Movie/TV recommendations

[syntheticgerbil]

Thunderpeel! Where did you go?

Also I have not watched anything new lately outside of Dinner for Shmucks, which is funny enough.

Also I have started watching old Simpsons on DVD and just remembered how much I used to love this show. The old episodes make me feel all warm inside. The plan is to stop at Season 7.

[Kolzig]

We've been watching lately just the movies they show on tv, like two days ago we watched this one Sandra Bullock and Julian McMahon movie called Premonition. It was quite ok movie actually, reminded me quite a lot about Memento, but wasn't even nearly as great as Memento was.

I had this weird feeling that I had never seen the movie before, but still there was something strange about everything. Then in the end

when it was reveiled that Bullock was responsible for getting her husband killed when the car turned and the truck run over the car

I had this déjà vu feeling that yes I have seen this before. I apparently watched this two years ago or so, but just forgot about it...

Yesterday I watched for maybe the third time War of the Worlds remake by Steven Spielberg. I really don't like this movie at all and I don't know why I watched it again. My wife hadn't seen it before and thought it was pretty much a crappy movie also. I think that was actually the reason I ended up watching it again.

I do like the original War of the Worlds movie though, saw it maybe three-four years ago.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Thunderpeel! Where did you go?

Just been getting some life-priorities straightened out. Good stuff, so far.

Also I have started watching old Simpsons on DVD and just remembered how much I used to love this show. The old episodes make me feel all warm inside. The plan is to stop at Season 7.

Good plan

[Ben X]

But then you miss The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show, and "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase"

EDIT: Oh, and "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", which I think may be my favourite episode.

[Roderick]

Expendables was fun. I agree with ElMuerte that it didn't satisfy on all accounts. The finale (and whole of third act) was shit. Not in a good 80s B-movie way, just really boring (apart from the

hilarious machine gun-toting black guy scene in the hallway

). My mind switched off and starting wandering. The bad guys were pretty terrible too. Angel Batista just didn't make for a believable generalissimo. Eric Roberts was saved by his goddamn evil face.

I loved that this movie featured no obligatory sex scene with at least a 50+ year age difference between the two participants.

[ThunderPeel2001]

But then you miss The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show, and "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase"

EDIT: Oh, and "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", which I think may be my favourite episode.

Well it definitely starts getting sketchier after the first seven. Not sure exactly when it lost its way, but I know some people swear it's great, even now.

[miffy495]

I own the first 11, because up to that point every time I finished watching one the next was on sale. I would cut off after 9, as at that point (even though 8 and 9 do have a noticeable drop-off in quality) the ratio of gold to crap begins to swing in the wrong direction. If you stop at 7, you're seeing only amazing Simpsons, but you are still cutting yourself off before some legitimate classics. After 9, you're pretty much good.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Someone should make a list.

[Kolzig]

I watched yesterday Stranger on the Third Floor.

The movie is said to apparently be one of the first film noir style movies.

It was 65 minutes of pure perfection, I liked everything about it. Peter Lorre was billed as the main star even though he had only a side role. He was amazing in this.

Really creepy performance as the psycho killer

The movie is short and there are not that many different locations for scenes, but the actors make the worthwhile. Great performances from Lorre and McGuire.

[Roderick]

Yesterday I watched the original, sort of restored version of Richard Williams' epic animated feature The Thief And The Cobbler, which was in production since the 60s. Or, development hell, rather. The film was never finished, so at long last Something Awful people [EDIT: not Something Awful people but the dude in the post below this one] took the footage and edited it as best as they could to reflect the vision Williams had (there was also a supposedly mediocre edit made in 1993).

The film is wonderfully bizarre and goes from serious fantasy to Looney Tunes goofs. What's especially wonderful (and very telling of Williams' style) is that the world isn't consistent and stable, but warps to the demands of each specific scene and character. Animation styles differ between characters and locations bend and morph as the scene requires it. That alone is such a pleasant departure from the rules of every other animated feature that it's worth digging into.

