Author Topic: Movies & Books Into Movies (Read 592024 times)

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2720 on:** June 27, 2012, 02:46:51 AM »

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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Your Discussion Leader: pedln

Finally watched 'The Help' last night - really enjoyed it. Of course, I have no first hand experience of any of the things it portrays, so I've no idea how accurate it is, but I thought it was a good film.

Madeleine is studying the Vietnam War at school, so I am trying to think of films she could watch, as she really knows very little about it, and I only remember it dimly. Have come up with The Quiet American and Good Morning Vietnam. Any ideas? (NB she's only just 14.)

Rosemary

Frybabe · « **Reply #2721 on:** June 27, 2012, 07:27:22 AM »

We Were Soldiers with Mel Gibson. It was about Hal Moore during the Nam War.
Here is Moore's bio from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Moore

marjifay · « **Reply #2722 on:** June 27, 2012, 12:16:36 PM »

Thanks Frybabe for recommending the film, WE WERE SOLDIERS. I've added it to my Netflix queue.

I can't recommend any films/books except a couple of not so well known ones for adults that I liked;

GO TELL THE SPARTANS (1978), a little known film starring Burt Lancaster and some other excellent unknown-to-me actors. It tells the story of a group of military advisors at the beginning of our involvement who find their struggle against the Viet Cong to have similarities to that of the doomed French who had fought at the same site. Based on the novel by Daniel Ford, Incident at Muc Wa.

A DANGEROUS FRIEND, a novel by Ward Just. Set in Vietnam in 1965 showing how little Americans understood the Vietnamese and the situation there at that time.

Marj

MaryPage · « **Reply #2723 on:** June 27, 2012, 12:53:22 PM »

Babi, Doc Martin DOES have closed captioning on my PBS channels, and I am lucky enough in this Washington DC, Baltimore MD megalopolis to get 3 public television channels: WMPT, which is Maryland Public Television and comes from Baltimore and WETA which is meant to be Washington, but actually broadcasts from their Virginia suburbs, and WHUT, which is Howard University Television and is located in DC on the campus of Howard U.

So I get Doc Martin on both WMPT and WETA, and at different times, which is wonderful. But Babi, BOTH channels have the closed captioning, so I cannot for the life of me figure out why yours does not!

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2724 on:** June 27, 2012, 01:45:13 PM »

We've lost the wonderful, funny, insightful Norah Ephron. I liked all of her movies......Sally Met Harry, Sleepless in Seattle, Heartburn, etc. How sad, too soon.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2725 on:** June 27, 2012, 02:00:35 PM »

Thanks Marj and Frybabe, I will have a look for those.

Jean, I know. I remember seeing Meryl Streep in Heartburn years ago.

Great woman, RIP.

Rosemary

JeanneP · « **Reply #2726 on:** June 27, 2012, 02:48:52 PM »

Very little seems to have been written about the Viet. war. Just like we were not told very much about it. Believe to many people thought the War was a real. Cock up . Should never have happened and so kept quiet. Will not find much about it in the History books in years to come.
Think same thing will happen about the one we have going on now.

marjifay · « **Reply #2727 on:** June 27, 2012, 03:49:47 PM »

JeanneP wrote, "Very little seems to have been written about the Viet. war. Just like we were not told very much about it."

Gosh, Jeanne, it seems to me a lot has been written about it. Just for the heck of it I went to my list of books, sort of a "to-be-read-perhaps" list, some of which I've read, and copied those pertaining to the Vietnam War. The above/below means where I need to look for a short description of the book:

