Saturday Evening Movie Thread

Saturday Evening Movie Thread - 4/26/2025

Ivan Reitman

Ivan Reitman is not someone many people would hold up as an example for auteur theory. I think auteur theory quickly ran amok from the original idea as posited by Francois Truffaut in his Cahiers du Cinema article which essentially amounted to a pair of writers were taking control of adaptations and missing the point of the original texts except when working with Jacques Cocteau. Combined with the magazines focus on directors like Hitchcock and Hawks, the idea became "directors are king" rather than "there's usually one role that takes the most prominent creative control of a film." The article itself was arguing that the writers were doing that in everything they did except when they worked with Cocteau, who became the main creative force when he was directing.

Anyway, I start this essay about Ivan Reitman, no one's idea of an auteur, with that tangent because even though his career is mostly dotted with middling to bad comedies that aren't particularly funny, despite the presence of one of the best movies of the 80s, Ghostbusters, under his belt, he had a shockingly clear voice. He just...wasn't a particularly good filmmaker. And that's not the kind of director auteur cultists adhere to (Kubrick? Yes. Reitman? No.). They have to be both great and distinctive. Indistinct and great gets forgotten (think Wyler and even Cahiers own favorite Hawks). Distinctive and not very good? Never embraced at all.

Now, I didn't hate Reitman's body of work. I just found it overall disappointing. However, this post isn't about bashing him but tracing how even a director like Reitman can exert control over his films, and how early experiences can influence a director's entire approach to filmmaking.

Bill Murray

If there's one reason that Ivan Reitman had a feature filmmaking career, it was because Bill Murray decided to show up to the set of Meatballs. Reitman's first two directed features actually predate Meatballs by several years, but after Cannibal Girls (I could never find a copy of Foxy Lady), Reitman directed theater for a while and then produced Animal House, the John Landis film. The producing team, including Reitman, of Meatballs, wanted Landis to come back for Meatballs, but he was too busy making The Blues Brothers to commit. So, Reitman just took over.

If you look closely, Meatballs is actually two movies smashed together. On the one hand, it's the kind of standard sex comedy about teens but set in a summer camp. On the other hand, it's Bill Murray ambling around and being funny. There's a clear delineation between the two because after the initial production period, there were test screenings where Reitman figured out that Murray was the best part of it. So, they went back for more production to shoot more Murray stuff which ended up at least twenty minutes of the final film. Murray completely dominates the final product, far more than the actual story necessitates (whole subplots seem to get completely cut after a certain point), and it was Reitman's recipe for his first success, the biggest money-making Canadian film up to that point in movie history.

Reitman followed that up with Stripes, a film more purposefully built around Murray being himself on camera, and Ghostbusters, his most tightly scripted film thanks to the combination of Dan Aykroyd's insane original ideas and Harold Ramis' rewrite. It also had enough room for Murray to be himself without dominating the film completely (the expense of the film's special effects probably had a not small part of it), while also opening up a small role for Rick Moranis to be funny freewheelingly like Murray.

These three movies set the production process that Reitman would follow for the rest of his career: Get a script and put people in it while waiting for them to be funny. It's how he established his career. It was how he learned to make movies in the Hollywood system: rely on your actors, preferably stars to help sell the film, to lead to laughs and financial success.

The problem was his taste of scripts was...suspect at best.

The Post-Ghostbusters Era

His immediate follow up, though, seems more like an attempt at respect. Legal Eagles is a largely unremarkable Robert Redford vehicle and comedy/drama hybrid about an assistant district attorney who finds meaning and love when he helps a new defense attorney with a case. It's not funny or particularly memorable, and it reveals the problem with Reitman's mode of production. He needed Redford to be Bill Murray. He needed Redford to carry scenes on charm, charisma, and the ability to make people laugh. And yet, every time Reitman demands it of him, the scenes are just kind of dull.

That's not to say that everything is terrible through the late 80s and early 90s. It's just that the scripts, even at their best, often felt like they needed more work. The obvious example is Ghostbusters II, thrown together last second from some random ideas Aykroyd had and in order to meet a release date and with a lot of reshoots after some botched test screenings, but even the films I like, like Kindergarten Cop and Dave, they just feel like first drafts where the right combination of things came together for Reitman, his cast melding with the material rather well. I mean, the contrast of Arnold Schwarzenegger corralling a bunch of 6 year olds is fun. Kevin Kline being charming and in over his head as the fake president is fun. The scripts just have the kind of issues I would expect to get ironed out in some quick rewrites. The basic conceit of Cop makes no sense, and Dave straddles this line between fairy tale and real world-expose of DC malpractice and methods poorly, so to speak.

But nothing was terrible, and nothing did badly at the box office. Reitman's career was showing no signs of slowing or even needing a rethink. And then he decided to get Arnold Schwarzenegger pregnant.

In Search of Comedy

Junior is a terrible movie. It's a single joke (Schwarzenegger is pregnant) played out for nearly two-hours. That's barely enough material to fill an SNL skit of five minutes, and Reitman drags it out forever. The sight of Schwarzenegger in a pregnant suit and eating weird food is mildly entertaining, but that sort of image doesn't show up until the movie is over an hour in. What's supposed to be entertaining up to that point? Are there written jokes? Are there funny gags to play out? Did the guy who made his career out of filming Bill Murray be funny ensure that the script was in that state before he went to camera?

No, he didn't. The film is supposed to be a screwball comedy (Emma Thomson is playing Katherine Hepburn from Bringing Up Baby badly), but there's precious little comedy which then butts up against the melodramatic tones of the movie's final act (apparently all reshoots, from what I've read). Reitman trust Arnold and Danny DeVito to find the comedy in an unfunny script...and they couldn't find it. Neither are unfunny people in general, but they were simply lost in this terrible script and Reitman was just waiting for them to find their ways out. It didn't work.

And things kept going after that in the same direction. Get Billy Crystal and Robin Williams in a movie together, and it'll be hilarious, right? Not if it's Father's Day. Get Harrison Ford and up and coming starlet Anne Heche in a thriller/comedy (with massive, massive script issues) in Six Days and Seven Nights, and Ford's charm will carry everything right?

Reitman had been professionally making movies since the late seventies, and twenty years into his career, it felt like he had no idea what actually made movies good or bad or funny or not. The drag of his later career is so bad that it's the kind of run you expect from people who never made a name for themselves, desperately getting any work they can, rather than the guy who made Ghostbusters. the only saving grace of his final stretch of comedies, for me, is Evolution. It's a mess, not good, but it feels like the cast find the right groove (especially Orlando Jones) and someone saved the final act (I assume a studio editor) from falling into melodramatic nonsense like Reitman's films had been descending into for more than a decade.

After that, it's unremarkable the confused and unfunny (My Super Ex-Girlfriend) followed by the unremarkably bland (No Strings Attached) and then the perfectly competent if not terribly compelling (Draft Day). His final work at all in the movie business before his death last year was producing the Ghostbusters films, the first written and directed by his own son, Jason (who has many cameos across his father's filmography).

Auteur Theory

So, why did I start this article talking about Francois Truffaut and Cahiers du Cinema?

Because, despite my not really liking most of Reitman's body of work very much, I found the same kind of repeated threads across his filmography as I did other directors I enjoy more.

The easiest thing to see is the rise of the schlub. This is most potently manifested in Meatballs where Bill Murray is a complete slob who cares about nothing (leading his fellow campers and counselors in a chant about nothing mattering after a bad day of inter-camp Olympic competition) and then wins the competition anyway. This continues through Stripes where the slovenly class gets the special assignment in Germany to the outsider con-artists and scientists turning their ideas into a successful business and saving New York in Ghostbusters. But it continues well beyond that, manifesting in Twins, Dave, Father's Day, Six Days and Seven Nights, Evolution, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, No Strings Attached, and Draft Day.

It's just that, in Meatballs it was the poor guys. By No Strings Attached, it was the son of a famous television star who was trying to make it on his own and in Draft Day the general manager of a professional sports team (that sucks).

These aren't small things that pop up from here to there, they're driving narrative concerns that define character traits and overall contours of the drama. They're as important to Reitman's filmography as the idea of identity in in-groups is to Martin Scorsese's.

It's just that the movies are simply...not good enough to merit that much attention. There's good stuff. There's mediocre stuff that slightly entertains me. But who wants to dig into the everyman aspect of My Super Ex-Girlfriend? Does the fact that most people don't like the film negate the fact that Reitman obviously has something particular he wanted to say through the medium of film? Nope, not in the least. If you love his work, that's an angle to dig into and discover like all the other film nerds and their preferred filmmakers.

I think Reitman is as much a creative with something to say as some of my favorites. I just don't think he was very good at it.

The Ultimate Ivan Reitman Film

I do think there's a movie that most perfectly encapsulates who Reitman wanted to be as a filmmaker. The combination of script, movie star, comedy, and light melodrama that he was obviously searching for.

