Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Sex and the City: Entire HBO series
- Who's watched: M & G, many times
- Mentions: *1* *2* *3* *4* *5* *6* *7* *8* *9* *10*
- Commentary: We both remain fascinated with this show and continue to watch it, and discuss it while watching it, regularly. As you can read in the mentions, we have eccentric opinions about and reactions to this show.
Update 11/17/2021: This post was originally published February 6, 2005. It was one of the accidental deletions that occurred, which is covered in this post.
Update 5/18/2022: Yes, I continue to watch this show. I am, in fact, working my way through, oh, I don't know, my 678th viewing? I can't explain why. I think, partly, it's that the episodes are a half hour and a great way to unwind right after I've tucked myself in, before I go to sleep. The acting is good. The cast is always varied. The story lines meander from dead (literally) serious to hilarious. The characterizations are on point. It's not a show to learn from, but it is a show that provides relaxation with a light touch. These people, all of them, actors, writers and crew, knew what they were doing.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Sarah Jessica Parker Carrie Bradshaw Kim Cattrall Samantha Jones Kristin Davis Charlotte York Cynthia Nixon Miranda Hobbes Willie Garson Stanford Blatch Lynn Cohen Magda Chris Noth Mr. Big Frances Sternhagen Bunny MacDougal Kyle MacLachlan Trey MacDougal Anne Meara Mary Brady Mikhail Baryshnikov Aleksandr Petrovsky Bridget Moynahan Natasha
I have two copies of Season 3.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1998-2004
Episodes directed by several people. Lots of female directors in the first seasons although not approaching half; less and less as the seasons progressed.
Labels: cynthia-nixon, dramedy2, erotic, female-director2, popcorn-and-soda6, shared-favorite, TV3, women's-movie1
Thursday, August 08, 2019
The Pelican Brief
- Commentary: So, considering how much I love movies, I had not watched this movie, anywhere, before receiving it in the aforementioned set. I don't know why. I was familiar with the name, with the stars, knew it was a legal thriller, and I'm a fan of this genre. But, it just had never appeared on my movie-going plate, so to speak. And, it's an enjoyable film. The "thrill" is involving enough. I wouldn't give it a top ranking, though. I like the way both actors, Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts, strut their stuff in this film. It was made in 1993. Roberts had not yet entered her "god, I'm great" phase (a good example of Roberts in this phase as an actor is Mona Lisa Smile, a movie which I love, anyway), so she and Washington play well together and the story is interesting. Still, I'd sooner watch Fallen again, just for the astonished giggling it provokes, before I'd watch this movie again. It's ho-hum-good. Just.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Denzel Washington Gray Grantham Julia Roberts Darby Shaw Sam Shepard Thomas Callahan John Heard Gavin Verheek Tony Goldwyn Fletcher Coal James Sikking FBI Dir. Denton Voyles John Finn Matthew Barr William Atherton Bob Gminski Robert Culp President Stanley Tucci Khamel Hume Cronyn Justice Rosenberg John Lithgow Smith Keen Anthony Heald Marty Velmano Cynthia Nixon Alex Stark Jake Weber Curtis Morgan/Garcia Ralph Cosham Justice Jensen
The Wikipedia write-up for this movie is here.
Release Date: 1993
Directed by Alan J. Pakula.
Labels: alan-j-pakula, cynthia-nixon, denzel-washington, drama3, hume-cronyn, john-heard, john-lithgow, journalism, julia-roberts, legal, political1, sam-shepard, thriller1
Friday, April 10, 2009
Sex and the City, The Movie
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1*
- Commentary: My reaction to this movie is complicated.
- I'm sure you've heard the following: "If you love the series, you'll love the movie." Not so. I agree that in order to become involved in the movie one has to be familiar with the series, but I love the series and the movie was a disappointment. I can see how my mother liked the movie. Aside from her reaction noted above, it was so colorful and splashed so broadly on such a huge canvas that it was kind of like watching a cartoon. That having been said,
- I was deeply affected, after my mother's death, by the scenes involving Carrie's mourning of what she assumed to be the definitive death of her relationship with Mr. Big. These scenes tugged mercilessly at my heart. At one point, the week after the first group of visitors left, I would watch the series of scenes, from her phone dropping at the wedding site when she hears that John has decided not to come to the wedding, straight through to her finally arising from an emotionally drugged three day sleeping binge in Mexico and joining the rest of her friends, endlessly. I would weep uncontrollably throughout...then continue my own mourning, which while it didn't include constant sleep, did include loss of appetite, drawing all drapes, extinguishing all sources of light and a strict isolation from everything that implies the continuation of life. That part of the movie continues to tug at my heart. On bad days, I make it a point to watch that series of scenes, yet again.
