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movies-digest       Tuesday, September 29 1998       Volume 02 : Number 104



RE: [MV] What about funny <hard to find> movies? -Reply
RE: [MV] What about funny -hard to find- movies?
[MV] Private Ryan
RE: [MV] Ronin review -Reply -Reply
[MV] Ryan and morale
Re: [MV] Private Ryan
RE: [MV] Ronin review, Ryan etc
RE: [MV] REVIEW: OUT OF THE PAST
[MV] Pre 90's funny movies / depressing movies
[MV] REVIEW: ANTZ
Re: [MV] Pre 90's funny movies / depressing movies
[MV] Movie News - 09/29/98

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

Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 21:20:55 -0500
From: "Mr. White" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: [MV] What about funny <hard to find> movies? -Reply

"Real Life" was made in 1979, so its really the late 70's (I know, pedantic
point).

"Local Hero" stars Peter Riegart, Denis Lawson, and Burt Lancaster.  It was
directed by the Scottish filmmaker Bill Forsyth.  If you like that one,
check out his next one "Comfort and Joy" from 1984.

Richard J. Doyle
Visual Basic & Access Developer
CRW Systems
[e-mail]



- -----Original Message-----
From:    [e-mail]
[mailto:[e-mail]] On Behalf Of Bruce Bridges
Sent:    Friday, September 25, 1998 10:39 AM
To:    [e-mail]
Subject:    Re: [MV] What about funny <hard to find> movies? -Reply

One of the Funniest movies I've ever seen that is not too well known
(although I would expect many of you to know) is a movie from the
mid-seventies called "Real Life" I believe.  Anyway it is about a
film crew that  attempts to document the life of a typical family by
moving in and filming every waking moment.  It is by Albert Brooks
and he is also the star.  Charles Grodin is the father of the family.
 I would suggest this to everybody.

Another film I haven't seen since it came out but remember enjoying a
great deal is "Soup for One" about a newely single guy coping with the
single scene.

Finally, there was a movie called "Local Hero" I believe about the
representative of a huge American Corporation who is sent to an
British Village to oversee its purchase.  Instead he finds himself
charmed and drawn into the quirky community.  Can't remember the
actors but it is a great movie.

Also, "Funny Bones".

I could go on and on.

bb

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

Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 21:26:07 -0500
From: "Mr. White" <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: [MV] What about funny -hard to find- movies?

Believe it or not, "The Coca-Cola Kid" is not really an Australian film.  It
takes place in Australia, but was made by the Yugoslavian Dusan Makavejev,
best known for "WR:  Mysteries of the Organism" and "Montenegro".

A great Australian comedy is "Bliss".  Very surreal, but quite funny.

Richard J. Doyle
Visual Basic & Access Developer
CRW Systems
[e-mail]



- -----Original Message-----
From:    [e-mail]
[mailto:[e-mail]] On Behalf Of Chris Culligan
Sent:    Friday, September 25, 1998 12:36 PM
To:    [e-mail]
Subject:    Re: [MV] What about funny -hard to find- movies?

Ok, Mel, since your theme on this message seems to be Autralian films,
and Jason's post was on hard to find funny movies, how about this one
Jason:

The Coca-Cola Kid

Have you seen it??  I loved it and thought it was quite funny!

