Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Oct 20, 2020 21:33:07 GMT -5
This does not rebuttal my statement. Oh, I know.
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Oct 21, 2020 10:40:01 GMT -5
No joke, after reading the Benigni posts in this thread earlier today I sat and thought about Life Is Beautiful which I legit haven't watched in close to 20 years. I thought 'I remember liking that movie and everyone at the time seemed to love it and I even watched it in a couple classes in school but I wonder if it's a movie that'll come off as a big piece of shit nowadays.' It makes you sick watching it, realizing how clearly Benigni has made this film for the sole purpose of manipulating the audience into believing he's a savior of happiness during the Holocaust. His antics are disgusting, he has no talent, and Life is Beautiful is arguably the most distasteful ego trip anyone has committed to the big screen. The movie itself really just isn't very good either. No one talks about the miserable first half where you see him being the goofy waiter who woos the girl with his eccentricities. Ugh. We should all be thankful he's in movie jail and seemingly will stay there forever.
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SnoBorderZero
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Post by SnoBorderZero on Oct 21, 2020 10:42:08 GMT -5
Yes, Sno! Fuck that Italian clown up! Italy gave us a lot of great filmmakers and performers, so I guess we were due for their worst citizen since Mussolini. Kidding, kidding. Sort of.
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donny
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Post by donny on Oct 21, 2020 10:48:21 GMT -5
To Be or Not To Be
I really enjoyed this. Outside of seeing some clips of his show on youtube and knowing of his radio career, I haven't seen much of Jack Benny, but he's great in this as Josef Tura, the head of an acting troupe in Nazi occupied Warsaw. As a self absorbed performer dead set on playing Hamlet, Benny shines, along with his co-stars Carole Lombard and Robert Stack, he of Unsolved Mysteries fame.
With what starts out to be something of a comedic love triangle between Benny, Lombard and Stack, the movie starts to pick up when Stacks character, Lt. Sobinksi begins to realize that one of the Polish resistance leaders, Professor Siletsky is a spy for the Nazi's. Being that it is a film centered around a troupe of actors, To Be or Not to Be does a good job of utilizing the assembly of actors and disguising them as Nazi soldiers to get out of some sticky situations.
A big part of the comedy comes from the troupe constantly fooling the German officers, and making them ultimately seem pretty stupid. It does a good job of highlighting the Yes Man attitude to Hitler and their blind allegiance. The officers throughout are in constant fear of his impending arrival, and they hilariously try to not fuck up their own roles and tasks as to avoid being lambasted, or even killed by Adolf. There's a great moment at the end of the film when the actors are on the plane, with one them disguised as Hitler.
I think if anything, it seems like the tense situations that Benny, Lombard and Stack find themselves in, they are able to get out of them a little too easily, but there are some genuinely tense moments where you forget that it's not really Nazi soldiers, instead just the troupe disguised as them. With it ultimately being a comedy targeting the absurdity of Hitler, I think I can forgive it for being a little too easy.
Also, in reading about Benny, apparently he has a cameo in Casablanca. Is this true??
8/10
In for next round.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Oct 21, 2020 11:00:22 GMT -5
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Oct 21, 2020 11:22:28 GMT -5
I watched To Be or Not To Be a few years ago for the film club, it's a lot of fun.
Who's all in for next round?
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Oct 21, 2020 11:24:11 GMT -5
I watched To Be or Not To Be a few years ago for the film club, it's a lot of fun. Who's all in for next round? But have you seen the Mel Brooks one and should we give it to you next?
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Oct 21, 2020 11:29:47 GMT -5
I watched To Be or Not To Be a few years ago for the film club, it's a lot of fun. Who's all in for next round? In.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Oct 21, 2020 11:40:36 GMT -5
In
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Oct 21, 2020 11:59:34 GMT -5
In.
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane review coming probably later today.
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thebtskink
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It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
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Post by thebtskink on Oct 21, 2020 13:34:08 GMT -5
In
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donny
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Post by donny on Oct 21, 2020 16:12:07 GMT -5
In
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Oct 21, 2020 16:14:45 GMT -5
If Don's in, I'm in.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Oct 21, 2020 21:38:07 GMT -5
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Oct 21, 2020 22:35:03 GMT -5
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Nilade
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Post by Nilade on Oct 22, 2020 1:55:55 GMT -5
Used Cars
Rudy Russo (Kurt Russel) is a semi-sleazy used car salesman with a dream of becoming a senator. The owner of the lot he works at, Luke Fuchs, who’s main rival happens to be his twin brother Roy Fuchs, owner the lot across the street, promises Rudy to help him reach his goal. Before Luke is able to fulfill his promise to Rudy, his evil twin Roy sets up his accidental death in order to gain insurance money and ownership of the lot for being his sole heir, which will also put him in a better place to be able to bribe politicians into redirecting a proposed freeway exit construction that would result in the demolition of his dealership. While Roy is successful in staging Luke’s death, Rudy and his gang catch on to the plan and hide Luke’s body in order to prevent Roy from gaining the inheritance and shutting down their lot. Then his team begins a series of crazy events trying outdo Roy’s lot. When Luke’s estranged daughter enters the picture, Rudy begins to feel guilty and starts rethinking his path.
