Saturday Evening Movie Thread

Saturday Evening Movie Thread - 1/3/2026

Otto Preminger

Before I started watching the complete filmography of Otto Preminger, I didn't really know what I was going to get. Oh, sure, I'd seen the highlights. I'd seen Anatomy of a Murder, Advise and Consent, and Laura, but he completed nearly forty films in his nearly fifty years making movies. Could I say that those three films were representative of him?

It's not like Laura and the other two have a whole lot in common, but you could draw lines of comparison, but what about Forever Amber or The Moon is Blue or Bonjour Tristesse or Hurry Sundown? What do they have to say about Preminger? Well, that's why I do these runs, so that I can find out.

And you know what I found out about Otto Preminger?

I do not think he was a very good filmmaker.

Eras

I can't say that. He made a few good movies. That means he must be at least good, right? Well, let me talk about his career. I could break it into four distinct periods, but I think it amounts to two pairs where those that make up the pairs aren't different enough to talk about at this high level. So, I'll settle with two: his Fox era and his independent era.

If I have to pick one of the two eras to keep, it would be the Fox era. It's probably the most uneven, but it demonstrates a professionalism in the final products that I don't think most of the independent era have. That's all about Preminger being a cog in the studio system, reporting to Daryl Zanuck, a man who hated Preminger, and having a stable of actors, technicians, and writers around him to cover up what his independent period would reveal to be huge gaps in Preminger's own skillset. So, while we do get drudgery like Forever Amber, a production Preminger was brought in to save after Zanuck fired the original director after a month (none of the original director's footage is in the film) which ends up being a rush job with no real positives, we also get something like Laura, a production Preminger was able to foster within the system as producer until Zanuck fired the director and let Preminger take over.

So, this period has some real highs, like Where the Sidewalk Ends and some real lows, like Kidnapped, but there is this overall professionalism to the films that trends towards the pretty good. Preminger had his highs, his lows, but mostly he was making perfectly competent entertainment with some consistency.

And then, during the production of River of No Return, Preminger got sick of Zanuck and the system and bought out his own contract for $150,000, striking out in the independence. His next production was Carmen Jones (which, ironically, was financed with Fox money though Preminger's production company was independent), an adaptation of the Broadway musical adaptation of the opera Carmen that transports the action to the American South. Watching this, I felt like we were getting a new direction: bold musicals with some kind of progressive emphasis without being didactic about anything like politics.

That's not really what we got.

Independence

When I want to split the independent period in two (the Fox period would be split because of two separate Fox contracts with a gap in the middle), I want to split it in 1959 when he adapts both Porgy and Bess, the Gershwin opera, and Anatomy of a Murder. It's this split between what feels like a focus on the theatrical and a focus on the adaptation of large novels.

Anyway, what matters is Preminger's independence to do what he wants, and I think there are some key examples to pull about how he kind of didn't know what he was doing. The first is Saint Joan, an adaptation of the George Bernard Shaw play, the screenplay written by Graham Greene, that I feel falls flat on its face. It's visually boring while distilling a three hour play to about 90 minutes, and it ends up feeling like a clip show of the events of Joan of Arc's life with Jean Seberg playing the central role, and she's awful. I've never quite understood the French obsession with her in the 50s (Godard called her the greatest actress alive), but she's deeply unconvincing in everything I've seen (yes, even Breathless), and Preminger directs her terribly. She's slightly better in Bonjour Tristesse, but I think that's mostly about better casting (she plays a flippant childlike woman as opposed to the zealous saint), and Preminger not only directed her, he cast her. Producing his own movies independently, she was his sole choice, and he got what he wanted, and she's awful.

Next, we have to talk about the string of adaptations of novels.

Yes, we do get Anatomy of a Murder, which is great, but we also get The Cardinal, which feels like a frustrating biopic, In Harm's Way which has its fans but I feel is just flabby especially in its very long middle section, Hurry Sundown which is really just a collection of subplots without a real narrative center, Exodus which is so long that its length is a source of one of the great anecdotes of Hollywood ("Otto, let my people go!" at the three hour mark during the premiere), and Advise and Consent which pushes so much melodrama into the final act that it almost feels like a parody (I mean...I enjoy the film). There are basic script issues, even in films I like, that make me wonder...why did he let all of those problems through? What did he say to his writers that kept these issues in movie after movie?

And I simply come to the conclusion that his time both as a theatrical director (his job in Germany before he emigrated and where he went after his first Fox contract expired) and his time as a cog in the Fox machine where he constantly took jobs of finishing films for other directors (he did it twice for Ernst Lubitsch on A Foreign Affair and That Lady in Ermine) created this habit in him to just accept the writer's work. He refused vision over the script, trusting that the other creatives were doing their jobs to the best of their abilities. Except, that's not what happens in the studio system. Teams of writers were reworking scripts all of the time, trying to make them better under producer direction.

If you're going to put your name prominently on every poster (almost all designed by Saul Bass and look great, by the way) and prominently display his "produced and directed by" credits, one expects him to exert creative control, and I struggled to find where he did that. His movies were generic looking overall. His noirs looked like noirs, his comedies looked like comedies, his dramas like dramas. Performances could be good (seriously, Dana Andrews' best performances are under Preminger) or terrible (Seberg). The scripts could be great but mostly had issues that kept them back. There was no real connective tissue except perhaps a generalized desire to be controversial (M*A*S*H* has an episode about the disappointing "controversy" around The Moon is Blue) and perhaps something about the abuse of power, but it's all hidden by issue-filled scripts.

Legacy

I hate slagging on directors long since dead, but Preminger's films overall frustrated me. For every movie I loved, like Where the Sidewalk Ends, I'd be met with movies I might like but felt like just needed a little bit here or there to elevate them. And when that happens with something like 90% of his films, the common factor becomes Preminger himself. Not his rotating stables of writers, cinematographers, or actors (the only one who seemed able to stand him was Burgess Meredith who worked with him a bunch late in their careers). And then there'd be the movies that bored me like Forever Amber or seemed to just miss the point like A Foreign Affair.

And yet, his legacy will be his best films, and that's a good thing. The bad ones, the frustrating ones, the incomplete ones, fade away with time, leaving only movies like Anatomy of a Murder or Laura. His final slate of films, almost all adaptations of unremarkable books like Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon or Such Good Friends get dismissed as a late downturn in favor of the masterpieces he left behind.

Well, I just think the masterpieces are the result of either a machine working well (Where the Sidewalk Ends) or blind luck (Anatomy of a Murder). Preminger himself? Well, I think almost anyone could have made those movies just as well.

Movies of Today

Opening in Theaters:

We Bury the Dead

Movies I Saw This Fortnight:

Rosebud (Rating 1/4) Full Review "However, it's not nearly enough in a largely dull, disconnected film that really only exists because Preminger was trying his hand at nepotism." [Tubi]

Tell Me that You Love Me, Junie Moon (Rating 2/4) Full Review "Towards the tail end of Preminger's career, all I have is questions, mostly about why he kept doing it." [YouTube]

Skidoo (Rating 1/4) Full Review "Funny people given nothing funny to do except mug for the camera while Preminger plows through production without ever considering what could have been done to make things actually funny." [Plex]

Bunny Lake is Missing (Rating 3/4) Full Review "It's more focused and, largely, more effective. I think it still reveals issues with how Preminger approached adaptations, but it's a pretty good time at the movies nonetheless." [Library]

The Cardinal (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "So, I actually really liked the film for about two hours. And then�it just repeated itself in major sections that ended up feeling isolated events rather than extensions of a character's journey." [YouTube]

Advise and Consent (Rating 3/4) Full Review "I still don't think Preminger brought much to each film artistically, but perhaps he was just becoming better at being able to choose projects. That's far from nothing." [YouTube]

Exodus (Rating 2/4) Full Review "It's an unfortunate situation because I thought the film up to the point was interesting, if not quite coalescing into a whole. It could have been more, but it wasn't. Oh well." [Kanopy]

Anatomy of a Murder (Rating 4/4) Full Review "Is it Preminger's best film? I wouldn't quite go that far, but it is a great procedural legal drama that feels surprisingly light on its feet for its extended runtime." [Personal Collection]

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 thread will be on 1/24 and it will discuss the directing career of Wolfgang Petersen.

Also, please view my YouTube videos from the last couple of weeks:

Public Domain Day 2026
Akira Kurosawa - The Definitive Ranking
Akira Kurosawa - The Directors Series
Ernst Lubitsch - The Definitive Ranking
Ernst Lubitsch - The Directors Series

Posted by: TheJamesMadison at 07:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 First

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 07:32 PM (cxFcK)

2 Good evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 07:34 PM (Ia/+0)

3 In Harm's way is easily the most unique film of John Wayne. His character was put into so many difficult situations. Plus, he got lucky with Patricia Neal. I don't recall Wayne ever doing that before.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 07:34 PM (cxFcK)

4 "The Mechanic" (1972)
See it, if only for the ghastly interior decor that was considered SoCal 'swanky' in the early 1970s. It's like the set decorator got the furnishings, fixtures and props from the Goodwill Store In Hell.

