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movies-digest           Friday, June 5 1998           Volume 02 : Number 029



Re: [MV] DEEP IMPACT is not so good movie ? -Reply
Re: [MV] English Patient -Reply
[MV] The Movie Report#145, 6/4/98
[MV] Now playing in Japan
Re: [MV] DEEP IMPACT is not so good movie ? -Reply -Reply
[MV] Re: Bladerunner
[MV] Dubbed Versions & Foreign Flicks
Re: [MV] DEEP IMPACT is not so good movie ? -Reply -Reply

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1998 17:59:30 -0400
From: GARY ZEIG <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [MV] DEEP IMPACT is not so good movie ? -Reply

>Gee Masako, I wish I knew what was playing over there so I could give
>a suggestion.  The Truman Show is probably going to be in Japan very
>soon.  It is being called the most touching film in quite a while.
>
>We have been berating Hollywood for quite a while for recycling
>storylines.  While I problably complain as much as anybody the bottom
>line is how well the story is told.  NObody complains about Edward
>Scissorhands or Star Wars or any of the other well made movies that
>retell a familiar story.  I don't think the problem is recycling
>stories but instead recycling stories badly.  How many Hamlets have
>we had in the past 5 years?  And now I hear there is another one
>coming.
>
>bb
>
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>[ (without the quotes) to [e-mail]                         ]

No Bruce I really believe the problem is that Hollywood doesn't have enough
original ideas.
In what way am I as a consumer going to benefit from yet another telling of
Hamlet or any other familiar story?
Let's face it: these are just vehicles to make a quick buck and give actors
like Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford,
Sean Connery, and the like an easy (and a big) payday. And I'm sick of it.
What are we up to? Lethal Weapon 4? Or Lethal Weapon 88? The first one
(maybe 2) was good, but enough's enough!

GRZ



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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 08:21:42 +0800 (HKT)
From: Jayson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [MV] English Patient -Reply

> Here in the Philippines, they are translating the dialogue into the
> native dialect and it simply sounds awful and corny. The plot still
> resembles another Romeo and Juliet. They are just rehashing usual story
> about the one great love. I am sick and tired about those movies that
> keep rehashing that type of formula. As for Good Will, the story may not
> be that new. But it has sensitivity and maturity coming from a couple of
> Gen-Xers.
>

Maybe they translated it to parody Titanic. Of course, it would sound
awful and corny because we cannot directly translate English to Filipino.
I'm sure the same thing would happen if the Good Will Hunting dialogue
will be translated in our vernacular. Oh, I'm a Gen-Xer from the
Philippines and I loved Titanic. It has all the formulas of being a
classic.

Jayson


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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 04 Jun 1998 17:27:46 -0700
From: Michael Dequina <[e-mail]>
Subject: [MV] The Movie Report#145, 6/4/98

T   H   E
M   O   V   I   E
R   E   P   O   R   T
#145
JUNE 4, 1998

If your site was linked on Movie Site Links, please e-mail me your site
name and URL so I don't forget to include it on the new list.  Thank you.

=>T H I S  W E E K<=
M O V I E S
- -The Truman Show
- -Almost Heroes
- -Hope Floats
- -The Last Days of Disco
- -A Perfect Murder
V I D E O
- -John Grisham's The Rainmaker
- -The Locusts
- -Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
- -Oscar and Lucinda

Select reviews are available at Hollywood Hotline on CompuServe and:
http://www.HollywoodHotline.com
...on Albany Online at:
http://www.AlbanyOnline.com
...and the Eyepiece Network at:
http://www.eyepiece.com

For links to the official websites of all the current films, past reviews,
exclusive Hollywood event photos, movie discussion board, movie theme MIDI
files, and more, visit Mr. Brown's Movie Site at:
http://welcome.to/mrbrown  or
http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown
Please don't forget to sign the guestbook...

