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Internet Message Format | 2002-02-28 | 78KB

From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Stephen King's ROSE RED - 2002 Date: 01 Feb 2002 12:04:57 -0800 (PST) *Small spoilers* *I'll add comments* with stars in front ! Marc ;-) ---------- > STEPHEN KING'S ROSE RED. Sunday, Monday and next Thursday > nights at 9, > ABC. > Be very bored. By David Bianculli > > ]"Stephen King's Rose Red," the new six-hour ABC > miniseries written by > King, is a haunted-house story that's told so slowly, > it's almost inert. ***** mmmmmmmm ... Yes, I watched the last part late last night ... wow, that 3rd episode was amazing, really scary and suspenseful, too bad the first two episodes weren't really exciting ... Why was this a 3 part mini-series ?? What could easily have been done would have been to make it a 2 part mini-series, combining the first two episodes that were a lil' *boring* and then following with the 3rd one that was top quality material (at least in part !) > > The climactic special effects are even worse, > guaranteeing that ù > should you last to the end ù the only screaming you'll be > doing is > with laughter. ****** I have to agree here, I was laughing sometimes in the last 10 minutes and I wasn't supposed to ... When that annoying mother grabbed her son by the neck and was choking him, was that funny or what ?? Hilarious material !! ;-) > > Since it will be much more efficient to isolate > the few good points of "Rose Red" (which begins Sunday at > 9, continuing > Monday and concluding Thursday at the same time), here > they are: > > Two special-effects scenes ù one involves water that > freezes, the > other involves a mirror that liquefies; both are > genuinely creepy. > > A scene from 'Red Rose' Only one performance is > compelling, despite a > large cast ù that of David Dukes, to whom "Rose Red" is > dedicated. > > The miniseries is dedicated to Dukes because he died of a > heart attack > during production (playing tennis, not on the set), > leaving much, but > not all, of his performance completed. King, producers > Thomas H. Brodek > and Robert F. Phillips and director Craig R. Baxley have > resourcefully > pieced together the elements of Dukes' final role into a > fairly coherent > and cohesive onscreen character. > > Having done that, it seems, the creative team had no > creativity left to > spare. > > "Rose Red" stars Nancy Travis as a psychology professor > obsessed with > both the paranormal and a haunted house in Seattle called > Rose Red. She > assembles a team of psychics and mental mavericks and > enters the house, > which has a history of murdering men, victimizing women > and doing its > own warped remodeling. > "Follow me," she tells her team, "and prepare to be > amazed." > > Unfortunately, she doesn't say that until the end of the > first two-hour > segment, when this team of ghost-hunting Scooby-Doos > finally reaches > Rose Red. Before that, there's more exposition than in a > doctoral thesis > (it's delivered just as dryly), and so many lapses in > logic and letdowns > in suspense that "Rose Red" qualifies as one of King's > worst efforts. ***** Oh man, when that religious lady was saying she wanted to go get ICED TEA in the middle of the night I was thinking it was highly ridiculous !! I mean who would do that ?? This is a house that is haunted with plenty of creepy ghosts and you're going to get iced tea all by yourself, almost in the dark, with only a lil' flashlight ?? I was thinking it must have been really good iced tea ..... lol ! ;-) > > Major flaws? Start with Travis, a good comic actress who > is miscast > here. It's hard to imagine any actress who could pull off > the scene in > which she smears Dukes' face with her own blood during a > temper tantrum, > but Travis certainly isn't the one. Other cast members > aren't worth > singling out at all. > > And while the set design is strong, the ghosts are > pathetic. Designed as > cadaverous animatronic puppets, they're about as > believable, and as > scary, as a house haunted by the Pirates of the > Caribbean. ****** Oh, I thought most of the times the ghosts were creepy ... maybe I am easily scared ! ;-) > > The 25th-anniversary "Roots" special on NBC recently > reminded us that a > generation ago, ABC executives scheduled it outside a > ratings period, > fearing they had a potential flop on their hands. Today's > ABC executives > are pulling a similar trick by launching "Stephen King's > Rose Red" > before the February sweeps. > > But this time, they're right. > > ******* Episode 1 = 2/5 Episode 2 = 2.5/5 Episode 3 = 3.5/5 ... it's a close call but with 2 episodes out of 3 being sub par, I can't give this series a positive rating ... 2.5/5 overall ! Cheers ! Marc ;-) ===== Joe Pesci : "Your Honor, I request the permission to treat Ms. Vito as a *hostile* witness ..." Marisa Tomei : "If you think I'm hostile now wait 'til you see me tonight !" Joe Pesci as "Vincent Gambini" and Marisa Tomei as "Mona Lisa Vito" - "My cousin Vinny" - 1992 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions! http://auctions.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Legally blonde - 2001 Date: 04 Feb 2002 20:38:13 -0800 (PST) Ok, quick review ! I enjoyed this film even if it never really *peaked* anywhere really ... I was thinking 3/5 from the first until the last minute actually, very watchable but it's really not a *must see* movie or a film that could be seen more than once every 10 years or so. I could see the twists and turns coming from a mile away. Rather predictable film ! Ms. Reese Witherspoon plays a lovely young blonde woman who is studying in California. I thought it was very amusing that all the girls in her sorrority (sp. ?) had long blonde hair (except for one that had short dark hair !) ;-) They all looked like different versions of her ! Reese is the president there and enjoying her popularity, everyone likes her, she's the star of the show, etc. Anyway she has a boyfriend and when the film opens she is getting prepared to go on a *big date* with him, she is certain he is going to ask her in marriage ... of course you know he won't and instead decides to break up with her saying that to be considered a serious contender in the political world he really needs to marry a *Jackie* and not a *Marilyn* ... To prove to him that she is not a dumb blonde like the stereotype she decides to try to go to Harvard Law School and become a lawyer, just like Mr. Jerk who just dumped her, this way he will take her seriously ... The whole time I was thinking, why does she want this CREEP ?? the guy almost had a huge neon sign on his forehead saying *JERK* ... It simply didn't make sense, I'm sorry !! Nobody would act like that in the REAL WORLD, if someone you care for treats you like dirt the way he did, how can you go out of your way to actually get back with him ?? Impossible !! This jerk should have been *karate chopped* right there in the restaurant I tell you ! (I would have liked that actually !!) The acting was appropriate, Ms. Witherspoon especially, I always like her, well, almost (Cruel intentions !) ;-) Some parts are rather amusing as Reeese is doing her best to impress her teachers and then she has her big day in court *surprise, surprise* ! I was imagining watching this film in a packed theater, if there had been a few FL in there (Frequent Laughers !) it would have been hard to sit through since there were several *mildly amusing* bits and I could imagined the FL's really letting me have it with their incessant and unnecessarely LOUD laughter ! 