Saturday Evening Movie Thread [moviegique]: Presence

Steven Soderbergh. While best known for his breakout film Sex, Lies and Videotape, his award winning films like Erin Brockovich and Traffic, his Ocean's Number-of-people-on-the-Team films, and his flirtation with communist thugs (Che), he's actually made a lot of trash you've never even heard of. Or if you've heard of it, you didn't know he directed it. Or you knew he directed it but forgot it right after you heard about some controversy.

Like, did you know he directed the Magic Mike movies? Did you remember the controversy where he hired an actual porn star to star in his movie Girlriend Experience about a hooker? He directed Gina Carano's disappointing feature debut, Haywire.

Perhaps most relevant to today's film, he also directed Contagion, which was a serious look at what would happen if Gwyneth Paltrow infected everyone with a deadly disease. It fit comfortably into the zombie genre (though there are no zombies) and felt kind of like a grown up entry into a hyper-sensationalized field.

This strength, the low-key realism, was also its weakness. It felt competent without being lurid, but a little more luridness might also have been more fun to watch.

Tiger MILF?

When I saw he had directed Presence, that's what I expected: A low-key, mature take on a haunted house story, like Paranormal Activity without the cheesy SFX.

Presence is exactly that: Done entirely from the haunting entity's POV, we watch as a family moves into a (gorgeous, natch) house and learn about their weird little family dramas from the ghost eavesdropping. The youngest daughter has recently lost a friend to unnatural causes: suicide? drug overdoes? maybe something even more sinister? This closeness to death has made her sensitive to the titular presence.

The presence is shy and timid, getting close to the living, only to retreat behind doors and railings when spotted. Or sensed, really. While the presence is able to affect the world, she is not visible in any normal way.

Ghosts: More afraid of you than you are of them.

Chloe (Callina Liang) comes to believe that the presence is her deceased friend. There's not really a reason for that to be true, and I ended up thinking it wasn't true, but I did come to think of the presence as a young female. Besides the furtive behavior, the presence has an affinity for Chloe, and has her only big outburst when Chloe's brother Tyler (Eddy Maday) relates a story about how he and a bunch of his jock friend tormented and bullied an insufficiently attractive girl.

While Chloe binds with her dad (Chris Sullivan), Tyler is mom's favorite. Mom (Lucy Liu) has invested her entire emotional being into Tyler. And he's a real jerk, which pains his father and strains Mom and Dad's already strained relationship—quite apart from the dodgy financial shenanigans mom appears to be engaging in at work. (The kids by the way are really Asian, so I kept wondering if they were adopted but, no, he's supposed to be their genetic father.)

When your genes are really recessive.

Anyway, lack of communication leads to ghostly shenanigans and family tragedy, and this is one of those sad, low-key horror movies, almost like an early Guillermo Del Toro type.

It's not really scary. The lead character is the ghost. (And I thought of Beetlejuice more than once.) Since the only supernatural force is sympathetic, we must look for our monsters among the humans, and they are easy enough to find there.

It was exactly as I thought it would be. I enjoyed it, but it didn't knock my socks off. I really appreciated the flipping of the POV to where a frightened ghost might look like a menace from the standpoint of the living. But there was a scene where a medium shows up to pull a little Zelda Rubinstein act, and I thought it really would've been shocking to have the ghost go into her body and look out from it.

Too flashy for Mr. Soderbergh, I guess, but it seemed to me like a missed opportunity.

David Koepp wrote the screenplay, and it's nice that it hangs together well and make sense. Koepp wrote and directed one of my favorite ghost stories, Stir of Echoes and also wrote and directed The Secret Window and the ill-fated Mortdecai, both with Johnny Depp. As a writer, he wrote such smash hits as Jurassic Park, Death Becomes Her, Panic Room, the Dan Brown movies an the last two Indiana Jones movies.

So, this is better than some of those and worse than some of the others.

The two (Soderbergh and Koepp) have a spy thriller coming out next week (March 15th) with Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender. I'm sure it'll be fine.

I don't want to be negative but...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 07:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Somebody got the keys to the time machine.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at March 08, 2025 03:47 PM (2UnvF)

2 Pulled back to draft but I still got first!

Posted by: Duke Lowell at March 08, 2025 03:48 PM (2UnvF)

3 BURN THE WITCH!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 07:29 PM (asXVI)

4 Good evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at March 08, 2025 07:30 PM (fwDg9)

5 Contagion was really well done. I saw it right as Covid was starting and the govt was ratcheting up its manic programs. I can see why Hollywood put Soderberg in charge of the town's Covid plans. The man did his research.

Posted by: PJ at March 08, 2025 07:32 PM (RRCAT)

6 Movie isn't the only thing haunted

Posted by: Skip at March 08, 2025 07:32 PM (fwDg9)

7 Cheetah

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 08, 2025 07:34 PM (63Dwl)

8 I liked haywire perhals because of its convoluted plot but the sketchy characterization of caranos character

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:35 PM (dJR17)

9 It was a love note to the cdc which proved themselves inadequate

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:36 PM (dJR17)

10 Haywire is pretty good. It skirts the edge of the "badass lady who can beat up dudes" trope without ever quite crossing the line.

That's all I got.

Posted by: Handshakes at March 08, 2025 07:36 PM (Qmkgs)

11 Admittedly it was her debut

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:38 PM (dJR17)

12 SPONGE!!!

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at March 08, 2025 07:39 PM (Vqx30)

13 David Koepp Also wrote the novel "Cold Storage", about a space fungus that's taking over the world. Fun read. It's being made into a movie starring that kid from "Stranger Things" with the great hair.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 08, 2025 07:39 PM (kpS4V)

14 Oh mortdecai was god awful i guess it was the only kind of film he could get in the era of amber heard

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:40 PM (dJR17)

15 I saw "Mickey 17" today. I was really looking forward to it. Very disappointed.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 08, 2025 07:40 PM (kpS4V)

16 Just saw Mickey 17 earlier this afternoon.

Trailer made it look like MC would be trying hard things and re-trying them after dying and figuring out how to do it better until he finally overcomes. Nope.... We do see some of the earlier numbers used as test dummies, but otherwise we just follow clone 17 around for the whole movie while he watches the world go by.

I was extremely bored. Recycled sci-fi tropes. Protag who's pretty much a passive observer rather than a driver of the plot, and as a result the plot simply drags.

Yawn.

Posted by: pkudude99 at March 08, 2025 07:40 PM (1usj4)

17 Although paul bettany was really slummjng in that one

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:41 PM (dJR17)

18 "Done entirely from the haunting entity's POV, we watch as a family moves into a (gorgeous, natch) house and learn about their weird little family dramas from the ghost eavesdropping"

So the ghosts can see, uh, everything?

I don't think I've seen any of these movies. Uncultured, I am.

Posted by: fd at March 08, 2025 07:41 PM (vFG9F)

19 Sorry ewan mcgregor was in that

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:42 PM (dJR17)

20 Well, The Boy and I were going to see "Mickey 17" and figured it'd be around for a while, so we went to see "The Rule of Jenny Pen" instead.

John Lithgow terrorizes Geoffrey Rush in an old folks home.

I think we made the right choice.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 07:43 PM (asXVI)

21 Thx moviegique. Contagion was a good film. Plus Paltrow is so annoying that any movie her character dies is ok by me. Same with Se7en

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 08, 2025 07:44 PM (2Km7O)

22 Just saw Heretic on tv.
I'm surprised at how respectful it was of the Mormons overall.

Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 08, 2025 07:44 PM (/ncst)

23 Did see a preview for a Nic Cage movie coming out where his character returns to the beach where he grew up and is terrorized by surfer thugs who see him as an outsider.

I predict the line "EAT THE RAT!!" is the new "NOT THE BEEEEEES!!!".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 08, 2025 07:44 PM (kpS4V)

24
Who directs better movies, guys named David or guys named Steven?

Posted by: Soothsayer at March 08, 2025 07:44 PM (o3PJz)

25 John Lithgow terrorizes Geoffrey Rush in an old folks home.

I think we made the right choice.
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 07:43 PM (asXVI)
----

Was the doll head creepy AF?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 08, 2025 07:45 PM (kpS4V)

26 "Contagion" is one of those movies that has a number of good parts to it, but somehow doesn't add up to a good movie.

I think there's a lot of being "overly earnest" by the actors. Or maybe Covid's left me jaded on the "dedicated scientists work selflessly to save the world" plotline. Either way, I'll watch it if it comes on TV, but I don't rate it too highly.

Posted by: Dr. T at March 08, 2025 07:45 PM (lHPJf)

27 I finally watched Jurassic World: Dominion. Pushed all the woke buttons iland wasted all the actors. Boring

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 08, 2025 07:47 PM (2Km7O)

28 I liked Presence. I didn't know anything about it, just a short blurb about a ghost story from a different perspective. I thought the movie with Nicole Kidman, "The Others" was creepier and shocking, but this was entertaining.

Posted by: Megthered at March 08, 2025 07:47 PM (IhCl1)

29 I'm rewatching "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" to pull me out of my movie funk.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 08, 2025 07:47 PM (kpS4V)

30 Eris, I found this on an internet rabbit-hole trip and thought you might be amused:
https://shorturl.at/VcWob
Could make a subject for a sci-fi novel or movie too.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at March 08, 2025 07:48 PM (Vqx30)

31 "John Lithgow terrorizes Geoffrey Rush in an old folks home."

I read that Lithgow has been cast as Prof. Dumbledore in the Harry Potter television series.

Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 07:48 PM (lJ0H4)

32 Was the doll head creepy AF?
----

Yes, but also not overplayed. Rush's character has suffered a stroke and has a wasting disease that exaggerates the creepiness in his mind, but the movie makes it clear that it's Lithgow's character. There's no supernatural element which, in some ways, makes it scarier.

Rush knows he's losing his mind and Lithgow is ready to take advantage of that at any time.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 07:48 PM (asXVI)

33 They could have done more on the love die repeat there then political thriller ala star ship troopers

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:48 PM (dJR17)

34 When I read the plot of Mickey 17 I thought wasn't this kind of done in Edge of Tomorrow? I liked that movie so unless Mickey 17 is really groundbreaking, why make it?