"Radioactive" (2019)
I'm sitting through this whole movie screaming at the screen "Would somebody in this f'n lab PUHLEEZE put on some safety glasses!?"

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 07:34 PM (GHIyr)

5 "Hurry Sundown" was in "The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (and How They Got That Way)".

Man I loved that book as a teen. Two teenage boys wrote it (they thanked their uncle Michael Medved for driving them to various revival theaters to catch the howlers).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 03, 2026 07:36 PM (kpS4V)

6 Outstanding AoSHQ lurker extraordinaire VDH provides an update:

"I wanted to share a brief health update. I recently underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor and am now recovering. I’m doing well and hopeful as I move forward.

Thank you for the many messages of support and prayers—they truly mean more than I can say. As I focus on recovery, I may not be able to respond to everyone, but please know how grateful I am."

-- Victor Davis Hanson

Posted by: Sharkman at January 03, 2026 07:37 PM (/RHNq)

7 Didn't get to see the Preminger video yet
Only one so far I missed.

Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 07:37 PM (Ia/+0)

8 Yo VDH! Fartclam, bro.

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 07:38 PM (GHIyr)

9 I'm watching "Brand New Cherry Flavor" , about a young wanna-be director trying to get her movie made in Hollywood and the weird people she encounters. Feels Lynchian.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 03, 2026 07:40 PM (kpS4V)

10 Haven't seen much Preminger, but revisited Laura a couple of weeks ago -- that sucker still holds up.

Watched The Drop again recently too. Tom Hardy, James Gandolfini (his last film), and Noomi Rapace. A delight from Dennis Lehane. YMMV.

And hope your new year's fun so far.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 03, 2026 07:41 PM (q3u5l)

11 3
'Plus, he got lucky with Patricia Neal. I don't recall Wayne ever doing that before.'

I didn't know I was supposed to tell you every time I scored.
Pilgrim

Posted by: The Duke at January 03, 2026 07:42 PM (fd80v)

12 Was looking on Tubi for The 7 Samurai, wasn't there, but found a classic war movie Battle of Britain with a well star studded castthis afternoon

Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 07:42 PM (Ia/+0)

13 Good to hear about david handon

In harms way, is a tad melodramatic but i thought those plots meshed

Exodus did a reasonable adaptation of a rather long book

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 03, 2026 07:43 PM (bXbFr)

14 Was looking on Tubi for The 7 Samurai, wasn't there, but found a classic war movie Battle of Britain with a well star studded castthis afternoon
Posted by: Skip

Seven Samurai is available on Turner. I got it on Hulu.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 07:44 PM (cxFcK)

15 >>> almost all designed by Saul Bass and look great, by the way

LOVE Saul Bass. So many posters and film title sequences owe their appeal to him. A true genius. And whenever a company redid a logo he has made, like AT&T, and wiped out his iconic logo, it felt like a crime had been committed. Just one of the best at his craft.

I wonder sometimes if some of the films in that specific era would have been nearly as good without people like Saul Bass enhancing the visuals, or Henry Mancinis's amazing music.

Posted by: LizLem at January 03, 2026 07:46 PM (gWBY1)

16 Some other projects like skidoo and rosebud oh my god they were terrible

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 03, 2026 07:46 PM (bXbFr)

17 Thanks to the moron(s) who recommended “In Harm’s Way” (1965). I liked it, and now I’ve got the book too. Kanopy streaming has a good print in original aspect ratio. Recommended. (I was going to make a joke about Brandon De Wilde wailing “I hate you, Wayne! I hate you!” but instead I prudently have chosen to mention free-spirited actress Jill Haworth in her sopping wet see-through undies.)

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 07:46 PM (GHIyr)

18 Hanson (you what i mean)

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 03, 2026 07:46 PM (bXbFr)

19 '"Is it Preminger's best film? I wouldn't quite go that far,'

Pedantic point.
You gave it the only (Rating 4/4) .
So you did go that far.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 03, 2026 07:47 PM (fd80v)

20 19 '"Is it Preminger's best film? I wouldn't quite go that far,'

Pedantic point.
You gave it the only (Rating 4/4) .
So you did go that far.
Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 03, 2026 07:47 PM (fd80v)

=====

I think Where the Sidewalk Ends is better.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 07:48 PM (GBKbO)

21 I had a hard time seeing Brandon DeWilde as the Duke's son. Seemed miscast. But Patrick O'Neal as the oily politician was spot on.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 07:48 PM (cxFcK)

22 Anybody here anything from Presdent Oboner yet ???

Posted by: Mary Cloggistein from Brattleboro, Vt at January 03, 2026 07:48 PM (wXPKd)

23 I wanted to see some Kurosawa films, will keep looking. Haven't investigated what my tv can do since it got upgraded

Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 07:48 PM (Ia/+0)

24 Seven Samurai 1954?

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 03, 2026 07:49 PM (Z5vAv)

25 23 I wanted to see some Kurosawa films, will keep looking. Haven't investigated what my tv can do since it got upgraded
Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 07:48 PM (Ia/+0)

=====

The Criterion Channel is the easiest source. It has the vast majority.

I think they offer 7 day free trials.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 07:50 PM (GBKbO)

26 I probably have seen ihw a dozen times or though

One might quibble with some of these names like gavsbuto and le buana

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 03, 2026 07:50 PM (bXbFr)

27 Obligatory Tolkien reference: Preminger was the voice of the elven king in the Rankin-Bass animated "The Hobbit".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 03, 2026 07:50 PM (kpS4V)

28 'And you know what I found out about Otto Preminger?

I do not think he was a very good filmmaker.
Eras

I can't say that. He made a few good movies. '

Go ahead and say it. It's your review. My takeaway from Preminger's career is that being a great director is hard.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 03, 2026 07:50 PM (fd80v)

29 Yoyo movies . Net.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 03, 2026 07:50 PM (Z5vAv)

30 Skip, now that I think about it, HBO Max has the Turner Channel portal. That's where I found it. In fact, several Kurosawa films like Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo and Throne of Blood.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 07:51 PM (cxFcK)

31 He was "Mr. Freeze" on Batman ........

Posted by: Jackson K. at January 03, 2026 07:51 PM (J9q9v)

32 27 Obligatory Tolkien reference: Preminger was the voice of the elven king in the Rankin-Bass animated "The Hobbit".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 03, 2026 07:50 PM (kpS4V)

======

He's probably best known as either the commandant in Stalag 17 or...Mr. Freeze in the 60s Batman series.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 07:51 PM (GBKbO)

33 22 Anybody here anything from Presdent Oboner yet ???
Posted by: Mary Cloggistein from Brattleboro, Vt at January 03, 2026 07:48 PM (wXPKd)

We're not here to talk about people getting paid lavish amounts to pretend to do things in a fictional universe, which people lovingly watch with suspended disbelief, desperately trying to escape reality, and cheer them on.

We're here to talk about movies, Mary.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 07:53 PM (06Hmj)

34
I don't even like Anatomy of a Murder, having enjoyed the book so much. But that's Preminger's specialty, turning good books (also Advise and Consent, The Cardinal, In Harm's Way) into bloated junk films.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at January 03, 2026 07:53 PM (tgvbd)

35 33 Ha!

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 07:54 PM (GHIyr)

36 Now I want to dig up my copy of Laura and watch it.

Speaking of Seven Samurai... did anyone ever see the anime Samurai 7 based off of it? I liked the modern reworking of the story; I'm a sucker for any modern retelling of it, even the remake of the magnificent seven. But the stupid love triangle ruined it for me... they made the young girl Shini has a crush on Kambei, not the young Katsuhiro. I found it so obnoxious. But everything else about the anime was cool.

Posted by: LizLem at January 03, 2026 07:55 PM (gWBY1)

37 -- Victor Davis Hanson
Posted by: Sharkman at January 03, 2026 07:37

Thanks Sharkman, good to hear that news.

As for movies the best one I saw lately was "Wishful Drinking". It's a doc film of Carrie Fischer's one woman show, pretty funny and informative as you might guess.

Posted by: Farmer at January 03, 2026 07:55 PM (55Qr6)

38 "Hunting Season" (2025)
No Sir, I don't like it.
youtube.com/watch?v=cDGlN6mluGA

Posted by: Mister Horse at January 03, 2026 07:55 PM (GHIyr)

39 I've never understood the criticisms of Exodus. Yeah, it's long. As so many epics are. But it's not too long for the material, it's not too slow, it's got great performances and a compelling story ... what are people looking for?

