You will not be disappointed. I love Gene Kelly and that’s one of my all time favorites of his.
I recently saw Akira Kurasawa’s Ran in the theater. I’ve always wanted to see it, and in fact have owned the DVD for years, but I wanted to see it for the first time on film, on a big screen, and I’m glad I did. Even though a Kurosawa film, Dersu Uzala, is in my Top 10 All-Time Favorites (that had to be capped), I’ve never seen most of his big name films. I’ll be seeing more, I hope, because I just found out the Gene Siskel Center is putting on a Kurosawa retrospective. I’ll miss a lot of them because I think I’ll be working nights again, but I hope to see some at least. I already missed The Hidden Fortress because I didn’t know about it :(.
So, Ran, what an amazing film! I didn’t realize until halfway through that it was based on a Shakespeare play, but I couldn’t remember which one. Turns out to be King Lear, which I haven’t read. Here’s a synopsis:
Lady Kaede has to be one of the most awesome villains in movie history. What was so horrific about her was that while you hated her at first, eventually you sympathized with her. You could understand how she went so crazy and why she wanted such horrific revenge, even as you recoiled from the revenge. You felt sorry for Lord Hidetora at first, but then came to hate him the more you learned about him. Maybe I just haven’t read enough Shakespeare, but turning villains into sympathetic characters and sympathetic characters into villains is fascinating. Maybe it’s a mark of Kurosawa’s work too, I don’t know. I haven’t seen enough of it yet to say. Dersu Uzala may be atypical, because it’s gentle and friendly and about strong friendships. There are no villains in Dersu Uzala.
I saw Ran at the Music Box here in Chicago, but I’ll try to go see it again at the Siskel Center. It’s worth every penny.
Another movie I saw recently was Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. I’d seen it before, but not since it was originally released. It was part of a triple feature at the Brew & View with the seriously but delightfully weird A Town Called Panic and Daybreakers (which I thought was fantastic). I remember loving F&LiLV the first time I saw it, but this time I was appalled. I could see the brilliance in the writing, directing and acting, and still would like to try some of the drugs they did, but my older self was horrified at all the terrible things they did: driving while drunk/high, treating people horribly, abusing their bodies to an extent it’s amazing they lived through it, being all-around dicks, trashing hotel rooms. I hated that I was horrified. Being horrified is justified, as long as you can be entertained too. I wasn’t entertained, I was just horrified. I was horrified that I was horrified and not entertained. I don’t want to be that older person horrified at all the terrible things they did. I fight against any hint of fuddy-duddyness in myself. Damn. Luckily, the great Kick-Ass, which I loved, loved, LOVED, came along just in time to remind me that no, I’m not totally a fuddy-duddy yet, thank goodness. Maybe I’ll watch Fear and Loathing again in 10 years to guage my reaction.
Affleck was perfect. He was totally riffing on and making fun of his Armageddon image as an A-list, Diva-ish Ac-TOR. Man, what is it about Ben Affleck that makes people misinterpret him so? I just wrote and then deleted a defensive post for another thread that rags on Ben Affleck. Look, how could you hear a line like “Pay attention and you will see how genius creates a legend!” and not a) be on the floor laughing, and b) have at least some admiration for Affleck’s sense of humor and willingness to poke himself in the eye?
Anyway, it’s a great movie. Funny, breezy, silly, romantic, beautiful to look at, great script, dialogue, acting, costumes, sets, everything about it is just wonderful. It’s a real shame it won the Oscars it did, because it’s scorned and hated by people who otherwise might like it a lot, or never know about it which would be a good thing. I was rooting for The Thin Red Line/Fernanda Montenegro/Lynne Redgrave but I have no beefs with the wins. I think it’s wonderful that a smart breezy comedy won over the heavy dramas. That doesn’t happen very often.
I had a bit of an obsession with Fantastic Planet when it first came out. I went to the theater and saw it over and over. I’d never seen anything like it, and it fascinated me. I bought the VHS, then the laserdisc, then the DVD, but I haven’t seen it for years. I need to pull it out and watch it again.
Watched Burn After Reading last night on DVD.
I know it’s less than two years old, so i didn’t exactly wait a long time, but i’m a big Coen Bros fan, and usually see their movies in the cinema.
Anyway, it was OK, but it was no Fargo or Big Lebowski. The actors were all great, and there were a few inspired moments of dialog (J.K. Simmons got the best stuff, i think), but on the whole it never really clicked for me. They kept the different threads moving well, and tied it all up neatly in the end, but i never really felt invested in the outcome.
Next on my list is another movie i’ve been meaning to see for a while now, John Sayles’ Sunshine State. I’m a huge Sayles fan, and Lone Star is one of my favorite movies of all time, so i’ll be interested to see what he’s done in Sunshine State.
On down the line, try Burn After Reading again. Like most Coen films, it grows on you the more you see it. Saying it’s no Big Lebowski or Fargo isn’t a put down in any case, those movies are among the best Coen films. BAR and A Serious Man are pretty darned good, and the more you see them the more you (will probably) like them. The acting and the details are exquisite and so much fun.[/Coen fangirl so take with a grain of salt]
My feelings exactly. I have been meaning to watch it for ages and finally did last week. I really enjoyed it except for that.
