Saturday Evening Move Thread[movigique]: The Life Of Chuck/Eddington

A relatively quiet three weeks since we talked about Return of the Living Dead. We saw two new movies: The Life of Chuck and Eddington, and two classics, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and The Apartment.

It probably goes without saying that the new movies are not in the same league as the classics, but it's not really fair to come to any conclusions about the state of cinema from that. On IMDB, The Apartment is #98 on the list of all-time greatest movies, while Cuckoo's Nest clocks in at #19.

The Boy (who is now "nearly 29" himself, creating an odd temporal paradox) is one of my metrics for classic films. He, for example, really enjoyed all the 1984 movies we saw—clear-eyed evaluation of the entertainment value of Return of the Living Dead and Repo Man (good, worthy but started stronger than it ended)—and Cuckoo knocked his socks off.

The Apartment less so. I personally felt a strange nostalgia for this time on aesthetic level. Not the depiction of life, really: The idea of an insurance drone whose rent is a about week's pay ($80) for a West Side New York apartment near Central Park is far enough removed to be a fairy tale in 2025. But, man, this is a good looking film, with Wilder bringing his noir chops into a comedy-drama.

I've never seen a young Shirley MacLaine on the big screen, and she's tragically adorable.

When receiving an international honor, Wilder said the story (which showcases immorality) could have happened in any city in the world except Moscow, the communists all broke out in applause. Then he said, "Because nobody has their own apartment in Moscow."

I could talk about it forever. But we can't live in the past, and we wouldn't want to, unless it was the movie past. So let's soldier on.

A manic-pixie-dream-girl failure film.

The Life Of Chuck

The life of Chuck is a three part story told backwards which, during the first part—actually the last part narratively, gawrdangit I hate it when they do this—created in me a sense of anxiety. Not like Eddington, which I'll discuss in a bit, but more like "Oh, no, what have I done?"

You see, the first part shows the world ending. And it's ending in the way a CNN watcher would perceive it as ending. I don't know how else to describe it. Chiwetel Ejiofor, whose name I have been struggling to pronounce for half my life at this point, is Marty, a teacher who's dealing with the death of the Internet, kids not showing up to school, roads literally collapsing, PornHub going away, etc.

Then there's a speech (by Carl Lumbly), a monologue of liberal pieties about man's mistreatment of the Earth, which is short-circuited by "but this is even bigger".

Meanwhile, inexplicably, signs appear all over town, in windows, on TV, "Thanks, Chuck! For 39 great years of service!"

This message is actually weirder after the exposition.

Nobody knows who Chuck is, however.

We meet Chuck in Act II. He's an accountant, played by Tom Hiddleston, and he's at a conference when he walks past a busker drumming. But he doesn't walk past, he starts to dance instead. And he's good. And he's joined by a young woman (Karen Gillan) whose boyfriend just broke up with her via text.

In the last part of the movie (Act I), we see young Chuck, and we get an explanation for his behavior and, essentially, what happened in the first part of the movie.

The Boy and I liked this, but for me, the experience was rather odd. There were things that I didn't like at first that won me over eventually.

Dancing is fun. Movies used to know this.

Pluses, Delayed Pluses

First of all, I have to call out the movie's look. It's a good look. It's not generic, it's not color-coded, it's not ugly. This means it towers over the average 2020s era film.

Second, the acting is impeccable. Hiddleston probably goes without saying. If you only know him as Loki, you might not recognize him. You'll hear a lot about Mark Hamill because it's probably his best performance ever as Chuck's grandfather. Chuck's grandmother is played by Mia Sara (forever best known as Ferris Beuller's girlfriend, Sloan, looking lovely and unmodified here). And if that's not enough of an '80s cage-rattler, Chuck's nosey neighbor who lets him in on the family secret is played by Heather Langenkamp, nasal cannulas hanging on her upper lip.

No, no, she's great. Really. I just need to lie down.

Anyway, the acting is top notch, with many fine actors having small but meaningful parts: Mathew Lillard, Harvey Gullen, David Dastmalchian. On and on.

So, where did it put me off?

Like every generation, GenX believed they would never grow old. (Probably because they were gonna die young in quicksand or possibly being eaten by piranhas.)

Well, there's a narrator (Nick Offerman). I'm leery of narrators. Show me the story. If I wanted a narrator, I'll read the book. But this is very well done. By Act II, I had decided it was a good choice.

The music (The Newton Brothers) does this low-toned "bong" at significant dramatic moments which I rolled my eyes at at first. But ultimately it fits with the tenor of the film: This is a movie about a man's life, and the consequential and inconsequential aspects thereof, and how we don't necessarily know which is which.

It didn't forget its mission. It is very United Colors of Moviemaking, with an improbable racial mix, but everyone's talented so, y'know, who really cares about that?

Is it great? Ironically, perhaps, it's the philosophical underpinning of the story that is the weakest. Like, the third act (the beginning)—a very writerly concept shoehorned into the Everyman's head—doesn't actually make any sense in the context of the story. Literally everyone in the apocalyptic part of the story should know who Chuck is.

Furthermore, the punchline/twist is fine, but also doesn't comport with human behavior in any very admirable way. Chuck has a choice about living that he makes in a life-affirming way. But he also keeps his choice a secret, which strikes me as very selfish.

This is done far, far better in the Korean film Be With You.

"Oh, God. I look 20 years old."

-- Heather Langenkamp in "Nightmare on Elm Street" // "The muffins have a lot of bran in them, good for the digestion." -- Heather Langenkamp in "The Life of Chuck"

Eddington

My review of any Ari Aster movie is going to be "I liked it, but I can't really recommend it to almost anyone." Hereditary is his most normal of films, being essentially a remake of Rosemary's Baby, with emphasis on moody anxiety and shocking gore. I consider Beau is Afraid to be a masterpiece surreal picaresque but I can't blame people for not wanting to spend three hours in anxiety for entertainment purposes.

Well, if you like anxiety, and you especially like it when it hits close to home and reminds you of a bunch of real-world unpleasant experiences, let me tell you: Eddington is the movie for you.

The plot, ostensibly, is that normal, none-too-bright sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix in the most normal role I've seen him in since Signs) is fed up with also none-too-bright establishment stooge mayor (Pedro Pascal in the kind of role he shines in), and so decides to run against him for mayor, immediately turning the sheriff's office into his makeshift campaign HQ (which can't possibly be legal). Well, it's a small town, so as it turns out the sheriff's (mysteriously sexually traumatized) wife (Emma Stone) used to date the sheriff when she was sixteen, and the sheriff's wife vanished years ago, while his son is getting to BLM activism because the one cute white girl in Eddington is an activist, organizing road blocks and apologizing for her privilege.

"Six feet!" Joaquin reminds Pedro, even though he doesn't believe in any of it.

Actually, every white young adult in the movie punctuates every thing they say with apologies for being white. Even at a prominent funeral, the eulogizers apologize for daring to speak on "stolen land". The mayor is a self-serving jerk, but the sheriff is an impetuous idiot who wrecks his own life by trying to tie his wife's trauma to his candidacy.

This ushers in the end of the second act, when the sheriff's impulsive nature gets the better of him, and the third act ratchets into increasing insanity and violence.

But Is It Any Good?

The Boy liked it. The Barbarienne gave it 9 out of 10 (which may be her lowest rating). Me?

Well, "good" or not, I wouldn't recommend this movie to most people. Like, in the beginning of the movie when the sheriff (who is asthmatic) rolls out to the grocery store, and reminds the grocery store bouncers (remember those?) that they don't really have the authority to police masking, and everyone's standing six feet apart waiting to get in, and nobody's wearing a mask properly anyway, but everyone's talking about all the death caused by Covid-19 (or is it?)�there's no denying that Aster captures the insanity of the lockdown/masking period.

There's also no denying that the events of the movie, which has everyone scrolling their devices constantly, and seeing stories about murder hornets, pedophile rings, etc., go by, reflect the distracted, sanity-baiting life a la mode.

Actually, the entire movie is populated by morons and madmen.

The small scope of the film works as a perfect satire. There is one homeless guy who wanders around. He's genuinely a menace but there's not really anything anyone can do for him or to him, and he ends up being the catalyst for the sheriff's denouement. (Keep the word "denouement" in mind. It's going to come back.) The BLM protests block a road, but there's really no reason for anyone to care about it. There's no traffic on the road, and the town appears to be largely deserted. (The Mayor's son mocks the Sheriff for driving around yelling out his campaign promises to, essentially, no one.)

The sheriff's crazy mother-in-law (Deirdre O'Connell) watches a constant feed of conspiracy theories, and her ultimate fate is clearly meant to be satirical�it doesn't make any actual sense�but I didn't feel like this was a political film. If it was, it fails at that, and (ironically?) it might have been a better film if it�had been political.

Ad Aster

As my children pointed out, this is an Ari Aster film, and as such things that I view as its failings are probably my own in having the wrong expectations.

Your wife, introducing you to the cult leader she's about to allow to impregnate her.

