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After seeing Jodie Foster last night, I watched 'Taxi Driver'

Still a fantastic film after all these years.

Hey are you talking to me? :cool:
 
Sunset Boulevard is a fantastic movie; what sheer class, a flawless, superbly intelligent, beautifully acted, elegiac study of the world of Hollywood itself.

It is a movie that mourns a world that has passed, mourns it with respect, no small degree of affection, but, at the same time, without illusions and not blind to the inherent flaws of that world. Simply magnificent. It is a movie I can watch again and again.....

Totally agree. Heard a (rather bad) documentary about Wilder yesterday and it got me right into the mood of watching him again. Re topic of the day: Wonder what his Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is like. Have you seen it?
 
Btw, thanks for this link. It was a good read, and sums up the issues I had with Looper as well.

Your welcome.

I am watching "Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows".

First, my bias; my favorite Holmes films are the ones with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. While I will grant that liberties were taken with the Watson character, making him something of a dufus, it still was closer to the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle than many of the other portrayals.

I cannot see ANY resemblance between the Downey and Law characters, and the characters created by Doyle. Having read (many, many years ago) the entire Sherlock Holmes collection, I do not recall Holmes being a black belt in martial arts.

I conquer. The Rathbone-Bruce movies encapsulated the atmosphere and mystery of the books. The new Downey movie is too much about action, slick, choreographed action that destroys suspension of disbelief. However I don't specifically dislike Downey. I could take him as a Sherlock, if he'd just act like one. In his defense, I believe he is playing the role like he is expected to. :)

Totally agree. Heard a (rather bad) documentary about Wilder yesterday and it got me right into the mood of watching him again. Re topic of the day: Wonder what his Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is like. Have you seen it?

My two favorite Billy Wilder movies are Stalag 17 and Some Like It Hot.
 
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I keep thinking though that'll be a good "turn your brain off" action movie and just enjoy the fun.

I though the same but then I watched it.I lost all hope for the film when his daughter was chucking grenades out of a hotel window and off roofs and there was a few other parts when I thought this is poor.
 
Blue Velvet (1986)- a surreal, mystery crime, fairly awful movie with terrible acting and atmosphere. A poor man's Pulp Fiction? ;) But I consider Pulp Fiction to include good performances. As I recall this movie was once the rage, considered novel and cutting edge. I can't believe this is considered Dennis Hopper's comeback and I liked Twin Peaks that followed.

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Saw "Notorious" today.

Full disclosure: I don't particularly like Hitchcock, with a few exceptions. Second, I have a mad crush on Ingrid Bergman!

Hitchcock's use of extreme camera angles, especially at the beginning when she is hung over in bed, was ostentatious and not integrated into the film, nor revealing of any particular character issues. Unlike the Dutch angles used in "the Third Man", where the camera angles were related to the alienation of the Cotton character in a foreign city, it just seems like Hitchcock is calling attention to himself...showing off. (Kind of disappointed in Greg Toland to allow himself to be used by Hitchcock.But a guy has to work, I guess.)

Cary Grant had little to do but look stern and dead pan. He did it well, and was so fantastically beautiful at that time it was just good eye candy.

Bergman carried the film. Her wonderfully subtle acting was terrific...she acted so much with her eyes. She was an actor way ahead of her time in her knowledge of understated film acting. Also, her beauty takes my breath away. She carried the movie, and for that fact alone it was, IMO, worth seeing. This was also before Hitchcock's obsession with the "icy blond"...Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint, Tippi Hedron, and the like. So boring...

The director, Andre De Toth once said of Hitchcock..."His early stuff showed promise, but then he became physically and intellectually fat..." I couldn't agree more. With a few exceptions (e.g. "The Rope", "Psycho") his later, American Technicolor stuff did nothing for me.

BTW: While typing this I'm watching "Veronica Guerin". Terrific movie...Kate Blanchette is one of a small group of current truly outstanding actors. This movie is very much worth seeing.
 
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Saw "Notorious" today.

Full disclosure: I don't particularly like Hitchcock, with a few exceptions. Second, I have a mad crush on Ingrid Bergman!

Me, too! :D

What a pity that Spellbound doesn't really do for me (one of the Hitchcock's I find incredible overrated), especially since I'm fond of Peck as well. Notorious is a good movie, nothing too fancy though. I for one am glad when there's a Hitchcock movie not including all of his later(?) trademarks.
I always imagine her playing alongside Newman in Torn Curtain which would make it almost perfect imho.


Besides that, had one terrible day last week, got home and watched the Dredd movie to get distracted a bit. And really, really liked it. Not too long (a thing that bugs me probably most of all nowadays), nothing pretentious and kind of bleak movie. I'm putting it next to First Blood and the first Terminator in my book.
 
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Me, too! :D

What a pity that Spellbound doesn't really do for me (one of the Hitchcock's I find incredible overrated), especially since I'm fond of Peck as well. Notorious is a good movie, nothing too fancy though. I for one am glad when there's a Hitchcock movie not including all of his later(?) trademarks.
I always imagine her playing alongside Newman in Torn Curtain which would make it almost perfect imho.


Besides that, had one terrible day last week, got home and watched the Dredd movie to get distracted a bit. And really, really liked it. Not too long (a thing that bugs me probably most of all nowadays), nothing pretentious and kind of bleak movie. I'm putting it next to First Blood and the first Terminator in my book.

In general, I find almost all of Hitchcock's American stuff grossly overrated. As you point out, the films without his "trademarks" are the better ones. His work while still in England was pretty good. They were all black and white (as was "Notorious"), and I am strongly biased toward black and white films.

I agree with you about Greg Peck...I really like his work. His persona of a strong,but gentle and compassionate person, is very convincing and, to me, very appealing. Apparently, he was very much that way in real life.

As far as Bergman in "Torn Curtain"...I'll watch Bergman in ANYTHING. I have never seen her give a bad performance. Her acting was subtle and naturalistic at a time when film acting was grand, larger than life, and theatrical...Bette Davis style. As has been said of her...an actor way ahead of her time.

Just to give you a smile...
 

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