Saturday, February 5, 2022

Weekend Open Thread

45 comments:

  1. JM Vargas here. I'm in transit to JFK Airport to fly to Arizona on a last-minute trip. 73-year old father just underwent invasive surgery to remove a fist-sized tumor. :-( He's fine, but will be incapacitated for a few days. Want to be by the old man's side when he wakes up. Will try to post reviews from the airport. :-)

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    1. Take care JM! All the best to a speedy recovery for your father!

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    2. What Mashke said - take care of your old man and take care of you, too!

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    3. Just spoke with my father while waiting to get on the plane at JFK. Sounds weak and totally out of it (meds haven't worn off), but he's in good spirits and happy I'm coming over. Let's just hope the plane doesn't get struck down by Skynet going live and plunging my flight into an oil refinery in the middle of Nowhere, Texas. :-D

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  2. Runaway Train (1985 dvd)

    {quick aside} So looking at the release calendar for this year, im kinda bummed at my lack of overall excitement for most new flicks. Thats not to say there arent titles of interest, nor the wonderful likelihood that i'll find some unexpected surprises (thanks in part to you all), but its kind of a mediocre line up. That ties to many factors..Covids effects on the industry at the forefront and the inevitability of reboot/franchise/meta-sequelitis uber alles. So as a huge fan of movies ill likely look backwards in time and try and fill in viewing gaps. Runaway Train is one such gap. This movie keeps coming up in random podcasts...the ones i remember most are it ranks highly amongst discussions around "the best Cannon movies" and any time folks speak of action train flicks. So i picked it up and watched...

    Its awesome!!! Its very much two movies in one (a-la-Dusk Till Dawn). Its half gritty prison escape and half action on a runaway train. Truth be told i kinda liked the prison stuff more as its so..hrmm...grimy? Most of all its two crazy over the top performances from two top tier scene chewers: Jon Voight and Eric Roberts and one really against type awesome performance from Rebecca De Mornay. Voight plays a top tier bad ass prison inmate with a kinda crazy scar faced bill burr look to him. Roberts plays an almost child like mentality prisoner channeling Mcconaughy-esqe vocals. Great characters. Great action and direction. Oh, and a script by Akira Kurosawa. Check it out

    Last Night in Soho (2021 blu)

    Finally got to watch a flick i was very excited for. Im a huge fan of Edgar Wright and truth be told while i dont love every movie he makes i do always love his approach to tone, look, and detail. Virtually every movie he makes cannot be simply described by a single movie type. Example: films like Shawn of the Dead and Worlds End are billed as comedies but they are equal parts if not MORESO dramatic reflections on growing up and how differently people mature/change/age. Im pleased to say hes done it again because you cannot label Soho with a single genre....

    Ill be brief because i went in with almost no knowledge of the movie and thinks its best for folks interested to do the same. In a word, i think its phenomenal. It brings you into its world through the eyes of its protagonist and takes you on a crazy ride...part "small girl in a big city" meets part period piece meets part freaky mystery. Huge emotional swings combined with wonderful settings and setpieces. Definitely one of the best flicks of 2021, hands down.

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    1. Runaway Train is a very special movie.

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    2. "Runaway Train" is da bomb, yo! :-P

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    3. If there is a Cannon day this June, there is a good chance that Runaway Train will be my pick.

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    4. I've heard Runaway Train mentioned many times during Junesploitation. I'll add it to the list for next year!

      I've read many people saying they liked Soho but hated the 3rd act, but I don't really understand why. I liked it all the way through, and it might have made my top 10 had I seen it before deciding my top 10.

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  3. Currently watching Alcapulco Gold on Amazon Prime. Anyone who has been taken by Marjorie Gortner’s unique charisma in Bobbie Jo and The Outlaw would probably dig it. The transfer is also reminding me of a magical time when Prime featured seemingly hundreds of VHS ripped expoilatation flicks on its platform. Have a good weekend all.

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    1. you had me at VHS ripped exploitation flicks! woot!

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    2. The more low-res, monochrome and damaged the print, the better the exploitation movie! Amazon Prime rulez, especially during JUNESPLOITATION! :-D

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  4. Any idea what day this year's FThisMovie fest will fall on? Gonna be out of town the weekend of March 18th so I'm just really hoping it won't be then!

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    1. just think of V for Vendetta...

      ahem...

