donny
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Post by donny on Sept 9, 2020 20:51:42 GMT -5
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Sept 9, 2020 21:11:30 GMT -5
I'll go with The Purple Rose of Cairo. Sounds interesting.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 9, 2020 21:13:50 GMT -5
I'll go with The Purple Rose of Cairo. Sounds interesting. It’s a Woody Allen movie, but one without him, so one of the good ones. You watched Dumb & Dumber last round. You’ll get to see Jeff Daniels in a different type of role.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Sept 9, 2020 21:22:22 GMT -5
I'll go with The Purple Rose of Cairo. Sounds interesting. It’s a Woody Allen movie, but one without him, so one of the good ones. You watched Dumb & Dumber last round. You’ll get to see Jeff Daniels in a different type of role. I've always liked Jeff Daniels, but The Newsroom gave me a new appreciation for him.
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donny
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Post by donny on Sept 9, 2020 21:47:07 GMT -5
I really like most of Woody's stuff, even in the ones he acts, but yeah it's nice that he's not in it. And it's also one of his more unique, creative works, or any director's for that matter. It has some great comedic moments, and Daniels and Mia Farrow are fantastic. I really like it. Hope you enjoy.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 9, 2020 22:06:46 GMT -5
I just watched it for the first time a couple months ago, I really enjoyed it. Not as much as Dumb and Dumber but I enjoyed it.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 10, 2020 10:13:56 GMT -5
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 10, 2020 10:46:38 GMT -5
I never thought there would be a Halloween movie that would sink to the depths of Goosebumps 2. Looks like I was wrong.
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Sept 10, 2020 10:55:14 GMT -5
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Sept 10, 2020 10:57:54 GMT -5
I never thought there would be a Halloween movie that would sink to the depths of Goosebumps 2. Looks like I was wrong. Goosebumps 3 can't be too far off
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 10, 2020 11:06:46 GMT -5
I never thought there would be a Halloween movie that would sink to the depths of Goosebumps 2. Looks like I was wrong. Goosebumps 3 can't be too far off Shhhh, someone might read that and get ideas.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Sept 10, 2020 11:09:57 GMT -5
I never thought there would be a Halloween movie that would sink to the depths of Goosebumps 2. Looks like I was wrong. An Adam Sandler comedy would have to be below the standards of even Goosebumps 2, right? ..... Right?
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Sept 10, 2020 11:16:52 GMT -5
I see Doomsday's bluff and raise him this:
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 10, 2020 11:20:38 GMT -5
I see Doomsday's bluff and raise him this: That’s amazing
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 10, 2020 11:21:09 GMT -5
Goosebumps 3 can't be too far off Shhhh, someone might read that and get ideas. Too late
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Sept 10, 2020 11:23:59 GMT -5
Shhhh, someone might read that and get ideas. Too late 1godzillafan and I are working on the script as we speak.
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Sept 10, 2020 11:27:09 GMT -5
I still want a Horrorland Goosebumps movie.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 10, 2020 11:28:00 GMT -5
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Sept 10, 2020 11:35:04 GMT -5
Shhhh, someone might read that and get ideas. Too late He should be grateful. Goosebumps 3 is going to put his kid's through college
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Sept 10, 2020 11:50:44 GMT -5
He should be grateful. Goosebumps 3 is going to put his kid's through college
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Sept 13, 2020 10:21:07 GMT -5
Magic (1978) Magic is a film which I first heard about through the sort of folklore that surrounds its trailer, or more specifically its TV spot, a freaky little thing that soully consists of a ventriloquist dummy making delivering a cryptic monolog to a camera which scared the shit out of a bunch of gen x kids when it popped in out of nowhere in otherwise innocuous commercial breaks.
I’ve wanted to see the film for a while since hearing about that bit of film culture lore but it hasn’t always been the easiest movie to find for whatever reason and doesn’t get talked about that widely (its odd and generic title probably hasn’t served it well). The film was directed by Richard Attenborough but has very little in common with the historical biopics you normally associate with him. It also stars Anthony Hopkins in the pre-Silence of the Lambs section of his career when I don’t think he was terribly well known by the general public and was probably prioritizing the stage over his film career. The story (written by William Goldman and based on his own novel) concerns a low level magician who comes up with an act where he intersperses his tricks with comic banter with a ventriloquist dummy and when this starts to give him some success he heads to a retreat in his hometown and tries to curry the favor of the now married crush he had in high school. All the while it starts to seem like there’s something rather sinister going on with this dummy, could it perhaps be… alive?
