by Sandy | Nov 2, 2008 | Directors, Film, Movies
This is a new 2008 DVD collection of 7 early films from the master of suspense. The movies may have different plots and locations – spies in South America, the trials of a new wife, London court room intrigue, people lost at sea – but, they all have that element of surprise/edge of seat tension that director Alfred Hitchcock does so well.
“Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection“ :
The Lodger, 1927 – (Rare silent film)
Young and Innocent, 1937 – (Spies/intrigue)
Rebecca, 1940 – (Mrs. Danvers gave live-in help a bad name)
Lifeboat, 1944 – (Tallulah Bankhead at her best)
Spellbound, 1945 – (Ingrid Bergman/Gregory Peck – lovely!
Notorious, 1946 – (Ingrid Bergman/Cary Grant – lovely!)
The Paradine Case, 1947 – (Gregory Peck)
by Bob Martin | Oct 27, 2008 | Actors, Film, Movies
I was once in a workshop about intimacy and I remember this one quote that just stuck with me:
One Day Someone You Love, Will Do the Most Despicable Thing to You-And You Will Just Have to get Over It.
Two movies, “In the Valley of Elah” and “Before the Devil Knows Your Dead” says to me that sometimes you just can’t get over it.
J
ust before “In the Valley of Elah” was released I got to see this one scene, Both my Boys with Tommy Lee Jones (who I feel is an under rated actor) and Susan Sarandon and I thought to myself that the pain etched on Jones’ face was a pain that I never want to experience.
A number of the early reviews of this movie focused on it being an Antiwar flick. I saw it more about two families, both of them culpable in having the unthinkable happen. We are suppose to be safe with family, both immediate and extended family. In this case the military.
When we talk about war and the tragedies that ensue once the soldiers return home, we erroneously believe that the war is responsible, rather than the war being the thing that confirms the true nature of being. War never falls from the sky, we go to war – it never comes to us.
In Time, the Worst Things will Happen on Their Own-No Need for us to Agitate the Situation
“Before the Devil Knows Your Dead” is also about family and trust. Trust Me! We are often blinded (by closeness) when asked for our trust. This is not to say that we should not trust fam
ily or people in general, but you have to look deeply to see if you can find yourself in what is being asked of you. In this movie, one person had the chance to end the craziness before it started, but didn’t.
This family never heard the phrase “As you Sow, so Shall you Reap” or my favorite “Birds of a Feather Flock Together”
by Bob Martin | Oct 23, 2008 | Actors, Film, Movies
A rule of thumb is how often can you watch a movie and still find it enjoyable and new. Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters is one of many movies that I enjoy watching over and over. A recurring theme in Allen’s work is a search for significances and meaning. This movie, with all its twists, says life can still be more than pleasant even without having meaning. The movie is set in New York and portrays a type of “tony” family grouping that is disappearing.
Look at all these people, trying to stave off the inevitable decay of their bodies.
They have a quality about them that reminds me of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’ movies without the dancing. Another difference is that we wanted to be Fred and Ginger but in many of Allen’s movies, we can easily recognize ourselves in his characters.
by Bob Martin | Oct 17, 2008 | Art, Exhibits, Film
Kate Gilmore at ICA-U of Penn, September 5 – December 7, 2008
The value of art is that it expresses the sentiments of a diverse group of people. How ultimately we all want the same thing. Go to the ICA website and watch the short film. At first I experience discomfort, then realizing that what I was looking at, metaphorically was my own struggle.
The dogged persistence of Gilmore’s protagonists suggests the obsessive behavior that can characterize daily efforts to cope with high expectations. These dolled-up women seem desperate for success, love, or attention—desires traditionally bound up with gender and the condition of artmaking. In all of her projects, Gilmore strives for compositional perfection, and her incongruous party clothes are always perfectly coordinated with the installation itself.
by Bob Martin | Oct 8, 2008 | Art, Culture, Events, Exhibits, Film, Museums
Nadia Hironaka My Stars, 2003
Conversations @ 11
Friday, Oct. 17, 11 a.m. – Artist Nadia Hironaka
Opening Reception
Friday, Oct. 17, 7-9 p.m.
NADIA HIRONAKA: The Late Show
In her multi-channel video installation, The Late Show, Nadia Hironaka expands the cinematic experience into the realm of the gallery environment. Synthesizing video projection, videos on monitors and audio, Hironaka entices the viewer to imagine characters leaving the confines of the projected image and entering the real space of the gallery. Using an abandoned drive-in movie theater as her point of departure to examine the convergence of cinematic and real space, Hironaka also asks us to reflect on how mood and emotion are constructed within the context of film.
ASU Art Museum Presentation
Organized by John Spiak, ASU Art Museum Curator, The Late Show will be installed in the Arizona State University Art Museum’s Nelson Fine Arts Center location.
by Sandy | Sep 27, 2008 | Actors, Blogroll, Film, Movies
When there is a reference to “blue eyes”, we often think of Frank Sinatra – but, there was another blue eyed star – Paul Newman. The 1st full face close up that I remember was in “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof”. The eyes just jumped off the screen, amazing.
A good actor and humanitarian, he led a long, full and varied life. He contributed.
I don’t know why I was shocked to hear that he passed at 83. (If I’m getting older, so is everyone else.) However, Mr. Newman will forever be frozen in celluloid at his loveliest. Some of my favorites: “The Sting”, “The Hustler, “Road to Perdition”, “Hud”
Thank you.
