Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings

[dws1982]

Rabbit Proof Fence

As part of my decade-ending catch up project, in which I watch films I missed the first time, or take another look at films that might warrant it.

Yawn. This was one of those movies Phillip Noyce made when he was taking his stab at respectability after having wasted the 90's one forgotten genre films. It's well made and all, and is very solidly photographed, but Noyce is gunning so hard for respectability that it mostly feels dull and lifeless.

Noyce seems to be going back to hack mode, with a spy thriller starring Angelina Jolie due out next year.

Up next on my catch up project: Time Out, Ballast, and Silent Light.

[Penelope]

Valentino (1977; Ken Russell) 7/10

Yeah, this wasn't the real Valentino, but it was entertaining enough and I also thought that, for the first time, the masochistic nature of Russell's films actually made you feel for the "victim." Maybe it was the casting of Rudolf Nureyev, who was charismatic but certainly not an actor, but his delicate quality brought out a sympathy for Valentino.

Leslie Caron was extravagant, Michelle Phillips was hopeless, Carol Kane had seemingly wandered in from another set. The only truly great performance in the film was provided by Felicity Kendal.

[Big Magilla]

My memory may be a little shaky re Andrews' certain nomination but her performance was a crowd pleaser in a film everyone from young kids to little old ladies loved. Pennies From Heaven, though it had its moments, was a very uneven film. Bernadette Peters won the Globe over a very weak field, as did Andrews, but Peters, try as she occasionally did, was never a movie star. Andrews was Hollywood royalty from the moment she stepped on a sound stage and had been overdue for a third nomination.

[Damien]

Magilla, I do have to slightly dissent on Andrews as sure-fire nominee that year. I know in some circles Victor/Victoria is viewed as a masterwork, but it wasn't unanimously acclaimed, it was released early in the year, and its box-office was only so-so. I was in fact surprised it did so well in total nominations; I'd expected Preston, score, sets and costumes for certain, but the rest were on the bubble.

I agree with Tee, and I'm someone who thinks that Victor/Victoria is by far the best film of 1982. The movie opened in March, nearly a year before the nominations, although, in those pre-screener videos days, MGM brought it back to theatres late in the year (at least in L.A., where I was living at the time). And there were quite a few trade ads (by that era's standards).

Julie had won the Golden Globe, but Bernadette Peters had won the Globe the previous year for another great performance (Pennies From Heaven) with no Oscar nomination to show for.

My friends and I were all thrilled and amazed at all the nominations the movie received -- we were hopeful for some noms, but in those days there wasn't the constant gauging of Oscar chances we see today. It was about all we could talk about. The Screenplay nomination was a surprise, and Lesley Ann Warren's great performance wasn't a given. Odd that neither "Crazy World" nor "Le Jazz Hot" was nominated for Best Song.

[Mister Tee]

To expand a little on what Magilla's said: you have to put yourself in the context. Frances arrived in early December and Lange's performance was viewed as a revelation. As Magilla says, she had been a complete joke after King Kong, and, though Postman Always Rings Twice had given her some cred, that movie was not widely seen or liked. Frances, on the other hand, fit snugly into the Susan Hayward/Diana Ross bio-of-self-destructive-female-performer genre, and she was instantly tagged as the Oscar front-runner...

...until two weeks later, when Sophie's Choice came along, and Meryl Streep got the kind of reviews you'd have written for yourself if you could have got away with it. (And in those days, you didn't hear about movies 3-6 months out the way we do today, so all this surprise happened in real time) When the first critics' awards came out -- NBR and LA -- it was clear Streep was going to carry the day. It looked like Lange was a victim of bad timing...

...until the NY Critics surprised us again, choosing Lange as best supporting female for Tootsie, which had opened around the same time to wild acclaim. The NSFC (which also voted Tootsie best film) followed suit, as, gleefully, did the Globes, and by the time the Oscar nominations came out, the fix was in. Lange was everyone's prediction on Oscar night.

I agree that Close gave, for me, the outstanding supporting performance that year, but I think it's easy to underrate Lange's contribution to in Tootsie. She (and her relationship with Hoffman) give the film a richness beyond the easy laughs, and is alot of why the film is so memorable for so many of us.