all movies graded out of four stars (****)


~~~

=>M O V I E S<=
N E W  R E L E A S E S

The Truman Show (PG) *** 1/2
    From the moment he signed his name on the dotted line, _The_Truman_Show_
has been touted as Jim Carrey's big dramatic breakthrough (never mind that
he won numerous critical kudos for his work in the Emmy-nominated TV movie
_Doing_Time_on_Maple_Drive_).  Carrey indeed does a fine job in Peter
Weir's clever fantasy, but to focus all attention on his refreshing
change-of-pace turn is to discount the superior accomplishment of those
behind the scenes--and to give Carrey a bit _too_much_ credit.
    Carrey's Truman Burbank has a nice house, white picket fence and all, in
the idyllic oceanside community of Seahaven; a loyal wife, Meryl (Laura
Linney); an even more loyal best friend, Marlon (Noah Emmerich); and a
cushy desk job.  If it sounds like a pretty picture from the TV screen,
that's because it is.  Unbeknownst to Truman, the entire life he has lived
is mere programming for a 24-hour television network.  Seahaven is one
large soundstage, where all events are scripted and all the inhabitants are
actors--that is, except for Truman, who was adopted as an infant by the
Omnicam Corporation, and has had every step of his life traced and molded
by _The_Truman_Show_'s creator, Christof (Ed Harris).
    In addition to having an inventive plot hook, Andrew Niccol's screenplay
is expertly structured.  In its first minute, the basic outline of the
complex premise is made perfectly clear through a faux television credit
roll and soundbites from Meryl, Marlon (or, rather, the actors who play
them), and Christof.  For about the next hour, Niccol and Weir thrust the
audience directly into Truman's world, allowing them to experience for
themselves the surreal, synthetic way of "life" in Seahaven before going
into a more detailed backstory that fills in the few holes.  In the
process, the viewer is given a much more vivid and entertaining picture of
Truman's situation.
    Truman is not as dumb as Christof or other crew members think, and he
begins to catch on to the grand charade that is his life when no one will
let him leave town.  The resulting conflict, within himself and with
everyone and everything around him, provides Carrey ample opportunity to
stretch while staying within comfortable acting bounds.  He gets to cry
(and convincingly at that) onscreen and play a fairly earnest character as
a whole, but he does make concessions to his core comedic audience.  When
Truman's suspicions grow, the more unhinged he gets, setting the stage for
some funny rubberfaced antics (no butt-talking, though--thankfully).
    However, his performance is not the Oscar-baiting tour-de-force that a
number of sources would lead you to believe.  Carrey's shortcoming is most
clearly brought to light in one key subplot.  Although he likes Meryl, the
love of his life is Sylvia (Natascha McElhone), a fetching young woman whom
he barely knew in college.  Like the rest, Sylvia was an actress playing a
part, but when she broke script and actually fell for him, she was hastily
removed from the Seahaven set and the _Truman_ cast.  Truman was told that
she and her "father" moved to Fiji, and it's his longing for her that makes
him want to leave town.  This thread is supposed to be _Truman_'s emotional
hook, but it doesn't quite work for a couple of reasons.  The character of
Sylvia, who goes on to be the leader of the "Free Truman" movement, is
sketchily written, as are the reasons behind her deep feelings for Truman;
and, as evidenced in _Liar_Liar_, Carrey just isn't that convincing when it
comes to sentiment.  Granted, _Truman_ is nowhere near as sappy as that
film (not to mention the sap felt out of place there), but, while he is a
likable presence, Carrey doesn't have much of a natural emotional rapport
with the audience or, for that matter, his co-stars.  As such, one may
empathize with Truman's desire to break free, but not necessarily feel for
the romantic plight that motivates that desire.
    Hence, the bravura work on display in _The_Truman_Show_ is that of Niccol
and Weir, who have crafted a subtly layered, perceptive, and pointedly
truthful commentary on the media and its and our own voyeuristic
tendencies.  While the ostensible villains of _The_Truman_Show_ are
Christof and his crew, coming off every bit as guilty is the viewing
audience, which is shown eating up every second of Truman's pre-packaged
"life" as their own lives idly waste away.  As outlandish as the entire
premise may seem, isn't _The_Truman_Show_ (in which one's life is
completely exploited as an entertainment "escape" for others) but just one
logical, merging step away from the current likes of _Jerry_Springer_'s
ongoing parade of dysfunction and those real-life "caught on tape" video
shows?

Hollywood Hotline Featured Review
Almost Heroes (PG-13) no stars
    While he had a number of memorably funny moments during his starmaking
stint on _Saturday_Night_Live_, the late Chris Farley's big-screen starring
vehicles--_Tommy_Boy_, _Black_Sheep_, and _Beverly_Hills_Ninja_--ranged
from bad, worse, to amusingly bad.  Sad to say, his final film,
_Almost_Heroes_, is every bit as sloppily made as his previous starring
