One day in the 1990s. I was walking down Madison Avenue and passed by the back of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the residential area. I looked through a ground floor window and saw on TV -- AMC -- that Maid of Salem was playing. Whether it was Cardinal O'Conner or a cleaning lady with her feet up enjoying this pretty good picture I have no idea . . .Big Magilla wrote:Maid of Salem (1937) Frank Lloyd 8/10
Superstition and spite rule the day at the Salem witch hunts. Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray are fine in the leads, as are Harvey Stephens and Louise Dresser as two of the few decent people in town, but the meaty roles are those played by Madame Sul-te-wan as the voodoo woman, Edward Ellis as the town elder, Bonita Granville as the brat whose lies start the trouble and Donald Meek, Beulah Bondi and Gale Sondergaard as various incarnations of the town's real monsters.
Interestingly the film opened exactly one week before the 1936 Oscars for which Granville, Bondi and Sondergaard were three of the the first five nominees for the newly given Supporting Actress award - Sondergaard won.
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Big Magilla
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Maid of Salem (1937) Frank Lloyd 8/10
Superstition and spite rule the day at the Salem witch hunts. Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray are fine in the leads, as are Harvey Stephens and Louise Dresser as two of the few decent people in town, but the meaty roles are those played by Madame Sul-te-wan as the voodoo woman, Edward Ellis as the town elder, Bonita Granville as the brat whose lies start the trouble and Donald Meek, Beulah Bondi and Gale Sondergaard as various incarnations of the town's real monsters.
Interestingly the film opened exactly one week before the 1936 Oscars for which Granville, Bondi and Sondergaard were three of the the first five nominees for the newly given Supporting Actress award - Sondergaard won.
Superstition and spite rule the day at the Salem witch hunts. Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray are fine in the leads, as are Harvey Stephens and Louise Dresser as two of the few decent people in town, but the meaty roles are those played by Madame Sul-te-wan as the voodoo woman, Edward Ellis as the town elder, Bonita Granville as the brat whose lies start the trouble and Donald Meek, Beulah Bondi and Gale Sondergaard as various incarnations of the town's real monsters.
Interestingly the film opened exactly one week before the 1936 Oscars for which Granville, Bondi and Sondergaard were three of the the first five nominees for the newly given Supporting Actress award - Sondergaard won.
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Eric
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I'd at least see Jackie Brown as a litmus test of a sort. It really is his least snarky, most genuinely well-shaded character study. I'm told it's his Rohmer/Pialat movie, though I haven't seen anything by those two.Damien wrote:I'm not losing any sleep over not having seen the others.
If you find nothing of value in Brown, you can safely close the book on QT for good.
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Precious Doll
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Bandslam (2009) Todd Graff 5/10
Orphan (2009) Jaume Collet-Serra 3/10
Rembrandt's J'accuse (2008) Peter Greenaway 6/10
Penthouse (1933) W. S. Van Dyke 5/10
Come Blow Your Horn (1963) Bud Yorkin 4/10
W. W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975) John Avildsen 2/10
Baby Love (2008) Vincent Garenq 4/10
Just Walking (2008) Agustin Diaz Yanes 5/10
Balibo (2009) Robert Connolly 4/10
Stand By For Action (1942) Robert Z. Leonard 4/10
Orphan (2009) Jaume Collet-Serra 3/10
Rembrandt's J'accuse (2008) Peter Greenaway 6/10
Penthouse (1933) W. S. Van Dyke 5/10
Come Blow Your Horn (1963) Bud Yorkin 4/10
W. W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975) John Avildsen 2/10
Baby Love (2008) Vincent Garenq 4/10
Just Walking (2008) Agustin Diaz Yanes 5/10
Balibo (2009) Robert Connolly 4/10
Stand By For Action (1942) Robert Z. Leonard 4/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (Neal Brennan) - 6/10
/I Love You, Man/ (John Hamburg) - 6.5/10
It's a little bit of a mess but there's something very real underneath. Paul Rudd and Jason Segal are dynamic together and apart. Paul Rudd plays an emotionally unbalanced human pinball and pulls it off nicely, but Jason Segal creates an indelible portrait of existential male Type-A.
