Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    What a neat topic!  I love movies.
    
    My favorite movie roles:
    
    1) My favorite female character in a recent movie (last 5 or 10
       yrs.) was Christine Lahti's character in "Housekeeping."  
    
       This movie never made it to the burbs (like so many of the best),
       but I've rented it 3 or 4 times so far.  It's about two little
       girls growing up in the 40's or 50's out in Washington state
       (I think).  Their mother commits suicide and they are sent to
       live with their grandmother in a strange little town up in the
       mountains beside a huge lake.  (Their grandfather had gone to
       live there because he grew up in the midwest and had always
       wanted to see a mountain.)  After their grandfather dies, their
       long-lost bohemian aunt (Christine Lahti) is contacted and she
       returns home to take care of them.  She is independant, confidant,
       happy and an extreme non-conformist.  She is even eccentric.
       I love the fact that an attractive actress plays such an eccentric.
       (I think Christine Lahti is an extremely talented actress, and
        also very attractive.)  They begin growing up in a very untypical
        fashion.  The conflict begins when one of the sisters decides
        she wants to be like everybody else, and the other begins to
        admire her eccentric aunt.  I *loved* the main character.  She
        is the type of person I would love to have for a woman friend.
        She is the type of person I would love to have the courage to
        be like.  I also liked the fact that the main characters of
        the movie were all women and nobody even has a romance.
    
    Lorna
    
    P.S. There are others I'll think of later!
    

    I recently rented once again "Anne of the Thousand Days" with (shucks,
    now I can't remember that Canadian actress' name and I love her),
    playing Anne Boleyn.  It's about 20-30 years old, and I love her
    strength and beauty.  I only wish ol' Henry VIII had been the one to
    lose his head.  Richard Burton does an excellent job as the king as
    well.
    
    Briana

    heartening tears sprung forth at the end of "The Dead Poets Society".
    The movie kind of bolstered my faith in human nature.
    
    -Jody
    

    Re: .0
    
    Then you should really enjoy the original _The Front Page_ with Cary
    Grant and Rosalind Russell.  (Turner's great, but I'll take Cary Grant
    over Burt Reynolds any day.)
    
    Lately I've been getting chills watching Martin Riggs (aka Mel Gibson)
    walk the tightrope of sanity.  Very intense.

    Dana,
    
    YOU must be psychic!
    
    Last night I stayed up watching 'Windwalker' on vcr with my husband.
    It is an incredibly beautiful movie and I am amazed that I've never
    heard of it  before. It is a story about a Cheyanne Indian family
    in 1797...and it had us both in tears..
    
    I would strongly encourge anyone who sees the movie to rent it,
    you won't be disappointed unless your idea of a great movie
    is totally different from mine.
    
    Bonnie

    I loved both Harry & Sally in "When Harry Met Sally" and I think
    both Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan gave wonderful performances.  To
    say I could identify with many of the scenes is a big understatement.
    :-)  It's already one of my favorite movies.
    
    I also loved "Crossing Delancy" with Amy Irving and Peter Reigert
    (? not sure of his last name).  Such a romantic and funny movie.
     Sam, the pickle seller, has to be one of the sweetest male characters
    ever.
    
    I agree about "Dead Poets Society."  Robin Williams was so good.
    
    In "Room With A View" I liked a lot of the male characters - the
    father and son pair, with their fantastic philosophy on life, the
    minister, who seems like such a nice person, and even the stuffy
    fiance who eventually takes rejection with dignity.
    
    Other male characters I have temporarily fallen "in love" with are:
    Jeff Daniels as Charlie in "Something Wild" (such a *nice* guy),
    Daniel Day Lewis, as Johnny, the sexy, punk looking gay guy in
    "My Beautiful Laundrette",
    Nicholas Cage in "Moonstruck" and John Malkovitch in "Dangerous
    Liasons."
    
    Lorna
    

I just saw the film version of Sam Shepard's "True West" last night. John
Malkovich and [I forget his name; played his brother] did an excellent job of
portraying the horror of merging and intimacy. With a sprinking of cliches from
the mom, it was a wonderful view of family lunacy to an extreme.

