Posted on 01/16/2005 11:20:44 AM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs
RE: "Lots of luck trying to talk Freepers into seeing a Spike Lee film!"
Won't even try to, and it's their loss. Freed from the usual albatross of racial issues that hangs over even his best movies (like the shocking, fiery Do The Right Thing), 25th Hour was as moving and personal a film as I've seen this decade. It's probably been a year since I last saw it, but The final sequense still rings in my memory from time to time (as well as the fade-out to Bruce Springsteen's beautiful "The Fuse").
But some people just won't give a Spike Lee film the time of day do to the man's liberal wackiness. Oh, well.
Praise God, that woman is beautiful.
Like Berlin once said: "Take my breath away".
Glengarry Glen Ross was a masterpiece of a film. Truly underrated and overlooked. Jack Lemmon was brilliant, as was the entire cast. Just a riviting movie.
1.) Lee is not really an actor, and his character (Mookie) was a weak link in Do The Right Thing. Now that he has stopped casting himself in his own movies, they are seemingly beginning to improve. Summer of Sam was good too, though the well-acted magnum opus of his on the life of Malcolm X suffered from a pointless injection of X-worship in the prologue and epilogue that came off as silly and besides the point. I never liked Malcolm X anyway, because he despised the Jews and whites (although he was beginning to turn from some of his hateful rhetoric when he was gunned down in 1965).
2.)Don't agree with you on Baldwin's role in Glengarry Glen Ross, which I thought should have been Oscar material if it was a bit longer (even though it wasn't in the original play). Sorry, but glad to know that you liked the movie too.
3.) I Still can't get over that pic of Natalie Portman, though.
How can such a classic "Beauty" as Portman love such a demented "Beast" as sKerry?
Overlooked commerically at the time but now highly ranked on imdb one of the most quoted films around. It's a masterpiece. I usually find James Foley's films slightly overcooked but if the hothouse style was ever justified that was the occasion.
She must have loved his pro Palestinian views.
RE: "Glengarry Glen Ross was a masterpiece of a film. Truly underrated and overlooked. Jack Lemmon was brilliant, as was the entire cast. Just a riviting movie."
Amen and AMEN.
RE: "Overlooked commerically at the time but now highly ranked on imdb one of the most quoted films around."
Glengarry's best lines are too nemerous to count (and many are too profane to list here anyway).
For a list of some snippets of Mamet's masterful dialogue,
just type this url into your computer.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104348/quotes
My husband is a trumpet player who has gigged with Ray Charles. I loved Ray, but he was a cranky guy who yelled at people for not playing parts that weren't even on the charts (not my husband). Ray couldn't see that the parts weren't there, of course, but he screamed at people over their absence anyway.
That movie is proof that art should be above politics. Not just the actors. It's really a condemnation of capitalism. Mamet is critizing the dog-eat-dog aspects of the free market. It's a legitimate heir to 'Death of a Salesman' Socialists love it. But despite all this it remains a great play and can't be denied as a piece of drama.
I've never read the Autobiography of Malcolm X, but if it can prove that he'd be *In any way* a conservative today, I'll have to check it out just out of curiosity alone.
Did 'ya also notice how, um, "odd" John kerry seemed in that picture. The hippie-dippie flowers, the goofy grin and the squirrely hair...to think that that man almost became our president is a depressing thought. Thank God we chose Bush, who (for all of his faults) is at least a REAL man to serve as our Commander-in-Chief.
Wow. In that picture, she looks exactly like my niece looked when she was about fourteen. How old is "that woman", anyway?
I cannot read music, nor do I play an instrument, but I will point out that Ray lived the music in his mind. Like most musical geniuses, he knew instinctively what was right or wrong. I have no defense for any abusiveness on his part, but I do SO love the work product.
I do not use the term 'genius' slightly, either. In soul and r&B, the man was a genius.
I agree with you - but he really had no business screaming at a trombone section that failed to play a part that existed only in his mind. : )
I sing professionally (R&B, in fact) and like I said, I loved Ray. But I also know that's no way to run a band. Like Buddy Rich (only not as bad), his reputation was one of being a bit of a crank.
She'll turn 24 this year.
Thanks. She looks younger than that, to me.
I couldn't agree more. I watch it everytime it is on. Drives my husband crazy. One time it aired with all the language edited out. Totally ruined it.
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