Tag Archives: AFI

Listing or: a New Play

05 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Movie Review, Music Review, Records

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Salutations™!!

Well, it’s a new year. Last year around the new year, I finished two long-time lists, The Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time and the 400 nominations for the AFI 100 Years… 100 Movies. Again, those were long, drawn-out treks. The movies list took almost nine years and the RS list was a three-year jaunt. Lots of hours spent in that. One day I may add up the run times of each film and each album to see how much time those actually took. I’m really curious.

nme

©NME

 

Then, this past year, I did Eugeology: Eugene’s List of Hard Rock Albums and Possible Gems where Eugene and Jon and I listened to a random list of 50 hard rock albums that Eugene thought were fantastic and perhaps lesser known to everyday music folk. I finished it in almost perfect time. Eugene got somewhere barely over half done and Jon never made it to half. Oh well.

Now, the point is, Dear Reader, you know that I do lists. That’s how I operate. Eug jokes that the only way to get me to do something is to put it on a list or let it involve a streak and watch me burn through it. He’s not far off from the truth, there.

I feel I need to explain this again, but I’m always asked why I have to have lists, why can’t I just listen to stuff? I’ll condense it and say that where I grew up there were no top 40 or pop music radio stations until at least 1982 and at that, it was a limited playlist. We didn’t have MTV and I really had no access to the plethora of music that was out there. My father listened only to what we now know as “classic country” and my mother listened to Leslie Gore and gospel stuff. She isn’t really a “musical person.” I spent most of my time, ages 8 until around 12/13, listening to nothing but KISS. I don’t regret that, but I do wish I had more knowledge of the rest of musicdom.

As I said at the beginning, it’s a new year. And, since I’m out of lists that I was already working on, well, I need another. So, I was looking through some Google searches and came across a few lists but the one that I think is manageable right now is NME’s 101 Albums to Hear Before You Die. I will figure out how to structure the listen. I know for the RS list I did 10 at a time and with Eug’s list we did one a week. I don’t know, just yet, how I’m going to approach it. I know that about half of the albums on that are on the RS list in different spots (obviously) but there are some out there things that I’ve never even heard of. You never know I may find the next Forever Changes (Love), Maggot Brain (Funkadelic) or Berlin (Lou Reed) on this list. Or, I may find the stuff too out there for me and abandon it. We’ll see. I know that NME has a 500 of all time, too. Who knows. I have the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (2011 edition) book and there’s a website with the whole list including all editions. You never know I may pick all of those. For now, however, I’m going to say the NME list is what I pick. You’ll see how it works out because I know you read every day, right? Right.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Lists are how I parse and manage the world.” – Adam Savage

Jurassic Park or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

19 Saturday Nov 2016

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Jurassic Park (1993), starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough and Jeff Goldblum.

Per IMDb: “During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok.”

jurassic_park_poster

©Universal Pictures

Mr. Hammond (Attenborough) wants Drs. Grant and Sattler (Neill and Dern respectively), two prominent dino-era experts to endorse and deem his new dinosaur themed park, Jurassic Park, safe after a Velociraptor kills a staff member. It seems that Hammond’s scientists have found a way to extract DNA from amber-encased mosquito fossils and clone that DNA into various dinosaurs. Each taking on the characteristics of the depicted version; essentially becoming a real dinosaur.

Unbeknownst to Hammond, one of his employees, Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight, Newman from Seinfeld), is stealing this dino embryos and selling it on the black market. While Drs. Grant and Sattler along with mathematician and chaos theorist Dr. Malcolm (Goldblum) along with the investors’ attorney, Gennaro (Martin Ferraro), and Hammond’s two grandchildren were on a test tour of the park, Nedry is in danger of losing money on his stolen embryo so he goes to steal more. Doing so, he has to turn off the security around the embryos and in doing so also turns off the electric fences that keep the dinosaurs from the tour guests. It leaves Hammond and one of his engineers played by Samuel L. Jackson, to try and reboot the systems. Yep, you guessed it, the dinos get loose and calamity ensues. To what extent and how many people die? Well, you have to watch for that info.

I had absolutely never seen this film before this. I really didn’t even know what the premise of the film was, outside of cloned dinosaurs and them going nuts. From 1993 until 1999 or so, everything was dinosaurs, dinosaurs, dinosaurs, just like a few years back everything was all about zombies. It was cliche, in your face and overdone. That being the case, I didn’t care to see it. So, I put it off. I am quite sorry for that decision.

