alinchgo
New Member
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Posts: 3 
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Post by alinchgo on Jun 24, 2017 13:35:48 GMT -5
special to WAS: No reply rec'd as of yet.
Sometimes the e-mail to which most of my ---zon traffic is routed is very slow.
Anyone: Any way for me to post a real photo as my avatar?
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Post by epicgordan on Jun 25, 2017 8:54:07 GMT -5
Busy weekend for everybody, I guess. I guess I should try to find something to say about a movie once I get the time.
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Post by William Smith on Jun 25, 2017 17:23:06 GMT -5
I had a major gremlin attack in my computer. No Mummy, perhaps on Tuesday.
Allen: Go to profile and edit profile. You should be able to do it from there.
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stevign
New Member
Well hello there......
Posts: 25
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Post by stevign on Jun 26, 2017 10:06:33 GMT -5
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Post by epicgordan on Jun 28, 2017 12:25:03 GMT -5
So I found a way to watch Baby Driver without having to violate my boycott on Sony films, so I'm definitely am going to see it tomorrow.
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Post by William Smith on Jul 1, 2017 16:25:45 GMT -5
The Loved One(Tony Richardson,1965,MGM). When this film was first released in 1965, MGM billed it as a film with something to offend everyone. It did. Tony Richardson's followup to Tom Jones, whose success gave him a blank check for his next project, was either savaged or ignored by critics, and was not a commercial success. Over time, it has become something of a cult success, and justifiably so. It is far from perfect--but it is one of the very strangest films ever released by a major studio. It boasts first-rate performers--Jonathan Winters, Robert Morse, John Gielgud, Robert Morley, and a host of cameos from Roddy McDowell, Dana Andrews, James Coburn, Liberace, Lionel Stander, Milton Berle, and Tab Hunter--not to mention one of the very oddest performances in film history from Rod Steiger as undertaker Mr. Joyboy. The screen, based on Evelyn's Waugh's satiric masterpiece of the same title about the American way of death and the anthropology of the British community in Hollywood, was written by Terry Southern (Candy) and Christopher Isherwood (whose Berlin Stories were the basis for Cabaret.) The wide-screen black and white cinematography was done by Haskell Wexler. Rarely do you get as much talent as this in a single film.
The outline of the plot is relatively simple. Dennis Barlow (Robert Morse, whose British accent wobbles from scene to scene), unemployed budding poet, visits his uncle Sir Francis Hinsley (John Gielgud), who loses his film studio job and commits suicide. Sir Ambrose Ambercrombie (Robert Morley), the doyen of the British colony, tasks Barlow with arranging the funeral at Whispering Glades--modeled on Forest Lawn--and in the process becomes enamored of cosmetician Aimee Thanatogenous (Anjanette Comer)who is also sought by Mr. Joyboy (Rod Steiger), mortician. Barlow's job at pet cemetery The Happier Hunting Grounds proves to be a wedge between them. It does not end well, except for Barlow, who returns to England.
There is an old saw to the effect that satire is what opens on Friday and closes on Saturday. How much more so may it be said of scattershot satire, and that is the primary problem with The Loved One. It takes the already mordant satire of Waugh's novel and embellishes it with consumerism, sex, the space race, and gluttony and obesity. It is too much of a good thing. The result can, I think, be called extremely weird. And yet it is--to those with a taste for sixties filmmaking and a sense of humor--enormously enjoyable. The craft, too, is undeniable--not only in the performances, but in the production design, the writing, and the cinematography, where Wexler frequently uses wide-range lenses for a distorting effect, as in one stunning nighttime sequence with Barlow chasing Aimee down a brilliantly lit Los Angeles street.
If you have a taste for satire or genuinely unusual filmmaking, you should enjoy The Loved One. I've giving an 8 out of 10--losing two points for a lack of focus.
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Post by morbius on Jul 2, 2017 23:56:07 GMT -5
We watched a very different kind of movie tonight starring Jack Nicholson & Shelley Duvall. The Shining is always listed as a horror movie but because of its pace & slow build to the finale I always think of it as a suspense movie, much like Salem's Lot. I saw a role played by Satan in this movie but, I wonder if anyone else did?
Regardless you should not watch either The Shining (1980) or Salem's Lot unless you have the time to do so uninterrupted or certainly not more than once as the creeping suspense is a major part of the tale. Score one for Stanley off of a nice feed from Stephen King.
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Post by William Smith on Jul 4, 2017 12:45:44 GMT -5
I've always seen The Shining as one of Kubrick's failures, along with Paths Of Glory and Spartacus among his mature films--all failures for different reasons. (Fear And Desire, his first film, is also a failure, but he acknowledged it as such by trying to supress it.) Stephen King's novel is atrociously written (like just about all of King), but it has some good ideas, notably the hotel being a living and malevolent entity. Kubrick's screenplay is better written--but it loses the idea, and instead all we have is a protracted exercise in Jack Nicholson going insane for no particularly good reason. All the Stedicam and careful composition and shocker moments, like the bleeding elevator, are ultimately pointless. The film was a huge disappointment.
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Post by morbius on Jul 5, 2017 4:42:30 GMT -5
We certainly disagree on this one but if you need to know who is paying for the drinks Lloyd may tell you. I mean you aren't Jack Torrance.
