Two great movies via streaming services. The British magazine SIGHT AND SOUND ranked Jeanne Dielman as its number one movie, moving Vertigo to number two. They rank one-hundred films. Other changes added more movies from female and black directors and two animated movies.
What movie would you put number one?
I watched Jeanne Dielman. At three and a half hours, it was long. It detailed three days in the life of a mother and her son. I'm sure it's not for everyone, but I thought it was fabulous. I don't mind watching people live their life though. Or read about it.
I also watched the new version of Lady Chatterley's Lover on Netflix, which I also loved.
Haven't seen that much sex in a movie in years. It was well-acted, directed and beautifully filmed.
Reading Mrs. Dalloway in preparation for seeing the opera streaming from Lincoln Center next Saturday.
Celebrated Kevin's 16ht birthday. Impossible to believe.
What about you?
18 comments:
Diane and I are still in Recovery Mode from our trip to NYC for Thanksgiving. We returned to a mountain of Snail Mail, tons of email, a pile of newspapers and magazines, and a dozen messages on our telephone answering machine.
Over the summer of 2022, Diane and I decided to contract with a local company to have our house resided. The vinyl siding on our house was almost 30 years old and faded. When we signed the contract, we were told the work might begin in December. And, sure enough, just who just showed up: a three person work crew. Plenty of hammering and pounding! We now also have a giant Trash Bin parked in our driveway to hold the old siding.
It looks like we'll have 12 people for Christmas dinner. Each year, Diane invites friends who have little or no family in the area. I'm ordering a 24 pound turkey today. Patrick and Katie will prepare a dozen side dishes, plus pies and cakes for dessert. They arrive in two weeks! Stay safe!
No one in my family wishes or has time or the room to cook anymore. So it will be restaurants for us. Patrick and Katie are truly the idea kids.
I might have to divide this in half.
Wow, 16. It seems like he was just turning 11.
Never heard of JEANNE DIELMAN before this. But then, I am not much in sync with the Sight and Sound crowd, I guess.I could do my favorites but would never presume to name the Best Movie of all time. But then, I'd rather watch NORTH BY NORTHWEST than VERTIGO.
One that won't make my list is DISOBEDIENCE (2017), which we watched on Netflix. Rachel Weisz is Ronit, a photographer in New York when she gets the call that her father, a prominent rabbi, has died in London. She didn't even know he was ill. She returns home and stays with her friend Dovid (Allesandro Nivola), now married to her other friend Esti (Rachel McAdams). We quickly see that all is not well in the marriage and there is a past between Ronit and Esti. (A hot sex scene ensues.) This is an OK romance - I like Weisz and McAdams - but nothing special. McAdams is always good but few of her movies have made much iompact. I'd recommend THE LUCKY ONES. We watch so few movies these days.
What do we watch? Acorn has brought back the second series of WHITSTABLE PEARL. Pearl is now officially a PI and the restaurant is on the side. She and the cop Mike now each have other love interests, but clearly are still attracted. The second episode is an homage (I suppose) to REAR WINDOW, with Mike confined to his couch with a broken leg, watching the neighbors. Ever notice how British shows feature actors who look more like real people rather than models like so many American shows do?
We finished the first (of 3) 6 episodes series the French political thriller SPIN on MHz Choice (which I don't think anyone else here subscribes to). The President of France is blown up by a crazed lone killer, but - anticipating the Republican Party of today (this is 10 years old) - the right wing party claims it was terrorism tied to Al Qaeda, to help them in the upcoming election. It is mainly about the political consultants - spin doctors or men in the shadows as the French title had it. Good stuff, very fast moving.
THE TOWER is a three part (45 minutes each) Britbox original. A fifteen year old girl (again, portrayed by the British police as a "crazed" Muslim) takes a 5 year old boy and goes to the top of a nearby tower block. Two cops show up, and when it is over, the older cop and the 15 year old are dead, leaving only the 5 year old and the rookie cop to tell the story. We watched all three parts Saturday night. Worth your time, if nasty.
We started the next 3 part CRACKER - The Big Crunch - but Jackie didn't want to watch more than the first part rather than going through it all. Jim Carter (recently the butler, Mr. Carson, in DOWNTON ABBEY), is the charismatic headmaster of a school and Minister of a small Christian sect. He is also having his way with teenage girls, including a very young looking 16 year old Samantha Morton in one of her earliest roles. She foolishly believes that now that she's pregnant he will leave his wife and marry her, and I guess we can all see where this is headed (except the silly girl).
We finished hte last DOC MARTIN series (other than a final Christmas special) on Acorn. Watching several French crime series. One more NORDIC MURDERS (Germany, on the border of Poland) to go. We watched the first GEORGE & TAMMY episode on Showtime last night. Reserving judgment so far, but Michael Shannon is always good and he seems a good choice for George Jones. Bill Crider would have loved the idea of this series.
I remember watching THE TOWER a few years ago. I still have the last season of DOC MARTIN to watch but I am not going to subscribe to ACORN again just for that. We watched CRACKER in the nineties when we spent a year in the UK but I think I will watch it again. SLOW HORSES is off to a good start.
We're also watching the second series of STAR TREK: PICARD on a DVD from the library. It has been apparent in the three episodes we've watched so far that Patrick Stewart's voice is not what it was. Don't know if it is just aging or something else, but his deep tones are not there.
We watched the CRACKERs then too. Like so many British shows back then, it was introduced to us by our English friends one summer. This time I am noticing all the guest starts who went on to fame - Jim Carter, Samantha Morton, Robert Carlyle, Susan Lynch, Adrian Dunbar, James Fleet, plus of course regular Christopher Eccleston, who went on to Doctor Who and THE LEFTOVERS.