_I_ like the 'bad guy' in "Crossing Delancy"!
	Mez

    I remembered a few other movie characters I have especially liked:
    
    Arnold, in "Biloxi Blues," the intellectual Jewish kid.  (He reminded
    me of myself when I was young - only male, smarter, homelier, and
    Jewish - but still a definite similarity :-).)
    
    Sgt. Elias in "Platoon."  I loved the part where he said to his
    friends, "This isn't Taylor, this is Chris."  (I was only in the
    Army for 3 months, but it was long enough to appreciate *that.*)
     And, when he got killed I cried my eyes out.
    
    And, my all-time favorite male character, Hawkeye from "Mash." 
    Although, I actually liked Alan Alda better than Donald Sutherland.
     (He's the fictional character I would most want to be like if I
      could be any fictional, male character.)
    
    Lorna
    

     
    The movie is "Dream Child."  It's about Alice Liddel (Alice in
    Wonderland) as an old lady.  The 80 year old Alice character made me
    feel so sad and happy.  In the movie (also on video) she comes to
    America to particiapte in the 100th Anniversary celebration of the
    birth of Lewis Carroll.  
    
    Through dream sequences and real occurrences she comes to terms 
    with her childhood.  Most importantly, she learns about loving. 
    Better late than never.  Wonderful movie.   
    
    I wish I could remember the name of the actress, she was wonderful.
    I liked how she portrayed a salty, proper old lady and how she made a
    difficult transformation seem natural and believable.

Saw "Beaches" a few nights ago.  It's the story of a life-long 
friendship between Bette Midler and mumble-an-actress.  They meet
when they're about seven and we follow them into midlife, thru their 
careers, marriages, birth, triumph, defeat, the whole shabang.

Was just Wonderful!  We laughed out loud a lot and almost cried 
out loud too. Whatta workout.  Loved it.

    My alltime favorite movie role was that played by Ruth Gordon in
    "Harold and Maude".  To me, a role is memorable if you cannot envision
    anyone else (or another pairing) filling the role.  Other favorites 
    follow:
    
    o Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland, "Klute"
    o Jane Fonda and Robert Preston, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
    o Simone Signore and Oscar Werner, "Poseidon Adventure"
    o Albert Finney and Tom Courtney, "The Dresser"
    o Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman, "Midnight Cowboy"
    o Dustin Hoffman, "Rainman"
    o Rebecca deMornay and Madonna, "Desperately Seeking Susan"
    o Walter Matthau and Elaine May, "A New Leaf"
    o Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, "The Odd Couple"
    o Jack Lemmon, "Save the Tiger"
    o Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick, "Days of Wine and Roses"
    o Harrison Ford, "Indiana Jones"
    o Lou Gossett, Jr., "A Soldier's Story"
    o Joanne Woodward, "Three Faces of Eve"
    o Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, "Bonnie and Clyde"
    o Art Carney, "Harry and Tonto"
    o Sigourney Weaver, "Gorillas in the Mist"
    o Yul Brynner, "The Buccaneer"
    o Robert deNiro, "Bang the Drum Slowly"
    o Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, "Silver Streak"
    o Meryl Streep, "Sophie's Choice"
    o Meryl Streep, "French Lieutenant's Woman"
    o Meryl Streep, "Cry in the Dark"
    o Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson, "Ironweeds"
    o Jack Nicholson, "Five Easy Pieces"
    o Lee Marvin, "Cat Ballou"
    o Raul Julia and William Hurt, "Kiss of the Spider Woman"
    o Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman, "The Hustler"
    o Paul Newman and Robert Redford, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"
    o Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Anjelica Huston, "Prizzi's Honor"
    o Paul Hogan, "Crocodile Dundee"
    o Peter Sellers, "Pink Panther"
    o Gene Hackman, "The French Connection"
    o Gene Hackman, "The Conversation"
    
    also:
    
    o R2D2 and C3PO, "Star Wars"
    o Mickey Mouse and the broomsticks in the Sorcerer's Apprentice,
      "Fantasia"
    o HAL - "2001, A Space Odyssey"
    o the red balloon, "The Red Balloon"
    
    to name a few,
    Marge

    re:.11
    
    	� o Simone Signore and Oscar Werner, "Poseidon Adventure" �
    
    I think you really mean SHIP OF FOOLS, not THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE.
    
