Author Topic: Movies & Books Into Movies (Read 592044 times)

Babi · « **Reply #2880 on:** September 09, 2012, 08:50:50 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

I did think, from the reviews I saw, that Tommy Lee Jones seemed out of place in the "Hope
Springs" role. But that's probably because he usually plays very different roles. I'll be
interested in seeing how he does in this one. It's not a bad idea to get out of one's
comfortable niche once in a while, and stretch a bit.

pedln · « **Reply #2881 on:** September 09, 2012, 11:51:04 AM »

Have Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep ever starred together before? That's interesting about his college roommate, MaryPage.

Last night I watched a very good foreign film, The First Grader, based on a true story about an elderly man who wanted to attend school in Kenya. He had lived through brutal times before Kenya achieved freedom, but now the government was providing education for everyone, and by golly he was going to learn to read. But the school was already overcrowded with so many children, he was first told there was no room, then he did not have notebooks or pencils, then he had no uniform. A wonderful account about perseverance.

Dana · « **Reply #2882 on:** September 09, 2012, 11:06:59 PM »

We just finished watching a rather gripping movie, quite by chance. I just finished looking it up and it was made in the early 90s, so I expect everyone knows about it already---Gloomy Sunday.....
German/Hungarian, set in Budapest in the 1930s about this love triangle and a song that sends people to suicide (apparently true and sung by Billie Holiday at some point). Then the Nazis intervene, but I will say no more because that would spoil it. I'm not much of a movie fan and I didn't really think I'd like this one at all...BUT....its very atmospheric and really quite gripping, so I would like to recommend it highly and ask if anyone has seen it and what they thought??.

marjifay · « **Reply #2883 on:** September 10, 2012, 10:26:55 AM »

Thanks, Dana, for recommending "Gloomy Sunday." Sounds interesting. I've Netflixed it.

We saw the movie from Netflix, "Saving Grace." I didn't expect to like it, as my son couldn't finish it ("too silly," he said). But I liked it. Yes it was kind of silly, but in a good way that made me laugh. I loved the two old ladies in the store trying to wait on a customer, but unable to stop giggling after drinking hemp "tea."

Marj

marjifay · « **Reply #2884 on:** September 10, 2012, 10:48:25 PM »

If any of you like noir films, I watched a terrific 1952 film on PBS TV Saturday nite, KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL. Really good acting by John Payne, Preston Foster, Lee Van Cleef (a great villain from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, among others), and other actors. It will keep your eyes glued to the screen. Is available from Netflix. I don't watch much PBS, but will have to start looking for their Saturday night movies.

Marj

Babi · « **Reply #2885 on:** September 11, 2012, 08:39:51 AM »

I wasn't aware of any Saturday Night movies on PBS, MARJ. Perhaps my channel doesn't have that programming. I'll
check to make sure. Saturday's TV line-up tends to be pretty much what I think of as 'filler' material. It would be nice
to find a good film.

salan · « **Reply #2886 on:** September 11, 2012, 06:29:45 PM »

Same here Babi. However, PBS has started showing a program called Land Girls. It's about WWII women's recruits who were sent to farms to replace workers who were off fighting in the war. I've only seen 3 episodes, but they've been good. I must have somehow missed it when it began.
Sally

Frybabe · « **Reply #2887 on:** September 12, 2012, 08:32:30 AM »

Found an interesting website devoted to documentaries, apparently all free to watch. Not unsurprisingly, it is called http://documentary.net/ I don't have time to check it out this morning, but it looks like real documentary shows, no reality type shows. Check out the about us page.

PS: it even has one featuring Terry Pratchett talking called "Choosing to Die" about medically assisted death.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2888 on:** September 12, 2012, 10:25:14 AM »

Thanks Frybabe, that looks really interesting - I have bookmarked the site.

Rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #2889 on:** September 13, 2012, 08:31:48 AM »

Me, too, FRYBABE. I want to watch that "Shining Light" video about the Philippines. BIG QUESTION: Are these docs
closed captioned?