Edited By Sabin on 1250405341
/I Love You, Man/ (John Hamburg) - 6.5/10
It's a little bit of a mess but there's something very real underneath. Paul Rudd and Jason Segal are dynamic together and apart. Paul Rudd plays an emotionally unbalanced human pinball and pulls it off nicely, but Jason Segal creates an indelible portrait of existential male Type-A.
Edited By Sabin on 1250405341
"How's the despair?"
Wow, I just realized that Pulp Fiction and Grindhouse are the only Tarantino pictures I've seen.Zahveed wrote:Jackie Brown really is the best Tarantino film and it's unfortunate it's constantly looked over for the more stylish - but still good - Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Kill Bill Vol.1 (though Vol. 2 is my favorite of that duo). The screenplay is probably his best writing too, being more subdued than his other work without losing any of the trademark edge or wit.
I'm not losing any sleep over not having seen the others.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Jackie Brown really is the best Tarantino film and it's unfortunate it's constantly looked over for the more stylish - but still good - Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Kill Bill Vol.1 (though Vol. 2 is my favorite of that duo). The screenplay is probably his best writing too, being more subdued than his other work without losing any of the trademark edge or wit.
"It's the least most of us can do, but less of us will do more."
Saw two really good ones again...
/Jackie Brown/ (Quentin Tarantino) - 9/10
I prefer the sleekness of Out of Sight, which riffs more on what an Elmore Leonard novel feels like, but Jackie Brown is Tarantino's strongest film as a director. The characters are mature and at times achingly vulnerable. I think it's great. Robert Forster's nomination is one of the most pleasant surprises of the nineties.
/Toy Story 2/ (PIXAR) - 9/10
WALL-E has more thematic resonance and structural audacity and Toy Story 1 has the gee-whiz of first SEEING something like this...but Toy Story 2 is the most ingeniously written PIXAR movie. Everything great in the first movie is reinvented and made fresh again, and - like The Godfather Part II and Before Sunset before it - actually manages to deepen what came before. It's about place in the world, temporary meaning over eternal irrelevance. It ends in a chase that's a little redundant after everything that comes before, if only because what comes before has a sense of set-up/pay-off that feels painstakingly effortless. The damn thing has timing! This is a great film.
/Jackie Brown/ (Quentin Tarantino) - 9/10
I prefer the sleekness of Out of Sight, which riffs more on what an Elmore Leonard novel feels like, but Jackie Brown is Tarantino's strongest film as a director. The characters are mature and at times achingly vulnerable. I think it's great. Robert Forster's nomination is one of the most pleasant surprises of the nineties.
/Toy Story 2/ (PIXAR) - 9/10
WALL-E has more thematic resonance and structural audacity and Toy Story 1 has the gee-whiz of first SEEING something like this...but Toy Story 2 is the most ingeniously written PIXAR movie. Everything great in the first movie is reinvented and made fresh again, and - like The Godfather Part II and Before Sunset before it - actually manages to deepen what came before. It's about place in the world, temporary meaning over eternal irrelevance. It ends in a chase that's a little redundant after everything that comes before, if only because what comes before has a sense of set-up/pay-off that feels painstakingly effortless. The damn thing has timing! This is a great film.
"How's the despair?"
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Big Magilla
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The Singing Fool (1928) Lloyd Bacon 6/10
When The Jazz Singer opened in October, 1927 only 200 theatres across the U.S. were equipped with sound. This film, released almost a year later in September, 1928 after most theatres were so equipped, was the first mostly talking picture most people were able to see making it the most successfully financial film until Gone With the Wind.
The problem is it creaks. It probably creaked then but audiences didn't mind as long as they could see and hear Jolson sing "There's a Rainbow Round My Shoulder", "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" and other hit songs.
The plot has aspiring singer Jolson married to two-timing Josephine Dunn who leaves him after both become stars and takes his beloved three year old son, "Sonny Boy" (Davey Lee) with her. It doesn't help that Jolson has more chemistry with little Davey Lee than he does with either Dunn or Betty Bronson as the perky waitress who who waits for him.
Worth seeing for its historic value only.
