Amph 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: Now Disc. "Heat" (1995)

Actually I don't mind that Graham drops out for a while. That he loses himself and becomes a drunk -- I'm just not big on how it's just left that way. Lector on the loose? Well, we could go have a talk with the guy that originally caught him and came out of retirement that one other time...

Nah, why would we bother doing that?

I think the biggest things I'd change is firstly detailing Graham's entire first cases as a novel unto themselves. Then try to differentiate how Graham 'catches' each man. Since his first case against Garett Hobbs also ended in a standoff where Hobbs was repeatedly slashing his own daughter's throat, I'd try to make some sort of visual parallel between that and the end standoff in "Red Dragon". Then I'd throw out Hannibal almost gutting Graham with a linoleum knife, since a threepeat of such behavior would seem silly. Besides, there's other ways to make Lector a more unnerving adversary for Will. Maybe Lector never puts up a fight at all, and the entire confrontation is verbal (an allusion of things to come).

Also, I'd take the Mason Verger character and probably do something totally different. I'd probably make him no longer a former victim and patient of Lector's, but related or married to one (and that person actually DIED). And make him an underworld figure. Turn him into the same sort of threat he is in Hannibal, but more because he's an organized crime figure from the get go, and not just a rich man with a grudge. That way when Lector is on the loose after SotL, you can turn it into more of a parallel of the movie 'M', in a way. The best thing about the book Hannibal was the notion that law enforcement was not the only thing Lector had to fear. It wasn't pulled off very well, but the notion does provide a different element of conflict.

Starling, Crawford and Graham I'd largely leave as they are up until the end of SotL, though. Part of the story would be the fact that Graham is drunk and with a face that's completely messed up, and a marriage that has clearly not weathered the storm.

 

Best non star wars movie.

 

Next: "JFK"(1991)

USA 189 m. Colour

Director: Oliver Stone

Producer: A. K. Ho, Oliver Stone

Screenplay: Oliver Stone, Zachary Sklar, from the book "Crossfire"

Photography: Robert Richardson

Music: John WIlliams

Cast: Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Sissy Spacek

This movie cries out for toe dragons.

 

It's an extremely well acted, well shot and well edited film. As for the engine that runs the movie, the conspiracy theory, well it is interesting.

 

Next: "Slacker"(1991)

USA 97 m. Colour

Director: Richard Linklater

Producer: Richard Linklater

Screenplay: Richard Linklater

Photography: Lee Daniel

Music: John WIlliams

Cast: Richard Linklater et al.

None seen it.

 

Next: "Tongues Untied"(1991)

USA 55 m. Colour

Director: Marlon Riggs

Producer: Essex Hemphill

Screenplay: Documentary

Photography: Not listed

Music: Not listed

Cast: Documentary.

Not seen it.

 

Next: "Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse"(1991)

USA 96 m. Colour

Director: Fax Bahr, Eleanor Coppola, George Hickenlooper

Producer: Doug Claybourne et al.

Screenplay: Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper

Photography: Larry Carney et al

Music: Todd Boekelheide et al

Cast: Documentary.

The movie-shoot from hell, in colour and close-up.

 

v. entertaining, can watch over and over (not consecutively, you understand).

 

A 30 million dollar trainwreck. Coppola's behavior was abominable. An unforgettable documentary.

 

Next: "The Double Life of Veronique"(1991)

France/Poland/Norway 98 m. Colour

Director: Krzyszfor Kielowski

Producer: Leonardo de la Fuente

Screenplay: Krzyszfor Kielowski, Krzyszfor Piesiewicz

Photography: Slavomir Idziak

Music: Zbigniew Priesner

Cast: A bunch of people with a lot of zs in their names.

The film follows parallel lives of two women, one in Poland and one in France.

 

cool film.

 

Next: "Strictly Ballroom"(1992)

Australia 94m. Colour

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Producer: Tristam Miall

Screenplay: Baz Luhrmann

Photography: Steve Mason

Music: David Hirschfelder

Cast: Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice

I've seen this one, and it's pretty entertaining.

 

Next: "The Player"(1992)

USA 124m. Colour

Director: Robert Altman

Producer: David Brown et al.

Screenplay: Michael Tolkin

Photography: Jean Lepine

Music: Thomas Newman

Cast: Tim Robbins et al.

Not seen this, mainly because I can't stand Altman.

 

Zaz, this one is a great send up of Hollywood. It's really great...not typical Altman. I think you'd enjoy it.

 

Well, I respect your opinion. I'll look for it.

 

Well, any movie that viciously mocks Hollywood and has a plot where someone's planning to kill a shallow, unlikeable film executive - I mean I can only speak for myself but - THAT'S entertainment.

 

Wasn't that the plot of "Swimming with the Sharks"? Which was--Kevin Spacey aside--pretty terrible.

 

You'll have to judge for yourself.

 

Next: "Reservoir Dogs"(1992)

USA 99m. Colour

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Producer: Lawrence Bender

Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino

Photography: Andrzej Sekula

Cast: Harvey Keitel, Tim ROth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi

Quentin Tarantino's first, and in some ways, best film.

 

Next: "Romper Stomper"(1992)

Australia 94m. Colour

Director: Geoffrey Wright

Producer: Ian Pringle

Screenplay: Geoffrey Wright

Photography: Ron Hagen

Music: John Clifford White

Cast: Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie

This concerns the skinhead culture in Australia.

 

It's the film that first brought Russell Crowe to prominence (in Australia at least).

 

Next: "Glengarry Glen Ross"(1992)

USA 100m. Colour

Director: James Foley

Producer: Stanley R. Zupnik

Screenplay: David Mamet, from his play

Photography: Juan Ruiz Anchia

Music: James Newton Howard

Cast: Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Alec Baldwin, Jonathan Pryce

I haven't seen this, but the book says it is brilliant, if downbeat. Mamet is fine as long as he doesn't have to write for or direct women.

 

Great movie. It's a brilliantly written character study, and endlessly quotable. "Who ever told you that you could work with men?"

 

Imo, just watch Alec Baldwin's part and then just turn off the movie.

 

All the parts are great and the exceptional cast performs magnificently. But Baldwin does steal the show; his role is basically the cameo from hell - any actor worth his salt would kill to have Baldwin's part and Baldwin knocks it out of the park. But a great flick all the way through. "Will you GO TO LUNCH?"