MOVIES OF ALL KINDS

Patrick Swayze Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:07:00 +0000

What rotten luck - I just read that Patrick Swayze, star of DIRTY DANCING, GHOST, and POINT BREAK, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. That's one of those nasty ones that hides and doesn't seem to cause problems until it's almost too late to do anything about it. (Jack Benny died from it - about a month after they figured out what he had!)

"Patrick is currently undergoing treatment," a rep for the actor said in a statement released on Wednesday. "He is continuing his normal schedule during this time, which includes working on upcoming projects. The outpouring of support and concern he has already received from the public is deeply appreciated by Patrick and his family."

Based on info from the American Cancer Society, the one-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is 20 percent, while the five-year rate is only 4 percent. Those aren't very good odds!

Here's hoping they caught it early enough that with some of the new treatments available they'll be able to do something for him. I'd hate to lose another favorite actor so soon after Heath Ledger and Roy Scheider.

For more info on pancreatic cancer, see the American Cancer Society

HD DVD Movies Blowout

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:04:00 +0000

Ever since Toshiba announced they've finally let Sony win the format wars by saying Toshiba will no longer make HD DVD players/recorders, vendors have been drastically reducing prices on their HD DVD movies and games inventory to make room for Blu-ray format product. (The winner and now Champeeeennnn!)

So if you want to make sure you keep your HD DVD unit fed, now's the time to pick up those HD DVD movies and games you've been thinking about before they're no longer available. Vendors like Wal-Mart, Amazon, Best Buy and studios like Universal and Paramount have all announced they will be changing over to Blu-ray only soon, so now's your chance to get some great deals.

Amazon’s got HD-DVD stuff on sale for 50% or more off right now!

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BTW, for die-hard HD DVD fans who have Xbox's, GameStop has new Xbox 360 HD-DVD Players with 5 FREE HD-DVDs for only $129 ($50 off their regular price!)

Heaven's Gonna Need A Bigger Boat...

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 07:45:00 +0000

Roy Scheider, probably best remembered for his role as the boat-hating police chief in JAWS, the first ever 'blockbuster film' (passing the $100,000,000 mark), passed away Sunday at the age of 75.

His line, "You're gonna need a bigger boat" was voted No. 35 on the American Film Institute's list of best quotes from U.S. movies.

For the scene where Roy Scheider is trapped in the sinking Orca, it took 75 takes to get the shot right. According to some sources, Scheider did not trust the special effects team to rescue him in case of an emergency so he hid axes and hatchets around the cabin just in case. (Smart man: After the shark was built, it was never tested in the water, and when it was put in the water at Martha's Vineyard, it sank straight to the ocean floor. It took a team of divers to retrieve it... I 'met' that shark at Universal Studios and I believe it.)

Scheider died at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, hospital spokesman David Robinson said. No cause of death was released.

However, hospital spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said Scheider had been treated for multiple myeloma at the hospital's Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy for the past two years.

Another film great is gone and will be missed.

And The Nominations Go To...

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:35:00 +0000

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have announced the 2008 nominations for the upcoming, count it, 80th, Oscar awards ceremony to be broadcast Feb 24th:

Best motion picture of the year:

“Atonement” (Focus Features)
A Working Title Production
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers

“Juno” (Fox Searchlight)
A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production
Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers

“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
A Clayton Productions, LLC Production
Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production
JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Performance by an actress in a leading role:

Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal)
Julie Christie in “Away from Her” (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in “The Savages” (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in “Juno” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a leading role:

George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
(DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah” (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” (Focus Features)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role:

Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” (The Weinstein Company)
Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” (Focus Features)
Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role:

Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” (Universal)
Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Achievement in directing:

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Julian Schnabel
“Juno” (Fox Searchlight) Jason Reitman
“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) Tony Gilroy
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Paul Thomas Anderson

I always find it fascinating when a picture wins a nomination but its director doesn't. (Everyone else in the production was sooo good that the director was unnecessary? Hmmmm...) ATONEMENT is nominated, but its director gets snubbed.