Frybabe · « **Reply #2890 on:** September 13, 2012, 08:58:04 AM »

Babi, I am guessing that most are not. After a search on the site the only thing I came with when I typed in "closed caption" was an instructional encouraging producers to use subtitles and closed caption and instructions on how to do so. I will look some more later.

marcie · « **Reply #2891 on:** September 13, 2012, 10:54:29 AM »

Re closed captioning, I'm finding that, at least on some DVDs, when I turn on closed captioning on my TV set, the DVD shows the captions.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2892 on:** September 13, 2012, 12:54:14 PM »

Indeed, Marci. I think I have mentioned that a couple times previously. Maybe folks don't realize that their TV remote usually has "closed captioned" on it, as well as the DVD player having CC.

Babi · « **Reply #2893 on:** September 14, 2012, 08:28:10 AM »

Except when my daughter is watching TV alone late at night, our TV always has the closed captioining on for me. In
return, I use the 'mute' button when she's working.
Don't put yourself to any more trouble, FRYBABE. That plea to producers is evidence enough, I think.

MaryPage · « **Reply #2894 on:** September 19, 2012, 12:05:28 PM »

I could not LIVE without Closed Captioning and/or Subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired.

Could not. Period!

jeriron · « **Reply #2895 on:** September 20, 2012, 09:26:51 AM »

I have started watching the English Detective series "The Last Detective" on streaming. I always wanted to see it on DVD but there is no CC. There is on streaming from Netflix. I watched another show that way as well. I'm wondering if CC is being done to certain streaming ones because the Caps are in yellow and at times difficult to read because of the background but most of them are ok.

pedln · « **Reply #2896 on:** September 22, 2012, 11:47:27 AM »

That's interesting, jeriron, that you have captions or subtitles on the streaming, but not the DVD. It's usually the other way around, and was why I chose DVDs when Netflix went to two price systems. At the time the captioned streaming options were quite limited, mainly because they had technology to work out.

I finally got around to watching Hannah and Her Sisters. Guess I'm totally out of the loop, too old, or something, for in spite of all those awards, I didn't like it at all. It took me three nights to get through it. I loved Midnight in Paris (my daughter hated it), which was my first Woody Allen, Hannah was my second. Somewhere along the way I picked up a DVD of Manhattan, haven't seen it yet. We shall see.

JoanK · « **Reply #2897 on:** September 22, 2012, 05:51:53 PM »

I just don't "get" Woody Allen. "Hannah" never made any sense to me. But maybe I'd like "Midnight in Paris."

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2898 on:** September 23, 2012, 02:56:51 AM »

I loved Annie Hall when I first saw it at the age of 17, but I do think I would probably find it pretentious and silly now. At that age, I thought Diane Keaton incredibly cool, and all Allen's little witticisms about relationships seemed like pearls of wisdom - nowadays I would want to tell him to 'get over himself'

Babi · « **Reply #2899 on:** September 23, 2012, 08:50:00 AM »

I know Woody Allen is a genius, but like most of you, I, too, 'just don't get him'.

I did watch "The Hunger Games" and thought the whole idea was handled well. Decided to read the book
as well. I've started on that, and I'm finding it very well written. I'll probably wind up reading the entire
trilogy.

pedln · « **Reply #2900 on:** September 23, 2012, 10:58:58 AM »

I read the book Hunger Games because my f2f did it. When I told my DIL, her reaction was "Why?" It was absorbing, and as Babi says, well-written, but not my cup of tea. However, I do like Jennifer Lawrence as an actress, so may break down and get the film from Netflix.

