Sunday, November 27, 2022
Being There
- Commentary: Under construction.
Roger Ebert reviewed this movie twice. The first time he christened it at one of his Great Movies (review attached to the title of this post). In an unusual move, his second review was published after his christening review.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Peter Sellers Chance the Gardner Shirley MacLaine Eve Rand Melvyn Douglas Ben Rand Richard Dysart Dr. Robert Allenby Jack Warden President Richard Basehart Vladimir Skrapinov Than Wyenn Ambassador Gaufridi David Clennon Thomas Franklin Fran Brill Sally Hayes Ruth Attaway Louise Denise DuBarry Johanna Sam Weisman Colson Alice Hirson First Lady Arthur Rosenberg Morton Hull Jerome Hellman Gary Burns James Noble Kaufman
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1979
Directed by Hal Ashby.
Labels: Criterion5, jack-warden, satire3, shirley-maclaine
Thursday, August 04, 2022
Madame Souzatska
- Commentary: I have watched this movie only once, so far, in the past, in the theater, but have never forgotten it.
Roger Ebert was so pleased with this movie that he immediately preceded his review with a delightful interview of Shirley MacLaine in which he questions her about her thoughts about and preparation for this role, which is quite a bit different than her ouevre up to that point.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Shirley MacLaine Madame Sousatzka Navin Chowdhry Manek Shabana Azmi Shushila Peggy Ashcroft Lady Emily Robert Rietty Leo Milev Twiggy Jenny Leigh Lawson Ronnie Lee Montague Vincent Pick
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1988
Directed by John Schlesinger.
Labels: aging, coming-of-age2, dramaF, shirley-maclaine, teaching
Friday, July 15, 2022
Two Mules for Sister Sara
- Commentary: I've seen this movie before, probably under the auspices of my Aunt Jean, although I can't quite remember what the circumstances were. I remember being surprised by several aspects, including Shirley MacClaine's participation in it, which upped its game, in my estimation, and her top billing, above Clint Eastwood's. I also remember enjoying the hell out of it, especially the interplay between MacClaine and Eastwood. So, there. That's why I wanted to own this movie. It's a definite watch-again-production.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Clint Eastwood Hogan Shirley MacClaine Sister Sara Manolo Fábregas Colonel Beltrán Alberto Morin General LeClaire Armando Silvestre First American John Kelly Second American Enrique Lucero Third American David Estuardo Juan Ada Carrasco Juan's Mother Pancho Córdova Juan's Father José Ángel Espinosa French Officer Rosa Furman Sara's Friend
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1970
Directed by Don Siegel.
Labels: clint-eastwood, shirley-maclaine, violence4, western
Thursday, September 23, 2021
Terms of Endearment
- Commentary: My goodness! Can you believe it? Here is a movie that completely got away from me! I didn't even realize I, or, formerly, we, had it, never entered it in my movie journal, although I know I've seen it, perhaps more than once and, certainly, with my mother. I'm sure we had it before her death. It's the kind of movie she would have liked, which is probably why it is in our collection. But, that I overlooked it! Yikes! I wonder how many other movies are sitting on the shelves that I've overlooked!
Well, when I'm done with the project, of "picturing" movies, I think I just start from "A" on the shelves and see if there are any others I've missed. I hope not, but I'm excited about the possibility of discovering "new content", as they say in the trades, although they won't really be new, but, simply, uncatalogued. Somehow, I think there are very few. In fact, I kind of think this is the only one. Well, we'll see.
I should probably write up this movie, my reaction, that is, but I think I need to watch it again for that!
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Shirley MacLaine Aurora Greenway Debra Winger Emma Greenway-Horton Jack Nicholson Garrett Breedlove Danny DeVito Vernon Dalhart Jeff Daniels Flap Horton John Lithgow Sam Burns Lisa Hart Carroll Patsy Clark Huckleberry Fox Teddy Horton
Here is the Wikipedia write-up for this film.
Release Date: 1983
Directed by James L. Brooks.
Labels: dramaD, jack-nicholson, john-lithgow, mother-daughter-dynamics1, romance5, shirley-maclaine
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
The Apartment
- Commentary: Under construction.
