Ok, I'll talk about a movie from your childhood. Ha! Movies weren't around then haha.
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Ok, I'll talk about a movie from your childhood. Ha! Movies weren't around then haha.
Whatever, squirtard.
Yeah.
OK, so the movie *Blow Out* is really fucking bizarre. I've seen it before, but it didn't sink in just how weird a movie it was. Almost hallucinatory in quality -- like a French symbolist poem-movie.
Impressive De Palma got in all those Hitch references, as well as coaxing good performances out of an odd cast.
Also, I reappraised *Bob le flambeur* (they call it, I think, *Bob The Gambler*, I think, but that's not an accurate translation, even though the titular character is certainly that. *Bob the man-about-town*? maybe. something like that. He is called *flambeur* at least once in the movie, but it's not his main thing -- it's an odd bit of Melville's flair for titles and dialogues, I believe).
It was never one of my favorites, but now I see that it has a resemblance to a statuary, sort of reminiscent of some of the Antonionis from his tetralogy. Also, I believe that Melville was just barely skirting (heh) the line between outright calling Bob a homosexual and achieving mainstream success. He did show some very nice tits, however, from the main woman in the movie. Never seen her before or since -- I bet she's somebody. IIRC he did show some male ass in the movie, so people of a different persuasion can enjoy that, too. That was a nice rack of boob, though.
Saw again:
*The Nevadan*
*Seven Men From Now*
*The Tin Star*
Fucking great westerns. You know, if I was a greenhorn, I wouldn't have clocked that Hank Fonda was right up there with Scott as one of the great oater specialists. Guess I forgot.
eta yes, I've seen these movies a million times. but every time it gets better. There was another Ranown I saw just the other day, but I can't remember the title. Yeah yeah *The Walking Hills*, but that wasn't it -- that movie kind of irritates me. What was I going to say? can't remember, so forget about it. it's a fugazi.
Years ago in college I saw the British original, which is a very odd bit of Sixties Swinging London pop culture but with a nicely-played undercurrent of menace and death.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
Yeah, *Blow-Up* is a classic -- an "A" picture, compared to more of a B-picture like *Blow Out*. I thought *Blow-Up* was stupid the first time I saw it, but that was because the Criterion collection commentary is one of the worst I have ever heard. Completely illiterate, and, what's worse, completely stupid, by a stupid, stupid English professor or some shit.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's HeirYears ago in college I saw the British original, which is a very odd bit of Sixties Swinging London pop culture but with a nicely-played undercurrent of menace and death.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
Also I was coming from the trilogy of Antonioni (later a tetralogy with Red Desert), all of which I admired very much.
It's grown on me, though.
Just saw *The Walking Hills* again last night. John Sturges! So, of course I had to follow it up with *The Magnificent Seven* (pretty sure that was a JSturges too -- what was he, like a sonny-boy to Preston?).
I changed my mind about the WH -- it's a gripping psychological thriller. Not really a movie I would call a "Western," except that people ride horses in it and they're in the west. It's comparable to *Treasure of Sierra Madre*, although not nearly as good, natch, and, besides Randolph Scott, not nearly as good a cast.
I got curious and looked up John Sturges. Apparently, he had nothing to do with PSturges.
But because I was bored and looking for a good movie, I saw again *Bad Day At Black Rock*.
Yeah, I know, why keep watching movies you already seen.
Shit, I don't know -- how many Shakespeares are there? How many Homers? How many Petroniuses? I like to see what I can see, and that's final.
Anyway, *Bad Day At Black Rock* sucks. Despite an all-star cast. Haven't changed my opinion of it at all.
If you want a jap war racism movie, go see *Crimson Kimono* by Sammy Fuller. It took me a long time to find a copy [eta and that's years and years ago], but it's a damned good movie. One of these days I'm going to copy the little piano motif, just for kicks.
*My Darling Clementine* -- haven't changed my opinion about it (namely that it's a fine Western with a good cast), except that I never noticed or remembered the outrageous title credits until now. It's a pretty bizarre movie -- Linda Darnell as a breed, Hank Fonda in top form. The character of Doc Holliday (Victor Mature) seemed so strange to me -- maybe Jack Ford's habit of yanking pages willy-nilly out of the script when he had a mind to was a little bit hasty.
*Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry* -- even better than I remembered. Still not sure -- is Susan George the greatest actor ever, or the worst? Car movies, by the 1970s, had become the new Westerns.
*Rio Lobo* -- I carried a torch for this movie for a long time. Now I think it kind of sucks. Not too happy about that -- sometimes the memory is better.
*Gone in 60 seconds* -- yep, still got it. That is a badass fucking movie.
*Vanishing Point* -- that reminded me, hard to believe Sheriff Bart is the same actor as Super Soul. I just now looked at his wiki page, and there isn't much info about what happened. Those are the only two movies I know him from, but he was pretty fucking good. Still an OK movie, just way too much hippie crap in it.
*TYypewriter, Rifle, Camera* (docu about Sammy Fuller) -- it's longer than I remembered, and good stuff.
*Decision at Sundown* -- stupid oater.
Oh yeah, again *The Line-up* -- convinced me that Eli Wallach is even better than Akim Tamiroff.
*Rolling Thunder* -- more impressed than before.
*Psycho* -- between this and *The Tin Star* Tony Perkins might get a bronze medal for character actors.
*Dr Strangelove* -- more funny than I remember.
*A Shot in the Dark* -- meh. I can see why Herbert Lom got all pissed off and shit about being typecast. He is awfully good, sort of.
And, of course, *The Red Desert.* Distracting photography, but I'd eat lunch at Monica Vitti's Arby's Roast Beef any day.
No problem - I envy you!
*From Dusk Till Dawn* -- couldn't mistake Tarantino's dialogue, but that is one hell of a stupid movie, being forced to look at Clooney and Tarantino's fugly mugs all the time. No. Not a good movie.
Did see again *True Romance* about three days ago -- that is also a pretty shitty movie. Tarantino must have run out of cola the day he wrote that. At least Tony Scott had the good grace to hang himself.
for those playing at home, I deleted the post EH was replying to -- I just said "I outed myself as someone who rewatches movies when he has some spare time." If I'd known EH replied, I wouldn't have deleted it -- I had a rare moment of reflection and decided the comment wasn't worth a whole post, is all.
//-******************************************QUESTION !******************************************
So, my Spanish isn't so good.
But in *Machete*, did Michelle Rodriguez call her little friends from the "Network" "chinguanos" --
OR
a little detective work shows that she might have said "chingadas."
Also, is Michelle Rodriguez totally hot or what? Amirite! Iberite!
*North by Northwest* -- less strange than I recalled. Nice thriller. And good color photography.
*Tombstone* -- that crazy director's commentary by Cosmatos is, put plainly, completely insane. It's nothing to do with his accent -- it's just sheer madness.
*The Pink Panther* -- I'm just sick of all of this series. This one is unbearable because of the character of the princess. I just want someone to punch her in the face until she shuts up. She's a good dancer, though -- she could be allowed to do that.
eta also David Niven -- doing the equivalent of a minstrel show, "shuffling English." And I say that as a fan who's read his memoirs many times, as well as the recent biography, *Niv*.
It's a pretty dire movie.
*Notoious* (the hitch movie, not the more recent one about rappers) is far better than I recall.
What is Alicia (Ingrid Bergman)'s problem, anyway, in the movie. One minute she's dissing Devlin (Cary Grant), the next minute she's pitching woo like crazy. Yeah, I know it's Cary Grant, and all, but still!
Also, weird to see Claude Raines being so menacing after being such a crypto-fairy in *Casablanca.*
Also, I think her wearing horizontal stripes at the beginning -- presumably to indicate her proximity to being a jailbird -- was a little obvious.
Was that Melvyn Douglas I saw, or are my eyes failing me!
Claude Raines was a great actor. He didn't have one basic character; he played a wide variety of rolls with skill. I've seen him in enough movies to think he was closer to Gary Oldman for disappearing into his roles so effectively you don't realize it is him half the time. It is hard to remember he was Prince John in Robin Hood and the same actor was Job Skeffington in Mr. Skeffington.
Also in Casablanca, to be fair, he was not a crypto-fairy but a crypto-bisexual predator I guess.
Well, consider me schooled! I think I only know a handful of his movies.
Agree to disagree about "Louis" in *Casablanca* -- that was like a parody of Divine in a John Waters movie.
But, yes, the movie has grown on me, so I no longer hate it.
Really? So he was a latter-day Oldman? Not a latter-day Harry Dean Stanton?
All right, well thank you -- obviously, there's a lot I didn't know about. Seriously, great comment, so thanks.
Oh, true question: was Ella Raines related to ClaudeR? Where did he come from, anyway, like Belgium or some shit?
don't malign the French!Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Doesn't look they were any relation to each other. Differently-spelled names, and he was British and she was American.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Rains
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Raines
Have to say, I'd never heard of her before. She reminds me a bit of Cobie Smulders.
I've recently seen:
Escape from New York
Kurt Russell stars as a Special Forces officer gone bad who has to rescue the President after Air Force One crashes in Manhattan, which in the near future has been turned into a massive prison. Directed by John Carpenter. A silly, low-budget but occasionally entertaining dsytopic adventure.
Nothing Lasts Forever
Unfunny, deservedly obscure B&W comedy about a bus trip to the Moon. Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd both appear (and probably wish they hadn't).
Inside Out
The latest Pixar movie, a bittersweet dramedy about what's really going on inside the head of a teenage girl. Richard Kind has the standout role, as the voice of her imaginary childhood friend. Recommended, but The Incredibles remains my favorite Pixar movie.
Spank the Monkey
Black comedy about a premed student unhappily stuck at home caring for his hot youngish mom, who's broken her leg, one summer. One night they both drink too much, one thing leads to another and they have sex. Not sure I can recommend this movie, although it did have its moments.
St. Vincent
Bill Murray stars as a gambling, lying, thieving, hard-drinking Vietnam vet whose long-buried better qualities are brought out by a little boy living next door. Jaeden Lieberher is outstanding as the kid, Melissa McCarthy plays the boy's harried, hardworking mom, and Naomi Watts is also quite good as a pregnant Russian hooker with (you guessed it) a heart of gold. Despite a major plot hole, I loved this movie. Just the right balance between sweet and bitter.
Saw *The Fighter* on DVD last night -- pretty damned good.
As not as-big-a-fan of Xian Bale as I am (but I loved *American Hustle* and *The Machinist*), that was one helluva good flick. No idea why I never clocked it before -- I'm convinced Amy Adams should be riding my jock.
OK my little fairy friend insisted on watching *Sideways* -- I never would have ever seen that in a million years, mainly because of Sandra Oh and PigVomit.
Surprisingly charming movie. It wasn't even as gay as I thought it would be. Yes, I laughed out loud a few times.
That was the surprise of the century.
The Billy Wilder Speaks! interview on DVD was nowhere close to satisfying, unless you want to listen to some old coot drone on and on in broken English. And that was the one I picked out for myself, as a treat.
OTOH I'd forgotten how good *Treasure Sierra Madre* was -- in fact, I'd forgotten most of the plot, except the highlights of the movie. No beating Bobby Blake!
Poor John Adams, he will always be known as pig vomit.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
I remember liking the movie when I saw it but I barely remember the movie now.
I saw Matilda the Musical (on Broadway) last week and it was quite good, so I re-watched the movie and thought it was better yet. In fact Matilda is pretty much a perfect movie. I then decided to read the book and I thought both movie and play were pretty faithful to the book.
Yet again a great comment -- but it's true.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Hell, I saw Sideways a few days ago and I can barely remember what it's about.
*Stripes* has held up since my last "screening." OK, fine, I stopped when they got to the urban assault vehicle scene (the bipartite structure was clearly the inspiration for *Full Metal Jacket*'s structure). I don't think there's a rotten performance in the bunch -- everybody was on fire. As a fan of 1970s movies, I am a little sick of Warren Oates's mug, but that's not his fault.
