Movie Roundup: Amerikatsi

It's been a good few weeks of moviegoing for me and The Boy. In the throwbacks, we have:

Soylent Green (50th anniversary), the least of the so-called Heston Apocalypse trilogy, with an absurd, appalling premise—but still a good movie (and who knows how closely its NYC may resemble the NYC of the near future), and a great final role from Edward G. Robinson;

They Live (35th anniversary), which I always thought was a fun-but-not-great mid-career Carpenter flick, but now is best viewed as a documentary;

Rain Man (35th anniversary), which I was going to write today's topic about, because it's simultaneously incredibly '80s and incredibly good. It was the first time I ever saw a Tom Cruise movie and thought, "Hey, this guy can act." And I held against it the fact that the Academy awarded Hoffman the Oscar and didn't give a nod to Cruise, who is the one with the character arc and the subtle dramatic changes. Still, Hoffman's performance was really good.

In classics:

Belle de Jour (55th anniversary), with Catherine Deneuve as a frigid(?) housewife who overcomes her lack on interest in her husband by becoming a prostitute, ultimately getting one of her Johns killed and crippling her husband for life. Or maybe not? We had found Luis Buñuel's Exterminating Angel intriguing fun, but this seemed to embody the worst traits of that film. Instead of being thought-provokingly ambiguous, it just seemed vague and unfocused. Probably censorship played a part, and Buñuel knew that naked Catherine Deneuve would sell, even if she's never actually naked. (Deneuve was actually weirdly sexier in the previous year's Repulsion.)

The Johnstown Flood (95th anniversary), an early disaster film that has Janet Gaynor (in her first credited role) playing Paul Revere to the town of Johnstown as the dam breaks—the real event is seriously tragic—and saving unrequited love George O'Brien and (future Mrs. Edgar Rice Burroughs) Florence Gilbert. A special effects tour-de-force which is much less effective these days because they've 4Ked it, but still a fun watch (with about an hour runtime). Gaynor would go on to win, lose and re-win O'Brien a couple of years later in possibly the greatest silent movie: Sunshine.

In kidflicks:

Ernest and Celestine: A Trip To Gibberitia. A charming sequel to the original insta-classic, this sequel featuring Celestine running away to Ernest's hometown of Gibberitia to get his violin repaired, only to discover that Gibberitia is a fascist musical state—only one note may be played—and Ernest fled to France(?) presumably to avoid a career as a judge. The original did a modest $262K at the box office, and this one is not even listed as having a box office return at all. We went on a weekend at 5PM and the three of us were the only ones in the theater. The fact that it's subtitled and is aimed at the kindergarten/gradeschool set may be a factor here.

The Inventor: Once again, we sat alone on a weekend matinee (BO sits at $300K or so) to watch a charmingly animated kids movie about Leonard DaVinci's final years, trying to work around a dim-witted Medici Pope (Leo X) and a vain French king (Frances I) while finding an unlikely ally in his feisty sister Marguerite de Nevarre. I'm not saying this is totally fabricated but if I web-search "Marguerite de Nevarre and Leonardo", this is the first movie that comes up. It's a fun and irreverent and all about subverting authority, which these days carries a different connotation than it used to.

Apart from the kid flicks, we only saw one new movie, and it's a doozy: Amerikatsi. (We saw it on the anniversary of the release of The Shawshank Redemption appropriately enough, but yesterday was the official release date in the USA so you can check it out in one of the...thirty or so theaters it's playing nationwide?!)

After the War, the Soviet Union "freed" Armenia and re-established it as a state, extending a welcoming hand to all Armenians who wished to return to their homeland. About 300 U.S. citizens fell for this, and our story is about one of them. Charlie, who escaped the 1915 genocide when his grandmother hid him in a crate, finds himself without much attachment in America and decides to "come home" to the new glorious republic promised by the—yeah, he's utterly clueless.

On his first day he saves a child from being crushed by a mob trying to get bread. The boy's mother, Sona, is so grateful she demands her husband Dimitry (a Soviet apparatchik) get him a job. Dimitry sees this American dupe, crossing himself and wearing a fancy polka-dotted tie and decides he's an American spy, and throws him in jail instead. Worried his wife will find out, he decides to send Charlie to Siberia, but an earthquake requires repairmen and so all the Siberian exports are spared and get to stay in Armenia.

There is a darkly comic aspect to the whole "we're sending you to jail because of your tie", which Charlie misunderstands and says, "I'll give everyone in Armenia a tie if you'll let me out," which is interpreted as a propaganda threat.

So we've got our setup, we've got our act one crisis, and act two is Charlie realizing that his cell (a barely converted storeroom, actually) has a high window that looks directly into the apartment of one of the prison guards, Tigran. Tigran's an Armenian (and the brother of Sona) who was nearly sent to prison himself—for painting churches—and Charlie begins to learn about Armenian culture by watching him through his window. When Tigran's wife leaves him and Tigran can't find the key to their storage closet, Charlie risks a severe beating by getting a message to him.

And on it goes like this, with the man in the literal prison connecting with the man in the social prison, and connected only through a culture one barely understands (but learns as he goes).

Damn fine storytelling, with a positive message, an earned two hour runtime which has a kind of epic feel as the years pass away and we see so much of life going by. Easily the best Armenian movie I've ever seen (in Armenian, Russian and English) and a candidate for best movie of the year.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:11 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 attending

Posted by: Ciampino - Procrastination was my favourite hobby but I kept putting it off till later. at September 30, 2023 08:00 PM (qfLjt)

2 Movie Sign!

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at September 30, 2023 08:00 PM (p3lya)

3 Hey, all. It's been very hard to keep up the full-scale reviews while writing, y'know, actual books. (I guess I could do it if I didn't need a real job, too, but that still seems to be a thing.)

Book 1 is out on November 7th, available here: https://tinyurl.com/32dpuua3

You can go to my website and I'll send a free review copy: https://dsblake.com/contact.html

I'm over a year and a hundred-something movies behind. :-/

Posted by: blake at September 30, 2023 08:00 PM (asXVI)

4 Feinstein does look like her head fell in the cheese dip back in 1957.

Posted by: All out of bubblegum at September 30, 2023 08:03 PM (lR6tR)

5 "the least of the so-called Heston Apocalypse trilogy, with an absurd, appalling premise"

Well they're floating trial balloons about cannibalism in mainstream (if edgy) publications now so it's not all that absurd anymore. Or it is, and the world is now absurd.

Re: Amerikatsi - they're soliciting for Westerners to settle over there again in various places, no doubt they'll end up similarly.

Posted by: somedood at September 30, 2023 08:05 PM (BW9UA)

6 Soyent green is a good Sci-fi

Posted by: Skip at September 30, 2023 08:05 PM (fwDg9)

7 Good semi space movie I recently watched is Prospect. Made in 2018.

I give it an 85% rating.

