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Thread: Omnibus movies Q&A thread including trivia

  1. #901
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    My Left Foot. Yeah, I've known this movie existed for quite a while, obviously, but it wasn't until a bar-room buddy started running down some random movies from his old list of memories and came on this title and I questioned further. "So, like I should see it or what?"

    He said yes and I agreed. (To the divorce, take the house, kids, everything, yadda).

    Pretty good tale. Sort of like Harry Potter for adults.

    It's what I would call a good tale.

  2. #902
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    Oh. Yeah. Just watching the first bit of The Odd Couple (movie) again.

    Yeah.

    Well, I suppose it's comforting to know that a fictional Oscar has the same housekeeping habits I do. I thiink mine are worse, but then I've lived with truly horrible people, in that same verdamt city people are fucking disgusting.

    Oh.

    The Grifters gets more unpleasant and tiresome each time I see that grim little turd of a movie. Fuck you.

  3. #903
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    The Jesus Rolls is a pretty funny little movie. I won't spoil anything, but it's a amusing while also being extremely idiotic and having no cultural merit. I imagine that pretty much describes the original movie pretty well, too. I would just say if you have ever suffered through one of the identical (they're all the same, more or less, in being dim-witted, morose, but with a few humorous scenes, maybe) French "comic" movies and tolerated it, you could probably sit through this once.

    Quite a few callbacks to the BigLebo. Well, a few more than I was expecting, anyway.

    Audrey Tautou (never knew that was how her name was spelled) is a pretty good little actress, though. I guess.

    Yeah, it's a sort of funny little remake of some other movie, and it's pretty short in length. Kind of OK music, I guess.

  4. #904
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    The Incredibles. All right, I think I get it. It's pretty amusing, I take back some of the things I said about you people. Yeah, that might be the first cartoon movie I liked.

  5. #905
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    Quote Originally posted by Jizzelbin View post
    The Incredibles. All right, I think I get it. It's pretty amusing, I take back some of the things I said about you people. Yeah, that might be the first cartoon movie I liked.
    It is a great movie. Probably my favorite animated movie.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    Quote Originally posted by Jizzelbin View post
    The Incredibles. All right, I think I get it. It's pretty amusing, I take back some of the things I said about you people. Yeah, that might be the first cartoon movie I liked.
    It is a great movie. Probably my favorite animated movie.
    I'd pretty much agree. For now, it's hard to decide if The Incredibles or Incredibles 2 is the better one.

    Both these are astonishing movies, and this from somebody who normally despises animation in general, except as a little comic short.

    These are both astonishing movies, full of heart, and somewhat full of care given. I don't see any reason that, for example, the voice actors shouldn't be given very much applause for their roles.

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    I'm a little embarassed, after having seen The Incredibles and it's sequel.

    All right, TBH I'm not crazy about the closing title score for the sequel. Yeah, it's idiomatic, but it's just so over the place. It's not like I can't hang with compound meters. The whole thing is just so diffuse, musically. If I wanted to listen to some little kid do a mash up in Pro Tools, well, I just wouldn't.

    But here's what I'm embarassed about: keep in mind, I don't really watch cartoon movies at all. Like, ever. Yeah, I watch stuff like Archer and stuff, but I've never seen a full-length cartoon movie since I was a little kid, I guess. I think I saw the Simpsons movie and the Southpark movie, and maybe that one about the restauarant with the rat under chef's hat. but I don't remember those much.

    All right, call me a bad man, call me a Macron, but I think Holly Hunter is a babe.

    Play fair, now, she's not old enough to be my mother, which, gross, well, I guess she could be old enough.

    The important thing is she's absolutely not related to me.

    I did read an embarassing interview/opinion piece recently, I think published in the Guardian UK, which was really over the top hagiography about H. Hunter, so, it's not like that.

    I'm just going to shut up now before I dig myself any new holes.

    And no, I think you all know I'm not that naïve or sentimental to have some kind of crush on some star of stage and screen. But you also know that I'm a complete pervert and an incapable of telling a mistruth. So,probably truth is in the middle. I just don't know.

