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From: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com (movies-digest) To: movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: movies-digest V2 #350 Reply-To: movies-digest Sender: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-movies-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk movies-digest Friday, May 3 2002 Volume 02 : Number 350 [MV] Jurassic Park 3 (2001) [MV] When strangers appear - 2001 [MV] Kubrick / Paradise lost 2 [MV] Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain - 2001 [MV] Moulin Rouge Re: [MV] Moulin Rouge [MV] Moulin Rouge [MV] Scent of a woman - 1974 RE: [MV] Scent of a woman - 1974 [MV] The Rosa Parks story - 2002 [MV] Kandahar (2001) [MV] The Score - 2001 [MV] Rush hour - 1998 [MV] Yahoo glitch trips up e-mail Re: [MV] Yahoo glitch trips up e-mail [MV] Is the list dead. Have not received a message for a long time. RE: [MV] Is the list dead. Have not received a message for a long time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Feb 2002 18:27:17 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Jurassic Park 3 (2001) 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 15:44:20 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] When strangers appear - 2001 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 14:46:24 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Kubrick / Paradise lost 2 - - 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 10:50:25 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain - 2001 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 19:10:40 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Moulin Rouge ****** 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 14:30:49 -0500 From: Mel Eperthener <bcassidy@usaor.net> Subject: Re: [MV] Moulin Rouge 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2002 07:00:41 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Moulin Rouge - --- 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2002 21:32:15 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Scent of a woman - 1974 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 08:57:01 -0600 From: Wade Snider <wsnider@brazoselectric.com> Subject: RE: [MV] Scent of a woman - 1974 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2002 08:43:55 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] The Rosa Parks story - 2002 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 19:39:25 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Kandahar (2001) 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 ] ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 Mar 2002 16:15:33 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] The Score - 2001 ***** Ok, having just seen this film, I'll add comments below ... with stars in front ... of course ! ;-) - --- hauntnut wrote: > A superb cast, a continuously surprising plot, and > breathless action > sequences mark "The Score" as a terrific heist thriller > in the > tradition of the caper genre. ***** I agree 100% there, this was a very exciting film, I thought it was excellent, 4/5 ... The beginning was a lil' slow, the first 30 minutes or so but after that it's quite a wild ride, minor flaws here and there (such as the part about the computer nerd and his annoying mother !) can easily be forgiven considering how effective the film is in general. Director Frank Oz has > created a movie > that deals out its suspense in spades, supplying the > intelligent > story with an intensity that one-ups itself right up to > the finale. > This is one of those movies that requires your utmost > attention to > its many intricacies; if you're like me, you'll readily > accept. ****** Yes, the characters were fascinating and it was nice to see great actors like DeNiro and Norton in the film ... Wow, this was one exciting *heist* sequence to end the movie ! ;-) > > There's not much to talk about in terms of fresh ground: > everything > seen here has been done in one way or another in many > other heist > films. The story introduces us to Nick Wells (Robert De > Niro), an > expert in lifting valuable items who has had enough of > the scoring > business and wants out. But not before his partner in > crime, Max __ > (Marlon Brando), pulls out the old "one last job" clichΘ: > this time, > it involves sidestepping the high-tech security system of > the > Montreal Customhouse and lifting a precious scepter > valued at thirty > million dollars. ****** Yep, this was indeed shot in Montreal, I recognized some of the locations and also some of the "supporting actors" who had bit parts as being *locals* ... the visuals were wonderful too, DeNiro's club for example was located in the oldest part of the city, looked wonderful ! > > Nick is skeptical and hesitant about the job, especially > after > meeting Max's insider, Jack Teller (Edward Norton), whose > ego tends > to cloud his judgment once things get underway. ***** Yep, I appreciated the CLASH of these 2 MASSIVE EGOS ! ;-) Working > as a night > janitor under an assumed name and a mentally challenged > demeanor, > Jack supplies Nick with information vital to their > success, from the > location of surveillance cameras to the make and model of > the safe > that holds their goal. Meanwhile, on the outside, things > begin to get > murky, as Nick finds out the real reason for the heist, > and Jack > begins to lose sight of their plan. ***** Yes, I may be GULLIBLE but I didn't see the "twist" coming ... t'was pretty nice, and then they have a DOUBLE-REVERSE, wo-wo ... I was loving it ! ;-) > > To put it simply, this