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Saturday Evening Movie Thread - 12/4/2021 [TheJamesMadison]

Tone Across a Franchise


In my long quest to watch every single surviving John Ford film (there are about 80 of them), I've been taking detours in between just to break up the task. I decided, just because I had the films on my shelves and hadn't reviewed them yet, to give both the Batman films and the Robocop films a go, and I came away with some thoughts.

What we think of the Batman movie franchise really began with 1989's Tim Burton film and ended with Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin in 1997 before going dormant for a few years to be revived by Christopher Nolan with Batman Begins That eight year period from 89 to 97 saw a massive change in how Warner Brothers wanted to portray the titular character on screen. In a similar vein, the first Robocop film was Paul Verhoeven's movie in 1987, and the series only lasted two more movies with 1993's Robocop 3 before becoming completely defunct to be resuscitated poorly in 2014 as another IP for a studio to try and mine for profit once again in the 2010s.

The same thing happened to both of these franchises: They started out aimed at more mature audiences and went kid friendly. Batman was dark and brooding while Robocop was deeply satirical and violent. How did these end up with the glorified toy commercials that ended the franchises? What happened to the tones of the films that the people loved?

The 80s and Sequels


There are a lot of people my generation who hold up the 80s as the greatest decade in film (my personal opinion puts it on the 50s, but that's another matter). It's full of the kinds of classics that dominated my generation's childhood from adventure films like Back to the Future to action films like Lethal Weapon. However, there was something else going on in Hollywood that was becoming increasingly obvious as the decade went on that Hollywood was in the business of properties, not movies.

Sequels and remakes have been a thing in Hollywood since forever. From The Thin Man movies to the Charlie Chan adventures to the Planet of the Apes movies to the Universal Horror cinematic universe (to adopt a modern phrase), Hollywood has always had an eye for finding a movie with some kind of sequel potential and trying to exploit it. However, it was always the understanding that sequels got smaller and made less money. They were generally sops to a series of fan bases that the studios never took too seriously but knew they could make some bank on. They were more interested in finding whatever would make money next, not just relying on established properties to do everything.

What changed in the 80s was the change in attitude towards the properties at the studios disposal. A change in thinking about how the intellectual property of a recognizable brand was actually a huge asset in terms of selling a new movie brought on by the huge success of the Star Wars sequels. "The dopey little space fantasy from that werido George Lucas made money? And the sequel? And he helped make it happen again with Indiana Jones? We can do that too!"

What followed was the ramping up over the decade of studios trying to create their own franchises, opening doors in movies like First Blood for sequels when the source novels had the main character die. Or taking random scripts and plopping existing heroes into them like what happened with the Die Hard franchise. The money train was rolling, and studios were going to make that cash one way or another.

Children


Something interesting happened as time went on, though.

Some of these movies that were successful enough in theaters to get sequels ended up developing fan bases that were decidedly younger than the original fans were aimed at. Like, ta-da, the Batman and Robocop franchises.

This is most pronounced when talking about Robocop, though. The original film was an original script written by Ed Neumier and directed by Paul Verhoeven, a Dutch filmmaker. It was a gory, bloody film of excess satirizing corporate culture of the 80s while reveling in the aforementioned violence as well as its own share of sex. The second film was...well...it's a mess of studio interference with moments to shine, but it doesn't work. By the time the studio got around to making a third film, though, they looked at their marketing research. It had been more than four years since the first film came out, and the kids loved Robocop. They had made toys, video games, and even a Saturday morning cartoon show that aired in 1988. The fan base was leaning very young, for this franchise that began with scenes like the below:


So what to do? Why, make the third film kid-friendly, of course! It's a great plan! It can't fail!

It failed, by the way. Critically, at least. It made $47 million off of a $22 million budget, which might have been enough for a small profit considering Hollywood accounting, but the critical reaction was awful. There has never been any sort of reappraisal of the movie either because it's simply not worth it. It's a terrible movie that largely misses the appeal of the first film (there's one moment that gets it, but really only one) while watering down the feel of the first film to nothing. What people loved about the first Robocop was, in part, its satirical tone, and by the time Robocop is bonding with a little black girl in the projects of Detroit, it's gone.

The more spectacular example is the Batman movies of the 80s and 90s. Tim Burton began with a combination of film noir and comic book that used exaggerated set design and harsh lighting to create a seedy world in which a man in a rubber suit beat up criminals. With the success of the first film, Warner Brothers gave him complete control for the second, and he ended up creating a dark film about duality set during Christmas where Danny DeVito spits black goo out of his mouth as he dies in his grotesque Penguin makeup.


McDonald's was not pleased.

Why were they not pleased? Because how do you sell toys of the grotesqueries on display to children? Did Warner Brothers not know that Batman was for kids? Sure, the first film may have been dark and scary, but that doesn't matter. Make this behemoth of a franchise more kid-friendly! With Batman Returns making less money than the first one as well, it became an easy decision to simply not invite Tim Burton back for a third film.

They brought on Joel Schumacher, director of The Lost Boys, and when Michael Keaton, star of the first two movies, dropped out as well, replaced by Val Kilmer, Schumacher felt free to break as fully from the Burton films as he could. That wasn't just about changing the visual look of the film (the production design of Gotham City became much more fantastical), it extended to tone as well.< br>
Burton's films, the ones that were so successful that they relaunched the superhero genre completely on their own after the diminishment of the Superman films, were dark and brooding affairs that used heavy shadows visually and tried to take the characters seriously. Schumacher's films did just about none of those things.

What Schumacher ended up doing was making "comic books" as he called them. Not comic book movies, but comic books. He had this idea of garish colors, silly antagonists, and then some level of seriousness around the protagonists that he could never follow through on fully because the movies around them were so inherently silly. There was a massive clash of tone within the films, but they also deviated wildly from the tones of the films that had preceded them. The antagonists were heightened in more comic ways, the visual palate was brighter, and generally the material was simply taken less seriously. Was that why people had started showing up to the theaters in 1989?

No Rules


These sorts of changes can work, of course. The James Bond series has evolved through the years to affect different cultural and cinematic trends, starting with Connery's grounded tales, evolving into Moore's campy displays of gadgets and babes, turning into the grim determination of Dalton that touched on real world stuff ever so slightly, morphing into the more fantastical Brosnan adventures, and finally becoming the interconnected mega-budgets action films of the Craig era. What the Broccoli family has done over the decades with Bond, though, is chasing trends. The Bond movies are not trend setters in the action movie world, they're followers, adapting existing intellectual property to changing mores to try and keep it fresh.

That's not what the producers on the Robocop and Batman films were doing, though. They were devolving a franchise into merchandizing potential over any kind of storytelling. It's less that they were abandoning the things that made the originals appealing (though that's definitely part of it), but that they were sidestepping any kind of storytelling concerns in order to maximize profits in synergistic ways. It's turning a storytelling medium into one part of a product line, robbing the creatives of any way to explore the characters in interesting directions. Could Joel Schumacher have made something good with Batman? Maybe, I'm not his biggest fan, but I don't think it's impossible. Could there have been more great stories to tell about Delta City for Robocop to navigate? Probably.

But other concerns took over.

Movies of Today

Opening in Theaters:

Benedetta

Movies I Saw This Fortnight:

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (Rating 4/4) Full Review "I love this film. It really is one of the best depictions of Batman on screen, and I'm really glad I finally revisited it." [Personal Collection]

The Informer (Rating 4/4) Full Review "The Informer is a brilliant film. A great work from a practiced hand, using an extremely strong script by Dudley Nichols and great performances from everyone involved, John Ford made a small masterpiece." [Library]

Stagecoach (Rating 4/4) Full Review "It's also a bit of a crowd pleaser with high quality action and likeable, not just interesting, characters. There's a reason it helped kick off the Golden Age of the Western in Hollywood." [Personal Collection]

The Plough and the Stars (Rating 3/4) Full Review "Anchored mostly by Stanwyck, this is a good little film that really deserves some reappraisal." [Library]

Wee Willie Winkie (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "The overtly naive ending as well feels nice in the moment but ultimately feels kind of unrealistic upon reflection, but that's not what Shirley Temple movies were really for. They were for light entertainment starring a precocious and talented child." [Library]

Submarine Patrol (Rating 4/4) Full Review "I absolutely love this movie. It's a bit of a travesty that it seems to have been completely forgotten." [YouTube]

Steamboat Round the Bend (Rating 3/4) Full Review "It really could have used a rewrite in its middle section, a section that dragged the film down a good bit, but that ending is really something else, a madcap race with real stakes and cut quickly for an all around good time. It really won me over by the end." [Library]

Mary of Scotland (Rating 2/4) Full Review "It's handsome and fairly dull. Never digging deeply enough into characters or events to elicit much interest, led by a woman who seems to feel like acting is beneath her. This is far from John Ford's finest work in the 30s, but it's ultimately passable. Barely, though." [YouTube]

Contact

Email any suggestions or questions to thejamesmadison.aos at symbol gmail dot com.
I've also archived all the old posts here, by request. I'll add new posts a week after they originally post at the HQ.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:56 PM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Hmm

Posted by: You Really Don't Want to Know at December 04, 2021 07:52 PM (nLrWw)

2 1939 was the greatest year of movies by a long shot.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 07:52 PM (QqY+m)

3 Time machine?

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 07:53 PM (kTF2Z)

4 Someone even nuded

Posted by: You Really Don't Want to Know at December 04, 2021 07:53 PM (nLrWw)

5 Top ten yo!

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 04, 2021 07:55 PM (ufFY8)

6 Something to see Fredo out ...

https://youtu.be/bLxQCc8eQX0?t=877

Posted by: You Really Don't Want to Know at December 04, 2021 07:55 PM (nLrWw)

7 Been watching Bond movies on the Pluto 007 channel.

Entertaining.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 04, 2021 07:55 PM (ufFY8)

8 The CNN statement says the investigation has discovered additional information.

Heh.

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 07:56 PM (AwPyG)

9 Oops .. thought I was on Ace's thread ... I'll see myself out ...

Posted by: You Really Don't Want to Know at December 04, 2021 07:56 PM (nLrWw)

10 I re watched The Gentlemen last week. Guy Ritchie did an excellent job and I don't know of a movie where every actor did as good a job as they did. I came away with a totally different opinion of Hugh Grant as an actor. I always thought he was one dimensional . His performance was Oscar worthy.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 07:57 PM (QqY+m)

11 Kids like adult seeming things: thus the success of Terminator and Predator.

Honestly T2 probably found the best way to skate the knife's edge of adult/children.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 04, 2021 07:57 PM (csEWM)

12 In the 80's when Producers, Director's and cast were doing a ton of Cocaine, Movies were good, Hell part of the budget went to COKE, Now Stoners are in charge and the Movies SUUUUUUCCCCKKKK

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at December 04, 2021 07:57 PM (dKiJG)

13 Good evening everyone.

Posted by: Tonypete at December 04, 2021 07:58 PM (mD/uy)

14 Stomp dat ewok!

Posted by: antisocial justice beatnik at December 04, 2021 07:59 PM (DTX3h)

15 Valley Girls is on, might watch it awhile

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 07:59 PM (2JoB8)

16 Ronny Cox always made a great bad guy.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 04, 2021 07:59 PM (PiwSw)

17 That Bruce Willis picture reminds me of everything I hated about Die Hard 2. The 30+ second fuse time on the grenades is just one tiny note.

The first movie was of course awesome. The third was enjoyable. The fourth was a strange combination of a really good movie and a really bad one. And not a well-mixed combination either, it went from good to bad and back several times.

But man, that second was a stinker. Spoiler alert: Jet fuel lying on snow is well below its flash point. Not only would you have a hell of a time lighting it, but it wouldn't burn along the trail at 200+ mph.

And yeah, I know, the first isn't the most plausible movie in the cold light of day, but there were only two real "oh, come on" moments for me. DH2 consisted mostly of them.

Posted by: JPS at December 04, 2021 08:00 PM (D++Xq)

18 12 In the 80's when Producers, Director's and cast were doing a ton of Cocaine, Movies were good, Hell part of the budget went to COKE, Now Stoners are in charge and the Movies SUUUUUUCCCCKKKK
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at December 04, 2021 07:57 PM (dKiJG)

I do not think it is just that. We are seeing a confluence of both commie indoctrination and corporate studios wanting to sell toys and seats in theaters. So everything is for kids, which ironically kids do not want to watch.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 04, 2021 08:00 PM (csEWM)

19 Not that anybody cares. Milady Jo and I have been watching Christmas movies now, mostly. Some movies I think, oh, that's too silly or dumb, and we just watched it last year. Then we watch it again, and I'm glad we did.

Night before last we watched Earnest Saves Christmas, and last night we watched The Santa Clause (Tim Allen). Much could be said about either one, but two things stand out to me.

A) Both movies had great Santa Clauses, right up there with Edmund Gwenn (Miracle on 34th, the real one).

2) Both had Santa as a job passed along over the centuries. Earnest has Santa coming to Florida to recruit his replacement. Santa Clause had Santa slip off a rooftop and die from the fall - which has always been disturbing.

Posted by: mindful webworker - Ho^3 at December 04, 2021 08:00 PM (GxM4+)

20 I think one of the big problems with the current movie houses is the move to merchandizing.

Perfect example is the area at Disneyland that is devoted to the awful star wars prequels--you could shoot a cannon off in there.

It very similar to everything else that's happening nowadays--they think they can persuade people that certain politicians or actors are popular, even though they aren't. They think they have the ability to force us to love their "big hits" even though they aren't very good

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 08:00 PM (AwPyG)

21 Risen, I really enjoyed this movie and not well know movie about a Roman Soldier investigation trying to find Jesus's Body.

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at December 04, 2021 08:01 PM (dKiJG)

22 I am gobsmacked by the veritable hurricane of weekend posts.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 04, 2021 08:01 PM (VxC1e)

23 @19

Maybe Santa moonlights as Dread Pirate Roberts

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 08:01 PM (AwPyG)

24 Think I seen most of the Bat Man movies that have been out awhile at least once but not twice.

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 08:02 PM (2JoB8)

25 Please tell me there was a RoboCop lunchbox and plushie.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:02 PM (Dc2NZ)

26 23 @19

Maybe Santa moonlights as Dread Pirate Roberts
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 08:01 PM (AwPyG)


Inconceivable!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 04, 2021 08:02 PM (PiwSw)

27 Die Hard 2 = John Wick 2

My two biggest sequel disappointments.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:02 PM (QqY+m)

28 Robocop almost made the Ford Taurus cool.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 04, 2021 08:03 PM (VxC1e)

29 Svengoolie: The Crawling Eye.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 04, 2021 08:03 PM (ufFY8)

30 but that they were sidestepping any kind of storytelling concerns in order to maximize profits in synergistic ways.

-------------

Did you just say synergistic? Go sit in the corner.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 08:04 PM (kTF2Z)

31 And he helped make it happen again with Indiana Jones? We can do that too!"

Right on!

Posted by: Reno Williams at December 04, 2021 08:04 PM (kOpft)

32 27 Die Hard 2 = John Wick 2

My two biggest sequel disappointments.
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:02 PM (QqY+m)

Matrix 2. *mic drop*

Actually, Die Hard fought back against the tide with 3. And compared to the rest of the field DH2 is not THAT bad.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 04, 2021 08:04 PM (csEWM)

33 Links are bad.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at December 04, 2021 08:04 PM (hVqGz)

34 I watched Mary of Scotland the other night and enjoyed it, although it was not Oscar-worthy by any stretch. There was some primo scenery chewing by Frederick March and Florence Eldridge, and Katherine was affecting (not affected!) as Mary.

Knox, of course, was a dick.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:05 PM (Dc2NZ)

35 I saw Gbostbusters: Afterlife in the theater and didn't feel cheated. Now I'm thinking of seeing Nightmare Alley. I love the '40s - '50s noirs so I'm hoping for the best.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 08:05 PM (FVME7)

36 Synergistic?

Shouldn't you be somewhere writing mission statements?

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 04, 2021 08:05 PM (ufFY8)

37 I'd buy that for a dollar!

I'm a repeat offender, I repeat! I will offend again!

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:05 PM (rz+/y)

38 70's is my favorite decade of movies. Probably because that's when I became a movie watcher.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:06 PM (QqY+m)

39 Schumacher' Batman had nipples. NIPPLES!

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 04, 2021 08:06 PM (VxC1e)

40 Svengoolie: The Crawling Eye.
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt

As good as that may be, once MST3K has roasted it I just can't watch them.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:07 PM (rz+/y)

41 Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 04, 2021 08:04 PM (csEWM)

You are correct. Add in Matrix 2 to my list.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:07 PM (QqY+m)

42 1945 noir Leave Her To Heaven on TCM right now.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at December 04, 2021 08:07 PM (ufFY8)

43 Links are all wonky, or am I doing something wrong?

Posted by: Creek at December 04, 2021 08:08 PM (29OXW)

44 33 Links are bad.
Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at December 04, 2021 08:04 PM (hVqGz)

===

Eek. I forget to update the IMDb links. My bad. Can't really fix em now.

Sorry.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 08:09 PM (o7bkq)

45 Clarence Bodikker is one of the most memorable villains in all of cinema for me. I really hated that guy.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:09 PM (rz+/y)

46 Kids got into stuff because they would run the PG versions of the films on TV. On the other side, latchkey kids were watching the uncut versions on cable.

Posted by: WiNO at December 04, 2021 08:09 PM (EpDzw)

47 In the 80's when Producers, Director's and cast were doing a ton of Cocaine

-
They were Shakespearean. Sound and fury signifying nothing.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 08:09 PM (FVME7)

48 They have greenlit a sequel to Keanu Reeves' 47 Ronin. A film whose original run lost over $70 million and also didn't really leave room for a sequel.

So unlike the John Wick films it can only go up.

And the late 80s early 90s were weird. Rambo had a cartoon and there were toys aimed at kids for Aliens and Predator in toy isles, right next to GI Joe which was doing its own weird psudo WWII spinoff thing.

Posted by: Bete at December 04, 2021 08:09 PM (Ojki1)

49 It's interesting the sort of cross pollination which affects all entertainment. Book to comic book to movie to tv series to toys to video game. Then there's the movie to comic to toys. Video game to movie. FREAKING EMOJIS TO MOVIE!! You get the point.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (r1z5A)

50 Currently watching War Wagon.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (qpolg)

51 o7bkq)

45 Clarence Bodikker is one of the most memorable villains in all of cinema for me. I really hated that guy.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:09 PM (rz+/y)

Reminds me of Red on Thats 70's Show.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (QqY+m)

52 An 80's movie that begged for a sequel: Buckaroo Banzai

Also, more recently, Dread with Urban.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (rz+/y)

53 Chris Gore has interesting analyses of moviemaking trends (he's on YT) and he is right that makers of blockbusters had one box to check off -- [X] Fun!

Now the list includes representation, inoffensiveness, pandering to the international market, etc.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (Dc2NZ)

54 Batman: Mask of the Phantasm IMDB link goes to IMDB page-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Posted by: Puddleglum at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (sAmhv)

55 I just looked... yes, eBay has "Battlefield Earth" toys.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (PiwSw)

56 You know who didn't let merchandising get in the way of artistry? Kathleen Kennedy.

She made sure that her Star Wars movies would move absolutely no merchandise whatsoever. None.

Rose Tico collectibles anyone? *snort*

Such integrity you rarely see in Hollywood anymore.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 04, 2021 08:12 PM (VxC1e)

57 Currently watching War Wagon.
Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (qpolg)

I though Nitro Glycerin was the most dangerous thing in the world as a kid thanks to War Wagon.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:13 PM (QqY+m)

58 52 An 80's movie that begged for a sequel: Buckaroo Banzai

Also, more recently, Dread with Urban.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (rz+/y)

*lays collateral on the table*

Dread was a far better movie than Buckaroo Banzai.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 04, 2021 08:13 PM (csEWM)

59 The DCAU might have made the DC superheroes more kid-friendly, but it also had the most intelligent writing and characterization of anything related to DC.

And yes, BM:TAS was totally responsible for the "Batman doesn't use guns and doesn't kill people" thing that became canon for the character, to the point where it's a plot point in Christopher Nolan's films. (Burton's Batman killed a LOT of people.)

As far as I'm concerned, Kevin Conroy IS Batman. Mark Hamill IS the Joker. Michael Ansara IS Mr. Freeze. Etc etc etc.

If you say, "But, but, but, Jared Leto" please stop talking.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at December 04, 2021 08:13 PM (OU+8W)

60 When I watched "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" the other night, I was struck by how American the movie is. It's just a fun heist movie that has recognizable characters and gorgeous Montana scenery. It doesn't try to appeal to everyone and that's why it does have broad appeal.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:13 PM (Dc2NZ)

61 Rose Tico collectibles anyone? *snort*

Such integrity you rarely see in Hollywood anymore.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43)

Yet I guarantee a Rose Tico action figure will command big bucks in 20 yrs!

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 08:13 PM (r1z5A)

62 Welp, I think I have a new favorite movie to squeak into my Top Ten.

I'll have to see it again to be sure, but if you've got The Criterion Channel, then turn it on to see:

"Throw Down" a film by Johnnie To.

This is a wonderful, heartfelt, entertaining film about 3 people who's lives collide together in Hong Kong. A judo champion turned barely functioning alcoholic, who runs a night club for a gangster but is stealing from him. A young judo fighter, who challenges everyone he can. Though he especially wants to challenge the ex-champ. And a young woman singer, who's trying to break into show biz any way she can.

They meet. collide, and bond together in unexpected ways. The ending is perfect and your liable to be smiling all the way through.

To is a Chinese director who is a huge fan of Kurosawa and this is his tribute to the Japanese master. It's also a great judo movie(!). The fights are thrilling, exciting, surprising and some times humorous in their go for the throat but respectful intensity.

Though a Chinese movie with subtitles, you will be surprised how much "Throw Down" resembles the best buddy pictures that once came out of old Hollywood.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 04, 2021 08:14 PM (5NkmN)

63 Dread was a far better movie than Buckaroo Banzai.
Posted by: Aetius451AD

Yes. Yes, it was. I'd love to see it but I think it did poorly in its original release.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:14 PM (rz+/y)

64 Kim Basinger absolutely killed Batman for me. Could she do nothing outside of that lame-ass scream the whole movie? Ugh. I saw the Kilmer one, mainly because he was hot and I like Jim Carey back then. That one was the beginning of the end for my Carrey fandom, although Liar, Liar holds up IMO.

Posted by: Catherine--who generally doesn't curse. at December 04, 2021 08:14 PM (xQ19v)

65 60 When I watched "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" the other night, I was struck by how American the movie is. It's just a fun heist movie that has recognizable characters and gorgeous Montana scenery. It doesn't try to appeal to everyone and that's why it does have broad appeal.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:13 PM (Dc2NZ)

Who died better Jeff or Dustin?

Posted by: rhennigantx at December 04, 2021 08:14 PM (yrol0)

66 meh, movies ... (no offense intended ... ) ...

bezos had original Die Hard on dvd for 3 bucks ... so we will watch it on Christmas eve ...
& I'll buy that for a dollar !

g'night everyone !
see ya on tha Pixy thread maybe ...

Posted by: sock_rat_eez (03BbD) at December 04, 2021 08:14 PM (03BbD)

67 Conan The Destroyer is another 80s sequel with a change in tone. I rewatched this a couple of years ago. Got about 30 minutes in and said "What were they thinking" right before I clicked it off.

Posted by: Mark1971 at December 04, 2021 08:15 PM (xPl2J)

68 56 Oh, there were toys, and we paid out the ass to license them.

Posted by: Hasbro accountant in charge of write-offs at December 04, 2021 08:15 PM (Ojki1)

69 16 Ronny Cox always made a great bad guy.
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at December 04, 2021 07:59 PM (PiwSw)
---

He does! Because he's intelligent and evil as a bad guy.

George Kennedy was like a big angry ball of pissedoffedness as the bad guy in T&L.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:15 PM (Dc2NZ)

70 Eaverybodies talking at me

Posted by: rhennigantx at December 04, 2021 08:16 PM (yrol0)

71 Robocop in WWF matches was bizarre.

Posted by: Lrrr at December 04, 2021 08:16 PM (jIL4c)

72 An 80's movie that begged for a sequel: Buckaroo Banzai

From what I've read, "Big Trouble in Little China" was that sequel.

Obviously mutated through the Hollywood process.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 04, 2021 08:16 PM (5NkmN)

73 Yes. Yes, it was. I'd love to see it but I think it did poorly in its original release.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:14 PM (rz+/y)

It was great (plus, Anderson was a hottie.) I cannot imagine it cost that much money to make.

Cult favorite.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at December 04, 2021 08:16 PM (csEWM)

74 Also, more recently, Dread with Urban.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (rz+/y)
That movie I heard is even better in 3D, it wasn't marketed very well either

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at December 04, 2021 08:17 PM (dKiJG)

75 When I watched "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" the other night

Jeffrey Lewis was great.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:17 PM (rz+/y)

76 Yep, as a kid I thought nitro was the most dangerous thing in the world.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 08:17 PM (qpolg)

77 die hard took a strong anti american turn, in the second one, because rennie harlin got much flak for pro american sentiments, plus it ripped off one of the premises of walter hill's executive decision, about a year before, a ghost squad of rogue operators,
the original source material, for diehard was that gruber was an actual terrorist, and the office tower in question was a facilitator of arms to chile, which was supposed to be a bad thing,

Posted by: no 6 at December 04, 2021 08:17 PM (hMlTh)

78 Thunderball>> Never Say Never

Posted by: rhennigantx at December 04, 2021 08:18 PM (yrol0)

79 And the late 80s early 90s were weird. Rambo had a cartoon and there were toys aimed at kids for Aliens and Predator in toy isles, right next to GI Joe which was doing its own weird psudo WWII spinoff thing.
Posted by: Bete at December 04, 2021 08:09 PM (Ojki1)

I think part of it was you still had TV watching as a family. So, junior got to see those movies. Also, violence was never quite looked down on as much as on screen sex. Graphic violence was. But, some squibs and killings, not much of a problem.

Speaking from experience, my Dad took me to a late night screening of Jaws. I was eight.

Posted by: WiNO at December 04, 2021 08:18 PM (EpDzw)

80 71. WCW. In DC no less.

I'm not exactly thrilled I remember that, yet forget my debit card pin half the time.

Posted by: Bete at December 04, 2021 08:18 PM (Ojki1)

81 I would LOVE to write the PREQUEL to the "Searchers". There is a TON of hints to an incredible backstory.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 08:18 PM (r1z5A)

82 Okay, I think I fixed the links on my phone.

Not the easiest thing, but I blame doof.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 08:18 PM (o7bkq)

83 I though Nitro Glycerin was the most dangerous thing in the world as a kid thanks to War Wagon.
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:13 PM (QqY+m)
---

If it wasn't nitroglycerine, it was quick sand and/or blasting caps. That's how young Eris thought she'd depart this world.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:19 PM (Dc2NZ)

84 if I am to believe the masses of marketing crappola amazzom sends me, there is a buckaroo banzai sequel out there ...

& now, really g'night ...

Posted by: sock_rat_eez (03BbD) at December 04, 2021 08:19 PM (03BbD)

85 I saw Bonnie and Clyde with my parents at the Drive In.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:20 PM (iXJM1)

86 It always confused me as a 12-year old to see "Alien" toys, model kits, etc. in the hobby stores from a movie I was too young to see firsthand.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 08:21 PM (vuisn)

87 STOMP!

Posted by: andycanuck (UHVv4) at December 04, 2021 08:21 PM (UHVv4)

88 Young Nicholas Cage is pretty good in Valley Girls

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 08:22 PM (2JoB8)

89 before burton, I had only seen the campy 60s series, he was trying for some of the gritty noir of miller's dark knight series, but there is only far you can do that in this type of film, the second borrowed from the shadowy noir with a villain right out of Fritz Lang's M, the plot was all over the place, and so was the tone, but not michelle pheiffers finest role, then again after greece 2, yikes,

Posted by: no 6 at December 04, 2021 08:22 PM (hMlTh)

90 Robocop 2 didn't have Kurtwood Smith, but worse, it didn't have Paul McCrane of ER fame doing his toxic waste zombie walk and windshield splatter routine either. Sequel never stood a chance.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at December 04, 2021 08:22 PM (+WWsf)

91 Submarine Patrol link goes to A Fistful of Dollars

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 04, 2021 08:22 PM (63Dwl)

92 86 It always confused me as a 12-year old to see "Alien" toys, model kits, etc. in the hobby stores from a movie I was too young to see firsthand.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 08:21 PM (vuisn)

ha

I brought home VCR

Hooked to TV

Showed to Fam!

Posted by: rhennigantx at December 04, 2021 08:22 PM (yrol0)

93 Was Jurassic Park made to profit from the kid's dinosaur craze or other way around?

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:23 PM (iXJM1)

94 The Crawling Eye is one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies.

And actually, I don't feel all that guilty about that...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 08:23 PM (JzDjf)

95 We need a John Wick Christmas movie. Santa delivers John's present to the wrong house. Last mistake that fat bastard'll ever make.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 08:24 PM (FVME7)

96 ha

I brought home VCR

Hooked to TV

Showed to Fam!
Posted by: rhennigantx at December 04, 2021 08:22 PM (yrol0)

I gained much cred with friends when Dad stopped the VCR to point out the alien taking out a chunk of Yaphet's skull.

