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Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:53 pm
by Eric
Oh god, Richard Benjamin. Oh god, The Sunshine Boys. Two horrible tastes that taste worse together.
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:56 pm
by Reza
Nobody has mentioned Scandal (1989)...the excellent film based on the Profumo affair, which eventually toppled the British Conservative government. The British Secretary of State for War - John Profumo (husband of British film star Valerie Hobson...of Great Expectations fame) was involved with high class hooker Christine Keeler (Joanne Whalley) who in turn was also bedding a Russian spy. This cozy ''tea party'' was organized by Dr Stephen Ward (a superb John Hurt). Ian McKellan plays Profumo.
A must see!!
Edited By Reza on 1236225543
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:44 pm
by Reza
Big Magilla wrote:Must to avoid:
Butterfly.
....for which Pia Zadorra won the Golden Globe award for best female debut performance. Her husband apparently wined and dined the entire Hollywood Foreign Press to ensure that the award would go to his wife.
Isn't that how Mary Pickford won her Oscar decades before?
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:41 pm
by Reza
Hustler wrote:Mister Tee wrote:flipp525 wrote:Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) is FABULOUS and needs to be rediscovered by a new audience. Look for a young Frank Langella. The man who plays Carrie Snodgress's husband is a truly horrid creation.
"The man" is Richard Benjamin who, believe it or not, was, after Goodbye Columbus, considered a rising star. Portnoy's Complaint pretty much put an end to that possibility, and he mostly segued from mediocre actor to mediocre director. (Though My Favorite Year at least gave us the wonderful O'Toole performance)
Richard Benjamin was nominated in the supporting category in 1976 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
.....for The Sunshine Boys (1975).
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:02 pm
by Big Magilla
flipp525 wrote:Big Magilla wrote:Hester Street (but be forewarned it was filmed in 16mm. and the image is very grainy even on DVD).
I think that's the whole point, Magilla. It's supposed to look grainy, as if someone were trying to film an immigrant tenement in turn-of-the-century New York.
Yes, but if Manolis or anyone else is going to spend money on a DVD purchase they may not want to buy one that is as hard on the eyes as this one.
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:43 pm
by flipp525
Big Magilla wrote:Hester Street (but be forewarned it was filmed in 16mm. and the image is very grainy even on DVD).
I think that's the whole point, Magilla. It's supposed to look grainy, as if someone were trying to film an immigrant tenement in turn-of-the-century New York.
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:09 pm
by Big Magilla
DVDs
For sure:
Melvin and Howard, Lovers and Other Strangers, Sounder, all of which are among my top five of their respective years.
Strongly consider:
Summer of 42, Joseph Andrews, Starman, The Landlord, Next Stop Greenwich Village.
Consider:
The Idolmaker, Inside Moves, The Black Stallion, Comes a Horseman, A Little Romance, Hester Street (but be forewarned it was filmed in 16mm. and the image is very grainy even on DVD).
Must to avoid:
One Is a Lonely Number, Author! Author!, Butterfly.
I personally hated ...And Justice for All. Swing Shift is a chore to sit through except when Christine Lahti is on screen.
None on VHS, wait for the DVDs for Give 'em Hell Harry, Diary of a Mad Housewife and Chapter Two.
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:50 pm
by tootpadu
flipp525 wrote:...And Justice for All (1979), I feel, is a fairly underrated Al Pacino picture with a great surprise ending. Look for a near naked Christine Lahti and a great supporting turn by John Forsythe as the judge in the case.
John Forsythe isn't playing the judge in ... And Justice for All, but the "slime" the Pacino character has to defend !
I believe it was Jack Warden who played the mentally unbalanced judge ?
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:14 pm
by Hustler
Mister Tee wrote:flipp525 wrote:Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) is FABULOUS and needs to be rediscovered by a new audience. Look for a young Frank Langella. The man who plays Carrie Snodgress's husband is a truly horrid creation.
"The man" is Richard Benjamin who, believe it or not, was, after Goodbye Columbus, considered a rising star. Portnoy's Complaint pretty much put an end to that possibility, and he mostly segued from mediocre actor to mediocre director. (Though My Favorite Year at least gave us the wonderful O'Toole performance)
Richard Benjamin was nominated in the supporting category in 1976 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 12:19 pm
by rain Bard
Puzzle of a Downfall Child is terrific, especially Faye Dunaway's performance, but also the Citizen Kane-on-psychotropics structure of the film, the terrific period fashion and camerawork. Highly recommended.
