Wednesday, July 4, 2012

F This Movie! - Ghost

Patrick and Erika make beautiful pottery together.


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Also discussed this episode: Magic Mike

8 comments:

  1. "Ghost" was the first movie I saw on a date. She and I were both 14 and since she was Catholic, she laughed hysterically when the nuns passed out when Whoopi handed them the 4 (?) million dollar check.

    Three shots in the film, however, have always stuck out to me.
    1) The upward 360 shot of the Angel statue being hauled up the side of the loft.
    2)The reverse tracking mirror shot at the very beginning.
    3. Again, the upward shot of the American flag outside Sam's office building.

    For some reason, after that third shot, the photography never again is composed of strange and off putting stunt shots and I've always been curious why the director abandoned them after the opening 10 minutes.

    It seems as if the director, Jerry Zucker (of "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" fame) was trying to put a different spin on the film before Sam dies, but for what purpose... to imply things are off kilter even before the main character passes on?

    Also, the Angel statue seems to be set up for a legit reason and even that metaphor appears to be lost.

    I've always enjoyed "Ghost" even after I broke up with my first girlfriend--but I still recognize its flaws.

    (Hard to believe the same writer, in the same year, had "Jacob's Ladder" made too.)

    You were lucky, Patrick that you got to read Ebert's reviews on the day they came out. Living out in Ca, I had to wait for Ebert's year in review books to come out, whereupon I would read them cover to cover.

    Now that I can read them anytime on the internet kind of takes away the specialness of it all.

    But I remember he made a case that showing Goldberg slow dancing with Moore would have been a powerful and erotic moment. Not sure if the American public who flocked to "Ghost" in August of 1990 would have agreed.

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    1. I don't even think I've noticed that in the past, Cameron, but now that you point it out you're absolutely right. The movie does seem to take some stylistic chances early on, but bails almost immediately to become as average as possible. That's too bad. Maybe it would have helped.

      I honestly thought I would like the movie more than I did this time around. Oh well.

      And I'm not even sure the audience of 2012 would agree with Ebert's idea, but that's because "Whoopi Goldberg" and "erotic" don't belong in a sentence together.

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  2. Yay, Erica's finally back behind
    the mike(crophone :-O) for the first time since the "100th Show Espectacular" podcast. I missed her. :-)

    "Ghost" to me is only worth thinking about as the first sign that the Zucker side of "ZAZ" wasn't the wild and crazy comedy geniuses that I always pictured the makers of "Airplane!" and "Naked Gun" as being in real life when I was growing up in the 80's. Between "First Knight," "Ghost" (directed by brother Jerry) and "A Walk in the Clouds" (produced by both Jerry and David, the latter of which went on to become a full-on right wing nutter with his "An American Carol" flick) the 1990's were the decade the Zuckers came out as big softie romantic pussies chasing (and failing to recapture) the "Ghost" dragon.

    I've seen "Ghost" only twice and both times I was indifferent to it other than the thrill of seeing Tony Goldwyn typecast himself for life in the 'asshole brother/friend/associate' supporting role (Det. Goren's brother on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," the serial killing shrink in that memorable Season 1 episode of "Dexter," etc.). Tony, like "Christine's" Keith Gordon, has at least gotten a secondary career boost as a TV director (again, "Dexter" and a bunch of shows) and it's a face I look forward to seeing in a supporting role.

    Everything you guys mentioned about the movie's actual plot/acting/shoddy SFX/etc. I agree with except, because I didn't grow up loving it, I don't share your romantic attachment to even the memorable parts of it. To me "Ghost" is THE weakest Best Picture nominee in Academy history, worse even than "The Greatest Show On Earth" and "The Towering Inferno" (I'm not kidding!).

    HAPPY 4th...
    ... member of the Bromley family! :D
    Charlie, Rosie... you guys are really big Charlie Rose fans, aren't you? ;-)

    BTW, "F This Movie" saved my 4th of July day.

    I was going to go see "Spider-Man" and "Moorise Kingdom," then go TV shopping (my HDTV isn't dead but it's beginning to have bad burn-in and banding; B&W movies are becoming unwatchable). So I loaded my Touchpad with a handful of old podcasts (the two "Halloween" one's, "Stop Making Sense," "Hook") and the new one for "Ghost." Stood in line for "Spider-Man" and it was sold out (boo!), then another long line at another theater for "Moonrise Kingdom" and it was also sold out (double boo!). So instead I walked a lot through Gotham, had a salad for lunch in Times Square, caught "Beasts of the Southern Beast" at the local Landmark Sunshine ("Treme" meets a surreal take on "George Washington"; Southern Gothic surrealism at its finest, definitely worth seeing) and shopped for TV's at half-a-dozen different TV stores (didn't buy anything but I think I know which way I'm leaning).

    All these while the "F This Movie" podcasts kept me company and made me break into involuntarily laugh-out loud fits in the middle of packed subway train cars (the "F This Summer 2011" podcast in particular). It's amazing how well these old podcasts hold up. And it was so cool listening the mike(crophone) barely pick up Rosie's breathing while you guys talked about the romantic moments in "Ghost." :-) So cute, it made my day even though I didn't see "Spider-Man" in IMAX 3D or "Moonrise Kngdom" like I was planning to.

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    1. One more thing I forgot to mention, about "Magic Mike" (SPOILERS FOR "MAGIC MIKE" BELOW, DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOT IT ENDS):

      To me "Magic Mike" has one of the most chilling scenes/lines/moments I've ever experienced in a movie, but what makes it so powerful is how unstated and casual Soderbergh shoots/shows it. After Mike walks out of the club on their final night in the Tampa location Dallas, struggling to fill the spot, taps Alex (Brooke's bro) to not only fill-in for Mike but go on to Miami with Dallas and the rest of the gang. 'Mike's out, Adam's in' we hear Dallas say to the other male dancers while the camera stays on Alex's face, followed then by the final scene of Mike and Brooke's in the latter's apartment.

      I was blown away that "Magic Mike" established these characters/universe so well that (a) you know that Dallas' 'Mike's out' line will be the last time Dallas mentions or thinks of Mike ever again (a years-long good working relationship vanishing just like that), (b) you can see Adam's future in Miami even though the movie ends soon after (I can totally picture a separate movie chronicling Adam's rise-and-fall but "Magic Mike's" story is already that) and (c) Brooke trades men in her life with Mike taking the place of brother Adam in her life (so she got lucky and traded up, good for her! :-P).

      So even though Cady Horn plays a passive character though most of the "Magic Mike" (loved the way Soderbergh keeps cutting to her face when Mike is doing his sexual thrusting move in the dance floor; you know Steven couldn't show more than a 1-second thrusting move without cutting to something else or the MPAA would have slapped an NC-17 on the picture, so his need to cut away was wisely used to build Brooke's character by showing her reaction to the male stripping world) the movie is as much about her and brother Adam as it is about the Mike and Dallas side. The more I think of it the more I like "Magic Mike" and may have to see it again... uhh, but not for a while! :-P

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  3. Geez, you kids are adorable! It's good to hear from Erika again, you guys have chemistry (not all married couples do) like crazy. It makes for some fantastic podcasting. Good stuff, Bromleys!

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    1. Thanks. I've said it before: we are totally gay for each other.

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  4. Check out the plot for the movie Always. 1989. Speilberg. 1950s love song on soundtrack. Same movie.

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  5. This download link is also on strike.

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