Last week I was praising the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven. One thing I forgot to mention, is that there's quite a bit of CGI blood added to it. For better or worse (IMO, the latter).
Pink Flamingos (1972, dir. John Waters). I shut it off after about 10 minutes, but was strangely compelled to return to it the next evening. This is a fucked up movie, which is the point, I guess. A lot of bits were so out there that it was funny, which was maybe also the point. As someone who loves eggs, and eat them nearly every day, I felt a camaraderie with a certain character.
My son and I went to see Vampire Hunter D (1985, dir. Toyoo Ashida) at the local indie theatre yesterday. I don't care for anime, but it was his suggestion, and I ended up liking it quite a bit. It was a packed house surprisingly. The audience was laughing uproariously at certain bits (that weren't comedy. Anytime the young barely clade female character was on screen the crowd became animated, but fell completely silent otherwise. It was weird). I loved how much it was a "western", but also a classic vampire movie, through the lens of anime.
I'm with you on anime, but there are a few that are among my favorite movies. The obvious ones are Akira and Ghost in the Shell. But Jin Roh is a favorite of mine. They did a korean live action remake a few years ago that was not bad.
The Mahoning Drive-In has had John Waters weekends. I was there two years ago to see Pink Flamingos uncut on the big screen. Yes, it is a shock cinema. Incidentally, the woman who called for the egg man hated eggs. Waters had the persuasive power to get people to do things that they would not normally do. Multiple Maniacs is a fun film from this early John Waters period.
The one anime that I have enjoyed in recent years is a very 1980s series called Bubblegum Crisis. The best aspect of it is the aesthetic, a catchy '80s soundtrack combined with visuals inspired by Blade Runner and other films of the period. The storytelling is not very consistent over the 8 episodes that were made. Though I have watched the English dub more, the Japanese originals are superior.
I loved the woman who loved eggs. Some other things, like the mother and son who got overly excited together, not so much. I'd like to see some of his later less shocking movies. Thanks for the Multiple Maniacs recommendation.
Final Destination Series Watch (dvd,dvd,dvd,dvd,dvd,theatrical)
After revisiting pt1 and 2 last weekend i just decided to watch the series.
Pt3: As a kid i would love it when the movie Rollercoaster came on tv. Having an amusement park be the setting for a terrorist was just a great idea. (in the end its more of a cat and mouse movie but the premise stands). So when i first saw pt3 in the theater i was giddy that they chose to do the prologue in the same setting. And for the most part it delivered. Enjoyed the revisit.
Pt4/5: welp here is where i think the franchise's wheels come off...figuratively and literally. Doing a Nascar prologue makes sense due to its popularity but the movie failed to follow its only rule of rube golbergian events. Its just a bunch of car parts (in meh cgi). i saw the move days ago and already have forgotten most of it. pt 5 is certainly better with a great opening and some fun kills (gymnast!) but it was another slap dash group that i didnt really care about at all.
Bloodlines: I kinda loved it! I think theres enough creativity in the plot (death holds a grudge for a long long time), interesting family dynamics, twists in deaths design, amazing prologue, and of course bananas level kills. Also it contains a through-line item that triggers most of the carnage that is brilliant. Also Tony Todds final on screen moments and, i believe, ad-libbed final words, are perfect. I know folks are divided on this one and this series but i think this flick is in the top 3 with pt 1 and 2.
Mashke unintentional double feature theme this week: "2025 origin story documentaries"
Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025 digital purchase)
I find my favorite docs are ones that feature as much historical footage as they can and the dialogue is supplied by those that were there (as opposed to 'talking head' interviews with fans or 'experts'). This doc nails that as its narrated by the band and has tons of footage. Its almost more of a collection of performances from early on thru the early days of the release of Led Zeppelin II. Nothing to deep or telling (its made by the band so rather than "Sex, Drugs, Rock&Roll" we get "Rock&Roll") and plays out like a wikipedia turned doc, but i enjoyed it a bunch!
Pee-Wee As Himself (2025 pt 1 Max....HBO Max?...HBO?..HBAX?)
