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| bartist |
 Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 1:01 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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gromit wrote: I've always liked Depp and Pitt.
Never saw any of the Pirate films, though Depp apaprently modeled his Capt. Jack Sparrow look on ... Keith Richards -- which is cool.
Heston is fairly clunky as an actor, but has presence.
I always find his turn in A Touch of Evil really weird, with moments when he's real good and others when he seems about to flop. I love The Omega Man. One of the few films where 70's cheesiness really enhances the whole affair. It almost reminds me of those Vincent Price Edgar Allan Poe films of that era. I also like Soylent Green.
It does esp. remind me of Vincent Price's "The Last Man on Earth" (1964) - those two films have many parallels and similar cheese - of the tasty variety. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 1:25 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Heston is good in The Big Country and certainly okay in Touch of Evil (WHY OH WHY do people persist in adding an "A" to that title? It's A Touch of Class, but simply Touch of Evil.) |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 4:23 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I've always felt Heston received too much harsh criticism for Touch of Evil. He's fine. Believable as a Hispanic? No more so so that Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo or anyone else who donned the dark paint back in the day. But no worse. Those were the times. They weren't exactly going to cast Desi Arnaz or Fernando Lamas. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 5:36 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Joe Vitus wrote: They weren't exactly going to cast Desi Arnaz or Fernando Lamas.
Lamas could have done it, of course, and certainly Ricardo Montalban (which would have teamed up reportedly the nicest guy in H'wood with reportedly the nicest gal, Janet Leigh).
But according to what I've read the movie would never have been made had Chuck H. not signed on. He and Orson were apparently pals and Heston gave it the greenlight. So you takes the Hispanics where you gets 'em. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 6:33 pm |
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| The Big Country was OK and Heston didn't screw it up. Spoiler...The big fight was disappointing because nobody won. I never saw Touch of Evil in the theatre. I saw it on TV a couple of years ago. Bart is right about Heston in that movie. He is OK or even good at times but sometimes he is awful, like he's drunk. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 8:34 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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| One of the all-time great theme orchestral arrangements. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 10:00 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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yambu wrote: One of the all-time great theme orchestral arrangements.
Which are you talking about? If The Big Country, could not agree more. Jerome Moross's score for The Big Country is topped only by Bernard Herrmann's Vertigo as all-time greatest film score.
Neither (needless to say) won the Oscar, and Vertigo wasn't even nominated. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 8:51 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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| Given recent headlines, "Fruitvale Station," opening today, looks pretty topical. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 9:46 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9015
Location: Shanghai
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Has anyone seen Spring Breakers?
Got some good minor buzz.
But not really my type of thang. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 10:48 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Or mine. Unless it's about circuit breakers activated by a spring mechanism. That could be fascinating! I can see the pitch now, "See, there's this huge solar flare pointed right at the Earth..."
I've seen one new release in the past month. So it goes. If a film has (a) huge buzz, (b) noir, suspense, sci-fi, surreal, or philosophic themes, and (c) might show Sienna Miller in some state of undress, then I will see it in a theater. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 2:31 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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| 2 GUNS was some dumb fun shit. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 2:36 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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I saw SPRING BREAKERS twice. I like its subversive energy. It pokes fun at hip hop culture as it has been appropriated by dumb white kids. It features a bunch of nubile young girls who see life as a video game and gangsta rappers as the ultimate in masculine energy. Needless to say, they get in some deep shit and dig it all the way. These girls were made for guns, money and cocaine.
The movie is a blast of adrenaline and day-glo. Lots of titties and ass. I recommend it. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 6:58 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Marc--Can't wait to see 2 Guns, a situation which will be remedied Monday night. Have no desire to see Spring Breakers, which has everything to do with my detestation of Harmony Korine, whose personality turns me off like a faucet. Some people avoid John Wayne films because of what he says and does off screen. I feel the same way about Korine.
Meanwhile, I saw the first truly great film of 2013 last night. Titled The Spectacular Now, it's officially my favorite movie of the year to date, and possibly of the decade. Based on a "young adult" novel, it completely transcends the genre thanks to performances (more below on these) that are--like the title--"spectacular," sensitive direction by James Ponsoldt, and tons of soul.
This could have been a cautionary tale on teenage drinking, but thank goodness everyone eschewed that pallid cliche. The leading character, Sutter, is a high school senior who drinks almost non-stop but hardly ever gets really drunk. He's a budding "functional alcoholic" who shows signs of tipping over into "non-functional." But the story never makes Sutter's drinking the sole focus, which is why this is no After-School Special. It's a story of first love, which Sutter finds with a girl named Aimee.
This still might be the stuff of cliche were it not for the absolutely great performances by Miles Teller (of Rabbit Hole) as Sutter and Shailene Woodley (of The Descendants) as Aimee. They (and Kyle Chandler--of Friday Night Lights--as Sutter's deadbeat dad) act with such amazing nuance and insight that your jaw drops open with admiration. Teller in particular is instantly on a par with the best screen actors I've ever encountered. He deserves the Oscar and any other awards available hands-down. Woodley not only proves The Descendants was no fluke; she outdoes herself at every turn. Brilliant careers are beginning for these two. As for Chandler, he uses his good looks, charisma, and charm to create in just a few minutes of screen time one of the most depressingly accurate pictures of a loser I've seen in ages.
This is a movie which should be seen by everyone on Earth. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 7:21 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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I'm going to admit it: I'm a girl. All the boys said go see The Lone Ranger it's so much fun. The boys said.
I'm done. I'm a girl. NO MORE action movies that go for 2 and 1/2 hours.
NO MORE action movies period. I took my grandchildren to see Wolverine and I said the same thing. Over 2 hours. What's with all the chasing, fighting, guns, noise, trains? My sensibilities are not in tune with this. I am a girl.
I should say add on 2 hours driving time to the theatre.......and maybe you can understand a little. I could get to the Grand Canyon in the time it took the Lone Ranger to explore the west. Texas it was not. It was Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Great places to visit. Great sights to see.
I used to watch William Fitchner when he was on As the World Turns. He played a creepy and unlikeable character. Give me a soap opera. (I'm a girl.) |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 8:22 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Befade wrote: I'm going to admit it: I'm a girl. All the boys said go see The Lone Ranger it's so much fun. The boys said.
I'm done. I'm a girl. NO MORE action movies that go for 2 and 1/2 hours.
NO MORE action movies period. I took my grandchildren to see Wolverine and I said the same thing. Over 2 hours. What's with all the chasing, fighting, guns, noise, trains? My sensibilities are not in tune with this. I am a girl.
I should say add on 2 hours driving time to the theatre.......and maybe you can understand a little. I could get to the Grand Canyon in the time it took the Lone Ranger to explore the west. Texas it was not. It was Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Great places to visit. Great sights to see.
I used to watch William Fitchner when he was on As the World Turns. He played a creepy and unlikeable character. Give me a soap opera. (I'm a girl.)
Like I said, TLR is not for every taste and my wife felt the same way as Betsy. This may be a guy film. Then again, I know some guys who didn't like it either. Hmmm. |
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