Saturday, March 12, 2016

Weekend Open Thread

I'm ready, ready for the big ride, baby.

Pretty proud to have celebrated Chicago on film earlier this week without realizing just how important the city would become on the national stage just a few days later.

But enough about politics. What do you all want to talk about? Seen anything good lately?

32 comments:

  1. In the Oscar podcast, Patrick repeatedly referred to a sub-genre of films one could watch which would increase appreciation of the film. As a new convert to the Oscar fan club, I would love recommendations for films meeting this criteria!

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  2. Watched Brothers Grimsby and 10 Cloverfield Lane. The former wasn't a particularly good movie, but like all of Sacha Baron Cohen's stuff it really pushes what one can get away with in an R-rated movie and some. It's humor is almost entirely in its shock value.

    I don't really want to say too much about 10 Cloverfield Lane until more people have seen it, so I'll just say I really enjoyed it, and there are some strong performances. Both the marketing and the movie rely on the audience wondering what exactly is going on and for the most part it works. It's ultimately hard for any resolution to live up to the audiences' imagination though so I can see a lot of people being let down.

    Aside from that, it's been The Pirates on Netflix which was fun. I also watched The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) on Hulu, which I hadn't seen before and loved. I saw the Magnificent Seven, which isn't one of my favorite Westerns but feels to me like a bit of a bridge between the old school westerns and the more gritty stuff. Last one I'll mention is that I watched Jackie Brown today, which is probably my least watched Tarantino movie. I really like it but at the time it came out, to me it had a hard time living up to Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. It took me a while to appreciate it on its own merits.

    Aside from that some friends of mine are throwing me a birthday party in a month. I'll be 37, but most of the people that will be there for this particular party are in their mid-20's. I told them that I'm going to put on a bunch of movies that most of them haven't seen before, but it can't be anything too plot-heavy because there'll be drinking and people talking. I'm coming up with a list right now which I'll probably be changing up until the day before. Right now I'm pretty sure What We Do in the Shadows will be on there, and I feel like Return of the Living Dead, and Help! are strong contenders as well.

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    1. Most people seem to be enjoying 10 Cloverfield Lane more than I did...

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    2. I loved alot of 10 Cloverfield Lane... then there was a part I wasn't crazy about which I'm still trying to deal with. That is all I will say.

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    3. There's a part I almost wish wasn't in the movie, and it's probably the same as you're referring to, Travis. That being said, there's still enough of the great stuff for me to love the movie a lot. Heck, John Goodman's performance alone is amazing!

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  3. Is Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace worth seeing? A genre festival is showing that and Bloodsport in a few weeks on the same night one of my favorite bands is playing in town. I'm really torn.

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    1. Absolutely. It's one of the most important Bava films and it's absolutely beautiful to look at.

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    2. Blood and Black Lace was a bit lukewarm for me, it looks great like all of Bava's films, but the plot was a bit too generic and performances too mediocre. Id still recommend seeing it if you can see it at a festival, but I dont think it is one of his best films (which for the record are A Bay of Blood and Kill, Baby...Kill!).

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    3. I like it but it's not one of my favorite Bavas. I think it's worth seeing especially on a big screen of you get the chance.

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    4. Bava did BABL in 1964 creating the Giallo. It's that important fella's.

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    5. And Josh, I agree Bay of Blood is one of his best and my favorite Bava film, but BABL is genre defining a la Hitchcock so no one should be dismissive of that film especially given the opportunity to see it at a festival - - - WITH BLOODSPORT!

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    6. Mediocre-to-bad Baba is still better than no Baba at all.

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    7. Im pretty sure The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963) is the first Giallo film (although i realize there is much debate over what makes a Giallo film a Giallo film). But yes, I agree with you Chaybee, if one can see any Bava film I highly recommend it. All his films are worth seeing, I just personally think Blood and Black lace is middling Bava.

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    8. I tend to disagree with that because it's black and white but I understand the argument.

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    9. Judging by what I'm reading, as a total noob about Bava (and Italian horror in general) I think I owe it to myself to sell my concert ticket and attend the festival. Thanks guys (especially Chaybee)!

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    10. I would go to the concert. Then have a Bava retrospective at home.

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    11. No prob, Mikko. Have a blast! We get nothing where I live that cool!