efforts--a virtually laugh-free comedy that puts a sad end to the woefully
lackluster screen career of a talented comic.
    It's hard to believe that Christopher Guest, who directed last year's
smart and funny mockumentary _Waiting_for_Guffman_, helmed this disastrous
enterprise.  Then again, no director could have salvaged the witless script
by Mark Nutter, Tom Wolfe, and Boyd Hale.  Matthew Perry and Farley play
Leslie Edwards and Bartholmew (sic) Hunt, two explorers determined to beat
the legendary Lewis and Clark to the Pacific Northwest territories in 1804.
 Needless to say, the effete Edwards and the boorish Hunt are in over their
heads, falling into a number of precarious, would-be comic situations (such
as running into a merry band of evil conquistadors) en route to the
Pacific.  The odd-couple teaming of Perry and Farley sounds promising, but
the two generate little comic chemistry.  While this is partly the fault of
the actors (a distracted-looking Perry seems more concerned over
maintaining his uppity New England accent than selling one-liners), the
script never gives them much opportunity to play off their contrasting
comedic styles--Perry's deadpan wit and Farley's wild physicality.
Instead, the writers succumb to the lazy trap that befell the scribes
behind Farley's previous starring vehicles--jam as many "fat guy falls
down" gags as possible.
    This time around, though, these obvious gags have an underlying tone of
sadness, since Farley's frustration with such gags has become well-noted
after his death.  Even more troubling are the gags centering on Hunt's
alcohol consumption.   These jokes would have been only moderately amusing
at best had Farley lived to see this film's release, but in light of the
substance abuse-related circumstances of his death, the gags come off even
cheaper, not to mention all the more insulting to the late star.
    In my review for another unscreened-for-critics (wonder why) from Warner
Bros., the awful _Major_League:_Back_to_the_Minors_, I noted that not even
the guy in the audience who laughs at just about anything let out a single
chuckle throughout the movie.  The most I can say about _Almost_Heroes_ is
that the laughing guy was back in his element, greeting many a joke with
explosions of laughter.  Everyone else, though, was stonefaced and
silent--at least those strong enough to not walk out of the auditorium.

IN BRIEF

Hope Floats (PG-13) **
    The latest weepy chick flick from actor-director Forest Whitaker
(_Waiting_to_Exhale_) demonstrates all too well the limitations of good
acting.  Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr., Gena Rowlands, and young Mae
Whitman turn in strong performances, but they can't make Steven Rogers's
soggy script float (yeah, bad pun) above the level of made-for-TV movie.
After being dumped by her husband (Michael Pare) on a national TV talk show
(by far the film's most entertaining scene) Birdee Pruitt (a radiant
Bullock) and her daughter Bernice (Whitman) moves back in with her
taxidermist mother (Rowlands) in backwater Smithville, Texas.
    From this point on, everything belongs on the small screen.  Birdee is
aggressively wooed by a nice guy (Connick) who's had a crush on her since
high school, but she and especially Bernice can't overcome the hope that
her hubby will come back to her.  There is also the obligatory
disease-stricken older relative: in this case, Birdee's father, who's been
staying in a rest home since having a stroke and coming down with
Alzheimer's.  I'm not spoiling anything by revealing Birdee eventually
stops feeling sorry for herself and starts living again, but, of course,
not before a number of tears are shed, people lovingly embrace, and the de
rigueur death of a loved one.  Nothing spells dull and saccharine quite
like the two dreaded Hs--hugs and healing.

The Last Days of Disco (R) ***
    Like writer-director Whit Stillman's previous films, _Metropolitan_ and
_Barcelona_, his latest is all about talk and nothing more--it's just that
the faces and the setting are different (New York City in the "very early
1980s," where the cultural phenomenon of discotheques and their
accompanying musical genre were in their dying days).  But the incessant
barrage of verbiage is forgivable when it is as smartly, wittily written as
it is here.  The main gabbers of this film are the naive blonde Alice
(Chloe Sevigny) and her best "friend" and roommate, bitchy sophisticate
Charlotte (an unrecognizable Kate Beckinsale, looking like a cross between
Nicole Kidman and Parker Posey), both of whom are recent college grads who
work in a publishing house by day and frequent an exclusive dance club at
night.
    The film is essentially a portrait of their and their friends' lives, but
Stillman shows little concern for any of them.  The emphasis is so strongly
centered on their impossibly verbose conversations that all character and
plot developments seem like throwaways.  For example, when club manager Des
(Chris Eigeman, a Stillman regular) develops a what is supposed to be a
serious drug habit, it comes off as more of a minor step down than a
plunging descent.  In spite of its failings on the dramatic level, _Disco_
is still a very entertaining film, thanks to an appealing cast (which also
includes Beckinsale's _Much_Ado_About_Nothing_ love interest, Robert Sean
