dvd report from florida

[Glenn Anders]

Thank you Jeff, Sir Bygber and Blunted. I guess we have that cleared up. Just so we don't get Sophia Coppola mixed up with Leni Riefenstahl (though I'm sure a tortured comparison could be made).

A final word in defense of Sophia. If you had ever met her, as I have briefly (in passing), you would realize how extremely shy she is. She trembles, and stumbles over her words. Fourteen years ago, she was unfairly savaged, blamed for the "failure" of GODFATHER III by critics who didn't know what they were talking about. She has had to prove herself as a designer, a photographer and now as a director.

If you have followed the story of LOST IN TRANSLATION, she literally lost Bill Murray, another reclusive chap, before the shoot began. He had casually agreed to do the film, but the details were never worked out, and no contract was signed. When Ms. Coppola began to gather cast and crew to go to Japan for necessary principal photography, Murray could not be found. According to my research, he was run down at the last minute. Without Murray, the financing would have been withdrawn.

They both must think that so funny now, when they are nominated for several Oscars! Cut them some slack. It must seem like a miracle that such a little picture should have these nominations.

We all commit gaffes.

Glenn

[blunted by community]

i skimmed right over the lost in translation post and virgin suicides post because they looked boring. i started the gaffes. stop arguing with me glenn.

[blunted by community]

did any one see a film directed by sean penn, nicholson acted in it, called THE PLEDGE? i missed something. it seemed incomplete to me. mrs blunted said that the film was trying to tell me that nicholson was the murderer. did any one else get that?

we also watched CHINATOWN, but THE PLEDGE was too much for me and i passed out shortly after we popped in CHINATOWN. missed my favorite scene where gittes has lunch with noah cross, and is served fish with the head still intact. this is a fairly comon site in latin restaurants so i never order fish in a latin restaurant.

[dmolson]

Blunt'd
the 'head-on' effect is also very typical of many Chinese fish dishes, tho i'm certain they didn't pick up the idea from 'The Godfather' and horse saga. Either way I stay away from fish in both chinese, latin and dinner-in-bed scenarios.
Speaking of people who are maybe a little stoked too much on their success, how about that James Cameron? The Kapuskasing-born Canuck seemed to be pleased to live off his 'I'm the king of the world!' spiel at the Oscars, with just a few odd projects since the big boat thingie. Now he's started a very hush-hush film, co-written with Laeta Kalogridis. Cameron, who has some amazing directorial work to his resume, is quickly becoming the next generation's OW -- don't bite my head off, but I'm just comparing his seemingly heel-dragging to follow up his biggest triumph <at least by box office>... are people whispering about his 'inability to finish'?
Okay, and regarding 'The Pledge', Penn's slow and fuzzy film about guilt and undone deeds, I was able to get two days of work on the set here in Vancouver. What did they serve for the extras those days? Fish...

[Sir Bygber Brown]

You're absolutely right, Glenn. Mine was only a mild protest to begin with anyway. I was only going by the look on their faces in certain photos taken in public - there could have been another explanation for it. i think its fantastic a picture as small as Lost in Translation not only got accolades, but made major money. Heaps of people went to see it. Far more than went to see drivel like Charlie's Angels 2. Its a great sign that good taste in movie's is spreading, though one doesn't like to attribute too much to statistics.

[Glenn Anders]

Thank you, Sir Bygber. We agree.

I don't know how we got from Humphrey Bogart in THE MALTESE FALCON and KEY LARGO to CHINATOWN and fish, but there may be a connection, with Humphrey Bogart, at least. I would think that, in the 1930's, the time of CHINATOWN, Jake Gittes and Noah Cross would have been eating trout, which is generally served with the head on.

For those of us fascinated by the fact that Gittes looks into the trout's LEFT eye, you might want to glance at an extensive an extensive review I wrote of CHINATOWN. [I am indebted to an early colleague, who pointed out the many visual references to "left handed" things in the Picture.]:

http://www.epinions.com/mvie-review-172E-12DE7EC9-38F8EF67-prod3

Can anyone tie up any more "loose ends" here?

On that "sinister" note, I take my leave.

Glenn

[Sir Bygber Brown]

I can't help tie up any loose ends, all i can do is spill more blood in the water...

Wasn't Bogey fantastic in Casablanca. I'd been watching so many great bogey docos lately and hadn't seen an actual Bogey movie for a while, so i'd seen this absolutely classic shot of him leaning back against a bar (with white suitcoat on) and squinted eyes and raising a cigarette to his mouth as the camera zooms (or tracks, can't remember which) towards him. Then i was watching Casablanca and noticed this classic shot, which comes right at the beginning of a chapter, around 29 i think, in the scene where Bogey asks Laslow (sp?) to meet him at the bar and Claude Raines appears to arrest him. The shot comes right after Raines walks in i think. Absolutely classic. He was made immortal in that shot.

