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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Last night, I saw Alfred Hitchcock's follow-up to Psycho. Sure, the effects might have dated some but it's still an effective horror film with an excellent sound mix and chills that only the master of suspense could pull off. I also like how Hitchcock decided not to have a score to go with the film, making the film colder and scarier in the process. While most horror films telegraph the action by using music, Hitchcock decides to have things build organically. The man's had many imitators but few can live up to Alfred himself.

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

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In February, I saw an Agnes Varda film in the theatre. This month, a Jacques Demy film.

One of the first lines in this musical involves Guy telling his co-workers that he's going to see an opera and a co-worker responding that he likes movies better. And that's basically what the film is. An opera made by someone who prefers the magic of film. And it's something that would not have the same effect had it been done in English by a lesser director. Only a director like Demy could make a film like this work and it not feel like an excuse to get attention. Demy puts an incredible amount of detail into the direction and the style. And the story is much like that of a classic tragedy.

Speaking of the story, I must wonder how much of it is drawn from Demy's own life. Because compared to a lot of other musicals, this one feels much more personal.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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I'm convinced The Marx Brothers invented riffing and may or may not have inspired Joel Hodgson to create Mystery Science Theater 3000. Their quick wit and penchant for puns and zingers make this short film of 68 minutes (two minutes of footage cut due to the Hays Code remain lost) a breeze. True to the brothers' origins in vaudeville, the film is a mix of wild comedy and music and might be more of a musical than a lot of what is considered a musical film today (I'm looking at you, Baby Driver). This movie also makes me wish I had Groucho for a science teacher. Those would have been some fun classes.

And after the movie, they showed The Three Stooges' Punch Drunks, where Curly becomes a KO master via Pop Goes the Weasel (and yes, this is where Riggs' crazy routine from Lethal Weapon comes from). It's an early short so it's not as heavy on the physical comedy but you can see where a lot of the trademarks come from (Moe as the leader, Larry as the straight man, Curly as the comic relief). And though the famous Curly spin isn't in this one, I am convinced he invented breakdancing.

Up next: Hoosiers.

Edit: I am now 9/10's through my 2018 goal of ten decades. Someone around me please show a 1920's film.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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The best basketball movie. A film so good an actual basketball team (the Indiana Pacers) wears Hickory High jerseys as alternates.

And I never realized that Dennis Hopper still had some Frank Booth left in the tank for Shooter (but things stayed family-friendly this time).

Not much else to say.

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

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Yeah Hoosiers is good, i re watched it some time last year and it wasn't quite as good as i remembered.

Ive been ploughing through a bunch of 80s movies lately,

Blood Simple 6.5/10
Willow 5.5/10
The Accidental Tourist 4/10
Crimes and Misdemeanours (rewatch) 7/10
At Close Range 3/10
The Big Picture 4.5/10
Private Benjamin 4/10
9 to 5 4.5/10
The Princess Bride (rewatch) 7.5/10
Brewster's Millions (rewatch) 7/10
The Thin Blue Line (rewatch) 8.5/10
Basil the Great Mouse Detective 5/10

Having real trouble finding something from the 80s that i haven't seen or heard of which blows me away. Boosh, wanna help me out??!
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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We've got a restaurant about an hour north of here who still has a signed photo hanging up of Hackman visiting there during the filming of Hoosiers. Apparently he ate there often during filming, which was actually just over the border in Illinois.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Next month, the Film Club here is showing The World According to Garp. That might be up your alley, Ron.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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The theory that Daniel is the villain is stupid. Cobra Kai very clearly caused the conflict that led to Daniel fighting back. Sure, you could say they were egged on by Kreese (whom I'm realized is a Westernized version of every villain from a 70's martial arts film) but they are still very responsible for their actions.

Also, this theory misses the actual heart of the story: the teacher-student relationship between Mr. Miyagi and Daniel. Mr. Miyagi, the wise sage, teaches Daniel, the untested kid, more than how to fight. He teaches him to become a man. Also, the relationship is much like a surrogate father and son relationship if you take note of Miyagi's character-building moment of him reflecting on his past.

In short, the film is more than battles and 80's cheese. There's an emotional core that's much like the director's Rocky. Don't take your film theory lessons from a douchebro TV character.

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

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The movie that freed a wrongly convicted man. Errol Morris basically made concepts like Serial and the entire cottage industry of crime-based TV channels possible with this groundbreaking breakdown of the miscarriage of justice that occurred in 1976 and 1977 when Ohio transplant Randall Adams was accused of and charged with the murder of a Dallas cop. The only problem: he wasn't there when it happened, despite the city's insistence that he did it. Morris' blow-by-blow account is eye-opening and makes you wonder (even now) how many innocent people are in jail and how many guilty people are on the street scot-free. Also, the legal system in Texas is pretty fucked up.

And my mom even joined me for this screening and she never goes to see old movies (the only other one I recall was Forrest Gump). I did have to explain the whole Adams getting out after the release of the film though as she knew nothing of the case.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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I watched a few on the weekend,

Strange Magic
Sometimes, animation and musical mix- see half of Disney's movies. When you force light comedy and have a pretty terrible script (plus way too many songs) you end up with a saccharine contrived pile of turd. Im constantly amazed by what i can sit through (that said, many occasions im on the PC or smartphone to get me through)
1.5/10

Mr Nobody
Been wanting to see this for a few years, so i was pretty pumped for it when i did. That said, this existential sci-fi flick which jumps time periods, follows relationships and ponders life questions is a bit of a letdown. Not because of the performances, Jared Leto holds up well. It just felt a little too ambitious, trying to go for a deepness that is too ambigious. In the end it doesn't say much.
5.5/10

