April 17, 2021

Saturday Evening Movie Thread 04-17-2021 [TheJamesMadison]
— Ace Open Blog

Color


In the mid-aughts at Virginia Tech I took a handful of classes with the late Stephen Prince, a film scholar with a particular focus on Kurosawa (along with others). One of the courses I took with him was a survey course of the history of movies, and he started the first class by stating one of his primary objectives: to convince us that black and white was beautiful.

My generation had never grown up in a world where black and white film was normal. Black and white films were either old or special projects that were more art-house than blockbuster. We weren't conditioned to see black and white film as just another way to tell cinematic stories. Instead, we were conditioned to see them as inherently different and, often, inferior.

The movement from black and white to color film as the standard in movie making took decades. It wasn't like sound where The Jazz Singer caused a huge sensation and within five years ever studio was exclusively making talkies. Color had existed since the earliest days of motion pictures, but it was an incredibly expensive and laborious process to get even short films by someone like Melies colored. Black and white was the standard out of necessity, and it can take a lot to get people out of their ways.

Standards

We see things in color. We open our eyes and are greeted by the greens of trees, the blue of the sky, and the red hair of gingers everywhere. It's the natural state, so it's interesting that, by and large, black and white ended up being considered more realistic and color film was considered more fantastical. That can extend all the way back to Melies, I think.

Below is the entirety of the film The General by Buster Keaton. An action comedy from 1926, it tells a rip-roaring tale of a Confederate train engineer who must sneak across enemy lines to rescue his girl and bring her back, all by using his beloved General, his train engine. In terms of action-spectacles, it's a realistic approach to the material, relying heavily on Buster Keaton's own embrace of the physical production with real trains and real stunts (most often involving himself). It's also in black and white. For a movie concerned with realism, it starts stylized and stays stylized in black and white the whole time.

Below is another full film, this time from 1903, The Kingdom of the Fairies by Georges Melies. Every cell has been hand tinted to provide a panoply of color. It's the story of a king who must travel to save his queen who had been stolen by some kind of troll. He has visions, sails the oceans, must travel in the belly of a whale, scale mountains, and eventually save his bride from a burning building. There's no remote semblance of realism here, and it's full of color.

Expenses

Cost has a lot to do with art in general. A poor artist isn't going to sculpt in marble and a poor studio isn't going to hire Technicolor cameras.

The technical process of getting color film is an interesting journey with several aborted attempts here and there, often involved using multiple cameras and multiple projectors, combining differently color-tinted strips of film into one, usually unrealistic, depiction of color. The first company to figure out how to get it all done in one package was Technicolor. Their three-strip process involved a highly specialized camera that used three different strips of film, tinted by colored filters (green, magenta, and blue), directed by prisms, diffusing the light at each filter the light passed through, only allowing a third of the amount of light seen to pass onto each strip. This meant that Technicolor films had to be filmed under extremely bright lights.

So, a single camera color process was born, but it was bulky, required a lot of money for the proper lighting, and Technicolor didn't even sell the cameras. They rented the cameras out, and any studio that rented the cameras had to take Technicolor technicians and specialists who mandated certain processes. This was not a cheap thing. You couldn't go outside and shoot a street scene really quickly. You had build large sets, light them extensively, and work almost exclusively inside. The most famous example of Technicolor is The Wizard of Oz, and I just want to take a quick moment to talk about the transition to color scene.

That shot is wonderfully deceptive in how they accomplished the in-camera transition. It goes from that sepia tone to full-fledged color without a cut. They did that by painting the inside of the house to reflect the sepia tone as it would look through the specific results of the three-strip process, including the makeup and dress of the Dorothy double who starts the scene. She falls out of frame, and Judy Garland walks in, dressed in color to match the color of the wonderful world of Oz.

This also touches on the stylistic differences between black and white and color. The black and white portions of The Wizard of Oz are the grungy reality of Dust-Bowl Kansas with pig sties, chicken coops, and the run down wagon of Mr. Marvel, the conman with a heart of gold who sends Dorothy back home instead of taking advantage of a young woman running away. The color is the fantastical world that opens with the land of the Munchkins and witches who travel by bubble and magical ruby slippers. The "realistic" portions looked inherently unrealistic, and the "unrealistic" portions looked inherently realistic. Doing that sort of transition today would make little sense, and you'd have to reverse it for the same kind of fantastical feeling.

Acceptance

It took decades for color to become normal in films, but it was Eastman Kodak that actually created the tipping point. The bulky, cumbersome process of filming in Technicolor (including the lights which put the set of The Wizard of Oz at temperatures of over one hundred degrees) was never the sort of thing that was going to be used on anything but very large productions. This wasn't like sound where, outside of the initial cost of equipment that studios could buy, things got easier. There was only one way to do color, and it was expensive.

Then comes Eastman Kodak with Eastmancolor. Steadily being developed over decades (first released for 16mm film in 1935), Kodak released the 35mm studio quality version in 1950. Four years later, the last American feature film made with the three-strip Technicolor process was made (<u>Foxfire</u>), and the industry moved on.

Eastmancolor was the magic bullet. It was the single strip color process that allowed studios to use traditional processing rather than the expensive processing necessary for Technicolor films.

In 1936, the Academy awarded special honorary Oscars to a select film for color photography (The Garden of Allah). By 1939 it was it's own category, the Academy giving out regular awards for Black and White cinematography as well as Color cinematography. By 1967, the two sub-categories had been combined into just Best Cinematography (Haskell Wexler winning for Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? in 1966).

After a time, it became as effectively cheap to shoot low budget films in color as in black and white and the use of black and white became a purely stylistic choice removed from the financial considerations of filmmaking outside of the smallest of productions. The reduced cost of production in color morphed the artistic choice from using it expensively in more fantastical settings to the more mundane realities of day to day.

Ironically, one reason to pick black and white now is to provide a grittier reality to a film. Steven Spielberg used black and white inSchindler's List because he wanted to, as he said, remove anything of beauty from the film's aesthetic. Ironically, Schindler's List ended up winning the Best Cinematography Oscar in due to the beauty of the black and white images.

It was all an accident

If film had been developed first and foremost to output color images instead of shades of white, gray, and black, what would cinema have looked like over its hundred years? Would we ever have had black and white as a stylistic choice at all?

I have no idea, but the accident of black and white cinematography led to some indelible images that are intimately tied to the deep black shadows of the form.

Movies of Today

Coming to Theaters:

In the Earth

Movies I Saw This Fortnight:

X2: X-Men United (Rating 3/4) Full Review "Perfectly well acted by everyone, in particular Brian Cox as Stryker, it’s a fun adventure movie with a strong central throughline to hang most of the movie off of." [Personal Collection]

X-Men: The Last Stand (Rating 1/4) Full Review "Oh, no." [Personal Collection]

X-Men: Days of Future Past (Rating 3.5/4) Full Review "This is comic book filmmaking on a grand scale, and while it may not be perfect, it’s really enjoyable." [Personal Collection]

Deadpool (Rating 3/4) Full Review "Reynolds takes the Merc with the Mouth from the comic book to the silver screen with a rapid fire set of quips that sometimes become quite witty from time to time that elevates the pedestrian origin story into a solidly entertaining one." [Personal Collection]

Logan (Rating 2.5/4) Full Review "That it wants to be taken seriously makes this all the more frustrating because there is a very good movie hidden in here. It’s just not this." [Personal Collection]

The New Mutants (Rating 0.5/4) Full Review Not only is the movie inept, but it’s boring." [Library]

Oblivion (Rating 3/4) Full Review "This is a solid science fiction tale, well acted, well designed, and well told. It’s not great, and it could have been more than it is now, but it’s solidly good." [Personal Collection]

American Psycho (Rating 3.5/4) Full Review "What makes the movie, though, is its sense of humor and outrageousness. Outrageousness alone gets old, but mixed with that black humor and it gains a certain shelf life where even decades after its release, American Psycho can still entertain." [Personal Collection]

Contact
Email any suggestions or questions to thejamesmadison.aos at symbol gmail dot com.Follow me on Twitter.I've also archived all the old posts here, by request. I'll add new posts a week after they originally post at the HQ.

Posted by: Ace Open Blog at 07:55 PM | Comments (397)
Post contains 1716 words, total size 14 kb.

1 Movie Sign!

Posted by: Bete at April 17, 2021 07:54 PM (Ojki1)

2 Trying to nood, blog is fighting me.

Posted by: Bete at April 17, 2021 07:55 PM (Ojki1)

3 No popcorn, just scotch tonight 

Posted by: Skip at April 17, 2021 07:57 PM (Cxk7w)

4 Time to watch the original Manchurian Candidate again.
Fyi
It Was All a Set Up: Even NYT Admits Police Ordered to Stand Down on January 6th – Yet the DOJ and FBI Are Harassing and Indicting Innocent Americans Proving They are Corrupt Gateway Pundit 

Posted by: Corner Stone at April 17, 2021 07:57 PM (/x+Eb)

5 TJM, I think some stuff is off in there. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 07:57 PM (lmikk)

6 Kids, here is how you learn to code!

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 07:57 PM (OU+8W)

7 Scotch neat?

Posted by: Corner Stone at April 17, 2021 07:58 PM (/x+Eb)

8 I can attest that by the '60 even the cheapest movies could use color.  MST3K has taught me this.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 07:59 PM (6Hjyp)

9 green

Posted by: banana Dream at April 17, 2021 07:59 PM (q82Ic)

10 The thing I notice most about black & white films: It seems costume designers and directors spend a lot more time making sure suits are cut correctly and the clothes worn by female leads flow properly.

I also think directors had to spend a bit more thought on framing a shot, when shooting black and white.


Black & White seems like a simple medium, but, much more complex to get right.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:00 PM (2SdPm)

11 Well, that did not go as expected.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:01 PM (LvTSG)

12 Another early flirtation with color film is in Lon Cheney's Phantom of the Opera where one scene is shot in I think was a two-strip color process so we see the Phantom dressed in brilliant scarlet while masked with a skull.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 08:01 PM (XDC5a)

13 BW expertise was at its height then however.
You sure can tell that  when some modern vids try BW but pale in comparison.

Posted by: Corner Stone at April 17, 2021 08:01 PM (/x+Eb)

14 A few months a go I got Repo Man on DVD, and was stunned to see that it was color. In my mind I had always remembered it being B&W. But I then recalled that it was because I had originally watched on VHS with my old B&W TV in Alaska.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 08:01 PM (4l77G)

15 "Oblivion" was definitely a solid film.

And yeah, "Logan" was a good film trying to escape from a bad one.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:02 PM (2SdPm)

16 Always

Posted by: Skip at April 17, 2021 08:02 PM (Cxk7w)

17 The downside for historical B&W is that a lot of people lose their sense of connection. It is a point a buddy and I made during college when he got a new DVD from a special on History channel (back when they were the WWII channel first and foremost.) It was a bunch of bits of a rally or meeting of some kind, with lots of pomp and ceremony in Bavaria, IIRC. A guy had a color movie camera and shot it. IIRC, the History called 'Hitler's Nazi Weekend- In Color!'

It brought things home and also demystified them to a large extent. Not unlike the WWI film from Peter Jackson. 

As an 'artistic' medium, B&W is just as good as color. For History, I think color is far superior. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:02 PM (lmikk)

18 Now is your chance if you think you won't like a silent film to watch The General and see if you still don't. 

Posted by: Skip at April 17, 2021 08:04 PM (Cxk7w)

19
13 BW expertise was at its height then however.
You sure can tell that  when some modern vids try BW but pale in comparison.

Posted by: Corner Stone at April 17, 2021 08:01 PM (/x+Eb)

Supposedly the Snyder cut also has a version in B&W. I know Ghost of Tsushima (video game set in Japan) has a 'Kurisawa' mode in B&W.  

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:05 PM (lmikk)

20 Blake have you seen the Bette Davis interview explaining that her infamous red ball gown was actually black since that conveyed "redness" better in the BW 1939 film?

Posted by: Corner Stone at April 17, 2021 08:05 PM (/x+Eb)

21 As an 'artistic' medium, B&W is just as good as color. For History, I think color is far superior.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:02 PM (lmikk)

"They Shall Not Grow Old" springs to mind. Colorized black & white. I don't think it would have had the same punch, had they just left it in the original black & white format.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:06 PM (2SdPm)

22
'Hitler's Nazi Weekend- In Color!'

A Quinn Martin Production!
This is the History Channel I miss the most - Nazi werewolves, humanzees, and secret Antarctic bases.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 08:06 PM (Dc2NZ)

23 Watched 'Guys and Dolls' the other night.
The colors popped on that one

Posted by: Zeera laying low in the boondocks at April 17, 2021 08:06 PM (0pv1a)

24 "The Crawling Eye" is on Svengoolie.

Posted by: f'd at April 17, 2021 08:06 PM (Tnijr)

25 Hey, you fixed it from what I can see, TJM.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:06 PM (lmikk)

26 18Now is your chance if you think you won't like a silent film to watch The General and see if you still don't.

Posted by:Skipat April 17, 2021 08:04 PM (Cxk7w)

Silence in a film is the worst!
More talking!
Don't stop talking!

Posted by: Paul Fieg at April 17, 2021 08:06 PM (Ojki1)

27 In the film Jezebel I mean.

Posted by: Corner Stone at April 17, 2021 08:06 PM (/x+Eb)

28 Thanks for the tutorial on color filmmaking TJM! 
Fascinating. 
I took a B&W still class for science guys in college where we developed our own film and prints. Did a lot of high-speed stuff too. What a blast. 

Posted by: Tonypete at April 17, 2021 08:07 PM (Rvt88)

29 Decent post, but we don't like the ending.

Posted by: Game of Thrones Writers at April 17, 2021 08:07 PM (kTF2Z)

30
23 Watched 'Guys and Dolls' the other night.
The colors popped on that one

Posted by: Zeera laying low in the boondocks at April 17, 2021 08:06 PM (0pv1a)

All of those movies did. Ben Hur is a great example. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:07 PM (lmikk)

31 Eris

A US-PRC team let grow for 20 days Human/monkey chimeras, So the humanzees are probably not far off to fight China's wars.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 08:08 PM (XDC5a)

32 I have been watching  a lot of my B/W  movies lately.  It is a fun change.  My Man Godfrey  is  a  delight of dialogue.

