Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

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You're right about Hepburn. Although Maggie McNamara (The Moon Is Blue, Three Coins in a Fountain) would have been good for the role; but she was having troubles then as well.. Lots of tragic ends in the acting profession.
Every time I see Maggie McNamara in a movie, I think faux Audrey. Maggie is a good actress but unfortunately she's a little too much like Audrey Hepburn, she looks like her she acts like her... and that usually is a hindrance, not a help to an actor's career.





Suburbicon (2017)
Director: George Clooney
Writers: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Cast: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery


"As a 1950s suburban community self-destructs, a home invasion has sinister consequences for one seemingly normal family."


Looks great! Script sucks!...What a wasted effort of some really well done 1950's American sets, that get paired with a lazy script by the Coen Brothers. Nothing creative and nothing worthy of the Coen Brothers name. The story is a rehash of old and tired ideas.

It's a murder mystery, ooohhhh, big deal. I thought they might have done something fresh here. I mean with perky Julianne Moore on board and stoic Matt Damon, this should have been ripe for some poignant & introspective look at how suburbia America was....OR a fresh look at how it was perceived, but never was. Instead we get a murder mystery that's a snooze fest.





Julianne Moore and Matt Damon look right at home in the 1950s decor. I dug their house! I mean every single detail of the house from the kitchen faucet to the TV set and even the lamps were 50s mid century modern decor. I was in heaven watching the set design. It's so good I'd give it an Oscar!



But this has to be one of the laziest, uninspired scripts that the Coen's have penned. In an early scene a young black couple moves to the all white Suburbicon neighborhood and the 1950s neighbors are ALL up tight about it. That could have been a strong part of the film, we could have learned about racial views and the challenges this nice black family faced in a 1950s idealized reality. But they were wasted. I don't think the couple got more than a few brief lines to speak. Their son is befriended by a white boy and that was a nice seen, but all to brief.



So with a silly script, I just kicked back and checked out all the cool 1950s cars! And there's a lot of 50s cars in the film. And that's about all there is that's worth watching.



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I won't dance. Don't ask me...
Oh. It's devastating opinion. I think this movie was so much not what you expected to watch that it make you angry a little bit. I know this feeling but I don't mean this particular movie. I had fun watching it. The sens of humour was exactly in type of Coen Brothers, so this time I can't agree with you, but as always I like to know your point of view.



Oh. It's devastating opinion. I think this movie was so much not what you expected to watch that it make you angry a little bit. I know this feeling but I don't mean this particular movie. I had fun watching it. The sens of humour was exactly in type of Coen Brothers, so this time I can't agree with you, but as always I like to know your point of view.
I think if the Coen Brothers had directed it, the movie might have had more zing! I've mostly like the Coen Brothers movies. I haven't seen them all of course, but I'm working to remedy that




Best in Show (2000)

Director: Christopher Guest
Writers: Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy
Cast
: Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara
Genre: Documentary Spoof-Comedy


Director Christopher Guest, writes and stars in this documentary style comedy spoof of people and their dogs who are competing in a national dog show.

This was great fun! There are so many great actors here that it's hard to name them all. The movie starts out at the opening of the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show (based on the real Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show). The cameraman shows us the set up for the big national dog show and we get a peak at the behind the scenes grooming areas...Then we get interviews with a half dozen dog owners who are feverishly grooming their dogs to a high polish...so that they can get a shot at the coveted Best in Show award.

And that's about it, but it's more than enough! I loved when all the contestants along with their dogs checked into the hotel. The hotel manager played by Ed Begley Jr. was perfectly cast, too funny I tell ya. Everyone is so colorful and fun, without being too silly. Once the actual competition starts, we get Jim Piddock and Fred Willard hosting the big dog show. Fred Willard with his off the cuff and dog-clueless remarks is priceless!

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You can't win an argument just by being right!
Double rep!!! I love this movie, and rewatch it frequently. I used to show dogs with Mr D so this had us rolling in the aisle. Especially great is that its all shot impromptu. I dont know if all of christopher's movies are shot this way as it didmt come up in the mocumentary.

All i can say in passing is

I will never again pick up a pack of pistachio nuts without brsting out laughing. Gets a bit embarrassing for Mr D when ee shop together!



Hey, anyone remember this thread?
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...ad.php?t=42094

I'm glad @Citizen Rules is reviewing some Christopher Guest movies!
These movies are unique in their level of understated comedic quirkiness!
I think I rated Best in Show as the best of the bunch, but it's a tough call since they all have their moments.
And I agree that Fred Willard pretty much steals the movie when he comes on as the announcer.



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Fred was hilarious. One or more of the judges and some of the exhibitors were actual judges and handlers. Chris says on the BTS that an old girl was very pissed off that her dog didnt win. LMAO!

A few of the actual judges were in sydney and came to watch a show wben i was exhibiting. We put on a patomine for them during lunch break and i played the gold digging lesbian with the fluffy hat. The president of the dog show hosting the show played Fred's role as narrator and a very flamboyant gay guy played Scott. I cant remember who else was in it. Damn hilarious fun. I still have the fluffy hat i wore!




