29 Sep 08
Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromficsI really like "A Face in the Crowd" also. Elia Kazan might be my favorite director. Of his lesser known films, "America, America" and "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" are a couple of favorites. Have you seen these?
I have a lot of the movies in the book now. I skip around a lot. Luckily, I bought the book when VHS was going out of fashion. A local rental store had literally all there VHS tapes on sale for 1-4 dollars!!!
I bought over 100 titles over a period of 4 weeks. I have caught many more on TV. I have also bought tons of DVD's, since I don't ren ...[text shortened]... onal favorites.
I have many many more. For some reason those two just came to mind. 🙂
Also, what "A Face in the Crowd" is to politics, "Elmer Gantry" is to evangilism. Well worth seeing.
30 Sep 08
Originally posted by ThinkOfOneI have seen A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. It is excellent! I just bought a DVD of Wild River. I had to order it from Germany in Region 2 because it is not available in the states. It is an excellent film too. Splendor in The Grass is another brilliant one. I haven't had the opportunity to see America,America yet, but it is on my list. Did you see his Tennessee Williams adaptation Baby Doll? I really enjoyed it too. It was only filmed about 20 miles from where I live. Someone recently rebought the house and is restoring it as we speak. It's hard to believe Kazan was so close to my home town. 🙂
I really like "A Face in the Crowd" also. Elia Kazan might be my favorite director. Of his lesser known films, "America, America" and "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" are a couple of favorites. Have you seen these?
Also, what "A Face in the Crowd" is to politics, "Elmer Gantry" is to evangilism. Well worth seeing.
30 Sep 08
Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromficsI really liked "Baby Doll". Eli Wallach was terrific. I never understood why he didn't get more work.
I have seen A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. It is excellent! I just bought a DVD of Wild River. I had to order it from Germany in Region 2 because it is not available in the states. It is an excellent film too. Splendor in The Grass is another brilliant one. I haven't had the opportunity to see America,America yet, but it is on my list. Did you ...[text shortened]... and is restoring it as we speak. It's hard to believe Kazan was so close to my home town. 🙂
30 Sep 08
Originally posted by ThinkOfOneI'm really not sure why he didn't get more work either. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is another classic of his. Baby Doll took a lot of heat at it's time of release. The Catholic Church and other decency boards really made a big fuss over it (Kiss Me Stupid was another one with the same problems!). One of the biggest complaints was Carroll Baker sleeping in the baby crip (being sort of a womanchild). It is a very well made film. It is a wonder that it's not more well known. I think it's based on Tiger Tail By Tennessee Williams. Tennessee Williams really wrote some very good plays. I have many of his works on film including both Cat On A Hot Tin Roof's ( Paul Newman & Elizabeth Taylor/ Tommy Lee Jones & Jessica Lange). If you like Carroll Baker, she has a nice role in Giant too. James Dean woos her in that one. It's another epic tale (by Edna Ferber (Cimarron) ).
I really liked "Baby Doll". Eli Wallach was terrific. I never understood why he didn't get more work.
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30 Sep 08
Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromficsYes - I wasn't trying to imply that you're an easterner; that's just how it came off (my bad). I was trying to say that Albert Brooks and Woody Allen have an eastern style. A classic example of a western style would be Robin Williams. Also I think of Lenny Bruce and George Carlin as being more western style; more extroverted and less introspect.
I'm not from the east at all. I don't play favorites with comedians either. I like Albert Brooks, Woody Allen, and Seinfeld, yes. I also like The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, The Marx Brothers, Monty Python, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Red Foxx, Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Newhart, and many many more. I don't really t ...[text shortened]... king about. I wasn't trying to offend you, just responding with my opinion. Handshake 🙂
When I was younger I could always tell when my peers had come from the Eastern Seaboard - the humor falls much more along racial or class topics than out here. And that's as true as any generalized statement, which means there's always exceptions, to be sure.
01 Oct 08
How about Peter Bogdanovich? Great Movies ... Targets, The Last Picture Show, What's Up Doc?, Paper Moon, and many more. I just got a region 2 Nickelodeon. It's not bad either.
Speaking of The Last Picture Show, Larry McMurtry has some nice film writing credits to his name. Hud, Lonesome Dove (all of them), and Terms Of Endearment are a few.