Posted by: Ben Had at April 17, 2021 08:08 PM (Pm0A7)

33 12Another early flirtation with color film is in Lon Cheney'sPhantom of the Operawhere one scene is shot in I think was a two-strip color process so we see the Phantom dressed in brilliant scarlet while masked with a skull.

Posted by:Anna Pumaat April 17, 2021 08:01 PM (XDC5a)

============

Scorsese's The Aviator replicated the results of the two-strip Technicolor process for all the scenes set in the early Hollywood days before the release of Hell's Angels. There are supposed to be sequences in Howard Hawks' second movie, Fig Leaves, but the colored film was lost and all that's left is the black and white version.

I like the weird tones of two-strip Technicolor. It's so distinct.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:09 PM (LvTSG)

34 Always Posted by: Skip at April 17, 2021 08:02 PM (Cxk7w)
-------------
Never

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 17, 2021 08:09 PM (kTF2Z)

35 29Decent post, but we don't like the ending.

Posted by:Game of Thrones Writersat April 17, 2021 08:07 PM (kTF2Z)

==========

I understood that reference.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:09 PM (LvTSG)

36 Ok, that was weird.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 17, 2021 08:10 PM (kTF2Z)

37 Blake agree, would love to see it again too.

Posted by: Skip at April 17, 2021 08:10 PM (Cxk7w)

38 Thanks for reminding me with that Blake- I just ordered the Blu Ray for They Shall Not Grow Old. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:10 PM (lmikk)

39 I've never felt the disconnect with black and white films.  It just showcases tone, line, shape, and lighting more.  The noir genre and classic monster/horror films, which to me seem "nocturnal", seem to benefit from the lustrous pitch black.  One of my favorite B&W films is the original "Cat People", which has the pearliest glimmering whites and inky blacks.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 08:11 PM (Dc2NZ)

40 I agree about Oblivion. I enjoyed it. Also, Olga Kurylenko and Andrea Riseborough are very pleasant eye candy. 

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 08:12 PM (XZMrE)

41 I can't imagine a film like Paths of Glory in color.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 08:12 PM (6Hjyp)

42 40I agree about Oblivion. I enjoyed it. Also, Olga Kurylenko and Andrea Riseborough are very pleasant eye candy.

Posted by:Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employeeat April 17, 2021 08:12 PM (XZMrE)

=========
Speaking of Riseborough, I also watched (and reviewed) Possessor.

She's much less pleasing to the eyes in that.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:12 PM (LvTSG)

43 When I finally get back home, on deck is "Tolkien." I am re-reading Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time (but not for nearly a decade). JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth is profoundly beautiful, and even after multiple readings it still captivates me as it did when I was a teenager.
this may be a better poat for the Book thread. But, I typed it out, so there.
And, BTW, I loathe the movies. And I mean LOATHE.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 08:13 PM (4l77G)

44 IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE THE ENDING OF GAME OF THRONES SUCKED!

Posted by: BEN ROETHLESSBERGER at April 17, 2021 08:13 PM (kTF2Z)

45 Oh yes, Cat People. Is that a vicious murdering panther lurking in the shadows? Or Simone Simon completely bonkers?

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 08:13 PM (XDC5a)

46 44IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE THE ENDING OF GAME OF THRONES SUCKED!

Posted by:BEN ROETHLESSBERGERat April 17, 2021 08:13 PM (kTF2Z)


============


I get it now.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:13 PM (LvTSG)

47
And, BTW, I loathe the movies. And I mean LOATHE.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 08:13 PM (4l77G)

I liked the first one, was Ok with the second and hated the third. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:15 PM (lmikk)

48 The Wizard of Oz always has held a fascination with me. My Uncle took his sister, my Mom, to see it in New Yawk City in 1939-40 when it came out. He was in the US Navy then, later to join the U.S.S. Meredith (DD-434).
He shipped out shortly thereafter and was later killed, sunk off of Guadalcanal by the Japs in 1942.
Watching that film knowing my mom and her brother enjoyed it always made me happy.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 17, 2021 08:15 PM (R/m4+)

49 I can’t watch black white, movies or tv. Just can’t handle it. 

Posted by: Joe XiDen at April 17, 2021 08:15 PM (Y1kPm)

50 I don't even do ice cubes

Posted by: Skip at April 17, 2021 08:15 PM (Cxk7w)

51 49I can’t watch black white, movies or tv. Just can’t handle it.

Posted by:Joe XiDenat April 17, 2021 08:15 PM (Y1kPm)

=========

I'm genuinely curious as to why. Could you explain?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:16 PM (LvTSG)

52 I need to rewatch Edge of Tomorrow. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:16 PM (lmikk)

53 52I need to rewatch Edge of Tomorrow.

Posted by:Aetius451ADat April 17, 2021 08:16 PM (lmikk)

========

If you don't you'll die! Get on it!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:17 PM (LvTSG)

54 Maureen O'Hara was the queen of Technicolor

Posted by: Ignoramus at April 17, 2021 08:17 PM (peGE0)

55 All of us who grew up in the early 60's got to go through the transition from black and white to color all over again, on TV.   Early color TV sets were so expensive that very few people had them, so for economy TV broadcasts up until about 1965 were all done in black and white.   I still remember going to spend the night at a friends house and seeing a color broadcast on their new TV set, and it was amazing!  (to me at the time)  Dad was always kind of cheap, and I don't think we got a color set until we moved into our new house in 1968.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 17, 2021 08:17 PM (bxPTJ)

56
49 I can’t watch black white, movies or tv. Just can’t handle it. 

Posted by: Joe XiDen at April 17, 2021 08:15 PM (Y1kPm)

Even Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid?

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:17 PM (lmikk)

57 IT'S ALSO FUNNY BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE TJM DOESN'T GET THE JOKE. GOT ENDING SUCKED, BUT HIS POST DOESN'T!

Posted by: BEN ROETHLESSBERGER at April 17, 2021 08:18 PM (kTF2Z)

58 Tom Cruise is about as solid an actor as they come. I hate to admit that because he's a creepy little twerp. 

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 08:18 PM (XZMrE)

59
If you don't you'll die! Get on it!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:17 PM (LvTSG)

Now I kinda don't wanna watch it. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:18 PM (lmikk)

60 I would say Tom Cruise's two best films are: "Edge of Tomorrow" and "Collateral."

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:19 PM (2SdPm)

61
Dad was always kind of cheap, and I don't think we got a color set until we moved into our new house in 1968.



Luxury! 

My Pop didn't spring for a color set until the late 70's. When he opened his wallet George Washington rubbed his eyes. 

Posted by: Tonypete at April 17, 2021 08:19 PM (Rvt88)

62 40I agree about Oblivion. I enjoyed it. Also, Olga Kurylenko and Andrea Riseborough are very pleasant eye candy.

Posted by:Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employeeat April 17, 2021 08:12 PM (XZMrE)

I remember liking the film, and that Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman are in it but other than that I find I have almost no memory of it whatsoever. Even reading TJM's extended review only teased a ghost of a memory, which probably doesn't speak greatly as to how much I enjoyed the film I guess.

Posted by: Paul Fieg at April 17, 2021 08:19 PM (Ojki1)

63 I was really close to walking out on "The Fellowship of the Ring" when we saw it at the theater. never saw the others in the theater.
Watched them on DVD at home some time later. Blech.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 08:19 PM (4l77G)

64 The black-and-white movies I like best are from the late 1950s to middle 1960s, with lots of location shooting, and required less additional light for a clean clear image. Movies like 8 1/2, A Hard Day's Night, and Bergman's The Silence. 

Posted by: Pete in Texas at April 17, 2021 08:20 PM (cLJSt)

65 Our first color TV was a Heathkit that Pop built.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 08:20 PM (4l77G)

66 Tom Cruise is about as solid an actor as they come. I hate to admit that because he's a creepy little twerp.

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 08:18 PM (XZMrE)

I think TJM made the point a while back that Cruise knows how to pick a solid script to work with.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:21 PM (2SdPm)

67 64The black-and-white movies I like best are from the late 1950s to middle 1960s, with lots of location shooting, and required less additional light for a clean clear image. Movies like 8 1/2, A Hard Day's Night, and Bergman's The Silence.

Posted by ete in Texasat April 17, 2021 08:20 PM (cLJSt)

===========

The 50s were probably just the best decade in film ever anyway.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:21 PM (LvTSG)

68 USS Meredith, Gleaves class destroyer.

Sunk by Aichi Val dive bombers off Shokaku on 15 Oct 1942. The Japanese proceeded to strafe the survivors in the water. 182 men out of the crew were killed, only 55 survived.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 08:21 PM (XDC5a)

69 The thing I don't like about silents is that characters will talk for 20 seconds and then the card comes up and says "Hello." The dialogue is highly condensed. I wonder if anyone has ever tried to add sound to a silent film. It could be "audioized" instead of colorized.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at April 17, 2021 08:21 PM (63Dwl)

70 Here's 40 seconds of my animation.  If you watch, thank you.

https://tinyurl.com/2rx6bwwt

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 08:21 PM (OU+8W)

71 Off hack sock.

Posted by: Bete at April 17, 2021 08:21 PM (Ojki1)

72 66  I think TJM made the point a while back that Cruise knows how to pick a solid script to work with.

Posted by:blake - semi lurker in marginal standingat April 17, 2021 08:21 PM (2SdPm)


=========


He has an extremely limited range as an actor that can only get broken out by great directors who push. The furthest out he's gone with any level of seriousness was in Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson. Make it a joke and he can go along like in Tropic Thunder by Ben Stiller. 


Outside of those circumstances, he is largely Action Man. And he's a good Action Man.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:23 PM (LvTSG)

73 Emily Blunt is far hotter in this movie than anything else I have seen her in. Tan, toned and sweaty. Also, attitude. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:23 PM (lmikk)

74 @Corner Stone, they used to use chocolate syrup for blood back in the BW days. 

Posted by: Caesar North of the Rubicon at April 17, 2021 08:23 PM (BMmaB)

75 1939.  Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind

2021.  Garbage and more garbage 

Posted by: LASue at April 17, 2021 08:23 PM (Ed8Zd)

76
Dear me, I didn't have a color TV until the late 80s, when the B&W that I had to change channels with pliers gave out.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 17, 2021 08:24 PM (mht8P)

77
70 Here's 40 seconds of my animation.  If you watch, thank you.

https://tinyurl.com/2rx6bwwt

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 08:21 PM (OU+8W)

Interesting. Kind of a Sisyphus thing. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:25 PM (lmikk)

78 My Darling Clementine was a great black and white movie. I admit I learned of the film by watching MASH. A great movie there. And quite possibly the most erroneous depiction of real life events in the Old West.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 08:25 PM (fjS2+)

79 69The thing I don't like about silents is that characters will talk for 20 seconds and then the card comes up and says "Hello." The dialogue is highly condensed. I wonder if anyone has ever tried to add sound to a silent film. It could be "audioized" instead of colorized.

Posted by:Bertram Cabot, Jr.at April 17, 2021 08:21 PM (63Dwl)

=========
Peter Jackson did that in They Shall Not Grow Old.
The intertitle use completely threw the early talkies. Studios had no idea how to make movies intelligible across languages for a while. They couldn't just swap intertitles. Instead they filmed entire other versions. 

The most famous example is Dracula. The Spanish version was filmed at the same time and is often considered superior to the English version. Hitchcock did this with Murder! (which became Mary in German). Even Howard Hawks had one of these, though the French version seems to have never been completed (and not by him).

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:25 PM (LvTSG)

80 So I finally watched The Natural. Totally didn't do anything for me, looked up a summary of the book and realized what could have been done with the story rather than have the vanilla product we got. Not that the summary made me want to see that a closer to book version made either necessarily, but it feels like the film was done to show off Redford more than deliver a story that gave depth to anyone involved. 

Posted by: Bete at April 17, 2021 08:26 PM (Ojki1)

81
74 @Corner Stone, they used to use chocolate syrup for blood back in the BW days. 

Posted by: Caesar North of the Rubicon at April 17, 2021 08:23 PM (BMmaB)

IIRC, I heard they used actual live ammunition to make bullet holes and fire shots (trained marksmen standing off screen.) Those were the days. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:26 PM (lmikk)

82 4240I agree about Oblivion. I enjoyed it. Also, Olga Kurylenko and Andrea Riseborough are very pleasant eye candy.

Posted by:Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employeeat April 17, 2021 08:12 PM (XZMrE)

=========
Speaking of Riseborough, I also watched (and reviewed) Possessor.

She's much less pleasing to the eyes in that.

Posted by:TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for thatat April 17, 2021 08:12 PM (LvTSG)

---------------------------
Brings to mind Army of Darkness
"You once found me beautiful"
"Honey, you got real ugly"

Posted by: No One of Consequence at April 17, 2021 08:27 PM (CAJOC)

83 Love B/W movies and photography. The lighting is so much nicer without the distraction of color imho. Seems like I can spot a shitty 70's movie a mile away just by the color in the film they used.

Posted by: dartist at April 17, 2021 08:27 PM (+ya+t)

84 80So I finally watched The Natural. Totally didn't do anything for me, looked up a summary of the book and realized what could have been done with the story rather than have the vanilla product we got. Not that the summary made me want to see that a closer to book version made either necessarily, but it feels like the film was done to show off Redford more than deliver a story that gave depth to anyone involved.

Posted by:Beteat April 17, 2021 08:26 PM (Ojki1)

=========
I've seen that once about a year ago. I was also left a bit cold. The first fifteen minutes or so, though, were amazing and I was totally on board.
And then I got kind of bored and just coasted through the whole thing.

I remember a description of the book that called it "Bad baseball and worse Malamud."

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:27 PM (LvTSG)

85 ...but it feels like the film was done to show off Redford more than deliver a story that gave depth to anyone involved. 

Posted by: Bete


Redford's career in a nutshell.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 08:27 PM (6Hjyp)

86 This post reminds me I need to watch Kafka again some day.  TJM, could you recommend some more modern B/W films?  Not Schindler's List either.  Once was enough.

Posted by: Taqiyyologist, Rickrolled by Jesus at April 17, 2021 08:27 PM (OssQ4)

87 83Love B/W movies and photography. The lighting is so much nicer without the distraction of color imho. Seems like I can spot a shitty 70's movie a mile away just by the color in the film they used.