I consider Pee Wees Big Adventure to be one of the 5 best comedies ever made (dont ask me to name the others..i know id forget something and be crestfallen later). It is brilliant, endlessly rewatchable, filled with laughs front to back, and never fails to crack me up. So i was pretty stoked to hear we were getting a feature length doc on Paul Rubens this year. Pt1 is outstanding. Its narrated by Paul himeself who was working with a documentary crew during a time where he was hiding that he was sick from them and everyone. Thats pretty special in that he gets to help tell his life story before he left us all too soon. Tons of wonderful footage, stories, emotions, personal reveals, and laughs from Paul along the way. Im about to fire up pt 2 after i finish this review with my favorite quote from Big Adventure.
"IS THIS SOMETHING YOU CAN SHARE WITH THE REST OF US AMAZING LARRY???" - P.W. Herman
Thank you for making me aware of the documentary, Mashke. I grew up watching Pee-Wee's Playhouse on Saturday mornings, so hearing Paul Reubens talk about the influence of the 1950s kids shows he grew up with was fascinating. The first Pee-Wee movie is also a personal favorite. With the second half of the doc getting into the legal issues Reubens faced, things do get considerably darker. Seeing how he interacted with the documentary director, it is also clear that Reubens was not always easy to work with.
Howdy @A Casual! Glad the doc worked for you. And agree with you all around. I think its really important that Wolf (director) kept and maintained control of the doc and Rubens was guarded but honest. In the end we get more of a glimpse into who he was including stuff that was more difficult.
I dont want to dig into too much detail as i like viewers to discover and make their own conclusions but there was one story that tied alot of it together. When Big Top Pee Wee came out i saw it theatrically and completely didnt connect. Dont think ive ever revisited. I couldnt understand why i didnt at least enjoy it a little as i ADORE his first movie. This documentary owns up to the fact that the movie wasnt well received and reveals (IMO) that a combination of Pauls need to be pretty much in control combined with his feeling that others got too much praise for Big Adventure led him away from people equally/creatively responsible for Big Adventure (specifically and especially Burton & Hartman). Thats not say he's beholden to the same team or approach but i think shows how the right collaboration served him so much better.
I can understand why Paul Reubens was unhappy about not getting credit for the creative process behind Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, but sometimes being part of a team is what makes a film work. Ideas can get shot down that need to be removed or changed for the betterment of the project. He at least admitted to being stubborn when it came to changing anything in Big Top Pee-Wee.
I rewatched The Irishman (2019) this week. I think I've seen it 4 times now. I feel like I'm still just beginning to unpack how great it is. Plus I never knew I needed to see DeNiro and Pacino perform a scene in their jammies.
JUMANJI (1995) Free on YouTube for now. I feel like YT keeps track of the movies I like and then makes them all not free. If I watch a movie twice, then it becomes not free. Anyone else notice this?
Anyway kids and I watched JUMANJI. I wanted to fast forward to the second half but they insisted we watch from the beginning even though it’s a free day anyway and they’ve all seen it before and are texting/scrolling WHILE watching. So that kind of surprised me they usually are upset when I skip around. It’s a good sign. JUMANJI is still crazy.
I started a couple of films this week but did not finish any. Other things were happening that required my attention. I will try to finish them in the week ahead.
In a week's time, it will be all about Junesploitaiton here. I am looking forward to it. Most of my movie activity this week was focused on going through my collection and figuring out which discs fit the categories. Though there may be films that are more attractive to me, I am inclined to give priority to titles that have been in my Junesploitation watch list for years. As an example, there is a Vinegar Syndrome purchase from 2017 that I still have not seen. For certain days, there are multiple options set aside. My mood will determine what gets watched. With most of the kind of films I usually watch on free days covered by the categories this year, I am not sure about the free days yet. I try to have as much variety as possible for Junesploitation to make every watch fresh.
Patrick often asks his guests about their Mount Rushmore for directors (I won't even try to do actors and actresses). I didn't watch many movies this week, and I’m currently on the train on my way back home, so here it is. I'm not a guest on the show, but I'm assuming Patrick is fine with us common folks doing it. It was a hard list to make, much harder than my top 5 movies I did a while ago. Most of the directors have highs and lows, some of them made dozens of movies, and counting, while others did only a handful, how do you compare them? So, you have to go with your guts at some point and make your own rules.
- Edgar Wright - Every one of his movies I watch almost once a year (yes, even the Kevin Spacey one) and I always have a good time. His movies are so dense, yet they flow perfectly, never stopping to point out a reference. You either get it or you don't, and if you don't it still works perfectly in the scope of the movie.
