I just saw The Libertine. REALLY badly directed. Murky, oddly paced, badly shot and the script really betrayed its former life as a play. Even the good performances of Johnny Depp and Samantha Morton could not make it worthwhile. My advice, buy the poster with the close up of both of their wonderful faces, for you will get more enjoyment out of looking at it than you will from the film.
I believe that's my hey. Hey!
Xander ,'Storyteller'
Buffista Movies 4: Straight to Video
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
Scrappy - Nov 25, 2005 8:23:01 pm PST #8768 of 10002
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
DavidS - Nov 25, 2005 8:29:44 pm PST #8769 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
What a lot of movie disapointment!
We saw Harry Potter again today - still fun!
§ ita § - Nov 26, 2005 3:30:19 am PST #8770 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Harry Potter is the only moving showing in Catalina, in a theatre that reputedly seats 1/3 of the island's population.
I think that's what folks are going to see today.
Robin--I'm so disappointed by The Libertine. It sounded perfect conceptually, for Johnny Depp to rock. I'm sad he didn't save it.
Casanova sounds much lighter, but period wooing and Heath Ledger and probably much lower goals. I think I'll see that Christmas day if I see anything.
Theodosia - Nov 26, 2005 4:01:51 am PST #8771 of 10002
'we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn't end any time soon"
I'm anxiously awaiting King Kong.
Anne W. - Nov 26, 2005 4:14:11 am PST #8772 of 10002
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.
King Kong looks awesome.
I liked Goblet of Fire quite a bit. I was especially impressed with some of the casting:
Whoever they got to play Barty Crouch, Sr. was fabulous. He came across as having been seriously broken at some point in the past, but without any scenery-chewing involved.
It took me a while to figure out where I'd seen Crouch Jr. before - Dr. Who! Definitely easy on the eyes, that one.
Ralph Fiennes was a good choice for Voldemort. They made a wise decision in not obstructing his eyes with prosthetics or CGI. The fact that there were human expressions and reactions in those eyes made Voldie much scarier, IMO.
Cedric Diggory was mighty fine looking. I imagine there will be a proliferation of Cedric-fic in the not-too-distant future.
Two things I was disappointed in were that we got to see none of the Quidditch World Cup. There was all the build-up and then... back to the tent to talk about the results of the game. Plus, Fleur came across as helpless and incompetent as compared to the boys in a way she didn't (to me, anyway) in the books. I normally don't notice that sort of thing, but this time, it grated.
§ ita § - Nov 26, 2005 5:17:11 am PST #8773 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
King Kong is three hours long. I love Mr. Jackson, but why? Does it need to?
Matt the Bruins fan - Nov 26, 2005 5:52:28 am PST #8774 of 10002
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
Anne, your point about Fleur bothered me as well. In all the challenges we saw she was the first to fail, and needed rescuing, and tended to sit on the sidelines and cringe helplessly while the manly 14 year-old boy did the saving.
Also, Hermione—who'd previously been very proactive and clearly the smartest and most knowledgable of the main trio of characters—was little more than window dressing in this film. She had no good advice to give, and if she used magic at all, it must have been for a makeover before the dance. Apparently being able to use one's magic wand effectively is now dependent upon having a penis.
Not having read the book, I don't know whether it's Rowling to blame, or the director.
beekaytee - Nov 26, 2005 3:11:35 pm PST #8775 of 10002
Compassionately intolerant
I watched Northfork yesterday. I love me some Polish brothers. (which sounds like something it's not.)
It was such a dreamy, sweet meditation. With a great cast...featuring Robin Sachs aka Ethan Rayne!
It reminded me to re-rent Idaho Falls.
Sigh. I can't really explain why I like their stuff so much. It's clearly a rarely acquired taste. Poor boys.
Northfork was made for 1.2 mil, including James Woods, Darryl Hannah, Nick Nolte, Peter Coyote, Anthony Andrews, Ben Foster and a slew of character actors you'd immediately recognize. Given that Mr. Woods is listed as a producer, I'm betting he paid for the privilege of appearing in the film. Bless him.
And now? Kung Fu Hustle. Guess I'm feelin' kinda surreal.
tommyrot - Nov 26, 2005 8:07:44 pm PST #8776 of 10002
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
Saw Jesus is Magic. It was fun. And less offensive than I imagined it would be.
Nutty - Nov 27, 2005 6:28:10 am PST #8777 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
I watched Northfork yesterday. I love me some Polish brothers. (which sounds like something it's not.)
You know, I still don't know whether they're Polish as in the country of Poland, or Polish as in the stuff that makes your silverware shiny. Damned homonyms.
It reminded me to re-rent Idaho Falls.
You'll find it under Twin Falls, Idaho. That movie freaked me out the first time I saw it.
The sum of my movie-seeing has been Yankee Doodle Dandy, in which I discovered that Jimmy Cagney could sing and tap-dance, George M. Cohan wrote a lot more persistently-popular songs than I had guessed, and filmic biography before 1960 was pretty dull and uninvestigative.