    SHIP OF FOOLS was packed to the gills with great performances.
    
    --- jerry

    Right you are, Jerry... Ship of Fools...
    
    grins,
    Marge

    	RE: 776.11
    
    	Saw "The Pink Panther" again Friday night. I watched it with
    	my oldest daughter, who laughed hysterically.
    
    	Scott

    RE: .09
    
    The part of the elderly Alice was played by Coral Browne, outstandingly
    talented British actress and wife of.... Vincent Price!

    I've always been fond of "Wanda the Dominatrix" from the movie
    "Eating Rauol" (sp?) liesl

< Note 776.11 by SCARY::M_DAVIS "Dictated, but not read." >


>    My alltime favorite movie role was that played by Ruth Gordon in
>    "Harold and Maude".  To me, a role is memorable if you cannot envision
>    anyone else (or another pairing) filling the role.  Other favorites 
>    follow:
>    
>    o Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland, "Klute"
>    o Jane Fonda and Robert Preston, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
>    etc...

That was great.  I found your note and immediately started 
scanning your list in search of _Harold and Maude_ since that is 
definitely one of my favorite movies with two of the best roles 
I've seen (Bud Cort as Harold).  I was disappointed that it 
wasn't there; then I started over from the top and was pleasantly 
surprised.

Thanks for your list, but gotta ask: Do you know that whole list 
off the top of your head or did you write this down somewhere?  
I'd never be able to remember all the movies and actors I liked.  
It becomes a blur.

-GlennS.

Re .4  I think you mean _HIS_GIRL_FRIDAY_ with Cary Grant and Rosalind
Russell.  It was one of my favorites too.

As for me-  My favorites are the old ones-

Mrs. Miniver-  Greer Garson, Walter pidgeon, Dame May Witty.
               Greer Garson's gives an incredible performance 
               as a mother and a house wife, set in WWII England, with
               Walter Pidgeon.  MGM, 1942 I believe (could be wrong
               about the year).

A Guy Called Joe-  Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne and Van Johnson, and 
                   Lionel Barrymore.  All gave awesome performances.
                   Spencer plays an American WWII pilot who falls in
                   love with Drinda Durson (Irene Dunne).  He gets 
                   killed and goes to pilot heaven where Lionel 
                   Barrymore (the great pilot) then sends him back to
                   help young pilots- in this case Van Johnson.  (As
                   a trivia note- during this movie Van got into a 
                   serious car accident, and both Dunne and Tracy refuse
                   to let the directors begin again with someone else, so
                   MGM waited for Johnson to recover and this picture is
                   the start of Johnson's road to the boy-next-door image
                   in pictures).
                   

The White Cliffs of Dover-  Irene Dunne, C. Aubrey Smith, and the very young
                            Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowell, Frank Morgan.

                            Irene is an American who falls in love with an  
                            Englishman, and marries.  She loses him in WWI, but
                            not before becoming pregnant.  She then lives through
                            losing her son in WWII.  A good story about one woman's
                            courage in war-torn England.



Terri

    re .17:  To tell you the truth, Glenn, I had the Ruth Gordon picture in
    my mind, but couldn't remember the title... and while I was wracking my
    brain, the other ones came to mind, so I jotted them down.  Then I
    happened to be logged on when there was incoming mail from Bonnie
    Reinke, so I quick asked her for the title of the movie, which she
    quickly supplied, not having even seen it.  :^)
    
    Also, thanks to Steve M for sending me mail correcting the actress'
    name in "Desperately Seeking Susan." It was indeed Rosanna Arquette,
    and not Rebecca deMornay.  
    
    grins,
    Marge

    Dynamite list, Marge; a lot of those are also faves of mine.  A
    couple more that come to mind are Dustin Hoffman and Chief Dan
    George in "Little Big Man".  Also, I really like the way Sigourney 
    Weaver "grew" her character moving from "Alien" to "Aliens".
    
