If you go the the cinema to watch Sunshine “A team of astronauts are sent to re-ignite the dying sun 50 years into the future”, you might be a little disappointed to end up seeing Sunshine “The film follows a Jewish family living in Hungary through three generations, rising from humble beginnings to positions of wealth and power in the crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire”.
Which is the appropriate one for Mom? The one about teenage boys trying to get laid, the one where an underage girl shows her boobs to the boy next door and her dad tries to nail her cheerleader friend, or the one where the crazy guy kills a lot of people in graphic fashion?
To add to the list: The Guardian and The Guardian. One is about Coast Guard rescuers, and one is about a killer tree.
A personal disappointment: 1939’s Wuthering Heights, featuring a towering portrayal of Heathcliff by Laurence Olivier, versus 1970’s Wuthering Heights, featuring a towering-pile-of-dung portrayal of Heathcliff by … Timothy Dalton (yes, the Bond-manqué).
I haven’t seen 1992’s production starring Ralph Fiennes – any good?
OK, I know it’s a cheap shot, but Saving Private Ryan and Saving Ryan’s Privates.
I saw Working Girls at an art house theater in DC back in 1986, the year it came out. It wasn’t so much a documentary as a day-in-the-life drama about a particularly awful shift at an upscale Manhattan bordello. Only the main character was explicitly a lesbian. For an indy film with no stars and no discernible budget, it was pretty good. Believable characters, gallows humor… There was copious nudity, though not of the sort to make this suitable for an intimate evening with one’s self. The world has forgotten this movie, but I remember it.
Two people have seen it, then, you and I. I, too, liked it, and still remember a couple of scenes (the main character having cowgirl position sex with a client, and biking home and putting her earnings in to an ATM).
How about Mulholland Falls vs Mulholland Drive?
There’s at least 3 of us. I caught it on cable one night. I thought it was good - very “matter of fact”/day in the life style.
I don’t remember much. But I do remember one of the client’s game/fantasy had to do with regaining his vision as he climaxed. A bit bizarre.
Do NOT confuse The Puppet Masters, which sadly falls short of the classic Heinlein novel on which it is based. (The sad story of its shortfall is recountedhere
with Puppet Master, a horror flick about a murderous bunch of kids’ toys.
Better make it a 4-fecta. The search for American Graffiti got me in a similar jam a couple years back.
First thing I thought of was 28 Days (Later), since that was a joke on The Office.
Then I thought of Black Sheep - the one with killer mutant zombie sheep turning people into weresheep being more believable and absorbing, as well as far funnier.
But I see I’m too slow on those.
There’s also Big Trouble, adapted from Dave Barry’s novel (it’s far from perfect, but I quite like it), and Og forbid you should confuse any of those with the most unwatchable movie I’ve encountered: Nothing But Trouble
Blowout
Blowup
Blowjob
Cats and Dogs (funny movie about furry critters) and The Truth About Cats and Dogs (a tolerable chick-flick with Uma Thurman).
I saw it in a Feminist film class. Three people. Not a bad film as I remember.
I ran a film program in college. At one time we had two theaters going - one showing A Boy and His Dog, the other showing My Life as a Dog. We had some disappointed customers - and in fact, stopped both showing and let people switch theatres ten minutes in and then restarted them the first showing (the second showing we made announcements and put up signs about the content of each film).
Blow Out was, in fact, a remake of Blow Up. No insights on the third…
**Requiem for a Heavyweight
Requiem for a Dream
**
Molly Ringwald attempted a comeback in `99 with Requiem for Murder
My parents friends went to the theater to see Black Rain, only to discover too late that the theater was actually showing Black Rain instead. Bit of a downer.
I was going to post Working Girl/Working Girls too!
I believe that the full title of Working Girls is actually Working Girls-that’s-with-an-S-it’s-not-the-one-with-Melanie-Griffith. 