- Orson Welles - He understood cinema like no others. His movies always have that something that, despite whatever flaws it might have, you always come out of it knowing you experienced a masterpiece. There's a reason Citizen Kane was considered the best movie of all time for so long.
- Martin Scorsese - An easy choice to put on that list. Arguably the only master moviemaker still alive. Every time he releases a new movie, you know you'll see something special. I still consider Goodfellas to be a perfect movie: the actors, the music, the editing, everything is perfectly done.
- Tony Scott - It was kind of a coin toss between him and Ridley, but the simple fact is he did True Romance, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Days of Thunder and Unstoppable, just to name a few. What else do you need?
The last time I tried to watch Unstoppable, I gave up halfway through in frustration with all the quick cuts, and gave away the bargain-bin Blu I'd just bought. I think it could have been a great flick with less frenetic editing, but, no cigar.
OOOOO cool list Kunider! Very interesting to see Welles on their. My movie knowledge is pretty weak with older directors/films...i will absolutely dig into his portfolio.
That kind of list is tough to create, especially if one's cinematic tastes have changed over time. Despite not watching most his films for a long time, I would put Stanley Kubrick on my list. His work had a strong impact on me during the formative years of my movie love. Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi would certainly be on my list at this time. Though he was not prolific, I have loved every film of his that I have seen. With Italian genre cinema being so important to me, Mario Bava could be on the list. I have gone back to his films more than any other Italian director. Maybe even Jack Hill, a master in several exploitation genres. Coffy is one of the few films I consider perfect.
I haven't seen any Orson Welles. It's tough to create a directors Mont Rushmore, because for most directors I've only seen a few of their movies. Wolfgang Petersen would be on mine, because he made my favourite (Das Boot) and just generally hits all the time. Ridley Scott just works for me every time too. Spielberg I love, but is a boring answer. Tarantino for sure. David Lean I love, but haven't seen much other than his epics. James Cameron, as a fellow countryman, and as an amazing movie maker, I should put on there. He's maybe the only one where I've seen all his movies.
I'll forever champion Wolfgang Petersen though. Because he's a great director, and Das Boot is the best.
I finished Andor this week. My full thoughts are here, but I'd like to share this:
Ever since The Last Jedi came out, some of its admirers have made the maddening argument that its detractors "just don't want anything new with Star Wars." I always found this argument both laughable and noxious - laughable, given how many plot beats, thematic elements, character turns, and visuals TLJ borrowed from Empire/RotJ, and noxious, in that it was generally made in bad faith. Just because critics of TLJ didn't think the penultimate/eighth entry in a nine-film saga was the right project to undercut the previous movie's setups and experiment with tone didn't mean they never wanted anything new from the franchise; they might have simply thought that such variety would more properly appear elsewhere.
Well, now we have Andor, and, IMO, it's a helluva lot more of a departure from classic Star Wars than TLJ. J.J. Abrams built a crappy sandcastle with TFA, and Johnson thought he was being wonderfully clever by simply kicking it flat. Enter Tony Gilroy, with an almost entirely new slate of characters, who came and built something genuinely great. [...] So, while I haven't seen the animated shows, or read any of the new continuity books, I feel confident in saying Andor is the greatest Star Wars story since the Thrawn Trilogy, and its best screen story since The Empire Strikes Back. For this, I offer Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy sincere congratulations; they finally made something not just decent, but excellent.
OOOOO great review Gaith. I appreciate it as ive strayed-from-the-fold with a lot of the star wars and MCU based TV programming. That being said i have buds that really love Andor. Your review is final push i need to jump in and watch from beginning. Its kinda nice to be looking forward to new content in the Star Wars-verse!
Agreed, Rogue One needed several more drafts to live up to its potential. If it didn't have that gut punch of an ending, it'd be far from satisfactory.
As a big Star Wars fan, I've never seen Andor. I kind of burnt out at one point. But I heard it was good, and was kind of waiting for a chance to watch with the kids. But a few years later, they're getting busier and busier with their own stuff, so I should just watch it.
I'm generally kind of hesitant to go into TV series though. A movie I can bang out in an evening, but a multiple season series could take a while.
I said I was a "big Star Wars fan", but as in I love to watch the movies. I just want to re-watch The Last Jedi every couple of years and have a good time. If other people don't care for it, fair enough.