Posted by: Lyford at January 03, 2026 07:56 PM (gb+vr)

40 Victor Davis Hanson
Posted by: Sharkman

And yet people like Pelosi, the Clintons and John Francois Kerry carry on. Doesn't seem fair.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 07:57 PM (cxFcK)

41 what are people looking for?
Posted by: Lyford at January 03, 2026 07:56 PM (gb+vr)

Would it kill you to throw a pie, or something?

Posted by: Harold Zoid at January 03, 2026 07:58 PM (06Hmj)

42 I did get around to watching rashomon (i still cant figure it out)

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 03, 2026 07:59 PM (bXbFr)

43 Finally watched a movie recently (last week). It's one I've seen hundreds of times at this point. I bought a blu-ray player a few months ago and a Roku TV in Oct. One of the first blu-ray DVDs I bought was Bladerunner from Amazon. I overlooked on tiny detail. It's used. Oops. Anyway, I watched it recently. Blu-ray is worth it. Amazing picture quality, especially on new shiny TV. The audio was very good to with one little issue. Every now and then, the audio would drop. A quick little glitch, not even a second, and then it was fine. Didn't happen often enough to cause me concern. Of course, Bladerunner is in my top 5 favorite movies of all time.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at January 03, 2026 08:05 PM (gcUgZ)

44 I hope they make a motion picture or multi episode series about the goings on in Venezuela today.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:05 PM (cxFcK)

45 As for movies the best one I saw lately was "Wishful Drinking". It's a doc film of Carrie Fischer's one woman show, pretty funny and informative as you might guess.

Posted by: Farmer at January 03, 2026 07:55 PM (55Qr6)

Agreed! I especially liked the part where she apologized to us for not still looking like she did when she was 23 and rocking the metal bikini.

That apology might not have been entirely sincere.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at January 03, 2026 08:05 PM (syz1S)

46 All I know is, Otto played Mr Freeze on Batman (TOS)

Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 08:05 PM (ZxPkt)

47 OT (But not a lot)
I happen to be sitting in McDonald's and the song that's playing is "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones.

Why are we still listening to songs recorded 50 years ago?

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at January 03, 2026 08:05 PM (u5sDn)

48 44 I hope they make a motion picture or multi episode series about the goings on in Venezuela today.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:05 PM (cxFcK)

"Todo sobre mi Maduro"?

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 08:06 PM (06Hmj)

49 46 All I know is, Otto played Mr Freeze on Batman (TOS)
Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 08:05 PM (ZxPkt)

--------

He subbed for the president for four whole years.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 03, 2026 08:07 PM (JkO4W)

50 >>> We're not here to talk about people getting paid lavish amounts to pretend to do things in a fictional universe, which people lovingly watch with suspended disbelief, desperately trying to escape reality, and cheer them on.
We're here to talk about movies, Mary.
Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 07:53 PM (06Hmj)

Thread winner.

Posted by: LizLem at January 03, 2026 08:08 PM (gWBY1)

51 "Todo sobre mi Maduro"?
Posted by: Warai-otoko

Is Norm from Cheers still alive? He'd make a good Madura. Brian Dennehy would make a good Chavez's Tomb.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:09 PM (cxFcK)

52 Why are we still listening to songs recorded 50 years ago?

Same reason we're still watching movies made 50+ years ago. Some of 'em still hold up.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 03, 2026 08:09 PM (q3u5l)

53 50
'We're not here to talk about people getting paid lavish amounts to pretend to do things in a fictional universe, which people lovingly watch with suspended disbelief, desperately trying to escape reality, and cheer them on.'

I wish I could wax this eloquent when insulting people.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 03, 2026 08:10 PM (fd80v)

54 Why are we still listening to songs recorded 50 years ago?

They said Rock and Roll would never die. They lied.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:11 PM (cxFcK)

55 "Nab-a-Tard: Fire and Ash"

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 08:11 PM (06Hmj)

56 "I hope they make a motion picture or multi episode series about the goings on in Venezuela today."

I expect there will be no shortage of content regarding these events, followed by the flood of reaction content disputing it all, denunciation of conspiracy theories, triumphal cheerleading. Something for every taste and occasion.

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:12 PM (GHIyr)

57 Why are we still eating at McDonald's?

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:12 PM (GHIyr)

58 Judge Boasberg has been appointed to try Maduro with the help of all Hawaiian Federal Judges...

Posted by: CNN Breaking News at January 03, 2026 08:13 PM (J9q9v)

59 51
'Is Norm from Cheers still alive? '

Died last year I believe.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 03, 2026 08:13 PM (fd80v)

60 Why are we still eating at McDonald's?
Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:12 PM (GHIyr)
---
Sir...This is a Wendy's.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 03, 2026 08:13 PM (ESVrU)

61 57 Why are we still eating at McDonald's?
Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:12 PM (GHIyr)

--------

We?

Posted by: Tonto at January 03, 2026 08:13 PM (JkO4W)

62 Judge Boasberg has been appointed to try Maduro with the help of all Hawaiian Federal Judges...
Posted by: CNN Breaking News

Nosferatu can play Boasberg.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:13 PM (cxFcK)

63 "I hope they make a motion picture or multi episode series about the goings on in Venezuela today."

Who has the phone number for Golan and Globus? This one is right up their alley.

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:15 PM (GHIyr)

64 Nosferatu can play Boasberg.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:13 PM (cxFcK)

Count Orlok is in the public domain...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 03, 2026 08:15 PM (ESVrU)

65 57 Why are we still eating at McDonald's?
Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:12 PM (GHIyr)
That's the question. When they first opened you could order one of each item on the menu for say $5, now you can't get a small order of frys for that. And they suck.

Posted by: Eromero at January 03, 2026 08:15 PM (LHPAg)

66 Nosferatu can play Boasberg.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:13 PM (cxFcK)

I just imagined Klaus Kinski as a federal judge and now I will break my way in to that timeline even if I have to destroy infinite universes to make it happen.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 08:15 PM (06Hmj)

67 64 Nosferatu can play Boasberg.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:13 PM (cxFcK)

Count Orlok is in the public domain...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at January 03, 2026 08:15 PM (ESVrU)

=====

Who is, himself, a violation of copyright.

Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:15 PM (GBKbO)

68 22 Anybody here anything from Presdent Oboner yet ???
Posted by: Mary Cloggistein from Brattleboro, Vt

Mary, I heard Obama's favorite movie was......

"BROKE BACK MOUNTAIN" because it reminded him so much about his miserable existence with Big Mike..............

Posted by: Jackson at January 03, 2026 08:16 PM (7RMH4)

69 Tuco was Mister Freeze, too. Skidoo is crazy.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at January 03, 2026 08:17 PM (pkeXY)

70 57 Why are we still eating at McDonald's?
Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:12 PM
+++
Free refill on a Senior Coffee.

Guilty as charged.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty , the frugalist at January 03, 2026 08:17 PM (u5sDn)

71 Good evening!
I recall seeing Bunny Lake is Missing on tv when I was a kid and it was freaky. I have no recollection of the details, just that it scared me.

Posted by: Lizzy at January 03, 2026 08:17 PM (NuV6c)

72 'Preminger not only directed her, he cast her. Producing his own movies independently, she was his sole choice, and he got what he wanted, and she's awful.'

It was like he was intermittently blind to what makes a high quality movie or actors.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 03, 2026 08:17 PM (fd80v)

73 71 Good evening!
I recall seeing Bunny Lake is Missing on tv when I was a kid and it was freaky. I have no recollection of the details, just that it scared me.
Posted by: Lizzy at January 03, 2026 08:17 PM (NuV6c)

====

Kubrick saw Keir Dullea's performance and immediately decided to cast him in 2001.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:18 PM (GBKbO)

74 I do not think he was a very good filmmaker.
***

I didn't see that coming.

Posted by: LASue at January 03, 2026 08:18 PM (/DBoU)

75 TJM did get a kick and sympathize with your Jan 1 rant kn copyright laws.

Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 08:18 PM (Ia/+0)

76 >>Why are we still eating at McDonald's?

For many, it has become the local meeting place, per this guy who traveled across the country (and now walks across other countries all over the planet:

https://x.com/Chris_arnade

Posted by: Lizzy at January 03, 2026 08:19 PM (NuV6c)

77 72 'Preminger not only directed her, he cast her. Producing his own movies independently, she was his sole choice, and he got what he wanted, and she's awful.'

It was like he was intermittently blind to what makes a high quality movie or actors.
Posted by: Dr. Claw at January 03, 2026 08:17 PM (fd80v)

=====

Jean Luc Godard called Jean Seberg the greatest actress in the world, and then he cast her in Breathless.

I think he was insane.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:19 PM (GBKbO)

78 Since DJT endorsed McDonald's I pop.in every once in awhile, coffee, breakfast or lunch

Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 08:20 PM (Ia/+0)

79 75 TJM did get a kick and sympathize with your Jan 1 rant kn copyright laws.
Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 08:18 PM (Ia/+0)

===

Well, thank you.

