Author Topic: Movies & Books Into Movies (Read 591995 times)

maryz · « **Reply #2520 on:** April 29, 2012, 03:31:07 PM »

So many movies – how do you choose what to watch?
Reviews? Recommendations? Actors? Availability?
Do you choose a movie the same way you choose a book?

And where do you like to watch most of your movies?
Do you stream movies from Netflix and other places?
Where’s the strangest place you’ve ever watched a film?

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Join us in an ongoing discussion of your favorite movies right now.
Pull up a chair, take off your shoes, pour yourself a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, and join in!

Your Discussion Leader: pedln

marj, tell him to look again re Spielberg. Click here for a list of his films which include the Indiana Jones movies, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan. Definitely not all SciFi.

JeanneP · « **Reply #2521 on:** April 29, 2012, 05:20:01 PM »

Now for some reason I just can't think of Colin Firth in that kind of a movie. I am sure he will be good but most probably be all Muddy and thin and awful looking in it.
2 men on my Street growing up In UK came back home after being a POW and working on that railroad during the war. Was awful to see them. Never the same. And then my girlfriends sister had become Engaged to a man prior to him going into the service. He was a POW also. same place. When she knew he was coming home she arraigned her marriage to him. Was told to just wait awhile but didn't.
He again never got over it. Use to scare us . He ended up in a Mental Hospital and they were divorced later. They had been POWs from 1939 to 1945. long time.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2522 on:** April 29, 2012, 06:02:55 PM »

Has anyone here seen "Tree of Life" with Brad Pitt? Does anyone know what the movie was about? I have never seen such a waste of money put on film. And to think there were several nominations for the film on the Oscars.

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2523 on:** April 29, 2012, 07:29:44 PM »

The POWs were treated very badly by the Japanese. My former step-FIL missed the Bataan Death March by one hour. When he came back from the war he was skin and bones. They had to remove half his stomach because of the damage.

Does anyone remember the movie King Rat? The author, James Clavell, was a prisoner in the Changi prison camp in Singapore. That was supposed to have been one of the better prison camps. The novel was inspired/based on his experiences as a POW. It was Clavell's first novel, I believe.

marcie · « **Reply #2524 on:** April 29, 2012, 10:16:09 PM »

Rosemary, I do hope you get to saunter by Colin Firth!

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2525 on:** April 30, 2012, 03:10:59 AM »

Well Marcie, I will be going up to N Berwick later on for shopping, but if they're filming today they'll be almost swimming along the streets - it's pouring and blowing a gale. I expect they're safely tucked up in the Macdonald Hotel.

I haven't seen the films about that Japanese bridge, but I have read JG Ballard's book 'Empire of the Sun', which was graphic about the POW camps. Terrible, and I imagine they treated the soldiers much worse.

Have not seen The Tree of Life, but it's amazing what gets nominated for awards sometimes, both in films and books, don't you think?

Last night I watched a documentary about Ewan McGregor taking vaccines up the Congo River as part of his UNICEF ambassador role. It was very interesting - Congo apparently has a 90% vaccination rate, which must be pretty good for a country like that. The worst thing was seeing how the Bantu people exploit the Pygmies (I think they are called something else now but unfortunately I can't remember what) and treat them as slaves, and what devastation is being caused by alcohol being given to these poor people instead of proper wages. But UNICEF seemed to be doing a good job, and I do think Ewan McGregor has his heart in the right place. I don't think I'd go up the tiny tributaries of that river in a hollowed out tree trunk, then walk through swamps, to get to remote settlements, even if I was being filmed.

Rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #2526 on:** April 30, 2012, 08:19:41 AM »

Very true, MARJ and PEDLN. Sally Field has handled serious drama beautifully, and
probably is as strong as the women she had depicted. I suspect I am influenced by
my first introduction to her, as the 'Flying Nun'. In truth, she is a superb actress
and handle any role, imo.
There is also the fact that Mary Todd Lincoln is, for me, one of the more unlikable
historical figures. Which of course is grossly unfair. Judging people by what later
historians write is not the most reliable yardstick.