*Chinatown* backed with *Five Easy Pieces*. Yeah, baby. I ffwed through a lot of *Chinatown*, for some reason, but still an OK movie. *5EP* however has still got "it" -- I think I actually cried a little bit toward the end.
*Dirty Mary Crazy Larry* -- even better than I remember. Still not sure if Susan George is the best or the worst actor, but it's an amusing homage to earlier crimes-n-cars movies, and the driving is, of course, not to be beat. "Powder his face!" I think I saw a Mustang with a similar paint job somewhere recently. Kind of fun. I remember in the commentary to *Vanishing Point* the director saying he saw some guy with a white Challenger s/s who was, of course, a huge fan of that movie. Wouldn't surprise me if there were lots of movie nuts out there like that.
Oh yeah! *Lawrence of Arabia* (until I had to go to sleep -- not because it's a boring movie, just that I was tired). There's your Claude Rains right there! I forgot he was in that. I love the movie, and I'd advise people who also are fans to read TE Lawrence's *7 Pillars of Wisdom* -- you get a very similar feeling of dry, clean deserts.
Saw my first Harry Potter movie, pt 1 of the unholy gallows or -- wait -- hallows of death.
Rifftrax on. All the way on. So the guy with no nose is Voldemort, and Rickman is Rickman.
Didn't hear ONE SINGLE, "Potter, you fool!!!" Very disappointed.
I really hope Emma Watson was eighteen -- or a hard seventeen at worst -- when she made that movie. Yeah, she had to have been -- what was the deal with *Romeo and Juliet* (Zeferelli) when......whatserface wasn't allowed to be at the premiere screening because she wasn't old enough to see herself boning on screen?
Yeah, cute movie. I liked the photography. Those wimpy little muggles got what they had coming to them -- serves them right.
And, you may have heard, Lawrence costar Omar Sharif just died: http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/10/entert...r-sharif-dies/Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
Haven't seen *Death Proof* in a few years -- finally figured out why, when clear of Kurt Russell when he spins out in the field, Tracie Thoms couldn't gradually slow the Challenger down and get Zoe off the hood. Too risky was Zoe's position on the hood for any but the most careful of extractions. And I think somebody from one of those trashy internet sites was right -- Mary-Elizabeth Winstead was definitely getting raped, no matter what. As far as Jasper aka "Tom Joad" knows, she's a porno actress dressed in costume and unless the guy is even dumber than he looks, that Challenger was probably worth $80-100K. And had been gone a long-ass time with three females, as far as he knows, perioding all over the seats.
The first half of the movie still sucks, though. I can't imagine anything worse than to be stuck in a room with those people.
*To Have and Have Not* -- still cracks me up. Nothing new to report. I still wonder about Hoagy Carmichael (Cricket)'s haircut -- was that a real thing, you know, instead of just combing your hair back, sort of have it hanging down in front like a moptop? God, that French guy they picked up was a real puss.
*The Passenger* -- I don't think I ever made it to the end before. I'm glad I did. As powerful or more than earlier Antonioni's with similar themes (all of the tetralogy, and Blow-Up).
I saw Death Proof just once, and thought it was goofy fun at the time, although I don't remember much about it now.
Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, once said that he imagined 007 looking a lot like Hoagy Carmichael: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/media/la...a93f879f78.jpg
Not much of a plot -- Kurt Russell is a psycho stuntman who likes to murder young girls using a "deathproofed" stuntcar. And tangles with the wrong gals. Who are driving a Kowalski car. And KR is wearing a Kowalski watch. There's a bunch of other references; I'm sure there's a webpage out there.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
Saw the latest *Great Gatsby* this AM. I seem to remember it not being very well-reviewed by newspaper people, but I thought it was cute. Even that Spiderkid was pretty good. The narration was great -- I don't know how much was direct from the novel(la).....my copy is gone missing, or something. Cute movie. Would see again if drunk or tripping balls.
Just try saying this in your best Jimmy Stewart voice: "That'd be a terrible job to tackle. Just how would you start to cut up a human body?"
It's been a few years since I've seen *Rear Window* -- not only do I now think it's one of Hitchcock's best, it's one of the funniest dark comedies I've ever seen. Guess I wasn't paying attention all the other times I saw it. "What's interesting about a butcher knife and a small saw wrapped in newspaper?" <--> "She's dead, wrapped in plastic" (Jack Nance). Thelma Ritter doesn't steal the show, like she might have under a lesser director but: "Oh he's cleaning the bathroom -- musta splattered a lot."
Of course, just to make sure the audience didn't miss anything, it has to end with the guffaw of Stewart's legs broken, both this time. And, I believe the last line of the picture was the similar hee-haw of Thelma Ritter: "No thanks, I don't want to get involved." And the sarcasm of Stewart's last line to Grace Kelley: "I'm proud of you, Mary."
What really bothered me was trying to remember Wendell Corey's name throughout the picture. I should just keep the wiki page open at home, I guess, for future incidents.
Also, in spirit of Q&A: how did they find the actors who played JO Cotten and Orson in *Me and Orson Welles*? Bizarrely uncanny. But the guy they had as George Couloris wasn't very good at all. Just seemed, too young and crappy. Another oddity, during the first rehearsal scene, Orson's grey pinstripe suit is way too small -- in length and arms. I figured it was (a) a product of what seemed to be a pretty low-budget movie OR (b) supposed to say something about "look how chubby he outgrew his clothes!"
*La Notte* -- only saw the first twenty minutes or so again this AM. My copy is only in Italian, but it's still fine. I think I remember vaguely the "plot" but it's sort of like looking at a painting -- where the dialogue is covered by a palimpsest that obscures every third word or so.
I rewatched Gung-Ho for the first time since it was nearly new. Not a great movie but a good movie all the same. Michael Keaton played his standard generic character of the time but it worked to some degree.
Michael Keaton is alway his one character -- I think he's great.
NEW ON ONLY RECOMMENDATION ON MELLOPHANT!!!!!!
*Winter Sleep* -- palme d'or, what do you want. It's as fine a movie as one can see or experience. Yeah, it's over three hours long, but take it from someone who gets bored easily -- it's not a boring movie.
It was a weird experience -- the copy I found was subtitled in French and with Turkish dialogue. I don't speak any Turkish except for a GF a long time ago. But I had to, even if sub-consciously, glance at the FR subtitles and try to hear the actors' deliveries.
See? Everything should be dubbed.
It's the most extraordinary movie I've seen since *Alceste* from about a year ago. I don't know how to sum it up.
Beetlejuice is one of my favorite movies. Night Shift largely worked at all only because of Keaton. Mr. Mom was very good as was The Dream Team & Johnny Dangerously. After this excellent run playing 1 character he had big hits as Batman who was a different character. I don't think he ever recaptured the magic of his semi-manic think on his feet early character and probably did not really want to.
Yeah, I remember *Gung-Ho* as being kind of amusing. I might have seen it twice on TV.
But I don't think the standard "as Michael Keaton got older, ..." works so much. Look at *Jackie Brown*, made well after the *Batman* coup, and after the one where he was in all the stuff and the one where he was a tenant from hell...with....the guy from *Full metal jacket*, I think,
He's redoutable, I would say. But even in *Birdman* he still does that things with his arms. I guess old habits die hard.
"How did we ever get here. It smells like balls."
*Ant-Man* was a cute little movie. I don't really know what to say about it, except it was cute and the girl from *Lost* looks better with lots of makeup and a dark wig or hair-dye.
*Creep* is....not at all a horror movie, nor much of a comedy. Well, Peachfuzz is amusing. And it's got that guy from *The League* in it. Meh. It's a good student film. Maybe they'll do something for adults next time.
I want to see both Ant-Man and Birdman (now there's a double feature for you!) but haven't yet.
I've recently seen:
The Matrix
Watched it again with my teenage son, who'd never seen it. It held up pretty well - a nifty premise, good-looking cast, great action scenes, goofy/portentous dialogue, style to burn and still-impressive sfx.
Mr. Holmes
Ian McKellen is wonderful as the elderly Sherlock Holmes, retired to beekeeping on the Sussex coast in 1947 and troubled by both his last case and his failing memory.
Minions
Good silly fun, with a ridiculous plot mainly set in London. If you like the Despicable Me movies, you'll like this.
Bowfinger
Having long heard good things about this Steve Martin/Eddie Murphy sendup of B-movies and talentless people on the Hollywood fringes, I was a little disappointed. It had its moments but not enough to really grab me.
Forbidden Films
A pretty good German documentary about the 40-some Nazi-era films that are still banned from public showings there. The movie includes excerpts from many of them - anti-Semitic, anti-British, anti-Russian and anti-Polish movies, but also innocuous song-and-dance films, an exuberantly over-the-top Luftwaffe adventure, Stuka, and a cast-of-thousands Napoleonic epic released in 1945, just months before V-E Day. The documentary includes several interesting interviews with German film experts and historians, discussing free speech, democracy, the enduring evil these films represent, and the harm they might yet inflict.
Wow, you really know how to throw a party.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
I've sometimes fantasized about acquiring some 78 records of German propaganda speeches, but ... well, let's be honest, I'd listen to it as much as I listen to *The War of the Worlds* or a large chunk of sound poetry from the 1920s to now.
ETA I gotta know: I've always heard people talk about *Bowfinger* as kind of one of the holy grails of movies, but I always forget about it. Deets!
As I wrote, Bowfinger was a letdown IMHO, although I got a few laughs from it.
The new *Mad Max* is a lot of fun -- I highly recommend it for sci-fi fans. I barely remember the first one -- this is a lot different and is really good, even from the perspective of someone who doesn't really like sci-fi/fantasy movies too much.
Yes, I've wanted to see that, but haven't yet. I saw all of the Mel Gibson originals and liked 'em.
I wanted to see *Gator* again after watching all of the *Archer*s again -- my last viewing I think I liked it better than *White Lightning*.
Here's a gem from Wikipedia: "The film currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 0%, with five critical ratings."
Really? It's a fun movie with cool car stunts!
*Bowfinger* -- I'm going to agree with what'sisface EH and say, not really thumbs down, sort of a limp fish thumb dangling. Eddie Murphy doing his patented nerd-thing with his secondary character was amusing, in the first few scenes.
Actually, it kind of sucked. It's like the director knew it was terrible and made sure to get the best stuff in the first half so people wouldn't walk out.
Also, the sound mixing sucked -- wildly inconsistent mixing of the pop soundtrack (horrible choice of tunes, also) with the dialogue. My measure is how often I have to manually adjust the volume at home. Yes, I know I could run it through a compressor, but my feeling is that I shouldn't have to.
And why do I get the feeling Steve Martin wasn't responsible for some of the funnier lines, especially about black stuff? Of course, I can't think of any right now.
Also, the actors, besides Martin and Harris Murphy why was I thinking of Eddie Harris? and why can't I think of his name without imagining Marian McPartland saying it?, who were solid and workmanlike, were too motley to be funny.
This was no *Ed Wood.*
Yes, I was waiting to put a (LEGAL!!!!!! no, I'm serious, it's a legit copy tied to an OEM Win7Starter machine) Win7Start on a beat-up laptop late last night, knowing I had to be out the door at 7h30, so to calm me down I put in a french-dubbed copy of *Kung-Fu Killer*.
WTF?
It's Donnie fucking Yen, so damned right I expect a lot of hot shit kung-fu action.
Naw.
Second place, the French dub was weird, it was mostly some lady talking and doing it in like a fancy dialogue.
I guess the fight with the big bamboo sticks was OK, but WTF?
Oh yeah,I don't know what the plot was. Some guy was all pissed off and Yen's character is all like "yeah, but kung fu can be good" and the other guy was like "kung fu killing!" and the policelady was like "give up kungfu" and yen was.....
It doesn't matter.
ShaPoLang it ain't.
Good end-title clips though. I hope I kick as much ass as Donnie Yen (for those who don't know, he's like the man for stuff with fighting and stuff for the past 25-30 years) when I'm an oldster like him.