And that's Dave. It's not his masterpiece Ghostbusters, which he's more of the director for hire managing the set while the cast makes the most of a good script, but Dave, the Capra-esque story of an everyman who looks exactly like the president taking over when the president suffers a massive stroke. It's got a decent script (again, I think it needs a rewrite, but whatever), and room for Kline, a genuinely funny actor, to stretch himself in both comedic and dramatic ways within a relatively small box with some fairy tale aspects. It's where Reitman was able to combine his production process of letting Kline find comedy, his thematic focus of the everyman winning the day against the powerful figures, and having a feel-good, lightly melodramatic ending.

If there's one movie to define Reitman's career, it's Dave.

Ghostbusters is better, though.

So, thank you Mr. Reitman for some good times, but it might have been better if you'd gotten Jason to pick your scripts as soon as he was able to read.

Movies of Today

Opening in Theaters:

The Accountant 2

Until Dawn

Movies I Saw This Fortnight:

Meatballs (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "It's funny, and a celebration of the slob mentality, but its final act suffers just a bit too much for my tastes." [Prime]

Stripes (Rating 3/4) Full Review "Still, it made me laugh. I laughed consistently. I was entertained. Successful comedy, in my book." [Personal Collection]

Ghostbusters (Rating 4/4) Full Review "Whatever the circumstances, the combination came together perfectly to create an all-around entertainment that still works decades after its release." [Personal Collection]

Legal Eagles (Rating 2/4) Full Review "I mean, this isn't good. However, I find it frustrating and thin rather than outright bad." [Library]

Twins (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "But the final product isn't bad. It's just kind of a mesh of different ideas not done that well while the bulk of the film is carried by likeable leads well within their acting ranges." [Netflix]

Ghostbusters II (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "It's a mess, helped none at all by the tortured screenwriting process, terrible previews, and reshoots, but it still has the core charm of the film in somewhat lesser, safer form." [Personal Collection]

Kindergarten Cop (Rating 3/4) Full Review "Really, I enjoy this film pretty thoroughly. It's fun. It carries a couple of different genres decently. It effectively uses its lead in the small acting box he operates in. It's a good 110 minutes at the movies." [Library]

Dave (Rating 3/4) Full Review "An easy film with a winning central performance, Dave is one of Ivan Reitman's proudest achievements." [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 5/17, and it will be about the last three eras of the Godzilla franchise.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison at 07:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 I read all of moviegique's content before it disappeared

"It's a man's man's film." I am SO there! "Warfare" added to my list, thanks!

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 07:34 PM (Iud1/)

2 What happened to the other one?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at April 26, 2025 07:37 PM (63Dwl)

3 Sorry, guys, I guess I screwed up!

OregonMuse always used to remind me...

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at April 26, 2025 07:39 PM (asXVI)

4 3 Sorry, guys, I guess I screwed up!

OregonMuse always used to remind me...
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at April 26, 2025 07:39 PM (asXVI)

===

If I hadn't been worried that I wouldn't drive all the way back from FL in time, ...

Sorry.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 07:40 PM (GBKbO)

5 "Ghostbusters" is funny and clever, and all the actors deliver.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 07:40 PM (Iud1/)

6 Am confused.
But will forge ahead.

I was shocked at how...forgettable most of Reitman's output was. TJM sees an authorial voice, I don't. What I do see was the Reitman had, for many years, the power to get big name Hollywood actors to agree to be in his movies. And that IS power in Hollywood.

It's just when he gets a good cast, he literally doesn't seem to know what to do with them. (Which is also the problem with the all-female Ghostbusters movie and Paul Feige incompetence made a bad idea worse.)

Ghostbusters is magical. It is one of those rare 'perfect' movies. Everything works, the comedy is solid as a rock and precise as a watch. And nothing ever even comes close to it. Which tells me that Reitman wasn't the reason for Ghostbuster's success.

To me, he was a hired gun who just happened to have big name Hollywood stars who would take his calls.

And fuck Dave, it was made by progressive Leftists and they can horsefuck.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at April 26, 2025 07:45 PM (xcxpd)

7 Its the rebels against the establishment with the stakes being biggest in ghostbusters (we'll pretend the sequel didnt exist) same with the 2016 reboot

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 07:46 PM (bXbFr)

8 6 I was shocked at how...forgettable most of Reitman's output was. TJM sees an authorial voice, I don't. What I do see was the Reitman had, for many years, the power to get big name Hollywood actors to agree to be in his movies. And that IS power in Hollywood.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at April 26, 2025 07:45 PM (xcxpd)

=====

It's not a good voice, or that strong, but the connective thematic tissue is too prevalent to be brushed aside.

Maybe it was just kind of default underdog stuff, but it was almost every movie. Pure chance would have brought more variation.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 07:47 PM (GBKbO)

9 Yes most hollywood writers are leftists (what can you do) outside of milius who waa sent into the forbidden zone

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 07:48 PM (bXbFr)

10 "TJM sees an authorial voice"

I wouldn't know one if I saw one. Or even if I heard one.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 07:48 PM (Iud1/)

11 God its been (checks notes) 40 years since ghostbusters

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 07:51 PM (bXbFr)

12 Hey I had a first in the other thread, I want my money back!

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at April 26, 2025 07:51 PM (e5NfL)

13 I saw "Woman in the Moon" by Fritz Lang. Overly long at nearly three hours, but for a silent film I found it very refreshing. The acting is much more naturalistic than in a typical silent film. ("Metropolis" is full of what is called "milking the giant cow.")

The over-emoting in most silent films has put me off them. "Woman in the Moon" has made me reexamine that.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 26, 2025 07:51 PM (CHHv1)

14 Something I noticed a while ago (when I still liked Spielberg more than I do now) was that he took the theme of "sons and absent/unfit fathers" too far, or at least included it in too many movies. Worse, the few movies that didn't have it tended to seem muddled, as though Spielberg himself didn't care much. Yes, "Jurassic Park" has amazing visuals, but the script is unfocused and the movie just lurches from one action set-piece to another. So I guess I'm saying that Spielberg is an 'auteur' in the same unenviable way as Reitman, even before he degenerated to making "The Fabelmans".

Posted by: the lower depths at April 26, 2025 07:52 PM (+b4rY)

15 11 God its been (checks notes) 40 years since ghostbusters
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 07:51 PM (bXbFr)

====

Closer to WWII than now.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 07:52 PM (GBKbO)

16 13
The over-emoting in most silent films has put me off them. "Woman in the Moon" has made me reexamine that.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 26, 2025 07:51 PM (CHHv1)

=====

Next, Wings.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 07:54 PM (GBKbO)

17 Wow, this Reitman retrospective is oddly depressing. Not great, not bad, just...meh.

Now, would Roger Corman be considered an auteur? He ranges from artistic-adjacent to deliriously trashy, but there is a Corman stamp on the grilled cheez.

I watched "Frankenstein Unbound" and it was a nifty gothic mad scientist story bookended by 80's sci fi camp. Can't go wrong with John Hurt and Raul Julia, and I would have lied more Jason Patrick and Michael Hutchens as Byron and Shelly.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 07:55 PM (kpS4V)

18 Ii havent even tried to watch the fabelmans of course much of the bests were improvised gozer was entirely made up (no such hittite gods) but giant devil dogs

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 07:55 PM (bXbFr)

19 16

I just watched "Wings" recently. It's technically brilliant but hampered by the main character being a wanker who generally makes life harder for everyone around him, and yet that's the guy we're supposed to root for. Clara Bow is criminally underused (other than giving us perhaps her only nip slip of her career).

Posted by: the lower depths at April 26, 2025 07:56 PM (+b4rY)

20 And honestly can we not forget sigourney weavers part in this

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 07:56 PM (bXbFr)

21 Aaron Sorkin brought the McGuffin into the world of politics. When the characters in West Wing have a beautiful moment because they passed a Very Important Bill, it doesn't matter what the bill is about anymore than the contents of the suitcase.

That might be a lens to look at Dave, but would probably miss the point. I haven't seen it in a long time.

The very best McGuffin was in Pulp Fiction, because it cast a golden light on Vincent and left him speechless.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 26, 2025 07:56 PM (lhenN)

22 17 Now, would Roger Corman be considered an auteur? He ranges from artistic-adjacent to deliriously trashy, but there is a Corman stamp on the grilled cheez.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 07:55 PM (kpS4V)

==

Short answer, yes. All directors are to some small degree or another.

Longer answer, he was more of a craftsman than an artist.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 07:57 PM (GBKbO)

23 "In Search of Comedy" section, first graf.

I think you meant to write "Twins" and not "Junior."

And "Ghostbusters II" was a big disappointment. The problem was the adversary. After a world-threatening ancient being, a medieval warlock was a huge comedown.