Posted by: Drive By at September 30, 2023 08:08 PM (MNhXM)

8 "Hoffman's performance was really good."

He always played stupid well.

Posted by: Braenyard at September 30, 2023 08:09 PM (YdNEG)

9 Well, the premise behind Soylent Green is that WE'RE OUTTA FARMLAND BECAUSE OF ALL THE PEOPLE.

Which is nonsense.

If we starve it's because they starved us and we let them.

It takes place in 2022.

And there are supposedly 20 million people in NYC. :eyeroll:

Posted by: blake at September 30, 2023 08:10 PM (asXVI)

10 I Soylent Green but I'm kina foggy on what happened to Heston at the end. Was he just dragged away?

Posted by: Eromero at September 30, 2023 08:13 PM (NxC5+)

11 I liked the furniture in Soylent Green.

Posted by: Drive By at September 30, 2023 08:14 PM (MNhXM)

12
And there are supposedly 20 million people in NYC. :eyeroll:
Posted by: blake at September 30, 2023 08:10 PM (asXVI)

I thought it was 40 million.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 30, 2023 08:15 PM (8sMut)

13 Feinstein looked dead already for the longest time.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at September 30, 2023 08:16 PM (8sMut)

14
11 I liked the furniture in Soylent Green.
Posted by: Drive By at September 30, 2023 08:14 PM (MNhXM)

Made couch-fucking a much more attractive proposition.

Posted by: SWIDT? at September 30, 2023 08:16 PM (lR6tR)

15 || what happened to Heston at the end. Was he just dragged away?

Basically. He had uncovered the secret of Soylent Green, which is made in a massive factory probably staffed by thousands, and been injured in the process and is dragged off yelling "Soylent Green is made out of people!"

To which the throngs replied, "Soylent green is MY kind of people."

Posted by: blake at September 30, 2023 08:17 PM (asXVI)

16 Life tip: watch the movie "Jaws" backwards.
It is a heartwarming story about a giant white shark that gives arms and legs to disabled people.

Posted by: Ciampino - Procrastination: tomorrow's hobby. at September 30, 2023 08:17 PM (qfLjt)

17 Never saw the Johnstown Flood, been to Johnstown to

Posted by: Skip at September 30, 2023 08:17 PM (fwDg9)

18 9 Well, the premise behind Soylent Green is that WE'RE OUTTA FARMLAND BECAUSE OF ALL THE PEOPLE.

Which is nonsense.

If we starve it's because they starved us and we let them.

It takes place in 2022.

And there are supposedly 20 million people in NYC. :eyeroll:
Posted by: blake at September 30, 2023 08:10 PM (asXVI)

Pretty much. It'll be because Bill Gates and his fellow WEF megalomaniacs buy and destroy all the farmland so we have to eat zee bugz. Fucking cocksuckers.

Posted by: Millions of us will die but it's a sacrifice they're willing to make at September 30, 2023 08:19 PM (lR6tR)

19 || I thought it was 40 million.

According to you.com GAI, you are correct.

Posted by: blake at September 30, 2023 08:20 PM (asXVI)

20 Off author-sock.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 08:20 PM (asXVI)

21 Slow night? Where's everyone? Boozing?

Posted by: Ciampino - the movie called "Constipation"? It never came out. at September 30, 2023 08:25 PM (qfLjt)

22

Ernest and Celestine. A lesser known flick with Jim Varney.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 30, 2023 08:26 PM (63Dwl)

23 Younger Feinstein was cute.

Posted by: Braenyard at September 30, 2023 08:27 PM (YdNEG)

24 I've watched both Belle du Jour and Repulsion. Outside of Deneuve being stunningly beautiful, I didn't think much of either one.
They Live is good and Piper's line "I've come to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of bubble gum" is classic

Posted by: Smell the Glove at September 30, 2023 08:29 PM (rOOBk)

25 Soylent Green is terrific.

Was it the first sci-fi/detective movie? Right now I can only think of a few sci-fi/detective movies. Outland. Blade Runner. RoboCop. I must be forgetting dozens.

Posted by: GL at September 30, 2023 08:30 PM (5fDan)

26 I think, like Pelosi, Feinstein was a Miss Santa Cruz Barnacle Queen level of beauty pageanteer.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 08:30 PM (asXVI)

27 Evening.

I'm half watching That Girl With The Dogs grooming two Pomeranian puppies.

Posted by: Robert at September 30, 2023 08:30 PM (1Yy3c)

28 Younger Feinstein was cute.
Posted by: Braenyard at September 30, 2023 08:27 PM (YdNEG)

I read that as Frankenstein , maybe not completely wrong.

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at September 30, 2023 08:31 PM (NJ1o7)

29 They Live is good and Piper's line "I've come to kick ass and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of bubble gum" is classic||

Roddy Piper said Carpenter told him to say something when he got in, and claimed to improvise the line. I would've sworn, personally, that I had heard it before but I can't back that up.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 08:31 PM (asXVI)

30 Younger Feinstein was cute.
Posted by: Braenyard at September 30, 2023 08:27 PM (YdNEG)

I read that as Frankenstein , maybe not completely wrong.
Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at September 30, 2023 08:31 PM (NJ1o7)

Heh! I read it the same way.

Posted by: Robert at September 30, 2023 08:32 PM (1Yy3c)

31 There are silent Sci-fi movies

Posted by: Skip at September 30, 2023 08:33 PM (fwDg9)

32 31 There are silent Sci-fi movies

Posted by: Skip at September 30, 2023 08:33 PM (fwDg9)
----
Well in Space no one can hear you scream!

Posted by: Ciampino - the movie called 'Constipation'? It never came out at September 30, 2023 08:36 PM (qfLjt)

33 Soylent Green is the culmination of the WEF plan, "You will Own Nothing and Like It."

The few leaders and executives have everything. The cops and bureaucrats scramble just to keep from being thrown out in the street with the other 99% of humanity.

A shower with soap and water is a luxury.

Posted by: rd at September 30, 2023 08:36 PM (HVrr9)

34 There are silent Sci-fi movies
Posted by: Skip at September 30, 2023 08:33 PM (fwDg9)

Nosferatu (bad spelling) is one. frankly, very spooky.

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at September 30, 2023 08:37 PM (NJ1o7)

35 Rewatched Red Dragon for the first time in a long time.

Personally I feel that it's very good, although not as good as I remember. There were moments, mostly involving the FBI, that felt kind of done before if you know what I mean. Overall a really decent effort from Brett Ratner. Too bad he opted to direct more schlock.

