<p>Laid low today by some sort of viral infection, I watched on DVD (for the second or third time) Late Spring, a film made in 1949 by Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. </p>
<p>Though not as widely known as some other post-war (WW II, that is) Japanese directors, he’s often mentioned as one of the greatest directors of all time by critics and other directors. </p>
<p>The story told in this movie couldn’t be simpler. Father - in his mid-50s, a professor, his wife deceased - and his unwed daughter, in her late 20s, live together. He depends on her; she depends on taking care of him. Will their lives remain as they have, or will they change?</p>
<p>That’s really about it. There’s no action to speak of. No excitement, either. The pace couldn’t be slower. But if you savor shots that are both beautiful and psychologically acute, subtle character development, and an often heartbreaking story masterfully told, you may well experience pleasures in watching this quiet little movie that you’re not likely to find elsewhere.</p>
<p>–Yeah, for all you English teachers out there (I’m a lapsed one, myself), I realized, too late, after typing the title to this thread, that it’s “funny bone” (or “funny-bone”) - not “funnybone.” Oh, well.</p>
<p>–One reason, I realize, why this movie may have had a particularly strong impact on me today is that the story’s basic contours - single parent (with deceased spouse), adult (or emerging adult) daughter, issues of change and separation - resonate strongly with the story that unfolded here concerning LTS and her daughter.</p>
<p>Italianetz or The Italian. Very “realistic” style and that little boy melted my heart. From imbd </p>
<p>"For most Russian orphans, the chance to be adopted is a dream come true. But six-year-old Vanya Solntsev has other hopes. After discovering his mother is still alive, the abandoned boy teaches himself to read so as to learn her address from his personal files. Before a wealthy Italian couple can claim him for their own, Vanya sets off on a perilous journey to find his only remaining family. Pursued by orphanage staff and the police, the determined runaway must now face the most difficult challenges of his young life in this incredible story inspired by true events. --Taken from the DVD cover " </p>
<p>For romance, “The Painted Veil”. Love story set in China. Beautiful setting and good acting. </p>
<p>Both movies are more character driven than plot driven.</p>
<p>I don’t see any real similarities of my 3, but I’m crazy about “The General” groundbreaking film with Buster Keaton, “Play it again, Sam” a silly one from Woody Allen, and “The Green Mile” Tom Hanks film that wove in (figuratively)a million Christian biblical similarities.</p>
<p>1) Annie Hall
2) The Producers (the original, with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder)
3) The Heartbreak Kid (also the original, with Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd)</p>
<p>These are all films that H and I loved before we met each other, and we were delighted to find another person who had the same sense of humor and the same taste in movies. Some of their lines have become catchphrases in our house:
“Brooklyn is not expanding!”
“I’m not the madam, I’m the concierge” (pronounced con-see-urge).
