BS: Seen any good movies lately?

Subject: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Feb 08 - 07:45 PM

We just watched a wonderful movie, from netflix, called "Kolya." It is Czechoslovakian and takes place during the "Velvet Revolution." Here's what IMDB has on it:

Franta Louka is a concert cellist in Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia, a confirmed bachelor and a lady's man. Having lost his place in the state orchestra, he must make ends meet by playing at funerals and painting tombstones. But he has run up a large debt, and when his friend, the grave-digger Mr. Broz, suggests a scheme for making a lot of money by marrying a Russian woman so that she can get her Czech papers, he reluctantly agrees. She takes advantage of the situation to emigrate to West Germany, to her lover; and leaves her five-year-old son with his grandmother; when the grandmother dies, Kolya must come and live with his stepfather - Louka.

I see it got an Academy Award. It was really well directed, the music was gorgeous, and the whole thing had a touching loveliness without getting at all sappy. I highly recommend it.

My girlfriend just watched Across the Universe and really liked it. She said it used a lot of Beatles' music, which I know I would like.

What have you seen lately?

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 17 Feb 08 - 08:05 PM

YES!   That answers the question.

Seriously---Kolya was brilliant and came out over 5 years ago now---or thereabouts.

Want some really great ones --current and otherwise:

The Savages                  Current
Gloomy Sunday                On VHS and DVD
The Lives of Others          Current and on DVD
Away From Her                DVD--fairly current


http://billhahnprogramnotes.blogspot.com

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 17 Feb 08 - 08:06 PM

OOps---clicked the wrong button---it was supposed to be just my nam,e---never did figure out how those links can obscure your address and just have the name as a link---I shall look for a 7 year old to teach me---they know

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Feb 08 - 08:28 PM

You mean like this?

Bill Hahn

I did it like this:

<a href=http://billhahnprogramnotes.blogspot.com>Bill Hahn</a>

Now, don't ask how I did that, 'cause I don't know how to show you!

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 12:09 AM

Once- fairly new but available on DVD.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley- on DVD (The soundtrack cd is pretty good too)
La Vie en Rose (Cotillard is superb)
Showboat- the old one with Paul Robson singing Old Man River. VHS
An American in Paris (Paul Kelly was a great dancer) DVD
Goya in Bordeaux- DVD
Moulin Rouge- DVD
Several operas and a zarzuela- on DVD
Now looking for "Midnight Cowboy." Haven't checked for price yet.

Haven't been to a film theater for years, although one of my sons owns one. Much rather buy the DVD or VHS and loan out to family.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Mr Red
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 01:15 PM

Beyond the Sea
Darrow
and
The Queen.

Kevin Spacey does it for me but Helen Mirren does it better!

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: michaelr
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 01:34 PM

Atonement. I highly recommend this beautiful film.

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:16 PM

JIM: Thanks for the above advice let me see if this works

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Mark Ross
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:19 PM

THERE WILL BE BLOOD with Daniel Day-Lewis is a thought provoking and an excellent film.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:19 PM

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:24 PM

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Tweed
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:50 PM

I saw one a month or so ago called Schultz Gets the Blues.
He's a laid off or retired miner/German oompah accordionist who accidentally tunes into a radio show broadcasting zydeco music, goes nuts over the sound and ends up going to Louisiana to experience the real thing. A nice quirky sorta film.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 03:07 PM

Speaking of Czechoslovakia (or more properly these days, the Czech Republic), I recently rented, and thoroughly enjoyed, the low-budget Irish musical "Once," which was a hit at Sundance 2007.

The story concerns a (male) Dublin busker who meets a young (female) Czech immigrant who turns out to be a fellow musician. Their flirtation does not lead to romance, but to a strong musical relationship. She likes the songs he writes, accompanies him on piano and vocal harmonies, and they quickly recruit three additional band members to record a demo before heading off on the their separate ways ~ all in less than a week's time.

The main characters do not have names; they're listed in the credits as "The Guy," "The Girl," "Guy's Father," Girl's Mother," etc.

If you like the music, you'll like the film ~ and I liked it all. It's not folk music ~ indeed, when they appoach the prospective bandmates, they are asked, "What is it? Singer/songwriter crap?" The Guy replies, "Yeah, it's singer/songwriter stuff," and the Girl quickly interjects "But it's very good!"

I don't always play the commentaries and all the extra features that come with DVDs, but I did so for this one. The writer/director used to be a musician himself, and in fact was a member of a band headed by Glenn Hansard, who plays the leda (The Guy) in this film.

He made a great deal in his commentary about the low-budget aspect of the film, including how nicely his players fulfilled their roles in spite of "not being actors," but musicians pretty much playing themselves.

