Track the Films You Watch (2006) - Page 13

Joe Karlosi · 02-09-2006, 08:01 AM

Re: EXORCIST DOMINION -- I felt that this highly anticipated Schrader version wound up being such a limp and lifeless bore that it easily made Harlin's pre-judged film an improvement by comparison. It turns out that Warner may have been correct in opting to release the better-paced Harlin edition instead, because if you think fans and critics skewered THE BEGINNING before, during, and after it hit theaters, just imagine the reception this yawn-inducing DOMINION would have gotten! Poor CGI effects and a silly climax really marred BEGINNING (though DOMINION had lousy CGI too), but I think the Schrader offering would have tanked just the same, if not worse.

Quote:

Either way, LG is very lazy when it comes to this type of thing so fans shouldn't just accept it. We're getting four 2.35:1 films P&S in April so we might as well try to get something done now so that future releases won't be the same way. LG has used edited TV prints before, altered prints and now it appears a cut print from a bootleg so they shouldn't be able to do this. They're certainly not going to change but we can still bitch at them.

Well, as you've always told DVD buyers who complain about one thing or another, "they're never satisfied and will always find something to bitch about".

I generally would agree that Lions Gate could be more on top of things, yes, but as I said earlier, in the case of PRIVATE LESSONS it's a very rare film and apparently it's hard to find even the proper elements on it, according to the audio commentary I heard featuring the director. I don't condone the "lazy way out," but there's only so much you can do with certain titles, as you're aware on occasion.

Ted Lee · 02-09-2006, 11:40 AM

added:

title: the corpse bride
rating: b
comments: about what i expected (and hoped for). didn't quite have the magic of "nightmare...", but i think that's because i've seen this before. still, a decent story with wonderful animation and visuals.

title: only yesterday
rating: c
comments: possibly my least fave studio ghibli release so far. i know miyazaki didn't direct this one, but it just didn't have the charm or magic i usually associate with ghibli's work. the story didn't hold my attention ... i really felt like i was just watching a regular movie.

Michael Elliott · 02-09-2006, 03:13 PM

Quote:

just imagine the reception this yawn-inducing DOMINION would have gotten!

The reception was actually excellent compared to what the Harlin version got. The original cut was too artsy and smart for its own good while the Harlin (or remake) version was too dumb for its own good.

Haggai · 02-09-2006, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Singin' in the Rain I am gradually making my way through the AFI Best 100 films and watched this film with my children. What a joyous experience! Supremely entertaining songs and dance numbers and full of a sly humor. In fact this has to be one of the best movies about movie-making.

Glad you enjoyed it, Sandro. Another great musical that has some similarities, mainly the screenwriting team of Comden and Green, that I recommend you try as well is The Band Wagon.

Sandro · 02-09-2006, 10:24 PM

Haggai, thanks for the recommendation - I will keep an eye out of Bandwagon. I was shocked how much I enjoyed "Singin' In The Rain". Not because I don't like old movies but because I am not that keen on musicals - I think it's the air of artificiality that hangs over them. I had recently seen and somewhat enjoyed "On the Town" and "An American in Paris". However I found "Singin...." to be vastly more satisfying and enjoyable because of the humor and the setting. I am a great fan of silent movies (and silent comedies in particular) and the presentation of that era in film history was fantastic. It's also a very energetic and cinematic film which is not always the case with musicals. Contrast that with "My Fair Lady" (which I just watched) which is a fairly sedate, unimaginative filming of a stage musical.

Haggai · 02-09-2006, 11:51 PM

Well, I also love My Fair Lady, but I know what you mean.

For energetic and cinematic musicals, another one that's tough to top is Love Me Tonight, from 1932, which seems decades ahead of its time in many ways.

Joe Karlosi · 02-10-2006, 07:50 AM

Quote:

The reception was actually excellent compared to what the Harlin version got.

