<p>I have just been whinging that I can’t find any movies I want to go see & when I do think of a movie ( Like The Queen), which I recently rented, I don’t remember than I have already seen them until I am half way through!
( don’t get me wrong- it is a good movie- & I think James Cromwell is really underappreciated- Helen Mirren of course is doing quite well )</p>
<p>However, the Opening Day thread, reminded me of my favorite director **John Sayles **and some of his favorite actors- David Strathairn( with whom he attended Williams College)- Joe Morton- and the perfect casting of Kris Kristofferson & Chris Cooper.</p>
<p>He writes most of the movies he directs, which enables him to put the money back into the filmmaking process.</p>
<p>The stories are similar only in that the characters are richly drawn.
I couldnt even pick a favorite- would it be Limbo- with Strathairn, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in remote Alaska.</p>
<p>Or Lone Star with Chris Cooper and Elizabeth Pe</p>
<p>Thanks for the movie tips EK! I just LOVE good movies. Added Limbo to my “instant” queue on Netflix, which means I can watch it whenever we want (and at no extra charge). Will add a few of the others too. Thanks again. I miss that movie thread we had a while back…got some real good ones in there.</p>
<p>I didn’t remember, I guess that he wrote and directed Sunshine State- I had seen the previews- and I have been in love with Alan Arkin ever since I saw him in **The Heart is a Lonely Hunter <a href=“and%20why%20can’t%20they%20put%5Bb%5D%20that%20%5B/b%5Don%20DVD!!!”>/b</a>- but then I forgot to see it.</p>
<p>Another of his Passionfish the story of a soap opera actress paralyzed in an accident and quite bitterly returns to her home in Louisiana, and her sullen nurse who is recovering from her own problems played respectively by the excellent actors, Mary McDonnell and Alfre Woodard ( who is another actor I think is underrated- I admit I haven’t seen many of her recent television appearances, but she has great depth and presence and most of the things I * have * seen her in lately, she was really underutilized)</p>
<p>Brother from Another Planet- is a very sweet movie ( that you can watch with children!) starring Joe Morton.
</p>
<p>I also love that he does this Alfred Hitchcockian thing of taking a small role in his films, although he probably does that to save money.</p>
<p>Men with Guns- is another politically aware movie ( from wiki)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Dr. Fuentes (Federico Luppi) is a medical professor near his retirement. He’s taught a group that trains young people to provide health care to poverty-stricken citizens in the outlying hill country where small agricultural communities struggle to survive. He’s also been largely ignorant of the political events in his country.</p>
<p>Fuentes has recently heard rumors that his former students are lost and possibly dead, so he musters up the courage and travels into the outlands to investigate.
As Fuentes digs into the jungle he discovers that his students have been menaced by many “men with guns.” This indicates military forces who use torture and execution to intimidate people. He discovers that the guerillas from opposition political groups are only marginally less aggressive.</p>
<p>On his journey he accumulates a few travelling companions: Padre Portillo (Dami</p>
<p>John Sayles is a national treasure and has more artistic integrity in his left little finger, than all of Hollywood has combined. There, I said it. Certain moments from his films are frozen forever in my mind. He has the intelligence and class to use two of the best actors on the planet (as you mentioned—D. Strathairn and C. Cooper). Needless to say, I am a huge fan.</p>
<p>My favorite John Sayles movie is Matewan, which has David Strathairn (anyone remember his turn on TV in “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd” in the 80’s?), Chris Cooper, and James Earl Jones. It’s a powerful film about the attempt to unionize coal miners in WVA in the 20’s. I also love Passionfish.</p>
