Conference bookie::movies

    Can you elaborate of the taboos?
    
    
    Marilyn

    Also, more on the female role...the prostitute dependent on a 
    pimp, who falls for the drunk who has gone to Vegas to drink 
    himself to death.  Sound like an interesting combo to me...
    
    Sue

    I want to see it, also, I have read some good reviews on the acting
    for both Cage & Shue. Sounds like my style.
    
    
    thanks, BR
    
    

RE:                            -< Inquiring minds.... >-

>    Can you elaborate of the taboos?
 
One taboo that comes to mind is that in mainstream films, certain types of
ugly behavior may not be performed by celebrity actors.  Nicholas Cage
breaks this barrier in the same way Marlon Brando did in "Last Tango In
Paris".  

RE. -.2

>    Also, more on the female role...the prostitute dependent on a 
>    pimp, who falls for the drunk who has gone to Vegas to drink 
>    himself to death.  Sound like an interesting combo to me...
    
Yes, this film is very interesting.  But it's the acting quality
and the film technique that make it what it is.  

Brian

    Does anyone know if this movie is coming to the Worcester, MA or
    Framingham, MA area?  Has it been and I missed it?  Has it played
    in Boston?
    
    I thought it would show up at the General Cinema 14 in Framingham,
    but I haven't noticed it.
    
    Thanks,
    Judi

    I agree with the basenoter. Technically, I'd say it was a good movie.
    The problem is in the characters. They're entirely one-dimensional and
    don't grow, change, or even learn anything in the course of the movie.
    One of them even says that the reason their relationship works is that
    neither tries to change the other. As far as I could tell, they didn't
    even try to understand each other. They were just clinging to one
    another.
    
    It was like watching a traffic accident. Sure, there's a certain
    fascination in accidents, but what can you do after it's over except
    mutter "Too bad" and then get on with your life? In this case, it's
    even worse, since the accident wasn't really an accident at all, but an
    ineplicable self-destructive choice on the part of the main characters.
    There wasn't even the satisfaction of supposing they were the tragic
    victims of circumstance. 
    
    Thumbs down.
    
    John

    I have to agree with .0 and .6:  this is form over substance.
    
    Acting was fine, even excellent.  But it's a "who cares?" for
    the characters.  And it's violent and nasty, particularly to
    women.  I think people who go to see it because the critics 
    love it are ... in for a surprise.
    
    Two thumbs down.
    
    				dick
    

  Add in another vote. Really good acting but no story. They could have edited
the thing down to 30 minutes and you wouldn't have missed a thing.

  I agree with the response "Too bad but time to go on with your life", I
just wish I had gotten to go on with my life a bit earlier. True it's
difficult to look away from a traffic accident but few people stand there
looking at it for 2 hours.

  If you started high enough you could probably do a 2 hour story about
someone falling out of an airplane but what would be the point? It can be
done with:

  Scene 1: "Oops" 
  Scene 2: "AAAAiiiiiieeeee-uhway".
  Scene 3: *** THUD ***.
  Scene 4: scrape, scrape, scrape

  Putting in 35 more scenes of "Oh-my-gosh" with hands flailing adds nothing
and is little more than painful.

  OK, really good acting gets it a couple stars but still a really bad movie.

  ** out of 5,
  George

    Not to add one more thumbs down but what the heck!!  I went to see it 
    at the Framingham 14 (it's playing there now) and this flick is not a 
    real pick me up type movie is surly a understatment.  
    
    As was said in all the replies the acting was very good but it's like
    watching someone die for 2 hrs (not very uplifting).  This flick falls
    under the heading of critics love it but most people will not.
    
    				Bart
    
    PS:  We should start a new note just for flicks that are critic
    darlings but nobody likes.  There are plenty of them!!

RE:                       <<< Note 968.9 by WRKSYS::LASKY >>>

>    As was said in all the replies the acting was very good but it's like
>    watching someone die for 2 hrs (not very uplifting).  This flick falls
>    under the heading of critics love it but most people will not.
    
 I asked around and I've located three people who liked it.  After I saw
it, I thought "Leaving Las Vegas" would never have an audience.  But if 
you liked "Shadowlands" and "The Piano", you might like this one.

Brian

    I'll take a dissenting view on this one.  To me the theme of the movie
    was two very imperfect people accepting each other as they were
    without trying to change the other against his/her will.  It is a
    concept with which most people agree but not taken as far as it is in
    the film.  Even she obviously wanted to change him but when she saw
    that wasn't what he wanted she didn't insist.
    
    I don't really agree but I felt the way the idea is covered is deeply
    moving.
    
    Of course, as said in the previous replies the acting is the most
    outstanding part of the movie.
    
    John

    
    This movie was so depressing that it took me a day or two to realize
    that it had one of the stupidest and most contrived endings in the
    history of motion pictures.  
    
    No stars (out of four).  One of the worst of all time.

    I rented this one over the weekend and rather enjoyed it.  I was really
    impressed by both Cages & Shues performces.  Was a different story
    line, but one that I thought wasn't too bad.  It was sort of sad to
    watch Shue fall in love with him and have to watch him slowly kill
    himself.
    
    Pete

    This movie is one of my least favorite in a long time. There is very
    little to this movie other than the life of an alcoholic and a
    prostitute. It could have been easily cut to 30 minutes.