July 14, 2010

Movies You've Seen A Lot But Never From the Beginning
— Ace

In the last thread, I asked, is this scene really in the beginning of Planet of the Apes?

I've seen the movie twenty times, and at least once on VHS from the beginning, and have no recollection of this scene at all. I remember the movie from the suspended-animation-malfunction and the dessicated female corpse, and then landing in the lake, etc.

It's odd to me -- I mean, Charleton Heston virtually tells you the surprise plot twist here, doesn't he? He more or less just says, "Oh, by the way, we're way into the future and this is an anti-race-war parable about Earth."

Anyway, a commenter who changes his name a lot mentioned that there are a whole bunch of these movies, movies we watch and re-watch on cable because they're comforting/kinda good, and yet not actually good enough that we've ever rented the DVD or sat down specifically to watch them from the beginning -- so, for some movies, I know them by heart, but I've never actually seen the first twenty minutes and wouldn't know what the hell happens there. (Except some guesses, based on what comes later.)

For me, my major movie like this was The Last of Sheila, which was constantly being shown on the ABC Late Movie in the eighties. I watched it fifteen times, but never saw the set-up. Until ten years after I'd first started watching it, when I finally caught the beginning.

Another movie that would almost qualify as one of these is Body Double, similarly always playing on late-night tv, and one I always come into during the mall stalking/kiss sequence, but in that case, I actually had seen it from the start, once.

You have any movies like this? Movies you know by heart but could not even hazard a guess about their actual beginnings?

Couple More: Looker and WestWorld.

I bet anything that anyone around my age has seen WestWorld ten times but never from the beginning. Okay, maybe once.

One of those movies you always come in at about the same place, and say, "Oh shit, WestWorld."

The beginning is... awful, it turns out. Saw it three years ago with a girlfriend after telling her it was great, and then... was like, "What's this crap?"


Posted by: Ace at 03:51 PM | Comments (320)
Post contains 397 words, total size 3 kb.

1 First

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 03:53 PM (7aNei)

2 There is this one movie that's on in the middle of the night and I always wake up to it lately. I wake up and there is this black communist in the White House???????? How the fuck did that movie start?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at July 14, 2010 03:53 PM (5jbD3)

3 All you "first" haters.....feel free this time.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2010 03:54 PM (P9+0W)

4 Ace is in the throes of epiphany...

Monkeys, man, God, good, evil, its a war...

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 03:56 PM (7aNei)

5 Actually I've seen "Casino" a hundred times but hardly ever see the beginning.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at July 14, 2010 03:56 PM (5jbD3)

6 Any movie on Cinemax after midnight.

Posted by: All the Guys in the Thread at July 14, 2010 03:56 PM (MYT77)

7 I don't remember the scene either but it's kind of cool that the date on the ship is 7/14/72...exactly 38 years ago today.

Posted by: DrewM. at July 14, 2010 03:57 PM (X/Lqh)

8
okay, I know Ace and a lot of you love BLADE RUNNER, and I've been meaning to see it for, oh, the last 30 years, but...

I just can't get into it. And then when they came out with the director's cut it gave me analysis-paralysis. I can't decide which one to watch and then I say forget it and I watch something else.


Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 03:58 PM (gt3o0)

9 Not Apocalypse Now . Definitely The Exorcist ....was thirteen , parents were out , scared the living shit out of me .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 03:58 PM (NuAIL)

10 I've never seen "The Wizard of Oz" "Gone With the Wind" or "Its a Wonderful Life" in one complete sitting. I've seen all in their entirety, but at different points. Great movies, I'll just usually fall asleep or go have to do something.

Posted by: Jollyroger at July 14, 2010 03:58 PM (oXpcU)

11 When I was a little kid it seemed like Conan the Barbarian was on every day.  I saw bits and pieces dozens of times.  It was on TV though, and with the commercial interruptions making the movie too long I don't think I ever saw the whole thing.  Of course I've read the good lines plenty of times here.

Posted by: bonhomme at July 14, 2010 03:59 PM (jvG2F)

12 Yeah, "Casino". Always tune in around the desert meet scene.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2010 03:59 PM (P9+0W)

13 Yes, that is the start of Planet of the Apes. a movie I saw when it was new in the theaters, many times as a kid, then when it was re released, then on TV, then on VHS and now on DVD. I liked the cynicism of the film as a teen, especially the part when Heston is chatting with the other astronaut as they walk through the river valley disagreeing on humanity. The opening sets up the story. It's not necessary, however, since it is an old school parable, it works fine. If anything, I think it resonates very well in these times when the world seems to be descending into madness.

Posted by: James Hudnall at July 14, 2010 03:59 PM (RTE5H)

14 Blade Runner isn't great but the original theatrical version is better. Or the International version, which was the theatrical version with like 4 more seconds of gory violence. I remember the whole beginning, white title shot defining replicant, giant eye filling camera, shot of the big aztec pyramid buildings, back to the eye, into the office and voight-kampf. Not a great movie tho.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 04:00 PM (SsvUp)

15 No one has ever seen Fletch from start to finish but everyone has seen the movie "in its entirety" 10 times, albiet in 100 or so pieces on USA Network.

Posted by: dfbaskwill at July 14, 2010 04:00 PM (ndlFj)

16 Sex Trek: Deep Space Sixty-Nine

I always come in at the girl-girl action.

Posted by: Andy at July 14, 2010 04:01 PM (pRbtk)

17 I don't remember that scene with Heston either and I first saw the movie actually in the theater in 1968.

I have also seen it many times since then on TV but TV has a bad habit of editing out a lot of "unimportant" scenes in order to get it to fir into a 2 hour times slot and still fit 45 min of commercials in that 2 hours.

I don't have it on any kind of recorded media.

Now Blade Runner I do have and have seen it all the way through several times.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 04:02 PM (/jbAw)

18
DOGMA.

Comedy Central aired that awful movie so many times that just by randomly  flipping by the channel over the course of a year I watched that entire movie. I'm not exaggerating.

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:02 PM (gt3o0)

19 Disagree on Bladerunner , loved it .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 04:02 PM (NuAIL)

20 I believe some of the dialogue was cut from the theatrical version. I have seen the movie more times than I can count and I remember these images but not some of the specific dialogue. It would be interesting to track down all the various versions that have been released through the ages.

Posted by: Tommy V at July 14, 2010 04:03 PM (qU57d)

21 Anybody who missed the beginning of Innocent Blood needs to run out and rent it, pronto.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 04:03 PM (XIXhw)

22 I only watch the FIRST 5 minutes, then I fall asleep. I never find out who gets it in the end.

Posted by: Skinemax Viewer at July 14, 2010 04:03 PM (4XzsU)

23 Why are the Ape series so good??? hmmmm...

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 04:04 PM (7aNei)

24
oh I thought you loved Blade Runner. I must be thinking of Monty, maybe.

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:04 PM (gt3o0)

25 6 Any movie on Cinemax after midnight.

Right on!

But switching to HBO (I think), the few times when they were showing a free weekend of movies, I seemed to catch Masters of the Universe a lot.  Couldn't tell you how Castle Greyskull got captured and what Skeletor was doing with the Sorceress in the beginning, but I could tell you that He-Man and Co showed up in our universe around New Jersey wielding an Oingo-Boingo.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:04 PM (WmoM+)

26 I disagree on Blade Runner as well.  IMO in contention for the best movie of all time.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 04:05 PM (XIXhw)

27
Jollyroger, I'll bet ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE is on a lot of people's list of movies they've seen in bits & pieces.

It's one of those movies that's playing in the background and you glance up once in a while and watch a little of it.

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:06 PM (gt3o0)

28 Apollo 13 is on all the time. Too bad I hate the liberal skank Hanks now

Posted by: Nevergiveup at July 14, 2010 04:06 PM (5jbD3)

29 One more for Blade Runner. Saw it in the theater and probably a dozen times since.

Posted by: Andy at July 14, 2010 04:07 PM (pRbtk)

30 OT, but teh cob-loggers have no email addresses, so....

If Gabe is reading [its more your area, I guess] Obama finally credited Bush with something positive.... his efforts to combat HIV in Africa and elsewhere - in fact, Obama partially modeled his brand spanking new National Strategy on HIV/AIDS on those policies.

Posted by: evil midnight bomber what bombs at midnight at July 14, 2010 04:07 PM (hCQG5)

31 11 When I was a little kid it seemed like Conan the Barbarian was on every day.  I saw bits and pieces dozens of times.  It was on TV though, and with the commercial interruptions making the movie too long I don't think I ever saw the whole thing.  Of course I've read the good lines plenty of times here.

In my case, it seems like TBS back in the day always showed Clash of the Titans on the weekend.  But I always caught it when Perseus was about to decapitate Medusa, which was, what, the last 20 minutes of the movie?

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:07 PM (WmoM+)

32
don't get me started on watching movies on USA network. Commercial every 5 minutes. Worse than TBS.

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:08 PM (gt3o0)

33 but TV has a bad habit of editing out a lot of "unimportant" scenes in order to get it to fir into a 2 hour times slot and still fit 45 min of commercials in that 2 hours.


You wanna see a movie totally destroyed by editing for TV? John Carpenter's The Thing. Left most of the gore in the flick, but added a bunch of nonsensical scenes which totally screwed the narrative and added one of the worst voice-overs in film history. Makes Harrison Ford's Blade Runner voice-over sound like Shakespeare.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2010 04:09 PM (P9+0W)

34 I've got one -- I bet few people can remember the beginning of A Christmas Story. I know I've seen it, but I can't think of it.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 04:10 PM (SsvUp)

35 NetFlix rules.

Christmas story is good.

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 04:11 PM (7aNei)

36 I confirm that the linked clip is the actual beginning of Planet of the Apes.  However, they cut the bit where Heston's character sneaks a little booby-grab with the blondie before going into suspended animation himself.

Never seen the beginning or the end, for various complex reasons:  Gone with the Wind.

Posted by: GolfBoy at July 14, 2010 04:11 PM (WGL5k)

37

Dang, I don't remember that scene from Planet of the Apes but I have it on DVD I think so now I've golt the urge to watch it

Love Bladerunner and I have the uber directors cut and full set with all the different versions. I guess that means I'm a geek. haha

Posted by: Mark at July 14, 2010 04:11 PM (COFWf)

38 Red Dawn

Back when I was a kid, some pay cable station (HBO?) ran it all summer long.  I must have seen the middle and end of the movie a dozen times before I finally saw it from the beginning.

