Jedi Council Forums - The Essentials: Hamlet/Hand of God/Happy Man/Hard Day's Night

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Author	Topic: The Essentials: Hamlet/Hand of God/Happy Man/Hard Day's Night
Rogue1-and-a-half Title: Manager: Amphitheatre Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 6/8/06 7:55pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Dummy; Dune Landscape; Dynamism Dog/Soccer; Eagle Has Landed)
	Hmm, haven't managed to see Eagle, the film. Want too, though. And the sex album? Missed that, I guess. Early Sunday Morning (1930) – Edward Hopper Hopper is probably the finest American painter ever. His scenes are calm and quiet and, in some ways, melancholy. Slice of life, you could say, and very authentic. His use of light and color is beyond amazing. This beautiful painting finds a street of business empty, quiet and utterly, utterly still. Stillness is one of those things you don’t see often in art and you don’t realize it until you see something like this; not a leaf moves, not a breeze stirs. Easy Rider (1969) – Dennis Hopper It’s far from a perfect film, but it’s greatest flaws are also it’s greatest assets. It’s a meandering film, rootless and plotless. Its opening is one of the great moments of verite in cinema, but Nicholson is like pure energy, already showing his star quality. The ending is genius as well. Iconoclastic and nothing wrong with that. The Ecstasy of St. Teresa (1652) – Gian Lorenzo Bernini A work of violent beauty; the angel pierces with a bolt of ecstasy. The evocation of spiritual pleasure and pain. The Edge (1997) - Lee Tamahori Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins are both at the top of their game as the enemies who find themselves forced to depend on each other for survival after a plane crash in Alaska. Amazing scenery and the two powerhouse performances of the actors draw your initial attention, but the script is quite brilliant and Bart the Bear is absolutely chilling as the killer bear who stalks their every move. A classic. Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Tim Burton Depp's finest performance, Burton's finest film, Elfman's best score . . . it's a high point all around. Throw in a great supporting cast like Winona Ryder, Anthony Michael Hall, Dianne Wiestt and, in a brilliant bit of casting, Vincent Price as the Inventor and you can't help but have genius. A triumph of imagination and vision; the layers of fable are so myriad they simply can't even begin to be touched on. Suffice it to say it is one of only a handful of truly, utterly perfect movies. Availability: The films are all out on DVD. The Hopper is at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. The Bernini is at the Santa Maria Della Vittoria in Rome. -----signature----- Don't be a fool, don't be blind Heart of mine If you can't do the time, don't do the crime Heart of mine
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 6/8/06 8:50pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Early Sunday Morning; Easy Rider; Estacy of St. Teresa; Edge; Edward Scissorhand
	Early Sunday Morning (1930) – Edward Hopper The American Vermeer. The word 'quietude' always occurs to me. Easy Rider (1969) – Dennis Hopper A film that's dated a lot. Nicholson is still great. The Ecstasy of St. Teresa (1652) – Gian Lorenzo Bernini Religious frenzy. The Edge (1997) - Lee Tamahori Haven't seen it. Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Tim Burton Johnny Depp's starmaking role.
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TheBoogieMan Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Nov '01	Date Posted: 6/9/06 3:13am Subject: RE: The Essentials (Early Sunday Morning; Easy Rider; Estacy of St. Teresa; Edge; Edward Scissorhand
	The Edge is a good movie, but it has been a while since I saw it last. Same with Edward Scissorhands. I really need to see it again, I can barely remember it.
