I have seen "Bowling for Columbine" and actually thought Heston had more credibility than Moore; especially after learning how Moore manipulated Heston's speeches at the NRA meeting(s).
Barbara Stanwyck: I've just always hated her. Can't stand to look at her or listen to her. What's left?
Johnny Depp: To tell the truth, I cannot understand why this guy is so well liked. He is, at best, an average Hollywood actor, and his pinched rat-face is rather repellant. Is it just me?
Jack Nicholson: I didn't particularly care for him in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (although I will admit it was a good role), and I hated what Kubrick did to The Shining so much (he totally eviscerated the soul of King's novel and made Tad's "shining" gift irrelevant by killing off Scatman Crother's character, etc.), that even if Nicholson did turn in a good performance, I was prejudiced against it.
Al Pacino: I like Al Pacino, I just think some directors give him too much freedom to overact, which he takes whenever he can. He was great as Michael Corleone and in Donny Brasco as Ben "Lefty" Ruggiero and in other things; but Scarface, Scent Of a Woman and a couple of others that don't readily spring to mind were horrible. Truly horrible to watch, because of Pacino, or rather, because the director allowed him free reign.
Marlon Brando: One of my most detested actors. Aside from Vito Corleone, I have never seen him in a role in which I thought "Dang, he's good!". Great actor? Maybe, but you'll never be able to prove it to me! :)
Jack Lemmon: The Apartment is precisely one of the Lemmon movies I hate the most! I really don't care what anyone else thinks about it, it is depressing, and Lemmon is supremely annoying. In almost all his supposed "comedies", Jack Lemmon is simply grating, overwrought and depressing. Nope. Sorry, but I will always be convinced he has been one of the most overrated actors in Hollywood history.
Anyway, these lists are, for the most part, just personal opinion after all. As to Guinness, I am expecting delivery of "The Alec Guinness Collection" from BBC Canada this week. Can't wait!
Too bad! That's probably the lamest episode in the series. You should check out some of the others; my favorites are "Culture" where Rik and Ade are completely "skint" and decide to spend the evening indoors playing chess; and "Holiday", where they prepare to go on, well... holiday. There are other great episodes too.
Don't get me wrong; I do enjoy "The Young Ones", but not nearly as much as "Bottom".
You're correct, of course; silly me. It is rather more a utopian dream than straight time-travel sci-fi. However, I don't think it should be excluded from the list on a simple semantic note.
The term "wash pants" must be an American thing. The link is to what we Canadians would call either "sweat pants" (if you're from the eastern part of Canada, as I am) or "track pants" (in other parts.) I'm sure somebody will correct me, even though... I'm already correct. ;)
To the best of my knowledge... I've never heard any of these songs. And I've heard of Genesis... but nobody else on the list. Well, maybe I've hear of Stone Roses , but can't prove it.
In regards to Morvern Callar , I watched this one a couple of months ago, and actually admired the acting, but... I was waiting for a "hero" or "heroine" and found none. Then, when I realized there wasn't going to be one, I was waiting at least for a real "antihero/ine"... and found none. Then, I found myself waiting- at least- for one redeeming act/thought/expression from Morvern... and waited in vain.
It's a stylish movie, no doubt, and worth watching, but I really can't say I enjoyed it.
Great list! Time travel is my favorite theme of movies and novels, and I have a good deal of what Jack Finney wrote. Granted, his style is a bit dated (and he had an odd obsession in describing people's clothing, especially in terms I don't understand- what are "wash pants"?-), but overall they're good reads.
For a number of years I carried around with me a list of books to buy if I ever saw them outside a library. On that list was anything/everything by Jack Finney. On a trip to Seattle in 1990 I found a treasure trove of his work for sale at a university bookstore.
One book that is not on your list, but deserves a look is another which was on my list and which I found on that same trip... in the back bedroom of my mother-in-law's house, which I had never before visited! The book is "Looking Backward 2000-1887" by Edward Bellamy. It is written from the perspective of a man from the year 1887 who is somehow accidentally put in a state of suspended animation and wakes up in the year 2000. It was written in the late 1880s and is a fascinating look at what Bellamy imagined the future would look like. Some of his predictions are... "close, but no cigar". Others are completely out to lunch (that's a pun; read the book).
I'll have to print your list and hit the library for the titles I haven't yet read.
Well, I wasn't really listing movies to avoid, per se, just movies I haven't seen; be it because I didn't want to, or just haven't yet gotten around to seeing. I will see some of these eventually... Really.
Aside from the Mad Max trilogy, the only Australian movies I recall seeing are Muriel's Wedding (rather enjoyed it), Malcolm (enjoyed it quite a bit), The Castle (hilariously silly), On The Beach (won't bother to see again), Gallipoli (great movie), and finally, Welcome to Woop Woop, easily one of the oddest movies I've ever seen. I don't even know if I really liked it, but I would like to see it again.
