Movies, Mom & Me

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
    I'm a Sound Man: Blow Out at 40
    Nancy Allen on "Blow Out", Women in Film
    John Travolta: "Blow Out" in Chicago
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  John Travolta	Jack Terry	John Lithgow	Burke	Nancy Allen	Sally Bedina	Dennis Franz	Manny Karp

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1981
    Directed by Brian De Palma.

Labels: §3, brian-de-palma, john-lithgow, john-travolta, mystery2, nancy-allen, neo-noirA, thriller2

# posted by gail @ 18:39    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
    Second review of this film.
    Third review of this film.
    Fourth review of this film.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Tony Leung Chiu-Wai	Wang	Wu Ching-yi	Golden Flower	Michiko Hada	Crimson (沈小紅)	Vicky Wei	Jasmin (張蕙貞)

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1998
    Directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien.

Labels: §3, dramaF

# posted by gail @ 17:45    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
    This film was remade by Christopher Nolan, starring Al Pacino, and released in 2002, to excellent reviews.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Stellan Skarsgård	Jonas Engström	Sverre Anker Ousdal	Erik Vik	Bjørn Floberg	Jon Holt	Gisken Armand	Hilde Hagen

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1997
    Directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg.

Labels: §3, neo-noirB, police-procedural, thriller2

# posted by gail @ 17:24    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
    This movie came in at #4 on Roger Ebert's list of The Greatest Movies Ever Made.
  
  
  
  
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Deborah Kerr	Sister Clodagh	Kathleen Byron	Sister Ruth	Sabu	The Young General (Dilip Rai)	David Farrar	Mr. Dean
  Flora Robson	Sister Philippa	Jean Simmons	Kanchi	Jenny Laird	Sister Honey	Judith Furse	Sister Briony

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1947
    Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger.

Labels: §3, dramaF, jean-simmons, psychological2, religion2

# posted by gail @ 17:14    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
    I've seen this movie on some TV channel many years ago, probably TCM, back in the days when I could afford a cable channel line-up.
  
  
  
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Chhabi Biswas	Kalikinkar Roy	Soumitra Chatterjee	Umaprasad Roy	Sharmila Tagore	Doyamoyee	Purnendu Mukherjee	Taraprasad Roy
  Karuna Banerjee	Harasundari	Arpan Chowdhury	Khoka	Anil Chatterjee	Bhudeh	Kali Sarkar	Professor Sarkar

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1960
    Directed by Satyajit Ray.

Labels: §3, dramaF, psychological2, religion2, satyajit-ray

# posted by gail @ 16:46    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  I'm finally catching up (including rewatching) with films I haven't yet commented on. This is one of those films.
    Frankly, it's hard to say whether or not I consider it a "winner" of my affections. This is not a movie I saw, or of which I was even aware, when it was released in 1980 and caused such a furor. It has some spectacular scenes that I love watching, like the flirtatious museum scene at the beginning, and some intriguing split scene work, but the truth is, when I rewatched the film, all of this caught me by repeat surprise. When I looked at the cover of the movie prior to rewatching it, just before writing it up, I didn't recall anything about the film except Angie Dickinson in the shower and the startling reveal of her character's strawberry blonde pubic hair. Having said this, I have a small number of Brian De Palma films that I both enjoy and consider significant in his career. This is one of them.
    Here is a review of the movie 35 years after its initial release by one of the reviewers at RogerEbert.com, which is specifically about the Criterion release, which is the release I have. It is an admiring retrospective that I enjoyed reading and took into serious consideration when deciding whether to keep or cull this movie. I landed, once again, on the "keeper" side.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Michael Caine	Dr. Robert Elliott	Angie Dickinson	Kate Miller	Nancy Allen	Liz Blake	Keith Gordon	Peter Miller
  Dennis Franz	Detective Marino	David Margulies	Dr. Levy	Susanna Clemm	Betty Luce	Ken Baker	Warren Lockman

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1980
    Directed by Brian De Palma.

Labels: §3, brian-de-palma, erotic, michael-caine, nancy-allen, neo-noirA, thriller2

# posted by gail @ 16:28    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
    Roger Ebert's website also includes an interview with Oliver Assayas, director of this movie (and Clouds of Sils Maria), conducted by Matt Fagerholm, in which the two discuss this movie in depth. The editors of the website also honored it as one of the Ten Best Films of 2017.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Kristen Stewart	Maureen Cartwright	Sigrid Bouaziz	Lara	Nora Waldstätten	Kyra Gellman	Lars Eidinger	Ingo

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 2016
    Directed by Olivier Assayas.

Labels: §3, kristen-stewart, psychological2, supernatural1, thriller2

# posted by gail @ 16:09    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
  
  
  
  
  
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Juliette Binoche	Maria Enders	Kristen Stewart	Valentine	Chloë Grace Moretz	Jo-Ann Ellis	Lars Eidinger	Klaus Diesterweg

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 2014
    Directed by Olivier Assayas.