  8. #908
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    I've been wanting to see The Jesus Rolls for awhile now, even though the reviews haven't been great (here's a Straight Dope thread on it: https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...d.php?t=812860). The Big Lebowski is my favorite Coen Bros. movie.

    The Incredibles is probably my favorite superhero movie, for that matter, and definitely my favorite Pixar movie. Sheer genius. And Jizz, if you want to check out some other great animated movies that aren't just for kids, take a look at The Iron Giant (by Brad Bird, the same director as The Incredibles), as well as Up, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, WALL-E and Finding Nemo. The best of the best, I'd say.

  9. #909
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    Quote Originally posted by Elendil's Heir View post
    I've been wanting to see The Jesus Rolls for awhile now, even though the reviews haven't been great (here's a Straight Dope thread on it: https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb...d.php?t=812860). The Big Lebowski is my favorite Coen Bros. movie.
    Yeah, it's not a great movie, but if you put aside some expectatons, it has its moments.

    I guess it depends how much you like the French style of comedy. Personally, I can't stand French "comedy" movies. I think they're uniformly tedious, maudlin, and generally not funny at all. I guess you'd have to know the French pretty well to say if you like that style of "comedy."

    No, I've never seen the original this was based off of, but this new one does have a few good bits in it. Good actors, anyway, I guess.

    Meh, it's only an hour and change, so I'd say just approach it like a TV show.

  10. #910
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    Quote Originally posted by Elendil's Heir View post
    The Incredibles is probably my favorite superhero movie, for that matter, and definitely my favorite Pixar movie. Sheer genius. And Jizz, if you want to check out some other great animated movies that aren't just for kids, take a look at The Iron Giant (by Brad Bird, the same director as The Incredibles), as well as Up, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, WALL-E and Finding Nemo. The best of the best, I'd say.
    I can second all of these recommendations except for A Bug's Life, not a fan of that one. I really like Up & WALL-E, two of my favorites and I would add Monster's Inc.



    I finally saw Green Book, it was excellent. It was a real movie with dialogue, acting and character development. Aragorn Viggo Mortensen playing an Italian guy from the Bronx in 1962 was excellent. Mahershala Ali was outstanding.

    And special note for you Jizzelbin, the sound track was really good. A selection of classical, blues, jazz and early rock.

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    Yes, Monsters Inc. is good, but just not quite on my best-ever Pixar list.

    Definitely want to see Green Book.

    I'm mostly housebound and watching more movies these days. My latest five:

    The Two Popes
    A fine character study, with Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce both excellent as Benedict and Francis, a once and a future Pope: talking, arguing, reasoning, empathizing, and eventually coming to, at least in some small measure, understand each other.

    The King's Speech
    Also very good, as King George VI (Colin Firth, excellent in the role although he looks nothing like him) is helped by a sympathetic Australian speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush, never better) to deal with his severe stutter.

    Cast Away
    Tom Hanks is terrific as a FedEx manager, a slave to the clock, finding himself with nothing but time on his hands as he struggles to survive on a desert island after surviving a plane crash. "WILSON...!"

    The Iron Giant
    Another favorite, with a little boy in the sleepy Fifties town of Rockwell, Maine befriending a towering alien visitor. Beautiful animation and an important anti-violence message.

    Laputa: Castle in the Sky
    My favorite Miyazaki anime film. A scrappy kid helps a lost princess against government secret agents and sky pirates who all want her magical amulet. Magical, mysterious, fun and funny, with remarkable animation.

  12. #912
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    No. Just no. Do not anyone ever deliberately watch a movie on purpose from 1990 called The Bronx Warriors.

    Absolutely not.

    Do not watch that movie.

    In fact, do what I advised my little gal pal from work to do about my crude texts to her.

    This just never happened, this whole movie.

    Shit.

    And go ahead and punch me in the face if you actually watch that shit. It is a bullshit movie, motherfuckers.