3/5, a good *little* film ! Marc ;-) ===== Joe Pesci : "Your Honor, I request the permission to treat Ms. Vito as a *hostile* witness ..." Marisa Tomei : "If you think I'm hostile now wait 'til you see me tonight !" Joe Pesci as "Vincent Gambini" and Marisa Tomei as "Mona Lisa Vito" - "My cousin Vinny" - 1992 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Lara Croft : Tomb Raider - 2001 Date: 05 Feb 2002 20:34:40 -0800 (PST) Ok, a quick word since it's late and I don't really feel like writing a long review for that one ! lol ! Well, I thought it was good *even* if I didn't care much for the story ... This film is a strange bird because I give it a positive rating, 3/5, even if I couldn't care less about the story, what Lara Croft was trying to do, etc. It's not explained very well in the film anyway so I guess the filmmakers didn't care about it either ! Mumbo jumbo about the search for two pieces of a triangle, a special *key*, etc. It's really not important anyway, so why try to explain it ? ;-) I was reminded of "The Matrix" sometimes because the film is good mostly because of the special effects, the stunts, the sound effects, etc. I was also thinking of "Mission impossible 2" another film with a so-so story but the action sequences *rock* so it's entertaining to watch ! Ms. Jolie was having fun kicking butts in the movie, handling guns ... I liked that actually, a *strong* girl, fighting the *evil doers* and other *creeps* she meets along the way ... There's even a neat lil' hand-to-hand combat near the end, good work ! She didn't have many lines though, a rather silent character ! She's *extra* curveous in that one too, wearing tight lil' outfits all the time, yeah, I knew I was being *played* but the video game character is like that as well, so I guess I didn't mind ! 3/5 Marc ;-) ===== Joe Pesci : "Your Honor, I request the permission to treat Ms. Vito as a *hostile* witness ..." Marisa Tomei : "If you think I'm hostile now wait 'til you see me tonight !" Joe Pesci as "Vincent Gambini" and Marisa Tomei as "Mona Lisa Vito" - "My cousin Vinny" - 1992 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Wade Snider <wsnider@brazoselectric.com> Subject: RE: [MV] Lara Croft : Tomb Raider - 2001 Date: 06 Feb 2002 08:10:44 -0600 This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ------_=_NextPart_001_01C1AF18.112DE1A0 Content-Type: text/plain The only things I liked about this movie were a couple of the set action pieces. I liked the intro, which was basically for the fans of the video game, and I liked the bit where she was hanging from the acrobat tether-thing and the ninja-lookin dudes bust into her house. I expected more from this movie, hoping for another Simon West guilty pleasure, like Con Air, but I just couldn't feel like Tomb Raider was even close to the cheesy fun of that flick. I agree that the script was crappola and a potentially fun movie was merely a construct for a heavy opening weekend, knowing that this movie was too bland for good word-of-mouth coverage or any repeat customers, and not even the teenage male crowd... > -----Original Message----- > From: Marc C. Desbiens [SMTP:marcdesbiens@yahoo.com] > Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 10:35 PM > To: Marc C. Desbiens > Subject: [MV] Lara Croft : Tomb Raider - 2001 > > > Ok, a quick word since it's late and I don't really feel > like writing a long review for that one ! lol ! > > Well, I thought it was good *even* if I didn't care much > for the story ... This film is a strange bird because I > give it a positive rating, 3/5, even if I couldn't care > less about the story, what Lara Croft was trying to do, > etc. It's not explained very well in the film anyway so > I guess the filmmakers didn't care about it either ! Mumbo > jumbo about the search for two pieces of a triangle, a > special *key*, etc. It's really not important anyway, so > why try to explain it ? ;-) > > I was reminded of "The Matrix" sometimes because the film > is good mostly because of the special effects, the stunts, > the sound effects, etc. I was also thinking of "Mission > impossible 2" another film with a so-so story but the > action sequences *rock* so it's entertaining to watch ! > > Ms. Jolie was having fun kicking butts in the movie, > handling guns ... I liked that actually, a *strong* girl, > fighting the *evil doers* and other *creeps* she meets > along the way ... There's even a neat lil' hand-to-hand > combat near the end, good work ! She didn't have many > lines though, a rather silent character ! > > She's *extra* curveous in that one too, wearing tight lil' > outfits all the time, yeah, I knew I was being *played* but > the video game character is like that as well, so I guess > I didn't mind ! > > 3/5 > > Marc ;-) > > ===== > Joe Pesci : "Your Honor, I request the permission to > treat Ms. Vito as a *hostile* witness ..." > Marisa Tomei : "If you think I'm hostile now wait 'til > you see me tonight !" > > Joe Pesci as "Vincent Gambini" and Marisa Tomei > as "Mona Lisa Vito" - "My cousin Vinny" - 1992 > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! > http://greetings.yahoo.com > > [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] > [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------_=_NextPart_001_01C1AF18.112DE1A0 Content-Type: text/html Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=3D"text/html; = charset=3Dus-ascii"> <META NAME=3D"Generator" CONTENT=3D"MS Exchange Server version = 5.5.2654.45"> <TITLE>RE: [MV] Lara Croft : Tomb Raider - 2001</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> The only things I = liked about this movie were a couple of the set action pieces. I liked = the intro, which was basically for the fans of the video game, and I = liked the bit where she was hanging from the acrobat tether-thing and = the ninja-lookin dudes bust into her house. I expected more from this = movie, hoping for another Simon West guilty pleasure, like Con Air, but = I just couldn't feel like Tomb Raider was even close to the cheesy fun = of that flick. I agree that the script was crappola and a potentially = fun movie was merely a construct for a heavy opening weekend, knowing = that this movie was too bland for good word-of-mouth coverage or any = repeat customers, and not even the teenage male crowd... <UL> -----Original Message----- From: Marc C. Desbiens = [SMTP:marcdesbiens@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 10:35 PM To: Marc C. Desbiens Subject: = [MV] Lara Croft : Tomb Raider - = 2001 Ok, a quick word since it's late and I = don't really feel like writing a long review for that = one ! lol ! Well, I thought it was good *even* if = I didn't care much for the story ... This film is a = strange bird because I give it a positive rating, 3/5, even = if I couldn't care less about the story, what Lara Croft = was trying to do, etc. It's not explained very = well in the film anyway so I guess the filmmakers didn't care = about it either ! Mumbo jumbo about the search for two pieces = of a triangle, a special *key*, etc. It's really = not important anyway, so why try to explain it ? = ;-) I was reminded of "The = Matrix" sometimes because the film is good mostly because of the special = effects, the stunts, the sound effects, etc. I was = also thinking of "Mission impossible 2" another film with = a so-so story but the action sequences *rock* so it's = entertaining to watch ! Ms. Jolie was having fun kicking butts = in the movie, handling guns ... I liked that = actually, a *strong* girl, fighting the *evil doers* and other = *creeps* she meets along the way ... There's even a neat = lil' hand-to-hand combat near the end, good work = ! She didn't have many lines though, a rather silent = character ! She's *extra* curveous in that one = too, wearing tight lil' outfits all the time, yeah, I knew I = was being *played* but the video game character is like that = as well, so I guess I didn't mind ! 3/5 Marc ;-) =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Joe Pesci : = "Your Honor, I request the permission to &nb= sp; treat Ms. Vito as a *hostile* witness = ..." Marisa Tomei : "If you think I'm = hostile now wait 'til &nb= sp; you see me tonight !" Joe Pesci as "Vincent = Gambini" and Marisa Tomei as "Mona Lisa Vito" - = "My cousin Vinny" - 1992 __________________________________________________= Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with = Yahoo! Greetings! <A = HREF=3D"http://greetings.yahoo.com" = TARGET=3D"_blank">http://greetings.yahoo.com</A> [ To leave the movies mailing list, = send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) = to = majordomo@xmission.com &n= bsp; ] </UL> </BODY> </HTML> ------_=_NextPart_001_01C1AF18.112DE1A0-- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Der Tunnel (2001) Date: 07 Feb 2002 21:07:20 -0800 (PST) Ok, I saw this top quality GERMAN film tonight ... All I have to say is "WOW !" ... This is probably the best film I've seen in the past 3-4 years, I haven't checked the "stats" yet but it's close to a Top 10 of all times movie for me ... Simple story of a couple of friends who are in East Germany in the early 1960's just as they are building the BERLIN wall ... They both want to go to the west side of the wall before the security is beefed up of course. They succeed in doing that, always being afraid of getting caught ... The problem is they are not able to bring their loved ones over there at the same time ... They are separated. One of the men leaves his pregnant wife and the other leaves his sister and her lil' girl (He is very attached to her since she helped him get out of prison in the past.) Anyway they are thinking about it and decide the best way to get all those people out is to dig a tunnel that would go under the wall ... They start in an old abandoned factory on the west side and then they dig ... they dig ... they dig ... 