ysbreker

Movie/TV recommendations

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I never said I had much to contribute to any conversation about the movie. I have jack shit to contribute to most conversations about most things. 99% of my opinions about entertainment are incredibly superficial, because I don't have the mental capacity to think about things beyond that. It's not that I don't care. It's that, for the most part, nothing resonates with me in any fashion beyond "hey that's cool". I didn't think it was a cardinal sin to express a general opinion, though! I'll keep that in mind for the future and never talk about anything unless I can write an essay about it, too. I would happily read a conversation about the movie among people who know about it, but I have nothing to say about it other than "it's okay". ALSO, I have no idea how you get "I don't care" out of those two statements.

 

On the other hand, I could literally talk about my inability to manifest strong feelings about specific aspects of entertainment for hours. It's probably best that I don't, though, since I doubt anyone cares. Teehee! U:

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I'm not asking you to write a book, Twig. It's just that you pretty much passed over my comment in order to restate your same opinion about a movie I like. That felt like you not caring, though I'm sure your intention was otherwise.

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Dasein: I understand the "great detective novel" tropes pretty well, and I tend to like them. I also don't think there's anything wrong with the movie. I thought it was pretty obvious I was talking about my own personal opinion, since I was stating my own personal opinion!!!

It's not really about tropes; the Big Lebowski is basically a parody of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep. They have roughly the same plot and similar characters. So it's kind of like if you never saw Star Wars you wouldn't think that Space Balls was all that funny.

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Gor: Well, okay. Yes, it was not my intention. I just had nothing else to say (though now I do - below!). Sorry. ):

 

Dasein: Fair enough. Maybe I'll read it some day and rewatch the movie. That said, I really doubt most people who like the movie have read the book it apparently parodies. There has to be something more to it, right?

 

(I actually don't think Space Balls is all that funny, and I've seen Star Wars. But I also hate Star Wars, so what do I know.)

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I love Star Wars and I think Space Balls is super unfunny. But I kinda like History of the World, Part 1 still? Not as much when I was a kid and the dance scene with Caledonia was the hottest thing ever.

 

Mel Brooks has always been hit and miss with me.

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I think I liked Young Frankenstein, and I know I like Blazing Saddles. Those and Space Balls are the only ones I've seen, I thiiiiiink.

 

NOPE. I've seen The Producers (the original, obviously!) and Men in Tights (though only on TV). I think I liked The Producers, and I know I liked Men in Tights when I was younger.

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You don't need to know anything about Raymond Chandler for The Big Lebowski to be hilarious. I imagine most of it's massive cult fanbase has not read word one of The Big Sleep. It's just not Twig's thing. That's cool.

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1. The Producers

2. Young Frankenstein

3. Blazzing Saddles

4. Spaceballs

5. High Anxiety

6. Men in Tights

7. Dracula: Dead and Loving It

8. History of the World Part 1

 

I've never seen Silent Movie.

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You can really tell when Mel Brooks was working hard and when he didn't give a shit. The love of Universal Horror permeates every inch of Young Frankenstein, but you can tell watching Spaceballs that he barely cared about Star Wars. 

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I don't actually like most of Mel Brook's movies as a whole, but I do like a great number of the comedic moments that occur in said movies, so my feeling overall is a positive one.  For that reason alone, Blazing Saddles is my favorite because it has my favorite moment in it, specifically when Gene Wilder is telling his story about how he used to be the Waco Kid ("Little bastard shot me in the ass!").

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Haha, yeah, I'm glad somebody went there. I didn't want to be negative. I'm old enough to have seen most of his movies, and can only hang with Blazing Saddles. "Why do i always get the warped one?" I love dropping that when I'm messing something up. 

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I love Mel Brooks movies (well, the ones I've seen anyways).

Men in Tights is probably the movie I've watched the most times over the course of my life, definitely more then 20 times. (Looking back, I have no idea why my parents let me watch that movie as a little kid...)

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Young Frankenstein is amazing.

 

You can really tell when Mel Brooks was working hard and when he didn't give a shit. The love of Universal Horror permeates every inch of Young Frankenstein, but you can tell watching Spaceballs that he barely cared about Star Wars. 

 

Did you know that the laboratory set in Young Frankenstein is the actual Frankenstein set? That must have taken dedication to arrange.

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Anyone remember VH1's popup video? They'd play music videos with little popups of factoids that related to the video or the artist. I watched a popup video of Young Frankenstein with my dad at some point in the 90s. It had the tidbit about the original Frankenstein set (which apparently they found just sitting in some dude's garage??). I also remember that the popups helpfully explained that "Blucher" is the German word for glue, which is why the horses neigh anytime someone says Frau Blucher.

 

(Now I'm in a deep dive of weird 90s memories of popup video, VH1 and VH1 classics, and those VH1 "Where are they now" documentaries)

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My TV recommendation is to try to find a torrent of those "Pop-Up Brady" Brady Bunch episodes they did on Nick at Nite way back when.