Posted by: WiNO at December 04, 2021 08:24 PM (EpDzw)

97 I love Stagecoach! I saw it not long after reading the short story "Outlaws of Poker Flat." My dad said it was a really good movie, so I sat down to watch it for a little bit with him. I figured when it got sad, I'd go read a book. Instead, I was hooked and cheered when The Kid didn't die.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 04, 2021 08:24 PM (/+bwe)

98 Young Nicholas Cage is pretty good in Valley Girls
Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 08:22 PM (2

Sound track was great.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:25 PM (iXJM1)

99 The Crawling Eye is one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies.

And actually, I don't feel all that guilty about that...
Posted by: Just Some Guy


About any 50's sci-fi for me!

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 08:25 PM (r1z5A)

100 Original Valley Girl soundtrack LP is highly collectible. Used to see it going for $100+ at record shows.

Posted by: Mark1971 at December 04, 2021 08:26 PM (xPl2J)

101 It's only December 4th, but they've already started playing Christmas Story back to back. I hadn't seen it for a few years, and I've gotta say, it's still a great movie. Also, I can't be the only one who thinks the mom is hawt.

Posted by: pep at December 04, 2021 08:26 PM (ZsR3z)

102 Are you the only person in the world who watched Robocop 3? I didn't know it existed until you mentioned it.

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 08:26 PM (PQ4Fz)

103 if I am to believe the masses of marketing crappola amazzom sends me, there is a buckaroo banzai sequel out there ...

& now, really g'night ...
Posted by: sock_rat_eez (03BbD) at December 04, 2021 08:19 PM (03BbD)
----
Considering what Amazon has already done to established IP (Wheel of Time) and will certainly do to other IP (Lord of the Rings), I have zero confidence they could do a proper Buckaroo Banzai adaptation. The first was just fine as it was. No need to try and improve the lore...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 04, 2021 08:27 PM (NQjQK)

104 Robocop is kinda sad knowing Red Foreman got tired of kicking Eric's ass, moved to Detroit and became a crime boss.

Posted by: Lrrr at December 04, 2021 08:27 PM (jIL4c)

105 Was Jurassic Park made to profit from the kid's dinosaur craze or other way around?
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:23 PM (iXJM1)

Crichton had already has several successful movies made from his books. I figure it was more, "We have the technology to make this movie." Plus, sci-fi was still big.

Posted by: WiNO at December 04, 2021 08:27 PM (EpDzw)

106 95 We need a John Wick Christmas movie. Santa delivers John's present to the wrong house. Last mistake that fat bastard'll ever make.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 08:24 PM (FVME7)


John Wick's latest dog is sleeping on the fire grate. Santa comes down the chimney and BAM!

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 08:28 PM (PQ4Fz)

107 The original Star Wars trilogy was aimed at the mindset of a 13-year old boy.

For the second trilogy Lucas aimed for seven-year olds. And sold a billion in merchandise.

Posted by: Ignoramus at December 04, 2021 08:28 PM (ZHVt1)

108 Also, I can't be the only one who thinks the mom is hawt.
Posted by: pep

You'd love her in Slapshot.

I bought a Cameo for one of the kids last year from Zack Ward who played Scut Farkis. In the Cameo he wore a coonskin cap. Funny.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:28 PM (rz+/y)

109 John Lithgow made Buckaroo Banzai. Without him I don't think a sequel would be any good.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:28 PM (iXJM1)

110 The first Robocop was one of the movies that turned me against Hollywood and it's mindless, gratuitous violence. The scene where the hero gets his arm blown off with a shotgun was disgusting, as was the one where the innocent guy gets killed by the robot gone awry.

Posted by: pep at December 04, 2021 08:28 PM (ZsR3z)

111 I'm a sucker for westerns. And murder mysteries.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 08:29 PM (qpolg)

112 91 Submarine Patrol link goes to A Fistful of Dollars

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 04, 2021 08:22 PM (63Dwl)


Here is a Y-Tube Channel that has it, and many more 30s - 60s movies, of all genres.

https://tinyurl.com/yckjmtxu

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 08:29 PM (AMIL/)

113 BREAKING: Trump calls General Milley 'a fucking idiot'

Posted by: Mark1971 at December 04, 2021 08:29 PM (xPl2J)

114 there was a robocop miniseries on sci fi, that had some of the originals texture, the second one had frank miller do an initial script this was in his deep anarchist phase,

Posted by: no 6 at December 04, 2021 08:29 PM (hMlTh)

115 What's interesting is I've heard three authors who used to be screen writers all say there's no way they'd let their books be developed by Hollywood.

Sue Grafton, Robert Crais, and Matt Goldman

So; they don't like what they've seen

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 08:29 PM (AwPyG)

116 Eaverybodies talking at me
Posted by: rhennigantx at December 04, 2021 08:16 PM (yrol0)

----------

Don't hear a word they're saying.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 08:30 PM (kTF2Z)

117 Sci-fi from the 50's is only matched by the run from the late 70's into the early 90's.

Forbidden Planet and War of the Worlds are great films.

Posted by: WiNO at December 04, 2021 08:30 PM (EpDzw)

118 39 Schumacher' Batman had nipples. NIPPLES!
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 04, 2021 08:06 PM (VxC1e)


Like they say, you know Hollywood is ghey when Batman and Robin have nipples but Batgirl and Wonder Woman don't.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 08:30 PM (vuisn)

119
The Crawling Eye is one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies.

It was the first Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode on the Comedy Channel.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 04, 2021 08:31 PM (63Dwl)

120 Ford's How Green Was My Valley >> Welle's Citizen Caine

Fight me. The Academy is on my side

Posted by: Ignoramus at December 04, 2021 08:31 PM (ZHVt1)

121 115 What's interesting is I've heard three authors who used to be screen writers all say there's no way they'd let their books be developed by Hollywood.

Sue Grafton, Robert Crais, and Matt Goldman

So; they don't like what they've seen
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 08:29 PM (AwPyG)

====

Frank Miller, who cowrote Robocop 2 and 3, said that the screenwriter is the fire hydrant that a dozen dogs are just waiting to piss on after his time with the franchise.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 08:31 PM (o7bkq)

122 64 Kim Basinger absolutely killed Batman for me. Could she do nothing outside of that lame-ass scream the whole movie? Ugh. I saw the Kilmer one, mainly because he was hot and I like Jim Carey back then. That one was the beginning of the end for my Carrey fandom, although Liar, Liar holds up IMO.
Posted by: Catherine--who generally doesn't curse. at December 04, 2021 08:14 PM (xQ19v)

I just re-watched LA Confidential the other night.

Kim B was deeeeelicious...

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 08:32 PM (BgMrQ)

123 "The Trip" on Netflix was a fun watch.

It lives at the corner of Early Tarantino Ave. and Coen Bros Dr. edging into a psychotic episode of Looney Toons by the end.

Basically, a Swedish married couple hate each other and both have plans to murder the other on their "getaway" weekend. And then unexpectedly, things get worse...much worse and they have to cooperate...or do they?

Insanely violent dark comedy with a happy ending.

You'll either love it or hate it. I loved it.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 04, 2021 08:32 PM (5NkmN)

124 Like they say, you know Hollywood is ghey when Batman and Robin have nipples but Batgirl and Wonder Woman don't.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 08:30 PM (vuisn)
====
It's Hollywood, man. Everyone's a little ghey, don't ya know?

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 04, 2021 08:33 PM (NQjQK)

125 121 Frank Miller, who cowrote Robocop 2 and 3, said that the screenwriter is the fire hydrant that a dozen dogs are just waiting to piss on after his time with the franchise.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 08:31 PM (o7bkq)


Wait, Frank Miller? Like, the Frank Miller?

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 08:33 PM (PQ4Fz)

126 I'm trying to decide what my top western movie is.

The Outlaw Josey Wales probably by default. Anyone else notice that the kid in TOJW looks just like the kid in Unforgiven?

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:34 PM (iXJM1)

127 125 121 Frank Miller, who cowrote Robocop 2 and 3, said that the screenwriter is the fire hydrant that a dozen dogs are just waiting to piss on after his time with the franchise.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 08:31 PM (o7bkq)

Wait, Frank Miller? Like, the Frank Miller?
Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 08:33 PM (PQ4Fz)

===

Yes, that Frank Miller, who wrote 300 and The Dark Knight Returns.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 08:34 PM (o7bkq)

128 113 BREAKING: Trump calls General Milley 'a fucking idiot'
Posted by: Mark1971 at December 04, 2021 08:29 PM (xPl2J)
---

That's my president!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:34 PM (Dc2NZ)

129 Frank Miller, who cowrote Robocop 2 and 3, said that the screenwriter is the fire hydrant that a dozen dogs are just waiting to piss on after his time with the franchise.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 08:31 PM (o7bkq)
----
I don't think he's wrong about that. They also have to incorporate all of the Executive Meddling because the shows producers think they know better how to tell a story than someone who writes stories for their livelihood.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 04, 2021 08:34 PM (NQjQK)

130 @110: "The first Robocop was one of the movies that turned me against Hollywood and it's mindless, gratuitous violence."

Paul Verhoeven had a ten year stretch from the late '80s to late '90s where he directed: RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, and Starship Troopers. Kinda noteworthy that he came back around to do gratuitous Nickelodeon slime style violence satire with Starship Troopers. Very strange dude.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at December 04, 2021 08:35 PM (+WWsf)

131 82 Okay, I think I fixed the links on my phone.

Not the easiest thing, but I blame doof.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 08:18 PM (o7bkq)

...phew, I'm off the hook for now.

Posted by: Just Todd... at December 04, 2021 08:35 PM (BgMrQ)

132 The first Robocop was one of the movies that turned me against Hollywood and it's mindless, gratuitous violence. The scene where the hero gets his arm blown off with a shotgun was disgusting, as was the one where the innocent guy gets killed by the robot gone awry.
Posted by: pep at December 04, 2021 08:28 PM (ZsR3z)

Verhoeven's I'm against violence but will revel in said violence is lame at best. He's nihilistic and have never seen his appeal.

Posted by: WiNO at December 04, 2021 08:35 PM (EpDzw)

133 @128 @113

We can't spare this man!

Posted by: Ignoramus at December 04, 2021 08:35 PM (ZHVt1)

134 Fight me. The Academy is on my side
Posted by: Ignoramus


Shakespeare in Love>>>Saving Private Ryan...NO
The Academy are idiots.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 08:35 PM (r1z5A)

135 I'm still kinda pissed that they didn't use the excellent ending for I Am Legend that it was supposed to have.

The movie's hints didn't really work, without that.

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 08:36 PM (PQ4Fz)

136 130 Paul Verhoeven had a ten year stretch from the late '80s to late '90s where he directed: RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, and Starship Troopers. Kinda noteworthy that he came back around to do gratuitous Nickelodeon slime style violence satire with Starship Troopers. Very strange dude.
Posted by: Walter Freeman at December 04, 2021 08:35 PM (+WWsf)

===

And his newest movie, Benedetta, is in limited release this week.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 08:36 PM (o7bkq)

137 Very strange dude.
Posted by: Walter Freeman

Friggin' Dutchman. Izhn't dat veird?

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:36 PM (rz+/y)

138 117 Sci-fi from the 50's is only matched by the run from the late 70's into the early 90's.

Forbidden Planet and War of the Worlds are great films.

Posted by: WiNO at December 04, 2021 08:30 PM (EpDzw)


"It! The Terror From Beyond Space," 1950-something, may have been an inspiration for "Alien."

Marshall Thompson and Dabbs Greer as astronauts on Mars missions! Female astronauts cooking and serving food to the men! A typical 50's sci-fi/horror flick.

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 08:37 PM (AMIL/)

139 Shakespeare in Love>>>Saving Private Ryan...NO
The Academy are idiots.
Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 08:35 PM (r1z5A)

It's a mystery.

Posted by: Philip Henslowe at December 04, 2021 08:37 PM (BgMrQ)

140 I'm still kinda pissed that they didn't use the excellent ending for I Am Legend that it was supposed to have.

The movie's hints didn't really work, without that.
Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 08:36 PM (PQ4Fz)

I hated everything about that movie. Love the first two even though they were different.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:37 PM (iXJM1)

141 BREAKING: Trump calls General Milley 'a fucking idiot'
Posted by: Mark1971

lol. I watched the interview with Levin from last weekend today. He doesn't not like Milley. I guess the last hour is tomorrow.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 08:39 PM (qpolg)

142 113 BREAKING: Trump calls General Milley 'a fucking idiot'
Posted by: Mark1971



It's not that BREAKING. General Milley is a fucking idiot. It's a known known.

Posted by: Puddleglum at December 04, 2021 08:39 PM (sAmhv)

143 'Thank you for your cooperation.'
R. Cop

Posted by: Eromero at December 04, 2021 08:40 PM (0OP+5)

144 BREAKING: Trump calls General Milley 'a fucking idiot'
Posted by: Mark1971

Milley must have said something. Trump can't or won't let any comment go unanswered.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:41 PM (iXJM1)

145 Marshall Thompson and Dabbs Greer as astronauts on Mars missions! Female astronauts cooking and serving food to the men! A typical 50's sci-fi/horror flick.
Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 08:37 PM (AMIL/)

Let's face it, men will only go to space permanently when women are making the sandwiches.

Posted by: WiNO at December 04, 2021 08:41 PM (EpDzw)

146 'Thank you for your cooperation.'
R. Cop
Posted by: Eromero

"Or there will be....Trouble."

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:41 PM (rz+/y)

147 That submarine picture reminds me that I saw an engaging movie about the Merchant Marine, "Action in the North Atlantic":

https://tinyurl.com/55d7rtjz

"An American tanker is sunk by a German U-boat, and the survivors spend 11 days at sea on a raft. Their next assignment - bound for Murmansk through the sub-stalked N. Atlantic."

It's a wartime flick so it's very God Bless FDR and our Russian allies!!!, but still good. Bogey and Massey.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:42 PM (Dc2NZ)

148 @134: "Shakespeare in Love>>>Saving Private Ryan...NO. The Academy are idiots."

Interestingly enough, 1999 was Harvey Weinstein's peak, both in terms of Oscar wins and sexual assault complaints.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at December 04, 2021 08:42 PM (+WWsf)

149
Let's face it, men will only go to space permanently when women are making the sandwiches.
Posted by: WiNO at December 04, 2021 08:41 PM (EpDzw)
---------

Yeah, like busty and zero gravity will not be a deciding factor.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 08:43 PM (2SdPm)

150 @139

The gossip sites are openly admitting that Weinstein would decide who got the oscars, and that year Gwynnie was his little pet.

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 08:43 PM (AwPyG)

151 147 That submarine picture reminds me that I saw an engaging movie about the Merchant Marine, "Action in the North Atlantic":

https://tinyurl.com/55d7rtjz

"An American tanker is sunk by a German U-boat, and the survivors spend 11 days at sea on a raft. Their next assignment - bound for Murmansk through the sub-stalked N. Atlantic."

