G.I. Jane (1997): I don't care what anybody thinks the movie is or isn't, the movie is cool and Demi Moore is totally badass. Also, the Razzies are a sham.
Transformers One (2024): This is not the War For Cybertron version I asked for. Fine, I'm not the target demographic anymore, I'll go back to my old badly animated cartoons, replay the videogames and leave this movie to the kids. It's still cool sci-fi if you forget it's the Transformers. There's a spark of something good towards the end, but that's not enough for me. I still hope it makes money.
A quick word on a series I found recently. We Are Angels (1997), with an aging Bud Spencer and Miami Vice's Philip Michael Thomas. Here's the twist, it's directed by Ruggero Deodato. But don't look for gore, there's none. It's a silly comedy about 2 escaped prisoners disguised as monks to avoid prison.
@Meredith, watched The Regime. It's great. Kate is great. But more importantly, Andrea Riseborough is in it, and she's also great. Have you ever seen The Death Of Stalin (she's in it)? If not, stop everything and find this movie, any way you can. It's the same tone as The Regime, but based on real events.
Oh, thank you. I remember I almost watched Death of Stalin once because it looked like my type of silliness. I will check it out, thank you :) I dont' want to buy a MAX subscription, so I may actually see DOF before The Regime.
I'm pretty biased because Ridley is one of my favourite directors, but I first watched G.I. Jane recently and loved it! She is indeed super badass in this. I haven't seen hardly any Moore movies. Only other ones are Striptease and A Few Good Men (a long time ago for the latter, and I should rewatch).
+1 on Death of Stalin. Definitely worth a watch Meredith!
I just started writing a 24 Hours of Movies Demi Moore piece that might have some good recs in it. Of course now it probably won't run until after SMM so I shouldn't have even brought it up.
Last year i started filling in a bunch of gaps of Tony Scott/Denzel Washington movies. I found their pairing to consistently turn out awesome movies. welp now im going to change that to Tony/Ridley Scott & Denzel Washington pairings. When this film originally came out, i found it to be "ok". Upon revisit i believe my expectations were incorrect. I probably expected their take on Goodfellas or Scarface. Coming at it fresh, i found at first the movie seemed to be taking its time but within 20m or so, i was HOOKED. Its an incredibly well told story of a mans rise to power in the drug world during vietnam and an honest cop (a rare thing in the framework) trying to create a team to take on said drug world. The performances by Denzel, Russel Crowe, and Josh Brolin are pitch perfect. There is a plot line centered around a fur coat that i found absolutely fascinating. The ending goes in places i didnt expect which i later discovered......
were true.
Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster (2007 DVD extra)
feature length doc on the movie. its stuff like this that makes me sadder about the demise of physical media above all else. This documentary kind of blew me away in that it goes into detail on the real story the movie is based upon (i was unaware when watching that it was based on reality), has the actual individuals that inspired the two protagonists, and reveals how a MAJOR part of the movie was all based on facts. Including the fur coat! Brilliant.
Again with the Ridley bias, but American Gangster is really great and endlessly rewatchable. I agree with Adam and Patrick that the theatrical is the way to go (which is often not true with Sir Ridley). I think the differences are pretty minor, but the ending was indeed changed for the worse. I had seen it a few times before I realised it was based on a real person.
I am going to make a giant poster about the The Magnificent Seven scene where the man tells the boys their fathers doing thankless, hard work every day to support others, have more real courage than the gunmen. Because my students have some super dumb ideas about what it means to be manly and impressive. Also, that's such a brilliant scene.
The Big Country (1958, dir. William Wyler). Great western with Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston (in a non lead role), Jean Simmons and Carroll Baker (I'm not familiar with either but both had great performances), and WOW, Burl Ives who is a joy to watch on screen. I recognise him but not sure from what. Peck is a little wooden in this and it might run a little long at 166 minutes, but definitely one of the better post WW2 westerns I've seen.
Recently watched Civil War (2024) which was pretty good and engrossing. It didn't have quite the same visual flourishes of previous Garland movies which is something I like about the director. I like Kirsten Dunst more every time I see her on screen. It won't be in my top 10, but top 20 sure.