VIETNAM & VIETNAM WAR, books about:
The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam, above; (I own)
A Better War; The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last
   Years in Vietnam by Lewis Sorley, above;
The Communist Road to Power in Vietnam by William J. Duiker, above;
A Dangerous Friend by Ward Just, fiction, above;
Death of a Generation; How the Assassination of Diem and JFK Prolonged the
   Vietnam War by Howard Jones;
Dereliction of Duty; Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff
   and the Lies That Led to Vietnam by H.R. McMaster, above;
Dispatches by Michael Herr, above;
Ho Chi Minh; A Life by William J. Duiker, above;
Fields of Fire by James Webb, above
Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien, above
Hell in a Very Small Place; The Siege of Dien Bien Phu by Bernard B, Fall, above
In the Lake of the Woods (fiction) by Tim O'Brien;
In Pharoah's Army; Memories of a Lost War by Tobias Wolff, above;
In Retrospect by Robert McNamara (I own);
The Last Valley; Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam by Martin
   Windrow, above;
Lessons in Disaster; McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam by Gordon
   Goldstein, above;
The Lotus Eaters (a novel) by Tatiana Soli, above;
The Making of a Quagmire; America and Vietnam during the Kennedy Era by
   David Halberstam, above;
The Man From Saigon; A Novel by Marti Leimbach, above;
Marigold; The Lost Chance for Peace in Vietnam by James G. Hershberg, above
Matterhorn (a novel), by Karl Marlantes, above;
Once Upon A Distant War; David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan, Peter Arnett -- Young
   War Correspondents and Their Early Vietnem Battles by William Prochnau,
   above;
On Strategy; A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War by Harry Summers, above
Pol Pot; Anatomy of a Nightmare, by Philip Short (re Cambodia), above;
A Rumor of War (a memoir) by Philip Caputo, above
The Rise and Fall of an American Army by Shelby Stanton, above;
Saigon (a novel) by Anthony Grey, above;
Secrets; A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg;
Street Without Joy; The French Debacle in Indochina by Bernard B. Fall, above
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, above
Triumph Forsaken; The Vietnam War, 1954-1965 by Mark Moyar, above;
Vietnam; A History by Stanley Karnow, below
Vietnam; The History of the Unwinnable War by John Prados, below
Vietnam; The Necessay War by Michael Lind, below
We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Harold C. Moore, below

Marj

Frybabe · « **Reply #2728 on:** June 27, 2012, 10:03:14 PM »

There are probably lots more just dealing with the peace movement protests and riots during that period. I stayed away from the hippies and the protesters - didn't agree with much of that. But then I also very heartily disagreed with the government for drafting our guys into an undeclared war. It was okay with me as long as it was voluntary, but not when it was forced. If you are going to draft someone into a war, then it had better be formally declared a war. I don't think there were many people who didn't know at least one person who died in that war.

Babi · « **Reply #2729 on:** June 28, 2012, 08:31:41 AM »

MARYPAGE, with the DVD's, the film on disc either has closed captioning or does not.
The television channel has nothing to do with it. PBS must have added closed captioning
for their presentations, but I've never seen it offered on my local PBS.
I was startled to see how homely Doc Martin appeared. Those low-set, prominent ears
were distracting. I can only assume the guy must be a great actor, since he's surely
not sailing through on his good looks. If I could have watched the show, I would probably
have quickly gotten accustomed to the ears.

jeriron · « **Reply #2730 on:** June 28, 2012, 08:49:08 AM »

I would love to get Inspector Morse from Netflix but none of them have captions although they did on tv. I have to agree doc Martin is pretty funny looking.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2731 on:** June 28, 2012, 11:42:54 AM »

I call Doc Martin plug ugly, but he does grow on you over time, and in the end you become so very fond of him. He is a good man and a thoroughly kind man and very brilliant and the very best possible doctor. He just totally lacks social skills and cannot get it in his head why he offends so many people.

If a thing is a certain way, he will out with it; even though your mother raised you to NEVER be so blunt with people, Doc Martin believes everyone wants the truth.

Sometimes I roll on the floor laughing at the results!

JoanK · « **Reply #2732 on:** June 28, 2012, 05:25:51 PM »

And they've done something to the ears to make them stick out like that. I've seen the actor in other things where his ears are normal. Still doesn't make him handsome, mind.

JoanK · « **Reply #2733 on:** June 28, 2012, 05:32:20 PM »

I remember, when I was commuting to work on the subway. Since i got on at the end of the line, people had their choice of seats, and tended to sit in the same seats every day. I often sat opposite a man who had ears like that. He was literally the ugliest man i've ever seen. I had to work to keep myself from staring at him, poor man. But then I noticeD he wore a wedding band. Never mind how ugly he was, someone loved him

(the feminist part of me thought "yeah, an ugly man can find love, but if he had been a woman, she would have been doomed!")

mabel1015j · « **Reply #2734 on:** June 28, 2012, 08:16:58 PM »

Joan -

i find myself saying things like that about overweight male actors on tv.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2735 on:** June 29, 2012, 02:53:08 AM »

JoanK, you are so right. There was a woman who worked in one of the stores in Aberdeen, who had a very large birthmark across her face. You knew that she was indeed 'doomed' - but also that it would not affect a man's life in quite the same way. I really hate this pressure on women to conform.