is an actor's movie, showcasing > big-name > talent in powerhouse ways. Take De Niro for instance, who > starred > in "15 Minutes" earlier this year as a New York City cop, > and is now > playing a criminal; two completely different characters, > and yet he > plays them as if they were one and the same. He may > merely be playing > De Niro, but he does it with a wit and presence all his > own. ****** I haven't seen "15 minutes" yet ... Norton > nails Jack to the wall, playing his egotistical attitude > to sheer > perfection while at the same time making us believe in > Jack's > knowledge of the facility's various areas. ***** Yes, I appreciated how he was really *in charge* even if it was DeNiro who was doing the break-in, it was as if he was the mastermind behind the operation, really more than Marlon Brando (He was good but this small part could have been played by a number of actors, really ...) He has a few scenes in the first third then we don't see him until the last 5 minutes (and very briefly !) The film's > other big-name > stars, Brando and Angela Bassett, who plays Nick's > girlfriend, make > small appearances, but since so much of the central story > focuses on > De Niro and Norton's characters, it hardly matters. ***** Yep, always a pleasure to see Ms. Bassett as well, this was a DREAM TEAM really ! 2 of my favorite actors of all times (DeNiro and Norton) plus a strong supporting cast too ... > > The script, written by Kario Salem, Lem Dobbs and Scott > Smith, is > ingenious in the fact that it doesn't come off as an > insult to the > audience's intelligence. It's easily accessible to even > the most > clueless of moviegoers, allowing its logic to unfold in a > manner that > doesn't overload the mind. And with the exception of a > few key points > (why would a high-security facility allow access to its > most vital > areas to its janitors?), the plot comes through unscathed > of logical > pitfalls. ****** Well, there are lil' details here and there of course, but in general it was a great script ! One of the weakest part for me was the exchange of codes in the park ... the 2 guys giving the information were just a lil' bit too *agitated* (and also dumb !) > > Anyone familiar with their heist and caper films will > delight in > pointing out the overused sequences and situations. The > characters > spend incredible amounts of time scoping the target, > exchanging > priceless lines of dialogue, gathering materials, all of > which leads > up to the big final act in which the actual heist will > take place. > But here's where "The Score" scores its points: it takes > a well-known > genre and whips it into shape with a heightened energy > and intensity > to match its smarts, building the suspense layer by layer > as our > characters get closer to attaining the scepter. ***** hum .... YEP ! ;-) > > The third act of the film is the clincher, suspending us > in time as > we breathlessly await the outcome. In a certain way, we > have to care > for the characters, given the time and attention we have > devoted to > them as well as the story, which makes the film's final > payoff a > satisfying, if not totally original, conclusion. Looking > past its > reliance on familiarity, I think its safe to say that > "The Score" is > about three things: acting, energy, and smarts, and its > meets these > demands with supreme success. > > ****** Yes, I was hesitating a lil' bit but with that strong ending I have to be generous so it's a "weak" 4/5 for me ... should be in my Top 20 for 2001 ... Very enjoyable caper film. Cheers ! ===== Marc ;-) "I'm just a few drinks short of oblivion ..." Dennis Quaid as "Dexter Cornell" - "D.O.A." (1988) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - sign up for Fantasy Baseball http://sports.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Mar 2002 12:11:04 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Rush hour - 1998 Ok, I just saw RUSH HOUR entirely for the first time, I had only seen bits and pieces of it here and there before (I was sure I wouldn't like it from what I had seen before and seeing the film entirely just now certainly confirmed it ! 1.5/5) It was on Fox the other week and I recorded it. This rainy Sunday afternoon seemed like a good time for a NO BRAINER comedy. Well, for the most part I wasn't amused although a few times I was indeed amused by the dialogues and the action scenes such as when the evil kidnapper says he wants the money paid out in 50$ - 20$ and 10$ bills and Tucker tells him : "You want *FIVES* with that ??" ... now that was funny ! In general it wasn't a good film though, who wrote this script ? Amazing ... I think a 10 year old boy/girl could come up with a a more intriguing plot actually. The story is highly ridiculous and totally unbelievable actually. Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker star in this one of course, they are both MAJOR repellents for me as well so I was often cringing duing the film having to endure their (mostly unfunny) antics ... Phew, all that was required was Brendan Fraser in there and I was down for the count. Silly plot about a tiny chinese girl being kidnapped, the 2 cops have to get her back (They are so incompetent though it's hard to believe they actually manage to do it, only in a Hollywood film could such morons actually succeed !) They each should have been killed about 27 times along the way but I guess that's a detail ! ;-) Stoopid characters, lots of stereotypes about AFRICAN-AMERICANS, ASIANS and BRITISH citizens peppered in the story too ... I guess they can get away with it because nobody takes the film seriously ! A few good stunts here and there, Chan and Tucker fighting those EVIL DOERS (just like George W. Bush !) only they mostly use their fists of course, typical Chan action scenes, seems like they all look the same to me after a while ... I think it's a lil' disturbing actually that a lousy film like this would be such a huge success, who actually enjoys this stuff ? It's BAFFLING !! ... but I was thinking the same thing after seeing flops like "Armageddon" "Independance day" and company ... 