Ali Lynch's "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" is a massive miss...
Just look at how this critic raves about it...
Quote : Functioning as both a prequel to The series and a film that stands on its own , Twin Peaks : Fire Walk with me is The work of a master in top form. The cinematography, soaked in shades of blue and red, paired with that intricate soundscape, helps build a world defined by conflict—where hatred feels like love and violence becomes pleasure. Much like his masterpieces Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, Fire Walk with me is not for The weak of Heart, but anyone willing to dive in will be rewarded with a surreal journey that can only spring from the mind of David Lynch.
So, the list "forgives" even films like Mystery Men and Charlie Chaplin... I honestly expected Chaplin to sweep the awards season—but apparently, established critics felt Richard Attenborough leaned too hard into mannerisms, which dragged down Anthony Hopkins' performance in that fictionalized biopic... And yet, it’s still such a great film.
I just skimmed through this list, and honestly, I’m at a loss for words seeing films like "Searching for Bobby Fischer" (really?!) Kenneth Branagh's version of "Hamlet", or even that charming Steve Martin comedy "L.A. Story"... right??!! "Darkman" is okay, I guess...
I'd personally throw "Wild Things" into the mix...
I'll definitely write more about this list and these movies soon...
Scott Vaughn54 said:But wait—why isn't Gene Wilder on this list?!
And what about Peter Sellers?
I really just wanted to highlight the "younger" icons that everyone recognizes immediately... though I see you guys clearly remember Sellers too. 😁 It’s funny how those generations align—if I were to include Wilder and Sellers, I’d probably have to bring in De Funès, Tati, and Jerry as well...
unknown—when I was considering putting someone under number 10, "your suggestion"—I found myself thinking of Woody Allen, whom I’ve always viewed more as a complete auteur and director than just a comedian. Whoopi Goldberg also comes to mind from "Jumping Jack Flash"... especially as that witness hiding out as a nun in the sequels...
I’ve also placed the Monty Python fans in a league of their own—including John Cleese, the dear Michael Palin, and Eric Idle...
Bill Murray was definitely on my radar, and I’d add that Kevin Kline and Johnny Depp have massive potential as comedians.
It seems comedy is a great sanctuary for guys who used to play dangerous roles. Take John Lithgow—he was a total maniac and villain in those Palin-esque films, and in Russell Mulcahy’s standout film "Ricochet," where he played pure evil trying to destroy a certain version of Washington—yet he found his peace in the Television series "3rd Rock from the Sun"...
Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi were also under consideration... I’d split the comedians into two camps... the loquacious, depressive types—led by the potentially suicidal Jim Carrey, /with Robin Williams taking second place/—on one hand, and then the slapstick and gag comedians who rely on physical comedy, led by Nanni Moretti... on the other. Steve Martin would sit somewhere right in the middle...
There is one thing I’ve noticed in theaters lately—there is less laughter. Audiences just don't laugh like they used to. Or maybe that's just my imagination. Back when I watched Finneas's comedies about his policeman, I was dying of laughter along with everyone else, or watching Fernandel frantically trying to hide "evidence" in those murder scenes, or seeing the gags that Benny Hill shamelessly lifted later from Jacques Tati’s "Vacation" ...
Robert De Niro is such a solid choice in "Night and the City"—it’s actually painful to watch, knowing exactly how it ends while he pours so much energy into it.
Then there's Daryl Hannah in "The last day of Franky Muha"... even though Hopper manages to escape, her fate is so tragic you just want to take out Michael Madsen. 😕 Hmm, I suppose that was part of Hopper's plan... Still, my heart goes out to Daryl.
They actually managed to produce "Captain America" here—where even John Doe stayed silent, while John Doe only managed a single sentence... Plus, you can now scrape together production funds through European neighbors and various grants... But in this country, nobody ever truly learned how to WRITE A SCRIPT... everything remains at the level of some cheap late-night comedy sketch... Those who actually penned decent scripts were targeted—films like "Concert" or "Birch"—all due to some absolutely absurd ideological reasons... It’s quite simply a matter of NEGATIVE selection within our film academy... mediocre directors serve as professors, and they're the ones handpicking the future students...
Regarding the editing, I have to give credit to Slobodan Maddox; he's a true "American" in that regard—his version of the Ottawa assassination was edited with the style of Capri or Wyler... Yet most of our "creatives" just go for the low-hanging fruit and couldn't care less about aesthetics; as long as it feels local and "topical," they think people will watch it...
Richard Hernandez13 said:A triumph? Not even close. Let’s take a more realistic look at what actually happened here... Just look at this year's lineup in Miami: ---- Fadil Hadžić ---
Is that man even still with us? Is his heart still beating?😲 😲 I really need to Google that...😁 They should just rename the whole festival "The Third Age"—but hey, who am I to judge... 🙄
Dana Anderson4 said:Look, man, back in the 80s when she was well into her 30s, she was absolutely stunning—truly in her prime—but have you actually seen her lately? She looks like... well, just some middle-aged auntie now!!!
