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mrriv28
Reviews
Sugar (2008)
Sugar is NOT a baseball movie, it is a MASTERPIECE about one man's journey
Sugar is NOT a baseball movie, it is a MASTERPIECE about one man's journey I think this film will suffer from the perception that it is about baseball the same way Million Dollar Baby STILL takes a hit by being confused that the film is about boxing and THAT IS A SHAME!!!! Sugar is BRILLIANT on many different levels. The vignettes of humanity if seen by enough people will give this film the good word of mouth it deserves. It was my favorite film at Sundance. The story was about the struggle for success and the fight to make something of yourself in a land that you don't understand and doesn't understand you back. It's about humanity, alienation, exploitation and ultimately perseverance. It is a special story that is one of the best written films I have ever watched. Keep in mind, this film was written in English and then re-written in Spanish by Ryan Fleck and then Anna Boden. These 2 are going to be around for a long time and I hope their efforts come come close to what they made here. a masterpiece. I stood up and applauded at the end of the screening. All I ask is that people don't say "Oh this is about sports, I don't want to watch a sports movie" Give this film a chance and you will be touched by Sugar's magical journey.
The Long Goodbye (1973)
ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREATS!!!!! A cool and slick depiction of a colorful world with a Rebellious Elliott Gould as 1940's Phillip Marlowe in 1970's Los Angeles. My Favorite Film
A thrilling and offbeat adaption of Raymond Chandler's 1954 Novel
"The Long Goodbye"
Elliott Gould is amazing. His rebellious interpretation of Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe character is brilliant, charismatic and compelling. I absolutely loved the characters in this movie SO MANY OF THEM. Marlowe's lovely,Hippie neighbors, The Big haired Cashier and Black Stockboy at the Supermarket,
Ken Sansom as the Colony guard who liked to do impressions for the visitors was CLASSIC. I am shocked we have not heard more from this man over the years.
Mark Rydell was INSANE as the villainous Marty Augustine, The late and lamented David Arkin as Augustine's flunky, David Carradine in a nice cameo as a jailed pothead, Arnold Schwarzenegger as one of Augustine's Hoods, Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton as the scheming Terry Lennox, Henry Gibson as a controlling Quack Nina Van Pallandt is the femme fatale, and last but not least Sterling Hayden as the alcoholic, anachronistic Roger Wade.
What made this movie for me were the relationships and contact between Elliott Gould as he passed through what seemed to be an endless parade of unusual people. Each with their own unique take on reality and all of them get along fine with Phillip Marlowe even the villians. The most striking of all of these relationships was with Roger Wade
who resembled an aging Sea Captain more than a writer.
The chemistry here is between 2 men from a more civilized time, that has long since passed. They are 2 Anachronisms sharing a drink and stories as the sea gently washes the beach and time away
Roger Wade - "Marlboro what are you drinking? I'm having Aqavit"
Marlowe- "I'm drinkin what you're drinking"
Roger Wade - "Well God Bless ya, I'm tired of people saying (contorts
face) I want THIS or I want THAT"
Marlowe- "It's OK with me"
The most compelling thing about The Long Goodbye is how they bridged the scenes with music. Diagetic music I believe this is called. The story flows with the music. The opening scene alone has 4 or 5 different versions of John Williams score. For example, A piano is played while a cat wakes Marlowe up, Then a jazzy version is played when Terry Lennox exits the Colony, Marlowe goes outside his apartment and a different version plays as his Hippie neighbors greet him, As he gets in his car, another version plays, when he gets to the supermarket the song is a MUZAK version over the PA system. BRILLIANT!!!!!! The whole soundtrack, which by the way is unreleased, is the same song, just different arrangements and performances by different artists. It is a crime that this soundtrack is not released. It is a shame that this great movie is not more widely known
This movie is my favorite, I give it my highest possible recommendation
Lets get John Williams to release this score!!!!!!!!!
Tell your friends, get this ball rolling I want this film to be a cult film. This film is too good to be buried in someone's collection. It should be up there in the Pantheon of the great films of the 70's like the Godfather, The Conversation, Annie Hall, The French Connection.....
Phillip Marlowe - "It's OK with me"