2013-06-27

The Movie Suggestion of the Day – June 27th 2013

This is a not so daily feature that presents in a few lines a movie and why I choose it to be the movie viewing of the day.
Yesterday, I was pointing out Lemmy Kilmister’s health problems but now I must point out to another great man’s last moments : Nelson Mandela. After being incarcerated for 27 years he was named president of South Africa and stopped the Apartheid. He is one of the greatest humanitarian inspirations. He is ranked with Gandhi, Bob Marley, and Mother Theresa as some of the greatest humans of the second half of the 20th Century.
The movie of the day is Clint Eastwood’s Invictus with the great Morgan Freeman impersonating Nelson Mandela.
What do you think of this suggestion? Did I forgot another movie that would be perfectly suited for this day?

2013-06-26

The Movie Suggestion of the Day – June 26th 2013

This is a not so daily feature that presents in a few lines a movie and why I choose it to be the movie viewing of the day.

2013-06-25

The Movie Suggestion of the Day – June 25th 2013

The first of a not so daily feature that presents in a few lines a movie and why I choose it to be the movie viewing of the day.

Some Came Running

Some Came Running (Vincente Minnelli, 1958)
Staring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley MacLaine this vibrant CinemaScope shot film is also the first movie of Sinatra and Martin on the same credits. Adapted from James Jones’ novel of the same name, Some Came Running is a dense story that proves to be one of the gems of the Hollywood of the 1950’s. It is an excellent literary adaptation that takes its time to set its pace and isn’t afraid to have a protagonist that uses his cynicism and his rejection in front of the society. It is one of the first anti-heroes of the American Cinema. No surprise then, that it is a film that Martin Scorsese has in high esteem.

2013-06-22

Saturday Morning Music Post – Black Sabbath and Jimmy Eat World

This week we came back with a selection of two albums. One that may have been on the forefront of the releases and another lesser known band that should have had a wider spread.
Let’s do this alright?

2013-06-21

Recommended Readings: Steve McQueen : A Biography

Steve McQueen : A Biography (Marc Eliot, 2012)
First, I must thank the fine folks over at Three Rivers Press that sent me a bunch of great movie/ movie stars related books. It took me a while getting to read those books, because I’m such a slow reader. But I got around it and it revealed an actor that was more or less stuck between the 1950’s and the 1960’s Marlon Brando and Paul Newman.
McQueen was a Method actor and wanted to get a hold on his life and career just like Clint Eastwood did with his Malpasso company. However, McQueen was a broken man and from the star the had struggles with life, drugs, alcohol, women.
Not being such a big fan of the actor I wasn’t really into the man either. Having seen him in classics like The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape, and bits of Bullitt, I can’t say I was really well informed about his career.
Marc Eliot’s biography is an honest try at a very traditional version of the thing and very poor one if you ask me. Well, if you are reading those lines you probably want to know my opinion. You’ll get it anyway. While not citing much of his sources, Eliot writes a contemptuous and judgmental piece that seems to be more of a defence to Steve’s first wife than actually a recalling of this iconic man. It also feels like he likes to put a stain on the memory of the man. It is probably written in the same spirit that Peter Biskind’s shocking but very entertaining Easy Rider’s Raging Bull’s biography of the 1970’s with lots of sordid details of the lives of the fathers of the second golden age of Hollywood.
All in all, I was somewhat happy to learn more about McQueen’s career but I can say that I would not count on that to learn about his personal life. I kind of think that biographers like to show sides of people that will make the sells go high and concentrate on infidelities, drug abuse, and their faults.
Overall note : C

2013-06-01

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