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Author Topic: Top 100: oldkid  (Read 34543 times)

oldkid

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #260 on: August 01, 2021, 10:33:51 PM »
Sandy and KOL:
Great reviews and an intriguing conversation!
It’s interesting, Sandy, that you did both Parasite and SSoS, which have immoral people feeding off of each other.  It reminds me a bit of the song,” Ain’t no rest for the wicked”, because sure, everyone is immoral, but is it the individual’s fault or the fault of a system that keeps them spinning a perpetual cycle of understandably hateful acts?  Is it the moral ambiguity I like about these films or the hopelessness?

Dave:
KHaC is another matter entirely.  I enjoy this film because it allows me to giggle at deep evil, a deeply funny black comedy.  Guinness is a genius in this era, far better than Peter Sellers in similar multiple roles (except for Strangelove). 

It’s funny that Sandy brings out a connection between KHaC and Parasite— a thought I’d never think before.  Certainly a connection!
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #261 on: August 01, 2021, 10:34:39 PM »
Was In the Mood for Love one of yours?
One of mine or Sandys?

It is on my list.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Antares

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #262 on: August 02, 2021, 04:16:57 PM »
Joan Greenwood (Sibella)reminds me of Felicity Kendal (most famous for her role in a TV series called The Good Life), it is her voice in particular that connects the two of them. Greenwood is a match for Guinness, the rest of the cast are fine, but Greenwood and Guinness blaze.

Back in her heyday, her voice was likened to the sound of someone gargling with champagne. An apt description. She is one of my favorite actresses of all time.
Masterpiece (100-91) | Classic (90-80) | Entertaining (79-69) | Mediocre (68-58) | Cinemuck (57-21) | Crap (20-0)

Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #263 on: August 02, 2021, 07:36:25 PM »
Joan Greenwood (Sibella)reminds me of Felicity Kendal (most famous for her role in a TV series called The Good Life), it is her voice in particular that connects the two of them. Greenwood is a match for Guinness, the rest of the cast are fine, but Greenwood and Guinness blaze.

Back in her heyday, her voice was likened to the sound of someone gargling with champagne. An apt description. She is one of my favorite actresses of all time.

Some people have a very impressive way with words.

smirnoff

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #264 on: August 05, 2021, 05:38:50 AM »
The Dead (John Huston, 1987)

An absence of drama makes room for an abundance of... other things. Feeling, nostalgia, warm moments? All of these things I suppose. I have made previous attempts to watch this film, but when I began it I found I was not in the right mood. This morning was different. I had already decided that I would take it easy this morning, having gotten my second Covid shot yesterday, and feeling a bit tired and achy and not fit for anything but a low stress movie. This fit the bill perfectly.

What could be more inviting than the light of lamps and candles glowing warmly from the windows of a house, onto a dark winter street. Dancing silhouettes are cast upon the drawn curtains. The snow covered surroundings smother any sound that leaks outs. A lucky few have the pleasure of going inside, myself included.

What happens here that doesn't happen at most any dinner party? Like I said before, there is an absence of drama. Perhaps that is it's most realistic feature. People are greeted warmly and happily, and go on to mingle with those already arrived. It's the usual atmosphere for these sort of things. Sarcastic people make sarcastic comments, politically minded people talk politics, people circulate and catch up. Touchy subjects get touched on and are collectively put aside so as not to derail the evening. Dinner is served, compliments are made regarding the food, more polite jokes and sarcasm too now that the drinks have been flowing. People smile, and laugh politely. The talkative sorts do most of the talking and the listeners listen, not unhappily. All do their part to keep the mood pleasant, and its managed without any great straining.

As is often the case, the true commentary on the evening comes on the ride home or laying in bed. Somehow, despite the overwhelming positivity of the gathering, the effect is not carried past the front door of the warm house. Once in their carriage or in their beds, people look troubled and find something negative about the evening to focus on. Someone looking especially old, or how so-and-so is such a sad case. Would it have been better not to go at all?

This was a pleasant experience which I didn't find too taxing. It's more poignant moments, for me, probably didn't elevate it as much as it might for others but I will continue to think about them.



I haven't heard or read much about this film before. What's your history with it oldkid?

jdc

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #265 on: August 05, 2021, 06:55:01 PM »
Was In the Mood for Love one of yours?
One of mine or Sandys?

It is on my list.

There are a few movies now that I watched but couldn’t remember who’s Top 100 there were on.

So…In the Mood for Love

Two neighbours for a bond over food and conversation as they try to resist temptation of taking their relationship to a physical level while they suspect that their respective spouses are having an affair.  While a little slow and may cause your mind to wander at times, it is visually captivating.  The recreation of 1960’s Hong Kong probably ranks up there as one of the best recreations of a period in films.  Not that I know what 1960’s HK was like… but I now think I do. 

