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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 25, 2020 21:04:45 GMT -5
Last night I watched the 1981 ABC made-for-tv movie, Miracle on Ice, starring Karl Malden, Andrew Stephens and Steve Guttenberg. Tonight, I watched 2004's Miracle, starring Kurt Russell. I was 13 again. U-S-A! U-S-A! Right up there with Hoosiers. Probably depends on which one you've just seen. Kurt Russell was great as Brooks. Kurt is great; but, Karl Malden is good; just too old to play Brooks; not to mention that face (though you could believe the nose was a byproduct of hockey). The '81 telemovie was well done, with actual ABC Olympic footage, including the opening ceremonies, with little Scotty Hamilton carrying the flag for the US, plus actual game footage being used. It also gets into the hustling for sponsorship that was done, before corporations were doing it in exchange for plastering their logos over everything, like a stock car. Even Andrew Stephens and Steve Guttenberg aren't bad. Jessica Walter being married to Karl Malden takes a lot of suspension of disbelief. Miracle does a better job with illustrating the training that they endured, the team building and the actual mechanics of their strategy. I think it hits the emotion of the game better and that Olympics, not to mention Brooks' home life. Miracle On Ice handles Jim Craig's family drama well, plus Mike Eruzione just wanting to play hockey, as the NHL wasn't interested in him. The other advantage MOI has, thanks to the ABC footage, is the actual medal ceremony, with the real players and what they were doing since the Olympics; which, for most, was playing professional hockey, in the NHL and in Switzerland, of all places. What I did find funny about Miracle, is the opening montage of the 70s, is the use of a lot of footage from NBC, rather than ABC News, since Disney owns ABC. You'd think they would stick to footage they could use for free. The SNL clip is one thing; but footage with Jessica Savage instead of the ABC anchors is a bit surprising.
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Post by berkley on Feb 26, 2020 0:31:46 GMT -5
Personally, I'd much prefer to see a good documentary about sports events like this - at least the ones for which there is extensive footage or video of the actual people involved. I just can't get interested in seeing Will Smith impersonating Muhammad Ali on the screen, or whatever the case might be.
In Canada of course we were all appalled that the bloody Yanks stole our thunder by beating the Russians in hockey. That was supposed to be our job! I was about to say that the Canadian team actually beat the US in a game but looking up wiki to check I see they were in different groups and didn't play one another - Canada didn't even make it out of their group, losing to the USSR and to Finland. I might be remembering a pre-tournament exhibition game or something like that.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 26, 2020 12:28:24 GMT -5
Personally, I'd much prefer to see a good documentary about sports events like this - at least the ones for which there is extensive footage or video of the actual people involved. I just can't get interested in seeing Will Smith impersonating Muhammad Ali on the screen, or whatever the case might be. In Canada of course we were all appalled that the bloody Yanks stole our thunder by beating the Russians in hockey. That was supposed to be our job! I was about to say that the Canadian team actually beat the US in a game but looking up wiki to check I see they were in different groups and didn't play one another - Canada didn't even make it out of their group, losing to the USSR and to Finland. I might be remembering a pre-tournament exhibition game or something like that. You needed Billy Stopovolitchke on the team... He gives a hunnerd perthent!
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Post by Calidore on Mar 7, 2020 21:47:59 GMT -5
West Side Story in its original 70mm on a nearly 40 foot screen with an appreciative crowd is what movies are all about.
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 13, 2020 23:42:45 GMT -5
West Side Story in its original 70mm on a nearly 40 foot screen with an appreciative crowd is what movies are all about. I had a friend who did some community theater stuff and either auditioned for or was involved in a production of West Side Story and said the Sharks and Jets (in that production) were the least threatening street gangs of all time, though they might have been the prettiest.
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Post by Pharozonk on Mar 22, 2020 17:59:56 GMT -5
Watched this lost gem of an Italian Road Comedy. Currently streaming on the Criterion Channel if any of you have that!
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 24, 2020 19:59:37 GMT -5
Watched this lost gem of an Italian Road Comedy. Currently streaming on the Criterion Channel if any of you have that! Which one is Hope and which is Crosby?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 20:51:59 GMT -5
For those interested, on April 1, TCM is running Akira Kurosawa films all day long (from like 6 in the morning until after midnight that day). Later in the week, the two Lone Wolf and Cub movies are schedule to air as well (not Kurosawa films, but might be of interest to a similar set of viewers).
I've set my DVR.
-M
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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 28, 2020 18:51:00 GMT -5
Geez, all they need is Lady Snowblood. Who programmed this, Tarantino? I get Kurosawa; but, am a bit surprised they are also doing the Kozure Okami films, given the bloodletting. Maybe they can follow it up with a Zatoichi marathon and some Sonny Chiba bloodletting. Any mention of Kagemusha; or are they sticking to the usual suspects?
