What Movie Did You Watch This Weekend?

[suelyblu]

Saw two films over the last couple of days on TV.One newish ....the other an oldie ...but a veeeery goodie !!!

The newer one was called "The Messenger"...starring Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster. Two guys in the army who are unfit for front line duty in Afghanistan....are back home in US and have been given the unenviable ...but very necessary job...of having to go to the  homes of soldiers and deliver the dreaded message that their son/husband/partner has been killed. Brilliant performances by everyone. Some quite big stars having just small roles of the grieving relatives showing the different ways they react to the devastating news. Touching film.


The older one was "Hud"....starring Paul Newman. Plays the black sheep of a ranchers family in Texas. Dates married in women from the small town. Causes trouble where ever he goes. But Paul Newman "Hud"......is one of the hottest cowboys you could wish to see. If only they really did all look that good 

[doodler]

If only anybody looked that good!

[suelyblu]

If only anybody looked that good!

True !

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Brilliant performances by everyone.

I agree that The Messenger is a decent film if one is of a mind to
want to deal with the subject matter, but I disagree about the
above statement. Even though Harrelson got an acting nom for
this role, I thought he was completely over the top and laughable
in his performance.  I saw it in a theater and maybe that made a
difference in my opinion.

Agree with everything you said about Hud.  Wonderful film. You didn't
even mention Patricia Neal's terrific performance as Alma. I only recently
read that the character of Alma was originally written as a black woman.
Imagine the controversy if it had been filmed that way in 1963? But that
takes nothing away from the wonderful film as it is.

[suelyblu]

Agree with everything you said about Hud.  Wonderful film. You didn't
even mention Patricia Neal's terrific performance as Alma. I only recently
read that the character of Alma was originally written as a black woman.
Imagine the controversy if it had been filmed that way in 1963? But that
takes nothing away from the wonderful film as it is.

I was so wrapped up with the sight of Newman....everyone else disappeared off screen !! 

Sorry !  Yes.... Patricia produced a terrific performance as did the guy who played Hud's father. Can't recall his name and I'm writing this before I checked it on google !!

[Ennis Del Mark]

The great Melvyn Douglas, who also received an Oscar for HUD!

[Lyle (Mooska)]

So did Patricia Neal!

This was a rather odd year at ampas.
The five films nominated that year for Best Picture were:

America, America (4 noms.)
Cleopatra (9)
How the West Was Won (
Lilies of the Field (5)
Tom Jones (10)

And yet only TWO of those films also had the director nominated
as well.  Hud had 7 nominations.  Of all those films nominated for
Best Picture the least well known is probably actually the best film,
America, America.  The others are all worthy or decent pictures,
but none of them are better than Hud, IMO.  I don't know why
Tom Jones was elevated that year so much, except the country
was in the midst of political and social turmoil and the comedic
aspects of Tom Jones probably were very welcome.  Tom Jones
is a film that the more I've seen it, the less I appreciate it.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Agree with everything you said about Hud.  Wonderful film. You didn't
even mention Patricia Neal's terrific performance as Alma. I only recently
read that the character of Alma was originally written as a black woman.
Imagine the controversy if it had been filmed that way in 1963? But that
takes nothing away from the wonderful film as it is.

Actually, when you consider the year, this reminds me how surprised I was the first time I saw the film by the scene where Patricia Neals goes into the bedroom of young, exceedingly handsome Brandon de Wilde, who is clearly supposed to be naked under the sheets (because they talk about why he isn't wearing pajamas).

[canmark]

Saw The Avengers. Thought it was boring. Further, the 3D added nothing of value, but rather distracted mightily, as the picture was dark and the color drab.

Films I saw at the recent Hot Docs documentary film festival:

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is about the dissident Chinese artist whose life, ruffling the feathers of the Chinese government, is seemingly part of his art.
http://aiweiweineversorry.com/

Detropia beautifully shows us the decline of the city of Detroit, but also the resilient spirit of its remaining inhabitants.
http://www.hotdocs.ca/film/title/detropia

United in Anger: A History of ACT UP reminds us of the courage and accomplishments of a group of people to ignite activism and create change.
http://www.unitedinanger.com/

The World's Most Fashionable Prison is a fun film that shows us a Filipino designer who's teaching fashion to a group of inmates at a maximum security prison in the Philippines.
http://vimeo.com/37379774

Theo Fleury: Playing with Fire looks at the turbulent life of NHL star Theo Fleury, who, as a teen was sexually abused by his coach Graham James.
http://blogs.thescore.com/nhl/2012/05/08/theo-fleury-playing-with-fire/

An Affair of the Heart is about 80's heartthrob Rick Springfield who, at over 60 is still performing as a musician to legions of devoted fans.
http://rickspringfielddoc.com/

