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Thread: Omnibus movies Q&A thread including trivia

  1. #551
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    Finally a positive. Remember whatever stoner jackass found out Dark Side of the Moon and the Wizard of Oz sort of worked out?

    Well here's mine. Play sound off Une femme est une femme, and also, within picture, play The Exorcist. It is trippy as hell weird.

  2. #552
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    Take the Pink Floyd/Oz connection with a pound or two of salt: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...izard-of-oz-em

    My latest five movies:

    The Abyss
    Enjoyed this 1989 James Cameron sf first-contact adventure all over again. Great cast, interesting story and remarkable undersea scenes.

    The Age of Adaline
    A charming sf romance about a woman who doesn't age for decades after being zapped by lightning. Harrison Ford plays a former lover of hers (and the guy who plays a young Harrison Ford is uncannily on the mark).

    Deconstructing the Beatles: Rubber Soul
    Another well-done Scott Freiman album documentary, although some of the songs get short shrift.

    Obit
    Very interesting documentary on the NYT obituary staff, striving to write worthy profiles of their recently-deceased subjects on tight deadlines (ahem).

    Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
    Pretty good Harry Potter prequel, set in NYC in the Roaring Twenties, as British magical-animal wrangler and protector Newt Scamander tracks down several escaped critters and finds his true love along the way.

  3. #553
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    Baloney sausage on that DSotM -- it really is super trippy. I don't care if it's a coincidence or suggestion of semantic ordering. I think, but do not know, that you have to be under the influence of OTC cold and flu medication to really appreciate it, though.

    *The Abyss*. Well, it had Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in it, and Ed Harris. They were good. Always are, in fact.

    I think I fell asleep/passed out first time I watched *House of Wax* -- it is a fun little movie. Not anywhere near as good as the Poe/Corman "cycle" with Vincent Price, but it's a start. I liked it better than *Avatar*, speaking of 3D movies, and more than *Jaws 3D* as well.

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    *altered States* Cute little sciFi mystery movie. Lighthearted, not dingy and immoral like todays ones.

    *The Cardinal* crammed full of social isaues, unlike preminger's usual one per flick. Didnt recognize Burgess Meredith.

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    *altered States* Cute little sciFi mystery movie. Lighthearted, not dingy and immoral like todays ones.

    *The Cardinal* crammed full of social isaues, unlike preminger's usual one per flick. Didnt recognize Burgess Meredith.

  6. #556
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    I made it through about 1/2 of "Rogue One", what a crappy boring mess of a movie. We were all watching it and one by one my family starting playing with their phones instead. I asked if anyone wanted to continue and it was 4-0 for no and never. Bad writing, worse directing, terrible sound, only for special effects, and honestly weird to bad acting.

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    I enjoyed Dunkirk. Not a great movie but very well done I thought. On the Longest Day down to Pearl Harbor Scale I would say a solid 7 or maybe an 8.

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    My latest five:

    The Black Hole
    For some reason I decided I wanted to see this Disney sf film again - it had been awhile. So-so cast, laughable science, great score, and decent sfx for the time.

    Jodorowsky's Dune
    Documentary about the trippy, never-made Seventies movie adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. Tentative casting including Salvador Dali as the Emperor, David Carradine as Duke Leto, Mick Jagger as Feyd-Rautha and Orson Welles as Baron Harkonnen. The slightly-mad director could never satisfy the Hollywood suits that he could control either costs or the running time of the movie (at one point he said it might be 10 hours long!), so the project imploded, but still had an impact on a number of later sf films.

    Where Eagles Dare
    Saw this fun, ultraviolent, wildly over-the-top WWII adventure for the first time. Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood play the British and American leaders of a commando squad trying to rescue a captured U.S. general from a wintry Nazi mountaintop castle. Lots of gunplay, chases and 'splosions.

    Terminator 2: Judgment Day
    Still the best Terminator movie, I think. Great cast, near-nonstop action, an important message, remarkable cinematography and sfx, and one of the cleverest, scariest movie villains ever.

