DIShGo
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Everything posted by DIShGo
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I agree that the movie starts out slowly and then moves at a breakneck speed toward the end. I picked up a lesbian vibe from Mrs. Danvers, particularly when she showed the second Mrs. De Winter the sheerness of Rebecca's lingerie. -
"Rebecca," Alfred Hitchcock's first American project, is a Gothic tale filled with suspense. There is fine acting, beautiful cinematography and more twists and turns than your favorite roller-coaster. I wanted to see this film because I have watched a number of movies lately starring Joan Fontaine, and this is considered by many to be her finest work. "Rebecca" is the only Alfred Hitchcock-directed film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It is based on the 1938 novel of the same name written by Daphne du Maurier. Filmed in black-and-white, "Rebecca" has a darkly brooding, mysterious feel to it. Fontaine is perfect as the naively sweet second Mrs. De Winter, living in the shadow of her predecessor, Rebecca. Fontaine and Laurence Olivier have wonderful chemistry in this film. All of the actors are top-notch, but Dame Judith Anderson is simply unforgettable in her role as the demented housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. "Rebecca" is a sweeping, captivating picture that every lover of classic films should see.
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I saw this film when it came out, and I was greatly moved by it. Hillary Swank gave an incredible performance and she was awarded the Best Actress Oscar for it. "Million Dollar Baby" also won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (for Morgan Freeman) at the Academy Awards. ***SPOILER ALERT*** This could be the most depressing movie I have ever seen. I cried uncontrollably after watching it. Still, like "Twelve Years a Slave," and "Manchester By the Sea" despite being depressing, it is well worth watching.
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This film was not to my taste when I watched it 15 years ago. I remember it being quite violent, and not being able to watch much of it. Of course, I still look away when zombies are taken out on "The Walking Dead," so I might just be oversensitive. I did, however, enjoy "Pulp Fiction," and that was probably just as violent, if not more so. I appreciated the historical elements of "Gangs of New York,"even as I was averting my eyes from the screen. As for "Chicago," it is a fun film that I thoroughly enjoyed, I was a Velma Kelly-inspired flapper for Halloween that year, and I enjoyed singing along to the soundtrack in the car with my then 8-year-old daughter.
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Leg of lamb with roasted brussel sprouts and yams. The last couple of nights it was popcorn, cheese and (way too many) gingersnaps, so this is an improvement!
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If you want likable, check out James Corden. He never fails to make me smile. Here is his recent bit with Steph Curry. I also like Jimmy Fallon. He seems like a genuinely nice person, and he makes me laugh. They are my current favorites, along with John Oliver and Trevor Noah. I don't find Conan or Letterman funny, and Kimmel is just mean. Watching Kimmel host the Oscars this year was painful.
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Having just watched "The Wrong Man" I found myself comparing the two films when watching this movie. I liked "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt," but I think Hitchcock's film was much better. Stylistically, it was more compelling, even though it was the straight-forward telling of a true story. Something about this film felt a little flat to me. It felt like I was watching a longish television show from the era rather than a film by a legendary director. Still, I was entertained by it. Not a bad film. But not a great one, either.
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I enjoyed this film. In some ways it is classic Hitchcock and in others, it is the polar opposite of anything else he did. After watching the film, I looked up articles about the real Manny Balestrero. The person who committed the crime bore an uncanny resemblance to him, more so than Fonda and the actor who played the stick-up-man in the film. This article contains a photo of both men, as well as a link to Manny's appearance on the television game show, "To Tell the Truth."
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You are right, the book can't replicate the sounds of the eels slithering out of the nose, eyes and mouth of a dead horse's head washed up on the beach. Still, the image I conjured up in my mind after reading that passage was even more disturbing than the one displayed on the screen.
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The promo for the series "Feud: Bette and Joan" caught my eye, having recently watched "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", and reading about the rivalry between its two stars, Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. Usually by the time I hear about a series it is several seasons in, requiring binge watching to catch up. Fortunately, this one just premiered last month, so I was able to catch the first episode the night it aired. As expected, the show is campy fun. There are some big names, too. Stanley Tucci, Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon are a few of the stars. Lange is completely transformed into Crawford. I didn't have the same feeling with Sarandon. She does have Bette Davis eyes, but watching Sarandon portray Davis, I was constantly aware I was watching Sarandon. Perhaps it is because her looks weren't as dramatically transformed as her co-star's. In the fourth episode, a reference is made to "Kiss Me Deadly," another 1950s era film that I recently watched which is also reviewed on this site. It is still too early to tell if this show will be worth watching, but I am giving it a shot because who doesn't enjoy a little retro camp from time to time?
