Skip to main content

quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:
quote:
Originally posted by txgolfpro:
Up with a sick baby, he fell asleep in my arms about 5:00am, couldn't risk putting him down, so I finally got to watch Tinker-Tailor.


Pro,

I hope your baby is better, and very soon.

I'm not sure you picked the best time to watch that movie. I would not want to watch it if I was tired.

Sound like it was serious, hope things are OK.

I do want to interject in here that there are only two great interpretations of Le Carre's books. One is the unbelievably great The Spy Who Came In From The Cold with Richard Burton. Burton at this point in his life simply occupies the role of the tired spy on one last mission.

The other is the BBC mini series of two of the Karla stories: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy followed with Smiley's People. After Alec Guinness' portrayal of George Smiley no actor should ever attempt the role again. In addition their 11 hour length allows for the telling of a typical complex Le Carre book. Highly recommended.

A runner up movie is the ignored, but excellent, Tailor of Panama with Pierce Bronson is his best performance to date.
Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends

Really enjoyed this. Wouldn't have called myself a fan of his before. Not that I didn't like him, just had never really sat down and listened much to his body of work. Set against his 2005 Monterey Jazz Festival appearance and interspersed with old clips and interviews, it was a joy to listen to his work over the years. I believe he would have been 78 or 79 for that concert and it was amazing how good he sounded and I have a new appreciation for the man and his talent. The perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon resting after a nice wine club dinner last night.
quote:
Originally posted by eyesintime:
Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends

Really enjoyed this. Wouldn't have called myself a fan of his before. Not that I didn't like him, just had never really sat down and listened much to his body of work. Set against his 2005 Monterey Jazz Festival appearance and interspersed with old clips and interviews, it was a joy to listen to his work over the years. I believe he would have been 78 or 79 for that concert and it was amazing how good he sounded and I have a new appreciation for the man and his talent. The perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon resting after a nice wine club dinner last night.


Outstanding Cool
quote:
Originally posted by eyesintime:
Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends

Really enjoyed this. Wouldn't have called myself a fan of his before. Not that I didn't like him, just had never really sat down and listened much to his body of work. Set against his 2005 Monterey Jazz Festival appearance and interspersed with old clips and interviews, it was a joy to listen to his work over the years. I believe he would have been 78 or 79 for that concert and it was amazing how good he sounded and I have a new appreciation for the man and his talent. The perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon resting after a nice wine club dinner last night.

I could be way off on this, but it seems to me that when the big crooners like Sinatra, Martin, Crosby, and Davis were still alive, Tony Bennet was treated like the bastard child. He was always there, but few wanted to acknowledge him.
Now that he's the last one standing, and still doing live shows, people have begun to appreciate him anew.
quote:
Originally posted by mneeley490:
quote:
Originally posted by eyesintime:
Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends

Really enjoyed this. Wouldn't have called myself a fan of his before. Not that I didn't like him, just had never really sat down and listened much to his body of work. Set against his 2005 Monterey Jazz Festival appearance and interspersed with old clips and interviews, it was a joy to listen to his work over the years. I believe he would have been 78 or 79 for that concert and it was amazing how good he sounded and I have a new appreciation for the man and his talent. The perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon resting after a nice wine club dinner last night.

I could be way off on this, but it seems to me that when the big crooners like Sinatra, Martin, Crosby, and Davis were still alive, Tony Bennet was treated like the bastard child. He was always there, but few wanted to acknowledge him.
Now that he's the last one standing, and still doing live shows, people have begun to appreciate him anew.


I always kind of thought along those lines too -- not really a bastard child per se but just not as "cool" as Sinatra, Davis, Martin and the Rat Pack. But I don't think that is true based upon this documentary. In an interview with Life magazine I believe (not sure of the year), Sinatra called him the best living singer and Bennett called Sinatra his best friend in the film. I always thought of him and Sinatra as contemporaries, but he was actually 10 years younger than Sinatra, so much younger than Bing I believe (Bob Hope actually gave Bennett his first real break). Bennett was also one of the first guests on Carson's Tonight Show with Groucho Marx, Joan Crawford and Mel Brooks. His career went in the shitter in the U.S. for awhile during the Rock n Roll era and seemed to concentrate on jazz more. I also didn't know that he was involved so much in the civil rights period marching front and center with MLK the march from Selma to Montgomery. Again, I never really followed his career and all this info. is from the documentary.
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:
quote:
Originally posted by txgolfpro:
Up with a sick baby, he fell asleep in my arms about 5:00am, couldn't risk putting him down, so I finally got to watch Tinker-Tailor.