    Dunkirk
    Liked but didn't love this WWII drama about the evacuation of British troops from the French beaches. Surprised by all the rapturous gushing it's getting from movie reviewers; not sure it would even make my own Top Ten War Movie list. There's a very implausible scene at the end; you'll know it when you see it.

  9. #559
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    Just watching again, in the background: The power of comedy.

    Yeah, the main actors are obviously famous, and justly, big-name creatures.

    Maybe it's just my copy, but the subtitles are, if not wrong in this case, poorly placed and timed.

    I prefer the mainstream European standard, established in th 1930s and held to up to now, which is that one dubs.

    If one is sure that Isabelle Huppert's voice is the one heard on the soundtrack, I suppose one is generally ignorant of the prevailing standards of European cinema. It's just not the way one is used to. Huppert is a compelling actress, but her voice is not irreplaceable.

    I don't know, it's just a fact.

    Vide the....which I saw again about a month ago.......*Day for Night*.

    Yeah, so fuck you, hippies.

  10. #560
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    Never saw either of those, actually.

    My latest five:

    Into the Night
    So-so 1985 crime comedy with Michelle Pfeiffer and Jeff Goldblum. The best thing about the movie is the featured B.B. King song of the same name.

    Room Service
    Marx Brothers comedy about a theatrical troupe overstaying its welcome at a swanky hotel. Pretty funny. Look for a very young Lucille Ball in an early role.

    Interstellar
    Rewatched this Christopher Nolan sf epic and enjoyed it all over again. Great cast, interesting story, mind-binding science, very impressive sfx and an uplifting message.

    The Bridge Over the River Kwai
    Heavily-fictionalized WWII drama about the building of a Japanese military bridge by British POWs. Alec Guinness definitely earned his Oscar as the stubborn, principled British commander who tragically loses sight of his true duty.

    Terminator Genisys
    The latest installment in the franchise; a virtual reboot via alternate timeline. Worth a look despite mixed reviews, I'd say. Ahnuld is Ahnuld, of course, a little long in the tooth but still game, and Emilia Clarke (best known as the Khaleesi in Game of Thrones) does pretty well as a feisty Sarah Connor. Didn't care much for a major plot element (see below), but there are some impressive action sequences and good character moments.

    Spoiler (mouseover to read):
    John Connor is turned into a villainous robot by Skynet using nanotechnology.

  11. #561
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    Meh, I watched a few minutes of *Rogue One*. I don't see what you people are complaining about. It looks to me like playing a game of King's Quest, and having plenty of time to jerk off or grab your pretend girlfriend's tit or downtown, or whatever. Grab a 2-liter of Mountain Dew and a slice of pizza your mom left out for you, and talk about how your friend's older brother said he wanted to prong his girlfriend, and he was in like sixth grade, even. That kind of thing -- hard to apply "adult" standards to it.

    Meh, seems about right. Hell no, I'm not going to finish watching that: it looks like some shitty moron eight year old got some fake crayolas and drew some crap all over mommy's "business" computer.

    But, it's still better than *ET* or some of the crap we had growing up.

  12. #562
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    But, here is a good recommendation: a nice little home-spun documentary about the musician Phineas Newborn, Jr. . I have belief that youtube hosts it legally, or else they wouldn't.

    When I was a young teenager learning off the records, Phineas kind of put me off because he sounded a little TOO good. I wanted the rough and regular, the stuff I heard people playing in person, and on some records. Now when I came back to trying to playing scales in thirds and sixths Phineas impresses me more, just because was able to do what I'd want the technique to do, but combine with the freedom of Bill.

    No, I transcribed his "blues for the left hand" off the video, and also "the sermon" for the LH off the record in the past year, but I still can't make it sound as good as his. The Brahms-Bach Chaconne for LH looks easy in comparison.

  13. #563
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    After noticing the Rifftrax boys have up a commentary for *Rogue One*, I gave it another shot. I stand by my earlier statement that it's pretty dire going in cold, but even if the jokes are kind of mediocre (RiffTrax sets a high bar for jokes, but they can't all be hilarious every time) it makes the movie kind of amusing, sort of watching it from a distance.

