Saturday, August 19, 2017

Weekend Open Thread

Is it October yet.

It's the weekend, so let's talk about all the stuff we want to talk about. In the past few weeks, these open threads have been pretty quiet. That's ok! Let us know if you'd like to see them continue or if we should let it run its course and phase it out.

55 comments:

  1. Quiet week on the movie front, though I did see Train to Busan (which was excellent) and rewatched Cube (still pretty good) and The Rock (easily Bay's best). And I finally started watching Luke Cage. Gotta binge that and Iron Fist before starting The Defenders. But mainly I've been looking forward to the Helsinki International Film Festival that takes place next month and announced the first of its offerings this week. I already have a wishlist of more movies than I'll be able to get to.

    On the subject of the weekend threads, I would very much like to see them continue. Even when I don't have anything to say, I enjoy reading what others might have on their minds.

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    1. TRAIN TO BUSAN is on my watch list for October.

      I wish there was a big film festival where I live. Not being far from New York, however, I could shake off my laziness and spend a little money to go the city for something. I just never get around to doing it.

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    2. Mikko, skip Iron Fist, it's boring as heck.

      The Defenders was ok. it helped that it's only 8 episodes

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    3. Casual, Helsinki is a couple of hours' drive from me, but once a year I splurge on the festival and a few nights at a hotel. This year I've also splurged on traveling, but usually the festival is the one time per year I get away from everything and it's always worth it.

      kunider, I've heard that from others too, but as both a Marvel nerd and a slightly obsessive person, I don't think watching The Defenders without seeing Iron Fist first is an option for me.

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  2. It is not October yet, but there is not much time to wait, either. Only four months till Christmas; a year really flies by.

    Good weekend to all of you. Bon week-end à tous.

    I cannot say it was a heavy week of movies. A couple of the films I did get around to watching were mentally intense watches, preventing me from cramming.

    LIVE A LITTLE, LOVE A LITTLE (1968) – With the 40th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death, I decided to catch one of his films on TV this week. I had not seen any of his films before, and it is nice to, once in a while, get out of the cinema realm I usually inhabit. LIVE A LITTLE… was made at the end of Elvis’ time in Hollywood. He plays a photographer who meets a zany woman on a beach one afternoon. This woman pulls him into her life against his will in the manner of a screwball comedy for the first half of the film. The bizarre situations in this section amused me. Then the story gets more predictable as the film nears its conclusion. There is also a subplot of Elvis trying to hold down two jobs in the same building, literally running from one job to the other. Overall, this is an entertaining film with, from what I read, one of Elvis’ more mature roles and a few attractive actresses. There are some songs featured it, of course.

    VIVA LA MUERTE (1971) - Directed by Fernando Arrabal

    Before discussing the film, it is important to provide a little information about Arrabal. He is a filmmaker influenced by Modernist art movements, particularly Surrealism. He was a co-founder of what is called the Panic Movement, of which Alejandro Jodorowsky is the most famous member. Arrabal's artistic inclinations greatly inform the structure of Viva La Muerte. One portion of it is a straightforward story about the effects on a family when the father is arrested and executed by Francoist authorities during the Spanish Civil War. Intercut with the footage of the family’s story, which is shot on regular film, are segments full of strange imagery and themes. Not only are these segments generally tinted a specific color or change colors, but they also appear shot on a different medium, perhaps video. Viva La Muerte is full-on art cinema and recommended to those who appreciate stylistically challenging films. I should also warn potential viewers that there is a sequence of animal slaughter here.

    There were a handful of documentaries watched, too. My favorite was WATER FROM ANOTHER TIME (1982). It is a charming short documentary about three people who lived quiet, but not uneventful, lives in rural Indiana throughout the 20th century.



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    1. Continued...

      THE CLOWNS (1970) – Directed by Federico Fellini

      Anyone familiar with Fellini’s cinema knows that he had a great love for the circus. With this film, he pays tribute to the circus entertainer known as the clown. THE CLOWNS can be broken down into three distinct sections.

      Section 1: A re-creation of the circus experience of Fellini’s youth as well as a depiction of life in fascist Italy. Shades of AMARCORD can be detected here.

