the FILM lounge

Quote from DanFan78:

American Graffiti . . . one of my favorites. There really is so much in common there with Last Picture Show . . . a longing for the past, days gone by, knowing that life would never be the same. The worst part of it was that those days were only ten years before that film came out. I wonder whatever happened to the guy who made Graffiti . . . he certainly never made a film like that one again.
More...
Ah, yes, Cybill Shepard at the peak of her youthful beauty in The Last Picture Show. Good decision to shoot the film in black and white, don't you agree? That was Orson Welles' suggestion.

As for the guy who made American Graffiti,
that would be George Lucas, who went on to direct the Star Wars franchise.
 
Quote from omegapoint:

Just my opinion, Robert Downey Jr. should have won for Chaplin instead they gave it to Pacino for Scent of a Woman.
More...

I want to get that movie… but waiting for the right DVD to come along. I heard Robert Downing was excellent in it. Really want to get that DVD. Of course I cant say enough about Chaplin himself. I have 3 of his best silent films “The Gold Rush” 1925, “City Lights” 1931, and “Modern Times” 1934 (I think). I ranted on that “other” movie thread what I thought about "City Lights"…. So wont rehash it here again, except to say it is hands down my favorite romance comedy. Many consider “Gold Rush” his best film, but most think it is “City Lights”

Some of the other Comedy films I own are:

The Apartment 1960 (Oscar -Best Picture)
Young Frankenstein
Christmas Story
Meet the Parents
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Annie Hall 1977 (Oscar - Best Picture)
Fargo
American Graffiti
Juno
O Brother Where Art Thou
Pleasantville
King Pin
LIFE
Pink Flamingos
Some Like It Hot 1959
Seven Year Itch 1955


The last two feature of course the greatest Hollywood sex symbol of all time, Marilyn Monroe. “Some Like It Hot” seems to be gaining quite a following in the last 10 years. It also became highly ranked in American Film Institute, (#1 for Comedy), IMDB (#86 of all films of all time), and a host of others. There is a high quality DVD out, crystal clear picture chock full of extras! It’s about two guys in Chicago during prohibition (Toni Curtis and Jack Lemon) who after witnessing the Valentines Day Massacre, dress up as women and join an all girls band and take a train to Florida in order to escape the mafia. Monroe of course is the lead girl in the band...."Sugar". When they get to Florida, things get all wild with twists and turns. Funny stuff, classical scenes through out. Heres a clip of them in the train:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9169756136796038435&ei=2SymSP7EC4q64gKp9NCxDg&vt=lf&hl=en

The Florida scenes were mainly done in California, because Marilyn was so fucked up they didn’t want her to travel. She couldn’t even remember her lines…. Took forever to do a shoot. She died 3 years later.

The other Film, “Seven Year Itch” done 4 years earlier is also very funny, its actually about paranoia. A man in the city, alone in the house, with a hot blonde living in the apartment upstairs, after his wife and kid go off to the country for the summer. I wont go into it cause I don’t wanna be talking to much… might bore people. But anyway, when I was 19 in the US Army, I loved Monroe…. Had poster of her in my wall.. LOL
She makes more money now than she did when she was alive.

This thread is coming along nicely……..
 
Quote from trendo:

Ah, yes, Cybill Shepard at the peak of her youthful beauty in The Last Picture Show. Good decision to shoot the film in black and white, don't you agree? That was Orson Welles' suggestion.
More...

Love this highly acclaimed film!
But believe it or not, the woman I really fall for in the film is Cloris Leachman.

I guess i can relate to the relationship in the film between her and Buttons, since I too was involves with older women.

Her acting at the end......when the kid finally shows returns to her house was absolutely grade A! I think she received an award for it.... not sure.
 
The Birdcage with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. Loved it. The insert in the DVD said that Robin Williams was offered the part of Albert, (the flamboyant crossdresser), but he turned it down to play the part of Armand because he wanted the more "straight" character thinking that the audience would expect him to be the flamboyant one.

I especially liked the little bit of deception at the begining of the film where Albert accuses Armand of cheating on him while he's on stage performing. Armand of course denies it, and then as Albert starts his show, Armand sneaks away to meet a man by the pool. They kiss their hellos and you are conviced that Armand is cheating until you realize they are father and son.

I've also seen the original French film dubbed in English, and I have to say the American film is much better.

The closing scene where Gene Hackman has to disguise himself in drag to avoid the press was not very good. neither the acting nor the directing was impressive, I wonder why it was released like that. It makes me wonder if they just gave up and called it a wrap.
 