#RepealTheCopyrightExtensionActof1998

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:20 PM (GBKbO)

80 "Free refill on a Senior Coffee."

That's a good reason. Me, I choose only restaurants that play the grooving new sounds, like Bad Bunny. Even though I don't buy anything, some of these places won't kick me out for an hour or even more.

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:21 PM (GHIyr)

81 I do not think he was a very good filmmaker.

He's no Ridley Scott.

Posted by: Duncanthrax at January 03, 2026 08:21 PM (0sNs1)

82 When Worlds Collide is on TCM now. Pretty good representation of 1950's Science Fiction.

Posted by: Archer at January 03, 2026 08:21 PM (YGRGv)

83 81 I do not think he was a very good filmmaker.

He's no Ridley Scott.
Posted by: Duncanthrax at January 03, 2026 08:21 PM (0sNs1)

====

Gladiator II > all but 2 of Preminger's movies

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:22 PM (GBKbO)

84 Why are we still listening to songs recorded 50 years ago?
Posted by: Quarter Twenty

I assume this is a serious question.

Oh sweet merciful fuck, strap in you nostalgic listeners, because the music from 50–60 years ago (roughly 1966–1976, the real golden age) absolutely obliterates the limp-dick, algorithm-bred diarrhea that oozes out of speakers in 2025–2026.
Back then, bands actually had to play their goddamn instruments like grown-ass humans instead of clicking a mouse and letting Auto-Tune gargle their vocal cords like a drunk sorority girl on a toilet. Picture this: Jimmy Page fucking summoning Satan through a Gibson Les Paul on "Whole Lotta Love" while some modern "artist" mumbles three words about being sad in a Starbucks about their iced oat-milk latte and calls it a banger. The Stones were snorting mountains of cocaine and somehow still cranking out riffs dirtier than your browser history. Today? We get 30-second TikTok loops of some soulless fuckboy whining about his situationship over the same four trap chords recycled since 2017. It's musical necrophilia.

Posted by: Tonypete at January 03, 2026 08:26 PM (cYBz/)

85 When I used to go to Tianjin for two weeks every year pre-Covid, there was a McDonalds down the street from my apartment building.

It was a haven. A small slice of dependable American budget cuisine in a forbidding foreign land.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at January 03, 2026 08:26 PM (JkO4W)

86 I watched a movie I hadn't seen in close to 50 years, The Stunt Man. It's, like, all trippy and shit. It's about a PTSD Vietnam vet who freaks and beats a cop leaving his head in ice cream causing his nose and ears to become frost bitten. Fleeing in panic, he accidentally kills a stunt man. Whereas crazy ass director, played by Peter O'Toole, who is making a WWI epic now needs a stunt man, he convinces the ice cream assailant to impersonate the dead stunt man and manipulates him into ever more dangerous stunts. Then it starts getting weird. O'Toole really has presence and there's lots of nude Barbara Hershy. A good time was had by all.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 03, 2026 08:27 PM (L/fGl)

87 Right now I'm 20 minutes into "Turksib" (1929). It's making me thirsty.

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:28 PM (GHIyr)

88 87 Right now I'm 20 minutes into "Turksib" (1929). It's making me thirsty.
Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:28 PM (GHIyr

====

But what of the pretzels?

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:28 PM (GBKbO)

89 All these comments and not one about a young and lovely Lee Remick in Anatomy of a Murder.

It's like I don't know you people.

Posted by: huerfano at January 03, 2026 08:29 PM (98kQX)

90 I always figured that at the end of Anatomy of a Murder everyone realizes that Jimmy Stewart realizes that George C Scott was right, and Stewart just let a murderer walk free, but now I wonder.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 08:30 PM (KVmIX)

91 It's musical necrophilia.
Posted by: Tonypete at January 03, 2026 08:26 PM (cYBz/)

I blame the CIA.

....

(I'm actually not kidding.)

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 08:31 PM (06Hmj)

92 84 Why are we still listening to songs recorded 50 years ago?
Posted by: Quarter Twenty

I assume this is a serious question.
Posted by: Tonypete

+++
Yes, Tonypete, it is a serious question.
And thank you for the reply.
You've echoed my thoughts, although I don't think I could be quite so...umm, articulate.

Yeah, music hit some kind of zenith between say '66 and '76.

There's a deeper meaning there, but since I was educated in the State of Alabama I don't consider myself qualified to do an in-depth analysis.

Posted by: Quarter Twenty at January 03, 2026 08:33 PM (u5sDn)

93 PANTIES!

Posted by: Anatomy of a Murder at January 03, 2026 08:33 PM (pkeXY)

94 Ridley Scott will never get past Napoleon, it didn't have to be that way but he did it to himself.

Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 08:33 PM (Ia/+0)

95 93 PANTIES!
Posted by: Anatomy of a Murder at January 03, 2026 08:33 PM (pkeXY

=====

SPERMATAZOA!!!

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:33 PM (GBKbO)

96 Would it kill you to throw a pie, or something?
Posted by: Harold Zoid

Grandkids spent the night so I put The Great Race on thinking they'd love it. But noooooo!⁸

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 03, 2026 08:34 PM (L/fGl)

97 94 Ridley Scott will never get past Napoleon, it didn't have to be that way but he did it to himself.
Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 08:33 PM (Ia/+0)

====

Joaquin Phoenix demanded a complete rewrite 1 week before production, or he'd walk. He did walk from another film last year right before production. Dude is nuts.

Scott made the most of the bad situation, but yeah, the film isn't good. The Director's Cut slightly improves things, but not by too much.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:35 PM (GBKbO)

98 When Worlds Collide is on TCM now. Pretty good representation of 1950's Science Fiction.
Posted by: Archer at January 03, 2026 08:21 PM (YGRGv)
---
Thanks, I'm recording it now. Good movie and a very good novel. Sequel book was good too.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 03, 2026 08:35 PM (kpS4V)

99 Best trivia about Otto Preminger - he was a Batman Supervillain!!!
Played Mr. Freeze twice in 1966.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 08:36 PM (KVmIX)

100 I better turn this off, been up at 3:30 about all weekend so far
Have a great evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at January 03, 2026 08:36 PM (Ia/+0)

101 Anatomy of a Murder, key moment...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiEP0gqO_s4

Posted by: davidt at January 03, 2026 08:37 PM (Q+gd/)

102 When Worlds Collide is on TCM now. Pretty good representation of 1950's Science Fiction.
Posted by: Archer

Next up on TCM is Earth v the Flying Saucers. I'm set.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:37 PM (cxFcK)

103 "Sequel book was good too."

'When Worlds Miss Each Other by a Country Mile: Not Even Close.'

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:37 PM (GHIyr)

104 The problems with "Napoleon" were that Phoenix was too old for the role, and the movie felt episodic. Good bits in it, but I have no desire to ever see it again.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 03, 2026 08:37 PM (kpS4V)

105 92 84 Why are we still listening to songs recorded 50 years ago?
Posted by: Quarter Twenty

Because True Music died in that helicopter with Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 08:38 PM (KVmIX)

106 All these comments and not one about a young and lovely Lee Remick in Anatomy of a Murder.

It's like I don't know you people.
Posted by: huerfano

Yeah, she was hot. Loved the scene where she's making time with Jimmy Stewart in the car until Jimmy points out her husband can see them from his jail cell. She jumps away like she stuck a fork in an outlet.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 03, 2026 08:39 PM (L/fGl)

107 84
'30-second TikTok loops of some soulless fuckboy whining about his situationship over the same four trap chords recycled since 2017. It's musical necrophilia.'

That's literally just your opinion, Boomer.

Posted by: Zack the Zoomer at January 03, 2026 08:39 PM (fd80v)

108 104 The problems with "Napoleon" were that Phoenix was too old for the role, and the movie felt episodic. Good bits in it, but I have no desire to ever see it again.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 03, 2026 08:37 PM (kpS4V

===

It does have that basic "fit a giant life into one movie" problem that undermines a bunch.

Speilberg's Lincoln is a much better way to do a biopic.

A few, key weeks, a key event, in one man's life and finding definition therr.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:39 PM (GBKbO)

109 Oh, there are some newer muscians that tend to get overlooked. Find them on YTube. Of course, that could be AI slop too. I suspect Cole Cheney is not though. He's very good, if your into Appalachian/Bluegrass music.

This is slipping into a music thread.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at January 03, 2026 08:40 PM (gcUgZ)

110 "Napoleon," "Gladiator 2" added to my list, thanks!

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:41 PM (GHIyr)

111 I vaguely remember Rod Steiger chewing the scenery as Napoleon. Waterloo?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 03, 2026 08:41 PM (kpS4V)

112 Oh sweet merciful fuck, strap in you nostalgic listeners, because the music from 50–60 years ago (roughly 1966–1976, the real golden age) absolutely obliterates the limp-dick, algorithm-bred diarrhea that oozes out of speakers in 2025–2026.

