Movies Seen the Second (or more) Time Around | Golden Skate

Movies Seen the Second (or more) Time Around

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Aug 16, 2009
My cable provider is giving us free viewings of the premium channels this weekend, and I'm watching Dick Tracy. I remember being impressed with this when I first saw it on all fronts, from the set design to the costumes to the performances. This new viewing reminds me how clever and convincing this movie is. First of all, it's physically gorgeous, with everything including the cars in crayon-bright colors. The cross-cutting is wonderfully paced to keep the narrative going without fragmenting everything to smithereens. All the big names featured here seem to be having a grand time. The cast is amazing: Dustin Hoffman, Mandy Patinkin, Warren Beatty as Tracy, Madonna, Al Pacino as Big Boy Caprice (the main villain), and a host of character actors including Charles Durning, Michael J. Pollard and Estelle Parsons (both reunited with Beatty years after Bonnie and Clyde), and child actor Charlie Korsmo. There isn't a dud in the lot. Both as director and as actor, Beatty manages to convey real emotion at the heart of this comic-strip tale. Madonna is the most appealing she's ever been in any movie, I think. Charlie Korsmo is a splendid kid, natural and true. The music is ideal. I think Sondheim did the songs, while Danny Elfman did the orchestral score. Everything is perfectly Thirties, with the exception of Madonna, who when she sings is plainly in a Fifties mood, using the body movements and arm gestures of singers from the 1950s (notably Marilyn Monroe in her musicals). No surprise here. This is a tremendous piece of skillful moviemaking by Beatty et al. Unlike so many comic-book or superhero action movies, it's not overblown or meandering. Every piece fits together. It's really charming, and I recommend it.

Another film I watched recently on TV was the MGM Ivanhoe from the 1950s, starring Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, George Sanders, and I think Joan Fontaine. My special love in this movie is the music, one of Miklos Rosza's finest scores (along with El Cid). I always thought of Robert Taylor as a bit insipid as an actor, and to me Elizabeth Taylor is rather unconvincing in most of her roles. But seeing this again, I realize that Elizabeth T. infuses Rebecca with great dignity and warmth, and even Robert T. does better than I remembered. As with Dick Tracy, this film uses vibrant hues, but in this case they're the clear colors of a Medieval illuminated manuscript. MGM in this era was noted for its premium production values, and this movie is one of the best of their historical pictures. In the Sir Walter Scott novel, Ivanhoe himself is largely offstage (so to speak) because he's wounded. Here he has more of a role, which suits the rhythm of a film. Scott's Rebecca is one of the greatest literary creations of the nineteenth century, largely because she's based on a woman who actually lived, Rebecca Gratz. I think this movie does pretty well by her. Again, the music is a huge part of the film, giving it far greater life than it would have had otherwise.

Does anyone have any other "second look" movies to tell us about?
 
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Tonichelle

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Movies I watch over and over - I have so many - but a few of my favs:

The Producers: The Musical
The Help
The Holiday
Pride & Prejudice (Kiera Knightly version)
Jurassic Park
The Philidelphia Story
Forrest Gump
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Yay, a fellow fan of The Philadelphia Story! I just love the dialogue, the interplay between Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant (a pairing that's just about as felicitous as Hepburn/Tracy), and the hints of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the setup--it's even set around an approaching wedding! Grant, of course, is Oberon. I've never loved him more. I'm also especially fond of Virginia Weidler, the child actress who plays Tracy Lord's kid sister. The one plot element I have no patience with is the insistence that everyone is obligated to put up with the father's philandering, and that Tracy's anger at him shows intolerance on her part. Ba-loney.

The Holiday is a film I always enjoy when it's on. Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jack Black, and Jude Law are all at their sparkling best, and Winslet's friendship with Eli Wallach is delightful. This is the movie that made me realize that Jack Black is more charming, warmer, and more romantic than many far more sculpted (and probably more highly paid) leading men. He's also funny without being obnoxiously aggressive about it.

I enjoy the Keira Knightley Pride and Prejudice also, though it's faded a bit in my mind. I should rewatch it. She's an uncommonly good actress, isn't she. Now, here's a coincidence: as I write this, she's just appeared onscreen in another movie I've come in in the middle of, Love, Actually.

By the way, Toni, since you enjoy The Philadelphia Story, have you happened on the far rarer film Holiday, also based on a play written by Philip Barry, and also starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant? Not as effervescent as the former, but with some wonderful scenes featuring the two leads.
 

Tonichelle

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I am a big fan of Kate and Cary (seperately and together) so yes i have.