The first thing that I had to gravitate to the CGI. I had to imagine myself back in 1993 when I watched this just a few weeks ago. This was probably the first hoorah for CGI and director Stephen Spielberg made sure to use it to its fullest extent, even though he was simultaneously filming Schindler’s List. There was stuff before, but not a lot in this scope. This was the CGI breakthrough. I can see, watching closely, the CGI layers and there was green screen stuff, and compared to today’s computer graphics, it’s somewhat primitive but it is really great stuff. The dinosaurs look so real.

But, there was so much more than the dinosaurs. The lush landscapes of Costa Rica (where which only a few outdoor shots were actually taken), Hawaii and Dominican Republic along with the Mojave desert were vibrant and large. The actors were all top notch. Some of the best acting I’ve ever seen in a film overall, this was amazing. Michael Crichton’s story (both novel and screenplay) was vivid and full. There were a few times I found myself finding ‘goofs,’ but for the most part, I let myself get lost in the story. It was intense and even though I knew that most of these characters were in the next (tw0?) made it to further sequels, I was truly scared for the characters. I will say, that I found my hair standing up on the back of my neck more than once. Edge of seat situations. And, any film with a John Williams score is automatically enhanced by 300%. The sound was nothing shy of the intensity of the scenes they represented.

This was one of the 400 nominations for AFI‘s 100 Years… 100 Movies list in 2007. In fact, it was the absolute last film on the list for me to complete it. By now, there’s already another post that covers me completing that list. It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing, Mixing and Visual Effects; winning all three. Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at 93% Fresh with an Audience Score of 91%. IMDb has it rated at 8.1 stars out of 10. It is currently only available streaming by rental from Amazon Prime. It was a handful of months ago that it showed up on Netflix and then disappeared just about two months ago. I’d venture to say that it will be back before too long. I own the whole Jurassic Trilogy (before Jurassic World came out) on Blu-Ray and that’s how I watched it. I highly recommend this if you’ve never seen it and I rate it 4.75 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Big Tim, the human piece of toast.” – Dr. Alan Grant

Porgy & Bess or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

12 Saturday Nov 2016

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Porgy & Bess (1959), starring Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Per Rotten Tomatoes: “This film version of George Gershwin’s classic American operetta tells the story of Porgy, a crippled young man who falls in love with the beautiful, free-spirited and heroin-addicted Bess who is not only loved by her drug dealer, but also by Crown, a ruthless longshoreman.”

porgy_and_bess_1959_poster

©Samuel Goldwyn/Columbia Pictures

I hadn’t seen the film version of this, only the touring Broadway version. I didn’t care for that version and I don’t care for this one. Now, let me clarify. The actual story and the libretto are fine. I’d even say very good. I’m a fan of George and Ira Gerswin. I love musicals. But, I really do not like this as a musical. If it weren’t a musical, perhaps I’d have been all about it. As I said, the subject, the story, the acting, the idea, all good (albeit controversial). The musical aspect itself, primarily the singing, is just atrocious to me. Particularly the lead character’s portrayal.

As I said, I saw the live theatrical version of this and I didn’t like the overly-vibratoed soprano and I didn’t like it here. It’s not Dandridge doing the singing, it’s someone named Adele Addison. It’s just over the top and sounds like noise at times. Now, that may be an artform because my knowledge of music allows me to understand she actually can sing, but this just sounds like wailing. Other characters’ singing parts are just as bad.

The acting parts, not the singing, are on point. I mean, Sidney Poitier? Sammy Davis Jr.? Pearl Bailey? Diahann Carroll? Even Scatman Crothers, Claude Akins and Brock Peters (who played Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird)? All fantastic actors and all did a great job of acting in this film.

With the exception of Sammy Davis, Jr. I can’t find any evidence that any of the lead actors actually wanted to be in the film and did so basically because they were asked by the right people or convinced that not doing it would cause reputable harm to their chances in other films. That, goes to show, though that they’re good actors. None of them wanted to be there but their performances were top notch.

I’ve not gone into my normal explanation of the plot here as I feel I can’t do it without going down a rabbit hole and following the plot to the end. The description from Rotten Tomatoes above describes the plot well enough. Speaking of Rotten Tomatoes, they have it rated 83% Fresh and an Audience Score of 79%. IMDb has it at 7.4 stars out of 10.