At times it gets a little repetitive and chaotic like a horrible nightmare, but it's worth the lesser bits.

Edited September 3, 2010 by Rodi

[syntheticgerbil]

Thief and the Cobbler is amazing. I actually bought many of the rare footage DVDs directly from the guy who made the Recobbled cut. I'm not sure why you are crediting SomethingAwful forum members, when it's really just one guy who had put it together, Garrett Gilchrist.

Really what had killed Thief and the Cobbler was just Aladdin. The history to Richard Williams' movie is even a little bit more sordid than that, involving Jeffrey Katzenberg, Disney (then and now), Eisner, and a lot of Williams' interned animations that had worked on it prior to Aladdin. All of the stuff Aladdin stole or "referenced" in terms of style, look, character deisng, and animation is a little bit too close for comfort. Richard Williams doesn't speak about it ever, but I would gather he feels more than a bit betrayed by his former interns and workers, especially Aladdin's director, Eric fucking Goldberg.

The 1993 workprint I think is what Richard Williams may have taken with him after being fired, which I think only consisted of all finished scenes and pencils, not really a fully told story or finished.

I kind of wish the movie were only unfinished at the most (although finished would be ideal) since the whole ordeal makes me super angry and I have nothing to do with it whatsoever. Also sometime mid nineties Disney got the full rights to Thief and the Cobbler and released some version that has added audio to reference Aladdin, as if it's a story taking place afterwards.

[Roderick]

My mistake about SA, I don't know a whole lot about the origin, I thought I saw it mentioned in the credits. Regardless, it's super obvious how much Aladdin stole from this movie in terms or character design, visuals, plot devices, fucking everything. The two movies are very different as well, of course, but it's a shame that Disney seems intent on leaving a trail of corpses behind it wherever it goes.

Some of the animation in Thief and the Cobbler is so beautiful and surprising. How could you not laugh out loud at that scene where you first see the old woman the thief is trying to rob?

[brkl]

In case you somehow didn't know this already, Grown Ups is absolute shlock. I was traveling when I saw it and needed to avoid the rain for a few hours. I guess I should have picked The Expendables. In any case I went in expecting mediocre but well produced comedy with big name actors and the occasional laugh. Turned out to be perhaps the worst film I've subjected myself to. Even the editing totally undermined the writing. I was blown away by how lacking every aspect of the film was.

[syntheticgerbil]

My mistake about SA, I don't know a whole lot about the origin, I thought I saw it mentioned in the credits.

I think he posts there in the forums though, so he probably had some help, but I know the guy was mostly talking to many of the animators that used to work with Williams to find out the original intention (since Williams' mouth is shut tight) and finding the best sources like Japanese Anamorphic DVDs and old laserdiscs in order to put together the best quality. Not sure if many professional older animators post on SA forums as well, but I'm sure there's probably a few.

Regardless, it's super obvious how much Aladdin stole from this movie in terms or character design, visuals, plot devices, fucking everything. The two movies are very different as well, of course, but it's a shame that Disney seems intent on leaving a trail of corpses behind it wherever it goes.

Yeah, I agree, this is how I see it, but a lot of people will will really get into it and argue that the Aladdin similarities are merely coincidences and other kind of pro-Disney mudslinging. Many times if Richard Williams gets mentioned on Cartoonbrew, Disney animators sometimes appear in the comments to chew him out or put down the Thief movie.

Some of the animation in Thief and the Cobbler is so beautiful and surprising. How could you not laugh out loud at that scene where you first see the old woman the thief is trying to rob?

My favorite part is this chase scene with the checkers and the flat floors. I've never seen anything that amazing. Roger Rabbit was well done for it's time, but some of the stuff in The Thief and the Cobbler surpasses almost any of the animation ever created so far. I think it would be my favorite animated movie if it were finished as intended, but even in the Recobbled cut, too many major key scenes are left as just boards near then end and some of the stuff goes on a bit long.

