recommended viewing list
Mar. 17th, 2009 04:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elderwittyI'm back, and bossy as ever. When you've finished reading all the books I recommended, you can take a break and catch a good flick. Here are nine I insist you see.
1) Holiday (1938) - my favorite movie of all time. Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Lew Ayres and Edward Everett Horton. Hard-working young man Johnny Case (Cary Grant) takes a break from his labors to see what he's working for. While on holiday in Lake Placid he meets and falls for Julia, a lovely young lady. After arriving home in NYC, he cabs over to her place to meet the family. Surprise #1 - she's stinking rich. Surprise #2 - her non-conformist sister Linda (Kate Hepburn) is perfect for him. Their brother Ned (Lew Ayres), who likes a tipple, approves. The rest of the family - not so much. Johnny's best friends, Nick (Edward Everett Horton) and wife Susan, provide support and superlative comedic timing.
2) The Tall Guy (1989) - Jeff Goldblum's Dexter King is the second banana in Rowen Atkinson's one-man show in London's West End. He falls for Emma Thompson's Kate Lemmon, a nurse with a fondness for the color orange. After Dexter gets fired for getting more laughs than the star, he has to find a new gig. He lands lead role in a musical based on the life of the Elephant Man. At one point they destroy Kate's apartment with sex. Riotously funny.
3) Enchanted April (1992) - two somewhat depressed Victorian housewives (Josie Lawrence and Miranda Richardson) decide to leave their dreary London lives and distant husbands behind and rent a small Italian castle for the month of April. They advertise for women to share the expense, expecting to be able to pick and choose the perfect companions, but only two apply; an elderly widow with firm ideas on how things should be done (Joan Plowright) and a beautiful flapper (Polly Walker) who just wants a break from being grabbed. Despite having seemingly nothing in common, they forge strong friendships, with each other and, unexpectedly, with their husbands (Alfred Molina and Jim Broadbent) who come to San Salvatore, one at the behest of his wife and the other looking for beauty. Breathtakingly gorgeous. Now available on DVD. WHEEE!!!!
4) Let it Ride (1989) - Jay Trotter (Richard Dreyfuss) is having a very good day. Well, sure, his wife Pam (Teri Garr) is going to leave him if he doesn't stop gambling. And, yes - his best friend and track-buddy (David Johansen aka Buster Poindexter) is a loser who couldn't pick a winner to save his life. Furthermore, Vicki (Jennifer Tilly), the pretty girl he meets at the track, doesn't fall out of her dress even one time (though not for lack of trying). Still, he can't seem to put a foot wrong when it comes to picking the horses. A sort of fairy tale about a loveable loser who makes good.
5) Gunga Din (1939) - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Cary Grant and Victor McLaglen are three British soldiers in colonial India who have to stop the murderous Thuggee cult from sweeping across the continent. Armed only with their guns, an elephant, a native waterboy (Sam Jaffee), dashing style, and their rapier wit they attempt to keep the world safe. And, ya know, find some gold and treasure for themselves. Action-adventure, comedy with lots of snark, and even (a very little) romance. If you've seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, some of this will seem familiar. I get the feeling that Steven is a fan.
6) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (1990) - according to IMDB, Gary Oldman is Rosencrantz and Tim Roth is Guildenstern. The editors are quite possibly the only ones who are sure of that, including the characters themselves. Hamlet's two college friends, called by the King to discover what is wrong with him, wander in and out of scenes of Shakespeare's famous play, getting into trouble both onstage and off. Playwright Tom Stoppard wondered what these two minor characters got up to when they weren't in their very few scenes in the play, and this is what he came up with. Very funny, very clever, and the chemistry between the leads is phenomenal.
7) Dead Again (1991) - Kenneth Branagh is Mike Church, a PI doing a favor for the orphanage where he grew up. He's trying to find the identity of a mute woman found wandering the grounds. He can't bear to leave Grace (Emma Thompson), as he calls her, at the county mental ward - so he takes her home instead. Hypnotist/antiques dealer Franklyn Madson (Derek Jacobi) is able to get her to speak, but it's not much help, as she is amnesiac except for memories of Roman and Margaret Strauss, a conductor and cellist from the 1940s whose love story ended in murder and execution. Throw in Andy Garcia as a reporter and Robin Williams as an ex-psychriatrist and you have a classic whodunit. Twistier than The Sixth Sense, and more satisfying.