20 feet deep ... and then they have to go 400 feet straight right underneath the feet of the soldiers guarding the wall ... At first they are only 4 involved in the project but later on they need more people so they end up being 15 people working on this ... We get to meet at least 10 characters who are so interesting they all could have their own movie ... Very intense film, a good part is shot in the tunnel they are digging, etc. Incredible action, lots of tension as they are always afraid of being discovered, this goes on for months as digging such a long tunnel using simple tools is really long and difficult as you can imagine. The actors were terrific, cracking dialogues ... This was a made for TV film in Germany, the running time is 2 hours 37 minutes but it actually seemed short, I thought it was PURE FILMMAKING in any case, highly intriguing material all the way through, hand held cameras, shaky images, digging in the tunnel, flooding ... In German with subtitles ... People were clapping and cheering at the end, and I was TOO !! Unless there's a miracle this one should be my #1 film for 2001. 5/5 ===== Marc ;-) "You want the kid to die for your own personal reasons !" Henry Fonda as "Juror #8" - "12 angry men" (1957) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] NAKED GOLD GUY FINAL RESULTS / OSCAR PREDICTIONS Date: 11 Feb 2002 13:32:44 -0800 (PST) ***** ;-) --- Matt Easterbrook wrote: > Well, the votes are tallied and, I have to tell you, > there were a few > really great races in the Naked Gold Guy Awards this > year. Moulin Rouge > and Lord Of The Rings, to no surprise, were pretty much > even in the > final tally, with Baz Luhrmann's musical garnering 6 wins > and Peter > Jackson's epic notching up 5 victories. Here, then, is a > run-down of > each and every category, along with my predictions for > who will ACTUALLY > be nominated for Oscars: > > BEST PICTURE: > MOULIN ROUGE ... > -- ... but just barely. This was the closest category > I've ever seen in > the history of the Naked Gold Guy Awards. Moulin Rouge > got 25% of the > votes, followed by Memento, which had 24%, and Mulholland > Drive, which > 22% of you chose. The two odds-on-favorite to win best > picture at this > year's Oscars, A Beautiful Mind and Lord Of The Rings, > got 13 and 16% of > the votes respectively. > > Come Oscar time, I think it's fair to say ABM, LOTR and > Moulin Rouge > will get best picture nods, but I'm going out on a limb > and saying the > final two will be Black Hawk Down (which did very poorly > in the Naked > Gold Guys) and a fifth, more family-friendly, nominee > (I'm thinking > either Harry Potter or Shrek). Everybody loved them, and > Shrek in > particular has so many in-jokes that Hollywood types will > probably love > it to pieces. I certainly hope In The Bedroom and > Gosford Park don't, > as has been predicted, get anything here. > > BEST DIRECTOR (tie): > Peter Jackson, THE LORD OF THE RINGS > Baz Luhrmann, MOULIN ROUGE > -- Jackson and Luhrmann each got 27% of the votes, with > Lynch and Nolan > close behind. Poor Steven Spielberg, whose career has > been made on > popularity contests like this one, got a lackluster 5% of > votes. > Replace Spielberg with Ron Howard and Lynch with Robert > Altman (even > though I didn't particularly care for his movie or his > direction, he's > like 725 years old so the Academy figures they'll have to > honor him in > some way), and you have your slate for best director come > tomorrow. > > BEST ACTOR: > Russell Crowe, A BEAUTIFUL MIND > -- The Krazy Kiwi walked away with this one. Crowe > wasn't even > nominated for best actor in the Naked Gold Guys last > year, but judging > from the results here, that must have been a fluke. He > got 35% of the > popular vote, and his closest competitors, Ewan McGregor > and John > Cameron Mitchell, had half his total. > > Look for Crowe to clean up at the Oscars. His main > competition there > should be Denzel Washington, who surprisingly finished > last here. The > other three potential nominees will be Tom Wilkinson (the > only good > thing about In The Bedroom), Sean Penn (retards always > get nominated), > and Billy Bob Thornton in The Man Who Wasn't There. If > Moulin Rouge -- > like I'm hoping it will -- sweeps up on the Oscar > nominations, you might > see Ewan McGregor replace somebody here (probably > Thornton). And if > Gene Hackman is nominated, there's no justice in this > world. > > BEST ACTRESS: > Nicole Kidman, MOULIN ROUGE > -- Nicole's closest competition here was herself, as she > got 57% of > votes in this category (32% for Moulin Rouge, 25% for The > Others). > Needless to say, that isn't going to happen at the > Oscars, as stupid > Academy rules dictate that a person can only be nominated > in a specific > category once each year. I'd put my money on Nicole > getting nominated > for Moulin Rouge. Although Swinton and Watts deserve to > be nominated, > they are both considered long shots, so Nicole may be the > only NGG > nominee to make it to the Oscar ceremony. > > Sissy Spacek is definitely in (she's the front-runner to > win), so that > makes two. Other than that, it's up in the air. I've > heard much about > Judi Dench's performance in Iris, so she has to be > considered up there. > Halle Berry, Miss Hit-And-Run 2000, might score a > nomination if Oscar > can get over its prejudice towards black actresses (the > last nominee in > this category was Angela Bassett in 1993; before that, > Whoopi Goldberg > in 1985. Come to think of it, those were in 8-year > intervals, so seeing > as 2001 is next on the list, maybe you will see a sister > in the seats > come Oscar time). And look for the Academy to make > amends to Renee > Zellweger for skipping over her Nurse Betty performance > last year (plus, > Oscar loves Americans who do British accents). > > BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: > Ian McKellen, THE LORD OF THE RINGS > -- McKellen pretty much took the bull by the horns here; > his closest > competitors, Seann William Scott and Jude Law, only got > four more votes > combined than the master thespian achieved by himself. > No chance of > Stifler getting a golden-statue-shower at this year's > Oscars, though. > McKellen is a sure bet, as is Broadbent (for a different > film, Iris). > It's also possible Christensen could be on the list for > Life As A > House. Look for Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast) and Jon Voight > -- the only > white guy in a movie about a black guy (Ali) -- to fill > out the slate > (you know how Oscar works). > > BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: > Jennifer Connelly, A BEAUTIFUL MIND > -- Connelly cleaned house here, and not just because her > character was a > stay-at-home mom. NGG voters clearly loved her > performance in A > Beautiful Mind. She scored more notches on her > awards-post than Cate > Blanchett, Carrie-Anne Moss and Frances O'Connor. She > even had > two-and-a-half times more votes than her closest > competitor, Laura Elena > Harring. Connelly is the only sure shot for Oscar > consideration in this > category. Blanchett definitely won't get a nod, Moss and > O'Connor are > highly doubtful, and Harring's -- while the best > performance of the > bunch -- is in a movie that's too esoteric for highbrow > Academy tastes. > What does that mean, you ask? Grab your dictionary and > you'll find out > it means the movie is too fucked up for anal-retentive > snobs. And > that's all I have to say about that. > > Who will get a nod here, then? Judging from recent > awards shows, pretty > much everybody in Gosford Park is up for consideration. > Although Maggie > Smith and Helen Mirren have been getting much of the > sparkling reviews, > I thought it was Kelly McDonald that held the piece > together, but two > things work against her: a) she's not ancient, decrepit > and > disintegrating rapidly like the other two, and b) she > ain't British > (she's Scottish). So, Smith and Mirren it is. That > leaves two > performances open. Marisa Tomei will probably get a nod > (although I > didn't much care for her work, let alone that damn In The > Bedroom > movie). And while everyone keeps going on about Kate > Winslet in Iris -- > I haven't seen it but I'm a huge Winslet fan and would be > happy if she > was nominated -- don't be surprised to see her Iris > castmate Judi Dench > get recognition for a different film: The Shipping News. > > BEST SCREENPLAY > Christopher Nolan, MEMENTO > -- Nolan got twice as many votes as everybody else > combined, and then > some. Need I say more? As for the Oscars, he's a lock > for a nomination > for best adapted screenplay (other contenders include A > Beautiful Mind, > Lord Of The Rings, Bridget Jones' Diary, and Black Hawk > Down). For > original screenplay, I'm sure Gosford Park will get a > nomination (even > though it was improvised), along with The Man Who Wasn't > There, The > Others, and probably -- unfortunately -- The Royal > Tenenbaums). People > have mistakenly considered Memento an original screenplay > contender, but > it was based on a short story by Nolan's brother. As for > Moulin Rouge, > it could get a nomination -- if it's an original > screenplay. I have a > feeling that, since there has already been a film version > of Moulin > Rouge made, it may fall under adapted screenplay -- but > I'm not quite > sure about that one. Then there's the Mulholland Drive > conundrum: it > was originally a TV series pilot which was then turned > into a motion > picture -- so is it an original or adapted screenplay? > Guess we'll find > out tomorrow (then again, it's David Lynch, so we may > not, either). > > BEST SCORE > Craig Armstrong, MOULIN ROUGE > -- To be honest, I was sort of shocked that Armstrong's > score garnered > so many votes (twice as much as its nearest competitors). > Because, > frankly, I remember practically nothing of Moulin Rouge's > score -- its > song, yes; its score, not really. I was expecting Howard > Shore's epic > scoring of LOTR to walk away with this one but whoops ... > I was wrong > there! Angelo Badalamenti's moody treatment for > Mulholland Drive also > got more votes than expected. But poor John Williams!!! > His two > nominated scores, for Harry Potter and AI, got five votes > in total, > combined. So much for being a legend! > > Nevertheless, it's safe to count Williams as being one of > the nominees > come Oscar-time (the Academy Awards could rename its > "Best Musical > Score" category the "John Williams Award For Scoring" and > nobody would > blink an eyelash). Probably for Harry Potter but then > again, since > Williams has been nominated for almost every single movie > he's done with > Spielberg, it could be AI as well. Shore is a definite > lock, and > Armstrong stands a strong chance of getting a nod as > well. I could see > James Horner getting a nod here for A Beautiful Mind, and > don't be > surprised if a fifth nominee comes out of left field > (perhaps Gosford > Park). > > BEST SONG > "Wig In A Box," HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. Performed by > John Cameron > Mitchell. > -- Good job, guys!!! Although "Come What May" is from > one of my > favorite movies of the year, nothing in the category had > me tapping my > toes and singing along with the movie quite like "Wig In > A Box." Hell, > it even had the words up there on the screen for the > audience to sing > along!!! Unfortunately, the chances of it being > nominated are > practically nil. It's a song about being a drag queen, > for Christ's > sakes!!! > > Oscar prefers their best song choices safe and very Top > 40. Meaning > Enya and Faith Hill are sure locks for their theme songs > from LOTR and > Pearl Harbor, respectively. That leaves three spots > open, one of which > will not be "Come What May" (which was deemed ineligible > because it was > written originally for Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet five > years ago). Look > for the academy to recognize Paul McCartney for "Vanilla > Sky" and Sting > for "Until..." from Kate & Leopold. As for the fifth > nominee, I'm gonna > go with that Charlotte Church song from A Beautiful Mind. > I have no > idea if it's original or not, but ABM is an obvious Oscar > favorite, and > Charlotte Church is an opera singer whom everyone loves , > so ... there > you go. Josie & The Pussycats? I don't think so. My > personal choice > would by Afroman's "Because I Got High" but like I said > before, it's a > little too out there for the hoity-toity academy. > > BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY > Andrew Lesnie, THE LORD OF THE RINGS > -- This was pretty much down to the wire between Lesnie > and Donald > McAlpine of Moulin Rouge, with Roger Deakins' marvelous > work for The Man > Who Wasn't There a distant third. I think the category > come Oscar time > will be much the same as you guys chose, with maybe Black > Hawk Down or > The Others replacing Mulholland Drive. > > BEST ART DIRECTION > Catherine Martin, MOULIN ROUGE > -- Martin got 52% of the votes here; her only competitor > was Grant Major > from LOTR, and he was far behind. Look for both movies > to be nominated > in almost every single technical category come Tuesday > morning. As for > the other three nominations here, look for A Beautiful > Mind, Gosford > Park and The Others to show up here (with maybe AI > replacing The > Others). > > BEST COSTUME DESIGN > Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie, MOULIN ROUGE > -- Another showdown between Moulin Rouge and LOTR (the > cast of which was > clothed by Ngila Dickson), with Arianna Phillips of > Hedwig & The Angry > Inch coming in a rather close third. Those three are > pretty much locks > for costume design (although I didn't think the costumes > in LOTR were > all that special, to tell you the truth). Beavan's work > in Gosford Park > looks like a definite lock, and for the fifth and final > slot, I'm > thinking it'll either be Pearl Harbor or Harry Potter > (with perhaps Kate > & Leopold taking a surprise slot). > > BEST MAKEUP > PLANET OF THE APES > -- Gee, I wasn't expecting this (it's called sarcasm, > people). POTA is > the hands-down favorite to win this category this year > (and, much like > John Williams and the music awards, AMPAS should > seriously consider > naming the makeup category the "Rick Baker Award for > Prestige in Makeup > Design"). Its only competitor was LOTR, which seems > likely to get a > nomination. For the third and final slot (makeup, > special effects and > sound effects editing only get three choices each), I'm > thinking it'll > be Shallow Hal. Gotta give Gwyneth Paltrow something, ya > know. > > BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS > LORD OF THE RINGS > -- 69% of all votes cast resulted in a huge victory for > LOTR's multiple > effects. I gotta agree with you guys -- the special > effects work here > was wonderful. As for the other potential nominees, I'm > thinking Pearl > Harbor will get its token nod here, along with Harry > Potter and the > Philosopher's Stone. > > BEST SOUND EFFECTS EDITING > LORD OF THE RINGS > -- The film had a little bit of competition from Pearl > Harbor and Moulin > Rouge (its two likely competitors in this category come > tomorrow morning > -- that is, if Black Hawk Down doesn't reap all the > technical awards), > but ultimately prevailed, winning 38% of the popular vote > (enough to get > it into the presidency!!!). > > BEST SOUND > MULHOLLAND DRIVE > -- A bit of an upset, but then again, this was the most > hotly-contested > category of all. Mulholland had one more vote than its > TWO runners-up, > LOTR and Pearl Harbor; and it had two more votes than the > fourth-place > contestant, Moulin Rouge. And all the way down there at > the bottom, > with absolutely no votes cast in its favor, is AI. Come > Oscar time, you > can bet your bottom dollar Pearl Harbor, LOTR and Moulin > Rouge will be > there. There's a slight chance Mulholland Drive will get > a nod here, > but I'd expect it to go to something more familiar, like > Harry Potter or > Black Hawk Down. Come to think of it, that's five right > there. I'll > stop now. Moving on ... > > BEST EDITING > Dody Dorn, MEMENTO > -- Dorn's only competition here was Pietro Scalia for > Black Hawk Down > (oddly enough, the only category in which you guys > nominated it). I > would definitely expect these two