The one thing that strikes me about every single Australian film except Gallipoli, is that there isn't a normal person in any of them! They're all nuts!
Could be, could be. I do have a number of other sci-fi titles in my collection, such as Silent Running, 2001, A Space Oddysey, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, The Andromeda Strain, The Blob (1958), Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Dr. Cyclops, the first 3 Star Wars movies and a few others.
But a support group? Please! Some addicitions don't need a cure.
Thanks for the response. OK, couple of admissions- I tend to overstate my case at times. I haven't seen The Lady Eve yet, so Stanwyck might posthumously redeem herself (I detested Katherine Hepburn in general but liked her in The Philadelphia Story) ; to me, Borgnine was the quintessential stereotypical "ugly American"- loud, fat, obnoxious, ignorant; Julia Roberts isn't actually ugly, but when she smiles I want to gouge my eyes out (dang, still overstating my case). I know, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", etc.
Depp: "the real deal"? GAK! Depp, along with Jodie Foster, can be seen studiously ignoring the camera. He knows the camera's there; the camera knows he's there; he knows the camera knows he's there, I know that he knows that... I couldn't even watch more than 30 minutes of Edward Scissorhands, and by the time I hit rewind I was actually angry at the idiocy of the film. Anyway, I'm not a real big Burton fan to begin with.
Unfortunately, that was a bullet I just couldn't dodge. My wife liked it.
I am also unable to dodge any bullets coming from Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Wesley Snipes and a few others because... my wife likes them. Oy vey.
It would be difficult for me to rate my top 10 Hitchcock movies, but your list is pretty dang good. However, I personally would replace The Lady Vanishes with Young and Innocent, which, although the premise is at least as silly, is much more fun.
Hmmm. I had to vote for my 2nd (possibly 3rd) favorite Hitchcock film, "Rear Window". My favorite is "Young and Innocent" (1937) with Derrick De Marney and Nova Pilbeam. I'm a little surprised it wasn't listed. It's not "great" Hitch, but a fun one that I watch about twice a year.
Hi: Thanks for the response.
I have seen "Bowling for Columbine" and actually thought Heston had more credibility than Moore; especially after learning how Moore manipulated Heston's speeches at the NRA meeting(s).
Barbara Stanwyck: I've just always hated her. Can't stand to look at her or listen to her. What's left?
Johnny Depp: To tell the truth, I cannot understand why this guy is so well liked. He is, at best, an average Hollywood actor, and his pinched rat-face is rather repellant. Is it just me?
Jack Nicholson: I didn't particularly care for him in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (although I will admit it was a good role), and I hated what Kubrick did to The Shining so much (he totally eviscerated the soul of King's novel and made Tad's "shining" gift irrelevant by killing off Scatman Crother's character, etc.), that even if Nicholson did turn in a good performance, I was prejudiced against it.
Al Pacino: I like Al Pacino, I just think some directors give him too much freedom to overact, which he takes whenever he can. He was great as Michael Corleone and in Donny Brasco as Ben "Lefty" Ruggiero and in other things; but Scarface, Scent Of a Woman and a couple of others that don't readily spring to mind were horrible. Truly horrible to watch, because of Pacino, or rather, because the director allowed him free reign.
Marlon Brando: One of my most detested actors. Aside from Vito Corleone, I have never seen him in a role in which I thought "Dang, he's good!". Great actor? Maybe, but you'll never be able to prove it to me! :)
Jack Lemmon: The Apartment is precisely one of the Lemmon movies I hate the most! I really don't care what anyone else thinks about it, it is depressing, and Lemmon is supremely annoying. In almost all his supposed "comedies", Jack Lemmon is simply grating, overwrought and depressing. Nope. Sorry, but I will always be convinced he has been one of the most overrated actors in Hollywood history.
Anyway, these lists are, for the most part, just personal opinion after all. As to Guinness, I am expecting delivery of "The Alec Guinness Collection" from BBC Canada this week. Can't wait!
Too bad! That's probably the lamest episode in the series. You should check out some of the others; my favorites are "Culture" where Rik and Ade are completely "skint" and decide to spend the evening indoors playing chess; and "Holiday", where they prepare to go on, well... holiday. There are other great episodes too.
Don't get me wrong; I do enjoy "The Young Ones", but not nearly as much as "Bottom".
You're correct, of course; silly me. It is rather more a utopian dream than straight time-travel sci-fi. However, I don't think it should be excluded from the list on a simple semantic note.