CHRIS

>
>At 12.08 PM 24/09/98 -0700, you wrote:
>>Everyone has their own tastes of course - but can anyone recommend
some
>>funny movies that the majority of people have not heard of?
>
>Best way to find these movies is to send your friends to the video
store.
>This is how I get to see the "What the heck did you get?!?" movies that
I
>end up liking.  (Off-topic:  I had friends get Point Break my last
night in
>Australia.  I had sworn up and down that I would NEVER watch a
"surfing"
>movie, it looked so silly.  Ended up really enjoying it.  Still kind of
>silly, but I have seen worse).  Once someone brought home this comedy,
From
>the Hip, about this attorney.  Starts off really funny, then gets kind
of
>serious, as he tries to solve the crime.  My wife hated it, which means
it
>MUST be good:-)
>
>Also, for funny movies, we cannot forget the Australian trifecta of
funny
>movies from the early '90s:  Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; Strictly
>Ballroom; and Muriel's Wedding.  No common theme here, except that they
are
>all Australian, and are all ROTHLMAO funny.
>
>As for sad movies, two that really touched me are The Year My Voice
Broke
>(a coming-of-age story that has some humour in it, as well), and
Boulevard
>of Broken Dreams, about a movie producer dying of cancer.  He goes back
to
>his native Melbourne to make amends with everyone. (best part is Tom
>Traubert's Blues, a song title I could have found a LOT easier if
Amazon
>didn't have the IMdB so screwed up, later done by Rod Stewart).
>
>Just a few more that you may not be familiar with.  Watch them if you
can.
>
>Regards,
>
>--Mel
>
>
>--Mel Eperthener
>president, Gowanna Multi-media Pty
>
>email: [e-mail]
>          [e-mail]
>
>http://www.webz.com/gowanna
>
>419 Butler Street
>PO Box 95184
>Pittsburgh, PA 15223-0184
>[phone]
>[phone]
>1-888-45-GOWANNA -- TOLL FREE
>(1-888-454-6926)
>____________________________________________
>"Mulder, if you had to do without a cell phone for
>two minutes, you'd lapse into catatonic schizophrenia"
>
>--Dana Scully
>______________________________________________
>
>
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>


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

Date: 29 Sep 98 12:12:19 +0100
From: "ABYRNE.IE.ORACLE.COM" <[e-mail]>
Subject: [MV] Private Ryan

I saw this film at the weekend. It is not as good as all the hype, but it is
a
good film. Some nice scenes. And what is the name of the actor who played
the
sniper that was praying as he shot people? He was pretty good. Never seen
him
before. And Will Patton in Armageddon was a very good actor too!

Thanks & Regards,
****************************************************************************=
**
****************************************************************************=
**

Anto Byrne                Net:[e-mail]
Oracle E.M.E.A.                Fulfillment Dept.
    Unit 14                    Phone:[phone]
Airways Industrial Estate        Fax:[phone]
Cloghran                      email:abyrne
Dublin 17.
Ireland
****************************************************************************=
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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 29 Sep 98 08:17:39 PDT
From: Wade Snider  <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: [MV] Ronin review -Reply -Reply

SPOILER goes on.

>--- On Mon, 28 Sep 1998 15:09:29 -0700  "Romero, Leticia" <[e-mail]> wrote:
>SPOILER About Ronin

>by the way, am I the only one who was upset that Sean Bean's character was a
>throw away role?!  I kept expecting him to reappear later in the movie, and
>when he didn't I felt that the filmmaker wasted Sean's time!  (Except for
>the scene following the gun exchange...)  who can agree with me?
>(although it's rare anyone does...)


I was a little annoyed by that, too. I didn't care too much that he not show up,
although that might have been another interesting twist to it.
I was annoyed that the guy started out as a nervous sort, and he seemed to
become progressively more jittery til they got rid of him. All of these
characters were top notch spies or whatever, and the irish went to great lengths to get
these guys, so it seems a little odd that they picked a guy who was such
a bag of nerves like him, unable to handle this pressure. He seemed a little
"immature" for this team. It probably would have been more interesting if he
was less a headcase. It may be for simplicity sake that since the KGB guy
turned on them, and then the pryce character decided to do things himself
by the end... that the writers/producers felt that too many bad guys would
confuse things. I don't think it would have myself, but that is my guess at a
rationalization for it.
I, too, wondered, though not too much, where Bean's character was. He sure
seemed to wooss out on them when they let him go. FIgured he at least would have put
up some sort of fuss.


