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June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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Posted by disputantum (My Page) on Fri, Jun 1, 07 at 22:15
| Two films about Indians south-of-the-border arrived at almost the same time: How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman from Amazon and Apocalypto from Netflix. The former is set in Brazil in the 16th century and is about a Frenchman held prisoner by native Brazilians. Not something to watch if one is bothered by nudity: lots of dangling dingles and lower lips revealed by shaving. Apocalypto was well-made, but it became tedious with the unrelenting action and one unbelievable escape or coincidence after another. I wonder where people in that time and place would have found royal-blue pigment: ground-up turquoise? Still, it was interesting to see a film about Indians that didn't involve Europeans except for a single scene. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Just finished watching Apocalypto and was pleasantly surprised. I'm a push-over for Mel's heros! |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| I'm gradually working my way through the old Kenneth Clark series on European art history: "Civilization." Although it was made in 1969, he asks interesting questions that are still relevant today. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Been watching some older Meryl Streep that I've never seen before. Music Of The Heart and First Do No Harm. Always a pleasure to watch her. Did the same thing with Robert Redford...Legal Eagles, jeez, it's amazing how a movie can bomb so badly. No chemistry at all between Redford, Hannah, or Winger. On a more current note, The Painted Veil, with Norton and Watts. Good one, loved the China landscape, acting was good. Little Children, good portrayals of immature adults, not ready to let go of their own needs. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| I watched Pan's Labyrinth last night-very interesting switch from real life to fantasy. I would recommend it although it does have some violence-but it is about the last months of WWII in Spain and the Resistance, so violence would be hard to avoid! Pat |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Woodnymph, I'd be interested to hear more about the Kenneth Clark series. Would you say that it is worth watching even when we've been spoiled by art programmes like Simon Schama's Power of Art? Daughter and I just watched Hitchcock's Rebecca - first time for her, old favourite for me. I'd remembered Mrs Danvers as being played more over the top, but it was a very restrained performance really, such a subtle menace! Still a great film, with a plot that gripped and fooled even the 17-year-old. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| anyanka, I've not s een the Simon Schama prog. but I do recommend the Kenneth Clark series. For whatever it's worth, I was an art history major at Univ. Clark presents such a BALANCED view and he really makes it interesting. He also has a dry wit, which I appreciate. I only have found about 3-4 historical errors in his judgement, which is a pretty fair record, considering the length of the series. I think the most interesting parts are videos 1-4. He really makes Medieval Art come alive, especially the Cathedral at Chartres. And he sorts through the Renaissance quite well, also. I am finding the series very timely, although it was made in 1969. Human nature never seems to change..... |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Bought a tape off eBay called Hardware Wars and Other Film Farces which contained "Hardware Wars," "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind," "Porklips Now," and "Bambi vs. Godzilla." I'd seen all but "Porklips Now" before a long time ago, and I was gratified to find them. I thought I had ordered a legit used tape, but what I received was a copy. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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anyanka, Kenneth Clark's Civilisation must have been the most talked about TV 'arts' series when it came out in the late '60's. After it had been on here in the UK it was bought by many film/tv co's and when I later lived in Canada and the US it was being shown to huge crowds at local art galleries where people were having to book for (free) tickets.
Mary what were the errors that Clark made?
It opened up the door to other BBC series notably The Ascent of Man by Dr Jacob Bronowski dealing with the growth of scientific inquiry and development through the ages and journalist Alistair Cooke's work America a wide ranging and dare I say it 'unbiased' look at the history of the US.
