This week's Movie review......

[Ang Mo]

I know a ton of elephant jokes.

I bet you do, I have a bunch of them in my trunk.........drumroll..............


Watched a really cool movie last night dealing with depression called Off the Map It was absolutely bizarre, funny, and original. Filmed entirely just north of Taos, New Mexico. A really unusual film, but very well done. I purchased the DVD and it was worth it.

[ben]

How do you make an elephant cry? Make them play the piano. Sorry, cruel joke!

I've seen a number of really good movies that I will not want to watch again. Some of these includes: The Colour Purple, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, a couple of Chinese movies that I'm glad I can't remember the titles. It seems that the only purpose of these movies is to make you depress. That's something I don't need to go through. So, Ang Mo, I think I'd skip Nobody Knows.

[rahau]

More "Great Movies I Never Want to See Again"

The Days of Wine and Roses

Leaving Las Vegas

Malena

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

[ben]

I liked Malena. While it was a bit graphic what they did to her (Monica Belucci), I did enjoy the light humor and adventures of the boy.

[Ang Mo]

Ben I watched "Nobody Knows" upon your recommendation. It is the film about japanese children struggling to survive when their mom abandons them. It is based on a true story, but I pray that one super depressing event in that film never happened in reality.

What I liked about "Off the Map was the fact it had a happy ending with resolution.

Rahau, I laughed out loud when you mentioned Days of Wine and Roses. That was a super depressing film. Henry Mancini did make a nice soundtrack however.

[ben]

Ooops, I didn't see Nobody Knows, it was tontamoo who recommended it. See page 3, I have also said then that I want to pass it but would give it a try if I somehow got hold of it.

Hey, I just remembered an old favorite war movie, Casualties of War. It starred Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn, and directed by Brian de Palma. It was based on a true incident in the Vietnam war. A conscience stirring movie with great acting by the still young Fox and Penn.

[rahau]

Rahau, I laughed out loud when you mentioned Days of Wine and Roses. That was a super depressing film. Henry Mancini did make a nice soundtrack however.

You're right, it was one of Henry's best. Speaking of whom:

A few months ago, I caught "Experiment in Terror" at a San Francisco film festival. Almost the same group: Directed by Blake Edwards, starring Lee Remick (AND San Francisco), and music by Mancini. My two cents, it's his best score. And boy, does that film hold up well. Too bad Blake Edwards spent the rest of his career doing slapstick comedy. "Experiment" is a good lesson for all filmmakers. Lesser directors try to scare us with graphic violence. Edwards used lighting and sound. Much, MUCH scarier than any slasher flick. Watch this film, and you'll be sleeping with the lights on for about six months.

Something else I noticed. The main title theme is played on a bass flute. Ever notice how much Vienna's lower register sounds like a bass flute? It has the same smoky, velvety texture. Rent the film (it came out on DVD about a year ago) and you'll hear what I'm talking about.

[Ang Mo]

Hey Ben,

I went back to page 3 and found out that you are correct. I apologize for my mistake. It made me very depressed in the sense I pride myself on my memory which is now obviously starting to go. (The chemicals in the diet coke I suspect) However, I made a great discovery. I had always thought Tontamoo was a boy, because the name sounds like a boys name. I was shocked to discover that Tontamoo is actually a very young twenty something Chinese American Woman who is a UCLA student. Her posting name is actually taken from two boy names (from her favorite boy band and the "moo" comes from her love of cows) Anyway I found her blog very entertaining, especially talking about the creepy older stalker, who was the ripe old age of 26 or 27. That sounded very cute! (I know it wasn't intended that way, but it just got me tickled) She should humiliate him by getting him a bottle of Geritol.

Rahau, I will look to obtain Experiment in Terror and give it a go. Sounds interesting.

[ben]

No need for apologies Ang Mo. And that's a nice discovery about tontamoo. I've always thought her handle name was some native American Indian term... and that she's a guy. Do chime in tontamoo.

