Saturday Evening Movie Thread 01/20/2024 [TheJamesMadison]

Everything is Awesome

Remember about a decade ago when everyone was all in on this new animated movie from Warner Brothers, a glorified toy commercial titled The LEGO Movie? Remember how it just came out of nowhere, how it was quickly followed up by two films, a spinoff and then a direct sequel, and then it simply...disappeared? Have you ever wondered why?

Well, I don't have a full answer other than the direct sequel, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part underperformed at the box office leading to Warner Brothers relinquishing control of its license to the LEGO brand in movies (which then was sold to Universal), but it is curious how a movie that just blew up so uncontrollably and out of the blue disappeared so quickly. Well, aside from any business concerns, I've come away with some thoughts about the pair of direct films and their thematic focus (if I felt like I had enough room in these things to tackle it as well, I'd also include The LEGO Batman Movie, but CBD has already chastised me for these posts being too long, so I'll leave it at just the two films, making this post merely too long rather than absurdly long).

You see, I'm a father of young boys, and for about three months, the younger of my two boys was obsessed with these films. I've seen them all, paying full attention, at least two times each, and then I've been in the room while they've been on at least a dozen times for each of them. I've been exposed to them quite a bit, and after the repeated viewings I think I have a clear idea about why, creatively, the first seemed to connect so easily with audiences and the second did not.

Boys will be boys

So, to really dig into the two films and their differences, I have to dig into the films themselves, starting with the first from 2014. I have a meatspace friend who, after watching the film with his young children, came out elated, calling it one of the best films he'd ever seen. I personally consider that hyperbole (I think the movie is pretty good), but I think I get it. You see, if you had to boil the point of the first LEGO commercial in feature film form into a message, it would be this: individuality and creativity are good.

The story follows the generic everyman Emmet who accidentally falls into an adventure that pits him against the evil Lord Business. He allies with a series of Master Builders whom he helps to fight the central antagonist. The secret behind it all is that the LEGO action is just the manifestation of the a young boy who is playing with LEGOs that belong to his father who is the real version of Lord Business. The actual plot is that Lord Business is going to use the Cragle (Crazy Glue) to freeze the world (keep them in place forever to never be played with) on TACOS Tuesday (the S is silent). On the one hand is Lord Business, the corporate manifestation of conformism that started in American cinematic culture with things like The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, who rules a places called Bricksburg. On the other are the Master Builders, most perfectly encapsulated by Unikitty, a being of pure chaos who barely keeps her negative feelings in check while dominating a place called Cloud Cuckoo Land.

The basics of how to read the plot is that the main character has to overcome the strict conformism of Bricksburg by finding a middle ground between that and the undirected creativity of Cloud Cuckoo Land. His double-decker couch is derided as unimaginative by everyone, including the Master Builders, but it helps them escape an attack. He gets the Master Builders to use instructions to build typical delivery vehicles to sneak into Lord Business' tower instead of their crazy ideas that would easily stick out (and failed previously). Emmet essentially represents some kind of ordered liberty, where there's creative impulse but the understanding of how to navigate rules to survive.

Everything's Not Awesome

The second film, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is, essentially, the exact opposite. Where the first film was a celebration of the individual, of creativity, the sequel is a celebration of conformism. It's easy to see if you track the dramatic arc of the main character, Emmet.

In this sequel, the brother and sister of the real world have been forced to play together, but it's not working. Every time the boy tries to build something new, the younger girl invades and destroys what he's built, creating this hellscape called Apocalypsburg, in the middle of which is perpetually upbeat Emmet. He builds a new house for him and Wildstyle which invites the childlike toys, leading to the kidnapping of Wildstyle and Emmet needing to go off on his own quest to save her. He gets the help of Rex, a mysterious and super cool dude with a time-travelling spaceship piloted by velociraptors.

Where things turn weird is with the dual introduction of Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi and the visiting of her planet. The Queen has an air of being evil but ultimately only wants everyone to get along. The planet has all of the heroes (the Master Builders) who have disappeared living in suburban harmony, but glittery and girly, including Superman and the Green Lantern who were antagonistic in the first film and just chummy now. What changed? Well, I can tell you it's not breaking the ground.

The first film's finale began with Wildstyle begging the people of Bricksburg to literally break the ground to make something new in order to fight Lord Business. One of the turning points for Emmet in the second is when he breaks the ground on the queen's planet to escape, and it's an action that builds thematically as the film reaches its own conclusion with the central plan to undermine Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi and the upcoming events of Armomageddeon by breaking the giant cake on which her wedding to Batman will take place (these movies are...manic). It turns out that breaking the cake, the action of breaking something which had a positive connotation in the first film, is now a full bad thing in the sequel.

The problem is that Rex is actually Emmet from the future (Radical Emmet eXtreme) who was abandoned by his friends under a dryer on accident, watched them move on, and then cannibalized a bunch of time machine sets to build his time machine to go back and set things right. You see, Rex is an incel who has no friends so he wants to return to the backwards time when it wasn't run by a woman and the culture wasn't all pink and sparkly, therefore he is a bad guy. He wants to destroy things and not build anything in its place (regaining what was lost is a form of building, but the movie doesn't seem to agree), so therefore breaking things is now bad.

The second film now presents breaking things as purely bad. The reaction to an established order, the reign of Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi, is to accept it. If you don't like it, then you are wrong. If you don't like it, you are the bad guy. You must like it, and you must...conform.

A Baseless Theory

I have done zero research into the background of the making of the two films, so this may be completely wrong. However, I did come up with a theory about what happened between the two films. The first was a relatively inexpensive movie (the estimated budget is between $60 and $65 million), a glorified toy commercial where the creatives (namely the directing pair Phil Lord and Chris Miller) were given a relatively free hand by their producers at Warner Bros. who kept them relatively in check (them out of control is their last movie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), and the pair made a film that was in line with the basic idea of a building block toy: have fun with this toy. It manifested in a way that embraced this middle ground between following sets of instructions and building something new.

That film was a runaway success, making nearly half a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, receiving very good notices from critics and audiences, and Warner Bros. had IP on its hand. Valuable IP that they could exploit. The LEGO brand had its share of straight to video content, but this broke into the mainstream and was one of the most important franchises in popular animation overnight. You can see some of the changes through The LEGO Batman Movie (the reliance on Barbara Gordon and debasement of Batman most prominently), but it largely sidestepped the larger problems that the full sequel fell into so completely.

I suspect that the sudden success brought more attention to the franchise from the more politically and socially minded producers within Warner Bros. leadership who decided that (ugh, I'm going to have to do the Critical Drinker thing) The LEGO Movie needed "THE MESSAGE". That message is essentially that the proper middle ground between boys and girls and boys...becoming girls. The "middle ground" found between the boy and girl at play isn't the boy having some boy-like things in the way they play. It's using his boy-like toys (the superhero toys and such) to play girlie games. Boy-like things, even the boy-like things of construction in the first film, are cast off as not worthwhile in the sequel. I should note that the sequel does have a new writer (Matthew Fogel) and new producer (Jinko Gotoh) who were not attached to the first film.

It was such an odd direction for a sequel to take, though it's not entirely unique. One day, I may write a similar post about Wreck-It Ralph and its sequel.

End of a Franchise

I don't completely attribute the end of the franchise to this change. In fact, I don't think I attribute much at all directly. I would say it's an underlying reality that made the sequel less appealing to people in ways that they couldn't quite put their fingers on. The two films have very similar manic energies, though the music is pretty obviously better in the first ("Everything is Awesome" became a meme while "Catchy Song" did not for a reason). There are very similar surface appeals between them, but the storytelling between the two is extremely different. Aside from the weird thematic whiplash from the first to the second, the second is this back and forth and almost structureless series of events. It even includes a fake ending! This is a movie for the five to ten year old set?

Whatever the reason, though, the film simply did not make that much money, just about $200 million worldwide off of the increased budget of $100 million (Hollywood math says that the studio only got about $120 million of that $200 million and the budget cost doesn't include marketing which was probably almost as expensive as the film's budget) meaning that it probably lost Warner Bros. money. The studio ended up forfeiting the rights to the property which was then picked up by Universal who has done nothing more with it yet than a Jurassic Park streaming show (I suspect they'll hand it off to Illumination at some point who will make something of it eventually, perhaps in a crossover with Mario or something, I dunno).

Did that box office failure come from its twisting of the first film's themes? Themes that won over not only children but their parents as well (remember that one friend gushing about it upon its original release, calling it one of the best movies ever made because it had such a positive message for his children)? I think so. I don't think many people would point it out, merely saying that the sequel just wasn't as good as the original, but with a message at such odds from the first one, I don't think it can be brushed away. There simply wasn't the enthusiasm anymore from the same people with the same kids.

Warner Bros. took an unexpectedly popular IP with brand recognition and intentionally changed it to the opposite of what it had originally meant to people. The people simply lost interest and moved on while Warner Bros. lost money and let the property go.

If that's not a microcosm for some factor of our cultural battles today, I don't know what is.
Movies of Today

Opening in Theaters:

Anyone But You

Movies I Saw This Fortnight:

The Power of the Press (Rating 3/4) Full Review "His storytelling is rougher, but his technical skills are surprisingly adept (there are some tracking shots in here that are really quite fun). It's him in proto-form, and it's nice to see him continue to change and grow as an artist." [Library]

Ladies of Leisure (Rating 3/4) Full Review "Anyway, it's a pretty good little predictable romance. It's well-performed, has some very nice moments, and it shows Capra further reclaiming his technical prowess with some fun tracking shots that he had been doing in the final films of the silent era." [Library]

Dirigible (Rating 3/4) Full Review "The third of Frank Capra's military themed romantic triangles, Dirigible is the one that addresses my issues with character that happened in both of the earlier films, Submarine and Flight, and it ends up working better than either of the previous two." [Library]

Forbidden (Rating 3.5/4) Full Review "This is Capra's best film up to this point, but it also shows that he has some place to go upwards. That he was steadily getting better while working so quickly is one of those wonderful quirks of the studio system." [Archive.org]

American Madness (Rating 4/4) Full Review "This is a triumph of a film, the kind of thing that Capra would become known for, and I think it's deeply underknown. More people should discover it. It's a film brimming with warmth, comedy, humanity, tension, and joy." [Library]

The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "So, I admire the film but don't really connect with it. It's an admirable effort from Capra as he stretches Columbia resources, but it's something of a disappointment after the raging success that was his previous film." [Library]

Lady for a Day (Rating 3/4) Full Review "Capra wove a nice little fairy tale of a beggar woman getting all of her friends together to help her manage a complicated situation that's deeply important to her. It's largely unchallenging and nice, and I enjoyed it as it played out." [Library]

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (Rating 3.5/4) Full Review "It's fun, funny, touching, and it has a great message. That I have these niggling issues with it bothers me. I want to love it more fully. Oh well. It's still really good." [Library]

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 2/10, and it will talk about the directing career of Frank Capra.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:45 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

Posted by: Don Black at January 20, 2024 07:46 PM (geLO8)

2 Evenin'

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at January 20, 2024 07:46 PM (Kdi1r)

3 I don't have anything on this topic, so Ravens 34, Texans 10, final score

see you after the Packers-49ers game

Posted by: Don Black at January 20, 2024 07:47 PM (geLO8)

4 going

Posted by: Ciampino - Daily roundup #17 at January 20, 2024 07:49 PM (qfLjt)

5 I never saw the second LEGO movie, but I did see the LEGO Ninjago movie, which my daughter can probably quote from memory. She loved the original LEGO movie, but I think Ninjago takes a higher place because she loves ninjas.

Posted by: come with pookysgirl if you want to not die at January 20, 2024 07:50 PM (dtlDP)

6 He gets the help of Rex, a mysterious and super cool dude with a time-travelling spaceship piloted by velociraptors.

Where things turn weird is with the dual introduction of Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi and the visiting of her planet.

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

Only in a Lego movie is a time-travelling spaceship piloted by velociraptors not considered weird.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 20, 2024 07:54 PM (5GWDq)

7 Popcorn 🍿 time

Posted by: Skip at January 20, 2024 07:54 PM (fwDg9)

8 TJM, sometime could you do a post on good actors that take really bad make the car payment movies.

Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 07:56 PM (24bZD)

9 I saw the first Lego movie when I was staying at a hotel, it was on for free, and I was blown away; it was funny, it was engaging, and it had heart. Most importantly, it respected anyone who ever liked lego's

I think we could make a long list of sequels that failed because the next set of film makers had no idea what the original was about, and why it succeeded.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 07:57 PM (q3gwH)

10 9 I think we could make a long list of sequels that failed because the next set of film makers had no idea what the original was about, and why it succeeded.
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 07:57 PM (q3gwH)

====

What makes this weird is the fact that the main creatives are still the same.