I then watched another war photojournalism movie, Salvador (1986, dir. Oliver Stone which I've been meaning to watch for some time. It was fantastic. James Wood is super duper at playing a slightly slimy photojournalist, borrowing money as fast as he can spend it. A VERY sweaty Jim Belushi gets roped in and taken along for the ride.
There's been quite a bit of Oliver Stone discussion on the podcast lately, which is fun as I've been delving into his movies. You should watch Heaven and Earth Patrick! The DP is Robert Richardson and it's one of the most gorgeous movies ever, especially the part set in Vietnam.
@casual I watched it over 2 evenings, so I didn't really feel the length. It definitely could have been edited down a bit, but there aren't any parts that feel unnecessary.
Also, I was reading a bit about William Wylar. Director of Ben Hur and nominated for best director 12 times!
I unintentionally found myself doing a Jimmy Stewart double feature earlier. I'd seen the filibuster scene from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but had never actually watched the full movie so I figured I'd go ahead and knock that out. A little while after that I came across The Philadelphia Story which is another movie featuring Mr. Stewart that I've never actually watched.
Thing is, I've watched a lot of Jimmy Stewart stuff. I think I've gone through all his biggest/best regarded movies now, and I always enjoy it because they guy seemed so effortless charismatic. I feel like if you took him at his prime and dropped him into a modern movie, he would still find a way to make the movie work and he'd still be popular.
Agree. I personally find him way more charismatic than Cary Grant. Not that it's a contest, but I don't think it gets talked about enough, maybe because of the amount of conservative-guy roles he took on later in his career.
I loved to see him going head to head with Hepburn. I didn't think she had anything on him.
THE SUBTANCE (2024) It lives up to the hype, and then some. An absolute must-see. If possible, go in with as few spoilers as you can.
DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE (2006) There's a top-secret fighting tournament, and wouldn't you know there's a big conspiracy behind it. Also, magic sunglasses! A very dumb movie, but it's a silly good time.
TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983) Super-fun movie, except for a real-life tragedy and "Kick the Can" being so dull. But the Dante and Miller segments rule.
RONIN (1998) John Frankenheimer goodness!
THE FOUR DREAMS OF MISS X (2006) Supermodel Kate Moss plays the mysterious Miss X, who wanders around a gloomy old mansion taking about and then reexperiencing the dreams she's had. The gimmick here is that director Mike Figgis used infrared cameras to shoot the entire movie in total darkness, so Moss couldn't see a thing while performing. It's weird and sexy, but I wonder if they could have gone weirder and sexier.
SLC Punk! (1998): A classic coming-of-age story of youth trying to find their ways and place in the world. When I started the movie, I didn't know what SLC meant, but they tell you right away and it's kinda funny to set the story of young punks in Salt Lake City. It took me a while to watch it (it's part of the Sony Pictures Classics 30th Ann. Coll. 4K) because of Matthew Lillard, but he's great here, perfect for the role. He shows dramatic chops that I didn't know he had. Apparently, the director made a kind of sequel in 2016, with Machine Gun Kelly, and as much as I like this one, there's no way I'm watching the sequel. It looks bad anyway.
American Gangster Theatrical Cut (2007): The first scene with Denzel being extra bad and violent is not something you see often. I was hooked. I think it's Patrick and Adam who compared the movie to Scarface and Untouchables, but really it's The Wire.
Getting watches in this busy week was not easy. I ended watching a couple of the films in sections. On with Scary Movie Month in a couple of days!
LOLA MONTES (1955, dir. Max Ophuls) – A film long on my watch list but worth the wait. On a visual level, with the costumes, sets, and the choreography of the camera movement, this is a masterpiece. The Technicolor images pop with color. Based on the life of a 19th-century dancer known more for her affairs with famous men than her art, the story revolves around a circus show which she is appearing in. Lola Montez (her stage name) certainly lead a very colorful and unconventional life, leading to many scandals. The fragments of her life unfold as the circus show proceeds. The acting style is very much of the 1950s, with a focus on melodrama. A commercial failure on its initial release, the film was cut up into several versions over the years, with a restoration of the film as close to Ophul’s version as possible coming in the 2000s. It was, sadly, his final film.