Phil always joked about that. How often you would see the same actors. But with little or no film industry, that's the best choice. And some of those series are better than a lot of movies.
Watched 1899 on Netflix. Not sure if I liked it or not but it was watchable and kept my interest. Watched Bullet Train on Netflix. I liked it better than I expected. Over the top but a lot of fun.
Never agreed much with the Sight and Sound critics. They liked too many Godard movies for my taste. I never thought Vertigo was Hitchcock's best film. I prefer North By Northwest and Psycho.
Still reading The Furies by John Connelly. It contains two novels. I have finished the first one. Also reading Noem by Lavie Tidhar. The new Michael Connelly and Anthony Horowitz coming up next. Also got Paperback Jack by Loren Estleman.
Happy Birthday, Kevin! It really is hard to believe how fast the time has gone. I hope he had a great time. It's good to hear you've been enjoying your viewing, Patti. I honestly think that, with the number of decent streaming services out there, there are more options that aren't 'cookie cutter.'
Very true, Margot. If you compare TV now to 30 years ago, we are living in a TV paradise. ANd looking at the movies released in 1968, we are better in that regard too.
I am going to go back and try to start 1899 over again. This time without dubbing, which for some reason was turned on and made it harder. Well, I would choose REAR WINDOW first and then NORTH BY NORTHWEST.
My laptop no longer allow me to type the key for the letter between R and T! _o that _uk_, bigtime! Al_o the key for the letter between W and Y do_ not alway_ work. Grr.
Happy b'day to Kevin!
The _ide effect_ of radiation _eem to be wearing off. Hope to be back to normal by Chri_tma_.
Mark fini_he_ college thi_ week. To celebrate, he want_ to go bowling. Nobody, including Mark i_ good at bowling, _o it _hould be intere_ting. Erin'_ _emete end_ Thur_day, _o _he, Pine Cone and Potato (the hedgehog_) will be home for the bowling. Plan_ are underway for Mark and Walt to go to the Everglade_ in January to hunt python_.
Walt i_ away mo_t of thi_ month on bu_ine__, _o I'll be pulling e_tra Jack duty. Amy'_ work hour_ have _hifted _o we'll get to _ee more of her. Ceili ha_ been told to reduce her overtime hour, _o ditto. Je__ie i_ in line fore a new job, but it now look_ like her current job i_ willing to pay her a lot more, _ well a_ remove from the over_ight of a peron who doe_n't know what _he'_ doing and ha_ been cau_ing chao_ throughout her whole department. Chri_tina ha_ been making _o many fir_t grade friend_ and _olvng their many fir_t grade problem_ that they _eldom cry. Mark i_ applying for an African mammal caretaker po_ition in Jack_onville -- we'll _ee. Life i_ good.
The mi__ing letter_ are the lea_t of my laptop'_ problem_. Blogging -- and everything el_e will be light unil I get a new computer _ometime in the ne_t few week_.
Have a fanta_tic week, Patti!
BTW: Be_t movie? PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, followed clo_ely by BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. Ye_, I am a Phili_tine.
What a treat, figuring it out, Jerry. I realize now I probably skip over a lot of words when reading too!
This morning we went out for breakfast in downtown Santa Barbara, and walked through a part of downtown that we haven't been to in a while. And bought some jackets on sale. Big event for us, we are not big on buying clothes. Then we went to the independent book store in a different part of town to check out THE ANNOTATED ARABIAN NIGHTS, a book that George recommended at the short story post at Neeru's A Hot Cup of Pleasure blog last week. I made sure I could actually read it (print size, etc.), and we decided to purchase it. Plus a DK book about trees.
This week we tried THE LONG CALL, based on a series of mysteries by Ann Cleeves; we were not that interested in it so probably won't watch more episodes. Watched more STAR TREK DISCOVERY and DEEP SPACE NINE. We bought a DVD copy of the second series of POIROT (mostly adaptations of short stories) and we have watched two of the episodes. I am reading each short story in advance of watching it.
I read SAFE HOUSES by Dan Fesperman. It is an espionage story, told in two timelines; one timeline for Berlin, 1979, and one in 2014, in Maryland. I especially enjoyed the part set in 1979 because 1979 was a very big year for me (divorced and planning to move to Santa Barbara with Glen), and I was close to the age of the female protagonist in that timeline. Overall, I liked the book a lot.
Next I read NOT A CREATURE IS STIRRING, the first book in the Gregor Demarkian series by Jane Haddam. It is set at Christmas, and has a Christmas / Holiday theme throughout because the first books in that series had holiday themes. I have read 20+ books in the series and this is the 2nd time I have reread this book. It is my favorite book in the series.
I cannot believe Kevin is 16, even though you have mentioned all the stages he is going through, so it should not be a surprise. 16 is especially momentous for parents because it means closer to adulthood, and big changes in everyone's life. He looks very happy.
Jerry, I enjoyed reading your comments with missing letters. My biggest problem is typos and having to retype half of what I type.
Also liked your number 2 choice for movie; BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA is a favorite in our household. We tend to watch it too often.
I don’t think I have ever really seen that movie in its entirety. I don’t know how Cleves can keep track of so many series. Amazing!
Happy birthday to Kevin.
I watched a three part DRACULA adaption on HBO. I heard an interview with the ceator, Mark Gatiss. Gatiss has had a successful television career but I remember him from a couple tongue-in-cheek spy novels he wrote quite a few years ago.
Don't think I have ever seen that adaptation.
Tracy - Fesperman is always good. Safe Houses has a sequel-The Cover Wife.
Never been able to get through Big Trouble in Little China.
Best movies-The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The 400 Blows, The Seven Samurai. Vertigo wouldn't even make my top 100.
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