Movies, Mom & Me

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Jeff Bridges	Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton	Chris Pine	Toby Howard	Ben Foster	Tanner Howard	Gil Birmingham	Texas Ranger Alberto Parker
  Marin Ireland	Debbie Howard	Katy Mixon	Jenny Ann	Dale Dickey	Elsie	Kevin Rankin	Billy Rayburn

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

Labels: jeff-bridges, revisionist-western

# posted by gail @ 14:15    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  This is not even close to my favorite Streisand movie. As well, it's kind of an afterthought. I've seen it more than a few times over the years. I very likely even saw it at least once with Mom. I haven't thought of this movie in, oh, years, though. Then, suddenly, a couple of weeks ago, it was occupying some of my prominent brain real estate. I figured I could handle this by watching a stream of it somewhere or checking it out of my local library, but, alas, I have only a few streaming channels, none of them was hosting it and my library, although it has four copies, all of them are "temporarily unavailable" which means, in library-speak, they're probably all being repaired or replaced. I couldn't get it out of my mind, though, and finally looked around for a good deal on the disc. And found it.
    I know, I know. For a lot of people this is Streisand schlock. I like Streisand, schlock or not, though, and I enjoy this movie, in particular, especially the appearance of Lauren Bacall and the way these two super-divas portray their on screen relationship as mother and daughter. It's wonderful to watch two screen masters spark off one another. Watching this movie always reminds me that I haven't got nearly enough representations of Lauren Bacall's work in my movie collection. I need to work on that.
    Jeff Bridges holds up nicely, too, and makes the wise choice to stay out of the way of the two leading ladies as they conjure their magic.
    My almost immediate thought after finishing my watching of this movie was, "That was sweet!" Immediately on its tail I thought, "Oh, wow, 'sweet', how long has it been since I thought of a movie as 'sweet', enjoyed its sweetness, or even watched a movie that I thought might be 'sweet'!?! Do I even own any other 'sweet' movies???" So, I searched through the title list to the left, over there, and realized, yeah, I not only own movies that I would class as 'sweet', I watch 'sweet' movies fairly often and enjoy them! So, I've compiled a list, which I'll add to this journal a bit later. I haven't decided, yet, whether I want to just list the movies or define why I consider them 'sweet', or, more specifically, what about them seems 'sweet' to me. I mean, I suspect, everyone has a slightly different personal definition of 'sweetness', right? What is mine, at least, what is mine for movies? Stay tuned.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Barbra Streisand	Rose Morgan-Larkin	Jeff Bridges	Gregory Larkin	Lauren Bacall	Hannah Morgan	George Segal	Henry Fine
  Mimi Rogers	Claire Morgan	Pierce Brosnan	Alex	Brenda Vaccaro	Doris	Austin Pendleton	Barry

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1996
    Directed by Barbra Streisand.

Labels: barbra-streisand, comedy3, jeff-bridges, romance5

# posted by gail @ 22:05    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1*
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  Commentary:  My initial interest in this movie was that Robert Downey, Jr., plays the title character. I've never been disappointed with his work, even loved and admired some of it, and I couldn't imagine him playing a super hero. "Must really need the money," I thought, but I went for it, anyway. Perfect casting, I decided, just perfect, and good super hero story, too, good enough for me to want to own it after having rented it (and, I don't have a yen to own many super hero movies, although I try to watch as many as possible). Even though I purchased this movie some weeks before Mom's death and we both watched it (she wasn't thrilled with it), after Mom's death I found myself watching this movie several times...introducing it to relatives then watching it more on my own. I can't explain why, but it has provided me with inexplicable comfort since my mother's death. And, LOVE the suit...
    By the way, Jim Emerson of Scanners, a blog he writes attached to RogerEbert.com, also wrote an interesting review of this movie, highlighting different aspects of the feature and the actors. In addition, in an ancillary commentary highlighting the tendency of movies the celebrate "free-market principles" (not only super-hero movies, but those, as well) to be more popular (probably because they are more likely to be promoted by those with promotional money, he insinuates) and more lucrative than movies with a socialistic bent. It's very eye-opening. You should check it out, Dear Reader.
  Update 5/24/22:  Yet another post published on 4/09/09 that "disappeared" and I had to recapture.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Robert Downey, Jr.	Tony Stark	Terrence Howard	James Rhodes	Jeff Bridges	Obadiah Stane	Shaun Toub	Ho Yinsen
  Gwyneth Paltrow	Virginia Pepper Potts	Paul Bettany	J.A.R.V.I.S.	Clark Gregg	Phil Coulson	Samuel L. Jackson	Nick Fury

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 2008
    Directed by Jon Favreau.