I did, however, find an interview with Martin Clunes, from which you will see that (a) his ears do indeed stick out and (b) that he had a horrible childhood - thanks to boarding schools, the tormentors of so many upper middle class children in this country:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/8770624/Martin-Clunes-tells-of-boarding-school-beatings-and-childhood-traumas.html

Rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #2736 on:** June 29, 2012, 08:59:05 AM »

Not necessarily 'doomed', I would hope. A 'marred' woman would doubtless not
be looked at by those males who feel they can 'do better than that'. But a homely
man who is ignored, or worse, by the pretty young things, might be happy to find
a loving woman who is less than physically perfect. And of course, there are many
women who are able to live quite happily without a man around.
Having said all that, I still agree that the double standard on physical expectations
annoys me as much as it does the rest of you.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2737 on:** June 29, 2012, 03:12:40 PM »

I don't subscribe to HBO, but my On Demand is allowing us to see the first episode of THE NEWSROOM, so I just watched it and found it very, very good and, just as was true with The West Wing, the sentiments and opinions expressed closely match my own. That in itself is exhilarating.

I instantly knew Emily Mortimer, who plays MacKenzie MacHale. Do you remember the wonderful writer Rosamunde Pilcher? She wrote The Shellseekers, and never wrote a book I did not love.

Well, the Brits did a mini-series of her COMING HOME over a decade ago. Both the book and the film were superb. And Emily Mortimer played Judith Dunbar, the lead. If you never, ever read Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher; do! And get the DVDs of the film! You will enjoy many happy hours.

Babi · « **Reply #2738 on:** June 30, 2012, 09:13:54 AM »

I watched 'Newsroom' with my son when he visited last weekend, and It was very good.
Some fine acting. The writer is apparently one my son thinks highly of. I'm afraid
I've forgetten the name already. (Don't tell him. :-[I'll look it up.) Ahh, yes...
quick check revealed the name Aaron Sorkin. I understand he's written a number of fine
films. Does anyone know if he's written any books?

pedln · « **Reply #2739 on:** July 03, 2012, 09:49:24 AM »

You all have really covered the territory. I feel like I’ve been away forever. So many good ideas here.

Babi, thanks for the heads-up on Newsroom. I’ve added it to my Netflix queue, but guess it will be a while before the DVD is available. HBO puts out some good stuff, and I’m glad Netflix eventually has the DVDs available.

That’s an interesting list, Marjifay, the books about Vietnam. And I should make a point of reading some of them. We were living in Puerto Rico during the time of the war, no TV, and were really quite insular, not paying much attention to the rest of the world. There were protests on the university campus and attempts to burn down the ROTC building, but I think our exposure to what was going on was quite limited.

Marcie, I missed the last three episodes of The Killing. Who did kill Rosie Larson?

Quote

Not in a sandwich; they were on a plate and you ate them any which way you wanted.

MaryPage, I’m not a sandwich person, and that’s the way I like to eat lunch.

After seeing all the recommendations for Doc Martin I just added the 2001 disc, the pre-quel, to my Netflix queue. Is that the place to start?

The other night I watched Albert Nobbs, the one where Glenn Close plays a male waiter. I loved it, wonderful acting on the part of Close and some of the others. What women had to do back then, just to survive.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2740 on:** July 03, 2012, 02:41:29 PM »

I would not think the so called pre-quel a good place to start; but that is just my opinion.

You see, the prequel is about a Dr. Martin Bamford, or something like that, and is played by the same actor, Martin Clunes, who plays Doc Martin. And it is about doctoring in a village in Cornwall.

But the prequel was just a stab at doing a show about such a doctor in such a place. The idea became a solid one only when they changed the name and the fictional history of the doctor in question. THAT series really took off.

Same actor. Same county. Different doctor. Our Doc Martin is Doctor Martin Ellingham.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2741 on:** July 03, 2012, 03:01:27 PM »

MaryPage, did you happen to see the "Behind the Scenes" program on the Doc Martin series? It played last Saturday here. Little bits by the actors, director, etc. And they all say that Martin Clunes is hilarious (in real life). Couldn't tell it by watching the show, could you?

