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Thread: Omnibus movies Q&A thread including trivia

  1. #601
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    My latest five:

    Alien 3
    Ripley gets marooned on a prison planet. Pretty damn bleak, and not nearly as good as the first two movies in the series. Charles Dance (Tywin on Game of Thrones) has a nice role as the prison doctor, though.

    Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
    Terrific naval adventure set during the Napoleonic Wars. Quite an immersive experience - you often actually feel as if you're aboard HMS Surprise. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany are great as the Royal Navy captain and his best friend, the ship's surgeon and amateur naturalist.

    Thor: Ragnarok
    Action, adventure, more humor than usual for these movies, and lots of fun. Favorite line: "I know him! He's a friend from work!"

    The Sting
    Finally saw this Depression-era con-artist film from start to finish. A clever plot and fine cast. Robert Redford and Paul Newman are, of course, great together. Robert Shaw plays the scary mobster they try to fleece.

    Sense and Sensibility
    Having just seen a so-so stage version of the Jane Austen novel, thought I'd go back and rewatch the 1995 adaptation which Emma Thompson both wrote and costarred in. Just as good as ever - a classic romance with a well-earned happy ending.

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    Doyle lonerhman, Doyle honnerman.

    Lonnegan, sonny, the name's Lonnegan, and don't you forget it, boy.

    Tried to watch a bit of that Star Wars VII again with the rifftrax. Had to turn it off. I didn't notice it before, but that movie is really a giant bummer. What's with all the heavy seriousness? Not fun at all.

    However Amadeus director's cut (three hours) continues to amuse. I was mainly having it on for the soundtrack -- sort of like listening to the radio, except there's some plot or something and people talking in between. Although, come on, I don't think Mozart really was much like Tom Hulce's portrayal, from what little I know.

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    I've read Hulce's portrayal in Amadeus was relatively accurate; Mozart definitely had his gross, buffoonish side. And yes, it's a great movie.

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    Watched a bit of Star Trek Generations again. Not a terrible movie, not like the one with the mountain climbing and the jet boots. Also, it's under two hours, which is refreshing to me.

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    I Am Legend is not a very good movie, and Will Smith is someone I feel I've seen enough of to last a long time.

    However, it is 1h40m long, which is a fine length for any action or sci-fi movie to aspire to. It feels like a much, much longer movie, however. At least he got to bestio-murder his dog, though; that was sort of amusing.

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    Star Trek Generations is a sub-par ST movie, I'd say, although it has one of my favorite funny ST scenes evah:

    I liked I Am Legend; it had an emotional punch that stayed with me. Its depiction of a ruined NYC, and its score, were both first-rate IMHO.

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    I just watched Frost/Nixon (2008) last night. Ron Howard directed. Despite Frank Langella looking completely wrong for the role, it was a very good movie. I was surprised, I was expecting less I guess. Sam Rockwell, Kevin Bacon & Oliver Platt were excellent in support.

    I liked I Am Legend but not a great movie. Wil Smith is no Vincent Price but much better than Charlton Heston at least.

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    Yes, Langella looked as little like Nixon as Helen Mirren did Her Majesty in The Queen, but both nailed their roles just the same.

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    Recently yet-again-couldn't-stand-more-than-first-third-or-half:

    Silent Running. Don't know how many times I've tried to make it through this. The music. Bruce Dern. The "In The Year 2000!" style of future. Some bullshit about plants, or whatever.

    Under the Tuscan Sun. Yet again, no. Not worth it. I have grave doubts if Diane Lane is ever shown movie-fucking in this one, and if I'm ever curious about it again, I'll just look on youtube. Not worth it.

    Ćon Flux. No. Never again.

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    I thought you meant Run Silent Run Deep (1958) at first. That is a pretty good movie. I don't think I've heard of Silent Running.

    Ćon Flux is a terrible movie. Better off finding the weird MTV cartoon instead. I use to like that one, The Maxx, Celebrity Death Match & Daria.

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    I'm unsure if any of Brando's voice in The Island of Dr Moreau was not recorded in an ADR studio by an impersonator. Yeah, I heard about some of the stories on the set and whatever, and I've seen it before. It just never fails to be shocking. An awesome spectacle of waste, whose expense probably could have paid for the legal defense for a month of some of Texas and other states' police victims.