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You don't need to know anything about Raymond Chandler for The Big Lebowski to be hilarious. I imagine most of it's massive cult fanbase has not read word one of The Big Sleep. It's just not Twig's thing. That's cool.

Yeah I was going to say that, Big Lebowski appeals to a very wide crowd, no way that reading The Big Sleep is essential to appreciate it.

 

Anyone remember VH1's popup video? They'd play music videos with little popups of factoids that related to the video or the artist. I watched a popup video of Young Frankenstein with my dad at some point in the 90s. It had the tidbit about the original Frankenstein set (which apparently they found just sitting in some dude's garage??). I also remember that the popups helpfully explained that "Blucher" is the German word for glue, which is why the horses neigh anytime someone says Frau Blucher.

 

(Now I'm in a deep dive of weird 90s memories of popup video, VH1 and VH1 classics, and those VH1 "Where are they now" documentaries)

Yes! I am almost sure I remember one where it say Madonna had sex with a bull, but even with the internet these days and it's digging up of old crap, I still can't find this particular episode and I feel really confused if that's what was actually said. If so, that's pretty fucking slanderous.

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...does anyone else remember the TV show "MXC" (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge)?

It was a dubbed version of a Japanese game show ('Takeshi's Castle', I believe? Similar to the modern day "Wipeout") But all the dubbing was insane, inappropriate and dirty. And as a kid... it was hilarious. Its still pretty funny. And I found that there are a bunch of full episodes on YouTube, so I've been watching those.

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Beat Takeshi is a crazy motherfucker who made one incredible, terrible video game.

 

Also, I love that kind of pop-up stuff. I have a few Blu-Rays with the same sort of feature and it's always super neat.

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Takeshi's Challenge (or "Takeshi no Chōsenjō") for Famicom.

 

Kitano incorporated many of his unique and controversial ideas into the game. For instance, the player can beat up a yakuza gangster at a pachinko gambling establishment, and take the yakuza's money to exchange for prizes. The player can use a hang-glider to fly over into a strange land called the "Red Country" (an amalgam between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany). The player can gain access to the Red Country if they pass over the four other islands, but a huge mountain blocks the way into the country, and the player will be forced to crash into either the mountain or the ground, resulting in an automatic game over screen. There is also a choice on the password-entry screen ("Punch the old man") which also results in an automatic game over, even when the player has not even started the game. Other in-game events include: a game over screen where the player's character is given a funeral, singing karaoke at a pub (using the second-controller's built-in microphone), the main character divorcing his wife and paying a settlement, beating up yakuza, or seeing inhumane comments on store signs.

 

Completion of the game requires several unorthodox uses of the Famicom system, such as using the second controller microphone to speak while playing pachinko, or not touching the controls for an hour. The player must also maneuver a hang-glider to complete a side-scrolling shooting game, made extremely difficult because the controls do not allow the player to move upwards on the screen. Minor details such as not quitting the salaryman job, not getting a divorce, or not beating up the old man who provides the treasure map, can prevent the player from reaching the ending.
One event requires the player to use the second controller's microphone to sing a verse of karaoke. The player must receive a good rating in order to continue, but the microphone feature was removed in updated versions of the Famicom. Other games substitute the use of the microphone by pressing down the Select button on the controller, but in Takeshi no Chōsenjō, microphone use is substituted by pressing the A button while holding down on the keypad of the second controller. Though the microphone is used to determine the presence of sound, the game does not have the technology to process sound pitches, making it possible to "sing" just by blowing air on the microphone with proper timing.
The game ends once the player discovers the treasure hidden in an island cave. A black ending screen appears, along with the words kan (完?, The End), erai (えらいっ?, good job), and a picture of Kitano's face. The game has no ending credits, and if the player leaves the ending screen on for 5 minutes, the words change to konna gēmu ni maji ni nacchatte dōsuruno (こんなげーむにまじになっちゃってどうするの?, Why are you taking this game so seriously?). Throwing 30,720 punches on the opening game screen will also take the player directly to the game's ending.

 

 

 

It is considered a staple of the Japanese "kusoge" or "shitty games" genre.

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IIRC, only the Japanese Famicom had a mic, and the NES itself never did. From what I remember, one of the enemies in the original Legend of Zelda could be defeated using the mic, but it needed to be changed for the American version.

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IIRC, only the Japanese Famicom had a mic, and the NES itself never did. From what I remember, one of the enemies in the original Legend of Zelda could be defeated using the mic, but it needed to be changed for the American version.

 

I'm really glad to be reminded that incongruous hardware gimmicks are not a new thing for Nintendo.

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Even more specifically, the mic was only on controller 2 and not controller 1.  So if you wanted to yell at that Zelda enemy, you had to use the other controller instead of just raising the one you were holding in your hand.

 

Famicom-Controllers.jpg

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