Labels: action1, adventure3, drama7, fantasy2, jeff-bridges, me-favorite2, robert-downey-jr, samuel-l-jackson, science-fiction1, super-hero2, suspense2, violence3

# posted by gail @ 09:40    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M (partially) & G
• Mentions:  None
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  Commentary:  This is one of my favorite movies, handled by one of my favorite filmmakers, Peter Weir. I thought Mom would eat this one up but, so far, during three watchings since I acquired this film, her attention has wandered, even though she always finds the initial build up interesting. Since it's a film I'll be watching over and over, my hope is that one of these days she'll hone into it through to the end and discover it's delights.
  Update 2/7/18:  For some years I've loved The Peter Weir Cave as a source for off-the-beaten-path information on Peter Weir. I've just discovered, as I linked this movie to The Cave, that the website apparently hasn't be kept up in a long time. I'm not reluctant to link the title, above, to The Cave website but, be forewarned, a lot of links are broken.
  Update 2/10/18:  I added the label "super-hero" to this movie. It's not a classic super-hero movie, but it strikes me as a psychological meditation on the super-hero experience. It also occurred to me that you might like to see Roger Ebert's review of this movie just in case the Peter Weir Cave caves in.
  Update 2/18/22:  Today I added the 1.78:1 aspect ratio blu-ray of this movie to my collection. The copy I first owned was 1.33:1 aspect ratio. It was fine on the old TV that Mom owned. It was, in fact, probably preferable. I love this movie, though, watch it at least once a year ... and, knowing, for some years, that there exists a widescreen version which would be dynamite on my widescreen television causes me some irritation, when I watch it, until I really get into the movie. Now, I won't have to suffer.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Jeff Bridges	Max Klein	Isabella Rossellini	Laura Klein	Rosie Perez	Carla Rodrigo	Tom Hulce	Steven Brillstein
  John Turturro	Dr. Bill Perlman	Benicio del Toro	Manny Rodrigo	Deirdre O'Connell	Nan Gordon	John de Lancie	Jeff Gordon

  
    So, just in case you're looking for further information about this movie, here's the Wikipedia link for Fearless.
    Release Date: 1993
    Directed by Peter Weir.

Labels: drama9, haunting2, jeff-bridges, john-de-lancie, john-turturro, peter-weir, super-hero2

# posted by gail @ 09:00    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  G
• Mentions:  None
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  Commentary:  What can I say? The Coen Brothers. Jeff Bridges. John Goodman. John Turturro. Steve Buscemi. The characterizations are over-the-top excellent. The humor is right up my alley. I can watch this one in whole or in part and never get tired of it. This is my definitive Up in Smoke movie.
    In the Development section of the Wikipedia write-up, third paragraph down, there's a list of all the actors who were solicited for this film and turned it down. No snide remarks, here, just noting this and wondering, if any of them experienced, you know, regret, after the movie took off and became a literal classic.
    I also want to mention The Nihilists, Peter Stormare, Torsten Voges, and Flea as Uli Kunkel/Karl Hungus, Franz, and Kieffer, as they are, depending on your outlook, key to the film, but I didn't have enough room above, so many were the actors who I thought deserved to be recognized for their performances in this film.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Jeff Bridges	Dude Jeffrey Lebowski	John Goodman	Walter Sobchak	Julianne Moore	Maud Lebowski	Steve Buscemi	Donny Kerabatsos
  David Huddleston	Big Jeffrey Lebowski	Philip Seymour Hoffman	Brandt	Tara Reid	Bunny Lebowski	John Turturro	Jesus Quintana
  Sam Elliott	The Stranger	David Thewlis	Knox Harrington	Ben Gazzara	Jackie Treehorn	Jon Polito	Da Fino

  
    One of Roger Ebert's Great Movies.
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1998
    Directed by Joel Cohen.

Labels: buddy, jeff-bridges, john-turturro, julianne-moore, me-favorite3, neo-noirA, popcorn-and-soda5, satire2, steve-buscemi

# posted by gail @ 17:01    0 comments    email......this post