  13. #913
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    I do want to see The Two Popes, though, so thanks for the capsule review on that. I don't think people respect Benedict XVI quite as much as they might. Sort of overshadowed by a few very much larger than life personalities. Certainly one might say he didn't put the RCC on a more humane level, but for as little as I care about theology, he was a pretty clever man. Probably still is, but I doubt he's doing much these days.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 05 Apr 2020 at 07:17 AM.

  14. #914
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    Oh, the original movie The Jesus Rolls, just called Les valseuses and I don't remember how it's translated in English.

    Yeah, it's sort of an amusing movie, I guess. I was right earlier that it's a pretty damned stupid little Gallic comedy.

    But it's not the worst or most typically French "comedy," not by far.

    The first and last words out of my mouth upon seeing it just were, "Quoi, c'est plutôt bien ridicule, putain merde comment cela." Which just means "WTF was that ridiculous bunch of bullshit."

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    I find Taken 2 to be better than the first movie.

    Also, it is that the first adaptation of The Stand holds up OK. The book is better, which I don't often find is the case, but I don't think I have a copy of the novel, so that'll do.

    As always, the 1974 movie Black Christmas doesn't fail. Not a very good movie, but it does feature both Keir Dullea and Olivia Hussey in career-defining roles.

    Of course, Buckaroo Banzai is always worth another watch. It is a real bad movie, don't get me wrong, but it has such indelible moments. How do I know? I'm perfect!

    And, yes, Planet of the Apes. No, I'm not too happy about the sequels,and I don't really enjoy watching this one, but ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.

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    Oh, and Psycho II is a really creepy, unsettling movie.

    Mostly Dennis Franz, but Tony Perkins really did a method job there. and he's pretty freaky. I'm sure he was a fine person IRL, but he had some problems it seems. But his several vocal albums makes it all worthwhile.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 12 Apr 2020 at 11:14 PM.

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    You may have heard, Jizz, that they're making another adaptation of The Stand: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_St...ng_miniseries)

    Buckaroo Banzai is one of my all-time favorite sf movies! Always worth a look, and John Lithgow really should have won an Oscar as Lord John "Laugh-a while you can, monkey boy!" Whorfin. On a dare from a friend, I once made a restaurant reservation for us under the name "John Yaya."

    Tony Perkins is one of the best things about the otherwise oft-ridiculous Disney sf movie The Black Hole.

  18. #918
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    Yeah, I heard about that one, EH, but I don't know anything about that.

    I will say that John Wick 2 (I have not yet seen the first or the third) is one of the worst action movies I've ever seen.

    I mean, points for effort, I guess, but it's not a good moive, AFAIC. Super fake car stunts, and not a lot of anything.

    FTR, Sha Po Lang aka Kill Zone is the best action movie I think that exists in the 2000s.

  19. #919
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    And BuckarooB: yes, I think anyone would (or should) agree it had an outstanding supporting cast. I don't know if Peter Weller is on anyone's short list for excellence in acting, but even the sometimes-execrable Ellen Barkin did a terrific piece of work. Jon Lithgow, of course. I mean, the guy's a master of the craft. Harry and the Hendersons? Yeah, maybe not but laugh while you can, monkey boy!

  20. #920
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    John Wick can suck it. I heard good things about these, but not for me. I & II — haven't seen the third, and likely will not.

    The Big Short remains a delightful, clever movie, if not quite a documentary, then a dramatization of the housing market (and much more) collapse of recent memory. Very strong performances by the principals, and it's a good way to keep one's eye on the prize even as, I imagine, many of us are doing some restructuring, on whatever scale.

    Of course, Mr. Majestyk, screenplay by Elmore Leonard, starring Ch. Bronson and Al Lettieri (probably best known for playing "Sollozzo" from The GF). It's a simple tale of a melon farmer and those who would thwart his melons. Hadn't seen that in a while.

    Up next: Rambo: Last Blood. I don't have big expectations, but there's probably some neat stuff in there.

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    I'm a big Elmore Leonard fan, but haven't seen that one. Both Jackie Brown and Out of Sight were very good adaptations of EL books.