      Section 2: A documentary film crew, led by Fellini himself, goes around Europe gathering interviews with famous living clowns and delving into the history of the clown. It all gets a little meta at times, undermining the sense of authenticity that documentaries tend strive for. Incidentally, the framing story of a documentary crew is used in Fellini’s next film, ROMA.

      Section 3: The concluding section is a clown extravaganza, once again presided over by Fellini. There is a lot of clowning happening in this part. Some of it is fascinating and fun and other parts drag by. The clown funeral was my favorite part of the show. It all ends on a poignant note.

      With the history of clowns generally being told as a story of a declining entertainment institution, there is a melancholic tone to much of the film. The clown performances, however, are the exact opposite. They are colorful, whimsical, and sometimes anarchic.

      The Clowns is an uneven film. The best part is undoubtedly the first section, which displays the full magic of Fellini’s style. I cannot think of any filmmaker who captures the crazy energy of life quite like him. Despite the film’s flaws, this is by no means lesser Fellini.

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  3. I'm seeing Wind River today, so I'm definitely looking forward to that!

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    1. It's really excellent. Taylor Sheridan has firmly established himself as a must-see guy.

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    2. Agreed! I really enjoyed it! I feel likd I missed some things, so I'll have to watch it again soon, but the atmosphere, the performances, the writing, and the direction were all very good.

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  4. my friend's dream. revive Philip Seymour Hoffman to play Steve Bannon in his biopic directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin.

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    1. I think about this in movie terms all the time, too. Ready for the ending.

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  5. Finally got around to COLOSSAL last night. And it's as wonderful as everybody says it is. Also redboxed something called "Beach Massacre at Kill Devil Hills." Patrick has already warned me to cut my losses, which I just may. But if Beach Massacre at Kill Devil Hills gets nominated for 5+ Oscars, I'm going to have to demand my 50 cents back from Patrick.

    Of course, this is just an appetizer for the real event this weekend. If anyone is in the Northeast Ohio region. Connor Palace at Playhouse Square (the fanciest theater in Cleveland) has a screening of THE MOTHERFUCKING SHINING tonight. If you have the inclination, lock your husband in the pantry and drive your snowcat downtown.

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    1. I would gladly watch any movie called Beach Massacre at Kill Devil Hills.
      I wish I was in Cleveland this weekend. Our alternate theatre here s actually only a 5 minute walk from me, but I've only been twice in 4 years. They're really big into life affirming dramas that were nominated for x awards at Cannes. Fine movies, I'm sure, but I really want to see movies where giant monsters cut people up. In space. I hesitate to call it pretentious (but I just did, see that?), because it's good having somewhere that plays something other than the big box fare. Just wish they'd play something fun once in a while.

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  6. On Crackle, the film I watched was the so-called Pauly Shore "classic" Jury Duty (1995). Just what I expect from the Shore oeuvre, dumb humor, unfunny situations etc. It's no wonder that this and Bio-Dome the next year marked everything shut in Shore's mainstream movie career.

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    1. Have never seen JURY DUTY, but I had the misfortune to indulge my curiosity about Bio-Dome. There is pain and anger involved with watching it.

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  7. Hey guys. I've been about as busy as I get. In addition to not taking part in the live 400 chat I haven't been watching very much. One of my more memorable recent movie watches was the last 30 minutes of The Big Picture on tv. I've always liked it, but it's become one of the movies I'll always watch when it's on. It's tonally weird, but full of the greatest of character actors and has an episodic feel that works for afternoon tv viewing. Just when the movie might get too silly, Michael Mckean brings it with his crazy nuanced, reactive acting. It's insane how good he is doing what is barely perceptible as performing. Makes me want to watch the most realistic portrayal of a confused dad: D.A.R.Y.L

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    1. Also trying to convince the wife to see Brigsby Bear tonight after we drop the kid off at Grandmas.

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    2. It's been decades since I've seen D.A.R.Y.L. Pretty sure we had it recorded on VHS when I was young.

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  8. I gotta start taking Netflix a little more seriously. We have the service and barely use it but they have given me what I still consider my favorite film of the year, "I Don't Feel At Home in this World Anymore" and now the latest from Dead Sno/Dead Sno 2/Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters director Tommy Wirkola, "Seven Sisters" a.k.a "What Happened to Monday". While I don't think it all works and runs a little too long, I actually liked it quite a bit. I am not at all a fan of Noomi Rapace and she's "okay" in this but I have to give her a lot of respect for the amount of work she had to put in for these roles. It must have been grueling filming some of these scenes so I have to give respect where it's due and it's definitely due here. See it for that and some kick ass, Wirkola style, action sequences.

