poehler-bear

poehler-bear

I had never heard of it, but what a cast! Adding to my endless watchlist.

For free food, yes

That's true. So many movies about male bonding. Female bonding is so rare that every time it happens it's all people can talk about, nothing really changed from Stage Door to Thelma and Louise to The Heat.

I'm always impressed by the quality of Barbara Stanwyck films. At the beginning of the year I watched a bunch of her movies up to 1945 because they fitted the theme of my final paper (even if that was mostly an excuse to watch her movies). Now I'm watching post 45 and 50s movies (maybe as an excuse for another final paper?) and it's amazing that she still managed to be in great movies when most of the actresses of her age were getting crappy B movies. Of course, she has the terrible movies every actor has on their filmography but I don't think I've ever seen a filmography with so many great and/or enjoyable movies.

Gelfling

No excuse needed, Nanda! I love love love Sunset Blvd! And it's a perfect line! You're taking a class on Noir? I'm so jealous!!

you're welcome
Seriously it's well worth watching, especially for the acting and direction. I have a major problem with the ending but that's not the first time
If I love 90% of a movie and dislike 10%, it's a good day at the movies!

nothing like being the boss and satisfying your stomach!

well I guess you'd need more than one female character to get any kind of female bonding so there's the rub.

She knew how to pick her parts and her movies! A lot of actors pick movies mostly for the parts and don't really care about the overall quality of the script, which is totally fine with me, but that tends to leave them with a disjointed filmography.

poehler-bear

It is if I had a top 10 movies Sunset Blvd. would definitely be there. And Norma Desmond!
Yes, I only have one week left and a final paper to write. It was fun though, and I really like the prof. I found out I'm more a fan of the noir idea than the actual movies. I'm fascinated by them without loving them (there are exceptions obviously, Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Mildred Pierce...)



I watched Mata Hari and I was left wondering who the hell let Greta Garbo do an exotic dance? That was a really awkward moment. I usually love Garbo but no, thanks. I feel that every talkie I watch with her from now on is gonna be a disappointment and never come close to Queen Christina, Ninotchka or Camille

Gelfling

and I like the "if I had a top 10" because they're so haaaaaaard to make!

I think that the genre was taken too lightly at some point. Like thrillers in the 90ies. They were kinda mass produced and the style was there, but substance was rare. Of course there were great movies, the ones that created the genre and kept it going, but there were a lot of stylish empty shirts with good actors.
I'm very interested in Neo-noir as a genre too. It's very much a rarity (probably because it's the opposite of technicolor and that's what people were expecting when color touched movies, not to mention 3D ) but I guess that means they often have more substance.

right?? I always wondered if her arm was more or less twisted into it and she gave the stiffest exotic dance ever just to pay it back, or if the director was tearing his hair out and asked not to say a thing because Garbo was so huge!
I heard the uncensored version is longer and "more sensual" but I doubt it, tbh. Her being topless (from the back) in it is probably enough for some guys but I don't think anything could save that scene, let alone MORE of it
I am skeptical about the movie as a whole. It seems almost tongue-in-cheek at times.

Awww hey it's ok! At least you had those

poehler-bear

So hard! Especially if you have to compare Classic Hollywood movies with European art movies and then with your childhood movies... I could possibly do top 10s if they were divided in a bunch of categories.

And yet, noir carries so much prestige. A bad noir will probably be considered better than an okay musical or an okay western.
We're talking about neo-noir this week and watching Altman's. I agree, it's interesting. My only problem is that neo-noir films often are critical of the genre, losing some of the quality I like in noir. Critical can be good, but every single movie? I love Chinatown because it seems more of an updated version of noir than of a critical one.

I'd say this one. It was so embarrassing to watch. Garbo could play seductive, but not this way. MGM should have known better.
Yeah, not a fan of the movie either.

That's true. Garbo could be really great, but she could also be bad and even unintentionally comical. Her range wasn't that much, but when she got the right script and a good director she could do magic.

Gelfling

good point but then I end up with 20 top 10
I think the important thing is that a movie touches you one way or another. Then there are different levels and there are movies that challenge you as well as move you, there are great stories, and there are great characters. So many reasons to love a movie. That's why it's hard to play favorites.

You're right and I'm not sure why

also Chinatown introduces a human complexity to the story that a lot of classic Noir movies were only skipping on. Best of both worlds I guess.

Not the first time a big star with an "unbreakable" image was trying to break it the wrong way.

and it was true of a lot of actors at the time. Bogart often played the same kind of parts and it suited him fine. Versatility, even nowadays, is not in everyone's cards and there's nothing wrong with that if you play it right.

ETA: btw, I think our conversation about Sunset and my recent obsession with Masters of Sex, combined with TWW rewatch, messed with my head a little and I dreamed that they were doing a remake of Sunset Blvd with Allison Janney as Norma and I woke up and thought "****, that'd be awesome actually"

poehler-bear

Exactly. And that's the beauty of it.

Yeah. Sometimes it works though, as Dick Powell can attest.
I agree with "nothing wrong with that if you play it right" especially during the Classical Era. I don't mind that William Powell plays pretty much the same guy in every movie I've seen with him, it doesn't make him any less charming. He does it so well!
But on Bogart, I absolutely loved In a Lonely Place, and his performance in it. And it's deconstructing his persona in a way. These things can work for some people, with the write director and script.

omg Allison Janney as Norma I need time to process this. I'm still crying about Ginger Rogers/Lee Pace.

Gelfling

Sure. A lot of actors were/are pigeon-holed when they are actually versatile. Sometimes they get a chance to prove it and it works out. Sometimes, they just try too hard.

