Movie/TV recommendations

[Ben X]

Watched Rashomon last night. Pretty enjoyable, but not amazing.

That's not how I remember it.

[ThunderPeel2001]

That's not how I remember it.

Very good. The first time I heard that I was utterly amazed at the person's genius, it just absolutely ticked me... but unfortunately that's actually the third time someone has said that to me since I watched the movie(!). Sorry. (I think everyone is a lot more cultured than I realised.) Plus, I discovered it was a gag from The Simpsons, too...

MARGE (trying to get Homer to watch a subtitled movie): Come on Homer, you liked Rashomon...

HOMER: That's not how I remember it!

[Ben X]

Yeah, I was just quoting The Simpsons! Pretty lame of people to actually pass it off as their own joke IRL. (Doesn't count on internet forums, where 90% of people know every Simpsons line ever.)

[ThunderPeel2001]

On the topic of good film podcasts, I'd be daft not to mention Filmspotting. I also heard that their forums are pretty solid, though I haven't spent any time there just because I don't have time to.

Just wanted to post back to say thanks -- I love this podcast! It's more "corporate" than my beloved Hollywood Saloon, but it's filled with passion and some great film talk. Thanks a lot!

Edited June 16, 2010 by ThunderPeel2001

[elmuerte]

Yeah, I was just quoting The Simpsons! Pretty lame of people to actually pass it off as their own joke IRL. (Doesn't count on internet forums, where 90% of people know every Simpsons line ever.)

Worst unveiling ever.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Yeah, I was just quoting The Simpsons! Pretty lame of people to actually pass it off as their own joke IRL. (Doesn't count on internet forums, where 90% of people know every Simpsons line ever.)

Naw. Anything to get a laugh. If you'd have been first, I'd have been amazed, but who would have guessed THAT joke (of all jokes) would have been done to death?? I'm also amazed that so many people even remembered the reference to quote it themselves.

[ThunderPeel2001]

There's an extra on the set that quite upset me: As a joke, Michael J. Fox plays dresses up and plays Marty "like a Mexican". Yeah. For reals.

Hey, I found the "comedy Hispanic" bit on YouTube. Rejoice in all its gory. (I can't be the only one who finds this pretty damned offensive?)

dR_wNXvcZ9g

[Ben X]

I always took it to be him playing a movie cliche, rather than saying 'this is what spanish people are like'.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I always took it to be him playing a movie cliche, rather than saying 'this is what spanish people are like'.

That's a pretty deep analysis... and still on shaky ground. The movie cliché is pretty racist, and I can't believe they were being meta/ironic in 1984 when that cliché was at its height (although I wish I could find proof they were). You've also got to put it in perspective: Mexicans do around 90% of the manual labour in LA. They don't have it great there, and there's still quite a lot of racism against them. Talk about walking on thin ice...

[Ben X]

That's a pretty deep analysis...

No, it's just how it came across to me when I first ever saw it.

Having watched it again (I didn't actually rewatch it via your YouTube vid before posting), it still seems to me like they're just doing a take 'as Cheech and Chong' or whatever. Granted, I don't even live in America and don't know the wider context in which to take this, but I also have no context for their actions apart from a 10 second clip of an outtake. It just seems to me less like a sign of cultural racism, and more Fox doing an off-the-cuff funny character.

But then perhaps that's because of the racism engrained in me by society, and I'm being an inexcusable apologist. This reminds me of a topic I brought up on the bttf.com forums. I asked if anyone found a scene in BTTF2, where in the 'bad' 1985, Marty finds a black family in his house, racist. The family can be seen as pretty caricatured and just one in a series of indicators that things are worse in this version of 1985: biker gangs, stray dogs, Nixon still president and black folks living in the McFly house. Some people said it did make them feel uncomfortable, some black people saw it as a positive portrayal of African-Americans (the father protecting his kids). Unfortunately, there were a couple of people who posted responses along the lines of "you black people always think everything's racist" (apparently assuming I was black). That, along with the owner being a Christian fundamentalist dick who censored the word 'gay' on there, is what prompted me to leave those forums. So, I'd hate to be similarly dismissive, although in this case I don't think I am being...

Anyway, in case this is all heavy bullshit, and people want to get back to the film discussion: I saw Four Lions at the Prince Charles. Lots of interesting, funny and scary stuff, but it's really let down by the weak comedy and paper-thin main characters. Such a shame, because when it gets going in the last half hour, it's phenomenal.