Magilla, I do have to slightly dissent on Andrews as sure-fire nominee that year. I know in some circles Victor/Victoria is viewed as a masterwork, but it wasn't unanimously acclaimed, it was released early in the year, and its box-office was only so-so. I was in fact surprised it did so well in total nominations; I'd expected Preston, score, sets and costumes for certain, but the rest were on the bubble.

Keaton did, I believe, rank just behind Streep and Lange in the critics' voting for lead actress.

[Big Magilla]

It's difficult to understand only if you look at performance alone, but not if you consider everything else that goes into awards consideration.

My choice: Glenn Close in The World According to Garp.

[HarryGoldfarb]

But I can relate to what Reza said... By merits alone, it's hard to understand how Lange could pulled a win out of that performance.

[Big Magilla]

For my money, though, Dana Hill outshines both Keaton and Finney but with a supporting actress line-up as strong as the one that year (Close, Garr, Lange, Stanley, Warren), she didn't have a chance in hell of being nominated.

I could easily replace Jessica Lange on this list with Dana Hill.

Still don't understand why Lange was not only nominated but also won the award.

Sure you do. It was a consolation prize. They couldn't give her best actress over Meryl Streep so they did the next best thing.

Lange was pretty much dismissed as Mikhail Baryshnikov's bubble-head girlfriend after King Kong. The Postman Always Rings Twice made them sit up and notice, but the one-two punch success of Frances and Tootsie, two completely different types of roles, established her as a serious actress who also excelled at comedy.

The Oscar was Hollywood's way of saying "we were wrong about you".

[Reza]

For my money, though, Dana Hill outshines both Keaton and Finney but with a supporting actress line-up as strong as the one that year (Close, Garr, Lange, Stanley, Warren), she didn't have a chance in hell of being nominated.

I could easily replace Jessica Lange on this list with Dana Hill.

Still don't understand why Lange was not only nominated but also won the award.

[Reza]

Where did you find this box set? Can't find it on Amazon.

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/scripts....age.y=0

Also Amazon's UK site.

Thanks guys.

[Big Magilla]

It's hard to see how this film was so ignored by the Academy at the time of its release. The only thing I can think of is that it was covering ground similar to what Ordinary People had two years earlier, although that seems too flimsy of an excuse. I definitely would've supported nominations for Keaton and Hill in lead and supporting, respectively.

Back in 1982, people really hated Shoot The Moon, probably because of its unrelenting tone. It was highly touted Still Keaton was talked up as a possible Best Actress nominee. I think Finney is even better.

My recollection of 1982 is that Meryl Streep was early on the presumptive winner for Sophie's Choice with Jessica Lange (Frances) and Julie Andrews (Victor/Victoria) certain nominees with Keaton, Sissy Spacek (Missing) and Debra Winger (An Officer and a Gentleman) in a neck and neck race for for the remaining slots.

For my money, though, Dana Hill outshines both Keaton and Finney but with a supporting actress line-up as strong as the one that year (Close, Garr, Lange, Stanley, Warren), she didn't have a chance in hell of being nominated.

[Precious Doll]

I purchased a DVD box set of 6 Anna Neagle films sometime ago to obtain a copy of Victoria The Great.

Where did you find this box set? Can't find it on Amazon.

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/scripts....age.y=0

Also Amazon's UK site.

[Big Magilla]

Star! (1968; Robert Wise) 3/10

Dull, overblown biography of Gertrude Lawrence (Julie Andrews, in one of her least interesting performances). The epitome of bad late 1960s musicals.

It's certainly overlong, but the musical sequences are quite enjoyable. Julie makes a marvelous Gertie and Daniel Massey perfectly captures his real life godfather, Noel Coward.

It would have been better if they had concentrated less on Gertie's marriages and more on her stage career. The film should have ended with her all but dying on stage during a performance of The King and I and her burial in the ball gown she wore while singing "Shall We Dance?".

[Big Magilla]

I purchased a DVD box set of 6 Anna Neagle films sometime ago to obtain a copy of Victoria The Great.

Where did you find this box set? Can't find it on Amazon.

http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/scripts....age.y=0

[Reza]

I purchased a DVD box set of 6 Anna Neagle films sometime ago to obtain a copy of Victoria The Great.

Where did you find this box set? Can't find it on Amazon.