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Devil Doll with Lionel Barrymore

Bond Bond Bond

RV: Dolores Claiborne
W-o-w. What a film. Saw that last night and was utterly blown away. The angst of this film is just so compelling. Dolores is such a fascinating strong character! And even the technical level was astounding, with that spectacular eclipse climax.

But interestingly I did not grow terribly more fond of the score from watching the film. Usually experiencing the visuals associated with a score only elevate your appreciation of the music, but for this one I might even say that I may have lost some appreciation for it. Was the score mixed at unnaturally low levels in this film or what? I'll assess once more after I've listened to the CD again.

Aye, one of the greatest fight scenes ever (just under the lethal weapon one on the lawn with the fire hydrant going off )

FRWL has easily always been my second favorite Bond film (under Dr. No).



I third the copy/paste stuff. Was just terrible, especially during the ending fight scene.
I woud have loved a second outing with Lazenby, but the thought of Connery having done the film is even more exciting.

Very possibly. I loved it, every bit of it especially the music.

Body of Lies

Decided to have some fun on my birthday and saw this movie.

Scott did a fine job, the way he sets the camera and works with his actors is just amazing. Nobody fails. Yes, Mark Strong steals the show with a VERY nuanced performance, he's so nice and yet so cruel. Russell Crowe is almost comedic in his part, perhaps trying to slightly ridicule his character. He doesn't have VERY much to play, but did his part very well. Leonardo has another great performance in his recent streak. And again, a very subtle one.

Cinematography and editing work wonders. I liked how Ridley differed the captions between locations in one country and a country change. It's all very well executed, fast-paced, but never losing the feel of the action. Ridley Scott is just a master in that. I appreciate the violence, it HAS to be realistic to get its message sent right way.

To me the movie was about a misunderstanding of culture. I do agree with what Scott says, the way Russell Crowe's character discusses things with the Mark Strong one and generally the way they talk - DiCaprio and Crowe, that is. Also, the Aisha character is interesting, they NEVER kiss or have sex on screen and actually, the conversation between Aisha's sister and Ferris brings a bit of thought to the political backdrop, discussion on the war.

The film could have ended differently, yes. It would have had bigger impact, but the message is stated anyway. The violence WORKS. Good spy thriller, gruesome, dark, action-packed (though not too much). I liked it.

Oh, I forgot. Streitenfeld works pretty well in setting a dark and Middle Eastern soundscape for the film. Doesn't disturb, gets the action done right.

Ratatouille is a great movie. (All the Pixar movies are worth the time spent watching them.)

I saw Golden Compass the other evening. It's 10 pounds of story in a 5 ounce DVD. It recalls recent popular movies like Harry Potter (kids in a magical world as the protagonists), Narnia (ditto, but with more epic battles) and even the Rings movies (fantasy characters on a quest). That's all good, but there is so much to explain about the world the story takes within that it has a very uneven feel. Some of the background story exposition seemed out-of-place to me. There were several short scenes focused on keeping track of the multiple characters which made me wish I had read the book to see what really happens when there was actually time to explain things. Instead the movie jumps all over the place and throws characters, CG vehicles, CG animals and CG locations at us. Some of the actors try so hard to impress and the music is so emphatic on invoking magic and wonder that it became cloying and overdone for me. Magic and wonder are good when they draw you in, but not when they cause you to focus on the fact that you're watching a movie.

The daemon concept is interesting, although some of the animals are a little too obviously CG. There is a scene where a rat climbs a wall that must have been given to one of the newbie CG people because it is comically unbelievable. That being said, some of the actors are very good, Kidman and Craig in particular. (And you can hardly go wrong with Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee - even though their parts were minuscule.) I sensed there there was a really interesting story back of all this - one they might have told if only they hadn't needed to spend so much time explaining the world, taking loving, lingering shots of CG vehicles traveling, presenting locations and introducing and keeping track of the multiple characters. The movie ends with an obvious call for a sequel, which does nothing whatsoever to make it more likable. I give it 2 and a half stars, leaning towards two. It's not horrible, but it could have been much, much better.

I wasn't familiar with the score to Compass before I saw the movie (or the reactions - I guess I wasn't paying attention at the time). It was fine for awhile, but it became cloying and overdone IMHO. Ok, everything is magical and mystical but did it require all that repeated overblown musical pomp? I got it after the first dozen locations and vehicles were presented.

Has anyone else noticed that when you start listening to a soundtrack to a movie you've seen (or even think about the soundtrack for a movie you've seen), you suddenly have an overwhelming desire to watch said movie? If I didn't have a stack of movies on loan from the library to watch before leaving for Key West this Sunday, I'd have to get my old VHS of Our Man Flint out and watch it...all because I was making fun of the score in another thread.

Funny about that...

Hey, I loved Black Beauty!

Hey, a horse is a horse.
Of course.
(Of course!)
And NO ONE can talk to a horse.
Of course.

It's such a fine set of novels that the film can only be seen as a tremendous disappointment. Sadly they killed any chance of a great adaptation taking place on film for a while. Of all the fantasy novels recently adapted for film - arguably including LOTR - there's a case for saying Phillip Pullman wrote the best. (Though the third novel was a letdown at times.)



Although I'm a big fan of the score, I do think there are moments when it doesn't 'rub up well' onscreen, and those big moments you describe are a good example. I feel like they're trying to tell me its epic, rather than feeling it's epic. Definitely a case where the director's instincts (asking for LAWRENCE OF ARABIA music) were questionable. It's fine on the CD, but in the film, probably not the best score those scenes could have had.

It would have been very interesting to hear what Christopher Gordon would have done for these films. He was very keen to get the job, and wooed the filmmakers years ago when they got going.

Is there something you haven't told us about your 'day job'?

Pft, emo.