Wade



> -----Original Message-----
> From:    Bruce Bridges [SMTP:[e-mail]]
> Sent:    Monday, September 28, 1998 9:45 AM
> To:    [e-mail]
> Subject:    Re: [MV] Ronin review -Reply  -Reply
>
> Hi Guys,
>
> I am still discussing a scene from Ronin that may be a spoiler so...
>
>
> Early in the movie DeNiro "accidently" spills some coffee and while
> wiping up the mess he knocks over a mug.  The german guy (can't
> remember his name) instinctively grabs it mid-air.  There is some
> banter about reflexes never leave you.  This seemed to be a test that
> DeNiro intentionally played in that scene.
>
> Anyway, DeNiro evidently used the coffee mug for some purpose in the
> later scene in which the coffee spills.  I didn't get it.
>
> bb
>
> [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ]
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- ---------------End of Original Message-----------------

- --------------------------------------------------------
W. Snider

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.
- -Kierkegaard

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


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

Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 23:47:02 +0900
From: Honwa Chau <[e-mail]>
Subject: [MV] Ryan and morale

Bruce wrote:

Is it worth it for 8 men to die in order to save one?  No.

Is it worth is for 8 men to die in order to promote badly needed
morale in an army and nation at war?  Unfortunately, I think yes.

The reality of war sometimes is that seemingly idiotic decisions are
based on legitimate reasoning.

bb

How does sending eight men to save one boost morale in the Army? Do the
grunts say, "Geez, I'm glad I didn't get stuck with a lousy death
sentence like the poor suckers with Captain Miller. Hmm...I think I'll
fight harder"?

And if I found out that the Army sent eight men to save one, I'd say my
Army was full of idiots.


itchy


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

Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 17:13:16 +0100
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: [MV] Private Ryan

I, too, really enjoyed this film, but why oh why did Spielberg have to use
the overly-sentimental prologue & epilogue? The guy nearly ruined
"Schindler's List" for me by doing something similar at the end. Still,
that quibble aside, "Saving Private Ryan" is his best film since "Jaws".

Adrian.



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

Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 08:26:00 -0700
From: Bruce Bridges <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: [MV] Ronin review, Ryan etc

RONIN SPOILER---


I think the entire purpose of the Bean character was to point out the
real professionals from the wannabees.  It struck me that Bean was
probably a guy who read more Soldier of Fortune magazines than
actually doing the work.  This was what DeNiro picked up on
immediately and confirmed later.

Although I half expected his character to reappear in the film, I
think it would have undermined the his role in the film, that being
to emphasize the nature of the team members as described in the
opening.

As far as the Private Ryan debate is concerned, thousands of men died
on D-Day simply because the Allies felt it imperative to make a huge
advance in order to rally the public and troops in the war.  A lot of
people felt that it was an absolute waste of a lot of boy's lives.  No
matter where you fall in the argument the fact is that the invasion
did have a huge positive effect.  So my point is that the idea of
sacrificing lives for the larger good was not an idea new to Private
Ryan and I'm sure will continue as long as there is war.

I agree with the complaint about the prologue and epilogue of Ryan.
As mentioned before, its a shame that Spielberg can't resist
inserting the sentimentality.

Oh, and I agree that Swimming with Sharks is great.

bye,
bb

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

Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 09:36:45 -0600
From: jkrudy <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: [MV] REVIEW: OUT OF THE PAST

Being a former student at East High School, I'd be interested to know if
this documentary was actually filmed there or not, and also where would it
be possible to see this film, is it a video release?  If anybody knows, I'd
sure like to know.

JAMES K. RUDY


- -----Original Message-----
From:    Scott Renshaw [SMTP:[e-mail]]
Sent:    Sunday, September 27, 1998 7:30 PM
To:    [e-mail]
Subject:    [MV] REVIEW: OUT OF THE PAST

OUT OF THE PAST
(Inverted Pictures)
Featuring:  Kelli Peterson, Barbara Gittings, narrated by Linda Hunt.
Writer:  Michelle Ferrari.
Producer:  Jeff Dupre.
Director:  Jeff Dupre.
MPAA Rating:  Unrated (could be PG-13 for adult themes)
Running Time:  65 minutes.
Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.