What's also funny is the director for THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY is nominated, but neither the film nor a single actor or actress in the film is considered good enough. So somehow the director was the only good thing? Makes you wonder what the voters are on when they cast their ballots. LOL

It should be interesting to see if Cate Blanchett can pull off getting both a leading and a supporting actress Oscar in the same year. It's the 11th time someone's been nominated in both categories, but no one has managed the 'double win' yet. Given the stiff competition in both categories, this would definitely be a coup...

Rest In Peace - Heath Ledger

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:17:00 +0000

Another light in the Hollywood Heavens has dimmed and gone out. May he and his family find peace regardless of the why's and how's of what happened and may others learn some sort of lesson from whatever the outcome so it will have had some sort of meaning.

Goodbye too soon to another young actor.

Movie Trailer Music - More Interesting Than the Movie?

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 00:26:00 +0000

Have you ever been hooked by some movie trailer music and wanted to see the movie just based on that?

I hate working in total silence, so usually have a music channel or some sort of TV show/movie playing in the background. Recently I had on PRINCESS DIARIES 2 - ROYAL ENGAGEMENT on The Disney Channel while I was working on my computer. I've seen it so many times, I don't need to actually watch every minute any more - I just glance up every now and then as certain favorite scenes pop up. (Supposedly that way I actually get something accomplished - yeah, right.)

However, I suddenly stopped what I was doing when they started playing the movie trailer/promo for MINUTEMEN featuring the new music video "Run It Back Again" by Corbin Blue (GALAXY QUEST, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL). I'd never heard it before, and it really was catchy, with a great dance beat and interesting lyrics, something I don't find in most kid pop songs. I found myself surfing the web, looking for a way to hear it again and then looking for more info on the movie.

Since I 'm a big sci fi fan, and the movie's a comedy about time travel, I'll probably check it out. However, since it is a Disney TV movie, the odds are that I'll probably find the movie trailer music more interesting than the movie. (Of course, that's not always true - I have to admit that I watch HOCUS POCUS over and over, both for the movie AND the music... BWAHAHAHA.)

So if you want to hear the Corbin Bleu "Run It Back Again" video music promo, check it out below:

What movies have you seen because you liked the movie trailer music?

Did you buy the movie or just the soundtrack or just the single that got you hooked in the first place?

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No Budget FilmMaking

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:03:00 +0000

Have you ever watched a film and thought, I could have done a much better job of that! (That is if only I had a few million dollars, a production deal, and some major studio backing me??) I know I have, quite a few times, but have never figured I had the time and money to go to film school, build up a resume and break into the business.

Well, these guys think that you don't need to waste years of your life learning how to make movies...everything you need to know can be learned from just a few books. They have compiled that info, along with the essential forms, contracts, and software that you need...and it is all in the No Budget Filmmaking Ultra-Pack!!!

For about the price of going to 2 movies with a friend nowadays, you can get the whole kit and start thinking about making your own, maybe becoming the next Robert Rodriguez (who made EL MARIACHI on a budget of only $7,000 and then was given $7 Million by the studios to make DESPERADO and has gone on to even bigger movies with SPY KIDS.)

If this is something you've always dreamed of doing, then check out their No Budget FilmMaking site!

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:26:00 +0000

May your favorite actors all come out with wonderful memorable movies, may the quality of all new releases be better than ever, and may you, your family and friends have a happy, healthy, prosperous and fun 2008!

Golden Globe Nominees Announced

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 06:49:00 +0000

This year's HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION (HPFA) Golden Globe Award Nominees are out and here are some of the 'biggies':

Cecil B DeMille Award - Stephen Spielberg

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
American Gangster
Imagine Entertainment/Scott Free Productions; Universal Pictures
Atonement
Working Title Films Limited; Focus Features
Eastern Promises
Kudos Pictures/Serendipity Point Films; Focus Features
The Great Debaters
Harpo Films; The Weinstein Company/MGM
Michael Clayton
Samuels Media and Castle Rock Entertainment a Mirage Enterprises/Section 8 Production; Warner Bros. Pictures
No Country For Old Men
A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production; Miramax Films/Paramount Vantage
There Will Be Blood
A Joanne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production; Paramount Vantage/Miramax Films

