Open Thread Wednesday

Saw "Public Enemy" last night. Am not a reviewer, just a film fan. Found it disappointing. Boring. Had to use the john halfway through, didn't mind at all. In fact, was rather glad to have a break from the boredom. The beginning was spotty — took a while for me to figure out what was going on even though I was/am fairly familiar with the Dilligner story. Couldn't really tell any of the "gang" members apart save for Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson, and the latter only when he got shot. The script could have done more with his character. "O, Brother…" did a lot better with Nelson than this film. Johnny Depp was wonderful. I completely forgot he was Johnny Depp and not John Dillinger. Christian Bale remained Christian Bale playing Melvin Purvis. The female love interest (didn't get her name) is a lovely actress who was so good I believed she was Billie Frechette. Could have been a good movie, but it wasn't.

MJ is an intellectual giant worth study and honor, for the loonies.

So, on a slightly different tack, I was frustrated to see that neither "The Bucaneer" nor "55 Days at Peking" were available in DVD other than Chinese bootleg. I thought Heston was a great actor and in his prime in the late 50's and early 60's. Roles such as he had in Ben Hur, El Cid, Big Country, and the two mentioned above established Heston as one of the top leading men of his generation. Certainly, all of these films were more uplifting than the Pledge, and it seems insane the two mentioned aren't available when even Love Boat the complete season 4 seems to be packaged and ready to go. There have been nice new restorations of Ben Hur and El Cid in recent years so I continue to hold out hope.

I'm the opposite, I think he does decent movies but his politics and the way he conducts himself makes him a complete tool.

I haven't heard of this movie… but since it has Jack Nicholson in it I will see if I can rent it at some point.

The screenplay was awful, but then that happens when you three writers (that are listed) that you know of. How many "script doctors" operated on certain scenes we'll never know. In order to write a coherent story, especially a character driven story, you have to have ONE writer — this no longer happens in Hollywood. The Golden Days of Hollywood had two things not working today — honest to God STARS and not clones of what's hot right now (Brad Pitt, Barbee doll actresses) and GOOD writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ayn Rand, etc. Casting is a big problem these days and is somewhat related to having to use stars instead of actors, but many films are horribly cast. In my opinion, Christian Bale is wooden and never gets into the character, but because the "Batman" series is so hot and because he has so many defenders because of that, he's given roles he should never be given. Who should have played Melvin Purvis? I'm not a casting director, so don't have lists of actors on the computer, but I might have gone with Guy Pearce, Jim Caviezel (I know, he's black listed because he isn't a Lefty loon), maybe Clive Owen.

"Red Eye news: MJ's brain has been kept for study. (stifling laughter) "
He is gonna be cloned,he will be the forever man

that is the problem with ensemble cast movies. They put all the money into the cast and not enough into the writing.

I'm pretty much with you on Christian Bale. He was a very promising child actor who has turned into something of a disappointment in most of his work as an adult.

Darkwolf – what got me thinking about Heston was an overlooked 1958 classic that was on the other night called Touch of Evil. Pretty good movie if you haven't seen it. I was a kid when most of those old historical flicks came out, and I realize I probably looked at them in a completely different way than I would now, but I sure did enjoy them. Just as Growltiger pointed out, we don't have true movie stars like Chuck Heston or the Duke around anymore.

Indeed, I enjoyed Heston as Jackson in that one. Will definitely see about looking up Touch of Evil. Thus far, I have not seen a film he starred in that I did not enjoy.

Hot Pocket sounds like a porno….

Test

Just to play devil's advocate, Golden-era Hollywood certainly had its share of script doctors. I was listening to the Leonard Maltin commentary on A Night at the Opera and the studio would bring in gag writers to help out (of course, they were being guided by the steady hand of Irving Thalberg and not a bunch of studio hacks). Hitchcock was also known to work with multiple writers and would fire them if they deviated from what he wanted.

And am I the only one here who likes Brad Pitt? I know he has the "pretty boy" rep but he can be very good. And he's also shown a willingness to go off the beaten path once in a while (12 Monkeys) which is more than I can say for most actors.

Totally, blujay-I keep commenting while I watch`"did these guys throw the towel in at midnight and head off to a bar or what??

Would that be the Thrillernator?

It depends on what studio made them, and what studio now owns them, often a big corporate tangle. A lot of things hold up releases, worthy and otherwise. (Both the season collections of the Muppet Show and Miami Vice were delayed for ages because of the multiple music clearances for each episode. And yes, I eagerly await Muppet Show Season 4) Sometimes you can find a film bundled with others starring the same actor tagged as a "signature collection." I almost got a Barbara Stanwyck collection for "Annie Oakley," but decided the other 4 offered in the package just weren't worth the price.

I totally agree.

Oh I agree, I'm just saying that movie started off very depressing and just spiraled downward into a depression-vortex…

bowm chica wowow chicka wow

cant do better than a meeting of porn and junk food.

Tell me about it. I've been waiting for years to get a decent version of 55 Days at Peking on DVD. They finally released The Friends of Eddie Coyle a short time ago. It gives me hope that Peking will be available one day. Great movies.

Who says movies aren't educational!?!?

There is this theory floating around this Conservative area of California, that asserts, the President had MJ, done in, to take the attention away from him and is meeting with the mighty, but powerful Putin.
Sooner or later, Michael Jackson was going to moonwalk into the sunset any way and Obama's charm was not going to enchant Putin.
This way, the Country would be transfixed with Michael Jackson death, Sarah Palin resigning and July 4th fireworks. (There were fireworks, right?)

Yeah – that's what I meant to say!
(substitute Absolut for Dewar's)
(plus some tonic … & lime)

Tennessee: 55 Days at Peking is available through NetFlix, and I watched it a couple of months ago using their "instant view" feature.

So i have a lot of questions on the St. Michael of Gary funeral. How many miracles have been performed? If he became a Muslim but his family doesn't recognize it, how does that complicate things?
Will his burial place become a basillica? (It will at least get defaced like Jim Morrison's grave and surrounding graves.)
Will he get a national holiday? Will they name a school or highway after him.
Where can I buy my commerative coins, and DVD and "The King is Dead, Long Live the King" t-shirts?
I know most of you are tired of this but I am curious.

Oh and Jack Nicholson is a national treasure, etc.

I was literally kicking the walls on my way out of the cineplex.

As I've always said, it wasn't anything political he's done that made me hate Sean Penn. It was this f__king movie.

maatkare – thanks. I hadn't thought about that, although I have heard that soundtrack music has often been a huge hold up. I've got to believe that particular issue probably applies more to modern pictures where the soundtracks tend to be a compilation of other people's copyrighted songs.

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