[ladylezbrarianny...]

My latest obsession (or should I say re-obsession) is with "His Girl Friday" (1940) which you can legally download from the Internet Archive's Moving Image Archive section because it is free from copyright.

I can't remember what brought it up over the past week but something made me watch it again and It was like I'd never scene it (which is how I always feel when I re-watch Hitchcock films)

I keep forcing my friends to watch it so that they can experience the brilliance that is Rosalind Russell.

The dialog is like Mamet on speed. Every word is significant and uttered at a break-neck pace and the banter (loaded with overt and subtle political/social commentary) is matched only by the increasing fabulousness of Rosalind's outfits.

There is so much about it that could would be difficult to film in the same spirit if it were shot today because the setting is so specific to the time during which the film was released. Also it takes a heavy yet farcical hand to the issues of unionization, police corruption and corporal punishment .

But with all the financial and media scandals of the day and given the current economic climate, it could maybe be reworked such that the central "issues" at hand were different but the tone and texture and velocity of the film were kept intact.

If someone could manage an adaptation set in New York that could "break it down" about the relationship between the press, the judicial system and the government with equal grace and venom in a 2009 setting, I would so be there.

It's like a fantasy casting dream.
http://www.archive.org/details/his_girl_friday

[girltrouble]

amc showed mildred pierce on friday, and i'm bummed i missed it.

if you haven't seen mildred pierce, you really should. as an amc host described it, "it will make you never want to have children. ever." but one of the reasons i love it (among the hundreds)-- it's got some of the best slapping in film. you know how in those old 40's films someone always got slapped? and they are so fun. the sound, the action. there's something just wonderful in them, and the ones in mildred pierce are just lovely. a famous single slap, and if memory serves, a very tasty double slap. i know it sounds silly to recommend a film based on it's slap, but when that famous single slap arrives (or, more accurately, lands, forcefully) it's shocking. it's almost as if you, the viewer were slapped. from the very start the film grabs you by nose hooks and drags you to it's finish. even if you don't like old black and white films i can guarantee you will love it. it's that good. no, it's better. this is the sort of old noir that ignites the viewer to seek out other noir films, to fervent devotion to joan crawford. i think it's completely impossible not to cheer for mildred, and even more impossible not to get into the film. it's the sort of emotional roller coaster film that even if you've seen it a kazillion times, you find youself wanting to see it again. beautifully shot, brilliantly acted and directed with a simmering story that keeps boiling over. this is one of those few movies that you can see why it got oscars-- infact it's difficult to imagine any other movie competing with it.

*********

lunia, quite a few of us have seen right one in, and loved it. anna said it was in her top 10 best of the year, and i agree. good, smart, sweet vampire film.

i really love how they explain why vampires have to be invited in. creepy, scary and a great metaphor for the theme of friendship in the film.

*********

i'm interested in the new haunting in conneticut horror film. mostly because of a sound clip where the mother blames the kid, "what have you done to yourself?!" i like the idea of a family horror movie where the parents are in denial about the kids. i doubt that's what the film will be about, but that idea seems like an interesting one.

[lunia666]

I saw Let The Right One In on Friday. I highly recommend it. A Swedish film about a lonely little boy that gets bullied at school and makes friends with a little girl who has her own set of problems .

[rubberdollz]

You know what is truly irritating about Twilight, all the freaking hype! My friend at work saw the movie and has read all the books in the series, then she got 2 other women I work with to read them and now they are hounding me to read the books. I keep telling them NO, I don't like shit like that. Seriously, did Oprah endorse this film and book?

[bunnyb]

yes, zoya, but at least it's a faithful adaptation of the book . You cannot blame the film makers for the initial shitty dialogue ... Perhaps I should devise a drinking game for it: one drink for every time I think "oh my God, this is chronically bad."

[zoya]

ok, I will give you one line of script from Twilight: (I don't think this counts as a spoiler, because it's out of context)


guy to girl: "you're like my own personal brand of heroin"

...oh god. the editing is ok, hell, the cinematography is not bad - but the acting, and screenplay, and effects, and... oh god, I wanted to pull my fingernails out.

True, MBV had pretty shit editing. At least Fire popped out of the screen at you.

now i wanna see it. it couldn't possibly be as bad as my bloody valentine. even the editing is bad, and very few movies have editing that looks like it was done with scotch tape and scissors.

now stop making me post, you tarts!

[bunnyb]

chacha, I've already seen Volver (although time for a re-watch) but looking forward to Flower of my Secret; I remember you writing way back that the former is a reworking of the story of Flower.
I am definitely planning an imminent Almodovar marathon; I'll post back once I do.

[chachaheels]

Oh, Bunny, you're in for a treat! Those are my favourite Almodovar films--be sure to watch the Flower before Volver. Or not--I did it the other way and they still clicked for me. So don't pay any attention to me (but I love Carmen Maura, too).