     People will probably misinterpret the documentary OUT OF THE PAST as
much as the controversial event which is at its center, which is irony
enough.  It would be even more ironic if they misinterpret it in exactly
the same way:  without any direct knowledge, because they are already
convinced they know what it's about.  Such tends to be the case when you
are dealing with the perpetually volatile subject of homosexuality.  It
happens even more frequently when the suggestion is proferred that gays
and lesbians are human beings with much to contribute to the world.

     That, and that alone, is the fierce conviction behind OUT OF THE
PAST.  The story which serves as its jumping-off point is the tale of
Kelli Peterson, an "out" lesbian who attempted during her 1995-96 senior
year at Salt Lake City's East High School to start a student club called
the Gay-Straight alliance.  Its purpose, according to Peterson, was
understanding -- understanding between gay students that they were not
going through the difficult experience alone, understanding between gay
and straight students that gays were not aliens to be feared or hated.
Local school board members, legislators and parents in conservative Utah,
however, believed the club was an unwholesome influence promoting the
lifestyle of homosexuality, and wanted the club eliminated.  Faced with
the federally-mandated choice between permitting all extra-curricular
clubs -- including the Gay-Straight Alliance -- and banning all clubs, the
school board opted for the latter.

     That story alone would be compelling enough to make for a solid piece
of documentary film-making.  Peterson emerges as a determined, remarkably
mature young woman with a surprisingly wry sense of humor about the uproar
she never meant to cause.  It's fascinating and entertaining simply
watching her calm determination in the face of parents who announce their
concerns in board meetings that exposure to homosexuality will be a
dangerous influence on impressionable teenagers.  The issue for the forces
in opposition to the Gay-Straight Alliance isn't just their undoubtedly
sincere belief in the immorality of homosexuality.  They desire nothing
less than the invisibility of homosexuals, believing perhaps that if no
one talks about them, they will simply go away.

     That widely-held societal belief drives even more fascinating
secondary story in OUT OF THE PAST -- a series of biographical vignettes
intertwined with Kelli Peterson's struggle.  The vignettes describe
individuals I was embarrassed and angry to discover that I had never heard
of, gay Americans who contributed to the arts, political thought and
social justice.  The most intriguing of these is Bayard Rustin, a member
of Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle of advisors who was the architect
of non-violent civil resistance and the primary organizer of the march on
Washington.  Rustin became a lighting rod for opposition, both from
segregationists like Strom Thurmond and from other black political
leaders.  Like many others, he has been excised from history books because
of his sexual orientation, contributing to the continued invisibility of
gay Americans as role models.

     Like many "talking head" documentaries, OUT OF THE PAST does have its
slow patches, and not all the biographical sketches are uniformly
enlightening.  Ultimately, however, the film does what it sets out to do:
it places Kelli Peterson in a historical context, validating the legacy
which she had been denied.  It was the societal denial of that legacy
which made a Gay-Straight Alliance necessary in the first place; it was
the search for heroes that turned Kelli Peterson into one.

     On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 alliances:  8.

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                    http://www.inconnect.com/~renshaw/
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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 10:02:40 -0600
From: jkrudy <[e-mail]>
Subject: [MV] Pre 90's funny movies / depressing movies

I just watched Jumping Jack Flash over the weekend.  It was hilarious.  If
you watch it look for Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman (credits have him listed
as Phil E. Hartmann), if I'm not mistaken this was before SNL for them, or
at least before they were well known.

Also back to depressing movies, I tried to rent "Threads", but the video
store didn't have it, so I rented "The Day After" because I remember how bad
it scared me when I was a kid.  As an adult with kids of my own now, it
scared and depressed me even more than when I was a kid.

