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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My first visit to a Fathom Events screening and possibly my last. Basically a private screening, the showing (streamed from a satellite feed rather than the DCP's and Blu-rays I'm used to) was very blurry, looking like an upscaled DVD, the sound cut out a few times, and worse of all, the feed cut out in the middle of the film and I was treated to a screensaver (at least it paused at the exact point it stopped). I would have asked for a refund but since I watched the entire movie, I didn't think I'd get one (also, I didn't think Regal would be happy reporting a box office gross of $0).

As for the film itself, it's no Hoosiers but it's a cut above most other football movies for two reasons: Charles S. Dutton and Jon Favreau. Dutton's character is perhaps the best thing in the film as his take-no-shit attitude works to keep the film grounded in reality and not let to get too out there while Favreau reminds me of a younger Happy Hogan for some reason. It's also funny to see Vince Vaughn young and thin.

Suspiria is still up next and that's a 4K restoration so it's sure to look much better.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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I took my kid to the screening of the first two Harry Potters Sunday. AMC is playing all of them two every Sunday for all of September. I would totally go to those Fathom films except I'd have to pay for it instead of using one of my subscription services. It's going to have to be something pretty awesome for me to fork that money over considering everything else is a fixed monthly cost.

I don't understand why stuff like the Canelo vs GGG fight (even more expensive than Fathom) is part of A-List, but these aren't. I'm not complaining, just wondering.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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I would have liked to gone to the first Harry Potter but they didn't show them here. I'm sure they would have done better than the showing of The Happytime Murders I was at.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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The 4K restoration of Dario Argento's biggest commercial success is good. Too good, even, as some effects don't work as well as they should (the sequence with the bat has some obvious string while an early shot involving a glowing pair of eyes has a brief glimpse of said eyes' owner). But anyway, the star of the film is the beautiful production design (it made me wonder why today's directors hate color so much) and those last 12 minutes are still the big highlight of the plot (I have a hard time believing the remake and its dull-looking color scheme can top it). It's also a memory of what horror was before it became all about slashers and people thinking horror meant "blood and boobs".

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

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Buscemi2 wrote:I would have liked to gone to the first Harry Potter but they didn't show them here. I'm sure they would have done better than the showing of The Happytime Murders I was at.
They both sold out. I grabbed tickets to the next three weekends.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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It's no Planes, Trains and Automobiles but John Hughes' directorial debut still holds up, despite a lot of issues with things that wouldn't fly today (the Asian stereotyping and date rape elements). Once you get past that, it's basically a proto-Breakfast Club but with one high school instead of five and the setting taking place outside of the high school. In fact, I might go out on a limb and say it's better than The Breakfast Club because it's not as overexposed and still maintains a lot of the humor Hughes displayed in National Lampoon's Vacation. What I believe really elevates the film (besides the moments with the grandparents) is the party sequence, which is alternately funny and horrifying. What sets the sequence apart from others is that the sequence is not meant to glorify the culture. In fact, I should a lot of kids thought twice about going to these house parties (expect for Bogey Lowenstein's party in 10 Things I Hate About You, that guy deserved to have his house trashed).

After the movie, I logged my viewing on Letterboxd and found pretty much everyone there hates this film because of the issues I mentioned while choosing to ignore everything else. But can really take at face value a place calls themselves film people but recommended Tomb Raider, a film panned by most critics?

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

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Yes, another 1993 film released by TriStar. Nora Ephron's tribute to An Affair to Remember (itself a remake of 1939's Love Affair, which was remade again in 1994) is still an entertaining romance that could be seen as the peak of the 1990's romantic comedy. Smart dialogue, a plot that is touching when many films after it are seen as trite, and perfectly cast leads, it's what much of the genre sought to ape. It makes you wonder what went wrong with the genre. Did filmmakers ignore why this film worked? Did things get too old hat? Or did audiences just move on to overbudgeted action movies and star-driven comedies?

Maybe I'm overthinking it and realize that you can't get any better than Tom Hanks.

Up next: Carrie (De Palma's version)
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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After seeing this again, I have to wonder who in their right mind thought a remake, especially one that reused so much of the original script, was a good idea. Brian De Palma made a near-perfect film the first time around, with an excellent cast, effective scares, and a plot that manages to mix horror and drama extremely well. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie were both nominated for Oscars (rare for the horror genre) and it's not hard to see why. Spacek might be the only actor who could pull off this character. Her ability at showing this character's shyness and vulnerability progressively break out into relentless terror is something that few actors could successfully pull off. And the few that could do it today wouldn't come close to doing a low-budget horror film (unless Jordan Peele or a respected director was doing it). Piper Laurie played Margaret as over the top as possible but it's somehow believable, seeing how she's playing a religious zealot and there's a lot of them. In fact, I'd go out on a limb and say nearly all of the major players give good performances. It's amazing to note how many careers this film launched (Amy Irving, William Katt, John Travolta, Nancy Allen, P.J. Soles, Betty Buckley).

