Monday, August 04, 2008

Lovefilm

I was supposed to do a Lovefilm update during the past week but I couldn't as my parents had taken over my office and I couldn't got to my computer. My laptop is having issues and I had no iPhone at the time so things were looking a little grim. I finally managed to get the stench of guilt and Chanel no 5 out of here and I'm somewhat back, although not with a vengeance. That will have to wait. Still on we go, for another edition of.... Lovefilm.

The first movie I watched the week before last was A Breath of Scandal starring Sophia Loren, Angela Lansbury and John Gavin (very attractive). I'd never heard of it before but I was browsing on imdb.com and came across Sophia Lorens page and thought I'd see if Lovefilm had any of her movies. They had this one.


A sweet movie from 1960 in which Sophia Loren has been banished from Vienna by the Emperor to a castle she inherited after her late husband. She was apparently behaving scandalous in Vienna and had to cool down. She meets a man there, but is called back to Vienna as she is forgiven by the Emperor and she is then to marry a Prince.


It's a lovely movie. Sophia Loren is gorgeous as always and it reminds me of the good old fashion Danish movies. They always involved royalty and sweet stories of love. This was a really good choice and I love old movies.


Next movie was Sparkle starring Stockhart Channing, Bob Hoskins, Anthony (Stewart) Head, Shaun Evans and Amanda Ryan . Now I'd seen a trailer to this one and it looked bloody brilliant. Very funny. With a cast like that, how can you go wrong.


I can't say it was bad. But it wasn't good, and it just felt like it went on forever. Even if it was just 100 minutes long. I guess the trailer had shown every funny scene and there was just too much filler and although the story was good, it wasn't something I hadn't seen before. In fact I would go as far as to say it was quite predictable.


The story is about a son and his mother moving to London. He finds a job as a cater waiter and works his way up to PR where he starts shagging his boss and then breaks it off to go shagging the daughter instead. On the way there were various bits of family stuff. Some of it funny, some sad and some just painful to watch. I stopped caring about an hour into it.

This weekend I watched the OH in OHio. This movie starred Parker Posey, Danny DeVito, Paul Rudd (I love him), Keith David, Mischa Barton, Heather Graham and Liza Minnelli.
I'd seen a trailer for this one too, which was absolutely hilarious. It seemed funny and sweet and Paul Rudd is just lovely. I love him (have I mentioned that?). The movie is about Parker Posey who is married to Paul Rudd and they are having problems in their marriage. Well one problem. She's frigid, and has never in her life had an orgasm. Finally it's too much for Paul Rudd to handle so he moves out and starts having an affair with a student. Parker Posey buys a vibrator and becomes addicted. Still she can't achieve orgasm with another person. Until she meets the "pool guy" or pool salesman Danny DeVito.
Anyway, on paper this should be really really funny. It wasn't bad. In fact it was quite a standard comedy drama, and I did like it. Still it was a bit of a disappointment after watching the trailer. It should have been funnier. Liza was funny as hell though. I just kept waiting for the shit to hit the fan with the affair with the student. Because that's just not right.

I remember watching Talking Movies on BBC World. Tom Brook was reporting live from NY Times Sq. About the movies that were being made and were premiering. He reviewed them and he was speaking very highly about The Human Stain. This was 5 years ago though, and what kept me from watching it was Nicole Kidman. I've never liked her as an actress, I've always felt she was highly overrated.
The movie is about Anthony Hopkins who works as the dean at a college and after using the word Spooks about two studens who were never in class (who happened to be black) he was sacked and shortly after his wife died from the shock. He then meets Gary Sinise who he wants to write the story. During this time of them meeting he hooks up with the much younger Nicole Kidman who comes with baggage. A psycho ex husband played by Ed Harris.
This movie was great. Despite Nicole Kidman. It's not at all a happy happy movie. In fact I'd say I got slighty depressed watching it. Still it was good and the acting was brilliant. Even Nicole Kidman did well, I hate to admit that.


IDV made a huge fuss about not owning Clueless. I did own it, just not on DVD. Then earlier last week I found it in a £3 bin at a supermarket and picked it up. The "Whatever!" Edition no less. We all know it, it's a popculture classic. Exceptionally funny and sweet. Paul Rudd is in it. I love him. Did I mention that?
I adore this movie. Still after 13 years (yikes it makes me feel old) it's still fabulous and although the fashion is a bit dodgy now (Cher wears a yellow plaid outfit for gods sake) it's still very much fabulous. You knew that from the very beginning with the cover version of Kim Wildes Kids In America. Even the thanks to those Egg McMuffins from McDonalds without which Travis would never have been tardy was still funny. In fact I remembered most of the movie word by word.

Finally I watched Some Like It Hot from 1959 starring the fabulous Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Now there is a classic if there was ever one.
There isn't much to say about this except bloody brilliant!

13 comments:

  1. "Some Like it Hot" is indeed a classic.

    I like how Jack Lemmon's character describes the way that Marilyn Monroe's character walks...

    "It's like Jell-O on springs."

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  2. I know. Brilliant!

    The minute she appeared on screen I was gobsmacked. Well let's face it, she's got that effect on most people, but like always she commanded attention and she looks fantastic.

    I also adore the outfit she wore in that first scene. Fantastic.

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  3. Is it just me or does Sophia Loren look a bit special in that picture up there?

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  4. I'll have to start making a list of 'Pete's Must See Movies'.
    No 1 - Clueless.

    re Human Stain - I just couldn't see Antony Hopkins as mixed race. This made the movie rather unbelievable for me.

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  5. T-Birdy: She does. It bothers me a lot. the poor dear.

    It's difficult not to take a gorgeous photo of her, but they sure managed to here.

    KAZ: You should, you'll probably hate most of them though.

    You are right about the mixed race. That came out of nowhere didn't it. He also looked nothing like Wentworth Miller, who almost could pull off being mixed race. Odd to see him with hair though.

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  6. I don't know if I own "Clueless"! If not, I certainly should have a copy. It was on TV this weekend and I couldn't resist watching it. Paul Rudd was adorable.

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  7. He is absolutely adorable (not so much in the Ohio movie though).

    I fell in love with him in The Object of My Affection though.

    To this day I love the movie, and I must buy the DVD sometime. I wore out the vhs tape I had. Heh.

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  8. I loooove The Object of My Affection! My sister and I used to watch that practically every weekend. I just saw it not too long ago and still remembered it all! It has such a great cast, and Paul Rudd is beyond adorable. I love him. I found him really funny on Friends as Phoebe's boyfriend/husband.

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  9. it is fantastic.

    If I could I would have his baby. He was great on Friends. A perfect match to Phoebe

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  10. "A huge fuss"??!? I hardly think that keeling over in shock is a huge fuss... OK, maybe you're right.

    Oh, Paul Rudd is just so yummy. I haven't seen The Object Of My Affection in years - I must remedy that.

    I'm glad T-Bird pointed out Sophia's awful picture - It looks like she's going to start dribbling any second.

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  11. The Human Stain - tee-hee!

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  12. IDV: I know. It's so sad. She looks "stop eating the paste spechul".

    Tim: Well it's not referring to what IDV left behind after staring at your crotch photo.

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  13. Some like it Hot is a good movie...as is Clueless--funny! Great reviews;

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