Posted by:dartistat April 17, 2021 08:27 PM (+ya+t)

===========

Orson Welles once said that it was impossible to film a great performance in color because color was a distraction.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:28 PM (LvTSG)

88  If you're looking for something to stream - 
We started a series that so far has proven very entertaining. 
"Bad Guys" on Netflix. 
It a Korean series about a disgraced cop who gets called back when the regular cops can't catch a serial killer.  The cop forms a team of criminals (sort of a mini-Dirty Dozen) consisting of a hit man, a brutal thug, and a genius serial killer. 
The stories play out as a kind of police procedural where al-l-l-l-l the hunted criminals get very satisfying beat downs as they are the most unsavory types of scumbags - serial killers, human traffickers, kidnappers, organ thieves. 
The actors are all good.  Direction and action are good.   
Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 17, 2021 08:28 PM (dWwl8)

89 America, America would not have been as good in color.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 08:29 PM (6Hjyp)

90 Of course everyone Joe's the most famous black and white and color film. I'm assuming someone has mentioned it already. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:29 PM (2DOZq)

91 The most famous example is Dracula. The Spanish version was filmed at the same time and is often considered superior to the English version. Hitchcock did this with Murder! (which became Mary in German). Even Howard Hawks had one of these, though the French version seems to have never been completed (and not by him).

Posted by:TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for thatat April 17, 2021 08:25 PM (LvTSG)

The Universal release of Dracula on BD has both versions, and one of the featurettes talks how the English cast would shoot by day and the Spanish cast used the same sets by night and they were determined to upstage the English version in camera use, even if the actors may not have been able to upstage their counterparts.

I started watching it but things came up. I really should finish it.

Posted by: Bete at April 17, 2021 08:29 PM (Ojki1)

92 my fave b&w is all Film Noire - I'm a huge sucker for anything Film Noire.     Heck, one of the things I like about the original BladeRunner so much is that it reset the original Film Noire vibe in a Sci-Fi setting, and did it beautifully.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 17, 2021 08:30 PM (bxPTJ)

93 So I finally watched The Natural. Totally didn't do anything for me, looked up a summary of the book and realized what could have been done with the story rather than have the vanilla product we got. Not that the summary made me want to see that a closer to book version made either necessarily, but it feels like the film was done to show off Redford more than deliver a story that gave depth to anyone involved. 

Posted by: Bete at April 17, 2021 08:26 PM (Ojki1)


I liked it. Sure it was to show off Redford, that is pretty much what he did.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 08:30 PM (fjS2+)

94


Redford's career in a nutshell.
Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 08:27 PM (6Hjyp)

A block of wood has more acting ability than Robert Redford.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 17, 2021 08:30 PM (mht8P)

95 Joe's = knows 
WTF?

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:30 PM (2DOZq)

96
2021. Garbage and more garbage

ENDLESS TRASH!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-xwKfEvau4


Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 08:31 PM (Dc2NZ)

97 Bone. That's my favorite color.

Posted by: Patrick Bateman at April 17, 2021 08:31 PM (vRmj1)

98 86This post reminds me I need to watch Kafka again some day. TJM, could you recommend some more modern B/W films? Not Schindler's List either. Once was enough.

Posted by:Taqiyyologist, Rickrolled by Jesusat April 17, 2021 08:27 PM (OssQ4)

=========

Well, there's Schindler's List...

Also The Artist won Best Picture a decade ago and is a delightful look at the silent era. The Better Angels is a little known film produced by Terrence Malick and directed by an acolyte of his about Abraham Lincoln's early years that's pretty good (if you like Malick movies).

If you're up for Polish movies, PaweÅ‚ Pawlikowski has made two movies (Ida and Cold War) that are both absolutely fantastic in a very Polish idiom that are both in black and white.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:31 PM (LvTSG)

99

I liked it. Sure it was to show off Redford, that is pretty much what he did. 

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 08:30 PM (fjS2+)

One of my all time favorites if you measure on how many times you've watched a movie. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:31 PM (2DOZq)

100 The Spanish version of Dracula ..  uhm not sure if superior is the word I would use. Bela would stare at you and bam off the cliff you walk. Spanish Dracula would give you the bulging eyes treatment and you wanted to tell him where the bathroom was.

Though the Spanish Mina and her wardrobe...  va va va voom.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 08:32 PM (XDC5a)

101 Sunk by Aichi Val dive bombers off Shokaku on 15 Oct 1942. The Japanese proceeded to strafe the survivors in the water. 182 men out of the crew were killed, only 55 survived. Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 08:21 PM (XDC5a)
Yup....they were running AvGas to the Marines at Henderson Field.
My Uncle was a Machinist Mate so I like to think he went fairly quickly in the battle rather than waiting 3 days for pick up.
182 men remain there on duty.....RIP and God Bless.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 17, 2021 08:32 PM (R/m4+)

102 In a gadda da vida, baby!
In the Garden of Allah!
In a gadda da vida, honey!

Posted by: andycanuck at April 17, 2021 08:32 PM (UHVv4)

103 I remember reading that Laurel and Hardy would film Spanish versions simultaneously, but I never heard that Dracula and others of the era did the same.  That's wild.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 08:32 PM (6Hjyp)

104 97Bone. That's my favorite color.

Posted by atrick Batemanat April 17, 2021 08:31 PM (vRmj1)


=========

Could you please tell me anything you may know about Huey Lewis and the News?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:32 PM (LvTSG)

105 Jeremiah Johnson is Redford's best movie. It's the only one I really like. As an actor, he was always meh. JJ was great because I think Redford might have had a paragraph worth of lines in the whole movie. Stefan Gierasch had more lines and he was in that movie a total of 10 minutes, maybe. 

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 08:32 PM (XZMrE)

106 Deciding between Letters from Iwo Jima, Das Boot, and Christ Stopped at Eboli for tonight.  If I can keep my eyes open.  Have been mysteriously sleepy all afternoon after the shootin' match this morning.

Posted by: rhomboid at April 17, 2021 08:33 PM (OTzUX)

107 Beckoning, very cool.  I left you a critique!

Posted by: Taqiyyologist, Rickrolled by Jesus at April 17, 2021 08:33 PM (OssQ4)

108 TJM did you graduate VT prior to the mass shooting. I hired a guy who was 2007 grad I think he said his senior year they just gave everyone As

Posted by: blaster at April 17, 2021 08:33 PM (Ef23Y)

109 IIRC, I heard they used actual live ammunition to make bullet holes and fire shots (trained marksmen standing off screen.) Those were the days.

Posted by:Aetius451ADat April 17, 2021 08:26 PM (lmikk)


Kurosawa used the best archers in Japan to film the scene where the lead actor in Throne of Blood is being shot at. Forget living in a hovel for 3 weeks for a role, that is a serious method acting technique.

Posted by: Bete at April 17, 2021 08:33 PM (Ojki1)

110 106Deciding between Letters from Iwo Jima, Das Boot, and Christ Stopped at Eboli for tonight. If I can keep my eyes open. Have been mysteriously sleepy all afternoon after the shootin' match this morning.

Posted by:rhomboidat April 17, 2021 08:33 PM (OTzUX)

==========

How long is the version of Christ Stopped at Eboli that you have?

There are two, a 2.5 hour version and a 4 hour version. I've heard that the 4 hour version is the only way to go.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:33 PM (LvTSG)

111 Nosferatu is an excellent silent movie.  The title character is particularly disturbing. 

Posted by: Reggie1971 at April 17, 2021 08:34 PM (996BY)

112 my dad surprised us with a color tv in 1969.  He bought it some could see the moon landing better.  We were soooo excited!  ITV Seems like a million years ago. 

Posted by: LASue at April 17, 2021 08:34 PM (Ed8Zd)

113 "The Natural" has a huge appeal to someone who stumbles upon something late in life that they should have started doing 20 or 30 years before.  It's fantastic to finally find one's true calling, but you never lose the faint hint of regret for so many years wasted. 

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 17, 2021 08:35 PM (bxPTJ)

114 Now that I think about it I've probably have watched the same Redford movies more than any others .  Jeremiah Johnson and The Natural. 
though Outlaw Josie Wales and Quigley Down Under might make it a tie. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:35 PM (2DOZq)

115 108TJM did you graduate VT prior to the mass shooting. I hired a guy who was 2007 grad I think he said his senior year they just gave everyone As

Posted by:blasterat April 17, 2021 08:33 PM (Ef23Y)

==========
I graduated the year before, but I was working on campus still the next year. I was one building over from where the main shooting happened, but the police got us off campus as soon as the shooting started. I wasn't locked down like my dad, who taught on the other side of campus, who had to stay in his office until that night.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:35 PM (LvTSG)

116 Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 08:21 PM
Pretty good

Posted by: Skip at April 17, 2021 08:35 PM (Cxk7w)

117 my fave b&w is all Film Noire - I'm a huge sucker for anything Film Noire. Heck, one of the things I like about the original BladeRunner so much is that it reset the original Film Noire vibe in a Sci-Fi setting, and did it beautifully.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 17, 2021 08:30 PM (bxPTJ)

I'm a huge fan of Noir and recently tried to watch a film that tried, and failed, to be a modern Noir film: Poison Rose.The script was decent, the actors were decent, but, it seemed like the director had no idea what he was supposed to do.My wife and I couldn't finish it.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:35 PM (2SdPm)

118 My synopsis of The Natural:
Opening 15 minutes are good. This might be a decent movie.
An hour or so of WTF?
15 minutes of a decent ending. Also, Kolchak with a weird eye.

Posted by: Duke Lowell at April 17, 2021 08:36 PM (kTF2Z)

119 Thanks for the tips, TJM!

Posted by: Taqiyyologist, Rickrolled by Jesus at April 17, 2021 08:36 PM (OssQ4)

120

Kurosawa used the best archers in Japan to film the scene where the lead actor in Throne of Blood is being shot at. Forget living in a hovel for 3 weeks for a role, that is a serious method acting technique.

Posted by: Bete

I recently read that Toshiro Mifune was born in China to parents who were Methodist Missionaries.  He himself remained a Methodist throughout his life.  Which is weird in Japan.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 08:36 PM (6Hjyp)

121 I also liked The Sting, Brubaker and This Property is Condemned. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:36 PM (2DOZq)

122 106Deciding between Letters from Iwo Jima, Das Boot, and Christ Stopped at Eboli for tonight. If I can keep my eyes open. Have been mysteriously sleepy all afternoon after the shootin' match this morning.

Posted by:rhomboidat April 17, 2021 08:33 PM (OTzUX)

I love Das Boot. Haven't watched the other two, but do Own Letters.

Posted by: Bete at April 17, 2021 08:36 PM (Ojki1)

123 ======== 

How long is the version of Christ Stopped at Eboli that you have?

I’ve never heard of this. Is it a war movie?
Ps.  I’m in season 2 of justified.  Thanks to all who recommended it! 

Posted by: LASue at April 17, 2021 08:36 PM (Ed8Zd)

124 Hmmm.  Have the 220 minute version of Eboli - only looked when you asked.  Unaware there are different versions.  Saw it in the theater when it came out, don't recall which one that was.

Well, that narrows down the choice.  Not doing a 220-minute film when I'm drowsy before dinner.

Posted by: rhomboid at April 17, 2021 08:37 PM (OTzUX)

125 123========

How long is the version of Christ Stopped at Eboli that you have?

I’ve never heard of this. Is it a war movie?

Posted by:LASueat April 17, 2021 08:36 PM (Ed8Zd)

==========
Italian movie about a communist who is essentially banished from Rome to a small seaside town on the decline. It's mainly about the people in the town.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:37 PM (LvTSG)

126 I am in Florida bishes home of the FREE. 

Posted by: blaster at April 17, 2021 08:38 PM (Ef23Y)

127 Young people watching The Natural might get confused by Redford being called a goat.  Today it has the opposite meaning. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:38 PM (2DOZq)

128
Posted by: naturalfake at April 17, 2021 08:28 PM (dWwl
The trailer looks interesting. Thanks. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:38 PM (lmikk)

129 Has anyone seen Nobody starring Better Call Saul?  It looks fun.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 08:38 PM (6Hjyp)

130 109IIRC, I heard they used actual live ammunition to make bullet holes and fire shots (trained marksmen standing off screen.) Those were the days.
---------
I read somewhere they did that in the James Cagney gangster movies.

Posted by: dartist at April 17, 2021 08:38 PM (+ya+t)

131 LASue, as I recall, it's a pre-WWII movie set in Italy, about the exile of a sophisticated urban communist to a remote and poor southern town (which happened under the fascists).  

Posted by: rhomboid at April 17, 2021 08:39 PM (OTzUX)

132 though Outlaw Josie Wales and Quigley Down Under might make it a tie. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:35 PM (2DOZq)

someone has to point out that Redford had nothing to do with either of those.  They're better movies because of it.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 17, 2021 08:39 PM (bxPTJ)

133 @ rhomboid, email me at: blake.semilurker at moronhorde dot com
I've some info on CZ mags, if you're interested.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:39 PM (2SdPm)

134 Now that I think about it I've probably have watched the same Redford movies more than any others .  Jeremiah Johnson and The Natural. 
though Outlaw Josie Wales and Quigley Down Under might make it a tie. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:35 PM (2DOZq)


Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a great film. It still has my favorite movie line to ask in a trivia contest.  "What are you crazy? The fall will probably kill ya!"  I have remembered that line for well over 40 years for some reason.  I thought it was clever.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 08:39 PM (fjS2+)

135 I also liked The Sting, Brubaker and This Property is Condemned.  Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:36 PM (2DOZq)
I always liked "The Sting". I don't think Bob Redford had to act much, he just played the dumb sap that he is.
Paul Newman made that movie. The poker scene on the train was a classic.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 17, 2021 08:39 PM (R/m4+)

136 I watched some documentary on Amazon (yeah I know) about some guy who had a bunch of Melies films and was trying to get them recognized. He was a borderline hoarder and eccentric and in the end he is recognized and good things happen. 

Posted by: blaster at April 17, 2021 08:40 PM (Ef23Y)

137 Rhomboid, "Das Boot" is always the correct answer.  Is it the four hour version?  Can you stay awake that long?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 08:40 PM (Dc2NZ)

138 He bought it so he could see the moon landing better.

Did it look any different? All I remember is black and white, but that's pretty much what you're going to see on the moon, anyways.