- I was completely disappointed in something about the movie, but I couldn't place my finger on what until MCS and MCNC came to visit in early spring and we watched the movie (they hadn't seen it). When MCS pronounced it, after having watched about a half hour of it, "a bunch of privileged women buying things", I realized what bothered me about the movie: the hard-driven focus on fashion, which is so relentless that the story lines get lost in the shuffle. Although the series has a pronounced fashion thrust, it isn't relentless; nor does it obscure story lines and ideas. The movie, unfortunately, took the fashion/money thrust to the limit and, in doing so, limited the ability of the story lines to come through.
In honor of my sister's thoughts, though, I am linking to an excellent article with which she would probably agree, if she watched more of the series. Or well, maybe she doesn't actually have to watch any of the series to agree. The writer of this article is not a fan and my sister will quickly pick up on that.
Update 8/2/21: The proverbial "they" did come out with a second SATC movie. I watched it. I think I checked it out of the library. I was not impressed. It was, in fact, an effort to watch it to the end. I did not add it to my collection.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Sarah Jessica Parker Carrie Bradshaw Kim Catrall Samantha Jones Kristin Davis Charlotte York Goldenblatt Cynthia Nixon Miranda Hobbes Chris Noth John James Preston Jennifer Hudson Louise David Eigenberg Steve Brady Jason Lewis Smith Jerrod Evan Handler Harry Goldenblatt Willie Garson Stanford Blatch Mario Cantone Anthony Marentino Lynn Cohen Magda Candice Bergen Enid Frick Gilles Marini Dante Julie Halston Bitsy Von Muffling Bridget Everett Drunk Party Girl
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 2008
Directed by Michael Patrick King.
Labels: 21st-century-chick-flicks, buddy, candice-bergen, cynthia-nixon, dramedy1, romance2, women's-movie1
Monday, November 14, 2005
Marvin's Room
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1*
- Commentary: I absolutely had to own this movie. Read the mention linked above to see why. Mom tolerates me when I watch it and usually reads her tabloids. I think it's too quiet for her.
Miscellanous Notes: It is interesting, and curious, to see how many high profile actors were successfully solicited to perform in this relatively low profile film, even though it features what, at the time, would have been a high profile subject. Without them, this film could have turned maudlin, as so many "caregiver films" often do. This film is what I imagine must be called a "small" film, a gem surrounded by rhinestones.
In addition, Carly Simon wrote and performed the theme song "Two Little Sisters", with Meryl Streep adding background vocals.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Meryl Streep Lee Leonardo DiCaprio Hank Diane Keaton Bessie Robert De Niro Dr. Wally Hume Cronyn Marvin Gwen Verdon Ruth Hal Scardino Charlie Dan Hedaya Bob Cynthia Nixon Retirement Home Director Margo Martindale Dr. Charlotte Kelly Ripa Coral John Callahan Lance
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1996
Directed by Jerry Zaks.
Labels: caregiver, cynthia-nixon, diane-keaton, dramaA, hume-cronyn, leonardo-dicaprio, me-favorite3, meryl-streep, robert-de-niro
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Amadeus
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1*
- Commentary: This is one of our Spectacle Movies, sort of like Gone with the Wind. It's too lavish and bright to watch often, but it makes a great dessert. It's one of those movies where we often catch ourselves saying, during the viewing, "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that! I love that!"
Update 5/9/2022: I watched this movie very recently, within the last couple of weeks. It had been awhile, like, I'm thinking, maybe a couple of years. I was struck by the brilliance and particularity of the actors' performances, including the smaller parts, so much so that I had to look most of them up to see what they'd done since, see if there was anything that looked promising. I did notice that I no longer consider it "too lavish and bright to watch often". In fact, I so thoroughly enjoyed my "first" watching that, the next night, I turned around and watched it again.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role F. Murray Abraham Antonio Salieri Tom Hulce Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Elizabeth Berridge Constanze Mozart Roy Dotrice Leopold Mozart Simon Callow Emanuel Schikaneder Christine Ebersole Caterina Cavalieri Jeffrey Jones Emperor Joseph II Richard Frank Father Vogler Patrick Hines Kapellmeister Giuseppe Bonno Cynthia Nixon Lori Vincent Schiavelli Salieri's Valet John Strauss Conductor
One of Roger Ebert's Great Movies.
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up for this movie.
Release Date: 1984
Directed by Miloš Forman.
Labels: biography2, cynthia-nixon, dramedy3, f-murray-abraham, historical3, shared-favorite, spectacle2
