Garbo (2005)

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This TCM biopic of Greta Garbo was more of an appreciation than a documentary.

It is entertaining as they intersperse clips from various films as they give a brief biography and a hint of her status as a movie star at the time.

After watching it, I still don’t know much about her as a character but I was interested in her films.  In fact, I rented Ninotchka which has been on my to-be-watched list forever.

I enjoyed it.

De-Lovely (2004)

I had high hopes for this movie because they could be totally honest about Cole Porter this time.  Yeah!

The movie was truthful about his life and about his sexual orientation but it was less entertaining to me than Night and Day.

Kevin Kline had the role of Cole Porter and Ashley Judd was his wife Linda Lee.

Unfortunately, the movie seemed bound to portray Cole and Linda Lee’s marriage as a love match when it was clearly one of convenience.  I can see how they came to understand and support each other as good friends but the movie seemed to be pushing the ‘romantic’ angle which wasn’t convincing to me.

Moreover, the film did not give much space to his abilities as a composer.  It is dramatic and affecting that his songs are a reflection of his relationships.  But, surely, he was also gifted and prolific.  It must be hard to do to show a person struggling and succeeding at their work because too few biopics develop this part of their life. Still, I wish they had spent more time on showcasing his personality and tracing his career.

From what I’ve read, it appears that he was so successful that  a film about his career would have been boring.

However, all the musical productions were highly entertaining and the DVD is worth renting for them alone.  My favorite number was Elvis Costello’s “Let’s Misbehave.”

Short biography of Porter’s life.

Summary of Porter’s career.

An interesting analysis of his life.

Night and Day (1946)

An old biographical movie of Cole Porter.  It’s antique enough that it avoids mentioning his sexual orientation altogether.

Cary Grant is Cole Porter and Alexis Smith is Linda Lee, his wife.

I’m having trouble with this movie.  On the one hand, not mentioning his affairs with men completely falsifies his relationship with his wife.  The movie is invalidated as biography by leaving out this important aspect of his personal life.

However, on its own merits, the movie had entertaining scenes.  I’m specifically thinking of the scene in which he composes the song, “Night and Day.”  I know it’s unrealistic but it’s a highly entertaining way of visualizing the creative process.   It also did convey that he was a talented and hardworking songwriter.

Overall, I can’t really recommend it as a biopic.  Big pop singers and stars of the day take on the musical numbers, and thus it has some value.

I also saw De-Lovely and will comment on it soon.

10 SF Books that should be Movies

Inspired by this post, I have made a list of 10 SF books that should be made into movies. When I worked out this list, I thought none of these books had been optioned.  I think Hyperion is in development but it hasn’t been made yet so I left it on the list.

Since I stopped reading science fiction after childhood, most of them are juvenile books. They also tend to wander into fantasy territory which allows me to justify my discussion of them.

Have Space Suit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein

What: a boy wins a spacesuit in a contest; aliens abduct him.

What’s in it for me: I want to see smart people figuring their way of certain death – like Cube except they know who has them and why they must escape NOW.

A review.

21 Balloons by William Pene du Bois

What: man goes ballooning; crashes on bizarre island.

What’s in it for me: I want to see a somewhat modernized version of the  gizmos that the man encounters.

A summary.

Justice and Her Brothers by Virginia Hamilton

What: 3 kids try to understand their psi powers. 

What’s in it for me: They are super powered kids like the ones in Sky High but considerably more interesting. I like Justice, and I want to see her onscreen.

Hamilton’s book.

Pegasus in Flight by Anne McCaffrey

What: Parapsychic corporation hunts for abducted psionic kids.

What’s in it for me: I love psi powers and I could happily watch the X-Men do chores with their mutant powers for 2 hours. 

McCaffrey’s book.

Moonflash by Patricia McKillip

What: an unhappy girl seeks to learn the truth of the bright flash on the moon.

What’s in it for me: To see all the different cultures that Kyreol encounters would be enormously gratifying to me.

