Author Topic: Resurrecting the Movies thread...  (Read 1192913 times)

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #450 on: December 11, 2007, 11:08:26 am »
That's strange, The Lives of Others is from last year, isn't it?

According to IMDb, it is a 2006 film, yes. Maybe it has to do with when it went into limited release in the US (2007)? I really don't know, I am just speculating.

L
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Offline oilgun

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #451 on: December 11, 2007, 11:45:00 am »
According to IMDb, it is a 2006 film, yes. Maybe it has to do with when it went into limited release in the US (2007)? I really don't know, I am just speculating.

L

I know it was in the running for the foreign language film Oscar and it may even have won.

EDIT:  Yep, it did win:  http://www.oscar.com/oscarnight/winners/?pn=detail&nominee=TheLivesOfOthersForeignLanguageNominee

Offline oilgun

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #452 on: December 11, 2007, 10:08:49 pm »
I just finished watching The Bourne Ultimatum.  I stupidly missed it at the cinema.  All I can say is Wow! 
I wish Jason Bourne was my boyfriend! :-* 






« Last Edit: December 12, 2007, 02:20:41 am by oilgun »

Offline Meryl

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #453 on: December 12, 2007, 01:13:38 am »
I just finished watching The Bourne Ultimatum.  I stupidly missed it at the cinema.  All I can say is Wow! 
I wish Jason Bourne was my boyfriend! :-*

I know what you mean, oilgun.  I think all three of those Bourne movies are great entertainment, and Matt Damon does a spot-on job as a no-nonsense, dangerous agent.  8)

I saw "Starting Out in the Evening" this afternoon and thought it was quite good.  It's a quiet movie, but the characters draw you in.  You watch them go through some life-changing stuff, but it all happens without big blow-ups or contrived plot devices.  Frank Langella is terrific as an aging author who's lost his writing chops.  Lauren Ambrose is a grad student who idolizes him and has a dream of bringing his works back into popularity.  Lili Taylor is his daughter, who is going through her own midlife crisis.  It was absorbing to watch them coming to terms with some hard truths about themselves, and coming out on the other side the better for it.  I liked also that it was filmed in New York, which made it feel very familiar and real.  I recommend it.

I also saw "The Golden Compass" last week and enjoyed it.  The best thing about it is the stunning art direction.  Everything looks beautiful, and they did a marvelous job creating the daemons and the polar bears.  Humans in this universe wear part of their spirit on the outside, in the form of an animal who is actually a part of them.  While they're children, the animal can morph into various forms, but when they reach puberty, the daemon "settles" into one particular animal.  The story, based on the first book of a trilogy by Philip Pullman, is rather complex, so I'm interested in knowing if those who haven't read the books will be able to follow what's going on.  I thought the performances were good, but the director was so busy getting the characters to explain the plot that there was little chance to become emotionally involved with them.  The exception to this was the polar bear Iorek, voiced by Ian McKellen.

I hope it picks up at the box office, because I'd like to see them make at least one sequel to finish the story.  However, the other two books are much darker, and IMO potentially confusing and alienating to an audience.  I mean, they actually end up making war on Heaven (Pullman models much of it on "Paradise Lost").  It's much less approachable than "Lord of the Rings," and Chris Weitz, if he directs the sequel(s), needs to make us care about the characters much more than he has in this first movie.
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Offline oilgun

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #454 on: December 12, 2007, 02:25:04 am »
While I'm still in my Bourne-again mode, I think it's time for a gay action hero!  The closest we have is Private Eye Donald Strachey, played by Chad Allen, in the movies Third Man Out, Shock to the System and the upcoming Icy Blues.  Chad does a great job but the series is more like a gay version of the Nick & Nora Charles films. 

I want an edgy action hero!  I even know who to cast:  Robert Gant!


"Who, me?"  Yes, Robert, you would be perfect!

And what a coincidence, here he is with Chad Allen:


Doesn't Chad look like Quentin Tarantino's cuter little brother  :laugh:

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #455 on: December 12, 2007, 02:48:38 pm »
I just finished watching The Bourne Ultimatum.  I stupidly missed it at the cinema.  All I can say is Wow! 
I wish Jason Bourne was my boyfriend! :-*

I know! I've always liked Matt Damon but never considered him anywhere near the Sexiest Man Alive. But now that I know he can jump from building to building like that ... !  :-*

Also oilgun, you're right, there SHOULD be a gay action hero. Now that we have gay cowboys, that seems like the natural next step!





