Shield your eyes...It's just so much '70s goodness

I can't believe it's been pretty much a year since I blogged here. Well, time to share something I found on YouTube last night.

I was looking around for various entertainers after I had just read about Bette Midler taking over for Celine Dion next year at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Elton John also appears there on Celine's off nights and will continue when she's gone. Cher has long been rumored to also be headed there, so it's quite possible that all 3 of them will be alternating at the Palace.

This reminded me of years ago when I saw an episode of the Cher show with Bette Midler and Elton John as her guests. It was the first time that I'd seen Bette Midler and I was mesmerized by the costumes and the zaniness of it all.

I recall that it was my birthday. Just turned 11. I got one of those old cassette players with the big buttons that you had to press really hard. I was excited by the ability to record audio. This was before VCRs of course. 1975. I held the player up to the TV and recorded the Cher show with Bette Midler and Elton John.

I played it at recess for my friends at school. This had a very high cool factor.

Here's a clip that I found on YouTube last night...Enjoy!

Bring on the Night

Around the same time as Brazil, Bring on the Night was popular amongst my college friends. The Police had recently broken up at the height of their popularity and Sting was eager to establish himself as a serious artiste.

I guess it worked because he never went back to The Police. However, the jazz band that he is supposedly pulling together in this documentary didn't survive either. It's sort of predicted by Branford Marsalis in a sort of wry speech he gives at one point. The "band" only survived to make the one album The Dream of the Blue Turtles.

I recently learned that Kenny Kirkland died of a possible drug overdose back in 1998. He was an excellent pianist featured in this film.

Also, the realized that the baby born to Sting and Trudie Styler in this film is now -- yikes -- an adult. So much for my college days...

Brazil

Thought I'd restart the blog with Brazil. Have you ever felt like Sam Lowry, sitting in the chair, while his mind is being reprogrammed to think happy thoughts?

I saw this movie when it first came out. It was a big hit with my college friends. I don't know that we could understand it back then. I know I didn't really. But now that we live in an age when our country is turned in on itself looking for terrorists, this film rings true. Ahead of its time.

Happy thoughts everyone.

Integration

I had three blogs that I started under different accounts with various purposes. Today I decided to integrate myself under one user account: m-cellophane. I'll still continue the separate blogs in order to keep the subjects separate and more manageable, but now they're linked - just like they are in my head. I still avoid people (m-cellophane), watch films (jlproffitt), and ponder God stuff (sprocket). And today, my wife and I started a new blog together: da bitsy code, in which we'll blog about (hopefully) losing weight.

 

I might have to have a blog about my blogs...

Wow

I haven't blogged here since 9/1/04. Wow. What have I been doing? I've watched some movies, so I think I need to get busy posting again. As I reread my blog today, it seems like ages ago. I do remember that when I posted about The Passion of the Christ that I was sort of speechless. I left the images to speak for themselves. Here we are 20 months later!

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane 

Mary at Jesus' trial 

Pontius Pilate 

Satan lurks 

After the scourge 

Mary cleans Jesus' blood 

Magdalen recalls when Jesus saved her from stoning 

Mary runs to Jesus to tell Him that she is with Him 

In flashback, Jesus tells the disciples to love one another 

A Centurion realizes the truth 

Mary with Jesus after the cross 

Scenes from a Marriage

Scenes from a Marriage

For some, later Bergman dramas are slow torture. For me, every moment is raw and true. The characters are real. Every detail is important. Bergman's actors frequently worked with him many times, developing a sense of familiarity that works well with his intense studies. I'm so happy that the full length TV version is available here. Kudos to Criterion for presenting both versions. I have to admit I completely ignored the theatrical cut and dove straight through the longest cut available.

I Fidanzati

I Fidanzati

"In the Mood for Love" owes a lot to this film. The story lines are different, but it's all about mood. It's amazingly done with regular people with amazing faces. Criterion has done incredible work to clean up Olmi's films for release. The results are spectacular. The dancing sequences are a unique glimpse into the specific culture that's protrayed. They also provide a backdrop for an exploration of universal truths about love, sacrifice, and longing.