To me, the brilliance of�Beau is Afraid is the largely agency-free Beau struggles to survive and manages, ultimately, to gain some control over an existence which is literally insane. I don't mean that�he's insane; I mean the�world is insane. It is, at times, out to get him, and if we take his struggle literally (or maybe even if only metaphorically), his willingness to forge on become increasingly admirable. In this framework, the indignities and absurdities of the world are not just encouraging us to point-and-laugh.

Here, the Sheriff has apparent agency, but this is largely thwarted by his own impulsiveness. By the end of Act II, he does something to set himself on a path that goes increasingly out-of-control. The movie is over at that point, and the last hour is just a depiction of his descent�the denouement, in other words is�a full hour before the end of the movie.

So, while the proceedings were often entertaining�e.g., a Kyle Rittenhouse callback where a young man saving the Sheriff's life has his phone in one hand and a gun that he's filming while he's firing it in the other�they were dramatically pointless. There was nothing to be learned, and no one to root for, unless one wants to root for "mere anarchy".

I expected better emotional resonance or, as I said, even a political message might have been welcome if just to explain why I sat there for two-and-a-half hours. Somehow, I expected more.

When the cops pull up to remind you to wear a mask. While sitting in a car. Alone. At the outskirts of town.

But I didn't expect anything on the level of�The Apartment or�One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, which maybe is actually telling in itself.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:13 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 At the end of Eddington, "Young Mr. Lincoln" is playing on TV and I'm not sure if that's supposed to mean something or not. (I had to download a crappy bootleg to figure this out, too.)

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 02, 2025 07:30 PM (asXVI)

2 Well, I was trying to take out the special characters and it looks like that stomps the comments.

Sorry!

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 02, 2025 07:36 PM (asXVI)

3 Wait...maybe it doesn't.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 02, 2025 07:36 PM (asXVI)

4 Maybe I'm just talking to myself.

Maybe that's all I've EVER done!

Auuuuuu--*flips PKDick Switch off*--okay, I'm fine now, thanks.

Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 02, 2025 07:38 PM (asXVI)

5 I'd like to do a post on "the 80s movie." Though it's not necessarily something one can quantify, there is something there. I have a list of 80s movies for my sons to watch (16 and 13), but they show zero interest. Not even a couple of minutes will they give me to watch CLOAK AND DAGGER or KRULL or TIME BANDITS, etc. Maybe when they are 29, haha.

Posted by: Lex at August 02, 2025 07:39 PM (y4H1r)

6 Well, I was trying to take out the special characters and it looks like that stomps the comments.

Sorry!
Posted by: moviegique (buy my books) at August 02, 2025 07:36 PM (asXVI)
----
Do you do a cut/paste from Word? If so, you might consider turning off the "smart quotes." That's what tends to cause a lot of problems.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 02, 2025 07:43 PM (IBQGV)

7 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of the best movies ever made. Particularly when you know the back story.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 02, 2025 07:45 PM (viF8m)

8 What a strange film isnt chuck based on a stephem king story

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 07:46 PM (bXbFr)

9 Perfesser--

No, I paste from my blog's editor because (ha! ha!) that should be more compatible. I use the charset.org converted when I paste it over, but I manage to get that wrong in a surprising number of ways.

Of course, it doesn't show up in the preview.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 07:49 PM (asXVI)

10 Evening everyone

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2025 07:49 PM (JnW4x)

11 One of the least appealing billy wildee stories sunset boulevard being among the best stalag 17 also

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 07:49 PM (bXbFr)

12 Lex--

There is definitely an '80s-movie...genre/metagenre/whatever.

Are you saying your kids won't watch "Die Hard" or "Predator"?

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 07:50 PM (asXVI)

13 One, Two, Three is one of Wilder's best in my opinion.

Posted by: Lex at August 02, 2025 07:51 PM (y4H1r)

14 Cervantes--

"Life of Chuck" is based on a Stephen King story. And I really was worried it was just going to be a bunch of his neuroses. (It was only a few of them.)

Billy Wilder stories always have a dark undercurrent. The Boomers somehow managed to think they were the only one to ever have pop culture with serious "real" topics.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 07:52 PM (asXVI)

15 So now if all out why not watch Chuck in chronological order?

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2025 07:52 PM (JnW4x)

16 Haven't seen Life of Chuck yet, but it's on the watchlist. So far, I've liked what I've seen of Mike Flanagan's adaptations of Stephen King's stuff -- he tries to stay faithful to the source material and he makes a pretty decent flick more often than not. I'd have thought Gerald's Game was unfilmable, but his adaptation wasn't bad at all. And I can't imagine too many people would have even tried to do Doctor Sleep in a way that adapted King's novel as well as serving as a sequel to Kubrick's film of The Shining, and for my money Flanagan brought it off; of course, anything that gives Rebecca Ferguson some screen time gets all kinds of points anyway. His Haunting mini-series on Netflix aren't too shabby (though not as good as his King adaptations), though Midnight Mass didn't really do it for me. So I'm looking forward to Life of Chuck -- just waiting for the price to drop a little, as I'm a cheapskate at the moment.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 07:54 PM (q3u5l)

17 I saw the previews for eddington and it put me right off

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 07:55 PM (bXbFr)

18 No, I paste from my blog's editor because (ha! ha!) that should be more compatible. I use the charset.org converted when I paste it over, but I manage to get that wrong in a surprising number of ways.

Of course, it doesn't show up in the preview.
Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 07:49 PM (asXVI)
---
I know how that goes. I use HTML in Notepad and I still copy over the wrong characters sometimes, especially if I copy/paste from Gmail.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 02, 2025 07:55 PM (IBQGV)

19 Took my sister to see tje F-1 movie last Saturday. She liked it, I thought a few things just couldn't happen ( 60 some yo guys just don't pop into a modern F-1 car, nor back markers just work up to win a race in a season.

But in the long trailers before the movie was a Steven King story with military looking guys murdering a group of civilians who can't walk another step.
No thanks

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2025 07:57 PM (JnW4x)

20 After Hereditary and then one of my all time favorite movies Midsommar I was all in on the Ari Aster bandwagon. I liked Beau is Afraid but didn't reach the heights of Midsommar for me. He seems to have lost the plot with Death of a Unicorn and Eddington.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 07:58 PM (MGB5H)

21 To be fair to current movies, and I don't think we need to be fair to Hollywood, there is always the filtering effect of time. When TCM started, I was surprised how many not good movies were shown. Not terrible, but just meh.
True for music as well.
I don't know if we can be certain it is a dying form. The future cultural historians will decide when it happened.
And grateful for the cobs and Ace. Love Movie Night.
And Shirley MacLaine is the Platonic ideal of what the crazy pixie girl should be. Too bad she turned out nuts. Guess it goes with the territory.

Posted by: PTSD giver at August 02, 2025 07:59 PM (G40c4)

22 15 So now if all out why not watch Chuck in chronological order?

'cause it would seem stupid.

I mean, part of the artistry of telling a story like this is to let the audience build up one thing in their head, and then turn it around to something different.

But the setup here (the apocalyptic act) would just seem sort of poetic but not especially profound if you did it in order. (It's not especially profound, as I said, it's the weakest part. But it would be transparently less so in chronological order.)

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 07:59 PM (asXVI)

23 Re needing to be fair to Hollywood

Someone on X-the-everything-app said "Every time I point out that modern movies suck, I get a perfectly good explanation of why modern movies suck. I don't care. I just want them NOT to suck."

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:01 PM (asXVI)

24 Theres a reason that story hasnt been adapted in 40 years seems like tropes going back to the stand

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 08:01 PM (bXbFr)

25 The long walk when he was in one of his apoxalyptoc benders

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 08:02 PM (bXbFr)

26 Apocalyptic benders

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 08:03 PM (bXbFr)

27 But the first might appy

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 08:03 PM (bXbFr)

28 Movies make me tired. I can't imagine how they affect other people.

Posted by: Eromero at August 02, 2025 08:03 PM (LHPAg)

29 Ari Aster's stuff should do it for me. Dark-check, moody anxiety-check, etc. But for some reason it just doesn't. Don't know why. Have seen Hereditary and Midsommar but haven't tried the others and probably won't. These should be right up my alley. Probably just me.