BLACK TIGHT KILLERS (1966, Yasuharu Hasebe) – A gleefully wacky slice of Japanese pop cinema. Hondo is a photojournalist with ninja training who meets a stewardess coming back to Japan. When she gets kidnapped, a series of adventures begins as Hondo pursues a criminal gang and a mysterious group of black-dressed women. The film frequently ventures into James Bond territory with the numerous run-ins with villains and a slew of crazy gadgets. The fast pace and eccentric visuals add to the fun.
PARADISE: HOPE (2013, dir. Ulrich Seidl) – At a fat camp in Austria, adolescent Melanie becomes attracted to the doctor working for the program. It does not seem like the doctor is averse to her interest, either. Shot in a very matter-of-fact style, frequently with static shots, there is nothing else going on except the story. It is a cold film, which is not inappropriate considering the prison-like experience of the children at the camp. Much of the dialogue has an improvised feel, adding some necessary life to the proceedings. Paradise: Hope thankfully does not go as far as a Catherine Breillat coming-of-age film. It’s fine.
Black Tight Killers definitely sounds like something I would enjoy. I've added it to the list for next years Junesploitation, if I don't watch it before then.
While going down the Youtube rabbit hole this week, I learned about a Canadian cartoon show called Freaky Stories from the late 1990s. What really caught my attention is that the puppet hosts of the show were a cockroach and a maggot living in a diner. I found episodes of Freaky Stories available on TUBI and dove into the first season. Although the cartoon segments are engaging and sometimes twisted, the real fun is the interaction of the Larry the Cockroach and Maurice the Maggot. For such a gross character (he frequently has slime dripping out of his mouth), Maurice is quite endearing.
G.I. Jane (1997): I don't care what anybody thinks the movie is or isn't, the movie is cool and Demi Moore is totally badass. Also, the Razzies are a sham.
ReplyDeleteTransformers One (2024): This is not the War For Cybertron version I asked for. Fine, I'm not the target demographic anymore, I'll go back to my old badly animated cartoons, replay the videogames and leave this movie to the kids. It's still cool sci-fi if you forget it's the Transformers. There's a spark of something good towards the end, but that's not enough for me. I still hope it makes money.
A quick word on a series I found recently. We Are Angels (1997), with an aging Bud Spencer and Miami Vice's Philip Michael Thomas. Here's the twist, it's directed by Ruggero Deodato. But don't look for gore, there's none. It's a silly comedy about 2 escaped prisoners disguised as monks to avoid prison.
@Meredith, watched The Regime. It's great. Kate is great. But more importantly, Andrea Riseborough is in it, and she's also great. Have you ever seen The Death Of Stalin (she's in it)? If not, stop everything and find this movie, any way you can. It's the same tone as The Regime, but based on real events.
Oh, thank you. I remember I almost watched Death of Stalin once because it looked like my type of silliness. I will check it out, thank you :) I dont' want to buy a MAX subscription, so I may actually see DOF before The Regime.
DeleteDo it, DoS is the best comedy of the last 10 years. And then watch the History Buffs video about the movie, on youtube. You won't be disappointed
DeleteI'm pretty biased because Ridley is one of my favourite directors, but I first watched G.I. Jane recently and loved it! She is indeed super badass in this. I haven't seen hardly any Moore movies. Only other ones are Striptease and A Few Good Men (a long time ago for the latter, and I should rewatch).
Delete+1 on Death of Stalin. Definitely worth a watch Meredith!
I just started writing a 24 Hours of Movies Demi Moore piece that might have some good recs in it. Of course now it probably won't run until after SMM so I shouldn't have even brought it up.
DeleteLooking forward to it in November.
DeleteHowdy Everyone!
ReplyDeleteAmerican Gangster (2007 DVD extended cut)
Last year i started filling in a bunch of gaps of Tony Scott/Denzel Washington movies. I found their pairing to consistently turn out awesome movies. welp now im going to change that to Tony/Ridley Scott & Denzel Washington pairings. When this film originally came out, i found it to be "ok". Upon revisit i believe my expectations were incorrect. I probably expected their take on Goodfellas or Scarface. Coming at it fresh, i found at first the movie seemed to be taking its time but within 20m or so, i was HOOKED. Its an incredibly well told story of a mans rise to power in the drug world during vietnam and an honest cop (a rare thing in the framework) trying to create a team to take on said drug world. The performances by Denzel, Russel Crowe, and Josh Brolin are pitch perfect. There is a plot line centered around a fur coat that i found absolutely fascinating. The ending goes in places i didnt expect which i later discovered......
were true.