Agree mostly, but I’m gonna say that the New Wave movement of ‘79 to about ‘85 was every bit as good as that first peak.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 08:41 PM (KVmIX)

113 I've been listening to Kvelertak lately.

It's some kind of scandi metal with the occasional "Screw it let's play some southern blues rock for a few bars" thrown in.

Not gonna be winning any Grammys any time soon, but it's better than the mutant hick-hop/neo-disco sludge that everything has been shoved together into like some kind of gross sonic meatloaf of crap.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 08:42 PM (06Hmj)

114 >Best trivia about Otto Preminger - he was a Batman Supervillain!!!
----

I know right

Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 08:42 PM (ZxPkt)

115
111 I vaguely remember Rod Steiger chewing the scenery as Napoleon. Waterloo?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 03, 2026 08:41 PM (kpS4V

That’s a great one! Ignored, I think, because it was not a Hollywood production.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 08:43 PM (KVmIX)

116 I vaguely remember Rod Steiger chewing the scenery as Napoleon. Waterloo?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes

That sounds right. Lost a metric ton of money so studios passed on funding Kubrick's Napoleon.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:43 PM (cxFcK)

117 111 I vaguely remember Rod Steiger chewing the scenery as Napoleon. Waterloo?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at January 03, 2026 08:41 PM (kpS4V)

===

Correct.

Fun factoid, Scott shat all over that movie in the press for Napoleon.

Waterloo, for all its problems, is better than Napoleon. Directed by Soviet filmmaker Sergei Bondarchuck who also made th 7.5 hour War and Peace.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:43 PM (GBKbO)

118 116 I vaguely remember Rod Steiger chewing the scenery as Napoleon. Waterloo?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes

That sounds right. Lost a metric ton of money so studios passed on funding Kubrick's Napoleon.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at January 03, 2026 08:43 PM (cxFcK)

====

Instead, we got Barry Lyndon. Worth it.

You can find a pdf of Kubrick's Napoleon script online. There are occasional murmurs of someone trying to make a movie of it every few years, usually produced by Spielberg (he and Kubrick were friends), but nothing ever happens.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:45 PM (GBKbO)

119 I'll watch "Waterloo" (1970) too, by gum. Thanks!

Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:46 PM (GHIyr)

120 119 I'll watch "Waterloo" (1970) too, by gum. Thanks!
Posted by: gp at January 03, 2026 08:46 PM (GHIyr

====

There's probably still a full copy for free on YouTube.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:46 PM (GBKbO)

121 "Well, I think almost anyone could have made those movies just as well."

I beg to differ. Would "almost anyone" have made the decision to have music by Duke Ellington? The music is completely at odds with the setting in Michigan's upper peninsula, yet it works beautifully. Could "almost anyone" have gotten such excellent performances, or assembled such a superb cast - Jimmy Stewart, Eve Arden, Kathy Grant, Lee Remick, Orson Bean, George C. Scott, Arthur O'Connell, Ben Gazarra? (Even the celebrity casting of Joseph Welch worked.) Could "almost anyone" gotten such superb the black-and-white photography? Could "almost anyone" have gotten such a tight, efficient script? I find it hard to believe that "almost anyone" could have taken this story and made a movie this damn good.

Preminger was also pretty good as the camp commander in "Stalag 17".

On another note entirely: A late friend of mine was a "yupper" who grew up in the town where this story took place. His mother was well acquainted with "Barney Quill". According to my friend, she once said, "Barney never took anything that wasn't offered to him."

Posted by: Nemo at January 03, 2026 08:46 PM (4RPgu)

122 121 I beg to differ. Would "almost anyone" have made the decision to have music by Duke Ellington? The music is completely at odds with the setting in Michigan's upper peninsula, yet it works beautifully. Could "almost anyone" have gotten such excellent performances, or assembled such a superb cast - Jimmy Stewart, Eve Arden, Kathy Grant, Lee Remick, Orson Bean, George C. Scott, Arthur O'Connell, Ben Gazarra? (Even the celebrity casting of Joseph Welch worked.) Could "almost anyone" gotten such superb the black-and-white photography? Could "almost anyone" have gotten such a tight, efficient script? I find it hard to believe that "almost anyone" could have taken this story and made a movie this damn good.

Posted by: Nemo at January 03, 2026 08:46 PM (4RPgu)

====

What modifies this line of thinking is all of the other movies where Preminger made bad choices.

Anatomy's successes end up feeling like...luck. he cast other movies terribly. He shepharded terrible scripts.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:49 PM (GBKbO)

123 https://tinyurl.com/39sfca5b

Posted by: nurse ratched at January 03, 2026 08:50 PM (IhIKR)

124 I disagree on Exodus, the storyline was changed too much from the book. The book would have been better as a miniseries. I believe that’s what happened with QB VII which I remember as being very good and faithful to the book. The best part of the Exodus movie is the opening music score. Hated the movie.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at January 03, 2026 08:50 PM (2NHgQ)

125 Good grief, i just realized that "popular" music is suffering the exact same fate that every industry run by people with MBAs suffers.

Homogenize. Globalize. Cut every corner like the bitch owes you money and was trying to skip town.

I mean, sure, all the music of the 50's and 60's was corporatized and studio driven, too. But the studios still had to actually generate hits to stay afloat. Their bottom line still came from record sales, not from "funding" like some kind of university lab full of theater majors shooting refracted lasers up a fruit fly's bunghole to study post-colonial something something yadda yadda gay.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 08:50 PM (06Hmj)

126 From what I experienced, Otto Preminger is a prime candidate for cherry picking. Just watch his Noirs (I liked those) and his famous movies. Don't try to watch everything he made, a LOT of crap there.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 08:52 PM (xcxpd)

127 126 From what I experienced, Otto Preminger is a prime candidate for cherry picking. Just watch his Noirs (I liked those) and his famous movies. Don't try to watch everything he made, a LOT of crap there.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 08:52 PM (xcxpd)

====

Also his Batman appearances.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:52 PM (GBKbO)

128 Hey!
Leave our bungholes alone!

Posted by: Fruit flies everywhere at January 03, 2026 08:54 PM (u5sDn)

129 127 126 From what I experienced, Otto Preminger is a prime candidate for cherry picking. Just watch his Noirs (I liked those) and his famous movies. Don't try to watch everything he made, a LOT of crap there.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 08:52 PM (xcxpd)

====

Also his Batman appearances.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:52 PM (GBKbO)

True. He also acted.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 08:55 PM (xcxpd)

130 Damn, took a long time to get past 100.

Posted by: Otto Logic at January 03, 2026 08:55 PM (WQDw6)

131 Bladerunner

-
I see someone (Netflix?) is making a Bladerunner series, Bladerunner 2099, I think.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 03, 2026 08:56 PM (L/fGl)

132 Why are we still listening to songs recorded 50 years ago?

I listen to recordings that Louis Armstrong made 100 years ago.
Beyond that, I'm going to just type and delete.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at January 03, 2026 08:57 PM (zdLoL)

133 131 Bladerunner

-
I see someone (Netflix?) is making a Bladerunner series, Bladerunner 2099, I think.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Like Shakespeare Except More Betterer at January 03, 2026 08:56 PM

=====

Prime.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:57 PM (GBKbO)

134 All movies filmed after 1900 are crap.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 08:57 PM (06Hmj)

135 124 I disagree on Exodus, the storyline was changed too much from the book. The book would have been better as a miniseries. I believe that’s what happened with QB VII which I remember as being very good and faithful to the book. The best part of the Exodus movie is the opening music score. Hated the movie.
Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at January 03, 2026 08:50 PM (2NHgQ)

It's visually beautiful but yeah, the book is better.
Preminger did NOT adapt novels very well.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 08:58 PM (xcxpd)

136 134 All movies filmed after 1900 are crap.
Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 08:57 PM (06Hmj)

====

Georges Melies is the GOAT!!!

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 08:58 PM (GBKbO)

137 I have long referred to the decade 1965-1975 as "Peak Humanity."

It was building up to it for a long time, and now it's plummeting into a degringolade.

Perhaps in a thousand years or so, some civilization will match it, but it's going to be Peak Humanity for a very long time.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 03, 2026 09:01 PM (BI5O2)

138 Perhaps in a thousand years or so, some civilization will match it, but it's going to be Peak Humanity for a very long time.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at January 03, 2026 09:01 PM (BI5O2)

I'd say the 2010's were peak humanity.

Or maybe the 300's.