From what I understand, one of the problems was Williams intended to cut a lot of scenes that had hard work on them, that the producers didn't like to hear since they were expensive or well done. Usually I guess most animation doesn't get cut after the boarding stage, but apparently Williams had been doing just whatever he felt in the 20 years prior to funding as well as just animating until he felt like the scene was finished, so it might have been leftovers. I don't really know, there should probably be some definitive book on this movie.

The animation for the end should be seen by everyone somehow, when the huge domino effect happens. It's the most over the top and complicated animation I've ever seen. It almost the work of an insane person(s).

[MrHoatzin]

Many times if Richard Williams gets mentioned on Cartoonbrew, Disney animators sometimes appear in the comments to chew him out or put down the Thief movie.

WTF, jeez. I stopped paying attention to Cartoonbrew when I got tired of most of those other cartoon blogs, and all for the same reason: the Great Big Cal Arts circle-jerk. There seemed to be no one in the extended community of blogs who wasn't pooped-out by Cal Arts.

[Roderick]

The Thief and the Cobbler definitely dragged on at certain points. Especially the Looney Tunes bits (the thief trying to get to the golden balls) went on for too long. Even the elaborate Rube Goldberg machine-ending dragged on a bit, though animation-wise it was amazing.

Since animation is super costly studios usually throw nothing away, instead taking a lot of care to plot everything out in advance. But I guess Williams was such an eccentric that he just did whatever That's kind of cool.

[syntheticgerbil]

WTF, jeez. I stopped paying attention to Cartoonbrew when I got tired of most of those other cartoon blogs, and all for the same reason: the Great Big Cal Arts circle-jerk. There seemed to be no one in the extended community of blogs who wasn't pooped-out by Cal Arts.

Haha, it's true, this one post was a funny uproar to me:

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/directors-of-disney-pixar-and-dreamworks-films.html

I guess I can't help but read it even though it's a trainwreck sometimes.

[toblix]

Just saw Four Lions, and didn't much like it. It's like there were two different films in there, and they were both great, but sort of crassly cut together.

[MrHoatzin]

Haha, it's true, this one post was a funny uproar to me:

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/directors-of-disney-pixar-and-dreamworks-films.html

Man, what a load of bullshit, and the knee-jerk reactions in the comments make me want to choke some people.

[ThunderPeel2001]

The Secret in their Eyes

[Kolzig]

I watched Salt this weekend and it was a waste of my time and money.

The end twist with "the best workfriend" being also a russian spy was so pointless as stupid. Ugh...

[juv3nal]

I watched Salt this weekend and it was a waste of my time and money.

The end twist with "the best workfriend" being also a russian spy was so pointless as stupid. Ugh...

I called that particular spoiler something like 20 minutes into the movie. That film has plotholes you could pilot a Super Dimensional Fortress through and it wasn't near as good as any of the Bourne films, but it was ok as mindless entertainment. (Yeah, I did go there with the Macross/Robotech reference, what you gonna do 'bout it?)

Oh I recently saw Samurai Avenger the Blind Wolf.

Gfqrf7h3HPY

I really liked it actually, but most people probably won't. It's a bit like Kill Bill, but a lot hokier. The acting is atrocious, but I'm tempted to think it's at least partially intentionally so.

If you watch it and find you do like it, also check out Six String Samurai:

pfTWYP4bE28

Edited September 7, 2010 by juv3nal

[Roderick]

I saw Black Dynamite last week, and posted a story about it on Captain August today: http://www.captainaugust.com/hams

[ThunderPeel2001]

I saw Black Dynamite last week, and posted a story about it on Captain August today: http://www.captainaugust.com/hams

Supposed to be really funny. Shame it got such a meagre release

Girl 1: "My Momma said my Daddy's name is Black Dynamite"

Girl 2: "So did mine!"

Black Dynamite: "Yeah, well, It's a very common name."

[Roderick]

Like I said, it's a really funny movie, even if it had potential to be so much more than that. I don't think it got a release here in the Netherlands at all.

Of course we did get "Vampires Suck"