    I've also started a grisly game with myself, noticing the odd or oddly young deaths of such actresses as Allison HAYES (lead poisoning, age 47), Helga FRANCK (fell out a window, age 30), Margaret TRIGG (laxative, amphetamine abuse, age 43), Marisa MELL (cancer, age 53), Joi LANSING (cancer, age 37-43, unclear).

    Well, not really a game, I was just watching one of my favorite "bad" movies, Horrors of Spider Island, which I don't think is ever going to get a good restoration. Helga Franck is pretty foxy in it, actually. I bet some scat-fetish Nazi German asshole pushed her out of the window.

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    Well, sorry to say, I've tried twice, but I can't make it past two minutes of (I think it's George Stevens dir.) GIANT. It just looks appallingly boring.

    However, I'm happily trying to wade through Run Silent, Run Deep. Kind of sick of looking at "The King"'s mug, but I like war movies, so we'll see.

    I'm about crawling out of my skin waiting to see The Disaster Artist. Greg Sestero's book is one of the most amusing pop-culture-throwaway books I've seen in recent years, and, of course, I know The Room so well that I know by instinct when to just shuffle the video player to the side of the screen when one of TOO MANY of the nasty "sex" scenes comes up.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    I thought you meant Run Silent Run Deep (1958) at first. That is a pretty good movie. I don't think I've heard of Silent Running....
    A not bad, not great ecology-themed sf movie from the Seventies:


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Running

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    Thanks, EH, for taking one for the team and giving a thumbnail sketch of....that....movie.

    I'll give an update, and say that, while I don't actually understand a whole lot of what's happening in Run Silent, Run Deep, it's directed by one of the great craftsmen, Robert Wise, and is BEAUTIFULLY photographed. You could just about swim in that gorgeous images, every frame seems that it could be put in a gallery somewhere. And one of those all-star casts that doesn't disappoint. Still not a huge Clark Gable fan, nor Burt Lancaster, but I respect their work, and they really do bring some old-school, classic team-work professionalism that you don't see too much.

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    Forgot to add, What Exit will appreciate the U.S. Navy angle to the filming of Silent Running: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Va..._film_location

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    Interesting to everyone, I should think. I didn't know until recently that What Exit? was Navy submariner, so mad props, to steal a line from The Last Detail, "doing a man's job."

    Just a quick entry: Bergman's (Ingmar, not the homewrecker ) *Magic Flute* is pretty weird, but hey, can't fault the music. Kind of a brave thing for an artist to do, INMHO, expose yourself through the intermediary of another's creation.

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    Nope, just an Electrician on a Carrier. Not a submariner. The only subs I have been on were at museums.

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    My mistake. Well, still, my best digital electronic engineer prof was trained by Navy, and I befriended a guy in analog class whose job was avionics when he was in. From my limited contacts IRL, you guys are all right.

    Nothing more to add, just watching *Apocalypse Now* for the milliont time.

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    *Burden of Dreams* -- the "making-of" documentary about the movie *Fitzcarraldo* (I think that's spelled right).

    Interesting, I suppose.

    But I just do not like these people, the filmmakers, is the only thing I came away with. I know hardly anything about Werner Herzog, but I'm very happy to say I'm content to leave my ignorance just where it is.

    Arrogant Eurotrash assholes who think some shitty movie is so goddamned important, excuse my French.

    Fuck 'em.

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    I never heard of Fitzcarraldo, but for years I heard about what an awesome piece of cinema the Bicycle Thieves is. Well I've tried watching it twice. It is not special or awesome. it was muddle and mostly boring. I did not love the acting. The cinematography was meh, and I don't like using the word meh but it fits too well here.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    but for years I heard about what an awesome piece of cinema the Bicycle Thieves is. Well I've tried watching it twice. It is not special or awesome. it was muddle and mostly boring. I did not love the acting. The cinematography was meh, and I don't like using the word meh but it fits too well here.
    Yeah, I can see that. TBH De Sica's movies, the ones I've seen, are kind of a little better to know that they exist than to actually watch.

    Certainly a product of their time.

    FWIW, if you're still interested in the Italian Neo-realist group, if you haven't seen it, Scorsese's documentary about Italian movies is outstanding -- he makes no attempt to be comprehensive, he just gives little thumbnail sketches of his favorites.

    A little light on the earlier Antonionis, which are some of my favorites, and a little too heavy on the overtly religious Rossellini and early Fellini ones for my taste, but it's a very good documentary/exposition.

