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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 18, 2019 13:54:08 GMT -5
I finally saw Mad Max for the first time last night at my teen son's behest. Mel Gibson was so young! I could barely recognize him, though he already had the piercing eyes for which he is famous. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for his family to get fridged, and it finally happened, cementing his transformation into a sociopath like the ones he was hunting. His wife did make some pretty poor safety choices throughout the film, considering the lawless world in which she lived and died. Police were called "The Bronze" due to their badges; I guess this is where nightclub The Bronze gets its name in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Question is, did you watch the American dubbed version or the original voice recording? He sounds like Cliff Robertson, in the dubbed version. I originally saw it on Cinemax, in the mid-80s. It took a few viewings to fully catch what was going on, especially with some of the stranger dialogue. What was really silly about the dubbing was that the cop who end up with the voicebox vibrator would have the original Australian recording, right down to Aussie inflections; then, everything else was American. I was so happy when they included the original Australian recording on the dvd, so I could here it as created, right down to Mel's voice and accent. Saw Road Warrior a few years later, in college and it was fantastic, as it really opened the scope of things and turned it into a post-apocalyptic epic. What was hard to believe was that Wez... is also Bennett... in Commando. The totally awesome Vernon Wells.
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Post by Prince Hal on Feb 18, 2019 14:19:58 GMT -5
Hadn't heard of that Vernon Wells! As soon as I read his name, I thought of this Vernon Wells!
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Feb 18, 2019 14:47:21 GMT -5
I also saw this one in the theater when I was 17 and hated it. On leaving the theater, my companion said he liked it, explaining, "I expected a rock-n-roll fable and I got a rock-n-roll fable." My obvious response was, "But did you get a good rock-n-roll fable?" My recollections of the film are similar. Jim Steinman has made a career from amping 50s rock-and-roll tropes up into an American mythology. He was working on the musical that became "Bat Out of Hell" since the early 1970s, feting music from 15 years earlier, and shaping his work into the Meat Loaf album of the late 1970s. He's finally realized "Bat Out of Hell" as the grand stage spectacular that he envisioned originally; I saw it on London's West End two years ago. It was indeed quite a spectacle, with all his bombastic songs wedded to a paper-thin plot based on Peter Pan. I enjoyed it but also found it thematically sad that his central thesis of "Rock and Roll, young forever!" has proved not remotely to be true; the rock demographic aged with Steinman and are now in the latter half of life muttering about that noise that kids call music today. Perfectly stated!
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Feb 18, 2019 14:51:53 GMT -5
I finally saw Mad Max for the first time last night at my teen son's behest. Mel Gibson was so young! I could barely recognize him, though he already had the piercing eyes for which he is famous. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for his family to get fridged, and it finally happened, cementing his transformation into a sociopath like the ones he was hunting. His wife did make some pretty poor safety choices throughout the film, considering the lawless world in which she lived and died. Police were called "The Bronze" due to their badges; I guess this is where nightclub The Bronze gets its name in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Question is, did you watch the American dubbed version or the original voice recording? He sounds like Cliff Robertson, in the dubbed version. I originally saw it on Cinemax, in the mid-80s. It took a few viewings to fully catch what was going on, especially with some of the stranger dialogue. What was really silly about the dubbing was that the cop who end up with the voicebox vibrator would have the original Australian recording, right down to Aussie inflections; then, everything else was American. I was so happy when they included the original Australian recording on the dvd, so I could here it as created, right down to Mel's voice and accent. Saw Road Warrior a few years later, in college and it was fantastic, as it really opened the scope of things and turned it into a post-apocalyptic epic. What was hard to believe was that Wez... is also Bennett... in Commando. The totally awesome Vernon Wells. I first saw Road Warrior in high school when it was first released (and hadn't seen or heard of Mad Max) and it blew my mind. Absolutely loved it and still do. In fact, I often screen it in my Intro to Film class as a model of narrative construction, mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography, and sound. Everything comes together perfectly in that film. (And Fury Road is just as impeccably conceived and executed.) Got to meet Vernon Wells back in 2009 at a con in Anaheim. Funny and nice guy.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 18, 2019 17:44:38 GMT -5
Quigley Down Under. Starring Tom Selleck, Laura San Giacomo and Alan Rickman. Directed by Simon Wincer. Watched this for the first time in probably a decade this weekend. I have a soft spot for this movie as it was one. Selleck is at this likable best. Rickman builds on his role in Die Hard as one of the great villains of the time period. And Laura San Giacomo is wonderfully over-the-top as Crazy Cora (probably helped I had a major crush on her at the time). It was also one of the better westerns following a dry spell for the genre in the late 80s. Wincer was a native Australian and had directed Lonsome Dove, one of the great westerns of all time. This isn't a great film. But it's a whole lot of fun. I didn't realize the long road it took to get to production starting off a Steve McQueen project to follow Tom Horn. Following McQueen's illness and death it entered development hell for a decade.
