This is somwhat of a follow-up to last week's post.
1) On the subject of movies, I just posted my review of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil, which you can scroll down to read. The Orson Welles reviews are now again complete.
2) Also on the subject of movies, Klaus over at Movie Reviews in 100 Words or Less just did a post based on an idea I came up with, about "iconic" movie roles, where a specific role is so connected with an actor that if you think of the actor you think of that role. The two examples I offered were Jeff Bridges as the Dude, and Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly. Klaus came up with quite a few more.
3) Tamara Paulin wrote a comment on my last post that brought up several interesting points. If I'd responded to it in the comments, my comment would have been longer than the post, so I decided to reply here.
I've definitely seen more movies than read books, and I love movies, so naturally I'm influenced by them.
I like it when I see a movie, connect with it, and then find out it was written and directed by a woman. There aren't that many out there, and I'm not demanding 50/50 representation or anything, but I'm glad there are some.
Oh, definitely. Have you seen Strange Days? One of my favorite movies from the 1990s. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, from a story by James Cameron (it sort of combines the best of both of their talents).
Also, my favorite comic book writer these days is Gail Simone, who wrote Secret Six, which I talked about last week. She started the "Women in Refrigerators" website. She writes great characters (male and female) and her stories have very strong and complex women, but never go in a predictable "girl power!" kind of way.
Sometimes I daydream about someone directing one of my books into film (but not just anyone!)
I've done that.
I'll have to watch The Claim. That one slipped by me, and I do enjoy Sarah Polley. (Go, Canadians!)
Yes, Sarah Polley is excellent. Have you seen The Weight of Water (also directed by Bigelow)? It's one of those movies that takes place half in the present and half in the past. The "past" part, with Sarah Polley, is excellent. The "present" part is good but uneven, but the film is worth seeing.
If you do see The Claim, let me know what you think. I'd love to hear an opninion that isn't filtered (as mine is) through McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Oh, and then you should see McCabe and Mrs. Miller, which has been my favorite movie for nearly 40 years.
4) In other news, Drupal Gardens is nagging at me that I don't update my sites there often enough. The main thing that's over there now is the Ten Pillars of Modern Literature. I think I'll move those posts over here. Maybe I'll do them as mid-week posts.
Strange Days – my husband loves the movie, and I liked it, up until the end. (There’s some symbolic sacrifice imagery that was just really on the nose, I felt.) I should probably watch it again, as my tastes do change!
There’s one thing about getting older–you can watch movies from years ago and they’re sorta new again. 🙂 I should write down the movies I like now, so I can watch them again in a decade.
I’ll look for all the movies you mentioned, for rent or on Netflix (Canadian Netflix has a small fraction of what you get in the U.S.), and will report back!
I love the Coen brothers, though my favorite movie of theirs is Intolerable Cruelty, which is probably not one of their better known ones. My husband and I could watch that movie every few months. I laugh so hard, every time. I guess my favorite movies all have humor.
I’m guessing you’re using “on the nose” in some sort of Canadian way that’s different from how it’s used down here, where it’s a good thing. 🙂
I just added Intolerable Cruelty to my Netflix queue. I’ve never seen it.
Favorite Coen brothers movie… That would be tough. I used to always say Miller’s Crossing (it stands with The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man as a great Dashiell Hammett adaptation), but then there was The Big Lebowski and O Brother Where Art Thou, and then True Grit. And I did like No Country for Old Men and Fargo, but maybe a notch below the others.
I think “on the nose” is more of a screenwriting term.
It’s when there is an image or dialogue that says “Pay attention now, while the authorial stand-in explains what this movie is about. See? It’s about redemption by self-sacrifice.”
Ah, yes, one of my many pet peeves. My admiration for Gone Baby Gone was even higher when I saw on the DVD that at one stage there had been a voiceover at the end, telling the point, and Affleck had had the good sense to remove it in the final cut.
There are two times when that device is used, and they’re both unbearable (though one is also unintentionally funny, so that’s something). The most common simply comes from underestimating the audience’s intelligence. The old nudge in the ribs, saying, “Get it? Get it?”
The other, which is rarer, is when the movie, in its final form, doesn’t actually make the point that it’s supposed to make. Then the voice over comes in to tell the audience the point, because otherwise they wouldn’t get it, since the movie has been telling them someone else for two hours.
Thanks for the idea and the plug for the post Anthony. I may follow up by breaking your rule about movie series and see if Harrison Ford should best be remembered as Han Solo or Indiana Jones…
Oh, I hope so. That’s also a great topic, but I think they have to be considered separately.