in the final running, > along with LOTR > and Moulin Rouge of course (and for my fifth and final > choice, I will > nominate A Beautiful Mind). > > So, before we get onto the fun categories, let's recap a > bit. Here is > the way you guys voted: > > FILM WINS > Moulin Rouge 6 > Lord Of The Rings 5 > A Beautiful Mind 2 > Memento 2 > Hedwig And The Angry Inch 1 > Planet Of The Apes 1 > Mulholland Drive 1 > > And here are my predictions for Oscar nominations come > tomorrow: > > FILM > NOMINATIONS > Lord Of The Rings 14 > Moulin Rouge 11 > A Beautiful Mind 9 > Gosford Park 7 > Black Hawk Down 6 > Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone 5 > In The Bedroom 3 > The Man Who Wasn't There 3 > Memento > 3 > Pearl Harbor > 3 > > Now, on to the fun stuff ... > > BEST VILLAIN > The Dark Horsemen, THE LORD OF THE RINGS > -- The nine evil horsemen rode off with the award, with > only Denzel > Washington able to keep up for any length of time. My > personal > favorite, The Duke from Moulin Rouge (Richard Roxburgh), > finished dead > last. Whoops! > > BEST YOUNG PERFORMER > Haley Joel Osment, AI: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE > -- Harry Potter got creamed in this category, only > getting four points. > He finished last to a jedi knight (Christensen), a midget > (Wood), a dead > person (Bentley), and a kid who sees dead people > (Osment). No Muggles > in sight, however. The winner, Osment, triumphed for the > third year in > a row. If he wins again next year I'll name this > category after him, > and you can choose the new name: either "The Haley Joel > Osment Award > for Juvenile Excellence in Acting," or "I See Dead > Careers Five Years > From Now." > > BEST ONSCREEN COUPLE > Ewan McGregor & Nicole Kidman, MOULIN ROUGE > -- No real surprise here. The two lovebirds' closest > competitors for > best onscreen couple were were an animated ogre and his > literal beast of > burden. Just goes to prove that to win this category, > all you need is > love, along with a great script, wonderful direction and > marvelous > production values. A 20-song medley atop a giant > elephant doesn't hurt, > either. > > BEST ANIMAL > Teddy, AI: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE > -- But just bearly :o). I found it funny that the top > two votegetters > were actually not real animals at all but a robot and a > cartoon. In > fact, I was all set to make a comment about the winner > kicking Donkey's > ass in this category, but seeing as Eddie Murphy's > wonderful animated > creation finished second, just a couple of votes behind > Teddy, that > wouldn't really work in this case. At any rate, I'll > just say it was a > beary good year (hey, work with me here). > > BEST SCENE FROM A FILM > The Mines Of Moria, LORD OF THE RINGS > -- This was a really close call, as only nine votes > separated the winner > from the fifth place position (the cellar dweller was the > Quidditch > match from Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone, which > garnered only > 7% of the votes). The Mines of Moria got 22% of the > votes, followed by > Spectacular Spectacular from Moulin Rouge (which got 20%; > although, to > be fair, the two nominees from Luhrmann's film may have > split each > other's vote, as the Elephant Love Medley finished fifth > with 15% of the > votes). Third place went to the attack on Pearl Harbor > (19%) and the > botched murder scene from Mulholland Drive finished much > stronger than I > was expecting, with 17% of all votes cast. > > WORST MOVIE > GLITTER > -- Oh, come on now. Did y'all really see this film, or > was the > opportunity to hound Mariah Carey too irresistible? > Whatever the case, > 47% of you thought Glitter was a piece of Shitter -- > almost twice as > much as the second-biggest turd in the ocean, Vanilla > Sky. And with > that in mind, > > WORST PERFORMANCE > Mariah Carey, GLITTER > -- the race here was a little bit closer than the > previous category. > Carey still won out -- or should I say, lost out -- in > the end, but she > was given a run for her money by the horribly over-rated > media sensation > Penelope Cruz, whose performance in Vanilla Sky was > pretty much on Cruz > control. Just for the record, my man FPJ (Freddie Prinze > Jr) got 14% of > the voting. Look for him in this category next year for > Scooby-Doo. > > > > And that pretty much wraps everything up. Now you can > all wake up and > shrug off the coma this long diatribe induced. Stay > tuned in a few > weeks for my Oscar prediction column, in which I make > four separate > predictions for each category: who I want to win, who > will win, who > should win, and who was screwed over in the voting > process. > > Matt Easterbrook > matte@istar.ca > ===== Marc ;-) "You want the kid to die for your own personal reasons !" Henry Fonda as "Juror #8" - "12 angry men" (1957) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Jurassic Park 3 (2001) Date: 11 Feb 2002 18:27:17 -0800 (PST) Ok, I just saw this film ... Classic case of a big budget movie with a story that goes *nowhere* (Seinfeld reference !) ;-( The story was ridiculous, who thought of this ?? I think I could sit down at the kitchen table and come up with something more interesting in 20 minutes flat. The characters were silly and annoying (I was actually ROOTING for the dinosaurs when they were going after TEA LEONI ! "GET HER !!!" ) The film is saved from a complete disaster due to a few good action scenes and good CGI work. I was surprised how bad it was actually ... I thought the first Jurassic Park film was excellent (4/5), the 2nd one was average (2.5/5) and this one is even more mediocre, I was even starting to think of going down to 1.5/5 near the end but the filmmakers were kind enough not to make this 3rd movie too long ... only 87 minutes ! (seemed rather long in part though cos' I was rather bored in the "slow parts") I didn't care for the characters so there was no *emotional impact* when they were in danger. Tea Leoni, what was she doing in that film besides yelling "Errrrrrrrrrrrrrric !!!!!!" every 10 seconds ?? Incredible ! Who thought of this character ? I was thinking Jeff Goldblum was annoying in the previous films, especially the 2nd one, but it would almost be a pleasure to have watched him in this 3rd one instead of this out of control Tea Leoni ! There were too many times when the dinosaurs were right *there* ready to kill all those buggers and then something would happen that would prevent the massacre ... At least 4-5 times, so by the end you just *knew* they wouldn't get killed, impossible ... they could have done anything and would have come up on top anyway. A *low* 2/5 ! ===== Marc ;-) "You want the kid to die for your own personal reasons !" Henry Fonda as "Juror #8" - "12 angry men" (1957) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] When strangers appear - 2001 Date: 13 Feb 2002 15:44:20 -0800 (PST) I saw this film last night, quick review since it's not really worth watching anyway ! I saw the trailer for this and actually thought it could be a good lil' thriller ... it turned out not to be very intriguing in general. Radha Mitchell (Pitch black, High art) plays a waitress in a diner, one day as she gets to the restaurant she finds a suspicious young man is waiting for her ... he acts in a bizarre way and seems to have been beaten up, bruised face, etc. Anyway minutes later 3 guys arrive and as soon as he sees them the young man tells her that they are the one who beat him up and hides out in the kitchen, asking for her help ... Mumbo jumbo about a CD_ROM that contains important information, the young man has it and the 3 thugs will do anything to get it back ... Radha is caught in the crossfire (literally !) when she gets a hold of the CD_ROM ... Anyway the films starts off well but then degenerates slowly but surely along the way, multiple twists in the 2nd half that were making me roll my eyes back ... It's a shame to see a talented lil' cutie like Radha Mitchell in such a mess actually, falls apart in the last third, the last 10 minutes are actually ridiculous ! 