The MCU has the same problem with Thanos.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 26, 2025 07:57 PM (p/isN)

24 Because I have nothing I will ask is Jurrasic Park really sci-fi ?

Posted by: Ben Had at April 26, 2025 07:58 PM (oXfCm)

25 Good evening everyone
Watched Omega Man, a oldie but a goodie

Posted by: Skip at April 26, 2025 07:58 PM (ypFCm)

26 That's a good distinction, TJM.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 07:58 PM (kpS4V)

27 Well yes crichton tried to make it as realistic as possible

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 07:58 PM (bXbFr)

28 All of Bill Murray's leading roles have been the ne'er-do-well finding redemption. Stripes & Ghostbusters, then Groundhog Day as the exemplars.

Posted by: Nazdar at April 26, 2025 07:59 PM (NcvvS)

29 "All directors are [auteurs] to some small degree or another."

Now I understand it even less than before.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 07:59 PM (Iud1/)

30 Going back to andromeda strain

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 07:59 PM (bXbFr)

31 "Bona" (1980) Nora Aunor (who?) passed away April 16, and gushing tributes have been citing this movie, in which she starred and produced, as Very Important in Philippine Cinema. Once thought lost, the film was rediscovered, restored, and repremiered at Cannes in 2024. Viewer Beware: they joyfully slash, roast, and eat dogs over there.
youtube.com/watch?v=rwdJ_Aalnmg

"Battle of Triangle Hill" (1956) Chicom flick about the 1952 Battle of Sanganling, Korean War. Pretty good action, rousing performances. Here's an excerpt of their subtitled sausagefest banter under fire:
"Why no more snogging? Why don't you have sex? What's going on? We don't do it at times like this! Contact us soon!" After a bit, the mood brightens when adorably eager manic pixie Maoist Liu Yuru arrives.
youtube.com/watch?v=tkn-uN_hhro

"The Alto Knights" (2025) Costello and Genovese sort out some beefs. I like mob movies. I like DeNiro's acting. I like this movie. It is what it is. It is what it is.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 07:59 PM (Iud1/)

32 24 Because I have nothing I will ask is Jurrasic Park really sci-fi ?
Posted by: Ben Had at April 26, 2025 07:58 PM (oXfCm)
What would be better than dire wolves? That's right. Velociraptors.

Posted by: Eromero at April 26, 2025 08:00 PM (LHPAg)

33 Other than Ghostbusters, I don't really like any of his movies that I have seen at this point. I liked Stripes when I saw it, but I was 12.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at April 26, 2025 08:00 PM (4/BuS)

34 "Forbidden Desires" aka "Damaged Goods" (1937) (59 mins) Pretty good syphilis roadshow drama. Adapted by Upton Sinclair. It's timely again today, since USA syphilis cases are currently up to a quarter million per annum, a 75-year high. Maybe that's why the country went so insane over the past ten years.

Thanks to the moron who mentioned "Man on Fire" (1987) a couple threads back! Scott Glenn has the right stuff to cut a bitch. Joe Pesci, dressed as Geddy Lee, shreds 'Johnny B Goode' on acoustic. A must watch for fans of the MoF 2004 remake!
youtube.com/watch?v=uCxkxV7u8ZQ

"Wuthering Heights" (1939), "Madame Bovary" (1949), my first encounter with these two classic stories. Both held my interest throughout. 'Bovary' was almost interesting enough to tempt me to read the actual novel, were it not for the fact that books are for fags.

"Try and Get Me!" (1950) Desperate but totally not-gay husband and father picks up slick hunk Lloyd Bridges at a bowling alley. He goes back to fancyboy's hotel room to watch him strip off his shirt, flex, and perfume himself, while handing him his shoes and handbrushes, and approving his choice of necktie. Violent crime wave inevitably ensues.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 08:00 PM (Iud1/)

35 Auteur suggests a certain vision that is in all their projects

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:01 PM (bXbFr)

36 29 "All directors are [auteurs] to some small degree or another."

Now I understand it even less than before.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 07:59 PM (Iud1/)

===

Outside the dregs of a studio system, all directors have some say over what projects they take. That gives them a degree of control over what they make, which allows them some level of being able to move their next production in directions they want.

It can be no more than choosing one of a few scripts offered to them, the one that most interests them.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:01 PM (GBKbO)

37 "Because I have nothing I will ask is Jurrasic Park really sci-fi ?
Posted by: Ben Had"

I think the book was when it came out.

Posted by: fd at April 26, 2025 08:01 PM (vFG9F)

38 37 "Because I have nothing I will ask is Jurrasic Park really sci-fi ?
Posted by: Ben Had"

I think the book was when it came out.
Posted by: fd at April 26, 2025 08:01 PM (vFG9F)

====

Chaos theory is still considered a joke, and the genetics is so disconnected from the reality that it might as well be fantasy.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:02 PM (GBKbO)

39 I thought Legal Eagles was stupid

Posted by: Skip at April 26, 2025 08:03 PM (ypFCm)

40 James Madison has a good sense as to what is polished and not polished. It is easy if you look for it. Amadeus, Glenn Gary were polished into gems because they were long-running plays. I bet the early versions didn't have the mojo.

In animation, Brad Bird explains that he passed around the storyboard for the climax of Incredibles until it couldn't be done anymore. I don't believe him, there was something left wanting about it. An example of of finshed, done, and no room for improvement would be the first Kung Fu Panda.

Live action "no room for improvement", the end of the (otherwise bad) Lone Ranger movie with Gore Verbinski.
"Sudden yet inevitable" scene starts when the train whistles and the lady screams. We know exactly what is going to happen, we just don't know how.

https://youtu.be/2FqdIhEfVnY?si=WPTOth9PrkgKyhLE

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 26, 2025 08:04 PM (lhenN)

41 35, 36 I guess I call that 'style.' I can recognize some directors by, and love them because of, their style: Coens, Lumet.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 08:05 PM (Iud1/)

42 Oh that was turrble but there was worse to come

I think the point is to entertain most modern output is very bad at that

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:05 PM (bXbFr)

43 "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec" by Luc Besson is like a combination of Indiana Jones and Tin Tin, set in 1910's Paris. Lady adventurer Adèle reanimates an Egyptian mummy who may hold the secret to curing her comatose sister.

Not great, but the costumes, settings, and effects were fun. Loved the mummies strolling around the Louvre at night ("This plaza needs a pyramid").

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 08:05 PM (kpS4V)

44 "Chaos theory is still considered a joke, and the genetics is so disconnected from the reality that it might as well be fantasy.
Posted by: TJM's phone"

Lots of SciFi is a stretch. See "Star Trek".

Posted by: fd at April 26, 2025 08:06 PM (vFG9F)

45 Yeah that part of the film thats almost two hours in

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:07 PM (bXbFr)

46 44
Lots of SciFi is a stretch. See "Star Trek".
Posted by: fd at April 26, 2025 08:06 PM (vFG9F)

===

Hard sci-fi is rare. Good hard sci-fi is even rarer.

The ones who know the science generally can't write. The ones who can write generally don't know the science.

There are definite exceptions, but it gets even harder in film which trends harder towards mass appeal.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:08 PM (GBKbO)

47 Like he remembered what he had done with pirates franchise

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:08 PM (bXbFr)

48 47 Like he remembered what he had done with pirates franchise
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:08 PM

===

Gore Verbinski is one of the best working filmmakers (he is finally working again).

I wish he had the Zack Snyder cult instead of Snyder.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:10 PM (GBKbO)

49 Photo of adorably eager manic pixie Maoist Liu Yuru for your bunk:
https://tinyurl.com/56cfkzku

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 08:12 PM (Iud1/)

50 I used to only like the score but the franchise has grown on me

To make the lone ranger boring thats a crime

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:13 PM (bXbFr)

51 How about the core (lets forget that ever happened)

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:13 PM (bXbFr)

52 Anime:

I watched Mazinkaiser SKL, which is terrifically retarded 90 minutes. I will watch it again, and maybe I'll be able to tell the twin brothers apart.

Key the Metal Idol
Kevin Smith did a comedy bit about Hitchbot that sounds exactly like the autistic robot girl. 7/10
It seems like it was it was made by someone who hates the animation business, and finds entertainment in general sleazy as far as how it gets produced.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 26, 2025 08:14 PM (lhenN)

53 From what I have gathered in interviews, if you were an actor, Ivan was a real hoot to work for.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at April 26, 2025 08:15 PM (mH6SG)

54 Hi Mom, here is your gift for Mother's Day

Not Jewelry and not flowers but a......................

Brattleboro FART Tube with your picture on it...........

What do mean I am an Idiot and get the F**k out of your house and never come back ????