    Also watched "Interior" 2014 (not to be confused with "The Interior" 2015 which was a really overlooked, quiet and atmospheric Horror film.) an indie that was running the festival circuit about 3 years ago and finally got a release. It's a FF haunted house movie but I wasn't as bothered by this as I normally would be. It had some pretty clever moments and scare scene set pieces and it's pretty much a one man show for the short run time.

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  9. Oh, and keep the open thread! People are on vacation and getting ready for kids to go back to school and stuff. Plus, theatrical releases are a bit quiet as far as BB's go the past few weeks. It'll pick up!

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    1. I dont always get to post but I also enjoy having a read.

      It's great seeing individual posts but it's even better seeing people interacting and talking to each other though I guess it's a tricky thing to get us all getting together all the time.

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    2. Yeah it's gotten a bit to cinefile for my taste. I remember when folks would make jokes and riff off each other. Whatever though, things change and I think you should see what comes next. It's a great space that, I think, should continue.

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    3. Dennis PSA. I love your commitment to Extro, but I miss your comments on the remainder of the horror genre. Bring back evenly distributed Dennis, I miss you're insight on non Extro related matters! For example, what did you think of the Bye Bye Man?

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    4. Fair point

      I was gonna skip it to be honest though it was fun hearing it pop up on the podcasts. Until Riske did that column and now I gotta see it?

      It's your fault Riske, I guess Adam has made it possible for me to see it because if it's bad I have someone to blame.

      I understand your comment about cineafile for your taste. I have felt the same sometimes like I mentioned above. When this place is great it's when you see one comment with twenty replys by different people all joining in the conversation

      I don't know the answer but sometimes this section can feel cold which is not how it used to be
      Any ideas?

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    5. Only idea I can really think of is something like a movie of the week club where we pick a movie or two that's readily available each week and all make an effort to watch it before the next open thread.

      Otherwise I tend to like going through a lot of niche stuff because I like not knowing what to expect, but the downside is that nobody else is going to shell out $12 to stream two bad new Wesley Snipes movies so it's not going to generate any discussion. On the flip side this is a movie savvy group of people so I don't want to bring up a movie everybody here has likely already seen a dozen times either.

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    6. Lol. Don't blame Riske! It's not the greatest but it's a fun enough way to spend 1:40. It's really worth it just for the librarian scenes (which of course Riske nailed). They're ridiculous in all the right ways.

      I like Ross's idea might be fun to give that a shot.

      Don't know what the answer is either, perhaps just showing up and posting more. Hopefully, the run up to October will bring back some of that lightheartedness. Have a good week peeps.

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  10. POTUS title for the above: "Two Sides, One Cup"

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  11. Oh yeah, I'm a big fan of the weekend open thread. I always enjoy reading what people have been watching, even if I don't get around to it until mid week.
    People are probably a little burnt out after the intensity of Junesploitation (I know I was), and people are vacationing, etc. as Chaybee said.

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  12. Is it humbug to keep the weekend threads open? I like them! I've just been crazy busy.

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  13. Agreed that these weekend threads should keep going. Even if I don't always get to or think to post, it's still fun to read about what others are seeing.

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  14. Just finished "68 Kill". Patrick was way too kind on the 400th podcast about this movie. It's one of the worst I've seen all year.

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  15. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm alone on this one here, but I got to the new Sharknado just now, about a week late, and love where this franchise is going. I don't think they'll ever top part 3, but the last five minutes of 5 really got me excited for the next one. Chris Kattan is doing Martin Short's character from Mars Attacks in this, and it's a good look for him. Dude's getting old though.

    Also watched Lou Diamond Phillips and Lulu Wilson in Cop and a Half: New Recruit, and loved it. Love it when they make these 20+ years later sequels to movies nobody was even thinking about anymore, like this and the recent Bigger Fatter Liar with Jodelle Ferland (and didn't they do another Dragonheart recently as well?) Here's hoping they reunite Lou and Lulu for a sequel to Metal Tornado sometime soon.

