But, We’ll always have Breakfast at Tiffany’s!
Raising Arizona, part of my “Introducing Inna to the Gen-X classics” series, she laughed and chuckled throughout the movie, but later said she thought it was “cute” but not very funny, lol. I still think the chase scene with all the hand cannons and dogs is one of the best ever filmed.
Most interesting thing I learned was a sidebar discussion we had where I found out that Abba was considered acceptable by the Soviet authorities and was constantly played in the USSR during the 80s (as were other Swedish pop acts. And French acts, too. But no German, British, or American rock acts were allowed.)
Hamm was good as a not-too-bright criminal in Baby Driver, too.
Humor across cultures often doesn’t work. I’d imagne Coen Brothers humor would be even harder to make the crossing.
Was visiting the family over the Xmas holidays and caught a couple of films with them (along with a whole lot of CSI and Dr. Pol TV episodes).
Top Gun: Maverick has been mentioned before in this thread so I’ll simply say (1) I enjoyed it and (2) I could have written the script and ‘gotcha’ scenes myself (in other words, straight formula writing and no big surprises).
The Highwaymen has also been reviewed a couple of times, briefly it’s the Bonny and Clyde story as told by a couple old Texas Rangers ending with…well, you know how it ends… Your enjoyment of the movie depends on how much you like Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson, as they are on-screen nearly 95% of the movie. I bought into their world-weary yet hard-as-nails characters and enjoyed it quite a bit.
To erase this massive shit-stain from my memory, I’d pay for my own Frontal Lobotomy. Or maybe a bottle in front of me.
Oh, and that song you quoted is Ass.
Mrs Wheelz and I watched Barbie last night. She’d seen it before and wanted to again.
I pretty much enjoyed it. It had something to say and it said it, not at all subtly or obliquely. Nothing wrong with that.
Basically all I knew going in was that Barbie goes to the real world. I expected it to be more about that; a fish-out-of-water adventure, if you will. That part of it was quite brief, and the “real world” didn’t seem very real anyway.
But I just went with the flow and it was a fun ride, if ultimately less than substantial.
Oh, hush, My huckleberry friend…
There’s always Audrey Hepburn to pine for.
I first saw Raising Arizona in Perth, Western Australia. The audience’s disgust at the gunfire chase scene was so thick you could drive a nail in it and hang your hat. And this was still nine years before the Port Arthur Massacre.
Hated Breakfast at Tiffany’s. They took a wry little slice of New York story and kludged into a sentimental mess. Audrey Hepburn looked nice, but she’s an indifferent actor, and she was completely wrong for the part. That’s before even considering the Mickey Rooney abomination.
Watched The Philadelphia Story for the first time in a long time and really loved it. Now, there’s a well written, well cast, well acted movie with heart without schmaltz.
Watched Taxi Driver again this afternoon. It’s been a very long time since the last and only other time I watched it, like decades. I found the jazzy saxophone music to be particularly unsettling. It kind of both didn’t fit, and was somehow the only thing that would have worked. That little jazzy riff seems to come up and wave away whatever just happened in the last scene, and the melody seems to just meander and repeat forever, never really having a destination, much like Travis himself.
Today TCM is showing a few movies starring people who died in 2023. We just finished watching Pee Wee’s Big Adventure from 1985. We saw it at the theater when it first came out, knowing Pee Wee from appearances on the David Letterman’s show. It’s even more whacky than I remembered, and that’s a good thing. It had so many iconic scenes: Jan Hooks as the tour guide at the Alamo telling Pee Wee that there’s no basement; the tequila dance; Large Marge; rescuing snakes from the pet store. It’s truly a masterpiece of absurdity.
Even now, every time I hear the song “Tequila” I have to fight the urge not to do the Big Shoe Dance.
Hey, tell us about your big “but.”
My latest five:
Castle in the Sky
Still my all-time favorite Studio Ghibli film, with a kidnapped princess, a spunky mechanic, nefarious secret agents and rollicking sky pirates all seeking a mysterious hidden city.
Coraline
Creepy, well-crafted stop-motion film about an unhappy girl and her escape to another world… from which she soon has every reason to want to escape.
The Weird and Wonderful World of Industrial Musicals
Saw this documentary in a screening hosted by its director, Steve Young. The film certainly lived up to its title, and is often very funny.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Another good stop-motion film, this one a worthy and well-done sequel. Be sure to look carefully in the very last scene for an unexpected cameo by a character from another Aardman film.
Napoleon
Ridley Scott’s epic biopic of the French emperor. Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby are quite good as Napoleon and his first wife, Josephine, although I still haven’t quite figured out their very odd relationship. A long movie, but an interesting overview of Napoleon’s rise to power, his military glories and his eventual downfall. Worth a look for any history geek like me.
Just saw Rebel Moon and it’s one of the worst movies I’ve seen in years. Just straight ripping off plots and scenes from other movies. Dialogue is like 90% exposition with wooden delivery. Huge plot holes and contradictions. If you watch makes it a drinking game where you take shot if you recognize blatant theft from a better movie.
I just saw this last night and came here to see what others thought.
I did enjoy it - loved the whole family and how they interacted, thought the sets and in general the entire look were awesome, but I can tell you if I’d paid money to watch it, I would not be happy. light weight, I guess, predictable, and I never felt any of the characters were in any danger.
(btw I have a free month trial of prime currently)
did anyone else see and love Christmas Twister? again, saw it at no cost and I really love disaster movies. but if really good looking people in small town Texas are going to be in a disaster, might as well be at Christmas time.
His Bathtubs Over Broadway on the same subject is also highly recommended.
I just saw Poor Things and our opinions couldn’t be further apart. I thought it was beautiful to look at and yes, there is a lot of fairly graphic sex/nudity but I didn’t find it misogynistic in the slightest. I know you didn’t use that word, John T, but your reference to “ultra feminist” makes me think you found it so. Apologies if I’m mischaracterizing your comment.
It’s weird AF, but then it’s Yorgos Lanthimos. It’s definitely not for everyone but of his four films I’ve seen (Dogtooth, Lobster, The Favourite) I think I enjoyed this one the most.