Speaking of midsummer nights dream, its a good movie but i love kenneth brannaugh's much ado about nothing more. A very strange cast that works.
 

LRK

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Nov 13, 2012
Well, I've been obsessively re-watching The Dark Knight Rises ever since I got my hands on the DVD. You don't want to get me started on why - especially snce apparently I'm one of the few people who loved it. Thankfully for all concerned, I've been able to gush to my heart's content by writing to a friend of mine, who is a definite kindred spirit - after having nagged her into watching the trilogy, that is. :) (It's not normally her kind of thing - but she loved TDKR too, so all is well.)

As for that version of Ivanhoe - I've only seen it once; I didn't find it very Ivanhoe-like - and Rebecca dressed up as a boy? I don't think that's the sort of thing she'd do. I much prefer this version:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084157/

It's got a great cast - for example Sam Nell brings off Brian de Bois-Guilbert to perfection; I've always had a soft spot for him, he's a really fascinating character! By the way, I had no idea that Rebecca was based on a real woman, Olympia! Thanks for the info, and yes, that makes so much sense, too! I do think that Olivia Hussey is quite luminous as Rebecca in this version as well.

Talking of Elizabeth Taylor, I came to think of another movie that I love - Life with Father

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039566/

She's only got a small role in the movie, though, I hasten to add, lest there be some misunderstanding caused, and perhaps resulting in disappointment. But, for anyone who enjoys their old movies, I definitely rec it! It's a warm, charming, funny, quirky movie - and definitely re-watchable!

But I'll stop now - I think I've got what is generally called an "eclectic" taste in movies, so there are quite a few I love. :)

Oh, by the by, talking of Pride and Prejudice - it's the bicentennial of its publication this year, and I was thinking of rewatching the Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle version this year. I'd have to fit it in with my bicentennial Dickens rewatch - a very leisurely one, started last year, I'm going chronologically, and am through Nicholas Nickleby - and also my constant Babylon 5 rewatch (I can go for only so long without any B5 in my life!)

Basically, a really good movie is worth watching more than once - as is a really good book worth reading more than once. (I would never say that I really liked a book unless I feel willing to re-read it - if I find the time to do so, is another matter; I do have re-reads schedulled into my reading however.)

And now, I really will stop. :)
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
You know, I still haven't seen the Branagh Much Ado. Shame on me. I love the cast, from Michael Keaton to Denzel Washington.

Glad you've seen Holiday. I was thrilled to bits when I encountered it. In my opinion the one weak link in the Hepburn/Grant production is the sister, played by Doris Nolan I think. She's rather insipid even from the beginning, and ideally she should be someone that you can imagine Cary Grant's character falling for. One of my goals is somehow to see the even earlier film of Holiday, which stars Ann Harding and Mary Astor as the two sisters. Harding is barely known today. Astor is a lovely presence who began as a teenager in silent films and acted into the 1950s. I could see Johnny Case proposing to Mary Astor and meaning it. I don't recognize the name of the guy who played Johnny, Robert Ames. I wonder whether a print of this production even exists. I've seen about three still photos from it.
 

iluvtodd

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The Sound of Music (God knows how many times!), Oklahoma, South Pacific, The King & I, My Fair Lady, Mr. Holland's Opus, The American President, Fantasia (the original) and Fantasia 2000, The Three Caballeros, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Hans Christian Andersen, March of the Penguins, The Help (saw the movie in 2011, just finished reading the book, had to see it again).
 
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As for that version of Ivanhoe - I've only seen it once; I didn't find it very Ivanhoe-like - and Rebecca dressed up as a boy? I don't think that's the sort of thing she'd do. I much prefer this version:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084157/

It's got a great cast - for example Sam Nell brings off Brian de Bois-Guilbert to perfection; I've always had a soft spot for him, he's a really fascinating character! By the way, I had no idea that Rebecca was based on a real woman, Olympia! Thanks for the info, and yes, that makes so much sense, too! I do think that Olivia Hussey is quite luminous as Rebecca in this version as well.

Talking of Elizabeth Taylor, I came to think of another movie that I love - Life with Father

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039566/

I do love that version, with Anthony Andrews and Olivia Hussey as well as Sam Neill. Hussey is a splendid Rebecca. And you're right that it makes Bois-Guilbert more sympathetic. The weak link in that movie is Lysette Anthony as Rowena--she's a bit too much the typical ingenue for me. But in the book she is less crucial as well. I have this on DVD, and I you've inspired me to watch it again.

I just found out that this is Dickens' bicentennial, and I didn't realize that it was also the bicentennial of Pride and Prejudice. What a great year for bookworms, and also for bookworms who are movie buffs!

