I am of two minds now. Yesterday I saw (for the second time now) A Walk to Remember. What is it about this movie that touches me so deeply anyways? For heavens sake, I'm a guy, not a girl! Yet I like ditzy romcoms and thought this one(not ditzy, and not a com either) was sweet as well.
Mandy Moore looked cute as a button, and Shane West I'm sure has the appeal to kids nowadays that James Dean used to have in the days of olde.
There's lots in this movie that can be ragged on. I mean, some of the character developments (most notably those in Shane's 'cool kids' group) are quite ludicrous, and the story would hvae been better of IMHO if they left them out once Shane was through with them. And since when do they give the leading role in a musical to a kid who is forced to be there(and who doesn't want the part anyways?) Also, some of the dialogue comes over as artificial and stunted.
But I thought the leading roles had good chemistry. So, does anyone have any movie suggestions with a similar theme (and possible beter plot?)
The night before that I watched American Beauty, a marvellous movie IMHO. Well, some will love it, others will hate it, I don't think there's anything in between there. I, for one, loved it. I was hooked from that memorable scene of Spacey in the shower spanking his monkey while saying: 'This is the highpoint of my day.' A faster/better way to establish the desperate rut a lead character is in within the space of about 2 minutes, I just do not know.
We watched "The Weatherman", Nicholas Cage, last night--picked it up for #3.99 in the bargain bin at the grocery store.
It was slow and somewhat plodding for a Nicholas Cage/Michael Caine movie, struck us as disappointing, and while we thought we should take it off and watch something else, we couldn't do it and sat there watching the whole thing and then thought about the various themes in it for days afterward. Maybe that's the very definition of art? Not necessary something that immediately impresses you but gets into your head?
@Foxfyre,
That should have been Monday night instead of last night.
@Foxfyre,
I just got a dvd of Pontecorvo's Burn in the mail, and am very much looking forward to seeing it again. I remember liking it immensely the first time, when I probably saw it in the late seventies at the Fox Venice, which used to show two different older films a day... boy, I miss that theater, which, last I drove by it, is some kind of dollar store type place. I saw countless great movies there, for a whopping $1.50 a ticket.
I just now refreshed my memory by looking at some reviews, which acclaim it as Brando's best performance.
@ossobuco,
A friend loaned me "Stealing Beauty".
Visually beautiful, really simple, and just sucked me in. Totally involved.
It was a wonderful film.
@spikepipsqueak,
I have to look that one up, pips, as I remember wanting to see it.
Just sat through a few "double" films....
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043456/
A Sci-Fi classic that should not be played with,but what kid nowadays would sit and watch this? Which lead onto....
The Day The Earth Stood Still(2008)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970416/
A crap re-make,but Keanu Reeves dour look kinda fits the Klattu persona.LOVE what they did with Gort (nanobots rule!)
Back to the oldies with the classic David Lean's Oliver Twist....
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040662/
then onto Oliver!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063385/
and as I was in the mood for singing,I ended up with Sweeney Todd....
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408236/
watched Sidney and Iris yesterday, a chick-flick, I enjoyed it.
I just saw Judgement at Nuremberg for the first time. Excellent.
Last night I put on a very low budget B movie "Tornado Warning" (Gerald McRaney, Thea Gill, et al) which is largely unbelievable though it does have a few 'moments' and is so utterly hoakey that it is interesting. Second viewing. I enjoyed it again.
@edgarblythe,
Tough going, but "Judgement" is so engrossing, well written, directed and acted that is is a masterpiece of filmmaking. It's on HD Net Movies in a hi-def new 35mm print. It was like seeing it for the first time. MGM HD is a new channel and so far, the most astonishing restoration and detail was "To Catch a Thief," Hitchcock's tongue-in-cheek cat burglar mystery with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, including those chilling scenes of Kelly speeding up and down the same road where she went off the edge in real life, I believe in the same car. It was originally shot in VistaVision like "Vertigo," so, like Todd-AO and IMAX, the film is already shot wide screen with the film going through the camera sideways and then projected sideways (has to have a special VistaVision projector). The ratio is 16.9 which is exactly the same as wide screen HD TV's -- no black bars on the top and bottom like "Lawrence of Arabia" last night. The detail was unreal as no resolution was lost making the image narrower and no anamorphic processing -- every nook-and-cranny of the rocks along the road, every leaf on the trees, even the tile texture is reproduced in the final scenes on the roof when the cat burglar is caught. That was the most elaborate scene filmed on a Paramount sound stage -- the rest was shot in and around Cannes and Monte Carlo.
@Barry The Mod,
You were in the mood for singing and lots of blood and gore. I hope you didn't also have a straight razor in the room.
osso, you're going to love Stealing Beauty. Wonderful Italian scenery.
I watched The Good Shepherd this weekend. It kept my interest, but was entirely too long and wasted many good actors in tiny roles. It's hard to believe that a spy movie could be so lackluster.
@mac11,
I really like (
love) the
MAC 11,
tho its cyclic rate of fire is too fast,
so that u r standing there with an mt magazine too soon;
i.e., its almost like a shotgun (but its a lot of
FUN).
David
I have Rossellini's Open City waiting on my desk for me. Have seen it before, but a long time ago.
On Pontecorvo's Burn, I still thought it was a strong complicated movie. Glad I rented it.
@ossobuco,
we watched WORDPLAY saturday night - one word : splendid !
Quote: A journey into the world of Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor at The New York Times. Known to millions as National Public Radio's "Puzzle Master," Shortz has spent his entire lifetime studying, creating, and editing puzzles, and has built a huge following along the way. Meet Shortz's diehard fans--including President Bill Clinton, Senator Bob Dole, "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart, filmmaker Ken Burns, the Indigo Girls, and Yankee's ace pitcher Mike Mussina--and discover why over 50 million Americans do crosswords every week.
@mac11,
I got half-way through "The Good Shepard" on HBO, brought up the menu and saw there was something better coming on and flipped channels, never to return. Watching deciduous trees shedding their leaves would have held my interest better.
I think they got wrapped up in John Le Carre film adaptations like "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold," and decided, yeah -- that's the pacing we want. Except those films actually had a story.
What a difference in the Bourne trilogy! Ludlum can write spy novels.
Last movie I watched was Penelope on HBO or one of those channels, and to be honest I think Christina Ricci looked better with a pig snout. =)
He he. I watched The Angry Red Planet last night.