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Rogue1-and-a-half Title: Manager: Amphitheatre Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 6/9/06 9:13pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Early Sunday Morning; Easy Rider; Estacy of St. Teresa; Edge; Edward Scissorhand
	Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Danny Elfman A score that defines haunting. Elfman has never topped this one, either before or since. It has trademark flashes of wit (note the racing violin in Eduardo the Barber and the absolutely brilliant Cookie Factory), but it’s in those moments of pure haunting tragedy that the film succeeds with pure magic. The final twenty minutes are certainly a pinnacle of some sort for film music. Ed Wood (1994) - Tim Burton One of Burton’s finest moments and one of Depp’s best performances. It’s a beautiful film, in gorgeously directed black and white with a cast up to the challenge. Landau as Lugosi got most of the press and deservedly but Jeffrey Jones and Bill Murray as Criswell and Bunny Breckenridge, respectively, are both at the top of their game as well. A film of both humor and heart and, despite the press releases, that is actually incredibly rare. Elegy for Iris (1999) - John Bayley The heartbreaking memoir of John Bayley, husband to author Iris Murdoch, a brilliant author stricken with alzheimers in her old age. In this beautiful and poetic book, Bayley blurs from past to present, deals with grief and love and tries to reconcile mental greatness with mental breakdown. A staggering book. Elvis Presley (1956) - Elvis Presley The icon bursts onto the scene with an album that is still as brilliant as it was then. The ballads are less interesting, but when he rocks, he rocks hard. Music, quite literally, was never the same. Emma (1816) - Jane Austen It’s no Pride and Prejudice, but this book is probably Austen’s greatest authorial achievement. In the main character, she creates a pretentious, meddling, foolish, ill advised young woman who somehow maintains our sympathy (or, at least, does not earn our rancor). Brilliantly funny; Austen still in great form. Availability: All readily available. -----signature----- Don't be a fool, don't be blind Heart of mine If you can't do the time, don't do the crime Heart of mine
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 6/13/06 12:32pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Edward Scissorhands; Ed Wood; Elegy for Iris; Elvis Presley; Emma)
	Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Danny Elfman I'm going to look at this film again, and try to pay particular attention to the score. Ed Wood (1994) - Tim Burton Burton and Depp at the top of their form. Elegy for Iris (1999) - John Bayley Ze list. Elvis Presley (1956) - Elvis Presley A great voice, a broad range and instinctive talent, at the dawn of his career. Emma (1816) - Jane Austen Misdirection writ large; Austen would have been a crackerjack mystery writer.
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Zombi_2_1979 Registered: Jul '05	Date Posted: 7/1/06 8:43am Subject: RE: The Essentials (Edward Scissorhands; Ed Wood; Elegy for Iris; Elvis Presley; Emma)
	bump You're slacking Rogue.
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 7/1/06 9:02am Subject: RE: The Essentials (Edward Scissorhands; Ed Wood; Elegy for Iris; Elvis Presley; Emma)
	Damn you, Zombi. When I saw the thread was up, I though he was updating.
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Rogue1-and-a-half Title: Manager: Amphitheatre Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 7/4/06 9:03pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Edward Scissorhands; Ed Wood; Elegy for Iris; Elvis Presley; Emma)
	Back. Emma (1996) - Douglas McGrath A likeable adaptation, not of the caliber of the Pride and Prejudice batch or Emma Thompson's magnificent Sense and Sensibility, but Paltrow is a great choice for the lead and the supporting cast is very good as well, particularly Ewan Macgregor as Frank Churchill. Emma (1996) - Rachel Portman She finally bested herself with her absolutely groundshaking score for Legend of Bagger Vance, but prior to that, this was the best score from the always interesting and unique Portman, one of the few women working in the area of film scoring. Whimsy is perhaps the first adjective that comes to mind, but on repeated listens, it's Portman's usage of the whole orchestra (rather than just a part of it) that leaps to mind. And how often do you hear the strings used for rhythm? The Emperor's New Groove (2000) - Mark Dundal An altogether witty Disney film, easily their best traditionally animated film since Aladdin. David Spade is at his snarky best as the title character and the wit flies thick and fast, thanks to a great pair of villians. A rarity: A Disney film that refuses to bog down in sentimentality or big musical numbers. The new guard, or it should have been. Empire of Light (1953) - Rene Magritte One of Magritte's finest paintings, a founding moment of surrealism for me. So surreal in fact that it is at first only vaguely unsettling. Only after a few seconds does the inherent contradiction really become clear. A masterpiece of light and shadow. Enchanted April (1992) - Mike Newell A cast to die for populate this film with a slight premise, but a profound emotional effect. The gist is that a group of four women go on vacation together to Italy. Followed by the male counterparts in their lives, they slowly find themselves, simply unwinding, becoming more human. Said like that, it sounds a bit off, but in the execution of the film, there is a beautiful mood, a profound emotional effect that has the viewer doing the same thing. Truly one of the most calming and amazingly beautiful films of all time. Magical; beautiful; humanizing. Availability: Ludicrously, Enchanted April is not available on DVD (in the US; some other countries do have a DVD release). One day. I hope. It had better. The Magritte is in the Guggenheim collection . . . -----signature----- Don't be a fool, don't be blind Heart of mine If you can't do the time, don't do the crime Heart of mine
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TheBoogieMan Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Nov '01	Date Posted: 7/4/06 9:07pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Edward Scissorhands; Ed Wood; Elegy for Iris; Elvis Presley; Emma)
	Good to see this thread back. Emma I highly disliked. In fact I switched it off - Paltrow was awful, and McGregor was forced. Sorry. No Empire of the Sun?