    Mind you, I didn't have any idea what was going on, who anybody was, or anything, but I can see why the movie got some buzz, beyond it being ZOMG STAR WAR. I don't read movie reviews, after a traumatic experience reading James Agee's collection years ago, so I don't know how it was generally received, but I would bet that it did right by its audience, whoever that might be.

    So call it polishing a turd, or adding value, or whatever, but the RiffTrax makes the movie kind of amusing (which isn't always the case -- some of the big-budget movies, like *Glitter* and others are just so awful nur noch ein Gott kann uns retten.

  14. #564
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    Movie question: is that strange dance scene in *La Notte* for real? To refresh your memory, it's scene where Giovanni (that guy whose name I probably spell wrong) and Lidia (Jeanne Moreau) are taking in the floor show at some bar, which consists of a dancer who performs an extended scene based around manipulating a glass of liquid balanced on her forehead, between legs, etc.

    I find it unbelievable, however it may be a trick of some kind. Therefore I require to know if it is to be considered a part of regular dancing or is an illusion.

  15. #565
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    And for those who were curious about the 1959 film version of *Dangerous Liaisons* and never got around to seeing it.

    Sorry, just my opinion, but it sucks dong. It shouldn't because it has that perennial sad sack Jeanne Moreau in it, looking practical as ever, and some good Th Monk soundtrack.

    No, this is yet another example of why straight squares don't like French movies.

    It's not unwatchable, but it is also trivial, self-satisfied, pretentious as fuck, slow, dour, and it looks like a college girl photographed it to please her Eurotrash boyfriend.

    Not recommended.

  16. #566
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    It has come to my attention that the 25 year old lady wearing the fright wig playing a high school student named Mary Jane or whatever in 2002's *Spider-Man* is hot as balls.

    And it is only at night that the elusive red snapper emerges from the briny depths to greet the select few. Or daytime, really. Or, whenever.

  17. #567
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    *Jaws 2* is pretty bad movie. I think *Jaws 3D* had more heart. I don't know much about Roy Scheider, but it seems he really internalized the macho, leather-faced guy. Not very sympathetic. Funny thing is, I recalled seeing it before, but couldn't be sure. Also, the child/teenage actors are an undifferentiated blob of suckitude. And what happened to Lorraine Garry (sp?) and Murray Hamilton they seemed to have aged hard in only a few years since the original *Jaws*. Weird.

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    Michael Caine, asked how he could appear in such a sucky sequel, said something like, "I have never seen Jaws: The Revenge. I have seen the porch on my house that it paid for, though, and it is magnificent."

  19. #569
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    I'm sure Ian Holm was thinking about "house on Lake Como" plenty of times too. Sort of the actor's equivalent of "lie back and thinking of England," I guess.

    Still doesn't explain what Harrison Ford was thinking while doing *Firewall*, except for maybe giving voice to his daily complaint "ehh, grumble grumble, I had that damned password somewhere, meh, computers."

    Speaking of Caine, *Interstellar* turned out to be a very mysterious little movie. I don't remember seeing it before, but if I had, I'd forgotten it. I didn't know Anne Hathaway was a real actress -- nor Matthew McConaughey (sp?),whom I just knew as Wooderson from *Dazed and Confused*. Two very credible performances. I can't swear I know what exactly happened, but that's OK,

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    Agreed. They're both very good in Interstellar.

    My latest five:

    There's Something About Mary
    Saw this grossout romantic comedy again for the first time since it came out. Weird, raunchy and very funny, just as I remembered.

    Blade Runner
    Rewatched this sf detective-noir classic so it'd be fresh on my mind when I see the sequel this fall. A flawed cop (Harrison Ford at his best), a beautiful woman with a tragic secret (Sean Young, lovely), and a dark, dangerous city stretching out to the horizon. Still holds up very well.

    Tomorrowland
    Didn't do well at the box office, but I enjoyed it. George Clooney is quite good in a clever, big-hearted sf adventure that dares us to dream again.

    La La Land
    Now I understand what all the fuss was about! I'm not much into musicals, but thought this exuberant love letter to L.A. was a lot of fun. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are great as the romantic leads, and J.K. Simmons steals every scene he's in as a grumpy restaurateur. Highly recommended.

