Saturday, January 23, 2016

Weekend Open Thread

I don't have it in me to say anything clever here.

The Academy is getting an overhaul, Avatar 2 is delayed once again and everything is the worst. Take it away, all of you.

63 comments:

  1. Has anyone checked out The Godfather Epic on HBO? It puts The Godfather and The Godfather Part II together in chronological order. I thought I'd put it on just to watch a little bit but I got sucked in. Now I'm nearly 5 hours deep! Been a few years since I last saw either movie and watching it chronologically wasn't as distracting as I thought. And it's was nice to see De Niro's scenes play out without any cuts. Let me know what you guys think if you've checked it out.

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    1. Oh I would love to see that. Sounds fantastic.

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    2. It's available on HBO Go and Now too. Great way to split it into several chunks if the 7 hrs. 15 min. running time is too punishing for you. :-)

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    3. That was actually how I was introduced to the Godfather movies long ago in the VHS "Complete Epic" edition. I've grown to prefer the theatrical cuts (the structure of Godfather II is deserving of every accolade that has been tossed its way) but as an introduction to the series (this was, if I recall correctly, before Godfather III was a thing) it was pretty great. I'm very curious to revisit it now that I can do so without requiring a VCR.

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  2. After I were at an actual Theater yesterday (Blue Stockings), I'm unsure if I can manage it to go to the movies this weekend. I've still a lot work for my studies to do and I'm afraid that they will suck all my time away from me. Maybe I'll write a commend somewhere about "Making A Murderer", because that made me angry lately.

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  3. RATS! Anthology Film Archives' annual 'Totally 80's Movie Freakout Marathon' (six secret 35mm films from the 80's for $25 bucks, two of which haven't been released on DVD) is scheduled this year for February 13... same day as this year's Twitter Film Fest. :-( If forced to choose between the two I have to go with the Twitter Film Fest out of loyalty for FtM, but damn, it hurts to miss this treasure trove of 35mm and 80's movie goodness. :'(

    AFA posted clues about which films they're showing. Can fellow F-heads help me identify what the secret 80's movies are? I want the pain and hurt of missing these films to hurt a little more (masochism rulz).

    We've got Gene Simmons at his most monstrous!

    We've got two times the Wings Hauser, for twice the action!

    We've got the greatest giant monster movie ever made!

    The most mind-bending movie ever directed by the winner of TWO Pulitzer Prizes!

    A buddy cop movie full of fast cars, big guns, and hot guitars!

    And a no-holds-barred, one-dark-night descent into urban squalor, vice, and sheer sweaty-palmed depravity that'll make your family pack up and move to the suburbs!


    Any ideas, gang?

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    1. I would think the first one is Runaway, though I guess it could be Wanted Dead or Alive. Have to think about the others.

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    2. The Pulitzer Prize double winner is Norman Mailer, which means a theatrical screening of Tough Guys Don't Dance. Be still my beating heart.

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    3. Greatest giant monster movie ever made is subjective, but if we're talking the 80's here, the answer is Q.

      I'm really curious what two times the Wings Hauser is. Wouldn't that cause the reel to combust?

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    4. But Wings Hauser is also in "Tough Guys Don't Dance." Maybe they mean they're showing two flicks starring Wings... unless Hauser pulled a "Twin Dragons" stunt casting DTV action flick I've never heard of.

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    5. That needs to be made. Dragon and Phoenix. Wings plays twins separated at birth. One involved in a well established crime syndicate. The other does the dishes at a Chinese take-out spot. Their paths cross and identities confused. Action ensues.

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    6. The Van Damme and Jackie Chan twins would want to talk to the Wings Hausers about intruding into their craft. ;-)

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    7. Naturally. I believe that is the pitch for every DTV twin movie.

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    8. I feel like number one could be, Never Too Young to Die (1986).

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    9. Or it could be number 2, or most likely number 4. Randomizer spun... where will it land, nobody knows.

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  4. Last weekend in Florida
    Best shops ive found are FYE in Fort myers and Movie Stop in Orlando. 81 movies bought in total on my trip. Highlights are Army of Darkness Scream factory new 3 disc Blu, Madman blu from Vinegar syndrome, A triple Darkman box set, Saw complete collection boxset on blu. Im revisiting them for Patrick, I gave up on them after they became too torture ish but Patricks turn around got me motivated to try them all again, A 9 disc Puppet master boxset was a good find too, loads of single Blu rays, Nightcrawler, Weekend at Bernies, Christine, Roadhouse, too many to mention
    Also random things, I walked into a random large store and saw a Redbox, now I know what it is as I keep hearing about them,
    Barnes and Noble is the most expensive Bluray shop I have ever been in
    Best buy wasent too bad but both the first two shops had massive second hand sections
    Letdowns! I still cant find the Oop My Bloody Valentine Bluray 1981 uncut version, 93 min special edition from Lionsgate, I really want that film! Anyone got it?

