I have a 19" HDTV in my bedroom, but until this weekend, that was the extent of my HDTVness. I bought a 36" TV back in 1998 ($1200!) and I've been living with that for the last 12 years. Truth be told, it was a heckuva TV when I bought it, but good gravy is that thing like IBM-XT these days. About a week or so ago, the picture tube went out and I finally broke down and got myself a 42" LCD TV. Um, it's a little different. I like it.
Anyhow, I actually watched a couple of movies this week. On Saturday night, I viewed Synedoche, New York. You know, I have really enjoyed Charlie Kaufmann movies, but this one, I don't know. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is great, but this thing is over the top. The reviews on this thing are all over the place -- some think it was the best movie of the year, some think it was the worst movie of the year. I'll admit that my viewing of this thing was disjointed and I was somewhat distracted. Maybe I should watch it again. But, I don't know. Any thoughts?
I saw Gentlemen Prefer Blondes on Wednesday night. Marilyn Monroe is terrific and this is the movie where she sings Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend. Jane Russell is pretty good and she's really the star of this show. But, you will not see a leading actress play a sexy role with a body like hers these days. I mean, she's pretty big. But, if you like 1950s comedies, this was a pretty good one. The wife said, "You don't like Marilyn Monroe, do you?" I said, yes, I do.
I finished the Trois Couleurs Trilogy this week (Bleu, Bialy, & Rouge). What incredible direction and cinematography. Each scene just jumped right out of the screen.
All very good in my opinion, with White being the best, even though it may have the weakest story as an anti-comedy. Binoche deserved the Oscar nod in Blue, but I think Irene Jacob was just as impressive, if not more so, in Red. Not a big fan of how the series ends. A little bit too Dickensian for me.
Absolutely gorgeous films--nearly every frame could be a print hung in a gallery. You really should check out The Double Life of Veronique, next. It was the movie he made just prior to the trilogy. As a bonus, you can scratch that Irene Jacobs itch. Decalogue, a 10-part series he made for Polish television that loosely deals with the Ten Commandments, is also well worth the time invested.
Krzysztof Kieslowski's untimely death was a huge loss to cinema. He was one of a kind.
I watched a couple more Hitchcock movies. The Man Who Knew Too Much (the 50's version) was pretty neat, although I thought the kid was pretty annoying (but that is par for the course with me lol). And I watched To Catch A Thief. That one started off fast, then kind of slowed down in the middle before picking up the pace in the end. But I didn't enjoy that one as much as other Hitchcock movies.
I also watched State of Play. I was pretty engaged in that movie...I mean pretty much anything Russell Crowe does is halfway good. But man, Ben Afflack is a terrible actor. He always seems so stiff and rote. His angry emotion seems forced, his laughter seems not happy
Any movie with Grace Kelly and a vintage Sunbeam Alpine is good in my book!
The 30s version of The Man Who Knew Too Much is worth a look. As a reviewer at IMDB notes, Best. Chair. Fight. Scene. Ever!
A little about Jane Russell. She was born in Bemidji, her parents were both born in North Dakota. She was married three times -- HOF QB Bob Waterfield was her first husband -- they were married 25 years until they divorced. A couple of months later she married her second husband, who died just three months later. She then got married a few years later and was married to her third husband for 25 years until he died. So, she made it to 25 years with two different men. She's still alive and has been a widow for 11 years.
she is one of us! lets build a statue!
She IS a statue.
I always remember the story that my former deceased employer, Howard Hughes, designed the very first underwire bra for Russell to wear in one of his movies.
We watched Julie and Julia the other night. I found the "Julie" parts basically unbearable and the character totally unlikeable to the point where I was really hoping things would work out poorly for her in the end. It made trying to enjoy any other part of the movie very difficult knowing what was on the other side.
So, over the weekend got a chance to see Up in the Air and The Hurt Locker.
Really enjoyed Up in the Air - mainly because I could point out the St. Louis locations where they shot. But also because it was a funny movie. Acted superbly and very appropriate for the times.
The Hurt Locker was just "meh". Not a bad movie, but I don't get why the Academy loved it so much. Didn't think it was anything spectacular.
Not a bad movie, but I don't get why the Academy loved it so much. Didn't think it was anything spectacular.
Every war has to have its own Academy-acclaimed war movie(s). Iraq was just due!
Watched Pete's Dragon for the first time last night, with the kids.
Nothing too special for me.
I got caught up on Lost. Turns out I still dislike it. The whole gimmick of alternate realities or whatever has added almost no value. I did however enjoy Dr. Linus. Probably since it featured one of the three characters I actually like (Ben, Desmond, and Dan).
Ah well. Only 10 more hours of this stuff.
I absolutely agree with your three character choices. I'll throw in Richard as well, and look forward a lot to next week's show.
