance is inappropriate. That makes us squirm, just a little and that's a good thing.
Doris (Sally Fields) spends another day alone reading and fantasizing about a wonderful life.
This is an indie film, so luckily we don't get the same old tired cliches that Hollywood keeps showing us. I found the film to be fresh and refreshing. At times it made me wince, other times I smiled. But I always enjoyed the experience of watching Doris in her world.
We see a lot of ourselves in Doris and see how she makes the same life mistakes that many of us do...and so we care about her. At the same time the director shows us how pitiful Doris can be in her out of place actions, especially her attempt to break up her co-workers relationship. Almost everything Doris does in the pursuit of romance is inappropriate. That makes us squirm, just a little and that's a good thing.
Doris (Sally Fields) spends another day alone reading and fantasizing about a wonderful life.
This is an indie film, so luckily we don't get the same old tired cliches that Hollywood keeps showing us. I found the film to be fresh and refreshing. At times it made me wince, other times I smiled. But I always enjoyed the experience of watching Doris in her world.
Last edited by Citizen Rules; 09-05-22 at 07:30 PM.
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Volunteers (Nicholas Meyer, 1985)
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Cast: Tom Hanks, John Candy, Rita Wilson
Genre: Comedy
Lawrence Whatley Bourne III, yup that's his name, is a rich-snobby Harvard graduate with a bad accent and an even badder gambling habit. On the eve of his graduation he makes a double or nothing bet and loses! The bad guys give him until midnight to come up with the $28,000! No problem, the rich dad will help out right?...Well you guessed it, Lawrence high tails it to the airport and jumps on an air flight full of Peace Corp volunteers (hence the movie's name) and winds up in sunny, umm, I mean steamy hot! Thailand.
Snobby Lawrence (Tom Hanks) meets, cutie pie Beth (Rita Wilson) on the plane ride over. She's not impressed with his attempt to get her in the sack. He's not happy that he struck out.
Along the way he encounters John Candy and the future Mrs. Hanks, Rita Wilson...Along for the ride is a gang of communist guerillas, a drug lord with a bad hair-do and a crazy CIA type. His only friend is At Toon (Gedde Watanabe) better known as the fun loving exchange student from Sixteen Candles... They are all mixed up in a wacky bid for a bridge being built...shades of Bridge Over the River Kwai.
All and all this is a wacky 1980s comedy with just about every stereo typical character troupe you can think of...Now, that's not a bad thing, just leave your sense of reality in the bathroom next to your toothbrush and you'll be fine, as you explore zany characters in a far away land. You won't even care if you never see your toothbrush again.
Word up to the actors, they are what makes this film...Let's face it the story is a farce, yeah it's meant to be over-the-top...But it's Tom Hanks fun loving performance of a bumbling blue blood snob that is reminiscent of Thurston Howl the III from Gilligan's Island, that makes the film go.
Let's not forget that comic genius of John Candy. This movie was early in Candy's film career and he doesn't get top billing, but does that stop him from stealing the show? Hell no! You should watch this just for Candy, I did.
Last but certainly not least is the lovely Rita Wilson, who's cute as the bubbly Peace Corp worker. She's so bubbly that in real life Tom Hanks fell in love with her on the set and they married..and they're still married!
What more could you want than that?
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Word up to the actors, they are what makes this film...Let's face it the story is a farce, yeah it's meant to be over-the-top...But it's Tom Hanks fun loving performance of a bumbling blue blood snob that is reminiscent of Thurston Howl the III from Gilligan's Island, that makes the film go.
Let's not forget that comic genius of John Candy. This movie was early in Candy's film career and he doesn't get top billing, but does that stop him from stealing the show? Hell no! You should watch this just for Candy, I did.
Last but certainly not least is the lovely Rita Wilson, who's cute as the bubbly Peace Corp worker. She's so bubbly that in real life Tom Hanks fell in love with her on the set and they married..and they're still married!
What more could you want than that?
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I thought I'd seen just about every Tom Hanks & John Candy movie, but after reading the description & seeing the photos, this doesn't even sound remotely familiar. So it's going on the "watch list."
P.S. that photo with Watanabee is weird because it looks like the old man behind him has his beard morphing into Watanabee's shirt! (???)
I can't tell where the old man's beard ends and Watanabee's torso begin. It's like they're "Siamese" brothers joined at the beard & shoulder!
P.S. that photo with Watanabee is weird because it looks like the old man behind him has his beard morphing into Watanabee's shirt! (???)
I can't tell where the old man's beard ends and Watanabee's torso begin. It's like they're "Siamese" brothers joined at the beard & shoulder!
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I can't tell where the old man's beard ends and Watanabee's torso begin. It's like they're "Siamese" brothers joined at the beard & shoulder! 
BTW, I requested Airplane at your recommendation, months ago...I just picked that up from the library, so I will be watching that very soon. And it's another 80s movie I never seen. Come to think of it I must have missed the 80s all together
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