I thought this was pretty disingenuous, since (like many viewers) I instantly recognized Hansard from his earlier major movie role as "Outspan," lead guitar player in The Commitments. He's just a little older now, with a tighter haircut. Now, I'll concede that when that earlier film was made, none of the players had prior acting experience, and also that Glen Hansard has probably not acted since then ~ but he was not exactly a novice at this filmmaking business when they started work on "Once."

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 07:45 PM

I don't really think seeing a video or DVD on the box really counts as actually seeing the film. Just not the real thing. Which means that there's an awful lot of good films I tend to think I've seem, which I turn out not to have, when I think a bit harder and consult my memory.
.............

A film I did see recently (in a cinema) which I really enjoyed was Juno. Not great art, but a good film for all that.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 08:37 PM

I used to go to movies a lot, but the last movie I saw in a theater was "Jurassic Park." A few years back. Watched a lot of videotapes since then.

Both Barbara and I got new laptops a couple of years ago, complete with DVD/CD player-burners and 15.4" "brightview" screens, and a friend enrolled us in NetFlix, and he keeps re-upping the subscription as a Christmas present. We've seen some really great movies lately. We sit on the bed with one of the laptops in front of us, the screen less than three feet away. Not Cinemax, perhaps, but crystal clear and the laptops have surprisingly good sound systems (Harmon-Kardon). We can put the movie on "hold" for a bathroom break or snack break, and if we miss a line, we can back it up and play it again. No hunting for a place to park. No waiting in line. And no kid behind you kicking that back of your seat.

But here's the big thing. Most of the DVDs have "Special Features," which include such things as deleted scenes, interviews with the actors and directors, all kinds of information about the movie.

Barbara's a Jane Austin/Charlotte Brontë junkie, and I bought her a couple of different versions of "Jane Eyre," and I'm looking at the various filmings ("diskings?") of "Pride and Prejudice."

I also recently bought the "Platinum Series Extended Edition" DVD set of "The Lord of the Rings." All three movies, 12 discs altogether, with an extra 2 hours and 10 minutes of scenes they didn't show in the theatrical or taped releases. Along with this, a whole bunch of interviews and such, including how some of the special effects were done.

I've seen the taped versions, but I haven't watched the DVDs yet. The box is sitting across the room still in its shrink-wrap. In a couple of days I'm going to take the phone of the hook, lock the door, board up the windows, and spend a few days on an Epic Quest through Middle Earth.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 09:05 PM

Very strange French movie called Angel-A. Fun, but strange.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 11:58 PM

A plug for my favorite director, Jim Jarmusch ..one of his earlier flicks "Down By Law."

...and a short film "The Accountant." (fairly recent)

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: GUEST,John O'L
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 12:00 AM

My daughter and I really enjoyed Stardust.
My son wasn't impressed, but he saw it on DVD, we saw it at the theatre.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Goose Gander
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 12:13 AM

Persopolis.

Based on the graphic novel.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Hollowfox
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 08:48 PM

La Vie en Rose.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Peace
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 08:51 PM

"Charlie Wilson's War".

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 11:57 PM

Don,

Best Jane Eyre is the one with Timothy Dalton. The best Pride and Prejudice is the one they've been playing on PBS, with Colin Firth. Hands down.

I just had a quirky little four-part John Mortimer drama from NetFlix called Summer's Lease (1989). Susan Fleetwood, and an over-the-top John Gielgud. I remembered bits of it from when it originally played on PBS. Interesting story, ironic (it is Mortimer, after all) and sad. That Fleetwood would die a few years later, age 51, of ovarian cancer. Beautiful woman, good actress.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Diva
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 03:12 AM

We went to see Beuoweulf.....loved it

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: RangerSteve
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 07:48 AM

The King of California was a nice pleasant movie. The Hunting Party was a good action/adventure movie that didn't rely on high speed chases or impossible heroics.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 10:38 AM

Another Jarmusch - Dead Man
Also Zorba the Greek - great but not what I had been led to expect

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Becca72
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 10:51 AM

I really liked Sweeney Todd with Johnny Depp

I also liked The Perfect Stranger (which should be on DVD by now).
Beowulf and The Mist were both really good, too. I go to the movies frequently, as since starting my job last July I now have Mondays off and the 1st show on a Monday morning is the perfect time for a movie. Most of the time I have the theatre to myself.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 10:59 AM

I would go to a movie theatre everyday if I could. But, our area is ltd. on what makes it here AND it is horribly expensive.

I love netflix for all of the reasons Don mentioned, plus for the huge numbers of movies to choose from. We love foreign films. Thanks to netflix we've been able to watch so many of them plus Brit shows which may not have run over here, yet. we would really miss it if we didn't subscribe for whatever reason.

