The Hours.
HATED it! Nicole Kidman furrows her brow and pouts for one hour of screen time. This is acting? I'll bet that Virginia Woolf smiled at least once in real life.
Streep was great, though; and I've never been a big fan of hers.
I found the three stories' parallels to be forced, and without significance. The whole movie had no point. So Julianne Moore turns out to be Ed Harris' mother---so what?
It was too much East Coast artsy-fartsy, IMHO.

I wished they'd devoted the movie to Toni Collette's superbly played next-door-neighbor instead.

Yo Dutch, have to disagree with you about 'The Hours' (thought it was great) but I agree with you about Toni Collette. What else has she been in? Hate to sound like a real homo but Streep was, of course, incredible. Kidman will, cuz of the fake nose, win the Oscar whether it is merited or not.

Toni Collette was everyone's favorite ABBA-worshipper in Muriel's Wedding, and played a very credible working-class Philadelphia mom in The Sixth Sense.

Hey, Dutch! Watch the SPOILER there, eh? Not that I really care. I am so NOT interested in The Hours or Chicago - I'm sick of hearing about them. Where's all the publicity for The Pianist, the best film of 2002, IMO. Local boy Adrien Brody better be nominated for an Oscar - I've been a fan of him since Summer of Sam, and I'm glad he's been getting recognition for his talent (and he's damn hot, too)...

I thought that was the company's policy, but when I found myself in one of their stores (I had to get off the noisy street to make a cell phone call), I noticed the unrated Notorious C.H.O. DVD on the shelf (not to mention scores of those Playboy vids). Which makes me wonder why they won't stock the uncut copies of Showgirls or Requiem for a Dream. Hypocrites.

So, Joe in Philly, I assume you rent from TLA? I used to work for them, and am glad they have a store here in NY. I'd never rent from anywhere else (except maybe Netflix).

Dutch,

I didn't like the fact that Julianne Moore's character was Ed Harris' mother either.

I rather have seen 3 distinct stories tied together with a theme or some other commonality. I though the mother/son thing was a bit trite.

I'm still pushing for my girl Renee to get the Oscar!

Dutch, it seems you missed the point of the movie, which is easy to do given that it takes an entirely new approach to the storytelling. do you understand the "Mrs. Dalloway" reference? (Mind you, I haven't personally read it either, but you really don't have to in order to "get" it.) furthermore, Collette's character had little to do with the story; making it more about her would have required another movie altogether.

think about it some more; the are some really wonderful things going on there. I will concede that it's not perfect, but it is very intriguing.

additionally; how great is it to anyone else to see Meryl Streep in the movies again? I so enjoy her.

Speaking of Streep, Woody Allen's Manhattan , one of his best films and one of the great cinematic triumphs of the late 1970s-early 1980s, was on local station WTTW just this past weekend. Streep is great even in her brief role there, though her performance in Sophie's Choice is, of all her films, her best.

I recommend Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Hours . Like all of his work it's quite accessible, well-written, and compelling. It certainly is easier to get through than the novel on which it's based, Virginia Woolf's strange and beautiful Mrs. Dalloway.

I recently saw City of God ( Cidade de Deus), the new Brazilian flick on gang wars in a Rio favela. It's worth checking out, though it's extremely violent. It left me a little wrecked because while I found the men (in tight little shorts, underwear, Speedos, you name it) on screen incredibly sexy and arousing (if you've ever been to Rio, of course, you know they're even better looking in real life), the steady stream of violence repelled me. And did I say it was violent?

Has anyone seen Biker Boyz? Is it really, really bad? Is Derek Luke as hot as I imagine in his leather gear? What about old Papa Lawrence Fishburne? I almost am tempted to see it just to catch them parading around in leather and riding bikes, though I know it's going to be incredibly awful!