  22. #922
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    Quote Originally posted by Elendil's Heir View post
    I'm a big Elmore Leonard fan, but haven't seen that one. Both Jackie Brown and Out of Sight were very good adaptations of EL books.
    That's very true.

    I didn't realize this until a few days ago, but Elmore actually wrote the screenplay then created a novelization based on his story and, I assume, at least some of the elements of the picture.

    I've read a bunch of EL's novels, but never came across this title among various collections. Maybe among purists it's considered a lesser effort, but the movie kicks ass.

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    I'm just beginning an audiobook of Leonard's Riding the Rap, a kidnapping novel, as it happens. Haven't gotten far enough into it yet to have an opinion.

    My latest five films:

    Vice
    Christian Bale undergoes a remarkable transformation to look uncannily like Dick Cheney, and plays him very convincingly, too. The movie lurches a bit between drama, polemic, satire and near-slapstick, but is worth a look for any political junkie.

    The Sound of Music
    Hadn't seen it in a long time - a classic movie musical, as silly and schmaltzy and fun as ever. Julie Andrews, beautiful, talented and a great singer, really carries the movie.

    Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
    A favorite comedy in my family, about a British smooth operator (Michael Caine) and an American boor (Steve Martin) conning wealthy women on the French Riviera. Brilliant, sly and very, very funny. If you don't laugh during the Prince Ruprecht scenes then you clearly have no sense of humor.

    Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
    An eccentric inventor (Dick Van Dyke) creates a magical car and, with his sweetheart and two adorable children, has several adventures in this favorite movie of my childhood. A bit dated now but still good.

    You've Got Mail
    Heartwarming romance from the dawn of the Internet Age, with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan as mismatched bookstore-business foes who fall in love almost despite themselves.

  24. #924
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    Three Days of the Condor. An exceptional adventure movie from 1975 featuring Redford and Faye Dunaway in a few of their best performances. Probably many people have seen it, but if not, I'd highly recommend for a taut popcorn thriller in the political side.

    Aside, I loved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a small kid: I'd say it's kind of a classic. A few memorable moments anyway.

    I admit I've never actually seen The Sound of Music except in bits. I don't think I'll ever see it, much like Gone With the Wind, although the latter has a superb standard with the same title in jazz/pop music, which I don't think has anything to do with the movie. Wes tears that one down, for sure, with a solo on his original record that even a tone-deaf mutant like me at times can remember and sing/play along with. One of those epic, concise solos.
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  25. #925
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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    I finally saw Green Book, it was excellent. It was a real movie with dialogue, acting and character development. Aragorn Viggo Mortensen playing an Italian guy from the Bronx in 1962 was excellent. Mahershala Ali was outstanding.

    And special note for you Jizzelbin, the sound track was really good. A selection of classical, blues, jazz and early rock.
    Just noticed this: thanks! Yeah, it sometimes seeems like I have to go back to 1970s grindhouse or arthouse movies to find incidental music I actually enjoy, most often, so that just made me list! Good call.

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    ETA, in the scene with Redford fighting the fake mailman in Dunaway's apartment, I think that's the first "lens flare" I've seen in a movie that isn't some nerd shit. I know a lot of nerds talk about lens flares, and while I guess I could be a movie nerd, I don't care much about photography and don't do a blog or vlog or whatever.

    Yeah, I guess I broke my cherry. Yeah, me.
    Last edited by Jizzelbin; 29 Apr 2020 at 02:59 AM.

  27. #927
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    Quote Originally posted by Elendil's Heir View post
    IDirty Rotten Scoundrels
    A favorite comedy in my family, about a British smooth operator (Michael Caine) and an American boor (Steve Martin) conning wealthy women on the French Riviera. Brilliant, sly and very, very funny. If you don't laugh during the Prince Ruprecht scenes then you clearly have no sense of humor.
    I fully agree. I don't know if I'd say it's better. or just different, than the original it was made from (I don't remember the title, just that Marlon Brando did an excellent piece of work playing a mongo-style Ruprecht).

