The Movie Thread

[urth]

a docu about the heyday of the legendary club The Troubador in LA -- currently playing in NYC but will turn up on PBS in March:

http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/02/02/movies/02troub.html?ref=movies

Out in the shiny night, the rain
was softly falling
The tracks that ran down the boulevard had
all been washed away

Out of the silver light, the past came softly calling
And I remember the times we spent
inside the Sad Cafe

Oh, it seemed like a holy place,
protected by amazing grace
And we would sing right out loud, the
things we could not say
We thought we could change this world
with words like "love" and "freedom"
We were part of the lonely crowd
Inside the Sad Cafe

[Lightnin' Rod]

True Grit vs. True Grit:

http://vimeo.com/19373173

Unfortunately they are using a cut version of the John Wayne scene.  He also says "Fill your hands, you son of a bitch!"

[RGMike]

looking for an alternative to the Super Bowl (or the Puppy Bowl)? Mick suggests 9-1/2 hours of the Holocaust:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/04/MVVA1HH928.DTL

and it is one of the greatest docus ever -- wish I had the time to set aside, but there's always DVD.

[mshray]

True Grit vs. True Grit:

http://vimeo.com/19373173

Unfortunately they are using a cut version of the John Wayne scene.  He also says "Fill your hands, you son of a bitch!"

I reckon The Coen Bros are heading for a shutout this year, despite the 10 Noms & how much I loved it*.  My thinking is their best bet is they get Adapted Screenplay, but I'd be pleasantly shocked if they get more than one.  Although, come to think of it, Deakins is overdue** for the kind of unofficial 'career retrospective' Oscar that Bridges got last year...and that Wayne got for the orginal.

*the original was one of the first 3-5 movies I ever saw (I would've been 6 then), a drive-in double feature with 2001 as the second show.  My folks expected my younger brothers & I to fall asleep in the backseat of the Rambler wagon, but in fact I leaned forward & watched almost all of both films.  Didn't much care for Glen Campbell, but HAL gave me nightmares well after.

**this being his 9th nom in 8 award yrs, and 5th for a Coen Bros film (he got 2 in one yr in 2008, and if anything his work in the NON-Coen Bros film was better than in No Country For Old Men..right, Mike?)

[RGMike]

I reckon The Coen Bros are heading for a shutout this year, despite the 10 Noms & how much I loved it*.  My thinking is their best bet is they get Adapted Screenplay, but I'd be pleasantly shocked if they get more than one.  Although, come to think of it, Deakins is overdue** for the kind of unofficial 'career retrospective' Oscar that Bridges got last year...and that Wayne got for the orginal.

**this being his 9th nom in 8 award yrs, and 5th for a Coen Bros film (he got 2 in one yr in 2008, and if anything his work in the NON-Coen Bros film was better than in No Country For Old Men..right, Mike?)

Oh my yes.  I think he may well win this year for that reason.  'bout freakin' time. And I think Supp Actress is a possibility -- the Academy loves little girls (see: Anna Pacquin, Tatum O'Neal) and every Oscar night needs one upset.

[urth]

...And I think Supp Actress is a possibility -- the Academy loves little girls (see: Anna Pacquin, Tatum O'Neal) and every Oscar night needs one upset.

If it's all the same to you I'd rather see Anna Paquin as a big girl:



I didn't realize until I started looking at pics of her that she had such a prominent gap in her smile. She could almost be Ray Davies' illegitimate daughter.

[RGMike]

very funny spoofs of best-of-2010 films:

http://www.theshiznit.co.uk/feature/if-the-best-picture-nominee-posters-told-the-truth.php?

[RGMike]

...And I think Supp Actress is a possibility -- the Academy loves little girls (see: Anna Pacquin, Tatum O'Neal) and every Oscar night needs one upset.

If it's all the same to you I'd rather see Anna Paquin as a big girl:

Check out young Miss Steinfeld... methinks she'll be following in Pacquin's footstps in a few years:

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2011/02/virtuosos.php

[RGMike]

OMG -- the very first Siskel & Ebert show (before they went national) is avaialble (along with many other episodes) at siskelandebert.org:

http://siskelandebert.org/video/GWHWHKY3W9R7/Opening-SoonOne-Flew-Over-the-Cuckoos-Nest

And yes, that's Billy Joel's "Root Beer Rag" as their theme music!

[RGMike]

Yes, the headline is for real -- I thought it was an Onion-style parody at first. Oy gevalt!  Guess the Jews really *do* run Hollywood!

http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/Entertainment/Article.aspx?id=205195

[Wayback]

OMG -- the very first Siskel & Ebert show (before they went national) is avaialble (along with many other episodes) at siskelandebert.org:
http://siskelandebert.org/video/GWHWHKY3W9R7/Opening-SoonOne-Flew-Over-the-Cuckoos-Nest
And yes, that's Billy Joel's "Root Beer Rag" as their theme music!

Today is anniv of Gene Siskel's passing at age 53, 2/20/99.  This tribute aired a week later:
http://siskelandebert.org/video/7UGXRW836N9M/Siskel-and-Ebert-Remembering-Gene-Siskel

[RGMike]

Channel 7 is showing one of my fave unsung movies of the last dozen years, Dick, with Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams as high school cuties who stumble into Nixon's White House during Watergate. Hilarious. And Gaz, if you've never seen it, you need to put it at the top of your Netflix queue.

[RGMike]

Watching the orig Valley of the Dolls on cable -- a true campy hoot. REAL camp doesn't know it's bad; that's why it's camp.

ETA and TANC: The Autumn King on KPOO is playing Dionne Warwick's "Valley of the Dolls", which remains quite a lovely song.

[urth]

Watched the Will Farrell film Stranger Than Fiction last night. Good quirky story, great cast (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, to name a few) but during the credits Sarah and I were both dumbfounded to see Tom Hulce's name listed in the role of some doctor. We had to go back and watch his scene again to see who it was because neither of us had a clue. Turns out he played this dumpy, bearded, touchy-feely psychologist/HR guy. But he bears no resemblance whatsoever to the guy who played the title role in Amadeus (which we just saw on cable last week) or Pinto in Animal House.

Then:



Now:

[RGMike]

Watched the Will Farrell film Stranger Than Fiction last night. Good quirky story, great cast (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, to name a few) but during the credits Sarah and I were both dumbfounded to see Tom Hulce's name listed in the role of some doctor. We had to go back and watch his scene again to see who it was because neither of us had a clue. Turns out he played this dumpy, bearded, touchy-feely psychologist/HR guy. But he bears no resemblance whatsoever to the guy who played the title role in Amadeus (which we just saw on cable last week) or Pinto in Animal House.

from cutie-pie to Daddy Bear! (and yeah, he's gay)