JAMES K. RUDY



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

Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 10:51:46 -0600 (MDT)
From: Scott Renshaw <[e-mail]>
Subject: [MV] REVIEW: ANTZ

ANTZ
(DreamWorks)
Voices:  Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone,
Jennifer Lopez, Christopher Walken, Anne Bancroft.
Screenplay:  Todd Alcott and Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz.
Producers:  Brad Lewis, Aron Warner and Patty Wooton.
Directors:  Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson.
MPAA Rating:  PG (profanity, violent situations)
Running Time:  83 minutes.

     So DreamWorks' ANTZ gets to be first out of the gate in the
Computer-Animated Insect Sweepstakes, beating Disney/Pixar's A BUG'S LIFE
to the screen by a good two months.  The folks at DreamWorks probably felt
that meant they could set the standard and avoid comparisons, but that's
not entirely true.  Disney's 1995 TOY STORY became the first, best
standard-bearer, a wonderfully witty adventure which established that no
amount of visual virtuosity could push aside the power of a great script.
There was little doubt that three years of technological innovation would
make ANTZ more spectacular to look at.  The question was whether these
anthropomorphized insects would be asked to carry a story that felt like
twenty times their body weight.

     It looks like the film-makers behind ANTZ learned the right lessons
from TOY STORY.  ANTZ may not be in TOY STORY's league when it comes to
charm and ingenuity, but it's a clever and appealing piece of work in its
own right.  The oddly spelled title actually refers to the story's
protagonist, a lowly and unfulfilled worker ant called Z (Woody Allen).
Trapped in the ant colony's rigid caste system, Z longs to find his own
destiny, which might even include romancing the unapproachable Princess
Bala (Sharon Stone).  In order to catch Bala's eye, Z switches places with
his soldier ant pal Weaver (Sylvester Stallone), unwittingly setting off a
social revolution.  Even more unwittingly, he discovers that head soldier
General Mandible (Gene Hackman) has sinister plans for the colony.

     The goofy socio-political overtones of Z's struggle for individuality
are good for a few chuckles, though it's not entirely clear from one
moment to the next what the "message" is.  Sometimes it's a treatise on
the triumph of personal will over stultifying conformity (nowhere more
humorously than in a bar scene where line dancing becomes metaphorical
fascism).  At other times, the needs of the many are shown to outweigh the
needs of the few.  And that's not the only place where the story feels
less than cohesive.  Sub-plots abound, many of which fill time without
moving the story anywhere.  The ideas for individual scenes play much more
effectively in the moment than they do upon reflection, where they don't
feel completely unified.

     Then again, it's hard not to be caught up in the moment while
watching ANTZ.  The visuals are nothing short of spectacular, in terms of
both scale and individual detail.  When thousands of ants form a wrecking
ball or a column to serve a unified purpose, thousands of individual limbs
and antennae waving, the effect is dazzling.  There are also some
effectively creepy images of a war between ants and acid-spewing termites
(the kind which might spook youngsters).  Perhaps even more breath-taking
are the facial expressions created for the characters.  The movements and
reactions are so complete that every ant becomes real on the screen.  With
so much attention lavished on giving the characters personality, ANTZ
never feels merely showy, as impressive as it is from start to finish.

     Not that the animators were solely responsible for giving the
characters personality.  ANTZ boasts an impressive cast of voice talent,
from Hackman as the eugenically-inclined dictator-in-waiting to
Christopher Walken as he morally ambivalent henchman, from Stallone deftly
playing good-natured lug to Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin as a pair of
WASP-ish wasps named Chip and Muffy.  But the star of the show is Woody
Allen, bringing his inimitable, anxiety-ridden nebbishness to Z.  Some of
his lines are pure vintage Woody (on whether he "laughs in the face of
Death":  "Actually, I generally...make sarcastic remarks behind Death's
back"), which makes it even more of an incongruous pleasure thinking of
him as a romantic action hero.  His voice performance is one of several
reasons ANTZ is plenty of fun, if often in an inside-jokey, over the head
of kids kind of way.  As a story it's uneven, but it still satisfies; it
may not be TOY STORY, but few things are.  And it has succeeded at setting
a reasonably high bar for the next computer-generated bug film to jump
over with all six legs.