      "Remember remember the 5th of Marchvember.
      Popcorn, cheesepowder seasonings, and salt.
      I see no reason
      Why extra butter seasoning
      Should ever be forgot"

      {ill show myself out}

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    2. My kids split their time 50/50 between me and their mum, and the past several years, Junesploitation has luckily always fallen on a day they were with their mum. This year they will be with me, but I'm actually looking forward to it as they're old enough to participate. They participated in a couple movies during the birthday and lockdown fests, and enjoyed it. Now they're ready for a full day of movie love!!! Can't wait for the lineup.

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  5. Since the trailer for Roland Emmerich’s MOONFALL dropped, a friend of mine and I planned out a little “Emmerich’s Desaster Day”, spanning across six movies, sorted by grade of destruction. We started with WHITE HOUSE DOWN, which is stupid, but we had a lot of fun with it (we were fresh at that point) and the Air Force One, several “presidents”, the Capitol and large parts of the White House got destroyed. The second movie we’ve seen was GODZILLA, where large parts of Manhattan get destroyed (mostly by humans, though). Not a good one. Number 3 then made a leap, because numerous cities were destroyed in INDEPENDENCE DAY. I love this movie. I know about it’s big flaws, but it is just perfect popcorn entertainment, my personal high point in this series. 4th was DAY AFTER TOMORROW, which was way better than I remembered. Yes, some effects are dated and yes, the science is off (or got “emmeriched”) and it lacks the balance of drama and action that he mastered in INDEPENDENCE DAY, but I would argue that there is at least an okay, if not a good movie here. Also, a lot of the global north just froze over, there is your destruction. Number 5 and 6 than took the fun out of it. INDEPENDENCE DAY: Resurgence got my blood boiling out of sheer anger (hyperbolic). This movie has some potential in its sheer visual power. A spaceship in the size of the Atlantic Ocean is coming down to earth, folding cities onto each other while landing, we are fucked – that’s it. There is something there, no? Not for Emmerich, sadly. A pretty bland attempt to create a franchise here, nothing more. Tonally totally off. And 2012? In my opinion, it’s the most cynical movie with the least fun. We were spent at that point and fed up, but we are still looking forward to see (mhh, spelling says seeing, help me out?!) MOONFALL.

    Things do expect in MOONFALL:
    - Mass destruction.
    - Science that is tweaked to a point that it can hardly be called science anymore for the sake of having some “grounding” in the real world.
    - A little or heavy doses of conspiracy.
    - Lots of daddy issues that are addressed through phone calls and personal interaction at several times in the movie, since it’s a modern movie this happens between a woman and her father (in earlier movies it has been always a son and his dad).
    - The American president that is created after the current president (so if he’s Biden, he will be most likely competent, if Trump, he’ll not listen to warnings or have problematic staff around him).
    - Heroes with an academic background that warns the public or high officials beforehand.
    - On screen text that tells you where you are.
    - The White House is spotted – and probably destroyed.
    - The army needs civil help, but works finds a solution in the end.
    - A relationship that get fixed by one of them (the man) being the hero of the day (and world).
    What have I missed?

    I’ve also seen several other movies. Buster Keaton classics like SHERLOCK, JR. and OUR HOSPITALITY, that are still great (watched SHERLOCK, JR. like the 5th time), also von Strotheim’s FOOLISH WIVES, which is a fun watch, too. Erich von Strotheim was a very interesting person.
    In the cinema, I watched SPENCER, that uses some appealing horror images to depict the situation of Lady Di and is really nice to look at. LICORICE PIZZA was delightful, but only starts to sink in… slowly. I’m curious how long it will stay on my mind and how I’ll react, if I see it again. At the moment, I just want to be “in” that movie again.
    That’s it from me. Have a great weekend, everyone!

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    1. Having seen every Emmerich movie you mentioned and lots more ("Moon 44" anyone? :-O), personally be prepared for something that falls somewhere between "Day After Tomorrow" and "2012." I honestly think "Moonfall" lives or dies by whether the BIG reveal floors you with its sheer fuck-tas-titude or you reject it outright. If you reject the central conceit of the movie you'll have a lousy time. If you embrace the stupid (and I mean clinge on to it for dear life!) you're in for a fun, brain-dead ride. I'd say "Moonfall's" even worth the IMAX surcharge for the epic rednecks vs. lunar gravity car chase in the Colorado Rockies. :-P

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    2. You hit every Emmerich cliche on the head, Derk, and I'm personally looking forward to seeing the moon crush the earth!