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    Well, I finally just today saw the George C. Scott *A Christmas Carol* -- of course, my moment of hilarity for the past few days has been imagining saying to random people "What day is it today?" "Why it's Christmas! It's not too late!"

    I have no memory of seeing any film version of this. I don't even think I've read the story.

    Yeah, it's kind of heavy.

    Apparently there's a bunch of other versions people like, but I'm a George C. Scott man when it comes to good acting, and he doesn't disappoint.

    ///////

    What else did I see today? Huston's *Under the Volcano* -- not as bad as I remember. I had the novel out for some reason, just flipping through for some inspiration. I didn't do any kind of comparison, but I thought Albert Finney did a fine job, and Jaqueline Bisset was also good -- I was familiar with some of her work, and, er, other stuff, but I think she's probably a real actress too, or was.

    ///////////

    *Machete* -- yeah, well, the whole theme should probably remind Americans of some abomination come to life recently in the sick fantasies of most Americans. Sick bastards, just cut the whole rotten bits out of this country, they deserve every fraction of an inch of the government they wanted. Bastard assholes. I got a wall right here you motherfuckers.

    ////////

    And now, for something entirely different, I'll just get some laughs out of *Pee-Wee's Big Adventure*. Can't go wrong with the classics.

  23. #623
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    Machete was nothing more than an over the top action film played for bloody gory laughs. It was fun though.

    I just watched Shadow of a Doubt by Hitchcock and was left a little underwhelmed by this Teresa Wright (Mrs. Gehrig) and Joseph Cotton movie. Cotton is perhaps over-rated as an actor. A bit more matinee idol than convincing and doesn't have the presence of some of the other one-dimensional stars of the time. Bogy can get away with being Bogy in most films as he is Bogy. Joe Cotton sadly is only Joe Cotton.

    Henry Travers & a youngish Hume Cronyn provide some nice comic relief.

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    You mean Cheech Marin blowing a guy's head off with a shotgun saying, "God has mercy. I don't." is not a rallying cry for armed resistance against a wealthy elite?

    Yeah, I kind of agree both about Shadow of a Doubt, and, to the extent I have a thought about Joseph Cotton, him too. It was a fine movie, he was a pretty good actor, both just kind of plain, ordinary, decent, upstanding examples of industry and art. Hollywood USA!

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    The George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol is my all-time favorite. I once met Roger Rees, the British actor who plays Scrooge's nephew Freddy.

    Never saw Shadow of a Doubt, I must admit. Someday!

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    Quote Originally posted by Elendil's Heir View post
    Never saw Shadow of a Doubt, I must admit. Someday!
    It's not a bad movie, by any means. The photography is instructive as sort of a baseline example regular, professional, "quality movie" looks, from what little I know.

    Kind of boring, though -- pretty much a plain bad guy/good guy, just little story. I don't plan to see it again anytime soon. Yeah, it's a pretty plain movie, not much spice in it.

    Roger REES. Yeah, of course I remember him from the *Carol* movie. His name sounds really famous. I should look him up. ETA, huh, well, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, I guess that was a movie.

    George C. Scott just seemed to get better with age, particularly in that time period. *The Changeling*, *Hardcore*. Of course, *Patton* and *Strangelove*, but I don't find myself coming back to those that often, even though are excellent movies, as were so many of those he seemed to do. He must have had a good agent, or a really good instinct for choosing high-class pictures. Or both. Plus, his refusing the Academy Award sometime in the early 1970s seemed like a principled stand for egalitarian principles, not just some crazed stunt.

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    Oh, speaking of the Italians after the WWII.

    Was a little on the verge of slight depression, just not great mood today, talked it out with a friend, nothing serious.

    But I think for a mood like that, Rossellini's *Germany Year Zero* is a pretty good choice while I'm waiting for the Benadryl to kick in and get me to sleep.

    Troubles don't amount to hill of beans, and all that, wot.

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    I love Patton, that movie sucks me into watching it every 2-3 years. It is one of the best war movies in my opinion and the acting is prefect. I use to like Dr. Strangelove but much like 2001, I am no longer drawn to watching it. Hardcore was a very good once film. he kind of camped it up for The Hindenburg. Not a good movie at all. One of those excellent casts but poor results letdown movies.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    I love Patton, that movie sucks me into watching it every 2-3 years. It is one of the best war movies in my opinion and the acting is prefect.
    Yeah, I mean between Scott and Malden as Omar Bradley. Maybe my schedule for that is similar -- every few years. Of course at least every year you've got to watch at least The Speech! Puts hair on the chest.

