Movies Seen the Second (or more) Time Around

[CoyoteChris]

Good Grief, iluvtodd, we have to get you away from the TV!!!!
Harvey is an excellent movie and changed my life and my perception on how to succeed.
Phantom of the Opera along with the extras on how it and the play were made
Kiera Knightly P and P and any other Jane Austen Movie. I am going to tie up the producers of DA and make them watch it and learn about happy endings.
The Right Stuff...cause I am a pilot.
The Untouchables..Kevin Costner...hate the violence but the music is great and I like the actors and I wanna believe that good will triumph over evil in the fight against gangs....

I haven't mentioned this one yet, but I October Sky. A friend recommended it to us, and I've recommended it to others in turn.

[Olympia]

The Right Stuff is a wonderful epic, I agree. The one thing I don't completely love about it is its depiction of Lyndon Johnson. They make him look like a fool, and actually, he was instrumental in keeping the space program going. But otherwise, what a splendid story, and what an amazing panoply of actors. I love that an actor named Glenn (Scott Glenn) played Alan Shepard, and an actor named Shepard (Sam, that is) played Chuck Yeager. I gather several actors at least were chosen for their resemblance to the original astronauts--certainly Scott Glenn and Ed Harris were--but they were also incredibly good actors. And, being a sucker for music, I was wowed by the sound track (I think by Bill Conti). I love that entire ending sequence, with the polonaise rhythm. It gets me every time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bu2wm0Z7yM

I feel pretty much the way you do about The Untouchables. It is a moment when good overcomes evil. Kevin Costner always does a great job of portraying unyielding decency.

The Keira Knightley P and P kind of gets overshadowed by the BBC TV one with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, and that's too bad. Knightley is a fine actress, and it's very energetic. I agree that Downton Abbey has gotten way too soapy and should take lessons from Austen. By the way, have you ever seen Becoming Jane, a semi-historical tale based on a hint of an incident early in Jane Austen's life? Anne Hathaway is a wonderful Jane, and her suitor (a man who really lived and who apparently did know her) is played by James McAvoy, who is a marvelous actor.

[iluvtodd]

Good Grief, iluvtodd, we have to get you away from the TV!!!!

Actually, I'm very selective about what I watch on TV. The news, Jeopardy!, Glee, PBS concerts, decent movies, figure skating comps & shows. I don't really follow other series. My Mark DVRs Jay Leno's "Headlines" feature, which I .

Another movie that I really enjoyed and would watch again - Gran(d?) Torino.

[merrywidow]

I recently rewatched "Notorious" starring Cary Grant & Ingrid Bergman but won't watch it a 3rd time. Corny seen in today's eyes. On the other hand, I loved "Mrs. Miniver" a WW2 movie about life on the homefront (Britain) starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon & Teresa Wright. It's probably the 3rd time I've seen it & it is still interesting & well acted.

[LRK]

@Olympia - I haven't seen the Keira Knightley P&P (yet - it does have Matthew Macfadyen in it as well - which is always a bonus - have you seen Little Dorrit?), but I did catch it on the telly, and... it was a bit too quick for me; one second Mr Collins was proposing - the next he was being bundled off, it seemed to me, and then we hasten on to the next plot point! A bit too... hasty for me. It's the shorter time they have at their disposal, of course - that's why a movie cannot beat a proper series for me - but oddly, I don't recall the Laurence Olivier/Greer Garson one having quite that problem? That's actually a fun version also - in spite the incorrect 1830s garb.

(The Jane Austen Film Club blog just recently had a post comparing various P&Ps actually, as chance would have it - for anyone interested, I'd certainly recommend it!)

[CoyoteChris]

Oh yes, I have the Jane Austen book club and Becomming Jane. I do have the BBC versions of P and P and the J. Ehle one is very accurate and well done (I do love the changes Davies made though) I loved seeing her and "Darcy" again together in the King's Speach. While Landslide Lyndon did do some comemdable things, we should not talk about him. You and I would end up hating each other and my blood pressure would go up!

The Right Stuff is a wonderful epic, I agree. The one thing I don't completely love about it is its depiction of Lyndon Johnson. They make him look like a fool, and actually, he was instrumental in keeping the space program going. But otherwise, what a splendid story, and what an amazing panoply of actors. I love that an actor named Glenn (Scott Glenn) played Alan Shepard, and an actor named Shepard (Sam, that is) played Chuck Yeager. I gather several actors at least were chosen for their resemblance to the original astronauts--certainly Scott Glenn and Ed Harris were--but they were also incredibly good actors. And, being a sucker for music, I was wowed by the sound track (I think by Bill Conti). I love that entire ending sequence, with the polonaise rhythm. It gets me every time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bu2wm0Z7yM

I feel pretty much the way you do about The Untouchables. It is a moment when good overcomes evil. Kevin Costner always does a great job of portraying unyielding decency.