Posted by: eirik at July 14, 2010 04:11 PM (ur/mA)

39 Anything with Dolf Lundgren maybe

Posted by: evil midnight bomber what bombs at midnight at July 14, 2010 04:11 PM (hCQG5)

40 Fantastic Voyage.  Missed the beginning many times.  And now can't remember how it begins.

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 04:12 PM (0ONli)

41 Planet of the Apes used to play on the 4:30 Movie on ABC NYC, and I think that was a ninety minute timeslot, so maybe they just always cut that out. You have to cut quite a bit to get that down to size.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 04:12 PM (SsvUp)

42 My most recent instance of this is Pulp Fiction. I think I've seen the last chapter a million times, so that's the only part of the movie I remember.

Posted by: Meiczyslaw at July 14, 2010 04:13 PM (vEhUz)

43 Missed the beginning of First Blood for a while on cable TV.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:13 PM (WmoM+)

44
okay here's a little Blade Runner trivia I just thought of.

There's a That Guy character-actor in BR who always plays the 'heavy' or the big oaf. He was in another sci-fi flick in the 90's. Who is it and what other movie was he in?

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:13 PM (gt3o0)

45 The Andromeda Strain.  Don't know if I've ever seen the beginning.  I know it had something to do with a satellite, but all I remember is the dead town and finding out about the satellite later.

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 04:13 PM (0ONli)

46 Another movie that would almost qualify as one of these is Body Double, similarly always playing on late-night tv, and one I always come into during the mall stalking/kiss sequence, but in that case, I actually had seen it from the start, once.

Haha, same here on Body Double. But when i got Netflix, i happened to think of it one day while looking around for flicks to put on my queue and now i've watched it start to finish  a few times and it's become one of my favorites. It's a decent flick believe it or not, but it's still DePalma trying to be Hitchcock when all is said and done.

Posted by: koopy at July 14, 2010 04:14 PM (awinc)

47 Fantastic Voyage. Missed the beginning many times. And now can't remember how it begins. Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 08:12 PM (0ONli) It begins big

Posted by: Nevergiveup at July 14, 2010 04:14 PM (5jbD3)

48 Lawrence of Arabia

Posted by: profligatewaste at July 14, 2010 04:15 PM (b3rrc)

49

Blues Brothers. Senn the ending 50 times.

It's on all of the time, but I always seem to get into it when they're searching fro all of the old band members.

Posted by: Gunslinger at July 14, 2010 04:15 PM (Zi+FQ)

50 I've got one -- I bet few people can remember the beginning of A Christmas Story. ........ the one where Bill Murray staples the tiny antlers on the bunny's head ?

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 04:15 PM (NuAIL)

51 Don't trust cable, they cut the hell out those movies.  Even buying the DVD doesn't ensure you'll get to see the ending credits, either, even a cast list fercrissakes.

Posted by: Born Free at July 14, 2010 04:15 PM (0spsq)

52
oh shit, that guy is dead. I dind't know he passed. Very impressive filmography.

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:15 PM (Wzli+)

53 Blazing Saddles.. I have no clue why, but I can never catch that movie from the start. I swear, I almost always come in at the same spot and I've never watched the whole thing.

Posted by: UGrev at July 14, 2010 04:15 PM (862vz)

54 Across the Universe, I remember exactly how it begins.

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 04:16 PM (7aNei)

55

I've got one -- I bet few people can remember the beginning of A Christmas Story.

I know I've seen it, but I can't think of it.

I've seen that movie twice every Christmas for the past umpteenth years and now that you bring it up, I can't either.

Now I do! Ralphie is window shopping at night before the parade during the opening credits.

Yay brain!

Posted by: ErikW at July 14, 2010 04:16 PM (9BzMV)

56 don't get me started on watching movies on USA network. Commercial every 5 minutes. Worse than TBS.

Actually the Disney Channel is the worse for commercials. I sat down to watch one of their classic animations from the 50s one afternoon. After 30 min I couldn't stand it anymore.

I timed it. A 2 min. commercial break every 7 min.

I don't watch USA, TBS, or any of those other commercial channels any more. I don't mind commercials but they have reduced them to utterly ridiculous.

I was reminded how much it had changed when I bought the first season of Zorro. They had commercials at the beginning (1 min) at the middle (1 min.) and at the end (1 min.) You could see the break spots and I remember how long they were from those days.

So in a 30 min show you had 3 min of commercials.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 04:16 PM (/jbAw)

57
Napoleon Dynamite
Love the movie, but I've never seen the beginning. Why is Grandma gone?

Posted by: Atomic Roach at July 14, 2010 04:16 PM (Oxen1)

58 >>>There's a That Guy character-actor in BR who always plays the 'heavy' or the big oaf. He was in another sci-fi flick in the 90's. Leon? His name is like... Bryan Keith or something like that. I don't know what he was in, except he was in practically everything. Here's a movie I almost never saw the beginning of, and also has a "That Guy:" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKuMguUKGyg Also -- Crichton's WestWorld. Never saw the beginning until twenty years later when I watched it with a gf. Always came in when they were already in town. Also-- "FutureWorld," total dreck, never really saw the beginning of that either.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 04:16 PM (SsvUp)

59 #51  ........ the one where Bill Murray staples the tiny antlers on the bunny's head ?

lol, that's Scrooged.  Wait, that's another movie that I missed the beginning of a lot.  For a while, I was seeing it while Bill Murray was visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past (the taxi-driver from hell).

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:17 PM (WmoM+)

60 Tremors.  I've seen the middle to the end at least 7 or 8 times.  I've never seen the beginning.

Posted by: conscious, but incoherent - not senile, yet at July 14, 2010 04:17 PM (YVZlY)

61 I've seen the beginning, but it seems like whenever I run across Pulp Fiction on TV it's always at the scene where Travolta and Uma Thurman are dancing.

Posted by: Andy at July 14, 2010 04:17 PM (pRbtk)

62 Blazing Saddles.. I have no clue why, but I can never catch that movie from the start. I swear, I almost always come in at the same spot and I've never watched the whole thing.

I have that one on DVD and the opening is just as funny as the rest. That has to be one of the top 10 comedies of all time.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 04:18 PM (/jbAw)

63 There's a That Guy character-actor in BR


You're thinking Brion James, right? He's a riot in The Fifth Element.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2010 04:18 PM (P9+0W)

64 Btw, there's some animated movie from the late 70's/early 80's that used to get played on the cable movie channels quite a bit and it was a favorite of mine as a kid because it was one of those cartoon movies that was really meant for adults and had boobies and stuff in it. Almost every time i put movies on my Netflix queue, i try to remember what it was called and never can, frustrating as hell.

Posted by: koopy at July 14, 2010 04:18 PM (awinc)

65 RE: Casino. The beginning is basically De Niro narrating as he gets into his car and it blows up. Scorsese does that a lot. He shows a scene from halfway through the film at the beginning. But this scene was weak because A) it's obviously a dummy used in the exploding car and B) it's a cheat since he clearly gets blown up yet in the end he escapes from the blast.

RE: Blade Runner. Good God, people! If you see any part of this movie, make sure it's the beginning. That shot of L.A. in 2019 is one of the greatest opening sequences in cinematic history.

Posted by: Adam_ME at July 14, 2010 04:18 PM (XZgzM)

66 61 Tremors.  I've seen the middle to the end at least 7 or 8 times.  I've never seen the beginning.

Eh, Tremors 2 for me.  Never saw any of the first Tremors.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:18 PM (WmoM+)

67 #65  Heavy Metal?

/I think that was the one that South Park did a homage to last season.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:19 PM (WmoM+)

68 As a promo gimmick when Psycho came out you were not admitted if the movie had already started.

Posted by: davidt at July 14, 2010 04:19 PM (HtIec)

69
I don't know what he was in, except he was in practically everything.

No shit, eh? Wow. Brion James is his name and he was indeed in everything. Very impressive. Died in 1999 at just 54yo.

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:19 PM (Wzli+)

70 When I was a kid, I always kept missing the beginnings of Psycho (1960), "House on Haunted Hill" (1959), "Ten Little Indians" (1965), and "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (1971). 

Often these movies were played on the weekends and I would still see them all the way to the end even though I missed good chunks from the beginning.  I missed the beginnings of many of the movies that were played on "Seymour Presents" (if you are in your mid '40's or older and grew up in Los Angeles you might remember this).  Can't remember all the titles though.

"The Last of Sheila" was also one of the movies I missed seeing from the start to the point I didn't remember the title until I went to the youtube teaser.

Posted by: Gordon Freeman at July 14, 2010 04:19 PM (f/pBa)

71
He's a riot in The Fifth Element.

Ding Ding Ding!

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:20 PM (Wzli+)

72 koopy Heavy Metal ?

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 04:20 PM (NuAIL)

73 "There's a That Guy character-actor in BR who always plays the 'heavy' or the big oaf. He was in another sci-fi flick in the 90's. Who is it and what other movie was he in?"

That's the late Brion James. He died in 1999. The whole reason he was cast in The Fifth Element was probably to reference Blade Runner. Kinda like how Chris Nolan cast Rutger Hauer in Batman Begins because he loves Blade Runner and wanted to model Gotham City in that movie after the futuristic L.A.

Posted by: Adam_ME at July 14, 2010 04:21 PM (XZgzM)

74 I've watched "Office Space" north of 30 times but just saw the start of it last week for the first time. 

Posted by: Aaron at July 14, 2010 04:21 PM (pSM+3)

75 Bryan Keith or something like that.

I don't recall Brian Keith playing a "heavy". Rudgar Haur(?) played the heavy in BR

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 04:21 PM (/jbAw)

76 Brion James, it turns out, he was "Leon" the C-brained muscle that followed Rutger Hauer around. "What's a tortoise?" That guy.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 04:23 PM (SsvUp)

77
ZORRO episodes with the guy Guy? from the JUPITER II is on yootoob unless Disney took it down. I like that show. Very hard to find the Disney classics online.

