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

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Screen203
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Think I need more time to think on it before I write a full analysis, but Knives Out easily lives up to the hype - Ana De Armas, Chris Evans, and Toni Collette should get Oscar nods for their work here (incredible work from the ensemble all around though). Best Original Screenplay should be a lock for a nomination at least. While it's been a part of the movie's acclaim, I was suprised how on-the-nose the screenplay handles its politics I'm more surprised it hasn't generated any controversy from conservatives considering the movie takes several shots at the alt-right (and the protagonist being an illegal immigrant, which is used as blackmail against her and her family).
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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A Christmas Carol meets It's a Wonderful Life, given the Nicolas Cage treatment. It's no masterpiece but it's a watchable enough movie where a investment tycoon is given a glimpse by a guardian angel on how his life would have turned out had he not taken a job in London thirteen years earlier. Soon, the ruthless, singular figure begins to grow a heart as he enters the life of an average Joe with a family in the suburbs. So, kind of like a Talking Heads song without the cynicism.

This would be a mediocre film if not for Cage going into Jimmy Stewart territory. Unlike more recent Cage films, he's quite committed to the performance and does wonders with a basic script and pedestrian Brett Ratner direction (he was a better action director than a dialogue director). Tea Leoni is believable as his wife while the film needed more Don Cheadle. I'd say the film is at its best when you play with the idea raised in the film that Cage is an alien trying to assume human form but hasn't quite figured it out yet. In fact, someone needs to make that movie.

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

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The odd case of a film that is beloved by audiences 65 years later but has never gotten its due by historians or by awards. The film wasn't nominated for Oscars, it never made any AFI lists, and it's not in the National Film Registry. But it still makes Paramount a lot of money through its releases in theatres and nearly every home video format known to humankind. Why is this? For one, it's a good looking movie. The first shot in VistaVision, watching it on a big screen elevates the grandeur and beauty of the film. Also, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye make a good screen team. The charm and appeal of the story of two Broadway stars and two nightclub singers shacking up in Vermont to save the inn of the former's superior in World War II is an appealing one and in a way, makes this a better film about the aftermath of war than a musical. Otherwise, the film is rather simplistic but I think that's why it's so popular. It's admirable and you don't have to worry about offending anyone with its content.

It sure beats the yearly musical designed solely to win Oscars.

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

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Double feature.

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By some scheduling surprise (and not because they found Christmas movies not named Elf to show), I managed to find two movies I hadn't seen in a theatre before in convenient times. The first one is a proto-White Christmas and has less of a story line but seems to have gotten the better critical appraisal (winning an Oscar and being high on one of the AFI lists), despite a very uncomfortable blackface sequence that never seems to end (this is cut from the TV version and for good reason). But luckily, we get some good Fred Astaire dance sequences (including one where he uses firecrackers as props) and the gimmick of setting the movie around different holidays works better than most.

The second one is of course the third Vacation movie and watching it from the eyes of someone who gets annoyed by the overemphasis of Christmas, especially being around an area of people who complain about how the meaning is lost but buys into the over-commercialization of the holiday (you can't have it both ways, pick up and stick with it), I find the more adult and subtler humor funnier than many of the often-remembered lines. But Cousin Eddie still makes the film for me. Otherwise, it's a film about an borderline sadistic and smothering father who forces his family to celebrate a Christmas they don't really want to. I'm somewhat surprised the Griswolds didn't become Jehovah's Witnesses at the end.

I was also kind of peeved during the second one as a power-tripping assistant manager took the popcorn I brought from home (I didn't feel like paying $8) but let someone else loud phone ring during the movie. Also, someone tripped me with their shoe and didn't even apologize, making me seem like I was the problem. The holidays can really make people be assholes.

Up next: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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The final film by Studio Ghibli's number two man is a visually stunning if a bit long (at 137 minutes, it might be the longest mainstream animated feature ever) fantasy about a childless couple that takes in a child who came from the bamboo trees (this story came way before The Odd Life of Timothy Green, by the way) and after a series of fortunes, realize her destiny as a princess. However, the child grows up and realize that the dream that has been created by her adoptive parents is not the one she desires. The star of the film is the animation, which looks less like traditional anime and more like pictures seen in old Japanese scrolls mixed with children's books (I was reminded a lot of Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret). A big flop when it was released five years ago, it's more adult than your typical Ghibli film but I could see this one getting a reappraisal in a few years as it's that challenging and ambitious animated feature than the animation community always complain doesn't exist (of course, these same people will praise the most childish things possible). In fact, that might be happening now as it doesn't seem to get trashed like most box office flops are.

In the end, it's no Grave of the Fireflies but it's a film worth savoring.

And that looks like my last old movie cinema recap of 2019. The first 2020 title for me looks to be Drop Dead Fred on January 7th (probably a better choice than the sneak preview of Underwater that's happening with a Livestream Q&A with Kristen Stewart afterwards).

Any goals? I'll keep it simple. Ten different languages. I should be able to log at least three Asian languages and four European languages in addition to English.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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A Christmas Eve surprise!