I watched it, even knowing I probably wasn’t going to like it, because it was one of the 400 nominees for the AFI‘s 100 Years… 100 Movies list for the 2007 version of the list. As of this writing, I have ONE more film to go to finish the entire 400 nominations list. I will have finished it by the time you read this and I talk about it on TLD.

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Cinematography, Color; Best Costume Design, Color; Best Sound; Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture. It won the latter. The soundtrack won a Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album, Original Cast – Motion Picture or Television. I can’t find anywhere that has this film available for streaming. Not Netflix, DVD.com, Hulu or Amazon Prime. You can purchase it from Amazon, which I did, around 8 years ago, but be warned it’s a DVD copy of a very bad VHS or other type of tape because there are lines and there’s tape drag. If I were going on acting alone this film would be rated around 3.5 stars, but because I didn’t care for the musical aspect, I’m rating it 2.5 stars out of 5.  Have you seen it? Do you agree or disagree? What would you like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Summertime and the livin’ is easy.” – “Summertime” (Gershwin, Heyward, Gershwin)

The Exorcist or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

05 Saturday Nov 2016

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, The Exorcist (1973), starring Ellen Burnstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair and Jason Miller.

Per IMDb: “When a preteen girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.”

In what is probably one of the scariest pieces of film, ever, very young Regan MacNeil (Blair) is an ordinary pre-teen daughter of a movie star, if that’s possible. She’s down to Earth but has a live-in nanny and lives in a gated home in Georgetown. Regan plays with a Ouija board in the basement, by herself, and talks with an entity she calls “Captain Exorcist_ver2Howdy.” I’m pretty sure this is where Dee Snider got the name of the character he wrote about in Twisted Sister. Anywhat! After contacting the bad ol’ captain, Regan starts getting sick. She makes a lot of weird noises and has fevers and then goes cold.

Her mother, Chris (Burnstyn), has a party to celebrate an astronaut that’s about to go up in space when Regan shows up in her nightgown, unannounced, in a daze, and tell him that he’s going to “die up there,” and then urinates all over the rug and herself. Soon after, Regan falls deeper into the abyss and things start happening. Her bed shakes, the room goes cold, etc. Chris consults several doctors but they don’t find anything wrong. They run many tests on Regan and it’s quite uncomfortable to her (and apparently what’s inside her).

Another side plot is that of Father Damien Karras (Miller). His mother dies and he loses faith in the Lord. But, after Christ talks with him, something about Regan makes him take an interest. Meanwhile, more things are happening. While Chris is at a function, her friend and director, Burke Dennings, died after falling from a window while babysitting Regan. Father Karras believes Regan is possibly possessed by a demon. He wants to get permission from the church to perform an exorcism. They agree but they instead enlist the services of Father Lankester Merrin (von Sydow) to perform this task. Why? Because it seems the demon that is inside Regan is Pazuzu, a demon that Merrin had defeated before. Did it work? You’ll have to watch to find out.

There’s plenty of iconic horror imagery in this film, along with many quotes and many parodies made from it, as well. The makeup crew that made Linda Blair, a very pretty young girl, look that hideous and the things the special effects people were able to make appear to happen was spectacular. Some of the scenes make your skin crawl. Some make you gasp. This film, especially for 1973 was truly scary. Was it a monster film? No. Was it a supernatural horror film? Surely.

The things that Regan did while under the possession of Pazuzu were very provocative. Masturbating with a cross, levitation, head spinning 360 degrees, projectile vomit – and I am not talking about just throwing up; this was throwing out! Several feet worth of out. The things that Blair had to pretend to say were enough to make one blush. I saw it a long time ago and have re-watched it several times since. I remember I was very young when they did a reshowing in theaters and the trailer showing Max von Sydow’s silhouette in the streetlight was quite scary, too. I watched it not long ago with my son, 3B, who promptly slept through all of it. I was hoping for the special edition in which Regan does the reverse spider walk down the steps but it didn’t happen in this version, the theatrical release. I do wish Max von Sydow’s character would have been more prominent in the film, but what do you do?