But that's because I don't think much of Humanity.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 09:03 PM (06Hmj)

139 So Roger Corman is better than Otto Preminger? I always suspected that to be the case. Now I know it.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions at January 03, 2026 09:04 PM (HTCU3)

140 139 So Roger Corman is better than Otto Preminger? I always suspected that to be the case. Now I know it.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions at January 03, 2026 09:04 PM (HTCU3)

Corman was more consistently entertaining.
I will say Preminger's best movies are better than Corman's best movies.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:05 PM (xcxpd)

141 If we can get more people into positions of power who are willing to stand athwart godless pinko shitweasels and slap them silly shouting "No!", then the 2030's might be the greatest decade for Humanity since Ghenghis Khan said "Well I guess i'm dead then".

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 09:05 PM (06Hmj)

142 139 So Roger Corman is better than Otto Preminger? I always suspected that to be the case. Now I know it.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions at January 03, 2026 09:04 PM (HTCU3)

140 139

====

On average...they are surprisingly even. Both very concerned with plowing productions, Corman just had no pretensions. Which is a quality of its own.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:07 PM (GBKbO)

143 You know what? I had more fun going through Mario Bava's filmography than I did Otto Preminger.

I'm off to watch Das Boot tonight.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:08 PM (xcxpd)

144 143 You know what? I had more fun going through Mario Bava's filmography than I did Otto Preminger.

I'm off to watch Das Boot tonight.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:08 PM (xcxpd)

===

It's pronounced boat.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:10 PM (GBKbO)

145 144 143 You know what? I had more fun going through Mario Bava's filmography than I did Otto Preminger.

I'm off to watch Das Boot tonight.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:08 PM (xcxpd)

===

It's pronounced boat.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:10 PM (GBKbO)

You know I don't speak Spanish.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:12 PM (xcxpd)

146 145
It's pronounced boat.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:10 PM (GBKbO)

You know I don't speak Spanish.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:12 PM (xcxpd)

====

I know a little German.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:13 PM (GBKbO)

147 Oh and just discovered a new (to me) director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:13 PM (xcxpd)

148 Yeah, why would anyone do that?

Posted by: Ludwig van something at January 03, 2026 09:13 PM (pGdie)

149 I know a little German.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:13 PM (GBKbO)

Is he sitting over there?

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:14 PM (xcxpd)

150 137 I have long referred to the decade 1965-1975 as "Peak Humanity."

I can tell you from personal experience, it was an absolutely wonderful time to be a kid!
That covers my life from age 6 - 16. On Saturdays I would leave my house on my bike at about 9 in the morning and tell my mom “I’m going over to Mel’s house!” (He lived about 2 miles away) she’d say “what ya gonna do?” I’d say “I dunno, stuff.” And she’d say “
Okay! Try to be back for supper, call if you’re gonna spend the night!” It was so free!

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 09:15 PM (KVmIX)

151 149 I know a little German.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:13 PM (GBKbO)

Is he sitting over there?
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:14 PM (xcxpd)

====

See how happy he is to be noticed?

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:15 PM (GBKbO)

152 Thought this might be of interest for the movie thread: Apparently my aunt had a tiny role in "Sous vide" (an indie film). She's in the diner scene. My uncle is a retired theatre professor so their friend made the film and asked her to participate.

Posted by: Iris at January 03, 2026 09:17 PM (bOJ2I)

153 I'm not much of a movie fan these days, but I'm looking forward to seeing if "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" can deliver on the unfulfilled promises of the first half of the movie.

Posted by: PabloD at January 03, 2026 09:18 PM (cFv0u)

154 Corman was more consistently entertaining.
I will say Preminger's best movies are better than Corman's best movies.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:05 PM (xcxpd)

Come on. Are you really saying that anything Preminger did was better than Pam Grier in The Big Birdcage?
Did Preminger ever do even one topless girl fight in the jungle? Huh? Did he?

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 09:18 PM (KVmIX)

155 Here are three most recent 3 movies I saw:

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" - the lovely and occasionally mistaken Mrs naturalfake wanted to see it, so off we went.
Not much too say. Lots of pretty pictures and believable CGI. The story and the character are all very minor variations on the first movie. You'll barely remember it after you leave the theater. It all coalesces into a Big Glob of Avataritute in your memory.

"The Life of Chuck" - very good enjoyable movie. A bit of a shaggy dog story that catfishes you into believing it's going to be Stephen King SciFi, but it ain't. About one man's life. Thanks for ~~39 Great Years~~ 111 Great Minutes, Chuck.

"F1"- fun racing action movie mimicking the movies of the 70s and 80s. Brad Pitt gives a performance that grooves in a late John Wayne movie vibe. Lots of fun. Great action. You will enjoy it.

Check them out.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 03, 2026 09:21 PM (iJfKG)

156 > I know a little German.
Posted by: TJM's phone
----

how little
like, GI Joe size, or could he drive a HotWheels car

Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 09:23 PM (ZxPkt)

157 The premise is that the director always matters. It's a conceit that started with the French and Truffaut's auteur theory.

Some directors always matter. Kubrick, Kurosawa, Ford, Welles (when he could) ....

Others could be the keytone in a great colloboration. Curtiz with Casablanca

Others are just yelling "roll camera." FFS, Gone With the Wind had multiple "directors" but it was always Selsnik pulling the strings.

Which is why Clint Eastwood is so good in his way. He's more of a producer. Hire great people and let them do their thing. No second takes.

Posted by: Ignoramus at January 03, 2026 09:24 PM (dtajH)

158 155 "F1"- fun racing action movie mimicking the movies of the 70s and 80s. Brad Pitt gives a performance that grooves in a late John Wayne movie vibe. Lots of fun. Great action. You will enjoy it.

Check them out.
Posted by: naturalfake at January 03, 2026 09:21 PM (iJfKG)

====

I bought that 4K blind. Wasn't disappointed. Or surprised by anything that happened. It was pretty good, slick entertainment.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:24 PM (GBKbO)

159 The zenith for music was a 20 year period from 75 to 95.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at January 03, 2026 09:25 PM (XV/Pl)

160 28 years later is getting some great reviews, I think. I don’t know if I can take something that dark, but it’s intriguing.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 09:25 PM (KVmIX)

161 I thought the last 28 days would turn out better

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at January 03, 2026 09:26 PM (bXbFr)

162 160 28 years later is getting some great reviews, I think. I don’t know if I can take something that dark, but it’s intriguing.
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 09:25 PM (KVmIX)

====

I kinda loved it.

Character piece, coming of age, ruminating on mortality, and then zombie action.

It's much more esoteric than its ads implied, which I liked.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:27 PM (GBKbO)

163 Corman was more consistently entertaining.
I will say Preminger's best movies are better than Corman's best movies.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 09:05 PM (xcxpd)

Come on. Are you really saying that anything Preminger did was better than Pam Grier in The Big Birdcage?
Did Preminger ever do even one topless girl fight in the jungle? Huh? Did he?
Posted by: Tom Serv

For sure. Then there is Shelly Winters as a psycho gangster mama in Bloody Mama and the sequel, Big Bad Mama staring Angie Dickenson and William Shatner - pure cinema perfection.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions at January 03, 2026 09:27 PM (HTCU3)

164 My X feed has 3 recurring themes:

1 Maduro being perp-walked
2 Venezuelans celebrating
3 the usual assholes- Democrats- demanding Maduro's immediate release

Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 09:27 PM (ZxPkt)

165 On average...they are surprisingly even. Both very concerned with plowing productions, Corman just had no pretensions. Which is a quality of its own.
Posted by: TJM's phone

Corman was much better at tits. Debate is over right there.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions at January 03, 2026 09:30 PM (HTCU3)

166 Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 09:15 PM (KVmIX

As a kid maybe but what a time if you were an adult. I can’t even imagine the doomsaying an aos would have in 1965-1975.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:31 PM (KDPiq)

167 Little Germans were the tank drivers.

Posted by: Boss Moss at January 03, 2026 09:35 PM (Z5vAv)

168 3 the usual assholes- Democrats- demanding Maduro's immediate release
Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 09:27 PM (ZxPkt)

And they're also saying it's all about oil. Trump should make a deal with Oregon's Gov Kotex. She can have first dibs on any oil from VZ but first she'll have to bl.... build a damn refinery.

Posted by: Rex B at January 03, 2026 09:35 PM (C9oTe)

169 I’ve seen more Ben Affleck directed movies than Otto Preminger movies.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:36 PM (KDPiq)

170 167 Little Germans were the tank drivers.
Posted by: Boss Moss at January 03, 2026 09:35 PM (Z5vAv)

Panzerzwergen?

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 09:38 PM (06Hmj)

171 Oh, yeah...I also saw "Anaconda".

I didn't hate it, but it needed more laughs. And more anaconda.

See it on streaming if you're interested in it.