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:23 PM (gt3o0)

78 Damn you kratos , and yes , it was called Major Boobage .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 04:23 PM (NuAIL)

79 "Across the Universe, I remember exactly how it begins."


The film opens with a solitary figure, Jude (Jim Sturgess), sitting on a quiet beach front. He is singing "Girl" with a melancholy air, while looking off into the distant horizon.

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 04:23 PM (7aNei)

80 OK I found at Imdb - Brian Jones. Now he did play heavies all over the place then.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 04:23 PM (/jbAw)

81

@45: "There's a That Guy character-actor in BR who always plays the 'heavy' or the big oaf. He was in another sci-fi flick in the 90's. Who is it and what other movie was he in?"

Bryon James and Fifth Element.  And now, The Bleedin' Choir Invisible.

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at July 14, 2010 04:24 PM (ySNz/)

82 I don't know how you guys can watch movies in an air conditioned movie theatre with all the power used to illuminate the silver screen and keep your popcorn popped when we have all this global warming going on.

Posted by: robtr at July 14, 2010 04:24 PM (fwSHf)

83 #65  Heavy Metal?


I remember getting stoned and sneaking into the local theater to watch that one as a teenager. Although the film hasn't aged really well, the noir-ish plot twists in the different episodes are pretty bitchin'.

And the WWII zombies.....awesome.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2010 04:24 PM (P9+0W)

84 Most movies with a twist or a Who Done It theme will have a major clue within the first couple minutes.

Posted by: davidt at July 14, 2010 04:24 PM (HtIec)

85 correction Brian James but you already got it.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 04:24 PM (/jbAw)

86

There's a That Guy character-actor in BR who always plays the 'heavy' or the big oaf. He was in another sci-fi flick in the 90's. Who is it and what other movie was he in?

Umm...Brian Dennehy?

Posted by: CanaDave at July 14, 2010 04:25 PM (QY7/i)

87 15 No one has ever seen Fletch from start to finish but everyone has seen the movie "in its entirety" 10 times, albiet in 100 or so pieces on USA Network.

Au contraire! And that goes for both Fletch and the sequel, Fletch Lives! ... both of which are seared, I say seared into my memory ... my college-era fellow morons rented both or caught them on cable multiple times. We've spent countless hours of our lives quoting the lines from those movies back and forth ...

Don't tell me my business, boy! I'm checking the luggage ...

Which would make another interesting thread, methinks: Most Quotable Movies.

For us it was the aforementioned, Animal House, Caddyshack, Weird Science, Aliens, all of the Monty Python movies ... wow that would be a long list I'm going to save it for that thread if it ever materializes. :-)

21 Anybody who missed the beginning of Innocent Blood needs to run out and rent it, pronto.

Second that -- further, anybody who hasn't seen this movie at all needs to, I've talked to many folks who've never even heard of it. Check it out.

Posted by: Bill in TN at July 14, 2010 04:25 PM (5KYBU)

88 What about Pineapple Express?

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 04:25 PM (7aNei)

89 Brion with an o.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 04:25 PM (SsvUp)

90 I skip the beginning of the BBC's North & South. The opening is a necessary plot device that also happens to be a bit dull.

Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at July 14, 2010 04:25 PM (/h097)

91 Fletch starts I think with Fletch on the beach, Chevy Chase narration about being 'Jane doe," cut to Alan Stanwyk with binoculars, etc. yeah, saw that from the beginning pretty much a lot.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 04:26 PM (SsvUp)

92 A better question, has anyone ever seen an ending to a porn movie? Allegedly , they all have happy endings .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 04:26 PM (NuAIL)

93 I like that show. Very hard to find the Disney classics online.

Amazon has the entire season 1 and season 2 sets for $50.00 each. I got season 1 and I'll be getting 2 next time I am allocated movie money in the budget (LOL).

Right now cheap booze is eating up all my budget.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 04:27 PM (/jbAw)

94 68 #65  Heavy Metal?

/I think that was the one that South Park did a homage to last season.

No, not Heavy Metal, but it was very similar in the way it was drawn and generally done and was actually played back to back with Heavy Metal a lot.

Posted by: koopy at July 14, 2010 04:27 PM (awinc)

95 I would have to say Old School.  Saw it once all the way through and now it seems that everytime I turn it on it's either the KY Jelly scene or the scene where Will Ferrell shoots himself in the throat with the tranq gun.

Posted by: CDR M at July 14, 2010 04:27 PM (BuYeH)

96 Funny, just stumbled across "Mr. Mom", and haven't been able to change the station.

Posted by: Scott P at July 14, 2010 04:27 PM (60Nhd)

97 41 Fantastic Voyage.  Missed the beginning many times.  And now can't remember how it begins.

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 08:12 PM (0ONli)

That's because the blood drains out of your head (well, the big one anyway) when you see Rachel Welch in a wetsuit.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 04:29 PM (XIXhw)

98
I don't even remember LOOKER.

I recognize the Partridge girl and is that Alber Finney? You saying Albert Finney is a That Guy?

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:29 PM (gt3o0)

99

Meatballs.  Whenever I see it on TV, they are always already at the camp.

AL and Wendy were both some nice examples of 70s cuties, though.

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at July 14, 2010 04:30 PM (ySNz/)

100 Here's one.  The Final Countdown.  It took me like 15 tries before I finally saw it from the beginning.  First time I turned it on was when the F-14's smoke the Japanese Zero's.

Posted by: CDR M at July 14, 2010 04:30 PM (y67bA)

101

Speaking of Brion James, I read an article about him.  Seemed like a really nice guy.  I appreciated his work.

But I was struck by something he said.  He was talking about getting the big roles, being ready for them, and knowing he was going to get them.  He said something like, "Move over, Robert Duvall."  I'm sure there was some bravado, but it was a little sad, because there was no way he was ever going to get a Duvall role or do a better job in a role.  He just wasn't that caliber, and even if he did act well enough, he was congenitally hamstrung by his look--not exactly a leading man look. 

I was thinking, wow, as good as he is, and as well as he has done, it's still not enough, and that he won't be satisfied until he's a headliner.  He's was still dreaming big after having--in my mind--made it big.  The futility of it bugged me.

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 04:30 PM (0ONli)

102 You definitely need to see the beginning of Old School. It's AoSHQ Lifestyle™ approved.

Posted by: Andy at July 14, 2010 04:30 PM (pRbtk)

103
You must fight to live on the
<a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyWK0qUfop4>Planet of the Apes</a> by the Mummies

Posted by: Atomic Roach at July 14, 2010 04:30 PM (Oxen1)

104 #94  Allegedly , they all have happy endings .

Not some of the ones I saw on Skinemax, .

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:31 PM (WmoM+)

105 American Pie?

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 04:31 PM (7aNei)

106 Funny, just stumbled across "Mr. Mom", and haven't been able to change the station.

Heh. I'm watching that too. But I caught the beginning.

Posted by: Andy at July 14, 2010 04:31 PM (pRbtk)

107 koopy, Fritz the Cat?

Posted by: davidt at July 14, 2010 04:31 PM (HtIec)

108 Net Flix. You always see the beginning, and no commercials.

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 04:33 PM (7aNei)

109 #110  Mr. Mom - the reason why Michael Keaton almost wasn't cast as Batman in the 1989 film.

Okay, yet another flick I saw on cable but never caught the beginning of.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:33 PM (WmoM+)

110 I don't think I have ever seen the full version of History of the World Part I.

Posted by: CDR M at July 14, 2010 04:33 PM (Mv/2X)

111 Guess I could have contributed to the point of the thread ...

Ditto on Christmas Story ... one Christmas when my kids (twins) were not-quite-two, spending time at the inlaws house, one of the stations was running the thing for 24 hours straight ...

I caught every minute of that movie at least 12 times ... but never in the right order.

And only years later did I catch the beginning of the movie (Ralph window shopping).

Posted by: Bill in TN at July 14, 2010 04:33 PM (5KYBU)

112 Fast Times at Ridgemont High -- is there really a part before Phoebe Cates takes her top off?
 
True story -- In the days of VHS tapes and rentals, there was no market for used copies of this tape as it was invariably worn out at this spot. Many 'defective' refunds were issued.
 
Oh, and Blade Runner rocks.

Posted by: GnuBreed at July 14, 2010 04:33 PM (h0RtZ)

113

The Beastmaster.

Played a billion times on cable years ago. I probably saw it from the beginning but don't remember it.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at July 14, 2010 04:33 PM (P33XN)

114 Ernest goes to Camp?

Posted by: TexasJew at July 14, 2010 04:34 PM (8yMvt)

115 Brokeback Mountain.  Never saw the beginning of that. 

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 04:34 PM (0ONli)

116 >>>I recognize the Partridge girl and is that Alber Finney? You saying Albert Finney is a That Guy? No, the That Guy isn't in the trailer. The That Guy I mean is... http://images.tvrage.com/people/3/6541.jpg Tim Rossovich, who I think was a football player previously or something. Always played a goon. With a porn moustache.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 04:34 PM (SsvUp)

117 104 Here's one.  The Final Countdown.  It took me like 15 tries before I finally saw it from the beginning.  First time I turned it on was when the F-14's smoke the Japanese Zero's.

Posted by: CDR M at July 14, 2010 08:30 PM (y67bA)

Loved that movie.  I wanted them to eliminate the Japanese Fleet just to see how they would portray it changing history.

Posted by: conscious, but incoherent - not senile, yet at July 14, 2010 04:34 PM (YVZlY)

118 That reminds me - I didn't see the beginning of Overboard for a while (film with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russel), and it took me a while to figure out why Russel's character was so mad at Hawn. 

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:35 PM (WmoM+)

119 There are a ton of Skinemax movies starring a certain someone that Kratos loves that I have never seen from the beginning.  Really, has anyone seen a Shannon Tweed movie from the start and made it to the end?

Posted by: CDR M at July 14, 2010 04:35 PM (cqZXM)

120 Didn't The Blues Brothers start with " She Caught The Kady " ?

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 04:36 PM (NuAIL)

121 The Longest Day is another one.  Always forget the Frog resistance guy getting MP-40'd at the start.

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at July 14, 2010 04:36 PM (ySNz/)

122 Fast Times at Ridgemont High -- is there really a part before Phoebe Cates takes her top off?

I thought that was the beginning?  And, you know, a place to pause for ten minutes or so.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 04:36 PM (XIXhw)

123
one of the stations was running the thing for 24 hours straight ...

hahaha, that's crazy.
But Ace was just telling us last Christmas about the tv station that would run a yule log for all of Christmas day.

