esrosedotblog

As you may know I am a great fan of The Big Lebowski in which Jeff Bridges gets his identity confused with a guy who has the same name. The "bigger" Lebowski finds out that the lesser one has been scamming on his identity.

The bigger Lebowski was played by David Huddleston and his scenes are memorable. He steals most of them from Bridges and takes a central role in the film.

Sadly, David Huddleston died the other day at a ripe old age.

David Huddleston, the Title Lebowski in ‘The Big Lebowski,’ Dies at 85"

Well, he was old in the film!

He was in other films with Mel Brooks. But it is the Lebowski role that is his premium work.

Labels: best movies

There are some movies that I love unreservedly.

One of these is

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)"

Sublime. Funny. Endlessly fascinating characters. What else?

Sometimes the chemistry of a film just works and in this one John Hughes has his masterpiece.

Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck were friends before the film, even doing a Broadway show at the same time (Biloxi Blues) and so their rapport is just supreme. Mia Sara is Ferris' beautiful girlfriend and she fits right in as the kids make a threesome on the town during the "day off". She is the glue that holds them together in many scenes.

This is a character actor's paradise. So many small scenes. So many big ones. Jeffery Jones was the high school Dean who is going to track Ferris down. Perfect. So many others.

The huge parade scene, Twist and Shout, is goose bump delightful.

I need to watch this film every year or so. I do not plan it. Something comes up and wham! It is time for Ferris. I check in to see how the kids are doing and they are doing just fine.

A mark of a great movie is that there are still scenes and lines that surprise me. It has lasted through many viewings.

This is a classic 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: best films, best movies, films

LOVE IT AND LOSE IT

The story of my life.

Well, part of it.

My very dependable and accurate helper with choosing films is kaput. Gone. Done in. Finished.

Movie Review Intelligence has ceased.

A well designed compendium of all films in release, MRI combined ratings of critics in a way that made sense to me. I liked it.

I am turning to a new site for me.

Metacritic summarizes "tier one" reviews and shows them in a way that is similar to MRI but not as fairly, I think. Certainly not as comprehensively.

Rotten Tomatoes? I loathe it. Their rating system sucks. If a movie is judged to be average, the score is not counted. Distortion.

And I don't give a shit what the audience thought. The usual fare there is for low critic reviews and excessively high audience reviews from the pimply set who drive most Hollywood decisions. A dearth of subtitled films. The pits. Well, the seeds I guess as it is tomatoes not cherries.

I will continue to use the overview on Metacritic in the same way I used MRI. A filter for more detailed reading of the NYTimes reviews which I still rely on heavily. That and also a couple of gay sites who feature gay films, of course.

So far so good on Metacritic.

Why do all the prettiest people turn out to be assholes, the best restaurants go out of business, or why do the good die young?

I don't know?

I just seem to pick the early outs.

Enough of self pity. These are only tools. I will do fine.

Labels: best films, best movies, films

JOY

Today's best film was John Hughes' masterpiece

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

What can I say? I just said it. Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

One of the best comedies ever made. What would be the other best? I can't think of any.

Another thing. One of the most humane comedies every made. Aspiration. Optimism.

The features on this disc are very well done.

The story of how they made the "Twist and Shout scene" is worth the price of admission. Also how they got the Ferrari to fly out the window.

Love it. Love it. Love it. A real treat.

They did this all on one day with 10,000 people. Amazing.

Did I say this was a triple 5 out of Neflix5?

Labels: best films, best movies

TRAVELOGUE WITH PLOT

Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Films was David Lean's

Summertime (1955)

Kathryn Hepburn again as a near spinster from Ohio who takes the entire film to fall for Rossano Brazzi. It is a 50's love affair. It was like that then. They even show fireworks when they finally make it.

The scene is Venice as it was fifty years ago and it is unbelievably, beautifully photographed. The Criterion restoration is done in full screen. I really prefer the big box picture if we can see a film that way.

Hepburn is very good. Brazzi too.

It holds our interest even though it takes forever to get to the climax, so to speak.

And there is an unconventional ending. Well, not a Hollywood ending.

I liked it. Once is enough though. That makes it a 3 out of Netflix5.

Labels: best movies