In the Mood for Love

In the Mood for Love

The title of this film says more than I think most people realize before they view it. This film is all about mood. It's essentially written in the context of a limited understanding of the specifics. Therefore, the mood is key to communicating the story. I love the period dress. Maggie Cheung has portrayed the Hong Kong newcomer before in "Comrades - Almost a Love Story." I enjoyed her performance in that film and looked forward to seeing her here. This performance is hugely restrained and subtly beautiful.


In the Mood for Love

The Butterfly Effect

Aston Kutcher looking pensive

I read Roger Ebert's review of this film and he insists that Aston Kutcher can act...adequately enough...to pull off his role in this movie. I love Roger Ebert. Gotta disagree with him though. It's kinda funny watching Kutcher in this movie. He tries to act surprised. He tries to act like he's in pain. It's kinda laughable. Poor, poor Demi. Well, maybe he's not quite as wooden in person.

Written on the Wind

Written on the Wind

Ya gotta love melodrama. I wish I'd been around in the '50s to see these films on the big screen. These are hyper soap operas, but helmed by Douglas Sirk, they're an art form all their own. The images are beautiful. There's much to admire in the framing. Sure, the acting is over the top by modern standards. But it's still possible to get involved in the storyline. When the door opens, leaves blow inside just perfectly, somebody stumbles outside, and a gun drops from their limp hand...you know it's popcorn time.

Dogville

Dogwood from above

Dogville. It's advertised as being "not far from here." It seems close by. There are many characters in this film that I have known. You'll recognize them too. There's a cynical tone to the film that suggests that Americans as a whole are full of fear and violence. Are we? For some, it's true. But I still believe that for the most part, Americans are hearty and honorable. There's a point at which Dogville turns ugly. It was then that I felt a disconnect.


Dogwood - Grace and Tom

This film includes a tour-de-force performance by Nicole Kidman. There aren't many actresses around today who could play both victim and villain so well. As I watched Lauren Bacall here, I thought perhaps she could have played Nicole's role in her prime. She's underutilized here.


Dogville - Grace

Il Posto

Il Posto

Il Posto effectively demonstrates the universality of film. Much of the time, the dialogue is unnecessary. It's all in the eyes and the faces. There is much silence in this film and in that silence, truth is revealed. One of my favorite silent scenes is where Domenico enters the New Year's Eve party. Initially, there aren't many people there. The sounds of his footsteps communicate to anyone who's ever made a similar journey into a nearly vacant party. The nod of the head by one of the guests full of compassion, excitement, resignation and anticipation.

The Village

The Village

The Village is not doing well with reviewers. It's accused of not being scary, not having a believable plot, being too sappy, whatever. I saw it on Friday night and found it quite enjoyable and thought-provoking. To me, it's a metaphor for xenophobia. In fact, everything that the society ran from, they brought with them. It's an art film; not a blockbuster.

The Leopard

Burt Lancaster in The Leopard

It is a shame that a great film like The Leopard should go unsung for so long. A short-sighted English language version, poorly dubbed, surely sank this story back in the '60s. Ironically, an '80s revival, in the original Italian, started this film on a road to revival and fame. For that, and The Criterion Collection, I am thankful. It's a great film.

Burt Lancaster's character of the Prince is at the end of a royal era. The next generation brings "new money" and a populist movement. Lancaster referred to this as his greatest work and I see no reason to disagree with him. His nuaned performance is spectacular.

The Leopard influenced Scorsese in The Age of Innocence as well as Coppola with The Godfather. The opulence on screen is certainly cause to behold. I've included two screenshots instead of my normal single in order to give a taste for the ornate images. Peter Cowie mentions in the commentary that this film bankrupted the production studio. It's easy to see why.


Claudia Cardinale dances with Burt Lancaster in The Leopard