I'd watch SPL 10 times before I'd see this once again, though.
Alban Berg documentary on youtube -- it's only about an hour long, but it's pretty engaging. Interviews with Pierre Boulez and some other people I don't know the names of.
Extremely interesting overview of fin-de-siecle Austria-Hungary -- if I were teaching a course which included Toulmin and Janik as "optional," I'd recommend this as a multimedia accompaniment. Didn't know too much about Berg's life and career, just a fan of his music (me and everybody else). Extremely interesting. Odd that both he and Webern, Schoenberg's star pupils, had pretty odd circumstances leading to their death.
I knew Schoenberg was big into numerology, but not so much that Berg was, as well. There was a good quote from Berg, something like "As my powers as a mathematician grow, my powers as a musician decrease." Or maybe the opposite. Guess I should look that up.
Well I'm not going to do the whole thing again.
New *Fantastic Four* -- once all the stupid kid garbage and backstory-for-neckbeards is done with, it's like I've been saying for a few years about Kate Mara.
(i) character sucks -- she's a regex interpreter.
(ii) definitely jewess
(iii) i told you
(iv) even pushing thirty year's old she's kind of happening.
The reviews of Fantastic Four have been... underwhelming. Not sure I'll ever see it.
I've recently seen:
A Lego Brickumentary
A light-hearted, entertaining documentary about Lego building blocks, from their earliest days to the present, with interesting discussion of the company's ups and downs, testimonials from both young fans and old, and some truly amazing Lego creations, including a huge recreation of Rivendell done entirely in Lego.
Return of the Pink Panther
Hadn't seen this 1975 comedy in years. Peter Sellers is quite good as the bumbling Insp. Clouseau but the movie just wasn't as funny as I remember.
Megamind
Watched this superhero spoof again and enjoyed it. Great voice cast, lots of superhero in-jokes (especially about Superman) and impressive visuals.
Time Bandits
A deserved classic, about dwarves who steal a map of the universe from the Supreme Being ("You mean God?" "Well, we don't know him that well") in order to steal from such personages as Napoleon, Robin Hood and Agamemnon. The child star is great - I see from IMDB that this is practically his only role. The movie's downbeat ending is still a bummer.
The Third Man
Just saw a remastered print of this British masterpiece and loved it all over again - an atmospheric B&W Cold War thriller set in still-devastated postwar Vienna. Orson Welles shamelessly steals every scene he's in. Poking around on Wiki last night, I learned that there was a radio prequel series, also starring Welles!
I forgot about those -- I think some of them are as extras on the Criterion DVD. It was like "The Harry Lime Adventures," or maybe just called "The Third Man." I tried and failed to learn the zither theme music for piano off the record -- it still would be a good little one to do as a "theme" signalling time for a break.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
right, *The Return of PP* -- I get them confused. A quick glance at wiki tells this is the one that ended with Herbert Lom in the bughouse. So I guess that means the next one is the one where Clouseau meets Lom in the sanitarium yard and the whole "In every way, on every day, I'm feeling better and better."
FYI, *Rocky III* is not a good movie, at all.
So I watched Arsenic and Old Lace again for the nth time. I still laughed despite knowing what was coming at almost every moment. The King of the Screwball Comedies was at his best in this one and a great supporting cast of top character actors and Broadway actors rounded out this awesome 1944 comedy. Cary Grant really had no equal when it came to screwball comedies.
No, Cary Grant did not have any equals in the genre. Haven't seen *Arsenic and Old Lace* since I was twelve or so. Probably time to rewatch.
Antonioni's *Il Grido* -- for some reason I've avoided this movie, although I've had a copy for fifteen years. It's pretty good, I guess. After the first 90 minutes, it gets good. Reminds me of the movie *Detour*, I guess. Resaw *The Eclipse* -- it's been a while. Largely spurred on by this image (from a different movie, natch): https://www.nouvelle-quinzaine-litte...1127/cover.png
Was bored waiting for a jazz "concert," so stuck on *Jackie Brown* while I was pounding off and shaving and stuff. About the million trillionth time I seen that fucking movie. Know all the lines, everything, all the movies it cribbed off, whatever.
Fucking great. I'm looking forward to tonight just now seeing *Ronin* for like the millionth time. Still a fucking amusing movie.
Jackie Brown is great. Did you realize that Michael Keaton plays the same DEA agent, Ray Nicolette, in both that and Out of Sight? Unrelated movies (other than both are inspired by Elmore Leonard books) and different directors, screenwriters, etc. They could easily have recast the role, but I like that Keaton played him in both.
My favorite lines from Jackie Brown:
"Is she dead? Is she dead?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
I haven't seen *Out of Sight* -- that sounds familiar, Ray Nicolette being in another movie as a character. Maybe he was in a third movie I did see -- or else just heard about it somewhere. Good catch!Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
So hard to pick out great lines out of that movie -- that might have been De Niro's last real role. It looks he had fun with it, even if it was not a "serious" performance. Chris Tucker was also great. "Man, I'm home, I'm high, I just got out of jail." "And *why* are you of jail?"
"Got it right here in my Raptor bag!" Still never found out what in the hell that is, aside from a gym bag with a picture of a bird on it.
Never noticed that same little Datsun/Toyota/whatever from *Pulp Fiction* in it -- I think it's Jackie's car. I'm sure that car's had plenty of appearances in those "early" QT movies, maybe in *Reservoir Dogs."
=========================
What in the hell is Dario Argento's problem, anyway? Just saw *Suspiria* and the one about the bird in the title, and just followed it up with *Phenomena* (the best of the three by far). That is some twisted, perverse stuff. I just felt sad for humanity watching those movies -- I couldn't remember anything about the bird movie, although I know I've seen it before. The other two were new to me. I think I saw Aldi Valida's name in that movie *Il Grido* and looked her up and had it in my shelf.
Those movies should not be seen. *Phenomena* was pretty good, but really, just horribly disturbing films. No, I won't spoil the plots -- they're kind of whodunit murderous mystery thrillers.
I must beg to differ. He's quite good in very different roles in Limitless and Silver Linings Playbook, much more recently, too.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
I defer to your judgment -- haven't seen either of those. He was funny in *Analyze This* -- that could have been after *JB*. And *Bronx Tale* and *Mad Dog and Glory* and the *Night and the City* -- no, those were before, when I was in high school. Same rough time period, though. I forgot *Jackie Brown* has been around for a while -- it has a kind of timeless quality about it.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's HeirI must beg to differ. He's quite good in very different roles in Limitless and Silver Linings Playbook, much more recently, too.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
I forgot to note *Phenomena* had a killer Donald Pleasance performance in it. It appears he died about a decade ago. I didn't know he was so old. Or that he was British, really. He's one hell of a fun guy to watch. And Jennifer Connelly was the "girl" -- I know she's pretty famous. She did a good job in what was probably an excruciating film to shoot, especially as a kid.
Mystery solved: "When Ordell Robbie first goes to Max Cherry's office and is asked if he has the cash for the bond, he responds "I got it right here in my brand new raptor bag." Although the logo is partially obscured, it is clearly that of the Toronto Raptors. Actor Samuel L. Jackson was frequently courtside at Toronto Raptor games the season before filming Jackie Brown." From http://wiki.tarantino.info/index.php...e_Brown_trivia.
See what you made me do? I feel like I need a shower after going to a site like that.
*On The Beach*. Very moving movie. Exactly the right thing to lift my mood two days ago.
Sorry to say, Mel Brooks's *Silent Movie* hasn't held up for me. I used to think it was hilarious -- like knee-slapping, gutbusting. And it is, especially the way the various actors the trio mouth the exact words in the intertitles. That might be one of those where once or twice is enough.
OTOH, *Eight and a Half* is much more compelling to me, as a statement, at this stage in my life, nel mezzo del cammin. How did Sergio Leone get Claudia Cardinale to rough herself up in *Once Upon a Time in the West,* anyway? She must have owed him a favor.
Great movie, though I haven't seen it in over a decade now. I was amazed when I first saw, sometimes I fall into the fallacy that really good dramas started with the Godfather.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
Saw it recently, it has moments but only moments. Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and Space Balls are timeless classics, Silent Movie & High Anxiety not as much.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
Fair enough. But I rate *High Anxiety* way up there before *Spaceballs* or *Robin Hood*. The title song alone is worth it! Plus Madeleine Kahn! And a young Barry Levinson!
*La Strada* is kind of a pathetic, horrible movie. I don't like it. *Satyricon* is still just way too long and pointless -- and I like Petronius! ETA *Ronin* kind of lost its luster for me. I used to love that movie, but let's be real, the plot is ridiculous when you already know like all the lines to the movie. It's also bugging me I can't remember the driver's name -- it's something like Chipp something, with a funny spelling. I think he died in some kind of mysterious circumstances. Maybe just a heart attack.
Still, can't beat Jean Reno (Re'no?) and Bobby D and all that opening set-up stuff. "I need some new clothes. Vincent will sortcha out!" "That is what I understood."
Oh, and *La Dolce Vita* -- I don't think I've ever actually seen it all the way through. Much better than my hazy recollections. Still, *Eight and a Half* is the one.
*Reservoir Dogs* still got it, though. I was doing a FB thing with Maria Sharapova picture with, I swear to christ, Alfred Hitchcock and Lawrence Tierney doubles lurking in the background. She puts some weird pictures up on her "timeline." Yeah, so I had to get my Lawrence Tierney fix in.
ETA got it via google! Skipp Sudduth, for those playing along at home. He's kind of an average-joe looking character actor. I know he's been in other stuff. See ya Skipp! Wouldn't want to be ya! EETA oh, he's still alive. Sorry, Skipp -- yes, I wouldn't mind being you. I thought you were dead, for some reason. Carry on! He's not that old, either.
EEETA here's the Sharapova picture: https://www.facebook.com/sharapova/p...247680/?type=1
*Mon Oncle* (*My Uncle*) is a hilarious movie -- don't know why I never saw the Jacques Tati movies. It's oddly disturbing that I happen to resemble IRL M. Hulot, being a childish man who wears a tan raincoat, smokes a pipe, carries an umbrella, and is an uncle. Question: is it supposed to be social commentary that, other than the gang of little bratty kids, the only people who really get along with Hulot in the movie are the assembly-line plant workers in the scenes with the linked-sausage-stuff coming out of the ... whatever machine that has some "polymerization" thing dealy?
Also, apparently there is a dubbed version in English -- but the "ladies who lunch"'s voices alone are hilarious, like something out of a three stooges short.
Also, saw *Dillinger* again -- I think the reason I saw it in the first place might have been because of Lawrence Tierney's infamous antics, as was the reason this time. I'd forgotten everything about it until this time, when it all started to come back to me. Tierney was magnificent, full of the same sangfroid as Dillinger as the US Marines who thwarted that dude in France the other week.
Jizz, I can't urge you strongly enough to see Limitless. Probably my favorite film of the new century - smart, funny, exciting and unpredictable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOLqNOfzus4
Recently seen:
Leon: The Professional
Saw the uncut international version. It was pretty good - a hitman shoot-'em-up with a heart. Both Jean Reno and a young Natalie Portman are excellent in their roles; Gary Oldman was a bit too over-the-top as the villainous DEA agent, though.
Timecop
Watched this Jean-Claude Van Damme time-travel action/adventure again after many years. Lots of plot holes, but a good B-movie.
Dark Star: H.R. Giger's World
A recent documentary about the late sf/horror visionary Swiss artist. Filmed mostly in his last years, when he was overweight and quite slow (both mentallyand physically), with interviews of many people who knew and worked with him. Giger was a pack-rat and his house was stuffed with all kinds of cool stuff from his long career. I'd like to have seen more about his production design for the Alien movies.
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
Sellers is as hilarious as ever. Several times I started laughing during the setup to the gags - didn't even need to see them before being amused. Favorite bit: "Does your dog bite...?"
The Music Man
I had seen bits and pieces of this big-time 1962 musical but never the whole movie in one go. Overlong but a lot of fun, with great songs. Robert Preston absolutely dominates the screen as "Prof." Harold Hill, and Shirley Jones is pretty good as Marian the librarian.
Oh, man, "that is not my dog!" That's the one in the Alps w Anita Eckberg or whoever she was and Sellers wearing the guitar around his jock.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
It's too easy to get all those movies confused -- they're one long gag, as far as I'm concerned (except for that last one after Sellers died and they used clips -- I think michael Caine was in that one).
ETA Giger docu sounds fun. Yeah, I don't know where he got the xenomorph idea, but I bet he has cool stuff from the ELP album. I have the vinyl for many years, but don't think I've heard it more than once.
All right, so *limitless* inspired me to clean my place where I live. So, it's good.
OTOH it's just another movie about I guy who does coke and is like "Yeah! Rawr!"
OTOH, the references to *Sunset Blvd* were kind of amusing.
So, I don't know what kind of movie it was -- nev er did enough C to be part of that world, but enough to know what was going on.
Good movie Cross between sunsteVBlvd and the Jya MacInerney little novel.
That was not meant to be dismissive particularly about *Limitless* -- just my first half-drunken thoughts about it.
Saw a few days ago on a cold, rainy, and windy weekend Hitchcock's *Mr. and Mrs. Smith* -- Carole Lombard, Bob Montgomery. I don't think I've seen that before. It's a really cute movie, and makes me suspect Hitchcock had a pretty good sense of humor about lawyers. Kind of an amusing send-up of partners-in-the-boardroom, and the other kind of partnership.
That and, also this weekend last, rewatching *The Lady Vanishes* (I forgot what happened to the "lady," so I was kind of paying attention also) made me go out and get a copy of Truffaut's *Hitchcock* book of interviews. "You went out that morning and bought yourself a book? --Well, let's just say I have [it]." That's pretty engrossing to read. TRIVIA -- it probably says somewhere (I have the English translation), but I can't find out if the Hitchcock responses were translated TO French, then BACK to English, in a kind of Becketian linguistic thing, or if they recorded Hitchcock and just put down his replies verbatim. Must have been recorded -- pretty in-depth Q&A's, with a good bit of technical language. Now I also wonder if they had one or two interpreters in the room. I'm 100% positive neither Truffaut nor Hitchcock were sufficiently bilingual to talk directly to one another in whatever language. The only question is, one or two interpreters? And, of course, the earlier question about what was translated and how for the books.
ETA oh yeah, and *The Lady Vanishes* is hilarious. I think I remember that much about it, but sometimes a good chuckle is best lived in the present.
I highly recommend giving John Alton (cinematographer)'s *Painting with Light* a read or scan. Looks like I'll have to watch a bunch of movies again, and look at the screen this time instead of listening to the dialogue, mostly.
For example, *The Big Combo* is the most visually impressive film I've seen in a long, long time. And that's after having seen *The Third Man* again a week or so ago. Not just the impressive final scene with the cop's spotlight. Every trick/technique Alton talks about for lighting, particularly faces and human figures, but also streets, neon lights, all the classic noir-isms is in there. Lighting from a high angle to cast a face in an odd way.
I put in *Shadow of a Doubt* to compare this morning a movie in black and white I haven't seen in a while. I don't have anything to say about "standard Hollywood photography," but I'll have to be rewatching a lot of movies. That is a much more memorable movie than I recall, though. especially when you pay attention to the images. Very funny dialogue between the father and his little buddy talking about ways to kill each other. Extremely menacing Jo Cotten, and very wicked dialogue and even subtext between his niece and Uncle Charlie.
It's going to be difficult to watch a color movie with anywhere near the comprehension (dumb but meaningful, to me) of b&w techniques that Alton's simple primer gives out.
Son of a bitch. Alton *did* do *Reign of Terror* the only movie I've seen recently that hooked me visually. For some reason this isn't listed in the book's filmography. Not going to watch that again, soon, though. I know what happens at the end.
Came home last night dead tired, flipped on the TV and Goodfellas was on. Might come as a shock but did you know this movie is great, great I tell you. The third best Mafia movie ever made. Can't believe it is 25 years old already.
Also watched the ending of Close Encounters, it has held up pretty well itself.
Never heard of it :) I always used to discount it as a great movie but too recent to be "great" -- it's probably time to untie the gates of canon-guardianship.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
What *is* great -- easily one of the lightest and funniest of movies. *The Trouble with Harry*. Never bothered to watch it before. That is fucking funny.
Contrast to Lombard and JStewart in *Made For Each Other* -- nominally a screwball comedy, but the darkest, most unpleasant "comedy." I've ever seen.
However, another first timer for me, finally dug up on youtube *He Walked by Night.* Good little noir.
It's bizarre how much just shifting the visual focus to how things are lit in pictures really opened up my experience of movies. Now I can't hardly take my eyes off the screen, instead of basically just listening.
Oh yeah, the remake of *Poltergeist* probably had the dialogue written by a non-native speaker of English. That said, it's an OK little movie -- I could see spending a dollar on a hot day to kill time watching it in an AC-ed discount movieplex.
The Trouble with Harry I remember being fun but I barely remember the movie. I feel like there was a terrible remake in the80s but I am not sure if I recall correctly.
That's one remake I would not pay money to say. I just learned today they did a remake of *It Happened One Night* quite a while ago -- it had........somebody in it. Gearing up for the Halloween season with the afore-mentioned Poltergeist remake, and last night *The Exorcist*. You know, still a great movie (even though they had to butch Ellen Burstyn up, which made it not so sexy-time for me). Not as scary when you've seen it a few times already, though.
I can't remember which one of the prequels I liked better -- I think I liked both of them, but one had a woman sidekick who reminded me of....what's her name, the really good actress who was in *The Mummy* and the recent one where she cuckolds her army-vet husband, the title was a riff off the old "between the devil and the deep blue sea." The other one was
Rachel Weisz. Yeah, my memory is still good! Just slow.
kind of more African-peasant-y and dull.
Maybe the other way around.
SUGGESTIONS REQUIRED for 1970s (maybe 1980s) horror flicks I haven't seen. I've got all your standard ones covered, pretty sure. *Chopping Mall*, *The Omen*, *Amityville*, *Poltergeist*, *Exorcist II* yadda yadda, but, just as with 1970s disaster flicks, there are a lot of blockbusters I'm sure I never got around to seeing.
ETA Oh yeah, yesterday also I resaw Episodes "1" and "2" (with Rifftrax) of the Star Wars things. First time I saw them I didn't really know Star Wars, despite having seen them when I was a kid (except for # "6"), except Jabba the Hut and Ewoks and the robots and the drunken lady actress and stuff.
Recently I saw the trilogy again with rifftrax so I knew who Palpatine and stuff and all that. It kind of makes a difference. I spent the whole movies trying to figure out who the guy with the "Jethro Tull" haircut (yes, I stole that from a rifftrax guy) was, and it didn't really fit together. Too much effort.
I really thought the pod race was cool, though. That was kind of my speed -- sit back, watch some shit blow up, because who cares.
Oh @whatexit -- u have to see *Trouble w Harry* again. It's hysterical. There isn't really much of a plot to spoil, but for a key to one level of the humor, just keep OK, I have to spoiler-box, can't think of a way to circumlocute.
Anyway, this is just my observation, but I think the way it's supposed to wind up in psycho-sexual ideas:Spoiler (mouseover to read):
at the end, we have three virgins and a sea (OK, tugboat) captain mated up. "She's remarkably well-preserved." ahem "And preserves are meant to be opened" -- not a witty line, but it's all in the delivery.
Well, it's hard to sum up in lines, and that's only one aspect of the humor, the sexual innuendos and finding out why Shirley was so circumspect about her marriage, and what the .... ahem .... "artistic" fellow whispered in Shirley's ear.
So, it's the delivery, and the fact that every humorous aspect is said in incongruous terms and circumstances.
No real way to sum that up, except that it's about the funniest fucking thing I've ever seen.
*You Can't Run Away From it* is the remake with Jack Lemmon and June Allyson. Damn, my mother even remember the principals' names. Still, can't see Jack Lemmon doing the scruffy, punked scrub like Gable did it. And youtube doesn't have the full movie, so I'll have to wait a while to see how it works.
*Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist* is pretty good, in a really cheesy kind of way. I suppose that makes me a bad man, but I'm not that into Paul Schrader except as a hack screenwriter. Even though his book on....Ozu, Dreyer, and somebody else was...not very thoughtful, even though he squirted it out at a young age.
HOWEVER
*Death Race 2000* belongs right up there with *The Magnificent Ambersons* as a fine movie with a serious political message. Mind you, it's a terrible movie -- it just has a good message, is all.
Try The Legend of Hell House (1973) and Suspiria (1977)Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
Excellent. Thank you. Hell House looks good and it starts soon. I've already filed *Suspiria* under "what in the hell is Dario Argento's problem," but also a good suggestion.
Suspiria was weird but I like it and it worked. Helps the main star (Jessica Harper ) was hyper-cute in it. Her other big roll was in one of my favorite movies, "My Favorite Year".
No doubt. *Suspiria* was a great movie -- it's just that I think Dario Argento is one fucked-up dude, coming up with all that.
Update: it's *Exorcist: The Beginning* that is the crappier of the prequels.
And it is *Revenge of the Sith* that is the crappier of the prequels.
And it is *Exorcist II: The Heretic* that is the shittiest sequel. I must have buried that one in my subconscious somewhere, but thanks for reminding me of its existence.
Just saw *Criss Cross* (the film noir with Lily Munster in it) again -- I couldn't remember one thing about it, except that I'd seen it. Cute little noir. I think Siodmak (R, not brother curt or however it's spelled) had his own thing. Well, it reminded me of the origina *The Killers* anyway, despite very different Burt Lancaster performances. EEETA something with the photography. Shit, now I have one more thing to obsessively pursue. Watching movies is getting to be more "hobby"ish than I'd like, so I'm going back to my earlier stance -- fuck it, I'm just going to primarily listen to the dialogue.
ETA thanks again *what exit* for reminding me of Argento -- I only know those three movies I posted about earlier, but he'd be a perfect guy to indulge for Halloween movies.
Of course, my Halloween ritual is always to watch *Plan 9* and *Ed Wood* back-to-back, and I see no reason to change that. But this is for the pre-game.
I think I want to go as Howdy Doody/Charley McCarthy or whatever in honor of "Captain Howdy," but that sounds like a lot of effort. EETA two separate dummies! So, just Howdy Doody. Never mind what I thought. I suppose I'd have to have a fist up my ass or something to make it funny, but I'm not going to do that, so just the puppet.
In case anyone is thinking about plunking down some cash for a DVD of *Jurassic Prey* -- just....don't.
I guess if you smoke a lot of "medicinal" marijuana and travel regularly in a short bus, it's great.
*Birdemic* it is not.
*The Legend of Hell House* is fucking ridiculous.
That's the kind of movie that makes its own gravy.
Ridiculous.
Is that good or bad?Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
Just saw The Theory of Everything I hate to say, it was pretty darn boring.
I don't know -- it's just such a horrible movie that it doesn't take a genius to rifftrax it up in one's own head.
Therefore, it makes its own gravy..
I got all wasted yesterday and watched *The Theory of Everything* -- so, thanks for that.
That's a fucking great movie -- I know I've read that guy's pop-sci book, but I didn't know anything about "him" beyond what everybody knows. I'll make a wild guess and say it probably wasn't a documentary, but I was extremely amused.
ETA here's a retarded link
I enjoy those rap battles actually.
Who doesn't! Comedy is comedy, in whatever form.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Welcome back to reality, *Goodfellas* and Stephen fucking Hawinkgson fans.
All right -- saw a bit of *Birdman* again this AM. Yeah, damned right that is one great soundtrack -- a lot of good things about the movie I didn't notice the first few times I've seen it.
Naomi Watts or whatever her name is -- great actress, great sound, great Batman. Great Norton. Great NYC.
*Swing Low, Swing High* -- a comedy with Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray. Great. McMurray is a two-bit trumpet player, Lombard is a singer. Cute movie.
*Nothing Sacred* -- technicolor screwball comedy with Carole Lombard. First half was cute, but fell asleep.
Also saw *It Happened One Night* yesterday -- no reason why, just wanted to see it again. Gable is the king! I suppose for guys of an earlier generation who didn't have Bieber or Steve McQueen to look up to, Gable kind of helped provide a role model.
He seriously hurt the undershirt industry according to legend when he appeared on screen without one. (Of course this may be a legend only)Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
Yeah, I heard that one, but for some reason I thought it was due to some scene in *GWTW* -- he actually did the whole no-undershirt thing in *IHON*, whereas I haven't seen *GWTW*, and probably never will.
Surprisingly kind of a risque' movie, *IHON*.
IHON was pretty close to the first screwball comedy but far from the best. GWTW I have seen and I do not love it. It is very soapish. I read the damn book too, not a fan at all.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
dupl post
Nice contribution, EH. You're just pissed that I thought *Limitless* was an entertaining movie, and not the greatest of the century. :)
I have to know, whatexit -- what do YOU think is the best screwball? IHON is not my favorite, either -- it's certainly good support for Capra's auteur-hood, and it's amusing. I'd go with *Bringing Up Baby*, *Philadelphia Story* (well, some people call it a screwball comedy, but that's not really how I think of it -- too many characters). TBH, I can't stand listening to Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, whichever Hepburn's voice. I couldn't see myself seeing those again.
I'm going with my main lady, Carole Lombard, in *20th C* with the drunkener of the Barrymores. That may well have been the first, but I'm not much of a film historian -- I just know what I like.
"Bringing Up Baby" or "Arsenic and Old Lace" are the best of the Screwball comedies. (IMHO). I agree Philadelphia Story is not really a screwball but it is an awesome movie. Audrey I could listen too or look at, at any time, she is my all time favorite. In fact "How to steal a million" was a pretty awesome Screwball comedy. I can't think of another screwball she did. Many great RomComs but not screwballs.
The great Kate is probably the best actress of all time and Bringing up Baby was as funny as movies gets. African Queen was a great as movies get and Lion in the Winter vs Peter O'Toole and a young Anthony Hopkins was the greatest hamfest of all time.
I have never seen Twentieth Century, though I do think she is pretty damn good in My Man Godfrey.
I love many of the Marx Brother's movies but they all lose points for the song numbers that did not involve the brothers.
Well you and I are just going to disagree! (BTW the "Katharaine, Audrey, whichever Hepburn" was a reference to the cartoon *Archer* -- which you would probably enjoy. EH turned me on it, and I've been jizzing every since.)
This makes me a bad man, but I, despite having had a copy of *Lion in Winter* for almost two decades, and despite loving *Becket*, have never got around to watching it....just...too much Kate.
The best Kate Hepburn is in *The Aviator* (who was that, Kate Beckinsale? yeah, I think....no, shit, it was that Cate Blanchett).
HEY! *Arsenic and Old Lace* is not a screwball comedy -- it's an old hilarious stage play that happens to be a comedy.
IIRC, Richard(?) Blake, SJ (which means he's a Jesuit priest -- society of jesus) wrote a good book called something like *Screening America* -- he works through four genres (screwball comedy, gangster, film noir, horror -- something like that). I don't remember exactly, but he had a good introductory portion about the history of politics (Catholic League of Decency was responsibe for a lot of the "Hayes/Breen" code) and how many of these early archetypal genres were codified, in theory and practice.
I gotta know: *Bringing Up Baby* or the Bogdanovich remake *What's Up Doc?*?
Yeah, you're probably right, though: *Bringing Up Baby* is the best screwball comedy. Something about Cary Grant just makes it good, never mind plot structure and all that nerd crap.
Somebody might say *His Girl Friday* with Rosyln Russell or however it's spelled -- I don't know, it was never my favorite. Seemed too Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks to me.
*Twentieth Century* is the one that, AFAIK, started it all, though, and it's been too many years since I've seen it. Still got it on VHS!
*Bringing Up Baby* > *What's Up Doc?* but that is the best of Streisand's screwballs.
Arsenic and Old Lace is usually listed with the screwballs, probably as it is completely insane and starring Cary Grant the king of the Screwball comedies. Harvey is sometimes called a screwball too, if you consider such I would put it up with Bringing up Baby and Arsenic and Old Lace.
I think Topper is another excellent screwball but not quite as good as the others mentioned. The Hudsucker Proxy is an almost modern one that is truly excellent.
ETA: I'm going to have to look for Twentieth Century. I didn't even know of that one. I do not love "His Girl Friday" but it is ok.
ftfyQuote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
No, no, no. You're fucking up the genres. Just any madcap crazy comedy is not a screwball comedy. 3 stooges shorts, slapstick, and generally hilarious movies like *Harvey* aren't screwballs.
So I was lying on the grass up in Secaucus, you know, just resting, and it may be funny, but it doesn't make it part of a genre.
now, I suppose, *Casino* is a fucking gangster movie, just because it has Joe Pesci and there's a bunch of wiseguy shit in it
Get the fuck out of here, Tommy!
Both true in fact.Quote:
Originally posted by JizzelbinftfyQuote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Well, u tell me what quals as Screwballs and I'll rate them. But The Hudsucker Proxy was a screwball. Harvey I know is borderline, I generally don't include it. Philly Story is often classed as a screwball but it doesn't really seem like one to me.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
Here is the Wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwball_comedy_film
Quote:
Films definitive of the genre usually feature farcical situations, a combination of slapstick with fast-paced repartee and show the struggle between economic classes. They also generally feature a self-confident and often stubborn central female protagonist and a plot involving courtship and marriage or remarriage. These traits can be seen in both It Happened One Night and My Man Godfrey. The film critic Andrew Sarris has defined the screwball comedy as "a sex comedy without the sex."[5]
What's Up, Doc? gets my vote for best screwball comedy ever. I like it more than any of the older examples of the genre that I've seen.
Well, I don't know. Per Richard/Robert Blake, SJ or whatever his name is, he made a pretty convincing case of the screwball comedy genre being partially defined by an unlikely partnering of two people from different social strata (that's the plural of stratum, as far as I can recall -- a plain old 2nd declension noun), quick dialogue, and some other stuff.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
I agree that trying to define something as fluid as a genre in as fluid a medium as movies is not going to be helpful unless significant formalisms are employed. Even then, because of the evolving nature of the art (as in, it keeps going on and on), the formalizations are just going to be a help if one is interested in examining the structure. Which, since it's not a stable structure, is not going to be possible.
*Harvey* is fucking not a screwball comedy, though -- I'll stand by that. It is a fucking great movie. And a fucking funny movie.
In other news, *Children of the Corn* is a .... kind of differently-abled, but amusing movie.
IOW you need a complete category theory, done in mathematical logic, to do film genres -- I'm not willing to do that, nor do I know anyone working as a professional logician who would. But I think some basic informal guidelines are helpful -- not because I care nor am a film critic. For example, I stand by that *Junior Bonner* is not a Western, nor is *Cheyenne Autumn*, even though they're in the west and have horses and indians and palefaces and stuff.
We watched Psycho last night. Still great and kept my son guessing throughout the movie. Though the wrap up at the end was too long. My only complaint about this classic gem.
Nice! The little guy hadn't seen it before, I'm guessing. That's gotta be one movie he won't soon forget. If your son is of the age or inclination to appreciate Olivia Hussey playing Norma Bates (I think it's in Psycho III) -- it's a nice treat. AND it has that guy from *Lost* and *Machete* Jeff Fahey in it (I think it's the same one).
*Children of the Corn V* -- pretty flashy, slick movie, for being a complete piece of crap. I bet the main kid with the ears and the red hair is going to get mad tail from.....I'm not sure who, goth chicks....in high school.
*The Purge*. Ethan Hawke looks pretty ragged -- he's not that much older than me. He probably didn't wear his sunhat outside often enough. I swear midway through the movie I forgot the son existed, and thought, "Hey, that's a really ugly girl -- reminds me of someone I know!*
You want screwball comedy? I think a case could be made that *Silver Lining Playbook* is right on the edge of the genre. The main character also kind of reminded me of someone I know -- except Brad Coop was way crazier in the movie. But JLaw as a nympho! Great!
Silver Lining Playbook was too low on laugh and very non-frantic in pacing. I tried to watch but had to give up. It was a dreary mess to me.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
Yeah, I kind of agree. I've had a copy for a few weeks, and at every point was like, "meh, do I really want to sit through some downer of a movie?"
I don't know, I kind of warmed up to it, though. Not one I'll be seeing again, though.
Hey, you know what it was kind of like? *A Woman Under The Influence*, except not as funny and humane.
I just watched Star Trek the Motion Picture, brace yourself, this may be a bit of a shock.
Are you sitting.
It is a bad movie and very muddled.
Why? I think I saw that a few years ago. The Shatner toupee alone is worth it!
The cure to all these modern "classics" is the Rifftrax gang. They even make fun of Kirstie Alley before she got ridiculous.
Oh my.
OK fine, why in the hell would you watch the *Star Trek* motion picture? Shit, now I kind of want to see it again.
Fuck it, I'll just watch *Dune.* At least Sting has a codpiece in it.
And lest you think I'm joking around, being a troll -- no, I may joke around and not take anything seriously, and may have football injures to my head, but I'm no troll. Serious as a heart attack.
I hadn't seen ST:TMP in decades. I suffered through it.
Dune, oh Dune, I did not hate it when I saw it when it was new. But I cannot watch it again. It is just too hokey without being campy enough to enjoy like say Starship Troopers.
Dune, I liked the book but wasn't a huge fan and thought the series deteriorated quick so the movie was entertaining enough that 1st time. Starship Troopers, love the book, have read it maybe 10 times over the years. Despite this I still enjoyed that silly excuse for a movie with terrible acting and no power armor but probably for its cheese.
I probably shouldn't say this, but I read like eight of the Dune books when I was a kid. I remember seeing the Lynch movie before I'd read (some of) the books as a kid with my dad -- I don't remember anything about it except the desert sandworms and shit.
Sad to say, seeing it a few decades later, it's not even that great a cheesy movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaRoznOehy8 I mean, some guys in college thought the whole fat dude floating around was funny, but that was just an artefact of having been stuck in boarding school with few sources of entertainment, pretty sure. ETA not me -- i mean these kids had their whole teen years basically stunted watching stupid movies, studying stuff, and smoking weed. Not me! I waited un.....oh, shit, well at least I didn't go to high school smelling jock straps and playing lacrosse.
eeta and that is the reason you should not send your kids to boarding school, and insist they don't be band nerds but play an awesome instrument like rock and roll keys or guitar. or jethro tull flute or whatever.
(I deleted a duplicate post for #296, but Mello deleted both. Here's what I wrote):
I was underwhelmed when I saw IHON in college; haven't seen it since. I saw GWTW for the first time in its entirety earliest this year. I can see why it's a classic and why it's had such a big impact on American pop culture, and Vivien Leigh sure was purty, but it didn't blow me away. All of the Lost Cause mythology stuck in my craw, too.
Recently seen:
The Book of Eli
Denzel Washington stars as a mysterious badass in this post-apocalyptic fable. Appropriately arid and overexposed cinematography, some great gunfights, and no less than three Harry Potter alums!
The King and I
Finally saw this 1956 musical from start to finish. Yul Brynner dominates as the King, but Deborah Kerr is a worthy foil to him. Good song and dance scenes.
Any Given Sunday
Downbeat football movie about a coach (Al Pacino) and quarterback (Dennis Quaid), both near the end of their careers, uneasily realizing that their beloved sport is moving on without them. Jamie Foxx is the hotshot young QB who surprises them both.
Sense and Sensibility
Emma Thompson's brilliant, charming adaptation of the Jane Austen romance. A great cast and a story that carries you on to a perfect conclusion. Highly recommended.