Oh my, Dombey and Son ! Talk about one of the nightmares many English and American lit students must endure in their graduate Victorian lit classes! This book is as big as a Navigator! It really is great if you can get through it, but it requires a Herculean effort, Adam. I'll be amazed to see what they do with it. I think some interesting novels to adapt would be:

Wyndham Lewis's Tarr;

John Edgar Wideman's Sent for You Yesterday;
Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49;
Howard Norman's The Museum Guard;
Jeffrey Eugenides' great new novel Middlesex;
Mark Richard's Fishboy;
Toni Morrison's Sula;
James Salter's A Sport and a Pastime;
Percival Everett's Erasure;
Michel Houellebecq's outrageous Atomised/The Elementary Particles and Platform . This last one would probably lead to a fatwa being issued by some Iranian cleric, though.

fantomas: "Dombey & Son" is one of my favorite Victorian novels--along with "Bleak House," "Little Dorrit," and "Hard Times" by Dickens and Eliot's "Middlemarch" and "Daniel Deronda." I do know people--some with advanced degrees in English Literature--who wind up throwing "Dombey" across a room in frustration. I just can't see it as a movie, unless McGrath takes the approach taken with "Dorrit" about a decade ago, with two full-length movies released fairly close together.

By the way, you are the only other person I have ever known who has heard of "Fishboy." Very impressed!

~Adam

I've seen some (pleasantly) surprising stuff at Blockbuster, at least in the burbs, where they have less competition for/more shot at "alternate" audiences. Usually it's in the foreign and Sundance Channel sections.

However ... some of their "unrated" videos are still "edited" ... the copy of Come Undone that I saw was missing at least one scene from the theater version, was cropped in another, and had no subtitles for the naughty little song that Cedric (Stephane Rideau) sings on the beach. If I remember right, the cropped-out part and the song lyrics changed my perception of the roles and positions in the relationship ... but I could be wrong, and I'm probably over-analyzing. (It was in French, after all.) wink

Anyway ... "unrated" doesn't necessarily mean unedited at BB and other big chains.

The irritating part of all this is that many gay-themed movies would be R or PG-13 if they involved straight relationships (or even straight pickups). The mere presence of same-sex anything makes the ratings people skittish ... but no amount of gross-out "humor" seems to faze them. :confused:

I actually don't rent movies--either I wait for them to come to HBO, or now and then if I really need to see it I'll buy the DVD.

Just rented Death to Smoochy. OH MY GOD! It is one of the best comedies I've seen all year. Edward Norton is deadpan funny, not to mention pretty yummy in a couple scenes

Robin Williams is over the top, and it's so refreshing to see him doing comedy again.

Highly recommended for anyone who likes a good black comedy.

yeah, saw death to smoochy. i laughed my ass off.

Adam, have you read Mark Richard's stories in general? His first collection, "The Ice at the Bottom of the World," contains one of the saddest and most amazing contemporary American short stories I can think of, "This Is Us, Excellent." The story "Fishboy," which became the novel, also is in that volume. In his most recent collection, the stories "The Birds for Christmas," about the children in the hospital ward, and "Fun at the Beach," which is one of the strangest vampire stories ever conceived, I'm sure, are my favorites.

But back to the thread: Death to Smoochy is hilarious. It didn't get enough notice when it first appeared, I think.

Eddie Izzard's Dress to Kill is finally out on video/DVD! Run to your store to get it. He's the funniest man on earth. This was a stand-up routine put on HBO back in 1998. He touches upon the construction of Stonehenge, the Protestant Reformation, the origin of the Heimlich maneuver and best of all Englebert Humperdink.

[ February 06, 2003, 11:45 AM: Message edited by: DCBucky ]

fantomas, Andre, theodoresdaddy: are you the three people who saw Death To Smoochy in the theater? wink That movie was a huge bomb.

Saw Death to Smoochy on DVD.

I wish I had seen it in the theatre. There were some scenes that cried out to be seen on the big screen--especially the ice show.

from fantomas:

...have you read Mark Richard's stories in general?

I have read "Ice at the Bottom of the World" (and don't know my copy went to--only problem with handing books to friends you think may enjoy them) which led me to "Fishboy." I will definitely look for his later collections. Thanks for reminding me of Richards.

~Adam

Saw THE SLAUGHTER RULE on Sunday & while it's by no means perfect (a couple characters & incidents that are pretty formulaic, some occasional heavy-handedness & overwriting) it's an excellent small film with a great look, some awesome performances (Morse, Gosling & Clea DuVall in particular), brilliant casting (check out the other members of the 6-man team -- perfect)& some staggering moments. In a just world, David Morse would walk off with every major acting award there is to hand out. And given its subject matter (6-man football in rural Montana, a coach in heavy denial about his sexuality), a natural for Outsporters. Seek it out if you can -- it's probably not gonna get a wide release. "When I say Renegade, you say pride!"

I just rented The Talented Mr. Ripley.

