streep

favorite streep performances

1 a cry in the dark (creme de la creme)
2 postcards from the edge (wonderful)
3 sophie's choice (undeniable)
4 adaptation (side spllitingly funny)
5 angels in america (as good as anything she has ever done)
6 the devil wears prada (fanfuckingtastic)
7 kramer vs kramer (amazing)
8 prime (wonderful)
9 silkwood (solid)
10 out of africa
11 the manchurian candidate (smart)
12 a prairie home companion (strong)
13 defending your life (redefines relaxed)
14 she-devil (oddly hysterical)
15 one true thing (intense)
16 death becomes her (funny)
17 manhattan (nice)
18 the french lieutenant's daughter (whatever)
19 marvin's room (its keaton's film)
20 music of the heart (forced)
21 heartburn (adequate)
22 the house of the spirits (slightly awkward)
23 dancing at lughnasa (boring)
24 a series of unfortunate events (seems an unfinished performance somehow)
25 before and after (just too lame a movie to matter)
26 the river wild (one of her few movies that would have worked better with lange or close)

haven't seen
the deer hunter
ironweed
still of the night
plenty
falling in love
the seduction of joe tynan

anyone have a copy of ironweed?

d

bet ya on land they understand

its thursday morning. i watched THE 400 BLOWS last night. for some reason, i imagined seeing this movie years ago, but after last night's viewing, i don't think that is the case.

its funny that i rented this film cause i thought it would be a bit of a relief from the intense sad nasty films i have been enduring lately. turns out, 400 blows is JUST as brutal as any number of movies about neglected children and distant parents. i have seen the famous final shot of this movie before in stills and whatnot, but its just so insanely brilliant within the context.

ANOTHER friggin awesome movie.

Today I get the pleasure of watching the final NY rehearsal of the national tour of SPELLING BEE. Exciting!

Seems its time to watch another film now. Bye.

its a city of strangers

Just finished the glorious new French Film - L'ENFANT. It comes out on video shortly (my video store gets stuff early; don't ask). Its a fantastic, ugly-beautiful emotionally draining movie, just like everything else I've seen lately.

Now its time to bike to work.

D.

u think u own whatever land u land on!

finished MASCULINE FEMININE - and so we can now add Jean-Luc Godard to my list of obsessions. I was recently exposed to WEEKEND and ALPHAVILLE by Godard and I am now completely under his spell.

AND watched Robert Bresson's PICKPOCKET. pretty strong stuff. why is it that french filmmakers made such amazing films in the late 50s and 60s?

the more of these "new wave" films i see, the less inspired so many american rip-offs seem. right?

does anyone read this other than patrick?

d.

look at this cup, isn't it neat?

saw another FANTASTIC film this weekend...Wong Kar Wai's HAPPY TOGETHER. Its about 2 GAY asian dudes who go to Argentina to try to work out their relationship problems. The cinematography is unparrelleled. The movie is heartbreaking and beautiful and functions as MUCH more than a gay breakup movie. Its also clearly a major influence on LOST IN TRANSLATION.

now i'm working on Godard's MASCULINE FEMININE. halfway through and its blowing me away.

d.

excrutiating

just finished michael haneke's first film ever - THE SEVENTH CONTINENT. I really dont want to discuss the content or actually advise people to see this movie. it is NOT for everyone. all i can say is i have never had a stronger response to a film ever in my life. i am working on a nice big glass of glenlivet right now to relax. i was THISCLOSE to vomiting by the last frame. i am not kidding. I am in love with Haneke very very much. Can someone please tell me if there are other films that penetrate the emotions in this extreme? Do I need to revist Bergman? Sorry if I sound pretentious. "It is what it is."

its scary to me that after watching THIS film, FUNNY GAMES seems kinda light. Michael Haneke is officially my favorite filmmaker ever.

time is racing towards us till the huns arrive

so, i'm seriously thinking Meryl Streep is gonna be up for Best Actress this year for PRADA. i know, people think of her as being supporting in the movie, but people from Frances McDormand and Anthony Hopkins have won leading Oscars for less screentime. At the end of the day, it IS the performance that drives the movie, gave it great buzz and has made it a very big hit. I also could see Streep winning her long overdue 3rd Oscar come March (or is it Feb this yr?).

Streep's predictable competition is ASHLEY JUDD, who is doing the "Charlize/Nicole/Halle" thing where a beautiful woman in her 30's gets all grungy and dark and impresses people with their RANGE. Judd is starring in the film adaptation of Tracy Lett's hit play BUG. Supposedly, it is a strong performance (Judd has given one or two in the past, so I imagine this is possible).

Annette Bening is gunning for nomination #4 with RUNNING WITH SCISSORS. Susan Sarandon in 1995 (Dead Man Walking) was the last time a woman over 40 won. I'd like to see this change. Bening was Oscar worthy in very competitive years for The Grifters, American Beauty and Being Julia. Hopefully her time will come.

There also appear to be major performances coming from Cate Blanchett (3 leading roles this year), Helen Mirren (THE QUEEN, opening the New York Film Festival), Renee Zellwger (Chris Noonan's MISS POTTER), Nicole Kidman (the Diane Arbus biopic FUR), Anna Paquin (Kenneth Lonnergan's MARGARET), Kate Winslet (Todd Field's LITTLE CHILDREN) AND Judi Dench (NOTES ON A SCANDAL). Beyond those obvious contenders, there is another whole pack of maybes from Beyonce in Dreamgirls to Julianne Moore in Children of Men. Its looking to be one of the most competitive Best Actress races in years.

As long as they are deserving, I'm kinda hopeful the winner will be Bening or Winslet. This will be Winslet's 5th nomination, which may be some kind of record for someone her age (31 in October!).

ALSO, did everyone see that Jai Rodriguez DOESN'T think either Heath or Jake are cute or hot and claims he wouldn't look twice if he saw them in a bar. Some people should just keep quiet if they have nothing meaningful to say.

Love, Gibsonfan31