2/5 ===== Marc ;-) "You want the kid to die for your own personal reasons !" Henry Fonda as "Juror #8" - "12 angry men" (1957) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Kubrick / Paradise lost 2 Date: 14 Feb 2002 14:46:24 -0800 (PST) - Stanley Kubrick : A life in pictures - 2001 - 3.5/5, very good documentary about Stanley Kubrick, a recap of all his films, anecdotes and observations made by a lot of different stars/actors/directors who worked with him or simply admired his work ... Jack Nicholson, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Sydney Pollack, and many more ! Narrated by Tom Cruise ... It's great to watch if you liked most of his films of course, we get to see home movies, lots of photographs taken on the sets, etc. Kubrick was VERY hard to work with, Pollack describes a very simple scene where he had to go to a door, open it and greet Tom Cruise that was arriving (In Eyes wide shut) it took 3 WEEKS to shoot that ! Kubrick was never satisfied and driving people nutz, a REAL perfectionnist ! We even get to see him yelling at Shelley Duvall on the set of THE SHINING accusing her of "wasting everyone's time" ! ... phew ! - Paradise lost 2 : revelations (1999) .. Documentary about 3 young men convicted of having killed 3 young boys in Arkansas. It's a sequel that was made after new evidence has been unvovered, (teeth marks on one of the victims !) ... So the defense wants the trio to get new trials (Their teeth marks don't match with the evidence and that should of course have been presented at the first trial ...) We get to see the father of one of the boys that is still the prime suspect in the mind of several people of course (Especially since he had his teeth removed in 1997 and he has all sorts of different explanations for that too !) *winking* .. not to mention his wife died in mysterious circumstances as well a couple of years after the first trial ... It was very good but not as good as the original documentary of course, a lil' repetitive in part as the accused father is yelling that he is innocent and that all those "sons of bitches" who accuse him can all "go to hell" ! We see the accused, their families, a group that is dedicated to freeing the boys as well ... 3.5/5 ===== Marc ;-) "You want the kid to die for your own personal reasons !" Henry Fonda as "Juror #8" - "12 angry men" (1957) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain - 2001 Date: 15 Feb 2002 10:50:25 -0800 (PST) I saw this film last night and I really liked it, a solid 3.5/5 ! Very good film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet who destroyed the Alien series with the terrible "Alien : Resurection" ... Oh well, at least it proves he should stick to films like "Amelie" and leave the big Hollywood Blockbusters to Bruckheimer, Michael Bay and co. I thought "Amelie" was a very cute film, amazing visuals, plenty of intriguing lil' bits, the film is very re-watchable too because there are so many lil' details here and there it's almost overwhelming. Simple story of a young French woman, Amelie Poulain is played extremely well by Audrey Tautou (although sometimes during the film I was thinking EMILY WATSON, the lovely British actress would have been just as good (The role was written for her originally but her french wasn't good enough to make it plausible she would be a *true* French woman ... The director then saw the poster for Audrey's previous film "Venus Beauty Institut" and as soon as he saw Audrey's innocent lil' face there he knew she would be prefect in this role ... Apparently the first time they met to discuss the project he had to leave the room after 15 seconds because he was weeping like a baby, he was just overwhelmed because he knew he had found *his* Amelie. I appreciated the story, how Amelie was trying to improve the lives of the people around her ... even sometimes being naughty such as when she steals a silly lil' statue from her father's garden, looked like a miniature Santa Clause with a big pointy (a-la GANDALF) red hat ! (I would like to have a statue like that actually, looked pretty good to me !) This is what I call ART ! ;-) She works in a small coffee shop and we get to meet all the regulars, the other waitresses, the customers, her friends, the people who live in her building, lots of quirky characters, she plays lil' tricks on all of them which leads to plenty of amusing/touching situations ... One day she sees a cute young man and it's love at first sight but she is quite shy and runs away ... She can't stop thinking about him though and ... well ... it's better not to reveal too much ! ;-) 3.5/5 for this very *cute* FRENCH film that makes you smile often from the beginning until the end. ===== Marc ;-) "You want the kid to die for your own personal reasons !" Henry Fonda as "Juror #8" - "12 angry men" (1957) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Got something to say? Say it better with Yahoo! Video Mail http://mail.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Moulin Rouge Date: 18 Feb 2002 19:10:40 -0800 (PST) ****** I'll add comments ! ;-) --- Barbara wrote: > Moulin Rouge (2001) is a movie that really deserves to be > seen in a > theater. ****** Well, I disagree because I would have thought the whole time the movie didn't deserve the full price of a movie ticket, or even half price ... I thought it was worth about 1$ in fact, a 2/5 film. If this movie wins the "Best picture" award it'll be a repeat of 1998 when the same type of overrated film won (Shakespeare in love) If last year hadn't been the year of Harry > Potter and Gandalf, > this flick would have been a shoo-in for best set design, > costumes, > editing, photography, etc. ****** I agree the costumes were great, the make up jobs ... etc. Visually the film is very impressive, it's the story that was only mildly interesting to me and atleast 5 different characters were annoying as hell on top of that, especially during the first 30-40 minutes of the film where lots of people were running and screaming, acting all goofy-la-la, I was thinking half the people on the screen should have been put on RITALIN as soon as possible, not to mention the director and the editor that were going nutz. So many multidimensional > images are screamed > at one from the screen you spend a lot of the movie > clutching your seat > just to hold on. ****** I was holding on, but only because I was feeling like laying down on the couch and taking a lil' nap ... ;-) > > MR is the tale of Satine, a doomed courtesan (i.e., a > high-priced > hooker) and the bohemian young writer who becomes her > secret lover in > 1899. The Duke (of what, we never know, and although > he's played as a > Brit he seems more like a Prussian) wants Satine and > agrees to finance a > new show for the struggling Moulin Rouge theater if he > can have her. No > problem, ays the owner. ***** What is so great about a guy wrapped in a white blanket singing the "Like a virgin" lyrics while a bunch of waiters are hopping around, dancing, etc. I couldn't believe my eyes in part watching that film, we even had old *geezers* singing a Nirvana tune .... oh please ! > > After a lengthy and over-the-top introduction to these > characters and > their situations, the action gets down to the writing and > rehearsal of > the show. One bizarre and strangely beautiful scene has > the stars > singing snatches of love songs from the late 20th > century, and even Paul > McCartney's "Silly Love Songs" has finally found a place > in the world of > music. ***** Yes, I liked some of the song, Kidman and McGregor were good ... doing their best with what they were working with ... > > Satine is doomed, of course, as she has tuberculosis, and > she dies on > her long-awaited opening night, just as the show ends. > (This is not a > spoiler.) > > Like most musicals, Moulin Rouge has a heart of gold and > is as light as > a soufflΘ. If the action weren't paced so fast and the > images so strong > it would would dawn on one fairly quickly that there > isn't much here. > As it is, one becomes mesmerized. ****** I dislike musicals in general and this one was no exception, I managed to sit all the way through it though, even if I was almost sure I wouldn't like it after seeing only the first 10 minutes. I prefer more dark and disturbing musicals like "Dancer in the dark" from Lars von Trier for example. > > What truly keeps the movie afloat is the superb casting > and acting in > every role. Ewan MacGregor and Nicole Kidman play the > young lovers and > deliver flawless performances. > > You'll hate this movie if you don't like musicals, but if > you do like > the genre, this is fun. > > Moulin Rouge (2001) - 3.5/5 > > Barbara ***** 2/5 seems more appropriate ! Cheers ! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games http://sports.