Posted by: t-bird at April 17, 2021 08:40 PM (lDew/)

139 Redford's early Korean War movie , War Hunt was very good in delivering tension. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:41 PM (2DOZq)

140 Paul Newman on why Robert Redford never married, "Robert could never find anyone he loved as much as himself."

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:41 PM (2SdPm)

141 Never knew TJM was a youngster, But, never tried to figure that out either.
When I was a wee lad, B&W TV was normal. Then, a spate of shows announcing "IN COLOR".
It was a few years until we got a color console (credenza with a CRT). The B&W was relegated to the basement where I watched Ghoulardi.

Posted by: Iron Mike Golf, evening drinking Wild Turkey Honey at April 17, 2021 08:41 PM (8C7+r)

142 129Has anyone seen Nobody starring Better Call Saul? It looks fun.

Posted by:Blutarskiat April 17, 2021 08:38 PM (6Hjyp)

I did.  It was great!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 08:41 PM (Dc2NZ)

143 Christ Stopped at Eboli sounds kinda like Kurosawa's No Regrets for Our Youth.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 08:42 PM (XDC5a)

144 just watched Synchronic
ok scifi concept, pace drags

Posted by: vmom sic semper stabbicus at April 17, 2021 08:43 PM (GBZnB)

145 I thought that was Cary Grant.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:43 PM (lmikk)

146 Das Boot is one of my favorites, be sure to get some dirty socks on back of seat and a open bucket of diesel fuel next to you and your there.

Posted by: Skip at April 17, 2021 08:44 PM (Cxk7w)

147
140Paul Newman on why Robert Redford never married, "Robert could never find anyone he loved as much as himself."

Posted by:blake - semi lurker in marginal standingat April 17, 2021 08:41 PM (2SdPm)

"Homer, I'm going to tell you something I told Redford.  It ain't gonna happen."

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 08:44 PM (Dc2NZ)

148 Cary Grant is the son of the postman.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 08:44 PM (XDC5a)

149 earliest thing I've seen that Redford is in is an early Twilight Zone episode, where he plays Death (but a sympathetic version of the reaper)  It's a pretty good episode.  He made a bunch of tv appearances in 1960 - 1962, when he was just starting out.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 17, 2021 08:44 PM (bxPTJ)

150 recently rewatched My Fair Lady (in stages ...the better to sing along to) and Risen

Posted by: vmom sic semper stabbicus at April 17, 2021 08:45 PM (GBZnB)

151 I also liked The Sting, Brubaker and This Property is Condemned. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:36 PM (2DOZq)


I liked Electric Horseman. I like anything decent with horses and country music. My dad watched it with us and it almost killed him to do so. That traitor was in it, so I won't watch it again. It shows that people can be forgiving and others can be the shitwads they always were. I saw her in On Goldden Pond once too. But that was one time as a kid. I haven't watched a thing she ever did since the early 80s. And I would never support a thing she has done since.   My dad was way too kind to let us see those films, he hated that bitch.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 08:45 PM (fjS2+)

152 138 He bought it so he could see the moon landing better. 

Did it look any different? All I remember is black and white, but that's pretty much what you're going to see on the moon, anyways.

Posted by: t-bird at April 17, 2021 08:40 PM (lDew/)


I honestly don’t know. It was grainy and not filled With color  But if you knew my dad, who was a mathematician/ early computer guy who worked on space stuff at Boeing and was very frugal, he wouldn’t have sprung for it unless he thought it would be a big improvement from our old console b/w.   

Man I’m old!!! 

Posted by: LASue at April 17, 2021 08:45 PM (Ed8Zd)

153 I wonder what films such as  'Ben-Hur' or 'Lawrence of Arabia' look like in B/W.

Posted by: dantesed at April 17, 2021 08:45 PM (88xKn)

154 Paul Newman was great in B/W.

Posted by: dartist at April 17, 2021 08:45 PM (+ya+t)

155 Paul Newman on why Robert Redford never married, "Robert could never find anyone he loved as much as himself."

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standingat April 17, 2021 08:41 PM (2SdP

He's been married twice. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:46 PM (2DOZq)

156 Watching the Netflix movie "Extinction".  Not sure why.
When aliens invade, why would they go house to house to kill humans with guns when they could just drop some sort of anti-human bug spray on us?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 08:46 PM (Dc2NZ)

157 Cary Grant is the son of the postman.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 08:44 PM (XDC5a)

May I offer you a glass of elderberry wine?

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:46 PM (2SdPm)

158 There is a B&W Ben Hur, right?

Posted by: Skip at April 17, 2021 08:47 PM (Cxk7w)

159 Saw Redford in an episode of Perry Mason. Very young Redford.

Posted by: megthered at April 17, 2021 08:48 PM (SM/op)

160 JM, the reverse of the Wizard of Oz transition can be seen in Pleasantville (featuring Reese Witherspoon and Tobey MacGuire).

Posted by: Chairman LMAO at April 17, 2021 08:48 PM (7tOF4)

161 158There is a B&W Ben Hur, right?

Posted by:Skipat April 17, 2021 08:47 PM (Cxk7w)

============

There is. The silent version is crazy.

Filmed in Italy when Italy really was a third world shithole, there are rumors that dozens of extras died during the filming of the sea battle.

Also, boobs.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:48 PM (LvTSG)

162 I'm wracking what's left of by Zhou Bai Den brain, and I think only Fort Apache might have been as good in color.  Maybe the Longest Day, too.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 08:48 PM (6Hjyp)

163

He's been married twice.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:46 PM (2DOZq)

Eh, I always thought that quote gave good insight as to what Newman thought about Redford.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:48 PM (2SdPm)

164 Bill Paxton was a great talent. 
Also, the fact that they do not shy away from making Cruise's 'Deaths' as gruesome as possible is kind of funny. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:48 PM (lmikk)

165 There is a B&W Ben Hur, right?

Yes. 

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 08:48 PM (XZMrE)

166 153 I wonder what films such as  'Ben-Hur' or 'Lawrence of Arabia' look like in B/W.

Posted by: dantesed at April 17, 2021 08:45 PM (88xKn)

you can watch the 1925 version of Ben Hur and find out - the Chariot race in that one is probably even better than in the 1959 version.  It's interesting in that it has a lot more political intrigue and maneuvering than the later version, but DeMille, who made both, got it right the second time.  He knew people watch a movie like that for the spectacle, not intricate plots, and he went as over the top as he could go.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 17, 2021 08:49 PM (bxPTJ)

167 It was grainy and not filled With color

That's how I remember it, too, but it was amazing for little me to watch. Imagine if they hadn't figured out how to broadcast it! That would have changed millions of childhoods.

Posted by: t-bird at April 17, 2021 08:49 PM (lDew/)

168 Redford is ok in Out of Africa but hes just just a so so actor.  IMO 

Posted by: LASue at April 17, 2021 08:50 PM (Ed8Zd)

169 The Hustler definitely needed to be made in B&W.  

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:51 PM (2DOZq)

170 I think Longest Day worked best in Color because so much of the actual film we see of WWII is in B&W. Longest Day was filmed almost to say 'This is the Biggest WWII movie that can or will ever be made.' Considering the star power and modern sensibilities, they had that right. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:51 PM (lmikk)

171 Also, the fact that they do not shy away from making Cruise's 'Deaths' as gruesome as possible is kind of funny.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:48 PM (lmikk)

Paxton was hilarious in "Ruthless People."

Of course, "Ruthless People" is hilarious to begin with.


I still laugh at Judge Reinhold telling his wife, "I'm no criminal. Hell, I can't even sell retail, and that's legal!"

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:51 PM (2SdPm)

172 Saw Redford in an episode of Perry Mason. Very young Redford.

Posted by: megthered

I was watching an old series called One Step Beyond (late 50's, early 60's) last week and a VERY young Warren Beatty showed up.  He's a lousy actor.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 08:51 PM (6Hjyp)

173 I saw the LOTRs movie with my husband and son who read the books a million times. I have never read the books and I thoroughly enjoyed the movies. They never stopped complaining about how the movies could have been better, what they left out. By my ignorance, I really enjoyed the movies and still watch them, and hear the same complaints from my husband.
I also love The Wizard of Oz and GWTW and would watch each of them every day. They make me happy.

Posted by: megthered at April 17, 2021 08:53 PM (SM/op)

174 All these DVDs are from the library, and many have their identification/bar code/sticker thinggy strategically placed over such things as "run time" - so I don't know which version of Das Boot I have.

Probably gonna be Letters from Iwo tonight.  

Only recently learned that Kuribayashi, like Yamamoto, spent time in the US as a military attache, also did some time at Harvard, and like his more colorful naval colleague traveled around the US quite a bit.

Interesting how many key Japanese figures actually had had a lot of exposure to the US.  One of the key figures in putting Japan down the (remarkably insane, even generally so viewed by those involved) and inexorable path to war with the US, foreign minister Matsuoka, actually was fairly Americanized, had a law degree from the Univ. of Oregon, lived in the US for a decade.

Posted by: rhomboid at April 17, 2021 08:53 PM (OTzUX)

175

I was watching an old series called One Step Beyond (late 50's, early 60's) last week and a VERY young Warren Beatty showed up. He's a lousy actor.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 08:51 PM (6Hjyp)

Yeah, that "puzzled about what just happened" look is sort of all Beatty can do.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 08:53 PM (2SdPm)

176 “It takes all the talent you’ve got in your guts to play unimportant roles. It’s not degrading, just tough to do.” _Joan Blondell

Posted by: Braenyard at April 17, 2021 08:53 PM (1ENjc)

177 I don't think Redford is anything special but he has made some very good movies. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:54 PM (2DOZq)

178 I studied under a Russian history professor who was also a huge movie buff.  This meant that we were going to get to know the works of one Sergei Eisenstein.  We got to see Alexander Nevsky in class.  The famous battle scenes towards the end of that film were actually shot in the summertime in Kazakhstan and what the viewer thinks of as snow is actually nothing more than dust from the steppe.  I enjoyed that movie so much I actually bought it on DVD.  We also had a writing assignment in which we had to see Ivan the Terrible, Part I in order to do the assignment so I bought it on DVD as well and found much to my surprise enjoying that as well.  (The use of shadows in that movie of course is well known.)  Both old, B&W, and very enjoyable.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 17, 2021 08:54 PM (49Dnm)

179 Reverse 'Color' for 'B&W' in that last comment. 
C'mon, man. You know what I mean.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:54 PM (lmikk)

180 174All these DVDs are from the library, 

Posted by:rhomboidat April 17, 2021 08:53 PM (OTzUX)

=========

Yeah...more people using their libraries to see movies. This is a good thing. I use mine like this.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:55 PM (LvTSG)

181 I think Longest Day worked best in Color because so much of the actual film we see of WWII is in B&W. Longest Day was filmed almost to say 'This is the Biggest WWII movie that can or will ever be made.' Considering the star power and modern sensibilities, they had that right. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 08:51 PM (lmikk)


i am going to have to check that out again. In my era, A Bridge Too Far was the most star studded and epic WW2 movie. I already know the competition there will be fierce, i have heard of The Longest Day. . My guess is no movies like that will be made again by Hollyweird.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 08:56 PM (fjS2+)

182 Yea, Warren Beatty is a barely mediocre actor. 

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 08:56 PM (XZMrE)

183 169The Hustler definitely needed to be made in B&W. 
---------
Awesome movie. Jackie Gleason was great as Minnesota Fats too. I'm so young I remember him playing on tv. Had a store with his line of pool tables near here.

Posted by: dartist at April 17, 2021 08:56 PM (+ya+t)

184 178I studied under a Russian history professor who was also a huge movie buff. This meant that we were going to get to know the works of one Sergei Eisenstein. We got to see Alexander Nevsky in class. The famous battle scenes towards the end of that film were actually shot in the summertime in Kazakhstan and what the viewer thinks of as snow is actually nothing more than dust from the steppe. I enjoyed that movie so much I actually bought it on DVD. We also had a writing assignment in which we had to see Ivan the Terrible, Part I in order to do the assignment so I bought it on DVD as well and found much to my surprise enjoying that as well. (The use of shadows in that movie of course is well known.) Both old, B&W, and very enjoyable.

Posted by:Catch Thirty-Thr33at April 17, 2021 08:54 PM (49Dnm)

============

I have the Eisenstein Sound Years DVD set from Criterion which includes those two and Ivan Part II. I, apparently, could sell that for at least a couple hundred dollars it's so rare now.

Eisenstein was in the early stages of filming Part III when Stalin shut it down because he saw it as a critique of himself (which it might have been).

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:56 PM (LvTSG)

185 Keanu Reeves today's Robert Redford? ( acting not political) 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:57 PM (2DOZq)

186 This post reminds me I need to watch Kafka again some day.  TJM, could you recommend some more modern B/W films?  Not Schindler's List either.  Once was enough.

Posted by: Taqiyyologist, Rickrolled by Jesus at April 17, 2021 08:27 PM (OssQ4)

I love "Kafka".  It was a great mimic of a Kafka story with "Kafka" as the central character.

And speaking of B&W to color, "Kafka" is B&W until the central mystery is about to be "solved" when it suddenly changes to color.

I just pulled it out this week to rewatch because Soderbergh is about to release it on blu-ray this spring with an entirely new edit.  apparently, he hates "Kafka" as is, due to studio interference(?) and will release the new "kafka" according to what he wanted.

BONUS! Woody Allen made a movie called "Shadows and Fog" in B&W that I'm pretty sure was "Inspired" by Soderbergh's movie cuz it hits many of the same beats and plot points.  It's very much like "Kafka" filtered thru Bergman and allen sense of comedy.

Would make an interesting double feature with "Kafka" .

Check them out.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 17, 2021 08:58 PM (dWwl8)

187 Awesome movie. Jackie Gleason was great as Minnesota Fats too. I'm so young I remember him playing on tv. Had a store with his line of pool tables near here.

Posted by: dartist at April 17, 2021 08:56 PM (+ya+t)

Gleason was so good in The Hustler in part because he was also a top pool player in real life. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:58 PM (2DOZq)

188 187 

Gleason was so good in The Hustler in part because he was also a top pool player in real life.

