Last Movie Watched

[John A Arkansawyer]

It was good, but it was no Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

[beantownbubba]

shouldn't it be The VelociPriest?

Shouldn't it just not be?

Finally got around to seeing the entire movie of Point Break (I'd seen parts of it over the years). It raises the eternal question, what distinguishes a good bad movie from a mere bad movie? I don't know, but like most of us, I know it when i see it and this one's definitely on the "good bad" side of the line. But really, was there not one person in the entire production process who couldn't have fixed "I went to law school on a football scholarship"? Sheesh. I'm sure there's a Point Break cult out there somewhere so have they ever figured out why Bodhi decided to hit the vault in the last bank?

I have no idea why I decided to watch Billy Jack again after all these years, but I did. This is a third form: It's arguably a good movie, not a good bad movie (though if I had first seen it as an adult my opinion might be different given the cartoon like nature of the us versus them structure), but has there ever been a serious movie w/ worse production values? These days, a student film shot on a phone would be of better quality. The only surprising thing about the movie is that all the issues the movie covers are still major issues in our society today from race and racism to respect for other cultures (or not), to rape/violence against women, to the protection of the environment (not just climate change, but I saw it a few days after the Administration announced it was rolling back endangered species protections, ending decades of broad consensus on basic environmental matters, etc, etc.

[pearlbeer]

Saw this Doc in the theater last night. It is excellent. Highly recommend.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

rewatching

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Wow, two good Billy Jack articles. One came out today and it referenced the other one from 2017

In the year of Dirty Harry, an unlikely action phenomenon made hippies the heroes

The Strange Saga of Billy Jack








I had the Billy Jack hat when I was a kid. My mother would take us to see the most wildly inappropriate films, and Billy Jack was no exception. Saw it in a now-defunct old film palace in downtown Asheville, and they gave away the hats. The Kent State-like massacre scene in The Trial of Billy Jack gave me nightmares...... thanks mom

Here's a nugget from the Strange Saga article:

After two years of legal battles, Laughlin and Warner Bros. settled out of court under the agreement that the studio would allow Laughlin to proceed with his own personally devised national re-release strategy for Billy Jack, with Warners handling the distribution costs and any profits split down the middle. Laughlin’s strategy hinged on a practice known as “four-walling,” wherein a producer or distributor would rent a theatre for a flat weekly fee and keep all of the box-office revenue, rather than dividing profits with the exhibitor. Prior to Laughlin, no one had ever attempted a four-wall release on so wide a scale, and expending such an effort on a two-year-old film was viewed as a huge risk.

................

Riding high on his unprecedented success, the maverick auteur struck a deal with Warner Bros. to distribute the highly anticipated sequel, The Trial of Billy Jack, which, like its predecessor, set a new milestone for movie distribution. Securing four-week commitments from theatre owners across the country, Laughlin opened Trial on over 1,200 screens nationwide in November 1974 — an unheard-of practice at the time, when even major hits such as The Godfather were released in a traditional platform pattern, opening first in the major media markets and then, if it proved successful, gradually fanning out across the country over the next few months. But once again, Laughlin proved to be a prophet where profits were concerned: on its opening weekend Trial took in $11 million, a massive take for that era (and especially impressive for a nearly three-hour film). Nine months later, Universal Pictures copied Laughlin’s wide-release strategy for a little picture called Jaws — and the rest, as they say, is history.

[scotto]

Good stuff.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

saw the restored version of this yesterday in the theater, superb!

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Saw this Doc in the theater last night. It is excellent. Highly recommend.

It finally came to our arthouse this week. Absolutely loved it! Re-fell in love with her at least 8 different times during the film. Had to remind myself not to give a standing ovation after each live performance. Came away with an even deeper respect for her than I had going in, and that's something. Wish I could go to the last showing today but alas can't make it.

Do not miss this if you have the chance to see it


and here is some sweet live footage from 1976

[Beaverdam]

Last night my family was going to see the new Maleficent movie. The Joker was playing at the same time on another screen, and I asked my wife and she let me see The Joker instead. The Joker movie was extremely well done.

[scotto]

Been watching this one at least once a year since I discovered it in the '80s and it gets better every time.

[beantownbubba]

Been watching this one at least once a year since I discovered it in the '80s and it gets better every time.

Hmmm... Don't know it, will have to check it out. Thx.

[scotto]

Been watching this one at least once a year since I discovered it in the '80s and it gets better every time.

Hmmm... Don't know it, will have to check it out. Thx.

If you like film noir, Mitchum's the best. He's overshadowed by Bogart, but for cigarette-smoking, slang-slinging, world-weary antiheroes, he's the king.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

this was infinitely better than any right it had to be (and I generally loathe Wahlberg)! Tons of LOL stuff, very good ensemble cast, and perfectly navigates the cleverly stupid tightrope

[Flea]

[Flea]

Parasite

It's very very good. Go in knowing nothing.

[John A Arkansawyer]

The kid said it'd be okay if I cried. I didn't, but it was a near thing:

[Zip City]

Saw Frozen 2 with the family. It was way better than I was expecting

[Flea]

The Irishman is really good. Watch in one sitting if you can. I couldn't.

[beantownbubba]

Ford v. Ferrari - Professional, well acted, enjoyable if you don't expect too much.

[beantownbubba]

Ford v. Ferrari - Professional, well acted, enjoyable if you don't expect too much.

PS The fact that "Daddy's Cup" isn't featured on this soundtrack and is not even on the soundtrack at all is hard to understand. Who knows which of the many possible reason(s) for this actually applies, but I sure hope it's not the band's mgt falling down on the job; this just seems like such an obvious opportunity.

