Resurrecting the Movies thread...

[silkncense]

I wasn't looking forward to United 93 but now I will definitely get it - Thanks for that.

Yesterday I saw Notes on a Scandal.  I very much like the actresses & was looking forward to it.  And, the acting was very good - but the film just left me cold.  The actions of the characters didn't seem to fit exactly.  Anyone else see it? 

[ednbarby]

I saw it yesterday, too.  I thought it was quite good, actually.  I know what you mean about its leaving you cold - I kind of feel that way, as well.  But not because I think the characters' actions didn't fit - I thought they did so well that their actions were totally believable.  The only problem I found with it was that Bill Nighy's character didn't have enough reason to have so much disdain for Barbara at the time he lashed out at her when they were on their way to the play.  Later he did, sure, but at that point, I thought his words were overly harsh.

I saw The Last King of Scotland today.  I had been basing my opinion on Forest Whitaker's performance being legendary on seeing the trailer alone.  I learned today that I was right.  That was the kind of performance that actually enriches your life just to see it, which is especially admirable considering he played a.) a real historical figure and b.) a monster.  I thought James McAvoy was really quite good, too.  Too bad he had to be the counterpart to that role - no matter who you were or how well you did, Whitaker *owned* every scene.  Hell, even the ones he wasn't in.

It was a much better-done movie than I expected, too.  I kind of expected a tour-de-force performance in an otherwise mediocre movie.  Instead I got a tour-de-force performance in a great movie.  What a fantastic character study about how power can so easily corrupt, and not just Amin, but the fictional doctor who started out being so believably (but not cloyingly so) idealistic.

[MaineWriter]

I saw Dreamgirls yesterday. As many have said, Jennifer Hudson, in her first big role, was excellent. I also thought Eddie Murphy was very good. Beyonce Knowles did a good job and Jamie Foxx must have been good because I just hated his character...by the end of the movie, it was "hiss, boo!" every time he showed up on the screen.

The movie did seem long, though, and as my mother said, by the end I was tired of the "shouting songs."

While Jennifer Hudson was very good, I don't think she'll win Best Supporting Actress...it's her first time out of the gate and I just don't think the Academy is that generous.

Thoughts from others who have seen Dreamgirls?

L

[Meryl]

It was a much better-done movie than I expected, too.  I kind of expected a tour-de-force performance in an otherwise mediocre movie.  Instead I got a tour-de-force performance in a great movie.  What a fantastic character study about how power can so easily corrupt, and not just Amin, but the fictional doctor who started out being so believably (but not cloyingly so) idealistic.

That's a great endorsement, Barb.  I think I'll have to add that one to the (very) long list of films I want to see.

I saw "Pan's Labyrinth" a few days ago, a story that takes place during the Spanish Civil War.  What an interesting combination of the real and unreal!  But is the unreal any less real than what we think is the real world?  The imagery is beautiful, and the little girl who plays the lead is excellent.  It makes you think about all the layers of history, in fact the layers of reality itself, that lie just under the surface of where we live our day to day lives.  It's also about being tested and about both winning and losing what is most dear to you.  I definitely recommend it.

[ednbarby]

I very nearly saw that one instead today, but I opted for The Last King of Scotland because Pan's Labyrinth just started for the first time on Friday, whereas the former is just a revival of sorts so I was afraid it'd be gone, soon.  Although, judging from the packed theater today and the applause at the end, maybe I was wrong about that one.

I'm still wanting to see Volver, but it's only playing at a theater I really don't like, so chances are I'll have to wait for the DVD.  Same goes for Little Children, unfortunately.

I hope to see Babel this Thursday.

Kind of annoying that they can't spread these good movies out over the year a little more (or some).  Stupid "awards season."  Man, I wish all that would just go away.  I mean, hand out awards if you want - we do at my company and in my business, too.  But the televising of it all (and the marketing and the hype) needs to stop.

And that's my truly revolutionary comment for the day.

[ednbarby]

Oh, and Leslie, I have no comment to add to your Dreamgirls review except that I agree with every word.  Well, no - I thought Jamie Foxx was a little blah - but otherwise I agree with every word.

[MaineWriter]

Barb, I think you and I should go to the movies together...one of these days, right?

L

[Ellemeno]

Late to the party - and just popping in to say I think An American in Paris should come off the over-rated list.  George Gershwin and Gene Kelly - who could ask for anything more?

My sister's boyfriend's brother was on United Flight 93.  I'm not ready to see it.  Though I go through dark phases of scouring the internet about it every six months or so.

[ednbarby]

My sister's boyfriend's brother was on United Flight 93.  I'm not ready to see it.  Though I go through dark phases of scouring the internet about it every six months or so.

I can understand that.  I think it's one of those things that when you're ready for it, you'll know.  You go through hell watching it, even if you don't have such a personal connection.  But you come out clean on the other side.

Getting back to The Last King of Scotland (obsessive much?) - this thought just occurred to me: the relationship between Idi Amin and Nicolas Garrigan is not unlike that between, ironically, Forest Whitaker's and Stephen Rea's in The Crying Game.  But the roles are reversed this time.  Amin is now the captor instead of the captive.  Everything else is the same: the two of them are utterly infatuated with each other.  And it's easy to understand why.  They are both completely beguiling.  The homoeroticism in this movie is now staying with me, and I suspect will for a long while.  To a straight woman, there is nothing more electrifying - and heartbreaking - than the affection between two (apparently, anyway) straight men - especially when you care deeply about one (or both) of them.

My husband has a couple of such close friendships with men.  And I envy his partners deeply.  Because I know I can't give him what they do.  We've been living together for 19 years.  And we still get along exceedingly well on a platonic level.  And yet he'll get on the phone with one of these two or three and laugh like I haven't heard him laugh since the early days.  For hours.  Similarly, I know that when I get on the phone with one of my two or three closest women friends, I can talk and laugh like that for hours.  And he gets equally as jealous - to the point that he'll usually find some reason to interrupt me, even.  I just don't do it as often as he, so he forgets.

The electricity between these two characters is palpable.  They just understand each other.  Instantly.  Even though one comes from a very privileged background and one comes from a very disadvantaged one.  They both speak the same language of Lack of Father Love.  I guess it's so intoxicating when it's between two men because they don't let us in on that shit very often in real life.  With us women, it's just modus operandi.  What I love about this movie is that it doesn't force the Father/Son Conflict down our throats - just as Brokeback doesn't - it just lets it unwind slowly like a coiled spring, just as it would between people who understand each other instantly in the real world.

[delalluvia]

Went and saw Miss Potter with Ewan McGregor and Renee Z.  This movie can be described as achingly sweet and sincere and just nice nice nice.  Think 'Neverland-lite'.  Gonna buy this one when it comes out.