Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

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Yeah, I should probably get around it. I read those books when I was a kid, and my favorite, of course, was Two Years' Vacation. Can you recommend good movie adaptations?
Probably my favorite is the original Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) - its special effects may look a bit dated by today's standards, but it's still very gripping & entertaining. I think Rules reviewed it somewhere on this thread.

Around the World in 80 Days - both films are pretty good.

Master of the World (1961) - this is an interesting film starring Vincent Price and Charles Bronson (a weird pairing). The funniest piece of trivia I remember from this film is a goof - 19th century sailing ships open fire on Vincent Price's airship, but canons on 19th century ships only fired horizontally at other sailing ships. They couldn't fire up - there was no need to since planes didn't yet exist! Not really recommending this one unless you're in the mood for something slightly bizarre.



Think of the best 10 war movies. Think how real. How personal. How unsettling. How solemn. How sobering they are.

Then put Vince Vaughn, apple pie and human torso shields next to them

Dreadful, dreadful film.



Probably my favorite is the original Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) - its special effects may look a bit dated by today's standards, but it's still very gripping & entertaining. I think Rules reviewed it somewhere on this thread.
I haven't reviewed it, but have seen it several times and think highly of it. Off the top of my head I'd give it a


Think of the best 10 war movies. Think how real. How personal. How unsettling. How solemn. How sobering they are.

Then put Vince Vaughn, apple pie and human torso shields next to them

Dreadful, dreadful film.
OMG! I forgot about the human torso shield Ripped right from the original Total Recall where it was cool &fun...but here it's another lame scene from Mel...who doesn't have a lot of original ideas does he?



I remember you posted about it, and I really though I would like it too. Well, I'm holding out hope of loving Manchester By The Sea and La La Land. I should be getting the DVD for Manchester By The Sea fairly soon.




A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan, 1951)
Director: Elia Kazan
Writers: Tennessee Williams
Cast: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden
Genre: Drama


About
: An aging southern belle, Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) who once lived in the lap of luxury on her father's estate, but now circumstances have brought her to poverty, forcing her to the edge of sanity. When she moves into her sisters (Kim Hunter) run down apartment in New Orleans, she finds herself in conflict with her brutish brother-in-law (Marlon Brando).



Review
: When the film starts off with Blanche arriving in the French Quarter of New Orleans, I was pretty excited as I've been to the French Quarter and it does look just like it does in the movie...with lots of wrought iron railings and old decaying buildings with porches and courtyards.

When we first meet Blanche DuBois, I thought Vivien Leigh's performance was a bit too theatrical. But as the movie went on I warmed up to her...I also remembered that she had done the British stage play of Streetcar Named Desire. So I guessed that her style of acting was more from British theater.

During the movie I paid attention to her delivery and at one point I actually thought Vivien sounded like she was channeling Laurence Olivier. Of course I knew she was married to him. But...I was total blown away by what I read at IMDB after watching the movie.

Vivien Leigh...later said that Olivier's direction of that production [Streetcar Called Desire] influenced her performance in the film more than Elia Kazan's direction of the film did.
I knew it!...and it's not surprising either as the director Elia Kazan said he didn't really direct the actors, he just set them in the right place and let them do their own thing.



Kazan was a very successful stage director and had directed Streetcar for two years before making the movie. It was a highly successful play and the original cast (Brando, Hunter, Malden) were all brought over for the movie project, with one exception, Jessica Tandy who played Blanche on the stage.

This was Brando's first big movie role and he blew the doors off it! Like the other actors he's a method actor and really brings a dynamic to his role with his childlike honesty, coupled with his violent suspicious nature. He has the best lines in the movie too. I love the scene where he's going through Blanche's trunk and telling Stella about Napoleonic laws.



I liked Karl Malden in this too. This is perhaps one of his finest movie roles. As the film went on I started to really care about Blanche and once again Vivien Leigh made an impression on me, some of that is due to the way Karl Malden reacts to her.

The very last scene when Blanche is being taken away and she's gone to pieces on the floor
and she stands up and the older man removes his hat and offers his arm to her, was a nice touch....and that made me a bit teary eyed.

Streetcar Named Desire
was filmed in chronological sequence, just like a play would be watched. That's almost unheard of in movie making. Kazan explained that there was basically only 2 main sets, (the apartment and the porch/street area), so those two sets were allowed to remain standing during shooting as the room wasn't needed for anything else. Kazan accredited that to part of the reason why the actors were able to give such powerful performances. Indeed the actors give some of the most powerful performances ever to be put onto film.