Caught Return of the Living Dead again last night. Damn, that thing is fun.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 08:04 PM (q3u5l)

30 I just watched Payback with Mel Gibson.

Did you guys know there was a completely different alternate ending? I did not until today. I’ve watched Payback at least a dozen times before today . I did not enjoy this ending and understand why they went with the other one.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:05 PM (VofaG)

31 Hiddleston was in an adaptation of a j ga ballard high rise where things go progressively pearshaped but sienna miller is along for the ride

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 08:05 PM (bXbFr)

32 Fun fact. A hit song for Dionne Warwick was Promises, Promises and that song came from a musical based on The Apartment. Also everybody's dad Fred McMurray is an asshole in that movie

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 02, 2025 08:06 PM (L/fGl)

33 But in the long trailers before the movie was a Steven King story with military looking guys murdering a group of civilians who can't walk another step.
No thanks
Posted by: Skip

Based on a Stephen King short story that is pretty good. It doesn't have a happy ending but it does end, which for King is a plus. He's very good with ideas but awful at completing it.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 08:06 PM (NkASH)

34 Movies make me tired. I can't imagine how they affect other people.
Posted by: Eromero
-------

[fist bump]

Nonetheless:

'Life of Chuck' dance scene:

https://shorturl.fm/9B1l4

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 02, 2025 08:06 PM (XeU6L)

35 "American Farmer" (1954) 27 mins. The story in this Ford Company short resonates exactly with my memories as a big-city boy who lived with country relatives for a couple weeks every summer in the 1950s and 60s. Cast apparently with some real farm folk, it makes me long for the paradise that America was back then. It triggers nostalgia in me as deep as any other piece of film that I can remember. OTOH, it didn't induce me to buy a Ford, so it fails its main intended purpose.
youtube.com/watch?v=mn8ySyvv6Ko

"The 27th Day" (1957) Gotta admit, the story has a couple twists I didn't expect. Paul Frees as The Newscaster brings us his familiar comforting voice in the SF films of the fifties.
youtube.com/watch?v=PwXlLILaaVw

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:07 PM (2XN3U)

36 "12 Angry Men" (1954) 51 mins. Here's the debut of the story, originally written as a Studio One drama. Its hamhanded messaging aside, the live teleplay multicam drama genre was some of the best output of 1950s TV. Vincent Gardenia had a lot of little supporting roles during the run of this series, here appearing as the bailiff, for about five milliseconds. The second half of this kinescope, once believed lost, was rediscovered in 2003.
youtube.com/watch?v=7DkI2I0W5i8

"The Bedford Incident" (1965) I never was a big Poitier fan, and he's really annoying in this one, as a journalist who doesn't know how to use an SLR. There's a preposterous scene where he lectures an actual Nazi about how to detect what journalists today would call 'fascist dog-whistles.' If Captain Widmark was really as bad a hardass as the movie wants him to be, he would have chucked Poitier overboard the very first time he sassed him. A moron suggested that the book is better, and I see that it is available free on archive.org. Movie is free too, here:
youtube.com/watch?v=mYL4ewFDLEs

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:07 PM (2XN3U)

37 All in all Fk Steven King

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2025 08:07 PM (JnW4x)

38 One, Two, Three is one of Wilder's best in my opinion.
Posted by: Lex

Loved that movie.⁸

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 02, 2025 08:09 PM (L/fGl)

39 Re 'Chuck'. Life retrospectives are a little bit hard on me these days. And, they seem to keep, unbidden, falling into my lap.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 02, 2025 08:10 PM (XeU6L)

40 Recently watched.

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)
Remember that suitcase full of cash at the end of Fargo that gets buried in the snow? Kumiko is a twenty-nine year old Tokyo office lady who lives an unfulfilled life decides to find it. Tragic and oddly heroic. Double Plus Good.

Atlantic City (1980)
Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon tell a tale of cocaine, violence, lives trapped, and oddly heroic. Double Plus Good.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 08:11 PM (9vYpt)

41 33 Based on a Stephen King short story that is pretty good. It doesn't have a happy ending but it does end, which for King is a plus. He's very good with ideas but awful at completing it.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 08:06 PM (NkASH)

I feel the same way about Michael Crichton, though a story about a contest that ends when there is only one contestant left alive shouldn't be that difficult to finish.

Posted by: tankdemon at August 02, 2025 08:11 PM (65zPH)

42 Was The Apartment the movie that convinced Fred MacMurray to do only clean-cut wholesome roles in the future?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 08:11 PM (q3u5l)

43 They could remake 12 Angry Men but update it to 12,000,000 Angry Wymyn.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 02, 2025 08:11 PM (L/fGl)

44 If Captain Widmark was really as bad a hardass as the movie wants him to be,
-------

Recollects from *decades* ago:

'If he fires one, I'll fire one'

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 02, 2025 08:12 PM (XeU6L)

45 ||These should be right up my alley. Probably just me.

You may not know my movie reviewing philosophy but I believe there are three types of reviewers:

1. The classic movie reviewer goes into a movie, likes it or doesn't, then selectively uses his experience to justify that;

2. The political movie reviewer goes into a movie to see if it checks his checkboxes, and reports based on that;

3. Me. I don't really think it matters whether I liked it or not, because it's all a matter of taste so I try to communicate in a way that people might know whether they'll like it or not.

I don't like Scorsese much, or Michael Mann, or Woody Allen, or many of the "greats", and I absolutely "should", but taste is taste.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:12 PM (asXVI)

46 A movie I gave up on halfway through: Amazon's remake of War of the Worlds.
Starring aging rapper Ice Cube (guess they couldn't afford Laurence Fishburne) as an DHS computer whiz who is trying to capture a hacker who is going to release the government's superb duper hacking spyware. Mr. Cube spends his time clicking on screen menus which will look ridiculously outdated in five years.
Then the Martians arrive.
Mr. Cube then spends 20 minutes clicking on menus, trying to rescue his grown son and daughter. Fortunately, his offspring are Hollywood Movie Characters, the son being a gifted computer scientist and his daughter a gifted biologist, despite having Issues With Their Father.
Having figured out the rest of the movie, I found something else to watch.
Amazon, notorious for inflating the reviews of their studio products, only shows a 2-star rating.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at August 02, 2025 08:13 PM (Ac/bm)

47 I tried to like Midsommar but I just couldn't. I liked the idea. It's an idea that been done quite a few times now. The Wicker Man for instance (the 1973 version is a classic). I watched Midsommar and kept thinking of other ways to make it better. The writing could have been better too. That cult annoyed me too. The characters annoyed me. At that the end, I would have preferred an ending that involved B-52's and napalm.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 08:13 PM (NkASH)

48 The podcasts dissing midsommer were more entertaining than the movie itself

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 08:15 PM (bXbFr)

49 A movie I gave up on halfway through: Amazon's remake of War of the Worlds.
Starring aging rapper Ice Cube (guess they couldn't afford Laurence Fishburne) as an DHS computer whiz who is trying to capture a hacker who is going to release the government's superb duper hacking spyware. Mr. Cube spends his time clicking on screen menus which will look ridiculously outdated in five years.
Then the Martians arrive.
Mr. Cube then spends 20 minutes clicking on menus, trying to rescue his grown son and daughter. Fortunately, his offspring are Hollywood Movie Characters, the son being a gifted computer scientist and his daughter a gifted biologist, despite having Issues With Their Father.
Having figured out the rest of the movie, I found something else to watch.
Amazon, notorious for inflating the reviews of their studio products, only shows a 2-star rating.
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy

I too made it about half way. Complete dreck. -2 stars.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 08:16 PM (9vYpt)

50 Was The Apartment the movie that convinced Fred MacMurray to do only clean-cut wholesome roles in the future?
Posted by: Just Some Guy

I think so. He said people would confront him on the street for being such an asshole in that movie. Although he was also an asshole in The Caine Mutiny and in Double Indemnity.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 02, 2025 08:16 PM (L/fGl)

51 I hate The Apartment and the complete output of Billy Wilder. He's had nearly as corrosive effect on American culture as John Lennon has.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:16 PM (xcxpd)

52 || Also everybody's dad Fred McMurray is an asshole in that movie

Women came up to him afterwards and yelled at him, because they'd taken their children to see "The Apartment".

||Kumiko

Kumiko is allegedly based on a true story about a girl who's obsessed with finding the money from "Fargo", which also alleged to be a true story.

https://moviegique.com/2015/04/kumiko-the-treasure-thief/

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:17 PM (asXVI)

53 hate The Apartment and the complete output of Billy Wilder. He's had nearly as corrosive effect on American culture as John Lennon has.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:16 PM (xcxpd)

What did you hate about The Apartment?

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:17 PM (VofaG)

54 47 At that the end, I would have preferred an ending that involved B-52's and napalm.
Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 08:13 PM (NkASH)

To be fair, that ending would improve 95% of Hollywood's output over the last decade.

Posted by: tankdemon at August 02, 2025 08:17 PM (65zPH)

55 Nonetheless:

'Life of Chuck' dance scene:

https://shorturl.fm/9B1l4
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 02, 2025 08:06 PM (XeU6L)
Thanks Mike Hammer. I enjoy seeing people dance, probably because I can't dance. No rhythm.

Posted by: Eromero at August 02, 2025 08:18 PM (LHPAg)

56 " movie I gave up on halfway through: Amazon's remake of War of the Worlds."

They couldn't cast Paul Frees as The Newscaster, so it never had a chance.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:19 PM (2XN3U)

57 story about a contest that ends when there is only one contestant left alive shouldn't be that difficult to finish.

-
Chuck Norris survives?

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 02, 2025 08:19 PM (L/fGl)

58 Chuck Norris survives?
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 02, 2025 08:19 PM (L/fGl)

Sean Bean dies?

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at August 02, 2025 08:21 PM (Ac/bm)

59 Almost always

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 08:24 PM (bXbFr)

60 "Cuckoo's Nest" is a fine ensemble acting film. The whole cast swings for the fences.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:24 PM (2XN3U)

61 "Eddington" looks to be a satire of the COVID madness that won't lay the blame where it ought. Having said that, I'll still watch it when it comes to streaming.