Rotten Tomatoes rates this at 87% Fresh with an Audience Score to match it. IMDb has it at 8 stars out of 10. It was on the 400 nominations for the AFI‘s 100 Years… 100 Movies list (2007 version), but didn’t make the list cut. It’s on a dozen other lists like this, too. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Director, Cinematography, Film Editor, Production Design, Writing Adapted Screenplay and Sound Mixing; winning the last two. It was the first horror film to ever be nominated for Best Picture.

This is available (at the time of this writing) on Netflix. I rate it a 4.25 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? Do you agree? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“What an excellent day for an exorcism.” – Demon (Pazuzu?)

Three Kings or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

22 Saturday Oct 2016

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Three Kings (1999) starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Spike Jonze and Ice Cube.

Per IMDb: “In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, 4 soldiers set out to steal gold that was stolen from Kuwait, but they discover people who desperately need their help.”

When SFC Barlow (Wahlberg) and PFC Vig (Jonze) find a map in an Iraqi soldier’s buttocks, they, along with Chief Elgin (Ice Cube) and Major Gates (Clooney) embark on an unsanctioned, illegal and dangerous mission to steal from Saddam Hussein’s stash of gold, that he stole from Kuwait. After a bit of work, they find the gold but also find more than they bargained for in a group of Iraqi rebels that are being pushed around, tortured and

Three_Kings_(film)_poster_art.jpg

©Warner Bros.

killed by Saddam’s army. An errant exchange of gunfire leads to a mini war between the Americans and the factions of Saddam’s army. There’s a hunt, chase, destruction and apprehension. One of the main four is captured and the others, after paying the Iraqi rebels to help locate him, must attempt to rescue him. Do they find him? Do they die trying? You’ll have to watch to find out.

The first thing that stands out to me is, yes, it was 1999, but I believe that the US Army has a better tracking system than to just lose four soldiers, weapons and a humvee. Yes, it was supposed to be early, they grab what they are after and then back to camp. How were they going to get the gold out of the country? What would they have done with the gold? Who would buy it? There was a lot of weird ‘what ifs’ going on in this film. Now, all that being said and if I can put my suspension of disbelief to work, it was actually a good film.

It wasn’t what I expected. I thought it was just a war film. That’s okay but I don’t care anything about any wars that formulate, start and happen in my lifetime. The latest war I want to watch a film about is Vietnam, and even then, war films aren’t my thing. This, however, is more of a black comedy than a war film. Let’s call it a action-packed black dramedy. Yes, let’s. The acting was good. I know that George Clooney gets a bad rap sometimes, as does Mark Walhberg, but these guys can act, it’s just usually in some crap roles. Ice Cube is actually a good dramatic actor, too. His comedies are usually good if they’re not pointed at families; Friday anyone? Otherwise you’re stuck with Barbershop and Are We There Yet? This was my first experience with Spike Jonze that I know of. He’s not bad. A tad hick-ish, but not bad.

This was one of the 400 nominees for AFI‘s 100 Years… 100 Movies, the 2007 edition. As of this writing, I now have two more to go to complete the list of 400. It may be finished by the time this airs on the podcast. Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at 94% Fresh with an Audience Score of 77%, which is actually a large gap. IMDb has it at 7.1 stars out of 10. It’s not available on Hulu, Netflix or even DVD.com but it is available for rent on Amazon Prime, which is where I watched it. It used to be on Netflix streaming but it was removed some time ago. As I said, I thought it was a pretty good film and I’ll rate it 4 out of 5 stars. Have you seen it? Do you agree with me? What would you like to see/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Kaboom! Y’all see that cow’s head shoot up? It’s like a cartoon! It’s f*ckin’ crazy!” – Conrad Vig

 

The Four Hundred Journey or: Finis

18 Tuesday Oct 2016

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Salutations™!!

Well, one down, one to go. I have been working on two major “lists” over the past few years. One is the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time, which I have just over 90 more to go and the AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies 400 nominations. This was for the 2007 list. And, as of last week, I finally finished the entire list. A journey that spanned almost 10 years. photo

There are plenty of things that I’ve written or said about these films. There were plenty that I liked, many that I really, really liked and a good bit that I really didn’t. When people ask me why I do it, the answer is the same as to why I listen to the RS list: To force me to experience things that I wouldn’t have on my own; either by choice or ignorance or even a mixture of both.