[blunted by community]

jeeezuz glenn, that's a good article. no, that's a great article. that is the first article you have posted that kept me interested from begining to end, and you told me stuff i had not noticed. i love film analysis. it gives you new handles of enjoyment in films you have seen 30 times.

[PT Caffey]

I saw "Lost in Translation" before the hype swelled and thought it was terrific. I saw it twice. It's a nice example of the subgenre, "Romantic films with bittersweet endings," joining "Roman Holiday," "Brief Encounter," "Annie Hall," "Before Sunrise" and "Rushmore." I'm happy for Sofia Coppola. Along with "American Splendor" and "The Triplets of Belleville," it's among my favorite films of the year.

I loved "Unforgiven," but Eastwood's latest was only okay. "Mystic River" featured some great seamless acting; of course, I'm talking about Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne. The hyped performances of Tim Robbins and Sean Penn I found overwrought--more in the ACTING! mode of performance. And the strutural problems distracted me: the "telephone woman" strand and Laura Linney's sudden transformation into Lady MacBeth. It's not a classic, but it's a good movie in a classical Hollywood style.

IMHO,

PT Caffey

[Sir Bygber Brown]

i thought tim robbins was the most surprising performance. i thought he was fantastic. i do know what you mean about ACTING! however. much of the film did feel like everyone was too aware they were in a well acted film, or a film people would consider well acted when it came to awards time. That didn't actually make it feel insincere for me, however. I still thought the performances were good despite this (bar Lady Macbeth, perhaps).

[Sir Bygber Brown]

Take back any protests, however mild, about Sofia and Murray at recent awards - i misinterpreted, or photographers chose incriminating snippets. She was the picture of perfect shyness, modesty and disbelief at the Oscars ceremony, and won a well-deserved Oscar for her seemingly accidental collection of subtle, beautiful scenes that was the screenplay for Lost in Translation, and will soon be mine on DVD, at the first possible moment.

[Glenn Anders]

Well said, Sir Bygber!

As for MYSTIC RIVER, it is Eastwood, the soul of self-efacing stylization himself when an actor, who encourage the male players in his cast TO ACT. But in MYSTIC RIVER, he balances that weakness by keeping his camera in medium and long shots the most dramatic scenes. That's why the exception of Penn's breakdown as Jimmy in close-up is so memorable and shown so repeatedly when commentators talk about the film.

If you will see the film a second time, you will notice that all the motivations after the first one (the abduction) belong to the women. Laura Linney's character has always been in a jealous conflict with her step-daughter for the affections of Jimmy. She underplays her part to the same extent that Marcia Gay Harden overplays hers as the nervous cousin who married a man who had gone straight (and has regretted it ever since because she really wanted Jimmy). I believe that is built into the Brian Helgeland's screenplay and, to his credit, Eastwood's direction. Linney comes to the fore as a result of the elimination of her rivals.

It is a very subtle piece of plot construction, brilliantly executed.

In another bit of shameless self-promotion, I invite you all to look at my review of MYSTIC RIVER for a fuller discussion of this theory:

http://www.epinions.com/content_126315564676

All the best.

Glenn

[jbrooks]

In regards, to Sean Penn's movie The Pledge, the Jack Nicholson character is NOT the murderer and nothing in the film suggests that he is.

Spoiler warning!

The point of the last few shots is that Nicholson has driven himself mad with his obsession of finding the killer. The identity of killer is made clear. The killer dies in a car crash while on his way to being insnared in Nicholson's trap.

A great movie, IMO.

[blunted by community]

THE PLEDGE:
well, in my survey of who the killer was, so far, jbrooks says it was the scorched minister. mrs. blunted and another film fan say it was nicholson. i remain neutral so far.

jbrooks said:
Nicholson character is NOT the murderer and nothing in the film suggests that he is.

i suggest:
no 2 people will draw an apple the same way, so it seems to me that interpretation is up to the individual. certainly it's not handed to you in a silver platter then shoved down your throat, leaving room for speculation.

THE SURVEY:
nicholson the muderer - 2 points - mrs blunted and steve

scorched minister the murderer - 1 point - jbrooks

undecided - 1 point - me

any one else?

[blunted by community]

from page one of this thread:

ok, cole is right. the new zeppelin dvd is shaky. i was so thrilled that it was not as limp as the song remains the same that i thought it was better than it really is. on a second, and third viewing i changed my opinion. the denmark radio show is right on the money, and some of the other performances are good, but it has more bad than good.

kino's foolish wives/the man you love to hate - excellent. good extras, and good sap

on the water front - good featurette, interview with kazan, good phot gallery, ok sap.

sinatra at the royal festival hall is beside me as i type. will be venturing into the land of frank later tonight.

ordered the documentary about the making of dark side of the moon, and pink floyd live at pompey

does any one have the rat pack dvd set? not the cohen film with liota, and not the actual rat pack films - a series of rat pack performances, and a documentary, i guess?