Saturday, August 29, 2020

Weekend Open Thread


29 comments:

  1. Rest in peace, King T'Challa... WAKANDA FOREVER! :'(

    One of the best theatrical experiences of my life was watching "Black Panther" on opening day at a packed movie theater in Harlem, NY. Not only was the movie excellent, but you can feel a collective joy and palpable pride that the actors and filmmakers were in on how special this film was. I wonder if Disney/Marvel could somehow retcon Michael B. Jordan's Kilmonger character so that he takes over the Wakanda throne. Hey, it's Marvel and superheroes... stranger things can and will happen in the MCU.

    Man, could 2020 suck even more than it already has? Wait, the elections are in November... so yes, things could turn even darker and worse. :-( Guess I'm gonna have to watch "Draft Day" now since Adam Riske neglected to mention Chadwick was in it. The way Riske talked about it "Draft Day" seemed to be Kevin Costner as far as the camera could point to. ;-)

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    1. Well that was a heartbreaking start to the morning (of course I came straight to FTM after waking up). The outpouring of love for him on Twitter made me cry (see, Twitter's good for something after all).

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    2. And yes, see Draft Day. Chadwick Boseman no matter what.

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    4. I'm gonna go with 42, i love Baseball, i love this movie and yesterday was actually Jackie Robinson day in the MLB

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    5. I really love the movie 42. But I've learned to loved it in a slightly (to put it mildly) less light after listening to the Black Men Can't Jump podcast on it. I still love it, because I love baseball, but I'm viewing it slightly differently. Somewhat between what they thought, and my initial impression.

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    6. Gonna have to listen to it, hear what they say

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    8. While "the" Black Panther got a little bit overshadowed by the Killmonger character, I always thought that Chadwick Boseman brought a natural grace to his royal performance. I really admired that and it is really sad to see him go in this way. I haven't seen him outside the Avengers franchise, but I will get into that now. Rest peacefully, Mr Boseman - and everyone, stay save.

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    9. HBO Max is promoting Get On Up at the top of their page for remembering Chadwick Boseman. That's going to be a particularly difficult watch as it costars Nelsan Ellis who was also incredibly talented and passed way too young.

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    10. @Paul Calvert. I listebed to the poscast. First of all, i found all the guys very annoying. They were all talking over each others or cutting each other mid sentence. As for the movie, i get their points. When you look deeper into it, what the movie is and what was the intent behind it, it's very problematic. But it won't stop me from loving it, mostly because it's a pretty decent baseball movie

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  2. While engaging in my deep dive into Italian exploitation cinema around a decade ago, I became acquainted with the Black Emanuelle films starring the Indonesian-born actress Laura Gemser. At the time I did not get around to watching the first two films of the series. This week, for better or worse, I filled that gap.

    BLACK EMANUELLE (1975) – Laura Gemser is the globetrotting photojournalist Emanuelle. (Note there is only one M in the name to not get into copyright trouble with the well-known 1974 film). This first adventure has her visiting Kenya to photograph the famous sights of the country. Along the way she has numerous sexual encounters, few of which are particularly erotic. One could play a drinking game with all the disrobing she does in the film. It is decent as 1970s erotic films go, but it is also missing something.

    EMANUELLE IN BANGKOK (1976, dir. Joe D’Amato) – And that something is Joe D’Amato. D’Amato, Gemser, and the catchy music of Nico Fidenco make this the Black Emanuelle experience I remember. I had a lot of fun watching this. Besides Bangkok, you also get a trip to Morocco. Laura Gemser is considerably more relaxed in front of the camera this time. Joe D’Amato could bring a light-heartedness to even the sleaziest of skin flicks. EIB rarely descends to sleazy, but there are some scenes that may offend (an animal killing). There is a certain innocence to the story, and the conclusion gets surprisingly emotional. The next two Black Emanuelle entries get a lot a darker than this one.

    There were a couple of other watches.

    THE WEAK AND THE WICKED (1954, dir. J. Lee Thompson) – The melodramatic title and the women-in-prison story were what drew me to the film. Watching it, I encountered a very earnest tale of a young middle-class woman who ends up in prison in early 1950s Britain. The melodrama of the title is matched by the melodrama of the plot. Interesting as an early work of director Thompson or for Diana Dors fans, but there is not much else to recommend it.