    Rommel!!!

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    As long as Google decided to celebrate Marlene Dietrich, I have a question:

    Is their any picture of her where she is pretty? Was she just sexy for the time? Was it her voice and actions?

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    As long as Google decided to celebrate Marlene Dietrich, I have a question:

    Is their any picture of her where she is pretty? Was she just sexy for the time? Was it her voice and actions?
    Sure. I Binged up images from the von Sternberg era of movies she was making (I really only have seen her in some of those, plus that Western where she had a hideout called Chuk-a-Luk [sp?], and of course Touch of Evil...oh, never mind, just seen some of her stuff).

    It's a pain to link directly to images, but while she had a kind of hard face, she could certainly look pretty in a conventional way, you know, using photographs and stuff, and especially when she wanted to, she could smile and do that kind of thing. She had a really nice smile, and I have no doubt seeing some still pictures that she could have been a very persuasive seductress.

    Thanks for reminding me of some new movies to put on my list of things to check out -- I think she and "von" Sternberg did like six or seven movies together. I don't remember which ones I saw, but I should probably see those, just for a change of pace. (The 1930s IMHO had the best movies, but I haven't been watching too many classic movies lately, so that would be good to get back to).

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    So it is probably just my eye then, I looked at some of the early 30s video clips of her and in none is she pretty. I saw a few where she could be sexy, but that was about it.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    So it is probably just my eye then, I looked at some of the early 30s video clips of her and in none is she pretty. I saw a few where she could be sexy, but that was about it.
    Meh, to each his own. Yeah, I mean some of the glamor still photos she looked good, but you know, they have all kinds of tricks with makeup and angles and stuff.

    I wouldn't know.

    Supposedly she had legendary legs, though! At least according to some story about Peter Bogdanovich and Ryan O'Neill ending up on a plane sitting behind Marlene and talking through the flight.

    "Don't ever stop smoking, you'll get fat!"

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    George C. Scott was also very good in Taps (with a very young Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn and Tom Cruise), about a military school under threat of closure.

    I think Dietrich's legendary sexiness was more about her poise and attitude than her looks (similar to Lauren Bacall, in a way). I was never a big fan, but I can see what others saw in her.

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    Quote Originally posted by Jizzelbin View post
    ETA, huh, well, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, I guess that was a movie.
    Scratch that. 18 minutes is about all I could take this time around -- sorry, Mr. Brooks, they can't all be winners.

    OTOH, I did have fun earlier today watching about forty minutes or so of Shadow of a Doubt. I don't know. It's a cute movie, I guess. But this time around I was highly irritated by both Teresa Wright and Jo Cotton. IIRC Wright got quite a bit of praise, maybe just something I read in some book about Hitchcock or something. The camera was not that kind to her, though, or maybe I need stronger glasses -- she looked every bit as old as 24, or however old she was IRL. Also, not too charismatic. Also Cotton -- he was like a corpse being dragged around, just kind of a cipher.

    Not very interesting characters, so I guess they were limited by their material.

    However, the Irish-American mother was a neat character -- not quite fresh off the boat, but was very believably in the way those people used to be, from how I hear. And the father and his buddy at the bank were pretty good comic relief, with their ridiculous conversations.

    Yeah, it's a cute movie, but not even in the middle of the pack for Hitchcock's movies with dialogue.

    About which I confess I still haven't ever bothered to watch all of his silent movies.

    Even *Germany Year Zero*, while just what I needed to see yesterday, you really have to be watching the screen to understand it.

    I suppose that's the way movies are, and probably most people watch them like that, but I can't just stare at the screen forever, I need the dialogue to keep me focused and interested.

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    Teresa Wright was best as Mrs. Gehrig in "Pride of the Yankees". Other than that, I find her mostly forgettable. I forgot she was in The Best Years of Our Lives, Mrs. Miniver & The Little Foxes. All excellent movies but I don't remember her from any of them.

    I did think in Shadow of a Doubt that she looked almost identical to Lea Thompson in Back to the Future. They had matching hair style and very similar features.

    As she is probably best remembered as Eleanor Gehrig and apparently was a Yankee Fan, she was invited to the Stadium for the Old Timers games for several years late in life after the actual Mrs. Gehrig had passed away. She threw out the first pitch at one game and when she passed away was included in the reading of the list of Yankees that had passed away at the 2005 Old Timers Day.