8) Bringing Up Baby (1938) - the classic screwball comedy. David Huxley (Cary Grant) is a mild-mannered paleontologist who wants just three things; an intercostal clavicle - the last piece of the brontosaur he's reconstructing, to marry the very respectable Miss Bird, and a million dollar grant from society dame Elizabeth Random. Only three things stand in his way: George, a terrier with a taste for fossils; Baby, a leopard with a doppelganger problem; and Susan Vance (Katherine Hepburn), a flibbertigibbet, nominally in charge of George and Baby, who is also in the running for the grant (and the Grant) and who seems to have the inside track, since she's Elizabeth's niece. Fast talking, fast action - comedy at its very best.
9) The Philadelphia Story (1940) - Tracy Lord (Katherine Hepburn) is about to be married, for the second time. Things get complicated when her first husband, C K Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) shows up with two friends in tow. Turns out they're not really friends - Macaulay Connor (James Stewart) is a tabloid reporter and Elizabeth Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) is his photographer. It seems that Tracy's father has been naughty, which makes it possible for tabloid editor Sidney Kidd to extort her cooperation. She tries to throw a wrench in the works by playing up the expected eccentricities of the wealthy, with the help of younger sister Dinah (the fabulous Virginia Wiedler). The wedding does not go off without a hitch. There are hitches aplenty, mostly due to sparks between Tracy and Dext that are far from snuffed out. Funny, touching, romantic and hilarious by turns. And a drunken Jimmy Stewart is a sight you have to see.
(Useless trivia - porn star turned legit actress Traci Lords got her nom de porn here. Okay, that's probably not true, but it makes a much better story than 'her best friend's first name plus Jack Lord's last.' whatever.)
1) Holiday (1938) - my favorite movie of all time. Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Lew Ayres and Edward Everett Horton. Hard-working young man Johnny Case (Cary Grant) takes a break from his labors to see what he's working for. While on holiday in Lake Placid he meets and falls for Julia, a lovely young lady. After arriving home in NYC, he cabs over to her place to meet the family. Surprise #1 - she's stinking rich. Surprise #2 - her non-conformist sister Linda (Kate Hepburn) is perfect for him. Their brother Ned (Lew Ayres), who likes a tipple, approves. The rest of the family - not so much. Johnny's best friends, Nick (Edward Everett Horton) and wife Susan, provide support and superlative comedic timing.
2) The Tall Guy (1989) - Jeff Goldblum's Dexter King is the second banana in Rowen Atkinson's one-man show in London's West End. He falls for Emma Thompson's Kate Lemmon, a nurse with a fondness for the color orange. After Dexter gets fired for getting more laughs than the star, he has to find a new gig. He lands lead role in a musical based on the life of the Elephant Man. At one point they destroy Kate's apartment with sex. Riotously funny.
3) Enchanted April (1992) - two somewhat depressed Victorian housewives (Josie Lawrence and Miranda Richardson) decide to leave their dreary London lives and distant husbands behind and rent a small Italian castle for the month of April. They advertise for women to share the expense, expecting to be able to pick and choose the perfect companions, but only two apply; an elderly widow with firm ideas on how things should be done (Joan Plowright) and a beautiful flapper (Polly Walker) who just wants a break from being grabbed. Despite having seemingly nothing in common, they forge strong friendships, with each other and, unexpectedly, with their husbands (Alfred Molina and Jim Broadbent) who come to San Salvatore, one at the behest of his wife and the other looking for beauty. Breathtakingly gorgeous. Now available on DVD. WHEEE!!!!
4) Let it Ride (1989) - Jay Trotter (Richard Dreyfuss) is having a very good day. Well, sure, his wife Pam (Teri Garr) is going to leave him if he doesn't stop gambling. And, yes - his best friend and track-buddy (David Johansen aka Buster Poindexter) is a loser who couldn't pick a winner to save his life. Furthermore, Vicki (Jennifer Tilly), the pretty girl he meets at the track, doesn't fall out of her dress even one time (though not for lack of trying). Still, he can't seem to put a foot wrong when it comes to picking the horses. A sort of fairy tale about a loveable loser who makes good.