Posted by:Sebastian Melmothat April 17, 2021 08:58 PM (2DOZq)


==========


All but one of the shots was done by the actors themselves. Newman got so cocky that he challenged Gleason to a match, which Gleason happily took and proceeded to sink every ball without ever giving Newman a chance.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:59 PM (LvTSG)

189 Dammit. A wild monkey could remember to type green more often than me tonight. I know, more alcohol!

Posted by: dartist at April 17, 2021 09:00 PM (+ya+t)

190 >>I don't think Redford is anything special but he has made some very good movies.


He's a horrid Lefty, wannabe Bill Ayers, but he was beautiful when he was younger and he has a great voice. He has done a lot of narration for nature shows.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 17, 2021 09:00 PM (bDqIh)

191 The Longest Day is probably my favorite WWII movie. It's fantastic. Plus, just about every actor in that era is in it. Blink, and you'll miss Sean Connery, pre-Bond; "it takes an Irishman to play the pipes!". Heh!

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 09:00 PM (XZMrE)

192 Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 17, 2021 08:54 PM (49Dnm)
i will check those out. I studied my share of Russian history too. In high school somehow but also in college. I am not sure how we had a Russian history class in high school, but we did. They claimed it was the first of its kind. I am sure in some areas of PA or whatever, they had them as well, in Russian immigrant areas. . But this was in average America, so it was pretty new as far as I know.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 09:01 PM (fjS2+)

193 I was thinking of my top five movies in the various genres.  Comedy was the most difficult to list for me. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:01 PM (2DOZq)

194

Gleason was so good in The Hustler in part because he was also a top pool player in real life. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:58 PM (2DOZq)

George C Scott was pretty good too in his role.

Posted by: dantesed at April 17, 2021 09:01 PM (88xKn)

195 I've watched the first two episodes of the five episode documentary about a Swedish murder case, Pray, Obey, Kill.  A formerly conventional protestant church becomes radicalized by a charismatic pastor (I don't see it but whatever, dude) and a parishioner who declares herself the Bride of Christ based upon a dream and the 45 Psalm.  He and she convince another young woman parishioner that God is commanding her through holy text messages to kill the pastor's wife and his girlfriend's husband.  It seems he lost another wife a few years earlier under mysterious circumstances and he is not old, I doubt he was 30 at the time.  Young to be a widower twice over.  Anyway, I think it is interesting but beware!  It's in Swedish with subtitles.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 17, 2021 09:02 PM (VVEnO)

196 Thanks for all moron comments.  I do appreciate it, and I hate inserting this stuff into TJM's movie thread, but then, it's kind of a movie and it's kind of relevant.

As for B&W movies...all good movies have their own aesthetic.  "Eraserhead" would have been awful in color.  "Avatar" would never have worked in flat B&W.  (I don't think it works anyway, but at least it has spectacle) 

"Attack of the Crab Monsters" works because the B&W is bleak and dispiriting.  Same with "Night of the Living Dead."  But there are many cases where the B&W view makes it life affirming. 

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 09:02 PM (OU+8W)

197 196Thanks for all moron comments. I do appreciate it, and I hate inserting this stuff into TJM's movie thread, but then, it's kind of a movie and it's kind of relevant.

Posted by:BeckoningChasmat April 17, 2021 09:02 PM (OU+8W) ==========

Plug away. I'm good with it.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:02 PM (LvTSG)

198 There is a lot of WWII footage in color because, get this, the Dept. of War had the money to pay for it.

Posted by: JAS, AoSHQ addict at April 17, 2021 09:03 PM (xopIz)

199 I don't think Keanu is anything like RR, acting wise. Keanu knows what roles are good for him, from what I can tell. Of course I like Keanu and I want to punch Redford, so that colors my viewpoint. 

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 09:03 PM (XZMrE)

200 He's a horrid Lefty, wannabe Bill Ayers, but he was beautiful when he was younger and he has a great voice. He has done a lot of narration for nature shows.

Posted by: Lizzy

I always thought Redford posed for the camera. Always.  When he turned his had to directing A River Runs Through It, he cast a very young Brad Pitt who...posed for the camera.

It wasn't until years later that I finally gave Pitt his due.  

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:03 PM (6Hjyp)

201 Paul Newman had a very good B&W run with both "The Hustler" and "Hud".
Two of my all-time faves.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 17, 2021 09:03 PM (dWwl8)

202 Gleason was great in Smokey and the Bandit. The guy stole the entire show. Also, I love The Color of Money. So there, all my movie cred has been crushed, that is ok. And yes, The Color of Money has serious flaws, it could have been better.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 09:03 PM (fjS2+)

203
185 Keanu Reeves today's Robert Redford? ( acting not political) 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:57 PM (2DOZq)

Redford likes the sound of his own voice too much. Hmmm. I am not sure about the analog. A bit goofy. Does very well in strong, silent parts. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:03 PM (lmikk)

204 Here is a trailer for a horror movie called "Lucky", which looks really, really good:

https://youtu.be/5TC2QkqqtgQ

Posted by: Sharkman at April 17, 2021 09:03 PM (i4vaF)

205 202Gleason was great in Smokey and the Bandit. The guy stole the entire show. Also, I love The Color of Money. So there, all my movie cred has been crushed, that is ok. And yes, The Color of Money has serious flaws, it could have been better.

Posted by:Quintat April 17, 2021 09:03 PM (fjS2+)

===========

Since when does loving a movie directed by Martin Scorsese hurt someone's movie cred?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:04 PM (LvTSG)

206 Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 08:59 PM (LvTSG)
Hah I didn't know that.  Speaking of The Hustler , the sequel made years later , Color of Money is on my list of top sequels.  

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:04 PM (2DOZq)

207  
The Longest Day is probably my favorite WWII movie. It's fantastic. Plus, just about every actor in that era is in it.


And even some that weren't - like Tommy Sands. 

Posted by: Tonypete at April 17, 2021 09:04 PM (Rvt88)

208 Keanu Reeves today's Robert Redford? ( acting not political)

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 08:57 PM (2DOZq)

'Look up the youtube video of Keanu with Jay Leno talking bikes. You'll be amazed at how many words Keanu can string together. 


Also, of course, there are the videos of Keanu showing his chops with firearms. 


Michelle Rodriguez is also quite adept with firearms, I might add.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 09:04 PM (2SdPm)

209 People were talking about Reeves this morning, during our run-n-gun stage - he's a serious 3-gun competitor.

Posted by: rhomboid at April 17, 2021 09:04 PM (OTzUX)

210 Quint, I had two semesters of Russian history in high school.  Our teacher's grandparents, Russian Jews, left in the dead of night to escape during the pogroms).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 09:04 PM (Dc2NZ)

211
I studied my share of Russian history too.


Tyranny, misery, revolt, death, rinse, repeat.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 17, 2021 09:05 PM (VVEnO)

212 'Have you seen anything strange?'

'Is he shitting me?'

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:05 PM (lmikk)

213 I don't think Keanu is anything like RR, acting wise. Keanu knows what roles are good for him, from what I can tell. Of course I like Keanu and I want to punch Redford, so that colors my viewpoint. 

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 09:03 PM (XZMrE)


I liked him in "A Walk in the Clouds". And everything I have heard about the man himself shows me he is the best of Hollyweird. Really no one anywhere has a bad thing to say about him. One day I will get to his modern flicks.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 09:05 PM (fjS2+)

214 I have fond memories of going to see old Band W movies w/my dad at the Chataqua auditorium at the vase of the Flatirons - Sherlock Holmes w.Basil Rathone, The 39 Steps, etc.. Part of the experience was it was a drafty old building and the sound my be just a fraction off from the film.

Posted by: Lizzy at April 17, 2021 09:06 PM (bDqIh)

215 Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:03 PM (lmikk)
Not great actors but make great movies.  Keanu has the highest percentage of good movies IMHO.  

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:06 PM (2DOZq)

216 209People were talking about Reeves this morning, during our run-n-gun stage - he's a serious 3-gun competitor.

Posted by:rhomboidat April 17, 2021 09:04 PM (OTzUX)

He was also very highly ranked in his martial arts field at one time. When he goes to learn something, he learn the hell out of it.

Posted by: Bete at April 17, 2021 09:07 PM (Ojki1)

217 When "Eraserhead" came out I recall the fact it was in black and white was considered a major element of its subversiveness.
Like when Simpsons first aired as a "cartoon" in prime time. 

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 17, 2021 09:07 PM (EZebt)

218 Anyone mention Pleasantville? I saw it once, and without the color hook, I doubt I'd remember it existed. I barely remember it now other than there was something about color becoming more vivid throughout the movie.

Posted by: G. Gnome, Bamboo Killer & Rhizome Slayer at April 17, 2021 09:07 PM (OQcPl)

219 Borken da bork bork!

Posted by: the swedish police detective at April 17, 2021 09:08 PM (UHVv4)

220 Speaking of Gleason, he's in a movie that I think doesn't get near enough respect: "Requiem for a Heavyweight."


Also, disappointingly, the DVD version, at least, the version I have, doesn't have the great soliloquy by Gleason that's in the original. 

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 09:08 PM (2SdPm)

221 >>'Look up the youtube video of Keanu with Jay Leno talking bikes. You'll be amazed at how many words Keanu can string together.


He is has a motorcycle company.
Keanu Reeve's Secret Motorcycle Company - Ideal

Posted by: Lizzy at April 17, 2021 09:09 PM (bDqIh)

222
 "Kafka" filtered thru Bergman

I hope they passed out free suicide pills.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 17, 2021 09:09 PM (VVEnO)

223 In "The Hustler" what did Bert do to Sarah?

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 17, 2021 09:09 PM (R/m4+)

224 And thanks, Eris.  I've already reconnoitered where I'll take what's left of the family tomorrow afternoon.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:11 PM (6Hjyp)

225 Still haven't been able to find it again, but once on UToob I stumbled across private color (16mm?) film footage shot by a Luftwaffe officer in WWII.  Mostly just mundane stuff, no "action", this guy was a supply officer or something, but a pretty good cameraman, and the narration was in such measured and clear German I understood almost every word.   There seem to be a few "finds" like this that are now being put online, I recall seeing (but not watching) several such private color footage packages online.

Posted by: rhomboid at April 17, 2021 09:11 PM (OTzUX)

226 I could always tell when the gray walls became sepia.

Posted by: JAS, AoSHQ addict at April 17, 2021 09:12 PM (xopIz)

227 170: who WASN'T in The Longest Day?  Even a young, relatively unknown actor named Sean Connery was in it!

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 17, 2021 09:12 PM (49Dnm)

228 202: That's Maverick the Pool Shark

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 17, 2021 09:14 PM (49Dnm)

229 who WASN'T in The Longest Day?  Even a young, relatively unknown actor named Sean Connery was in it!

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33

Plus Red Buttons and sort of unknown George Segal.  And the guy who played Goldfinger.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:14 PM (6Hjyp)

230 who WASN'T in The Longest Day?  Even a young, relatively unknown actor named Sean Connery was in it!

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 17, 2021 09:12 PM (49Dnm)

Jackie Gleason?

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:14 PM (2DOZq)

231 I didn't care for the Color Of Money. I think Newman lowered himself to be in a cheap remake with no talent Cruise.

Posted by: dartist at April 17, 2021 09:14 PM (+ya+t)

232 142 129Has anyone seen Nobody starring Better Call Saul? It looks fun.

Posted by:Blutarskiat April 17, 2021 08:38 PM (6Hjyp)

I did.  It was great!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 08:41 PM (Dc2NZ)

Can confirm.

Posted by: Marcus Halberstram at April 17, 2021 09:15 PM (52EoY)

233 Quint, I had two semesters of Russian history in high school.  Our teacher's grandparents, Russian Jews, left in the dead of night to escape during the pogroms).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 09:04 PM (Dc2NZ)


my teacher was an African American female. She was uber liberal and we went at it a quite often. But it was a great course really. And that was back in the day when you could express your views and that was ok. One thing about her, she said she would never go back to the USSR again. She had a group that went there for some trip once, and they stopped them at immigration and interrogated them for hours.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 09:15 PM (fjS2+)

234
218 Anyone mention Pleasantville? I saw it once, and without the color hook, I doubt I'd remember it existed. I barely remember it now other than there was something about color becoming more vivid throughout the movie. Posted by: G. Gnome, Bamboo Killer & Rhizome Slayer at April 17, 2021 09:07 PM (OQcPl)


With or without the color hook it is "Footloose" 

Posted by: Buzzion at April 17, 2021 09:16 PM (nrjQd)

235 And wasn't the German in the bunker (Longest Day) who couldn't get his superior excited about the hundreds of ships he was looking at through his binoculars the same actor who played the adjutant to Robert Shaw's armor commander in the execrable Battle of the Bulge movie in the 70s?

Posted by: rhomboid at April 17, 2021 09:16 PM (OTzUX)

236 My memory of The Longest Day: it was shown on AFN in Germany on June 6 (what other day?).  I was getting into it and rather enjoying it, as I at that age had no idea what this D-Day thing people were going on and on about was... Then it was my bedtime; I had school the next day.  (That year, thanks to snow days and so on, school dragged on until June 14!)

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 17, 2021 09:18 PM (49Dnm)

237 Posted by: rhomboid 
Yes.  Yes it was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JDkdc246QQ

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:18 PM (6Hjyp)

238 Here's a Guilty Pleasure-
"Shrunken Heads" has just been released for the first time on blu-ray.
Of course, I had to buy it.  I won't claim it's a great movie, however it's very entertaining.
It's a superhero origin story where 3 teenage guys run afoul of a lesbian gangster and are murdered.  But, they're brought back to life as superpower ed shrunken heads by the voodoo priest janitor that that know in order to get revenge.
Yes, it's just that crazy.  "Shrunken Heads" could become a one joke movie but it actually has a bit of existential sadness in the mix cuz yeah you're superpowers but also you're a disembodied shrunken head.
Directed and written by Danny Elfman's brother so, SH gets a full "Batman" worthy sound tract.
Available on Amazon Prime.
Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 17, 2021 09:18 PM (dWwl8)

239 John Wayne Henry Fonda Robert Mitchem Eddie Albert Burgess Meredith Mr Paul Anka Richard Burton Sean Connery Red Buttons Jeffery Hunter Roddy McDowell Sal Mineo Rod Steiger George Segal Robert Wagner Richard Dawson(?!)