Perhaps a testament to the power of studio execs.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 07:58 PM (GBKbO)

11 I agree with the opinion expressed in the review of Mr. Deeds Goes To Town: Gary Cooper was not the optimal choice for that role, for precisely the reasons given. It's been a long time since I've seen the film, but I also recall a certain unattractive petulance displayed by Deeds from time to time; perhaps that could be construed as something to do with the stereotypical Vermonter's temperament (although I'm more inclined to see a simple terseness as being more characteristic of the breed). As you say, though, it's still a fun movie.

Posted by: Paco at January 20, 2024 07:58 PM (njExo)

12 The Lego movie was genius level marketing and ass level film making.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 20, 2024 07:59 PM (IG4Id)

13 The Lego Batman in the First Movie was the best Batman in any movie.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 08:00 PM (q3gwH)

14 11 I agree with the opinion expressed in the review of Mr. Deeds Goes To Town: Gary Cooper was not the optimal choice for that role, for precisely the reasons given. It's been a long time since I've seen the film, but I also recall a certain unattractive petulance displayed by Deeds from time to time; perhaps that could be construed as something to do with the stereotypical Vermonter's temperament (although I'm more inclined to see a simple terseness as being more characteristic of the breed). As you say, though, it's still a fun movie.
Posted by: Paco at January 20, 2024 07:58 PM (njExo)

====

The best thing to happen to Deeds was his sequel never materializing and instead becoming Mr. Smith Goes to Washington where he could be played by Jimmy Stewart.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:01 PM (GBKbO)

15 The Rush song Cinderella Man is about Mr. Deeds Goes To Town.

https://youtu.be/wl7JYp8yMu8

Posted by: Mark1971 at January 20, 2024 08:01 PM (xPl2J)

16 Yeah, there's something ironic about a movie about a toy having heart, whereas most other kids movies are essentially just product in this modern era.

We never saw the sequel here, I guess it's just a return to form, really.

My son, who is never going to grow up, still loves movies that were made 20 years ago, and longer, but even when someone buys him the latest for Christmas or whatever they just sit on the shelves, never seen more than once.

I think he's as good a judge of this stuff as anybody.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:02 PM (TXP4M)

17 Legos were for boys with overbearing mothers. My obsession at that age was army men. I had squads, platoons, battalions of army men from around the world.

Fritz with the potato masher was always getting his ass kicked by Sgt. Rock with the Tommy gun.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at January 20, 2024 08:03 PM (J3ryZ)

18 2002 version of Jennifer Lopez was pretty cute.

The woman is watching Enough, and I am absorbing it through osmosis.

Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at January 20, 2024 08:04 PM (ufFY8)

19 I see you reviewed 'Lady for a Day"; I think I like that version better than the fancier, bigger budget remake in 1961.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 08:04 PM (q3gwH)

20 14. The best thing to happen to Deeds was his sequel never materializing and instead becoming Mr. Smith Goes to Washington where he could be played by Jimmy Stewart. - TJM

Amen!

Posted by: Paco at January 20, 2024 08:04 PM (njExo)

21 Why are there not bigger Legos for building, say, a dog house or such? Like brick size.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at January 20, 2024 08:06 PM (Dm8we)

22 The Lego Batman in the First Movie was the best Batman in any movie.
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 08:00 PM (q3gwH)

I never did comics when I was a kid, so I have no love for any of these characters, the Marvel and DC stuff. So a movie either works or it doesn't for me, but the bottom line is, the oversaturation of comic book movies have essentially damaged the brand. Movies that were exciting to watch, after all this time, are impossible to rewatch, because of what's been done to the genre.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:06 PM (TXP4M)

23 I really liked the first Lego movie,and Lego Batman. But I am also very ambivalent about animated movies, so it is unusual that I liked them.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, 3/12 FA at January 20, 2024 08:07 PM (T/Lqj)

24 19 I see you reviewed 'Lady for a Day"; I think I like that version better than the fancier, bigger budget remake in 1961.
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 08:04 PM (q3gwH)

====

I kind of prefer the remake (Pocketful of Miracles). The focus further moves away from the main character of Apple Annie. But Peter Falk is great.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:07 PM (GBKbO)

25 Btw, thanks for mentioning American Madness and Ladies of Leisure. I was not acquainted with either film.

For the record, I'll watch anything with Barbara Stanwyck in it.

Posted by: Paco at January 20, 2024 08:10 PM (njExo)

26 Never seen the Lego movies, but do appreciate the stop motion Lego videos on YouTube

Posted by: Skip at January 20, 2024 08:11 PM (fwDg9)

27 25 Btw, thanks for mentioning American Madness and Ladies of Leisure. I was not acquainted with either film.

For the record, I'll watch anything with Barbara Stanwyck in it.
Posted by: Paco at January 20, 2024 08:10 PM (njExo)

===

Capra and Stanwyck fell in love on their first film, but they were both attached to other people so Capra never made a real move.

He ended up marrying Lou whom he stayed with for about 50 years.

Capra and Stanwyck did end up working together again later on Meet John Doe.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:12 PM (GBKbO)

28 Lady for a Day isn't about Trannies?

Don't think ever saw even the old version

Posted by: Skip at January 20, 2024 08:12 PM (fwDg9)

29 I've never seen any of the Lego movies; they didn't interest me. However, I vaguely remember seeing previews for the first one, and it seemed like a nice, reasonably funny kids' movie. The Batman spinoff, too; don't remember seeing anything for the sequel.

Too bad. Boys can't be given anything these days.

Posted by: Dr. T at January 20, 2024 08:13 PM (g0Y4p)

30 For the record, I'll watch anything with Barbara Stanwyck in it.
Posted by: Paco at January 20, 2024 08:10 PM (njExo)

I am too young to have an opinion about her, but my Dad did not like her. Not sure why. Men can be very subjective about women, just as women can be subjective about men.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, 3/12 FA at January 20, 2024 08:15 PM (T/Lqj)

31 Pay no attention to that scold CBD.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:16 PM (+RQPJ)

32 I never saw Barbara Stanwyck in anything (or if I did, I was unaware of it) until I caught "Christmas in Connecticut" at the theater last month.

I wouldn't put her at the top of my list, but I do see the appeal.

Posted by: Dr. T at January 20, 2024 08:17 PM (g0Y4p)

33 For the record, I'll watch anything with Barbara Stanwyck in it.

Posted by: Paco at January 20, 2024 08:10 PM (njExo)

Ever seen Cattle Queen Of Montana with Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan?

Posted by: Mark1971 at January 20, 2024 08:17 PM (xPl2J)

34 "Why are there not bigger Legos for building, say, a dog house or such? Like brick size.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba"

There are. Not Lego brand. Our kids had some. Good for building a wall to bust thru.

Posted by: fd at January 20, 2024 08:18 PM (vFG9F)

35 32 I never saw Barbara Stanwyck in anything (or if I did, I was unaware of it) until I caught "Christmas in Connecticut" at the theater last month.

I wouldn't put her at the top of my list, but I do see the appeal.
Posted by: Dr. T at January 20, 2024 08:17 PM (g0Y4p)

====

I didn't see the appeal until I saw Ball of Fire. Then I got it.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:18 PM (GBKbO)

36 Go Pack!

Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 08:19 PM (Eeb9P)

37 What's so great about Lego Batman is that on one hand he's a caricature of Batman, but on the other he's the perfect personification in that universe. He'll do something ridiculously impossible, show up out of nowhere, and Emmet will ask "How could he Do that?" and then Batman will stick his head in the window and say in a gravely voice "Because I'm Batman!"

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 08:19 PM (q3gwH)

38 13 The Lego Batman in the First Movie was the best Batman in any movie.
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 08:00 PM (q3gwH)
---

Agree. It was that odd parody that contains the true essence of the original more than some of the "legit" versions.

Best Batman is still The Animated Series.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:19 PM (+RQPJ)

39 "I never saw Barbara Stanwyck in anything (or if I did, I was unaware of it) until I caught "Christmas in Connecticut" at the theater last month.

I wouldn't put her at the top of my list, but I do see the appeal.
Posted by: Dr. T "

Watch her in "The Lady Eve" and " Ball of Fire".

Posted by: Strawberry Quick at January 20, 2024 08:20 PM (oaGWv)

40 My kid was a Lego kid but now she is turning more towards Japanese anime.

Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 08:20 PM (Eeb9P)

41 There are. Not Lego brand. Our kids had some. Good for building a wall to bust thru.
Posted by: fd at January 20, 2024 08:18 PM (vFG9F)
---

We had big styrofoam legoish bricks that were perfect for doing a Kool-Aid Man demolition.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:20 PM (+RQPJ)

42 33 For the record, I'll watch anything with Barbara Stanwyck in it.

Posted by: Paco at January 20, 2024 08:10 PM (njExo)

Ever seen Cattle Queen Of Montana with Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan?
Posted by: Mark1971 at January 20, 2024 08:17 PM (xPl2J)

It's always been kind of fun for me to catch up on old Barbara Stanwyck features, because I grew up knowing her only as the feisty old lady on Big Valley. "Nick, Heath, Jarod, the Barn's on fire!"

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 08:21 PM (q3gwH)

43 The first episode of Blue Eyed Samurai seemed woke to me, but I am glad I stuck with it. A great show.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at January 20, 2024 08:21 PM (lhenN)

44 TJM, sometime could you do a post on good actors that take really bad make the car payment movies.
Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 07:56 PM (24bZD)

I'll do it for him: Ben motherfreaking Kingsley in the Uwe Boll loose stool video game adaptation 'Bloodrayne'. I have no idea why or how in God's green Earth he agreed to do that.

Another Boll movie, In the Name of the King, had Ray Liotta and Jason Statham. Liotta didn't phone it in, he sent it via Telex. Not that I blame him.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:22 PM (H5IZ1)

45 Off Strawberry Quick sock.

Posted by: Tuna at January 20, 2024 08:22 PM (oaGWv)

46 44 TJM, sometime could you do a post on good actors that take really bad make the car payment movies.
Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 07:56 PM (24bZD)

I'll do it for him: Ben motherfreaking Kingsley in the Uwe Boll loose stool video game adaptation 'Bloodrayne'. I have no idea why or how in God's green Earth he agreed to do that.

Another Boll movie, In the Name of the King, had Ray Liotta and Jason Statham. Liotta didn't phone it in, he sent it via Telex. Not that I blame him.
Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:22 PM (H5IZ1)

===

British actors just work. Kingsley will do almost anything, just like Jeremy Irons in Dungeons and Dragons.

Liotta was just never a draw and had to do crap for a long time.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:23 PM (GBKbO)

47 The only Batman movies I'd watched before the LEGO movie were the Nolan ones, so the LEGO Batman was hilarious to me. Trying too hard to be dark and edgy, being a jerk to his girlfriend... yeah, it fit, and it made me laugh. One of my favorite lines from the LEGO movie is from Emmet: "Hey, I can be dark and brooding too- Guys, look! A rainbow!"

Posted by: pookysgirl, doing some business, business, numbers at January 20, 2024 08:23 PM (dtlDP)

48 I just watched a very strange movie on dvd called The Scribbler. Not sure what to think about it except (a) it is not a superhero origin as semi-advertised on the box, and (b) the ending should have been less like another far more famous movie that is not a superhero movie but could be interpreted as one.

Also, it was enjoyably weird, and some familiar faces popped up in unexpected places.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 20, 2024 08:23 PM (EXyHK)

49 As a kid I loved Lego blocks. Our sons did as well.Kids are grown,but we have two very large totes of Lego blocks.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, 3/12 FA at January 20, 2024 08:23 PM (T/Lqj)

50 || Watch her in "The Lady Eve"

I STILL SAY IT'S THE SAME DAME!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:24 PM (k4dou)

51 Evening.

I have The Lego Movie on Blu. It was great! I totally forgot there ever was a sequel. Never saw it.

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 08:25 PM (1Yy3c)

52 Half of the legos I had as a kid were the blue and grey spaceship legos. (This dates me within a few years.) I am basically Benny.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at January 20, 2024 08:25 PM (lhenN)

53 Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:24 PM (k4dou)

===

*waves*

Welcome, fellow movie blogger!

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:26 PM (GBKbO)

54 "Why are there not bigger Legos for building, say, a dog house or such? Like brick size.
Posted by: Biff Pocoroba"

There are. Not Lego brand. Our kids had some. Good for building a wall to bust thru.
Posted by: fd
___________

Yeah, it was a stupid question. I looked on Amazon right after I posted. EverBlock.

Posted by: Biff Pocoroba at January 20, 2024 08:26 PM (Dm8we)

55 44 TJM, sometime could you do a post on good actors that take really bad make the car payment movies.
Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 07:56 PM (24bZD)
----

Michael Caine is their patron saint.

