Saturday Evening Movie Thread 12/30/2023 [TheJamesMadison]

The Third Quarter Century of Oscar Best Picture Winners

Getting close now, it seems. I should be done right before the next Oscar ceremony, which isn't too far away, but I was looking ahead to what came after my stopping point of 2004 and realized that the whole game seemed to have changed character from that point on. Considering the vast changes in how the Academy seemed to be operating when it came to Best Picture winners that had occurred from the early 70s to the early 00s, it felt like simply too much for one post. So, here I am breaking it up into two, separated by a couple of months.

From my observation, the 70s is the last time the Oscars were somewhat "pure" in their efforts to award Best Picture. You may recall that I was pointing out that they were oscillating between movies that reflected their past (something like Oliver!) to reflecting what they thought the future was (Midnight Cowboy), eventually settling on something in between, the classically made film with more frank depictions of sex and violence like The Godfather. Well, that period passed, and some odd things happened to the Academy.

I think it boils down to three major developments. The first is that the actors (just under 1/3 of the voting body in the late 70s) either knowingly or unknowingly banded together to make the awards more about them than ever. The second is that this is where the franchising of movies started, and the Academy didn't want anything to do with it. The third is that the Oscar campaign began in the late 70s.

Actors

I have little respect for actors in general, and I find their pretensions about their importance to the art of cinema to be overblown at best. On top of that, I think if you want to point at one group for the Oscars losing their luster over time, it's the actors themselves to blame. You see this manifest early in this section, in the late 70s and early 80s, when movies like Kramer vs. Kramer and Ordinary People won the awards.

Now, I'm not here to slag on either of them (I actually love Kramer vs. Kramer), but when you put up those movies against what they beat (respectively Apocalypse Now and Raging Bull as their most prominent and most frequently referenced opposition), it seems obvious to me what the main difference is. The ones that won are unquestionably actors' films. They are films that are first and foremost about the actors, almost exclusively movie stars, and their navigating of emotion on screen. What are the films that they beat? They are directors' films: films with a cinematic vision and about more than just the performances (which are very good). I think you can extend that out a few years as well, pointing out films like Terms of Endearment, Amadeus (one of my favorite films), and Out of Africa where the films seem to be mostly about the performances at the core.

And then you have the actor/directors. Actor/directors have been a thing since the beginning of film with people like Chaplin, Keaton, and Welles, but they had largely been sideshows in the ensuing decades. Even Welles couldn't get funding in the Hollywood system while people like Charles Laughton used independent money (only once, though). I suppose one of the more prominent actor/directors through the fifties would be Laurence Olivier, but even by that point he was making romcoms with Marylin Monroe, or Woody Allen who was always more attached to the New York film scene than the LA film scene. There really wasn't a golden boy doing it until Robert Redford gave it a go with Ordinary People. Ever since, the rewarding of acting stars who directed seems to have shot up. Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, and even Ben Affleck have directed films that won Best Picture, and never mind the quality of any of them, I see it as part of the pattern of actors making the award as much about them as possible, changing it from Best Picture to some combination of Best Ensemble and Best Film Directed by an Actor.

Anti-Franchise

Out of all the films nominated for Best Picture in 1982, Terms of Endearment, the winner, made the most money at the box office. It was number 22 at the box office in 1983, making $34 million. The number one movie of the year was Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The next year, after it won the Best Picture Oscar in April, it made another $74 million, good enough for number 9 at the box office. The number 1 movie at the box office in 1984? Ghostbusters. Out of those three films, which had the greater cultural impact and staying power, is more well-regarding by the public at large, and made the most money? Not to imply that Terms of Endearment is poorly regarded these days (it's IMDb score is 7.4/10, which is perfectly respectable), but the other two were either part of an existing franchise or a big, genre-bending spectacle that had the potential for becoming a franchise.

I don't bring this up because I feel like franchise films were underserved by the Academy (I don't care enough, but they probably have) but because the franchise stuff was largely dominating the box office through the 80s and being largely ignored by the Academy at the same time. 1985? Back to the Future #1. 1986? Aliens #5. It wasn't until the late 80s where there seemed to be a reconnection between the Academy and the public when Platoon and Rain Man ended up very high up the box office list. For a long stretch of the 80s, the Academy seemed to be actively shunning popular taste because the films that were dominating the box office were beneath them. And notice, it wasn't the Academy changing but the public giving their money to movies that the Academy could deign to be interested in that changed.

Politicking

There's a brief period in the late 80s and early 90s where it felt like the Academy had returned to its roots of awarding best picture to films that made a lot of money that many considered deserving of such an award (Dances with Wolves...not a fan, personally). Movies like Schindler's List or Unforgiven or Forrest Gump made decent money while few were near the top of the box office save Forrest Gump, but the real change is in the surrounding nominees that tended to see more big box office performers like The Fugitive in 1993 compared to Working Girl in 1988. There seemed to be an effort to find a middle ground.

And then The English Patient won in 1996, and we got the era of Harvey Weinstein. The English Patient is not the lowest rated Best Picture winner on the IMDb of the past few decades, but it's definitely on the lower half. However, there seems to be a consensus that The English Patient largely won because of Weinstein's politicking. I don't only say this because I hate the film (I do) but because it seems like one of those inexplicable wins since it beat Fargo, and it's also Weinstein's first win for Best Picture, distributed through his company Miramax, the award actually won by Saul Zaentz. Weinstein would then go and win in 1998 and 1999 with Shakespeare in Love (beating Saving Private Ryan) and American Beauty (beating The Insider and The Sixth Sense). It's not that the three films are self-evidently inferior to the films they beat but that Weinstein's politicking was legendary in Hollywood. He wasn't just happening to get the Oscars, he was spending tens of millions of dollars to do it.

This was based on the assumption that Best Picture wins gave films cultural cache that led to increased box office returns, and it was true for a while. This whole politicking thing really started with The Deer Hunter, given a late year release with arranged screenings of industry professionals to gain word of mouth that led to support within the Academy followed by the win and then box office returns. However, the more it went on and the more the Oscars sidestepped popular taste, the less effective it became to the point where the investment to get the award was more than the return. The week after Shakespear in Love won Best Picture, it's box office take increased by 66%, from $3 million to $4 million. Reportedly, Weinstein spent $5 million on the campaign, so the immediate return was $2 million. The reports are that this was some kind of big win, but the return seems, minimal, even if you extend the win out over the following weeks, assuming 66% increases over what had been, you're looking at roughly an equal return. The point really wasn't the box office, but the prestige.

Touching the Zeitgeist

That makes it when the Academy does line up with the public zeitgeist all the more interesting. The two biggest examples are Titanic, the biggest film in the world until Avatar a decade later, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Against Titanic, it's L.A. Confidential that honestly feels like the more typical choice for the Academy's history. It's well-written, well-directed, and chock full of movie stars while dealing in LA history. It's Academy fodder, but they simply could not resist the pull of Titanic.

The Lord of the Rings feels more like the Academy being pulled, kicking and screaming, after a three-year effort by Peter Jackson to bring respectability to fantasy filmmaking. They awarded A Beautiful Mind (awful film that everyone seems to love) instead of The Fellowship of the Ring. They awarded Chicago (entertaining Bob Fosse tribute, but Fosse would have done it better) over The Two Towers. Finally, with the third entry becoming the biggest movie of the year, the Academy relented.

In both instances, it feels like, to me, that the Academy was running to catch up with popular taste.

End of a Third

And that takes me to Million Dollar Baby, a great film that I love but also feels like an apology for skipping over Mystic River the year before. This has been probably the most tumultuous period in the Best Picture awards as the Academy had a series of crises related to popular taste, its own identity, politicking, and relevance. The crises are an extension of what was happening in the late 60s and early 70s as it whiplashed between awarding films that reflected how old Hollywood did things (Oliver! and how they saw Hollywood developing (Midnight Cowboy), except that that period was actually more even since they were moving along with popular taste at the same time (Midnight Cowboy was #3 at the box office that year).

As time has gone on, especially in the 80s, the Academy has wanted to lead where the people weren't following, setting the stage for an increasingly irrelevant institution leading no one in particular, but that's for another time. As it is, this third set is uneven but awarded some great stuff along the way. It's just that the Academy was flagging in importance. I sure hope they don't suddenly decide to reject the people as a whole. That would be unfortunate for their place as a cultural institution.

What I Would Have Voted For

As with the previous two entries, here is the list of winners for the given period and which I would have voted for. I'm going to repeat what I said the last time:

I'll explain a bit more since I got some pushback that I should have predicted for whenever you say that "this movie" should have won over "that movie," one inevitably gets the response that one is stupid because one doesn't love "that movie", even though I never expressed an opinion on "that movie".

So, what I mean is that out of the five nominees each year, I would have voted for the movie in parentheses. That's it. It's not me saying that, if there's a disagreement between my own little, unimportant taste and the Academy's choice from 50 years ago, that I hate the choice the Academy made. In more than one instance, I genuinely love the film I wouldn't vote for, I just love the other film a bit more. Same goes if I agree with the Academy and some other very worthy film wouldn't have gotten my vote. And then there are a couple of years where I think the Academy was smoking some bad stuff.

I should also note that I did my best to watch as many of the nominees I'd never seen before to make this list as robust as possible. In more than one instance, my mad dash to watch as much as I could did lead me to actually changing my mind about what I would have voted for. I also limited myself to what was nominated.

1975 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Jaws)
1976 - Rocky (Taxi Driver)
1977 - Annie Hall (Star Wars)
1978 - The Deer Hunter (An Unmarried Woman)
1979 - Kramer vs. Kramer (Apocalypse Now)
1980 - Ordinary People (Raging Bull)
1981 - Chariots of Fire (Raiders of the Lost Ark)
1982 - Gandhi (E.T. The Extra Terrestrial)
1983 - Terms of Endearment (The Right Stuff)
1984 - Amadeus (Amadeus)
1985 - Out of Africa (Witness)
1986 - Platoon (The Mission)
1987 - The Last Emperor (Moonstruck)
1988 - Rain Man (Working Girl)
1989 - Driving Miss Daisy (Field of Dreams)
1990 - Dances with Wolves (Goodfellas)
1991 - The Silence of the Lambs (The Silence of the Lambs)
1992 - Unforgiven (Unforgiven)
1993 - Schindler's List (Schindler's List)
1994 - Forrest Gump (Pulp Fiction)
1995 - Braveheart (Apollo 13)
1996 - The English Patient (Fargo)
1997 - Titanic (L.A. Confidential)
1998 - Shakespeare in Love (The Thin Red Line)
1999 - American Beauty (The Insider)
2000 - Gladiator (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
2001 - A Beautiful Mind (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)
2002 - Chicago (The Pianist)
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)
2004 - Million Dollar Baby (The Aviator)

Movies of Today

Opening in Theaters:

Anyone But You

Movies I Saw This Fortnight:

The Silence of the Lambs (Rating 4/4) Full Review "It's a great entertainment, completely embracing its depths of the worst imaginings of the human condition while telling a compelling mystery and delivering the thrills." [Personal Collection]

The English Patient (Rating 1/4) Full Review "This movie is, really, pure trash. It's dressed up really nicely, though." [Paramount+]

Oppenheimer (Rating 3.5/4) Full Review "He's got this expansive view of how much he can tell in the cinematic form, propulsively moving the story forward at all times, making 3 hours feel like 2, all while embracing complexity in multiple forms. I don't think this is his best film or the top tier of them all, but it's probably the most ambitious and ambiguous. That's something to admire." [Personal Collection]

Shakespeare in Love (Rating 3.5/4) Full Review "It's a good bit of fun. I really enjoy revisiting it once every few years to rediscover its pleasures. Everyone is game. Everyone is having fun playing around an amusing script in a well-realized recreation of sixteenth century London. Sure, Saving Private Ryan deserved it more, but Shakespeare in Love is a fun addition to the list." [Personal Collection]

Gladiator (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "It's a weird story, man. I don't think it really works, but it's well-made, fun in spots, and looks great. Thats far from nothing." [Personal Collection]

Chicago (Rating 3/4) Full Review "It's a fun little film. It made decent money. It won Best Picture over The Pianist. That's its legacy, I guess." [Library]

The Night of the Hunter (Rating 3.5/4) Full Review "It's a beautifully shot, well-acted, and thrilling ride through the American midwestern countryside. That it was poorly received at the time is not the biggest of surprises. It's all about children in danger and is overwhelmingly meanspirited for much of its runtime, but it's also such a good thrill ride as it goes." [Personal Collection]

The Matinee Idol (Rating 3.5/4) Full Review "It really is kind of amazing to see Capra forming so distinctly and executing so well so early. He feels like he's in complete command of the physical production from the subtle and effective direction of actors to the clear use of visual language (even a couple of jokes through intertitles), and his scripts are creeping up in quality at the same time." [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.

My next post will be on 1/20, and it will talk about the LEGO movies.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:45 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Good evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 07:48 PM (fwDg9)

2 1 Good evening everyone
Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 07:48 PM (fwDg9)

========

Howdy!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 07:50 PM (GBKbO)

3 Hi JTM, thanks for the movie threads. I don't remember directors (or even actors sometimes) so I don't comment much; but, I enjoy reading your content.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 07:50 PM (Th1r/)

4 3 Hi JTM, thanks for the movie threads. I don't remember directors (or even actors sometimes) so I don't comment much; but, I enjoy reading your content.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 07:50 PM (Th1r/)

========

"Surely, he remembers us!"
-the prop masters and best boys

Thanks!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 07:51 PM (GBKbO)

5 Great content tonight.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 30, 2023 07:51 PM (HrSXR)

6 5 Great content tonight.
Posted by: Diogenes at December 30, 2023 07:51 PM (HrSXR)

=========

I personally found it a bit slapdash, but at least someone likes it!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 07:53 PM (GBKbO)

7 "I actually love Kramer vs. Kramer" Me too.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 07:58 PM (MvF+J)

8 "Surely, he remembers us!"
-the prop masters and best boys

Thanks!
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 07:51 PM (GBKbO)
---
I can't wait for the movie thread celebrating the best key grips in Hollywood!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at December 30, 2023 07:58 PM (BpYfr)

9 Looks like James has a thing for Harrison Ford.

I mean, he was in a lot of good films before he started phoning it in, although I did like him Age of Adeline, which is where he managed to actually remember what performance is.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 07:58 PM (XV/Pl)

10 Gonna go rewatch Michael Clayton.

First version I saw was an HD digital bootleg of a VHS screener.