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:36 PM (Wzli+)

124

The Beastmaster.

Played a billion times on cable years ago. I probably saw it from the beginning but don't remember it.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at July 14, 2010 08:33 PM (P33XN)

I was thinking the same thing!

Posted by: CDR M at July 14, 2010 04:37 PM (BuYeH)

125 it was one of those cartoon movies that was really meant for adults and had boobies and stuff in it. Almost every time i put movies on my Netflix queue, i try to remember what it was called and never can, frustrating as hell.
Posted by: koopy

Wizards?

Posted by: Garbonzo the Garrulous at July 14, 2010 04:37 PM (oL8lS)

126 >>>That reminds me - I didn't see the beginning of Overboard for a while (film with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russel), and it took me a while to figure out why Russel's character was so mad at Hawn. I was going to say that one too. A long while after I finally saw the beginning and saw, yeah, she was kind of a bitch, wasn't she? She really shows off her whole ass in the beginning, with that thong. THat's something you don't want to miss.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 04:37 PM (SsvUp)

127 But Ace was just telling us last Christmas about the tv station that would run a yule log for all of Christmas day.

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 08:36 PM (Wzli+)

I have that on DVD

Posted by: robtr at July 14, 2010 04:37 PM (fwSHf)

128 An Affair to Remember. I have no idea if they start on the ship or if they are on land first.

Posted by: ParanoidGirlInSeattle at July 14, 2010 04:38 PM (RZ8pf)

129 TNT still does 24 Hours of A Christmas Story.

Posted by: Andy at July 14, 2010 04:38 PM (pRbtk)

130 111 koopy, Fritz the Cat?

I don't think so, the one i'm thinking of was  sci-fi.

Posted by: koopy at July 14, 2010 04:38 PM (awinc)

131 Loved that movie.  I wanted them to eliminate the Japanese Fleet just to see how they would portray it changing history.

LOL, something that isn't published but at that time the big aircraft carriers carried nuclear weapons. Picked them up in Pearl on the way over to WESPAC and off loaded them on the way back.  That is why every cruise you were guaranteed at least two stops in Pearl. 

Wouldn't have taken long to get rid of the entire Japanese fleet and most of Japan as well.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 04:38 PM (/jbAw)

132 For the longest time I would always miss the beginning of Dirty Dozen and Caddyshack.

Posted by: sifty at July 14, 2010 04:38 PM (BDP/V)

133
a football player previously or something. Always played a goon. With a porn moustache.

haha! I guessed who it was before even seeing the pic. I was thinking "is it that Matt Houston/Magnum looking guy?"

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:38 PM (Wzli+)

134 Fast Times at Ridgemont High -- is there really a part before Phoebe Cates takes her top off? If you are of the right age , that scene hits a little too close to home . Good times .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 04:38 PM (NuAIL)

135 Capricorn One.  I've seen that from the middle several times.  I tune in during the "moonwalks."

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 04:39 PM (0ONli)

136

Predator

Never see the start, always watch it to the end.



brewer,

119 Brokeback Mountain.  Never saw the beginning of that.

Ace did.  With Allah and (supposedly) Carol.


Posted by: s'moron at July 14, 2010 04:39 PM (UaxA0)

137 123 There are a ton of Skinemax movies starring a certain someone that Kratos loves that I have never seen from the beginning.  Really, has anyone seen a Shannon Tweed movie from the start and made it to the end?

Honestly, yes I have.  And it was one where Tweed's evil manipulative character ends up killing the lawyer she was sleeping with.  The lawyer's stupid assistant is seen by the lawyer's wife holding a gun over the lawyer's dead body, so the wife blows her away.  Then there's some courtroom scene and then it's the end.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:39 PM (WmoM+)

138 Heavy Metal?

Posted by: sifty at July 14, 2010 04:40 PM (BDP/V)

139 IIRC the Taylor type misanthrope character is even in Boulle's novel,which is very different than the movie.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2010 04:41 PM (4xNeh)

140 it was one of those cartoon movies that was really meant for adults and had boobies and stuff in it. Almost every time i put movies on my Netflix queue, i try to remember what it was called and never can, frustrating as hell.

Probably one of Ralph Bakshi's flicks.  Sounds like it could be Heavy Traffic or Hey Good Lookin'.

Posted by: The War Between the Undead States at July 14, 2010 04:42 PM (pIgQD)

141
Wizards?

I actually got Wizards a few years ago thinking that was it, but it wasn't. Thanks for the suggestions though, like i said, it's frustrating as hell.

Posted by: koopy at July 14, 2010 04:42 PM (awinc)

142 it was one of those cartoon movies that was really meant for adults and had boobies and stuff in it. Almost every time i put movies on my Netflix queue, i try to remember what it was called and never can, frustrating as hell.
Posted by: koopy

Wizards?




Fire and Ice? Bakshi and Frazetta doing an animated Conan-esque flick?

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2010 04:42 PM (P9+0W)

143 "An Affair to Remember"

End of the Affair, Graham Greene, great book, ok movie.

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 04:42 PM (7aNei)

144 Moonraker.  There's another Bond that starts with a spaceship grabbing another one, but I don't think this is it.

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 04:42 PM (0ONli)

145 I didn't get to watch Fellowship of the Ring in one sitting until several wks after it came out on DVD. Stupid high school assignments.

Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at July 14, 2010 04:42 PM (/h097)

146 123 There are a ton of Skinemax movies starring a certain someone that Kratos loves that I have never seen from the beginning.  Really, has anyone seen a Shannon Tweed movie from the start and made it to the end?

This is TMI, but there's another Tweed movie I saw from beginning to end.  Alas, she didn't do much in that movie, perhaps the source of my enhanced attention?

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 04:43 PM (WmoM+)

147

41 Fantastic Voyage.  Missed the beginning many times.  And now can't remember how it begins.

The beginning does not have Raquel Welch in it, so it does'nt matter.

Posted by: Hammer at July 14, 2010 04:43 PM (GkYyh)

148 Koopy,

Wiki has a list of animated feature length films by year.  They're from all over the world but you may see the name of the one you're trying to remember.

http://tinyurl.com/y8l3d44

Posted by: Tami at July 14, 2010 04:44 PM (VuLos)

149 @150-- I don't think I've seen any of the LotR movies straight through, even though I own them all on DVD. I just don't have three hours of sit-still-and-focus in me. I always wind up wandering off to deal with kids or laundry or dogs or something. In fact, that happens a lot. Only movies I see at the theater or watch with someone who will (virtually) make me sit down and pay attention will be seen all the way through in one sitting.

Posted by: AngelEm at July 14, 2010 04:45 PM (I2Yog)

150 >> Moonraker.  There's another Bond that starts with a spaceship grabbing another one, but I don't think this is it.

You Only Live Twice

Posted by: Andy at July 14, 2010 04:45 PM (pRbtk)

151 I don't think so, the one i'm thinking of was  sci-fi.

Fire and Ice?


Posted by: The War Between the Undead States at July 14, 2010 04:45 PM (pIgQD)

152

Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

 

"Patton" and "Star Wars" come to mind.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at July 14, 2010 04:45 PM (Wh0W+)

153 Gonna have to disagree with Ace on Blade Runner not being a great movie.

I'll admit it's become a cult classic, but it is a damned good piece of film.

Posted by: Unclefacts, AoSHQ Pro Debate Squad, And Summoner Of Meteors. at July 14, 2010 04:45 PM (eCAn3)

154 Can't remember much about the beginning of Smokey and the Bandit. Too many drinking games at movie night way back when.

Posted by: sifty at July 14, 2010 04:45 PM (BDP/V)

155  For me it's Silence of the Lambs. Seen it dozens and dozens of times, including last week when it was on AMC. But I've never actually seen the beginning. I always seem to find it right around the body at the funeral home.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at July 14, 2010 04:46 PM (1TvCg)

156 it was one of those cartoon movies that was really meant for adults and had boobies and stuff in it.

Fritz The Cat was the raunchiest movie he made. It had plenty of nudity and sex. It was rated NC-17.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 04:46 PM (/jbAw)

157 I don't have cable, so the things I see via Netflix or DVD are always from the beginning. 

Of course, sometimes on Netflix's "Watch Instantly" stuff, I've called up one and the choice is "Resume watching" or "Play from Beginning" meaning I started to watch it, then got too drunk to continue.  Does that count?

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at July 14, 2010 04:47 PM (eNxMU)

158 #65 #68 Koopy may be talking about "Wizards".

Posted by: JonathanG at July 14, 2010 04:47 PM (aYOnh)

159 160 Can't remember much about the beginning of Smokey and the Bandit.

That's the movie that fits this category for me.  I've seen the final two-thirds a dozen times but have NEVER caught the beginning and to this day have no idea how Sally Field fell in with the Bandit.

Posted by: The War Between the Undead States at July 14, 2010 04:47 PM (pIgQD)

160 Here's the beginning of Moonraker.  Starts with the shuttle being shuttled.  Had no idea.  All I remember is Jaws and that moon buggy robot thing hauling ass through the desert.

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 04:47 PM (0ONli)

161

149 Moonraker.  There's another Bond that starts with a spaceship grabbing another one, but I don't think this is it.

Mooraker starts in the cockpit of the jet carrying the Moonraker.

You Only Live Twice is the other movie you are thinking of, but it begins with Bond getting whacked in his girls bed.  "At least he died on the job.  He would have wanted it that way."

Posted by: Hammer at July 14, 2010 04:48 PM (GkYyh)

162 NetFlix rules. No commercials... Thats the main reason I love it. I always see the beginning.

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 04:49 PM (7aNei)

163 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through? Apocalypse Now .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 04:49 PM (NuAIL)

164 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

This is where I come in.

