Gena's overlooked gems?
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afinpassing — 20 years ago(February 06, 2006 04:45 AM)
Ones you can g1c84et on DVD
Another Woman an excellent Woody Allen drama, and aside from the great Cassavetes performances I think this is her best performance. If you haven't seen it, it should be a TOP priority.
Playing By Heart I think this is a pretty good romantic comedy. Gena's paired with Sean Connery, and they're pretty fun to watch together.
Night on Earth A series of vignettes, and Gena's in the first. It's a terrific movie, only 15 minutes with her in it, but worth checking out.
Harder to find VHS worth seeking out
Tempest Overlong reinvention of the Shakespeare play, but a lot of truly clever moments, and I'm just a sucker for any chance to see both John & Gena onscreen.
An Early Frost With Ben Gazzara, one of the first mainstream films to deal with AIDS and homosexuality. Smart and sensitive for the time, and she's terrific in it.
A Question of Love Heartbreaking performance you'll never forget here; Gena plays a homosexual woman in danger of losing her children because of her 'lifestyle.' Very good TV movie, actually.
Those are a good starting point; to be honest she's made a lot of films that I don't think are very good, but seeing her is always fun. Of the movies I am not crazy about, some of the most interesting performances that make it worth your while include: The Weekend, The Neon Bible, Paulie, Charms For the Easy Life, Crazy in Love, Montana, Rapunzel.
The Incredible Mrs Ritchie is all right if you go for that sort of thing; I couldn't really stand to watch Grace & Glorie, for the movie and her character.
She has much smaller but interesting parts in average movies like The Brinks Job, Two-Minute Warning, Tony Rome, and Lonely are the Brave.
If you can find her film debut, in The High Cost of Loving, it is adorable and delightful.
Light of Day is rubbish, but her character has moments. Once Around and Something to Talk About are syrupy Haalstrom films but her characters have a couple great smackdown moments in each. Her part in The Mighty is smaller than you'd think, and I did not like the film. Hope Floats, blah Hysterical Blindness, her storyline is sweet and heartbreaking, but I really disliked the rest of the movie! Taking Lives is almost unwatchable; her part is small, and her final scene is upsetting for any fan.
I LOVE The Skeleton Key
Sorry I went on so long; once I started I think I wanted to name every film I have seen her in, which I nearly did. I hope that helps a little; anyway the films I named first are really the must-sees. The rest have their moments (she can make ANY part worth watching) but don't offer too much for a fan.
Enjoy! -
WarpedRecord — 20 years ago(February 07, 2006 10:56 PM)
Hey, vicious_trollop, thanks for the recommendations! Don't worry about going on too long; I found your comments most amusing. What's interesting is, of the films you mentioned that I've seen, I have similar reactions.
I absolute LOVE "Another Woman." Very Bergman-esque. This is the film that really opened my eyes to what a great actress Gena is. It's also my favorite Woody Allen film in which he didn't appear. Unfortunately, I lent my old VHS copy to a friend (ex-friend, actually )
I saw "An Early Frost" when it aired in 1985, and I've always wondered why TV hasn't been able to deal with AIDS so sensitively and realistically in the 20-odd years since.
She works really well with Winona Rider (far from my favorite actress) in "Night on Earth," and it's probably my favorite Jarmusch film.
"Light of Day" is trashy fun, and I'm a big Joan Jett fan, so I've seen it many times. Perhaps it's time for another viewing. Still, it's hard to believe Joan and Michael J. Fox are siblings, just as it's hard to believe Gena Rowlands is their mother.
I just saw "Taking Lives" over the weekend, and found it revolting. Gena's good in it, for as briefly as she appears, but the elevator scene YOINK! It's probably significant that the original novel did not feature Angelina Jolie's character. Speaking of someone far from my favorite actress
I was picturing "Skeleton Key" as being similar, but I'll check it out on your recommendation. For some reason, Gena seems to be cast alongside a lot of actresses I find annoying (Kate Hudson, Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie and Winona Rider).
I've also seen "A Question of Love" with Jane Alexander (liked it), "Neon Bible" (liked it more than you) and "The Mighty" (disliked it). Will try to track down the others, starting with "Playing by Heart," which should be easy to find.
Have you seen "The Notebook"? She's heartbreaking in that.