[ThunderPeel2001]

No, it's just how it came across to me when I first ever saw it.

Having watched it again (I didn't actually rewatch it via your YouTube vid before posting), it still seems to me like they're just doing a take 'as Cheech and Chong' or whatever. Granted, I don't even live in America and don't know the wider context in which to take this, but I also have no context for their actions apart from a 10 second clip of an outtake. It just seems to me less like a sign of cultural racism, and more Fox doing an off-the-cuff funny character.

But then perhaps that's because of the racism engrained in me by society, and I'm being an inexcusable apologist. This reminds me of a topic I brought up on the bttf.com forums. I asked if anyone found a scene in BTTF2, where in the 'bad' 1985, Marty finds a black family in his house, racist. The family can be seen as pretty caricatured and just one in a series of indicators that things are worse in this version of 1985: biker gangs, stray dogs, Nixon still president and black folks living in the McFly house. Some people said it did make them feel uncomfortable, some black people saw it as a positive portrayal of African-Americans (the father protecting his kids). Unfortunately, there were a couple of people who posted responses along the lines of "you black people always think everything's racist" (apparently assuming I was black). That, along with the owner being a Christian fundamentalist dick who censored the word 'gay' on there, is what prompted me to leave those forums. So, I'd hate to be similarly dismissive, although in this case I don't think I am being...

Anyway, in case this is all heavy bullshit, and people want to get back to the film discussion: I saw Four Lions at the Prince Charles. Lots of interesting, funny and scary stuff, but it's really let down by the weak comedy and paper-thin main characters. Such a shame, because when it gets going in the last half hour, it's phenomenal.

Oddly, I didn't have issues with the black family in the McFly house, simply because it never struck me that it could be taken as a "bad" thing. I just saw it as a very different family living there. (I wonder if it speculated he was black in the script, or during casting?)

It's interesting to note that Zemekis laughs during the commentary to the first film that (and I quote) "black militants" complained that it sucked that the film showed a white kid inventing rock and roll. Hmm.

I think you might be being a bit dismissive of the Mexican thing, though. Saying "eh, Chico!" is a pretty stereotyped and offensive thing to say. (You have to remember that Cheech Marin is Hispanic.) I know it doesn't feel like that here with Mexico being a million miles away (and indeed, it isn't here, really), but believe me, in LA, it's a very different feeling.

Imagine a white UK actor dressing as a "Pakistani gentleman", in the most stereotypically offensive garb, and approximating a very poor facsimile of an accent, while saying very offensive stereotypical things ("Taste my curry!"). Yeah, I think that's pretty much the cultural equivalent.

I tried to bring it up on the HomeTheaterForum, but it was shot down.

Edited June 21, 2010 by ThunderPeel2001

[Ben X]

Man, I want to swap sides now, just to disagree with those Home Theater pricks.

[Roderick]

Who would've thought that The A-Team was actually pretty fun?! It stayed very true to the characters and was good, silly fun. Especially on thinking back to it, I really enjoyed myself in the cinema.

[JonCole]

Who would've thought that The A-Team was actually pretty fun?! It stayed very true to the characters and was good, silly fun. Especially on thinking back to it, I really enjoyed myself in the cinema.

Yup, I totally agree. That movie did "summer blockbuster" better than any other movie in the past few months, for me.

[Roderick]

I also agree with you on Iron Man 2. Man, I wanna see The A-Team again! (And the original series, gonna pop it in tonight)

[ThunderPeel2001]

Man, I want to swap sides now, just to disagree with those Home Theater pricks.

Yeah, it's kind of convinced me more that it isn't quite right. I suppose in hindsight you could say it was "80s ignorance", but then I'd fear I was being an apologist. I'm glad I finally got to have the discussion I tried to have all that time ago, though

[Thyroid]

Yeah, I saw The A-Team yesterday. It was more fun than I expected, and I guess I've figured out where the "Shut up, fool!" the internet loves so much comes from. It's fun if you don't stop to think about it. Sadly, I can't stop and not think about it. Small things like guns that never reload bother me. Still, if you want a class-a dumb action movie, see it.

Really want to see Toy Story 3, but I detest 3D.

Actually, anyone else completely turned off by new movies nowadays? It ain't old man nostalgia (I'm 21), it's just that everything is a remake, a sequel, in 3D or a formulaic retread. Whatever happened to creativity? Good movie ideas aren't that hard to come up with.

