Tonight's viewing was Tulip Fever, an excellent period piece (17th century Holland) starring Christoph Waltz, Judi Dench, Tom Hollander (I swear, he's in *everything* I watch these days) among other fine actors you may recognize. Even Zach Galifianakis in a Falstaff-like role. I thought it was a unique story, beautifully told, with a terrific score. The acting was top notch IMO. Well worth seeing, and several points above most of the reviews I've seen.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
You're right, excellent period piece. Staying on the Dutch theme, I suggest the 17th century period piece Girl With a Pearl Earring, a quietly smoldering fictionalization of how Johannes Vermeer painted his masterpiece. It stars Colin Firth as Johannes Vermeer, Scarlett Johansson (in one of her first major roles) as the the servant girl who came to be his muse, the always excellent Tom Wilkinson as Vermeer's lecherous patron, and an excellent supporting cast with Judy Parfitt, Essie Davis and Cillian Murphy. Superb score by Alexandre Desplat, and equally beautiful cinematography.Originally Posted by Progatron
"And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision."
Occasional musical musings on https://darkelffile.blogspot.com/
Good grief, I did not realize that Girl With a Pearl Earring was fifteen years old now. It did not seem like that long ago when it was released.
Thanks for the warning, this does not sound like the kind of movie I want to see.
Oh , but it is. Its a humerous ,grounded in reality , treatment of a serious subject. Pretty sure Boyle did both Slum Dog Millionare and Trainspotting. Trainspotting has the same vibe in a way. Both protagonists eventually are extracated from dismall realities. The soundtrack is great in TS. Its not all about dead babies.
Yes, that was very good too. I could see it again, actually, since it's been so long now. And I don't mind giving Scarlett another gander.Good choice!
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
I was just looking over Boyle's filmography and you're right: he also directed SDM, as well as The Beach (which I've always wondered about), 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, 127 Hours, and Trance. Incidentally, for any Rosario Dawson fans, you may want to check out Trance... if you like nothing left to the imagination. Bravest thing I've ever seen an actress do.
I also looked up Trainspotting on Wikipedia to refresh my memory of it and discovered that, in addition to Ewan McGregor, it also starred a who's who of Scottish & English actors I've since seen in a lot of movies/TV shows: Ewen Bremner (Black Hawk Down), Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary, Aeon Flux), Kevin McKidd (Rome, Grey's Anatomy), and Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, 28 Weeks Later). I had no idea who they were when I first saw it. I may have to consider watching it again.
As a big Vermeer fan, I've always been hesitant to see this movie because, like so many other "biopics", it comes across more like historical fiction than a biography.
An obvious indication of your advancing years.
If you haven't seen it, you really need to check out Under the Skin. Thank me later.And I don't mind giving Scarlett another gander.
“From thirty feet away she looked like a lot of class. From ten feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from thirty feet away.” – Philip Marlowe
"Trainspotting" did have a fantastic cast that went on to do a lot of good stuff. Did anyone see the sequel? I remember being stoked about it when it came out, but the film came and went from the theaters so quickly that I never saw it. I remember it getting rather negative reviews as well.I was just looking over Boyle's filmography and you're right: he also directed SDM, as well as The Beach (which I've always wondered about), 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, 127 Hours, and Trance. Incidentally, for any Rosario Dawson fans, you may want to check out Trance... if you like nothing left to the imagination. Bravest thing I've ever seen an actress do.
I also looked up Trainspotting on Wikipedia to refresh my memory of it and discovered that, in addition to Ewan McGregor, it also starred a who's who of Scottish & English actors I've since seen in a lot of movies/TV shows: Ewen Bremner (Black Hawk Down), Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary, Aeon Flux), Kevin McKidd (Rome, Grey's Anatomy), and Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, 28 Weeks Later). I had no idea who they were when I first saw it. I may have to consider watching it again.
mostly science fiction- Star Wars/Trek, Space movies
League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The Fifth Element
Godzilla'14
The Matrix Trilogy
White Boy Rick (2018)
Family crime drama based on a true story about a white 15 year old who becomes an FBI informant then a drug dealer in 1984 Detroit.
