thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Jan 23, 2021 18:29:02 GMT -5
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Going into this movie blind, I'd heard how the modern remake of this movie was a travesty but really nothing more than the barebones plot details: Robert Shaw is the bad guy and takes hostages on a train for money. What I didn't expect was that the plot itself is ancillary to the crackling dialogue and life brought to NYC by a great script and some stellar performances.
I had known Walter Matthau most previously for his comedy work in the Grumpy Old Men and The Odd Couple, but seeing him here with a near-Klingon forehead ridge at the age of 54 brought on by heavy smoking brought me great joy as the cantankerous transit police Lt. Zachary Garber. There's a hilarious bit near the beginning--which wouldn't get made today--where Garber escorts quiet Japanese transit authorities around the NYC Transit Police system, peppering them with NY insults unaware they can understand what he's saying. Matthau is wholly believable in the worn-out cop role: showing his deductive reasoning off in the right times and a "take no shit" attitude with the Transit foreman Frank who only cares about having the system up and running, hostages be damned.
There's a ton of gallows humor in the dialogue, and brilliant writing that makes the characters leap off the screen. Of Shaw's three henchmen, only the stuttering Mr Brown seems to be lacking in much of a personality. The reluctant Mr Green, trigger-happy psycho Mr Grey, and obsessive-compulsive Mr Blue (Shaw) more than make up for it. I was particularly amused with a sequence where the older Jewish hostage asks Mr Blue to know the sum of money, to "know what he is worth."
Honestly I was surprised by this. The plot is a little more clever than I'd imagine, with the hostage ransom demand resolved with more than a half hour to go. The plot device that enables the escape may be a bit of a trope by now if it doesn't exist in real life, but I don't really care. I'd spend another hour with these characters if I could.
The movie was a buck extra on Prime to buy vs rent. I'm glad I bought it - I've already watched it twice.
8/10
I'm in for next round.
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IanTheCool
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Post by IanTheCool on Jan 23, 2021 18:47:57 GMT -5
Nice! Glad you liked it. This was a recent discovery for me too, and I bought the bluray pretty much right after seeing it.
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Jan 23, 2021 20:02:17 GMT -5
Oh, and the score and theme music rule.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jan 23, 2021 20:41:26 GMT -5
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)Going into this movie blind, I'd heard how the modern remake of this movie was a travesty but really nothing more than the barebones plot details: Robert Shaw is the bad guy and takes hostages on a train for money. What I didn't expect was that the plot itself is ancillary to the crackling dialogue and life brought to NYC by a great script and some stellar performances. I had known Walter Matthau most previously for his comedy work in the Grumpy Old Men and The Odd Couple, but seeing him here with a near-Klingon forehead ridge at the age of 54 brought on by heavy smoking brought me great joy as the cantankerous transit police Lt. Zachary Garber. There's a hilarious bit near the beginning--which wouldn't get made today--where Garber escorts quiet Japanese transit authorities around the NYC Transit Police system, peppering them with NY insults unaware they can understand what he's saying. Matthau is wholly believable in the worn-out cop role: showing his deductive reasoning off in the right times and a "take no shit" attitude with the Transit foreman Frank who only cares about having the system up and running, hostages be damned. There's a ton of gallows humor in the dialogue, and brilliant writing that makes the characters leap off the screen. Of Shaw's three henchmen, only the stuttering Mr Brown seems to be lacking in much of a personality. The reluctant Mr Green, trigger-happy psycho Mr Grey, and obsessive-compulsive Mr Blue (Shaw) more than make up for it. I was particularly amused with a sequence where the older Jewish hostage asks Mr Blue to know the sum of money, to "know what he is worth." Honestly I was surprised by this. The plot is a little more clever than I'd imagine, with the hostage ransom demand resolved with more than a half hour to go. The plot device that enables the escape may be a bit of a trope by now if it doesn't exist in real life, but I don't really care. I'd spend another hour with these characters if I could. The movie was a buck extra on Prime to buy vs rent. I'm glad I bought it - I've already watched it twice. 8/10I'm in for next round. I watched it for the first time in a film class in college. I still revisit it every couple of years, it's a really fun movie. Also, did you catch who played Mr. Brown?
