Movies Yet Again
Reversal of Fortune
It’s been a few years since I last saw this and I have been wanting to rent it again if only to see Jeremy Irons. Our Lady of the Assassins has become one of my ten favorite films, so the career of Barbet Schroeder is of sudden interest to me. To think he did that film as well as Reversal and Barfly and Single White Female… yeah, a checkered career.
Anyway, this is one of the few legal dramas I endorse. This and Witness for the Prosecution and The Verdict. And I only endorse these three films because of one of the actors involved. If Jeremy Irons made a film with Charles Laughton and Paul Newman it might just be the best thing the genre has ever produced. Sadly, these films are minorities cast out into a heartless world of mediocre legal thrillers all seemingly plucked from the pulp pages of John Grisham.
Orlando
Having read the book earlier this year, I was interested to see what the story would become on celluloid. Not bad in the beginning, but it seems to loose steam once Billy Zane enters the picture. He is something of a virus, isn’t he? But Tilda was quite good as the androgynous Orlando and the Russian Princess was pretty hot. Her and Orlando would have made a cute couple… if only they could have worked it all out… [sniff].
Anyway, a nice looking film; the director certainly has an eye. Two, even.
Dawn of the Dead
Still the best zombie film, still Romero’s best effort, still makes me laugh and cringe.
Batman Begins
Finally, someone got it right. Chicago never looked better. Katie “cute as a button” Holmes was really a bad choice, all things considered. She does not possess the maturity to be believable as a DA and seems considerably younger than Christian “American psycho who could stab me any day” Bale. They were supposed to have grown up together, but I am splitting hairs here. She was, essentially, the bit-of-tail for this comic fantasy. But I really liked this film and thought it was better than that. It didn’t need a damsel in distress.
So this was quite good. Lots of action but not at the cost of a good story. Between this and the Spiderman films, and even that last X-Men movie, the comic book movies have never looked so good. Sadly, Fantastic Four looks like ass.
On a semi-relevant note, I got into a movie discussion with some man at a bar who I believe was attempting to pick me up. Perhaps I flatter myself. So anyway, this gentleman intruded on my conversation and, in a truly drunken manner, asked me some bizarre questions, one of which had to do with movies and why anyone even bothered to go when no good ones have been made since the 40’s. I mentioned the ‘70s and referred to it as the last great decade of American filmmaking, which resulted in laughter and him questioning my age. I told the old queen I was and am 34, which he didn’t seem to believe.
“Why would you want to be a filmmaker anyway?” he asked. I told him I don’t, never have and never will want any such thing. Making films seems to be a slow and agonizing process. I have not the patience for such folly.
“So what are you interested in?”
“Literature.”
“Okay, then why is that interesting? What’s your favorite book?”
I walked away. When someone asks me what my favorite book, or favorite movie, is I usually say something smart-assed as there are no good answers to such questions. There are too many to name, despite trying on this web site profile. I would prefer to be asked, “What are you reading right now?” or “What was the last good book you read?” or “Seen any good movies lately?” So I walked away and risked offending the drunken gentleman. Later, at home, I realized I should have quoted Oscar Wilde to him, that line from the Dorian Grey intro about all art being useless, but that would be taking Wilde’s point out of context and bringing up Oscar to a man trying to pick me up might just be too encouraging.
I lay on the futon, turned on the TV and saw a little of Tommy Boy on TBS. Useless indeed.
It’s been a few years since I last saw this and I have been wanting to rent it again if only to see Jeremy Irons. Our Lady of the Assassins has become one of my ten favorite films, so the career of Barbet Schroeder is of sudden interest to me. To think he did that film as well as Reversal and Barfly and Single White Female… yeah, a checkered career.
Anyway, this is one of the few legal dramas I endorse. This and Witness for the Prosecution and The Verdict. And I only endorse these three films because of one of the actors involved. If Jeremy Irons made a film with Charles Laughton and Paul Newman it might just be the best thing the genre has ever produced. Sadly, these films are minorities cast out into a heartless world of mediocre legal thrillers all seemingly plucked from the pulp pages of John Grisham.
Orlando
Having read the book earlier this year, I was interested to see what the story would become on celluloid. Not bad in the beginning, but it seems to loose steam once Billy Zane enters the picture. He is something of a virus, isn’t he? But Tilda was quite good as the androgynous Orlando and the Russian Princess was pretty hot. Her and Orlando would have made a cute couple… if only they could have worked it all out… [sniff].
Anyway, a nice looking film; the director certainly has an eye. Two, even.
Dawn of the Dead
Still the best zombie film, still Romero’s best effort, still makes me laugh and cringe.
Batman Begins
Finally, someone got it right. Chicago never looked better. Katie “cute as a button” Holmes was really a bad choice, all things considered. She does not possess the maturity to be believable as a DA and seems considerably younger than Christian “American psycho who could stab me any day” Bale. They were supposed to have grown up together, but I am splitting hairs here. She was, essentially, the bit-of-tail for this comic fantasy. But I really liked this film and thought it was better than that. It didn’t need a damsel in distress.
So this was quite good. Lots of action but not at the cost of a good story. Between this and the Spiderman films, and even that last X-Men movie, the comic book movies have never looked so good. Sadly, Fantastic Four looks like ass.
On a semi-relevant note, I got into a movie discussion with some man at a bar who I believe was attempting to pick me up. Perhaps I flatter myself. So anyway, this gentleman intruded on my conversation and, in a truly drunken manner, asked me some bizarre questions, one of which had to do with movies and why anyone even bothered to go when no good ones have been made since the 40’s. I mentioned the ‘70s and referred to it as the last great decade of American filmmaking, which resulted in laughter and him questioning my age. I told the old queen I was and am 34, which he didn’t seem to believe.
“Why would you want to be a filmmaker anyway?” he asked. I told him I don’t, never have and never will want any such thing. Making films seems to be a slow and agonizing process. I have not the patience for such folly.
“So what are you interested in?”
“Literature.”
“Okay, then why is that interesting? What’s your favorite book?”
I walked away. When someone asks me what my favorite book, or favorite movie, is I usually say something smart-assed as there are no good answers to such questions. There are too many to name, despite trying on this web site profile. I would prefer to be asked, “What are you reading right now?” or “What was the last good book you read?” or “Seen any good movies lately?” So I walked away and risked offending the drunken gentleman. Later, at home, I realized I should have quoted Oscar Wilde to him, that line from the Dorian Grey intro about all art being useless, but that would be taking Wilde’s point out of context and bringing up Oscar to a man trying to pick me up might just be too encouraging.
I lay on the futon, turned on the TV and saw a little of Tommy Boy on TBS. Useless indeed.
posted by ZombieDante at 9:35 AM
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