New posts help me keep up with the latest movie news (didja realize that "Fahrenheit 9/11" will be released on DVD on October 5?) and get ideas for looking up movies to rent, even if I don't add to any of the discussions. It's great to just check the home page and surf on to stay updated.
And while you're on the Gene Wilder path, don't forget Mel Brooks...funny as a comedian and a comedy writer, whether you're talking about "2000 Year Old Man" or "The Producers.".
You're right--The Graduate does NOT belong on this list, although it would definitely appear on a top-100 listing of all-time best American dramas. What were they thinking???
"The Great Escape" would be fabulous on the big screen...but if you want pure escapism mixed with nostalgia, I vote for the always funny "Abbott and Costello" feature. Enjoy!
This listing is lots of fun and mostly right-on, if you ignore the uninformed comments about "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (overproduced? Pulleeez! Try innovative, concept-driven) and "The Who" (which they complain is 'so last century' because, DUH, it was last century). Otherwise, lots of food for thought.
2001 is, quite unlike AI, a masterpiece of cinema--not only a fabulous exploration of theme and character but much more stunning when you consider the technical constraints compared with the high-tech possibilities open to AI's makers. Even after decades, 2001 holds up on rescreening again and again. AI, in contrast, focuses on an interesting and important topic--yes, David's makers really did fail to understand the emotional impact on him--but the movie stacks the deck so ploddingly and egregiously that it blunts the point, IMHO. Bottom line, for me: bad script, not bad cinema.
As one example: David finally reaches NYC and meets his maker, who leaves David ALONE while saying he wants to gather the team to hear all about David's travels. A high-tech, sophisticated executive in a high-tech place has to go out of the room to do this? Never heard of phones, intercoms, e-mails, etc.? This is so clearly a moment engineered for plot purposes that it stacks the deck. Lazy scriptwriting…
Here's where we disagree. Having seen AI last weekend (followed this weekend by a repeat viewing of LOTR, what a contrast!) I can say--as a diehard sci fi fan--that AI was indeed visually stunning but preposterous in so many ways as to insult the viewer's intelligence. What tech firm would entrust such an important new product (David) to an employee and his spouse without carefully preparing everyone in advance, checking up on progress, asking questions, and tracking David's whereabouts? That's just for openers.
SPOILER BELOW
How many endings does one movie need? Perhaps the 'underwater' ending didn't sit well with audiences so the newer ending was tacked on?
This movie was overly long without real purpose, had more holes than a well-aged Swiss cheese, and generally failed to deliver on a wonderful premise The best part was seeing NYC, as Jim rightfully notes. Oh well....when will a good movie adaptation of "Ender's Game" finally come out???!
Thanks for posting the image of the NY skyline pre-September 11th. I downloaded the image to make a memorial by using it as the wallpaper for my start-up screen, my way of saying "let's not forget." I also e-mailed it to friends, who passed it on, keeping the memory alive.
I also found this article fascinating and passed it on. It's scary to think that some people get nearly all their info about the world from the boob tube. Even PBS news programs--as in-depth as they are--don't have time to cover the details found in newspapers or magazines or books.
And although I dearly love a good SF or mystery novel, they (like every other genre) have their share of trash and treasure. It's all in the eye of the reader!
Hey, what about "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" which is certifiably horrible--a real target for rotten tomatoes. It tries so hard to be campy that it's just plain awful. Then there's "Red Planet" which isn't in the same league as "Killer Tomatoes" but pretty bad in its own right.
If you can't get High Fidelity any other way, consider Critics Choice Video (ccvideo.com) which has it on DVD for $23.77. When Critics Choice has a free shipping sale or other promotion, the prices are quite reasonable (well, for video, anyway). Good luck!
Lee Gomes in yesterday's Wall St. Journal mentioned some interesting sites for movie fans:
- Film Comment (Filmlinc.com) - U.S. magazine of film criticism
- Sight and Sound (BFI.org.UK/sightandsound) - U.K. magazine of film criticism
- Sensesofcinema.com - Australian site with links to lots of other movie sites
- Facetsmultimedia.com, greencine.com, au-cinema.com - all DVD rental services featuring less mainstream movies
- DeepdiscountDVD.com - for DVDs at discount prices
- And of course Metacritic.com - standardized scores reflecting multiple critiques of movies.