There are many things on this list that I had never heard of. There were things that I had heard of but had decided that I didn’t care about that “genre” of film or had seen enough of them. There were some that had actors that I didn’t think that I liked. There were things that I thought: well, that person is cheesy or I’m not in the mood for a ‘rom com’ or I remember ‘so-n-so’ telling me it was awful and I trust their opinion. The list goes on and on. But, in that thinking, I was missing out on a lot.

One of the first films that I found early on, that I had somehow never heard of, that stands as my “model” of why the list is a good tool, was It Happened One Night (1934) starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. A rich girl runs away and is aided by a dashing reporter that needs a story. Is it the greatest film ever? No. Is it something that I want to watch over and over? No. But, I would watch it again, several times over my lifetime. I thought it was a fantastic film that I really, really enjoyed and actually purchased for my mother, whose favorite film of all time is Gone With The Wind and is a big Gable fan. I told her this is pre-Rhett and she may like it. I don’t know if she watched it or not. The point is: I wouldn’t have seen the film, or probably ever heard of it, and if I had eventually heard of it, I wouldn’t have watched it; not my bag. But, I am glad I watched it, it was great.

Other greats that I came across (some may have actually been in the final 100): All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), An American in Paris (1951), The Apartment (1960), Beau  Geste (1939), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), The Big Sleep (1946), Blackboard Jungle (1955), Breaking Away (1979), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Broadcast News (1987), Bullitt (1968), The Color Purple (1985), Coming Home (1978), The Conversation (1974), Dances with Wolves (1990), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), The Deer Hunter (1978), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Double Indemnity (1944), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), East of Eden (1955), The English Patient (1996), Five Easy Pieces (1970), Funny Girl (1968), Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), The Gold Rush (1925), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), Gunga Din (1939), In the Heat of the Night (1967), It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), The Killing Fields (1984), The Life of Emile Zola (1937), The Longest Day (1962), The Lost Weekend (1945), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), Mean Streets (1973), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Network (1976), Now, Voyager (1942), On Golden Pond (1981), On the Waterfront (1954), Out of Africa (1985), The Philadelphia Story (1940), A Place in the Sun (1951), The Quiet Man (1952), Raging Bull (1980), A Raisin in the Sun (1961), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), The Searchers (1956), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Sophie’s Choice (1982), Stagecoach (1939), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Terms of Endearment (1983), The Third Man (1949), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), 12 Angry Men (1957), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939).This is not, by any means, meant to stand as all that I liked or that I thought they were the greatest, only that I enjoyed watching them. There are more than that. 

A few that I didn’t care for? Actually, I’m going to spare you that. Let’s just say that many of the old silent films were a real challenge for my short attention span. Many of them were hard to follow, for me. Some, like Porgy & Bess (1959) and The French Connection (1971), among several others that are escaping me right now, I just don’t get the appeal. Not my thing, and I don’t understand why they’re on this list, other than others thought they were that good. They’re just not my preference.

A few takeaways and revelations I got from this list are: I never gave John Wayne enough credit; his films are mostly really good. I’m thinking I had pre-perceived idea that I didn’t like westerns. Not the biggest of fans of it, still, but I found some that I liked. I had always shied away from most war films as war isn’t something that appeals to me, still isn’t, but films about WWI, especially, really captured my interest, except for some of the silent pictures. WWII was the same. I found that Humphrey Bogart, although he overacts and it seems forced sometimes, is one of my favorite actors of all time. Cary Grant? The same. I had always thought that 1939 was the greatest year in cinematic history and this, to me, confirms that. This list alone has 13 of them: Babes in Arms; Beau Geste; Destry Rides Again; Gone With the Wind; Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Gunga Din; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Ninotchka; Only Angels Have Wings; Stagecoach; Wizard of Oz; Wuthering Heights; Young Mr. Lincoln.

Overall, this list did what it was supposed to do, for me, introduce me to new things whilst building on the popular understanding of what makes the list truly a “greatest” list. This list was compiled by industry people: executives, directors, producers, actors, basically top-level leaders in the industry. More than 1500 of them, actually. So, it wasn’t just a few “know-it-alls” that picked their faves. It was based on merit and favor.