Posted by: Alvin Q. Nobbleschlob, Exec. Producer of "Squirt Gangbang Parts I-VII" at July 14, 2010 04:50 PM (pIgQD)

165 155 @150-- I have seen all 3 [extended editions] back-to-back in several movie marathons, though the TV wasn't running the entire time. Also have done a Thin Man & a Harry Potter marathon. Stretching the legs during lulls is highly recommended.

Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at July 14, 2010 04:50 PM (/h097)

166 137 Fast Times at Ridgemont High -- is there really a part before Phoebe Cates takes her top off?

If you are of the right age , that scene hits a little too close to home . Good times .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 08:38 PM (NuAIL)

Heh heh.  Life imitates art, sometimes.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 04:50 PM (XIXhw)

167 I had to rent The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, to see it all the way through in one sitting. 

Posted by: doom_n_gloom at July 14, 2010 04:51 PM (LNOg6)

168 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?



My Dinner With Andre

Posted by: Black-clad film student at Starbucks at July 14, 2010 04:51 PM (P9+0W)

169 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

Patton.

Posted by: The War Between the Undead States at July 14, 2010 04:52 PM (pIgQD)

170 170 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

Apocalypse Now .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 08:49 PM (NuAIL)

Really?  I always start to lose interest where they get to the surreal battle at the bridge.  Where Sheen's character asks who's in charge and one of the guys answers "Aren't you?"  That scene kinda drags.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 04:52 PM (XIXhw)

171
Best scene/line from SMOKEY was when Jackie Gleason meets the other sheriff for the first time. He had no idea he was black. The look on his face was priceless.

Gleason: "You sounded taller on the radio."

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:52 PM (gt3o0)

172

Bladerunner might be great to some for unusual reasons.  For me, I love the look and feel, the film noir style.  The creativity and originality of the future look.  The scifi story underpinning the movie.  I thought it was a great story, and it was well put together.  Some of the lines were memorable.  I cared about the characters and loved the setting.  It made me want to visit. 

But I liked Ishtar too.

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 04:54 PM (0ONli)

173 I'M GONNA BARBECUE YOUR ASS IN MOLASSES!!!


An all-time classic.

Posted by: Buford T. Justice at July 14, 2010 04:54 PM (BDP/V)

174 >>>All I remember is Jaws and that moon buggy robot thing hauling ass through the desert. The moon buggy is from Diamonds Are Forever, another spacey Bond movie. (Laser satellites.)

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 04:55 PM (SsvUp)

175

@149: "There's another Bond that starts with a spaceship grabbing another one, but I don't think this is it."

You Only Live Twice

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at July 14, 2010 04:55 PM (ySNz/)

176 it was one of those cartoon movies that was really meant for adults and had boobies and stuff in it. Almost every time i put movies on my Netflix queue, i try to remember what it was called and never can, frustrating as hell.
Posted by: koopy

Cool World?

Posted by: GMan at July 14, 2010 04:56 PM (zQiqq)

177 Hard Times with Charles Bronson. Every second is awesome.

Posted by: sifty at July 14, 2010 04:56 PM (BDP/V)

178 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

Apocalypse Now .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 08:49 PM (NuAIL)

Only the original studio version (one of the best movies of all time).  Coppola's extended version sucks shit, IMHO.

Posted by: progressoverpeace at July 14, 2010 04:56 PM (Qp4DT)

179 The original Rocky.

The last one (Rocky Balboa) was almost on a par with the original.  Very, very good movie.

Posted by: The War Between the Undead States at July 14, 2010 04:56 PM (pIgQD)

180 For the longest time, whenever I saw The Princess Bride, I always came in after Wesley had gone off.  As a result, I could never figure out how Buttercup knew it was Wesley when she knocked him down the hill.  Made so much more sense once I saw the whole thing.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at July 14, 2010 04:56 PM (tJBi7)

181 I had to rent The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, to see it all the way through in one sitting.

Wally-Mart has that and Butch Cassidy in a double pack on Blu-Ray for 20 bucks right now. I got that a few days ago.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 04:57 PM (/jbAw)

182 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

Little Drummer Girl

Posted by: progressoverpeace at July 14, 2010 04:57 PM (Qp4DT)

183 I saw the beginning of Climategate: The Fraud, but the plot was so implausible that I just couldn't make it to the end.

Posted by: Guy Fawkes at July 14, 2010 04:57 PM (JSghx)

184 #124 No, "The Blues Brothers" starts with Jake getting discharged from jail. There's a whole bit where he's walking down to the place where his valuables were kept, and that wonderful scene with Frank Oz that ends with the words "and one soiled". Then they play "She Caught the Katy" as Jake and Elwood drive off in the old police car.

Posted by: JonathanG at July 14, 2010 04:58 PM (aYOnh)

185 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?



As much as I want Lucas to be ass-raped by wildebeests, Star Wars is kind of the obvious one. During the original theatrical run, that first scene with the star destroyer filling the screen while the theater speakers rumbled......one of the best openings ever.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2010 04:58 PM (P9+0W)

186 The Goonies. Best movie EVAH! I always forget about the police chase in the beginning.

Posted by: ErikW at July 14, 2010 04:58 PM (9BzMV)

187 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

The Assignment

Posted by: progressoverpeace at July 14, 2010 04:58 PM (Qp4DT)

188
speaking of Bond...

I watched ZARDOZ the other day. It was online so I said what the hell. I mean Sean Connery is in it so it must be good, right?

When it got to the part about how Zardoz got his name I was pissed off royally.

Posted by: a commenter who changes his name a lot at July 14, 2010 04:58 PM (Wzli+)

189 Fuck, I can top that story. When we lived in the Kingdom, The Orbit Network would beat a fucking bad movie to death. Ever see the retard movie? Three times a week for four years. I shit you not. Whenever I hear a High School Marching Band I still become violent. I think it's really called the other sister. that Skerritt dude and Dusk till Dawn Lewis are in it.

Posted by: dr kill at July 14, 2010 04:59 PM (w9bVp)

190 The Dark Crystal

Ran over and over on Showtime or HBO, never saw the beginning.

Hell, even saw part of it in a whorehouse in Vegas. Just not the beginning.

Posted by: mpur in Texas (kicking Mexico's ass since 1836) at July 14, 2010 04:59 PM (C2fdY)

191

Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

JAWS.  Gotta love the skinny-dipper getting annihilated.

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at July 14, 2010 04:59 PM (ySNz/)

192

Bond must have a laser satellite in every other movie. 

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 04:59 PM (0ONli)

193 I've been racking my brain and can't remember how Full Metal Jacket started. Was it when they were getting off the buss or did something happen before.

Posted by: robtr at July 14, 2010 05:00 PM (fwSHf)

194 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

The Emerald Forest

Posted by: progressoverpeace at July 14, 2010 05:00 PM (Qp4DT)

195 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

Once Upon a Time in America.  This is my favorite mob movie, even over The Godfather.  May be Leone's best film, but it's a tough call between this and the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns.

Posted by: The War Between the Undead States at July 14, 2010 05:00 PM (pIgQD)

196 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

Rambo, First Blood, Part 2.

Starts out with shit exploding.  Continues with even more shit exploding.  Rambo gets captured, tortured, says "Murdoch, I'm coming to get you!", then escapes by blowing even more shit up with Co. Only drag is near the end of the film when Co and Rambo kiss.  I visibly blanched at this scene and said "This movie sucks now!" and started to walk off.  But 10 seconds later, Co gets gunned down and Rambo is pissed.  "Hurray, the movie is saved!" I gushed and continued to watch.  Even more shit is destroyed and the movie ends with Rambo destroying Murdock's command center and threatening him to find the missing Vietnam POWs else Rambo will "find him". 

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 05:00 PM (WmoM+)

197 As for Casino, seen it a few times beginning to end, but over the years whenever I click by its amazing how often it is the same scene where his wife pulls the gun on him in the bedroom.

Posted by: Guy Fawkes at July 14, 2010 05:01 PM (JSghx)

198 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

Midway

Posted by: mpur in Texas (kicking Mexico's ass since 1836) at July 14, 2010 05:01 PM (C2fdY)

199 153 Koopy,

Wiki has a list of animated feature length films by year.  They're from all over the world but you may see the name of the one you're trying to remember.

Excellent, thanks, i'm going to look through it right now.

Posted by: koopy at July 14, 2010 05:01 PM (awinc)

200 Different tack, what about movies that start amazing and hold you all the way through?

If I can only choose one, it would be The Great Escape. They leave you wondering from the beginning, & there aren't really any dull moments. The tunnel scene leaves me on the edge of my chair every time.

Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at July 14, 2010 05:01 PM (/h097)

201 Pretty much every old Clint Eastwood western, until I got several of them on DVD and finally watched from start to end.  Many, TBS/TNT used to run those in heavy rotation on the weekends.

Posted by: brak at July 14, 2010 05:01 PM (K3jqH)

202 I watched ZARDOZ the other day. It was online so I said what the hell. I mean Sean Connery is in it so it must be good, right?

That is one of the worst movies of all time. I mean, Connery in a diaper?

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 05:01 PM (/jbAw)

203 I've never seen more than 5 minutes of any porn movie.

Posted by: Dr. Spank at July 14, 2010 05:02 PM (xO+6C)

204 #185  Cool World?

That's what I thought of first, but that movie came out early 90's and I think the movie he's referencing was late 70's.

Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at July 14, 2010 05:02 PM (WmoM+)

205 I've been racking my brain and can't remember how Full Metal Jacket started. Was it when they were getting off the buss or did something happen before.



The barber shop, and country music. The looks on the recruits' faces MAKE the scene.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2010 05:02 PM (P9+0W)

206 Evil Dead .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 05:03 PM (NuAIL)

207 As for Casino, seen it a few times beginning to end, but over the years whenever I click by its amazing how often it is the same scene where his wife pulls the gun on him in the bedroom.

Isn't that Goodfellas? Or did Scorsese do the same thing in both movies?

Posted by: Waterhouse at July 14, 2010 05:03 PM (5QqO6)

208 Zombie Land

Posted by: Bono at July 14, 2010 05:04 PM (7aNei)

209 I've been racking my brain and can't remember how Full Metal Jacket started.

Wasn't it in the barbershop skinning the heads while they played that country song about "hello Vietnam?".

I have the disk but haven't watched it in ages.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 05:04 PM (/jbAw)

210

One that used to be on TV some, but haven't seen in years - and never saw how it started - Outland.