Nick Offerman is currently in a movie about a Sovereign Citizen guy who was pulled over by the police and things went south quickly.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 08:25 PM (kpS4V)

62 Thanks Mike Hammer. I enjoy seeing people dance, probably because I can't dance. No rhythm.
Posted by: Eromero
----

Me either. Leo Sayer addressed the issue, amusingly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr3SVkYwfNw

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 02, 2025 08:26 PM (XeU6L)

63 The Reds game is in a rain delay. Is Barbie worth watching or should I watch Virginia Virginia Tech for the 5 th time?

Posted by: Accomack at August 02, 2025 08:26 PM (4qMiv)

64 Cuckoo's Nest" is a fine ensemble acting film. The whole cast swings for the fences.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:24 PM (2XN3U)

There is iron in your words.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:27 PM (VofaG)

65 Haven't seen a lot of Scorsese, but of what I have seen, the only one I really hated was his remake of Cape Fear; if memory serves, he reworked the script's story line and in so doing threw away the heart of John D. MacDonald's novel (which was what really made the story work).

Laughed my backside off at some of the early Woody Allen, before he became Important.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 08:28 PM (q3u5l)

66 I hate The Apartment and the complete output of Billy Wilder. He's had nearly as corrosive effect on American culture as John Lennon has.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:16 PM (xcxpd)

What did you hate about The Apartment?
Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:17 PM (VofaG)

I'll avoid going on a multi-hour rant, which I'm tempted to do at times when I think about Billy Wilder, and summarize to say that it is an endorsement and glamorization of immorality and infidelity. I'd rather watch cuck porn.

It fails to be romantic. It fails to be a comedy. Fran is vile. A vileness with a candy coating, so you can't taste the poison. It just seeps into your system and before you know it, your pee is yellow-green and you have a cough you can't shake.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:29 PM (xcxpd)

67 True for music as well.

-
The Professor of Rock frequently interviews yesterday's big rock stars and, I think, many are happy for the attention. No money changes hands. But when he asked Chubby Checkers for an interview, he demanded a fee of $100,000. No interview happened.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 02, 2025 08:29 PM (L/fGl)

68 I hate The Apartment and the complete output of Billy Wilder. He's had nearly as corrosive effect on American culture as John Lennon has.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:16 PM (xcxpd)

Now just a darn minute! Billy Wilder directed the comedy "Some Like It Hot" which showed us how much fun cross-dressing and pretending to be a woman could be! How could that possibly...

Never mind.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at August 02, 2025 08:30 PM (Ac/bm)

69 Nick Offerman is currently in a movie about a Sovereign Citizen guy who was pulled over by the police and things went south quickly.
||
Yeah, that came out three weeks ago and we just gave it a miss. It's turned out a whopping $50K B.O. so far.

It could be interesting but it seems like there's very little chance of modern Hollywood turning out anything good with that premise.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:30 PM (asXVI)

70 But to change my mood, I did watch Ronin yesterday to begin working on a proper essay about it for TJM's Frankenheimer's retrospective.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:30 PM (xcxpd)

71 Watching Hud right now. It's accurate portrayal of Texas at the time but it's sort of depressing. Okay not sort of, it is depressing.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:31 PM (VofaG)

72 68 I hate The Apartment and the complete output of Billy Wilder. He's had nearly as corrosive effect on American culture as John Lennon has.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:16 PM (xcxpd)

Now just a darn minute! Billy Wilder directed the comedy "Some Like It Hot" which showed us how much fun cross-dressing and pretending to be a woman could be! How could that possibly...

Never mind.
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at August 02, 2025 08:30 PM (Ac/bm)

You beat me to my review of Some Like it Hot

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:31 PM (xcxpd)

73 Arent sovereign citizens bkack

Posted by: Miguel cervantes at August 02, 2025 08:32 PM (bXbFr)

74 I dunno, anybody who could turn out Double Indemnity can't be ALL bad.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 08:32 PM (q3u5l)

75 Now just a darn minute! Billy Wilder directed the comedy "Some Like It Hot" which showed us how much fun cross-dressing and pretending to be a woman could be! How could that possibly...

Never mind.
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at August 02, 2025 08:30 PM (Ac/bm)

He ruined Stalag 17 for me because of that. The Christmas party scene was over the top ridiculous.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:33 PM (VofaG)

76 and summarize to say that it is an endorsement and glamorization of immorality and infidelity. I'd rather watch cuck porn.
||
I'm working for Rotten Tomatoes and am putting Mark's review down as "Fresh".

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:33 PM (asXVI)

77 63 The Reds game is in a rain delay. Is Barbie worth watching or should I watch Virginia Virginia Tech for the 5 th time?
Posted by: Accomack

Go with the Hokies/Cavaliers playing for the Commonwealth Cup!

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 08:34 PM (NkASH)

78 Three good Wilder movies.

1950 Sunset Boulevard
1951 Ace in the Hole
1953 Stalag 17

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Something Smells Funny In Here at August 02, 2025 08:35 PM (L/fGl)

79 What about Sunset Boulevard? Wilder cowrote the screenplay and directed it. I find it to be a masterpiece.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 08:35 PM (9vYpt)

80 "I liked it, but I can't really recommend it to almost anyone" would be my poster tagline to a 60's wild thing I recorded off TCM entitled "Spider Baby", in which Lon Chaney plays the faithful retainer looking after the weird inbred loinfruit of his late master. There are two adorable knife-wielding teen girls and their peeping tom geek brother (the incomparable Sid Haig). One sister is a big fan of spiders, and imagines herself one.

Sister 1 *eats spider*
Sister 2: "Spiders don't eat spiders!"
Sister 1: "Cannibal spiders do!"

The fun begins when greedy relatives want to take the creepy house and environs away from the family.

It has a real "Addams Family" vibe.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 08:36 PM (kpS4V)

81 As a writer, Billy Wilder wrote or contributed to some fun and some great classics, too: Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, Ball of Fire, Ninotchka, The Bishop's Wife, and he consulted on the 1962 "Mutiny on the Bounty".

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:37 PM (asXVI)

82 58 Sean Bean dies?
Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at August 02, 2025 08:21 PM (Ac/bm)

I thought it would have been really funny if Sean Bean just randomly showed up in a Deadpool post credits scene. Deadpool would ask what the hell he was doing there, and Bean explains he had never been in a post credit scene before, for obvious reasons. Deadpool then slices his head off with a katana and says, "I'm not gonna let my movie be the one that ruins your perfect record."

Posted by: tankdemon at August 02, 2025 08:37 PM (65zPH)

83 82 Send my agent a two-page treatment. I'm interested.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:38 PM (2XN3U)

84 I like Shirley MacLaine a lot, but I never liked The Apartment. Maybe it’s the casual immorality by people who should know better. I want to yell at them, “look what you did to our world, thinking that everything was just fun and games!”

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 02, 2025 08:39 PM (t+64Y)

85 "Spider Baby"

Jack Hill, one of the better blaxploitation directors directed that.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:39 PM (asXVI)

86 I'd rather watch cuck porn.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:29 PM (xcxpd)

Check my Only Fans!

Posted by: The Right Reverend French at August 02, 2025 08:39 PM (8hxDK)

87 Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:29 PM (xcxpd)

I saw it as just the opposite as the immoral male characters are highly unlikable. The moral guy gets the girl in the end .

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:40 PM (VofaG)

88 79 What about Sunset Boulevard? Wilder cowrote the screenplay and directed it. I find it to be a masterpiece.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 08:35 PM (9vYpt)

You mean the movie where the gigalo screenwriter fucks an insane elderly woman and gets murdered by her? That laugh riot "comedy"?

This time the poison is coated in a layer of drama and tragedy so you feel sorry for the murderess.

I could go on. I really could.

I know people really love Billy Wilder movies. I cannot convince them just how terrible to Western culture he was. I feel like I'm wearing the 'They Live' glasses.

Or I take things too seriously and I need to get laid.

It's possible.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:40 PM (xcxpd)

89 I want to watch movies to be entertained, not to be enriched or enlightened. I already have plenty of people around to tell me how and why my life sucks.

Posted by: Oddbob at August 02, 2025 08:41 PM (/y8xj)

90 "Sunset Boulevard" is playing in theaters this weekend if anyone needs to see it on the big screen. If you haven't before, it's great. And old washed up Hollywood stars play washed up Hollywood stars, so it's very meta.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 08:41 PM (kpS4V)

91 I agree that Sunset Boulevard is an absolute masterpiece. It helps that both Gloria Swanson / Nora Desmond and “Max” are playing exaggerated caricatures of themselves.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 02, 2025 08:41 PM (t+64Y)

92 I get the morality issues with Wilder, I really do.

But do you see "The Apartment" glamorizing adultery? The adulterers are at no point presented as admirable. The girls are mostly just bimbos. Fran is more of a naif, but she does try to kill herself.

I mean, the redemption of Lemmon's character is that he gives up all the rewards of his weak, sinful life and starts over with Fran, right?