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 08, 2025 07:49 PM (2Km7O)

35 "The Head That Couldn't Wouldn't Die" is on Svengoolie tonight.
Starring Jan In The Pan.

Posted by: fd at March 08, 2025 07:50 PM (vFG9F)

36 Dinosaurs did not eat enough people (thats why we warch)

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:50 PM (dJR17)

37 Helena, I'll read that when my brain is running on all cylinders.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 08, 2025 07:50 PM (kpS4V)

38 Just saw Heretic on tv.
I'm surprised at how respectful it was of the Mormons overall.
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 08, 2025 07:44 PM (/ncst)

I've only seen the preview for it in the theater, but that really disturbed me. That maybe sounds weird given the lack of gore or graphic violence, but I don't know: some stories just rub me the wrong way.

Posted by: Dr. T at March 08, 2025 07:51 PM (lHPJf)

39 I read that Lithgow has been cast as Prof. Dumbledore in the Harry Potter television series.
Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 07:48 PM (lJ0H4)

Yup and then they went and cast a black guy as snape for their "faithful adaptation"

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 07:51 PM (MGB5H)

40 I watched a terrible movie last weekend; "Huntress: Rune of the Dead." A Scandinavian movie about a girl in a rural Viking household. Her dad is off a-viking, for two years now, and the family is suffering in his absence. Eventually the supernatural shows up.

The movie is horribly boring, mostly we just watch the family slowly loose hope. There is no reason to call the movie 'huntress,' the main character knows how to use a bow and she does hunt woodland creatures, but we don't see much of that, and her 'hunting' skills don't really matter to the plot. The film does justify the 'rune of the dead' subtitle when some undead show up and attack the household, but their appearance doesn't really match up well with the other spooky things that had slowly been happening up until then. Worst of all, they are defeated with a song! In a moment of fear, and to stiffen her resolve, our heroine sings a little nursery rhyme, which I guess was a Viking prayer, which causes the undead loose their power and die. What an astounding anti-climax...

Posted by: Castle Guy at March 08, 2025 07:51 PM (Lhaco)

41 I think I mentioned here that I thought "Heretic" avoided a lot of the worst lazy tropes of the woke era. It's solid!

I don't think "Mickey 17" is like "Edge of Tomorrow"/"Live Die Repeat" because there's no time travel aspect, right? It's just a cloning situation.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 07:53 PM (asXVI)

42 read that Lithgow has been cast as Prof. Dumbledore in the Harry Potter television series.
Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 07:48 PM (lJ0H4)

Yup and then they went and cast a black guy as snape for their "faithful adaptation"
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 07:51 PM (MGB5H)

And Janet mcteer as mcgonagal

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 07:53 PM (MGB5H)

43 I read that Lithgow has been cast as Prof. Dumbledore in the Harry Potter television series.
Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 07:48 PM (lJ0H4)

Yup and then they went and cast a black guy as snape for their "faithful adaptation"
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 07:51 PM (MGB5H)

Now we wait to find out what McGonnagall will end up as. Also black? Or Asian? Or hey, maybe Middle Eastern? That'd be a dynamite pick!

Posted by: Dr. T at March 08, 2025 07:54 PM (lHPJf)

44 Soderbergh did "Out of Sight" which is, I think, the only movie in which I can stand George Clooney. He did the remake of "Solaris" which sank without a trace.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at March 08, 2025 07:56 PM (CHHv1)

45 The source material was more like john scalzi absurdism red shirts this one is more heavily political

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:56 PM (dJR17)

46 Now we wait to find out what McGonnagall will end up as. Also black? Or Asian? Or hey, maybe Middle Eastern? That'd be a dynamite pick!
Posted by: Dr. T at March 08, 2025 07:54 PM (lHPJf)

Janet McTeer. But now I'm convinced that one of the "big 3" will be from an "under represented group". I was looking forward to it. Not so much now

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 07:57 PM (MGB5H)

47 Bullitt with Steve McQueen and car chases was on TCM this afternoon. Fun.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 08, 2025 07:57 PM (LgxGb)

48 When I read the plot of Mickey 17 I thought wasn't this kind of done in Edge of Tomorrow? I liked that movie so unless Mickey 17 is really groundbreaking, why make it?
Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 08, 2025 07:49 PM (2Km7O)
---
Looks like it's based on "Mickey 7," a novel about a similar situation where Expendable clones are sent into dangerous situations.

Doctor Who did this many years ago with the Eleventh Doctor episodes "The Rebel Flesh"/"The Almost People."

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 08, 2025 07:58 PM (BpYfr)

49 Yes ive seen that one sone 20 times (i remember they said the rock riffed on it, but that wasnt right,

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:58 PM (dJR17)

50 Ah i just saw the pun

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:59 PM (dJR17)

51 I saw "Eraserhead" last night (at the Nuart, no less) and finally resolved a 30 year question in my head.

In the "Chickens of Tomorrow" short on MST3K, Joel says, "They're like chickens but they're new!"

And I said to myself, "That's from 'Eraserhead', isn't it." I'd never seen it and I have no idea why I thought that, but now that I have, there's one dangling thread that's been snipped, as it were.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 07:59 PM (asXVI)

52 I sort of liked Solaris. I enjoyed the book and never saw the original film. The movie with Clooney kept trying to say something, but couldn't quite reach it

Posted by: Smell the Glove at March 08, 2025 08:01 PM (2Km7O)

53 this appears to be an abbreviated movie thread

Posted by: Don Black at March 08, 2025 08:02 PM (AOsQT)

54 Just queued up Hoosiers for later viewing. Been a while. Guess I'll see how it holds up for me. I have a feeling I will not be disappointed.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at March 08, 2025 08:02 PM (mH6SG)

55 Doctor Who did this many years ago with the Eleventh Doctor episodes "The Rebel Flesh"/"The Almost People."
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at March 08, 2025 07:58 PM (BpYfr)

Those were both good episodes. Really highlighted what Doctor Who could accomplish, before the woke virus killed it.

Posted by: Dr. T at March 08, 2025 08:03 PM (lHPJf)

56 Oh. My mistake. It's "The Thing That Wouldn't Die". No Jan or brute in the closet in this one.

Posted by: fd at March 08, 2025 08:03 PM (vFG9F)

57 I liked Haywire.

Posted by: Darth Randall at March 08, 2025 08:04 PM (z52wq)

58 I remember when I saw Contagion. I liked it a lot. I thought it was a "realistic" portrayal of how a pandemic would play out.

Then Covid-19 happened.

The portrayal of public health professionals as hyper-competent, dedicated, idealistic heroes in Contagion now seems about as realistic as a Star Wars film. Or maybe a Fast and the Furious film.

Posted by: Bill at March 08, 2025 08:04 PM (NUEJF)

59 Or brad pitt in world war z (why do they just throw out the source material)

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:06 PM (dJR17)

60 Contagion? You mean I shouldn't have passed it up in the vpawn shop for a buck?

Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:07 PM (mB6WH)

61 Ghosts, which are not the souls of the dead, but are demons are only afraid of one thing; an exorcist, or an RC family that moves in and prays the rosary everyday.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:07 PM (ZmEVT)

62 There was a similar offering with v wars vampiers instead of zombies which they handed to netflix

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:08 PM (dJR17)

63 What's the difference between a ghost and a spirit?

Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:09 PM (mB6WH)

64 I think, on reflection, the amusing thing about "Contagion" is that the low-key, marginally competent disease-fighting government official was just as big a fantasy as "Iron Man".

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 08:09 PM (asXVI)

65 Vampires instead of novelist from jonathan maberry

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:09 PM (dJR17)

66 The portrayal of public health professionals as hyper-competent, dedicated, idealistic heroes in Contagion now seems about as realistic as a Star Wars film. Or maybe a Fast and the Furious film.
Posted by: Bill at March 08, 2025 08:04 PM (NUEJF)

Those Mission Impossible movies where a secret cabal is creating a bioweapon to wipe out billions of people. This is completely ridiculous, who would ever participate in...

...Oh.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:10 PM (g1h/9)

67 I was building a Harry Potter LEGO set last week and it had a wizard in a wheelchair minifigure. In what world does that make sense. They can cure injuries with a wand and grow bones with a potion.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:10 PM (MGB5H)

68 I think, on reflection, the amusing thing about "Contagion" is that the low-key, marginally competent disease-fighting government official was just as big a fantasy as "Iron Man".
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 08:09 PM (asXVI)

Iron Man is more realistic.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:11 PM (MGB5H)

69 Yeah that could never happen ive referred MI 1 &2

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:11 PM (dJR17)

70 Why is there gonna be a tv Harry Potter tv series?
Whyyyy

Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 08, 2025 08:12 PM (/ncst)

71 || What's the difference between a ghost and a spirit?

The terminology tends to be murky and context-dependent. The two are often used interchangeably.

A "ghost", however, is always an individual entity. A "spirit" may refer to a force or animating principle, suggesting the non-existence of individual entities.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 08:12 PM (asXVI)

72 Oh. My mistake. It's "The Thing That Wouldn't Die". No Jan or brute in the closet in this one.
Posted by: fd

Is that the one where they stumble upon a buried head? The buried head is not really dead and caused havoc? I think I remember that one.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 08, 2025 08:13 PM (LgxGb)

73 >>>"The Head That Couldn't Wouldn't Die" is on Svengoolie tonight.

Posted by: fd

I don't know about water, but you sure could find milk around that divining girl.

Posted by: haffhowershower at March 08, 2025 08:14 PM (NMT5x)

74 Why is there gonna be a tv Harry Potter tv series?
Whyyyy
Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 08, 2025 08:12 PM (/ncst)

I was actually looking forward to it because each season is going to be one book. So they were going to be able to flesh out all the stories that were left out. Now I'm pretty meh.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:14 PM (MGB5H)

75 Because we cant have nice things

The performance of the army in incredible hulk is closer to reality

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:14 PM (dJR17)

76 We are gonna hove House of David on amazon a shot.
Heard it's not terrible.

Posted by: vmom deport deport deporte at March 08, 2025 08:14 PM (/ncst)

77 Or brad pitt in world war z (why do they just throw out the source material)
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:06 PM (dJR17)

Narratively, I'd guess 1)they're paying for Brad Pitt, they're gonna fucking use him and 2) avoiding having to introduce new protagonists all the time.