The RLM boys just did a video on a hurlacious Glen Danzig movie that inexplicably had some good actors in it.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:26 PM (+RQPJ)

56 The thing that always bugged me about Ray Liotta was that he had eyelashes like a llama.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, 3/12 FA at January 20, 2024 08:27 PM (T/Lqj)

57 All Hail Eris, so is Donald Sutherland.

Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 08:27 PM (eNb+U)

58 This really belongs on a music thread. The Harp twins plus the Volfgang twins doing Paint It Black. Music is nice and the scenery is Nordic.

https://youtu.be/SjjtDFqsb-A?
si=IxFjNoI-50VhSK9_

Posted by: Notsothoreau at January 20, 2024 08:28 PM (L8hCM)

59 In the first Lego movie, the father was an active presence; it's a story about the kid and his relationship with his Dad's toys. In the second, the father is completely offscreen, and only occasional voice lines are used. It's the Mom and the (younger) sister that are the primary relationships in the second. Even before _The Message_, it would hard to have the same tone or feel.

Posted by: Nathan at January 20, 2024 08:28 PM (HBOL9)

60 Crap. I was barely finished bodging.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 08:28 PM (bo7UB)

61 Something to note as well:

There's a series of "LEGO" games based off various franchises, and includes The Game Of The Movie (both Movie 1 and Movie 2), a clone of those Skylanders collectible statues (LEGO Dimensions), and a Minecraft-ish one called LEGO Worlds.

I have not seen the two LEGO Movies, but I have played the games. They sort of followed the story lines, even having cutscenes that were probably from the movies themselves. The first one was enjoyable, having a storyline of "zero to hero" with a satisfying ending - the bad guy wasn't defeated by building a bigger weapon; it was by talking him down through diplomacy.

The second game was more like the "Minecraft" LEGO Worlds; more open world rather than the story-rich set-pieces that other LEGO games were. And, most notably, the ending clashed with the gameplay. The big bad was kidnapping people (not to mention the Mad Maxing of Emmet's world), but she did it "For a Good Reason", so all is fine! Except it came out of left field.

It wasn't like the girl learned a moral to the story, or how to be better. It was just like they gave into a spoiled, bratty child, glossing over everything done and broken in the past.

Posted by: Another Anon at January 20, 2024 08:28 PM (hwP7U)

62 Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:23 PM (GBKbO)

I'll grant you Liotta, but as far as Kingsley's concerned, come on, there's work and then there's Uwe Boll.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:28 PM (H5IZ1)

63 Ben Had, Southerland always seemed like he'd work for weed.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:29 PM (+RQPJ)

64 59 In the first Lego movie, the father was an active presence; it's a story about the kid and his relationship with his Dad's toys. In the second, the father is completely offscreen, and only occasional voice lines are used. It's the Mom and the (younger) sister that are the primary relationships in the second. Even before _The Message_, it would hard to have the same tone or feel.
Posted by: Nathan at January 20, 2024 08:28 PM (HBOL9

===

The father runs off to play golf, but this is a very good point.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:29 PM (GBKbO)

65 Michael Caine is their patron saint.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:26 PM (+RQPJ)

Forest Whitaker in Battlefield Earth.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:30 PM (H5IZ1)

66 I think some company makes a big Lego like cinder blocks

Posted by: Skip at January 20, 2024 08:30 PM (fwDg9)

67 61
It wasn't like the girl learned a moral to the story, or how to be better. It was just like they gave into a spoiled, bratty child, glossing over everything done and broken in the past.
Posted by: Another Anon at January 20, 2024 08:28 PM (hwP7U

====

Pretty much. Girls should never be chastised. Ever.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:30 PM (GBKbO)

68 Watched My Friend Dahmer the other night on Peacock.

Uuuhhhh...

Very well acted. Didn't seem like there was much of a point to the film. Jeffrey Dahmer was a teenager, too. Yippy.

The comic book it's based on might be more interesting but the movie...eeehhhh!

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 08:30 PM (1Yy3c)

69 50 || Watch her in "The Lady Eve"

I STILL SAY IT'S THE SAME DAME!
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:24 PM (k4dou)

Wait a minute... is there a question about this???

I want to give credit where it's due, Fonda has a tough role here, playing the moron intellectual, but the ship cabin scene... I've never seen a man squirm as much as he did there, and frankly, if I'd been in that cabin with her, I'd have done a lot more than squirm.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:30 PM (mZiDV)

70 "...there's work and then there's Uwe Boll."
----

Ha! This needs to be a movie thread.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:30 PM (+RQPJ)

71 Ben Had, Southerland always seemed like he'd work for weed.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:29 PM (+RQPJ)

Always with the negative vibes, Eris...

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:30 PM (H5IZ1)

72 Half of the legos I had as a kid were the blue and grey spaceship legos. (This dates me within a few years.) I am basically Benny.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at January 20, 2024 08:25 PM (lhenN)

My brothers' LEGO astronaut had the helmet crack! When I first saw Benny, I laughed so hard!

Posted by: pookysgirl is not sure where the SPACESHIP parts wound up at January 20, 2024 08:31 PM (dtlDP)

73 I saw a YT enumerating the greatest villains in westerns. Stanwyck was named for a movie in which she allowed her disabled husband burn to death. I think the movie was Forty Guns.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at January 20, 2024 08:31 PM (FVME7)

74 62 Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:23 PM (GBKbO)

I'll grant you Liotta, but as far as Kingsley's concerned, come on, there's work and then there's Uwe Boll.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:28 PM (H5IZ1)

====

He was also in Thunderbirds. Kingsley will do anything. I imagine his price through the 90s was $20,000 for a couple of weeks of his time.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:31 PM (GBKbO)

75 65 Michael Caine is their patron saint.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:26 PM (+RQPJ)

Forest Whitaker in Battlefield Earth.
Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:30 PM (H5IZ1)

Snakes on a muthaf----- plane!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:31 PM (+RQPJ)

76 Fun Fact: Disney's wide theatrical release of Pixar's Soul has racked up box office receipts of approximately $8 per showing, including popcorn sales.

Which means nobody paid extra for the artificial butter flavoring.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 08:32 PM (X39qi)

77 The RLM boys just did a video on a hurlacious Glen Danzig movie that inexplicably had some good actors in it.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:26 PM (+RQPJ)

Best/worst comment: Julian Sands is acting like he's thinking he needs to go on a hike.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:33 PM (mZiDV)

78 "Soul" might even be a good movie -- I don't know -- but people are wary now.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:34 PM (+RQPJ)

79 I may have this story totally wrong, but when asked about "Jaws: The Revenge," Michael Caine supposedly said, "I have never seen the movie, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is great."

Posted by: Dr. T at January 20, 2024 08:34 PM (g0Y4p)

80 Snakes on a muthaf----- plane!
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:31 PM (+RQPJ)

Antonio Banderas in Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever, IMO one of the worst, stupidest things ever put on film.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:35 PM (H5IZ1)

81 If we're talking about paycheck movies, Nick Cage is always mentioned. But for those who haven't seen Pig, you need to see Pig.

One of the best films I've seen in a long time.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:35 PM (mZiDV)

82 Never saw a Lego movie or cartoon. Never played with Legos. I have stepped on the in the dark, though. Rather step in catbarfs.

Posted by: Eromero at January 20, 2024 08:35 PM (w34GY)

83 76 Fun Fact: Disney's wide theatrical release of Pixar's Soul has racked up box office receipts of approximately $8 per showing, including popcorn sales.

Which means nobody paid extra for the artificial butter flavoring.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 08:32 PM (X39qi)

====

If anyone needed proof that Disney+ was a giant money suck, this first of three desperate attempts to make money off of Disney+ exclusives (another couple of releases are coming) should convince them.

Aside from the official documents saying that they are losing large amounts of money, of course.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:35 PM (GBKbO)

84 Which means nobody paid extra for the artificial butter flavoring.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 08:32 PM (X39qi)

So one person per showing.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:36 PM (H5IZ1)

85 78 "Soul" might even be a good movie -- I don't know -- but people are wary now.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:34 PM (+RQPJ)

----------

Disney has burned its core audience one time too many, and it seems that the pink-haired tackle-box faces don't buy a lot of movie tickets.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 08:36 PM (X39qi)

86 Best/worst comment: Julian Sands is acting like he's thinking he needs to go on a hike.
Posted by: BurtTC

All 3 of the audience got that joke.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at January 20, 2024 08:37 PM (IG4Id)

87 Best/worst comment: Julian Sands is acting like he's thinking he needs to go on a hike.
----

His via dolorosa for doing "Death Rider in the House of Vampires".

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:37 PM (+RQPJ)

88 85 Disney has burned its core audience one time too many, and it seems that the pink-haired tackle-box faces don't buy a lot of movie tickets.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 08:36 PM (X39qi)

====

It was a poorly promoted rerelease of a film the Disney faithful have had ready access to for 2 years.

It was a sop to the creatives at Pixar, but it turned into an embarrassment.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:38 PM (GBKbO)

89 Nitpick
There is no s on LEGO 😜

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 08:38 PM (MGB5H)

90 89 Nitpick
There is no s on LEGO 😜
Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 08:38 PM (MGB5H)

====

Banned!

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:38 PM (GBKbO)

91 It was a poorly promoted rerelease of a film the Disney faithful have had ready access to for 2 years.

----------

It was a naked and somewhat pathetic desperate cash grab.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 08:39 PM (X39qi)

92 Julian Sands played the scientist in Arachnophobia that was responsible for the evil spiders getting to America.

Posted by: Mark1971 at January 20, 2024 08:41 PM (xPl2J)

93 It was a poorly promoted rerelease of a film the Disney faithful have had ready access to for 2 years.

It was a sop to the creatives at Pixar, but it turned into an embarrassment.
Posted by: TJM's phone

I liked soul, I don't think it was accessible for kids as previous Pixar movies. But I did enjoy it. I'm pretty sure it's the last Pixar movie I will say that about.

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 08:41 PM (MGB5H)

94 Fun Fact: Disney's wide theatrical release of Pixar's Soul has racked up box office receipts of approximately $8 per showing, including popcorn sales.

Which means nobody paid extra for the artificial butter flavoring.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 08:32 PM (X39qi)

Well, the movie was filled with artificial corn.

So, it all balanced out.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 20, 2024 08:41 PM (nFnyb)

95 Apparently, the movie was The Violent Men.

"Still at the ranch, Lew and Martha are caught in the fire. Lew asks Martha for his crutches and she throws them into the fire before running from the burning house, leaving him to die. However, Lew survives."

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at January 20, 2024 08:41 PM (FVME7)

96
I saw a YT enumerating the greatest villains in westerns. Stanwyck was named for a movie in which she allowed her disabled husband burn to death. I think the movie was Forty Guns.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here

She abandoned her disabled husband (Edward G. Robinson) in a burning house to die in The Violent Men but he didn't die.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at January 20, 2024 08:42 PM (63Dwl)

97 Oooohhh, Arachnophobia was such a wonderfully goofy movie!

Anything with John Goodman is a winner.

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 08:42 PM (1Yy3c)

98 Best/worst comment: Julian Sands is acting like he's thinking he needs to go on a hike.
----

His via dolorosa for doing "Death Rider in the House of Vampires".
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:37 PM (+RQPJ)

They did say thankfully it wasn't his last film. So there's that.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:42 PM (+sbSO)

99 Julian Sands made the perfect Liszt in "Impromptu".

Daaaaaang, he was in a lot of crapola. Was he one of those Brits who did trash because "his real love was the stage"?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:42 PM (+RQPJ)

100 Snakes on a Plane was the working title, and during production the director haunted the rotten tomatoes forum, which had sub-forums for anything a year or two away from opening.

The so-bad-its-good line "Enough is enough!..." was invented by anonymous snarkers.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at January 20, 2024 08:42 PM (lhenN)

101 93 I liked soul, I don't think it was accessible for kids as previous Pixar movies. But I did enjoy it. I'm pretty sure it's the last Pixar movie I will say that about.
Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 08:41 PM (MGB5H)

===

I still haven't watched it, but it's a Pete Doctor joint so I would expect good things.

Its artistic merit ends up beside the point, though.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:43 PM (GBKbO)

102 It was a naked and somewhat pathetic desperate cash grab.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 08:39 PM (X39qi)

What are the odds they get so desperate they rerelease all the un-PC stuff from way back when?

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:43 PM (H5IZ1)

103 Watched The Departed last night. Next is The Martian. All part of my journey through my movie list via actor. It's fun for me. I have a lot of movies on DVD and Blu ray.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, 3/12 FA at January 20, 2024 08:44 PM (T/Lqj)

104 Its artistic merit ends up beside the point, though.
Posted by: TJM's phone

No argument there.