    Steve

    One I left out is "Papillon".  I'm pretty sure that was Steve McQueen,
    but I'm suffering brain fade...
    
    m

    another fave movie - always leaves me feeling upbeat - lots of talent,
    lots of fun, lots of music:  Singin' in the Rain.
    
    -Jody
    

    Several years ago I saw James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer
    doing _Othello_ live at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and
    since then all movies and most plays seem flat and artificial...
    the energy of the performance was incredible.  I now understand
    what Aristotle's "catharsis" means . . . 
    
    --bonnie

    Re .11
    
    Louis Gossett Jr. did not play in "A Soldier's Story"...It was Howard
    Rollins.  Either you've got the wrong actor or the wrong movie.
    Gossett won supporting actor oscar for his portrayal of Sgt Foley
    in "AN Officer and A Gentleman" (Great Performance).
    
    One of my favorites was Diana Ross portrayal of "Lady Day" in "Lady
    Sings the Blues".  That was one my all time favorite movies.
    
    
    Thomas

    Another female character I really loved was the wife/mother played
    by Mary Steenburgen (I think that's her name-she's in Parenthood now)
    in Ragtime.  She was quiet and seemed submissive but in the end
    it was obvious she always did what she considered right.
    
    (I also liked her in Crosscreek and I like her in Parenthood.)

    I also loved both Shirley McLaine and Debra Winger in Terms of
    Endearment and Debra Winger in Betrayed, Black Widow, Urban Cowboy,
    and An Officer and A Gentlemen.  (I always really like Debra Winger's
    characters a lot.)
    
    I liked the character, Nathan, played by Kevin Kline in Sophie's
    Choice, a lot, too.  I think that's still my favorite Kevin Kline
    role, despite A Fish Called Wanda and The Big Chill.  He did a good
    job of portraying the type of person who, although not very nice,
    is so fascinating that a lot of people want to be around him. 
    (I used to know somebody like that.)
    
    In Out of Africa, I liked the actor, Klaus Maria Brandauer (or
    something like that!), who played Meryl Streep's husband.
    
    I also loved Tom Hanks in Big, last year.
    
    I love Woody Allen's character(s) in every movie he's made.
    
    I loved Michael Palin in The Missionary.
    
    Lorna
    

    A few more favorite roles by actresses:
    
    How could I forget?  Dianne Keaton in "Annie Hall"
                         Julie Christie in "Dr. Zhivago"
                         Goldie Hawn in "Private Benjamin"
                         Kim Basinger in "9 1/2 Weeks"
    
    Three of my favorite romantic couples from older movies:
    
    Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman in "The Long Hot Summer"
    Natalie Wood & Steve McQueen in "Love With the Proper Stranger"
    Jean Simmons & Marlon Brando in "Desiree"
    Sandra Dee & Troy Donahue in "A Summer Place" ...nah! just kidding
    about that one!  :-)  ha-ha
    
    Lorna
    

    	Watched _On the Waterfront_ last night for the first
    	time. Also saw _Casablanca_ for the first time a week
    	or so ago. Enjoyed both movies very much. I even got
    	to see Pat Hingle when he was young (bar keep in On
    	the Waterfront).
    
    	Too many good actors and actresses to remember them all.
    
    	Scott

    	Sorry, I forgot I was in our group account for 776.27.
    
    	This is Scott (EGYPT::) Critz

    There's this one shot of Raymond Massey in "Things to Come",
    ringht after Wings over the World appears, that just blows me
    away.  And his closing lines are just great.
    
    Buster Keaton in "The General"
    Harold Lloyd in his last film.  (I had spend *decades* wondering
    about the lion, the loud suit, and the sombrero.)
    Danny Kaye in "The Court Jester"
    Jimmy Cagney in "One, Two, Three"
    Mary Tyler Moore in "Don't Just Stand There"
    
    The astute viewer will perceive that it's the same role.  It is
    the same role as the title character in Heyer's _The_Grand_Sophy_
    and Bujold's Cordelia (Ahhh. ... There's been an accident?) Naismith
    and her hyper son (You mean he's *always* like that?) Lieutenant
    Lord Miles Vorkosigan/Admiral Miles Naismith.
    