And certainly compares favorably to Hannibal. Julianne Moore was horribly miscast and the only interesting part of the movie involved the Italian cop. Plus they fucked is the ending I understand originally has Clarice Starling and Hannibal run off together as a couple.

Anyway, I'm gonna eat and find something to watch. I head out in the morning.

Posted by: Robert at September 30, 2023 08:38 PM (1Yy3c)

36 Was it the first sci-fi/detective movie? Right now I can only think of a few sci-fi/detective movies. Outland. Blade Runner. RoboCop. I must be forgetting dozens.||

I don't =think= that's supportable. Heston plays a cop who's trying to solve a murder and this ends up with the corporate coverup mystery.

Harry Houdini was in a serial in the 1910s called "The Master Mystery" where he's investigating a cartel that has a robot and a poisonous gas weapons.

Just for example.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 08:38 PM (asXVI)

37 I saw Soylent Green in the theater with my mom and dad.

I was already into Star Trek and science fiction and I just loved every moment. Heston and Robinson are incredible and the other cast are great.

It's quite divergent from the novel on which it is based but in my opinion true to it and improves on it. Who knew how prescient it would be?

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 30, 2023 08:39 PM (RIvkX)

38 Well. Re-thinking it, Nosferatu is horror not science fiction..

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at September 30, 2023 08:39 PM (NJ1o7)

39 || A shower with soap and water is a luxury.

A key plot point is that Chuck Connors' "furniture" (a whore that comes with an apartment) is sucking on strawberry jam when Heston comes in.

$150/jar

The Boy leans over and says, "well, at least they got the price right".

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 08:40 PM (asXVI)

40 Yeah, the WEF wants us to get our protein from i sects.

Sure.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 30, 2023 08:40 PM (RIvkX)

41 There are silent Sci-fi movies
Posted by: Skip at September 30, 2023 08:33 PM (fwDg9)

A Trip to the Moon (1902, France)

Metropolis (1927, Germany)

Posted by: GL at September 30, 2023 08:41 PM (5fDan)

42 And Heston steals the jam.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 30, 2023 08:41 PM (RIvkX)

43

No Blade of Grass (1970)

In a near-future UK, a family decides to leave London and head north when a spreading virus has decimated the worlds crops, leading to rampant starvation and outbreaks of anarchy.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066154

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 30, 2023 08:41 PM (63Dwl)

44 42 And Heston steals the jam.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at September 30, 2023 08:41 PM
And the girl (for a few miniutes), and finally, the meat.

Posted by: Eromero at September 30, 2023 08:42 PM (NxC5+)

45
And Heston steals the jam.
Posted by: San Franpsycho

One of the Mess Boys!

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 30, 2023 08:43 PM (63Dwl)

46 Trip to Mars or Moon

Posted by: Skip at September 30, 2023 08:43 PM (fwDg9)

47 Bubba Ho Tep: "I'll be damned if I let some graffiti writing mummy suck out my friends souls and shit them down the visitors toilet."

Posted by: Field Marshal Zhukov at September 30, 2023 08:45 PM (nnp+f)

48 45
And Heston steals the jam.
Posted by: San Franpsycho

One of the Mess Boys!

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 30, 2023 08:43 PM (63Dwl)

LOL

Posted by: GL at September 30, 2023 08:45 PM (5fDan)

49 Blake, you rascal. I read your book! Not really but I surely will.

Posted by: Ben Had at September 30, 2023 08:46 PM (YZGzJ)

50 11 I liked the furniture in Soylent Green.

Posted by: Drive By at September 30, 2023 08:14 PM (MNhXM)

You mean this kind? > https://tinyurl.com/52zzt5xf

Posted by: javems at September 30, 2023 08:47 PM (8I4hW)

51 It's hard to define how Soylent Green tastes as it varies from person to person.

Posted by: Ciampino - the movie called 'Constipation'? It never came out at September 30, 2023 08:48 PM (qfLjt)

52 Speaking of sci fi, I've been playing a lot of Cyberpunk lately (now that the Phantom Liberty DLC is out) and I find the dystopian Night City to be a perfectly believable urban shit hole. When I first played Cyberpunk upon its release several years ago, I saw it as a fictional dystopia but now it looks like a prophecy. Conclusion: we're going to hell in a jet pack propelled handbasket.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 30, 2023 08:48 PM (FVME7)

53 || And Heston steals the jam.

He steals the =fork= that the jam was on.

|| Blake, you rascal. I read your book! Not really but I surely will.

Thanks, Ben!

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 08:49 PM (asXVI)

54 Because it is on Netflix's, I think for the first time ever, I watched one of John Candy's best roles, Uncle Buck. He gets to play an adult with a heart of gold who likes gambling on rigged horse races, and sliding through life with the least friction possible. Of course, his family and GF have long been driven around the bend by all this. Suddenly, out of desperation his brother and his wife need somebody to watch their kids, one a snotty teenager, one is Macauley Caulkin playing himself, and charming younger sister. From there, well, go watch it.

The other was the Last Polka on Youtube. In this, the Shmenge Brothers (Candy and Eugene Levy) who rose to be the greatest Pokla musicians ever decide to retire and give their last concert. It is a hoot and if your are thinking you have seen something like this before, you have.

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 08:50 PM (kmEPs)

55 I liked the furniture in Soylent Green.

Posted by: Drive By at September 30, 2023 08:14 PM (MNhXM)

You mean this kind? > https://tinyurl.com/52zzt5xf
Posted by: javems

Can you get a fold away model you can store in the closet?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 30, 2023 08:50 PM (FVME7)

56 Harry Houdini was in a serial in the 1910s called "The Master Mystery" where he's investigating a cartel that has a robot and a poisonous gas weapons.
Just for example.
Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 08:38 PM (asXVI)

Fun Fact: H.P. Lovecraft ghost-wrote a story for Harry Houdini. "Trapped Beneath the Pyramids" IIRC. Considering the shifty nature of the pulps, I wonder if Houdini even knew they used his name.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at September 30, 2023 08:52 PM (0zqNr)

57 Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 08:50 PM (kmEPs)

Uncle Buck should have won an Oscar for Best Picture.

Posted by: Drive By at September 30, 2023 08:53 PM (MNhXM)

58 I enjoyed Soylent Green in the 70's, and I gained a new level of appreciation for it when I learned how poignant Edward G. Robinson's beautiful death scene truly was. He really was dying when he filmed that scene, and everyone in the cast knew it - Charlton Heston's tears were real. It's a magnificent goodbye to a magnificent career and a magnificent life. Eddie G. died for real just two weeks after that scene was shot.

Posted by: Tom Servo at September 30, 2023 08:55 PM (S6gqv)

59 Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 08:50 PM (kmEPs)

Uncle Buck should have won an Oscar for Best Picture.
Posted by: Drive

I agree. I have watched it, I have no idea - I have lost count, and it is such a perfect comedy. Candy cooking giant pancakes for the kids is priceless.

