Saturday Evening Movie Thread 11-17-2018 [Hosted By: TheJamesMadison]

Comparing Movies

One line of argument that I see with relative frequency stems from the conceit of comparing two movies against each other. Over time, I've grown to generally dislike the practice of comparing movies to each other. I find it to be of limited use, but many people consider it a valid way to critique a film.

The argument usually goes along the lines of something like this: Movie A did x this way. Movie B did x another way. Movie A was successful, so that means that because Movie B did not do x the same way as Movie A, then movie B is bad. An actual example could be someone saying that Aliens is a bad movie because it doesn't retain the horror elements of Alien. Seriously.

So, I've come up with two pairs of movies that compare and contrast quite well, but the relative merits of the films on their own are what drive their relative qualities. John Wick against John Wick Chapter 2 and Brazil against The Zero Theorem.

John Wick Gets Confused

John Wick is a fun action vehicle with just enough plot and character to string along a series of very well made action sequences for about a hundred minutes. Its plot is spare: A former hitman loses his wife to cancer, her last give to him is a cute dog. A punk Russian mob boss's son steals the hitman's car and kills the dog. Said hitman proceeds to murder everyone.

Just the basic plot synopsis is so ridiculously simple to understand and so obviously manipulative with the use of the dog to make it entertaining on its own. It's the stuff of B-movie exploitation films from the 70s, but it's filmed very slickly, produced well, and the action sequences are almost balletic in their execution. It works because it understands the limits of its concept (the brotherhood of hitmen is kind of silly, so it doesn't do too much with it) and where its real strengths lie: those much ballyhooed action sequences.

I believe I'm in the minority opinion, however, about the sequel, John Wick Chapter 2. I found it interminable, slow, confused, and nearly unwatchable.

And, here's where my thesis comes into play, the sequel, in some important ways, is different from the original in key ways that undermine the effectiveness of the movie. It's not because the sequel does things differently than the original that I don't like it. The comparison to the original is really just informative.

John Wick's plot is super simple, as previously described, but John Wick Chapter 2's is shockingly byzantine. I've seen people say, "In the first one, he goes on a rampage because they kill his dog, but in the second they blew up his house!" And that's really not why John does what he does in the movie.

John goes on his second rampage because someone we've never heard of extracted a promise from John (a Marker, a metal disk with a bloody thumbprint inside) in order for John to retire, an exchange of a promise that allowed John to walk away from the hitman life. Note: this is all retconned onto the first movie. There's no hint that this is the situation in the first film, but whatever. John refuses to honor the Marker, new (old) bad guy blows up John's house, and then John goes to the owner of the hitman hotel (The Continental) to get advice. The owner tells him that John is going to break one of the commandments of the hitman underworld if he refuses the contract. So, John takes the job, goes after bad guy's sister, who apparently has a long history with John (this is now about 45 minutes into the film). She takes her own life, and then the bad guy's men try to kill John.

Finally, John goes on a rampage, almost halfway through the movie, and we've spent most of the running time up to that point with confusing world building, retconning of the first movie, and deeply emotional scenes with people we've never met before but are assured have long histories with John.

So, where does the comparison between the first and second movies become useful? John Wick Chapter 2's failures are its own. It does not fail or succeed because of anything that John Wick did. John Wick Chapter 2 fails because the story is a morass of needless detail that bog down an action movie in unearned sentimentality and curious plot mechanics, two things that were completely absent from the original.

Comparing the first movie to the second really just highlights the problems in the second. If John Wick Chapter 2 existed in a vacuum with no previous movie, it would have the exact same problems.

Brazil Goes Digital

Terry Gilliam is equal parts brilliant and frustrating. He has a wonderful comic mind that fit in very well with the rest of Monty Python, but he has almost no discipline when crafting stories. He tends to follow whatever interesting threads (usually visual and design based) while leaving other, more traditional, narrative elements flapping in the breeze. His movies are always messy to a certain extent, but contain differing amounts of wonderfulness within.

I think I fall in with most Terry Gilliam fans and call Brazil his best film (although there are certainly those who call Twelve Monkeys that). The movie is 1984 filtered through Kafka and Gilliam's own visual sensibilities (one of the working titles was actually 1984 1/2). Telling the story of Sam Lowry, a talented young bureaucrat with no ambition other than to live in his own head. He understands the systems and bureaucracies around him, but he has no desire to climb any ladder, content to dream of himself as a warrior in shining armor with wings saving a fantasy woman from monsters. It's only when he finds that fantasy woman in the real world that he decides to live fully in the real world in pursuit of her. He ends up running afoul of the whole system and receiving its wrath for crossing it at all.

The movie is really a deliriously joyful exploration of the humanity killing nature of bureaucracy.

The Zero Theorem shares some aesthetic similarities to Brazil, but little else and the two get compared to each other all the time. Made almost thirty years later, The Zero Theorem also takes place in a dystopian vision of the future where a loner who values his loneliness and tries to buck the system, however the comparisons between the two films really end there. And yet, nearly every review of the film brings up Brazil as though the two should be compared to one another.

First, The Zero Theorem is honestly just not a very good movie. It's interesting enough for a short time, but the central thesis about existential dread really wears thin across the entire runtime. The main character (Qohen Leth played by Christoph Waltz) was intentionally written in a way to distance him from the audience. He always refers to himself as "we". He's completely unconcerned with any material ends, repeatedly refusing to even eat pizza. His central concern, to work at home so he can wait by his phone for a call from an unknown entity that will provide him with purpose, is so oddball that it's hard to empathize with his plight.

The future vision itself is remarkable in its unremarkableness. The movie was made on the cheap for about $8 million in Romania, and the vision of the future includes little else than brightly colored clothes and screens everywhere (including a lot of 2013 era iPhones for some reason). The movie is also largely set on a single set of Qohen's home inside an abandoned church (the movie has its share of heavy-handed symbolism for sure).

So, why does Brazil come up so often in the conversation about The Zero Theorem? I think it's largely lazy thinking. The two movies share very shallow characteristics but almost nothing else. "Terry Gilliam drags us back to Brazil," says The Globe and Mail. "There's no going back to Brazil," declares IndieWire. "A dystopian delight but it lacks Brazil's genius" announces Metro.

Movies! Stand Alone!

The act of comparing one movie to another can be helpful in breaking down films, but how a movie stands in relation to another should be irrelevant to any individual movie's quality.

Is Aliens a different movie from Alien? Did the artists of the second movie chose to make a movie completely different from the original? Should that count against the second movie? Should the merits of the first movie have any bearing on the merits of the second?

Ideally, a critique of a movie should never address any other films. It should take the merits of the individual film on its own, discussing the filmmakers intentions and the successes of the efforts.

Now, I'm sure that there are those who would vehemently disagree. One man, whose reviews are half references to other movies no matter what, is Armond White. His reviews are bursting with notes about how this image in this film is referencing this other image in another film (half the time I haven't even heard of the other film). Take this paragraph from his review of Avengers Infinity War:

What academics call "narrativity" (employing memory and structural awareness in storytelling - the secret to John Boorman's Excalibur) here gets steamrolled by busyness and chronic fits of campy, facetious jokes between swashbuckling hunks Thor, Star-Lord, and erectile-dysfunction-sufferer the Hulk. The drawback to this - a lack of credible substance when characters pretend worry or ambivalence - is worse than Hollywood trashiness. The frantic comic-book mythology merely plays out the form's intrinsic commercialism, not cultural or historical beliefs. The Russo brothers' flippancy doesn't match the brio of Boorman's Arthurian masterpiece. In Excalibur, mythology represented historic human compulsions, resulting in a constantly moving sensual, kinetic, and visual panorama. (Visionary philologist Neil Jordan was billed as Boorman's "creative associate.")

I believe that Armond was trying to sell the idea that the two films (Avengers Infinity War and Excalibur) were both attempting similar things, or that the latter is a degradation of an idea represented by the former. However, the whole thing reads to me like he's saying, "Avengers is different than Excalibur, therefore I don't like Avengers." I find it wholly unpersuasive. It's not a mark against his taste in movies (which I largely don't share), just his technique in talking about film. If the point of his review is to convince me that Avengers Infinity War is trash, I don't think he does a good job doing that because he spends so little time actually talking about the movie itself. Hell, the first paragraph of his review is about Quentin Tarantino.

Take this final paragraph from Richard Brody's negative review of the same movie instead:

But that ending is also a narrative cheap shot, because it doesn't feel like an ending-it feels like the turning point of a movie that is about to enter its heroic final act (which, in this case, will instead be the sequel). The ground rules governing the film's superheroics are undefined and limitlessly malleable: infinite powers mean infinite dramatic possibilities, and none of the limitations by which real lives and choices are constructed and compelled. That's why, for all the colossal C.G.I. kinetics and pyrotechnics of the movie's massive battles and thudding fights, the stakes seem so low. Even the surprising deaths of beloved characters, for all their momentary power to disturb, feel cheap, because the powers of superheroism-amped up by the reversibility of time thanks to the time stone-make no result seem conclusive, no death seem final. The redemptive heroics that are doubtless forthcoming in the next episode are little to look forward to; they have the inevitability of the calendar.

I find this reasoning much more persuasive. It's not about how well the movie reflects the ethos of another movie from decades ago, but about the merits of the film itself. It talks about the low stakes of the universe and the lack of impact as a result. It brings up plot devices in the film (the time stone) that undermine any emotional grab of the film.

In the specific case of Avengers Infinity War, I find it to be an enjoyable adventure. A fun, pretty good movie, but if either of these two men were trying to convince me that it was less than that, White would fail and Brody would be more likely to succeed.

Movies of Today

Opening in Theaters:
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Instant Family
Widows

Next in my Netflix Queue:
Jane Eyre

Movies I Saw This Week:
Tess (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 4/4) Poster blurb: "Handsomely produced, impeccably acted, and emotionally compelling." [Netflix DVD]
The Zero Theorem (Netflix Rating 2/5 | Quality Rating 1.5/4) "An unengaging, visually uninspiring misfire from Gilliam." [Netflix DVD]
Dersu Uzala (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 4/4) "A marvelous curio from Kurosawa's filmography that highlights such a marvelous humanism." ["Library"]
Green for Danger (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 3.5/4) "Full of wit and intelligence, it's a whodunit made with great craft." ["Library"]
Captain Horatio Hornblower (Netflix Rating 3/5 | Quality Rating 2.5/4) "Adapted from three novels, and it feels it." ["Library"]
Silver Bullet (Netflix Rating 2/5 | Quality Rating 1.5/4) "Poorly assembled with unnecessary distractions all over the place. I'm not even sure it would appeal to kids." ["Library"]
Spotlight (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 3.5/4) "Absolutely engrossing film about the process of taking a bombshell story to print against incredible pressures." [Netflix Instant]
We Need to Talk about Kevin (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 3.5/4) "A portrait of a woman who raised pure evil, and the guilt the pervades her because of it." [Amazon Prime]
Allied (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 3.5/4) "Mature and intelligent spy tale that is so underrated." [Amazon Prime]
You Were Never Really Here (Netflix Rating 4/5 | Quality Rating 3/4) "Incredibly well made, but it seems written with the purpose of keeping the audience at a distance, which blunts the film's impact." [Amazon Prime]
Outlaw King (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 3.5/4) "Grungy and beautiful with strong performances and a great sweep." [Netflix Instant]
Hold the Dark (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 3.5/4) "Jeremy Saulnier is fast becoming my favorite filmmaker of his generation." [Netflix Instant]

Contact

Email any suggestions or questions to thejamesmadison.aos at symbol gmail dot com.

I've also archived all the old posts here, by request. I'll add new posts a week after they originally post at the HQ.

Posted by: OregonMuse at 07:22 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 One of my guilty pleasures is the movie star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Notice I said movie star, not actor. Because he's not a great actor, in fact, I don't think he's really an actor at all. In every movie, he's basically the same guy. He's just a screen presence, but what a presence: whenever he shows up on screen, everything else becomes the background. And he always plays good guys. His character is always decent, kind, loving towards his family, and is willing to sacrifice himself to fight the bad guys.

So we watched Skyscraper the other night, where he's a security consultant hired by a Chinese billionaire who has built the world's tallest building in Hong Kong. And it turns out that the billionair had to make deals with some shady characters in order to get his skyscraper built, and it all comes back to bite him on the butt. Naturally, it's up to the Rock to get things straightened out. The sets and special effects are really top-notch and the action is, well, it's a Dwayne Johnson movie, so it all gets very cheesy and over-the-top, but it looks spectacular. I could hear Mrs. Muse laughing at it, but after it was over, she said, "you know, this movie had no sex scenes, no nudity, no homosexual subplots shoved in our faces, no bad language, and the main character was the strong father of an intact, normal family. Not once did I have to turn away from it or close my eyes. This is the BEST MOVIE EVER!"

So this is a great 'popcorn' movie to watch, kind of like fast food for your brain.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at November 17, 2018 07:20 PM (NEdIn)

2 st

Posted by: ALH at November 17, 2018 07:20 PM (dczB+)

3 Popcorn time

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2018 07:20 PM (6VrXf)

4 I heart Kevin Costner. He's adorable.

Posted by: ALH at November 17, 2018 07:20 PM (dczB+)

5
Star Wars XII: In Search Of Palp

Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 07:22 PM (aBiG3)

6 So, how about that Ballad of Buster Scruggs?

Posted by: Denny Crane! at November 17, 2018 07:23 PM (radSL)

7 Never saw John Wick, 1 or 2

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2018 07:23 PM (6VrXf)

8 Raising Arizona is the best movie ever made.

Discuss.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 17, 2018 07:24 PM (HJhxx)

9

Did Palp order a cookbook?

Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 07:24 PM (aBiG3)

10 "Kwai" versus "Sand Pebbles" versus ""Lawrence of Arabia" versus "Morant."

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:24 PM (hgpSN)

11 When Palpatine is located, Zod will be informed.

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:25 PM (hgpSN)

12 I think the first 3 Alien movies were very different movies.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 07:25 PM (PUmDY)

13 You Were Never Really Here (Netflix Rating 4/5 | Quality Rating 3/4) "Incredibly well made, but it seems written with the purpose of keeping the audience at a distance, which blunts the film's impact." [Amazon Prime

Ah, you got around to it. So what did you think of it, aside from this general comment?

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:26 PM (NWiLs)

14 I had a big argument with someone last night who thinks the Last Jedi is a great movie. Even when he acknowledged its multiple flaws, ome of his favorite parts is when Luke Skywalker isn't some galaxy saving hero, but the aged whiny farmboy from Episode 4.

Putting aside the obvious failure to understand the themes of the original trilogy, plus the terrible regresssion of character development, I find myself believing that franchises need to refer to the other movies to build a coherent universe. Marvel has done this well: Star Wars has been legendarily, frachise-killing bad.

Posted by: trev006 at November 17, 2018 07:26 PM (3/Acz)

15 My standard: is it good of its kind

So Blazing Saddles beats all but a very few dramas

Sequels bear a burden, because if the original was good it had something unique about it

Posted by: Ignaramus at November 17, 2018 07:26 PM (dWUDH)

16 OM, we watched San Andreas the other day, and really enjoyed that. I like Carla Gugino, and she and Dwayne Johnson actually had good chemistry.

Also, husband found Our Man Godfrey on Amazon, and said it was his favorite movie. We watched it together, and I can see why. It was absolutely delightful. Also an interesting take on the "Forgotten Man" and how to deal with the issues of joblessness and homelessness. Also how the Forgotten Men were not a threat to those coming down to the river, just a little rough. Husband took the kids to a concert last night in downtown DC, and had to get away from an active crime, and deal with a girl who was drunk, slipped and dented our car.

Posted by: moki at November 17, 2018 07:27 PM (mFoNl)

17 Yay, movie thread!

I will confess -- and I am an Alien fangurrl, so it pains me -- I did not like Aliens that much at first viewing. Oh, it was pulse-pounding all right. Overkill. I thought it was exhausting. I much preferred the slow dread of Alien.

Later viewings upped its appeal until I know put it on the same level as its predecessor. One is Lovecraftian horror in the icy uncaring vacuum of space, the other is a bloody roller coaster ride.

I love them both.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:28 PM (kQs4Y)

18 Putting aside the obvious failure to understand the themes of the original trilogy, plus the terrible regresssion of character development, I find myself believing that franchises need to refer to the other movies to build a coherent universe. Marvel has done this well: Star Wars has been legendarily, frachise-killing bad.
Posted by: trev006 at November 17, 2018 07:26 PM (3/Acz)

Admit it. You just hate strong women characters.

Posted by: Kathleen Kennedy at November 17, 2018 07:28 PM (HJhxx)

19 A more specific question for you, same movie: how much do you think was real and how much do you think was only in his head? There is some debate about this out there, apparently.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:30 PM (NWiLs)

20 Now I can't even trust Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews which is normally a good gauge . They had the new Cage movie , Mandy, rated over 80% . I think they incorrectly added a zero. What a piece of drek. It was like they tried to make a mash up of Vahalla Rising and John Wick .

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:30 PM (2DOZq)

21 13
Ah, you got around to it. So what did you think of it, aside from this general comment?
Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:26 PM (NWiLs)

======

I honestly think I may need a second viewing.

There's definitely great craft to the whole affair, but I felt so distant from the central character when I think there was supposed to be a greater feeling of intimacy between him and the audience. Because of they, I felt like certain elements towards the end fee fell a but flatter than they should have.

It may be because the movie is rather off beat, which makes it harder to digestin a first viewing, at least for me.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:30 PM (zZbCU)

22 I saw John Wick 2 first, before John Wick. So I don't hate it, like fans who saw the two movies in the proper order.

Maybe sequels aren't so bad if you haven't yet seen the original on which they're based.