Tag
Watching this, you feel like its a pretty silly story, then at the end it revealed this (though not as exagerrated) actually happened. Jeremy Renner playing this un-tag-able ninja being followed by a bunch of bumbling adults who never grew up- Ed Helms (perfecting his role as mr average, i starting to really hate this guy), Jake Johnson as token stoner dude (in his best role ever, weird) and Jon Hamm (awesomely miscast) as executive of a major company who steps outside of his highbrow life to play Tag for the entire month of May. There are some fun moments but ultimately the studio injected one too many crazy scene where you just end up thinking: this is stupid.
5/10

Game Night
Perhaps a good film to watch alongside of Tag. Slightly similar plots, both average comedies with big name actors. The catch is that neither film is actually funny. This one is so contrived and yet there are some good moments, thanks mostly to Jesse Plemons loner cop and some decent on set chemistry from the cast. Still, too many wtf scenes: like Jason Bateman getting shot in the arm, then pretending like it didn't happen for the rest of the movie (apart from one scene- where he lets it bleed all over his neighbors house, a cop, failing to clean it up like an idiot and then just upping and leaving) OR Kyle Chandler setting up the movie, telling his buddies they're in for a massive "game night" then getting attacked by someone else and not asking for help until he gets his mouth covered by duct tape. I mean, who to blame for this crap? I suppose John Francis Daly, who wrote this. But hey, it made some money, people bought in so who am i to argue.
4.5/10

Far From the Madding Crowd
A tale of some young single lady from the days where horse drawn carts where a thing. She has 3 potential suiters, all drooling with massive erections, who does she pick? Its actually not as bad as it sounds but theres not a whole lot about this romantic tale besides some half decent characters.
5/10

Upgrade
Saving the best for last, this was really interesting. In a future where driverless cars, humans with guns INSIDE their arms and microchips inserted in people are the norm, Logan Marshall Green faces the age old movie question of what really happened to his wife? I think this is not a movie for everyone, some people will hate it but for me it was good, for the future tech and refreshingly solid action- especially for a lower budget film. I know my dad is gonna love this, thats for sure. Its basically a revenge flick with high brow tech stuff as the "upgrade" but there are some major plot amplifiers which im not gonna go into here but you can imagine what it is.
6.5/10
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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I really didn't get the praise for Upgrade. It's basically Hardcore Henry without the first person perspective and yet people acted as if it was original. It's strange that a film that was hyped just two years ago has basically been forgotten (I'm convinced a lot of it has to do with Hardcore Henry being Russian and Western culture can't like anything that's Russian anymore).

It's kind of like how The Nice Guys was praised as the next great buddy cop movie. Uh, it's nothing more than a simplified Inherent Vice made for people who couldn't follow that film's plot.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Yeah well, i tried watching Hardcore Henry and didnt like the 1st person thing, that said i was blind drunk at the time so prob wouldn't have liked much at all. And i dont think many people even tried to watch Hardcore Henry let alone heard of it.

And same goes for Inherent Vice, not alotta people saw that one either. Thats the thing about Hollywood, you can rehash a movie a million times. I wouldnt say The Nice Guys was a great buddy cop movie but it wasn't bad.

And awesome Doc Rivers GIF, i think ill try make one of those
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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John Woo's first American film is actually a better film seen in the theatre than at home. Watching it on a big screen with its dynamic sound (it was the third film officially released with a DTS track) and an audience having fun with Woo's penchant for graphic violence (nearly 20 minutes got cut to get an R rating) and that JCVD cheesiness, it makes you appreciate the film even more. Yes, the last half-hour gets very campy but it might be one of the best adaptations of The Most Dangerous Game brought to the screen.

Up next: 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Edit: I just realized that this is the 100th film I've seen in a theatre this year. Last year, I saw 78 in total.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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I got to attend what was basically a private screening (being the only person in a 300 seat IMAX theatre) of Stanley Kubrick's classic today. And AMC was even nice enough to start the film five minutes early and without the usual 18-20 minutes of trailers (but of course, roadshow presentations are never supposed to have previews before). And unsurprisingly, it's quite the experience on a big screen.

It's been said that 2001 changed everything but outside of special effects, I think filmmakers were encouraged more by the later Star Wars. It's a slow burn and I'm sure some will wonder what the whole purpose of the Dawn of Man segment is or the monolith or old Dave in his bedroom. In fact, I think it's a mistake for those to go in expecting some audience-pleasing sci-fi or the Christopher Nolan endorsement. If anything, the best comparison might be The Tree of Life (another film Douglas Trumbull worked on). Both feature narratives depicting the history of life strung together by a small cast of characters and lead the audience to think about its meanings and themes. In short, I'm sure a lot of those who live on Marvel and A24 would hate it.

Up next: The Bad News Bears (original).
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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A New Hollywood film for kids! Directed by the versatile Michael Ritchie (who also did The Candidate, Prime Cut, Smile, Fletch, and a favorite of Shryke's, Diggstown), the film is both funny (Tanner is a laugh riot) and truthful in its depiction of little league sports and how the adults will take the fun out of it just to win. Though this film spawned many imitators and made the ragtag sports team comedy marketable, there really hasn't been many films like it. I think a lot of it is due to the adult nature of some of the dialogue but I also think that a lot of it is due to commercial viability. The sequels lost a lot of what made the original work by being more family-friendly (in a way, it's a lot like how the sequels to The Sandlot missed everything of why that film worked). The death of New Hollywood made making something like this again almost impossible. It's just too realistic for the studios.

Meanwhile, I'm convinced Dan Castellaneta based early Homer Simpson on Walter Matthau's character. Castellaneta has always said Homer, particularly his voice, was initially patterned after Matthau and there are similarities between Homer and Buttermaker.

Up next: Suspiria.
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