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 08:44 PM (MGB5H)

105 Snakes on a Plane was the working title, and during production the director haunted the rotten tomatoes forum, which had sub-forums for anything a year or two away from opening.

The so-bad-its-good line "Enough is enough!..." was invented by anonymous snarkers.
Posted by: BourbonChicken at January 20, 2024 08:42 PM (lhenN)

Was RT around back then? That can't be right. That would mean I'm getting *GULP* older!

Snakes On A Plane was fun. I laughed my ass off.

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 08:45 PM (1Yy3c)

106 103 Watched The Departed last night. Next is The Martian. All part of my journey through my movie list via actor. It's fun for me. I have a lot of movies on DVD and Blu ray.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, 3/12 FA at January 20, 2024 08:44 PM (T/Lqj)

====

I watched The Departed a few days ago, too.

Part of my Best Picture run which is coming to an end soon.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:45 PM (GBKbO)

107 I would see a Pixar flick titled "A Naked and Somewhat Desperate Cash Grab" (NC-17)

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:45 PM (+RQPJ)

108 It was a poorly promoted rerelease of a film the Disney faithful have had ready access to for 2 years.

It was a sop to the creatives at Pixar, but it turned into an embarrassment.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:38 PM (GBKbO)

It's like watching a once great basketball star miss an easy layup. Everyone see's that he just don't have it anymore.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 08:45 PM (q3gwH)

109 Watched The Departed last night. Next is The Martian. All part of my journey through my movie list via actor. It's fun for me. I have a lot of movies on DVD and Blu ray.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, 3/12 FA at January 20, 2024 08:44 PM (T/Lqj)

Or you could go through two word titles, with "The" being the first word.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:45 PM (+sbSO)

110 For the Lego Movie, I like to think there was a recording session where Chris Pratt did nothing but screaming.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea, Radioactive Knight at January 20, 2024 08:45 PM (9XOwt)

111 I would see a Pixar flick titled "A Naked and Somewhat Desperate Cash Grab" (NC-17)
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:45 PM (+RQPJ)

Sounds like an ironic French comedy. That title is probably way cooler sounding in French.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:46 PM (H5IZ1)

112 What are the odds they get so desperate they rerelease all the un-PC stuff from way back when?
Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:43 PM (H5IZ1)

At or near zero. Profits are one thing, angering the woke brigade is another.

Posted by: Dr. T at January 20, 2024 08:47 PM (g0Y4p)

113 Snakes On A Plane was fun. I laughed my ass off.
Posted by: Robert

Went opening night and still one of the most fun theater experiences I have ever had

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 08:47 PM (MGB5H)

114 Julian Sands made the perfect Liszt in "Impromptu".

Daaaaaang, he was in a lot of crapola. Was he one of those Brits who did trash because "his real love was the stage"?
Posted by: All Hail Eris

I like Julian Sands in the made for TV series Rose Red. (This one's for you BW.)

Posted by: She Hobbit at January 20, 2024 08:49 PM (ftFVW)

115 Hey, TJM!

Spot on about Lego 2. It thought that the chaos and randomity of the first movie was what made it successful, not the ultimately very positive and constructive through line. (Very boy-ish? Though certainly girls liked it, too.)

--
I STILL SAY IT'S THE SAME DAME!
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:24 PM (k4dou)

Wait a minute... is there a question about this???
---
Yes, there is. In the movie. The movie never has a reveal and Ms. Stanwyck ends as a different character than she began.

---
Actors and Paychecks: Best Ensemble Goes To
...
The Friday The 13th series

Watch "Crystal Lake Memories". From Betsy Palmer on down. Palmer says "They offered me $10K and I needed a car that cost about $10K. I figured no one would ever see it."

That refrain is echoed movie after movie.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:50 PM (k4dou)

116 He was also in Thunderbirds. Kingsley will do anything. I imagine his price through the 90s was $20,000 for a couple of weeks of his time.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:31 PM (GBKbO)

Last night came across a movie that 'sounded' good... had Bruce Willis in it, and it was about fighting the Japanese Air Force in China.

Yeah.... Chi Com propaganda movie that had about 3 minutes of Bruce Willis... it was even in Chinese but dubbed into Engrish...

Talk about doing anything for money.

Posted by: Lando Molari of the Great Centauri Republic at January 20, 2024 08:50 PM (xaFKb)

117 At or near zero. Profits are one thing, angering the woke brigade is another.
Posted by: Dr. T at January 20, 2024 08:47 PM (g0Y4p)

I will never completely understand that mindset.

>wokies complain
>make stuff for wokies, piss off everyone else
>everyone ditches you
>wokies still don't buy
>financial car wreck ensues

At what point to you say, "You don't buy our shit, piss off"?

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:50 PM (H5IZ1)

118 Whoever recommended Once Upon a Time in the West last week, I did pick it up from a Goodwill store online. Also ordered half a dozen other films at the same time, because why not.

I still much prefer physical media. I've donated hundreds of DVDs and Blurays over the years, and now I'm buying back other people's.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:50 PM (+sbSO)

119
I saw a pretty great anime called "Sonny Boy" streaming on Crunchyroll.

It's a very odd anime about a group of high school students who drift with their school into another universe. Some of them gain oddball superpowers, some of them don't. Some can drift into other universes, some are stuck where they are.

The whole thing plays out more like one of those "slice of life" animes than a bunch of teens in crisis mode. Each episode feature one or more absurd occurrences some make or will make sense (maybe in a later episode), some don't (they just are) and you the viewer are mostly left to figure things out for yourself.

Weirdly, it winds up being kind of profound(well, for an anime) and leaves you smiling.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 20, 2024 08:50 PM (nFnyb)

120 Posted by: Lando Molari of the Great Centauri Republic at January 20, 2024 08:50 PM (xaFKb)

Imagine an actually good movie about the Flying Tigers...

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:51 PM (H5IZ1)

121 113 Snakes On A Plane was fun. I laughed my ass off.
Posted by: Robert

Went opening night and still one of the most fun theater experiences I have ever had
Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 08:47 PM (MGB5H)

1980. South West side of Chicago (near G. Lakes Naval Sta)... Rocky Horror Picture Show... they had a REAL Motorcycle running the aisles in the theater for the Meatloaf song.

Posted by: Romeo13 at January 20, 2024 08:52 PM (xaFKb)

122 115 Hey, TJM!

Spot on about Lego 2. It thought that the chaos and randomity of the first movie was what made it successful, not the ultimately very positive and constructive through line. (Very boy-ish? Though certainly girls liked it, too.)
.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:50 PM (k4dou)

====

My only counter is that the second has the same energy, and it was met with a whimper. Must have been something else, huh?!

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:52 PM (GBKbO)

123 If you like MMA and a rocky type story and family drama, I just watched a 2011 movie for ya.

Warrior with Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton.

Can’t believe it took me almost 13 years to watch it.

Posted by: Titanium White at January 20, 2024 08:52 PM (MNhXM)

124 Wait a minute... is there a question about this???
---
Yes, there is. In the movie. The movie never has a reveal and Ms. Stanwyck ends as a different character than she began.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:50 PM (k4dou)

Oh, I'm certain it's her. If I recall.... sorry, spoiler for those who've not seen it... you should, when she finally nabs him, there's a twinkle in her eye that should say it all.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:53 PM (+sbSO)

125 "Une ponction d'argent nue et quelque peu désespérée"

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:53 PM (+RQPJ)

126 Is Brian’s Song the only good sports movie?

Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 08:53 PM (Eeb9P)

127 Weirdly, it winds up being kind of profound(well, for an anime) and leaves you smiling.
---

Many animé are profound, often at unexpected moments.

My kids and I are sitting in the theater watching "Your Name" which presents itself in the beginning as just a goofy kind of "Freaky Friday" boy-girl-body-switch, and then does this 2nd act switcheroo that knocks you for a loop.

The tone completely shifts and for some reason, the Japanese do that very, very well, where when Americans do it it just tends to piss everyone off.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:54 PM (k4dou)

128 Golfer Hailey Davidson Wins Women’s Tournament in Florida; Increases Chances to Move onto LPGA Qualifier

Posted by: rhennigantx at January 20, 2024 08:54 PM (lwOKI)

129
Julian Sands best movie?

"Warlock"

The movie itself crappy low budget horror, but, man, he made it fun. Excellent scenery chewing in just the right amount.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 20, 2024 08:55 PM (nFnyb)

130 "Une ponction d'argent nue et quelque peu désespérée"
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:53 PM (+RQPJ)

If you didn't say that while holding a cigarette and a gaze of withering contempt, I'm going to be very disappointed

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:55 PM (H5IZ1)

131 118 Whoever recommended Once Upon a Time in the West last week, I did pick it up from a Goodwill store online. Also ordered half a dozen other films at the same time, because why not.

I still much prefer physical media. I've donated hundreds of DVDs and Blurays over the years, and now I'm buying back other people's.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:50 PM (+sbSO)

====

I wrote a thing a few years ago bemoaning the move towards streaming, and I remember the reaction being somewhat mixed

If I were to repost it today, it would be much more positively received.

Physical media is King. The latest thing is that the latest Mission Impossible movie is getting renamed.the Part One is getting cut off the title. The physical media will retain it, but the streaming versions will get changed. Small and not that important, but an example for how studios can just change things.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 08:55 PM (GBKbO)

132 Rotten Tomatoes forum submitted entirely to the left-wing mind-virus before it was closed down (unrelated). Worse than the worst of reddit.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at January 20, 2024 08:55 PM (lhenN)

133 had Bruce Willis in it, and it was about fighting the Japanese Air Force in China.

I think I might have seen that this morning at Big Lots in the $0.75 pile. (Where I got The Scribbler as well as Pawn Sacrifice and All the Money in the World. I expect the latter to be really bad but I couldn’t resist Ridley Scott and Captain von Trapp.)

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 20, 2024 08:55 PM (EXyHK)

134 Jamaica, The Replacements

Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 08:55 PM (eNb+U)

135 Is Brian’s Song the only good sports movie?
Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 08:53 PM (Eeb9P)

Do you count auto racing as a sport?

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 08:56 PM (H5IZ1)

136 Is Brian’s Song the only good sports movie?
Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 08:53 PM (Eeb9P)

Major League.
The Replacements.
Rudy.
The Sandlot.
I, Tonya.

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 08:56 PM (1Yy3c)

137 Julian Sands best movie?

"Warlock"

The movie itself crappy low budget horror, but, man, he made it fun. Excellent scenery chewing in just the right amount.

Posted by: naturalfake

Agree all around. Warlock is one of my favorite bad horror movies. And I like a lot of bad horror movies.

Posted by: She Hobbit at January 20, 2024 08:56 PM (ftFVW)

138 My only counter is that the second has the same energy, and it was met with a whimper. Must have been something else, huh?!
---

My counter-counter: It's not the same energy at all, it's just a simulacrum of the energy. Which fits in with the whole wokie thing. It's like saying "Rise of Skywalker" has the same energy as "Star Wars". I mean, there's light saber battles and things blowing up and major character death, etc.

I remember seeing it myself and going "huh, that didn't work at all and now I'm exhausted". I think it's easy to underestimate how much the Will Ferrell role ties the movie together, and you can't just slap in Maya Rudolph because he's too expensive and boys are icky anyway.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:57 PM (k4dou)

139 Brian’s Song the only good sports movie?
Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 08:53 PM (Eeb9P

Invincible

Posted by: Titanium White at January 20, 2024 08:57 PM (MNhXM)

140 … the only good sports movie?

The Replacements.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 20, 2024 08:57 PM (EXyHK)

141 Watched a very odd movie the other night, 'The Outrage'.

Wiki:
"The Outrage is a 1964 American Western film directed by Martin Ritt and starring Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Edward G. Robinson and William Shatner.[3] It is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1950 Japanese film Rashomon, based on stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa."

My first thought was that it was an Ingmar Bergman wannabe. B&W, extended close-ups, odd soliloquies. Quite a cast.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 20, 2024 08:57 PM (XeU6L)

142 Horror can handle excess; in fact, "bad" just makes it that much more delicious.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 08:58 PM (+RQPJ)

143 126 Is Brian’s Song the only good sports movie?
Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 08:53 PM (Eeb9P)

/Looks on in horror...

Replacements. Minor League. SemiTough. Miracle. Mystery Alaska. Invincible. Tin Cup.

Shall I continue?