Not bad 7/10 . The always good Matthew McConaughey plays the stressed out dad.
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
I could not get through the sequal.
The Trainspotting sequel was pretty weak, really. It was really just a way of showing off each actor/character from the original, like a sitcom reunion where each member of the cast shows up separately to cheers from the audience. It was a weak story and a nostalgia trip at best.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Read last night that Dick Miller, the character actor who played in many of Roger Corman's films, passed away back in January. You may remember him as the sleazy resort owner in Piranha, the cop in Rock N Roll High School (who memorably tells us that That Ramones are, "ugly, ugly, ugly people"), and in Gremlins as the paranoid neighbor who thinks the Communists are gonna invade, among many other pictures.
He also appeared in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (as a newspaper vendor on the holodeck) and an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (he was a cop in the one where Jadzia, Sisko and I forget who else are somehow beamed a couple hundred years back in time, and get mixed up in events on 21st century Earth).
RIP Dick Miller
Just noticed this. I haven't seen it, but I know why you're suggesting it.If you haven't seen it, you really need to check out Under the Skin. Thank me later.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Five Easy Pieces--a re-watch, but still holds up as a great movie.
"I want you to hold it between your knees"
I think it's time I watched it again, thanks!
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"
President Harry S. Truman
My friend is originally from Ireland and is Irish to the core(he's got the drinking thing down to epic proportions) but you would never know it just by meeting him for a moment. He's been here in America since age four and only does the the Irish dialect when he needs to, comedic effect and what not.
He and I have epic arguments. He thinks he can beat up a kangaroo. He's delusional. Why I needed this little piece of backstory.
We have had this argument about the greatest cast in a movie ever. I say How The West Was Won and he says True Romance. I say he has a recency bias and at the time I had never seen TR.
Ok, so I look it up and yeah, it has a killer cast but compared to HTWWW, come on, it doesn't compare. He's so wrong. But he thinks he can beat up a kangaroo, so what should I expect.
Anyway, he finally loaned me the movie and it's ok. I know I win the argument about best cast ever even though he won't acknowledge that, as he's a dick, but I am curious what you guys thought of TR and/or the cast argument.
The Walken/Hopper scene was killer and knowing that that came from Tarantino's real life as a kid is really cool. Didn't wow me but a decent flick. It's Tarantino, lots of people are going to talk a lot and then kill each other. That's the way it works.
Carry On My Blood-Ejaculating Son - JKL2000
I love True Romance. It's interesting to see Tarantino's early writing style filmed in a more slick, conventional Hollywood way, and it has many classic scenes. Saul Rubinek and Bronson Pinchot are a riot IMO, and I thought Gary Oldman was fantastic in a scenery-chewing role. The huge cast is pretty damn impressive, but no, I'm afraid you can't compare it with the cast from How The West Was Won. That's just a jaw-dropping who's who of classic Hollywood.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
True Romance (especially the unedited version) is in my top 5. It's one of the very few perfect films out there IMHO.
"That gum you like is going to come back in style."
True Romance is great! Gary Oldman as Drexl is perfect.
Hunh. I (shamed to admit it) haven't seen either, but whoa, killer casts for both. As a neutral not having seen either I have to call it a draw - I 'd give the nod to HtWWW, except that it has John Wayne whom I hate passionately ...
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
Best scene in the movie!
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
same here... never cared for John Wayne. But I have zero respect for Tarantino. What a LCD HACK that guy is "let's make a movie with lots of shooting and blood. That will sell big!"
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
Boy, you really nailed him there. The way you are able to articulate the essence of his filmmaking is amazing! My mind has been changed.I have zero respect for Tarantino. What a LCD HACK that guy is "let's make a movie with lots of shooting and blood. That will sell big!"
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
"That gum you like is going to come back in style."
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks