S U N D AY, J A N U A RY 1 5 , 2 0 0 6"Kings And Queen" -- The ReviewVoted the third best film of the year in the annual Village Voice poll,this is a French (make that extremely French) drama about a womanabout to get married to a quietly supportive and wealthy man after herfirst lover committed suicide and the second one went a tad bonkers.Her father gets ill, her son doesn't like his new potential father, thesecond husband (who plays the viola in a quartet) is rather charminglyunhinged and gets committed and on it goes rather randomly.</p><p> Terriblescore, with intrusive pop songs alternating with awkward underscore.</p><p> Ifound certain scenes compelling but it's a mess.</p><p> Directorboy hated itand said if I weren't there he would have turned it off after 40 minutes,something he rarely does.</p><p> I've just mocked the NYTimes for sayingmovies are generally too long and here's a good example of myargument.</p><p> This movie is 2.5 hours long, but believe me, it certainlywouldn't have been better at 90 minutes. ** (2/4)POSTED BY MICHAEL IN NEW YORK AT 2:29 AM 2 C O M M E N T S :Ed Sikov said...Begin with a plug for my new BIOGRAPHY OF BETTE DAVISENTITLED DARK VICTORY, then go on to observe that...As Bette's career progresses through the 40s, her pictures get longerand longer but not necessarily better and better.</p><p> Whereas most of themin the 30s were about 90 minutes, some under, MR.</p><p> SKEFFINGTONruns 146 minutes and the original cut of ALL THIS AND HEAVEN,TOO ran over 3 hours.</p><p> That, to me, is when storytelling efficiencybecame a lost art.12:14 PM Michael in New York said...Having just seen the delightful 67 minute bauble "Bed of Roses" from1933, I agree.</p><p> But the NYT argument that we don't need set-up orcharacter development because people already know the plot so whywaste our time is just goofy.</p><p> Can't wait to post about the book -- glad toNext Blog»sal1mineo@hotmail.comSEARCH BLOG FLAG BLOGFOLLOW BLOGP O P S U R F I N G .</p><p> C O MS U R F I N G T H E WAV E S O F P O P U L A R C U LT U R EB Y M I C H A E L G I LT Z & F R I E N D SPOPSURFING.COM: "Kings And Queen" -- The Reviewhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/01/kings-and-queen-review... 1 of 37/29/09 4:19 AMFAV O R I T E L I N K SAmericablogFive O'Clock Lightning baseball blogDeep Pop -- Lori Lakin's BlogThe Back Page -- Jason Page on ESPNRadioCine-Blog -- George Robinson's BlogDocuments On Art & Cinema - DarylChin's BlogBrucie G's Wondrous Blog OfAdventure and Mystery -- BruceGreenspan's BlogB L O G A R C H I V E▼ 2009 (17)▼ July (3)1939 -- The Greatest Year ForMoviesSwimming Bans Those Hi-TechSuits!Best Movies Of The Year -- TheMaster List► June (3)► May (1)► March (2)► February (1)► January (7)► 2008 (86)► 2007 (781)► 2006 (2412)► 2005 (5)C O N T R I B U TO R SBiboyMichael in New YorkAaron POPSURFING.COM: "Kings And Queen" -- The Reviewhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/01/kings-and-queen-review... 2 of 37/29/09 4:19 AMPOPSURFING.COM: "Kings And Queen" -- The Reviewhttp://popsurfing.blogspot.com/2006/01/kings-and-queen-review... 3 of 37/29/09 4:19 AM