I'm curious on what you're basing this. I've checked the IMDB ratings which, regardless of one's opinion of that place itself, at least provides us an indication of what many "average" moviegoers thought of both, for our purposes. Here's what I found...

Harlin's BEGINNING - 5.1/10 (average for 6,192 voters)

Schrader's DOMINION - 5.9/10 (average for 938 voters)

Naturally, it's to be expected that many more people saw Harlin's version because it played more widely in theaters and was the more commercially planned out. But the overall ratings for both are still pretty bad and as you've said, the Schrader edition is the slightly preferred one. But the reception for both is pretty even. The Schrader reception is not "excellent" compared to Harlin's.

Joe Karlosi · 02-10-2006, 11:00 AM

The Big Chill (1983)

1/2
I saw this in 1983 but didn't remember much about it so I rented it for a new viewing. I figured that since now I'm older myself I might be able to identify with the people in the film, but the only thing I realized is that I had a good reason for not remembering this. The idea is promising enough: a mutual friend dies of suicide, and so a group of now-grown yuppies gather together in a house for the weekend to re-evaluate their own lives. Problem is, none of these characters with their hip eighties 'free spirited' attitudes are very interesting or likeable, and nothing is really going on here, neither intellectually or physically. A real nothing of a film, despite the soundtrack of classic '60s hits and bumping hips around the kitchen to the sounds of "Ain't Too Proud To Beg".

Haggai · 02-10-2006, 02:13 PM

Regain (1937) 6/10
Marcel Pagnol's rural comedy features Fernandel in a hilarious role as the third wheel in a romantic triangle, plus some nice countryside landscapes. But the extremely slight story is unable to fill the 128 minutes of screen time, with at least 40 minutes or so simply dragging on with nothing interesting happening, probably because Fernandel isn't in any of those scenes. A much shorter story might have worked better for what turns out to be a pretty boring movie to sit through.

Chinatown (1974) 10/10
Re-visit of a longtime favorite, pretty much top 10 all time for me. The impact of the whole story keeps increasing all the way through the gut-wrenching ending, set up in part by something I don't think I've seen in any other movie, or at least not as successfully realized: the huge scope of what the villain is really after. The question of, "how much better can you eat, what more can you buy that you can't already afford to own," is answered with, "The FUTURE, Mr. Gitts! The FUTURE!", which is a pretty amazing insight for a villainous character to have. It's not just power-for-power's sake here: this is someone who wants his power to extend far beyond his own lifetime, and in ways that almost nobody else, not even the few people who might be able to match his wealth and influence in regular life, would even consider.

Holiday (1938) 9/10
Sort of a dry run for The Philadelphia Story, in many ways: based on a play by the same playwright, one common screenwriter, same director, Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn in lead roles. The story and characters seem a little more basic and not as layered as in Philadelphia Story, but this one is still very funny and very moving in other parts. Some of the dialogue does lay it on a bit thick, but not too often. One key scene with Grant and Hepburn dancing together is stunningly great, just in the way the characters look at each other. And just about all of the supporting case it teriffic, including Lew Ayres, Edward Everett Horton, and Henry Daniell.

Boudu Saved from Drowning (1931) 8/10
Michel Simon's great lead performance is the main drawing point in this one, as a vagabond with no connection at all to the normal expectations of human interaction. A little slow at times, including the beginning, but the bedroom-comedy situations are pretty amusing. And some elements of Renoir's style from his late '30s movies were already in place here, including some deep focus scenes, with different characters placed in focus all throughout the depth of the frame.

Michael Elliott · 02-10-2006, 03:00 PM

I was actually going by Rotten Tomatoes, which gave the Harlin version only a 10% fresh rating while the other one got a 29%. THE EXORCIST 2 got a 15% rating, which is higher than the Harlin version. Since the majority of Harlin's film is from DOMINION, on that level both are bad (or boring) but Harlin's took a bigger hit over the stuff he added because everything that was added was pretty poor to say the least.

Either way, bring on the remake!!!