A Dangerous Method
Thoughtful, well-crafted costume drama about Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Sabina Spielrein, the beautiful patient who challenged and charmed them both. Great cast - Viggo Mortensen is a standout as Freud; Michael Fassbender and Keira Knightley are also quite good as Jung and Spielrein, his patient/colleague/lover.
You mean KeiraK wasn't strung-out and sickly? I was right! Plus she gets spanked in the movie.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
Saw *The Maltese Falcon* again yesterday. I've underestimated the visual look of the film. Still can't stand Mary Astor as "Mrs. Wonderly" -- she just looks ghastly and unbelievable as a yowza-type woman in the movie. I blame the photographer. Plus I know the stories about her infamous sex diary from the 1930s -- that's a hard thing to forget.
It's not the most attractive I've ever seen Keira K. - for most of the early part of the movie she's acting crazy and is grimacing and gnashing her teeth (and yes, she gets spanked).
I watched 12 Monkeys Monday night. A good movie, not great but good. Brad Pitt was a little tough to take in it but Willis was quite good as was Stowe.
Haven't seen *12 Monkeys* in a while. Madeleine Stowe is one of the most voluptuous women in movies I've seen -- I cite *The Two Jakes* as a firm(-handed) example. I remember being slightly confused when I was a young teenager and saw it on TV. Much like *Dune*, it takes maturity to understand the complexity. (Yes, I'm kidding, but in a positive way).
Saw the whole of *Chinatown* again (without fast-forwarding through most of it) a few days ago. I think I finally understand the plot, sort of. The whole thing kind of eluded me for a long time. It went from (as a teenager) "sister/mother/sister/Higgins from Magnum PI" to "something about water" to "feed it to my goldfish" to....I'm not sure where I am now, but I think I get it.
*The Martian* as a cute little movie. Don't know what to say about it -- a nice little disaster movie, set on a pretty small human scale.
*Rise of the Planet of the Apes* is the one, I promise you. I liked it, anyway -- haven't seen the others.
*Buckaroo Banzai* keeps on going, monkey-boy.
Speaking of Clancy Brown, *Highlander* is a lot funnier than I remember. That is a hilarious movie, instead of just a weird movie.
Tried watching Glengarry Glen Ross and I gave up about 30 minutes into it. Boring movie about boring people in boring quasi-ethical at best jobs.
I did catch Adam's Rib the other night and it is still quite good and of course extremely dated (translated it is now an excellent time-piece)
You know what you need? Brass balls. Come into an office, saying stuff like that.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
I actually gave up halfway through *Anaconda* this morning. That might be one of the worst movies I've ever seen (I know I saw it on TV once, so I can say I've seen it).
Anaconda is truly a terrible movie.
I saw Bridge of Spies today. It was great. Well paced and the acting was incredible. Coen brothers wrote it, Spielberg directed and produced it. Tom Hanks was the only star of note in the movie though Alan Alda had maybe 8-10 lines. English Theatre actor Mark Rylance should at least get an best supporting actor nomination as Rudolf Abel.
I'll keep an eye out for it -- speaking of Hanks. He looks like a little kid in *Apollo 13*. It's creepy how much Colin and Tom look alike (yes, I was a fan of that TV show w Jenny Wade and the guy with the moustache) at that age.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
I don't know the show but I have been fairly impressed with Colin Hanks in his efforts. He is at least competent in the movies he does.
I saw 12 Monkeys not too long ago, and it still works. Very sad and chilling.
Buckaroo Banzai is a great sf spoof. Love it! John Lithgow should have won an Oscar for his scenery-chewing brilliance as Dr. Emilio Lizardo. I have a Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems mug on my desk, and once, on a dare, actually made a restaurant reservation in the name of "John Yaya."
I want to see Bridge of Spies soon. The trailer looks great.
Recently seen:
Abraham Lincoln
D.W. Griffith's 1930 biopic doesn't hold up well, alas. The acting is melodramatic and the production values almost laughable by modern standards. Walter Huston was praised for his performance in the title role at the time, but just seems oafish to me - totally lacking Lincoln's wit and political shrewdness. The film also has the President give a short speech to the crowd at Ford's Theatre before taking his seat, and that just didn't happen.
Caddyshack
Believe it or not, I'd never seen this golf comedy in its entirety before. Had some laughs, some good lines, but it wasn't all that great IMHO.
Greed
A 1924 Erich von Stroheim adaption of the Frank Norris novel McTeague, about a failed dentist in 1890s San Francisco whose wife wins the lottery. She turns pathologically miserly, they quarrel, and things go from bad to worse. Interesting camera work but not an especially gripping film.
The Martian
Outstanding sf drama, about an American astronaut who has to survive against all the odds after being accidentally left behind on Mars. A funny, absorbing tale of grit, determination and ingenuity.
Captain Phillips
A powerful, effective movie, based on a true story, about a captain dealing with the takeover of his container ship by ragtag Somali pirates in 2009. Paul Greengrass, the director, makes you feel like you're right there, and Tom Hanks is very good in the title role. The last scene almost made me cry - a near-perfect ending to the film.
Buckaroo Banzai is a great sf spoof. Love it! John Lithgow should have won an Oscar for his scenery-chewing brilliance as Dr. Emilio Lizardo. I have a Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems mug on my desk, and once, on a dare, actually made a restaurant reservation in the name of "John Yaya."
I always enjoy it. It is very silly but so silly it just works.
I want to see Bridge of Spies soon. The trailer looks great.
It really was.
Caddyshack
Believe it or not, I'd never seen this golf comedy in its entirety before. Had some laughs, some good lines, but it wasn't all that great IMHO.
It is not aging well, it was far more awesome back in its day. Sadly Rodney Dangerfield's humor is just not holding up at all. Chevy's shtick is also faring poorly.
The Martian
Outstanding sf drama, about an American astronaut who has to survive against all the odds after being accidentally left behind on Mars. A funny, absorbing tale of grit, determination and ingenuity.
How much like Cast Away is it? I'm on the fence for seeing this or Rock the Kasbah next. Bill Murray (best part of Caddyshack), Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson & Zooey Deschanel gives me hope it is will be as good as the trailer looks.
Captain Phillips
A powerful, effective movie, based on a true story, about a captain dealing with the takeover of his container ship by ragtag Somali pirates in 2009. Paul Greengrass, the director, makes you feel like you're right there, and Tom Hanks is very good in the title role. The last scene almost made me cry - a near-perfect ending to the film.
I need to catch this still, where did you see it? Netflix, On Demand, rental?
*Bridge of Spies* really was a remarkable movie. It's the best movie I've seen since *Winter Sleep* from last year (you know what I mean -- that's been released eta recently).
Finally found my copies of *The Rum Diary* and *Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas* -- just the things to cheer me up yesterday/today. Speaking of Bill Murray, or the caricature of HunterS I seem to have become IRL. eta -- yes, a reference to ....Wild Buffalos or whatever that dogshit movie was.
In other news, *Captain America* is terrible. It's a porno movie you can take your kids and elders too.
*The Last Waltz* is just sad -- it's starting to show its age. And this is one of those I see pretty much every year. You know what it is? It's just a combination of too many drugs, and after Levon died a little while ago, it's just not for me, seeing Marty with his head up Robbie's ass so far. Plus, I've learned all I can from the music, and I'm just tired of the movie.
Well, I don't know about OSCAR, but laugh while you can, monkey boy!Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
Also, ad *Caddyshack* I'm going to disagree the shit with both of you. Not only does Rodney not get old, this movie marks the high-water line for Chevy. Only old people hate on Chevy Chase!
Also ad What Exit? *The Martian* is nothing like *Cast Away* -- it's like a cross between *Jaws* and *The Deep.* Disaster 1970s genre flick crossed with intimate dramedy.
Run, do not walk, What Exit, to see The Martian. It has very little in common with Cast Away, and is well worth seeing on the big screen. If you don't like it I'll... I'll... hell, I'll refund your ticket price.
I watched a library DVD of Captain Phillips.
*Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid* is, IMO, pretty tedious this time for me. Once you know all the famous quips, it's pretty difficult to sit through. Needs more Robert Shaw.
The movie *Feast* from 2005 is a pretty good action/monster-movie. Well, no it isn't "pretty good," but the opposite -- but it has its redeeming moments (Jenny Wade stripped down to her unmentionables, although she's covered in blood, is one of those moments).
I saw The Martian it was pretty good though not great. One of the worst sound tracks ever outside of David Bowie's Starman used so awesomely. Technical stuff in the film was pretty great. I loved the Council of Elrond bit and Donald Glover's character. So Boromir wants to be Glorfindel, cool.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
*Death Promise* (1977) is not the movie you'd want a three-year old niece to see. It is, however, a trailer, you promise you want to keep watching.
Once.
I was watching Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation this morning, co-staring Maureen O'Hara who I just found out just passed away at age 95. Mr Hobbs was an OK movie, nothing special but a pleasant 60s picture.
Also watch X-Men: Days of Future Past yesterday. It was pretty crappy and campy.
Watched Hollywood Knights also, worse than I remember and I remember it being pretty eh. This was a terrible nostalgia trip like American Graffiti but without good acting or writing. But had 29 year old Tony Danza as a 20 year old staring with a 28 year old Robert Wuhl also playing a 18-20 year old. Early major roles for Michelle Pfeiffer and Fran Drescher. Fran was gorgeous but terrible acting. Michelle was pretty but oddly she is one of those actresses than grew prettier later.
Earlier this week I tried Solar Babies. Damn did this movie stink. Seriously, it was so bad it is impossible to describe.
Care to comment? She always looked like a bird to me. What other actresses "grew into" their harpy-like appearances.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
I didn't even know Bob Wuhl ever was 28 years old -- he's like Lee J. Cobb or somebody who always seemed to be in the throes of middle age, if not it's death rattle.
I thought Michelle was quite pretty in her 30s and 40s and even today. In her 20s she was too thin or something. Even by Ladyhawk she was looking better (age 27) and by The Fabulous Baker Boys (31) she was extremely pretty to me at least. Her faced had matured a bit and filled out a little and I thought she was gorgeous.Quote:
Originally posted by JizzelbinCare to comment? She always looked like a bird to me. What other actresses "grew into" their harpy-like appearances.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Jodie Foster was at her best looking some time in her 30s. Never better than Maverick. (age 32)
Come to think of it, another Cat Woman looked better in her 30s & 40s: Halle Berry though not as pronounced to me as Michelle or Jodie.
You've made interesting life-choices.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Being an active sexist, I can only look at the world from better-to-worse. Case: Faye Dunaway. After *Bonnie and Clyde* it all went downhill for her, AFAIK.
Hey, I'm thinking about watching *Everest* in the next few days -- anything to it? The only NatGeo articles I relish seem to be about mountaineering/spelunking/adventuring, so it seems like a movie I might not want to smash with a hammer.
ETA hey, wait -- Christina Ricci! She was great in the Addam's Family movie(s), and then she got all aggro and punky. So it's not just about the looks for me (granted, she was like twelve in those Addam's Family movies, so, like any decent person, her "looks" were not at all sexual). I'm serious as a heart attack, I wouldn't even joke about something like that.
Christina Ricci is an excellent actress that seems to have the toughest time getting a big success. She can really act, she grew up to be very pretty and is very pretty still. (She is only 34 or 35 I think).
And, from *Death Promise* -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhMtWePgzB4 start from 57 seconds in if you want to see some white, hairy dude screaming like a toddler who missed lunch trying to fight.
I'm not sure -- I'm surprised she's only in her mid-thirties, but she seems to be universally admired, especially among the art-house crowd.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Here's one from worse-to-knockout: Melanie Lynskey. In *Heavenly Creatures* (granted, she was just a kid when she made the movie with...............Winslet), but she tried forever, I heard to get into Hollywood but had problems with her weight. Now she is a monster babe, and, you know she can act, despite that stuff on that TV show two-and-a-half men.
Melanie Lynskey is fairly plain and I thought specialized in Hollywood Homely roles? Is it just her assets you like?
