Movie Talk

Almost Famous is on rotation on IFC this month. It's much better than I remember. Great cast.


Dial M For Murder! A favorite of mine is coming on at 8 on the Movies channel. One of those films I've seen each time I run across it. Like Rear Window.


I'm watching Jaws for the gazillionth time, and I still can't get used to the soundtrack choices during the shark hunt sequences on the water.  They're horrible. Way too happy and lighthearted. Very jarring. Changes the whole mood of the film. Almost as bad as Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.

Then again, John Williams and Spielberg were just kids at the time, so I'll cut them some slack.  cheese


I'm looking forward to the Bob Ross documentary coming out on Netflix tomorrow.



drummerboy
said:

Then again, John Williams and Spielberg were just kids at the time, so I'll cut them some slack.
cheese

Little Stevie Spielberg: Age 27, 0 Oscar nominations.

Johnny Williams: Age 42, 9 Oscar nominations.


Saw Get Carter for the first time, recorded from TCM. The kind of film that makes you want to read all about it afterward, in order to remain enthralled. (Oh, that John Osborne.)


DaveSchmidt said:


drummerboy
said:

Then again, John Williams and Spielberg were just kids at the time, so I'll cut them some slack.
cheese

Little Stevie Spielberg: Age 27, 0 Oscar nominations.

Johnny Williams: Age 42, 9 Oscar nominations.

 oops

anyway, in that case, Williams should have known better.


drummerboy said:

 oops

anyway, in that case, Williams should have known better.

 Downvote.


Watching Enemy of the State. Will Smith. Gene Hackman. Jon Voight (playing himself, basically)

Very exciting! Well done. 


ridski said:

drummerboy said:

 oops

anyway, in that case, Williams should have known better.

 Downvote.

  question


drummerboy said:

Watching Enemy of the State. Will Smith. Gene Hackman. Jon Voight (playing himself, basically)

Very exciting! Well done. 

 It was pretty good.

Summer of Soul, about the little known "Black Woodstock" in Harlem in 1969, was a joy.   It's about more than the music but if you're in it just for the music, it's worth it.  Would make  a great double bill with Amazing Grace, the film about Aretha Franklin's performance at a church in the 70s.


bub said:

drummerboy said:

Watching Enemy of the State. Will Smith. Gene Hackman. Jon Voight (playing himself, basically)

Very exciting! Well done. 

 It was pretty good.

Summer of Soul, about the little known "Black Woodstock" in Harlem in 1969, was a joy.   It's about more than the music but if you're in it just for the music, it's worth it.  Would make  a great double bill with Amazing Grace, the film about Aretha Franklin's performance at a church in the 70s.

 Yes, I rushed to the theatre to see Sumer of Love the night it opened. And I was not disappointed. A wonderful film about the music and about those times. Plus, Nina Simone, Sly Stone and so much more including a shattering duet of Mahalia Jackson and Mavis Staples that alone is worth the price of admission. Yes, see it. . 


The soundtrack is on Spotify.  Listening now. 

There are a lot of strands of the story that I found to be very interesting.  Like how the 5th Dimension desperately wanted to dispel their reputation as safe watered down black pop for white people.  Also how Sly (and others) represented a shift away from the suit-wearing, choreographed black male singing groups  towards a black version of a more hippieish counterculture vibe.  Sly kinda blew people's minds there coming on stage with his mixed race mixed gender band.  


The Princess Bride is so-o-o-good.

(In case you didn't know.)

And Mel Smith (The Albino) kinda looks like John Belushi. Or maybe it's The Albino that looks like him.


I saw Plan B yesterday -  a movie about two high school friends searching S. Dakota for the morning after pill.

Recommended. Pretty funny with some clever writing. The two leads are very appealing.

Available on Hulu.

(there's another movie called Plan B on Prime, but that's not it.)


for those interested, Fathom Events is screening Citizen Kane on the big screen later this month.

Details here.

I just bought my ticket. Have never seen it in a theater.


for fans of American Psycho


The Courier on Prime with Cumberbatch and Rachel Brosnahan was pretty good.


here's a fun twitter thread about opening credits sequences


I was bored so went to see Cry Macho, the latest Clint Eastwood epic. Meh. Not much happens. Pretty boring. He’s looking quite old. And uninspired. 


One of those movies I had no interest in seeing and thanks to insomnia and desperation for something to watch, I caught The Big Lebowski and chuckled through it. It's on again on Showtime and could totally see myself hanging out with these 3 guys. I've been a fan of all 3 actors, Jeff Daniels, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi but I guess the stars here are the writers, directors and producers Joel and Ethan Coen.

The rug really tied the room together.


Morganna said:

One of those movies I had no interest in seeing and thanks to insomnia and desperation for something to watch, I caught The Big Lebowski and chuckled through it. It's on again on Showtime and could totally see myself hanging out with these 3 guys. I've been a fan of all 3 actors, Jeff Daniels, John Goodman, and Steve Buscemi but I guess the stars here are the writers, directors and producers Joel and Ethan Coen.

The rug really tied the room together.

 I was the same until an old girlfriend sat me down and insisted I watch it and I loved it. 

ETA: There was a Lebowski sequel of sorts, called The Jesus Rolls, that came out in 2019, directed by Turturro. I recall is wasn't great but fun to see those characters, minus the dude, again.  


Lebowski is just one of those movies where some rare vibe came together and became something more than a movie.  The Dude brings hope to us losers.  I believe there is a Lebowski festival every year in LA.

Trivia note.  The woman with the missing toe at the end dining with the nihilists is singer-songwriter Aimee Mann.


There used to be Lebowski fest in NYC, too.

The Big Lebowski is one of those movies I tried really hard to get into, but I just didn't see what everyone else did.


ridski said:

There used to be Lebowski fest in NYC, too.

The Big Lebowski is one of those movies I tried really hard to get into, but I just didn't see what everyone else did.

 yeah, me too kinda. It's entertaining, but not more than that for me.


The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

I was bored so went to see Cry Macho, the latest Clint Eastwood epic. Meh. Not much happens. Pretty boring. He’s looking quite old. And uninspired. 

 Completely agree. 


drummerboy said:

ridski said:

The Big Lebowski is one of those movies I tried really hard to get into, but I just didn't see what everyone else did.

 yeah, me too kinda. It's entertaining, but not more than that for me.

 Kind of the same. I like it, but I read it as much, much darker than it seems most people do -- it strikes me as quite a dark existential comedy and, uh, that doesn't seem to be the way most people view it.


For the sci fi fans, this recent French flick on Netflix was pretty solid and a critical success:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oxygen_2021


Saw a somewhat old movie last night, Malice (1993) on HBO. An Aaron Sorkin script. (I know he's kind of in disfavor these days, but I'm a fan). Pretty good movie. Several unexpected twists. Great cast.


bub said:

For the sci fi fans, this recent French flick on Netflix was pretty solid and a critical success:

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oxygen_2021

 We caught this last night - really good, thanks for the reco!  The English audio dubbing was pretty good as well.


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