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:18 PM (lmikk)

240 rewatching Witcher
wanna see if I can keep the time periods straight this time

Posted by: vmom sic semper stabbicus at April 17, 2021 09:18 PM (GBZnB)

241 Quint, I had two semesters of Russian history in high school.  Our teacher's grandparents, Russian Jews, left in the dead of night to escape during the pogroms).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at April 17, 2021 09:04 PM (Dc2NZ)


a lot of history there, i bet they taught you a lot.  One thing I learned from many courses in college in Russian history. The history was pretty horrific.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 09:19 PM (fjS2+)

242
In "The Hustler" what did Bert do to Sarah?


iirc - Aside from the constant sniping at her as he viewed her as a rival, I don't know that he did anything in particular but, I always thought that what he whispered to her led to her death.

Posted by: Tonypete at April 17, 2021 09:20 PM (Rvt88)

243 Oh, and "they" have made Fast and Furious 9.

How about that? 9 movies called Fast and Furious in the span of time that there is still no justice for the innocents killed in Obama's Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 17, 2021 09:22 PM (i4vaF)

244 217 - I saw "Eraserhead" in an arthouse theater downtown and every ten minutes or so, some guy in the audience yelled "Veeeeewwwy Stwange" in a comically high pitched voice. That was the best part of the movie. I couldn't eat chicken for a while after I saw it. 

Posted by: Vivi at April 17, 2021 09:22 PM (USW1s)

245

240 rewatching Witcher 
wanna see if I can keep the time periods straight this time Posted by: vmom sic semper stabbicus at April 17, 2021 09:18 PM (GBZnB)

I believe Yennifer's starts earliest. Then Geralt. Then Ciri. That should help you some. If it was t for Apple I probably would have named my next girl dog Ciri based off the video game. 

Posted by: Buzzion at April 17, 2021 09:22 PM (nrjQd)

246 I hated Pleasantville.  As I watched, I thought, "This is the greatest satire on the Hollywood mentality ever" until I realized "Oh...the filmmaker is serious."

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 09:23 PM (OU+8W)

247 Posted by: Tonypete at April 17, 2021 09:20 PM (Rvt8
I thought he banged her. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:24 PM (2DOZq)

248 244217 - I saw "Eraserhead" in an arthouse theater downtown and every ten minutes or so, some guy in the audience yelled "Veeeeewwwy Stwange" in a comically high pitched voice. That was the best part of the movie. I couldn't eat chicken for a while after I saw it.

Posted by:Viviat April 17, 2021 09:22 PM (USW1s)

===========

I just finished my run of David Lynch movies (reviews are written but not published yet). Eraserhead is the super rare kind of debut film that almost never happens. A pure distillation of what makes a filmmaker great without any build up.

It's one of the great debut films.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:25 PM (LvTSG)

249 iirc - Aside from the constant sniping at her as he viewed her as a rival, I don't know that he did anything in particular but, I always thought that what he whispered to her led to her death. Posted by: Tonypete at April 17, 2021 09:20 PM (Rvt8
I never did figure it out. Did he make a threat or worse.....
It was always left unanswered when I watched it.
Thanks Tonypete!

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 17, 2021 09:25 PM (R/m4+)

250 What should help somewhat with the timeline vmom is that when Yennifer undergoes her transformation the young prince is the middle aged king that hires Geralt to deal with the Strygga

Posted by: Buzzion at April 17, 2021 09:25 PM (nrjQd)

251 Eraserhead is incredible.  And it's not that hard to understand. 

I'm a sort of Lynch-Fan in that I think his work is incredible, but I can admit that some of it just doesn't work at all.  "And is bad," as Jenny Nicholson might say.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 09:27 PM (OU+8W)

252 Since when does loving a movie directed by Martin Scorsese hurt someone's movie cred?

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:04 PM (LvTSG)


here? Never. But I assumed some would think I should be more into The Hustler. I did see it, but there is something about The Color of Money. Sure it is Scorcese.  But I need to watch The Hustler again.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 09:28 PM (fjS2+)

253 Nobody link in my sock including some trailers.

Bob Odenkirk and Christopher Lloyd share Oct. 22nd birthdates! (My oldest brother, a lawyer, too! Too bad he didn't graduate from McGill too!)
  Apparently, Odenkirk suffered a home invasion himself.

Correction: It looks like IMDB sock links are still banned.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7888964/

Posted by: andycanuck at April 17, 2021 09:28 PM (UHVv4)

254 Even back in the 90's, Pleasantville felt... mean spirited. 

Look at the depiction of the 50's in Back to the Future. It was shown as bright and colorful, but it was not shown as inherently 'wrong'. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:28 PM (lmikk)

255 100 days since Trump was banned by Twitter.
He's still a massive loser. LOL

Posted by: Trump lost bigly at April 17, 2021 09:28 PM (vad6n)

256 251Eraserhead is incredible. And it's not that hard to understand.

I'm a sort of Lynch-Fan in that I think his work is incredible, but I can admit that some of it just doesn't work at all. "And is bad," as Jenny Nicholson might say.

Posted by:BeckoningChasmat April 17, 2021 09:27 PM (OU+8W)

===========

Wild at Heart is the most interesting tonal clash he almost managed to pull off.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:28 PM (LvTSG)

257 And our troll reminds us why it is not possible to get along with the left. You'd think it would be able to discuss film, but, no, they've got an ex president living rent free in their head, and they just can't let go. Sad.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing at April 17, 2021 09:30 PM (2SdPm)

258 252 

here? Never. But I assumed some would think I should be more into The Hustler. I did see it, but there is something about The Color of Money. Sure it is Scorcese. But I need to watch The Hustler again.

Posted by:Quintat April 17, 2021 09:28 PM (fjS2+)


=========


I'm well past snootiness when it comes to other people's opinions on movies. We all have different tastes. The joys of film criticism is explaining why we love what we love to people who know how to listen. We don't have to agree in the end, but we did manage a fun conversation.


I think The Color of Money is fun and light. I could imagine it hitting people just the right way. It doesn't for me, but it's an amusing two hours.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:30 PM (LvTSG)

259 It was always left unanswered when I watched it. 
Thanks Tonypete!

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 17, 2021 09:25 PM (R/m4+)

I thought it was pretty clear they had a sexual encounter of some kind.  

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:31 PM (2DOZq)

260 No such thing as too much of a good thing.
Oregon Will Keep Mask Mandate Permanently…

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at April 17, 2021 09:31 PM (VVEnO)

261 Currently just starting a Keanu Reeves movie called "Replicas".

Scientist tries to revive his dead family by imprinting their brain waves into synthetic robot brains. HiJinks ensue.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 17, 2021 09:31 PM (i4vaF)

262 I would not want to see Casablanca in color.  And I would not want to see The African Queen in black and white.

Posted by: Pastor Charles the Simple at April 17, 2021 09:32 PM (HuH1F)

263 I wonder what "Bitte! Bitte!" means??

Posted by: andycanuck at April 17, 2021 09:32 PM (UHVv4)

264 Before Brian Denehey, Jackie Gleason played the Atlantic Wall in The Longest Day.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 09:32 PM (XDC5a)

265 "I'm well past snootiness when it comes to other people's opinions on movies. We all have different tastes. The joys of film criticism is explaining why we love what we love to people who know how to listen. We don't have to agree in the end, but we did manage a fun conversation."  So, TheJamesMadison, I take this to mean you have taken the viewpoint that the best movies are the ones you like?  (Much as someone I thought was a wine snob when we were discussing wine ended that notion with "the best wine is the one YOU enjoy")

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 17, 2021 09:32 PM (49Dnm)

266 Posted by: Sharkman at April 17, 2021 09:31 PM (i4vaF)
Unfortunately I think that's one of his movies that brings his percentage down. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:32 PM (2DOZq)

267 263I wonder what "Bitte! Bitte!" means??

Posted by:andycanuckat April 17, 2021 09:32 PM (UHVv4)

==========

"Bite me! Bite me!"

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:32 PM (LvTSG)

268 I wonder what "Bitte! Bitte!" means??

Posted by: andycanuck

I heard two clicks!

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:33 PM (6Hjyp)

269 "Wild at Heart" seemed to me to be the Saturday Night Live version of "A David Lynch film."  Not one of the Lynch films I would recommend.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 09:33 PM (OU+8W)

270 265  So, TheJamesMadison, I take this to mean you have taken the viewpoint that the best movies are the ones you like? (Much as someone I thought was a wine snob when we were discussing wine ended that notion with "the best wine is the one YOU enjoy")

Posted by:Catch Thirty-Thr33at April 17, 2021 09:32 PM (49Dnm)


=========


Heh.


I haven't gotten that criticism yet.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:33 PM (LvTSG)

271 would not want to see Casablanca in color.  And I would not want to see The African Queen in black and white.

Posted by: Pastor Charles the Simple at April 17, 2021 09:32 PM (HuH1F)

That's a good one. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:34 PM (2DOZq)

272 269"Wild at Heart" seemed to me to be the Saturday Night Live version of "A David Lynch film." Not one of the Lynch films I would recommend.

Posted by:BeckoningChasmat April 17, 2021 09:33 PM (OU+8W)

=========

I think it almost works. Not quite. But almost.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:34 PM (LvTSG)

273
268 I wonder what "Bitte! Bitte!" means??

Posted by: andycanuck

I heard two clicks!

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:33 PM (6Hjyp)

Hey, Yank! Got a cigarette? I'm DYING for a cigarette.'

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:35 PM (lmikk)

274 "Eraserhead" was hard to watch, it was too weird.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 17, 2021 09:35 PM (R/m4+)

275 Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, anyone watch the one and only season ?  

Posted by: runner, Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink ! at April 17, 2021 09:35 PM (Q9SFr)

276 He's put his boots on the wrong feet.

Posted by: andycanuck at April 17, 2021 09:35 PM (UHVv4)

277 I recall seeing Elizabeth Montgomery appear on our B&W TV telling us to "stay tuned for Bewitched, next,  in color."
My first naughty thoughts as a lad featured her.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 09:36 PM (4l77G)

278 @272 It has its moments, as all Lynch films do.  I just don't think it works as a "work" so to speak.  As a complete story-feature-experience.  It just seems like a mesh of moments.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 09:36 PM (OU+8W)

279 Colour? I'm still adjusting to talkies.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 17, 2021 09:37 PM (ELgVT)

280 When John Wick goes off on a rampage, I like to imagine it's me in the Whitehouse press pool.  

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:37 PM (6Hjyp)

281 274"Eraserhead" was hard to watch, it was too weird.

Posted by:Hairyback Guyat April 17, 2021 09:35 PM (R/m4+)

============

David Lynch really isn't for everyone, but he's not just weird for weirdness sake.

He's telling very human stories with surrealist abstraction. At the core of the weird baby, the horrifying dinner, and the sex with the woman across the hall in the puddle of water that was his bed, Lynch is telling a clear tale of the fears of fatherhood, being a husband, and adulthood.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:37 PM (LvTSG)

282 271: Plus, there might be aspects in Casablanca and The African Queen among many others that they were able to pull off precisely because it was in B&W.  Eisenstein comes to mind.  If they colorize Alexander Nevsky and you see the Teutonic Knights and the Russians of Novgorod fighting it out...in a dusty field in Kazakhstan, you and the audience will be like "WTF?"  

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 17, 2021 09:38 PM (49Dnm)

283 278@272 It has its moments, as all Lynch films do. I just don't think it works as a "work" so to speak. As a complete story-feature-experience. It just seems like a mesh of moments.

Posted by:BeckoningChasmat April 17, 2021 09:36 PM (OU+8W)

===========

I never want to say this ever, but Harry Dean Stanton should have been cut from the film. I think the problem arises from the fact that Sailor and Lula are too removed from a lot of the weirdness that dominates the early half of the film. 

It manages to largely come together in the end, but Stanton's role is long forgotten by that point. Everything about his twenty minutes of screen time ends up unimportant to the central story.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:39 PM (LvTSG)

284 A forgotten Lynch film is The Straight Story which is sweet and uplifting and not all weird.  Starred Richard Farnsworth, I think was his name.  Just great.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:39 PM (6Hjyp)

285 284A forgotten Lynch film is The Straight Story which is sweet and uplifting and not all weird. Starred Richard Farnsworth, I think was his name. Just great.

Posted by:Blutarskiat April 17, 2021 09:39 PM (6Hjyp)

==========

That's my favorite of Lynch's films.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:40 PM (LvTSG)

286 Here's 40 seconds of my animation.  If you watch, thank you.

https://tinyurl.com/2rx6bwwt

Posted by: BeckoningChasm




Interesting. 

Posted by: Sharkman at April 17, 2021 09:41 PM (i4vaF)

287 A forgotten Lynch film is The Straight Story which is sweet and uplifting and not all weird.  It starred Richard Farnsworth, I think was his name.  Just great.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:41 PM (6Hjyp)

288 Eraserhead sure wasn't Ozzie and Harriet.

Posted by: klaftern at April 17, 2021 09:41 PM (RuIsu)

289 All, right. Fine. I'll watch Longest Day as soon as I get done with Edge of Tomorrow. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:42 PM (lmikk)

290 I recently learned from a  Former coke VP in china that Chinese have huge groups / teams that do nothing but post whatever crappy lie, propaganda, rumor, or defamation they’re told to   24 hours a day.  On twitter, Facebook, Yelp, news sites, gab, etc. 

That’s our trolls. 

Posted by: LASue at April 17, 2021 09:42 PM (Ed8Zd)

291 "The Straight Story" is a wonderful film. 

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 09:42 PM (OU+8W)

292 I was thinking of my top five movies in the various genres.  Comedy was the most difficult to list for me. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:01 PM (2DOZq)


Blazzing Saddles

Airplane!


And what else?  I would go with The Pink Panther Strikes Again , 48 Hours, and maybe. well, I am not sure. Ok 48 Hours is not really a comedy, but I do think it is underrated. It was a big deal back in the day.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 09:42 PM (fjS2+)

293 So looking up on IMDB who played 'Pips' Priller in The Longest Day and find in his credits something from 1973 called Hell Hounds of Alaska... alas it's not a horror movie though with a title like that it should be.

The real Colonel Priller was a consultant for The Longest Day.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 09:42 PM (XDC5a)

294  would not want to see Casablanca in color.  And I would not want to see The African Queen in black and white.