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Love, love, love Streetcar!
Streetcar is a long overdue watch for me...

And I have a feeling you will like Manchester, @Citizen Rules
I joined Raul's and Sean's Director Dissection when they dissected Elia Kazan It was fun and I watched 5 of Elia Kazan's movies for that, one being Streetcar. So...now I'm in the mood for more of Kazan and Brando's films.



Legend in my own mind
Me too.
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"I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me" (Frank Costello)



I joined Raul's and Sean's Director Dissection when they dissected Elia Kazan It was fun and I watched 5 of Elia Kazan's movies for that, one being Streetcar. So...now I'm in the mood for more of Kazan and Brando's films.
I like what I've seen from Kazan thus far: On the Waterfront and East of Eden.



MM, I suggest Streetcar as your next Kazan film. I know both Sean and Raul really think highly of it.

I've seen these Kazan films, most all are good to excellent. He's probably one of my top 5 favorite directors.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
A Streetcar Named Desire

Wild River
A Face in the Crowd

Baby Doll
East of Eden
On the Waterfront
Viva Zapata!
Gentleman's Agreement
The Sea of Grass
Splendor in the Grass

Panic in the Streets
Boomerang!


I need to revisit many of these, and there's still more Kazan I haven't seen.



[center]
A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan, 1951)

The very last scene when Stella is being taken away and she's gone to pieces on the floor[/font][/font] and she stands up and the older man removes his hat and offers his arm to her, was a nice touch....and that made me a bit teary eyed.

In this sentence, you mean Blanche, not Stella.




E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
(Spielberg,1982)

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Melissa Mathison
Cast: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Walace
Genre: Family, Sci-Fi Fantasy


Talk about a movie that took me back in time...I last watched E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial way back in 1982 at the theater, 35 years ago! My parents took me and I really enjoyed it! I remember thinking that it was awesome how this little alien was so friendly, but needed help...and a kid, of all people helped him in his time of need. I remember thinking how cool it would be to find a space ship in the woods like the boy in the movie did. I believed if there were indeed aliens they would be kind hearten like E.T.

So last night, after 35 years I watched this again. I'd like to say I still felt the magic and I still believed. But that would be a lie. I couldn't connect to the film..and I think the reason is that, this time I seen E.T. as a rubbery puppet. I couldn't suspend my disbelief and so E.T. wasn't anymore real to me than the stuffed toys in Elliot's closet. And if I can't believe the premise, there's nothing much else left.



This scene bothered me, as it's odd. There's a cigarette smoldering in the middle of the teens who aren't old enough to drive and they are not presented as juvenile delinquents in the movie. And mom is right there too in the next room and minutes latter comes into the kitchen. So who's smoking? The mom? we never see her smoke and she's not seated at the table, those are all 14-15 years old playing a game. It's a very weird scene.



I found the two kid actors: Henry Thomas (Elliot) & Drew Barrymore (Gertie) to be pretty darn good. Sometimes kid actors can be annoying, but here both were likable. Little Drew had the best lines, especially when she first meets E.T. and screams...and he screams....and she screams again and again. That was a funny moment, there were a few others too like that but for me those moments were too few and too far between to hold my interest.

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That's too bad; it was the greatest thing ever when I saw it at the movies. I've seen it several times, but it's been a few years now. I wonder how I'd feel now as well.



That's too bad; it was the greatest thing ever when I saw it at the movies. I've seen it several times, but it's been a few years now. I wonder how I'd feel now as well.
I'm going to revisit some other movies that I once loved, but haven't seen since my youth. I guess I'll find out if my taste have changed Jaws will be one of them, I haven't seen it since the mid 80s.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Mom is not in that scene in the kitchen with Dungeons and Dragons, ordering pizza and the cigarette smoke coming from an ashtray on the table. We don't see a kid smoking it, but I'm sure one of them is. I find it odd that's what you take from the scene rather than it establishing Elliott as an outsider.
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I just watched that scene. It appears that it's a cigarette burning, but I didn't see the actual cigarette. The table is full of stuff, and I wonder if what is shown could be the result of candles or hot coffee or food. Also, while it doesn't show the mom right at that moment, she is there when they cut back to the table.