For anyone who never read it, the novel is written as an 'oral history' of the zombie apocalypse, with sections narrated by different people over the course of the war-- soldiers, scientists, different people from different countries, etc. It works on the pages, but would be harder on film, IMO.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:14 PM (g1h/9)

78 Movie Thread? Great. I am here for the airing of grievances. The actor Gene Hackman died recently. I pray for the repose of his soul. "For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

So, Prime has a bunch of his films out and I punished myself by watching "The French Connection" last night. 1971. New York at its worst. "Popeye" Doyle. I was 16 when it came out and never saw it. Wow. What did I miss? I saw another film around that time "The New Centurions." Same shit, different city. That one I did see when I was 17. Just more fucking shit.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:14 PM (ZmEVT)

79 Bullitt was on TCM and strangely enough I was able to sit still for (most) of it. Mrs. E got wore out with me saying 'watch this!', and pointing out different cars. 'That's a 56 Ford Fairlane.'. And not to mention Elinor the green Mustang, beautiful. She pointed out a Corvair and even saw a white 63 Valiant, one of two I owned long ago, the other a 64.

Posted by: Eromero at March 08, 2025 08:14 PM (LHPAg)

80 I have not seen 1/100 of what you all have seen but I have seen Ironman 1,2 and 3 and enjoyed them

Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:14 PM (mB6WH)

81 Hellboy: the crooked man is now on Hulu. I've been looking forward to seeing that one.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:16 PM (MGB5H)

82 52 I sort of liked Solaris. I enjoyed the book and never saw the original film. The movie with Clooney kept trying to say something, but couldn't quite reach it
Posted by: Smell the Glove

I saw the original. I enjoyed it. It had a sense of dread going on the entire film. Lots of talking (Russian flick) and lots of quiet. Nice use of what they had, set wise. It was made in the USSR so no deep pockets financing this. It's not an action movie. FYI. The first time I saw it, I liked it but was waiting for that sense of dread to turn into something. Then it ended. So I watched it again to see what I missed and then it was 'ah, got it, sort of'. It was an odd sensation. A movie I didn't think I'd like but I did.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 08:17 PM (byWhc)

83 David Koepp wrote ... Jurassic Park, Death Becomes Her

Credit for DBH which is classic.
But Crichton was already a screenwriter, and structured JP as "Westworld with velociraptors". How much work did Koepp need to do, to present to Spielberg a backtranslation of JP in the WW style?

Posted by: gKWVE at March 08, 2025 08:18 PM (gKWVE)

84 Well iron man 3 was weaker because shane black leaned into his conspiracy theories which worked for lethal weapon and guy pierce's charactet was almost a creature of fantasy (fire breathing)

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:18 PM (dJR17)

85 If you ever go back to Windansea, (The pump House gang) pack some heat. The young guys won't recognize you.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:18 PM (ZmEVT)

86 Watching on YouTube the David Lynch, yes he is listed in the credits, movie Dune.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:19 PM (iuOmy)

87 if Gwyneth Paltrow infected everyone with a deadly disease

I knew those candles were a bad idea...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at March 08, 2025 08:19 PM (ynpvh)

88 I have been told that I look like John Lithgow,

Fuck.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:20 PM (ZmEVT)

89 Gene Hackman, may he rest in peace. We tried watching "The Conversation" several years ago. Hubby just couldn't take the slow pace. I would give it another go.

Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 08:20 PM (i/l90)

90 Out of all the Hackman movies " Bite the Bullet" hasn't been mentioned.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:21 PM (mB6WH)

91 Gene Hackman, may he rest in peace. We tried watching "The Conversation" several years ago. Hubby just couldn't take the slow pace. I would give it another go.
Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 08:20 PM (i/l90)

I think that is a very underrated movie. As is I never sang for my father. Great performances from Hackman.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:22 PM (MGB5H)

92 The original "Solaris" was Tarkovsky who did "Stalker" and "Sacrifice".

He was kind of a master of doing nothing, which sounds like snark but really isn't.

Every hack with a video camera who decides his movie needs to hold for 20 minutes on a candle burning thinks he's Kubrick or Lean or Tarkovsky.

It's very hard to hold people's interest with so little action, but these guys could do it.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 08:22 PM (asXVI)

93 They could have done more on the love die repeat there then political thriller ala star ship troopers
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 07:48 PM (dJR17)

The original novel was just a FPS video game made life, from backstory to truncated interplay with NPCs.
I suspect it could have been greater but it would have had to depart from the bones of the story a bit more.
As it was, it became War of the Worlds - which also could have been broader too.

Posted by: Kindltot at March 08, 2025 08:23 PM (D7oie)

94 I loved him in "Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Hoosiers, Superman, etc." So many very entertaining roles.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:23 PM (ZmEVT)

95 As to The Girlfiend Experience, starring Marina Ann Hantzis: Soderbergh is also involved in the TV series. Which wiki tells me is excellent in its first two seasons, much bette than the original; but the third one is mid.
Hantzis (who has another name) wasn't terrible in the original. But she's no Jenna.

Posted by: gKWVE at March 08, 2025 08:24 PM (gKWVE)

96 I knew those candles were a bad idea...
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at March 08, 2025 08:19 PM (ynpvh)

Beautiful woman, good actress. Completely batshit.

I just checked: They don't sell "those" candles anymore, but they will sell you 'Mouth Tape' for $27:

https://goop.com/vio2-mouth-tape/
p/?taxon_id=1489&variant_id=125836

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:24 PM (g1h/9)

97 "How much work did Koepp need to do, to present to Spielberg a backtranslation of JP in the WW style?"

From the people I knew who had read the book, he had to make the child characters less loathsome.

"The Conversation" is a masterpiece, but it really needs your full attention and a big screen. There's a lot of auditory trickery going on.

https://moviegique.com/2022/05/the-conversation-1974/

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 08:25 PM (asXVI)

98 So, apparently she died, and he at 95 didn't quite know what to do. Non compos mentis.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:25 PM (ZmEVT)

99 I just checked: They don't sell "those" candles anymore, but they will sell you 'Mouth Tape' for $27:

https://goop.com/vio2-mouth-tape/
p/?taxon_id=1489&variant_id=125836
Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:24 PM (g1h/9)

*takes notes*

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:26 PM (MGB5H)

100 Odd Steven Soderbergh fact - he actually directed a movie for the Hallmark Channel, all the usual tropes included. I can't find it on IMDB, but I very much remember doing a double take when his name popped up in the opening credits. And no, this was not one that featured Aunt Becky or Father Christmas in any way. It was Christmas-themed, of course.

Posted by: Count Orlok at March 08, 2025 08:26 PM (Wl9BE)

101 Been a while since I watched the original Solaris or Stalker -- need to revisit. Kinda liked the Solaris remake, though.

And if you can watch Hackman and Melvyn Douglas in I Never Sang for My Father without choking up, you're made of much sterner stuff than I am. One of Hackman's best ever; if he hadn't made another movie he'd still be a favorite of mine for his work in that picture.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 08, 2025 08:26 PM (q3u5l)

102 The Satan Bug...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059678/

Posted by: davidt at March 08, 2025 08:27 PM (i0F8b)

103
Is that the one where they stumble upon a buried head? The buried head is not really dead and caused havoc? I think I remember that one.
Posted by: Blutarski

That's the one

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 08, 2025 08:27 PM (63Dwl)

104 Gene Hackman.

Unforgiven
Get Shorty
The Quick and the Dead (Terrible movie, but dammit if he didn't chew that scenery into firewood)

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:27 PM (g1h/9)

105 Paltrow?

Seven

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:27 PM (iuOmy)

106 Prime Cut

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 08, 2025 08:28 PM (63Dwl)

107 The rest of the Harry Potter casting is in

https://tinyurl.com/2e973s7p

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:28 PM (MGB5H)

108 Finished binge watching Farscape.

Now I will watch the Farscape Peace Keepers War movie tomorrow . They did a good job of wrapping up after cancelling the series with things up in the air .

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:28 PM (VofaG)

109 Anna Puma, she was the perfect choice for that role.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:30 PM (mB6WH)

110 The end of the conversation is almost a horror film as his character succombs to his paranoia the flipside of enemy of the state where the hero succeeds

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:30 PM (dJR17)

111 have been told that I look like John Lithgow,

Fuck.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:20 PM (ZmEVT)

I have a good friend that looks like Lithgow.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:30 PM (VofaG)

112 I'm rewatching "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" to pull me out of my movie funk.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes
---

That's a fun movie. Hope it works.

Posted by: Darth Randall at March 08, 2025 08:32 PM (z52wq)

113 He wasn't the lead, but Hackman had a really nice part in Twilight (the Robert Benton-Richard Russo private eye flick, not the sparkly vampire movie). That picture never made the splash it should have -- Paul Newman, Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon, Stockard Channing, with James Garner blowing everybody else off the screen in any scene he was in. If you've never caught it, it's well worth a look.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 08, 2025 08:32 PM (q3u5l)

114 I really liked 'Narrow Margin' with Gene Hackman. Pretty good suspense/action movie. He's been in so many great films, his good films tend to get overlooked. Even his bad ones were better than much of the swill coming out today.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 08:32 PM (byWhc)

115 I made it through season 3 of Farscape. I refuse to pay for it.

Kind of ended Season 3 badly. The love of his life runs off, pregnant. Crazy universe. Earth was better.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:32 PM (ZmEVT)

116 Binge watched " The Borgias". I do love stories of treachery and deceit.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:32 PM (mB6WH)

117 I saw the original. I enjoyed it. It had a sense of dread going on the entire film. Lots of talking (Russian flick) and lots of quiet. Nice use of what they had, set wise. It was made in the USSR so no deep pockets financing this. It's not an action movie. FYI. The first time I saw it, I liked it but was waiting for that sense of dread to turn into something. Then it ended. So I watched it again to see what I missed and then it was 'ah, got it, sort of'. It was an odd sensation. A movie I didn't think I'd like but I did.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 08:17 PM (byWhc)

I think Tarkovsky's Solaris wasn't so much dread as complete bewilderment and the dread being unable to "reach the next rung" since nothing they faced made sense. I think Stanislav Lem was writing a story about a universe that was incomprehensible, and Tarkovsky was writing about a universe that was impossible to understand because of the tools and fundamental understanding of reality was totally at odds with what was going on.
I admit this is probably a reflection of my own obsession with the concept of comprehension being shaped by cultural assumptions, and creating "local peak" crises

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

118 Count Orlok, you did not strike me as a Hallmark Channel kind of vampire. Not a judgment, just an observation. According to AI,

Steven Soderbergh has no direct involvement as a director or writer with Hallmark movies, but he has been involved as an executive producer or producer for several Hallmark projects, including "Love, Brooklyn", "Memories of Love Returned", and "Full Circle".

Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 08:33 PM (i/l90)

119 So I guess Prescence is no The House Where Evil Dwells.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:33 PM (iuOmy)

120 Last movie I watched was "ReAnimator" from the 1980s. I was visiting my sister and she has it on DVD.

Delightfully awful. Way more production value than it has any right to have.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:33 PM (g1h/9)

121 I have a good friend that looks like Lithgow.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:30 PM (VofaG)

I always thought I was much better looking.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:33 PM (ZmEVT)

122 Gene Hackman was one of those actors who, as soon as you saw him on the screen, you could just kind of relax, because you knew that the movie was in capable hands.

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, Plucky Comic Relief, AoS Ladies Brigade - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 08, 2025 08:33 PM (SRRAx)

123 *waves to Eris*

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:34 PM (iuOmy)

124 The end of the conversation is almost a horror film as his character succombs to his paranoia the flipside of enemy of the state where the hero succeeds
Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:30 PM (dJR17)

Yeah I don’t like movies that make you feel crappy. That’s not why I watch them.

I think though a good percentage of movie watchers like it.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:34 PM (VofaG)

125 You have to hand it to Gwyneth Paltrow for knocking it out of the park in the role of Pepper Potts all the way through the end of the "Avengers" series of films, all without having anything more than a slight baseline awareness of Marvel Comics or any of her fellow characters.

Posted by: Count Orlok at March 08, 2025 08:34 PM (Wl9BE)

126 first season of the Jeremy Irons "Borgias" is hilarious. Irons loves to pretend to be 1980s-era Pacino. I kept waiting for him to say "but they pull me back IN!".

Posted by: gKWVE at March 08, 2025 08:35 PM (gKWVE)

127 Binge watched " The Borgias". I do love stories of treachery and deceit.
Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:32 PM (mB6WH)

Is that the one with Jeremy Irons as the Pope?

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:35 PM (g1h/9)

128 Vanya. nice to see you here.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:35 PM (mB6WH)

129 have a good friend that looks like Lithgow.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:30 PM (VofaG)

I always thought I was much better looking.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:33 PM (ZmEVT)

Any consolation he’s married to a good looking woman. My friend that is.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:36 PM (VofaG)

130 Vanya, yes it is.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:36 PM (mB6WH)

131 To be fair, Jeremy Irons could make reading a restaurant menu into an evil villain speech.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:37 PM (g1h/9)

132 Binge watched "The Expanse". The first three seasons were far superior to the Amazon made last three seasons.

Also watched the full season of "Landman". Billy Bob Thornton carries that series. Kind of fun.

Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 08:37 PM (lJ0H4)

133 Heard during making The Conversation Coppola amused himself approaching randos offering a hundred dollar bill for one dollar. People just avoided him.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle for festive little hats at March 08, 2025 08:37 PM (i82PB)

134 speaking of Irons, he was in a D&D movie too.
it... wasn't great

Posted by: gKWVE at March 08, 2025 08:37 PM (gKWVE)

135 I loved The Hallmark Channel, but I dropped cable when the fags started being featured in every story.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:37 PM (ZmEVT)

136 Vanya: did you see Margin Call?

Posted by: gKWVE at March 08, 2025 08:38 PM (gKWVE)

137
I really liked 'Narrow Margin' with Gene Hackman. Pretty good suspense/action movie.

How does it compare to the original?

https://t.ly/AXCwm

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 08, 2025 08:39 PM (63Dwl)

138 I've seen reviews of that old DND movie. It is apparently terrible, but Irons is worth watching because he gave zero shits and just swung for the fences.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:39 PM (g1h/9)

139 My favorite movie of Soderbergh's and coincidentally his best movie is-

"Kafka" (1991).

It's also the one one of his movies that he seems to hate the most, buuuut SodaBurgerandaSmallFries is wrong about that.

And needs to release "Kafka" on 4K or plain blu-ray at the very least. Right. Now!

He re-edited "Kafka" a few years ago in a totally stupid way that went nowhere, so that didn't help.

It's so weird when directors don't understand their own movie. Still that's where we're at.

Wholly Kau! If they can put a pile of poo like Michael Mann's "The Keep" on 4K. They can sure as heck load a near-masterpiece like "Kafka" on 4K.

Posted by: naturalfake at March 08, 2025 08:39 PM (iJfKG)

140 You have to hand it to Gwyneth Paltrow for knocking it out of the park in the role of Pepper Potts all the way through the end of the "Avengers" series of films, all without having anything more than a slight baseline awareness of Marvel Comics or any of her fellow characters.
Posted by: Count Orlok at March 08, 2025 08:34 PM (Wl9BE

I'm not a big Paltrow fan. But she was a perfect pepper potts. She did an interview when she said toward the last movies she wasn't even sure what movie she was filming scenes for because they don't give them full scripts. Found that humorous.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:40 PM (MGB5H)

141 Now I will watch the Farscape Peace Keepers War movie tomorrow . They did a good job of wrapping up after cancelling the series with things up in the air .
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:28 PM (VofaG)

That was one of the best series endings I’ve ever seen; wrapped almost all of the loose ends of the entire series. The scene where Harvey is dying becomes an absolutely brilliant homage to 2001, one of my favorite scenes.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 08, 2025 08:40 PM (h8QI+)

142 *hat tip to Ben Had*

No, never saw Margin Call.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:40 PM (g1h/9)

143 Jeremy Irons was in Red Sparrow.. One of my favorite movies.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:40 PM (VofaG)

144 That was hix role in assassins creed which was way way over the top fassbender wasnt very good in that one either

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:40 PM (dJR17)

145 Sorry, I cannot read or be entertained by stories of bad popes. Okay, the Borgia's were wicked. But they didn't corrupt the "faith and dogma." Current times are much worse.

Maybe I should dive into those stories. They are so much less evil.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:40 PM (ZmEVT)

146 I seem to recall Jeremy Irons was in "The Beekeeper." That was mindless fun, but I don't mind Jason Statham at all.

Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 08:40 PM (i/l90)

147 Last two Indiana Jones movies? Are we talking Temple of Doom and Last Crusade? Odd to say 'the last two' when there are only three movies...

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 08:40 PM (bss/y)

148 Also watched the full season of "Landman". Billy Bob Thornton carries that series. Kind of fun.
Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 08:37 PM (lJ0H4)

I loved it, can't believe they haven't announced season 2 yet.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:41 PM (MGB5H)

149 I rewatched Chernobyl on HBO-Max. It really has a late-Soviet griminess to it. Just great how they show at times their greatest adversary was not an open nuclear core spewing radiation, but the paranoia of the Soviet police state.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 08, 2025 08:41 PM (LgxGb)

150 The Expanse is one of my favorite book series, and I'm not a sci-fi fan at all. I watched part of the series, I think it was on SyFy. I didn't watch the Amazon production.

Posted by: Megthered at March 08, 2025 08:41 PM (IhCl1)

151 You would think so but they have no sense of quality

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:41 PM (dJR17)

152 150 The Expanse is one of my favorite book series, and I'm not a sci-fi fan at all. I watched part of the series, I think it was on SyFy. I didn't watch the Amazon production.
Posted by: Megthered at March 08, 2025 08:41 PM (IhCl1)

I thought the first couple seasons were pretty good. Then it went weird. Like Alias weird.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 08:42 PM (bss/y)

153 Chernobyl was great TV.

Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 08:43 PM (i/l90)

154 I was thinking about Kafka today. Was his accounts in his stories from personal experience? Was he the interogator or the one being interogated?

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:43 PM (ZmEVT)

155 Crystals Skulls - a Ford 1950s refrigerator can withstand a nuclear blast.

Dial D for Despair - stonk annoying Mary Sue castrates Dr. Jones.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:43 PM (iuOmy)

156 Chernobyl was great TV.
Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 08:43 PM (i/l90)

Jared Harris was phenomenal in that.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:44 PM (MGB5H)

157 155 Crystals Skulls - a Ford 1950s refrigerator can withstand a nuclear blast.

Dial D for Despair - stonk annoying Mary Sue castrates Dr. Jones.
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:43 PM (iuOmy)

I am so glad I do not understand those references...

*humming intensifies*

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 08:44 PM (bss/y)

158 I loved it, can't believe they haven't announced season 2 yet.
Posted by: BruceWayne

I'm pretty sure I read that it was renewed. Can't wait to see it.

Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 08:45 PM (lJ0H4)

159 Odd to say 'the last two' when there are only three movies...

There were four or five. 2nd was crap. 3rd was great. 4th, and 5th if there was one were crap.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:45 PM (ZmEVT)

160 Tarkovsky did something with Solaris that almost no sci-fi movie has dared to do - he strove to create an entity that was intelligent, but totally alien to us in every way. I believe he said that those who saw it as evil did not understand; we were as alien to it as it was to us, and the bizarre interactions were its attempts to figure out and communicate with us. It was a daring thing to undertake.

Posted by: Tom Servo at March 08, 2025 08:45 PM (h8QI+)

161
I'm re-watching the John Adams mini-series.

Posted by: Soothsayer at March 08, 2025 08:45 PM (o3PJz)

162 I’m tempted to get a Hulu subscription so I can watch the series, Mr. InBetween .

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:46 PM (VofaG)

163 Jared Harris was also great in "The Terror".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 08, 2025 08:46 PM (kpS4V)

164 || The House Where Evil Dwells

Nooo, Anna Puma, it is no "The House Where Evil Dwells," which movie I watched WAY too many times as a teen without ever understanding why.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 08:46 PM (asXVI)

165 I'm pretty sure I read that it was renewed. Can't wait to see it.
Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 08:45 PM (lJ0H4)

I'm wondering if it's a tad held up because of demi Moore. Because she's going to have a much larger role in s2

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:46 PM (MGB5H)

166 There were four or five. 2nd was crap. 3rd was great. 4th, and 5th if there was one were crap.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:45 PM (ZmEVT)

In context of the modern era, Temple of Doom was strange tonally, but a fricking masterpiece.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 08:46 PM (bss/y)

167 Paltrow was great in "Young Shakespeare" when she showed her pretty tits.

Nothing else compares.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:46 PM (ZmEVT)

168 I would love to see a really comprehensive explanation or documentary of Chernobyl and what is really happening now with the plants and animals and humans who live in the zone. Are they allowing researchers from all over to examine the area?