Posted by: Allota Fagina at April 26, 2025 08:16 PM (LHY/5)

55 The very best McGuffin was in Pulp Fiction, because it cast a golden light on Vincent and left him speechless.
Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 26, 2025 07:56 PM (lhenN)

Eh, that's just Tarantino stealing what's good.

Complete rip from "Kiss Me Deadly".

Posted by: naturalfake at April 26, 2025 08:17 PM (iJfKG)

56 "Because I have nothing I will ask is Jurrasic Park really sci-fi ?
Posted by: Ben Had"

I saw a (supposed) documentary about extracting Jesus' DNA from the Shroud of Turin. Inspired by the success of reviving the direwolf, I think we should pursue this. Create a new Tyrannosaur, created a new Jesus, and Jesus can ride a dinosaur!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 26, 2025 08:17 PM (L/fGl)

57 56 I saw a (supposed) documentary about extracting Jesus' DNA from the Shroud of Turin. Inspired by the success of reviving the direwolf, I think we should pursue this. Create a new Tyrannosaur, created a new Jesus, and Jesus can ride a dinosaur!
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 26, 2025 08:17 PM (L/fGl)

===

You're thinking too small.

Two words:

Jesus saurus.

A Jesus dino.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:19 PM (GBKbO)

58 Speaking of movies, "Willard" is on Svengoolie.

Posted by: fd at April 26, 2025 08:19 PM (vFG9F)

59 Because I have nothing I will ask is Jurrasic Park really sci-fi ?
Posted by: Ben Had at April 26, 2025 07:58 PM (oXfCm)

I think it is more of a monster movie, the scifi element is in the genetic engineering; otherwise it is The Lost World or The Giant Shrews with a plausible backstory, I think.

[centering my soapbox]

Science fiction is a genre of people and societies coping and exploiting the changes caused by new technology, so Princess of Mars is science fiction, but Jurassic Park is pretty much The Ghost and the Darkness, or Beowulf - which is also an "encounter the monster, chase the monster, get killed by the monster, defeat the monster" story.
It is also why Dune is science fiction in how it explores and exploits technology, but the Star Wars movies tend to be just people dealing with odd politics and the main struggle is within the characters, not dealing with the outcome of technology.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 26, 2025 08:20 PM (D7oie)

60 It's probably sad that the only movies I ever see anymore come on a cheesy tv show on Saturday nights.

Posted by: fd at April 26, 2025 08:20 PM (vFG9F)

61 Polished: The basement scene from Inglorious Basterds.

QT said that it wasn't very long, but he kept rewriting it. Once it became half an hour, he tried to give a good reason to cut it back down again, and didn't find one.

Polished but then rushed: The Joker scene where he goes on Murray's late night show. You could say that this is how late-night works, a 20-minute conversation cut down to 7. But it felt like there was a longer scene that wasn't allowed to breathe. The tension would have held it up fine.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 26, 2025 08:21 PM (lhenN)

62 he main creative force when he was directing.

What am I, chopped liver?

Posted by: zombie Russ Meyer at April 26, 2025 08:21 PM (0sNs1)

63
Saw "Lucy" on streaming last weekend.

I pretty much love that movie and always watch it when I get an opportunity.

Where else can you get "@001" based together with john Wickian script that just get more lunatic as it goes along.

Probably, the high point of Scarlett Johanson's career. Like Keanu Reeves, she or her org know how to pick the right script for her.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 26, 2025 08:21 PM (iJfKG)

64 Is "@001" unrendered Unicode for "titties?"

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 08:23 PM (Iud1/)

65 Yes thats ones really out there

Goes from science to sorcery

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:23 PM (bXbFr)

66
@001 = 2001

Who knew?

Posted by: naturalfake at April 26, 2025 08:24 PM (iJfKG)

67 I guess judging by his success I'm in the minority but I never found "Bill Murray being Bill Murray being funny" particularly funny.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 26, 2025 08:25 PM (/y8xj)

68 66
@001 = 2001

Who knew?
Posted by: naturalfake at April 26, 2025 08:24 PM (iDino.

====

The Shadow.

The Shadow knows.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:25 PM (GBKbO)

69 67 I guess judging by his success I'm in the minority but I never found "Bill Murray being Bill Murray being funny" particularly funny.
Posted by: Oddbob at April 26, 2025 08:25 PM (/y8xj)

====

I'm removed from his height of popularity, but I kind of get it. He was a funny guy, but humor is subjective.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:26 PM (GBKbO)

70 Whenever I think of ScarJo, I think of that red carpet appearance video where some faggy interviewer reached out and Honked her boob good and proper. She let him get away with it, at least until the camera was turned off.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 08:28 PM (Iud1/)

71 I watched Breaker Morant last week for the first time in years. It holds up. So good. I actually cried at the end.

Legal Eagles was horrible. Redford was 30 years too old for that part.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at April 26, 2025 08:29 PM (b294k)

72 Better call it a night
Have a great evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at April 26, 2025 08:30 PM (ypFCm)

73 71 Legal Eagles was horrible. Redford was 30 years too old for that part.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at April 26, 2025 08:29 PM (b294k)

===

Also not nearly funny enough. And the script kinda stunk.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:30 PM (GBKbO)

74 72 Better call it a night
Have a great evening everyone
Posted by: Skip at April 26, 2025 08:30 PM (ypFCm)
===

Thanks for stopping by!

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:30 PM (GBKbO)

75 Luc Besson was 10 when 2001 A Space Odyssey came out. When I saw Lucy I wondered if he was bookending his career. Of course that wasn't his last movie, so nevermind.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 26, 2025 08:31 PM (lhenN)

76 TJM, I want you to know I truly appreciate all the research and work you put into your threads. Thank you.

Posted by: Ben Had at April 26, 2025 08:32 PM (oXfCm)

77 "The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec" by Luc Besson is like a combination of Indiana Jones and Tin Tin, set in 1910's Paris. Lady adventurer Adèle reanimates an Egyptian mummy who may hold the secret to curing her comatose sister.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 08:05 PM (kpS4V)

Ooh, hey, I may have to watch that one.

Posted by: Kindltot at April 26, 2025 08:32 PM (D7oie)

78 >Whenever I think of ScarJo, I think of that red carpet appearance video where some faggy interviewer reached out and Honked her boob good and proper.

Don't call me "faggy" asshole.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 26, 2025 08:32 PM (lhenN)

79 I'm watching Banana Ball on YouTube.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at April 26, 2025 08:32 PM (b294k)

80 76 TJM, I want you to know I truly appreciate all the research and work you put into your threads. Thank you.
Posted by: Ben Had at April 26, 2025 08:32 PM (oXfCm)

===

Thank you! It's nice to hear.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:33 PM (GBKbO)

81 I see there is new movie, Companion, about a guy who has his perfect girlfriend AI girlfriend built and all is good until he tells her she is an android. Now she’s all upset wondering who she is and going android liberation. At least that's the sense of it I got from the trailer. Dude should just reboot her hard drive and, this time, keep his mouth shut.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 26, 2025 08:35 PM (L/fGl)

82 Reitman did Groundhog Day, right? One of my favorite flicks.

Posted by: Bulg at April 26, 2025 08:35 PM (77rzZ)

83 78 It was Isaac Mizrahi. He had way more guts than I do, and I'm not even gay.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 08:35 PM (Iud1/)

84 82 Reitman did Groundhog Day, right? One of my favorite flicks.
Posted by: Bulg at April 26, 2025 08:35 PM (77rzZ)

===

That one was Ramis.

I'll do his movies at some point, I'm sure.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:35 PM (GBKbO)

85 Breaker Morant is very good. A bit of history-bending perhaps, but creates a great distinctive "feel", one of the movies in my memory that does that the best. And of course beautiful setting and classic dialogue, especially the funny lines. And some enduring classic lines:

"We caught them, and we shot them, under Rule 3-0-3!"

Posted by: rhomboid at April 26, 2025 08:36 PM (1m82a)

86 TJM, thanks for the all the work that went into the Roger Corman essay. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your individual summaries of the films and the final essay.

Posted by: Altaria Pilgram - My President has convictions at April 26, 2025 08:37 PM (amnH6)

87 Since the tariffs, China says they're letting much fewer American flicks in. This might actually save Hollywood if they start making films the US audience wants to see rather than comic book movies for Chi-Na.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at April 26, 2025 08:37 PM (b294k)

88 86 TJM, thanks for the all the work that went into the Roger Corman essay. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your individual summaries of the films and the final essay.
Posted by: Altaria Pilgram - My President has convictions at April 26, 2025 08:37 PM (amnH6

===

I believe I did it for you, so you're welcome!