*My favorite line at this point (I haven't finished watching it on video): "Thank you forrr making me do bluuum (to bloom)." Seeing SC when it appeared in theatres at the time must have been absolutely mind-blowing. Streep's talent for languages and characters is second to none.

*I want to see Cidade de Deus AS SOON AS it arrives in my area. I hear it's SO GOOD - and the director did not expect much from it (25,000 viewers at most), and it's becoming a global phenomenon.

*Even when you're doing quality control, you rock, fantomas! It may be OK, though, if Fishburne is in it. Nevertheless, I remember when Kevin Costner addmitted that he took a lot of dud-moneymakers just to save money for Dances with Wolves.

Just saw TALK TO HER. Complicated, but good.

I haven't seen The Hours, but I got a good giggle out of the KC Star's review, headlined "The Hours lasts 2 hours too many." An excerpt:

"Are movie theater managers handing out a free crack pipe with the purchase of a large bag of popcorn? I can think of no other explanation for the enthusiastic responses to "The Hours," a dreary, ponderous, exhaustingly self-important movie about a bunch of women having a really bad day. I first saw the movie in mid-December and naturally assumed that most critics and audiences would see it for what it is - a group of talented actresses making a bald-faced grab for the Oscar."

I just saw Far From Heaven, and I was not impressed with the story. It was neat with respect to the setting and the ability to see all the bright pretty colors that were always turned into black and white during those times.

Denise Quaid definatly didn't do so well in the show I didn't think. Just my opinion.

Chicago is freaking amazing. I had to remind myself that I was sitting in a Movie theater, or I would have clapped at the end of some of the numbers. Very well done in my opinion. Definitely a must see if you like musicals!

went to see the Pianist this week, very touching movie, im Jewish and very much enjoyed it. Highly recommended

Chigago and the Lord of the Rings are the 2 best movies ive seen, excellent both ot them.

Recruit wiht Collin Farrell : ) is very good too, good story and good action all the way.

RUSSIAN ARK tomorrow. Can't wait!

I thought "The Hours" was one of the most cleverly told stories I'd seen in a while. I found the acting to be astounding and definitely Oscar-worthy, though I'm still trying to determine why Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep were sold to the Academy as supporting actresses.

I'm a "Moulin Rouge" fan. Though I enjoyed "Chicago", it (and Renee Zellweger) left me limp in comparison. I guess I enjoyed the technology that complimented the music of "Moulin Rouge". Ewan McGregor rocks!

Daredevil. Ben's dick looks good in his khaki pants. I was like whoa.

I've been catching up on all the films I taped off cable. I saw the The Exorcist Director's Cut the other night. Kept the lights on--of course the movie is dated a bit and it's hard not to giggle at the pea-soup vomiting because it's been parodied so many times but it's still a wonderful movie. Not sure the extra scenes added anything but nice to see the movie again. And the little bit of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells had me pull out the CD for a listen. Great album.

Also saw a good ensemble piece called The Cat's Meow, about William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, Charlie Chaplin et al on a yacht in the 20's. Great mystery about how Thomas Ince died but it's a well done movie with Joanna Lumley and one of my favorite lust objects, Cary Elwes, in it.

Murderers Amongst Us is an excellent post-war German film about a doctor who's tormented by what he saw working at a camp. It's shot in that wonderful German Expressionist style I love (think M) and despite a somewhat hokey "Hollywood Happy Ending", was a movie I really enjoyed.

But I'm A Cheerleader was an odd little indie film about the ex-gay movement. On the one hand it ridicules the idea that anyone can be "cured" of homosexuality and that a lot of the anti-gay bias is rooted in gender politics but all the characters really ARE stereotypes. It was also shot like it was a Barbie Playhouse on acid which added to the fun. The guy playing the Jewish boy was really cute.

HELP!!! I saw David Lynch's Mulholland Drive the other night. What the f**k? Seriously, I have no idea what he was getting at. Apart from the almost-by-now-parodies of LynchPeople, is he saying that it was all a dream on the part of the Hollywood wannabe? Is the Hollywood wannabe a lesbian who kills herself because the object of her desire "goes straight" (how The Children's Hour)? Is it just a bunch of unrelated scenes strung together in a really portentious way that don't really signify anything?

Honestly, I want to know. If you have any theories, please post them here.