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    1. Watched a couple of movies too
      Star wars on Imax 3d, I enjoyed it again, its amazing, but I liked it on 2d better
      And The H8tefull Eight, Wow. I missed the 70mm Roadshow by a week or two, gutted! But I loved the film

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    2. 81 BLU-RAYS!!! :-O You madman! You think they'll let you back in the country with such a loot, or will you have to bribe the costum agents with a loose BD here and there? :-P

      Oh, and it'll be a cold day in hell before you or anyone plows my Lionsgate "Bloody Valentine SE" from my cold, dead hands. :-)

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    3. Damn you own It :) it's soo hard to find that film. Your a lucky man J.M. One day I will own it, I of course own the fully uncut Vhs but I want that Blu
      To be more specific I bought 81 movies but no not all Blu's, I still like dvd if its a good option, its not as crazy as it sounds, I bought some big boxsets, 9 film Puppetmaster's, 6 film Saw's and a big ass 50 film Millcreek boxset, Classic Anniversary edition from 30's to the 60's, those 3 sets cover 65 movies of my Buys, the rest are mainly singles apart from Crocodile dundee 1,2 on Blu :)

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    4. Very nice haul! Are those Mill Creek sets any good. I saw a set they made for horror movies that looked a little too good to be true. Something about 50+ movies in one set seems fishy to me.

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    5. I bet it's terrible but I can at least see a lot of movies I have never seen, I only really started watching movies in the 70s 80s, just for JB I want to watch a lot of these earlier movies. Terrible transfers of classics im guessing

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    6. Those mill creek sets have a few gems especially considering the cost.

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  5. Did you guys see the Light Camera Jackson scandal this week? Evidently, according to moron bloggers, he's a huge sexist.

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    1. I saw that crap. It was a bad joke, not funny, but not sexist. The internet loves to jump on this shit these days. Isn't Amy Schumer's whole bit about how slutty she is?

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    2. Yeah, but it's not cool to just call her a slut. You wouldn't walk up to Chris Farley and say "hey how's it going fatass!?" I thought it was a pretty cute non-story, he genuinely just said something dumb. But now his videos are getting like 10x more views, and the comments are not-so-complimentary. I almost feel bad, almost.

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    3. Well, you can't feel bad for ol' LTJ. He didn't call her a slut though. It was a dumb ass joke that he thought was funny at the time and he being 17 came up with the "joke" based on her material. His apology was dead on where he said "I'm not a comedian" - damn right cause it wasn't even the least bit funny. His reviews on the other hand - HILARIOUS!

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  6. I watched Tangerine last night, which is a super LA movie, and now I'm watching Escape from NY. I think I'm going to keep this large urban area theme going, so I need Chicago, Miami and Philly movies to round out our 5 biggest urban areas. I want to watch things I haven't seen. I've seen Ferris Bueller and High Fidelity for Chitown, I've seen 12 Monkeys, Trading Places and Rocky for Philly, and I've seen Caddyshack but I'm not sure much else set around Miami. Suggestions? I'm thinking maybe Blues Brothers, Scarface and Blow Out.

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    1. Blow Out is a great Philadelphia movie. For Chicago you could watch The Untouchables (more De Palma!) or Thief. For Miami you could watch Miami Vice (more Michael Mann!) or, as you mentioned, Scarface (more De Palma). Or Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach.

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    2. Or Miami Blues, because it's the BEST.

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    3. I was going to give Miami Connection as a joke answer because it's not REALLY a Miami movie....But Orlando is still a big city.

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    4. The obvious choices for a Miami movie: Meet the Fockers, Wild Things and Step Up Revolution.

      (...yeah, I googled it.)

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    5. Maybe Candyman for Chicago? Also, there's always The Fugitive.

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    6. If you are going with metro areas try Dallas Buyers Club.

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    7. Also, other L.A. recommendations are Nightcrawler and Drive (2011). For Chicago I would go with Drinking Buddies. Houston is a little tougher, but how about Urban Cowboy, Rushmore, or Apollo 13, or Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room?