I sometimes suspect that critics don't understand a film either, but figure it must
be very clever and original and they ought to like it. They nominate it, thinking
it will make them appear brilliant and clever.

marjifay · « **Reply #2527 on:** April 30, 2012, 11:25:43 AM »

Tomereader wrote, "Has anyone here seen "Tree of Life" with Brad Pitt? Does anyone know what the movie was about? I have never seen such a waste of money put on film. And to think there were several nominations for the film on the Oscars.
Dumb, dumb, dumb."

I'm glad I didn't waste money on it. LOL. I didn't think it sounded like something I'd want to see. I've not been too enthralled by Sean Penn's films.

Marj

PatH · « **Reply #2528 on:** April 30, 2012, 01:09:38 PM »

Empire of the Sun was a stylized account of Ballard's own experiences, and everything he wrote shows the unhealed wounds from that time.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2529 on:** April 30, 2012, 03:00:02 PM »

marjifay, in actuality, Sean Penn only appeared in the last few minutes of the film, and we still don't know what or who he represented. (My hubby, my daughter and her hubby were watching with me...and they seemed to think he was the grown up, mistreated son. ) We were all puzzled and decided we would never watch it again, and that it was the worst movie we had seen. My wallet is so happy that I didn't spend money to go see it in the theatre!

Other than the cinematography in the earliest scenes, the other Nominations were probably just payments in kind to the producer (Pitt), director (?) etc.

JoanK · « **Reply #2530 on:** April 30, 2012, 06:59:37 PM »

MaryZ: love your tag:

"Everyone, in some small sacred sanctuary of the self, is nuts. -Leo Rosten"

So true. I like Rosten.

JeanneP · « **Reply #2531 on:** April 30, 2012, 08:24:55 PM »

Still Pouring down here today. Watched a DVD which I had been wanting to watch but had to wait until in the mood. It is as gloomy as the weather but worth watching. "God on Trial" the name. Again I learned more about Jewish History past that I had not read or heard before. Makes a person think about truth and fiction that appears in most religions.

maryz · « **Reply #2532 on:** April 30, 2012, 09:34:24 PM »

JoanK - glad you like it - it was a "thought for the day" on Wordsmith a while back.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2533 on:** May 03, 2012, 08:04:12 PM »

Hey! Hey! Hey!

If you are able to stay up late enough tonight, DO catch Charlie Rose on Public Television if he is carried where you are. He is on at eleven P.M. on both of our PBS channels: Washington DC and Baltimore.

His first guest is Dame Judi Dench talking about her movie coming out this month: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It is a comedy with Maggie Smith and many others of our favorite British older actors. I can hardly wait!

marcie · « **Reply #2534 on:** May 03, 2012, 08:45:40 PM »

Thanks for the recommendations, MaryPage.

pedln · « **Reply #2535 on:** May 04, 2012, 10:54:34 AM »

Marjifay, I did watch The Tree of Life a few months ago, don’t ask me why. I was one of the dumb ones who stuck with it. When I started looking at reviews AFTERWARDS, I found that most gave up after about 20 minutes. (Like I did earlier this week with Jane Austen In Manhattan) At the time, I think I had it mixed up with another new film The Tree, which I’m due to get from Netflix shortly. After viewing, my thoughts were that the picture could never get an Oscar, although it could be possible for the director, Terrence Malick. I guess it’s one of those you either hate or love, with very few lovers

I remember seeing Empire of the Sun several years ago, and I think that Criterion has recently come with a remastered edition. Not sure about that. William Woo, who used to be editor of the St. Louis Post Dispatch (the first not named Pulitzer) was born in Shanghai and as a young child came by ship to America with his mother, right at the end of WWII. Several of his columns would remind me of Empire of the Sun as he wrote childhood experiences and the trip to the States. I often wished he would write a book or at least compile his articles into one.

Kathleen Turner was on Morning Joe this morning talking about her new film, The Perfect Family, about a woman who wins the Catholic Woman of the Year award and then must deal with the knowledge that her family is not Perfect. Has anyone seen it? I’m not sure if it’s out yet or not.