Posted by: Romeo13 at January 20, 2024 08:58 PM (xaFKb)

144
My first thought was that it was an Ingmar Bergman wannabe. B&W, extended close-ups, odd soliloquies. Quite a cast.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc.
-----

Angst...did I mention angst?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 20, 2024 08:58 PM (XeU6L)

145 Ben Had, I knew someone would beat me to it.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at January 20, 2024 08:58 PM (EXyHK)

146 I finally saw Nefarious on Prime. I was surprised how good it is. And upsetting.

Also watched the original Death Wish on Netflix. The violence and hooligans seem quaint.

Posted by: Blutarski at January 20, 2024 08:58 PM (Fwuhb)

147 Many animé are profound, often at unexpected moments.

My kids and I are sitting in the theater watching "Your Name" which presents itself in the beginning as just a goofy kind of "Freaky Friday" boy-girl-body-switch, and then does this 2nd act switcheroo that knocks you for a loop.

The tone completely shifts and for some reason, the Japanese do that very, very well, where when Americans do it it just tends to piss everyone off.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:54 PM (k4dou)

The Your Bame director is quite excellent. I believe he directed last year's Suzume which was quite fun.

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 08:59 PM (1Yy3c)

148 Oh, I guess not. I was going to propose The Sting for horse racing, Apocalypse Now for surfing and Jaws for fishing and Caddyshack for hunting.
But, maybe you guys are right.

Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 09:00 PM (Eeb9P)

149 126 Is Brian’s Song the only good sports movie?
Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 08:53 PM (Eeb9P)

-----------

Slap Shot

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:00 PM (X39qi)

150 148 Oh, I guess not. I was going to propose The Sting for horse racing, Apocalypse Now for surfing and Jaws for fishing and Caddyshack for hunting.
But, maybe you guys are right.
Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 09:00 PM (Eeb9P)

===

And then there's Moneyball for the statistics.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:01 PM (GBKbO)

151 Slap Shot is overrated. Prove me wrong.

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:01 PM (1Yy3c)

152 She abandoned her disabled husband (Edward G. Robinson) in a burning house to die in The Violent Men but he didn't die.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at January 20, 2024 08:42 PM (63Dwl)

She thought his name was Bernie !

Posted by: JT at January 20, 2024 09:01 PM (T4tVD)

153 Don't sleep on "Goon", one of the most quotable movies ever.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:01 PM (+RQPJ)

154 Rush and Ford vs. Ferrari for auto racing.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:01 PM (H5IZ1)

155 Oh, I'm certain it's her. If I recall.... sorry, spoiler for those who've not seen it... you should, when she finally nabs him, there's a twinkle in her eye that should say it all.
---

It's positively her, that's the joke!

She's pretending to be someone else to nab him because he couldn't possibly marry a con-woman, and she has revenge in her heart, but in the end, you know she's just happy they're together.

Screwball comedy!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:01 PM (k4dou)

156 Jamaica, Seabiscuit for horse racing.

Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 09:02 PM (eNb+U)

157 Also watched the original Death Wish on Netflix. The violence and hooligans seem quaint.
Posted by: Blutarski at January 20, 2024 08:58 PM (Fwuhb)

1985 I was going to a Navy School in San Diego... and did not have any leave saved up.... so... Thanksgiving a Friend of mine (who did get leave) let us use his apartment to do a Thanksgiving dinner for me and 4 other guys stuck there.

Turkey... Ham... all the fixings... a small fire... and a Death Wish Marathon on Video... I think we watched like 5 of them...

Posted by: Romeo13 at January 20, 2024 09:02 PM (xaFKb)

158 Warrior with Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton.
Can’t believe it took me almost 13 years to watch it.
Posted by: Titanium White at January 20, 2024 08:52 PM (MNhXM)

Tom Hardy is good in everything he is in.

Check out "Legend". He plays the twin brothers The Krays.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at January 20, 2024 09:03 PM (R/m4+)

159 moviegique, did you check out The Student Prince of Old Heidelberg yet?

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:03 PM (GBKbO)

160 Raging Bull is a sports movie. Of a sort.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:03 PM (H5IZ1)

161 Hiya James Monroe !

Posted by: JT at January 20, 2024 09:03 PM (T4tVD)

162 TJM, yes on "Moneyball"

Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 09:04 PM (eNb+U)

163 The Your Bame director is quite excellent. I believe he directed last year's Suzume which was quite fun.
---

He did. I just read somewhere that's getting a real release shortly.

He also did "Weathering With You". A very nice, light touch. Feels like he'd be at home at Studio Ghibli.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:04 PM (k4dou)

164 My favorite baseball movie is 61* about Mantle and Maris.

Posted by: Mark1971 at January 20, 2024 09:04 PM (xPl2J)

165 Physical media is King. The latest thing is that the latest Mission Impossible movie is getting renamed.the Part One is getting cut off the title. The physical media will retain it, but the streaming versions will get changed. Small and not that important, but an example for how studios can just change things.
Posted by: TJM's phone

HAN SHOT FIRST

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:04 PM (MGB5H)

166 160 Raging Bull is a sports movie. Of a sort.
Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:03 PM (H5IZ1)

====

It is a sports movie like The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a fencing film!

(deep cut cinematic influences reference)

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:05 PM (GBKbO)

167 It's worth mentioning that A Knight's Tale is a sports movie, just set in medieval times with a Queen soundtrack.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:05 PM (H5IZ1)

168 161 Hiya James Monroe !
Posted by: JT at January 20, 2024 09:03 PM (T4tVD)

===

*waves enthusiatically*

My only friend!

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:05 PM (GBKbO)

169 I guess my favorite baseball movie is The Natural based on how many times I’ve watched it.

Posted by: Titanium White at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (MNhXM)

170 || The Student Prince of Old Heidelberg

No, this business of writing and (not) selling books really eats up my day. I'm lucky to get out to see what's in theaters. (I do have the blu ray, just sitting there in a pile, but I don't have blu ray player, which complicates things.)

(Which, by the way, if you haven't bought my first book, I now have TWO books you can not buy.)

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (k4dou)

171 It is a sports movie like The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp is a fencing film!

(deep cut cinematic influences reference)
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:05 PM (GBKbO)

ahhh.... Fencing movies.... 'By the Sword'... F. Murray Abraham... can't seem to find it anymore, used to have it on Tape.

Posted by: Romeo13 at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (xaFKb)

172 Now here's a question for the Horde.

Fandango.

Anyone else see this movie? Came out in '85, stars Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson, directed by Kevin Reynolds. Guy does a parachute jump from a plane but instead of a parachute the pack is full of the pilot's dirty laundry.

Am I the only person on Earf who has seen this?

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (1Yy3c)

173 Vanya, Good one. Have watched it many times and always enjoy it.

Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 09:07 PM (eNb+U)

174 North Dallas Forty

Posted by: davidt at January 20, 2024 09:07 PM (SYTee)

175 ahhh.... Fencing movies.... 'By the Sword'... F. Murray Abraham... can't seem to find it anymore, used to have it on Tape.
Posted by: Romeo13 at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (xaFKb)

That reminds me, I need to watch The Duelists. Seen clips but never the whole thing.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:07 PM (H5IZ1)

176 170 || The Student Prince of Old Heidelberg

No, this business of writing and (not) selling books really eats up my day. I'm lucky to get out to see what's in theaters. (I do have the blu ray, just sitting there in a pile, but I don't have blu ray player, which complicates things.)

(Which, by the way, if you haven't bought my first book, I now have TWO books you can not buy.)
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (k4dou)

====

I have four plus another in March! (Plus some short story collections)

I'll buy yours, though.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:08 PM (GBKbO)

177 ahhh.... Fencing movies.... 'By the Sword'... F. Murray Abraham... can't seem to find it anymore, used to have it on Tape.
Posted by: Romeo13

F Murray Abraham removed off the otherwise great show mythic quest cause of unsubstantiated metoo bs.

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:08 PM (MGB5H)

178 My only counter is that the second has the same energy, and it was met with a whimper. Must have been something else, huh?!
---

My counter-counter: It's not the same energy at all, it's just a simulacrum of the energy. Which fits in with the whole wokie thing. It's like saying "Rise of Skywalker" has the same energy as "Star Wars". I mean, there's light saber battles and things blowing up and major character death, etc.

I remember seeing it myself and going "huh, that didn't work at all and now I'm exhausted". I think it's easy to underestimate how much the Will Ferrell role ties the movie together, and you can't just slap in Maya Rudolph because he's too expensive and boys are icky anyway.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 08:57 PM (k4dou)

I think it's kind of simple.

Boys (and men) like smashing and breaking stuff and to a certain degree, because they also like-

making or building something new and better.

The first LEGO plugs straight into the male brain and does it in a fun way.

The 2nd I barely remember. It was a bit like one of those awful organized play group things where "you were going to have fun" in the proper and approved manner.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 20, 2024 09:08 PM (nFnyb)

179 Rollerball

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:08 PM (X39qi)

180 136 Is Brian’s Song the only good sports movie?
Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 08:53 PM (Eeb9P)

Major League.
The Replacements.
Rudy.
The Sandlot.
I, Tonya.
Posted by: Robert

Ford vs. Ferrari
Rush (2013)
Hoosiers
Grand Prix
LeMans

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at January 20, 2024 09:09 PM (Kdi1r)

181 It's worth mentioning that A Knight's Tale is a sports movie, just set in medieval times with a Queen soundtrack.
Posted by: Vanya

Not just Queen. Can't remember everything else, but I know Bowie's Golden Years plays during the banquet dance scene.

Posted by: She Hobbit at January 20, 2024 09:09 PM (ftFVW)

182 175 ahhh.... Fencing movies.... 'By the Sword'... F. Murray Abraham... can't seem to find it anymore, used to have it on Tape.
Posted by: Romeo13 at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (xaFKb)

That reminds me, I need to watch The Duelists. Seen clips but never the whole thing.
Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:07 PM (H5IZ1)

====

It's quite good, especially when you realize the director had made no more than commercials up to that point.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:09 PM (GBKbO)

183 Bull Durham

Posted by: davidt at January 20, 2024 09:09 PM (SYTee)

184 Jamaica no way. There are lots of good sports movies

Posted by: Skip at January 20, 2024 09:09 PM (fwDg9)

185 Am I the only person on Earf who has seen this?
Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (1Yy3c)

I suspect there's more than that because that'd be a pretty short movie. About three minutes, in fact.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (H5IZ1)

186 179 Rollerball
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:08 PM (X39qi)

Original, not remake.

Posted by: Romeo13 at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (xaFKb)

187 I'm almost embarrassed to mention "Invictus"

Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (eNb+U)

188 Is Brian’s Song the only good sports movie?
Posted by: Jamaica

Slapshot
Rollerball

Posted by: Tonypete at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (qoGsy)

189 179 Rollerball
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:08 PM (X39qi)

=====

*regards Cicero suspiciously *

Which one?

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (GBKbO)

190 "Dune" part two coming out in March. Looking forward to that.

I'll try to catch "Poor Things" this week. It looks bonkers.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (+RQPJ)

191 It's quite good, especially when you realize the director had made no more than commercials up to that point.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:09 PM (GBKbO)

-----------

So a Master then.

Posted by: Sharmeen Obeid-Chinoy at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (X39qi)

192
Slap Shot
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:00 PM (X39qi)

I love Slap Shot, and Major League with Charlie Sheen is a baseball version of the same themes.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (q3gwH)

193 My favorite sword fight was the end of Rob Roy.

Posted by: Titanium White at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (MNhXM)

194 It's worth mentioning that A Knight's Tale is a sports movie, just set in medieval times with a Queen soundtrack.
Posted by: Vanya

Shannon Sossamon...

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (MGB5H)

195 There was a remake of "Rollerball"?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (+RQPJ)

196 I'vw been drinking - ignore me.

Posted by: Tonypete at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (qoGsy)

197 Caddyshack (sort of a sports movie)

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (Kdi1r)

198 I suspect there's more than that because that'd be a pretty short movie. About three minutes, in fact.
Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (H5IZ1)

A lot more! And it's really good!!!!

EXCESSIVE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (1Yy3c)

199 190 "Dune" part two coming out in March. Looking forward to that.

I'll try to catch "Poor Things" this week. It looks bonkers.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (+RQPJ)

====

Early box office tracking is $100 million for the opening weekend.

I think we're gonna get Dune Messiah (though it has technically been greenest already).

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (GBKbO)

200 Which one?
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (GBKbO)

-----------

Is there more than one Mona Lisa?

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:12 PM (X39qi)

201 Kansas City Bomber

Posted by: davidt at January 20, 2024 09:12 PM (SYTee)

202 If we're talking about paycheck movies, Nick Cage is always mentioned. But for those who haven't seen Pig, you need to see Pig.