Thanks again for the picks! -
afinpassing — 20 years ago(February 09, 2006 02:52 PM)
Skeleton Key
is far from a great film, but it's surprisingly good for its genre. Most importantly, Gena gets a role which rivals Bette & Joan in
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane
, and as you can imagine, that's just a kick to watch!
I didn't really like
The Notebook
, but Gena made me cry no matter how hard I tried to stop myself. I actually saw it before I really knew who she was (watched it the first time for Joan Allen, another favorite of mine), but she really blew me away.
Agree with just about everything you said. I didn't know that about Angelina's character in that awful movie probably explains a lot, really, if they changed that much.
Enjoy your upcoming viewing!
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WarpedRecord — 20 years ago(February 09, 2006 04:38 PM)
I just saw "Skeleton Key" today. I was underwhelmed for most of it, but it really picked up in the last half-hour. It's quite a gem. I'd much rather see Gena in those "grand guignol" roles like Ruth Gordon or Joan Crawford used to take than as the gentle old soul in sappy romances like "Hope Floats." Wish I saw "Skeleton Key" in the theater when it was released.
I'm a huge Joan Allen fan also. She delivers one of many memorable performances in "The Notebook." It's strange that I love that film so much because, as I said, I don't like sappy romances, but the fine performances made everything very believable. Plus, I had such low expectations going in. -
WarpedRecord — 20 years ago(April 04, 2006 03:29 PM)
It's unfortunate that "Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter" is apparently not available on VHS or DVD. I see Bette won an Emmy for this as best actress.
I wish I had seen this. I'm sure Bette 1354and Gena were terrific together. -
Harold_Robbins — 19 years ago(May 15, 2006 08:09 PM)
I am in the process of re-watching STRANGERS: THE STORY OF A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER; Rowlands wisely underplays and lets Davis (in one of her best latter-day performances) do all the fireworks their performances complement each other superbly. Gena Rowlands has always spoken very highly of Bette Davis (especially in the recent TCM documentary STARDUST: THE BETTE DAVIS STORY) and of the experience of making this film with her. Rowlands is a class act all the way!
Those of you who think you know everything should politely defer to those of us who actually do! -
WarpedRecord — 19 years ago(June 27, 2006 08:10 PM)
Here's another I just caught: "Hysterical Blindness," set in New Jersey in 1987, with Gena as the mother of Uma Thurman, who is desperate to find a man. That's right, Uma Thurman can't find a man. Gena and Uma put in strong performances, as do Juliette Lewis and Ben Gazzara. Check it out!
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WarpedRecord — 18 years ago(July 27, 2007 12:32 PM)
Here's another one with a terrific performance by Gena as mother to Laura Linney: "Wild Iris," a cable movie. Check it out!
http://imdb.com/board/10169621/ -
WarpedRecord — 18 years ago(January 05, 2008 11:41 AM)
Hey, thanks for recommending "Lonely Are the Brave." I had to do a lot of looking, but I'm glad I sought it out. That's a film I wouldn't have seen if not for Gena. She has a rela5b4tively small role, but Kirk Douglas is incredible in it, and it's great to see Walter Matthau and Carroll O'Connor in the supporting cast. And what spectacular shots of the Arizona desert!
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WarpedRecord — 17 years ago(July 12, 2008 01:11 AM)
I love "Playing by Heart," the only film to feature my two favorite actresses: Ellen Burstyn and Gena Rowlands. And I think Angelina is very good in it. I like her as an actress, but dislike her as a personality.
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billyed — 17 years ago(July 12, 2008 12:29 PM)
Gena is wonderful in
Once Around
..she's married to Danny Aiello and is mother to Holly Hunter and two other children..a big Boston Italian family.
Holly meets Richard Dreyfuss during a real estate seminar and falls head over heels. She brings him home and the family takes a dislike to him, pegging him as being too 'pushy'..Holly marries Richard anywayand the story unfolds..
It's not really a comedy, but more of a drama
Directed by Lasse Hallstrm.
http://www.imdb.com/board/10102590/
"If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything!". -
WarpedRecord — 17 years ago(July 12, 2008 12:44 PM)
I just watched "Once Around" a few weeks ago. It's a wonderful ensemble drama about ordinary people experiencing the highs and lows of life.
You can tell it doesn't have an American director Lasse Hallstrm clearly is more interested in developing his characters than in making some "great statements" about life or forcing some dramatic artifices on the plot.
It's a real slice of life, another great overlooked gem with Gena!