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 working class comedy Hollywood has chosen not to make anymore. As well as being one of the best revenge fantasy films, it's also one of the more progressive comedies ever made by a major studio. This film doesn't glamorize the workplace and the treatment those making below six figures suffer through (unlike say, something like Mad Men where audiences seemingly thought Don Draper was the hero). In fact, it shows just the opposite and gives a message that we all need to follow (but maybe not in the way our heroines do it). If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Or at least have some like-minded people help you.

Also, Dolly Parton is great in this.

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

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One of the best films about show business and the cutthroat nature of it all. And being that it's about the stage, there's a lot of truth to it. A lot of those theatre people are only interested in trampling over others to get what they want while claiming it's about the art. It's all about image. Bette Davis gets all of the attention when the film is talked but I think it's Anne Baxter's performance that sells the film. Her character is like a subtle form of evil that crawls under your skin in hopes of corrupting you. And to end the film with the cycle continuing, brilliant.

You don't see these whip-smart and fast-paced screenplays produced anymore and that's too bad. It's all about pandering to the lowest common denominator today.

Up next: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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The last of the Monty Python movies (which makes the final shot of the TV showing the Flying Circus opening titles bittersweet) is not at the high levels achieved by Holy Grail and Life of Brian but it's just as ambitious by tackling a difficult topic and going with the sketch format the show thrived on. No cow is sacred in the world of Monty Python (the film's skewering of organized religion is even more timely than it was in the era of Thatcher and Reagan) and its gleeful criticism of most everything we hold dear makes the film more entertaining than say, the comedies we see nowadays. It's either all too safe or trying too hard to be shocking. Monty Python worked because there was a middle ground. They knew what needed to be taken down but did it with tact. Brutal tact.

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

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After a recent series of memes and a fan-made remake, it seems like Shrek is in again. And though the animation hasn't held up so well, the strengths of the script still make it an enjoyable movie that deserves its place in film history. Donkey is the best character (I'd say the movie really starts when he comes into the scene) while unlike many imitators later on, a lot of the humor that straddles the line between PG and PG-13 still works (anyone else ever realize that Lord Farquuad is basically DreamWorks' way of calling him a fuckwad?). The sequels definitely diluted the impact some but as a standalone film, it's still quite the ride.

Up next: A Hard Day's Night.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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This is a couple months away but I'm going to get to see the original Star Wars trilogy in the theatre on July 27th. One of the local theatres managed to secure a set of screenings for one day only and after buying a $27 (including ticket fee) pass, I got my tickets to see these.

Between this and a drive-in in Austin getting the trilogy for a week, it looks like Disney isn't as stingy with running them as Lucasfilm was.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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This might have the best performance of Bette Davis's career (and the film would go on to establish both her and Joan Crawford as scream queens late in their careers). Wonderfully insane as a former child star who never gets over her sister becoming a bigger success than her and then proceeds to torture her in any way possible, the film has the Bette I will always think of. The film is also a strong testament of good genre filmmaking. It's camp, sure, but Robert Aldrich knew how to get quality out what would seem like a simple B-movie premise. The film flies by based on the strength of two screen legends (Victor Buono, better known as King Tut from the Adam West Batman, also does well as a Cockney-accented songwriter who becomes a pawn of Davis's) and stellar direction that makes what could have been the kind of thing you would have probably seen on the early seasons of MST3K into one of the better horror films of the 60's.

And now I'm disappointed I wasn't able to attend that Strait-Jacket screening last year. The real Joan Crawford going crazy would have been fun in a theatre.

Up next: A Hard Day's Night.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Jean-Luc Godard had to have seen this film. Because it would explain Pierrot le Fou and some of his other films of the era. A loose plot constructed around the A Hard Day's Night album (in fact, the film seems to be a precursor to the music video we know now), the film is mainly an excuse to show off The Beatles as they were becoming really popular. And unlike say, those Justin Bieber documentaries, this one works because the Fab Four are so likeable. Many films have imitated its style (remember Spice World?) but the original is by far the best of "day in the life of a musical group" movies as they actually put a lot of work into the production itself. It's more than an excuse to sell albums.

Meanwhile, it's kind of sad that Richard Lester is nowadays known as the guy who killed the Superman film franchise. Because there is so much more to his career than replacing Richard Donner and following the stellar Superman II up with a bad Superman movie. He directed The Beatles, won a Palme d'Or, made perhaps the best Dumas adaptation with his Musketeers duology, did some other interesting literary adaptations (Royal Flash, Robin and Marian), and was at helm on one of the first successful LGBT films from a major studio. But it all seems to boil down to Superman III for him. His track record was actually more hit than miss.

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

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There's a documentary on Cannon Films so why isn't there one on Dino De Laurentiis's time in that era? There might not have been a more ambitious producer and distributor in the 80's than what Dino was spending untold millions on (and went bankrupt doing so). Maximum Overdrive is one of those films. Who cares if Stephen King was coked out of his mind making it (and caused the director of photography to lose his eye in a stunt gone wrong)? Who cares if the plot makes little sense? Who cares if the acting isn't up to snuff (though Estevez is usually decent and Pat Hingle does slimy well) or it's not really scary? The film is straight up fun and the sold out crowd at my showing agreed (people even brought their children for this and I had to wonder why, as the film was originally rated X for all the violence). No studio would have made this film in 1986 and no studio would now. The film works because it's cinematic craziness that only an independent could have done. In fact, I might say this is one of the few good "technology is evil" movies because it doesn't take itself seriously at all.