I picked up few titles from Vinegar Syndrome this weekend for the Half-way sale. They are Flesh and Fantasy, Sugar Cookies, and a Hong Kong action VSA called An Eye For An Eye. In past years, I would usually get a small stack of releases from these VS sales. I have become more selective. Besides the cost of blind buying a lot of titles becoming an issue, I already have a lengthy list of VS releases that have sat around unwatched. I might get to some of those on a free day next month.
It looks like it was a successful sale for Vinegar Syndrome. Most of the 10,000 slipcover editions of Dirty Work are now sold, and over 80% of the stock for the new VSA has found a customer. Just going through the numbers for The Keep release last year - 12,000 limited edition sets at $45 sold in a single weekend - shows how much these sales can generate.
Anybody else get something from the sale this weekend?
I haven't ordered from a VS sale in a few years to save money but I did order Dirty Work this time around (going to program that "dirtier cut" during Junesploitation), plus the China O'Brien set and a Forgotten Giallo set both for 50% off.
I had not heard of Dirty Work until the Mahoning Drive-In played it last year. (I did not attend that night.) It clearly has an audience. Despite being a giallo fan, I have not picked up any of those Forgotten Gialli sets because so many of the deeper cuts in the genre have disappointed me. Hopefully the shipping is faster than it was for the Black Friday sale for the everything to arrive in time for Junesploitation.
I have also skipped VS sales in recent years, including the previous two half-way sales. The subscriber weeks can offer some good sales, though. Last year I picked up Burning Paradise and The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Women for around $14.
Last week I was praising the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven. One thing I forgot to mention, is that there's quite a bit of CGI blood added to it. For better or worse (IMO, the latter).
ReplyDeletePink Flamingos (1972, dir. John Waters). I shut it off after about 10 minutes, but was strangely compelled to return to it the next evening. This is a fucked up movie, which is the point, I guess. A lot of bits were so out there that it was funny, which was maybe also the point. As someone who loves eggs, and eat them nearly every day, I felt a camaraderie with a certain character.
My son and I went to see Vampire Hunter D (1985, dir. Toyoo Ashida) at the local indie theatre yesterday. I don't care for anime, but it was his suggestion, and I ended up liking it quite a bit. It was a packed house surprisingly. The audience was laughing uproariously at certain bits (that weren't comedy. Anytime the young barely clade female character was on screen the crowd became animated, but fell completely silent otherwise. It was weird). I loved how much it was a "western", but also a classic vampire movie, through the lens of anime.
I'm with you on anime, but there are a few that are among my favorite movies. The obvious ones are Akira and Ghost in the Shell. But Jin Roh is a favorite of mine. They did a korean live action remake a few years ago that was not bad.
DeleteThe Mahoning Drive-In has had John Waters weekends. I was there two years ago to see Pink Flamingos uncut on the big screen. Yes, it is a shock cinema. Incidentally, the woman who called for the egg man hated eggs. Waters had the persuasive power to get people to do things that they would not normally do. Multiple Maniacs is a fun film from this early John Waters period.
DeleteThe one anime that I have enjoyed in recent years is a very 1980s series called Bubblegum Crisis. The best aspect of it is the aesthetic, a catchy '80s soundtrack combined with visuals inspired by Blade Runner and other films of the period. The storytelling is not very consistent over the 8 episodes that were made. Though I have watched the English dub more, the Japanese originals are superior.
I loved the woman who loved eggs. Some other things, like the mother and son who got overly excited together, not so much. I'd like to see some of his later less shocking movies. Thanks for the Multiple Maniacs recommendation.
DeleteThe Weekend Be Here!
ReplyDeleteFinal Destination Series Watch (dvd,dvd,dvd,dvd,dvd,theatrical)
After revisiting pt1 and 2 last weekend i just decided to watch the series.
Pt3: As a kid i would love it when the movie Rollercoaster came on tv. Having an amusement park be the setting for a terrorist was just a great idea. (in the end its more of a cat and mouse movie but the premise stands). So when i first saw pt3 in the theater i was giddy that they chose to do the prologue in the same setting. And for the most part it delivered. Enjoyed the revisit.
Pt4/5: welp here is where i think the franchise's wheels come off...figuratively and literally. Doing a Nascar prologue makes sense due to its popularity but the movie failed to follow its only rule of rube golbergian events. Its just a bunch of car parts (in meh cgi). i saw the move days ago and already have forgotten most of it. pt 5 is certainly better with a great opening and some fun kills (gymnast!) but it was another slap dash group that i didnt really care about at all.
Bloodlines: I kinda loved it! I think theres enough creativity in the plot (death holds a grudge for a long long time), interesting family dynamics, twists in deaths design, amazing prologue, and of course bananas level kills. Also it contains a through-line item that triggers most of the carnage that is brilliant. Also Tony Todds final on screen moments and, i believe, ad-libbed final words, are perfect. I know folks are divided on this one and this series but i think this flick is in the top 3 with pt 1 and 2.
Mashke unintentional double feature theme this week: "2025 origin story documentaries"
ReplyDeleteBecoming Led Zeppelin (2025 digital purchase)
I find my favorite docs are ones that feature as much historical footage as they can and the dialogue is supplied by those that were there (as opposed to 'talking head' interviews with fans or 'experts'). This doc nails that as its narrated by the band and has tons of footage. Its almost more of a collection of performances from early on thru the early days of the release of Led Zeppelin II. Nothing to deep or telling (its made by the band so rather than "Sex, Drugs, Rock&Roll" we get "Rock&Roll") and plays out like a wikipedia turned doc, but i enjoyed it a bunch!
Pee-Wee As Himself (2025 pt 1 Max....HBO Max?...HBO?..HBAX?)
I consider Pee Wees Big Adventure to be one of the 5 best comedies ever made (dont ask me to name the others..i know id forget something and be crestfallen later). It is brilliant, endlessly rewatchable, filled with laughs front to back, and never fails to crack me up. So i was pretty stoked to hear we were getting a feature length doc on Paul Rubens this year. Pt1 is outstanding. Its narrated by Paul himeself who was working with a documentary crew during a time where he was hiding that he was sick from them and everyone. Thats pretty special in that he gets to help tell his life story before he left us all too soon. Tons of wonderful footage, stories, emotions, personal reveals, and laughs from Paul along the way. Im about to fire up pt 2 after i finish this review with my favorite quote from Big Adventure.
"IS THIS SOMETHING YOU CAN SHARE WITH THE REST OF US AMAZING LARRY???" - P.W. Herman
I have access to Max this weekend through some pet sitting. I might put that Paul Rubens doc on.
DeleteThank you for making me aware of the documentary, Mashke. I grew up watching Pee-Wee's Playhouse on Saturday mornings, so hearing Paul Reubens talk about the influence of the 1950s kids shows he grew up with was fascinating. The first Pee-Wee movie is also a personal favorite. With the second half of the doc getting into the legal issues Reubens faced, things do get considerably darker. Seeing how he interacted with the documentary director, it is also clear that Reubens was not always easy to work with.
DeleteHowdy @A Casual! Glad the doc worked for you. And agree with you all around. I think its really important that Wolf (director) kept and maintained control of the doc and Rubens was guarded but honest. In the end we get more of a glimpse into who he was including stuff that was more difficult.
DeleteI dont want to dig into too much detail as i like viewers to discover and make their own conclusions but there was one story that tied alot of it together. When Big Top Pee Wee came out i saw it theatrically and completely didnt connect. Dont think ive ever revisited. I couldnt understand why i didnt at least enjoy it a little as i ADORE his first movie. This documentary owns up to the fact that the movie wasnt well received and reveals (IMO) that a combination of Pauls need to be pretty much in control combined with his feeling that others got too much praise for Big Adventure led him away from people equally/creatively responsible for Big Adventure (specifically and especially Burton & Hartman). Thats not say he's beholden to the same team or approach but i think shows how the right collaboration served him so much better.
I can understand why Paul Reubens was unhappy about not getting credit for the creative process behind Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, but sometimes being part of a team is what makes a film work. Ideas can get shot down that need to be removed or changed for the betterment of the project. He at least admitted to being stubborn when it came to changing anything in Big Top Pee-Wee.
DeleteI rewatched The Irishman (2019) this week. I think I've seen it 4 times now. I feel like I'm still just beginning to unpack how great it is. Plus I never knew I needed to see DeNiro and Pacino perform a scene in their jammies.
ReplyDeleteI totally need to revisit. I really liked it upon first viewing and, as with all Scorsese flicks, i know ill find so much more to love upon rewatch.
