The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
Resurrecting the Movies thread...
oilgun:
I think I'll skip Cowboys & Aliens, a reviewer I trust hated it. I will see Rise of the Planet of the Apes though.
A couple of nights ago I saw The Devil's Double with Dominic Cooper in a double role. He plays Uday Hussein, Saddam's psychotic (& bisexual) son and also his double. A very enjoyable thriller, with some scenes of extreme violence - I jumped and went Ewww! a couple of times - but also some dark humour that prevents the film from being a downer. Lee Tamahori is the director. The film loses some steam in the last act but it's well worth seeing.
Front-Ranger:
I saw the trailer for Devil's Double too. Intriguing concept! Looked like it would be very engrossing, over the top in some places, but aren't all movies these days?
The main attraction last night was a restored print of The Man Who Fell to Earth, a mid-'70s film by Nicholas Roeg starring David Bowie in his first film role. He was so perfect you might think the role was written for him, but no! It was conceived as a vehicle for Peter O'Toole. Bowie was much more relaxed and natural in the role than O'Toole would have been.
Over the top it was not and that made the climactic scenes even more powerful. It was interesting to see how many technological innovations the main character started, in his quest to raise funds to return to his home planet, that have really come to pass. Self developing cameras, disposable recyclable cameras, speakerphones, unleaded gas, remote controls, etc. I expected him to produce contact lenses that would correct Buck Henry's terrible eyesight, but he never did. I wonder why that wasn't part of the story.
Mandy21:
I hope Amanda checks out your review, Lee, since she seems to be one of the world's biggest fans of all things Bowie:)
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on August 01, 2011, 03:22:18 pm ---I'm thinking about seeing Cowboys and Aliens after work one day this week.
--- End quote ---
Well, I really broke out of my routine today. Cowboys and Aliens was playing at a theater four blocks from the office, and there was a show at 5:00, so I went there directly from work. I really liked it. Hey, what's not to like about cowboys, outlaws, and Apaches mixing it up with aliens? ;D
Harrison Ford can still pull it off, and Daniel Craig--what a hunk, and what incredible blue eyes! And then there's the beautiful Olivia Wilde, from TV's House.
Strangely enough, in the "Movie Openings" column in the August 1 New Yorker, the movie is characterized as a "comedy." This movie is by no means a comedy. It's very violent, and the violence is not played for laughs. Sympathetic characters get killed. But it's still a great movie for the adolescent boy in me who likes to see stuff blown up. ;D
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: oilgun on August 03, 2011, 12:24:20 am ---I think I'll skip Cowboys & Aliens, a reviewer I trust hated it.
--- End quote ---
Probably wasn't his kind of picture. What did he expect from a movie inspired by a video game?
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