Well, there was a concert right here in the States, so you could see for yourself—if not up close, then at least that those curves haven't exactly stayed in the "sultry" category for a long time now!!!!🙂
I actually caught her show in Copenhagen last year... please, don't make me relive those memories...!😉 Man, the way he sings...
For that movie "Snake egg" featuring David Carradine—who was absolutely peaking back then after appearing in W. Hill's "The Long Riders"—Ingmar Bergman actually wanted Dustin Hoffman or Robert Redford. He sent them the script, but they turned him down...
In his memoirs, Ingmar Bergman describes how he first started working with Carradine. He took him to a local cinema to watch silent films about Nazi Germany, thinking it might help him "absorb the atmosphere of pre-war Berlin"...😁 Within just a few minutes, Carradine started snoring...!
The film ended up being panned by critics, and because of that, Bergman lost all the prestige he had built up with "Vickningar och Röp"...
Betty Walker said:Batman; Bill Murray should have played Bruce Wayne, I don't know—it actually sounds like something I'd want to see (not that Keaton was bad... 👍 )
Are you really sure about that? It doesn't seem likely to me... 😕
Sophia Williams said:I just can't picture Michelle Pfeiffer being anything like Mia Farrow—it feels a bit too... well... out of reach for me...🙄
I really have to apologize here. I don't know what came over me?! "Too old"? And yet, I still think Debbie Harry is the most beautiful woman on the planet—even though she's, uh, how many years has it been now...🙄
Richard Hernandez13 said:There were rumors that she was originally supposed to play Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction.
Personally, I wouldn't have been opposed to it. I absolutely adore Uma Thurman—but I don't think I could give up Beatrice that easily...
(And how did James Woods manage to lose out to his own agents—who apparently didn't mention that Quentin Tarantino was offering him a role in Reservoir Dogs...?)
As for Michelle Pfeiffer, though—I just can't picture her as Mia Wallace... she feels a bit too old for it... well...🙄
Billy Idol was actually lined up for the lead in Oliver Stone's The Doors—Stone was absolutely thrilled about the casting. But then, one night, suffering from a bout of insomnia, Idol ended up riding his bike while totally wasted and heavily medicated... he crashed so hard that doctors weren't even sure they wouldn't have to amputate the leg. He missed out on the role, though—thankfully he recovered...
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Mike Nichols...
The broadcast on PBS should be wrapping up soon. The first part of this topic title refers to that famous work by E. Bern—which really laid the groundwork for transactional psychology, as you can see here then here and finally here
... Many people who dive into popular psychology suggest starting with this very film. Then there are the actors; honestly, their transformations alone deserve an entire discussion.
And the theatricality of it all; since it's essentially a stage play, a few clever camera angles and artistic shots help bridge the gap for the big screen—but the movie truly lives or dies on Burton and Taylor—specifically through their eyes and gestures.
The comedic timing is in a league of its own. Deciding how to pace those beats—which is largely thanks to the playwright Edward Albee—is tricky... when Burton is suffocating Taylor, Sandy Dennis screams "Violence !!"... within Mike Nichols' sharp editing... then, during the exchange between Burton and Dennis, she says Sandy Dennis: «Oh god, I'm gonna be sick!» Burton: «How nice!» Sandy Dennis: «I'am gonna die» Burton: «Sure, just go ahead!»
Or, take the beginning, where Burton asks Segal why he became a college professor; Segal gives this cliché response along the lines of "From the same reasons you did, I imagine...", only for Burton to snap back cynically, "Tell me what were my reasons!"...
Did you catch how Burton breaks down when he thinks his wife has been unfaithful with Segal? That moment belonged on a Broadway stage...! Taylor isn't just one of those women so stunning it's hard to look away from her face—she is a powerhouse actress.
At its core, the story is actually quite grounded—how does a couple deal with the reality of being childless? The resolution to the puzzle, this domestic war between husband and wife, and the revelation that the child doesn't even exist, provides a retroactive sense of meaning to the whole "performance"... everything that seemed like the "mad games of decadent people with no real problems in a lush setting" suddenly finds its human release. In the end, there's this meta-aesthetic, philosophical question—or perhaps a message—about how a PERFORMANCE, a psycho-drama, can "digest" such situations, whether in a good or a bad way...
In one of his more recent films directed by Roman Polanski, Johnny Depp takes on the role of a scholar—sort of a modernized version of Indiana Jones. They really had to crowd him with props, gluing on a mustache and beard—unless, of course, that was all his own...😉I honestly walked away with this feeling that they took Macaulay Culkin, dyed his hair, shoved him into a white wig, wrapped him in plastic, and then forced him to impersonate Orson Welles... Someone else would have been much better suited for this part...