Posted by: Hands at November 17, 2018 07:30 PM (786Ro)

23 I had a big argument with someone last night who thinks the Last Jedi is a great movie. Even when he acknowledged its multiple flaws, ome of his favorite parts is when Luke Skywalker isn't some galaxy saving hero, but the aged whiny farmboy from Episode 4.

---

Is that the one where he sends a hologram to fight the bad guys and then uses up all his Star Wars at the end of the battle and disappears entirely into the Force?

Even his robot hand.

Posted by: Moron Robbie - Thoughts and prayers for RBG 🐘 at November 17, 2018 07:31 PM (LX21o)

24 Mandy was artsy grindhouse genius. I loved it. It's just one of those crazy movies that appeals to me.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:31 PM (kQs4Y)

25 19 A more specific question for you, same movie: how much do you think was real and how much do you think was only in his head? There is some debate about this out there, apparently.
Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:30 PM (NWiLs)

======

That's really the heart of my distance, I think.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:32 PM (zZbCU)

26 I remember watching Green for Danger. It was the first movie that I ever saw that referred to the V-1 buzz bombs. It was just an aside, where the detective started running for shelter when the motor cut out over-head

Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2018 07:32 PM (mUa7G)

27 I didn't like John Wick 2 either. They tried too hard, and when he was given the bulletproof suit I just gave up.

I think Infinity War was fine, if you see the MCU as a continuous story building up to IW and IW

Posted by: Colorado Alex In Exile at November 17, 2018 07:33 PM (SgjGX)

28 8 Raising Arizona is the best movie ever made.

Discuss.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 17, 2018 07:24 PM (HJhxx)

It is one of the few movies where I have laughed non-stop throughout the film. Ugly laugh, with tears pouring down my cheeks, not stupid little simpering giggles. One of Nicolas Cage's best roles, and Holly Hunter was robbed of any award that was available that year. So, yeah. It was pretty good.

Posted by: moki at November 17, 2018 07:33 PM (mFoNl)

29 OM, we watched San Andreas the other day, and really enjoyed that. I like Carla Gugino, and she and Dwayne Johnson actually had good chemistry.

Posted by: moki at November 17, 2018 07:27 PM (mFoNl)

I liked that movie, too. It's just like Skyscraper. Cheesy, over-the-top fun.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at November 17, 2018 07:33 PM (NEdIn)

30 >>28 8 Raising Arizona is the best movie ever made.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 17, 2018 07:24 PM (HJhxx)

"Son, you got a panty on your head."

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:34 PM (hgpSN)

31
Dr Heckyll & Mr Hype was on TV, today.

Weird but kinda good.

Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 07:35 PM (aBiG3)

32 Alien crosses many genres. Its cassic Hitchcock suspense

Aliens is a Boo! movie, but good of its kind

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2018 07:35 PM (dWUDH)

33 Best of the Worst: The Photon Effect, How I Saved the President, and Double Down:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-3wkbqmgxs

The latter is a Neil Breen joint. Oh my God. He's like our generation's Ed Wood.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:35 PM (kQs4Y)

34 Mandy was artsy grindhouse genius. I loved it. It's just one of those crazy movies that appeals to me.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:31 PM

Mandy came and it gave without taking

Posted by: Hands at November 17, 2018 07:36 PM (786Ro)

35 Edited:

"Son, you got a panty on yore hed."

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:36 PM (hgpSN)

36 25 19 A more specific question for you, same movie: how much do you think was real and how much do you think was only in his head? There is some debate about this out there, apparently.
Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:30 PM (NWiLs)

======

That's really the heart of my distance, I think.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:32 PM (zZbCU)

Fair enough. It's very hard to tell what's real and what isn't. Maybe that's on purpose so the viewer experiences the same thing as the main character. I really don't know. But I'm glad I watched it.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:36 PM (NWiLs)

37 33 The latter is a Neil Breen joint. Oh my God. He's like our generation's Ed Wood.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:35 PM (kQs4Y)

=======

Ed Wood seemed like a genial guy who loved movies.

Breen feels like an absolute crazy person I would be afraid to spend any time near.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:36 PM (zZbCU)

38 You're not in the minority about Wick 2. It was terrible. First they do what they always do. Add car chases to sequels. The opening scene blew. Second, Wick would never let people get close enough to blow up his house. Third, there is only one boogeyman . Making a John Wick equal took away everything that makes Wick. I checked out after that scene. I hated John Wick 2.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:37 PM (2DOZq)

39 I have gotten hooked on "The Wire" and read that Lance Reddick was a producer of "John Wick" Lance Reddick puts Idris Elba in the shade.

Posted by: Ben Had at November 17, 2018 07:37 PM (sL159)

40 Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:36 PM (zZbCU)
---
Ed seemed like a fun guy you could go lingerie shopping with, and then have a beer.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:38 PM (kQs4Y)

41 36 Fair enough. It's very hard to tell what's real and what isn't. Maybe that's on purpose so the viewer experiences the same thing as the main character. I really don't know. But I'm glad I watched it.
Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:36 PM (NWiLs)

======

Considering how much I loved We Need to Talk About Kevin, I'm more than willing to give YWNRH another shot to dig in a little bit more.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:38 PM (zZbCU)

42 "The Black Stallion."

If you're not moved when Alex sheds his cap and wins, you have no heart.

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:38 PM (hgpSN)

43 One is Lovecraftian horror in the icy uncaring vacuum of space, the other is a bloody roller coaster ride.

I love them both.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:28 PM (kQs4Y)

Alien crosses many genres. Its cassic Hitchcock suspense

Aliens is a Boo! movie, but good of its kind
Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2018 07:35 PM (dWUDH)

(et al)

Agree. Alien is pure atmosphere* and darkness and shadow and Jonesy and CREW EXPENDABLE. But you can't not love e.g. Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein chewing scenery and then setting fire to it and then blowing it up while slinging The Best Lines.

* yeah, no one can hear you scream, hurr hurr I get it

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 07:38 PM (t+qrx)

44 A big critics poll had Raising Arizona at #2 of the 80s, after Raging Bull

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 17, 2018 07:38 PM (dWUDH)

45 Took me a few times until I saw all of Aliens.

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2018 07:38 PM (6VrXf)

46

Did Palp order a cookbook?
Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 07:24 PM (aBiG3)
------
Orders go through Amazon.

Posted by: Weasel at November 17, 2018 07:38 PM (MVjcR)

47 Even when he acknowledged its multiple flaws, ome of his favorite parts is when Luke Skywalker isn't some galaxy saving hero, but the aged whiny farmboy from Episode 4.

Just like in Princess Leia's Stolen Death Star Plans"

"Luke Is in the Desert And Whining"

https://youtu.be/BhFyX1IkjAM

Posted by: Hands at November 17, 2018 07:39 PM (786Ro)

48
I have to say that I hated "Silver Bullet" because it was nothing like "Silverado".

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 07:39 PM (CRRq9)

49 Considering how much I loved We Need to Talk About Kevin, I'm more than willing to give YWNRH another shot to dig in a little bit more.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:38 PM (zZbCU)

Well, if you do, I'd like to know what conclusions you reach.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:39 PM (NWiLs)

50 Took me a few times until I saw all of Aliens.
Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2018 07:38 PM (6VrXf)

Well there's a lot of them and they look alike.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 07:40 PM (t+qrx)

51 Everyone craps on Prometheus , but that one gives me the super creeps.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 07:40 PM (PUmDY)

52 Weasel, you are one smart guy. Carry on.

Posted by: Ben Had at November 17, 2018 07:41 PM (sL159)

53 The best explanation of Alien I know of came from John Landis. He said Alien is a haunted house movie where you can't get out of the house.

Posted by: Bilwis, Devourer of Low Glycemic Souls at November 17, 2018 07:41 PM (jp0Bv)

54 Yodas and shit.

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:41 PM (hgpSN)

55 Mandy was artsy grindhouse genius. I loved it. It's just one of those crazy movies that appeals to me.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:31 PM (kQs4Y)

Have you ever seen a Valhalla Rising? If so, what did you think of it?

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:42 PM (2DOZq)

56 I saw Dersu Uzala when I was quite a bit younger. Good movie, even though I probably some of what was going on in it. I had no idea that Kurosawa was involved with it. The fact that it was in Russian, and not Japanese, would have kept me thinking that way if I hadn't been told otherwise.

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 07:42 PM (oE1+m)

57 Anybody else who's seen YWNRH?

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:42 PM (NWiLs)

58 I kinda watched Rampage, with Dwayne Johnson, on the airplane. I didn't bother with earphones. It was amusing and easy enough to follow.
Buff guy who's sciencey and hot woman, who's sciencey.
Evil sciencey people. Animals run amok. Stuff gets broken but it ends well.
I almost prefer watching airplane movies without sound.

Posted by: Northernlurker at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM (nBr1j)

59 55 Have you ever seen a Valhalla Rising? If so, what did you think of it?
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:42 PM (2DOZq)

======

Personally, I much prefer Drive and The Neon Demon.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM (zZbCU)

60 Just rewatched Excalibur earlier in the week and I think it aged well. I refuse to see Inf. Wars.

So is it fair to say that Incredibles was fine but Incredibles II sucked mouse balls not because II wasn't I but II just sucked?

Marvel and Disney need to muzzle their npc/swj actors (and comic book artists).

Posted by: auscolpyr at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM (oFsfu)

61 Zod, do you know something the rest of us don't concerning Palp?

Posted by: Ben Had at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM (sL159)

62 I liked Alien far more than I liked Aliens.

That said, they were far different. Alien was true horror, which is a genre that I am terribly picky about. It worked as a horror story.

Aliens is much more action adventure. I liked it well enough, despite being, in general, not a fan of action-adventure. But, to sum up, Aliens is a good flick. But personally I liked the original far more.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM (TI8Od)

63 Posted by: Northernlurker at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM (nBr1j)

I've seen the monster part $.25 at a time about 30 years ago.

Posted by: auscolpyr at November 17, 2018 07:44 PM (oFsfu)

64 @53 The best explanation of Alien I know of came from John Landis. He said Alien is a haunted house movie where you can't get out of the house.
------------------

Isn't that the description of that horror movie with John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson? 1408?

Except it's a hotel room, and not a house.

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 07:44 PM (oE1+m)

65 56 I saw Dersu Uzala when I was quite a bit younger. Good movie, even though I probably some of what was going on in it. I had no idea that Kurosawa was involved with it. The fact that it was in Russian, and not Japanese, would have kept me thinking that way if I hadn't been told otherwise.
Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 07:42 PM (oE1+m)

======

When i found out that Kurosawa made a movie in Russian, I just had to check it out.

The fact that no one seems to remember that it even exists is really sad.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:44 PM (zZbCU)

66 >>60 Just rewatched Excalibur earlier in the week and I think it aged well.

That movie does age well. Ygraine was the director's wife, FWIW.

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:44 PM (hgpSN)

67 I love Aliens. Best of the franchise IMHO.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:44 PM (NWiLs)

68 Anybody else who's seen YWNRH?
Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:42 PM (NWiLs)

I had to look up the acronym, so no. I'll put it on the stack on your say-so if you liked it, but I gotta be honest, the stack is getting overwhelming I said I was going to watch Coherence about a year ago and I'm only maybe 15 minutes into it, and I liked those 15 minutes.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 07:45 PM (t+qrx)

69 Count me as a fan of Raising Arizona.

Posted by: Northernlurker at November 17, 2018 07:46 PM (nBr1j)

70 66 >>60 Just rewatched Excalibur earlier in the week and I think it aged well.

That movie does age well. Ygraine was the director's wife, FWIW.
Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:44 PM (hgpSN)

I have seen that movie exactly once, on HBO, at my friend's house, thirty or so years ago. Sounds like I should find it and watch it again.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at November 17, 2018 07:46 PM (TI8Od)

71 Personally, I much prefer Drive and The Neon Demon.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM (zZbCU)

I did too. I just wanted to point out the similarities of the production of Mandy and Valhalla Rising . The director of Mandy must have been a fan.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:46 PM (2DOZq)

72 If JW2 was the first movie, JW would never had been made.

JW was perfect for what it was. JW2 was a hot mess.

In the first movie Wick was "the man you hired to kill the boogie man". In JW2 he was one among equals.

JW2 blows. If you haven't watched it but you have watched JW, stop. Trust me on this.

Posted by: weirdflunky at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (LI1+J)

73 I had to look up the acronym, so no. I'll put it on the stack on your say-so if you liked it, but I gotta be honest, the stack is getting overwhelming I said I was going to watch Coherence about a year ago and I'm only maybe 15 minutes into it, and I liked those 15 minutes.
Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 07:45 PM (t+qrx)

It's not a movie that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. But it's something to be experienced.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (NWiLs)

74 I think Alien 1&2 are both worthy movies.

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (6VrXf)

75 @32 Aliens is a Boo! movie, but good of its kind
-------------------

Aliens is a military movie. It's not the modern military, though. Rather it's the military of the '60s and '70s that was full of conscripts, and was (or just had been) involved in a war in which you never knew who or where the enemy was.

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (oE1+m)

76 69 Count me as a fan of Raising Arizona.
Posted by: Northernlurker at November 17, 2018 07:46 PM (nBr1j)

Oh yes.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (NWiLs)

77 Hey everybody. TJM, thanks for another great movie thread, and also talking about John Wick. I just watched it a week ago and largely agree with what you wrote: it's got a super-simple, easy-to-follow plot, which IMHO really helps to make it appealing. To say nothing of the fact that except for about the first 20 minutes, it's almost entirely one continuous strip of action, action, action.

I *did* wonder if the movie would have worked better in real time, rather than as a long flashback from an interesting opening scene. OTOH, I know movies have to have an opening "hook," and the opening of JW does work in that regard.

On a slightly related note, Barnes & Noble is having another half-off on Criterion sale. I also have a membership there, so I was able to get the blu-ray of Tom Jones, Oscar's 1963 Best Picture, for under $20. I heard it's a good idea to see Tom Jones while you're a little hungry... ;-)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (miE9U)

78 Alien is Jimmy Carter's monster movie. Naive innocents encounter an unexpected horror they cannot comprehend interacting in a context they cannot grasp.

Aliens is Ronald Reagan's monster movie: We've encountered an unexpected horror. We have guns.

Posted by: Richard McEnroe at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (XqKX1)

79 It's not a movie that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. But it's something to be experienced.
Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (NWiLs)

Two points in its favor, thanks.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 07:48 PM (t+qrx)

80 Insomniac, yup. I think the Coen Brothers peaked early in their career, although they still have a lot of talent, a la True Grit.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:48 PM (miE9U)

81 Orders go through Amazon.
Posted by: Weasel at November 17, 2018 07:38 PM (MVjcR)

Just tell them you need the info for an Orange Man Bad article you're writing and I'm sure they'll give you his street address and phone number!

Posted by: Comrade Hrothgar at November 17, 2018 07:48 PM (f3oO4)

82 76 69 Count me as a fan of Raising Arizona.
Posted by: Northernlurker at November 17, 2018 07:46 PM (nBr1j)

Oh yes.
Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (NWiLs)

Coen Brothers > Farrelly Brothers.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at November 17, 2018 07:49 PM (TI8Od)

83 80 Insomniac, yup. I think the Coen Brothers peaked early in their career, although they still have a lot of talent, a la True Grit.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:48 PM (miE9U)

======

Have you seen Inside Llewyn Davis?

Probably one of their best movies.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:49 PM (zZbCU)

84 Also, I'm interested in We Need To Talk About Kevin... although, I've read and heard it's an incredible downer of a movie.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:49 PM (miE9U)

85 Posted by: weirdflunky at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (LI1+J)

Exactly.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:49 PM (2DOZq)

86 59 55 Have you ever seen a Valhalla Rising? If so, what did you think of it?
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:42 PM (2DOZq)

======

Personally, I much prefer Drive and The Neon Demon.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM (zZbCU)
-----

Thumbs up for Neon Demon. Why do I love chilly art flicks with synth music? (I bought the soundtrack).

I thought the only good thing about Valhalla Rising was shirtless Mads Mikkelson tied to a stake. That movie was one long depressing mushroom trip.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:49 PM (kQs4Y)

87 Evenin' Horde. So we're actually sending out search parties to find the Mad Slav now?

Posted by: I'm Brother Cavil, and I recommend The Courage To Be Disliked at November 17, 2018 07:49 PM (lLeln)

88 @65 When i found out that Kurosawa made a movie in Russian, I just had to check it out.

The fact that no one seems to remember that it even exists is really sad.
----------------

My Dad had been listening to the book that it's based on shortly before we saw the movie. So I'm guessing that it was "a thing" in the US right around the time that I saw it.

Just speculation on my part, though.

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 07:49 PM (oE1+m)

89 Imagine making a film series that was more or less well done for TEN YEARS. Then imagine making a stellar finale. That's what Infinity War is. For the fans, and it's a love letter to the fans, it's the first half of a seminal achievement.

And if you're not a fan of Marvel? Well it wasn't written with you in mind any more than Terms of Endearment was written with me in mind. Sure, there's a valid argument that great films should be universal, but I think we all know that's kinda bullshit.

Anyway, Infinity War is really half a film. It's not fair, but it can't really be judged until the next film comes out.

Posted by: Max Power at November 17, 2018 07:50 PM (q177U)

90 >>61 Zod, do you know something the rest of us don't concerning Palp Posted by: Ben Had at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM (sL159)

No, I don't. I wish I did. I really like his posts, and we used to bandy stuff. He's an "insider," and I'm not, so there are many others who'd have a better pulse-check on his situation. If I gave the impression that I did, it was only meant to calm suspicion or goof to settle the agitated. Maybe the guy needs a break, and doesn't require an "I'm out" flourish to do so.

I hope he's well. Like I said, I think we're kinda like-minded in the offbeat way.

Zod is troubled.

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:51 PM (hgpSN)

91 TJM, I have the blu-ray but haven't watched it yet :-)
I've heard good things forever about it though. Time to take it off the shelf.

Also TJM, two questions: (1), did you get your copy of the 4k remaster of 2001 yet? And (2), do you have any interest in seeing this "new" Orson Welles movie, The Other Side Of The Wind? It sounds both good and ridiculously pretentious.

And for anyone who loves Dr. Strangelove, as I mentioned, everything in The Criterion Collection is half off at Barnes & Noble right now. You OWE IT TO YOURSELF to pick up their edition of it; it is fantastic.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:51 PM (miE9U)

92 @89 And if you're not a fan of Marvel? Well it wasn't written with you in mind any more than Terms of Endearment was written with me in mind. Sure, there's a valid argument that great films should be universal, but I think we all know that's kinda bullshit.

Anyway, Infinity War is really half a film. It's not fair, but it can't really be judged until the next film comes out.
----------------

It's half of a film with an *incredibly* huge cast. If someone were to use that as their first Marvel movie, I suspect that they'd spend most of the movie thinking to themselves, "Who exactly are all of these people?"

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 07:52 PM (oE1+m)

93 Movies watched while having sex > movies watched while not having sex

Posted by: literally serious at November 17, 2018 07:53 PM (j72Tr)

94 I never say "The Zero Theorem", but I really liked "Brazil".

And that's why I can't blog about movies. I liked it. That's pretty much all I have to say.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 07:53 PM (sdi6R)

95
OT - As Florida recount wraps up, Democrat Gillum concedes

One less race they were able to steal

Posted by: TheQuietMan at November 17, 2018 07:53 PM (SiINZ)

96 saw, not say

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (sdi6R)

97 91
Also TJM, two questions: (1), did you get your copy of the 4k remaster of 2001 yet? And (2), do you have any interest in seeing this "new" Orson Welles movie, The Other Side Of The Wind? It sounds both good and ridiculously pretentious.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:51 PM (miE9U)

======

1) I did, and it looks amazing.

2) I am. I intended to watch it this week, but Dolley is uninterested and other opportunities were scarce for a movie I want to pay full attention to.

I've heard the companion documentary (They'll Love Me When I'm Dead) is also very worthwhile.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (zZbCU)

98 I don't attach to people online, it's not really for me, but since we're unbosoming, yeah, it bothers me that he hasn't posted.

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (hgpSN)

99 @18 Admit it. You just hate strong women characters.
------------------

The crazy thing about the new Star Wars movies is that in a series ostensibly about daring heroes and their heroics, the best character right now is probably the coward who keeps trying to run away.

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (oE1+m)

100 Are you going to quit demanding bowing? Pretty corny, sorry in advance.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (PUmDY)

101 All Hail Eris, speaking of arty movies with synth soundtracks, I still want to see Koyaniquatsi. (I know thats misspelled but I'm sure you all get the idea.)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (miE9U)

102 I loved John Wick. I like part 2 but it is flawed.

Love both Alien and Aliens, but if I had to choose one, I would pick Alien.

Posted by: Darth Randall at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (p0nVR)

103 93 Movies watched while having sex > movies watched while not having sex

Posted by: literally serious at November 17, 2018 07:53 PM (j72Tr)
---
Even if it's a David Lynch movie?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:55 PM (kQs4Y)

104 One less race they were able to steal
Posted by: TheQuietMan at November 17, 2018 07:53 PM (SiINZ)

Practice makes perfect!

Posted by: Comrade Hrothgar at November 17, 2018 07:55 PM (f3oO4)

105 TJM, both are great to hear. :-)

I'm gonna get me a 4k bluray player soon so I can get the 4k 2001 experience in full detail, and I'm also looking forward to seeing the "new" Orson movie and the doc. Glad you're interested, it makes me feel more sane about being interested myself.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:56 PM (miE9U)

106 Giant is about to start on the Movies channel. Just watched Rebel Without a Cause for the first time last week. Mr Howell is the definition of a cuck.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:56 PM (2DOZq)

107 >>100 Are you going to quit demanding bowing? Pretty corny, sorry in advance. Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (PUmDY)

Bow?

Kneel.

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:56 PM (hgpSN)

108 Movies watched while having sex > movies watched while not having sex

Posted by: literally serious at November 17, 2018 07:53 PM (j72Tr)

Personally?

{ } / {every movie I have ever seen}

Not a big multitasker.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at November 17, 2018 07:56 PM (TI8Od)

109 98 I don't attach to people online, it's not really for me, but since we're unbosoming, yeah, it bothers me that he hasn't posted.
Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (hgpSN)

Zod has feelings?!?!

Posted by: literally serious at November 17, 2018 07:56 PM (j72Tr)

110 I think 12 Monkeys is definitely Gilliam's best movie. The fatalistic circular plot. Also there were a few scenes where Willis was on the trail of the group: he saw traces of their logo on walls, saw the pig's head on the butcher shop. Those scenes created an incredible sense of dread and suspense, and they must have been very inexpensive, no CGI necessary. The despair made it the most emotionally involving of Gilliam's movies.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at November 17, 2018 07:56 PM (/qEW2)

111 Have you seen Inside Llewyn Davis?

Probably one of their best movies.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:49 PM (zZbCU)

Coen Bros. are very hit-and-miss. Mrs Muse and I *loved* True Grit. Wonderful movie. Sat down to watch Inside Llewyn Davis. 20 minutes in, I looked at her and said, "Do you care about this guy?" She shook her head. So I popped the Eject button and the DVD was on its way back to Netflix that very day.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at November 17, 2018 07:57 PM (NEdIn)

112
As Florida recount wraps up, Democrat Gillum concedes

Concession 2 - Electoral Boogaloo

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at November 17, 2018 07:57 PM (aKsyK)

113 Never saw Raising Arizona either.

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2018 07:57 PM (6VrXf)

114 105 TJM, both are great to hear. :-)

I'm gonna get me a 4k bluray player soon so I can get the 4k 2001 experience in full detail, and I'm also looking forward to seeing the "new" Orson movie and the doc. Glad you're interested, it makes me feel more sane about being interested myself.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:56 PM (miE9U)

=====

It's Orson farking Welles!

I don't understand people who aren't excited.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 07:57 PM (zZbCU)

115 103 93 Movies watched while having sex > movies watched while not having sex

Posted by: literally serious at November 17, 2018 07:53 PM (j72Tr)
---
Even if it's a David Lynch movie?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:55 PM (kQs4Y)

Especially if it's a David Lynch movie.

Posted by: literally serious at November 17, 2018 07:58 PM (j72Tr)

116 I remember a while back (90s?) there was a HUGE debate about how Brazil *really* ends. Is he dead, or is he actually free?

But then I only recently learned, this parallels controversy about the end of George Orwell's 1984, as I've heard Winston Smith is just about to get shot at the end of that novel, as well.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:58 PM (miE9U)

117

John Wick
V
V
V
V
V
John Wick Dos.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at November 17, 2018 07:58 PM (yQpMk)

118 TJM, same here.
I'm also interested in seeing F For Fake.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:58 PM (miE9U)

119 I still want to see Koyaniquatsi. (I know thats misspelled but I'm sure you all get the idea.)
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (miE9U)
---
I just remember the low rumbling bass of "KOYAANISQATSI" and my friend who kept singing sotto voce "Pau Hana Cocktail!" until we left for drinks.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 07:58 PM (kQs4Y)

120 How about offline?

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 07:58 PM (PUmDY)

121 78 Alien is Jimmy Carter's monster movie. Naive innocents encounter an unexpected horror they cannot comprehend interacting in a context they cannot grasp.

Aliens is Ronald Reagan's monster movie: We've encountered an unexpected horror. We have guns.
Posted by: Richard McEnroe at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (XqKX1)

Brilliant analysis. Seriously. This is going into my 'AoSHQ comments hall of fame' file.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at November 17, 2018 07:58 PM (NEdIn)

122
This week I saw-

"Overlord"

very well made, well-acted, and a huge amount of fun.

It starts out as a sort of "Guns of Navarrone" kinda dealio where WWII soldiers need to take out a radio jamming tower so that D-day can be successful.

And from there, bit by bit, morphs into a zombie-ish, Nazi medical experiment horror movie.

The build up until everything goes straight up kookoobananas is surprisingly subtle and very well done.

Some here have expressed doubt?disgust?whatever? about the fact that the paratrooper group is racially integrated which would not have happened in WWII.

Well, first I'd like to point out that this is a zombie movie s-o-o-o-o-o I think they've kind of left the whole it didn't happen that way in WWII idea behind.

Two, the way it's played is like a gazillion WWII movies. ie. We're all from different backgrounds -there's the Bronx guy, Southern guy, etc but we're all Americans fighting these Nazi bastards

The black guy in "Overlord" is basically playing the sensitive Jewish guy from a 1950s WWII movie.

Jewish Morons may complain to JJ Abrams about the cultural appropriation of their stereotype.

In fact, I think they should!.

Bokeem Woodbine should only play the gruff sergeant in war movies from here on out. He's great in the role.

Anyway, "Overlord" is just a fun time at the movies.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 07:59 PM (CRRq9)

123 >>Zod has feelings?!?! Posted by: literally serious at November 17, 2018 07:56 PM (j72Tr)

You don't have a scheduled audience. No, you may not kiss the ring. Or the boot. Or Canis Zod.

Bailiff, bear him hence.

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:59 PM (hgpSN)

124 Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at November 17, 2018 07:57 PM (NEdIn)

Did the same thing with A Serious Man .

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:59 PM (2DOZq)

125 This new flick, Widows, looks like it *might* be good. Unfortunately it also gives off a weird SJW vibe.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:59 PM (miE9U)

126
Giant is about to start on the Movies channel. Just watched Rebel Without a Cause for the first time last week. Mr Howell is the definition of a cuck.
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp

James Dean was an annoying whiny guy.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at November 17, 2018 08:00 PM (aKsyK)

127 118 TJM, same here.
I'm also interested in seeing F For Fake.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:58 PM (miE9U)

======

I've owned it for years. I love it.

It's tricky and witty and fun.

Absolutely worth the time.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:00 PM (zZbCU)

128 rickl, in case you missed then end of the last thread, I will repeat. You are like Waffle House hash browns- You are smothered and covered.

Posted by: Ben Had at November 17, 2018 08:00 PM (sL159)

129 Comment # 10 has not yet been addressed.

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 08:00 PM (hgpSN)

130 "Borgman."

Devil?

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 08:01 PM (hgpSN)

131 TJM, you sold me on that too then. :-)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:02 PM (miE9U)

132
Just tell them you need the info for an Orange Man Bad article you're writing and I'm sure they'll give you his street address and phone number!
Posted by: Comrade Hrothgar at November 17, 2018 07:48 PM (f3oO4)
------
I tried that when someone ordered almost 100 copies of the cookbook. No luck.

Posted by: Weasel at November 17, 2018 08:02 PM (MVjcR)

133 Is anyone else a big fan of Twin Peaks The Return? Took a little bit to get going, but wow.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:02 PM (PUmDY)

134 Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 07:59 PM (CRRq9)

I want to see that! Bokeem was great in "Fargo".

Now I don't know about paratroopers, but I've read that with all the mixing and recombining of units after attrition and from necessity, they were basically integrated by the end of the war.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 08:02 PM (kQs4Y)

135 James Dean was an annoying whiny guy.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at November 17, 2018 08:00 PM (aKsyK)

That too.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 08:03 PM (2DOZq)

136 Cosmic, I've read the *new* Twin Peaks makes the old Twin Peaks look easy to understand. ;-)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:03 PM (miE9U)

137 101 All Hail Eris, speaking of arty movies with synth soundtracks, I still want to see Koyaniquatsi. (I know thats misspelled but I'm sure you all get the idea.)
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:54 PM (miE9U)

Here's the ending. (Spoiler)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEHO7YIpu-I

The first Atlas-Centaur launch failed on May 8, 1962, but it later became a reliable workhorse among American orbital launchers.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 08:04 PM (sdi6R)

138 I think James Dean, if he had survived his crash and went on to a long career, would have ended up a lot like Marlon Brando.

(Greatly talented, but also incredibly entitled and next to impossible to work with.)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:04 PM (miE9U)

139
Well, first I'd like to point out that this is a zombie movie s-o-o-o-o-o I think they've kind of left the whole it didn't happen that way in WWII idea behind.

Next you're going to tell me they didn't find Hellboy at the end of WWII.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at November 17, 2018 08:04 PM (aKsyK)

140 rickl, thanks!

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:04 PM (miE9U)

141 78 Alien is Jimmy Carter's monster movie. Naive innocents encounter an unexpected horror they cannot comprehend interacting in a context they cannot grasp.

Aliens is Ronald Reagan's monster movie: We've encountered an unexpected horror. We have guns.
Posted by: Richard McEnroe

And a Nuke.

Posted by: Puddleglum at November 17, 2018 08:04 PM (HCqAo)

142 I liked Predators as much as I liked Predator.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 08:05 PM (2DOZq)

143 136 Cosmic, I've read the *new* Twin Peaks makes the old Twin Peaks look easy to understand. ;-)
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:03 PM (miE9U)

My takeaway from the New Twin Peaks is that Madchen Amick has aged very, very well.

Very well.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at November 17, 2018 08:05 PM (TI8Od)

144 Seems like every flick Tangerine Dream did a soundtrack for, was a classic.

Also, people love to call him a disco-obsessed hack but Giorgio Moroder did an incredible job with the soundtrack for Midnight Express.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:05 PM (miE9U)

145 Very.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at November 17, 2018 08:06 PM (TI8Od)

146 Pug Mahon: magic of CGI :-)

Check out what the SFX wizards were able to do with Sean Young in Blade Runner 2049. OMG.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:06 PM (miE9U)

147 I just watched "Escape Plan." Hopefully, they don't make an Escape Plan II. I liked Demolition Man but see little entertaining in just about any other Sly Stallone movie. I tried watching "Rocky" again. Yikes, what a POS that was. And I think it won a few Academy Awards, but I'm too lazy to look it up.

Posted by: Concerned People's Front, Boofing Chapter at November 17, 2018 08:06 PM (hSQF+)

148 Pug, something tells me the big twist at the very, final end of Twin Peaks is going to be that...

Laura Palmer was never dead. At all.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:07 PM (miE9U)

149 I liked Predators as much as I liked Predator.

I thought the acting was better in Predators.

Posted by: Concerned People's Front, Boofing Chapter at November 17, 2018 08:08 PM (hSQF+)

150 I agree you should be able to render an opinion of a movie independent of others. You shouldn't be able to trash a good movie A that for some reason you hate, by contrasting it to another good movie B which you like. But I think it's legitimate to compare aspects of movies on occasion.

I can compare Cage's performance in his Wicker Man to the original just to emphasize that his movie was a bad movie. Of course I could omit all reference to the original movie and argue that Cage's movie was horrible, which I think is your point, but I don't think it's out of bounds to reference the original and note that the analogous aspects, like the acting of the leads, was better in the original.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at November 17, 2018 08:09 PM (/qEW2)

151 The Wicker Man: another classic 1970s flick with a very, VERY bleak ending.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:10 PM (miE9U)

152 I would lump 12 Monkeys in with Donnie Darko and Primer. It's Time Travel Horror, a sub-genre I never hear get mentioned. One of my favorite sorts of films. Well "horror" might be not quite the wrong term. That's why I loved Butterfly Effect, even though it's considered a bad film.

By the by, Primer is probably one of the most complicated plot wise time travel films ever made. You have to be in the right frame of mind to see it, it's a very, very slow film. Not the sort of film to watch at night, more of a Sunday afternoon film. But it has a creeping horror to it that I love.

Posted by: Max Power at November 17, 2018 08:10 PM (q177U)

153 Rickl, I saw it through once, and later dragged my friend to see it. He wasn't as enamored (of it, anyway).

I thought splicing a rocket explosion into it was kind of anti-technology, like Man does not deserve to clutter the Cosmos like he has this planet.

Still like the music.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 08:10 PM (kQs4Y)

154 I thought Brazil was one of the worst movies I've ever seen and I never heard of The Zero Theorem.

Seeing how much of a shitshow Brazil was I would guess that The Zero Theorem is much better, no matter how bad it might be.

As to the importance of comparing movies ... ranking always comes down to comparisons. And everyone loves ranking things. It's one fo the only truly human qualities. It's why the Guiness book was always a big seller. It's why people love sports stats. It's why we go to war.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 08:10 PM (Gk3gh)

155 And a Nuke.
Posted by: Puddleglum at November 17, 2018 08:04 PM (HCqAo)

Harsh language.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 08:11 PM (t+qrx)

156 Primordial,�I like Brazil... but I never understood why Gilliam needed Robert DeNiro to do the particular role he does in that film. IMHO a ton of character actors could have also done a great job with that.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:11 PM (miE9U)

157 Posted by: Max Power at November 17, 2018 08:10 PM (q177U)

Did you like Looper?

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 08:12 PM (2DOZq)

158 Did the same thing with A Serious Man .

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:59 PM (2DOZq)

I actually liked that one. Mainly because it was fun picking out the Biblical allusions, and they are Legion.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at November 17, 2018 08:12 PM (NEdIn)

159 156 Primordial,I like Brazil... but I never understood why Gilliam needed Robert DeNiro to do the particular role he does in that film. IMHO a ton of character actors could have also done a great job with that.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:11 PM (miE9U)

======

I'd bet money it was a studio thing.

They needed a star to sell the movie, and they got de Niro.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:12 PM (zZbCU)

160 Mango and sticky rice from the Thai place for dessert. Holy crap.

Posted by: Weasel at November 17, 2018 08:13 PM (MVjcR)

161 Okay, here's qdpsteve's weekly movie question:

What song do you all think could be adapted into a great movie? My nominees:

- Cruel Summer, Bananarama (a fun comedy thriller)
- Twilight Zone, Golden Earring (Bond-style film)
- Eminence Front, The Who (???, but something could be gleaned I think)

...maybe also Brandy You're A Fine Girl. Could maybe be a subtle romcom.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:14 PM (miE9U)

162 By the by, Primer is probably one of the most complicated plot wise time travel films ever made. You have to be in the right frame of mind to see it, it's a very, very slow film. Not the sort of film to watch at night, more of a Sunday afternoon film. But it has a creeping horror to it that I love.
Posted by: Max Power at November 17, 2018 08:10 PM (q177U)

Is that the one where the two guys are working on a new kind of refrigerator and accidentally invent time travel?

It's a very good low-budget movie. Will have to watch it again, though, the time travel makes the plot so complicated.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at November 17, 2018 08:14 PM (NEdIn)

163 TJM, yup. I know DeNiro was HUGE in the mid-1980s. People would see anything he was in.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:14 PM (miE9U)

164 Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:14 PM (miE9U)
--------
More Human Than Human - White Zombie

Posted by: Weasel at November 17, 2018 08:15 PM (MVjcR)

165 Saw two movies last night:

The Outpost (2008-ish?): mercenaries uncover an old Nazi science bunker; occult-science deviltry ensues. Decent.

Dog Soldiers (2002 or so): Scottish soldiers encounter werewolves. Fun.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 08:15 PM (H5knJ)

166 Weasel, will check that song out :-)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:16 PM (miE9U)

167
Okay, here's qdpsteve's weekly movie question:

What song do you all think could be adapted into a great movie? My nominees:

- Cruel Summer, Bananarama (a fun comedy thriller)
- Twilight Zone, Golden Earring (Bond-style film)
- Eminence Front, The Who (???, but something could be gleaned I think)

...maybe also Brandy You're A Fine Girl. Could maybe be a subtle romcom.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:14 PM

DOA by Bloodrock

Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2018 08:16 PM (KCxzN)

168 Today's movie: the terrible 'Trucker's Woman' from Rifftrax.

It is really, really bad. Really bad.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:17 PM (xJa6I)

169 166 Weasel, will check that song out :-)
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:16 PM (miE9U)
-----
Let me know what you think. The video is great too.

Posted by: Weasel at November 17, 2018 08:17 PM (MVjcR)

170 133 Is anyone else a big fan of Twin Peaks The Return? Took a little bit to get going, but wow.
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:02 PM (PUmDY)

I was part of a watching party for the original Twin Peaks, since we had to wait for someone to videotape it and send it to us in the diplomatic pouch to Athens. Every six weeks we got a new episode, so the show was cancelled before we ever got to finish watching it. But we Lurved that stupid, weird amazing show. Made Twin Peaks dinners before watching, which always included cherry pie and damn fine coffee.

Sooooo, I was underwhelmed with the reboot. It was off the rails weird, and took some characters to the end of their story that didn't make any sense to me. But I still enjoyed it. Not enough to make pie, though.

Posted by: moki at November 17, 2018 08:17 PM (mFoNl)

171 AltonJackson, hmm. Maybe.

I know a TV movie was made from Ode To Billie Joe, but nobody liked it. (It claimed the mystery object thrown off the bridge was... a doll.)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:18 PM (miE9U)

172 What song do you all think could be adapted into a great movie?
---
One of Our Submarines is Missing by Thomas Dolby.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 08:18 PM (kQs4Y)

173 Maybe we are in this modern day Brazil, but we damn sure ain't all in this together. Nope.

Posted by: Eromero at November 17, 2018 08:18 PM (zLDYs)

174 By the by, Primer is probably one of the most complicated plot wise time travel films ever made. You have to be in the right frame of mind to see it, it's a very, very slow film. Not the sort of film to watch at night, more of a Sunday afternoon film. But it has a creeping horror to it that I love.
Posted by: Max Power at November 17, 2018 08:10 PM (q177U)

There are lots of movies that take a second time through to catch everything. Primer is a parabolic distribution. Makes less and less sense the more times you watch it, but after a while it starts to go back up to where you're merely really confused about the plot.

http://tinyurl.com/y7zbvrsy

(not a spoiler, despite being a complete plot timeline)

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 08:19 PM (t+qrx)

175 All Hail Eris, hmm.
Or maybe Space Oddity...

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:19 PM (miE9U)

176 OM - Thanks for the review of Skyscraper! I have been on the fence on that one!
Another one of his movies along those same line is San Andreas.. just lots of fun!

Posted by: Max Bialystock at November 17, 2018 08:19 PM (438dO)

177 The Atomic Bomb tesring episode is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:20 PM (PUmDY)

178 Oh: and I drove past the Edwards 26 movie theater near me, today.

No more Gosnell. So I'd bet it will be on blu-ray, DVD and Netflix/Amazon before long.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:20 PM (miE9U)

179 And Infinity War is a very good movie.

Top 100 quality. But it does depend on the other movies that have come before.

If it had been intended as a stand alone, the cast and plot would have been different and the movie as a whole would have been worse.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:22 PM (xJa6I)

180 161: Space Station #5 - Montrose

Posted by: Puddleglum at November 17, 2018 08:23 PM (HCqAo)

181 I'd bet money it was a studio thing.

They needed a star to sell the movie, and they got de Niro.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:12 PM (zZbCU)
From what I understand, DeNiro really wanted to be in the film. I believe he auditioned for the role of Jack Lint, but didn't get that part, so Gilliam offered him Harry Tuttle instead.

Posted by: HTL at November 17, 2018 08:23 PM (2dzsA)

182 Puddleglum, hmm :-)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:23 PM (miE9U)

183 The producers of the Alien franchise put it best: Alien is the haunted house, Aliens is the roller-coaster.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 17, 2018 08:24 PM (l9m7l)

184 181 From what I understand, DeNiro really wanted to be in the film. I believe he auditioned for the role of Jack Lint, but didn't get that part, so Gilliam offered him Harry Tuttle instead.
Posted by: HTL at November 17, 2018 08:23 PM (2dzsA

===

Buttle?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:24 PM (zZbCU)

185 Avengers 3 fails in its very first scene, setting up the tone and writing for the rest of the movie. Thanos vs Loki and the Hulk. Thanos demands, Loki says a line from the first movie that worked because it was interesting and fresh -- now its just a tag line. Hulk does his thing and... without any visible effort or real demonstration of power, without actually showing any real force, Thanos wipes the floor with the Hulk.

Now, Thanos beating the Hulk isn't in its self a bad idea for a scene -- it demonstrates how powerful he is in a simple way. Nobody can beat the hulk, then this guy does. Wow he must be powerful, we've established how powerful he is.

But the way they demonstrated this was so unbelievably ineffectual. Thanos didn't appear strong, the Hulk just seemed weak, like it was some guy in a Hulk suit while the real one was off on a planet somewhere with hot women draped over him drinking tequila.

The fight isn't just over too fast, but there's no damage to anything. If someone is hitting the Hulk so hard it knocks him out, it should destroy everything around him. The shockwaves should blast people over, the background should be pulverized and damaged.

Remember the Thor/Hulk fight in their road movie? how the arena was basically destroyed? And the Hulk was only temporarily stunned.

It was a CGI fight, between two nonexistent characters, against a painted background. There was no sense of power or impact, no feeling of damage or danger, just bonk bonk bonk, Hulk pretends to be asleep.

The rest of the movie was built around the same kind of bad writing and poor action sequences. Not inventive, not interesting, not clever. It felt like a DC movie to me, with the same kind of tone and poor writing. Even the jokes were flat, every single one was just a riff on someone's name.

Avengers 3 was the worst of the series. It was just a bad movie.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 17, 2018 08:24 PM (39g3+)

186 Vietnam movies seem to be over as a genre, but another song that could be a great movie:

Goodnight Saigon, by Billy Joel.

Oh wait... Scenes From An Italian Restaurant could also be a great romcom.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:25 PM (miE9U)

187 (172) Vincent Black Lightning.

Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2018 08:25 PM (RuIsu)

188 144 Seems like every flick Tangerine Dream did a soundtrack for, was a classic.

I love love the TD soundtrack for William Friedkin remake of "The Wages of Fear"-

"Sorcerer".

What a great action thriller!

Whichever studio executive made them change the title to "Sorcerer" to capitalize on the success of "The Exorcist"-

should have his eyelids cutoff, be strapped in a chair and forced to watch "Big Top Pee Wee" for the remainder of his miserable live.

It doomed the movie to failure as angry movie goers expecting more supernatural shenanigans felt they'd been cheated.

If you haven't seen "Sorcerer",

do it now.

...Now!

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 08:25 PM (CRRq9)

189 I feel a fight brewing...

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:25 PM (zZbCU)

190 Oh wait... Scenes From An Italian Restaurant could also be a great romcom.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:25 PM (miE9U)

I think it was -

Everybody's All-American

.... sort of.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 08:26 PM (Gk3gh)

191 Primordial and klaftern, I will have to check those out too. Thanks.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:27 PM (miE9U)

192 188 It doomed the movie to failure as angry movie goers expecting more supernatural shenanigans felt they'd been cheated.

If you haven't seen "Sorcerer",

do it now.

...Now!
Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 08:25 PM (CRRq9)

=====

It's great, but I think the title was less of an issue for its financial failure than you make out.

The movie is very different from mossy movies, especially in terms of structure. Its first half is a series of vignettes establishing our major characters, and its second half is one long suspense sequence.

It works fantastically, but it's not the stuff of mass appeal.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:28 PM (zZbCU)

193 Would 2nd Vincent Black Lightning as a movie plot

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2018 08:29 PM (6VrXf)

194 Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 07:59 PM (CRRq9)

I suspend disbelief about Nazi zombies, but I can't about a black paratrooper in WW2. I had the same problem with the King Arthur movie with Kung Fu George in it.

It's like a movie set in Iowa where everyone has a NY accent. I just can't buy it.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:30 PM (xJa6I)

195 Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:27 PM (miE9U)

I'm not recommending it, just noting that the plot sort of follows the song.

BTW, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant would not be a romcom. It's not a very happy song and didn't really end well.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 08:30 PM (Gk3gh)

196 I liked all 4 Alien movies for various reasons.

1) horror movie, very effective and quite scary
2) action movie, lots of fun and cheer moments
3) psychological thriller, very inside someone's head and tense
4) thought provoking movie about the nature of humanity and how far we can go without losing ourselves

People get so angry because this character or that dies or is abused, but I have no emotional investment in any of them. They're characters in a story, and each story is different, there are no heroes, just people.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 17, 2018 08:30 PM (39g3+)

197 116 I remember a while back (90s?) there was a HUGE debate about how Brazil *really* ends. Is he dead, or is he actually free?

But then I only recently learned, this parallels controversy about the end of George Orwell's 1984, as I've heard Winston Smith is just about to get shot at the end of that novel, as well.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 07:58 PM (miE9U)

I don't think Winston Smith was actually shot at the end of 1984.

*looks it up*

The sentence "The long hoped-for bullet was entering his brain" was a metaphor. He was in a pub. The Party wouldn't have executed him there. The point was that he realized that he loved Big Brother.

Likewise, in "Brazil", the protagonist finally lost his mind after the torture session and imagined himself free.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 08:31 PM (sdi6R)

198 The whole point of John Wick 1 was that if something is valuable to one person, it is objectively valuable. John did not set the high price of leaving the organization, but having paid it, would make make anyone pay equally who broke it.

The point of John Wick 2 is that his bad choices will lead to more bad choices. He is spiraling and hasn't even hit the bottom when he lost all his protection.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 17, 2018 08:31 PM (rnAwa)

199 Primordial, hmm. Yeah, more of a Terms of Endearment kind of song...

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:31 PM (miE9U)

200
I suspend disbelief about Nazi zombies, but I can't about a black paratrooper in WW2. I had the same problem with the King Arthur movie with Kung Fu George in it.

It's like a movie set in Iowa where everyone has a NY accent. I just can't buy it.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:30 PM

so...not a fan of Kevin Cosner's Robin Hood?

Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2018 08:31 PM (KCxzN)

201 (191)For VBL, both the original Richard Thompson and Del McCoury are great. The "lives" too.

Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2018 08:32 PM (RuIsu)

202 I had the same problem with the King Arthur movie with Kung Fu George in it.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:30 PM (xJa6I)

Ha! I saw that movie. It was pathetic. Black generals and chinamen in post-roman Britain. Yeah ...

They've really lost it over there.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 08:32 PM (Gk3gh)

203
12 Monkeys is Gilliam's best movie. A case can be made for Time Bandits... but 12 Monkeys for my money.

Posted by: otho at November 17, 2018 08:32 PM (LkFnL)

204 rickl, hmmm...

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:32 PM (miE9U)

205 so...not a fan of Kevin Cosner's Robin Hood?
Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2018 08:31 PM (KCxzN)

Men in Tights was better.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 08:32 PM (NWiLs)

206 Life on Mars would be good.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:33 PM (PUmDY)

207 Is that the one where the two guys are working on a new kind of refrigerator and accidentally invent time travel?

It's a very good low-budget movie. Will have to watch it again, though, the time travel makes the plot so complicated.

The time travel in it is unique in that it only goes backwards, and it does so in real time, minute per minute. Inside a stasis field it takes 24 hours to go back in time 24 hours.

Posted by: Max Power at November 17, 2018 08:33 PM (q177U)

208 Raising Arizona is the best movie ever made.
Discuss.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 17, 2018 07:24

Errr, umm, well you are crazy and have bad taste? LOL

OT: I'm tired of stupid people working in retail stores. Just got some generic 4 hr Sudafed only yo get home and the dumb bitch gave me the 4 hr version. Yeah, I should have looked, but she should have done her job competently.

Then the other day I go to the grocery store and get 6 bottles of booze cause you get 15% off. The bagger doesn't look at my cart and see I have a carrier and bags them in in paper bags. I point it out, he takes them out. Then totally ignored my cloth bags and put everything in plastic. I don't need anymore freaking plastic bags, you idiot. I brought the cloth ones for a reason.

End of rant. There's a reason these people are in these jobs, it's because they can't do anything competently.

Posted by: Farmer at November 17, 2018 08:33 PM (yJ1e6)

209 Cosmic, yup. I have a hunch if Bowie hadn't been a musician, he would have been an actor, director, screenwriter... something involving drama.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:34 PM (miE9U)

210 There is something compelling about Brazil, but I say that as someone who has had deep contacts with f*cking Bastard bureaucrats and their drive to maintain power, influence, hide their errors, and do absolutely nothing in return -- and no one can escape the gears.

Sam escaped the only possible way. He went mad

Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2018 08:34 PM (mUa7G)

211 so...not a fan of Kevin Cosner's Robin Hood?
Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2018 08:31 PM (KCxzN)

Men in Tights was better.
Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 08:32 PM (NWiLs)

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

Unlike some other Robin Hoods, *I* can speak with an English accent!

- Robin Hood

Posted by: No One of Consequence at November 17, 2018 08:34 PM (+F0Wk)

212 I've never really liked Raising Arizona. I don't dislike it. It just doesn't register one way or another.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 08:35 PM (H5knJ)

213 209 I have a hunch if Bowie hadn't been a musician, he would have been an actor, director, screenwriter... something involving drama.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:34 PM (miE9U)

It's been a long time since I saw it, but "The Man Who Fell to Earth" was a pretty good movie as I recall.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 08:35 PM (sdi6R)

214 I am not much of a moviegoer, but I did see Spotlight and was entirely entertained. Even being raised a Catholic, and understanding the priest situation, it was amazing to see it on screen.

Posted by: Abby at November 17, 2018 08:36 PM (hAJ5r)

215 bear, Raising Arizona is very "heightened reality."
That is, it's halfway between reality and a cartoon.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:36 PM (miE9U)

216 I've never really liked Raising Arizona. I don't dislike it. It just doesn't register one way or another.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 08:35 PM (H5knJ)

I liked it when I watched it but I've never had the desire to watch it again.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 08:36 PM (Gk3gh)

217 rickl, I want to see that too.

I've heard it's a hoot... Buck Henry apologizes to his assassins while they're throwing him out of a window.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:36 PM (miE9U)

218 214 I am not much of a moviegoer, but I did see Spotlight and was entirely entertained. Even being raised a Catholic, and understanding the priest situation, it was amazing to see it on screen.
Posted by: Abby at November 17, 2018 08:36 PM (hAJ5r

=====

I avoided it for a while, but it's very much worth the time.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:37 PM (zZbCU)

219 Man Who Fell to Earth was very great.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:37 PM (PUmDY)

220 Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at November 17, 2018 08:24 PM (39g3+)

All right, here's how you're wrong about the Hulk vs Thanos fight:

First of all, we are building on the appearances of the Hulk in all the other movies, including most recently in Iron Man 3. Hulk has been an incredible threat and him getting his green ass handed to him has implications for both Thanos' power level and for Hulk's character.

Thanos doesn't overpower Hulk, he out-fights him. Thanos is playing with the Hulk. Getting a little bit of a workout, that's all Hulk is to him. With the Power stone, Thanos could have obliterated him. Instead, he humiliates him.

Keep in mind, Hulk's power has always come from his rage. The angrier he gets, the stronger he gets. Hulk has never fought someone who was both stronger and a better fighter. Hulk gets scared. That affects his power level and his character arc (which will stretch over into the sequel).

If you're going to accuse Infinity War of bad writing and bad acting, you're going to need to provide examples Chris. And I'll be ready for ya...

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:37 PM (xJa6I)

221 210 There is something compelling about Brazil, but I say that as someone who has had deep contacts with f*cking Bastard bureaucrats and their drive to maintain power, influence, hide their errors, and do absolutely nothing in return -- and no one can escape the gears.

Sam escaped the only possible way. He went mad
Posted by: Kindltot

This. I love 'Brazil' but it is a hard watch. I work deep inside the Federal Leviathan. 'Brazil' is seen as a How-To, not a warning.

Posted by: Puddleglum at November 17, 2018 08:37 PM (HCqAo)

222 so...not a fan of Kevin Cosner's Robin Hood?
Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2018 08:31 PM (KCxzN)

Nope, except for Alan Rickman

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM (xJa6I)

223 It's been a long time since I saw it, but "The Man Who Fell to Earth" was a pretty good movie as I recall.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 08:35 PM (sdi6R)

Meh. It's a typical art-house movie.

A much, much, much better movie along the same lines (totally different story but same underlying feeling to it) is Brother. Awesome flick.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM (Gk3gh)

224 203

12 Monkeys is Gilliam's best movie. A case can be made for Time Bandits... but 12 Monkeys for my money.

No love for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen? I thought that was also quite good, provided you're in the mood for some strange.

Posted by: pep at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM (T6t7i)

225 It was preposterous for Strange to give up the Time Stone.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM (yQpMk)

226 222 so...not a fan of Kevin Cosner's Robin Hood?
Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2018 08:31 PM (KCxzN)

Nope, except for Alan Rickman
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM (xJa6I)

=====

He's in another movie completely from everyone else.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM (zZbCU)

227 I'm going to plug in "The Hunt for Red October" and let it watch me, because this is the only time I will ever think kindly of Alec Baldwin.

Posted by: Ben Had at November 17, 2018 08:39 PM (sL159)

228 Posted by: Max Power at November 17, 2018 08:10 PM (q177U)

Did you like Looper?
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 08:12 PM (2DOZq)

Not to butt in, but I thought Looper sucked. Roundhead Rian Johnson wanted to imply that Willis' love for his wife was somehow evil. Timecrimes was a fun time paradox movie, if you don't mind subtitles.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at November 17, 2018 08:39 PM (/qEW2)

229 There's a lot of retroactive diversifying going on in movies. "The House with a Clock in its Walls" is set in a tiny town in central-western Michigan in the late 40's/early 50's but instead of the typical Dutch stock as portrayed in the books it was very ethnically mixed. My little town north of Detroit was pretty solidly Teutono-Polack decades after that.

It was just a fun little movie, and it's not that important really, but it's a little jarring to me. Maybe because of my age? A young person wouldn't think twice about it.

Are movies contractually bound to have diverse casting? It seems that way.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 08:40 PM (kQs4Y)

230 The Outpost (2008-ish?): mercenaries uncover an old Nazi science bunker; occult-science deviltry ensues. Decent.

Dog Soldiers (2002 or so): Scottish soldiers encounter werewolves. Fun.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 08:15 PM (H5knJ)

Has anyone seen Trench 11? Canadian soldiers are sent to investigate an abandoned German trench system and find they were doing something.
Kind of The Thing with mud instead of ice, I think.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2018 08:40 PM (mUa7G)

231 Best line from Raising Arizona (to Holly Hunter)
"Why aren't you breast feeding? You appear to be capable."

Posted by: pep at November 17, 2018 08:40 PM (T6t7i)

232 You would have to put Raising Arizona in the "action" category to rate the level of kinetic mayhem properly.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 17, 2018 08:41 PM (rnAwa)

233 'Turn to the right', 'He's gotta have his DipTet', 'Well, allrighty then'.

Posted by: Eromero at November 17, 2018 08:41 PM (zLDYs)

234 I liked the end of Looper.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at November 17, 2018 08:41 PM (yQpMk)

235 The more I watch Infinity War (yeah, I own it), the less it seems to satisfy.

The best part is the dynamic between Iron Man, Dr. Strange and Spider-Man; the three are so different yet alike that it's a lot of fun watching them banter.
The entire part with Thor looking for a new hammer seemed like a waste of time.
The part that really doesn't work is Thanos. He talks like he's trying to save the universe, but his glee in his sadism really kind of negates that. As has been pointed out many times, if the universe is short of resources, use the Power Glove to make more resources. I could not buy his sadness when he has to (spoilers), you know, to get the one stone. I can't imagine he would have hesitated for a second at the requirement; it's an attempt at a humanizing element that just doesn't work.
So, it's a fun movie but I wouldn't put it in Marvel's top ten.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 17, 2018 08:42 PM (l9m7l)

236 Believe it or not: Bowie was pretty far along with a 1984 musical.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:42 PM (PUmDY)

237 222 so...not a fan of Kevin Cosner's Robin Hood?
Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2018 08:31 PM (KCxzN)

Nope, except for Alan Rickman
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM (xJa6I)

=====

He's in another movie completely from everyone else.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM (zZbCU)

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

See also, Raul Julia as M. Bison in Street Fighter

Posted by: No One of Consequence at November 17, 2018 08:42 PM (+F0Wk)

238 Maybe some day Shaun King will star in the story of someone who gets burned to death in a Ferguson riot. The Wigger Man.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at November 17, 2018 08:43 PM (/qEW2)

239 Are movies contractually bound to have diverse casting? It seems that way.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 08:40 PM (kQs4Y)

They're just trying to fabricate new histories. You see the same shit in movies set in contemporary times.

But reality is reality.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 08:44 PM (Gk3gh)

240 206 Life on Mars would be good.
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:33 PM (PUmDY)

There's a brit tv show based on it, kinda.

It's pretty good, time travel fish-out-of-water show.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:44 PM (xJa6I)

241 237 222 so...not a fan of Kevin Cosner's Robin Hood?
Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2018 08:31 PM (KCxzN)

Nope, except for Alan Rickman
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM (xJa6I)

=====

He's in another movie completely from everyone else.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM (zZbCU)

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

See also, Raul Julia as M. Bison in Street Fighter
Posted by: No One of Consequence at November 17, 2018 08:42 PM (+F0Wk)

Of Course!

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:44 PM (xJa6I)

242 225
It was preposterous for Strange to give up the Time Stone.
It will be the macguffin for the next movie. Recall he said he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice Stark or Parker to save it; his giving it up was just too easy. Too too easy.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 17, 2018 08:45 PM (l9m7l)

243 228 Posted by: Max Power at November 17, 2018 08:10 PM (q177U)

Did you like Looper?
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 08:12 PM (2DOZq)

Not to butt in, but I thought Looper sucked. Roundhead Rian Johnson wanted to imply that Willis' love for his wife was somehow evil. Timecrimes was a fun time paradox movie, if you don't mind subtitles.
Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at November 17, 2018 08:39 PM (/qEW2)

No love for Timechasers? Guy with a dinner roll for a chin invents a time machine out of a Commodore 64 and a light plane. Wackiness soon ensues.

Posted by: josephistan at November 17, 2018 08:45 PM (Izzlo)

244 The thing for me regarding Alien and the sequels (2 and 3) that struck me was actually how well that they stand together, rather than alone. Alien is a masterpiece, but my appreciation for Aliens kept increasing (it's cinematic gold and a masterpiece in it's own right, but... it's not THE masterpiece. That belongs to the first). However after Alien 3 came out I was completely won over by both sequels as they are 3 different movies with the stamp of distinctive directors and they compliment each other perfectly as 3 acts of one continuous story. Alien 3 gets valid criticism, but I love it. It's the only way the story could end, as set out in the first. Everyone is dead meat. Except Morse. God takes care of drunks and weasels.

Posted by: otho at November 17, 2018 08:45 PM (LkFnL)

245 Mark, there was an American version, about a modern-day cop who's somehow transported back to 1973. Pre-PC, pre-anti-police brutality rules, pre-feminism, the works.

I thought it was pretty good. In the American version, the protagonist still can't believe he's actually in 1973... until he takes a look at the New York skyline...

and the World Trade Center, is still there.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:45 PM (miE9U)

246 I loved "Raising Arizona". It's hilarious.

I am a huge fan of the Coen Brothers, and the list of their movies I haven't seen is probably longer than the list of their movies I have seen.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 08:47 PM (sdi6R)

247 otho, Alien 3 was actually the first feature David Fincher got to direct.

I've heard whoever anyone asks Fincher about it, he apologizes proactively.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:47 PM (miE9U)

248 Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 17, 2018 08:42 PM (l9m7l)

Eh, you buy Thanos' emotions or you don't. I can't argue that.

And I don't agree with Thanos' plan, obviously. But creating a massive amount of resources would just prolong the suffering he sees. Because resources get used up and then people are worse of than before. His solution is to kill half the universe, painlessly, instantly. And to do that, he needs the stones. So that drives the plot.

He also apparently doesn't think about how fast people breed, because here on earth we went from 3 billion to 6 billion pretty damn fast.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:47 PM (xJa6I)

249 The Outpost (2008-ish?): mercenaries uncover an old Nazi science bunker; occult-science deviltry ensues. Decent.

Dog Soldiers (2002 or so): Scottish soldiers encounter werewolves. Fun.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 08:15 PM (H5knJ)

Has anyone seen Trench 11? Canadian soldiers are sent to investigate an abandoned German trench system and find they were doing something.
Kind of The Thing with mud instead of ice, I think.
Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2018 08:40 PM (mUa7G)

Deathwatch is another in the same genre, WWI trench warfare supernatural horror. Kind of a paying-in-purgatory vibe vs. the military experiments thing, but similar feel.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 08:47 PM (t+qrx)

250 Anytime I think of the movie Brazil, I think of Nanci Pelosi in this role:

http://tinyurl.com/ya9bps8x

Posted by: Fate at November 17, 2018 08:48 PM (xSo9G)

251 It was preposterous for Strange to give up the Time Stone.
It will be the macguffin for the next movie. Recall he said he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice Stark or Parker to save it; his giving it up was just too easy. Too too easy.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 17, 2018 08:45 PM (l9m7l)

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

He said out of the millions of possible futures he examined, there was only one in which they won. I would assume he gave up the stone in that one....

Posted by: No One of Consequence at November 17, 2018 08:48 PM (+F0Wk)

252 Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:45 PM (miE9U)

I tried to watch the American version and didn't make it through the first episode

Didn't hook me.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:48 PM (xJa6I)

253 I liked that show. They would have trippy sequences with the bbc off air signal.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:48 PM (PUmDY)

254 One of the best things about 12 Monkeys is the ambiguity of whether or not it is even a time travel movie. There's a very strong case to be made that it is all schizophrenia and you aren't quite getting a reliable accounting of the events that unfold.

Posted by: Sjg at November 17, 2018 08:48 PM (gDSJf)

255
Orson Welles is still making movies, eh?

Well, the dead vegetable Stephen Hawking is still publishing books.

Yeah, they just published Hawking's "last" book. Yeah, he was still writing until his death. My ass he was.

Just like those tweets were his tweets.

Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 08:48 PM (aBiG3)

256 I like Alien 3. But it's not really part of the franchise in any meaningful way. They could have made the same film without Ripley, the distinctive xenomorph, the corporation. It's just a good B scifi movie. The Alien trappings probably detract from it more than not.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 08:49 PM (H5knJ)

257 Mark, fair enough...

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:49 PM (miE9U)

258 the protagonist still can't believe he's actually in 1973... until he takes a look at the New York skyline...

and the World Trade Center, is still there.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:45 PM (miE9U)

IN 1973 the World Trade Center just got there

BTW, it's been talked about here before but two great movies involving the World Trade Center:

Man On Wire (a documentary)
The Walk (dramatic movie version of same story)

Both excellent.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 08:50 PM (Gk3gh)

259 Soothsayer, oh yeah.

Stephen King will still be coming out with "new" books 15 years after he's in the ground, easy.

I think a computer could be programmed to write his novels at this stage. They seem that formulaic.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:50 PM (miE9U)

260 248 Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 17, 2018 08:42 PM (l9m7l)

Eh, you buy Thanos' emotions or you don't. I can't argue that.

And I don't agree with Thanos' plan, obviously. But creating a massive amount of resources would just prolong the suffering he sees. Because resources get used up and then people are worse of than before. His solution is to kill half the universe, painlessly, instantly. And to do that, he needs the stones. So that drives the plot.

He also apparently doesn't think about how fast people breed, because here on earth we went from 3 billion to 6 billion pretty damn fast.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:47 PM (xJa6I)

I prefer the comics motivation for Thanos - he's in love with Death, who is depicted as a woman in the comics. So to impress her, he kills half of all life in the universe. A guy does crazy things when he's in love.

Posted by: josephistan at November 17, 2018 08:50 PM (Izzlo)

261 Primordial, yup. WTC was still being built.
I don't think it was actually finished until about 1976.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:50 PM (miE9U)

262 He said out of the millions of possible futures he examined, there was only one in which they won. I would assume he gave up the stone in that one....
Posted by: No One of Consequence at November 17, 2018 08:48 PM (+F0Wk)

The magic cop-out to let the villian win at the end of the movie, and hey, now there can't be any loop holes because this is the ONLY way.

"Can't criticize us now internet trolls"

Posted by: Sjg at November 17, 2018 08:51 PM (gDSJf)

263

I can't make heads or tails out of what this post is trying to say. But it sure has purty lips...

Posted by: The Chicken Fucker at November 17, 2018 08:51 PM (GGPHu)

264 255
Orson Welles is still making movies, eh?

Well, the dead vegetable Stephen Hawking is still publishing books.

Yeah, they just published Hawking's "last" book. Yeah, he was still writing until his death. My ass he was.

Just like those tweets were his tweets.
Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 08:48 PM (aBiG3)

===

Welles spent 7 years filming the movie in his final years.

Apparently the only thing left to be done, which he never found the time or money for, was post production.

It also got eaten up by rights issues for decades.

Netflix, along with a few others, got the rights and finished the work.

The only lost work of Welles left is the missing elements of The Magnificent Ambersons.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:52 PM (zZbCU)

265 Fate @ 250- I always think of the coffin full of guts and bones.

Posted by: Eromero at November 17, 2018 08:53 PM (zLDYs)

266 No love for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen? I thought that was also quite good, provided you're in the mood for some strange.

Posted by: pep at November 17, 2018 08:38 PM

Yeah, that's a good one. I like most of his movies, but 12 Monkeys is the one that comes closest to perfection in every department. As TJM points out, Gilliam can be difficult (well, more odd than difficult) when it comes to story and narrative. He can be a little... cold. 12 Monkeys works best.

Posted by: otho at November 17, 2018 08:53 PM (LkFnL)

267 Roller Girl is a very fine Dire Straits song.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:53 PM (PUmDY)

268 262 He said out of the millions of possible futures he examined, there was only one in which they won. I would assume he gave up the stone in that one....
Posted by: No One of Consequence at November 17, 2018 08:48 PM (+F0Wk)

The magic cop-out to let the villian win at the end of the movie, and hey, now there can't be any loop holes because this is the ONLY way.

"Can't criticize us now internet trolls"
Posted by: Sjg at November 17, 2018 08:51 PM (gDSJf)

I've said before, I'm giving serious thought to just...not watching any more Marvel movies. Letting Infinity War be the ending of the whole arc.

It kinda works.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:54 PM (xJa6I)

269 267 Roller Girl is a very fine Dire Straits song.
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:53 PM (PUmDY)

Very fine. I think it's called 'skateaway' but I always think of it as 'roller girl' too.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:54 PM (xJa6I)

270 DOA by Bloodrock

I've never heard anyone who knew that song, if you can call it that. I remember hearing it and I thought, why? And then I read Johnny Got His Gun!

Posted by: Concerned People's Front at November 17, 2018 08:54 PM (hSQF+)

271
Alien 3: Electric Bigly

Posted by: literally serious at November 17, 2018 08:55 PM (j72Tr)

272 @235 I could not buy his sadness when he has to (spoilers), you know, to get the one stone. I can't imagine he would have hesitated for a second at the requirement; it's an attempt at a humanizing element that just doesn't work.
-------------------

He doesn't hesitate, though. The scene lasts basically just long enough for the in-scene witness to realize what's going on. There's no point during the scene at which I entertained even the slightest idea that he might not go forward with it, even though they'd been (imo) telegraphing his feelings on the matter since quite a bit earlier in the film.

Of course, it might have also helped that I'd seen Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (for the first time; yeah, I was a bit late) just a couple of weeks earlier, where the topic gets touched on.

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 08:55 PM (oE1+m)

273 Skateaway, my bad.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 08:55 PM (PUmDY)

274 Alien is Jimmy Carter's monster movie. Naive innocents encounter an unexpected horror they cannot comprehend interacting in a context they cannot grasp.

Aliens is Ronald Reagan's monster movie: We've encountered an unexpected horror. We have guns.
Posted by: Richard McEnroe at November 17, 2018 07:47 PM (XqKX1)

Brilliant analysis. Seriously. This is going into my 'AoSHQ comments hall of fame' file.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at November 17, 2018 07:58 PM (NEdIn)

I'll second that.

I've always loved "Aliens." Of course the franchise ended with the second film.

Posted by: WOPR at November 17, 2018 08:56 PM (oJBCt)

275 I prefer the comics motivation for Thanos - he's in love with Death, who is depicted as a woman in the comics. So to impress her, he kills half of all life in the universe. A guy does crazy things when he's in love.
Posted by: josephistan at November 17, 2018 08:50 PM (Izzlo)

I agree about the 'doing crazy things in love' part. God knows, I have.

But it didn't work for me in the comics. Maybe partly because Death shows no interest in what Thanos is offering. Which, too, kinda works. But overall it's just a bit...silly.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:56 PM (xJa6I)

276 I liked the end of Looper.
Posted by: Grump928(C) at November 17, 2018 08:41 PM (yQpMk)

I thought it had liberalish undertones. Older whites have generational guilt so younger whites have the duty to annihilate themselves via one means or another and cancel out the privilege of older generations. I think Rian Johnson is a liberal asshole who promotes libthink and thinks he's be able to live the rest of his years without suffering the consequences of the bullshit he tries to subliminally promote.

Loopers is not specific enough to say so with certainty, but Johnson has certainly shown himself to think along those lines since it came out by way of his other ventures.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at November 17, 2018 08:56 PM (/qEW2)

277 Wallace and Gromit in "Float Trip": Nick Park adapts "Deliverance".

Posted by: klaftern at November 17, 2018 08:57 PM (RuIsu)

278 @260 I prefer the comics motivation for Thanos - he's in love with Death, who is depicted as a woman in the comics. So to impress her, he kills half of all life in the universe. A guy does crazy things when he's in love.
-------------

She, of course, is in love with Deadpool.

(seriously!)

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 08:57 PM (oE1+m)

279 266 Yeah, that's a good one. I like most of his movies, but 12 Monkeys is the one that comes closest to perfection in every department. As TJM points out, Gilliam can be difficult (well, more odd than difficult) when it comes to story and narrative. He can be a little... cold. 12 Monkeys works best.
Posted by: otho at November 17, 2018 08:53 PM (LkFnL

======

I think something broke in his head when Don Quixote fell apart.

I find Tideland unwatchable, and The Zero Theorem is bad, but Dr Parnassus largely works.

It seems like he just ended up missing more than hitting after that.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:57 PM (zZbCU)

280 106 Giant is about to start on the Movies channel.....
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 07:56 PM (2DOZq)
------------------------------------------
That's MY idea of an entertaining movie.
Good story without being too schlocky or melodramatic.
Good characters.
Nicely crafted.

James Dean really shines in that role.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at November 17, 2018 08:57 PM (Rxduq)

281 Roundhead Ryan baffles me.

'Brick' is such a good movie. But everything he's made after that has been of increasingly diminished quality.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 08:58 PM (xJa6I)

282 39 I have gotten hooked on "The Wire" and read that Lance Reddick was a producer of "John Wick" Lance Reddick puts Idris Elba in the shade.
Posted by: Ben Had at November 17, 2018 07:37 PM (sL159),

I also think Lance Reddick is terrific.

Excalibur is free on prime right now, and I had already planned to watch it tonight during the Saturday Night Folding Marathon.

RLM also strongly recommended "Overlord."

I, uh, have seen "Raising Arizona" more than once and didn't think it was funny at all, either time. I honestly don't know what I'm not getting.

Posted by: Gem at November 17, 2018 08:58 PM (XoAz8)

283 <<I've always loved "Aliens." Of course the franchise ended with the second film>>
Check out the Assembly Cut of Alien3, which restores most of Fincher's vision and story for the film. It's available at Amazon for rental, and it just might change your mind about where the Alien franchise ends...

Posted by: Reformed NeverTrumper at November 17, 2018 08:59 PM (ITvKk)

284 NBC News is celebrating that nascar is becoming super diverse in the pits. WomYns too!!

Nascar thinks it will get the urban yuutes to watch because black womYn change tires. Lol

Posted by: Lurking Lurker at November 17, 2018 08:59 PM (+OID9)

285 Excalibur is free on prime right now, and I had already planned to watch it tonight during the Saturday Night Folding Marathon.

I'm watching that right now on Prime.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 09:00 PM (H5knJ)

286 I wonder if anyone here can identify the guns being pointed at John Wick's head in the picture?

Posted by: Smoked Surfperch at November 17, 2018 09:00 PM (OUaW7)

287 278 @260 I prefer the comics motivation for Thanos - he's in love with Death, who is depicted as a woman in the comics. So to impress her, he kills half of all life in the universe. A guy does crazy things when he's in love.
-------------

She, of course, is in love with Deadpool.

(seriously!)
Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 08:57 PM (oE1+m)

Groan.

Of all the ways that Death has been personified in Marvel, it actually it is the Punisher origin story 'Born' that worked the best for me.

I don't much like Garth Ennis. He's a talented writer but he chooses to write shit mostly. But he did good work with 'Born'.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:00 PM (xJa6I)

288 I put Alien, Species and The Thing in the same category. They all have stupid stories that really don't make any sense, but serve only as vehicles for some interesting special effects and stretching, morphing and tearing of human bodies.

The Thing holds a special place because it was the first. Species has the hottest chick. Alien is, in my book, dogshit.

As far as sequels, The THing was blessed with not having any (though a shitty remake was done). Species kept to the hot-chick theme in its sequels, which is really all it ever had. Alien got sillier and more ridiculous - yet more pretentious - with every sequel. As it made less and less sense its producers tried to treat it as more and more serious. At least that was worth a laugh.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 09:00 PM (Gk3gh)

289 Aliens extended cut is a must. The scene not shown in theathre verison, where they set up the mobile gaitlin gun is amazing

Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:00 PM (Jj/1f)

290 283 >
Check out the Assembly Cut of Alien3, which restores most of Fincher's vision and story for the film. It's available at Amazon for rental, and it just might change your mind about where the Alien franchise ends...

Posted by: Reformed NeverTrumper at November 17, 2018 08:59 PM (ITvKk)

=====

I think it tries to be interesting for most of the movie, finding a parallel between the alien and sin, before throwing up its hands, giving up, and becoming a full blown monster movie.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:01 PM (zZbCU)

291 Terminator 2 was outstanding

Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:01 PM (Jj/1f)

292
Excalibur is outstanding.

I'm trying to talk my son into a double feature movie night
of Excalibur and then Monty Python & the Holy Grail

can't decide in which order we should watch them

Posted by: AltonJackson at November 17, 2018 09:01 PM (KCxzN)

293 Read along, except for Aliens and all its forms didn't see much else under topic.
Well going to bed before the ONT shows up as I will most certainly be seeing it before its through.
Good night all

Posted by: Skip at November 17, 2018 09:02 PM (6VrXf)

294 On Alien vs Aliens the first is the typical "Oh don't do that I can't look! yelling at the screen you bring your second date to.

Aliens is the movie your watch with your spouse and a tub of popcorn cheering as the space marines mow down tons of bugs.

Needless to say the fact those movies came out as far apart as they did may have colored my perceptions of them but I love them both.

Posted by: Big V at November 17, 2018 09:02 PM (CGfsq)

295 I liked 12 Monkeys because it emphatically rejected the multi-verse idea that you can change the past.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at November 17, 2018 09:02 PM (yQpMk)

296 I didn't find Raising Arizona that funny but I've only seen it once. I also thought Bowfinger was awful and not funny the first time I saw it. Don't know why I watched it again but somehow it turned hilarious for me. I watch it every time I come across it now. Maybe I should watch RA again.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 09:03 PM (2DOZq)

297 Terminator 2 had great set pieces, Cameron knows how to craft a film.

But it's hollow and it undercuts what made the Terminator scary. It humanizes the Arnold terminator, which is a big, big, big mistake. I guess by this time, he was too big a star to just be the bad guy anymore. I dunno. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when that script got read aloud for the first time by the cast.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:03 PM (xJa6I)

298 The Cincy-UCF game is the tits.

Posted by: logprof at November 17, 2018 09:03 PM (e7oj4)

299
Allied (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 3.5/4) "Mature and intelligent spy tale that is so underrated." [Amazon Prime]

No. It's an awful flick. Technically well-made, but morally reprehensible, and in the finale, totally unbelievable.

The film manipulates you into feeling sympathy for the NAZI SPY and her dupe Canadian spy husband. Oh, and he also turns traitor himself by trying to shield the NAZI SPY from capture by his own countrymen.

And after turning traitor, the film would have you think that his commander just forgave him after the NAZI SPY wife killed herself because he couldn't follow his orders to kill the NAZI SPY, despite the fact that he had been threatened with a charge of treason if he didn't go through with killing the NAZI SPY. Nonsense. He'd have been lucky if he hadn't been put up against the wall and shot.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:03 PM (eXA4G)

300 What's this about tits?

Are we talking about Species here?

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:03 PM (xJa6I)

301 Best sequels of all time, violent of course.

Godfather 2, Aliens, terminator 2

Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:04 PM (Jj/1f)

302 Stephen King will still be coming out with "new" books 15 years after he's in the ground, easy.

-
They Saved Stephen King's Brain!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2018 09:04 PM (+y/Ru)

303 297 Terminator 2 had great set pieces, Cameron knows how to craft a film.

But it's hollow and it undercuts what made the Terminator scary. It humanizes the Arnold terminator, which is a big, big, big mistake. I guess by this time, he was too big a star to just be the bad guy anymore. I dunno. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when that script got read aloud for the first time by the cast.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:03 PM (xJa6I)

======

The idea was the irony of the reversal. I know that he wanted Michael Biehn to play the evil terminator in the second movie as well. I don't remember why that fell apart, though.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:04 PM (zZbCU)

304 Somebody say tits?

Posted by: Weasel at November 17, 2018 09:05 PM (MVjcR)

305 297. Good points , but Robert Patrick was brilliant

Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:05 PM (Jj/1f)

306 I, uh, have seen "Raising Arizona" more than once and didn't think it was funny at all, either time. I honestly don't know what I'm not getting.
Posted by: Gem at November 17, 2018 08:58 PM (XoAz

Yeah, I've tried watching it and it does nothing for me. Humor though tends to be very specific to people. It's like people talking about how great "Blazing Saddles" is. I find it boring and childish.

283 >
Check out the Assembly Cut of Alien3, which restores most of Fincher's vision and story for the film. It's available at Amazon for rental, and it just might change your mind about where the Alien franchise ends...

Posted by: Reformed NeverTrumper at November 17, 2018 08:59 PM (ITvKk)

Newt and Hicks are still dead. So, nothing can redeem it. You can't rip the heart out of the ending of the second film.

Posted by: WOPR at November 17, 2018 09:05 PM (oJBCt)

307 288
The THing was blessed with not having any (though a shitty remake was done).
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 09:00 PM (Gk3gh)

What? The remake of "The Thing" was possibly the greatest remake of all time.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 09:05 PM (sdi6R)

308 V wasn't bad for tv.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:05 PM (PUmDY)

309 Starship Troopers and Robocop are on Prime.

Starship Troopers had a test screening. One of the survey comments filled out said "You killed the wrong bitch." Not a fan of Denise Richards I guess.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 17, 2018 09:06 PM (rnAwa)

310 The whole premise of terminator was brilliant.

Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:06 PM (Jj/1f)

311 Saw hot tub time machine for first time last night. I shit my pants so funny

Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:07 PM (Jj/1f)

312 Starship Troopers had a test screening.
Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 17, 2018 09:06 PM (rnAwa)

I can only suspend disbelief so far.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 09:07 PM (t+qrx)

313 What? The remake of "The Thing" was possibly the greatest remake of all time.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 09:05 PM (sdi6R)

Ha! I always appreciated your sense of humor, rick.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 09:07 PM (Gk3gh)

314 Running man was good. Predator was scary

Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:08 PM (Jj/1f)

315 309 Starship Troopers and Robocop are on Prime.

Starship Troopers had a test screening. One of the survey comments filled out said "You killed the wrong bitch." Not a fan of Denise Richards I guess.
Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 17, 2018 09:06 PM (rnAwa)

======

In the test screening cut, she cheated on Rico and left him through a Dear John video letter.

As opposed to Diz who loved Rico and was faithful to him through everything.

Verhoeven chalked it up to American prudishness instead of Richards' character being an awful person.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:08 PM (zZbCU)

316 The idea was the irony of the reversal. I know that he wanted Michael Biehn to play the evil terminator in the second movie as well. I don't remember why that fell apart, though.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:04 PM (zZbCU)

That would have been horrible. I agree with the commenter that T2 has great set pieces but the film just doesn't have the heart of the first one. I like it, but the first one is simply a superior story.

Posted by: WOPR at November 17, 2018 09:08 PM (oJBCt)

317 305 297. Good points , but Robert Patrick was brilliant
Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:05 PM (Jj/1f)

Yeah. The idea of the T1000 is brilliant too. Cameron ups the stakes pretty well.

But he does so by altering our understanding of John Connor and by changing Sarah Connor almost beyond recognition. (And I say that as a man who got major wood from her in T2)

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:09 PM (xJa6I)

318 <<I put Alien, Species and The Thing in the same category. They all have
stupid stories that really don't make any sense, but serve only as
vehicles for some interesting special effects and stretching, morphing
and tearing of human bodies.>>
Your opinion, of course, but in MY book, John Carpenter's THE THING is the best horror movie ever made. Completely believable premise in which researchers in the Antarctic find themselves trapped in their own station with an alien that can mimic human form. What makes the movie so great (aside from the creature effects that still hold up today) is Carpenter's brilliant pacing in which he puts small elements of horror between the scenes with creature effects, and manages to get across the feeling of paranoia as each of those left alive begin to distrust each other...

<<The Thing holds a special place because it was the first. Species has the hottest chick. Alien is, in my book, dogshit.
>>
Alien came first (1979).

<<As far as sequels, The THing was blessed with not having any (though a shitty remake was done).>>
Wrong again. The 2011 film entitled THE THING is a prequel to John Carpenter's masterpiece...it sucks, but it is most certainly NOT a remake.

Posted by: Reformed NeverTrumper at November 17, 2018 09:09 PM (ITvKk)

319 Yes Starship Troopers is fantastic.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:09 PM (PUmDY)

320

Teets?

Check out this tv weather girl:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-O5QTpBvHw

Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 09:09 PM (aBiG3)

321 Prometheus was not bad . Alien prequel

Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:09 PM (Jj/1f)

322 I think something broke in his head when Don Quixote fell apart.

I find Tideland unwatchable, and The Zero Theorem is bad, but Dr Parnassus largely works.

It seems like he just ended up missing more than hitting after that.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:57 PM

Haven't seen TZT. Tideland isn't my thing either. Dr Parnassus? Want to like it more than I do. My feeling is that he should have scrapped it and reshot it all with Depp.

Posted by: otho at November 17, 2018 09:10 PM (LkFnL)

323 V wasn't bad for tv.
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:05 PM (PUmDY)

If we can't call leftist NPCs maybe we can refer to them as the lizard people. That's what they are under the disguise.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at November 17, 2018 09:10 PM (/qEW2)

324 Sara Connor in a teeshirt.

Posted by: Eromero at November 17, 2018 09:10 PM (zLDYs)

325 Original war of the worlds was great

Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:10 PM (Jj/1f)

326 Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 09:09 PM (aBiG3)

Full and classy.

She needs to work on her abs more if she's going to keep up with the Mexican girls, though.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:10 PM (xJa6I)

327 @287 Of all the ways that Death has been personified in Marvel, it actually it is the Punisher origin story 'Born' that worked the best for me.
---------------

My favorite is the construction worker. He appeared briefly to Jean Grey after she died at the end of Dark Phoenix (with the caveat, of course, that we later found out that wasn't exactly Jean...). It's the story in which she appears in a white version of her Phoenix costume.

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 09:11 PM (oE1+m)

328 I almost prefer watching airplane movies without sound.
Posted by: Northernlurker at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM

Surely you can't be serious.

Posted by: Ted Striker at November 17, 2018 09:11 PM (YTxkQ)

329 322

Haven't seen TZT. Tideland isn't my thing either. Dr Parnassus? Want to like it more than I do. My feeling is that he should have scrapped it and reshot it all with Depp.
Posted by: otho at November 17, 2018 09:10 PM (LkFnL

=====

I really like the solution of using multiple actors for Ledger's replacement in the fantasy sequences.

I just feel like Depp and Farrell should have switched sequences.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:11 PM (zZbCU)

330 328 I almost prefer watching airplane movies without sound.
Posted by: Northernlurker at November 17, 2018 07:43 PM

Surely you can't be serious.
Posted by: Ted Striker at November 17, 2018 09:11 PM (YTxkQ)

ISWYDT

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:11 PM (xJa6I)

331 301 Best sequels of all time, violent of course.

Godfather 2, Aliens, terminator 2
Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:04 PM (Jj/1f)

--Predator 2 was not bad.

Not better than the original, but still very good.

Posted by: logprof at November 17, 2018 09:12 PM (e7oj4)

332 In the test screening cut, she cheated on Rico and left him through a Dear John video letter. [i/]

Rico was a loser, though.

As opposed to Diz who loved Rico and was faithful to him through everything.

Diz was a stalker. Hot. But a stalker, nonetheless.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 09:12 PM (Gk3gh)

333 In the test screening cut, she cheated on Rico and left him through a Dear John video letter.

As opposed to Diz who loved Rico and was faithful to him through everything.

Verhoeven chalked it up to American prudishness instead of Richards' character being an awful person.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:08 PM (zZbCU)

She still left him in the theatrical version with a video letter. Also, Verhoeven and morality seem to be strangers. The moral preening he tries to do by showing you the gore, sex, and violence seem to be like 50's movies that showed you stuff like that so you would know it is bad.

Posted by: WOPR at November 17, 2018 09:12 PM (oJBCt)

334 Yeah, but young love can be stalker-ish.

Rico was a little stalkerish as well.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:12 PM (xJa6I)

335 Nina Burleigh
@ninaburleigh
Almost every single person I've ever heard of with an AR-15 has been a mass murderer. Based on Twitter sample the rest of them are scarily paranoid. Get on the right side of history @DLoesch@Rambobiggs #gunsense

-
Yeah, boy, those AR-15 fvckers are crazy!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2018 09:13 PM (+y/Ru)

336 <<Newt and Hicks are still dead. So, nothing can redeem it. You can't rip the heart out of the ending of the second film.>>
Ironic, because that's precisely what ALIENS did.

Posted by: Reformed NeverTrumper at November 17, 2018 09:13 PM (ITvKk)

337
What? The remake of "The Thing" was possibly the greatest remake of all time.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 09:05 PM (sdi6R)

The Thing From Another World is the greatest of the '50s monster movies (and a personal favorite of mine). I get a special kick out of the fact that with a bunch of Air Force officers and scientists on the polar base, virtually every GOOD idea comes from the sergeant crew chief.

Carpenter's The Thing is fantastic, with a great balance of dread, body horror and paranoia.

The recent remake/prequel with Mary Elizabeth whatshername is a steaming pile of monkey crap.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:14 PM (eXA4G)

338

lol @ "gunsense"

Is that like "nonsense?"

Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 09:14 PM (aBiG3)

339 @313
Ha! I always appreciated your sense of humor, rick.
-----------------

Isn't Carpenter's version of 'The Thing' the second time they did it? So yeah, I think he's right...

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 09:14 PM (oE1+m)

340 >
Wrong again. The 2011 film entitled THE THING is a prequel to John Carpenter's masterpiece...it sucks, but it is most certainly NOT a remake.

Posted by: Reformed NeverTrumper at November 17, 2018 09:09 PM (ITvKk)

Whatever. It still sucked monkey balls.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 09:14 PM (Gk3gh)

341 245 ..... a modern-day cop who's somehow transported back to 1973. Pre-PC, pre-anti-police brutality rules, pre-feminism, the works.....

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 08:45 PM (miE9U)
-------------------------------------
If they wanted to have a pre-PC, a pre-feminism, and especially a pre-anti-cop-brutality world, they should have made it 1963. 1973 is too late for that.

Of course, then they couldn't use the Twin Towers as an image since they didn't open until 1973, so.......artistic license, I guess!

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at November 17, 2018 09:14 PM (Rxduq)

342 The Thing From Another World is the greatest of the '50s monster movies (and a personal favorite of mine). I get a special kick out of the fact that with a bunch of Air Force officers and scientists on the polar base, virtually every GOOD idea comes from the sergeant crew chief.

Carpenter's The Thing is fantastic, with a great balance of dread, body horror and paranoia.

The recent remake/prequel with Mary Elizabeth whatshername is a steaming pile of monkey crap.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:14 PM (eXA4G)

One of Howard Hawk's movies, though uncredited.

He was always good at competent men.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:15 PM (xJa6I)

343 'Armor' by John Steakley would make a great movie.

Posted by: Eromero at November 17, 2018 09:15 PM (zLDYs)

344 I prefer the comics motivation for Thanos - he's in love with Death, who is depicted as a woman in the comics. So to impress her, he kills half of all life in the universe. A guy does crazy things when he's in love.
Posted by: josephistan at November 17, 2018 08:50 PM (Izzlo)

So he's Evil Ernie, but an alien.

Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 09:16 PM (NWiLs)

345 344 I prefer the comics motivation for Thanos - he's in love with Death, who is depicted as a woman in the comics. So to impress her, he kills half of all life in the universe. A guy does crazy things when he's in love.
Posted by: josephistan at November 17, 2018 08:50 PM (Izzlo)

So he's Evil Ernie, but an alien.
Posted by: Insomniac at November 17, 2018 09:16 PM (NWiLs)

Lady Death > Marvel Death

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:16 PM (xJa6I)

346 342 One of Howard Hawk's movies, though uncredited.

He was always good at competent men.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:15 PM (xJa6I)

=====

Red River!

Just bought the Criterion edition. So pretty in blu-ray.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:16 PM (zZbCU)

347 The first Terminator is brilliant. It's the best argument feminism has ever had, and I mean that. Sarah Conner goes from being a nobody buffeted by fate into someone who controls her own destiny. And it works every step of the way.
The sequel is bigger and more expensive, but it's really just a remake of the first. They even use the same lines and situations.
For my money, in my opinion, James Cameron has never made a movie better than the first Terminator. Everything since then is so agenda-driven that it sucks the entertainment out.
Yes, Aliens is a great action movie, but it's brainless and stupid. The men are all idiots, who have to be shown by a strong woman what to do, how to succeed.

And since Aliens, Cameron has gone full-blown "yeah, movies can be entertainment, but we have to use them to lecture the proles."

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 17, 2018 09:17 PM (l9m7l)

348 v remake got cancelled quickly.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:17 PM (PUmDY)

349 The recent remake/prequel with Mary Elizabeth whatshername is a steaming pile of monkey crap.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:14 PM (eXA4G)

--Aside from any aesthetic criticisms, that Norwegian remake also had . . .

WHITE SUBTITLES . . .

. . . in a movie set in Antarctica!!!

[Those responsible for the subtitles should have been sacked.]

Posted by: logprof at November 17, 2018 09:17 PM (e7oj4)

350
They're doing a prequel of The Sopranos.

It's going to be very racially-centered.

Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 09:17 PM (aBiG3)

351 Well I was hoping the next season of "Archer" would be Aliens-themed, but "Archer: 1999" could be pretty great:

https://tinyurl.com/y8lmmxd5

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:18 PM (kQs4Y)

352 Prometheus was not bad . Alien prequel
Posted by: Jonah at November 17, 2018 09:09 PM (Jj/1f)

Eh. I kind of liked it, it had some cute callbacks (call-forwards I guess), it was visually very nice, but that's about it. The cast, except for Noomi Rapace and Idris Elba can all FOAD, it just raised a lot of questions that it had no intention of ever answering, and it didn't belong in the same franchise. Something could be there, but it should at least try to add something to the story instead of letting the other movies write the story while it camps out on the couch and scams all the story out of the refrigerator without paying rent.

The music was good though. I'd watch it with no dialogue or plot, just that scenery and that music.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 09:18 PM (t+qrx)

353 Carpenter's "The Thing" is its self a remake Of The Thing from another world from the 1950s.

I grew up watching Creature Feature so love all those old black and white horror movies

Its from a short story written just before World War 2 and both of the remakes seemed to have lots of trouble with directors.

I don't recall how many changes where made for the Carpenter film but the started shooting in the mid 70s and the film was not released until 1982.

But yeah the latest remake was a hot mess.

Posted by: Big V at November 17, 2018 09:18 PM (CGfsq)

354
BBC ruined Prime Suspect by making the new ones with a young Jane Tennison as a police girl putting up with the brutes of the 70's.

Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo, Digitally Remastered at November 17, 2018 09:18 PM (aBiG3)

355 Newt and Hicks are still dead. So, nothing can redeem it. You can't rip the heart out of the ending of the second film.

Posted by: WOPR at November 17, 2018 09:05 PM

That's one of outstanding aspects of 3. They were already dead, they just didn't know it yet. Well played. The Alien movies are not the place for happiness. Fincher did the right thing.

Posted by: otho at November 17, 2018 09:19 PM (LkFnL)

356 OK, I guess I was referring to John Carpenter's 1982 remake of "The Thing". I'm really bad with names.

I wasn't even aware there was a 2011 version.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 09:19 PM (sdi6R)

357 Noomi Rapace

This woman is a boner-killer. I can't stomach her.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 09:19 PM (H5knJ)

358 <<v remake got cancelled quickly.>>
That's because it was an anti-leftist series...and those never last long for some reason (it was doing well in the ratings...but then so was FIREFLY)...

Posted by: Reformed NeverTrumper at November 17, 2018 09:20 PM (ITvKk)

359 v remake got cancelled quickly.
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:17 PM (PUmDY)

The aliens were promising free health care.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2018 09:20 PM (mUa7G)

360 I'm up for Excalibur! Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Ciaran Hinds, and Patrick Stewart. :-)

Does Helen "Butterface" Mirren get naked? I can't remember. She did that a lot in those days.

Posted by: Gem at November 17, 2018 09:20 PM (XoAz8)

361 Armor' by John Steakley would make a great movie.
Posted by: Eromero at November 17, 2018 09:15 PM (zLDYs)

Best opening chapters ( Scene 1) of any book I've read.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 09:21 PM (2DOZq)

362 Well I was hoping the next season of "Archer" would be Aliens-themed, but "Archer: 1999" could be pretty great:
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:18 PM (kQs4Y)

They're saying what year it is? Can they even do that?

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 09:21 PM (t+qrx)

363 Margarita, true :-)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 09:21 PM (miE9U)

364 Mastrontonio?

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:22 PM (PUmDY)

365 OK, I guess I was referring to John Carpenter's 1982 remake of "The Thing". I'm really bad with names.

I wasn't even aware there was a 2011 version.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 09:19 PM (sdi6R)

And I had forgotten that Carpenter's Thing was, itself, a remake

(and also came out after Alien, as was pointed out to me - I guess I didn't see Alien until much later).

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 09:22 PM (Gk3gh)

366 346 342 One of Howard Hawk's movies, though uncredited.

He was always good at competent men.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:15 PM (xJa6I)

=====

Red River!

Just bought the Criterion edition. So pretty in blu-ray.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:16 PM (zZbCU)

Lucky man....I would love to have all of Hawk's works on blu ray. Too expensive.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:23 PM (xJa6I)

367 Crazy: Cincy can't pass, and UCF can't run.

Posted by: logprof at November 17, 2018 09:23 PM (e7oj4)

368
357 Noomi Rapace

This woman is a boner-killer. I can't stomach her.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 09:19 PM (H5knJ)

I don't know if it's her really weird face or that awful accent, but yeah, I'm with you on that one.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:23 PM (eXA4G)

369 I can't stomach her.
Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 09:19 PM (H5knJ)

There's a machine in the med bay that does that automatically.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 09:24 PM (t+qrx)

370 Mastrontonio?

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:22 PM (PUmDY)

I think it was the other one - the younger one from TV.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 09:24 PM (Gk3gh)

371 362 Well I was hoping the next season of "Archer" would be Aliens-themed, but "Archer: 1999" could be pretty great:
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:18 PM (kQs4Y)

They're saying what year it is? Can they even do that?
Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 09:21 PM (t+qrx)

Well it's in space, so not the real, disappointing (though last gasp of our Golden Age) 1999

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:24 PM (xJa6I)

372 Hog, I'm guessing it's a riff on "Space: 1999", which was tres 70's:

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

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:24 PM (kQs4Y)

373 Well the filming for Avatard 2 and 3 are done. Alita is now scheduled for Feb 2019, only movie who's debut has been delayed as often as 404care's web-site.

Going to give all three a pass.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 17, 2018 09:24 PM (famYS)

374
And I had forgotten that Carpenter's Thing was, itself, a remake

(and also came out after Alien, as was pointed out to me - I guess I didn't see Alien until much later).
Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 09:22 PM (Gk3gh)

The Thing was 1982, Aliens was 1986.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:24 PM (eXA4G)

375 366 Lucky man....I would love to have all of Hawk's works on blu ray. Too expensive.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:23 PM (xJa6I)

====

The Madison household budget allows for one Criterion purchase a month.

So I have dictated!

Next will be Stagecoach.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:25 PM (zZbCU)

376 Morena was in it.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:25 PM (PUmDY)

377 I don't know if it's her really weird face or that awful accent, but yeah, I'm with you on that one.
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:23 PM (eXA4G)

Damn, you guys are rough. I haven't seen her in anything else but I think she's cute and I like her accent.

Posted by: hogmartin at November 17, 2018 09:25 PM (t+qrx)

378 I think it was the other one - the younger one from TV.
---
Winstead?

Great in "Fargo" and "10 Cloverfield Lane", if I'm thinking of the right actress.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:25 PM (kQs4Y)

379
I grew up watching Creature Feature so love all those old black and white horror movies.

I just found out the other day that the Creature Feature logo image was Lon Chaney Sr. in a mostly lost horror film called "London After Midnight."

Posted by: Gem at November 17, 2018 09:25 PM (XoAz8)

380 The Thing was originally written by John W. Campbell as a novelette called "Who Goes There" and was credited to Don A Stewart.

It really did follow the plot of the original in where they found the saucer, but finished up with John Carpenter's vision, except the scientists survived.

Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2018 09:25 PM (mUa7G)

381 Speaking of remakes-

"The Invasion", the third "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" remake is now playing on cable.

It's the worst version. Not really a bad movie until the "happy" ending.

"Body Snatchers" - is the next worst. Though it has Meg Tilly being all nekkid and weird.

So, that's a bonus.

Strangely, the original is second best version to the 1978 version.

The 1978 version will just give you chills. Especially at the climax, as "Amazing Grace" plays in the background.

And that just edges it over the original.

Check them all out.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 09:25 PM (CRRq9)

382 >>>Noomi Rapace

>>>This woman is a boner-killer. I can't stomach her.

>>>Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 09:19 PM (H5knJ)

I don't know if it's her really weird face or that awful accent, but yeah, I'm with you on that one.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:23 PM (eXA4G)

I strongly third that sentiment. She is ugly and annoying. I don't know why they started shoving into all these movies. She is awful.

Posted by: ThePrimordialOrderedPair at November 17, 2018 09:26 PM (Gk3gh)

383 Bob's Burgers > Archer

The BB Archer mashup was pretty funny though.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 09:26 PM (2DOZq)

384 I just really wanted to say Mastrontonio.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:26 PM (PUmDY)

385 383 Bob's Burgers

The BB Archer mashup was pretty funny though.
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 09:26 PM (2DOZq)

FTFY

I can't stand Bob's kids.

Also I want to put my dick in almost half the cast of Archer, so there's that.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:27 PM (xJa6I)

386 @380 The Thing was originally written by John W. Campbell as a novelette called "Who Goes There" and was credited to Don A Stewart.

It really did follow the plot of the original in where they found the saucer, but finished up with John Carpenter's vision, except the scientists survived.
---------------

Apparently it was originally a novel, that was shortened into the short story that ended up being published. And also, apparently, the manuscript for the draft of the novel has recently been found.

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 09:27 PM (oE1+m)

387 Buttle?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 08:24 PM (zZbCU)

I'm not sure I understand the question.

If you are asking (or positing) that the character's name is Buttle, the answer is no. It is Archibald "Harry" Tuttle, heating engineer.

If you are asking if my name is Buttle, the answer is no.

And if you are asking if I would come and pick up your socks and answer the door/phone when the bell rings, sorry, the answer is still no.

If there is a fourth possible interpretation, it is not occurring to me at this time, so in that case please clarify and I will attempt to answer.

Posted by: HTL at November 17, 2018 09:27 PM (2dzsA)

388 Watching Arrow's 4k restoration of 12 Monkeys right now. Puts the piss-poor Universal blu-ray to shame.

Posted by: Rusty Nail at November 17, 2018 09:27 PM (SN4NF)

389 I just saw the Bob's Burgers episode where the kids do a Working Girl/Die Hard mashup musical called "Work Harder or Die Trying, Girl".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:28 PM (kQs4Y)

390 Don't knock Silver Bullet. It makes anything else you say seem...unserious.

Posted by: Gepid at November 17, 2018 09:28 PM (EuiLQ)

391 TJM, I have the Criterion bluray of Stagecoach. Pretty good. :-)

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 09:28 PM (miE9U)

392 I'm not sure I understand the question.

If you are asking (or positing) that the character's name is Buttle, the answer is no. It is Archibald "Harry" Tuttle, heating engineer.

If you are asking if my name is Buttle, the answer is no.

And if you are asking if I would come and pick up your socks and answer the door/phone when the bell rings, sorry, the answer is still no.

If there is a fourth possible interpretation, it is not occurring to me at this time, so in that case please clarify and I will attempt to answer.
Posted by: HTL at November 17, 2018 09:27 PM (2dzsA)

======

Or...a reference to the central plot point of the movie Brazil...the confusing of Buttle with Tuttle...

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:29 PM (zZbCU)

393 Home Movies > Bob's Burgers

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:29 PM (kQs4Y)

394 Space 1999 is realy hard to watch because almost no continuity between episodes. Breakaway the Commisioner is stranded with them and by episode two he was forgotten. And for second season they did a Seven of Nine before 7 of 9.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 17, 2018 09:30 PM (famYS)

395 Count me in on the Noomi Rapace hate. Just wicked ugly.

Posted by: Rusty Nail at November 17, 2018 09:31 PM (SN4NF)

396 Apparently it was originally a novel, that was
shortened into the short story that ended up being published. And also,
apparently, the manuscript for the draft of the novel has recently been
found.

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 09:27 PM (oE1+m)

Isn't this the basic premise of Tropic Thunder, also?

Posted by: Kindltot at November 17, 2018 09:32 PM (mUa7G)

397 358 >
That's because it was an anti-leftist series...and those never last long for some reason (it was doing well in the ratings...but then so was FIREFLY)...
Posted by: Reformed NeverTrumper

And the Gorgeous Morrena Baccarin was in both shows. I'm not sure if she has gotten Gotham cancelled yet.

Posted by: Puddleglum at November 17, 2018 09:32 PM (HCqAo)

398 Home Movies > Bob's Burgers
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:29 PM (kQs4Y)

I'm guessing you don't like King of the Hill either.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 09:33 PM (2DOZq)

399 I'd like to stay up and so forth, but 0400 comes pretty early here in ETEX. Clemson looks like they got this Duke lacrosse team handled, anyway.

Posted by: Eromero at November 17, 2018 09:33 PM (zLDYs)

400 This kickstarter may be of interest to The Thing fans:

https://tinyurl.com/yadx4lgr

Long story short: they found a larger novel of "Who Goes There" among Campbell's papers.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 09:33 PM (H5knJ)

401
Despite the obvious similarities, "The Three Stooges Go Camping," and its sequel "Apocalypse Now," are completely differerent stories.

