Everybody Loved Them; I Cringed

I'd forgotten about Peter Greenaway. Was enchanted by his "Draughtsman's Contract" years ago but haven't been able to get through any of his later movies. One senses a hugely inflated self-regard there...!!

Is anyone else here addicted to production details when watching a movie? Like, Which downtown was used for that location shot? what are the extras at other tables in the restaurant scene saying to each other?

Okay, one I missed (or don't remember) -- "Draughsman's Contract." I'll have to add that to my NetFlix list.

The DVD editions have special features and I do like to explore! Roger Ebert's commentary track on the latest "Citizen Kane" DVD is outstanding.
It could lead many into finally appreciating the film.

BTW -- it is true that the auteur lable can lead a director to create some pretentious losers.

Yeah, me too. I only recently got a DVD player and love many of the commentaries. LW -- take a look at Peter Greenaway's website for inflated ego. (I went in there to check on the title of Draughtsman's Contract -- "landscaper's something, uh, don't remember..."!)

The IMDb link to "The Draughtsman's Contract":

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083851/combined

Phoenix's quote, "I think that the English Patient is what used to be called a "woman's movie"-more about emotions and relationship than actions." I've heard that claim made about so many movies, that it's a "woman's move," but I really don't understand what is meant, because I also enjoy those kinds of movies. Call me a "romantic" at heart. LOL

Total aside here, I just read an email from a friend who expressed at length his pleasure in the (I gather, newly released) movie In America. His only negs were about sound/music being too heavily used....

I'll tell ya, CI, there was a moment in that movie, "Sleepless in Seattle," where there's a conversation about women's flicks, a moment in the film that's so funny I thought I'd die laughing.

"The English Patient" isn't just a romantic film, it's a psychological puzzle and not many get into solving it. The novel really gets into the psychology of relationships. I think Graham Greene's novel "The End of the Affair" which is from his own true life experience has more to say than EP. It was filled adquately but not stunningly with Ralph Finnes and Julianna Moore, who was nominated for an Oscar.

I could watch the convertible ride in Terms of Endearment again and still laugh hysterically. But, Debra Winger didn't appear as ill, nor her character as even real.

The English Patient was rather boring but it somehow revealed something unusual about the English in general that I liked.

I hated American Beauty and was totally turned off by Forrest Gump.

Was so excited to see Master & Commander few days ago and some day I'll think of what was missing, maybe something significant but nothing was. Just watching Russell Crowe's great butt zinging around the ship in fabulous costume.

oh and virtually anything with John Wayne in too.

Citizen Kane might be a sacred cow, but some folks will never "finally appreciate it. Here's a brief part of the commentary by "Mr. Cranky" that sums up why I thought Kane was boring:



Mr. Cranky's Review of Kane

Piffka, Cranky didn't get the point. What Well's was saying was that despite his fortune, the last time Kane was truly happy was when he was a boy before he had inherited his money.

Oh, I think Mr. Cranky got the point, but did you get his point... who cares? Orson Welles' Kane is a throughly unlikeable and not very believable gentleman whose only redemption is that he longed for his childhood. The reason people love Kane is the titilation and/or historical factor of the equally awful W.R. Hearst, or they love the fabulous camera angles, etc. The story is imminently forgetable. I might be more inclined to accept some glimmer of interest if you tell me about the unique camera work and how wonderful it is in black and white... all the dark, mysterious shots echoing his dark nasty, irredeemable soul.

And speaking of forgetable... what do you mean inherited his money? It is true I haven't watched this film for a long time, having slept through it in my college film class and never been able to sit through it since, but I could have sworn Kane was a poor young man who made it on his own.

Is this a sacred cow movie or what? LOL It is JUST a film. I thought we were supposed to be toppling some sacred cows.

Piffka, I'm with ya here. I found Citizen Kane to be blindingly boring, when it wasn't being actively annoying.

The thought that a commentary by one of the Thumbsupdown-guys would make me appreciate any film is making me giggle.

Ah, Beth... a comrade-in-arms... I thought I was the lone voice in the wilderness.

Long live the revolution! Citizen Kane sux!

Would like to add these to the list
Pulp Fiction - non linear time line does NOT make it cool!
Dances With Wolves - Boring. Oh so very boring.

I thought Dances With Wolves was pretty good.

Clockwork Orange. Too foul and lowlife for me.

I didn't dislike Citizen Kane but it was not on my own wild enthusiam list. I almost remember a letdown but it is hard to bring a long ago moment like that back.

Never saw Clockwork Orange. Had a friend who told me about it in more detail than I wanted to hear at the time.