Saturday, January 12, 2019

Weekend Open Thread

Put a little Bird Box in your soul.

32 comments:

  1. Hi! I watched The Post on the plane and really liked it. I was actually trying to watch Blackkklansman finally but I was too uncomfortable in my middle-of-the-row seat to sit through the slow first part. I was desperate for something immediately distracting. Meryl Streep showing those guys who was boss was so awesome, and that character is
    so noticeably non-male. Her tone of voice with Mcnamara when she goes to his house, her tone of voice through the whole thing - I just love how I relate to it. When Tom Hanks comes over to her at the end she's not like kicking back and smoking a cigar, she's working and busy looking at the paper. What a mom.

    I like movies like that so previously I tried for the umpteenth time to sit through All The Presidents Men, but...it's too boring somehow, I can never get into that one. I feel like Robert Redford's appeal is too old fashioned for me or something, and I couldn't bare to watch Dustin Hoffman. It's the first time I've tried to watch one of his movies since the allegations came out against him, which I thought were some of THE MOST HORRIFIC stories I'd heard come out of #MeToo, and I was wondering if it would affect my opinion of his acting. Hoaa, yea, it does. I realized his whole body language is so frickin cocky all the time, just a constant display of arrogance. Of course, this might not apply to everyone, but his stories were THE WORST, and he's one of those monster gaslighters and deniers. Happy to forget that dude.

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    1. I really enjoyed The Post a lot too. I feel like it just got hammered as being “Oscar-bait” and people didn’t notice that it’s actually a really good and entertaining movie. I bet if it had come out in April or something people would have liked it way more. Like the folks on the podcast keep saying, the release schedule really sucks sometimes.

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    2. I agree. My hesitation seeing it earlier was "oh, its just 'competent', "more Meryl trying to get an Oscar."

      But shut my mouth, I can never have too much Meryl, I guess. Plus on the plane, looking at those choices, which included so many superhero movies and indies I'd never heard of - I was just like "Please, just something competent, please."

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  2. I watched The Sisters Brothers (2018) and it was fantastic. A good mix of drama and comedy. Sorry to read afterwards that it bombed. I guess I should have seen it in the theater, but I honestly don't remember it playing.

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    1. I would have loved to have supported it, but it didn’t play anywhere near me. Oh well!

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    2. Paul, I loved it too! The last shot really affected me (in a good way!). I knew close to nothing about it and was pleasantly surprised!

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    3. Enjoyed the movie a lot and the book is definitely worth a read too. It's (surprise, surprise) richer overall, contains a number of 'scenes' not in the movie and fleshes out things and themes only briefly touched on in the movie.

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  3. I watched a ton of random stuff this week because I have been dealing with a very annoying cold, so besides the bonus of not having to work, I get to watch a ton of movies! I'll try to keep it short and sweet:
    -Angel Heart: solid horror noir with a couple great performances from Rourke and De Niro. I thought I would end up loving it but just ended up liking it. I think having the twist spoiled for me years ago certainly didn't help.

    -class of 1984: Pretty awesome movie that reminded me of the Substitute if Tom Bereneger was just a normal guy. The finale was nuts and very satisfying!

    -His Girl Friday: Loved it. Grant and Russell were amazing and I need more screwball fast taking 30s and 40s comedies in my life. Would love to hear some suggestions.

    -They all laughed: Bogdonavich screwball comedy with a great cast, that didn't quite end up being as great as I had hoped. Still fun though and the type of movie that just doesn't get made anymore.

    -Blockers: Rewatched this on HBO and forgot how funny and surprisingly sweet it is. Also, never thought I would enjoy John Cena so much as an actor.

    -Upgrade: Another 2018 rewatch and I loved it even more than when I first saw it. Badass, intense, and surprisingly funny scifi action movie that I wish we got more of. Seems like a throwback to 80s and 90s action.

    -Gremlins 2 the new batch: So insane in the best way possible. Dante throwing everything into it and clearly having a blast. The key and peele sketch didn't even fully prepare me for this one haha.

    -Urban Legend: bought the scream factory blu and man, I kind of love this goofy movie. It's so unbelievably 90s. It's got Danielle Harris as a goth girl who is on a dating chat room called Goth 4 Goth AND the killer gives a freaking slideshow at the end!! Those 2 things are enough reason to watch it haha.

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    1. I absolutely loved HIS GIRL FRIDAY when I saw it too! Have you see THE PHILADELPHIA STORY or LIBELED LADY? I love THE THIN MAN - especially when Powell and Loy are on screen. <3

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    2. Thank for the recs Erika! I actually have the Philadelphia Story on Bluray but haven't actually seen it yet, but I've never even heard of the libeled lady. I'll have to add it to my watchlist. I need to see The Thin Man because I've heard so many great things about it.

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    3. I just received Class of 1984 from Netflix. I am looking forward to seeing it.