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at November 17, 2018 09:33 PM (ZwF/t)

402 Is that the Wilder/Pryor/Radner movie?

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:33 PM (PUmDY)

403 I'm guessing you don't like King of the Hill either.
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 09:33 PM (2DOZq)

I LOVE King of the Hill. Why would you think that?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:34 PM (kQs4Y)

404 @397 And the Gorgeous Morrena Baccarin was in both shows. I'm not sure if she has gotten Gotham cancelled yet.
-----------

You're saying that Summer Glau wasn't the only cast member present who curses every show that she's in with an early cancellation?

Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 09:34 PM (oE1+m)

405 TJM, have you picked up Criterion's new edition of The Princess Bride yet?

It's been modeled to look like a storybook.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 09:34 PM (miE9U)

406
"Shit. Saigon. Woo woo woo woo woo..."

Posted by: Semi-Literate Thug at November 17, 2018 09:35 PM (ZwF/t)

407 WHITE SUBTITLES . . .

. . . in a movie set in Antarctica!!!
Posted by: logprof at November 17, 2018 09:17 PM (e7oj4)

That could still work okay if you put an outline around the letters.

Unfortunately movie subtitles are stuck in the stone age.

Posted by: Sjg at November 17, 2018 09:35 PM (gDSJf)

408 Is The Raid: Redemption worth seeing?

I liked the first one.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:35 PM (xJa6I)

409 I don't know how Criterion missed this one, but-

"The Last Movie" directed by Dennis Hopper has just been released on blu-ray.

After being hidden in Hollywood vaults for the last 50(?) years.

It's the movie he made right after "Easy Rider" when he was the hottest thing evah and it killed his career for a while.

That would be a great/horrible double feature with "Heaven's Gate". Another overindulgent career killer directed by Michael Cimino when he was the hottest thing evah right after "The Deer Hunter"

It's is available through Criterion.

Buy them both and embrace the suck....with popcorn!

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 09:36 PM (CRRq9)

410 405 TJM, have you picked up Criterion's new edition of The Princess Bride yet?

It's been modeled to look like a storybook.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 09:34 PM (miE9U)

=====

I'm just not the biggest fan.

I think it's okay. I've never gotten invested in it emotionally like most people.

The packaging does look nice, though.

The one piece of interesting packaging from them that I have is the Guillermo del Toro trilogy.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:36 PM (zZbCU)

411 OT but can't wait til tomorrow. Mrs. Farmer Bob just won a raffle 1943 Saginaw Steering Works M1 Carbine (purportedly all original). She entered to surprise me for Christmas, but they delivered it to her with me present.

Posted by: Farmer Bob- internet comedy coach at November 17, 2018 09:36 PM (gA6dj)

412 I LOVE King of the Hill. Why would you think that?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:34 PM (kQs4Y)

I thought because you didn't like BB which is produced and creative input by same guy, Dauvtrive.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 09:38 PM (2DOZq)

413 Posted by: Farmer Bob- internet comedy coach at November 17, 2018 09:36 PM (gA6dj)

Woo! Congrats, man.

I love my M1 Carbine but it's just a crappy Universal.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards at November 17, 2018 09:38 PM (xJa6I)

414 I also liked the 1970s remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".

Not saying it was better or worse than the 1950s original. Both movies can stand on their own.

I was always a Donald Sutherland fan. Also Leonard Nimoy was in it. And Jerry Garcia in a cameo as a street musician.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 09:38 PM (sdi6R)

415 I love Bob's Burgers because I feel like I'm Bob Belcher, usually the only sane man in the room.

Posted by: logprof at November 17, 2018 09:39 PM (e7oj4)

416 414 Movies make me uncomfortable.

It's like every one in the movie is fake, and only pretending. Like they are trying really hard to make me believe something that isn't true or real.
I just don't trust movies.
Posted by: mikeyG at November 17, 2018 09:38 PM (BLjCA)

======

Movies are Lies.

The title of my very first movie post at the HQ.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:39 PM (zZbCU)

417 The two ultimate TV show killers are Ted McGinley and Michael Rapaport. I can't think of a show that survived either of them for long.

Posted by: Rusty Nail at November 17, 2018 09:39 PM (SN4NF)

418 Not much up on the latest movies and rarely go to the show but the gf and I have movie nights running through the Amazon Prime movies and TV. I'm sure not the top movies available but we have some fun guessing at what might be good, with a little bourbon.

Posted by: dartist at November 17, 2018 09:40 PM (K22Va)

419 405 TJM, have you picked up Criterion's new edition of The Princess Bride yet?

It's been modeled to look like a storybook.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 09:34 PM (miE9U)

Yeah, RIP William Goldman. Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy, Marathon Man, All the President's Men, Magic....

Oh. Dreamcatcher. Oh.

Posted by: Gem at November 17, 2018 09:40 PM (XoAz8)

420 Farmer Bob @ 411-M1 Carbine! Wow. Ask her to buy me a lottery ticket.

Posted by: Eromero at November 17, 2018 09:40 PM (zLDYs)

421 I like when King of the Hill fans tell me what I ought to think is funny about the series, because it genuinely sounds funny when related by fans.

Problem is, I hare both Hank and his dumb loser kid, Bobby, when I actually watch the show.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 09:40 PM (H5knJ)

422 Was that retarded show with Morena as the wife of the Irish looking terrorist cancelled early?

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:41 PM (PUmDY)

423 .....Married With Children went on for a while after Ted McGinley showed up on it. That's the only one I recall though.

Posted by: Puddleglum at November 17, 2018 09:41 PM (HCqAo)

424 You're saying that Summer Glau wasn't the only cast member present who curses every show that she's in with an early cancellation?
Posted by: junior at November 17, 2018 09:34 PM (oE1+m)

The decent to good actors went on to have regular roles in fairly long running series.

The actresses who got their parts by sleeping with Joss Whedon weren't nearly as successful. But for some reason producers just kept trying. And trying.

Posted by: Sjg at November 17, 2018 09:42 PM (gDSJf)

425 Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 09:40 PM (H5knJ)

Most conservative show on TV .

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 09:42 PM (2DOZq)

426
Best sequels of all time, violent of course.

Rooster Cogburn

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at November 17, 2018 09:43 PM (aKsyK)

427 I think it was on showtime.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at November 17, 2018 09:43 PM (PUmDY)

428 I thought because you didn't like BB which is produced and creative input by same guy, Dauvtrive.
Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 09:38 PM (2DOZq)

The guys who did BB also did Home Movies (Loren Bouchard, Brendon Small).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:44 PM (kQs4Y)

429 Or...a reference to the central plot point of the movie Brazil...the confusing of Buttle with Tuttle...

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:29 PM (zZbCU)

Sorry, it's been a while since I saw the movie. Now that you mention it, that sort of comes back to me, and I do (now) remember wondering at the time why they went to Buttle's home if only the name had the typo (from the bug), and not a mistake in the address as well. Didn't Jill Layton witness the Buttle arrest (because they cut a hold through her floor to get at him)? I guess I'll have to re-watch the movie to find out.

Posted by: HTL at November 17, 2018 09:44 PM (2dzsA)

430 Nood ONT

Posted by: Rusty Nail at November 17, 2018 09:44 PM (SN4NF)

431 Corgis, read em and weep!

Posted by: Comrade Hrothgar at November 17, 2018 09:45 PM (f3oO4)

432 I have yet to see a Coen Brothers movie I like, including ones I don't even know are the Coen Brothers until after they end. They are clearly talented filmmakers but I never connect with the characters or stories. Everything always seems at arm's length.

Posted by: ... at November 17, 2018 09:45 PM (uEbPt)

433 Homeland. Only saw some of the first season. Did see MB in it. Never kept up with the show though. The Danes character needed to die. Annoying broad.

Posted by: Puddleglum at November 17, 2018 09:45 PM (HCqAo)

434 399 I'd like to stay up and so forth, but 0400 comes pretty early here in ETEX. Clemson looks like they got this Duke lacrosse team handled, anyway.
Posted by: Eromero at November 17, 2018 09:33 PM (zLDYs)
-----------------------
Yep.
Should have sent the basketball team instead.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at November 17, 2018 09:46 PM (Rxduq)

435 I couldn't handle Brazil but 12 Monkeys is one of my all time favorites. Brad Pitt is a fucking revelation in it.

Posted by: ... at November 17, 2018 09:46 PM (uEbPt)

436 The guys who did BB also did Home Movies (Loren Bouchard, Brendon Small).
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 09:44 PM (kQs4Y)

My bad. Heh , I thought you literally meant Home movies as snark. Mea cupajoe.

Posted by: Lancelot Link Secret Agent Chimp at November 17, 2018 09:47 PM (2DOZq)

437 The one piece of interesting packaging from them that I have is the Guillermo del Toro trilogy.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:36 PM (zZbCU)

del Toro also has crazy elaborate packaging for his special version of Patron Tequila.

https://www.patrontequila.com/products/guillermo-del-toro.html

Now you can drink his tequila and watch his movies, all at the same time.

Yay!

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 09:48 PM (CRRq9)

438 First three seasons of Homeland were very good. Excellent even.

If you were annoyed with Claire Danes, never watch it. Although it gets repetitive with the crazy and the crying, she is totally freakin' awesome.

The show of course went shortly off the rails and made a permanent stop in Libtardia.

Posted by: ... at November 17, 2018 09:48 PM (uEbPt)

439 Justified survived Michael Rapaport but only because <spoiler>

Posted by: ... at November 17, 2018 09:50 PM (uEbPt)

440 TJM, fair enough. :-)

naturalfake, The Last Movie would be a good pick-up. I think things can be learned from bad movies, just like things can be learned from good ones, especially if you want to try filmmaking for yourself.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 09:50 PM (miE9U)

441 437
del Toro also has crazy elaborate packaging for his special version of Patron Tequila.

https://www.patrontequila.com/products/guillermo-del-toro.html

Now you can drink his tequila and watch his movies, all at the same time.

Yay!

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 09:48 PM (CRRq9)

====

This makes me wish I liked tequila.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:50 PM (zZbCU)

442 10 "Kwai" versus "Sand Pebbles" versus ""Lawrence of Arabia" versus "Morant."

Posted by: Zod at November 17, 2018 07:24 PM (hgpSN)
Bridge Over the River Kwai doesn't hold up as well as the others, just a personal preference for me.
The Sand Pebbles is a masterpiece of filmmaking, almost everything is perfect, arguably one of the last Hollywood spectaculars made along with Lawrence.
Breaker Morant is a wonderful film, but iirc, was based on a play, which brings the movie in close.

Posted by: Deacon Bleau at November 17, 2018 09:51 PM (yScAF)

443
410 405 TJM, have you picked up Criterion's new edition of The Princess Bride yet?

It's been modeled to look like a storybook.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 09:34 PM (miE9U)

=====

I'm just not the biggest fan.

I think it's okay. I've never gotten invested in it emotionally like most people.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:36 PM (zZbCU)

BURN THE WITCH

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:51 PM (eXA4G)

444 440 TJM, fair enough. :-)

naturalfake, The Last Movie would be a good pick-up. I think things can be learned from bad movies, just like things can be learned from good ones, especially if you want to try filmmaking for yourself.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 09:50 PM (miE9U)

=====

This is true.

I always findit worthwhile, as a storyteller, to stick with bad films. I learn quite a bit about storytelling from other people's mistakes.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:52 PM (zZbCU)

445 OMG.

Amazon has copies of "Hi, Mom!," DePalma's twisted early 'comedy' movie, on DVD new for under $10. I thought it was long out of print.

Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 09:52 PM (miE9U)

446 432 I have yet to see a Coen Brothers movie I like, including ones I don't even know are the Coen Brothers until after they end. They are clearly talented filmmakers but I never connect with the characters or stories. Everything always seems at arm's length.
Posted by: ... at November 17, 2018 09:45 PM (uEbPt)

I think they are the greatest filmmakers alive today, and their sense of humor is off the charts hilarious.

I have yet to see a Coen Brothers movie that I *didn't* love.

Posted by: rickl at November 17, 2018 09:52 PM (sdi6R)

447 443
BURN THE WITCH
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:51 PM (eXA4G)

=====

Bring it!

I'm ready for you!

*brandishes long sword in valiant final stand*

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:53 PM (zZbCU)

448 TJM, fair enough. :-)

naturalfake, The Last Movie would be a good pick-up. I think things can be learned from bad movies, just like things can be learned from good ones, especially if you want to try filmmaking for yourself.
Posted by: qdpsteve at November 17, 2018 09:50 PM (miE9U)

=====

This is true.

I always findit worthwhile, as a storyteller, to stick with bad films. I learn quite a bit about storytelling from other people's mistakes.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:52 PM (zZbCU)

Yeah, I feel the same way, so I bought "TLM" today.

The storyline seems interesting, but it all went horribly wrong somehow.

I'll watch it this week.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 17, 2018 09:54 PM (CRRq9)

449
The key to the Coen Brothers is this bit that I read in a film noir guide called A Girl And A Gun. I have it copied to a doc on my desktop.

".....the Coen Brothers refuse to present man's preference for bumbling, violent solutions to the most basic problems as proof of the breakdown of society or of the general existential godlessness of existence. No, the Coen Brothers take a more Kubrickian view: They wallow in man's blood-drenched stupidity because they think it's really, really funny."

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:56 PM (eXA4G)

450 You've just eaten some bad corn. No one is trying to burn you.

Posted by: bear with asymmetrical balls at November 17, 2018 09:58 PM (H5knJ)

451
447 443
BURN THE WITCH
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:51 PM (eXA4G)

=====

Bring it!

I'm ready for you!

*brandishes long sword in valiant final stand*
Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:53 PM (zZbCU)

Hold on a moment, gotta get my holocaust cloak out of the dryer.....

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:58 PM (eXA4G)

452 449
".....the Coen Brothers refuse to present man's preference for bumbling, violent solutions to the most basic problems as proof of the breakdown of society or of the general existential godlessness of existence. No, the Coen Brothers take a more Kubrickian view: They wallow in man's blood-drenched stupidity because they think it's really, really funny."
Posted by: IllTemperedCur at November 17, 2018 09:56 PM (eXA4G)

======

I have never heard this, and I love it.

Thank you so much.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison's Phone, buy The Battle of Lake Erie today! at November 17, 2018 09:58 PM (zZbCU)

453 Originals of "The Thing"(1951) and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"(1956) - saw them both in drive-in movies at the time. Drive-in movies were how we all saw movies from late forties through fifties.

Posted by: Grannymimi at November 17, 2018 09:59 PM (u5LFV)

454 I liked the Aliens video game better than any Alien movie after Alien 2.

Posted by: Abby at November 17, 2018 10:01 PM (hAJ5r)

455 I liked the book "Aliens: Out of the Shadows" more than any movie after Aliens.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at November 17, 2018 10:04 PM (kQs4Y)

456 Raising Arizona is the best movie ever made.

Discuss.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at November 17, 2018 07:24 PM (HJhxx)

Well, it is the best Coen Brothers' movie.

Posted by: Anonymous White Male at November 17, 2018 10:05 PM (3sjI6)

457 The NYT wants to kick Jared and Ivanka out of the Jew club.

Are Jared and Ivanka Good for the Jews?
Jewish communities stand more divided than ever on whether to embrace or denounce Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at November 17, 2018 10:28 PM (+y/Ru)

458 Critics like Armand White are why I quit reading The New York Times Book Review. When I first got into the book biz, I read the NYT Book Review from cover to cover. But after a few years, I noticed a change. Instead of reviewing the book, the reviewer was out to prove how much more intelligent and better read he or she was than the person reading the review. The reviewer was a genius of the top caliber and the reader of the review was a total ignoramus who should have been humbly thankful that the reviewer was sharing their knowledge. Just change a few words here and there, and White could have been writing for the NYT.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin at November 17, 2018 10:38 PM (C/Dl3)

459 *Tess (Netflix Rating 5/5 | Quality Rating 4/4) Poster blurb: "Handsomely produced, impeccably acted, and emotionally compelling." [Netflix DVD]*

And the namesake of my favorite Korean Indie band.

https://youtu.be/6nepzo6LZqs

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at November 17, 2018 11:16 PM (jn7FC)

460 he knows nothing about movies.

Everybody loves a good storyline, yes?

Posted by: old thread or not at November 17, 2018 11:27 PM (8xtON)

461 I watched Outlaw King this week on Amazon Prime. Really enjoyed it. Of course, Braveheart is my favorite movie. So anything based off of that story was of interest to me. I thought it was a great story to see what happened with Robert the Bruce and Co. after William Wallace was defeated and captured. Was chilling to see Wallace's body parts hanging as was only described at the end of Braveheart.

Posted by: Clyde Shelton at November 17, 2018 11:27 PM (7A4qQ)

462 Best move still is 1966 battle of algeirs. pentagon had to watch it before going into iraq except chehey wouldn't let dubya see it.

Posted by: ramondo at November 18, 2018 01:45 AM (up4t9)

463 "432 I have yet to see a Coen Brothers movie I like.. I never connect with the characters or stories. Everything always seems at arm's length. "

They're black comedies. For black comedy to work the filmmaker can't have the audience develop too much empathy for the characters since some nice people are eventually going to have bad things happen to them.

Posted by: kd6rxl at November 18, 2018 02:14 AM (BZsI1)

464 What I thought was cool about Aliens as a sequel is it addressed a major gimmick in Alien: they didn't dare just shoot it because its blood would burn a big hole in their spaceship. In Aliens its OK to shoot one, it's just that now there's an army of them. It also had another clever twist to connect with the original: Ridley gets home but nobody believes her.

Posted by: kd6rxl at November 18, 2018 02:21 AM (BZsI1)

465 It was good, but it was no Kung Fury

Posted by: Dumpsterjuice at November 18, 2018 09:36 AM (qv8WK)

466 Helen "Butterface" Mirren

Dafuq? She's smokin' in every aspect everytime I've ever seen her!

Posted by: Oedipus at November 18, 2018 08:04 PM (CXLVd)

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