 

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at July 14, 2010 05:04 PM (ySNz/)

211 218 Evil Dead .

Evil Dead II. 

Posted by: The War Between the Undead States at July 14, 2010 05:04 PM (pIgQD)

212  your right, I was thinking Goodfellas and wrote Casino.

Posted by: Guy Fawkes at July 14, 2010 05:05 PM (JSghx)

213 Wasn't it in the barbershop skinning the heads while they played that country song about "hello Vietnam?".

I have the disk but haven't watched it in ages.

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 09:04 PM (/jbAw)

Well that's 2 votes so I guess you're right. I thought I remembered them getting off the buss first.

Posted by: robtr at July 14, 2010 05:05 PM (fwSHf)

214 Snatch . No big fan of Brad Pitt , however , he does scumbag well . Goofy Brit start that I just can't remember though .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 05:09 PM (NuAIL)

215 Evil Dead II. 


That was one of my first thoughts. Unlike most horror flicks, the nasty stuff starts almost immediately.....the deadites arrive right at 4:50, IIRC.

Yeah, I timed it once.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2010 05:09 PM (P9+0W)

216 The beginning of The Magnificent Seven is one  miss a lot.

Always catch it when they are already recruiting gunfighters.

Posted by: sifty at July 14, 2010 05:09 PM (BDP/V)

217 222 With some guy taking off his spacesuit on the job and exploding IIRC.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2010 05:09 PM (4xNeh)

218 222 With some guy taking off his spacesuit on the job and exploding IIRC.


*cue gay porn music*

Bow-chick-a-wow-wow.....

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at July 14, 2010 05:11 PM (P9+0W)

219 a girlfriend after telling her it was great, and then... was like, "What's this crap?"

Then later, in bed, I said the exact same thing.

Posted by: Ace's "Girlfriend" 3 years ago at July 14, 2010 05:11 PM (ZXnUe)

220 First scene and opening credits to FMJ:

http://tinyurl.com/2vfohtc

Posted by: Vic at July 14, 2010 05:11 PM (/jbAw)

221 Two Dogs not have cable in tee pee.

Posted by: Two Dogs at July 14, 2010 05:12 PM (zIUsq)

222 Caddyshack

Posted by: Judge Smells at July 14, 2010 05:14 PM (YJgUl)

223 Fight Club

Posted by: Tyler Durden at July 14, 2010 05:15 PM (YJgUl)

224 231 Different kind of explosion.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2010 05:15 PM (4xNeh)

225

Koopy- the only animated sci-fi movie I can think of from the 80s that isn't Heavy Metal is Starchaser.

 

Posted by: Wicked Witch of the West at July 14, 2010 05:16 PM (oLULt)

226 As much as I want Lucas to be ass-raped by wildebeests, Star Wars is kind of the obvious one. During the original theatrical run, that first scene with the star destroyer filling the screen while the theater speakers rumbled......one of the best openings ever.

I was pinned to my seat the first time I saw Star Wars at age 11.  About six months ago I sat down to watch it with the nephew and just about dozed off.  I had no idea the acting was so bad, especially Hamil's acting in his first few scenes.  Even Harrison Ford's acting was terrible.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 05:16 PM (XIXhw)

227 Rod Serling was a good writer but he was a typical lib.POTA is like many(most?) of the Twilight Zone episodes he wrote.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2010 05:17 PM (4xNeh)

228 ""There is this one movie that's on in the middle of the night and I always wake up to it lately. I wake up and there is this black communist in the White House???????? How the fuck did that movie start?""



Damn that's some funny shit. lol

Posted by: Berserker at July 14, 2010 05:19 PM (gWHrG)

229 Any of the Bourne movies

Posted by: Tyler Durden at July 14, 2010 05:20 PM (YJgUl)

230 239 I guess it was so revolutionary as a spectacle,nobody noticed the acting.Carrie Fisher goes into and out of an English accent through the whole movie.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2010 05:21 PM (4xNeh)

231 A movie I've caught a lot from the same place (the plane over Yugoslavia, or in the Yugoslav village with the partisans): Force 10 From Navarone.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 05:22 PM (SsvUp)

232 For me it's the film "Circle of Iron" with David Carradine, Christopher Lee, Roddy McDowall and Eli Wallach. Story by Bruce Lee and James Coburn. Good flick but I didn't see it from the beginning till about the 8th time.

Posted by: Rocks at July 14, 2010 05:22 PM (UYace)

233 Perhaps the animated film everyone is looking for is Fantastic Planet, a slightly dirty and wholly impenetrable Czech film run to death by PBS and then USA (largely via Night Flight) in the 1970s and early 1980s.

http://tinyurl.com/24zoa8x

Posted by: ykw at July 14, 2010 05:22 PM (hwkNI)

234 Carrie Fisher goes into and out of an English accent through the whole movie.

Posted by: steevy at July 14, 2010 09:21 PM (4xNeh)

That happens in lots and lots of movies.  It's pretty rare for an actor to hold a decent accent throughout the whole of a movie.

Posted by: progressoverpeace at July 14, 2010 05:23 PM (Qp4DT)

235 Vacations are great, but then you get home. That's where it's at. Must say that USAirways performed admirably (and better than "on time") for all four little legs up and down the East Coast. Credit where credit is due and all.

Posted by: Lincolntf at July 14, 2010 05:23 PM (Um3jj)

236 there was this movie i saw on tv when I was a kid called Krull. never saw the beginning until I watched in full recently... totally did not fit the rest of the movie.

Posted by: A.G. at July 14, 2010 05:24 PM (qrKUQ)

237

@244: "A movie I've caught a lot from the same place (the plane over Yugoslavia, or in the Yugoslav village with the partisans): Force 10 From Navarone."

Heh, love the part where the MP calls Carl Weathers "Rastis." Weathers decks him, and then walks away muttering "Rastis?", kind of bemused that that would be the MP's insult of choice.

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at July 14, 2010 05:26 PM (ySNz/)

238 That happens in lots and lots of movies. It's pretty rare for an actor to hold a decent accent throughout the whole of a movie. The hell you say .

Posted by: Kevin Costner / Robin Hood at July 14, 2010 05:26 PM (NuAIL)

239

O/T: Confirmed:  Mel Gibson does not hate Necochean Basque Argentines or Indonesian Bataks from the highlands north of the Sumatra area.  His stock is slowly edging back up.

 

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 05:28 PM (0ONli)

240

OH.  Twilight Zone, the Movie.

 

Awesome opener.

 

 

(also die motherfucking spam)

Posted by: Dave in Texas at July 14, 2010 05:30 PM (Wh0W+)

241 I was pinned to my seat the first time I saw Star Wars at age 11.  About six months ago I sat down to watch it with the nephew and just about dozed off.  I had no idea the acting was so bad, especially Hamil's acting in his first few scenes.  Even Harrison Ford's acting was terrible.

It wasn't so much that the acting was bad; it's that Lucas is such a horrifically bad writer that his dialogue would sound ludicrous coming out of any actor's mouth.  I actually thought Ford, Hamill, Fisher, etc. did very good jobs in these movies; they were good enough actors to overcome the basic two-dimensionality of their characters and project reasonably believable, likable heroes.

Some movies are plot-driven; others are character-driven; the original Star Wars trilogy is spectacle-driven.  They're two hours apiece of great special effects and action sequences with just enough of a bare-bones plot, and characters fleshed out just barely enough, to hang it all on.  And that's why it worked.  Compare them to the prequels, in which both plot and characters were laughingstocks, and there are no heroes.

(That initial shot of the Star Destroyer in the first movie looks amazing on the big screen.)

Posted by: The War Between the Undead States at July 14, 2010 05:30 PM (pIgQD)

242

I've seen Kelly's Heroes a dozen times but I have no idea how it starts. The cast is excellent tho, and the quotables are top notch.

Oddball:  Hi, man. 
Big Joe:  What are you doing?
Oddball:  I'm drinking wine and eating cheese, and catching some rays, you know.
Big Joe:  What's happening?
Oddball:  Well, the tank's broke and they're trying to fix it.
Big Joe:  Well, then, why the hell aren't you up there helping them? 
Oddball:   I only ride 'em, I don't know what makes 'em work.
Big Joe:  Christ!
Oddball:  Definitely an antisocial type. Woof, woof, woof! That's my other dog imitation.

 

Posted by: ErikW at July 14, 2010 05:32 PM (9BzMV)

243 Deliverance.

Posted by: antisocialist at July 14, 2010 05:33 PM (Rwudm)

244

Wanna see something really scary?

 

Interesting too, considering the "best ever" theme in this thread.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at July 14, 2010 05:34 PM (Wh0W+)

245 Poltergeist.

I remember this movie was a staple on Cinemax when I was a kid.  I've seen the tequila worm scene more times than I can count, but I don't think I ever saw the beginning.

Posted by: embittered redleg at July 14, 2010 05:34 PM (KLbhT)

246 I've never understood why did those nice young cheerleaders need to raise money.

Posted by: Alex at July 14, 2010 05:35 PM (K9+WM)

247 Oh, and Full Metal Jacket has teh best insult ever recorded "I think the best part of you ran down the crack of your mama's as and made a brown stain on the sheet.  I think you been cheated."  Damn, that one makes me chuckle.  I'd have used it once or twice if the other guy wasn't bigger than me.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 05:35 PM (XIXhw)

248 Escape from DS-3 OK. I only saw it once as a kid on tv. I was drawn in by the sex droids.

Posted by: alexthedude at July 14, 2010 05:37 PM (9mgCh)

249 Back when I was in high school it seemed as though Comedy Central played Rodney Dangerfield's "Back to School" almost non-stop for a couple of years.  I think I did manage to catch that from beginning to end by brute probabilistic force of airtime saturation. 

They also played "Rocky Horror" several times, and I'd practically always tune in at the part where Meatloaf bursts out of the freezer.  That or "Dammit, Janet".  Never saw the whole thing, though...it just seemed to be trying too hard to be quirky to actually succeed in being charming, such that I'd always get bored with it.

Posted by: Jeremiad Bullfrog at July 14, 2010 05:37 PM (Y5I9o)

250 Rollerball.  This was one of the first movies I saw over and over.  Can't remember the start.

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 05:38 PM (0ONli)

251 They also played "Rocky Horror" several times, and I'd practically always tune in at the part where Meatloaf bursts out of the freezer.  That or "Dammit, Janet".  Never saw the whole thing, though...it just seemed to be trying too hard to be quirky to actually succeed in being charming, such that I'd always get bored with it.

Rocky Horror is dull unless you see it in a theater full of people who know the audience participation parts.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 05:38 PM (XIXhw)

252 Oh, and "The Exorcist".  Never seen the very beginning, and several parts I have only heard, as this movie is still the scariest damn movie ever and I can't look at some of it.

Posted by: antisocialist at July 14, 2010 05:40 PM (Rwudm)

253 Someone mentioned Raquel Welch? Mother , Jugs and Speed . Mmmmmmmm Juggggggggs .

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 05:43 PM (NuAIL)

254

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 08:39 PM (0ONli)

Capricorn One? I was just thinking the other day....they NEVER run that. For all the movies mentioned here, that have run on TV/cable forever...Capricorn One is an exception. I think I saw it once in its first run on TV, and once more. That's it.

It's pretty rare for an actor to hold a decent accent throughout the whole of a movie.

Harry Shearer in Spinal Tap. It's virtually gone by the end.

Posted by: CJ at July 14, 2010 05:46 PM (O27Qg)

255 267 Someone mentioned Raquel Welch?  Idea for another thread: Hottest for the Longest Female celeb.  Initial nominations:  Raquel, Ann-Margret, Tina Turner.

Posted by: right at July 14, 2010 09:40 PM (EquV1)

Sophia Loren.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 05:48 PM (XIXhw)

256

Rocky Horror is dull unless you see it in a theater full of people who know the audience participation parts.

And apparently eggs are not part of the participation. My friends and I showed up with eggs back in the 80s and were not admitted.

My friends used them to pelt the theater, despite my objections. Yeah I was one of those guys.

Posted by: CJ at July 14, 2010 05:50 PM (O27Qg)

257

@267: "Idea for another thread: Hottest for the Longest Female celeb.  Initial nominations:  Raquel, Ann-Margret, Tina Turner."

Heather O'Rourke - from the day she was born to the day she died.

Posted by: Roman Polanski at July 14, 2010 05:50 PM (ySNz/)

258

Wanna see something really scary?

 Interesting too, considering the "best ever" theme in this thread.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at July 14, 2010 09:34 PM (Wh0W+)

ok............  that got me....

Posted by: Racefan at July 14, 2010 05:53 PM (N/+FT)

259

Hard to believe Heather O'Rourke would be 35 years old if she were still alive.

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 05:53 PM (0ONli)

260

It's pretty rare for an actor to hold a decent accent throughout the whole of a movie.

Julia Roberts in Michael Collins.....

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at July 14, 2010 05:53 PM (ySNz/)

261 Alien. . almost always tune in when they are investigating the Space Jockey and I always bail after Brett gets it. Actually, now that I think about it, I've never seen ANY of the franchise all the way though, except for Aliens, and not in one sitting.

Posted by: David at July 14, 2010 05:55 PM (gOiEK)

262 Yeah, I'm going to have to go with Beastmaster, too.

We used to say that HBO stood for "Hey, Beastmaster's on."

Posted by: Phinn at July 14, 2010 05:57 PM (GiUTT)

263 >>>Harry Shearer in Spinal Tap. It's virtually gone by the end. he had a theory about that. His character was supposed to be one of those transatlantic people, neither british nor american, just a few years in one and then the other, back and forth, and so his accent was supposed to be an ambiguous blending. He wasn't supposed to be like the two leads, who were definitely British.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 05:59 PM (SsvUp)

264

Fantastic Voyage.  Missed the beginning many times.  And now can't remember how it begins.

 

Illogically and poorly acted just like the ending.

Posted by: Kelly at July 14, 2010 06:01 PM (FLFli)

265 by the way, Sorry, thanks for the confirmation PoTA does start this way.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 06:02 PM (SsvUp)

266 he had a theory about that. His character was supposed to be one of those transatlantic people, neither british nor american, just a few years in one and then the other, back and forth, and so his accent was supposed to be an ambiguous blending. He wasn't supposed to be like the two leads, who were definitely British.

Was that deliberate or an after-the-fact rationalization?

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 06:02 PM (XIXhw)

267

Harry Shearer put out a theory on Derek Smalls' accent?

 

...

 

The man knows his marketing, don't he?

Posted by: Dave in Texas at July 14, 2010 06:04 PM (Wh0W+)

268

A better question, has anyone ever seen an ending to a porn movie?

I've always stayed for the "happy" ending.

Posted by: Kelly at July 14, 2010 06:07 PM (FLFli)

269 Silly question maybe . Why the Blade Runner hate ?

Posted by: Bill D. Cat ( Nobel Prize winner ) at July 14, 2010 06:07 PM (NuAIL)

270 Well, he said it in the commentary for Spinal Tap, or a making of featurette, or something. I mean, I believe him. I don't see why he'd lie. He seems like he'd be able to admit "Eh, I lost the accent here." It sounded pretty plausible to me. He was trying to differentiate his character, who is kind of lame compared to the other two, by accent.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 06:08 PM (SsvUp)

271

Harry Shearer in Spinal Tap. It's virtually gone by the end.

>he had a theory about that

Thank you....because he seems to take a lot of pride in his character portrayals, and it didn't make sense. And I didn't think the others would let him get away with it.

Shearer is a flaming liberal, but between Tap and The Simpsons, and the fact that he co-wrote one of my favorite movies, Reel Life with Albert Brooks...

Posted by: CJ at July 14, 2010 06:09 PM (O27Qg)

272 watching Spinal Tap, it made sense to me, because his accent is not clearly british like the other two, it is not really british and not really american.

Posted by: ace at July 14, 2010 06:12 PM (SsvUp)

273 I think I remember that too.. Shearer was no slouch.  I think he kind of embraced the secondary role, which included a couple of great self-deprecating scenes (the cocoon that wouldn't open and the foil-wrapped zucchini at the airport), those were hilarious.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at July 14, 2010 06:12 PM (Wh0W+)

274

Well, he said it in the commentary for Spinal Tap, or a making of featurette, or something.

They do the commentary in character...but, sure, I believe him for the reasons I stated earlier. They all just seemed to put a lot of effort into it.

Posted by: CJ at July 14, 2010 06:13 PM (O27Qg)

275 Here's one. In fact, the ultimate one. The film everyone's seen more times (with the possible exception of The Wizard of Oz) than any other. I speak, of course, of It's a Wonderful Life. I came across an article on a site called DVDtalk, titled:IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE - or: It's A Wonderful Recut?--- Was everyone's favorite Christmas film an editorial save-job?
While watching It's a Wonderful Life for the umpteenth time, I saw a detail I never noticed before in dozens of showings. After thinking about the implications of this new 'detail', Savant now believes it possible that the entire flashback structure of that film was imposed during post production, in a desperate attempt to save a movie that wasn't working.
...
The article makes a convincing case, and after re-watching the beginning of IAWL, I tend to buy the author's premise. Read it for yourselves.
http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s55wonderful.html

Posted by: HugoFitch at July 14, 2010 06:14 PM (caUKO)

276

he kind of embraced the secondary role, which included a couple of great self-deprecating scenes

"Practical question...Are we doing Stonehenge again tomorrow night?"

Posted by: CJ at July 14, 2010 06:16 PM (O27Qg)

277

Thanks for the suggestions though, like i said, it's frustrating as hell.

Not as frustrating as a porn flick without the "happy" ending.

Posted by: Kelly at July 14, 2010 06:16 PM (FLFli)

278 96 etc.  it was one of those cartoon movies that was really meant for adults and had boobies and stuff in it. Almost every time i put movies on my Netflix queue, i try to remember what it was called and never can, frustrating as hell.
Posted by: koopy

Well, it wasn't sci-fi, but it was definitely the "companion movie" to Heavy Metal for a bunch of us at the time -- "American Pop."   Great flick about several generations of musical talent all cut short before they made it big, until finally the punk rocker drug dealer bastard (literally) hits the bit time at the end.  There was a vaudville start, someone in WWII, a Janis Joplin segment, everything.

That movie had all kinds of copyright issues I think, and in the end took forever to make it to DVD because of that.  For the longest time it almost felt like a dream as to whether it ever existed - you'd run into people who loved it and only then could confirm it was real.  It did finally come out on DVD not too many years ago I believe.


Posted by: Vern at July 14, 2010 06:17 PM (Onyns)

279 You know what was weird?  Yul Brenner as a cowboy.

Posted by: rdbrewer at July 14, 2010 06:18 PM (0ONli)

280 Grew up lucky enough to be born into a family who owned a drive-in theater in Florida during the Smoky and the Bandit/Convoy/Happy Hooker/Jaws/Saturday Night Fever/Star Wars era.

And yet, I have totally blanked out on the beginning of Barbarella--I can remember the sex bits vividly--I was a teenaged girl, after all, but not the beginning...and I've seen it at least a dozen times.

Ditto two of my favorite movies of all time, "Cannibal Women in the Avacado Jungle of Death." and "Erik the Viking." (Don't judge me...I have weird tastes, I know.)

Posted by: RightWingRedneck at July 14, 2010 06:19 PM (jVMa7)

281

Had me from the start?  The Kill Bill duo. I saw them both About two Winters ago on one of the movie channels.  I remember thinking, If this is another one of those Dumb n Dumber movies, I will be able to get some shit done today.

Wrong!   Blown Completly Away. Five or six hours of enjoyment! Long time since.

Posted by: Woolie at July 14, 2010 06:19 PM (xCMnB)

282 I think nobody can remember the beginning of any movie. The trick is name the movies you can remember the beginning. lol

Posted by: sig at July 14, 2010 06:22 PM (2i+Vz)

283 Just a thought, on the animated boobie movie....American Pop, maybe? It wasn't sci fi, but had adult content.

Posted by: RightWingRedneck at July 14, 2010 06:22 PM (jVMa7)

284

You know what was weird?  Yul Brenner as a cowboy.

Luckily, he didn't have much (any?) dialogue.