Pro,

I hope your baby is better, and very soon.

I'm not sure you picked the best time to watch that movie. I would not want to watch it if I was tired.


Well now that you mention it.....was the girl in the hospital gown brought in and shot in front of the guy being tourtured after being shot in Romania, the same girl Ricky Tarr "fell in love" with, that he wanted Smiley to bargain for her release?
Gangster Squad

This wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Well, actually, it probably was as bad as I thought it was going to be but I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would. I think someone noted it is very "comic book" like, and I'd agree with that (though not as bad as the Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy). As such the dialogue was really pretty lame overall -- several times I guessed what the next line would be. But I made it all the way through and not once thought of poking my eyes out. I also enjoyed seeing the actress from The Killing in a different role.
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:
The Unforgiven ( 1960)

Holy shit, I never heard of this John Huston movie. Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn (!), Lillian Gish and Audie Murphy. Looking this up I discovered that the book it's based on is by Alan Le May. He also wrote the novel that the stunning The Searchers is adapted from. Both of which deal with Native American racial issues.

Looks like another W+A film to add to the queue.
quote:
Originally posted by mpls wine guy:
Took my son to The Lone Ranger at the second run theatre. Pretty Lame.

Can someone tell me the difference between Depp's Lone Ranger and Pirate movies other than the sets. I haven't seen Lone Ranger and could only watch a few minutes of Pirates. It sounds like they're the same movie essentially, but one grossed almost $1B.
Saw 2 Guns. Surprisingly good. Wahlberg funny, Paxton ace, Denzel, Denzel. Good plot, couple holes, nice new clotheless Spanish bird (dodgy acting maybe), two of the worst extras at elevator scene I noticed. And what's with staking out a drug lord's house in a subdivision 30 ft from the end of his driveway unnoticed? And guy's can't go 'Ah!!' when they get killed by a fatal close range bullet to the head. Apart from that, very much recommended.
quote:
Originally posted by MoselleLuxemburg:
Barry Lyndon, Stanley Kubrick's most underestimated masterpiece

When it came out I was so disappointed that I've never watched it again. Up to then Kubrick was my film hero. I always think that I will watch it again one day, but I just can't help still thinking that Ryan O'Neal is just so miscast.
quote:
Originally posted by DoubleD:
quote:
Originally posted by mpls wine guy:
Took my son to The Lone Ranger at the second run theatre. Pretty Lame.

Can someone tell me the difference between Depp's Lone Ranger and Pirate movies other than the sets. I haven't seen Lone Ranger and could only watch a few minutes of Pirates. It sounds like they're the same movie essentially, but one grossed almost $1B.


That's my problem with Depp - he plays the same character in Pirates, Lone Ranger, Wonka, Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland, etc., etc. I think his schtick is finally getting old...
quote:
Originally posted by The Old Man:
quote:
Originally posted by MoselleLuxemburg:
Barry Lyndon, Stanley Kubrick's most underestimated masterpiece

When it came out I was so disappointed that I've never watched it again. Up to then Kubrick was my film hero. I always think that I will watch it again one day, but I just can't help still thinking that Ryan O'Neal is just so miscast.


Yep, i'm not surprised to hear that, i know lot of real film fans that dont like the film or even never heard about it.
Re: Depp. Not a big fan, but I liked him in Polanski's Ninth Gate.

Re: Barry Lyndon. I saw about 1/2 of it not too long ago channel surfing and thought it held up really well. Marisa Berenson was almost too pretty for the role but it is the only film that O'Neil could / should be proud of. My only complaint is really minor: the typography used for the titles. Very dated, very seventies and reminded me of a bad album design from the period.
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:
quote:
Originally posted by Vino Bevo:


That's my problem with Depp - he plays the same character in Pirates, Lone Ranger, Wonka, Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland, etc., etc. I think his schtick is finally getting old...


Could you please list a movie I have ever seen? Wink

For serious? You've never seen Sweeney Todd?! I get that, even though the first Pirates of the Caribbean was a good movie, action-adventure is not your thing, but Sweeney Todd?! IMO, the greatest non-animated movie musical of my lifetime. (Obviously adapted from the brilliant Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical.)

Depp was great in Edward Scissorhands as well.

