Jan 9
Porter Melmoth commented on Confirmed: Seattle Weekly Sold.
Porter Melmoth commented on Confirmed: Seattle Weekly Sold.
...Not only is the corporate-ization of such takeovers over-obvious, it's also part of what I call the Blanding of America - and other Late Empire behaviors.
Jan 9
Porter Melmoth commented on Confirmed: Seattle Weekly Sold.
Porter Melmoth commented on Confirmed: Seattle Weekly Sold.
If the Stranger ever goes the route of the Village Voice, the LA Weekly, and Time Out, (not to mention the Berkeley Barb), I'm getting out my mimeograph machine and I'll do this stuff MYSELF.
Jan 1
Porter Melmoth commented on Maladroit.
Porter Melmoth commented on Maladroit.
Didn't see it (yet), but a great cast, certainly.
One thing about this saga, it can stand many remakes, as there is much to vary and much to grab onto.
One thing about this saga, it can stand many remakes, as there is much to vary and much to grab onto.
Jan 1
Porter Melmoth commented on Maladroit.
Porter Melmoth commented on Maladroit.
Well Auntie G, I feel it's 'OK' now to rave about the film. It is one of the most carefully-produced films I've seen in the CGI age. The emphasis is on the characters and their performances, where it belongs. All the cinematic tools employed are supportive to them, and not gratuitous.
Indeed, Anne Hathaway is outstanding - and so is EVERYONE ELSE. Russell Crowe can sometimes be a little too Russell Crowe-ish, but his performance was wonderfully appropriate. All the key roles get their own times to steal the show - a most egalitarian production, as nobody hogs it.
While the production is almost entirely studio-bound, the skills are certainly apparent. A few scenes were overly gloomily-lighted, and one longed for just one sunny day, but these are minor complaints.
My only other (minor) complaint: I wish the orchestral score would have been 'pushed' a bit more, as with the old Warner Bros. scores. Aside from that, the score was superbly handled, as if the great Alfred Newman himself was at the podium.
I would also recommend without reservation, the 1935 version with Charles Laughton, who is devastating as Javert, and the 1952 remake, which is pretty decent in all respects.
There is also a French version (several!) with Depardieu & Malkovich, and one with Liam Neeson & Uma Thurman (haven't seen).
Hugo's story is so massive, it's pretty hard to muck up.
This most recent 'Les Miserables' is, I think, nothing short of a triumph, and that's not a common thing for me to say these days. I was not only pleasantly surprised, I was pleasant blown away, impacted, moved, and utterly satisfied.
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Indeed, Anne Hathaway is outstanding - and so is EVERYONE ELSE. Russell Crowe can sometimes be a little too Russell Crowe-ish, but his performance was wonderfully appropriate. All the key roles get their own times to steal the show - a most egalitarian production, as nobody hogs it.
While the production is almost entirely studio-bound, the skills are certainly apparent. A few scenes were overly gloomily-lighted, and one longed for just one sunny day, but these are minor complaints.
My only other (minor) complaint: I wish the orchestral score would have been 'pushed' a bit more, as with the old Warner Bros. scores. Aside from that, the score was superbly handled, as if the great Alfred Newman himself was at the podium.
I would also recommend without reservation, the 1935 version with Charles Laughton, who is devastating as Javert, and the 1952 remake, which is pretty decent in all respects.
There is also a French version (several!) with Depardieu & Malkovich, and one with Liam Neeson & Uma Thurman (haven't seen).
Hugo's story is so massive, it's pretty hard to muck up.
This most recent 'Les Miserables' is, I think, nothing short of a triumph, and that's not a common thing for me to say these days. I was not only pleasantly surprised, I was pleasant blown away, impacted, moved, and utterly satisfied.
Dec 31, 2012
Porter Melmoth commented on Maladroit.
Porter Melmoth commented on Maladroit.
I just came from seeing it on the screen, and Goldy, my dear fellow, I believe it to be a masterpiece.
Dec 28, 2012
Porter Melmoth commented on Maladroit.
Porter Melmoth commented on Maladroit.
Holy shit - I just looked Hooper up on IMDb and indeed he DID direct a 'Prime Suspect'! I didn't know - honest!
Proves my point, sadly.
Proves my point, sadly.
Dec 28, 2012
Porter Melmoth commented on Maladroit.
Porter Melmoth commented on Maladroit.
Having seen the London stage version, I naturally felt it cried out to be a film too, but the theatrics in play were wholly appropriate and fulfilling.
'Les Miz' is a show where the score matters above all else.
The scope of Hugo's story is vast. Why be ashamed of it? All too often today, filmmakers avoid the 'Lawrence of Arabia' approach, preferring 'Prime Suspect' or some other godawful thing with the requisite metallic look.
Sounds like Hooper's prime mission was to destroy the distance between the actors and the last row in the balcony.
If you're gonna do a 'realistic' musical, take a look at 'The Pajama Game' (1957) or 'Oliver' (1968) or even 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' (1968) for crying out loud. That is, if you've got the 'balls', and don't be so fucking embarrassed about it.
Of course, everyone's too cool to take a look at what Stanley Donen did - on fucking soundstages, no less.
There can always be a remake of 'Les Miz'. In the Hollywood of today, that should happen in about two years. Maybe they'll be smart enough to splice in that remarkable Hathaway sequence.