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:42 PM (asXVI)

93 || Or I take things too seriously and I need to get laid.

That's what Wilder would have said!

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:44 PM (asXVI)

94 92 I get the morality issues with Wilder, I really do.

But do you see "The Apartment" glamorizing adultery? The adulterers are at no point presented as admirable. The girls are mostly just bimbos. Fran is more of a naif, but she does try to kill herself.

I mean, the redemption of Lemmon's character is that he gives up all the rewards of his weak, sinful life and starts over with Fran, right?

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:42 PM (asXVI)

I absolutely think The Apartment was a strong movement towards normalizing adultery.

And Lemmon's character is simping for a woman who was in an adulterous relationship and had no moral qualms about it (IMO). He's a terrible person and 'role model'. The whole movie is full of horrible people.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:45 PM (xcxpd)

95 I saw it as just the opposite as the immoral male characters are highly unlikable. The moral guy gets the girl in the end .

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:40 PM (VofaG)

Jack Lemmon is not the moral guy. Seriously.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:46 PM (xcxpd)

96 Well, I guess we get film makers who give us stories that show us the way we like to think we are (and sometimes really are) and film makers who like to turn over the rocks.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 08:46 PM (q3u5l)

97 This thread is getting to heavy to ask if anybody has seen the new "Naked Gun".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 08:46 PM (kpS4V)

98 86 I'd rather watch cuck porn.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:29 PM (xcxpd)

Check my Only Fans!
Posted by: The Right Reverend French at August 02, 2025 08:39 PM (8hxDK)

Snort

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:47 PM (xcxpd)

99 94 I understand your point.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:47 PM (2XN3U)

100 You mean the movie where the gigalo screenwriter fucks an insane elderly woman and gets murdered by her? That laugh riot "comedy"?

It’s not “about” that at all, and it’s certainly not a comedy. I would say it’s about how Hollywood builds people up, uses them ruthlessly, , and then spits them out the instant they’re not useful anymore.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 02, 2025 08:47 PM (t+64Y)

101 97 This thread is getting to heavy to ask if anybody has seen the new "Naked Gun".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 08:46 PM (kpS4V)

I'm prepared to give it a shot. I like the Lonely Island guys.

Hopefully some moron will give a review.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:47 PM (xcxpd)

102 Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:45 PM (xcxpd)

Do you like the mob movies like the Godfather series, Goodfellows, Casino ,etc ?

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:47 PM (VofaG)

103 97 This thread is getting to heavy to ask if anybody has seen the new "Naked Gun".

I have not.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:48 PM (asXVI)

104 "Do you like the mob movies like the Godfather series, Goodfellows, Casino ,etc ?"

Do you like Macbeth? The Book of Judges? Just joking. I DO take your point.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:49 PM (2XN3U)

105 Jack Lemmon is not the moral guy. Seriously.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:46 PM (xcxpd)

That's an opinion.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:50 PM (VofaG)

106 Do you like the mob movies like the Godfather series, Goodfellows, Casino ,etc ?
Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:47 PM (VofaG)

Do I like them...hmm. Not morally. I do think they make gangsters look glamourous. For example Scarface literally inspired inner city yutes to get into the drug trade.

Goodfellows does sorta show the dark side of La Cosa Nostra, but it comes late.

This is a separate judgement from the filmmaking skill in the above.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:50 PM (xcxpd)

107 "That's an opinion."

And if there's one thing we don't come to the movie thread for, it's opinions!

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:50 PM (2XN3U)

108 Haven't seen the new Naked Gun yet, but wasn't it the subject of a thread here a couple of days ago? Or am I dry-hallucinating again?

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 08:51 PM (q3u5l)

109 Some Like Hot is a farce, a comedy, and it is great one. I have watched many times and not once did I find myself induced to commit acts of depravity or watch "cuck porn." What it was done as an Italian opera?

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 08:51 PM (Yw5Tb)

110 106 Scorsese didn't turn the whole culture into greaseball mobsters. Nor did it grow our crop of real-life gangstas.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:52 PM (2XN3U)

111 105 Jack Lemmon is not the moral guy. Seriously.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:46 PM (xcxpd)

That's an opinion.
Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:50 PM (VofaG)

Of course. Possibly (probably) a minority view but one I could support using the text and subtext of the movie.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:52 PM (xcxpd)

112 That's an opinion."

And if there's one thing we don't come to the movie thread for, it's opinions!
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:50 PM (2XN3U)

It was supposed to be ' That's one opinion'

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:52 PM (VofaG)

113 Carl Lumbly

Martian Manhunter!

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 02, 2025 08:52 PM (CHHv1)

114 I absolutely think The Apartment was a strong movement towards normalizing adultery.
---
Huh. Maybe.

----
And Lemmon's character is simping for a woman who was in an adulterous relationship and had no moral qualms about it (IMO).
----
I remember reading the Lewinsky transcripts and, on reflection, her mindset seems to have been the same as Fran's. "We're in love, so nothing else matters."

Of course, HE has an entirely different mindset.

Apparently this movie was inspired by the 1948 David Lean film "Brief Encounter". And I'm not sure that that film was exactly novel in its treatment of adultery.

---
He's a terrible person and 'role model'. The whole movie is full of horrible people.
---
Welcome to New York City!

I don't think C. C. Baxter is meant to be a role model, exactly. Not until he does the right thing and give up the material rewards his immoral behavior has brought him.

Neither is Fran a role model, except when she gives up on Fred MacMurray.

But I also don't look to movie characters to be role models.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:53 PM (asXVI)

115 110 106 Scorsese didn't turn the whole culture into greaseball mobsters. Nor did it grow our crop of real-life gangstas.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:52 PM (2XN3U)

Only because the Mafia stopped hiring.
Scarface sure as heck did inspire a whole lotta Gangstas. So did New Jack City, and Prince of New York.

Art influences people, that's why it matters, right?

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:53 PM (xcxpd)

116 This thread is getting to heavy to ask if anybody has seen the new "Naked Gun".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 08:46 PM (kpS4V)

I'm prepared to give it a shot. I like the Lonely Island guys.

Hopefully some moron will give a review.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo

It was freaking hilarious. 2 scenes in particular you couldn't hear what they were saying because the entire crowd was crying laughing. It def belongs to the naked gun lineage. Not a cheap know off.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 08:54 PM (MGB5H)

117 Even if you grant a correlation between morality in movies and in contemporary culture (I wouldn't rule it out at all) you still have to answer which caused which. Was Wilder the force behind decadence, or was Wilder reflecting the decline he saw for himself?

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:55 PM (2XN3U)

118 I don't think C. C. Baxter is meant to be a role model, exactly. Not until he does the right thing and give up the material rewards his immoral behavior has brought him.

Neither is Fran a role model, except when she gives up on Fred MacMurray.

But I also don't look to movie characters to be role models.
Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:53 PM (asXVI)

But it does affect people. Look, it's subtle. The poison is sugar coated. Maybe I'm imagining things but I don't think so.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:55 PM (xcxpd)

119 I thought "Hereditary" was terrible so I have avoided Ari Aster's films since. Same with Yorgos Lanthimos after seeing "The Lobster."

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at August 02, 2025 08:55 PM (CHHv1)

120 Knock off*

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 08:55 PM (MGB5H)

121 It was freaking hilarious. 2 scenes in particular you couldn't hear what they were saying because the entire crowd was crying laughing. It def belongs to the naked gun lineage. Not a cheap know off.
Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 08:54 PM (MGB5H)

Thanks man, I appreciate that. I may have to make time for it this Tuesday.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:56 PM (xcxpd)

122 My kid likes bird movies: Rio, Migration and Bolt. She really likes Bolt.
I don't know who the blonde is narrating this thing about Charles1.
She's a 1.

Posted by: Accomack at August 02, 2025 08:56 PM (Bbhox)

123 But that's the thing about movies, as I was saying above: Taste.

I used to think I didn't like Martin Scorsese because he made movies about scumbags. Wife-beating idiot boxers, gangsters, psychopaths.

And then he made "Hugo" about a pre-WWI movie biz with Lumiere, and automatons and all these things I love and, good lord, I wanted to lie down and take a nap.

Taste trumps all.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:56 PM (asXVI)

124 "Scarface sure as heck did inspire a whole lotta Gangstas. "

Yes. I was merely pointing out Scorsese specifically was probably a bad example.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:56 PM (2XN3U)

125 Art influences people, that's why it matters, right?
---

No?

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:57 PM (asXVI)

126 was freaking hilarious. 2 scenes in particular you couldn't hear what they were saying because the entire crowd was crying laughing. It def belongs to the naked gun lineage. Not a cheap know off.
Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 08:54 PM (MGB5H)

Thanks man, I appreciate that. I may have to make time for it this Tuesday.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:56 PM (xcxpd)

It has all the hallmark stupid gags and the taking words literally that leads to a lot of laughs. The coffee cup bit was pretty good. And when Pam Anderson is asked to take a chair and she says that ok I have a lot of chairs at home.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 08:58 PM (MGB5H)

127 117 Even if you grant a correlation between morality in movies and in contemporary culture (I wouldn't rule it out at all) you still have to answer which caused which. Was Wilder the force behind decadence, or was Wilder reflecting the decline he saw for himself?
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 08:55 PM (2XN3U)

Now that's a good question.