CallieOK · « **Reply #2536 on:** May 04, 2012, 12:05:00 PM »

I watched the Charlie Rose interview with Dame Judy - and kept muttering, "Shut up, Charlie - and let HER talk!!"
Fascinating clip/review of her films; I had no idea she began at such a young age.

marjifay · « **Reply #2537 on:** May 04, 2012, 02:44:05 PM »

Thanks, Pedln, for mentioning Kathleen Turner's film The Perfect Family. Looks as if the film will be out this week, in Los Angeles anyway. I see that John Ritter's son, Jason, is also in it. I loved Turner in Peggy Sue Got Married, War of the Roses, Serial Mom.

Marj

MaryPage · « **Reply #2538 on:** May 09, 2012, 08:01:52 PM »

Tonight on CHARLIE ROSE he is going to talk about the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel again, this time with both Judi Dench and the film's director.

pedln · « **Reply #2539 on:** May 11, 2012, 11:40:02 AM »

MaryPage, I can't wait for that DVD of Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. And apparently it is doing well in the locales (12 cities) where it has been shown. The article below describes how it has held its own when up against the so-called blockbusters.

Best Exotic

Quote

"We weren't afraid of The Avengers," Gilula says. One reason: "There hasn't been a film that catered to sophisticated tastes since the Oscars." Nor are they scared of Friday's arrival of Dark Shadows with its vamped-up Johnny Depp, as Marigold Hotel expands this weekend into 61 cities and 177 theaters supported by revised TV spots that tie in with Mother's Day. "The exciting thing is, its core audience is potentially much larger," says Gilula, especially as word of mouth builds

pedln · « **Reply #2540 on:** May 11, 2012, 11:48:03 AM »

And if that is not enough for you, keep these up and coming "art house" films in mind.

Smaller films could be big this summer

And here's a link to one of them that we'll probably be hearing a lot about near next Oscar season, about a six-year-old Mississippi girl named Hushpuppy. Be sure to watch the trailer.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

What have y ou been watching recently? Last week I saw In the Land of Blood and Honey, Angelina JOlie's first stab at directing. I gave it three Netflix stars. I didn't dislike it, but it was very very bloody, cruel, more sex than necessary. Made me realize how little I know about what happened in Bosnia between the Serbs and Muslims.

marcie · « **Reply #2541 on:** May 11, 2012, 10:35:04 PM »

Thanks for those articles, Pedln. Beasts of the Southern Wild especially looks interesting to me.

Babi · « **Reply #2542 on:** May 12, 2012, 08:35:47 AM »

Thanks for those links, PEDLN. I'm definitely going to get on the list for at least two
of them. "Beasts...", definitely, and "The Intouchables" looks intriguing, too.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2543 on:** May 12, 2012, 12:14:07 PM »

They are making a movie here in town these days. It is to be called “Better Living Through Chemistry” and centers around a corner store on our State Circle which has, throughout living memory, housed a gentleman’s uniform and dress clothing store that recently succumbed in our current economy. The movie people have converted it into a drug store (I guess that is where the “chemistry” comes in?), and are, according to our local newspaper, thrilled with this locale.

We have a number of circles here in Annapolis. State circle encircles our State House. Annapolis is the capital of Maryland and our State House is the oldest of continuous use here in the United States. For 9 months, we were actually the capital of these United States and the Treaty of Paris was signed here by George Washington. That treaty ended the Revolutionary War.

So, while I have no idea whether Better Living Through Chemistry will be any good or not, you can see my beautiful little city that way. Annapolis is special!

maryz · « **Reply #2544 on:** May 12, 2012, 12:57:43 PM »

What fun to be able to watch it happening! A movie about Jackie Robinson is to be filmed here this summer. It stars Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, so everybody is all agog that he might be spotted.

JoanK · « **Reply #2545 on:** May 12, 2012, 02:27:08 PM »

MARY: what fun! Annapolis is a beautiful town; I'm surprised it's not used more often.

The apartment complex I lived in while looking for my condo was used as a movie setting: I'm told my bedroom window was featured. It's a gangsta movie, so I've never seen it. The super told me it was fun at first to have the movie people there, but they got awfully tired of it.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2546 on:** May 12, 2012, 02:47:02 PM »

"Better Living Through Chemistry" was a DuPont slogan at one time.

Not much on the movie in IMDB yet, but I see they have Judi Dench and Ray Liotta in the cast. Looks like they are putting it into the comedy/drama category. Trophy wife, affair, sex, drugs, murder.