    The Martian
    Rewatched this sf adventure of an American astronaut (Matt Damon) stranded on Mars. Man against nature at its purest, with knockout cinematography and some good laughs along the way.

  21. #571
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    I'm sorry, true believers, but *Operation Dunkirk* is not happening for me. I like Nolan's movies, in general, probably the same as everyone else, but it's kind of making my head explode, since I also like war movies, and it's so different from the genre (admitting that among war pictures, there's an awful lot of variety, but also some conventions, even among mavericks like Sammy Fuller, and, of course, Coppola, but he's a true oddball), it's just confusing to me.

    I do appreciate its reasonable length -- any movie over two hours long had better have a damned good reason beyond business accounting methods, however that works. I also appreciate not using the big name stars -- I don't need to see George Clooney or Brad Pitt or one of the fungible younger generation of white people to enjoy a movie, and I find it distracting, even though some of those people do good work and I have nothing against them.

    ETA there are some cool visual effects, though. I think I might be a simpleton re plot -- hell, I'm ashamed to say I can't understand James's *The Princess Cassamassima*, or however it's spelled, and I still want to find something in there, but it confuses and frightens me.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 13 Sep 2017 at 12:53 PM.

  22. #572
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    Wow. Am hitting on zero cylinders.

    On the one hand, I'm not wrong in thinking the new *Wonder Woman* is some idiotic Galaxy World Quest spoof, made entirely to make fun of morons.

    On the other hand, it's probably true that the technically-gifted among the young should probably be mercy-killed.

    After all, it's never been the case, in all of human history, that younger people, except for some technical specialists, and perhaps in poetry and music, have ever accomplished anything. And yet, it seems, they are acquiring capital.

    Since it obviously is not cultural capital of any valuable sort, we have some problems, people.

    And, yes, what I've said is correct -- there have been some prodigies in music, and some technical specialities like geometry, arithmetic, and, even within the discipline of philosophy, relatively immune to prodigies, save Hume, the field of logic.

    And, yes, logic is, just like mathematics, one of the liberal arts. That's not possible to debate. Maths and logic, while distinct disciplines, are known exclusively to liberal arts majors -- the applications of mathematics are known to engineers and other technical specialists. Logic is not generally known to mathematicians, nor to scientific specialists in general, except those engineers who work in applied logic.

    No immature person has written a good novel, nor composed anything enduring, nor discovered any fact of humanity. With few exceptions.

    But, apparently, it is the child's time to pretend to make little sketches like a *Wonder Woman*.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 14 Sep 2017 at 03:49 PM.

  23. #573
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    I am very proud of myself for not going Travis Bickle on my computer screen and making it through Paranormal. Very unpleasant, unrewarding.

    I have also terminated my old affection for Claire Danes on seeing Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, because I find her nose to be, while not beakish, flat and large like that not unknown to some of the people my steamer's crew and I encountered in the depths. I have question why is the Terminatrix lady not in more movies, but it may be she is not a very good actress.

  24. #574
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    *Blood Sucking Freaks* is a masterpiece, and it was an excellent companion while I was, appropriately enough, data munging some text files.

    I also revise my opinion of (the first half of) *Wonder Woman* -- it got a few half-smiles out of me, and I say it's a cute little comedy/action movie, which is nice.

  25. #575
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    Well, it seems Rotten Tomatoes "0%" rating is not that good. I knew that *Gator* wasn't worth that low a rating. And now I'm surprised that *Silence of the Hams* gets the same 0% as *Alien from L.A.* and other trash.

    It's not that bad. The Wikipedia people should stop "citing" that "source" of "information." It only encourages them.

  26. #576
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    Yes, I won't harp on music movies too much, least of all Glenn Gould stuff -- I'm not one of his super-fans, but still, one has to pay attention.

    I call attention to an interesting part in the Monsaingeon film, for Canada TV or whatever, called in English *Alchemist*. In Pt.II, but from the beginning, about 52 minutes in, with Gould, the engineer, and the tapeop in the booth, marking out at which point Gould should go back and re-record a tiny segment WITH HIM LIFTING UP SLIGHTLY LESS ON THE UNA CORDA PEDAL.

    For those who don't know piano, or even those who do, that's a ridiculously small detail.

    Impressive.

    Also, propers to the poor tapeop who seems confused by asking to rewind "about six bars," and yet he handles it like a pro.

    /*ETA************
    I should clarify I noticed just after, at about 56m40s GG starts in with one of my favorites I'm still trying to figure out how to best play it -- from the A maj Engl Ste. I forgot about this bit, but I found it refreshing to see GG trying the A section of the bourée in multiple ways. I finally have all of that in my mind, but I'm still not happy with the "best way" to do it.

    Well, good I watched this again -- I don't recall Gould's recording, although I have it somewhere.

    That is all.
    */

    Nice insight into how the sausage is made.

    Oh, about the docu as a whole -- it's the best of the several films about Gould made. It's all interesting, somewhat, but there's not very much music in most of them, just odd personality stuff, whereas this one is more just "bang, microphone, bar 37 of the Bourée from Engl. Ste. in A maj, play it back." More for people who don't even care about Gould much, but just like music and behind-the-scenes.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 04 Oct 2017 at 04:29 PM.

  27. #577
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    My latest five:

    Bridge of Spies
    Tom Hanks is very good as the lawyer for a Soviet spy and the negotiator for release of an American pilot during the Cold War. Great European location shooting, especially in Berlin.

    Monty Python and the Holy Grail
    Saw this comedy classic again - just as hilariously good as ever, and filled with quotable lines. Ni! Ni!

    Concussion
    Will Smith plays an African-born Pittsburgh coroner who figures out that retired Steelers have been brain-damaged by repeated head trauma during their careers. He faces off against the NFL, which wants nothing to do with his research. Your average David vs. Goliath movie, all in all.

    The Campaign
    Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis square off against each other for a Congressional seat in this over-the-top political comedy. Not as funny as it could be, but worth a look.

    Battleground
    A so-so B&W movie about tired, bored, scared, dirty GIs enduring the Battle of the Bulge during WWII.

  28. #578
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    *Fitzcarraldo* is a movie that is guaranteed to be extremely ennervating, especially if you are like me and have never heard such gems as Verdi's take on Hugo's *Hernani*, and never wish to again.

    However, I guess it's some kind of a movie. Kind of peculiar, but that's show business. ETA however, Claudia Cardinale is superb -- I'm impressed at her comparative longevity and versatility (?) as an actress, but then again, she started with above average aptitude, I suppose.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 13 Oct 2017 at 01:12 AM.

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    Oh, I guess I should add this remark about James Foley, whoever the fuck that is, 's *Glengarry Glenn Ross*. I was vaguely thinking about going for Halloween as Alan Arkin, I don't know, generic Arkin ca. *Catch 22* or something. I didn't think it through.

    However, I didn't know that son of a bitch could really act. I know all about Ed Harris, but the scenes between the two of them, even with that Middle Eastern writer Mamet's "quirky" dialogue getting in the way, yeah, Arkin is good.

    Well, I'm not sure. He is still Arkin, but I enjoyed his little bit, especially around 45 minutes in or so.

    He works within his limitations.

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    ETA not relevant, but it's been a while since i saw *GgGR* last -- it's kind of a nice reminder of how a man should talk to the cops. "You, sir, officer, I need you to sit down and wait one second, and I'll be with you when I'm ready."

    EETA but it reminds me I'm very much not sorry to see "saxophone 'jazz'" of the 1980s and 1990s to be gone, I hope. That is fucking awful music, and Pat Metheny is even more than 1000% right to tear into that enemy, spill their guts. Awful music.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 13 Oct 2017 at 03:42 AM.

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    *Blade Runner 2049*. Certified fresh, yeah, good job. I think the producers calculated that people these days like their intricate little plots, and so ordered up some Game of New Orange Black Cards. It's not Ariosto, but I'm sure this will find its niche and be a popular movie.