[ February 26, 2003, 09:45 AM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

Well, I did get out to see RUSSIAN ARK last weekend & while it's definitely not for all tastes (approach with caution), it totally devastated me! Probably the most ideal concrete example of the concept of "aesthetic emotion" I've ever come across. And it WAS a truly emotional experience -- spent equal portions of the film with tears running down my cheeks and sitting in open-mouthed amazement. Astounding from a technical point of view, it's SO much more than that. Couldn't speak without choking up for a long time afterwards. And if it had that effect on me, I can't even imagine what the experience must be like for someone who's actually Russian. It sure does my ol' heart good to see something that restores my faith in ART every once in a while.

Oooohhhh, I want to see Russian Ark. I love movies that are all High Concept (see: Momento or Run Lola Run).

My first boyfriend ran the lights on a production of Chicago at the community theatre he did stuff at and I sat through it 3 times. HATED IT--thought it was a total piece of shit musical. Which when I told the boyfriend did not go over well, as you can imagine! Hahaha. It would take vast sums of money to make me go see the movie. I also saw Sophie's Choice on cable recently and except for the scenes in the camp, I thought it was boring beyond words. Kevin Kline should have been fined for overacting.

Today, I did an Oscars Contenders tripe-bill. The Hours at 11:15, The Pianist at 3:00 and Far From Heaven at 7:30. I loved 'em all to varying degrees.

I loved The Hours the most--loss, regret, suicide, the English countryside, Jeff Daniels: it's a movie almost designed with me in mind! I think the interlocking stories worked really well; to dismiss it as 3 woman having a bad day is really harsh. Virginia Woolf lived about 50 years too early for Prozac or Zoloft but she could have used it, eh? An aside: maybe Virginia Woolf on the last day of her life didn't have much to smile about as she knew she was going to commit suicide. The scene with Leonard at the Richmond train station was incredible. I thought Kidman captured perfectly the abyss that suicidal people must stare in to. Meryl Streep gave the best performance from her I've seen in ages. She can do so much just with facial expressions. Nice to see Ed Harris as usual; his final scene was fantastic. Jeff Daniels was good too but my he's gotten a bit puffy, hasn't he? Great dig at San Francisco from his character too. Philip Glass's score was terrific, as was Stephen Daldry's unobtrusive direction. Small bother: I'd read an article about Scott Rudin fighting to have Nicole Kidman wear the fake nose and I couldn't help it but I'd fixate on that in some shots. There were a couple shots that were done in bright light where it was obvious.

The Piano was fantastic. Not much more to say about it really but I thought it was beautifully made, well acted and it didn't have that "A Triumph of the Human Spirit" Hollywood-ized vibe about it. Szpielman's survival was the luck of the draw is the way I saw it. Quibble: he hadn't played a piano in how long and he could play a really difficult Chopin piece for the (gorgeous actor who played) the Nazi guy? Concert pianists have to practice hours every single day to be able to play like that. Chopin's piano music is incredible; his concerto, not so much. Best actor award for Mr. Brody?

I really liked Far From Heaven too. One of my favorite themes: yearning for something you can't have. I liked the premise and think that Todd Haynes captured this woman who's built up a rather sterile life for herself suddenly being swept away by passion. Dennis Quaid was good, excellent actually, but it kind of at one point like I was watching an old movie where the homosexual screams out "Why am I this way? WHYYYYYYYYY???". I thought Haynes handled the racial issue well as it could have very easily turned in to anvils flying, hitting you over the head with the interracial issues. Quibbles, again: they're in CT, why is Quaid's character so sunburned all the time? Jazz guitarists in 1958 wouldn't play a black Les Paul; an ES-335 or a hollow body electric like a Gretsch would be their main axe. Picky me, I know.

What a great day at the movies.

[ March 09, 2003, 12:37 AM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

"Talk To Her" is brilliant. Almodavar's best IMO. I don't normally like gay-temed movies with sad-gay-lonely characters but this one more than redeems itself with its creativity and sensitivity.

Great reviews, Jim Allen (even if you are a bit picky wink )....I finally got around to seeing The Pianist on Friday night and the intensity and emotional wallop had me riveted to the screen for the entire 2 1/2 hours (which went by in a flash, btw)....Adrian Brody's nomination for Best Actor is extremely well deserved and although I still doubt he will take home the Oscar (due largely to the politics involved with the Academy Awards and the "lifetime achievement" connotation that some view as a requirement of its recipient) I would love to see Brody take home the statue, as he richly deserves....his performance in the film from start to finish is astounding and while some might argue the story line lends itself to critical acclaim, both Brody and Roman Polanski have painstakingly made The Pianist as unsentimental as any I have seen on the subject.