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie – Away From Her

Jodie Foster – The Brave One

Angelina Jolie – A Mighty Heart

Keira Knightley – Atonement

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

George Clooney – Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood

James McAvoy – Atonement

Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises

Denzel Washington – American Gangster

BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Across The Universe
Revolution Studios; Sony Pictures Releasing
Charlie Wilson's War
Universal Pictures/Relativity Media/Participant Productions/Playtone; Universal Pictures
Hairspray
Zadan/Meron Productions / New Line Cinema in association with Ingenious Film Partners; New Line Cinema
Juno
Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production; Fox Searchlight Pictures
Sweeney Todd
Parkes/MacDonald and Zanuck Company; DreamWorks/Paramount Distribution / Warner Bros. Pictures

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Amy Adams – Enchanted
Nikki Blonsky – Hairspray

Helena Bonham Carter – Sweeney Todd

Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose

Ellen Page – Juno

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling – Lars and the Real Girl
Tom Hanks – Charlie Wilson's War
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Savages
John C. Reilly – Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

Cate Blanchett – I'm Not There
Julia Roberts – Charlie Wilson's War

Saoirse Ronan – Atonement

Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone

Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

Casey Affleck – The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson's War
John Travolta – Hairspray
Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton

BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE

Tim Burton – Sweeney Todd
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – No Country For Old Men

Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Ridley Scott – American Gangster

Joe Wright – Atonement

(I'd like to see SWEENEY TODD win big... Who do you like? ;)

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 20:51:00 +0000

It's funny, but even after reading all 7 Harry Potter Books, I still look forward to each new movie when it comes out, seeing it as soon as possible and then buying the DVDs as soon as they're available so I can watch them again and again. It's like going over to an old friends' place and seeing new things about them you didn't notice the last time you visited, catching up with any changes, seeing them in a new and different light than what you remember sometimes, but hopefully having a fun, fond visit.

The first 4 movies were excellent adaptations in my opinion, managing to reduce the huge tomes down to very watchable, entertaining 2-3 hour movies that were true to the spirit and characters of the stories. So I had high hopes for HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, getting a chance to revisit a story I hadn't read for a while. (I try not to reread the book that goes with the movie right before seeing it, trying to let the movie stand on its own merits first, then going back to refresh my memory.)

Unfortunately, somewhere between the screenwriter, the editor and the director, (or maybe even the studio), it was decided that the people watching HARRY POTTER movies were looking for shorter and shorter movies, as if we don't have the attention span needed to sit and watch a movie that would do justice to J. K. Rowling's book, so this one got compressed and chopped up and speeded up so much that quite a bit of the storyline is lost and so is much of the message of this volume. It feels like they felt that substituting dark and brooding lighting and quick-cut flashbacky type scenes would be enough for audiences to 'get' the story, thus cutting out an extra, but much needed, 20-30 minutes from the film to make it fit what they felt was a more 'commercial' amount of time for a movie.

It's too bad because this book becomes a lynch pin in the story line, setting up the impending battle for the last two books, putting people into place, setting up sides for the final outcome. For anyone who hasn't read the books and only knows the stories from the movies, this one skips over too much or doesn't give enough screen time to important plot points for viewers to appreciate the intricacies. There's great cinematography and amazing sets, but no scene ever seems to last long enough to really establish the story - like quick dark sketches stitched together, almost more like a music video than a movie...

The actors, as always, are wonderful, though. The casting of these movies has always been spot on and make them worth watching in and of themselves, even with the odd editing. By using all Brits, the movies retain the very English look, feel and sensibilities of the books, something I appreciate.

Now if only the Powers That Be could figure out that Harry Potter fans would sit for 3 hours or even longer for a movie if it was done right, especially with such great actors, people I can't get enough of most times. Maybe they'll do a better job with movie 6, HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. However, it's supposed to be by the same director as ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, but with the writer of the earlier ones doing the screenplay, so I'm hopeful they can work together this time to create the best HARRY POTTER movie yet...