    Also plugged through that new Batman and Harley Quinn animated DTV movie, which was just terrible. Melissa Rauch isn't a bad choice for a live-action Harley Quinn but can't pull the character off in voice only, and I'm not sure how I feel about these more 'adult-oriented' installments in the Batman: TAS universe. Having these characters all start casually sleeping with each other is kinda undermining the 'professional' antagonisms between them.

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  16. For once I got something special near me

    A Carpenter day at a proper cinema with actual Ushers!

    A very rare thing indeed

    4 Carpenter films. Assault. Prince.
    Christine and The Fog

    On the Xtro latest. Shipping from German should be starting next week and the UK release from Second Sight is confirmed for next January 2018
    Im most excited about the brand new 2017 Directors Cut. Its always good to get something new

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    1. Did you go to the Carpenter screenings, Dennis?

      As for ushers, I cannot recall ever being at movie theater that had them.

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    2. Yes I went for Christine and The Fog. Christine played the audience so well. The writing is so sharp. And The Fog was fun as always.

      It's a first time for me to see actual Ushers. I asked one for the Toliets and he walked me to them. "This way Sir" it felt special

      And when we was in the Bar an Usher came in and said "5 Minutes till the next screening everyone "

      It felt like what cinema should be like

      I o my want to see movies there from now on

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  17. Been pretty busy so I haven't seen much, and I don't really have too much to say right now about what I have seen. I really liked Byzantium (2012), the vampire movie starring Saoirse Ronan, and Gemma Arterton.

    Logan Lucky was entertaining, but not something that stuck with me at all.

    Watched Dogs In Space because of my ongoing need to watch movies with fictional bands. It stars the late Michael Hutchence of INXS, and is kinda like Trainspotting if it took place in Melbourne and the drug use was less overt.

    Oh, and I watched two Wesley Snipes movies that came out this year. I almost forgot that was a thing that happened. Armed Response is kind of a haunted house movie with Snipes and his military unit up against a rampant AI (that could be a spoiler but it's telegraphed pretty early). The special effects at the end though are hilariously bad especially considering how an AI controlling a bunker could actually kill people vs. how the AI kills people in this movie. The other Snipes movie is The Recall and was at least somewhat better. Granted having followed Armed Response and the Bye Bye Man a couple days before that my bar was set pretty low. The Recall is an alien invasion movie with Snipes and a group of young adults (including Walt Jr. from Breaking Bad) are off in the woods trying to survive the night. It's watchable.

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  18. saturday night, a Peter Sellers duo.

    The Party: very funny movie. a true classic that everybody should see, but not everybody will like

    Being There: Sellers at his best. funny, touching, even if a bit long.


    sunday, crappy movie day.

    Love In Paradise: romantic comedy with Luke Perry. it was showing on TV on the local station. pretty standard with all the cute stuff you'd expect

    Baby, Baby, Baby: this one is more romantic drama, pretty standard stuff, but Adrianne Palicki is in it, so why not. they fall in love, relation deteriorate, life goals are questionned, etc.

    S.W.A.T. Under Siege: Palicki again. the cookiest of the cooky cuter action flick. Sam Jeager is no Colin Farrel. would've been better with more Scott Adkins, but everything is better when he's in something. kind of aN Assault On Precinct 13 for the poor and untalented

    Their Finest: Gemma Arterton is my girlfriend (don't tell Palicki). and Bill Nighy is in it. i like british comedy, and i like war movies. so why not.

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    1. "Howdy, par-te-ner. Birdy num num". Top ten comedies of all time.

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    2. A night of Peter Sellers films... Sounds like fun. He remains my favorite comedian. Have you ever listened to The Goon Show? It is a British radio program from the 1950s that was written by Spike Milligan, another comedy legend. Great silly stuff.

      I am especially fond of Sellers' 1960s films, but THE PARTY is one that I have not gotten around to watching. I know he plays an Indian in it, which would probably be offensive to some people.

      A couple of his more obscure films that I have enjoyed are WHAT'S NEW, PUSSYCAT? and I LOVE YOU, ALICE B. TOKLAS. The end of PUSSYCAT, the part at the hotel. is such a blast to watch. TOKLAS can seem like a bad sitcom at points, but Peter Sellers gives a great performance.