DeleteJUMANJI (1995)
ReplyDeleteFree on YouTube for now. I feel like YT keeps track of the movies I like and then makes them all not free. If I watch a movie twice, then it becomes not free. Anyone else notice this?
Anyway kids and I watched JUMANJI. I wanted to fast forward to the second half but they insisted we watch from the beginning even though it’s a free day anyway and they’ve all seen it before and are texting/scrolling WHILE watching. So that kind of surprised me they usually are upset when I skip around. It’s a good sign.
JUMANJI is still crazy.
I like the reboot with Jack Black too. The sequel, not so much
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWe should watch the Jack Black one! That would be fun for me, too, bc I haven’t seen it.
Delete"if i watch a movie twice, then it becomes not free" ha! totally!
DeleteI started a couple of films this week but did not finish any. Other things were happening that required my attention. I will try to finish them in the week ahead.
ReplyDeleteIn a week's time, it will be all about Junesploitaiton here. I am looking forward to it. Most of my movie activity this week was focused on going through my collection and figuring out which discs fit the categories. Though there may be films that are more attractive to me, I am inclined to give priority to titles that have been in my Junesploitation watch list for years. As an example, there is a Vinegar Syndrome purchase from 2017 that I still have not seen. For certain days, there are multiple options set aside. My mood will determine what gets watched. With most of the kind of films I usually watch on free days covered by the categories this year, I am not sure about the free days yet. I try to have as much variety as possible for Junesploitation to make every watch fresh.
Patrick often asks his guests about their Mount Rushmore for directors (I won't even try to do actors and actresses). I didn't watch many movies this week, and I’m currently on the train on my way back home, so here it is. I'm not a guest on the show, but I'm assuming Patrick is fine with us common folks doing it. It was a hard list to make, much harder than my top 5 movies I did a while ago. Most of the directors have highs and lows, some of them made dozens of movies, and counting, while others did only a handful, how do you compare them? So, you have to go with your guts at some point and make your own rules.
ReplyDelete- Edgar Wright - Every one of his movies I watch almost once a year (yes, even the Kevin Spacey one) and I always have a good time. His movies are so dense, yet they flow perfectly, never stopping to point out a reference. You either get it or you don't, and if you don't it still works perfectly in the scope of the movie.
- Orson Welles - He understood cinema like no others. His movies always have that something that, despite whatever flaws it might have, you always come out of it knowing you experienced a masterpiece. There's a reason Citizen Kane was considered the best movie of all time for so long.
- Martin Scorsese - An easy choice to put on that list. Arguably the only master moviemaker still alive. Every time he releases a new movie, you know you'll see something special. I still consider Goodfellas to be a perfect movie: the actors, the music, the editing, everything is perfectly done.
- Tony Scott - It was kind of a coin toss between him and Ridley, but the simple fact is he did True Romance, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Days of Thunder and Unstoppable, just to name a few. What else do you need?
The last time I tried to watch Unstoppable, I gave up halfway through in frustration with all the quick cuts, and gave away the bargain-bin Blu I'd just bought. I think it could have been a great flick with less frenetic editing, but, no cigar.
DeleteThe quick edit is a Scott trope, but he did it more in his later career
DeleteOOOOO cool list Kunider! Very interesting to see Welles on their. My movie knowledge is pretty weak with older directors/films...i will absolutely dig into his portfolio.
DeleteThat kind of list is tough to create, especially if one's cinematic tastes have changed over time. Despite not watching most his films for a long time, I would put Stanley Kubrick on my list. His work had a strong impact on me during the formative years of my movie love. Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi would certainly be on my list at this time. Though he was not prolific, I have loved every film of his that I have seen.
DeleteWith Italian genre cinema being so important to me, Mario Bava could be on the list. I have gone back to his films more than any other Italian director. Maybe even Jack Hill, a master in several exploitation genres. Coffy is one of the few films I consider perfect.
I haven't seen any Orson Welles. It's tough to create a directors Mont Rushmore, because for most directors I've only seen a few of their movies. Wolfgang Petersen would be on mine, because he made my favourite (Das Boot) and just generally hits all the time. Ridley Scott just works for me every time too. Spielberg I love, but is a boring answer. Tarantino for sure. David Lean I love, but haven't seen much other than his epics. James Cameron, as a fellow countryman, and as an amazing movie maker, I should put on there. He's maybe the only one where I've seen all his movies.
