Movie Talk

meh, what does he know?


Watching The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance on TCM

wotta cast!

John Wayne ... Tom Doniphon  (his name wasn't Donavan? wut?)
James Stewart ... Ransom Stoddard
Vera Miles ... Hallie Stoddard
Lee Marvin ... Liberty Valance
Edmond O'Brien ... Dutton Peabody
Andy Devine ... Link Appleyard
Ken Murray ... Doc Willoughby
John Carradine ... Maj. Cassius Starbuckle
Woody Strode ... Pompey
Denver Pyle ... Amos Carruthers
Strother Martin ... Floyd
Lee Van Cleef ... Reese


Is there some reason why the Karate Kid movies are on a seemingly infinite loop on IFC?


Because they're really enjoyable movies for a broad audience?  Because IFC is getting them cheap??


I guess. I mean the first one is ok - I like to re-watch it, but does anyone really like II or III?


Morganna said:

 Spinal Tap! Watched it many times.  Still love the amplifier that goes up to 11. And the Stonehenge set! A scream. They should rerun that film.

 It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.


drummerboy said:

I guess. I mean the first one is ok - I like to re-watch it, but does anyone really like II or III?

 II was enough for me to not see the rest. Writing Elizabeth Shue out of the second one was ridiculous. Also worth noting, the first one had a Gang Of Four song on the soundtrack, the second one... Peter ******* Cetera.


For you Galaxy Quest fans out there, there's a new documentary about it:


drummerboy said:

For you Galaxy Quest fans out there, there's a new documentary about it:

 It's a gem.    


Just happened across this Siskel & Ebert review of Goodfellas.

Man, did Roger love this movie!


And I really miss those two.  LOL


Is anyone else a sucker for The Santa Clause?


I went to see the movie Dark Waters tonight, which was very dark.  I'm not sure what else to say except go see it and don't trust corporations to look out for your welfare ever and replace your non-stick pans with cast iron (which I did a few years ago).  Also, Mark Ruffalo is a great actor and human being. 


As painful as it is for me to agree with Nan, in this case I must.

I saw the movie a couple of weeks ago in Manhattan.  Definitely a must see movie.  

Frightening.  Depressing.  Unforgettable. 


drummerboy said:

Just happened across this Siskel & Ebert review of Goodfellas.

Man, did Roger love this movie! 

 Me, too. 


Saw UNCUT GEMS the other night in the city. Yes, I know you hate Adam Sandler movies. I do too (with the exception of You Don't Mess with the Zohan, of course).

Uncut Gems is an amazing cinematic experience. The directing is sooo good. The action, sound, music, colors, lighting and above all the crazy relentless frenetic energy and tension combined to make me shake and get anxious. Only Sandler could play this role. Oscar worthy?  Maybe. Stranger things have happened. 

It's not for everyone. (The woman I was with hid under her coat for an hour or so. Needless to say, she did not like it.) But I recommend it. The trailer hints at the relentlessness of it all. 


My favorite Christmas movie, a holiday tradition.


 @sbenois - any reviews from today?


I saw "Les Miserables"(not that one) at MOMA yesterday.

Recommend you check it out when it hits theaters.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10199590/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3


Planned on seeing 6 today...got through 3 and stopped.  Worst batch of movies I can recall.   Saw Uncut Gems and absolutely hated it with a passion.   Bombshell was really good. 

And surprisingly, I really liked Cats.   

Sure wish 1917 and Just Mercy were playing in more theaters.


As we end the season of It's a Wonderful Life, here's a good piece about Jimmy Stewart. He suffered from PTSD returning from WWII, and we saw some of that angst in his performance in Wonderful Life


I saw "Knives Out" tonight and it was funny and enjoyable, including class warfare, which is a big plus for me.  Great cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Daniel Craig, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Christopher Plumber, and more.  


drummerboy said:

As we end the season of It's a Wonderful Life, here's a good piece about Jimmy Stewart. He suffered from PTSD returning from WWII, and we saw some of that angst in his performance in Wonderful Life

Here's another piece, by Kim Morgan, that really opened my eyes to aspects of "It's a Wonderful Life" that I never really considered despite innumerable viewings, including a discussion of Uncle Billy's torment.

http://thenewbev.com/blog/2017/12/its-a-wonderful-life/


drummerboy said:

As we end the season of It's a Wonderful Life, here's a good piece about Jimmy Stewart. He suffered from PTSD returning from WWII, and we saw some of that angst in his performance in Wonderful Life

Jimmy Stewart was from my hometown, Indiana, Pa. His parents lived one block from me. My mother played bridge with his aunt. His father had a hardware store (it was founded by his grandfather in 1848)  and had his Oscars and medals in the windows (he flew 36 missions over Germany.) The local airport is called Jimmy Stewart Field.  He got his acting start when he was at Princeton. 

btw - There's an It's a Wonderful Life Festival every year at Christmas time. 

https://wonderfullifefestival.com/

 


Here's Obama's favorite movies and TV shows for the year. Pretty mainstream.


No movie on Obama’s list was higher than 31st (Ford vs. Ferrari) on the list of top-grossing movies released this year. (The next highest was Little Women, at 74. Fewer than half his picks are in the top 200.)

Tell us more about this mainstream of which you speak.


DaveSchmidt said:

No movie on Obama’s list was higher than 31st (Ford vs. Ferrari) on the list of top-grossing movies released this year. (The next highest was Little Women, at 74. Fewer than half his picks are in the top 200.)

Tell us more about this mainstream of which you speak.

What makes your definition of mainstream the correct one?

Anyway, it's not like his list is riddled with art films or experimental cinema.


drummerboy said:

What makes your definition of mainstream the correct one?

Anyway, it's not like his list is riddled with art films or experimental cinema.

No fair. I asked first. If you’d rather not elaborate on why a list of movies that, with a few exceptions, played on a couple of hundred of screens rather than thousands is pretty mainstream, that’s fine.

(My definition of mainstream American movies would probably be those that appeal to teeming crowds of mainstream Americans, and not simply movies that fail to trigger the arthouse or experimental cells of a cineaste’s palate.)


What do you mean by few?


Five and a half.*

*Booksmart, Ford vs. Ferrari, Little Women, Marriage Story, and I’ll throw in The Irishman (250 theaters, because Netflix) and halfway count The Farewell (891 theaters, No. 97 in gross at $17 million).


Well, my definition of mainstream has little (directly) to do with number of theaters or total gross.

To me mainstream is some conglomeration of the following:

  • If you see it reviewed by most of the major papers like WAPO,NYT,  LAT, whatever the hell is in Chicago, Boston Globe, Dallas Trib, Houston Whatever, Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle, etc
  • it can be seen at your local googleplex or your town's main theater
  • star filled cast
  • other things

If you have to dig to find a review (admittedly not hard these days) and the only theater it's showing in is the Angelika, then not so mainstream.

Most of the movies on the list fit into my definition, I believe.  Amazing Grace, for example, was very widely reviewed and not too hard to find a showing of. Just Mercy, which was just released (and hence has low numbers), has a star-filled cast. Parasite is... well it's Parasite, one of the best reviewed movies of the year.  And so on.

BTW, your definition skips over streaming-only movies.


In order to add a comment – you must Join this community – Click here to do so.