     On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 maiden ants:  7.

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Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 13:12:09 -0400
From: [e-mail] (Kevin Marshall)
Subject: Re: [MV] Pre 90's funny movies / depressing movies

I watched "The Elephant Man" (a David Lynch film) just a few days ago.
It is definately one of the single most depressing films I have seen.

It also happens to be one of the best.
:)

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Marshall
"It was the last time street guys were given anything that valuable."
- - Casino
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Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 11:34:57 -0600 (MDT)
From: The Reporter <[e-mail]>
Subject: [MV] Movie News - 09/29/98

Leonardo DiCaprio didn't disappoint anyone this weekend --
fans, film festival-goers or even the paparazzi. Attending
the opening of the New York Film Festival Friday for the
premiere of Woody Allen's "Celebrity" -- in which Leo's
character lampoons bad-boy movie star behavior by trashing a
New York hotel room while beating up his girlfriend (played
by Gretchen Mol) before heading off to a druggy Atlantic
City orgy -- DiCaprio posed for photographers when he
arrived at Lincoln Center, stayed throughout the movie and
attended the official fest reception at Tavern on the Green
after the screening. All that was more than Woody Allen did.
He was elsewhere in town, shooting a new movie.

* "Celebrity," which opens to the public Nov. 13, drew a
mixed response. It contains some Allenesque gems, including
the entire DiCaprio sequence, Bebe Neuwirth instructing Judy
Davis on how to improve her lovemaking skills, and Kenneth
Branagh (who mimics whiny Woody to perfection) on an
ill-fated date with the luscious ubermodel Charlize Theron.
But the film's 114-min. length and its blunted attack on
today's star culture as it retreads over familiar Allen
territory -- the adventures of an oversexed, neurotic loser
who mistreats women -- dilute the movie's pleasures.

                        -=> * <=-

Nathan Lane, whose NBC sitcom "Encore! Encore!" debuted
Tuesday to poor ratings and reviews, will star in a feature
movie version of the critically acclaimed play
"Mizlansky/Zilinsky or 'Schmucks.'" Lane starred in the Jon
Robin Baitz play during its limited run at the Manhattan
Theater Club earlier this year. It concerns two washed-up
producers who try to salvage their careers with one last
screen deal. The film version will be written by Baitz and
directed by Joe Mantello, who directed the play and whose
last stage-to-screen adaptation was "Love! Valour!
Compassion!" Lane starred in that play, too, but dropped out
of the movie. Jason Alexander took his screen role.

                        -=> * <=-

The Jackie Chan-Chris Tucker cop movie "Rush Hour" dominated
an adventure-filled weekend box office that also saw strong
debuts of Robert DeNiro's "Ronin" (which took in $12.3
million) and the horror film "Urban Legend" ($11 million),
estimates showed Sunday. The family drama "One True Thing"
($4.4 million) lost about a third of its audience to fall
into a fourth-place tie with the resilient gross-out comedy
"There's Something About Mary" ($4.5 million), which crossed
the $150 million mark in its 11th week.

* In its second week, "Rush Hour" collected $21.1 million in
ticket sales for a total of $63.9 million, exceeding all
estimates. The film played well everywhere except in South
Florida and Louisiana, said a spokesman for its distributor.
"And that was because of the hurricane."

                        -=> * <=-

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Sophisticated New Yorkers appeared to be the
only moviegoers lured by "Lolita," whose much-anticipated theatrical
debut turned out to be more sizzle than steak at the weekend. The
French-produced update of the controversial man-meets-girl story
grossed a tepid $105,000 in 15 locations in the greater New York and
Los Angeles areas. Its average of just $7,000 per screen is not
exactly fiery, given the massive amount of ink devoted to the
picture. The film did find some audiences in New York, selling out
shows at the downtown Angelika and the Upper West Side's Lincoln
Plaza, where it was tracked to gross a hefty $28,000. But grosses
were a fraction of that in Los Angeles and in suburban runs on both
coasts.

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