    Note: For many decades the widows of Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig attended the Old Timers Day games as special guests of the Yankees. So maybe a dozen years after Mrs. Gehrig passed away is when Ms. Wright began to attend. Currently the widows of Thurman Munson & Bobby Murcer are regulars and Elston Howard, Roger Maris & Mickey Mantle widows have been there some years.

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    Joseph Cotten was pretty good in the post-WWII Vienna thriller The Third Man, not to mention Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons, I thought. A capable if not brilliant actor.

    My most recent five:

    The Last Detail
    Jack Nicholson is a hard-bitten sailor escorting a callow young Navy convict (Randy Quaid, in a very early role) to a naval prison. On the way, he, his partner and the prisoner have various misadventures. A nice character study, although a bit on the grim side. Look for Gilda Radner in her screen debut.

    Weiner
    Funny, appalling documentary about the sexaholic former Congressman's doomed run for Mayor of New York. The documentary crew had amazing access to the slow-motion train wreck of his campaign. A must for any political junkie.

    Emma
    Gwyneth Paltrow is charming in this 1996 adaptation of the Jane Austen classic, playing a young matchmaker who can't help but meddle, usually foolishly, in the love lives of others.

    Lincoln
    Rewatched this terrific Steven Spielberg movie about the last days of Abraham Lincoln. The focus is on the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, thanks to an equal mix of patronage, arm-twisting and threats. Daniel Day-Lewis earned his Oscar in the title role, and then some.

    Ant-Man
    Really enjoyed this tongue-in-cheek superhero flick. Paul Rudd is excellent in the lead, while Michael Pena steals every scene as his buddy. Great action sequences, lots of in-jokes, bad science and a very entertaining film.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    I did think in Shadow of a Doubt that she looked almost identical to Lea Thompson in Back to the Future. They had matching hair style and very similar features.
    That is an excellent comparison -- exactly right. I wouldn't have thought of that in a million years.

    I do remember noticing her in *Pride/Yankees* -- I think that's the only time I noticed her name and her acting except for the Hitchcock movie. Even *Little Foxes*, I just wasn't paying attention to her. Maybe subliminally.

    Good memory about the Yankee lore -- I may have been acculturated out of liking the Yankees, you know, cause, I mean you can't just start mouthing off about the Yankees in some sports bar anywhere else and not expect people to push back.

    Quote Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
    Weiner
    Funny, appalling documentary about the sexaholic former Congressman's doomed run for Mayor of New York. The documentary crew had amazing access to the slow-motion train wreck of his campaign. A must for any political junkie.

    Emma
    Gwyneth Paltrow is charming in this 1996 adaptation of the Jane Austen classic, playing a young matchmaker who can't help but meddle, usually foolishly, in the love lives of others.

    Lincoln
    Rewatched this terrific Steven Spielberg movie about the last days of Abraham Lincoln. The focus is on the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, thanks to an equal mix of patronage, arm-twisting and threats. Daniel Day-Lewis earned his Oscar in the title role, and then some.
    Very good, I was thinking about finding some movies to see over the weekend. Since don't remember 2/3 of the ones I might have seen, they'll be like new to me, like Memento. No, I don't think I ever saw *Emma*. I don't even think I ever read *Emma*, although I think I was supposed to for some reason. That would be a good "side project" for the weekend, take some time do that.

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    OK, well *The Disaster Artist* sort of puts on a brave front. It's kind of a weak tea if your already know the movie and Greg Sestero's book about the "making of" -- I suspect a lot of James Franco's dialogue was done post, in an ADR booth, but even it's not that close to the good old Tommy Wiseau everybody relishes.

    Points for effort.

    The new *Star Wars*. Sorry, five minutes is about all I can take. I'm just waiting for the Rifftrax to come out with this one. No, I can't be watching this grim, vile fantasy.

    However, it's been five or six years since I've seen *The Mission*, and a little nature jungle zealot porn never hurt anybody.

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    Franco won a Golden Globe for it last night, you may have seen, and even invited Wiseau up on stage with him (but didn't let him speak).

    My latest five:

    Star Wars: The Last Jedi
    I liked it, all in all, although not as much as The Force Awakens. Great sf eye candy and battles, but General Leia's unexplained hard-vacuum survival skillz, and the slow-mo chase by the First Order fleet of the fleeing Rebels, were just stoopid.

