Dogville
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In Good Company (2004) Theatrical Screening
Dennis Quaid is Dan, a 51-year old head of sales at a sports magazine. He learns that he's about to have another child while his older daughter (Scarlett Johansson) is planning to go to NYU. Topher Grace is Carter, a 26-year old hotshot who's wife might be leaving him but he's about to replace Dan because the conglomerate he works for has bought out the sports magazine. Interesting premise, as both are introduced and instead of firing Dan, Carter decides to keep him on in a supporting role since he doesn’t have much experience in that particular field.
Directed by Paul Weitz (About a Boy), the film starts out well and makes some poignant remarks about the prevalent dog eat dog corporate climate. But, eventually as domestic issues and romantic escapades raise their ugly heads it gets sidetracked and then we go through every clichéd situation imaginable; as expected, the veteran ends up having a few tricks up his sleeve and everything slowly but surely fits into what turns out to be a typical middle-brow affair. Dennis Quaid gives a workmanlike performance and it is good to see scarlett Johansson underplaying her role (and her persona), although, the high point in her career might've already come. While watching In Good Company, I kept thinking what Laurent Cantet (Human Resources/Time-Out) would've done using this initial premise with non-actors and quarter-of-a-budget!
I liked this one more than you did, it was just fun to watch and, previously unfamiliar with Topher Grace, I found he had an excellent light touch that carried the movie and gave it lightness and panache. He's excellent as a winner who knows he's a loser and lets us in on it. I didn't find this formulaic despite the conventional blocking out of the corporate conflicts and thought a lot went well in the making of In Good Company, a surprise to me. But I never got around to writing a review of it. I hope you're wrong and Scarlett Johanssen's career hasn't already peaked and am at least glad you think she was underplaying and not just "wasted" in this. Some people like Dennis Quaid in this more than I do; I'd agree he's workmanlike. There are a couple of subtle, sexy moments between Grace and Johannsen some people don't seem to perceive. I disliked Malcolm Macdowell, in one of his worst powerful monster schtick roles, luckily a cameo. True, Laurent Cantet would have taken this in a whole different, interesting direction, but I don't blame it for not being a French movie.
Persona
I'll just say it was brilliant.
Rio Bravo
It was okay... Hawks' directing bothered me a lot though.
I don't know about you, but I loved Rio Bravo, and the more I think about it the better it gets. Maybe I just see its influence more and more. Plus reading into the High Noon comparisons it gets more interesting.
As for me
The Seven Year Itch (1955) - well this is the third time or so I've seen it, and I still say its second rate Billy Wilder.
Be Cool (2005) - I'm ashamed to have spent money on such Hollywood nonsense trash. Please avoid this, it is just as stupid, shallow, and empty as you might imagine.
I've no reason not to believe you. Although, I just went over to imdb to read the cast and it is incredible that Uma Thurman continues to appear in these kind of films. I thought she'd be above this kind of material by now but it's also sad that one of our most beautiful and talented actresses doesn't have too many options available (other than to wait for Tarantino).Quote:
Be Cool (2005) - I'm ashamed to have spent money on such Hollywood nonsense trash. Please avoid this, it is just as stupid, shallow, and empty as you might imagine. [/B]
Quote:
(Originally posted by wpqx)
Be Cool (2005) - I'm ashamed to have spent money on such Hollywood nonsense trash. Please avoid this, it is just as stupid, shallow, and empty as you might imagine.
Unfortunately I'm not surprised -- it looks like a remake -- but as a fan of Pulp Fiction I sometimes feel the necessity of knowing what it has spawned. Maybe not this one, though. I could just skim through the dvd version when it appears. As the saying goes, "It is not necessary to eat all of an egg to know that it is bad."
As I said before, it was either Be Cool or the Wedding Date, so I think I made the right choice.
I just watched Limelight (1952), Chaplin's third sound feature, and the last film he made in the US. To me it seems to continue his downward slope, seeing how it was inferior to Monsieur Verdoux, which was inferior to The Great Dictator. He was a little out of touch, and I think too many people heap unecessary and undeserving praise upon it, because Chaplin was persecuted for being a communist during its initial release.
The Piano Teacher (2001)
No sir, I didn't like it. What started as a somewhat boring tale about a strict piano teacher and a piece of "high" art about classical music degenerated into a slopsticle course of trash.
The Tarnished Angels (1957)
Yet another collaboration between Douglas Sirk and star Rock Hudson. This ons is a weaker effort from the pair in my opinion. Perhaps they needed color to truly work, or perhaps the film just wasn't interesting. Either way I was kind of bored with it, and got exceptionally tired towards the end.
I've been waiting decades to watch it in a theatre, resisting the temptation to rent the vhs copy at the video store. Dave Kehr wrote"It should be seen in a theatre or not at all". To make matters worse the film is in CinemaScope and the video is pan-and-scan. It's unfair to Sirk to form an opinion based on a home viewing of the available vhs. If you watched it in a theatre, tell me about the print's condition because it's probably the one coming here in 2 weeks.
Saw it on TCM, so the aspect ratio was correct. As for the quality of the film, pretty damn good, I wonder if it's the subject of a recent restoration. Can't say I was too wild about the film, but if it's Sirk it's at least worth a look.
I agree with you on The Tarnished Angels (certainly not Sirk's best) but strongly disagree on The Piano Teacher. No, it's not for casual viewing but few films dig deeper into human emotion and our sado-masochistic tendencies than this one. Huppert's performance is one of the best I've ever seen.
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) DVD
Not sure why, but I gave it another shot just to make certain before I make my "Best of 2004" list (coming soon to a thread near you) and its inadequacies were still apparent. Every time the film gets somewhere near an emotionally truthful moment, Salles follows it up by one for the audience and then continues to pile 'em on. Kent Jones called it "My Most Memorable Spring Break" and "Tom and Huck go to a Leper Colony," and I can see where he's coming from. If Chris Doyle reigns in the East then its Eric Gautier in the West and his work here is simply amazing. Can't wait to see what he does with Assayas in Clean.
Another vote for The Piano Teacher or La Pianiste (Haneke). It's tough stuff, but fine.
I could not bring myself to review The Motorcycle Diaries because I didn't want to say anything bad about it, it's good natured and must have been a great experience for everyone concerned, but writing about it would require recognition of its limitations.
The Player (1992) - I've been on an Altman bender lately. This film, about the Hollywood world of movers and shakers, contains more inside jokes and star cameos than one can possibly pick up on in a single viewing. Tim Robbins plays a paranoid producer who's convinced that he's about to get canned and that a jilted screenwriter is planning to kill him. His only option is to keep everything under his control...if only he can figure out who the bad guys are. Hilariously typical Hollywood ending for the film within the film, Bruce Willis comes in to save the day, literally. Happy endings go over so much better at test screenings in Glendale, remember. Robbins comes out smelling like a rose.