Iluvtodd, I also love both Fantasia movies. The first one was amazingly ambitious for its time, and I was thrilled when they came out with a sequel (so to speak) all those years later. My favorite part of the second one is the orca whales swimming (and flying) to Respighi's The Pines of Rome.
 

iluvtodd

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Iluvtodd, I also love both Fantasia movies. The first one was amazingly ambitious for its time, and I was thrilled when they came out with a sequel (so to speak) all those years later. My favorite part of the second one is the orca whales swimming (and flying) to Respighi's The Pines of Rome.


That was an amazing section in Fantasia 2000. Favorite part in the original - The Rite of Spring (but the whole movie is great). Favorite part of the 2000 one, Donald Duck as Noah's helper :laugh: (Toni, you would figure that one out), the Gershwin segment and Firebird were very memorable for me too.

Other movies I never tire of: Father of the Bride 1 & 2 - with Steve Martin
 
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How could I forget the Gershwin segment! The animation was perfection for that.

Speaking of Steve Martin, the first movie of his that I ever saw (or even wanted to see) was Roxanne. It was his modernized take on Cyrano de Bergerac, and it was delightful. I didn't like his earlier, smart-alec comic persona, but this film, which I think he scripted, was witty and warm.
 

merrywidow

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One of my favorites is "The Third Man" starring Joseph Cotton & Orson Welles. "The Deer Hunter", "Sound of Music" & so many of the movies from the 30's & 40's.
 

Tonichelle

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Other movies I never tire of: Father of the Bride 1 & 2 - with Steve Martin

those films are great, too... Martin Short as Frank is awesome. I love the scene in the second one where you can tell no matter how many takes they did Steve Martin was having a hard time laughing at his antics (the scene where Frank has to get an ODed George to the car).
 

Dee4707

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These are some I watched more than once

Pretty Woman
Miss Congeniality 1
Miss Congeniality 2
This is it - Michael Jackson
Dances with Wolves
Mrs. Doubtfire
Sister Act 1
Sister Act 2
 

heyang

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Jul 26, 2003
I've watched the following multiple times - Cable TV makes that easy:

Die Hard 1 & 2
When Harry met Sally
Various classic musicals - Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz, High School Musical, Oklahoma, State Fair (the Jean Crain version - not Pat Boone.), Easter Parade, Calamity Jane, Singin in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Toy Story 1, 2, 3
Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Legally Blonde 1
Star Trek starring Chris Pine (can't wait for Into Darkness)
Star Trek Wrath of Khan
Star Trel The Voyage Home
The Cutting Edge
Sleepless in Seattle
Clueless
Walk to Remember
Shall We Dance
A Few Good Men
Step Up 1
Princess Diaries
The Wedding Date
Men of Honor
 
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Aug 16, 2009
This is cheating terribly, but I love watching the That's Entertainment movies and That's Dancing, because it gives all the good parts of MGM movies (the singing and dancing) one after the other, which are the best parts, and it leaves out the sometimes contrived plots. My one regret is that Fred Astaire did his Fred-and-Ginger movies for another studio, so some of his best dances aren't in there—but then he signed with MGM, so we get to see him dance with Cyd Charisse, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, and even Ginger in their last film together, The Barkleys of Broadway. Gene Kelly, Charisse, Ann Miller, Garland, Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Powell...it doesn't get better than this. As Sinatra said in the voice-over for Astaire and Powell's Begin the Beguine tap number from Broadway Melody of 1940, you can wait and you can hope, but you'll never see the likes of this again.
 

iluvtodd

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Apollo 13
The Princess Diaries (yay for Julie Andrews & Anne Hathaway)!
Many (other) Disney movies besides the ones I've already mentioned - The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Pinnochio, Bambi, Dumbo, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Mulan, The Lion King, Mary Poppins
The Shawshank Redemption
The Shrek movies
The Wizard of Oz
Gone with the Wind
Singin' in the Rain
The Taming of the Shrew - (Liz Taylor & Richard Burton)
Exodus
Back to the Future #1 & #3
 

karne

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Senna
Apollo 13
Thirteen Days
The Dish (GREATEST AUSTRALIAN MOVIE OF ALL TIME)
Disney classics - Mulan, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Aladdin (alas, The Little Mermaid is missing from our collection!)

And I have all of Mark Webber's race wins on DVD...I like watching those a lot. ;)
 
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All good choices, Iluvtodd. I do love Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly. You remind me that his Doc Hollywood is a delightful "vacation" when one is under stress or feeling blue.