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Post by Prince Hal on Feb 18, 2019 18:36:41 GMT -5
Slam_Bradley, fully agree on Quigley. Has some powerful moments at the end re the aborigines. Music is, IIRC, by Basil Poledouris, composer of the superb Lonesome Dove score. There are very obvious echoes of it in Quigley. Did not know about the earlier McQueen interest in this. Would have loved to see that, too. Wincer also directed The Phantom, which never got the crediit it deserved.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2019 11:36:42 GMT -5
On Turner Classic Movies
SUNDAY 17TH ... STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A (1951) ... Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando Classic MONDAY 18TH ... KHARTOUM (1966) ... Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier ... Great Movie Here WEDNESDAY 20TH ... INHERIT THE WIND (1960) ... Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly ... One of my favorite March Film. WEDNESDAY 20TH ... 12 ANGRY MEN (1957) ... Unreal Film and really was into this film this time around. WEDNESDAY 20TH ... ALGIERS (1938) ... One of the Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr best films and I really enjoyed it. THURSDAY 21ST ... MISS SADIE THOMPSON (1953) ... Starring Rita Hayworth and loved this film dearly. THURSDAY 21ST ... MOGAMBO (1953) ... Great African Tale involving Ava Gardner, Gene Kelly, and Clark Gable. Great Photography. FRIDAY 22ND ... MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949) ... Loved this Terry Moore film more than ever.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2019 23:32:06 GMT -5
SULLY (2016)It was done just brilliantly Produced and Directed by Clint Eastwood over the account of Flight 1549 that landed on the Hudson River that both engines were damaged by bird strikes and all that. It was intense movie and I may add that Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart acted just nothing short of realism that I find in that movie very commendable of the research that the whole filmmaking crew put together. Laura Linney as Lorrie Sullenberger, Chesty's wife was real as she can be and I find her acting quite good and refreshing too of her ability to keep her girls informed about their Father's whereabouts and keeping it real as the days goes on during the course of the intense investigation that both Captain and First Officer were correct despite all the Simulations that Airbus and NTSB can to offer. Katie Couric had a pleasant cameo in this film and this is my 3rd time that I seen it since 2016 and this becoming a Tom Hanks favorites ... The Real Captain, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Hanks ... 10th Anniversary Video done by ABC News
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 25, 2019 1:41:52 GMT -5
On Turner Classic MoviesSUNDAY 17TH ... STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A (1951) ... Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando Classic MONDAY 18TH ... KHARTOUM (1966) ... Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier ... Great Movie Here WEDNESDAY 20TH ... INHERIT THE WIND (1960) ... Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly ... One of my favorite March Film. WEDNESDAY 20TH ... 12 ANGRY MEN (1957) ... Unreal Film and really was into this film this time around. WEDNESDAY 20TH ... ALGIERS (1938) ... One of the Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr best films and I really enjoyed it. THURSDAY 21ST ... MISS SADIE THOMPSON (1953) ... Starring Rita Hayworth and loved this film dearly. THURSDAY 21ST ... MOGAMBO (1953) ... Great African Tale involving Ava Gardner, Gene Kelly, and Clark Gable. Great Photography. FRIDAY 22ND ... MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949) ... Loved this Terry Moore film more than ever. Ah, Inherit the Wind and 12 Angry Men: two masterclasses in acting!
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Post by brutalis on Feb 25, 2019 8:53:53 GMT -5
Spent Sunday morning relaxing with a pair of Hope/Crosby movies. Road to Morocco and Road to Singapore.
Singapore made in 1940 co-starring Dorothy Lamour, Anthony Quinn and Jerry Colonna. 2 friends Hope and Crosby want to escape the demands of marriage and working and disappear to the island of Kaigoon where their money doesn't last long and they rescue a village damsel (Lamour) from Anthony Quinn. The trio attempt to make money and fail all the while Lamour takes over their lives in exactly the ways they had hoped to escape from. Truly silly and funny antics ensue.
