What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in Time

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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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The film so beloved that it started a philosophical movement! The Coen Brothers' take on detective fiction is one of their best with Jeff Bridges forever cementing his image as the Lebowski achiever/slacker bowling enthusiast. But I don't think the film would work without John Goodman's character, the volatile Vietnam vet who doesn't roll on Shabbos. The two characters and their opposites play so well together that it balances out the detective moments. My aunt once called The Big Lebowski a one-joke movie but it's thankfully a very funny joke and an excellent example of the shaggy dog story done well.

Up next: Twister.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

Post by Chienfantome »

Last year for the 20th anniversary of the film I went back to watch The Big Lebowski on the big screen, twenty years after I had seen it as a 16 year-old. This is the kind of film that gets better and better at each viewing.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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The Big Lebowski is a movie I didn't like the first time I saw it. Possibly because it was an edited for TV version. I saw it about a decade later and thought it was ok. I watched it about five years ago and liked it. I've seen it about 10 time since then and it's in the running for my favorite movie ever now. Just ridiculous rewatchablility.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Me and my mates travelled 2 hours on train just to see The Big Lebowski play in Dublin. Totally worth it.

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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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This film has aged like a fine wine (though some of the CGI hasn't). In the 2000's, this film was a bit of a joke for its narrative, subplots, and product placement. But now, people seem to love it again. Think of it as the typical "ragtag heroes fight the establishment" movie...but with F5 tornadoes. It also might have the most Michael Crichton plot of Michael Crichton stories (though the "old man yells at cloud" elements were toned down). In a way, you can imagine Bill Paxton's character as being Crichton, but shorter (Crichton was 6'10") and Southern. Even since both Paxton and Philip Seymour Hoffman passed away, one really grows to appreciate their work and the performances both gave. In fact, I wish Dusty (Hoffman's character) and Melissa had ended up together. There have been complaints about how the Billy/Melissa plot isn't necessary but Dusty seems to be doing okay in his wooing.

And would it be wrong to say that Helen Hunt served as a bridge between the old disaster movies and the 90's revival of disaster movies? Hunt's film debut was in Rollercoaster, one of the last of the original boom of disaster movies, and many years later, she starred in this one. A bit of a stretch but interesting nonetheless.

But anyway, it's another example of how what's considered trash in one decade can become a diamond in another decade. 90's nostalgia seems to have rescued this one, as noted by the sold out audience I saw it with.

Up next: The Matrix.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Finally got to see this in the theatre last night. When I first saw it, I didn't get the hype but I eventually warmed up to it (unlike some other films that are viewed as classics, I'm looking at you, Top Gun). And yeah, it's a perfectly decent action film. It's no masterpiece though. The world building is nice and some of the effects still hold up but its "I'm so cool" factor does get rather obnoxious and we'd seen a lot of the trademarks done before in other things before March 31st, 1999 (for example, a South African film from 1980 called Kill or Be Killed did Bullet Time way before this one did it).

The Matrix is good but personally, I think Dark City is a superior dystopian film from around that same time. And the only sequel worth watching is The Animatrix.

Next: Pierrot le Fou.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Dark City is incredibly underrated.
It's not destroying. It's making something new.

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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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#44 in my Criterion challenge.

This is an interesting film. Made during the waning days of Godard's peak, the film could be described as what happens when you're channel surfing and trying to piece together what's going on when you flip through movie channels, soap operas, general entertainment, the news, music channels, and whatever else you can think of. The main difference is that the characters are the same. Anyway, I'm convinced you're going to watch this for one main reason: Anna Karina. One of Denmark's finest exports, her beauty transcends the screen and before last night, the only movie of hers I'd seen in the theatre was The Truth About Charlie (yes, that Charade remake where she's in all of a minute). Belmondo's entertaining too but the film works because of Karina.

I'm also convinced this movie inspired Wayne's World. Only that didn't have any dynamite.

Up next: The Boondock Saints.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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It seems like most sci-fi films set on Earth owe some sort of nod to this film. But unlike the modern military vs. aliens, "kill 'em all" anti-immigration allegories, this is one that has a message of tolerance and how fear brings out the worst in people. In a way, it feels like if Frank Capra did a sci-fi film (and when you think about it, James Stewart would have made a good Klaatu). And you can see Robert Wise's editing background all over this film as it's a very well stylized film in terms of technique. Wise also makes this a much classier film that most other genre films of the era. In addition to the smarter script and high production values, there is a general feel of respecting its audience and not resorting to cheap tricks. This wasn't your typical B-feature at the drive-in.