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 11:32 am
by Mister Tee
flipp525 wrote:Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) is FABULOUS and needs to be rediscovered by a new audience. Look for a young Frank Langella. The man who plays Carrie Snodgress's husband is a truly horrid creation.
"The man" is Richard Benjamin who, believe it or not, was, after Goodbye Columbus, considered a rising star. Portnoy's Complaint pretty much put an end to that possibility, and he mostly segued from mediocre actor to mediocre director. (Though My Favorite Year at least gave us the wonderful O'Toole performance)
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:55 am
by flipp525
I'm quite sure there's already a thread where many of these films are discussed. But here is goes anyway. I'll hit some that Mister Tee hasn't covered below:
Pete N' Tillie (1972) is a dated piece in which Matthau and Burnett were both asked to completely tone down (or altogether abandon) their comedic talents to service a fairly paint-by-numbers tearjerker. There's something sort of quietly beautiful about their story, but the casting is all wrong. Geraldine Page was nominated for a scene in which she has a knock-down, drag out fight with Burnett that is actually the most memorable thing about the film.
Hester Street (1975) wonderfully evokes turn of the century immigrant New York with a earnest and beautiful performance by Carol Kane. Looks and feels like a black-and-white photograph from that era.
Give 'Em Hell, Harry (1975) is basically a filmed monologue on a stage. James Whitmore plays Harry Truman.
Chapter Two (1979) is one of Marsha Mason's better nominated performances in which she plays a single woman wooing a widower (James Caan). It's Neil Simon again, but feels a little bit more down to earth somehow.
Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) is FABULOUS and needs to be rediscovered by a new audience. Look for a young Frank Langella. The man who plays Carrie Snodgress's husband is a truly horrid creation.
Gaby: A True Story (1987) features some rather lovely performances by Norma Aleandro (who should've been nominated two years before for The Official Story) and Liv Ullman in a rare English performance. Rachel Levin pulls off a difficult role with aplomb.
I'll cosign what Mister Tee said about The Landlord (1970). It's awesome. A great snapshot of the era it's set in (not that I was there, but I certainly felt like it looked like it). And Lee Grant gives a fantastic supporting performance. I'll never forget her "NAACP" scene at the dinner table.
...And Justice for All (1979), I feel, is a fairly underrated Al Pacino picture with a great surprise ending. Look for a near naked Christine Lahti and a great supporting turn by John Forsythe as the judge in the case.
Inside Moves (1981) is a dated, early '80's film featuring the near ubiquitous at that time, John Savage. Following a man who becomes parapalegic after a failed suicide attempt, it's notable for being one of Harold Russell's (Best Supporting Actor, '46) only other films as well as an Oscar-nominated performance by Diana Scarwid who played older Christina the year before in Mommie Dearest.
Isn't Butterfly (1982) that infamous Pia Zadora trainwreck?
Edited By flipp525 on 1236188501
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 10:31 am
by Mister Tee
The ones I'd say are the absolute best of that crop are The Black Stallion, a truly gorgeous-looking movie, though the second half is a bit more standard, and Reuben, Reuben, a genuinely witty literary work.
It's been a long while since I've seen most of the others, and a few, like Puzzle of a Downfall Child, have remained on my should-see-someday list. But I'd at least half recommend:
Street Smart, actually a fairly crappy movie, but worth seeing to know versatile Morgan Freeman can be -- this character is a world away from his usual persona
Lies My Father Told Me, minor but a movie I liked alot in 1975
Lovers and Other Strangers, may not have aged well, but worthy seeing for Arthur and Castellano
Diary of a Mad Housewife, just to understand why Carrie Snodgress became briefly a household name
Claudine, one of the few comedies from the blaxploitation era that was funny and had a truthful ring
The Landlord, a movie I actually have seen of late and enjoyed to a surprising degree -- possibly because it evoked the era so well. Lee Grant deserved supporting actress for this far more than for Shampoo.
I'd be interested in seeing Melvin and Howard again myself, if only because I've never understood the widespread love for the film. (I always felt everyone was describing a wonderful film, but not the one I'd seen) Maybe in my maturity I'd appreciate certain elements more.
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:58 am
by Penelope
I'm quite partial to Summer of '42 and A Little Romance, both delicate, if unusual, romances.
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 7:45 am
by Hustler
Definitely Next Stop Greenwich Village, directed by Paul Mazursky. An interesting portrait of the jewish community in this neighbourhood.