tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post7142691864444880856..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: A MODEST HOLIDAY MOVIE-GOING PROPOSALDennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-20401693797643609142009-12-06T09:19:56.648-08:002009-12-06T09:19:56.648-08:00Rick--
I so understand, coming as I do from the w...Rick--<br /><br />I so understand, coming as I do from the wilds of Southeastern Oregon-- how we don't all have the option to pick something off the menu of Hollywood options when we go to the theater. It's why, as you say, Netflix and some of the more creative on-demand and legal downloading services are such a godsend.<br /><br />I considered stepping out last night, with choices ranging from <i>The Blind Side</i> to Fredrick Wiseman's new documentary <i>La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet</i> to <i>Precious, The Road</i> or <i>Bad Lieuenant: Port of Call New Orleans</i> (The Triple Feature as a Prelude to Suicide?) at my beck and call. But I was happy to take my own advice last night and, instead of running out to try to catch up on all these new releases I have yet to see before year's end, I (and my tired ass) decided to stay home, where I caught a double bill from one-eyed directors (you quiztakers won't find that an odd thing for me to have said) that far surpassed anything I could have seen on a big screen last night. My home double bill was Raoul Walsh's couldn't-have-possibly-been-better <i>The Roaring Twenties</i> (Cagney is even greater here than he was as Cody Jarrett, I think), followed by Andre de Toth's exceptionally mean, visually brilliant <i>Play Dirty</i>-- Michael Caine and Nigel Davenport bumping furrowed brows across a very unforgiving African desert in search of German fuel dumps to blow up is my idea of a good time! Those were the most fun four hours I've spent watching a movie in a good, long while.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1117111105566879932009-12-04T09:13:45.891-08:002009-12-04T09:13:45.891-08:00a more muscular, AVID-accelerated sleuthing experi...<i>a more muscular, AVID-accelerated sleuthing experience</i><br /><br />Goddam. That's a great line.<br /><br />But, you know, this proposal is kind of tough to swallow if you live anywhere other than LA or NY or even, apparently, Denver. I'd love to see "Small Change" in the theater.<br /><br />For a lot of people, including me, it just ain't feasible to do that. That's why Netflix is such a wonderful thing.<br /><br />I'll quit whining now.Rick Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04846018585978997261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-79190184024954374462009-12-02T10:05:38.887-08:002009-12-02T10:05:38.887-08:00Thanks, Peter. I know several people who will want...Thanks, Peter. I know several people who will want to be on the lookout for <i>Small Change</i> in the off chance that their city is "selected."<br /><br />Deb: I'm thinking of bringing my nine-year-old to see <i>Children of Paradise</i>-- I'd love for it to be her first foreign language movie too. But whether I do or don't, I'll be thinking of ya when I'm at the New Beverly!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-84761520033604773122009-12-02T09:54:40.090-08:002009-12-02T09:54:40.090-08:00Les Enfants du Paradis was the first foreign-langu...Les Enfants du Paradis was the first foreign-language film I saw in a theater. I always thought it was at the Nuart in Santa Monica, about 1980 or 81. Thanks for bringing back the memories!Debnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-85846792553870225032009-12-01T17:30:54.204-08:002009-12-01T17:30:54.204-08:00Small Change is out in a new print, making the rou...<b>Small Change</b> is out in a new print, making the rounds of "select" theaters.Peter Nellhaushttp://www.coffeecoffeeandmorecoffee.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-48087726876505943002009-12-01T15:12:11.135-08:002009-12-01T15:12:11.135-08:00Alonzo, I haven't even seen a frame of Everybo...Alonzo, I haven't even seen a frame of <i>Everybody's Fine</i>-- I'm just going off of what seem to be a rash of bad choices on De Niro's part of late. I do know that Peter Travers hated <i>EF</i>, so I'd say it has a good chance of being worth a look!<br /><br />And as a survivor of <i>Couples Retreat</i>, I think I'd have to agree about Vince Vaughn. <i>Wedding Crashers</i> was a <i>looooooong</i> time ago.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-11235232673373338892009-12-01T14:21:13.029-08:002009-12-01T14:21:13.029-08:00I have to admit that I've liked what I have se...I have to admit that I've liked what I have seen of DeNiro and "Everybody's Fine". For me, it's a breath of fresh air in contrast to the "wacky" Christmas comedies that have become the trend (Deck the Halls, Surviving Christmas, Christmas with the Kranks, Fred Claus, Four Christmases).<br /><br />It looks like they're just aiming for low-key and charming, which is fine by me for a Christmas movie. DeNiro may have made a lot of miscues in his career lately, but I'd definitely choose him over Vince Vaughn.Alonzo Mosley (FBI)https://www.blogger.com/profile/01518458463986396352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-68197838411775929602009-12-01T10:37:54.285-08:002009-12-01T10:37:54.285-08:00Wow, thanks so much for mentioning La Danse. i ha...Wow, thanks so much for mentioning La Danse. i hadn't read anything about it prior, and just realized it's playing at my local arthouse theater until thursday.Floshnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-74488782377563359842009-12-01T09:33:30.126-08:002009-12-01T09:33:30.126-08:00Greg: That's a recommendation! Stamped and red...Greg: That's a recommendation! Stamped and redeemed.<br /><br />Peter: Wiseman's <i>La Danse</i> is, incredibly, still here in one or two theaters, though the show times are dwindling by the day. I'm guessing I've got until Thursday to see it on a big screen. If I make it, that would be the first Wiseman movie I will have seen in a theater.<br /><br />Is <i>Small Change</i> getting a re-release, or is it in a local repertory cinema? My best friend was just recommending that one to my wife a couple of weeks ago, and it strikes me that I might feel differently about it now after having kids of my own. I loved it initially, then kind of set it aside after seeing it a couple more times. It's probably been since 1982 or 1983 since I've seen it at all.<br /><br />Robert: Are you like me in that the appearance of De Niro in a movie is almost NOT good news these days? Are his choices that bad?Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-54867188733902710642009-11-30T19:26:29.201-08:002009-11-30T19:26:29.201-08:00If DeNiro was playing an older & craftier vers...If DeNiro was playing an older & craftier version of T. Bickle in EVERYBODY'S FINE, that would be worth paying money to go see.Robert H.http://mimezine.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-30359705529607321562009-11-30T18:35:48.199-08:002009-11-30T18:35:48.199-08:00I actually will be working on Xmas day so that tho...I actually will be working on Xmas day so that those who celebrate it can be at home.<br /><br />Among the films opening that day at the Starz here in Denver will be the new Frederick Wiseman documentary on the Paris Opera Ballet, getting great advance word. I am encouraging a Francophile friend to take advantage of Truffaut's <b>Small Change</b> which will open on Xmas day as well.Peter Nellhaushttp://www.coffeecoffeeandmorecoffee.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-11476209557278801832009-11-30T18:08:04.960-08:002009-11-30T18:08:04.960-08:00I would like to very unmodestly propose that anyon...I would like to very unmodestly propose that anyone within walking or driving distance of a theatre showing <b>Fat City</b> who doesn't take the opportunity to see it is out of his/her mind!<br /><br />And bring a cream sherry for Oma!Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05730146625671701859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-14332902430273495312009-11-30T15:56:17.404-08:002009-11-30T15:56:17.404-08:00Inspiring post, Dennis. I'm going to try and t...Inspiring post, Dennis. I'm going to try and take you up on this. Thanks for this.le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.com