McKillip’s book.

Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron

What: 2 boys build a spaceship for an eccentric old man.

What’s in it for me: The book is old-fashioned but I like the notion of 2 boys on an exciting ramble through space.

A review.

Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes

What: Teens are invited to a mysterious VR game.

What’s in it for me: Immersive gameplay with sinister undertones – who wouldn’t like it?

A review.

Wolf Tower by Tanith Lee

What: servant girl escapes only to find herself drawn to the infamous Wolf Tower. 

What’s in it for me: I adore Claidi and I want to see her and the other amazing people and machines that she meets.

Annotated bibliography.

Ice Crown by Andre Norton

What: girl fights to free the people of Clio from mind control.

What’s in it for me: Roan was one of my favorite heroines and I’d like to see her in action.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

What: Aliens are invited to a journey on space tree ship; they tell their life stories.

What’s in it for me: This be an utter shame if it weren’t filmed.

It’s a series description.

What do you think?  What book should or should not be on this list?

Eleanor Roosevelt Story (1965)

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This academy award-winning documentary was directed by Richard Kaplan and written by Archibald Macleish.

Until I watched this documentary, the sum of my knowledge was that she was a president’s wife; she was ugly; and she was superficial in her emotions.

• She was a president’s wife.

• I disagree that she was ugly.  Perhaps her teeth needed work but I thought she looked fine. Personally, I was more disturbed by the hairnet she always wore.  It seemed inappropriate but I asked an older woman about it and she said women wore them.  I am nonplussed that this was an acceptable style outside the lunchroom.

• She does seem to have had a wealth of compassion in her nature.  I am most impressed by her objection to Japanese Americans being sent to internment camps during World War II.   I was interested by that, as it kind of slipped out of public consciousness for awhile.

One of the viewers of the movie was taken her aphorism, “what one has to do, usually can be done.”

I enjoyed this documentary.  I wish more of them were as short and sparely done as this one.

This review contends that the documentary is “a bit reverential.”  I’m rather pleased to have learned about her from a more kindly perspective.

Marie Antoinette (2005)

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This is a PBS documentary of the life of Marie Antoinette.  I found it fascinating because I had been disappointed by Coppola’s film.

The documentary surprised me by engendering sympathy for the doomed queen.  I still think she was fluffy-headed but now I understand why she is seen as ill-used.  She was completely unsuited to being the queen at that time.  She was not well-informed and she didn’t have the training or the innate qualities to confront her challenges.

Her last days, as relayed by the documentary, were suspenseful and tragic and absurd.   She behaved like a queen, though  bungling, in the last part of her life.

It shocks me that the royal family and their supporters did not realize that everything had changed and that they had to change too if they meant to survive.  Like cats released to the wild after being de-clawed, it was a cruel fate for them.

Another point that struck me, is how bizarre and scurrilous the pamphlet attacks on Marie Antoinette were.  I was shocked by one or two them.  Granted, I’m not the most sophisticated person, but I didn’t realize how little reticence they had.

Overall, I recommend the documentary over the film.  It was more engaging.

PBS companion site to the documentary.  I got all the answers right when I took the quiz which pleased me mightily.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Marie Antoinette’s Versailles retreat reopened after 5.3 million euro makeover

Miss Potter (2006)

The life story of the creator of the Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter.

Miss Potter

This is a perfect biopic.  It gives you a sense of why she was important and how she approached her work and still included the human element.  I don’t think I’ve liked Renée  Zellweger better in any other movie.

Potter’s illustrations are animated in the movie to give a sense of how real they were to her.  The animation also adds humor and whimsy to the story. It makes sense that she should feel so close to her creations since she and her family have rather cold relations.

She attempts to publish her tales but gets little encourage from publishers or her family. One publishing house agrees to publish Peter Rabbit and fortunately, she is put into the care of  untried editor, Norman Warne (Ewan McGregor).  He does all he can to make her vision for the book come to pass. He likes Potter but he also believes in her work which I enjoyed.