Posted by: Pastor Charles the Simple

I recall the first time I saw a colorized 'Boom Town' and being smitten by Hedy Lamarr's stunning blue eyes.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 17, 2021 09:42 PM (9Fwwf)

295 Wild at Heart is the most interesting tonal clash he almost managed to pull off.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:28 PM (LvTSG)

The key word there is "almost".  WaH is a mess.  Probably Lynch's worst movie.  But -

BONUS! WaH was originally a novel written by Barry Giifford.  The same characters appear in an prequel novel, which was filmed by Alex de la Iglesias as "Perdita Durango".

An-n-n-n-nd, "Perdita Durango" is streaming on Shudder right now at this very moment. 

So, you can now compare two directors dealing with (most of) the same characters in two movies!

Who wins Lynch or Iglesias?

I plan on watching "Perdita Durango" tomorrow.

Check it out.


Posted by: naturalfake at April 17, 2021 09:43 PM (dWwl8)

296
A forgotten Lynch film is The Straight Story which is sweet and uplifting and not all weird.  Starred Richard Farnsworth, I think was his name.  Just great.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:39 PM (6Hjyp)


I love that movie so much. It's simply wonderful.
that said, I'm a pretty solid Lynch fan in general. Not all, but more than half of his stuff. I love the Showtime Twin Peaks, but I can totally understand why many would not.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 09:43 PM (4l77G)

297 Here's 40 seconds of my animation.  If you watch, thank you.

https://tinyurl.com/2rx6bwwt

Posted by: BeckoningChasm

I liked it. Good job. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:43 PM (2DOZq)

298 Wind and Rain. Rain and Wind. Sometimes I wonder which side God is on.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:43 PM (lmikk)

299
Lynch is telling a clear tale of the fears of fatherhood, being a husband, and adulthood.

Indubitably. 

Posted by: Zombie Sigmund Freud at April 17, 2021 09:44 PM (W4eKo)

300 I watched Hacksaw Ridge today and then went and looked up Desmond Doss on Wiki. 

Incredibly, he was even more ridicously brave in real life than he was in that movie. He already had two Bronze Stars for bravery before his unit even hit Okinawa and I think he was wounded at least six times.

His Medal of Honor Citation is quite a read.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 17, 2021 09:44 PM (i4vaF)

301 Lynch is telling a clear tale of the fears of fatherhood, being a husband, and adulthood. Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:37 PM (LvTSG)
Understood. I am just not into that surreal stuff but some folks do like it.
I am not artistic at all so stuff like that tends to go over my head.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 17, 2021 09:44 PM (R/m4+)

302 295 

The key word there is "almost". WaH is a mess. Probably Lynch's worst movie. But -

Posted by:naturalfakeat April 17, 2021 09:43 PM (dWwl

============


Dune has it's fans, but I'm not really one of them. Dune is an incomprehensible mess, and I know the book pretty well. Dune is worse than Wild at Heart. At least Wild at Heart has a solid throughline that is the romance between Sailor and Lula.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:45 PM (LvTSG)

303
Interesting how many key Japanese figures actually had had a lot of exposure to the US. One of the key figures in putting Japan down the (remarkably insane, even generally so viewed by those involved) and inexorable path to war with the US, foreign minister Matsuoka, actually was fairly Americanized, had a law degree from the Univ. of Oregon, lived in the US for a decade.
Posted by: rhomboid at April 17, 2021 08:53 PM (OTzUX)


Once woke always woke

Posted by: Braenyard at April 17, 2021 09:45 PM (1ENjc)

304 I want to see The Color Purple in B&W

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:46 PM (2DOZq)

305 A forgotten Lynch film is The Straight Story which is sweet and uplifting and not all weird.  It starred Richard Farnsworth, I think was his name.  Just great.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:41 PM (6Hjyp)


same guy from "The Natural"  I am not sure I have seen it, but I know the jist. I will check it out if I can.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 09:46 PM (fjS2+)

306 David Lynch is definitely a film-maker about whom there can be many opinions, and all of those opinions can be correct, all at the same time.

I don't think there's another film-maker who can claim that crown.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 09:46 PM (OU+8W)

307 301  Understood. I am just not into that surreal stuff but some folks do like it.
I am not artistic at all so stuff like that tends to go over my head.

Posted by:Hairyback Guyat April 17, 2021 09:44 PM (R/m4+)


==========


Yeah, he really isn't for everyone. I'd never blind recommend him, except for The Elephant Man and The Straight Story. I'd recommend both of those to pretty much anyone.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:47 PM (LvTSG)

308 306  I don't think there's another film-maker who can claim that crown.

Posted by:BeckoningChasmat April 17, 2021 09:46 PM (OU+8W)

=========


My next thread will be about Lynch, by the way. Not entirely sure what I'm going to write, but I have a drive down to Orlando tomorrow to consider it.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:48 PM (LvTSG)

309 I'd recommend Twin Peaks- at least the first season before things get really insane. For Audrey, if nothing else. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:48 PM (lmikk)

310 309I'd recommend Twin Peaks- at least the first season before things get really insane. For Audrey, if nothing else.

Posted by:Aetius451ADat April 17, 2021 09:48 PM (lmikk)

=========

Audrey was originally envisioned as the main character of Mulholland Drive in its earliest iteration in Lynch's head.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:49 PM (LvTSG)

311 And I will disagree with you TJM about "Dune."  It's not perfect, it has a lot of flaws, but it is a solidly entertaining movie.

(Try to imagine the above shouted in Gordon Cole's voice.)

Yeah, it's not great, but it has far more moments than Wild at Heart.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 09:49 PM (OU+8W)

312 Mel Gibson was the exact right one to make Hacksaw Ridge. Anyone else would have fooked it up horribly.  Hugo Weaving as Doss's father was magnificent.
Still. Hard movie to watch.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 09:49 PM (4l77G)

313 did like Blue Velvet in that I had to keep watching .  If a director / writer can make you do that when you have a choice he has succeeded IMHO. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:50 PM (2DOZq)

314 311And I will disagree with you TJM about "Dune." It's not perfect, it has a lot of flaws, but it is a solidly entertaining movie.

(Try to imagine the above shouted in Gordon Cole's voice.)

Yeah, it's not great, but it has far more moments than Wild at Heart.

Posted by:BeckoningChasmat April 17, 2021 09:49 PM (OU+8W)

============

Well, at least we can agree that it's a Blue Rose case.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:50 PM (LvTSG)

315 I'm really into history, so I especially enjoyed "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS".

Posted by: Dr. Varno at April 17, 2021 09:50 PM (vuisn)

316 TJM - how wardrobe and set decoration almost saved Dune.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 09:50 PM (XDC5a)

317 My one-word description of Lynch's works would be the same as for Tarantino... Vivid.

Posted by: davidt at April 17, 2021 09:50 PM (ez/ed)

318 A block of wood has more acting ability than Robert Redford.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh




"Hey, Damnit! We are standing right here!"  - Kevin Costner and Gina Carano.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 17, 2021 09:51 PM (i4vaF)

319 316TJM - how wardrobe and set decoration almost savedDune.

Posted by:Anna Pumaat April 17, 2021 09:50 PM (XDC5a)

==========

Heh.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:51 PM (LvTSG)

320 According to the latest data, 2.5 million Americans had either chlamydia, gonorrhea or syphilis infections in 2019, with chlamydia cases rising 61 per cent and gonorrhea cases spiking 42 per cent among young people aged 15 to 24.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 09:51 PM (yrol0)

321 I hadn't seen Airplane since it first came out and it was on not long ago. I guess my sense of humor is messed up because I just don't think most comedies are funny but however many years later, in color!, it really cracked me up. Must be because the humor reminded me of being in here.

Posted by: dartist at April 17, 2021 09:51 PM (+ya+t)

322 I just pulled up the cast page on IMDB for The Longest Day. I did not realize it had Sean Connery and Gert Fröbe in it.

Posted by: zmdavid at April 17, 2021 09:52 PM (xqRaG)

323 Watching Chicken Run, when the Chicken say, "I don't want to be a pie, I don't like gravy." gets me every time.

It also may be Mel Gibson' finest film.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at April 17, 2021 09:52 PM (FVrDO)

324
312 Mel Gibson was the exact right one to make Hacksaw Ridge. Anyone else would have fooked it up horribly.  Hugo Weaving as Doss's father was magnificent.
Still. Hard movie to watch.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 09:49 PM (4l77G)

Gibson, since maybe The Patriot, seems to specialize in 'hard to watch- but good.' Hell, even parts of the Patriot are rough with his son's deaths. Or Braveheart. 
Lot of demons there he is trying to work out. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:52 PM (lmikk)

325 He's telling very human stories with surrealist abstraction. At the core of the weird baby, the horrifying dinner, and the sex with the woman across the hall in the puddle of water that was his bed, Lynch is telling a clear tale of the fears of fatherhood, being a husband, and adulthood.


Which explains why after watching it, I want to drill a hole in my head and pour vermouth inside while dancing to the sound of howler monkeys. 

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 09:52 PM (XZMrE)

326 "Losing Baseball Team Suggests New Rules Allowing Them To Add Four Players To The Field"

Posted by: @TheBabylonBee at April 17, 2021 09:52 PM (8u/ei)

327 Posted by: Quint 
Yes! He was the assistant coach in the Natural.  And if you ever look closely at the end of the Cowboys, he's one of the rustlers that gets his due.  He's much younger there, though.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:54 PM (6Hjyp)

328 Capt. Colin Maud : [walking up to a stalled vehicle]  My old grandmother used to say anything mechanical, give it a good bash. [Hits hood with his swagger stick]  Capt. Colin Maud : Try it now. [vehicle cranks] Private Flanagan : [to Clough]  Sure, now; that did it. [notices Maud looks at him] Private Flanagan : Ah, now that's what I call a hell of a man! Pvt. Clough : Aye, I like his dog too. Capt. Colin Maud : Move inland. The war's that way. Capt. Colin Maud : [pointing]  The war's over there!

Posted by: The Longest Day at April 17, 2021 09:54 PM (AytXr)

329 230 who WASN'T in The Longest Day?  Even a young, relatively unknown actor named Sean Connery was in it!
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 17, 2021 09:12 PM (49Dnm)
Jackie Gleason? 
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:14 PM (2DOZq) Did Brian Dennehy play the role of Normandy?

Posted by: Darrell Harris at April 17, 2021 09:54 PM (mdjgu)

330 Dune has it's fans, but I'm not really one of them. Dune is an incomprehensible mess, and I know the book pretty well. Dune is worse than Wild at Heart. At least Wild at Heart has a solid throughline that is the romance between Sailor and Lula.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:45 PM (LvTSG)

We disagree on this.

I think "Dune" is one of Lynch's Better movies.  Not the best but somewhere in the top five.

WaH has some good set pieces and scenes but it's just awful.  A mess where Lynch thought he could just thrown anything together and the critics would hail it, but he was wrong, recognized it and got over it to make better movies.

I also think "Lost Highway" is one of his top five and lots of people hate that one.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 17, 2021 09:55 PM (dWwl8)

331 I liked Muholland Drive a lot. It seemed to be one of the only Lynch films I could figure out. 
Either that or my affinity for Naomi Watts got the better of me. 
Apropos, Watts claims she majorly regretted letting Lynch talk her into that masturbation scene. 

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 17, 2021 09:55 PM (G0bXQ)

332 Has anyone seen Nobody starring Better Call Saul?  It looks fun.

Posted by: Blutarski



Friend of mine who is a fanatic of all things movie-related saw it and said he'd watch it another 100 times and that it is Oscar-worthy.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 17, 2021 09:55 PM (i4vaF)

333 Capt. Colin Maud : [walking up to a stalled vehicle]  My old grandmother used to say anything mechanical, give it a good bash.

Posted by: The Longest Day at April 17, 2021 09:55 PM (AytXr)

334 >>272269"Wild at Heart" seemed to me to be the Saturday Night Live version of "A David Lynch film." Not one of the Lynch films I would recommend.

Posted by:BeckoningChasmat April 17, 2021 09:33 PM (OU+8W)


Both phony Southern accents and Laura Dern drive me up the wall so this one just about made my head esplode

Posted by: Dr. Varno at April 17, 2021 09:56 PM (vuisn)

335 330 

I also think "Lost Highway" is one of his top five and lots of people hate that one.

Posted by:naturalfakeat April 17, 2021 09:55 PM (dWwl


===============


I love Lost Highway. I bought it recently, not remembering what my opinion of it was originally on my first viewing many moons back. I watched it, loved it, and then looked at my Netflix DVD account to see what I originally rated it.


2/5.


I was shocked. Changed that tout suite. 

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, I have the perfect gif for that at April 17, 2021 09:56 PM (LvTSG)

336 Harryback Guy, thank the Lord for your Uncle and all the men who sacrificed their lives for us in WW2, and all of our wars. RIP.

Posted by: Sharkman at April 17, 2021 09:56 PM (i4vaF)

337 My top five comedies 

Caddy Shack
Animal House
Hollywood Knights
Pink Panther
Uncle Buck

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:56 PM (2DOZq)

338
Which explains why after watching it, I want to drill a hole in my head and pour vermouth inside while dancing to the sound of howler monkeys. 

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 09:52 PM (XZMrE)

That's both poetic and a good description of my feelings on Eraserhead. 
Also, in my own words: It's fucking creepy. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:57 PM (lmikk)

339 321I hadn't seen Airplane since it first came out and it was on not long ago. I guess my sense of humor is messed up because I just don't think most comedies are funny but however many years later, in color!, it really cracked me up. Must be because the humor reminded me of being in here.

Posted by:dartistat April 17, 2021 09:51 PM (+ya+t)


I picked a bad week to give up sniffing glue!

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 09:57 PM (yrol0)

340 I've had way too much to drink, as should be obvious.  But there are a number of directors who I would not hesitate to watch their films.

David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock and others would be at the top of that list.

Ridley Scott would not be on that list.

Love you all, truly, and be the best you can be, while we're here.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at April 17, 2021 09:57 PM (OU+8W)

341 Naomi Watts is hot. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:58 PM (lmikk)

342 337My top five comedies

Caddy Shack
Animal House
Hollywood Knights
Pink Panther
Uncle Buck

Posted by:Sebastian Melmothat April 17, 2021 09:56 PM (2DOZq)

You missed Christmas Vaca and Groundhog

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 09:58 PM (yrol0)

343 So, I knew about Double Impact and Replicant, but I just saw Maximum Risk. That makes no fewer than three movies where Van Damme plays two roles.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at April 17, 2021 09:58 PM (Uh2oA)

344 That was Maud's real shillelagh in that scene, another one of the advisors on the movie. Though he didn't have a bulldog on the beach, was another breed that I now forget.