I also forgot to list the hysterical Soapdish, a splendid send-up of soaps with a dream cast, including Sally Field, Kevin Kline (an unsung treasure of American film), Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Downey, Jr., Cathy Moriarty, Teri Hatcher, Elizabeth Shue, Carrie Fisher, Kathy Najimy, even Gary Marshall.

And how could I have forgotten the classic of classics, Casablanca?

While we're on Ingrid Bergman, perhaps my favorite film of hers is Anastasia. The moment when I realized that Yul Brynner really was a heartthrob.

And the Hepburn/Tracy movie that is my go-to film above all the others they did: Desk Set.
 

LRK

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Nov 13, 2012
I do love that version, with Anthony Andrews and Olivia Hussey as well as Sam Neill. Hussey is a splendid Rebecca. And you're right that it makes Bois-Guilbert more sympathetic. The weak link in that movie is Lysette Anthony as Rowena--she's a bit too much the typical ingenue for me. But in the book she is less crucial as well. I have this on DVD, and I you've inspired me to watch it again.

I just found out that this is Dickens' bicentennial, and I didn't realize that it was also the bicentennial of Pride and Prejudice. What a great year for bookworms, and also for bookworms who are movie buffs!

Iluvtodd, I also love both Fantasia movies. The first one was amazingly ambitious for its time, and I was thrilled when they came out with a sequel (so to speak) all those years later. My favorite part of the second one is the orca whales swimming (and flying) to Respighi's The Pines of Rome.

Oh, I was unclear, I fear... 2012 was Dickens' bicentennial - I wouldn't have known it either, had it not been for book blogs! and he's my favourite author. :) Last year I rewatched Pickwick, Oliver Twist and unchronologically snuck in Our Mutual Friend

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144727/

which I just love and adore, and I don't need much of an excuse to rewatch it. :) But this version of Nicholas Nickleby, though old, was new to me:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077055/

though I'm now rewatching it with my mother, and really enjoying it. I often end up rewatching stuff that way - I first watch something with my husband, and then - the good stuff - I rewatch wth my mother. Recently I rewatched the Hailee Steinfelt True Grit that way, and it was great! (I'm really curious about her Romeo and Juliet now... )

I feel as if on the first watch there is the delight of discovery - even if the plot is known to you, the specific scenes &c are not - but on rewatches, you can really settle in and just enjoy and savour it.

Oh, by the way, for any P & P and/or Jane Austen fans out there, the blog Austenprose will be celebrating the bicentennial through the year - that's where I found out about it too - even though it's one of my favourite books, and I've read it 4-5 times, but I'm such a scatterbrain and numbers just don't seem to stick in (what I am pleased to call) my brain!

Oh, Olympia, I hope you don't mind that I've "cheated" and mentioned some series, rather than strictly movies? Some movies I tend to rewatch though, LOTR, Pirates, like many others, I have my favourite Disney animations, and while I'm not really a musical fan, I adore Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (I'm more of an old Indian movies fan, when it comes to that sort of thing), The Princess Bride of course, the orginal Star Wars and... well, there are a lot. And I'd no doubt be rewatching more, except there's so much new (to me, that is) stuff to watch and discover...
 
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Aug 16, 2009
Oh, Olympia, I hope you don't mind that I've "cheated" and mentioned some series, rather than strictly movies? Some movies I tend to rewatch though, LOTR, Pirates, like many others, I have my favourite Disney animations, and while I'm not really a musical fan, I adore Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (I'm more of an old Indian movies fan, when it comes to that sort of thing), The Princess Bride of course, the orginal Star Wars and... well, there are a lot. And I'd no doubt be rewatching more, except there's so much new (to me, that is) stuff to watch and discover...

Nothing counts as cheating on this thread! If you enjoy a series or a TV movie, it belongs here just as much as any self-contained theatrical film. The goal is sharing yummy things to watch so the rest of us can find out about them. Go for it!

Like you, I shared a lot of my favorite movie-watching with my mom. There are still movies that I think of as "hers" when I see them. She used to take me to theaters when they ran revivals of films she'd grown up with, so that now every time I see Garbo's Anna Karenina, Grand Hotel, or Ninotchka, for example, I think of her. She gave me Leslie Howard, Ronald Colman, Garbo of course, and I gave her Chariots of Fire.

Oh, that's right. Chariots of Fire goes on my list. There are parts of it I could watch again and again. And I agree with you about the original Star Wars. Oh, and Star Trek IV, my favorite film in that series. "No, I'm from Iowa. I just work in outer space."
 
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