Offline oilgun

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #456 on: December 13, 2007, 12:21:10 am »
I just watched Luchino Visconti's Ossessione(1943), which is the first adaptation of the novel The Postman Always Rings Twice. It was excellent and just dripped with sensuality! Lead actor Massimo Girotti, as Gino the handsome stranger, has unbelievable charisma.  Visconti teases us at the beginning by not showing us Gino's face, not until Giovanna (Clara Calamai), the cafe owner's sexually charged wife, sets eyes on him. The look they share is simply incendiary and we, like her, become instantly obsessed! Yikes, it's getting hot in here, I have to go take a cold shower now!




From: http://cinemahighandlow.blogspot.com/2007/07/ossessione-1943.html
"Ossessione", Luchino Visconti's first film is the also the first filmed adaptation of James M. Cain's potboiler "The Postman Always Rings Twice". It is slightly different than the 1946 John Garfield/Lana Turner version or the 1981 Bob Rafaelson/Nicholson/Lange version, but the basic plot stays the same, except moved to Italy. To me it's amazing that this film survives, since it came out during strict Fascistic rule and also Cain's novel was still under copyright at the time, so it was never shown in this country until the 1960's.
[...]
Unlike the 1946 version, this version deals much more freely with sex, between the strapping leading man and his adulterous paramour. Since this was made in 1943 during the height of the war, this sexuality was contained in mainly glances, body language, and very candid sensuality.



Offline BelAir

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #457 on: December 13, 2007, 12:30:22 am »
I just finished watching The Bourne Ultimatum.  I stupidly missed it at the cinema.  All I can say is Wow! 
I wish Jason Bourne was my boyfriend! :-* 

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w197/oilgun/bourne-ultimatum-big2.jpg



hah hah - me too!  once, I think I watched the first Bourne movie for three days in a row straight!
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #458 on: December 15, 2007, 09:54:25 am »
Interesting article I came across....



Globes put Focus on "Atonement" producer
Fri Dec 14, 2007 8:28am EST

By Gregg Goldstein and Steven Zeitchik

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Two years after "Brokeback Mountain" powered Focus Features to the top of the heap for the Golden Globe nominees, the specialty studio is back in familiar territory.

Focus and Paramount Vantage scored 11 nominations each Thursday. But Focus also could boast the dominant film, "Atonement," with its seven nominations. In addition, it fielded "Eastern Promises" (three) and "Lust, Caution" (one). And that's not counting Focus' stake in Paramount Vantage's "Into the Wild," for which the company is handling non-English international rights.

But then, who's counting?

"I'm back from Taipei and I'm on such a high," said Focus Features CEO James Schamus, who co-wrote and executive produced Ang Lee's "Lust," which just won seven Golden Horse awards in the director's homeland.

Focus came out of the awards gate slowly this year, gaining little traction with such hopefuls as "Evening," "Reservation Road" and "Talk to Me." But a careful rollout strategy for "Atonement" and a late surge for the dark-horse thriller "Eastern Promises" as well as "Lust" have put it in a pole position. "Today is a massive sweep," Schamus said.

The nominations also restore the company to its awards luster of two years ago, when it scored 12 Golden Globe nominations, including seven for "Brokeback Mountain" and two for "Pride & Prejudice," from "Atonement" director Joe Wright.

"It's a mistake to believe any one company can produce an awards-worthy lineup," Schamus said. "It's the company you keep -- great directors and great producers."

But the company also knows that a long race lies ahead of the January 13 Globes and the February 24 Oscars: Two years ago "Brokeback" was an early favorite for the best picture Oscar -- it won best drama at the Globes -- but it lost the big one to "Crash" at the Oscars.

"Atonement," which opened in limited release December 7, is now positioned to ride a Globes rush at the box office. "Lust," possibly hampered by its NC-17 rating, has grossed just $4.3 million domestically to date, but Schamus noted the rating won't pose any problem for its January DVD release. And "Promises" producer Paul Webster said that despite that film's $17 million gross since it bowed November 4, the recognition will give the film "a new lease on life."

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Offline oilgun

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #459 on: December 19, 2007, 11:55:32 pm »
I just watched Superbad and thought it was absolutely hilarious!  Actually it was a bootleg and it konked out on me 3/4 of the way through!  I liked it enough to buy  myselfa copy tomorrow!  Is Fogell the new Stifler?