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  7. I had another awesome "new to me" experience watching Star Trek: First Contact for the first time this past week. What a cool and exciting movie that is! I had never really delved into the Next Generation world before, but this was a great place to start!

    Resistance is futile!

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    1. I'm not a huge TNG fan, but First Contact is great. It's like a horror movie soaked in Star Trek juice.

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    2. Good call on that description, JP. It is kind of like a science fiction horror movie. I love Jonathan Frakes direction of the movie, and the Borg are such cool villains.

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    3. When First Contact came out in 1996, me and my friends were all pretty convinced it was the coolest Star Trek had ever or would ever be. We loved that movie so much. I don't hold it in quite the regard that I used to, but it's still a really fun, creepy movie that put a lot of new eyes on Star Trek when a lot of people had written the series off.

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    5. I wish I could say I had the same reaction to Star Trek First Contact that you guys did. I'm a diehard fan of TNG. When they started doing the movies, I was excited as hell, but with every Next Gen movie they released, I left the theater disappointed. It always felt to me like Rick Berman and/or Paramount was pandering to the audience and just stopped caring about character relationships and the way they ordinarily behaved on the show. And there never seemed to be any interest in bringing some kind of epicness to those projects. They all felt like badly made feature length episodes. They may have shot the films anamorphically, but the shots were blocked out like they were blocking shots for a 1.33 frame. First Contact bothered me because it just seemed like Berman and the studio decided that to get the audience in the seats, they needed the film to copy the two best Star Trek films: bring back a series villain (like Star Trek II) and use time travel in order to save the Earth (like Star Trek IV). The Borg Queen bothered me because it felt like she was shoehorned in to have a practical villain, but doing so took away what made the Borg so unique and formidable on the show, not to mention the fact that there was no Borg Queen in The Best of Both Worlds. Manipulating Data contradicts Locutus's statement in the episode that Data "would be obsolete in the New Order." I'd would negligent in my nitpicking if I failed to add how Zephram Cochrane's character in First Contact contradicted the person we met in the TOS episode Metamorphosis. I think there should have been consistency, and there just wasn't. For me, two-part episodes like The Best of Both Worlds, Redemption and the series finale All Good Things were better "movies" than what we got theatrically.

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  8. I was at a video store in Austin last night and a person asked the clerk what the difference was between Blu Ray and DVD

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    1. When I was working at Tower records in 1995, an older gentleman came up to me with a country CD and asked "What is this?" and I explained that it was country music. He pointed to the CD and said "No, what is THIS?" I thought it was a beautiful moment.

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    2. Good one

      I like the scene in The Final Girls when the lady from the 80s tries to put the IPhone into the Cassette slot in the stereo to play the music

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    3. The Blockbuster at my hometown in KY lasted until 2008 or so, and never fully switched to DVD. When I asked about it during a visit (I kept my card and stopped in once a year) I was told that DVDs did not rent well. The Wal Mart in town still only stocks an end cap worth of Blu-ray.

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    4. Hope you had a great time in Austin, Adam.

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  9. Buying Bitter Films Volume Two directly from the director (Don Hertzfeldt) makes me wish that every director made their own DVDs. Having no middle man is really neat. The Dirties is sold this way too and I'm planning on buying that soon.

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  10. Watched "The Veil" ,new Horror film about cults, haunted cabin and the supernatural. It has Jessica Alba and Thomas Jane who is playing a Jim Jones type but to the extreme! He is insane in the film and is so over the top it's something to watch. Overacting like a madman. I don't really recommend the film though. It's meh, didn't love it but I've seen worse. The most interesting aspect outside of Jane's performance is that it's Directed by Phil Joanou who has had an interesting career. His film include Three O'Clock High, U2: Rattle and Hum, State of Grace, Final Analysis, Heaven's Prisoners, Entropy, The Gridiron Gang. Now he's working on a film written by the guy who wrote Friday the 13th VII: The New Blood and Xtro 3: Watch the Skies.

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  11. Am I the only one super pumped for London Has Fallen? I know Adam Riske torched the first one in his review, and I can't defend it as a "good" movie but I really enjoyed it. It's a good throwback to dumb 90's action filled with gratuitous violence and profanity. Where else will you see Robert Forster as a high ranking General yell: "Fuckin' shit!" As one of his first lines of dialogue. Plus the whole cast is back, I'm anxious to see if Melissa Leo can top her sublime performance from Olympus.

