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revbob
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Re: movies

Post by revbob »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
12 May 2022, 7:08pm
Spinal Tap sequel in the works: https://www.avclub.com/rob-reiner-direc ... 1848918388

My gut says it'll be awful. But I want them to try because it could be marvelous.
I will watch.

Kory
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Re: movies

Post by Kory »

Mimi wrote:
12 May 2022, 5:14pm
Kory wrote:
12 May 2022, 3:49pm
Mimi wrote:
12 May 2022, 10:42am
Mimi wrote:
12 May 2022, 9:54am
revbob wrote:
12 May 2022, 9:32am


I have that affliction too but it also includes Tom Cruise, Leonardo Dicaprio and some others that escape me.
Tom Cruise, yep.
Although, I have to admit, I tolerated him in Valkyrie.
I'll tolerate Cruise for a movie that also stars Kenneth Branagh. Although I do really like Eyes Wide Shut.
Have you seen Death on the Nile yet? I couldn't get through the beginning of it. I love Branagh but he should leave Poirot alone especially condering David Suchet's excellent body of work.
Yeah. I liked it, and Murder on the Orient Express. I'm not a Poirot purist even though I do like Suchet's version.
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Re: movies

Post by JennyB »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
12 May 2022, 7:08pm
Spinal Tap sequel in the works: https://www.avclub.com/rob-reiner-direc ... 1848918388

My gut says it'll be awful. But I want them to try because it could be marvelous.
Didn't we learn our lesson with Airplane II?
Got a Rake? Sure!

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Dr. Medulla
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Re: movies

Post by Dr. Medulla »

JennyB wrote:
13 May 2022, 10:04am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
12 May 2022, 7:08pm
Spinal Tap sequel in the works: https://www.avclub.com/rob-reiner-direc ... 1848918388

My gut says it'll be awful. But I want them to try because it could be marvelous.
Didn't we learn our lesson with Airplane II?
Worth it for this scene alone:
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

Flex
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Re: movies

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Been watching a LOT of westerns. Here's what I've seen since my last post of movies:

The Far Country (1954): Jimmy Stewart stars, with little believability, as an amoral, jaded cattle rustler aiming to make a quick buck and keep drifting throughout his life. He helps bring cattle up to a remote, lawless town in northern Alaska and in doing so gets crossways with a corrupt lawman and caught up in a love triangle with the bad girl and good girl (that old chestnut). He refuses to get involved as the town he's staying in gets exploited worse and worse by the lawless until it starts costing him personally. What will drive a man to finally stand up for himself and his friends? A very nice, underrated flick with lots of great location shooting in Canadian mountains.

The Grand Duel (1972): Lee Van Cleef in what is essentially an amalgamation of all his spaghetti western roles. Might even bee a career highlight for Van Cleef, as an ex-sheriff who takes a young gun under his wings and exacts bloody revenge. In both English and Italian the dubbing is hilariously off, even for the genre. Great fun and highly recommended.

Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989): A Western in perhaps a loose sense of the word, this is a bananas tale of how a vampire leader and his acolytes are trying to synthesize fake blood to live off of and apply sunscreen so they can live in daylight. They of course do all this in a remote Western town with an underground laboratory. Some vampires don't agree with this new more pacifistic direction and mayhem ensues. Feature Bruce Campbell in his usual sort of role as a descendant of Van Helsing. Loved it.

If You Meet Sartana... Pray For Your Death (1968): Finally, we know what it would be like if The Man With No Name had a name also showered. Highest of recommendations.

Stagecoach (1939): I last watched this a few years ago in a little exploration of the genre I did with James for our podcast. Loved this then, still love it. You can see the Western as we think of it being created before our eyes. John Wayne is incredibly charming here, when he was still trying to act and not just Be John Wayne. The stock characters, particularly the Low Characters, are rendered with surprising subtly and empathy and the action moves along at a perfect clip. It's racist, there's not getting around it, but the treatment of the Native Americans as forces of nature doesn't hurt contemporary sensibilities as much as a lot of other depictions from this area. The banker gets it in the end and the outlaw gets the girl. Perfection.

True Grit (2010): Rewatched this with the missus who loved it. I thought this was a great movie the first time, and still think so. Lady Hawkeye is great as Maddie. A pretty faithful adaptation of the book. Watching this actually inspired me to read the book, which was quite good.

I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death (1969): Tep wrote about this one, another strong entry in the Sartana series. Probably more coherent than the first one, and the opening scenes are particularly memorable. High recommendation.

Bucking Broadway (1917): Very early John Ford silent western. Kind of interesting, particularly to think this was made at a time when "the west" was perhaps in its very last twilight moments rather than purely relegated to the history books. Kind of a standard romantic melodrama. Of some interest from a historical perspective.