I wasn’t pulled into the overall drama of the story as much as the visual style of the film, which means now it is starting to fade from my head a few weeks later.  I have a few more Wong Kar-Wai films to watch or re-watch at the moment just to give him the proper due.  I always find them visually very interesting but never leaving a long after taste. 

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“The direct use of physical force is so poor a solution to the problem of limited resources that it is commonly employed only by small children and great nations” - David Friedman

oldkid

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #266 on: August 06, 2021, 10:50:06 PM »
The Dead (John Huston, 1987)

An absence of drama makes room for an abundance of... other things. Feeling, nostalgia, warm moments? All of these things I suppose. I have made previous attempts to watch this film, but when I began it I found I was not in the right mood. This morning was different. I had already decided that I would take it easy this morning, having gotten my second Covid shot yesterday, and feeling a bit tired and achy and not fit for anything but a low stress movie. This fit the bill perfectly.

What could be more inviting than the light of lamps and candles glowing warmly from the windows of a house, onto a dark winter street. Dancing silhouettes are cast upon the drawn curtains. The snow covered surroundings smother any sound that leaks outs. A lucky few have the pleasure of going inside, myself included.

What happens here that doesn't happen at most any dinner party? Like I said before, there is an absence of drama. Perhaps that is it's most realistic feature. People are greeted warmly and happily, and go on to mingle with those already arrived. It's the usual atmosphere for these sort of things. Sarcastic people make sarcastic comments, politically minded people talk politics, people circulate and catch up. Touchy subjects get touched on and are collectively put aside so as not to derail the evening. Dinner is served, compliments are made regarding the food, more polite jokes and sarcasm too now that the drinks have been flowing. People smile, and laugh politely. The talkative sorts do most of the talking and the listeners listen, not unhappily. All do their part to keep the mood pleasant, and its managed without any great straining.

As is often the case, the true commentary on the evening comes on the ride home or laying in bed. Somehow, despite the overwhelming positivity of the gathering, the effect is not carried past the front door of the warm house. Once in their carriage or in their beds, people look troubled and find something negative about the evening to focus on. Someone looking especially old, or how so-and-so is such a sad case. Would it have been better not to go at all?

This was a pleasant experience which I didn't find too taxing. It's more poignant moments, for me, probably didn't elevate it as much as it might for others but I will continue to think about them.



I haven't heard or read much about this film before. What's your history with it oldkid?

I read the story in college, assigned to me (and mrs oldkid) in a literature class.  It was a struggle to finish.  These people lived boring, slow as molasses.... slow as the dead... lives and it was almost unbearable to read such a long story about such a dull people.  In fact, our teacher suggested that Joyce intended the story to be so dull as to put one to sleep.

The film not only made the depiction beautiful, and some of the characters interesting, but it also helped me see the overall point.  I always assumed that they were "dead" because they lived such pointless lives.  But it seems to be closer to the Bible saying, "let the dead bury the dead."  Those who cannot live should be responsible for carrying on the dead traditions and habits that go nowhere.  The point, of course, is to live.  In the film, we see that there is a contrast between living-while-dead and just living, and in this hum drum party, there is life, if one chooses to see it.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #267 on: August 06, 2021, 10:53:38 PM »
Was In the Mood for Love one of yours?
One of mine or Sandys?

It is on my list.

There are a few movies now that I watched but couldn’t remember who’s Top 100 there were on.

So…In the Mood for Love

Two neighbours for a bond over food and conversation as they try to resist temptation of taking their relationship to a physical level while they suspect that their respective spouses are having an affair.  While a little slow and may cause your mind to wander at times, it is visually captivating.  The recreation of 1960’s Hong Kong probably ranks up there as one of the best recreations of a period in films.  Not that I know what 1960’s HK was like… but I now think I do. 

I wasn’t pulled into the overall drama of the story as much as the visual style of the film, which means now it is starting to fade from my head a few weeks later.  I have a few more Wong Kar-Wai films to watch or re-watch at the moment just to give him the proper due.  I always find them visually very interesting but never leaving a long after taste.

When I first watched In the Mood For Love, I was bored to tears.  Almost nothing happens in this film.  There are almost static shots of our fashionably depressed and sexually frustrated heroes, being the poster children of self-denial.  Not much happened so I didn't think there would be much to remember.

However, this film haunted me for months.  The depression, the stoicism, and yes, the fashion, stuck in my head and created a permanent home in my brain.  There is a beauty in their existential angst and Wong Kar Wai gives us enough meditation time for the images to stick and remain as memes for the rest of my life.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

jdc

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #268 on: August 06, 2021, 11:51:19 PM »
I won’t say I was bored to tears but I might have been occasionally glassing in the direction of my ipad and wondering what might be happening over there… I keep planning to watch another of his films on a weekend night but then a friend stops over for a drink or two and then I know it would be better to find something else.

"Beer. Now there's a temporary solution."  Homer S.
“The direct use of physical force is so poor a solution to the problem of limited resources that it is commonly employed only by small children and great nations” - David Friedman