You don't watch Maximum Overdrive to seek high art. You watch Maximum Overdrive to watch shit get destroyed for 98 minutes.

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

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A film that both launched John Wayne to stardom and became the blueprint for the Western genre as we know it. When people think Western, they usually think of gun battles, horses, Monument Valley, and The Duke being his manly self. Well...all that's here. But there's also a really well-made drama about strangers fighting to survive on a trek from Arizona to New Mexico. John Ford makes it something more. Also, while you're watching, you can see how this film (and Ford's work) has influenced countless filmmakers, from Howard Hawks to John Carpenter to Ron Howard to Quentin Tarantino. It's exciting, fast-paced, and one of the best examples of the old Western.

Up next: But I'm a Cheerleader.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Possibly the first film to really go after and criticize the concept that is gay conversion therapy, the film manages to be both an enjoyable satire of gay panic but the characters are much more believable than comparable films of the same subject. The film's strengths are that it's not a serious film and that it gets to make the cake and eat it too. An idea like this one works best as camp and even though critics hated the film for being too much like John Waters (though I'm convinced it was more a homophobia thing, being that there are so few major films about lesbianism and it could be that the film got lumped in with the typical chick flick that was prevalent at the time), I think that benefits it. The whole idea of forcing someone to be something they are not is absurd. Why not make the film itself absurd?

Also, the cast is pretty interesting. In addition to Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall, there's RuPaul, Melanie Lynskey (in probably the only time she's used her native accent in an American film), Sunshine from Remember the Titans, a Real Housewife, Rufio's real-life brother, Harold from Harold and Maude, a John Waters regular, Michelle Williams in an extended cameo, Julie Delpy in a cameo, Bull Shannon, and the wife in Raging Bull as the villain. 90's indies have some of the wildest casts.

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

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A goal I tried to do last year but failed has been accomplished. Ten movies from ten decades seen in a theatre.

This is an interesting film, to say the least. Buster Keaton basically plays two characters, a mild-mannered projectionist accused of a crime he didn't commit and his alter ego, Sherlock Jr., the world's greatest detective. In its 45 minute run time, we have a loose plot strung together by The Great Stone Face's physical humor and a long dream sequence where Buster interacts with the movie he's showing. It's not his greatest film but it's not hard to see why it's beloved by the silent film fan community. It's one of the best examples of Keaton's work.

The DCP I saw was the new restoration and it's the best the film has ever looked. I remember the old Kino DVD being very scratchy.

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

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Why did the pulp action film die out? This (extremely) violent action epic from John Milius might be Dino de Laurentiis' answer to Raiders of the Lost Ark. But unlike Raiders, this is constructed more like an opera where people get killed in gruesome ways and James Earl Jones turns into a snake. The film might get seen as camp (a few people at my showing did) but it's legitimately entertaining thanks to the high production values and having Oliver Stone co-write the film with Milius. And despite the over-the-top nature of the violence, a lot of the film's strengths lay the less-is-more nature of the storytelling. Much of the action is told without dialogue and the decision allows it to keep a fast pace.

It's too bad the follow-ups wouldn't come close to being as good.

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

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If Dazed and Confused were set in the 50's. Often viewed as Bogdonavich's masterpiece, this adaptation of Larry McMurtry's novel works as both an ensemble slice-of-life drama and meditative film of small town life and how most are doomed to repeat the past lives of those around us. It's a more realistic depiction of Texas life than say, something like the adaptations of Friday Night Lights (some of them here are obsessed with football but not fanatical). Bogdonavich and McMurtry make this a story of people surrounded in this desolate wasteland, desperately wanting to get out but soon come to the realization that they will more than likely die there. It's like a bleaker version of a Billy Joel song.

Also while watching the film, I wondered why Timothy Bottoms never became a bigger star. Maybe he played his character too well and got typecast. But at least we have That's My Bush.

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

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A double feature.

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Two thematically dissimilar films with the only things in common being that Universal released them both and they were 80's movies.

The first mixes the genres of sci-fi and romance (much like the later About Time, but without Richard Curtis and his pandering) in what could be described as a long-form Twilight Zone episode (if it were in black-and-white, it would feel exactly like one). Written by Richard Matheson (based on his novel Bid Time Return), it has an interesting concept of time travel, being that it's more focused around hypnosis than the use of a machine. It's also more trusting of the audience than the typical time travel film as it's more a film about people than the concept. A lot of the journey is Richard, Christopher Reeve's character, living in 1912 and solving the mystery that has plagued him. It's no surprise that the interesting premise and the artistic flare has this has become a well-regarded cult film after its initial critical failure and audience indifference (I feel Universal sneaking the film during its original release with less intimate fare like Smokey and the Bandit II hurt it back in 1980).

The second was a new 4K restoration of Spike Lee's masterpiece of one hot day in 1989 making a select group of Brooklyn residents' tempers flare, leading to a event that will change their lives. Lee has been both lauded and criticized for his films but he challenges the viewer. And if you don't like it, he doesn't care. He's like an American Godard. This is still his best film and the themes are still very much relevant today. To call it one thing, good or bad, only scratches the surface. The film seems to dissect human nature. There's good and evil in all of us. But do we always do the right thing? In fact, what is the right thing really? I guess it's a philosophical film as well as a sociopolitical one.

Up next: Whisper of the Heart.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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I saw that 4K Do The Right Thing restored version in theaters a few months back, it was great indeed.
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