Even more weird was Richard Benjamin as a straight actor.

As a kid, that movie got my attention.

Posted by: CJ at July 14, 2010 06:25 PM (O27Qg)

285 298 I think nobody can remember the beginning of any movie. The trick is name the movies you can remember the beginning. lol

Posted by: sig at July 14, 2010 10:22 PM (2i+Vz)

Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Posted by: Ace's liver at July 14, 2010 06:27 PM (XIXhw)

286 Strangely enough, Westworld is one of those movies I always seemed to come in on late as well. Back in the 90s, TNT used to show it fairly regularly on weekday afternoons. I always seemed to miss the first 10-15 minutes. The part I came in was when James Brolin and Richard Benjamin were just getting ready to go into Westworld.

Posted by: Book Geek at July 14, 2010 06:30 PM (1+OO5)

287 That's the beginning of Planet of the Apes?? I've missed it about thirty times! So how does it end??

Posted by: A Commenter Who Changes Her Name a Lot at July 14, 2010 06:48 PM (gbCNS)

288 I never did make it all the way through Behind The Green Door. Does she get it in the end?

Posted by: andycanuck at July 14, 2010 06:49 PM (7b1Uc)

289 As a kid, that movie the sexbots got my attention.
Fixed it for me.

Posted by: andycanuck at July 14, 2010 06:50 PM (7b1Uc)

290 Slightly different: my friends and I went to see Highlander II in the theaters. We walked out while they were still on Planet Zorg or whatever it was. Many years later, I tuned in for part of a Highlander sequel that took part mostly in some dome with the ghost of Sean Connery providing assistance. It was the same movie, but the beginning and middle had no connection with each other. I assumed for at least a decade that there were two bad sequels to Highlander. Until a third bad sequel really did come out and I wondered why everybody was calling it the third sequel when thereÂ’d already been one.

Posted by: Jerry at July 14, 2010 06:51 PM (7Ahkq)

291

I seem to always miss the beginning of Natural Born Killers and Pulp Fiction.

Posted by: Schwalbe at July 14, 2010 06:59 PM (OiSVC)

292 185 it was one of those cartoon movies that was really meant for adults and had boobies and stuff in it. Almost every time i put movies on my Netflix queue, i try to remember what it was called and never can, frustrating as hell.
Posted by: koopy

Cool World?

Heavy Traffic?

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at July 14, 2010 07:15 PM (eNxMU)

293 Yeah, that opening scene was always in "Planet of the Apes" and every time I saw it I thought the Charleton Heston character was too much of an egotistical jackass to ever be picked for a spacecraft crew where everyone needs to get along.  He talks an awful lot like some dimwit leader of a commune who's trying to convince his hippie sisters he's a deep thinker so he can get laid.

Posted by: Tantor at July 14, 2010 07:16 PM (Ek/Oc)

294 Took a while before I finally caught the beginning of Trading Places.

Posted by: Blackford Oakes at July 14, 2010 07:32 PM (w9BEi)

295

Dumb and Dumber one of the top 20 movies ever made?

OK.

 

Posted by: Woolie at July 14, 2010 07:46 PM (xCMnB)

296 The back to back of Heavy Metal? I think it was Robot Carnival

Posted by: Dale in San Antonio (not dave!) at July 14, 2010 08:20 PM (lYygm)

297 I saw that Planet of the Apes opening scene when I sneaked into the old Auto-Sky drive in back in Ottawa when the flick first came out.  Funny, how you remember some things and not others.  The flick I'd recommend if it comes on TV would be "633 Squadron".  I've seen the flick a few times but I doubt recall ever seeing the beginning.  Pretty good move and a great score.  They use the music all the time at air shows.  Search youtube for air show and 633

Posted by: scr_north at July 14, 2010 08:22 PM (H4fzk)

298 Evil Dead: Army of Darkness

Posted by: Clive at July 14, 2010 08:23 PM (l6nqJ)

299 Looker and Westworld both desperately need a remake, and Looker especially would be so wonderfully appropriate for today's CGI film culture. Any remake of Westworld without Richard freaking Benjamin in it would make me happy. How I loath that guy.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 14, 2010 08:36 PM (PQY7w)

300

For the longest time, I would catch Pitch Black after it had already started and I never knew why everyone was stuck on that planet or how they got there. Actually a very good movie.

Also for some reason, I always like it when A Few Good Men is on and I'll watch it from whatever point it is at when I catch it. But I never specifically seek it out to watch. One of those movies you should buy but you never get around to it.

Posted by: azkag at July 14, 2010 08:41 PM (3HzjS)

301

Alright-

Sure I am way late on the comments, but Looker was one of the freakin' COOLEST and AWESOMEST movies when I was a 12 year old kid. I remember sneaking views on cable, I must have seen it 10 times as a kid. Still love the song. Really good message, don't trust the advertising.

Just learned from the trailer link it was Michael Creighton-. dude will go down in history as the teller of the times.....

I gotta get that one for my collection....

Posted by: Gerry Owen at July 14, 2010 08:42 PM (W7JkV)

302 I've never seen the finish of the movie The Never Ending Story.

Posted by: polynikes at July 14, 2010 08:47 PM (2rrrY)

303 I was right in #6, though it's whatever this is on TMC right now

Posted by: Doc at July 14, 2010 09:21 PM (MYT77)

304 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. I always come in at the party scene. "This is my happening, and it freaks me out."

Posted by: rosemarie at July 14, 2010 09:35 PM (4DmKS)

305 Heavy Metal. Any movie made before 1960. Every movie with Charlton Heston in it. Titanic?

Posted by: Eric at July 14, 2010 09:46 PM (2/Fyp)

306 Pearl Harbor?

Posted by: Eric at July 14, 2010 09:47 PM (2/Fyp)

307 That damned "Looker" movie you mention:
Double damage - I get to see the Partridge girl nekid AND, believe it or not, I have that freakin' theme song from the movie on my MP3 player    (It's off a Kim Carnes album).

I'll jump into 2001: A space odyssey, any of the Back to the future movies, or Braveheart from midpoint... Though now, instead of hearing William Wallace cry "Freedom!", I only hear crazy old Mel yelling at his girlfriend.

Posted by: Son Of The Godfather at July 14, 2010 10:12 PM (EFDCW)

308 Ishtar.  I took my 14-year-old daughter to see it and on leaving the theater she said, "That's the worst, stupidest movie ever!"  I'm pretty sure she still believes it.  Only funny thing in it was the camel, and it wasn't that funny.

On "Blues Brothers" the opening sets the whole movie and is really a must see, right up there with the opening of "Blade Runner".  [Which reminds me, I've never seen the opening of "Blade".]  A shot of Joliet State Prison, which was every bit the joyous place it looked.  Jake being walked out of the cell block and getting his stuff back from Frank Oz [and still being hassled by the guards], and the big gates opening and he steps out in his Blues Brothers black suit, skinny tie, hat, and sunglasses and Jake is waiting across the road for him with a former police car.  The music begins.

Seriously, one of the best [in the sense of setting the whole movie] EVAH!!  And a lot of it, while amusing, was played pretty seriously.

Then, I'm an old guy, but I'll bet I've seen "Van Wilder" a couple of dozen times from around the middle.  Aside from Kal Penn, I watch to see near the end the scene where the smarmy, pompous fraternity a**hole, totally full of laxatives takes a long and very loud dump in a waste basket in front of the committee who has to decide whether to let him into med school.  Comeuppance, indeed.

Finally, is any discussion of long time pulchritude complete without mentioning Maureen O'Hara?

Although Sophia Loren was pretty darned fine in Grumpy Old Men II [or whatever the sequel was called].

Posted by: JorgXMcKie at July 14, 2010 10:17 PM (290l2)

309 In the last thread, I asked, is this scene really in the beginning of Planet of the Apes?

The answer is an unequivocal yes.

Posted by: Blacque Jacques Shellacque at July 14, 2010 10:39 PM (rXbvW)

310 Yeah, finally seeing the beginning of WestWorld was about as exciting as Roman World.

Posted by: Never Give A Sucker An Even Break at July 14, 2010 10:46 PM (ny3/z)

311 But WestWorld II is without a doubt one of the worst sequels I have ever seen. I'd rather go to Roman World.

Posted by: Never Give A Sucker An Even Break at July 14, 2010 10:48 PM (ny3/z)

312 I bought the Hangover and Inglorious Basterds recently from Columbia House. I still have yet to watch them. I'm afraid that they won't be as good as I've heard they are. Oh well. I never catch Escape from New York or 48 Hours from the beginning.

Posted by: Pork Alfredo at July 14, 2010 10:57 PM (NZ6Uo)

313 Oh, I saw Taxi Driver from the beginning a couple of days ago, for the first time ever.

Posted by: Pork Alfredo at July 14, 2010 10:58 PM (NZ6Uo)

314 Susan Dey - I've been in love with her since I was a kid watching her on the Partridge Family.  She just got better with age.

Posted by: nraendowment at July 15, 2010 12:55 AM (iT/y8)

315 I bought the Hangover and Inglorious Basterds recently from Columbia House.

My neighbor gave me a copy of Hangover on Blue-Ray that she bought by mistake. I thought it sucked.

Posted by: Vic at July 15, 2010 01:21 AM (/jbAw)

316 Blackballed:  the Legend of Bobby Dukes - funny movie, great one liners for use in communication in code with my friends in front of wives - too bad no one else has seen the movie much less the first ten minutes

Posted by: Mac Gootbone at July 15, 2010 05:57 AM (0tkoj)

317 Yes, the Heston scene bgan the film when I saw it in a theater when it first came out.

Posted by: John Costello at July 15, 2010 08:07 AM (MTEV7)

318 The Last of Sheila... What a shitty movie.

Posted by: Mephistefales at July 15, 2010 09:39 AM (EDbm9)

319

Get TiVo, you losers. I haven't seen half of a movie since the 90s.

Well, okay, maybe once or twice.  But it's nothing like it used to be.

Posted by: TallDave at July 15, 2010 12:51 PM (/s1LA)

320 A search of an back room resulted in the breakthrough of a multitude of counterfeit handbags carrying names for example Coach

Posted by: ed hard clothing at March 14, 2011 01:06 AM (C1yVh)

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