      Libeled Lady is an excellent example of 1930s comedy. My Man Godfrey (with the great Carole Lombard) and Bringing Up Baby are also well a watch.

      I believe comedies are the best entry to 1930s Hollywood. They have an energy to them that is closer to modern cinema than the majority of movies from that period. Bring Up Baby ended up being my gateway to appreciating Golden Age Hollywood.

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    4. I absolutely love His Girl Friday. I may have a recommendation for you that’s likely way off base, like a it’s-not-even-of-the-same-time-period-I-should-probably-stop-right-talking-now-this-might-be-really-dumb recommendation, but go with me on this. Maybe 30 minutes into Destination Wedding it struck me that the dialogue was reminding me of His Girl Friday. Of course the two movies are completely different in plot and tone, but it was the way they were delivering the dialogue. His Girl Friday is known for its amazing densely scripted dialogue delivered in a blink and you’ll miss it break neck pace. In Destination Wedding there were times that I had a hard time keeping up with their jokes, not because they were throwing away the line, but because they were already on to the next joke. And in its own way, Destination Wedding is a match of wit against wit. These two things are very akin to His Girl Friday. Of course Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder are nowhere near the Olympic pace of Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, but who can be? This observation is probably a huge stretch and likely (most definitely) doesn’t hold up, but I literally just finished watching Destination Wedding and have been having this same conversation with my sister. It also made me realize that I haven’t seen a romantic comedy like Destination Wedding in a long time and it was very refreshing. It’s not a screwball comedy, but if you haven’t already checked it out, it may or may not be what you are looking for! Nailed it! I’m great at this! Just kidding, I’m terrible at this.

      (For some reason it is important for me to note that any observations I made about His Girl Friday I most definitely read or heard elsewhere cause I certainly have no original thought in my brain.)

      I had the same reaction to Angel Heart; I wanted to like it more than I did. But I think we can all agree that De Niro is rocking that beard. The trick is you own the beard, you don’t let the beard own you.

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    5. Thanks for responding Lacey! You know what's crazy, I literally watched destination wedding this weekend and am just now seeing your post haha. I liked it! It's a simple movie, but I was definitely getting a classic Hollywood fast talking romantic comedy feel from the movie. I really like Keanu and Winona too and thought they were great together!

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  4. Haven't posted in a while, sorry. Recovering from a crippling bout of the flu. Spent a whole week either sleeping in bed or falling asleep trying to watch movies in my comfy chair. Feeling better now, but the week recovering from the week with the flu has been just as punishing. Should have taken that vaccine flu shot, but who am I to question Jenny McCarthy's wisdom? :-)

    Better late than never I just posted my Worst-to-best Top 140 2018 films of 2018 (excluding rewatches and/or repertory movies, or we'd be over the 200 mark), including my personal Top 10 movies. Check them out to feel a little bit jealous that here in New York we got "Roma" in 70mm and there are about a dozen AMC theaters within reach. What can I say, Gotham rulez!

    The AMC $19.99 A-Plus Plan (soon to go up to $23.95... sucks, but it's still worth it) is the best and worst thing that's ever happened to my movie-viewing hobby. So many movies I wouldn't have paid money to see seem easier to digest as part of the three-a-week deal. Then you realize, like I did last night, that you're in a movie theater watching freaking REPLICAS with a Friday night crowd that claps at the end of it. CLAPPING FOR FREAKING "REPLICAS"??!! Nobody clapped at the end of the 70mm screening of "Roma" I had just seen two hours prior, but that's because the film drained us emotionally to a point the silence greeting the credits was our approval. "Replicas" is a SyFy original movie that somehow snuck into 2,000+ screens! Why does this Keanu Reeves throwaway pic gets a January release but "Destination Wedding" barely gets a theatrical run?

    It's not a 'so bad it's good' movie, it's a blatant grab-bag of sci-fi theft (a little "I Robot," a little "RoboCop," sprinkle some watered-down "Re-Animator," etc.) that starts so ineptly (there's a whole movie crammed into the first 15 minutes, then it takes an hour for the plot to kick back into gear) it can't recover. Poor John Ortiz, between this and "Bumblebee" he's now typecast as Hispanic a-hole douchebag extraordinaire. I cannot see how "Replicas" doesn't end near the bottom of my 2019 movies next January. :'(

    So, is it FTM Twitter Film Festival time already or what? :-D

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  5. I saw The Other Side of the Wind. That movie should have been rated PG-35. I admired how almost every aspect of film-making was unique, but it was pretty tough to get through. I'm much more interested in watching the accompanying documentary They'll Love Me When I'm Dead, and felt I had to watch this first.