    Baby Driver
    Fun, violent, exciting movie about a secretive young getaway driver for a gang of bank robbers in Atlanta. Great cast, chase sequences and soundtrack.

    Sully
    Clint Eastwood's near-documentary about the Jan. 2009 emergency water landing of a passenger jet on the Hudson River and its aftermath. The National Transportation Safety Board is (unfairly, I've read) made out to be the heavies in the subsequent investigation. Tom Hanks turns in his usual solid performance; Laura Linney is mostly wasted in the role of his wife.

    Darkest Hour
    Gary Oldman is nearly unrecognizable in makeup and a fat suit, but does a pretty good job as Winston Churchill in the early days of his wartime service as Prime Minister. Worth seeing for any Churchill or WWII buff.

    The Beatles: Eight Days A Week
    A fine Ron Howard-directed documentary about the Beatles and their frenetic, exhausting, sometimes-dangerous world tours. Interesting, well-edited archival interviews with Lennon and Harrison; new ones with McCartney and Starr.

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    I'm interested in the Darkest Hour. Churchill is a massively interesting figure and Oldman is a great actor. I'll probably catch it on TV though.

    I just saw Jumanji welcome to the Jungle and it was a silly very entertaining movie with lots of laughs. The Rock & Kevin Hart really play off each other great and Jack Black was excellent in this. Karen Gillan was excellent, showing off her comedic chops, legs and midriff. Probably worth seeing it on a big screen rather than at home.

    We just watched Netflix's Bright last night. This Will smith vehicle was predictable but well paced, the acting was fine and it was watchable and entertaining. The heavy handed class & race metaphors using Fantasy races was a little iffy but overall it worked.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    I'm interested in the Darkest Hour. Churchill is a massively interesting figure and Oldman is a great actor. I'll probably catch it on TV though
    That's a good one to watch for -- yeah, if it weren't for hearing the scuttlebutt from my i-sources, I'd have missed out on some good shit. Churchill an interesting figure -- yeah, I think that's a mouthful. Sort of like a Bizarro-WC Fields, you know.

    I do have to revise my opinion of The Disaster Artist -- it has its charms, taken on its own terms. First time, well, I mean, my head's full of the book, and seeing the Rifftraxed version of The Room a million times (I know by instinct when to shift the video player off screen when the slow-jam Skinemax scenes come up -- they are a horror that can never be unseen), and then before that the regular movie.

    Maybe there was some ADR for James Franco's dialogue, but his accent is consistent, and consistently weird, so it works for me.

    And no, I had no idea JF won a Golden Globe for it -- good for him. I had the impression "people" think of him as sort of a joke actor, but I never had an opinion really. Good for him, he really went for it in a really strange role that is unlikely to be repeated in near future.

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    The Boys From Brazil my ass.

    Fucking dogshit movie. Could have been good, if it had a good story, and in an alternate universe where Steve Guttenberg was "cyber-bullied" into killing himself during puberty.

    Just fucking ridiculous.

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    Quote Originally posted by Jizzelbin View post
    The Boys From Brazil my ass.

    Fucking dogshit movie. Could have been good, if it had a good story, and in an alternate universe where Steve Guttenberg was "cyber-bullied" into killing himself during puberty.

    Just fucking ridiculous.
    I haven't seen that movie in so long I had largely forgotten it. I had no clue Guttenberg was in it but always figured the movie was probably Gregory Peck's shame. I just looked it up, holy crap, what a colossal waste of talent.

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    I saw The Boys from Brazil a few years ago and actually liked it, but it's not nearly as good (or as creepy) as the book.

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    Giant is really long, but somehow more watchable than a superboy and his metal machine space war movie of similar length. Kind of dumb, though. I didn't think Rock Hudson was a real actor, but he was pretty good, actually. Understandably, there wasn't too much James Dean in it. Dennis Hopper! Playing the kid!

    Mothra is the stupidest, most Japanesey of the Japanese bad movies. I liked Neptune Man, Prince of Space, and all the Gamera movies better than this.

    Street Fighter is more of a good movie (by kung fu standards) than I remember.

    Escape From the Planet of The Apes -- not good. Unwatchable. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes -- amusing. Pretty sure I saw some of it on TV as a kid.

    The Sheltering Sky. Meh, cute. Malkovich was less Malkovich than usual, which is very good for me. Jesus, what the hell happened to Debra Winger between Cannery Row and this? Ugh.