Thanks to all of you, I have a few more to look up and add to my queue at netflix!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Grab
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 12:48 PM

Strange - I'm sure I posted on this yesterday.

"Little Miss Sunshine" is now on DVD.

Also just saw "First Blood" for the first time on late-night TV the other night. And wondered how a fairly good film about PTSD and small-town prejudice with a Rambo-inflicted bodycount of zero managed to turn into that Hollywood trash kill-em-all franchise. Ho hum.

I also caught that pilot of "Being Human" on BBC3 the same night - a vampire, a werewolf and a house sharing a house. If you didn't see this, find it now and then petition the BBC to make the series. The trailers presented it as a comedy - actually it's about as much a comedy as early "X Files", so there's some funny interplay between the characters on top of a very creepy scenario. Unlike "Blade" and the like, there's no CGI and no special effects - just great writing and acting. And for those who saw it, you'll probably agree that the few lines between the ghost and vampire characters about the nature of the afterlife or the werewolf talking about the taste of carotid arteries are worth any dozen Hollywood creature-features.

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: GUEST,Bert
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 12:59 PM

Ratatouille

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Amergin
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 12:59 PM

How does a house share a house with a werewolf and a vampire?

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Don Firth
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 03:32 PM

Yeah, Maggie, we have the Jane Eyre with Zelah Clarke and Timothy Dalton. I taped it off the air when "Masterpiece Theatre" ran it, but just recently bought the DVD version. I agree that the best version of Pride and Prejudice is the one with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, but some years back, "Masterpiece Theatre" showed a "P&P," running several weeks, with Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul, that was really excellent. The Colin Firth version is on the buy list, and I would also like to get the David Rintoul version (BBC production, 1985), but it looks like I'll have to settle for VHS because it doesn't seem to be available on DVD

Barbara and I just finished watching the entire Monarch of the Glen (BBC Scotland) series from NetFlix. Seven seasons, several episodes per season. We watched it over several months. It was basically a soap, but with a good premise, interesting and attractive characters. Wonderful cast of British and Scottish actors , (for openers, Richard Briars as the flakey Hector; and Susan Hampshire as Molly has a smile that could melt glaciers). But the real star of the show was the the setting.

Almost made me want to go out and poach a deer.

Hmm. How big a pan would you need if you were going to poach a deer?

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 03:58 PM

Do documentaries count? "GENGHIS BLUES" follows blind bluesman Paul Pena as he learns the esoteric art of Tuvan throat singing and then travels to the central Asian republic to compete against the masters of the genre. I'm a sucker for anything Mongolian (Tuva borders on Mongolia and shares much common history) and some of the throat singing is breathtaking.
   I think its kind of a shame that the Academy Awards has a foreign film category because this often precludes foreign language films from being nominated for the big awards. The two best movies I saw all of last year, "PAN'S LABYRINTH" and "OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES" were nominated as foreign films, "OTHER PEOPLES LIVES" won, but both were better than any of the American films in the best picture category.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 04:33 PM

I recently rented "Genghis Blues" from Netflix and enjoyed it. Mention of that film reminds me of another excellent recent documentary out of San Francisco, "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill."

I have not yet returned "Once" to Netflix; played/viewed it again last night and will probably do so at least once more before shipping it back. I'm more likely to re-watch concret DVDs than movies, and this partiular movie musical is really much more like a concert than a narrative.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Grab
Date: 21 Feb 08 - 08:12 AM

Doh! Should have been "a vampire, a werewolf and a *ghost* sharing a house". Thanks Amergin. :-)

Graham.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Don Firth
Date: 21 Feb 08 - 02:48 PM

A vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost walk into a bar.

The bartender says, "                               "

Anybody?

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 21 Feb 08 - 05:13 PM

I've seen a lot of good movies...but not any recent ones. Thank God for TCM and video in its various formats.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 22 Feb 08 - 01:30 PM

Juno with Ellen Page, best fil I have seen in ages. Away From Her, Gordon Pinset is FABULOUs. I must say that I saw Shultz Gets The Blues...it is, without a dobt, the worst fil I have ver seen.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: GUEST,heric
Date: 22 Feb 08 - 02:31 PM

Kat a very nice little film I think you would like but which gets low ratings on netflix is Ten Canoes. See the special features afterwards to see what went into it.   (They almost crafted the film out of thin air after going into production.) Ignore the descriptive blurb they have it all wrong.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Slag
Date: 22 Feb 08 - 04:28 PM

No.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Jeanie
Date: 22 Feb 08 - 05:30 PM

I saw the new "St.Trinian's" film at Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The one I'm really looking forward to is coming out next week:

The Bank Job

Script by Clement & La Frenais and with David Suchet in the cast - it looks to be really good. Based on the true story of the "Walkie Talkie robbery" in London in 1971: Britain's biggest bank robbery, that was reported in the news for 4 days and then nothing more was heard of it because a 'D' notice was served on the press forbidding further publication at the time. The reason: "scandalous" photos of a member of the royal family held in the bank vaults - blackmail - Secret Service engineered the robbery so as to retrieve the photos - robbers were allowed to keep the money and were given new identities. Very interesting indeeeeeeed.