It’s a movie that has an intriguing concept and some interesting elements but it also squanders it in certain ways. I almost probably would have preferred to watch this weird dude as he continues to make this Ventriloquism act try to work instead of going off into this isolated area to have an affair with this hotel keeper. That romance was really unconvincing to me, this ventriloquist gives off some pretty obvious Travis Bickle vibes, in fact he may well have been a secondary influence on the Joaquin Phoenix Joker and yet he somehow charms his way into this chick’s pants through magic tricks. I’m not really sure Anthony Hopkins was right for this role, they clearly casted him because he could pull off the creepy psychological horror angle but he’s pretty bad at convincing the audience that he could be a charming performer and potential paramour that this lady would fall head over heels for in a short period of time. The film also never quite works as a thriller in the grand scene of things, perhaps because you never quite empathize that much with the potential victims of all of this. Having said all that, I did like the movie overall despite some pretty obvious flaws just because the central “devil doll” stuff mostly worked and that’s ultimately what you’re there for.
*** out of Five
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 13, 2020 15:35:17 GMT -5
Naked
I was a little surprised to learn after watching Naked that this was the first Mike Leigh movie that I've seen. Sure I've heard of Topsy-Turvy and Vera Drake and the like but unbeknownst to me I had actually never seen one of his films, I had always just assumed I had at some point or another. Well what better movie to start with than Naked, a character study (or maybe anti-character study) about a brilliant, egotistical man whose every interaction with society results in misery and suffering. Fun stuff!
David Thewlis, one of our most underrated actors in my opinion, plays Johnny, a highly intelligent but aimless twenty-something with self-destructive tendencies to say the very least. We're first introduced to him in a dark alleyway where he's having violent sex (raping?) a woman against a wall. She storms off threatening to kill him and he steals a car and drives to an ex-girlfriend's flat. From there Johnny goes on a journey through the London night scene, meeting all sorts of frustrated and flawed characters whom he initially attracts then repels with his world views, narcissism and sexual deviance. Oftentimes these encounters result in violent sexual circumstances and mental abuse. Johnny is one of those characters whom you're oftentimes drawn to until he reveals yet again that he's not a sympathetic character, he's someone who brings his pain upon himself and others around him. In fact there aren't any characters in this movie that are meant to make the audience gravitate toward them. Arguably the most stable character in the movie, Louise, is still manipulated by Johnny and unable to overcome her personal feelings for him when he's clearly taking advantage of her. While Johnny goes on his personal journey Louise's 'landlord' Sebastian drops by unannounced and brutalizes Louise's flatmate Sophie, another person that Johnny befriends and later turns into a victim. I had some trouble wrapping my head around Sebastian's character. He's also a sexual sadist and egomaniac but I wasn't sure what to do with him. Are we supposed to juxtapose him against Johnny? Because that doesn't really work. Is he supposed to propel the characters forward in some way? Because he has little to no effect on Johnny's personal journey. He does have an effect on the other characters however his overall purpose to the story seems questionable especially considering how he was written as a generally terrible person.
There's a lot to unpack with Naked and it's certainly a movie that can be watched multiple times to really get sense of what the characters are trying to say. Not to say that it's something I'm anxious to do, it's a movie that's hard, often very hard and uncomfortable to watch. It's one of those movies that makes me think 'how and why did someone think of this?' but at the same time watching Johnny move from one point to another only to wind up in the same place where he began is maybe his biggest crime as a character. Reading about it recently I saw there were comparisons to Boudu Saved From Drowning which is a pretty apt comparison, it's like the opposite of Good Will Hunting. Naked isn't a movie that would normally wind up in my wheelhouse but it's important to add those films to your list. It's an intense and uncomfortable but compelling watch and it's certainly a movie that warrants discussion after viewing.
A- so says Doomsday
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Sept 13, 2020 17:32:54 GMT -5
Awesome review, Doomsday. Glad you liked it. The landlord is definitely the worst part about it. I think he's meant as a mirror of Johnny but he feels superfluous and is kind of ridiculous.
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Sept 13, 2020 17:48:28 GMT -5
Naked
it's a movie that's hard, often very hard
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Sept 13, 2020 18:18:03 GMT -5
Naked
it's a movie that's hard, often very hard
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