I’d disagree. I said to my wife at the time, “Why doesn’t the writer just change the name of the main character in her novel, and kill him? It’d be a better story for her, and a better movie for us.”
I recently and finally saw Fast Times at Ridgemont High, having heard about it from friends for many years. It had some funny moments, and I liked seeing all of those very young actors and actresses destined for later greatness, but overall I can’t say I was blown away.
I finally saw The Godfather for the first time in its entirety last year, and liked it a lot. Still not as good as Casablanca or Breaker Morant, my favorites, but pretty damned good.
The two movies all my friends tell me I have to see, but haven’t yet, are The Shawshank Redemption and Schindler’s List. Someday, someday…
i suspect that fast times is like catcher in the rye in the sense that in different stages of your life you’ll react differently to it. as a teenager you’ll love and identify with those characters, as a 20s-early 30’s adult you’ll look back with fond nostalgia, and anything past that is nothing more than just another teen movie.
it is more memorable and quotable than most other teen flicks though, don’t you think?
I also just saw Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas recently. It was my first time seeing it and I had just read and enjoyed the book for a literature class, but the movie was a disappointment. It seemed really faithful to the book, but for me it just worked a lot better on the page than on screen.
Maybe part of it is that I could interpret the book as not an account of things that really happened, but an exaggerated interpretation to create a mood, but in the film everything was literally there onscreen and a lot less charming than the way I had read it.
Eh. I suppose. Phoebe Cates was sure easy on the eyes, though. 
finally saw kentucky fried movie. not a fan. era bias?
There are plenty of movies i’ve watched multiple times. Fargo and Big Lebowski are two of them. And it’s often the case, as you suggest, that watching movies again allows the viewer to notice details of plot and scene and acting that were missed first time around.
But the thing is, i’m generally not interested in watching movies again just to pick up the details. For me, watching a movie a second time needs to be motivated, first and foremost, by enjoyment of the movie itself, by an actual desire to see it again. That is, i really need to get enough out of it first time around to tempt me back for a second look.
And with Burn After Reading (and A Serious Man, for that matter), i just don’t have that desire.
Just saw One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest for the first time a couple of nights ago. All I knew about it going in was that Jack Nicholson was a mental patient and his nemesis was the evil grandmother from Flowers in the Attic. And I only knew that because I read the MAD magazine parody years and years ago.
So I was quite surprised to see a supporting cast made up of big names (I mean, they’re big names now - I don’t think they were then). Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Brad Dourif. All very well-played, and balanced against each other; even Nicholson’s chronic scene-chewing wasn’t as jarring as I usually find it. And his performance at the end, when he’s been lobotomized and Will Sampson is shaking him, trying to get a response, and his head is just lolling around and you just know he’s not there anymore - it’s a relief and a blessing when Chief smothers him. And then he takes the pillow away and Nicholson’s almost smiling; I wonder how long it took him to get just the right expression for that shot.
I’ll watch it again, someday. Funny thing, if any of us met McMurphy on the street, or at a friend’s house, we wouldn’t like him. He’s been arrested for statutory rape, he fakes mental illness to get out of working at a work farm, he’s lazy, loud, belligerant, crude, and obnoxious. But he didn’t deserve what happened to him.
Just watched Avatar for the first time last night. Won’t be the last. Had been put off by the reports of Cameron’s megalomania and the obvious Pocahontas parallels, but wow. Really a gorgeous movie…
Also finally got around to renting “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” last weekend.
I think*** Ran*** is the best movie I’ve ever seen. I’m trying to think of any other movie that would even come close, and having a hard time. Hm. Any contenders spring to mind that could topple Ran?
Well, Casablanca, Breaker Morant, The Incredibles, Memento, The Big Lebowski, Dark City and Trading Places, I’d say. But YMMV. 
I just finished viewing The City of Lost Children. It seems that once or twice a year I get reminded of why I waste so much time watching movies. It’s so I can experience what I’m feeling right now. It was absurdly beautiful. Bizarre characters, an almost nonsensical plot, yet still it resonated with me on an emotional level I can’t quite explain. It put a smile on my face and I absolutely adored ever minute of it.
heard a lot of ranting/raving about korean cinema so i watched “oldboy”. didn’t care for it. however, i then saw “the taoist wizard.” liked it a lot better. just, in case anyone out there was looking for some subtitled movies to delve into
I watched True Romance for the first time ever yesterday. It was entertaining, but the smaller characters were better than the main characters. I’d like to have seen more of Gary Oldman and Brad Pitt.
There really is some good Korean cinema out there. I too was not the hugest fan of Oldboy, though I liked several of the scenes quite a lot. Check out Joint Security Area, The Host, and*** Memories of Murder***, all by the director Kang-ho Song. (You’d better hurry on Memories of Murder, before the Anthony Michael Hall-directed remake happens. That just smells like quality cinema, don’t it?
I recently watched In Cold Blood, with Robert Blake, for the first time. God, what a scary, tense, sad, film. I can see now why it has the reputation it does.