My problem with Wilder is that he constantly in his filmography highlights morally corrosive behavior but frequently cast in a way to make it acceptable and amusing. Once or twice is one thing but Wilder does it again and again.

He's not like oh, Kobayashi in 'I Will Buy You' where he's highlighting the corruption in Japanese Baseball.

Wilder is making corruption seem fun, funny, harmless.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:58 PM (xcxpd)

128 I think I'll see it tomorrow.

I hear Pamela's scene in the jazz club singing scat is hilarious.

Why are they surprised she can do comedy? She was funny in "VIP".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 08:58 PM (kpS4V)

129 Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:53 PM (asXVI)

His only 'immoral' behavior was being too weak to say no and trying to pursue the favor of his bosses. He didn't condone the behavior.he just enabled it because he was weak.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:59 PM (VofaG)

130 And then he made "Hugo" about a pre-WWI movie biz with Lumiere, and automatons and all these things I love and, good lord, I wanted to lie down and take a nap.

Taste trumps all.
Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 08:56 PM (asXVI)

Hugo had a lot of pieces. But man was it boring. The kid was annoying too.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 08:59 PM (MGB5H)

131 Anyway, sorry to pull things off topic.

Carry on!

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo at August 02, 2025 08:59 PM (xcxpd)

132 There are people who are convinced that 'Trainspotting' and 'The Basketball Diaries' glamorize heroin use. That just tells me they either never watched those movies or are seeing what they want to see, not what's actually shown.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 09:00 PM (NkASH)

133 think I'll see it tomorrow.

I hear Pamela's scene in the jazz club singing scat is hilarious.

Why are they surprised she can do comedy? She was funny in "VIP".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 08:58 PM (kpS4V

Omg so funny. Breaks into kid rock at one point.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:00 PM (MGB5H)

134 Art influences people, that's why it matters, right?
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards.

Only if you want it too. I found Black Sabbath to a great rock band and somehow I have manged to not once carve pentagrams into my chest. In a similar vein, Wilder has made classic films. That they don't align with your standards doesn't necessarily mean he is a monster, say like Jeffery Dahmer.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 09:00 PM (Yw5Tb)

135 In the movie The Apartment, was the apartment a write-off?

Posted by: Cosmo Kramer at August 02, 2025 09:01 PM (i0F8b)

136 Marshwiggle speaks truth. "Trainspotting" is like the Scared Straight of drug films. The fact that it has a lot of gallows humor doesn't negate the rock bottom disgustingness of it all.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 09:03 PM (kpS4V)

137 "Hugo had a lot of pieces. But man was it boring. The kid was annoying too."

Wes Anderson, without the relentlessly symmetric compositions.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 09:03 PM (2XN3U)

138 119 I thought "Hereditary" was terrible so I have avoided Ari Aster's films since. Same with Yorgos Lanthimos after seeing "The Lobster."
===
This is wisdom.

These are very niche tastes.

https://moviegique.com/2016/07/the-lobster/

https://moviegique.com/2018/09/hereditary/

It's sort of shocking to me that they even exist as close to mainstream these days.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:03 PM (asXVI)

139 I think this is a pretty good analysis of "The Apartment"a movie I have seen a number of times and appreciate .and never thought that it endorsed adultery. And compared to Fred MacMurrays character Jack Lemmon's character is appealing

https://tinyurl.com/bddsxdvy

I also think "Some Like it Hot" is campy comedy and like that as well.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 02, 2025 09:03 PM (2GCMq)

140 Hugo had a lot of pieces. But man was it boring. The kid was annoying too."

Wes Anderson, without the relentlessly symmetric compositions.
Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 09:03 PM (2XN3U)

Wes Anderson would have made it interesting.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:04 PM (MGB5H)

141 I'm in the minority on two movie issues.

I think Jimmy Stewart was a hero in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance whereas most here thinks less of him.

Also people think Jenny is a villain in Forrest Gump. I don't think that at all.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09:06 PM (VofaG)

142 Wow. Movie thread seems to be set in Calvin's Geneva. Lighten up on Billy Wilder!

Posted by: PTSD giver at August 02, 2025 09:06 PM (G40c4)

143 Marshwiggle speaks truth. "Trainspotting" is like the Scared Straight of drug films. The fact that it has a lot of gallows humor doesn't negate the rock bottom disgustingness of it all.
Posted by: All Hail Eris,

The toilet scene is brilliant at visually depicting how completely heroin steals the soul of the addicted.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 09:06 PM (Yw5Tb)

144 Anyway, ideas are dangerous. Art contains ideas. We hope the good that art does outweighs the havoc it wreaks. Eras and regimes in which art has been suppressed could be argued to have had unpleasant aspects.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 09:08 PM (2XN3U)

145 Wes Anderson would have made it interesting.
Posted by: BruceWayne

No Bill Murray. Not interesting.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 09:09 PM (Yw5Tb)

146 I'm getting Yorgos Lanthimos mixed up with Panos Cosmatos, as one will.

I loved Lanthimos's "Poor Things", and I know I'm one of the few who did.

Cosmatos did "Mandy", which is required viewing for Nic Cage fans.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 09:09 PM (kpS4V)

147 His only 'immoral' behavior was being too weak to say no and trying to pursue the favor of his bosses. He didn't condone the behavior.he just enabled it because he was weak.
----
I started out with that idea, but he gets worse, I think as the movie goes on. Like, he's looking for an angle, the easy way up, and he brags about being the youngest exec, too.

Technically, he is "condoning" the behavior. But the movie doesn't work unless it gives him all the riches of the world, so that he can give them up. He can't be virtuous the whole way through or there's no movie.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:09 PM (asXVI)

148 This is like claiming first person shooter gaming causes mass shooters.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09:10 PM (VofaG)

149 Really, I'd recommend that instead of watching "Hugo," one ought to watch a collection of Lumiere's films, if one has not seen them yet.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 09:11 PM (2XN3U)

150 142 Wow. Movie thread seems to be set in Calvin's Geneva. Lighten up on Billy Wilder!
Posted by: PTSD giver at August 02, 2025 09:06 PM (G40c4)
Calvin and Hobbe's Geneva?

Posted by: Eromero at August 02, 2025 09:11 PM (LHPAg)

151 Never saw Forrest Gump, so can't say about the Jenny character. As for Liberty Valance, both Stewart and Wayne seemed heroes to me. Stewart who goes into a fight he knows he can't win but can't walk away from, and Wayne who also does what has to be done even though it'll cost him everything he wants. Who can ask for more?

Then there's Lemmon in The Apartment, who stops being an enabler only when MacLaine's being victimized. (And I liked The Apartment on the whole)

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 09:12 PM (q3u5l)

152 141 I'm in the minority on two movie issues.

I think Jimmy Stewart was a hero in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance whereas most here thinks less of him.

Also people think Jenny is a villain in Forrest Gump. I don't think that at all.
Posted by: polynikes

Not sure there was a hero in TMWSLV. An aspiring politician with luck and events push him along. Helps to be on friendly terms with grumpy John Wayne. He even got the girl because grumpy John Wayne was smarter than he acted and new what was best. His time was past, Stewart was the future. JW was stepping back. Didn't like it but it was the right thing to do.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 09:12 PM (NkASH)

153 || I loved Lanthimos's "Poor Things", and I know I'm one of the few who did.

Me, of course.

https://moviegique.com/2024/01/poor-things/

|| Cosmatos did "Mandy", which is required viewing for Nic Cage fans.

Also me.

https://moviegique.com/2019/01/mandy/

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:16 PM (asXVI)

154 Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 09:12 PM (q3u5l

There wouldn't have been a movie but I think Wayne would have been more of a hero if he just would have called out Liberty instead of killing him from the shadows. He screwed himself.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09:16 PM (VofaG)

155 143 Marshwiggle speaks truth. "Trainspotting" is like the Scared Straight of drug films. The fact that it has a lot of gallows humor doesn't negate the rock bottom disgustingness of it all.
Posted by: All Hail Eris,

The toilet scene is brilliant at visually depicting how completely heroin steals the soul of the addicted.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram

The scene with the baby. An absolute gut punch, horrific, scene. How does anybody get 'heroin glamorization' out of 'Trainspotting'. That's some mental jujitsu.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 09:16 PM (NkASH)

156 of the few who did.

Cosmatos did "Mandy", which is required viewing for Nic Cage fans.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 09:09 PM (kpS4V

I LOVED poor things. At risk of being flayed I liked The Lobster too. Killing of a Sacred Deer was great. Very much looking forward to Bugonia with Emma stone Jesse plemmons and batgirl Alicia Silverstone.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:16 PM (MGB5H)

157 Or if Stewart would have just left the steak on the floor things would have been different😀

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09:17 PM (VofaG)

158 "Mandy" No sir, I don't like it.
youtube.com/watch?v=cDGlN6mluGA

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs, Guest-Hosted By Mister Horse at August 02, 2025 09:17 PM (2XN3U)

159 Never saw Forrest Gump, so can't say about the Jenny character.

====

Jenny is the worst person ever put on film.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:18 PM (MGB5H)

160 Jenny is the worst person ever put on film.
Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:18 PM (MGB5H)

Because she didn't feel romantically with a retarded guy?