    FINDING JOSEPH I: THE HR FROM BAD BRAINS DOCUMENTARY (2017) – I have no background listening to The Bad Brains or any either musical group Paul “HR” Hudson was a part of. I only learned about the existence of the band through a documentary a few years ago. That lack of connection with the subject undoubtedly influenced my reaction to the doc. I was not as sympathetic as his fans are to HR's mental deterioration.

    Since watching it, I have checked out some of The Bad Brains work on Youtube. It is intense music, particularly that early period. They were a remarkably good live band.

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    1. One of my favorite movie theater experiences was when a few years ago the local genre festival hosted a "mystery movie" at the a small indie theater. The tickets were three bucks or something and the house was packed. Some laughed, some cheered, some left the theater immediately when the title Emanuelle Around the World came on screen. The film copy they showed was heavily edited and badly worn, which just added to the aesthetic. Such a fun night.

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    2. Amazon apparently has a 5 blu ray region B Black Emanuelle box set, but at $83 it's a bit too much to check these out as a curiosity. Sounds like you had an interesting week of viewing though.

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    3. As horrible as Emanuelle Around the World is in its content (very rapey), it is my favorite of the series. The music is fantastic and the location shooting impressive. The dubbing always makes me laugh. The XXX version is far more offensive than the version you saw, Mikko.

      I got Bangkok as a Netflix DVD rental but had to settle for an Italian version of Black Emanuelle that I found online. Only a couple of the films have gotten Region 1 blu-ray release. The rest is out of print, which is why I am surprised Netflix still has Bangkok available.

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  3. Last night I watched the newly minted Bill & Ted trilogy, and today have found myself binging on Cobra Kai since it finally ended up on Netflix. It would be easy to say it's comforting to revisit my characters from my childhood, and this it's nice to have stuff that is generally positive and optimistic with everything that is going on right now and there is a lot of truth to that. It's still worth pointing out though the both Bill & Ted Face the Music and Cobra Kai are just plain good.

    On the surface, maybe I am just a bit of a sucker for nostalgia although if it were just that I'd probably like the Jurassic World movies of the Independence Day sequel more than I do (which is to say, at all). There is something specifically I like about a lot of these 10/20/30 years down the road movies or series though, from the Before trilogy, to Trainspotting 2, down to Bill & Ted Face the Music. The dichotomy between our expectations of the future (or even the lack thereof in the case of Trainspotting) vs. the reality I think is something that hits all of as we go deeper and deeper into adulthood. Relationships we thought would last, things we thought we'd do that fell by the wayside, but also possibilities that still exist, and ways in which we can still become better.

    Stay safe everyone.

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    1. Your 2nd paragraph...well said. Trainspotting 2 kind of came and went. But I think it'll be reexamined eventually and get it's due regards. Hopefully. If not, it still resonated with me. For what that's worth.

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    2. Rather than involving nostalgia, it strikes me that the films you mention, Ross, are about gaining perspective. In a popular culture dominated by youth, there is not a lot of space given to stories about dealing with the dashed expectations and disappointments of life. Not everything will work out, and how one deals with that determines a lot about a person's life.

      Nostalgia is a complicated thing. Trying to figure out why you watch something is not easy. Did I see Emanuelle in Bangkok this week because I really wanted to see it, or did I want to watch something that would remind me of a pleasanter time in my life (early 2010s)? I think it was a little of both.

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    3. People of course can and do make self contained movies or shows about characters who maybe looked like they were full of promise when they were young who then end up living mundane, disappointing, or outright terrible lives. Athletics is usually an easy shorthand like On The Waterfront with Terry's boxing career, or Al Bundy in Married With Children being a shoe salesman constantly recalling his high school glory of scoring four touchdowns in a single game. Without a doubt, there is compelling drama or humor to be mined there.

      I think the thing that interests me in these "nostalgia" films for lack of a better term is that movies and fiction in general, especially when no follow-up is immediately planned, sort of set up expectations or at least hopes for how the rest of these characters lives go. The fun in revisiting the characters further down the road in these sorts of movies is that the subversion of those expectations is somewhat true to how messy life is. It's still heavily fictionalized of course, because Bill & Ted Face the Music, or Before Midnight are going to have some sort of conflict and resolution. Cobra Kai isn't going to episode after episode of Daniel selling cars. But they all have this feeling of "this isn't how things were supposed to end up", or "is this all there is to life" and I think those are relatable feelings especially when coming from characters a lot of us grew up alongside.

