Movies, Mom & Me

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    As you'll notice in the table below, this cast is loaded with well-known character actors playing small but important parts. Despite this, and a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a few people found fault with this film. To quote Janet Maslin of The New York Times: "[The film] tells what sounds like a stirring story, and its plainness would seem to be an asset. But something more was needed here, if not in the way of fireworks then maybe just in verisimilitude. The events may be real, and even the settings are authentic; the courthouse in which Mr. Young filmed the trial scene is the one in which Mr. Cortez's trial actually took place. That's not the sort of authenticity that the film lacks. What it's missing is the spark, surprise and immediacy that might have made its principals feel like people, rather than key figures in a well-meaning historical pageant." A little bit out of left field, I'd say, which makes me anticipate watching this movie even more than before reading that quote.
    As always, more later.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Edward James Olmos	Gregorio Cortez	Victoria Plata	Carmen Cortez	James Gammon	Frank Fly	Tom Bower	Boone Choate
  Bruce McGill	Reporter Blakely	Brion James	Captain Rogers	Alan Vint	Mike Trimmell	Timothy Scott	Sheriff Morris
  Pepe Serna	Romaldo Cortez	Michael McGuire	Sheriff Glover	Barry Corbin	B.R. Abernathy	Ned Beatty	Lynch Mob Leader
  William Sanderson	Cowboy	Jack Kehoe	Prosecutor Pierson	Rosanna DeSoto	Carlota Muñoz	Lili Young	Mrs. Glover

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1982
    Directed by Robert M. Young.

Labels: Criterion7, edward-james-olmos, legal, western

# posted by gail @ 19:55    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Sherwan Haji	Khaled Ali	Sakari Kuosmanen	Waldemar Wikström	Ilkka Koivula	Calamnius	Janne Hyytiäinen	Nyrhinen
  Nuppu Koivu	Mirja	Kaija Pakarinen	Mrs. Wikström	Niroz Haji	Miriam	Simon Hussein Al-Bazoon	Mazdak

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 2017
    Directed by Aki Kaurismäki.

Labels: Criterion7, immigration, political6

# posted by gail @ 19:37    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    Each film in this collection will get a separate write-up and Actor Table at a later date. Suffice it to say that this is a collection of the last three films Satyajit Ray made, at the end of a long, varied and stunning career in the arts. Although I've seen several of Ray's films and own some of them, I have never seen these three. Because his purposefulness is unusual in the medium and his voice is unique, I am really looking forward to viewing these films as a representation of his End-of-Life film statement.
    More, much more, later.
  
  
  • 
    The Home and the World
    Commentary:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Soumitra Chatterjee	Sandip Mukherjee	Victor Banerjee	Nikhilesh Choudhury	Swatilekha Sengupta	Bimala Choudhury	Gopa Aich	Sister-in-law
    Jennifer Kendal	Miss Gilby	Manoj Mitra	Headmaster	Indrapramit Roy	Amulya	Bimala Chatterjee	Kulada

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1984
  
  
  • 
    An Enemy of the People
    Commentary:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Soumitra Chatterjee	Ashoke Gupta	Dhritiman Chatterjee	Nishith Gupta	Dipankar Dey	Haridas Bagchi	Ruma Guha Thakurta	Maya Gupta
    Mamata Shankar	Indrani Gupta	Subhendu Chatterjee	Biresh Guha	Bhishma Guhathakurta	Ranen Haldar	Satya Bannerjee	Landlord

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1990
  
  
  • 
    The Stranger
    Commentary:  Under construction.
      

    Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
    Utpal Dutt	Manomohan Mitra/The Agantuk	Deepankar De	Sudhindra Bose	Mamata Shankar	Anila Bose	Bikram Bhattacharya	Satyaki Bose
    Dhritiman Chatterjee	Prithwish Sen Gupta	Rabi Ghosh	Ranjan Rakshit	Subrata Chatterjee	Chhanda Rakshit	Promode Ganguly	Tridib Mukherjee

    
      Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
      Release Date: 1991
  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the Satyajit Ray.
    All Movies Directed by Satyajit Ray.

Labels: Criterion7

# posted by gail @ 19:30    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    There are a ton of online reviews of this movie, all the way from enthusiastic to ho-hum. I have it in mind to check out several, just because I have never seen this film and wonder why it touched so many people in the film community so differently. More, of course, later.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Alexander Kaidanovsky	The Stalker	Anatoly Solonitsyn	The Writer	Alisa Freindlich	The Stalker's Wife	Nikolai Grinko	The Professor
  Natasha Abramova	Martyshka/Stalker's daughter	Faime Jurno	Writer's interlocutor	Evgeniy Kostin	Lyuger	Raimo Rendi	The Patrolman

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1979
    Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.

Labels: Criterion7

# posted by gail @ 13:37    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    I am sooo looking forward to the arrival of this film! I've seen it once before, when I lived in Sacramento in the early 80s. It was a bad print with no subtitles (either Japanese or English) and I wasn't going to go to the screening for these reasons, but my Asian Film friends encouraged me, anyway, saying that I would not miss anything by not understanding the speech in it. They were half right, and half wrong. The story is clear without speech. The characterizations are, hmmm, well, relatively clear. The relationships even less clear. So I'm very excited to be adding this to my collection. I feel as though I am finally going to be experiencing the impact of this film the way an astute viewer and appreciator of Japanese film should be doing.
    By the way, at Roger Ebert's website, when you search for this movie, more than a few articles discussing it appear. My intention is to read all the articles. In addition, Roger Ebert christened this as one of his Great Movies.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Tatsuya Nakadai	Tsugumo Hanshirō	Rentarō Mikuni	Saitō Kageyu	Akira Ishihama	Chijiiwa Motome	Shima Iwashita	Tsugumo Miho
  Tetsurō Tamba	Omodaka Hikokuro	Ichirō Nakatani	Yazaki Hayato	Masao Mishima	Inaba Tango	Kei Satō	Fukushima Masakatsu

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1962
    Directed by Masaki Kobayashi.

Labels: Criterion7, samurai

# posted by gail @ 13:13    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    This movie almost didn't make it out of the theater gate. And, now, it's a Criterion presentation. Very intriguing. I'm looking forward to determining, for myself, why these two things happened.
    In addition, here is an article by Roger Ebert about the film maker/director and his noir work. I've already skimmed it and I'm looking forward to giving it some earnest consideration.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Bill Paxton	Dale Dixon	Cynda Williams	Fantasia/Lila	Billy Bob Thornton	Ray Malcolm	Michael Beach	Pluto/Lane Franklin
  Earl Billings	McFeely	Jim Metzger	Dud Cole	Natalie Canerday	Cheryl Ann	Robert Ginnaven	Charlie

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1992
    Directed by Carl Franklin.

Labels: Criterion7, thriller4

# posted by gail @ 12:58    0 comments    email......this post