tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post6278045255856849995..comments2024-03-08T03:14:02.855+11:00Comments on This Island Rod: Miss Jean Brodie’s Modestly Magnificent, Matriarchally Manipulative Springtime-For-Mussolini Movie QuizRoderick Heathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08107539379079558068noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-27571324769315025262017-07-20T08:07:35.650+10:002017-07-20T08:07:35.650+10:00You don't really like "Harold and Maude&q...You don't really like "Harold and Maude" do you? <br /><br />I love both Robert Ryan and Charles McGraw. <br /><br />I like the ending of "The Third Man". I like the penultimate scene in "On the Waterfront" but I'll concede that the staggering walk into the shape-up at the very end can be seen as over-the-top.<br /><br />My 2nd favorite Delmar Daves film is "Jubal" (favorite is "Broken Lance"). But I guess "3:10 Yuma" is the consensus critics' pick as his best film.<br /><br />Frank Gibbonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15680790857395183602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-66334037551924834342013-03-17T02:57:12.707+11:002013-03-17T02:57:12.707+11:00Hi Patrick. Well, yeah, like you I mildly enjoyed ...Hi Patrick. Well, yeah, like you I mildly enjoyed the first <i>Transformers</i> - the idea of essentially making an '80s nerd-gets-the-girl flick and surrounding it with sci-fi pizzazz wasn't such a bad one, and it flew a long way on pure absurd energy, and I had a sense of the Spielberg aegis keeping Bay damped down with focus on something like character dynamics. But the second one was so bad, and such a total capitulation to Bay's worst traits, that I have a hard time believing the third one could yield pleasure for me, especially without Megan Fox, whose character I actually found the most interesting in the first one, and I entirely understood Fox's fury at Bay for the way she was treated in the sequel. Also, you're right that I am a <i>Transformers</i> guy, as I grew up with the TV series and original animated movie, but that's part of my problem; I couldn't stand how little grasp Bay had on the characterisation and mythos of the Transformers themselves; for Bay they're just obstacles and opponents in a video game. I will certainly admit to hating on Bay a lot, for in spite of his undeniable chutzpah and kinetic energy his films are despicable for me on several levels. But I do have some liking for <i>The Rock</i>, which was a transitional work between the last of the '80s-style action films and the more recent brand. Roderick Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08107539379079558068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-73114831094885086822013-03-17T01:07:22.795+11:002013-03-17T01:07:22.795+11:00I would have figured you for a Transformers guy. ...I would have figured you for a Transformers guy. I always disliked (strongly) Michael Bay, but watched Transformers for some reason and actually got a kick out of it. The second one was fairly weak, but the third one (the moon one) was tolerable. I do understand if you have a dislike of anything by Bay.Patricknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-75459720540874031422013-03-14T07:07:24.582+11:002013-03-14T07:07:24.582+11:00Act of Violence and The Set-Up are two I haven'...Act of Violence and The Set-Up are two I haven't seen - and apparently Netflix doesn't want me to. I'll find 'em, don't you worry. Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10667380722587782819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-30440383130564471742013-03-13T16:00:40.896+11:002013-03-13T16:00:40.896+11:00I think if one has seen Ryan suffering through The...I think if one has seen Ryan suffering through <i>The Set-Up</i> and <i>Act of Violence</i>, where his soul seems to be threatening to be coming apart at the seams, one has enough to counterbalance some of his more overtly nasty characters. Even in the silly film I reviewed below, <i>Ice Palace</i>, the best moment in the film is when his righteous character blows his top and clobbers Richard Burton.Roderick Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08107539379079558068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-7644089821614843662013-03-13T11:37:17.465+11:002013-03-13T11:37:17.465+11:00He's so mean to my secret life-long crush Myrn...He's so mean to my secret life-long crush Myrna Loy in Lonelyhearts and so rascally in The Naked Spur, but I still can't hate him. He even helps keep The Outfit on its wobbly wobbly feet (though the couple of Timothy Carey moments help immeasurably). As is your way, you've summed him up perfectly.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10667380722587782819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-78088417664148023142013-03-12T13:36:33.120+11:002013-03-12T13:36:33.120+11:00As I said above in jokey fashion, Robert, Dennis p...As I said above in jokey fashion, Robert, Dennis pitches these things cleverly just past the usual range of cult figures and, I think, makes everyone wonder at least once during the quiz about what they haven't been watching. <br /><br />As for Ryan, well, he was just an excellent actor, with a capacity to suggest wearied pathos, authority, aggression, savagery, romanticism - all within the same tall and rangy frame. MacGraw had a similar rock-solid, utterly real quality, convincing and impressive particularly when called upon to be cruel or brutal (c.f. <i>Spartacus</i>), although what I've seen of him doesn't quite possess the same expressive range as Ryan. Unlike too many actors, especially those who try their hands at tough guy roles these days, you had the feeling that if you hit either, they wouldn't instantly fold up like a Murphy bed.Roderick Heathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08107539379079558068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1137730880076755122.post-5026143466715424512013-03-12T08:40:46.005+11:002013-03-12T08:40:46.005+11:00I eat these lists up when he does them. But, for ...I eat these lists up when he does them. But, for me, they do more to expose the gaps in my film knowledge than anything. Many of them I have no base to answer from. <br /><br />I esp. appreciate your Third Man, Touch of Evil, Jaws, and King Kong answers. And I'll watch pretty much anything with Robert Ryan in it. Never analyzed it to figure out why. He's just very appealing - maybe as a man who thinks he's better than he is, but then actually is, cause he is. Yeah... never analyzed it.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10667380722587782819noreply@blogger.com