03 Oct 08
I watched "The Last Tango In Paris," yesterday and it was a turd. I guess 35 years ago it pushed the boundary of how much sex you can show in an R-rated film, but overall, I thought it was poorly acted, without a plot, and badly directed. All this and in the opening credits they still have a list of magazines such as the New Yorker proclaiming it to be the most important film of the century. Marlin Brando was horrible in this film. He was brooding, weird, fat, flatulent, and mumbled his lines throughout. The only interesting thing was Maria Schneider. I guess for a film from the American weirdo rapes a young Parisian girl genre, it's OK. What a waste of good, French butter.
03 Oct 08
Originally posted by der schwarze RitterI wasn't very impressed with it either. I believe it got an X rating at the time, and that may have aided the hype. Of course, good movies got an X back then too. Midnight Cowboy got an X, and it won Best Picture. (I really like that one. The dreams of success in the big city versus the harsh reality of what really happens struck a chord with me. I remember him pawning the radio often, even though it's not really a major plot point.) 1969 was the end of the censorship code in Hollywood that started in the 30's (after the release of Little Caesar, other gangster films, and other "unfit" films). From 1930 on, every film had to conform to set rules (Like when two characters are in the bedroom, one's feet must always be on the floor.) In 1969, the code fell and ratings came out. Some of the more memborable films from this time are Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf? ( for its language) and Bonnie And Clyde (for its gore and violence). Just a little film history (not that I think you don't know it.). 🙂
I watched "The Last Tango In Paris," yesterday and it was a turd. I guess 35 years ago it pushed the boundary of how much sex you can show in an R-rated film, but overall, I thought it was poorly acted, without a plot, and badly directed. All this and in the opening credits they still have a list of magazines such as the New Yorker proclaiming it ...[text shortened]... rican weirdo rapes a young Parisian girl genre, it's OK. What a waste of good, French butter.
03 Oct 08
Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromficsTwo others from the same era that get a lot of undeserved credit (in my opinion) are "The French Connection," and "Bullit." I guess their importance is due to the fact that they influenced so many films with car chases, however, I think both suffer from poor character development. One Gene Hackman film from that era that is underrated and I really like is "The Conversation." Hackman plays a surveillance expert who gets bugged after he acquires some incriminating evidence regarding a murder. Great drama and good acting from Hackman. Also, there is a cool jazz soundtrack.
I wasn't very impressed with it either. I believe it got an X rating at the time, and that may have aided the hype. Of course, good movies got an X back then too. Midnight Cowboy got an X, and it won Best Picture. (I really like that one. The dreams of success in the big city versus the harsh reality of what really happens struck a chord wit ...[text shortened]... ore and violence). Just a little film history (not that I think you don't know it.). 🙂
03 Oct 08
Originally posted by der schwarze RitterFrench Connection and Bullit are action movies that's their problem. Don't even try to sit throught The French Connection 2. It drags and drags. The Conversation is good. It was made by Coppola between The Godfather and Godfather 2. Another Hackman/Pacino film that I found interesting (although perhaps not great) was Scarecrow.
Two others from the same era that get a lot of undeserved credit (in my opinion) are "The French Connection," and "Bullit." I guess their importance is due to the fact that they influenced so many films with car chases, however, I think both suffer from poor character development. One Gene Hackman film from that era that is underrated and I reall ...[text shortened]... a murder. Great drama and good acting from Hackman. Also, there is a cool jazz soundtrack.
06 Oct 08
Originally posted by paulbuchmanfromficsI don't remember Scarecrow -- I'll look for that one. Last night I watched Micheal Mann's "Last of the Mohicans," and consider it a tour de force in cinema. There's a good story, great actors, and the direction and cinematography had my jaw dropping. Great action, great conflict, a love story and Wes Studi, who played Magua, one of the best movie bad guys I've seen in a long while.
French Connection and Bullit are action movies that's their problem. Don't even try to sit throught The French Connection 2. It drags and drags. The Conversation is good. It was made by Coppola between The Godfather and Godfather 2. Another Hackman/Pacino film that I found interesting (although perhaps not great) was Scarecrow.