Both of these are available on DVD. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Er, Vee, one error I caught right away was his labeling the Catholic Church of the Middle Ages "democratic." LOL! Nevertheless, I like the series so much, I think I will watch it again. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Thanks, Woodnymph & Vee - I have heard of the series, and of the Bronowski one, but was too young to catch it. Sounds like a must-see for any artist. I'll see if I can rent it now! |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| We watched MirrorMask last night. Loved the surreal nature of the visuals in this one. Might have to watch it again before we send it back! |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Rented The Good German last night. Waste of time, although Soderbergh's attempt at recreating the old black and white, shadowy film genre of the 30s and 40s is admirable. Did not care for plot nor one-dimensional characters. Big letdown, imho... |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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We've watched
1. The Terminator, which I still find gripping, although the 80s music, fashion and hairdos are much scarier now than Schwarzenegger. 2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - brilliant, funny, fast, outrageous and subtly different from all the movies it steals from. and 3. The Creature of the Black Lagoon. I love the old monster movies, the sillier the better. My daughters were outraged at the female lead who is only there to look pretty, scream, faint and be patronised - the lucky post-Leia girls have grown up on a tv & movie diet of strong women. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Children of Men-as much as I like Clive Owen this was a somewhat confusing plot- even though I read the book by P.D. James years ago. I just didn't undersand all the violence-who was fighting who - and why? Pat |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Apocalypto - not bad...pleased that it was not as gory as I thought it might be after the initial reviews. I was at Chitzen Itza...the scenes at the temple in the film made the memory of my visit there surreal. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Watched The Cuckoo last night; very impressive. The mutual incomprehension got on my nerves a little, but other aspects made up for it. Russian cinematography has certainly improved since the days of Tarkovsky and Bondarchuk. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Thrilled to tell you all about a movie I watched last night which was a real gem: SNOW CAKES, with Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman and Carrie-Anne Moss. Simply exquisite. Weaver plays a very credible autistic adult, an Oscar winning, thoroughly heartwarming performance. imho. Incredible dialogue and cast. I highly recommend it. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| I've never heard of it-but love Rickman I will ck it out! |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Watched French film, A Very Long Engagement, with Audrey Tautou last night. Anyone fascinated by use of color to enhance the atmospheric/thematic effects of a film might be interested in this one. The film supplies interesting juxtopositions in gritty WWI trench scenes against beautiful sweeping shots of the French countryside, and an interesting mystery as one woman attempts to solve just what happened to her fiance in WWI. I was surprised to see Jodie Foster in this one as well. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Watched "The Good German" and was somewhat disappointed, despite my admiration for the b & w photography. A far, far better film, IMO, from the same time period, is "Sophie Scholl." This is the true story of 3 young student martyrs in the White Rose (a German anti-Hitler Resistance movement) set in Germany of 1943. I was quite moved by the story and it was a well-directed, well-acted film. Highly recommended, if you don't mind German subtitles! |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Watched a Tavernier family project: The Passion of Beatrice which I first saw in the theater. I've been waiting for the DVD, but I gave up and bought a used tape. There's several films I'm interested in that haven't made it to DVD yet. Looks they'll be lost in the format change. Even now, people are talking about DVDs becoming obsolete in a few years, so even more films will be forgotten in that switchover. OT—IMDb has added a bunch of new forums in recent weeks including BritComs, Plays, Travel, Food, Fashion, Cars, and so on. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Georgia P, MirrorMask didn't work for me. I never felt she was truly challenged. I was never scared for her. could have just been me. Watched Impromptu with Judy Davis as George Sand and Hugh Grant as Chopin and Emma Thompson as a silly Duchess. Rather enjoyed it this time. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Just rented "Joyeux Noel." IMO, this is the best war film I've ever seen, except perhaps "Gallipoli." (Only the film is not about war, it's about trying to make peace). The movie is based on actual events from WW I. Highly recommended! |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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Finished the wonderful Italian series La Meglio gioventu, The Best of Youth. I'm so glad I watched this wonderful saga of 2 Italian brothers spanning the 60's to the turn of the century. The haunting Matteo, his soothing brother Nicola.
I'm sure most of you have seen it, but if not, do! |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| paula, was this on PBS? Dang, you guys get to see such good ones. I really like the 'sagas', spanning over generations... |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| clairabelle, it's available thru Netflix. I meant to add that the reason I sent for it was because of spamlet's glowing review of it, some time back. He's been AOW for a long time now... Since we're bringing up 'envy' - how did you see Snow Cakes, as it's not available thru Netflix yet..? |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Snow Cake is available at my video rental store. Did I mention that I highly recommend it?? ;) |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Snow Cakes is in my Queue but no date yet for release... I posted here that we watched Flags of Our Fathers the other night-but I must have hit the wrong key because I don't see it here!