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 08:56 PM (kmEPs)

60 I remember watching They Live when it came out. I yelled at Roddy Pipers friend to just put the damn glasses on. How hard is that. But no he had to get beat up by a WWF fighter before he would

Posted by: Lancelot_Link at September 30, 2023 08:56 PM (uxAXv)

61 55 I liked the furniture in Soylent Green.

Posted by: Drive By at September 30, 2023 08:14 PM (MNhXM)

You mean this kind? > https://tinyurl.com/52zzt5xf
Posted by: javems

Can you get a fold away model you can store in the closet?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 30, 2023 08:50 PM (FVME7)
----
Are you building a fornicatorium?

Posted by: Ciampino - Soylent Green was a humanitarian solution to a food crisis at September 30, 2023 08:56 PM (qfLjt)

62 I like movies.

They need more federal funding.

Posted by: Hakeem McCarthy at September 30, 2023 08:56 PM (LccS3)

63 It would be awesome if someone could do a Film Noire Treatment of, The Vulcan Academy Murders.

Some people hated the book, other loved it. I though it was solid.

Only problem is other than Nolan or Todd Philips, no one seems to be capable of making descent films anymore.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 30, 2023 08:57 PM (XV/Pl)

64 Little and I watched Rainman a few months back. Probably my favorite performance by Tom Cruise, whose acting I can usually dismiss. Little got a bit misty at the scene of the inquiry toward the end where Charlie and Ray tilted their heads together. I was a rock throughout, of course..

Posted by: Joe Kidd at September 30, 2023 08:57 PM (37q3K)

65 Finally! Now that we have closure on the Tupak Shakur homicide , I can rest easy knowing his legacy will continue to be an inspiration to all of the little Compton street urchins aspiring to fill his signature sneakers.

Rumor has it that the forthcoming feature film documentary will feature a young CGI Snoop.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at September 30, 2023 08:58 PM (KVGVf)

66 Because it is on Netflix's, I think for the first time ever, I watched one of John Candy's best roles, Uncle Buck. He gets to play an adult with a heart of gold who likes gambling on rigged horse races, and sliding through life with the least friction possible. Of course, his family and GF have long been driven around the bend by all this. Suddenly, out of desperation his brother and his wife need somebody to watch their kids, one a snotty teenager, one is Macauley Caulkin playing himself, and charming younger sister. From there, well, go watch it.

The other was the Last Polka on Youtube. In this, the Shmenge Brothers (Candy and Eugene Levy) who rose to be the greatest Pokla musicians ever decide to retire and give their last concert. It is a hoot and if your are thinking you have seen something like this before, you have.

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 08:50 PM (kmEPs)

Both masterpieces.

Posted by: HTL at September 30, 2023 08:58 PM (xgpI2)

67 @52

>>we're going to hell in a jet pack propelled handbasket.

Well, we were promised Jet Packs, it's about damn time they delivered on that promise.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 30, 2023 08:59 PM (XV/Pl)

68 Wash: This time will be different! The right people are in charge!

Rinse: It wasn't real socialism, the right people weren't in charge!

Repeat

Posted by: 18-=1 at September 30, 2023 09:00 PM (XqcwY)

69 I’d liked some Swedish furniture. The kind you screw together.

Posted by: Drive By at September 30, 2023 09:01 PM (MNhXM)

70 Believe there was a line in there where Heston's boss asks him "And what did you take?"
Heston replies, "Everything I could lay my hands on."

May have to watch that sucker tonight. Been a while.

As for some magazines talking cannibalism -- well, it may take a couple of months for the idea to catch on. But isn't there some movement right now to let your remains be put into compost? How nice. This week we'll fertilize the cabbages; next week we'll BE the cabbages.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 30, 2023 09:01 PM (a/4+U)

71 Charlton Heston's tears were real. It's a magnificent goodbye to a magnificent career and a magnificent life. Eddie G. died for real just two weeks after that scene was shot.
Posted by: Tom Servo at September 30, 2023 08:55 PM (S6gqv)

Had no idea, thanks for educating me about that.

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at September 30, 2023 09:01 PM (NJ1o7)

72 It would be awesome if someone could do a Film Noire Treatment of, The Vulcan Academy Murders.||

I may have actually read that. There were some readable Star Trek novels back in the day, but the whole thing got taken over by...well, let's just say, "people whose writing I didn't enjoy".

|| Only problem is other than Nolan or Todd Philips, no one seems to be capable of making descent films anymore.

...descent...films?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:01 PM (asXVI)

73 I have Uncle Buck in a two disc set along with The Great Outdoors.

Uncle Buck is oddly charming.

John Candy was the best.

Posted by: Robert at September 30, 2023 09:02 PM (1Yy3c)

74 John Candy. A fat white guy who wouldn't have any place in today's culture.

Posted by: JmT at September 30, 2023 09:02 PM (0P0FY)

75 Little got a bit misty at the scene of the inquiry toward the end where Charlie and Ray tilted their heads together. I was a rock throughout, of course..||

35 years later, and 35 years more experience dealing with brain-injured kids, and I can say I didn't glibly smirk through this one (like Cruise in "All The Right Moves"), but more experienced existential angst (like Cruise in "War of the Worlds").

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:03 PM (asXVI)

76 Candy was great, SCTV was very funny its day

Posted by: ghost of hallelujah at September 30, 2023 09:03 PM (sJHOI)

77 Never saw The Johnstown Flood and I live in Johnstown.

Posted by: Eskimo at September 30, 2023 09:04 PM (h39WR)

78 I recall taking my girlfriend and the future Mrs.D. to see Soylent Green. We still laugh about it today.

Posted by: Mary Ann from Babble at September 30, 2023 09:04 PM (uSHSS)

79 "Nosferatu (bad spelling) is one. frankly, very spooky.
Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly"

Speaking of Nosferatu, Svengoolie has a guest character on sometimes who is called "Nostalgiaferatoo". I think he's hilarious but Mrs fd just thinks I'm weird.

Posted by: fd at September 30, 2023 09:04 PM (vFG9F)

80 Completely OT but I was just making a whiskey sour and trying to separate out the egg white from the yolk and dammit the whole thing fell in the shaker.

Tastes fine but it's very yellow. :B

Posted by: Robert at September 30, 2023 09:04 PM (1Yy3c)

81 Last year at the Drive-In Jamboree (which is next week, woo!), P.J. Soles was there talking about "Stripes" and how John Candy would call her up at, like, 10PM and say, "Hey, P.J.! You gotta come on down to my place! My wife and I may a bunch of pasta and we're having a party!"

P.J. of course had to fit in those REALLY tight pants the next day so she demurred, but she said he was an absolute delight.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:05 PM (asXVI)

82 70
As for some magazines talking cannibalism -- well, it may take a couple of months for the idea to catch on. But isn't there some movement right now to let your remains be put into compost? How nice. This week we'll fertilize the cabbages; next week we'll BE the cabbages.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 30, 2023 09:01 PM (a/4+U)
----
Probably not a healthful practice. I can imagine some nasty viruses going from the compost to the plants to the humans.

Posted by: Ciampino - Soylent Green was a humanitarian solution to a food crisis. at September 30, 2023 09:05 PM (qfLjt)

83 @72

>>...descent...films?

I've got big fat dyslexic fingers.

It's a curse.

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

84 Everytime I think of John Candy I hear him saying "I'm Tom Tuttle from Tacoma" from Volunteers. Not a particularly good movie but he was funny

Posted by: Smell the Glove at September 30, 2023 09:07 PM (rOOBk)

85 John Candy was good in movies

Oh well need to turn this off, someone needs to call nood for the Tech thread.

Have a great night all

Posted by: Skip at September 30, 2023 09:08 PM (fwDg9)

86 Amerikatsi *sounds* horrifying from your description, but I guess it's like Life is Beautiful?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at September 30, 2023 09:09 PM (sz2SP)

87 I like movies.

They need more federal funding.
Posted by: Hakeem McCarthy

We need an all tranny remake of The Longest Day. The soldiers have to worry about not only machine gun and artillery fire but also about the sea water spoiling their stiletto heeled shoes.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 30, 2023 09:09 PM (FVME7)

88
...descent...films?

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 30, 2023 09:09 PM (63Dwl)

89 My TV is now sitting on the floor of my media room.

Moving sucks.

Posted by: TJM's phone at September 30, 2023 09:10 PM (LvTSG)

90 Everytime I think of John Candy I hear him saying "I'm Tom Tuttle from Tacoma" from Volunteers. Not a particularly good movie but he was funny
Posted by: Smell the Glove at September 30, 2023 09:07 PM (rOOBk)

I think of the 'Orange Whips' scene from Blues Brothers or "..along with a lot of doughnuts" from Stripes

Posted by: ghost of hallelujah at September 30, 2023 09:11 PM (sJHOI)

91 82 "Probably not a healthful practice..."

That may well be the idea. Of course, the notion that our You-Can-Only-See-Them-Through-These-Glasses overlords would want such a thing to happen is just over the top conspiracy crud. Right? Right???

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 30, 2023 09:11 PM (a/4+U)

92 Speaking of Nosferatu, Svengoolie has a guest character on sometimes who is called "Nostalgiaferatoo". I think he's hilarious but Mrs fd just thinks I'm weird.
Posted by: fd

Not everyone has spark of genius necessary to "get" Svengoolie.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks Now With Pumpkin Spice! at September 30, 2023 09:11 PM (FVME7)

93 85 John Candy was good in movies

Oh well need to turn this off, someone needs to call nood for the Tech thread.

Have a great night all

Posted by: Skip at September 30, 2023 09:08 PM (fwDg9)
----
Tech thread at this hour?

Posted by: Ciampino - Man cannot survive such speeds at September 30, 2023 09:11 PM (qfLjt)

94 I also watched on Prime Video four of the classic horror films: Dracula (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) and The Wolfman (1941). Sadly, Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein still must be rented or bought. If you are subscriber they are totally worth watching.

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 09:12 PM (kmEPs)

95 John Candy. A fat white guy who wouldn't have any place in today's culture.
Posted by: JmT at September 30, 2023 09:02 PM (0P0FY)

John Candy as Divine... neither one of them would be acceptable today.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 30, 2023 09:15 PM (I8/ZC)

96 ...descent...films?

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 30, 2023 09:09 PM (63Dwl)

Band of Brothers

Posted by: Mary Ann from Babble at September 30, 2023 09:15 PM (uSHSS)

97 Okay, looks like tonight's movie is going to be The General's Daughter ('99) starring John Travolta, some chick, James Cromwell a couple of other dudes and...oh! James Woods!

Tea okra and the chick play two Army investigators investigating the rape and murder of a general's daughter on a training exercise. I saw it in the theater and am saw it once not long after as a rental. I remember enjoying it. Got it on Blu-ray now.

Posted by: Robert at September 30, 2023 09:15 PM (1Yy3c)

98 John Candy, Eugene Levy and Joe Flaherty were in the movie "Going Berserk"

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085603

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at September 30, 2023 09:16 PM (63Dwl)

99 Both Edward G. Robinson and Charlton Heston were in only two films. The Ten Commandments and Soylent Green. Perhaps both planned to appear in Planet of the Apes. Didn't happen; I don't know why.

Check out this clip from the studio pitch film for Planet of the Apes

https://tinyurl.com/3z2xwcjr

Here's the studio pitch film (9 minutes)
https://tinyurl.com/mrutrzf4

Posted by: GL at September 30, 2023 09:17 PM (5fDan)

100 Summer Rental is another feel good John Candy movie.

Posted by: Drive By at September 30, 2023 09:18 PM (MNhXM)

101 Amerikatsi *sounds* horrifying from your description, but I guess it's like Life is Beautiful?||

A little. LiB had more of a whimsy to it--just to say those words is remarkable--whereas this is more like a less savage (in some ways) version of Shawshank.

It works because the hero makes a human connection under impossible conditions, and there's something very affirming about that. Through it all, he holds on to this idea about Armenia and being an Armenian, and it carries him through.

It's like...no matter what they do to him, they've lost and he's won.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:19 PM (asXVI)

102 While it's presented as 4 individual TV episodes here in the USA, I think the opening salvo for Freiren: Beyond Journey's End was broadcast as a feature-length thing in Japan, so that makes it a made-for-TV movie, so it's on-topic.

It started yesterday on Crunchyroll. Four of ANN's reviewers gave it 4.5, 5, 5, and 5 stars. I agree with the 5 star reviews.

The Demon Lord was slain by the human hero and his three companions: a human priest, dwarven fighter, and elven mage. They have Tolkeinesque lifespans, with the dwarf long-lived, the elf virtually immortal, and the humans, well, human.

It's actually the story of the thousand-year-old elf sorceress, learning what it means to be mortal, as she journeys back to meet her old adventuring companions, a mere 50 years after their adventure.....

Posted by: mikeski tears up a bit at September 30, 2023 09:19 PM (DgGvY)

103 Perhaps both planned to appear in Planet of the Apes. Didn't happen; I don't know why.||

Robinson couldn't take the stress of being in the makeup chair for umpty-ump hours.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:19 PM (asXVI)

104 also watched on Prime Video four of the classic horror films: Dracula (1931), The Mummy (1932), The Invisible Man (1933) and The Wolfman (1941). Sadly, Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein still must be rented or bought. If you are subscriber they are totally worth watching.
Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 09:12 PM (kmEPs)

those movies are great. i watched them time and time again, Dracula the top of the list. Bella was the the best, especially if you were stoned when watching, as I was told by others.

Posted by: Rufus T. Firefly at September 30, 2023 09:20 PM (NJ1o7)

105 Billy Crystal's impersonation of Eddie G. in The Ten Commandments is one of the greatest takes ever: "Where's your God noowwwww, Yeaah?? Yeaaaahhhh??"

Posted by: Tom Servo at September 30, 2023 09:21 PM (S6gqv)

106 The Japahinos make good stories. No matter how goofy the premise, they're going to take their characters in
earnest and show their struggles.

Impossible for Americans without asking, "Well, is this a =marginalized= demographic?"

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:21 PM (asXVI)

107 I remember watching They Live when it came out. I yelled at Roddy Pipers friend to just put the damn glasses on. How hard is that. But no he had to get beat up by a WWF fighter before he would
Posted by: Lancelot_Link at September 30, 2023 08:56 PM (uxAXv)

Keith David.

I mean, if you're going to have a movie with Roddy Piper and Keith David, you can't NOT have a fight scene where they kick the snot out of each other.

Posted by: BurtTC at September 30, 2023 09:21 PM (aFwXl)

108 || Billy Crystal's impersonation of Eddie G.

For me this is like EVERYONE's impersonation of Brando in "On The Waterfront".

"I coulda been a contendah!"

I finally saw the movie and it was so low-key it barely sounds like Brando.

When I finally saw "Ten Commandments", Robinson was just great, completely removed from his gangster persona (much like he was in "Double Indemnity").

Still a fun impression.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:23 PM (asXVI)

109 The General's Daughter was also a good book.

Posted by: Mary Ann from Babble at September 30, 2023 09:23 PM (uSHSS)

110 I mean, if you're going to have a movie with Roddy Piper and Keith David, you can't NOT have a fight scene where they kick the snot out of each other.
||

John Carpenter's homage to "The Quiet Man".

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:23 PM (asXVI)

111 The two fat bastards, Candy and Farley, were funny dudes. They always put a smile on my face.

Rare in this current culture of modern-day scumbaggery.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at September 30, 2023 09:24 PM (KVGVf)

112 103 Perhaps both planned to appear in Planet of the Apes. Didn't happen; I don't know why.||

Robinson couldn't take the stress of being in the makeup chair for umpty-ump hours.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:19 PM (asXVI)

Ah. Thanks. I wonder if Robinson and Chuck became good friends while making The Ten Commandments.

Posted by: GL at September 30, 2023 09:24 PM (5fDan)

113 Completely OT but I was just making a whiskey sour and trying to separate out the egg white from the yolk and dammit the whole thing fell in the shaker.

Tastes fine but it's very yellow. :B
Posted by: Robert

Something, something, GAINZZ.

Posted by: Darth Stewie at September 30, 2023 09:25 PM (DgGvY)

114 I think "Son of Frankenstein", the third and often ignored movie in the Frankenstein saga is as good as the first two, and in some ways even better. Most forget that there is NO Igor in the first two movies; this iconic character was created by Bela Legosi for Son of Frankenstein (and copied endlessly ever since) I think it is arguably Legosi's best acting role, by far. (You don't realize it's him unless you watch the credits)

Posted by: Tom Servo at September 30, 2023 09:25 PM (S6gqv)

115 Stoopid sock.

Posted by: Diogenes at September 30, 2023 09:26 PM (uSHSS)

116 I mean, if you're going to have a movie with Roddy Piper and Keith David, you can't NOT have a fight scene where they kick the snot out of each other.
===

True, I just wanted tap in for Roddy and get in on the beating. It was a no brainer. Just put the glasses on and see what he's supposedly seeing.

Posted by: Lancelot_Link at September 30, 2023 09:28 PM (xNeIs)

117 Candy had some great lines. You can just repeat one and Candy fans will know which move its from:

"Those weren't pillows" is one of my favorites

Posted by: Lancelot_Link at September 30, 2023 09:31 PM (xNeIs)

118 They Live (35th anniversary), which I always thought was a fun-but-not-great mid-career Carpenter flick, but now is best viewed as a documentary

Could use a man like Nada again!!

(hum to the theme from 'All In The Family'.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at September 30, 2023 09:32 PM (sAmhv)

119 @108

>>For me this is like EVERYONE's impersonation of Brando in "On The Waterfront".

The two best impersonations I've ever seen or heard were both of Shatner, one was by Bruce Campbell of Evil Dead fame and one was by Frank Caliendo who did it right to Shatner himself during a call in segment on Mike and Mike, who literally couldn't believe what was happening.

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

120 The ever mercenary Hollywood quickly figured out pairing Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi would put butts in the seats. They ended up doing 8 films together.

Gift Of Gab (1934), The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936), Son Of Frankenstein (1939), Black Friday (1940), You'll Find Out (1940), and The Body Snatcher (1945).

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 09:34 PM (kmEPs)

121 @113

>>Something, something, GAINZZ.

Actually, egg whites in cocktails has been a standard for mixing high class cocktails.

Give the cocktail more body and a... uh.. good mouth feel.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 30, 2023 09:34 PM (XV/Pl)

122 110 I mean, if you're going to have a movie with Roddy Piper and Keith David, you can't NOT have a fight scene where they kick the snot out of each other.
||

John Carpenter's homage to "The Quiet Man".
Posted by: moviegique

And South Park paid homage to that fight in 'They Live!' in the episode 'Cripple Fight'.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at September 30, 2023 09:35 PM (sAmhv)

123 ...descent...films?

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Posted by: Bertram Cabot
------

Journey to the Middle of the Earth?
Run Silent, Run Deep?
Titanic?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at September 30, 2023 09:35 PM (XeU6L)

124 >>Something, something, GAINZZ.

Actually, egg whites in cocktails has been a standard for mixing high class cocktails.
Give the cocktail more body and a... uh.. good mouth feel.
Posted by: Thomas Bender

Yes, but accidentally including the yolk accidentally includes most of the nutrients in the egg.

Posted by: mikeski removing a Darth Stewie sock at September 30, 2023 09:37 PM (DgGvY)

125 Descent films?

Come on, now. How can we possibly forget the ultimate masterpiece of cinematic art? That's right -- I'm talkin' CRACK IN THE WORLD here.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 30, 2023 09:37 PM (a/4+U)

126 I think "Son of Frankenstein", the third and often ignored movie in the Frankenstein saga is as good as the first two, and in some ways even better. ||

It is definitely under-rated.

|| Most forget that there is NO Igor in the first two movies; this iconic character was created by Bela Legosi for Son of Frankenstein ||

Dwight Frye, who plays Renfield in "Dracula", also plays a hunchback named "Fritz" in the first "Frankenstein". I think that's the character Lugosi was cribbing off--hell, not even Lugosi but the screenwriters.