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  4. I haven't posted here in many weeks, but have very much enjoyed hearing what you've been watching. Here's what I've been up to:

    Mongol (2007) A fantastic movie about the infamous Genghis Khan. It's actually about his childhood mostly. It was apparently supposed to be multi film sega, but we only got the one. Too bad, as I would have enjoyed more of the story.

    Red Cliff Part 1 and Part 2(2008 and 2009)

    Holy mother of little baby Jesus. I really enjoyed this, and it's definitely been my highlight of 2020. John Woo returns to China to direct this epic story. Woo directs the fuck out of this. It's full of his usual flourishes, and in a good way. The two movie together run around 5 hours and I loved every second of them. The battle where they were running flaming boats into one another was my favourite bit. This movie had the backing of the Chinese government, and 1,500 extras were provided to act and built sets. There's not many movies these days with that many actual humans in it, and it definitely shows and is appreciated.

    Myeong-ryang (2014) aka The Admiral: Roaring Currents

    Holy crap, I really loved this one. It's about an hour of build up, but once the battle starts, it's non stop until the end of the movie. Some of the ship battle stuff is phenomenal. I'd say it's up there with Master And Commander in terms of naval warfare scenes....loved this one.

    And many many more. Watched all the Craig Bond movies with the kids. Watched Dr. Zhivago which might be the best movie ever. I asked my parents about it and my mum said "Dr. Zhivago (Omar Sharif) is a very handsome man". Never have truer words been spoken. He does so much with his gaze and eyes. Incredible actor. Extra Ordinary (2019) was a treat. The Debt Collector (2018) was great. WarGames (1983) was way better than I anticipated.

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  5. Lucky Grandma (dir. Saise Sealy , 2019)

    One of the highlights of my summer. Veteran actor Tsai Chin (Memoirs of a Geisha, Casino Royale) plays Grandma Wong, a chain-smoking widow living in Chinatown NYC, who happens upon what seems to be an incredible string of luck in Atlantic City. Without spoiling anything, she runs into trouble quickly and gets in over her head.

    The setup is so simple, and the hilarity of putting an elderly Chinese woman into Coen Brothers-esque jeopardy is just delightful. The real draw is Tsai Chin's performance, especially the subtle facial business that sells the I'm-too-old-for-this-shit attitude of her character. It's charm and simplicity makes up for its predictable third act.

    I can't recommend this highly enough.


    Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show (dir. Josh Greenbaum, 2017)

    Hulu's documentary about SNL alum Dana Carvey's ill-fated sketch comedy show. It ran for two months in 1995, and I hadn't heard about its existence until I saw the trailer for this doc.

    The talent recruited for the show included Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell, Louis CK (I know), Robert Smigel and Charlie Kaufman! Bonkers!!! The skits highlighted were, for the time, incredibly bold considering it ran during q prime time on ABC! This is more of a post-mortem than the type of documentary F This Movie usually complains about (the fan gushing type).

    I laughed a lot going through this one, and although I probably won't watch it again, I'm glad I spent the time to see it.

    Osmosis Jones (dir. The Farrelly Brothers, 2001)

    Jesus, this is something that simply shouldn't exist but for the wasteland of 2000s cinema. A half animated/half live buddy cop adventure wherein anthropomorphic cells defend Bill Murray's body from a villainous virus played by Larry Fishburne. The titular Jones is a white blood cell "cop", played by Chris Rock, teams up with David Hyde Pierce's cold pill (essentially an immune system RoboCop).

    It's such a bizarre concept, but the wall-to-wall bodily fluids, combined with Murray's slovenly and gross characterization make it almost unbearable to watch. Don't get me wrong, I deeply appreciate 2d cel animation and movies that aren't afraid to get weird, but I can't say I had a good time watching it. It's a fascinating mess.

    Big bonus for William Shatner playing the conniving "Mayor" of Frank's body and a musical cameo by Kid Rock appearing in his true form, a slimy green bacterium.

    I kept wondering to myself how this movie could have been made successful and I realized that Pixar already did it with Inside Out (minus the gross-out bits).