I agree his schtick is getting old... but I also think he is an excellent actor capable of so much more; he just seems not to want to leave his comfort zone.
Johnny Depp was in only one great movie (and a good one What's Eating Gilbert Grape) and that's Ed Wood. And W+A it's to your shame if you haven't seen it.

What if you were as passionate about film as Orson Welles, you knew what you were doing was important and great like Orson Welles--and you had absolutely no talent? And there was nothing that could shake your conviction. Or, what if you were one of the most important film monsters during the Golden Age of Universal Studios--Bela Lugosi? Your films kept them solvent during those years, and now you're forgotten and live in a small house in Hollywood, addicted to drugs and this and trying to scare children at Halloween and this unbelievably bad director, who've you never heard of, comes to you with one last chance--and you make the film that's universally considered the worst movie ever made--Plan 9 From Outer Space (though really the worst is The Creeping Terror aka The Creeping Quilt, but you can't finish the picture and...

From it's bongo beat music opening to the end this is also Tim Burton's only great film.
Old Man and Winetarelli,

I never said I had never watched a movie with Depp, I said I never saw Pirates, Lone Ranger, Wonka, Alice in Wonderland or Sweeney Todd, and do not plan to as well.

I did see the first 15-20 minutes of Todd, but was not in the mood and changed the channel.

I think of Depp in Before Night Falls, Ed Woods & Chocolat.
I was just thinking about the subject of Johnny Depp when I saw another commercial for Lone Ranger. I think for me he is one of the most overrated actors out there. A few of the films listed here I've enoyed, but most listed I've not and not in small part because of Depp. I won't even bother putting Lone Ranger in my Netflix queue, and that says a lot because it is not without many films of questionable quality.
Ed Wood was a truly fantastic movie (as are the others listed). I would throw Benny & Joon in there as well.

I blame the actor less than the powers that be in regards to his shtick. Pirates was such a hit because of it, it became a marketable "thing" that was ordered off a menu. Depp's fault that he took the money and agreed to do it, but many others have done the same with their own (and become just as disillusioned).
quote:
Originally posted by Vino Bevo:
That's my problem with Depp - he plays the same character in Pirates, Lone Ranger, Wonka, Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland, etc., etc. I think his schtick is finally getting old...


I should have said "my recent problem with Depp" because as many have said, he has been in movies I enjoyed, like Donnie Brasco, where he wasn't this painted up weird guy - it's just that everything he's done in the last several years is that same character in a different role and it's tired...
Watched parts of this is 40 while pacing with the little one on Friday night. Maybe we will relate to it more when we are 40, but the parts I watched were sad and the way the parents acted were sad (and embarrassing for them) so I hope I can never relate to it! Maybe if I watched the entire movie I would have it in better context, but I didn’t like it.

Funny enough, we sat right next to Judd Apatow and his wife at Farmshop in Brentwood on Saturday morning.
quote:
Originally posted by billhike:
quote:
Originally posted by mneeley490:
quote:
Originally posted by Parcival:

And, as a brainless palate cleanser after this very poignant film during a long flight -- a re-visit of an 80's classic - Meatballs

Ever give your wife the Aunt Jemima treatment? Wink


I believe that was from Stripes, but I still got a chuckle!


Definitely Stripes.

Meatballs - was Rudy Rabbit;

Alright, virgins to the left, non-virgins to the right. You guys split 'em up however you want

Tonight's dinner was veal. I repeat, veal. The winner of tonight's mystery meat contest is the kid who guessed "some kind of beef."

You must be the short depressed kid we ordered.

Morty, not Mickey.
quote:
Originally posted by Jcocktosten:
quote:
Originally posted by billhike:
quote:
Originally posted by mneeley490:
quote:
Originally posted by Parcival:

And, as a brainless palate cleanser after this very poignant film during a long flight -- a re-visit of an 80's classic - Meatballs

Ever give your wife the Aunt Jemima treatment? Wink


I believe that was from Stripes, but I still got a chuckle!


Definitely Stripes.

I stand corrected.
Carnage

I stumbled onto this last night surfing the satellite. Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly and directed by Roman Polanski. I immediately say to myself "WTF?!? How did this one never show up on the radar?"

Really bizarre movie. I felt like it was Roman Polanski meets Woody Allen. Filmed entirely in one venue in one continuous long scene. Grainy filming technique that gave it a 1970s feel. Funny, almost bizarre circuitous dialog. I laughed and scratched my head at the same time.
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:
quote:
Originally posted by The Old Man:
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:
quote:
Originally posted by The Old Man:
The Talented Mr. Ripley 79pts.