An amiable comedy watch if you've got nothing better to do.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 03, 2026 09:39 PM (iJfKG)

172 That's right- the protesters have dusted off their leftover NO WAR FOR OIL signs from years ago

Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 09:40 PM (ZxPkt)

173 I grew up in The Bronx and had a Daily News paper route starting in 1967 at age ten. It was wild. Every headline was the World is Ending.

But I didn't have the Troubles on the home front.

Today, we insist on Think Globally, Fuck it up at home.

Posted by: Ignoramus at January 03, 2026 09:41 PM (dtajH)

174 And 1984 may be the zenith for culture in general.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at January 03, 2026 09:41 PM (XV/Pl)

175 The Left are supporters of every Central and South American commie leader.

Daniel Ortega comes to mind.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:41 PM (KDPiq)

176 Sorry to be off topic but I don't know shit about Otto Preminger- I'm sure he was a great guy, loved his mother, whatever

Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 09:42 PM (ZxPkt)

177 I'm still not done with copyrights!

Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 03, 2026 09:42 PM (RIvkX)

178
Movie thread, people.

Your Trump opinions can wait till tomorrow. They aren't going to suddenly become obsolete.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 03, 2026 09:43 PM (iJfKG)

179 176 Sorry to be off topic but I don't know shit about Otto Preminger- I'm sure he was a great guy, loved his mother, whatever
Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 09:42 PM (ZxPkt)

====

Well, I do write these in an effort to inform at some level.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:43 PM (GBKbO)

180 177 I'm still not done with copyrights!
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 03, 2026 09:42 PM (RIvkX)

=====

Oh, I'm done with them.

So done.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:44 PM (GBKbO)

181 172 That's right- the protesters have dusted off their leftover NO WAR FOR OIL signs from years ago
Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 09:40 PM (ZxPkt)

I'm honestly a little bit surprised at how feeble the pushback has been from the left. Almost a full day and no one's done dick about it. I guess they don't have many actual levers at their disposal besides a chorus of generally dissonant social media belches.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 09:44 PM (06Hmj)

182 Preminger has never appealed to me and I've never bothered to know why. I'm a Philistine like that.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 03, 2026 09:44 PM (RIvkX)

183 Movie thread, people.

Your Trump opinions can wait till tomorrow. They aren't going to suddenly become obsolete.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 03, 2026 09:43 PM (iJfKG)

sorry, sorry

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 09:45 PM (06Hmj)

184 The leftists protesting this are going to be blown away by the absolute joy spreading across Venezuela tonight. And there’s going to be a hell of a lot of stories coming out about what’s been going on there.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 09:45 PM (KVmIX)

185 182 Preminger has never appealed to me and I've never bothered to know why. I'm a Philistine like that.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 03, 2026 09:44 PM (RIvkX)

====

He's more middlebrow than highbrow.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:46 PM (GBKbO)

186 >Well, I do write these in an effort to inform at some level.

Posted by: TJM's phone
----

you're right, and I'm not being a good guest

Posted by: Don Black at January 03, 2026 09:46 PM (ZxPkt)

187 Speaking of directors, I watched Bowfinger again last night. Every time I war-Tchaikovsky it I find something hilarious I missed the first time.

Last night it was when Eddie Murphy ( Kip ) said black actors get nominated for playing a slave and white actors get the Oscar for playing a retard. He said he wants them to get him a part playing a retarded slave.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:47 PM (KDPiq)

188
For some reason I got Preminger mixed up as the director of "Witness for the Prosecution". which he wasn't.

That made me think he was a better director than he was.

Never been a fan otherwise.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 03, 2026 09:47 PM (iJfKG)

189 Yeah, yeah, but, uh.... dry-f*cking a hole straight into Caracas and stealing their president off his front porch like a fat guy grabbing a handful of candy out of the little bowl at the bank *was* a pretty good show, which is... kind of like a movie.... right?

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 09:48 PM (06Hmj)

190 Every time I war-Tchaikovsky it I find something hilarious I missed the first time. ………

That’s the weirdest autocorrect I’ve ever seen.

‘I watch’ turned into war-Tchaikovsky. WTF?

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:50 PM (KDPiq)

191 And they're also saying it's all about oil. Trump should make a deal with Oregon's Gov Kotex. She can have first dibs on any oil from VZ but first she'll have to bl.... build a damn refinery.
Posted by: Rex B at January 03, 2026 09:35 PM (C9oTe)

in 2005 or 06 there was a serious proposal to put an LNG port in Coos Bay. That would have been a serious boon to the economy and life in Coos County and the southern coast.

But The Dems won in Oregon and Obama was president, so the economy is still based on fish, closed mills and meth, to this day

Posted by: Kindltot Ea Nasir, Say His Name! at January 03, 2026 09:50 PM (rbvCR)

192 Bow finger - Christine Baranski is one of my favorite comedic actresses. But that entire cast is great.

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 09:50 PM (KVmIX)

193 ‘I watch’ turned into war-Tchaikovsky. WTF?
Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:50 PM (KDPiq)

1812 Overture earworm.

You bastard.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 09:50 PM (06Hmj)

194 188
For some reason I got Preminger mixed up as the director of "Witness for the Prosecution". which he wasn't.

That made me think he was a better director than he was.

Never been a fan otherwise.
Posted by: naturalfake at January 03, 2026 09:47 PM (iJfKG)

===

Billy Wilder, man...he knew what he was doing.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:51 PM (GBKbO)

195 The Paolo, he was in an art film, The Throbbing Anaconda.

It was not a small part.

Posted by: The Paolo at January 03, 2026 09:51 PM (Q+gd/)

196 If memory serves, the anaconda did eat Owen Wilson. So the flick has that going for it. Which is nice.

Never saw the remake of The Haunting all the way through in one sitting, but also if memory serves, the haunted house killed Owen Wilson. So the flick has that going for it, etc.

Don't know why, but Owen Wilson just rubs me the wrong way on screen. Probably a nice guy and all, but if he's in a movie I prefer his character to get killed off, and the earlier the better. Go figure.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 03, 2026 09:52 PM (q3u5l)

197 Otto Preminger was the basis for the stereotype picture of a director. Bald with the riding pants and a crop and a megaphone yelling out directions.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:54 PM (KDPiq)

198 195 The Paolo, he was in an art film, The Throbbing Anaconda.

It was not a small part.
Posted by: The Paolo at January 03, 2026 09:51 PM (Q+gd/)

lol ok you outdid yourself with that one!

Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 09:54 PM (KVmIX)

199
"Stranger Things" ended. Saw the last episode.

Eh....okay. Lots of ~~stealing~~ inspiration from other better horror movies. The Beaver Bros. or whatever their name is stole the ending more or less from "Raising Arizona".

I won't revisit the series. Hell, I'd rather revisit "LOST". Take that whichever way you want.

Posted by: naturalfake at January 03, 2026 09:54 PM (iJfKG)

200 197 Otto Preminger was the basis for the stereotype picture of a director. Bald with the riding pants and a crop and a megaphone yelling out directions.
Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:54 PM (KDPiq)

====

Actually, that's Erich von Stroheim, another German import director with a terrible personal reputation.

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:55 PM (GBKbO)

201 193 1812 Overture earworm.

You bastard.
Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 09:50 PM (06Hmj)

Better than a William Tell Overture earworm. (Ta da dum ta da dum ta da dum dum dum...)

Posted by: tankdemon at January 03, 2026 09:55 PM (4kXuG)

202 Actually, that's Erich von Stroheim, another German import director with a terrible personal reputation.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:55 PM (GBKbO)

220 221

😀

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:55 PM (KDPiq)

203 @182

>>Preminger has never appealed to me and I've never bothered to know why. I'm a Philistine like that.

That's because he's a C-Level filmaker at best, has no masterpieces to his name and pretty much the only reason his name is mentioned is because he sounds vaguely like a Bond villian.

He's no Milos Foreman.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at January 03, 2026 09:56 PM (XV/Pl)

204 It was so free!
Posted by: Tom Servo at January 03, 2026 09:15

Yeah we had a blast back then. Just a few yrs older Tom, but that was life as a kid in Rockford IL. Play outside all day long, climb trees...Dad eventually put up a wood platform we called a treehouse.

We'd go explore the overgrown empty lot in the neighborhood until the old lady next to yelled at us to go away. Maybe go to the creek to see if there were any tadpoles to catch.

We were truly blessed to live in such a day and time.

Posted by: Farmer at January 03, 2026 09:57 PM (55Qr6)

205 197 Otto Preminger was the basis for the stereotype picture of a director. Bald with the riding pants and a crop and a megaphone yelling out directions.
Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:54 PM (KDPiq)

Are you sure that wasn't van Stroheim?

Posted by: tankdemon at January 03, 2026 09:58 PM (4kXuG)

206 Stranger Things" ended. Saw the last episode.

Eh....okay. Lots of stealing inspiration from other better horror movies. The Beaver Bros. or whatever their name is stole the ending more or less from "Raising Arizona".