The Keira Knightley P and P kind of gets overshadowed by the BBC TV one with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, and that's too bad. Knightley is a fine actress, and it's very energetic. I agree that Downton Abbey has gotten way too soapy and should take lessons from Austen. By the way, have you ever seen Becoming Jane, a semi-historical tale based on a hint of an incident early in Jane Austen's life? Anne Hathaway is a wonderful Jane, and her suitor (a man who really lived and who apparently did know her) is played by James McAvoy, who is a marvelous actor.

[CoyoteChris]

(Chris butts in) Arg! You havent seen Keira Knightly P and P yet? I...dont...understand..... Little Dorrit was well done. (I am glad to be done with Mr. Collins quickly....bonus!!!) Some of the early BBC Austen works, which I have, are funny...imagine the charactors walking by WWII tank traps.....

@Olympia - I haven't seen the Keira Knightley P&P (yet - it does have Matthew Macfadyen in it as well - which is always a bonus - have you seen Little Dorrit?), but I did catch it on the telly, and... it was a bit too quick for me; one second Mr Collins was proposing - the next he was being bundled off, it seemed to me, and then we hasten on to the next plot point! A bit too... hasty for me. It's the shorter time they have at their disposal, of course - that's why a movie cannot beat a proper series for me - but oddly, I don't recall the Laurence Olivier/Greer Garson one having quite that problem? That's actually a fun version also - in spite the incorrect 1830s garb.

(The Jane Austen Film Club blog just recently had a post comparing various P&Ps actually, as chance would have it - for anyone interested, I'd certainly recommend it!)

[DianaSelene]

The Right Stuff is a wonderful epic, I agree. The one thing I don't completely love about it is its depiction of Lyndon Johnson. They make him look like a fool, and actually, he was instrumental in keeping the space program going. But otherwise, what a splendid story, and what an amazing panoply of actors. I love that an actor named Glenn (Scott Glenn) played Alan Shepard, and an actor named Shepard (Sam, that is) played Chuck Yeager. I gather several actors at least were chosen for their resemblance to the original astronauts--certainly Scott Glenn and Ed Harris were--but they were also incredibly good actors. And, being a sucker for music, I was wowed by the sound track (I think by Bill Conti). I love that entire ending sequence, with the polonaise rhythm. It gets me every time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bu2wm0Z7yM

I feel pretty much the way you do about The Untouchables. It is a moment when good overcomes evil. Kevin Costner always does a great job of portraying unyielding decency.

The Keira Knightley P and P kind of gets overshadowed by the BBC TV one with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, and that's too bad. Knightley is a fine actress, and it's very energetic. I agree that Downton Abbey has gotten way too soapy and should take lessons from Austen. By the way, have you ever seen Becoming Jane, a semi-historical tale based on a hint of an incident early in Jane Austen's life? Anne Hathaway is a wonderful Jane, and her suitor (a man who really lived and who apparently did know her) is played by James McAvoy, who is a marvelous actor.

I LOVE Becoming Jane, have probably seen it five times already. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Jane Austen movies.

[Olympia]

LRK, I remember that you're a Jane Austen buff. You've just proved it by not only having watched the Olivier/Garson version but also recognizing the anachronistic costumes. I think there's a throwaway line in the film about the end of the Napoleonic Wars, to point out that the filmmakers knew what they were doing and had a reason for it. I have a theory about the reason. Since it's an MGM movie of the golden era (1940, I think), its art director is Cedric Gibbons, who was one of the best ever and a longtime fixture at MGM. The clothing was designed by Adrian, also very influential. (He designed for Garbo, Harlow, and other legends.) I suspect that one of these two guys came up the idea of using 1820 or 1830 costumes because they would be more compatible with the silhouettes popular in 1940, with their defined waistlines. Also, the Regency silhouette was very girlish, and Greer Garson isn't a girl. I think she was 36 at the time, and she always had a kind of mature presence. (It was part of what made her so good as Elizabeth Bennett.) And golly, can you imagine the majestic Edna May Oliver wearing delicate Regency fashions?

When I looked the film up in my MGM movie book, I found out (something I'd forgotten) that Aldous Huxley was one of the collaborators on the screenplay. No wonder it was so perfectly paced.

I'll have to look back at the Keira Knightley film to see what you pointed out about the hastiness in its storytelling. I think I just looked at it quickly once, so I didn't get a full picture of it.

[CoyoteChris]

BTW, I have the BBC version of Kierra Knightly's Dr. Zhivago mini series, filmed when she was 16, IIRC. I havent had time to watch it yet but some friends I lent it to really enjoyed it. I went through a bit of it and the production values are very high...