Leonard, and a briefly-seen Jennifer Beals) and those wordy discussions.
Even though a number of the characters are Ivy League graduates, I'm not
sure there are real people who talk the way these people do.  But since the
exchanges are as funny as they are (a sociopolitical deconstruction of
Disney's _Lady_and_the_Tramp_ is the highlight), that complaint is moot.

A Perfect Murder (R) ** 1/2
    The murder may be perfect, but Andrew Davis's loose update of Alfred
Hitchcock's 1954 classic _Dial_M_for_Murder_ is not even close.  Davis and
screenwriter Patrick Smith Kelly have come up with an interesting wrinkle
to Frederick Knott's original play: a wealthy industrialist (Michael
Douglas) wants to kill his adulterous heiress wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) for
the money, but in this version, the person he hires to do the job is the
lover himself (Viggo Mortensen).  Also, for the most part, Davis and Kelly
have successfully opened up the action of the original, which largely took
place on a single apartment set.
    But, as is the case with too many remakes, the slick new take falls short.
 Generally speaking, Douglas, Paltrow, and Mortensen deliver passable
performances, but Douglas lacks the complexity of _Dial_M_'s Ray Milland;
he is a bit too one-note evil that it's hard to believe that anyone could
suspect anyone other than him (not helping are some obvious up-to-no-good
lines, such as this reply to Paltrow's request that a lunch date be
postponed until the next day: "What if there's no tomorrow?").
Nonetheless, Davis manages to generate some tension, yet this is squandered
by the uninspired finale, which bears the unmistakable fingerprints of
post-test screening retooling.  Watch closely, and you'll notice an
underscored detail that is not picked up on in the finale, much like how
the final, post-test version of _Fatal_Attraction_ lets a similar matter
dangle.

IN CURRENT RELEASE
(full reviews of the following in past MRs and at the listed URLs)

- -Bulworth (R) *** <MR#144, 5/29/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#bulworth
- -Broadway Damage  1/2* <MR#144, 5/29/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#damage
- -Chinese Box (R) ** <MR#134, 3/13/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt30.html#chinesebox
- -City of Angels (PG-13) ** 1/2 <MR#137, 4/10/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt31.html#angels
- -Deep Impact (PG-13) *** <MR#141, 5/14/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt33.html#impact
- -Fallen Angels  **** <MR#144, 5/29/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#angels
- -Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (R) no stars <MR#144, 5/29/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#loathing
- -Go Now  *** <MR#141, 5/7/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt33.html#gonow
- -Godzilla (PG-13) ** <MR#143, 5/19/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#godzilla
- -He Got Game (R) *** <MR#140, 4/30/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt33.html#hegotgame
- -The Horse Whisperer (PG-13) * 1/2 <MR#142, 5/14/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#horse
- -Les Miserables (PG-13) *** <MR#139, 4/23/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt32.html#lesmiz
- -The Object of My Affection (R) *** <MR#140, 4/30/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt33.html#affection
- -The Opposite of Sex (R) *** 1/2 <MR#144, 5/29/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#sex
- -Quest for Camelot (G) ** <MR#142, 5/14/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#quest
- -Sliding Doors (PG-13) *** <MR#140, 4/30/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt33.html#doors
- -The Spanish Prisoner (R) *** 1/2 <MR#137, 4/10/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt31.html#prisoner
- -Still Breathing (PG-13) *** <MR#144, 5/29/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt34.html#breathing
- -Titanic (PG-13) **** <MR#121, 12/10/97>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt26.html#titanic
- -Two Girls and a Guy (R) ** <MR#137, 4/10/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt31.html#2girls
- -Woo (R) ** <MR#141, 5/7/98>
  http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt33.html#woo

O N  T H E  H O R I Z O N
FRIDAY

Beyond Silence (PG-13)
    German drama, nominated for the 1997 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, in
which the daughter (Sylvie Testud) of two deaf parents takes up the clarinet.

Mr. Jealousy (R)
    Eric Stoltz plays the title character, a man insanely jealous of the
attention his girlfriend (Annabella Sciorra) pays her ex (Chris Eigeman) in
this romantic comedy.

A Perfect Murder (R) ** 1/2 <see above review>
    Michael Douglas and Gwyneth Paltrow star in Andrew Davis's OK update of
Alfred Hitchcock's _Dial_M_for_Murder_.

The Truman Show (PG) *** 1/2 <see above review>
    Inventive fantasy in which a man (Jim Carrey) discovers his life is a
24-hour television program.

Under the Skin
    Newcomer Samantha Morton has won numerous kudos for her performance as one
of two sisters (Claire Rushbrook being the other) whose mother's death
sends their lives in opposite directions.