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I can count on one hand the number of novels that left an indelible mark on my mind--literature that painted pictures so vividly that the imagery stays clearly with me years after I read the book. "The Tin Drum" by Gunter Grass is one of a handful of novels that I will never forget. Grass is an amazingly talented author. His prose is lyrical, even translated from German. To mark the 50th anniversary of the book, "The Tin Drum" was painstakingly re-translated (with a great deal of input by Grass himself) by Breon Mitchell, who made great efforts to preserve the poetic nature of Grass' prose. Earlier editions merely translated the meanings of his German words into English. This translation retains the beautiful richness and rhythm of his words. There is a very interesting chapter in the back of the book that discusses this process. If you purchase the novel, I highly recommend you get a copy with the newer translation. "The Tin Drum" is political, satirical, dark, moving, hilarious and thought provoking. There are elements of magical realism and historical fiction. I recently watched the 1979 award-winning film adaptation of this book. It is a good film, but far inferior to the novel. There is so much in this book that the movie can barely skim the surface. The casting was brilliant and the acting was great. The film touched on several of the highlights of Oskar's life, but so many of my favorite parts of the book were missing. Watching this film and thinking you know the story of "The Tin Drum" is like going to Epcot and saying you've been to Europe. ***SPOILERS FOLLOW*** Several of the most memorable scenes in the book are also in the film. But the imagery that Grass paints with his words is far more powerful than watching these somewhat shocking events play out on film. A pivotal moment in both the book and the film is when one of the major characters dies. This corresponds with the Soviet occupation of Poland. All of the details in the book are there, including Oskar's contribution to this person's death and the role of a Nazi party pin. But in the book, as the corpse lies on the cellar floor and the family scurries in panic around him, Oskar is transfixed by a trail of ants marching around the body and into a bag of sugar. With that one small detail, Grass speaks to the futility of war and the insignificance of man in the scope of the world. The addition of this one small detail makes a powerful and moving scene all the more powerful and moving. This is just one example of why the book is so superior to the film. If you love thought-provoking, exquisitely written literature, do not miss out on this fabulous book.
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No, watching the documentary will not in any way taint your enjoyment of the book. While the book has spoilers you might want to avoid if you haven't yet watched the films being discussed, the documentary does not. It gives an overall sense of the making of the book, as well as an in-depth look at the tremendous influence Hitchcock has had on the art of filmmaking. I would say the book and the film are companion pieces, but very different and they both stand on their own.
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I wasn't sure whether to post "Hitchcock/Truffaut" in film or literature, because I highly recommend both the book and the documentary about the book. I bought a paperback version of "Hitchcock/Truffaut" for a friend last summer, and when it arrived, I grabbed his copy and read it cover to cover for about four straight hours. If you are a fan of Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut or filmmaking in general, this book is a must-read. The book is based on a 1962 week-long conversation between Hitchcock and the then 30-year-old Truffaut. You get a real sense of both men, their filmmaking style and the art of filmmaking when you read this book. The documentary, which is readily available to stream online now, is based on the exact same conversation from 1962, but it is very different from the book. Because both directors are no longer living, there are numerous interviews in the film with other iconic movie makers, including Martin Scorsese and Richard Linklater. All share how Hitchcock's groundbreaking filmmaking style influences them and the movies they make. This is an engaging film that any fan of the cinema should not miss.
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The first half of "The Dam Busters" is dry, but it sets the stage for an exciting and engaging second half. The cinematography of and the story behind the dropping of the bouncing bombs make this film worth seeing.
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Moonlight is an extremely moving film. I saw three of the movies nominated for Best Picture this year (Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea, and La La Land), and of these three, Moonlight is my favorite. Chiron's coming of age story is heart wrenching and well told. It is a film well worth seeing.
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Ha! Yes, there aren't a lot of Pete Rose fans in my hometown! As for Noriega, I think he was supposed to go there, but ended up in Miami. I was in a church basement for a wedding reception when the tornado hit (a few days after my high school graduation) and ran upstairs to get a peek of it barreling down the street. The wedding photographer took some great photos of it that I think were later published in a book. I didn't go to Maryland to visit my sister until later that summer. This is a look at the federal prison in Marion from a D.C. point of view.
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Native Americans were portrayed in a very positive light in this film which was unheard of at the time. It was a groundbreaking movie in that sense. I am glad I saw it.