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 7/4/06 9:21pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Emma, The Emperor's New Groove, Empire of Light,, Enchanted April) - Date Edited: 7/5/06 6:37am (1 edits total) Edited By: Zaz
	Also glad to see the Essentials back, I need it to supply ze list. Paltrow does seem like good casting for Emma, since the character's not especially likeable, and I think, despite Paltrow's own view of herself, she's rather unsympathetic onscreen. That said, only seen a part of this movie, so it's hard to say. Though "Clueless" is hard to beat as a "Emma" adaptation. The "Empire of Light" Beautiful image. I really enjoyed "The Emperor's New Groove" and have no clue why it was neither a succes d'estime nor a box office hit. Weird, because it's great fun, has an excellent villainess, and terrific voices.
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Rogue1-and-a-half Title: Manager: Amphitheatre Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 7/13/06 10:54am Subject: RE: The Essentials (Emma, The Emperor's New Groove, Empire of Light,, Enchanted April)
	Endtroducing (1996) - DJ Shadow Dedicated to vinyl culture the liner notes proclaim and the cover is one of the best ever, a couple of people browsing through the albums in the kind of local, small music store we all know and love. While sampling certainly is not always an art form, here it reaches its absolute pinnacle as Shadow creates true tapestries of sound. Perhaps his best moment is his shortest, the less than twenty second track, Why Hip Hop Sucks, which consists of a solid beat laid down with a fuzzy musical backdrop as a voice repeates over and over again, "It's the money." A masterpiece by any standards The Enigma of a Day (1914) - Giorgio di Chirico Not a huge fan of this guy, but this is one of my favorites of his. The hallmarks are all there, the things that make this instantly reconizeable as a di Chirico, but somehow it all works this time. Enigma Variations (1899) - Edward Elgar While Pomp and Circumstance is both a great work and Elgar's most famous, this is his best work, a series of variations on a theme with two puzzles: the first, and most easily solved is that each variation represents an acquaintance of Elgar. This has been pretty soundly researched and the music is as witty as you'd think (one of the variations elicits a beginner's tone to represent a student of Elgar's, another affects, musically, a stutter, another imitates a hysterical laugh). The second Enigma, the one we'll probably never solve is the fact that Elgar refused to bequeath to us what theme these were all variations on, though he claimed it was a popular song that the audience would know. Best theory to date is Rule Britannia, but we'll never know for sure. For all this cerebral noodling, however, the music is simply stunning. The way in which the music imitates various people is fantastic and the gorgeous Nimrod, a staple of weddings, is supremely tragic and touching. Erace (1996) - The Gotee Brothers A project, the liner notes proclaim, to eliminate racism. Well, next time maybe they'll try something hard. Regardless, this album, the brain child of Gotee Records founder Toby McKeehan, late member of DC Talk, is a stunner, taking hip hop to a fantastic level of layered and socially conscious music. There are moments of stunning transcendence: the interlude reference to Theolonius Monk, the ultra catchy Mental Mississippi, peppered with references to Faulkner and Penn Warren among others, the brilliant Iced Tea. Dealing with racism of all stripes and colors (at least as much as they can in forty-five minutes) the artists here (gathered from across the Gotee Records spectrum) create an album that is as thought provoking as it is musically stunning. A success on every level; racism may still be here, but as the liner notes proclaim it to be this 'musical expression of frustration' retains its power and punch. Escape (1947 - 1954) One of the finest of the old time radio programs, perhaps the finest drama, this anthology show placed its characters in situations where they needed to, well, escape something. Always tense, often creative, occasionally shatteringly tragic, this is a show that has aged well. There are episodes that are famous and rightly so: Mute Fate, the tale of a deadly snake loose on an ocean liner; Three Skeleton Key, the tale of three men (one of them Vincent Price!) stranded in a lighthouse by a horde of flesheating rats; Linegan Vs. the Ants, featuring a stolid William Conrad as south american plantation owner striving to fight back an onslaught of carnivorous army ants. When they were good, they were great; the climaxes (Linegan comes instantly to mind) were often so intense as to become like a marathon and if you think radio drama can't work, hear these: it can. Availability: The Di Chirico is in the MoMA in New York. The best recording of the Enigma Variation is with Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic. Escape has not been released on CD as extensively as some old radio shows, but it has seen two collections released by Radio Spirits, one containing 18 episodes. -----signature----- Don't be a fool, don't be blind Heart of mine If you can't do the time, don't do the crime Heart of mine
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 7/13/06 12:15pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Emma, The Emperor's New Groove, Empire of Light,, Enchanted April)
	Here's the Chirico: Never heard the story behind the Elgar before, it's a fascinating one. Ze list. Ditto: "Erace" I never thought old radio shows were available; I'd love to hear them. And it's 'Leiningen.'