  32. #582
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    *Wrecker* from 2015. A good anti-car-culture (at least some latent criticism of the airhead "I can haz automobile works? Yay! Halp, road scary! Car no workee!" idea) movie.

    I think the producer(s) would disagree that it's a remake of *Duel*, but I think that's pretty much what it is, except not very thrilling or good.

    Still, it's better than the weak clone of *Repo Man* that is the dumpster-movie, *Psychotronic Man*. I don't know which was first, but *Repo Man* is one of the modern classics, and *Psychotronic Man* is...I don't know, the fruits of a money-laundering scheme.

  33. #583
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    Quote Originally posted by Jizzelbin View post
    It's not Ariosto, but I'm sure [*Blade Runner 2049*] will find its niche and be a popular movie.
    I think I left the words "in hell" off the end of that sentence.

    But, hey, it's got that dancing fancy lad people inexplicably like in it.

    Also, either no blade running at all, or way too much blade running in it. I forgot which.

  34. #584
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    *Demons*, directed by Lamberto Bava (of *Devil Fish* or *Devil Shark* "fame," I think). Ridiculous Italian horror movie from 1985 I think.

    I've never understood less of a plot than this one. Pretty much something in here is guaranteed to repel and annoy anyone, young and old.

    ETA the English dubbing was hilarious, though, and Natasha Hovey was excellent.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 03 Nov 2017 at 09:48 PM.

  35. #585
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    You know how you stumble upon a movie occasionally with a superior cast and think your in for a real treat. Well last night I found a movie by Terry Jones starring Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin & Robin William. That's right all of the living Monty Pythoners.





    Well I am sad to say Absolutely Anything was mediocre at best. A little funny and poorly put together.



    Going to see Thor Ragnorok today. I hope it is excellent.

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    Thor was OK, had a good mix of humor and was of course much better then the first 2 Thor movies. The use of the Immigrant Song was perfect. Cate Blanchett did an excellent job of channeling The Galadriel who takes The Ring from Frodo in playing Hela.

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    I also watched Bonnie and Clyde (1967) yesterday. I know for the time it was a break through movie (by Hollywood standards) but the acting was not great. Warren Beatty, Gene Hackman & Estelle Parsons were OK but nothing special and Faye Dunaway & Gene Wilder looked like the rookies they basically were. (note, Gene Wilder went on to me one of my favorites, but not in this movie.

    The movie was not well paced and the dialogue was pedestrian. I think it is a movie that was important at the time but without the writing or acting to defend it as movie that isn't "just not aging well".

    I then ended up watching The Big Sleep 1946. Seeing this compelling movie directly after Bonnie and Clyde did not help my opinion of Bonnie and Clyde. The still relatively new Lauren Bacall could act circles around Faye Dunaway and of course was far more beautiful as bonus. Bogie is awesome itself, one of the all time greats and it is not fair to compare Beatty to him but what a difference in skill and presence. The dialogue is perfect and the pacing excellent. A well written, acted and directed classic I have not seen since I was a little kid and so it might as well have been for the first time. A great movie.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    I then ended up watching The Big Sleep 1946. Seeing this compelling movie directly after Bonnie and Clyde did not help my opinion of Bonnie and Clyde.
    Hey, the prequel to *Chinatown*!

    I watched a few minutes just now for laughs, on account of an extra hour because of DST ending. I didn't pay attention to before how little music there is in the first two scenes -- a quiet kind of sinister but fancy bit creeps in when Doghouse is at the library, then a good old fashioned "walking-while-snooping" cue in front of Geiger's bookstore.

    I probably won't be able to stop watching this again, at least until my favorite line, "I've got a bottle of good rye in my car, but I'd much rather let it get wet in here."

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    *Deep Red*, by Argento, 1975 I think.

    I think you really have to pay attention to understand the plot, which I wasn't, but I'm sure there is one.

    I thought it was fun -- at least my audio it was about 50/50 English and Italian, which is kind of fun. I didn't know David Hemmings did anything besides *Blow-Up*, but he's a charismatic actor.