DH had read the book and wanted to see the movie, he doesn't watch many movies, but said he really enjoyed it-graphic but it is a war movie. Pat |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| 'Hound of the Baskervilles', the old Hammer Horror one with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Delightfully hokey. Hammer England always looks like an American version of this country, lacking all authentic Englishness. Very odd. Clairabelle, I love getting recommendations for films I've never heard of, and have therefore added 'Snow Cake' to my rental list (which currently has well over 80 DVDs on it...) |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Just watched another stellar foreign film: "Divided We Fall", set in a Czech village under the German occupation during WW II. A Czech family is hiding a Jew and the bizarre situations which erupt from this fact. A very upbeat ending that will move you to tears. Now, on to "Miss Potter." |
RE: *June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Went out to the theater to see "Paris, je t'aime." This is one for francophiles, for sure! A variety of vignettes by different directors, each set in a different Paris neighborhood. Some scenes are a bit raunchy, over the top, but most are heart-warming, funny, and romantic. I just have one question: why was the Dracula vignette included? It added nothing to the plot and really turned me off.... I spent a year living in Paris, so on the whole, this film was worth it for me. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| '28 Days Later', essentially a superior zombie movie although the Z-word is never mentioned. Instead they are referred to as 'the infected'. What makes the film successful is that it focusses mainly on the actions of the uninfected - how people behave in a major crisis. It's very well observed, and the actions are all extremely plausible. That side of it reminded me very much of John Wyndham's 'Day of the Triffids' (the book rather than the film), and I was pleased to find that this was indeed a major source of inspiration for '28 Days Later'. The main character turns a bit 'Rambo' as the movie carries on, but even that is plausible as he used to be a bicycle courier in central London. They are a fierce and highly aggressive species even in non-Zombie times. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| "Bobby", second time for this movie (NetFlix). I first rated it as a recommend, while someone said it was well below par because of the Director, Emilio Estevez. I am again recommending "Bobby" with the support of 4 neighbors. We thought it was brilliant depicting several personal relationships for one day, June 6, 1968, in the Ambassador Hotel; intertwining at the end (kitchen scene). Very emotional; great, timely music. Interested what others think. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Watched The Woman in White (1997) which was OK. I don't remember much of the novel so I don't know how faithful it was. I enjoyed seeing Ian Richardson and Simon Callow in supporting roles. Then Tempest (1982) with John Cassavettes, Molly Ringwald, and Susan Sarandon. It had a nostalgic scene of the WTC and the abandoned elevated highway that used to go by it. Coming up: The Good German |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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Blow Dry! I was doing a search on Netflix for Alan Rickman movies and came across this one and ordered it.
It was made in 2001 and had a great cast of English characters. It is a comedy about a National Hairdressing contest - if you watch it stay around for the credits....I really enjoyed this one. Pat |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Bill, I've had Bobby at the top of my queue for 2 or 3 weeks, and patiently waiting.... |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Bill, I've had Bobby at the top of my queue for 2 or 3 weeks, and patiently waiting.... paula, I may be making too much of this movie. It just fits what I enjoy; the 60s. But worth a look. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Watched Eragon which was fun enough, but seemed to me a total ripoff of McCafferty. I enthusiastically introduced an 11 and an 8 year old to Raiders of the Lost Ark and was a bit disappointed at their reactions. They enjoyed it, of course, but the oldest predicted several of the major plot points. I'd forgotten how very much imitated the film was and how very savvy the modern kid is. |
RE: June, moon, spoon—what're you watching?
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| Joyeux Noel is one of my all time favorite movies. I recommend it to everyone. I am drawn to war movies though, all that pathos...but I can watch the part with Ave Maria over and over. |
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