In the meantime, off to go buy a copy of HPATOTP - while not my favorite of the series, still very watchable overall, and something to keep me in the Harryverse until the next one is released. (That and rereading the books, of course...) Plus I want to see the deleted scenes and other neat material included with the 2 DVD set. Probably a lot of what I missed in the movie hit the cutting room floor and this may finally be my chance to see what it was. (Or if I find a really good deal, I'd rather get the 3-disc set. Off bargain hunting on eBay and Amazon I go...)

(2007) Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman (and Many Many More!)

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THE BLACK DAHLIA - A Missed Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:30:00 +0000

Since I get HBO/CineMax free for 3 months, I'm trying to make the most of it by catching up on movies I missed when they were in the theaters. THE BLACK DAHLIA is one such movie. I've read about the case for years, so when Hollywood finally decided to make a film about it, I'd wanted to see it, but for some reason, never got to on the big screen.

Now I'm glad I didn't waste $20+ (ticket + popcorn + drink) on it.

While I like Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johannson, and Hilary Swank in some things, and a few Brian DePalma films, this was a waste of all their talents. Based on the book by James Ellroy, which was more a noir detective love-triangle with the Black Dahlia crime as backdrop than an actual telling of the Elizabeth Short murder investigation, the film doesn't even do the noir thing well - in fact it's a mish-mash of pieces of noir-like vignettes jammed together. Unlike LA CONFIDENTIAL, where I understood the chemistry between all the leads and cared about each, the characters here fell flat. I didn't really care who ended up with which girl or if any of them survived to the end of the picture.

When it opens, it starts by introducing the fictional characters Ellroy used to weave in and around the Black Dahlia case rather than using any actual detectives. Even that could have worked if they had been truly interesting, but they end up as 1950s caricatures from bad B pics. Then, when the body is finally discovered in the movie (and even shown in its gruesome state - at least they got that mostly right), the story veers back off onto the fictional love-triangle and uses made up movie tests of Elizabeth Short to try to show what kind of girl the movie needs her to be to justify the weird and strange tangents into fantasy it takes... (Kind of reminds me of PEARL HARBOR, another Josh Hartnett movie - one that takes a title that will 'sell', tells a wholly unrelated and fictional story for most of the 2-3 hours, pasting something historical into it - mostly at the end and badly - to try to justify the title used to lure moviegoers into parting with their pocket change...)

It's too bad Hollywood missed a great opportunity to find (and let) someone tell a more accurate and compelling story of Elizabeth Short's real life LA murder: the sheer number of suspects, the hundreds of investigators involved (not just the two the movie boiled it down to), the terror 1950s LA experienced wondering who might be next, the seedy corruption of the times, the evidence that would disappear making it hard to prove who knew and said what when, and the fact that to this day it remains unsolved (unlike the movie's made up ending).

This is one movie that WON'T go on my 'watch again and again' list and definitely will never be added to my DVD collection! In fact, it was so bad, that after watching it, I immediately deleted it from my DISH DVR so it wouldn't take up valuable space for a better movie, even with hundreds of hours of available time for recording... (I LOVE that the DISH DVR is allowing me to also record HBO/Cinemax so I don't have to try to stay up til all hours to watch these movies I originally missed. Even for free, I wouldn't have wanted to lose 2 hours of much-needed beauty sleep over THE BLACK DAHLIA! LOL)

(2006) Rated R for strong violence, some grisly images, sexual content and language

Starring Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johannson, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Mia Kirshner

WRITTEN IN BLOOD - An Interesting Indie

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Michael T Weiss is one of my favorite actors, so any time he's in a movie, I check it out, hence WRITTEN IN BLOOD. Originally released direct to DVD in Hong Kong -- always a sign that it might not be quite up to Hollywood's ever so high standards -- it was fairly hard to find when it first came out. I managed to locate an overseas company willing to ship an original Region 5 (English/Chinese Language) DVD to the US (won't buy bootlegs) but then I had to get software that was 'region free' so my computer DVD drive would stop screaming "Wrong Region!! Na na na NA naaaa" (The lengths I'll go to somedays to watch my movies... LOL) Also part of the joys of liking actors who tend to do small, indie films - half the fun is the 'hunt for the wild movie'...!