It's a wartime flick so it's very God Bless FDR and our Russian allies!!!, but still good. Bogey and Massey.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:42 PM (Dc2NZ)

+1

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 08:43 PM (AMIL/)

152 Wait. So now we have President Biden AND mean tweets?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 08:45 PM (FVME7)

153 Currently watching War Wagon.
Posted by: Infidel

What is it with you and wagons ?

Posted by: JT at December 04, 2021 08:45 PM (arJlL)

154 119
The Crawling Eye is one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies.

It was the first Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode on the Comedy Channel.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 04, 2021 08:31 PM (63Dwl)

First one, eh? Never seen their take on it -- the MST3K/Rifftrax thing just never appealed.

I saw The Crawling Eye for the first time when I was 12 or 13 -- the Chicago NBC local used to run a double feature of monster flicks on Saturday night at 10:30 and The Crawling Eye was a regular offering. That's sixty years ago now, and damned if I still don't enjoy watching that sucker from time to time.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 08:45 PM (JzDjf)

155 Interestingly enough, 1999 was Harvey Weinstein's peak, both in terms of Oscar wins and sexual assault complaints.
Posted by: Walter Freeman


Often wonder why he didn't (or his victims) throw most of Hollywood under the bus.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 08:46 PM (r1z5A)

156 Feeling an inexplicable urge to watch Ray Milland in The Man with X-Ray Eyes. I watched it as an urchin, at camp, on horror movie night.

"If thine eye offend thee..."

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 08:47 PM (PQ4Fz)

157 Abandon Ship > Lifeboat

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:47 PM (iXJM1)

158 Imagine coming up with the idea for the Crawling Eye.

"It's an eye! Seriously!"

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 08:47 PM (AwPyG)

159 What is it with you and wagons ?
Posted by: JT

roflmao

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 08:48 PM (qpolg)

160 Unkindest cut.

CNN's Brian Stelter On Cuomo Firing: He Caused 'So Many Headaches' For CNN, Staffers 'Very Unhappy'

-
Well, we can't all be paragons of virtue like you, Spud.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 08:48 PM (FVME7)

161 OT-I was at a local gas station, and noticed a 240Z pull in. It seemed to be running a bit rough, and, I didn't think much about it, as I put off the rough idle to the age of the car.

I managed to chat with the owner, briefly, and asked him if the 240Z was all original.

He said, "No, it has a small block Chev 350 under the hood.

So, now the real explanation for what appeared to be a rough idle.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 08:48 PM (2SdPm)

162 147 That submarine picture reminds me that I saw an engaging movie about the Merchant Marine, "Action in the North Atlantic":

https://tinyurl.com/55d7rtjz

"An American tanker is sunk by a German U-boat, and the survivors spend 11 days at sea on a raft. Their next assignment - bound for Murmansk through the sub-stalked N. Atlantic."

It's a wartime flick so it's very God Bless FDR and our Russian allies!!!, but still good. Bogey and Massey.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:42 PM (Dc2NZ)


Another terrific Battle of the Atlantic movie is a Brit movie, "The Cruel Sea." Based on the book by a Royal Navy escort ship officer. Very realistic. However, it is a very, very sad tale overall, which is why the Sea is labeled Cruel.

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 08:48 PM (AMIL/)

163 @155: "Often wonder why he didn't (or his victims) throw most of Hollywood under the bus."

You can't throw the entire town under the bus 'cause there'd be no one left to run them over. Everyone's either directly implicated by behavior or indirectly by ignoring too many rumors for too long without saying anything. I'm convinced that's the only reason why Kathleen Kennedy still has a job.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at December 04, 2021 08:49 PM (+WWsf)

164 Since we're past 100 comments, I'd like to thank Mindful Webworker for promoting my latest thing. So I guess I will promote it again.

https://tinyurl.com/5e4m8eda

Thanks if you watch!

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at December 04, 2021 08:49 PM (OU+8W)

165 93 Was Jurassic Park made to profit from the kid's dinosaur craze or other way around?
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:23 PM (iXJM1)

---------------------------

I loved dinosaurs as a child. But for some reason, in the 80s, everything was branded with these stupid, smiling dinosaurs. So I never had dinosaur bedsheets, lunch boxes, or anything like that, because I hated smiling dinosaurs.

Jurassic Park was a godsend. I still have a Jurassic Park comforter that I got when the movie came out.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 04, 2021 08:50 PM (CAJOC)

166 @163

Yeah, the stuff that's hinted at is pretty horrifying. soho house, the standard hotel.

Bad, bad people

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 08:50 PM (AwPyG)

167 "If thine eye offend thee..."

-
Inspirational Bible quotes from the Bee.

https://bit.ly/3oqYNo1

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 08:51 PM (FVME7)

168 Imagine coming up with the idea for the Crawling Eye.

"It's an eye! Seriously!"
Posted by: artemis


"The Emoji Movie". Don't care about the meeting, want the drugs involved.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 08:51 PM (r1z5A)

169 You can't control what sticks in your memory, and what does not. Alas, what has stuck in my memory is that picture of Stelter in college, dressed convincingly as a baby.

It has led me to revelations, confirmed by watching Tater videos: he knows he's being humiliated almost every time he goes up against other human beings. He knows that that humiliation, and its entertainment value, is his ticket to the only kind of success he can have, and he enjoys it.

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 08:51 PM (PQ4Fz)

170 Another terrific Battle of the Atlantic movie is a Brit movie, "The Cruel Sea." Based on the book by a Royal Navy escort ship officer. Very realistic. However, it is a very, very sad tale overall, which is why the Sea is labeled Cruel.
Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 08:48 PM (AMIL/)
--

That book is on my To Be Read pile (which is teetering precariously).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:51 PM (Dc2NZ)

171 Was Jurassic Park made to profit from the kid's dinosaur craze or other way around?
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:23 PM (iXJM1)

---------------------------

I loved dinosaurs as a child. But for some reason, in the 80s, everything was branded with these stupid, smiling dinosaurs. So I never had dinosaur bedsheets, lunch boxes, or anything like that, because I hated smiling dinosaurs.

Jurassic Park was a godsend. I still have a Jurassic Park comforter that I got when the movie came out.

-----------

You mean Jurassic Park was not an homage to Barney?

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 08:51 PM (2SdPm)

172 "I saw The Crawling Eye for the first time when I was 12 or 13 -- the Chicago NBC local used to run a double feature of monster flicks on Saturday night at 10:30 and The Crawling Eye was a regular offering. That's sixty years ago now, and damned if I still don't enjoy watching that sucker from time to time. "

Damn. Chicago native here. We may have been watching those movies at the same time. My grandmother always let us watch the scary movies on Sat. night whenever we'd stay with her.

Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 08:52 PM (gLRfa)

173 Evening.

Things I've watched!

Get Back (Part 1) - Wow, so...boring. Two hours of a whole lotta Jack shit. Paul McCartney talks down to George Harrison briefly. Lots of noodling on instruments. Harrison quits and takes an extra day off. Okay, it's a technical achievement because of how the recovered so much dialogue but it's a snooze fest.

Ralph Breaks The Internet - Yeah, stupid. Looked great, could have been good save for the girl power nonsense shoehorned in at every moment. It could have been a wonderfully bittersweet film about a friendship ending but...no, can't let story telling get in the way of Feminism.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife - First movie I've seen in a theater in 22 months. Strong cast, stupid script. The lead is a 12 year old girl who is cute as a button and a total Mary Sue. It's a kid's movie, but for the dumb kids. Film starts off well, shit happens because they're needed to happen and then the last act is just recreating shots from the last act of the original. I recommend watching Red Letter Media's review because they hit the nail on the head. I would only add I liked it more than they did, but it's not really a good movie.

Posted by: Robert at December 04, 2021 08:53 PM (2J9rC)

174 Triology of Terror scared me the most as an older kid. At least the headhunter doll part.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:54 PM (iXJM1)

175 @173

What's interesting about Get Back is that's when they were not getting along at all--I mean, not speaking. At all. Barely able to be in the same room together, and they say that Billy Preston constantly had to coax them into the studio.

So how strange that someone has decided to create a cheery-fellows narrative when it wasn't at all true

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 08:55 PM (AwPyG)

176 Another terrific Battle of the Atlantic movie is a Brit movie, "The Cruel Sea." Based on the book by a Royal Navy escort ship officer.
Posted by: Gref

Daughter got Apple TV free for a bit. It had a recent Tom Hanks movie called Greyhound based on The Good Shepherd about convoys in North Atlantic. I thought it was one of the best war movies I've ever seen and one of the best movies of any genre I've seen in the last ten years. And barely a drop of blood.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:55 PM (rz+/y)

177 You mean Jurassic Park was not an homage to Barney?
Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 08:51 PM (2SdPm)

-----------------------------

You wanna get added to the list? 'Cause that's how you get added to the list.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 04, 2021 08:55 PM (CAJOC)

178 Another terrific Battle of the Atlantic movie is a Brit movie, "The Cruel Sea."

-
Historian James Holland looks at war movies including The Cruel Sea. 13 minutes.

https://bit.ly/3lAshha

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 08:55 PM (FVME7)

179 What is it with you and wagons ?
Posted by: JT

roflmao
Posted by: Infidel

Posted by: JT at December 04, 2021 08:56 PM (arJlL)

180 Alec Baldwin is such an ass, but man He is great in Hunt for Red October, probably the best Submarine movie along with Destination Tokyo

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at December 04, 2021 08:56 PM (dKiJG)

181 172 --

Could well be. I was in Chicago Lawn and between '61 and '66 devoured not only every monster movie I could find on the tube (NBC on late Saturday, ABC at 3:30 almost every weekday afternoon, etc...), but also lived midway between the Colony and the Marquette Theaters. The Corman Poe pics with Vincent Price, the above-mentioned X-the Man with X-Ray Eyes and anything else that was even remotely sf/horror. One of my earliest memories is seeing Sid Melton get nailed by the triceratops at the end of Lost Continent. They don't make 'em like that any more.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 08:57 PM (JzDjf)

182 Pluck it out!
Pluck it out!

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 08:57 PM (vuisn)

183 I guess I should report on my watching of "Willie Dynamite," which I acquired, and watched, because I was compelled by clips of the following exchange:

"Muh bitches"
"You saying you can't control yo bitches?"

This is not a very professional movie. The lighting looked way off, like someone just learning the trade. The budget must have been rock-bottom. It was almost silly at times. And yet, it made me want to keep watching. It told a story that made made me want to see what happened next. I think the lead, the pimp who went on to be the voice of Grover on Sesame Street, made the movie. It's a shame that he did not make more movies, as far as I know.

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 08:57 PM (PQ4Fz)

184 Miguel Ferrer was fantastic in Robocop. I don't think his performance in that movie gets nearly enough love.

Posted by: Lewis at December 04, 2021 08:58 PM (2LOOk)

185 180 Alec Baldwin is such an ass, but man He is great in Hunt for Red October, probably the best Submarine movie along with Destination Tokyo
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at December 04, 2021 08:56 PM (dKiJG)

Ya know? somehow missed that Red Button that blows up your torpedoes before they hit a target...

Posted by: Romeo13 at December 04, 2021 08:58 PM (oHd/0)

186 Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 08:57 PM (JzDjf)

------------

I'll just be over here, staying off your lawn.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 08:58 PM (kTF2Z)

187 Very realistic. However, it is a very, very sad tale overall, which is why the Sea is labeled Cruel.
Posted by: Gref

Among the pearls of wisdom my Dad laid on me before I struck out into the wilderness of learning to be an adult was - "You'd better respect Mother Nature 'cause she doesn't give a shit about you."

Posted by: Tonypete at December 04, 2021 08:59 PM (mD/uy)

188 Regarding "The Man with X-Ray Eyes" didn't that end with "If your eyes offend thee, pluck them out!"

And Milland figures it's great advice?

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 08:59 PM (2SdPm)

189 Cousin has been texting my like crazy. She just returned from a trip to Europe and is waiting in Seattle for the return trip to SLC. She is regaling me with the craziness over there re chinese virus.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 08:59 PM (qpolg)

190 Favorite war movie - Battleground. I think the ending sways my decision.

Has anyone else seen War Hunt with Robert Redford ? I saw it once as a young teen and it was at the time the war movie that relayed to me the possible scared feeling one would have in war. I haven't seen it since but wondered what others thought.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 08:59 PM (iXJM1)

191 You know it's Saturday night when the high praise begins for "Hunt for Red October".

And you know I'm here when I start ripping on Sean Connery's laughable attempt at playing a Lithuanian sub captain.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 09:00 PM (vuisn)

192 BeckoningChasm is it done on a computer? Always thought it would be a project to do a stop animation movie with my miniature figures

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 09:00 PM (2JoB8)

193 Another terrific Battle of the Atlantic movie is a Brit movie, "The Cruel Sea." Based on the book by a Royal Navy escort ship officer.
Posted by: Gref

Daughter got Apple TV free for a bit. It had a recent Tom Hanks movie called Greyhound based on The Good Shepherd about convoys in North Atlantic. I thought it was one of the best war movies I've ever seen and one of the best movies of any genre I've seen in the last ten years. And barely a drop of blood.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 08:55 PM (rz+/y)

That is not saying much, The way the Germans just Surfaced for some reason to shoot at the the Convoy was soo dumb especially during Daylight

Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at December 04, 2021 09:00 PM (dKiJG)

194 I loved dinosaurs as a child.
------------
Me too. Sunoco gas station had a cigarette machine and one of those injection molding machines that made dinosaurs for a quarter. Could never talk the old man into buying me one.

Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:01 PM (+ya+t)

195 170 Another terrific Battle of the Atlantic movie is a Brit movie, "The Cruel Sea." Based on the book by a Royal Navy escort ship officer. Very realistic. However, it is a very, very sad tale overall, which is why the Sea is labeled Cruel.
Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 08:48 PM (AMIL/)
--

That book is on my To Be Read pile (which is teetering precariously).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 08:51 PM (Dc2NZ)


Read the book before watching the movie. The movie is a very good adaptation, but the book has tons of Royal Navy corvette and North Atlantic convoy warfare details, along with more character development, that made the movie better, IMHO.

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:01 PM (AMIL/)

196 What's interesting about Get Back is that's when they were not getting along at all--I mean, not speaking. At all. Barely able to be in the same room together, and they say that Billy Preston constantly had to coax them into the studio.

So how strange that someone has decided to create a cheery-fellows narrative when it wasn't at all true
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 08:55 PM (AwPyG)

I just assume they were being typical passive-aggressive English. Paul was clearly in charge but resented. John was...fuck, man, he seemed like the kind of dude you'd have a beer with which is totally contrary to his Christ-like image that's been built since his murder. Ringo was ugly as fuck and kept in his lane and George I guess was avoiding conflict but getting pissed.

I'll probably watch part 2 when I get back home but something better happen. Like explosions. Or titties. Or exploding titties.

Posted by: Robert at December 04, 2021 09:01 PM (2J9rC)

197 @48 And the late 80s early 90s were weird.

----

There was kind of a wink and nod regarding unattended minors in 'R'-rated films during that time. Kids weren't supposed to see them without parents. But there seems to have been a lot of looking the other way. But around that time a push started to start enforcing the age restriction, and all of a sudden the kids had to have an adult present before they could go watch the latest R-rated extravaganza.

I suspect that the creation of the PG-13 rating had a lot to do with that. It meant that you could make a film that was racy or had violence, so the teenagers would be attracted. But it also meant that if you had an actual R-rating, your film crossed certain lines.

Posted by: junior at December 04, 2021 09:01 PM (PTw5h)

198 186 --

Duke, don't sweat the lawn. I'm not too fussy about it. I'd like to pave it and paint it green, but the Actual Management of the house just doesn't like the idea...

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 09:01 PM (JzDjf)

199 194 I loved dinosaurs as a child.
------------
Me too. Sunoco gas station had a cigarette machine and one of those injection molding machines that made dinosaurs for a quarter. Could never talk the old man into buying me one.

Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:01 PM (+ya+t)


Did he buy you a packs of smokes instead?

Posted by: I Am Omni Chron at December 04, 2021 09:02 PM (F6Xpw)

200 188 Regarding "The Man with X-Ray Eyes" didn't that end with "If your eyes offend thee, pluck them out!"

And Milland figures it's great advice?
Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 08:59 PM (2SdPm)


There's some cinematic lore that there was unused footage of Milland with eyes ripped out saying, "I can still see!"

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 09:03 PM (vuisn)

201 Battleground is atop 10 war favorite

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 09:03 PM (2JoB8)

202 I remember, as a high school student, our teacher taking us into the big city to see a PG-13 movie. We wondered whether that might mean we'd see a tit (a difficult venture, in those days).

Turned out the movie was called something like "Auntie Mame," and starred Lucille Ball. I didn't know it at the time, but now I realize that that teacher was seriously gay.

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:04 PM (PQ4Fz)

203 The CGI in Jurassic Park was eye-popping for its time. That was not that long after stop-motion claymation was the state of the art.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 04, 2021 09:04 PM (VxC1e)

204 Battleground is atop 10 war favorite
Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 09:03 PM (2Jo

The ending gets me every time. Pure American. Or at least how it used to be.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:04 PM (iXJM1)

205 @193 The way the Germans just Surfaced for some reason to shoot at the the Convoy was soo dumb especially during Daylight

---

I don't remember every bit of the movie. But every time the subs surfaced in the movie made sense to me. And none of it was for casual pot-shots at the merchant ships. Subs had their own set of rules that they had to follow in regards to operations - things such as how long they could stay underwater before they had to surface, etc... When the subs in Greyhound come up to the surface, it's because they don't have a choice in the matter.

Posted by: junior at December 04, 2021 09:05 PM (PTw5h)

206 Favorite war movie - Battleground. I think the ending sways my decision.
-------------
Rented it from Amazon last night, or this morning. Up until 4:30am again. Damn movies.

Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:05 PM (+ya+t)

207 "And you know I'm here when I start ripping on Sean Connery's laughable attempt at playing a Lithuanian sub captain."

No more laughable than Connery as a Berber leader in "The Wind and the Lion". But you know what? I still love that movie. Great score too.

Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:05 PM (gLRfa)

208 Like explosions. Or titties. Or exploding titties.
Posted by: Robert


Total Recall. Triboob girl, no splody, but shot full of holes.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 09:06 PM (r1z5A)

209 I remember, as a high school student, our teacher taking us into the big city to see a PG-13 movie.
Posted by: Splunge

We had a weekend track meet where we stayed over once. The coaches selected Looking for Mr Goodbar for us to see. Oh, my goodness, did they regret that.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 09:06 PM (rz+/y)

210 203 The CGI in Jurassic Park was eye-popping for its time. That was not that long after stop-motion claymation was the state of the art.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 04, 2021 09:04 PM (VxC1e)

===

Stop motion was state of the art in the 1930s. There was just nothing that could begin to replace it until the 1990s.

And yeah, the CGI of Jurassic Park still holds up surprisingly well. Probably in no small part because it's only in a couple of dozen shots in the whole movie.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 09:07 PM (o7bkq)

211 Connery has the gift of commanding the screen, whatever he's in. Heck, I'd bet he does it in that one I never saw, where he wears the leather mankini. Zardoz? Something like that.

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:07 PM (PQ4Fz)

212 No more laughable than Connery as a Berber leader in "The Wind and the Lion". But you know what? I still love that movie. Great score too.
Posted by: Tuna


Brian Keith made that movie for me.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 09:07 PM (r1z5A)

213 Another good Brit WWII sea movie is 1942's In Which We Serve. Brit destroyer is sunk and various crew members reflect on how they came together as they cling to debris awaiting rescue.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 09:07 PM (FVME7)

214 Man, I never really gotten the whole Tool thing... I have some albums, gone to some shows, and never really felt it.

But I heard "intolerance" just on it's own today, and that shit rocks.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 04, 2021 09:07 PM (2ABQr)

215 Me too. Sunoco gas station had a cigarette machine and one of those injection molding machines that made dinosaurs for a quarter. Could never talk the old man into buying me one.
Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:01 PM (+ya+t)

------------

You don't need a goddamn toy dinosaur. Now get your ass back out there and get the north forty plowed before supper!

Posted by: Dartist's Dad at December 04, 2021 09:07 PM (VxC1e)

216 "We had a weekend track meet where we stayed over once. The coaches selected Looking for Mr Goodbar for us to see. Oh, my goodness, did they regret that."

Oh boy. I'll bet they did.

Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:08 PM (gLRfa)

217 Did he buy you a packs of smokes instead?
----------
They were a quarter too but no. I had to save my allowance for those.

Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:08 PM (+ya+t)

218 Total Recall. Triboob girl, no splody, but shot full of holes.
Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 09:06 PM (r1z5A)

They are currently studying how to create an oxygen supplied living space on a Mars using the caves similar to Total Recall.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:08 PM (iXJM1)

219 Connery has the gift of commanding the screen, whatever he's in. Heck, I'd bet he does it in that one I never saw, where he wears the leather mankini. Zardoz? Something like that.
Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:07 PM (PQ4Fz)
---
Agreed. Connery has "screen presence" that very few actors are able to achieve. Even when his accent makes no sense for his character, you still buy into the notion that he's a submarine captain and a very capable commander.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 04, 2021 09:09 PM (NQjQK)

220 "Brian Keith made that movie for me."

The perfect Teddy Roosevelt

Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:09 PM (gLRfa)

221 We had a weekend track meet where we stayed over once. The coaches selected Looking for Mr Goodbar for us to see. Oh, my goodness, did they regret that."

Oh boy. I'll bet they did.
Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:08 PM (gLRfa)

In my top ten worst movies list.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:09 PM (iXJM1)

222 Posted by: junior at December 04, 2021 09:01 PM (PTw5h)

Yeah, the rating system was just kind of a joke. Then Congress started making noises at the end of the 90s and Hollywood and the chains had to pretend to take it seriously. So now for the past 30 years or so they just lowered standards and PG-13 films have the kind of stuff that would have previously gotten R rating.

I've been saying for probably 15 years now the current rating system is broken and needs to be scrapped entirely. Preferably for one that isn't infantilizing like the current one.

Posted by: Robert at December 04, 2021 09:09 PM (Y/Lmr)

223 213 Another good Brit WWII sea movie is 1942's In Which We Serve. Brit destroyer is sunk and various crew members reflect on how they came together as they cling to debris awaiting rescue.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 09:07 PM (FVME7)

===

David Lean's first movie (codirected with Noel Coward the playwright). A solid first film, especially considering it was a wartime picture.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 09:09 PM (o7bkq)

224 203 The CGI in Jurassic Park was eye-popping for its time. That was not that long after stop-motion claymation was the state of the art.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at December 04, 2021 09:04 PM (VxC1e)

-------------------------------

Cool thing is, the CGI still holds up today.

Netflix has a series called The Movies That Made Us. One of the episodes is about Jurassic Park. Apparently, they were going to use stop-motion, but the computer guys were sneaky, and managed to sell them on CGI, even though they were explicitly told not to work on it. Felt bad for the stop-motion guy they hired.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 04, 2021 09:10 PM (CAJOC)

225 Best stop motion action movie.

Jason and the Argonauts

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:11 PM (iXJM1)

226 Jason and the Argonauts
Posted by: Just a side note

Can't argue with that.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 09:12 PM (rz+/y)

227 current rating system is broken and needs to be scrapped entirely. Preferably for one that isn't infantilizing like the current one.
Posted by: Robert

Sucks
Mostly sucks
Not too bad, I guess
Good
Die Hard

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 09:12 PM (FVME7)

228 211 Connery has the gift of commanding the screen, whatever he's in. Heck, I'd bet he does it in that one I never saw, where he wears the leather mankini. Zardoz? Something like that.
Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:07 PM (PQ4Fz)
---

If you can get past that mankini -- and it is admittedly a high hurdle -- Zardoz is actually an interesting exploration of barbarism vs. enervated civilization.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (Dc2NZ)

229 Clarence Bodikker = Les Nessman's evil twin

Posted by: davidt at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (0hbQ6)

230 The Big Sleep is the best movie I ever saw. The Train is the scariest movie I ever saw.

Posted by: Jack S. Phogbound, Esq. at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (9X60i)

231 Today we have millions of children in the bodies of middle-aged adults who will spend more on little figurines than their parents ever considered spending on toys. An R rating is no longer the handicap to merchandising it once was.

Posted by: Epobirs at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (uNrGf)

232 Couldn't go wrong with Harryhausen -- Jason & the Argonauts, 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and on and on. Just wonderful stuff.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (JzDjf)

233 I always had a soft spot for that Claymation show that would come on Saturday mornings, after the cartoons were done. It was a Christian show, and featured Davey and his clay dog.

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (PQ4Fz)

234 > Best stop motion action movie

Chicken Run

Posted by: Geronimo Stilton at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (sGnvY)

235 226 Jason and the Argonauts
Posted by: Just a side note

Can't argue with that.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 09:12 PM (rz+/y)

Flesh Gordon.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (Dc2NZ)

236 Jason and the Argonauts
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:11 PM (iXJM1)
-----------

The Evil Dead

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (2SdPm)

237 Read there is a computer program for stop action movies, problem is the hours of moving figure for minute of movie

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 09:14 PM (2JoB8)

238 In Which We Serve

Wasn't there a similar movie with American GI's floating on debris?

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 09:14 PM (qpolg)

239 228 If you can get past that mankini -- and it is admittedly a high hurdle -- Zardoz is actually an interesting exploration of barbarism vs. enervated civilization.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (Dc2NZ)


Sounds timely.

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:14 PM (PQ4Fz)

240 @115 What's interesting is I've heard three authors who used to be screen writers all say there's no way they'd let their books be developed by Hollywood.

Sue Grafton, Robert Crais, and Matt Goldman

So; they don't like what they've seen

----

The thing about licensing your novel to Hollywood is that - outside a few notable exceptions (J.K. Rowling was apparently one of them) - once you get paid for that license, you have no control over the result. Contracts generally allow the scriptwriters to do whatever they want with your property. It's usually in the studio's best interests that the end result bears at least some resemblance to your novel. That's what people who go to see the licensed film are expecting to see, after all. But a studio could take a license about big game hunting and turn it into a movie about growing flowers on the roof of a skyscraper.

That's why very successful authors are wary about having their books licensed.

Posted by: junior at December 04, 2021 09:15 PM (PTw5h)

241 Googled "Looking for Mr. Goodbar." Looks execrable. Is that Diane Keaton? Gah...she's horrible in everything.

Posted by: FriscoYoda at December 04, 2021 09:15 PM (+56GQ)

242 The Train is the scariest movie I ever saw.

Posted by: Jack S. Phogbound, Esq. at December 04, 2021 09:13 PM (9X60i)

The war movie The Train ?

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:15 PM (iXJM1)

243 I always had a soft spot for that Claymation show that would come on Saturday mornings, after the cartoons were done. It was a Christian show, and featured Davey and his clay dog.
Posted by: Splunge

I loved that one. Gumby and Pokie too.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 09:15 PM (qpolg)

244 Read there is a computer program for stop action movies, problem is the hours of moving figure for minute of movie
Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 09:14 PM (2JoB
------------

Shaun of the Sheep
Wallace and Gromit

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 09:15 PM (2SdPm)

245 Don't forget Rudolph!

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:16 PM (AwPyG)

246 I remember at a state fair Sinclair had a machine that would make big wax toy dinosaurs. I had two -- they lasted. Stegosaurus and brontosaurus.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 09:16 PM (Dc2NZ)

247 Movie threads are the best but way past my normal schedule
Have a great evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at December 04, 2021 09:16 PM (2JoB8)

248 "Googled "Looking for Mr. Goodbar." Looks execrable. Is that Diane Keaton? Gah...she's horrible in everything."

Probably the most depressing movie I've seen. I mean everything about it was depressing. Just everything.

Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:17 PM (gLRfa)

249 The skeleton fights in Jason and the Argonauts was amazballs.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:17 PM (iXJM1)

250 Frederic Forsyth must have a great agent, because The Fourth Protocol stuck incredibly close to the book.

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:17 PM (PQ4Fz)

251 Yet I guarantee a Rose Tico action figure will command big bucks in 20 yrs!
Posted by: Some Rat

In 30 years we'll be finding piles of them in landfills, like E.T. Atari cartridges. Whoever finds them will be mystified. "Rose *who*??"

Posted by: Taqiyyologist, Rickrolled by Jesus at December 04, 2021 09:18 PM (OssQ4)

252 Lifeboat with Tallulah Bankhead had a similar set-up, with people in a lifeboat.

Seems to be a popular idea

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:18 PM (AwPyG)

253 Shaun the Sheep is great.

I liked "Fantastic Mr. Fox" at lot, too, although for some reason I feel like I should pretend I didn't.

Posted by: Geronimo Stilton at December 04, 2021 09:18 PM (sGnvY)

254 54 Batman: Mask of the Phantasm IMDB link goes to IMDB page-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Posted by: Puddleglum at December 04, 2021 08:11 PM (sAmhv)

------

I thought it was an intentional joke at first until I saw the link for his review.

Posted by: ShainS -- Let's Poop Brandon! (Non Compos Anus) at December 04, 2021 09:18 PM (mZ3xv)

255 Wasn't there a similar movie with American GI's floating on debris?
Posted by: Infidel

Was it a wagon ?

Posted by: JT at December 04, 2021 09:18 PM (arJlL)

256 The skeleton fights in Jason and the Argonauts was amazeballs.
---

That's our Word of the Week!

*balloons and dollar bills fall out of the ceiling*

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 09:19 PM (Dc2NZ)

257 "Big Trouble in Little China" was not the sequel to "Buckaroo Banzai". See: https://tinyurl.com/yp5eerj3

(I love both those movies, by the way.)

The sequel to "Buckaroo Banzai" is a book (Hardcover and Kindle eBook) on Amazon. "Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League, Et Al: A Compendium of Evils", written by Earl Mac Rauch, the author of the script for the original movie.



Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 04, 2021 09:19 PM (nRMeC)

258 Apparently, the "lesson" of "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" is: Girls, be careful! One night stands can be dangerous!

Well no fucking shit...

Posted by: FriscoYoda at December 04, 2021 09:19 PM (+56GQ)

259 Lifeboat with Tallulah Bankhead had a similar set-up, with people in a lifeboat.

Seems to be a popular idea
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:18 PM (AwPyG)

I said up thread Abandon Ship was better but both are really good. Abandon Ship was a British movie.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:19 PM (iXJM1)

260 Wino......you misspelled sammiches

Posted by: westminsterdogshow at December 04, 2021 09:19 PM (/UQ/R)

261 @249

wasn't sinbad a stop action one, too? With the cyclops? Or maybe I'm mixing it up with Jason

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:19 PM (AwPyG)

262 Lifeboat with Tallulah Bankhead had a similar set-up, with people in a lifeboat.

Seems to be a popular idea
Posted by: artemis

That's the one.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 09:20 PM (qpolg)

263 213 Another good Brit WWII sea movie is 1942's In Which We Serve. Brit destroyer is sunk and various crew members reflect on how they came together as they cling to debris awaiting rescue.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 09:07 PM (FVME7)


Seconded.

Americans may not understand the setting. In early 1941 the Royal Navy got its ass kicked by the Luftwaffe as the land battle for Crete was fought, first when the Royal Navy escorted supply ships trying to get to Crete, then when it had to escort ships trying to evacuate as many Commonwealth troops as possible.

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:20 PM (AMIL/)

264 The way the Germans just Surfaced for some reason to shoot at the the Convoy was soo dumb especially during Daylight

---

I don't remember every bit of the movie. But every time the subs surfaced in the movie made sense to me. And none of it was for casual pot-shots at the merchant ships. Subs had their own set of rules that they had to follow in regards to operations - things such as how long they could stay underwater before they had to surface, etc... When the subs in Greyhound come up to the surface, it's because they don't have a choice in the matter.
Posted by: junior at December 04, 2021 09:05 PM (PTw5h)

Subs on the surface were much faster, so if you wanted to get ahead of the convoy for an underwater strike, you surfaced to do it, out of range of any escorts.

Posted by: Oldcat at December 04, 2021 09:20 PM (eoQWY)

265 Googled "Looking for Mr. Goodbar." Looks execrable. Is that Diane Keaton? Gah...she's horrible in everything.
Posted by: FriscoYoda

Oh, it's horrible. In addition to Keaton, it was the first time I ever saw Richard Gere and Tom Berenger. Just awful.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at December 04, 2021 09:21 PM (rz+/y)

266 There's some cinematic lore that there was unused footage of Milland with eyes ripped out saying, "I can still see!"
Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 09:03 PM (vuisn)


I am one hundred percent sure that I saw that scene when I saw MwtXRE long ago and far away.

Did they cut it out?

Posted by: naturalfake at December 04, 2021 09:21 PM (5NkmN)

267 Posted by: JT at December 04, 2021 09:18 PM (arJlL)

No, jackwagon.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 09:21 PM (qpolg)

268 Artemis, sounds like 7th Voyage of Sinbad:

https://tinyurl.com/yckndnf7

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 09:21 PM (Dc2NZ)

269 I said up thread Abandon Ship was better but both are really good. Abandon Ship was a British movie.
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:19 PM (iXJM1)
---
I'm reading The Raft by Stephen Baxter right now. Another lifeboat story, but this one is set in a universe where the gravitational constant is a billion times higher than our own. Leads to some very weird situations.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 04, 2021 09:22 PM (NQjQK)

270 problem is the hours of moving figure for minute of movie
Posted by: Skip


Yes.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 09:23 PM (r1z5A)

271 Goodbar had a sequel.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 04, 2021 09:23 PM (63Dwl)

272 As a kid I loved "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad", with the little homunculus, the statue of Kali, and the ship's figurehead who came alive.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 09:23 PM (Dc2NZ)

273 Apropos of nothing-

Now, I want to see Roger Moore as the Joker.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 04, 2021 09:24 PM (5NkmN)

274 @268

That's it!

I used to love that stuff. I loved Edgar Rice Burroughs books too, and it's a similar vibe

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:24 PM (AwPyG)

275 Not a single shelf joke...

I iz disappointed.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 09:24 PM (o7bkq)

276 Goodbar had a sequel.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at December 04, 2021 09:23 PM (63Dwl)

What, Looking for Krackle?

I can never see that movie title without thinking of that candy bar in the yellow wrapper.

Posted by: Oldcat at December 04, 2021 09:24 PM (eoQWY)

277 Pretty sure we owe a Claymation movie for the phrase "Release the Kraken!"

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:25 PM (PQ4Fz)

278 Flesh Gordon.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

"I've got the power pasties and I know how to use them!!"

Posted by: Tonypete at December 04, 2021 09:25 PM (mD/uy)

279 I remember at a state fair Sinclair had a machine that would make big wax toy dinosaurs. I had two -- they lasted. Stegosaurus and brontosaurus.
------------
My old man was cheap so I never got to find out if they were wax or plastic. Everything was a quarter. Had to go into the restroom for prophylactics though.

Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:25 PM (+ya+t)

280 277 Pretty sure we owe a Claymation movie for the phrase "Release the Kraken!"
Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:25 PM (PQ4Fz)

===

Clash of the Titans, remake of Clash of the Titans.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 09:26 PM (o7bkq)

281 I think Goodbars should be more popular than they are. Peanuts and chocolate FTW

Abbazabba, too

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:26 PM (AwPyG)

282 248 "Googled "Looking for Mr. Goodbar." Looks execrable. Is that Diane Keaton? Gah...she's horrible in everything."

Probably the most depressing movie I've seen. I mean everything about it was depressing. Just everything.
Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:17 PM (gLRfa)

And that was at her "peak", post Annie Hall...

Posted by: Philip Henslowe at December 04, 2021 09:26 PM (BgMrQ)

283 Had to go into the restroom for prophylactics though.
Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:25 PM (+ya+t)
----
Hopefully they weren't also made of wax or plastic...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 04, 2021 09:26 PM (NQjQK)

284 My Australian son in law had a craving for a Mars bar, which is hard to find here. Another good one.

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:27 PM (AwPyG)

285 Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 04, 2021 09:22 PM (NQjQK)

What's the explanation on how humans can survive in that environment?

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:27 PM (iXJM1)

286 279 Everything was a quarter. Had to go into the restroom for prophylactics though.
Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:25 PM (+ya+t)


Now you can get menstrual pads there too! Progress!

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:27 PM (PQ4Fz)

287 Skip, send me the models and I'll animate them.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at December 04, 2021 09:27 PM (OU+8W)

288 I remember seeing posters for Looking For Mr Goodbar and thinking mmmmmm a chocolate bar with peanuts.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:27 PM (kTF2Z)

289 Had to go into the restroom for prophylactics though.
Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:25 PM (+ya+t)
----
Hopefully they weren't also made of wax or plastic...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 04, 2021 09:26 PM (NQjQK)

Or had back spade shaped blades and spikes like Stegosaurus.

Posted by: Oldcat at December 04, 2021 09:28 PM (eoQWY)

290 Hopefully they weren't also made of wax or plastic...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel


Saran wrap and rubber bands.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 09:28 PM (r1z5A)

291 266 There's some cinematic lore that there was unused footage of Milland with eyes ripped out saying, "I can still see!"
Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 09:03 PM (vuisn)

I am one hundred percent sure that I saw that scene when I saw MwtXRE long ago and far away.

Did they cut it out?
Posted by: naturalfake at December 04, 2021 09:21 PM (5NkmN)
------

"The scene was indeed discussed, but never filmed."
Supposedly.

https://tinyurl.com/45zcjuzj

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 09:28 PM (vuisn)

292 The 80's had some great fun sci-fi movies. Some were kinda corny, but they were cool in their own way. Night of the comet, war games, the last star fighter, metalstorm, etc etc.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 04, 2021 09:29 PM (VwHCD)

293 Lots of movies on this thread I'm kind of glad I've never seen.

I'm glad I saw Deer Hunter and King of Comedy, but I never want to see either again.

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:29 PM (PQ4Fz)

294 My Australian son in law had a craving for a Mars bar, which is hard to find here. Another good one.
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:27 PM (AwPyG)

------------

Mars bar was rebranded as Almond Snickers.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:29 PM (kTF2Z)

295 I have a photo of me on a brontosaurus at some park that I assume had something to do with dinosaur fossils. It was when I lived in South Dakota and we went on vacation. I'll have to ask my mom where that was.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (iXJM1)

296 @292

Adventures in Babysitting is another one that's pretty good, believe it or not.

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (AwPyG)

297 "Heaven Knows Mr. Allison" with Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum, directed by John Huston.

Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (+ya+t)

298 Skip, send me the models and I'll animate them.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm


What do you use? Just software? We had a BVH2500, it was awesome.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (r1z5A)

299 This may be an unpopular opinion, butThe Deer Hunter was a fucking awful movie.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (kTF2Z)

300 288 I remember seeing posters for Looking For Mr Goodbar and thinking mmmmmm a chocolate bar with peanuts.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:27 PM (kTF2Z)

Amazingly enough, there's a bar here in Buffalo that took up the name in the 70's and is still going strong.

Just down the street from Buff State, but it draws a fairly diverse crowd.

Posted by: Philip Henslowe at December 04, 2021 09:31 PM (BgMrQ)

301 Looking For Mr Goodbar

-
Go to a 7/11. Go to the candy aisle. It's not that difficult. Sheesh!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 09:31 PM (FVME7)

302 @294

Thanks for the tip! I'll tell him

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:31 PM (AwPyG)

303 293 I'm glad I saw Deer Hunter and King of Comedy, but I never want to see either again.
Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:29 PM (PQ4Fz)

====

See Submarine Patrol and Batman Mask of the Phantasm.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 09:31 PM (o7bkq)

304 "The 80's had some great fun sci-fi movies. Some were kinda corny, but they were cool in their own way. Night of the comet, war games, the last star fighter, metalstorm, etc etc."

"The Last Starfighter" was a good movie. Remember watching it with my kiddo and enjoying it immensely.

Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:31 PM (gLRfa)

305 299 This may be an unpopular opinion, butThe Deer Hunter was a fucking awful movie.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (kTF2Z)

***Pulls out chair***

Come sit by me....MOW!

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:32 PM (BgMrQ)

306 @297

Heaven knows mr allison is my all time favorite movie.

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:32 PM (AwPyG)

307 This may be an unpopular opinion, butThe Deer Hunter was a fucking awful movie.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (kTF2Z)

I did like the POW Russian roulette scene.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:32 PM (iXJM1)

308 What's the explanation on how humans can survive in that environment?
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:27 PM (iXJM1)
---
Hard to say, really. Baxter worked in this novel with help from Larry Niven and David Brin. Between them, they know their physics. There is some sort of phlebotinum that allows humans to survive (somehow), but the gravity does behave really strangely compared to what we are used to in this universe. "Gravitic chemistry" also makes an appearance.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 04, 2021 09:32 PM (NQjQK)

309 299 This may be an unpopular opinion, butThe Deer Hunter was a fucking awful movie.
Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (kTF2Z)

I'd rather play "Beer Hunter" than watch Deer Hunter...

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:32 PM (BgMrQ)

310 Or had back spade shaped blades and spikes like Stegosaurus.
Posted by: Oldcat


Thagomized, for her pleasure.

Posted by: mikeski at December 04, 2021 09:32 PM (P1f+c)

311 I didn't like the ending of Jason and the Argonauts. No resolution.

Posted by: davidt at December 04, 2021 09:33 PM (0hbQ6)

312 @292

Adventures in Babysitting is another one that's pretty good, believe it or not.
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (AwPyG)

I love that because I was in grad school in Chicago at the time.

"Thor O Mighty God of Thunder!"

Posted by: Oldcat at December 04, 2021 09:33 PM (eoQWY)

313 If they actually released XtMwXRE with an "I can still see" finish, I kinda doubt it was in the initial release. Saw that one in the theater, and I think I'd remember a closer like that even after all these years.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 09:33 PM (JzDjf)

314 185 180 Alec Baldwin is such an ass, but man He is great in Hunt for Red October, probably the best Submarine movie along with Destination Tokyo
Posted by: Patrick From Ohio at December 04, 2021 08:56 PM (dKiJG)

Ya know? somehow missed that Red Button that blows up your torpedoes before they hit a target...

Posted by: Romeo13 at December 04, 2021 08:58 PM (
That Admiral Greer brought the red button aboard in his briefcase and plugged it in the console, Chief.

Posted by: Eromero at December 04, 2021 09:34 PM (0OP+5)

315 I didn't like the ending of Jason and the Argonauts. No resolution.
Posted by: davidt at December 04, 2021 09:33 PM (0hbQ6)

I'll bet Jason didn't like the end of the Mythology himself, when he started cheating on Medea his wife the sorceress

Posted by: Oldcat at December 04, 2021 09:34 PM (eoQWY)

316 Adventures in Babysitting is another one that's pretty good, believe it or not.
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (AwPyG)

Peak, and I mean PEAK

Elisabeth Shue

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:34 PM (BgMrQ)

317 303 See Submarine Patrol and Batman Mask of the Phantasm.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 09:31 PM (o7bkq)


A John Ford movie and a cartoon? That's casting a wide net. But sure, why not?

Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:35 PM (PQ4Fz)

318 >>> 292 The 80's had some great fun sci-fi movies. Some were kinda corny, but they were cool in their own way. Night of the comet, war games, the last star fighter, metalstorm, etc etc.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at December 04, 2021 09:29 PM (VwHCD)

"Daddy would have gotten us Uzis."

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 04, 2021 09:36 PM (llON8)

319 317 A John Ford movie and a cartoon? That's casting a wide net. But sure, why not?
Posted by: Splunge at December 04, 2021 09:35 PM (PQ4Fz)

===

I watch...um...a lot of movies.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 09:36 PM (o7bkq)

320 The 80's had some great fun sci-fi movies. Some were kinda corny, but they were cool in their own way. Night of the comet, war games, the last star fighter, metalstorm, etc etc.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division


Yep.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 09:38 PM (r1z5A)

321 Adventures in Babysitting is another one that's pretty good, believe it or not.
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (AwPyG)

Peak, and I mean PEAK

Elisabeth Shue


Pffffft. Shue in a one piece was the only tolerable thing about the Karate Kid.

Posted by: pep at December 04, 2021 09:38 PM (ZsR3z)

322 312 @292

Adventures in Babysitting is another one that's pretty good, believe it or not.
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (AwPyG)

I love that because I was in grad school in Chicago at the time.

"Thor O Mighty God of Thunder!"

Posted by: Oldcat at December 04, 2021 09:33 PM (eoQWY)


"Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues."

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:39 PM (AMIL/)

323 >>> 296 @292

Adventures in Babysitting is another one that's pretty good, believe it or not.
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:30 PM (AwPyG)

Yes. Do *not* waste time with the remake.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 04, 2021 09:39 PM (llON8)

324 Pffffft. Shue in a one piece was the only tolerable thing about the Karate Kid.
Posted by: pep at December 04, 2021 09:38 PM (ZsR3z)

Supporting role...

AiBS she had screen time!

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:39 PM (BgMrQ)

325 I'm a baby splitter on creation/evolution issue. I think we were created and evolution is the method God chose to create us. (It's better than my other theory that if God created me in his image he must be a fat slob, too.). People say I'm wrong because there is no need for dinosaurs in human evolution since they were an evolutionary dead end. I say dinosaurs were necessary since they evolved into birds. We needed dinosaurs so we could have Thanksgiving.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 09:40 PM (FVME7)

326 Weird Science was in the 80's. That is all.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:40 PM (iXJM1)

327 "Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues."
Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:39 PM (AMIL/)

Still an outstanding scene.

***sigh***

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:40 PM (BgMrQ)

328 >>> 322
.....
I love that because I was in grad school in Chicago at the time.
"Thor O Mighty God of Thunder!"
Posted by: Oldcat at December 04, 2021 09:33 PM (eoQWY)

"Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues."
Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:39 PM (AMIL/)

I am drawing a blank but they had a pretty big-name actual blues musician in that scene.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 04, 2021 09:40 PM (llON8)

329 Lifeboat with Tallulah Bankhead had a similar set-up, with people in a lifeboat.


Johnny Carson once inadvertantly introduced her as Ballullah Tankhead.

Posted by: JT at December 04, 2021 09:41 PM (arJlL)

330 "Davey and Goliath" was the claymation show. By the fvcking Lutherans, natch. I watched it ... religiously.

I remember one episode. Davey is on track to take first place at a soapbox derby .. but he spaced out and forgot to install a cotter pin on a wheel nut, and the wheel fell off. Oops! Davey needed a TI to sign off on his work, and he'd have been OK.

Posted by: Common Tater at December 04, 2021 09:41 PM (MAJoQ)

331 I am drawing a blank but they had a pretty big-name actual blues musician in that scene.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 04, 2021 09:40 PM (llON

This is correct. Unfortunately I'd have to google it as my mind is a sieve these days.

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:42 PM (BgMrQ)

332 >>> 325 I'm a baby splitter on creation/evolution issue. I think we were created and evolution is the method God chose to create us. (It's better than my other theory that if God created me in his image he must be a fat slob, too.). People say I'm wrong because there is no need for dinosaurs in human evolution since they were an evolutionary dead end. I say dinosaurs were necessary since they evolved into birds. We needed dinosaurs so we could have Thanksgiving.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 09:40 PM (FVME7)

Having watched the little monsters chase down and play tug-of-war over bugs, I'm pretty sure chickens were the inspiration for the Jurassic Park velociraptors.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 04, 2021 09:42 PM (llON8)

333 We needed dinosaurs so we could have Thanksgiving.

Posted by: Anonosaurus

=====

That's some fancy science. Newsletter?

Posted by: 2009Refugee at December 04, 2021 09:42 PM (1k5or)

334 "A Love Affair to Remember" was on the other night on TCM. I knew I'd be tired the next day but I couldn't help myself and stayed up to watch it. Deborah Kerr must have been easy to work with. I can't think of any movie I've seen her in where she didn't have great chemistry with her male costar

Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:42 PM (gLRfa)

335 Peak, and I mean PEAK

Elisabeth Shue
Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:34 PM (BgMrQ)

-----------

Yes, she has some very nice peaks.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:43 PM (kTF2Z)

336 Almost 9 million different species of life on earth. You would think there would be more than one specie of 'human' .

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:43 PM (iXJM1)

337 Speaking of which, Aretha did a good job in the Blues Brothers.

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:43 PM (AwPyG)

338 Roger Moore's films were all over the place in tone though. Some of them were pretty serious with a few daffy bits (Octopussy, For Your Eyes Only, Live And Let Die). Others were straight out idiotic crap with little serious tone (Moonraker, The Spy Who Loved Me, etc). Then his last... they couldn't figure out what they were doing. It was obvious they wanted to be more serious but the movie was so terrible it didn't matter what tone they set.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 04, 2021 09:44 PM (KZzsI)

339 Just wondering --

Am I the only one who would have liked to see most of the kids in the Jurassic Park movies get eaten?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 09:44 PM (JzDjf)

340 Albert Collins in adventures in babysitting?

Posted by: 2009Refugee at December 04, 2021 09:44 PM (1k5or)

341 AiBS also featured Penelope Anne Miller as the stranded at the bus station friend who caused all the adventure.

Posted by: sal at December 04, 2021 09:44 PM (bJKUl)

342 326 Weird Science was in the 80's. That is all.
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:40 PM (iXJM1)

------------------------

So was Real Genius

Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 04, 2021 09:45 PM (CAJOC)

343 Am I the only one who would have liked to see most of the kids in the Jurassic Park movies get eaten?
Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 09:44 PM (JzDjf)
-----------

No.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 09:45 PM (2SdPm)

344 330 "Davey and Goliath" was the claymation show. By the fvcking Lutherans, natch. I watched it ... religiously.

I remember one episode. Davey is on track to take first place at a soapbox derby .. but he spaced out and forgot to install a cotter pin on a wheel nut, and the wheel fell off. Oops! Davey needed a TI to sign off on his work, and he'd have been OK.

Posted by: Common Tater at December 04, 2021 09:41 PM
It was Sunday mornings right? Saw it occasionally but usually watched a station out of Augusta Georgia which was black gospel, Might Clouds Of Joy, Blind Boys, etc. Then it was off to First Baptist.

Posted by: Eromero at December 04, 2021 09:45 PM (0OP+5)

345 Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I though Roger Moore sucked as 007. And another unpopular opinion, Daniel Craig is the 2nd best 007.

Posted by: FriscoYoda at December 04, 2021 09:45 PM (+56GQ)

346 331 I am drawing a blank but they had a pretty big-name actual blues musician in that scene.
Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 04, 2021 09:40 PM (llON

This is correct. Unfortunately I'd have to google it as my mind is a sieve these days.
Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:42 PM (BgMrQ)

----------------------------

B.B. King, if I'm not mistaken.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 04, 2021 09:46 PM (CAJOC)

347 Speaking of which, Aretha did a good job in the Blues Brothers.

Posted by: artemis

That was a great scene.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 09:46 PM (FVME7)

348 I have never watched any of the Jurassic movies. Subject had never has interested me.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:46 PM (iXJM1)

349 George Lazenby was great as the Dad in "Chuck."

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 09:46 PM (2SdPm)

350 So was Real Genius
Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 04, 2021 09:45 PM (CAJOC)

-------------

Fun fact: Val Kilmer did Top Gun after Real Genius.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:46 PM (kTF2Z)

351 Am I the only one who would have liked to see most of the kids in the Jurassic Park movies get eaten?
Posted by: Just Some Guy


Not on camera.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 09:46 PM (r1z5A)

352 Am I the only one who would have liked to see most of the kids in the Jurassic Park movies get eaten?
Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 09:44 PM (JzDjf)

No.
Well, he was cute, but she was so annoying.
And I agree, the CGI has held up really well. Re-watched it just last week.

Posted by: sal at December 04, 2021 09:46 PM (bJKUl)

353 Weird Science was in the 80's. That is all.

So was Real Genius


And My Science Project. Those were the days when one studio started to work on a kind of project, every other one had to put out their version.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (KZzsI)

354 Am I the only one who wanted the Earthlings to kill all the blue Avatarians?

Posted by: FriscoYoda at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (+56GQ)

355 Batman Mask of the Phantasm was from the guy that made the 90s animated show Bruce Timm IIRC. The soundtrack was by Shirley Walker, who did a great job being in the shadow of Danny Elfman.

https://youtu.be/3UZ4Nkk27l4

Also the retro-future World Fair was one of the best things about that version of Gotham.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (ybIRR)

356 349 George Lazenby was great as the Dad in "Chuck."
Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 09:46 PM (2SdPm)
--

Wasn't that Dalton?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (Dc2NZ)

357 336 Almost 9 million different species of life on earth. You would think there would be more than one specie of 'human' .

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:43 PM (iXJM1)


There were.

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (AMIL/)

358 Am I the only one who would have liked to see most of the kids in the Jurassic Park movies get eaten?
Posted by: Just Some Guy

===

I thought it would have been fitting for goldblum to get eaten right in the middle of one of his speeches. Kind of a Hulk smashing Loki thing. Only with him being eaten

Posted by: 2009Refugee at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (1k5or)

359 Oh, and the little boy in Jurassic Park also played Eugene Sledge in The Pacific.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:48 PM (kTF2Z)

360 Wasn't that Dalton?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (Dc2NZ)
---------

Crud.

Yes.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing (2SdPm) at December 04, 2021 09:48 PM (2SdPm)

361 Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I though Roger Moore sucked as 007.

Yeah, he's at the bottom of my Bond Actor list. He was in a couple good Bond films and he's a much better actor than it looked like in that crap but he wasn't a good Bond. Not really his fault, they decided to go all goofball with the series.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 04, 2021 09:48 PM (KZzsI)

362 How is everyone watching TCM? I don't currently have it and miss it.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 09:48 PM (qpolg)

363 TJM, I know I'm way late to the thread, but have you considered comparing the two Support Your Local films?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 04, 2021 09:49 PM (7bRMQ)

364 YouTube has the Davey and Goliath episodes, if you want to watch again.

I tried, without success, to find the "try not to forget the cotter pin" episode.

Posted by: Common Tater at December 04, 2021 09:49 PM (MAJoQ)

365 354 Am I the only one who wanted the Earthlings to kill all the blue Avatarians?

Posted by: FriscoYoda at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM
Absolutely not.

Posted by: Eromero at December 04, 2021 09:49 PM (0OP+5)

366 1. Mary of Scotland is maybe my least favorite Ford movie. Love that historical period, and yet somehow they managed to make it boring.

2. Have you seen Ford's The Long Voyage Home yet? An overlooked Ford classic. Wayne is a Swedish sailor whose buddies try to keep from getting drunk so he can get home. Tense, heartbreaking, and hilarious.

3. The '40s was the greatest decade of film, hands down. Would rank them thus: '40s, '30s, '50s (could interchange those two), '70s, '60s, '80s, '90s.

Posted by: Rusty Trawler at December 04, 2021 09:49 PM (1gif2)

367 Am I the only one who wanted the Earthlings to kill all the blue Avatarians?
Posted by: FriscoYoda


I want to know why one does a ground attack when you control the space OVER your target.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 09:50 PM (r1z5A)

368 337 Speaking of which, Aretha did a good job in the Blues Brothers.

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:43 PM (AwPyG)

"Think" is one of my favorites by Aretha, as is "Chain of Fools"

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:50 PM (BgMrQ)

369 There were.
Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (AMIL/

Piltdown? /s



Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:50 PM (iXJM1)

370 Am I the only one who wanted the Earthlings to kill all the blue Avatarians?
Posted by: FriscoYoda

Damn space Comanches!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at December 04, 2021 09:51 PM (FVME7)

371 But Davy, you're a dumbass!

-Goliath

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 09:51 PM (kTF2Z)

372 I can't think of any movie I've seen her in where she didn't have great chemistry with her male costar
Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:42 PM (gLRfa)

The interesting thing about Kerr was everyone acknowledged that she had a simply beautiful voice, but she could not act and sing at the same time, so like Audrey Hepburn for My Fair Lady, for The King and I, they dubbed in Marne Nixion for her.

Posted by: Boswell at December 04, 2021 09:52 PM (5iUNf)

373 B.B. King, if I'm not mistaken.
Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 04, 2021 09:46 PM (CAJOC)

Looked it up:

Albert Collins.

I knew it wasn't BB King, I was thinking Bo Diddly...

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:52 PM (BgMrQ)

374 353 Weird Science was in the 80's. That is all.

So was Real Genius

And My Science Project. Those were the days when one studio started to work on a kind of project, every other one had to put out their version.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (KZzsI)
----------------

That phase lasted a while, up until Armageddon/Deep Impact and Dante's Peak/Volcano. After that, it became remakes and comic book movies. We're about due for something new. I'm thinking that, considering the current crop in charge of Hollywood, that they'll go back to straight documentaries. Things like "Battleship Potemkin" and "Triumph of the Will."

Posted by: Pennsyltucky at December 04, 2021 09:52 PM (lNHqD)

375 362 How is everyone watching TCM? I don't currently have it and miss it.
Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 09:48 PM (qpolg)
---

My mom's cable package has it, but my cable company doesn't offer it with the basic -- you have to add on a sports megapackage which has TCM! That's bullshite.

But Mom laughs that it guarantees I'll visit.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 09:53 PM (Dc2NZ)

376 1. Mary of Scotland is maybe my least favorite Ford movie. Love that historical period, and yet somehow they managed to make it boring.
Posted by: Rusty Trawler at December 04, 2021 09:49 PM

Confession: I have never been able to watch the whole thing.
Badly cast, for one thing.

Posted by: sal at December 04, 2021 09:53 PM (bJKUl)

377 I'm thinking that, considering the current crop in charge of Hollywood, that they'll go back to straight documentaries. Things like "Battleship Potemkin" and "Triumph of the Will."
Posted by: Pennsyltucky at December 04, 2021 09:52 PM (lNHqD)


More like "Fauci".

Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 09:53 PM (vuisn)

378 >>> 367 Am I the only one who wanted the Earthlings to kill all the blue Avatarians?
Posted by: FriscoYoda


I want to know why one does a ground attack when you control the space OVER your target.
Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 09:50 PM (r1z5A)

Because that's what Jim Cameron's plot required.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 04, 2021 09:54 PM (llON8)

379 Avatar -- everything should have been consumed in a supernova or giant asteroid collision.

The Pacific -- never saw that one, but read Eugene Sledge's book With the Old Breed some years back. Well worth a look.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 04, 2021 09:54 PM (JzDjf)

380 340 Albert Collins in adventures in babysitting?
Posted by: 2009Refugee at December 04, 2021 09:44 PM (1k5or)

Thank you. I was working my way back up thread when I saw this...

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:54 PM (BgMrQ)

381 372 I can't think of any movie I've seen her in where she didn't have great chemistry with her male costar
Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:42 PM (gLRfa)

The interesting thing about Kerr was everyone acknowledged that she had a simply beautiful voice, but she could not act and sing at the same time, so like Audrey Hepburn for My Fair Lady, for The King and I, they dubbed in Marne Nixion for her.

Posted by: Boswell at December 04, 2021 09:52 PM
Audrey Hepburn did not have to sing. No sir.

Posted by: Eromero at December 04, 2021 09:54 PM (0OP+5)

382 The Deer Hunter is awful.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at December 04, 2021 09:54 PM (ybIRR)

383 @357

Fun fact: back when DNA was getting organized in the late 80's early 90s, they decided to test and compare whatever they could from the remains of early man.

They discovered that Australopithecus, Neanderthal man, homo sapiens, etc, were not part of an evolution, but were separate species. Remember the movie Quest for Fire, and all the different tribes? More like that.

This interferes with the theory of Darwinism, though, so you almost never see it discussed. Instead, we are told things like we "all descended from a skeleton named Alice, found in Africa"

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:54 PM (AwPyG)

384 That phase lasted a while, up until Armageddon/Deep Impact and Dante's Peak/Volcano.

Every time they did that there was always one clear winner in terms of quality and one in terms of earnings. But usually there were a couple of them that were pretty great even if not the best.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (KZzsI)

385 I knew it wasn't BB King, I was thinking Bo Diddly...
Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:52 PM (BgMrQ)

Bo Diddley was in Blues Brothers 2000.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (iXJM1)

386 I can't think of any movie I've seen her in where she didn't have great chemistry with her male costar
Posted by: Tuna at December 04, 2021 09:42 PM (gLRfa)

I first saw Kerr in the beautiful film Black Narcissus...Jean Simmons was a teen actor then and played a naughty young thing. But Kerr was the center piece of a very thoughtful movie.

Posted by: Boswell at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (5iUNf)

387 This interferes with the theory of Darwinism, though, so you almost never see it discussed. Instead, we are told things like we "all descended from a skeleton named Alice, found in Africa"

I honestly think that science suffers more than almost any other field from really awful, ignorant reporting.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (KZzsI)

388 But Mom laughs that it guarantees I'll visit.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in

lol. my cable is already too expensive. I used to watch with mom all the time too. Enjoy it while you can!

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (qpolg)

389 385 I knew it wasn't BB King, I was thinking Bo Diddly...
Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:52 PM (BgMrQ)

Bo Diddley was in Blues Brothers 2000.
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (iXJM1)

----------------------

Poor guy.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 04, 2021 09:57 PM (CAJOC)

390 Bo Diddley was in Blues Brothers 2000.
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (iXJM1)

Never saw it...

I was remembering Bo Diddley from the Bo Jackson "Bo Knows" commercials.

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:57 PM (BgMrQ)

391 @376

Mary Queen of Scots is like St Paul, to me--someone with an almost unbelievable life story. I'm surprised no one's tried to do a great film about either.

Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:57 PM (AwPyG)

392 >>> 384 That phase lasted a while, up until Armageddon/Deep Impact and Dante's Peak/Volcano.

Every time they did that there was always one clear winner in terms of quality and one in terms of earnings. But usually there were a couple of them that were pretty great even if not the best.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (KZzsI)

"Big" vs ... whatever it was that had the nerdy LA detective from "Beverly Hills Cop" ... but even then that one scene towards the end of the movie skeeved me out, and now Tom Hanks seems to have some real-life issues.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at December 04, 2021 09:57 PM (llON8)

393 Rae Dawn Chong in Quest For Fire. The first pre-historic beejer.

Posted by: Eromero at December 04, 2021 09:57 PM (0OP+5)

394 390 Bo Diddley was in Blues Brothers 2000.
Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (iXJM1)

Never saw it...

I was remembering Bo Diddley from the Bo Jackson "Bo Knows" commercials.
Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 09:57 PM (BgMrQ)

---------------------

Bo don't know Diddley.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at December 04, 2021 09:58 PM (CAJOC)

395 Scentist: "and my study indicates that if properly treated with an effective catalyst and used in a larger regimen of medical treatment, carbonated water can reduce the growth of cancer by as much as 1.2% but we need more study to be sure."

Reporter: WATER CURES CANCER

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 04, 2021 09:58 PM (KZzsI)

396 We get TCM on our cable, no problem.

I'm watching the film restoration archives show for 2021.
I'm a sucker for film esoterica. This has Mexican TV commercials from the '50s, stuff like that.

Posted by: sal at December 04, 2021 09:58 PM (bJKUl)

397 129 @125

the Q types have always said CNN=CIA plants. It would explain why so many unappealing people have the job, despite their lack of ratings

So maybe there's a macro story here, and its not just the cuomos but it's about the bad guys finally getting exposed.

Maybe.
Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:00 PM (AwPyG)

Still the best channel out there, but the writing's on the wall for their inevitable decline. Recently changed their graphics and music to like something from an Atari commercial circa 1981. And they've been dipping their toes into the "explaining why you should hate X because it isn't woke enough" waters. Slowly sneaking in more modern movies too. As we know, wokeism destroys everything, and TCM will soon fall like every other institution. A shame.

Posted by: Rusty Trawler at December 04, 2021 09:58 PM (1gif2)

398 Posted by: artemis at December 04, 2021 09:54 PM (AwPyG)

Maybe but even so that is so few comparatively speaking.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:58 PM (iXJM1)

399 369 There were.
Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (AMIL/

Piltdown? /s



Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:50 PM (iXJM1)


Homo erectus, homo habilis, homo neanderthalensis, homo heidelbergensis, and six or seven more species of genus homo are recognized by anthropologists. Our species is homo sapiens. All the others are extinct. Because?

Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:58 PM (AMIL/)

400 I honestly think that science suffers more than almost any other field from really awful, ignorant reporting.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (KZzsI)
----
That's because the people reporting on it are generally too stupid to understand it.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 04, 2021 09:59 PM (NQjQK)

401 Oh, and the little boy in Jurassic Park also played Eugene Sledge in The Pacific.
-----------
What a badass. I think there are photos of him on Peleliu or Okinawa in "The War" and the look on those guys faces you wouldn't fvck with. Then interviews in his later years he was so humble you wouldn't believe it was the same guy.

Posted by: dartist at December 04, 2021 09:59 PM (+ya+t)

402 sal, what cable. I'm very limited here.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 09:59 PM (qpolg)

403 >>>Our species is homo sapiens. All the others are extinct. Because?


Best killers.

Posted by: davidt at December 04, 2021 10:00 PM (0hbQ6)

404 >>> 399 369 There were.
Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:47 PM (AMIL/

Piltdown? /s

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 09:50 PM (iXJM1)

Homo erectus, homo habilis, homo neanderthalensis, homo heidelbergensis, and six or seven more species of genus homo are recognized by anthropologists. Our species is homo sapiens. All the others are extinct. Because?
Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:58 PM (AMIL/)

BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING!

Posted by: Greta Thurnberg at December 04, 2021 10:00 PM (llON8)

405 Homo erectus, homo habilis, homo neanderthalensis, homo heidelbergensis, and six or seven more species of genus homo are recognized by anthropologists. Our species is homo sapiens. All the others are extinct. Because?
Posted by: Gref at December 04, 2021 09:58 PM (AMIL/)

-----------

Who the fuck are you calling homo? ;D

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 10:00 PM (kTF2Z)

406 Homo erectus, homo habilis, homo neanderthalensis, homo heidelbergensis, and six or seven more species of genus homo are recognized by anthropologists. Our species is homo sapiens. All the others are extinct. Because?
Posted by: Gref

"Scientists" take a lot of crap on faith...then make fun of me for mine.

Posted by: Some Rat at December 04, 2021 10:01 PM (r1z5A)

407 That didn't work. I'm emojiless.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 10:01 PM (kTF2Z)

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 10:02 PM (kTF2Z)

409 Schumacher has made a number of good movies, but will be famous for ruining Batman.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at December 04, 2021 10:02 PM (ybIRR)

410 "homo erectus"

HA HA HA HA HA HA HEE HEE HEE HA HA HA HOMO ERECTUS HA HA

Posted by: Class of 7th grade boys at December 04, 2021 10:02 PM (KZzsI)

411 Audrey Hepburn did not have to sing. No sir.
Posted by: Eromero at December 04, 2021 09:54 PM (0OP+5)

The producers for the film got a lot of grief that they didn't cast Julie Andrews at the time in the role of Eliza Doolittle, given Andrews' stage role in My Fair Lady before - but Hepburn was simply lovely in the role and she deserved the accolades she got for it even if she didn't sing most of the songs in it.

Besides, Andrews won best actress that year for Mary Poppins - even though she didn't deserve it and Hepburn did for My Fair Lady.

Posted by: Boswell at December 04, 2021 10:02 PM (5iUNf)

412 Recognized by anthropologists.

Heh.

Posted by: Just a side note at December 04, 2021 10:02 PM (iXJM1)

413 @407: "That didn't work. I'm emojiless."

🧐

Posted by: Walter Freeman at December 04, 2021 10:02 PM (+WWsf)

414 Ok, so toss that one in the previous comment so I don't look like an asshole.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 10:02 PM (kTF2Z)

415 BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING!
Posted by: Greta Thurnberg at December 04, 2021 10:00 PM

Blah, blah, blah....

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at December 04, 2021 10:02 PM (rBtIz)

416 Noodist

Posted by: Rex B at December 04, 2021 10:03 PM (kromb)

417 We're in Central Tx and we have Direct.

Posted by: sal at December 04, 2021 10:03 PM (bJKUl)

418 Makers Mark 110 proof. Good night all.

Posted by: Eromero at December 04, 2021 10:03 PM (0OP+5)

419 ONT

Posted by: Rex B at December 04, 2021 10:03 PM (kromb)

420 Ok, so toss that one in the previous comment so I don't look like an asshole.

Your post had a certain lac

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 04, 2021 10:03 PM (KZzsI)

421 Still the best channel out there, but the writing's on the wall for their inevitable decline. Recently changed their graphics and music to like something from an Atari commercial circa 1981. And they've been dipping their toes into the "explaining why you should hate X because it isn't woke enough" waters. Slowly sneaking in more modern movies too. As we know, wokeism destroys everything, and TCM will soon fall like every other institution. A shame.
Posted by: Rusty Trawler at December 04, 2021 09:58 PM (1gif2)
---

They seem to be backing away from the trigger warnings and hand-holding explanations, at least in the intros.

I could do without all the mutual admiration clips and the wine club adverts.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Iron Fist in Velvet Glove in Iron Gauntlet Clutching an Iron Mace at December 04, 2021 10:03 PM (Dc2NZ)

422 Posted by: Walter Freeman at December 04, 2021 10:02 PM (+WWsf)

-----------

Don't think I don't notice your emoji privilege.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at December 04, 2021 10:03 PM (kTF2Z)

423 thanks sal.

Posted by: Infidel at December 04, 2021 10:05 PM (qpolg)

424 Besides, Andrews won best actress that year for Mary Poppins - even though she didn't deserve it and Hepburn did for My Fair Lady.
Posted by: Boswell at December 04, 2021 10:02 PM (5iUNf)

File this under the Longbow / Crossbow aguemment.

For the record, for as loverly as Audrey was to look at, Julie deserved that role...#fuckjackwarner

Posted by: browndog Official Mascot of Team Gizzard at December 04, 2021 10:06 PM (BgMrQ)

425 Still the best channel out there, but the writing's on the wall for their inevitable decline. Recently changed their graphics and music to like something from an Atari commercial circa 1981. And they've been dipping their toes into the "explaining why you should hate X because it isn't woke enough" waters. Slowly sneaking in more modern movies too. As we know, wokeism destroys everything, and TCM will soon fall like every other institution. A shame.
Posted by: Rusty Trawler at December 04, 2021 09:58 PM (1gif2)

They'd been doing that a bit, even before Osborne died, but under Ben, they've revved it up. I knew that would happen, ever since I saw him lose it on The Young Turks 2016 Election Night coverage.
My hope is that there are so many movies out there that they can't find something wrong with all of them.
But i'm afraid you're right.

Posted by: sal at December 04, 2021 10:07 PM (bJKUl)

426 386 I first saw Kerr in the beautiful film Black Narcissus...Jean Simmons was a teen actor then and played a naughty young thing. But Kerr was the center piece of a very thoughtful movie.
Posted by: Boswell at December 04, 2021 09:55 PM (5iUNf)

Absolutely first-rate movie, albeit a slow-burner that requires patience.

You should check out others by the same filmmakers, known as the Archers. A Matter of Life and Death with David Niven and Kim Hunter (way pre-Planet of the Apes) is a real mind-blower. And for very early Deborah Kerr (maybe her first?), another favorite Archers movie is The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, where she plays three roles, I think.

Posted by: Rusty Trawler at December 04, 2021 10:09 PM (1gif2)

427 426
You should check out others by the same filmmakers, known as the Archers. A Matter of Life and Death with David Niven and Kim Hunter (way pre-Planet of the Apes) is a real mind-blower. And for very early Deborah Kerr (maybe her first?), another favorite Archers movie is The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, where she plays three roles, I think.
Posted by: Rusty Trawler at December 04, 2021 10:09 PM (1gif2)

===

You say The Archers, I say Powell and Pressburger.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, read some movie thoughts at December 04, 2021 10:11 PM (o7bkq)

428 It always confused me as a 12-year old to see "Alien" toys, model kits, etc. in the hobby stores from a movie I was too young to see firsthand.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at December 04, 2021 08:21 PM


I saw Alien in the theatre when it was released. At age 11. Thanks, dad. (Also got to see The Omen at age

Posted by: Chuck C at December 04, 2021 10:11 PM (EughT)

429 I wish this thread had come out an hour earlier! (thanks for making it each week though. I always read all the content)

I was hard up for a movie and just started searching by genre and date. Ended up watching The 10th Victim, which reminded me in tone of Death Race 2000. Similar socially-approved violence and social satire.

I can't think of any modern movies with humorous social satire, but I'm likely just ill-informed and possibly excluding things because all the satire would probably just seem to me to be lefties criticizing what I deem good. I was going to go through Rollerball and some of the older work of similar bent.

Any suggestions?

Posted by: .87c at December 04, 2021 11:29 PM (8w5AQ)

430 "I can't think of any modern movies with humorous social satire, but I'm likely just ill-informed and possibly excluding things because all the satire would probably just seem to me to be lefties criticizing what I deem good. I was going to go through Rollerball and some of the older work of similar bent.

"Any suggestions?"

"Idiocracy" has more than a bit of the flavor of Kornbluth's "Marching Morons" about it.

Posted by: Pope John the 20th at December 04, 2021 11:50 PM (Ap+cR)

431 I'll probably watch part 2 when I get back home but something better happen. Like explosions. Or titties. Or exploding titties.

You don't want those in that movie. Cause if there are any, they are probably going to be Yoko's.

Posted by: Azjaeger at December 05, 2021 12:36 AM (3/XaG)

432 The 80's as the greatest movie generation? Puhleeze! Are you kidding me? The 70's are without a doubt in a league by themselves. The 80's were fantasy filled nonsense and for children. The 70's from "Apocalypse Now" to "Taxi Driver" to the Exorcist" to "The Godfather" to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo"s Nest, were incomparable. The list could go on and on with great cinematic achievements in that era!

Posted by: figlio at December 05, 2021 02:19 PM (58mHu)

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