While I fully understand his reasons for not being present at the ceremonies in Hollywood two weeks from tonight (and certainly do not condone his actions of two decades ago that led to his exile), in my view Polanski also deserves tremendous acclaim for the masterpiece that he helped to create.

Getting back to Adrian Brody, after seeing him now in three separate movies (with The Pianist being his first starring role where he truly carries the film), this young actor should have quite a career ahead of him, as long as he continues to choose his roles as wisely as he has done to date....and fortunately for us the moviegoing public will be the beneficiaries for getting to watch him hone his craft and admire his work for decades to come.

[ March 09, 2003, 07:34 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

Hahaha. So true. I'm dying, dying I tells ya, during movies like Velvet Goldmine where I'm all "Oh. my. GAWD. they didn't have DX7 keyboards in 1973!!! ARRRGGGGHHH".

I went to a Los Angeles Philharmonic concert today and at the break talked turned to movies in the gaggle of homosexuals I was with. I mentioned my quibble about Szpielman not being able to play Chopin after not being able to play for so long and this one guy (who's a professional organist) just burst out laughing and said something like "Oh right! He hasn't touched the piano in ages and he can suddenly play the G minor ballade! Yeah riiiggghhhttt!". There was much rolling of eyes and laughing but it was agreed that the movie was incredible.

I still can't get the final shot of The Hours out of my head. I'll probably go see again this coming weekend.

[ March 09, 2003, 09:13 PM: Message edited by: Jim Allen ]

The Hours was good, though I thought Nicole Kidman's performance of crazed Virginia Woolf, and Ed Harris's hyperactive PWA were the weakest points. One would never infer that Woolf actually was quite calm most of the time and one of Britain's most inventive novelists of the 20th century; no, she just had a strangely-colored large proboscis and drove poor Leonard batty. Meryl Streep, hwoever, was transcendant--just superb. She soars in this role, and should have gotten the Academy nomination. I think the movie will win the Oscars.

Mulholland Drive, if viewed in the reductive manner that you're describing it, Jim, really doesn't seem like much, but I thought it was Lynch's best film by far and one of the most innovative to come out of Hollywood in years. The final bits take the strange and typical Lynchian turns to unexplainability, but Naomi Watts and Laura Elene Herring's acting are electrifying, and as an allegory for the failed dreams--that become nightmares, almost perverse, really--of far too many Hollywoodians and the unreality of Hollywood itself, its many unreal layers, I think it has few peers.

I just rewatched Tsai Ming-Liang's The River on DVD: a beautiful, truly sad and shocking movie. I had forgotten--HOW???--the climactic scene! The main actor, Kang, is so handsome, and he manages to convey the extracorporeal suffering, the spiritual torment, that this character is experiencing. But then everyone in the movie is tormented. Quite a movie.

[ March 10, 2003, 09:06 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Saw City of God (Cidade de Deus).

Violent (filmed in what is reported to be the most violent neighborhood in the world), but good.

A "true" Brazilian eye-opener.

- - - - -

Also saw: Tears of the Sun. The music was SPECTACULAR: I'm planning to get the soundtrack.

[ March 10, 2003, 07:25 AM: Message edited by: bluebird48234 ]

I saw The Quiet American for the second time yesterday; what an intelligent and timely entertainment, tho Miramax dumped it to promote crap like Chicago and Gangs instead...

Geez, Fantomas, watch the spoiler on that Tsai-Ming Liang film!!! I've seen it... The sort-of-sequel, "What Time Is It There?," is certainly one of the very best films released in the US last year (it is on DVD/VHS).

Russian Ark didn't bore me, but unless you majored in Russian history you might be at least as lost as I was.

Tsk tsk, Jim, asking authenticity questions about a film of maximum deliberate artifice!!

Point One: because if Robert Stack had been able to play that part in a Douglas Sirk film, he would've been tanned too! (One can ask the same question about Nicholson in About Schmidt btw.)

Second: Cuz it's a movie. There wouldn't be a juke joint open in the middle of the day in 1957 CT either... but there would've been in Eisenhower Hollywood Fantasyland!

None of those are on a par with having Joe Jackson bat righty in Field of Dreams... the horror...