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A few years ago, a good friend with excellent taste in literature recommended I read Stefan Zweig, particularly the novella "The Royal Game." I found the book "The Royal Game and Other Stories," on Amazon, and while the translation is a little stiff and formal at times, I loved every story in the book. Two stories stood out in my mind above the others: "The Royal Game," and "Letter from an Unknown Woman." I found the latter particularly moving, and found myself thinking about the story long after I read it. Two and a half years after reading the story, I stumbled across the 1948 film "Letter from an Unknown Woman," directed by Max Ophuls and starring Joan Fontaine and Louis Jourdan. The movie is as bittersweet and heart-rending as the novella, but it never becomes sappy or melodramatic. It is a beautifully made film, and although the filmmakers made a few stylistic changes (the protagonist is a pianist in the film and a writer in the book, for example), the movie stays true to the spirit of Zweig's poignant story. I highly recommend "Letter from an Unknown Woman." The novella is one of the best I have read, and the film is among the finest I have seen.
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"Broken Arrow" is a Hollywood-ized version of the Old West, but it is an entertaining film, and I feel like I learned something about American history watching it. Jimmy Stewart is a wonderful actor, and his character, Tom Jeffords, is extremely likable. The age difference between Jeffords and his young bride didn't bother me. He shows respect for her parents and her tribe's traditions, and their affection for one another seems genuine and sweet. Westerns are not my favorite movie genre, but I liked this film very much. It is one of the best movies about the Old West that I have seen.
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I live in the San Franciso Bay Area, and my Global Entry application was accepted on Sept. 12 of last year. I'd love to tell you how my interview went, but it hasn't happened yet. On the day of my acceptance, the next available opening for an appointment at SFO was April 19, 2017.
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Ang Lee makes visually stunning movies, and "Life of Pi" is no exception. Breathtakingly beautiful, this film tells the story of a 16-year-old Indian boy stranded at sea on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. The film is based on the 2001 Yann Martel novel of the same name. I read the book shortly after it was released, and I loved it. Skeptics said this novel could never be made into a film, and having read it, I understood why they said this. But Ang Lee is a gifted director, and this story is tailor-made to his movie-making style. Not only was the tale well told, staying true to the novel, but in some ways it was improved upon with Lee's gift for creating dazzling displays for our eyes. I have now seen this film three times, as well as having read the book, and I do not tire of the story. I don't want to say too much here, because knowing less about the story will enhance your enjoyment of it. If you haven't read the book, and you don't know much about this film, DO NOT read any plot summaries about it until after you have watched it. On my third viewing, I was as moved as the first two times, yet my thoughts about the challenges the young boy faces on the boat were different tonight than when I watched it four years ago. "Life of Pi" is a film about faith, hope, detemination and survival. It is about facing adversity and finding the strength we didn't know existed in us. It is a beautiful and life-affirming film, and one that I highly recommend.
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I loved this film. Many reviews I read said "Rebel Without a Cause" withstood the test of time better than "Blackboard Jungle," but I disagree. I think much of this movie is relevant today, and I believe this is a better film than "Rebel" or "The Wild One," another movie I recently watched about trouble-causing teens in the 1950s. I enjoyed the performance of Richard Kiley as the idealistic and naive math teacher. The scene involving his jazz records is one of the best in the film. There are a lot of strong performances in "Blackboard Jungle," and the well-written screenplay made me care about all of the characters these talented actors portrayed. I was even brought to tears at one point, so I definitely got caught up in this film!
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to my valentine. I'm the lucky one...
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I watched this show for the first time tonight, and it was hilarious. I found the humor in this season premiere insightful, intelligent and laugh-out-loud funny.
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I have lived in the Napa area for 17 years and had never been to Ad Hoc before this meal. I have eaten Ad Hoc's fried chicken at Addendum, Keller's picnic-style, outdoor eatery nearby that is open for lunch a couple of days a week in warm weather and serves a very limited menu which includes fried chicken. I have also had a version of Ad Hoc fried chicken prepared by a friend. Williams Sonoma carries an Ad Hoc fried chicken kit which includes a seasoning pack and instructions on brining and cooking the meat. It is pricey for a seasoning packet and recipe, but the results have been fabulous each time my friend has prepared it. The recipe also is available in Keller's lovely "ad hoc at home," cookbook, which I own. Eating in Ad Hoc was by far my favorite way to enjoy this delicious dish. The entire meal was delightful and plentiful, and I cannot wait to go back. I enjoyed Ad Hoc's casual ambience, and the service was top-notch. I loved the wonderful side dishes - once a little salt was added. The carrots and mushrooms, roasted to perfection, definitely lacked salt. We asked our waiter for salt and pepper, which was not readily available on the table. I am glad we did. Even the fried chicken benefited from a little additional seasoning. I don't see this as a flaw in the meal - I would much rather have under than over-salted food. Just don't be shy, and ask for the salt and pepper if you need it when you go.
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