That said:

|| I think it is arguably Legosi's best acting role, by far. (You don't realize it's him unless you watch the credits) ||

Yeah, it's a terrific part.

Lugosi also plays The Monster in "Frankenstein meets The Wolf Man", which must've burned. (But it's another good performance by him!)

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:38 PM (asXVI)

127 I'm talkin' CRACK IN THE WORLD here.
Posted by: Just Some Guy

"Oh! I thought you said 'Crack OF the world'. My bad. Hehehehehe.

Posted by: Veep Throat at September 30, 2023 09:39 PM (x7plP)

128 "I think , the third and often ignored movie in the Frankenstein saga is as good as the first two, and in some ways even better."

Isn't "Young Frankentein" roughly a take-off of "Son of Frankenstein"?

Posted by: GL at September 30, 2023 09:41 PM (5fDan)

129 The two best impersonations I've ever seen or heard were both of Shatner||

Fellow Canuck Maurice LaMarche (voice actor who is Morbo and Kif on "Futurama", the voice of Orson Welles in "Ed Wood", the Brain from "Pinky and the Brain", etc. etc., etc.) tells a great story about meeting Shatner and of course does a stellar impression of him while relating it.

He was apparently completely star-struck and doing Kif's "hmmph um heehm ha erm" business, and Shatner's like, "People like you are...why I left Canada."

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:42 PM (asXVI)

130 Candy had some great lines. You can just repeat one and Candy fans will know which move its from:

"Those weren't pillows" is one of my favorites
Posted by: Lancelot_Link

I think my favorite Candy scene is from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles where he is listening to Ray Charles while driving the Chrysler K-Car. That be me every time I go on a road trip.

https://youtu.be/B5ZFaqNJ7Ro

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 09:42 PM (kmEPs)

131 Isn't "Young Frankentein" roughly a take-off of "Son of Frankenstein"?||

Yes, although--my memory's a bit fuzzy but I want to say there are elements of the "House of" movies as well.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:42 PM (asXVI)

132 Last week we had alien invasion movie night

1) Fire in the Sky- old alien abduction flick is very slow burn but once we find out what happened on the ship, it becomes a horror classic.
Nice wrap up with the abductee able to move on but his friend who left Jim's life is ruined.

2) No One Will Save You - I liked this one a lot. An ostracized girl living on the edge of town comes under attack by aliens. Some very nice twists and a completely new take on alien invasion. Everything comes together at the end in an unexpected way.
BONUS! This movie has almost no dialogue and yet you understand what's going on eventually. Nice example of telling stories through pure visuals.
Streaming on HULU

Posted by: naturalfake at September 30, 2023 09:43 PM (BjrDL)

133 @129

>>He was apparently completely star-struck and doing Kif's "hmmph um heehm ha erm" business, and Shatner's like, "People like you are...why I left Canada."

I went to see Shatner's World, which was awesome and then I saw Film presentation of The Wrath of Khan and then afterward Shatner came out and did an hour of Q&A.

That dude is amazing, they do not make them like that any longer and when he and Eastwood go, it's gonna be a sad day.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 30, 2023 09:46 PM (XV/Pl)

134 Channel surfing and stumbled across True Lies, the scene where his wife does the sexy dance in the hotel room. I don't know how they did that without laughing their asses off. Oh and Jamie Lee had a bod. Dayum!

Posted by: jewells45 fuck cancer at September 30, 2023 09:46 PM (iF0sF)

135 131 Isn't "Young Frankentein" roughly a take-off of "Son of Frankenstein"?||

Yes, although--my memory's a bit fuzzy but I want to say there are elements of the "House of" movies as well.
Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:42 PM (asXVI)

====

Wilder essentially mimicks Rathbone's performance.

Posted by: TJM's phone at September 30, 2023 09:46 PM (LvTSG)

136 I think my favorite Candy scene is from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles where he is listening to Ray Charles while driving the Chrysler K-Car. That be me every time I go on a road trip.

https://youtu.be/B5ZFaqNJ7Ro
===

I like the part of that scene when he gets his arms stuck in the seat belt behind his back. It was about to be a he blowed up real good scene but he escaped James Bond style

Posted by: Lancelot_Link at September 30, 2023 09:49 PM (xNeIs)

137 Wilder essentially mimicks Rathbone's performance.
Posted by: TJM's phone at September 30, 2023 09:46 PM (LvTSG)

yes, and I remember hearing that Rathbone was kind of pissed at being forced to do the movie by his studio contract, so he gave it a real sarcastic touch. Which Wilder loved! But of course there's a lot from "Bride" there too; the Hermit in his cottage scene (Gene Hackman) is taken almost word for word from "Bride". Brooks real genius was in realizing how much comedy was hidden inside the original films, and focusing on that.

Posted by: Tom Servo at September 30, 2023 09:50 PM (S6gqv)

138 One of the most inspired scenes of all time. Young Frankenstein - Puttn' On the Ritz

https://youtu.be/fkTCRWihPNo

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 09:50 PM (kmEPs)

139 @138

>>One of the most inspired scenes of all time. Young Frankenstein - Puttn' On the Ritz

Which Wilder had to fight with Mel Brooks to keep in the film.

Brooks didn't get it and didn't think it would be particularly funny in the film.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 30, 2023 09:52 PM (XV/Pl)

140 Brooks didn't get it and didn't think it would be particularly funny in the film.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 30, 2023 09:52 PM (XV/Pl)

Brooks needed someone else to stand up to him in his decisions - that's why Young Frankenstein is one of his best. It's a pity he was so resistant to the idea. Most of his movies ended up being a bunch of funny scenes that don't really work as a film.

Posted by: Tom Servo at September 30, 2023 09:56 PM (S6gqv)

141 Because I have exactly no taste about cultural things I am totally a fan of low budget 1960's to Mid 1970s horror and motorcycle flicks and all the adjacent things.

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 09:57 PM (kmEPs)

142 the scene where his wife does the sexy dance in the hotel room. I don't know how they did that without laughing their asses off. Oh and Jamie Lee had a bod. ||

Cameron wanted her to be naked in that, and JLC talked him into the underwear which (lost aesthetics aside) made the scene a lot lighter and funnier.

||Brooks real genius was in realizing how much comedy was hidden inside the original films, and focusing on that.||

Wilder was watching TV--Frankenstein--and thought, "I like this movie but I want a happy ending." And then went to Brooks and made the condition that Brooks not appear in the film. (He's a howling wolf at one point, tho'.)