Ok, at the beginning of this movie I was groaning at all the used car salesman clichés in the first ten minutes, but I stuck with it and not too long after I was enjoying a pretty fun flick. As an early eighties semi-raunchy comedy, it’s probably one of the earliest ones and can take credit for paving the way for such greats as Stipes, Bachelor Party, Police Academy, etc. Kurt Russel is great in whatever he does, and absolutely makes the film. He’s such a sleazebag in the beginning, but Kurt makes the character likable and someone to root for. My only gripe is that even though he ultimately wins at the end, not only does he not learn his lesson, he instill his bad habits into Luke’s daughter. Nevertheless, a fun flick.
Oh, and it had Lenny and Squiggy too.
7/10
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Nilade
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Post by Nilade on Oct 22, 2020 1:59:48 GMT -5
What round are we going into?
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Oct 22, 2020 10:05:34 GMT -5
What round are we going into? We're going into round 199, it'll be a regular round.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Oct 22, 2020 10:12:03 GMT -5
What round are we going into? We're going into round 199, it'll be a regular round. Nonsense. It’s our Halloween Spooktacular!
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Oct 22, 2020 11:02:19 GMT -5
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)Three years ago, after the miniseries Feud: Bette and Joan finished airing, I had every intention of going back and watching its subject, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? But for whatever reason, it just fell by the wayside till now. Well, I'm glad I finally saw it, cause this film is just as engaging as that behind the scenes look suggested. One movie I kept being reminded of while watching it was Psycho, and seeing as how this was released just two years after that particular film, the comparisons aren't hard to make. Much like Psycho, this film knows how to make the most out of its limited setting and characters and really ratchet up the suspense when it needs to, while dealing with a storyline that, at the time, would have been considered edgy. Writer/director Robert Aldrich certainly knows how to dig in deep when it comes to this material, particularly in how it affects the two main characters, portrayed by Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Most of the film is confined to the house these two sisters live in together and concerns the psychological mindgames at play between them, and it's fairly gripping stuff. Not only because Davis and Crawford are so damn good in the roles -- which they are, with Davis especially embodying an unhinged quality quite well -- but also because Robert Aldrich directs this in such a way where the tension gradually builds in such a believable way. And when it all comes to a head, the payoff feels rewarding. But if there's another film this movie reminds me of, it's Sunset Boulevard. Both deal with former stars well past their prime who struggle with accepting that fact and do so in harmful ways. As good as What Ever Happened to Baby Jane is, though, it's not really on the level of Sunset Boulevard, which I felt went even deeper and had a slightly more interesting approach to the material. Regardless, this is a very strong film that more than gets the job done in what it sets out to do. Also, a quick sidenote: does anybody else think that the actor who played Edwin Flagg looked a helluva lot like a grown-up Dudley from Harry Potter?
***1/2 /****
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Oct 22, 2020 14:28:30 GMT -5
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
***1/2 /****
Nice, glad you dug it! If you can find Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte that's also a solid watch. That's the movie they started shooting at the end of the Feud series where Olivia DeHaviland replaced Joan Crawford.
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Oct 22, 2020 14:44:10 GMT -5
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
***1/2 /****
Nice, glad you dug it! If you can find Hush...Hush Sweet Charlotte that's also a solid watch. That's the movie they started shooting at the end of the Feud series where Olivia DeHaviland replaced Joan Crawford. Yeah, that’s definitely going on my To See list now.
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frankyt
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Post by frankyt on Oct 22, 2020 15:18:47 GMT -5
If you'll have this procrastinator I'm in. Finishing my movie tomorrow will have review up.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Oct 22, 2020 18:02:10 GMT -5
If you'll have this procrastinator I'm in. Finishing my movie tomorrow will have review up. Done and done.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Oct 22, 2020 23:14:18 GMT -5
Nilade what say you sir? I'll throw up a new round tomorrow.
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