~~~

=>V I D E O<=
N E W  T H I S  W E E K

John Grisham's The Rainmaker (PG-13) *** <full review in MR#122, 12/18/97;
and at http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt26.html#rainmaker>
    Francis Ford Coppola directed this entertaining adaptation of Grisham's
novel in which a (what else?) young lawyer (Matt Damon) takes on an
insurance company.  (Paramount Home Video)

The Locusts (R) ** 1/2 <full review in MR#112, 10/10/97; and at
http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt23.html#locusts>
    Fine acting by Vince Vaughn and Kate Capshaw distinguishes this slow,
smoke-filled melodrama in which a drifter (Vaughn) is taken in by a bitchy,
widowed feed lot owner (Capshaw) in 1960s Kansas.  (Orion Home Video)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (R) *** <full review in MR#118,
11/20/97; and at
http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt25.html#midnite>
    Clint Eastwood directed this intriguing, well-acted adaptation of John
Berendt's true-life book about a mysterious murder in Savannah, Georgia.
Kevin Spacey, John Cusack, and the movie-stealing drag queen Lady Chablis
(playing him/herself) star.  (Warner Home Video)

Oscar and Lucinda (R) *** <full review in MR#132, 2/27/98; and at
http://www.godamongdirectors.com/mrbrown/movierpt29.html#oscar>
    Odd, touching period love story between two eccentrics: a British minister
(Ralph Fiennes) and an Australian heiress (Cate Blanchett) with a shared
passion for gambling.  (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

A L S O  N E W  T H I S  W E E K

Firestorm (R)
    "Action goes long" when former footballer Howie Long, starring as a forest
firefighter, does battle with some escaped cons.  (20th Century Fox Home
Video)

