Saturday, February 25, 2023

Weekend Open Thread

22 comments:

  1. Nothing much from me right now. I recently got 8 Ultraman series on blu-ray from a local used dvd store. So i've been making my way through those. I'll always love a good rubber suit

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  2. Super busy with work, so not much time for movies. But I've cleared my schedule and looking forward to Fthismoviefest!

    The one notable thing I saw was Infernal Affairs (2002) which was the Hong Kong movie that The Departed was a remake of. Really good movie, and it was surprising how closely Scorsese stuck to the story beats.

    Less notably I watched Captain Ron (1992), a movie which history has forgotten. For good reason, as it's it's not very good. But I kind of enjoyed it all the same. The movies I've seen with Martin Short always seem to fall a bit short (pun!), but of no fault of his I think. His bit on Arrested Development was one of the funniest parts of the show. "Swoop me dragon!" Kurt Russell is great in Captain Ron, which is unexpected, but even his bit is a bit lacking. I just like movies about boats and people setting off on the seas, so I resonated (slightly) with this completely lackluster movie.

    Land (2021) was Robin Wright's directorial debut, and she also starred in it after somebody backed out. I really enjoyed this and it's full of gorgeous landscapes. I don't relate much to the "I'm dealing with trauma" aspect of it (or most movies, really), but it portrays her developing a really sweet relationship with another guy (not romantic). I'm a real sucker for "going into the wild" types of movies, so this was up my alley.

    Hopefully you all get a chance to participate next weekend! Time to fire up twitter again, which I've looked at maybe a dozen times since last year. All my twitter "followers" are Fthismoviefest people haha.

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  3. Considering how much work I had to do, I watched way too many movies this week. Most of James Stewart's filmography. I needed that soothing voice. Anyway, I'm just here to say how brilliant ABOUT A BOY (2002) is (again). I love Toni Collette in this sooo much. She, Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Grant are perfectly odd and perfectly wonderful together.

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  4. I got in a bit of 1983 viewing since this will be the last open thread prior to F This Movie Fest.

    Class (1983): The movie that dares to ask "What happens when a senior at a private high school unknowingly hooks up with the mother of his best friend/roommate?". Not a particularly great movie, and the coincidences really strain suspension of disbelief, this one is mostly notable for a cast that includes Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, and Jacqueline Bisset, and in much smaller roles, John and Joan Cusack, Casey Siemaszko, and Alan Ruck. Also a small and thankless role for Virginia Madsen that sees her not only vomited on at one point, but then later also having the front of her shirt torn open because the movie needed some boobs somewhere. It's a Chicago movie though, so that also made it got F This Movie Fest prep.

    Bad Boys (1983): For as minor a role as Alan Ruck had in Class, his screen time here is even shorter, getting blown away in a robbery gone wrong that sends Sean Penn to the juvenile prison equivalent of the HBO series Oz. On the plus side, Clancy Brown is in this and you get to watch Penn brutally beat the shit out of people with a pillowcase filled with a couple soda cans. On the minus side, Ally Sheedy plays Penn's girlfriend in this, and the character's main purpose in the movie is to get raped, sending Penn's nemesis to the same juvenile prison for a showdown.

    The Fourth Man (1983): This Verhoeven movie is pretty hard to track down having never been released on blu-ray, and I don't know if it was ever even released on DVD in the U.S., so be prepared to track down bootleg copies, or trying to use a VPN to rent it from Amazon UK or something. It's a shame it's hard to get because I like it a lot. It feels like it has some Giallo influences in some ways (there's some good eye trauma in particular), but it's an interesting movie about a man who may be having visions trying to warn him away from a woman whose previous three husbands died in accidents.

    Wild Style (1983): Not much to say about this one since the actual story is pretty threadbare (something about a graffiti artist). It does capture the emerging Rap culture at the time with some of the pioneering artists. Worth watching to get in the mindset of what some of the culture was like in 1983.

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    1. Wild Style is great as a glimpse of the time and place, but doesn't really have a story as you said. It's touted as the first "hip-hop" movie, but there were a handful of documentaries that had come out around then or slightly previously.

      Stations of the Elevated (1981) is a great documentary about graffiti on trains. There's no narration or talking heads, but rather just shots of trains going about the city. Pretty good stuff! It's on Tubi.

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  5. Cinema Paradiso (1988) - Director's Cut

    This movie is kind of close to my heart since I worked as a projectionist for a couple years, up until the transition to digital projectors. I still worked as a "projectionist" for a while after that, but it's just not the same thing. To this day it's still my favorite job that I've ever had.

    Anyhow, I know the director's cut has been around for about 20 years now. We've actually had longer to live with it at this point than we had to live with just the theatrical cut. I'm of the possibly unpopular opinion that I like the emotional messiness of the Director's Cut more than the theatrical cut, but even putting that aside I think I will always be fascinated just how much the cuts change the movie.

    Obviously there are a ton of movies out there that have just been destroyed by studio interference, and there are movies that have alternate endings that are wildly different from the original. I have a hard time though thinking of movies like this though that were cut for time and due to audience reaction, the theatrical cut wins an Oscar among other prestigious awards, and then later we get to see the artist's true vision of the movie that has some pretty substantial changes. Even adding 2 hours back into Once Upon a Time in America doesn't seem to make as dramatic a change to a movie as this.

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    1. I have the Arrow Academy release of Cinema Paradiso. It has the two versions. I do not know which version I have seen before.