    If you haven't seen the first one, I'd highly recommend it: you get your money's worth in that one.

    But yes, DRS is a highly amusing comedy indeed.

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    Green Book is indeeed a terribly amusing movie. and I can't recommmend it highly enough.

    Indeed, the diegetic music is about perfect.

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    Three Days of the Condor is a great spy flick. The director has a cameo as the cabbie who almost hits Redford's character.

    Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is a remake of this movie, which I haven't seen yet. Someday!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedtime_Story_(1964_film)

    My most recent five:

    Emma
    The newest Jane Austen remake, with a charming and funny cast led by Anya Taylor-Joy and Bill Nighy. Great to look at, with a noticeably bright color palette. Not quite sure it's my favorite version (I think the Gwyneth Paltrow one might still hold that prize), but it's up there.

    Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
    Pretty good documentary about the notorious 2017 rock festival flop/scam, and an on-the-nose cautionary tale about the power and reach of social media.

    One Man, Two Guvnors
    James Corden stars in this filmed stage performance of a British farce. A little slow getting off the ground, but it soon becomes, and stays, very funny.

    Ford v. Ferrari
    Gripping film about how the stodgy Ford Motor Co. decided to break into car racing in the late Sixties. Matt Damon and Christian Bale are both very good as the frenemies who make it happen. I'm not really into racing, but enjoyed this movie.

    Time Bandits
    A little boy with a big imagination helps a ragtag band of time-traveling thieves who've stolen a map to the universe from the Supreme Being ("You mean God?" "Well, we don't know him that well"). Zany hijinks ensue. One of Terry Gilliam's best, and with a terrific cameo by Sean Connery as Agamemnon.

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    Watching a lot of movies these days. My latest five (all documentaries, as it happens, and all worth a look):

    Represent
    Pretty good documentary about three women seeking public office (running for mayor of Detroit, U.S. Congress in the Chicago suburbs, and trustee of a rural Ohio township). An interesting if somewhat superficial look at how being a candidate changes your life, for good and ill, win or lose.

    Playing with Fire
    Another good doc, about Apollo's Fire, a critically-acclaimed chamber music ensemble in Cleveland, and its charismatic founder and conductor, Jeannette Sorrell.

    Golda
    Engaging, warts-and-all 2019 biography of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, from her childhood in Milwaukee to her remarkable rise - almost always tougher and smarter than everyone else around her - and eventual fall in Israeli politics.

    Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn.
    Understandably scathing bio of Joe McCarthy's right-hand man and later NYC GOP political fixer and celebrity lawyer, a closeted gay man who actively opposed gay rights laws and fiercely denied he had AIDS to the day he died of it. The first three words of the movie's title come from the words on his square of the AIDS Quilt.

    Chichinette: The Accidental Spy
    An affectionate profile of a Holocaust survivor and much-decorated former French spy who is still alive, traveling the world and talking about her WW2 experiences to rapt audiences.

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    Aaaand my latest five:

    Notting Hill
    A funny, charming romcom, with Hugh Grant as a bashful London bookstore owner falling for an American movie star played by Julia Roberts. Look for Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville in a small part as a failing stockbroker.

    Airplane!
    One of my all-time favorite comedies. I introduced my teenage sons to it and they loved it. So many great gags (Kareem snarling at the little kid; Ethel Merman belting out a song as Lt. Hurwitz) and lines ("No, the white phone" "Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?" "You can tell me, I'm a doctor").

    Alien
    A ragtag starship crew is stalked by a voracious xenomorph. Still a great sf/horror movie; I noticed the music and the striking planetary visuals more this time.

    Aliens
    Colonial Marines meet their match in a whole colony of xenomorphs. One of the few sequels better than the original, I'd say. Sigourney Weaver kicks ass as one of the greatest action-movie heroines ever.

    A League of Their Own
    Heartwarming, funny WWII-era women's baseball movie. Geena Davis and Lori Petty are great as sisters and rivals, and Tom Hanks steals every scene as their coach, a boozy, washed-up major leaguer.

