Lucy & Desi on Prime

amyb · ‎04-05-2010

Just watched this last night~fantastic! Very well done biopic...with commentary from Lucie Arnaz, Carol Burnett & Bette Midler (the last two who were mentored throughout their careers by Lucy.)

Lucy was a remarkable woman, who had the reputation for "being difficult" but in my opinion (and of course we only see what they wish to tell us) it was in part because she was straight-forward, hard-working, just as hard on herself as anyone else, and extremely smart & laser focused in her work.

She also was family oriented, and humble.

Of course this is both their story and Desi was smart, ambitious. and the other half of a remarkable team.

Sad that, besides his "issues" that strained their union, it was also how what they created just became SO much bigger than they ever intended, but as Desi said...in American business, you either continue to get bigger or you die...it's a necessity. They do teach that in business school still.

Anyway...enough said by me...highly recommend.

Also, two more recommends...this past year I read Lucille's autobiography "Love Lucy", enjoyable.

I also listen to a terrific podcast "Talking with Lucy"...from an old radio show she did where she interviews all kinds of people from the industry from back in the day. Such a glimpse into the times...a very different sensibility. And she is such an "interested" as well as interesting person...she really is, again...laser focused in her questions to people and the way she really listens and responds to them.

KACEE1115 · ‎04-05-2018

Where is it playing? Do you mean Amazon prime? Just to watch some of their I Love Lucy shows, there's a good mood lifter and a lot of laughter. Sometimes I have tears just running down my face. Hysterical, the one she stuffed the bands instruments with cheese, The William Holden show where she had to disguise her self and her nose was melting. The ones with John Wayne. So much clean fun.. 😂😂😂

phoenixbrd · ‎03-27-2010

After all these years we can still enjoy the antics of this, in reality, strong powerful woman. Amazing legacy.

faeriemoon · ‎03-14-2010

Nicole Kidman ruined that movie for me. She was a terrible Lucy. I couldn't even get into the movie enough to fairly evaluate it because I was so distracted by how hard she was trying to pull off the role.

phoenixbrd · ‎03-27-2010

@faeriemoon Sadly, my assessment was the same. It was distracting and inept. I guess only Lucy can be Lucy, part of her genius.

newjerseygirl · ‎03-09-2010

@faeriemoon @phoenixbrd

There are 2 different shows about Lucy and Desi.

On Being the Ricardos is the movie with Nicole Kidman and Xavier Bardem.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4995540/

Lucy and Desi is a documentary by Amy Poehler.

https://ew.com/movies/lucy-and-desi-documentary-amy-poehler/

~Jersey Girls don't pump gas~

amyb · ‎04-05-2010

@KACEE1115 wrote:
Where is it playing? Do you mean Amazon prime? Just to watch some of their I Love Lucy shows, there's a good mood lifter and a lot of laughter. Sometimes I have tears just running down my face. Hysterical, the one she stuffed the bands instruments with cheese, The William Holden show where she had to disguise her self and her nose was melting. The ones with John Wayne. So much clean fun.. 😂😂😂

Yes it's Amazon Prime.

🤣🤣🤣Yes, I still can't watch an I Love Lucy clip without laughing out loud...all these years later, doesn't matter if I've seen it 100 times! I was trying to analyze why that was to myself last night. Why a 70 y.o. show still makes me laugh out loud...when other favorites of mine, like Mary Tyler Moore, which I still enjoy seeing, and tuned into on Hulu a while ago...but some of it seemed dated now...which of course it is, as is Lucy, but that fact doesn't factor in for me on the Lucy show, at all. I think in part....I love physical comedy, and in that respect she was the queen of it. The timing and physicality of the comedy that went into that show was impeccablely done...and the more I learn about her the more I realize just how hard she worked at making it so.

Hope you are able to watch the bio-pic...it was interesting.

amyb · ‎04-05-2010

@faeriemoon I enjoyed the Kidman/Bardem/Sorkin movie, but I realize some hated it, some loved it. Except for a few distracting mannerisms occasionally from Kidman, I thought it was very well done.

This is not that, in case you were confusing the two, as they are both on Prime...this is a biopic done by Amy Poehler. True life story, with old, never seen before home videos, commentary from Lucy's daughter etc.

amyb · ‎04-05-2010

@phoenixbrd wrote:
@faeriemoon Sadly, my assessment was the same. It was distracting and inept. I guess only Lucy can be Lucy, part of her genius.

I agree....only Lucy can be Lucy, for sure.

To my understanding, that is why their intent with that movie was not to be the perfect mimic or impersonation of Lucy, but to tell their story, (with some artistic license taken, with the timelines of events), capturing their essence. I liked Nicole's portrayal of Lucille Ball, much better than Lucy Ricardo. I thought Bardem, though not as handsome or young as Desi at that stage of life..captured his essence well. I thought they both did.

Maybe that all sounds like excuses to those people who didn't like it, and I get it...but I'm just saying I took it all as such and it didn't get in my way, at all, for the story of their lives that was being told.

I think Nicole really captured Lucille's sex appeal, love of Desi, tough business woman, smart lady, vulnerable wife/mother. Javier, I thought captured the shrewd business man with the Cuban refugee background that informed who he was as a man so much.

Not trying to convince anyone here...just saying how I viewed it and why I enjoyed it.

ScarletDove · ‎07-11-2010

@faeriemoon wrote:
Nicole Kidman ruined that movie for me. She was a terrible Lucy. I couldn't even get into the movie enough to fairly evaluate it because I was so distracted by how hard she was trying to pull off the role.

@faeriemoon Same reason I could not get into or even through the film...disappointing!