Thursday 2 February 2017

Thursday Movie Picks #134: Movies About Artists (Painters)


Hello and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, this week it’s all about artists, specifically painters. Please visit - http://wanderingthroughtheshelves.blogspot.co.uk/
I cannot recommend visiting the cities of Rome, Venice, Florence, and Milan enough as these cities were home to the greatest artistic and cultural revolution in history. The architecture is astounding and the art stunning.  The man right at the heart of it was Michelangelo whose influence on Western Art is unparalleled. The Agony and The Ecstasy is about the turbulent time when Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a painting which people from every corner of the globe travel to see. Directed by Carol Reed, The Agony and The Ecstasy is great film.

Andrei Rublev isn’t my favourite Andrei Tarkovsky film as I prefer Solaris and the more traditional and straightforward Ivan’s Childhood, but it’s still an impressive film.

I admit I’ve run out of options here, either having not seen the relevant films and not had time to see them so I’m going to pick the Mr Bean movie. In this film, Bean ruins the famous Whistler's Mother and paints over with a poorly drawn smiley face.

8 comments:

  1. Thumbs up for the Mr Bean flick. I don't know how many times I've watched that movie. And it was fun each time.

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  2. The later two flicks I haven't heard of which isn't surprising to me but I think Mr. Bean would be a fun and entertaining one based on your description. Thanks for sharing and for visiting today. Have a good evening!

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  3. Ok that MR. Bean movie sounds way too funny. I haven't seen the middle film but love the first one and I've been to Venice which is a paradise. Love the Agony and the Ecstasy.

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  4. The Agony and the Ecstasy is a great choice. It can be a trifle drawn out in sections but Harrison and Heston, the role suits his stiff grand manner, make it work in their scenes.

    Haven't heard of Andrei Rublev before but love the inclusion of Mr. Bean. I never saw that one coming!!

    I too found this a theme with what I though were narrow choices, though looking through everyone's there are more than I realized but I did manage to recall these three:

    The Naked Maja (1958)-Tale of the renowned painter Francisco Goya (Anthony Franciosa) and his passionate affair with the Duchess of Alba (Ava Gardner) , purportedly the model for the title painting. Set against Spain’s war with France and the Inquisition, though shot in Italy, the film is a visual treat with a good performance by Gardner but missing a certain spark, perhaps due to the fact that the stars detested each other behind the scenes.

    Lust for Life (1956)-Biography of Vincent Van Gogh with an intense, driven performance by near lookalike Kirk Douglas as the tortured artist. Since he wasn’t acknowledged until after his death the film is a relentlessly grim look at the cost and weight of unrecognized genius. Overlong but loaded with works by the master.

    The Moon and Sixpence (1942)-Inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin and based on the Somerset Maugham novel, the film tells the story of Charles Strickland (George Sanders) who throws his staid life as a married stockbroker away to run away to the South Seas to paint with nary a thought to the consequences. Well-acted with a superior cast but the lead character is an almost completely despicable person so it’s difficult to care too much for his story or fate.

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  5. Haven't watched the first two, but I never saw Mr. Bean coming to this list. I remember his ugly drawing, though.

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  6. lol I never thought I'd see a Mr. Bean movie here. Nice one!

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  7. I think Mr Bean the movie was an inspired pick! Even though its more about the painting, that besides the point. I loved this film when I was a child, saw it 3 times at the cinema even. so good!

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  8. Haven't seen any of these. The first two sound interesting. As for the other...ugh. I just don't get the appeal of Mr. Bean. Nothing I've seen him in had made me laugh at all.

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