Exactly! And a lot relied on charisma, and the ones that stayed legendary, not just big names, even now, whatever they played, had that in spades!
Like we discussed, some of these actors made movies that were sometimes unequal, mostly because they were under contract to do 6 or more movies a year and they had to take what the studio offered, but even with the average material, they make these movies a treat because you get to see them do their magic.

and the very "meta" behind the scene feel of the movie makes it deliciously ironic. I think Bette Davis also did that in The Star but the material was not as good as In a Lonely Place was to Bogart.

and I think to a certain extent, it's also true of Casablanca for Bogart. His character is his usual tough guy cynic persona but you quickly come to realize that there is more to it than that and it's all just a front to keep his broken heart from everyone.

I know, right?

Speaking of Lee Pace, I'm seeing Desolation of Smaug this week and I know I'm expecting way too much because of Lee and Evangeline Lilly but I can't help it. I'll be disappointed, whatever

And speaking of franchises, here's one from which I didn't expect anything but I needed to get out of the house last weekend and to get entertained so, despite my dislike of the first movie, I saw Hunger Games: Catching Fire. And I actually liked it. Maybe it's because my expectations were low but I think they truly fixed everything that went horribly wrong in the first movie (direction, adaptation, characterization, ignoring the major themes of the franchise etc), there was a lot to be fixed.
It's entertaining (I found the first one boring and shallow as hell) and it's also building on a lot of social and political issues that you'd expect from a proper dystopian future movie. Great acting all around too, which helps.

Not too sure about the decision to split the last book into two movies (damn you Harry Potter!!) but then Julianne Moore will be in both movies so I guess I'm fine with them being longer

poehler-bear

Oh I just found out about the existence of The Star last week. Is it worth watching? (even if not, I'll probably watch it for Davis anyway)
And you're right about Casablanca. And those two are probably my favorite Bogart performances.

Oh that sounds good about Catching Fire! I've been meaning to go watch it for a while but no time (ugh end of semester). Hopefully this Sunday.

IKR? But yesssss to Julianne Moore.

Gelfling

you answered your own question. It's not In a Lonely Place but it's worth watching for Davis, without a doubt. She gives a really strong performance.

I just can't stop watching it! I discovered it pretty late (in my 20ies and only after I started reading an Xfiles fic that used the plot of Casablanca in a "post colonization" alternate universe ) but I was surprised about how timeless it was. It's all the more surprising that the setting, time and place, are so important to the story, but what drives it are the characters and their stories go beyond time and space.

It's actually a good surprise for me because I was dragging my feet, honestly. Didn't like the first movie at all.

Yes!! I knew they were going to swing for the fences with the casting in the last two movies but I didn't think they'd aim so high and I'm glad she didn't turn them down!

MySpotlessMind

Finally saw Frances Ha. Greta Gerwig is positively divine.

I love me some Garbo, but maaaan that scene is so ridiculous. I felt physical embarrassment while watching it because of how absurd the situation was.

Oh this movie. My heart, my poor heart can't take that ending! It's a very unique movie with performances for the ages.

And I have to fully endorse Betty Davis in the Star. The movie isn't really a classic, but Bette Davis is always such a force to behold on screen.

Gelfling

This is SO on my watchlist! But I wanted to see it in the theaters and I missed it

And the plot is so close to her I think that she puts even more into it than she usually does, which is around 200%

I finally saw some of the big Oscar contenders.
Still not getting the Gravity madness. It's not bad, but it's not a masterpiece really.

Rush is a good movie but ironically it loses the characters pretty early in the plot. The "competition" and racing scenes takes the place of what should have been the core of the story, imo.

Not sure what to think about 12 Years a Slave. It's good but somehow I was expecting better from all the rave reviews. It's less cheesy than Roots but it's nothing that wasn't shown before and the fact he is not an ignorant slave doesn't bring much to the plot or the way things go. The acting is good too. Just not sure it would make my "must-see" list.

On the other hand, I watched The Philadephia Story yesterday
The wit! the dynamics! Hepburn!

Oh well, I'm hitting 40 soon so I may as well say it: they don't make 'em like they used to

replendentmiasma

Oh really? I wanted to watch it but wasn't too keen on it. Talking about Oscar contenders, have you seen Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle? What do you think? I heard they were both great. I intend to watch Wolf of Wall Street because its Martin Scorsese's and American Hustle because I liked Silver Linings Playbook ( David O. Russell and JLawrence and Cooper combo lol) and of course Christian Bale.

Yay! more love for Katherine Hepburn.

Gelfling

I'm not a fan of Scorcese and even less of Di Caprio so Wolf of Wall Street is pretty low on my watchlist.

However, I saw American Hustle already and I really enjoyed it. I'd say I liked it a little less than Silver Linings Playbook, just because I'm a sucker for character stories and American Hustle is more about the con, even though it's still very character-oriented. The acting was top notch, of course, and the direction was brilliant. I wouldn't say it's an instant classic or that it's a masterpiece but it's a good movie that I really enjoyed. The cast works really well together, which is so important in a piece like this.

I would say "Hepburn is like Meryl Streep, what's not to love?" but apparently Hepburn didn't really like Streep's acting so I guess it would be a faux-pas

Saw a cute little Brit movie called About Time this weekend. It's really refreshing and lovely. I'm not a fan of most of Richard Curtis's work (except the Boat that Rocked) but I really loved that one. It's not a romcom, even though they are marketing it that way, and despite scifi-ish elements (namely time traveling), it's more of a device used to make a point about people and life in general. Highly recommended but have tissues at the ready (didn't expect to weep because I don't usually do that but damn, this one took me by surprise!)