I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, so I thank you for suggesting it.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:38 PM (GBKbO)

89 It's not a good voice, or that strong, but the connective thematic tissue is too prevalent to be brushed aside.

Maybe it was just kind of default underdog stuff, but it was almost every movie. Pure chance would have brought more variation.
Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 07:47 PM (GBKbO)

Maybe I'm quibbling here but, I'll grant you that he has an underdog theme as a consistency. But that's just a theme, it's not a character hook (Howard Hawks had his 'Hawksian women'), or a voice, or a cinematic language.

He liked underdogs. But that's not a voice, I don't think.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at April 26, 2025 08:38 PM (xcxpd)

90 "We caught them, and we shot them, under Rule 3-0-3!"
Posted by: rhomboid

"The....events at Fort Edward."

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at April 26, 2025 08:39 PM (b294k)

91 Actually I bought more Lang silents from Kino-Lorber. (They were having a big sale until recently. TJM out front should've told you.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 26, 2025 08:41 PM (CHHv1)

92 87 Since the tariffs, China says they're letting much fewer American flicks in. This might actually save Hollywood if they start making films the US audience wants to see rather than comic book movies for Chi-Na.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at April 26, 2025 08:37 PM (b294k)

====

Hollywood stopped trying to appeal to China about 10 years ago.

Chinese films began dominating the Chinese box office, and Hollywood had no choice but to move on. There's still some Chinese money moving around, but the weird Chinese inserts like in The Martian and Transformers 5 (I think it was that one) stopped about a decade ago. Those were the biggest signs that Hollywood was trying to sell tickets in China.

Hollywood's problems now aren't tied at all to China. They're self inflicted.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:41 PM (GBKbO)

93 81 I see there is new movie, Companion, about a guy who has his perfect girlfriend AI girlfriend built and all is good until he tells her she is an android. Now she’s all upset wondering who she is and going android liberation. At least that's the sense of it I got from the trailer. Dude should just reboot her hard drive and, this time, keep his mouth shut.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 26, 2025 08:35 PM (L/fGl)

It's a decent movie. Good, not great. Sort of a poor man's Ex Machina.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at April 26, 2025 08:41 PM (4/BuS)

94 89 Maybe I'm quibbling here but, I'll grant you that he has an underdog theme as a consistency. But that's just a theme, it's not a character hook (Howard Hawks had his 'Hawksian women'), or a voice, or a cinematic language.

He liked underdogs. But that's not a voice, I don't think.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at April 26, 2025 08:38 PM (xcxpd)

===

Motif vs theme?

I think he was trying for it, but just wasn't good at it.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:42 PM (GBKbO)

95 You forgot to mention his first film, "Heavy Metal". Very uneven, but a fun animation. It was the inspiration for Elon Musk launching a sports car into space.

Posted by: Angel at April 26, 2025 08:42 PM (oiJGz)

96 91 Actually I bought more Lang silents from Kino-Lorber. (They were having a big sale until recently. TJM out front should've told you.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 26, 2025 08:41 PM

====

That really nice Silent Lang set?

One of my favorite box sets. So handsome.

The Neibelingun is great, especially part 2.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:43 PM (GBKbO)

97 It was the inspiration for Elon Musk launching a sports car into space.
Posted by: Angel

And boobs. Lots of boobs. Which as a 17 year old I was all in favor of.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at April 26, 2025 08:44 PM (b294k)

98 And even if we win, if we win, HAH! Even if we win! Even if we play so far above our heads that our noses bleed for a week to ten days; even if God in Heaven above comes down and points his hand at our side of the field; even if every man woman and child held hands together and prayed for us to win, it just wouldn't matter because all the really good looking girls would still go out with the guys from Mohawk because they've got all the money! It just doesn't matter if we win or we lose. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!

Posted by: Archer at April 26, 2025 08:44 PM (IDphi)

99 TJM, educate me. Weren't the Misdion Impossible movies tied to China by way of Alibaba?

Posted by: Ben Had at April 26, 2025 08:45 PM (oXfCm)

100 I was reminded of Reitman because last night I watched an old Alfred Hitchcock Presents with Vic Morrow and Mrs. F. didn't know who he was.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 26, 2025 08:46 PM (RIvkX)

101 71 I watched Breaker Morant last week for the first time in years. It holds up. So good. I actually cried at the end.

Legal Eagles was horrible. Redford was 30 years too old for that part.
Posted by: Blutarski

'Shoot straight, you bastards!'.

Yep, BM still holds up very well.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at April 26, 2025 08:48 PM (K861k)

102 Anya taylor joy is not an android change my mind?

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:48 PM (bXbFr)

103 Cherry 2000

Posted by: Archer at April 26, 2025 08:48 PM (IDphi)

104 99 TJM, educate me. Weren't the Misdion Impossible movies tied to China by way of Alibaba?
Posted by: Ben Had at April 26, 2025 08:45 PM (oXfCm)

====

I think the last one to get funding through Alibaba was Fallout.

But, MI is one of those franchises Hollywood can still sell to some degree in China. Big action spectacles sell well almost everywhere. And at $400 million just for production, Hollywood needs every penny at the box office, even 10% of the money they get from the Chinese box office (the rest to the state). MI Final Reckoning is something Hollywood really wants to release in China.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:48 PM (GBKbO)

105 I was reminded of Reitman because last night I watched an old Alfred Hitchcock Presents with Vic Morrow and Mrs. F. didn't know who he was.
Posted by: San Franpsycho

Morrow was one of the best heels ever in Bad News Bears. I really hated that guy.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at April 26, 2025 08:48 PM (b294k)

106 102 Anya taylor joy is not an android change my mind?
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:48 PM (bXbFr)

===

She called herself the first ugly actress to play Emma in a Jane Austen adaptation.

She herself thinks she looks weird.l and doesn't understand how she has a career as an actress and model.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:49 PM (GBKbO)

107 Svengoolie is showing Willard.
What a rat bastard.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at April 26, 2025 08:50 PM (ufFY8)

108 You could say that this is how late-night works

-
I enjoyed Late Night With the Devil. A desperate late night host, allegedly based on Conan O'Brian, needs to make some noise if he's to avoid cancelation. On Halloween night, he puts on an all spook show with a psychic, a debunker, and, the star of the show, the young girl soul survivor of a Satanic cult massacre. The host pushes everything to the limit until he goes to far . . .

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 26, 2025 08:50 PM (L/fGl)

109 Sorry, confused him with John Landis

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 26, 2025 08:50 PM (RIvkX)

110 Yep, BM still holds up very well.
Posted by: Puddleglum

"And a man's foes shall be those of his own house".

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at April 26, 2025 08:50 PM (b294k)

111 There once was a man from Australia
Who painted his arse like a dahlia
The design was just fine
And the color divine
But the smell -- hoo god, what a failiah!

(If I'm remembering this "pome" correctly)

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 08:50 PM (kpS4V)

112 I saw Willard and then was taken to McDonald's for my first burger and shake and promptly emeticized it all over the back seat.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 26, 2025 08:52 PM (RIvkX)

113 108 Yes, I watched that after it was reviewed here about a year ago. Recommended.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 08:52 PM (Iud1/)

114 35 Auteur suggests a certain vision that is in all their projects
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 08:01 PM (bXbFr)

---------

My oeuvre is stuff blowing up, mostly.

Posted by: Michael Bay at April 26, 2025 08:53 PM (JkO4W)

115 "and promptly emeticized it all over the back seat."

Everybody's a critic.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 08:53 PM (Iud1/)

116 She called herself the first ugly actress to play Emma in a Jane Austen adaptation.

She herself thinks she looks weird.l and doesn't understand how she has a career as an actress and model.
Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:49 PM (GBKbO)

She is weird looking.
But weird is not always bad.

Given that almost all Hollywood can do these days is revive existing IPs, they're missing the chance to make an Elfquest series. She looks like she was 3-D printed from the comics.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at April 26, 2025 08:53 PM (4/BuS)

117 114 My oeuvre is stuff blowing up, mostly.
Posted by: Michael Bay at April 26, 2025 08:53 PM (JkO4W)

===

Underrated.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 08:54 PM (GBKbO)

118 I saw Willard and then was taken to McDonald's for my first burger and shake and promptly emeticized it all over the back seat.
Posted by: San Franpsycho

I saw Willard as a child and remember thinking, "Why aren't all movie this cool?"

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at April 26, 2025 08:54 PM (b294k)

119 I see the Jacuzzi.com girl is on TV ads.

I really like Jacuzzi.com girl. Go, Jacuzzi.com girl!

Posted by: Bulg at April 26, 2025 08:54 PM (77rzZ)

120 Heavy Metal has 10 credited directors (for each segment) but nobody I know.
Gerald Potterton
John Bruno
director (segment "Soft Landing")
John Halas
director (segment "So Beautiful and So Dangerous")
Julian Harris
director (segment "Captain Sternn")
Jimmy T. Murakami
director (segment "Soft Landing")
Barrie Nelson
director (segment "B-17")
Paul Sabella
director (segment "Captain Sternn")
Jack Stokes
director (segment "Den")
Pino Van Lamsweerde
director (segment "Harry Canyon")
Harold Whitaker
director (segment "Grimaldi")

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at April 26, 2025 08:57 PM (xcxpd)

121 "weird looking.
But weird is not always bad."

