I disagree. He may have told stories of shitty behavior, but, “hey I bought a Rolex and sold it for half price for coke,” is not a story most drug addicts can relate to.
My take is that a lot of kids are posting ratings on imdb, because more thoughtful adult themed movies that I thought were very good are often rated lower than I think they deserve.
I have no experience in such matters but I would imagine that “buy something on a credit card and then sell it immediately at a discount in order to get cash for drugs” is not an uncommon practice.
The “Rolex” part - not so much.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline - Despite the clunky title, it’s an engaging fiction about a group of mostly young people who plan to do just that. In between the planning and executing sequences there are flashbacks where each participant is shown and their varying motives exposed. I was quire impressed with the cast, especially Sasha Lane from American Honey (another good one), who looks a bit like Amanda Plummer and is full of piss ‘n’ vinegar.
I like this sort of low budget filmmaking that recalls the independents of the Eighties. One thing though - you can’t puncture a tire by stabbing it with a knife held in your hand. Too tough.
Chicken Run: One of my family’s favorite movies of all time, we watched it again last night for the first time since my sister came home. @EllieNeo and I were quoting from it the entire time.
Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom A French film that probably succeeds in translating a comic book to live action better than any I have yet seen. Zero compromises in costume, sets, or action. It’s faithful to the comics in every way except the cringy mid century racial stereotypes and names were updated to not offend. I saw it with my wife and a friend who both read the books as children growing up in Europe. They were in nostalgia heaven.
As I said, I liked John Mulaney’s other shows and when I watched Baby J I came to it with the expectation it would be more of the same. I also thought it was pretty funny. I agree he is a skilled comedian.
We will have to agree to disagree about the meaning of it all and how much blame he is really accepting. Admitting to drug overuse is not in itself a public act of contrition.
John still thinks he’s fooling everyone, not just with his addiction.
He isn’t fooling me any longer.
I haven’t watched and I liked his last special. I just don’t think the topic is something I’m interested in.
What percent of the routine is about his personal problems? All of it?
Chris Rock did his entire, somewhat funny, routine and only talked about Will Smith for a few moments at the end. There were other personal anecdotes, but it felt like his entire routine had many different subjects.
It seemed like it. To me, It just felt like he had yet to earn that kind of introspection. Like one of those people who almost get hit by a car and suddenly know all about fate and mortality.
Johnny Rotten warned us about Jimmy Savile. Pink warned us about Kanye.
Of course John Mulaney isn’t as bad as those two but I do think we want to believe the best about people who entertain us mostly because it allows us to stay entertained.
It’s not about ‘cancelling’ Louis C.K., I just think he’s a gross pervert and so I won’t sympathize with his silly stories anymore. If I really liked his humor I might ignore what he did and go on my merry because it’s better for me.
But I feel that is a disgusting way to live your life and to say so isn’t virtue signaling.
I just wanted to mention that based on Doper recommendations I saw both those movies within the last couple of days. It may have been this thread or some other thread(s) that clued me in – we have another thread on old movies that are politically relevant today, and @ThelmaLou started a separate thread to promote Born Yesterday. A Face in the Crowd is from 1957, Born Yesterday from 1950.
A Face in the Crowd was very highly rated and indeed very enjoyable. And by golly, Andy Griffith can act – he’s not just genial old Mayberry Sheriff Andy Taylor!
I was a bit unsure about Born Yesterday but started watching anyway. I was very quickly totally charmed by Judy Holliday’s portrayal of an innocent blonde bimbo who was dominated by a swindling and misogynistic bully whose specialty was shady business deals and buying politicians. Things change when an urbane reporter (William Holden) starts teaching her about the real world.
I recommend both, with only the caveat that I’m an old-movie junkie and these aren’t for those looking for the latest action movie where things go BOOM!
Trivia: Holliday had previously starred in a Broadway production of the same story to rave reviews, but Columbia Studios was reluctant to give her the film role because she was pretty much unknown in Hollywood. She eventually got it with help from some big-name actors, and went on to win a well-deserved Oscar for Best Actress that year for her charming performance, against fierce competition like Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson. Trivia #2: the film ran into problems with the censors in that glorious year of 1950, over the line “I love that broad”, and over the fact that the two main characters were living together but unmarried. Also notable is that the film has an undercurrent of patriotism that seems quaintly naive in today’s cynical world.
I’m so glad you watched Born Yesterday and enjoyed it. Was it like watching trump in action or what? When that movie came out, the idea that that character could one day become president… unthinkable!
Judy Holliday trivia: she had a genius level I.Q. From Encyclopedia Britannica-
Holliday’s screen persona of a squeaky-voiced birdbrain proved beneficial when she was ordered to testify before the U.S. Senate subcommittee on internal security in 1952. Refusing to identify her friends and coworkers as communist sympathizers, Holliday—who reportedly had an IQ of 172—beguiled the committee by “playing dumb” and survived the ordeal with her career and integrity intact.
I’ve loved William Holden ever since I first saw him in Stalag 17. He was a great actor.
If you’ve never seen S.O.B., you should do so immediately. IIRC, it was Holden’s last role.
She may have been very smart, but I find it unlikely that her I.Q. was ever measured as being 172. Using the current definition of I.Q., which uses a normal curve, that would make her almost five standard deviations above average, which is incredibly unlikely. Using the older definition which is an actual quotient, which would mean that, for instance, when she was 7 years old she was measured as being as intelligent as an average 12-year-old, that’s barely possible. Anyway, I’m dubious about anybody born in 1921 ever doing an I.Q. test.
FTR, all of Hitler’s surviving top Nazis were given IQ tests as a matter of course at Nuremberg. Their scores ranged from 106 to 143.
I shall do that, thanks!
Skepticism duly noted.
Educated in New York City public schools, Holliday graduated from Julia Richman High School at the top of her class in January 1938, having already scored 172 on an IQ test when she was ten.
Cite.
I just started watching Airport '79. I’m about twenty minutes in and it is pretty much one of the most misogynistic movies I’ve ever seen. Every pilot just drools over every stewardess, full of inuendo and out and out sexist cat-calling. It’s embarrassing.
“I like my coffee sweet, mommy,” from navigator Erik Estrada to stewards French curl flip in the miniskirt. Jesus.
I watched the animated film Coraline with my daughter. That was pretty good.
Later I watched the David Cronenberg film Crimes of the Future on Hulu. It had a good cast (Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen, and Lea Seydoux) but it was pretty fucking gross and weird AF. Really I thought it as so bizarre I really didn’t care what happened to anyone and was just happy it was over.