    							Ann B.

    I particularly liked Linda Hamilton in "The Terminator".
    Her character developed from harried waitress to super-
    competent survivor in the course of her ordeal with the
    cyborg sent to kill her. Loved the scene where she tricked
    it into following her through the crushing machine.
    
    "You're terminated, motherf*"  

    re .24:
    
    Thanks, Thomas....  after exchange of mail, Thomas came up with the
    name of Adolph Caesar for the "nasty sergeant" in "The Soldier's
    Story".... neither Gossett nor Rollins...
    
    I may have to edit and republish my list. :^)
    
    Grins,
    Marge

All-time favorite:

    o Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort, "Harold and Maude"

Other favorites:
    o Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland, "Klute"
    o Jane Fonda and Gig Young, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
    o Simone Signore and Oscar Werner, "Ship of Fools"
    o Albert Finney and Tom Courtney, "The Dresser"
    o Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman, "Midnight Cowboy"
    o Dustin Hoffman, "Rainman"
    o Roseanna Arquette and Madonna, "Desperately Seeking Susan"
    o Walter Matthau and Elaine May, "A New Leaf"
    o Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, "The Odd Couple"
    o Jack Lemmon, "Save the Tiger"
    o Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick, "Days of Wine and Roses"
    o Harrison Ford, "Indiana Jones"
    o Adolph Caeser, "A Soldier's Story"
    o Joanne Woodward, "Three Faces of Eve"
    o Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, "Bonnie and Clyde"
    o Art Carney, "Harry and Tonto"
    o Sigourney Weaver, "Gorillas in the Mist"
    o Yul Brynner, "The Buccaneer"
    o Robert deNiro, "Bang the Drum Slowly"
    o Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, "Silver Streak"
    o Meryl Streep, "Sophie's Choice"
    o Meryl Streep, "French Lieutenant's Woman"
    o Meryl Streep, "Cry in the Dark"
    o Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson, "Ironweeds"
    o Jack Nicholson, "Five Easy Pieces"
    o Lee Marvin, "Cat Ballou"
    o Raul Julia and William Hurt, "Kiss of the Spider Woman"
    o Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman, "The Hustler"
    o Paul Newman and Robert Redford, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"
    o Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner, Anjelica Huston, "Prizzi's Honor"
    o Paul Hogan, "Crocodile Dundee"
    o Peter Sellers, "Pink Panther"
    o Gene Hackman, "The French Connection"
    o Gene Hackman, "The Conversation"
    
    also:
    
    o R2D2 and C3PO, "Star Wars"
    o Mickey Mouse and the broomsticks in the Sorcerer's Apprentice,
      "Fantasia"
    o HAL - "2001, A Space Odyssey"
    o the red balloon, "The Red Balloon"
    
    to name a few,
    Marge

    Meryl Streep	Sophie's Choice
    			Ironweed
    			Out of Africa
                        And anything else she's ever done!!
    			
    Dustin Hoffman	Tootsie
    			Kramer v Kramer
    
    Cher		Moonstruck
    			Mask
    
    Al Pacino		And Justice for All
    			Dog Day Afternoon
    
                                                           
    

    
    an agreement with ms. st. hilaire on christine lahtie (sp?) in
    'housekeeping' and paul scofield in 'a man for all seasons'

food for thought:

		_Barfly_ with Mickey Rourke

    I loved the character Arnold played by Harvey Fierstein in "Torch
    Song Trilogy".  That movie was exhausting for me to watch, because
    it pulled so many emotions from me:  laughter, love, anger...you
    name it.
    
    
    Paula

	The same bevy of emotions is true for Tom Hulce's character in
	the film "Dominick and Eugene".  Hulce plays a mentally handi-
	capped man who works as a garbage collector and lives with his 
	brother (Ray Liotta).

	This movie came out years before Rainman and causes many more 
	emotions to be experienced ... it's 1� hours of pure intensity 
	(laughter, love, sadness, anger, compassion).  This movie is 
	really a beautiful and powerful story.

							   Carla