One of the best films I've seen in a long time.
Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:35 PM (mZiDV)

This is the Thomas Flight review of Pig: How Pig Deconstructs John Wick

https://youtu.be/d95FVToFf8g?si=uJQ8SraUmGDkIrLt

Posted by: Kindltot at January 20, 2024 09:12 PM (D7oie)

203 Moneyball is math. I saw that with my Jamaican GF. She went for Pitt. I went for Poonanny.
The Natural is ok, I have seen a few times, but no team important to me won, so, meh.

Posted by: Jamaica at January 20, 2024 09:12 PM (Eeb9P)

204 Titanium, I watched that yesterday. Love it.

Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 09:12 PM (eNb+U)

205 Miracle

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at January 20, 2024 09:12 PM (Kdi1r)

206 I have four plus another in March! (Plus some short story collections)

I'll buy yours, though.
---

Well, thanks, and no pressure. I'm just bitching about not selling enough because that seems to be part of the "struggling author" persona.

Also if you're like me (and I know I am) you get more from pages being read via Kindle Unlimited. Then it doesn't cost anything.

I'm curious about the short-stories, though. I've heard those don't sell.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:12 PM (k4dou)

207 I'vw been drinking - ignore me.
Posted by: Tonypete at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (qoGsy)

Whatcha been drinkin'?

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:12 PM (1Yy3c)

208 195 There was a remake of "Rollerball"?
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (+RQPJ)

===/

Made by the same man who made Predator, Die Hard, and The Hunt for Red October.

And it's one of the worst pieces of shit I've ever seen.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:13 PM (GBKbO)

209 Hope they didn’t girl power up the Dune part 2 movie too much.

Posted by: Titanium White at January 20, 2024 09:13 PM (MNhXM)

210 Shannon Sossamon...
Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (MGB5H)

Also her handmaiden and the blacksmith girl. The ladies got Heath Ledger, the guy who was in Firefly, the guy who was in Master and Commander and the guy who was in Rome, and we got those three.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:13 PM (H5IZ1)

211 I finally saw Nefarious on Prime. I was surprised how good it is. And upsetting.

Yeah, I enjoyed "Nefarious" as well.

I was surprised to see the guy from "Boondocks Saints" playing the criminal, but, hey, he was excellent.

The only downside?

I don't think dragging Glen Beck in there at the end was the big win the producers thought it was.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 20, 2024 09:13 PM (nFnyb)

212 I think we're gonna get Dune Messiah (though it has technically been greenest already).
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (GBKbO)
----

Greenlit?

Is Messiah where he morphs into a giant worm?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:13 PM (+RQPJ)

213 Dune" part two coming out in March. Looking forward to that.

I'll try to catch "Poor Things" this week. It looks bonkers.
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:10 PM (+RQPJ)

====

Early box office tracking is $100 million for the opening weekend.

I think we're gonna get Dune Messiah (though it has technically been greenest already).
Posted by: TJM's phone at

Can not freaking wait. I'm still mad I couldn't see it in November. Denis said he has the script for messiah basically done.

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:14 PM (MGB5H)

214 179 Rollerball
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:08 PM (X39qi)

As someone who did competitive Historic fencing for many years? I'd have to say the Three and Four Musketeers... the ones with Michael York.

I actually got to meet the guy who did the fight choreography for those films...

Posted by: Romeo13 at January 20, 2024 09:14 PM (xaFKb)

215 There was a remake of "Rollerball"?
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:11 PM (+RQPJ)

===/

Made by the same man who made Predator, Die Hard, and The Hunt for Red October.

And it's one of the worst pieces of shit I've ever seen.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:13 PM (GBKbO)

I agree. I was awful.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 20, 2024 09:14 PM (nFnyb)

216 James caan called billy d the N word in Brian’s Song. To motivate him.

Posted by: Blutarski at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (Fwuhb)

217 206 Well, thanks, and no pressure. I'm just bitching about not selling enough because that seems to be part of the "struggling author" persona.

Also if you're like me (and I know I am) you get more from pages being read via Kindle Unlimited. Then it doesn't cost anything.

I'm curious about the short-stories, though. I've heard those don't sell.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:12 PM (k4dou)

===

Happy to help!

I just write because I enjoy it. Not selling won't stop me. Hasn't yet.

The short stories did not sell, but I thought it would help introduce me to readership. Meh. Probably didn't work.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (GBKbO)

218 172 Now here's a question for the Horde.

Fandango.

Anyone else see this movie? Came out in '85, stars Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson, directed by Kevin Reynolds. Guy does a parachute jump from a plane but instead of a parachute the pack is full of the pilot's dirty laundry.

Am I the only person on Earf who has seen this?

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (1Yy3c)

No, you're not the only one. A decent road trip adventure movie, with several young future stars.

Posted by: BillyD at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (F6Xpw)

219 already).
Posted by: TJM's phone at

Can not freaking wait. I'm still mad I couldn't see it in November. Denis said he has the script for messiah basically done.
Posted by: BruceWayne

Also hoping for a imax release of part 1. Another amazing theater experience.

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (MGB5H)

220 Am I the only person on Earf who has seen this?
Posted by: Robert

I feel that way about Triumph of Love with Ben Kingsley and Mira Sorvino. Nobody seems to know it exists, but I have a DVD, so it must exist.

Posted by: She Hobbit at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (ftFVW)

221 Hard Times (Charles Bronson)

It's a great movie. I recommend it.

James Coeburn, Jill Ireland, Strother Martin also.

It's a movie with boxing in it. Not sure I'd call it a sports movie though.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (Kdi1r)

222 Oh, as far as Nic Cage goes, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" has a great riff on him doing anything for a buck.

He's just buying every wacky thing offered to him. To the point that he has to take this job in this remote location for his biggest fan's birthday party. And the fan has this life-size Nic Cage statue--which Nic Cage then offers to buy. Heh.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (k4dou)

223 Fandango.

Anyone else see this movie? Came out in '85, stars Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson, directed by Kevin Reynolds. Guy does a parachute jump from a plane but instead of a parachute the pack is full of the pilot's dirty laundry.

Am I the only person on Earf who has seen this?
Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (1Yy3c)

I love Fandango! Best part, of course, is the brilliant musical score by Pat Methany. But I relate to the characters in that movie a lot, when I was going to school I knew all of them, and we ran around Texas and did stuff like that. We trashed cars, we went to the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night for reasons no one could explain later. It's not just about the characters, it's a love letter to the times, and to the place.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (q3gwH)

224 Speaking of Dune I haven’t heard anything about the Wonka movie. Was it a bomb?

Posted by: Titanium White at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (MNhXM)

225 There was a remake of "Rollerball"?
Posted by: All Hail Eris

Chris Klein IIRC

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:16 PM (MGB5H)

226 I feel that way about Triumph of Love with Ben Kingsley and Mira Sorvino. Nobody seems to know it exists, but I have a DVD, so it must exist.
Posted by: She Hobbit at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM
---

I saw this movie in the theater when it came out! I loved it and need to see it again.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:16 PM (+RQPJ)

227 212 Greenlit?

Is Messiah where he morphs into a giant worm?
Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:13 PM (+RQPJ)

===/

Turning into a worm is the next book and Paul's son, Leto II.

I will not be satisfied until I get a $250 million adaptation of the political treatise that is God Emperor of Dune!

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:17 PM (GBKbO)

228 The Wrestler

Posted by: davidt at January 20, 2024 09:17 PM (SYTee)

229 216 James caan called billy d the N word in Brian’s Song. To motivate him.
Posted by: Blutarski at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (Fwuhb)

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

Which makes it immediately canceled these days (or maybe they slap a trigger warning at the beginning).

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 20, 2024 09:17 PM (5GWDq)

230 || The short stories did not sell, but I thought it would help introduce me to readership. Meh. Probably didn't work.

This is the exact logic I would use, and I think I would be just as wrong. Ima check yours out though 'cause I love short stories.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:17 PM (k4dou)

231 I feel that way about Triumph of Love with Ben Kingsley and Mira Sorvino. Nobody seems to know it exists, but I have a DVD, so it must exist.
Posted by: She Hobbit at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM
--/

No, it's a hit and most reviews are glowing. It's long on charm, which is a quality little seen in recent movies.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:18 PM (+RQPJ)

232 Speaking of Dune I haven’t heard anything about the Wonka movie. Was it a bomb?
Posted by: Titanium White

Not at all led the BO for 3 weeks and sitting at over 500m$ worldwide

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:18 PM (MGB5H)

233 228 The Wrestler
Posted by: davidt at January 20, 2024 09:17 PM (SYTee)

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

Vision Quest, from the 80s

Posted by: No One of Consequence at January 20, 2024 09:18 PM (5GWDq)

234 Whoops, duped the wrong quote. That last was in response to "Wonka" comment.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:19 PM (+RQPJ)

235 224 Speaking of Dune I haven’t heard anything about the Wonka movie. Was it a bomb?
Posted by: Titanium White at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (MNhXM)

===

Hugely successful, actually. Kept being #1 at the box office for a few weeks over Christmas.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:19 PM (GBKbO)

236
Speaking of "Poor Things" or "The Beekeeper"

anyone of y'all seen either or those.

The lovely and delightful Mrs naturalfake wants to go see a movie, and not much looks good right now.

And we've already seen Godzilla.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 20, 2024 09:19 PM (nFnyb)

237 I watched "Arkansas" on Netflix. It is the story of two low-level drug runners' misadventures. If you enjoy quirky dark comedies, you might like this one. I enjoyed it.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at January 20, 2024 09:20 PM (ln6cw)

238 231 I feel that way about Triumph of Love with Ben Kingsley and Mira Sorvino.

----------

Triumph of Love > The Alfa Romeo of Ennui

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:20 PM (X39qi)

239 172 Now here's a question for the Horde.

Fandango.

Anyone else see this movie? Came out in '85, stars Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson, directed by Kevin Reynolds. Guy does a parachute jump from a plane but instead of a parachute the pack is full of the pilot's dirty laundry.

Am I the only person on Earf who has seen this?

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:06 PM (1Yy3c)

I think my favorite scene is where the caddie has died out in the middle of nowhere near some railroad tracks. They use some barb wire fencing to hook up the front of the car to a passing train. While they're waiting for the moving train to take up the slack in the wire, one of the guys looks at the other and asks "How are we going to stop?". As they sit there with a dumb look on their faces, the train takes up the slack and snatches the entire front clip off the car.

Posted by: BillyD at January 20, 2024 09:20 PM (F6Xpw)

240 Mira sorvino was black balled for not playing ball with Harvey Weinstein. I finally saw her in a hallmark Christmas movie. I think she’s working again now.

Posted by: Blutarski at January 20, 2024 09:21 PM (Fwuhb)

241 No, you're not the only one. A decent road trip adventure movie, with several young future stars.
Posted by: BillyD at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (F6Xpw)

I love Fandango!
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 09:15 PM (q3gwH)

So besides me (and my mom, who showed it to me when I was a kid) that's four confirmed viewers for this film.

Four people in the world with good taste...

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:21 PM (1Yy3c)

242 Also watched the original Death Wish on Netflix. The violence and hooligans seem quaint.
Posted by: Blutarski

Shocking at the time. Plus Jeff Goldblum.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at January 20, 2024 09:21 PM (FVME7)

243 I saw this movie in the theater when it came out! I loved it and need to see it again.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

It's really fun, I'm just so glad another person out in the world has seen it. Nobody I've mentioned it to before has.

Posted by: She Hobbit at January 20, 2024 09:21 PM (ftFVW)

244
Triumph of Love > The Alfa Romeo of Ennui
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:20 PM (X39qi)

The Lada of Angst
The Trabant of Depression

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:22 PM (H5IZ1)

245 I watched "Arkansas" on Netflix. It is the story of two low-level drug runners' misadventures. If you enjoy quirky dark comedies, you might like this one. I enjoyed it.
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy

Directed by the fat nerd from hot tub Time Machine.

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:22 PM (MGB5H)

246 I guess I’ll give Wonka a try when it comes on On Demand. I didn’t like the previews but apparently it was good enough to sustain the box office lead.

Posted by: Titanium White at January 20, 2024 09:22 PM (MNhXM)

247 Not a fan of short stories. That's all I got.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 20, 2024 09:23 PM (V8he0)

248 3 I saw this movie in the theater when it came out! I loved it and need to see it again.
Posted by: All Hail Eris

It's really fun, I'm just so glad another person out in the world has seen it. Nobody I've mentioned it to before has.
Posted by: She Hobbit

Get a room!