Posted by: Megthered at March 08, 2025 08:46 PM (IhCl1)

169 Soothsayer, I have re-watched it many times. Very enjoyable.

Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:46 PM (mB6WH)

170 Jared Harris was also great in "The Terror".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 08, 2025 08:46 PM (kpS4V)

+1. And mad men too. He's one of those lesser known dudes that just delivers.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:47 PM (MGB5H)

171 Jason Statham should be a case study in marketing. He's leveraged doing the exact same thing over and over again into a two-decade movie career and God knows how much money. *Schwarzenegger* displays more acting range than him. It's amazing.

Not hating on the guy, mind you, if you offered me movie star paychecks to show up and do that BS I'd do it too.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:47 PM (g1h/9)

172 "Temple of Doom?"

LOL Let us agree to disagree.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:47 PM (ZmEVT)

173
I watched some of Billy Thornton's Goliath series. Really stupid. I felt insulted after watching it.

Posted by: Soothsayer at March 08, 2025 08:47 PM (o3PJz)

174 Claudia Black is one of those beautiful ugly women.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:48 PM (VofaG)

175 Jared Harris was also great in "The Terror".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes

He was in the first couple of seasons of "The Expanse" also. I had forgotten that he is Richard Harris' son.

Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 08:48 PM (lJ0H4)

176 Best thing I have seen Paltrow do was " Duets".

Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:48 PM (mB6WH)

177 Temple of Doom is the first Jones movie, chronologically.

Posted by: gKWVE at March 08, 2025 08:48 PM (gKWVE)

178 Its an eastern europesn thing

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:48 PM (dJR17)

179 Lets pretend morbius never happened

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at March 08, 2025 08:49 PM (dJR17)

180 172 "Temple of Doom?"

LOL Let us agree to disagree.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:47 PM (ZmEVT)

I can rewatch it without wanting to suck start a shotgun.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 08:49 PM (bss/y)

181 moviegique

Yeah that movie is just odd. Three ghosts seemingly stuck on a Karmic wheel to repeat their tragedy for eternity.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:49 PM (iuOmy)

182 I had forgotten that he is Richard Harris' son.
Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 08:48 PM (lJ0H4)

Who is also in Unforgiven, and does a great job.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:50 PM (g1h/9)

183 175 Jared Harris was also great in "The Terror".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes

He was in the first couple of seasons of "The Expanse" also. I had forgotten that he is Richard Harris' son.
Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 08:48 PM (lJ0H4)

He was in Fringe as well. Pretty good.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 08:50 PM (bss/y)

184 168 I would love to see a really comprehensive explanation or documentary of Chernobyl and what is really happening now with the plants and animals and humans who live in the zone

There's always the interactive documentary S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Posted by: gKWVE at March 08, 2025 08:50 PM (gKWVE)

185 Claudia Black is striking in appearance.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:50 PM (iuOmy)

186 I’m tempted to get a Hulu subscription so I can watch the series, Mr. InBetween .
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth

Oh, good heavens I love that show. I looked up Mr In Between and...he's not an Aussie. He's from Lawrence, Kansas. His accent totally fooled me.

Also, Jared Harris' father is....Richard Harris. I couldn't believe it.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 08, 2025 08:50 PM (LgxGb)

187 174 Claudia Black is one of those beautiful ugly women.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:48 PM (VofaG)

Sultry/smoky.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 08:50 PM (bss/y)

188 Vanya, I do hate when Statham tries his American accent. When I'm in the mood to watch one of his movies, I just expect to see asses being kicked.

Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 08:51 PM (i/l90)

189 Count Orlok, you did not strike me as a Hallmark Channel kind of vampire. Not a judgment, just an observation. According to AI,

Steven Soderbergh has no direct involvement as a director or writer with Hallmark movies, but he has been involved as an executive producer or producer for several Hallmark projects, including "Love, Brooklyn", "Memories of Love Returned", and "Full Circle".
Posted by: ScaryMary

I know, it surprises me too. I also have a fondness for their sister channel, where Orlok can catch episodes of "Psych" and "Murder, She Wrote." The few of my..um..colleagues do not understand it either. Orlok, they say, you probably liked "Cats" too. I did, actually, but not the abomination that was the movie; I enjoyed the Broadway show immensely while hanging head down from the rafters.

What your researches turned up makes sense - when I hear Soderbergh, I think "director," but he does have an impressive number of projects he produced. Orlok plans next to continue catching up with "Dr. Pohl," as the kitties and doggies that he heals and helps are most amusing.

Posted by: Count Orlok at March 08, 2025 08:51 PM (Wl9BE)

190 I'm re-watching the John Adams mini-series.

Posted by: Soothsayer at March 08, 2025 08:45 PM (o3PJz)

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

That was good -- haven't seen it since it debuted.

We're rewatching TURN: Washington's Spies. Pretty good with of course some liberties taken.

Most of the cast is unknown (but very good acting, writing, cinematography, music, costumes, etc ) with a few recognizable figures -- and enjoyable for the most part.

Posted by: ShainS -- TrumpLand Map: Better Coverage than 5G ... Can you hear us now? at March 08, 2025 08:52 PM (4KYlW)

191 Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:47 PM (g1h/9

Yeah from the Transporter to the Bee Keeper he’s the exact same guy but you need to watch the comedy movie Spy because he was hilarious.

That’s the biggest surprise movie I’ve ever seen. I’d give it 4.5 stars. Melissa McCarthy was very good .

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:52 PM (VofaG)

192 Also, Jared Harris' father is....Richard Harris. I couldn't believe it.
Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 08, 2025 08:50 PM (LgxGb)

Who was the first dumbledore. It all comes full circle.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:52 PM (MGB5H)

193 Shorter: "I see dead people."

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 08, 2025 08:53 PM (RIvkX)

194 Ah, Richard Harris in The Lion in Winter.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:53 PM (iuOmy)

195 Binge watched "The Expanse". The first three seasons were far superior to the Amazon made last three seasons.

I REALLY liked that show. I enjoyed all 6 seasons quite a bit. Enough so that I'm going to purchase the DVD set.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 08:54 PM (byWhc)

196 Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 08, 2025 08:50 PM (LgxGb)

He intentionally stopped the series when it was on top. I wish he would have down a couple more seasons.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:54 PM (VofaG)

197
Oh, and recently watched The Frighteners (1996).

Might want to add this one to your Halloween Movies list.

It's a "quirky' "kooky" movie when Hollywood knew how to make quirky & kooky movies without making the audience bored and roll their eyes.

Posted by: Soothsayer at March 08, 2025 08:54 PM (o3PJz)

198 Ah, Richard Harris in The Lion in Winter.
Posted by: Anna Puma

Peter O'Toole not Richard Harris.

Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 08:54 PM (lJ0H4)

199 Thanks for another great Movie Thread, moviegique! I have never warmed to Soderbergh, except for Logan Lucky, which just kills me every time I watch it! Saw The Conversation mentioned. I watched it this week on Criterion Channel. I have seen it many times over the years, and it again, just totally gripped me and creeped me the f#*k out! What a great, great movie. Coppola made three of the greatest movies ever, all in a row, across three years. Genius!

Posted by: SuperMayorSuperRonNirenberg-Buff,Ruggedly Handsome, Political Hack at March 08, 2025 08:55 PM (Lz+Qs)

200 Tarkovsky did something with Solaris that almost no sci-fi movie has dared to do - he strove to create an entity that was intelligent, but totally alien to us in every way. I believe he said that those who saw it as evil did not understand; we were as alien to it as it was to us, and the bizarre interactions were its attempts to figure out and communicate with us. It was a daring thing to undertake.
Posted by: Tom Servo at March 08, 2025 08:45 PM (h8QI+)

Yeah, that right and more or less the "horror" of "Solaris".

At the end they discover the planet (maybe just the ocean? been awhile) was a big giant alien brain.

But, it couldn't understand them and they couldn't understand it. It just was. And they just were.

Life was all they had in common.

Posted by: naturalfake at March 08, 2025 08:55 PM (iJfKG)

201 Oh great, you mean I got some corrupted memory?

Dang it,.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:55 PM (iuOmy)

202 Was Richard Harris in "The Lion in Winter?" I remember Peter O'Toole. Oh my, he was a beautiful man.

Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 08:55 PM (i/l90)

203 Richard Harris in A Man Named Horse.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:55 PM (VofaG)

204 It's a "quirky' "kooky" movie when Hollywood knew how to make quirky & kooky movies without making the audience bored and roll their eyes.
Posted by: Soothsayer at March 08, 2025 08:54 PM (o3PJz)

Peter Jackson (LotR, iirc.)

It managed to not be scary per se, but disturbing enough to be interesting.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 08:56 PM (bss/y)

205 191 Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:47 PM (g1h/9

Yeah from the Transporter to the Bee Keeper he’s the exact same guy but you need to watch the comedy movie Spy because he was hilarious.

That’s the biggest surprise movie I’ve ever seen. I’d give it 4.5 stars. Melissa McCarthy was very good .
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth

'The Bank Job' is probably the best Jason Statham movie. He's not some super man in it. Just some low level thief who got in over his head. Him and his crew get on the crosshairs of the London mob and MI6. It's a good movie.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 08:56 PM (byWhc)

206 Was Richard Harris in "The Lion in Winter?" I remember Peter O'Toole. Oh my, he was a beautiful man.
Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 08:55 PM (i/l90)

Record for Oscar noms. 9 I believe. No wins.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:57 PM (MGB5H)

207 That’s the biggest surprise movie I’ve ever seen. I’d give it 4.5 stars. Melissa McCarthy was very good .
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:52 PM (VofaG)

Huh, haven't seen that. Thanks!

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 08:57 PM (g1h/9)

208 Oh great, you mean I got some corrupted memory?

Dang it,.
Posted by: Anna Puma

You were close. Harris display King Arthur in the movie version of"Camelot".

Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (lJ0H4)

209 The Bank Job' is probably the best Jason Statham movie. He's not some super man in it. Just some low level thief who got in over his head. Him and his crew get on the crosshairs of the London mob and MI6. It's a good movie.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 08:56 PM (byWhc)

That's a good one. I still always go back to the first transporter for his best tho.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (MGB5H)

210 Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 08:56 PM (byWhc

Always have intended to watch it . Will put it in the queue again.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (VofaG)

211 Richard Harris was the first Dumbledore.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (ZmEVT)

212 Claudia Black is striking in appearance.
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 08:50 PM (iuOmy)

Never heard of her. Looks like a dude.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (lH8E4)

213 It was prolly here, but I read that Russell Crowe went drinking with Richard Harris and Oliver Reed, and he could not keep up. During the filming of Gladiator

Posted by: Pug Mahon at March 08, 2025 08:59 PM (VmWa/)

214 That’s the biggest surprise movie I’ve ever seen. I’d give it 4.5 stars. Melissa McCarthy was very good .
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:52 PM (VofaG)

If you like the humor of McCarthy in spy check out The Heat with her and Sandra bullock. Dumb but hilarious.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:59 PM (MGB5H)

215 208 Oh great, you mean I got some corrupted memory?

Dang it,.
Posted by: Anna Puma

You were close. Harris display King Arthur in the movie version of"Camelot".
Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (lJ0H4)

Heh. I thought Excalibur and thought 'That's not right...'

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 08:59 PM (bss/y)

216 He could keep up, but chose not to.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:59 PM (ZmEVT)

217 Why, no, I didn't see the Magic Mike movies. And that's, O.K.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at March 08, 2025 09:00 PM (RIvkX)

218 Never heard of her. Looks like a dude.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (lH8E4)

The genetic lottery did not favor her in the jawline department. Also, given her physique, there may be PEDs in play, which wouldn't help.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 09:00 PM (g1h/9)

219 Richard Harris was the first Dumbledore.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (ZmEVT)

Yes and he was infinitely better than Michael Gambone.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:00 PM (MGB5H)

220 Oh, and Erin Brockovich was a lying piece of lawyer feces, and so's Soderbergh's movie.

Posted by: gKWVE at March 08, 2025 09:02 PM (gKWVE)

221 I thought Claudia Black was striking in appearance. She was great in Farscape and in in the later seasons of Stargate SG-1.

Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 09:02 PM (i/l90)

222 219 Richard Harris was the first Dumbledore.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (ZmEVT)

Yes and he was infinitely better than Michael Gambone.
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:00 PM (MGB5H)

He managed to convey the presence and calmness of the character from the books.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:02 PM (bss/y)

223 If you like the humor of McCarthy in spy check out The Heat with her and Sandra bullock. Dumb but hilarious.
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 08:59 PM (MGB5H)

Yes it had some good parts and I liked it well enough. I think the entire cast of Spy were hilarious. It was also very well written imo.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 09:02 PM (VofaG)

224 I REALLY liked that show. I enjoyed all 6 seasons quite a bit. Enough so that I'm going to purchase the DVD set.
Posted by: Puddleglum

I really wish they hadn't left the Laconia story line hanging.

Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 09:02 PM (lJ0H4)

225 Think I saw Richard Harris on the Carson show back in the late Cretaceous. He said that he'd been out carousing during the shooting of Cromwell. 'Overslept' and dashed to the set, and gave the speech he was supposed to give to Parliament or whoever. When he was finished, the director said, 'Well, Richard, we got it and it was wonderful, but you're doing the wrong scene.'

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 08, 2025 09:03 PM (q3u5l)

226 Richard Harris was the first Dumbledore.
Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (ZmEVT)

Yes and he was infinitely better than Michael Gambone.
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:00 PM (MGB5H)

He managed to convey the presence and calmness of the character from the books.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:02 PM (bss/y)

And gambone took actual notes from the books and scripts and ignored them like when he screamed at Harry about the goblet of fire. I still hate that scene.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:03 PM (MGB5H)

227 || Yeah that movie is just odd. Three ghosts seemingly stuck on a Karmic wheel to repeat their tragedy for eternity.

"Odd" is one of many fitting adjectives, I'd say. I'd be interested to see the original cut but I doubt we're going to get that.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 09:04 PM (asXVI)

228 31

'I read that Lithgow has been cast as Prof. Dumbledore in the Harry Potter television series.'

Please let one of the female characters be a trans-woman. (fingers crossed)

Posted by: Dr. Claw at March 08, 2025 09:04 PM (3wi/L)

229 There is only one Laconia of importance. British passenger ship by that name in World War II that was sunk by a U-boat and started a chain of events that would have consequences throughout the war.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:05 PM (iuOmy)

230 And gambone took actual notes from the books and scripts and ignored them like when he screamed at Harry about the goblet of fire. I still hate that scene.
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:03 PM (MGB5H)

Yeah, me too. The actor lost me with that single scene.

It is like Chris Pine during the Kobayashi Maru.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:05 PM (bss/y)

231 224 I REALLY liked that show. I enjoyed all 6 seasons quite a bit. Enough so that I'm going to purchase the DVD set.
Posted by: Puddleglum

I really wish they hadn't left the Laconia story line hanging.
Posted by: Tuna

I'm going to read the books at some point. A series like 'The Expanse' is, well, expansive. You just can't get everything in. I've read talks about some movies in the future but I have no idea if it will be pulled off or not.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 09:05 PM (byWhc)

232

The Man Who Would Be King of the Popes

https://youtu.be/L2xWQr4VaUA

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at March 08, 2025 09:05 PM (63Dwl)

233 My favorite Harris movie is Man in the Wilderness.

Man in the Wilderness >>> The Revenant

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 09:05 PM (VofaG)

234 Richard Harris said his grandchildren convinced him to take the Dumbledore role.

Posted by: Megthered at March 08, 2025 09:06 PM (IhCl1)

235 'I read that Lithgow has been cast as Prof. Dumbledore in the Harry Potter television series.'

Please let one of the female characters be a trans-woman. (fingers crossed)
Posted by: Dr. Claw at March 08, 2025 09:04 PM (3wi/L)

Well, you have a black Snape and they are going to play up the gay, so...

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:06 PM (bss/y)

236 116 Binge watched " The Borgias". I do love stories of treachery and deceit.
Posted by: Ben Had at March 08, 2025 08:32 PM (mB6WH)

---------
That Cesare was, shall we say, poorly suited to the clergy.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 08, 2025 09:06 PM (hY4dx)

237 Well, you have a black Snape and they are going to play up the gay, so...
Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:06 PM (bss/y)
My tired old eyes read that as blacksnake.

Posted by: Eromero at March 08, 2025 09:07 PM (LHPAg)

238 My tired old eyes read that as blacksnake.
Posted by: Eromero at March 08, 2025 09:07 PM (LHPAg)

And that made me think of Full Metal Jacket.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:08 PM (bss/y)

239 Everything after Blazing Saddles is crap.

Posted by: jsg at March 08, 2025 09:08 PM (7Z1qL)

240 229 There is only one Laconia of importance. British passenger ship by that name in World War II that was sunk by a U-boat and started a chain of events that would have consequences throughout the war.
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:05 PM (iuOmy)

----------

Accounts were balanced when a Russian sub sent the Wilhelm Gustloff to the bottom in January 1945.

In terms of lives lost, that was the worst maritime disaster in history.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 08, 2025 09:08 PM (hY4dx)

241 Man in the Wilderness >>> The Revenant
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 09:05 PM (VofaG)

Tom Hardy was the best part of the revenant.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:08 PM (MGB5H)

242 I didn't know there was an uncut version. Might fill in some gaps or the obverse make it even more unwatchable.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:09 PM (iuOmy)

243 Claudia Black is one of those beautiful ugly women.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 08:48 PM (VofaG)

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

I describe women who look like that (fairly unique features) as "exotic."

Posted by: ShainS -- TrumpLand Map: Better Coverage than 5G ... Can you hear us now? at March 08, 2025 09:09 PM (4KYlW)

244 213 It was prolly here, but I read that Russell Crowe went drinking with Richard Harris and Oliver Reed, and he could not keep up. During the filming of Gladiator
Posted by: Pug Mahon

And then I read (probably here) that Oliver Reed tried to outdrink some Royal Marines. He died.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 09:09 PM (byWhc)

245 That Cesare was, shall we say, poorly suited to the clergy.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 08, 2025 09:06 PM (hY4dx)

Ever since I read Duff Cooper's biography of Talleyrand, I've thought it could be a scorcher of a series in the right hand.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 09:10 PM (g1h/9)

246 Well, you have a black Snape and they are going to play up the gay, so...
Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:06 PM (bss/y)

Oh and don't discount that they will play up how the mean white kid (James potter) bullies the poor black boy who goes into the be the hero. And I also assume they will understate how absolutely awful Snape was to Harry.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:10 PM (MGB5H)

247 244 213 It was prolly here, but I read that Russell Crowe went drinking with Richard Harris and Oliver Reed, and he could not keep up. During the filming of Gladiator
Posted by: Pug Mahon

And then I read (probably here) that Oliver Reed tried to outdrink some Royal Marines. He died.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 09:09 PM (byWhc)

Heh.

Posted by: Richard Burton at March 08, 2025 09:10 PM (bss/y)

248 239 Everything after Blazing Saddles is crap.

Posted by: jsg at March 08, 2025 09:08 PM (7Z1qL)

Mongo only pawn...in game of life.

Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 09:11 PM (i/l90)

249 Oh and don't discount that they will play up how the mean white kid (James potter) bullies the poor black boy who goes into the be the hero. And I also assume they will understate how absolutely awful Snape was to Harry.
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:10 PM (MGB5H)

I have the same sense about movies/teevee shows today as I do about sportsball: They're not making it for me.