Say It With Songs (1929) Lloyd Bacon 5/10
Whereas the plot of The Singing Fool doesn't turn maudlin until the last act, this one starts out that way and doesn't let up. Jolson spends the better part of the film behind bars for accidentally killing his boss for having lecherous designs on his wife, Marion Nixon. There's even a Stella Dallas type scene with Jolson peering through the window at his now estranged wife and his beloved "Little Pal", the same Davey Lee who climbed upon his knee as "Sonny Boy". Worst of all, the songs here aren't even interesting. The wretched "Little Pal" is heard at least three times.
Again, worth seeing for its historic value only.
Edited By Big Magilla on 1250250518
When The Jazz Singer opened in October, 1927 only 200 theatres across the U.S. were equipped with sound. This film, released almost a year later in September, 1928 after most theatres were so equipped, was the first mostly talking picture most people were able to see making it the most successfully financial film until Gone With the Wind.
The problem is it creaks. It probably creaked then but audiences didn't mind as long as they could see and hear Jolson sing "There's a Rainbow Round My Shoulder", "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" and other hit songs.
The plot has aspiring singer Jolson married to two-timing Josephine Dunn who leaves him after both become stars and takes his beloved three year old son, "Sonny Boy" (Davey Lee) with her. It doesn't help that Jolson has more chemistry with little Davey Lee than he does with either Dunn or Betty Bronson as the perky waitress who who waits for him.
Worth seeing for its historic value only.
Say It With Songs (1929) Lloyd Bacon 5/10
Whereas the plot of The Singing Fool doesn't turn maudlin until the last act, this one starts out that way and doesn't let up. Jolson spends the better part of the film behind bars for accidentally killing his boss for having lecherous designs on his wife, Marion Nixon. There's even a Stella Dallas type scene with Jolson peering through the window at his now estranged wife and his beloved "Little Pal", the same Davey Lee who climbed upon his knee as "Sonny Boy". Worst of all, the songs here aren't even interesting. The wretched "Little Pal" is heard at least three times.
Again, worth seeing for its historic value only.
Edited By Big Magilla on 1250250518
Rendez-vous (1985; André Téchiné) 6/10
Lambert Wilson, Wadeck Stanczak and Jean-Louis Trintignant are driven mad by Juliette Binoche, she in return by them, and the audience by all of them. Not a pleasant movie to watch, but the acting generally good and there's an appropriately moody score by Phillippe Sarde.
Lambert Wilson, Wadeck Stanczak and Jean-Louis Trintignant are driven mad by Juliette Binoche, she in return by them, and the audience by all of them. Not a pleasant movie to watch, but the acting generally good and there's an appropriately moody score by Phillippe Sarde.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
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Precious Doll
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Cherry Blossoms (2008) Doris Dorrie 4/10
Chef's Special (2008) Nacho G Velilla 4/10
Love Live Long (2008) Mike Figgis 3/10
Coraline (2009) Henry Selick 6/10
This is only the second 3D film I have seen since the system has been revolutionized and I enjoyed this experience more, which was in a regular cinema, as opposed to Beowulf with I saw in 3D IMAX.
Though I'm still not sold on this whole big move by the studios to 3D. Whilst it was a terrific way to experience Coraline, particularly given Selick's visual style, I doubt watching run of the mill hack word (e.g. Ice Age 3 or Bolt) would be anymore tolerable in 3D. Given that the 3D makes my eyes somewhat tired and sore I'm inclined pick my films much more carefully.
Chef's Special (2008) Nacho G Velilla 4/10
Love Live Long (2008) Mike Figgis 3/10
Coraline (2009) Henry Selick 6/10
This is only the second 3D film I have seen since the system has been revolutionized and I enjoyed this experience more, which was in a regular cinema, as opposed to Beowulf with I saw in 3D IMAX.
Though I'm still not sold on this whole big move by the studios to 3D. Whilst it was a terrific way to experience Coraline, particularly given Selick's visual style, I doubt watching run of the mill hack word (e.g. Ice Age 3 or Bolt) would be anymore tolerable in 3D. Given that the 3D makes my eyes somewhat tired and sore I'm inclined pick my films much more carefully.
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Reinas (2005; Manuel Gómez Pereira) 6/10
Mildly diverting screwball comedy based around the legalization of same-sex marriage in Spain.
Mildly diverting screwball comedy based around the legalization of same-sex marriage in Spain.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster