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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2014 5:37 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Joe Vitus wrote: (I keep asking myself where is Joanna Gleason these days? She (is) so talented and she seems to have just disappeared.)
In addition to being excellent in this year's The Skeleton Twins as the new-agey, narcissistic mother of Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, she appeared with yours truly this year in this video of her son Aaron David Gleason's song "Mastermind," directed by Jeremiah Kipp. Also featuring her husband, Chris (Dog Day Afternoon) Sarandon, my wife Dolores, and Tony winner Alice Ripley. Give it a look/listen.
http://vimeo.com/100599813 |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2014 6:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Julianne Moore's performance as an Alzheimer's victim in Still Alice goes way beyond the expected "heartbreaking" into a surreal realm of magnificent. Haven't seen everything yet, but so far she's the best leading actress of the year by a long, long shot. The movie has its "disease of the week" qualities, but by keeping the chronology uncertain and by skipping transitions in the deterioration process of Alzheimer's, the movie keeps you off guard. In that respect, it's more effective than a more "nuanced" movie like Away from Her, the Julie Christie Alzheimer's film and even the (to me) unbearably and unnecessarily graphic Amour.
But above all, Moore's performance is one for the ages. She's a national treasure and, this year, should be acknowledged as such with an Oscar. That is, unless Jennifer Aniston and/or Reese Witherspoon, both yet unseen, prove unexpectedly better. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:25 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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Syd wrote: I guess the Witch can't defy gravity.
I really like The Imitation Game. It's well acted from top to bottom, especially by Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, but also Charles Dance and Mark Strong, and the breaking of the Enigma Code, and Turing's later persecution for homosexuality, make for a strong story line. Although the movie doesn't really indicate it, Commander Denniston (Charles Dance) was a genuine wartime hero.
I didn't realize until I was talking to Leigh's granddaughter that Benedict Cumberbatch has become a major teenage heartthrob. He certainly should be up for Best Actor at the Oscars (I think he should win, but the competition's strong). One of the major contestants played Stephen Hawking, a role Cumberbatch played back in 2004.
The theater was absolutely packed for this film, which I find really promising. I hope it turns into a big hit.
Though I haven't warmed to his "Sherlock, " I thought Cumber hit his stride as Turing. The kid who played the boy Turing was also excellent. I sensed many fictive elements in the film, in the name of drama. Be interesting to check a bio of Turing, see how it aligns with both TIG and Enigma (the film ) . |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 9:57 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 10:31 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Still Alice, Lucy and the Hawking biopic are all out on dvd here.
But I couldn't get excited about any of them.
Even if I'm likely to give some or all of them a whirl eventually.
Like when my cheaper local dvd shop gets them ... |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 10:44 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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The Exodus film is now banned in Egypt and Morocco, primarily because it depicts the Jews building the pyramids and sphinx despite being 600-1,000 years off. But I suspect the real reason is that it generally depicts the Jews as heroic and the Egyptians as authoritarian creepos. I wonder if the current authoritarian Egyptian Gov't doesn't like authoritarianism being criticized, or if it's a sop t the religious folks in the country (they've tossed most of the Muslim Bros leadership in jail). Or it's just some Egyptian nationalism/sensitivity.
Did you know that in Turkey it's a crime for a Turk to insult Turkishness or the gov't? I'm reading Orhan Pamuk's memoirs of Istanbul and reading up on his life, he was charged with such a violation for simply saying that a million Armenians and tens of thousands of Kurds were killed in Turkey. Even worse, he was charged with violating the law retroactively (his statements were made 6 months before the law was passed). Turkey is really a mess these days. They've just been rounding up journalists who are said to be Gulenists, supporting a wealthy Turk who is in exile in the Poconos.
Can't say I'm too eager to see the Exodus film. And there is a zero percent chance it will be in theaters in China -- the gov't here not into religion or the Judeo-Christian tradition. And it sounds like a movie theater, kind of film. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 3:10 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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Last edited by yambu on Sun Dec 28, 2014 7:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 6:29 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Just got back from Top Five. Very fast-past dialogue that's worth listening to, funny and poignant, and Chris Rock and Rosario Dawson are both good. Some raunchy comedy, but there's a lot more to the movie than that. Rock shows the acting talent I always thought he had, playing a stage comedian who has become wildly successful doing idiotic comedies in a bear costume* but wants to do serious films such as Uprize about the Haitian revolution around 1800. (Partly, he is an alcoholic who has cleaned up and thinks he can't be funny without drugs or alcohol.) Rosario Dawson is a New York Times reporter who accompanies him around town while he's promoting the new movie, but everyone is more interested in his upcoming wedding to Gabrielle Union, who has completely orchestrated it to be broadcast on Bravo. (I particularly like the seating setup with cutouts of the Hollywood guests seated in the chairs.)
This is, in a way, Chris Rock's equivalent of a Woody Allen movie. His character is even named Andre Allen, and I believe it's intended as a homage.
*No, he's not named Paddington. |
Last edited by Syd on Sun Dec 28, 2014 8:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 7:12 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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billyweeds wrote: Joe Vitus wrote: (I keep asking myself where is Joanna Gleason these days? She (is) so talented and she seems to have just disappeared.)
In addition to being excellent in this year's The Skeleton Twins as the new-agey, narcissistic mother of Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, she appeared with yours truly this year in this video of her son Aaron David Gleason's song "Mastermind," directed by Jeremiah Kipp. Also featuring her husband, Chris ( Dog Day Afternoon) Sarandon, my wife Dolores, and Tony winner Alice Ripley. Give it a look/listen.
http://vimeo.com/100599813
Tried, but my laptop doesn't do well with HD. Will watch again when I'm back at school with more recent computers. I liked what I saw of you, though. You do demented really well.  |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 11:00 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Just got back from South Carolina, where the holiday was warped by the fact that my mother was sick with a cold (fortunately not the flu, as my sister and I feared for a while), and I caught it. But my sister and I did get around to seeing a movie, choosing "The Imitation Game," which we probably wouldn't have seen if Mom had felt like coming along. We both liked the film but some of those twists were too obviously geared for melodrama--really, the very first successful translation points at a convoy on which one of the team has a brother? Sure, the point had to be made that they had to be careful about not being too successful lest the Nazis suspect, but that was ludicrous. I also suspected that the Knightley character might be fictional just to get a bit of romantic spin, but I read the item that Bart posted and was glad she was, at least, real. I also wondered how true the soviet spy was, so it was interesting to find out that he too was real (no surprise that he and Turing never actually met). I have a book about Turing on my to-read pile, and will move it to the top. I'd like to sort out the real story from the movie script. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 5:27 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| I wasn't aware of the many deviations from history in The Imitation Game, but still found it a little lacking. It's a good movie, entertaining as it passes, but not much more. The raves are misplaced, though it's nice to see Morten Tyldum gaining recognitiion. Headhunters is still possibly the best thriller of the last decade. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:48 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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Also looked up Joan Clarke, turns out much of the Knightly version IS fictional....she was a respected cryptologist and mathematician, didn't have to be snuck into service in the secretary pool, was indeed placed in Hut 8, with the Enigma team, and looked nothing like a Chanel model. But the scriptwriter had to take a whack at sexism somehow, I suppose. Feed that melodrama.
Agree with BW that Tyldum's previous, Headhunters, is just terrific, so if he wants to oscillate between masterful and mediocre, can't complain. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:26 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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| You'd think people would stop fucking with Liam Neeson's family. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:54 pm |
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Joined: 30 Oct 2014
Posts: 278
Location: Winnipeg: It's a dry cold.
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Big bang, shmig bang; still doesn't explain how anything starts. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:57 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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| I'm afraid to pet his cats too vigorously. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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