Whoever they're making it for, I don't care anymore.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:12 PM (lH8E4)

250 Cicero

Laconia was sunk. The U-Boat captain tried to do the honorable thing to rescue them. And got bombed for his efforts.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:12 PM (iuOmy)

251 Everything after Blazing Saddles is crap.

Posted by: jsg at March 08, 2025 09:08 PM (7Z1qL)

Harrumph

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:12 PM (MGB5H)

252 And then I read (probably here) that Oliver Reed tried to outdrink some Royal Marines. He died.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 09:09 PM (byWhc)

Somewhat related:
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=ziwAs7ymfMc

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 09:12 PM (g1h/9)

253 Heh.

See a video on ewetub:

'How Rome's Genius City-Building strategy forged an empire.'

Well, for every city but Rome itself.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:13 PM (bss/y)

254 And then I read (probably here) that Oliver Reed tried to outdrink some Royal Marines. He died.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work

Reed played the Wolfman in an early Hammer film. It's actually pretty good, maybe my favorite Wolfman film.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 08, 2025 09:13 PM (LgxGb)

255 I have the same sense about movies/teevee shows today as I do about sportsball: They're not making it for me.

Whoever they're making it for, I don't care anymore.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:12 PM (lH8E4)

I don't disagree. I just have a lot of affection for the hp books. And was excited about a "faithful adaptation" as the show runner claimed. They've killed that months before they even start filming.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:14 PM (MGB5H)

256 Reed was also Athos in The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, but the guy who played Porthos stole the show.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 09:14 PM (g1h/9)

257 Porthos stole the scenery

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:15 PM (iuOmy)

258 Tom Hardy was the best part of the revenant.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:08 PM (MGB5H)

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

A fantastic novel -- and turned off the idiotic movie after 30 minutes of pure #Woke shite.

Tom Hardy is one of my favorite young actors. Terrific in Inception, Warrior, Taboo (his own personal project which unfortunately hasn't resumed after one TV season years ago), Dunkirk (a movie I hated), and stellar in the Peaky Blinders.

Posted by: ShainS -- TrumpLand Map: Better Coverage than 5G ... Can you hear us now? at March 08, 2025 09:15 PM (4KYlW)

259 I don't disagree. I just have a lot of affection for the hp books. And was excited about a "faithful adaptation" as the show runner claimed. They've killed that months before they even start filming.
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:14 PM (MGB5H)

I can't say I've been following it. As imperfect as the movie series was, I don't really think it's possible to improve on it.

Not in our current climate.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:16 PM (lH8E4)

260 Reed was also Athos in The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, but the guy who played Porthos stole the show.
Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 09:14 PM (g1h/9)

Frank Finley. Richard chamberlain was Aramis.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:16 PM (MGB5H)

261 Oliver Reed was in a movie with Gene Hackman called The Hunting Party.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 09:16 PM (VofaG)

262 || I didn't know there was an uncut version. Might fill in some gaps or the obverse make it even more unwatchable.

The director's original cut got chopped down by the studio, which he felt watered down the relationships between the characters.

As it is, it's just shlock. But you're right, the original could go either way. Maybe you care if this other stuff's in there, or maybe you're just bored.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 09:16 PM (asXVI)

263 Laconia was sunk. The U-Boat captain tried to do the honorable thing to rescue them. And got bombed for his efforts.
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:12 PM (iuOmy)

--------

That poses an interesting question of war crimes and morality.

One of the charges against Donitz after the war was that he authorized his submarines to leave the area after sinking a target without making any effort to rescue survivors. IIRC, that charge fizzled because the U.S. Navy brass was well aware that a submarine attempting to rescue its victims was a sitting duck for retaliation by aircraft and surface vessels.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 08, 2025 09:17 PM (hY4dx)

264 I can't say I've been following it. As imperfect as the movie series was, I don't really think it's possible to improve on it.

Not in our current climate.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:16 PM (lH8E4)

My point is (and it is unpopular)- the book quality degraded after the fourth one.

I never really watched the movies because I did not want to change what was in my mind's eye for the books. At least the first four.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:17 PM (bss/y)

265 Haven't seen a lot of Tom Hardy's work, but thought he was excellent in The Drop with James Gandolfini and Noomi Rapace, from a Dennis Lehane story.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 08, 2025 09:17 PM (q3u5l)

266 Tom Hardy is one of my favorite young actors. Terrific in Inception, Warrior, Taboo (his own personal project which unfortunately hasn't resumed after one TV season years ago), Dunkirk (a movie I hated), and stellar in the Peaky Blinders.
Posted by: ShainS -- TrumpLand Map: Better Coverage than 5G ... Can you hear us now? at March 08, 2025 09:15 PM (4KYlW)

Tom Hardy is another one that always brings his all in any role.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:18 PM (MGB5H)

267 Peaky Blinders. Watched season 1 years ago. It was enjoyable. Need to start over and watch again.

Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 09:18 PM (i/l90)

268 Tom Hardy had a small recurring part in Band of Brothers. Heck, more than half of the Yanks in Band of Brothers were Brits.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 08, 2025 09:18 PM (LgxGb)

269 Hackman as the blind monk in Young Frankenstein. I think he was uncredited.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at March 08, 2025 09:18 PM (Uh8P4)

270 Aramis, Porthos and D'artagnan were the Three Musketeers, right? And Cubby, but I'm not sure where he fit in.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 08, 2025 09:19 PM (hY4dx)

271 Porthos stole the scenery
Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:15 PM (iuOmy)

And probably hocked it to buy more gold embroidered clothing.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 09:19 PM (g1h/9)

272 If you asked me to made a sequel to Gladiator, I would have made a prequel with Tom Hardy playing Proximo. I have no idea what they actually did, but I am sure it was crap.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at March 08, 2025 09:20 PM (lhenN)

273 Cicero

Exactly, after that Donitz ordered his U-Boats to not rescue anyone.

As for his war crimes about unrestricted submarine warfare, Nimitz admitted that was US policy against the Japanese. Which neatly torpedoed that charge.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:20 PM (iuOmy)

274 One of the charges against Donitz after the war was that he authorized his submarines to leave the area after sinking a target without making any effort to rescue survivors. IIRC, that charge fizzled because the U.S. Navy brass was well aware that a submarine attempting to rescue its victims was a sitting duck for retaliation by aircraft and surface vessels.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 08, 2025 09:17 PM (hY4dx)

Am I insane or was there a scene in some war movie where a U-boat sinks a ship, surfaces, and then sets up a machine gun on deck to shoot the swimming survivors?

I immediately thought of Blazing Saddles 'Boy, they're strict.'

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:20 PM (bss/y)

275 Haven't seen a lot of Tom Hardy's work, but thought he was excellent in The Drop with James Gandolfini and Noomi Rapace, from a Dennis Lehane story.
Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 08, 2025 09:17 PM (q3u5l)

I liked it.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 09:20 PM (VofaG)

276 Peaky Blinders. Watched season 1 years ago. It was enjoyable. Need to start over and watch again.
Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 09:18 PM (i/l90)

The movie comes out this year. It's a fun show.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:20 PM (MGB5H)

277 Never heard of her. Looks like a dude.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 08:58 PM (lH8E4)

She looks a lot like my step-sister back when sis was a city cop. Personalitywise, too. She was fine, just don't get in her way.

Posted by: Kindltot at March 08, 2025 09:21 PM (D7oie)

278 270 Aramis, Porthos and D'artagnan were the Three Musketeers, right? And Cubby, but I'm not sure where he fit in.
Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at March 08, 2025 09:19 PM (hY4dx)

Athos, Porthos and Aramis.

D'artagnan was the fourth wheel.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:21 PM (bss/y)

279 you asked me to made a sequel to Gladiator, I would have made a prequel with Tom Hardy playing Proximo. I have no idea what they actually did, but I am sure it was crap.
Posted by: BourbonChicken at March 08, 2025 09:20 PM (lhenN)

The original script has Maximus going to the afterlife and slaying the gods. Anything was always going to be lesser than that.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:22 PM (MGB5H)

280 Aramis, Porthos and D'artagnan were the Three Musketeers, right? And Cubby, but I'm not sure where he fit in.
Posted by: Cicero

I think it was Aramis, Porthos and Athos. D'Artagnan was sort of an apprentice in training. And it wasn't Cubby, it was Lonnie.

Posted by: Blutarski, Gradually then Suddenly at March 08, 2025 09:22 PM (LgxGb)

281 My point is (and it is unpopular)- the book quality degraded after the fourth one.

I never really watched the movies because I did not want to change what was in my mind's eye for the books. At least the first four.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:17 PM (bss/y)

I've gotten to the point where I don't really remember what's different about them.

When my daughter was younger, and we were reading the books together, they were releasing the films (I don't remember how far into the series they were by the time she was ready for them), and we'd talk about the differences.

To the extent I still care, I do think it should be possible for any fan of the books to watch the films and be satisfied.

Like I said, they're not perfect (how could they be), but any attempt to do it over, I just can't see the point of it... other than making money. Which they might not.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:22 PM (lH8E4)

282 Am I insane or was there a scene in some war movie where a U-boat sinks a ship, surfaces, and then sets up a machine gun on deck to shoot the swimming survivors?

I immediately thought of Blazing Saddles 'Boy, they're strict.'
Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:20 PM (bss/y)

I saw U-571 only once -- because it sucked -- years ago, but that sounds like something they might have thrown in there.

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 09:22 PM (g1h/9)

283 For an early Gene Hackman appearance, check out "Happy Birthday Everybody," a season-3 episode of the Culp & Cosby classic I Spy.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 08, 2025 09:22 PM (q3u5l)

284 The original script has Maximus going to the afterlife and slaying the gods. Anything was always going to be lesser than that.
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:22 PM (MGB5H)

What is this 'God of War'?

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:23 PM (bss/y)

285 Aetius

Going to have to narrow it down more than that.

Another Doug McClure move is set in the Great War, rescued by an Imperial German U-boat, and ends up on a lost continent full of dinosaurs.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:23 PM (iuOmy)

286 My point is (and it is unpopular)- the book quality degraded after the fourth one.

I never really watched the movies because I did not want to change what was in my mind's eye for the books. At least the first four.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:17 PM (bss/y)

Ya I'd disagree. 6 is by far my favorite.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:24 PM (MGB5H)

287 The original script has Maximus going to the afterlife and slaying the gods. Anything was always going to be lesser than that.
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:22 PM (MGB5H)

So they were going to make a God of War movie, except Roman?