Hey, I remembered I did watch a Chinese movie that's pretty depressing too. The ending was just nothing like the title. Can't really remember who the actors were but the director was, I think, Zhang Yimou (Hero and House of Flying Daggers). If you're wondering why I've watched another depressing movie, let's just say I got misled by the title... Happy Times.

Happy Times, the life of a guy in his 50's. The lies he told just to get the girl he wants, and to help a blind girl have faith in life. Can make you mad at times because of his lies but touching as well because of his intentions.

[Ginny]

I've seen a number of really good movies that I will not want to watch again. Some of these includes: The Colour Purple, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, a couple of Chinese movies that I'm glad I can't remember the titles. It seems that the only purpose of these movies is to make you depress.

I'm seriously behind on posts. I just read this thread and I have to agree with you, Ben on "Million Dollar Baby." I saw it on the airplane on the way to Beijing and it was almost too much for me. I'm never watching that again! ~Ginny

[Ang Mo]

Hey Ben,

I watched Happy Times several times. I hated the ending, but it was good until up to that point. Jie Dong is an up and coming actress. She had a brief role in 2046 and instead of playing a sweet, innocent, blind girl like in Happy Times, she plays the horny younger sister of Faye Wong who can't keep her hands off Tony Leung. It was quite a different role from the first one. The Tony Leung character mentions she was finally sent to a mental hospital if I recall correctly. (That failing memory of mine is starting to scare me) Unfortunately not the mental hospital I'm in.....(just kidding)

Well Ginny, Ben, and I agree that Million Dollar Baby was a gigantic depressing film. It was very good until they put that stupid part in the end.

[Ginny]

After having my mom on a respirator for 4 months it was a little too much for me to see it on the movie. I had more trouble with the hospital/nursing home scenes than with the ending, but the whole thing was heartbreaking. I was so glad the boys and I weren't sitting together on the plane b/c I got chocked up more than once while watching it. On the plane ride back they were having technical difficulties with the 4th movie of the flight and put "Million Dollar Baby" on instead As soon as I saw what it was I yanked those headphones off and took out a book! ~Ginny

[ben]

@Ang Mo, wow, I didn't recognize that Happy Times girl in 2046. Such a shame she didn't get that many breaks as Zhang Ziyi had. I have to admit that despite being a sad film, Happy Times was very nice portrayal of life's inconveniences such as poverty.

@ginny, sad to hear that movie brought back some sensitive memories for you. But at least yours had a bright ending.

I wonder if any of you have seen The Colour Purple. It's a Steven Spielberg film and if I'm not mistaken, it was Whoopi Goldberg's debut film. If there's a laugh a minute movie, this might qualify as cry a minute. I watched this in a hotel room and it just ruined the rest of my day. I don't wonder why Whoopi starts making comedies after that... must have been depressing for her too. It's about persecusions of African Americans... by African Americans. Nah, it's more about an abused girl who grew up and became a battered wife. Whoopi and Danny Glover did some great actings there. Oprah was also in it, she's younger and heavier.

[Ang Mo]

Hi Ben,
Jie Dong from Happy Times stars in a new film. Here is the link to the film website. It might already be out in theatres over there.
http://www.movie-eye.com/saigonokoi/

Hopefully that link works.

The other depressing film I remember now is called "The Clearing" with Robert Redford who is kidnapped by Willem Dafoe. It is very well acted, but the downer ending torpedoed the film in my opinion.

I think Vienna's music would be great in a film. Hopefully the seeds that the Man in Blue planted at the film festival will come to fruition. That would be a storybook ending in its own right. A happy ending.

[Ginny]

@ Ben--yes, there was a happy ending. It is temporary in that my mom is terminally ill and we can't do anything to change that, but it did buy us some time and we're lucky to have that chance. And yes, I've seen The Color Purple but I was a kid when it came out and I really don't remember anything about it except that Oprah's in it! I will have to watch it again sometime, although I'm not too keen on sad movies lately so it'll have to wait. ~Ginny