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   Author  Topic: A Prairie Home Companion  (Read 535 times)
luci
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A Prairie Home Companion
« on: Jun 5th, 2006, 1:54am »		 Quote Quote Modify Modify
Looks like a Winner to me! Good music!
 
Openingt~June 9, 2006
 
 
http://www.aprairiehomecompanionmovie.com/
 
See a clip & listen to Lindsey Lohan sing here!
http://movies.aol.com/movie_exclusiv...00150000000001
 
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/...tm?POE=LIFISVA
 
The cast is yet another stunning ensemble, most of them probably flocking to Altman's direction. Beat this: Meryl Streep, Woody Harrelson, Kevin Kline, Lily Tomlin, Virginia Madsen, Tommy Lee Jones, Lindsay Lohan, John C.Reilly, and Garrison Keillor. Yeah. The beauty of the film is that none of these actors quite seem to be acting. Attribute this to Altman's classic overlapping dialogue, but don't forget to bow your heads to the performers as well. Often I'm annoyed by Altman's stubborn persistence with overlapping dialogue. I'll argue that when Altman should be trying to make cinema, he insists on imitating real life. But with A Prairie Home Companion, the overlapping dialogue is mandatory. Altman's best when he's making a film mostly about people and not about story. This is most obvious here. My one complaint with the film is its aversion to storyline. But this isn't too much of a problem because A Prairie Home Companion is, if nothing else, about the people of the radio show. This is a story about human beings, where overlapping dialogue is only expected.  
 
The story finds itself toeing the line with magical realism. Virginia Madsen plays The Dangerous Woman, who Guy Noir (Kevin Kline) first describes as a femme fatale, and later as an angel. As she convinces us of her divinity, Noir finds a way to use her as an assassin to ward off the buyers of the radio show. This fantasy element works only to heighten the vibrancy of the rest of the film, where feet stay firmly planted to reality.  
 
Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin play the singing sisters Yolanda and Rhonda Johnson, with Lindsay Lohan as their gloomy daughter Lola. The three, as contrasting as the actors are on paper, flit about in a realm of familial nostalgia, with Lola penciling out her suicidal songs and scoffing beside their make-up mirrors.  
 
John C. Reilly and Woody Harrelson are Dusty and Lefty, the singing cowboys who crack dirty jokes backstage and jerk the chain of censorship with Al (Tim Russell), the stage manager. Chuck Akers (L.Q. Jones) and Evelyn (Marylouise Burke) are the elderly lovebirds who chase a potentially fatal lovemaking.  
 
Holding all these characters together is Garrison Keillor, whose nostalgia is matched only by his pragmatism and lack of sentimentality towards the show's demise. His performance is probably the most memorable, as the picture is fuller when he strolls about within it, offering truth to the blind antics of some of the other roles with his endless cache of stories.
 
A Prairie Home Companion's bubble doesn't burst as the lights go up. Instead, we find ourselves wishing the show would go on and the performers keep up doing their crazy little acts.  
This is Altman in his element; where humans are meant to be portrayed as humans. It's still lighthearted and mostly nonchalant, sure, but it's also about nostalgia and reminiscence, and the beauty that surrounds a family built behind the red curtains and a WLT microphone.
« Last Edit: Jun 5th, 2006, 4:07am by luci » IP Logged
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yesteach
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Re: A Prairie HOme Companion
« Reply #1 on: Jun 5th, 2006, 2:05am »		 Quote Quote Modify Modify
I love Garrison Keillor, I'd heard they were making a movie of The Prarie Home Companion.. I used to love watching it on the Disney Channel years ago, before it was all "kid shows."  He is a true storyteller... Smiley
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luci
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Re: A Prairie Home Companion
« Reply #2 on: Jun 5th, 2006, 4:07am »		 Quote Quote Modify Modify
We plan to view this on Friday, the day it opens.
Clips look like it will be a good movie!
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luci
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Re: A Prairie Home Companion
« Reply #3 on: Jun 9th, 2006, 8:41pm »		 Quote Quote Modify Modify
Yes, we saw it this afternoon!  A dark comedy, but fun, music is great &
we could have stayed another 2 hours, had the movie ran that long!!!  Grin
 
Good casting, funny, mysterious, definitely a Robert Altman film!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000265/
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