    And, for the second time in a short duration, Alligator never fails to deliver two small titans of the big screen, Robert Forster and Michael V. Gazzo. Very amusing.

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    My most recent five:

    The Post
    Not as great as All the President's Men or Spotlight, but a pretty good movie about plucky journalists taking on The Powers That Be and winning for the benefit of all.

    Close My Eyes
    British drama about a brother and sister in Eighties London who find themselves sexually drawn to each other. Meh, despite a good cast.

    Dark City
    Rewatched this sf noir favorite of mine, about a man on the run in a city that may never see the dawn, unsure of who he is and accused of crimes he can't even remember. Great cast, script, cinematography and score, and one of the most supremely satisfying endings of any movie I've ever seen.

    Waterloo
    Overlong, plodding cast-of-thousands 1970 movie about the climactic battle of the Napoleonic Wars. Rod Steiger chews the scenery with great gusto as Napoleon, while Christopher Plummer is a cool, aloof Duke of Wellington.

    Arrival
    Took another look at this 2016 sf drama about aliens coming to Earth, and the international crisis that results. Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner are excellent as a linguist and a physicist who join the U.S. first-contact team. The movie has so many layers and a somewhat nonlinear structure that I appreciated even more the second time around.

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    The Happening. I think I might have seen this before, maybe some of it. I now know where that "Why you eyeing my lemon drink?" comes from. This is not a good movie. It is a very bad movie.

    Starship Troopers remains extremely stupid. Yes, even with the Rifftrax.

    Batman v Superman. I saw it, but I don't remember any of it. I find it unwatchable, even with the Rifftrax.

    Avatar. Similarly, the Rifftrax does not help. That was a once-watch movie, if that.

    Night of the Living Dead (1990 remake). Heh. Kind of amusing. Not enough boobs and gore, but it's OK, I guess.

    Star Trek (2009) Even with the Rifftrax, that's a watch-once for me. Not a bad movie, I guess, just not something I find worthy of close scrutiny. That has enough back-story exposition to fill an entire film library. Very tedious. Plus, goddamned it, there's only one Kirk, one Bones, one Spock. The new Uhuru is nice, but still, on principle, one Uhuru. Very annoying.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 22 Feb 2018 at 02:16 PM.

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    Mind Ripper. Do not attempt to watch.

    Terminator: Salvation. If there was a plot, I couldn't find it.

    Beowulf. What? The? Fuck?

    Merlin: The Return. I guess I could see the appeal, for a super-nerd really REALLY into crappy movies about, Arthur and Merlin and stuff. It is a terrible movie, though.

    Deliverance. Have only seen once, I believe, a long time ago. Now it's twice, I guess. Only made it as far as the duelling banjo/guitar scene, but that was indeed some fine picking, from both performers. Sure is a lot of canoeing (sp?) in it, though -- not really a great spectator sport. However, I believe the very first vocalization in the movie is Burt doing his trademark laugh, or one of the first. That rubber vest is super gay, though. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

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    Indeed not. I've only seen Deliverance once, in college. The scene which really stuck with me, oddly enough, was from near the very end, when the survivors of The Canoe Trip From Hell are having dinner in the humble home of a friendly Appalachian couple. Just the simple kindness of being offered a bowl of mashed potatoes is, after their harrowing experience, enough to reduce one of them to tears. A quiet, very powerful scene, especially in contrast to all that came before.

    My most recent five:

    Moonstruck
    A funny, charming Italian-American romance with a fantastic ensemble cast. Cher and Nicolas Cage are particularly good together.

    The Room
    Finally saw this so-bad-it's-good flick. Everyone in the theatre - and it was a very rowdy crowd - was shouting back at the movie's terrible dialogue and clunky plot, which made it both bearable and hilarious. My favorite bit was when, during the party scene, several guys ran up on stage left and jumped up and down, waving and calling out to Tommy Wiseau. Just as they knew he would, he finally looked their way and waved, so they cheered and ran back to their seats.

    The Wind Rises
    Pretty good Miyazaki anime, a highly fictionalized biopic about a designer of Japanese aircraft (including the famous Zero fighter) before WWII.

    Toy Story
    Still a terrific Pixar movie about the adventures of, and rivalry and eventual friendship between, Sheriff Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

    Black Panther
    Enjoyable superhero flick with interesting subtexts of imperialism, immigration and isolationism. Very good cast and cinematography.

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