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    1. Haha PG-35 is the best assessment of this movie! I loved the film, but I'll be the first to admit it's fairly inaccessible. I credit a lot of my enjoyment to a book I read a year or two ago called Orson Welles's Last Movie by Josh Karp. Really helps highlight how insane the production of the film was, and gives an interesting view into Welles' career as a whole. I really recommend it if you're interested in him as a filmmaker.

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  7. With the start of the tax season, I have had to focus on catching up with requirements and absorbing all of the changes in the American tax code. Should be an interesting three months ahead.

    What little I have gotten to see is some films shown on Turner Classic Movies. I watched an entertaining film noir called DESPERATE from 1947. Raymond Burr, best known for playing Perry Mason on American television, could play a great heavy. I am also having fun with the 1950s and '60s sword and sandal films being spotlighted this month. I like these kind of cinematic spectacles yet understand why others might find them a complete waste of time. With the Italian peplum being a large blind spot in my knowledge of Italian genre cinema, I am taking advantage of seeing some decent presentations of them. Unfortunately, some the films are VHS pan-and-scan versions, but that might be the only English-language source available at this time.











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  8. I kinda want to see Bird Bix, but with all the hype surrounding it i think i can only be disappointed. So now i don't know what to do

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    1. Just watch it with an open mind. I'm on the same boat you are, and when/if I watch the flick I'll judge it as any other. :-)

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  9. I forgot to post my top ten in the top ten show post, so here it is!!

    10.) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    9.) Mission: Impossible - Fallout
    8.) A Quiet Place
    7.) Searching
    6.) Game Night
    5.) A Star is Born
    4.) Eighth Grade
    3.) Paddington 2
    2.) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
    1.) Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

    Honorable mentions:
    Black Panther
    Avengers: Infinity War

    I wish I could have seen before making this list:
    Anna and the Apocalypse
    Mirai

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  10. Hey all! So, I have never been an autograph collector type unless I'm at a show and the people come out after for the purpose of signing. A couple years ago I saw Penn and Teller and did the selfie thing with them after. I might go see them again this weekend and bought the bluray of Directors Cut to ask them to sign. So, my question since I've never done it before, where do I get them to sign? Like on the cover, or the disc? I intend to watch it because I love the movie so I cant keep it in the cellophane. Any suggestions will be appreciated!

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    1. I don't think there's a specific answer to this. I would go with the cover, not the disc, but it's really up to you

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    2. I would pull the slipcover out from under the plastic and have them sign that. Good luck!

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    3. Thanks yall! I really appreciate it!

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  11. With the end of my subscription to Fandor this month, I am focusing on watching the remaining titles that I still desire to see. The two S.F. Brownrigg films on the site are part of my list, and I got to one last night.

    DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT (1973)- The less you know going into this, the more effective it will be. The story involves a psychiatric nurse who begins working at an experimental private sanitarium. What I liked most about the film is the sense of the sanitarium always being on the verge of chaos. It is definitely one of the best examples of early '70s ultra low-budget horror I have watched. The source material for the version on Fandor is amazingly pristine.

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  12. Star wars: a new hope (1977)

    Like most of you, my childhood was star wars. I grew up on the originals and have seen the trilogy dozens and dozens of times. I've always considered a new hope as "the boring one" compared to empire and Jedi.

    Well revisiting 1977 star wars which I haven't done in years something finally clicked. This movie is incredible! I experienced a revelation that opened up my eyes to how solid and great star wars is. It will no longer live in my brain as "the boring one" It very well may be the best of the trilogy. It only took 36 years but I finally understand star wars.

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  13. I watched some Tony Curtis movies. Goodbye Charlie (1964) with Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis was really kinda flimsy. Seemed like just a vehicle for Debbie Reynolds.

    Also Not With My Wife, You Don't (1966) with he, George C Scott and Virna Lisi. Virna Lisi is funny, amazing, and comes off way too cool for both of the guys and the whole movie, which I'm not sure was entirely intentional.

    I hadn't seen Some Like It Hot for some years, but recently watched saw it on Amazon Prime. Funny, I NEVER noticed Jack Lemmon's character before because I was so besotted with Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis, but now Jack Lemmon makes me laugh and I can't get enough screen time with him.

    I saw The Defiant Ones (1958) years ago and liked it - generally I think Sidney Poitier movies are high quality. But I have this feeling all Tony Curtis roles were just leading up to his best performance in The Sweet Smell of Success, which combined all his qualities and made perfect use of them.

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    1. Just realized Sweet Smell of SUccess came first, before all the rest of those movies. So :( guess from my perspective it was kinda downhill from there.

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    2. With acting opportunities being very random, that might not have been Tony Curtis' fault. A lot of actors/actresses were not well served by the studios, and the edgy films like Sweet Smell of Success were not common. An older star like Curtis also struggled to fit in to New Hollywood.

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    3. Interesting, thanks. Never thought it was his fault. Seemed like a lack of parts that matched him.

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  14. Patrick i love the They Might Be Giants reference!!

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