Posted by: Vanya at March 08, 2025 09:24 PM (g1h/9)

288 What is this 'God of War'?
Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:23 PM (bss/y)

Yes, and it would have been amazing.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:24 PM (MGB5H)

289 She looks a lot like my step-sister back when sis was a city cop. Personalitywise, too. She was fine, just don't get in her way.
Posted by: Kindltot at March 08, 2025 09:21 PM (D7oie)

I had to look her up. Still photos are not her friend.

Hard face, fake boobs. Muscles.

Yeah, if you told me she IS a dude, I wouldn't be surprised.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:25 PM (lH8E4)

290 Yes, and it would have been amazing.
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:24 PM (MGB5H)

God of War 2018 showed that you could o some good things with a movie version, imo.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:25 PM (bss/y)

291 Lotta Doug McClure here tonight. (He was also in "The House Where Evil Dwells" and that director's other "classics", "The Land That Time Forgot", etc.)

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 09:25 PM (asXVI)

292 And that is why Claudia Black is striking; she is not another Barbie clone.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:26 PM (iuOmy)

293 The Shadow 1992 has an amazing soundtrack..

https://youtu.be/1NHCTaitA8E?si=etbYw9nXhE7JyZgB

Posted by: BourbonChicken at March 08, 2025 09:26 PM (lhenN)

294 Could make it a Doug McClure trilogy where he is that Coastie on a derelict sailboat in the Bermuda Triangle.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:27 PM (iuOmy)

295 I never really watched the movies because I did not want to change what was in my mind's eye for the books. At least the first four.
Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:17 PM (bss/y)

Ya I'd disagree. 6 is by far my favorite.
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:24 PM (MGB5H)

Interestingly, I think the fifth book was the hardest to read, because there was so much negativity to it, but the movie version managed to make it more fun.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:27 PM (lH8E4)

296 If you like Tom Hardy, "Locke" is literally 90 minutes of Tom Hardy driving a car. He's the only character on screen.

https://moviegique.com/2014/05/locke/

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 09:27 PM (asXVI)

297 Make it a McClure tetralogy and toss in Humanoids from the Deep. He was in that one, right?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at March 08, 2025 09:28 PM (q3u5l)

298 Hard face, fake boobs. Muscles.

Yeah, if you told me she IS a dude, I wouldn't be surprised.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:25 PM (lH8E4)

I think we are getting into 'pointy elbows' territory.

https://tinyurl.com/2s3syznd

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:28 PM (bss/y)

299 Or from 1983 and Japan - Locke the Superman.

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:28 PM (iuOmy)

300 Interestingly, I think the fifth book was the hardest to read, because there was so much negativity to it, but the movie version managed to make it more fun.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:27 PM (lH8E4)

While 5 is far from my favorite I do like the characterization of growing up and how as a 14/15 all the different things are going through and how those things reconcile in your mind

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:30 PM (MGB5H)

301 293 The Shadow 1992 has an amazing soundtrack..

https://youtu.be/1NHCTaitA8E?si=etbYw9nXhE7JyZgB
Posted by: BourbonChicken at March 08, 2025 09:26 PM (lhenN)

Vanessa Williams? Mom is a bit OCD and that movie was a favorite.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:30 PM (bss/y)

302 23 Did see a preview for a Nic Cage movie coming out where his character returns to the beach where he grew up and is terrorized by surfer thugs who see him as an outsider.

I predict the line "EAT THE RAT!!" is the new "NOT THE BEEEEEES!!!".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 08, 2025 07:44 PM (kpS4V)

———

I watched Snake Eyes last night and thought it was really good. I think it may have been Cage’s best acting.

Posted by: MAGA_Ken at March 08, 2025 09:30 PM (3NiEn)

303 Claudia Black is just ugly as a blonde. I’ve never seen such a difference with just a hair color change.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 09:30 PM (VofaG)

304 Am I insane or was there a scene in some war movie where a U-boat sinks a ship, surfaces, and then sets up a machine gun on deck to shoot the swimming survivors?
I immediately thought of Blazing Saddles 'Boy, they're strict.'
Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:20 PM (bss/y)

Thus illustrating the need to jam the radar.

Posted by: gKWVE at March 08, 2025 09:31 PM (gKWVE)

305 Taboo (his own personal project which unfortunately hasn't resumed after one TV season years ago)

I liked that odd, little, show. It was a cross between historical drama and mystical weirdness. I was interested to see where it would lead but alas, not going to happen.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 09:31 PM (byWhc)

306 302 23 Did see a preview for a Nic Cage movie coming out where his character returns to the beach where he grew up and is terrorized by surfer thugs who see him as an outsider.

I predict the line "EAT THE RAT!!" is the new "NOT THE BEEEEEES!!!".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at March 08, 2025 07:44 PM (kpS4V)

———

I watched Snake Eyes last night and thought it was really good. I think it may have been Cage’s best acting.
Posted by: MAGA_Ken

'Lord of War' is an excellent Nic Cage flick.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 09:32 PM (byWhc)

307 I watched Snake Eyes last night and thought it was really good. I think it may have been Cage’s best acting.
Posted by: MAGA_Ken at March 08, 2025 09:30 PM (3NiEn)

My favorite Cage movie is Valley Girl. Probably because of the soundtrack.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at March 08, 2025 09:33 PM (VofaG)

308 Interestingly, I think the fifth book was the hardest to read, because there was so much negativity to it, but the movie version managed to make it more fun.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:27 PM (lH8E4)

While 5 is far from my favorite I do like the characterization of growing up and how as a 14/15 all the different things are going through and how those things reconcile in your mind
Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:30 PM (MGB5H)

Yeah, the kids are definitely growing up, and I think the Umbridge character is an important addition to the mix, but man is it a struggle to see her triumphant as long as she is.

Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:33 PM (lH8E4)

309 || Make it a McClure tetralogy and toss in Humanoids from the Deep. He was in that one, right?

He certainly was. And "Warlords from the Deep" and "Death Race" (but not "Death Race 2000", the Corman classic) and "Terror in the Skies" and and and...

There's a reason for the Simpson's "Troy McClure".

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 09:33 PM (asXVI)

310 304 Am I insane or was there a scene in some war movie where a U-boat sinks a ship, surfaces, and then sets up a machine gun on deck to shoot the swimming survivors?
I immediately thought of Blazing Saddles 'Boy, they're strict.'
Posted by: Aetius451AD at March 08, 2025 09:20 PM (bss/y)

Thus illustrating the need to jam the radar.
Posted by: gKWVE

There was a fantastic Twilight Zone episode that sounds like what your describing.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 09:34 PM (byWhc)

311 watched Snake Eyes last night and thought it was really good. I think it may have been Cage’s best acting.
Posted by: MAGA_Ken

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:34 PM (MGB5H)

312 @239 Everything after Blazing Saddles is crap.

True. My all time favorite movie. I never laughed so hard.

Posted by: Case at March 08, 2025 09:34 PM (xcRXq)

313 Frank Finlay.

Fond memories of the Four Musketeers.

First date of a great gal that loved me all of her heart and eventually married me.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 09:34 PM (ZmEVT)

314 Nicholas Cage as Big Daddy

Posted by: Anna Puma at March 08, 2025 09:34 PM (iuOmy)

315 You cannot see it in the original cut. History has been edited.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 09:35 PM (ZmEVT)

316 >If you like Tom Hardy, "Locke" is literally 90 minutes of Tom Hardy driving a car. He's the only character on screen.

(Also he talks on the phone.)

Yeah it was a radio drama plus an advertisement for the fx people who make a car in a warehouse seem to on the highway in the rain.

It was well executed, that I was hooked on the story, but I was kind of angry that they made it. Movie makers have an obligation to lean into the strengths of the medium they chose.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at March 08, 2025 09:35 PM (lhenN)

317 Yeah, the kids are definitely growing up, and I think the Umbridge character is an important addition to the mix, but man is it a struggle to see her triumphant as long as she is.
Posted by: BurtTC at March 08, 2025 09:33 PM (lH8E4)

I hate her as you are supposed to. But Umbridge was great character. And that's another instance of the books showing so much more than the movies

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:35 PM (MGB5H)

318 "Stop sucking on my elbow."

Posted by: no one of any consequence at March 08, 2025 09:35 PM (ZmEVT)

319 Nood

Posted by: Tuna at March 08, 2025 09:36 PM (lJ0H4)

320 Nicolas Cage in Valley Girl. Sigh.

Posted by: ScaryMary at March 08, 2025 09:36 PM (i/l90)

321 Tom Hardy's first leading role Bronson. A guy sentenced to reason that ends up in 3 decades of solitary. Freaking amazing performance.

Posted by: BruceWayne at March 08, 2025 09:39 PM (MGB5H)

322 Nicolas Cage's best role was the Kaufman brothers in Adaptation . Also Matchstick Men.

Posted by: Pug Mahon at March 08, 2025 09:39 PM (VmWa/)

323 319 Nood
Posted by: Tuna

Wait!! We're still talking movie here!!

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at March 08, 2025 09:40 PM (byWhc)

324 Paul's uncle was a Frog man in WWII . He said the reason the US shot Japanese soldiers who went in the water was that more than once the US boats would go to rescue them and they would have booby-trapped themselves so that they could blow up the US ships.

He said it was really hard to see survivors in the water and know that they wouldn't be rescued. If they got too close to the ships, they had to shoot them or risk their boat and shipmates getting blown up.

Harsh, but ultimately necessary.

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, Plucky Comic Relief, AoS Ladies Brigade - Eat the Cheesecake, Buy the Yarn. at March 08, 2025 09:43 PM (SRRAx)

325 Thanks for the chat, everyone!

See you on the 29th when we'll be talking "Eraserhead" and "Welcome Back, Mr. MacDonald!"

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 09:45 PM (asXVI)

326 (We probably won't be talking either. But who knows?)

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at March 08, 2025 09:56 PM (asXVI)

327 hello!,I love your writing very so much! percentage we communicate extra approximately your article
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Posted by: Prostadine at March 08, 2025 11:24 PM (yeEXU)

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