Posted by: Anna Puma at April 17, 2021 09:58 PM (XDC5a)

345 Watts demonstrated a lot of range in MD.

Posted by: davidt at April 17, 2021 09:59 PM (ez/ed)

346 My top five comedies

Caddy Shack
Animal House
Hollywood Knights
Pink Panther
Uncle Buck Posted by:Sebastian
I might add Slapshot and One, Two, Three.  But that's just me.

Posted by: Blutarski at April 17, 2021 09:59 PM (6Hjyp)

347

Posted by:Sebastian Melmothat April 17, 2021 09:56 PM (2DOZq)

You missed Christmas Vaca and Groundhog

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 09:58 PM (yrol0)

Vacation and Groundhog Day are in my top ten. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 09:59 PM (2DOZq)

348 341 Naomi Watts is hot. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:58 PM (lmikk)


She's electric. 

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 17, 2021 09:59 PM (G0bXQ)

349 Oscar is very funny. A farce starring Sylvester Stallone as a '20s gangster, Snaps Provolone. ("Aldo! Ain't you ever heard of Prohibition?" "Hoid of it? What do you think paid for this house?") All but the first and last scenes of the movie take place over the course of one morning, the morning that Snaps Provolone is trying to go straight. Good turns by Marisa Tomei and Tim Curry as well. ("Your daughter? But she has such nicely rounded diphthongs." "Yeah, that's what got her into this mess.")

My husband and I thought Oblivion was OK, but as veterans of SF, we guessed every "twist" at least half an hour before it happened. 

Posted by: Mrs. Peel at April 17, 2021 10:00 PM (G6Lqs)

350 Top Five Comedies:
Animal House
Strange Brew
Young Frankenstein
The Pink Panther (pretty much any of the Sellers ones)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 10:00 PM (4l77G)

351 Marisa Tomei is also in another of my favorite comedies, My Cousin Vinny. 

Posted by: Mrs. Peel at April 17, 2021 10:01 PM (G6Lqs)

352 The usual caveat: I'm not a Film Buff, but I watch movies.

When Troubled Niece was briefly living with us & our three kids, we started our annual viewing of It's a Wonderful Life. Barely into the beginning of it, Niece exclaimed in horror: "It's black and white!" She couldn't get into it. Sigh!


This past week, for some reason, Milady and I watched ;">The Truman Show (199 . Didn't think we'd enjoy it as much as we did, because, you know, Jim Carrey. But aside from a few Carrey being Carrey distractions, it's a weird, twisted, and dark movie. Hadn't thought about it before, but there are shots of people watching the show, which are fixed cams, evoking the hidden cameras filming Truman. What is reality?

Also, for some reason, we watched the 2003 made-for-TV Disney production of ;">A Wrinkle in Time. Been a fan of the book since High School, and we read it aloud to our kids back when we did that. As I remembered, the casting was pretty much excellent, especially Meg and her family, and Calvin. Nothing could force me to watch the Oprah theatrical remake of not many years after. Milady and I both thought, while watching, that Disney probably looked at this version and said, we can do much more spectacular special effects… and get a Big Name to star. The effects were not really impressive, but that wasn't too distracting, except when they lingered too long on them: Get on with the story, awreddy!

"You might think of it as a plague of evil. A lack of will and compassion. A breaking, a diminishing, that could infect the universe if not stopped." Sounds suspiciously… current.

Speaking of not a movie at all, anyone else enjoy the first season of ;">Resident Alien? We watched each episode as it came out, then re-watched the whole season, and enjoyed it even more. Not many series about which I could say that!!

Posted by: mindful webworker and the aspect ratio wars at April 17, 2021 10:01 PM (X15H5)

353 Watching 'Open Range', Costner is doing a pretty good job, I think

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 17, 2021 10:01 PM (CTJwJ)

354 Naomi Watts is hot. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:58 PM (lmikk)


She's electric. 

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 17, 2021 09:59 PM (G0bXQ)

I can't resist her. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:01 PM (2DOZq)

355 Oh yea, Mullholland Drive. Naomi Watts and Laura Harring going lez. I don't really remember the rest of the movie. 

Posted by: Puddleglum, future Tyrell Corp employee at April 17, 2021 10:01 PM (XZMrE)

356 Naomi Watts is hot. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 09:58 PM (lmikk)


She's electric. 

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 17, 2021 09:59 PM (G0bXQ)

I can't resist her

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:03 PM (2DOZq)

357 346 My top five comedies

Caddy Shack
Animal House
Hollywood Knights
Pink Panther
Uncle Buck Posted by:Sebastian 
------------
My Cousin Vinnie Trading Places Young Frankenstein Blazing Saddles
FIGHT ME!

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at April 17, 2021 10:03 PM (fLVm1)

358 Watching 'Open Range', Costner is doing a pretty good job, I think

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 17, 2021 10:01 PM (CTJwJ)


I love that film. I love the serenity of the early scenes. There is also the libertarian vibe of the flick that hits home. Another movie I liked because I saw it at the right place and the right time, was The Jack Bull. I don't think that movie gets much love for some reason, but I thought it was pretty good.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 10:04 PM (fjS2+)

359 I told ya comedies hard to rank. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:05 PM (2DOZq)

360

Vacation and Groundhog Day are in my top ten.

Posted by:Sebastian Melmothat April 17, 2021 09:59 PM (2DOZq)

Do not forget Young F, Blazing, and KFC Movie

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 10:05 PM (yrol0)

361 Fast Times is pff

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 10:06 PM (yrol0)

362 National Lanpoon Christmas Vacation
Three Amigos

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 17, 2021 10:07 PM (G0bXQ)

363 Oddly, I've never seen "The Wizard of Oz" in color. My only viewings were on our old black-and-white Zenith, when it was annually broadcast - always a big deal for us kids in the early 1960s. For those of us who grew up watching black-and-white TV, black-and-white movies were never a problem.


However, "Singin' in the Rain" does the transition from color to black-and-white in the montage where they're filming and dubbing "The Singing Cavalier". That sequence is pure magic.

Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old" does a brilliant job of colorizing the documentary footage of the time. While I object to colorizing the art films, colorizing the documentary footage works brilliantly.

Posted by: Nemo at April 17, 2021 10:08 PM (S6ArX)

364

Posted by: mindful webworker and the aspect ratio wars at April 17, 2021 10:01 PM (X15H5)

The Truman show is one I saw and liked a lot. The brunette (the 'True Love') in that I have only seen in a few movies- 'TS and Ronin to name two right this minute always struck me. For some reason, the scene where Truman is reliving meeting her and speaking with her, when she is watching the Truman Show in the present day, the look she gives Truman on screen at that moment grabs me. I am a sucker for the right look. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:08 PM (lmikk)

365 List of people FBI knew:
Muhammed Atma
Col Hasam

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 10:08 PM (yrol0)

366 Caddyshack Trading Places Pink Panther Strikes Again Hollywood Knights My Cousin Vinny Airplane! Blazing Saddles

A rough draft for me after so many tips.
maybe Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for eighth place?
maybe this should be top ten?

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 10:09 PM (fjS2+)

367

Do not forget Young F, Blazing, and KFC Movie

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 10:05 PM (yrol0)

To round out my top ten Trading Places, Kentucky Fried Movie and Stripes. 

Though I may replace Stripes because of the last 20 minutes. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:10 PM (2DOZq)

368 362National Lanpoon Christmas Vacation
Three Amigos

Posted by:AlaBAMAat April 17, 2021 10:07 PM (G0bXQ)


We watch CV from thanksgiving til New Years.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 10:10 PM (yrol0)

369 Best Puppet Comedy?
Team America

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 17, 2021 10:10 PM (G0bXQ)

370 Dune has it's fans, but I'm not really one of them. Dune is an incomprehensible mess, and I know the book pretty well.

The story in "Dune" is complex enough that it cannot be told well visually alone, so it winds up spending a lot of time in characters' heads for exposition. That slows it down and makes it tedious to sit through - I watched it again a couple of weeks ago, the first time since I saw it in the theater back when it was first released. 

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 17, 2021 10:11 PM (jN9H6)

371 a movie i've seen with an interesting use of color is avalon. there are several movies with that title, i'm talking about this one: [url]https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0267287/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2.

it's one of those "people are getting stuck in a virtual reality video game", but there are three levels. the "normal" game (i.e., the one you don't get stuck in) is black and amber. the real world is shades of greys. if you're good enough at the normal game, you get sent to the endgame, which is full color; it's in the endgame that folks are getting stuck.

Posted by: Comrade Anachronda, behind the Newsom curtain at April 17, 2021 10:11 PM (5br8a)

372 369Best Puppet Comedy?
Team America

Posted by:AlaBAMAat April 17, 2021 10:10 PM (G0bXQ)

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Best puppet fucking too

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 10:11 PM (yrol0)

373 Galaxy Quest?
Top Secret?

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:12 PM (lmikk)

374 Best puppet fucking too

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 17, 2021 10:11 PM (yrol0

Also best dramatic puppet puking scene. 

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 17, 2021 10:12 PM (G0bXQ)

375 The Vacation sequel with Rusty as an adult wasn't as bad as I had heard.  There were a lot of LOL moments. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:13 PM (2DOZq)

376 The Truman show is one I saw and liked a lot. The brunette (the 'True Love') in that I have only seen in a few movies- 'TS and Ronin to name two right this minute always struck me. For some reason, the scene where Truman is reliving meeting her and speaking with her, when she is watching the Truman Show in the present day, the look she gives Truman on screen at that moment grabs me. I am a sucker for the right look. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:08 PM (lmikk)


it was an impressive film at the time, though I don't like the main actors. There is something about it that seems anachronistic now. So many are living their own Truman Show by choice.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 10:14 PM (fjS2+)

377 Best pupae movie... Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Posted by: davidt at April 17, 2021 10:14 PM (ez/ed)

378 I always wanted to know if Truman was screwing his wife.  They never gave a hint he was. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:16 PM (2DOZq)

379 The Vacation sequel with Rusty as an adult wasn't as bad as I had heard.  There were a lot of LOL moments. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:13 PM (2DOZq)


i thought that was awful. The OG was great if you saw it in theaters. If you ever traveled Europe, the second was pretty damn funny. The Christmas movie is probably the most loved by general audiences today.  i could be wrong, but that is how i see it.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 10:16 PM (fjS2+)

380

it was an impressive film at the time, though I don't like the main actors. There is something about it that seems anachronistic now. So many are living their own Truman Show by choice.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 10:14 PM (fjS2+)

It seems to be the point when Jim Carey jumped off the cliff. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:16 PM (lmikk)

381 I didn't like Stripes. Even as a teenager, long before I served. I found it ridiculous.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, in the Big Sky Country at April 17, 2021 10:16 PM (4l77G)

382 John Candy ran circles around most other comedic actors. 

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 17, 2021 10:18 PM (G0bXQ)

383 Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 10:16 PM (fjS2+)
You can't be wrong about your opinions on movies.  
Except if it disagrees with mine.  

Just kidding

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:18 PM (2DOZq)

384 Galaxy Quest?
Top Secret?

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:12 PM (lmikk)


people do love Galaxy Quest. I still say people who haven't should watch the Pink Panther movies. If those are not funny, I guess I don't know what funny is. I think my fave is The Pink Panther Strikes Again. I think that was the best but I could be mixing it up with another one of them.

Posted by: Quint at April 17, 2021 10:19 PM (fjS2+)

385
378 I always wanted to know if Truman was screwing his wife.  They never gave a hint he was. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:16 PM (2DOZq)

I think it was obvious he was, but his heart wasn't in it. It was the empty illusion of reality, for everyone, but for him most of all and he was the only one who actually believed in it. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:20 PM (lmikk)

386
Blazing Saddles Young Frankenstein Uncle Buck Planes, Trains & Automobiles Dirty Rotten Scoundrels My Cousin Vinny Slap Shot Get Shorty Midnight Run The Ref

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at April 17, 2021 10:21 PM (jN9H6)

387 Huh. Have not watched that movie all the way through in 20 years, yet I still remember a lot of scenes and themes. Going to have to rewatch that. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:21 PM (lmikk)

388 Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:20 PM (lmikk)
Curious why you think it was obvious.  That would have made the actress basically a whore. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:21 PM (2DOZq)

389 261
Scientist tries to revive his dead family by imprinting their brain waves into synthetic robot brains. HiJinks ensue.

meh. max headroom did it better.

Posted by: Comrade Anachronda, behind the Newsom curtain at April 17, 2021 10:23 PM (5br8a)

390
Curious why you think it was obvious.  That would have made the actress basically a whore. 

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 17, 2021 10:21 PM (2DOZq)

I think that is the way they portrayed her. Her feelings for Truman are shallow. IIRC, they also have scenes where it shows she is pretty cold and mercenary (contract negotiations, etc, 'If' I am remembering right.)  

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:26 PM (lmikk)

391 Also, isn't there a scene where she is seducing Truman (he is reluctant) because she is trying to have a baby (at the behest of the show runners) and it cuts away to one of the viewer groups- a security guard(?) and he says something like: 'They never 'show' anything. Just wind moving the curtains and stuff.'

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:28 PM (lmikk)

392 196
"Avatar" would never have worked in flat B&W. (I don't think it works anyway, but at least it has spectacle)

the only thing avatar had was the 3d. i've tried watching it in 2d and it just doesn't work.

Posted by: Comrade Anachronda, behind the Newsom curtain at April 17, 2021 10:30 PM (5br8a)

393 Another odd thing about Edge of Tomorrow? An Unequivocal happy ending. Everyone lives. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:33 PM (lmikk)

394 Sorry, spoilers.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:33 PM (lmikk)

395 ONT is nood- if everyone has not already left. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:37 PM (lmikk)

396 Huh, the nood call got lost in the ether. 

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 17, 2021 10:38 PM (lmikk)

397 I spent yesterday and today watching Alien and Aliens.  Terrific movies and the sequel was just a touch better than the original.  I've seen them many times but I still was on the edge of my seat. "Stop your grinning' and drop your linen!" "But it's a dry heat!"  "Game over, man!" 

Posted by: Vivi at April 17, 2021 10:47 PM (USW1s)

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