Home Alone 3 (PG)
    From the beating a dead horse department comes this flop third (and likely
final) installment in the kiddie franchise.  Alex D. Linz takes over for
husband-to-be Macaulay Culkin.  (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Hugo Pool (R)
    Alyssa Milano stars as the title character, a Los Angeles pool cleaner, in
this quirky comedy (which originally aired on cable) from director Robert
Downey Sr.  Richard Lewis, Patrick Dempsey, Malcolm McDowell, Sean Penn,
and Robert Downey Jr. co-star.  (BMG Independents)


~~~

=>N E X T  W E E K<=

More reviews, including:
- -Can't Hardly Wait
- -Six Days, Seven Nights

'til then...

__________________________________________________________

Michael Dequina
Chat Forum Host, The Official Michael Jordan Web Site
http://jordan.sportsline.com

[e-mail]
[e-mail]  |  [e-mail]

>My personal WWW sites<
Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown
Michael Jordan Beyond the Court: http://fly.to/michaeljordan
A Michael Jordan Fan's Heartbreak: http://fly.to/mj23
Personal Page: http://welcome.to/w3md
>Other WWW sites I work on<
CompuServe Hollywood Hotline: http://www.HollywoodHotline.com
Albany Online: http://www.AlbanyOnline.com
Eyepiece Network: http://www.eyepiece.com

"I can accept failure.  Everyone fails at something.  But I can't
accept not trying.  It doesn't matter if you win as long as you
give everything in your heart."
- --Michael Jordan
__________________________________________________________

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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 17:08:38 +0900
From: Masako Seko <[e-mail]>
Subject: [MV] Now playing in Japan

In Japan, now, "Sphere" and "Wag the dog" and soon, "The man in the iron mask"
and "Great Expectation"( I don't know the title exactly) are playing.
I'd watched "Wag the dog" and I liked it very much. Robert De Niro and Dastin
Hoffman are great and the story is very ineresting!!
Did you watch any of these movies ?  Which movies did you think interesting ?
I want to watch "Great Expectation" best.
                                                                       Masako


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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 08:42:09 -0700
From: Bruce Bridges <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [MV] DEEP IMPACT is not so good movie ? -Reply -Reply

Gary,

My point is that a good storyteller can reinvent an old concept and
make it worth retelling.  I am not defending the same old crap that
Hollywood spews out but trying to point out the need for talent
beyond the concept.

I have no desire to see a bad but original story told badly.  I will
take another variation on Hamlet (if done well) over the latest
Batman opus any day.  And Batman films are fairly unique in their own
way.

Wouldn't you rather see Scorcese redo Hamlet (wow! what a concept!)d
than Joel Schumaker's version of the next great script?  Schumaker
just can't tell a story.

A great story has plenty of room for retelling and reinterpretation
but a bad story should never be filmed in the first place.

The bottom line for me is that I am glad that the Kurasawa films
Seven Samuari, Yojimbo, Rashamon and Hidden Forrest were remade.
They resulted in great American films.

Masako,
I was wondering how "Wag the Dog" would play in Japan.  It is such a
political film I did not expect that audiences in other countries
would appreciate it.  Of course it does help reinforce the image of
the corrupt US political system that we all love to hate.

I'm going to see The Truman Show today.  I need something to help
erase the awful memory of Godzilla.

Bye,
bb

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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 15:39:10 +0200
From: Jakob Straub <[e-mail]>
Subject: [MV] Re: Bladerunner

Hello,

Bladerunner is really a great movie, but there are not only the normal
version and the director's cut: it is said that they shot all the
scenes, and then produced about 17 different versions of the film, each
a little bit different. At this point, they wanted to throw it all over,
but finally, they made this version with Harrison Ford as a "narrator".
Well, I like it anyway.

Jakob



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Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 15:51:00 +0200
From: Jakob Straub <[e-mail]>
Subject: [MV] Dubbed Versions & Foreign Flicks

> I loved both Delicatessen and City of the Lost Children - amazing movies
> that everyone with an imagination should see.  But please, please do not
> get the dubbed version!!  It is painful - as are all dubbed versions of
> anything.

Sometimes, I can watch the original English version of a movie at the
theater around here in Germany, but most times, they only play the
dubbed version. And it is a hell of a problem to get an English version
of a video. Luckily, there are some small video stores with a huge
collection of them...

Jakob



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Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 21:22:18 -0400
From: GARY ZEIG <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: [MV] DEEP IMPACT is not so good movie ? -Reply -Reply

>Gary,
>
>My point is that a good storyteller can reinvent an old concept and
>make it worth retelling.  I am not defending the same old crap that
>Hollywood spews out but trying to point out the need for talent
>beyond the concept.
>
>I have no desire to see a bad but original story told badly.  I will
>take another variation on Hamlet (if done well) over the latest
>Batman opus any day.  And Batman films are fairly unique in their own
>way.
>
>Wouldn't you rather see Scorcese redo Hamlet (wow! what a concept!)d
>than Joel Schumaker's version of the next great script?  Schumaker
>just can't tell a story.
>
>A great story has plenty of room for retelling and reinterpretation
>but a bad story should never be filmed in the first place.
>
>The bottom line for me is that I am glad that the Kurasawa films
>Seven Samuari, Yojimbo, Rashamon and Hidden Forrest were remade.
>They resulted in great American films.
>
>Masako,
>I was wondering how "Wag the Dog" would play in Japan.  It is such a
>political film I did not expect that audiences in other countries
>would appreciate it.  Of course it does help reinforce the image of
>the corrupt US political system that we all love to hate.
>
>I'm going to see The Truman Show today.  I need something to help
>erase the awful memory of Godzilla.
>
>Bye,
>bb
>
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Bruce-

I can appreciate what you are saying. However, I still would prefer that
the great directors like Scorcese,
De Palma, Tarantino, and Almodovar spend their time, talent and energy on
original projects. Not Hamlet remakes, not Godzilla remakes, and not Die
Hard remakes. I thought the coolest thing was Pulp Fiction. A great
director directing a great original concept. We need more like this, don't
you agree!
Good Will Hunting is another original concept that turned into a good movie.
The Crying Game (Although not a Hollywood concept) was another.
These are the types of movies that ABSOLUTELY INSPIRE AND AMAZE ME.

But that's just my too cents. In my eyes, NO potential remake ( Not even
REAR WINDOW) compares.
What I'm looking for is movie greatness. I'm not seeing much of it these
days. And that's a shame.
Because I can't remember a time in recent history when we've had more
talent in the movie business than we do now. The actors/actresses are
fighting for the roles, but the roles just aren't measuring up.
I'm talking talent in acting, directing, producing, even FX. It's there.
Where are the great movies?
Let's hope The Truman Show fills the Bill.

Gary



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