Movie Tab II

Black Narcissus

This wonderfully atmospheric film set in the Himalayas was actually all shot in a studio, but the studio and cinematography allows them to explore wonderful styles.

Basically a group of nuns, lead by Deborah Kerr, set up a school in the Himalayas, in a building which used to be a brothel. So far, a nice nun film, little bit of trouble with setting up the school and one wayward nun...but the ending is terrifying, even on the small screen. And there's a wonderfully shocking scene where we see the mad nun putting on red lipstick. These were the days when one could be subtle and suggestive. Surpisingly it's a U, even though it's basically about sexual repression.

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You cannot have it both ways. A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love can never be a great dancer. Never. (The Red Shoes, 1948)

A Woman's Face (1941)



a bitter, evil, disfigured Joan Crawford! good times, good times.

A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes,1974)



One of the most discomforting films of all-time. Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk are extraordinary. My favorite film by Cassavetes.

Been watching some great flicks from the lists the last few days...

The Pride of the Yankees (Sam Wood - 1943)

Not bad. I've seen the big speech probably a hundred times but the rest of the film is really quite wonderful. All of the interaction between Cooper and Brennan (who I think was one of the very best supporting actors going during the 40's) was great. A very excellent family matters type of flick too. Don't really have any idea how accurate of a depiction the film really was as far as dealing with Lou Gehrig's life and all. But I thought it was very cool that the film makers had an aging Babe Ruth playing, well, Babe Ruth of course. But still, that was a nice touch.

Coal Miner's Daughter (Michael Apted - 1980)

This was just outstanding. Sissy Spacek won a much deserved Oscar here for her portrayal of Loretta Lynn, a very famous country singer who I knew virtually nothing about. I love movies like this. I find it fascinating how so many of these stories based on real people balance so precariously at times. All it would have taken in this story perhaps would have been for Loretta to end up with a different man instead of the one she got. And perhaps there never would have a been a Lorreta Lynn at all. As per usual after viewing this I looked her up and not only did she marry well but they also stayed married for almost 50 years until the day "Doliitle" Lynn died. 50 years. Just wow. I even went to her website and would you believe she's still touring? She's like 80 now, and still going. Good for her.

The Spirit of St. Louis (Billy Wilder - 1957)

This was also really terrific, perhaps a little bit on the schmaltzy side but to be honest if you were to read up a bit on Charles "Slim" Lindbergh you might be willing to cut the film makers some slack because to say that Lindbergh had things easy after his historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean would be a gross understatement to say the least. I think it's necessary to focus on the wonderful things that people achieve and leave out the horrific details of what comes to pass afterwords sometimes when one achieves said greatness. And this film does that. Thank you.

The King Of Comedy (Martin Scorsese - 1982)

If you're not aware of just how much range Robert DeNiro has and how amazing he really is; then by all means, have a seat and watch this totally bizarre and eminently watchable film. For the record, I thought the ending was terrific.

Serpico (Sidney Lumet - 1973)

A lot of facial hair in this flick. Gotta love the 70's I guess. Great movie and yet another important rue story that could just as easily never been told if... well, crap. I can't tell you because that would spoil basically the whole damn movie. Oh, well. Go see it for yourself.

Freaks (Tod Browning - 1932)

Really thought this was bizarre and interesting. A bit short maybe but very trippy to say the least. It took me almost an entire day to stop saying: "We accept you, one of us! Gooble Gobble!"

People Will Talk (Joseph L. Mankiewicz - 1951)

Thanks again Mark for recommending so many fantastic movies. As I already mentioned yesterday I loved this and I plan to watch this again real soon.

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

Loretta ~ "Shoot, we've been driving so much, I don't know where I am half the time . . . but it's fun. We sing, and talk, and Doo . . . that's my husband . . . he'll get to acting horny."
Radio Interviewer ~ "What?"
Loretta ~ "and the more I laugh, the hornier he gets . . . and then he'll say "Loretta, spread me up another one of them baloney sandwiches!"

She's a great actress, and she has one hell of a singing voice, too.