- jeanie

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Stu
Date: 23 Feb 08 - 07:21 AM

No Country For Old Men

Must be the Coen brothers best film apart from The Big Lebowski. Excellent acting, minimal soundtrack and superb cinematography - I can't recommend this film enough. We went to see it at the pictures and it made me realise what a fantastic medium film is - don't wait for the DVD, get to the flicks and see it on the big screen.

Also, watched King of Comedy for the first time the other day - De Niro is the man!

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: deadfrett
Date: 23 Feb 08 - 09:05 AM

The French animated feature.. Triplets of Belleville.. great flick but hard to find.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Don Firth
Date: 23 Feb 08 - 01:25 PM

Right, HiLo! Away From Her with Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent is excellent.

I first encountered Gordon Pinsent on "The Red Green Show" where he plays Possum Lake water taxi captain Hap Shaughnessy, who is also the local tall-tale teller (Gold Medal for wrestled elephants in the Olympics Games, killed a charging rhino with a spoon, attained 70,000 feet when shot out of a cannon, etc.). Then, we saw him in a serious role and he turns out to be a superb actor. Barbara started requesting his movies on NetFlix, and that's how we saw Away From Her. We've also seen him in The Shipping News and Saint Ralph. No car chases and shoot-outs, just good stories, good acting,

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 24 Feb 08 - 10:23 AM

Gordon Pinsent has been a well known actor in Canada for over forty years. I was disappointed that he was not nominated for Away From Her as he was by far the best actor in the film. I did like Julie Christie but the actress who played Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose was amazing and she should win the Oscar. I wonder why Sarah Polley, director of Away from her was not nominated as best director ?

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Feb 08 - 06:38 PM

Back in about 1960 I read "The Leopard" by Giuseppi di Lampedusa, a true classic.
I didn't see the movie of "The Leopard" with Burt Lancaster (1963), but recently I obtained the film(s) on DVD; newly redone transfers- a copy of the Visconti original with English subtitles, and a second disc with the American release, both complete. A third disc presents a documentary on the making of the film, and a summary of the profound sociological changes that took place during the period portrayed in the film.
The little Italian island of Lampedusa was a microcosm of the changes that took place in Europe in the late 19th c., with the eclipse of the patrician upper class and the development of the middle class, as seen by a man living through those times.

A fine historical film, and Burt Lancaster was a great and intelligent actor. A rich film, this is one I will periodically replay.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Bert
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 12:32 AM

Everyone's Hero.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: bankley
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 07:50 AM

Hey Poppa G. you'll be pleased to know, as I am, that that low-budget ($100K) Irish film "Once" rec'd the Oscar for 'best song'
'Falling Slowly' by Glen Hanzard and Marketa Iglova.... close enough to folk for me..... piano, guitar and 2 voices...

I like Glen's old 'coustic Takamine, with more gouge holes than Willie's......

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 10:09 AM

Hey bankley, I was watching the Oscars and so, of course, already know about Glen and Marketa's win.

Did you catch Jon Stewart's commentary, quoting their backstage banter (after calling Mar back to give her a turn at the the mic for her thank-yous, etc.)?

According to Jon, they were holding their respective statuettes ~ and discussing them ~ when this dialog occurred (I'm paraphrasing, but this is as close to direct quote as my menory allows):

She: "Let's make 'em kiss"

He: "But they're both guys!"

She: "Hey, it's Hollywood..."

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 11:45 AM

The DVD of "Once" has some excellent 'extras," including commentaries by Glen Hansard and others, and "Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer." We watched it while the Oscars was on; award programs are always bad.
Marion Cotillard, I was glad to see, got best actress for "La Vie en Rose." This is another I will watch again on DVD; She captured the essence of Edith Piaf quite well.

Both of these were on the first list I posted, there are many other good ones out there.
An old timer favorite I watched again recently was "Zulu." Sometime again soon I will put "Tampopo" on my VHS; perhaps the best parody film of all time.

Subject: RE: BS: Seen any good movies lately?
From: bankley
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 11:51 AM

yeah, one of the best lines of the night.... they must have had a lot of fun after the gala as well.....good for them...

I watched the film about 2 months ago and enjoyed it, esp. the studio and music store scenes...