  32. #932
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    Quote Originally posted by Elendil's Heir View post
    Aaaand my latest five:

    Notting Hill
    A funny, charming romcom, with Hugh Grant as a bashful London bookstore owner falling for an American movie star played by Julia Roberts. Look for Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville in a small part as a failing stockbroker.

    Airplane!
    One of my all-time favorite comedies. I introduced my teenage sons to it and they loved it. So many great gags (Kareem snarling at the little kid; Ethel Merman belting out a song as Lt. Hurwitz) and lines ("No, the white phone" "Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?" "You can tell me, I'm a doctor").

    Alien
    A ragtag starship crew is stalked by a voracious xenomorph. Still a great sf/horror movie; I noticed the music and the striking planetary visuals more this time.

    Aliens
    Colonial Marines meet their match in a whole colony of xenomorphs. One of the few sequels better than the original, I'd say. Sigourney Weaver kicks ass as one of the greatest action-movie heroines ever.

    A League of Their Own
    Heartwarming, funny WWII-era women's baseball movie. Geena Davis and Lori Petty are great as sisters and rivals, and Tom Hanks steals every scene as their coach, a boozy, washed-up major leaguer.
    4 nearly perfect movies & Notting Hill. Nice Run.

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    How about one and zero.

    Yeah, I made it through Kick-Ass.

    Cute.

    Im going to forget I even heard about Notting Hill or whatever. I still have Winter's Tale, the most recent Emma and a whole bunch of shit to watch.

    Yeah, I work still, dipshit. Five days a week.

    Fuck.

    Yeah, well, whatever, I'm also learning Finnish language and it's not very intuitive Yeah, yeah, fifteen cases, whatever, that's child's play. Most of the cases are spatial. It's that the lexicon is very strange: nothing to do with any Indo-European language. And yet. Und dennoch.

    You know, after the umpteenth time, the novel The Godfather is a pretty good little tale. Yet, somehow, it was meant to be, that movie. Whole below-the-line crew. Dunno whose dick got sucked, but that was a big one. Golden meadowlark. Yeah, I remember state shit or whatever.

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    Not a fan of Notting Hill, eh...?

    My latest five:

    Antony and Cleopatra
    A filmed National Theatre production of Shakespeare's play, with Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo as the doomed lovers. Great cast and interesting modern staging (including a pirate submarine!), but it dragged a bit at times.

    Terminator 2
    Still a sf action masterpiece, and one of Ahnuld's all-time best movies, I'd say.

    The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
    Another favorite; I was glad to introduce my youngest son to it. Great stuff and an amazing cinematic achievement, despite a few nitpicks that I won't inflict on you.

    The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
    Ditto on all counts, although the first is my favorite of the trilogy.

    Quiz Show
    Fifties TV's greatest scandal breaks as a rigged game show is exposed. A fine cast (John Turturro is the standout, as an ill-used contestant who decides to get revenge), sharp dialogue and impressive period costumes, cars, sets, etc.

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    Heh. Good to hear about a fellow appreciator of Quiz Show. Paul Scofield stole the show. "Thank you, Charlie!" "Big piece of chocolate cake, and a glass of cold milk in the icebox."

    A masterpiece.

    No, I've never seen Notting Hill. I just....well, I just wouldn't.

    I don't know why I've had such a hard-on for the movie Red Rock West, directed by a guy named John Dahl (I suspect it's a pen name, since John Dahl was an actor most famous for having co-starred in the legendary movie Gun Crazy, who did at least one more neo-noir whose title I can't recall, but it co-starred Linda Fiorentino as the requisite femme fatale.

    As an undergraduate, one of my buddies invited me to spend Thanksgiving with his family near Bryn Mawr, you know, one of those places just outside of Philly. For some reason one of the elders put it on the TV, and what little I saw kind of imprinted on me as, "This is pretty cool!"