      I had the same feeling after Licorice Pizza, in that for many days after I just wanted to be back in that experience of watching it.

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    3. Buster Keaton never gets old, Derk. SHERLOCK JR is pure cinematic magic. Have you ever watched his short films?

      Has any studio director sabotaged his career more than Stroheim? He seemed to go out of his way to irritate everyone he worked for.

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    4. @JM: I still have to watch the early work of Emmerich, it's on the watch list, but besides of STARGATE, I haven't seen other pictures. Is MOON 44 any good?

      @Casual: I haven't seen his shorts. At the moment, I'm working through classical movies with a friend of mine, but there are nearly no short films on that list (the contrary).
      Erich von Stroheim is fascinating, one could only imagine what he was aiming for in his movies. To be honest, I thought Foolish Wives worked out pretty well. I'm curious about Greed, where he created a movie that was 8 hours long, just for it to be edited down to 2-3 hours. Maybe he would've flourished today, just creating Mini-Series after Mini-Series.

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  6. Hey gang! Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

    The Finnish documentary film festival DocPoint was held online this week, so I've been watching mostly docs. President is a fascinating movie about Zimbabwe's first "free and fair" elections in 2018. I put "free and fair" in quotation marks, because what the doc shows is that the legacy of corruption and suppression is alive and well in the country even after Mugabe. The filmmakers have amazing access to the opposition leader's campaign, which makes this movie. Definitely the best of the bunch I saw.

    Trust Me is a Norwegian doc about a young man who rose to national fame as a businessman and an innovator, before being unmasked as a fraud and a conman. It's basically Frank Abagnale, but smaller scale and more mundane. It's a by-the-numbers doc about a mildly interesting subject. And Bank Job is a British doc about a filmmaker couple who try to help people by raising money to buy off local people's debt. It's desperately trying to be The Big Short, presenting complex concepts in a quirky and offbeat way, and it somewhat succeeds. I did learn some stuff about the financial market, but I was also at times a little annoyed about the cutesiness of the presentation.

    In other news, most movie theaters here in Finland have been closed since Christmas, but they finally opened their doors again today (with 50% capacity). A good thing too, since my withdrawal symptoms were becoming severe. I'm itching to see Nightmare Alley, House of Gucci and Annette in the coming week.

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    1. Be careful out there, Mikko. Nobody should get sick and die because they saw Lady Gaga on the big screen. :-P

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    2. Thanks JM, I'll continue to keep my distance to other people (I've been doing it for 39 years, why stop now?).

      Though if Lady Gaga isn't worth dying for, what is?

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    3. Bradley Cooper in black & white? :-D

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    4. The theatres finally opened back up here too, and I'm very glad. I generally like to go when no open else is there anyways (matinee, 2 months after opening night, etc.), so I'm pretty comfortable visiting the movies. Also, I spend 40 working hours a week being completely surrounded by strangers, so the movies feel very isolated and safe by comparison.

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  7. Ghostbusters Afterlife: Two hours of the Chris Farley Show. Happy to see Ernie Hudson on screen and getting paid at least.

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    1. I love this movie, even though it commits the borderline-crime of wasting J.K. Simmons in an underwritten role so badly staged you can't even tell it's him until the credits at the end. :-(

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  8. Finally, some free time to write reviews while waiting to board the flight to AZ! :-)

    Late to the party, but freaking loved SCREAM (2022, theater). It's not trying to match the heights of the 1996 original as much as ride its coattails (and some of the franchise's best parts) to tell the same tale with a fresh coat of 2020-ish 'tude. Pandemic? Not in Woodsboro, where Ghostface's killing spree targets new faces (Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid) that bring familiar faces (Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette) out of hiding. Maybe it doesn't hold well on repeat viewings, but as of now this is the best "Scream" sequel alongside "Scream 4." Highly recommended, and 'It's an honor' indeed. :'(

    I had never seen any "Jackass," neither movies or the MTV show. But I gotta admit I laughed my ass off at JACKASS FOREVER (2022, theater) because it appears to stick to the franchise formula... despite many of the participants pushing 50. The new batch of Jackasses (some with their ex-convict parents as on-camera participants) is mildly amusing, but the veterans (particularly Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville in alpha male mode) carry the "movie," aka "loosely-strung-together stunts/skits."