“You’re in my spot.”</p>
<p>The Local Hero, 1983 is a Scottish comedy film starring Peter Riegert, Denis Lawson and Burt Lancaster. It was directed by Bill Forsyth and produced by David Puttnam. The film is set in the fictional fishing village of Ferness on the west coast of Scotland. In the story, a yuppie from Texas travels to an isolated town in Scotland to make a poor but savvy fisherman wealthy. Forsyth contrasts the warmth of Scotland’s North Shore with the impersonalization of super-modern Houston, and cinematographer Menges captures the serenity of the expansive beach and the power of the ocean and the stars.</p>
<p>Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, commenting, “Here is a small film to treasure, a loving, funny, understated portrait of a small Scottish town and its encounter with a giant oil company…And what could have been a standard plot about conglomerates and ecology, etc., turns instead into a wicked study of human nature.”</p>
<p>The film’s soundtrack, which outsold the film itself, was written by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, and is considered amongst his best work. This has led to the popularity of the film with fans of the band; Knopfler has since performed an arrangement of the main theme music (“Going Home”) as an encore at many of his concerts.</p>
<p>If you’ve never seen this movie it is well worth tracking down. I saw it (for the first time) many years ago on a first date.</p>
<p>Old movie favorite I loved when it came out in the 70s and when i saw it again recently: “Breaking Away” about a small town kid growing up in Indiana with a thing for bicycle racing. At the time I identified deeply with the kid. Saw it recently and identified even more strongly with his frazzled Dad. Rare that a movie will work like that I think.</p>
<p>I know when something goes wrong for me I say “this was no boating accident!”</p>
<p>I liked Heartbreak kid too. Grodin was so dry and so very funny, and Cybill, well, all she has to do was stand there and that was enough for me(I was 15). I heard Eddie Albert won some awards for that performance? “A brick wall.”</p>
But watching this 1978 film again recently, I was struck more than ever with the conviction that this is the story of a teenage girl, told by her, and its subject is the way that hope and cheer have been beaten down in her heart. We do not feel the full passion of the adults because it is not her passion: It is seen at a distance, as a phenomenon, like the weather, or the plague of grasshoppers that signals the beginning of the end…
The whole story is told by her. But her words are not a narration so much as a parallel commentary, with asides and footnotes. We get the sense that she is speaking some years after the events have happened, trying to reconstruct these events that were seen through naive eyes. She is there in almost the first words of the film ("My brother used to tell everyone they were brother and sister,‘’ a statement that is more complex than it seems). And still there in the last words of the film, as she walks down the tracks with her new "best friend.‘’ She is there after the others are gone. She is the teller of the tale.</p>
<p>This child, we gather, has survived in hard times. She has armored herself. She is not surprised by the worst. Her voice sounds utterly authentic; it seems beyond performance. I remember seeing the film for the first time and being blind-sided by the power of a couple of sentences she speaks near the end. The three of them are in a boat on a river. Things have not worked out well. The days of heaven are over. She says: "You could see people on the shore, but it was far off and you couldn’t see what they were doing. They were probably calling for help or something–or they were trying to bury somebody or something.‘’</p>
<p>That is the voice of the person who tells the story, and that it why "Days of Heaven’’ is correct to present its romantic triangle obliquely, as if seen through an emotional filter. Children know that adults can be seized with sudden passions for one another, but children are concerned primarily with how these passions affect themselves: Am I more or less secure, more or less loved, because there has been this emotional realignment among the adults who form my world?<a href=“and%20Richard%20Gere%20is%20pretty%20attractive%20too%20;”>/quote</a> )</p>
<p>To Have and Have Not. Lauren Bacall is so sultry. The chemistry with Bogart sizzles. Great lines. “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and… blow.” It’s also is the first movie I ever studied in a film class. I learned so much about how to look at a movie from that class. The plot hardly makes any sense, but you hardly notice.</p>
<p>I’ve also got a fond spot for Caberet. Another jewel of a movie. Everyone was spot on.</p>
<p>Too many–
It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story because I love nostalgia
To Kill A Mockingbird because it’s wonderful
Last of the Mohicans for it’s scenery and soundtrack
About a Boy because I never get tired of it
Animal House because it was hilarious
Platoon and Gallipoli and Saving Private Ryan - great, tragic war stories
The Shining because it’s our entire family’s favorite horror movie
Austin Powers 1 - wacky fun
Star Wars 1 - saw it on my first-ever date (sigh…)</p>
<p>Lion King, because it is the best animated movie ever in my opinion.
Three Colors, by Kiewslowski (actually, just two of them; hold the “White” please)
The Bridges of Madison County - my favorite actors
Apollo 13, because I love space movies (and Tom Hanks, too)
Back to the Future trilogy - the family never gets tired of it</p>
<p>If I had to list just three with a special place in my heart (man, that’s hard):</p>
<p>On the Town
The Palm Beach Story
Groundhog Day
The Gay Divorcee</p>
<p>Ooops, that’s four. But I can’t pick a Gene Kelly movie without picking a Fred Astaire, too. There are moments in all of these films that make me grin for hours afterwards.</p>