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    3. Apparently Indian people really enjoyed The Party at the time. I don't know if that's still the case today. But

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  19. Logan Lucky B-, The Trip to Spain B, Brigsby Bear B, The Hitman's Bodyguard D+, Wind River A-

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    1. My Philly trip to see Rob A+++++ #Concino

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    2. Triple-A Rated. Find out all about it in this week's Reserved Seating!

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    3. What separated hitman's bodyguard from being a D to a D+? Aside from the plus sign.

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    4. There are some halfway decent car crashes in the climax

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  20. 2 more to finish the weekend

    Rough Night: passable comedy that's basically a reverse Very Bad Things. it does the job it's supposed to and nothing more.

    Denial: the kind of story that makes you think 'i can't believe people like this exists. competently made film, with good actors

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  21. Since getting Mubi my movie watching habits have changed a lot, just because I haven't had a load to time to watch movies in the last couple of weeks so I've been catching up on all the awesome stuff on there because it goes. So, this weekend I saw my first Fassbinder with Querelle (starting with his last film, always good) which was unrelentingly weird and unsettling. I don't know how to even talk about it yet, but was definitely very interested in it's style, perhaps more visually than some of the storytelling stuff. Love how it all felt like a set, almost like theatre, and the impressionistic lighting created a strong mood.

    Saw my second Max Ophuls film with the Earrings of Madame De. I didn't like it as much as La Ronde, which felt much more passionate. This film just feels a bit cleaner and more pure, and as a result less interesting to me. In La Ronde I sort of loved how Ophuls very graceful style married with the often less glamorous subject matter. Really loved the dancing montage though, when Donati and 'Madame De's relationship is developing.

    I also watched Les Cousins, Chabrols second film after Le Beau Serge. They make an interesting pair, his first film exploring the philosophical bankruptcy of country life in France, the second exploring the same in the city. A pretty bleak picture all up. Gerard Blain is an absolute fucking star too, he's so good in both of them.

    My favourite movie of the weekend though I didn't watch on Mubi, it was Coppola's 'Peggy Sue Got Married.' I don't know what it was about that movie but I totalllyyyy fell in love with it, and I fell in love with Kathleen Turner. I love how it sort of feels like a cousin to Back to the Future, I love Nicholas Cage's performance, I love the 50s setting. This is an absolute exploding heart movie for me.

    Congratulations on the 400 show by the way guys! I've got about an hour to go but it's been absolutely amazing so far. Has made me laugh so much. Loved the song too!

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    1. I have looked at the Mubi website before, Tristan. Some of films on it at the time interested me, but I am already overcommitted with my streaming subscriptions.

      Rainer Fassbinder is a fascinating director. ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL and VERONIKA VOSS are well worth checking out. Besides having a great story, VERONIKA VOSS has some of the most beautiful black-and-white cinematography I have ever seen.

      Although Truffaut and Godard get most of the attention these days, Claude Chabrol was the first of the French New Wave directors to get his work out to the viewing public. LES COUSINS is a undoubtedly a dark film. LES BONNES FEMMES, another early Chabrol film, is in a similar vein.

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  22. Also, I like the open threads obviously. In a perfect world there would be a message board of some sort, but that would be harder and more costly to create and maintain. There's a lot of folks from here and the extended film loving community interacting on Twitter, but it's a shitty medium for having a conversation and even in the small group of people I follow there's a lot of frustration with the overall Twitter experience. If I had the time, money, technical know-how, and the connections to bring people in, I'd absolutely try to create some kind of community board but I'm 0 for 4 on those things.

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  23. As to stopping the weekend thread

    Don't say it

    Don't think it

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  24. My weekend viewing:
    F/X (1986) - A movie with a story, characters, and practical effects that by today's standards looks like a masterpiece.
    The Magnificent Seven (1960) - I read it as a view on masculinity with iconic actors in their thirties and forties. 
    Secretary (2002) - An engaging depiction of broken people.
    Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) - Here's an interesting interpretation that relates the movie to anti-immigration sentiment. 

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  25. Stu from What we do in the Shadows just liked one of my tweets

    I should quit now. Bruce Campbell replied to a tweet of mine and now Stu!

    What a strange small world it is

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