Rondo Hatton. Tor Johnson. Jack Elam. Tracy Walter. Steve Buscemi.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 08:59 PM (Iud1/)

122 Heavy Metal used to be a great magazine.

But you youngsters wouldn't know about magazines.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 26, 2025 08:59 PM (RIvkX)

123 Thx TJM. Personally I've always like Stripes better than Ghostbusters but that's just me. I think you're spot on about Reitman however.

Posted by: Smell the Glove at April 26, 2025 09:01 PM (Er3Q7)

124 Oh yeah, Peter Lorre. Duh.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 09:01 PM (Iud1/)

125 Cheesing your brains out.

Posted by: Archer at April 26, 2025 09:01 PM (IDphi)

126 122 But you youngsters wouldn't know about magazines.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 26, 2025 08:59 PM

===

*weeps bitterly and deeply unmanfully*
-Bill Kristol

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:01 PM (GBKbO)

127 https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/
Main/ShootingSuperman

Lucy was only a little bit guilty of this. I'm not fighting any super-human with any firearm.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at April 26, 2025 09:01 PM (lhenN)

128 Cleveland drafts prahm time.

Posted by: Boss Moss at April 26, 2025 09:02 PM (VUnvY)

129 Willard has a hum.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at April 26, 2025 09:02 PM (63Dwl)

130 123 Thx TJM. Personally I've always like Stripes better than Ghostbusters but that's just me. I think you're spot on about Reitman however.
Posted by: Smell the Glove at April 26, 2025 09:01 PM

===

Stripes is fun.

But I can't get past the fact that Murray and Ramis cause all of the chaos of the third act and no one seems to notice.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:02 PM (GBKbO)

131 122 I bought the first couple years from the first ish. Gave them away eventually. Mag founder Tony Hendra eventually turned out to be a p3do, or so his daughter said.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 09:02 PM (Iud1/)

132 I liked the movie, but the magazine was flat.

Posted by: Boss Moss at April 26, 2025 09:03 PM (VUnvY)

133 You want an auteur? I give you Romero. No, not that one. Eddie Romero, who cranked out American drive-in fare in the Philippines. Look past the laughable creature makeup, and you can see incredibly well made films, with great photography and intelligent writing. The Mad Doctor in "Terror Is A Man" is the most chilling example of the breed I've ever seen.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at April 26, 2025 09:03 PM (eIjvK)

134 133 You want an auteur? I give you Romero. No, not that one. Eddie Romero, who cranked out American drive-in fare in the Philippines. Look past the laughable creature makeup, and you can see incredibly well made films, with great photography and intelligent writing. The Mad Doctor in "Terror Is A Man" is the most chilling example of the breed I've ever seen.
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at April 26, 2025 09:03 PM (eIjvK)

===

I shall keep him in mind.

Always more to explore and discover.

Thanks!

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:05 PM (GBKbO)

135 I'm watching " The Land That Time Forgot". Two stars! I'm guessing lizards with cardboard spines, but maybe stop-motion dinosaurs?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 09:05 PM (kpS4V)

136 But he was the manager in spinal tap?

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at April 26, 2025 09:05 PM (bXbFr)

137 136 Indeed.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 09:06 PM (Iud1/)

138 Screenplay by Michael Moorcock! Will it get pervy?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 09:07 PM (kpS4V)

139 Eddie Romero, continued:

Check out "Brides of Blood" "The Mad Doctor of Blood Island" and "Beast of Blood".

If Eddie Romero had been Japanese and made samurai films instead, Akira Kurasowa would have been told to go make Godzilla movies.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at April 26, 2025 09:12 PM (eIjvK)

140 Ernest Borgnine was a real dickhead in Willard.

Of course, Willard was a freak himself.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at April 26, 2025 09:13 PM (ufFY8)

141 I believe I did it for you, so you're welcome! I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, so I thank you for suggesting it.
Posted by: TJM's phone

Yes, I am the one who sent you down that rabbit hole. As you were writing the individual summaries I was chasing the films and watched those I could find. I made sure I put some skin in the game - it is the least I could do. I came to appreciate how hard he worked and how few illusions that what he was doing had anything to do with making fancy pant art. There is certain beauty in all that. I really wish I could have spent time with him.

Now, with that out of the way, how about a top twenty Grindhouse-Motorcycle-Women In Prison essay? The arrow of my taste in movies, art, and music often flies from a low brow quiver. I am a product of the sixties: I can't help myself here.

Posted by: Altaria Pilgram - My President has convictions at April 26, 2025 09:14 PM (amnH6)

142 Check out "Brides of Blood" "The Mad Doctor of Blood Island" and "Beast of Blood".
----

This is like if Joe Bob Briggs was programming a movie festival.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 09:15 PM (kpS4V)

143 I know DeNiro is held in contempt by many here, but if it helps anybody overcome their revulsion, I note that "Alto Knights" is written by Pileggi and directed by Barry Levinson. It's an intricate story, and I look forward to rewatching it when I can get hold of a subtitled copy. Recommended.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 09:15 PM (Iud1/)

144 143 I know DeNiro is held in contempt by many here, but if it helps anybody overcome their revulsion, I note that "Alto Knights" is written by Pileggi and directed by Barry Levinson. It's an intricate story, and I look forward to rewatching it when I can get hold of a subtitled copy. Recommended.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 09:15 PM

===

David Zaslav gets a lot of shit for his running of WB, but he's been swinging for the fences as studio head for years, and The Alto Knights is one of those swings.

$50 million for an aged, mobster movie by Levinson? That's something.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:18 PM (GBKbO)

145 81
'Dude should just reboot her hard drive and, this time, keep his mouth shut.'

So many times I wished I could do this.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at April 26, 2025 09:21 PM (3wi/L)

146 Evening, movie buffs,

I just wanted to put in a big cheer for Rian Johnson's classical murder mystery film from 2019, Knives Out, with Daniel Craig as a Southern-sounding private investigator and a raft of famous faces as the suspects. It is fairly clued, fast-moving, and full of little gags (none of the family members can seem to remember which country Ana de Armas's nurse character, "Marta," comes from). Plus it has some solid reasoning and logic by Craig's Benoit Blanc character, and a satisfying solution to the mystery at the climax. It stands up there with The Last of Sheila in my personal list of film mysteries.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 26, 2025 09:22 PM (omVj0)

147 The Land That Time Forgot

-
Reminds me of Troy McClure. I read a great Western novel decades ago, A Distant Trumpet. So I saw the movie was on starring Troy Donohue. Troy was not a good actor and the movie sucked (despite Suzanne Pleshette).

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 26, 2025 09:22 PM (L/fGl)

148 144 IIRC, Levinson directed DeNiro in "Wizard of Lies," which I've seen prolly six times. I think he directed Pacino in "Paterno," which I liked a whole bunch.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 09:23 PM (Iud1/)

149 146 Plus it has some solid reasoning and logic by Craig's Benoit Blanc character, and a satisfying solution to the mystery at the climax. It stands up there with The Last of Sheila in my personal list of film mysteries.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 26, 2025 09:22 PM (omVj0

===

I think my favorite but if Fandom was people saying, "See, Johnson? Subverting my expectations is good some of the time."

And then everyone hated Glass Onion.

Oh well. I'm still looking forward to the third one.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:24 PM (GBKbO)

150 I agree about "Dave": a good, entertaining film. Kevin Kline is very good in it; but, IMHO, Sigourney Weaver as the First Lady is equally good in her supporting role. She brings some real tension to the story, since she realizes before anyone else that Dave isn't her real husband (not surprising, that), but eventually is won over to his mission to fix the country. (The scene where she and Dave mimic a couple impersonating the President and First Lady is quite funny.) And Ben Kingsley is also very good as the vice-president. One detail that struck me about his performance is how, when he sat down to make his big monologue near the end of the movie, he folded one leg over the knee of the other - a gesture I'd seen some of my Midwestern relatives do, but had never seen in the movies before. It took a Brit to use that bit of body language to make the character of the Midwestern shoe salesman turned politician come to life.

Posted by: Nemo at April 26, 2025 09:24 PM (4RPgu)

151 "[Reitman] needed Redford to be Bill Murray. He needed Redford to carry scenes on charm, charisma, and the ability to make people laugh. And yet, every time Reitman demands it of him, the scenes are just kind of dull."

