See here. Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Anyone care to place their bets how much, if any, rail footage there is within this production?
It seems that movies adapted from a stage play are often short of on-location filming. In common with other 'character study' stage productions such as "Death of a Salesman" or "Twelve Angry Men', this film will depend upon the interactions between two well established actors, Messrs, Jackson and Jones, and not on rail footage content.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
There DID seem to be a fleeting shot of the eponymous subway train.
And isn't that a distinguished cast? Not to mention playwright.
Too bad Javier Bardem isn't in it.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Henry -- the trailer video on my computer came out very "jumpy" and kept stopping and buffering every second or two.
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
The trailer description text says the subway train IS the Sunset Limited:
"Set in a New York tenement apartment, the story focuses on two very different men – a deeply religious black ex-con (Samuel L. Jackson) who thwarts the suicide attempt of an asocial white college professor (Tommy Lee Jones) who tried to throw himself in front of an oncoming subway train, The Sunset Limited."
It is obviously part of the same intercity rail network used by John Travolta ("Broken Arrow") to sneak a secret nuclear bomb carrying train into Denver from Utah without the railroad even knowing it is there. Steven Seagal also used the same railroad when he jumped out of a pickup truck flying over a passenger train to board the Grand Continental in "Under Siege 2", -carrying "flag stop" to whole new level.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
RRRich, when that happens it is often because the computer's memory can't handle the incoming bits alone and has to use the hard drive. How old is your computer and how much RAM does it have?
The guys who make commercial streaming videos seem to think that we all have the latest greatest CPU and several googolbytes of RAM.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Whatever minor train footage might be included (as part of breaking out and giving the film some outdoor on-site footage to distinguish it from a stage play), and whatever train the title refers to, it's clear that "Sunset Ltd" is really being used for its double meaning, its main use as a metaphoric expression for death.
But I never heard of a SUBWAY train called the Sunset Ltd. Where do subways get names like that? Certainly not in NY, where the play is set. Unless it's some sort of nickname I never heard of?
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
Maybe "The Sunset Limited" is just a figment of Cormac McCarthy's imagination. Maybe he stole the title from Amtrak, which stole it from the, what, Southern Pacific?
Anyway, here's an interesting piece from the NY Times about the play and its principals.
Maybe its connection with flanged wheel on steel rail is tenuous, but, let's face it, trains give us connections to all sorts of things, including HBO specials.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Henry -- I play videos on my computer all the time, and most of them stream fine. The trailer is the first one which has acted this way for a long time. Our computers at the office are upgraded every couple years, and have A LOT OF memory (we have our own computer network), so I don't think that is the problem. Thanks for your reply anyway.
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
Hmmm! Could it be that your Flash is outdated? (I should think you'd get a message that it is before the video plays.)
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Such appears "mixed" to me; but if you're looking for rail travel footage, I doubt if it will be found in this production.
First airing: HoBO 8PM ET with numerous reruns amongst their several channels and likely offered by your cable provider's "on demand' feature (which incidentially, other than the news and public affairs, is practically the only way I watch something - most anything I want so see comes on too darned late).
Posted by Henry Kisor (Member # 4776) on :
Mixed? That was close to a pan!
The Washington Post reviewer, however, liked it. Posted by Railroad Bob (Member # 3508) on :
I saw "bus bench" advertising for the "Sunset Limited" while riding down Wilshire Blvd. (LA) to a doc's appt. in late Jan. Thinking- great! a new dramatic epic set on or about Amtrak's iconic LA- New Orleans passenger train?
Then I saw it was a soul-searching piece with a subway sub-theme. Oh well-maybe we'll get the real train someday and a good movie to boot! Doubt if I will see the new HBO production- I don't have HBO in my home package.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
You are of course entitled to disagree with our decision. But from what I saw on Saturday night, “Spider-Man” is so grievously broken in every respect that it is beyond repair. Fans of Ms. Taymor’s work on the long-running musical “The Lion King,” adapted from the animated Walt Disney feature, will have to squint charitably to see evidence of her talent.
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
I watched this "play" last night. Not too into two-character philosophical diatribes that take place in a NYC tenement.
Samuel L. Jackson gets two thumbs up, but I couldn't get into the character that Tommy Lee Jones was trying to come across as.