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Post by DayoRemix on Feb 26, 2024 17:46:33 GMT
Sad thing about Ambulance is it could have been good. They had the cast. They had the money. They had a fairly decent editor (Who must have had handcuffs placed on him by Bay)..What they didn't have was a decent writer (Written by the guy who wrote the series 'Chuck' for tv).
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Post by adamcoan on Feb 26, 2024 18:04:10 GMT
Sad thing about Ambulance is it could have been good. They had the cast. They had the money. They had a fairly decent editor (Who must have had handcuffs placed on him by Bay)..What they didn't have was a decent writer (Written by the guy who wrote the series 'Chuck' for tv). It was way too long. You are right they had the cast. Everything in the plot was strained and just clichéd. I actually started to cover my eyes at the cringeworthy ending.
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Sneelock
god
Better than Washington...
Posts: 8,564
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Post by Sneelock on Feb 26, 2024 18:05:05 GMT
somebody at the house is pretty sick right now. I watch movies with them to keep them company with the understanding that napping is okay.
"Auntie Mame" is one of those "they don't make them anymore" type things where you can see as much bad in this as good. we had successful plays when the movie was made so many "stagey" devices are used. the actor with the last line gets a spotlight before we fade - that sort of thing.
oddly, the really dated crap ages pretty well. it's all that "ya gotta live, live, live!" stuff that ends up being pretty hard to take. I'm glad I watched it. Rosalind Russell gives a showboat performance in a role that's meant to be a showboat. it kept both or us awake.
so did a little over half of the 50's "A Star is Born" - the one with James Mason & Judy Garland. Mason is easily Judy's equal here. More than a few people have assumed I'm gay due to my high regard for Judy Garland. I grew up with her musicals on TV. it's easy to believe she was an emotional basket case because she emotes love and fear and whatever else is required with precision. I've seen every version of "A Star is Born" and I think this one works best because you really believe the leads are in love with each other. SPOILER ALERT: the famous melodramatic ending is that Norman Maine kills himself so as not to be a burden to Mrs. Norman Maine. He wasn't a burden. Mason is as charming as pathetic in these final scenes. Naturally, you know if you like 50's big budget musicals starring Judy Garland or not. I was surprised how much of it still rings true. Jack Carson's talent agent is never busier nor happier than when Norman Maine dies. When Norman is all washed up people recognize him just so they can promptly disregard him.
I saw some others but I was the only one enjoying "Trapeze". I love seeing the leads from "sweet smell of success" in tights and getting hot under the collar for Gina Lollobrigida but it couldn't keep the others awake. you can tell Burt Lancaster is really doing a lot of that high wire stuff.
they COULD stay awake for the "Color Purple" musical. I hate to be knee jerk downbeat. I'll admit there's some talented people involved but I just don't see the point of something like that. maybe recently watching a musical I like put me at a disadvantage. the only dramatic scenes that worked for me seemed straight out of the Spielberg movie.
Oh, I liked "Taladega Nights" way better for just ending up on it while turning channels. say what you will about Will Ferrel - he surrounds himself with funny people which takes the burden off him for carrying a film. I laughed pretty non-stop. maybe I needed some cheering up.
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Post by adamcoan on Feb 26, 2024 18:15:35 GMT
Judy & liza (with a z) always have a bewildered or continually surprised look. Like they suddenly kicked the alzheimers to touch, or they are off their tits on a Hollywood doctors prescription.
Always felt sorry for Judy. She always gave the impression of a lost soul. I never feel that she had much control of her life, she had to be Judeeeee, Liza was the same, although Deffo off of her face. I think she didn't listen to Chip at woodstock and had a lot of the brown.
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Post by davey on Feb 27, 2024 15:18:34 GMT
I actually just watched the first A Star Is Born for the first time last weekend. Not sure why I’d never done so before. Like you, I prefer the Garland/Mason version, big musical overstuffed chair that it is. Whatever else you might say, it’s a comfy overstuffed chair. But yeah… the two leads are just perfect.
That said, I was really moved by the leads in the original too. More to the point, the first version really makes it clear where your sympathies are meant to lie. Norman Maine is a man in love, clearly trying everything he can to be better. The world around him simply won’t cut him any slack anymore. In that I saw the Kristofferson version first, then the Mason version - I think I always saw the films as more critical of him.
Still haven’t seen the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga version. Can’t bring myself to try yet.
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Sneelock
god
Better than Washington...
Posts: 8,564
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Post by Sneelock on Feb 27, 2024 16:17:02 GMT
well, it's better than the Streisand but that's a pretty low bar. Gaga can act but I find her songs SUPER samey and my, aren't there a lot of them?
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Post by oh oooh on Mar 5, 2024 23:14:42 GMT
I saw a couple of good films at the Glasgow Film Festival.