(And Rossy de Palma)

[dolor]

I preferred Princess Mononoke to Spirited Away-- and need to see both again, to confirm that.

Most prefer SA, I believe. (It certainly speaks to the Japanese fascination with dirt, etc., cleanliness, etc. and bathing. Speaking of, I do want to visit some of those rustic rural hot spring baths in Japan, in this lifetime preferably. The ones you can hike to.)

I also liked Kiki's Delivery Service and My Pal Totorro, tho not as much as Princess M.

[bunnyb]

Who are you calling a tart, tart?

Valentine (2001) with David Boreanaz was pretty awful too.

For all its cult status My Own Private Idaho was dreadful and gave me a case of narcolepsy along with River.

[girltrouble]

now i wanna see it. it couldn't possibly be as bad as my bloody valentine. even the editing is bad, and very few movies have editing that looks like it was done with scotch tape and scissors.

now stop making me post, you tarts!

[zoya]

bunny... trust me, take Twilight discussion anywhere else... like the trashbin maybe?

that film is most definitely on my top 10 worst films I've ever seen. probably in the top 5. it's just so.... awful. it's beyond description.

[girltrouble]

*shakes her fist at the bunny then gives her a big hug while cursing her lovingly under her breath*

i adore almovadar, although i prefer his films before woman on the verge-- his early stuff (what have i done...., matador, law of desire, and the seldom talked about savage catholic satire, dark habits.), that's mostly forgotten now. don't get me wrong, i love his new work, particularly all about my mother, which was complex, nuanced, moving, funny and smart. he's a lovely mix of douglas sirk's melodrama (but way more over the top), and if there was a women's director in the mold of george cuckor, he is it, without a doubt. my advise is to see some of the early stuff. i just saw volver about a month ago, and loved it. it was much better than his more recent films, like bad education. he is one of those rare directors whose films are much better when centered on women, no matter how pretty the boys he casts in the lead are....lol

i used to have a huge crush on carmen maura-- i tend to get crushes on his women, although the odd ones, (the uber pretty ones are fine, but they don't make me get all dreamy), i think i've posted several times on my enormous crush on the odd looking, but dazzlingly beautiful in person (she outshone victoria abril when she came to town for kika), rossy de palma.
start with woman on the verge. it's his first international hit, and where most people (myself included), started to love him. good call to explore his films. almovadar is wonderful.

now, stop making me post, you goddamn temptress!

[bunnyb]

I'm still annoyed about having to wait for Coraline; you would think that since Neil Gaiman is British that the British release would coincide with the American one. Hmph.

:contacts the spirit world and seeks an Amazonian like woman with wicked brows and a penchant for film:

hey gt! how are you on Almodovar? (I think it was faerietails who was the huge fan; I miss faerietails).
Has anybody seen a lot of his movies (I think chacha...)? I've only seen Volver but I picked up this boxset in the January sales for £10 ($13) and am dying to get stuck in but not sure where to start... I also have Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and The Flower of my Secret (as well as Volver).

[roseviolet]

I really like Spirited Away. It has a lot in common with Coraline - young girl in strange, scary situation has to tap her inner strength in order to save herself. Pretty kick ass & beautiful, to boot.

[bunnyb]

It's the one that I'm most looking forward to eventually seeing so I probably will. Thanks! I have no experience of anime but I suspect that it's something that I'll enjoy.

[girltrouble]

*the spirit of girltrouble sneaks in and whispers in bunny's ear*
see spirited away.... it's sooooo goood....

[bunnyb]

Potential movie viewing this weekend: Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Spirited Away, RocknRolla or Twilight. Fairly diverse but they're the movies I am in the mood to watch. I am expecting Twilight to be really poor but I may take that discussion to the mainstream thread .

[grrrlyouwant]

okay, i owe two people apologies. i already made mine to aural in the take it outside thread, but gt, i owe you one too. the whole thing leading up to the new movie thread was my fault, and the snarky comment on always overanalyzing artsy-fartsy films was undeserved and uncalled for. i do feel unduly intimidated by this thread, and the conversations that sometimes make me feel left out, but that's my shortcoming, not yours, and not your thread's. aural's right, i should have just manned up and started my own thread if i felt that strongly about it. but i didn't, and now your feelings are hurt. it was never my intention to get everyone all riled up about it, but it seems i did, and i'm truly sorry for that. i love the lounge, and i love the people, even the ones that intimidate the hell out of me, and i don't like being at odds with anyone. and i love this thread, and the discussions that go on here. i don't always have something to contribute, but i get a lot out of it. you know, when i'm not stamping my foot whining "i want to to sit at the grown-up table!" i am truly, sincerely sorry for any hurt my childish actions have caused you.

[girltrouble]

anna, syb, rosey, kitten,
thank you so very much for the sentiment and kind words. as i said, i get why there should be a popcorn thread (and i think there should be many movie threads too), and that's only a small part of this. things could change, but honestly, right now, it just feels like it's time to move on.