This movie was originally listed in the post Movies I've Seen, Do Not Own but Can't Forget. I own this movie, now. Here is the commentary I wrote for it in my wish list post: "It's taken a long time for me to get around to wanting this movie in my collection. What clinches my decision is that, at odd times throughout any particular month, some event in a day suddenly brings forth a snatch of dialogue between Jack Lemmon's character and one of the many characters he encounters during his messy attempts to climb the corporate ladder, especially Shirley MacClaine's character. In this movie, although the dialogue is dependent on the situation, the dialogue is the scene stealer. It stays with you. For years, decades, even."
I will be writing more, later, once I have a chance to watch it, again.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Jack Lemmon Calvin Clifford Baxter Shirley MacLaine Fran Kubelik Fred MacMurray Jeff D. Sheldrake Ray Walston Joe Dobisch Jack Kruschen Dr. David Dreyfuss David Lewis Al Kirkeby Edie Adams Miss Olsen Hope Holiday Mrs. Margie MacDougall Joan Shawlee Sylvia Naomi Stevens Mrs. Mildred Dreyfuss Johnny Seven Karl Matuschka Joyce Jameson Blonde in Bar Hal Smith Santa Claus Willard Waterman Mr. Vanderhoff David White Mr. Eichelberger Lynn Cartwright Elevator Supervisor
One of Roger Ebert's Great Movies.
The Wikipedia write-up on this film is here.
Release Date: 1960
Directed by Billy Wilder.
Labels: dramedy3, romance4, satire3, shirley-maclaine
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Postcards from the Edge
- Who's watched: G
- Mentions: None
- Commentary: This movie is one of four "Meryl Streep" movies I deliberately bought in a set, the other three being: Adaptation, Kramer vs. Kramer and Dancing at Lughnasa. It does not contain one of my favorites, Sophie's Choice, but that'll come later. My favorite part of this movie is the Country & Western video at the end, but there are many aspects of this film I enjoy, including the chemistry between Meryl Streep and Shirley MacClaine.
This movie is distinguished in that it is the only movie I've ever watched with the commentary overdub. I felt compelled to do this, considering the stature of the mother-daughter-actor duo Street and McClaine were playing. It was worth it. I would recommend listening to the overdub (during a second watching ... please, don't spoil your first watching with it) to anyone who enjoys this movie, and I say that knowing that this movie likely has a somewhat specialized audience.
BTW, the reason I included so many actors in the table, below, is because it seems that everybody and their dogs insisted on being in this movie. It's quite astonishing, considering the low profile of its release, and subsequent viewings. I think this whole movie, and the book upon which it is based by the way, can legitimately be considered a vanity project of high order. It's like, "It's about HOLLYWOOD, Guyzzzz ...", so everyone jumped on board for a piece of the action. And, they found a role for everyone!
Turns out it was, much to my surprise after I watched it, a critical coup. Yeah, it was a fun movie, but nowhere near deserving of the praise and the push it received. To quote one of Roger Ebert's comments on the movie (cited the the Wikipedia post about this movie), "...its heart is not in the right place."
Update 8/16/21: Weird, that I've never obtained a copy of Sophie's Choice. I just checked prices and it seems everybody who has it for sale is selling it at a whopping high price, or, it's unavailable. I think I never really wanted it, anyway, even though I remember enjoying my one watching of it and marveling at Meryl Streep's and Kevin Kline's performances. If I ever really want to see it, I'm sure my library probably has several copies of it. But, I probably won't seek it out. Not sure why, but, there you have it.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Meryl Streep Suzanne Vale Shirley MacLaine Doris Mann Dennis Quaid Jack Faulkner Gene Hackman Lowell Kolchek Richard Dreyfuss Dr. Frankenthal Rob Reiner Joe Pierce Annette Bening Evelyn Ames Simon Callow Simon Asquith Gary Morton Marty Wiener Mary Wickes Grandma Conrad Bain Grandpa Oliver Platt Neil Bleene C. C. H. Pounder Julie Marsden Anthony Heald George Lazan Dana Ivey Wardrobe Mistress Michael Ontkean Robert Munch
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1990
Directed by Mike Nichols.
Labels: annette-bening, biography2, meryl-streep, popcorn-and-soda5, richard-dreyfuss, satire2, shirley-maclaine