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I'll post this one first. Loretta Lynn's album from 2004 was actually my fave of the year. So, for those who are completely unknowledgable about it, here's the first single:

"Portland, Oregon" by Loretta Lynn


Here's a more old-fashoned Loretta song:

"I Miss Bein' Mrs. Tonight" by Loretta Lynn

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Katt Williams: Internet Dating - 3/5
This is one of those films by Master P, and its amusing to watch Katt Williams in his "before" stage, and he is really good. As movies go, it is definitely a B-movie (as are all Master P movies) so it gets lowered rating, but the hilarity content is right up there if ghetto humor is the kind of thing that gets you laughing. If nothing else, it shows you to BEWARE THE INTERNET DATING scene! (Which is kind of scary, because I think one of the Real Housewives of NY met her husband on an international dating site.....wowzers! )

The Informant - 3/5
I will give Matt Damon that he is versatile, and he really played this part. What do you make of a brilliant biochemist, who is so naive that he gets himself sent to jail, while all the while his lawyers and the FBI are telling him to be careful or his plan will blow up in his face? Well. I say he was stupid, but if you're my sister, you'd say that he was clearly bright, but incredibly naive - classic Midwesterner Syndrome. Scariest part? His depiction of compulsive lying! As a person who never lies, that was terrifying to me.

The Box - 4/5
This movie was quite compelling, and I confess, I was shocked at the twists and turns it took, until I remembered that it was based on a Richard Matheson story. It definitely has those "Oh Right! This is Richard Matheson we're talking about here.." moments. It reminds of the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, but with a far less family-centric feel, and far more sinister ending. A must see!

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something witty goes here......

Well, considering I was one of the first to say that this was a bad idea, I want to take that all back and point you toward this solid flick:

The Taking of Pelham 123 (Tony Scott, 2009) +



Although I could get into all kinds of tiny things which originally bothered me about this flick, overall, it turned out to be so well-done and so carefully-considered that it's really not worth my crying about anything. This film changes things from the original film, but it also seems to flesh out lots of details and character development which were ignored in the wonderful first flick. Denzel Washington and John Travolta are BOTH surprisingly well-cast in this film about two guys who are actually much closer to each other than either one believes even if the audience may believe that there's a serious line dividing the two of them. This version of the novel isn't quite as funny and it also includes many surprising details which will undoubtedly help many viewers to enjoy it not so much as a remake but as a readaptation. Travolta always looked ridiculous in the trailers, but his looks are the only thing ridiculous about the character. He comes across as incredibly intelligent and definitely in-charge. The coming attraction didn't really give me all that much to think about concerning Washington, but the script actually allows him to play a much-deeper character than the wonderful Walter Matthau in the first flick (everybody better swear to watch that one ASAP), and to tell you the truth, I cried during one of Denzel's big scenes (the one where he "saves the kid").

Tony Scott went out of his way to pump up this film and make it very exciting. I'm just glad that Brian Helgeland's script was almost funny enough for me to compare it to the original. I want everyone who has seen this movie to comment on the ending. That's the thing which is the greatest difference between the two flicks. Which one had the better ending, and what did you think of the way this one played out? Once again, I have a few complaints, but overall, I'm really happy with this version.

hey, im glad uyou enjoyed it mark - i was also under the impression i would hate it, and refused to watch it for awhile. however, ended up really liking the film when i did get around to watching it. now i'll have to see the original though, if the endings are truly different....

The Mist (Darabont, 2007)

I have to admit that I'm always going to look at horror films through a clouded (foggy? misty?) lens. I enjoy the occasional horror flick, but I'm by no means a fan in the way most horror fans are. I get the horror of a film is, at its root, the payoff. It rarely is for me, but I do get it. As such, The Mist is one of those films that forces me to evaluate my discomfort and admit to myself (or not) that it did its job and I should be satisfied.

All the conditions are here. A group of survivors stranded in a grocery store. A mysterious fog overtaking the entire town (and possibly beyond). An equally mysterious threat within the mist, rarely seen but always present. I like films like this. I like the abrupt nature of it: that our heroes are tiny specks flung at the feet of a gargantuan problem, and that there a thousand questions with no hope for answers. But inevitably, a setup like this must become a human nature study, and therein lies the danger of falling into unbelievability... particularly with a guy like Stephen King at the pen.