The movie stars Michael T Weiss as Matthew Ransom, a cop whose life is falling apart all around him, mostly with his own help, but he suddenly has more trouble when his partner is accused of killing his own wife. It goes from bad to worse when his partner's daughter starts falling for him. Not willing to believe his partner could be guilty, Ransom tries to figure out what really happened while his own life unravels.

I like the interaction between Weiss, Peter Coyote and Maureen Flannigan. The chemistry works well, as they slowly circle in on the truth, winding tighter and tighter until it can only end one way.

The writing gets a bit cliched on occasion and some of the plot is a tad hackneyed, but there are enough dramatic scenes and twists to make it worth watching. (Not to mention Michael T Weiss in suits, out of his suits and so on! As always, he's in great shape - although his hair seemed to have a life of its own in this one. LOL)

Now available on Region 1 US/Canada DVDs, this is a good one to add to any MTW or Peter Coyote collection.

(2202) Rated R for language, violence and some sexuality

Starring Michael T. Weiss, Peter Coyote, Maureen Flannigan, Steve Rankin, Dan Gauthier, Gwen McGee

STRICTLY BALLROOM - Strictly Great Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 01:42:00 +0000

Another of my all-time favorite movies is STRICTLY BALLROOM, a little, campy Australian film Baz Luhrmann (MOULIN ROUGE!, ROMEO+JULIET) threw together back in the early 1990's, long before the TV ballroom dancing craze took over.

It's a hilarious musical story of what if?: what if a champion ballroom dancer decides he wants to dance his own steps in the nationals?

While ballroom dancing styles appear to vary from couple to couple when you watch a show like DANCING WITH THE STARS, the 'required steps' are actually quite 'regulated' as to what's kosher, how each is done, and what's not allowed, apparently based on what can be 'taught' (meaning 'money-making' for a dance studio). Heaven forbid someone should dance their own steps ala Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire or Savion Glover, showing more talent than is teachable - what would the world come to?!?

So it becomes just about everyone's goal in the movie to get Scott Hastings, our hero, to conform to the 'rules' - everyone except Fran, a beginner who loves the way he dances, and maybe a bit more.

The whole movie is done consistently tongue-in-cheek which is actually quite hard to do and do well, but this one does it. It's amazingly quirky and funny and fascinating and a little gem. The music is wonderful and the dancing is fantastic, especially during the 'finals'. What's even neater to me is that the lead male (Paul Mercurio) was a dancer who learned to act for this movie and the lead female (Tara Morice) was an actress who had to learn to dance. I think each did a good job 'crossing over'. =) Also, the guy playing Scott's dad (Barry Otto - Dad to actress Miranda Otto) is actually a comic actor who also learned to dance for his role as a former ballroom champion.

If you enjoy Australian sensibility and humor (and accents!) or even just love ballroom dancing, then definitely check this movie out!

(1992) Rated PG - Language

Starring Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Gia Carides, Barry Otto, Bill Hunter, Sonia Kruger, Pat Thomson, Antonio Vargas

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PRACTICAL MAGIC - Another of My Favorite Films

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:16:00 +0000

Another film I caught this evening on my new DISH satellite setup (for probably the 10th or 11th time since it was released) was PRACTICAL MAGIC with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. This is one movie I don't mind watching over and over as I love the chemistry between them as sisters. (I'm dark haired and my younger sister is a strawberry blond, I'm more bookish, she's more outgoing, I stayed at home, she travelled all over and so on - may be why I identify a bit, eh?...)

This is an example of a movie where I've never read the book it's based on. Now that I have all the actors firmly in mind as each of the characters, I would find it hard to go back and read the original material without having their faces and nuances pop up in my mind, coloring the reading and possibly losing the story's original flavor. (I also find the opposite true - read a book first, get certain images in mind, then find that the movie doesn't match my 'own' version in my head...)

PRACTICAL MAGIC is about what would normally be a thriller topic, but the characters here come first with their witchcraft being an extension of who they are and do rather than the entire focus of the film. It's funny and heartbreaking, dramatic and scary, with a nice touch of irony, each in good balance with the other. The way the movie handles the multiple generations, from the not-so-crazy-as-they-appear-at-first aunts, played by Stockard Channing & Dianne Wiest, down to the sisters, Bullock & Kidman, and on to Bullock's daughters is great, too, with each a reflection of the previous, sometimes mirrored, sometimes reversed, but all steeped in magic.

