Movies, Mom & Me

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    Yes, yes, yes! I love this movie! I have for well over a decade. Surprise, surprise, so did Mom! I think she liked it because it was so kinetic and colorful. As well, as I recall, except without direct quotes (it's been a long time since she and I saw it), she loved the individuality of the characters, their daring, and their moxy; that's a word she would have used, although I don't remember her using it, specifically, after watching this film. I also remember that whenever we watched it, during the final credits roll, she would sit back with a wide, satisfied grin and say, "I like that one! We should get it." We never did, but, at that time, during her last 11 years, it was somewhere on TV whenever either of us thought of it. Not so, of course, now. But, I was reminded of it last night when I suddenly thought of Nicolas Cage movies. So, it's on its way to me, right now.
    I often think of Mom hovering around me, watching particular movies with me when I play them. If I'm right that she does that, she'll definitely be here this week when this movie arrives and I slap it in the player.
    More later, likely.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Nicolas Cage	Cameron Poe	John Cusack	U.S. Marshal Vincent Larkin	John Malkovich	Cyrus Grissom	Steve Buscemi	Garland Greene
  Ving Rhames	Nathaniel Jones	Colm Meaney	Agt Duncan Malloy	Mykelti Williamson	Michael Cameron	Rachel Ticotin	Guard Sally Bishop
  Actor NameMonica Potter	Role NamePatricia Poe	Dave Chappelle	Joseph Parker	M. C. Gainey	Earl Williams	John Roselius	Dep. Marshal Skip Devers
  Renoly Santiago	Ramon Martinez	Danny Trejo	John Baca	Jesse Borrego	Francisco Cindino	Nick Chinlund	William Bedford

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

Labels: action4, jesse-borrego, nicolas-cage, steve-buscemi, thriller4

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

• Who's watched: G
• Mentions: None
• 
  Commentary: This is one of those movies that I so much appreciate I've linked to it's script. I doubt that Mom will ever see this movie. Although I can't tell you why, I believe it would bore her and she'd start 'looking for ...' cigarettes.
    Roger Ebert found this film so intriguing that, even though he slighted it by half a star from a four star review, he and his cohort critics on his site have found innumerable reasons to either mini-review the movie, yet again, interview the production participants and refer to it in reviews for other films. Go ahead. Click into the site url at the beginning of this paragraph and you'll see what I mean. Aside from its stand-alone-story audacities and bravado, it has, apparently, for film industry insiders, spoken cogently to the Faustian vagaries of the film entertainment industry.
    Do I like it? Yes. That's why I've kept it in my collection, although, I must admit, I purchased it at a going-out-of-business sale sight unseen. It's funny and scary and causes me to reflect on compromises I've made in my "professional" relationship with the world, and I'm not in the film or entertainment industries. It reminds me that I need to look at the demands of the "professional" world from a cock-eyed perspective if I want to remain sane and continue to live with myself in peace.
  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.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  John Turturro	Barton Fink	John Goodman	Charlie Meadows	Michael Lerner	Jack Lipnick	Judy Davis	Audrey Taylor
  John Mahoney	W. P. Mayhew	Tony Shalhoub	Ben Geisler	Jon Polito	Lou Breeze	Steve Buscemi	Chet
  David Warrilow	Garland Stanford	Richard Portnow	Detective Mastrionotti	Christopher Murney	Detective Deutsch	Frances McDormand	Stage Actress

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up for this film.
    Release date: 1991
    Directed by Joel Cohen.

Labels: john-mahoney, john-turturro, religion2, satire2, steve-buscemi

# posted by gail @ 18:29    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  None
• 
  Commentary:  This movie is a treat for both of us. My mother is an animation fan, anyway, so she was an easy sell. She often requests this movie when I'm drying her hair, then watches it through to the end. We play the credits at least a couple of times per viewing because she and I both like the theme song (including the fact that it's written and sung by Randy Newman).
    I'm a very hard animation sell, but everything about this movie charmed me, including the concept and its development. I am a devotee of children's literature, anyway (all ages), but animation has never done much for me, even as a kid. Pixar, though, seems to know exactly how to seduce my eye, and I'm a big fan of most of their stuff. I consider this movie one of their most brazen and imaginative. Even so, after Mom died, I donated it to the library. I didn't think I'd watch it again because, well, again, I'm a very hard animation sell.
  Update 5/8/22:  This is a reposting of a previous post dated 2/7/2005 that I managed to recover.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  John Goodman	Sullivan	Billy Crystal	Mike	Mary Gibbs	Boo	Steve Buscemi	Randall
  James Coburn	Waternoose	Jennifer Tilly	Celia	Frank Oz	Fungus	John Ratzenberger	Yeti

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 2001
    Directed by Pete Docter.

Labels: animated, dramedy2, kids, mom-favorite2, steve-buscemi, suspense2

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

• Who's watched:  G
• Mentions:  None
• 
  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