Okay I finally saw Chicago, and was BLOWN AWAY. I grew up loving my parents Broadway cast albums (and they never knew I was gay )although I am still stunned that Bert Convy was in the cast of Cabaret, but I had forgotten the pure joy that a musical can provide.

The cast was amazing, the costumes perfect, the acting just over the top enough to let you know you were not in a realistic picture, and even Richard Gere managed to be great, although he is not a great singer or dancer (they clearly created set pieces that worked to his ability). I think the most impressive thing was the way they avoided the cliche of the movie musical - no one in the "real" portions of the movie broke out into song - it was always either a fantasy/dream or an expression of the character's innermost thoughts. This allowed the songs to both entertain and to provide a push to the plot at the same time - fantastic!

The most amazing thing, though, was John C. Reilly as Roxie's dolt of a husband. His rendition of Cellophane was moving, and he has got a pretty good set of pipes on him! I now agree he is the most under-rated actor in the movies of 2003 - three wonderful performances in three movies (including both the Hours and that Jennifer Aniston flick), and you barely hear about him.

I just saw Red Dirt and though it seemed a bit overly dramatic (sort of like southern style sweeteened tea) I liked it a lot.

The acting was decent, Karen Black was wonderful, and the ending actally brought a tear to my eye.

I didn't read the review (under buzz from the Detroit Free Press on the website above) until after I saw the film, but agree wholeheartedly that Tag Purvis accomplished his goal of making a good movie about a young man's experience excepting himself as gay without gay sex or preachiness.

Best of all the two male leads seemed like REAL people. No small accomplishment IMO.

It was beautifully filmed. Mississippi never looked better. I also loved Nathan Bare's score though I wish I knew who the vocalist was. Anybody?

[ March 31, 2003, 05:12 PM: Message edited by: sportinlife ]

Figured I might add my 2 cents on the movies: I absolutely abhor musicals, think they are pretentious. Growing up in the MTV generation when directors learned how to tell stories with music videos, I find most, if not all, the old musicals poor excuses for movies.

Moulin Rouge mostly bored me. The pacing was horrible, most of the music was forgettable. In fact, I remember thinking that if Puffy Daddy decided to do a musical, it would be Moulin Rouge. None of the numbers were original ... they were "sampled".

But Chicago was electric. It is the best music video I have ever seen. And a favorite movie in the last few years. The story was spot on ... I'm sure Mr. Fosse would have been proud. Surprise performances abound: who'd a thought Mr. Gere could act "intelligent" ... dance & sing. Casting was great: Queen Latifah was born to play Mama. Can't think of anyone else in the music biz or Hollywood that should have that part.

And to think I hate musicals. Bravo.

I just recently saw Speedway Junky with Jesse Bradford. This movie sucked. I just really could not believe the relationship between Johnny(Jesse Bradford) and Eric(Jordan Brower). I hope that one day Hollywood will come out with a decent movie along this line.

I just rented A Shot at Glory, with Robert Duvall as coach of a lackluster small-town Scottish soccer team (accent and all) and Michael Keaton as the American owner. The team gets a shot at the championship with the help of a bad-boy outcast from one of the top teams, who happens to be the coach's estranged son-in-law (played by a Russell Crowe lookalike). The characters are well developed and not caricatures (even the owner), the story is sweet but not sappy, and the music is by Mark Knopfler (who seems to have a thing for Scottish movies, having done the music for Local Hero). It's closer to Bull Durham than Hoosiers, with twists you won't find in either, but it's all right.

Saw Laurel Canyon

Pretty good movie. Have to say I did enjoy it. Frances McDermott was wonderful as usual and you got to see lots of Christian Bale, no nude though. Yummy

Also, the guy playing the lead singer of the group was pretty yummy as well.

Watched 8 Women on Saturday. Had no f**king idea what was going on. My partner said he couldn't really follow it since he couldn't read the subtitles all the time. I told him he didn't miss anything.

Watched The Banger Sisters Saturday as well. I didn't feel well this weekend so it was stay at home and veg. Good movie. Much better than I was led to believe.

I saw Spun on Friday night. It was the best looking bad film I've seen since The Others. There were some very good things about it, certainly (Eric Roberts is a hoot in his cameo role), but it just tried too hard for too little result. And there were some blatant swipes from Darren Aronofsky's superb Requiem for a Dream that kinda cheesed me off.

