Last Movie You Watched

[aligreto]

6 Days....





I remember the original events unfolding.

[Karl Henning]

Lolita, for only the second time. I remember liking it well the first time. This time, I think it a work of genius.

[SonicMan46]

Lolita, for only the second time. I remember liking it well the first time. This time, I think it a work of genius.

Karl - assume that you mean the 1962 version and not the remake in 1997?  I've not seen either in years - Dave

 

[Karl Henning]

Karl - assume that you mean the 1962 version and not the remake in 1997?  I've not seen either in years - Dave

Correct, Dave:  James Mason, Peter Sellers & Shelly Winters.

[Cato]

Lolita, for only the second time. I remember liking it well the first time. This time, I think it a work of genius.

Supposedly, Nabokov rode on school buses (!) to get ideas for the book, and watch the behavior and listen to the language of adolescent girls.

(Imagine telling a principal today: "I'm researching a novel on pedophilia and would like to ride on your school buses and watch the young girls." ) 

However, Salvador Dali may have also been involved!!! 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/nabokovs-lolita-inspired-little-known-story-salvador-dali

[Karl Henning]

Supposedly, Nabokov rode on school buses (!) to get ideas for the book, and watch the behavior and listen to the language of adolescent girls.

(Imagine telling a principal today: "I'm researching a novel on pedophilia and would like to ride on your school buses and watch the young girls." ) 

However, Salvador Dali may have also been involved!!! 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/nabokovs-lolita-inspired-little-known-story-salvador-dali

I have not brought myself to revisit the novel itself.  Yet.

[SonicMan46]

I have not brought myself to revisit the novel itself.  Yet.

Well, I read the book in my teens, probably around the time the first movie was released - cannot remember much but was impressed by the quote below from Wiki - may be time for a re-read - plus, if these films come up on TCM, I'll record to my DVR.  Dave

Lolita is included on TIME magazine's list of the 100 best English-language novels published from 1923 to 2005. It is also fourth on the Modern Library's 1998 list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century, and holds a place in the Bokklubben World Library, a 2002 collection of the most celebrated books in history. In 2003 the book was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's 200 "best-loved novels."

[Karl Henning]

Orson Welles with a stripped-down version of Macbeth: a surreal imagining of the Scottish landscape as something out of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari and a castle which is more of a nightmarish cave full of our darkest impulses than a medieval fortress: and of course Scottish accents!

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In the opening credits, I scarcely had time to register enjoyment at Roddy McDowall cast as Malcolm, when I saw Alan Napier cast as a Holy Father!

[Karl Henning]

In the opening credits, I scarcely had time to register enjoyment at Roddy McDowall cast as Malcolm, when I saw Alan Napier cast as a Holy Father!

Kid Roddy!


... I dinna recall A Holy Father among the Dramatis personæ. But the liturgical insert is most apt, of course ... long predating Al Pacino in De Godfather.

[aligreto]

Left Behind....





Not really worth the effort.

[Karl Henning]

Left Behind....



Not really worth the effort.

If it's based on the Tim LaHaye drivel, I readily believe it.

[Todd]

The Big Sick.  A cross-cultural romantic dramedy based on main actor Kumail Nanjiani's real-life relationship with his wife.  Nanjiani plays a non-devout Muslim, and being a comedian, he uses some of his bits (eg, 9/11 was a tragedy because they lost nineteen of their best men), and everyone involved does good work.  Even with the serious illness worked into the movie, it's formulaic, but it's good for one viewing.

[aligreto]

If it's based on the Tim LaHaye drivel, I readily believe it.

I do not know who Tim LaHaye is but after a very quick check I believe that you are correct Karl. Had I only known in advance 

[Karl Henning]

I do not know who Tim LaHaye is but after a very quick check I believe that you are correct Karl. Had I only known in advance 

No kidding!

[Cato]

In the opening credits, I scarcely had time to register enjoyment at Roddy McDowall cast as Malcolm, when I saw Alan Napier cast as a Holy Father!

If it's based on the Tim LaHaye drivel, I readily believe it.

Future Batman stars!!! 

I do not know who Tim LaHaye is but after a very quick check I believe that you are correct Karl. Had I only known in advance 

Dudes, come on!  A $100 million empire can't be wrong, can it?    

I know a lady, an Episcopalian and friend of my wife, who thinks all that drivel is just so on the mark!

(Of course, I cannot get her to read any of my literary efforts.     )

In recent days...

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Great fun, the (usual) John Ford mix of drama and comedy, with the latter emphasized a wee bit more in this one.  0:)   An Irishman from Belfast once commented to me that it shows the typically Irish concern with property and tradition. 

[SonicMan46]

Yesterday, Susan & I went out for an afternnon movie (first one below) and then streamed another on Amazon after dinner:

Lady Bird (2017) w/ Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, & Tracy Letts - first quote below; ratings - 8.4/10, IMDB; 100% (8.8/10), Rotten Tomatoes (critics) - background is a Catholic HS in Sacramento w/ the interaction of the senior class about to graduate - excellent interaction between Metcalf & Ronan w/ a more passive but caring father.  Susan did not like HS, so she was rather uncomfortable and would not rate the movie as highly, but for myself I would go w/ a 4*/5* rating - if the description is appealing to you, then highly recommended; the writing is well done w/ plenty of laughs.

Maudie (2016) w/ Sally Hawkins & Ethan Hawke; second quote below.  Ratings - 7.7/10, IMDB; 88% (6.9/10), Rotten Tomatoes (critics, but 90% & 4.3/5 for the Audience); story is true based on Maud Lewis, a famous Canadian folk artist (w/ juvenile rheumatoid arthritis) who died in 1970.  We both enjoyed, but the story appears somewhat 'soften' (see HERE) - BUT, I'd still do a good review in-between the Rotten Tomatoes critics & audience, i.e. 4*/5* - recommended.  Dave    P.S. one of her paintings below from the last link.

MAUDIE, based on a true story, is an unlikely romance in which the reclusive Everett Lewis (Ethan Hawke) hires a fragile yet determined woman named Maudie (Sally Hawkins) to be his housekeeper. Maudie, bright-eyed but hunched with crippled hands, yearns to be independent, to live away from her protective family and she also yearns, passionately, to create art. Unexpectedly, Everett finds himself falling in love. MAUDIE charts Everett's efforts to protect himself from being hurt, Maudie's deep and abiding love for this difficult man and her surprising rise to fame as a folk painter.

In Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig reveals herself to be a bold new cinematic voice with her directorial debut, excavating both the humor and pathos in the turbulent bond between a mother and her teenage daughter. Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mom (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working tirelessly to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird's father (Tracy Letts) loses his job. Set in Sacramento, California in 2002, amidst a rapidly shifting American economic landscape, Lady Bird is an affecting look at the relationships that shape us, the beliefs that define us, and the unmatched beauty of a place called home.

   

[aligreto]

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A very big groan from a 21st century, modern Irish perspective 

[Cato]

In recent days...

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A very big groan from a 21st century, modern Irish perspective 

Easily understood!  Things change, sometimes for the better! 

[aligreto]

Easily understood!  Things change, sometimes for the better! 

In this case, most definitely 

[Cato]

In this case, most definitely 

Indeed!  The setting, after all, is 1920's Ireland, almost 100 years ago, I am appalled to realize!  0:)

Today we went to see:



Usually my wife and I cringe at the thought of watching an "uplifting" movie about school life.  Some positive reviews from various trusted sources  made us give the movie a chance, and it was much better than we anticipated.  The point of view migrates among several of the characters, which acted as a prophylactic against mawkishness and provided depth for the characters.