[LRK]

@Chris - Well, I was worried about inflicting a third version on my husband! (He does like this kind of thing - but he generally objects to seeing the same story several times.... ) But I will get round to it - and then I can always blame You! As for Mr Collins - I think he's deliciously awful, and I love to hate him. Now, if you just detest him and find him annoying, I can perfectly understand wanting to be rid of him as quickly as possible.

And I've actually seen that BBC Doctor Zhivago - I thought it was well-done and well-acted. The production values are, as you noted, high - but it can't quite compare to the 1960s Omar Sharif movie which was just gorgeous! (The music is, of course, also Classic.) Though neither are really re-watch-stuff for me - but that has more to do with the characters than anything. (Though I suspect that I probably have watched the 1960s one more than once - one way or t'other... ) I've not read the book, though, so cannot of course comment how either compare to that.

@Olympia - That makes sense. I've noticed myself that movies from that era either have the 18th Century fashions BEFORE or the 1830s fashions AFTER, but somehow manage to skip the Regency/Empire fashions altogether.

Oh, and I have seen Becoming Jane - though I started out being sceptical at first - as I'm not a believer in the "Tom Lefroy Romance" (and I still am not) - the movie and acting did manage to win me over by the end. Also, it didn't start out auspiciously with Tom Lefroy being a fan of Tom Jones! (I need not say, I think, that I am not referring to the Bull of Wales? ) - But, yes, enjoyable movie - and it won my husband over by the end as well, though he started out with a "What is this? And why are we watching it?"-attitude - and that must say something for the film's qualities as well, I think.

[Olympia]

I am not the expert Janeite that you are, LRK, but I took the "Tom Lefroy Romance" with a grain of salt, because it seems sooo cinematic. The exception to this skepticism was while I was watching the movie, because in that created world, it was so convincing, wasn't it? And of course one hopes that she did experience such a romance, because didn't she deserve it? I read up on Lefroy, who I think became the Attorney General of Ireland, and he was extremely long-lived, not like poor Jane. Many of his children lived almost into the 20th century; pretty good for a guy born in 1776.

I like Anne Hathaway very much, and I absolutely adore James McAvoy, who is a tremendously appealing and convincing actor. (And the accents that guy can do! He's totally convincing as an American in one or two films, and then his upperclass English accent is faultless as well. In real life, he has a Scottish accent you could cut with a knife.) And of course I love thinking about Jane Austen. So everything about that film was a delightful experience for me.

[CoyoteChris]

Yes, by all means...blame me...or better yet, send your husband to his man cave and watch it alone... I like to fantisize that Mr. Colling is just being a jerk so that none of the Bennet girls will marry him and he can say he has done his duty...then he goes to Charlotte and tells her the story and ends up being a really nice guy. I would cast Brad Pitt as Collins... Yes, nothing will ever replace the original Dr. Z. But I changed my mind on remakes when I saw "True Grit" no. 2. Well done....not gonna replace the original but well done. Now Jane Austen...you can redo her till the cows come home. Good two page article about her in the Jan 25th Wall street journal by Alexandrea Alter

@Chris - Well, I was worried about inflicting a third version on my husband! (He does like this kind of thing - but he generally objects to seeing the same story several times.... ) But I will get round to it - and then I can always blame You! As for Mr Collins - I think he's deliciously awful, and I love to hate him. Now, if you just detest him and find him annoying, I can perfectly understand wanting to be rid of him as quickly as possible.

And I've actually seen that BBC Doctor Zhivago - I thought it was well-done and well-acted. The production values are, as you noted, high - but it can't quite compare to the 1960s Omar Sharif movie which was just gorgeous! (The music is, of course, also Classic.) Though neither are really re-watch-stuff for me - but that has more to do with the characters than anything. (Though I suspect that I probably have watched the 1960s one more than once - one way or t'other... ) I've not read the book, though, so cannot of course comment how either compare to that.

@Olympia - That makes sense. I've noticed myself that movies from that era either have the 18th Century fashions BEFORE or the 1830s fashions AFTER, but somehow manage to skip the Regency/Empire fashions altogether.

Oh, and I have seen Becoming Jane - though I started out being sceptical at first - as I'm not a believer in the "Tom Lefroy Romance" (and I still am not) - the movie and acting did manage to win me over by the end. Also, it didn't start out auspiciously with Tom Lefroy being a fan of Tom Jones! (I need not say, I think, that I am not referring to the Bull of Wales? ) - But, yes, enjoyable movie - and it won my husband over by the end as well, though he started out with a "What is this? And why are we watching it?"-attitude - and that must say something for the film's qualities as well, I think.