Re: Movie stuff...
Reg--
You hit on some of the Westerns that still get me really excited about films. Anthony Mann in particular is quite possibly one of my all-time favorite directors, and I think Man of the West is one his greatest. I'm also very partial to the films he did with Jimmy Stewart and brought out far more depth from Stewart than any other director ever did, possibly excepting Hitchchock. "The Naked Spur" is my favorite of the Stewart westerns, but I also really like some of the non-Stewarts like "Devil's Doorway" and "The Furies". He also had his hand in a few 60's epics like "Fall of the Roman Empire", "El Cid", "Cimarron", and was the original director of "Spartacus" but got himself fired--but you probably knew all that.I also have a real fondness for the Randolph Scott westerns directed by Budd Boetticher like "The Tall T" and "Seven Men from Now". Randy Scott is certainly a poor man's Gary Cooper, and the movies come off as pulpy from time to time, but the themes are great, there is some incredible cinematography, and the list of supporting players in the Scott/Boetticher films reads like a who's who of late 50's/early 60's action movie players.I've never seen "Warlock" and "Last Train from Gun Hill". I will search them out based on your recommendation. One of my cable channels is Encore Westerns, and they tend to run many of the less well known films from the 50's, while at the same time completely staying away from John Wayne fare (not that there's anything really wrong with the Duke per se, but...most of it is a little light, excluding most of the Ford work).I appreciate what you say about protecting yourself against lost time with bad movies. The only time I will allow myself to watch something I'm not real sure about is on an airplane, and even then there have been times I've wanted to walk out ("Lucky You", "The Guardian", "Invincible"). Having kids, I'm often put in the position of taking the family to see things that I normally would have no interest in, or sitting through family movie night with stuff I would never ever ever watch if left to my own devices. The films I connect with the most are generally the ones that I feel the most challenged by, whether it's the storyline, subject matter, the themes, the cinematography, or even the acting. I'm getting to the point where I won't waste time on a movie where I can tell from the ads how it's going to end. Part of the problem lies with how movies are marketed these days, but if it's so poorly written that I can anticipate plot twists, character development, and resolution 15 minutes into the film, it's just not worth it. The flip side of that is when the filmmakers throw in a plot twist that doesn't make sense within the context of the film--such as "Man of the Year". That was a movie that I really wanted to work, and that I tried really really hard to like, but it just failed (IMO) on almost all levels. It straddled every political and philosophical fence it came across, it pandered to lowest common denominator viewers, and it just plain didn't know what it wanted to be. I blame the director most of the time when things like this happen, but this seems to be a common problem with Robin Williams movies. "Death to Smoochy", "Bicentennial Man", and "The Night Listener" being examples of movies that should have had something to say, but wound up just spinning their wheels and eating up a couple of hours of my life. Again, probably the fault of the directors, but it's just odd how many of Williams' movies seem to miss the mark. I know that Messy will disagree with me, and I respect that, because I'm sure there are a lot of films that I love that he, and others, may despise. To each their own, que sera sera.BTW, did anyone see that there's a film being made with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Day-Lewis that's essentially a musical remake of Felinni's 8 1/2? I ask myself "why???", but Day-Lewis' involvement has me intrigued. Terrence Malick also has a new one in the works with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn that looks pretty interesting. Which reminds me, I still need to watch that Chinese bootleg of "The New World"....Cheers!
P
pkjensen
(view)
Reg--
You hit on some of the Westerns that still get me really excited about films. Anthony Mann in particular is quite possibly one of my all-time favorite directors, and I think Man of the West is one his greatest. I'm also very partial to the films he did with Jimmy Stewart and brought out far more depth from Stewart than any other director ever did, possibly excepting Hitchchock. "The Naked Spur" is my favorite of the Stewart westerns, but I also really like some of the non-Stewarts like "Devil's Doorway" and "The Furies". He also had his hand in a few 60's epics like "Fall of the Roman Empire", "El Cid", "Cimarron", and was the original director of "Spartacus" but got himself fired--but you probably knew all that.I also have a real fondness for the Randolph Scott westerns directed by Budd Boetticher like "The Tall T" and "Seven Men from Now". Randy Scott is certainly a poor man's Gary Cooper, and the movies come off as pulpy from time to time, but the themes are great, there is some incredible cinematography, and the list of supporting players in the Scott/Boetticher films reads like a who's who of late 50's/early 60's action movie players.I've never seen "Warlock" and "Last Train from Gun Hill". I will search them out based on your recommendation. One of my cable channels is Encore Westerns, and they tend to run many of the less well known films from the 50's, while at the same time completely staying away from John Wayne fare (not that there's anything really wrong with the Duke per se, but...most of it is a little light, excluding most of the Ford work).I appreciate what you say about protecting yourself against lost time with bad movies. The only time I will allow myself to watch something I'm not real sure about is on an airplane, and even then there have been times I've wanted to walk out ("Lucky You", "The Guardian", "Invincible"). Having kids, I'm often put in the position of taking the family to see things that I normally would have no interest in, or sitting through family movie night with stuff I would never ever ever watch if left to my own devices. The films I connect with the most are generally the ones that I feel the most challenged by, whether it's the storyline, subject matter, the themes, the cinematography, or even the acting. I'm getting to the point where I won't waste time on a movie where I can tell from the ads how it's going to end. Part of the problem lies with how movies are marketed these days, but if it's so poorly written that I can anticipate plot twists, character development, and resolution 15 minutes into the film, it's just not worth it. The flip side of that is when the filmmakers throw in a plot twist that doesn't make sense within the context of the film--such as "Man of the Year". That was a movie that I really wanted to work, and that I tried really really hard to like, but it just failed (IMO) on almost all levels. It straddled every political and philosophical fence it came across, it pandered to lowest common denominator viewers, and it just plain didn't know what it wanted to be. I blame the director most of the time when things like this happen, but this seems to be a common problem with Robin Williams movies. "Death to Smoochy", "Bicentennial Man", and "The Night Listener" being examples of movies that should have had something to say, but wound up just spinning their wheels and eating up a couple of hours of my life. Again, probably the fault of the directors, but it's just odd how many of Williams' movies seem to miss the mark. I know that Messy will disagree with me, and I respect that, because I'm sure there are a lot of films that I love that he, and others, may despise. To each their own, que sera sera.BTW, did anyone see that there's a film being made with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Day-Lewis that's essentially a musical remake of Felinni's 8 1/2? I ask myself "why???", but Day-Lewis' involvement has me intrigued. Terrence Malick also has a new one in the works with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn that looks pretty interesting. Which reminds me, I still need to watch that Chinese bootleg of "The New World"....Cheers!