But apparently, not everyone in the audience agreed with my assessment. The person sitting next to me (who brought a whole army of children with him) would take pictures of the screen (I think it was the same guy who did this at my showing of Roma) untold I asked him to stop while the people behind me treated the film like it was Plan 9 from Outer Space. Big difference between those two.

Up next: still The Boondock Saints.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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This did not age well. At all. I was hesitant about revisiting this one in the theatre and it turned out, I was right to do so and I should have let fourteen year-old me die. The Boondock Saints is nothing but a cheap Tarantino clone made by someone who doesn't understand how filmmaking works. The editing is atrocious and there doesn't seem to be much of an idea of how narrative works. Late in the movie, I came to realize that the whole thing about the bar (you know, the conflict that sets off the entire plot) was never resolved (I thank James Pietragallo for pointing out that it's ridiculous that all that was caused by the closing of a bar). The McManus Brothers are nothing more than cheap Marty Stus designed to appeal to people who cannot figure out the difference between reality and fantasy (Willem Dafoe asks a great question about how if these people are so brilliant, why do they work in a meat packing plant?). Also, the film is very xenophobic and misogynistic.

However, there is one positive. Willem Dafoe's performance is quite good in what should have been an easy paycheck. The movie should have been about this guy. Paul is Will Graham and Gay Perry rolled into one and seems to be the main reason why anyone has anything positive to say about this movie. Otherwise, the target audience is basically douchebros and people who think they're Irish because they listened to I'm Shipping Up to Boston (that stupid hard rock song with the bagpipes) once.

And to finish off this reviews, I'll list five Irish-themed movies that one should watch instead of The Boondock Saints:

1. Finian's Rainbow

2. Gangs of New York

3. The Commitments

4. The Departed

5. The Brothers McMullen

Or just watch Father Ted. Now where's that pot o' gold Warwick Davis promised me?

Up next: Scream.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Long-hated by many of the hardcore slasher fans (mainly because it pointed out how a lot of the movies they hold dear weren't very good to begin with), Wes Craven's deconstruction of the subgenre has seen a cultural reappraisal due to 90's nostalgia. And it is a much better film than I remember it being. When I first saw it on VHS many years ago, I was indifferent to it but watching in the theatre with a crowd that's just as much into it as you are, it's a fun and intelligent horror film. Sure, some of Kevin Williamson's dialogue doesn't hold up so well but the combination of the serial killer storyline and the Beverly Hills 90210 (though it's Northern California) characters just makes things entertaining. It's a more mature horror film than other films of its type and maybe that's why I didn't care for it the first time around. You have to be in the frame of mind to get what Craven and Williamson were saying. A lot of the film's detractors refused to listen.

Also, I won a contest before the movie. The game was to name as many Wes Craven movies as possible and I challenge my opponent to name twelve. He passed and I named the twelve. I won two passes for remembering Music of the Heart and Vampire in Brooklyn.

Up next: Audition.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

Post by BanksIsDaFuture »

Damn, 12 Wes Craven films off the top of your head? I didn't know he directed that many.

Let's see...

Wes Craven's New Nightmare
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Scream?

That's all I got :lol:
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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I just remembered, I actually named fourteen. The guy in charge must have had trouble keeping up (I have to admit that I was fast).

The ones I named:

Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
Scream 4
A Nightmare on Elm Street
My Soul to Take
Red Eye
Music of the Heart
Vampire in Brooklyn
The Serpent and the Rainbow
The Hills Have Eyes
The Last House on the Left
The Hills Have Eyes Part II
The People Under the Stairs

And during the movie, I remembered that he did Swamp Thing.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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"Deeper, deeper."

Takeshi Miike's breakout film has been topped in shock value over the years but it's still an effective, dreamlike thriller than contains more meaning than films that revel in torture. Unlike say, something like the films of Eli Roth, the story is king. Miike shoots the film much like a documentary (fitting with the protagonist's profession) style with long takes and tight angles while also creating an atmosphere much like something out of Twin Peaks as the film progresses. Despite the film's reputation as shock cinema, Miike is more about building the tension. You know the event is going to happen but he does he makes you wait for it. That might be the scariest thing of all.

Up next: Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Between this and Speed, this might be the perfect action film. 139 minutes of non-stop excitement and tension, this might be James Cameron's finest moment as a writer or director. There is not a bad moment in this film.

Up next: The Breakfast Club.
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