About Face: The Supermodels Then and Now interviews a string of top models of the past.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/face-sundance-film-festival-285988

Ping Pong is a fun film about competitors in the over-80 world table tennis championship. At 80, 90 (and more), these men and women still have the competitive spirit.
http://www.hotdocs.ca/film/title/ping_pong

[Ennis Del Mark]

Finally saw BRIDESMAIDS last night. I liked it a lot. Good premise (I could so relate to the Kristen Wiig character), a lot of talented comedians in the cast (I especially liked Wendi McClendon-Covey and Chris O'Dowd), and a lot of memorable, funny lines. My favorite was from the nervous woman on the plane: "I have to go to the bathroom but I heard about a woman who went to the bathroom on the plane - she got sucked into the toilet. Sucked right in." My second favorite line is Rita's opening remark about her teenage sons:  "They are cute, but when they reach that age, ugh. Disgusting. They smell, they're sticky, they say things that are horrible, and there is semen all over everything. Disgusting. I cracked a BLANKET in half. Do you get where I'm going with this?" Oh..my..GOD!  ROTFLMAO!!

[oilgun]

Today I saw the Norwegian film Headhunters and really enjoyed it.  However, I think the 93% rating at RT is a bit excessive.  It's not THAT good but it is certainly better than most. Along with the buzz the film has garnered, the ridiculously handsome Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones, New Amsterdam) was another incentive for me to see the film.  I wonder who will be cast for the inevitable American version. Aksel Hennie's performance as the, at once repulsive and endearing main character, will be hard to beat.  

What starts out as a seemingly conventional caper movie quickly transforms into something that's anything but conventional, with bizarre twists, bloody mayhem, and a macabre sense of humor. All this with only five significant characters. Headhunters is based on the novel by Jo Nesbo, which has created the same kind of furor that accompanied the release of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And, as with Stieg Larsson's book, an English-language motion picture adaptation is in the planning stages despite the existence of a perfectly valid Scandinavian version.

It's not hard to understand why. Headhunters contains many elements that appeal to audiences with an affinity for adult crime thrillers. There's plenty of sex, nudity, and violence; however, although some may seem a little gratuitous, they're all in service of a deliciously twisty narrative whose only real downside is an ending that feels a little too clean and pat. Still, while the conclusion may not be perfect, it's far from a disaster. At a time when many mystery thrillers fall apart in the final fifteen minutes, Headhunters maintains its integrity.

Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) is a corporate headhunter. He recruits clients with attractive resumes and matches them with available jobs. He is regarded as one of the best in the business. He lives a lavish lifestyle, supporting his wife, Diana (Synnove Macody Lund), and his mistress, Lotte (Julie Olgaard), and his debts are mounting. But Roger has a second income that helps him keep the balance sheet in check. He and his partner, Ove (Eivind Sander), are art thieves. Using information Roger gleans from interviews with his clients, they sneak into mansions, replace real paintings with forgeries, then sell the genuine articles to art fences. Most of Roger's operations net tidy sums but, when his wife introduces him to a recently retired CEO, Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Roger sees an opening for a big score. What he doesn't realize, at least at first, is that Diana is having an affair with Clas, and Clas is anything but an easy mark.

Headhunters' greatest asset is the unpredictability of the plot, which often seems to be traveling in a straight line until it makes a sharp turn to the left or right. When the movie begins, Roger is a position of power; 30 minutes later, the tables have turned. Both hunter and prey are smart and adaptable; Roger proves this in a scene the likes of which hasn't been seen since Slumdog Millionaire. It's never much fun watching a stupid villain chase a stupid protagonist, but give both men brains and it provides an instant injection of suspense. I think Hitchcock would have endorsed Headhunters; it's the kind of movie he would direct if he was live today.

Many of the actors will be unfamiliar to North American viewers; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo aside, few Scandinavian movies are distributed outside Europe. The exception is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who has achieved international recognition for playing Jaime Lannister in the HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones. Coster-Waldau is perfect as Clas. He can be smooth and likeable in one scene and cold and calculating in the next. The other lead goes to Aksel Hennie, who also shows range, running the gamut from perfectly coiffed schmoozer to desperate fugitive.