Last night's ep was pretty much a waste. Jack, Kate, and Sawyer don't do much for me at all.
To tell you the truth, it's only 14 hours later and I don't remember a single thing about the hour of television. Sawyer was featured....and something probably happened.
and something probably happened.
Not really. It was pretty much all filler. I tell you, I'm this close to boycotting the rest of the normal episodes and just watching the finale. This season has failed to capture my attention like no other before it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos
That is all.
this is more of a future movie i desire to see:
i can't remember who was talking about it, but there was a brief discussion here about the yiddish policemen's union. it was enough to get me to the local library to check it out (literally), and i'm currently enjoying it immensely. anyway, i glanced at the wikipedia page (skipping over the plot section, of course), and who do i see is attached to adapt and direct? why, the coen brothers. i can't imagine anyone more perfect to do so. can't wait.
p.s. i finally saw up this week. sadly, it's the first nominee for best picture i've seen so far...
That was me. Totally dug that book, though the ending seemed rather abrupt. (Might have been because I was so engrossed with the characters that I didn't want it to end.) You'll note that the author agrees with your assessment of the talent bringing it to the screen.
Really looking forward to this one, as well.
I learned this week that Looney Tunes have aged rather well: "Ho! Ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Thrust!"
I remember that!
The wife and I watched Sunshine Cleaning the other day. Enjoyed it enough to rate it kindly, but nothing worth fussing over.
Watching Bad Boys 1 and 2 on Sunday while nursing a hangover? Awesome. Enjoying Hot Fuzz really seems to help in that endeavor, though. Oh, Michael Bay, is there a cheap action movie gimmick you don't love?
I have been watching Big Love with the lady friend and the first season of Breaking Bad on my time.
BB is really entertaining while Big Love, well, it is good filler until baseball season starts.
I really like Breaking Bad. The third season starts this Sunday.
Pam picked up The Hurt Locker and we watched that over the weekend. I thought it was pretty intense drama, a compelling character study, and it kept me pretty much on the edge of my seat. Not sure if it was Best Picture since I haven't seen all the candidates (am I the only human in America left who hasn't seen Avatar?), but I think it deserved the nomination it got.
I'm also getting a little weary of Lost, and I'm a pretty big fan of the show. After putting five years into watching this series, I feel like I'm entitled to more answers than I am getting. Also, I feel like the alternate reality plotline is a bit of a cop-out. Not shark jumping, for sure, but too muck like the old "the whole thing was a dream" gambit for my taste. But I'm stoked for Breaking Bad. One of the top two or three shows on TV IMHO. Adn I agree with FTLT, Big Love started out great in the first couple of seasons, very original and unexpected, but it's now treading dangerously close to soap opera territory.
I haven't seen Avatar.
On my lunch break I saw two individuals dressed up like Na'vi. Their sign said 'Avatars for Peace' so I'm not sure they've seen the movie.
I haven't seen Avatar, and don't plan to see it.
Did you see Pocohantas? Then you HAVE seen it.
Just thought to mention, bS, that I enjoyed reading Ender's Shadow during our FL vacation.
Glad you enjoyed it. Are you going to follow the thread through Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow's Puppets and Shadow of the Giant??
probably, but no plans to for the time being
I really liked Ender's Shadow. It does get progressively crazier, but not nearly as much as the Ender storyline.
Re: Lost
I've enjoyed this season in a very different way. Everyone says the Flash-sideways are dull/boring/pointless, but what I get out of them are the questions that are raised simply by the differences between them and the rest of the series' timeline. For instance, why is Locke on good relations with his father? Why does Jack have a son and who with? How did Sawyer become a cop instead of a criminal. Granted, the chances of all the questions being answered is probably nil, but I enjoy coming up with all the new nuances of the new timeline. Plus, I'm trusting that the writers have a purpose in creating those separate stories and will connect them soon. I might be expecting a lot, but so far I think they've more than delivered.
I guess I just don't get it. So in the alternate reality, Ben and Artz are doctors forced to work as teachers at the school Alex happens to go to (why? I thought her mother was french?), and Locke happens to be placed as a substitute teacher after he was fired from Hurley's company.
Yeah, that's not gimmicky at all. It makes the tie-togethers of Seinfeld seem genius.
It's been that way from the start. These characters have always been connected to each other; that's part of the basis of the show. You either buy into that or not. Honestly I don't know why you bother to keep watching/posting about it since you clearly don't enjoy it.
Synedoche, New York.
I loved that movie. I haven't seen it in quite some time but as I recall phil Hoffman was excellent, as was his female co-star(I can't look it up from my phone). The story took some work, but as it unwinds you can see some of the madness of the creative
process. The movie reminded me a bit of Paul Auster's New York Trillogy, some of the same themes are employed such as watching the watcher and recreating / interpreting your environment during a descent into madness.
My kind of movie.