This is one film I keep in my DVD library so I can pull it out whenever I want a nice witchy warm feeling with what feels like old friends (and family). =)

(1998) Rated PG-13 for some violence, intense thematic elements and sensuality

Starring Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, Goran Visnjic, Aiden Quinn

THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE - HBO Film

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:22:00 +0000

I admit - I started to watch the movie tonight on HBO just out of sheer curiosity to see how they would handle such a 'sensational' topic: the first 'mainstream' naughty pin-up and bondage girl, the 'notorious Bettie Page'... I've read various things about Bettie over the years and wanted to see their version of her story to see how it jibed, figuring they would emphasize the sex over the story.

However, I was very pleasantly surprised at Gretchen Mol's characterization. She's beautiful in her own right and I hadn't seen her in much before so didn't approach the movie with too many preconceptions about the lead actress. In fact, she does such a great job subsuming her own looks and character into Bettie's, I would never have known who she was without looking it up. (From her pics on IMDb.com, Gretchen's usually a blond, but she looks equally amazing as a brunette in TNBP.)

Gretchen Mol manages to capture the 'innocent little girl in a woman's body' quality of Bettie, the joy and exuberance at life, the blindingly beautiful smile, the absolute happiness and playfulness Bettie exuded in the bulk of her pictures, nude or not. Bettie managed to make it all look like fun and natural (unlike the bulk of the pinups you see around today, where the women either look slutty or angry or bored.) Gretchen Mol caught those qualities Bettie was best known for amazingly well herself, never once making me think 'oh this is an actress playing Bettie' but feeling like I was really watching the original.

The movie, no doubt, took quite a few liberties with events and people, but I think they did a great job overall, managing to keep even the full nude scenes tasteful but mostly accurate based on the source material, showing a full range of the type of pics and movies Bettie actually posed for and acted in without making it seem the only justification for the whole movie. (Small differences, like using Jaguars instead of Cheetahs in the famous jungle pics can be forgiven since I like Jags better anyway. =)

The look and feel of the movie, bouncing between black and white and color was also done well. It puts you in a 50's old classic movies mood to start with, then makes you feel as if you've fallen into the real world with the characters in all their original color glory, 'fleshing' out scenes, if you will. (Bad pun, I know!)

Definitely worth watching in my opinion for anyone interested in the 1940's & 1950's, Bettie Page and the beginning of the 'sexual revolution' (mainstream, that is...) as Playboy and other magazines became commonplace.

(2006) Rated R for nudity, sexual content and some language

Starring Gretchen Mol, David Strathairn, Lily Taylor, John Collum, Norman Readus, Chris Bauer

Get your own copy:
THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE on eBay
THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE on Amazon

Magic Movies - Films I'll Watch Over and Over Again

noreply@blogger.com (Spotlight-On WM) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:10:00 +0000

I've noticed over the years that I'm the kind of person who would rather watch my favorite films, magic movies that capture my imagination, over and over and over again (either on TV or DVD) rather than go to a new movie at the theatre, spending $20-40 (or more nowadays) and 2-3 hrs on something that may or may not be very good. (I'll make an exception and take a chance, though, if one of my favorite actors/actresses comes out with a new movie!) Of course, now that I'm living in a much smaller town than before, the opportunities to watch them on the big screen have diminished slightly, so TV and DVD have become even better friends than before. =)

When I find a movie that has all the right chemistry (actors, writing, directing, etc), I can enjoy it repeatedly without ever getting bored. In fact, if a movie is well done enough, I will notice more and more with each viewing: scenes and nuances and moments I didn't catch with earlier screenings, lines I missed, jokes I may not have gotten the first (10) times...

Most of the ones I really love would rarely be called classics. They're just movies that speak to me for one reason or another.

So I've decided to celebrate and share some of my old favorites and new finds here. (I have so many, though, picking a few at a time may be the hard thing...!)