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Jan 23, 2021 21:08:51 GMT -5
Didn't put a finger on him until near the end, without the glasses
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Jan 24, 2021 10:52:31 GMT -5
Alright Doomsday, you wore me done, here's my review... ...of the Game of Thrones episodes I watched last night. So IanTheCool was right to mark out over Blackwater because that episode is awesome. While Thrones usually jumps literally all over the map to cover its wide ensemble, this episode was squarely focused in King's Landing and the battle against the invading army of Stannis Baratheon. The resulting action is a bit like if Lord of the Rings with R-rated, with tons of gruesome violence and mutilation. This isn't just spectacle though, there's some really crucial story development. Tyrion's bravery and intelligence on the battlefield, Cersei drunkenly confiding more than she should to Sansa, and the overall of Tywin and Tyrell's forces. Pretty major turning point. Also had one of the show's funniest moments in The Hound barking "Eat shit, dwarf" to Tyrion. The season 2 finale is back to the sprawling style the show usually takes, bringing all the major storylines to some sort of peak with a lot of intrigue to where it's going. Fascinated by what's gonna happen to Theon; his character and story have become surprisingly among the show's most interesting. Daenerys also takes another leap forward in agency and viciousness. I've sort of been hot and cold on her storyline. Both she and Jon Snow are so far away from everyone else that I sometimes just wanna focus on the more immediate stuff, but Quarth was a fun location and the payoff here rules. The highlight though is the Winterfell stuff. One death in particular really got to me. Of course the big moment is the reveal of the White Walkers. They're fine I guess, though if I'm being honest the magical ice zombies interest me far less than the human betrayals and backstabbing. But I'll keep an open mind. I was certainly still interested enough after the reveal to watch the first half of season 3 right after. I want go into too much detail but things are really heating up. Jaime and Brienne are proving to be a very rich pair, the Tyrells bring a whole new dynamic (Diana Rigg!), Lannister family drama, Arya almost getting vengeance on The Hound, Theon's story is getting weird, Daenerys getting her army, Jon Snow getting some ass, it's riveting stuff. Pretty well glued to the screen. All told, this has been awesome and I'm definitely in for next round. That is to say, I'll likely be watching more Game of Thrones tonight.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jan 24, 2021 10:53:45 GMT -5
This isn’t the first time you’ve watched GoT is it?
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Jan 24, 2021 10:55:07 GMT -5
This isn’t the first time you’ve watched GoT is it? It is.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Jan 24, 2021 11:08:54 GMT -5
This isn’t the first time you’ve watched GoT is it? It is. How exactly did you make sense of the internet in the last decade?
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Post by Doomsday on Jan 24, 2021 11:14:35 GMT -5
This isn’t the first time you’ve watched GoT is it? It is. Well let's keep with the theme for those of you who still haven't managed to watch a movie and jot down a couple thoughts. PG Cooper - frankyt Dracula - Doomsday PhantomKnight - Neverending thebtskink - IanTheCool
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Jan 24, 2021 11:16:59 GMT -5
Coop, IanTheCool, Jibbs and I had a PM group chat during the series here speculating where they'd go based on the books and eventually surpassing them. I'm really curious to see your thoughts as you go through this. Assuming you haven't read the books?
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Jan 24, 2021 16:57:41 GMT -5
Dead Presidents (1995)
In terms of directors Albert and Allen Hughes, I'd previously seen two of their more commercial films -- From Hell and The Book of Eli -- but neither of the ones that really put them on the map, Dead Presidents being one of them. And if there's been one constant in all of their work I've seen thus far, it's that these guys have a strong stylistic touch they bring to their films, and Dead Presidents is no different. Storywise, I got a bit of a Deer Hunter vibe from this film, in the sense that it's about the fundamental ways that a war changes a group of people who come from the same small community and that the film devotes a decent amount of time in the beginning to showing said characters in their everyday lives so that the resulting horrors of war they experience are all the more powerful and shocking to them. Specifically, it's concerned with those effects as it relates to veterans of color, and how they were neglected by the US government upon their return. It's a legitimate issue that deserves attention, and this movie is at its best when it hones in on that aspect. It establishes these characters vividly on both sides of their war experiences and mines some compelling drama from a lot of it, even if it indulges in some tropes that feel fairly familiar. That's because it treats these characters with respect and it certainly helps that the performances by Larenz Tate, Bokeem Woodbine, Freddy Rodriguez and even Chris Tucker are as strong as they are. Where the movie (sort of ironically) runs into an issue is when it finally stages the robbery that everything is building toward. Before then, the movie is clearly trying to establish sympathy for these characters as they try to navigate their post-war lives. But the act of violence they ultimately commit goes so far in terms of bloodshed and carnage that it takes away from that sympathy and instead makes us see them as deserving of the consequences. Now, perhaps that was the point there, that their actions were the result of anger at their situation just finally exploding after simmering for so long, but it still undercuts the portrait the film was painting of them beforehand. So while I guess you could say the ending was inevitable, it nonetheless leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth and thus (at least for me) conflicted over how you're supposed to feel. Dead Presidents is undeniably a well-made film, but ultimately one that swerves off the road somewhat when trying to bring it home.