    The music was also surprisingly pretty good -- I see it was by some Euro-Prog rock group Goblin. I liked what I heard much better than most prog (there's some fun stuff in the genre, but not a lot, to my tastes).

    ////////////////////
    Oh yeah, I did finish *Big Sleep* -- yet again, I still didn't quite figure out what exactly happened (not necessarily what happened to the driver, the classic plot-hole, but just in general I wasn't keeping track of who did what when where -- and I've seen the movie probably a dozen times). You know, I think I'd put Bogey's performance here as his best, maybe tied with *Sierra Madre*. Just a brutal, savage type, devoid of anything but crude, self-serving charm, and yet you can't keep watching. Maybe it's not a deep character, but I think it takes balls to play somebody like that. Bacall, too -- her character, really, was completely without anything redeeming. She wasn't even a femme fatale, just a bitch. But, still, she girdled up and went for it.

    Not going to look it up, but I think the lady who played Geiger's sort of assistant who made it out alive at the end -- I'm pretty sure she was in one of those Abbott and Costello Meet the ____ movies.

    Dorothy Malone's character -- a rare INTJ female. I forgot what Randolph Scott western she was in, but she was good in that too. I wish her character had more screen time.

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    My latest five:

    Tim's Vermeer
    Very interesting documentary about an inventor and engineer who theorizes that noted Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer used optical gadgets to make his nearly-photographically-accurate paintings. Tim sets out - despite having, by his own admission, zero artistic ability of his own - to duplicate the process and create his own version of a famous Vermeer painting. Penn and Teller directed and produced the movie, and briefly appear.

    Kind Hearts and Coronets
    A clever 1949 dark comedy, set in Edwardian times, about a cold-blooded aristocratic wannabe who sets out to "prune the family tree" and kill everyone standing between him and a British dukedom. Alec Guinness plays nine (or ten, depending on how you count) roles as the various D'Ascoyne heirs (including a woman), and does them all very well, of course.

    Blade Runner 2049
    A worthy sequel to the 1982 Ridley Scott classic. A fine cast, interesting script, powerful score (although occasionally too loud) and just as detailed and fully-realized a futuristic Los Angeles dystopia. It moves the story forward and deals engagingly with the same important issues of humanity, identity and slavery as the original. Definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

    Alien
    Watched this sf classic again; it still holds up well.

    Aliens
    Ditto. It remains one of my all-time favorite sf action-adventure movies ever. Sigourney Weaver rules the screen.

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    Something about red pill blue pill came up somewhere, so ended up watching *The Matrix* (the only one that exists -- the sequels are garbage). Obviously with the Rifftrax. I mean, how else?

    You know, I can see now why this was a big phenom. Definitely a cute movie. Don't get me wrong, it's really fucking stupid pothead philosophy, and I think this is Keanu's worst performance -- I'm pretty sure I saw that Shakespeare thing, and I was just a teenager on a date, I think, so I don't care about that.

    Yeah, it's kind of funny for a laugh. Although watching that bald freak with the goatee chew with his mouth open made me want to puke. And remembering faintly what kind of stupid crap they invented for the Oracle in the later movies, I kind of wanted to give her a tracheotomy with her lit cigarette, just for fun. I fucking hate cookies. And her latin little sampler or wood engraving was stupid.

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    I hate the Matrix, I found myself laughing at the movie while watching it. It was so completely ridiculous and the acting so poor.

    On that note, I just watched "The Man With One Red Shoe" 1985. Tom Hanks comedy spy movie that worked because of Tom Hanks and Dabney Coleman being so good in it. It is far from a perfect movie but is almost as enjoyable as Splash. For whatever reason, this movie never found an audience and was a box office bomb or at least disappointment. Fun but overall silly movie.

    Just before that I had watched "The Shop Around the Corner" 1940. This Jimmy Stewart classic was remade twice successfully, once with Judy Garland In the Good Old Summertime (1949) as a musical and of course with Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan as You've Got Mail. The original is still the best. Frank Morgan (The Great and Powerful Oz himself) is of course great in the movie. Felix Bressart has the only role I think he distinguished himself in as the older clerk in the shop.
    A fun RomCom I guess and now mostly associated with Christmas.