Expect to be annoyed by Marcia Gay Harden's character, and every direction the story takes her in. Her soothsaying role is ill-fitting and really seems to come out of nowhere, or at least seems to come directly from the writer's hand. I do think there's some value in considering how a cultist group might emerge as a microcosm for the way our many faiths have grown and festered over the existence of humanity. But not here. Here, I think the characters are owed a little more realism, especially when we're expected to share this one location - this one ordeal - with them.

I'm also torn by the ending. I researched the source material and found that ending to be obviously much brighter; I think I would have preferred that it be retained. As it stands, the horror of the finale is - for me at least - no great resolution. Perhaps that's the point, and perhaps I ought to be lauding the film for its balls to dabble in tragedy. But because the film is so centralized on one specific group in one specific place, with only an inkling of explanation for why all this is happening and what's in store for the Earth, I can't see how the end resonates except on some visceral level.

And maybe that's all horror fans ever want.

Suspiria (Dario Argento,1977) (second viewing)



Overall, it's a lot of fun. A few pretty interesting aspects here and there, like the lighting and photography. But it's nowhere near being a favorite of mine, even on a second viewing years later.

9 Songs -

This film was utter trash. I've got nothing against being edgy and provocative, except for the mere sake of being edgy and provocative.

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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza

Even I was annoyed by her character. I think I ranted about how unrealistic her character was when I reviewed the film, and Austruck agreed. Just once I'd like to see a film that portrays the myriad subtleties of how religion affects social groups from a less biased standpoint, because as you point out, I think there are real issues to be discussed there. However we can never really deal with them on-screen, because these days secular thought places any/all faith/belief in the crazy/kook red-shirt category. Its to the point where "that" character has become a standard prop that writers choose from their arsenal to fill a story out. In truth, the real world isnt quite that flat.

I think its cheating, and indicative of a lazy imagination. I will give that a lot of science fiction in particular, while humorously depicting religious zealots, often does them a good turn. I imagine this is because at that level of technological wizardy, the lines become very blurred, so it often works, in terms of a storyline.

But, it;s a Stephen King story. Absurd stereotypes seem to be the norm in a lot of his stories, and when they get transferred to film, there just isn't time to fully investigate the characters on that level; not enough time to enjoy their absurdity, if you will - instead coming off as a cornball archetype.

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Elmer Gantry (Richard Brooks,1960)




Amazing performances, top-notch direction, and overall a terrific film. Ending blew me away.

Agreed, although it seems to me that King never really intended to explore his clan of kooks anyway. He sort of glazes over them for the purpose of weirdness, never giving thought to how or why these seemingly normal people might follow such a deranged woman. Surprisingly, though, I liked the scene in which Mrs. Carmody is praying in the bathroom. It spoke directly to her delusions, but was subtle enough that it was totally believable.

Yeah, when it's Stephen King, we do sort of have to shrug our shoulders and accept that it comes with the territory. But I don't think that dilutes the argument that the character was too over-the-top for the film. Methinks a more subtle portrayal (keep in mind, I've not read the book) might have allowed the story to explore the development of religion without being ridiculous. I also can't figure out if Gay Harden was reaching for Oscar gold or just having some fun, because she was certainly pulling out all the proverbial stops.

Completely agree. This is why I don't do horror. So many horror films - good horror films - can't resist deviating at some point from what should logically follow in order to give the audience a shock. And maybe that's par for the course when it comes to horror films, and I should just stop railing about it. But when you invest so much in the characters and then then completely upend that investment, it makes me wonder how much stock you, the writer, really put into your story in the first place. Were things like character and plot and dialogue and resolution inconvenient means to the shocking end you wanted to do all along?

Yeah - no argument from me on that point. I think I was trying to reinforce the argument you and Mack cited, but I guess i went off on a tangent. Point being, aside from Misery, I think King's characters usually don't come across well on screen when compared to the book versions. Jack Torrence is also an exception, but that was Stan Kubrick helming the show, which made all the difference, although King would disagree.

Trying to spot some horrors where they do it right, with The Shining coming to mind immediately. The Descent has some very solid characterization as well, IMO. Of course, the alternate ending (the one of the extended version disc) sort of trashes things a bit, even though I like how dark it is. The theatrical version was a bit more elegant and open-ended, and I liked it a lot. Come to think of it, the allegory in that film is really well handled. Did you catch The Descent?