[Shakespeare]

This was certainly impressive and a relatively breezy watch for the language barrier and layered themes. I thought it got just a bit heavy handed with its film/reality parallels at times (felt like a few too many instances of dialogue explicitly reenforcing something that we just saw happen, when i thought it could have stood strong enough on its own) but it was admittedly overall not the kind of thing I generally want from a movie so I can't hold it against it. greater lovers of this kind of prestige cinema would probably get a lot more out of it, as it doubles as a love letter to film making in general and has some great shots of a film set and all its chaos. well made at any rate and I did enjoy it


Can't believe I hadn't seen this, because it hits so many of my cheap comedy sweet spots. what a ride. Sandler, buscemi, Fraser lead it wonderfully, supported by great smaller roles by Michael McKean, joe Mantegna (don't think I'd ever seen this guy but I immediately recognized the voice of fat Tony), chris farley, Michael Richards, Ernie Hudson, David arquette. Even a Lemmy cameo, not to mention all the great band stickers and posters in the background. Really fun (and obviously dumb as hell) movie with one of those golden era sandler characters thats a real buffoon but good-hearted at his core.


This was just wonderful and I want to watch it again right away. Demys follow-up to the umbrellas of Cherbourg, which i watched a few weeks ago. not a proper sequel but similar themes and of course Catherine deneuves magnetic presence. I think I actually preferred this one overall. It's just as visually and aurally delightful but I liked the story more (missed connections are the major theme, and it depicts this with so many moments of characters a second behind the mate we know theyre destined to meet but demy kept pulling it off well enough to avoid tedium) and felt the musical treatment elevated it more than umbrellas' did. Also the score was a lot more rooted in american jazz so that helped. Really just loved this a whole lot

[beantownbubba]

Shakes! Good to see ya!

I remember loving Day for Night back in the day, but man, that day was a while back. And I don't think I've seen Les Demoiselles so thanks for that tip.

Knives Out - Enjoyable, fun movie but don't bring a lot of expectations to it. Pacing was a problem as it dragged for about 20 minutes in the middle. My wife and I had fun afterwards identifying a whole bunch of bits and pieces that seemed to just hang, as if a bunch of subplots got lost on the cutting room floor, which is a sort of odd reaction to a movie but which is not meant to detract from our overall positive take. I confess that I was confused by one major plot element, but I'm pretty sure that was me, not the movie - my wife didn't have any problem following it.

The Irishman - Nothing to add to what's been said. Great talents applying their talents to what they do best. The CGI stuff is interesting and will no doubt have an impact on movies for some time but it wasn't glaring in a detracting way and basically was done right - technology in service of the story, not the other way around. Felt like the end of an era in some ways, as in "there's nothing else we can possibly say about wise guys." One unfortunate side effect: It has made me really want to listen to Dylan's "Joey." I have resisted so far but I suspect I'll break down before long.

[Shakespeare]

you as well!

id recommend both the umbrellas of cherbourg and the young girls of rochefort (forgive the english). im generally not a musical guy but theyre both such delightful spectacles id think its hard to not enjoy either. rochefort gets the nod on deeper consideration though

definitely want to see more of demy's movies but it appears ive drained my library systems stock already

[bovine knievel]

[tinnitus photography]

i watched Spring Breakers again last night, first time since it was in the theaters.

[Shakespeare]

this was extremely good! id never seen a malick movie so i didnt know what kind of a gamble this was considering serious film is a dicey proposition for me but i felt like it really nailed the sweet spot of an entertaining story to feel invested in as it unfolded, serious craft, and stuff to think about after the fact. i'll probably always treat movies as more of a lark than anything serious, so an extremely skillfully made work of film doesnt mean anything on its own. this wasnt at all the case here but it did have some really gorgeous backdrops and music. actually felt it was way too short, and 90-100 minutes is generally where i want any movie to land.

cant say i was entirely sold on the voiceover. it certainly would have been an entirely different movie without it and i get that it was almost its own character, but it still seemed a bit much. i gather its kinda malicks thing though, and it didnt necessarily detract for me.

my girlfriend hated it, largely on account of the 25 and 15 years old thing but given the era and the real life basis, idk. i guess it didnt have to be that extreme but i think the movie handled it fairly well. i only really felt squeamish about it once but i think even that wasnt played for a cheap thrill. it mattered in the story.

[Flea]

this was extremely good! id never seen a malick movie so i didnt know what kind of a gamble this was considering serious film is a dicey proposition for me but i felt like it really nailed the sweet spot of an entertaining story to feel invested in as it unfolded, serious craft, and stuff to think about after the fact. i'll probably always treat movies as more of a lark than anything serious, so an extremely skillfully made work of film doesnt mean anything on its own. this wasnt at all the case here but it did have some really gorgeous backdrops and music. actually felt it was way too short, and 90-100 minutes is generally where i want any movie to land.

cant say i was entirely sold on the voiceover. it certainly would have been an entirely different movie without it and i get that it was almost its own character, but it still seemed a bit much. i gather its kinda malicks thing though, and it didnt necessarily detract for me.

my girlfriend hated it, largely on account of the 25 and 15 years old thing but given the era and the real life basis, idk. i guess it didnt have to be that extreme but i think the movie handled it fairly well. i only really felt squeamish about it once but i think even that wasnt played for a cheap thrill. it mattered in the story.

[Zip City]

Finally saw "It Follows". Cool premise, but weirdly just not very scary