Dead Birds (2004): A Western-Horror, or maybe more accurately more of a "Southern." Confederate troops steal some gold and hole up in an abandoned plantation house that turns out to be pretty fuckin' haunted. Very nice sense of place and mood, but the CGI is pretty laughable and, frankly, there's a huge huge miss to not delve into any major racial dynamics. Still, not a bad watch,

The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970): Peckinpah's follow-up to The Wild Bunch is an amiable western-comedy that still works through all of Peckinpah's usual ticks: the amoral protagonist, the closing of the west, and the double-edged sword of nostagia. I Can't recommend this film enough, it's fantastic.

Terror in a Texas Town (1958): B-movie noir maestro Joseph Lewis, who also directed b-movie westerns early in his career, makes this Western Noir which roughly follows the contours of the plot of High Noon. The writer of this one was also a guy who was on the Hollywood Blacklist. But while High Noon is premiere Hollywood fare, this is an odd, idiosyncratic affair. Spotlighting both the cultural closing of the Red Scare, this movie also interrogates the anti-immigrant jingoism that has made America a truly unwelcome place. A very nicely done little film.

The Wind (2018): Part of a Western/Folk Horror double feature of my own devising. A husband and wife live in the remote frontier on their own until a younger couple moves next door into an abandoned cabin. The wives are amicable with each other to start, and both have a sense that there's an evil presence with them. Don't want to give anything away, and the story is told out of chronological order. A bit of a slow burn but I found it extremely effective and felt a bit spooked when I finished the movie last night. A movie about the horrors of isolation, loss and abandonment.

Eyes of Fire (1983): Second of the Western/Folk Horror mashup. A colonial-era western where a group of colonists are cast out to the frontier from their pious village and have to confront an evil presence in the valey the settle in. Very much feels like a precursor to The VVtich. The effects are, uh, very early 80s and both contribute to and detract from the film simultaneously. Colonialism is bad kids, don't try it at home.

And that brings me up to date. I haven't lost the enthusiasm yet so still more to come, no doubt.
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Flex
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Re: movies

Post by Flex »

Of potential interest, I've decided to start a free Substack to write more about Westerns (movies, primarily but other stuff too). Weekly newsletter and micro-posts throughout the week for as long as this holds my interest. First introductory post up today, check it out (and sign up!): https://manofthewest.substack.com/
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

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Re: movies

Post by tepista »

Flex wrote:
15 May 2022, 6:42pm
Of potential interest, I've decided to start a free Substack to write more about Westerns (movies, primarily but other stuff too). Weekly newsletter and micro-posts throughout the week for as long as this holds my interest. First introductory post up today, check it out (and sign up!): https://manofthewest.substack.com/
There's a surprising low amount of western-horrors, I'd seen Dead Birds, wasn't familiar with the others. Bone Tomahawk has a good reputation too.
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Re: movies

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Broadcast Signal Intrusion (2021) In the late 1990s, a video archivist becomes obsessed with a tape of pirate signal that features a creepy-as-fuck, gibberish speaking, rubber masked android that interrupted a SciFi TV show 10 years prior. The FBI and FCC closed the case unsolved after a year, but James wants to play amateur sleuth, likely to fill the void left by his recently deceased wife. So after a quite intriguing beginning, the rest is a dull mess of unmarked envelopes, anonymous phone tips, unlikely sidekicks, and unsatisfying results. “Do you hear that? It’s Morse Code” Are you trying to tell me that the FBI investigated this tape for a year and couldn’t recognize Morse Code?

The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) Bill Pullman is an anthropologist in Haiti on behalf of Big Pharma looking for a drug that gives humans the appearance of death, and finds a lot more than he bargains for. Lots of hallucinations, fever dreams and overall creepy Voodoo stuff in this wild, visually stimulating Wes Craven ride. I’m pretty sure I saw this at a Drvie-In once upon a time!

The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971) The undisputed Queen of Giallo, Edwige Fenech, is a buisinessman’s wife who ex-lover and current stalker shared a very specific kink with her, and she believes he might be responsible for the wave of sex-murders that are taking the city by storm. She begins an affair with a third man (another giallo mainstay, George Hilton), but the murders seem to be hitting closer to home. If Edie with her clothes off multiple times isn’t enough, about 4 or 5 additional beauties bare it as well in this great, first giallo from one of the best, Sergio Martino.