    Three years ago I'd never seen the original TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990, Netflix), but I've rewatched it plenty of times since. It strangely holds up as an entertaining adaptation of the spirits of the comic and the late 80's cartoon show, despite being very dated in several key attitudes (particularly the violence and treatment of women). I always talk myself into thinking Elias Kotas' Casey Jones is the same character he plays in Cronenberg's "Crash" several years later for maximum mind fuck-titutde! :-P A great time was had by all that attended the Jury Room 4.0 watchalong last Thursday night.

    GAMESTOP: RISE OF THE PLAYERS (2022, theater) makes understandable and entertaining (up to a point) the stock market phenomenon of the past couple of years. I hate that the filmmakers call the talking heads that figured out early on the potential of the Gamestop value "heroes," but the core group of eight people make an interesting and eclectic collection of personalities and backgrounds. Anyone who is deep into a niche/tight group of like-minded individuals (like... us here at FTM?!?! :-P) will relate and enjoy this doc.

    Joel Coen's THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH (2021, theater) is yet another reminder that Frances McDormand is a national treasure, that Denzel Washington can be good when the material is right (aka NOT "Equalizer 2") and the combo of 1:33:1 AR with B&W photography continues to sweep the indie/worldwide arthouse world. It's an old Shakespearean tale told with minimalist, CG-enhanced sets and good supporting performances (Brendan Gleeson, Bertie Carvel, etc.), though I wanted way more of Kathryn Hunter's mesmerizing portrayal of the vulture witches. Recommended for fans of "artful" theatricality.

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  9. LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (2021). Still holds up, and the Blu-ray has TWO Edgar Wright commentary tracks. That's a lot of bang for your buck. (or... for your quid?)

    DEADLY FRIEND (1986). This movie is incomplete and nonsensical, but it's just so much fun.

    SPY SMASHER RETURNS (1941). Normally I dislike when they edit the old-timey matinee serials into a much shorter feature-length, but they did a good job on this one. A masked vigilante and his identical twin brother (!) team up to take down the Nazis. The whole thing is nonstop fistfights, gunfights, chases, escapes, and other such popcorn thrills.

    TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990). "Bossa nova! Chevy Nova?"

    THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES (2021). Finally got around to seeing this, and I'm not sure what to think. There were a lot of funny gags and visual razzle-dazzle, but it was just a little anxiety-inducing in how the dad was such a jerk. We're meant to believe he learns his lesson by the end, but I wasn't feeling it.

    THE HOWLING II: YOUR SISTER IS A WEREWOLF (1986) One word: Sybil. One more word: Danning.

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    1. DEADLY FRIEND (1986). This movie is incomplete and nonsensical, but it's just so much fun.

      Play ball, Mac! :-D

      THE HOWLING II: YOUR SISTER IS A WEREWOLF (1986) One word: Sybil. One more word: Danning.

      You forgot a third word: BAZOOKA(S) (and lots of 'em). :-P

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  10. Another week of some diverse watches.

    QUAI DES ORFÈVRES (1947, dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot) – An intricately plotted French mystery about the murder of a sleazy film producer. Although the police procedural element seems very rooted in theatrical traditions, there is a strong cinematic approach to the storytelling. I liked how the ambiance of Parisian nightlife is a distinct character in the film. There are topics directly presented that a Hollywood film at the time would not touch.

    DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK (1939, dir. John Ford) – In upstate New York during the American Revolution, a couple (Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert) find themselves repeatedly caught up in the fight against the British and their Indian allies. Regardless of the one-sided portrayal of history, this is an entertaining film. The outdoor battle scenes are well shot, and there are plenty of nice costumes to gawk at.

    GAMERA: THE GIANT MONSTER (1965) on Prime – When feeling down, there is always a silly kaiju film available to take one’s thoughts away from life. GAMERA shamelessly copies the Godzilla films. The story jumps around a lot, and things seem to just happen. It is a quick watch, though. It was my first time seeing the Japanese version.

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    1. Hey! I nearly rented Drums Along The Mohawk last week (as part of my series of wilderness movies), but opted for the latest Call of the Wild instead. I'll add it to my list. I have 2 more movies to watch before I call the series "a wrap", and I'll post about it in the coming weeks.

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  11. Nightmare Alley (1947): very good Film Noir, in a different setting than the usual output of the time, a travelling circus, but still filled with bad people taking advantage of other people. to me, one of the best of the genre.