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09:21 PM (VofaG)

161 And on a completely different note, as I've noted, I probably win the "award" for the person seeing the fewest films since the 1980's. Spouse got "Airplane" from the library. We will probably watch that on Monday night.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 02, 2025 09:21 PM (2GCMq)

162 159 Jenny 's the reason I ended up playing guitar naked on stage in a bar.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 09:21 PM (2XN3U)

163 Fun fact: The Forrest Gump in the book isn't mentally handicapped so much as a just a dumbass.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:22 PM (asXVI)

164 Hereditary is the one with the little girl getting decapitated in the car, right?

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:22 PM (zZu0s)

165 Jenny is the worst person ever put on film
‐---

She is the Helen Crump of the big screen.

Posted by: BunkerintheBurbs at August 02, 2025 09:22 PM (dSTCH)

166 Because she didn't feel romantically with a retarded guy?
Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09

Because she spent her entire life as a selfish whore with aids that used the good nature of the retarded guy over and over and over and over

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:22 PM (MGB5H)

167 Jenny is not the worst character...

Honestly, the saddest part is she seems like a real person.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:23 PM (zZu0s)

168 I think I could come up with worse characters in movies

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2025 09:23 PM (JnW4x)

169 154,

Fair point, but seems to me that had Wayne just called Marvin out, Marvin would have had his own back shooters in play. Movie seemed solid enough for my taste. And that closing scene on the train always struck me as a perfect note to finish on -- Stewart knows his win over Marvin was hollow, but he'll keep playing the part that is now demanded of him. They're printing the legend. Works for me here.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 09:24 PM (q3u5l)

170 Jenny is the worst person ever put on film
‐---

She is the Helen Crump of the big screen.
Posted by: BunkerintheBurbs at August 02, 2025 09:22

He only one close was Ermine Jung from Blow.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:24 PM (MGB5H)

171 Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:22 PM (MGB5H)

An abused gal with daddy issues and in the end she settles for the safe guy after having a hell of a ride. Still rings true.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:24 PM (zZu0s)

172 Because she spent her entire life as a selfish whore with aids that used the good nature of the retarded guy over and over and over and over
Posted by: BruceWayn
But Gump licked it in the end, right?

Posted by: Eromero at August 02, 2025 09:25 PM (LHPAg)

173 I had a Spanish Ad Aster in .22 short.

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at August 02, 2025 09:25 PM (pFp4W)

174 164 Hereditary is the one with the little girl getting decapitated in the car, right?

Partially.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:25 PM (asXVI)

175 >>Watching Hud right now. It's accurate portrayal of Texas at the time but it's sort of depressing. Okay not sort of, it is depressing.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 08:31 PM

Paul Newman was excellent as the quintessential asshole. As bad as Hud is in the movie, he is much worse in the book it's based on, Horseman Pass By by Larry McMurtry.

Posted by: huerfano at August 02, 2025 09:26 PM (n2swS)

176 "I think I could come up with worse characters in movies"

'Telly' (Leo Fitzpatrick) in Kids" (1995). Creepiest little slimeball shit.

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 09:26 PM (2XN3U)

177 I had a Spanish Ad Aster in .22 short.
Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at August 02, 2025 09:25 PM (pFp4W)

For when the awesome power of .22 long rifle is too much.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:26 PM (zZu0s)

178 'Horseman Pass By by Larry McMurtry'

Added to my list, thanks!

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 09:27 PM (2XN3U)

179 An abused gal with daddy issues and in the end she settles for the safe guy after having a hell of a ride. Still rings true.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:24 PM (zZu0s)

She didn't settle for shit. She needed a bailout for her kid that may or may not be Forrest's. Selfish til the bitter end.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:27 PM (MGB5H)

180 Think I'll read something less contentious, like my book on the buildup to the civil war.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 09:28 PM (kpS4V)

181
They're printing the legend. Works for me here.
Posted by: Just Some Guy

Works for me. $10 million worth.

Posted by: Joe Biden at August 02, 2025 09:28 PM (63Dwl)

182 "I had a Spanish Ad Aster in .22 short."

How many fingers you got left?

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 09:28 PM (2XN3U)

183 Partially.
Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:25 PM (asXVI)

Never saw the movie, only clips on ewetub which made me yell 'why the fuck would I want to watch that.'

I guess i am a pussy. I have never been able to stand rape in movies or even books. Violence against children the same. I'll pass.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:28 PM (zZu0s)

184 166 Because she didn't feel romantically with a retarded guy?
Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09

Because she spent her entire life as a selfish whore with aids that used the good nature of the retarded guy over and over and over and over
Posted by: BruceWayne

They knew each other as kids. She came from a horribly abusive family. She was a broken gal. I do agree she was manipulative and horrible as an adult but she had a crap family while Forest, disability and all, had a decent one. She was doomed early on in life. Hence why her decision making was terrible. I haven't seen that movie in a long time so my memory of it is shaky. (shrugs) I think back to a line in the movie 'Manhunter' where Peterson says he sympathizes for the little boy who was horribly abused but hated the psychopath murderous adult he had become.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 09:29 PM (NkASH)

185 Selfish til the bitter end.
Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:27 PM (MGB5H)

I am not saying she is a good character, but a real one definitely.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:30 PM (zZu0s)

186 Jenny 's the reason I ended up playing guitar naked on stage in a bar. Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs

Billy Wilder and I approve.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 09:30 PM (Yw5Tb)

187 Long time since I've read McMurtry's stuff.

Liked Hud and the source novel a lot. Ditto Last Picture Show and Lonesome Dove.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 09:30 PM (q3u5l)

188 The Boy (who is now "nearly 29" himself, creating an odd temporal paradox) is one of my metrics for classic films. He, for example, really enjoyed all the 1984 movies we saw—clear-eyed evaluation of the entertainment value of Return of the Living Dead and Repo Man (good, worthy but started stronger than it ended)—and Cuckoo knocked his socks off.
>>

"Repo Man" reminds me of another film starring Emilio Estevez that started stronger than it ended (the very end) - "The Way". Estevez also directed the film. A wholly different genre, to say the least. "The Way" is a sublime exploration of the masculine bonds of love and affection between fathers and sons.

Posted by: mrp at August 02, 2025 09:30 PM (rj6Yv)

189 guess i am a pussy. I have never been able to stand rape in movies or even books. Violence against children the same. I'll pass.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:28 PM (zZu0s)

Wasn't so much violence against children as a warning to not hang your head out the car window.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:30 PM (MGB5H)

190 am not saying she is a good character, but a real one definitely.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:30 PM (zZu0s)

Oh real for sure. But awful.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:31 PM (MGB5H)

191 Wasn't so much violence against children as a warning to not hang your head out the car window.
Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:30 PM (MGB5H)

Gratuitous.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:31 PM (zZu0s)

192 Never saw Trainspotting

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2025 09:32 PM (JnW4x)

193 180 Think I'll read something less contentious, like my book on the buildup to the civil war.
===
Most people don't know The Civil War was fought over whether this particular dress was blue or yellow.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:32 PM (asXVI)

194 But awful.
Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:31 PM (MGB5H)

Oh absolutely. She may have done one good thing. Her son might have a lot better life than she did.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:32 PM (zZu0s)

195 They could have just made a safety poster.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 02, 2025 09:33 PM (63Dwl)

196 And "Trainspotting" doesn't sound like anything I'd want to see, Skip.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 02, 2025 09:34 PM (2GCMq)

197 Thanx for fun thread guys!

Posted by: gp's Movie Laffs at August 02, 2025 09:34 PM (2XN3U)

198 Trainspotting is an excellent movie you'll only see once. It's an hard watch. Also, may need CC turned on. Those Scottish accents are pretty thick in this movie.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 09:34 PM (NkASH)

199 Selfish til the bitter end.
Posted by: BruceWayne

I am not saying she is a good character, but a real one definitely.
Posted by: Aetius451AD

And Gump loved her unconditionally in spite of all that. Take that how you will but for me it is one of the central themes of the film.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 09:34 PM (Yw5Tb)

200 "Repo Man" reminds me of another film starring Emilio Estevez that started stronger than it ended (the very end) - "The Way". Estevez also directed the film. A wholly different genre, to say the least. "The Way" is a sublime exploration of the masculine bonds of love and affection between fathers and sons.
===
I liked that one:

https://moviegique.com/2011/11/the-way-of-all-estevezes/

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:35 PM (asXVI)

201 I guess i am a pussy. I have never been able to stand rape in movies or even books. Violence against children the same. I'll pass.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone

The death of a child is the least funny of them all.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 02, 2025 09:35 PM (ftFVW)

202 Oh absolutely. She may have done one good thing. Her son might have a lot better life than she did.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:32 PM (zZu0s)

She saved Gump by being his best friend for years. It seems to me people are angry she didn't return Gump's romantic feelings.