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:23 PM (MGB5H)

249 naturalfake--

I reviewed "Poor Things" last week.

https://moviegique.com/2024/01/poor-things/

I wouldn't recommend it, unless the lovely & charming Mrs is like the lovely & charming Eris.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:23 PM (k4dou)

250 Not a fan of short stories. That's all I got.
Posted by: Notorious BFD at January 20, 2024 09:23 PM (V8he0)

5/10, not enough character development, too light on plot.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:24 PM (H5IZ1)

251 The original Rollerball is one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time, because it is an incredibly subversive movie. It pretends to be a simple future sports action movie - and yet for starters, it is the most eerily prophetic movie of any of the 70's dystopian genre. A world where Giant Corporations run everything, including the lives of everyone under them - and people just ignore it and distract themselves with sex, drugs, and sports? how could that ever happen?

And then the Corporations start to slyly erase the past, to make sure that no one remembers that things were ever different. Big dumb sports jock Jonathan, who is just supposed to be a thug, is the only one who begins figuring it out - and that makes some very powerful people very, very angry.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 09:24 PM (q3gwH)

252 Sound of Freedom is now available on Prime. I just can’t bring myself to watch it.

Posted by: Blutarski at January 20, 2024 09:24 PM (Fwuhb)

253 Speaking of "Poor Things" or "The Beekeeper"

anyone of y'all seen either or those.

The lovely and delightful Mrs naturalfake wants to go see a movie, and not much looks good right now.

And we've already seen Godzilla.
Posted by: naturalfake at

Avoid night swim. She hobbit picked that one, she's got like one strike left.

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:24 PM (MGB5H)

254 Speaking of Dune I haven’t heard anything about the Wonka movie. Was it a bomb?
Posted by: Titanium White

Saw it with the little hobbits right after Christmas. We all liked it a lot. The original music for the film didn't quite stick with me, though. The end with a call back to Pure Imagination from the Gene Wilder movie was tear-jerking.

Posted by: She Hobbit at January 20, 2024 09:25 PM (ftFVW)

255 HAN SHOT FIRST
Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:04 PM (MGB5H)

Greedo pulled a gun on him. The argument is invalid.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at January 20, 2024 09:26 PM (8sMut)

256 Avoid night swim. She hobbit picked that one, she's got like one strike left.
Posted by: BruceWayne

Hey now, I preemptively disavowed responsibility for that.

Posted by: She Hobbit at January 20, 2024 09:26 PM (ftFVW)

257 So besides me (and my mom, who showed it to me when I was a kid) that's four confirmed viewers for this film.

Four people in the world with good taste...
Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:21 PM (1Yy3c)

for what it's worth, that's credited as the movie that launched Costner's career.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 09:26 PM (q3gwH)

258 Mira sorvino was black balled for not playing ball with Harvey Weinstein. I finally saw her in a hallmark Christmas movie. I think she’s working again now.
Posted by: Blutarski at January 20, 2024 09:21 PM (Fwuhb)
Sound of Freedom is now available on Prime. I just can’t bring myself to watch it.
Posted by: Blutarski

Mira is in sound if freedom

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:26 PM (MGB5H)

259 Triumph of Love > The Alfa Romeo of Ennui
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:20 PM (X39qi)

The Lada of Angst
The Trabant of Depression
----

The AMC Pacer of Morbid Self-Reflection

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:27 PM (+RQPJ)

260 Think saw remake of Rollerball once, stick to original

Posted by: Skip at January 20, 2024 09:27 PM (fwDg9)

261 Sound of Freedom is now available on Prime. I just can’t bring myself to watch it.
Posted by: Blutarski at January 20, 2024 09:24 PM (Fwuhb)

It's a delightful romp.

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:27 PM (1Yy3c)

262 The Hustler

Posted by: davidt at January 20, 2024 09:27 PM (SYTee)

263 Avoid night swim. She hobbit picked that one, she's got like one strike left.
Posted by: BruceWayne

Hey now, I preemptively disavowed responsibility for that.
Posted by: She Hobbit

I have no recollection of this.

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:28 PM (MGB5H)

264 Mira is in sound if freedom
Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:26 PM (MGB5H)

Good for her. Both for not blowing a fat unshaven creep and for overcoming the blackballing.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:28 PM (H5IZ1)

265 I never wanted to see any of these fucking toy story movies with the CGI. I had too many good childhood memories using just my imagination to ruin them with some Hollywood studio asshole's bastardized view of what playing in the dirt was like, like he would know living in Burbank.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at January 20, 2024 09:29 PM (J3ryZ)

266 "Warrior with Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton."

Joel Edgerton is in the recently released "Boys in the Boat" which, in my opinion, is a good sports movie. Of course you have to consider rowing as a sport.

Posted by: Tuna at January 20, 2024 09:30 PM (oaGWv)

267 Sports movies are being mentioned, and no one has brought up Miracle yet?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at January 20, 2024 09:30 PM (8sMut)

268 Per the numbers, "Triumph of Love" debuted at #46 at the box office in its opening weekend, trounced by such classics as "Enigma", the IMAX movie "Space Station" and (more seriously) "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", which opened at #20 and clawed it's way to #2 after FOUR MONTHS.

Man, you don't see stories like that much.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:30 PM (k4dou)

269 Oh wow, my local theater is showing Poor Things AND Interstellar AND Cowboy Bebop: The Movie!

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:30 PM (+RQPJ)

270 267 Sports movies are being mentioned, and no one has brought up Miracle yet?
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33

Got mentioned several times.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at January 20, 2024 09:31 PM (Kdi1r)

271 The lack of children's entertainment for boys really, *really* pisses me off. I'm thankful for streaming where I can find some of the older stuff for my 5y/o that was clearly aimed at boys. He LOVES it.

Everything else is GRRRRL POWAH, often explicitly so.

Posted by: McLurkerson at January 20, 2024 09:31 PM (wNDOJ)

272 Joel Edgerton is in the recently released "Boys in the Boat" which, in my opinion, is a good sports movie. Of course you have to consider rowing as a sport.
Posted by: Tuna at January 20, 2024 09:30 PM (oaGWv)

You really can't drink beer while doing it. So sport it is.

Unless you get a beer helmet.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at January 20, 2024 09:32 PM (R4t5M)

273 || 267 Sports movies are being mentioned, and no one has brought up Miracle yet?

Comments #143 and #205.

|| some Hollywood studio asshole's bastardized view of what playing in the dirt was like, like he would know living in Burbank.

Hey, now. We have perfectly good dirt in Burbank.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:32 PM (k4dou)

274 If you are near an IMAX, I do believe Dune 1 is being rereleased on IMAX sometime next week.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at January 20, 2024 09:32 PM (8sMut)

275 It's positively her, that's the joke!

She's pretending to be someone else to nab him because he couldn't possibly marry a con-woman, and she has revenge in her heart, but in the end, you know she's just happy they're together.

Screwball comedy!
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:01 PM (k4dou)

Ok, I thought you were suggesting it might not have been.

Although I think they do a wonderful job messing with the audience. We know it's her, because it's Barbara Freakin' Stanwyck! But is it???

I love that movie so much.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 09:33 PM (03rl+)

276 I screwed up and have a Blu Ray copy of Equalizer 3. I don't have Blu Ray. Anybody that wants it let me know.

Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 09:33 PM (eNb+U)

277 || Oh wow, my local theater is showing Poor Things AND Interstellar AND Cowboy Bebop: The Movie!

After "Cowboy Bebop", they're showing "Paprika", early February, presuming it's the same "film festival".

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:33 PM (k4dou)

278 Best western?

Rust

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 20, 2024 09:34 PM (XeU6L)

279 Got mentioned several times.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at January 20, 2024 09:31 PM (Kdi1r)

Maybe I should scroll more slowly then.

Miracle is a damn good movie. Possibly my #1 sports movie.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at January 20, 2024 09:34 PM (8sMut)

280 Although I think they do a wonderful job messing with the audience. We know it's her, because it's Barbara Freakin' Stanwyck! But is it???
||
Right? Every time I watch it, I'm surprised when we see her planning the whole thing out, and then by the end, I'm all, "Wait, was that REALLY her?"

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:34 PM (k4dou)

281 276 I screwed up and have a Blu Ray copy of Equalizer 3. I don't have Blu Ray. Anybody that wants it let me know.
Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 09:33 PM (eNb+U)

====

Or, use it as an excuse to upgrade. Players are cheap now.

The difference in quality may surprise you.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:35 PM (GBKbO)

282 I screwed up and have a Blu Ray copy of Equalizer 3. I don't have Blu Ray. Anybody that wants it let me know.
Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 09:33 PM (eNb+U)

Blu-ray players are cheap.

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:35 PM (1Yy3c)

283 If you are near an IMAX, I do believe Dune 1 is being rereleased on IMAX sometime next week.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr3

Not here, David lynch dune 40 anniversary in feb tho

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:36 PM (MGB5H)

284 262 The Hustler
Posted by: davidt at January 20, 2024 09:27 PM (SYTee)

The Hustler has an incredible cast, and kind of thing that just doesn't happen any more. And even more than Newman, it's a testament to the raw power of Jackie Gleason's acting, and his persona. It's been pointed out that Gleason doesn't show up until the movie is about 2/3 through, but the fear and anticipation of his character, Minnesota Fats, has dominated every scene. And when he does show up, Gleason does not disappoint, he dominates every scene he is in. He is the Rock on which all of the other characters break.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 09:36 PM (q3gwH)

285 The Lada of Angst
The Trabant of Depression
Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:22 PM (H5IZ1)

The Zil of Victory! The Skoda of Defeat!

Posted by: Kindltot at January 20, 2024 09:36 PM (D7oie)

286 Miracle-shmiracle.

Nobody's mentioned "Knute Rockne - All American" or "Jim Thorpe - All American" or "Pride of the Yankees" or "Angels in the Outfield" (either, but the original is better).

What kind of movie watchers are ya anyway?

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:36 PM (k4dou)

287 Or...or...hear me out now.

4K player.

DO EEEEEEEET!!!!!

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:36 PM (1Yy3c)

288 || 4K player.

Too many K.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:37 PM (k4dou)

289 286
What kind of movie watchers are ya anyway?
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:36 PM (k4dou)

===

The worst.

*weeps bitterfully but manfully*

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:37 PM (GBKbO)

290 "Although I think they do a wonderful job messing with the audience. We know it's her, because it's Barbara Freakin' Stanwyck! But is it???

I love that movie so much.
Posted by: BurtTC "

The scene on the train where she tells Henry Fonda of her past "love affairs"....LOL

Posted by: Tuna at January 20, 2024 09:38 PM (oaGWv)

291 Best western?

Rust
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc.

Over the top realism!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here at January 20, 2024 09:38 PM (FVME7)

292 I do like this trend of googleplexes reshowing classics (or "classics"). The audiences are self-selecting fans and the energy in the theater is great.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:38 PM (+RQPJ)

293 Too many K.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:37 PM (k4dou)

I'll show you too many K, pal!

Posted by: Robert don't wanna hear no smack talk about K at January 20, 2024 09:38 PM (1Yy3c)

294
Not here, David lynch dune 40 anniversary in feb tho
Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:36 PM (MGB5H)

The most confusing week of a person's life: David Lynch film festival.

"How'd it go? Did you like it?"

"I think I may be a lesbian, and also I may not exist."

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:39 PM (H5IZ1)

295 278 Best western?

Rust
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 20, 2024 09:34 PM (XeU6L)

----------

Ruined by a mid-production cinematographer change.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 20, 2024 09:39 PM (X39qi)

296 Best western?

Rust
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc.

Over the top realism!
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks
---

Baldwin's acting blows the others away!

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at January 20, 2024 09:40 PM (XeU6L)

297 The first time I saw Lynch’s Dune, he’d pulled his name off. Alan Smithee!!!

Posted by: Blutarski at January 20, 2024 09:40 PM (Fwuhb)

298 294 The most confusing week of a person's life: David Lynch film festival.

"How'd it go? Did you like it?"

"I think I may be a lesbian, and also I may not exist."
Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:39 PM (H5IZ1)

===

I assert:

David Lynch is not at all hard to understand. He's always one line of dialogue away from being blindingly obvious.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:40 PM (GBKbO)

299 Heard Cowboy BeeBop was a disappointment but still would like to see it

Posted by: Skip at January 20, 2024 09:40 PM (fwDg9)

300 Right? Every time I watch it, I'm surprised when we see her planning the whole thing out, and then by the end, I'm all, "Wait, was that REALLY her?"
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:34 PM (k4dou)

That's the movie that made me fall in love with her. Before that I never really gave her a second though, now everything she's done reinforces it.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 09:40 PM (ZhrmX)

301 Wow... rewatching the movie Invincible... got to the part where his wife left... and he lost his temper.

Brought back a memory of the last time I actually lost my temper... yeah, when I found out on my birthday that my wife was in Tokyo, screwing another guy.

Luckily, I had not picked up the kids yet.