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    2. Extended Cut is just under 3 hours and brings Elena back into the story near the end, whereas in the theatrical cut she isn't seen again after her family moves away.

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  6. THE WOMAN KING (2022). Great stuff, a big and bold historic epic like they don't make anymore. It's a serious and heady movie, but it has its point of view and sticks with it consistently. My only quibble: the nighttime scenes were lit way too dimly, and hard to see anything.

    BODIES BODIES BODIES (2022). More of a dark comedy than a horror whodunit, but a lot of fun. It stinks a little bit of Hollywood executives saying, "This is how young people talk today." But maybe that's all part of the satire. Recommended, either way.

    THE LAST DRAGON (1985). Never seen this one before, and wow is it an experience. An urban kung fu thriller that's also a Motown music video demo. It's wild. Especially worth seeing for an outrageous villain turn by Julius "Lord Bowler" Carry.

    PEARL (2022). I questioned whether this would live up to the hype, but it's just as awesome as everyone's been saying. It's exciting for Ti West to have his groove back, and Mia Goth's fearless acting cannot be underestimated.

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  7. Arachnophobia (1990) This movie really holds up well and mixes horror comedy elements perfectly.

    Cocaine Bear (2023) How well Arachnophobia was able blend horror comedy is what's missing from CB. There's a couple good gore moments but the movie is flat, boring. The trailer did it's job and sold me but all the best moments were in the trailer.

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    1. My son went to see Cocaine Bear last night with friends. His review, "It's too gory. Way too gory. And all the characters died". He's not a big horror guy, haha.

      Arachnophobia scared the living daylights out of me as a kid. I don't like spiders much, and I had nightmares. I've been trying to convince the kids to watch it with me, but they want no part of it.

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    2. The ambulance scene from the trailers goes full gore, lol.

      Arachnophobia scared the s*it out of me as a kid too, lol. I hated spiders as well, so Arachnophobia was nightmare fuel. You need to get the kids to watch it for scary movie month. It's a really good movie. I was surprised by how well it holds up.

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  8. Not a lot going on this week with movies. I did get back to the DVR with a watch of the film Francis Ford Coppola made before The Godfather. THE RAIN PEOPLE is a modest road film about a woman, confronting a stifling marriage and a pregnancy, trying to find herself. Driving out of New York City to nowhere in particular, she picks up James Caan, who plays a man with brain damage. The relationship with him gets more complicated than she wants it to be. There are some classic Coppola characteristics already evident here. Undoubtedly a product of the 1960s, and probably more of interest to those who enjoy the films of that era.

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  9. Hey guys. Like a few of you, I've been chasing down a few unseen 1983 titles. I started out with 10 to Midnight. It's obviously made right in the middle of the 70s & 80s ultra-fascist cop craze. Charles Bronson may be the most straight-faced fascist heroes I've ever seen in a movie. Gene Davis plays a very effective creep, but the script is pretty unfocused and the tone is all over the place. It's free on Tubi.

    I then had a double-feature of the Man with Two Brains and The Outsiders. TMWTB was a very pleasant surprise. Never goes more than a few minutes without a genuine laugh, and has one of the absolute funniest cameos I've ever seen. Highly recommended. The Outsiders is less good. If I didn't know who directed this, I would have never guessed. The cast is obviously remarkable, bit most of the film is given to maybe the 2 weakest actors.

    I also saw Cocaine Bear, which I've seen being dragged pretty hard lately, but I thought was fine. I think Banks made the movie she intended to make, whether you liked it or not.

    I'm hoping I'll be able to join in this weekend, but if I do get insta-banned from Twitter I'll just be silently following along at home. Happy 83 week everyone!

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    1. "The script is pretty unfocused and the tone is all over the place." That describes a lot of Cannon productions. 10 TO MIDNIGHT is one of the better films Charles Bronson was in during the 1980s. In any discussion of fascist Bronson roles, his portrayal of Paul Kersey in Death Wish II warrants mentioning.

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    2. I definately liked 10 to Midnight. I guess the difference between it and the Death Wish films is Bronson a cop here, and acts completely despicable throughout. Whereas in Death Wish he's just an angry architect, the noblest of professions, and isn't technically breaking any NCARB rules through his actions.

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    3. I saw 10 To Midnight at a drive-in. The film plays really well in that environment. When Bronson says, "No, we won't," there was a big cheer from the crowd. I am a big fan of his work but recognize that the 1980s was not the high point of his career.

      All of this Bronson talk has me thinking, "How far away is Junesploitation?" I have been saving a first viewing of the original Death Wish that month. Hopefully there will be more time for movies in June than I have had recently.

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    4. Have you watched any of the other Death Wish movies?

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    5. Numerous viewings of the second and third films. Death Wish III is a personal favorite. The nihilism of the second one has grown on me. I have not seen the fourth or fifth films yet. Last year I replaced my full-screen DVDs of the first three sequels with a blu-ray set. I have owned the original film on blu-ray for at least three years. Just have not gotten to it yet.

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  10. Tonight i saw Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, and that shit is funny. For those who don't know, they are 2 minor characters in Hamlet, and the movie is about them hanging out 'behind the scene' if you will. They're so useless outside of the play, they barely remember their own names. In the mean time, they ponder about life and death, not remembering anything where they came from. One of my favorite joke is when they 'spy' on Hamlet from afar and wonder why he's talking to himself.

    I never heard of this before, but i'm reading everything i can and will go through all the extras on the blu-ray

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    1. It's a great movie and pretty impressive that it's the only movie Tom Stoppard directed.

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