In what seems to have become a new local tradition, I attended a sold-out showing of this controversial 1984 film which works best as camp. The film is more or less what if you combined a Wesley Willis song with a Last Podcast on the Left episode, the film is very violent and morbid but there is a lot of unintentional humor from its strange kills and amateurish acting, making it somewhat of a Christmastime version of The Room: so bad, it's good. But unlike some other films of the sort, there's a certain appeal to it all. So get some wild strangers, some good snacks and drinks, and be naughty!
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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For those who have seen it, is Cats so bad it's good or just terrible?
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Entirely depends on how you feel about watching insanity play out. For me, it was a ton of fun. Everything from the music to the story was so unrelentingly strange that I couldn't help but marvel at the unapologetically absurd spectacle of it all. Even 4 days after seeing it, I'm still not fully convinced it was a real movie.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Gene Siskel called this the worst film of 1991. I think he was too harsh. Basically, it's a dark comedy for children, even with the PG-13 rating, as I'm sure most of the film's fans or supporters saw it as kids and are the ones who are bound to get the most from it. The premise might seem a bit off-color as Phoebe Cates's character is clearly mentally ill but once Rik Mayall comes in, the humor and familiarity comes in. And despite the American setting, it's very much a UK film due to it being unafraid to think outside the box with its tone and style. In a way, it feels like a precursor to both Candyman and The Mask but raunchier and wilder.

As for what I think was the worst film of 1991, that Andrew Dice Clay concert film was pretty awful.

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

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Where else are you going to see the dad from Family Ties wielding an elephant gun or Reba McEntire going full Chow Yun-Fat in The Killer against giant sandworms? This 90's tribute to the monster movies of the 50's is enjoyably over-the-top and crazy with its premise and the ability to keep things exciting with its high-energy script and practical effects. It doesn't take itself seriously at all and is unpretentious with its characters or concept. The film sets out to do a simple task and is wildly successful in the process. If there is someone who doesn't like Tremors, I'd like to know why and might suggest another viewing (it worked for Roger Ebert).

Up next: Legend (1985).
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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The 80's sure were a golden age for the fantasy film. Before it became all about making money by going into a more realist direction, the fantasy genre was just that. Going to worlds beyond our own, seeing things we couldn't possibly imagine, and being able to escape our problems by getting away from them for two hours. Who cares if most of the movies then flopped? There needed to be more out there than Rambo and Top Gun.

As for the film itself, it was the theatrical cut disappointingly. The director's cut is a much superior film that fixes many of the shorter version's problems but watching it on a large screen makes you forget about the issues that exist. Tom Cruise's performance might not his best but Tim Curry is excellent as the Lord of Darkness and the production values are top-notch. And while Jerry Goldsmith's music in the director's cut is the better soundtrack, I do enjoy the Bryan Ferry end theme in this version.

Up next: Bad Boys & Bad Boys II.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Before seeing Bad Boys for Life, I got to see the first two movies. Bad Boys is the weakest of the three but is still an enjoyable movie that's more or less if Miami Vice got updated to the 90's and became more violent (which makes the 2006 film version of Miami Vice Michael Mann's version of a Michael Bay film). Rewatching this made me realize how I was watching some of my favorite TV shows in 1995 (Fresh Prince and Martin, two shows I always watched when they were on) come together on a big screen. And damn, Tea Leoni was attractive. But I put this one below the second (and the new one) as compared to those, the stakes seem lower. The humor still works but the action is not at the level it would reach. Think of it as the pilot to a modern-day TV show that gets beloved.

Bad Boys II, meanwhile, is a much better film than its reputation. And if not for Bay's later film Pain & Gain, I might actually call it his best. The film is 147 minutes of pure cinematic adrenaline. Nearly every scene is filled with a big action scene or ridiculous comic situation and unlike, say, his Transformers films or Armageddon, it's not boring. Bay is a director known for his penchant for explosions or awkward humor but for me, he should be known for his ability to make good films involving crime. Recently, I found out Judd Apatow did script doctoring on Bad Boys II (giving much of his fee to Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg during their career lowpoint) and there are some scenes where it's obvious Apatow's style is there (as well as other scenes having credited writer Ron Shelton's touches). Funny that two filmmakers known for excess teamed up once.

So you can hate me for finding artistic value in Bad Boys II. But I also think Suicide Squad has merit while places like Reddit think it's the worst movie ever made (it wasn't even the worst movie released that weekend) so you can agree to disagree.

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

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Probably the best movie ever made about the film industry and it wasn't even given an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Set during the transition from silent film to sound, Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen manage to make a film that's both funny and entertaining without making it one long inside joke maybe five people (me usually being one of them) will get. In a brisk 102 minute run time, we get many well-staged musical numbers (one featuring a scene-stealing Rita Moreno, who doesn't even need lines to get attention) plus the classic plot of love and one of the more underrated movie villains in Lina Lamont. I actually think Lina here might have been more ruthless than Margo Channing in All About Eve, as her pretty face and Brooklyn accent hide a more sinister plan designed to destroy the new star in her way. And yes, Debbie Reynolds makes quite the impression in her star-making performance.

There are many movies about how seedy Hollywood can be. But this might be one of the few that mixes the darkness with the fun of a Busby Berkeley number and finding the light at the end of the tunnel.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Singin' is one the greatest indeed. I don't think I've ever seen it in a cinema, I should.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Two Gene Kelly movies in two days. Before Singin' in the Rain, Kelly got his Oscar with this romance of an painting expatriate in France who when finding his big break with a rich benefactor, falls in love with another woman who's connected with his crooner friend. The plot isn't as entertaining as Singin' in the Rain (though it was enough for Damien Chazelle to steal from it for La La Land) but once again, the dancing scenes (lensed by film noir legend John Alton) are impressive, the dream sequence with the pianist and his many different selves is advanced for 1951, and Leslie Caron is beautiful in the film that launched her career (though in my opinion, Lili might be my favorite film of hers). But maybe it's unfair to compare it to Singin' in the Rain as it's more in tone with another Parisian film, Funny Face. Which is better? It's hard to say.

Up next: Barry Lyndon.
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