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mel Eperthener <bcassidy@usaor.net> Subject: Re: [MV] Moulin Rouge Date: 20 Feb 2002 14:30:49 -0500 At 07.10 PM 18-02-02 -0800, Marc C. Desbiens wrote: >****** Well, I disagree because I would have thought the >whole time the movie didn't deserve the full price of a >movie ticket, or even half price ... I thought it was worth >about 1$ in fact, a 2/5 film. If this movie wins the "Best >picture" award it'll be a repeat of 1998 when the same type >of overrated film won (Shakespeare in love) I gotta say I was surprised to hear you say this, Marc. And, ironically, I was meaning to ask you what you thought of this. I thought this would be your type of movie, to be honest. But it does prove what I have been saying all along, there is no middle ground with this movie, you either love it or hate hate hate it:-) And I am being literal here. I have heard no one say "Oh, it wasn't bad" or "It was alright", people either praise this movie without end (like me) or simply could not tolerate it (like you). And this goes across gender lines, taste in other movies, or any fact that normally influences what a person might think of a movie. My next question after getting an opinion on Moulin Rouge is to ask what you thought of Strictly Ballroom. But this does allow me to segue into another topic, and ask what your top movies for 2001 are. After long thought (and I might not even be able to find ten movies that I have yet seen that are good enough to mention), I have come up with the following. I have given the number one position a lot of thought, and did find one movie I liked even better than Moulin Rouge. Normally, you start at the bottom and work your way up, but I will start at the top, because I still don't know how many movies are worth mentioning yet:-) 1 - The Anniversary Party (Marc, I think you would really like this movie, and it might even make up for the bad taste Moulin Rouge left in your mouth. Made under Dogma 95 rules, and very reminiscent of my favourite movie of all time, The Big Chill) 2 - Moulin Rouge 3 - A Beautiful Mind 4 -Memento 5- The Crimson Rivers (French film, only available dubbed in the States, due to a processing error in the subtitled version. The French version was subtitled in Spanish) 6 - Legally Blonde 7 - Curse of the Jade Scorpion 8 - Bridget Jones' Diary 9 - A Knight's Tale 10 - Rat Race Yes, the bottom of that list was definitely "reaching". Additionally, there are a number of films that I have not seen yet that I am sure that will displace some on the bottom. And I thought about listing films such as The Dish, but of course that was a 2000 release. Regards, --Mel Mel Eperthener Lizard Of Oz Video Gowanna MultiMedia Pty, Inc 1700 Mt Royal Blvd PO Box 95184 Glenshaw, PA 15116 Pittsburgh, PA 15223 (412) 684-1400 John Travolta says he's considering hiring bomb-sniffing dogs... ... For his mail or for his film scripts...? [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Moulin Rouge Date: 21 Feb 2002 07:00:41 -0800 (PST) --- Mel Eperthener > > I gotta say I was surprised to hear you say this, Marc. > And, ironically, I > was meaning to ask you what you thought of this. I > thought this would be > your type of movie, to be honest. But it does prove what > I have been > saying all along, there is no middle ground with this > movie, you either > love it or hate hate hate it:-) ****** Actually you must be mistaken because this film is really not the type I go for usually ... ;-) I didn't like it but hey, at least I watched it entirely, I know some people gave up after 20 minutes ! *winking* > > And I am being literal here. I have heard no one say > "Oh, it wasn't bad" > or "It was alright", people either praise this movie > without end (like me) > or simply could not tolerate it (like you). And this > goes across gender > lines, taste in other movies, or any fact that normally > influences what a > person might think of a movie. **** Yep, that's true ... I wouldnt say that I really *hated* it though, that would be a bit harsh, I watched it once and that was enough, I don't really feel like watching this film ever again. > > My next question after getting an opinion on Moulin Rouge > is to ask what > you thought of Strictly Ballroom. ***** Sorry, I haven't seen it ! > > But this does allow me to segue into another topic, and > ask what your top > movies for 2001 are. ****** I haven't seen enough 2001 films yet to make a list ... Lord of the Rings and Der Tunnel should be on it though ... I think of Memento as a 2000 release ... so it's not on my list for 2001 ... > > After long thought (and I might not even be able to find > ten movies that I > have yet seen that are good enough to mention), I have > come up with the > following. I have given the number one position a lot of > thought, and did > find one movie I liked even better than Moulin Rouge. > Normally, you start > at the bottom and work your way up, but I will start at > the top, because I > still don't know how many movies are worth mentioning > yet:-) > > 1 - The Anniversary Party (Marc, I think you would > really like this movie, > and it might even make up for the bad taste Moulin Rouge > left in your > mouth. Made under Dogma 95 rules, and very reminiscent > of my favourite > movie of all time, The Big Chill) ***** I've seen the cover box at the video store but haven't rented it yet, I was too busy renting SWORDFISH and JURASSIC PARK 3 ... lol ! > > 2 - Moulin Rouge 2/5 > > 3 - A Beautiful Mind NS > > 4 -Memento 4.5/5 > > 5- The Crimson Rivers (French film, only available dubbed > in the States, > due to a processing error in the subtitled version. The > French version was > subtitled in Spanish) ***** Yes, I should see this as well ... but it's really a film from 2000, mate ! I have the book too, it's been sitting on my desk for 3 months at least, Should I read the book and then see the movie or the other way around ? Written by J-Philippe Granger if I recall ! > > 6 - Legally Blonde 3/5 > > 7 - Curse of the Jade Scorpion NS > > 8 - Bridget Jones' Diary 3.5/5 VEry good, but usually to make it in a Top 10 a film has to be at least a 4/5 for me ... > > 9 - A Knight's Tale NS > > 10 - Rat Race NS > > Yes, the bottom of that list was definitely "reaching". > Additionally, > there are a number of films that I have not seen yet that > I am sure that > will displace some on the bottom. And I thought about > listing films such > as The Dish, but of course that was a 2000 release. > > Regards, > > --Mel > > ****** Yes, I still have a few releases from 2000 that I haven't seen ... so I'll finish up on that before seeing more and more 2001 releases. Cheers ! ===== Marc ;-) "I think you're shagadellic, baby !! You're switched on !! You're smashin' !!" Mike Myers as "Austin *Danger* Powers" "Austin Powers : International Man Of Mystery" - 1997 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games http://sports.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Scent of a woman - 1974 Date: 23 Feb 2002 21:32:15 -0800 (PST) Ok, I saw the original "Scent of a woman" last night ... For those of you who didn't know the 1992 film starring Al Pacino and Chris O'Donnell (sp ?) was a remake of an italian film from the 1970's also titled "Scent of a woman" ... I thought this original film was rather weak in comparison though, 2.5/5 (compared to 4/5 for the 1992 version that I think is excellent !) There are a lot of differences between the 2 films actually, the stories, the twists ... There's nothing in the original about the young man being in trouble with his school over a silly prank for example, nothing like that ... or the old man fighting with members of his family as in the wonderful scene in the 1992 version where Pacino *pins* his nephew (?) to the wall ... or was it his brother ? I forgot ! The characters are similar though, grumpy old blind man who was injured while *playing* with a hand grenade, road trip in Italy visiting 3 different cities, going here and there visiting people .. The old man is helped by a young boy (The boy in the italian film looks a LOT younger than O'Donnell in the american film, he looks like he's 14 years old actually !) He takes all the *abuse* without saying much, even when the old colonel says to him directly to his face that his girlfriend must be a prostitute because she can buy fancy purses and perfumes, he doesn't budge, now *that* is self-control, or maybe he's just a wimp ! We hear him in voice over saying nasty things about the old pr*ck* but he wouldn't dare say those things out loud ! The italian film also spends more time in the *bordello* compared to the american version where we only see Pacino entering the place while O'Donnell is waiting in the limo ! Good acting but it was certainly less interesting in general than the 1992 film so this is a rare case of a film where the remake is better ... 