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

[Ron Burgundy]

Big Night
And what a night it was for those involved! Both Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub were terrific, so too Ian Holm. There were at least 2 scenes where nobody talked and yet you knew exactly what the players were feeling, and thats good film-making. The accents were wonderful, the set design was great, but most importantly the relationships between brothers, rivals- both work and sex, the small community and offcourse, food and its preparation. I loved this film, and i want more! Tell me what should i watch after this? (yes i know, Bill Durham is still on the cards, but after that?)
8.5/10

[JohnErle]

Glad you liked it, Ron. I'm not sure what else I'd recommend off the top of my head. Like Water For Chocolate is another bit of food porn from around the same time, and Quiz Show is another movie from the mid 90s that beautifully recreates the same era. And if you like Bull Durham (not Bill) you can't go wrong with Eight Men Out, another brilliant baseball movie. Heck, just search for my top 100 and start working your way through it. They're all amazing.

[Chienfantome]

Glad you loved Big Night Ron. From the same era and the same New York setting and with some of the same actors (Tucci, Schreiber, Campbell Scott), another indie gem I'd recommend is Greg Mottola's The Daytrippers.

[Ron Burgundy]

Ok, Bull Durham next then The Daytrippers. I really liked Quiz Show, probably could re-visit that too.

[numbersix]

Finally got around to watching The Friends of Eddie Coyle, one of the 5 films before 1980 that are on Netflix. It's a very 70s take on a crime drama, focusing mainly on Eddie who acts as a middleman for supplying guns to a gang who commit tiger kidnappings in order to rob banks. Poor Eddie's out of luck, as he's about to be sent back to prison and his only choice is to offer himself as informer to a dirty cop. The film also follows those around him, including the cop, the gun supplier, and the gang themselves. It's a film about being part of a larger system you have no clue about, and how that system can turn on you without you even knowing about it. Defying the traditions of typical Hollywood storytelling, it's a gritty and harsh film that tells unflinching truths about the unglamorous world of crime. In a way, I see some similarities between this and Killing Them Softly.

7/10

[Buscemi]

I actually watched The Friends of Eddie Coyle again recently. It's interesting to note that back in the 1970's, a film like this was considered a big Summer movie (also weirdly released as a Summer movie that same year: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid). Nowadays, it would be a early-to-mid Fall release.

[numbersix]

I actually watched The Friends of Eddie Coyle again recently. It's interesting to note that back in the 1970's, a film like this was considered a big Summer movie (also weirdly released as a Summer movie that same year: Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid). Nowadays, it would be a early-to-mid Fall release.

Absolutely. And released on 5 screen and expanding to a maximum of 250.

[Chienfantome]

Damn, I don't think i've ever heard of that film.

[Buscemi]

It's got Robert Mitchum, Chien.

[Chienfantome]

I know I went to IMDb to see what it was, but it didn't ring any bell

[Chienfantome]

The other night on Paramount Channel I stumbled upon "Pretty in Pink", which I had never seen. I love "Breakfast Club", and yet I don't have seen many films of the so-called Brat Pack. Si I watched it. It was a harmless, sometimes fun, quite predictable little teenage comedy. It's funny because I went to see Paris Texas 10 days ago in theater, and I really wasn't expecting to see Harry Dean Stanton in Pretty in Pink right after seeing it. Anyway, Pretty in Pink was ok, but it's no Breakfast Club 6/10

[numbersix]

Someone tell Chien his account has been hacked.

Watching a movie on TV? Nice try, hacker.

[Ron Burgundy]

Yeah what is this? We all know Chien doesn't watch movies on a tiny little pathetic TV screen. I demand to know who you are!

[Chienfantome]

Now that I must watch dozens of Korean films on a small screen for the Korean Film Festival, I'm getting used to watching them on a small screen, so every once in a while, for a film I know won't ever get re-released in Paris, well... I'm ashamed to say it but... yeah, I crack up and agree to watch a film on TV. I know I'm losing all respect from you all, I shouldn't have, I should have been strong. Alright, it won't happen again (til the next time)

[numbersix]

The Hobbit Part 2: The Desolation of Smaug - 4/10
Utter nonsense. As enjoyable as the working of the subtitle. Another 2.5+ hours of drivel, endless exposition and the introduction of new character while simultaneously doing very little to develop the existing characters we already have. The subplot between Handsome Dwarf and Kate from Lost is so painfully dull and slows the plot. But then again, at least an hour of the films could be cut, particularly the first few sequences which are very arbitrary. Lost of boring references to the emergence of Sauromon, which means the film can only work as a precursor to the vastly superior LOTR trilogy and little else. There are two great sequences, the barrel chase and the dragon fight, and that's about it, but even they suffer from length and logic issues. Plus, the physics and lighting of the CGI are off-putting, the elves moving like they exist in a different dimension, which reduces the immediacy and impact of the action.

I was interested in seeing the final part in cinemas just for closure, but now I feel like I'm being used so much as a consumer that I'd rather illegally download Part 3.