Busby Berkely. 1930s extravaganza dance and musical movie director--shots from his big hits like 42nd Street. If you have ever seen those old movies that show hundreds of girls dancing around giant hats or waterfalls that is probably Busby Berkeley. One of my favorite scenes is 42nd Street--the music is catching. I didn't watch the whole movie though; about 4 of these were all I could handle.
The Hangover. Funny, funny movie I watched with my daughter and son-in-law at their house. My son-in-law had just mounted his 42 in TV over his fireplace. I tried to tell him that the TV was too high up and too far away--big screen TVs should be about 10 feet away, but you know this helpful information wasn't paid any attention to. The Hanover is a good movie to watch--hilarious and moves along very quickly. Lots of cussing which I like for some reason. Bachelor party in Las Vegas goes seriously wrong after a toast on top of their hotel building. They awake with no memory of the previous night but all kinds of bad consequences are revealed. Mike Tyson was very good and so was Heather Graham--playing a stripper who the dentist marries during the drunken spree.
Bruno. I got this because Roger Ebert recommended it and I also get all of his 3 1/2 and 4 star movies. I watched this the second night with my daughter and son-in-law--we were looking forward to this after having such good time watching The Hangover. Boy! were we sadly disappointed and disgusted. Trust me, you don't want to watch this film! Well, if you do, don't say I didn't warn you. If you do and like it post me a message. I am always trying to see the other point of view. The plot involves a gay, Austrian male model who invades the U.S. in search of celebrity-hood. This search involves all kinds of reality scenes with poor dupes, like Paula Abdul, who are set-up for outrageous scenarios with Bruno. For instance, Bruno goes on a real camping trip with Arkansas hunters. These are real people that are being filmed, and he tries to invade their tents in the middle of the night for sex. They are not amused.
Goodfellas, 1996 I think. Great Martin Scorcese movie about an Irish kid who idiolizes the mobsters in Brooklyn. He grows up and joines the criminals in their daily quest for money and a luxurious lifestyle. I loved the music in this movie--lots of the classic 60s rock playing to scenes of the old world mafia types, for instance the Eric Clapton son "Layla." The mafia is shown for what it is--not glamorous, although you could say that is one of their ironic quests. Great Scorcese scene of the guy and his fiance being shown with one camera take following them through the service entrance at The Copacabana to their table in the restaurant. You see this type of scene copied by lots of other directors--I just saw it in the TV series Six Feet Under when Claire and her boyfriend arrive a house to party.
True Blood, HBO series. I watched the first season. The imagery is striking. For instance, I was really grabbed by a scene of Bill, the vampire, waiting in a church kitchen with a bottle of his True Blood on the table by him. I liked how he kept asking the waitress, Sookie, "What are you?"
Funny People. I had to think for awhile to remember this movie--I see about 3 a week and this one didn't pop up right away in my memory. Actually, this was a very good movie with Adam Sandler. It's a serious/funny movie about a super-star comedian who gets a death sentence from his doctor. Nothing like being in the company of razor-sharp witted comedians. Lost of cussing, which I seem to like.
Gomorrah, Italian, sub-titled. Movie about the Comorra mob in Naples, Italy, it follows 4 different stories throughout. I had to force myself to watch this--it was recommended by Roger Ebert, but I was afraid of the violence. Well, there is bloody shooting and so on, but it is endurable. One story is about a young boy who starts running errands for the mob and it eventually pits him against his best friend and the friend's mother. Another story is two teenagers who raise havoc robbing cafes, stealing the mob's gun supply, and so on. They just want to make a name for themselves and don't listen to warnings. An unforgettable scene is the two of them on a deserted beach in speedos firing off massive amounts of ammo from the stolen guns. I appreciated the fact that a few characters in this movie seemed to have a conscience.
The Tudors, Showtime series about King Henry VIII. Not the best TV series for me anyway. King Henry as a young ruler doesn't have any redeeming qualities. The actor is actually a male model and all the acting seems to be about Janice Dickinson Modelling Agency types. I like sexy movies, but this just seemed empty to me. After watching this, I read up on Henry VIII--did you know that he celebrated his first wife's death by wearing all yellow and having festivals? Terrible, terrible man the more you find out. His 4th wife, Katherine Howard, was a youngster who flirted with other men--after all, Henry was 300 lbs by then, 30 years older, and had a smelly ulcer on his leg. He had her beheaded after two years.
Six Feet Under, HBO series. I stayed up too late one night and bought the first season from Amazon.com because I thought it looked promising. It is very good and it's about a family-run funeral home. I especially like the character of David, the gay funeral director.
(500) Days of Summer. Watched this with my daughter and son-in-law. None of us were crazy for it. It's an independent movie that got a lot of positive notice. Again, we thought we were looking for the funny "Hangover"-type movie but wound up with something else. It's about 500 days of a man's relationship with his girlfriend of 500 days--her name is Summer. I'll say one thing--the finaly rejection scene is very convincing.
Sherlock Holmes. Saw this with people from work and I loved it! Robert Downey Jr. is perfect as the fast-thinking, fast-calculating, Sherlock who is racing after the most evil bad guys in Victorian England. As funny as The Hangover! At last.
Let me know if you see anything good!
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