JoanK · « **Reply #2547 on:** May 12, 2012, 02:53:30 PM »

"Trophy wife, affair, sex, drugs, murder". In other words, just a day at the office.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2548 on:** May 12, 2012, 02:57:45 PM »

Babi · « **Reply #2549 on:** May 13, 2012, 08:53:56 AM »

I didn't know those things about Annapolis history MARYPAGE. That's certainly something to
be proud of. The only pictures I recall seeing re. that city are those filmed around the
Naval Academy. That's certainly a lovely place.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2550 on:** May 14, 2012, 07:16:56 AM »

http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdstatehouse/html/home.html

Babi · « **Reply #2551 on:** May 14, 2012, 09:03:48 AM »

Oh, thanks for the link to the picture, MARY. How strange; the brick building and the white
tower don't seem to belong on the same building. It looks rather like one of the lovely coastal
lighthouses, standing just behind courthouse.

pedln · « **Reply #2552 on:** May 14, 2012, 10:14:41 AM »

That's a lovely picture, Mary Page. All the times I've been to DC, I don't think I've ever been to Annapolis. Maybe I'll just drive myself up there sometime and take a tour.

Re: the upcoming, now out, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I broke down and downloaded the eBook. I've enjoyed it so far, not quite what I expected -- am trying to figure out who's who -- Judy, Maggie, and Penelope. And the dirty old man? A bit more earthy than I expected, but shucks, we old folks aren't prudes.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2553 on:** May 14, 2012, 11:55:14 AM »

Pedln, a tour of Annapolis, a very old Colonial town, is well worth while. So are tours of our United States Naval Academy and St. John's College, both of which are right in downtown Historical Annapolis.

JoanK · « **Reply #2554 on:** May 14, 2012, 03:03:39 PM »

A beautiful picture of a beautiful building. Neat that they caught it at a time when all the trees are encased in ice. It's sights like that that make me really miss Maryland.

marjifay · « **Reply #2555 on:** May 17, 2012, 09:30:44 AM »

I have been watching the 2008 BBC TV mini-series of Little Dorrit (story by Charles Dickens), from Netflix.

Wonderful acting and story!

Marj

marcie · « **Reply #2556 on:** May 17, 2012, 10:11:47 AM »

Marj, I really liked that adaptation of Little Dorrit too. There is a video preview and lots of information at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/littledorrit/

MaryPage · « **Reply #2557 on:** May 17, 2012, 10:12:01 AM »

THIS IS THE DAY I am off to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel!

Charlie Rose had Bill Nighy on for an hour night before last, and he was fabulous. I have now seen 3 full hours about that movie on the Charlie Rose show alone! One hour with just Judi Dench, one with Judi and the director and Tom Wilkinson, and the last with Bill Nighy. Bliss!

Will let you know how it went.

marcie · « **Reply #2558 on:** May 17, 2012, 10:23:18 AM »

Thanks for mentioning those Charlie Rose shows again, MaryPage. It looks like they are available online at
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12357
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12334
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/12350

MaryPage · « **Reply #2559 on:** May 17, 2012, 06:53:06 PM »

The movie was great. I had expected a comedy rather in the Noel Coward or George Bernard Shaw or Oscar Wilde tradition. Not so. There were a lot of terribly funny lines, and lots of people laughed out loud a lot. I laughed out loud twice; really, really tickled, I was. I also expected a beautiful travelogue of India. Not so. I think it was all filmed in Udaipur.

India wise, in the beginning the camera does some stuff I hate; i.e., going hand held and all up and down and every which way. I fear they were trying to give the impression of zillions of people going every which way, but it just made me uncomfortable. Other than that, though, the photography is superb and the vistas to die for. I especially liked it when Judi Dench was walking through the town. Slowed the pace and allowed me to look around better. I like slow. A lot.

Well, the story is a real slice of life; that is what it is. Underneath the gaiety is a lot of drama. Very profound. Not enough time to really get deeply into the 7 English characters, but they do a good job with the time they have. I was quite satisfied at the end, albeit feeling quite sobered. They do not cut you any slack about being old, that's for sure.

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Author Topic: Movies & Books Into Movies (Read 591995 times)