Labels: §3, dramaF, juliette-binoche, kristen-stewart, psychological2

# posted by gail @ 15:57    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  I know, I know. I should probably be ashamed of myself for ordering this movie. I saw it ages ago (probably over 20 years ago ... I think I saw it in a theatre when it was first released), have not seen it since, but have been keeping my eye out for a cheap copy of it, with or without special features, ever since I became really interested in collecting movies, especially those I can't get out of my head. Anyway, on yet another late night jaunt through my lists of really old movies I'd like in my collection, I found this one at an extremely reasonable price, I mean, more than reasonable. Frankly, I never thought I would, as this movie has remained popular and its price reflects this. But, tonight, I picked it up, including tax, for well under a sawbuck, probably the cheapest I'll ever find it, so I ordered it immediately. I don't know if it contains any special features. It appears to advertise special features but, although it's a blu-ray, the package ad says it contains only one disk, so, you know, I hope so, but, in this case, if it doesn't, I won't be annoyed.
    So why am I adding this extraordinarily violent movie to my collection? Because it's also extraordinarily funny and there's something about funny violence, when masterfully done, that just does a number on me. My memories of watching this movie involve several eruptions of surprised, I mean really surprised, like shocked surprised, laughter, including during killings. Apparently, I'm not the only one who reacts to this movie in this way. So, I want to see it again and again, to figure this out. I won't have the movie for a couple of days but I'm already thinking things like, is this a uniquely U.S.A. movie because of the way it presents violence? What does it say about me, a born-into U.S.A. citizen, that I, well, more than like this movie? Anyway, I'll scribble more later, I'm sure.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Peter Weller	Alex Murphy/RoboCop	Nancy Allen	Anne Lewis	Daniel O'Herlihy	The Old Man	Ronny Cox	Dick Jones

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1987
    Directed by Paul Verhoeven.

Labels: §3, action4, dramedy3, nancy-allen, science-fiction2, super-hero2, violence4

# posted by gail @ 23:23    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
    I've been looking forward to watching this movie for a long time, mainly because, well, I just can't imagine ...
    When I decided to obtain the movie, in large part because it was on stupendous sale, I'd read no reviews, nothing about it's reception, and, despite the fact that I now know it was universally lauded, didn't know anyone who'd seen it and can't remember ever noticing it in theatre line-ups locally. Of course, we don't have very many local theatres, but, even so ...
    I did know it was based on a novel, and that put me off, a bit, the thought, you know, that this kind of thing never really happened ... except it did. This article exposes the truth on which the novel is based, which is even more horrifying than the novel/movie by Emma Donoghue. Once I knew this, I was even more eager to watch the film, perhaps, even, read the book.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Brie Larson	Joy "Ma" Newsome	Jacob Tremblay	Jack Newsome	Joan Allen	Nancy Newsome	William H. Macy	Robert Newsome

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 2015
    Directed by Lenny Abrahamson.

Labels: §3, father-daughter-dynamics, haunting3, horror2, joan-allen, mother-son-dynamics1, violence4

# posted by gail @ 16:10    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
  
  
  
  
  
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Keiko Kishi	Tsuruko Makioka	Yoshiko Sakuma	Sachiko Makioka	Sayuri Yoshinaga	Yukiko Makioka	Yuko Kotegawa	Taeko Makioka

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1983
    Directed by Kon Ichikawa.

Labels: §3, Criterion3

# posted by gail @ 23:08    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Burt Lancaster	Joe Collins	Hume Cronyn	Captain Munsey	Charles Bickford	Gallagher	Ann Blyth	Ruth

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1947
    Directed by Jules Dassin.

Labels: §3, burt-lancaster, Criterion4, film-noir1, hume-cronyn, melodramaB

# posted by gail @ 23:00    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Thérèse Liotard	Suzanne	Valérie Mairesse	Pomme	Ali Rafie	Darius	Robert Dadiès	Jérôme

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1977
    Directed by Agnès Varda.

Labels: §3, Criterion4

# posted by gail @ 22:41    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
  
  
  
  
  
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Shin Saburi	Mokichi Satake	Michiyo Kogure	Taeko Satake	Kōji Tsuruta	Non-chan/Noboru Okada	Chishū Ryū	Sadao Hirayama

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1952
    Directed by Yasujirō Ozu.

Labels: §3, chishū-ryū, Criterion4, yasujirō-ozu

# posted by gail @ 22:35    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
  
  
  
  
  
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Miriam Hopkins	Temple Drake	Jack La Rue	Trigger	William Gargan	Stephen Benbow	Florence Eldridge	Ruby Lemarr
  Irving Pichel	James Goodwin	Jobyna Howland	Miss Reba	Guy Standing	Judge Drake	Elizabeth Patterson	Aunt Jennie
  Harlan Knight	Pap	James Eagles	Tommy	James Pier Mason	Van	Louise Beavers	Minnie

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1933
    Directed by Stephen Roberts.

