Movie Stuff
Oct. 3rd, 2004 08:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosFor those of you haven't yet heard: the extended edition of "The Return of the King" will be released on December 14th - which is also my 40th birthday. My gaming buddies and I are going to celebrate by gathering for an LOTR marathon that weekend, courtesy of the one of us who owns a high quality video projector and has rigged a large screen in his living room. (The previously-discussed luau will probably not take place as originally planned, due to the explosive break-up of the goddaughter and her chef boyfriend -- however a tropical party may still be in the works for the weekend before.) I'm having a hard time imagining a better way of turning 40 than have a big tropical-themed party one weekend followed by a small, intimate LOTR orgy the next.
Last night, I actually watched two entire movies. I can't remember the last time I did this in my own home. Usually fatigue, the child, or some other demand means that I watch movies piecemeal -- but last night I watched all of "The Front Page" and "Chocolat," both for the first time. EDIT I wrote "The Front Page" but it was "His Girl Friday" -- which I believe is a re-make of "The Front Page."
The Front Page was enjoyable, but a bit of a disappointment. I think that for me it suffered in comparison to "The Philadelphia Story," in which Cary Grant also plays an ex-husband on the eve of his ex-wife's marriage. But Philadelphia Story is a much more satisfying story, with a better script, Katherine Hepburn & Jimmy Stewart, and Ruth Hussey as the photographer who somehow manages to hold her ground against her powerhouse co-stars. There's nothing wrong with The Front Page. It's a classic, and well deserves the status, but it's not one I feel any desire to see again, whereas I watch The Philadelphia Story a couple of times a year.
If you have not yet seen "Chocolat", make the time. It is a lovely little movie with beautiful performances, especially by Juliette Binoche, the always-wonderful Judi Dench, and Lena Olin. It's magical in the same way as "The Milagro Beanfield War" (which I like very much) and "Like Water for Chocolate" (which I do not).
It was only this morning that I realized that while Binoche's character shakes up the town and liberates it from its repressive customs, in the end she too is liberated from the tradition which has bound her past her own good and that of her daughter.
Last night, I actually watched two entire movies. I can't remember the last time I did this in my own home. Usually fatigue, the child, or some other demand means that I watch movies piecemeal -- but last night I watched all of "The Front Page" and "Chocolat," both for the first time. EDIT I wrote "The Front Page" but it was "His Girl Friday" -- which I believe is a re-make of "The Front Page."
The Front Page was enjoyable, but a bit of a disappointment. I think that for me it suffered in comparison to "The Philadelphia Story," in which Cary Grant also plays an ex-husband on the eve of his ex-wife's marriage. But Philadelphia Story is a much more satisfying story, with a better script, Katherine Hepburn & Jimmy Stewart, and Ruth Hussey as the photographer who somehow manages to hold her ground against her powerhouse co-stars. There's nothing wrong with The Front Page. It's a classic, and well deserves the status, but it's not one I feel any desire to see again, whereas I watch The Philadelphia Story a couple of times a year.
If you have not yet seen "Chocolat", make the time. It is a lovely little movie with beautiful performances, especially by Juliette Binoche, the always-wonderful Judi Dench, and Lena Olin. It's magical in the same way as "The Milagro Beanfield War" (which I like very much) and "Like Water for Chocolate" (which I do not).
It was only this morning that I realized that while Binoche's character shakes up the town and liberates it from its repressive customs, in the end she too is liberated from the tradition which has bound her past her own good and that of her daughter.
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Date: 2004-10-03 06:20 pm (UTC)