Do you remember a few years back about some town where a high school clique had all committed to getting pregnant? In Massachusetts? Not sure. Well, now there is a French film just released, based on that situation, but set in France. 17 Girls is the title.

marjifay · « **Reply #2901 on:** September 23, 2012, 11:37:21 AM »

I'm a big Woody Allen fan and loved Midnight in Paris! I love his sense of humor. Some of his stuff is great, some so-so, but IMO better than a lot of what you see on TV or movies. I took my two sons to see his films when they were young, and they are also now fans. We all went to see him and his jazz band when they were in So. Calif. not long ago. My sons became fans of 1940's music by watching the Woody Allen films because he uses a lot of that era's music.

Marj

marcie · « **Reply #2902 on:** September 23, 2012, 12:10:26 PM »

I've read the HUNGER GAMES trilogy and just want to alert you that the books get darker and sadder.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2903 on:** September 23, 2012, 02:11:46 PM »

I've seen "Midnight in Paris" twice. First time just to see what the hullabaloo was all about. Second time, my hubby was watching it, so I did also. I was not enthralled. However, I think I would have enjoyed the movie a lot more if not for Owen Wilson. I simply cannot abide any movie with him. It's just one of those "snap" things that befall me once in awhile, where I cannot make a "connection" with the celebrity; i.e. Adam Sandler. I think the premise of "Midnight" was interesting and informative, if we could only have had a different male lead actor.

I am also one of those folks who does not "get" Woody Allen. And as far as tagging him with "genius", that does not fit with my definition of "genius".

JoanK · « **Reply #2904 on:** September 23, 2012, 03:29:55 PM »

Lots of people whose opinion I respect really like Woody Allen. I believe there's something there, it just appeals to a side of me that doesn't exist. $:-\$

marjifay · « **Reply #2905 on:** September 23, 2012, 04:44:02 PM »

Just finished watching from Netflix one of my favorite TV series from the 1970s, Hart to Hart, with Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, Lionel Stander, as their friend and butler, Max, and their little dog Freeway. (Talk about going from one extreme to the other, i.e. Woody Allen to Sidney Sheldon) Read that Lionel Stander's film career was sidetracked in the 1950s by the stupid McCarthy hearings when it was disclosed he had been a member of the Communist Party. The series was always fun and exciting.

Marj

pedln · « **Reply #2906 on:** September 23, 2012, 06:00:07 PM »

Marjifay, that sounds like something I'd like to see. If you still have the Netflix disc could you check to see if it has captions or English subtitles. Both Netflix and Amazon say Portuguese subtitles. They don't mention captions.

marjifay · « **Reply #2907 on:** September 23, 2012, 08:52:07 PM »

Pedln, I checked the Hart to Hart DVD, and it looks like there are only Portuguese subtitles. Isn't that crazy? Why Portuguese? But we couldn't even get the Portuguese subtitles to appear.

Marj

Babi · « **Reply #2908 on:** September 24, 2012, 09:11:01 AM »

Thank you so much, MARCIE. I am definitely not happy with "darker and sadder". I
appreciate the warning, and will go not further in this series.

That's interesting, TOME. I notice there are some physical similarities between Owen
Wilson and Adam Sandler. And one if a comedian and another has been referred to as a
'comic actor'. Perhaps all this reminds you of some negative situtation in the past.
I remember I took a dislike to the name 'George' because I so disliked a boy of that
name in high school. Strange the things that stick in our minds.

Quote

it just appeals to a side of me that doesn't exist.

Love that, JOANK!

I remember 'Hart to Hart' fondly, MARJ., and was so disappointed when it shut down.
I was so annoyed to read that it was because Stefanie Powers wanted a raise, and
the producers didn't want to give her one. Since she was carrying her role quite as
well as the star, Robert Wagner, I thought her request was fair and reasonable.

JeanneP · « **Reply #2909 on:** September 25, 2012, 01:02:22 PM »

Returned home from a 2 week holiday Sunday. Turned on TV and after 5 min. went blank. I mean Black with no snow or anything. Checked all out but looks like time for another TV. Seems my monitor acting up also. They put new roof on while away. My bank balance will look bad end of this month. Trip was fun, TV old and roof now good for 10 years and so no complaining.

