What did you watch today? v 33.0

[The Professor]

Welcome to version 33, the Egg McMuffin of discussions. 

 

The first post in this thread will be # 14,394. 

 

The ghost of George Sanders reminds you to link your films, and that one should feel free to move on if bored. 

[David]

Wallander--Kenneth Branagh plays a detective in Sweden.  These are a rather moody, introspective series, but fit my mood for Sunday nights as I just watch them off PBS Masterpiece Theater, but are worth renting if you are a mystery fan.

Barney's Version--I wasn't expecting something so sad or dour, and it ran just a tad too long perhaps, but the ending I thought pulled it up into a recommend. Paul Giammatti plays a Canadian TV producer and looks back at his three past wives and life.

[macroman]

One instructional video and two documentaries reviewed but no regular movies.  However, I gave them all 4 STARS and liked all of them.

INSTRUCTIONAL

Meditation for Beginners (2001)=A good starter video to help calm one down, ground yourself and reestablish equilibrium.

  The video is broken into three 20-minute segments:   a. a yoga warmup with lots of stretches  b. body scan-a very helpful exercise in which you lay down as if sleeping and get attuned to the inner workings of each body part from the feet through the head  c.  seated meditation.

  Each segment is a natural warmup for the next segment and it all flows smoothly together.  It will be a little clumsy at first, so it is good to watch it again and/or rent it a second time.

DOCUMENTARIES:

1.  Note by Note:  The Making of Steinway L1037 (2007)=In an era of mass produced pianos, this absorbing film looks at a company that still makes pianos the old fashioned way, using meticulous, highly skilled Old World craftsmanship.

  No robots are used to build the pianos and each piano is tuned numerous times by ear instead of by computers.  Much of the film is devoted to interviewing the workers at the factory, who represent a United Nations diversity of different races and religions.  Then there are those employees who grew up and still live within a few blocks of Steinway.

  Actual piano performances by well-known musicians are in Special Features.

2. The Children of Chabonnes (France. 1999)=Inspiring film about a school in Unoccupied rural France that took in 400 German Jewish children during WWII and saved nearly all of them from the concentration camps.

  Most of the dialogue is in English and some in French.

 

[Ando]

Who produced the meditation disc, mm? I've been intrigued with the Gaiam series (particularly the Rodney Yee hosted yoga series). As for meditation, nothing completely calms me (program-wise) like virtually any of the J. Krishnamurti talks; the solo Ojai Valley series, in particular.

Have you seen "The Art of Piano"? It's in a series of features on various orchestral instruments and features a history segment as well as interviews and performances from some of the most well known classical musicians.

[macroman]

It was from the Gaiam series and the instructor's name was Maritza and I thought she was good.  I want to rent it again since I was a little clumsy and awkward the first time, but it still helped me because I've been quite stressed lately.

  The Art of Piano is one I'll look up.  I don't remember now if I've seen it before.  Thanks for the suggestion--I've just added more piano music disks to my queue recently.

[Mr. Bad]

Heaven's Gate Famous 1979 cocaine fueled budget busting Western debacle that was critically slagged before it even opened. Books have been written about this one. Now there's a movement to rehabilitate it from its ignominious obscurity. I decided to give it a chance and, unfortunately, it sucks. Absolutely gorgeous cinematography and production design kept my interest for awhile, but the script, ach! Fer instance, John Hurt's character goes to an evil rich cattlemen's meeting where they talk about having a bunch of hired killers and a list of 125 people who are to be assassinated. John Hurt leaves and meets old friend Kris Kristofferson and tells him about the bunch of hired killers and a list of 125 people who are to be assassinated. Kris rides back to his town and tells Jeff Bridges how there's a bunch of hired killers and a list of 125 people who are to be assassinated. This all takes 20 minutes or so, (or it seems like it) and there's other business going on, but the problem remains that the story is being stretched to the breaking point. Useful as a sleep aid. Take only as directed.

[Sevorin]

Books have been written about this one  

Try this book.

[Pihk]

Kristofferson.

Krist offer son.

[macroman]

Music from the Inside Out (2004)=A borderline great documentary about the Philadelphia Orchestra and its performers.  Several musicians are profiled and we learn about how they became interested in music and their off the stage lives.

  One musician runs marathons in his free time, another is a motorcycle enthusiast, one is a painter and there are a few who play other types of music, such as bluegrass and jazz.

  4.5 stars.  The Special Features are very good too.

 

 

[Danram]

Watched The Master over the weekend. While the movie is very accomplished in filming and editing, it didn't touch me emotionally. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is very good and Amy Adams is outstanding - but the Joaquin Phoenix character with his slouchy walk, hands on his hips eventually got on my nerves. Worth seeing once if you've got 2 1/2 hours to spare.

[Nerves]

All This, and Heaven Too (1940)

7/10 Stars

Warner Brothers' answer to Gone With The Wind with strong performances from Bette Davis, Charles Boyer, and Barbara O'Neil (how I hated the character she played!). Superb cinematography and score. A real tear-jerker. Davis plays against type and even when she is being as sweet and innocent as she can be if you've already seen her other films, especially What Ever Happened To Baby Jane or Hush....Hush, Sweet Charlotte, before seeing this one you can't help but feel there's some malice lurking beneath the angelic demeanor. A trifle long at 2 hours, 20 minutes, I can think of a at least one scene that did nothing to advance the plot nor anything else except to serve as a brief respite from the heaviness of the rest of the film.

[Ando]

Carnage (2011, Polansky) Very nice work from Mr. Polansky. Apparently, Yasmina Reza's original play featured more wordplay and less behavioral hijinks, but Polansky played it up for Yankee tastes. Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly play the parents of middle school brats who recently engaged in a playground brawl. The comedy of manners eventually descends into a screetching match. Impeccably filmed the momentum frequently lags (I believe) because, though we do have a cast of pros, we don' t have comedic pros. Their individual moments are hilariously effective but as an ensemble they lack the cohesiveness of a crack troupe. Wonder how it would worked under Lumet or even Mike Nicholas.

[eviltimes]

If you can get through the stifling first half, the second part of the film is LOL funny!