It could have been very good.

I know another director who took a Patricia Highsmith story and turned it into a masterpiece. Wink


Farley's finest movie, or did you prefer Rope?

You know I love Rope, but it's a much fuller performance, just by the nature of the film, in Strangers On A Train. Having watched Ripley I guess that the crisscross always interested Highsmith. Look at the opening of the walking shoes and then the foot tap on the train to see how Hitchcock works with images to set the theme of the movie.

And then, I just have to say it again, is Hitchcock's secret crisscross: The "straight" guy played by gay Granger and the fey man by straight Robert Walker. Adding to Hitchcock's delight was Granger was partnered romantically with one of the writers of Rope, Arthur Laurents. Who I just noted died two years ago at age 92.

Ah, Hitchcock.
Beasts of the Southern Wild -- enjoyed this quite a bit.

Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later -- I wish this had been about looking at those involved (or their relatives) and how the events have impacted their lives and changed or not changed them. It would have been a more difficult film to make, but I would love to know the personal impact and thoughts on the events now, especially of those who were in the mob of people screaming at the kids. Instead it concentrated on how L.R. Central H.S. has become a top feeder school for colleges but remains "segregated" with the AP classes being predominantly populated by white students and many of the blacks performing several grade levels lower than their ages. As such the film would have made a better magazine article as it didn't explore anything new.
quote:
Originally posted by steve8:
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:

Tarantino has become boring and predictable IMO.


Predictable yes, but boring? I enjoyed Django and Inglorious Basterds,


About halfway through both movies, I just stared getting restless and thinking, more of the same is coming.

As you said, his best is now nearly 20 years old.
Last edited by wine+art
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:
quote:
Originally posted by steve8:
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:

Tarantino has become boring and predictable IMO.


Predictable yes, but boring? I enjoyed Django and Inglorious Basterds,


About halfway through both movies, I just stared getting restless and thinking, more of the same is coming.

As you said, he best is now nearly 20 years old.

He'd almost qualify as a one hit wonder except that Reservoir Dogs is such an interesting calling card movie. I've also never watched Jackie Brown which I hear good things about. I did not watch Django and wished I hadn't seen Inglorious, I'm pretty much done with him.
Pain & Gain.

Enjoy Wahlberg in flicks. This one was a pretty enjoyable dark comedy. The film says it is based on a real-life story and shows the pix of the actual perpetrators at the end of the film. In the process of checking out how true to life the movie is . . . because if it's even close, the real life story is completely wacky
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:
quote:
Originally posted by Juicy:
The Butler


What did you think?


Really enjoyed it. Lots of great characters and what a time in history to be a "fly on the wall" from the Eisenhower to the Reagan Administrations. Difficult to cram three decades plus of history, the Civil Rights movement, interactions with various Presidents, and personal history into a two hour film. There are already some complaints of re-writing history if it is based on the life of Eugene Allen. Lots going on if you are a history buff.
quote:
Originally posted by tanglenet:
Warm Bodies - sort of a romantic comedy with a touch of horror and drama in the vein of Twilight but with a zombie. A fun film.

I liked this, too. But it was hard not for me to review the movie that wasn't. The premise was, as far as I know, completely unique -- even though it is sort of shocking that it was a unique premise. And, to be the first of its kind and good -- but not great -- to me was a bit sad because if someone makes a great take on this, it won't be original anymore. But, as I said, I agree it was fun and I liked it.
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:
Portnoy's Complaint

Eek Just looked it up, I've never given the movie a thought since watching this mess all those years ago, was I, and I assume you, shocked to see who directed it.

Goodbye, Columbus

Saw it in the theatre and still have fond memories. I even can remember the chorus to the silly theme song: "Hello life, goodbye Columbus."

Elegy

The Roth fest continued. And hey, it didn't hurt that it had Penelope Cruz. Wink
quote:
Originally posted by The Old Man:
quote:
Originally posted by wine+art:
Portnoy's Complaint

Eek Just looked it up, I've never given the movie a thought since watching this mess all those years ago, was I, and I assume you, shocked to see who directed it.

I will watch his fine screenplay today... always a comfort movie for me. You know what he produced, right?

Goodbye, Columbus

Saw it in the theatre and still have fond memories. I even can remember the chorus to the silly theme song: "Hello life, goodbye Columbus."

Elegy

The Roth fest continued. And hey, it didn't hurt that it had stunning Penelope Cruz. Wink