I miss limited release movies Kinda wish I was back in Ottawa at the Bytowne cinema now.

[toblix]

Just saw The Crazies. Has it become impossible to create a zombie film that does not consist solely of scenes and scenarios out of other films in the genre? I always like to watch disaster films because I love the very start where everything is fine, except something... is not quite right... But the moment the shit actually hits the fan I could just as well turn it off, because it'll just be the exact same stuff that always happen in these things. It's really annoying, because there are a million cool things you can do with the zombie virus thing, but everyone just does the same thing.

Okay, I also watched The Apartment, because it was heartily recommended further up in this thread. While the story was pretty standard, I fell completely in love with the lead actors. Having the movie watching experience of a five-year-old, I can only recollect seeing Lemmon in Grumpy Old Men, which was hilarious, I guess. But Jesus Christ was he awesome in this! I'm going to have to get some of the other stuff he's been in.

[toblix]

@t_pk mentioned Pontypool as being shit, so I saw it and I thought it was awesome. I find the "low-rent" thing with only one location, very limited cast, lots of telling and very little showing, etc. very appealing. I'd rather watch a radio guy talk into a microphone about scary shit than see another lady hiding in a closet.

[Chris]

I always feel compelled to reply whenever someone else mentions The Apartment, because god damn that is one great movie.

Watch The Apartment.

[toblix]

Okay, so that's Survival of the Dead. What a piece of crap. Does anyone know if Romero's films are intentionally bad? I mean, is he doing some Tarantino thing where he's paying homage to badly made films or something?

[toblix]

I always feel compelled to reply whenever someone else mentions The Apartment, because god damn that is one great movie.

As I mentioned, I found the writing and acting to be fantastic, but I'm no film connoisseur or anything. Obviously it's a well-made film, but is there any aspect of it you like in particular?

[Kolzig]

I'd be interested to know what you think of the film on your recent viewing. I had some strong thoughts as to why it was not a bigger hit.

We watched Serenity on saturday.

I remembered it a bit differently when I saw it the first time five years ago. I remembered it before that it was just like the tv show, even though it really wasn't.

Now that the tv show is in my good memory again due to recently rewatching it, the movie has a totally different vibe to it, all the colors are more lifeless in the movie and everything is really dark. Also of course maybe because it has been some years since the tv show, some characters seem weird. Simon the doc speaks differently somehow and not the same way as in the tv show. Jewel Staite as Kaylee seems very thin now? In the tv show she had some more weight as in the making of clip of the tv show she mentioned that Joss wanted her to gain weight (10kg?) for the role.

Well, I will always be sad that

Book and Wash died, but with all Joss' work you have to prepare that he is not scared of killing off major characters.

As I recall, this movie's story was basically tightly packed storyline from the tv show's planned 2nd and 3rd seasons.

One was telling more about how River is a programmed killing machine who happens to also be a psychic and second is the origin story of the Reavers.

All in all it is a pretty enjoyable return of the lovable characters, but it just isn't completely same as before.

One thing that I will always be amazed about is the fan craze and immense help of the internet and petitions that helped to make this film a reality. Just like Joss says in the introduction, movies about failed tv shows never happen. So thank you fans especially in the US who helped to make Universal put money on the project.

What were your thoughts about this ThunderPeel2001?

[Ben X]

I'm going to have to get some of the other stuff he's been in.

I recommend Some Like It Hot and Glengarry Glen Ross (spelling?).

[James]

I saw Rashômon on Saturday. I thought it was pretty good. This may be horribly uninformed and patronizing of me, but it seemed like the camera work was very modern for 1950. There was one shot that particularly caught my eye in which the camera took a curved path that crossed the path of the woodsman guy just ahead of him as he walked. I'm not describing it very well, and there's probably an elegant term for it, but it struck me as being very dynamic for a period I associate more with largely stationary camera work. I read that it was some of the earlier use of handheld cameras in film, which would explain it.

Also, there's obviously the structure stuff which I understand was very influential, but with my modern perspective and stupid brain, I don't have anything to add on that subject.

Also also, I have no problem with stationary cameras. Indeed, I tend to prefer static or more slow and precise camera work to shakycam and quick cuts and all that (though that too has its place). But while this was a bit shaky (being handheld), it was very very deliberately planned and effectively realized.