MaryPage · « **Reply #2742 on:** July 03, 2012, 03:58:54 PM »

I did not. I was without television, telephone or internet all weekend due to the horrific derecho we had race through these parts Friday night.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2743 on:** July 03, 2012, 04:06:19 PM »

Ohh, that's right! Sorry. I had been meaning to ask you if your area was in the path of the derecho. Should have known it was. Did you suffer any damages, other than being without power?

Babi · « **Reply #2744 on:** July 04, 2012, 08:35:34 AM »

Actually, PEDLN, Newsroom is being broadcast as a series right now. We get each show recorded weekly and watch it at our leisure. If one of your stations is carrying
it, you needn't wait for Netflix.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2745 on:** July 04, 2012, 04:16:45 PM »

Tomereader, I was never without power, thank goodness. Over a million homes here were. Half of my own community was, but I got lucky this time. After having been 8 days without power last summer, I feel it is time for a break for me. There are power crews from as far as Canada working 16 hour days, including today, to repair our extensive damage.

I was without COMCAST. I have cable, internet and telephone in a bundle from them. Nothing I could do. I called all of my children on my dang cell phone, which I hate but they insist I have, and I am on the family plan with my daughter Debi here, and let them know. Several had already tried me on my land line to see how I was, so they were relieved when I called. I had my radio and CD player and plenty of good books, but I hated missing DOC MARTIN. Debi told me both episodes shown here Saturday evening were repeats, and told me which ones they were. I could remember them both quite well.

Yes, it was a derecho. Pronounced de - raych - oh. There is a long article in the Annapolis paper today saying we can expect a lot more of these storms and fires and droughts and so on, all due to global warming.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2746 on:** July 08, 2012, 07:34:20 PM »

For those who don't mind a movie in a foreign language, but with sub-titles, and can get out to a theatre in your area that runs "indie" films, by all means go to see
"Les Intouchables". (translates to The Untouchables) A true story about a quadriplegic and his most unusual "home care" nurse. If you can't get to a theatre showing it, when the dvd comes out, rent it! You will laugh (I mean laugh, as in guffaw, roar, ROFL) and you will cry. This is a beautiful movie and don't let the NY Times movie critic spoil it for you if you look that up on line. I know I am always (it seems) recommending movies that are outside the Hollywood mold. This one is worth your time and the price of admission.

pedln · « **Reply #2747 on:** July 09, 2012, 10:11:08 AM »

Babi, I think Newsroom is on HBO, so I'll have to wait for Season one to come out on DVD. It's sounds good.

Tomereader, we get a foreign film here about once every five or ten years, so I'm waiting for The Intouchables on DVD. I saw a trailer of it somewhere and really liked it.

My friends and I went out for an early July 4 dinner and then watched Netflix DVD The Ides of March, starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling, directed by Clooney. Very timely, as it was about life on the primary campaign trail. Though fictional, this was supposedly inspired by an aide in the Howard Dean campaign of 2004. We all loved it and I give it five Netflix stars. I left the dvd with my friend and after the rest of us left she watched it all over again. If you've seen it, what did you think of the ending?

Tried watching The Newlyweds over the weekend. Sorry, but no thanks. Two Netflix stars for "didn't like it." Maybe I'm just too old.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2748 on:** July 11, 2012, 03:48:47 AM »

We watched the DVD of the new version of John Le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy this week. Must admit I had to stop half way as it was so late, but I thought it was excellent. Madeleine and my husband watched it through to the end and enjoyed it - she is going to watch it right through with me again, as she has not read the books and wants to get it all clear in her head.

I never thought anyone could replace Alec Guinness as Smiley, but from what I've seen so far Gary Oldman has managed to make the role his own, and the other actors are also very good - Colin Firth in quite a different role from his usual, Toby Jones also excellent as Percy Alleline - Kathy Burke even manages to take on the role of Connie that was so much Beryl Reid's own.

Looking forward to seeing it through again.

Have also borrowed 'The Kids Are Alright' from our library - anyone seen it?