Best in Show (2000)

Director: Christopher Guest
Writers: Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy
Cast
: Fred Willard, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara
Genre: Documentary Spoof-Comedy

I love this movie, so glad you enjoyed it...there's a review of it in my thread somewhere.




I think you misspelled 'face' wrong


Good choices I didn't know who Daliah Lavi was until I seen The Silencers.
Ok, just looked at some photos on google images and I really don't see the resemblance between Stella Stevens and Scarlett Johnassen.



Ok, just looked at some photos on google images and I really don't see the resemblance between Stella Stevens and Scarlett Johnassen.
Maybe it was only in that one shot of Stella's face in The Silencers. Maybe it was the hairdo too - she had a short red haircut similar to one Johansson wore in one of the Avengers movies.



Double rep!!! I love this movie, and rewatch it frequently. I used to show dogs with Mr D so this had us rolling in the aisle. Especially great is that its all shot impromptu. I dont know if all of christopher's movies are shot this way as it didmt come up in the mocumentary.
What kind of dog did you have, Dani?

Hey, anyone remember this thread?
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...ad.php?t=42094

I'm glad @Citizen Rules is reviewing some Christopher Guest movies!
These movies are unique in their level of understated comedic quirkiness!
I think I rated Best in Show as the best of the bunch, but it's a tough call since they all have their moments.
And I agree that Fred Willard pretty much steals the movie when he comes on as the announcer.
Fred Williard wasn't my favorite part. He was funny but I started getting tired of that bit after awhile. My favorite was Ed Begley Jr. I mean he's both a Star Trek Voyager and Laverne & Shirley alumni



What kind of dog did you have, Dani?

Fred Williard wasn't my favorite part. He was funny but I started getting tired of that bit after awhile. My favorite was Ed Begley Jr. I mean he's both a Star Trek Voyager and Laverne & Shirley alumni
I know what you mean, but (to the best of my recollection) didn't Fred only appear toward the end of the movie at the actual dog show? I don't remember him in the first half as they're following the various contestants.

Speaking of Ed Begley Jr., I just re-watched A Mighty Wind... I didn't remember this at all, but Ed plays a station manager for a Public Broadcasting-type network and he's of Norwegian decent or something (named Lars Olfen if that's any clue!).
But he keeps trying to appeal to Bob Balaban's character (who's Jewish) by injecting Yiddish words and phrases into every other sentence when the two are talking. So understated, but his attempted pandering is so funny - it doesn't sound it in my description, but when you realize what he's doing, it is subtly hilarious (included are the subtle looks of surprise on Bob Balaban's face when he begins to hear these Yiddish expressions coming from Ed Begley's Scandinavian character.)



You can't win an argument just by being right!
Double rep!!! I love this movie, and rewatch it frequently. I used to show dogs with Mr D so this had us rolling in the aisle. Especially great is that its all shot impromptu. I dont know if all of christopher's movies are shot this way as it didmt come up in the mocumentary.
What kind of dog did you have, Dani?

Hey, anyone remember this thread?
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...ad.php?t=42094

I'm glad @Citizen Rules is reviewing some Christopher Guest movies!
These movies are unique in their level of understated comedic quirkiness!
I think I rated Best in Show as the best of the bunch, but it's a tough call since they all have their moments.
And I agree that Fred Willard pretty much steals the movie when he comes on as the announcer.
Fred Williard wasn't my favorite part. He was funny but I started getting tired of that bit after awhile. My favorite was Ed Begley Jr. I mean he's both a Star Trek Voyager and Laverne & Shirley alumni
I have rough coat JRTs, CR. PLUS Demented pug who was so amazingly beautiful and icon of yhe dog world she became thr objevt of a vicious custody dispute between two egotistcal breeders so in yhe dead of night myself and the jacks donned our ninja hazmat suits and made off with them never to be seen again.

I loved all the characters, especially the hotel staff, and the butcher, and OMG Cookie.

What a tramp, going for petrol points no doubt.




Indochine (1992)

Director: Régis Wargnier
Writers: Erik Orsenna & Louis Gardel
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Perez, Linh Dan Pham
Genre: Drama, Historical, Romance, Action
Language: French


"This story is set in 1930, at the time when French colonial rule in Indochina is ending. A widowed French woman who works in the rubber fields, raises a Vietnamese princess as if she was her own daughter. She, and her daughter both fall in love with a young French navy officer, which will change both their lives significantly."

Big, epic sweeping film about the French occupation of Vietnam set during the 1930s and covering events up to the 1950s when Vietnamese nationals began fighting back to take their country from the French.

This epic focuses on a rich and disconnected French woman (Catherine Deneuve) who runs a huge rubber plantation worked by the locals. She's part of the elite world of French nationals who call Indocine (Vietnam) their home. Her daughter is a Vietnamese girl who she adopted at birth. She too has lived a life of luxury while her people have suffered at the hands of the occupation.

Like most epics, there's romance and heart break and changing allegiances. Finally there's the realization that the 'good times' for the French aren't going to last much longer...As in the north, communist China has helped supplied Vietnamese gorillas, who begin blowing stuff up.