You're right that Ricci was doing well with the art-house crowd but it seemed like she tried to do some stuff that would be more established and pay a lot better and these always fall through including that terrible Pan-Am show she starred in.
Holy shit. Dude, that's like you just insulted my dead grandmother or killed my dog or something.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Fine, maybe "cute" with a killer bod is a description more to your liking, kind sir.
I bid you good day.
eta And, on reconsideration, Jenny Wade kind of has a butt-face. I mean, not really, but she's just kind of "cute" you know. Lynskey is more interesting.
I think that was Teddy (Jeff Daniels), the NASA chief.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
I swore it was Sean Bean with the line, but IMDB agrees with you.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's HeirI think that was Teddy (Jeff Daniels), the NASA chief.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
My one problem with the film: Why send a botanist all the way to Mars without projects involving the growing of plants. It seemed odd to say the least. Microbiologist that minored in botany I would have accepted or that he was a farm boy.
Today I watched Star Trek VI for the first time since it was in the movies. It held up pretty well. It was a good farewell for the original cast. Though they kind of got another on Futurama 10 years later.
Yeah, not the worst ST movie (although the Klingon-translation scene is cringeworthy).
Well as 1 & 5 plus the last 2 Next Gen movies were so awful they killed the Star Trek movie franchise for a long time. This was a solid effort in the middle of the pack.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
Star Trek 2 & 4, The Reboot & Galaxy Quest are generally the top picks. I think 3,6, First Contact (Next Gen Borgs in the past) & the 2nd of the rebooted series are the middle performers.
Opinions vary, of course, but I'd put Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, The Voyage Home and First Contact at the top of my list, in that order.
*Everest* is a cute kid's movie, on the level of *Rollergator* or *High School Musical*, but with better production values.
Some dudes and a chick are tourists, and they get wasted and some of them fall of a mountain. The end.
How was Keira Knightley in it?
I didn't even recognize her -- I think that's probably a good compliment for her acting ability. Maybe it was the haircut.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
*Oceans Twelve* made no sense, and it sucked.
HOWEVER, *Zero Motivation* is a hilarious recent comedy from an Israeli film-maker. Highly recommended.
The documentary *Back in Time* about the Back to the Future franchise wasn't as depressing as that one they did about ueber fans of *The Shining* -- probably one to rent on video if you're super bored and *Mandingo 2* has been rented already.
Ocean's Twelve was the worst of the 3. 13 was pretty good though.Quote:
Originally posted by JizzelbinI didn't even recognize her -- I think that's probably a good compliment for her acting ability. Maybe it was the haircut.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
*Oceans Twelve* made no sense, and it sucked.
HOWEVER, *Zero Motivation* is a hilarious recent comedy from an Israeli film-maker. Highly recommended.
The documentary *Back in Time* about the Back to the Future franchise wasn't as depressing as that one they did about ueber fans of *The Shining* -- probably one to rent on video if you're super bored and *Mandingo 2* has been rented already.
I saw Back In Time last night an the middle (the fan part) was slow but overall it was entertaining. I never knew there was that big of a fandom for the Franchise. I love the 1st movie, and really like the 3rd, but I was shocked there is a trekkie-like devotion to it all.
I watch and Lewis & Martin bio-pic the other day. Called Martin and Lewis from 2002. It did not suck and oddly was written by Arthur Marx son of Groucho. I am currently reading an excellent bio on Groucho it was interesting coincidence. Bunch of nobodies and I don't like Martin & Lewis movies but they still made it an interesting minor movie.
I'm looking forward to checking that out tonight or tomorrow. Yeah, the Martin&Lewis "comedies" can be pretty tiresome. I'm a big Dean Martin fan, though -- he was actually a good actor (*Rio Bravo*), a GREAT singer (for my tastes), and his variety show is about the best of that era when everyone had their own show. All the greats, Susan Anton, Chevy Chase, Judy Garland. I kid, Jeannie!Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Also up on the docket:
*Blood Glacier*
*Foxcatcher*
and try to catch up on Bun~uel -- I think the only famous one I've seen is *Belle de jour*, aside from the earlier experimental stuff. and yes, I used to pound off to *The Story of O* as a kid when my mother's Judith Krantz and my father's Penthouses were being "used," presumably by them.
I knew there was an internet meme-thing with Back to the Future (I also loved the first one as a kid -- the guitar stuff, the cool "hey, maybe Marty McFly is like an older brother," and stuff; the second one kind of terrified and confused me as a child, but it's kind of neat, I guess; the third one I remember liking very much as a kid), and I knew there were DeLorean people out there.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Actually, before I saw the docu I saw BTTF again (I, and III, then, biting and scratching but eventually loving it, II), and was like "hey, maybe I should get a DeLorean as my midlife crisis car! <cue Harold Ramis in *Stripes* looking at John Candy in the "cracker-barrel" scene>" Found out there are companies who make replicas (like Face's Excalibur in A-Team kind of replica) with electric drivetrains with major low-end power. Ie, fast acceleration, for well under 100,000 USD.
Well, shit on that, maybe I just WON'T buy a DeLorean for my next car. Maybe just feed an African village or some shit for an eon.
*The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie* is a very funny movie, if you like extremely dry humor.
*The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* deserves a better place in my memory. It is a mature, sensitive movie, with a minimum of whimsy and crap. The photography is beautiful, and the songs are memorable. Only problem is, it changed my internal monologue into French for the rest of the day, which I don't like.
Washed it out with *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp*. For some reason, that was not one of my favorites, but now I think it's probably the best of the Powell&Pressburger movies. Even cried at the end, a little. Anton Walbrook's speech to the British immigration guy alone is worth watching the whole movie.
Just saw To Have and Have Not for the first time. Pretty good but practically a stealth sequel to Casablanca. It is very easy to assume Capt. Morgan is Rick's new persona. Bacall is absolutely remarkable for her first movie at age 19. An amazing job acting for a newcomer. Bogie is of course Bogie and awesome despite it. Samuel L. Jackson is pretty great at being Samuel L. Jackson but he has nothing on Bogie being Bogie.
Oh, Hoagy Carmichael played the Piano player, I never realized that he could probably be considered one of the influences on Rock and Roll but I heard it in his music in this film.
Awesome parallel -- I love that movie, but never thought of the connection to *Casablanca*. I still think "Cricket" and his boys do an incredible job of making Bacall seem like an old pro actress -- she more than holds her own. "Was you ever bit by a dead bee?" is one of the underrated movie lines, to me.
Has anyone seen *The Pride of St. Louis* (a biopic about MLB pitcher Dizzy Dean)?
I'm surprised my elderly coworker from quite a few years ago didn't mention it -- he knew everything about sports, and probably was some kind of savant genius in the area of memory, as well as a big movie buff. Given that we'd spend hours just shooting the shit to pass the time.
ETA looking the movie up, holy shit, Dick Crenna plays Daffy! You know, Colonel Troutman (eeta Trautman, apparently) from the Rambo movies, but also a great old-school actor, even turning French for Jean-Pierre Melville once.
I've seen it but it was not memorable. It is no Pride of the Yankees, that is for sure.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
I suppose that's just as well -- I can't seem to find a copy. Still sounds like a fun movie about a real character.
*Pride of the Yankees* was a movie WITH a real character playing Gehrig. Well, that's what I remember about it, anyway. Coop just sort of lolling around doing baseball stuff. Probably should watch it again, maybe, just for fun.
Actually, Pride of the Yankees was as much of a story about Lou & his wife Eleanor played by the very cute Theresa Wright. It was well done and there is a reason that it holds a 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
I agree about *Pride of the Yankees* -- I pulled it out over the weekend, and the famous "farewell speech" at the end even got me a little choked up. I forgot (or didn't know) that Babe Ruth was himself, in a pretty big acting role, and almost didn't recognize Walter Brennan in one of his rare "teeth in" performances.
I think I might have mentioned *Decision at Sundown*. Turns out I have no memory of having seen it. Incoherent, strange movie.
I also have never noticed two things about *The Nevadan* before -- not knowingly anyway. So, apparently there's an actor named Jeff Corey -- I guess no relation to Wendell Corey, but who knows. I bet you that's where Melville got the name for the assassin in *The Samourai*, who I'm pretty sure was named Jeff Corey as well. Also, the stunt of having the two zany brothers providing comic relief was ripped off by those *Oceans 11* people. I'm very upset about that.
Also, *Oceans 13* was kind of amusing.
Also, *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* (the one with Tony Shalhoub playing the talking mutant rat) was much better than *Battlefield Earth*.
Welcome back.
Oceans 13 was entertaining and better than Oceans 12 by a lot. 11 of course was the best. I am one of those rare people that actually like the original movie. The Rat Pack was good in it keeping in mind it was a silly movie.
I screwed up and missed your advice, I bought Jurassic World, it was a bad movie, not as bad as the last 2 but terrible compared to Jurassic Park.
What isn't better than Battlefield Earth? Even Plan 9 or First Knight was more enjoyable to watch.
Oh, years ago my wife dragged me to see Shadow of the Wolf, I guess that was worse than Battlefield Earth.
I don't know. I haven't seen the original probably in twenty-five years, but all I remember is being disappointed. I remember Sammy Davis Jr had the "big song" in it. I don't know.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Whoops. Note, I said *Jurrasic Prey*. I haven't seen any of the sequels.Quote:
I screwed up and missed your advice, I bought Jurassic World, it was a bad movie, not as bad as the last 2 but terrible compared to Jurassic Park.
Well, *Jurassic Prey* is a good start. Also, see *Rollergator*, *Jack and Julie*. *The Room* is better than *Battlefield Earth*, though, as is *Plan 9*, among famous bad movies.Quote:
What isn't better than Battlefield Earth? Even Plan 9 or First Knight was more enjoyable to watch.
I've always wanted to see *3:10 to Yuma* but I could never find a copy until two days ago. It's one of the most compelling, precisely because of its odd, idiosyncratic style and content, Westerns I've seen.
Here's some bait to hook people in. It was made in 1957 -- same year as *Touch of Evil*, IIRC. There are numerous parallels, from design, photography, characters. From the beginning, Frankie Laine (trust me, you know him, if only from *Blazing Saddles*) singing one of the great theme song performances of all time. And eponymous to boot.
And the lines. I brought out my yellow pad, which I haven't done since I was eleven or twelve, to jot down:
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Will you let me finish, Bill? Then you can agree.
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Three big guys on three white horses
Glenn Ford's performance as the charismatic, even seductive, Ben Wade, is the best I've seen him -- I didn't know he could do that kind of thing. Van Heflin was adequate, I guess. The sexy bartender was a tightly-packed piece of work.Quote:
Safe? Who knows what's safe? I know a man dropped dead from looking at his own wife. My own grandmother fought the indians for sixty years and then choked to death on a lemon pie.
Tried to watch the remake, but stopped it about halfway through. The music had some interesting cues -- one in particular reminded me of Rzewski's americana on piano. But the music was slapped wildly all over the picture.
The remake was a movie for children.
The movie is one I will be watching again.
I think, next to *Predator*, *Hatari* might be the most macho movie ever made.
John "The Duke" Wayne as a great white hunter (kinda), yep I think your right on that one. Did you like it though? I enjoyed Predator but Hatari! doesn't work for me, it is almost comically bad to me. I mean it is pretty bad when you can honestly say the Plot of Predator was well planned out compared to Hatari!Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
I thought it was great! Elsa Martinelli was a new "discovery" for me. Not saying it wasn't silly, but the thought of Hawks, probably wearing his cowboy hat, and Duke Wayne fumbling around in the brush was amusing to me.
Saw *Get Shorty* again two nights ago. I know I'd seen it on TV at least ten years ago. Kind of cute. Actually, after having read yesterday the novel it was based on, I might see it again.
Speaking of novels-movies. I read last night/today *Rum Punch* -- so, yeah, Elmore Leonard has the ear for the dialogue. I think, while killing time today watching a bit of *Jackie Brown*, that people who adapt his stories and use his lines must have pretty good powers of abstraction.
