Members DRW50 Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 Thanks. I will have to check this out. I get so angry over footage that was destroyed, whether it be this, the Our Gang shorts, Doctor Who, whatever. At least they were able to get this much, which sounds like quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 I have most of her books, but now that The New Yorker has access to all of their backissues to subscribers online, I've come across a number of her reviews that I hadn't read before. HAHA re Madame X-it's too bad that Ross Hunter didn't manage to get Doug Sirk out of retirement to direct that as was planned--coulda been a great final melodrama in the Ross Hunter cycle (he also tried to convince Sirk to direct my trash fave, 1961's Back Street as a followup to Imitation of Life but he didn't--again it coulda made the film truly great instead of a camp laugh). Which movies would she include in "sick soul of America"? I thought she liked Midnight Cowboy, for example... Of course I've seen Thoroughly Modern Millie I love it, though it falls into the late 60s/early 70s bloated movie musicals that killedoff thegenre category--it's too long and meanders, and only really the title song is great. But the performances are so much fun--I'm pretty certain it was a flop when it came out (as was the more serious Andrews vehicle, Star). Ten or so years ago it was adapted into a hit Broadway musical where they wisely kept the title song and "Jimmy" and the rest was all new stuff--the score AND the story work WAY better, it's been massively improved even if you're missing the fun of Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 She thought of films like, I believe, Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean and Little Big Man, as being in that category. Easy Rider too possibly, I can't remember. There are a lot of reviews of hers I got a kick out of (I think her best were the mid 60s, and then another flourish in the early 80s). Georgie Girl, Morgan A Suitable Case for Treatment, et al. I think I liked her reviews more when she hated the movie. I'd heard about the Broadway version of Millie. I'm glad it did well. The original was too long, I just enjoyed Bea Lillie, Carol Channing, and a few other moments, like MTM and Julie stomping their feet to keep the elevator going. What did you think of the theatrical version of Willy Wonka? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 I agree, her reviews were all the better to read when she was ripping something apart (The New Yorker at the same time had a brilliance dance critics, Arlene Croce whose writing was nearly exactly the same LOL--musta been something about the magazine--yet I've never read better written reviews of dance even if she liked nearly nothing). *Which* Chocolate Factory stage version? (Tangent--I always thought the book and movies are in a way a kid's version of the slasher film--one by one bratty kids are "killed off" in more and more elaborate ways LOL). I don't believe there is a standard version of it on stage--not one that's played Broadway or the West End anyway. I think there's a kids school version you can do with the 70s Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley score, and I've read there's a new version in the works produced by Warner Bros with Marc Shaiman and the other songwriters of Hairspray doing the score. There's also a new opera (!) version to premier, titled The Golden Ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 Before I go through this pile of posts — loving it! — what does it say exactly about Carl? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 Oh, I thought you meant there was a different stage production. Sorry. I know what you mean about the material. I think it was a way to vent about bratty kids under the guise of teaching a lesson. It didn't work for me though because I ended up rooting for Violet and Veruca, at least in the movie. The weirdest part of Pauline Kael as a critic were her book titles. I guess she came up with a lot of those to get attention or help sales but some of the titles, they could be cute, like I Lost It At the Movies, but then when you get to titles like Taking It All In, you're sort of...really? She also wrote a review I was very much in agreement with where she blasted the Disney films as the idea of "family" pictures, as she said that she did not enjoy hearing children scream and cry at the slaughter and abuse in films like Bambi and Dumbo. She then recommended family pictures which were fun and entertaining and not traumatic. I was so glad to hear someone say that, because I thought that Bambi in particular was so horrifying at the start and that was hard to get through as a child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 And, by the way, Eric — how come you don't mention Danny Elfman's music (for Alice)? Which got dropped from Wolfman, then they got it back, with additional music by Williams' faaaaamed orchestrator Conrad Pope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 It says I like diva female characters. Imagine Veruca later in life, she'd do Alexis or Abby proud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 Andthere I disagree with you and Pauline. As much as I think some of the best recent children's films, think Miyazaki's My Neighbour Totoro, are fairly low key, I strongly believe that seeing and then understanding a film like Pinocchio or Bambi as a kid is a powerful experience. I saw Snow White when I was 3 and by all accounts was TERRIFIED of the Queen and all that--yet it also fascinated me and even at a young age got me to sorta, in a safe way, deal with some of that (ditto the Witch in Oz, the Pink Elephant dream part in Dumbo, etc, etc). Like the best kids fantasy novels and fairy tales, I really believe kids need some sort of threat or danger there, and I also subscribe to the psychological theory behind such things (as spelled out most famously in the book The Uses of Enchantment). Also, keep in mind when I was growing up my parents were very cautious of what we watched, more so when it came to violence than sex--but I had friends who at 7 or 8 would be watching Friday the 13th or Pet Semetary! I can't remember what films she suggested as alternatives, and no doubt some of them are faves of mine, yet I think the great early, powerful Disney films, etc are important. There's a reason that many of my fave films as a small kid did kinda scare me, yet I grew with them and now love them--stuff like The Last Unicorn, Oz, etc. Anyway... (Though oddly the film that gave me the worst nightmares was the Care Bear Movie, which I think is crap, but it had a green faced ghoul that came out of a magic book--just her head--and hypnotized a kid *shiver* I remember I couldn't even look at the movie poster for years! LOL) That said Bambi didn't traumatize me the way it did some--I think maybe cuz I was a pretty cynical and gloomy child anyway, LOL. It was one of the first novels I read as a kid though--when I was in grade 1, my mom had to fight with the librarian to let me read it, cuz she assumed there was no way I'd manage to and wanted to give me the Disney picture book (funny the things you remember). Sylph, I didn't mention it cuz I had no idea! I'm a mixed Elfman fan, though at his best I do love his work. So wait--much of what we'll hear in Alice originated from his un used Wolfman score? (and, after so much anticipation, what a non event has Wolfman become--I don't even know anyone who has bothered to see it!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted March 5, 2010 Members Share Posted March 5, 2010 No, no, now I see I've made a mess. The Alice music is all original. I was just mentioning in passing that they dropped him from Wolfman, but then got him back. However, since he was busy composing and finishing Alice and other stuff, they had to use additional music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted March 8, 2010 Members Share Posted March 8, 2010 http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article7049878.ece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members YRBB Posted March 8, 2010 Members Share Posted March 8, 2010 The movie was fun, but did not blow me away! Not very impressed with Depp but I adored Bonham Carter (wish she was given more time to just spread her wings and flyyyyy) and Hathaway was great as the Queen. I am starting to really, really love her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted March 9, 2010 Members Share Posted March 9, 2010 Oh, My!! I had forgotten completely about the Rex Harrison version! Yes, that WAS a bloated mess. But there were alot of those in the 50's and 60's.... I guess you could argue that Dr. Dolittle was the last of a dying breed (though some people would Argue Sgt. Pepper and Xanadu fits into that category) And yes, Jerry Lewis does fit into that category... I hated his films with a passion. My point about the lack of bloated messes in the 70's, was that movies moved more into different niches, Sci-fi, Disaster movies, and Car chase/Trucker/Outlaw movies really dominated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sylph Posted March 9, 2010 Members Share Posted March 9, 2010 People tell me it wasn't bad, but something... Was missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members YRBB Posted March 10, 2010 Members Share Posted March 10, 2010 Yes, that's how I feel about it as well.... It felt too restrained almost, like they held back.... I dunno, it's a weird feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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