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TheBoogieMan Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Nov '01	Date Posted: 7/13/06 10:15pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Endtroducing; Enigma of a Day; Enigma Variations; Erace; Escape
	The Enigma Variations is one of my favourites. Absolutely beautiful. Endtroducing is awful. I admit I haven't really thought about it from an intellectual point of view, but from a musical one, it is some of the most annoying music I have ever heard.
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Rogue1-and-a-half Title: Manager: Amphitheatre Registered: Nov '00	Date Posted: 7/22/06 8:57pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Endtroducing; Enigma of a Day; Enigma Variations; Erace; Escape
	Let's play catch up The Age of Innocence (1993) - Martin Scorsese Widely regarded as one of the finest literary adaptations, the film seems an odd match. Scorsese seems not the best choice to create a film based on Wharton's nuanced novel. But it works brilliantly; Scorsese has the nerve to pan around a room or a table to create a feeling of real immersion. And his cast is up to the challenge. Pfeiffer and Ryder both seem miscast, but they're brilliant. And Day-Lewis gives yet another wonderful performance as the conflicted Newland Archer. Add a Bernstein score and what've you got? Brilliance. Benny & Joon (1993) - Jeremiah Chechik Early Depp, but excellent. As a wide eyed wanderer obsessed with nothing so much as silent comedy routines, he transfixes from the first moments he is on screen. The script is witty and the cast is full of stalwarts; Aiden Quinn and Oliver Platt particularly resonate. The story, which finds Depp falling for Quinn's younger sister, a mentally ill woman, is fluffy, it can't be denied, but the movie works, thanks to a brilliant performance by Depp and a surprisingly good one from Quinn, an actor who is occasionally too self-conscious. Lighthearted and uplifting. No crime in that. A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969) - Bill Melendez The first feature length film to feature the Peanuts characters, it's also head and shoulders above all the others and all the television specials as well (with the exception of Christmas and possibly Halloween). It finds Charlie Brown, the perennial loser, finally finding something he's good at: spelling, and quickly rising to the national finals in his grade level. It's a surprisingly uplifting story about hopes and dreams. And the direction is animation at its best; if Fantasia blew your mind, check this out. It's got all the magic and story to boot. A fantastic baseball game, began with a psychedelic version of the National Anthem, painted in red, white and blue, scales the heights of music and image, with split screens and about a dozen other techniques. And the film slows long enough to give Schroeder a moment to play the Pathetique Sonata as the film meanders through European landscapes. In a Charlie Brown movie? Oh, yes, this is art and don't forget it. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) - Sharon Maguire Zellwegger exudes adorability in her titular role and Grant and Firth are both cast in roles that no one plays better than them. Filled to the brim with witty one liners, it's a film it would take a scrooge indeed to dislike. And the Firth/Grant brawl remains one of the funniest fight scenes ever and also the one to most capture the real awkwardness of physical combat. Forget wuxia films; if you've ever been in a fight, you know you act, look and feel like a fool and no film has ever captured that triumverate as well as this one. Clerks (2000) - Kevin Smith/Scott Mosier/David Mandel It seems a match destined to fail; the lyrically profane Smith takes his ultra raunchy and iconoclastic debut film and adapts it for NETWORK TELEVISION CARTOON? And fail it did; only six episodes were made and only two of those aired. But, now on DVD, you can catch them all and be amazed at the lost opportunity. Smith doesn't need profanity to be hilarious and this shows that brilliantly. Great voice work from all concerned, including a guesting Alec Baldwin as the town heavy, and a truly subversive look at television (one episode is a spoof of courtroom dramas with one of the funniest endings I've ever seen; another is a dead on spoof of clip shows) add up to make this a masterpiece. Smith said it best himself, "It wasn't the best show ever, but it was pretty ******* funny." Well said, Kevin, and truly spoken. A travesty of loss. Subversive, witty and anarchic; Kevin Smith, truly not made for television. All readily available on DVD. -----signature----- Don't be a fool, don't be blind Heart of mine If you can't do the time, don't do the crime Heart of mine
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Zaz Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre Registered: Oct '98	Date Posted: 7/22/06 9:03pm Subject: RE: The Essentials (Age /Innocence; Benny & Joon; Boy Named Charlie Brown; Bridget's Jones Diary; Cl
	All of these go on ze list; but weren't we on the Es?
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