Headhunters is bloody adult fun. The screenplay is smart and darkly funny. The latter element is what makes the movie more than a slog through the treacherous waters of theft, murder, and double-crosses. Yet, though some of the dialogue is spoken tongue-in-cheek, it never becomes too flippant. Director Morten Tyldum paces the proceedings appropriately. Headhunters moves swiftly enough that it never bogs down but not so fast that details and explanations become lost in a whirlwind of plot gears in overdrive. The subtitles relegate the movie to limited distribution, but the production is designed more for mainstream audiences than art-house ones. No need to wait for the English version - this iteration is a good movie and it comes without a two-year wait.
http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=2459

[Lyle (Mooska)]

UNIVERSAL PICTURES:
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS
The Tour

If you have noticed on any film playing in the theaters from Universal Studios
lately, they are celebrating their 100th anniversary.  To celebrate this, they
have struck new prints of many of their films from the last 100 years (1/3 of
them havebeen digitally remastered) and are presenting them in a tour which
will be held in several cities around the U.S. for the next year.  I don't have a
link for it online, but if you google the title of it (above), you'll probbaly find info.

It started here a few days ago in Hollywood and I know that next up will be
the Film Forum in New York and then in Chicago.  Other cities will include
Vancouver, Seattle, Berkeley, Atlanta, Portland, Houston, Cambridge, Ithaca,
Columbus and Washington, D.C.

I do not know if he films are exactly same in each program, but I can tell you
what they are here in Los Angeles.  In order of presentation.

Blind Husbands (1919)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Traffic in Souls (1913)
Where Are My Children? (1916)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Cobra Woman (1944)
Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1940)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Show Boat (1936)
Pillow Talk (1959)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Francis (1950)
Chip Off the Old Block (1944)
Out of Sight (1998)
Somewhere in Time (1980)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Mummy (1932)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Imitation of Life (1934)
Little Man, What Now? (1934)
Airport (1970)
Back to the Future (1985)
High Plains Drifter (1973)
Winchester '73 (1950)
The Sting (1973)
The Birds (1963)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Jaws (1975)

There certainly seems to be something for everyone here from a silent film about abortion
to the fantasy history of Inglourious Basterds!  Some films are presented in double features,
others are presented unto themselves.

Some of these films, if you've never seen them before, are just a film fan's delight when
seen with an audience.  The popcorn munching joy of watching AIRPORT in an audience,
for example, is a treat not to be missed for pure escapist entertainment! 

I know that ampas is having a mostly Universal themed summer of outdoor screenings
and a short Universal Horror retrospective in the fall as well.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

From the above list, yesterday I was treated to the showing of the camp
classic COBRA WOMAN starring the Queen of Technicolor, Maria Montez!
I admit my knowledge of Miss Montez and these films was rather sparse, but
what a way to become introduced.  I can see how these films were so popular,
a colorful and escapist pleasure during the WWII years!  And Maria plays twins!
And wears a dress rivalling the sparkle of the "cobra jool"!

[brokebacktom]

Dark Shadows.

I really wanted to like it, but. Thats all. It was a waste and not that good. Johnny Depp was great but could save the movie. The visuals were great, dark and fun to watch but needed more to hold your attention. Should have kept it dark like the TV show and not  a Comedy, a poor one at that. Either was I was very disappointed.

[oilgun]

Scott Speedman, Scott Speedman, Scott Speedman!

Inspired by Boyd’s story, rather than literally retelling it, the movie is less a gangster film than an existential allegory of choices and limitations. The handsome war vet Boyd (played by equally handsome Scott Speedman) is a restless inmate in a wintry, half-dead, postwar town, shot by cinematographer Steve Cosens with natural light and a radically desaturated palette that makes Toronto the Good look like Toronto the Ghostly. His father is a sternly judgmental, religious cop (Brian Cox) who thinks his son will never amount to anything. Edwin Boyd, who is trying to keep his English war bride wife Doreen (Kelly Reilly) and two kids on a busman’s salary, is desperate to prove him wrong.
After failing to launch an acting career through an acting school bearing Lorne Greene’s name, he goes home, smears on some of his wife’s makeup as a crude disguise, takes his war-souvenir German Luger and robs his first bank. When that proves surprisingly easy, he hits banks again and again, persuading his wife that the new car and toys for the kids are products of his mysterious acting career. The canary-yellow car he buys is one of the few spots of warm colour in the film.

Almost any Hollywood tyro director would use Boyd’s story as an opportunity for operatic action sequences and ironic commentary on celebrity-obsessed culture. Known as the “gentleman gangster,” he treated the hold-up as theatre, leaping over bank counters, flirting with tellers and, later, reading about his exploits in the local papers, which welcomed the excitement.

Yet Morlando’s approach, influenced by interviews with the real Boyd in his old age, is cerebral and melancholic. The tone is more foreboding than suspenseful. The more notorious Boyd becomes, the narrower his choices are. When Doreen discovers the truth about where the money is coming from, Boyd promises to quit – soon. Instead, he steps out of the next bank to face a row of police gun barrels.
[...]
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/movies/edwin-boyd-a-busman-turns-bandit-in-postwar-toronto/article2429143/