5) Gunga Din (1939) - Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Cary Grant and Victor McLaglen are three British soldiers in colonial India who have to stop the murderous Thuggee cult from sweeping across the continent. Armed only with their guns, an elephant, a native waterboy (Sam Jaffee), dashing style, and their rapier wit they attempt to keep the world safe. And, ya know, find some gold and treasure for themselves. Action-adventure, comedy with lots of snark, and even (a very little) romance. If you've seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, some of this will seem familiar. I get the feeling that Steven is a fan.
6) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (1990) - according to IMDB, Gary Oldman is Rosencrantz and Tim Roth is Guildenstern. The editors are quite possibly the only ones who are sure of that, including the characters themselves. Hamlet's two college friends, called by the King to discover what is wrong with him, wander in and out of scenes of Shakespeare's famous play, getting into trouble both onstage and off. Playwright Tom Stoppard wondered what these two minor characters got up to when they weren't in their very few scenes in the play, and this is what he came up with. Very funny, very clever, and the chemistry between the leads is phenomenal.
7) Dead Again (1991) - Kenneth Branagh is Mike Church, a PI doing a favor for the orphanage where he grew up. He's trying to find the identity of a mute woman found wandering the grounds. He can't bear to leave Grace (Emma Thompson), as he calls her, at the county mental ward - so he takes her home instead. Hypnotist/antiques dealer Franklyn Madson (Derek Jacobi) is able to get her to speak, but it's not much help, as she is amnesiac except for memories of Roman and Margaret Strauss, a conductor and cellist from the 1940s whose love story ended in murder and execution. Throw in Andy Garcia as a reporter and Robin Williams as an ex-psychriatrist and you have a classic whodunit. Twistier than The Sixth Sense, and more satisfying.
8) Bringing Up Baby (1938) - the classic screwball comedy. David Huxley (Cary Grant) is a mild-mannered paleontologist who wants just three things; an intercostal clavicle - the last piece of the brontosaur he's reconstructing, to marry the very respectable Miss Bird, and a million dollar grant from society dame Elizabeth Random. Only three things stand in his way: George, a terrier with a taste for fossils; Baby, a leopard with a doppelganger problem; and Susan Vance (Katherine Hepburn), a flibbertigibbet, nominally in charge of George and Baby, who is also in the running for the grant (and the Grant) and who seems to have the inside track, since she's Elizabeth's niece. Fast talking, fast action - comedy at its very best.
9) The Philadelphia Story (1940) - Tracy Lord (Katherine Hepburn) is about to be married, for the second time. Things get complicated when her first husband, C K Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) shows up with two friends in tow. Turns out they're not really friends - Macaulay Connor (James Stewart) is a tabloid reporter and Elizabeth Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) is his photographer. It seems that Tracy's father has been naughty, which makes it possible for tabloid editor Sidney Kidd to extort her cooperation. She tries to throw a wrench in the works by playing up the expected eccentricities of the wealthy, with the help of younger sister Dinah (the fabulous Virginia Wiedler). The wedding does not go off without a hitch. There are hitches aplenty, mostly due to sparks between Tracy and Dext that are far from snuffed out. Funny, touching, romantic and hilarious by turns. And a drunken Jimmy Stewart is a sight you have to see.
(Useless trivia - porn star turned legit actress Traci Lords got her nom de porn here. Okay, that's probably not true, but it makes a much better story than 'her best friend's first name plus Jack Lord's last.' whatever.)
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no subject
Date: 2011-09-08 09:30 am (UTC)I would add Sabrina (1954) with Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden. Saw this a couple years back and it is one of my firm all-time favourites.
Also, 3) is one of my favourite books, and you can imagine my UTTER JOY to find out that there is a film of it!! \0/ Thanks for the link! <3
movie recs
Date: 2011-09-08 05:38 pm (UTC)Hmmm, why did I leave that off the list? I like it very much. Perhaps I'll rewatch it this weekend and come up with a blurb.
\o/ That's even better! Now you get to enjoy it for the first time. It's not only one of my favorites, it's on the extremely short (six) list of movies that are better than the book. It only came out on DVD this past May - and you should've heard the happy sounds around here. I pre-ordered it and bought it new, which happens so rarely that the clerk who processed it asked me twice if I was sure. :grin:
You're most welcome. Tell everyone - spread the great movies around!