Labels: §3, Criterion4, louise-beavers, miriam-hopkins, pre-code, southern-gothic

# posted by gail @ 22:26    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  Under Construction
  
  
  
  
  
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Colin Farrell	Cpt. John Smith	Q'orianka Kilcher	Pocahontas	Christopher Plummer	Cpt. Christopher Newport	Christian Bale	John Rolfe
  August Schellenberg	Chief Powhatan	Wes Studi	Opechancanough	David Thewlis	Edward Wingfield	Yorick van Wageningen	Samuel Argall
  Irene Bedard	Pocahontas' Mother	John Savage	Thomas Savage	Ben Chaplin	Robinson	Jonathan Pryce	King James VI & I
  Ben Mendelsohn	Ben	Raoul Trujillo	Tomocomo	Brían F. O'Byrne	Lewes	Alexandra W. B. Malick	Queen Anne
  Myrton Running Wolf	Tockwhogh	Will Wallace	William Sentry	Rulan Tangen	Two Moons	Jesse Borrego	Pepaschicher

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 2005
    Directed by Terrence Malick.

Labels: §3, ben-mendelsohn, christian-bale, christopher-plummer, Criterion3, jesse-borrego, jonathan-pryce, period6, wes-studi

# posted by gail @ 14:38    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under Construction.
    In 2009 Roger Ebert reviewed this movie a second time (his first review is attached to the title of this post above) as part of his Great Movies class. Here is that review.
    It was also reviewed by Jim Emerson at Roger Ebert's site in 2004, discussed from a cinematographic perspective by Mr. Emerson in 2006 and discussed by Peter Sobczynski in 2017 when it was added to The Criterion Collection.   Me? I just love these sweeping period dramas, especially when they're done in an epic style, which this is. In addition, Stanley Kubrick made some surprising acting choices for this film, then coaxed the hell out of his performers.
    Hapless lives are lived in every time and place. For that reason, this film is both sobering and bracing to watch, no mean feat in itself.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Michael Hordern	Narrator	Ryan O'Neal	Redmond Barry Lyndon	Marisa Berenson	Lady Lyndon	Patrick Magee	Chevalier du Balibari
  Hardy Krüger	Cpt. Potzdorf	Gay Hamilton	Nora Brady	Marie Kean	Belle, Barry's mother	Godfrey Quigley	Cpt. Grogan

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1975
    Directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Labels: §3, Criterion3, period6, stanley-kubrick

# posted by gail @ 14:23    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    As well as the review, linked to the title of this post, Roger Ebert also wrote an interesting article containing a mini-interview with one of the two screenplay writers. More than an interview, though, it is a reflection on many aspects of Swedish cinema with the views of multiple people respresented.
    This movie is a companion to and encased with The New Land.
  
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Max von Sydow	Karl Oskar Nilsson	Liv Ullmann	Kristina Nilsson	Eddie Axberg	Robert Nilsson	Sven-Olof Bern	Nilsson Father
  Aina Alfredsson	Nilsson Mother	Allan Edwall	Danjel Andreasson	Monica Zetterlund	Ulrika	Pierre Lindstedt	Arvid
  Hans Alfredson	Jonas Petter	Ulla Smidje	Inga-Lena Andreasson	Eva-Lena Zetterlund	Elin	Gustaf Färingborg	Provost Brusander
  Åke Fridell	Aron	Agneta Prytz	Fina-Kajsa	Halvar Björk	Anders Månsson	Bruno Sörwing	Sherriff Lönnegren

  
    Here is the Wikipedia write-up of this movie.
    Release Date: 1971
    Directed by Jan Troell.

Labels: §3, Criterion1, drama1, immigration, max-von-sydow, period1

# posted by gail @ 12:53    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    The essay above is about the companion movies "The Emigrants" and "The New Land".
    This movies is a companion to and encased with The Emigrants.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Max von Sydow	Karl Oskar Nilsson	Liv Ullmann	Kristina Nilsson	Eddie Axberg	Robert Nilsson	Pierre Lindstedt	Arvid
  Allan Edwall	Danjel Andreasson	Monica Zetterlund	Ulrika	Hans Alfredson	Jonas Petter	Agneta Prytz	Fina-Kajsa
  Halvar Björk	Anders Månsson	Tom C. Fouts	Pastor Jackson	Per Oscarsson	Pastor Törner	Oscar Ljung	Oscar Ljung

  
    Here in the Wikipedia write-up of this movie.
    Release Date: 1972
    Directed by Jan Troell.

Labels: §3, Criterion1, drama1, immigration, max-von-sydow, period1

# posted by gail @ 12:51    0 comments    email......this post