At the flicks

"Twee" IS a word. And a wonderful word at that. Thanks, Mary, for adding to my vocab for about 2 days at least. Please work it into the conversation periodically so I don't forget it.

I'm also off Tom Hanks. Not sure how one receives 13 oscars without getting a swollen head, but my gosh, the man carries himself now as though he expects "Pomp and Ceremony" to be played when he enters the room. His chest is actually puffed out. I think the man needs to go back and watch some episodes of Bosom Buddies for perspective and to remind himself why we fell in love with him in the first place.

Now Kevin Costner, on the other hand .... I think he is mellowing and becoming one of our quietly great actors. He was great in Mr. Brooks, but the one that brought me back into the KC fold was The Upside of Anger. Of course, it's probably hard to look bad opposite Joan Allen -- who gave a bravura performance in that movie -- and he needs to be a bit more careful before doing Message-in-a-Bottle-type movies (since he already has FoD under his belt), but he was so much fun to watch in Upside, I have to forgive him Dragonfly, et al.

Terry, I'm so glad you like twee.It is almost onomatopoeic if you say it in a high pitched voice with a tiny wrinkle of your nose.
To be honest, I have never cottoned on to TH or KC. They seem to be very good at portraying TH and KC (respectively) but not much else.
Now Kevin Spacey... I thought he put in solid performances in Shipping News, Kpax, Midnight (etc), the Usual Suspects and AB.

If we're voting for sheer acting talent, KS would be on most short lists. Unfortunately, he's not a "hunk" if you know what I mean. Not there's anything WRONG with that ....

Mary, I was seriously irritated when Tom Hanks won his Oscar for Philladelphia. One critic from a top paper tried to justify it by asking if Liam Neeson could have played the lawyer in that movie. I though, "Well, uh, YES." The inverse, of course, was not true. Hanks would have been as laughable in Schindler's List as he was in Bonfire. (I loved that book, and the moment I heard Hanks and Griffith were cast, I knew I'd never see the movie. It wasn't even panned. It was villified.)

Terry, your assessment of KS is sad but true.On a lighter note, the OTHER Kevin (Kline) is a great comedic actor AND good-looking to boot. Who could forget his armpit sniffing scene in Wanda.

now THAT is emblazoned on my mind!

and speaking of fables, how about Being There? It was a long time ago, but wasn't that a FG type of movie but without the nauseating bits (FG's beginning, middle and end)?

What about Gérard Depardieu (Jean de Florette, Green Card, Cyrano de Bergerac... countless others) now that is a man...
Al Pacino... lush on legs
Alan Rickman... brain juice
Dustin Hoffman... I like small men

gosh it has got me thinking now, two cells left to think with could take me a while.

André, we are all agreed on AR...see Billy's declaration above.

..before i fall into bed...Gerard Depardieu's nose detracts from anything he has ever done, I just can't get past it...I know Dustin has a nose, but somehow it fits his face without looking like a potato - are you sure you haven't overestimated your braincell count bertie?
nitey nite and omshantidoodah x

Maybe I've got a thing about big noses and accents? I was just thinking of Daniel Auteuil and he too has a bit of a stonker conker...

worryingly billy if I have overcounted brain cells (I'm still using it as a plural at the mo) what is to become of me and Johnny Depp (nothing wrong with his conker! Or other bits and pieces come to think of it).

Also liked Brad Davis in Midnight Express along with John Hurt. Still got my thinking cap on here...

John Hurt is terrific in anything. I was trying (and failed) to track down a (tv?) movie he made a long time ago. The only scene I remember is in a courtroom and the prosecutor (Judd someone?)tricks him into re-enacting the bludgeoning murder he thinks he is getting away with. That scene was brilliant.Can't remember the rest of the movie.

Saw War Dance, a lovely(?) doco about a children's music festival in the War Zone in northern Uganda. Well worth seeing.

Snap Mary - saw it last night...what a story. The horrors those children faced is inconceivable. If my girls EVER complain about a bad hair day again they're going to get a clip around the ears...
Wasn't their dance amazing? just looked at youtube and there's a link that shows snippets of the doco - well worth a looksee...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4ROJ5A6ds4&feature=related

The Painted Veil is a movie based on Somerset Maugham's novel. A visually stunning movie shot on location in China. It's set in China in the 1920's during a cholera epidemic. Stars Ed Norton and Naomi Watts (both with good uppercrust accents - what ho..okay yar...). Don't want to give too much away, but I loved this movie and highly recommend that you see it on the big screen. 9/10

Saw Paris....comme si(sp) comme ca...gallic shrug...