    Dennis Hopper is a bit subdued, well, for him, anyway. Lara Flynn Boyle turned out to be an actual actress. And Nic Cage was actually pretty damned good in the movie. J.T. Walsh as the requisite "crooked small town sherriff" was understated, but somehow interesting as a cog in the machine.

    When I finally saw it again, just recently, I have to say, not a very interesting movie, but it's .... I suppose ... worth a look if you have nothing better to do.

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    The Two Popes. Sort of a good movie. Not much there, really, but I was sort of amused.

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    The Caine Mutiny. Remains a masterpiece.

    The Mechanic, featuring Ch. Bronson and Jan Michael Vincent. not as good as I remember.

    I could not make it through either The Iron Giant (I don't like movies with kids in it, not even The 400 Blows), nor Time Bandits.

    Finally saw Rambo Last Blood. I don't remember anything about it except is was slow and boring.

    The King of Marvin Gardens. I suppose that can be watched once, sort of.

    The Amazing Mr. X is, sorry to say, not a good movie IMHO.

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    Quote Originally posted by Jizzelbin View post
    ...I could not make it through either The Iron Giant (I don't like movies with kids in it, not even The 400 Blows), nor Time Bandits....
    Aiyeee! I love the first and really like the second (and Sean Connery's cameo in it is terrific).

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    My latest five:

    Sabra
    A short documentary about the noted Vermont painter and engraver Sabra Field, who's long been a favorite of mine. A nice profile of her, with some exploration of how she conceives and creates her work (if you want to see some examples, scroll down here: https://www.jeanneamato.com/product-...y/sabra-field/).

    When Harry Met Sally
    Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan star in this Eighties NYC romcom about how men and women just can't be friends anymore once they have sex... or can they? Still a lot of fun.

    Becoming
    Recent biopic documentary about Michelle Obama, built around her national tour promoting her memoir of the same title. An interesting fly-on-the-wall portrayal of a smart, charismatic woman trying to use her fame to do some good in the world.

    The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
    The epic conclusion to the Tolkien film trilogy. Overlong but a feast for the eyes, with some great character moments (my favorite Gandalf line: "In fact, it's better if you don't speak at all, Peregrin Took").

    84 Charing Cross Road
    Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins star as a snarky American writer and a genteel British bookseller who bond over a long, warm, literate correspondence. The perfect movie for any Anglophile or bibliophile.

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    The Comedy of Terrors (1963)
    Directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and (in a cameo) Joe E. Brown in his final film appearance.
    With this cast it should have been better, but it was watchable at least.

    I just haven't been watching many films of late. Mostly bingeing TV shows.

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    Quote Originally posted by What Exit? View post
    The Comedy of Terrors (1963)
    Directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and (in a cameo) Joe E. Brown in his final film appearance.
    With this cast it should have been better, but it was watchable at least.
    Holy shit! I've never heard of this movie. I thought I knew Jimmy Turner!

    All right, this is prime suspect number one! I'm going to watch the shit out of this ASAP!

    Even bad Price and Lorre is better than none at all! And they worked well together in one of the Corman/Poe movies IIRC.

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    On Amazon Prime BTW.

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    My latest five:

    Edge of Tomorrow
    Exciting sf military/timeloop drama - Groundhog Day meets The Longest Day meets Starship Troopers. Saw and enjoyed it for the second time. Tom Cruise is fine, but Emily Blunt is simply outstanding.

    Bad Education
    Hugh Jackman plays a beloved Long Island public school superintendent and Allison Janney is his trusty treasurer in this excellent dark comedy about embezzlement on a grand scale, and the scrappy student journalist who exposes it.

    The Madness of King George
    A British National Theatre recorded stage performance, with Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Game of Thrones) as George III, dealing with Parliament, palace intrigue, shiftless royal sons and recurring mental illness. Very good stuff.

    Out of Sight
    Hadn't seen this excellent, funny-but-violent Elmore Leonard crime romcom in a loooong time. George Clooney is charming as a gentleman bank robber, and Jennifer Lopez has never been better, or sexier, than she is here as a tough young deputy U.S. marshal with a weakness for bad boys.