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  6. The Paul Verhoeven rewatch continued this week with FLESH AND BLOOD (1985). I guess I liked it, but I don't know if I can recommend it. It's not for the faint of stomach.

    Then there's BASIC INSTINCT (1992). I go back and forth on whether this is a legit thriller, or if it's camp. Sharon Stone is certainly a force to be reckoned with, and I like how Michael Douglas puts on an act of confidence in in fact his character is barely keeping it together.

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    1. I like Flesh + Blood a lot but yeah, it is by no means a fun experience.

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  7. I watched Falling In Love (1984) with Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro. It's a nothing movie, 100% resting on their performances and good looks - which were enough for me tonight. Coincidentally it's another NYC train movie, my second in a row. The trains here are a really good backdrop for romance, especially the illicit kind.

    These people are facing a really personal problem - do you cheat on your caring, responsible spouse or not - and honestly it feels very frivolous and almost relaxing to watch and fret over compared to what we've got going on these days.

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  8. I haven't watched too many movies the past few months, just a few, but I've been watching a bunch this past week. Coincidence that I've been watching a bunch of movies since I've recently finished my college degree, have no prospects or know what I'll do in the future, or how I could get my own place somewhere/ move as my SO and I wanted to, and that I live across the state from my gf and therefore only see her every few weeks/months? Definitely not. However, watching movies actually feels productive in a way compared to doing nothing 100% of the time instead. I pretend it's filmmaking research.

    Anyway (apologies), I watched Park-Chan Wook's "Thirst", and then "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance". Thirst was...interesting. I didn't love either film quite as much as "Oldboy" or "The Handmaiden", but that also barely means anything considering those are two of my favorite movies, so that's a very high bar. I definitely want to revisit them as I feel like there is a lot to take in, but I was intrigued by them and certainly liked them quite a bit. I have to say I think Park-Chan Wook may be my third favorite director after my indisputable top two, Lynch and Miyazaki. At the very least he is among a handful for that honor. Up next is "Lady Vengeance" before my Shudder trial runs out. I'm excited for it. Hopefully I can watch Bong Joon Ho's "The Host" as well beforehand. I've just been in a horror mood, idk.

    I also watched "The Love Witch". I loved the style and look, and I found it really, really funny. Especially the way Elaine always seemed so bored/exasperated/empty conversing with other people/men in off moments when they weren't paying attention, and the completely over the top sincerity and dialogue that Griff had. There were many moments where I could sense specific commentary on gender expectations and internalized misogyny with Elain (perhaps this is too harsh, or unthoughtful, I would have to consider it more. Of course, aside from the murder, you can't really *blame* Elaine from having that perspective considering the world she is in, although I have to admit I didn't have a cohesive sense of what the movie was "saying". That is not a criticism, just that it felt complex, and I appreciated that, and didn't feel I needed to have a logline of the films "stance" in my head. I just knew I would want to eventually revisit it. I appreciated Patrick's review and the idea that the character could be different things at once, and felt like this explained my reaction in a way (except more intelligently). The only thing that drew my out of the movie a few times were the modern cars driven by side characters/in the background which contrasted a bit with the everything else is 60s vibe, although to rationalize it I decided it takes place in the modern day and these people/the community (or perhaps alternate timeline?)are just weird which I actually sort of liked (this may have actually been the intention idk).

    I also just finished rewatching "Notorious" and feel like I like the movie more each time I see it; it feels like one of my favorite movies in a way (or is becoming). Although I always feel a bit let down just because I want more interaction between Alicia and Devlin (wtf is that name? Alicia is a cool af name tho)in the second half and sort of wish the movie ended with a bit more time with them instead of lingering on the nazi as an ending. I might actually watch the bonus features and commentary on the criterion which I haven't really done for movies in a while.

    I realize this comment was overly long, worded horribly, and didn't make many interesting points on the movies I watched, and considering I just got an ENGLISH DEGREE, yes, I am ashamed at my lack of cohesion, and lazy.

    By the way, thanks for the show.

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  9. I hated Bill & Ted Face the Music so much it makes me lose faith in the world a little more. I guess that's probably an extreme reaction.

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    1. What's wrong with it? It's not great, but i had fun. It's the least annoying of all those nostalgia sequel that have been coming out in the last few years

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    2. I was just coming here to say the exact opposite.

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