Saturday, May 7, 2016

Weekend Open Thread

Which side are you on?

I know everyone wants to talk about Civil War this weekend, which is cool and everything, but we'll have a podcast posted on Monday so just keep that in mind. If you do have to discuss it, try to refrain from spoiling it for everyone else. Or just talk about the real Civil War!

Seen anything else good lately?

38 comments:

  1. I finally saw Hush, I am kinda close to Riske about the film, I did not love it but it did really enjoy it, I am also really glad this slow burn intelligent type of film is being made, I getca but bored with jump scares with no depth, "Cattle prod cinema" as Mark Kermode calls it, "Quiet, Quiet, ... BOO" I really appreciate this type of film making even if it doesn't completely succeed

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    1. I like that description of "cattle prod cinema." When I saw Green Room the other night (excellent, by the way) there were 3 previews in a row for upcoming horror movies (Lights Out, Darkness, and Purge 3) and I found it kind of depressing how same-y they all looked in tone. The first two trailers were so interchangeable that even the titles both mean the same thing. At least there are still Green Rooms and Witches and the like out there to stand out from the crowd of cattle prodders.

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    2. I was a bit mixed on Hush too. All the horror stuff works so well, and I really liked how it constantly changed the rules and objective. I felt like the first ten minutes didn't set up the main character very well though, so the rest of the film was sort of playing catch up. Oh, I did LOVE how it dealt with technology and all though, it felt so integrated into the story.

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    3. I'm close to both you guys, I did wish the main character had a bit more to him, the cattle prodding might of had more effect

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  2. Replies
    1. Bro. That Gen Grant crushin' it.

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    2. What, is there a civil war movie coming out?

      The Patriot 2: This Time It's The Civil War

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    3. Lincoln is a great movie. There oughta be a podcast! :)

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    4. Sadly I feel like Lincoln is one of my least revisited Spielberg movies. I need to give it another go.

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  3. Anyone else secretly wishing that Money Monster is a literal title?

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    1. Omg..that would be amazing!

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    2. What an improvement! That trailer makes me ill.

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    3. THE SOCIAL COMMENTARY IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE. The trailer made me think of Patrick's words "a movie made just for me".... except it was the exact opposite.

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    4. If it's 80 minutes of dry economic talk and run-of-the-mill hostage drama, then 15 minutes of George Clooney fighting a giant monster made of money...top 10 material.

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    5. Every decade Hollywood gets really preachy with its 'media message' movies. Anyone remember 2001's "15 Minutes" or 1997's "Mad City" (or last year's "Truth," i.e. the journalism movie that wishes it was half as good as "Spotlight")? Every once in a while a 'media message' movie has something interesting to tell and tells its story well ("Wag the Dog," anyone?), but it's becoming increasingly rare and "Money Monster" looks about as deep as a "Law & Order" episode except with big stars.

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  4. Where does chemistry come from? People say actors have "amazing chemistry" or "no chemistry" together. Is it subjective?

    I read about how the director of Blue Valentine had Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams live together for like a month prior to filming so they could develop realistic chemistry. Judd Apatow said it's hard for actors to only meet on set and then pretend to be in love. I can imagine that. I saw Witness (1985) for the first time this week and thought Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis had NO chemistry. But I blame that one on the writing. When is it the writing and direction vs the actors "chemistry", and what is "chemistry" when they are supposed to just be acting?

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    1. Didn't the cast of Fury (2014) have to live/sleep/eat inside that tank for a week (or more?) together before filming?

      That's an interesting question whether "chemistry" is something that can be developed, or rather is just something that happens (due to complementary approaches to acting/personalities/etc). Probably a bit of both. I can only think of a hockey analogy. You sometimes have players that you just seem to click with while playing (chemistry!), but at the same time, the more time spent playing with an individual, the better at anticipating and playing off of each other you become. Acting is obviously a different beast, but I imagine there are similarities.

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    2. Thanks for your thoughts, Paul. I think...it MUST be true that something changes for better (sometimes maybe for worse) when the cast is acquainted each other. It would be interesting to see the results if more directors employed that strategy.

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    3. I agree with Paul's comments, and add that chemistry relates to the ease with which people interact and the degree to which they understand and influence each other. When observed by a separate party (like watching actors in a movie), nonverbal reactions help demonstrate a connection between the characters so we perceive how they affect one another. Another example would be the mutual observance or breaking of social boundaries between the individuals (directness, flirting, physical distance, touching, etc.)

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  5. Just listened to last weeks podcast. Thank's for the shoutout JB! That made my day.