I loved doing this list. And, I’m not done. My goal was to finish this before 2017 as I have a feeling an updated list will show up soon, after; a 20-year makeover. But, there are other lists that I’ve been working on like two morbidly titled ones: the Yahoo! 100 Movies You Must See Before You Die and the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, which has several versions, I’ll go with the one I have and modify as I see fit. I’m going to use my checklist of this list to populate the checklist in that massive book. I’ll need to wear my readers and invest in a magnifying glass to do so, but hey, I’ll do what I gotta.

So, to my friend Caitlin (not of The Less Desirables), that I started the list off with in 2007-08 when we raced to see who saw the Top 100 finalists first (she won by a few hours), thank you for that part of the journey. I love you for it and many other things. To Netflix  (DVD.com) and the old Blockbuster mail movie services, thank you for being available for me to knock off the first half of the list and thank you to Netflix streaming for helping me with about the next third. Thank you to Blockbuster for going out of business and me grabbing a few things on the list, used. Thank you to Amazon and eBay for helping me find the things that weren’t available otherwise. Thank you to torrents for the out-of-print stuff. Thank you to some oddball social sites and YouTube that actually had a few of the toughest to find films. Thank you to The BCPF for letting me finish it, in hopes that I didn’t drive her crazy in the process. Thank you, Dear Reader, for letting me rant on about it so much. If you have questions about any of it, ask. Some of it has been so long since I’ve seen the films that I had to revisit their IMDb pages to refresh my memories. Thank you AFI for having the list and introducing me to new films.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Audiences don’t know somebody sits down and writes a picture; they think the actors make it up as they go along.” – Joe Gillis (William Holden) in Sunset Blvd. (1950).

On Golden Pond: or The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

15 Saturday Oct 2016

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor or The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, On Golden Pond (1981), starring Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn and Jane Fonda.

Per IMDb: “Norman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea’s new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.”

Ethel and Norman Thayer, Jr. (Hepburn and Henry Fonda) play an elderly retired couple

on_golden_pond

©Universal Pictures

who retreat to their cabin in the woods for the summer where Norman turns 80. Their estranged daughter, Chelsea (Jane Fonda), comes to visit with her new beau, Bill Ray (Dabney Coleman) and his son, Billy (Doug McKeon). Norman and Chelsea have always had a strained relationship mainly because she can’t stand up to him and he can’t stop being a grouch. Chelsea and Bill are heading to Europe and leave Billy with the elders.

Billy makes it known that he’s not going to take any crap from the oldsters. Norman and Ethel play along and let him do his thing. Over time, Billy and Norman develop a relationship of respect over the word “bullsh*t” and going after Norman’s fish rival, “Walter.” Does this respect last or do they fall back into the contentious relationship they had and just like Norman had with Chelsea? You’ll have to watch to find out.

This has to be one of the longest, most serene, beautiful, yet shakiest intro that I’ve ever seen. Great theme song, as well. For those that are fans of the early 80s television show, Newhart, the opening credits for that show are actually leftovers from the filming of this film. I thought that was neat. It’s apparent that Norman is losing his faculties, what I’m figuring was portrayed as senility at that time, and it certainly would be Alzheimer’s, now. I think I read that Alzheimer’s diagnosis for the symptoms changed around 1977, which was only 4 years prior to this film. They never mentioned that in the film.

It was hard to listen to Katharine Hepburn speak as she was really shaky. She played the character very well, though. Henry Fonda played a great Norman and was quite believable. Doug McKeon, though, I thought was the true star of the film. That, and the scenery. The location and scenery were lush and fabulous. Most of the outdoor filming was in New Hampshire while the actual setting, from what I can understand, is Maine.The relationship between the father and daughter in this film was almost a mirror image of Jane and Henry Fonda’s own relationship. It was honest, although I’m not a big fan of Jane’s acting.

Growing up, I only saw this as a drama and I’m generally not into viewing a lot of dramas. There were a lot of lighthearted moments and some really funny parts in the film and I’d categorize it as a dramatic comedy. I knew of it when I was a kid and it was on HBO, but I didn’t watch ‘old folks’ in films, at the time. I wish I had taken the time and not waited so long. This is available on Netflix streaming and I highly recommend you watch it.

