Recent Viewing Part IV

Do you, btw, know Young Mr Lincoln (1939), directed by John Ford with Henry Fonda starring as AL? I always found that a great film.

I mostly agree, I thought it was a really good film. I had no problems with all the dialogues and speeches, a joy to behold. DDL performance was fantastic. What a story too, unbelievable.

I wasn't quite that irritated, but basically your allergic reaction was akin to mine.

Williams coats it in amber. Great if you like to look at museum-coated nation-building dioramas, but it's almost anti-drama to score something this way now. There's too much wisdom in it, and every time it casts the tale in the past tense rather than as a set of actions that are happening (and still happening) now.

The other thing -- how did a film about this subject almost completely miss the potential to explore moral ambiguity? (Tommy Lee Jones' Thaddeus Stevens probably comes closest, but even that is simplistic. He gets to hold the amendment in bed the following night warmed by the glow of Williams' score, so his betrayal of conscience is pretty swiftly rewarded.)

You know what film blew goats? American Hustle! Utter trash!

-Erik-

I'll second that. The critical acclaim lavished upon American Hustle is one of life's greatest mysteries. Utterly mediocre in almost every way - other than the performances of Bale and Adams.

Just finished all 6 seasons of OZ. While the show was addictively good -- and unpredictable -- it was a bit on the misanthropic side. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love everything that goes against a typical Hollywood ending and such, but the amount of good people suffering or dying and the amount of antagonists surviving and gloating about it became a bit too much at some point.

It's an OK film, for sure, but it pales compares to Steve McQueen's previous films, IMO. It's more Hollywood and glossy and the dialogue is at times VERY literary; very "written".

Oh for fucks sake.

I'm not sure whether that's hilarious or just disappointing.

Hans Zimmer ripped off John Barry? Good man!

I don't like celebrity cameos either, always guaranteed to separate me from the film ( dare I whisper thin red line )

With those sort of stories in mind, I was impressed Ang Lee was allowed to reshoot Tobey Maguire's part in LIFE OF PI actually. (But maybe that bit of casting wasn't imposed from higher up.)

I saw the Swedish-Danish-German co-produced original series. Outstanding!

Volker

Well, there is an US remake, isn't it? I indeed assumed that British TV would rather show an English language production than an Swedish one with subs. Or did you aquire a taste for dubbings over there lately?

Volker

Where did you get the ideal Brit TV dubs it's foreign imports? It's always been subtitles as far back as I can remember.

"Angel City" (1980)


I skimmed through a good chunk of it, intent of hearing Mark Snow's score, one of his earliest efforts, so my review is based upon what I saw. The score turned out to be enjoyable with many cues worth, in my opinion, hearing apart from the film; too bad there's been no release.


This made-for-TV movie is very strong. It's well acted, carefully written and it maintains your interest, if you enjoy films with a slow pace that pays off at the end.

Jared and his family are driving across the country looking fora new place to live and they drive threw this small town with farms, little shacks selling fruits, small stores, etc.; kind of a small-town America from an era almost gone.

He quickly finds work is hard to find until one shop owner thinks he can get him a job picking, since the regular farm owners only want experienced pickers.

Things seem to be going well; the owner gives him a job, lets him have a small hole in the wall to live with his wife and two children, and provides them with food. The only monious sign: he locks everybody in so they can't get out. Desperate for work, he agrees to that term.

It goes well until payday when the boss ads up his wages and Jared owes him over $400 dollars; for fees never in advance told to him, for the room, food, a fee for bringing him to the farm and putting him to work.

Hr quickly befriends Cy (Paul Winfield) and learns of brutal pistol whipping, stealing of children to keep pickers in line, and other torments.

Everybody is too afraid to stay. Everybody is too afraid to leave.

With fear of death and their children's death, people fall into line, with the aid of two of the boss' lackies (one played by the late Red West).

Even the song made for the film, sung by somebody named Billy Preston, isn't that bad at all (reserved for the end credits). You know 1970's and early 1980's television movies always had these songs made for them and often they were terrible, crummy, or just bland and unremarkable; it's actually a joke still alive today in some circles.

Not a bad acor I saw and over all believable done.

I'd say it's worth your time. You'll have to deal with a poor quality Youtube load, since it's not been released:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhlLu_bwivE

I love History lessons ( well, except for the incredibly dull Lincoln ), what's the show called?