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'Les Miz' is a show where the score matters above all else.
The scope of Hugo's story is vast. Why be ashamed of it? All too often today, filmmakers avoid the 'Lawrence of Arabia' approach, preferring 'Prime Suspect' or some other godawful thing with the requisite metallic look.
Sounds like Hooper's prime mission was to destroy the distance between the actors and the last row in the balcony.
If you're gonna do a 'realistic' musical, take a look at 'The Pajama Game' (1957) or 'Oliver' (1968) or even 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' (1968) for crying out loud. That is, if you've got the 'balls', and don't be so fucking embarrassed about it.
Of course, everyone's too cool to take a look at what Stanley Donen did - on fucking soundstages, no less.
There can always be a remake of 'Les Miz'. In the Hollywood of today, that should happen in about two years. Maybe they'll be smart enough to splice in that remarkable Hathaway sequence.
Oct 16, 2012
Porter Melmoth commented on Instant History.
Porter Melmoth commented on Instant History.
When the SX-70 came out, Polaroid went for prestige: Lord Laurence Olivier. Regarded as the greatest actor in the world at the time (justified), Lord Larry was hired to announce the new product, which he did with great aplomb. The only condition was that the ads wouldn't be shown in the UK, thus saving Larry from assured disgrace. He said he needed the money for his kids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDB9Ty3WP…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDB9Ty3WP…
Oct 9, 2012
Porter Melmoth commented on Art House.
Porter Melmoth commented on Art House.
Charles, when you say ‘Burn, Hollywood, burn’, I assume you know Butterfly McQueen died tragically from effects of a fire. I always hoped that someone like Spike Lee would craft a joint around her, perhaps with Ruby Dee and Beah Richards as co-stars.
I think about her great talent squandered in movies too, but audiences had great affection for her. Her character in ‘Duel In The Sun’ (also 1946) is the most intelligent one in the picture.
You can have Sonic Youth’s Mildred. I’ll stick with Max Steiner’s tremendous score - as full of truth and justice as Mike Curtiz’ direction. A tacit mention of Steiner would not have been inappropriate, so I'll do so now.
I think about her great talent squandered in movies too, but audiences had great affection for her. Her character in ‘Duel In The Sun’ (also 1946) is the most intelligent one in the picture.
You can have Sonic Youth’s Mildred. I’ll stick with Max Steiner’s tremendous score - as full of truth and justice as Mike Curtiz’ direction. A tacit mention of Steiner would not have been inappropriate, so I'll do so now.
Oct 1, 2012
Porter Melmoth commented on Should We Have Hope for Logos?.
Porter Melmoth commented on Should We Have Hope for Logos?.
DonServo @21: By way of explanation, I guess I have to refer to my statement at top: the piece is a satire, a parody. Limp it may be, but it’s just supposed to be, well, fun. I’m afraid it’s just a fluff-ball piece, despite the implication of more serious commentary.
The only real logo – if that’s what it should be called, is my own current mark in the lower right-hand corner. The rest is up to the viewer.
When it hung in the gallery I overheard a viewer say, ‘But what are they FOR? I don’t recognize any of them.’ Maybe Ed Ruscha’s ‘OOF’, asks a similar question.
Perhaps logos annoy ‘Stranger’ readers a bit because of their corporate associations. Maybe a hint is all it takes. Sorry that they didn’t measure up very well to the standards around here…
Given that the net is about 89% porno, and pop culture is about 146% sex, it’s interesting that my tiny dabbling in such mainstream stuff caused a giggle here. Cool!
Speaking of the Sears logo, back in the late 60s I went wild with reproducing it all over the place. Pencil, pen, magic marker, I was the Sears-brander in the night. Their slogan was ‘Sears Has Everything’, so I thought everything (semi-literally) should thus have the Sears trademark on it. (‘Trademark’ was used as a term much more than ‘logo’, which had yet to take full flight.) A friend and I took this a step further by dragging the whole Sears thing into our graphic novel set in outer space, so the Sears brand was on everything from hair oil to asteroids to atom bombs. It was a gentle mockery kind of thing, sort of like 100 LOGOS.
More...
The only real logo – if that’s what it should be called, is my own current mark in the lower right-hand corner. The rest is up to the viewer.
When it hung in the gallery I overheard a viewer say, ‘But what are they FOR? I don’t recognize any of them.’ Maybe Ed Ruscha’s ‘OOF’, asks a similar question.
Perhaps logos annoy ‘Stranger’ readers a bit because of their corporate associations. Maybe a hint is all it takes. Sorry that they didn’t measure up very well to the standards around here…
Given that the net is about 89% porno, and pop culture is about 146% sex, it’s interesting that my tiny dabbling in such mainstream stuff caused a giggle here. Cool!
Speaking of the Sears logo, back in the late 60s I went wild with reproducing it all over the place. Pencil, pen, magic marker, I was the Sears-brander in the night. Their slogan was ‘Sears Has Everything’, so I thought everything (semi-literally) should thus have the Sears trademark on it. (‘Trademark’ was used as a term much more than ‘logo’, which had yet to take full flight.) A friend and I took this a step further by dragging the whole Sears thing into our graphic novel set in outer space, so the Sears brand was on everything from hair oil to asteroids to atom bombs. It was a gentle mockery kind of thing, sort of like 100 LOGOS.
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