I think a lot of King fans take issue with Jack Torrance, and I can certainly see why. If anything, less of the character from the novel translates to film, leaving him with a perpetually creepy, unsettling vibe rather than someone genuinely haunted by his past. But I rather think that's why the character works so well, because Kubrick recognized that all that internal exposition King is so well-known for simply can't make it to film.

As an aside, Mrs. Carmody reminded me a bit of Bronson Pinchot's Mr. Toomey from The Langoliers: the single disturbed individual among relatively well-adjusted people who, the viewer knows, will ultimately sow the seeds of chaos.

I haven't seen The Descent, though I have heard good things... a rarity for films of that type. Maybe I'll check it out.

Speaking of alternate endings, I almost wondered if The Mist had one. Did they even screen test the ending?

Hmmm, seems like king uses that device to create antagonistic events in his stories a lot. Harold Lauder in The Stand comes to mind immediately.

Really, really great discussion guys. For the record, I agree with basically all of it. Your review really nailed it, Sleezy. It's a really well made film at times and it does "[do] its job," but it has a few missteps. I'd give it about the same rating for almost all the same reasons. Well said.

I'm torn on the ending; on one hand, everything both you and Seds say about it is completely true and fair. On the other hand, it's just so gutsy and awful that I feel strangely compelled to embrace it. Probably just because I like its audacity. But I probably like the idea more than the way it was portrayed...



ANYWAY...I'm sure I'm missing tons of movies but here are a few recent ones:


OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies




You'd think they'd have squeezed every last bit of comedy out of the goofball-spy genre, but you'd be wrong. Not a whole lot to say; it made me laugh, a lot, and a number of the bits are still floating around my head a month later. Half the jokes are based on the many facial expressions of Jean Dujardin (the titular OSS 117). He nails every look and pause, from stunned shock to smug self-assurance. He makes the film, completely and utterly, and I can still draw some of his expressions from memory. Highly recommended. In fact, writing about it just now has convinced me to go and buy it on Amazon.


In the Loop




Love it. Quick, witty, and just the right balance of humor and sobriety. Best of all, it's funny in the way life really is; the comedy is natural and realistic, and never feels contrived. Maybe a shade too long, and the last third isn't nearly as funny as the first two, but that hardly damages the rest of it.

"It's like you've given birth to this demon baby, and now it's going to kill you."


Elmer Gantry




Boy, I dunno. Part of me sees why people love this film (hi Mark! ), but I had a bit of trouble discerning its motive. My understanding is that the book its based on was a fairly scathing critique of most of the things it depicts, but the film seems a tad different. I have trouble really loving films I can't entirely pinpoint or get my head around, sometimes, and this is one of those films. I know it's extremely well-acted, however, and it has big and nuanced things to say. Perhaps too nuanced for me to totally enjoy with just one viewing. This feels like something I'll have to watch again.


The Hurt Locker




Can't say I thought of it as Best Picture material, but I liked it quite a bit. More thoughts here.


Black Dynamite




A parody of 70s "blaxploitation" films with a lead (Michael Jai White) that plays it straight the whole way through. Short (84 minutes) and lean, with a nice mix of gags. You don't need to understand the history of blaxploitation films much to be in on the jokes, and it maintains a nice balance between jokes based on its parody, and jokes that stand on their own. Some great one-liners here, delivered with a fabulous enthusiasm which presumably stems from the fact that White co-wrote the film. They've got the grainy look down pat, too.


Conspiracy Theory




I've seen this a couple of times before, and I've always liked it. Mel Gibson plays a very believable conspiracy theorist, and sounds perfectly natural and convincing as he reels off one crackpot theory after another (save the jokes ), but still nails the few vulnerable moments his character (Jerry) has throughout the film. Maintains a lighthearted tone throughout, somehow, and has a few very, very funny lines.

"That was here when I moved in!"


As you can see, it's been a pretty good month, particularly for comedies.

EDIT: I forgot to mention Citizen Kane! I saw it again this week. I'll hold off on writing about it until I can sit down and do so in the Movie Club thread, though.