Babi · « **Reply #2910 on:** September 26, 2012, 08:59:07 AM »

I like your attitude, JEANNEP. That's the way to do it!

marjifay · « **Reply #2911 on:** September 26, 2012, 10:44:04 AM »

Wouldn't bother me if my TV went black. Nothing on it worth watching, except a few movies that I can get from Netflix. I don't even watch the local news anymore, as it's mostly about car accidents, murders, and dumb doings of so-called celebrities. I get my news from the internet newspapers and the weather channel.

Marj

MaryPage · « **Reply #2912 on:** September 26, 2012, 12:09:41 PM »

Sunday night CALL THE MIDWIFE on PBS is supposed to be outstanding. They adored it in Great Britain.
January 6 Downton Abbey comes back.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2913 on:** September 26, 2012, 12:15:24 PM »

I am trying to cut back expenses. Toward that effort, I ordered a Ruku 2 box which will hook my TV to the internet wirelessly. If it works, I am going to dump Comcast TV and probably go with something like Netflix, HuluPlus, or more than likely, Amazon Prime. I will still need Internet, but the price of that plus the fees for the likes of Netflix, etc. are much less than what I am paying now. Also, I expect NOT to see a whole lot of duplication like on the cable channels. Crossing my fingers. Speaking of news on the Internet, our Harrisburg paper is going to only three print issues a week and will concentrate on its web presence.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #2914 on:** September 27, 2012, 03:53:56 AM »

Call the Midwife is great - and if you're not too sure about the first episode, stick with it, it gets much better once Miranda Hart arrives. Daughters and I can't wait for the next series.

Rosemary

Babi · « **Reply #2915 on:** September 27, 2012, 08:41:45 AM »

I'm definitely interested in seeing that one. I'll have to check with PBS here and see if they are showing that series.

JoanK · « **Reply #2916 on:** September 29, 2012, 10:50:27 PM »

You really have to pick and choose on TV. And not assume that there will be anything to watch every day. But I get courses from my local college, classical music radio, Live from the Metropolitan Opera, some good British TV, and looks at places I will never go like Alaska, and the lives of the people there. And I admit to being a sports junkie: I can follow my favorite sports and turn over to classical music when the beer ads come on.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #2917 on:** September 30, 2012, 12:42:57 PM »

saw an absolutely beautiful HD program on AXcs(?), which does everything from travel to rock concerts. This one was titled "The Alps From Above". Wow, such beauty. Followed by a Rick Steves' "Norway".

MaryPage · « **Reply #2918 on:** September 30, 2012, 01:58:02 PM »

Sounds like those "Visions of" DVDs I love so much. I first saw them on PBS, where they are frequently repeated; but I own Visions of Italy, both North and South, Visions of Greece, Visions of England, and Visions of Sicily. I think I have more, but cannot think what they are at the moment.

So peaceful. So soothing to the soul. But most of all, I found the mountain top monasteries in Greece awesome beyond belief. I think there were some in Italy, as well; but it is the ones in Greece I constantly remember and feel my mind blown away by. To me, these miracles of human endeavor are even more unbelievable than the great cathedrals built in medieval times.

Lorac625 · « **Reply #2919 on:** September 30, 2012, 03:27:48 PM »

I much prefer reading to watching movies, and thus have almost always read the book first and been dragged kicking and screaming to the movie,as they are never as good. Occasionally different enough that I can't really figure out if I actually read the right book! However,for the past couple of years my son has been seriously getting interested in movies-partly for their own sake,and partly because he would like to compose fim scores-and I have watched many with him I would never have watched on my own; Hellboy,the Batman movies,all of Tim Burton's movies-I was first exposed to Johnny Depp in 90210, I think, when a friend of mine forced me to watch it. Would never have seen another thing with him in it if not for my son - so I would have missed the Pirates of the Carribean and all of that eyeliner!

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Author Topic: Movies & Books Into Movies (Read 592044 times)