Films: Laurel Canyon; What A Girl Wants; Bringing Down the House

[chicken]

Three recent rentals.

Laurel Canyon

Kind of boring, could have been so much better. But Frances McDormand is wonderful as always. Her scenes were always the most interesting. I usually love Christian Bale's work, but not as much here. Kate Beckinsale did nothing for me. Still, the best of the three.

What A Girl Wants

Probably one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I'm prepared quite often to sit down with a teenage girl comedy flick and take it for what it is and enjoy it without too much embarrassment. Usually. But not this one. Colin Firth is a wonderful actor completely wasted on this part. The script, direction, and editing, and soundtrack were absolutely abysmal. The editing was particularly non-existent, leaving in scads of scenes that were redundant and laid everything on too thick while not being funny. The soundtrack was so heavy-handed I could feel the weight of the dead horse. The saddest thing was that I sat through the whole thing. NEVER see this movie. Run away.

Bringing Down the House

Tried too hard to be funny and so wasn't. Tried to satirize racism and failed to the point of being racist. Queen Latifah is fun and I find her sexy, but what a stupid movie. Eugene Levy was a bright spot, always manages to be funny. Plus, well, this:

Comments

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

For very early Colin Firth, see one of my favorite films ever: Another Country, that brilliant gay Rupert Everett / Carey Elwes piece. Firth plays quite an important role, and the whole cast is wonderful. Compare & Contrast with Maurice (James Wilby / Hugh Grant / Rupert Graves). Two excellent films.

He was good in Bridget Jones' Diary and The Importance of Being Earnest as well.

P.S. Levy made American Wedding completely worth all the silly toilet humor, and of course all the C. Guest films wouldn't be the same without him.

Thanks for the Pride and Prejudice tip, I didn't realize Jennifer Ehle was in it (Bedrooms and Hallways!!!!), so now I really want to see it.

[keever.livejournal.com]

I've never seen any of the movies that you mentioned in this reply, other than Bridget Jones (which I loved). The Importance of Being Earnest was already in my Netflix queue, and I was able to add Bedrooms and Hallways (which I'd always heard about but had forgotten) but none of the others seem to be available on DVD. Jennifer Ehle is great. She was the best thing about the otherwise terrible Possession.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, I adored Another Country! It was required viewing for the "teen girls who love fey British actors" club...of which I was a proud member back in the day. May I also suggest Dance With a Stranger (with the young and beautiful Rupert Everett) and of course Room With a View, with Julian Sands (who was also in Oxford Blues, I think). A very young Cary Elwes appears in Lady Jane with Helena Bonham Carter...that movie kills me. It's so good! Oh! And Brideshead Revisited, the miniseries, with Jeremy Irons. Have you seen Gothic? That's also highly recommended. As is The Unbearable Lightness of Being with Daniel Day-Lewis.

It's great that Jude Law and Orlando Bloom are carrying on the tradition into the next millennium. Heh.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Oh! I forgot even more: Lair of the White Worm with Hugh Grant (which isn't a period piece, but it is Ken Russell) and also Impromptu with Hugh Grant (and a WONDERFUL Judy Davis).

[keever.livejournal.com]

Whee! My queue overfloweth!

A bunch of the things that you mentioned were already in it, but I added the ones that you mentioned that were available. This is so my genre.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Hehehehe! Well, I keep thinking of more: Wilde with the unbelievably amazing Stephen Fry and the lovely (but assy) Jude Law. And Jude with Kate Winslet and Christopher Eccleston (warning: this is extremely depressing).

I love that genre, too.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Wilde is good indeed. Depressing, but very well done.

And Jude also played gay in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil with Kevin Spacey.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Yes. I cried so much in Wilde. I cannot even believe that that actually happened. It makes me so furious. ARGH!

I forgot about Midnight...I actually liked that although it was a bit campy.

I just remembered today about The Talented Mr. Ripley. Damn, that movie was good. I actually LIKE Matt Damon and I think he's quite talented when he's actually in a good movie. Have you read the Highsmith novels? I would love to read them one day.

I saw Sidney Pollack on TV the other day doing a promo for TCM's "The Essentials" film series and raving about Hitchcock's genius in coming up with the film "Strangers on a Train" and I wanted to scream. He didn't come up with it! It was Patricia Highsmith! Her book "Ten Little Tales of Misogyny" was never so true.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Yes, but it was supposed to be campy. I really liked it. But the book is better, you should read the book.

Damon is horrible when paired with Affleck, cuz, duh. But in Ripley he was good. Jude brought his acting up a notch. Haven't read those novels.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Strangers...is the only novel of hers I've read. It's really good, but disturbing the same way Nabokov's "Despair" is disturbing, i.e., the whole time you're reading it you're cringing.

Ten Little Tales...is a collection of short stories. If you like Margaret Atwood, you'll like those short stories. They are very unsettling as well. The one about the cyst is bizarre (if memory serves...I could be thinking of another author).