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09:35 PM (VofaG)

203 193 180 Think I'll read something less contentious, like my book on the buildup to the civil war.
===
Most people don't know The Civil War was fought over whether this particular dress was blue or yellow.
Posted by: blake (moviegique)

Yep. The documentary, 'Gone With The Wind' was all about that.

Posted by: Puddleglum at work at August 02, 2025 09:35 PM (NkASH)

204 Take that how you will but for me it is one of the central themes of the film.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 09:34 PM (Yw5Tb)

Yeah. He loved an idealized version of her and she loved that. Not the clapped out drug addict.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:36 PM (zZu0s)

205 It seems to me people are angry she didn't return Gump's romantic feelings.
Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09:35 PM (VofaG)

If you're lucky you've never known that girl.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:38 PM (zZu0s)

206
The death of a child is the least funny of them all.
Posted by: She Hobbit

What about Casper the friendly ghost?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 02, 2025 09:38 PM (63Dwl)

207 I guess i am a pussy. I have never been able to stand rape in movies or even books. Violence against children the same. I'll pass.

---

No judgment here. There's no reason to take your precious time to inflict misery on yourself!

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:38 PM (asXVI)

208 And for our heavy movie picks chosen by son we have " The Master" film by someone named Paul Thomas Anderson and "The Place Beyond the Pines." , neither of which I've seen.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 02, 2025 09:38 PM (2GCMq)

209 181,

Also a fair point. But Stewart's character in Liberty Valance wasn't a Joe Biden -- had he been, it wouldn't work for me at all.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 09:38 PM (q3u5l)

210 And for our heavy movie picks chosen by son we have " The Master" film by someone named Paul Thomas Anderson and "The Place Beyond the Pines." , neither of which I've seen
---

Oh.

Uh.

Huh.

https://moviegique.com/2013/07/the-place-beyond-the-pines/

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:40 PM (asXVI)

211 Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” was a particularly loathsome character.

Posted by: nurse ratched at August 02, 2025 09:41 PM (csT1u)

212 If you're lucky you've never known that girl.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:38 PM (zZu0s)

I wouldn't expect a hot normal girl to ever fall romantically for a retarded guy . Again she became his friend when no one else would .

Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09:42 PM (VofaG)

213 What about Casper the friendly ghost?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr.

Mmmmmm, Devon Sawa... made me tingly as a pre-teen hobbit.

Posted by: She Hobbit at August 02, 2025 09:42 PM (ftFVW)

214 She didn't settle for shit. She needed a bailout for her kid that may or may not be Forrest's. Selfish til the bitter end.
Posted by: BruceWayne

I think keeping Forrest Jr from Gump was selfish and bigoted, she became as offensive as their school mates. She didn't want Jr subject to the same bigotry. a damned if you do damned if you don't scenario.
I think acknowledging Gump Sr and his ability to parent their son after she was dead an especially affirming ending. just imo

Posted by: old chick at August 02, 2025 09:46 PM (F3Dlr)

215 And outta here.

Thanks for the thread, moviegique.

Have a good one, gang.

Posted by: Just Some Guy at August 02, 2025 09:47 PM (q3u5l)

216 Again she became his friend when no one else would .
Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09:42 PM

Huh. People just react to characters differently. Not going to elaborate the point but I do not think many people's beef with Jenny is that she does not love him. Rather it is that she uses him, pretty hard.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:48 PM (zZu0s)

217 Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:40 PM (asXVI)

Thanks. I will take a look at that. I'm usually not able to participate in movie threads because of having to get ready for church tomorrow When I am here , I really appreciate both the time you take and your comments , moviegigue.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at August 02, 2025 09:48 PM (2GCMq)

218 I liked that one:

https://moviegique.com/2011/11/the-way-of-all-estevezes/
Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:35 PM (asXVI)

Thanks for the link. It's been a long time since I've seen the movie. The scene in the beginning, when Sheen (the father) collects his son's belongings from the police officer, struck me pretty hard.

Nice review, and I agree that it was an impressive performance by Martin Sheen.

Posted by: mrp at August 02, 2025 09:48 PM (rj6Yv)

219 I didn't particularly care for "Gump" but I will say, in retrospect, my feelings about Jenny are influenced by the writer putting the EXACT SAME CHARACTER in "Benjamin Button".

Mostly, I think this guy has a problem with women.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:49 PM (asXVI)

220 Thanks, JSG!

And thanks, Fenelon!

Glad you liked the review, MRP!

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:50 PM (asXVI)

221 47
'That cult annoyed me too. The characters annoyed me. '

An unlikeable cult? How strange.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at August 02, 2025 09:50 PM (3wi/L)

222 Mostly, I think this guy has a problem with women.
Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:49 PM (asXVI)

That happens too. It was a thing at about the same time for me. A bunch of writers just all seemed to lose their shit at the same time and it horribly affected their writing. Or maybe I just noticed they were all unstable and saw it in the writing at the same time, I dunno.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:51 PM (zZu0s)

223 213 What about Casper the friendly ghost?
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr.

Mmmmmm, Devon Sawa... made me tingly as a pre-teen hobbit.
Posted by: She Hobbit at August

Christina Ricci.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:51 PM (MGB5H)

224 || An unlikeable cult? How strange.

I swear, I'm going to write a novel where the protagonist is constantly fighting big corporations and evil cults, and the punchline is, they're all fine, and he's just a lunatic.

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:53 PM (asXVI)

225 Why are they surprised she can do comedy? She was funny in "VIP".
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at August 02, 2025 08:58 PM (kpS4V)

I had forgotten about that show. It was actually pretty funny.

Posted by: Dr. Fausti - I WAS The Science at August 02, 2025 09:53 PM (8hxDK)

226 She saved Gump by being his best friend for years. It seems to me people are angry she didn't return Gump's romantic feelings.
Posted by: polynikes at August 02, 2025 09:35 PM (VofaG)

Ya she saved the Alabama football star, war hero, and millionaire. No she used him. Time and again because she knew he would help her.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:54 PM (MGB5H)

227 7 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is one of the best movies ever made. Particularly when you know the back story.
Posted by: JackStraw
----------

Kesey and Leary on a rooftop doing acid?

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at August 02, 2025 09:55 PM (eNtWE)

228 they're all fine, and he's just a lunatic.
Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:53 PM (asXVI)

Hmmm. Trying to think of a movie or story where a cult was actually a positive or good thing in the story.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:55 PM (zZu0s)

229 Huh. People just react to characters differently. Not going to elaborate the point but I do not think many people's beef with Jenny is that she does not love him. Rather it is that she uses him, pretty hard.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 09:48 PM (zZu0s)

Don't have enough up votes for that.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:55 PM (MGB5H)

230 Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” was a particularly loathsome character. Posted by: nurse ratched

Tender Mercies starring Robert Duvall is a similar movie. It is one of my favorite Duvall roles.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at August 02, 2025 09:55 PM (Yw5Tb)

231 Hmmm. Trying to think of a movie or story where a cult was actually a positive or good thing in the story.

---

If "28 Years Later 2" or whatever they call it, =doesn't= turn out that way, it's going to be a serious disappointment.

(It's going to be a serious disappointment.)

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:56 PM (asXVI)

232 didn't particularly care for "Gump" but I will say, in retrospect, my feelings about Jenny are influenced by the writer putting the EXACT SAME CHARACTER in "Benjamin Button".

Mostly, I think this guy has a problem with women.
Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:49 PM (asXVI)

HAH! I like button because Fincher crafts good
Movies. But I didn't realize that. Too correct.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 09:56 PM (MGB5H)

233 Hmmm. Trying to think of a movie or story where a cult was actually a positive or good thing in the story.
Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone

You know the movie where the fringe religious cult kidnapped an orphan and secretly trained him to assassinate the ruler of their nation?

I think it was called "Star Wars?"

Posted by: mikeski at August 02, 2025 10:00 PM (DgGvY)

234 The last movie I saw in a theater was E.T.
1980 I think

Posted by: MAC V SOG at August 02, 2025 10:00 PM (P4Pk9)

235 If "28 Years Later 2" or whatever they call it, =doesn't= turn out that way, it's going to be a serious disappointment.

(It's going to be a serious disappointment.)
Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 09:56 PM (asXVI)

Bone temple. Directed by Nia DaCosta. Who brought us such classics as The Marvels.

Posted by: BruceWayne at August 02, 2025 10:01 PM (MGB5H)

236 I think it was called "Star Wars?"
Posted by: mikeski at August 02, 2025 10:00 PM (DgGvY)

Heh.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 10:03 PM (zZu0s)

237 Ont is nood.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at August 02, 2025 10:04 PM (zZu0s)

238 That's a wrap!

Goodnight everybody! Tip your waitress!

See you on the 23rd!

Posted by: blake (moviegique) at August 02, 2025 10:04 PM (asXVI)

Processing 0.03, elapsed 0.0322 seconds.
15 queries taking 0.0069 seconds, 247 records returned.
Page size 149 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.