tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post6024032858926735659..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: THE SLIFR MOVIE TREE HOUSE #9: WON'T YOU PLEASE GIVE IT UP FOR EMMA STONE AND THE ACTRESSES OF 2010!Dennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-52438200410990373822011-01-16T03:46:29.441-08:002011-01-16T03:46:29.441-08:00I wrote at length earlier this summer about my ver...I wrote at length earlier this summer about my very deep problems with the ending of THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT,which ultimately ruined my ability to enjoy the film or recommend it to others. <br /><br />http://projectorhasbeendrinking.blogspot.com/2010/07/somewhere-fox-is-crying.html<br /><br />I am also in agreement that both MOTHER AND CHILD and PLEASE GIVE are head and shoulders much better family dramas thank KIDS. Bening in the former gets to explore many more complex emotions and reactions than her comparably one-note scold in KIDS. And GIVE presents an extramarital affair that, while seemingly ending without punishment or incident, does still haunt the characters and affect their behavior for the future.<br /><br />One minor quibble on your assessment of PLEASE GIVE: the meaning of the jeans. It's a moment that made the movie for me, and I think you misrepresent it. <br />In an earlier shopping trip, Keener's daughter asks for the jeans, as they are the most comfortable and flattering to her complex figure, and her mother refuses, citing that they are too expensive, perhaps hoping that the cheaper pair she tries to foist on her will be the impetus to lose weight to fit into them, and in general trying to cite her belief that her money is better spent helping others who can't buy jeans in the first place.<br />By the end of the movie, each of them has learned more about the nature of money and charity. At the funeral for the cranky neighbor, her history of charitable works are cited to ballast a public image of a selfless woman, but Keener has initimate knowledge that she's a sour dissastified woman and her granddaughters have been wounded as a result..not to mention that all those strangers the woman supposedly helped are nowhere to be found at her service. Thus she realizes that good works for others done at the expense of her own family's happiness lose lustre over time. Meanwhile, Keener's daughter becomes cognizant of money and it's worth and how it can affect people for good or ill, she is no longer just a child who wants everything. So when they return to the shop, the child politely resists buying the $200 jeans, ready to make that sacrifice to help her mother, but the mother in turn knows that the jeans will make her daughter happy, and she can afford to buy them, so she splurges. It's a moment where they understand each other better, and you sense they will continue to improve.<br /><br />Holofcener's moral, like the old saw goes, is charity begins at home. It is not an appeasement, since the child now knows thrift and is not expressing feelings of entitlement, and whether or not the gesture is an option for average parents as yourself is not at issue, as I certainly did not leave the theatre thinking that all parents should now buy any expensive article of clothing their child desires. It is the larger issue of how you express the significance of your family to them, that if you have the means to do so - through money or free time or kindness or patience - that should be given as much priority as you would if you were to provide similar gestures to a stranger.Marc Edward Heuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07563779617157443811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-28203439621283138432011-01-14T12:19:52.163-08:002011-01-14T12:19:52.163-08:00Was that the 1926 version? I thought it was the 19...Was that the 1926 version? I thought it was the 1934 version with Colleen Moore, which is in the public domain. But I could be wrong. <br /><br />I loved "Easy A" too, one of the most pleasant surprises of last year. I've liked Emma Stone ever since I first saw in "Superbad" and its nice to see that promise being fulfilled. <br /><br />Dennis, I've really enjoyed these Tree House postings. Thanks to you and everyone else for participating.Kevin Deanyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07697597405552599370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-22754900748736214092011-01-14T10:43:09.383-08:002011-01-14T10:43:09.383-08:00This has been a great endeavor, Dennis and everyon...This has been a great endeavor, Dennis and everyone else. It's been lots of fun reading along, great job!<br /><br />That <i>Film Socialisme</i> anecdote is heartbreaking; I can't imagine the stupidity involved in a screwup like that when the film has been so hard to see and there's this one chance to put it in front of a big audience. Of course, I would've stuck around anyway. It's not like the "Navajo" subtitles make it much easier to understand or follow, and even with full English subtitles it's often pretty elusive. But it's still a shame. Late Godard already doesn't get enough respect or attention, and it just gets worse if distributors carelessly erect even more barriers between audiences and his work.Ed Howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18014222247676090467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-34257611560285192282011-01-14T08:34:58.610-08:002011-01-14T08:34:58.610-08:00I agree, Peter. They should have credited Gish and...I agree, Peter. They should have credited Gish and Sjostrom, and I'm dismayed that they didn't (and that I didn't notice that they didn't). That said, at least they used the 1926 version (is it in the public domain?) and made a point of skewering, rather mercilessly, the Roland Joffe/Demi Moore bastardization.<br /><br />I have heard great things about both of the films you mention, especially <i>Poetry,</i> and believe me they are on my radar. Now I just hope I don't get cramps crossing my fingers in waiting for them to actually show up in a theater near me.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-8295253210889186032011-01-14T07:47:46.133-08:002011-01-14T07:47:46.133-08:00Other movies got credited in Easy A. Ya think it ...Other movies got credited in <b>Easy A</b>. Ya think it would have killed them to give a nod to Lillian Gish and Victor Sjostrom?<br /><br />You want great performances by actresses, Dennis? Make a point of seeing <b>Poetry</b> and <b>When We Leave</b> when they get their respective theatrical runs.Peter Nellhaushttp://www.coffeecoffeeandmorecoffee.comnoreply@blogger.com