<p>I was going to start a thread, but I’ll post here. Last night I watched “The Stoning of Soroya M.” I couldn’t sleep. I am still deeply upset. I can’t think of any time I have been so upset by a film, nor can I think of a film that more needed to be made and that needed to be as upsetting as it was. It’s based on the book, based on the true story, which, unfortunately, is not an isolated story. While I hate it when Hollywood types talk about a film being “important”, this one is. It was well done and starts the luminescent Shoreh Aghdashloo, who is an amazing actress. Has anyone seen it? I watched it on Netflix streaming (not sure if it is on DVD.) It’s in Farsi with subtitles with a little English. I almost always look away during graphic scenes because I find violence so upsetting, but I couldn’t look away. It almost felt like it would be wrong to look away, because the world needs to see what is happening in some places.</p>
<p>Thanks for these great John Sayles movie suggestions!</p>
<p>Also, I am so with you on Dan Brown. I thought [url=<a href=“http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/05/29/060529crci_cinema]this”>Heaven Can Wait | The New Yorker]this</a> scathing review<a href=“of%20the%20movie%20but%20also%20of%20the%20book”>/url</a> was right on. From the review: “There has been much debate over Dan Browns novel ever since it was published, in 2003, but no question has been more contentious than this: if a person of sound mind begins reading the book at ten oclock in the morning, at what time will he or she come to the realization that it is unmitigated junk? The answer, in my case, was 10:00.03 . . …”</p>
<p>mimk6
Thanks for posting- I barely remember when it came out, I don’t think it was here very long- I don’t get out to see many movies anyway- but I am currently downloading it on itunes- ( rental and purchase available)
( I am with you on the violence- I finally watched Gladiator years after it came out, on my laptop, and played Battleship during the gory scenes)</p>
<p>It also just came out on DVD and Blu-ray</p>
<p>( it is also a book, but everywhere it is over $100 ?)</p>
<p>John Sayles -The Return of the Seacaucus Seven(ripped off by another director with better box office success, title slips my mind.) Same director made Grand Canyon which was another copy of a John Sayles film with a more commercial cast/promotion.
I like Eight Men Out, a baseball story about the Chicago Black Sox World Series scandal, particularly sad regarding Shoeless Joe Jackson, one of the greatest baseball players ever, whose carreer was ended and who was banned forever from baseball. I think he may have the 2nd highest lifetime batting average, or at least in the top 5.</p>
<p>That would be The Big Chill. And yes, it was ripped off, but it was also a perfect movie for its time, with a great soundtrack, not to mention Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, and William Hurt, among others.</p>
<p>I guess this would be the wrong place to discuss Repo: The Genetic Opera. Yes, the one with Paris Hilton, who thankfully wasn’t on screen much. Watched it last night with my son mainly because it was free on Comcast On Demand. It actually looked great—costumes, cinematography—but the acting was campy—often, but not always, intentionally—and most of the songs stunk. 1.5 stars out of 4.</p>
<p>Now, back to stuff worth wasting breath on…</p>
<p>I’m a long time John Sayles fan, and I adore David Strathairn, surely one of the most underused, overlooked actors out there. It was great to see him get some recognition for Good Night and Good Luck.</p>
<p>me too.
( I am not above a little eye candy- I just did a search and found a youtube video from * A Dangerous Woman* with Debra Winger and Gabriel Byrne, in which David apparently has a scene where he is practically * au naturale* )</p>
<p>I just saw David Strathairn in a supporting role in the HBO movie “Temple Grandin” There’s just something about that guy that is so attractive! Fantastic movie.</p>
<p>I saw a commercial last night for the next episode of House M.D. The Patient of the Week sure looks (and sounds) like David Strathairn! I haven’t watched House in a long time, but I’m definitely going to TiVo that episode.</p>
<p>He totally is!
House is one of the shows that I watch on Hulu ( I still have trouble recording, or even remembering to set things up ), along with Bones ( and I used to watch Saving Grace when it first started, but even though I really like Holly Hunter, some of the storylines seemed to center for a while on really skanky behaviour and that wasn’t why I was watching it)</p>
<p>( and that reminds me- I think House fans should get an update on how Kai Penn is doing- after all* Amber* haunted him for a while, why shouldn’t Kutner?)</p>
)</p>