Bill Murray. Yeah. He is the pepper in the pot that gets under appreciated until it goes missing. Another example of how great Murray is at being Bill Murray is in Wes Anderson's film. He steals every scene he is in and I love it all. When Anderson cast Tom Hanks as Bill Murray in Atomic City - what the hell? - what a complete disaster. It was in that film I came to grasp what Murray adds to ensemble. He is one best comedic actors/personalities ever. Thanks for the great observation.

Posted by: Altaria Pilgram - My President has convictions at April 26, 2025 09:28 PM (amnH6)

152 Tonite it's going to be "Hoodlum Empire" (1952) or "The Captive City" (1952). I'm leaning toward the latter, since it is recommended by Senator Kefauver. I can enjoy the movie and do my civic duty at the same time.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 09:29 PM (Iud1/)

153 151 I almost weep when I think what "Atomic City" could have been.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at April 26, 2025 09:30 PM (Iud1/)

154 I guess judging by his success I'm in the minority but I never found "Bill Murray being Bill Murray being funny" particularly funny.
Posted by: Oddbob at April 26, 2025

***
In the Ghostbusters time, I think it was Roger Ebert who said that Murray plays the character who is a stand-in for the audience. Everybody in the theatre believes that, were he in the same outlandish circumstances, he too would come up with the perfect funny lines. ("Not bad for a quadruped." "You don't often see that kind of behavior in a major appliance.")

He's not my favorite actor. Yet, in my short list of "Movies I Would Change Nothing About," he is in three of them. Maybe that just means his taste in scripts aligns with mine.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 26, 2025 09:31 PM (omVj0)

155 151 When Anderson cast Tom Hanks as Bill Murray in Atomic City - what the hell? - what a complete disaster. It was in that film I came to grasp what Murray adds to ensemble. He is one best comedic actors/personalities ever. Thanks for the great observation.
Posted by: Altaria Pilgram - My President has convictions at April 26, 2025 09:28 PM (amnH6

===

I believe it was Murray's schedule that kept him from the movie. He's in a promo of sorts for it.

I would suggest you re-watch the film, though. There's a lot to unpack and discover.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:32 PM (GBKbO)

156 I could be remembering wrong, but wasn't Reitman a producer on some of the early David Cronenberg flicks?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 26, 2025 09:33 PM (q3u5l)

157 Bringing Up Baby is great. Time to watch again!

Posted by: H at April 26, 2025 09:34 PM (2gjbv)

158 (almost) always great advice

Posted by: Admiralspindbender at April 26, 2025 09:34 PM (3JF1a)

159 I liked "Asteroid City".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 09:34 PM (kpS4V)

160 156 I could be remembering wrong, but wasn't Reitman a producer on some of the early David Cronenberg flicks?
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 26, 2025 09:33 PM (q3u5l)

===

The Canadian film industry is small, but not quite that small. I couldn't find any connection between the two.

If Cronenberg is right, and his career is over, I may be putting him on the schedule soon.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:36 PM (GBKbO)

161
I think my favorite but if Fandom was people saying, "See, Johnson? Subverting my expectations is good some of the time."

And then everyone hated Glass Onion.

Oh well. I'm still looking forward to the third one.
Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025

***
I did not know about Glass Onion. I'll have to try it.

I see that Stephen Sondheim is in it as himself. It was he who co-wrote The Last of Sheila fifty years ago with Anthony Perkins.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 26, 2025 09:36 PM (omVj0)

162 Bill Murray is always awesome, in everything he is/was in.

Posted by: Bulg at April 26, 2025 09:36 PM (77rzZ)

163 Anya Taylor Joy does look weird. But she was terrific in the mini-series of Walter Tevis's THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT. Now and then I think about signing up for Netflix again just to watch that series one more once.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 26, 2025 09:38 PM (q3u5l)

164 The Chosen.

Posted by: Come and see at April 26, 2025 09:38 PM (dg+HA)

165 When I was a drama major in the mid-'70s in college, I envisioned myself as, someday, a comic lead actor. It was not until long after Murray's ascension that I realized: I wanted to be Bill Murray *before there was a Bill Murray*.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 26, 2025 09:39 PM (omVj0)

166 Finally watched "Tombstone" for the very first time, at the age of 62.

I found myself extraordinarily underwhelmed, sadly. Not sure why Val Kilmer's performance is so beloved, may he rest in peace. I kept trying to figure out what was wrong with his mouth every time he spoke.

I did enjoy Michael Biehn and Powers Boothe's performances, as over the top as they were. And of course, Dana Delany is hotter than the inside of the Sun, so that was nice.

Perhaps I have just been spoiled by Clint Eastwood's westerns.

Oh, well.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 26, 2025 09:41 PM (/RHNq)

167 166 Perhaps I have just been spoiled by Clint Eastwood's westerns.

Oh, well.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 26, 2025 09:41 PM (/RHNq)

===

I am also in the underwhelmed club on Tombstone.

You're not alone, but it is a small club.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:42 PM (GBKbO)

168 I think we all yearn for a time when people knew right from wrong, when children obeyed their parents, and didn’t kill them. A time when a lost child could approach anyone just a bit older to help them get home and they didn’t get kidnapped. Heck, a time when convicts were more honest than todays judges

Posted by: Eromero at April 26, 2025 09:42 PM (LHPAg)

169 I liked Tombstone - I thought most of the performances were on point for the kind of movie it is.

The history though isn't as clear cut as to who the "good guys" were...

Posted by: 18-1 at April 26, 2025 09:43 PM (t0Rmr)

170 169 I liked Tombstone - I thought most of the performances were on point for the kind of movie it is.

The history though isn't as clear cut as to who the "good guys" were...
Posted by: 18-1 at April 26, 2025 09:43 PM (t0Rmr)

===

I wish I liked the movie Wyatt Earp more than I do.

I want there to be a clear winner between the two.

But alas, no do...
ing.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:44 PM (GBKbO)

171 Re: My Super Ex-Girlfriend, guess he was hoping Eddie Izzard would be his Murray? He's funny but it was a weird plot.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 26, 2025 09:45 PM (KHnV4)

172 Finally watched "Tombstone" for the very first time, at the age of 62.

I found myself extraordinarily underwhelmed, sadly. Not sure why Val Kilmer's performance is so beloved, may he rest in peace. I kept trying to figure out what was wrong with his mouth every time he spoke.

I did enjoy Michael Biehn and Powers Boothe's performances, as over the top as they were. And of course, Dana Delany is hotter than the inside of the Sun, so that was nice.

Perhaps I have just been spoiled by Clint Eastwood's westerns.

Oh, well.
Posted by: Sharkman at April 26, 2025

***
I concur with your third paragraph. And no, I did not think Kilmer was the definitive Doc Holliday. I keep thinking of the Earps and Holliday in the old Trek episode "Spectre of the Gun." They probably looked and acted more like the real people did.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 26, 2025 09:45 PM (omVj0)

173 TJM --

Just checked Reitman's IMDB entry -- weirdly enough, he's credited as a producer on Cronenberg's SHIVERS and RABID. Unless there's another Ivan Reitman and IMDB garbled the listings.

And no, I don't try to memorize stuff like that, but when I noticed that name in the opening credits of those flicks, it kinda jumped out at me as just a tad incongruous. Who can say why?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 26, 2025 09:46 PM (q3u5l)

174 Perhaps I have just been spoiled by Clint Eastwood's westerns.
Posted by: Sharkman

There's your problem.

"Tombstone" was a Western for people who don't like Westerns.

Change my mind.

Posted by: mikeski at April 26, 2025 09:46 PM (DgGvY)

175 The Bill Murray Stories

https://youtu.be/JXTvNJLwtCs

One hour, eleven minutes.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at April 26, 2025 09:47 PM (dg+HA)

176 173 TJM --

Just checked Reitman's IMDB entry -- weirdly enough, he's credited as a producer on Cronenberg's SHIVERS and RABID. Unless there's another Ivan Reitman and IMDB garbled the listings.

And no, I don't try to memorize stuff like that, but when I noticed that name in the opening credits of those flicks, it kinda jumped out at me as just a tad incongruous. Who can say why?
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 26, 2025 09:46 PM (q3ING.

===

I used Wikipedia, which is probably less complete than IMDB.

You're probably right.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:47 PM (GBKbO)

177 Now, this guy is an actor!

Rep. Jason Crow@RepJasonCrow
Americans don't want a handout or someone telling them how to live their life.
They just want a level playing field and a fair shake.
Folks want to work hard for an honest day’s pay, and know the system isn’t rigged against them.
That’s what the Democratic Party stands for.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Soldier of the Persistence at April 26, 2025 09:48 PM (L/fGl)

178 174 There's your problem.

"Tombstone" was a Western for people who don't like Westerns.

Change my mind.
Posted by: mikeski at April 26, 2025 09:46 PM (DgGvY)

===

It's very arch, but also very serious.

I think that's my problem. Arch can't be serious in my mind.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:48 PM (GBKbO)

179 >>And then everyone hated Glass Onion.