**1/2 /****
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Jan 24, 2021 17:30:00 GMT -5
How exactly did you make sense of the internet in the last decade? By ignoring the parts that didn't make sense. Coop, IanTheCool, Jibbs and I had a PM group chat during the series here speculating where they'd go based on the books and eventually surpassing them. I'm really curious to see your thoughts as you go through this. Assuming you haven't read the books? I haven't read the books, though I have a decent idea where certain things are going just through osmosis. Like, I kinda know why some people really disliked the ending. At least I think I do.
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Jan 24, 2021 17:36:35 GMT -5
How exactly did you make sense of the internet in the last decade? The internet never made sense. Coop made it further than I did. I watched the first season and have no plans on continuing. I did watch the Red Wedding episode though. It was hilarious.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Jan 24, 2021 17:41:23 GMT -5
How exactly did you make sense of the internet in the last decade? By ignoring the parts that didn't make sense. Coop, IanTheCool , Jibbs and I had a PM group chat during the series here speculating where they'd go based on the books and eventually surpassing them. I'm really curious to see your thoughts as you go through this. Assuming you haven't read the books? I haven't read the books, though I have a decent idea where certain things are going just through osmosis. Like, I kinda know why some people really disliked the ending. At least I think I do.
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jan 24, 2021 17:45:47 GMT -5
I haven't read the books, though I have a decent idea where certain things are going just through osmosis. Everybody on CS:
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PhantomKnight
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Post by PhantomKnight on Jan 24, 2021 17:59:22 GMT -5
With Coop going through the series, I may now be the only one on here who hasn't seen a single episode of Game of Thrones.
Is it worth giving it a shot, even considering the ending?
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Jan 24, 2021 18:05:12 GMT -5
Depends on how much you like boobs.
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Jan 24, 2021 18:22:48 GMT -5
With Coop going through the series, I may now be the only one on here who hasn't seen a single episode of Game of Thrones.
Is it worth giving it a shot, even considering the ending?
Oh yeah. This isn't like Lost where you're constantly expecting a twist that will "explain" everything, the journey is more than worth a questionable destination.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jan 24, 2021 18:30:36 GMT -5
With Coop going through the series, I may now be the only one on here who hasn't seen a single episode of Game of Thrones.
Is it worth giving it a shot, even considering the ending?
Oh yeah. This isn't like Lost where you're constantly expecting a twist that will "explain" everything, the journey is more than worth a questionable destination. And the boobs don’t hurt
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Jan 24, 2021 20:03:51 GMT -5
I've enjoyed it greatly. Regardless of where it ends these characters are fantastic. Also did y'all know Tywin was in For Your Eyes Only?
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Dracula
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Post by Dracula on Jan 24, 2021 20:16:25 GMT -5
I've enjoyed it greatly. Regardless of where it ends these characters are fantastic. Also did y'all know Tywin was in For Your Eyes Only? Can't say I did, but Charles Dance's career renaissance from that show has been quite enjoyable. I think you'll be encountering James Bond's OHMSS wife in the next season.
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PG Cooper
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Post by PG Cooper on Jan 24, 2021 20:40:27 GMT -5
I've enjoyed it greatly. Regardless of where it ends these characters are fantastic. Also did y'all know Tywin was in For Your Eyes Only? Can't say I did, but Charles Dance's career renaissance from that show has been quite enjoyable. I think you'll be encountering James Bond's OHMSS wife in the next season. Oh I have. She's even better than I'd hoped.
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thebtskink
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Post by thebtskink on Jan 24, 2021 20:46:51 GMT -5
As I've been perusing the web, I've now added a third category to my recommendations pile:
Legit good movies Fun B Schlock Something specific for Godzilla
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1godzillafan
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Post by 1godzillafan on Jan 24, 2021 20:50:58 GMT -5
As I've been perusing the web, I've now added a third category to my recommendations pile: Legit good movies Fun B Schlock Something specific for Godzilla Why did you add a category for good movies?
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