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 2, 2020 16:43:18 GMT -5
I’m watching 1962’s The Magic Sword on Youtube, with Basil Rathbone as Sargon the sorcerer ! It’s like a cross between Bewitched and Prince Valiant. I love it! And, really... when will those Hollywood knights learn never to trust the guy with the goatee?
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Post by berkley on Apr 2, 2020 17:33:49 GMT -5
I’m watching 1962’s The Magic Sword on Youtube, with Basil Rathbone as Sargon the sorcerer ! It’s like a cross between Bewitched and Prince Valiant. I love it! And, really... when will those Hollywood knights learn never to trust the guy with the goatee?
When I was a kid, this was a film that would somehow be distributed to schools for us kids to watch as a special treat. I think I saw it twice under these circumstances in different years, they'd set up a small projector screen somewhere, the kind used for classrooms or home movies, and some chairs or desks for us to sit down and watch it. Does anyone have a similar recollection of this movie? I loved it at the time - I think this would have been somewhere between grades 1 and 5, so around 6 to 10 years of age, late 60s and early 70s for me.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 2, 2020 19:20:10 GMT -5
I’m watching 1962’s The Magic Sword on Youtube, with Basil Rathbone as Sargon the sorcerer ! It’s like a cross between Bewitched and Prince Valiant. I love it! And, really... when will those Hollywood knights learn never to trust the guy with the goatee?
When I was a kid, this was a film that would somehow be distributed to schools for us kids to watch as a special treat. I think I saw it twice under these circumstances in different years, they'd set up a small projector screen somewhere, the kind used for classrooms or home movies, and some chairs or desks for us to sit down and watch it. Does anyone have a similar recollection of this movie? I loved it at the time - I think this would have been somewhere between grades 1 and 5, so around 6 to 10 years of age, late 60s and early 70s for me.
Of this movie? No; of others, yes. We used to get a big assembly to view a movie and cartoons, around the holidays. I recall being show Snoopy Come Home, one year. Lot of Warner bros cartoons and Woody Woodpecker. I do recall seeing, in kindergarten, one of those marionette movies about Hansel and Gretel that freaked me out (Hey, I was 5). I can only watch it with Joel and the Bots.
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 2, 2020 19:21:48 GMT -5
ps Ever see the actual Prince Valiant, with Robert Wagner? Whoof! Badly acted, cheaply made and the swords are ridiculously oversized and obviously wood. Could have had a great movie but it just blows it. Shame no one's really tried to do it justice.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 2, 2020 19:51:04 GMT -5
ps Ever see the actual Prince Valiant, with Robert Wagner? Whoof! Badly acted, cheaply made and the swords are ridiculously oversized and obviously wood. Could have had a great movie but it just blows it. Shame no one's really tried to do it justice. Hey, I love that corny movie! It’s charmingly cheap-looking, endearingly eager and more fun than a barrel of monkeys! It’s nothing like Hal Foster’s comic, naturally, and uses just a few of its early plot points, but it’s a pleasant journey in that make-believe kingdom of Hollywood Camelot where all villains twirl their moustaches, where brave and clumsy young lads always manage to make good, and where all ladies are in constant need of rescuing (so that the boys can at least have some use, because otherwise they’re pretty hopeless). Oh, and people insult each other with names like “knave!” Such class, even in their anger! And those fake Viking helmets... Oh, dear. It takes quite an actor to remain serious when wearing such a thing!
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Post by codystarbuck on Apr 2, 2020 21:28:28 GMT -5
ps Ever see the actual Prince Valiant, with Robert Wagner? Whoof! Badly acted, cheaply made and the swords are ridiculously oversized and obviously wood. Could have had a great movie but it just blows it. Shame no one's really tried to do it justice. Hey, I love that corny movie! It’s charmingly cheap-looking, endearingly eager and more fun than a barrel of monkeys! It’s nothing like Hal Foster’s comic, naturally, and uses just a few of its early plot points, but it’s a pleasant journey in that make-believe kingdom of Hollywood Camelot where all villains twirl their moustaches, where brave and clumsy young lads always manage to make good, and where all ladies are in constant need of rescuing (so that the boys can at least have some use, because otherwise they’re pretty hopeless). Oh, and people insult each other with names like “knave!” Such class, even in their anger! And those fake Viking helmets... Oh, dear. It takes quite an actor to remain serious when wearing such a thing! Ugh....I'd much rather watch The Black Shield of Falworth. Even Tony Curtis' Brooklyn accent was better than Prince Valiant.
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