Enjoy!
New posts help me keep up with the latest movie news (didja realize that "Fahrenheit 9/11" will be released on DVD on October 5?) and get ideas for looking up movies to rent, even if I don't add to any of the discussions. It's great to just check the home page and surf on to stay updated.
And while you're on the Gene Wilder path, don't forget Mel Brooks...funny as a comedian and a comedy writer, whether you're talking about "2000 Year Old Man" or "The Producers.".
You're right--The Graduate does NOT belong on this list, although it would definitely appear on a top-100 listing of all-time best American dramas. What were they thinking???
"The Great Escape" would be fabulous on the big screen...but if you want pure escapism mixed with nostalgia, I vote for the always funny "Abbott and Costello" feature. Enjoy!
This listing is lots of fun and mostly right-on, if you ignore the uninformed comments about "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (overproduced? Pulleeez! Try innovative, concept-driven) and "The Who" (which they complain is 'so last century' because, DUH, it was last century). Otherwise, lots of food for thought.
#19 singing "Needles & Pins" is the Searchers, I think.
No 19 sounds suspiciously like "Needles and Pins..." And no 11 is from a Blood, Sweat & Tears hit. No 9 is "Hooked on a Feeling." Showing my age?!
2001 is, quite unlike AI, a masterpiece of cinema--not only a fabulous exploration of theme and character but much more stunning when you consider the technical constraints compared with the high-tech possibilities open to AI's makers. Even after decades, 2001 holds up on rescreening again and again. AI, in contrast, focuses on an interesting and important topic--yes, David's makers really did fail to understand the emotional impact on him--but the movie stacks the deck so ploddingly and egregiously that it blunts the point, IMHO. Bottom line, for me: bad script, not bad cinema.
As one example: David finally reaches NYC and meets his maker, who leaves David ALONE while saying he wants to gather the team to hear all about David's travels. A high-tech, sophisticated executive in a high-tech place has to go out of the room to do this? Never heard of phones, intercoms, e-mails, etc.? This is so clearly a moment engineered for plot purposes that it stacks the deck. Lazy scriptwriting…
Here's where we disagree. Having seen AI last weekend (followed this weekend by a repeat viewing of LOTR, what a contrast!) I can say--as a diehard sci fi fan--that AI was indeed visually stunning but preposterous in so many ways as to insult the viewer's intelligence. What tech firm would entrust such an important new product (David) to an employee and his spouse without carefully preparing everyone in advance, checking up on progress, asking questions, and tracking David's whereabouts? That's just for openers.
SPOILER BELOW
How many endings does one movie need? Perhaps the 'underwater' ending didn't sit well with audiences so the newer ending was tacked on?
This movie was overly long without real purpose, had more holes than a well-aged Swiss cheese, and generally failed to deliver on a wonderful premise The best part was seeing NYC, as Jim rightfully notes. Oh well....when will a good movie adaptation of "Ender's Game" finally come out???!
Thanks for posting the image of the NY skyline pre-September 11th. I downloaded the image to make a memorial by using it as the wallpaper for my start-up screen, my way of saying "let's not forget." I also e-mailed it to friends, who passed it on, keeping the memory alive.
I also found this article fascinating and passed it on. It's scary to think that some people get nearly all their info about the world from the boob tube. Even PBS news programs--as in-depth as they are--don't have time to cover the details found in newspapers or magazines or books.
And although I dearly love a good SF or mystery novel, they (like every other genre) have their share of trash and treasure. It's all in the eye of the reader!
Hey, what about "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" which is certifiably horrible--a real target for rotten tomatoes. It tries so hard to be campy that it's just plain awful. Then there's "Red Planet" which isn't in the same league as "Killer Tomatoes" but pretty bad in its own right.
If you can't get High Fidelity any other way, consider Critics Choice Video (ccvideo.com) which has it on DVD for $23.77. When Critics Choice has a free shipping sale or other promotion, the prices are quite reasonable (well, for video, anyway). Good luck!