Didn't like either one.
*shrugs*

Posted by: Lizzy at April 26, 2025 09:49 PM (KHnV4)

180
"Tombstone" was a Western for people who don't like Westerns.

Change my mind.
Posted by: mikeski at April 26, 2025

***
So, I submit, was the original True Grit (and, I guess, the remake too). Fourteen-year-old girls do not usually figure as the lead character in Westerns.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 26, 2025 09:50 PM (omVj0)

181 Folks want to work hard for an honest day’s pay, and know the system isn’t rigged against them.

Sex trafficking ain't easy yo!

Posted by: The average Dem voter at April 26, 2025 09:50 PM (t0Rmr)

182 179 >>And then everyone hated Glass Onion.

Didn't like either one.
*shrugs*
Posted by: Lizzy at April 26, 2025 09:49 PM (KHnV4

===

They're puzzle boxes.

I have some fun with movie puzzle boxes. Some people have A LOT of fun with puzzle box movies.

Some people hate it when they see through the puzzle box.

I just see a puzzle box.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:50 PM (GBKbO)

183 >>Americans don't want a handout or someone telling them how to live their life.
They just want a level playing field and a fair shake.
Folks want to work hard for an honest day’s pay, and know the system isn’t rigged against them.
That’s what the Democratic Party stands for.

LOL, what color is the sky in your world, buddy?

Posted by: Lizzy at April 26, 2025 09:51 PM (KHnV4)

184 Loved Tombstone. One of my favorites.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at April 26, 2025 09:52 PM (mH6SG)

185 A couple of films I watched recently that stuck to the ribs.

Stop Making Sense (4K Remaster)
Talking Heads
https://youtu.be/BVPcgwY-9Y8

Everything about this film is spot on. First off, the band is at its peak; the execution of the music is breathtaking. But there is so more here. David Byrne created something much more than music here. It is great live theater an it is a great musical without being a musical. Plus the technical production is stellar. This is one concert film that should be played at 10 and with dancing shoes on.

Everything is Illuminated
Actors: Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz, Boris Leskin
Director: Liev Schreiber
Amazon Prime

It is something of a road movie, it something of journey of self discovery, and it is about coming to terms with terrible events. I could say much more about what I think about this film but I think it is best watched without knowing anything about it. That is how came to see it.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram at April 26, 2025 09:54 PM (amnH6)

186 Not Reitman connected, but speaking of unexpected - incongruous producer credits:

Mel Brooks, producer of Cronenberg's THE FLY, Freddie Francis's THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS, and David Hugh Jones's 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 26, 2025 09:55 PM (q3u5l)

187 186 Not Reitman connected, but speaking of unexpected - incongruous producer credits:

Mel Brooks, producer of Cronenberg's THE FLY, Freddie Francis's THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS, and David Hugh Jones's 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 26, 2025 09:55 PM (q3u5l)

===

And David Lynch's Eraserhead.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:56 PM (GBKbO)

188 I liked both of those movies, Alteria.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 26, 2025 09:56 PM (kpS4V)

189 They're puzzle boxes.

I have some fun with movie puzzle boxes. Some people have A LOT of fun with puzzle box movies.

Some people hate it when they see through the puzzle box.

I just see a puzzle box.
Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025

***
I love 'em when there is something original or astonishing about them, or when they echo something in the classical written mystery. There is a scene in Last of Sheila where we see James Mason experimenting with a set of clues; that echoes various scenes in Ellery Queen stories.

I also want the thunderbolt ending -- a real surprise. When there was a gag in Knives Out about mystery-loving State Trooper Wagner possibly being the killer, I jumped -- if they'd done that and it had made sense, I'd have loved it.

A well-concealed murderer, and his unmasking, is a delight. There are few more dramatic moments in a movie or book than when the detective says, "Now I know who the killer is," and doesn't tell us right away.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 26, 2025 09:56 PM (omVj0)

190 I have some fun with movie puzzle boxes. Some people have A LOT of fun with puzzle box movies.

Oh the fun we will have together!

Posted by: Pinhead at April 26, 2025 09:57 PM (t0Rmr)

191 189 A well-concealed murderer, and his unmasking, is a delight. There are few more dramatic moments in a movie or book than when the detective says, "Now I know who the killer is," and doesn't tell us right away.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at April 26, 2025 09:56 PM (omVj0)

===

My thing is that I disengage from movies and stories I know are hiding things from me. I just stop trying to guess, and I just let the thing play out. I kind of stop engaging and just wait.

Maybe I just don't like to be wrong, so I just don't play.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:59 PM (GBKbO)

192 190 Oh the fun we will have together!
Posted by: Pinhead at April 26, 2025 09:57 PM (t0Rmr)

===

I've only seen the first Hellraiser, but damn...that's good stuff.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 09:59 PM (GBKbO)

193
I've only seen the first Hellraiser, but damn...that's good stuff.

They are very, very uneven.

Some of them are dumb monster movies, some are more fantasy, and some are even mysteries...

Posted by: Pinhead at April 26, 2025 10:00 PM (t0Rmr)

194 Mel Brooks, producer of Cronenberg's THE FLY, Freddie Francis's THE DOCTOR AND THE DEVILS, and David Hugh Jones's 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 26, 2025 09:55 PM (q3u5l)

===

And David Lynch's Eraserhead.
Posted by: TJM's phone

A short article about Mel Brooks involvement.
https://is.gd/XMdqUF

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram at April 26, 2025 10:01 PM (amnH6)

195 ONT is up

Posted by: French Jeton at April 26, 2025 10:01 PM (DehcO)

196 193 They are very, very uneven.

Some of them are dumb monster movies, some are more fantasy, and some are even mysteries...
Posted by: Pinhead at April 26, 2025 10:00 PM (t0Rmr)

===

I almost added them to the schedule for this Halloween.

I chose to go in another direction, but maybe next year.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 10:02 PM (GBKbO)

197 The first Hellraiser is what it is.

The second one is better.

After that, you'd be better off watching Friday the 13th films, at least they don't pretend they're smart.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 26, 2025 10:03 PM (CHHv1)

198 197 After that, you'd be better off watching Friday the 13th films, at least they don't pretend they're smart.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 26, 2025 10:03 PM (CHHv1)

===

I must defend Friday 6.

So good.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 10:04 PM (GBKbO)

199 Brooks didn't produce Eraserhead. He produced The Elephant Man.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 26, 2025 10:05 PM (CHHv1)

200 199 Brooks didn't produce Eraserhead. He produced The Elephant Man.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 26, 2025 10:05 PM

====

Shit.

That's a brain fart.

Thanks for keeping me honest.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 10:05 PM (GBKbO)

201 @198 I bought the blue-ray set. For the love of God, Montresor, I bought the blue-ray set!

Here, it is the beating of his hideous box office returns!

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 26, 2025 10:06 PM (CHHv1)

202 May need to revisit Hellraiser 2 -- first time around it just didn't do it for me the way the first one did.

Ditto the followups to Candyman.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at April 26, 2025 10:07 PM (q3u5l)

203 201 @198 I bought the blue-ray set. For the love of God, Montresor, I bought the blue-ray set!

Here, it is the beating of his hideous box office returns!
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 26, 2025 10:06 PM (CHHv1)

====

I've thought about buying the 4k set, mostly blind.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 10:07 PM (GBKbO)

204 46: Hard sci-fi is rare. Good hard sci-fi is even rarer.
The ones who know the science generally can't write. The ones who can write generally don't know the science.
There are definite exceptions, but it gets even harder in film which trends harder towards mass appeal.
Posted by: TJM's phone

I think author Andy Weir (The Martian) does a great job of laying out complex science so that a moron like me can understand it. Looking forward to the movie version of Weir*s Project Hail Mary. It was a fantastic book. Hopefully the directing tan dem doing the film can bring it to the screen as well as Ridley did for The Martian.

Posted by: SuperMayorSuperRonNirenberg -It*s Fiesta!, But I *m Always A Fiesta Of Buff at April 26, 2025 10:18 PM (IpGGt)

205 1000 words of NOTHING.

WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP?

You criticising film direction is like a janitor criticizing a lawyer in a medical malpractice trial!

Your opinion is meaningless you haven't been there or done that!

Shut the fuck up!

Posted by: Just Sayin at April 26, 2025 10:48 PM (Aps5x)

206 205 1000 words of NOTHING.

WILL YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP?

You criticising film direction is like a janitor criticizing a lawyer in a medical malpractice trial!

Your opinion is meaningless you haven't been there or done that!

Shut the fuck up!
Posted by: Just Sayin at April 26, 2025 10:48 PM (Aps5x)

===

More like 2500 words.

Posted by: TJM's phone at April 26, 2025 10:55 PM (GBKbO)

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