Filmed on location in Vietnam and Malaysia the film is breath taken in it's natural beauty. The production values are high and the sets look as good as the picturesque country side.

Indocine won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.


The first part of the 2 1/2 hour long movie is a bit slow as it focuses on relationships which later are challenged by the political forces that erupt in the country. By the end of the film things become quite terse and tense.

++

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Baby Face (1933)
Director: Alfred E. Green
Writers: Gene Markey, Kathryn Scola
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Donald Cook, Theresa Harris
Genre: Pre Code Drama

A dirt poor, young woman (Barbara Stanwyck) who's been sexual abused and exploited by her boot legging father, decides to use her sex to her own means. She ruthlessly exploits men, using sex as a means to get what she wants. She connives and sleeps her way up the corporate ladder in a big city bank until she's rich beyond her wildest dreams. CR

This is the film that brought on the Hayes censorship code. Baby Face is considered to be one of the most notorious Pre-Code films, and one that pushed the envelope of permissibility. The story idea came from Darryl F. Zanuck of Fox Studio who used a pseudonym to hide his true identity, one wonders why? Produced by the leader of cutting edge social commentary films, Warner Brothers Studio...and the rest is history!





The film is shocking on many fronts. It starts out in an illegal beer hall during prohibit, that's run by a unscrupulous man. We see slot machines...and serving the beer is the teenage daughter Lily, played by Barbara Stanwyck. It's implied that her dad prostitutes her to make money. When the building burns down killing him, Lily is glad and takes her friend, a black woman Chico (Theresa Harris), to the big city to make her way. The film is also unique in that Lily remains loyal to Chico through out the story. Despite the fact that Lily becomes hard as stone and uses anybody to get what she wants.

Barbara Stanwyck is awesome in this! This is one of her signature pictures. George Brent isn't too bad either, he plays the rich business man that Lily tricks into a relationship.



At 75 minutes (restored print with deleted dialogue added back in) this is a fast paced, hard hitting film. And one of the best of the pre code movies.



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Great picture, CR! I'll have to queue that for a re-watch.

The Hayes Code didn't do much good. Look how far we've slid in modern times... "Forbidden fruit", I guess.

~Doc



Great picture, CR! I'll have to queue that for a re-watch.

The Hayes Code didn't do much good. Look how far we've slid in modern times... "Forbidden fruit", I guess.

~Doc
I'm not a fan of most modern potty mouth R rated films. Writers today take a PG movie, then inject a slew of F bombs in an attempt to appeal to youngsters who think swearing is hip & edgy. The problem is: the writers don't know how to make people talk naturalistic so they throw in F.... like a comma in a sentence, as opposed to using it only for select characters or at select times. When over done it sounds fake. and that then makes it apparent that an unskilled writer penned the words. I shut off Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing Missouri for that very reason. After 45 minutes, the attempt to make shock language out of a nothing script, made me bored with the explanatory expletive film.



I agree with you. But the unsettling part is that some of these writers are indeed skilled. So what kind of commentary on modern society does a gratuitously expletive laced script reflect?.. I guess the answer is that it's the decayed status of our present society. Or at least it's reflective of the beliefs of the ones making all the noise...

~Doc




Marriage on the Rocks (1965)

Director: Jack Donohue
Writer: Cy Howard
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Dean Martin, Nancy Sinatra, Hermione Baddeley,
Genre: Comedy


Dan Edwards (Frank Sinatra) heads up a big ad agency and he works real hard at it. He loves his wife Valerie (Deborah Kerr) but has little time for anything but work! His best friend Ernie (Dean Martin) is a care free bachelor who's a good friend to the family. When the wife talks him into taking a second honeymoon in Mexico things get confused and he ends up divorced from her, only to get married again in a few days. Problem is, the marriage is in Spanish and before anyone knows it, his best friend Ernie has accidentally married his wife instead! Causing Dan to live as a bachelor, see photo below....


Marriage on the Rocks is one of those mid 1960s films that sound oh so much better on paper, than they really are. The set up sounds like some wild swinging is going on....don't believe it! There's a few laughs here, but Frank Sinatra sleep walks his role. Frank reportedly was bored with making movies in his later career and unfortunately his boredom shows in his acting. Though in this case, he's suppose to be an overworked, droll, ho-hum type of guy...so maybe he deserved an Oscar!?

Dean Martin is likable here and he's got one helluva a cool bachelor pad on the beach, with a big open fireplace in the middle and plenty of girls too. That's Frank setting around the fire with some babes. Deborah Kerr does a fine job here of the wive who just wants a little attention from her husband and her and Dino have the best scenes together.


Interesting to note that this is the only film that Nancy Sinatra made with her dad. She doesn't have a big role here, probably her best scene is at the go-go dance club with her friend who dances in a cage.




By far the funniest scenes were the Mexican honeymoon scenes. Cesar Romero was a laugh riot as the hotel manager and lawyer who kept pushing divorcees and marriages...all for profit.





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