1.5/5, I am glad I saw it for FREE on network Tv cos' it was worth about 25 cents IMHO. ===== Marc ;-) "I'm just a few drinks short of oblivion ..." Dennis Quaid as "Dexter Cornell" - "D.O.A." (1988) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - sign up for Fantasy Baseball http://sports.yahoo.com [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 11:29:27 -0800 (PST) From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@yahoo.com> Subject: [MV] Yahoo glitch trips up e-mail > Yahoo glitch trips up e-mail > > > By Stefanie Olsen > Staff Writer, CNET News.com > > March 4, 2002, 5:35 PM PT > > > Members of Yahoo's free e-mail list service are without a > clubhouse. > Yahoo Groups, a collection of discussion lists based on > various interests, has been inaccessible from the online > portal's Web site since Monday morning, Yahoo spokeswoman > Mary Osako confirmed. The outage, noted in a message on > the Yahoo Groups home page, has prevented millions of > members from receiving e-mail from their cohorts. > > Osako would not discuss details of the problem, but she > said it is hardware-related. > > > > "We're working aggressively to fix the problem and to > institute new processes to protect against similar > incidents in the future," said Osaka, adding an apology > to Yahoo Groups users. > > An outage on the group e-mail service affects a broad > audience. Yahoo Groups drew about 9.5 million unique > visitors in January, according to Net measurement company > Jupiter Media Metrix. > > The service's existence is the result of Yahoo's > acquisition of eGroups in summer 2000, when it paid > roughly $432 million in stock for the list-hosting > company. At the time, the service had roughly 17 million > members and 800,000 e-mail lists. > > Yahoo is in the process of merging its Yahoo Groups and > Yahoo Clubs, a similar but Web-based community that uses > online posting and instant chat to communicate. > > Yahoo said it started integrating the services two weeks > ago and plans to have the project finished by the end of > March. Osako said the outage is unrelated to the > combination of the services. > > But with impending changes, some Yahoo Groups users say > the service has become increasingly unreliable and > inundated with advertisements. > > "Some of the groups require quick transfer of information > or it would become worthless," Craig Ochs, who lives in > Brookfield, Wis., said in an e-mail. Ochs is the > moderator of an aviation-related group that trades > information about security breaches and business news in > real time. "Yahoo has been less than reliable, and rumors > abound about them starting to charge for the service. > Ahhhh, Yahoo!" > > Osako said the company does not have plans to start > charging for its groups service. > > > ......... ===== Marc ;-) "I'm just a few drinks short of oblivion ..." Dennis Quaid as "Dexter Cornell" - "D.O.A." (1988) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 17:59:12 -0700 From: "Gregory A. Swarthout" <gregorys@xmission.com> Subject: Re: [MV] Yahoo glitch trips up e-mail Sorry this got through. The sender was suspended from the list. Greg [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 16:14:45 -0400 From: Gene Ehrich <gene@ehrich.com> Subject: [MV] Is the list dead. Have not received a message for a long time. Is the list dead. Have not received a message for a long time. [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 3 May 2002 15:47:22 -0500 From: Wade Snider <wsnider@brazoselectric.com> Subject: RE: [MV] Is the list dead. Have not received a message for a long time. 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_01C1F2E3.B975D610 Content-Type: text/plain Hey! Guess it's not completely dead... > -----Original Message----- > From: Gene Ehrich [SMTP:gene@ehrich.com] > Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 3:15 PM > To: movies@lists.xmission.com > Subject: [MV] Is the list dead. Have not received a message for a > long time. > > Is the list dead. Have not received a message for a long time. > > > [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] > [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] - ------_=_NextPart_001_01C1F2E3.B975D610 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] Is the list dead. Have not received a message for a = long time.</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> Hey! Guess it's not = completely dead... <UL> -----Original Message----- From: Gene Ehrich [SMTP:gene@ehrich.com] Sent: Friday, May 03, 2002 3:15 PM To: movies@lists.xmission.com Subject: = [MV] Is the list dead. Have not = received a message for a long time. Is the list dead. Have not received a = message for a long time. [ 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_01C1F2E3.B975D610-- [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ] [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ] ------------------------------ End of movies-digest V2 #350 **************************** [ To quit the movies-digest mailing list (big mistake), send the message ] [ "unsubscribe movies-digest" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]