I won't revisit the series. Hell, I'd rather revisit "LOST". Take that whichever way you want.
Posted by: naturalfake

Hopefully Stranger Things is done, forever.

So many good shows queered up. Never bothered with last season The Witcher.

Posted by: Itinerant Alley Butcher at January 03, 2026 09:59 PM (/lPRQ)

207 Preminger was a reportedly horribly abusive, rude and boorish prick to people on the set, especially women.
Adam West, in his autobio, singles out Preminger as the worst guest villain to work with on Batman, describes his obnoxiousness, and admits he purposely kept dropping a heavy prop on him when filming the final scene where Mr. Freeze gets trapped under some debris after the POW-BAM fight.
But the much more entertaining story comes out of the awful yet fascinating film "Skidoo." It was Groucho Marx's last film, he was about 80, and had trouble remembering his lines. He'd goof up lines and ruin takes, and Preminger repeatedly got frustrated with Groucho and kept screaming, swearing at and abusing him in general - so much so that the film's star Jackie Gleason took Preminger aside in front of everyone on the set, got right into his face and said something like "That man is my comic idol. You yell at him one more time and..." then Gleason basically threatened to break every bone in Preminger's body. Preminger was supposedly terrified of Gleason for the remainder of the shoot and behaved himself.

Posted by: Jim Berkin at January 03, 2026 09:59 PM (MB6B1)

208 >>> 180 177 I'm still not done with copyrights!
Posted by: San Franpsycho at January 03, 2026 09:42 PM (RIvkX)

=====

Oh, I'm done with them.

So done.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:44 PM (GBKbO)

REEEEE!!!

Posted by: DIESney at January 03, 2026 09:59 PM (ULPxl)

209
I'm trying to get a copyright on making copyrights.

Soon I will rule the world!

Posted by: naturalfake at January 03, 2026 10:01 PM (iJfKG)

210 You don't f**king yell at Groucho Marx, what a deuschebag!!!

That man was a comic genius.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at January 03, 2026 10:01 PM (XV/Pl)

211 I see TJM beat me to the von Stroheim correction. That's what I get for being a dilettante in a roomful of experts.

Posted by: tankdemon at January 03, 2026 10:02 PM (4kXuG)

212 And outta here until book thread.

TJM, thanks for the thread.

Have a good one, gang.

And if you go to Amazon's Kindle store, and read the online sample of Dan Simmons' novel Summer of Night, he's got a nice little essay there about the freedom kids used to have once and don't have any longer. Chicago kid myself, and I can remember it too.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at January 03, 2026 10:02 PM (q3u5l)

213 NOOD

ONT

3D

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at January 03, 2026 10:03 PM (ULPxl)

214 see TJM beat me to the von Stroheim correction. That's what I get for being a dilettante in a roomful of experts.
Posted by: tankdemon at January 03, 2026 10:02 PM (4kXuG)

That’s okay. aos corrections usually come in a minimum of three.

Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 10:03 PM (KDPiq)

215 Ohhhhhhh I get it "Stranger" as in "Queer-er", right? That's so clever. I wish I could art that hard.

Posted by: Warai-otoko at January 03, 2026 10:04 PM (06Hmj)

216 That’s okay. aos corrections usually come in a minimum of three.
Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 10:03 PM (KDPiq)

And Otto Preminger was Batman. Betcha didn't know that.

Posted by: Amy Schumer Wasn't Paying Attention at January 03, 2026 10:05 PM (06Hmj)

217 The Grand Illusion.

Great movie, and Stroheim was marvelous in it.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at January 03, 2026 10:06 PM (n9ltV)

218 Billy Wilder, man...he knew what he was doing.
Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 09:51 PM (GBKbO)

I also believe that.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at January 03, 2026 10:43 PM (xcxpd)

219 219 Laura is a great movie. Excellent in every way.
Anatomy Of A Murder is shmaltz, at best. If shmaltz means Shit in Yiddish.
And A Foreign Affair is a Billy Wilder movie, not Preminger.... Jeesh.
"His movies were generic looking overall. His noirs looked like noirs, his comedies looked like comedies, his dramas like dramas." Duh. FFS, what a retarded take.
Is TJM the best Ace can do for a movie columnist? Fucking charlatan. I bet he didn't even notice the camera movement throughout Laura that foreshadows the twist ending.
Posted by: Auto Premature at January 03, 2026 11:26 PM (GA40v)

====

Typo. A Royal Affair.

And you seem nice. Do you throw a fit when people don't like eggs the same way you do?

Posted by: TJM's phone at January 03, 2026 11:43 PM (GBKbO)

220 I still remember Mort Sahl's criticism of Exodus:

"Otto, let my people go!"

Posted by: DynamiteDan at January 04, 2026 12:05 AM (HBp0A)

221 >>> 137 I have long referred to the decade 1965-1975 as "Peak Humanity."

I still posit the Matrix was prophetic: it said 1999 was the peak era of civilization. The iPhone came out in 2007. And as much as I love my iPhone, smartphones have eroded our social fabric and the current generation of kids in a way we still haven't seen.

Besides, If we end peak humanity in 1975, you don't get all the glorious movies of the 80s and 90s. And as a millennial raised in that era, you don't get the golden age of punk and ska.

I love the Britpop of the 2000s, and there are some great films from that decade. But if we froze tech advancement to 1999, and rhe most advanced inches was the old Macs and maybe an iPod...I'd be sad but I'd totally take it.

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 12:09 AM (gWBY1)

222 Still working my way through the last season of Stranger Things. If you see it as a stylish Memberberries nostalgia bomb for better 80s films and shows, it's fine. And it's reminding me of all the films I need to show my kids! Ok, you liked the show? Well here's the 80s movies that inspired it...

IT, Carrie, Goonies, ET, Gremlins, John Hughes films, Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist, Stand By Me, The Thing, Jaws...and real life conspiracies of that time, like The Montauk Project and the Satanic Panic.

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 12:44 AM (gWBY1)

223 219 Laura is a great movie. Excellent in every way.
Anatomy Of A Murder is shmaltz, at best. If shmaltz means Shit in Yiddish.
And A Foreign Affair is a Billy Wilder movie, not Preminger.... Jeesh.
"His movies were generic looking overall. His noirs looked like noirs, his comedies looked like comedies, his dramas like dramas." Duh. FFS, what a retarded take.
Is TJM the best Ace can do for a movie columnist? Fucking charlatan. I bet he didn't even notice the camera movement throughout Laura that foreshadows the twist ending.
Posted by: Auto Premature at January 03, 2026 11:26 PM (GA40v)

Maybe you can pummel him until he agrees with you and accepts your world view as superior to all.

Posted by: Cow Demon at January 04, 2026 02:33 AM (3E+BT)

224 Never seen Stranger Things. No interest.

Posted by: Cow Demon at January 04, 2026 02:34 AM (3E+BT)

225 205 197 Otto Preminger was the basis for the stereotype picture of a director. Bald with the riding pants and a crop and a megaphone yelling out directions.
Posted by: Opinion fact at January 03, 2026 09:54 PM (KDPiq)

Are you sure that wasn't van Stroheim?
Posted by: tankdemon at January 03, 2026 09:58 PM (4kXuG)

It was a little bit Erich von Stroheim, a little bit Cecil B. DeMille, and a little bit Fritz Lang. Actor Fritz Feld put them all together in a Vitaphone short subject, circa 1937 (can't think of the title just now).

Posted by: DynamiteDan at January 04, 2026 03:01 AM (HBp0A)

226 Preminger was nice sometimes and a jerk sometimes, much like normal for Hollywood. He got dragged into playing Thranduil without warning, but he did okay.

Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at January 04, 2026 08:50 AM (QYSqF)

227 Hopefully this horse is beaten dead, at least for this thread...Otto P, I disagree with TJM on many of his movie opinions. But I ENJOY disagreeing with him on his opinions! I enjoy he backs his opinions with WHY he feels that way, and then I have the freedom to agree or not. And I enjoy learning more about cinematic history through HIS lens. Nowhere on the cob posts does it say Ace or anyone else here agrees with everyone else 100%. We're not a hivemind here.It's why I've lurked/commented here for 20 years, and don't ever want to quit Ace.

We CAN have spirited debates here without insulting each other. Unless the insults start with "your mother was a hamster..."

Posted by: LizLem at January 04, 2026 08:52 AM (gWBY1)

228 I think I'm done with the movie page, I find his conclusions and reasoning completely without merit or interest. So his recommendations on new or current movies are useless to me. Other than in opposition.

Posted by: John the River at January 04, 2026 01:45 PM (Li1E5)

229 "A Foreign Affair" was not a Lubitsch picture and was not finished by Preminger at Fox. It was directed by Billy Wilder at Paramount.

Posted by: vld at January 04, 2026 04:53 PM (EnWWi)

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