I found out that she was an admirable woman in many ways, and the world is better for her living in it.

The movie is simply a delight to watch, for the Lake District scenery, the costumes, the charming actors, and the sweet story.

P.S.  My favorite of the Potter tales was Jemima Puddle-Duck.

History in the Movies goes over what is historically accurate and what is not.

Wikipedia lists a few more.

Jane Austen links 2

Jane Austen’s books:

Renaissance Guy evaluates Austen’s characters – fun categories.

Thorough responses to some questions about Persuasion from Nexus Archives.

Excitement over Sense & Sensiblity from 1actressinoregon.

Less than enthusiastic reaction to Emma from Bookologists.

Jane Austen movies:

A guide from Suite 101 for the BBC miniseries of Pride & Prejudice.

Foster on Film: a assessment of Pride & Prejudice adaptations.

Pride & Prejudice (1980) review with a comparison to the BBC version from Sophie’s Perspective.

Jane’s World:

The blog, Adventure in Reading, discusses The War of Ideas by Marilyn Butler.  The post mentions, “Elizabeth Bennet is consistently viewed as Austen’s revolutionary heroine.“

A review of Austenland by Shannon Hale — a novel about a woman goes to a sort of Pride & Prejudice resort.  The blog is Confessions of a Real Librarian.

From the Daily Mail: a disturbing report of people scattering human ashes at the Austen museum.

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Jane Austen scavenger hunt 1

Marie Antoinette (2006)

Marie Antoinette - Kirsten Dunst

Sofia Coppola directs.

This film follows Marie-Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) from her introduction to the French court to her escape from the palace of Versailles.

There were affecting moments in the film.  The most moving was the beginning when the 14 year old girl is stripped of anything relating to Austria, her former home and country.  It’s hard not have sympathy for the teen crying for her dog which has been taken from her.

However, the movie loses ground as it progresses.  The only real purpose that the new princess of France has is to reproduce and this takes up an endless amount of  the movie.  The problem appears to be that her husband, Louis (Jason Schwartzman) the Dauphin of France, is not sure how to go about it.  (???).  I tried to look up some reason behind the unconsummated marriage but could not find a conclusive answer.  One account speculated that the prince had an  emotional barrier (sleeping with the Austrian enemy) and another account had it that surgery solved the problem.  It doesn’t particularly matter but, without this issue, the movie leaves us a lot of shopping and eating sweets.  Even events such as deaths in the family are revealed off-handedly.

*sigh*

But Dunst looks a like a  princess should – lovely and charming with a winsome smile.  Her costumes  and shoes and sweets are delightful and were specially designed according to the trivia page on IMDB.com.  The Palace of Versailles was beautiful of course, and it made me think that this movie would be perfect as a background movie.  You know, muting it and playing classical music.

For it is very, very pretty.

Official Site

Very positive review by James Rich.

Very negative review by James Berardinelli.

Review by Roger Ebert.

Here’s a reviewer with the same reaction that I had:  a great background film.

Walk the Line (2005)

The story of Johnny Cash’s career and his relationship with June Carter.

I watched this movie with my parents, and they were shocked that I didn’t recognize any of the songs.  I also didn’t know much about Cash.  For example, I had heard that he was called the ‘man in black’ but did not know why.

Obviously, this movie was educational for me.

This movie was better than the other biopics that I’ve been watching.  It’s worthwhile on its own merits.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon plays June Carter.  I don’t know how well they evoke their subjects but they seemed like real people. My first instinct was to react cynically because of the drug abuse and the sometimes unhealthy relationship between Carter and Cash.  I couldn’t though because the actors played through the cliches with a lot of pain and vulnerability.  I liked that they made mistakes and had work through them.

His story could have been dismal but it’s rather uplifting.

I don’t know if  the movie would be effective for fans but for people like me, it’s a must see.  I came away with a good amount of respect for the two singers.