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| mo_flixx |
 Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:44 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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Mention of the Vermeer thru the window shot makes me want to refer to the noir THE DARK CORNER by Henry Hathaway with Lucille Ball playing it straight in the '40's.
This film is a Fox reworking of LAURA with Clifton Webb playing a villainous effete gallery owner in NYC. The Fox scenic artists really did themselves proud with some really terrific reproductions of world famous paintings. For example, one is supposed to believe that Webb's gallery has Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" for sale. The male star (Mark Stephens) looks at a "Donatello" and tells the salesgirl to "wrap it up."
This is all very campy and amusing for anyone with even a passing knowledge of the history of art. Most of the reproductions are damn good.
The plot hinges on a "Raphael" (are you kidding??) portrait which is a dead ringer for Clifton Webb's wife. The fact that Clifton Webb even has a wife is hysterical, needless to say.
Lucille Ball manages to keep a straight face thru it all, never once cracking a smile - but then, maybe she didn't know much about art. Actually according to the film's commentary, Lucy was loaned out from MGM. Hathaway was so abusive to her that she suffered a nervous breakdown. None of this is apparent from her plucky "Gal Friday" role.
However, the real standout in this Fox noir series is Hathaway's CALL NORTHSIDE 777 with James Stewart and Richard Conte. It's filmed almost entirely on location in the Chicago area including Joliet prison. A much superior film to THE DARK CORNER and highly recommended to any noir fan. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:53 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| Just finished Away From Her. Am inchoate. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:27 am |
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| "inchoate", There's that damn word again. Every time I see it I have to look it up and surf enough the next time I see it I can't remember what it means so I look it up again. What is it with that word, that I can never remember what it means. This time I won't forget. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:35 am |
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| Mo, CALL NORTHSIDE 777 was very noted way, way back. I remember it being talked about a lot and I'm pretty sure I saw it and heard it on Lux Radio Theater. I'll have to watch for it on TCM. It was a big favourite of my older brothers. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:40 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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inlareviewer wrote: Just finished Away From Her. Am inchoate.
Agree it's a wonderful movie, but as a correspondent wrote to Ebert's Answer Man, it was much more about Gordon Pinsent as the husband than Christie's admittedly excellent work as the wife. Ebert agreed and said it was political, that the powers that be are supporting Christie rather than Pinsent because they think she's the one with the chance for the nomination, that the Best Actor field is just too crowded to admit Pinsent. Interested in your take, inla. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:09 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| The Best Actress field is goiing to be really crowded, too, with Marion Cotillard, Amy Adams, Ellen Page, Helena Bonham-Carter and Nikki Blonsky all competing. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:14 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Syd wrote: The Best Actress field is goiing to be really crowded, too, with Marion Cotillard, Amy Adams, Ellen Page, Helena Bonham-Carter and Nikki Blonsky all competing.
Haven't seen Amy Adams, but Bonham Carter and Blonsky are not award-worthy IMO. Cotillard and Page are definitely worthy, as are the not-even-in-the-running Carice (Black Book) van Houten, Molly (Year of the Dog) Shannon and Julie (2 Days in Paris) Delpy. |
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| Earl |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 11:53 am |
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Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 2621
Location: Houston
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marantzo wrote: "inchoate", There's that damn word again. Every time I see it I have to look it up and surf enough the next time I see it I can't remember what it means so I look it up again. What is it with that word, that I can never remember what it means. This time I won't forget.
You couldn't copy and paste it to save me the trouble? |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:12 pm |
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Earl, I don't use the net as a dictionary, I use my dictionary.
inchoate, a. Only begun, commenced; existing only in elements, incomplete, undeveloped. v.t. To begin, to originate. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 12:39 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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marantzo wrote: Earl, I don't use the net as a dictionary, I use my dictionary.
Gary--The complete Merriam-Webster is on line. It saves me time and effort and also provides spoken pronunciations of dirty words, which provides much merriment (or should that be "Merriament"?) at parties.
Here's an example:
http://tinyurl.com/zubnz
Once you get the definition on screen, click the icon. |
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| bart |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 3:12 pm |
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Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2381
Location: Lincoln NE
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I wondered if Inla meant he's incoherent. I mean, he didn't say much, did he?
Seriously, I'd like to say it was Pinsent's movie, but Christie really does a lot in terms of setting up his renewal of guilt over his past indiscretions in the marriage, as well as the whole subplot of her attachment to the mute guy in the wheelchair. I think she made her role look easy, and that might fool some into thinking that Pinsent did the hod-carrying. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 5:26 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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marantzo wrote: "inchoate", There's that damn word again. Every time I see it I have to look it up and surf enough the next time I see it I can't remember what it means so I look it up again. What is it with that word, that I can never remember what it means. This time I won't forget..... |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:13 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Am inchoate because the subject of Away From Her is nerve-end-fresh after one parent's too-recent passing from same, the other parent's summer-to-autumn traversal through dementia from misfired meds, and the late partner's AIDS-related mental deterioration. Won't be seeing The Savages without someone else driving.
Given that subjective inability to detach, I found Gordon Pinsent exemplary in his investment, and vital to Away From Her. And without Christie Julie giving The Nuanced Performance of Any Actress's Career, he'd have nothing to work with. I did not find the acclaim for her overstated; if anything, it's been too mild. La Dukakis was also extremely fine. After sobbing off to sleep in the wee small hours, watched it again today to regroup. It seems a small-toned but beautifully assured directorial debut for Ms. Polley, especially given how saccharine, manipulative and exploitative it might have been in other hands.
Edited because it's easier to deal with at this point. |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Tue Jan 08, 2008 12:41 am; edited 6 times in total
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:24 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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Inlareviewer,
I am sorry to learn that you've been though what sounds like an annus horribilis.
I haven't seen Away From Her yet, but wonder how it compares with Iris. Iris focused less on the impact on those livng with an Alzheimer's patient and more on the contrast between the confident, beguiling and brilliant young Iris (the excellently cast Kate Winslett) and the her deteriorating older self played by an equally well-cast Judi Dench. I suspect this detachment made Iris an easier watch. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 6:46 pm |
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| inla, I can certainly sympathize with your pain with movies that are so close to tragedies in your own life. I don't even consider seeing them for a second. I saw Shadowlands during my late wife's battle with cancer and I was wracked with sorrow. Very good movie, but if I had known what it was about I would never have subjected myself to it. Kramer vs Kramer came out shortly after my divorce and never had the least interest in seeing it. I still haven't. I go to movies to enjoy myself, not to suffer. |
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