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  12. AMC and Regal have shut down their theaters in NYC (14" of snow on the ground, 10" more expected by midnight), but Film Forum will remain open. They're showing a 4K restoration of "Fargo" right now, and Sunday morning they'll have a 35mm screening of "Explorers" with Ethan Hawke introducing the pic. And tonight Brooklyn's Nitehawk Cinema will remain open for their midnight 35mm screenings of Jim Henson's "Labyrinth" and Corey Yuen's 1993 martial arts flick "Fong Sai Yuk." Hmm, stay warm at home tonight with Netflix or freeze my ass to spend time with Marge Gunderson and David Bowie? Decisions, decisions. :-D

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    1. Here's my summary of Ethan Hawke's introduction and Q&A of Joe Dante's 35mm print of "Explorers" at Film Forum Jr. Sunday morning. Good times, especially when Ethan asked how many people had seen the movie and 90% didn't raise their hands. Reminded me of the time we watched "Explorers" on the Twitter Film Festival and you-know-what happened after Wak says 'What's up, Doc?'... only bigger! :-P

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  13. Rewatched both After Hours (1985) and Streets of Fire (1984) this weekend. I didn't choose them based on a common thread, but they are both definitely the outliers on the resumes of Hill and Scorsese. They both have interesting casts, even down to the bit-characters, including but not limited to the future chief from Carmen San Diego/DJ from the Warriors, Lynne Thigpen (R.I.P). On the surface, they are both fairly simple stories told stressing style over substance at every opportunity.
    After Hours succeeds at creating a world with interesting characters assisted by strong performances from a unique cast for a Scorsese film. The Scorsese flourishes are oddly well suited to the darkly comic story. I'm not sure if it's fair to call it underrated because I've always perceived it to be adequately appreciated.
    Streets Of Fire, on the other hand, is definitely a movie (disclaimer: didn't see it in the 80's = zero nostalgic attachment). It is probably one of the cultiest cult classics I have ever seen. It has style for miles and plenty left over. That's about where it ended for me though. I'm assuming it is somewhat by design but performances are distractingly wooden, the dialogue lifted from some gumshoe fan fiction and zero character development. For a movie in which music is central to the storyline, the score may be pretty good but almost every featured song is awful. These rotten musical numbers eat up close to a third of the 93 minute runtime. As the lead, Pare has the charisma of a wad of wet toilet paper and Moranis looks like he can't wait to shrink his kids. And don't get me started with McCoy, good grief. I'm so happy to live in a world where stuff like this can exist, but I don't see how it can be enjoyed in any way other than ironically. Apologies to those who love it. I just don't get the appeal beyond the stylish look of it.

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  14. I recently discovered that Hastings carries a lot of Shout/Scream, Kino, and Vinegar Syndrome titles, among others. Can't stay out of the store now.

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  15. This weekend we watched Troll, Freddy vs. Jason, and The Taking of Deborah Logan (finally). Today I hope to get in Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, and maybe Predator 2. I thought Troll was great. It was a lot of fun to see the assistant DA rock out Blue Cheer.

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  16. I had only one movie to watch this weekend...and not a good one. I saw "The 5th wave", which is really not good. After a solid start, it gets dumber with every minute. I should have known this because I already didn´t liked the trailer but there was nothing else on...
    I will make good on that next weekend, when I`ll watch the 70mm version of "The hateful 8" in Berlin.

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  18. Hung out at the theater a lot this week. Saw Joy, The Revenant, and The Big Short and liked them all. Still need to see Room and Spotlight but the closest place that they are still showing is 40min away.

    My blizzard movie binge has been mostly TV so far but I did see Welcome to Me, and The Shining. I did not like Welcome to Me, and I really have nothing to say about it. I always watch The Shining when I'm snowed in. Kind of a sick tradition.

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  19. Just finished "Lumberjack Man". People sleep on this film. Dude is luggin' around some big ass pancakes and killing people. There are ton of boobies too (yes, it made me revert back to being a 15 year old kid but that's the point of this film.) Michael Madsen is actually showing 10% more energy in this. It's really dumb, but I thought it was kinda hilarious and I hate Horror Comedies.

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  20. In coincidence with the photo posted above I watched Blade Runner again the other night. Still good, and I increasingly identify with the aging theme. Growing more sensitive to how the female characters were treated, though.

    In unrelated news, The Force Awakens is now #11 in all time inflation-adjusted domestic revenue, and creeping up on $2 billion worldwide.

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