Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

I don't think I've ever seen Ali MacGraw in anything, but I've never heard anything good about her either. The general consensus seems to be that she's a pretty bad actress.

Love Story (1970) did you see that? I've seen her in The Winds of War and she was horrible! It was so much better when Jane Seymour replaced her, (same character) different and better actress.

Oh...the missing pictures should be back into the review!

Love Story has been on my watchlist for years, but I've never seen it. Every time I decide to watch it, I read a bad review of it, so it goes back to the watchlist. I'm sure someday I'll get around to actually watching it.

I haven't seen The Winds of War either, but it's never sounded like my kind of movie.

And yes, the pictures are working now.

I've never seen Love Story either, and I'm not real interested in it. The Winds of War I really liked. It was more of a melodrama, sweeping epic, telling the stories of different people... than it was about war. Oh..Jane Seymour played Ali's character in the sequel which was called War and Remembrances.

I'm not much of a fan of epics. Even if I like the movie, it never becomes a favorite because they're usually long and sometimes too slow.

I added the The Getaway to my watchlist (the first time I've added a film on there since who knows when ). Sounds like fun!

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It's Steve McQueen, so naturally I don't like this film.

Apparently Ali MacGraw was sexy. Sometimes the 70's was weird. Basically she married Robert Evans and left him for McQueen. Hello, career.

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You don't like Steve McQueen, how do you feel about his rival Paul Newman?

I don't really like him, either. Or Redford. 50's and 60's stars rarely click with me.

OK, that makes sense. IMO Newman was a fine actor, Redford no.

I never thought of The Getaway as a little known film, although I could be wrong. I like it, and I'm one of the few who like it's remake.

I though of you Cricket after I watched the film, it seemed like something you might like. And I guess you've seen it, did you like it?

Set Fire to the Stars (2014)
Director: Andy Goddard
Writers: Andy Goddard, Celyn Jones
Cast: Elijah Wood, Celyn Jones, Kelly Reilly
Genre: Biography, Drama
Length: 1hour 37minutes

What it's about: Based on the true story of John Brinnan, a mild mannered, aspiring poet who invited the infamous and talented Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas to America for a series of dramatic poetry readings. After a disastrous first meeting in New York City where a drunken Dylan Thomas creates a scandal....John takes him to an old family cottage in the back woods of Connecticut in an attempt to try and keep Dylan sober and under control. A task that appears to be impossible as the irrepressible Dylan can raise a ruckus, where ever he is.

Interesting stuff: This is a small Indie film, co written by Celyn Jones who plays Dylan Thomas and co written by the director, Andy Goddard who makes his directorial debut here. Filmed entirely in Wales and in black and white, which lends an air of credibility to this semi documentary style film. It's cinematography is unique, the back cover of the DVD describes the film as 'shot in cut-glass black-and-white – part love-letter to the American B-movies of the Forties and Fifties'. The 'cut glass black and white' must refer to the digital sharpening of the print. I'm not sure what the love letter to the B movies of the 40s and 50s means? It didn't seem like an old B movie to me.

Was it any good?: Well sort of, I didn't really learn much about Dylan Thomas other than he liked to drink, alot. The film was like a 'you are there' experiences with the camera showing you the events but without much story telling or character arches. Still it was interesting.

Oh yea, a fun action/crime film

You might consider it for a future Hof It was kind of funky unique.

One Ali MacGraw performance that worked for me was a 1980 film called Just Tell Me What You Want, where she played the bitchy mistress to a wealthy businessman played by Alan King, you might want to check it out. Myrna Loy also appears in the film as King's secretary.

Thanks for the tip! I looked up the cast and not only does it have veteran actresses Myrna Loy, it also has Keenan Wynn, Dina Merrill and a bunch more. I will add it to my watch list

It's the only Ali MacGraw performance I liked...it's a funny thing about The Getaway, like I said in my review of the film, MacGraw is terrible, but her chemistry with McQueen is off the charts.

You reviewed The Getaway? Do you have a link? I like to read it.

I always think it's interesting when modern films are presented in black and white. It's a great visual aesthetic for creating an atmosphere, especially with the sci-fi, thriller, drama and horror genres.