Fallen Empire: Making American Gangster (2007 DVD extra)
feature length doc on the movie. its stuff like this that makes me sadder about the demise of physical media above all else. This documentary kind of blew me away in that it goes into detail on the real story the movie is based upon (i was unaware when watching that it was based on reality), has the actual individuals that inspired the two protagonists, and reveals how a MAJOR part of the movie was all based on facts. Including the fur coat! Brilliant.
Patrick and Adam review of the movie was lukewarm. Yours is good. I don't know what to think anymore. I'm gonna have to see for myself 😜
DeleteAgain with the Ridley bias, but American Gangster is really great and endlessly rewatchable. I agree with Adam and Patrick that the theatrical is the way to go (which is often not true with Sir Ridley). I think the differences are pretty minor, but the ending was indeed changed for the worse. I had seen it a few times before I realised it was based on a real person.
DeleteWell, thanks to amazon next day delivery, i'll get the 4k disc by tomorrow night.
DeleteI'm also a huge Russell Crowe fan, and everyone loves Denzel, so it was like it was made for me specifically haha. Hope you enjoy it!
DeleteI didn't mean to come across as lukewarm on the movie! I really like it!
DeleteI am going to make a giant poster about the The Magnificent Seven scene where the man tells the boys their fathers doing thankless, hard work every day to support others, have more real courage than the gunmen. Because my students have some super dumb ideas about what it means to be manly and impressive. Also, that's such a brilliant scene.
ReplyDeleteThe Big Country (1958, dir. William Wyler). Great western with Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston (in a non lead role), Jean Simmons and Carroll Baker (I'm not familiar with either but both had great performances), and WOW, Burl Ives who is a joy to watch on screen. I recognise him but not sure from what. Peck is a little wooden in this and it might run a little long at 166 minutes, but definitely one of the better post WW2 westerns I've seen.
ReplyDeleteRecently watched Civil War (2024) which was pretty good and engrossing. It didn't have quite the same visual flourishes of previous Garland movies which is something I like about the director. I like Kirsten Dunst more every time I see her on screen. It won't be in my top 10, but top 20 sure.
DeleteI then watched another war photojournalism movie, Salvador (1986, dir. Oliver Stone which I've been meaning to watch for some time. It was fantastic. James Wood is super duper at playing a slightly slimy photojournalist, borrowing money as fast as he can spend it. A VERY sweaty Jim Belushi gets roped in and taken along for the ride.
There's been quite a bit of Oliver Stone discussion on the podcast lately, which is fun as I've been delving into his movies. You should watch Heaven and Earth Patrick! The DP is Robert Richardson and it's one of the most gorgeous movies ever, especially the part set in Vietnam.
Will watch for sure. I've owned the DVD for YEARS and still haven't seen it.
DeleteThe Big Country has been on my radar this year with some airings on Turner Classic Movies, but I have not been in the mood for a three-hour western.
Delete@patrick, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Delete@casual I watched it over 2 evenings, so I didn't really feel the length. It definitely could have been edited down a bit, but there aren't any parts that feel unnecessary.
Also, I was reading a bit about William Wylar. Director of Ben Hur and nominated for best director 12 times!
I unintentionally found myself doing a Jimmy Stewart double feature earlier. I'd seen the filibuster scene from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, but had never actually watched the full movie so I figured I'd go ahead and knock that out. A little while after that I came across The Philadelphia Story which is another movie featuring Mr. Stewart that I've never actually watched.
ReplyDeleteThing is, I've watched a lot of Jimmy Stewart stuff. I think I've gone through all his biggest/best regarded movies now, and I always enjoy it because they guy seemed so effortless charismatic. I feel like if you took him at his prime and dropped him into a modern movie, he would still find a way to make the movie work and he'd still be popular.
Agree. I personally find him way more charismatic than Cary Grant. Not that it's a contest, but I don't think it gets talked about enough, maybe because of the amount of conservative-guy roles he took on later in his career.
DeleteI loved to see him going head to head with Hepburn. I didn't think she had anything on him.
THE SUBTANCE (2024)
ReplyDeleteIt lives up to the hype, and then some. An absolute must-see. If possible, go in with as few spoilers as you can.