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Lair of the White Worm is one of those films that is so awful it is good. Very very campy.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

You mean awful as in ridiculous, preposterous, over the top? If so, then yes, I agree, but all of Ken Russell's films are. Have you seen The Devils? It's HIGHLY recommended. He also did The Music Lovers about Tchaichovsky (my mother loves this movie) and Listzomania. I haven't seen those last two, but have always wanted to.

IMO, he's far superior in his insane style and "message" than someone like David Lynch. Russell's more like Cronenberg, but without the straight horror aspect.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. David Lynch is an ass.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I hate when people think they're edgy cos they like David Lynch. He's so bloated with self-serving coolness it makes me ill. Blue Velvet was awesome, but then he just went the Oliver Stone route and would throw in non sequitur gore, violence, and sex instead of restrained, purposeful weirdness, which is what Cronenberg or Todd Solondz both do.

I loved the first season of Twin Peaks and I am also one of the few who actually LIKED Dune. LOL! But Wild at Heart was just repugnant. Who needs to show vomiting in a movie for NO REASON? At least Pedro Almodovar's films showed vomiting for a reason, haha.

I also have to say that Requiem for a Dream is what David Lynch WISHES he could do. But since he's never heard of "editing" it would never work. Lynch should take several pages from Bunuel, Dali, Maya Deren, Cronenberg, Solondz, and Aronofsky and study well.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Todd Solondz is great, I only saw a little bit of Welcome to the Dollhouse (which was amazing, it got the pain totally right in a depressing way), but my bunny says it is a great movie and I should see the rest of it.

I love Almodovar, I have enjoyed every one of his films.

Requiem for a Dream was brilliant, I am so upset that Ellen Burstyn did not get an Oscar. Fucking Julia Roberts, or more accurately, fucking Academy.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

oooh, yeah Ellen Burstyn! Did you see the movie with her and Laura Dern about the prison dog program? Oh my god. Such a tearjerker. But they're both SO GOOD.

I agree about Ellen not winning. I hate Julia Roberts. Although at this point, I'd rather Julia than J.Lo. And that's just sad, innit?

I haven't seen most of the recent Almodovar films, but I saw most of the early ones years ago. I was so sad when Banderas came to the U.S., got cheesy, and married Melanie Griffith. I don't think his style translates well into English.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Yes, Banderas and Alomodovar were both at their best in "Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" (plus, gazpacho!)

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

No, I never saw that one. Sounds good. I prefer comedies (Citizen Ruth!), but still.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

A Room With A View has Simon Callow (who was in Bedrooms and Hallways and also in Four Weddings and a Funeral where he played a gay man) and it has Rupert Graves (Maurice). I think Maurice available in Region 2 DVD, if you have one of those Region nuking software programs.

N.B. -- Rupert Graves was also in the excellent Different For Girls, which I highly recommend. He seems to pop up in a lot of queer films.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Does Rupert Graves play the younger brother in Room With a View? Oh he was just adorable. He was also in Where Angels Fear to Tread which I didn't like much, but then again, it was 10 years ago that I saw it.

Different For Girls. I'm writing that one down. Thanks!

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Yes, he plays Lucy's (Helena Bonham Carter) younger brother, Freddy Honeychurch.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Sigh. He was so pretty. Still is, I'm sure.

I have this old photo of Cary Elwes from around the time of Another Country that I take out every once in a while and just go SWOOOOON. I also have some old photos of Rupert Everett from The Face or something from around the same time. They're all worn and folded, but I'm NEVER getting rid of those.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

What is 'The Face' ?

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

British style/music/fashion magazine. I'm not really sure what its American equivalent would be. It's not like Interview, but it's not really like Vogue or Bazaar. Perhaps Paper?

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Amazon.com has a feature that will notify you when a certain title is released on DVD. I looked at this feature for both Maurice and Another Country, both of which completely deserve to come out on DVD. They are rentable on VHS, but if that's not your bag, you'll have to wait. But they are so worth the wait.

I just noticed that Valley Girl was released on DVD recently. That's a classic, with a classic soundtrack. Nic Cage's earlier work is more interesting than his later work, IMO.

[keever.livejournal.com]

Ah, I know Amazon's feature well. I've always wondered if it really does let studios know that people want to see certain things released.

I've become a DVD snob. I remember a few years ago when DVD's started to become really popular (and when I didn't have a player), Entertainment Weekly did this whole big article about it, and said that once you went there, you'd never be able to go back to VHS. I scoffed then, but it's true. I just put the last of what we had on VHS up on half.com. I'll catch what's not out yet eventually; I've got about 300 DVD's in the queue now, so I think I'll have plenty to keep me busy in the meantime.

They've actually been advertising the Valley Girl release on TV, along with Bill and Ted's and something else from the 80's. It cracks me up every time.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Another good place to check for queer DVD releases is planetout.com and I agree, VHS sucks. But some films just are not available in any other format.