Robin Williams is a national treasure. In my opinion the funniest person who ever lived. He's had me in tears more times than I can remember. That interview he did with Actors Studio and the fat girl in the audience who just cracked up at everything he said was just beautiful on some level. When he's gone theres noone who can take his place.

I'd like to gather as many of the funniest things anyones ever heard him say, as chandiliers at the Met were Imelda Marcos' earrings.




Quote from hughb:

The Birdcage with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. Loved it. The insert in the DVD said that Robin Williams was offered the part of Albert, (the flamboyant crossdresser), but he turned it down to play the part of Armand because he wanted the more "straight" character thinking that the audience would expect him to be the flamboyant one.

I especially liked the little bit of deception at the begining of the film where Albert accuses Armand of cheating on him while he's on stage performing. Armand of course denies it, and then as Albert starts his show, Armand sneaks away to meet a man by the pool. They kiss their hellos and you are conviced that Armand is cheating until you realize they are father and son.

I've also seen the original French film dubbed in English, and I have to say the American film is much better.

The closing scene where Gene Hackman has to disguise himself in drag to avoid the press was not very good. neither the acting nor the directing was impressive, I wonder why it was released like that. It makes me wonder if they just gave up and called it a wrap.
More...
 
ACTOR SPOTLIGHT...................

Once in a while we can showcase / give praise to a particular actor and give our reasons why.

First actor I want to showcase is in my opinion the lady with the longest Hollywood career. I think she deserves praise for her dedication to the art. I am speaking of Lillian Gish.

Lillian started on stage in around 1904 up until she did her first film in 1912 but wasn’t the star until her 5th film that same year “An Unseen Enemy” 1912. She was 19 years old. (In those days, silent films were very irregular, some being only say 15 minutes long or so, while others could be many many hours). Ms Gish went on to do another 88 films! Her last film was “Whales of August” 1987. As you can see…. that is indeed a very long career. Anyone know of another actor with a longer career than that please post it here! Gillian’s good friend, Mary Pickford aka America’s Sweetheart, did about 185 films, but only from 1908 to 1933. (Pickford, Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks joined together to form United Artists in 1920)

Some of Lillian’s films were real epics, especially the ones directed by Cecil B DeMille, like “Birth of a Nation” 1915 (regarded as the most controversial film made to this day), and “Intolerance” 1916. She was so detected to her work, that one day while filming a shoot on an icy river, she received permanent nerve damage to her fingers from the cold water, but still wanted to do another take! (she was floating down a river going from one block of ice to another. I think Lillian was hot!! Check out a pic of her in around 1914...
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p203/amazinrick/Wall Photos/LillianGish.jpg
She hardly ever cut her hair.. It would hang down past her ass when it wasn’t done up.
Some of her most notable films were “Broken Blossoms” 1919, “The Scarlet Letter” 1926, and “The Wind” 1928, just to name a few.
It was not uncommon for some of the greatest silent film starts to suddenly have their careers go down the toilet when the introduction of sound came to Hollywood. Clearly this wasn’t the case for Lillian.

Lillian died in 1993, but is beginning to have a cult following.

I hope you all like my little tid-bits from the past…… if not just let me know and I wont post about old stuff. But I will be sad cause I like to cover the entire spectrum of film.

Infact, I’ll change gears and bring up two fantasy films I love …..LORD of the RINGS, Return of the Kind, (I have the 223 minute version) and Peter Jackson’s KING KONG 2005 (also have the extended version). Both films done by Jackson. A real feast for the eyes. Especially KONG, where we know the story, so he really laid out the visuals for us. Perfect popcorn and recliners film. I Mean, KONG covers several film cravings…. Think about it, It has so many elements in it. If you like dinosaur films, you will like king Kong. If you like the old films like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” …. or the old monster movies, you will LOVE King Kong. KONG covers so many of those films into one….. Very clever work. Don’t wanna keep on blabbing here but….. Which film do you want Jackson to do next and why?

Folks this thread is for discussions and interactions…. So anything I or others say about film that you don’t agree, bring it up and say why.
 
Quote from omegapoint:

Does that bother you alot?
More...

no.... its just that you guys were talking about Robbin Williams and I thought it was a good idea, so I figured i'd start with my first actor... Lillian Gish.
 
Quote from omegapoint:

Does that bother you alot?
More...

Not sure what you mean. I thought there was a thread similar to this one about reviewing TV shows. I don't regularly watch TV, but if I hear of a good show I will buy a box set of DVD's, and I wanted to jump in and talk about the shows I have.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top