Posted by: Romeo13 at January 20, 2024 09:40 PM (xaFKb)

302 I can't believe nobody's mentioned Cool Runnings!

Posted by: She Hobbit at January 20, 2024 09:41 PM (ftFVW)

303 >>ome Hollywood studio asshole's bastardized view of what playing in the dirt was like, like he would know living in Burbank.

As sports movies go it was pretty faithful. Kurt Russell did a fine job and his speech before the Russia game was spot on.

Posted by: JackStraw at January 20, 2024 09:41 PM (ZLI7S)

304 Nobody's mentioned "Knute Rockne - All American" or "Jim Thorpe - All American" or "Pride of the Yankees" or "Angels in the Outfield" (either, but the original is better).

What kind of movie watchers are ya anyway?
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!)

Ummm rookie of the year

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:41 PM (MGB5H)

305 Best western?

Ramada Inns used to be sort of classy back in the day, but Best Western just tried to be dlean.

Posted by: Kindltot at January 20, 2024 09:41 PM (D7oie)

306 Ah, Warlock. That and The First Power were being passed around my friends in HS on VHS tapes. Loved them.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at January 20, 2024 09:42 PM (8sMut)

307 The Zil of Victory! The Skoda of Defeat!
Posted by: Kindltot at January 20, 2024 09:36 PM (D7oie)

Many Shubs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day I can tell you!"

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 09:42 PM (q3gwH)

308 David Lynch is not at all hard to understand. He's always one line of dialogue away from being blindingly obvious.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:40 PM (GBKbO)

Without the aid of reference, tell me what happened in Mulholland Drive.

[to be perfectly clear, I don't think he's bad. I just find the 'all his movies are incomprehensible' thing funny]

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:42 PM (H5IZ1)

309 Jamaica, Seabiscuit for horse racing.
Posted by: Ben Had at January 20, 2024 09:02 PM (eNb+U)

To cross the stream with the Hobby Thread, the term "Seabiscuit Joinery" means assembling wooden furniture with hide glue.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at January 20, 2024 09:43 PM (tkR6S)

310 The scene on the train where she tells Henry Fonda of her past "love affairs"....LOL
Posted by: Tuna at January 20, 2024 09:38 PM (oaGWv)

I probably shouldn't mention it, but my ex bears a fairly strong resemblance to Stanwyck.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 09:43 PM (bFMjy)

311 *weeps bitterfully but manfully*

"There, there!"
*checks script*
*Turns out it's not Capra but Yorgos Lanthimos*
*spits on him*

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:43 PM (k4dou)

312 I can't believe nobody's mentioned Cool Runnings!
Posted by: She Hobbit

Feel the rhythm feel the rhyme

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:43 PM (MGB5H)

313 I probably shouldn't mention it, but my ex bears a fairly strong resemblance to Stanwyck.
||
The roux thickens!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:44 PM (k4dou)

314 Brought back a memory of the last time I actually lost my temper... yeah, when I found out on my birthday that my wife was in Tokyo, screwing another guy.

Luckily, I had not picked up the kids yet.
Posted by: Romeo13 at January 20, 2024 09:40 PM (xaFKb)

Damn. Sorry to hear that. Hope the kids adjusted ok.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:44 PM (H5IZ1)

315 @8 TJM, sometime could you do a post on good actors that take really bad make the car payment movies.

--------

Supposedly Bruce Willis, after he got the Alzheimers diagnosis. He wanted to get some money saved away before he stopped being able to work, and so took a bunch of lousy scripts.

Posted by: junior at January 20, 2024 09:45 PM (9nAEO)

316 "Without the aid of reference, tell me what happened in Mulholland Drive."

Young woman goes to Hollywood to be in the movies, ends up in porn.

Posted by: davidt at January 20, 2024 09:45 PM (SYTee)

317 308 David Lynch is not at all hard to understand. He's always one line of dialogue away from being blindingly obvious.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:40 PM (GBKbO)

Without the aid of reference, tell me what happened in Mulholland Drive.

[to be perfectly clear, I don't think he's bad. I just find the 'all his movies are incomprehensible' thing funny]
Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:42 PM (H5IZ1

===/

Woman gets consumed by the Hollywood experience. If Naomi Watts said, "Hollywood is killing me!" People would dismiss it as obvious and pointless.

I love it, by the way.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:46 PM (GBKbO)

318 Without the aid of reference, tell me what happened in Mulholland Drive.

[to be perfectly clear, I don't think he's bad. I just find the 'all his movies are incomprehensible' thing funny]
Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:42 PM (H5IZ1)

Girl goes to Hollywood, has some misadventures, and commits suicide.

That's basically it.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 09:46 PM (GvvaV)

319 Without the aid of reference, tell me what happened in Mulholland Drive.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:42 PM (H5IZ1)

Hot lesbo action between Naomi Watts and that other chick.

Posted by: Robert don't wanna hear no smack talk about K at January 20, 2024 09:47 PM (1Yy3c)

320 I can't believe nobody's mentioned Cool Runnings!
Posted by: She Hobbit

Sanka? Ya dead?

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:47 PM (MGB5H)

321 Young woman goes to Hollywood to be in the movies, ends up in porn.
Posted by: davidt at January 20, 2024 09:45 PM (SYTee)

Her dream came true.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory, red heifer owner at January 20, 2024 09:47 PM (R4t5M)

322 >>>Hey, now. We have perfectly good dirt in Burbank.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!)

>Yeah, I like Burbank, I'm just busting your chops. The industry takes itself too seriously because the budgets are excessive.

Children like B-movies and matinees because it's about storytelling, not special effects.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at January 20, 2024 09:47 PM (J3ryZ)

323 322 Children like B-movies and matinees because it's about storytelling, not special effects.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at January 20, 2024 09:47 PM (J3ryZ

====

You sound like a perfect Joe Dante fan. That's a good thing.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:48 PM (GBKbO)

324 The roux thickens!
Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 09:44 PM (k4dou)

I "met" Stanwyck first, and didn't notice it until I did, and once I did, I couldn't not see it.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 09:48 PM (qxsEu)

325 @116 Last night came across a movie that 'sounded' good... had Bruce Willis in it, and it was about fighting the Japanese Air Force in China.

--------

That movie is best known for who didn't appear in it. Chinese actress Bingbing Fan (who has a small role in XMen Days of Future Past) was supposed to appear in it. But she suddenly vanished (literally)when Beijing decided she'd been cheating on her taxes. She finally reappeared several months later.

Posted by: junior at January 20, 2024 09:49 PM (9nAEO)

326 There's a good topic for a movie post/thread...

Saturday matinee movies from back in the day, like Jason and the Argonauts, Mysterious Island, Our Man Flint...

Posted by: davidt at January 20, 2024 09:49 PM (SYTee)

327 I finally watched Vertigo last night!

so now I understand Lynch a whole lot better

Posted by: BlackOrchid, I meant to say at January 20, 2024 09:49 PM (AcWfM)

328 got me thinking about the serious lesson hidden in the original Rollerball - what if you are a decent man, and you find out something horrible - but then you also find out that the people you work for and trust are the ones who did it? and then you find out that all of your "friends" are complicit in it as well, even your wife, and that you in fact have no one you can trust? And it's not a matter of survival, the question is, how does a man hang on to his honor, and his integrity, and stay True to himself in such a situation? Jonathan gives us his answer, and it's a good one.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 09:50 PM (q3gwH)

329 Hot lesbo action between Naomi Watts and that other chick.
Posted by: Robert don't wanna hear no smack talk about K at January 20, 2024 09:47 PM (1Yy3c)

Which was most likely all in her head, and it doesn't matter whether it was or not.

Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 09:50 PM (B9rZS)

330 Four posts in a row, I got four different answers and none of them explained what the thing with the key was about.

Gentlemen, this is David Lynch manifest.

Posted by: Vanya at January 20, 2024 09:50 PM (H5IZ1)

331 ONT is N00D!

Posted by: Robert don't wanna hear no smack talk about K at January 20, 2024 09:50 PM (1Yy3c)

332 328 got me thinking about the serious lesson hidden in the original Rollerball - what if you are a decent man, and you find out something horrible - but then you also find out that the people you work for and trust are the ones who did it? and then you find out that all of your "friends" are complicit in it as well, even your wife, and that you in fact have no one you can trust? And it's not a matter of survival, the question is, how does a man hang on to his honor, and his integrity, and stay True to himself in such a situation? Jonathan gives us his answer, and it's a good one.
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 09:50 PM (q3gwH)

=====

And the 4k looks really good, too.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 20, 2024 09:51 PM (GBKbO)

333 Thanks for the Movie Thread, TJM! Always a hoot.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at January 20, 2024 09:52 PM (+RQPJ)

334 got me thinking about the serious lesson hidden in the original Rollerball - what if you are a decent man, and you find out something horrible - but then you also find out that the people you work for and trust are the ones who did it? and then you find out that all of your "friends" are complicit in it as well, even your wife, and that you in fact have no one you can trust? And it's not a matter of survival, the question is, how does a man hang on to his honor, and his integrity, and stay True to himself in such a situation? Jonathan gives us his answer, and it's a good one.
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 20, 2024 09:50 PM (q3gwH)

=====

And the 4k looks really good, too.
Posted by: TJM's phone

And James can is a Sparty. So you got that going for ya, which is good.

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:53 PM (MGB5H)

335 Caan stupid phone

Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:53 PM (MGB5H)

336 Caan stupid phone
Posted by: BruceWayne at January 20, 2024 09:53 PM (MGB5H)

*Grabs balls*

Posted by: The Phone at January 20, 2024 09:56 PM (1Yy3c)

337 --118 Whoever recommended Once Upon a Time in --the West last week, I did pick it up from a Goodwill --store online. Also ordered half a dozen other films at --the same time, because why not.

--Posted by: BurtTC at January 20, 2024 08:50 PM

I didn't know Goodwill had an online store. Hmmm.

Oh the Gipper was in a sports movie but I never saw it. So maybe it was good or maybe not.

Posted by: Lancelot_link at January 20, 2024 09:57 PM (iA7vM)

338 There are all sorts of Goodwill sellers at Amazon. Goodwill of this place or that.

Posted by: Robert at January 20, 2024 09:59 PM (1Yy3c)

339 || I "met" Stanwyck first, and didn't notice it until I did, and once I did, I couldn't not see it.

I had a thing for a gal...then I'm watching Bullitt and Jacqueline Bissett came on-screen. I had never noticed the resemblance before.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my book!) at January 20, 2024 10:10 PM (k4dou)

340
Firesign Theatre
Commie Marytrs' High School skit
is similar to AMINE quoted earlier,
being transported
+switched around.
sorry,Late,
my spastic troubles are
worse every passing day.

Posted by: zigzag at January 20, 2024 10:36 PM (iXCxC)

341 Warner also did 10 shortish (less than 90 minutes) DC Lego movies, primarily Justice League focused, and 2 DC Super-Hero Girls Lego movies, while they had the license. They were not released theatrically, but a few showed on cable in addition to streaming and dvd/blu-ray. Most are decent to good.

Posted by: Sam at January 21, 2024 12:13 AM (ohyxL)

342 I like your analysis of the first Lego movie. However, I would say the true story is the relationship between the Father and his son. The father bought these toys for his son, but wants them put together as per the instructions. When they are torn apart and rebuilt as "other" things, it becomes chaos. And the expensive thing that was bought is now gone. So the father, wanting an ordered life, wants to freeze the toys as they were intended to be. In this way, the Kragle is metaphorical. But the child doesn't see it that way. Emmett's journey is the manifestation of the child finding a way to play with "HIS" toys in a way to please his father.

Or maybe that's just what I got out of it as I had proposed to my young son that we rebuild all of his lego sets per their instructions just once! We made it to about 3 and he got bored.

Never saw the second movie. Lego Batman was funny, but not especially deep.

Posted by: drocity at January 21, 2024 10:09 AM (DQwI9)

343 The Lego Ninjago Movie was reasonably dope...

Posted by: SouthCentralPA at January 21, 2024 03:40 PM (J3OJd)

344 Ah, I'm sorry I missed this thread. I'm a big Lego fan (had way too many as a kid, still have way too many now). I loved the first movie: brilliant on multiple levels. Among other things, it's the best parody movie of the decade.

Hated the second movie. I primarily blame "The Message" (tm). The villain in the trailer was a mini-doll (from the girls' line of Lego sets) and there was noooooooo way the movie would let her be an actual villain. So the twist was obvious....and stupid. The rest of the movie was just messy, and didn't have any real good feature to counter the bland badness...

Posted by: Castle Guy at January 21, 2024 04:37 PM (Lhaco)

345 I'm amazed, I must say. Rarely do I come across a blog that's
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Posted by: https://primevideo.wiki at January 22, 2024 09:34 PM (Mwjvl)

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