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    I just saw again something that bears repeating, for, I don't know, the archives.

    Of something.

    Yeah, the first moments of Claude Chabrol's *The Ceremony* (I guess that's what it's called in English, I don't know, it is the same word).

    I challenge anyone to come up with a more disturbing first "interview" with having "tea" than that first scene.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    I hate the Matrix, I found myself laughing at the movie while watching it. It was so completely ridiculous and the acting so poor.
    Negative. So mean. Oh my gosh, Keanu was way hotter in Point Break also with the older guy. So hot.

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    I've been meaning to see *Jodorowsky's Dune* for years, but finally tracked down a copy.

    Wow. I'm suspecting maybe I as a 10 year old didn't really find what Jodorowsky did in the book. I don't feel I can take the time to reread it, but I should probably have a look at it again.

    Jodorowski...wow, quite a guy, I guess.

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    I've been meaning to see *Jodorowsky's Dune* for years, but finally tracked down a copy.

    Wow. I'm suspecting maybe I as a 10 year old didn't really find what Jodorowsky did in the book. I don't feel I can take the time to reread it, but I should probably have a look at it again.

    Jodorowski...wow, quite a guy, I guess.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    On that note, I just watched "The Man With One Red Shoe" 1985. Tom Hanks comedy spy movie that worked because of Tom Hanks and Dabney Coleman being so good in it. It is far from a perfect movie but is almost as enjoyable as Splash. For whatever reason, this movie never found an audience and was a box office bomb or at least disappointment. Fun but overall silly movie.
    Did you ever get to see the French original "Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe", with Pierre Richard in the Tom Hanks role?
    This Space For Rent

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    Saw Freaks again (by Browning, the Dracula guy). It's no Nightmare Alley as far as carnival movies go, but I was confused, and even the gooble-gabble scene didn't thrill me as much as my memory of it.

    Also Tom Jones again -- I was trading quips about Susannah York on FB, something about Thomas More and the anti-Catholic roots of Thanksgiving Day. Damn, she was fine looking broad, but she wasn't in the movie nearly as much as I remembered. Of course, I was only half-watching. Not as much harpsichord on the soundtrack as I remember, but still, a cute little movie, of course.

    ETA What Exit? good call on Shop/Corner. That was a Lubitsch IIRC. I actually did not know they remade it even once -- in fact I thought it was a remake. All I remember is good old Jimmy was skinny as a rail in that one. A real hard gainer -- I wonder if he had to bulk up for his WWII service not long after.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 25 Nov 2017 at 05:06 AM.

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    Quote Originally posted by A. Nonny Mouse View post
    Did you ever get to see the French original "Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe", with Pierre Richard in the Tom Hanks role?
    I never even heard of it.


    Watched Mr. Right, a fun psychotic screwball comedy. Instead of the male lead's life being changed by the manic pixie dream girl; a manic pyscho dream guy and manic pixie dream girl change each others lives. A Max Landis film starring Anna Kendrick & Sam Rockwell. I like Anna and I think Sam is one of the best chameleons in Hollywood. Oh and if you ever wanted to know, Anna is cute in cat ears.

    Watched Aliens last night, just a perfect movie. Everyone is great in it. One of the best action films ever.

    Watched Terminator Salvation; the acting was fine but the writing was crap. A vaguely entertaining action flick with a plot that made no sense at all and was poorly directed/acted. It felt like a string of cliches strung together and not well put together.

    I tried the new Ghostbusters movie, I only got about 20 minutes into it and deleted the recording. Oh my god, what a worthless and unfunny and completely unneeded remake. It was painfully awkward.

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    The Duellists. An OK movie, I guess. Makes you wish the next time someone IRL insults you, it was more acceptable to try to kill them with your bare hands. Nowadays we have to settle for constantly recording on phones, looking up identities, waiting years, and then putting up a webpage, like "Officer Civilian Fatgunt Molests Collies." Reminded me of Col. Blimp, but I don't know what Scott's influences were. It appears Harvey Keitel really never did the whole "talk different" part of acting, but its OK.

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