The term "wash pants" must be an American thing. The link is to what we Canadians would call either "sweat pants" (if you're from the eastern part of Canada, as I am) or "track pants" (in other parts.) I'm sure somebody will correct me, even though... I'm already correct. ;)
Bobo
Wow!
To the best of my knowledge... I've never heard any of these songs. And I've heard of Genesis... but nobody else on the list. Well, maybe I've hear of Stone Roses , but can't prove it.
In regards to Morvern Callar , I watched this one a couple of months ago, and actually admired the acting, but... I was waiting for a "hero" or "heroine" and found none. Then, when I realized there wasn't going to be one, I was waiting at least for a real "antihero/ine"... and found none. Then, I found myself waiting- at least- for one redeeming act/thought/expression from Morvern... and waited in vain.
It's a stylish movie, no doubt, and worth watching, but I really can't say I enjoyed it.
What did I miss?
Great list! Time travel is my favorite theme of movies and novels, and I have a good deal of what Jack Finney wrote. Granted, his style is a bit dated (and he had an odd obsession in describing people's clothing, especially in terms I don't understand- what are "wash pants"?-), but overall they're good reads.
For a number of years I carried around with me a list of books to buy if I ever saw them outside a library. On that list was anything/everything by Jack Finney. On a trip to Seattle in 1990 I found a treasure trove of his work for sale at a university bookstore.
One book that is not on your list, but deserves a look is another which was on my list and which I found on that same trip... in the back bedroom of my mother-in-law's house, which I had never before visited! The book is "Looking Backward 2000-1887" by Edward Bellamy. It is written from the perspective of a man from the year 1887 who is somehow accidentally put in a state of suspended animation and wakes up in the year 2000. It was written in the late 1880s and is a fascinating look at what Bellamy imagined the future would look like. Some of his predictions are... "close, but no cigar". Others are completely out to lunch (that's a pun; read the book).
I'll have to print your list and hit the library for the titles I haven't yet read.
Well, I wasn't really listing movies to avoid, per se, just movies I haven't seen; be it because I didn't want to, or just haven't yet gotten around to seeing. I will see some of these eventually... Really.
Wow! I can't believe you included The Young Ones and left out Bottom, which is much funnier. (I have complete sets of both on DVD.)
Aside from the Mad Max trilogy, the only Australian movies I recall seeing are Muriel's Wedding (rather enjoyed it), Malcolm (enjoyed it quite a bit), The Castle (hilariously silly), On The Beach (won't bother to see again), Gallipoli (great movie), and finally, Welcome to Woop Woop, easily one of the oddest movies I've ever seen. I don't even know if I really liked it, but I would like to see it again.
The one thing that strikes me about every single Australian film except Gallipoli, is that there isn't a normal person in any of them! They're all nuts!
Could be, could be. I do have a number of other sci-fi titles in my collection, such as Silent Running, 2001, A Space Oddysey, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, The Andromeda Strain, The Blob (1958), Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Dr. Cyclops, the first 3 Star Wars movies and a few others.
But a support group? Please! Some addicitions don't need a cure.
Hi Jim:
Thanks for the response. OK, couple of admissions- I tend to overstate my case at times. I haven't seen The Lady Eve yet, so Stanwyck might posthumously redeem herself (I detested Katherine Hepburn in general but liked her in The Philadelphia Story) ; to me, Borgnine was the quintessential stereotypical "ugly American"- loud, fat, obnoxious, ignorant; Julia Roberts isn't actually ugly, but when she smiles I want to gouge my eyes out (dang, still overstating my case). I know, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", etc.
Depp: "the real deal"? GAK! Depp, along with Jodie Foster, can be seen studiously ignoring the camera. He knows the camera's there; the camera knows he's there; he knows the camera knows he's there, I know that he knows that... I couldn't even watch more than 30 minutes of Edward Scissorhands, and by the time I hit rewind I was actually angry at the idiocy of the film. Anyway, I'm not a real big Burton fan to begin with.
Thanks again for the response.
"Bobo LaTuque"
New Brunswick
Canada
Unfortunately, that was a bullet I just couldn't dodge. My wife liked it.
I am also unable to dodge any bullets coming from Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Wesley Snipes and a few others because... my wife likes them. Oy vey.
It would be difficult for me to rate my top 10 Hitchcock movies, but your list is pretty dang good. However, I personally would replace The Lady Vanishes with Young and Innocent, which, although the premise is at least as silly, is much more fun.
Shadow of a Doubt would definitely be on my list.
Hmmm. I had to vote for my 2nd (possibly 3rd) favorite Hitchcock film, "Rear Window". My favorite is "Young and Innocent" (1937) with Derrick De Marney and Nova Pilbeam. I'm a little surprised it wasn't listed. It's not "great" Hitch, but a fun one that I watch about twice a year.