Rosemary

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2749 on:** July 11, 2012, 12:28:10 PM »

I can't personally recommend "The Kids Are All Right". I rented it, tried watching, 'bout halfway thru, I decided it was not for me. My daughter even bought the DVD, and decided it was not for her either. Can't fault the acting (Benning is always fantastic). I would be careful about letting your teenager view it.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2750 on:** July 11, 2012, 02:10:10 PM »

Thanks Tome - great to have some first hand advice. I will maybe watch it in bed tomorrow night and see what I think - it'll have to be good to stop me falling asleep!

Rosemary

pedln · « **Reply #2751 on:** July 12, 2012, 03:03:46 PM »

Rosemary, I saw Kids All Right some time ago and really did not find it memorable. Just so-so, and I'm surprised it got as many awards and nominations as it did.

But, that being said, you might find the NYT article below interesting. That topic was in the news when the film came out, and maybe that's why it got so much good publicity.

Donors provide many siblings

marcie · « **Reply #2752 on:** July 12, 2012, 08:10:02 PM »

Pedln, that is an interesting article. 150 children by one donor!!! That seems outrageous.

There is a positive review of THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT in the NY TIMES at http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/movies/09kids.html?pagewanted=all. It expresses my general thoughts about the film.

Babi · « **Reply #2753 on:** July 14, 2012, 11:03:51 AM »

MARCIE, I don't remember what brought it up, but I was thinking a bit on that subject not
long ago. My thoughts were more along the line of supposing every prospective mother would ask for a donor of above-average intelligence, good health history, successful and possibly talented. Some preferred physical characteristics, such as 'tall', perhaps. Why not?
But that would probably mean a few top contenders would be used frequently. I wonder if
that means the donors would come in often to contribute, or whether one donation produces
enough sperm for widespread use.

JeanneP · « **Reply #2754 on:** July 14, 2012, 01:09:37 PM »

A donor goes in at different time. I believe that the sperm just used once. Thing is the clinic do keep the names of those donors that they think are Ex. candidates. Many University students go in often. One way of paying their expenses. Some men have been know to have donated many, many times and theirs used. That is where a problem may come in. Many children out there now with same father. They could meet without knowing they had same D and A. Marry and have children. Would pay I think that if a couple meet and both know adopted then they should have a D and A test done. Be safe.

JoanK · « **Reply #2755 on:** July 14, 2012, 02:29:26 PM »

I have a friend whose father was a doner. She really wanted to know who he was and resented the law that let the father hide his identity. She and others were in a group who were searching for siblings.

JeanneP · « **Reply #2756 on:** July 14, 2012, 06:47:02 PM »

There was a documentary on the Telly about a year ago. This man agreed to them giving out his name if people trying to trace. It ended up with about 7 young people getting to meet with him and each other.
Seemed to have worked out O.K.
I believe that it can't be done until a child gets to be over 21. If much younger then women would be claiming for Child support.

Babi · « **Reply #2757 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:33:20 AM »

Thanks for that info., JEANNE. I'd never thought about all those
potential problems. Think of what a mess it could make in a criminal
case.

pedln · « **Reply #2758 on:** July 16, 2012, 09:31:35 AM »

Babi, I've been reading backwards and you've answered a question for me. I watched that stand-alone Doc Martin prequel and enjoyed it very much. And as someone has said, he's a kind man and his appearance does grow on you.

I want to watch the series now, and could not find evidence that the first disc had captions. Guess it doesn't. But it looks like the powers that be, actually a different DVD company, wised up and put them in for subsequent discs. So, those of you in the know, can we jump in with Season (or series) 2 and not be too confused?

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2759 on:** July 16, 2012, 11:07:05 AM »

I think it would be okay to start with Season 2, you won't be too confused. I had gotten them all from Netflix, but for the life of me, can't remember if #1 had captions. I will throw in this little intriguing ?fact? or not: Sometimes when I would be playing a DVD, I would use the Remote for either the DVD Player itself, or the TV's own remote to program in Closed Captions. A couple of times, when I did that, I actually got two different CC's showing on the screen. That was not necessarily Doc M, but definitely a British program, where the CC is always a big help with the dialogue. My tv's remote shows a button for C.C.; the DVD remote shows button called "subtitle", and the remote for my Dish, you use the Menu button and then press several buttons to get to the CC "on, CC off" screen, and then Select. I have no idea if any of this would work for anyone, especially if you have all your visual equipment programmed into the one Remote Control. But it is just a thought.

News:

Author Topic: Movies & Books Into Movies (Read 592024 times)