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  4. That pic reminds me, I watched Face/Off the other day for the first time in a looong time. I kinda love Nic Cage in that one. Am I the only one who would love a podcast about it?

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    1. I would love a Face Off podcast as well. For me it's hands down the best action thriller ever made. Not that I don't love Die hard, Aliens, Terminator, The Raid 2, and all the other top tier action movies. But I went through a Nic Cage phase where I would marvel at anything he did. Even as a 13 year old boy I could watch Leaving Las Vegas or City of Angels and enjoy his work.

      Obviously that changed, and now I have trouble owning up to even liking Cage. Sure he still pulls out a good movie here or there, but usually I grimace in turns like Left Behind, Tresspass, and Stolen.

      Still though I can go back and watch Face/Off, The Rock, Con Air, Snake Eyes, and even Gone in Sixty Seconds and feel like I'm young again! And at least he made out better than Elisabeth Shue...

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    2. I remember liking Face Off as a kid

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    3. I STILL love face/Off! I'd be down with a podcast.

      "I want to take his face...off!"

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  5. The Witch is a perfect example of why I stay away from trailers. Seems like everyone is complaining that they weren't given the film they saw the preview for. That might be true, I don't know. Well, I just got back from finally seeing The Witch and by going in only knowing a tiny bit about it and of course knowing people were upset, I was rewarded with not only the best film I have seen all year but possibly one of the best Horror films of the last 20 years. Too early to say as I need to revisit it and let it sink in. I have no negative criticism and nothing cheapened the film for me. I F-ing loved it!

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    1. I agree completely, and I also avoid trailers and buzz the best I can. It seems like the reaction to this movie is entirely based on expectation.

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    2. Absolutely, and while I understand it I don't agree with it. A buddy of mine told me that he read a survey where the majority of people said if they are going to spend money and take time to go to the theater, they want to know exactly what they are seeing. I take the opposite approach as much as possible. Expectations are a bitch 9 times out of 10. While unavoidable, I try to minimise them as much as possible.

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  6. Watching all the Beatles movies. AHDN is still great, Help is still a mess, MMT is still totally batshit weird. First time seeing Yellow Submarine though, and it was fantastic. Now I just need to watch Let It Be, which is gonna be really hard to find.

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    1. I was OBSESSED with the Beatles and George Harrison in particular as a 13 year old girl (which was in the 90s). I cried over them like the girls in their concerts. I can barely stand them now (just overdid it I guess). But I agree with your assessments of their films, and glad I'm not the only one who thought Help was a mess! I mean it was fine but a mess.

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    2. Help is the one I've gone longest without seeing. I mostly remember it just being silly fun. I don't see Let It Be getting re-released as long as Paul and Ringo have anything to say about it, even though there isn't anything in there that's going to diminish peoples' feelings about the Beatles. Some pretty good work has been done with bootleg stuff if you don't object to that sort of thing.

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  8. Well, having two full time jobs is keeping me away from movies and having a life in general. But I managed last night to squeeze in a documentary on Netflix, 2013's Finding Vivian Maier. Besides being indirectly a great Chicago film (lots of great B&W photographs of Chicago in decades past) it's also a sad and troubling profile of a great artist who kept her art hidden from the world despite a desire to have it shown. Great little documentary that's under 90 minutes, which is appreciated when you only have 5 hours per day to eat and sleep. :-P

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  9. I saw Source Code tonight and thought it was ok. Kind of blah. I think it could have been done better. And Jake Gyllengaal- although he's one of my faves- does not instill a sense of fear or urgency in me. Maybe too much chill and puppy dog eyes.

    I listen to a lot of This American Life- in fact One of the only other podcasts I I listen to. They're also...in Chicago. So do you like know them? Do you see them and collaborate? Are you best friends? :) it's open topic thread and I couldn't help asking.

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  10. First, I finished the first season of Mad Men, which means there are now six seasons left for me...
    Next I saw Big Ass Spider, which was totally fine. For as cheap as it surely was, the effects were surprisingly good and it was nicely paced.
    Next I saw the korean thriller Confession of murder from 2012. It´s kind of ludicrous but pretty entertaining and had some surprising story twists. It also had some insane stunts and a really very good footchase right at the beginning.
    The last one for the weekend was The Skeleton Twins, a dramedy starring Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, both very good in parts more dramatic than comedic.

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