I was surprised to see that the bartender was given no credit either on the screen or on IMDB. While the idea of the hotel being a living entity was certainly part of the book I was happy to see Kubrick not make that a critical part of the story. The human characters were enjoyable to me as was the slow build. As I said it reminded a lot of Salem's Lot (which I like a lot) in pace & intent.
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pom
New Member
Posts: 14
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Post by pom on Jul 6, 2017 22:20:24 GMT -5
I've actually always felt that The Simpsons did it better than both Kubrick and King, even if it was unintentional and just for a Halloween episode. Available to watch in four parts:
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Post by epicgordan on Jul 9, 2017 2:04:16 GMT -5
So...anybody else looking to see the latest Spider-Man movie? Personally, I would, if not for the fact that Sony is still attached to this film--even though it's an MCU film, and since I don't want to give Sony's film studios any of my hard-earned money, I'm just going to wait until it comes out on Cable. Or if I have no respect for the law whatsoever, I will find a place to bootleg it. But I'm not that kind of guy, so there.
Oh, yes! My review on Baby Driver is coming. I saw it using a free movie pass that I got for the month of June, so I still haven't given the money to the studio, so there's that.
But If you must know, it's my new favorite movie of 2017 right now. So far, it's looking to be a pretty good year for action movies. John Wick 2, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and now Baby Driver. Even Wonder Woman had a pretty good film, and that's in spite the fact that I otherwise have zero respect for the DC Cinematic Universe. Sorry, Extended Universe. It's gotten to the point that I'm just not going to bother dealing with anything that tries to outright become a Cinematic Universe prematurely.
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Post by readsalot on Jul 11, 2017 6:29:19 GMT -5
Every review I have seen of the new Spider-Man movie says it is the best so far. Funny, adventurous, etc. I haven't cared to see a Spider-Man movie after the first two, but this one sounds really good. Being lazy I will probably wait till it hits cable but it is on my list of movies to watch.
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Post by William Smith on Jul 11, 2017 20:43:32 GMT -5
Apologies to all for my absence. I had a boot drive crash, and it has taken a bit of time to get everything up and running again. Fortunately, I had a nearly complete backup.
I saw the new rebooted Mummy on Sunday. Very disappointing. More tomorrow.
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Post by epicgordan on Jul 12, 2017 14:32:14 GMT -5
Baby Driver
2017 is looking to become the year of action movies. A lot of them so far have received a ton of glowing critical reviews--even the recent Spider-Man reboot, which is in spite the fact that all the reviews insinuate that it's kind of half-assed. And the film with the best reviews of the year so far is one of the few I was looking forward to seeing the most--Baby Driver.
One problem: Sony. Ever since the studio revealed its true colors following the Ghostbusters 2016 debacle, I decided to boycott their films altogether--this only goes as far as not spending any money on them because they don't deserve to be successful. Period. And even some of the many sins often associated by Sony films seeped into this film--such as their gratuitous product placements, mostly of other Sony products--which is ironic because not only am I a big fan of Edgar Wright as a directr, but I think it's the best film I've seen so far this year. Yes, it even edges out Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and John Wick 2.
I'm giving the film a 9 out of 10. It loses a point for being a Sony film, and because the story is the one thing about the film that's rather pedestrian. But other elements elevate it above and beyond the most stale or cliche thing imaginable. And that's about as close to a recommendation that you're going to hear from me; let the rest of the review determine whether or not you would want to watch it.
And to know Edgar Wright's films and to appreciate them for the right reasons is to understand why. Outside of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World or perhaps The World's End, none of Edgar Wright's stories are necessarily unique per se. What he specializes in is very similar to J. J. Abrams, only with a great deal more style and wit; he encompasses familiar tropes, stories and characters, and subverts them in a way that demonstrates a great deal of love and affection for the genre. Granted, in past films, they were all comedies, with the Cornetto Trilogy in particular serving as parodies/homages of various genres. But you can definitely tell that Shaun of the Dead was made by somebody who enjoyed zombie films. Hot Fuzz was definitely made by a guy who really wanted to make the UK's version of, say, a Die Hard, Point Break or Bad Boys. None of them ever had anything overtly unique in them beyond in their execution and perhaps one or two subversions here and there--such as the emphasis on paperwork in Hot Fuzz.
So there's definitely a great deal of precedent for those of you who enjoyed any of these past four films to enjoy Baby Driver. The usual can be expected; stellar acting; great line reading; and a stoic main character that is not quite so stoic during his personal free time. Some subtle little differences like using minor quotes from existing movies to serve as scripted responses against his fellow thugs he works for as a getaway driver--which harks back to all the subtle foreshadowing for future jokes in films like, say, Hot Fuzz or even Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This film's gimmick, however, is the synchronization of action, editing, and music that this film runs with. And this film's soundtrack is indeed excellent. It's kind of like if Fantasia was envisioned as a hi-octane action film rather than an animated symphony.
Overall, I had a blast watching this movie. And yes, Jamie Foxx is in this movie. And you're gonna enjoy hating his guts throughout the entire movie, and look forward to watching his inevitable demise. Especially since the film escalates tenfold after he dies.
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Post by William Smith on Jul 16, 2017 22:13:46 GMT -5
Note to all--I just lost a long review of The Mummy when trying to post. I will try to recreate it.
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