2.5/5 ===== Marc ;-) "I'm just a few drinks short of oblivion ..." Dennis Quaid as "Dexter Cornell" - "D.O.A." (1988) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games http://sports.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Wade Snider <wsnider@brazoselectric.com> Subject: RE: [MV] Scent of a woman - 1974 Date: 25 Feb 2002 08:57:01 -0600 This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. ------_=_NextPart_001_01C1BE0C.AE567070 Content-Type: text/plain I think that the 1992 version was much better, too. MAybe as an American, I find it harder to note, but the subtext in Pacino's performance is smooth like butta. You can see why he would deserve an Oscar for that role. The scene you mention about Pacino with his family is I think crucial to his performance. We see Pacino go to his family and make an ass of himself, whereupon the family he has hurt before hurls abuse at him, and he seems to relish that. I think that he has really gone there to, 1) work himself up for what he plans to do later in the weekend and 2) allow the family he has been so cruel to over the years a time when they can vent and give him the treatment he deserves. I think that the moment where he grabs the nephew was just a moment when even he couldn't quite take the overall level of abuse, particularly as direct as that. > -----Original Message----- > From: Marc C. Desbiens [SMTP:marcdesbiens@yahoo.com] > Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2002 11:32 PM > To: Marc C. Desbiens > Subject: [MV] Scent of a woman - 1974 > ... > > I thought this original film was rather weak in comparison > though, 2.5/5 (compared to 4/5 for the 1992 version that I > think is excellent !) There are a lot of differences > between the 2 films actually, the stories, the twists ... > There's nothing in the original about the young man being > in trouble with his school over a silly prank for example, > nothing like that ... or the old man fighting with members > of his family as in the wonderful scene in the 1992 version > where Pacino *pins* his nephew (?) to the wall ... or was > it his brother ? I forgot ! > ------_=_NextPart_001_01C1BE0C.AE567070 Content-Type: text/html Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=3D"text/html; = charset=3DUS-ASCII"> <META NAME=3D"Generator" CONTENT=3D"MS Exchange Server version = 5.5.2653.12"> <TITLE>RE: [MV] Scent of a woman - 1974</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> I think that the = 1992 version was much better, too. MAybe as an American, I find it = harder to note, but the subtext in Pacino's performance is smooth like = butta. You can see why he would deserve an Oscar for that role. The = scene you mention about Pacino with his family is I think crucial to = his performance. We see Pacino go to his family and make an ass of = himself, whereupon the family he has hurt before hurls abuse at him, = and he seems to relish that. I think that he has really gone there to, = 1) work himself up for what he plans to do later in the weekend and 2) = allow the family he has been so cruel to over the years a time when = they can vent and give him the treatment he deserves. I think that the = moment where he grabs the nephew was just a moment when even he = couldn't quite take the overall level of abuse, particularly as direct = as that. <UL> -----Original Message----- From: Marc C. Desbiens = [SMTP:marcdesbiens@yahoo.com] Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2002 11:32 PM To: Marc C. Desbiens Subject: = [MV] Scent of a woman - 1974 ... I thought this original film was = rather weak in comparison though, 2.5/5 (compared to 4/5 for = the 1992 version that I think is excellent !) There are = a lot of differences between the 2 films actually, the = stories, the twists ... There's nothing in the original about = the young man being in trouble with his school over a = silly prank for example, nothing like that ... or the old man = fighting with members of his family as in the wonderful = scene in the 1992 version where Pacino *pins* his nephew (?) to = the wall ... or was it his brother ? I forgot = ! </UL> </BODY> </HTML> ------_=_NextPart_001_01C1BE0C.AE567070-- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] The Rosa Parks story - 2002 Date: 25 Feb 2002 08:43:55 -0800 (PST) Ok, I watched this film last night on CBS, I was switching to the CLOSING CEREMONIES during the commercials ! ;-) Christina Aguilera should have been arrested for wearing *that* in public, no ? Those Mormons must have been blushing ! ;-) Anyway, back to Ms. Rosa ... I thought it was a good TV movie, of course they were playing it safe and only browsing on the events, not showing us too many *nasty* scenes of human degradation, or bad language for example ... only once is a black citizen described as a "n*gger", they always say "Colored folks" or sumthin' like that ... I wasn't there but I doubt rude bus drivers/cops would have used such polite language back in the early 1950's ! Ms. Angela Bassett was great of course, I think she is a wonderful actress and this was a good part for her, playing a woman who was determined to have her way, to be allowed to sit on the bus like everyone else even if she was a black woman back in the good ol' days. Getting the NAACP on her side, organizing a boycott of the bus system to apply pressure on the authorities, etc. I would have liked a lil' more focus too, after all Ms. Parks was known for this bus incident, so why not detail it more, the jail scenes, the courtroom scenes, the *abuse* in prison, etc. ... instead they were browsing here and there about different events in her life that were not as *important* and/or *relevant* ... Well, I would have pushed for that aspect of the movie to be more developed, would have made the film more interesting ! Still good for a 3/5, the actors were all good, nice dialogues ... I appreciated that lil' clip at the end showing us the "real" Rosa Parks too ... presented by the one and only BILL CLINTON ! (*Cue the applause* !) ===== Marc ;-) "I'm just a few drinks short of oblivion ..." Dennis Quaid as "Dexter Cornell" - "D.O.A." (1988) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games http://sports.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Kandahar (2001) Date: 28 Feb 2002 19:39:25 -0800 (PST) Hey, I just saw KANDAHAR (2001), Artsy > foreign film from IRAN, t'was pretty good, 3/5 ... there are some slow parts and the movie loses its direction sometimes, it's as if the plot is on *hold* for a few minutes, a few repetitive scenes too ... The ending is > perplexing though, one of the most abrupt ending I can > remember, usually you can sense it coming, at least in > Hollywood films, here the credits just started rolling > ... > at some point ! ;-) Story of a woman who tries to reach > Kandahar to save her sister who is suicidal because she is so oppressed by those TALIBANS ... She says she will kill herself during the next solar eclipse that should occur in 3 days when the film opens ... We follow her sister has she goes *undercover* over there (Wearing that cloth so people can't see her face (and her EARRINGS !) ... She's entering AFGHANISTAN and trying to get to Kandahar where her sister lives ... In general it's a rather > depressing film but there are moments that are actually > amusing ... Someone trying to buy prosthetic legs (just in case he steps on a mine *in the future*) It's a good film that shows us not all AFGHANS are terrorists of course and many struggle daily to survive in very harsh conditions ... Great acting (mostly by people who are not professionnals), the camera work was rather lousy though, the sound too, but you can be forgiving knowing the difficult filming conditions ... I heard this was based on a true story but it would have to be confirmed ! > Cheers ! > > ===== > Marc ;-) > > "I'm just a few drinks short of oblivion ..." > > Dennis Quaid as "Dexter Cornell" - "D.O.A." (1988) > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Greetings - Send FREE e-cards for every occasion! http://greetings.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]