DOA: DEAD OR ALIVE (2006)
There's a top-secret fighting tournament, and wouldn't you know there's a big conspiracy behind it. Also, magic sunglasses! A very dumb movie, but it's a silly good time.
TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983)
Super-fun movie, except for a real-life tragedy and "Kick the Can" being so dull. But the Dante and Miller segments rule.
RONIN (1998)
John Frankenheimer goodness!
THE FOUR DREAMS OF MISS X (2006)
Supermodel Kate Moss plays the mysterious Miss X, who wanders around a gloomy old mansion taking about and then reexperiencing the dreams she's had. The gimmick here is that director Mike Figgis used infrared cameras to shoot the entire movie in total darkness, so Moss couldn't see a thing while performing. It's weird and sexy, but I wonder if they could have gone weirder and sexier.
Freakin' love DOA. I watch it every couple of years
DeleteSLC Punk! (1998): A classic coming-of-age story of youth trying to find their ways and place in the world. When I started the movie, I didn't know what SLC meant, but they tell you right away and it's kinda funny to set the story of young punks in Salt Lake City. It took me a while to watch it (it's part of the Sony Pictures Classics 30th Ann. Coll. 4K) because of Matthew Lillard, but he's great here, perfect for the role. He shows dramatic chops that I didn't know he had. Apparently, the director made a kind of sequel in 2016, with Machine Gun Kelly, and as much as I like this one, there's no way I'm watching the sequel. It looks bad anyway.
ReplyDeleteAmerican Gangster Theatrical Cut (2007): The first scene with Denzel being extra bad and violent is not something you see often. I was hooked. I think it's Patrick and Adam who compared the movie to Scarface and Untouchables, but really it's The Wire.
Getting watches in this busy week was not easy. I ended watching a couple of the films in sections. On with Scary Movie Month in a couple of days!
ReplyDeleteLOLA MONTES (1955, dir. Max Ophuls) – A film long on my watch list but worth the wait. On a visual level, with the costumes, sets, and the choreography of the camera movement, this is a masterpiece. The Technicolor images pop with color. Based on the life of a 19th-century dancer known more for her affairs with famous men than her art, the story revolves around a circus show which she is appearing in. Lola Montez (her stage name) certainly lead a very colorful and unconventional life, leading to many scandals. The fragments of her life unfold as the circus show proceeds. The acting style is very much of the 1950s, with a focus on melodrama. A commercial failure on its initial release, the film was cut up into several versions over the years, with a restoration of the film as close to Ophul’s version as possible coming in the 2000s. It was, sadly, his final film.
BLACK TIGHT KILLERS (1966, Yasuharu Hasebe) – A gleefully wacky slice of Japanese pop cinema. Hondo is a photojournalist with ninja training who meets a stewardess coming back to Japan. When she gets kidnapped, a series of adventures begins as Hondo pursues a criminal gang and a mysterious group of black-dressed women. The film frequently ventures into James Bond territory with the numerous run-ins with villains and a slew of crazy gadgets. The fast pace and eccentric visuals add to the fun.
PARADISE: HOPE (2013, dir. Ulrich Seidl) – At a fat camp in Austria, adolescent Melanie becomes attracted to the doctor working for the program. It does not seem like the doctor is averse to her interest, either. Shot in a very matter-of-fact style, frequently with static shots, there is nothing else going on except the story. It is a cold film, which is not inappropriate considering the prison-like experience of the children at the camp. Much of the dialogue has an improvised feel, adding some necessary life to the proceedings. Paradise: Hope thankfully does not go as far as a Catherine Breillat coming-of-age film. It’s fine.
Black Tight Killers definitely sounds like something I would enjoy. I've added it to the list for next years Junesploitation, if I don't watch it before then.
DeleteWhile going down the Youtube rabbit hole this week, I learned about a Canadian cartoon show called Freaky Stories from the late 1990s. What really caught my attention is that the puppet hosts of the show were a cockroach and a maggot living in a diner. I found episodes of Freaky Stories available on TUBI and dove into the first season. Although the cartoon segments are engaging and sometimes twisted, the real fun is the interaction of the Larry the Cockroach and Maurice the Maggot. For such a gross character (he frequently has slime dripping out of his mouth), Maurice is quite endearing.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna need to watch this. Thankfully, we have the day off tomorrow in Canada
Delete