Back from nursing/renovating duties. Now am ignoring my deadline to finish CLEs before losing my law license (a bit like threatening to throw Brer Rabbit in the briar patch).

Re Painted Veil: Totally agree, Billy. Ed Norton was his most lovely self, which made the ending breathtakingly heart wrenching. Another great Ed Norton movie is American History X. Next release for him: The Hulk (BION).

Re Kevin Kline, Mary, totally agree again. In and Out was a tour de force I love to watch over and over because it is so good hearted. Plus, he and wife Phoebe Cates are reputed to be down-to-earch parents who pitch in with all the other parents in kids' school in NYC (I know someone who knows them from the school). Just good people.

Billy, I have to disagree about GD's nose. He is so ugly he's pretty, and he's managed to play roles where his characters are loved in spite of their looks (Green Card, e.g.) which makes him quite lovable to me.

Welcome back Terry, law licence? piffle!!!!Now THIS is important. EN should go into the HoF. I thought he was fantastic in 25 Hours.

Twee. Piffle. Mary, you are my kind of woman because you're doing wonders for my vocab. Torts schmortz.

Terry

Ed Norton is hereby inducted if for no other reason than Salma Hayek, one of the Hottest Babes in the World, married the guy. They're split now, but if she even for one minute thought he was hot enough to be with full time .... Sorry, gotta go splash cold water on my face.

busy waving a fan here, Terry....

Just saw Juno. Two big thumbs up. A hoot and a half.

A friend recommended Silk. We're still friends. But just barely.

Googled Silk...bit underwhelmed....

My Life as a Nose starring Gerard Depardieu's nose...emotionally undulating landscape shot on and in location, soppy in parts, colourful - if not a bit too red, at times cavernous, (can lose the plot if you don't pay attention) listen out for unique sound effects, the hankerchief flourish at the end had me sobbing into my choc bomb...

The Edge of Heaven or Auf der anderen Seite, or Yaşamın Kıyısında, was a superb film set in Germany and Turkey. Was wondering why Margaret and David gave it 4 1/2 stars as it started fairly ho-hummish, but by the end of the movie i had gone through a whole gamut of emotions whilst watching so many different story lines unfold as each character was somehow inexorably linked. Beautiful film - 9 and a half stars I should think.

Will look for Edge of Heaven/On the Other Side. Back to a past discussion of Nicole Kidman, just watched Margot at the Wedding. It's no wonder she can leave folks cold. Yet another character suffering from constipation of the spirit. She is officially the queen of those portrayals as far as I'm concerned. The notably absent sister Becky gets the last word: Margot is a borderline. But not until her own lover publicly reveals her to be the suffocating black hole sucking the life out of her family. Brilliant story. Made me want to send messages to a special someone saying, "Please watch. You're Margot." I suspect most "complicated" families have one.

I dare you to Terry! Maybe just say to the special someone that you know, "please watch and let me know what you think of Margot?" I would find it interesting if they could actually see themselves being portrayed..I doubt it somehow...

I totally doubt it, too, Billy. Narcissists and borderlines are diagnosed because of their warped perspectives on reality and their relative roles.

Just saw Dedication. Worth the watch. Billy Crudup is becoming one of the great amorphous actors, and Mandy Moore, if she can keep her mouth pout under control, someone who's a lot of fun to watch. Bonus: Tom Wilkinson cursing, grousing, and giving lessons on life. Who could ask for more? [Yow, just went to imdb.com to make sure I had cast names correct, and Mandy Moore's pic on her page is Bronze in a Bottle Gone Bad. Where is her publicist???]

Must amend my review of Dedication to get us to the front of the queue no matter how briefly, but also in defense of my sensibilities. The ending was pat, and too convenient, and pure Hollywood, but up to that point, the characters, not the least of whom was the editor, were delicious. Loved the credit at the end: "No corporations were harmed in the filming of this movie." Unfortunately, the reference was to the plot device which nearly ruined the film.

Hey Terry, haven't heard of D yet...must be a newbie.TW always puts in a good performance. I loved him in that movie (the name of which escapes me) where he played a grieving father...

it was In the Bedroom...