    The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
    Finally saw this classic Spaghetti Western. The three titular gunslingers all do incredibly dumb things (I'm not an amoral killer frontiersman myself, most days, but even I could see how they could've made better decisions), and there's a big, exciting but nonsensical Civil War battle. The scenery is great, though, the music is iconic, and of course there's plenty of Early Clint Eastwood badassery.

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    Forbidden Planet. An exceptional space-age drama. Yes, I remember Anne Francis from the olden days, but Leslie Nielsen was unrecognizable to me. Yes, Robbie the Robot is familiar to me as the name of an early attempt by Melanie Mitchell to instantiate her attempts at machine learning.

    Surprisingly good movie. And, if I can be a bit frank, Anne Francis was...I would say, astonishing, in her role, even on a purely physical level. Her character did not have much to do, but Ms. Francis played the role well. It was a different era,, I'd say.

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    Good movie, she was a knockout, nice Shakespeare allusions, and you can see how it inspired Star Trek in many ways.

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    OK. yeah, The Tempest. My memory of the film's dialogue is a little hazy, but one of the characters (Leslie Nielsen's?) might have explicitly said as much. I could be confusing a bit of dialogue fragments from another picture, but surely the basic idea was not lost on the writers.

    No, I don't really see the Star Trek connection, but it's probable, sure, that some of the technological armaments and organization of the crew had some influence. I wouldn't know.

    What is maybe the best film adaptation of The Tempest? Not really a Shakespeare nerd, but indeed I come back to the bard's works every now and again, and this is certainly, IMHO, one of his best. And the culture has, as noted, wildly grokked the basic idea of the plot, and especially the basic scenario and characterizations.

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    Don't think I've seen any of these big-screen adaptations other than Forbidden Planet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest#Screen. It's not my favorite Shakespeare play, frankly. The last time I saw it, in a very capable production with some interesting stage effects (especially during the opening storm) I have to admit I was bored halfway through and to the end.

  48. #948
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    commet ptain cefche de ptain, ouais et commet,

    <John Wick> fucking badass
    <entrgllmts> putain
    <l3>ptassse.

    It means, basically nothing but that John Wick keeps getting wicker and so forth. '

    And in my very important opion whatever.

    Pretty darned good action movies, blah blah.

  49. #949
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    All right, now, I'm getting a bit cheesed off, if you want to put in PG language, watching again the big car scene in JWII.

    Granted, I'm comparing it to the real *Gone in 60 Seconds*, but there is no way in hell they had two dozen wreckers to do a pancake near-180, nor the people who would get paid enough to even stand near that.

    Yeah, it might not melt steeled iron, but it'd be a big old catastrophe, and to reset lights, cameras.

    No way.

    I'll still give the JW gold coin, I guess, but that is not good stunt driving.

    Nor could it have been.

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    My latest five:

    Hamilton
    The filmed production of the Broadway hit musical. Not quite as good as seeing it live (which I did a few years ago, from 'way up in the cheap seats in Chicago), but still a great experience. Highly recommended.

    The Wizard of Oz
    Dunno how our young sons never saw it before, but now they have, and I enjoyed seeing it again with them. Still a masterpiece: great story, cast, songs, scenery, cinematography, etc. The transition from B&W to color is still breathtaking.

    Kiki's Delivery Service
    This Miyazaki animated movie wasn't quite as good the second time around, but is still a charming, good-natured, kid-friendly movie about a spunky young witch coming of age in a new city. Phil Hartman's voicing of her cat, Jiji, is a highlight.

    Bad Times at the El Royale
    A very Coenesque crime movie about a run-down hotel out in the sticks, and seven strangers who converge there, each with their own secrets and agendas, in early 1969. Funny, violent, a little spooky - very good stuff.

    Radioactive
    Disappointing, kind of blah, paint-by-numbers biopic of Marie Curie, with somewhat forced flash-forwards to show how her research led in part both to benign medical uses of radiation and the A-bomb. I'd say skip it unless you're a fan of hers.

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