DeleteI'll forever champion Wolfgang Petersen though. Because he's a great director, and Das Boot is the best.
Go for the boring answer, there's a reason he's become a boring answer
DeleteI finished Andor this week. My full thoughts are here, but I'd like to share this:
ReplyDeleteEver since The Last Jedi came out, some of its admirers have made the maddening argument that its detractors "just don't want anything new with Star Wars." I always found this argument both laughable and noxious - laughable, given how many plot beats, thematic elements, character turns, and visuals TLJ borrowed from Empire/RotJ, and noxious, in that it was generally made in bad faith. Just because critics of TLJ didn't think the penultimate/eighth entry in a nine-film saga was the right project to undercut the previous movie's setups and experiment with tone didn't mean they never wanted anything new from the franchise; they might have simply thought that such variety would more properly appear elsewhere.
Well, now we have Andor, and, IMO, it's a helluva lot more of a departure from classic Star Wars than TLJ. J.J. Abrams built a crappy sandcastle with TFA, and Johnson thought he was being wonderfully clever by simply kicking it flat. Enter Tony Gilroy, with an almost entirely new slate of characters, who came and built something genuinely great. [...] So, while I haven't seen the animated shows, or read any of the new continuity books, I feel confident in saying Andor is the greatest Star Wars story since the Thrawn Trilogy, and its best screen story since The Empire Strikes Back. For this, I offer Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy sincere congratulations; they finally made something not just decent, but excellent.
OOOOO great review Gaith. I appreciate it as ive strayed-from-the-fold with a lot of the star wars and MCU based TV programming. That being said i have buds that really love Andor. Your review is final push i need to jump in and watch from beginning. Its kinda nice to be looking forward to new content in the Star Wars-verse!
DeleteYeah, I liked Andor a lot and I say that as someone who thought that Rogue One was kind of a B- or C+ Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven.
DeleteAgreed, Rogue One needed several more drafts to live up to its potential. If it didn't have that gut punch of an ending, it'd be far from satisfactory.
DeleteAs a big Star Wars fan, I've never seen Andor. I kind of burnt out at one point. But I heard it was good, and was kind of waiting for a chance to watch with the kids. But a few years later, they're getting busier and busier with their own stuff, so I should just watch it.
DeleteI'm generally kind of hesitant to go into TV series though. A movie I can bang out in an evening, but a multiple season series could take a while.
I said I was a "big Star Wars fan", but as in I love to watch the movies. I just want to re-watch The Last Jedi every couple of years and have a good time. If other people don't care for it, fair enough.
DeleteI picked up few titles from Vinegar Syndrome this weekend for the Half-way sale. They are Flesh and Fantasy, Sugar Cookies, and a Hong Kong action VSA called An Eye For An Eye. In past years, I would usually get a small stack of releases from these VS sales. I have become more selective. Besides the cost of blind buying a lot of titles becoming an issue, I already have a lengthy list of VS releases that have sat around unwatched. I might get to some of those on a free day next month.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like it was a successful sale for Vinegar Syndrome. Most of the 10,000 slipcover editions of Dirty Work are now sold, and over 80% of the stock for the new VSA has found a customer. Just going through the numbers for The Keep release last year - 12,000 limited edition sets at $45 sold in a single weekend - shows how much these sales can generate.
Anybody else get something from the sale this weekend?
I got a couple of things, still waiting for shipping. Golden Child and Dirty Work
DeleteI haven't ordered from a VS sale in a few years to save money but I did order Dirty Work this time around (going to program that "dirtier cut" during Junesploitation), plus the China O'Brien set and a Forgotten Giallo set both for 50% off.
DeleteI had not heard of Dirty Work until the Mahoning Drive-In played it last year. (I did not attend that night.) It clearly has an audience. Despite being a giallo fan, I have not picked up any of those Forgotten Gialli sets because so many of the deeper cuts in the genre have disappointed me. Hopefully the shipping is faster than it was for the Black Friday sale for the everything to arrive in time for Junesploitation.
DeleteI have also skipped VS sales in recent years, including the previous two half-way sales. The subscriber weeks can offer some good sales, though. Last year I picked up Burning Paradise and The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Women for around $14.