Byleth: The Demon of Incest (1972) In 19th century Italy, Lionello (Mark Damon) returns home after a year away, and is distraught to find his beautiful sister Barbara (Claudia Gravy) has taken a husband. The housemaid and few other local girls turn up dead, coincidentally, all women whom Lionello has failed to perform for. I guess he’s just a one-woman guy! Is he venting his rage on these innocent women or is there a demonic force at work? Lot’s of sex and nudity in this gothic-giallo hybrid oddity.

Santo and Blue Demon vs Dracula and the Wolfman (1973) An evil minion resurrects the title monsters with the blood of their rival, a professor who’s two living granddaughters are now targets of the evil duo. Lucky for them, of of the girls dates El Santo, the silver-masked superhero, who enlists the help of fellow luchador Blue Demon to save the day. It’s gonna be tough when the wolfman turns human and woos the ladies as his alter ego, Rufus Rex. When the wrestlers battle an army of vampires and werewolves in this easy to watch, good vs evil romp.

The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs: Season 4, Week 1

Night of the Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero’s game changing debut still packs a punch after so many years and viewings.

Anthropophagus (1980) Tisa Farrow gets a ride on a boat to find her father on a deserted island…wait a minute, isn’t that the same plot as Zombi? She and her friends run afoul of a cannibal beast in this infamous gorefest from sometimes-porn-director Joe D’Amato, that was available in cut from on VHS under the title The Grim Reaper in the 80s. There are 2 notorious scenes near the end that make the movie, so if you’re looking for a copy, make sure you find one that is 91 minutes long. This was Serena Grandi’s film debut, she played a pregnant woman who keeps her clothes on, but would soon be a famous nude model/actress in Italy that you might recognize from Lamberto Bava’s Delirium. As for Mia Farrow’s sister, she said "fuck it" and never acted again.

As for the Joe Bob and Darcy shenanagans, Svengoolie joined for the first film, which was the 100th film he hosted since the SHUDDER show began, and original Mail Girl Honey joined for Anthropophagus (uncut version), which Joe Bob told us was the first film he professionally revived, 40 years ago.
We reach the parts other combos cannot reach
We beach the beachheads other armies cannot beach
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Re: movies

Post by Flex »

Discussed the cult classic Extreme Prejudice in my newsletter this week: https://manofthewest.substack.com/p/her ... -cause-man

tldr: it's a rambo/wild bunch mashup and it fuckin' rules
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle - you can raise the dead

Pex Lives!

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Re: movies

Post by weller259 »

Airplane II
Buying "Lunar Shuttle Tickets" from a scalper.
Loved that sequel I must admit. Not as good as the original but still worth my hour and 20 minute attention.
From what I see there's still a little hope
That's if we don't hang from too much rope

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Re: movies

Post by tepista »

Dr. Medulla wrote:
13 May 2022, 10:18am
JennyB wrote:
13 May 2022, 10:04am
Dr. Medulla wrote:
12 May 2022, 7:08pm
Spinal Tap sequel in the works: https://www.avclub.com/rob-reiner-direc ... 1848918388

My gut says it'll be awful. But I want them to try because it could be marvelous.
Didn't we learn our lesson with Airplane II?
Worth it for this scene alone:
Hall of Fame clip
We reach the parts other combos cannot reach
We beach the beachheads other armies cannot beach
We speak the tongues other mouths cannot speak

Kory
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Re: movies

Post by Kory »

Just saw Leon the Professional on a friend's recommendation, knowing nothing about it ahead of time. It was, uh...a movie.
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tepista
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Re: movies

Post by tepista »

Kory wrote:
24 May 2022, 7:00pm
Just saw Leon the Professional on a friend's recommendation, knowing nothing about it ahead of time. It was, uh...a movie.
I watched that a buncha times when it came out. At least Star Wars whatsername was in ONE good movie.
We reach the parts other combos cannot reach
We beach the beachheads other armies cannot beach
We speak the tongues other mouths cannot speak

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Re: movies

Post by revbob »

Kory wrote:
24 May 2022, 7:00pm
Just saw Leon the Professional on a friend's recommendation, knowing nothing about it ahead of time. It was, uh...a movie.
The relationship between Leon and a 12 or 13 yo Natalie Portman was creepy.

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Re: movies

Post by matedog »

Kory wrote:
24 May 2022, 7:00pm
Just saw Leon the Professional on a friend's recommendation, knowing nothing about it ahead of time. It was, uh...a movie.
Haven't seen it in forever except the final fight scene and Gary Oldman overacting the hell out of it.
Look, you have to establish context for these things. And I maintain that unless you appreciate the Fall of Constantinople, the Great Fire of London, and Mickey Mantle's fatalist alcoholism, live Freddy makes no sense. If you want to half-ass it, fine, go call Simon Schama to do the appendix.

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