Morocco made in 1942 co-starring Dorothy Lamour, Anthony Quinn and Dona Drake is a fast moving fun filled romp. You can turn off your thinking cap and just sit back and smile through the entire film and enjoy the interaction of the stars tossing wisecracks and jests at one another. Princess Lamour's future is foretold in the stars so she wants to "marry" Hope as it foretells of her husbands death. Hope finds out and tricks Crosby into taking his place. Eventually both men find happiness with the ladies and defeat Quinn's plans.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 26, 2019 3:53:51 GMT -5
My wife and I were rewatching the Christopher Guest improv films: Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. I saw the latter two in the theater and saw Guffman on cable, after it had been out (but hadn't heard about it to have seen in the theater). I love them and she busts a gut with Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. We both love the music of A Mighty Wind and I still recall when Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest first did the Folksmen, on SNL. The songs, "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," was written by McKean's wife, Annette O'Toole, and is just beautiful, and makes me tear up, when I see the performance, at the end.
Fred Willard is a hoot, in all of them, though his best stuff is in Best In Show.
We tried watching For Your Consideration; but, I saw it before and didn't think much of it and she was bored and hadn't laughed 15 minutes into it and we shut it off and watched Caddyshack, instead. I started to watch Mascots, on Netflix; but, hadn't laughed for about 10 minutes and switched over. I still want to check out the rest; but, it didn't look favorable.
We both love This is Spinal Tap, which goes up to 11! I gust can't get Barb to watch SCTV, which she just doesn't "get." No matter how much I tell her that it was better than SNL, she just can't make the leap.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 26, 2019 5:13:25 GMT -5
Besides Spinal Tap, which I've seen multiple times, Waiting for Guffman is the only one of those I've seen all the way through. While I definitely thought it was funny, I also found the humor a bit mean-spirited at places. Otherwise, Guest, as well as frequent collaborators Levy, O'Hara and Willard, really seem to be beating the mockumentary format to death. (That said, I would like to watch Big Wind all the way through - I caught part of it on TV some years ago, and it seems like a good film.)
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Post by rberman on Feb 26, 2019 7:47:33 GMT -5
As a big fan of 60s folk music, I thought "A Mighty Wind" was a hoot. The soundtrack contains all original songs written and performed by the cast and crew of the film (including O'Toole, as mentioned above), and it's surprisingly catchy. I listen to it regularly to this day.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 26, 2019 11:56:50 GMT -5
As a big fan of 60s folk music, I thought "A Mighty Wind" was a hoot. The soundtrack contains all original songs written and performed by the cast and crew of the film (including O'Toole, as mentioned above), and it's surprisingly catchy. I listen to it regularly to this day. I love "A Mighty Wind." And for a while, I was listening to the soundtrack over and over.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 26, 2019 12:18:43 GMT -5
I'm going to be pretty busy for the next few days, so I doubt very much that I'm going to be watching any more movies from the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" list this month. So here it is, a few days early, all the movies from the List that I saw in February: 1. O Thiassos (The Travelling Players) (1975) - A four-hour long Greek film about a group of travelling actors who seem to be weaving around in time in Greek history between the 1930s and the 1950s. I've gotten used to this kind of thing from eastern European cinema, so I liked it a lot. But I don't know how well it would work with viewers who don't watch a lot of films from eastern Europe. 2. Yeelen (Brightness) (1987) - If you have ever been curious about the cinema of Mali, this is the film for you! It's actually a pretty good film, something that I would probably have watched again already if I had a little more free time. 3. Once Upon a Time in China (1991) - One of the best of the Hong Kong martial-arts films! 4. The Blue Kite (1993) - This movie is about how awful it was to live in China in the 1950s and 1960s. 5. Muriel's Wedding (1994) - I probably should have seen this a long time ago. It's not what I thought it was at all! Highly recommended. If I had known Toni Collette was in it, I would have seen it along time ago! 6. Mother and Son (1997) - Russia and Germany should not be allowed to make movies together. 7. Kundun (1997) - The Dalai Lama! Action Hero! 8. The Butcher Boy (1997) - I scarcely know where to start with this. I liked it a lot, but it made me very anxious and many viewers may find it exceedingly unpleasant. 9. Happy Together (1997) - And speaking of unpleasant … a lot of people might have trouble with this one. I'm pretty sure the title is supposed to be sarcastic. 10. Buffalo '66 (1998) - Here's another one I should have seen a long time ago! Christina Ricci is in it! And it makes fun of the Buffalo Bills a lot! And it makes fun of Buffalo, New York, just by showing the city's streets and buildings. Also … bowling. I thought about The Big Lebowski more than once while watching this. It's not nearly as good as Lebowski, but it's not without its charm.
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