I saw Lauren Canyon on Sunday and enjoyed it. Christian Bale is really cute however, I prefer Alessandro Nivalo - he played Ian McNight - the lead singer of the band Francis Mc was working with. I was surprised to learn that he's actually American...

There were plenty shots of his hairy chest and one of his nude butt - love to love ya baby.

Sort of a generational movie w/some pot smoking and - check it out.

I recently saw A Man Apart. I enjoyed Vin Diesel, and at one point wanted to comfort him. The movie was slightly predictable, but overall it wasn't have bad.

My cousin saw this and said it was awful. She thought Diesel was particularly bad. The thought of Diesel and little Larenz Tate in leather holding each other really stokes my imagination. I almost went to see that other Vin Diesel pic, the one with Larry Fishburne and Kid Rock. But I'll wait till they're out on DVD, and maybe see both then.

Thank you, Patterson, for your posting and favorable comments about Russian Ark, a film I love.

I became of big fan of the director, Alexandr Sokurov, when I saw Mother and Son at the SF international film festival, in '98 or '99. Mother and Son received limited distribution, but ran for a week at the Castro. Kind of amazing, when you think of how slow the film is, and the topic, a son helping his mother die in the Russian countryside. I saw it three times in theaters and have watched the video once. If you can get into the bleakness, and the unexpected beauty, check out this film.

In the summer of 2000, the Pacific Film Archives in Berkeley had a retrospective of his work, both his documentaries and narrative features. Thanks to the PFA, I saw Sokurov's Days of the Eclipse and Mournful Indifference. The former is considered a modern Soviet classic, and I would easily see it again.

I've also seen his film about a weekend with Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun at his mountaintop compound near the end of WWII, called Moloch. Liked it for the showing the banality of these evil characters.

And in the past month, I have seen Russian Ark twice. What a stunning piece of cinema, that is far, far more than a technical trick. Sure, the fact that the ninety minute film is one shot, no edits at all, is impressive, but it is about so much more. Art, history, perception, and the importance of a good ballroom dance, are just some of the themes in this masterpiece. Which, by the way, I would watch again in a theater.

Yes, Sokurov and his films are special, maybe an acquired taste, but Russian Ark was also a ton of fun. See it, if it's still in local theaters.

For more information on the film, with stills from the production, check out Russian Ark.

[ April 11, 2003, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: MPetrelis ]

I just rented this movie called "Endgame" - a British thriller about a high-class rent boy. Thrillers are not normally my cup of tea. Most seem to be vehicles for gratuitous violence. To some extent this was the same. But at least the plot was more interesting since the rent boy is kept by a man is attractive in an exotic sort of way though not my type at all (too girlish dare I say, and waist that looked like it had been corseted).

However I thought some of the setting the visuals of the countryside in Wales was breathtaking and there was a bit of an unexpected twist at the end.

One part of the plot (or acting perhaps) was a bit weak. I could not for the life of me believe that a straight US businessman would choose to strike up an innocent freindship with a rentboy without knowing it. But maybe I give them too much credit.

And I was surprised that only the modern music (which I liked) was credited at the end whereas the classical music (mostly Mozart I think) was not. Is that normal or just a British thing?

Finally saw The Quiet American ... another strong performance from Michael Caine (as the jaded Brit), and a suprisingly good one from Brendan Fraser, who usually plays ingenues (With Honors, School Ties) or befuddled outsiders (George of the Jungle and that fallout-shelter flick). This time his character actually has to develop and/or unmask himself during the course of the movie, which sets up the ending. So Fraser actually has to act. Not bad.

Sheesh, I should have read this thread before renting "Rules of Attraction". The only completetly good thing about it was hearing Harry Nilsson's classic pop song \"Without You\" on large stereophonic speakers (which I hooked up to our televison..about the limit of my techno skills. ). Very difficult but heartrendingly beautiful song, and used entirely out of context IMO. It accompanied a suicide scene. To me it expresses a desire for love AND purposeful life. I think merely making such expressive music begins healing rather than inviting suicide. But maybe I'm just a hopeless optimist. If anyone on American Idol could handle that song it would be really cool to hear. You have to have been in love I suppose. Young people who haven't probably just wouldn't get it or take it the wrong way.

I've been trying to find "Sordid Lives" since I heard it mentioned by Leslie "whats-his-name" at the Philly gay film a couple of years ago. Maybe it's a good excuse to go to Palm Springs the next time there's two foot of snow here in Philly.