Definitely. Though it was based on CalTech, there is a lot of MIT in there also. The making ice in the hallways might have been based on the MIT hack in 1968 where they convinced the local news that they made snow in the bathroom - the bathroom I used the next year. And we had a similar guy who didn’t live in a closet but lived in the MIT SF Society Library at night. Not as smart though.
There is a sequel where a bunch of college kids are onto him (the same actor) at his next school. I saw it first - more action, not all believable, less talky.
Like these also. I had a book of cryptic crosswords by Sondheim years back.
Now my two. First, Flesh Gordon. But the original one, not the cut apart one you can get today. Excellent as erotica and retro science fiction of the old school. Far superior to the later big budget version.
Second, Hellzapoppin’ Directed by the guy who directed Duck Soup, and based on Olsen and Johnson’s Broadway farce (which my mother saw) it stands up well. I asked for a VCR version for Christmas one year, and watched it locked in the living room since I couldn’t believe it would be as good as I remembered seeing it when I was a kid. It was better. I invited everyone else in just to watch the opening scene in Hell, and they stayed for the whole thing. It seems to be on You Tube now, worth your time.For those of you old enough to remember Martha Raye in commercials, you’ll understand why she was a star.
It doesn’t appear to be legitimately available. I have VHS and DVD copies both probably bootlegged, but of good quality. I don’t know if the copyright ever got renewed - I saw it on TV in NY in the mid '60s.
Now I’d love to find their followup, Crazy House, also with Shemp Howard.
The DVD I got from Amazon has no identifying information. PM me the link and I can tell you if it is the same one. The quality of mine is excellent.
Crazy House is there also, but for a VHS tape for over $50.
Not that one follows the career of producers as much as directors or writers, I always found the filmography of Peter McCarthy really interesting. In addition to the iconic Repo Man and Sid & Nancy, he also produced Tapeheads and I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (both worth viewing), and maybe my favorite project of his, Roadside Prophets, a fun road movie starring John Doe (X) and Adam Horowitz (Beastie Boys). His first feature as a director was obviously a passion project, a strange stream-of-consciousness work called Floundering, which to my mind was the best ground-level view of the aftermath of the L.A. riots of 1992. It stars James LeGros and has plenty of other recognizable stars in drop-in cameos. It vanished without a trace, but speaking as someone who lived in L.A. shortly after the riots, it gets the community feel just right.
I concur on the aforementioned The Station Agent and In America. But my vote goes to Lars and the Real Girl. That is partly because it was so different from what I expected from the description blurb.
Second-to-last; The Drop was his final movie. Prety good one, too, which I think fits the thread criteria.
I was looking forward to this and was able to catch it on video when Blockbuster was still a thing. Pretty good movie.
What I’m seeing here are some older movies that were popular enough at the time, but have fallen out of general public view. My recommend: A Simple Plan. Tight. Bleak. Downer ending.
Yes! very under rated IMO, Keenan Ivory Thompson at his best (directing and acting)
A few more comedies on my list:
Hollywood Shuffle (Robert Townsend, Keenan Ivory Thompson)
The Big Picture (Kevin Bacon, JT Walsh, many others)
Head Office (Judge Reinhold, Danny Devito, many others)
And somewhat in that vein, is Babette’s Feast. Get the subtitled one, NOT the dubbed one.
In a remote 19th-century Danish village, two sisters lead a rigid life centered around their father, the local minister, and their church. Both had opportunities to leave the village: one could have married a young army officer and the other, a French opera singer. Their father objected in each case, and they spent their lives caring for him. Many years later - their father is now deceased - they take in French refugee, Babette Hersant, who agrees to work as their servant. After winning the lottery, Babette wants to repay the sisters for their kindness and offers to cook a French meal for them and their friends on the 100th anniversary of their father’s birth. It proves to be an eye-opening experience for everyone.
A delicate, subtle tale. I always cry in a couple of places. (In a good way.)
Alton Brown claims this is the greatest food film of all time on the YouTube show “Hot Ones.”
With the approval of the director, Stéphane Audran (Babette) entrusted the creation of her iconic costume to her long-time accomplice, the stylist Karl Lagerfeld.
Harold Lloyd’s The Kid Brother. No skyscrapers to climb here, just a rural landscape, probably late 1800s with Harold the set upon kid brother. Lots of good gags with the sibling warfare. And there’s a love story, of course.
Yeah, that one was a surprise for me. I started it with not a lot of expectation, but really liked it.
I’d recommend the book, as well. I think it was called Rocket Boys though. There’s a lot more detail (obviously) that was fascinating to me.
Another one for me – The Gift with Cate Blanchett, Greg Kinnear, Keanu Reeves, J. K. Simmons, Rosemary Harris, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, and more! Every time I see it’s playing, I watch it.
Agreed; I enjoyed the book, too. (“October Sky” is an anagram for “Rocket Boys”; Hickam has said that the studio didn’t want to use the book’s title for the film, as their market research indicated that women were less likely to be interested in seeing a movie with “Rocket” in the title.)