But despite its importance to the horror genre and the careers of De Palma and Stephen King (this was the first adaptation of his work), it seems like more talk online is devoted to getting the director's cut of the 2013 version released. And all I can say is that those people needing to stop putting their creepy fascination of Chloe Grace Moretz ahead of them and realize that it's a much inferior film to this predecessor. In fact, I might say Carrie 2013 is worse than Psycho 1998.

Up next: The World According to Garp.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Don't know if it helps you out or not, but with the passing of Burt Reynolds AMC is playing Smokey and the Bandit in many of their theaters (I read 240) this weekend at a price of $5 or less. The four Harry Potter showings I went to the past two weeks (same price) have had a good crowd at them. It'd be nice if they continued to do this. They only make like $250-500 per theater for the two showings combined, but having it themed like this makes people want to spend money on concessions during the back to back movies. If they did, say, Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run back to back one Sunday I think they could draw a decent crowd. Or a couple horror films (a Halloween weekend, a Friday the 13th one, etc).
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Smokey and the Bandit's showing here tonight at the Drafthouse. Because I'm seeing Garp, I couldn't go but it sold out fast.

The Regal here is also getting it on Friday only.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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Even though this was based on a highly regarded novel, I have to wonder if audiences in 1982 were unsure about this adaptation, seeing how it was from a director that usually did crowd-pleasing blockbusters and starred a TV actor whose last film was critically panned. I have a feeling a lot of people were surprised by how it turned out. This is really the first time Robin Williams got to show his range as an actor. We all knew him for being funny but he was also a good serious actor and this one of those films where he got to show off his ability. In fact, the whole cast is quite good. Steve Teisch, who adapted the book to the screen, wrote some really smart dialogue and the combination of dark humor and human drama blends itself well when it could have easily misfired. George Roy Hill was very much up to the task when handling difficult material.

I also didn't realize Amanda Plummer was in this. Her role is small but it's important to the plot.

Up next: To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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The American Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Instead of Alice Springs, our protagonists get stranded in the Deep South and a larger emphasis is placed on the camp aspects. Some critics and audiences were put off by the similarities and a few deemed Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo miscast but I think the outside-the-box nature (especially for a big studio film produced by Spielberg's company) is what makes this film fun and infectious. Snipes and Swayze do very well against type while Leguizamo is perfect in his role. The film also made me wish someone would bring back this kind of movie in some capacity again. Everything is serious or has be done up like Marvel Studios nowadays.

And I'd forgotten Robin Williams was in this. It's interesting how this kind of relates to seeing The World According to Garp the night before.

Up next: To Sir, with Love.
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Re: What Are You Watching Right Now? Episode 3 - Turtles in

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One of the first notable inspirational teacher movies, Shogun novelist James Clavell directs Sidney Poitier (who had a hell of a 1967) in this drama about an engineer who takes a temporary job teaching troubled teens in Swinging London and in the process does what others failed to do: understand them. Some might see the film as dated but I view it as an interesting snapshot of the era, an era that was still battling through life after World War II but was slowly but surely beginning to change. It's also the interesting case of a kitchen sink drama that managed to find popularity in the US (though I'm sure some Americanization and a popular title track by co-star Lulu helped). Poitier is very good but he usually was and I'd forgotten Judy Geeson did more than just horror films. And Suzy Kendall (also of many horror films) looked fine in a pair of glasses.

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

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Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator made Arnold an action cinema hero. But this film made him a legend. Basically a live-action video game (as noted by James Rolfe in a recent recap), Commando is basically 90 minutes of Arnold mowing down villains in set-ups even more over-the-top than before and one-liners that The Oak probably hasn't topped since. We think of Dwayne Johnson as the new Arnie but I don't think The Rock would ever do a film like this one. He's too busy trying to play to the widest possible audience to even think of killing guys with circular blades and steam pipes.

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

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The only Star Wars parody we'll ever need (though Robot Chicken's Star Wars specials are better than the current Star Wars movies). Mel Brooks' love letter to the space opera is near-perfect and despite its penchant for raunchiness sometimes (I can't think of a PG movie with more dick jokes), it has an innocence that we don't see in today's culture of humor. Bill Pullman's performance doesn't get enough love. In fact, he might be one of the most underrated actors working today (and he got John Dahl, one of the most entertaining 90's directors and one of the best TV directors today, his start). And you can't go wrong with Rick Moranis and John Candy in the same film.

And since it was an Alamo Drafthouse Movie Party, there was free stuff. Sadly, my Schwartz was broken. :(

Up next: Dazed and Confused.
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