The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including: Best Supporting Actress (Fonda), Best Director, Best Picture, Best Original Score. It won three Academy Awards: Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was one of the nominees of the 2007 edition of AFI‘s 100 Years… 100 Movies. Rotten Tomatoes rates it as 92% Fresh with an Audience score of 87%. IMDb has it at 7.7 stars out of 10. I enjoyed the film and I rate it 4.25 stars out of 5. Have you seen the film? Do you agree? What would you like to see or hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Listen to me, mister. You’re my knight in shining armor. Don’t forget it. You’re going to get back on that horse and I’m going to be right behind you, holding on tight and away we’re going to go, go, go!” – Ethel

Lost in Translation or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

01 Saturday Oct 2016

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Lost in Translation (2003), starring Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and Giovanni Ribisi.

From IMDb: “A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.”

Bob Harris (Murray) is an aged, somewhat washed up movie star who is in Tokyo to film a commercial for Suntory Whisky. He’s not having a good time with the commercial as the

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©Focus Features

director speaks no English while yelling at Bob and the set’s translator seemingly is only telling half the story of what the director is yamming about. In fact, he’s not really having a good time, at all. He’s unhappy in his marriage of many years and while he doesn’t like being in Tokyo, it gives him a leave from his wife, who is trying to include him in home decorating from a distance.

Charlotte (Johansson) is married to John (Ribisi) a celebrity photographer on assignment in Tokyo. John is so absorbed in his work that he greatly ignores his wife, who’s left to explore the large city on her own. She’s on her own a lot. She’s also not happy.

Bob and Charlotte meet continuously in the hotel they’re both staying at and the frequency of which increases, from drinks in the bar to the swimming pool.They grow closer to each other. Charlotte invites Bob with her to see friends she has in Tokyo. They have a fun night out experiencing the city, its culture, karaoke and partying. He ends up carrying her back to her hotel room and tucking her in. What happens then? You’ll have to watch to find out.

I don’t know the last time that I saw a film take 101 minutes to tell you absolutely nothing. I don’t mean that in a bad way. There’s nothing on the surface but beneath it all, there’s a story within the story being told. There’s the mess that Bob can’t understand with the director and the translator. There’s how both Bob and Charlotte are lost in Tokyo, which is foreign to them. Both alone, together. And, there’s also being lost in each other, or the fact they can’t be together. And, in 2003, it showed that fax machines were still in vogue. There was a shload of faxes in the film. Email, I suppose, hadn’t really taken  off, completely, especially with graphics and whatever.

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Original Screenplay. Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director, only winning the former. It was a good and interesting watch. Do I think it belonged on the AFI‘s 400 nominees for 100 Years… 100 Movies? Not really. As, I said, it was good, but wasn’t “great,” at least to me. The acting, though, was really great. Murray plays another character named Bob and plays it wonderfully. Johansson looked fresh, young and pretty. Her acting was fantastic, too. Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 95% Fresh with an audience score of 86%. IMDb has it at 7.8 stars out of 10. It’s not on Netflix or Hulu but you can rent it from Amazon Prime. I own a copy on DVD and that’s how I watched it. I rate it 3.5 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to see or hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Let’s never come here again because it would never be as much fun.” – Charlotte

Little Caesar or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

24 Saturday Sep 2016

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Little Caesar (1931), starring Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Glenda Farrell.

Per Wikipedia: “The story of a hoodlum who ascends the ranks of organized crime until he reaches its upper echelons.”

Caesar Enrico Bandello (Robinson) and his buddy Joe Massara (Fairbanks) are two small town hoods that want more out of life than this. Joe wants to be a dancer; to get the girls and fame so he gets a job at a local nightclub. Rico wants to be a famous gangster. Rico goes to mob boss, Sam Vettori to further his goal. Joe works with the gang, basically against his will. Joe gets pegged to help rob the nightclub he works for and that creates tension between the pals and between Joe and his gal Olga Stassoff (Farrell).

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©Warner Bros. Pictures

The gig goes down and Rico guns down a prominent crime commissioner. He then takes over Vettori’s gang after Vettori becomes soft. He gains prominence among other parts of the mob scene as well. How high does he rise? Is there a crash in the end? Does his ego do him in? You’ll have to watch to find that out.

This is considered one of the first ever gangster films and stars one of the genre’s most prized stars, Edward G. Robinson. The film set the groundwork for gangster films. And, it’s where Robinson’s famous and patented “yeah… look here, see? you’re through, see?” whiny, tinny voice comes through, probably most famously. I thought the film was decent, and I totally get it’s place and reverence in the film world, but I don’t think it was “all that.” There were iconic moments, I suppose. It just wasn’t captivating to me. I’m sure that would have been different in 1931, when the film came out. But in 2016, 85 years later, I guess we’ve become desensitized to all the hubbub? These films, as I’ve seen, have plenty of “overacting” and much suspension of disbelief moments. And, I looked everywhere and saw no pizza pizza in the film anywhere… I kid.

Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at 91% Fresh with an Audience Score of 76%. A fairly large gap, really. IMDb has it at 7.3 stars out of 10. It was one of the 400 nominees of both the 1998 and 2007 versions of AFI‘s 100 Years… 100 Movies lists. That’s why I watched it. You can rent it from Amazon Prime for about $3 but it’s not available on Netflix streaming, or even DVD.com at this time. I give it 3.5 stars out of 5 because of its standing and importance. Have you seen it? Do you agree with my assessment? What would you like to read/hear me review? I have a viewing/reviewing schedule through January but that doesn’t mean I can’t move stuff around.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“We gotta stick together. There’s a rope around my neck now and they only hang you once. If anyone gets yellow and squeals, my gun is gonna speak its peace. ” – Caesar Enrico Bandello

 

Good Will Hunting or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

10 Saturday Sep 2016

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Good Will Hunting (1997) starring Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver.

Per IMDb: “Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.”

Will (Damon) is a hot-headed, short-fused janitor/construction worker/all-around laborer that spends a lot of time in trouble. But, he’s a mathematics genius that can out wiz the professors at M.I.T. Trouble seems to find him all the time and he ends up in jail, but not before professor Gerald Lambeau (Skarsgård) sees his potential. Lambeau gets the courts to release Will under the conditions that he does math sessions

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©Miramax Films

with him and he agrees to see a therapist. But, because Will is a bit of a punk and socially defensive, he goes against every psychiatrist that he’s put in front of until Lambeau calls on his old college roommate, Sean Maguire (Williams) who has to work to get into Will’s head, if he even does.

Jerry  and Sean’s past comes back as they had a contentious and competitive relationship in school and again in trying to formulate Will’s future; Jerry wants to have him work for big name corporations or government agencies while Sean just wants him to be the best him he can be. Another parallel story is his love affair, or fear thereof, with Skylar (Driver) and how he pushes her away to protect himself.  Does Will take a job or just do what he can to survive? Does he mend the hole with Skylar? You’ll have to watch to find out.

It took me a few minutes to get acclimated to the “authentic” Bostonian accent. I know that the Affleck brothers (Casey was in the film, too) and Damon are all from Boston and know it well. It’s just harsh at first. Almost enough to make you “wicked pissed.”

This was the first time I ever remember knowing who Matt Damon was. Yeah, he had been in other stuff but this was what really broke him out. I think his association with Ben Affleck was what turned me off. I don’t know what it was about Ben Affleck and Leonardo DiCaprio that made me discount their acting abilities, but really, they do a good job, especially Leo, but it took a long time to understand that they didn’t suck as much as the stigma of “status” or “hipster” films tainted my view of them. This film wasn’t such, in fact, it was a really good film.The acting, from all parties involved was good. No other way to state that. It was very, very good. I can add a bunch of superlatives (I’m good with verbosity) but it’s just filler. Danged fine film.

I hate that Robin Williams didn’t get more credit for his serious acting. He was known mostly as a wired, buffoonish comedian who had a severe case of Adult ADHD. Dead Poets’ Society, One-Hour Photo and this film are just a few of the examples of how good an actor he was. He is missed.

Back to this film, though, Damon and Affleck wrote it and Gus Van Sant directed it. It started as a writing project for Damon at Harvard and he collaborated with his buddy to finish it. It earned them an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. It also earned Williams a Best Supporting Actor award. It was nominated for nine Oscars overall. It was one of the 400 nominees for AFI‘s 100 Years… 100 Movies. One of The BCPF’s favorite artists of all time, the late Elliott Smith, has several songs on the soundtrack and was nominated for an Oscar for “Miss Misery.”

Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 97% Fresh with an Audience score of 94%. Outstanding, that is. IMDb rates it at 8.3 stars out of 10. I watched the film on Netflix streaming although I had seen it before. I enjoyed it a good bit and rate it 4.5 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What would you like to see me ramble on about?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“How do you like them apples?” – Will Hunting