Added to the time and place of the movie somehow too.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at December 30, 2023 07:58 PM (yS+V1)

11 Hello TJM and fellow cineastes.

Interesting list. I'm old enough to remember streakers and fake Injuns and idiot Redgraves at the Oscars. Posturing is nothing new, though it was I think cranked up to 11 during W's second term. That's about the time I stopped caring about the awards.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 07:59 PM (+RQPJ)

12 10 Gonna go rewatch Michael Clayton.

First version I saw was an HD digital bootleg of a VHS screener.

Added to the time and place of the movie somehow too.
Posted by: Walter Freeman at December 30, 2023 07:58 PM (yS+V1)

=======

I saw that in theaters. It was one of my earliest Blu-ray purchases.

RIP Tom Wilkinson. You'll always be Lord Cornwallis to me.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 07:59 PM (GBKbO)

13 Apocalypse Now!

I wanted a mission, and, for my sins, they gave me one.

don't get off the boat ... unless you're going to go all the way.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 07:59 PM (kc18b)

14 Of all the films listed -both the winners and the ones in brackets- I have only seen about 22. I had. No interest in seeing. " Silence of the Lambs" although I think Anthony Hopkins is a very fine actor. I just didn't want to see a film about a serial killer.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 30, 2023 08:00 PM (hQjlM)

15 9 Looks like James has a thing for Harrison Ford.

I mean, he was in a lot of good films before he started phoning it in, although I did like him Age of Adeline, which is where he managed to actually remember what performance is.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 07:58 PM (XV/Pl)

=========

It's the Working Girl vote, isn't it? I swear, that was one of the most irritating years in terms of nominees. Most are pretty good. It's a celebration of middle brow goodness, not cinematic greatness.

That was the year Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out, for Pete's sake. So much better than anything nominated that year.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:01 PM (GBKbO)

16 Aaaaaaand Action!

Posted by: 496 at December 30, 2023 08:01 PM (Gsg+l)

17 I see that the British actor, Tom Wilkinson, has died. He really was a fine performer.

Posted by: Tuna at December 30, 2023 08:02 PM (oaGWv)

18 I recently watched a bio titled 'I Douglas Fairbanks'. What great entertainment. The man was talented and created many innovative techniques of the fledgling motion picture industry. 3 1/2 stars

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damn It! at December 30, 2023 08:03 PM (WPHuI)

19 "The Engineer" (2023) In the 1990s, Hamas bombmaker is chased by mercenaries sent covertly by a US senator, and also chased by Shin Bet agents. Supposedly true story is satisfying enough, but the dialogue is kinda lame; a Taylor Sheridan script could have helped a lot. I don't think Emile Hirsch is scary enough for this role; YMMV.

"Backlash" (1947) They found a stiff in a hot car up on Mulholland, arousing the interest of Men Wearing Hats. Witness flashbacks crack the case. So very meh, but there's a cute scene with Sara Berner.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 08:03 PM (MvF+J)

20 There's a lot of turgid bricks in the Best Picture category, now that I look back.

I agree with The Right Stuff over Terms of Endearment, although, what a good time for movies and audiences when those are two films that are slugging it out for supremacy. Same with the whole list. Some are flaming bantha poo, but they're not franchises.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:04 PM (+RQPJ)

21 I see that the British actor, Tom Wilkinson, has died. He really was a fine performer.
Posted by: Tuna at December 30, 2023 08:02 PM (oaGWv)

Horseblankets.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 30, 2023 08:04 PM (Angsy)

22 I've seen every film on that list, I'd probably disagree with two of the swaps.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 08:04 PM (XV/Pl)

23 18 I recently watched a bio titled 'I Douglas Fairbanks'. What great entertainment. The man was talented and created many innovative techniques of the fledgling motion picture industry. 3 1/2 stars
Posted by: I'm Gumby Damn It! at December 30, 2023 08:03 PM (WPHuI)

========

If you haven't seen his last film, The Private Life of Don Juan, I highly recommend it.

He was charming af, and it's a fun take on the Don Juan story.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:04 PM (GBKbO)

24 22 I've seen every film on that list, I'd probably disagree with two of the swaps.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 08:04 PM (XV/Pl)

======

Which two?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:05 PM (GBKbO)

25 Some movies like hit songs seemed to be on the charts forever. When I read the list I am happy some movies are in the past.. Ugh!

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damn It! at December 30, 2023 08:06 PM (WPHuI)

26 Home on a Saturday night, not the usual. Glad to read an active movie thread.

We used to watch the Oscars every year. Haven't watched in probably ten plus years. Seen some of the films above, but not many.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 30, 2023 08:06 PM (Angsy)

27 Of that list of movies, the only movie post-1980 that I remember seeing in a theater is Gandhi.
Some of the others, i may have seen in whole or in part on TV because I was somewhere that they on the tewb.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 30, 2023 08:06 PM (tkR6S)

28
I have little respect for actors in general, and I find their pretensions about their importance to the art of cinema to be overblown at best.

__________

"Why do actors think they're so goddamn important? They're not. Acting is not an important job in the scheme of things. Plumbing is." - Spencer Tracy

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 30, 2023 08:07 PM (MXQhq)

29 I rewatched the murder mystery "The Last of Sheila" yesterday. What a romp! And written by Anthony Perkins and some other dude, based on their own who-done-it party games.

Actors Turned Writers would be an interesting category.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:07 PM (+RQPJ)

30 29 I rewatched the murder mystery "The Last of Sheila" yesterday. What a romp! And written by Anthony Perkins and some other dude, based on their own who-done-it party games.

Actors Turned Writers would be an interesting category.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:07 PM (+RQPJ)

=======

Perkins also directed one of the Psycho sequels. III, I think.

It's pretty good.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:09 PM (GBKbO)

31 I’ll miss Tom Wilkinson

Posted by: Blutarski at December 30, 2023 08:09 PM (Fwuhb)

32 If you haven't seen his last film, The Private Life of Don Juan, I highly recommend it.

He was charming af, and it's a fun take on the Don Juan story.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:04 PM (GBKbO)

I need to make a point of watching all Fairbanks movies. He did almost every classic character before the likes of Earl Flynn ect. which I didn't know.

Posted by: I'm Gumby Damn It! at December 30, 2023 08:09 PM (WPHuI)

33 >>>>1997 - Titanic (L.A. Confidential)

Boogie Nights

Posted by: Mark1971 at December 30, 2023 08:09 PM (xPl2J)

34 Every scene in Apocalypse Now has a great line. It has a lot of romantic flourishes like Moby Dick.
Moby Dick-> USA Trilogy->Blood On the Tracks-> Apocalypse Now
A whole chain of wild American Nihilst Romance

Posted by: Jamaica at December 30, 2023 08:09 PM (Eeb9P)

35 That was the year Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out, for Pete's sake. So much better than anything nominated that year.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:01 PM (GBKbO)

It took me years to realize Roger Rabbit wasn't a "genuine" cartoon character. That says something about either my obtuseness, or the high quality of the movie's writing, and I'd like to believe it's the latter.

Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:11 PM (jGGMD)

36 Nihilist doesn’t belong. Autofill cucumber

Posted by: Jamaica at December 30, 2023 08:11 PM (Eeb9P)

37 I've seen 41 movies on the 1975-2004 list, bracketed or not.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 08:11 PM (MvF+J)

38 The English Patient (Rating 1/4) Full Review "This movie is, really, pure trash. It's dressed up really nicely, though."

-
Mrs. Wrecks wanted to see this and the trailer showed Nazi paratroopers descending so I thought, "How bad can it be?" I found out. Oh, I found out alright.

P.S. Years later, I read in a book, War Without Hate: The Desert Campaign of 1940-43 by John Bierman if I remember correctly, about the real people upon which this movie was very loosely based. Sorry ladies, it seems our hero reserved his affections for men.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter 2024 at December 30, 2023 08:11 PM (FVME7)

39 @24

>>Which two?

Platoon and Chicago, mostly because of the circumstances I saw those two films.

I saw Platoon with my dad in a theater full of Nam Vets, the emotion and catharsis of the audience is something I will never forget, so that colors my view of that particular film.

And I absolutely love musicals, love them, and I saw Chicago opening night at The Ziegfeld Theater with the entire audience packed with theater people.

It was pandemonium, bedlam even, amazing experience.

And Jaws is the greatest film of all time.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 08:12 PM (XV/Pl)

40 Hollywood Reporter has some predictions on which movies might be nominated in 2024, plus some dark horses:

http://tinyurl.com/yeckrzh2

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:12 PM (+RQPJ)

41
1975 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

_____________

Piss on Ken Kesey. And Jack Nicholson too, while we're at it.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 30, 2023 08:12 PM (MXQhq)

42 American Beautyis my vote for the WORST academy award winner of all time. Really, I cannot think of a single entry worse than that movie.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 08:14 PM (S6gqv)

43 39 I saw Platoon with my dad in a theater full of Nam Vets, the emotion and catharsis of the audience is something I will never forget, so that colors my view of that particular film.

And I absolutely love musicals, love them, and I saw Chicago opening night at The Ziegfeld Theater with the entire audience packed with theater people.

It was pandemonium, bedlam even, amazing experience.

And Jaws is the greatest film of all time.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 08:12 PM (XV/Pl)

=========

I'm of two minds on Platoon. On the one hand, Stone brought the psychological reality of the vet in 'Nam to real life on the silver screen. On the other hand, it's piss-poor written, obvious to a fault, and essentially a bad comic book, complete with scarred bad guy.

Chicago is fun, though. I like it. Fosse would have done it better, though. Rob Marshall overcut that think like crazy.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:14 PM (GBKbO)

44 Fosse!
*jazz hands*

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:15 PM (+RQPJ)

45 42 American Beautyis my vote for the WORST academy award winner of all time. Really, I cannot think of a single entry worse than that movie.
Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 08:14 PM (S6gqv)

=======

It's morally repugnant, but I find the incomplete vision of the reaction to a godless, materialist worldview interesting. It also provides absolutely no reason why Spacey shouldn't try to sleep with the underaged cheerleader. He just...doesn't.

Cimarron is probably going to be my choice for worst, though The English Patient came damn close.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:15 PM (GBKbO)

46 42 "Crash" (2004) slightly worse.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 08:15 PM (MvF+J)

47 affirm, H7, nicholson is dead to me for the whole polanski incident.
no.
that is not done. not nohow.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:16 PM (kc18b)

48 46 42 "Crash" (2004) slightly worse.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 08:15 PM (MvF+J)

========

I haven't seen that since theaters. I remember not hating it.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:16 PM (GBKbO)

49 Ay yi yi. Awards for movies. The whole industry is so far up its own ass it's a wonder it hasn't vanished yet.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2023 08:16 PM (0FoWg)

50 I want to see "Poor Things" just because the premise sounds nuts.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:17 PM (+RQPJ)

51
American Beautyis my vote for the WORST academy award winner of all time.

__________

*ahem*

Posted by: The Greatest Show on Earth at December 30, 2023 08:17 PM (MXQhq)

52 "Chicago" (2002) Renee Zellweger easy on the eyes.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 08:18 PM (MvF+J)

53 49 Ay yi yi. Awards for movies. The whole industry is so far up its own ass it's a wonder it hasn't vanished yet.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2023 08:16 PM (0FoWg)

========

The best bit is how it all started. Louis B. Mayer just wanted another way to control his talent. He said that if he put baubles on his actors, they did more of what he wanted.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:18 PM (GBKbO)

54 @43

>>complete with scarred bad guy.

I mean, it's essentially Apocalypse Now Part II - The Multiverse of Viet Nam.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 08:18 PM (XV/Pl)

55 Is that Milos Forman up top?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:18 PM (+RQPJ)

56 For the 2003 Academy Awards, I'd have to agree that Lord Of The Rings: Return of the King deserved the Oscar. I do, however, have a soft spot for Master and Commander. It definitely holds up over the years, but if came out at the worst possible time if they had any hope to make a series using Master as the anchor. LOTR wiped out all the competition.

Posted by: Darrell Harris at December 30, 2023 08:18 PM (AHp3g)

57 55 Is that Milos Forman up top?
Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:18 PM (+RQPJ)

=======

Correct!

5 Internet points and a wet cardboard AOS membership card to Eris!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:18 PM (GBKbO)

58 I have to strongly disagree with the "Oppenheimer" rating. I don't know how many stars I would give it; I only know that I went into the movie really excited for it, and I spent the last half hour or so waiting for it to be over. Don't know if there's a harsher judgment on a movie than that.

Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:19 PM (jGGMD)

59 56 For the 2003 Academy Awards, I'd have to agree that Lord Of The Rings: Return of the King deserved the Oscar. I do, however, have a soft spot for Master and Commander. It definitely holds up over the years, but if came out at the worst possible time if they had any hope to make a series using Master as the anchor. LOTR wiped out all the competition.
Posted by: Darrell Harris at December 30, 2023 08:18 PM (AHp3g)

======

I feel exactly the same way. Master and Commander is a masterpiece. It's amazing. I love it. It's Peter Weir's best film.

I wish it had come out in 2002.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:19 PM (GBKbO)

60 Still working through content, had to get a shower in between

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 08:20 PM (fwDg9)

61 58 I have to strongly disagree with the "Oppenheimer" rating. I don't know how many stars I would give it; I only know that I went into the movie really excited for it, and I spent the last half hour or so waiting for it to be over. Don't know if there's a harsher judgment on a movie than that.
Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:19 PM (jGGMD)

========

I really liked the extended denouement, the remote conflict between Strauss and Oppenheimer playing out 8 years apart, all without excusing Oppenheimer for his bad decisions at the same time.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:20 PM (GBKbO)

62
Ay yi yi. Awards for movies. The whole industry is so far up its own ass it's a wonder it hasn't vanished yet.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

__________

Adults neither seek nor accept awards.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 30, 2023 08:21 PM (MXQhq)

63 Semi related. I picked up an anthology of short stories entitled Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlow which, despite the misleading title, contains no stories by Philip Chandler. Rather, they are Marlow stories by other writers. I have read only the first, The Perfect Crime by Max Allen Collins. It is loosely based on the death Golden Age actress Thelma Todd, long a subject of speculation. I quite enjoyed it.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter 2024 at December 30, 2023 08:22 PM (FVME7)

64 TJM, Cimmaron with Glen Ford? I don't remember it being that bad, just formulaic.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:22 PM (+RQPJ)

65 re@43: for good moments in bad "Nam movies, I gotta nominate
"Three! I want three!" in Deer Hunter ...

y'know, if you're already objectively a dead man walking, why not roll the dice? amirite?

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:22 PM (kc18b)

66 My mother, while in the throes of Alzeheimers, was starting to watch Silence of the Lambs. I changed the channel fast. She said she just wanted to watch a movie about animals.

Posted by: Megthered at December 30, 2023 08:23 PM (EN4LN)

67 64 TJM, Cimmaron with Glen Ford? I don't remember it being that bad, just formulaic.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:22 PM (+RQPJ)

=======

No, that's the remake from the 50s or so. The original is early 30s, the third sound film that won, and it's awful.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:23 PM (GBKbO)

68 34 Every scene in Apocalypse Now has a great line. It has a lot of romantic flourishes like Moby Dick.
Moby Dick-> USA Trilogy->Blood On the Tracks-> Apocalypse Now
A whole chain of wild American Nihilst Romance
Posted by: Jamaica at December 30, 2023 08:09 PM (Eeb9P)

oh yes, and then there's the whacked out black allegory that's running underneath all of it. Kurtz is a noble satan, ruling his pagan world, Willard is an evil christ figure sent to murder him by a distant and out of touch Almighty.

The movie shifts into this mode completely when they go beyond the frontier, leave the Vietnam world, as terrible as that as, and journey into a different world, one far darker, older, and even more evil. Kurtz's world.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 08:24 PM (S6gqv)

69 I can't wait for the movie thread celebrating the best key grips in Hollywood!
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

Followed or preceded by best hair stylist.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:25 PM (Th1r/)

70
Followed or preceded by best hair stylist.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:25 PM (Th1r/)

________

Best Best Boy

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 30, 2023 08:26 PM (MXQhq)

71 I can't wait to find out TJM's choice for Best Picture in 2012.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 30, 2023 08:26 PM (a3Q+t)

72 Recently re-watched "Witness." Good movie and Harrison Ford was great in it.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:26 PM (izj35)

73 I really liked the extended denouement, the remote conflict between Strauss and Oppenheimer playing out 8 years apart, all without excusing Oppenheimer for his bad decisions at the same time.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:20 PM (GBKbO)

Can't say that I did, because (in my opinion) there was too much ambiguity about Oppenheimer and Strauss, as individuals, to make it clear what the stakes were.

But even if that wasn't the case, I would still consider the movie a failure, because most people went in expecting (and wanting) a movie about the making of the Bomb, and we didn't get that. We got four movies: the Bomb, Strauss vs. Oppenheimer, Oppie's love life, and whether Oppie was a Communist. At most, the audience cared about two of those.

Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:26 PM (jGGMD)

74 71 I can't wait to find out TJM's choice for Best Picture in 2012.
Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 30, 2023 08:26 PM (a3Q+t)

========

The year Argo won?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:27 PM (GBKbO)

75 I think of TJM's picks against the winner I would agree with easily 3/4 of them.
Rocky is a great movie
Many of the "winners" I don't like, can tell if only seen them once

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 08:28 PM (fwDg9)

76 I think they need to make the Oscars a cage match.

Cillian Murphy needs to watch out for Paul Giamatti. Little guys fight dirty.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:28 PM (+RQPJ)

77 >>American Beautyis my vote for the WORST academy award winner of all time.

Gawd, how I hate that movie.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:28 PM (izj35)

78 I feel exactly the same way. Master and Commander is a masterpiece. It's amazing. I love it. It's Peter Weir's best film.

I wish it had come out in 2002.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:19 PM (GBKbO)

Or 2004. I loved The Aviator (DiCaprio should have won Best Actor for that role), but Master would have both killed at the box office and won Best Picture that year.

Posted by: Darrell Harris at December 30, 2023 08:28 PM (AHp3g)

79 I will have to get "Master and Commander" I really enjoyed the series of O'Brian novels which I read- the first six of them.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 30, 2023 08:29 PM (hQjlM)

80 Nice recap TJM.

I'm somewhat pleased that my list lines up with your list, save a couple of items.

That run of winners from '78 to '83 is as depressing a list of movies to watch as anything I can remember.

I liked Shakespeare in Love, Chicago, and Million Dollar Baby.

I haven't seen The Mission, The Insider, The Pianist, or the Aviator.

Posted by: browndog looking askance at your "snow" at December 30, 2023 08:29 PM (TTAGa)

81 73 Can't say that I did, because (in my opinion) there was too much ambiguity about Oppenheimer and Strauss, as individuals, to make it clear what the stakes were.

But even if that wasn't the case, I would still consider the movie a failure, because most people went in expecting (and wanting) a movie about the making of the Bomb, and we didn't get that. We got four movies: the Bomb, Strauss vs. Oppenheimer, Oppie's love life, and whether Oppie was a Communist. At most, the audience cared about two of those.
Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:26 PM (jGGMD)

========

I saw it as an effort to cinematically dramatize Oppenheimer the man. Like most people, the man was complicated and not easily categorized. Most biopics want to simplify the subject into a small box (his dead brother from youth, her relationship with her father, etc.), but Nolan embraced the fact that Oppenheimer wasn't the pure hero. He was a complex man.

And I just like how Nolan edits all of his stuff together.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:29 PM (GBKbO)

82 @74

>>The year Argo won?

The Artist Won That Year!!

Argo won in 2013 and it probably should have won that year.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 08:29 PM (XV/Pl)

83 79 Recommended.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 08:30 PM (MvF+J)

84 I dunno, have to think about that, Tom, but "Almighty, Almighty, this is PBR Street Gang ... " calling in the arc light ...

but yes it definitely was getting to the root archetypes, bigly

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:30 PM (kc18b)

85 TJM -obviously it seems you haven't ventured to see Napoleon
I wouldn't doubt it gets some Academy awards, costumes at the least.

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 08:30 PM (fwDg9)

86 My mother, while in the throes of Alzeheimers, was starting to watch Silence of the Lambs. I changed the channel fast. She said she just wanted to watch a movie about animals.
Posted by: Megthered at December 30, 2023 08:23 PM (EN4LN)

Well, in a way it's about animals....

Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:30 PM (jGGMD)

87 Adults neither seek nor accept awards.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 30, 2023 08:21 PM

When Congress was preparing to award former President Harry Truman the Medal of Honor on May 6, 1971 (his 87th birthday), he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."

Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 30, 2023 08:30 PM (a3Q+t)

88 American Beautyis my vote for the WORST academy award winner of all time.

Gawd, how I hate that movie.
Posted by: Lizzy

The only good guys were the homo dope dealers.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter 2024 at December 30, 2023 08:31 PM (FVME7)

89 No, that's the remake from the 50s or so. The original is early 30s, the third sound film that won, and it's awful.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:23 PM (GBKbO)

Ok, never saw it and I guess I never will. Looked up the wiki stub, and they note how tastes change over time: " Critically lauded at the time of its release, Cimarron was beloved by most who saw it. Eight decades later, it is frequently cited on lists of the most undeserving Academy Award winners and is rightfully impugned for racist overtones and scattershot storytelling."

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 08:31 PM (S6gqv)

90 82 @74

>>The year Argo won?

The Artist Won That Year!!

Argo won in 2013 and it probably should have won that year.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 08:29 PM (XV/Pl)

=======

Well, are we talking about the year the movies came out or the year that the ceremony took place? It creates this weird difficulty in trying to talk about it.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:31 PM (GBKbO)

91 with ya on that 100% Skip; Rocky is a great movie!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:32 PM (kc18b)

92 Fen you won't be disappointed, it does take from a few books amalgamated but still done extremely well.

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 08:32 PM (fwDg9)

93
When Congress was preparing to award former President Harry Truman the Medal of Honor on May 6, 1971 (his 87th birthday), he refused to accept it

_________

When Charles Ives won the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 1947, he gave the money away, saying, "Prizes are for boys."

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at December 30, 2023 08:32 PM (MXQhq)

94 I like browsing the critics' BestOfs this time of year to find new picks to watch.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 08:32 PM (MvF+J)

95 When Congress was preparing to award former President Harry Truman the Medal of Honor on May 6, 1971 (his 87th birthday), he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."
Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 30, 2023 08:30 PM (a3Q+t)

9 out of 10 Republicans agree. Number 10 is Romney.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at December 30, 2023 08:33 PM (Angsy)

96 91 with ya on that 100% Skip; Rocky is a great movie!
Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:32 PM (kc18b)

=======

I love Rocky. I love Taxi Driver a bit more.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:33 PM (GBKbO)

97 >>Hollywood Reporter has some predictions on which movies might be nominated in 2024, plus some dark horses: http://tinyurl.com/yeckrzh2

OMG, "Barbie" was such a hot mess it is hysterical so many women somehow love it. It was painful to watch.
Of course it will win awards, probably Gerwig for original screenplay or something just as silly.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:33 PM (izj35)

98 The year Argo won?
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:27 PM

Wasn't that The Artist?

I'm guessing your pick wasn't nominated, for some myopic reason.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 30, 2023 08:33 PM (a3Q+t)

99 I always liked the observation that if a 10 year old can win one of your industry’s highest awards then that the job must not be that hard.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 08:33 PM (MNhXM)

100 award former President Harry Truman the Medal of Honor on May 6, 1971 (his 87th birthday), he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise."
Posted by: Duncanthrax

Except for recognizing Israel 11minutes after it became a country...

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:33 PM (Th1r/)

101 Napoleon strangely left little impression for as much effort as went into mounting such a big production.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:33 PM (+RQPJ)

102 L.A. Confidential should have absolutley won Best Picture over Titanic. Titanic was a steaming turd.

1990 - Dances with Wolves (Goodfellas)

I loved both movies when I saw them first in the theater. As time has moved on, Goodfellas is the movie I have watched over and over again. Bought the DVD. DwW has NOT aged well. It's poorly written. Too simplistic. Beautiful cinematography but that's it.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at December 30, 2023 08:33 PM (gcUgZ)

103 I have no desire to Leonard DiCaprio in anything maybe because his real life persona seems unpleasant to me.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 30, 2023 08:34 PM (hQjlM)

104 Moby Dick needs to be understood as a Western. Religion is part of the scenery, like pine trees or desert scrub.

Posted by: Jamaica at December 30, 2023 08:34 PM (Eeb9P)

105 73 I really liked the extended denouement, the remote conflict between Strauss and Oppenheimer playing out 8 years apart, all without excusing Oppenheimer for his bad decisions at the same time.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:20 PM (GBKbO)

Strauss deserves to have a movie made about him on its own. The guy reached the pinnacle of power, both in government and in private life, and he never spent a day in college. Just as complicated a man in his own way as Oppy was. The movie was about Oppy, but Strauss was shown as a much smaller man than he was.

I did happen to like Oppenheimer a lot. Nolan is my favorite current director. I even think his misses are worth seeing.

Posted by: Darrell Harris at December 30, 2023 08:34 PM (AHp3g)

106 @90

>>Well, are we talking about the year the movies came out or the year that the ceremony took place? It creates this weird difficulty in trying to talk about it.

I think the Artist came out in 2011 and won the Oscar at the 2012 Oscars, Argo came out in 2012 and won the 2013 Oscars.

So, tomato-tomato. I think.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 08:34 PM (XV/Pl)

107 I saw it as an effort to cinematically dramatize Oppenheimer the man. Like most people, the man was complicated and not easily categorized. Most biopics want to simplify the subject into a small box (his dead brother from youth, her relationship with her father, etc.), but Nolan embraced the fact that Oppenheimer wasn't the pure hero. He was a complex man.

And I just like how Nolan edits all of his stuff together.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:29 PM (GBKbO)

Nolan does crank out some lovely visuals, as usual. And I thought the middle third (ish) of the movie was pretty good, especially everything having to do with the Bomb.

But there's embracing complexity, and then there's a story so convoluted you can't make sense of it. And (again in my opinion) Nolan failed to thread that needle this time. But YMMV.

Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:34 PM (jGGMD)

108 98
Wasn't that The Artist?

I'm guessing your pick wasn't nominated, for some myopic reason.
Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 30, 2023 08:33 PM (a3Q+t)

=======

If we're talking about that year, I want to split my vote between three films: Hugo, Moneyball, and The Tree of Life.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:34 PM (GBKbO)

109 huh.

haven't watched Taxi Driver this century ... I'll have to do it again soon-ish ...

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:35 PM (kc18b)

110 >>L.A. Confidential should have absolutley won Best Picture over Titanic. Titanic was a steaming turd.

THIS

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:36 PM (izj35)

111 If we're talking about that year, I want to split my vote between three films: Hugo, Moneyball, and The Tree of Life.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:34 PM

Ok, then Ridley Scott has to be your Director pick.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at December 30, 2023 08:36 PM (a3Q+t)

112 L.A. Confidential should have absolutley won Best Picture over Titanic.

-
L.A. is also one of those rare examples of the movie being better than the book.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter 2024 at December 30, 2023 08:36 PM (FVME7)

113 Uncle Buck should have won Best Picture.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 08:36 PM (MNhXM)

114 @100, spot on! thx for reminder! +++++

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:37 PM (kc18b)

115 107 Nolan does crank out some lovely visuals, as usual. And I thought the middle third (ish) of the movie was pretty good, especially everything having to do with the Bomb.

But there's embracing complexity, and then there's a story so convoluted you can't make sense of it. And (again in my opinion) Nolan failed to thread that needle this time. But YMMV.
Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:34 PM (jGGMD)

========

I was never lost or confused. It is aggressively edited and shockingly fast paced, though. Scenes sometimes seem to start in the middle.

I can see how people who aren't operating on the film's wavelength can have serious issues with keeping up, though.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:37 PM (GBKbO)

116 >>I have no desire to Leonard DiCaprio in anything maybe because his real life persona seems unpleasant to me.

Yeah, Fen, have never gotten the brilliance of Leo, either.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:37 PM (izj35)

117 84 I dunno, have to think about that, Tom, but "Almighty, Almighty, this is PBR Street Gang ... " calling in the arc light ...

but yes it definitely was getting to the root archetypes, bigly
Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:30 PM (kc18b)

And in the theatrical release, at the point the arc light lights everything up, the words "APOCALYPSE NOW" are superimposed on the screen. Even at first viewing I thought "well that's pretty heavy handed." It make a kind of sense if you consider that the story is being told by a director who had gone insane in the jungle and a cast whacked out on drugs.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 08:38 PM (S6gqv)

118 115 It's worth multiple viewings.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 08:38 PM (MvF+J)

119 If we're talking about that year, I want to split my vote between three films: Hugo, Moneyball, and The Tree of Life.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:34 PM (GBKbO)

Moneyball here boss...

"it gets on base"

Posted by: browndog looking askance at your at December 30, 2023 08:39 PM (TTAGa)

120 116 >>I have no desire to Leonard DiCaprio in anything maybe because his real life persona seems unpleasant to me.

Yeah, Fen, have never gotten the brilliance of Leo, either.
Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:37 PM (izj35)

I don't think Leo has ever turned in a bad performance. That's really unusual for a major star.

Posted by: Darrell Harris at December 30, 2023 08:39 PM (AHp3g)

121 De Crapio was pretty good in Shutter Island.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 08:39 PM (MNhXM)

122 117 And in the theatrical release, at the point the arc light lights everything up, the words "APOCALYPSE NOW" are superimposed on the screen. Even at first viewing I thought "well that's pretty heavy handed." It make a kind of sense if you consider that the story is being told by a director who had gone insane in the jungle and a cast whacked out on drugs.
Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 08:38 PM (S6gqv)

=======

That's there because Coppola didn't want any credits on the film, but some rule somewhere (Producers' Guild? Directors' Guild? The Academy? Someone, I dunno) dictates that the title has to be on screen in the film at some point.

So, he had it graffitied on the wall.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:39 PM (GBKbO)

123 >>L.A. Confidential should have absolutley won Best Picture over Titanic. Titanic was a steaming turd.

It's been a very long time since I saw L.A. Confidential, but I have vague memories of liking it. I am not at all surprised that Titanic won, though.

Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:40 PM (jGGMD)

124 L.A. is also one of those rare examples of the movie being better than the book.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter 2024 at December 30, 2023 08:36 PM (FVME7)

LA Confidential and Usual Suspects have my two favorite movie endings.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 08:40 PM (S6gqv)

125 *kills the can of beer*

see summayouse onna tech thread, eh? innit? what? what?

g'night & Happy New Year to one and all! and many more!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:41 PM (kc18b)

126 It's been a very long time since I saw L.A. Confidential, but I have vague memories of liking it. I am not at all surprised that Titanic won, though.
Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:40 PM (jGGMD)

The chick flick won over the guys film...

Posted by: browndog looking askance at your at December 30, 2023 08:41 PM (TTAGa)

127 American Beauty. I saw that bullshit when it dropped. As a teenager, I knew it was snotty and pompous and sneering. Indolent elites looking down their drippy, coked-up noses at the hoi-polloi. I don't imagine I'd like it more as an adult.

And, with hindsight, the idea of Kevin Spacey *not* fucking a kid strains the suspension of disbelief.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2023 08:41 PM (0FoWg)

128 It make a kind of sense if you consider that the story is being told by a director who had gone insane in the jungle and a cast whacked out on drugs.
Posted by: Tom Servo

Heh, heh, I worked with some sailors who went to Baguio while it was being filmed. They came back with stories about being sucked into the parties because the cast hadn't seen very many Americans while filming.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:42 PM (Th1r/)

129 >>De Crapio was pretty good in Shutter Island.

I read the book - didn't know how dark Dennis Lehane stories are. I've only seen a few bits of the movie because I hated the book's ending.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:42 PM (izj35)

130 Wow TJM! I really enjoy your analysis and your writing, every time you post. Tonight you crushed the ball 500 feet over centerfield, into the parking lot! I learn so much from you and moviegique. Thank you.

Posted by: SuperMayorSuperRonNirenberg-Buff, Buff, Did I Mention I Am Buff at December 30, 2023 08:42 PM (45aek)

131 It's been a very long time since I saw L.A. Confidential, but I have vague memories of liking it. I am not at all surprised that Titanic won, though.
Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:40 PM (jGGMD)

(cont)

Well the above and Kate Winslet's breasts...

Posted by: browndog looking askance at your at December 30, 2023 08:42 PM (TTAGa)

132 124 LA Confidential and Usual Suspects have my two favorite movie endings.
Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 08:40 PM (S6gqv

========

LA Confidential's ending? The police ceremony and Russel Crowe turning out to be alive?

That's honestly not very good. The movie should have ended with Guy Pierce being interviewed. Maybe it should have ended with that great shot of Pierce giving himself up.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:42 PM (GBKbO)

133 And, with hindsight, the idea of Kevin Spacey *not* fucking a kid strains the suspension of disbelief.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2023 08:41 PM (0FoWg)

You just reminded me of another thing I like about LA Confidential. You think Spacey can't die, because he's a big star, and then suddenly halfway through he gets whacked. Surprises him just as much as the audience.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 08:43 PM (S6gqv)

134 LA Confidential was dope. My old man took me to that one. Loved it at 14, love it at 40.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2023 08:43 PM (0FoWg)

135 The other day I saw a neo-noir made on a $20,000 budget, "Blast of Silence". The lead looked like if George C. Scott and John Belushi had a thug baby. It was an interesting time capsule of 1961 New York. I wonder if they did some Ed Wood-style guerrilla filming.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 08:44 PM (+RQPJ)

136 yeah, Tom, it also appears when the PBR first pulls in to Kurtz's landing ...

& now rly gnight!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:44 PM (kc18b)

137 >>I have no desire to Leonard DiCaprio in anything maybe because his real life persona seems unpleasant to me.

Yeah, Fen, have never gotten the brilliance of Leo, either.
Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:37 PM (izj35)

DiCaprio's politics are of course very annoying, and he strikes me as an unlikable person in real life. But I have seen him in a lot of movies, and he always turns in a competent performance at least, which is more than can be said for many actors.

Though I admit to having never seen "The Revenant."

Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:44 PM (jGGMD)

138 the idea of Kevin Spacey *not* fucking a kid strains the suspension of disbelief.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

Kid wasn't male.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (Th1r/)

139 Napoleon is a great looking movie that is costume movie that gets only 1/2 history right.

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (fwDg9)

140 I knew it was snotty and pompous and sneering. Indolent elites looking down their drippy, coked-up noses at the hoi-polloi.

Now do Pleasantville.

And, with hindsight, the idea of Kevin Spacey *not* fucking a kid strains the suspension of disbelief.

Well, she was female.

Posted by: Oddbob at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (sNc8Y)

141 138 the idea of Kevin Spacey *not* fucking a kid strains the suspension of disbelief.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

Kid wasn't male.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (Th1r/)

=========

Spacey's accused sex crimes are all around young men.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (GBKbO)

142 I read the book - didn't know how dark Dennis Lehane stories are. I've only seen a few bits of the movie because I hated the book's ending.
Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:42 PM (izj35)

Yeah the movie ending was not a feel good ending. I don’t know how close to the book but to me the character pretended he regressed so they would go ahead and lobotomize him so he can escape the pain.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (MNhXM)

143 It's been a very long time since I saw L.A. Confidential, but I have vague memories of liking it. I am not at all surprised that Titanic won, though.
Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:40 PM (jGGMD)

everyone loves a story about a young woman who sleeps with a homeless guy, and then watches while he drowns.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (D7oie)

144 128, lol

Posted by: sock_rat_eez, for certain values of sock, rat, & Eez ... at December 30, 2023 08:46 PM (kc18b)

145 idea of Kevin Spacey *not* fucking a kid strains the suspension of disbelief.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

Kid wasn't male.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (Th1r/)

=========

Spacey's accused sex crimes are all around young men.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (GBKbO)

I think he was talking about his weed dealer.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 08:46 PM (MNhXM)

146 Kid wasn't male.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (Th1r/)

Well, he only decided to "live his life as a gay man" after a male vic outed him - I take it as a tacit admission that he buggered any kid he could up til that day.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2023 08:47 PM (0FoWg)

147 I liked all the Hobbit movies but my favorite Peter Jackson fil was They Shall Never Grow Old. I guess I'm wierd that way.

Posted by: Eromero at December 30, 2023 08:47 PM (NxC5+)

148 Fuck hollyweird with a spiked ball bat...that is all

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 08:47 PM (X0I7i)

149 147 I liked all the Hobbit movies but my favorite Peter Jackson fil was They Shall Never Grow Old. I guess I'm wierd that way.
Posted by: Eromero at December 30, 2023 08:47 PM (NxC5+)

======

It's a wonderful documentary.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:47 PM (GBKbO)

150 Best cop movie?

Street Kings.

Keanu hit another one out of the park.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 08:48 PM (MNhXM)

151 >>Yeah the movie ending was not a feel good ending. I don’t know how close to the book but to me the character pretended he regressed so they would go ahead and lobotomize him so he can escape the pain.

In the book the character really doesn't know, and it's such an abrupt mind-$#@ when the twist ending happens, so dang depressing. Just as the ending of "Gone, Baby, Gone."

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:48 PM (izj35)

152 Londario DeCappucino got Timmy Treadwell killed....

there is a punchline and irony in that

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 08:49 PM (X0I7i)

153 (cont)

Well the above and Kate Winslet's breasts...
Posted by: browndog looking askance at your at December 30, 2023 08:42 PM (TTAGa)

Well, yes. But putting that aside, and the box-office numbers, and Leo's teen heartthrob status, I think you could argue that "Titanic" did more to earn it, based on the enormous amount of work Cameron and his crew put into the production. That's not necessarily a clinching argument, but it is something.

Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:49 PM (jGGMD)

154 I will have to get "Master and Commander" I really enjoyed the series of O'Brian novels which I read- the first six of them.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke
---
Fen you won't be disappointed, it does take from a few books amalgamated but still done extremely well.

Posted by: Skip
-----

Hmm. Well, I was rather disappointed. It would be nigh on to impossible to reduce a series of 21 books to a movie, but the movie was so lacking in so many details that it was something of a condensed, condensed, condensed version. Nice enough as a stand-alone movie, but watchers should not imagine that they have more than barely scratched the surface of the substance of the novels.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 30, 2023 08:49 PM (XeU6L)

155 66 Posted by: Megthered at December 30, 2023 08:23 PM (EN4LN)

Well indirectly the film is about Jame Gumb's dog.

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 08:50 PM (X0I7i)

156 Kid wasn't male.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:45 PM (Th1r/)

Well, he only decided to "live his life as a gay man" after a male vic outed him - I take it as a tacit admission that he buggered any kid he could up til that day.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

Not a bad guess.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:50 PM (Th1r/)

157 "This grocery sack blowing around in the wind is the most byooootiful thing I've ever seen."

Oh yeah? Cool story. Not. Put a sock in it, ya queermo.

My review of American Beauty is this concludes.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2023 08:50 PM (0FoWg)

158 153 Well, yes. But putting that aside, and the box-office numbers, and Leo's teen heartthrob status, I think you could argue that "Titanic" did more to earn it, based on the enormous amount of work Cameron and his crew put into the production. That's not necessarily a clinching argument, but it is something.
Posted by: Dr. T at December 30, 2023 08:49 PM (jGGMD)

=======

The first decade or so of the Best Picture winners could be interpreted as the Academy awarding producers and studios for risking a lot of money and making a lot of money in return. They were almost all huge money makers at the box office that cost a lot of money (which made It Happened One Night's win over Cleopatra so surprising).

Whenever a giant film that made a bunch of money wins Best Picture, it feels like a return to what the Best Picture Award was originally supposed to be.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:51 PM (GBKbO)

159 In the book the character really doesn't know, and it's such an abrupt mind-$#@ when the twist ending happens, so dang depressing. Just as the ending of "Gone, Baby, Gone."
Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:48 PM (izj35

Yeah but at least in Gone Baby Gone a lot of people got what they deserved. Except the mother. That was depressing.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 08:51 PM (MNhXM)

160 ...the 70s is the last time the Oscars were somewhat "pure" in their efforts to award Best Picture.

The Vietnam war had ended. The Left was emboldened and they started crawling out of the woodwork in Hollywood and NY. A new generation was taking over and it was downhill from then on.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 30, 2023 08:51 PM (W/lyH)

161 157 "This grocery sack blowing around in the wind is the most byooootiful thing I've ever seen."

Oh yeah? Cool story. Not. Put a sock in it, ya queermo.

My review of American Beauty is this concludes.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2023 08:50 PM (0FoWg)

You should see what I can do with a feather...

Posted by: Robert Zemeckis at December 30, 2023 08:52 PM (TTAGa)

162 161 You should see what I can do with a feather...
Posted by: Robert Zemeckis at December 30, 2023 08:52 PM (TTAGa)

=========

It was a controversy in the feather community when it came out that the feather in the opening titles of Forrest Gump was CGI enhanced.

The feather (Feather McFeatherface Jr.) has been unable to find work in Hollywood since.

Don't cross the Feather Guild, bro.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:53 PM (GBKbO)

163 "A Beautiful Mind" managed to make the real man seem likable and sympathetic. I read the book and he was an obnoxious kook whose saving grace was being good at math - colleagues kept saving him/bailing out of his messes because he was brilliant. IRC, he initially worked for Rand corporation but got fired after being arrested for a late night gay bathroom hookup (security risk). He kept trying to defect to Switzerland and the Swiss kept deporting him. Non-stop anti-social antics, not a great love story.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:54 PM (izj35)

164 I saw "Killers of the Flower Moon" on Xmas Eve with my 2 young adult sons. (It's available on Amazon Prime already. although they're charging a premium fee to rent it-- $20.)

I haven't sorted my feelings about this one out yet. I'd be truly curious to know what others thought.

I will say this: the courtroom/jail scenes made me feel like a stranger in a strange new world. I couldn't find anything that coincided with my own experiences. That's probably just because things were that different 100 years ago.

The film is very long, like 3 & 1/2 hours, IIRC. I thought the second half had a better, quicker pace than the first half.

Also, I give Scorsese & the screenwriters credit for not doing Oliver Stone-like violence to the known facts. They must've been tempted to, because the story is quite complex.

Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 08:55 PM (NLIak)

165 Every product and service and entertainment you consume, it's guaranteed there're at least a few pervs or commies earning somewhere in the value chain. That's why I don't reject movies that star jackasses; there's be nothing left to watch otherwise.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 08:55 PM (MvF+J)

166 127:And, with hindsight, the idea of Kevin Spacey *not* fucking a kid strains the suspension of disbelief.

A hot teen girl wouldn't interest the very light in the loafers, Kevin Spacey.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at December 30, 2023 08:56 PM (gcUgZ)

167 All of us wants to Thank Presdent Obama for all he be did for the Gay Community in 2023. We also wants to wish him a Happy New Yeer and we still love you and miss you and yoor lovely oartner.

Posted by: Mary Clogginstein from Brattleboro, Vt at December 30, 2023 08:56 PM (PYJJG)

168 The only movie about the Titanic I need to see is " "A Night to Remember" because all I hear about the one with DeCaprio is about what's her names breasts. Meh

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 30, 2023 08:57 PM (hQjlM)

169 Don't cross the Feather Guild, bro.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:53 PM (GBKbO)

In my day, there was no CGI...

Feathers were just happy to have work.

Posted by: Zolttan Korda at December 30, 2023 08:57 PM (TTAGa)

170 163 Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:54 PM (izj35)

Hollywood specializes in Karma Houdini storytelling they morph deviants into heroes and decent people into deviants.

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 08:57 PM (X0I7i)

171 Days of Heaven should have won in 1978

Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 08:57 PM (oq25h)

172 . He kept trying to defect to Switzerland and the Swiss kept deporting him. Non-stop anti-social antics, not a great love story.
Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 08:54 PM (izj35)

I thought the movie did a good job of sympathetically portraying serious mental illness.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 08:57 PM (S6gqv)

173 The problem was that the feather was white. Where are the black feathers on the silver screen? First to get stuffed in a pillow, every time, that's where.

You have to see it to be it.

#BFM #Representation #FeathersSoWhite

Posted by: Russel Crow at December 30, 2023 08:57 PM (0FoWg)

174 164 Also, I give Scorsese & the screenwriters credit for not doing Oliver Stone-like violence to the known facts. They must've been tempted to, because the story is quite complex.

Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 08:55 PM (NLIak)

=========

I think the biggest issue with the film is that Leo's character is a complete moron. It obfuscates the moral quandary at the film's center since it simply doesn't feel like he understands the connection between his actions and his wife's troubles.

I also found out that Paul Schrader agrees with me today. "Three-and-a-Half Hours in the Company of an Idiot Is a Long Time," he said.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 08:58 PM (GBKbO)

175 168 Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 30, 2023 08:57 PM (hQjlM)

Winslet shows very average mammae....

add in that Cameron knowingly showed a nearly impossible sinking scenario and....

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 08:58 PM (X0I7i)

176 Master and Commander is a better primer for someone to want to read O'Brian than other way around,
Where Master and Commander is good just to put some of O'Brian writing to visual content.

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 08:59 PM (fwDg9)

177 I think Titanic and The Return of the King won because the Academy realized it was seriously in danger of becoming a joke. (Which it has since become fully.) People were aware that "Best Picture" meant nothing if you were only going to award it to box office losers like Gay Cowboys Eating Pudding.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at December 30, 2023 08:59 PM (CHHv1)

178 150 Best cop movie?

Street Kings.

Keanu hit another one out of the park.
Posted by: Drive by

Before I saw Street Kings, I didn't think much of Keanu Reeves. After? Give KR the right material and he's pretty damn good. 'Street Kings' is very good and has a hell of a cast.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at December 30, 2023 09:00 PM (gcUgZ)

179 "A Night to Remember"

Fine movie, and also the Webb-Stanwyck Titanic flick. DiCaprio "Titanic" is lesser, but there's nothing I hate about it. Good performance by Zane.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 09:00 PM (MvF+J)

180 @174

>> "Three-and-a-Half Hours in the Company of an Idiot Is a Long Time," he said.

Forrest Gump was an idiot, but he had personality and a better story.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 09:01 PM (XV/Pl)

181 DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street was fun.

Knowing a bit about the penny stock business back in the day, he and the film captured the soul of the industry.

Posted by: browndog knows that area well at December 30, 2023 09:01 PM (TTAGa)

182 177 I think Titanic and The Return of the King won because the Academy realized it was seriously in danger of becoming a joke. (Which it has since become fully.) People were aware that "Best Picture" meant nothing if you were only going to award it to box office losers like Gay Cowboys Eating Pudding.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at December 30, 2023 08:59 PM (CHHv1)

========

The most important thing to happen to the Academy over the past 20 years is that The Dark Knight wasn't even nominated for Best Picture.

Because of that, the Academy upped the nominees from 5 to 10 in the hope that it would increase the number of populist films nominated.

It honestly hasn't worked. No one thinks the pity prizes of a nomination to a film the Academy is ever going to award with the Oscar. Did anyone seriously think that Top Gun Maverick was going to win last year?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:01 PM (GBKbO)

183 "Three-and-a-Half Hours in the Company of an Idiot Is a Long Time," he said.
----

This was my problem with the "Slow Dougie" episodes of the new Twin Peaks.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 09:01 PM (+RQPJ)

184 All this jabbering and navel-gazing about dopey films without enough tits.

Why doesn't 'Flesh Gordon' get any love?

"Come here, my little bottle cap..."

Posted by: Brewingfrog at December 30, 2023 09:02 PM (17aRN)

185 The only movie about the Titanic I need to see is " "A Night to Remember" because all I hear about the one with DeCaprio is about what's her names breasts. Meh
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 30, 2023 08:57 PM (hQjlM)

don't sell Kate Winslet's breasts lightly, Fenelon.

After all, I doubt that she did.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 30, 2023 09:03 PM (D7oie)

186 185 Posted by: Kindltot at December 30, 2023 09:03 PM (D7oie)

31 million per.

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:04 PM (X0I7i)

187 I lived through Kramer vs Kramer as a wee Meanie. Never had a desire to see it. I didn't realize the effect my parents' divorce had on me until after my kid was born and "Wonderful" by Everclear came on the radio -- that crushed me.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:04 PM (YIxO9)

188 Posted by: Puddleglum at work at December 30, 2023 09:00 PM (gcUgZ)

He’s pretty good at picking scripts . He knows his limitations. Even his chick flicks are pretty good.

IMO his batting average is almost .900.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:04 PM (MNhXM)

189 Why doesn't 'Flesh Gordon' get any love?
---

It would have been hilarious if that was up for Special Effects and they showed a clip of the Penisaurus at the awards.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 09:04 PM (+RQPJ)

190 I think Titanic and The Return of the King won because the Academy realized it was seriously in danger of becoming a joke. (Which it has since become fully.) People were aware that "Best Picture" meant nothing if you were only going to award it to box office losers like Gay Cowboys Eating Pudding.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at December 30, 2023 08:59 PM (CHHv1)
***

Reinforced by the detestable "Stars We Lost" segment where they leave out someone and it is always a conservative.

Posted by: Diogenes at December 30, 2023 09:05 PM (W/lyH)

191 190 Posted by: Diogenes at December 30, 2023 09:05 PM (W/lyH)

WE DO NOT GATEKEEP NOR PUT OUR FINGERS ON THE SCALES-IT IS JUST ONLY COMMUNISTS ARE TALENTED!

//The Academy

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:06 PM (X0I7i)

192 @182

>>Top Gun Maverick was going to win last year?

There was no force on earth that could have prevented EEAAO from winning.

The Sound of Freedom had a bigger boxoffice than the turd.

Also, Tar was robbed as was Cate Blancett.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 09:06 PM (XV/Pl)

193 "Three-and-a-Half Hours in the Company of an Idiot Is a Long Time," he said.

-
You're telling me!

Posted by: Dr. Jill at December 30, 2023 09:07 PM (FVME7)

194 The Deer Hunter is an example of a movie that I am glad I saw once but I will never watch it again. Too unrelentingly dark for me. YMMV.

Posted by: JB1000 at December 30, 2023 09:07 PM (NBM7T)

195 Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:04 PM (YIxO9

I thought Kramer vs Kramer was a groundbreaker in that it portrayed the father as the sympathetic character in a child custody case. Didn’t last though.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:07 PM (MNhXM)

196 160 ...the 70s is the last time the Oscars were somewhat "pure" in their efforts to award Best Picture.

The Vietnam war had ended. The Left was emboldened and they started crawling out of the woodwork in Hollywood and NY. A new generation was taking over and it was downhill from then on.
Posted by: Diogenes

DON'T FORGET WATERGATE!!!!!

Posted by: Carl 'EVERYTHING IS WATERGATE' Bernstein at December 30, 2023 09:07 PM (gcUgZ)

197 TCM's "stars we lost" segment is always le sad.

http://tinyurl.com/bdy7futf

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 09:08 PM (+RQPJ)

198 187 I could write a big fat essay about KvsK. (Don't worry, I won't.) There's a lot in that movie. I'd call it underappreciated, especially when it says so much to us today about how our culture fell.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 09:08 PM (MvF+J)

199 I'd like to submit my 20,000 word critique of Ass to this blog. It really mattered whose ass farted, and why the fart came out of this particular ass.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:08 PM (YIxO9)

200 192 There was no force on earth that could have prevented EEAAO from winning.

The Sound of Freedom had a bigger boxoffice than the turd.

Also, Tar was robbed as was Cate Blancett.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 09:06 PM (XV/Pl)

=======

I actually think Everything Everywhere All at Once was the Academy trying to be populist again.

Within the Hollywood bubble, it seemed like the populist choice, especially on Film Bro Twitter.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:08 PM (GBKbO)

201 Posted by: Diogenes at December 30, 2023 09:05 PM (W/lyH)

WE DO NOT GATEKEEP NOR PUT OUR FINGERS ON THE SCALES-IT IS JUST ONLY COMMUNISTS ARE TALENTED!

//The Academy
Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:06 PM (X0I7i)
***

You're yelling at me!
Quit yelling at me!
TJM, they're yelling at me!
Make them stop!!!

Posted by: Diogenes at December 30, 2023 09:09 PM (W/lyH)

202 199 Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:08 PM (YIxO9)

All asses engage in flatulatory emanations, but not all asses rise to flatulatory excellence....

//Orson Welles' Ghost on Ass

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:10 PM (X0I7i)

203 42 "Crash" (2004) slightly worse.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at December 30, 2023 08:15 PM

My friends and I hated it because it was so overthetop about racism, although the mother favoring her dead ne'er-do-well son over her quiet thoughtful son hit home with us.

It also didn't help that I'd already seen the superb car crash in "Amoresperros", from which "Crash" seemed to steal.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at December 30, 2023 09:10 PM (6XjE4)

204 How about recent flicks, TJM? Did you Ike The Holdovers? (Thomas Bender, I agree about Tar and Blanchett. I don’t usually like her work but she was fantastic in Tar.)

Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 09:10 PM (oq25h)

205 Reinforced by the detestable "Stars We Lost" segment where they leave out someone and it is always a conservative.
Posted by: Diogenes
That crapfest mutual buttlicking is on TMC right now. I'd rather watch aardvarks eating termites building mounds on Mutual Of Omaha.

Posted by: Eromero at December 30, 2023 09:10 PM (NxC5+)

206 200 Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:08 PM (GBKbO)

also allowed the academy to lube up and do the supplicant butt thrust to Asia without shame...

always a bonus.

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:11 PM (X0I7i)

207 Evening.

So...I watched a few things.

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:11 PM (WzteV)

208 182 177 I think Titanic and The Return of the King won because the Academy realized it was seriously in danger of becoming a joke. (Which it has since become fully."

On that topic - I didn't even realize EEAAO had actually won, that's how little I pay attention to those idiot "awards" anymore. In a waythat was a perfect testament to what the awards have become.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 09:11 PM (S6gqv)

209 The right wing scum you want running hollywood like the Iran/contra traitor reagan banned the hollywood ten who went to jail and many others in hollywood were black listed. read dark victory about bonzo and see movie Trumbo about john 4F wayne.

Posted by: raimondo at December 30, 2023 09:11 PM (oi2zM)

210 204 How about recent flicks, TJM? Did you Ike The Holdovers? (Thomas Bender, I agree about Tar and Blanchett. I don’t usually like her work but she was fantastic in Tar.)
Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 09:10 PM (oq25h)

=======

I don't see a whole lot that's new since I don't go to the theater that much.

moviegique is more your guy for the more recent stuff.

I like studying film history. It's fun.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:12 PM (GBKbO)

211

The Academy is nothing more than Rapists and Perverts celebrating Rapists and Perverts. Cui Bono.

Posted by: Prof. Barnum Wideload, Public Masticating at December 30, 2023 09:12 PM (NES37)

212 209 Posted by: raimondo at December 30, 2023 09:11 PM (oi2zM)

Retardo say what?

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:12 PM (X0I7i)

213 Posted by: raimondo at December 30, 2023 09:11 PM (oi2zM)

========

You go to movies for history lessons? Are you retarded?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:12 PM (GBKbO)

214 204 How about recent flicks, TJM? Did you Ike The Holdovers? (Thomas Bender, I agree about Tar and Blanchett. I don’t usually like her work but she was fantastic in Tar.)
Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 09:10 PM (oq25h)

I thought she was really good in both Elizabeth movies.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:12 PM (MNhXM)

215 Posted by: raimondo at December 30, 2023 09:11 PM (oi2zM)

Oh, do behave...

Posted by: Austin Powers at December 30, 2023 09:13 PM (TTAGa)

216 I actually think Everything Everywhere All at Once was the Academy trying to be populist again.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:08 PM (GBKbO)

EEAAO was a bloated mess. Cut an hour out it and you'd have a fun movie.

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:13 PM (WzteV)

217 Only Glenda Jackson was Elizabeth!

Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 09:14 PM (oq25h)

218 174 Madison

That's a valid point. I just figured that Leo's character was boss weird. To the extent that he could separate what he DID (unusually vile murders) from what he honestly BELIEVED (that he truly loved his wife). So yeah... "moron" might cover it!

A lot of Leo's character was presented through his actual court testimony and his police interrogations, so... I guess we saw the man as he actually was.

If there was ever a case that screamed out for capital punishment, & lots of it, these OK cases were it. And yet... not one def got a death sentence. And OK back then passed out death sentences like Halloween candy, too. And it wasn't because "the victims were only Indians," because several of the victims were white.

Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:14 PM (NLIak)

219 I had my first college make out session after watching Rain Man. That's when I realized I didn't have the autism though I be on the spectrum.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:14 PM (YIxO9)

220 216 EEAAO was a bloated mess. Cut an hour out it and you'd have a fun movie.
Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:13 PM (WzteV)

=======

I liked it fine. I would have probably voted for Triangle of Sadness, though.

That's surpisingly funny stuff.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:15 PM (GBKbO)

221 219 Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:14 PM (YIxO9)

Did your carnal attempt necessitate the intervention of Kellogs' cereals?

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:16 PM (X0I7i)

222 I think that’s a different troll using the retardo nic. Little more partisan and retarded if possible.

Must have had a staff shakeup.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:16 PM (MNhXM)

223 218 A lot of Leo's character was presented through his actual court testimony and his police interrogations, so... I guess we saw the man as he actually was.

If there was ever a case that screamed out for capital punishment, & lots of it, these OK cases were it. And yet... not one def got a death sentence. And OK back then passed out death sentences like Halloween candy, too. And it wasn't because "the victims were only Indians," because several of the victims were white.
Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:14 PM (NLIak)

========

I suspect that Leo's depiction and the writing by Roth and Scorsese were fairly accurate.

However, the moral quandaries of morons rarely make compelling cinema. Scorsese's craft saved that film. It's compellingly watchable despite its main character.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:16 PM (GBKbO)

224 197 TCM's "stars we lost" segment is always le sad.

http://tinyurl.com/bdy7futf
Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 09:08 PM (+RQPJ)

I do appreciate those, there's a lot of familiar faces that I didn't realize were gone. I always liked Michael Gambon a lot, long before he got big with the Harry Potter franchise. and of course Alan Arkin, and so many bit players I remember from the 70's.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 09:16 PM (S6gqv)

225 Well! I'm not TJM, but I thought " The Holdover" was excellent except for a non sequiter, IMO, that his character makes about reading books where he doesn't have to hear any mention of God.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 30, 2023 09:17 PM (hQjlM)

226 The Deer Hunter is an example of a movie that I am glad I saw once but I will never watch it again. Too unrelentingly dark for me. YMMV.
Posted by: JB1000

Saw Deer Once, ever, in the last year.
Wow, one of the most craptackular movies I have ever seen. Will never see it again.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 30, 2023 09:17 PM (cOq4q)

227 Saw "What's Up, Doc?" after...decades...

Well done movie by Peter Bogdanovich in his prime. Plenty of laugh out loud gags and dialog.

Proof of Bogdanovich's greatness as a director?

He made Barbara Streisand both tremendously appealing(!) and she gave an excellent performance full of personality.

Just a lot of fun. Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 30, 2023 09:18 PM (nFnyb)

228 Yeah, Fen, have never gotten the brilliance of Leo, either.
Posted by: Lizzy

First wife was a movie fan. I am not.
When I saw Gilbert Grape I asked her if Leonard D. was a retard. Nah...
I think he's a fine actor.
And that is a fine "small" movie.

Posted by: MkY at December 30, 2023 09:18 PM (cPGH3)

229 I had my first college make out session after watching Rain Man. That's when I realized I didn't have the autism though I be on the spectrum.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie

Like Seinfeld viewing Schindler's List.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter 2024 at December 30, 2023 09:18 PM (FVME7)

230 You go to movies for history lessons? Are you retarded?
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:12 PM (GBKbO)

To ask is to answer...

Posted by: browndog getting really tired of all this shit at December 30, 2023 09:18 PM (TTAGa)

231 150 Best cop movie?

Gonna go with Hot Fuzz on this one.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:18 PM (YIxO9)

232 Midnight Run was robbed of an Oscar. I'm too lazy to see what it was up against but I loved that movie. Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin. Also, one of the finest depictions of a gangster in movie history by the late great Dennis Farina. Yaphet Kotto as an exasperated FBI agent. Another movie with a hell of a cast.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at December 30, 2023 09:19 PM (gcUgZ)

233 226 Saw Deer Once, ever, in the last year.
Wow, one of the most craptackular movies I have ever seen. Will never see it again.
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 30, 2023 09:17 PM (cOq4q)

========

Would it surprise you that the director's next film (Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate) was such a large disaster of a production that it effectively led to the end of the New American Cinema movement?

I'm not a fan of The Deer Hunter. Like Platoon, it's a cartoon of a depiction of Vietnam. I prefer my depictions of Vietnam being phantasmagoric like Apocalypse Now.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:19 PM (GBKbO)

234 >>I actually think Everything Everywhere All at Once was the Academy trying to be populist again.

Huh. IIRC, it was Christian Toto who said (paraphrasing from memory), in response to someone asking why critics always rave about weird films, that since the watch movies every day they get excited about any movie that is wildly different. Felt like a lot of the love that EEAAO was "wow, this storytelling is so different!!" with the added bonus of it being a different culture (so it checks all The Black List's checkboxes, yay!).

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 09:19 PM (izj35)

235 Only Glenda Jackson was Elizabeth!
Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 09:14 PM (oq25h)

There are more than one Elizabeth movies, I’m talking about Elizabeth I.

Elizabeth and Elizabeth -The Golden Age are the two Blanchett movies.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:20 PM (MNhXM)

236 Deer Hunter was a one time for me

And war movies can be anti-war but done well too

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 09:20 PM (fwDg9)

237 233 Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:19 PM (GBKbO)

Apocalypse Now portrayed the psychology of colonial forces well, I do wonder though if they could have pulled it off in a straight heart of darkness treatment rather than HOD in Nam.

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:21 PM (X0I7i)

238 Yo this year is shot,
so worn that it won't hold snot.
It was not so hot.
-a rhyming haiku for 2023

Posted by: Eromero at December 30, 2023 09:21 PM (NxC5+)

239 234 Huh. IIRC, it was Christian Toto who said (paraphrasing from memory), in response to someone asking why critics always rave about weird films, that since the watch movies every day they get excited about any movie that is wildly different. Felt like a lot of the love that EEAAO was "wow, this storytelling is so different!!" with the added bonus of it being a different culture (so it checks all The Black List's checkboxes, yay!).
Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 09:19 PM (izj35)

=======

He's definitely right about that. I think those credits that do that are too jaded for their jobs, to be honest.

If you can't appreciate a well-worn tale well-told because "it's been done before", then you have no business taking money from a newspaper to tell people what they should think about stories.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:21 PM (GBKbO)

240 Um, Oppenheimer "made three hours seem like two"? Did you see the same movie I did?

Now, don't get me wrong, I rather enjoyed Oppenheimer but it could have done with about 30-45 minutes edited out. (Then have the Oppenheimer we saw in theaters released as a director's cut.) Those three hours felt like...three hours.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at December 30, 2023 09:21 PM (8sMut)

241 @220

>>That's surpisingly funny stuff.

Indeed, of all of the films that were nominated that year, I've come to despise, The Banshees of Inisherin.

Once you figure out it an allegory of The Irish Civil War, the performances, though magnificent, cannot overcome surrealness the story.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 09:21 PM (XV/Pl)

242 235 Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:20 PM (MNhXM)

Quite they are cartoon versions of the Elizabethean phenomena, but entertaining nonetheless....

Rush as Walsingham is a guilty pelasure.

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:22 PM (X0I7i)

243 237 233 Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:19 PM (GBKbO)

Apocalypse Now portrayed the psychology of colonial forces well, I do wonder though if they could have pulled it off in a straight heart of darkness treatment rather than HOD in Nam.
Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:21 PM (X0I7i)

========

Fun trivia:

George Lucas was originally hired to direct Apocalypse Now. It would have been a very small production, probably in black and white, and very different.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:22 PM (GBKbO)

244 217 Only Glenda Jackson was Elizabeth!
Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 09:14 PM (oq25h)

Kate did a good job in the 1st film...so....recency bias says Kate.

Posted by: browndog getting really tired of all this shit at December 30, 2023 09:22 PM (TTAGa)

245 Anywho...

The Magnificent Ambersons.

Yay, Orson Welles! It's a great movie where you want to punch every character right in the face. Tim Holt's and Agnes Moorehead's characters needed a serious ass whipping.

I also watched A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim. I liked it. I didn't love it. I thought Dim was fine until the end when starts playing Scrooge like a crazy asshole. He lost me there.

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:22 PM (kogbC)

246 Peter Bogdanovich produced and gave us Caddy Shack.

He’s made his place in movie history just for that.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:23 PM (MNhXM)

247 232 Midnight Run was robbed of an Oscar. I'm too lazy to see what it was up against but I loved that movie. Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin. Also, one of the finest depictions of a gangster in movie history by the late great Dennis Farina. Yaphet Kotto as an exasperated FBI agent. Another movie with a hell of a cast.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at December 30, 2023 09:19 PM (gcUgZ)

I missed that movie when it came out, only caught it years later on cable and loved it! I think it's Charles Grodin's best character and best film performance, by far.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 09:24 PM (S6gqv)

248 243 Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:22 PM (GBKbO)

The evolution of AON is a story in itself.

https://youtu.be/wExK37zBmX8?si=4tdm7t08r9oXW_XH

Heart of Darkness full audio book

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:24 PM (X0I7i)

249 If you like dark movies Mr. jones with stalin as the bad guy! I prefer the battle of algeirs where my side are the good guys. Is paris burning is ok too.

Posted by: raimondo at December 30, 2023 09:24 PM (oi2zM)

250 I like small movies.
I liked the Station Agent.
I liked What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
I like Eating Raoul.
I don't like big budget crap no more.

Posted by: MkY at December 30, 2023 09:24 PM (cPGH3)

251 Retardo say what?
Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:12 PM (X0I7i)

It is just his attempt at slash fiction. He is just very bad at it.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 30, 2023 09:24 PM (D7oie)

252 AN now AON....

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:24 PM (X0I7i)

253 Saw "Blue Eye Samurai".

Surprisingly, good. Great animation. Strong story that rarely but does stray into "super Mary Jane" territory on occasion. However, makes the case for her earning her prowess and strength.

No spoilers, But, while this series avoids the whole white people as the only source of EEEEEEevil in the world. I suspect that the 2nd and third seasons will spoil that delicate balancing act big time.

Anyway, check it out while,le you can still enjoy the series.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 30, 2023 09:25 PM (nFnyb)

254 246 Peter Bogdanovich produced and gave us Caddy Shack.

He’s made his place in movie history just for that.
Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:23 PM (MNhXM)

WUT ???

Posted by: browndog getting really tired of all this shit at December 30, 2023 09:25 PM (TTAGa)

255 They used to show Deer Hunter unedited on Channel 32 here in the Chicago area. I watched it when I was 9. I was accustomed to hearing the word "fuck" with some frequency in my house (see my post about Kramer vs Kramer) but had not seen (spoiler alert) Russian roulette in a film up until that point.

I guess that line about Generation X being given answers to questions they never asked applies here.

Although I have to say Meryl Streep was kind of cute and I've always had a soft spot for Lithuanian girls since then.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:26 PM (YIxO9)

256 249 Posted by: raimondo at December 30, 2023 09:24 PM (oi2zM)

ETL English as a third language retardo....

You watch things like Child 44 cheering for the Soviet Union as a perfect system.

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:26 PM (X0I7i)

257 256 You watch things like Child 44 cheering for the Soviet Union as a perfect system.
Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:26 PM (X0I7i)

=========

There is no crime in the Soviet Union.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:26 PM (GBKbO)

258 Pity the poor movie critic who has to sit through all the googleplex dross. I'd hate life if I had to do a thoughtful and balanced review of "Trolls Band Together" or "Aquaman".

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 09:27 PM (+RQPJ)

259 George Lucas was originally hired to direct Apocalypse Now. It would have been a very small production, probably in black and white, and very different.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:22 PM (GBKbO)

Ewoks.

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:27 PM (BJcH5)

260 Nice work, TJM.

Very nice work, indeed.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 30, 2023 09:27 PM (/RHNq)

261 255 Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:26 PM (YIxO9)

They fucked up and showed us their pinko hearts and we rejected their bullshit young.

We are the most conservative generation for a reason.

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:27 PM (X0I7i)

262 >>Midnight Run was robbed of an Oscar. I'm too lazy to see what it was up against but I loved that movie. Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin. Also, one of the finest depictions of a gangster in movie history by the late great Dennis Farina. Yaphet Kotto as an exasperated FBI agent. Another movie with a hell of a cast.

That is such an amazing movie -- every person it it is fabulous. The first DeNiro movie I saw and thought, "I get it" - every gesture, pause, even intonation (" I knew you had it on you, I didn't know you had it on you.", it's great.

And Dennis Farina - one of those guys who's perfection every dang time, whether playing an ominous gangster or a concerned policeman father (in "Out of Sight" when he asks FBI agent Michael Keaton if he as a windbreaker that says "undercover," too). I can watch him in anything - so funny in "Big Trouble".

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 09:27 PM (izj35)

263 By the way, a very well thought out post. I think of the early 90s as a golden era in film -- Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, Do the Right Thing, Fearless, Falling Down...there was always a reason to go out.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:27 PM (YIxO9)

264 259 Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:27 PM (BJcH5)

I think had he had to do a straight Heart of Darkness treatment his brain would have snapped and probably ended with a Song of the South musical.

Posted by: sven at December 30, 2023 09:28 PM (X0I7i)

265 Yo this year is shot,
so worn that it won't hold snot.
It was not so hot.
-a rhyming haiku for 2023
Posted by: Eromero

I just saw an NBC News report that said that while you dumb bastards may think.otherwise, crime is decreasing in every catagory except auto theft. Then they showed Trump demagoguing on the imaginary crime wave. And you can believe them because they get their figures from the FBI!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter 2024 at December 30, 2023 09:28 PM (FVME7)

266 Peter Bogdanovich produced and gave us Caddy Shack.

He’s made his place in movie history just for that.
Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:23 PM (MNhXM)

WUT ???
Posted by: browndog getting really tired of all this shit at December 30, 2023 09:25 PM (TTAGa)

Hah sorry I confused him with Jon Peters because I had Barbara Streisand on my mind.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:28 PM (MNhXM)

267 I should probably post my animation but I already did that in the Hobby Thread.

I would love a nice 4K release of Amadeus. On disk, please, not streaming.

Streaming is like when you offer a treat to a dog, but you snatch it away at the last moment. That poor doggo's face then should shatter the hardest of hearts.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at December 30, 2023 09:28 PM (CHHv1)

268 A d I am a person who stays for the credits often because I wanted to see where it was filmed. They didn't say that about " The Holdovers" and I wanted to know, since there were some lovely shots of what I assume was actually a school or schools.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 30, 2023 09:29 PM (0z95e)

269 John Hurt was the best Elizabeth I.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 09:29 PM (+RQPJ)

270 267 I would love a nice 4K release of Amadeus. On disk, please, not streaming.

Streaming is like when you offer a treat to a dog, but you snatch it away at the last moment. That poor doggo's face then should shatter the hardest of hearts.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at December 30, 2023 09:28 PM (CHHv1)

=========

Rumors have flown for a few years that Criterion has Amadeus, but it's a WB movie and they don't license out to boutiques much.

So...maybe? Someday?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:29 PM (GBKbO)

271 Madison

I have a conversation starter game in mind for a future movie thread:

Invite people to name just ONE universally acclaimed, immortal masterpiece of world cinema that they just hated, and explain why.

To wit: "Persona," by Ingmar Bergman. An operational definition of "TEDIOUS"-- being trapped in the dreams of a deeply disturbed young woman. An art film with a capital A. I liked his other films, altho I haven't seen all of them.

Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:29 PM (NLIak)

272 Hah sorry I confused him with Jon Peters because I had Barbara Streisand on my mind.
Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:28 PM (MNhXM)

Thank you for that. I was worried for you...

Posted by: browndog getting really tired of all this shit at December 30, 2023 09:30 PM (TTAGa)

273 American Beauty is one of those few movies that genuinely angered me by having wasted my time. What a pile of shit.

Posted by: antisocial justice beatnik at December 30, 2023 09:30 PM (DTX3h)

274 235. I didn’t see those. I may. Blanchett probably did do well in the role.
(Glenda Jackson played Liz 1 also, for the record.)

Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 09:31 PM (oq25h)

275 @273 ... One word: Magnolia. I'll never get that time back.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:31 PM (YIxO9)

276 271 Madison

I have a conversation starter game in mind for a future movie thread:

Invite people to name just ONE universally acclaimed, immortal masterpiece of world cinema that they just hated, and explain why.

To wit: "Persona," by Ingmar Bergman. An operational definition of "TEDIOUS"-- being trapped in the dreams of a deeply disturbed young woman. An art film with a capital A. I liked his other films, altho I haven't seen all of them.

Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:29 PM (NLIak)

=======

I'm full of unpopular movie opinions myself. Writing a piece about them (I think I did once a long while back) ends up feeling like trolling more than anything else.

I'll keep it in my back pocket for a time when I need a post real quick. Thanks!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:31 PM (GBKbO)

277 didn’t see those. I may. Blanchett probably did do well in the role.
(Glenda Jackson played Liz 1 also, for the record.)
Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 09:31 PM (oq25h)

I realized after that you were saying Jackson was the better / only Elizabeth. 😀

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:32 PM (MNhXM)

278 @275

>>One word: Magnolia. I'll never get that time back.

Come on man, Tom Cruise's TJ Mackey character was worth the price of admission.

YOU MUST CONQUER THE C***

Posted by: Thomas Bender at December 30, 2023 09:33 PM (XV/Pl)

279 I had Barbara Streisand on my mind.
Posted by: Drive by

I'm so very sorry for you.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 09:33 PM (Th1r/)

280 I just saw an NBC News report that said that while you dumb bastards may think.otherwise, crime is decreasing in every catagory except auto theft. Then they showed Trump demagoguing on the imaginary crime wave. And you can believe them because they get their figures from the FBI!
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter
I don't see crime decreasing and I keep an eye on crime. But hey, I ain't the eff bee eye.

Posted by: Eromero at December 30, 2023 09:33 PM (NxC5+)

281 269: Heh!

Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 09:34 PM (oq25h)

282 275 @273 ... One word: Magnolia. I'll never get that time back.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:31 PM (YIxO9)

I managed to avoid that one; it definitely impresses me as having the same sort of stench as American Beauty based upon the hype.

Posted by: antisocial justice beatnik at December 30, 2023 09:35 PM (DTX3h)

283 69 I can't wait for the movie thread celebrating the best key grips in Hollywood!
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

Followed or preceded by best hair stylist.
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 08:25 PM (Th1r/)

What, no love for the Best of the Best Boys?

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf, on the tablet at December 30, 2023 09:35 PM (8C7+r)

284 What, no love for the Best of the Best Boys?
Posted by: Iron Mike Golf

After the key grip!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 09:36 PM (Th1r/)

285 "The Night of the Hunter"

I like Robert Mitchum as an actor more and more as I see more of his films. In the past several months I watched "The Sundowners" and "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison," for the first time. Both are captivating. The last one is quite a character study of two totally different people working through a shattering mutual experience during WW2 in the Pacific. The other person is a nun, played by Deborah Kerr. Who also played Mitchum's wife in "The Sundowners."

Posted by: Gref at December 30, 2023 09:36 PM (5fDan)

286 199 I'd like to submit my 20,000 word critique of Ass to this blog. It really mattered whose ass farted, and why the fart came out of this particular ass.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:08 PM (YIxO9)

If you have to fart, fart! You will feel much better for it.

Posted by: Mao at December 30, 2023 09:36 PM (8sMut)

287 I'm with you, TJM. We bring ourselves to the story and spackle in our own "stuff", giving more personal meaning to some movies or just having an almost chemical reaction against others, no matter how "good".

Glad I'm not a professional and I can just say "It stinks!" or "Me like!".

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 09:36 PM (+RQPJ)

288 There Will Be Blood is I want my money back movie.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:36 PM (MNhXM)

289 284 What, no love for the Best of the Best Boys?
Posted by: Iron Mike Golf

After the key grip!
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 09:36 PM (Th1r/)

I thought he was talking about my dog?

Posted by: browndog getting really tired of all this shit at December 30, 2023 09:37 PM (TTAGa)

290 Return To Oz

Very fun family oriented adventure film. Very, very underappreciated. The characters look cool. The tone of the film is a little dark and not overly cheerful. The creature FX for the bad guy at the end were neat. Fairuza Balk was ~~totally molestable~~ a fine fit for the role of Dorothy. I love how she curtsies frequently.

The only edition available is a 2005 DVD release but it looks good enough.

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:37 PM (39Uor)

291 Fen - info on where The Holdovers was filmed: http://tinyurl.com/yncrpnnf

A majority of ‘The Holdovers’ was taped in Greater Boston, a metropolitan area encompassing the eponymous city. First and foremost, two actual schools in the region stood in for the fictional Barton Academy, and they are Groton School at 282 Farmers Row in Groton and St. Mark’s School of Southborough at 25 Marlboro Road in Southborough. The cast and crew members were spotted taping important scenes in different parts of Boston, including in and around Boston City Hall at 1 City Hall Square, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Orpheum Theatre at 1 Hamilton Place, Boston Common at 139 Tremont Street, and Brattle Book Shop at 9 West Street, all in the City of Boston. . .
For the purpose of shooting, the director and his team also traveled to other locations across Massachusetts. For instance, they utilized the campus of another three real schools to depict the fictional Barton Academy — Northfield Mount Hermon on Bolger House, One Lamplighter Way in Gill, Deerfield Academy at 7 Boyden Lane in Deerfield, and Fairhaven High School at 12 Huttleston Avenue in Fairhaven. . .

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 09:37 PM (izj35)

292
Invite people to name just ONE universally acclaimed, immortal masterpiece of world cinema that they just hated, and explain why.

Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:29 PM (NLIak)

Gone with the Wind - and not b/c it's not modern, but b/c I couldn't handle the UNENDING whininess of Scarlett...it went on and on and on.

I watched it after Casablanca and could not believe these 2 movies are in the same "best of" conversation...

Posted by: Nova Local at December 30, 2023 09:37 PM (exHjb)

293 209
Posted by: raimondo at December 30, 2023 09:11 PM (oi2zM)

Alcohol can be a hell of a drug, kids.
The forst step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at December 30, 2023 09:38 PM (8sMut)

294 271 Madison

I have a conversation starter game in mind for a future movie thread:

Invite people to name just ONE universally acclaimed, immortal masterpiece of world cinema that they just hated, and explain why.

To wit: "Persona," by Ingmar Bergman. An operational definition of "TEDIOUS"-- being trapped in the dreams of a deeply disturbed young woman. An art film with a capital A. I liked his other films, altho I haven't seen all of them.

Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:29 PM
I saw an art film once. It was Desert Hearts from 1985. Went to it with an ex-girlfriend who could put her feet behind her head.

Posted by: Eromero at December 30, 2023 09:38 PM (NxC5+)

295 287 I'm with you, TJM. We bring ourselves to the story and spackle in our own "stuff", giving more personal meaning to some movies or just having an almost chemical reaction against others, no matter how "good".

Glad I'm not a professional and I can just say "It stinks!" or "Me like!".
Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 09:36 PM (+RQPJ)

========

We all have our subjective tastes. A critic should have a vocabulary and grammar to explain their tastes to an audience. Successful critics will be able to convince people to see films they didn't think they would be interested in based on those reviews.

I'm just an asshole on the internet who talks about movies too much, though. I should be ignored.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:38 PM (GBKbO)

296 PS - Since Titanic is the best movie ever made, it's about the only best picture that the Oscars has gotten right lately (the wrong LOTR won - the 1st should have won, not the 3rd)...

Posted by: Nova Local at December 30, 2023 09:38 PM (exHjb)

297

I like movies about gladiators and Turkish prisons...

Posted by: Rainmamdo at December 30, 2023 09:39 PM (NES37)

298 Speaking of Kevin Spacey , did anyone else like K-Pax ?

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:39 PM (MNhXM)

299 I saw an art film once. It was Desert Hearts from 1985. Went to it with an ex-girlfriend who could put her feet behind her head.
Posted by: Eromero

Ah, youth!

Posted by: Tonypete at December 30, 2023 09:40 PM (SAX5G)

300 There is no crime in the Soviet Union.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:26 PM (GBKbO)

My word is the law.

Posted by: Mao at December 30, 2023 09:40 PM (8sMut)

301 Speaking of Kevin Spacey , did anyone else like K-Pax ?
Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:39 PM (MNhXM)

I saw it in the theater when it came out.

I recall enjoying it.

I can't remember what it's about.

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:42 PM (kogbC)

302 Nah, TJM, your opinions are often correct (mine

)
and the movie posts are always fun. Thanks!

Posted by: LadyS at December 30, 2023 09:42 PM (oq25h)

303 OK, I'll bite: I really disliked "Mulholland Drive." That was one where I really wanted those hours back -- and I watch a lot of dumb and weird movies when I have insomnia, but that one, even at 4:00am, was a bomb.

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 09:42 PM (izj35)

304 Saw "Paris, Texas" finally cuz one of the kiddos has gotten deeply into movies and saw I had the Criterion Channel and, like myself, had heard about the greatness of "Paris, Texas".

I'm not going to waste too much time on this:

If you see Wim Wenders walking down the street, kick him in the nuts for me.

Dude can frame a scene but...ugh, has no sense of story based on this movie. Maybe I wouldn't have hated it so much if it had been an hour shorter. Truly amateurish writing/plotting. Crap.

Proof of Wim Wenders lack of directing greatness?

He wasted a perfect and plot-consistent opportunity to have Nasstasja Kinsky get nekkid.

Unforgivable!

Posted by: naturalfake at December 30, 2023 09:42 PM (nFnyb)

305 Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 09:37 PM

Thanks; it was kind of you to look that up and post it. I figured it would be on the internet but had not looked it up yet,

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 30, 2023 09:43 PM (0z95e)

306 I can't remember what it's about.
Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:42 PM (kogbC)

He’s in a mental hospital and claims to be an alien from k-pax.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:44 PM (MNhXM)

307 303 OK, I'll bite: I really disliked "Mulholland Drive." That was one where I really wanted those hours back -- and I watch a lot of dumb and weird movies when I have insomnia, but that one, even at 4:00am, was a bomb.
Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 09:42 PM (izj35)

Here's a deeply unpopular opinion:
I didn't, and could not, get into Lord of the Rings. It didn't help that a friend of mine, eager to show it to me, showed the THE longest version of Fellowship of the Ring he could find.

(But then, fantasy was never my thing.)

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at December 30, 2023 09:45 PM (8sMut)

308 There Will Be Blood is I want my money back movie.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:36 PM (MNhXM)

*Fist bump*

I hated that piece of shit.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at December 30, 2023 09:46 PM (0FoWg)

309 Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:29 PM
I saw an art film once. It was Desert Hearts from 1985. Went to it with an ex-girlfriend who could put her feet behind her head.
Posted by: Eromero

Weird way to watch a movie. If I recall the plot of Desert Hearts, how is the ex-girlfriend and her wife now?

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at December 30, 2023 09:46 PM (gcUgZ)

310 Speaking of Kevin Spacey , did anyone else like K-Pax ?
Posted by: Drive by

Weird movie well done. I only wish the ending could be true.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at December 30, 2023 09:47 PM (Th1r/)

311 Proof of Wim Wenders lack of directing greatness?

He wasted a perfect and plot-consistent opportunity to have Nasstasja Kinsky get nekkid.

Unforgivable!
Posted by: naturalfake at December 30, 2023 09:42 PM (nFnyb)

I watched Paris Texas not long ago too. I didn't dislike it as much as you did - but I can't say I liked it. There were so manymissed opportunities and bits left hanging; nothing more frustrating than a movie that is almost good - but isn't.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 09:47 PM (S6gqv)

312 One word: Magnolia. I'll never get that time back.
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:31 PM (YIxO9)

I managed to avoid that one; it definitely impresses me as having the same sort of stench as American Beauty based upon the hype.
Posted by: antisocial justice beatnik
------

'Carnal Knowledge'

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 30, 2023 09:48 PM (XeU6L)

313 Invite people to name just ONE universally acclaimed, immortal masterpiece of world cinema that they just hated, and explain why.

Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:29 PM (NLIak)

The Naked Lunch. You gotta be psychotic yourself to think that's worth watching.

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 09:49 PM (S6gqv)

314 >>> I'm not a fan of The Deer Hunter. Like Platoon, it's a cartoon of a depiction of Vietnam. I prefer my depictions of Vietnam being phantasmagoric like Apocalypse Now.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison,

My thought on Platoon - Meh, would make an OK 'Made for TV' movie. Didn't see it so much as anti-war, just a bunch of disfunctional guys in a war.

Apocalypse Now was put together very well. Obviously complete fiction, but entertaining, and pretty damn good movie overall.

The Deer Hunter - What The Hell was that supposed to be?!

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 30, 2023 09:49 PM (cOq4q)

315 >>Here's a deeply unpopular opinion:
I didn't, and could not, get into Lord of the Rings. It didn't help that a friend of mine, eager to show it to me, showed the THE longest version of Fellowship of the Ring he could find.

Heh. I hadn't read the books, so I was shocked in the movie theater when it ended in a cliffhanger. Like, really - I have to wait? But I did like those films.

I am generally not into mafia movies, so yeah, won't be gushing about Casino, the Sopranos, etc.. About the only one I like is. . . "The Freshman."

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 09:50 PM (izj35)

316 Posted by: naturalfake at December 30, 2023 09:25 PM (nFnyb)

Speaking of anime.

I finished Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S. My lawd, but this series is great. It's such a stupid premise but it makes me laugh. Looked GREAT in hi-def.

Ef: A Tale Of Melodies. Saw the first part, A Tale Of Memories, last year. Very melodramatic love story with some fantastic surrealistic animation. I thought Melodies was a prequel. Well...kinda sorta yes but mostly no. Like Memories it follows two stories, but this time it's one set in the past and one in the present. It's a little confusing at first because it's the same main characters at both points in time, but I got it straight eventually. A LOT darker than Memories. Halfway through it gets pretty fucking sinister and I end up binging it. I love it when horrific things happen to cute anime characters. Still, everything ended...well enough.

Highly recommended.

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:50 PM (EnC2n)

317 I want my money back movie:

Mine is No Country For Old Men.

I still shake my head in wonder that people bought into one broken down old sheriff chasing Chigga! That would've been the greatest nationwide manhunt since John Wilkes Booth.

Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:51 PM (NLIak)

318 The Deer Hunter - What The Hell was that supposed to be?!
Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher

A Chamber of Commerce commercial for Weirton, WV?

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at December 30, 2023 09:51 PM (gcUgZ)

319

I like movies about hedgehogs...

Posted by: Rainmamdo at December 30, 2023 09:51 PM (NES37)

320 There are lots of good Vietnam War movies

Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 09:52 PM (fwDg9)

321 If you’re looking to watch a movie about West Texas, Vengeance is a fun movie,

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:52 PM (MNhXM)

322 There was a chorus of "I want my money back" when I saw the Blair Witch Project.

But the Bear Wit Project was hilarious.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:52 PM (YIxO9)

323 So...

Anyone here fans of A Serbian Film?

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:53 PM (EnC2n)

324 320 There are lots of good Vietnam War movies
Posted by: Skip at December 30, 2023 09:52 PM (fwDg9)

my favorite is "we were soldiers"

Posted by: Tom Servo at December 30, 2023 09:53 PM (S6gqv)

325 322 There was a chorus of "I want my money back" when I saw the Blair Witch Project.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:52 PM (YIxO9)

Oh my, YES! That is the worst movie I've ever paid to see...

Posted by: Nova Local at December 30, 2023 09:54 PM (exHjb)

326 Scarlet O'Hara was even whinier and more irritating in the book than in the movie. My mom loved that movie and was disappointed that I didn't.

Posted by: Lirio100 at December 30, 2023 09:54 PM (I5U35)

327 He’s in a mental hospital and claims to be an alien from k-pax.
Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:44 PM (MNhXM)

Well was he?

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:54 PM (EnC2n)

328 Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:51 PM (NLIak)

That’s up there on my list too.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:54 PM (MNhXM)

329 323 So...

Anyone here fans of A Serbian Film?
Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:53 PM (EnC2n)

==========

Ask Mark Andrew Edwards about it the next time you see him online.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:54 PM (GBKbO)

330 I like movies about hedgehogs...
Posted by: Rainmamdo at December 30, 2023 09:51 PM (NES37)
----

Dinsdale....DINSDALE!!!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at December 30, 2023 09:54 PM (+RQPJ)

331 Anyone here fans of A Serbian Film?

Not enough sex...

Posted by: Rainmamdo at December 30, 2023 09:54 PM (NES37)

332 Yea, Blair Witch Project sucked. Half way through it, I'm rooting for the Witch and then no bloody, gory, payoff at the end. Those dumb brats deserved horrors upon horrors done to them for wasting my time.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at December 30, 2023 09:54 PM (gcUgZ)

333 Weird way to watch a movie. If I recall the plot of Desert Hearts, how is the ex-girlfriend and her wife now?
Posted by: Puddleglum at work
Didn't roll that way, I discovered. She actually married a Trivial Pursuit 'pal' a real Mensa dude.

Posted by: Eromero at December 30, 2023 09:55 PM (NxC5+)

334 He’s in a mental hospital and claims to be an alien from k-pax.
Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:44 PM (MNhXM)

Well was he?
Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:54 PM (EnC2n)

Hah! Of course that’s part of what makes the movie good to me,

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:55 PM (MNhXM)

335 I sat through The Godfather and hatred it. I fell asleep in Godfather II and still haven't seen it. My husband thinks I'm an alien being.

Posted by: Megthered at December 30, 2023 09:56 PM (EN4LN)

336 335 I sat through The Godfather and hatred it. I fell asleep in Godfather II and still haven't seen it. My husband thinks I'm an alien being.
Posted by: Megthered at December 30, 2023 09:56 PM (EN4LN)

=========

I think it's You've Got Mail where Tom Hanks explains to Meg Ryan why The Godfather is a man's movie.

That exchange was not in the original version, The Shop Around the Corner, for inexplicable reasons.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:57 PM (GBKbO)

337 Ask Mark Andrew Edwards about it the next time you see him online.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, walking with hope in America with Frank Capra at December 30, 2023 09:54 PM (GBKbO)

I can't wait to hear what he thinks.

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:57 PM (EnC2n)

338 My husband thinks I'm an alien being.
Posted by: Megthered at December 30, 2023 09:56 PM (EN4LN)

Well are you?

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:58 PM (EnC2n)

339 {322} There was a chorus of "I want my money back" when I saw the Blair Witch Project. ...

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 09:52 PM (YIxO9)

That thing was a complete stinker. Even if you saw it for free, it was a total waste of your time.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 30, 2023 09:58 PM (qPw5n)

340 313 Servo

Excellent choice. What say we take the worst autobio ever written, & see if we can turn it into an equally dreadful movie?

Not sure anybody ever called that one a masterpiece of world cinema, though.

Posted by: mnw at December 30, 2023 09:59 PM (NLIak)

341 >>I sat through The Godfather and hatred it. I fell asleep in Godfather II and still haven't seen it. My husband thinks I'm an alien being.

Yup. Hubby tried to make me understand the brilliance of those movies, but they're not my jam. No hate, just "meh."

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 09:59 PM (izj35)

342 Finally got around to drinking a toast, well actually two, to Captain Hate.

Posted by: Eromero at December 30, 2023 10:00 PM (NxC5+)

343 Hah! Of course that’s part of what makes the movie good to me,
Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:55 PM (MNhXM)

It's just six bucks on Amazon.

Might have to watch it again.

Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 10:00 PM (hR52C)

344 Years ago we used to have $1 Movies on Tuesday. Went to virtuall every movie that came out that year. Only a buck.

The only one we walked out of was some Dudly Moore film.
Never saw one his before then (10) and necr did or will afterwards. That bad.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 30, 2023 10:00 PM (cOq4q)

345 Stop kidding yourselves, everything after Porky's II: The Next Day is shite.

Pure shite.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at December 30, 2023 10:01 PM (J3ryZ)

346 Posted by: naturalfake at December 30, 2023 09:25 PM (nFnyb)

Speaking of anime.

I finished Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S. My lawd, but this series is great. It's such a stupid premise but it makes me laugh. Looked GREAT in hi-def.

Ef: A Tale Of Melodies. Saw the first part, A Tale Of Memories, last year. Very melodramatic love story with some fantastic surrealistic animation. I thought Melodies was a prequel. Well...kinda sorta yes but mostly no. Like Memories it follows two stories, but this time it's one set in the past and one in the present. It's a little confusing at first because it's the same main characters at both points in time, but I got it straight eventually. A LOT darker than Memories. Halfway through it gets pretty fucking sinister and I end up binging it. I love it when horrific things happen to cute anime characters. Still, everything ended...well enough.

Highly recommended.
Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 09:50 PM (EnC2n)

Yeah, Miss K is stupid but fun.

I'll check out the "A Tale of...." movies. They sound interesting.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 30, 2023 10:02 PM (nFnyb)

347 335 I sat through The Godfather and hatred it. I fell asleep in Godfather II and still haven't seen it. My husband thinks I'm an alien being.
Posted by: Megthered at December 30, 2023 09:56 PM (EN4LN)

With the rare exception of Pulp Fiction and Casino, I avoid mob movies. They do nothing for me. I get more mileage out of westerns (and I don't care for those).

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at December 30, 2023 10:02 PM (8sMut)

348 One thing about Gen X -- I was in the Air Force for a time, in fact I discovered this blog in 04/05 on a TDY. I never met anyone who disparaged my service, even Pre 9/11, save for the occasional soldier.

I grew up hearing how many Vietnam vets were treated upon their return to the US, and I simply cannot fathom it. I'm not disputing it, I just couldn't comprehend that Americans would treat people like that. I'm at an age now where it makes me cry for those guys. I think our generation was determined to not let that reoccur -- like
Sven said, we weren't down with Commie agitprop.

To our credit here in Chicago, they staged a Vietnam veterans parade in 1986, the first I had seen in a major city.

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at December 30, 2023 10:03 PM (YIxO9)

349 Dennis Lehane movie?

Yeah, he gets dark. I liked the adaptation of Mystic River a lot. Less enthusiastic about Shutter Island and Gone Baby Gone. But if you want a Lehane movie that does not leave you thinking fondly of pills or razor blades, check out The Drop. Gandolfini, Tom Hardy, and Noomi Rapace are really good in it, the story is grim without being depressing, the dog lives, and the finish believe it or not for Lehane is upbeat. Good stuff.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at December 30, 2023 10:03 PM (a/4+U)

350 After watching Apocalypse Now some 6 or 7 times, I finally got the point of the movie .. be fully invested or don't go to war

Posted by: SMOD at December 30, 2023 10:03 PM (RovqD)

351 NOOD

The ONT is here.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at December 30, 2023 10:03 PM (qPw5n)

352 345 Stop kidding yourselves, everything after Porky's II: The Next Day is shite.

Pure shite.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at December 30, 2023 10:01 PM (J3ryZ)

The Porky's Trilogy

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at December 30, 2023 10:03 PM (8sMut)

353 Hah! Of course that’s part of what makes the movie good to me,
Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 09:55 PM (MNhXM)

It's just six bucks on Amazon.

Might have to watch it again.
Posted by: Robert at December 30, 2023 10:00 PM (hR52C)

It’s $4 on On Demand. I may have to watch again also. It’s been about 5 years since I’ve seen it last.

Posted by: Drive by at December 30, 2023 10:04 PM (MNhXM)

354 >>check out The Drop. Gandolfini, Tom Hardy, and Noomi Rapace are really good in it, the story is grim without being depressing, the dog lives, and the finish believe it or not for Lehane is upbeat. Good stuff.

Interesting -- thanks!

Posted by: Lizzy at December 30, 2023 10:05 PM (izj35)

355 345 Stop kidding yourselves, everything after Porky's II: The Next Day is shite.

Pure shite.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at December 30, 2023 10:01 PM (J3ryZ)

.. I see that Neil Young has stopped by

Posted by: SMOD at December 30, 2023 10:05 PM (RovqD)

356 I am generally not into mafia movies, so yeah, won't be gushing about Casino, the Sopranos, etc.. About the only one I like is. . . "The Freshman."
Posted by: Lizzy at December's 30, 2023 09:50 PM (izj35)

An excellent choice. The Freshman was hilarious. I need to see it again.

Matthew Broderick has some great stories about Brando in that movie. He was definitely on the decline, but could still phone in greatness from time to time.

Posted by: Darrell Harris at December 30, 2023 10:05 PM (AHp3g)

357 Matthew Broderick lost me with Godzilla.

He mailed in the marketing promos

Posted by: SMOD at December 30, 2023 10:07 PM (RovqD)

358 There are lots of good Vietnam War movies
Posted by: Skip
-----------
'84C MoPic'

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 30, 2023 10:08 PM (XeU6L)

359 I was reading Shutter Island in my doctor's office and I made my doctor stop talking until I was finished. The movie was good but didn't deliver like the book. But it is one of my favorite books.

Posted by: Megthered at December 30, 2023 10:08 PM (EN4LN)

360 >>> I grew up hearing how many Vietnam vets were treated upon their return to the US, and I simply cannot fathom it. I'm not disputing it, I just couldn't comprehend that Americans would treat people like that.

An uncle ('Nam vet) and I both joined the local VFW in 1997.
He said when 'Nam was over even the vets at the VFW treated them like shit.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at December 30, 2023 10:08 PM (cOq4q)

361 I grew up hearing how many Vietnam vets were treated upon their return to the US, and I simply cannot fathom it. I'm not disputing it, I just couldn't comprehend that Americans would treat people like that.
--------

I've commented before that I serve meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas at this place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P16zTO_IIMk

Average age of 'Nam Vets is probably 75. It is a damned humbling experience.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 30, 2023 10:13 PM (XeU6L)

362 "RIP Tom Wilkinson. You'll always be Lord Cornwallis to me."

He was wonderful as Mr Fennyman in "Shakespeare in Love", and as Ben Franklin in the "John Adams" mini-series.

Also, nowadays 75 doesn't seem so old any more.

Posted by: Nemo at December 30, 2023 11:18 PM (S6ArX)

363

sorry,very late,
having issues

youtu.be/xKbyWSwd7hk
clip, Clerks 2 LotR

Posted by: zigzag at December 31, 2023 04:41 AM (b7Z+0)

364 Trying to understand the TJM list.....I googled Academy Award best picture 1987 and got his best picture from 1986....is he a year off???

Is the TJM best picture the first entry with the actual in parenthesis behind it?

Posted by: jeff at December 31, 2023 12:27 PM (ZiwLX)

365 Soooooooo, dumb question: Where does 'Ragtime' fit? It was, after all, Jimmy Cagney's last movie, and Randy Newman did an outstanding soundtrack ...

Posted by: Dr_No at December 31, 2023 02:33 PM (ayRl+)

366 If some one wants to be updated with ⅼatest technologies afterwaгd he must be ρay a visit this weƄ page and be up to date all
the time.

Posted by: upholders at January 02, 2024 06:01 AM (ZZNGf)

367 Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon every day.
It will always be exciting to read content from other writers and practice something from
other web sites.

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