    Nightmare Alley (2021): a slicker, bigger version of the same story. the story is almost exactly the same, just a bit more stuff in it. there's an intro to the main character (Stanton, played by Bradley Cooper) at the beginning (and a bit later in the movie) that's not bad, but i didn't feel was really necessary. it's just explaining that the guy is an asshole, because nowadays everything needs an explanation and characters need motivation to whatever bad things they're doing. there's also the effect of what Stanton does to his 'clients' after he leaves them. it's worth it, but the old movie is better, simpler.

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    1. Tyrone Power's performance in the 1947 version is among the finest of that decade, and the film is one that I would always recommend to anyone who believes "old" black-and-white movies are not edgy.

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    2. Yes, Tyrone Power is awesome. I also loved Joan Blondell (Zeena)

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  12. I watched The House of Gucci. It was weird mix of drama and comedy, and despite not quite mixing two totally successfully, I quite liked it. I think Lady Gaga might be a bonafide movie star? I hope Scott keeps making movies forever. He mentioned recently that he's working on a Napoleon movie, and I couldn't be more excited for a movie that's possibly just a thought in Scott's head in terms of development.

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    1. Both Ridley Scott's 2019 movies are still next in my queue! House of Gucci just showed up in Apple TV this week. Yay!

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  13. I never wanted to watch Frozen or even Moana (despite living in Hawaii) because I always felt like it was a perk of choosing to not have kids - to never have to watch more 3d animated films that I tend not to like. But today someone put Moana on and I was too tired to move off the couch so I watched it. Wow it was very impressive! The scenes with the Volcano vs the Ocean are badass. They're reminiscent of the scenes with Ursula parting the ocean in Little Mermaid, which was my favorite Disney thing ever.

    When I was growing up in Hawaii you had to take Hawaiian Studies in elementary school. It was like one class. It's probably more now, as the emphasis on Hawaiian/Indigenous culture (especially agriculture and food) is way more a part of daily life here. It was really really cool to see some of the gods (at least Maui) depicted. The god of fire is Pele in Hawaiian, who has a woman form, like Te Fiti in Moana. The whole thing was pretty delightful and reminded me of the islands in positive ways. I understand they did their research well and there was no backlash like there was after Lilo & Stitch. Well done, Disney.

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  14. Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945): at 65 minutes, this is not the biggest movie of the Film Noir genre, nor does it have the biggest names, but it is one that should be put right at the top of anybody's to-watch list. Everything is there: despair, dead people, tragic dames, diners, money schemes, you name it. But one of the biggest draw, and it is a very modern reason, it's a prime example of what restoration can do nowadays (there's an extra on the criterion disc with the 2 peoples who spearheaded the project, it might be on the criterion channel too, i don't know). Basically, the best source they found had burn-in subtitles, and watching the movie, you could never tell.

    And watching such a short movie is kind of refreshing

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  15. Jackass Forever (2022 theater)

    Simplest review i can give: if you've been a fan of the show and/or movies, you'll have a blast. seriously. its the same level of bananas and fun and kind of the perfect ending for the jackass ride.

    Slightly extended review/breakdown/thoughts: Honestly while im a fan of the series i was very skeptical for this outing. The crew is older (and in many cases a bit more 'grown up') and the trailers made me think this was a bit of a cash grab with the gang there for appearances but throwing a bunch of new people at the stunts. Thankfully i was more or less wrong as the newbies do do some of the heavy lifting, but the original group really goes all out in stunts, risks, gross outs, and shamelessness. And, as always, maybe the highpoint is the amount of fun they have in their camaraderie thoughout..its infectious. Not a single person phoned it in..there are legitimate unbelievable risks and bits. The new crew is an affable bunch and i was surprised how much i liked their work within. Im going to avoid talking specifics as they are best discovered along the way but i will reference one bit..its in every advertisement.... .knoxville's bull hit. The risk and injuries from that single bit cannot be overstated but they also serve as maybe the greatest bookend to a journey started by a crazy guy testing safety equipment hooking up with folks running a skateboard magazine. There's an old tune that plays throughout the series..."If youre gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough"...maybe so, but for me i'd never call this group either dumb or tough...i'd call them a crazy rag tag band of misfits who came together and created something insane that, for those who connected with, brought countless laughs and gasps and awe and admiration and entertainment. This movie does all of that and ends the Jackass journey on a highnote. What a f@#$ing ride.

    Peace .n. These stunts were performed by professi...hahahaaha

    Mash

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