This just in: I'm not sure *Hunt for Red October, The* is such a good movie. Pretty sure I saw it in the theater when it came out, and twice again in the past few years, and last night again. It's ripe for parodys -- the Rifftrax guys should do it. The Russian accents sounded like Chekov from Star Trek, the dialogue was ridiculous (whatever it was that Marko and Scott Glen each say onboard their ships, "Very well" wtf is that??? They only gave Jonesy a few good lines, and his part was the best one. The guy from *Jurassic Park* was weird-looking, the guy from *Rocky Horror....Tim Curry didn't have any good lines, and Alec Baldwin's character was ridiculous.)
The movie is, and I quote, a rude thoughtless pig.
I love it. Sean Connery doing his nearly Russian Captain with an apologetically Scottish Accent is awesome.
Dirty secret, Alec Baldwin like all the brothers really isn't much of an actor. No way around it. Most of Tim Curry's acting skill is in being a large ham, I love it but it is not great acting, it is great hamming.
Very well.
We used to do Russian accents at CalTech in our sleep.
I was all set to start tearing Tom Clancy a new one after reading his book (the October one) yesterday, but I can't, really. That's a page turner, and, unlike the Elmore Leonard book-movies noted above, it's somewhat clear how they got the screenplay. Probably the producer or director decided Jonesy would be good on the actor they picked out, and yadda yadda.
In the movie, though, the one thing that bothers me is why Jones -- probably, what, 35 years old? Not much older than that, anyway -- has the whole reading glasses thing. I get that it's a fun prop for the actor to play with, and it kind of sets off his whole anti-visual world of sonar tech.
They should do a prequel just about Jones. "Jack Ryan" is pretty much a tool, and the way he's written in the novel betrays Clancy's ignorance of the attitudes that serious academics tend to have about their professions. I could go on, but that would raise my blood pressure -- for the only reason that the inspecting of this year's crop of political people in the US reveals how little taste Americans have for any amount of culture, taste, and bookishness.
Thanks for the correction to the title. My one complaint about the movie is it recalled the term "hatari" from a brief phase I went through of playing the game "Go" (still have my board and pieces!) -- apparently it's another unrelated word from some Cushitic language or something.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
But the reason I like *Hatari!* and movies like it is exactly that there isn't much plot -- just dialogue, and some flashy action to string you along. I like slow, talky movies as much as anyone, I guess, but it's good when you can get the concepts and words in there with having some fun stuff to let your limbic brain feast on for a while.
And, *Predator* is sort of the opposite of *Hatari!* -- all dialogue, no action beyond what's necessary to flesh out the dialogue. Example? The arm-wrestling-in-midair. And so forth.
*Western Union*, from 1941. "No, but I know what you're talking about. Next time, let's talk about"Quote:
... . _.._
What the fuck, dude. This was like a wholesome Bob Young/Randolph Scott Americana movie.
I haven't rewatched to verify that "x" (_.._) was there, but it was definitely "s" (...) and "e" (.)
I somewhat doubt that the character (macking on a lady telegraph operator in the movie) was about to spell out "semen retentum venenum est."
What the fuck. Shocking.
Never heard of that one, it looks awful and the stars are pretty bad. I did like 1 book by Zane Grey, but just 1.
This just in: *Out of Sight*. Great book, terrible movie. Unwatchably bad. I guess JLo had the right look, and the character was supposed to be pretty stupid, and Dennis Farina was good. Clooney had the right idea for the character -- they roughed up his face pretty good, and thinned his hair out a little.
Unwatchable.
*Easy Rider* is far more of a bummer movie than I recall. What was the meaning of one of the last lines, "We blew it!" spoken by Capt. America? I don't know. Maybe he got religion while tripping out with Karen Black. I don't know.
That was a bummer.
I remember Out of Sight as being pretty good. Haven't seen it since it first came out, though.
Never saw Easy Rider in its entirety. I've seen enough of it in clips to know it probably wouldn't be for me.
Well, maybe seeing *Out of Sight* in the theater, back when Clooney and Jenny from the Block were big, was different. Maybe seeing it through to the end makes a difference. Also, I have pretty vivid memories of the novel, since I just read it a week or so ago. Also, the great adaptations like *Jackie Brown* and even the pretty good ones like *Get Shorty* maybe soured me. Normally I make fun of people who, as a rule, think "the novel is much better than any movie!" but, in this case, it's true.Quote:
Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
Sure, who wouldn't like *Easy Rider*? You liked *Lost in America* with Albert Brooks and Julie Hagerty, right? Same thing!
It's just a major bummer, though.
Lost in America wanted to be funnier than it was, but it was OK. Not a fave.
Randolph Scott? "Pretty bad"?Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
You're skating on thin ice, buddy.
Lucky it's almost a holiday or something.
Talk about cruising for a bruising!
ETA and I forgot, Dean fucking Jagger!
And I never knew it was a Fritz fucking Lang!
Fucking hell.
And that little shit put "sex" in Morse Code, which is fucking ridiculous, and is fucking crazy. That's fucking ridiculous.
Zane Grey I don't know about -- he did some things about people riding horses and shit. Don't care.
Randolph fucking Scott is the man!
Yeah, Bob Young, who cares, and that mousy little chub they hired as the sex interest wasn't anything.
Randolph Scott?
OK, fine, he wasn't truly awesome until the 1950s, but he's the fucking man!
John fucking Carradine, and Chill fucking Wills? It's a goddamned Western! And they got everybody in it!
It is a shitty movie, though.
I saw Kingsman last night, my expectations were low but it was very entertaining. Not a well done movie, not well written and a lot of the acting was weak but somehow it was greater than the sum of the parts.
Wait a minute. Is that even possible? Was thinking about catching up on some recent movies in the next week, but that sounds like a good one to accidentally on-purpose miss.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
I'm happy to report that *She Wore a Yellow Ribbon* has gotten even better with age, meaning in the past few years since I've seen it. Victor McLagen outdoes himself. "[H]e got a breath on [him] like a hot minced pie" >= "You should stand downwind from where I am. Smells like Miller Time." (from *..............BIg Trouble in Little China.*)
Saw *Fat City* again last night. That's about right. "I believe that everybody has a right to his own life. So screw everybody." Downer of a movie, of course, but people like Jeff Bridges, and he was adequate. I guess that would have been right around the deflowering role in *Last Picture Show.*
Also, *Breathless* is good. I don't know if I've seen that before. "I don't know if I'm unhappy because I'm not free, or if I'm not free because I'm unhappy." and "Oh, monsieur, vous n'avez rien sur la jeunesse? --Non, mais j'aime mieux les viex." That's not really academy French, I don't think but that's what I think what's his face says and the student political person.
Which Breathless? The classic but boring French film or the Richard Gere remake with the gorgeous Valérie Kaprisky? I suspect you mean the classic. It was pretty slow as I recall but still better then the remake.
The original! All movies are better than movies with Richard Gere.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
I don't think it's a slow movie -- I was kind of surprised by how artsy and avant-gardy it was, compared to some other movies of that "new wave" bunch. Yes, I'm sure now I've seen it before, but it's one of those you never think of watching again, because it doesn't have Anna Karina in it.
I see I was wrong entirely about the quote. My version didn't have subtitles and I have bad memory! http://tribaal.online.fr/A_bout_de_souffle.htm Belmondo mumbles a lot, though. I was pretty sure the lady said "sur" and not the regular "contre," though.
Can't stand Gere but there was a time in my life I would watch anything with Valérie. Sadly in retrospect, her movies were all garbage. But I did enjoy them when I was 20.Quote:
Originally posted by JizzelbinThe original! All movies are better than movies with Richard Gere.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
I don't think it's a slow movie -- I was kind of surprised by how artsy and avant-gardy it was, compared to some other movies of that "new wave" bunch. Yes, I'm sure now I've seen it before, but it's one of those you never think of watching again, because it doesn't have Anna Karina in it.
Gere made one of the absolute worse movies ever. He brought the might Sean Connery low with his pathetic acting. I did not think such was possible but in first knight he dragged even Connery down.
Kaprisky Point! Didn't know about her, but I'd read her book with one hand.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
So, what's Gere's *Sardoz*? All be disrespecting Darby McGillO'Gill and shit, you better throw down, boy! Name names!
OK, so *First Knight* is the name of a movie. I'll keep a dull, filmy eye out for it.
For double del you'd think one of the strikethroughs would be bold or something.
Oh yeah, I saw *Machete* yet again last night. It keeps getting better. No lie.
Sean was good despite the weirdness of Zardoz, I happen to really like Darby O'Gill and the Little People. I even thought in one of the worst movies ever excreted Highlander 2, Sean was good while all else stunk like a garbage pit.
I remember Zabriskie Point mainly for the Pink Floyd soundtrack.
BTW: Did you ever notice that Floyd from the Muppets is basically pink?
Not prepared to weigh in on *Highlander 2* -- I can't think of anything redeeming in the movie, including Connery. Not prepared to watch it again, at any rate. I'd watch the original twenty times before the sequel.Quote:
Originally posted by What Exit?
Didn't know that about the Muppets -- I think the piano player was supposed to be a Mac Rebennack/Dr. John clone, though.
DID YOU KNOW that.......Christopher (Christophe?) Lambert is actually French and ended up married to or shacked up with Sophie Marceau, one of my "idols" from the formative years? Maybe he's Belgian or some shit, but he definitely shacked up with Sophie Marceau.
Dr. John was my impression. Floyd was an homage to Sgt Peppers with the uniform and as I recall a last name of Pepper, but dman it his name is Floyd and he is pinkish.Quote:
Originally posted by Jizzelbin
I liked Sophie Marceau, very sweet looking in her day. She was good in Braveheart & A Midsummer Night's Dream.
I did not know Lambert was French, so a French actor born in NY played a Scot, when Mr. Scotland played an Egyptian.
The "Floyd" thing is good. I saw "Muppets Take Manhattan" in the theater with my parents when I was a kid, but we never got the muppets on TV -- we got stuck with *Darby O'Gill* and pirated Hitchcock movies.
And something big deal when Jim Henson died at the local science/industry museum about those rat people from *Crystal* or whatever it was called.
What's a good way to compress all the Muppets into a few hours of "catch-up" time for a n00b? I guess the movies alone would take up more time than that, but I don't think there were that many episodes of the TV show.
So, like, *Clockwork Orange*-style, what's a good, like, four-hour compendium of muppetania?
since I brought up *CW* -- I know I've said this before at inferior boards, but true fact, my first time seeing *A Clockwork Orange* was my first time tripping on mushrooms by myself. What Exit is a NY/NJ guy, so probably remembers the Angelika in downtown Manhattan -- they were doing a late showing of it. Kind of fun. for some reason, I don't want to see the movie again, but there should be a whole thread on watching movies under chemical influences. It's the best!
2 Movies well worth watching are The Muppet Movie and The Muppets. It defines a good portion of who they are, what the humor is and where they have gone.
Of the old show, I would look for the following episodes: Vincent Price, Alice Cooper, The Star Wars cast oddly enough & maybe George Burns to round it out.
Wow. Thanks. That sounds like something I could/should do. I didn't know the Muppets had real people on it, or else I forgot. Don't care for Alice Cooper, so I'll substitute someone else I can dig up. Maybe the Nugent or Lemmy did one.
Couldn't quite make it to the end of *The Indian Killer*, a 1956 Western with Kirk Douglas and Elsa Martinelli, last night, but it looks pretty good from the first third of it. Well, no, it did not look pretty good, but it was amusing.
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OK, Star Wars people should weigh in who've seen the new one. I promise to not make fun, nor comment until I've seen it myself.
Alright, I've seen the latest Star Wars movie. It's standard JJ Abrams fare, nothing more, nothing less and it's pretty much a retread of SW:ANH.
I'll wait until more have seen it before discussing spoilers and such like.
There will be lots of hype about it now, but give it five or ten years and I think people will wonder what the fuss was about.