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:58 PM (asXVI)

143 Because I have exactly no taste about cultural things I am totally a fan of low budget 1960's to Mid 1970s horror and motorcycle flicks and all the adjacent things.||

That is truly a sentence that explains itself.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 09:59 PM (asXVI)

144 Andrew Heaton has a sci-fi podcast called Alienating the Audience where he mostly reviews Star Trek with his Scottish friends and views movies through a Millennial's eyes,
He recently reviewed Soylent Green

Besides missing the point about women being treated so terribly because in all honesty they are property since that is the only value they can bring in that situation where no one has any value as an individual (while confusing Johnathan Swift for Thomas Malthus) and completely missing the implications the movie drew from the John Calhoun "mouse utopia" experiments, it was a decent review.

Posted by: Kindltot at September 30, 2023 09:59 PM (xhaym)

145 I think Brooks' collaborations without Wilder don't work as well, because Wilder always had a kind of gentleness to him, a heart that he threaded through the story, that managed a kind of sentiment without being sappy.

Brooks' rapid-fire just-wanna-make-you-laugh approach is endearing but not always successful.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 10:00 PM (asXVI)

146 @140

>>Brooks needed someone else to stand up to him in his decisions - that's why Young Frankenstein is one of his best.

I would say it's his best, funniest from start to finish and most cohesive film, Blazing Saddles is a close second.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 30, 2023 10:00 PM (XV/Pl)

147 Actually IIRC Wilder came to Brooks with the script for YF.

That may be one reason why it works so well.

Posted by: naturalfake at September 30, 2023 10:00 PM (9cBcC)

148 You know, I had always thought "Make Room! Make Room!" was a comedy---Harry Harrison after all. But I guess not. The movie added the cannibalism, apparently. And this is the last line.

"Census says United States had biggest year ever, end-of-the-century, 344 million citizens."

lol

Oh, the overpopulation!

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 10:03 PM (asXVI)

149 Young Frankenstein's a delight from first frame to last, but I always kinda preferred The Producers over YF.

But in the words of John T. Chance, I'd hate to have to live on the difference.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 30, 2023 10:03 PM (a/4+U)

150 MQ Lugosi was great, what about Chaney?

Posted by: JmT at September 30, 2023 10:04 PM (0P0FY)

151 Unless a miracle occurs I am about to leave for my annual October visit to the local psych ward. Once again the Seattle Mariners have found new and exciting ways to eliminate themselves from the playoffs. The plot twist this year is the M's waited until the day before the last game of the season. This game got out of hand when Texas went up 5-0 the 3rd inning, knocking out the M's best pitcher, and then went terminal in the 6th when the M's loaded the bases and promptly made 3 outs in a row stranding everybody on base. This has been going on since 1977 with very, very few exceptions - I have a standing appointment at the hospital.

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 10:04 PM (kmEPs)

152 lost in space

Life as a disinterested fan is better.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at September 30, 2023 10:05 PM (u82oZ)

153 @151

>>Once again the Seattle Mariners have found new and exciting ways to eliminate themselves from the playoffs.

Mets fans have entered the chat.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at September 30, 2023 10:05 PM (XV/Pl)

154 what about Chaney?||

Lon Chaney Sr was an absolute genius. He might have been Dracula (if not for his untimely death). Check out "The Unholy Three", e.g., quite apart from "Phantom of the Opera".

Jr. was kind of a loveable lunk by comparison.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 10:08 PM (asXVI)

155 I think Brooks' collaborations without Wilder don't work as well, because Wilder always had a kind of gentleness to him, a heart that he threaded through the story, that managed a kind of sentiment without being sappy.

Brooks' rapid-fire just-wanna-make-you-laugh approach is endearing but not always successful.
Posted by: moviegique

Bonnie & Clyde - Undertaker scene. This scene is great on so many levels.

https://youtu.be/IL-_pNnEuk8

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 10:09 PM (kmEPs)

156 Oh, "The Unknown" with an unrecognizable Joan Crawford. Classic silent. You won't believe what he can do with his body!

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 10:10 PM (asXVI)

157 Jr. was kind of a loveable lunk by comparison.
Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 10:08 PM (asXVI)

Wolfman was great lol.

Posted by: JmT at September 30, 2023 10:10 PM (0P0FY)

158 Bonnie & Clyde - Undertaker scene. This scene is great on so many levels.
--

He's the best part of my movie, IMO.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 10:10 PM (asXVI)

159 lost in space --

I grew up on 50s and 60s low budget sf/horror. Couldn't get enough. There are things I enjoy more these days, but I can still get a charge out of a lot of those flicks. Say something like "...back when movies were still fun" and those are the movies I flash on. Even now, 60 years later.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at September 30, 2023 10:11 PM (a/4+U)

160 Wolfman was great lol.||

Oh, he's great as Wolfman. He absolutely sells it, even in the Abbot & Costello movies, he's just so sympathetic.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 10:11 PM (asXVI)

161 He's the best part of my movie, IMO.||

The movie, duh. I'd never direct B&C.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 10:11 PM (asXVI)

162 Once again the Seattle Mariners have found new and exciting ways eliminate themselves from the playoffs.

Mets fans have entered the chat.
Posted by: Thomas Bender

At least the Mets have two World Series wins. The M's are the only modern team that has never made it to a World Series. Does some math; that works out to 46 years of driving me crazy. I have come to dull the agony by poking my arms with sharp objects.

Posted by: lost in space at September 30, 2023 10:15 PM (kmEPs)

163 Nood for thems what don't knowd.

Posted by: moviegique at September 30, 2023 10:16 PM (asXVI)

164 36 Was it the first sci-fi/detective movie? Right now I can only think of a few sci-fi/detective movies. Outland. Blade Runner. RoboCop. I must be forgetting dozens.||

I don't =think= that's supportable...."

Alphaville?

Posted by: ogmrobvious at October 01, 2023 01:34 AM (TUOQG)

165 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI35-2OCnsQ

Posted by: good vs evil at October 01, 2023 02:38 AM (uvLtm)

166 Everybody is lying to me

Posted by: solved it yet? at October 01, 2023 02:42 AM (uvLtm)

167 Rain Man -- a film that's much better written and directed than acted. Yes, Tom Cruise deserves whatever credit is due, but Good God Hoffman was miserably miscast. Every scene just screamed "look at me act like a retard!" Ugh. In his best work (Tootsie, for example) you see the character not the actor. In Rain Man all I saw was the actor. I'd love to have seen what somebody like Harry Dean Stanton could have done with the part.

Posted by: ShoelesJoe at October 01, 2023 04:26 AM (Gcjxw)

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