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  6. Watched Fright Night for the first time in about 20 years last night. Really solid horror movie with great line in humor too. They really got that balance spot on. Certain scenes I recalled well, like sexy Marcy from married with children in the club but I totally forgot how fantastically violent it got toward the end when Roddy McDowell brings it. Really impressive practical effects and make up. Sort of sad to see as those 12 hours in the make up chair seem to be a thing of the past now as often crap CGI has come to the fore. Made me think of my trips to the local gas station which, bizarrely for Ireland, always had one copy of fangoria I could thumb through and read about the latest low budget gross out effects movie.
    Whatever happened Chris Sarandon? So charismatic. William Ragsdale I understand as his performance is well suited to this movie but would be annoying in almost anything else (just me or does he try to sexually assault Marcie every time they are in his room together - she not seem into it).
    Really good time all around. Highly recommend another watch if you haven't seen it in a while.

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    1. The original Fright Night is my favorite horror movie ever made. Few movies are that much fun to me. Gosh, I just love it so much. Chris Sarandon is the man.

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    2. Really tremendous fun. Horrible sequel though from memory. That said, I think I'll still revisit Part 2 as well (if I can find it). Maybe I was wrong

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    3. You're not wrong. Fright Night 2 is one of those sequels that just hits the reset button on all the characters and retreads all the beats of the first. Julie Carmen, though. Yowza. Oh, and Jon Gries is a rollerskating werewolf, so it's not all bad.

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  7. Has anyone seen I Love You to Death (1990)? I don't know how this made it into my list but it somehow bubbled up to the top and it's kinda great. Really weird black comedy with Kevin Kline and Tracey Ullman. William Hurt and Keanu Reeves stand out as a hilarious pair of drugged out losers. I love discovering movies like this.

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    1. Yes! This one's unsung... And really funny.

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  8. I just wanted to chime in on something Patrick has been bringing up on the podcast recently regarding like, restricting what his kids can watch and all, and whether that will maybe change how they relate to movies compared to him. My parents were really strict on ratings and stuff for a long time, like up until a couple of years ago. But it made it such a big deal when I could watch 'MA' stuff (which is pretty much the equivalent of your R). And it made the few sort of scary images which I did see stick out (that would be the melted face from Indiana Jones, and like a lot of the Terminator, and Krull, and Spiderman [the skeletonsss]).

    So I don't know, I think what's being said is that you're worried that they won't be exposed to the sort of things that will stick in their mind and make them curious in later years? I know that for me, some stuff got through the cracks, and then it was such a big deal when I could watch all the 'adult' movies that I really became obsessed. So I guess that can work too.

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  9. Just saw Blow Out and An American Werewolf for the first time, which lead me to think how have I how have I gotten through life without watching them. Both were riffing on a particular kind of movie and doing it so well it turned into their own thing.

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  10. I'm so excited I finally found a DVD of Liza the Fox-Fairy! Can't wait to get it in the mail. It was easily the most fun movie I saw last year and I'd heartily recommend it to anyone if you can somehow find it.

    Unfortunately as far as I know it's only been released in its native Hungary on region 2 DVD and region B Blu-ray.

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    1. I thought it was really fun too...the Japanese guy stole the show!

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  11. Hey guys I wanted to give everyone a heads up Amazon has a lot of Scream Factory blu-rays on sale for 12.99-13.99 so head over there before there out of stock!

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    1. William, you just handed me an excuse to buy a bunch of flicks to watch for next month's Junesploitation. Nice going. :-)

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  12. Was really impressed with The Man Who Would Be King (1975) with Michael Caine and Sean Connery. The direction was precise! And with a film this big and a story so rambling (but clear and engaging enough), it could have gone the other way and have been terrible. Fun story from Rudyard Kipling!

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  13. This weekend I saw "Disconnect" which was fine. Sadly it only showed bad things happening to people using modern technology like smartphones and the internet. But it was well filmed and well played by a good cast including Jason Bateman, Alexander Skarsgard and Frank Grillo.

    Next was "Still Alice" which was fine, mostly because of the great Julianne Moore. Otherwise a pretty conventional movie about illness.

    Next was the very unnecessary remake of "Heat", this time titled "Wild Card" and with Jason Statham instead of Burt Reynolds in the lead role. It improved on the fight scenes but everything else was as mediocre as the 1986 original.

    But the real letdown of the weekend was the remake of "Poltergeist". What an unfunny, unscary, unnecessary movie. Good actors like Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt are totally wasted in an uninvolving rehash.

    I watched the original right after that and man, was that a ton of fun. Great characters, creepy atmosphere, good humor, still cool effects and a fantastic Goldsmith score.

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