'Lineage'
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.
I finally got around to checking out the recent wide-screen DVD of RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY and what an amazing movie. If you have any affinity for westerns, and haven't seen it, or only seen it "formatted to fit your screen" this is a must rent/borrow (if not buy).
It may have one of the most poignant final shots in film history that manages to be elating, beautiful and mournful all at the same time.
You know, I don't even think the TV series is slashy, but when Jamie Foxx says "I'll never doubt you" in the Miami Vice trailer, my slash goggles do fog up a bit.
I second everything Frank said about Ride The High Country. It's such a beautiful, poignant, thoughtful movie that it sucks me in every time.
I second everything Frank said about Ride The High Country. It's such a beautiful, poignant, thoughtful movie that it sucks me in every time.
The one thing - I can't say it makes it less of a movie, but it always throws me out of the movie a little - is how distracting it is that Mariette Hartely is in the movie. She's very, VERY good in it, but I saw WAYYY too many of those camera commercials with James Garner at an impressionable age.
I finally just saw War of the Worlds on the teevee. I really liked it. What a nicely creepy movie, even if the ending is eye-rolly.
Got another oldie to pimp: What's Up Doc?. May be the last of the great screwball comedy/farce combos.
Four identical overnight cases end up on the same floor of a hotel in San Francisco. One holds top secret documents, one holds very expensive jewels, one holds rocks, and one holds clothes and books. People are trying to steal the cases with the documents and the jewels.
The case with the rocks belongs to an uptight musicologist (Ryan O'Neal), who's in town with his equally uptight fiancee (Madeline Kahn), competing for a grant to investigate his theory that prehistoric man first learned music from the vibrations of rocks. He meets the owner of hte case with the clothes and books (Barbra Streisand), who's kooky and wacky in the best 1972 movie style.
Of course, cases get mixed up, and then....
This one starts slow, but once it picks up, it doesn't stop. The owner of the case with the jewels is played by Mabel Albertson (who you may recognize as Darrin's mother from Bewitched, the series -- except Darrin's mother wouldn't have been caught dead in matching leopard print vest and miniskirt).
Similar in style to Bringing Up Baby. But be careful if you watch them in a double feature -- you may die laughing.
What's Up Doc?
I dislike both Ryan O'Neal and Babs intensely, generally speaking, and, yet, I love this movie. Go figure.
I love your reviews, Fred Pete. One of my very favorite things about this thread.
Saw Art School Confidential last night. I did not like it and was surprised by that, due to loving Zwigoff's other work. The art school satire was very heavy-handed and the main character, although well-played by bambi-eyed Max Minghella,is all over the place. I really liked Sophia Myles--she manages to invest the role of the Idealized Love Interest with a lot of depth.
Frank, I think at least one factor is that O'Neal isn't the most expressive actor. In WUD, he's supposed to be wooden. And while it may not be your sort of thing, I really enjoyed the scene where he was wearing only boxer shorts and a bowtie.
And if you like the silents -- TCM is showing a Rudolph Valentino festival starting at 8 (ET) tonight.
And if you like the silents -- TCM is showing a Rudolph Valentino festival starting at 8 (ET) tonight.
Ooooooh.
Hmm. Must figure out what to Tivo.