The new remaster of the Billy Connolly doc was fun - especially as it was played to an absolutely packed house who roared at everything.
I didn't realise how big BC already was in 1975 - he was travelling by private jet and had hotel suites and everything! I think maybe his hit single might have helped a bit there.
I realised, maybe for the first time, that a lot of the great man's appeal was down to his delivery. I mean, there were bits that went on for ages that really weren't terribly funny - but his relentlessly cheery, kind of 'authentic' style was like a huge tickling stick. And everybody was kissing his arse! some funny backstage scenes in Belfast and Dublin with local mayors, DJs, cleaners and fans.
I had a seat right at the front (yet again it amazes me how it's always possible to grab a place there) and there was a table and two mikes set up for a post-screening Q&A - but when I was absolutely sure the Big Yin himself wasn't showing up, I legged it.
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Post by oh oooh on Mar 5, 2024 23:20:44 GMT
And this was a fine film too:
The old lass who was in Winter's Bone was the star - but the story was very believable (possibly based on true events).
And I saw two Lee Grant things, which were kind of slow and earnest, but the feature film in particular (Tell Me A Riddle) was good, with really excellent performances from Melvyn Douglas and Lila Kedrova. The theme is kind of universal, and there were some very touching scenes. Although I was almost ready to exit before it started because of the introduction - three young film students harping on about women in film.
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Post by harrylemon on Mar 5, 2024 23:27:45 GMT
I saw a couple of good films at the Glasgow Film Festival. The new remaster of the Billy Connolly doc was fun - especially as it was played to an absolutely packed house who roared at everything. I didn't realise how big BC already was in 1975 - he was travelling by private jet and had hotel suites and everything! I think maybe his hit single might have helped a bit there. I realised, maybe for the first time, that a lot of the great man's appeal was down to his delivery. I mean, there were bits that went on for ages that really weren't terribly funny - but his relentlessly cheery, kind of 'authentic' style was like a huge tickling stick. And everybody was kissing his arse! some funny backstage scenes in Belfast and Dublin with local mayors, DJs, cleaners and fans. I had a seat right at the front (yet again it amazes me how it's always possible to grab a place there) and there was a table and two mikes set up for a post-screening Q&A - but when I was absolutely sure the Big Yin himself wasn't showing up, I legged it. Our David was at the free showing of Godather ll yesterday morning the table and mikes were there although there was no Q & A afterwards. It was still there for the Powell and Pressburger documentary at which there was one, we went for a curry instead of waiting.
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Post by oh oooh on Mar 5, 2024 23:32:18 GMT
I walked by yesterday morning around 9:30 - the line was the longest I've ever seen for that place.
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Post by oh oooh on Mar 5, 2024 23:32:41 GMT
Great cinema, the GFT. I don't know of any better, outside London.
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Post by harrylemon on Mar 5, 2024 23:36:44 GMT
I walked by yesterday morning around 9:30 - the line was the longest I've ever seen for that place. I was going but stuff got in the way. Free showings with a decent film will always draw a crowd.
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Post by harrylemon on Mar 5, 2024 23:37:24 GMT
Great cinema, the GFT. I don't know of any better, outside London. I've got one of their cine cards, great value.
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Post by Half Machine Lipschitz on Mar 6, 2024 11:51:24 GMT
I watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture yesterday for the first time in over 40 years. I guess it must've been quite the experience seeing it on the big screen back in '79, but it could easily have been reduced to a one hour episode of the tv show with absolutely no change to the story. Almost half the film is taken up by long, drawn out scenic shots set to soaring orchestral music cut with the actors' faces reacting to what they're seeing with almost no dialogue. The scene where Kirk and Scotty are approaching the Enterprise in a shuttle for the first time is at least five minutes (possibly more) of different camera angles, dramatic music, and the awe-struck faces of Shatner and Doohan. I was sitting there most of the time wondering when something that moved the story along was going to happen.
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Post by DarknessFish on Mar 6, 2024 12:16:44 GMT
I saw a couple of good films at the Glasgow Film Festival. The new remaster of the Billy Connolly doc was fun - especially as it was played to an absolutely packed house who roared at everything. I realised, maybe for the first time, that a lot of the great man's appeal was down to his delivery. I mean, there were bits that went on for ages that really weren't terribly funny - but his relentlessly cheery, kind of 'authentic' style was like a huge tickling stick. I think the conversational style of his performance was what really made the difference, treating the audience as an equal, a confidant in some respect. Though he was quite performative and brash, he always had lots of quiet asides, and random-seeming diversions. You have to listen to everything when you don't know where the punchlines are, and it gives you the license to roam off topic, too. If you think of the comedians of the time (or even "The Comedians"), the act was a performance down to the audience, Dave Allen is probably the only TV regular of the era who treated the audience in that kind of way.
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