by Sandy | Dec 18, 2007 | Blogroll, Movies
I really remember movies that make me laugh out loud. “Some Like It Hot” is one of them and it’s included with the 30 movies in this celebratory “United Artists 30-Disc Deluxe Gift Set“.
Short sample of the movies in this assortment:
“The Apartment”, “Midnight Cowboy”, “Raging Bull” “Marty” ,”Twelve Angry Men”, “The Magnificent Seven”, “Judgment at Nuremberg”, “Westside Story”, and “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”.
FYI – There is also the “UA 90th Anniversary Prestige Collection” with 90 films!
by Bob Martin | Dec 15, 2007 | Actors, Art, Artist, Books, Directors, Movies
I got tagged by James Neil Hollingsworth a delightful and thoughtful painter. I am now required to list 5 little known facts about myself, then “tag” five other artists to do the same.
Here are my five:
- When I was 15 I had this mad infatuation (nothing more) with a niece of Edvard Munch. We worked together (she was technically my boss) I was never sure if it was because she was a relative of a famous artist and I wanted to be one or that I thought she looked like Maria Schell.
- I did and still do get confused when reading something in big type like on a movie theater billboard. As a kid I went by myself to see Samson and Delilah and the African Queen. Looking for the Lion and then the Queen. It would bother me that I didn’t seem to comprehend some things, but it worked out in the end with my feeling OK outside of my comfort zone.
- My wife and I once owned an advertising agency. I would experience pain when watching “Thirty Something” on TV
- I love Movies and wanted to be a director, believed that Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni were geniuses, named my daughter after a movie (Sundays with Cybele) , went to film school before they were hip, made one animated film (after seeing Jim Henson’s first film). Dropped out, cause I wanted to eat.
- I am married to a wonderful, powerful public speaker and coach, who is working on her second book. I am very lucky, but you already knew that.
The Artist that I’ve tagged are:
by Sandy | Nov 17, 2007 | Actors, Blogroll, Film, Movies
Denzel. He is a “single name” person – like Cher, Madonna, Fidel. I must admit I’m supremely biased – I think Mr. Washington is fabulous. Just watch him walk! I saw him Off Broadway in the 80’s in a great piece called the “A Soldier’s Play”, written by Charles Fuller. It was just after he left the TV series “St.Elsewhere” and before his award winning performance in ‘Glory” – you could tell he was the real deal.
He is one of the best actors of his generation. When he gets a good script (and even sometimes when he doesn’t) he is wonderful! His latest film, “American Gangster” is no exception.
Written by Steve Zaillian and directed by Ridley Scott, with a group of excellent actors – Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin and the legendary Ruby Dee – this movie is based on a true story. It follows a NYC drug dealer, Frank Lucas, (Washington), and the cop that is obsessed/committed to taking him down, (Crowe).
Regardless of his personal issues, (he and that model seem to have a penchant for throwing phones?) Crowe is terrific as the gangster’s arch enemy. His determined lawman assembles a mini task force in response to the heroin explosion that happened in 70’s NYC. This spreading evil brought both desperation and devastation to the communities where the drug thrived and huge amounts of money to those who sold it. A dangerous and toxic combination – those addicted wouldn’t give it up, those that became rich, refused to.
Engrossing film. Drug dealing is not glorified thank goodness, but, you get a chance to see how some think that the havoc that they wreak on their fellow man is not only ok, but, entrepreneurial – the American way. Scary.
by Sandy | Nov 5, 2007 | Blogroll, Film
2 film options to learn more about the situation in Sudan, Africa’s western region of Darfur.
“The Devil Came on Horseback” – DVD. Rent it through Netflix or purchase at, www.docurama.com (About $3 from each sale will go to the “Save Darfur Coalition”.)
The “Save Darfur Coalition” is an alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more than two million people in the Darfur region.”
Also, just released in theaters, “Darfur Now”, directed by Ted Braun. The documentary captures, thru images and interviews, the seemingly endless horror escalating among the Sudanese. A call for intervention – moral, diplomatic.
by Bob Martin | Oct 16, 2007 | Art, Film, Movies
Julie Taymor’s “Across the Universe” is a film I liked a lot, a film that I would like to see again. It’s packed with memorable events and recounts a period of unrest, hope and vindication. Ms. Taymor is not afraid to try something difficult and to have fun.
Go See and Hear
What was most remarkable are the lyrics of John Lennon.
by Sandy | Oct 7, 2007 | Blogroll, Movies
JANUS FILMS, a distributor of foreign and classic films, fed those “art” houses around the country that were brave enough to show movies with *sub titles*!
If it weren’t for them, I would not have seen Ingmar Bergman’s Seventh Seal( 1957), Truffaut’s Jules and Jim (1962), Fellini’s La Strada (1954) and classic English films like Brief Encounter (1945). The yearly showing of the Russian Alexander Nevsky (1938) at the west village Art Theater on 8th Street in NYC was always an event.
Their 50 year celebration is marked with the issue of a 50 DVD box set. This is a fun assortment – from to M to Rashomon.
BTW: Amazon.com has it on sale, but, you can always rent! Look at the list of films included in the set, pick your favorites, or the one’s you might have missed and enjoy.
http://www.janusfilms.com
